| The Republicans and Tea-baggers want us all to know |
[Feb. 5th, 2010|01:30 pm] |
This link is to a letter written by a Naval NCO who had served for a number of years before he had his fill of living a lie. It is well worth taking a minute to read.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-402882?hpt=Sbin
This man is, according to everything we hear from the Republican Party leadership, the talking heads at Fox News, and the "populist" movements orchestrated by the first two groups, unfit to serve his country in any capacity.
I'm sure the military is far stronger for his loss, and for the loss of every similar member of the armed services who has been outed or simply reached their breaking point. To replace NCOs and officers who are similar disgraces to the services in which they served and the country for which they served, the standards for new recruits have been steadily lowered, allowing more men and women with inadequate education, dubious criminal history, or lower ability to learn.
I feel safer already. Don't you? |
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| Spartacus, the first episode |
[Jan. 28th, 2010|01:40 pm] |
Late last night I was too tired to do much, so I took a look at Spartacus on Starz, to see whether it was worth anything at all.
It was probably meant to be an action-adventure version of Rome, with comic-book touches. For me, the stylistic elements (stop-frame, slow-motion, and then fast-motion capture to add emphasis) were obtrusive. Add in the scenes that were deliberately altered to reduce or eliminate backgrounds, and the style began to overwhelm the substance. The gratuitous blood in the fight scenes (who knew that being whacked across the shoulders by the haft of an ax could produce sprays of poor-quality stage blood that would fly all over the place, including the camera lens?) just added to the unreality of what I was watching. Some of the fight choreography was decent, but some of it was pretty absurd and left me thinking about the many ways the characters were leaving themselves open to disembowelment and worse.
Like a lot of people, I find the history of Rome interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed Rome, I, Claudius, and even the somewhat cheesy but still fun Gladiator of a few years ago. Those were productions that had done good research and worked hard to stay within a historical setting. Spartacus has done some of the research, and then seems to have filled in the gaps without paying attention. There may have been insurance regulations that forced them to use stirrups for their equestrians, an anachronism that we see far too often in TV and film but that appeared to have been avoided in Rome and Gladiator. That doesn't account for the Legion camp protected every few feet by three-foot-tall, eight-pointed metal constructs sort of like caltrops on steroids, objects that I can't visualize being transported readily by a legion on the march.
Okay, maybe I'm being picky. Likewise, I probably shouldn't have been startled by the lovely blonde who came to visit the Legatus who commanded that Roman force. Especially when she was revealed to be not only his wife but the daughter of a Senator. Later, when we meet the Senator, he's a graying blond. To the best of my knowledge, that was a really unusual coloring in pre-Imperial Rome, at least among the aristocracy. After that, the heavily hennaed Lucy Lawless (as the wife of the gladiator trainer played by John Hanna) seems like the breath of sweet reason. Can I add a personal fatigue with "barbarians" shown half to two-thirds naked, and lightly covered where they have clothing, as they run around in the snow?
Yes, I know. The real question is, "But was it any good?"
Many of the actors look as though they aren't quite sure how to wear their clothes. There is some pretty dreadful dialog. Somewhere in there, struggling against the stylistic overload, there is a story being told, and it's not an awful story. Some details I actually liked, really. I'd have liked to enjoy it more, and not to have had to like it despite so many things.
I may look at it again, to see whether it gets any better, but only if I don't have anything else I have the need or energy to do as an alternative.
If you have heard that there is a lot of nudity in this production, you have heard correctly. It is less gratuitous than the blood. It does, however, help make it a show I wouldn't tell anyone to let kids see unless you have already viewed it and think there is some justification for sharing it. I think the blood and violence are stronger reasons to keep the show unviewed by younger historical enthusiasts. |
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| cancer meme |
[Jan. 11th, 2010|03:58 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cancer | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
In memory of family and friends who have lost the battle with cancer; and in support of the ones who continue to conquer it! Post this on your LJ if you know someone who has or had cancer. 93% won't copy and paste this. Will you?
[Picked this up from Editrx. As she notes, I'm now a cancer survivor. In addition to the citations she made, I will add several friends who have survived breast cancer, an uncle who had liver cancer, a dear friend in the state of Washington who died of metastasized uterine cancer three years ago, and people we know who are fighting it right now.] |
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| The end of "The End of Time" |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|03:06 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | thoughtful | ] |
Thanks to modern technology we've just watched the last David Tenant appearance as the Doctor.
There are so many things that could be spoiled, but I won't.
I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm really going to miss this incarnation. |
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| Online gamers form real communities too |
[Dec. 21st, 2009|03:06 pm] |
This is a bit of a rant. I apologize in advance, but it touched a serious nerve.
Today at the "Fidgit.com" blog that was spun off from the SF Channel's web site, Tom Chick wrote a piece called "When World of Warcraft meets a real-world death."
http://fidgit.com/archives/2009/12/when_world_of_warcraft_meets_a.php
In case it gets pulled (and if I had editorial oversight for the site, I would never have allowed it to be posted as written), here is the original text:
Someone who identifies himself as "Sebastian H" writes about how he was affected by the death of a another World of Warcraft player. Sebastian was well acquainted with a Gnome Warlock played by someone named "Dusty", and even somewhat acquainted with Dusty himself, who recently died presumably of complications related to pneumonia.
At first I was ashamed to admit that I was so shaken by the death of a person I knew first 'in-game'. But now I realize that I'm merely admitting to having a connection with someone. A connection based on a mutual common interest, built up by sharing time together, solidified by sharing our fears and loves and concerns with each other, continued by actually caring about what happened to one another.
Online connections aren't unique to videogames. As far back as BBSs and Usenet, the Internet has connected people who don't know each other at all, allowing them to know each other a little bit better. Today, this has exploded into things like Facebook and Twitter and online dating services and Craig's List and yadda yadda yadda. But in videogames, you connect through a thick layer of stuff: avatars, fake names, chat windows, who's going to pull, do you need these shoulder pads, why didn't you defend the effing flag, and so on. So while I certainly understand Sebastian H's grief, and his surprise at his grief, I think it's worth noting that connecting through an online game is a far cry from connecting through an online community unburdened by gameplay, which is in turn a far cry from a real life connection. The internet in general and videogames in specific can be a great place to start connections, but they're a poor substitute for actual connections.
In case you didn't bother to read the full entry and its replies, I'd like to post my response here.
========================
The writer of this post has missed a critical part of the game experience. There is some superb social engineering that goes into the design of a game like Warcraft.
A couple of years ago I had to spend a protracted time working more than five hundred miles away from home. My wife of (then) nineteen years had to stay at home. I had just begun playing Warcraft, and she started to play because it was a wonderful way for us to *feel* as though we were doing something together. The game dynamics, especially in conjunction with realtime conversation through Skype or Ventrillo, makes it possible to feel that you are in the same room with the people you are working with.
If the in-game communication was only about what to pull and who would get that phat loot, you might expect the depth of connection between players to be very casual. In my years of play I've communicated with people about the births of babies, a variety of serious illnesses, loss of jobs, what the kids did today that was so funny, and lots more that I associate with establishing real bonds.
"Sebastian H." had nothing to be ashamed about in his reaction to the Real Life death of a friend. Even if he had never spent time face-to-face with the person, it was still a very real friendship.
This is also far from the first time that players in the game have died, and been mourned for by their friends within the game. There are videos online of in-game tributes to the dead, and they represent a depth of real grief that is, sadly, more pure than that of some of the "mourners" at the funeral of my father-in-law a few years ago. A quick search at You-Tube should bring some of these up.
Relationships are as real and true as we make them. There are far too many people running around in Real Life who have never learned to connect with those around them beyond the level of a frat boy at a Friday-night beer party. There are others who have had deeply meaningful interactions with friends they had never met save through pen-and-ink letters over the course of lifetimes. Would the author of this piece dare to say that the former is superior to the latter in terms of the "reality" of their emotional connection?
The original message from Sebastian H did not deserve to be treated as an oddity. It was an opportunity to reassure a grieving person that their grief was real, understandable, and normal. It was a chance to discuss the range of ways in which modern technology allows us to sustain old and form new relationships. It even offered a great chance to delve into ways in which Sebastian could help the rest of his community (guild, or whatever else it might be called) to respond to their grief.
I am sorry that the message that should have been sent has been coming in the responses to the original post.
Sebastian, if you ever see this, I am very sorry for the loss of your friend. |
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| Maybe this indicates a problem |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|07:04 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
I just had a sleep study last week, hoping to figure out whether a simple CPAP adjustment will help me get better rest and be more functional by day. Last night a four-foot-long wood valance fell from the top of the window next to the bed (though they all deny it, I suspect feline involvement) and landed on the bed, only inches from my sleeping body. I did not wake up, nor was I disturbed by it. Despite that depth of sleep, I'm still exhausted today.
I think I need to bring this to the attention of my doctor. |
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| Things I'm not sure I needed to see |
[Oct. 5th, 2009|01:31 pm] |
Cthulhu. Dread lord of Lovecraftian fiction. Mistreated in the filk version of "Old Time Religion" with the verse:
Let us go and worship Cthulhu,
Though he's creepy, cold, and cruel-hu,
Still his Sabbat is a lulu,
And he's good enough for me.
Now there is this compilation of images of Cthulhu toys. Cute Cthulhu toys.
http://scifiwire.com/2009/10/great-cthulhu-toys.php#more
Drowned Rlyeh may be preparing to rise again. |
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| Some more comics |
[Sep. 26th, 2009|03:52 pm] |
For those who are interested in, or know people who are interested in, Silver Age comics, I've got X-Men 17, 18, 20, and 31-35 listed on eBay right now. I'll be listing some more books from the sixties in the next couple of days. This link should take you to the page for the seller (nchanger) at eBay.
http://shop.ebay.com/nchanger/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25 |
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| More comics |
[Aug. 28th, 2009|05:10 pm] |
I've gotten another few comics (The X-Men 16-20) listed at eBay now, and will post more in the next few days. As before, if you or someone you know is interested in old comics, please check out my offerings.
http://shop.ebay.com/nchanger/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=
The last group all sold, with sales going international!
Thank you for looking. |
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| Berries |
[Aug. 26th, 2009|11:49 am] |
Editrx woke me up about 1:30 with the news about Teddy Kennedy. She's told me stories about him before (and I met Kara, the Kennedy daughter Editrx went to school with, once), but I found what she said this morning very effecting. I don't remember her telling me before about how good he was at making visiting children feel truly welcomed. I've been outside in a warm, humid morning, picking some of the most beautifully ripe and flavorful blueberries and blackberries I've ever had, and using the exercise to think and not-think about him.
The Kennedys were, weirdly, a family I thought of as somehow mine. When I was five I remember my class being rushed outside to see JFK drive by our school on the way to some sort of meeting in Philadelphia. Without any background, I knew this was important. Later, JFK was "my" first president, and his death was a deep shock. For years I hated the city of Dallas for allowing my president to be murdered there. A few years later I knew more about politics and the world, and I truly wanted Robert to also be my president. I remember lying in bed crying as my parents listened to news reports on his deathwatch.
Later, I was sadly aware that Chappaquiddick was almost certainly going to mean that Teddy would never be my president. I didn't know whether he would recover from it politically, and he surprised me. Over the last forty years he accomplished an astonishing amount, and tried to make people realize that we should all mean something, to ourselves and to each other. He was far from perfect, but he really worked to improve.
The news of his brain cancer was a shock. Still, his mother made it past the century mark, and some deep part of me hoped that medical science and his willpower would combine to give him some more good years--and that those years would help all of us. Now, just a few days after his sister Eunice, another person who gave deeply and unexpectedly of herself, he's gone, the last of a specific generation of giants. Even from that family, there is no one coming after who offers a similar charisma, experience, or will. And, dammit, I'm crying again.
When the only new political dynasty that has tried to assert itself lately is represented by Bushes, it makes me realize just how much we need people like the departed generation of Kennedys. I will miss them a lot.
As for bushes? I only want the ones that can give me good-tasting berries, and some time to think. |
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| Selling comics |
[Aug. 14th, 2009|02:47 pm] |
Like many of us, we're having tough times. Between my bout with cancer (caught early, and surgery seems to have worked perfectly, with no plans for chemo or radiation) and other bad health, I need to raise some added money.
As a result, I'm putting up for sale a bunch of my old comics. I'm slowly listing them on eBay, starting with some titles to get collectors used to watching for my listings. In a little while I'll be putting up my best books, including Avengers 1 through 10, X-Men 1 through 10, and Giant Size X-Men 1 with X-Men 94.
Right now I have X-Men 21-30 listed, as well as Avengers 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 29, and 31. (I've already sold five of the Avengers.)
If you are interested, or know anyone who is, please have them check out the offerings at eBay:
http://shop.ebay.com/nchanger/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=
I'm pretty conservative in my grading, and I'm offering them starting at about half the Overstreet price listed for comics at the lever I'm grading them for. I hope this will translate into buyers getting comics they want at decent prices, while bringing in some badly needed cash.
Check what is listed over time as well, since I'll continue to list new books.
Thank you. |
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| The flip side of those Town Hall meetings |
[Aug. 13th, 2009|09:10 pm] |
In Illinois there was a Town Hall meeting held by a Republican, and people came to it. Somehow the atmosphere was not like those at Democratic party meetings recently, and I think it says a lot about the quality of the people on the two sides of the spectrum.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/markg8/2009/08/two-republicans-fall-flat-in-t.php
I remember election night last November. In Obama's victory speech he spoke warmly of McCain, and the crowd applauded him. At McCain's concession speech he at least tried to speak well of Obama--and at first mention of that name, the crowd booed. Which group does Faux News want us to think is the seething, repressed minority in this country? And which should represent the American dream? |
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| Torture isn't patriotic |
[May. 16th, 2009|01:03 pm] |
Today's Boston Globe ran an editorial with the above lead line. It was a reasonable statement to point out that Dick Cheney and his friends are putting out bad information about the utility of torture. Here is a link to that editorial.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/05/16/torture_isnt_patriotic/
I was deeply disturbed by the number of comments on the editorial that had been made by torture apologists who clearly knew nothing beyond the same talking points used by Cheney and Limbaugh. Below is my reply to them.
-----------
I'm very sorry to see the number of comments from people who clearly know nothing about interrogation and torture. My information comes from both the study of history and talk with people who have been interrogation specialists for the US military.
Call it torture or "enhanced interrogation," the techniques are the same. The procedures that are such a topic of current talk have been in well-documented use since the early days of the Spanish Inquisition, were used against US prisoners by the Japanese during World War II, the Chinese and North Koreans in that action, and by the North Vietnamese. In every one of those last three places, these techniques were branded correctly as torture, and the practitioners faced prison or execution.
Beyond the issues of pain infliction, there is one serious problem with torture.
IT DOES NOT WORK DEPENDABLY.
That is not a "liberal" bias speaking, it is historical record. Apply these techniques, or worse ones, for long enough, and you can get Dick Cheney to admit to being the gunman on the grassy knoll, just to get the questioning to stop. It is true that torture can, very rarely, get useful information. The effort to verify information extracted through torture often takes so long, or is so costly of other resources, that it makes useful information valueless. Most of the product of torture is made up, slanted to appease the torturers, or slanted to reflect the bias of the person being tortured.
Torture is used only because someone wants to punish the subject, or produce fear in the community from which the subject came. The problem with this second factor is that, while it may produce fear, it also causes anger. In the past, news that US prisoners were being tortured led to surges in enlistment. The same applies to other countries whose people have been tortured by our operatives.
The US military has established procedures for interrogation based on many years of practical experience, and the observation of the best interrogators other countries have developed. More useful, readily verifiable information can be gotten by talking to a prisoner for an hour or two in a peaceful environment than by a month in which that prisoner is being waterboarded every four hours.
In the last few days the apologists for torture have suddenly declared open season on Nancy Pelosi for what she may have known and when she may have known it. If they feel so strongly about it, why are they simultaneously so defensive of all the people who encouraged the practice, ordered its use, and tried to cover it up?
I feel very strongly that this country requires a complete investigation of the situation, with legal action taken.
The United States is better than this. We are now in the unenviable position of having to prove to the rest of the world, and to ourselves, that we are better than this, and that it will never happen again. |
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| What the Union Leader wouldn't let me say |
[May. 8th, 2009|11:33 am] |
The New Hampshire legislature has sent a same-sex marriage bill to the governor's desk. I've phoned the governor's office to indicate my support for the bill. Before I phoned I checked the website for the biggest paper in the state, the extremely conservative Manchester Union-Leader, just to make sure that the governor hadn't already taken public action.
After reading through a lot of comments as response to an editorial declaring that Governor Lynch should veto the bill, I wrote my own reply. Then I realized that I could find no "Send" option anywhere on that page.
Just because I want to make my thoughts known somewhere, here is the argument I offered to the readership of that paper. Let me add that I was pleased to see a significant number of responses to that editorial from people who did not support the newspaper's stance.
====
I have felt that the "sanctity" of marriage has been damaged more in recent years by the actions of people like Newt Gingrich (serving his wife divorce papers as she recovered from cancer surgery so he could move on to a newer, younger woman), and Britney Spears (who needs marriage to last more than a weekend, right?), than in any of the marriages of gay and lesbian couples I have read about or observed.
Marriage is a two-fold rite. On the one hand, it is a state-regulated relationship between two adults, offering benefits to both, and with standard rights and responsibilities recognized by the government. These last have to do with issues like paying taxes, shared responsibility for debts, rights of inheritance, ability to be informed of and direct medical care, and so forth. These are things that we all take for granted, usually without thinking about them.
On the other hand, marriage is a religious observance. Please remember, this is a sacrament that is unique in that it is entered into between two people, with any minister or priest, and any congregation of family, friends, and well-wishers, acting only as witnesses. Not that many years ago the Archbishop of Chicago was slapped down by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church when he refused to sanction the marriage of a man and a woman because the man was a paraplegic who could not perform the requirement of procreation implicit in marriage. Marriage is not about the couple involved having children, or no couples beyond the age of menopause would be allowed to be married by any Judeo-Christian church, temple, or chapel. Marriage is about a commitment between two people, before God and the community, that they will love and care for each other in this life and looking forward to sharing eternity with each other.
As far as I know, no one has tried to use a same sex marriage law to require any priest or minister to act beyond the dictates of his or her conscience and beliefs. If the officiant does not wish to marry a couple of any description, that couple can look for another venue, as is now the case with heterosexual couples.
What such a law allows is for gay and lesbian couples to have exactly the same rights and obligations as a heterosexual couple, without requiring them or the people they deal with in daily life to have to look up the fine print in a legal office to see where their rights are different.
I hope that the governor will do the right thing, and sign this bill into law as soon as possible. Moreover, I hope that in doing so New Hampshire will once again be a union leader for all of the United States. |
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| Nasty push poll |
[May. 5th, 2009|10:57 am] |
Just got an automated phone survey. Since I live in New Hampshire, the legislature of which just passed a bill to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the nut-jobs are trying to get support. Still, this call was an even worse example of bad phrasing than usual.
"Do you believe marriage between only one man and one woman should be legal in New Hampshire?"
Gee, I don't know. Who is the one man? If it's Rush Limbaugh or Newt Gingrich, the answer is "NO!"
Or did they mean that I think it should be legal for a man and a woman to marry each other in this state? Or do they think that polyandry is a hazard that must be confronted now?
Or, gosh, maybe they meant to ask whether I think that it should only be legal for hetero couples to be married here. If so, they should shoot the polling company and hire American.
Just got the same poll on our other phone line. The polling company was "CPR Action." The survey was sponsored by the "National Organization for Marriage." The time wasted belongs to everyone with a listed phone in New Hampshire. |
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| To Whom it May Concern |
[Apr. 26th, 2009|12:51 pm] |
It is only about a week since we first had two consecutive days in which the temperature broke 60. Yesterday afternoon the thermometer read 91 here, and the weather people are saying today might be almost that warm, and tomorrow even warmer.
How did I miss the memo that spring was being shortened to only a week? |
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| From a recently discovered manuscript |
[Apr. 23rd, 2009|12:13 am] |
"But, lo! What light o'er yon harlot breaks?
'Tis the moon, face cleared of cloud,
That shows clear our course to the stews and jakes
In the city that of its state hast been so proud."
Act II, Scene 3
Romeo, the Pirate King
In honor of Talk Like Shakespeare Day (April 23 http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org/ ) and in anticipation of Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19 http://www.talklikeapirate.com/ ).
(Hey, you think it's easy to find a single quote suitable for both days?) |
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| WTF? |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|12:35 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cheney | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  aggravated | ] |
I just saw something presented as a news headline, at the top of the news.
FLASH! Dick Cheney thinks that, by saying no to torture, Obama is opening the doors for the terrorists to come in and kill us all.
WHY ON EARTH IS ANYONE LISTENING TO THAT EVIL CLOWN?
If I want his advice on anything, I'll ask about how to shoot someone in the face and get away with it. |
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| Writer's Block: So Long, Farewell |
[Jan. 20th, 2009|12:57 am] |
I'll remember him for starting a war in Iraq with a final explanation that it was to bring Democracy to the Middle East, killing over 100,000 innocent civilians in the process, and then saying that it is evil to "kill innocents in pursuit of political or religious agendas."
After that, I'll remember him as a president who did not have a majority of the vote, and who could not have done much more damage to America's standing in the world if he had been a sleeper agent planted by the old Soviet Union.
I will remember him as someone who did a few things that were good, and should have made him memorable in a positive way, if he hadn't done so many other things that outweighed them.
I would like to remember him for his appearance in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, with Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Condi, and their cronies also facing charges for crimes against humanity. |
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