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End of an unseen era

Apparently there will be no more ninjas soon.

Sad. Who will pirates fight?

Rambling

Full Moon tomorrow. Good times. Looks nearly-full today.

Supposed to storm like hell this week. I have to admit I'm looking forward to that a bit.

Decided that I'm done with martial arts 'till the next session starts up again in 2013. Too many lingering pains and I'm completely brain-fried on how to do some very basic, important moves. Tried to throw someone last night and nearly injured both myself and my partner in the exercise. That's just a message from my subconscious that a best test is not in my future this time around.

Strangely disappointing feeling.

Can you believe it's nearly December? Holy crap but this year is burning by fast.

Review: The Flying Swords of Dragon's Gate

As I previously-mentioned, I obtained The Flying Swords of Dragon's Gate on DVD.

I'd heard a little about it and it's a Tsui Hark movie starring Jet Li. Totally worth the price to pick up.

Weird-ass movie.

It's the sequel to a story I know little about New Dragon Gate Inn. I expect the story might have made more sense if I'd seen that, but I'm uncertain if that's the case.

Badass swordsman Zhou Huai'an (Jet Li) is a rebel/Robin Hood like character who goes around assassinating corrupt government officials in Ming Dynasty China.

A bureau of corrupt officials, led by an uber-badass Yu Huatian, sets out to kill Zhou and to retrieve an escaped maid from the Imperial Court who is pregnant (possibly with the Emperor's love-child).

And then the story goes sideways. The maid is rescued by Ling Yanqiu, who is pretending to be Zhou and has some kind of mad crush on the man (I guess they have a history of some sort).

Ling helps the maid and takes her to the Dragon's Gate Inn, a rebuilt inn in the western desert that Ling seems to know intimately well (complete with a series of secret tunnels under the inn). She and the maid are pursued by Yu Huatian, who is in turn pursued by Zhou.

Meanwhile there's a group of con-artist criminals at the inn seeking buried treasure and one is a dead-ringer for Yu.

To say the story gets complicated from there doesn't begin to touch on matters. There's betrayals, reversals, and lots of wire-fu swordfighting. First time I've seen a swordfight in a tornado, to my memory.

Entertaining movie, if a little excessively-complex in plot. The ending left me scratching my head, but that's fine. Still worth the viewing.

Talking Turkey

Aaaah... that was a nice week-plus off. Highlights:

• Saw Patrick Rothfuss at Borderland Books. Got some hardbacks signed. Didn't get to actually meet the man, as the wait was crazy. Borderlands and Mr. Rothfuss were awesome in letting those of us on the short-end of the lottery leave our books for him to sign later.
  That man is insanely engaging and gifted.
• So. Much. Lazy.
• A lot of beer. This would normally not be worthy of note, but it was excessive, even by my standards. Some sake one day to mix things up.
• Lunch with my friend V in Japantown. Picked up Flying Swords of Dragon's Gate on DVD then walked from J-Town to the Mission to retrieve my books at Borderlands.
  Upon reflection, not a brilliant move. Oy, that was a long walk.
• Thanksgiving. Went surprisingly smoothly. Yay!
• Saw Skyfall. Damn that was a good movie. Very atypical for Bond flix in terms of plot, but well-done all the same.

Gluttony

I think I overdid it this Thanksgiving. Wow. I feel as though I've expanded to twice my size.

I may have to become a vegetarian.

Reviewing the SCOTTEVEST Hoodie

Some time back I mused about SCOTTEVEST and their fascinating, pocket-laden garments.

I won't reinvent the wheel by repeating my thoughts. Recently I obtained another of their Cotton Hoodies. One can never have too many hoodies in the Bay Area, in my opinion. Our microclimate lends itself to that sort of outer-garment.

And I do like to carry lots of junk.

I already have a hoodie from a prior purchase. I opted for a different color this time. Contact with SCOTTEVEST acknowledged some concerns I had about prior purchases. Mainly the sticky zippers.

So, on to my recently-obtained hoodie:

Pros:

• Damn but this thing is comfortable!
• A fairly-ridiculous number of pockets I can use.
• Little touches, such as a microfiber cloth for cleaning glasses and a keychain on an extendable cord, are included.

Cons:

• The zippers are still sticky. They mostly work, but they haven't improved since my purchase of my previous hoodie and those zippers inconveniently stick a fair amount.
• Requires very special care in washing. Seriously. Pay attention to the instructions and do NOT put one of these in the dryer on anything but very low heat!

Conclusions: I'm still a little on-the-fence over this. For the price, I'd expect better quality zippers so I'm not tearing open my pockets to try to access a cell phone or a flashlight or whatever.

That said, it's warm, comfortable, and the stitching and cloth seems pretty durable. My older hoodie has held up quite well in the time I've had it. I suspect the new one will do the same.

The special care is a bit annoying, especially in winter when I can't exactly put clothes outside to dry in any kind of reasonable amount of time (hello rainy season!), but it's not really all that of a downer. I just pull it out of a low tumble cycle early and line-dry it and I haven't had problems.

If they beefed up the zippers, I'd have to hail this as a "must-have". Until then, I'd recommend this as a "nice-to-have, but with caveats". At least the two-year warranty is a nice thing.

And, as I've previously said, SCOTTEVEST has top-notch customer service, so if I had to exchange/return the hoodie, I'm sure I wouldn't have problems.

Sad things

1. Hostess Bakery is going out of business. Say goodbye to the Twinkie. This is going to be a problem in Zombieland.
2. Someone created an app to have a girl stare at you. This is so sad on so many levels that it just boggles the mind. I'm not sure this is worse than anime character body pillows, but it's pretty sad.
   Seriously. If your interpersonal skills are that bad, join a club or a church or a cult or something. Sweet FSM this is creepy.

Cuff Keys for your Cufflinks

Much hullaballoo over these Uncuff Links.

Clever idea. Given how easy it is to get much cheaper handcuff keys, I don't really get the appeal as much but I'm also a far cry from James Bond.

Probably better to get a Bogota lockpick set or a different handcuff key or even a shim.

Assuming one is worried about being handcuffed and the circumstances surrounding such an action.

Brewing up a cool look

I admit I struggled to be witty with this headline.

Not that I'm all that witty under normal circumstances.

Where was I? Oh yes! Cool thing.

Enjoi Beer Hunter Jacket.

Bask in this concept for a minute. Go on. I'll wait.


Coolness, right? If I were the sort of person who drank beer out of cans (maybe Guinness...) and carried beers around with me instead of dominating seats at the bar, I'd totally get this.

I still might.

Probably not, though. Still, a cool concept!

Hobbitssessss

Rolling Stone has the ending track to The Hobbit available for listening pleasure.

Kinda reminds me of the Rankin-Bass stuff from the 70's. I have to say it's growing on me, but I kinda like the dwarf-sung version in the trailer a bit more.

EDIT: You can listen to the entire score here. Sa-WHEET!

Green stuff

First there's kids making generators that run on urine. Now there's fuel derived from algae.

Interesting times, my friends. Interesting times.

Kicking while down

I had high hopes for Prometheus when it was first advertised. I had high hopes once I saw the beautiful trailers. I had high hopes that this "it's not really a prequel but it's totally a prequel" would be good.

It wasn't. It was gorgeous, but the story sucked ass and it cemented my intention to avoid anything Damon Lindelof has ever touched ever again.

I pretty much put that behind me, then io9 released the original script.

All that anger I felt over how nonsensical and bullshitty the Prometheus story was just came right back to the fore.

WHY? Hollywood? WHY DO YOU INSIST ON FUCKING UP PERFECTLY GOOD STORIES??? WHYYYYYYY?????

Sure this script isn't solid gold, but it was ten times better than the crap Lindelof subjected us to.

The rage has returned to me.

Shifting

California's autumn went from "Indian summer" to chilly in the blink of an eye. No transition.

One day it's shorts and t-shirt weather. The next it's time to bust out a sweater.

I don't mind too much, personally. I like brisk autumn days. I like the chill in the air. The air smells and tastes different in the autumn. The light is different. Everything has more color (even in "season-less" California).

I just wish I could find a way to avoid allergies and colds when the weather shifts. I think I'm fighting a cold now. Oh well. Just have a week's work then it's the week of Thanksgiving. Gluttony time!

My office is going to be dead next week so I'm just going to take the whole week. I could use the extra sleep-in time.

This. Is. Just. Utterly. Amazing.

According to an io9 article, four teenage girls in Africa invented a urine-powered generator.

The oldest girl, per the article, is only 15 years old.

A urine-powered generator. Imagine this: toilets that essentially shunt waste directly to powering your home.

Sewage plants used as fuel stations for vehicles.

The mind boggles with the potential, should all this be on the up-and-up.

And these girls, if their invention turns out to be what it seems, deserve riches beyond the dreams of avarice for their brilliance.

Day-um.

Hard to Track

Got a new mouse. It's one of those tracball ergo-whatever mouses (mice?) for repetitive motion issues (which I have).

The learning curve is... unpleasant. Not sure it's helping either. Gah.

Well that's a relief!

The words "President Mitt Romney" are now consigned to some hellish alternate universe and we get four more years of President Barak Obama fighting an obstructionist House with a probably-ineffectual Senate.

Beats the alternative.

I'm amazed Prop 30 (funding for schools) passed in California. I'm kind of floored by that, actually. There may actually be hope for my home state.

Actually I'm pretty pleased overall with how the election went. Sure I would have preferred that the Dumbocrats take the House from the Repugnicans, but you can't get everything you want.

Most of the California propositions turned out okay. I was a bit upset the repealing of the death penalty didn't fly, but that doesn't shock me.

And now I don't have to watch political ads for another year or so. Woo-hoo!!!

Nov 6 2012

It's election day here in the States. One could call it "judgment day", I suppose.

I really hope Romney loses.

Not expecting any of the initiatives in California to pass. That's a shame, really. The state-sponsored education initiative, Prop 30, is needed.

I'm trying not to look at the news at all. I don't want to put myself through the anxiety. Going to go home after work, play on the computer, watch some TV, and pretend the outside world doesn't exist.

I think I'll fill my flask with the good stuff. Y'know. Just in case.

Blasting Bugs

I love Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Great sites. Interesting projects folks have that one can fund.

One of my favorites so far has been the Bug-A-Salt gun.

I participated in the Kickstarter some time back. The gun arrived Friday.

So far, four bugs have fallen to its salt-blasts in my apartment.

The principle is simple: it's a spring-cocked air gun that resembles a pistol-grip, stock-less shotgun. It's a mix of cast iron and durable plastic that reminds me of the toy guns I used to have as a kid (in the "good old days").

Pour some salt into the feeder, close and lock the chamber, cock the gun, release the safety, and blast bugs. Easy-peasy. Gets about 50 shots to the chamber, per the package.

Now the pesky pantry moths that bother me are in hiding, the little bastards.

I have nothing witty to say here

Brain's tapped out. Glad it's Friday. I have just enough juice in my grey matter to do what I'm paid to do and that's about it.

I'm mildly surprised at myself for forgetting to watch/record "Arrow" on Wednesday.

I think I was too caught up in watching my "Covert Affairs" recording. Now that is a solid show!

I require coffee in ways that words cannot describe.

November Arrives

I woke to the sound of rain. By "woke" I mean "scared witless by my alarm clock".

These are the mornings for Black Blood of the Earth.

And that is the only reason I'm even semi-functional this morning.

Now the countdown begins to culturally-sanctioned gluttony in the form of the Holidaze (Thanksgiving and then Xmas). Mmm... gluttony. I do love that Deadly Sin.

I kind of wish I'd done more for Hallowe'en. It's my favorite holiday, after all. I was, alas, feeling under-the-weather. My costume won an award in the office, but - oddly enough - won "Most Frightening" instead of "Most Glamorous".

I even wore a necktie for my "Braaaaaains Surgeon" costume.

Sadness.

It's my fondest hope that I can get the stains out of my dress shirt.

Um... nevermind. Don't ask.

In other horror news: this time next week we'll have all the election bullshit done.

I'm frankly stunned at the audacity of the lying bullshit coming out of the Zomney campaign and the Teabagger/wingnut klan. The claims that Chris Christie is a closet Democrat sympathizer is pretty boggling. The steaming pile of excrement that are the claims that the auto bailout resulted in offshoring auto production jobs is so utterly dishonest as to defy any kind of reason whatsoever.

No, what defies reason is that this race is so tight in the polls.

I get that people are unhappy with Obama as president. There's a lot of good reasons to be unhappy with him, though I don't hear those reasons in the news (indefinite detention policies, expanding executive power, drone wars, etc.). The economy isn't a valid attack. The office of the President of the United States has limited power to have any impact whatsoever on the economy. It's more limited when you have an obstructionist Congress filled with teabagging wingnuts who couldn't find their assholes with a map.

That said, Romney would be an unmitigated nightmare as President. And that's not counting the zombie apocalypse.

Oh hey! Rage is waking me up! Yay for adrenaline!