archives
03/28/2004 - 04/04/2004
04/04/2004 - 04/11/2004
04/11/2004 - 04/18/2004
04/18/2004 - 04/25/2004
04/25/2004 - 05/02/2004
05/02/2004 - 05/09/2004
05/09/2004 - 05/16/2004
05/16/2004 - 05/23/2004
05/23/2004 - 05/30/2004
05/30/2004 - 06/06/2004
06/06/2004 - 06/13/2004
06/13/2004 - 06/20/2004
06/20/2004 - 06/27/2004
06/27/2004 - 07/04/2004
07/04/2004 - 07/11/2004
07/11/2004 - 07/18/2004
07/18/2004 - 07/25/2004
07/25/2004 - 08/01/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/08/2004
08/08/2004 - 08/15/2004
08/15/2004 - 08/22/2004
08/22/2004 - 08/29/2004
08/29/2004 - 09/05/2004
09/05/2004 - 09/12/2004
09/12/2004 - 09/19/2004
09/19/2004 - 09/26/2004
09/26/2004 - 10/03/2004
10/03/2004 - 10/10/2004
10/10/2004 - 10/17/2004
10/17/2004 - 10/24/2004
10/24/2004 - 10/31/2004
10/31/2004 - 11/07/2004
11/07/2004 - 11/14/2004
11/14/2004 - 11/21/2004
11/21/2004 - 11/28/2004
11/28/2004 - 12/05/2004
12/05/2004 - 12/12/2004
12/12/2004 - 12/19/2004
12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004
12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005
01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005
01/09/2005 - 01/16/2005
01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005
01/23/2005 - 01/30/2005
01/30/2005 - 02/06/2005
02/06/2005 - 02/13/2005
02/13/2005 - 02/20/2005
02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005
02/27/2005 - 03/06/2005
03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005
03/13/2005 - 03/20/2005
03/20/2005 - 03/27/2005
03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005
04/03/2005 - 04/10/2005
04/10/2005 - 04/17/2005
04/17/2005 - 04/24/2005
04/24/2005 - 05/01/2005
05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005
05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005
05/15/2005 - 05/22/2005
05/22/2005 - 05/29/2005
05/29/2005 - 06/05/2005
06/05/2005 - 06/12/2005
06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005
06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005
06/26/2005 - 07/03/2005
07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005
07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005
07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005
07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005
07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005
08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005
08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005
08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005
08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005
09/04/2005 - 09/11/2005
09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005
09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005
09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005
10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005
10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005
10/16/2005 - 10/23/2005
10/23/2005 - 10/30/2005
10/30/2005 - 11/06/2005
11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005
11/13/2005 - 11/20/2005
11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005
11/27/2005 - 12/04/2005
12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005
12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005
12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005
12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 01/08/2006
01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006
01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006
01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006
01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006
02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006
02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006
02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006
02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006
03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006
03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006
03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006
03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006
04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006
04/09/2006 - 04/16/2006
04/16/2006 - 04/23/2006
04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006
04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006
05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006
05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006
05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006
05/28/2006 - 06/04/2006
06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006
06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006
06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006
06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006
07/02/2006 - 07/09/2006
07/09/2006 - 07/16/2006
07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006
07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006
07/30/2006 - 08/06/2006
08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006
08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006
08/20/2006 - 08/27/2006
08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006
09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006
09/10/2006 - 09/17/2006
09/17/2006 - 09/24/2006
09/24/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 10/08/2006
10/08/2006 - 10/15/2006
10/15/2006 - 10/22/2006
10/22/2006 - 10/29/2006
10/29/2006 - 11/05/2006
11/05/2006 - 11/12/2006
11/12/2006 - 11/19/2006
11/19/2006 - 11/26/2006
11/26/2006 - 12/03/2006
12/03/2006 - 12/10/2006
12/10/2006 - 12/17/2006
12/17/2006 - 12/24/2006
12/24/2006 - 12/31/2006
12/31/2006 - 01/07/2007
01/07/2007 - 01/14/2007
01/14/2007 - 01/21/2007
01/21/2007 - 01/28/2007
01/28/2007 - 02/04/2007
02/04/2007 - 02/11/2007
02/11/2007 - 02/18/2007
02/18/2007 - 02/25/2007
02/25/2007 - 03/04/2007
03/11/2007 - 03/18/2007
03/18/2007 - 03/25/2007
04/08/2007 - 04/15/2007
04/15/2007 - 04/22/2007
04/22/2007 - 04/29/2007
04/29/2007 - 05/06/2007
05/06/2007 - 05/13/2007
05/13/2007 - 05/20/2007
05/27/2007 - 06/03/2007
06/10/2007 - 06/17/2007
06/17/2007 - 06/24/2007
06/24/2007 - 07/01/2007
07/01/2007 - 07/08/2007
07/15/2007 - 07/22/2007
09/02/2007 - 09/09/2007
09/16/2007 - 09/23/2007
10/07/2007 - 10/14/2007
10/21/2007 - 10/28/2007
11/18/2007 - 11/25/2007
11/25/2007 - 12/02/2007
12/02/2007 - 12/09/2007
12/09/2007 - 12/16/2007
12/16/2007 - 12/23/2007
12/23/2007 - 12/30/2007
12/30/2007 - 01/06/2008
01/06/2008 - 01/13/2008
01/13/2008 - 01/20/2008
01/20/2008 - 01/27/2008
01/27/2008 - 02/03/2008
02/03/2008 - 02/10/2008
02/17/2008 - 02/24/2008
02/24/2008 - 03/02/2008
03/02/2008 - 03/09/2008
03/09/2008 - 03/16/2008
03/23/2008 - 03/30/2008
03/30/2008 - 04/06/2008
04/06/2008 - 04/13/2008
04/20/2008 - 04/27/2008
04/27/2008 - 05/04/2008
05/11/2008 - 05/18/2008
05/18/2008 - 05/25/2008
06/01/2008 - 06/08/2008
06/08/2008 - 06/15/2008
06/15/2008 - 06/22/2008
06/22/2008 - 06/29/2008
06/29/2008 - 07/06/2008
07/20/2008 - 07/27/2008
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Okay guys
Glad to see so much planning for your trip up here. You WILL make it happen.
I am coming home tomorrow. I am getting a ride at 4:00 pm will likely be in T.O. by like, 7:30 pm hopefully. Anyways, that should be our wholesome night / catch-up night, (Maybe my house or Neil's) then bar is the night after that. Then I have the day of the 20th, but that might not be long.
Look forward to seeing you guys, you can always email me if you have the time just to keep in touch.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Return to home cooking
So I'm home on a 4 day leave pass and this is the first time I've been on internet in a month. Doing my best to catch up with a month of missed Goin' Ape.
As I said before I left I'm working at the Blackdown Cadet Training Centre at CFB Borden near Barrie. I'm in the Physical Education and Recreation Training cell. We're the staff who run all the sports, fitness testing, biathlon and archery. So far we've been pretty lucky with having a light schedule. I'm astounded by how out of shape most of the cadets are. One morning in the first couple days of the cadets arrival at the camp we going to do take them for a light run before breakfast. We had barely gone 300 meters when a couple kids started puking by the side of the road. It was quite pathetic.
Oh yeah these kids are fucking dirty! I was refereeing a soccer game with the 14 and 15 year olds, when one girl fell and opened a scab on her knee, I opened up the back door of our safety vehicle and made her take a seat so I could clean the blood off and put on a bandage. You wouldn't even belief how much fucking dirt came off when I tried to disinfect the cut. It took forever just to clean the wound. The whole time she kept giggling and I thought she was going to boot me in the face. I'm so glad I don't working the camp medical office and I don't have to deal with the 14 year old girls who get genital herpes... ON THEIR FACE!
All the other officers are great. It nice to be able to go into the officers mess after a long hot day and have a couple beers and shoot the shit with the other staff before going to bed. It also helps that we have the most gorgeous bartender you have ever seen! I'll make sure to get a picture of her before the end of summer.
On Wednesday night we went to Bleachers the base bar for Down Homers night, a treat from home for the many people from the maritimes. Half price wings, half price Keiths and a live band, Empty Flask, playing newfie classics.
The next time I'm home will be July 29 - Aug 1. My last day at the camp is Aug 14.
At least some movie reviewers know what they're talking about.
What we predicted about I, Robut earlier seems to have been fulfilled. The Globe and Mail thought it sucked. Asimov's soul has not yet been avenged, but it's a start.
Thursday, July 15, 2004
I'm Back in the City Again!
Back! Back! Back in the city!
For a few days, anyways. I believe until sunday, when I go back to painting. But as for now, I'm in town, so if anyone wants to throw me an impromptu party, they're welcome to do it.
Let's see, what else? Today I went out and bought the X-Men "Inferno" trade paperback. It's aboout demons invading New York, as well as Mr. Sinister. It's pretty good, but by far the best thing about it is that one of the demons in clearly Dave Sim. (of Cerebus fame) Quite the insult. In a related story, on my trip to the Silver Snail to get this book, I gave my change to some street kid who was selling karma for 25ยข a pop. I got $2 bucks worth of karma, and it worked! I was starting to walk home when I ran into my sister's old friend, Natalie Koniuk, who cheerfully gave me a student ticket, which was accepted with no scrutiny! Furthermore, when I got home, I had a letter from York telling me that I was accepted into the "you didn't do any work, but we still love you" program, allowing me to go back next year! Karma indeed!
By the by, I'm up for any camping being done in August, provided I get a ride. I think it'll be a whale of a time!
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
This is a pic drawn by Andy, of a chibi version of myself at Blockbuster. It makes me happy.
spending the rest of the summer busting blocks...
I have been ridiculously busy, and yet when I look back I'm not sure why. Yeah, I work full time, but so do many people. But I haven't had a day without a shift in over two weeks. Crazy. I just quit Laura Secord today, so hopefully Blockbuster will be kind in their scheduling.
Speaking of scheduling, I figured out my timetable for second year, and I only have classes from Mon-Wed. That's it. I have three, LONG days, and then four days to work/get assignments done. I guess it could either turn out beautifully or horribly. Either way, I can't wait to be back at York! It may sound geeky, but I miss it like crazy.
Speaking of York, I got an email today from the course director for Professional Writing, asking me to write a blurb and have my picture taken for propaganda purposes. That's so awesome! Though if I screw up writing the blurb, it's not going to reflect too well on my program.... Be sure to look for me on the Faculty of Arts website if you don't see any of the flyer stuff...(does it go only to new students? I have no idea).
My life must be getting boring, because I really don't know what else to talk about. A boss at Blockbuster is going to be giving me boxes of Batman, Spiderman and Blade of the Immortal (my favourite comic book) for FREE, so I'm really excited about that. *sigh* I am a geek.
I can't even FIND Neverwinter Goddamn Nights
Every store I've looked into has the expansion sets, but no actual game. This is what I get for waiting for things to become affordable.
I am able to come camping. There are no worries on that end thanks to the lack of birthday logistics, though the 7 people problem is a bit annoying. I should also mention that my tent can be divided into two separete rooms should the need arise, as I imagine it will.
I just recently started reading the works of H.P. Lovecraft. I love his style, and his creatures are extremely disturbing. Right now I'm reading The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. It kind of drags a little in spots, but it's a good read. I have yet to touch upon the Cthulu Mythos. I figure save the best for last.
I saw the actual theatrical trailer for I, Robot two days ago when I went to see Spiderman 2. I felt like I was about to have a stroke. I hope the person who produced that movie is raped by wild boars, struck by lightning twice, and then afflicted with a flesh eating bacteria that takes both his arms so he can never write again, or so that he can be given a set or robotic arms with AI that will strangle him to death after ripping off his penis and killing any of his progeny that exist. Spiderman 2, on the other hand, was a pretty good flick. Don't bother with the first hour of the movie, that sucks, but once Doc Ock gets his crime on its a blast, and there were a lot of obvious improvements over the first installment. The movie certainly wasn't fantastic, but Doc Ock was. Every time one of his tentacles moved it was magic to me. I need to get a set of those. Toby Maguire still can't act. But he does suck less now, which I will give him some credit for. At least he's learned a few facial expressions since the first Spidey flick.
The rest of this post will be devoted to a video game. I am very sorry.
I've been playing a lot of Master of Orion 3, unhealthy amounts in fact. The game is effectively a simulator that does an amazing job of simulating every facet of a galactic empire. You start with one planet and a colony ship, with two dinky little scouts that fly around scouting out planets for you. After that, the game becomes far more complex. Each galaxy is a 3-D map containing upwards of 300 stars. Each star can have up to 9 planets, with the full spectrum of habitability, mineral richness (yum!) and fertility levels in the soil. Each planet is then divided into several Designated Economic Activities, which range from farming to mining to research to governemnt activities. Each DEA can then, individually, be told to construct a variety of structures and planet-affecting systems. Each planet also has a demographic display that shows what kinds of peolpe live on the planet, in what numbers, how well they are living and how content they are. Then there are two building queues, one for military and one for planetary activities. The first time I opened up a planetary information screen I was indimidated. There was just too much stuff to handle, so I turned my planets over to viceroys who followed my basic guidelines and tried to make sure I didn't send the entire empire to pot.
All that stuff was pretty much one tiny portion of the game, but it is also the most complex portion. After that there are a variety of screens that help you plan and detirmine finance, spying, leadership, construction guidelines, forced laour, oppression and a ton of other stuff. By far, my favorite thing in the entire game is the Oppresso-meter. Using this handly slider, you can determine how much you oppress your people. Oppression increases security, but also increases unrest. Needless to say, I'm the most oppressive bastard ever. Even for my species I'm considered despotic, and my species doesn't play nice. Oh yeah, there are 16 species to play, and you can toggle with each race to give it improvements and more tolerable weaknesses.
Technolgy in the game is insane. There is a gigantic matrix that has six seperate screens that deal with various technical fields, and the amount of technological innovation you have access to is unbelievable. Technology doesn't slow down for you either. I pretty much ignore ship design until I'm given enemies to fight, otherwise I'd be designing a new series of ships every five turns. There are three different ship types (orbital, system, star) that can be given a variety of missions. Long Range Attack, Short Range Attack, Indirect Fire, Transport, Skirmish etc. Designing them is fun as long as you refrain from doing it too often, and laying waste to your enemies is ALWAYS fun. "Eat neutronium death!"
There's a ton more to say about the game. But I'll leave it at that. Basically, given the complexity, combined with the wonderful, beautiful graphics, if you have OCD STAY THE HELL AWAY! I decided to play a game without any AI running my empire and I discovered you practically need a filing cabinet to keep up with this stuff. I love all this, but I can see why the game didn't sell all that well. It's just too much for most people. It's a real niche game, but a good one. Now I am going to go rotate my galaxy view for half an hour and watch the pretty light show. Even the simplest of pleasures can be had with this game. Ciao!
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Optimus Firefighter and Neverwinter No-Go
Neil, you're applying to the McDonald's at Avenue & Bloor? Neat. I'm over near St. George Station. I'll come by and scam food off of you regularly. Because you know you want to bite back the man. Specifically by giving me bowel cancer.
What could be more hardcore than being a National Guard firefighter? Being a National Guard firefighter named Optimus Prime.
I'm rather angry with BioWare at the moment. They released a Neverwinter Nights client for the Mac, and of course, all of the data files are the same. Unfortunately it was released under a different publisher (namely MacSoft) and they want to make money off of you, too, so the client standalone isn't available for download. You have to shell out more money for a game which you already own (if you've got the PC version) to get that one crucial missing puzzle piece which you don't have a license for. That's like making you pay for a new car to get a new steering wheel. Highway-bloody-robbery, I say.
Of course, if they hadn't royally fucked over the Linux client for NWN I wouldn't care all that much.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Assault weapons petition
Even though we're Canadian and our presence on the petition is symbolic at most, I figured I'd share this. Tom Mauser, who had his son killed at Columbine, has set up an online petition to renew the federal ban on assault weapons (i.e. AK-47's) in the United States. The right to bear arms (as part of a local militia, but that part is usually left out) is guaranteed in the United States, but there is no legitimate use for these kinds of weapons. Sign if you want, but more importantly, pass this to any American friends you have. 
