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| Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 | | 12:37 pm |
stuff
Still in Ontario. It really seems vacationy. I will get on prep-work and landlady-caregiving in August but for now I am in a bubble in a small town.
The plays at Stratford were great. All's Well that End's Well had a weak lead but a stellar supporting cast. Fuente Ortuna was well worth seeing (done by the Spanish equivalent of Shakespeare...who knew?). Kinda interesting that it had the revolutionary idea of villagers (men and women both!) rising up and killing their evil local ruler, and then their best idea was to find a better ruler to swear allegiance to. Democracy/Self-rule wasn't even on their horizon or radar. I wonder what concepts are beyond my horizon or radar. Oh, and Music Man was extremely well done. Mom saw Cabaret which she said was well-crafted but RAW. I didn't see that one (I was kinda all Nazi'd out after Downfall...I haven't even seen The Producers yet).
Movie wise, Wall-E is cute. I will even keep that one as a reserve date movie (yes I believe in prescreening date movies. With my track record, you would too). Prince Caspian was ok. The special effects are good enough that I can just sit back and believe in a talking mouse. Hellboy II was well done, although I didn't get as much of Hellboy being Hellboy and instead got more of Hellboy in Pan's Labrynth world (which was ok for me as I loved Pan's Labrynth).
And then I saw The Happening.
This movie I interpret on three levels.
As a human story of a couple working through their issues, I think it was a success.
As an existential take on the Sartrean idea that we all ultimately should feel some nausea at the idea that there is *nothing* except our own continual affirmation of will that keeps us from killing ourselves, I think it can work too.
As a horror story...my belief was not suspended. At all. Like I could see holes in the story, and kept asking "why don't they...wouldn't that mean...how come this...surely the government would...". As one exercise, imagine that you are standing in the middle of a field, far away from buildings and with nothing except what you are wearing now and is in your pockets now. Now try to kill yourself. Could you do it? I don't mean "work up the guts, lose all will to live, etc." I mean could you possibly succeed physically, assuming you were trying really hard? I have no idea how I would be able too, barring a large cliff (but I am in the middle of a field...). Now multiply me by 1000s. Would there not be a lot of failed attempts if people were trying to kill themselves?
Maybe the plot holes are intentional. Maybe it was meant to be a B-horror movie background against which the former two themes play out. But I think a lot of people will take the B-horror movie at face value and they will be disappointed. And perhaps annoyed at the cliches. The Brother doesn't make it, for example.
Speaking of which, I would (if I had a crapload of money, and talent, and the like) love to make a movie called "Brother's Gotta Make It!" in which a crack team of action heroes do everything in their power to stop the black guy from dying in the movie they are in (and no cheating by having other black people die instead). And I would keep upping the ante, having the events in the world getting more and more contrived trying to kill the guy (starting with a crazed gunman, then a team of ninja, then the Evil Chief of Police, then the girlfriend possessed by evil spirits (or brainwashed by a cult), then escalating to sharks, then burning and collapsing buildings, earthquakes, volcanoes, godzilla like monsters, radiation, plague-vectors carried by rabid zombie wolverines, meteors, etc.). To make it harder, I would make the black guy wear a red shirt for the entire movie, and come out of the closet as gay in the middle of it (hey it gives the girlfriend pathos before she turns into a killing machine). I could even add a disclaimer at the end: "No African-American characters were killed in this film."
I have finished The Unhooked Generation but will keep that for future reference.
I am nearly done Gene Wolfe's tetralogy The Book of the Long Sun. Wow.
And...I bought the DMG for 4e D&D and will read some of that stuff too. :)
The cleaning lady is here. The cats (mom's old Burmese and youngish white and black shorthaired whatever) have decided to go outside for now. | | Saturday, July 5th, 2008 | | 12:34 am |
Bye all
Going to Ontario. May or may not use the computer when there...it sometimes is dicey. Back on 23rd. | | Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 | | 2:44 pm |
Allergies?
Went with cats to Langley. They hated the trip (well Oliver did) but liked the holiday home so they are ok. Then went wit Langley friends to a late night drive in and saw Wall-E at 9:45 and Prince Caspian at 11:45. We were not done until two! And I stayed in the car, first movie because of rain and second movie because I wasn't feeling well and just wanted to catch the 1st 10 minutes of P.C. because I missed that the last time. I was up until 2:30am! I usually don't do that.
Anyhow I am caught up on Prince Caspian. And I have seen all of season 1 of Dexter and all of The Sopranos. I is cultured modern style.
Kind of tired today. I think I will pack today to save time tomorrow, though. | | Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 | | 8:37 am |
Gaming cancelled today
I and the cats are going to Langley, the cats to stay in their holiday home, me to stick around, say hi, go to a double-feature drive in with friends, stay overnight, etc.
I will miss the cats. :(
But I know they will be well looked after and well loved. :)
So if anyone in my Solomon Kane game is reading this, my game is cancelled 'coz I won't be there! No Zombie Run on the 2nd either, so if you want a gaming fix you might want to bring a board game or something. | | Saturday, June 28th, 2008 | | 10:27 pm |
Good times.
The 1st date went pretty well. She is nice, attractive, sane, and didn't freak out at my mentioning that I play D&D (and she seemed especially interested when I told her of its cooperative rather than competitive game nature). She doesn't own pets but doesn't mind them.
I feel pretty good about this one.
Afterwards, saw some friends, went to Metrotown, bought a purple wig (now I have two crazy wigs - bald man's prerogative). Tired though. This batch of friends are in their 20's and I am in my mid 30's and there is a difference. They went on to watch a movie at one of their houses, but I came home to sleep -- I have D&D tomorrow and I have to bring some potluck, so that means a trip to the store, I guess.
I leave in a week for ON, parents, Stratford plays, etc. I will see my sister too. Jason can't make it out here in August after all. Maybe next time.
Hey, my peaceful Wargame Knighthood had a rules change, so I built a workshop without having to go to war. Cool beans! So now my peaceful kingdom has a bit of a flurry of activity, before settling again to slow and steady growth. No war mode for me, though. Not my style in that game. And the exponentially slower growth works for me, as when I teach again in September, I can just leave the game alone for months at a time. :)
The cats looks tired. What did *they* do all day? :) | | Friday, June 27th, 2008 | | 12:55 pm |
Boy Scout Ranger Neighbour didn't arrive to get landlady to ear doc, so I cabbed it with her. She didn't like the $10 to the taxi, and wanted exercise besides, so she wanted to walk back (20 short blocks, 3 long ones). So I supported her 95 year old arm and we did it. So I helped an old lady across the street enough to earn a boy scout merit badge. We took a break at Starbucks and another at Safeway Starbucks (I got our shopping done). Then home. Anyhow, her ears are not too bad for a 95 year old, just wear and tear. She would benefit from a hearing aid in the other ear, but she thinks she is fine and just wants her eyes to be better. At Safeway I remembered that 4 days ago was 4 years since I moved here so I got flowers in a pot. This is the longest I have lived with a non-family member ever. Student Res. was mostly me alone and I wasn't at previous Basement Suite that long. Before that it was with parents or with sister (latter not recommended, we do better with geographical distance as our living habit preferences are diametrically opposed). Anyhow, today is Castles and Crusades (maybe, I seem to be the only enthusiastic player -- it is kind of fun trying to survive as a 1 hp ranger (my DM is hardcore -- roll HP and keep what you get)) and Dungeons and Dragons 4e (definitely). ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) polyranger take note, Rangers kick all kinds of ass in 4e! They can either go the Archer From Hell route or the Two Weapon Blender route (and no one -- NO ONE -- can do two weapon fighting like they can). I know you love 2e, but I recommend at least looking through the 4e PHB if you can. Still on the Depressing Yet Insightful Book on Why Relationships are so F*king Hard to Get/Maintain in My Generation. I really want to get this book done before my date tomorrow, but that may not be possible. I am optimistic about her -- I hope the date works out. Please God don't let her have a crackhead ex-boyfriend that she still keeps in touch with, don't let her be a Holocaust Revisionist, or crap like that. Give me someone that is sane enough to be functional! I know she likes cats, so that is a plus. | | Thursday, June 26th, 2008 | | 4:42 pm |
| | 12:21 pm |
More on cats and religion http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/funny-pictures-cat-ponders-buddhas-teachings.jpgI slept in due to clouds. Now I am coughing a bit. Solomon Kane game turned into Jamie's Zombie Run game (same Savage Worlds system) which is fine. I think it is good to get other people trying out running the games like Savage Worlds, Castles and Crusades, etc., that are not the BIG GUNS (like D&D, White Wolf stuff, etc.) for variety. Jon does 7th Sea on the weekends and I think that is good too. Anyhow I played an old fat man. If anyone was custom made to become zombie food, this is the guy. But I am leaving to visit my folks soon so that is all right. That said, I love how 4e plays so far, and I am told it is a breeze to run. I also heard a rumour that the creators of 4e were Savage Worlds fans. :) So, quiet day today. I will read The Depressing Book on Relationships called The Unhooked Generation. Actually it has interesting thoughts in it. And I guess there is some cheer in that it is not saying I am fucked up. It is saying my entire society is fucking everybody up. And it vindicates getting rid of my tv. (But can I get rid of my internets?) :) | | Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 | | 1:53 pm |
A reason to retire a meme? An argument against using a certain phrase to shut down debate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR0o17RSwo8Oliver is in a cuddly mood on my lap right now, makes typing a wee bit hard. He is a fun black drooly cat. But he is drooling with joy! | | Saturday, June 21st, 2008 | | 7:34 am |
meanwhile...
Percy threw up. Medicated him. Not a happy camper.
I still am not a hundred percent. Medicated self with Gaviscon and Buckley's cough syrup and water. We'll see. | | 7:26 am |
Woolite ninja update
Ok, went upstairs with the rug stick and woolite trial can.
I'm very happy with the kitchen floor. That is clean. I used a dry mop their afterwards to wipe away the foam.
The rug in the living and dining room had few stains and I think I got them out. At least what I could find.
The carpet runner outside the bathroom had more stains and I did my best there. But see below.
The bathroom was where I was running out of foam and some stains on the floor might be old or ground in, but I did my best. But see below.
This is the below: The bathroom also had her dirtied laundry, so it stank. And thus I don't know whether the stink was all laundry or not.
So, I'm at the point where if I do more, I would be detected, wounding her pride. I can do one of two things.
a) Leave it alone. She will clean out her laundry when she wakes up and either will be none the wiser or will quite sensibly be in denial about any evidence of my cleaning up.
b) Go whole hog. Do her laundry, take the carpet runner into the cleaners etc. More cleaning gets done, but she knows what I am up to and gets upset.
I will do option a for now, and wait and see. I will also do some spraying with the air freshener. That won't be detected by her, I think, since she has previously said "my smeller doesn't work". Alas, mine does. :)
I am not the most cleanly of folk, but I draw the line at human feces on the floor, I must admit. :) I really hope that this was a one time occurance and she learns of the joy of adult diapers (she has those in the house but was previously too proud to wear them - but I bet she would rather wear them than go through this again. I know I would, in her shoes). | | Friday, June 20th, 2008 | | 11:33 pm |
ninja cleaning service
Tomorrow morning my landlady will be asleep (she is a bit of night owl). That is when I shall clean up a bit upstairs. I bought the cleaners while out today, including a rug stick that takes Woolite heavy traffic. That should more than disinfect the kitchen and bathroom and hopefully clean the carpet runners.
Not tonight though. She is still awake and laying in bed and me turning on the light and pottering around would arouse her attention.
D&D went well. I like 4th ed combat and enjoy playing the wizard (I never thought I would say that about D&D since 1st ed).
All should be well soon. Gotta medicate the cat though. | | 1:21 pm |
ewwwww
My landlady shat herself on the way to the bathroom. Crap all over the kitchen (probably ran down her leg), the little hallway into the bathroom, the bathroom, and a wee bit before hand. And to think she sometimes worried about my cats' habits!
No mop to be found. She very independently wants to clean it herself with a rag. I secretly spray carpets with spot remover when she not looking. I will check with local laundromat whether they do carpet runners. maybe I will take one there tomorrow. If she doesn't do laundry tonight I will, but again we hit that independence. And embarrassment I suppose.
Smells awful. She had diapers but too proud to wear em, I guess. I put some on her bed. She needs to start wearing them, obviously.
But (cowardly as it sounds) I am getting out of the house right now. Not much else I can do here. I told her neice in Victoria.
Getting old, apparently, sucks. Or at least it can suck. | | 11:04 am |
| | 8:27 am |
simple pleasures
There is something hilarious about watching two slightly overweight cats from behind as they travel quickly down a staircase. :)
And I will buy comics and play D&D today! Woot! | | Thursday, June 19th, 2008 | | 9:07 pm |
invite
I got invited to be the base in an acappella acap- "singing without musical instruments" group (I would be 1 of 4, the lone bass - not bad for someone that still can't read music that well). That is quite flattering and I think I will take them up on their offer. As I don't think I need the money, I will just be doing it for the groupies. :) Seriously though, ti shoudl be cool. Singing is a good thing.
Still slightly papery (skin like paper in texture and seems o so sensisitve) from teh flu, but getting better and hope to play D&D tomorrow. AS usual i have been obsessing over hte character. Damn the flue infects my typing, don't it? | | 8:21 pm |
| | Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 | | 7:16 pm |
| | 2:23 pm |
zombies
Hey falan, looks like a one shot of zombie run is taking my slot tonight. | | 12:02 pm |
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