A size comparison chart of every space craft you’ve ever seen in sci-fi.
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Serenity
Thanks to a heads up from Stavros, I now hold a pass to the advance screening of Serenity on the 28th! Yes!
Everything’s Not Lost
Tonight I realized that, if I’m not careful, I start running a script in my head about how things “ought” to be in a given situation. Like at a concert, you’re supposed to do certain things, act a certain way. It’s game theory, really, the semi-conscious response to unwritten social rules. I find that when I obey the script and not my heart, I am very unhappy. The script said I needed to be at the concert with someone, perhaps a pretty girl. I was supposed to be a big fan and shiver in anticipation. I was supposed to jump around and be excited that someone was playing on the stage. I find that I can’t even walk straight when I’m going against my own path, let alone put on some facade of “thrilled concert goer.” As soon as I stopped scoping out women, stopped feeling sorry about the fact that I was there by myself, stopped being concerned about what I should do when the band was playing, I became supremely happy and at ease. It was perfectly okay to sit and write and occasionally remember that Coldplay was putting on a great show. I didn’t want my thoughts interrupted. I didn’t want to worry if some hypothetical date was having a good time. I didn’t want a script to interfere with my sense of self or my peace.
Inspiration
Sometimes I wonder why I find myself in certain situations, but then a magical catalyst of environment and circumstance gels together to inspire an idea. Tonight, at the excellent Coldplay concert, I was struck by an idea for House of Whack so brilliant that I impressed myself. I sat on the hillside of the Journal Pavilion, scribbling on my notepad while my muse played on stage, accompanied by some of the best visual effects I had seen at a concert.
In my own playtesting of version 2, I have been surprised at how much better the game is. I am rarely ecstatic about anything I’ve made, but I have to say that I’m feeling pretty clever lately. Version 2 is very, very good. But this epiphany I had tonight kicks the dial up to 11. I’ve devised something so astonishing and cool. It will demonstrate the power and flexibility of the Whack system. Yes, “system.” As in d20, as in GURPS.
On the other hand, I might be the only one interested in this idea at all, but we’ll see…
Solitary Shell
Solitary Shell
– Dream Theater
He seemed no different from the rest
Just a healthy normal boy
His mama always did her best
And he was daddy’s pride and joy
He learned to walk and talk on time
But never cared much to be held
and steadily he would decline
Into his solitary shell
As a boy he was considered somewhat odd
Kept to himself most of the time
He would daydream in and out of his own world
but in every other way he was fine
He’s a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell
A temporary catatonic
Madman on occasion
When will he break out
Of his solitary shell
He struggled to get through his day
He was helplessly behind
He poured himself onto the page
Writing for hours at a time
As a man he was a danger to himself
Fearful and sad most of the time
He was drifting in and out of sanity
But in every other way he was fine
He’s a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell
A momentary maniac
With casual delusions
When will he be let out
Of his solitary shell
Theme Song
Salome continues to haunt me from the day I heard it. For me, Salome isn’t a woman in particular, but the sentiment of lost love, a relationship disillusioned by reasons inexplicable and shifting.
While the original Old 97s version is good, I’ve come to prefer the cover by Ryan and his friends on “Passing For Normal.”
Salome, uncross your heart
I know what goes on inside it’s over before it starts
Well I’ll stay all night, I’ll wait right here
Full moon might work magic, girl but I won’t disappear.
And I’m tired of makin’ friends.
And I’m tired of makin’ time.
And I’m sick to death of love.
And I’m sick to death of tryin’.
And it’s easier for you
Yeah it’s easier for you.
And it’s easier for you
Yeah it’s easier for you.
Salome, untie my hands
Well I’ll find another lady
And you’ll wreck another man.
It’s over now, and so are we
My blood’s turned to dirt girl
You broke every part of me
And I’m tired of makin’ friends.
And I’m tired of makin’ time.
And I’m sick to death of love.
And I’m sick to death of tryin’.
And it’s easier for you.
Yeah it’s easier for you.
Torn
I fear nothing
Besides myself
Please don’t touch me
Love like an infant trying to stand up
Am I two souls
One hard, one whole
Am I real
I don’t want to feel anything
Anymore
I feel nothing
Besides this pain
Please don’t watch me
Love like an infant
Scared and crawling
– Toad the Wet Sprocket
Games Are Unnecessary
I read an article a while ago from the recent Game Developer’s Conference, describing Keita Takahashi’s speech about the making of Katamari Damacy, one of my favorite PS2 games. What he says about gaming in general echoes a lot of my own sentiments. Games are not “important,” but perhaps they can bring some happiness into people’s lives, if only for a short while.
Hastings = Evil
Here’s why I should not be allowed to enter Hastings. When confronted with cool designer magazines and bargain DVDs, my willpower withers like a marshmallow tossed upon flaming coals and I will gladly spend my grocery money on these “necessities”. I was doing some shopping at Hobby Lobby, you know, crafts and such. Upon exiting, I felt the magnetic pull of Hastings, right next door, as though its very structure were composed of oppositely charged Drey particles.
The design section of the magazine sector was choked with slick European graphics magazines, AKA designer porn. I feel as if the mere presence of such a magazine near my computer will substantially increase my mad skillz. And then Cinefex decided to cram Sin City, Constantine, Revenge of the Sith AND Hitchhiker’s Guide into a single issue. Bastards.
I could have just made a break for the checkout aisle, but no, I completed a circuit of the entire store. Near the home stretch they have this new section of DVDs: Buy 2, get 1 for 1 cent. When I looked down, I was somehow carrying a copy of Sideways, The Life Aquatic and House of Flying Daggers (for about $7 each!).
At the checkout counter, I avoided the cashier’s gaze. I might as well have been buying a six pack of dildos and a tub of Vaseline. I then fled the scene, lest the temptation to reserve a copy of Harry Potter overwhelmed me (besides, I already reserved it on Amazon.).