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LifestreamThis I mean. It so happens I had declared the table width to be 99% twice via style sheets. Changing that and fixing the broken code (had an extra <tr><td> for some reason) and a couple of validation issues seemed to have cleared it all up. For a while that is what I believed at least. Now I see the problem does in fact persist. To a lesser degree perhaps, but still.
Archive Page 125
Note to self: The third installment should hit the shelves over at United Publications any time now. Must .. order .. cannot .. resist ..
Usually I find Metacritic most helpful but in the case of Passion of the Christ, The the results are inconclusive. It’s one of those movies you can either love or hate I guess.
Chicago Sun-Times / Roger Ebert — It is a film about an idea. An idea that it is necessary to fully comprehend the Passion if Christianity is to make any sense. Gibson has communicated his idea with a singleminded urgency. Many will disagree. Some will agree, but be horrified by the graphic treatment. I myself am no longer religious in the sense that a long-ago altar boy thought he should be, but I can respond to the power of belief whether I agree or not, and when I find it in a film, I must respect it.
ReelViews / James Berardinelli — A gripping, powerful motion picture — arguably the most forceful depiction of Jesus’ death ever to be committed to film. It leaves an indelible imprint on the psyche; viewers of this movie may never look at a crucifix in quite the same way.
.. but everyone is not so cheerful …
Slate / David Edelstein — This is a two-hour-and-six-minute snuff movie — The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre — that thinks it’s an act of faith.
New York Magazine / Peter Rainer — It isn’t just the violence that is overplayed. There is so much creepy-Gothic Sturm und Drang in The Passion that at times it seems as if Clive Barker should get credit for the story along with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Hmm. Looks like I’ll be waiting for the DVD RIP.
Some people sure take the passion pretty seriously though: Woman Dies During Screening Of ‘Passion Of The Christ’.
[brief nuisance rant] One thing that usually gets to me is people that cannot distinguish between indoors and outdoors and also don’t realize the advantages of each element and how to adapt each of those to the respective sphere. You know who they are. They are the ones that don’t mind smoking indoors, never take off their headgears and more than likely piss on the toilet seat. Ghastly people. Not that I would ever trust a smoker but still.
But above all, do you know what I really, really hate? It’s people who keep pets indoors. Mammals in general and ESPECIALLY CATS. I’d rather see that people bred cockroaches for a hobby. Cat boxes makes me want to fumigate the entire house. Disgusting practise, keeping animals indoors. It’s not much unlike the dark ages when people used to have other domesticated species like pigs and sheep roaming freely in their would-be living rooms.
It seems to be final. According to IDG (swedish), the scumbag democracy that we (not I) hold so dearly, has allowed the industry to charge 4 SEK per blank DVDR. Effectively starting April 1st (ironic!).
At the moment it is still legal to make copies of digital media for private use, so called backups. But starting next year it WILL be illegal to bypass copy protection schemes (as all products have today more or less). So in the end you might have to pay a fee to compensate for something that you are not allowed to do anyway. It pains me to see that Sweden too is falling into darkness.
Rest assured that I will not comply. This first faltering step can be negated by stockpiling and private imports. As for the coming insanity, breaking civil laws only excites me. And I’m fairly certain most people will react the same way. It’s a minor law and the current system gains support every second of the day whereas our opponents gain none.
This is a matter of principle. Copyright must end. And democracy must be torn asunder for the crimes they have committed.
It’s that time of year again. One of those events that remind you of the fact that yet another year has passed you by. The temporal pillars that carry the weight of the world and the contemporary obsession with time.
So, here it is again, as regular as clockwork. And despite the fact that you for the most part can get the same books online, the year around, and at a lower rate. It’s a tradition and a regular scam. Like Christmas. Ineffective, simplistic and pointless.
For years I have ostracized this annual tradition. I have seen no point in participating. I don’t read books anymore. It is one of those practices I lost while passing over to adulthood. Strange as it may sound. Hell, I hardly open my course literature anymore. I could almost be described as aliterate when it comes to printed sources.
At any rate, this year I found a reason to break the tradition, if only for a brief moment. And that reason was cookery books, which are suddenly available in abundance. I guess it has become fashionable given all those pointless cooking shows on TV these days. So that is what I’ll be getting. Dirt cheap and specialized collections on health food, wok, pasta and possibly also a muffin guide if I can find one that fits my outline of what a muffins should be like.
In a way it’s very foreseeable. I never imagined I would be able to shake my fixation with nutrition that easily. For better or for worse, it is something that will guide me for the rest of my life. It’s one of those things that you cannot undo without much effort. Much like either being religious or irreligious.
Update: I had a book block. Writing this beforehand surely helped to that end. And these stores seem to wanna sweat their customers to death by turning up the heat really, really high. Extremely unfriendly to people who know how to dress and beneficial to prancing schoolgirls and pansies. Is this reverse evolution or what? Plus I always get unbalanced and defensive in large groups. I can’t stand the pushing. Nor can I stand seeing people I recognize from elsewhere. I.e. shoaling only works for me if I can guarantee complete anonymity. And on top of this the books were pretty much crap everywhere I went. Still have the health food book I acquired yesterday (when I was in a better mood) though. Strawberry smoothies to go around …
Better late than never. I just realized that the first Tintin comic was published 75 years ago. 10th of January 1929 to be precise.
Since I also recently acquired ALL comic books (scanned of course) this was a real blast from the past.
I can still remember running down to the local library as a kid, trying to grab the elusive and immensely popular series. I grew up reading this stuff and I loved it. I still think that the stories are very well written and not kids’ stuff per se. Overall, the comics make up one of the fondest memories from my childhood, together with reading ghost stories at night and having no concept of time. Too bad some things cannot last a lifetime.
Perhaps the most memorable thing about Tintin is the colorful characters, and among them Captain Haddock. Especially so for the numerous and vivid curses (Swedish) (English) that constantly pour out of him. Blithering bombardier! Baboon! Thundering son of a sea-gherkin! Invertebrate!
Obviously there is something wrong with the way recent Mozilla browsers render the item tables. I.e. the posts in the blog. Maybe its a coding error on my part, or something with CSS that I’ve lived too long in IE and missed. Or more likely it’s a bug. The “overflow” is kind of random as well, but all in all the text is much too close to the edge compared to how it’s “supposed to” be.
I have been reminded of this in the past, but I figured it would go away. Since I too upgraded (to FireFox) the problem became more acute.
[unhinged rant] For as long as I can remember I’ve been plagued by fits of aggressive tendencies. It is nothing I am particularly proud of and thankfully something that has become less common over the years.
At first I hoped it was simply a matter of maturity and that it would all stabilize with age. For a while it seemed like a safe assumption. However, as I mature I am also able to distance myself from those things in life that foster my hate and aggression. So, I have come to believe, there is no positive correlation between mental age and aggression (in my case). It’s just a question of zigzagging the obstacles and thinking it will go away. And maybe it will. I’m not exactly at the end if line yet. All I’m saying is that I hoped to gain greater control over my emotions than I have up to this point. Even if controlling one will mean crippling the others. Scarce but clear regressions remind me of what I’d rather not be. Or what do I want?
I am at the same time curious as to why all of this came to be. Is it something hereditary, either by genetic or social traits? Or is it a reaction to the clearly unsuitable environment outside of the family that I was exposed to while growing up? First devoid of interaction with peers and then with those that did not respect my integrity. I assume it is a question of trying to get back at an unfair world every way that you can. Things past that are knocking on your door, crying out for blind retribution. That perhaps is the biggest problem. Like so many others I tend to bottle up anger only to release it at a later time. At someone who no doubt deserves it to a degree but never to the full extent. I mean, either you act on it there and then or never bother with it again. At least I have gotten better in this aspect. If it really is better.
Hours and yet hours in the woods, alone, with metal pumping thru my head. Like so many others seeking out exactly what I should avoid. Like flies to honey. Nurturing the qualities that you should shun. Ironic but predictable.
Shivering, cold and sweating, after the adrenaline rush has worn off. Like a aggression junky. The disgrace and panic overloading your brain, crippling all attempts at rational thought. That is surely the worst part. Because losing control and all reason is a defeat of the senses. Having the opportunity to redeem, but using that short time to protect the self. And to hurt once more. Knowing what is right but not setting it right. That is the worst crime of all.
“Luckily” I am still bound by a differentiation of roles. Private, public and foremost the roles of being alone and with others. I wonder what it would take to break those limitations and roam free. And what the result would be. Having a bad feeling about it, I still can’t help wonder. I am not one to believe in fatalism .. but given who I am and what I cannot undo, maybe that is my “destiny” after all.
There is one speculation that keeps recurring above others. The feeling that I am out of time and out of place. Both presently and from a historical standpoint. Haven’t we all felt that at one time or another?
Where would I have been 100 years ago, 200 years ago or half a millennia ago? What purpose would I have served then and how does it relate to the present. The logical assumption is that I would have sailed the seven seas, looking for a smidgen of excitement but also as a way to get away from it all, constantly being on the move and having no ties to anyone. You know what they say: “He who knows the past commands the future”. Just find the repeating patterns and what is tried and true. Change and conservation; past, present and future in one perfect blend.
What on earth did happen to the “sequel” anyway? According to IMDB, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation should premiere on DVD and TV at the end of April. The reason I mention this now is because someone uploaded a massive SVCD of ST2 in German to Suprnova.org. I wouldn’t have noticed ordinarily but for a while it had over 10000 people downloading so it kind of stood out. Still waiting for an English version though. Even if you sort of know the language, watching a German dub is NOT pretty.
Anyway, there are three things to remember here … it IS after all TV movies, it is NOT a sequel per se and we will NOT get to see the power suits, armor suits, mechs etc. I.e. the Phil Tippett crew is working hard once again to disregard the Heinlein book by the same name that is after all a template for the franchise. The question is, will it be any good or will they be able to screw it up beyond ST1 even despite starting out on rock bottom? Realistically it can only get better. Especially since they pledged to move the story away from the battlefields of ST1 and towards a more close up horror theme. Someone made the comparison between Alien and Aliens to illustrate this. Personally I think the story sounds a bit more like Pitch Black meets The Thing …
Other than that it has been extremely quiet on the ST front. A couple of ST2 shots surfaced last year but the hype is not what you could expect. I guess a direct to TV / DVD release does that to a movie.
As for ST1 it is a case of what I’d like to call “unrealized realities”. But that is another rant. Bottom line is that it didn’t live up to expectations. Not on any level. A travesty with the only lasting impression being the political message. But even as such, those propaganda features became a little too much. Too much clumsy freewheeling.
All in all blatantly unskilled and imprudent production.
I’ll make the same recommendation as I have before. If you like Starship Troopers but hated the movie the only thing left (apart from the book of course!) is Roughnecks : The Starship Troopers Chronicles. A series that works miracles on the story.
Despite supposedly being a children’s show it feels more enveloping and mature than most movies in the same genre. Refreshing to say the least. Even if it dropped most of the political concept completely. No matter. If you can’t portray it well, don’t portray it at all. No one likes fruit salad anyway.
And while on the subject, I might also point to the fact that the upcoming Starship Troopers game seems well underway. Should be out for Christmas if everything holds up.
It would be a blast if the devs could turn the Starship Troopers universe into a playable game. That would be about the first time ever that a movie or book to game adaptation worked out in that case … I mean realistically there are only like 4-5 good games each year (and hundreds of failures) so chances are this will bomb.
