Stuff

Just a lot of miscellenia. My weight loss has stalled over the past week, bouncing between 220 and 222. I've upped my workout a little, and next week I'm in my own store all week (which means I'll stick to my diet because I won't have people taking me to lunch in appreciation or post-meeting meetings at pubs), so hopefully I can crack this and get back to dropping pounds of fat.


Last night could have been another transgression, as Weasel and I were supposed to meet at a pub where Guinness was supposed to be having a "win a home pub" contest. The place has really good pub food, and loaded potato skins are a weakness of mine. But I didn't even finish half a beer before the place had to be evacuated because of a gas leak.

Tonight I'm going to a party, but I'll just have to moderate myself, and tomorrow is the gym before going to the Fisher's ren faire, so I don't plan on getting carried away on food or drink.

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Movie review: Flyboys

A friend of mine mentioned in a recent review how the people she watched a movie with could affect her opinion of it. Since I watch 75 - 80% of movies by myself, I wonder if that also influences my take on a given movie. Of course, going solo also means that I watch movies that some folks might not be willing to watch and it also means that the movie has to be more entertaining on its own.

Flyboys is one of those movies that I really like, but most people won't enjoy it as much as I did. I can be very forgiving to movie that keeps my attention and keeps me amused. That's not to say that Flyboys is a bad movie that needs lots of forgiveness, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

Minor spoilers after the jump.



A lot of the characters follow the war movie cliche template, and not a lot of time is spent developing them, because just like a lot of WW I pilots, they die quickly. But you have Guy Who Falls For Local Girl, Bad Ass With a Haunted Past, Rich Guy Trying To Be a Man, The Redeemed Coward, and Minority Who Perseveres Despite Racist Assholes. Not to mention Honorable Bad Guy and Scumbag Asshole Bad Guy.

It's not that the actors play their characters like cardboard cutouts, but if you've watched enough movies you know the drill. The writers weren't terribly original, I could see most of the plot developments as soon as they were foreshadowed. Though they did avoid a classic cliche at the end, presumably to stay true to the original "true story".

Now for the good... if you like period movies like I do, you'll like this movie. It gives us a look at a time period little used by moviemakers, probably because it wasn't as glamourous and easier to relate to like the WWII era.

If you like good action sequences, you'll love the dogfights. Not only is the action good, overall the effects are great, with a mix of CGI and live planes. The combat sequences will give you a new respect for the pilots of that era. They were literally the knights of their time, but they had no armor, their lances were machine guns, and their deaths were often gruesome. The planes offered no protection and they have no parachutes. When the pilots are issued their sidearms, it is pointed out that it may be preferably to use their own gun than ride a burning plane to the ground.

Overall I rate Flyboys 3.5 WWI Ace Biplane Flying Monkeys. I'll probably get it on DVD, but I doubt it'll be something my friends will clamor to see.

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Another personality test

My Personality

Neuroticism	5
Extraversion	25
Openness To Experience	59
Agreeableness	49
Conscientiousness	27

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report Find your soulmate / pysch twin Discount Ugg Boots, MySpace Surveys and MySpace Layouts by Pulseware Survey Software

I find the breakdowns to much more interesting, but they don't give convenient code for them. I'll try linking the breakdown and we'll see how long it sticks around.

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220

I think that my new attitude of having to pay penance at the gym for dietary transgressions is paying off. Every time I've indulged, then hit the gym with that in mind, I've ended up still losing weight.

Now 215 is almost certain by Halloween, and 200 by New Year's looks very likely assuming I don't have some sort of meltdown and they find me in a huge pile of cookie dough.

I walked by a camcorder display at work and was almost shocked. I've hated those things for the past few years because I hated seeing how fat I'd become, and while I'm not svelte by any means there is a marked difference since the last time I saw myself on a camera. Between that and encouragement I'm getting from friends, maybe soon I can stop making fat jokes about myself. Not yet, but soon.

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Star Trek suffers the Lucas-effect?

Someone has decided to boldly go back to where we've been going for 40 years, but with new digital effects. Check out this article.


At least they won't be tampering with the stories *cough*Hanshotfisrt*cough*.

Of course, you could always go to New Voyages, a fan effort to fill in the last two years of the 5 year mission with an Elvis impersonator playing Kirk (picture a young Bruce Campbell playing Kirk).

Actually, what I've seen of the previews look really good for a fan production. I'll have to download the full episodes and give them a watch.

And just because I can and we're on the subject of fan films, here's a classic...

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Indy Irish Fest

The evil day star burns. Literally. Next year I need to remember sun block when I go to the Indy Irish Fest. For me it's a day of Guinness, shopping, Guinness, music and Guinness. No, I didn't get smashed, I only had the three Guinnesses.


I timed my visit to watch three bands. The first was the headliner, Gaelic Storm. They were good, as usual. This is the fourth time I've seen them live, and this time the venue was much better than the Music Mill as it was a beautiful day for an outdoors concert (evil day star not withstanding).

The second was Searson, a Canadian Celtic band. I first saw them at last year's Indy Irish Fest, and my choice to see them again this year only had a little bit to do with the fact that their fiddler is hot. And I wish I'd known they played at Finn MacCool's last Tuesday (it was advertised in the program for Irish Fest... which didn't start until the Friday after they played).

The third was Mother Grove, which advertises itself (and lives up to) as Kilt Rock. They are a fun band, one of those acts that are great live with a pint of Guinness.

As for the shopping, I bought an obligatory shirt(which I do every year), a Guinness polo, and I bought an additional shirt, a t-shirt with a cool knotwork design. I almost bought a Guinness bar clock, until I realized I have a house full of clocks (mostly non-functioning) and it would sit in the box for six months. I also considered getting a geneology piece, but balked at paying $12 for stuff I can probably find online.

As an aside, what is it with Irish Fest and hot Asian women? Not something you'd expect to go together, but I see them there every year. There was one at the Gaelic Storm show, if she'd also been a gaming pagan I would have introduced myself then proposed.

OK, Ozling is right, I wouldn't have. I was only one Guinness in by then.

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RPGer Purity Test

Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
Category	Your Score	Average
Hacklust	35.85% Has conversations in between massacres	53.5%
Sensitive Roleplaying	18.99% There is no player. There is only.... Zuul.	54.7%
GM Experience	17.39% Worldbuilder, storyteller... Master.	69.5%
Systems Knowledge	76.98% Local rules guru	90.4%
Livin' La Vida Dorka	41.38% Has interesting conversations in public	63.4%
You are 41.2% pure Average Score: 68.9%
Take The Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Test and see how you match up! (By The Ferrett)

If I interpret this correctly, the lower the score the "more" of a gamer you are. I guess I should be disappointed in my system rules knowledge. And I was originally going to title this post "Roleplaying Purity Test", but thought I should clarify.

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221

That picture must have been inspiring, because I dropped 2 pounds in 48 hours. I was starting to despair that I had hit another plateau because I had been dropping about 1 per 4 days but had gone almost a week with no progress.


Of course, it didn't help that I had indulged a couple of times. Once was at a friend's, where they had delicious homemade beer-cheese-sausage dip. And you can't eat dip without chips. Well, I guess you can, but other might object to me sticking my fingers in the dip. But it wasn't the dip and chip's fault, it was that I went back for seconds and thirds.

The second was when I was hit with a powerful craving for pizza. I don't know what brought it on, it was like Ozling was dancing around my head chanting "pizza-pizza-pizza". Part of it may have been I ate my actual meal for the day too early. So I caved, figuring with a house full of gamers and making it look like I was being a generous host rather than merely indulging my inner Hutt that there wouldn't be much pizza left for me. There were three slices.

So I've been good since then and did my penance at the gym, so hopefully I'm back on track.

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Weasel!

This comic hits the mark for a friend of mine. If you know who Weasel is, you'll get it (and agree). If not... just read the comic, it's funny anyways.

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Druiddo the Hutt

Talk about a diet inspiration! Why do people always seem to shoot me in profile? Anyways, this picture is from about a year ago, and by my current estimate 22 pounds ago. The picture is from the opening ceremony for Indy Pagan Pride Day 2k5. No, I didn't really eat all of the food donations.


I was rather reluctant to post this picture, but I figured if nothing else, it'll inspire me to keep dieting and going to the gym (and not repeat my pizza transgression from last night). Of course, any potential future girlfriends that come here will flee... unless of course they're chubby-chasing nerd hags.

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New hydrogen fuel cell

Here is an interesting article regarding a new hydrogen fuel cell being developed. Normally you hear about h-power as an alternative to gasoline, what's interesting about this is that it is being looked at to replace batteries.


Sure, assuming that this works well, it's still years before we see it at the consumer level, but the sci-fi geek in me always thinks that it's cool to hear about tech being developed that I'd only read in a story or game.

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Inner Beast

Your Inner Beast

Your inner beast is a Wolf. Your fierce side is shown craftily.
~The Good~ You're Mysterious, Loyal, A Dreamer, etc...
~The Bad~ You are sometimes Suspicious, Withdrawn, Grumpy, etc...
~People On Your Good Side~ Know you are always there for them and enjoy getting to know you little by little.
~People On Your Bad Side~ Are given the "Stay Away" look and are shut out by a wall around you.
Take this quiz!








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I don't normally self identify with a wolf, but it seems the closest out of the options. Now I need to go order a case of dynamite from ACME. Oh yeah, that's coyote, not wolf.

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Too White and Nerdy

Weird Al strikes again, this time to Chamillionaire's {sp?} Ridin' Dirty. I've made it the new theme song for my MySpace profile, so go there to give it a listen.


And no, I don't really write my name on my underwear.

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4000 hits

4000 in a little under a year. While my blog is not exactly a popular destination, it's nice to know that a few folks take to read what I've rambled on about here.


Technically, I'm posting this while the site is at 3998, but it'll flip over today.

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Internet sub-culture quiz

Which internet subculture do I belong to? [CLICK] You are a Trekkie! It's a geek, Jim! You probably have a starfleet uniform and a tricorder. Bonus points if you speak klingon. One day you will walk down the aisle with your buttertroll trekkie partner, humming to the Yoyager theme. More Quizzes at Go-Quiz.com

I guess given the choices it's accurate. The other options are: Furry, Camwhore, Goth and Conspiracy Theorists. I think they need to add a Fiber Fiend (as in knitting, not as in going regularly) because in addition to friends that I know of, I seem to keep stumbling over more InterKnitters.

InterKnitters... that probably sounds better than Fiber Fiends.

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Fishers Ren Faire returns

The Fishers Ren Faire is back this year, this time on Sept. 30 - Oct. 1. You can see my article on last year's fair in this archive.

I definately plan on going, even if I will be dragging a little (a friend of mine is having a party the night before).


As my friend Nicole pointed out, I think it is important to support events like these so that they will continue.

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Get the Katie Couric camera

Okay, it really doesn't have anything to do with Couric, but it was too obvious a joke to pass up when I saw this camera.


Why diet when you can lose the pounds digitally? Oh yeah, because sooner or later people will see you in real life. Still, I could see this camera catching on with the MySpace and Match.com crowd.

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New Bond Trailer

Check out the new trailer.



I'm not an uber Bond fan, but I do enjoy a Bond flick as much as the next guy. I thought Brosnan made a good Bond, and still have trouble seeing a blonde Bond. But if they can make Starbuck a chick, why not a blonde Bond?

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223

And another one down.

I'm actually getting into the "habit" of going to the gym on certain days. And as I'm a creature of habit, this is a good thing.


I'm easily on track to hit 215 by October 31. If I went for 210, based on my current trend i'd miss it by a pound or two. But the real question is: can I hit 200 by New Year's?

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D&D Video

Music Video:8-BIT DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (by Funny Videos)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

I've never had a game like this. Not even when I was 15 and DMing.

Honest.

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I'm an Old Soul

You Are an Old Soul

You are an experienced soul who appreciates tradition. Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone. Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient. A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people. You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others. Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone. But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

I tend to want marriage right away? I think I hear some ex-girlfriends laughing. And I'm not sure how accurate "you expect proper behavior by others" is... I guess it depends on how you define "proper behavior".

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224

Another pound bites the dust. I guess working that truck helped... nothing like moving a few hundred cartons to help sweat off the pounds.


I'm actually looking forward to Thanksgiving (for reasons other than food). Last time my family saw me I was 240 - 245. By the time I see them I should be 210 - 215. My friends don't notice a difference because they see me pretty regularly... heck I might not notice the difference if I didn't know what to look for.

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Professor Pope

I found this article to be very interesting. Before becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Professor Joseph Ratzinger would meet with his old doctoral students for a weekend once a year. Every year they would choose a subject to discuss. Becoming the pope hasn't ended this tradition, and the subject of this year's discussion is evolution.


As an intellectual wanna-be, I find the whole concept of taking a weekend for discussion and debate over one topic between a bunch of intellectuals fascinating. I would love to be in that room, hearing all of the sides of the argument turned over, point and counterpoint batted back and forth. But alas, I'm not Dr. Osborne or even Professor Oz (though I bet I'd have made a really cool college professor).

I think it's cool that despite becoming pope, with all of its demands on time and effort, that Pope Benedict is still making time to continue this tradition. It certainly is a far cry from some "religious" figures who blindly ignore science and try to push that ignorance onto school children.

IMO, there's nothing the requires that evolution and divine influence in the universe are exclusive. Evolution is a mechanism, and just because you don't believe in the literal interpretation of your chosen creation myth it doesn't mean that you can't believe that the end result was influenced by more than just random chance.

I also find it interesting that the literal interpretation of Genesis, with the Earth only being roughly 6,000 years old, is predominantly an American phenomenon. We are supposedly the most advanced country in the world, but there are still those trying to push this into schools. And we wonder why we're losing ground to other countries in science and technology?

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225

Another pound gone. I missed my goal (to be 225 by GenCon) by three weeks, but I'm still progressing. I'm going to have to see if I have any pants for work left in a smaller size or go shopping. There are a lot of worse reasons to spend money.


My next goal is 215 by Halloween, and depending on how I do at that, 200 by New Year's might be possible. If not New Year's, definately by my birthday.

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