Clerks II was entertaining, but a little clumsy, like all of Kevin Smith’s films. You know when the only clue that you’re supposed to feel sadness or angst or sympathy is because a song is starting, you’re in trouble. Also, what is it with Smith characters stating their diehard convictions and then bailing on them at the drop of a hat? In Chasing Amy it was lesbianism, and in Clerks II it’s anti-marriage. Seems weird to me. Smith is good at snappy dialogue. Really good. I think everyone knows that. (Also Stephane makes a good point that all of the characters are speaking with Kevin Smith’s voice – this is something I notice with Joss Whedon too.) But I wish the actors were given a chance to act. The only breaks in dialogue occured when it was time to feature a song. Film is a visual medium too! There was one really powerful moment in the middle of the film, which unfortunately occured during a MONTAGE. Randall wasn’t saying anything. He was just staring quietly, thinking. That was an amazing bit because normally his character never shuts up, but it seemed almost accidental, like Smith didn’t mean for it to be profound because it was during a MONTAGE. But I’ll take it. And there were a few good belly laughs so it’s worth seeing if you like Kevin Smith movies. And props to my homeboy Chris Woods.
Other movies I want to see: Little Miss Sunshine (yay Alan Arkin!) and The Illusionist. Anyone? Tinseltown.
He Slimed Me
I like science. I read various scientists blogs and try to follow as best I can but quite often the jargon is beyond me. This post by Carl Zimmer about the puzzle of loyal amoeba is a good one, and I didn’t get lost. I recommend you read it if you’re interested in slime mold and/or evolution (and you’d be crazy not to). It’s a little long and not enough references to D&D, but still interesting. Incidentally the image of the slime mold stalks doesn’t do justice to the time lapse photography of the mold moving around which you can see on the documentary about cell death called Death by Design which I had the good fortune of seeing when Rogers still stocked VHS.
An isolate is what it sounds like: a person, thing, or group that is set apart or isolated, as for purposes of study.
Dungeons and Masterminds
The D&D campaign I’ve been playing in recently is now over! It was a short campaign run by Paul and it was a lot of fun. I played Zabsurast Hoohoo the Barbarian/fighter/ranger with a rogue cohort named Hives (pronounced HEE-vays like you would pronounce Chaves, but Zaburast always pronounced it like the skin condition). In a nutshell, we were sent on a ship to an island where a modern stoner from California had been imprisoned by wizards because his invention of gunpowder would tip the balance of power.
This last session could well have been a total party kill (TPK) as Paul had no compunction about sending numerous deadly foes at us since we all knew it would be the last night for the campaign, but we pulled through with flying colours (though it was harrowing for a couple of us for a while there).
The Mutants & Masterminds game I’m in should wrap up next week, right after H.P. Lovecraft’s Birthday Party, which gives me no regular gaming outlets until Caleb starts up his Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign. I’ve been waiting to play that for years.
In the meantime I’m desperately trying to figure out what I’m going to do for Spaceship Zero at HPL’s Birthday Party!
Did I mention that I played World Wildlife Federation of Justice last week and it went really well? I’m looking forward to running it again on the weekend.
Leggo My Eco
The ozone layer is a part of the atmosphere way up high that helps shield the earth from the sun’s most harmful rays. A couple of decades ago, scientists realized that some of the chemicals we were using in our industries and homes were finding their way into the upper atmosphere…and destroying it…They sounded the alarm bell, the international community responded with the Montreal Protocol to phase out ozone-depleting substances, and today the ozone layer is gradually healing itself.
And that’s what Al Gore said in An Inconvenient Truth. Things can be done. From time to time I’ll see a list of “things you can do to save the Earth/Environment or to curb global warming” and one point of pride I have is that I’m usually already doing most of them. Instead of just cutting and pasting some generic list I’m going to write up my own personal one. For you. Right now.
1. FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE, WILL YOU RECYCLE ALREADY?
I’m amazed at how many people don’t recycle. Actually I’m amazed at how many people litter, but that’s a different topic. It’s not hard. They make it incredibly easy for you. And it’s even easier than they tell you because here’s a little secret: You don’t have to wash everything. They don’t care. They melt all that crap down, and your baked beans will be burned away. Nobody is going to knock on your door and call you on it. There isn’t some old lady hand washing all the recyclables (and if there is – she’d be sad if she got fired because all the stuff came in clean). Everyone has access to recycle bins. If you’re in the Vancouver area you can get one free of charge – see http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/recycling-and-garbage/blue-boxes.htm
Chilliwack: http://www.chilliwack.com/main/page.cfm?id=661
The rest of Canada, type “blue box recycling” and the name of your city into Google and see what pops up.
USA: http://www.epa.gov/epahome/whereyoulive.htm
2. Turn out that light! (duh) This goes for TVs, DVD players and other things on “standby.”
3. If you’ve got a choice between two products that are otherwise equal, buy the one with the least amount of packaging. Buying in bulk is not only cheaper, there’s way less packaging.
4. Buy energy efficient bulbs. There is no downside to this – they may seem more expensive, but they’re not. Same deal with rechargeable batteries.
5. Walk! Or if you’ve got one, ride a bike. You may actually enjoy it.
6. Wrap gifts in reusable bags or suchlike. Anyone who has ever received a birthday or Christmas gift from me knows that when I do wrap, I wrap it in newspaper or flyers. And I’ll draw a picture on it or whatever. It’s kind of my signature thing, but I won’t be offended if you make it yours too. You can get your scented candle, and do the crossword puzzle on the wrapping paper too!
7. I don’t throw out paper that’s only printed on one side. Why would I? It goes in a box next to my printer. That goes for all those letters from Hedy Fry and the Flying Wok Grand Opening Sale. On the back of new D&D character sheets are old D&D character sheets. The only thing that doesn’t work with is resumes. Actually, scratch that – that’s a good idea and I should apply to the Ministry of the Environment and get a cushy gov’t job.
8. Don’t fill the kettle with more water than you’re going to need.
9. Wash your laundry in cold. Is there even a reason not to? I haven’t used hot water in the washing machine in…ever. But maybe I’ve got low maintenance clothes. Besides, heat just makes the stains set.
I never really understood the whole “take showers instead of baths” tip. I take pretty long showers, especially when I’m lost in thought or singing, I kind of figure I use a lot of water. I guess the test is to put the plug in the next time I have a shower and see how much the tub fills up.
I’m not including all the stuff that probably doesn’t apply to you – like putting an insulating jacket over your hot water heater or buying a fuel efficient car. Because if you haven’t done that by now, you’re not going to before you forget about this blog post. Baby steps. You may find that easing slowly into a lifestyle of less impact isn’t really all that awful. It can make you feel good and then later on when the big stuff comes up, you’re in the right state of mind.
ps – (10) – Buy fresh, local food. Like it says on the IT site, transporting and freezing food takes way more energy. I never thought of that! See, I’m learning!
Are They Nuts?
In the Transformers live action movie, out next summer, in addition to Optimus Prime and Megatron, the bot characters will be as follows:
On the Autobot side the movie will feature Bumblebee, Jazz, Ratchet and Ironhide. On the Decepticon side, the film will include Starscream, Brawl, Bonecrusher, Barricade, Scorponok, Frenzy and Blackout.
Where the hell is Soundwave?
My favourite was Shockwave, but I wouldn’t expect them to include him. But come on…Soundwave! Ravage, eject!Must have something to do with tape recorders being outdated.
Brains!
Saturday was Zombie Walk, or as I like to call it the Undead Pride Parade, or as I also like to call it, the Death March. Lani, Selina and I got tarted up, corpse-style, and walked down to Flugtag where we confused the onlookers amongst a panoply of corporate whoring. Then we walked to the art gallery where the zombie concentration rose steadily with each passing minute. We met up with Taytay and Lin, and also saw Rowan, Sam and Duncan. The march started and, much like Critical Mass, there was no set route organized. The people at the front went where they wanted and the rest of the zombie mob followed, blocking traffic, running red lights (or more properly, shambling red lights), and molesting tour buses, to the delight and confusion of passengers. I pity the fool who doesn’t live in the city, those guys really missed out.
I didnt hear about this the day of, but apparently one zombie got hit by a knob in a car who continued to try to plow through the mob. Idiotic, especially since of the group involved (I estimate around 200 people) at least half of them had cameras. He was reported to the police and was dealt with.
Unfortunately, part of dressing up as a zombie involves wearing clothes that you dont mind getting bloody. As such, I wore some ratty Cons that needed throwing away. I didnt realize how much they needed throwing away, but I sure do now. My feet and calves are killing me, to the point that Im limping slightly. How ironic that my limp was an affectation for the zombie walk, and now I can’t help it.
Album Spoilers
Take note, Warren Banks, we had a wee band meeting yesterday and heres whats up.
If Merricks up to it, we may book a sequence of 1-3 shows end of September or October to finance rental of practice space. We may try to record bed tracks (at the very least) for 6-8 songs in, say, November. Likely candidates include Sleestak & Yeti, A Marine Biologist, Kill the Chupacabra Tonight, Downtown, Hall of Doors, and Shhh .
All plans subject to change without prior notice.
I briefly went through with the kids the narrative for the Shadow Out of Tim theme that I want to have for some of the songs on the album. (as follows)
Prologue: A Marine Biologist introducing Dr. T.S. Peaslie, a marine biologist who studies architeuthis dux, the giant squid.
Chapter One: The Shadow Out of Tim our good doctor lapses into a second, alien personality, and goes on a mysterious 3 month expedition on his research vessel.
Chapter Two: Back to the his regular self some time later, Dr P tries to piece together clues of what happened, and reconcile with friends and family. Song to be determined.
Chapter Three: The terrible dreams of being trapped in a Yithian body in the primordial jungles of Australia, interrogated by other Yithians using weird musical instruments, begin to haunt the doctor. Song to be determined, possibly Bed of Flame (to be renamed) or Eaten Alive (to be renamed).
Chapter Four: Return to Te Taniwha. Dr P retraces the marine journey he took while his body was possessed by the Yithian, and learns that some things man was not meant to know.
Epilogue: Downtown in the Mesozoic age, angiosperm plants evolved along with bees, aphids and grasshoppers. Oviraptors were plentiful. Ammonites and belemnites became extinct. Oh, and dinosaurs too. There was no cross-promotional marketing, focus groups, spam, or commercials of any kind. The Yithians projected their minds off planet.
Standalone songs: Kill the Chupacabra Tonight, Sleestak & Yeti, Shhh (almost definitely), Hall of Doors/Ode to Nyarlathotep
Introducing My Dad
This is my dad, Alfred George Atkinson, moustache enthusiast. His hobbies include(d) playing the drums in the Canadian Armed Forces, a Fred Flintstone-like penchant for get rich quick schemes, particularly involving old jalopies and raising beefalo, and a British devotion to holding down chairs in the pub.
I think he chose the perfect time to be in the army. I mean what was Canada doing with guns between 1970 and 2000? Not much.
…………..He was the oldest of five kids.
He enjoyed walking around the house with no clothes on.
Mom, feel free to fill in some blanks. I’m sure everyone is curious about how you met and what my life was like before I started blogging.
The Main Thing That They Do Is To Rock My Socks Off
http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/tenaciousdinthepickofdestiny/
Sure, it looks like a typical movie trailer, but hell, the only thing that truly matters is the classical sauce.
Pirahna on a Motorcycle AKA "Time is Tissue"
NO! Snakes on a Plane! Oh heavens, what an experience! Good? Bad? I’ll never tell, but it’s an experience. Mukesh (of The Rio Theater fame) emailed me to give me 2 free passes to see Snakes on a Plane and since Stewie was closest to me at the time (in proximity and my heart) I brought him along. Mukesh also treated me to free concession. I think he wants me to get a job there, and it’s one that I would seriously consider (tip: the first few rows in the balcony are closer together than any other seats in the joint). Best thing to happen in Cinema in Vancouver since The Blinding Light (now closed). So yeah, Snakes on a Plane (or SOAP for short) has everything you would expect in a movie of that title. I saw too many people that I know there. People brought toy snakes and paper airplanes to the theater and it was like Rocky Horror. Someone even brought a real constrictor and many photo ops were had (the poor thing). The staff were all wearing airline uniforms. Whenever someone on screen was walking around with a flashlight, people in the audience would shine their beams on the walls and ceilings. Not herpetologically sound, but pretty hilarious.
Secondly: I signed a contract today for a children’s book.
Thirdly: You know my feelings about statistics, but check out this graph that illustrates a study on people’s attitudes towards the “theory” of evolution. Note that USA is on the bottom. I’ll see you in Iceland.
