Anthologies Of The Paradoxical E

Oopsy...

http://instapundit.com/archives2/016810.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xtNr5-up0U

Hah!

Then it turns out he doesn't like Israel so much, after all...

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29358_Electronic_Intifada-_How_Barack_Obama_Learned_to_Love_Israel&only

For someone meant to be so eloquant in speeches, this guy is making an awful lot of mistakes.

Idiocy On Video

Sigh...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXmYVRIpu2w

Far from 'scaring', the violin music actually added a reassuring feel to things. As did the picture of a child sleeping safely. That was the whole point of the other advert; to convey an atmosphere of reassurance and safety.

If that girl's genuinely offended about stock footage being legally bought for perfectly valid reasons, she needs to get over it.

This makes that campaign look hyper-sensitive and reactionary.

Because The Media Have Yet To Realise He Is Yet Another Politician

Probably should start looking at the rest of your journals again!

However, I had to post this bit of political hilarity...

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29090_Barack_Obamas_Double-Dealing_on_NAFTA&only

"Oh yes, he did!"

Clinton might unify the Republicans, but if the Democrats choose the other guy, they're going to be led by a more intellectual vacuous representative than they have been for a long time.

Incredible

Amazing science news!

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1303867,00.html

Random News About The World

Netscape dies!

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/01/netscape-the-br.html

Meanwhile, looking at Ron Paul's foreign affairs and economic advisors, respectively, a pattern begins to emerge...

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/ron-pauls-tax-adviser/
http://lonestartimes.com/2008/02/01/who-has-the-ear-of-ron-paul/

And then there's this. Never let it be said that politics, here in the UK, does not know how to make fun of its ridiculous self. Just would be nice if it was a bit more, oh, I don't know... Common sense, maybe.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/31/nschools131.xml

Not that it's expected that Al Qaeda is in the business of, like, using women with Down's Syndrome to kill more then... Oh, wait. They have...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=511678&in_page_id=1811

Sigh.

On the positive side, it just goes to show how we're running them out of resources.

Stragnest Political Decision In History

What... The... Fuck...?

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/greenwald/2204

The guy's either too ignorant of geopolitics or... I don't know what... But it's absolutely not what a President either needs or should do. It's obvious what the majority of 'feedback' would be. One only needs to see that rambling letter the Iranian President sent to the Bush administration, not long ago. It was full of allusions to some soret of Jewish 'problem' which needs to be sorted out and all the rest of it.

Also, does he really need someone to tell him that the vast majority of leaders of 'Islamic' countries tend to be more in the business of oppressing, rather than governing, the people they supposedly represent?

It really is bizarre news.

Rather Have A Bowl Of...

OK... This Obama guy? I swear, he states the most obvious thing in the world, phrases it like an advertising slogan and everyone yells in happiness, because he puts a 'serious' expression on.

Example?

"This election is not about the past, it's about the future!"

Well, gee, thanks for that update about where we are in time!

Let's try some examples, shall we?

"And Microsoft asks you, my friends... Where do you want to go, today?"

See! It so works! Just imagine him saying it and the crowd roaring with loud applause!

"Is it live or is it Memorex? Because I tell you, my friends... Don't leave home without it, because life's complicated enough and when you say - when you say Budweiser, you've said it all! And just remember - always Coca-Cola."

Oh, this is amazingly easy...

"Can you hear me now...? Good! Welcome to the human network! The power to be your best! Powered by Intellect... Driven by Values. It's in the game!"

See how that shit functions? You, too, can write that crap and be annoyed because htey're not paying you for it.

:)

It Has Been Officially Classified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love-shyness

Interesting! There's actually a term for it. :)

I've been looking for informaiotn on that sort of thing, again. Unofrtunately, the 'answers' seem come down to:

(1) Don't focus on sex.

Truesome. I don't, however. A lot of people, such as myself, are troubled only in the confidence department. However, this problem is severe, in so much as it is not a cliché to say that the mind, quite literally, goes blank, when speaking to a girl I don't know. Unless I have some sort of 'official' reason to do so, which is incredibly rare (and usually about the maximum extent of any conversation, in any case), then I cannot think of a single thing to say.

(2) "Seriously. Just go out and get some."

Yeah, fuck you, too, my slow-thinking friend. :)

(3) Go up to people and flirt with them. You'll get plenty of rejection, but that's what it's about and you'll feel great.

The trouble with this view is that it's of the 'wouldn't you rather try' philosophy.

No! People such as myself would not rather try! Not when it comes ot that, precisely because the psychological stakes would be so damn high. To an ordinary person, it's a nervous proposition. Of that, make no mistake. But for people like me, it is not a cure. Rejection not only compounds the issue, but strips away what little confidence you enter such a situation with. Not just a little, but wholesale and it's something which others do not seem to fully appreciate the value of.

The best way to describe it would be to trip up while carrying a glass of water. Some people might spill it. Others, like me, would not only spill it, but break the glass and find the place I got that water from had just ran out of replacements for a week.

OK, so that's a bit of a long-winded explanation, but the water's the confidence and the tripping up is the... Well, yeah, you get it. :)

People go through 'dry spells', I believe the problem is termed. But this type of thing is much more extensive than that. A certain comedy film tried to examine this issue and, as I pointed out in my review of it, the problem with it was not that the main character had social issues with women. In his past, it was made clear that he quite regularly got into the position of almost having sex with many of them. He just had yet to do the act.

And that was quite a revelation, really, because it exemplified just how deeply the rest of society utterly fails to understand it. To many, it's a simplistic thing and one which, therefore, could be easily overcome.

The bottom line is that, yes, it can be. However, it requires confidence. To gain it, you must have success, but if you have no success and time gradually moves on... Hmm...

Columbia University Professor Reveals A 'Final Solution'

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/01/22/mystery-in-brooklyn-bomb-factory-at-columbia-university-professors-home/

I think that was the University which invited Iran's President over, too. Not that the guy who runs it doesn't get credit for, upon the Ahmadinejad's arrival, verbally laying into him for executing homosexuals and being a tyranical bastard, in general, but then it was recently revealed that quite a few Professors were planning to travel over to Iran to 'apologise' for the comments.

Makes me wonder if this Professor was one of them.

Would not surprise me, if that was so!

Interesting

I don't know how to embed the video part, so shall just give the link:

http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/the_few_the_proud_the_morons.php

I love the idea for that! Really creative! soldiers on ceremonial drill, in incredibly ordinary places. It's simple, yet really gets the point across.

"Give Us A State - We Want To Kill More Jews, Please"

Some of the latest, in a long line of progressively more violent rocket attacks against Israel have been getting coverage here:

http://www.israellycool.com

This is exactly what happened, the last time. The only question is how long it takes before the critical point is reached, where Israel is forced to retaliate with military strikes again.

Just to be serious, for a moment or so, those of us who keep track of this sort of thing, have been noticing some differences:

1: The IDF was training with tactics to remove the Israeli settlers, back then. This has since been changed to training more in line with teh sorts of battles recently fought.

2: A greater emphasis has since been given to taking out the enemy on the ground, instead of over-reliance on air power. This should also be to Israel's assistance, if something does occur.

3: Israel did piss-poor on the PR front. They kept automatically apologising for things they were accused of, only to have to back-track later on, when they discovered certain things were not nearly so clear-cut as was thought (mostly discovered by the blogosphere, rather than anything Israeli-related). If they haven't improved their PR department by now, it would be very strange.

And now one of the terrorist leaders is literally bragging about having Israeli body-parts as trophies:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19337308.htm

Just a question of time...

My Writing Skills Getting Noticed

OK, remember this item?

http://www.greatestjournal.com/users/emphasis/171937.html

Well, it won the competition! Although the film does not appear to be getting good reviews (I'll be seeing and writing a review of it, later), one of the two directors was involved in choosing the winners, as was a member of the production team, which meakes it very pleasant. :)

Wanting To See Juliet Landau

I had been hoping to see Juliet Landau at a Starfury (www.starfury.co.uk) convention, which will apparently be the last they will have her for.

Huge disappointment. :( Especially as I wrote on this year's card that I would be hoping to see her for that.

This is very frustrating for me to learn, but even if I took the emergency option to do this, then I would only have a very small amount of money left for food and stuff. The group in question are the people who do them for weekends and so this could be the last time I would have had the opportunity to see her for that length of time. Claire was not able to be my room-mate, then I had to spend some of the money saved for this on a new computer monitor. With this on top of that, it seems like events are conspiring to keep me away from it.

I am in contact with who does her Web site, however and let them know (saying that I would instead make a donation towards the film she is doing, on her site). I haven't seen her, since the year before last. With luck, they'll pass the message onto her and she'll know I'm at least trying to help out with that, even if not making it over there. She mentions those who gives the right amount of donations (about $300 lets you have you mentioned in the credits), on her My Space thing, so, I shall hope for that.

Craziness In Elections And Stuff

I've been looking at the US election stuff, recently. Ron Paul... I don't even know why the guy's in the Republican party. He's pretty much like Howard Dean.

I also never knew he was so downright racist, homophobic and all the rest of it.

http://pajamasmedia.com/2008/01/ron_paul.php
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=27860_Ron_Pauls_Old_Newsletter_Revealed&only

Understanding How Films Make Money!

This is what you see, in regards to the financial side of a film:
http://www.mecfilms.com/moviepubs/memos/variable.htm

This makes sense of it:
http://www.mecfilms.com/moviepubs/memos/terms.htm

:)

Films

Just seen 'I Am Legend'.

Very impressed. Great stuff.

An Interview Article I Did

If anyone's interested, I just recently did an interview with a sculptor who has a link with 'Aliens Versus Predator - Requiem', but not in the way some would think. :)

The news, where people comment:
http://www.avpgalaxy.net/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1198644670&archive=&start_from=&ucat=5&

The article:
http://www.avpgalaxy.net/website.php?section=interview_shaun_noelte

Intrigued Thoughts, Please

Hello!

If you have time, I would like thoughts on this small story I have written, to do with the various 'Alien Versus Predator' films. It's actually an original thing, which has some references to the first (as I won't be able to see the newest, until it is shown here), meaning it's set at a similar contemporary time. It's done for a competition, which is why I'd like to know what others think.

Voskres

In such temperatures as this, even blood can freeze.

But in a fresh kill, one of broken bone, raw meat and gristle, there is yet time. Time for it to split-splatter upon the ice beneath; a certain heaviness to it differentiating it from other liquids.

As if the colour was not enough.

Here, especially once it ran dark, the surrounding transparency of frozen water did nothing to hide or dilute it. There was nothing for nature now to do, other than slowly congeal and wait. The expected processes of rotting flesh would not begin, not in that weather. Not in that cold. Just a carcass now. A cadaver in the snow.

Lieutenant Viktor Kamisov's eyes, too, weighed heavy now.

The date of September 22, 1979, would mean nothing to him. Others, far more educated in the mysteries of life, would recall the 'Vela Incident'; one of those great unexplainable matters, ever open to speculation. Less famous than Tunguska, an unidentified flash of light was detected by satellite over Bouvet island; the most isolated of its kind in the whole world. Covered by glaciers and with no port or harbour, approach is supremely difficult. Some speak of the incident as being atomic, with no conclusive proof, either way.

Yet Kamisov cared little for remote Antarctic land masses, nor decades-old speculation for what might have caused twinkles of light in the sky above them. He cared for warmth, a comforting bed, alcohol from a bottle and festive cheer. Here, in Russia, Christmas was celebrated on the 7th of January, not December the 25th. Or at least, it was for the Orthodox Church, content still to follow the Julian calendar. Religious or not, it still made for an official holiday and Kamisov was all for that. Ded Moroz - 'Grandfather Frost' - would come, delivering present to children. Kamisov might no longer number amongst them, but he sometimes entertained thoughts of how Frost's granddaughter, Snegurochka, 'Snowmaiden', might look, these days, all grown up.

"Khristos voskrese," people would say: 'Christ is risen'.

"Vo istinu voskres," comes the reply: 'He is risen, indeed'.

Down here, Kamisov doubted God, Christ or even Buddha would ever dare to venture. His comrades, ordinary men, like him, now hanging lifelessly upside-down. Suspended from the roof of sewer like slabs of meat. Being saved from the horror of watching them being skinned was a small mercy, but here, in this abotoir forsaken by all which was holy, he would take it.

Join the FSB... Fight crime... Root out corruption... Kamisov could have named a multitude of reasons why he had joined up. The truth was nothing so noble. It was to get an easy life, pure and simple. An air of authority and hopefully some easy breaks from traffic violations. As time went on, he enlisted into something with a bit more excitement. An armed response unit seemed as good a choice as any, plus the chance to gain a medal or so.

Getting rid of human monsters. Not ghosts. Not invisible horrors.

He remembered Alex. The letters, at any rate. The last telephone call, before colleagues had found him with his head cut off, somewhere in Chechnya. Filthy Islamic bastards... A conscript into the Army, Alex had heard stories. Stories from colleagues. Stories the pair of them had spoken about at a bar, one night.

Things unseen. Things which killed. Things which... Intervened. There used to be some incidents in Afghanistan, so the rumours went. He had thought Alex joking, at first, but there was something in his eyes. A look. One which seemed to grow, get more obvious, as time went on. A personal tale related from Chechnya, itself. Not of his own, but from another who he had known.

The takers of trophies.

And now, watching this thing go about its 'work', seeing what it began to do with some of the bodies, Viktor Kamisov could not help but wonder if Alex truly had been killed by men or not.

Why had he been spared? Stripped of weapons and equipment, strung up like the rest, yet not killed? Why did the thing keep looking at him thorugh that visor? Was it waiting for something? Waiting for him to beg? The others never had. It seemed to make no difference. All were murdered without hesitation. A relentless killer, this. Something born to take life.

Now, however, very much solid. Computers, blades, scaled skin and hulking muscle... No man, was this.

He had tried to provoke it. Yelled out in frustration. Wanted it all to end.

No such prayers were answered. It just tensed, then looked away again, knowing it held the power. Knowing the bonds were too strong to break. Knowing he was helpless.

Something else was in that darkness, too. Kamisov could not quite make it out. Something near to where his head pointed down, but the dirtied water obscured it. Something with... Protrusions. Dead, most likely. Garbage, even likelier still. Down in the sewers, it might as well be a turd with sticks poked into it.

No... They were fingers. Fingers on what had to be a hand and, with a feel of revulsion, Kamisov knew where that had likely come from. This thing's method of dealing with 'resistance', no doubt.

A cough rose in his chest again. The Winter had not been kind. It caused him to splutter, that time adding blood to the saliva. Not surprising. Kamisov felt like he had gone ten rounds with a bear in need of someone to rape. Maybe that was what his fate was. The thought of it was enough to bring up a maddened laugh at the ridiculous thought of it. The motion of shoulders giving Kamisov's imprisoned bonds enough momentum to swing a little, attracting the creature's attention again.

"Is that it?" He spoke in Russian tongue and cynic's sneer. "You should've bought me flowers, first, you son of a bitch..."

Nothing. Just a look. One lingering more than the first, however. Kamisov coughing again. The thing tilting its head, ceasing that wand-like wave of red beams over metal blades, an action which somehow caused them to glow an eerie crimson in this place. More coughing and the response was now to click that instrument back into place.

Instead of aproach, however, it casually stepped aside. More games, Kamisov thought, then heard his stomach growl. Little wonder. It seemed as if he had not eaten in weeks. Between that and the nausea upon waking up, being made to hang like some bat in the proverbial mouth of cave had no thelped matters.

But now came the worst. Sickness. A need to heave and even physically vomit. Vomit which did not come, even though the pain widened now.

"KHRISTOS VOSKRESE..."

Christ is risen, came the sepulchral, almost mechanised hiss, somehow clear from beneath the hunter's mask.

An explosion of blood. Convulsions renewed, only to blossom with death, moments later. An obscene parody of infant hatching from egg, played out from within human ribcage. Bones cracking and tissues giving way with elasticated force. Something ripping through, birthing in a fountain of furious, organic horror.

Those first few moments of sentient life, baptised with life, itself. A cruel, arm-like phallus, raising from its dying cavity of home, like some grotesque hybrid of cobra and damnation given flesh.

It twisted now, uncoiling from its home of meat to invert perspective, looking without eyes at the one standing before it. Observing. Measuring the bipedal creature for what it was and no more. Soon would come growth. A second gestation. This time to change form, here in this place of shadows and murk. With a singularly decisive scream, it sprang forth, diving beneath water polluted with filth, chasing that instinctive sense of self-preservation, honed by countless generations of constant evolution. It paused not for an instant to glance at its crab-like 'parent' laying as one corpse below the other, curled up in post-coital death, like countless others before it.

That was no hand. Never had been.

The more humanoid of the two living creatures watched on in silence, waiting, as the sounds of wetness echoed into the distance, beneath the streets of those unaware, dwelling above.

There was still time. It would wait. The hunts were now judged, by some of its kind, as in need of an added measure of excitement. An increased thrill. The temptation of not merely encountering unpredictability, but practically encouraging it.

"VO ISTINU VOSKRES..."

He is risen, it echoed beneath that enigmatic shield of metal, digits flexing at the ready.

Is risen, indeed...

Amusement...

Entertainment

Well! It seems that my friend is unable to make it for the convention where I'll hopefully be seeing Juliet Landau again and that means having to be on my own for that weekend, again.

Would be nice to actually have someone to speak with. :)

And now, something clever...

Amusing!

Yahoo Greetings Card

If any of you get a message from someone you don't know, allegedly going through 'Yahoo American Greetings', don't click the links.

I got one, this morning. Although the links are clearly displayed within the card, itself, when I put my mouse pointer over them, viewing what the real link was to, it's a slightly different one, making me think it's probably to a viral site to steal information on your computer without you knowing it.

Adorable Speaking Mewlets!

"Skreeeeeeeeeee...!"

Sea Otters - Just Like Dolphins

http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg14119130.400-seamy-side-of-sea-otter-life-.html