Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
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3:58 pm - Fun start to the New Year
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Thursday, December 31st, 2009
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1:35 pm - Ah, government . . .
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Good thing to remember given the last year of government expansion:
To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated at, regulated, docketed, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, weighed, censored, ordered about, by men who have neither the right, nor the knowledge, nor the virtue. ... To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction, noted, registered, enrolled, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under the pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, squeezed, mystified, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, despised, harassed, tracked, abused, clubbed, disarmed, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and, to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, outraged, dishonoured. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.
-Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the first individual to call himself an anarchist.
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(comment on this)
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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
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3:21 pm - Review - Avatar (Movie)
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Short, non-spoiler version:
Go and watch it for the CGI world of Pandora and the Na’vi. An amazing realization of an alien environment, the best so far. Ignore as much as possible the ham-handed plot that lacks all subtly and shows that Cameron does not understand what science fiction is. My Grade: B- (and only because the CGI is so spectacular, apart from that it would drop a full letter)
For my spoiler-laded analysis of why it fails at being science fiction here.
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(comment on this)
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Sunday, December 6th, 2009
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10:16 am - First Gingerbread of the Season
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I am not a foodie and not much of a baker but I do make a good gingerbread (thanks to Marsha Redfox's Sweet Treats receipe). Laura (aka ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) doji_kumoko) asked for some for her birthday and here it is only two days late.
As always, I highly recommend Sweet Treats as a gift for the baker in your life, being the Winter Holidays and all.
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(comment on this)
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Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
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10:30 pm - Gifts of December
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Sunday, November 15th, 2009
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1:16 pm - Winter Court
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The massive roleplaying storyline event for Legends of the Five Rings begins today!
Winter Court Kyuden Gotei, I am not playing this time but I am helping out be being an assistant GM.
Go and take a look, should be much fun for all involved *touch wood*.
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(comment on this)
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Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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12:23 pm - Remembrance Day
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
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9:12 am - New Campaign - Session 1 Report
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Friday, October 23rd, 2009
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3:54 pm - Places of Interest
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Spiegel Online has an article on Touring the Horrible, various site in Germany where terrible things happened or that symbolize such. Naturally the majority are Nazi oriented but some tie to the Cold War and one to just a serial killer. Some good building blocks for modern occult or superhero games there.
In Russia, there are the Stone Trees of Yakutsk also called the Lena Pillars. These would make an excellent border for some nation, tied up, perhaps, with a legend of how the Earth itself raised up these pillars to guard the nation from invaders.
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(comment on this)
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Saturday, October 17th, 2009
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4:43 pm - Goblins of the Sea of Stars
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Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
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10:25 pm - More new fiction! Wizard's Path II
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Sunday, October 11th, 2009
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4:59 pm - Review - The Lost Room
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I had heard about this when it released, it was all over the Unknown Armies mailing list, but only recently saw it (thank you Netflix). Amazingly, The Lost Room is a SciFi original production and one of the best high weirdness pieces I have even seen.
( Minor spoilers ahead )
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
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9:25 am - Rio Olympics
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Congratulations to Rio and Brazil to winning the right to host the first Olympic Games held in South America. But be careful with your spending, holding Olympic events is a costly endeavor.
In the US, there has been much discussion of this round of Olympic bids and if it reflects poorly on President Obama. I think the BBC's Mark Mardell has a very clear view of it.
This, I think, is a particularly astute observation:
You could argue the president has a history of relying too much on his own personal intervention to solve problems, rather than using it as the final touch on top of a detailed political strategy.
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(comment on this)
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
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2:26 pm - The United Network Command for Law Enforcement
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It has been pointed out to me that tonight is the 45th anniversary of the premier of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. series (on NBC). The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was a spy series, an action series and a hope for a better world. A series known to me only through reruns and novels. But it was ground breaking in its time.
There is a lovely tribute to the show at St. Crispin Day Society's LJ page which is well worth reading.
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(comment on this)
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Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
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2:02 pm - More MicroPower
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Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
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4:09 pm - Fiction! Wizard's Path I
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Monday, August 31st, 2009
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11:03 am - RPG Moral Dilemmas
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Sunday, August 30th, 2009
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6:13 pm - Fear of Fascism?
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I am fascinated that the progressive left has suddenly rediscovered a deep, irrational fear of Fascism (as exampled by this inaccuracy filled article). While I could see some argument for the fear of fascism during the Bush years when the right controlled multiple levers of government power. But now that the Democrats control both the House and the Senate and the Presidency, have mobilized an army of supporters, and has a supportive press. Now there is a threat of fascism from the right? Really?
If they were really fascist, they would want government control of health care through the corporations, not be opposing it.
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(comment on this)
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Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
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4:56 pm - Niven was Right
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Thursday, August 20th, 2009
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6:42 am - GenCon Report
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