Journals
One of the hidden gems in 2013 was "Snowpiercer". It shares many similarities with the world of Half-Life 2.
The story sets in the dystopian future, when mankind became nearly extinct after a global catastrophe. A megalomaniac holds a tight grip on the fate of humanity, and a decrepit leader (Eli Vance) inspires a resistance to overthrow the oppressor.
It's a brutal film that is saturated with graphic violence, but at the same time very stylistic. Any sci-fi fan would appreciate it.
The story sets in the dystopian future, when mankind became nearly extinct after a global catastrophe. A megalomaniac holds a tight grip on the fate of humanity, and a decrepit leader (Eli Vance) inspires a resistance to overthrow the oppressor.
It's a brutal film that is saturated with graphic violence, but at the same time very stylistic. Any sci-fi fan would appreciate it.
Scott and I had an interesting conversation last night.
"I am so glad that I met Mom. Had I not met her, you wouldn't be here," I told Scott.
"If you married someone else and had children, would you love them as much as you love me?" questioned Scott.
I paused, considering all possible responses and how each one might be interpreted by him.
"I think so, because they are my kids after all," I answered finally, deciding on the most truthful reply.
"I think you are right," agreed Scott.
"I am so glad that I met Mom. Had I not met her, you wouldn't be here," I told Scott.
"If you married someone else and had children, would you love them as much as you love me?" questioned Scott.
I paused, considering all possible responses and how each one might be interpreted by him.
"I think so, because they are my kids after all," I answered finally, deciding on the most truthful reply.
"I think you are right," agreed Scott.
I've seen a lot of rocket launches live on NASA TV and SpaceFlightNow.com, including todays launch of the Antares rocket carrying the Sygnus spacecraft to resupply the ISS, as seen here, 4 minutes and 28 seconds before launch:
But the launch didn't really go as planned:
It exploded six seconds after lift-off.
Aerial view of the damaged Antares launchpad:
Live NASA webcast footage of the failed launch
Video of the failure from the press site
Video of the failure from 3000ft
This is the first time I've seen a launch failure live. Holy crap.
Aerial view of the damaged Antares launchpad:
Video of the failure from the press site
Video of the failure from 3000ft
This is the first time I've seen a launch failure live. Holy crap.
Today, about two and a half hours ago my dog Fred was put down.
He was 11 years old. He had a number of benign tumours, particularly a football sized one in front of his left back leg. We had already decided that he would be put down once they started to affect his quality of life. Normally he wasn't a very active dog anyway, so he didn't seem to mind them.
While I wasn't at home to see it apparently he had deteriorated rapidly over the weekend, and when I got back he couldn't walk and was having trouble breathing. I was with him for about an hour before the vet arrived. That photo was taken when the vet had just pulled into the driveway.
It was especially difficult for me because there have been a number of times, when dealing with depression, that I felt that Fred was the only true friend I had. He was always happy to see me, and I was always happy to see him, right up until the end.
Goodbye Fred, I will miss you.
He was 11 years old. He had a number of benign tumours, particularly a football sized one in front of his left back leg. We had already decided that he would be put down once they started to affect his quality of life. Normally he wasn't a very active dog anyway, so he didn't seem to mind them.
While I wasn't at home to see it apparently he had deteriorated rapidly over the weekend, and when I got back he couldn't walk and was having trouble breathing. I was with him for about an hour before the vet arrived. That photo was taken when the vet had just pulled into the driveway.
It was especially difficult for me because there have been a number of times, when dealing with depression, that I felt that Fred was the only true friend I had. He was always happy to see me, and I was always happy to see him, right up until the end.
Goodbye Fred, I will miss you.
Question for you:
I'm rebuilding Super Matt Jordan and I can get it to run in full screen natively, combined with my 16:9 widescreen res, it looks really sexy.
But how popular is widescreen, or a 16:9 aspect ratio?
And no, I cannot change the game's resolution from within itself. :/
I'm rebuilding Super Matt Jordan and I can get it to run in full screen natively, combined with my 16:9 widescreen res, it looks really sexy.
But how popular is widescreen, or a 16:9 aspect ratio?
And no, I cannot change the game's resolution from within itself. :/
"One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose, and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away."
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Upgraded from the S1 Mini to an S4.
Holy cow what I've been missing on.
Holy cow what I've been missing on.
This guy has inspired me to try and start making my own Lithium-Ion Battery packs 
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjr2LKmhdVw]Here is the video I first watched to get inerested in it :)[/url]
I might invest in a used terminal welder, just becuase soldering cells scares the shit out of me.. ='(
Also a big plus, I get an unlimited amount of cells to play with due to failed battery packs at work; we throw them out, and normally when they fail, only 1-2 cells out of the pack(out of 8) are actually bad.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjr2LKmhdVw]Here is the video I first watched to get inerested in it :)[/url]
I might invest in a used terminal welder, just becuase soldering cells scares the shit out of me.. ='(
Also a big plus, I get an unlimited amount of cells to play with due to failed battery packs at work; we throw them out, and normally when they fail, only 1-2 cells out of the pack(out of 8) are actually bad.
So I've had a fairly fun few weeks
Since i've started second year at Uni, i've decided I really should get more involved with socities. I auditioned last year for the Footlights Society which is a musical theatre based one but unfortunately didn't make the cut. ( I didn't realise the musical was a very heavy urban-dance one... and I can't dance). This year however I auditioned and (surprisingly) got in to the Showchoir ( basically the glee club except filled with alcoholics ) and It's been great so far - I've met so many amazing people from it.
I've not just joined the showchoir; Edinburgh University has it's own student-ran theatre, known as Bedlam - which is literally an old church
They've a resident weekly improv-comedy show called the Improverts, and they hold their own little tech-workshop alongside it to learn some small bits about theatrical tech.Since i've had some interest in the lighting area, I've been attending almost all of these since the semester started and have got on really well with the senior techs and a few of the not-completely-nerdy first years. I got asked a week ago if I wanted to be the lighting operator for a show - and in my blind enthusiasm I accepted, without really knowing what I just signed up for. The show was a round so myself and the lighting team managed to come up with some really funky lighting ( and some really creepy effects as well ).
The show came and went ( and unfortunately we had to turn people away we'd sold that many tickets) and I learned a fair bit about how to actually use Bedlam's lighting desk - which comes onto my next part
Bedlam's desk is an ETC Element, according to the techies it's a fairly nice ( and expensive ) bit of kit, and is fantastic for theatrical performances, but for live stuff (which i'd attempted to do beforehand) it's a bit awful.
The fun fact about bedlam is that almost all of the senior techies there actually work at the Student's union, and run the lighting for almost all of the union's events - the major one being the weekly "Big Cheese" club night. Because I'd said I was really interested in live stuff, almost every techie replied with "oh just come along to the big cheese and i'll let you go mental on the desk for a bit".
When you're literally invited to freely play about with some smart lights, you can't really turn it down.( Slightly outdated image, those moving LEDs were only temp. hired, we've got Martin RUSH MH3s permanently )
So I come in to the venue at 10, the dancefloor is dead as almost nobody comes in that early, and I'm literally plonked in front of the desk and the two techies who'd helped at bedlam started showing me how to use their Tiger Touch II
nerd part
The difference between the Tiger Touch and the ETC Element that Bedlam has is that the Tiger is almost entirely designed for busking ( fancy way of saying on-the-fly lighting rather than having everything premade ), and is actually incredibly simple to use. Presets and playbacks are available and can be easily created on the fly, if an idea for an effect pops into your head in the middle of the night.
Becomes about 11 o'clock, and I'm expecting the person who is actually employed by the union to run the lighting desk to chuck me out, but he seemed overjoyed that he was now being paid to do nothing, and let me stay were I was. 11 became 12, the venue got packed and pretty much before I knew it I was single-handedly in charge of lighting the now rammed venue.
The annoying thing was that the union had recently had job openings for Tech crew, but I'd literally missed the deadline for a few days. Turns out the positions are re-opening.. next year. The tech people helping me seemed frustrated that I'd not applied, and I was equally pissed off that I had come to the conclusion that I could've been paid money to do something that I was literally vibrating with excitement whilst doing it.
And that's the story how I lit a clubnight with little to no experience, totally bossed it, and how I missed a fantastic job opportunity.
I've not just joined the showchoir; Edinburgh University has it's own student-ran theatre, known as Bedlam - which is literally an old church
The show came and went ( and unfortunately we had to turn people away we'd sold that many tickets) and I learned a fair bit about how to actually use Bedlam's lighting desk - which comes onto my next part
The fun fact about bedlam is that almost all of the senior techies there actually work at the Student's union, and run the lighting for almost all of the union's events - the major one being the weekly "Big Cheese" club night. Because I'd said I was really interested in live stuff, almost every techie replied with "oh just come along to the big cheese and i'll let you go mental on the desk for a bit".
When you're literally invited to freely play about with some smart lights, you can't really turn it down.
So I come in to the venue at 10, the dancefloor is dead as almost nobody comes in that early, and I'm literally plonked in front of the desk and the two techies who'd helped at bedlam started showing me how to use their Tiger Touch II
The difference between the Tiger Touch and the ETC Element that Bedlam has is that the Tiger is almost entirely designed for busking ( fancy way of saying on-the-fly lighting rather than having everything premade ), and is actually incredibly simple to use. Presets and playbacks are available and can be easily created on the fly, if an idea for an effect pops into your head in the middle of the night.
Becomes about 11 o'clock, and I'm expecting the person who is actually employed by the union to run the lighting desk to chuck me out, but he seemed overjoyed that he was now being paid to do nothing, and let me stay were I was. 11 became 12, the venue got packed and pretty much before I knew it I was single-handedly in charge of lighting the now rammed venue.
The annoying thing was that the union had recently had job openings for Tech crew, but I'd literally missed the deadline for a few days. Turns out the positions are re-opening.. next year. The tech people helping me seemed frustrated that I'd not applied, and I was equally pissed off that I had come to the conclusion that I could've been paid money to do something that I was literally vibrating with excitement whilst doing it.
And that's the story how I lit a clubnight with little to no experience, totally bossed it, and how I missed a fantastic job opportunity.
10,227 days
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Marketing. I may not be great at it, but I think this gets the point across.
Am I doing it right?
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