Ted Rall

He has a website. Not only that, he also has an online comics feed.

I just spent about five hours reading web comics, while also watching (with mycosys) the last five episodes (plus extras) of the first season of Blake's 7. A good way to relax.

Grimly Fiendish (Youtube)

The Damned Grimly Fiendish

Why...?

...because I can!

My LiveJournal Friends Meme

Infected by stephen_dedman's post:

( My LiveJournal Friends )

Plot Tricks

Found this page The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot by Teresa Nielsen Hayden, while checking out aesmael's journal. I rather like the intro, which reads:

Start with some principles:

• A plot doesn't have to be new. It just has to be new to the reader.
• In fact, it doesn't even have to be new to the reader. It just has to get past him. (It helps if the story's moving fast and there's lots of other interesting stuff going on.)
• A plot device that's been used a thousand times may be a cliché, but it's also a trick that works. That's why it keeps getting used.
• Several half-baked ideas can often be combined into one fully-cooked one.
• If you have one plot presented three ways, you have three plots. If you have three plots presented one way, you have one plot. (I stole this principle from Jim Macdonald's lecture on how to really generate plots, which is much better than my lecture on stupid plot tricks.)
• Steal from the best.

I generated the following using the lists on that page:

• Lead Characters (Bad):
  If my chief engineer displeases me, he will be shot, not imprisoned in the dungeon or beyond the traps he helped design.
• Lead Character (Good):
  I will employ some manner of surveillance so that when I leave a room and a traitorous comrade gives me the Malicious Scowl or Wicked Leer to my back, I will have ample warning of his impending betrayal.
• Auxiliary Characters (Bad):
  None of my super-weapons will have a "reverse" switch.
• Auxiliary Characters (Good):
  Do not split up to search for the monster.
• Further Evil:
  I will keep my hair under control and my fingernails trimmed. Long, loose hair is much too convenient a handle for the Hero, Sidekick or Backstabbing Evil Ally. Trimmed fingernails let me press The Button myself.

Gasp - it sounds a bit like The Venture Brothers!

Imbecilic Naming Customs

As per the BBC News article:

A couple in New Zealand is planning to call their newborn son Superman after officials rejected their original choice of 4Real.

Pat and Sheena Wheaton have been frustrated by rules in New Zealand banning names that begin with a number.

Mum and Dad decided to call their son 4Real after seeing an ultrasound image of him. It was then they realised that their baby was "for real".

They are considering legal action to force officials to reverse the ruling.

Name game

The name might sound more like a comedian's catchphrase or a fruit juice, but the Wheatons were deadly serious.

Sadly for them, the authorities in New Zealand did not share their enthusiasm for the unusual - their choice was rejected by the country's registrar of births, deaths and marriages.

The rules state that first names starting with a number are not allowed.

The law also advises parents to avoid names that could cause their child to be teased or made fun of.

Undeterred, the Wheatons now plan to call their newborn son Superman, but have said they will refer to him as 4Real.

The baby's family argues that if people can be known as John Williams III, for example, then why can a number not be used at the beginning of a name?

Officials in New Zealand have been involved in similar disputes before.

In the past they have had to intervene to stop parents naming their offspring Satan and Adolf Hitler.

And just what happens when this poor kid goes to school, or... ...anywhere?

Expedition to Edgeworth

Went to Edgeworth to do some shopping today. Only we went on the electric bikes.

First stop was an auto parts shop, where I bought some nuts and bolts and we attached a milk crate to the rear rack of my scooter. Then it was off to Coles for some more shopping. I wasn't exactly all here for that - I've had continual pain after the extractions earlier this week in the tooth next to the teeth extracted. They ripped off the filling, and it has to be replaced. Felt very very strange (and still do).

Anyway, came back just as it was getting dusk. Put some more air in the back tyre, but with an almost full load in the crate I found it awkward to drive the scooter wearing a backpack. On the whole the scooter behaved much better than when we went to West Wallsend - perhaps the hills were shallower.

However, on the way home someone in a car threw a beer can at Kevin. e recovered the can and reported it to the police when we got home.

Jehovah's Witness

A Jehovah's Witness called earlier today.

Surprisingly it wasn't an confrontational encounter. He'd come to give me copies of Awake! and Watchtower of course, but the big discussion was about the the broadcast made by both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to between 80,000 to 100,000 Christians (see Howard, Rudd make pitch to Christian voters).

The thing is, he didn't believe a word of it. For the JW, it was all lies and a web of deceit made in order to canvas for votes in a potentially uncertain election. Perhaps. In any case, despite that fact that I'm pagan (I explained that I followed Cybele, and that Augustine referenced her), we actually had common ground, in that we are both moved by our conscience first, following our beliefs and convictions even when it's not convenient.

He left some magazines, and suggested that I should consider what God wants for me right now. Good idea, and I think perhaps I'll need to wait and see what She wants...

The Pelagius Book

I've just finished reading The Pelagius Book by Paul Morgan, which is a collection of reminiscences about the title character by his secretary, Celestius. Historically Pelagius "taught that the human will, tempered in good deeds and rigorous asceticism, was sufficient to live a sinless life. He told his followers that right action on the part of human beings was all that was necessary for salvation" (see Pelagianism). Sounds vaguely like Buddhism to me.

In the book everything is filtered through Celestius's memory, as he writes as an old man in hiding in Alexandria. The book is quite short, but as a result the writing seems more elegant than detailed. Certainly, there is a sense impending doom and downfall that is usually associated with this period, with all the hysteria and madness that entailed (who killed the Roman Empire? the "Romans" did!).

It was an enjoyable read, and suggested some possibilities for my Tales of the Galli strip (which I still haven't the next page for - tomorrow for sure).