Other Worlds

I feels as though at times I'm loosing touch with reality, like the anchor is working it's way free from the ocean bottom - while other times I feel far to trapped by it, that I've been embedded in the fabric of this world. But enough of this quizzical existence when there are as Jake Chambers put it in Stephen King's Gunslinger and the Dark Tower, "Go then, there are other worlds than these."

Edmund Finney's Quest to Find the Meaning of Life: http://eqcomics.com/
Red Moon Rising: http://www.redmoonrising.org/
Everblue: http://everblue-comic.com/
Amya: http://www.amyachronicles.com/
Red's Planet: http://www.redsplanet.com/comic/
Earthsong: http://www.earthsongsaga.com/
The Phoenix Requiem: http://requiem.seraph-inn.com
Vattu: http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/
Planes of Eldlor: http://www.rednebulastudios.com/eldlor/

Scary how quickly each link lead to others... not sure how many I will continue to follow in the future, but for now it's a nice change of addiction :)

Stories for All Hallow's Eve

Two tales for the season. The first for those still young at heart a ghost story named Frosty the Gourdman. Here's the trailer from youtube. (The story is much better than the trailer. With a quick pace though parents are sure to enjoy the ride. Just take a test drive before giving the keys to those who have never read a ghost story before :)





The second tale for those much older who seek a bit more horror in their celebration comes the tale of  Jasper Morello A nice mix of Jules Verne, Edgar Allen Poe and maybe a touch of HP Lovecraft.






I've heard tell that there are two other parts to Jasper's tale that have been written but have yet to be made and released. One day I hope they complete their trilogy - until they do enjoy this first installment.

BONUS:
Tales of dragons are good year round and Sintel is an amazing movie short from Blender. -- Enjoy --




Honestly this bonus is more for me as i didn't want to lose the link in the mix.

Scattered Thoughts and Updates

I seem to do more posts like this anymore than any other. Sometimes I wonder if this blog is worth keeping any more - it's not as though there is a regular update schedule or even a general thread other than the general questioning of this reality and my semi lucid ideas of sanity and the requirements to blend into the crowd.

One day the deeper thought of the moment was not so much how many changes we experience as we hover between political, social and religious factions we encounter throughout our lives. Is it possible to maintain one's integrity or would the sophists argue that integrity is just one more illusion in a life that is nothing but a twisted form of jungle living (each preying on the other) and brutish survival at worst?


I've added a few more links to the side. The first is in the Hito no Tabi section (as I'm not really sure where it best fits into the sorting on the side) - I stumbled upon The Nourishing Gourmet when trying to find a good soy sauce, which if you have a palette for such can be a real trick. The site seems quite interesting and who knows maybe I'll start cooking a bit more again. Cooking for one is rather pointless for me most of the time - all the effort that goes into the prep, might as well just get a 50lb bag of Bachelor Chow and watch some Futurama.

The other links are in the comic section. So far I've enjoyed the story telling through them all - but have yet to figure out their publishing schedule. A Softer World - many would call this comic just wrong, but there is a dry wit in it's ironic cynicism that one reads at their own risk.  Dresden Codak - one of the only comics I've come across that uses so much philosophy in it's creation of a world that contains segments such as Dragons & Discourse. The final comic added to the section is Rice Boy. So many stories lay in waiting here, the art is good and the storytelling is of a quality I can see Evan Dahm's tales becoming an animated feature or two.

UPDATE:
So I guess updating stuff comes in spurts in its' own convoluted way - - reorganization always seems to happen that way. Some bits either have to hit critical mass before change can occur or just adding a couple of things cause a shift in growth that was unexpected.

Added a couple of link groups along the side  with additional links added to the mix. I mean what 's the point of a topic with only one link? - - anyway don't read to much into it as I'll most likely be going through a link consolidation later - without a destination many times the minutia of the day to day is all we have left :P

Anime Link Shuffle Update

Due to technical difficulties it looks like Bleach 7 is still having a few connectivity issues. However I was able to find the group they were using for their Fan-Sub service.

I've also added Mazui-Subs along the side - as I found they have been working on the Spice and Wolf series. Which has been quite enjoyable - not to mention if you pay attention there is usually a free economics lesson buried inside, under all the alcohol, misunderstandings and playful banter.

Ippen Shinde Miru?

It's been awhile since I looked at my current addictions... at the moment I can only think of two or three, the image above is from one of them on the anime front. It's from Jigoku Shoujo - I think I stumbled in at the second season: Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, and became hooked not so much in the formulaic plot, but in the subtleties within each of the stories. I've got high hopes for season three: Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae.

Another show that has really stood out over the past few months is The Last Exile - also well done, I'll let the those who take the time to watch decide on the ending though as I'm still torn on this unique sci-fi.

A special thanks to all those out there who for what ever the reason continue to provide fansubs to the world.

As for music - - the pendulum forever swings. Lately I've felt pulled to a little faster beat and back away from the American market of music. This seems to happen in cycles with the last major draw back to the U.S. being Breaking Benjamen, and Blue October. Currently the Japanese have my ear, with Ellegarden, and Muramasa keeping me going... Elle has become quite addicting to say the least reminding me a bit of Blink 182

Even with all these shifts it took Dragon Age: Origins to finish burning World of Warcaft out of my system. Currently even with all it's faults I can say my once strong desire to jump right back in to WoW has been cut substantially, and the best part is I'm now I've a little extra cash in my pocket.

4 8 15 16 23 42

Okay I had to watch the Lost finally twice before making this post. As always there is much that could be debated and theorized which may make for interesting posts later.

WARNING: possible Spoilers ahead

Using meetings between characters with strong connections to trigger memories then creating a montage of images flashing through key events from their island life was a nice way to do a flashback without being overly blatant about it. Allowing for those watching to glimpse and remember just how much these characters have gone through in the past few years in a strange way added to the felling of closure in the final episode.

I could of used a bit more epilogue though as to what happened to those who did make it off before our final stop in the chapel. And to say I'm not curious about the first few adventures of Hugo and Ben would be a lie, however I have placed those flights of fancy in the back of my mind with Calvin and Hobbes.

For now though know that this has been a six season Twilight Zone - a well done one at that. If this statement seems a bit off just visualized Rod Serling or Nestor Carbonell (who played Ricard Alpert) providing some ending dialogue about life lessons learned by those Lost in the Twilight Zone.

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

First Stop in the Pearl

I escaped on Saturday. Hopped a train on this side of the Rockies for the first time and went to Portland. This was more of a scouting mission, not only to explore a new area I've never been to, but to see if physically I could handle 16 hours on the rails in one day for a round trip.

Below are some of the pics I took on the trip - - these are all from the Chinese Garden, which was my first spot after leaving the train station.

Portland, OR

I'm so glad I was able to get some advice from J and Holly before leaving - - next time I think I may want to stay longer - - traveling for 16 hours on the rails and walking around the pearl district was a bit long/rough for one day... but so worth it.

Tilt'd Knews Post

It's been a long time since I posted any interesting news stories... there have been so many to choose from, here's a few of the recent interesting tidbits I've come across.

Should you choose to except this mission...
IronKey unveils enterprise USB flash drive with crypto, self-destruct security
http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=5806

Possible Reaver Creation in the making 2016:
Space Station Is Near Completion, Maybe the End: Plan to 'De-Orbit' in 2016 Is Criticized
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/12/AR2009071201977.html?hpid=topnews
Didn't we just get it up there? Sounds like a Dead Like Me exclusive reaper reunion - - please don't screw this one up like you did that last move... come on gravelings. I'm curious to see just how much fun gravelings could have in a zero G environment.

Cats 'Exploit' Humans By Purring: (among other things)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8147566.stm
Yeah we're on to you now you fur-balls of manipulation :P

And lastly... *queue drum roll*

Al Lewis: Wells Fargo Bank Sues Itself
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/al-lewis-wells-fargo-bank-sues/
So tell me again how's this supposed to work...

Feed the Fish

I love wandering the web. Many times you find just what you're looking for. While other times little gems like the dark pool of fish on the side turn up. There were a few other interesting items, and although the site is simple it's still kind of fun to play around in.

http://abowman.com/google-modules/

In general I find the fish more interesting than the black tiger, Tekk from what seems like a lifetime ago. . .

Beware Spinning Leeks

Okay at first I didn't see the danger in this site but after seeing it put into a round and feeling it's true power all I can say is Beware: (if taken in large doses has been known to cause some slight nausa and headaches)

http://leekspin.info/

brief history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loituma_Girl

Other sites that start cute and become a good way to go out on a sanity plea are:

Hamster Dance: http://www.webhamster.com/

the Llama Song: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/llama

and we couldn't forget the Fish Heads



Okay - enough for me - time for 3 more IB (Ibuprofen) and stepping away from the blog.

Blurb Tainted Kessle Run

Okay it's a cheesy name - but it's kind of shiny too :P

FOR PONY, Someecards.com coolness:
Stumbled on this in the chaos of the first week of classes. I guess you could say it was a sanity plea waiting to happen, but anyway you can now use those nice pics and make a few e-cards of your own.



It might be fun to do a card every week, gotta think on that one, just sooo many possiblities there.

The Q Has Gone to War:
It's taken awhile. Much longer than planned, as once again wonder and reason began to wage the war once again as before.

"On the heels of the skirmish man foolishly called The War to End All Wars, the dark one sought to elude his destiny, and live as a mortal. So he fled across the ocean to the empire called America. But by his mere presence, a cancer corrupted the spirit of the land. People were rendered mute by fools who spoke many words but said nothing... for whom oppression and cowardice were virtues... and freedom, an obscenity. And into this dark heartland, a prophet stalked his enemy. Until, dimished by his wounds, he turned to the next in the ancient line of light. And so it was that the fate of mankind came to rest on the trembling shoulders of the most reluctant of saviors... " Simon

The second season of Carnivàle was interesting, a little rushed, but then there are signs that they knew the end was coming. After it was over though all I could really think was the the Q Continuum had gone to war. . . go fig, at least Janeway wasn't there.

Hope they do a movie or something later (Carnivàle not Janeway :P).

Second Escape and Straight on 'til Morning:
For a 3-day weekend I longed for the simple peace of a regular week. Normal escapes were hard to come by and my World of Warcraft therapy was sharply cut back. I mean what's the point in logging in if you will be interrupted so man times as to make thinking a coherent sentence enter the realm of chance Lotto winnings?

Anyway I got a shiny experience to escape this gorram mess and tag along with the crew of Serenity. It's the first time I've had to watch the television series Firefly. I missed it when it first came out, due to the over campy marketing they provided. Sorry but as cool as Buffy and Angel was I shuttered at the idea of a sci-fi western produced by the same group.

I now sit here converted and appologetic. Yeah it's got it's moments but the writers, complex characters, plot - - yes a show with PLOT!! Needless to say it's now been placed on my internal list of series worth purchasing.



Once I finish the TV series I plan to catch the movie - - which I've only heard good things about.

Parting Shot:
I only made one other e-card and it seemed to fit the past few weeks on so many levels.



We'll see what i can do to spread these blurbs out so this blog doesn't seem so 'chunky' anymore.

Power Blurb II

It's amazing what a quiet day allows one to accomplish in the minutia of life :P or is that just the power of procrastination?

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Torrent of New Tunes:
9 times out of 10 folks will take what ever they can when they can get it - sometimes in fear that they will never have the opportunity to get it - whatever it is - again. Starfreeze just got hit hard - too many users taking advantage of a good deal.

In some ways one could argue that it is self inflicted. There is just so much cool stuff there to explore and download if you are into trying out new Anime without having to deal with torrents. Kicker is these are not small files in any sense of the word. It was really just a matter of time until a paradigm shift had to occur.

Once it happened I started to explore more on the net to find the source fan subs that were working on a few of the series that I was starting to follow, and to learn how to use torrents a bit.

The client I settled on was utorrent - it's small, simple and fairly strait forward - - a definite pluses to the novice that I am :) and if you look to the side there is a new Anime section along the side of DI where there are now links to a few of the fan subs that I've grown to enjoy (Eclipse does Claymore, Shinsen handles Kaze no Stigma)

In the process of the search though I also found a nice Jpop/rock anime streaming audio station called Shinsen Radio. As it streams through window's media player the variety is nice, just wish I could create a few stations like Pandora there :)

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The Many Forms of Evil:
I've given up on the name "Phone" and have now renamed it to "Evil". Evil is no longer a descriptor of the phone but has become the phone. Therefore I will no longer will I be answering the phone but rather I will be answering Evil. I've never had a true love of evil, being a devout introvert but even so evil has harried me most of my life.

Mimic's Sacrifice is just one of the battles that have raged from the use of evil in this world.

Don't get me wrong - evil has it's place but currently it is running rampant around the world in many forms. It exists on my desk at work, at home both wired and wireless, and is even carried around attacking at any moment. Always it sits there smug in it's own evilness planning, plotting, demanding attention to be served upon its' demand.

To live in these days requires a knowledge of evil to accomplish duties as assigned in this life. . .

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Convenience of Stupidity:
It's becoming the ultimate excuse, the power of the deniable to think through any sort of systematic logical process.

I have yet to pin point when it started but the entitlement is quite scary.

Some one comes in asks a question and there is no clarification, only the mute dumb sound/look of cluelessness as they expect the other person to read their mind decipher the gibberish that is flying around internally to magically solve their issue - - - then they get indignant when you can't.

I expect this to a certain extent from small children, especially when they honestly don't know, or they are trying to hide something, but after awhile it's all frustrating.

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Check Please:
I hate doing political posts - - I mean it was bad before, but sometimes I wonder about the I.Q. in out public information network system here - - It's one thing to have information overload with decent information but the dross of din is making it hard to think anymore. Sorting out the agendas is becoming a real tedium and damn near impossible without a mute button :P

Anyway, with all the clamoring in the drive by media of sound bites and idiot politicians with the issues in Iraq I have recently only had one recurring question:

During/After WWII how long did it take us to pull our troops out of Europe? Oh, that's right WE'RE STILL THERE. The war ended over 50 years ago yet we stuck around. . .

Is there any major difference between WWII and Iraq? Between the Iron Curtain of the Communists in Russia after WWII and Iran working on pushing a fundamentalist Al-Qaeda Curtain?

Both are a philosophy of how the world should be/act, one was based on the state religion of atheism while the other pushes a state religion of fundamentalist Muslim.

Gotta think on this one - - - maybe I'm just getting lost in the ancient battle of status quo vs change, who knows. . .

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Guilt Manipulations/Parting Shot:
Just got a evil call from someone trying to get tech support for a computer at a non-profit organization. I've got nothing against asking for help when you need it, but while talking on evil with them I got hit with a guilt trip and what felt like a sale pitch.

I begged off and told them I'd let my supervisor know - lucky him, but I wasn't about to volunteer us. One thing I've learned over the past few years is to be VERY leery of setting any sort of precedent.

The only advice I can give to someone trying to get me to do something via guilt can be said in two words - Just Don't.

There are few things in this world that drop my sympathy faster, it's a nice short list.

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Well that's enough for now, I honestly feel all blogged out for the moment :)

Power Blurb

So many things to mention - discuss - rant - and just get out on the page. Normally this would be like 7 + posts (depending on my memory and all the things I thought might make for an interesting post over the past few weeks that just never seemed to happen).

I'll do my best to break up the topics with some formatting - - hmmm, maybe a rainbow color post :P



Any way here we go - - -

Update: Due to the sheer mass of this post I may need to break it into sections, we'll have to wait and see.

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Weather:
Rains came went and humidity rising and falling in rapid succession - - it felt so good, physically to the skin the coolness brought deeply needed relief. The gray matter however writhed in agony for a couple of days, until the barometric pressure in the surrounding area started to stabilize. I'm not as sensitive to it as S, but when my neck is out and the clouds roll in - damn I can feel it and IB (Ibuprofen) barely takes the edge off, sleep however if you can enter the realm of the deeps where dreams are the reality there is a definite peace to be found. . .

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Nigolos No More:
For those few who have been reading this blog for a while you'll note the the profile picture and name has changed recently. When I first started blogging it was in hopes of finding a way to "login" to the world around me - hence the name Nigolos, which offered a constant reminder of what I was trying to do when read backward (so login).

Currently I feel like I've become a little more logged in than planned - and due to other circumstances Grymm just seems to fit. Nice thing about an online persona it can be changed much easier than all those other folks in the world bureaucracy that are try to keep tabs on everyone.

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Balancing the Needs of One:
A couple of weeks ago I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about how a school district was being accused of not providing the proper support to deal with one autistic student in the classroom. . . wish I could find the link, I'd put it right here - it was sometime in the past month or so, best guess if you have access do a search for some time around June 2007

I've been thinking on and off again about the article and I keep coming back to the same spot - - how much should any 'public' school system do to integrate/educate students with special learning needs or any student who might become overly violent in the classroom?

I'm all for sharing the wealth of human experience, but between the interruptions, and constant strain of trying to get students prepared to learn. I'm not real big for drugging the class into submission either with Ritalin or any other fun narcotics yet it seems like it's the quick fix to the Brave New World that they grab for first.

In this case the concern about restraints seemed to be a major concern for the parents - personally if I were an instructor I'd be more worried about getting bit, but that is just me.

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Progress Quest - Methadone for the MMORPG
This summer life took some unexpected turns that seriously cut back into my gamer's ways and habits. I went from a part-time life, full time gamer's addiction to World of Warcraft to a cold turkey state in the matter of about a week.

The shift didn't mess with any other current addictions, as I currently still continue to heavily dose myself with OTC elixirs from the soda pop isle in at the local grocers. I'm already dreading the day when the government goes after caffeine, but know it's just a matter of time before it's lumped into the ATF manifesto :P

Anyway a good chunk of the addiction to WoW and my gateway drug Diablo was the stuff to find and explore. By nature my gaming type is a heavy explorer/achiever (Wild Card, Wild Card II), with all other game attributes, although important lingering in the shadows. I know it sounds corny but that line from Star Trek about exploring new planets and boldly going where no man has gone before - - it fits.

PQ (Progress Quest) is a nice little game that handles all the basics of the exploration and looting allowing you to check in on occasion to find out how you are doing - - currently I have a pair of characters that are still hacking their way through a messed up world and doing the voodoo that they do so well.

Wonder if this is what the gods feel with us running around here like idiots gathering all this stuff we'll never really need or use - - hmm got a think on that one. . .

Hito no Tabi

I want to be one. . . one of these days I'm going to stop thinking about all the reasons I can't and just do it - - for saftey's sake though I think my "Hermes" will be more along the lines of an auto vs. a motorrad.


Life is getting ready to make a major shift. One would argue that the fates have been playing at the loom again, and once I'm able to get a grip on the fray'd ends I'll fill in the details.

'til then enjoy Cooper's Retail Blog - - yeah I know it's based on a comic strip, just be warned those who have worked retail before might find this a little too close to reality.

I've been out of retail for years, but does one ever escape customer service?

The Letter Project

Okay this just sounds cool - -

The Letter Project - http://rks.f2g.net/

I really don't know if I'd be brave enough to tackle something like this. My hand already cramps a bit even thinking about the many pages he must have yet to write. ( as for my handwriting it seems to get worse the more I use it)

However he makes some valid points - have we lost touch with the world around us, to the humanity within us, as we are overwhelmed with the daily snippets of communication we try to eek out as we scurry from place to place in hopes of filling other obligations?

Reality Check

Okay I got an e-mail that says the following:

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa .

Amazingly, 97% of the machine's components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft Iowa , yes farm equipment.It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, tuning, alignment and calibration before filming this video but as you can see it was well worth the effort.

It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

With the following video attachment.

Is it real? At first I was leaning toward yes - - hell it's a cool video either way. But sadly it was the high level of cool that brought the inner skeptic out and I had to see if I could find out more about this amazing machine.

And although I know now, I will leave the question hanging for future visitors - - Is it real? Anymore reality seems to be more of a personal question of perception :P

MixedLinks

Just a quick note - added a couple of links to the side.

The first is Sushicam.com - there is a lot of stuff here with mulitple authors, and for those who know me and my love of the asian culture it definately deserves a look. If you just like pictures you'll definately want to check out the picture of the day :) may have to add that one as a link of it's own later.

The second is another Streaming Audio site - I orginally found StreamingSoundtracks.com on 365live.com they have since split-off and moved on. To listen odds are you'll need Orban aacPlus plug-in, but so far it has been well worth the install.

New Links for an Old Blog

A quick thanks to Mr. the Tiger for telling me about 365live it's one massive steaming audio site that seems to have just about everything I search for and is not just limited to English radio stations.

Another thanks to Andrew at 4th Avenue Blues for the link to The Therapist Mumbles

And finally to Ctrl+Alt+Del for the link to LFG Comic. (Seems like the older I get the darker my sense of humor becomes - and although I may not be as naive on a PVP realm when playing WoW I'd rather have the power to end the fight someone else picked with me than to pick the fight in the first place.)

Elder Moonstones

When I ran accross this little story about Elder Moonstones you get from the upcomming Lunar New Year on World of Warcraft I just couldn't resist providing a link:

http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2007/QBlog090107A.html

Enjoy :)

The Pyoneer ov Simplifyd Speling

http://www.spellingsociety.org/news/pyoneers/py1pt1.php

Whoa - and here I thought the junk mail I had been getting about changing the spelling of english was a joke.

It's not quite Phonics, but if I just sit and stare at it for a bit my brain begins to blur and make the sound connections to figure out exactly what it is I'm reading. I can only imagine the fear this would cause my olde English teachers though, you know the ones that drilled spelling in class for a living :P