Kaijuology: Banglasdesh's KING KONG trailer

Godzilla 2012 - News And Info: KING KONG Done Wrong In Bangladesh#comment-form#comment-form#comment-form

Rap Song About Getting High With Dinosaurs

http://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2010/06/first-rap-song-about-getting-high-with.html

"transwarp" ST:CCG playable-out-of-the-box

A pic of my "transwarp" playtesting: http://www.meetup.com/Camel-City-Gamers/photos/914108/14912299/

Something that makes my "transwarp" idea distinct is that it makes a very clear effort to streamline play and abbreviate the deck size.
Currently, my 3-part "transwarp" game fits into the classic Official Tournament Sealed Deck (OTSD) box, which would probably hold a baseball (sans the sphereical shape).
In three ziploc baggies, I put the about 150 cards (in card sleeves) seperated into 3 decks, two for players and one seed.
http://www.cardmania.com.au/images/skotsd.gif

There are other people who have developed "home brew" deck designs and rules adjustments. In fact, one website The Continuing Committee (trekcc.com) has put out what is termed the Official Tournament Format, or OTF. I applaud their efforts. Clearly, part of their goal is to retain the original style of gameplay in the original game, which involves players who are committed to understanding and collecting the game. Yes, in my abbreviated version I sacrifice AU and TOS personnal, I sacrifice the fun and strategy of dilemma combos, I sacrifice the role-playing-feeling from commanding all those different affiliations.

Since I last posted, I have revised my "house rules" to be a bit more updated, including various clarifications. More is needed, and is a matter of me finding time. I of course realize I don't have crowds holding their breathe. I'm just putting my thoughts in order, here.

Once I have my "house rules" revised up to my standards, it'd be fun to ask two (non-Trek) gamers to go ahead and give the game a whirl, and see if the directions explain enough for a good game.

My friend Tobin has given me some new ideas. Specifically, he realized that Temporal Rift could play on an dilemma-ship, and thus be a way to escape that particular obstacle. Also, I have since looked at Asteroid Sanctuary and Magnetic North as possible inclusions in my decks for the same reasons.

Impressive surprise! Heard of a triops?

I hadn't until today, sadly enough. At least, not that I recall.
They are also refered to inaccurately as tadpole shrimp or sheild shrimp. "True" shrimp are in a different (and less-primitive) crustactean group.

http://mytriops.com/articles/images/Triops_numidicus.jpg
http://mytriops.com/news/
http://forums.zootycoon.com/forums/thread/104382.aspx
http://www.akvaristika.org/forum/uploads/mikki/images/triops_12.jpg
http://www.sears.com:80/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05293439000P?vName=Toys+&psid=FROOGLE01&sName=Adult+%2812+%29&cName=Games&sid=IDx20070921x00003a
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3714524.stm

Apparently, they are easy raised as pets, with eggs living dormant for an extended time, making them available to children as "instant pets"
They remind me of a horseshoe crab, and like the horseshoe crab, are decidedly a "living fossil"

In the sense that I am surprised to be surprised by an object of natural bewonderment, this reminds me of a solifugid, aka the wind scorpion, which I just had no idea about at all and as such came as a huge surprise to me.
http://proxychi.baremetal.com/hydrogenappliances.com/Wind_Scorpion.jpg
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0407/feature5/index.html

This is all embarrassing to say. But each time I learn something, I am catching up ;-)

JHW: Two Weeks' Notice: bullshit!

I started to say "hogwash" instead, but serious scatology calls for serious verbage.

I'm actually in a very positive upward swing right now, because I start a new job tomorrow (yay!) that I am very hopeful about, in large part because I will again be working in the field I want to be in: ecology. Although admittedly on the fringe. But, my foot is in the door.

However, I've had another disturbing experience this week thats entirely related to be previous Job Hunt Woes experiences. I was entirely unsurprised, however, since I have been around the block a few times.

It AMAZES me how dishonorable employers can be. But, it's also expected at this point. What surprises me is when a company does "the right thing" for no other reason than it's the right thing to do.

I put in my two weeks' notice like a good little prole. I told my new job I couldn't start as soon as they wanted, but had to keep up my end of my prior work responsibilities. Yesterday, my current job (or, I guess it's a former job, now) told me "I didn't need to come in" for my last two days of work. I thought about somehow protesting, but I hate that job so much, I didn't bother.

Now I realize that this was a low-wage job, but I don't think it's much better up the ladder. I think it has more to do with the company ethics than wage-scale. What do you think? What are your experiences?

But what about families that NEED the income from their 2 weeks' transition period? That's why very few people in low wage jobs run the risk of putting in a notice, because they'll be taken off the work schedule prematurely, maybe even immediately. I understand why an employer does this, of course: it's good business sense. An employee on their way out the door might do a crummy job their last few days, or even sabotage the company or steal things.

I used to work in a restaurant. I knew it wasn't doing so well, but I also knew that if they ever planned to close I wouldn't know about it until the night before. I've heard of other businesses letting their employees all show up for work as normal and the workplace be closed and locked up. Douchebags!

Bedroom scenes on TV

[Warning: soapbox and unpopular opinions]

Its not a popular opinion to have, but I don't think TV and movies should be as explicit as they are. Especially in the case of bedroom scenes, but also in regards to language, violence, and other adult-themes. (I'm a little in doubt about the violence: it has been observed that kids and teens are pretty violent individuals, and this is a nondestructive outlet, comparable to shooting things in video games. With that said, such violent digital slaughter should be directed away from police and human beings when possible. Regarding games for youth.)

Personally, I want to support freedom of choice and expression, in fact I prefer a open society with the least limits on personal choices, but that also includes social responsibility. It comes down to for me to the idea of consent. Rape is by far the most well-known nonconsensual act, but I think the ideas apply to any public intercourse (pun intended) if it has the reasonable chance of affecting others without their being aware that it might happen.

I enjoy watching older movies, such as John Wayne, because they are refreshingly discreet. Of course the audience knows that there is plenty of bedroom antics going on behind the scenes, but there are some things we just don't need to see. I recall hearing my parents talk about the "community standards" for TV when they were kids, no active bedroom scenes, and no ads for tampons, no underwear models, or any of that. It just wasn't done.
UNLESS we, as consenting adults, have specifically chosen to watch a movie with explicit material. And here, I'm not even talking nudity, I'm not even talking about hot and heavy athletics, I'm talking about the average non-nudity "simulated sex" bedroom scene in a broadcast television drama.
But couldn't we all use less "erectile disfunction" and "herpes" ads?

Let me be clear.
I ENJOY UNDERWEAR MODELS. I THINK AN HONEST PORTRAYAL OF SEX IS IMPORTANT. and CONSENTING ADULTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHOOSE THE ENTERTAINMENT THEY WANT
I just don't think it belongs on the public airwaves, or in PG movies.

Okay, I'm getting off my soapbox now

Kaijuology: review of Dreamworks 'How To Train Your Dragon'

http://giantmonstersattack.blogspot.com/2010/06/movie-review-how-to-train-your-dragon.html

Since I don't think I will be getting out to see this anytime soon, I thought I'd borrow a good review.