Thursday, May 18th, 2006

Time	Event
9:58a	Extra! Extra! Flintstones Movie Got Something Right! Well, not really. But remember how (unlike the ancient cartoon) they decided to make some kind of statement about evolution by having the cave-men live side-by-side with apes? Well some scientists now believe there is evidence that a million years ago (give or take), early hominids, having evolved and diverged from a common ancestor, took a little dip in the gene-pool, interbreeding for a while with chimpanzees before separating again for good. I'm not sure whether this helps to explain our 96% genetic similarity to chimps, or whether that was part of the evidence they used to conclude this. But it just goes to remind us all: the live-action Flintstones really did suck. And speaking of sub-humans and instances of civilizational regression, Stephen Harper's conservative govenment is still playing political games in Canada. I wish that more people would watch Question Period in the House of Commons... I mean, yes, the questions are all political maneuvering, and a lot of the time they are trying to make a big thing of little innocent slipups or gain political mileage from scandals that are in reality dealt with and done. But the real point of televising it (or what WOULD be the point if anybody watched other than pundits, columnists, senior citizens and me) is that you when they ask somebody a question, you can usually tell very rapidly if the person responding is (A) totally dodging and/or politicizing the isse, or is (B) totally freaking clueless, or (C) all of the above. For example: Canada's current Minister of the Environment (in a purely Orwellian sense, I can assure you), Rona Ambrose, works for an administration that wants to blow off the Kyoto accord, which is sort of the environmental equivalent of how North Korea (and now Iran) have treated the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. Since the government's reasoning on this is specious (I won't get into it right now), every time she is asked a question about it she responds with the equally specious statement that [to paraphrase] "In order to meet those targets we would have to take every plane, train and automobile in Canada off the roads". That's like somebody who smokes and drinks a lot saying "I can't afford to fix my roof; I'd have to stop buying food!", which of course ignores the fact that while food is essential (no compromising there), he could save just as much if he cut down on his drinking and stopped, I dunno, SMOKING? ( Read more... ) Current Mood: angry (1 Comment | Comment on this)
11:40p	D&D Excerpt #32 Last week I left off with a cliffhanger... but we must backtrack a little, because the events foreshadowed in D&D #31 are actually about 5 minutes away. Without further ado: Balcoth: I think we should add double-doors. I like French doors. I have hinges. Omit: The doors to Fort Taj-Mahal [which is mostly a 15x15 foot underground room with reinforced Walls of Stone] are currently hidden. I don't think we would want to modify them. Balcoth: [Contines sharing his bunker-improvement suggestions, undaunted] Make sure the stairs are well defined; I don't want to fall. Omit: The Continual Flame torches should keep it well lit. Balcoth: We should just wall off the entrances with that spell, and then excavate them in the morning when we want to leave. Omit: Well, we do have those well hidden air shafts, so we could cover over the entrances with Wall of Stone... Verian: But that would take extra spells in the morning, effectively reducing our combat load for the day. [He doesn't mind all their "playing house", but it's plain where Verian draws the line...] Omit: The main door (which is fairly hidden) is secured with 14 wards, which are permanent, and will be very unpleasant for anyone who tampers with it without knowing the password. The back door is basically just a stone slab blocked by some boulders inside, which can be moved out of the way with a little muscle if we need to escape. [Ed: the "fort" is all below ground level, and the two stairways to the entrances are on opposite sides, such that the surface entrances are about 45 feet apart] Balcoth: That muscle being me... With all the regular insanity plus a full-length battle translated virtually action-for-action into fantasy prose, this is a huge report! In other news, I'm headed off to a funeral Friday and coming back Saturday. I didn't know the departed all that well, but of course Mom did, and this is one of the few members of my extended family whom I actually know by name. Current Mood: what will happen next? (Comment on this)

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