Can you tell I still sorely regret not buying one of those shirts when I had the chance?

With much affection to J. Grant, who gets the entire credit for the original idea, and many, many apologies to him and basically everyone else.

Eleven Movies Saved By Historical Inaccuracy

Just like the title says.

I was reminded at the exhibition Friday of this photo, which I bought a couple of years back at an antique shop in town. The woman behind the counter tried to talk me into buying a photo of a kid on a bicycle instead, claiming that I was crazy for wanting a photo of "those ugly women." Okay, so yeah, they're pretty stern looking, but 1) they told you expressly not to smile when they took your photograph, because it was Serious Business, and 2) I thought that added to the overall interest of the photo. I've often wondered who they were and what occasion prompted the photo session; they look alike enough that I could believe they were sisters, they look very Germanic in origin, and their dresses are very similar in style, but there's no backdrop, and there's no identifying marks on the photo except the studio, sadly.

At any rate, I've always liked it a lot and I thought you guys would like a look. I wonder if by putting it up here someone will recognize their relatives? Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

All hail Graham! Er, "Bob"!

Seriously. Go hail him right now. Get moving.

Simon Cornwell's UK Urban Exploration Site. This one is exhaustive and fascinating. Next time I'm in the UK I'll see if I can get ahold of him and if he's planning any new expeditions I'll try and get on board. I'd love to get a look at some of these places, even if it's just one or two of the more "tame" sites. There's a few sites locally here, but there's nothing within driving distance on the sheer scale of most of the abandoned asylums and bases he's got documented.

Had a good trip out, as there was a Beautiful Mutants exhibition in Cleveland that we drove out to see. A good time was had by all, and a long philosophical discussion of the nature of de-evolution and the two basic coping strategies thereof took up most of the ride home. (Most people need to get drunk to get philosophical; I just need to get into a car.) Once again I wish I carried a pocket recorder, as a lot of interesting explanations and concepts came up that I'd like to still remember. #shrugs# Always the same. Had a good trip, anyway, and got to spend some time hanging out with the official Devo Dogsbody, which was entertaining as always. (Note: If you want to get on his good side, bring him beer. Although, thinking about it, this will work for everyone I know. #grins#)

Today has been one of those kick-to-the-nutsack-of-my-soul days(Thanks, Ms. Americanized!) but oh well, it's just about over, and tomorrow promises to be pretty cool.

95% of the Transformers movie was so boring, unfunny, and terrible that it nearly made me cry. How do you ruin a film with giant transforming sentient mechas, you ask? By leaving them out of most of the running time, and spending nearly the entire movie focusing on humans. And not on the soldiers from the beginning, oh no, we couldn't make this a real adult film like Aliens, now could we? No, we need to spend more than half the film following the adventures of a (supposedly) teenage boy and his attempts to buy a car, get laid, and keep the giant alien robots from messing up his parents' lawn so he doesn't get grounded. You got teen comedy in my scifi! You got scifi in my teen comedy! And nobody wins!

#sighs# I wanted to like it, I really did. I loved the Transformers as a child, and Optimus Prime has remained one of my heroes to this day. Going in, I was willing to forgive this movie nearly anything, just to see them done with ILM and a big budget on a big screen. But the movie did the one thing I could not forgive- it didn't focus on the very thing it was named after. For a movie called "Transformers, "
they're just not in it enough, and they don't do enough fighting when they are. The last action sequence was cool and all, if you can get past the reasoning that led to it being set where it was (I don't want to spoiler it for anyone) and the fact that none of the Transformers are really distinguishable from any other, especially with the MTV Editing, but it didn't make up for there being hardly any Transformer action outside the (few) desert scenes and some unnecessary slapstick with the Autobots. More robots and less humans in the sequel, please.

Things I Have Learned From This Film:
Peripheral vision is a myth.

Things I Liked About This Film:
The bit where Optimus Prime shows up the first time.
The desert battles.
The last action sequence.

Things I Didn't Like About The Film:
Everything else.

Never. Going. To. Australia.

Work on the first Skully Puppet continues. I've got about 70% of the beads on the main skull now, which is a bit of a relief. The round beads are going on about five to ten at a time, which isn't bad. I can only work on it with lots of breaks, though, because the amount of superglue involved is staggering (three and a half tubes now and counting) and even with all the doors and windows open the fumes are fairly unpleasant. It's the gold spiky beads that I'm putting off, though, as they have to be glued down individually, which is going to take a while. The lower jaw still needs doing, and I have to pick up some seed beads (and more glue!) for the hands. Still, I think it's going to look fairly awesome when it's done.

(Not the world's best picture, I realize, but it's taken on my backup [read: six year old] camera.)

"No one to talk with
All by myself
No one to walk with
But I'm happy on the shelf
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm saving all my love for you

I know for certain
The one I love
I'm through with flirting
It's just you I'm thinking of
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm saving all my love for you

Like Jack Horner in the corner
Don't go nowhere
What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waiting for
Believe me

I don't stay out late
Don't care to go
I'm home about eight
Just me and my radio
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm saving all my love for you..."

- Andy Razaf, "Ain't Misbehavin' "

Today's XKCD rules.

Baby Mammoth!

Octosquid!

Just got back from Scarborough; we've been there since Thursday evening, and there's no phone or internet at the apartment there, so I'm wading through a reasonable backlog of mail at the moment.