I have this lump in my throat.
It sits floating, much like a boat.
I have questions as to why it is there.
But the fruit of this tree, I fear will not bear.
Maybe it's because I'm depressed.
But one could also say it is stress.
Perhaps I don't go out enough.
But why? The weather's so rough.
Perchance it's the cold.
But on this I'm not sold.
I don't think it's cancer.
Or a tumor, it's not stranger.
He says it's mental.
To which I say, be more gentle.
But at the end of the day,
It vanished and went away.
So I'm left pondering,
When it'll return, wandering.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
The upstairs shower.
I moved into this new place roughly two months ago. So far everything has been great. The rent is cheap, my room is massive, and everyone generally keeps to themselves.
The one beef I have with this place has to do with the shower, located upstairs. It's the only source of comfort when you start smelling and your armpits begin to itch. A good shower can stop wars. It can mend broken marriages, and above all, it helps keep my sanity intact. The shower in this house does a pretty good job of doing just that, except when it doesn't. And here is where my rant begins.
Every so often, while I'm cleaning myself, the hot water will go cold. Suddenly, inexplicably, and without warning. It's like premature ejaculation. Pleasure cut short. Potong stim. Very fucking annoying. I started to time my showers, making a mental note as to when the water chills. Being as bad a timekeeper as I was, I figured it was about 10 minutes or so every time I turn on the hot water. I figured it was some kind of temporal hot water cache that would run out, and needed to be replenished, which it did after a while.
My showers would generally go like this: Turn on hot water, enjoy it for a while, wait til it goes cold, then start using the shampoo and soap. Wait for the water to heat up again, by which the shampoo and soap would be nicely applied on my person, and use the second dose of warm bliss to wash it off.
So it was for a week or so. It made taking showers very, very annoying. Then I started to hear about my flat-mate's experiences with the upstairs shower. She has of course, been bitten by the suddenly cold suddenly hot problem before. But the curious thing was that she seemed to have rare occurrences in which the hot water would not act up. She said it often happened at night, about 9 or 10 o clock.
So I took her suggestion, and took one of my showers during this supposedly magic hour. But it seemed what worked for her would not work for me. Annoyed and confused, I felt like I had only one option left. That was to ask my rather uptight landlord about this.
What he revealed to me was rather telling, and surprising. The gist of it is this.
The hot water problem would only happen if while you were bathing, someone were to use water downstairs.
Still skeptical, I tried taking my showers in the middle of the night, when I was sure everyone was sound asleep.
It was glorious.
The first proper shower I had in weeks! I felt like I had made a major discovery. One for the ages. Or at least, for the rest of my time here. But the I got to thinking.
So my previous hot showers had been disrupted by someone willingly? If it was the landlord downstairs I could understand, since it would be rather pissy of me to ask him to check the shower every time he needed to pee. But what if it was someone living upstairs? The layout of the rooms upstairs is so that you would always know if someone was in the shower or not if you stepped out. This means that if someone upstairs was responsible, it would make them complete jerks.
Sigh.
Now I only take my showers in the middle of the night, which is apparently bad for you. Or something. I get nervous if I take a shower in the day. Having hot water cut off during a shower is about the worst thing that could happen to you during a shower, short of the scene from Psycho I suppose. I try to make sure I'm not disrupting anyone's shower every time I step out to wash my hands by checking upstairs. Not too troublesome for me, but I would never presume such a thing for others. What's left? Well not much, except to endure the fact that I can now only take showers in the middle of the night. Which, now that I think about it, isn't too bad a deal. It gave me renewed appreciation for that marvel that is hot water from the tap, but also made me a little bit more cynical about humanity's future. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But whatever. I'm out.
The one beef I have with this place has to do with the shower, located upstairs. It's the only source of comfort when you start smelling and your armpits begin to itch. A good shower can stop wars. It can mend broken marriages, and above all, it helps keep my sanity intact. The shower in this house does a pretty good job of doing just that, except when it doesn't. And here is where my rant begins.
Every so often, while I'm cleaning myself, the hot water will go cold. Suddenly, inexplicably, and without warning. It's like premature ejaculation. Pleasure cut short. Potong stim. Very fucking annoying. I started to time my showers, making a mental note as to when the water chills. Being as bad a timekeeper as I was, I figured it was about 10 minutes or so every time I turn on the hot water. I figured it was some kind of temporal hot water cache that would run out, and needed to be replenished, which it did after a while.
My showers would generally go like this: Turn on hot water, enjoy it for a while, wait til it goes cold, then start using the shampoo and soap. Wait for the water to heat up again, by which the shampoo and soap would be nicely applied on my person, and use the second dose of warm bliss to wash it off.
So it was for a week or so. It made taking showers very, very annoying. Then I started to hear about my flat-mate's experiences with the upstairs shower. She has of course, been bitten by the suddenly cold suddenly hot problem before. But the curious thing was that she seemed to have rare occurrences in which the hot water would not act up. She said it often happened at night, about 9 or 10 o clock.
So I took her suggestion, and took one of my showers during this supposedly magic hour. But it seemed what worked for her would not work for me. Annoyed and confused, I felt like I had only one option left. That was to ask my rather uptight landlord about this.
What he revealed to me was rather telling, and surprising. The gist of it is this.
The hot water problem would only happen if while you were bathing, someone were to use water downstairs.
Still skeptical, I tried taking my showers in the middle of the night, when I was sure everyone was sound asleep.
It was glorious.
The first proper shower I had in weeks! I felt like I had made a major discovery. One for the ages. Or at least, for the rest of my time here. But the I got to thinking.
So my previous hot showers had been disrupted by someone willingly? If it was the landlord downstairs I could understand, since it would be rather pissy of me to ask him to check the shower every time he needed to pee. But what if it was someone living upstairs? The layout of the rooms upstairs is so that you would always know if someone was in the shower or not if you stepped out. This means that if someone upstairs was responsible, it would make them complete jerks.
Sigh.
Now I only take my showers in the middle of the night, which is apparently bad for you. Or something. I get nervous if I take a shower in the day. Having hot water cut off during a shower is about the worst thing that could happen to you during a shower, short of the scene from Psycho I suppose. I try to make sure I'm not disrupting anyone's shower every time I step out to wash my hands by checking upstairs. Not too troublesome for me, but I would never presume such a thing for others. What's left? Well not much, except to endure the fact that I can now only take showers in the middle of the night. Which, now that I think about it, isn't too bad a deal. It gave me renewed appreciation for that marvel that is hot water from the tap, but also made me a little bit more cynical about humanity's future. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But whatever. I'm out.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
As bad as the ISA: ACTA turns everyone into pirates, including ISPs and you're mom.
I'm late to the bandwagon, but the ACTA discussions have already started. The ACTA is a hugely important act being discussed right now, at this moment, behind closed doors in Seoul, South Korea. Discussions are ongoing and will last the week, I presume. Details have been kept under lock and key, but some of the points have surfaced online.
It's not looking very good.
From Boing Boing:
* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.
* That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.
From TorrentFreak:
* Similarly, all participating countries have to adopt a ‘notice and takedown’ policy where copyright holders can request ISPs to remove infringing materials, again without having to provide solid evidence or proof that they actually own the copyrights. When ISPs don’t comply with the requests they will be held liable, which means that they will be seen as pirates themselves.
This goes further beyond free music and videos. This affects each and every one of us if it's passed. Anyone "accused" of infringing copyright could have their internet service revoked. Keyword: accused. As in, "however we see fit".
This is as bad as Malaysia's ISA. Spread the word people. The fight continues.
Futher Links:
Slashdot
Michael Geist(who originally reported on this)
ReadWriteWeb
It's not looking very good.
From Boing Boing:
* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.
* That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.
From TorrentFreak:
* Similarly, all participating countries have to adopt a ‘notice and takedown’ policy where copyright holders can request ISPs to remove infringing materials, again without having to provide solid evidence or proof that they actually own the copyrights. When ISPs don’t comply with the requests they will be held liable, which means that they will be seen as pirates themselves.
This goes further beyond free music and videos. This affects each and every one of us if it's passed. Anyone "accused" of infringing copyright could have their internet service revoked. Keyword: accused. As in, "however we see fit".
This is as bad as Malaysia's ISA. Spread the word people. The fight continues.
Futher Links:
Slashdot
Michael Geist(who originally reported on this)
ReadWriteWeb
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
The X3 we will probably never get.
Like most geeks, I pretty much hated X3. Mike Dougherty, who worked on X2, Superman Returns, reveals the film we would have got instead of Superman Returns, had Bryan Singer stuck around for a third film.
Listen to it here.
It starts about 22 minutes in, and lasts about 10 minutes, in it, he basically pitched us the movie X3 would have been. And it sounds pretty damn awesome. I won't spoil anything. But this should make you hate Brett Ratner more.
Bryan Singer's future is kind of in murky waters to me. IMDB says he's going to be involved in the remake/re-envisioning of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica movie/TV series thingy.... magicboby... There rumblings that he was going to direct a Superman Returns sequel, which would be all "Wrath of Khan", but that never came to pass. Valkyrie was his last film, and that was pretty much a big heap of disappointment. The other projects he seems to be involved in are "You want me to kill him?" "Capeshooters", and "Freedom Formula".
It's hard not to be sad for Bryan Singer's misguided decision to leave the X-men franchise for Superman. Come back already.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Digital comics with a small iverse app review tucked in somewhere.
On a whim, I downloaded the iverse app, mostly because it was free, to see what Comics on my iPod would have looked like. What I discovered got me thinking, and in somewhat organized form, here are my thoughts on digital comics.
Reading comics digitally has never been easy. It hasn't. We have yet to discover the way to design comics so that when presented on a screen, they don't feel like mere imitations of their physical counterparts. News, movies, TV shows we can do. News are soundbites. You don't really need to care how you get it, as long as you get it. Film and TV have been on the small screen for a long time, and while it doesn't compare to projected 35mm, the quality we can sometimes do without.
Comics, however, walk the thin line between interaction and passive reception. You read and turn the page at your own speed. You control how the story moves. Got something you need to clear up? Flip back a few pages, make sure. How you interact with a comic affects how much it will impact you. It's something unique to comics, and it's something the medium excels at exploiting.
On the physical side of things, Watchmen is undoubtedly the Citizen Kane of the graphic novel. Few are the times such a comparison is valid, but this is surely one of them. tThe Citizen Kane-ness of Watchmen however, does not extend to its' digital counterparts. As we stand today, digital comics are clumsy, unintuitive, and hard to read. The best experience viewing digital comics I have had is using FFview for the mac, coupled with my almighty touch pad. Click to turn the page, double-finger scroll to look around. It's not perfect, and doesn't compare to actually flipping the page, but much better than iverse in its' current form.
Some comics, like the 3 or 4 panel strip, make the transition with no hitches. But as we move up the ladder in sequential narrative complexity, things become, naturally more complex.
It's been a rough ride for the digital comic, and as it stands, if you were to put your regular comic or manga on a screen that's smaller than A3; the length of an average issue opened up, there are three major problems to circumvent.
1. Vertical panels. Works on the page, but as we are now, completely unworkable on the screen. Split it up, have your reader turn his iphone vertically, horizontally? Too much fidgeting. Takes you out. Just have the page as it is? Zoom in then? Slightly better, but still jarring due to the zooming in and out.
2. Full page panels. Assuming the copy is a big enough point size, this isn't too much of a problem. Your screen is not going to be able to display this the way it was meant to, so you'll have to scroll your way down a single panel. Imagine reading a full page panel with a magnifying glass tied to your eyes. Heaven forbid, your point size is a tad small, and you have numerous massive word balloons. The way iverse has done it, as far as I can tell, is to make three copies of the same panel, slice off the top and bottom so they fit on your screen, and have you read the copy while you scroll through three same identical panels. It distracts to no end. And let's not even mention double page spreads.
3. The act of turning a page. Nothing is more exciting then flipping the page of a book with your own hands to discover a shocking twist on the next page. It is something unique to the physical media, and pressing down on a piece of plastic does not in any way replicate the power that the simple act of page turning provides. There needs to be some way in which our intervention will lead to some form of discovery. That amount intervention cannot be too light, nor too much. Turning the page sits squarely in the middle on a scale of one to ten, one being too little effort and ten being too much. The internet has yet to provide us with an answer.
If we are to make comics work for the screen, they have to be designed for them. Taking regular print comics and slapping them on to you glorious LCD monitor will just hurt the story. The big two won't change because that's the way corporations are run. I'm not saying print comics should die. I in fact love them to death and I don't think they're going away for a long, long time. There have been several examples of digital comics done well. Most of them can be found on Scott McClouds' site. Renowned author and comic creator. I provide the best example in my opinion, utilizing flash to make clicking as powerful as page turning. The man has come up with several more ideas, open ended stories, vertically scrolling panels that fit on your screen, etc. None of them are worthy of comparison to Citizen Kane yet.
Digital is the future. Manic distribution channels, cost effective, crazy accessibility. We just need to move in the right direction for it to happen. Start designing comics that work for both print and digital for a start. Avoid the usual trappings print comics fall into when presented digitally. And think. Experiment. Let's get out of the panel for a second. It will take time, and a lot of trial and error. But with enough vigilance, we'll get there eventually.
When we do discover the holy grail of digital comics, which would be a format that is seamless, immersive, and powerful, the next step would be successfully monetizing it, but that would be a rant for another day.
Reading comics digitally has never been easy. It hasn't. We have yet to discover the way to design comics so that when presented on a screen, they don't feel like mere imitations of their physical counterparts. News, movies, TV shows we can do. News are soundbites. You don't really need to care how you get it, as long as you get it. Film and TV have been on the small screen for a long time, and while it doesn't compare to projected 35mm, the quality we can sometimes do without.
Comics, however, walk the thin line between interaction and passive reception. You read and turn the page at your own speed. You control how the story moves. Got something you need to clear up? Flip back a few pages, make sure. How you interact with a comic affects how much it will impact you. It's something unique to comics, and it's something the medium excels at exploiting.
On the physical side of things, Watchmen is undoubtedly the Citizen Kane of the graphic novel. Few are the times such a comparison is valid, but this is surely one of them. tThe Citizen Kane-ness of Watchmen however, does not extend to its' digital counterparts. As we stand today, digital comics are clumsy, unintuitive, and hard to read. The best experience viewing digital comics I have had is using FFview for the mac, coupled with my almighty touch pad. Click to turn the page, double-finger scroll to look around. It's not perfect, and doesn't compare to actually flipping the page, but much better than iverse in its' current form.
Some comics, like the 3 or 4 panel strip, make the transition with no hitches. But as we move up the ladder in sequential narrative complexity, things become, naturally more complex.
It's been a rough ride for the digital comic, and as it stands, if you were to put your regular comic or manga on a screen that's smaller than A3; the length of an average issue opened up, there are three major problems to circumvent.
1. Vertical panels. Works on the page, but as we are now, completely unworkable on the screen. Split it up, have your reader turn his iphone vertically, horizontally? Too much fidgeting. Takes you out. Just have the page as it is? Zoom in then? Slightly better, but still jarring due to the zooming in and out.
2. Full page panels. Assuming the copy is a big enough point size, this isn't too much of a problem. Your screen is not going to be able to display this the way it was meant to, so you'll have to scroll your way down a single panel. Imagine reading a full page panel with a magnifying glass tied to your eyes. Heaven forbid, your point size is a tad small, and you have numerous massive word balloons. The way iverse has done it, as far as I can tell, is to make three copies of the same panel, slice off the top and bottom so they fit on your screen, and have you read the copy while you scroll through three same identical panels. It distracts to no end. And let's not even mention double page spreads.
3. The act of turning a page. Nothing is more exciting then flipping the page of a book with your own hands to discover a shocking twist on the next page. It is something unique to the physical media, and pressing down on a piece of plastic does not in any way replicate the power that the simple act of page turning provides. There needs to be some way in which our intervention will lead to some form of discovery. That amount intervention cannot be too light, nor too much. Turning the page sits squarely in the middle on a scale of one to ten, one being too little effort and ten being too much. The internet has yet to provide us with an answer.
If we are to make comics work for the screen, they have to be designed for them. Taking regular print comics and slapping them on to you glorious LCD monitor will just hurt the story. The big two won't change because that's the way corporations are run. I'm not saying print comics should die. I in fact love them to death and I don't think they're going away for a long, long time. There have been several examples of digital comics done well. Most of them can be found on Scott McClouds' site. Renowned author and comic creator. I provide the best example in my opinion, utilizing flash to make clicking as powerful as page turning. The man has come up with several more ideas, open ended stories, vertically scrolling panels that fit on your screen, etc. None of them are worthy of comparison to Citizen Kane yet.
Digital is the future. Manic distribution channels, cost effective, crazy accessibility. We just need to move in the right direction for it to happen. Start designing comics that work for both print and digital for a start. Avoid the usual trappings print comics fall into when presented digitally. And think. Experiment. Let's get out of the panel for a second. It will take time, and a lot of trial and error. But with enough vigilance, we'll get there eventually.
When we do discover the holy grail of digital comics, which would be a format that is seamless, immersive, and powerful, the next step would be successfully monetizing it, but that would be a rant for another day.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Zombies, lesbians, and the legion of superheroes in this week's comics.
Every so often you get a week like this. Good stuff rammed down your throat, barely leaving enough room for air to ventilate. No mistake, this was a stellar week.
So.
The lone Marvel book I remember this week. The conclusion to Johnathan Hickman's "solve everything" story arc, and an epic start to what must be a great run by the creator of Nightly News and Pax Romana. Much has been said about this arc, which was, for many, a return to form for the FF. I wouldn't know, I had never read any Fantastic Four. It doesn't take away form the fact that this book is fun as hell. Hickman has pretty much proven his chops with his previous works for me. Dale Eaglesham's art annoyed me at the beginning. I'm one of those young whippersnappers who's used to seeing Reed Richards lanky and thin, instead of beefy and big. The character designs are fresh and exciting, just the execution of it bummed me out. Still, it remains wildly imaginative, permeated with BIG BIG ideas but never forgetting the fantastic family values. It's pretty much what I wanted a comic book to be. This team is going to do great things. If anyone can make the Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben live up to their namesake, it's these guys.
It's no coindence that Smallville's best episode last season was written by Geoff Johns. It's one of the most referenced stories in pop culture. I can't think of anyone who doesn't know it. Yet this reinvention of Superman's origin story is never dull. I know nothing about Kal-el's dalliances with the Legion. I always thought they were lame. Just couldn't get myself excited for characters named "Lightning Lad" or "Saturn Girl". Earlier this year, Geoff Johns proved me wrong with his Legion episode of Smallville. Here he does it again. The man is a serial offender. I suspect his JSA episode of smallville next year will continue what he has done to me. Getting me interested in characters and books I did not care for. Sometimes, it's fair to hate someone this fucking good.
Also, Gary Frank is nailing it.
Another origin book! I hadn't realized we had so many this week. What's left to say? Everything good about Detective comics has been said to death. I feel like I'm beating a horse that's half way decomposed. But if you really need an in depth review(something I'm NOT going to provide this time of night) go here.
Ah blackest night. Even though I don't quite remember what happened in this issue, I still like you. Like a good dream I woke up from; can't remember what it was about specifically, only that it was extremely enjoyable. Is that praise or slander? There was a big scene at the end, and alot of character moments for guys I'm not familiar with. The Atom especially gets quite a bit of panel time here. Nevertheless, it's all very very good. Will be watching how this goes with a very, very keen eye. Also, fuck tie-ins.
So.
The lone Marvel book I remember this week. The conclusion to Johnathan Hickman's "solve everything" story arc, and an epic start to what must be a great run by the creator of Nightly News and Pax Romana. Much has been said about this arc, which was, for many, a return to form for the FF. I wouldn't know, I had never read any Fantastic Four. It doesn't take away form the fact that this book is fun as hell. Hickman has pretty much proven his chops with his previous works for me. Dale Eaglesham's art annoyed me at the beginning. I'm one of those young whippersnappers who's used to seeing Reed Richards lanky and thin, instead of beefy and big. The character designs are fresh and exciting, just the execution of it bummed me out. Still, it remains wildly imaginative, permeated with BIG BIG ideas but never forgetting the fantastic family values. It's pretty much what I wanted a comic book to be. This team is going to do great things. If anyone can make the Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben live up to their namesake, it's these guys.
It's no coindence that Smallville's best episode last season was written by Geoff Johns. It's one of the most referenced stories in pop culture. I can't think of anyone who doesn't know it. Yet this reinvention of Superman's origin story is never dull. I know nothing about Kal-el's dalliances with the Legion. I always thought they were lame. Just couldn't get myself excited for characters named "Lightning Lad" or "Saturn Girl". Earlier this year, Geoff Johns proved me wrong with his Legion episode of Smallville. Here he does it again. The man is a serial offender. I suspect his JSA episode of smallville next year will continue what he has done to me. Getting me interested in characters and books I did not care for. Sometimes, it's fair to hate someone this fucking good.Also, Gary Frank is nailing it.
Another origin book! I hadn't realized we had so many this week. What's left to say? Everything good about Detective comics has been said to death. I feel like I'm beating a horse that's half way decomposed. But if you really need an in depth review(something I'm NOT going to provide this time of night) go here.
Ah blackest night. Even though I don't quite remember what happened in this issue, I still like you. Like a good dream I woke up from; can't remember what it was about specifically, only that it was extremely enjoyable. Is that praise or slander? There was a big scene at the end, and alot of character moments for guys I'm not familiar with. The Atom especially gets quite a bit of panel time here. Nevertheless, it's all very very good. Will be watching how this goes with a very, very keen eye. Also, fuck tie-ins.
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