No Man Am I

Armistice Day 2020

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 13:23:56 GMT

Aftermath

Have you forgotten yet..?
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same—and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet..?
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.

Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz‒
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench‒
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?'

Do you remember that hour of din before the attack‒
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads—those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?

Have you forgotten yet..?
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you'll never forget.

Siegfried Sassoon (1886 – 1967)

Never forget.

Especially now: NEVER forget. Congratulations, Sane Americans. To everyone else fighting fascism and nationalist hatred, wherever you may be: HOLD THE LINE. NOT ONE STEP BACK.

(n)

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Armistice Day 2019

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 01:50:36 GMT

Aftermath

Have you forgotten yet..?
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same—and War's a bloody game...
Have you forgotten yet..?
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.

Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz‒
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench‒
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?'

Do you remember that hour of din before the attack‒
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads—those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?

Have you forgotten yet..?
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you'll never forget.

Siegfried Sassoon (1886 – 1967)

Never forget.

Especially now: NEVER forget. We beat fascism once, and we shall beat it again, and we'll make history repeat for all the right reasons, for once.

(n)

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Armistice Day 2018

Sun, 11 Nov 2018 04:49:40 GMT

I love this. Here, have teh Cute

Sun, 01 Apr 2018 02:35:42 GMT

Catchy little song by Mona, with the best, the cutest video ever. Also two pretty damn famous multi-talented people, though both owe most of their fame to the modeling scene (Langley Fox and Mads Paige, aka, the gals on the bike).

Verse from the song:

When you calm down and stay proud
It's the best way you're ever gonna live
Do it your way, not taking what they give
I say whatever you say
And the world will see you taking stands
Living loud until they understand.

Dear Mona– Thanks so much for being awesome straight allies.

(n)

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Greetings

Sat, 31 Mar 2018 01:15:52 GMT

To all my Jewish friends...

Chag Pesach Same'ach!

(n)

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(icon not totally accurate) (but nearly)

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 09:50:53 GMT

Someone find whoever keeps telling students (at master's level!) that the Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and/or SMOG "readability" tests mean anything of worth, and please (please) just whack 'em over the head with a Complete Shakespeare. Okay? Please. And thanks.

URGH!

(n)

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RIP: Stephen Hawking

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 04:39:03 GMT

Dear Professor–

Please know how much you were and are loved. Shall I tell you?

On a thread about the PA-18 special election, someone announced your passing, and all the bickering STOPPED. People on both sides just stopped sniping at each other for about 5 minutes and instead expressed their dismay, their feeling of loss.

Thank you, sir, for everything.

(n)

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Can I wrap a wrench around this guy's head?

Fri, 02 Mar 2018 05:23:55 GMT

Worst is, I don't even know who the idiot is– someone who lived in this place before we did. Here's the deal: shower faucet (cold water) decided last night that nope, no-way is it gonna close all the way. So this morning at 05h30, yours truly marches out and shuts off the water, so that I can change the washer. Except, when I go to take the collar off to access the faucet valve, I find that the idiot who last meddled with the taps somehow thought it would be okay to use cement (CEMENT!) to secure the units in the wall.

What does this mean, you ask. Well, I need a chisel, and lots of luck, because if I slip with the hammer and the chisel, I'll smash the ceramic tiles, won't I?

I'm not feeling especially lucky right now, so I'll do the shower surgery thing another time.

In the meanwhile, if I could just get a meeting with the gormless LACKWIT who thought cement was a good idea, I'd be happy to introduce my shifting wrench to the side of his head.

And herewith a lesson: when it comes to things like plumbing, there is no such thing as faking it till you make it, or worse yet, making it up as you go along. Get taught by a professional (YouTube's awesome for that), or *call* a damn pro who knows the truth of Yoda's words: "Do or do not. There is no try."

(n)

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New look journal

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 13:08:23 GMT

Because: if not, why not.

*shrugs* (also, I might actually use the damn thing more)

(n)

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All good things come from Canada

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 13:48:01 GMT

Even if you're not a Hendrix fan or a Led Zeppelin fan or Pink Floyd fan, even if you're not a real big fan of the electric guitar, take 1 minute 31 seconds out of your day and click Play on the first video in this post. Then maybe you'll hit Play on the others.

I consider Ayla Tesler-Mabe to be a virtuoso guitarist, given that she only started playing the six-string at age 12, and by age 14 she was making Jimi Hendrix wanna rise from the grave to cheer her on. I've been watching this kid since she posted her first vid back in 2015, and just about every new video makes my jaw hit the floor. I'm not the only one: she's nearly 17 now and she's so damn good that Fender, Gibson, and Musicman throw guitars, amps, and pedals at her.

Click Play, g'wan.

This one's Ayla at 14 playing Pink Floyd's "Time". This level of expression is rare in adults, at 14?! Yeesh. And we will not even mention how tricky it is to manage effects pedals, which she does without a hitch. To make it all the more GUH!, this is a SIX-MINUTE, single-take performance.

As said, all good things come from Canada, and I think that one day it might be said that canada gave the world its best rock/blues/jazz guitarist. The future really is female :D

(n)

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Rules?! I think not

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 06:53:29 GMT

First post in ages, because for the first time in what seems like æons, I got into a proper argument with Someone Being Wrong on the Internetz. I'd just link to that thread, but the whole post has been locked down, and that person is possibly railing against me and others behind either that lock or another. Well, no locks here, and the only concession I'll make is naming no names and quoting no quotes.

So! The argument revolved around the OP stating the following:
~ how fanfic writers should always operate within the confines of canon;
~ how fanfic writers should always write characters in-character:
~ how fanfic writers should never give original characters major roles.

And no, I didn't start the argument off with a comment subject-line of BWAHAHAHA!

But yes, I could have, because... Well, you know me. To the point now...

As someone rather observant noted in regard to most of my fanfic, it's often critical of canon as a whole, or canonical elements (which include character-development). Each KIDON universe story is criticism of canon. Most of my DWP fic can essentially be subtitled "Andy Sachs Meets the Real World, and Grows the Hell Up. Thank Goodness." And what I'm working on now is widely critical of both Tolkien's Legendarium (seriously wide: most of it) and Peter Jackson's takes on LotR and The Hobbit.

My first point in that argument was this: no-one has to read my work, and if reading my work is cause for too many pauses to grumble at me, just hit the Back button. You're welcome to say, "I didn't bother to finish this because all of the characters are out-of-character." You're also welcome to say that you don't like reading about original characters. And you're welcome as well to point out that I bent/broke/booted canon in whichever way that you found unforgivable. I respect your right to hold any one or all three of those opinions.

But do not try to tell me that my plot is "illogical/flawed" simply because it doesn't comply with canon. Do not try to tell me that my take on the characters is "wrong" simply because they're OOC (out-of-character). Do not try to tell me to restrict original characters to roles which show no development.

Do not, because: you have zero right to insist that your opinion is valid.

And as I said on that thread, I couched this argument in regard to my own works, so that the OP understood that, like all fanfic writers, I most certainly have a right to insist upon the validity of my opinion of my works. That's so because I deliberately write characters OOC, and I deliberately bend/break/boot canon, and I deliberately insert original characters to fill roles that canon characters couldn't or wouldn't. Furthermore, I do so not only as a form of criticism, but because I have a valid right to do all three.

...which point really got the OP hot under the collar: apparently, all of us wayward fanfic writers are supposedly breaking The Rules™. And that was when I very, very nearly trotted out the "Bwahahaha!" response. Somehow I restrained myself.

No-no, dear OP, we are not breaking any rules, because—point paramount—there are no rules. There's only good, mediocre, and bad writing, and very often those fanfic writers who are rigidly canon-compliant and who present characters as perfectly in-character and who never insert original characters, can all be lumped under the "mediocre" and "bad" headings.

Those are the writers who've given fanfic a bad name. Those are the writers who've made it so that all of us are written off as "lazy writers." Those are the writers who've made it possible for critics to say that fanfic writers aren't creatives and are instead just cribbers. Those are precisely the writers to whom certain blamed-fool "pro" writers point when whingeing that "They stole my babies and in the process they fucked up my flower-patch!"

None of that is good, and insisting on canon compliance, and insisting that every character be written 100% IC, and insisting on no original characters, will only serve to bolster and further negative opinions of fanfic.

...and after I said that, the post got locked down, and by then I wasn't the only one disagreeing with the OP. I didn't have to say, for example, that there actually is no such thing as fic that's 100% canon-compliant: fanfic is additional to canon and is, by its very nature, both a derivation of and a deviation from canon. For the same reason is there no such thing as characters written 100% in-character. OP's response to that point amounted to "Well, you know what I mean." That, I suppose, was a portent of the post being locked down, because folks who say, "But you know what I meant!" in response to carefully thought out arguments, are never, ever the kind to enjoy debate.

Just a hint, OP, should you read this: whenever any subject has reached the stage where it's the focus of humanities MA and PhD dissertations, don't make public statements about that subject on the internet unless you LIKE debate.

And speaking of, does anyone want to debate any of the points I've made?

(n)

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YES!

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 15:09:11 GMT

Have I mentioned that I love Blender?

(n)

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Armistice Day 2017

Sat, 11 Nov 2017 16:57:46 GMT

I'm pretending my body doesn't exist

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 01:14:35 GMT

Don't ask about the subject line, instead, lookit:

That's not a photo of [chain]mail. That's a rendered image of an image of mail applied to a curved model. If you click on it and look at the full-size image, you'll be able to see a seam, because I haven't gotten that image quite seamless. Yet. Need to take off 1 pixel right side, and 1 pixel off the top, and that should make it seamless. Below, find the flat image:

That's a render of a model of 6-in-1 [chain]mail, and here's what that looks like without the texture added:

And I modeled that mail swatch because there are literally zero images of mail suitable for texturing. And to go back to the first image, it looks like it's got dinks and bumps and hollows, thanks to a normal map, and it looks like metal thanks to a new-fangled thingy called the Principled BSDF shader. I am not, however, going to explain any of that. You're welcome. I'll just summarize:

I love Blender!

(n)

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Holiday post

Fri, 22 Sep 2017 11:39:51 GMT

To all my Jewish friends and fic readers...

L'Shanah Tovah uMetukah!

(n)

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Fuck you, JTI

Thu, 14 Sep 2017 17:34:30 GMT

My first post in a while is a rant no-one will expect. It's got nothing to do with politics. Nay, and verily, I'm ranting against a Big Tobacco company (cue shocked gasps).

Japan Tobacco International, fuck you sideways with a saguarro cactus. You bastards bought up MY favorite Small Tobacco company just to shut it down, didn't you? Again I say, FUCK YOU. Assholes.

Bummed doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I've been promised the very last packs of Domingo Natural in the country. And yes, I'll try other hand-rolling baccies, but I doubt they'll be any good, even the ones that are touted as "natural". Domingo was the only brand that lived up to their "Additive Free" guarantee. If I get even a hint of the usual chemical crap, I'll switch to smoking a pipe permanently.

One thing's sure– if the baccy company's even remotely tied to JTI, I won't be smoking their stuff. Assholes.

Ugh. *SO* mad, I can't even.

(n)

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[insert pleased grin here]

Mon, 17 Jul 2017 16:22:08 GMT

I've looked at a lot of 3D horse models. Frankly, this is just a fact: mine's the best I've seen yet. And he's not finished.

Goddamn, but I love Blender.

(N)

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Blender pic

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 10:11:01 GMT

This horse is saying, "What's over there?" and also, "I'm so glad the silly two-legged has learned to model better."

Going back to 'orsie was a wee adventure in getting whacked by the humility stick. Fixing that mess is still in-progress: the hind-end of 'orsie looks better, but still, oy. Kept the original and am working on a copy, because I think occasionally going back to look at my very first Blender project is a good way to help me see how far I've come.

Typical me– the first thing I tried to model in Blender was a damn horse. In a way that's a good thing, because everything else has seemed a lot easier.

(N)

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Adorkable

Mon, 10 Jul 2017 22:53:17 GMT

To be any more gay in this pic, Rachel Maddow would have to be wearing a Pride rainbow shirt (but then, maybe flannel is actually more dyke-ish even than a Pride shirt).

Also, am very impressed– she stripped in her line rather than reeling. Seriously impressed.

...fly-fishing. And I thought she couldn't get any cooler.

(n)

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Trump just got trolled BIGLY

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 21:04:48 GMT

Vincente Fox is DA MAN. Seriously. And hilariously. Do not eat, drink, or smoke while watching this video. You have been warned.

(N)

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Wanna be blown away?

Mon, 12 Jun 2017 09:55:07 GMT

Years ago I read about Miyoko Shida and Sanddornbalance in a magazine article, while waiting for a friend to get out of surgery. I'm mechanically minded, but I couldn't quite comprehend the pictures in the article. I was in the middle of reading it again when it was announced that there were complications in the surgery. My pal made it through but it was touch'n'go, and I didn't think about that article again.

Until today, when this woman's name jumped out at me in a completely unrelated article, where someone just mentioned seeing a performance. And they also mentioned being rendered breathless.

YouTube search! And I got to see what my eyes didn't believe in still photos.

You will not regret watching this, and I urge you to make time to watch it.

Breathless? Yes.

(N)

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Good theater, anyone? Tickets cost zip

Tue, 30 May 2017 18:06:23 GMT

Michael Milligan's a really nice guy (speaking from experience– have zapped comments back'n'forth with the man), and he's a fine playwright and an equally fine actor. "Mercy Killers" is a monologue about the US healthcare system, as experienced by a blue collar Republican whose Democrat wife gets breast cancer.

Wanna watch? Here's Milligan's YouTube channel:

Poor Box Theater

Well-worth an hour of your time.

Pass that link on to anyone else who likes good theater, okay?

If you're in or near D.C. and you'd like to support Milligan directly, two of his monologues ("Mercy Killers" and "Side Effects") are running at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop until June 3rd. Needless to say *these* tickets do not cost zip, but at just $15, they're a steal at less than half the usual price of theater seats.

(N)

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Time's new cover: Trump will hate it

Thu, 18 May 2017 23:25:42 GMT

No-one's pulling their punches anymore.

GOODY.

And yes, yes, I am very happy about Robert Mueller as special counsel. It means that we'll know the truth either way, and either way, we can trust his findings (but I'm pretty damn sure of this: Mueller wouldn't have said Yes if he didn't think it was time to step up and serve again).

Re: Lieberman as FBI director: no fucking comment, which is comment enough.

As for Trump whingeing about "It's so unfair!" Well, is anyone surprised?

(N)

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Seth Meyers ROCKS

Wed, 17 May 2017 06:57:50 GMT

If you're not an American and aren't too sure what's going on in the States right now, or if you are an American in need of a laugh, here's Seth's "A Closer Look". He's really gotten using Trump's own words against him down to a fine art. American friends, you WILL feel better after watching this:

(N)

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WAKE UP, GET UP, HURRY UP

Wed, 17 May 2017 01:40:02 GMT

I'm talking to you, Dems and Independents, and yes, even to (finally) disillusioned Republicans.

CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS!

You want Trump gone? First thing tomorrow, you call and demand those articles of impeachment. You better do it, because there's literally no other way that it's going to happen: YOU have to pressure your reps into doing it. This is especially important if you live in a red or purple state. CALL, goddamit. And tell other people to do the same.

And if you don't know why I'm telling you to do that... Well. Don't tell me, okay? I'm really getting the hell-in with Americans who are deliberately, willfully, stupidly ignorant of their own damn politics.

Get mad, stay mad, fight back.

And CALL.

(N)

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