Black Dog Blog

Archive for December, 2008

A late appearance in the Christmas piccy stakes, entered after the closing date through the power of rampant favouritism. (Hey, I made the rules, I interpret the rules.)

Hrian headshot (600×800, 100KB)

Hrian is a plain grey Canis lupus, at least for part of the time. The colours on this went a lot more red and blue than I intended, making him look more Mexican (see what I mean?). I ran with it and offered the recipient an alternative desaturated version, but he preferred the original.

I might take another shot at this… Oh, and I kinda like the sketch, possibly even more than the finished article, so there it is.

Did half of my gift picture for Cerhn. Watched the first third of King Kong (the '00s remake) on the video recorder. That has been the extent of my billable time today.

Well, except for finishing The Wiz Biz, one of the books I asked Slen to buy me for Xmas. He got me the two sequels, too. These are titles I've had my eye on for some time, suspecting (correctly, it turns out) that they'll mirror some of my thinking with my worldbuilding and generally give me ideas. The first was ok as a fantasy novel; it's a little (well, a LOT) clichéd in both the worldbuilding and the freckled redheaded love interest, but that doesn't matter: the central thesis is what I was after.

I don't need to do anything with the ideas straight away, so I don't need to rush through reading all the titles before working out my introductory post with one very attractive greying-blonde middle-aged voks, Paraskive. But I can start thinking at the back of my mind about the similarities and differences between Wiz's system of magic and my magic system…

A tip from some folks on GeekUp. I've just heard of this, am very excited and intend to try it with the hard disk that suffered a head crash just as my backup Maxtor OneTouch II (boo, hiss! Do not buy!) simultaneously died the death.

Freeze (yes, in a freezer) your hard drive to recover data. (It's worth reading some of the comments, too, at least until you get far enough that everyone's repeating what everyone else says.)

It would be so awesome to get the data off that clickity drive! The source files from my little foray into Inform! Old Profusion/Proelium stuff! And even, I think, a few working graphics files… like that brown-on-red cat creature I drew once for Ree. I think the PSD for that was also lost on there.

I used to back up the documents folder (which contained most or all of my important stuff) to a WinZip file on the same partition, then copy that zip to the Maxtor. So even if I only got a few minutes out of the thing, I could at least snag that.

I'll let you know how I get on if I attempt this…

(Drafted before I posted the prev entry, delayed until I was sure the recipient had seen the picture.)

Eye candy first! Here is Mai (800×600, 63Kb)

Not much to say about this one. I wasn't kidding when I remarked to Ree that she's about the only person in the world for whom I would possibly consent to draw a Japanese¹ World of Darkness² catgirl³…

I'm still getting used to the new admin interface in WP 2.7. The "write post" screen feels more cramped in its default-ish layout, but I'm already loving being able to hide such things as the useless 'post slug' field (I just use numbers; I hate wordy URLs. They smack of shameless SEO and are untidy), and to drag my less-used options somewhere out of the way.

I think I'll rearrange it further to get it down to two columns, so I'll have a bigger text entry field. The "Media" field is calling me to take a look into its eyes post stupid audio or video entries. Maybe…

edit: Hang on. I'm mighty angry that wpuntexturize has disappeared. I loathe WP's auto curly quote behaviour, and the only replacement I've found that works requires you to add a custom field to every post. I'll try reinstalling wpuntexturize and see if it works… (edit2: Seems to, after I edited it manually to add ellipsis to its array of things to un-replace. Why they don't let you turn the loathesome texturize behaviour off in the first place is a mystery to me. WordPress fail.)

¹ (Note for new readers and silly literalists: I don't really have a beef with Japan or the Japanese. I know next to nothing about Japan – except, naturally, for a good bit about Shinto and Buddhism, which goes with the job. No, my beef is with the good people of Wapan… who also know pretty little about the Japanese, but that doesn't stop them.)

² (Another note for new readers: I definitely do, however, have a beef with White Wolf. GTFO of my mythology.)

³ "This isn't kawaii AT ALL!"

I've done two of the three Christmas-pressie pictures I agreed to do. I'm not sure the recipient of the first has seen it yet (check your inbox, MissyRee!), so I won't show that one yet; so here's the second, drawn tonight.

This one needs a little explanation: it's from a sketch done by a friend, and it's a tattoo design, hence the stark blackness. In fact, I was influenced by the brushy/pennish/inky look that Anke does a lot of. All I did was draw out my friend's design while tweaking the lines a little to try to get the effect he wants (sarky demon. The best kind), which is why it's not signed.

Ves's tattoo design (smaller than the version I sent him)

I call him Sinistral McLopsypants.

SMALL version of dad's birthday picture. The full thing is A4 sized at 300dpi, so absolutely massive on a screen.

Finished and sent to him at 23:58 last night, so still technically his birthday…

Right, he's seen it now so I can post this. He kinda seemed to like it, sort of. And told me about some other painting of her that she's just got in the last few weeks, that one by a friend from some museum.

How are the bitey fallen! Since when are vampires reduced to angsty objects of lust for teenage girls, asks BBC Magazine?

Some amber with an unusual payload.

Pretty welding sparks.

"Hurrah, we've just accidentally dug into a magma chamber!" Oh, geologists. <3

Fascinating thing here about a follow-up to Milgram.

I thought spending my life with my foot in my mouth was bad…

Advice on chip pan fires has been changed.

Conifer pruned into plum pudding

Disappointing news. Cedric the Tassie devil, considered the best hope for his species because he seemed to be immune to the face cancer that's killing them, has developed tumours.

Winter medical myths 'debunked'

Mermaids! <3 Beautiful things.

Oi, hands off me beaver!

Sexy Muslim underwear. NO CONNECTION TO PREVIOUS ARTICLE COMMENTARY.

I want a robot. Do you too? So why aren't they selling them yet? Because, as this thing shows, they can't get anything about them right… except their names. And the cool ones of those are going fast!

The psychology of crying. Tear ducts are awesome. Psychology isn't, at least at this superficial level.

Now this really is awesome! Single virus used to convert adult cells to stem cells. There's a lot more to it, so read the full article if you think protein-making is just the coolest.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) was… strange. I'm going to get the original and watch it, because this was not at all as I remember the original.

The ending wasn't resolved very well (what happened? Why does clockwork suddenly not work? Whut?), there was insufficient justification for a change of mind, and the line, my favourite line, "Gort, Klaatu barada nikto" was conspicuously and tragically absent. (I thought I caught Klaatu saying it once or twice, actually, but you'd only have noticed it if you were expecting the line.) It also took away the main character's big moment, replacing it with a muddied and unclear moment of self-sacrifice or perhaps survival against odds (no way to tell!) for Reeves's character. I also expected the biological altruism angle (John Cleese's character) to be remarked upon specifically. The main character had an adopted child. They missed an obvious theme there.

Good things were largely the effects: Gort and the subsequent effects of its apocalyptic tantrum. I have a real weakness for metallic insects dissolving things and burrowing into people's veins. I liked that a lot. Klaatu's escape was quite stupid, but you couldn't help enjoying it with the technokinesis and the badass suit.

The science throughout, however, was atrocious. Animals need plants. Something hitting the planet at a tenth the speed of light would destroy a large area, never mind any helicopters flying towards the landing site (WHAT WHY ARE YOU IN THE SKY AT THE PREDICTED IMPACT TIME WHY?), and let alone what it'd probably do to the atmosphere before it got to Manhattan (WHY ALWAYS FREAKING NEW YORK WE LAUGHED SO HARD AT THIS). Also, aliens with DNA? Puhleaze. DNA isn't 'genes': it's Earth's implementation of the concept of genes, which are a pretty good idea in themselves. It's possible that aliens would have genes. But their genes would, I imagine, be overwhelmingly likely not to be DNA. To take another example: aliens having computers, definitely possible. Aliens arriving with computers that run MacOS, impossible. Oh, hang on a moment, WILL SMITH, I AM LOOKING AT YOU, XENU BOY.

More reviews (with spoilers) from IMDb here. I agree with pretty much all the criticisms—except that Keanu Reeves playing a blank-faced alien is, IMO, the role he was born for.

Ah well, so I can still say Klaatu barada nikto and leave people none the wiser.

After the film, the three of us (dad, Slen and I) went to eat, and I told my father about my change of name. I think he took it well. (Well, he thinks it's an extremely eccentric choice, which it most definitely is.) His lack of knowledge of Shakespeare is very much mitigated by the fact that he knew who Diogenes was.

Ah, Diogenes, my hero. Is it pathetically sad that I've been really tempted to register tubphilosopher dot com for some time?

We also chatted about other stuff, like my intention to go for publication with Mews, the possibility of Slen getting a job, and, yeah. Stuff. A good, normal catch-up type chat after the main news. I don't think I could've hoped for that to go any better.

I was most nervous telling him about the surname, of course, because I still had his name. My mother changed her surname by usage some time after they divorced, many years ago; I chose not to at that time. I still think that was the right decision for me at that point. I wasn't ready. I didn't particularly want to make such a change then. In addition, there wasn't anything I wanted to change to—any other name I chose wouldn't have been mine either.

Baskerville is mine. It's unquestionably English with a decent pedigree (which is important to offset the unusual abbreviation "Herm"), it's a reference to giant Sherlockian monster dog and it has overtones of John Baskerville's attractive, old-fashioned-looking typeface. And it has an enjoyable rhythm and sound. First syllable stress and a skuh in the middle.

The fact that it's a B name is pure coincidence, really, but there are a few of those in the family. On my mother's side, anyway. Dad's side has a few Ps. I don't think I'd ever have plumped for another P; it's too plosive. Anything I can't say to a gerbil without causing it to flinch is just mean.

A coworker has just drawn my attention to Cherub of the Mist, which would seem to be a 50-minute film about red pandas and therefore made of win.

Speaking of films, I'm going to see The Day the Earth Stood Still tonight with Slen and my father. I have something particular about which to talk to my father…

In addition, I don't have his birthday present ready yet. It's coming along nicely, though! I hope it'll at least be ready to email him for Saturday. Yes, it'd have been nicer to be able to print it off and give it to him, but eh. I can do that at a later date.

Weird, disturbing and still unaccountably domestic dreams last night. For example, someone had stuffed chip wrappers and hot water bottle covers down the toilet. (Well, it was upsetting in dream-context! Plus, I hate things being put in wrong places.)

By the way, you have about a day left to request a free cute animal or machine picture for Christmas, if you're so inclined.

If you are, the post about it was about 8 days ago. At least you can make the token effort to find and read it. ;)

Work Christmas lunch yesterday, at a place in Castlefield called The Ox. It was tasty, the place was not crowded and the service was good. Also, apple and melon J₂O is too delicious (albeit a bit too sweet) and should be banned.

So. BBC Backstage/GeekUp party on Saturday at the Pitcher and Piano in Deansgate Locks. A great deal of fun. I helped out with BBCish stuff for a few minutes, but I was really there as a guest and had a good time. There were drinks paid for by Cubic Garden (yay!) and food laid on by the Beeb. There was a Wii that a room full of geeks couldn't get working properly (oh how I LOLd) and a Skype/Twitter link-up to London, where the other Backstage bash was happening simultaneously.

We were also invaded by Santas in the form of a fancy dress charity pub crawl.

edit: Pictures here. I don't see any of me, thank dog.

So I hung out with GeekUpprs and had free non-alcohol cocktails (Apple Mint, MMMM) and life was good. I sneaked my GeekUp Secret Santa gift/s in and left them by the food, anticipating that this would get them found quickly. The main gift was a picture of the recipient being mauled by Gemma's polecat, which apparently really happened. I found the details in the GeekUp archives. (I do my research, you see.) I didn't go over and introduce myself, but I saw the picture being passed around to general amusement, along with the little rhyme I wrote for the tag. I had help laminating these beforehand, which was a wise precaution. Plastic-wrapped is good when alcohol and free food are flowing.

Speaking of free food, yes, the diet is on hold and I am back in the grip of Brute Hunger. :-/ Have already bounced back up to 80kg. I must carry on the rest of this week as though I'm still on the sachets/green veg regime, or, knowing too well the raging animal that's under my skin, I'll just balloon. And that would be shit. Very, very shit. Because, to be honest, I like being less fat. I like it a lot.

My Secret Santa also gave me my gift on Saturday night, anonymously delivered in a jiffy bag by one of the employees. It is a Diet Coke bottle top and a roll of Mentos. XD If you don't know what happens when you put Mentos in Diet Coke, YouTube it.

Also, my hair is now short again. A bit shorter than I'd intended, even. That doesn't matter. It'll grow back – all too fast, no doubt.

What else? Finishing off birthday present for father. Almost all other presents are done. It's just the ones coming from overseas that I've still to receive and wrap.

The work email poet-pirate strikes again…

Context needed. Someone in Religion sent around a blank-verse invitation to come pub crawling for his leaving do, mentioning bars called Odder and Long Legs. (Jabez Clegg is another bar along Oxford Road.) I'm still on holiday leave on the date in question, so:

Pub Crawl RSVP

With deep regrets, etcetera,
To turn down such a lyric lure
I find myself away that day
Upon a quest obscure;

For secretary's siren song
Informs me I have leave to burn
And must essay some holiday
Or lose it, in my turn.

So raise a glass for absent Herms
And happy quaffing, one and all:
Be odd, be clegg, be long of leg -
The better pubs to crawl.

(Oh, and I'm well aware the last line can be interpreted in more than one way. "To crawl the better [of the] pubs" or "The better to crawl pubs".)

That takes me to 26 poems, half my target for this year (52). I'm quite happy with that, especially because I've also started digi-painting again in the meantime, which I hadn't expected to do.

I may even bubble up with some more poetry before the year's out, if all my creative juice isn't spent on paintings and writing the Twine Wars opening.

edit: A few people have emailed me back with things like "Brilliant!", "You really are very good at writing poetry. Have you written a lot? Have you published anything? I'm properly impressed…", "I loved your poem back to [colleague] – good work!" and "Bravo!" Fun to get compliments and hopefully give other people a chuckle out of their afternoons. *danceydancey*

edit2: reply from sender:
"Its bad form to send a reply so witty
It make the author of the invite feel rather shitty"
Awwwwww… haha. (Don't worry – he didn't mind really.)

Change of plan: breaking diet today instead of tomorrow—our team Xmas lunch has been moved because we expect to be frantic with work next week.

I rather like being frantic with work. I suspect this is entirely a tribute to my manager, but I never seem to be gien more than I can handle, even on rushed projects like this one will be (down to delays over budget or paperwork elsewhere, AIUI), and I like helping out on different things as needed while we get a site on its feet. I like being called in to troubleshoot. I like being complimented on my canis ex machinae swoops and general quickness and attention to detail. I'm vain. ;)

I like it less when there's confused loyalty, during times when (say) more than one site is fighting for my attention. Although I do find that flattering and privately gloat about it quite a lot.

Anyway, I'm not stopping the diet completely, only moving to one meal a day and two sachets.

I had a weird dream last night about Yammer and Flickr. Can't remember the details but there was definitely some sort of disagreement about Photoshop or HTML techniques.

Mother, father, sit down. I have something to tell you. I think I'm a geek.

Two of Pyroclasm's tracks are up on last.fm. I've been telling them to do that for a while. They get royalties and everything, so listen free online!

The cover version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is hilarious.

"I'll be in the new VW, you know, the ????"

"What the heck's a… 'tig-one'? 'Tigg-won'? Other than a protein, obviously…" I thought, juggling the phone onto my shoulder so my fingers could skip and dance across their natural arena, the qwertyfloor.

[Ctrl+T] g vw tig1, they instructed Firefox, and Google returned:… Tiguan. A second later, I knew exactly what to look for at the station.

"Yep," I thought, "much faster than asking him to spell it." "Was further proof of our geekhood really needed?" I added.

(Apparently it is so named because it is a combination of tiger and iguana. Seriously.)

I read somewhere that happiness is contagious, so take this! Ker-pow, right in the kisser!

I now fit a 36 waist comfortably. (Even smaller, if I hadn't inherited my figure from my father's side.)

I have a beautifully-wrapped present on the desk next to me, ready to send to the Laaaaahndoners. It contains dark chocolate ginger (grandmother's fave) and something-coated crystallised pineapple from health food shop, plus slices of fruit cakes and some posh crisps from the posh bak'ry along Oxford Road, in a nest of shredded letters and bank statements for protection. Classy.

I'm acing work just now, dropping good ideas left right and centre and generally making pages nicer whenever I touch 'em.

I've made a good start on the thing for dad, found an absolutely perfect public domain photo I can use for reference for the back part, and I still have lots of time, including this weekend, to finish it.

Speaking of this weekend, Backstage/GeekUp party on Saturday. Then Multiplatform team christmas lunch on Monday and Religion team christmas lunch on Tuesday. Also, I might go along to the Drupal UG this Thursday… although I haven't played with my installation at all, not even upgraded to 6.

I've had two responses so far to my offer of free piccies. Sadly both from kitty lovers, but what can you do… ;)

Life is pretty good. And I've just remembered I forgot to take my meds this morning, so it isn't even the chemicals talking.

I just joined the GeekUp secret santa thingy. Much fun.

You can guess roughly what my gift's likely to be. It's a £5 suggested value and I typically spend 2+ hours on a piece of gift art, not counting the sneaky research I do beforehand, so it's great value for my victim recipient.

I'm a lot less comfortable with receiving presents than with giving, actually! I'm not sure why. I think my profile's clear enough: "I like daft things, gadgetty things and things pertaining to dogs, red pandas or pangolins. Home-made things like mix CDs are cool. Comestibles would need to be suitable for a veggie non-caffeine non-alcohol drinker."