The Sixth Estate

Caution: Portals

RoninKengo — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:08:31 -0400

Toronto got a huge dumping of snow on Saturday night. I was working at Best Buy at the time, and because of the weather it was very slow. Paper, scissors, markers and tape + boredom = hilarious wet floor sign.

For those of you unfamiliar with Portal this will make no sense, so I invite you to watch this video.

Update: I made the front page of Digg.com! Huzzah!

- Will

Weighing My Options

RoninKengo — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:26:30 -0500

It has been a busy few days since I finished exams on Friday.

I had intended to update the site more often, but some recent news has put a hold on that.
It turns out that Blogware; the blogging service I use, will be shutting down in early 2008. That means I'm going to have to move my site to a new blogging service... again. Argh!

Anyways, it shouldn't be too hard, it's just time consuming.

Typepad and Wordpress are at the top of my list. Any other suggestions?

Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer

RoninKengo — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:28:28 -0500

Spring 2008 can't get here fast enough. Now the real dilemma. Do I buy it for 360 or PS3?
I'm leaning toward PS3, hoping the superior hardware will equal a superior game. We'll see though.

- Will

Study Hard II: Study Harder

RoninKengo — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 02:58:31 -0500

Five Terrible Senior Pictures

It's easy to go back in time and look at the crazy clothes and crazy hair and get a good laugh. Plaid and mullets had their days. Crochet umbrella, fans sets and peekaboo belly dresses most likely never will.
Check out the rest of these amazingly bad high school graduation photos. 5 Terrible Senior Photos

Haha look at these jerks! They made decisions in high school that they may have regretted later in life!!!
Man those people are idiots! I especially love this one!

Bahaha check out this asshole! He probably ha... ...hey wait a second!

Proof that I wasn't always as handsome and debonair as I am today.

Iron Man Is A Drunk... But I Still Love Him.

Click the image above to see a super high resolution version.

All I can say is that I am really looking forward to the Iron Man movie coming out next year. Jon Favreau is passionate about the character. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for Tony Stark/Iron Man: arms dealing playboy and superhero. And they got the Stan Winston Studio(the guys who brought us The Predator, Terminator and Aliens) to design and build the Iron Man suit based off the badass Adi Granov conception of the hero. This movie cannot possibly suck. You can quote me on that. Check out the trailer here.

Atlas Shrugged

I'll thankfully be finished my end of term tests very soon. When I returned home tonight I resolved myself to get any work I had to do out of the way so that I could enjoy the remainder of the evening, and tomorrow unhindered by studying. I finished my work and decided to take another trip into Rapture.

Rapture is the underwater utopia-turned-dystopia from the game BioShock. I finished the game pretty quickly on normal difficulty shortly after it was released earlier this year. I enjoyed my time in Rapture a great deal, despite the many shortcomings of the game. That's why I was so glad to hear about the patch for the game that just arrived. The patch fixes many of the shortcomings I mentioned; minor annoyances really. Fixing bugs is of course is the main function of the patch, but it will also give the player more options to increase the difficulty. Additionally new abilities are available to the player... ooh new Plasmids! I'm going to play through again on hard difficulty with the Vita-Chambers turned off.... hopefully that should provide me with more of a challenge. Check out the patch at The Cult of Rapture.

Don't get me wrong, I love BioShock. I will sing its praises to the highest tower... I just felt a little let down given the games pedigree. BioShock is after all the spiritual successor to one of my favourite games of all time(yes I know I say that about a lot of games, but I'm serious with this one); System Shock 2.

Like its predecessor, BioShock is a very psychological game. It knows how to get under the players skin; how to disturb and unsettle you. The two games are essentially identical in premise, save for their disparate setting and eras.... and that's fine. I would have played BioShock if it were a shot-for-shot remake of System Shock 2, but that doesn't get to my point.

The fact that BioShock was developed simultaneously for the PC and Xbox 360 cheapens the experience for the PC gamer. The two versions of the game are for all intents and purposes identical. They run on the same engine, play the same and the story is identical. But they shouldn't. Maybe this is just the jaded old-school PC gamer in me, but I don't think PC games should be ported to consoles. The very act of doing so restricts the potential of the PC version by kowtowing it to the limitations of the console version. To me, playing a console version of the sequel to one of the best PC games ever made would be blasphemy.

When 2kGames was showing off BioShock to the press, they did so with the Xbox 360 version of the game. BioShock was developed with the Xbox 360 in mind, and because of this the PC version ultimately feels like a direct port of its Xbox 360 counterpart. BioShock should have been a PC exclusive, a game that could have truly succeeded System Shock 2. Instead it was turned into a PC version of an Xbox 360 game... a bastardized version of what it could have been.

I'm not some ardent PC snob who despises consoles. I own a 360 and a PS3. I probably play console games more regularly than I do PC games. BioShock doesn't challenge the PC FPS player enough, it doesn't offer the variety and choice promised by the developers, and in that respect BioShock is a disappointment. All I'm saying is that when you play the PC version of BioShock, you see a game robbed of its potential in the name of mass market appeal and exclusivity deals with Microsoft and NVidia. I'm not saying that's wrong, I understand capitalism... You go where the biggest market share is. And right now that big market share is on the consoles, particularly the Xbox 360. I just wish they had developed the game for the PC and created a game that lived up to its lineage and truly kept the flame of PC gaming alive.

Does this make me a PC gaming romantic?

- Will

The Dark Knight Poster and Best Video Game Intros Ever!

RoninKengo — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:38:38 -0500

Christopher Nolan's follow up to Batman Begins is looking awesome. Here's the new Joker themed poster.

Watch for the full theatrical trailer on the upcoming Will Smith movie I Am Legend.

GamerHelp recently posted their Greatest Video Game Endings Of All Time, a pretty awesome list if I do say so. Well you can't do the greatest endings without making a list of the Greatest Intros of All Time!

While I agree with the list for the most part I lament some of the truly great intros that didn't make their list.
The Final Fantasy VI and XII intros are amazing, as are the intros to any of Namco's fighting titles like Tekken and Soul Calibur. Of course, there's the train intro to the original Half-Life, and I can't forget the awesome intro to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake from 1990! Here are a few of my favourites... Come on you can't get J-Pop/Rock like that in a video game intro anymore!

Honourable mentions go to the more recent Dawn of War and of course the classic Fallout 2.

And now back to studying.

- Will

I Love The Internet

RoninKengo — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:08:23 -0500

Be warned if you're young or elderly, please do not google any of the horrible things I mention in the following paragraph. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Sometimes I hate the internet, and a little piece of me dies inside.
I've been traumatized enough by the cruel Mistress that is the internet... goatse, 2girls 1cup, tub girl, and all manner of sexual deviancy flung my way by others as a "joke". Rule 34 of the internet states:
If something exists, there is porn of it.

However, for every horrible thing I will never be able to unsee that the internet throws my way, something good and hilarious will bubble to the surface. Case and point this random forum gem.

You're the best internet. Thanks to fibbery of the site that shall not be named for finding this.

Martin Scorsese Shoots Hitchcock... Sort Of.

Yes it's an advertisement for wine... but it has Martin Scorsese... shooting a Hitchcock homage! Scorsese doesn't sell out for less than $50,000 an hour, so I too am sold.

Check out the mini-mockumentary and....The Key to Reserva

Man Finally Put In Charge Of Struggling Feminist Movement

WASHINGTON—After decades spent battling gender discrimination and inequality in the workplace, the feminist movement underwent a high-level shake-up last month, when 53-year-old management consultant Peter "Buck" McGowan took over as new chief of the worldwide initiative for women's rights.

Read the rest of this hilarious Onion article here. My roommate thankfully interrupted my studying by sharing this with me. But now I must return to the drudgery of cramming for exams.... this is all the procrastination I will allow myself... Internet.... Can I resist your whiles!?

- Will

Random Happenings and Chance Occurences

RoninKengo — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:02:59 -0500

Let the record show that alcohol-fueled philosophical debates that encompass the entirety of a night are fun and should happen more often. At some point last evening; when Guitar Hero 3 began to grow tiresome, my friends and I broke out the Dominican rum, Ouzo and vodka and started drinking. We talked about life, women, religion and politics. And as things usually go when aided by substance, the topics of religion and politics led to a philosophical debate. The debate was about whether or not Richard Dawkins, scientist, atheist and author of some renown, was an asshole; or at least whether he presented his ideas in an asshole-ish manner. Suffice to say, the argument led to discussions on the nature of thought, instinct and perception, how quantum physics and philosophy intermingle, and reason versus faith.

I'd like to think as people with philosophy and political science degrees, we tackled some very heady issues. However, it's more likely that we were only making sense to our own drunken selves and that had an outsider been present they would have had a good laugh at our expense. Drunk or not, I enjoyed myself.

Rumour: Gamespot's editorial director fired over Kane & Lynch review

Controversy is surrounding the firing of Jeff Gerstmann, the senior editor at Gamespot. Gamespot's video game reviews tell it like it is, and pull no punches...and apparently in Mr. Gerstmann's case that was the problem. It seems that CNET, Gamespot's parent company had just signed an advertising agreement with Eidos, developers and distributors of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. The rumour is that because Gerstmann's review of Kane & Lynch gave it a less than stellar 6.0 out of a possible 10, he was fired and that Eidos pressured CNET to do so.

Gerstmann was in fact let go from Gamespot, but the exact reason is not known due to 'no comment' from all involved. If the rumoured basis for his termination is the case, it raises some issues for the entire game reviewing community. When editorial content is suppressed for business interests, then some very serious issues of integrity must be addressed. One need only look at what Gamespot's site looked like just hours ago, plastered with Kane & Lynch advertising; and notice that Gerstmann's biting video review of the game is no longer present on the site to know that something fishy is going on.

Joystiq has the rest of the developing story.

Lastly, my friend Christie has finally returned to the internet for a third and hopefully final time.
Exhausticated.com is her new venture, so check it out if you're like me and enjoy random internet hilarity.
Welcome back and godspeed ma'am.

And now for another exciting night of working at an unnamed big box electronics retailer! Friday night WOO!

- Will

Old Man In Suit!!!

RoninKengo — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:56:09 -0500

I know these pictures have probably been posted everywhere else a million times over already, but I wanted to post them anyway. I'm a child of the 80's, and as such Indiana Jones practically raised me; when he wasn't cracking his whip, hanging out with Asian kids or busting Nazi skulls.

It's good to finally see some decent high resolution shots of Harrison Ford back in his Indiana Jones getup. Yes, he looks old... yes, that pants waist is looking a little high... but I still think he pulls it off. It's also funny to see Shia Leboeuf in full 1950's greaser mode. I'm looking forward to the new Indy movie, I'm still on the fence about the name though... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Well, at least it's not a prequel.

Head on over to Ain't It Cool News to see the full high resolution versions
You can actually see inside Harrison Ford's pores and wrinkles, it's kind of impressive.

- Will

The Ten Most Annoying Video Game Baddies of All Time

RoninKengo — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:17:30 -0500

I spent a great deal of my childhood playing video games. Probably too much of my childhood was devoted to games, but that's another story entirely. I mostly played Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and PC games. Like anyone, I often ran out of lives, got game overs, and lost save files from time to time(thanks Evan!), but at the end of the day I was a pretty adept little gamer. I had beaten most of the games I owned by the age of 10, and counted myself as an above average video game player. In the end though, it didn't matter how inherently skilled I was at games, there were always those enemies that did everything they could to ruin my video game day.

Game design has definitely come a long way. Sometimes I wonder if game designers were trying to be dicks back in the 80's and early 90's, because good game design should not involve driving a player insane with frustration. There is a difference between challenging a player and being an absolute jerk about the level of game difficulty. In a way though, the insane difficulty, and ridiculous moments of frustration make older games endearing to me. Even if they did confound me at every turn, they will always have a special place in my heart.

As tribute to all those frustrating childhood gaming moments, I present to you my list of the ten most annoying video game baddies of all time. Not bosses mind you, just the regular run-of-the-mill enemies whose job it was to annoy the crap out of the player. Feel free to add your own.

10. The Football Player - Contra (Arcade and NES, 1988)

This delightful bastard from the NES classic Contra did little in the way of shooting at you (unlike every other enemy in Contra), but man did he run toward you! That was his basic attack, running menacingly toward you. Nothing says jungle warfare quite like a football uniform. Football Player and a bunch of his buddies just ran at you in wave after wave, often jumping off cliffs to their untimely 8-bit deaths in an a desperate attempt to kill Bill and/or Lance. Yes, poor kamikaze footballer, it was his lot in life to ruin your day by running into you.

9. Koopa Troopa - Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)

Coming in green or red variety, the seemingly innocuous Koopa Troopas didn't do much other than get in your way. Koopas were very easy to kill, requiring Mario or Luigi to simply stomp on their little heads(so violent when you think about it), but that wasn't what you had to worry about. It was their shells. Koopa shells could be used as a weapon by Mario, he could kick them and send them flying at high speed, useful yes, but safe? Not at all. Koopa shells bounce wildly in the opposite direction when they strike a solid object like a pipe or wall, quite often resulting in the self-inflicted and infuriating death of the player. Those shells are a menace to gamers everywhere, Shigeru Miyamoto! What were you thinking!?

8. Blue Darknut - The Legend of Zelda (NES, 1986)

As my dad and I both played through Zelda back in the late 80's, we came to realize that we hated the Blue Darknut. The armoured baddie that populated the last few dungeons in the game, the feared level 8 and level 9. They chased poor Link down, and the only way you could kill them was to hit them not once, but twice on the side or from behind. A difficult feat, when all the bastards did was run at you with their sword and shield very much pointed at you. In addition to being hard to kill, the NES couldn't handle too many of them on the screen at once, and the frame rate slowed to a crawl if more than six showed up in a given room. I always dreaded level 8 because of them. The frame rate would drop and the music would slow, as those unstoppable Darknuts closed in on poor Link..

7. Fast Zombie - Half-Life 2 (PC, 2004)

What's worse than a slow, stupid, lumbering zombie out to kill you? A smart, fast, screaming zombie that can climbing buildings and really wants to tear your face off, of course! First seen in the Ravenholme section of the Half-Life 2, these unsettling, skinless bastards come out of the proverbial woodwork and then some. They aren't terribly hard to kill, a few blasts from Gordon Freeman's trusty shotgun will dispatch them, but it's the fact that they're so agile and come at you in groups that makes them tough. When you hear that high pitched wail in the distance you know the fast zombie is headed your way.

6. Skelerang - Castlevania Series (Multiple Platforms)

Honestly, who the $%#& gives a reanimated skeleton not one, but two boomerangs?
The answer is: Dracula. What an ass.

5. Gran with Thermal Detonators - Dark Forces/Jedi Knight Series (PC, 1997)

In the Star Wars universe there is a species of alien called Gran. Gran have three eyes, and resemble bipedal goats. Hilarious you say? Yes, very hilarious, save for one thing. In the Star Wars games, these goat-bastards have a penchant for throwing thermal detonators, the Star Wars equivalent of a grenade. Gran will toss them at you no matter the circumstance or distance. Even if they kill themselves in the process the Gran will always throw a grenade your way, and barring that will attempt to use some form of alien pugilism against the player. Not too bright it would seem... clearly only a dumb ass would try to punch a guy with a lightsabre.

4. Garg - Commander Keen (PC, 1990)

The smaller green Martians that Commander Keen encountered would just push you and hop around like the one eyed idiots they were. What the player really had to watch out for their bigger, meaner cousin the Garg. These aggressive bastards would walk around minding their own business, but upon spotting the player they would charge him at tremendous speed. If the Garg connected with his tackle, this would of course instantly kill Commander Keen. The thing that made the Garg annoying, was that almost every other enemy in the game is fairly docile and didn't or couldn't actually kill Commander Keen. Upon first encountering the Garg, the player often assumes that that maybe the giant Garg is equally harmless... It is not.

3. Engineers - Command & Conquer Series (Multiple Platforms)

The Command & Conquer games feature a class called the engineer. The engineer unit has the ability to capture enemy buildings and place them under your control. An engineer rush is a battle tactic where you send as many engineers as you can into an enemy base and try to capture important buildings. Naturally, this is a fun tactic to use against the enemy, but having it done to you is particularly annoying. Even more insulting is having a computer opponent engineer rush you. Engineer rushing is the gaming equivalent of taking a dump in somebody's living room and then blaming it on their kid. It's a dick move, and because of this C&C engineers make the list.

2. Flying Cheep Cheeps - Mario Series (NES)

It really doesn't matter how adept a player is at Mario games, run into a Flying Cheep Cheep the wrong way, and it's game over. These flying fish dart across the screen; unimpeded by ground, water or geography, in a seemingly random pattern. If they hit Mario's body on any other part but his feet, damage will be inflicted. Nothing is more infuriating than nearly completing a difficult Mario level, only to be struck down a mere jump away from the end by a flying fish. Cheep Cheeps aren't particularly fearsome... It's just the arbitrary nature in which they fly toward and kill Mario that is the frustrating part.

1. Medusa Heads - Castlevania Series (Multiple Platforms)
.

From the school of thought that brought you the Flying Cheep Cheep come the Medusa Heads of the Castlevania Series. First off, who knew that Medusa had multiple heads... I for one didn't. Secondly, why is it that said heads have the power of flight? God damn Dracula, quit messing with shit for your own amusement... I know it's probably your hobby, but surely you can do something more productive with your time than designing freakish monstrosities to kill the Belmont clan.

Medusa Heads have no attack, they just fly across the screen in a wavy pattern. They can frequently be found in great numbers when ascending clock towers, or platforming above bottomless pits. Normally, they were pretty easy to avoid if you were quick, but often due to the layout of the level they were unavoidable. Killing the player by knocking him off a platform with a Medusa Head is dickish game design Konami, and yet you continue to include Medusa Heads in Castlevania games! The collective gamer rage induced by these pesky heads could power a small to moderate sized space station.

- Will

Video Game Overload!

RoninKengo — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:21:29 -0500

I like games. I've made no secret of it in the past, but I really just want to make it clear how much I like them. Maybe a little too much... but I'll leave such judgements to the addiction experts.

I have my work cut out for me this month though, as November will see the release of some of the most anticipated games of the year. As the owner of a Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and a decent gaming PC, I can play them all... I just can't afford them all.

Gaming industry... I like you guys. But clearly you hate us... Damn you for making it so hard for the hardcore gamer! I've compiled a list of all my must play games that have either already come out this month, or will be coming out in the next two weeks. As I can only afford to buy maybe two of these games right now, this post will help me make my decision. It's also a chance for me to tell you about all the great games that are stupidly coming out within days of one another this November! Hooray consumerism!!!

Super Mario Galaxy - Wii
Release Date: November 12th



The Wii is finally getting a true sequel to one of the greatest games of all time; Mario 64. After the good, but slightly disappointing Super Mario Sunshine for the Gamecube, fans of Mario have been wringing their hands in anticipation since Super Mario Galaxy was first announced in 2006. The game is finally here and the reviews are crazily good(basically nothing under 9.5 out of 10!), and we should expect no less. First party Nintendo titles, especially Mario 3D platformers always have a crazy amount of polish and great game design. Mario 64 basically created the 3D platforming genre, and Super Mario Galaxy apparently raises the bar on that genre to the next level.

Assassin's Creed - PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: November 14th



You get to play as an assassin during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land. Given that premise, I'm already sold... But apparently Ubisoft Montreal went and made a pretty great game, which is win-win for me. The developers have recreated in beautiful detail the cities of Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus as they may have appeared in the year 1191. Add to this an ability to scale and climb almost any structure in the game, and of course the whole assassin thing and you have yourself a winning combo. Oh and the producer of the game, Jade Raymond is hot... and Ubisoft has had no qualms with using her charms to sell the game.

Who am I to argue with their wisdom?

Kane and Lynch: Dead Men - PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: November 14th



In what is sure to be a controversial game, two men, Kane and Lynch - one a flawed mercenary and the other a medicated psychopath - are sentenced to death for crimes they more than likely committed. Just prior to their scheduled executions, they escape from prison and go into business with a mysterious criminal syndicate, committing a series of high stakes robberies and heists. You play as Kane; the normal one... and get to deal with the psychopathic Lynch as your AI or Co-op controlled partner during the course of the game. The game is from the creators of the morally grey Hitman series, and I expect Kane and Lynch offers the player up even more moral dilemmas to be solved... with a hail of gun fire and explosions of course.

Crysis - PC
Release Date: November 13th



The game that rewrites the rules of the first person shooter genre is here, and if you don't have literally a super-computer you won't be able to enjoy it. I can run the game, just not well. The story doesn't seem to be reinventing the wheel, super-soldier, battling mercenaries and aliens in exotic locales... But I'm sure the gameplay and beautiful graphics will make up for what sounds like a pretty standard FPS story. FarCry developer CryTek has pushed the technological envelope with Crysis, to the point where my modest gaming rig no longer stands a chance. I can wait for an upgrade before I play this game.

Mass Effect - Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: November 20th



Bioware has always been a favourite developer of mine. They're Canadian, and they developed the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic games which I enjoyed immensely. Hopefully, the fact that they were just bought by Electronic Arts will not effect the quality of the titles they produce, because if Mass Effect is as great as it looks; expect even greater things from Bioware in the future. The super-customizable, squad-based, open-ended role-playing game promises to be an engaging and cinematic experience. Now if I could just get a TV to do those HD graphics some justice I'd be all set.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - PS3
Release Date: November 20th



The Playstion 3 is finally getting some decent exclusive titles. I didn't know much about Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, other than a lot of buzz; then I tried the demo and was thoroughly impressed. The game was absolutely beautiful looking on my standard definition TV, I can only imagine how great it looks in high definition. The controls were intuitive, the enemy AI challenging, and the gameplay was surprisingly fun. Uncharted plays like the Tomb Raider games should have, and doesn't rely on Lara Croft's boobs to sell the game. Count me intrigued, I may just have to check out Uncharted.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Release Date: November 5th



The realistic and frantic combat of the Call of Duty series finally comes to the modern era. Call of Duty 1 and 2 were some of my favourite PC games, I see no reason why COD4 shouldn't be added to that list. The story is straight out of Tom Clancy book, Russian ultra-nationalists fund a coup in a middle-east country to distract the US and Britain from their real plan... steal a bunch of nuclear weapons and overthrow the current Russian government. You play as various special forces soldiers in the British and American forces, and are tasked with stopping these crazy Russians from starting World War 3. I'm in.

So there you have it. The games I want to play, but can't afford to play right now. I've got my hands full with Guitar Hero 3 and Team Fortress 2 at the moment, so maybe I'm better off waiting. Now the real question is, should I buy Rock Band next month or not?

- Will

Incredible Hulk Set Photos

RoninKengo — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:26:15 -0400

On my way home from work today I snapped some pictures of the Hulk set being readied for filming on Yonge Street in Toronto. It was awesome seeing Yonge Street done up like a Hulk-Smashed version of Harlem. Thanks to Rajiv for a few of the pictures.

- Will

Starting the Festival off right...

RoninKengo — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:11:11 -0400

It's September in Toronto. That means two things for me. School is back on and the Toronto Film Festival is about to start! Today tickets went on sale, so early this morning I went and lined up outside of the Manulife Centre.

After finishing work at about 12:30am last night, I had resolved myself to staying up rather than sleeping and having to wake up early. Of course this didn't work out, as I took a 2 hour nap sometime in the middle of the night. I awoke at 4am, donned my clothes and departed. This morning I braved both nerds and mother nature. Between the obnoxious cackles from the gaggle of hardcore film nerds that surrounded me in line, to the thunderstorm which decided it would be fun to rain on people lined up at 5 in the morning, it was not a pleasant experience. But after 2 hours of standing in the rain, being enraged by really nerdy nerds, the box office opened and the line began to move. I'd picked out my movies earlier that morning and was ready to buy my tickets.

In the future, when I crack a joke about having insufficient funds after waiting in line for 2 hours... please remind me of this occasion. I neglected to check if the bank had cleared the hold on the personal cheque my room mate had given me for the rent. Had I checked, I would have quickly discovered that I had $14 to my name and not the $126 required to by my tickets. It was totally my fault, but in the future; where insufficient funds will be a thing of the past, I will ask that my roommate kindly give me the money via one of those dandy, holdless interac email money transfers.

One word can sum up the way I feel right now, and that word is: Argh!

On my way home I stopped by the ritzy Yorkville coffee shop that my brother works at. He'd run into me waiting in line on his way to work that morning, and I said I'd stop by after I got my tickets. Well, as you know I didn't get my tickets, but I still stopped by the coffee shop. I don't particularly care for coffee most of the time, but after that kind of crushing defeat(and the 2 hours of sleep) I really needed a dose of caffeine. I didn't get my tickets, but at least I got a coffee and had a very awkward conversation with a strange rich man about what a hassle it is finding Euros in your pants pocket when you're looking for Canadian money.

Now I have the pleasure of writing to you dear reader while I wait for the bank to open so I can kindly ask them to remove the hold on my $300! And after that I shall return to Manulife Centre, hopefully before all the tickets are gone. Then the sweet respite of my bed will be my home until I work this evening.

- Will

Once More Unto The Breach

RoninKengo — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:30:59 -0400

So I'm off to the land beyond the sea again tomorrow. Hitting England, France and Scotland while I'm there. This time it won't be a 3 month solo backpacking adventure, this time it's going to be a 10 day backpacking trip with my girlfriend. While the company is certainly welcome, I just wish it was a longer trip. Stupid obligations of rent, job and school.

One of the reasons I started this site was to blog my first trip to Europe, which I did with great success. Now that I'm finally heading back over there, writing this feels like I'm coming full circle in a way.

I have about 3 nearly completed blog entries written, I just have to take the time to finish them up and post them. I am determined to update The Sixth Estate more often, and I plan to follow through. I may post a few updates while I'm over in the UK and France, time will be limited though, so no promises. I can promise that there will be plenty of pictures though... I've got a 4gb memory card and a full pack of batteries, it's go time.

Perkins out.

I Wish There Was A Hell For Jerry Falwell

RoninKengo — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:28:14 -0400

I'm not someone who would ordinarily laud the death of anyone. However, Jerry Falwell was not just anyone.

Jerry Falwell: bigot, racist, hateful religious extremist and all around sack of shit. Yes, Jerry Falwell was that special kind of douche bag that you wish eternal torment upon... Sorry that was un-Christian of me... but hey that never stopped Falwell!

BoingBoing proudly presents the stupidest most offensive shit spewed by this evil man.

- Will

A City of Pet Peeves

RoninKengo — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:39:24 -0400

I live downtown, I work downtown and I go to school downtown... 99% of my time these days is spent downtown. Now when you're in a big city, it's important to realize that you're in this big city with a lot of other people, and thusly one should be aware of certain rules of public etiquette that applicable to city dwellers. Unfortunately, these unspoken rules are apparently not known to a large segment of the population. Now I know the old saying about casting stones and being free from sin, but anyone who knows me knows that I go out of my way to treat complete strangers with the same courtesy I offer my best friend... I guess it's just a little too much to ask for even a tenth of that courtesy from the average person in Toronto. Here are a few of my metropolitan pet peeves:

5) There is nothing I love seeing more in a public washroom than a toilet bowl full of some other person's shit. I hate to be graphic, but I could really go without knowing that Buddy McPoopsAlot had corn to eat last night. Is it really that tall an order for people to flush the toilet? Don't want to touch the handle? Use your foot. You probably don't want to see someone else's faeces floating in a toilet, do us all that same courtesy and flush for a change!

4) People who give their backpack or purse a seat on public transit really are the most selfish people in the city. I can deal with not having a seat to sit on because you don't want to hold your bag on your lap, or *GASP* put it on the floor; but when I see a perfectly able-bodied person taking up two seats with a bag and themselves while an elderly person is forced to hang on to a pole for dear life... it just kills me. I often ask the person to move their bag so the old folk can sit down, or offer my own seat. And guys here's a tip, if you're sitting down and you notice a woman without a seat why not offer yours to her? Yes your feet hurt from work, but you're a man: start acting like one. Show the women of the world that chivalry isn't dead.

3) If I see another person reach for the grocery store conveyor belt separator thingy out of fear that my two packages of kraft dinner, three cans of tomato soup and carton of orange juice will some how get mixed up with their groceries I'm going to smack them. I'm a broke university student, every bit of food I buy is a calculated and counted on purchase, I assure you that I will keep my scant food items separated from your precious and mighty groceries.

2) This one goes out to the teenagers of the city, and what a fruitless complaint this will prove to be. For lack of a better term: Shut the fuck up! Your boisterous laughter and yelling at one another in public places is enough, but then you go and run around subway platforms pushing each other with no regard for anyone around you. I know it's a lot to ask of you dumb asses to have some common god damned courtesy for those of us who have no choice but to be in your presence, and I also know that I was a dumb ass too when I was your age. But that doesn't give you a free pass, because I wasn't half the dumb ass you teens today are. I just made myself feel old.

1) And finally escalators. If you're like me and you spend some time on the TTC, in malls or other public buildings then chances are you have to use an escalator from time to time. Escalators are a lot like highways, if you're slow you stay in the right lane and let the faster cars go by you in the left lane. I'm betting most people even if they don't drive have been on a highway before, and yet somehow people don't understand the rules of an escalator. You walk on the left side and stand on the right side. You don't stand side-by-side blocking the left and right sides of the escalator, you stand in a line on the right side. You and your girlfriend making out on the escalator doesn't make it easier or quicker for me to get to work in the morning. My time is a finite thing, and you sir and madam are wasting it.

Understand that I am not a cranky guy. I'm a very laid back person, and these things are pretty much the only things that get under my skin. If you do any of these incredibly annoying things out in the wide world, then you fail at playing
a functioning member of society. We're all in this together. Why don't we try to make things easier for each other, and most importantly, me.

Uncle Pete

RoninKengo — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:45:03 -0400

Peter James Ferguson - 1931 - 2007

Passed away peacefully on March 25, 2007. Predeceased by his son Jamie, Peter is survived by his loving wife Helen, children Cal (Karen), Sharon-Lee (Ken), Todd (Chris) and grandchildren Spencer, Sarah and Heather. Peter also leaves behind his dear sister Jean (Barrie), nieces Cathie, Wendy and nephew John (Brenda) and great nephews Will and Evan.

Peter was born and raised in Victoria. He was a WWII Merchant Navy Veteran joining his first ship at the young age of 14. Peter worked for BCFP for 31 years before enjoying his retirement. Peter enjoyed soaking up the sun and was never happier than when he was on or near the ater. Peter loved to sail, walk the beach and enjoyed frequent visits to Hawaii. An avid gardener, Peter was a friendly, funny guy who was always game for a driving adventure. Peter was also a keen professional wrestling fan. We will always remember Peter (Fergie) for his animated humour. He could always make us laugh by just a wiggle of an ear or eyebrow.

The family would like to thank all of the supportive staff on 6C at Victoria Genearl for their excellent care and loving kindness. Donations can be made to the Parkinson Society or charity of your choice.

Some of my earliest and fondest childhood memories are of time spent at my Uncle Pete and Aunt Helen's house in Victoria. Going out on the water with them in the row-boat, playing on the old WW2 guns (Willy's Guns) in the nearby park, and talking about Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper with Uncle Pete when I was very young. Whatever the circumstances, Uncle Pete could always make me laugh. I regret not being able to see Peter or Helen very often over the past ten years, British Columbia seems so far away sometimes. I'll miss you Uncle Pete.

Pale Blue Dot

RoninKengo — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:16:37 -0400

If you look carefully at the NASA photo, you will see a little white dot. This minute speck is Earth seen from the Voyager 1 spacecraft as it exits the solar system, nearly 4 billion miles away. The photo was taken back in 1990.

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

– Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994

Thanks to inertia4u for sharing.

We'll Miss You Gloria

RoninKengo — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:18:45 -0500

Gloria Pearson - 1926-2007

The lovely Gloria Pearson passed away in Toronto on the morning of March‭ ‬8,‭ ‬2007.‭ ‬Gloria was a joy to all who knew her,‭ ‬and all will cherish her memory.‭ She is survived by her soul mate of‭ ‬47‭ ‬years,‭ ‬and husband of‭ ‬35,‭ ‬Archie Pearson.

Her loss will be keenly felt by her loving and devoted sister Rosemarie,‭ ‬and her husband Bill,‭ ‬their children Will,‭ ‬Debby,‭ ‬Rick and Steve,‭ (‬along with Cathie,‭ ‬Syd,‭ ‬Wendy,‭ ‬Kellie,‭ ‬and Sally‭) ‬and their children,‭ ‬Willy and Evan,‭ ‬Katie and Scott,‭ ‬Ashley and Stephanie. Archie's grief is also shared by his nephews and their wives,‭ ‬Ian Wagman,‭ ‬and Sylvia,‭ ‬Sheldon Kofsky and Judy,‭ ‬Barry Kofsky and Joan.‭ ‬Gloria and Archie extend special thanks to all of the doctors,‭ ‬nurses,‭ ‬caregivers,‭ ‬and support group members who became such an important part of her life over the last few years.

My Aunt Gloria was always a loving and wonderful presence in my life, and the life of my family. To say that we'll all miss her a great deal would be an understatement. My thoughts now turn to my Uncle Archie and my Grandmother Rosemarie. Gloria passed away after an ongoing battle with colon cancer, donations can be made in her name to the Canadian Cancer Society

I'll miss you Gloria.

Born Again Atheist

RoninKengo — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:14:07 -0500

Religion or lack thereof has had an odd role in my life. I don't remember being aware of the concept of God or even of organized religion until I was about 8 or 9. I always remembered my family celebrating Christmas and Easter, but there was no mention of Jesus Christ... It was just that time when we got together with family, exchanged gifts and ate lots of food. Then came my family's move to Halifax, Nova Scotia, it was there that I became acutely aware of Roman Catholicism.

My mother was raised Catholic; not strictly or formally, but I do know the influence was there and religion was important to her. One day in Grade Three, I remember being told I had to leave the class with several other children Before I knew it I was being taught about The Bible by a plain clothes nun with several of my classmates. I didn't know that I was supposed to be Catholic, I just assumed my classmates and I were different for some reason. For the rest of the school year, about once a week all the Catholic students in the class would file into an empty class room and we'd learn about God and Jesus... It got me out of math and spelling, so who was I to complain? It was around this time my family started going to Church regularly... Well most of my family. .My father was another story.

It was at the same time my mother, brother and I started regularly attending Our Lady of Perpetual Health that I began to realize that my Dad wasn't down with the whole religion thing. I remember asking my Mom many times, why Dad never came to Church with us. The response was always cryptic, "He's too busy.", "He doesn't feel comfortable going to Church.", "He can't go.", etc. Sounded reasonable to me, my Dad was President of a Company, he was a busy guy back in the early 90's. Obviously, I was blissfully unaware of the real reason why my Dad didn't come to Church with us... He was an Atheist.

I don't hold anything against my Mom for wanting to expose me to religion, just as I don't hold anything against her for not wanting to explain the concept of atheism to a ten year old kid about to get his First Communion. That seemed to be the whole intention of this new found religious streak in my Mom, me getting my First Communion. If you don't know what that is I'll tell you... basically in Roman Catholicism there are six big ceremonies the average Catholic is supposed to take part in during their life: Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Confession and the Last Rites. If you've done the first three; been Baptized, received Communion and been Confirmed, you're good to go for the rest of them; Marriage, Confessing your sins and being given the Last Rites. It's good(in the eyes of the Church) if you've taken part in these holy sacraments. If a good Catholic wants to go to Heaven and by virtue of doing that avoid going to Hell, having taken part in these sacraments doesn't hurt.. Maybe I'm over analyzing my mother's reasoning behind getting is into religion, but I assume this stuff had a little to do with it. And maybe it didn't, maybe she just wanted my brother and I to get a better understanding of this Christ fellow, and what he was all about... which really are pretty good things for the most part.

Having a priest pour water on my head makes me a Catholic... bitch!

After my First Communion and Confirmation, and my brother's belated Baptism(he was 7 years old I believe), we kept going to Church... For a little while at least.... And then we just stopped going. I didn't question why, probably because I was entering my teenage years, and the idea of sleeping in on Sundays was becoming more appealing than sitting in a drafty Church. By that statement alone, you can get an idea how into religion I was even after several years of regular Church attendance.

"Thumbs up for Jesus!"

So as it went, during my teenage years I became apathetic toward religion, and most things in general it would seem. Prior to my apathetic years, I had always been science minded, being obsessed with space travel, air planes and dinosaurs as a child. The non-existence of the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus really didn't come as a surprise to me. Similarly, the whole idea of a Supreme Being that controlled everything and sat on a cloud in Heaven just didn't sit right with me... But adults believed in it too, so of course it had to be legitimate, right?

When questioned about my religion as a teenager, I said I was a non-practising Catholic, but that I didn't really know what to think about God anymore. And so I drifted more toward the Agnostic view of the universe that I stuck to until a few years ago. It was then that I was exposed to the works of Professor Richard Dawkins and the always "entertaining" Friedrich Nietzsche, among others. If you;ve read any of these guys you know that you'll find it hard to believe in a god any more afterwards. First year philosophy class pretty much sealed the deal for me and I declared myself an Atheist. It was a weight lifted from my shoulders and a breath of fresh air. What I knew and had experienced "tended to show that the existence of God was unlikely."

Both my father and his father were atheists as well, and that was just another reason I felt my decision was the right one. Apparently we atheists are still a big minority, which I find more than a little disappointing, and also a bit frightening. This is the way I've felt for most of the 2000's, but I'd never actually put it into words... I'm not coming to these conclusions just now... I just wanted to put it in writing for whatever it's worth.

I could say more, but I don't want to turn this blog into a diatribe on organized religion, I've ranted enough about it, and anyone who knows me knows my feelings. I know that it may disappoint some of the more religious members of my family, but I ask that they look at it this way... If your God is so omnipotent and powerful, he sure as hell doesn't need something so tiny and inconsequential as the worship of a few jerks named William Perkins.

Citizen Game

RoninKengo — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:54:44 -0500

On my way home from Guildwood last week I read the Globe and Mail. As GO-Trains tend to be littered with newspapers and I tend to get bored easily during the ride, reading the paper was really my only course of action. This was a few days before New Years Eve, so naturally this particular issue of the Globe was dotted with year and specials. Best of '06, Year in Review, What To Look Forward to in 07, etc. Being a game aficionado... well, I use that term because game addict makes it sound like I have a problem, even if the definition may be more accurate... anyways, being the avid gamer that I am of course I was drawn to Scott Colbourne's Year In Review of Video Games. His article summed up the best games of the year, which next-gen console was the best, what had arrived that changed the industry, and what 2007 held for gamers like myself. Standard year end stuff, but it was Mr. Colbourne's conclusion that got me thinking.

As for what failed to arrive, the video-game world did not welcome its Citizen Kane or even Birth of a Nation, a work of art that could establish the medium as a meaningful delivery system for ideas. There were fun games and there were beautiful games, but fantasy and escapism still dominated. Perhaps such sound and fury are all gamers can ever expect, and there is something to be said for the lasting appeal of pure play. But there is a growing feeling, and not just among game reviewers attempting to justify their existence, that the activity has to add up to something more than profits and fleeting tugs at the baser emotions.

With capable machines and word spreading to a broader audience, at least that breakthrough seems closer now than it did 365 days ago.

Colbourne is arguing that gaming is still a medium in its infancy. To use a film analogy, the games we're playing now are silent movies, the Citizen Kane of the medium is going to have to be a talkie. It may not be fair to compare video games and film, but comparisons have always been drawn. Games with too many cinematic cut scenes and drawn out dialogue are often criticized for being too filmic, conversely movies with big budget computer effects and mindless action are maligned as being too video-gamic...

1.	of, pertaining to, or characteristic of video games.

2.	containing characteristics resembling those of video games.

Yes, I just made that word up. I believe it is unfair to the video game medium to be used as a point of criticism against film makers. Game designers more often than not derive a great deal of influence from films. Games and movies are both visual mediums, and what works for one will most likely work for the other. However, the medium of film is so established that it's almost akin to comparing Shakespeare to caveman wall drawings. Maybe I am giving the medium of film too much credit, but for now it remains the more successful medium. However, I do believe that ultimately video games will eventually have more to offer participants artistically, emotionally and even physically than film will ever be able to deliver as a medium.

Orson Welles film Citizen Kane is significant to the medium of film in that it was one of the first movies to combine many different styles of film making, new and old artistic techniques and combine them to create something new. The greatness lay not in the originality of film making technique, but in the combination of tried and true techniques to create something original. So what would make the Citizen Kane of video games? Does combining tried and true game design techniques in a different and new ways make it happen? One thing Citizen Kane had going for it was the vision of the individual behind it, Orson Welles was a true film auteur. There are game designer auteurs, Will Wright, Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima to name a few jump to mind. Gaming's Citizen Kane will only get made if a personality like Welles; with a mastery of many different styles of game design and the knowledge and drive to combine them effectively, exists in the game industry. Maybe the Welles of the game industry does exist, if they do then we're on the right track.

But maybe we've already seen the Citizen Kane of games... There are of course classic games and iconic game characters that most people are familiar with: Mario, Pac-Man, Pong, Tetris, Donkey Kong, etc., are all easily recognizable to even the most anti-video game person. It should be noted that all of these game franchises and characters are from what we would call the early days of the game medium. Games like Super Mario and Donkey Kong epitomize the pure play element of video games that so many people know and love. Simple, Straight Forward and Accessible. These are the elements that have garnered franchises like Super Mario the lasting appeal and recognition they rightly deserve. As game-play mechanics became more complex however, public awareness of video game franchises and characters dropped off. You would be hard pressed to find a video game franchise or character that was released in the past decade with the same brand recognition as a classic game like Super Mario. My Grandmother could tell you who Super Mario is, but I think she would have a bit of difficulty telling you the life story of Solid Snake. Admittedly, brand recognition amongst average people does not mean that a game is artistically significant in the way something like Citizen Kane was to the medium of film, but awareness certainly does not hurt.

The video game medium now has the ability to present compelling story lines and ever improving game mechanics, and at the same time reach an ever broader audience thanks to new technological capabilities. New capabilities like WiFi gaming with Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP and internet gaming thanks to XBox Live and the ever present PC gaming. As well new intuitive control systems like Nintendo's WiiMote and Sony's PS3 Sixaxis controller to a lesser degree are opening up video games to people who would have never previously picked up a controller. So in theory the potential exists, the big one lauded by Colbourne could be on the horizon.

The broader artistic expectations of cultural critics may need to be shifted for the medium of games. Amer Ajami is a producer at Electronic Arts and a former editor at Gamespot.com, I spoke to him recently about where he thought the medium was headed. "At what point do games stop becoming games and start becoming glorified, pseudo-interactive movies strung together by half-baked game-play?", Amer asked me at the start of our conversation. In recent years games have aimed high when it comes to visual presentation and storytelling. Many games have incredibly complex and compelling stories that enthral the viewer, but fall flat when it comes to the actual game-play elements. The intended player is relegated to a passive viewing role. When I asked Amer how he thought this problem could be solved he responded that "It is incredibly difficult to tell a linear and compelling story in an interactive and open-ended medium.". A few games in recent years have come close to bridging the gap between solid storytelling and excellent game-play. The Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid and Max Payne series have arguably succeeded to a certain degree. However, with all these games the player will always finds themselves watching a cut-scene instead of playing the actual game, sometimes for nearly fifteen minutes at a time. The open-ended, role-playing nature of most video games clearly make it more difficult for meaningful storytelling to take place, but the aforementioned games have proved that it is at least within the realm of possibility.

We have not yet seen the Citizen Kane of video games, but I believe that when it arrives it will be the game that successfully bridges the gap between what Ajami calls "pseudo-interactive movies" and the pure unadulterated play of an older game like Super Mario. Some games have come close, some games of have tried hard and completely failed to achieve anything meaningful. Others have consciously relegated themselves to the domain of pure play. Little or no story, basic game mechanics that work may have lasting appeal... But video games have the potential to be so much more than that. The "If it ain't broke don't fix it" model has been the standard practise in the video games industry for too long. Playing it safe and sticking to what worked in the past is no excuse for games to stagnate as a medium. Progress is on the way, the trail has been blazed, the potential is there; Now the video game industry just needs its Orson Welles.

Big thanks to Amer Ajami for his insight on the subject.

It's Been A While...

RoninKengo — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:35:36 -0500

How many times now have I taken an unplanned hiatus from this site, only to come back weeks or sometimes months later to say "Hey I'm still here, it's been a while since I last updated."? The answer is too often.

Well I'm here again. I've been meaning to update this bad boy for ages, but never got around to it.

I've been busy with a new year of school, a new job and even a new home. Much has happened... a lot of it beyond my control, and that's part of the reason it's been so long since an update.

Excuses aside, it all boils down to laziness. I want to update this site more often... But doing a weekly cull of the internet for all things interesting and amusing is tough and time consuming. I shall endeavour to update ye olde blog more often.

Also, why does the spell checker on every blog site not recognize the word BLOG as a valid word?!

And now a famous man, a singing man and a foreign man falling off of respective stages.

Facebook's "Privacy Trainwreck"

RoninKengo — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 17:13:39 -0400

If you're like me and about 50 million other people then you're probably on some kind of social networking site. There are too many to name, but the big ones are Myspace, Facebook and Friendster. Oh I'm on Myspace, who isn't? But I'm also on Facebook... basically Myspace for university and college students.

Facebook recently added a feature called News Feed... which basically shows you everything and anything your friends do on Facebook... comment, post pictures, update status, join or leave groups... it's a little much. While I can appreciate some elements of this, I don't need to, nor do I want to know everything my "friends" on Facebook are doing, and nor do I want them to know everything I'm doing. The largest group on Facebook popped up over night with more than 400,000 members protesting the new feature.

Blogger Danah Boyd wrote a very interesting essay about Facebook's new and reviled News Feed feature.

In the tech world, we have a bad tendency to view the concept of "private" as a single bit that is either 0 or 1. Either it's exposed or not. When companies make a decision to make data visible in a more "efficient" manner, there is often a panic. And the term "privacy" is often invoked. Think back to when Deja made Usenet searchable. The term is also invoked when companies provide new information to you based on the data you had previously given it. Think back to the shock over Gmail's content-based ad delivery. Neither of these are about privacy in the bit sense but they ARE about privacy in a different sense.

Privacy is not simply about the state of an inanimate object or set of bytes; it is about the sense of vulnerability that an individual experiences. When people feel exposed or invaded, there's a privacy issue.

What happened with Facebook was not about a change in the bit state - it was about people feeling icky. It made people felt icky for different reasons - some felt it for the exposure while others felt it for the invasion.

Read the rest of the article on Danah's Blog

Found via Boing Boing

As for me the Film Festival has been pretty boring so far... Still haven't seen a single movie. Stupid work schedule and rush lines have not been kind to me. Hopefully things will pick up.

In the mean time, keep watching the skiis.

I mean skies.

- Will

Film Festival Preview

RoninKengo — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:48:21 -0400

The 2006 Toronto International Film Festival is go!

I picked up my movie tickets today, should be a decent next few weeks. The movies, the parties, mingling with celebrities and reviewers, the lineups... yes it's going to be another fun year.

Time for a rundown of the movies that I plan on seeing.

Black Book

Director Paul Verhoeven marks his return to his native Netherlands with Zwartboek(Black Book) a World War II thriller about the Dutch Resistance during the German occupation. The man who brought us such classics as Total Recall, Robocop, Basic Instinct and Showgirls is back in old form with this World War II movie. His critically acclaimed Soldier of Orange, which I have yet to see proves he has a good handle on the subject matter and the buzz is good around this movie.
Hitting up the Gala screening, so I'm looking forward to seeing Verhoeven speak and seeing the crazily hot Carice van Houten in person.

Volver

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is at it again. I'll be the first to admit that I'm seeing this movie just because of the director... I actually know very little about it. But hey that's what Film Festivals are for... It's fun going into a movie with no idea what to expect. I've seen enough of Almodóvar's work to know that Volver is probably going to be an above average movie, and having Penelope Cruz in it certainly doesn't hurt either.

The Host

For me the Film Festival is never complete without Midnight Madness. The awesome movies featured are usually of the horror, sci-fi, fantasy, martial arts or monster genre: The Host is of the monster genre. The South Korean film broke all box office records over there.. and honestly how can you go wrong with a giant monster that eats people? Seriously?!

Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Sacha Baron Cohen's crazy Kazakhstani reporter from the amazing "Ali G Show" gets his own movie! Mixing actual footage of Cohen in the character of Borat, accosting people all over the United States with his crazy faux-Kazakhstani investigative reporting with a brilliant social satire this movie should be a lot of fun. Especially if it's as crude and hilarious as everyone is saying.

Severance

What is sure to be another great Midnight Madness flick, Severance is an English film touted as "The Office' meets Deliverance". A company retreat in rural Hungary goes bad really fast when a group of mysterious attackers begins killing the group. Good reviews and that description sold me.

Sheitan

I'll admit I'm pretty pensive about seeing this French movie. The last French-language film I saw at Midnight Madness was Calvaire... a delightful romp in rural Belgium.... this movie sounds the same except it's set in France, with teenagers... and Satan. Satan instead of inbred country folk. Well I know it's going to be interesting to say the least.

The Fountain

Darren Aronofsky's anticipated follow-up to Requiem for a Dream is The Fountain. Weaving three stories about the search for eternal life or at least life it stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Jackman plays a 16th Century Conquistador, a Present Day Cancer Researcher and a 26th Century Astronaut... all seemingly searching for the same thing: The Fountain. Sounds interesting, no?

Renaissance

This slick looking French sci-fi movie looks amazing. Set in a dystopian Paris of the future the films creators used rotoscoping(animating over live action footage, similar to A Scanner Darkly) to give it the noir look. Many nods to Blade Runner and Fritz Lang's Metropolis are evident. I don't know much of the plot, but I'll go see it based on the visuals alone.

Those are my must see films. I know I'll be seeing more though, most likely including Macbeth, Shortbus, Pan's Labyrinth, All the King's Men and maybe Babel. We'll see.

If you've never done the film festival before, I highly recommend it. Just because you don't have tickets doesn't mean you can't go see movies... there are always Rush lines before screenings. Just take a look at the schedule and take a chance on a movie, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. Or you can bug me for a free pass.

Ready to Roll.

- Will

The New Hotness

RoninKengo — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:04:56 -0400

Well I finally figured out what to do with my blog.

And now here I am on Blogware, thanks to one Joey "Accordion Guy" deVilla. Thank you sir. I shall repay your kindness in beer.

As you can see this page is still a work in progress, but Blogware will provide me with the freedom that Blogger never afforded me.

Stay Tuned!

- Will

That Funny Little Thing Called Vox and My Future on Blogger

RoninKengo — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 02:32:00 -0400

That Funny Little Thing Called Vox and My Future on Blogger

You have too much respect upon the world:
They lose it that do buy it with much care.

I've been having a number of problems with Blogger.com over the past while. That is why I've decided that I will be moving my blog to another blog service. Maybe Typepad. Maybe WordPress. Or maybe Blogware. We'll see what happens...

In the mean time I've been playing around with a new site called Vox.

Vox combines Blogger, Myspace, Flickr and Youtube all into one media friendly package. It's very cool. I was lucky enough to be invited during the beta phase, so for now it's invite only.

But watch out! It's the next big thing.

Check out my Vox Site.

I made a list of my Top 10 Favourite Movie Scenes (That I could find on Youtube)

Enjoy!

- Will

I Am Not Afraid

RoninKengo — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:52:00 -0400

I Am Not Afraid

The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth
And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change.

I really have been meaning to update the site, but life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes.

I just finished up a production of As You Like It in the park and I've started a job at an office downtown for the summer. I would love to blog from work, but I'm sure my boss would not appreciate that. And yet here I am, sitting in my cubicle(Holy crap I've got a cubicle!) writing this... On my blog. Oh crap, here comes the CEO. *minimizes window and looks busy*

*Phew* That was a close one. Anyways, on to the reason I am writing this post.

In lieu of the recent RCMP and CSIS operation that apprehended 17 men accused of plotting to bomb targets in the Toronto area and allegedly wanting to storm Parliament Hill, there has naturally been a lot of discussion on the internet. People of all political stripes in Canada have been weighing in, with the general response being one of shock, fear and anger. We weren't attacked, but the recent arrests show that we very well could have been. We were lucky we weren't attacked, but now the bubble of complacence has been burst and in its place we see fear and confusion.

We should not be afraid. We should not be afraid because it is the very reaction terrorism is designed to elicit. Rather than acting rashly and reacting out of fear or bigotry, Canadians need to carefully examine the reasons why something like this could happen. At a time like this Canadians need to come together and show the world that this kind of thing will not shake us from our daily lives.

Pundit, punk rocker and blogger Warren Kinsella is spearheading a campaign to do just this. He and several others have started a website http://www.iamnotafraid.ca/ for people to post their artistic/photographic/poetic responses/ reactions to this troubling event. The website will also help to organize a rally at a Blue Jays game, designed to raise people's collective voices on the subject and show everyone that we are not afraid.

I think it's a great idea, and exactly the kind of thing Canadians need to see and be a part of right now. Here's more info from an article in the Toronto Sun.

NO-FEAR PARTY PLANNED

BY VIVIAN SONG

High-profile party planners have mobilized once again during a tense, crisis-filled moment for the city, announcing plans to host a party at the Rogers Centre and send a message to would-be terrorists.

The "I am not afraid" campaign is meant to be "positive and populist," says Warren Kinsella, former Liberal strategist and aide to ex-Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Kinsella is the mastermind of the campaign, but has also secured the support of Liberal ex-MP Dennis Mills and Senator Jerry Grafstein -- famous for bringing in the Rolling Stones to headline SARSstock three years ago. The party drew more than 450,000 people to Toronto at a time when the city was reeling from the economic fallout of the respiratory disease.

The trio is hoping to rally residents -- "no politicians, just regular folks" -- at a Blue Jays game in the next couple of weeks and reclaim spaces the alleged terrorists targeted, "where we would make some noise and raise our collective voices." Kinsella says he was inspired by the residents of London who stood up in defiance of the terrorists who bombed their subway system last summer, killing 52 people.

For more info check out I Am Not Afraid.ca and Warren Kinsella's website.

Cam from The Other Sixth Estate has started http://i-am-not-afraid.blogspot.com/

Back to regular posting very soon... hopefully.

- Will

Hell's Corner and Rings!

RoninKengo — Mon, 15 May 2006 05:47:00 -0400

Hell's Corner and Rings!

By most mechanical and dirty hand:
Rouse up revenge from ebon den with fell
Alecto's snake,
For Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought but truth.

Went to a great show at Second City last week, featuring an acquaintance of mine the one and only Nug. The show, Rings! is the story of three guys trying to adapt The Lord of the Rings into a one hour comedy show. If you enjoy Lord of the Rings in any form or are a geek, I know for a fact you'll love this show. Plus they let you drink during the show! Win-Win!

Here are the details from Nug himself:

That's right, RINGS!: A FELLOWSHIP OF FOOLS has only three shows left.

TONIGHT @ 11 pm
FRIDAY MAY 26 @ 11 PM
MONDAY MAY 29 @ 8 PM

Only three more chance to see the show NOW Magazine called, "a joy to watch"! If you haven't seen it, now's your chance. After these three shows, it goes away forever... unless there's a sequel.

Don't forget, Monday's show features an improv set FOR FREE!!

Second City Toronto
51 Mercer St.
Tix available at the box office
or call 416-343-0011

Check it out if you can, I highly recommend it.

Now for some random stuff...

What If Al Gore Was President of the United States...?

Oh Saturday Night Live, you never cease to be sporadically hilarious. Gone are the days of Murray and Belushi, Sandler and Farley, Piscopo and Murphy, Ferrell and Meadows... Yes SNL's glory days are behind her, but every once and a while they get it right again. They opened last weeks show with an announcement from the President of the United States... Al Gore. Very funny.

Check out the video at Crooks and Liars.

Dancers Doing The Charleston To B-Boy Music

This video shows a pair of extraordinary gifted swing dancers from some black-and-white TV show set to modern hip-hop with a lot of eerily serendipitous synch-ups between the music and the video. The dancing is nothing short of amazing and set to the contemporary music, it's even nicer. (From BoingBoing.net)

I've got some more embedded videos coming your way!

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

An awesome mashup trailer of the Charlton Heston "classic" The Ten Commandments. Essentially making the film look like a stock 1980's Teen Comedy. If only the real film were like this... And not the over-blown, over-rated ridiculous spectacle it is.

Gold.

Who Shot First Bookends

If I were to ever buy a pair of bookends(DVD-ends?) I would most certainly buy these. So nerdy, yet so cool. Pre-order your own Mos Eisley Cantina Bookends here. Oh geekdom, you never cease to amaze me.

Doings a Transpirin'

And I'm spent, just a few things to note blogwise. I've changed the layout of the site slightly... This is a precursor to a total site redesign hopefully by the end of the summer. My site is approaching its third anniversary, and although I didn't celebrate the second, I will most certainly be doing something special in a few months to mark the occasion.

I'm An Internet Meme

In other news I was the victim/benefactor of an internet meme on a site that I am a member of. It got a little out of control, but was all in good fun for the most part.
Check out some of the pictures on My Flickr Page.
Pretty ridiculous.

Arrivederci

- Will

Poseidon and What Not To Do While Drinking

RoninKengo — Fri, 12 May 2006 01:14:00 -0400

Poseidon and What Not To Do While Drinking

When daffodils begin to peer,
With heigh! the doxy over the dale,
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.

REVIEW
Poseidon
6.5/10 STARS

Wow that was a big explosion! Hey what are your names again?

What is it with Wolfgang Petersen and water? The director has given us such ocean-based movies as Das Boot and The Perfect Storm. Now Petersen caps off his soaking-wet trilogy with Poseidon. Poseidon is a big budget remake of the 1972 Irwin Allen disaster flick The Poseidon Adventure. The story is simple. A massive cruise ship capsizes after being hit by a rogue wave and a rag-tag group of survivors must fight to escape from the overturned ship. Like all good disaster movies, Poseidon sticks to the genre conventions - cookie cutter characters, panicky idiots, little or no plot development and as much action as possible. Poseidon certainly doesn't let down in the action department, but it's hard to care about characters you hardly know.

Poseidon will most likely be a breakthrough role for Josh Lucas. Lucas plays a professional gambler traveling on the cruise ship Poseidon, trying to hustle rich people out of their money through high stakes poker. That's all you really know about the character, and then the wave hits. It's not much, but Lucas gives a good performance, the first of many for him, I'm sure. Poseidon is also a second wind of sorts for Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss. Both actors have not starred in Hollywood blockbusters for several decades. They both do well with what they're given. Kurt Russell plays the heroic former firefighter and leader of the survivors. Richard Dreyfuss plays a suicidal man who finds a reason to live in helping the other survivors escape. Again, that is about as much character information as you get from the movie. Lastly, I would be loath to forget the lovely Emmy Rossum, who plays Kurt Russell's daughter in the film. She played Jake Gyllenhaal's love interest in The Day After Tomorrow, so she's no stranger to the disaster movie genre. I'd be lying if I said her cleavage in the film didn't provide a pleasant distraction from all the death and drowning.

The effects and action sequences are top notch. (I would expect no less from a movie budgeted at a rumoured $140 million dollars!) When the rogue wave capsizes the ship, it has to be one of the more impressive effects sequences ever put on film. There is really nothing to complain about in respect to the action - it's the character development that falls flat in Poseidon. If you don't know anything about a character beyond the obvious, you're not likely to care when they meet their untimely demise. Main characters drop like flies in Poseidon, and I found myself unmoved by their always gruesome fates. That being said, you're not going to see Poseidon for deep plot and character development - you're there to see a cruise ship capsize and the survivors deal with the aftermath.

If you enjoyed such original Irwin Allen disaster movies as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno then you'll love Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon. If you also enjoy destruction and mayhem on a cruise ship wide scale, you'll like what this movie has to offer. Petersen puts his band of survivors through hell, and it's all for your entertainment. Poseidon is most definitely an entertaining movie. Just don't expect subtle character development and an exacting plot - just a lot of water and explosions.

Moving on....

Original Unmolested Star Wars Trilogy on DVD

Star Wars purists rejoice, the Star Wars you remember from your childhood is coming to DVD. So sayeth Lucasfilm! Free of that revisionist film historian we all know as George Lucas. No more silly dance number in Jabba's palace, the return of the Nub Nub song, and Greedo getting his ass blown away FIRST by Han Solo.

Personally, I don't mind the Special Editions. I would be happy with them if they just fixed the Greedo shooting first bit. I can't have it both ways it seems. It's either the Original or Special Edition... No hybrid edition.

However, maybe some of those hybrid editions will be coming our way according to Wired News' Lore Sjoberg.

From the The Anyone-Shoots-First Edition to The All-Wampa Edition, yes we can only hope that Lucasfilm will release these versions as well.

Wired News Article.

And on the topic of Star Wars

Make sure you see this hilarious parody from the Cartoon Network show Robot Chicken.

Darth Vader phones the Emperor after the rebels destroy the Death Star. Featuring the voice talents of Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane. Genius.

So good.

Mario: Brooklyn Plumber or Marxist Revolutionary?

In an unprecedented investigative report, one man examines the hidden links between everyone's favourite obese, Italian-American plumber with a penchant for magic mushrooms and Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries bent on world domination. An interesting and disturbing read indeed.

To anyone raised in the 80�s, few names have such impact as the Super Mario Brothers do. We played their video games, watched their cartoon show, read their newsletter, bought their merchandise, ate their breakfast cereal, and even watched the piece of shit movie "The Wizard" starring the young, chubby cheeked miscreant Fred Savage because Super Mario Brothers 3 made an appearance.

But aside from the slightly racist stereotyping of Mario and Luigi as food loving, NY fat bodies with ridiculous Italian accents, was there anything really insidious behind the scenes? The staff here at Murderize.com has found something more, something�sinister�lurking behind the mustached countenances of Mario and Luigi. We don't have enough evidence to prove anything, just a sparse trail of bread crumbs to follow. And this trail begins with the game that started it all, Super Mario Bros. Beware brainwashed fools, for this stunning expose will change the way you look at your favorite Nintendo hero forever. No longer the innocent Brooklyn plumbers, it now appears Mario and Luigi are nothing more than communist puppets engineered to program, oh so subtly, Marxist ideals into our impressionable minds!

Read the full article here.

Thanks to Max for the link.

Continuing on the video game theme...

It's That Time of Year Again... E3!!!

Raiden is back... And this time with less lameness!

Yes the Electronic Entertainment Expo is back! Mini-Christmas for gamers as I like to call it. All the hottest new titles and new hardware is unveiled, and gamers drool in collective awe.

I'm most excited about Metal Gear Solid 4 for the Playstation 3. But there are so many amazing games, I just don't have time to list them all.

For all your game trailer needs and latest E3 News check out The E3 Insider and Gamespot.

Go nuts boys and girls, it's Mini-Christmas.

And finally the most ridiculous thing I have read in a long time...

Supermodel Mistakes Bus Exit Door for Bathroom Door

Truly unbelievable...

Leave it to a blonde supermodel to do exactly the kind of stuff you'd expect a blonde supermodel to do. Like mistake the bathroom door for the exit door and step off a moving bus onto a freeway at 40 mph. Russian model Tatyana Simanava did exactly that on Tuesday, and ended up smashing her arm, dislocating a shoulder, and cutting her face and head.

Get the whole story plus hilarious commentary at The Superficial.

Exams are over. Time to drink away my stress!

- Will

Till That The Weary Very Means Do Ebb

RoninKengo — Wed, 03 May 2006 07:19:00 -0400

Till That The Weary Very Means Do Ebb

Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.

I'm in the middle of exams right now, and thanks to my unorthodox sleeping schedule I'm up at quarter to 5 in the morning. So I figured I would use this blog for what I usually use it for : procrastination. It certainly beats reading about Philosophy and History... Well not really... But at this point it most certainly does.

While every other university in the province is finished exams, good old U of Toronto keeps us for as long as possible. I will not be finished until May 8th!!! *Shakes fist* Oh well, one down, two to go. The year went well, and I can't wait to get working this summer.

And now for the usual stuff...

Stephen Colbert At The White House Correspondents' Dinner

If you haven't seen the videos floating around the net of Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend be sure to check them out. Stephen Colbert has balls of steel! His scathing "roast" of George W. Bush that he delivered mere feet away from the man... Looking him in the eyes on several occasions... was truly incredible. The audience at the gala sat in stunned silence and awkward laughter for nearly 30 minutes as Colbert verbally lambasted Bush and pointed out all the administration's failures and shortcomings. The truth certainly hurts, because Dubya looked very pissed.

Watch the video

Hell, I actually kind of felt bad for Bush.

One site even has a brutal frame by frame analysis of Dubya's reaction to Colbert's jabs... Painful to look at...

For all the reaction to the video check out this interesting Washington Post article.

Canadian Music Artists Take A Stand

A group of Canadian music artists have come together to form the Canadian Music Creators Coalition. The group is dedicated to reforming copyright laws, and wrestling control of their music in the face of new technologies for distribution.
It's very cool what they're trying to do.

We are a growing coalition of Canadian music creators who share the common goal of having our voices heard about the laws and policies that affect our livelihoods. We are the people who actually create Canadian music. Without us, there would be no music for copyright laws to protect.

Until now, a group of multinational record labels has done most of the talking about what Canadian artists need out of copyright. Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies, but let's be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists. Legislative proposals that would facilitate lawsuits against our fans or increase the labels control over the enjoyment of music are made not in our names, but on behalf of the labels' foreign parent companies.

See the CMCC's entire mission statement here.

And on the subject of music...

Video Games Live : Metal Gear in Concert

Tommy Tallarico, host of Electric Playground and noted video game sound and music designer has put together a series of concerts that showcase the very best of video game music. Video Games Live is a pretty cool idea, and the concerts seem right up your alley if you enjoy music from games.

What is Video Games Live?

An immersive concert event featuring music from the world's most popular video games performed by a live orchestra and choir combined with synchronized lighting, video, performers, and more!

Video Games Live will feature the best music and video clips from the most popular games from the beginning of video gaming to the present. Games include:

Mario, Zelda, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Warcraft, Myst, Final Fantasy, God of War, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, Medal of Honor, Sonic, Tron, Tomb Raider, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, EverQuest II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20+ games from Pong to Donkey Kong including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders & Outrun!

Here's a sample of Video Games Live, performing a medley from the Metal Gear Solid series of games. Very cool.

Metal Gear Solid in Concert!

Thanks to Amer for the MGS link.

And now we segue from music to games... See how I did that?

Hilarious Kung Fu Game

To promote the release of the new Family Guy and American Dad DVD's, FOX has created this surprisingly fun Flash fighting game. If you enjoy either show, you'll get definitely get a kick out of it. If you don't like either show... it probably won't float your boat. Don't say I didn't warn you.

American Dad versus Family Guy : Kung Fu

Thanks to Christie for the link.

'Cool' HTML Game

An intrepid website creator has created a game called The Wicked, it's an HTML based detective game. Clues are hidden in the code, and elsewhere... Very cool... or at least as cool as an HTML Detective game can be. Entertaining none the less.

Check out The Wicked HTML Game

Thanks to Johnny for the link.

And now a few new trailers to close it out.

Superman Returns Trailer

The full length trailer for this summers Superman Returns came out yesterday. The Bryan Singer directed movie cost a reported $180 million dollars to make. Hopefully, it will do well and recoup that cost... which I'm sure it will. I'm just eager to see Kevin Spacey ham it up as Lex Luthor. Also the action should be spectacular thanks to the leaps made in special effects since the original movies. Plus Marlon Brando will be back as Jor El... Can't go wrong with Brando!

Go check it out. Superman Returns Trailer

Casino Royale Teaser

Casino Royale is the much anticipated new James Bond film, featuring new Bond, Daniel Craig. I must say the teaser impressed me. They seem to be going for the more hard edged, more realistic Bond from the original Ian Fleming novels. Three cheers for an unrequited bad ass James Bond!

See it here.

Now it's time for a little something I like to call sleep.

- Will

Even in the Cannon's Mouth...

RoninKengo — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 01:39:00 -0400

Even in the Cannon's Mouth...

There is, sure, another flood toward, and these
couples are coming to the ark. Here comes a pair of
very strange beasts, which in all tongues are called fools.

Star Trek First Contact : Re-Enactment

The line must be drawn HEERE!

Good old YouTube.com. It gives people the opportunity to post anything they want. Some people use this for good, others for things that aren't so good. This is one of the good things. This one dude, Brandon Hardesty, re-enacts famous movie scenes and posts the results on YouTube.

The guy is a pretty good actor, and the scenes are dead on! My favourites being of course his re-enactment from Star Trek : First Contact and the Christopher Walken Scene from Pulp Fiction. Hilarious stuff. His Christopher Walken impression is awesome.

Check out the rest of his movie re-enactments here.

And now for one useful and one useless Top 10 List!

Top 10 Creatively Decorated Nerdy Cakes

Nothing says Happy Birthday to the nerd in your life quite like a nerdy cake. From the pictured Playstation 2 cake, to Lord of the Rings and Star Wars themed cakes, you'll find the the creme-de-la-creme of geeky cakes in this Top 10 List.

Top 10 Windows XP Tips Of All Time

The good folks at Yahoo News have created a list of 10 incredibly useful tips for getting the most out of Microsoft's notorious Windows XP. As an XP user myself, I tried a few of these tips and found them quite effective at improving system performance, startup time, and freeing up disk space. I highly recommend you try some of these if you use Windows XP. Now it's time for me to get sued for having an unauthorized copyrighted Microsoft image on my site. Check out the tips here.

Shakespearean Insulter

Nobody writes a particularly biting insult quite like The Bard. William Shakespeare had a way with words, and a talent for writing especially witty insults. Well it seems that someone has taken the best of The Bard's insults, and inputted them into an Insult Generator of sorts. Now you too can insult your friends in true Elizabethan fashion!

You are a shallow cowardly hind, and you lie!

OH, BURN!

Insult away, here.

Fuckin' Taxes!

Tax time is here! This year I'm filing my taxes out for the first time. Of course being technologically inclined I wanted to file them online. The university offers free access to Ufile.ca for all its students. Which is quite convenient and easy to use. However, when I went to submit the taxes to Revenue Canada's online Netfile service, I was told that I could not file via the internet. The reason? Because it was my first time filing my taxes. Revenue Canada wants people to do it the old fashioned way; by mail, for their first time filing.

Now I'm not a fancy lawyer type... *Grabs Non-existent Suspenders* ... But it seems to me that the government should let young people doing their taxes for the first time submit online. Personally, I found the fact that you could file taxes online very appealing. I, being a technologically inclined youth like many of my peers, would be more inclined to file my taxes online as a matter of convenience. I just wish both options were available to me. Should I call my member of Parliament about this? Maybe I should, so my brother or someone else I know doesn't have to go through the same hassle.

Not that I should be complaining, it turns out I get a $250 tax rebate. I'll take it!

And now for an exercise in cliche...

Night Rider

Bloor and Spadina. A cool spring morning previews the beautiful day that is to come. The Blue Night Special barrels down the street towards me. The bus can't pull-over thanks to a careless cabbie parked right in front of me.

I hop on the bus, but there are no seats to be found. It's been a long night, a fact echoed by the morning commuters filling my potential seats. Blue collar people on the Blue Night Special. I'm a slightly buzzed and tired student, going home to bed. These people are just starting their work day.

The Blue Night Special...
It's clearly morning.
The bus lied.

Bay. Bloor. Sherbourne. Castle Frank.

A man with a leather jacket gets on the bus, a mail carrier gets off. I found a seat. I should be lying down not sitting... Beats standing.

The man with the leather jacket is standing next to me now. He isn't wearing pants. A full length denim skirt is where his pants should be. I've never seen a man in a denim skirt. Freaks. They only come out at night... But wait, it's morning.

Broadview. Chester. Pape. Donlands.

A Muslim gets off the bus. Off to morning prayer at the local mosque. I liked his headcap. He was wearing a long shirt that went past his knees. He pulled it off. The man with a leather jacket and jean skirt could learn a thing or two from this gentleman.

Greenwood. Coxwell. Woodbine. Main.

"Thank you sir.", I mutter to the driver as I leave the bus.

Home stretch. Just a few blocks left to walk.

The cool morning breeze keeps me from falling asleep as I walk. Train tracks, no trains. Just a bridge to go over them. Rising dawn to my left, still dark downtown to my right. A perfect half-moon hangs over the rooftops to the south, shrouded by a morning mist.

Top of the bridge, all downhill from here.
The birds are singing. I remember birds, been a while boys and girls, welcome back.

Last scene of all that ends this strange, uneventful journey is just one of those moments.
Everything is quiet.
Everything is calm.
Everything is alright...

Never better.

And that is all she wrote... Or in my case he.

Now it's back to studying for exams. Good night, and good luck.

And remember May 5th is No Pants Day.

cheers,

- Will