So far this weekend it's been pretty easy going. Tonight (Saturday) I took Jennie to the Snake Creek Grill for our promised Christmas Dinner. I had the Fillet and she had the Mahi Mahi. We always have a great dinner there. A wonderful place to eat. Last night (Friday) we thought it would be a good idea to get the kids up so that they could take a turn taking the puppies out in the middle of the night for pee and poo time. Ame and Asher took a turn. We got up with them, but helped them, but it was a good experience for them. Churchill had explosive diarrhea, and we had to take him to the vet this morning, where they checked him for Parvo but he was fine, just had a stomach thing. Asher baked a Chocolate Pie tonight, and he and I moved furniture this week and weekend, rearranging the basement. Tonight we played Little Big Planet till 12:30. Pretty fun game. I need to tell Ben about it. Recalls the old days of playing Donkey Kong. I'm not one for games, but this is a cool little creative thing. Churchill seems to be doing better tonight. I have some good pictures to share with you but not tonight. I'm too tired. We were going to go to dinner with Jennie's Mom today and play Dominion, but Peggy wasn't feeling well so we stayed here. It was a nice evening. Oh, we watched Battlestar Galactica episodes today during the day, I took the kids to Sundance to get fitted for their ski school and the kids went skiing today for their first ski school of the year. My Dad called asking if I had the knives Rick gave us for Christmas. The kids had a great time skiing, and Riley trying Snow Boarding this year for the first time. Last night Jennie and I went out to eat but decided not to eat out, went to Smith's and got Frozen California Pizza Kitchen stuff. Jennie is liking Battlestar Galactica, which as she says, surprises her. I'm still reading Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. Hard to believe I never read this yet! It's good. Well, this was a bit of a scattershot post, wasn't it? Probably because it's late, I'm tired, and so forth and so on. All that jazz. Love to all, be in the moment, be peaceful, be in the flow, and let goodness reign upon you. Give it as well. Great Political talk tonight with Jennie. Ame at Natalie's for the night, and Riley at Conner's. Just me, Jennie and Asher, and she fell asleep early. Whew! Sunday we get to sleep in! Asher and I just took the puppies out to bathroom, and he came in saying: "Boo is getting smarter. She is learning, the quicker she pees and poos, the quicker she comes back into the warmth.
Jason
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Day the Earth Stood Still Movie Review
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)*
By Jason F. Smith
January 6th, 2009
In 1951 Director Robert Wise made a movie based on a story by Harry Bates with a screenplay by Edmund H. North. It gets about 8 out 10 stars on an average of reviews. In 2008, Director Scott Derrickson with writer David Scarpa revised the movie with some nifty special effects, which gets a 6 out of 10 rating by current viewers. I give it 1 star out of four.
I've never seen the first movie, but I know the genre it comes from. It's a 'space aliens invade the earth' movie. As I sat in the theater watching the first half of the current movie, with my two sons, Asher age 14, Riley age 12, it occurred to me over and over again that this was a classic and basic form of Science Fiction. We have evidence of it everywhere. From the 1996's Independence Day, to HG Wells The War of the Worlds, to Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. There is Arthur C. Clarke's take on it, not once, but three times at least: 2001, Rendezvous with Rama, and Childhood's End.
The basic premise is that our peaceful normal existence here on earth is interrupted by invading Aliens. In his forward to his shorts story 1408, Stephen King mentions that every horror writer has to tell a tale of a haunted house. It's just a basic requirement. And for him, what is more scary than a haunted hotel? Well I think a basic requirement of all Science Fiction writers is to tell a Aliens Invade Earth story. Coincidently enough, Stephen King has one of those too, in the book Dreamcatcher, which was subsequently made into the movie of the same name.
There are twists on the theme, from how the aliens act, whether they are good or bad, etc, etc, etc. As I was watching this movie my head was spinning with ideas of my OWN alien invasion story. What kind of twists on the subject can I come up with?
But that's beside the point. The point is that this is a classic alien invasion story, and I loved it. There was this mysterious ship that showed up. You had your scientists investigating it, and being all logical. You had your government trying to kill it, of course. It was fascinating stuff, a great mystery. Who were the aliens? What did they want? Could we stop them? Would they be friendly? Or would the eat us for dinner? This was a great movie. Right up until the point where Keanu Reeves (playing the Alien Klaatu) reveals why he's come to destroy the earth. Why? Because Humans are bad.
Yep. Were bad. Were simply bad people. There are only a few planets in the entire universe that can support life, and we are destroying ours. It doesn't explain HOW we are destroying earth. It's just that we are doing it. Of course.
And that kind of liberal left wing 'people are bad' and we are 'destroying the earth' kind of propaganda just makes me shake my head. Klaatu explains that in order to save the planet, he must MURDER ever single human being. Every woman... ever man... every child. FLAT OUT MURDER THEM ALL. Why? Because humans are bad. They are destroying the earth.
This guy comes off as the good guy trying to save the planet, when in fact he's an evil SOB. And he's decided the earth is doomed, unless he destroys it. So he sets in motion the swarm of robots to destroy the earth . And it begins to do so. But, along the way, he meets a woman and her son and sees that she... loves... her son. This love... makes him realize, hey, maybe humans aren't that bad.
The worst part of the movie is the INSIPID way the humans, the woman, and a scientist played by John Cleese keep saying: "Please, we'll CHANGE!" The way they whine the word CHANGE over and over again. "Give us a chance... we'll CHANGE!"
The movie would have been better had Klaatu simply been an evil bastard who wasn't buying any of that change crap, and was here just to eat baby children. That's what makes a good science fiction alien movie. Sure you can make your bad guys the good guys (Childhood's End) or you can make them misunderstood (The Buggers in Ender's Game), but more satisfying is a good old evil alien who wants to suck the marrow out of your bones.
In the end however, our Klaatu decides that the humans are worth saving. Evil, unrepentant, horrible creatures that they are, there is worth in them, and maybe... just maybe... they will change. However, in order to INSURE they will change... he fixes a price tag to his saving them. Just a little 'price to pay'.
All electrical functions on the planet cease. All electricity. All cars. Boats. Planes? Though it doesn't show it, they all fall out of the sky. But it's okay, it's WORTH IT. We will survive and CHANGE.
The movie ends as if humanity has been saved. Never mind that the 100% cessation of all electricity on this planet would cause immediate and full riots, starvations, war, genocide, and such a wave of suffering as has never been seen on the planet. All learning and advanced culture would cease to exist. We'd go back to being... animalistic hunters and gatherers.
And that is what makes this movie so terribly BAD. The makers are telling us that humans are evil, and all they are good for, all they really should strive for, is to destroy our culture and our science and our learning, and get back to the forest, with our bows and arrows and our furs and a cabins. This kind of thinking disturbs me to no end. Always these liberals portray humans as evil nasty need to be exterminated bastards. Never do they celebrate the goodness of humanity, the love, the charity, the beauty we have created and the achievements we have reached. It's a metaphor for how modern liberalism looks at America, as somehow bad, hurting the environment, hurting the world through our prosperity.
I just don't buy it. And I just can't recommend this movie. At least the 2nd half of it. The first half was great aliens invade the earth fun!
www.disasternecessities.com
www.dogstargames.com
By Jason F. Smith
January 6th, 2009
In 1951 Director Robert Wise made a movie based on a story by Harry Bates with a screenplay by Edmund H. North. It gets about 8 out 10 stars on an average of reviews. In 2008, Director Scott Derrickson with writer David Scarpa revised the movie with some nifty special effects, which gets a 6 out of 10 rating by current viewers. I give it 1 star out of four.
I've never seen the first movie, but I know the genre it comes from. It's a 'space aliens invade the earth' movie. As I sat in the theater watching the first half of the current movie, with my two sons, Asher age 14, Riley age 12, it occurred to me over and over again that this was a classic and basic form of Science Fiction. We have evidence of it everywhere. From the 1996's Independence Day, to HG Wells The War of the Worlds, to Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. There is Arthur C. Clarke's take on it, not once, but three times at least: 2001, Rendezvous with Rama, and Childhood's End.
The basic premise is that our peaceful normal existence here on earth is interrupted by invading Aliens. In his forward to his shorts story 1408, Stephen King mentions that every horror writer has to tell a tale of a haunted house. It's just a basic requirement. And for him, what is more scary than a haunted hotel? Well I think a basic requirement of all Science Fiction writers is to tell a Aliens Invade Earth story. Coincidently enough, Stephen King has one of those too, in the book Dreamcatcher, which was subsequently made into the movie of the same name.
There are twists on the theme, from how the aliens act, whether they are good or bad, etc, etc, etc. As I was watching this movie my head was spinning with ideas of my OWN alien invasion story. What kind of twists on the subject can I come up with?
But that's beside the point. The point is that this is a classic alien invasion story, and I loved it. There was this mysterious ship that showed up. You had your scientists investigating it, and being all logical. You had your government trying to kill it, of course. It was fascinating stuff, a great mystery. Who were the aliens? What did they want? Could we stop them? Would they be friendly? Or would the eat us for dinner? This was a great movie. Right up until the point where Keanu Reeves (playing the Alien Klaatu) reveals why he's come to destroy the earth. Why? Because Humans are bad.
Yep. Were bad. Were simply bad people. There are only a few planets in the entire universe that can support life, and we are destroying ours. It doesn't explain HOW we are destroying earth. It's just that we are doing it. Of course.
And that kind of liberal left wing 'people are bad' and we are 'destroying the earth' kind of propaganda just makes me shake my head. Klaatu explains that in order to save the planet, he must MURDER ever single human being. Every woman... ever man... every child. FLAT OUT MURDER THEM ALL. Why? Because humans are bad. They are destroying the earth.
This guy comes off as the good guy trying to save the planet, when in fact he's an evil SOB. And he's decided the earth is doomed, unless he destroys it. So he sets in motion the swarm of robots to destroy the earth . And it begins to do so. But, along the way, he meets a woman and her son and sees that she... loves... her son. This love... makes him realize, hey, maybe humans aren't that bad.
The worst part of the movie is the INSIPID way the humans, the woman, and a scientist played by John Cleese keep saying: "Please, we'll CHANGE!" The way they whine the word CHANGE over and over again. "Give us a chance... we'll CHANGE!"
The movie would have been better had Klaatu simply been an evil bastard who wasn't buying any of that change crap, and was here just to eat baby children. That's what makes a good science fiction alien movie. Sure you can make your bad guys the good guys (Childhood's End) or you can make them misunderstood (The Buggers in Ender's Game), but more satisfying is a good old evil alien who wants to suck the marrow out of your bones.
In the end however, our Klaatu decides that the humans are worth saving. Evil, unrepentant, horrible creatures that they are, there is worth in them, and maybe... just maybe... they will change. However, in order to INSURE they will change... he fixes a price tag to his saving them. Just a little 'price to pay'.
All electrical functions on the planet cease. All electricity. All cars. Boats. Planes? Though it doesn't show it, they all fall out of the sky. But it's okay, it's WORTH IT. We will survive and CHANGE.
The movie ends as if humanity has been saved. Never mind that the 100% cessation of all electricity on this planet would cause immediate and full riots, starvations, war, genocide, and such a wave of suffering as has never been seen on the planet. All learning and advanced culture would cease to exist. We'd go back to being... animalistic hunters and gatherers.
And that is what makes this movie so terribly BAD. The makers are telling us that humans are evil, and all they are good for, all they really should strive for, is to destroy our culture and our science and our learning, and get back to the forest, with our bows and arrows and our furs and a cabins. This kind of thinking disturbs me to no end. Always these liberals portray humans as evil nasty need to be exterminated bastards. Never do they celebrate the goodness of humanity, the love, the charity, the beauty we have created and the achievements we have reached. It's a metaphor for how modern liberalism looks at America, as somehow bad, hurting the environment, hurting the world through our prosperity.
I just don't buy it. And I just can't recommend this movie. At least the 2nd half of it. The first half was great aliens invade the earth fun!
www.disasternecessities.com
www.dogstargames.com
Friday, January 2, 2009
Axis & Allies 50th Anniversary Review
Review of Axis & Allies 50th Anniversary Edition
By Rick Pennington
Remember the original Axis & Allies folks? Remember how the Allies had a huge advantage? Remember how few sea battles there were? Remember how quickly the US or Japanese could cross the Pacific? Remember how easy Japan could cross China? Remember those huge troop chip pileups in Karelia? Remember heavy bombers making the game one of Nuke The Opponent and turning the game into a slaughter?
You won't have to remember any of those things in the newest and actually highly improved version of Axis & Allies. The game's original creator, Larry Harris, has made some mild reworkings before but this is THE definitive remodeling that takes all the old problems and creates few new ones.
Played with a 1941 (pre-Barbarossa) or 1942 (pre-Midway) setup, both setups offer roughly equal chances for both sides to win. Matter of fact the hardest thing is to knock the game out of balance early on and if you wind up going 5 turns and seeing a potential stalemate, you may even wish to hand out some weapons tech from the new chart to increase the lethality of the forces on the board to hurry the game along.
Lower costs for naval units, new rules for submarines and more IPC's in circulation make for more war at sea. The Italian fleet comes in with a battleship and a pair of cruisers, so it isn't going to go away any time soon. The German fleet is a bit better than the feeble submarine and transport in the Baltic and given the turn order in both of the games as well as the extra IPC's, Germany proves quite capable of continuing a naval presence. In the Pacific look for the massive American naval buildup to take place that eventually does catch Japan but the operative word is "eventually". Until that point in the game is reached, there are plenty of play opportunities for both sides. The British have units all over the place as in the original game and they will have to fight hard to survive the onslaught of German U-boats, surface ships and aircraft just as they did in the real war during the Battle Of The Atlantic. A small force in the Indian/Pacific theater can either tempt the Japanese to do what Nagumo did in his Indian Ocean campaign or else those forces can be left alone and provide a small but signifigant help to the Allied cause in holding the line. The Red Navy has very little and does very little as in the original game but that is how history went so there is no loss here of historical accuracy or playability.
A major change to the map shows many more spaces exist in areas where the land masses suggest they should exist. Siberia really is a long ways from Moscow. Tokyo and San Francisco are widely separated. China is a large country with lots of territories to deal with and the force levels balance out so well to show how Japan was bogged down in China. You don't cross the Sahara or the Himalayas with ground units in real life and you don't do so in this game either. Advancing on the Eastern Front is a long slog, not just a matter of capture one territory and you are in front of Moscow. New costs for territories and bonuses for taking certain territories lead the war to develop along historical lines as does the initial force setup. The simplistic map of the past has been well superceded.
The victory city concept to determine a winner sounds good but I do recommend playing at 13 cities instead of 15 or all 18 in order to make the game fit into a long afternoon/evening session. It takes a LOT of work to knock out the other side and one thing I noticed was how the game flow would set itself up to deliver the equivalent of a superpower on each side, an imperiled island nation on each side, Africa as a sideshow worth pursuing and the main area of conflict that all must aim for (the Eurasian land mass) being one that is not easily defended or easily attacked. You want lots of battles and you will have them in the new Axis & Allies 50th Anniversary edition.
The new weapons tech charts offer two columns and 12 capabilities. You buy tokens and you get to keep rolling the dice for each token you have at the start of a turn until you get a 6 and the payoff. Then you pick the column you want to roll on and see which tech you get. The heavy bombers only roll 2 dice now so they are not as overpowered as before. Jet fighters attack at 4 instead of defending at 5 so they are a bit more rounded a unit at 4/4 instead of the previous 3/5. Artillery support, which allows one artillery to attack at 2 and one infantry unit to attack at 2, can be improved so one artillery can support two infantry units. Mechanized infantry allows them to keep up with the tanks. These and other bonuses all play out well and give a side a boost that gets them but they do not overpower the game or come across as wasted tech so often.
The addition of Italy as a separate power and a US-controlled China that plays out it's actions on their own front and in their own way bring the Mediterranean and Chinese theaters into the war in a rich and satisfying way. For a relatively small amount of force, these two nations do have quite the impact on how the game is going to go. A bit of help from Italy can turn the tide in Russia. A Chinese army that is hard to kill ensures the Japanese cannot ignore that front. For being the most minor powers on the board, they play a solid role in the game.
The game itself comes in the neatest possible packaging, with a container with lid for each nation that lets the game itself be laid on it's side when not being played and no pieces escape. Two more boxes contain all the rest of the pieces like factories, AA guns, chips, money, tokens and such. The board comes in 3 separate pieces so no need to worry about the fold creases breaking. The only down note is that there are not enough playing chips, so adding some from other games will be needed. The rulebook is easy to understand other than the section on submarines and the gaming boards where combat is decided and IPC/tech is accounted for do their usual good job.
With a retail price of $100 and a discount price running around $80, people may think that this version is expensive for a game. Compared to new video console games that run $60 and quickly go obsolete, this game will hold it's play value for years and be a bargain for the amount of time it is around as the latest generation product as well as for the many years the game can be enjoyed. Being a limited edition game also means there is a good chance of it going up in value, so a person could buy a pair of these and set one aside to recuperate the expense to some degree. The production values are high and you do get what you pay for in full with Axis & Allies in it's latest and greatest incarnation.
Remember the original Axis & Allies folks? Remember how the Allies had a huge advantage? Remember how few sea battles there were? Remember how quickly the US or Japanese could cross the Pacific? Remember how easy Japan could cross China? Remember those huge troop chip pileups in Karelia? Remember heavy bombers making the game one of Nuke The Opponent and turning the game into a slaughter?
You won't have to remember any of those things in the newest and actually highly improved version of Axis & Allies. The game's original creator, Larry Harris, has made some mild reworkings before but this is THE definitive remodeling that takes all the old problems and creates few new ones.
Played with a 1941 (pre-Barbarossa) or 1942 (pre-Midway) setup, both setups offer roughly equal chances for both sides to win. Matter of fact the hardest thing is to knock the game out of balance early on and if you wind up going 5 turns and seeing a potential stalemate, you may even wish to hand out some weapons tech from the new chart to increase the lethality of the forces on the board to hurry the game along.
Lower costs for naval units, new rules for submarines and more IPC's in circulation make for more war at sea. The Italian fleet comes in with a battleship and a pair of cruisers, so it isn't going to go away any time soon. The German fleet is a bit better than the feeble submarine and transport in the Baltic and given the turn order in both of the games as well as the extra IPC's, Germany proves quite capable of continuing a naval presence. In the Pacific look for the massive American naval buildup to take place that eventually does catch Japan but the operative word is "eventually". Until that point in the game is reached, there are plenty of play opportunities for both sides. The British have units all over the place as in the original game and they will have to fight hard to survive the onslaught of German U-boats, surface ships and aircraft just as they did in the real war during the Battle Of The Atlantic. A small force in the Indian/Pacific theater can either tempt the Japanese to do what Nagumo did in his Indian Ocean campaign or else those forces can be left alone and provide a small but signifigant help to the Allied cause in holding the line. The Red Navy has very little and does very little as in the original game but that is how history went so there is no loss here of historical accuracy or playability.
A major change to the map shows many more spaces exist in areas where the land masses suggest they should exist. Siberia really is a long ways from Moscow. Tokyo and San Francisco are widely separated. China is a large country with lots of territories to deal with and the force levels balance out so well to show how Japan was bogged down in China. You don't cross the Sahara or the Himalayas with ground units in real life and you don't do so in this game either. Advancing on the Eastern Front is a long slog, not just a matter of capture one territory and you are in front of Moscow. New costs for territories and bonuses for taking certain territories lead the war to develop along historical lines as does the initial force setup. The simplistic map of the past has been well superceded.
The victory city concept to determine a winner sounds good but I do recommend playing at 13 cities instead of 15 or all 18 in order to make the game fit into a long afternoon/evening session. It takes a LOT of work to knock out the other side and one thing I noticed was how the game flow would set itself up to deliver the equivalent of a superpower on each side, an imperiled island nation on each side, Africa as a sideshow worth pursuing and the main area of conflict that all must aim for (the Eurasian land mass) being one that is not easily defended or easily attacked. You want lots of battles and you will have them in the new Axis & Allies 50th Anniversary edition.
The new weapons tech charts offer two columns and 12 capabilities. You buy tokens and you get to keep rolling the dice for each token you have at the start of a turn until you get a 6 and the payoff. Then you pick the column you want to roll on and see which tech you get. The heavy bombers only roll 2 dice now so they are not as overpowered as before. Jet fighters attack at 4 instead of defending at 5 so they are a bit more rounded a unit at 4/4 instead of the previous 3/5. Artillery support, which allows one artillery to attack at 2 and one infantry unit to attack at 2, can be improved so one artillery can support two infantry units. Mechanized infantry allows them to keep up with the tanks. These and other bonuses all play out well and give a side a boost that gets them but they do not overpower the game or come across as wasted tech so often.
The addition of Italy as a separate power and a US-controlled China that plays out it's actions on their own front and in their own way bring the Mediterranean and Chinese theaters into the war in a rich and satisfying way. For a relatively small amount of force, these two nations do have quite the impact on how the game is going to go. A bit of help from Italy can turn the tide in Russia. A Chinese army that is hard to kill ensures the Japanese cannot ignore that front. For being the most minor powers on the board, they play a solid role in the game.
The game itself comes in the neatest possible packaging, with a container with lid for each nation that lets the game itself be laid on it's side when not being played and no pieces escape. Two more boxes contain all the rest of the pieces like factories, AA guns, chips, money, tokens and such. The board comes in 3 separate pieces so no need to worry about the fold creases breaking. The only down note is that there are not enough playing chips, so adding some from other games will be needed. The rulebook is easy to understand other than the section on submarines and the gaming boards where combat is decided and IPC/tech is accounted for do their usual good job.
With a retail price of $100 and a discount price running around $80, people may think that this version is expensive for a game. Compared to new video console games that run $60 and quickly go obsolete, this game will hold it's play value for years and be a bargain for the amount of time it is around as the latest generation product as well as for the many years the game can be enjoyed. Being a limited edition game also means there is a good chance of it going up in value, so a person could buy a pair of these and set one aside to recuperate the expense to some degree. The production values are high and you do get what you pay for in full with Axis & Allies in it's latest and greatest incarnation.
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