(NOTE: much of the sweetness of this day's comic relies on one's familiarity with Rat's character.  Just an FYI, since PBS doesn't seem to have a media-saturating level of circulation...)

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 3:13 PM MNT

Updated: Saturday, 1 December 2007 3:21 PM MNT

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Mood:  incredulous

What does one make of this? (scroll down to the 'Petition for Sainthood' section)

Interesting, if true...

Honestly: I'll never know how his holiness JPII managed to canonize more people during his tenure than EVERY OTHER POPE COMBINED, yet poor MQS still lacks any papal recognition of her sacrifice.

...Alright, yes: it'd be a political nightmare, especially now, to canonize a woman that (in the public's eye, at least) plotted to kill one of the most retroactively beloved of all English monarchs... 

The fact remains: Mary is a martyr, and whether she be a scapegoat for political schemers** or a genuine co-conspirator in said plot, the fact cannot be denied: she was executed in a time when religion and politics were one, and while her death was as much a political exercise as an act of religious persecution she was slaughtered on account of her faith, and on account of her persistence in practicing said faith.

People have been canonized for far, far, far, far, far less...

Interestingly, MQS was executed for treason despite the fact that she was not, in any way, shape, or form, a citizen and subject of the English crown. Her trial was admittedly a sham and a rush-job by certain political hacks in the Elizabethan court.

People have been canonzied for far, far, far, far, far less, indeed...

Well, without the corresponding 'Casket Letters' we'll never know how deeply she was involved in the Babington Plot (given the structure and secrecy of the overall scheme, though, I think it's ludicrous to believe that the conspirators would actually try to communicate with her at all, but the plot DID fail, so how smart were the guys, really?)

In any event, people would do well to "remember [that] the theatre of history is wider than the realm of England"

...and by a large margin, indeed. 

(** I'm reluctant to link to this article at all, given that at the moment it demonstrates a horrible Elizabethan bias (the writer seems to have taken their knowledge of history from that Cate Blanchett monstrosity rather than a textbook... oh, well, history is written by men that hang heroes, I suppose...) As my own views are biased I cannot in good conscience edit it to remedy this, but if the reader's view is neutral, and their knowledge of history astute, then by all means see to it...)

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:28 PM MNT

Updated: Saturday, 1 December 2007 1:49 PM MNT

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Mood:  caffeinated

Had a bit of an out-of-state adventure this past week, accounting for a complete dearth of updates. I'm sure everyone noticed and was extremely concerned...

right?...

*Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp*...

...ouch.

Anyway, to make up for it I'm craming the subjectmatter of a few day's worth of posts into this Friday edition (...and even an update on TYPERS, to whom it may concern)

SUBJECT TEH ONE:

"Peace" in the Valley... 

So much for that 'Religion of Peace' facade that the global Islamic community so cowers behind, eh? They want a woman dead for letting her class of MUSLIM tots name a teddy bear!

Now, the only question is this: did EVERY parent of EVERY child in that class also murder their child as soon as they came home from school? It was the kiddies' idea, after all, so they should also be brutally executed as well...

...don't put it past them.

 Now, yes: in perspective this is happening in Sudan, possibly the most vile and horrible place to live of any place on the planet (Sudan: come for the religious hatred, stay because you've died!)

...I stole that joke from The Onion... hopefully no one will notice... 

In the third world (and in most of the rest of the civilized world as well) the Muslim faith has not kept up with the rest of the planet: compared to Christianity, most (READ: MOST) branches of the Muslim faith are mired in the analogous 'Crusades' period- the most reprehensible and morally repugnant episode of the Christian faith... t'wern't our brightest hour, admittedly...

Years down the road, Muslims will regard THIS point in their faith as their nadir as well. And if not, then they'll instead be regarding it as the end of their controversial little religion, because if worldwide Muslims cannot turn away from the path of jihad and the imposition of muderous Sharia law on the world at large, they cannot co-exist with the rest of the modern world.

I root for them, to be honest, but one does wonder...

SUBJECT TEH TWO:

Futurama is back, to whom it may concern: this time in DVD format...

My opinion's mixed: the thing runs very long (about 88 minutes) and crams each and every bit character and main character into the mix. It's got a touching central storyline between Fry and Leela, but lacks the storytelling brilliance seen in such pivotal episodes as The Sting (my favorite episode,  next to Jurassic Bark...) and The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings. 

The ultimate plot twists are exceedlingly predictable, and though there's a montage of separate storylines going on beneath the main action the story lacks the tightness and direction of such a multifaceted storyline as seen in, say, 300 Big Boys.

Ultimately this is a return from long hiatus, though, and the world shouldn't be expected from such a thing (Family Guy's first few post-resurrection episodes weren't too great, either...)

The beast with a billion backs follows directly upon these events, so hopefully the crew'll get down to business with a more well-rounded and focused scope of narration...

...I can't believe that I'M criticizing someone on that point... 

SUBJECT TEH THREE:

Amtrack Sucks!

SUBJECT TEH FOUR:

Another step towards TYPERS' Pragma-Class Sensation Link?

Not quite, but it is kinda cool. Seriously: brain-computer interface is certainly no longer the realm of science-fiction. The brain is, after all, a giant, NOISY, predictable computer system (albeit biochemically run and operated) that gives off tons of 'sparks' all along one's body. This story explains that the big breakthrough in B-C-I (dig the acronyms, damnit!) won't be so much the power to harness thought input (we can damn well do that half-decently as it is, now) but rather a computer system with the raw processing power to keep up with and predict those thought processes...

In TYPERS, that setup happens to be the 'Pragma'-class computer server system, although eventually (within, probably, the first part of the third book) that system's gonna get replaced with the Storge-Class Sensations Link (I won't link that word with Wikipedia: do it yourself if you want, but I'm almost ashamed of the predictable and obvious connotations therein...)

..however, for THAT system to work at 100-percent, one needs to get a hard metal implant called a coccygeal extension drilled into their... well... you know...

SUBJECT TEH FIVE:

...speaking of pains in the ass: Legend of the Novanjo WILL be ready relatively soon. I'm still polishing up the draft...

And now: I'm gonna warm myself by the fire. 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 2:02 PM MNT

Updated: Friday, 30 November 2007 2:42 PM MNT

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Mood:  chatty

I have a bone to pick with part of this Wikipedia entry...

The most prevalent view in science and the training arts says that your average dog views its human as 'part of the social pack'. That is to say: your average non-feral member of Canis Lupus Familiaris  thinks that its owner is another dog (albeit a very, very, very special one...)

I've always had problems when people talk about dogs as if the canids think of themselves as simple pack-mates in an average wolf-pack (ie: a human family). Given what I've seen in well-familiarized pooches (emphasis on well-familiarized...) I think dogs have a slightly different thought process in regards to their human housemates...

First off: dogs are smart. REALLY smart. Your average canine is easily amongst the most intelligent animals on the planet (that's not just a dog-owner's gushing: they NEED intelligence to maintain the complex social network they live by. I say dogs're smarter than cats not because I hate cats- far from it- but because cat ancestors're lone hunters who don't NEED the increased frontal lobe action that a pack-setup requrires). Dolphins're probably smarter; elephants're probably smarter; many other primates're probably smarter than dogs, but that's about it.

Again, the prevailing wisdom says that dogs see humans as a simple member of the pack and, if properly trained, they see humans as the alphas- or the most 'badass' members...

The thing is, not all humans BEHAVE as such. When I was five years old my family had a pair of gigantic Norwegian Elkhounds  who worshipped the ground my father walked on; but they also venerated the ground I... well, stumbled upon: I'd abuse those poor pooches to no end: tugging ears, running tricycle wheels over their tails and all other manner of mischief. Now, assuming dogs see humans as mere packmates, I should be disciplined for all those transgressions according to pack-law (ie: little puppies get a nipping, or even a biting, for all such serious infractions).  Not only would they never even consider biting me, but I can attest that they'd have ripped the balls off of any stranger who ever tried to touch me. If I got hurt and fell into a crying fit, they were the first to swarm me and whimper in sympathy.

 Flash forward: when I take my mutt to the dogpark she gets social with all the other dogs as usual, with all scratching and sniffing included, but like the other dogs there she does NOT go sniffing at and scratching at all the other HUMAN owners: she treats these bipedal creatures with a completely different attitude altogether.

My point is that dogs fit themselves into human households with a pack-like mentality, but they probably think of the humans around them with a very, very, very different mindset than other animals.

Ironically, I think it was Stephen King that got it right with Cujo: (sociliazed) dogs don't consider humans to be 'other dogs' (to say so actually BELITTLES the intelligence of the species) but rather as something else; quasi-divine beings, altogether separate from their own antics (as the owner of two dogs and a cat, I believe this wholeheartedly...)

Thousands of years ago, dogs learned to WORK with humans, and not so long after that they learned to LIVE with them, too. That does not mean- by a long shot- that they SEE them as comparable kin at all.

Dogs're smart enough to know better, I'd think. 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 6:10 PM MNT

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Mood:  celebratory

Happy turkey day to all, especially anyone who may currently be incommunicado with their loved ones, etc...

And happy... uh, whatever, to the UK-ers, etc... out there. A word of advice: you guys should really consider switching out Boxing Day for this holiday. As one who stands to gain two or more pounds today alone, I can attest that it's well worth it (you guys could gain some 'sympathy weight' in co-celebration of the first stirrings of this crazy li'l experiment of yours that got founded across the pond!)

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:01 PM MNT

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Mood:  accident prone

Pretty excellent play quality, there, but I gotta say that I prefer to use the NO CHASER (it's almost like cheating when one uses the Last Dancer... or the Curtain Call... or the Grand Finale)...

...and, ironically, I never play as the Platonic Love or the Platinum Heart (if there were a Chaste Gazer in the game, I might consider it...)

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 12:15 AM MNT

Updated: Wednesday, 21 November 2007 12:18 AM MNT

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Mood:  a-ok

When I said that I was done with all the pictures for awhile... I guess I forgot to take into account that wonderful manic phase I go into when I start being productive (not that I'm bipolar, just... excitable.)

I joke that all my 'art' takes about five minutes and change to throw together, but most of the pics I slam out take several hours to doll up (I just make it look difficult...)

This time five minutes is no exaggeration: the background image was preexitsting already, so all I needed to do was shamelessly jack two images (roses and crumbling walls) from two different websites and throw it all together (the process here is even more slipshod and thieverous than I'm used to, but hey: five minutes is five minutes...)

Hey, ho: Justin Storm behind a superimposed field of roses and buildings. Yee-haw... 

I know, I know: more kanji. It's not that I'm a rank Japanophile, and I'm hardly Otaku by any stretch of the imagination (thank God), but I must say that Japanese writing blends so well into artwork that it's more decortage than text, and if said text has another meaning besides lookin' real good on the page, then so be it*.

(*it does, BTW:  正義の暴風雨 ... words to live by, I suppose... if your name is 'Justin Storm'.)

The image is spur-of-the-moment, and otherwise forgettable, but the message behind it might be less ominous than meets the eye: there's a second meaning behind the building 'walls' up there, and the image isn't so much a foretelling of Justin's ultimate capacity for destruction (which is great, indeed), but something else, too.

Of course, once he and his collegues learn the whole spiel about the Bydo's origins (an abandoned experiment from Earth, naturally...) Justin's hatred towards his own species will certainly hit a crest.

But there's a reason that Storm is the 'hero' of the books, and there's a reason that Antithesis is named 'Antithesis': Justin's no cold-blooded killer.

However he is, without a doubt, extraordinarily dangerous. 

... 

Hmm: 'thieverous' isn't really a word, is it? Caught that on my proofread, but I like it so much that I'm keeping it in. So there.

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 2:21 AM MNT

Updated: Tuesday, 20 November 2007 2:31 AM MNT

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Mood:  bright

Seems that the time has come for one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time to be viewed as it should have been, originally:

Blade Runner: the Final Cut is coming to a videostore near you (and, if you're EXTREMELY lucky, to a local theater for limited release, as well. Shane is quite happy that he lives in one such selected city...)

People seem to be divided about this movie, as a whole, though its reputation has exponentially grown since its release. Personally, I think it's the greatest single science-fiction film ever made, but I can see competing arguments to this, as well.

Just remember: Deckard is a replicant, Han shot first (...Hansha-Furste?), and the turtle f**king deserved it!

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 6:17 PM MNT

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Mood:  spacey

So I was drinking a particularly objectionable Merlot tonight, and even while Merlot wine ain't my usual cup of tea (and yes, I've hated it since BEFORE "Sideways" came out, thank you very much...) I discovered something very interesting in the process...

Wine drinkin' is kinda an art: you can get a gem of a complex Cab that will treat you right as rain quite easily, but who can afford to shell out $25+ a pop for a casual bottle of drinkin' vino?

Shane can't...

I reserve the real goodies for fine meats and the like (I have a five-year-old bottle of Opus One squirrled away somewhere for the day I win the lottery, become a best-selling author, find Willy Wonka's golden ticket, get selected for Astronaut training, or some combination thereof...) and the rest of the time it's more modest fare.

Anyway, back to this crappy Merlot (pronounced MUR-LOT, in my book ;)...

I'm not a wine expert, not even close, but I am what I call a 'vinophile' (someone with limited expertise, but enthusiasm). Most reds, in my opinion, have a distinctly basic 'dirt' taste underneath the berries and tanins (I don't mean this in a bad way, but if it's uncontrolled... hoo-boy). And it was in this bottle: a Merlot without mellowness is like a Chauchat machine gun without bullets: sure, it's worthless even when loaded, but taking the rounds out just adds insult to injury...

...what I'm tryin' to say is that Merlot is crap, but it's claim to fame is that it is more 'mellow' and lighter than other varietals: this bottle was more tart than a rusty nail (if you're wondering whether I'm taking about the mixed drink or the literal nail itself, the answer is 'yes'...)

Alright, here's the point: 

I was eating some peanut butter and celery earlier, and I still had the munchies, so I took a break from drinking and ate some more. When I came back to my glass I was surprised: the whole taste of the wine was altered (duh...), but it was decidedly for the better.

I can't find much research on how PB affects the taste of wine, but clearly it has something to do with the lip-smacking film it leaves in the mouth after ingestion. That overpowering 'dirt' taste in my Merlot was subdued (more like put in a chokehold) and the actual berry flavors were, as far as I could tell, quite satisfactorily revealed.

I guess that the moral of the story is that crappy red wine can be de-crapified depending on what else your mouth is currently swimming in. I've been told this before, but this is the first time I've witnessed it firsthand... or first-tongue, if you will.

Still: PB and Merlot?....

You won't find this tip in 'Food and Wine' anytime soon... 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 11:16 PM MNT

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Mood:  blue

It looks like the good ol' Persian Empire's gonna take another cyclical step backwards in its desperate march to join the modern world...

Beware of the Warriors of Vice 'n Virtue... 

Whatever... yeah: you go ahead and beat the ladies with lipstick and the men with improper moustaches (awesome alliteration, no?). That should solve all the problems crippling your part of the world. Twits...

I'd also encourage them to start slaughterin' the gays, too, but of course there ARE no gays in Iran (just like "there are no cats in America"!) 

(...uh, as a side note, I'm not equating gays with mouse-eatin' carnivores, but I'm just trying to complain about the f**king raghead autocrats-)

...nevermind.

Kinda reminds me of the story (and I can't reference it, so please don't take my word for it) of the Saudi 'Vice' goons who forced women and young girls fleeing a burning dormitory back into the flames (and their deaths) because the mongrel sluts had the gall to go outside (read: flee for their lives) without their head coverings.

Well, Mahmoud, how can I protest your autocratic crackdown on your own society?...

How indeed...

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 2:08 AM MNT

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