Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in gc1ceo's LiveJournal:

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Monday, December 7th, 2009
9:58 pm	My final exam week schedule Nothing on Monday, good nite for running LFR. Tuesday, 2 pm - 4 pm African History in LANNIGAN, good nite for running LFR. Nothing on Wednesday, possibly ok for LFR if I can get ride home (with no hanging out afterwards since I need to get up fairly early on Thursday) Thursday, 10:30 - 12:30 pm for ISC300 and 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm for SOC101. Nothing that nite, good for running LFR. Nothing on Friday, not sure how late campus center is open so not sure if good for LFR or not. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 5th, 2009
8:13 pm	Versions of A Christmas Carol Regardless of your religion or culture I have always thought A Christmas Carol transcended based on a couple of values, society and how the difference between empathy and apathy even from a single person can change both themselves and the world. The fact that its in mid to late 19th century Victorian England and based around Christmas I think is just a conquesence as much of what is said is applicable to any morality. As such a couple of suggested tv/movie versions I have liked, they have made too many versions and a number of them just plain suck: 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, added some material but some of the additions have been used in other remakes such as the idea that Scrooge's former girlfriend/fiancee works in the present with the poor and homeless. This is something not in the original story but very popular in many adaptions and this is the first to do it. He plays Scrooge pretty plainly as we could understand how anybody could become such a character. 1984 version with George C Scott and David Warner, really good portrayals that focused on the drama more so then other versions. Scott is a good balance between the more over-the-top Scrooges and those who look like they are going to be redeemed "too early". The ghosts really push the classic Dickens lines with alot of emotion. This version Crachits really balance the emotion and David Warner plays Bob pretty well 1988 version Scrooged re-doing Scrooge as a 1980s TV executive by Bill Murray, played for comic effect but the message holds out true in its representation for that late 80s audience. I try and watch this version every year myself. Ebenzer, a 1997 tv version with Cicely Tyson where she's an elderly black woman whose become a small town's bank tycoon. Is a good adaption both for more modern times and more diverse lines. Not the first reversal of the gender but one of the best that really pushes the redemption and good people taking care of each other bit. The Preacher's sermon really echoes it, I still quote it. 1999 version with Patrick Stewart, he really put alot into knowing every bit of the story from every character. Famous for his one-man Christmas Carol (not sure if you can find it on DVD). He knows the roles well and its definitely Patrick Stewart playing the role, plays him a bit above the middle but he definitely gives you both Scrooge as a tired old man at the same time of legitimately lacking empathy in a way thats not over the top. Given that Jim Carrey has an animated version out that I think completely takes away from the point of the story here are some versions that are easily found. In conclusion, good story that rings true now even more so and speaks out on the human condition any time apathy is a root cause for our problems (which it often is). (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
2:22 am	Election day tomorrow.. political rant.. get over it.. ( Warning political rant, do not read if you can't handle viewpoints that oppose yours )
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
12:52 am	Musing If we all felt the pain that we inflicted on others, accidently or otherwise, would it leave to world peace or mass suicide? (Comment on this)
Monday, July 27th, 2009
5:35 pm	My Fall Schedule (sans gaming) and gaming.. Monday No class till 3 pm (meaning Sunday games are a strong possibility, even ones that go late) Class from 3 - 4:20 pm. Factoring in 2 1/2 hours for exercise/dinner/homework. This means I can be in a game from 7 pm onward and most likely be both very well-rested and able to go late. Tuesday Classes from basically 12:45 till 5:15 back to back (ouch I know) 2 1/2 for exercise/dinner/homework means I can play from 8 pm onward easy and will be both well-rested and able to go late. Wednesday Same as Monday. Thursday Same as Tuesday. Friday 100 percent completely free. In other words, I'm basically free for a game to go late every single day of the Fall semester, either at 7 or 8 pm. I'm gonna try and have time set aside for exercise (might join the fitness center on campus) since I need to lose weight big time and of course to eat dinner (so I can eat suitable dinners instead of Zonies/Pizza Hut/etc). I'm hoping to have one night a week to run a LFR module at least, and to convince others to run LFR games too. I'm going to give priority to games I have already said I'll be in. Part of this is gonna depend on how soon I get treated for my sleep apnea and how successful the treatment is, if i'm back to sleeping like I did say 3-4 years ago I intend to game -alot- least within the limits of hitting the gym and time for homework. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
8:59 pm	dreamed up a lost season I dreamed up a lost season of Highlander somewhere between Seasons 3 and 4ish. The setting is in Southern France near the border where Duncan is restoring a 19th century house in the rundown part of a city with Ritchie in tow. Some of the characters that appreared: "The Frenchman" is a 1,000 year old evil trickster immortal who is has an aristocratic feel mixed with the assassin from "For evil's sake" from Season 1. He breaks most of the rules, minus holy ground, and will run from battles he's losing. He wants to break the sanity of good immortals by basically screwing with their lives. Duroc or Durok, its said in my dream but not spelled. He's a 2,000ish year old Frank who started out as a pagan Frankish warrior who was basically a typical barbarian until he converted to Christianity and eventually served under Charles Mantel and Charlesmange as one of his Chelivers (ms), basically the original idea of a French knight. He was the ideal of a knight, used by many historians for their writings on chivalry and other knightly virtues. This changed in the 15th century whne his adopted family was brutally slaughtered by "The Frenchman" and a group of mercenaries in which case he became a quasi-evil immortal for several centuries until his head was spared by Duncan MacLeod in the mid-19th century and studied with Darius for several decades. He's now a middle-of-the-road immortal who built up the area of the city where Duncan resides, very recently he came back and has become friends with Duncan. He's married to a 60 year old mortal woman Helen at this point, and has a small community of mortals who know of immortals known as "Les Chelievers", they become known after they kill "The Frenchman"'s rule-breaking protege in the beginning of the season thus "The Frenchman" returns to the area to seek revenge. Charlie Kwan, a middle aged asian man (I think mentioned he's Vietnamese?) who has lived in the rundown area for a while and has been attempting to raise his youngest son successful, whose gotten in gang troubles and such. Danny Kwan, youngest son of Charlie whose been involved in a local gang. He's actually a pre-Immortal which Duncan and Duroc suspects, eventually he channels his emotions into "Les Chelievers". Mid-season he's killed and becomes an immortal where he's tempted by "The Frenchmen" towards evil. Akbar Salem, a 1000 year old Moor immortal who was relatively good until the 19th century when he had settled in the steppes of Russia and his mortal lover, a Russian Jew, was slaughtered by the Cossacks. From then on he became the ultimate extremist and provided support of all kinds to extremism and terrorism throughout the 20th century. He's the villian of a later-then-mid season two-parter where he kills Duroc's mortal wife and attempts to acquire and activate a new powerful nuclear weapon in order to start WW3. The two parter focuses on traversies in history to minorities, helpfulness, justifications for terrorism and there is a Muslim community in the area which is prosecuted and racism in France against Muslims. He is killed by an unnamed Muslim youth who becomes an immortal after being shot by Akbar then minutes later resurrects and takes Akbar's head by surprise. End of the season drives Duroc to renounce being good and seeking out the Frenchmen's head and willing to take other heads first. Daniel Kwan takes the head of the unnamed Muslim youth and decides to become an evil immortal competing with Duroc to take the Frenchman's head (albeit for different reasons). The season finale is basically the possibility of which immortals will kill who pitting Daniel versus Ritchie, Daniel versus Duroc and Duroc versus Duncan with the feeling that Duroc can possibly take Duncan. (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
12:42 am	DS Games Got an early birthday present, a Nintendo DSi and looking for recommended games. I prefer games with a fair amount of replayability, multiplayer games are good (especially ones requiring only one card), etc. I'm ok even with suggestions like Nintendogs, as long as its fun and entertaining. Currently I have Pokemon Platinum (so doubting I need Pearl or Diamond) and Mario Kart DS with Metroid Prime Hunters on the way. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
8:12 pm	Re: My wireless networking problems with my laptop After a few hours of testing, I think I have figured out what causes problems with my wireless connection when using any wireless BUT Academic_Wireless at Oswego. Problem: At 10 minutes, 40 seconds I can no longer use a number of internet applications including web browsing and FTP but can use instant messaging and telnet. It appears the requests simply timeout or replies to them are ignored. Apparent Explanation: I use a Cisco VPN client to use the VPN at Oswego, apparently if I dont have this application open (but not neccesarily connecting to anything) I get that problem with my wireless with -any- wireless network. I'd love to know how to fix that so I don't feel the need to keep the vpn client on my laptop for eternity. I still need to do some more tests on peoples various home wireless networks but it apparently fixed the problem on mine. If you got any ideas or further solutions, lemme know. P.S If I delete the VPN client altogether the problem occurs immediately instead of after 10 minutes, 40 seconds. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
1:32 pm	Some political rantings.. Some political rantings.. under a cut as usual.. Don't care if you disagree, find me to be a moron or think people like me shouldn't be allowed to vote or reproduce. Likewise don't care if you actually agree with me period. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
12:30 am	Joss Whedon Crossword http://puzzlehub.blogspot.com/2009/04/mutant-enemy-crossword.html (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
2:25 am	Somebody is reading my mind.. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/18/holder.race.relations/index.html The first ever black Attorney General is saying basically what I have been saying for years when it comes to race relations in America, that we are essentially cowards for our inability to deal with serious issues because of the social and sometimes legal stigmas surrounding them. We can't have an honest discussion on Affirmative Action without a dissenting white being branded a racist, we can't deal with serious urban issues without it being lumped into, at times, whining by various minorities, etc. Hopefully this is a continuing trend of attitude with someone whose tired of doing the ole two-step routine of simplifying issues through misleading monochromatic education. (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
3:29 am	Triple Features Commando, Cobra and Deathwish. Red Dawn, Iron Eagle and Delta Force. Enuff said. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
9:08 pm	Israel and the Mid-East, rant in my style ( Israel, the Middle East, etc. Unbudging conservatives and buzz word liberals beware. Don't read if you can't deal with differing opinions. This is not a formalized debate thus doesn't conform to standard format of debate, much like life, love and warfare. )
Monday, December 29th, 2008
10:55 am	More updates Went down to Syracuse/Marcellus over the weekend to visit girlfriend and her family, surprisingly not painful in comparison to my prior experiences. Since I went a week without D&D, I went to How You Change Your Name and played a RPGA Dungeon Delve. Got my first DCI/RPGA card and just took and past the Herald GM test (least I got something now to do for minicons). I also picked up Munchkin 4: Need for Steed, Munchkin Quest (the board game), a WoD book (so I have my own copy finally), some nifty Hunter dice (where the 8, 9 and 10 are marked), controller recharging base for my Wii since I'm going through batteries too quickly. Still very nervously awaiting my grades, which will mean the difference between graduating in May or having to take an extra semester. (Comment on this)
Friday, December 26th, 2008
8:34 am	A couple of new Wii games Got a couple of new Wii games: Tetris Party (yes the Wii Store one, but its worth it for the WiFi) Twilight Princess Super Smash Bros Brawl (posted my friend code on the STG EGaming forum) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
8:09 pm	My final exam week Tuesday, December 16th 10:30 am - 12:30 pm (my Music exam) Wednesday, December 17th 10:30 am - 12:30 pm (my 221 exam) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:19 am	My wish list from Amazon (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
7:09 pm	Top Ten Tabletop or Virtual Tabletop Games Unfortunately I really haven't been in quite that many tabletop games in the last 5 years, even though it is still more then I have been in at a given time then most of my life. I thought I'd include a mixture of experiences, both online tabletops and real life tabletops. This is in no specific order since it is very difficult to decide which one is better then the other: 1.)Raslan's Eberron game from Spring '07 with myself, Pete, Nick and Andy along with an observing/doing-homework Deanna. The overall plot wasn't too complicated and it had the feeling of an epic story ala Lord of the Rings. I played a half-elf cleric, a servant of the Sovereign Host who was your typical chaotic good do-gooder and a believer in the goodness of the common man. Pete played Vicmorn Loyalrn (sp?) a dung farmer turned Paladin who eventually got smarter. Nick played the brains of the group (can't recall his character race) and Andy played a reptilian soul knife. The game was a sheer pleasure for the simple reason that it was a good story that we were all telling together, it didn't let the mechanics get in way of the story but it didn't hand us everything hand over foot either. One of the highlights was the city of Sharn is being assaulted by a dark knight on a Nightmare who suddenly summons hundreds of zombies in between us and it, my character gets a natural 20 on a turning roll and gets maximum damage as well as I cinematically shatter most of the zombies in a blaze of light to either side of the walkway. 2.)Pete's Vampire Road Trip. I liked the blend of a bit of dark comedy with action/adventure. Its refreshing to play Vampire at times without the usual goth angstfest that it sometimes degrades into. My character was a Nosferatu hippie, Bobby Dillion, who lived in a Volkswagon minibus that he used as his haven along with his ghouls Peter (bass), Paul (drums) and Mary (vocals). Getting lost in the Finger Lakes region of New York shows that being supernatural doesn't neccesarily equal intelligence. I'd love to see a repeat, sequel or replay of this. Aside from troubles with rules and combat, it was generally a good time with a number of scenes that Pete created (never go looking for blood at a campground...). 3.)Briggs' 4th Edition (Summer 08 still going) D&D campaign in his custom world, never had a game with Briggs and was refreshing to see somebody who enjoyed narration and roleplaying instead of overly focusing on the mechanics. My randy Halfling rogue Finnian the Great has had some recent changes including a race and gender change but he's taking it in stride. He, or I should say She, realizes she can have children now and in calculating the lifespan of Eladarins figures on a household staff of 100 children to take care of her with the other 200 being sold into very profitable slavery.. maybe.. evil maybe but a guy.. err girl.. can dream. 4.)Andy's Knights oneshot. Nice lead-in that I think made a fun game, I wish I had been in the campaign for it. I would love to see some sequel oneshots to this at future Arcons. 5.)Alex's Zelda WTF mixed with Clerks at Arcon 7, it was nice, comedic and fun, enuff said. Admittedly we were all pretty tired including me and or preoccupied (me definitely) but it was a couple of hours that was still full of laughs that had me re-watch Clerks. 6.)Tzimice, or the way I was taught to love being a slave. Basically this was a decade ago, until then I whined about only wanting to play powerful creatures since I was weak and what not in real life so why play it online. Anyway, I complained to a game wizard that I wanted to play a powerful elder and what not. Most wizards would tell me to go screw off but this one told me if I was willing to play a certain role for 2-3 months to show my ability to roleplay he'd consider it. The role was that of the "favorite" ghoul of a Tzimisce. OOCly, the player was often on at later times when many other players weren't around so he needed someone to be able to count on to roleplay with at least a few hours a week. Anyway, I relucantly agree and kinda begrudged it at first since I knew I'd never see the outside of the Tzimisce's lair in this general. About a week and a few hours worth of playing in I decided I'd write up a character history for more XP and it took me on a bit of a firestorm in putting far more depth into the character. Within a few weeks I had a full emotional and psychological understanding of this willing slave whose psyche was so damaged and tormented that he loved his Tzimisce master even through pretty graphical tortures and what not. Within a month I was hooked on roleplaying this character at least a few times a week and some of my logs got to be used as model examples of ghouls. After 2 months went by I was told that I could play something that was a leg up from most starting vampires, not quite the uber elder I had first wanted but pretty good. I didn't want to give up my ghoul and played him a few hours a week for 6 months total where his character got the ending of being turned into a Tzimisce and that he was outraged over this gift and murdered his master because taking his slavery away from him was essentially no longer loving him (oversimplifying). In a nutshell it was the first time I really felt I truly roleplayed up to that point and I stopped going to more hack n' slash MUDs and Star Trek MUSHs and began to focus on more RP-driven games. 7.)*One in a series of brief AD&D-lite games played in the late 90s, for about a month (maybe 6-7 sessions) I played my first chaotic neutral character who was a Calminshite merchant/thief whose bound for greed and abilities at thievery was second only to his abilities to lie. I enjoyed being bad without being too bad and toeing that line, also enjoyed making the party think I was neutral good until the last session or two. Biggest highest was selling the entire party's armor (it was AD&D-lite), weapons and most of their supplies (almost prefect series of rolls), selling them (and hiding the fact I had quite a bit more money now) then leading the party to those I sold the stuff to so they could slaughter them, get their stuff back and the party gave me extra xp, coin and stuff for being one to lead them "to the thieves". 8.)*Another in the same above series, this time it was the world of Dark Sun for 4-5 sessions wheer we played gladiators. The plot, narration and some of the roleplaying was a bit flimsy but the overall theme of the game made one consider what good is in the face of survival and how truly difficult it can be to be a good person when faced with ones survival and how many excuses someone might make. 9.)*Another in the same series, this one is the only positive experience I had with how a Druid and True Neutral were played. This was only maybe 3 sessions long but it had villagers/loggers on one hand and goblins on another. Sounds like a simple game with goblin raiding the villagers, but it got more complex with the goblins not being evil but chaotic neutral and having enough intelligence to reason. Slaughtering a bunch of goblins leads to imbalance in neutral and party not understanding party's Druid who wants to talk to goblins instead of continuing to slaughter them. In the end, true neutral is defined as allowing both the villagers and goblins to survive in a way that was symbioetic instead of hostile. 10.)Pete's Changeling game, its only a handful of sessions in and still relatively new. We're all people taken from 1985 and returned in 2008. I am a homeless man with a low Intelligence who was turned into a troll/ogre who was forced to murder and eat people who didn't pay his bridge's toll. We have been survivors running from the law for most of the game so far, until recently dealing with a lepreachaun whose probably gonna be the game's boss. Already have had alot of character development and really felt comfortable with the vice and virtue I picked. Would like to this game have some sorta sequel if maybe to return to the character in the future. * On Dalnet, an IRC network, then on its own private server/network there were a group (maybe 60 at its highest) of roleplayers who got tired of freeform chat rooms but didn't want long drawn out campaigns either. The compromise was anybody in this group could form a game lasting no more then 8 sessions (recommended no more then 6) in any D&D world, in a system of AD&D 2nd Ed rules boiled down to their basics where a bot carried simplified character sheets and handled the rolls. It ran off and on for 2ish years until there was no longer anybody willing to run games. It was my first exposure to AD&D for a number of years. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
2:07 am	Recent Readings and Watchings Continuing my trend of last year, I have continued to listen to audiobooks as I walk back and fro from campus this semester. Over the summer I finished the latest Dresden Files book, Small Favors, and really happy I gave it a chance. I recommend it to anybody who enjoys Angel, Buffy, Charmed, etc that has a popular culture/whimsical take on the supernatural and even those who enjoy World of Darkness especially Changeling or Mage if you're not on an angst-ridden trip in it that is. The next book, Turncoat, is coming out in April 2009 and Jim Butcher has been hard at work on graphic novels which started out as a 4-issue prequel to the first book and will then be either a 12 or 16 issue cover of the first novel, Stormfront. The graphics are very wow in my opinion and for the most part get everything as I more or less imagined it, minus the fact that Murphy is supposed to be 5 foot even and she's drawn as average height in the graphical novels but her look, attitude, etc is exactly as I picture it. Next I have moved onto Terry Pratchett's Discworld series which I have heard about for years but never gave it much thought since it was always filed under fantasy/high fantasy which I don't generally enjoy (you can only retell a story about a king, a prince, Drizzt and a nation at war so much). It is an extremely lengthy series (36 books and at least a dozen short stories, a few of them are made for young adults though) about the very strange world of Discworld where the fantasy genre is about as screwed up as the shape of the world is (its a flat disc on the back of four elephants on the back of a giant space turtle). The first two books, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic tell the first story and introduce one of the most recurring characters, Rincewind, who is the antithesis of antithesises and the antihero of antiheroes in being a 40-something wizard whose not quite a wizard whose really only good at running away from trouble at a sprinter's pace until he meets Discworld's first self-proclaimed tourist (nobody can believe that anybody would intentionally go anywhere dangerous for the sheer sake of seeing new things). The third book (Equal Rites) stays in the same world but deals with feminism and witchcraft in the same Discworld way (this is a world where women can't be wizards cause well.. they are women..), the fourth (Mort) deals with Death (whose Terry Pratchett's ongoing character even outside of his Discworld books) acquiring an unlikely apprentice. The fifth (Sourcery) deals more with stuff from the first two, and has fun with doomsdays, prophecies, etc. The next one is Wyrd Sisters which I am getting ready to listen to tomorrow at some point. If you enjoy Douglas Adams' version of sci-fi, then Terry Pratchett is essentially his equal in the realm of high fantasy with a similar style. If you can't deal with British humor then you won't get the books though. I also plan to "read" Good Omens, I bought my mother the novel over summer and she enjoyed it. This is someone who usually reads things closer to Fried Green Tomatoes or trashy romance novels so I was pleased she enjoyed something else for a change. For anybody who thinks I'm a bit more lowbrow for listening to audiobooks then sitting down with the books, when I'm walking to campus or on a bus is usually my only real free time and its a bit difficult to walk with an open book in front of you. For stuff I have watched somewhat recently.. I watched Dark Knight over the summer having never seen Batman Begins (ya I know..) and now I'm a committed fan of Christopher Nolan's vision. He's definitely the person for the newer Batman as of the mid-80s with Frank Miller's stuff. I want to see his take on so many things including Catwoman, Penguin, Solomon Grundy, etc. I watched Batman Begins a few weeks later FYI and really like Liam Neeson's R'as Al Ghul (although I thought Scarcecrow wasn't so impressive) and Hearth Ledger, enough said. I have been watching True Blood since Episode 1, admittedly its a bit strange and the TV portrayal is even more so however it is interesting how it makes parallels with vampires coming out and vampire culture to how the more conservative parts of our society dealt with race, religion, sexuality, etc. Since its HBO you got plenty of T&A and sex, which only proves how much of a perv I am. The main character is a Southern belle type whose a waitress who finds the new vampire neighbor very intriguing along with a subplot of vampires having recently come out of hiding since theres now synthetic blood they can drink. However vampires are just as inhumane as they are in World of Darkness, begging the question to why they have come out in the first place. It is currently up to Episode 10 and admittedly am rather hooked. They already have it slated for Season 2 but knowing HBO I'll be waiting a year/year and a half after the end of the first season. I recently watched Hellboy II which is more goofy and less dark then the first movie (imo) but it definitely appeals to the 14 year old in all of us. Just don't watch it hoping for the "a man isn't defined by his origins" philosophy and what not of the first one but of things like Hellboy and Abe getting drunk singing love songs. The visual elements were absolutely stunning and have secured Del Toro probably for a while for major movies like The Hobbit. The other day I finally watched Stardust which I had been avoiding due to negative reviews and it was quite nice to see what I consider a traditional fairy tale told by Neil Gaiman (I'm sure the book is probably better) and been so long since I have seen Claire Danes that I just kinda fell in love with her all over again (figuratively speaking). Sure she's older but she's still radiant. It was the kinda thing that I sighed a few times (hey I played house and prince and princess as a kid not wrestling or football..). (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
11:09 pm	Election Night Political Rant ( Political rant, read if you dare.. ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)