Raithe

Caught Bright with some friends tonight. It's a fun enough movie, Will Smith pretty much plays aging, cynical Will Smith. But it really did feel like a very high budget pilot episode for some potential tv show. Or maybe that's just my Alien Nation nostalgia kicking in.

Heh. Liam Neeson on why he can never watch the 50 Shades of Grey movies - "I used to know Dakota's mum, so years ago, I used to swing Dakota around when she was a child and give her piggy back rides. So, yeah, those are movies I'm never going to be able to sit down and see."

For the counter-balance of crappy world news; Pope Francis marries couple of Flight Attendents on his plane

Just because they're not needed, doesn't mean they shouldn't be given. Condolences, and may the memories stay strong.

Quote for the Day: "I agree that single-name bad guys are more awesome, like Sauron, Ganondorf, Loki, and Madonna."

Got an email from Profantasy "Unfortunately, that version of CC2 is so old, that our system does not offer an automatic upgrade option. Here's a voucher for £5 off." Pondering on whether my urge to be creative in this manner is worth spending the money on some of the value packages they do. Although I do have to kind of blink that it's £400+ for the full bundle of mapdrawing software. I don't think I'll be going that extreme no matter what.

Finished off the final draft of my research paper outline, now going to let it settle overnight before looking at it again. Got distracted looking at some fantasy art, and started rough sketching out some floor plans and general ideas, which got me curious into looking up some suitable software to do it on the pc as well as by hand, which led me to the Campaign Cartographer site. Then noticed they had CC3+ "upgrade from earlier versions" and remember that about 20 years ago I did actually pick up a copy of CC2 for DnD purposes. Although that was back in the day you got it delivered as a CD by post rather than order and download online, so out of curiousity I've emailed them with my serial number and a "Hey, does this 20 year old copy count for the free upgrade to current version?". I'll be somewhat amused to see what response I get.

"And I looked, and behold a pink flamingo. And his name that sat on him was Death" "Just lovin life. lol. Nah, jokes. Lookin to reap some peeps this summer. If ur gonna make dumb decisions in the water, I’ll be waiting. Holla! "

The Swim Reaper New Zealand's new water safety mascot...

Father Brown. The current BBC adaption of the short stories from G K Chesterton about a crime-solving Roman Catholic parish priest. Set during the 50's, the titular character survived the trenches of WW1, and found a vocation in the Church. Although he quite often gets distracted by puzzles, riddles and getting pulled into various crimes that he solves in the name of both justice, and saving souls, just not always the letter of the law. While the standard murder-of-the-week episodes become a bit typical detective fair, the best ones involve the recurring character of Hercule Flambeau, a jewel and art thief who specialises in religious artifacts. The two characters have that fun "frenemy" aspect of enjoying the battle of wits, respecting each others capabilities, while they dance around the issues of Flambeau's lack of conscience vs redemption, and Father Brown's earnest attempts to encourage Flambeau's "good" aspects. It's quirky to see that sort of nemesis relationship done, with the two characters while apparently so different, a worldly high-life living charming art thief to compassionate, English village parish priest, who actually recognise in each other an almost sense of brotherhood at times. Very few people understand the way their mind's work apart from each other, so whenever they do battle wits its both a fun challenge but also a moment to relax and just be who they are. That's an interesting thing to happen in any story.

Since the latest Chronicles of Elantra is out soon, I've been re-reading the earlier books in the series. "How does he treat people he doesn't like?" "He probably eats them." Marcus shrugged. "That would break at least three laws." "Not really. Suicide isn't illegal." "And being disliked by a Dragon is on record as a form of suicide?" - Michelle Sagara, Cast in Shadow.

Decided to re-watch The Middleman...

For those that like a little visual size comparison... Scale of Fiction

My mobile phone is acting up. Since tuesday evening it's been flashing the "0% Battery Alert" at me.. .but here we are, over 50 hours later and it's still flashing that alert, but is still cheerfully making phone calls, sending texts, connecting to the internet, and even acting as a torch with no hassle. Methinks the software is out of synch....