Raithe

Well, I did Computer Science and Business at degree level (well, until I had to drop out final year and start the caring), for the past oh, five years now I was doing sort of part time project work from home that I could fit around looking after my mother. That was more general research, systems engineering, modelling and analysis rather than out and out IT. So I'm pretty much covering all those areas in the job search and applications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SHSgB6QO1Yo

Still plugging away at all the job searches here. I wasn't expecting things to happen fast, but I was expecting to get some greater traction on things after 3 months or so. I seem to be caught in that awkward position of lacking experience in specific areas for the middle and senior positions, but too old and out of date for the entry level positions. Because I'm over 24, there's no government funding helping out for apprenticeships, so that limits that possibility, since companies are happy to spend a grand training under 24's, but not so the twelve or so grand training costs without that government subsidy. Everyone respects the responsibility of having spent 15 years caring for a parent, but that doesn't actually get you back in the door to the workplace. The potential project work I was dealing with part time the last year or so seems to be falling apart, since the guys behind it just keep putting it on the shelf for months at a time, so that's pretty much heading the way of the dodo. I will say it's kind of an interesting mix of depressing and nice to get the formal letters saying your CV didn't reach the short list for interviews. Depressing because its a negative, but nice that they actually responded and let you know. Hm, on the random, is it me or has the forum been acting up the last week or so? I seem to be having lots of timeouts when switching threads these days, and since I'm not having problems with any other websites it seems focused on the Obs boards...

I actually know a woman and her kids who actually talk like this to each other..

Hm, and I don't see the point in starting another EU thread up, but for the potential interest .. after Cameron's return from the EU and what the reforms are being pushed for.. And a lot of people here are still unhappy with the situation. Most notably that they feel if we don't leave the EU now, we're going to be stuck with a rather obtuse, not exactly democratic EU in charge of everything.

What the difference is between Hispanic and Latino... http://www.vox.com/2015/8/19/9173457/hispanic-latino-comic

Crusade had a few interesting ideas as well, but as you said, it got shown with episodes out of order which didn't help the overall story or feel of it. But the other major weakness I found, was the music. There was something unique and wonderful about Christopher Franke's scoring of Babylon 5 that just captured the mood and atmosphere so well, so when they did Crusade and they got someone else to do the music in such a different way it felt wrong for something in the B5 universe.

You actually liked Season 5? Season 5 had its ups and downs. I would say it's the weakest of the bunch, which isn't too surprising given how it all rolled out. It was an interesting way to play out some of the potential loose ends and teasers of what would happen after the five year story arc. Just a shame the five year got crammed into 4 at the last minute, then stretched back to 5. I will say the episodes that end season four and five are both damn well done. The final show being set 20 years on, and literally ends with the series creator playing the janitor turning off the lights for the last time. Hm, of course, we should mention to Nonek the made for TV films they did with a word of warning before his OCD kicks in to watch them all. While there's the prequel kind of movie , "In the Beginning" which covers the Minbari War and shows what the main series characters were doing, it should not be watched until you've made your way through the tv show. There's heaps of spoilers to the mysteries upcoming. "Thirdspace" is technically set between the third and fourth season, and is actually slightly Lovecraftian in it's storyline, but actually has a rather sneaky kind of "Right, we shall never talk about this again" thing going, which is why they get away with no referencing it in the last two seasons. "The River of Souls" was meant to be in the space between B5 ending and the spin-off series Crusade starting, and they got Martin Sheen to turn up as a Soul Hunter for the movie. "A Call to Arms" is pretty much the pilot movie for the Crusade spin-off. The one that was both slightly odd, but also rather good in a bizarre way was "The Lost Tales", which is actually more two linked short stories rather than one full length movie. In ways it comes across as Babylon 5 done as Twilight Zone episodes for the stage. Each short story centres around one main character, and is pretty much shot on a single stage / environment. Apparently JMS is trying to get a reboot Babylon 5 film shot, but with the possibility of bringing in members of the old cast to play different roles.

Garm Wars : The Last Druid. A bizarre little number, a sort of 30% live action / 70% cgi anime. With a weirdly twisted together sci-fi take of... Gaelic mythology merged with I think, Mongolian influences. In a bleak apocalyptic world where tribes of clone soldiers fight each other, one ends up apart from her pack and traipsing on a mission of discovery with an odd band of others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0tE6T-ecmg

https://vimeo.com/85914510

I have to say I did enjoy Commander Sinclair's run at the start, it gave a nice grounding to the first season. The appearance of the Ambassadorial Aides worked nicely, that mixture of innocence and naivety shown by both Lenier and Vir when they get introduced and when you compare it to what they're like at the end of the show. The whole first season laying the groundwork and establishing where all the characters were starting from, having a good mix of stand alone episodes, season arc episodes, and all having that scattering that you might not realise at first are parts of the entire show arc bits tucked away. Something that could have been a touch heavy handed, but worked for me was the religious episode - Every Ambassador showing off their dominant religious thing as part of a cultural exchange, Sinclair not sure what to arrange and then ending on that final setup of a line of priests from as many religious groups as he could and just doing that "this is Mr so and so, a catholic priest, this is Mr ... a Shinto priest, this is Mr.. a such and such priest, and that slow camera pull back of this line filling up one entire bay. Also, the introduction of Mr Bester. Walter Koenig showing what he can do when he actually has more than a single line or two. Nonek, not to throw in spoilers, but he does make a few more appearances over the years.

For the amusingly weird tv trivia.. Apparently, they had to select the pinks and pastels specifically for how the exact shades of monochrome grey's would come across on the tv after filming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE_ge9kr3IQ

I keep trying to restart Pillars of Eternity from the beginning, and for some reason I can't keep my focus enough to get through the tutorial/beginning section. I suddenly find I'm really not in the mood to engage about 5 minutes into it, and no idea why.

Funny, but true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCyzdD0vYOw&feature=youtu.be

Hm, in case it's slipped by... apparently there's a group trying to remake Knights of the Old Republic with the Unreal 4 engine. http://www.apeirongame.com/