Just back from seeing the GiTS film.

It's well titled.

A ghost of a film with a shell of a plot, assembled from a mosaic of previous GiTS setpieces and sort of bodged together. Yep, that's from the movie. That's from SAC. More movie. More movie. GiTS soundtracks It has very few, if any, original ideas and those few it does manage to touch on it just sort of flags them up like doing the stations of the canon at mass without actually getting really to deep into them. It's like they squished the previous stuff through a meat machine, piked out the bones that held it up and turn it into sausage. It's very much generic GiTS product wrapped up in a shiny and stylish veneer.

The visuals in a lot of ways dither between overwrought and busy, to being spectacularly well realised. Especially in IMAX. It looks brilliant.

ScaJo manages maybe 2-3 good 'Major' moments, but it's Pilou Asbek and Beat Takeshi that get the best of it.

The most I can say is that it was innoffensive and forgettable. It existed and passed without pain and didn't really make a mess anywhere.

And left me with the lingering idea of taking Jet and A.C. from Fenspace to see it.... and record the resulting commentary.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

This one's fucking Gonzo.

We've a semi-public bus company in this country called Bus Eireann. It's currently running at a loss, and being given a subvention by the government to keep rural routes open. Most of these are loss-making routes, but necessary for students and elderly. There are private bus companies, but most of them run direct, city to city without stopping at any of the towns. There's a lot feeding that - most anyone living in rural communities have more or less fucked off either to Canada or Dublin - so it's all in decline. It's not unusual to see either entire main streets left empty - or filled with pubs and takeaways. Neither are good. Everyone either commutes away, or is too old to do much else but sit in the house and watch the clock tick.

Naturally, the people left behind like the last rats on the Titanic are quick to protest their buses being taken away.

The Company meanwhile is doing everything it can to stay alive. First and foremost, buy cutting people, pay and overtime. Naturally, the Union is getting in a snit about this. I'd imagine most people would. Here's the rub - it's been clear for the last year that the company was having a minor problem, quickly festering into a major one, but management sort of fiddled, sat back and decided to rack up the pressure by holding off on the changes up until the sword of damacles was dangling in the hope that they'd shock the Union into acting - the Union called their bluff and now the company is loosing 500k a day in a dispute, with 7-9 million in reserve.

So far, the company has 7 days to live.

Now, enter the transport minister, Shane Ross, who is about as effect as effective as Transport Minister as your average Kamikaze was as a Pilot. It's pretty much a certain thing that he's deliberately crashing the company by cutting the subvention to below what's sustaineable. And despite the entire country calling on him to get involved in a way that'll end the dispute or at least try fucking mediate (Which is his job as fucking Transport Minister) has just sort of sat there on his hands and watched, saying it has nothing at all to do with him...

So, we've a government that's determined to crash the company and privatise everything. Usually for their friends. The Union of course, has just realised this. So sprung up surprise pickets at railroad stations and city bus depots - which the drivers won't pass. (Because seriously, passing a picket is worse than pissing on a kitten socially.... you don't fucking do it.) Which meant that the entire goddamned country ground to a halt this morning.

Anyone who had a car, took to the road.
Those who didn't, took the day off.

Oh, and here's a doozy. Car ownership just isn't viable for many people these days. With insurance spiralling out of control and talk of motoring taxes increasing again.....

We're all on this plane, and the trio who're supposed to be flying it are doing everything the can to stick it in the ground. No matter which one wins, we're all going to lose.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

And also the first thing I've ever actually done in GIMP.   So?  What do people think?

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

An all-puppet band, this "Fab(ric) Four" doesn't play children's music

Their very first radio interview: http://soundcloud.com/cbcottawa1/puppe ... wa-morning

Their music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuphxLo_ysc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdf6G8-rWT4
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

I never even dreamed I'd have cause to use that as a topic.
Apparently, it recently came out that Bush II, immediately following Trump's inauguration, summed up the proceedings in a few superbly — albeit scatologically — pithy words.

(The article's writer slips up noticeably by at one point using "Trump's" to refer to Bush's comment.)
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

The relevant article

Quote:In a moment that stunned the hearing room, Watts flatly stated that
the president himself has become a cog in such Russian measures. When
asked by Oklahoma Republican James Lankford, who appeared visibly
dismayed, why, if Russians have long used these methods, they finally
worked in this election cycle, Watts’ answer was extraordinary.
“I
think this answer is very simple and is one no one is really saying in
this room,” he said. Part of the reason, he went on, “is the commander
in chief has used Russian active measures at times against his
opponents.”
To buttress the claim that Trump (unwittingly or not)
aided Russian disinformation efforts, Watts cited several
instances. Among them: Trump’s citation of an apparently false Sputnik
story at an October 2016 campaign appearance; his ongoing denial before
and after the campaign of U.S. intelligence of Russian interference in
the election; his claims of voter fraud and election rigging, which
Watts said was pushed by RT and Sputnik; and Trump’s questioning of the
citizenship of former President Barack Obama and even his primary rival
Ted Cruz.
Watts added that one of the reasons such tactics are
working is that Trump and/or his surrogates have repeated some of the
claims, further spreading them through social media accounts that are
owned both by real people and bots. Thus, the disinformation is kept
alive and gradually becomes more real and plausible. “Part of the reason
active measures work is because they parrot the same lines,” Watts
said.

Timeline of Nunes-White House actions before during and after the House Intelligence comittee meeting
Let's be clear on this: Any pretense of impartiality went out the window. If there is a Watergate moment, this may be it. If the leader of the House intelligence committee is collaborating with the White House, what happens next?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Formal notice to leave
So what happens now?
And will there be a UK left when it is said and done?
I can see Northern Ireland and Scotland deciding to secede from Britain. What happens next to Northern Ireland would be interesting next. Would it be union with Ireland afterwards?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Sailor Moon stepped out the shadows with Luna at her heels as I
touched down a short distance from the building that housed the
radio station. I hopped off my cycle and sent it back up to
hover half a kilometer overhead in stealth mode until I needed it
again. "Sailor Moon, Luna," I said with a nod as soon as they
got close enough.

Usagi looked for a moment like like she was trying decide whether
to hug or salute me, then split the difference by giving a little
wave. "Thanks for coming, sensei."

"I told you I would, teishi," I said with a smile. "So, what've
you got?"

She gave a short, brisk nod. "Right. There's this new radio
show called 'Midnight Zero' that's gotten real popular real fast.
The host reads love letters sent in by listeners, and anyone
whose letter gets read on the air gets a flower-shaped brooch
from the station."

"I think I see where this is going," I said. "Everyone who
received one of the brooches now has the Sleeping Sickness, am I
right?"

She bit her lip. "I didn't check everyone, but my teacher at
school got one a couple days ago and she's in the hospital now.
And one of the girls in my class at school got one this morning
and passed out. And I passed out, too, because it was so close."

"I woke her up, and confirmed it," Luna spoke for the first time.
"The brooch had some kind of life energy drain effect on it."

Inside my helmet, I raised an eyebrow. "'Life energy'? That's
kind of abstract, isn't it?" Then I shook my head and waved the
question away. "Never mind. Stomp the baddies now, magiphysics
and philosophy later. And the baddies are...?"

"That's where it gets stranger," Sailor Moon said. "The people
working at FM Number 10 don't know about the show. It's not in
the listings, either. But it's definitely on the radio every
night and *everyone* seems to know about it. So Luna suggested
that I investigate the radio station while it was on the air.
She gave me a magic pen that let me disguise myself..."

I glanced at Luna. "You did?"

She gave a feline shrug. "It's a toy I'd taken away from the
Princess a few days before... before," she verbally stumbled, and
glanced away. "She'd been playing pranks with it. It seemed to
me that Sailor Moon could make good use of it." She took extra
care to say "sera" and not "tserla", I noticed.

I nodded approvingly. "Good idea, that." I turned back to
Usagi. "So you disguised yourself. And?"

"We got inside just as the show was starting, and everyone in the
station was asleep except for the host of 'Midnight Zero' and
some woman watching him," she replied.

"Both felt like the Enemy," Luna added.

"Yeah. As soon as Luna said that, we snuck back out and I called
you."

"Okay then." I smiled, there inside my helmet. "If I were
marking you on your performance so far, the only thing I'd take
points away for was not transforming first."

She bit her lip again. "Right. I'll remember for next time."

"Other than that, a perfect grade. Good investigation, even if
it was spurred by a convenient coincidence. You found what might
be the the bad guys' base, got in, scouted, confirmed you were
right, and got out again to call in reinforcements. Good job,
Moon. Luna," I went on, "if you've got any other 'toys' in your
back pockets, we'll need to sit down later and go through them
to see what's useful and what's not."

The cat nodded. "Of course."

"So now what?" Sailor Moon asked.

I laughed. "Why, now comes the fun part. Butt-kicking!"

She giggled, and Luna gave me a disgusted look.

"Now, this is *your* operation," I said, raising a finger. "I'm
here as backup only. If these two are like the critter in the
jewelry store, you should be able to handle them by yourself.
I'll be hanging back, and I'll only step in if you get in
trouble." I put a hand on her shoulder. "This should be easy."

It would take less than ten minutes for me to regret jinxing us
that way.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I've been having trouble of late using Filezilla with my ISP. Does anyone have any recommendations for other Windows FTP programs I might want to look into?

Thanks.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.