I've made some changes to the website for the first time in months.  The change in DW1's status has been reflected anywhere it was mentioned, and the main DW page now as a little summary blurb for it.  I've done up another one of those chatty top page pseudoblog things I do every few months.  There's a new pic on the Gallery page.
Oh, and I've added an RSS feed.
Enjoy.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Avatar and sig tests go in "Forums", not here.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

*Sigh* I'd promised myself I wasn't going to waste people's time by posting here, but this is bothering me so much I've just got to talk about it to somebody who'll likely understand. I'm venting, more or less.
David Drake's new fantasy, The Legions of Fire, is in the bookstores. OK, I generally like Drake's work, so I eagerly looked into this book. The introduction states that the setting is not the Roman Empire at about the time of Tiberius, but is rather the empire of Carce (Eddison readers rejoice, I suppose). Not three pages into it, I'm jarred to discover that Carce speaks Latin, has troops in Germany and Gaul and Batavia -- in short, it seems to be Rome in everything except the name of the capital city, and none of the other placenames are changed. A bit further on, I find a reference to Publius Atilius Regulus, hero of the war against Carthage -- yes, even those historical figures I've seen mentioned have the same names.
I haven't gotten deep enough into the story yet to know if I'm going to enjoy the plot, but the characterizations seem interesting, so far. The Carce/Rome thing, though, is driving me clottin' crackers, because it seems so pointless to change only that one name from the background.
*Sigh* Shutting up now.
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Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

If you're reading this on May 21, and you haven't already been there today, look at the http://google.com]Google homepage. Use the arrow keys.

(I assume this is in honor if a particular 30th birthday.)
--
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

http://www.youtube.com/th...blogs#p/u/31/LtsBDXLa_OE
Mister J, I love you!
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

Fortunately, it's human intelligent design, not God's. 
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

...in case it hasn't:  The Periodic Table of the Superpowers.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Article with pictures here. Even given the effects on sea water on dead animals, it's hard to figure out what this is or was.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Manhattan sidewalk now sports "New Yorkers" and "Tourist" lanes.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Okay. So Cindy and I saw Iron Man II last night.
This is a well made superhero movie. It is not a particularly challenging film, and doesn't quite have the sheer unbridled joy of the first film, but it is a solid entry in the franchise. It is pretty hard to be joyous and uplifting while your douche-bag hero is dealing with deadly disease, daddy issues and his inability to balance his ego and his mortality.
Strangely enough, it doesn't need the combat sequences; though the nerd-gasm of seeing the dubious comic concept of the suitcase armour realized was one of the high points; physics notwithstanding - how much would it have weighed? The joy in the film is the easy chemistry and lightening fast dialog between the primaries; well that and Robert Downey Junior's Tony Stark spraying his alpha-douchebaggery around at firehose pressures to the frustration of everyone around him and the delight of the audience. It is an epic performance in that he makes the intensely unlikable Stark charming and sympathetic, despite being an arsehole of such magnitude that one could lose the entire Spartan oil-wrestling team within.
The villains are enjoyable, from the slime dripping senator to the wince inducing Justin Hammer. Mickey Rourke plays it tight and mean as the villainous Whiplash; and has the best birdy pals since Alfred Hitchcock. This is one of the few times since the fifties era of epic he-man scientists, where a physics major feels as much a physical threat as an intellectual one. No Doctor Manhattan doesn't count, as the only thing he has going for him physically is his dangling bits; which never seem to get to a particle colliding Hadron despite the presence of the Silk Specter.
The soundtrack, despite a nice funked up queen riff is merely okay. I like AC/DC as much as the next long haired type; but the film, or rather the experience of the film suffers greatly from not having those metal-heavy bars of I AM IRON MAN! Pumping out. Three seconds of music, or more specifically the right three seconds of music can impact a two hour production. It is an odd thing to be missing; three seconds of Ozzy cannot be that expensive or overwhelming (and I refuse to make the Sharon Osbourne nods quietly to herself joke.)
Don Cheadle stepping in for Terrence Howard is... well he just it. The performance was merely okay. I didn't like him as much as he never really felt like Tony's friend; and looked more annoyed. Howard in the first film managed a wonderful, subtle combination of put-out, frustrated, embarrassed and genuinely fond in his dealings with Stark's antics, where Cheadle just looks like someone handed him an English cucumber and asked him to sneak it through customs while wearing only flip flops and a thong.
For the comic book nerd, whether tentative, or raging; there is a lot to enjoy; from cameo appearance be famous hardware (you did stay to the end, right) to Samuel L. Jackson going Oedipal gerund eyepatch on an Oedipal gerund Fury as the head of Shield. Scarlett Johansson does fill the black cat-suit of the black widow nicely and her extended fight scene perfectly interlocks technique with superheroic flair. It feels very four colour; and looks great.
Gwyneth Paltrow once again rocks as Pepper Potts. Great body language; great dialog; and a nice combination of real-person-in-an-unreal-situation reactions and steely spine in dealing with crisis. Director John Favreau's Happy Hogan is a lot of fun and is given a little more to do in the film.
As good as the first one? No.
Did I enjoy it as much as Kick-Ass? No. (Seriously, go see Kick Ass, if only to watch Nicolas Cage redeem himself from a host of sad-sack action film attempts and that sodding Wicker Man remake)
Worth your ten bucks? Absolutely.