grindmonkeh

Ron Moore's wife just posted this message from Ron:



I don't want this day to happen.

I want it to be rescheduled, rethought, removed and recalled.

Tomorrow the story will be over, my tale having been told, and never again will there be the sweet anticipation of waiting for the next episode to be shown to fans and friends. The thought of it makes my heart ache even as swells with pride.

All I know is that today there is a show called Battlestar Galactica and tomorrow there was.

There will be joy in that too, I'm sure, touching the thread of memory and feeling it resonate all the way back to soundstages, locations, cutting rooms, writers' rooms, and sound bays where I lived for all these years and being comforted by the knowledge that a part of me will never truly leave those places. There will be reunions and retrospectives, special editions and extended cuts, interviews and seminars. Solace can be found.

We'd called the last season Senior Year and here, today, as I prepare to present the final episode to an audience of friends, colleagues, and family, I find myself feeling the same way I did on Graduation day at Chowchilla Union High, all those years ago. The mosaic of faces I'd grown accustomed to seeing day after day would regroup for one last event, one last celebration of our lives together and what we'd done, and then it would be gone but for the transcendent threads of memory waiting to resonant down through the years. I didn't want that day to happen either and fervently wished for it to be rescheduled, rethought, removed and recalled.

Somehow I get the feeling that today's wish will not be granted either. So this day, like that one, will wax and wane and all I can do is ride the wave and let it carry me where it will.

Thank you, all of you for coming here through the years. The shippers and the haters, and everyone in between; you've watched and you've posted and you've been a touchstone for my experience with the audience ever since that night back in 2003 when we first declared that the Cylons were created by Man and things were going to be different. It's been a genuine pleasure to surf your thoughts, rants, questions, snarks, complaints, praise, and humor as you watched our story play out and rest assured I will be here again tomorrow poring through the posts, laughing, cursing, sometimes just shrugging at what you take away from this crazy show.

It's been an honor to be your storyteller.

~ Ronald D. Moore
About to be former Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica

What a beautiful day. I can honestly say that I have major symptoms of seasonal affective disorder by spring, and it seems that I've had renewed energy over the past week or so as the weather has risen and the dreariness has dissipated. (It helps that at midterm I'm pulling A's in both of my classes too.) I spent spring break (last week) playing through Resident Evil 4 on the Wii and taking care of Mr. Piperbacher as he recovered from his tonsillectomy. He's doing pretty good, other than having his ass kicked repeatedly by the codeine. RE4 is actually quite fun on the Wii, since the aiming system for this type of third-person shooter is simply superior to any that I've seen on any console ever. Aim with the Wiimote, move with the 'Chuck. Good stuff.

My pal Jason has been bringing his PS2 over on the weekends, and I've been hooking it up to my projector and playing God of War on a 100" screen. It's an experience any gamer could appreciate, and we have plans for another friend to bring his PS3 next time.

I bought a Ruger Mark III bull-barrel pistola on Saturday. Due to the three-day waiting period, while I would be able to pick it up today I likely won't have time before the shop closes. Charley asked me if I'd take photos of another Harley and sell it for him when I get home. That's how we have a good time.

Beyotch just called to tell me that the ye olden gun shoppe is open until 6pm, so I'll probably have time to do both!

Today's class confirmed a long-standing personal observation. Those with the least to say speak the loudest and most frequently.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200902130016

Try ctrl + F, you pill-popping wingnut.

Great Superbowl. The Steelers won, but the game was a lot closer than everyone (else) expected. I've been arguing on behalf of the Cardinal's offense for the past few weeks, but predicted that Pittsburgh would squeek it out.

Lots of blockbuster movie trailers were tossed at us.

And YIKES. "In 1982, John Carpenter released The Thing, the second film to be spawned from John W. Campbell Jr.'s short story "Who Goes There." Universal has officially announced today that Ronald D. Moore, the mastermind behind such groundbreaking shows as "Carnivale" and "Battlestar Galactica," will pen the script for the prequel which focuses on a Norwegian camp overrun by shape-shifting aliens."

I'm super psyched. I just read my first John Campbell story and learned that he originally wrote the story on which one of my favorite movies is based on. He also founded Astounding magazine (which is cool because I have a few of these pulps from the 30's and 40's), and propelled Heinlein, Asimov, and Hubbard into sci-fi greatness. He heavily supported Hubbard's Dianetic which eventually lead to the founding of Scientology. I love Campbell and hate him at the same time. I was going to buy Who Goes There?, and found that Amazon sells the kindle story for just under FIVE dollars, which is a bit insane. I've yet to find a decent print version the story. But alas...Ronald Moore + The Thing is a very promising endeavor.

Oh sweet...Who Goes There?...online for free:
http://www.scaryforkids.com/who-goes-there-by-john-w-campbell/

I came to work today all Shackletonlike and shit. We had a foot of snow drop on us overnight and some of the roads are damn near impassable this morning. They delayed classes until noon.

Conehead Jerry? Ze Pope?

From January 2009

John Carpenter's The Thing, G.I. Joe action figures, stop-motion animation, and a band named "Zombie Zombie".

When did Chris Cornell turn into Christina Aguilera? His two new songs reek of dance club mediocrity. I won't bother linking to them, but one is called Scream....ironically I used to be a big fan when he used to do just that. I guess the throat problems/surgery might take that away though. I saw his solo concert just before he joined Audiosuck and it was rather lackluster.

My dad went back in the hospital over the weekend for tests after having apparent circulation problems and uncontrollable sweating. He's home and none the wiser, only now they're calling it "the massive heart attack" instead of "the heart attack".

Now that I've (finally) realized there is a Starbucks in a classroom building here on campus, I've been unsuccessfully controlling my desire for White Chocolate Mochas. The tall (small!) size has almost 400 calories at $3.75 a pop. Damnable temptation.

Oh neato. The Bush administration didn't feel the need to actually keep records or case files on the people they were holding prisoner in Gitmo. Why is this not surprising?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012401702.html

(4:19:56 PM) charasan: After that, world domination.
(4:20:22 PM) charasan: You can have Australia.
(4:20:35 PM) charasan: I keep New Zealand, though.
(4:21:50 PM) charasan: Don't ask.
(4:24:21 PM) grindbastard: that's fine
(4:24:34 PM) grindbastard: australia is the closest antipodal location to the united states
(4:24:44 PM) grindbastard: so once i have the states, and australia
(4:24:54 PM) grindbastard: i establish diametrical dominance.
(4:25:10 PM) charasan: There won't be any states left. Unfortunately, they'll have to go.
(4:25:59 PM) charasan: Too problematic.
(4:26:12 PM) grindbastard: agreed
(4:26:26 PM) grindbastard: by 'the states' i meant the boundary formerly known as the u.s.
(4:26:34 PM) charasan: Aye
(4:26:49 PM) charasan: Not the Australian states, obviously.
(4:27:09 PM) charasan: Is Australia considered a continent and a country?
(4:27:19 PM) charasan: I was always a bit confused by that...
(4:27:54 PM) charasan: IF you send me a letmegooglethat link, Palestine gets nuked first.
(4:28:04 PM) grindbastard: :D

BLAST. (and damn.) My prof just canceled class today. I think I need a white chocolate mocha to cheer up..

Sit up straight and take your left hand off your face. You're enough of a mess.

David Lee Roth soundboard:
http://www.thetyser.com/

Doh...I started reading SF class material an hour and half ago and somehow got lost in internerd land again. The Vampire Wars facebook app is a black-hole for an OCD susceptible monkey like myself.

My dad is home...gotta stop by and check on him this evening.

Which has been a more important influence on modern society or has had a larger cultural relevance: George Orwell's 1984 or Van Halen's 1984? Discuss.

(http://decibelmagazine.com/Forum.aspx?did=260244)\

The least sane part of me wants to do this.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Michael Vick on the Bears? Newsflash: Chicago Suntimes reporter Carol Slezak needs to step away from the crackpipe.

U.S. congressional members get a $4,700 pay raise this week. I'm somewhat in limbo while I wait to see if I get the admin job I interviewed for prior to the holiday break. I've got a class schedule and a real estate gig lying on the table if I don't get it, and an office and pay raise coming if I do. That's anyone's guess...I'm not holding my breath.

If I maintain this semester's class schedule then I'll have a Social Criticism of Science Fiction class with the following books on the required reading list:
Blade Runner - Dick
Time Machine - Wells
Island of Dr. Moreau - Wells
Left Hand of Darkness - Leguin
Year's Best SF 10 - Hartwell
Coyote: Novel of Insterstellar Explorat - Steele

This year I resolve to brush my teeth every day while at work. I resolve to maybe try out iTunes again now that it's DRM-free. I resolve to listen to MUSIC at work again (if I get the job with the office that is)! I resolve to...?

The most profound offering I've ever witnessed on YTMND: http://thefutureofourworld.ytmnd.com/
While many of us believe that John Frum America will save us, A Christian youth worker told me how he thought the cult was childish. "It's like a baby playing games," he insisted. "Those people are holding on to a dream that will never come true," he said. That, my friends, is irony.

Beyotch, her ma, and myself saw The Nutcracker by the Chicago Festival Ballet over the weekend. As I told them, I could have been content with the condensed version. Each routine would become monotonous after X amount of time and I'd begin to get a little restless until the story would progress. Ballet at any length or frequency is definitely not something I could easily acquire a taste for, but I'm glad we went. We saw a guy in the audience with the most spectacular mullet I've seen in quite some time. There was a male ballet dancer with a mullet that deserves honorable mention, but despite his tights and overall zazz his party-in-the-back paled in comparison to the aforementioned spectator. I wouldn't count on the same fortune in do-watching, so only go if you really like seeing people dance on their toes for two hours.

I haven't heard from the prof of my web-programming class yet, and he hasn't been available in his office. I'm anxious to get the plagiarism ordeal resolved and lock in my grade.