Thursday, July 31, 2003

Original Cartoons and Games by Camp Chaos!

Most of the toons here (and the language) are very adult in nature... however many of the anti-Mettalica and Napster toons are here, and they are pretty funny.

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

CNN.com - Bush uncertain about gay marriage ban - Jul. 2, 2003

Nothing like flip-flopping views from "Dubya"reported on the same day. Well, the stories were 28 days apart, but I read them on the same day. 28 days to give opposite views; another strike against Bush's presidency.

I'm hetro, but some of my friends are gay. I'm sick of this BS against their happiness.

CNN.com - Bush wants marriage reserved for heterosexuals - Jul. 30, 2003

He says he wants the USA to be a "welcoming country", but also wants to ban homosexuals from marriage.

Can you say hypocrite?

Tuesday, July 29, 2003

You'll find a new addition to this blog now: a Creative Commons license.

I'm not 100% sold on it's validity, but I saw Leo Laporte talk of it on Call for Help today. I wanted to protect my words.

Note that all copyrights to other people's works revert to them.

Sunday, July 27, 2003

There was a drawback to republishing my archives, but a rather small one... the original site designs were lost. Not a big thing: I'll make a new page to show the warts of this blog's genesis in thumbnail images.

I finally succeeded in republishing my archives so that they were readable!

About time. 3 years worth of material to re-code would have been exhausting work.

Saturday, July 26, 2003

Once again, a Friday Five (a day late), that interested me:

1. If your life were a movie, what would the title be?
Hmm... the filmmaker in me comes out... I'd say I Get Up Again.

2. What songs would be on the soundtrack?
Obviously Tubthumper by Chumbawumba, the title track... also Destiny's Child Survivor, Kate Bush / Peter Gabriel Don't Give Up, Queen Show Must Go On... I have to think of the others a bit. I'd dream of a musical score by John Williams, but he generally does bigger epic film scores.

3. Would it be a live-action film or animated? Why?
Live-action. This would be a story requiring real feelings, real emotional depth... animation would distance viewers from that a bit.

4. Casting: who would play you, members of your family, friends, etc?
Let me see... I'd cast Johnny Depp in my role, because he's proven to be fantastic in such complex roles. As the parents... if Annette O'Toole were a little more mature, I'd cast her as mom... maybe Diane Wiest as mom, Tommy Lee Jones as dad, Winona Ryder and Brittany Murphy as my sisters.

(I'm basing that by fitting cast to their age ranges, nothing else.)

As my best friends, I'd say Sean Astin to play Pat, Michael Rosenbaum (with hair grown in) as Mike.

5. Describe the movie preview/trailer.
(Show my character, getting a University degree)

VOICE OVER: He had the brains.

(Cut to me performing voices in a sound lab for cartoons, mixed with stage performances singing.)

VOICE OVER: He had the talent.

(Cut to a doctor's office. Mom and dad are seated with me. My right arm appears "off". The doctor is speaking to us.)

V.O.: Then, life tossed in a roadblock.

DOCTOR: You have Multiple Sclerosis.

(Cut to a montage of scenes from the film: me going through a range of emotions, learning of the suicide of a high school friend who also had MS, shots of me reading and writing, heated talks with Pat and Mike on the road in a car.)

V.O.: Follow an emotional journey of a man forced to redefine his life, to come to grips with the worst, finding the strength to go on and live.

(Close with a scene of me walking on with Canada Crutches for support. My face shows both determination and peace. The title appears on screen. The title song by Chumbawamba is playing. The announcer says the title.)

V.O.: I Get Up Again.

Friday, July 11, 2003

This week's Friday Five:

1. Do you remember your first best friend? Who was it?
That's a tough question... I was only 7 when we moved from Chomedy. I remember being friends with twin brothers, but I don't remember their names.

2. Are you still in touch with this person?
As my lack of name memory shows, no.

3. Do you have a current close friend?
There's a guy I still consider my closest friend, but I haven't seen him a lot in the past few years. Only once every few months or so.

4. How did you become friends with this person?
We met through Comicopia, the fanzine I founded 13 years ago. We learned we were born the same day, the same year, just hours apart and on different sides of Montreal. We've often referred to ourselves (and been called such by others) as Astral Twins.

5. Is there a friend from your past that you wish you were still in contact with? Why?
Actually it's three people - my friends from High School that were my clique (actually, I think we were four). I saw them all briefly once or twice years ago, but we never really kept in touch. I'd like to catch up with them.

Tuesday, July 08, 2003

Damn. I heard on the radio today that the Iranian co-joined by the head twins who'd tried surgery to separate them died.

They had stated they'd rather die than continue life so joined, but it's still sad news.

Well, it's official: thanks to the high heat and planning, I've missed my 3rd Montreal Jazz Festival in a row. Bah.

I spent it all listening to jazz radio on a TV satellite station instead.

No doubt about it: come hell or high water, I won't miss it next year. It will be the 25th anniversary festival. Such an historic event I have to be a part of.

Monday, July 07, 2003

Buddy Ebsen, who played Jed on The Beverly Hillbillies died during last evening.

On the 26th I posted about him going into hospital, and hoped he'd pull through. Looks like my hopes were for nought. sigh.

Saturday, July 05, 2003

I'm such a long-standing (and proud) comic-book nut... I just read the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Spidey gains a huge sum of money from a slimy mobster he was a bodyguard for (really, just there to stop the story's villain from killing the mobster's daughter, an innocent).

At the end of the issue we learn what he spent the money on: he puts up a plaque that reads "Future site of the Gwen Stacy memorial library".

This is really a note for those of us who were readers in the 1970s. We know the significance of Gwen - and were moved by it.

Tuesday, July 01, 2003

Today is Canada Day, my country's birthday...

Considering that I don't drink and I'm already pretty much off all the time, another day off doesn't really matter to me.

Tomorrow will potentially be a tense day in Montreal: the artificially created moving day in the city. I managed to avoid it last year, and I'm glad I don't have to worry about it this year either!