My previous entry on Battlestar Galactica spurred this discussion in chizat:

10:44:33 [shasticon] I’ll also put even money on a “BUT LAUREN GRAHAM IS A KILLER ROBOT!” response

10:45:40 [legomancer] which would explain a lot

10:54:28 [legomancer] the thing about Lauren Graham as a killer robot is, I learned from Ridley Scott that to make her one, all you have to do is say she is one!

10:54:35 [legomancer] nothing in the show needs to support it!

10:54:47 [shasticon] After the fact, even.

10:56:02 [legomancer] yep!

10:58:23 [shasticon] I’d really like to see that technique more widely used.

11:00:17 [shasticon] In I, Robot, Will Smith was actually a robot!

11:01:17 [shasticon] In Robot Jox, the robot pilots who drive the giant robots are also robots!

11:01:18 [legomancer] I’m reading Jane Eyre right now and so far I see no evidence that Jane isn’t a robot

11:03:07 [discordanian] There’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you guys . . .

11:05:07 [legomancer] it’s Sophia, isn’t it? I always suspected as much

11:09:40 [shasticon] Actually, lego, what Kurt’s trying to say is that there’s a particular reason you dislike the idea of robots who look like humans.

11:11:25 [legomancer] so THAT’S why Gaff left that origami unicorn in my apartment!

We then moved onto other topics, but I thought back on this exchange and I realize, I love being a geek. What the hell do “normal” people talk about all day long while we’re talking about whether or not Lauren Graham is a killer robot? I couldn’t imagine trading conversations like the above for talking about how well local sports team did this weekend or American Idol or whatever.

Anyway, just wanted to share this moment of geek epiphany with you all.

Becky started up a Netflix subscription again, and I decided to put a request of my own into the queue: the miniseries that was the premier of the new version of Battlestar Galactica. I’ve heard a lot about this series and so I thought I’d check it out.

It’s finally arrived, made the long journey from Netflix HQ to my coffee table, and now that it only has about two more feet to travel before I can watch it, I find myself wondering: why did I order this?

Becky’s gonna thump me, but I’m realizing I have absolutely zero interest in this thing. I’m not a huge Galactica fanboy; I barely watched the original series back in the late 70s. I don’t have any antipathy towards it, but no particular fondness either.

One of the only things I can put my finger on as a reason to be predisposed against this new incarnation is a big deal-breaker for me, though.

This:

is a Cylon.

Granted, it’s not what all the Cylons look like, but it is a robot bent on destroying humanity. And I just can’t support that. Science fiction with robots that look just like humans is like porn without naked people. What’s the point? Telling me, “Look, a robot!” and showing me a picture of a normal person is a cruel trick.

I can flip to any channel and not see robots. In fact, a goodly portion of my cable TV package seems to be devoted to not robots. I sure don’t need to watch a three hour movie or however long it is to not see more.

However, if I could be convinced that human-shaped robots were a good thing, that’s something I could totally use to my advantage. For instance, I could stand to be in the same room as Becky’s Gilmore Girls if I could pretend that at least one of the characters was an evil robot bent on destroying all the others. (I would probably distract Becky, though, with my constant shouting of “For God’s sake can we start the killing already?”) After all, if that person above could be a killer robot, why not this one?

So I dunno. Maybe in order not to be thumped I’ll go ahead and give it a spin. Maybe I’ll be convinced to grab the rest of the series. Maybe I’ll learn to love human shaped robots and wonder how I ever felt otherwise. Or, and this is possibly more likely, I’ll just toss it back in the mail and give up my right to add anything to the queue.

You people are in for a treat, let me tell you. Dave Thiel, friend to children, recently picked up a gift for me at a gaming convention: my very own copy of The World of Synnibarr RPG. What is the World of Synnibarr? Just the most ridiculous RPG ever^*, is all!

I will have to thoroughly investigate the rulebook (and the ancillary volume that Dave also got for me, The Ultimate Adventurer’s Guide) before I can really show you all the madness within it. Until that, you’ll simply have to make do with this photo from the book of the game’s creator, Raven c.s. McCracken:

What can I tell you about Mr. c.s. McCracken? Well, according to the “About the Author” blurb:

Most of the concepts in The World of Synnibarr come from Raven’s real-life experiences, trying to make the gaming rules logical and as believable as possible. He has worn armor, fought with weapons, dodged arrows, rode horses, participated in live gaming, run races, acted, performed magic tricks, jumped off diving boards, flown airplanes, fought in life-and-death situations, and fired guns, all of which makes The World of Synnibarr ring with authenticity.

So if you’re thinking about cracking on McCracken, keep in mind that this man has jumped off diving boards. Not only that, the biography goes on to say that he is designing an electric vehicle.

I know you all can’t wait to visit The World of Synnibarr, so I’ll get to poring through this tome with all speed! Soon you too will know who would win in a fight between a Bio-Syntha Cyborg and this guy:

UPDATE!

Always Remember:

—

^* To be fair, many RPGs vie for this title, so I should probably call it “one of the most ridiculous”. That’s only counting, of course, RPGs that didn’t set out to be ridiculous.

Here’s something strange about me that not many people know. Somewhere along the way I got the notion in my head that I’m gonna get 80 years out of my time on Earth. I have no idea why I feel that way, I just do.

As a bizarre side-effect of this belief, when I see death announcements, I have to figure out how old the individual was. If they were less than 80 when they died, it bugs me, as though somehow their not living to that arbitrary goal diminishes the possibility of my doing so. And naturally, if they were over 80 when they did the Mortal Coil Shuffle, I get a sense of strange relief.

So hey, Darren McGavin (83) and Don Knotts (81), not only have you left an entertainment legacy behind you, you also made me feel a little better, for perverse reasons.

It’s time for another mp3!

I’ve been listening to a lot of tunes lately, trying to choose some candidates for my next mix CD. One of them, the song “Playboy” by the band (guy?) Hot Chip, made an interesting quick trip from “too weird” to “actually, kind of interesting” to “I think I like this” to “damn, I want to listen to that again.” It’s the chorus that does it. It comes out of nowhere, grabs you by the head, and swings you around before disappearing again. This tune is off the album Coming on Strong.

Hot Chip — Playboy (mp3)

As a bonus, the song namechecks the band Yo La Tengo, which finally forced me to check them out. Here’s a pleasant track of theirs from the album I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One.

Yo La Tengo — Center of Gravity (mp3)

As usual, the links will stay active for about a week or so. Enjoy!

(Incidentally, I’m thinking that Sunday might be mp3 day here on Dave Ex Machina. Saturday and Sunday are always the days I never have anything new, and now that I can do automatic linkblogging on Saturdays, automatic mp3 blogging might be a nice choice for Sundays.)

Write Your Own Silver Age Green Arrow Story!

1) Choose a noun: ________

2) Now, insert that noun into every space in the story below.

3) Enjoy your story!

GREEN ARROW: THE BIZARRE ________ CRIMES OF THE ________ MASTER!

Person 1: Oh my! Look at that man with the ________. I wonder what it’s for.

Person 2: He — he’s comitting a crime with it!

________ MASTER: Ha ha ha! This ________ will enable me to steal these jewels!

[Later]

Person 1: Gah! A giant ________!

Person 2: It’s headed for the bank!

________ MASTER: Robbing this bank is child’s play with my giant ________!

[Across town]

Speedy: The arrow signal! Let’s get dressed!

[Green Arrow and Speedy show up in Arrowcar.]

GA: Someone is robbing the bank with a giant ________! Quick, the catapult!

Speedy: Our arrows are useless against that ________!

________ MASTER: I knew my ________ would triumph over Green Arrow!

GA: I’m stumped, Speedy!

Speedy: How can we possibly win against that ________?

GA: Wait! I have an idea!

[Later]

________ MASTER: No one can stop me from robbing this armored car!

GA: Ha! I will! This ridiculous arrow we’ve never used before will stop your ________ cold!

________ MASTER: Argh!

Speedy: The armored car is saved!

GA: Of course! You see, the arrow negates the effect of the ________!

Speedy: That makes no sense, but we’re out of panels!

GA: The only ________s he’ll be seeing from now on will be inside a prison cell!

GA & Speedy: Ha ha ha!

THE END

(I feel bad for cracking on Green Arrow again, but what ya gonna do?)

Shared bookmarks for del.icio.us user
Legomancer

• CCG Workshop
  Website for playing CCG games online.
  Tagged as: [games]
• Top 50 Music Videos Of 2005
  People still make music videos, so I assume they still get shown somewhere. Here’s fifty of them from last year, and the first on the list is quite disturbing.
  Tagged as: [list music video]
• Stanislav Petrov
  Wikipedia entry on the unknown man who saved the world in 1983.
  Tagged as: [history scary]
• Grid Game
  Neat little flash app. Not so much a game, as a toy.
  Tagged as: [flash toy]
• BrickQuest: Fantasy Boardgaming in an ABS Universe
  A fantasy boardgame using lego pieces!
  Tagged as: [games lego]
• micropul Flash game
  Flash version of the make-it-yourself boardgame "micropul". Page is in Japanese, but there’s a link to the rules in English and the game itself has no text.
  Tagged as: [flash fun games]
• junklog
  Interesting idea, I suppose, though it doesn’t seem to have been widely picked up on.
  Tagged as: [list review]
• Kaliko Online
  Freakin hard java version of the boardgame Kaliko. The AI is a demon. Doesn’t help that I only have a shaky grasp of the actual rules.
  Tagged as: [games java]
• ISO50
  T-Shirt I’d love to have.
  Tagged as: [clothes wishlist]
• Timing is everything
  Amazing gallery of captured moments.
  Tagged as: [cool photo]
• DeLay disputes charges of abuse in Saipan
  More on America’s sweatshops
  Tagged as: [business crime politics]
• CHOICE - The Ultimate Dice Game
  Java implementation of a Sid Sackson dice game, reminiscent of Can’t Stop
  Tagged as: [games java]
• The Always Amusing Euphemism Generator
  "They were hoping the neighbors couldn’t see them pinching the moose."
  Tagged as: [funny random words]
• Schoolboy’s bias suit
  "The system is designed to the disadvantage of males," Anglin said. ”From the elementary level, they establish a philosophy that if you sit down, follow orders, and listen to what they say, you’ll do well and get good grades. Men naturally rebel against
  Tagged as: [gender school stupid]
• CBML: Comic Book Markup Language
  Like the man says. A proposed markup language for comic books. Not quite sure how well this would work, but an interesting idea.
  Tagged as: [comics words]
• CNN.com - The real scandal of Tom DeLay - May 9, 2005
  How the Republican party would like the workplace to look.
  Tagged as: [business crime politics]
• demonbaby: The First Annual MySpace Stupid Haircut Awards!
  An old link, but still full of funny.
  Tagged as: [comics humor stupid]
• 25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2005
  See things around the world as they happen, without leaving your chair. This is what makes the internet great.
  Tagged as: [cool travel video]
• Fantasy Grounds :: The Virtual Tabletop for Pen & Paper Roleplaying Games
  Interesting program for playing role playing games online. I know I was looking for such a thing a few years ago.
  Tagged as: [rpg software]
• Why can’t the left face the Stolen Elections of 2004 & 2008?
  Interesting article on the invisible election scandals that have jeopardized our entire democracy, and which the left has been cowed into ignoring.
  Tagged as: [crime politics]
• Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
  Compendium of "wisdom" from fundamentalist Christians around the internet.
  Tagged as: [humor religion stupid]
• The Socratic Method
  A math teacher teaches third graders how to do binary arithmetic by only asking them questions. If only students and teachers retained this level of interest.
  Tagged as: [cool math school]
• Sam Harris: Science Must Destroy Religion
  With a title like that, you know it’s going to be interesting.
  Tagged as: [religion science]
• The Rainbow Orchid
  Beautiful adventure webcomic done in gorgeous French style.
  Tagged as: [comics]
• LackeyCCG: Play any collectible card game online
  Another tool for playing CCGs online.
  Tagged as: [games]
• Cave Troll - Seattle Cosmic Wiki
  Tips for improving the FFG game Cave Troll, which I actually think isn’t bad just as it is.
  Tagged as: [games]
• Michael J. Totten: The Ghost City of Cyprus
  "Directly across the street is the edge of the Varosha ghost city. That crane in the upper-left corner has been idle for 31 years. Supposedly, according to Lonely Planet, there is a car dealership somewhere in the city that still has 1974 models in the sh
  Tagged as: [cool photo]
• A Nation Under God
  Eye-opening article on the Christian Reconstruction movement. "This is a faith in which religion is not an influence on politics; it IS politics."
  Tagged as: [politics religion]
• Are They Here to Save the World?
  Indigo children…amazing supernatural prodigies or the next generation of kooks?
  Tagged as: [kook]
• Oolsi | Be Free
  This website is a guide to a free life. How to live cheaper and better.
  Tagged as: [cool free web]
• Best Comics of 2005
  Publisher’s Weekly lists its picks of the best comics from last year. I can vouch for the quality of many of these, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
  Tagged as: [comics list]
• The Republican Dictionary
  A helpful guide to understanding English as she is spoke by Republicans.
  Tagged as: [politics words]
• Entertaible: combination of electronic gaming and traditional board games
  Behold the entertaible. Needless to say, WANT.
  Tagged as: [cool games tech wishlist]
• SpaceWeather.com — News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
  What’s up with what’s up. Your guide to what’s going on over your head.
  Tagged as: [cool science]
• Jason Leopold | Bush Authorized Domestic Spying Before 9/11
  If 9/11 authorized Bush to spy on civilians, why was he doing it BEFORE then?
  Tagged as: [crime politics]
• VASSAL Engine Web Site
  Game engine for playing boardgames online. Looks to be largely centered around wargames, but I think a few other types are present as well.
  Tagged as: [games]
• Zap! Comic Book Man hit with collecting bug
  Idiotic news story about a man that reads comics.
  Tagged as: [comics news stupid]