Closing off...

This will be the last posting here. All further postings will be at http://www.lympago.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b=robburble .
See you all there!

Lympago on-line

After many delays, and a number of silly problems, the http://www.lympago.com site is up at last.
Mostly replicating our old homepages at WestNet, it also includes a set of discussion and news boards, and there will be more to come over the next few weeks.
Enjoy!

Ahoy there! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

And if ye be steering a course for that fine plunderer Leece the Blade's home port ye'll see the log for the day's adventures!
Now I must be off to deal with the navy blaggards that be bombarding me skull...from the inside...

On-Call

I've now been on back-up, or on-call for two weeks. This is the usual stint, and it is always the last 10 hours or so that get to be a real drag. Sigh.
More importantly, our friend Steveg, who was in a severe car accident just over a week ago, is now out of ICU.
I've also just spent some long overdue time updating Leece's page, which now looks a lot better.
Meantime, I'm looking forward to doing some riding tomorrow. Maybe some caching, but more likely sniffing around the old dredge at Herdsman's Lake, and getting some decent photos of what is going on there.

Edited by author 25-08-2004 07:51
So I was half right (right song, wrong episode)!

"This is a chemist's, not a joke shop."

Edited by author 24-08-2004 19:06
And to re-enforce the depth of my sad-fanness, I can tell you that the pub song was House of Fun, and that Our House was the 'in the street' song in Sick.
Without checking.
To quote:
N:Has Mike gone to get the cure?
V:No, Neil, its Madness this week!

They did "Our House" and also "House of Fun".

Yes, I should have know. I blame the fact that all Madness songs sound more or less the same.

Didn't they appear in two episodes? Once in the pub in Boring and on the footpath in..er..another one? Or am I getting confused with the video clips?

Tsk, tsk, Posskins!
I am ashamed of you. You of all people should have remembered it was Our House in that episode!

Your pennance...hmmm...Ah-ha! You shall be forced to watch season two!
Bwhahahahahhahah[cough][cough][wheeze][choke][cough]
(weakly)...later...

Edited by author 23-08-2004 07:49
"Good morning, miss."
"Can I help you son?"
"Sixteen today and up for fun. I'm a big boy now or so they so if you'll serve I'll be on my way."

Sick

The flu. Day 4. After two and a half days of fever, dry coughing and no energy at all, I appear to be starting on the way to being on the mend. Maybe. The fever seems to be gone, and the dry cough is getting less frequent - as long as I don't talk. We'll see how I am tomorrow before deciding if I actually am on the mend.
There is a new drug around, according to my GP, which will pretty much hit this flu on the head. But only if you start taking it in the first 24 hours. This I find out at around the 60 hour mark - so see your quack nice and early on this one.
For me, it's too late, and so it's the old story of forcing yourself to eat food you can't taste, and drinking huge amounts of juice, fruit tea and water, taking vitamin C, and various herbals to try and bolster the immune system. And a combination of anti-pyretics, decongestants, analgesics and cough suppressants to keep the symptoms down. And sleep. Lots of sleep.
Interestingly, today is the first day that I can think clearly since day one. Days two and three are sort of a vague blur. I know I sat in the lounge room, and alternated between watching Discovery/History/TechTV/Cartoon Network and sleeping. But what actually happened? I'd br hard pressed to tell you.

On an almost unrelated note, has anyone else ever noticed that people blogs read like a list of episodes of The Young Ones or Blackadder? Visit almost any blog, and read the entry titles. See? So, by rights, I should be having a ska band rock up outside any minute now...

Geez, not fair, Rob & Poss get the action flicks, and I get Schindler's List. And Mother Theresa. I don't think I'm that selfless really.

And I am Apocalypse Now - a rougue whatsist wandering on the river of life searching for my shadow thingie.

Well there you go.

More silly test whatsits....
According to What Famous Leader Are You? I am JFK ... which I find somewhat disturbing. OTOH, What Classic Movie Are You? says that I am Raiders of the Lost Ark. Which I think is pretty cool, all things considered :-)

Basically, he says, basically kicked me out of Asia.
More like resoundingly, if you ask me. I was there, I know.
It was very impressive.

Edited by author 14-08-2004 09:50

Gaming

Last night we had a very depleted set of gamers. Just the three of us, in fact. Steveg, Leece and myself.
So we decided to give three player Attack! a go. What fun. Steveg played the communists, Leece the monarchists, an myself the fascists.
Despite having most of my (largely irreplaceable) oil burnt by Leece's sabetures, and having a very limited ability to actually do stuff, I managed to accumulate a large stockpile of production while Steveg and Leece brought the game to the brink of ending. And then stopped, because neither was certain of a clear win. I then took this opportunity to spend all put accumulated production, and attack Leece - and basically kicked her out of Asia!
I thought I'd managed to force a new balance with Steveg, but I'd miscounted, and he then won by 7 points, thanks to his neutral friends.
A very quick and nasty game with three players. Four would have been a little better, IMHO.
Now we're off to give the MityBoy a heart transplant!

"I've got a Dell Poweredge to strip, a web-server to build, and a DMZ card to add to the firewall."

"I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it...I'm swamped."

"Try to get some rest, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything."

Ouch

Went climbing last night, after skipping two sessions. At Leece's request, we concentrated on arm and technique work. An hour and a bit later we were dead enough that I could only hold on the finger-board for less than a second.
This morning, my hands hurt.
We had a win yesterday, thanks to Mitch, who directed us to cheap Babylon 5 box-sets at Big W. Leece boldly went forth, and grabbed seasons 1 and 2. I'll try for 3 today.
The weekend looks busy. I've got a Dell Poweredge to strip, a web-server to build, and a DMZ card to add to the firewall. Fun!
Who knows, we might get some exercise in amongst it all, too!

BANG!

Feel better now, my dear?

Edited by author 10-08-2004 19:51

Gibber

What a few days it has been. MST3K with Poss was good. Building a GPS cable for my Newt was good. Kitchen Chemistry is waayyy coool!
Not so good: Trying to track down all the bits of a system that was never designed, but evolved. Ugh.
Now I'm relaxing - taking a night off from climbing - to drink cinnamon/hazelnut espresso, eat caramel mud cake, chocolate butter-snap biscuits and 85% dark chocolate.
Yum.
Meantime, I'm starting to plan out building a web-server. Not installing one. Building it. Including case. Wheee!
I'm a modder! K3w1 D00dZ!
(Shoot me now, please...)

Not really strange, we just must have attracted each other. Like a binary solar system or something...

Prompted by Leece's go, I had a go at this...
Category VI - The Strange Attractor
Though you're not quite sure why, people are drawn to you like moths to a flame. You really are too cool for words.
What Type of Social Entity are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Well, that's an egoboo! Although it's kind of odd to have two of these in the same house...

Fforde for Thought

In preparation for the impending Australian release of "Something Rotten", the latest of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books, I have been re-reading the earlier volumes, "The Eyre Affair", "Lost in a Good Book", and "The Well of Lost Plots".
Mr Fforde is an ... interesting writer. He is witty, stylish, clever, inventive, and takes you tearing off at right-angles to everything that you think you understood. And then demolishes everything that is held dear about The Classics. His characters are ones you can feel about - love, hate, fear and pity, and his plots are more twisted than the machinations of a Danish prince.
And, on top of all of that, he is thoroughly funny. The sort of funny that you can return to over, and over again, and find new things to laugh at each time.
Pterry is right to watch Jasper nervously. (As he states in his blurb.(I wonder if he wrote it?))
And remember to keep an eye out for upgrades to your books!
May you never encounter a mispeling vyrus.

Triplets of Bellville

Just got home from seeing The Triplets of Bellville.
Boggle.
What a stunning little movie!
Some caveats: It is very much in the 1930's style of cartoon - except for the very 00's sensibilities. And the story-line is likewise very 30's ... with 00's sensibilities. So don't expect cutting edge 3d models.
With that said, I can now get on with enjoying it!
Now, although the style is in the 30's, the production is pure 00's. Very careful use of 2 and 3d models and backgrounds, combined with a very effective use of scratch and broadcast filters, and a ... well Larsonesque world-view gives this unique look and feel.
The introduction, with it's strong 1930s style of animation and sight-gags leads you into the world of the would-be Tour de France cyclist Champion and his grandmother. (Look out for a conductor who could only be Harpo!) And what a world it is. French wine mafiosai, mouse-like engineers, liners that re-define 'tall ships', and an entire city of the ugliest americans you will ever see.
And the Triplets. Now 50 years past their prime, they are still doing shows, and, although odd, seem to be managing quite well enough for them. They clearly have lost some of their marbles, but they seem to have picked up something else in trade. What, I'm not sure ... but it seems to do a similar job. Of them, I will say little more, so as to not spoil their surprises.
The chase scenes that we are treated to pay homage to the truely great cartoon and movie chase sequences of all time, and are, alone, worth the price of admission.
The plot is ... slapstick. On Steroids. Or something, anyway. It possesses the same twisted logic of the best of the Marx Brothers and the Goons, and mere common sense should not be allowed to interfere, but should be firmly ushered out of the building, into a taxi, and parcelled off onto an overseas flight. The you can enjoy the story of a grandmother off to rescue her grandson.
All up - a must see.
I only have one question. Where did she get them all from?
That's all for tonight. Enjoy your frog-on-a-stick!

Edited by author 01-08-2004 01:23
Gaming Day
Hot on the heels of the quiz night, we had a gaming day with some of our friends. Present were:

• Bronwyn
• Jason M
• Karl
• Jocelyn
• Steveg
• Mark S
• Gary W
• Leece
• Myself
  

First up was a nine-player game of Eagle Games' "Attack!", with the expansion. Before revealing the results, I would like to point out that, whilst we had a great time, we will be very unlikely to do a nine-player game of it again. The game ran for exactly two rounds, before ending with the 13th Eagle card being played.
At the end, the scores were:

• 28 Leece (By getting a political action that claimed a spot right next to Gary's depopulated capital, and surrounded by depopulated regions. Which she took over.)
• 26 Gary W
• 22 Steveg (Thanks to a late run of political blitzes and incursions into Mark's territories.)
• 20 Jason M
• 17 Karl
• 16 Mark S (Who would have beaten Karl and Jason, if it had not been for Steveg's last-ditch predations.)
• 14 Bronwyn
• 14 Myself
• 11 Jocelyn (Despite claiming Steveg's capital on the first turn.)
  

After that 7 hour game, we had a round of "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Game", which I won by some 6 spaces, broke for dinner, and tried out Jason's new game 'Citadels', which Leece won very convincingly.
To finish up, we had a game of Australian Menagarie. This very cool educational game is well worth hunting down. Fortunately it is readily available from the publisher Wild Connect, and is well-priced.
The results were:

• Jason and Rob - 93
• Mark & Leece - 65
• Karl & Jocelyn - 65
  

Strictly we should have played to 100 points, but by this stage it was midnight, so we decided to pack it in after two rounds.
Overall, every seemed to have had a good time, despite various early departures - first Steveg (for JAFWA), then Bron (for a family do), and lastly Gary, back to his family.
Thanks everyone!

And that was the quiz night that was!
The GCon quiz looks like it was a success (as seen from the Judges table). The switch and server donated by Computer RecycleIT saw one young lady buy nearly half the raffle tickets - and she was seen gleefully making off with the Synoptics 16*10/100 switch. Our timekeeper then won the HulkX bust donated by Empire Memorabillia, and then the first winner's tablemate made off with the dual processor server!
The winning table were so thrilled with the T-shirts Leece donated, that they did not even want to swap any for different colours or sizes!
M^2, abley assisted by John, were our MCs, and Poss our third judge. In practice, Leece and Poss did most of the marking, and I took care of the scoring. Now we wait, with bated breath, for the photos...
And we're sooooo hyped!
What are we, Leece?
leece:"Hyped!"

Edited by author 28-07-2004 11:53
Well, just outside of work the car started blowing smoke. I figure either rings or the head. Based on past experience, I'm going for the head. Good thing that I have a new engine coming up from Margaret River. Go the Mity Boy Club!

Meantime, we've just about got everything ready for the GenghisCon Quiz on Thursday. Last night we spent quite some time on the table quizzes (bwahhahah), and adding a few last bits and pieces to the prize bundle. It's going to be a great night!

The recipe for Mole Chicken is now up.
Enjoy!

Mmmmmm.....chocolate chicken.....

<animal>Ok....Dudley...</animal>

Edited by author 25-07-2004 00:14
Well, that was Saturday...
Mole Chicken for dinner with Poss, gently accompanied by Muppets, a (to use Leece's term) Koranime piece called 'Wonderful Days', and finishing up with MST3K #407 - 'The Killer Shrews'. (Note: None of these were called 'Katherine'.)
Wonderful Days was something I purchased on spec from Empire, after seeing the very cool menus. It has turned out to be every bit as good as we could have hoped. From Korea, it has a very ironic title, and is set sometime after a massive environmental apocalypse. Very violent in places, but (even worse) not very explicit. It leaves the really nasty bits up to your imagination. It is also very, very good. Solid plot, good characters, stunning 3D and 2D blended animation, and very good music. And NOT anime - ohh no!
From the sublime to the ridiculous, we finished up the night with 'The Killer Shrews'. Hmmm.. what to say? Well, Joel and the Bots had fun. And seeing Frank drink the Killer Shrew cocktail was a sight to behold!
As for dinner itself, Mole Chicken is a Mexican/South American dish of chicken, chilli and cocoa. Although this sounds an unlikely mix, it turns out a stunningly well balanced mix of flavours. Check out my recipes page for the recipe sometime tomorrow. Yumm!

Edited by author 22-07-2004 16:15
More generator sadness....
My japanese name is 黒川 Kurokawa (black river) 聖人 Masato (sacred person).

Leece's japanese name is 藤原 Fujiwara (wisteria fields) 久美子 Kumiko (eternal beautiful child).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

State: unknown
Mode: On call
Mood: Bewildered.
Well, it's 2am local time. I've been up 21 hours now, and I've prolly got another 1 1/2 hours to go before getting to turn in.
Leece has been busy in the meantime working on her shop, adding some really cool dragon mugs and some gryphons as well.
This has been a bit of a rare event in my on-call history. Normally you get one bad day, and the rest are pretty much trivial or non-existant, or you have a constant low level of activity. This time it's been two big things, and a couple of middle-sized ones in between. Ah well, the joys of being a sysadmin...

Added a very silly 'make yourself a cocktail' quiz to my About me page.

Many thanks to Fred Herriot for this!

And now for a dark and stormy day... the results of this year's Bulwer-Lytton writing contest:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?p...ory_21-7-2004_pg9_1

Edited by author 20-07-2004 16:53
Still haven't a clue as to what happened to ep401. Coming up next is 'Teenagers from Outer Space', which, given the plot-line, should have been a Japanese saga.

Current mode: On-call.
Current state: stuffed.
Current mood: stunned by http://imgseek.sourceforge.net/ - Google - eat your heart out!

Waaaaah! Poss wrote in your blog and didn't write in mine!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Hello Rob! We didn't end up being trapped in the company of said genius janitor, did we? I tried the disk on the old SARS machine and it too sounded like the film was being MSTIED by Paul Robeson and Chef.

Ah well, it was fun watched Cadders.

Just finished adding the photos from the first round of this year's bouldering competition http://members.westnet.com.au/rdm/BC/1-2004/gallery.html

The link to the caption discussion is below...

Well, the MST3K for tomorrow night is episode 401: Space Travellers. This is a re-edit of the brilliant, and prophetic, movie "Marooned". Space Travellers makes it more like it would be. Slow, tortured and boring. Unless you've got the company of a trapped genius janitor, and his wise-cracking robot pals, that is!

Edited by author 16-07-2004 16:08
Finally gave up, set up QT space, and installed a JS link to here.
Current Status: On backup. 2 days to oncall.
Plans: 6 player Age of Mythology tomorrow night! MST3K on Saturday.