the_croupier

wow

2013-11-23T21:24:18Z

I love the show. For a long, long time. But it has ALWAYS pulled its punches.

Not this time, though. The 50th ended with a twist I never dreamed they'd have the guts to do (and one I wish the show would go with since the reboot started).

Wow. I am VERY impressed and very pleased!

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Bwah

2013-08-05T06:00:55Z

So Malcolm Tucker is the Doctor, huh?

Ooooh, this is making my head hurt. =)

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judi dench was right

2012-11-14T04:08:20Z

( Some very SPOILERY thoughts about Skyfall )

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demographics of social networks 2012

2012-08-23T23:33:32Z

Some very interesting stats here on just about every network (broadly defined) you can think of.

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LOLcode

2012-08-07T01:47:24Z

How did I never hear about this?

Witness!

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
VISIBLE "HAI WORLD!"
KTHXBYE

Or!

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
PLZ OPEN FILE "LOLCATS.TXT"?
....AWSUM THX
......VISIBLE FILE
....O NOES
......INVISIBLE "ERRROR!"
KTHXBYE

And there's even a Python library. =D

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Nausicaa!

2012-07-07T05:29:35Z

Wow, how did I ever miss these larger editions of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind?

So much better than the smaller, "perfect editions" I've had up to now. The larger edition is a set of seven big trade paperbacks, and they are SO much better for seeing the art.

If you've only seen the smaller editions, or if *gasp!* you've never actually read the series, this is the way to do it. Very much in the spirit of the movie, but even more epic and much more dense (in a totally good way!) than you might expect.

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Legend of Korra S1: I have issues

2012-06-24T16:57:41Z

Don't get me wrong: I like Legend of Korra, but....

( Sloppy writing, unsettling questions about gender and privilege, and some major missed opportunities )

Anyway, very interested in hearing what all of you think.

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mib3

2012-05-29T03:44:33Z

( Non-spoilery version = I liked it =) )

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pinball!

2012-04-15T15:52:54Z

I think this might be the best video pinball game ever: Snowball.

Very cute but also a challenge. Flippers everywhere!

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j.k. rowling's new one

2012-04-12T23:59:10Z

Her publisher has posted a summary of J.K. Rowling's upcoming novel, A Casual Vacancy.

Most authors seem to flame out horribly when their first book is a gargantuan success. It's not just that their sales never match that first triumph--how could they?--but that even the premises of their later works seem incredibly dull.

But, you know what? Reading that summary has me really looking forward to the book. It sounds like it could be hilarious and plays to her strengths.

A black comedy about petty, mean-spirited, local politics? From her? I am so completely there.

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St. Patrick's Spam Box

2012-03-17T22:53:32Z

In the box today:

"Hump me, I'm Irish!"

...I'm not even sure where to start with that one.

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"John Carter" - a non-spoilery reaction

2012-03-11T14:41:39Z

I liked it!

Disclaimer: My dad has been a lifelong Burroughs fan, so the plan always was to go see it with him and have it be something we both enjoyed. Well: mission accomplished! But I'll grant I was somewhat biased to like it, but still:

1) Yes, it's messy and tries to pack too much of the book into a movie, so some things are more rushed than they should be. But that's not as true as some reviewers are suggesting (anybody reading this has seen plenty of movies where there was a genuine problem with this). Motivations aren't as nailed down as they should be, but if you thought Thor was fine (and I did), I think you'll be happy to give John Carter a pass here too.

2) It's a fun movie to watch, partly because of its messiness, which I think comes from love for the material.

3) It finds humor in the original Burroughs but still respects its source. (That includes keeping Thark/green Martian society nearly as unpleasant as it is in the book, which I wasn't expecting.)

4) Airships! I saw the movie on an IMAX screen, and holy crap, are they pretty.

5) There are some issues with CGI people not quite having the 'weight' they should, but this was *much* less true than I was expecting from the trailers. The early scene where Carter adjusts to Martian gravity is where writer/director Andrew Stanton really shows he's a Pixar guy.

6) Dejah Thoris gets a successful makeover. Still recognizably the book character, but more dynamic in a good, post-Buffy way. Lynn Collins seems to be having fun playing her.

Are there problems? Sure! Will ashen_key and/or camwyn find things to fix? Yup. But I predict they'll be tweaks and clarifications, not major overhauls.

The cast is amazing, and fans of the series Rome should watch for an amusing pairing of two actors again. (Actually, it's three, but one of them is CGI/voice-role so her part in it isn't obvious until the credits. And they aren't the only ex-Rome people in the movie, so there's drinking game potential.) Some people do get short-changed a bit (Dominic West, etc), but just having them there helps the movie.

Anyway: yes, I'm biased. But I recommend people go see it. And an IMAX screen is worth it.

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scientists and librarians!

2012-02-14T00:22:55Z

These are great:

What a scientist looks like and

What a librarian looks like.

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in the news

2012-01-05T20:16:42Z

I'm not sure which is better: the New York Times correcting itself about My Little Pony or about baseball player nerds.

But somebody needs to warn wakeupnew about the CUPCAKES OF MASS DESTRUCTION!! D:

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the_croupier @ 2011-12-31T21:00:00

2012-01-01T02:03:42Z

There, that's better. I've created DW accounts for all my pups, and have them all prepped for importing. Most of them seem to be done already, in fact. So, yeah, that was MUCH easier than I feared it would be.

Probably more to do, especially for cleaning up layouts and such, but that can wait for later.

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catching up on LJ/DW

2011-12-30T22:33:48Z

Ok, so like I just posted on my LJ, I'm only just now catching up on all the chaos because I've been out of town for most of the past two weeks, and only heard lots of things that sounded suspiciously like the Apocalypse happening far off in the distance.

So. Still just beginning to read about the whole importing thing, which I will be doing this weekend.

Trying to respond to all notifications I've received so far from people adding or upgrading their DW's and giving me subscription/access, so I'll be doing that tomorrow.

Probably will cross-post. Wondering what the future of Mways is given all this, though I'm still catching up on posts, so maybe there's already been a huge discussion about it somewhere.

Anyway, will post more over the next couple of days.

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Updating the flist

2011-04-10T19:17:22Z

It seems like the only posts I make over here are posts about how I really need to start using this account more.

Oh, look. Here's another one.

Considering the past week on LJ, though, maybe this time I should really mean it.

Anyway, I just updated my permissions list, so I should be balanced out with everyone so far. Hoping I'll see more people pop up in the next month. It would be nice to add more people to my list.

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