Pirates of the Burley Griffin

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

2008-07-07T02:57:43Z

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is the best of the three Reel Anime releases I've seen thus far.

A reasonably thought-provoking story of time travel on a personal scale that in many ways recalls Groundhog Day, with engaging characters and a gentle romance.

As with The Vision of Escaflowne, the heart of this movie is about personal responsibility and maturity. As such it is well grounded in the characters and this provides the strength of the movie. Recommended.

EDIT: Added link to a spoilery wikipedia page. Turns out to be something of a franchise/sequel with the implication that one of the supporting characters in this film is the main character from the original.

DC does Animatrix

2008-07-07T01:34:02Z

Batman: Gotham Knight is a compilation of several shorts from three anime studios that is apparently set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

The standard of the individual shorts is generally high, and I think I liked the first segment Have I got a story for you the best, but overall doesn't really work as a movie. There are recurring characters (other than Batman), with recurring voices, and a degree of connection but not enough to form an actual plot.

Worth seeing but not spectacular.

First Law of Game Design

2008-07-06T20:45:02Z

Any rule that can be rorted will be rorted.

This is as inevitable as radioactive decay and here is a good soccer example courtesy of Snopes.

Shirow does Zombies

2008-07-03T13:33:21Z

I suppose it was overdue but Appleseed Ex Machina is a CGI riff on the zombie film.

And although visually impressive in places it is a deeply flawed film.

When you consider that the original heart of the Appleseed manga was deeply human characters (even, or especially, Briareos) the CGI becomes part of the problem - the features are so close to human that the often less than human movements of the characters becomes alien and repelling. This is particularly a problem with Deunan Knute in several scenes, but several characters from the manga ended up losing their selves in the CGI. Two of the most convincing characters were (I think) inventions for this movie which isn't a particularly good sign.

Add in a story that frankly isn't all that clever or original and you end up with something that is no more than OK. I bought the original OAV recently, I suspect that on a rewatch I'll be rating it somewhat higher than that.

Way behind target

2008-06-30T04:04:42Z

About 150Ks short for June, which means an extra 25 a month for the rest of the year (on top of April's deficit). So, 7500 will be a challenge this year but I still think it is doable.

R & R

2008-06-30T03:39:56Z

Aka Riding and Retail (therapy). What were you expecting? :)

After a long work month (160 hours!), a Saturday of not much, a Sunday of not much more, I was feeling like playing a bit on my day off.

After a good session at the gym I had breakfast at Bagels then went shopping.

I've been unhappy with my front lights for a while now - the dynamo is OK and always there - but I wanted more. Well, now I have two lW LEDs mounted on the fairing's cross bar and a helmet light where the battery pack straps to the helmet. Yay.

Plus some liners for my gloves that should improve the insulation on the killer cold mornings I'm expecting in July/Agust, a new light grey* windshell vest (the zip on the old one is busted), and a black longsleeved windstopper jacket* for walking.

Since it was such a beautiful morning I rode up to Belconnen to see if I could get a long-overdue eye test. Which I could but I'd have to do it in Civic. Since I was up there anyway I enjoyed a ride around Lake Ginninderra then back home. I'll clean up a bit and then head into Civic to get my eyes checked.

*The outdoor clothing companies seem to encourage stealth pedestrians which is one of the reasons I wanted more (and heavier duty) front lighting.

Indiana Jones & the etc

2008-06-29T06:28:51Z

Finally got round to seeing this quite enjoyable film. Mind you I was firmly in a "relaxing on a Sunday afternoon" groove so I probably would have enjoyed almost anything...

Don't expect a review. :)

A Weekend!

2008-06-28T07:09:40Z

Have to say its nice to have a weekend at the end of a twelve day week, and a long weekend at that.

Basically did nothing today which was nice but I found a collection of Larry Niven's Draco Tavern stories which is even nicer.

Beware the superficially profound. :)

2008-06-27T01:27:35Z

Disclaimer: I am not a mathematician so what follows is more in the line of philosophy. And I may have completely missed the point.

It occurred to me recently that computer systems, and in particular the software components, are in essence mathematical systems* and that Godel's Incompleteness Theorems may well apply.

ie: Every computer system has to have a fundamental assumption that is unprovable, and may well be unchangeable without a total re-write..

From a Business Analysis perspective this is yet another reminder to make your assumptions explicit otherwise a hidden axiom of the system may well bite you down the track.

Oh, and in the unlikely event of anyone being interested I've added a business analysis tag to classify my ramblings on related topics. :)

Oh really?

2008-06-24T10:56:16Z

Based on the lj interests lists of those who share my more unusual interests, the interests suggestion meme thinks I might be interested in

1. aria the natural score: 6
2. science fiction fandom score: 6
3. aria the origination score: 5
4. equality for all score: 5
5. borderlands score: 5
6. spicks and specks score: 5
7. sean williams score: 4
8. blake's 7 score: 4
9. aria score: 4
10. mythical beasts score: 4
11. western australia score: 4
12. simoun score: 3
13. theodore sturgeon score: 3
14. computer repair score: 3
15. computer information systems score: 3
16. yotsuba&! score: 3
17. harlequin romance novels score: 3
18. sequence diagrams score: 3
19. jack russell terriers score: 3
20. larry niven score: 3

changed by ouwiyaru</lj>based on code by ixwin</lj>
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Sarcasm Alert

2008-06-19T08:03:17Z

I've been hearing these unsubstantiated rumours that there's this useful thing that cyclists enjoy riding in. I believe it's called "daylight". I don't suppose there's any evidence to support this rumour anywhere?

[/Sarcasm]

Linkage for want of the energy to write a more interesting post

2008-06-17T10:49:54Z

For anyone planning a wedding comes this list from John Scalzi on how to enjoy the wedding and the marriage. Beautiful stuff

I will note that as an entirely impartial observer, Patrick and Clare seemed to get everything right. :)

Courtesy of Steveg comes this link to an exceedingly cool steampunk recumbent trike.

Yes the thing would be damned heavy but even so, WANT! :)

The Perfect Australian Bird

2008-06-16T03:28:27Z

They're loud, raucous, practical jokers and inveterate litterbugs.

Of course I can only be talking about the The Sulphur Crested Cockatoo!

At lunch today I was walking along a tree lined path watching a rain of twigs etc fall from the trees on a clear windless day. The reason for this was obvious once you saw the swarm of cockies on the ground picking through the debris.

Raark!

Priceless!

2008-06-15T12:20:03Z

more cat pictures

Brevity is the soul of wit

2008-06-15T12:00:49Z

Via stephbg it appears to be one of my few virtues

Created by OnePlusYou

I suspect it only looks at recent posts which means some of the epics like the trike or anime reviews were omitted.

Well, that's disappointing

2008-06-15T11:53:42Z

Halfway through the month and I've only got ~240Ks in, which is about 80Ks short of where I need to be.

Given that I'm probably working next weekend I'm going to be well short of 3750 for the year come 1 July. Sigh.

You just gotta laugh

2008-06-13T08:46:57Z

Headed off nice and early to the gym this morning so I could get in a good cardio session prior to the weights work. Only to realise halfway there that I'd left the bike lock at home. So I turned around and raced home to get it.

And as soon as I turned around it started raining.

When I left home again it was closer to my usual departure time...and it had stopped raining. :)

Well, that explains a lot.

2008-06-11T07:53:41Z

Cane toads appear to be invulnerable.

It also appears to be the case that Sudoku is more interesting than jury duty.

Stuff

2008-06-09T01:44:12Z

Had a very pleasant ride with Patrick yesterday, followed by an OK game of the WWII variant of Wings of War.

Granted that it may be unfair to dismiss this variant after only one game but it just didn't seem to work as well. I think that both of us definitely prefer the WWI variant and I'm not all that likely to buy more of the WWII version.

Cycling is good for you. Maybe not so much for the environment though.

2008-06-07T04:50:31Z

Courtesy of ecovelo's comes some evidence of what should be obvious: cycling is good for you.

In particular this Australian study, and this Danish one show that even with the risks of cycling in traffic, you're still better off in terms of longevity.

Of course, longevity is good for the economy in terms of productivity but also increases the duration of your carbon footprint* so there may well be environmental penalties from cycling as well.

*In case you're wondering, yes, I have used this link before, and there was some interesting discussion last time around.

Good, that seems to be working.

2008-06-04T07:02:40Z

Last night I had the somewhat disturbing experience of the dynamo not engaging properly on the wheel due to the wet conditions. ie I was riding on dark wet roads with no headlight.

I got home and experimented by rotating the dynamo mounting so that it is more centred on the tyre. This morning the roads were still wet but the dynamo seemed to be working fine.

It does raise the possibility of having to adjust the dynamo mounting whenever I change the type of tyre used on the rear wheel. Mind you I've only done that once so far so not really a big deal.

Sometimes it just doesn't matter how careful you are

2008-06-03T01:33:58Z

Not even the police escort saved these cyclists.

WARNING: the news article behind the link has a quite shocking photograph.

Obviously you should be careful as a cyclist on the roads, but sometimes it just won't matter. :(

News of the weird...

2008-06-02T06:45:45Z

Idiot survives using a revolver as a backscratcher.

Meanwhile, someone else gets fined for assault with a hedgehog.

Hinges, Weather Gods, and Fitness Irony

2008-06-01T22:26:19Z

I've fixed the problem with the fairing so now I can stand up when getting on/off, and given myself more clearance underneath. All good. Also amusing is the extent to which the weather gods continue to mock me. :)

The mounting on the boom is in three pieces, in order of ascending height: a fixed piece strapped to the boom, a hinge, and the T-bar that connects to the perspex. It turned out that the hinge was in the position that pulled the fairing as far back to the seat as possible and also blocked the T-bar from pivoting far enough forward to let me get off easily.

So, remove T-bar, rotate hinge 180 degrees, replace T-bar, voila! And the only tools needed are the allen keys that are always with me anyway. Once I realised what was needed I actually did it in the field in about 5 minutes.

Now as to the mockery of the weather gods, one reason that the fairing went back on was to cut down the wind chill on cold mornings. So, no wind and a quite mild 9 degrees celsius this morning. Apparently it is going to be like this all week. :)

Finally the new personal trainer has me doing some leg work which will probably boost my power in the long term In the short term, trying to put on a power sprint after a session that involved calf raises and leg extensions is an exercise in futility. :)

Weekend Roundup

2008-06-01T11:28:17Z

Yesterday Fuse Recumbents serviced the trike for me and remounted the fairing (including a new layer of plastic to keep it from scratching the paintwork again).

While that was happening I took a long walk down t Commonwealth Place to see the Dreams on Wheels cycling exhibition put on by the Danish Embassy. Many cool bikes and presentations on how to get cycling infrastructure right.

Today I slept in and then rode up to see dalekboy and shazgirl in the afternoon. Much pleasant conversation ensued before encroaching darkness turned me into a pumpkin.

The fairing isn't folding as far forward which is making mounting/dismounting awkward. Will have to look at adjustments for that but not sure what will work best at the moment.