I Love Weed...s

I love Weeds.

Let me list the reasons.

One...

...do I really need to add anything?

A Silent Guardian, A Watchful Protector

SPOILER FREE

The problem with eagerly anticipated major motion picture events is, that they never live up to the expectations. When a movie is dubbed as the greatest this or best that, the hype alone delivers the killshot. We've seen it before. Phantom Menace died not because it's a bad movie (it isn't great either), but because no movie can meet demands like that.

And so it is, that The Dark Knight too fails to meet it's expectations. Instead, it takes the previously unprecedented move of surpassing all the demands it was expected to reach. It goes beyond all the hype.

Two months ago it was said that Iron Man has set the bar on how superhero movies are made. The Dark Knight sets the bar on how movies are made, period.

It's a superhero movie where the superhero is not the main focus. Instead it gives more time for the bad guy, developing the character of Joker to it's fullest extent.

There has been a lot of talk recently about Heath Ledger getting a posthumous Oscar nomination for his role as the Joker. I get it know.

Enough time is also given to secondary characters, casting light on both their strengths and flaws, allowing them go fluidly to where the story takes them.

The Dark Knight provides action, comedy, thrilling moments, and honest to god tragedy not simply as an end, but as a means to a greater end. It is storytelling you expect from a four hour drama, not from a superhero movie.

Christopher Nolan has taken Batman from the hell Joel Schumacher took the character to in the late 90's. In Batman Begins you feel Batman is vindicated, he's no longer a mockery of what he used to be. He's a hero. In The Dark Knight, Nolan takes Batman in to a world so deep, so dark, that he is nearly consumed by his own rage. But, as Harvey Dent said, the night is darkest just before the dawn, and as long as Batman is out there... there will always be another dawn.

Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a Dark Knight.
- James Gordon

Kindred

After nearly breaking my ankle little over few weeks ago, I have spent a lot of time on my sofa, watching TV. Mostly I've been watching movies and old shows on DVDs, but I've come across a few new gems as well. I figured I'd mention them in passing, but after I started writing, I realised I would have to make separate posts for them all. Sorry, I are geek.


Kindred - The Embraced, was a shortlived show which aired originally in 1996, and only had 7 episodes + an long hour pilot. Despite it's short lifespan, I will always rate it as one of the best shows of the nineties.

The show followed the lives of vampires, mostly focusing on Julian Luna, the Prince of San Francisco. As Prince, Julian's duties were mostly to keep the peace between various vampire clans, and uphold the laws of the Masquerade, the ancient set of laws which had protected the existence of vampires since the middle ages. While keeping the peace and the Kindred hidden was always Julian's greatest concern, he was also shown to be able to dispense immense brutality when need be.

In the world of Kindred, vampires had been divided in to five clans, all different not only by their philosophies, but also by their physical characteristics. The Brujah are a warlike clan, closely resembling the mafia, seeking power via physical brutality and breaking the rules.
The Gangrel are a nomadic tribe, descendant of gypsy blood, often appearing as free spirited and rebellious, but extremely honourable.
The Toreador are artists. They are hedonistic, taking full advantage of immortality, embracing all life has to offer. Physically, they are the most beautiful of the Kindred.
A strict contrast to the Toreador clan are the Nosferatu, monstrous beasts combining all images people have of vampires. Their appearance makes them mostly unable to live among humans, some seeking refuge literally underground. But, despite their appearance, the Nosferatu are revered and feared, both for their great wisdom and their physical strength.
The Ventrue are in many ways the lords of all Kindred. They are aristocratic, noble and intelligent. Almost all Kindred Camarillas are governed by a Ventrue, and their power usually extends far beyond the Kindred world. As in the case of Julian Luna who, aside from being the Prince, was one of San Francisco's wealthiest men, and considered by many to be a Godfather like character, with ties to the mafia and a finger in every pie.

"You exist... only because I allow it." - Julian Luna

One of the key themes in the series was the effects of immortality, the difficulty of watching the world change and human relatives pass on, while you remain unchanged. This was especially true in the case of Luna falling in love with a mortal, and wrestling with the knowledge that someday she would either grow old and die, or he would have to embrace her, and curse her with immortality.
The strongest source of action was the everlasting powerstruggle between Brujah leader Eddie Fiori and Luna. Fiori's continuous attempts to supplant Luna once almost started a full blown clan war.
An ongoing storyline was also the tension between Luna and SFPD detective Frank Kohanek who, through his obsession with taking down Luna, learnt of the existence of the Kindred in the series pilot. Normally the laws of the Masquerade would have called for Frank's immediate death, but his life was spared due to events in the pilot, leaving Luna honourbound to protect Frank's life.

Showtime had just renewed the series for a second season, when lead actor Mark Frankel died in a motorcycle accident, while visiting his home in England. And despite having an ensemble cast and storylines designed for each character, the show really revolved almost entirely around the enigmatic and ruthless Julian Luna. With Frankel's death, Showtime permanently cancelled Kindred, and the show was lost to oblivion.

Apart from a great story and intriguing characters, the show had one of the most haunting themes I have ever heard.

War And XPs

As Zykon's massive army prepares for battle, the Order Of The Stick is taking a short and well deserved respit in Azure City, before continuing their quest to defeat Zykon, not knowing that the evil lich is almost at the gates.
Continuing right after the events of the previous OOTS book, War And XPs chronicles the epic battle of Azure City, effects of which are still rippling through the world of OOTS. On top of strips 302-484, the book has 30 pages of bonus material, including 15 new strips to expand the story, two-page tourist's guide to Azure City, valuable money-saving coupons, and a preface by Elan the Bard, War And XPs is a must buy for all OOTS fans.

Originally scheduled for release much earlier this year, the book was in limbo for several months, but will finally see daylight on August 27th

One

This here be the Acer Aspire One.
And isn't it just the most gorgeous piece of gadgetry you have ever seen?

It's a subnotebook, also known as a netbook. The screen is 8.9 inches, it has a 1.6mhz processor, 512 RAM and instead of a conventional hard drive, it uses a 8gb flashmemory. So not exactly a highpowered computer, but on the plus side, it only weighs 2 pounds and has a battery life all the way up to 7 hours.

And I'm so getting one as soon as I get some spare cash... which would be on September 2nd.

Good Karma

This...

...is the Fisker Karma.

It's a luxury sports car, a joint venture between Fisker Automotive and Quantum Technologies.

0 to 60 in 5.8 seconds, with a top speed of 125 miles an hour, the Karma is not exactly a high performance car, especially when you consider it's price, which is 80.000 dollars.

So what's makes it special? It's a hybrid. It has an up to 50 mile range with the electric engine alone, and it's a plug in hybrid, so if you live within 25 miles of your work, you may never have to fill it with gas. Just plug it in a socket when you come home at night, and it's good to go in the morning. And it looks really, really great.

And they're going to be making it in Finland. Which is nice.

It's The Little Things

Sometimes when you really want the world to go somewhere else, it can be the little things that matter.

I was about to cook some lunch, when I realised that I was missing a lot of ingredients for my spaghetti sauce recipe. I thought about quickly popping down to the corner shop, but my ankle is pretty busted so I decided to do with what I had.

So I threw the minced meat in the pan, and started chopping the onions. Normally I use either shallots or yellow onions, or perhaps even spring onions, to get some sweetness in the sauce. Today I had to make do with red onions, which are definitely not sweet. So I sautéd the onions for a good bit longer, just to get that bitterness out of them. Then I threw in a fistfull of basil, the herb of the gods. I was also lacking mushrooms and cream, so I decided to try something completely different. I used twice as much crushed tomatos than I usually do, and reduced it a good while to make the sauce nice and thick.

Having never made a sauce quite like this, I was a bit unsure. But I had some. And oh yes. I am good. I am very good. I think that if I swap the red onions with shallots, and some fresh mushrooms sliced real thin, perhaps just a tiny hint of garlic, this may be my best recipe yet.

And then I thrashed a spanish dude in chess, who had an ELO rating 120 points higher than mine. Which lifted my mood nicely.