The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

I HATE it when there's, for want of a better term, a "communications clog" with a family member. What you say is misinterpreted, and an uncomfortable silence descends... but this time, the evening was saved by, of all things, an unexpectedly empty waste recycling bin. An enquiry about whether the bins had been emptied or not follows, and the log-jam is broken, allowing for any damage to be undone. Phew.

So, that was last night - and so was the hinting at a teaser/trailer for Guillermo del Toro's highly-anticipated robots-vs-monsters blockbuster Pacific Rim. Dammit, I hate these convention reports that mention material we, the home viewers, don't get to see - especially when the director says: (and I quote)

"This has been the best film-making experience I have ever had."

The buzz gets even stronger about this movie. The moment I heard about it, I felt we would be blessed with something truly awesome - maybe even 2013's AVENGERS. I need to see this damn trailer. Something glorious is in the air...

And on that positive note, I end for today. Oh, except for this one little thing: my nephew sure picked the best time to get interested in Godzilla. By the time he's seven, he we may just have a new movie to look forward to...

Sometimes, you just can't be bothered watching the news. I go through phases of not caring, but sometimes there are stories you just get sick of hearing about - today, it's Barack Obama's "shock" Nobel Peace Prize. Hey, he's done a whole bunch more for world peace in less than a year than Dubya did in two terms - that's got to be worth something.

The same can be said for NASA's latest attempt to move forward on exploration, and one might say exploitation of the Moon. Crashing a probe into the surface to "prospect" for water ice doesn't light up the sky, and the media brand the whole mission a failure. Shortly thereafter, they're talking about NASA "bombing the moon", and not long after that, the usual "nothing better to do" netheads are decrying NASA for threatening to bring about Armageddon (yes, just like the movie). Oh please.

Yes, I'm frustrated too. I want cool star-ships and shit like that, but unlike Star Trek, these things actually 1) cost money, and 2) take DECADES to develop. We need to master the Moon as a first step, to Mars and beyond - please let's not set things even further back by convincing the Powers That Be that we are too stupid to take a genuine interest in the future. Apollo, and all that came before it, gave us so much - micro-computers, for example, without which there'd be no laptops, no mobiles, NO FREAKING INTERNET. If humanity's curiosity is good for anything, it's encouraging innovation - the wheel, the sextant, mechanical clocks - need I go on...?

There'll be plenty of bangs, flashes and big shiny things for everyone - just don't push it back another generation, please? I would very much like to share something truly wonderful with my nephew.

Meanwhile... Oh, and to make matters worse, there's going to be a "G20" meeting in town next month. Cue an invasion of "eco-warrior" hippies and anti-globalisation hypocrites, all looking for an excuse to start a fight with the Police, and score some news screen-time and a big wad of compensation because they broke a fingernail, boo hoo. Get ready for sightings of that rarest of creatures, the police officer on foot-patrol - and I better not get stopped by them for going about my rightful business. If I do, some random hippunk is getting shouted at...

At least I got something approaching the "quiet day" I wrote about last time. If I'd knowing Ultima Online was going to be a pain today, though, I could've done some writing instead.

A good time was had by all - even the trip there and back was pleasant enough. Heaps too much to eat, though. No time at all for story development; last night was a complete bust. I think I'll head to bed, and put on something better than Fortress II...

A nice day - lunch with The Young Man and family, a restful evening, and the opportunity to round things off with Galaxy Quest, and maybe even a couple of Season One Stargate Atlantis episodes on top of that. Some semblance of normality should follow, so maybe there'll be some writing, or at least some preliminary scripting. I may even have time to listen to the three CDs I got recently - you can add "Signals" by Rush to the list...

I hate it when what you hope what will be an end to something turns into the whole business getting stuck in a holding pattern because you were told someone in particular was going to be dealing with it, only for them to not be there to see you at all.

I'm not stressing about this. As far as I'm concerned, I just have another relatively uninterrupted "most of a week" to myself (for project development and finalising travel plans for October).

However...

...I'm not entirely pissed off. After my "meeting" - duration ten minutes maximum, and achieving nothing new - I paid my nephew a visit outwith the normal Tuesday schedule. He's nearly six months old now, and I think the world should be so very thankful to have Jan as a new member of humanity.

And so, to work again...

Kinda out of step now. I hate it when that happens.

No excuses, however. Today was a day for a bit of business (getting the video fixed), a bit of relaxation (ongoing), and a dose of unclehood. Jan is four months old now, and boy is he strong! His grip is like an adult's, and he seems to be ahead of all the curves - he's not even crawling yet (but damn close to it), but his granny thinks he's got the makings of quite a swimmer.

Project News... Corrected some spelling in two chapters of "Huntress Rising", did a little work on TDD-504 - but I'm in no hurry. The start of that story is pretty much decided, and there shouldn't be much more work needed to bring together the rest of the tale, even though I've been rather neglecting Darkhawk lately.

There'll be some major development work in the next week or so, that much is clear. But first, let's see what the state of play is in Ultima Online. Last night was... seriously messy, and there's quite a bit of repair-work to do...

My nephew, Jan, encountered his first up-close animal - but it wasn't a cat :( It was actually a visiting friend's dog - not a big barky beast, but still not my favourite type of animal - and The Young Man took it all in his stride... errr, maybe that should be "dribble" :D

That's the only real news today. Oh, and one of the CDs I got from Amazon recently is definitely faulty - what a pain in the ass...

This just in... Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, winning his first Formula One race! Also, best wishes to Robert Kubica - damn, that was a nasty crash.

In Today's Episode... The Hellion makes plans to rescue the Dominion ship lost in occupied space - and drastic measures are very much the order of the day...

Development News... Errr, not a lot. Yesterday (Saturday) was disrupted by uncle duties, and this morning's (Sunday's) lie-in became a sleep-through. Progress has been made, along with a bit of research that may just generate some plot ideas. The original books featuring Darkhawk really need to be converted to an archive format of some kind.

I have a semi-official time-line on record, which says MoN-104 is up next, then TDD-504. If there're no unexpected interruptions between now and Thursday's regular encounter with The Fucking System, I may have something "in the can" fairly soon.

The weekend's TV... - Doctor Who: This season just keeps on delivering. Very little actual Doctor, but the concept keeps the story rolling along. Splendid.

- Seven Ages Of Rock - Plenty on Metallica, but no Motorhead? A bit of a simplistic view-point, but thanks for mentioning Randy Rhoads, and the ludocrious Judas Priest "Backwards Messages" trial - heh heh heh. The band themselves went back into the studio, played the album in question backwards, and found "I asked her for a peppermint, I asked her to get one..." and "Ma, my chair's broken." A damn sight more clear and distinct that the "mmmllllrrrp" that's supposed to be "Do it" - I think all that aired in a documentary at the time.

Next Week... ...must book FF2.

In Today's Episode... "And The Thunder Rolls By" kicks off Season Five of The Darkhawk Diaries. Dominion is still reeling from the Faenri attack, and Brighthawk takes on a special task - a task that means more to her than anyone else...

Development News... Expected project progress didn't quite take place (so far) today, as the opportunity to further explore unclehood emerged before lunch - more on that below.

TDD-501 has taken longer to get started than planned, as recent events haven't exactly sparked my creativity, but TDD-501.1 is now live, and I don't have much choice but to keep things moving. The energy is back, to a certain degree, but I'm lacking the time to write whilst I have the energy.

Damn, I need another stretch of University work - and not just for the money!

Meanwhile... Jan, Jennifer (SiL) and Andrew (BB) all seem to be doing fine, although Mother is understandably drained. I would say "I know what that feels like", but that would be a lie - I haven't spent the best part of a day expelling an infant human from my body, and then had said infant dominating my life for the last two weeks. Jan's reacting to his family and surroundings more, and is quite vocal when something doesn't meet with his approval - that's to be expected, but when it's family, it's so very different.

Finally... Not sure last night's planned "reboot" has had the desired effect. Let's see when I wake up tomorrow...

In Today's Episode... Mane-of-Night hears from an old friend - in rather unexpected fashion - and the old friend isn't exactly a happy half-demoness...

Development Updates... No progress so far today, partly because of some business that took place today, and partly because I was so pissed off when I managed to get away from it... (see below)

News from the front... It's taken nearly a year for The Fucking System to arrange today's little joyride - makes you wonder why they bothered. I'm told there will be meaningful progress pretty much guaranteed after the first week - and that better not be eight weeks after the first week - so one week is all they get. I was seriously considering not putting myself through more of this, and to hell with the consequences, but on the bus home, I decided that I am stronger than this.

Expect regular updates. It could get messy. Could have been worse, though - but wasn't (so far).

Breathe out... and relax. Aaaah - much better...

And Finally... Mother and nephew are out of hospital!