Well, that was surprising. There was a good episode of 'BUGS'! We'll get back to that in due course, but it was a surprise. Jesse Birdsall was even likeable! Of course, this is all just a diversion, to buy time while I try to remember just what... Oh! Better go back and change the title.
The Call came today. After years of being free of it, the Call came, and Sid Meier's hold returned. Yes, turn-based computer games came back with a vengeance, in the form of 'Alpha Centauri', one of the best computer games to ever be released. Oh, so many hours have been spent colonizing that blasted fungus-enriched world, and being endlessly betrayed by those creeps Chairman Yang, Sister Miriam, and the loony Santiago of the Spartans. So many hours! You click, and click, and take turn after turn, until the world becomes a grey splurge. And it's wonderful. It probably deserves a post of its own, if I'm ever freed from it.
Maybe 'Alpha Centauri' is a displacement activity, as wrapping and packaging awaits. The only problem with finishing your Christmas shopping is that you then have to send all the items off. This requires lots of bubblewrap, tape, brown paper, and a ridiculous amount of patience and organisation. Packaging is one of the most annoying and frustrating things to do in the civilized world, but it's important to do it right. It's more important to make it reusable than to use the bare minimum of stuff.
Yes, it's far too easy to take the easy route in packaging, but if you do it right then you really can make almost all the materials used reusable. If you wrap it in simple bubblewrap, then that can be re-used flexibly by the recipient. The same is true for the brown paper. Boxes are pretty worthless, so it's best to avoid those if at all possible, as well as those horrible plastic bags that masquerade as mailers and can only go in the bin, and padded envelopes, which are utterly inflexible in their applications. Be old-fashioned, and remember to leave an easy way for the person at the other end to get in, so the packaging isn't ruined!
No, this wasn't intended to be a lecture on how to wrap things, but it worked out. Didn't it?
O.
Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Monday, 27 November 2017
Television: 'The Man From UNCLE: The Shark Affair' (1964) (Aired 1x04, Produced 1x05)
Interesting and somewhat confusing questions: Is he a villain, or isn't he? Is that really Robert Culp or someone who looks a bit like him? Is there a better moment than when a conquering pirate asks if there's a piano tuner on board?
This is a very nice and unusual episode of UNCLE, which essentially re-introduces Ilya as an equally important operative to Napoleon, and puts together a bizarre situation which nonetheless seems just a little credible. In fact, we don't entirely even have a villain this time, but an ambiguous antagonist instead! Yes, this week on 'The Man From UNCLE', Napoleon and Ilya investigate the mysterious disappearances of several people which happen to coincide with episodes of piracy by the mysterious renegade known only as Captain Shark.
We get the ruthless side of Mr Waverley again, as he rather entertainigly chucks his two favourite stooges in the middle of the ocean on a plank of wood, expecting that they'll be picked up by the pirate's next target, but probably hoping the pirate himself will rescue them. Waverley was somewhat tetchy this week, folks! We get some nice banter, and differentiation between Solo and Kuryakin's temperaments this time, especially in how they deal with Captain Shark and the innocent of the week, the wife of one of the captured missing people, who has a slightly irritating voice.
However, there is one big problem with this episode, and it's not Robert Culp. who is quietly awesome. The problem is that the UNCLE operatives seem to actively do something rather dastardly in stopping the plot by sinking Shark's ship and sending him to his doom. He really wasn't that bad a guy, just deluded and doing what he thought was best in a rather stupid and bad way. He could have been stopped in some better way, surely? Surely? It leaves a very odd impression of the episode as a whole, being much more nuanced than a regular 1960s hour of television. Ah well, it's pretty good nonetheless, with some great moments for Ilya and Napoleon, and some nice story and character moments.
That was Robert Culp, yes?
Next, we'll be skipping 'The King Of Knaves Affair', which is a bit unremarkable, and will rejoin at a point unknown.
O.
Post-script: Very cute act titles this week. Nice.
This is a very nice and unusual episode of UNCLE, which essentially re-introduces Ilya as an equally important operative to Napoleon, and puts together a bizarre situation which nonetheless seems just a little credible. In fact, we don't entirely even have a villain this time, but an ambiguous antagonist instead! Yes, this week on 'The Man From UNCLE', Napoleon and Ilya investigate the mysterious disappearances of several people which happen to coincide with episodes of piracy by the mysterious renegade known only as Captain Shark.
We get the ruthless side of Mr Waverley again, as he rather entertainigly chucks his two favourite stooges in the middle of the ocean on a plank of wood, expecting that they'll be picked up by the pirate's next target, but probably hoping the pirate himself will rescue them. Waverley was somewhat tetchy this week, folks! We get some nice banter, and differentiation between Solo and Kuryakin's temperaments this time, especially in how they deal with Captain Shark and the innocent of the week, the wife of one of the captured missing people, who has a slightly irritating voice.
However, there is one big problem with this episode, and it's not Robert Culp. who is quietly awesome. The problem is that the UNCLE operatives seem to actively do something rather dastardly in stopping the plot by sinking Shark's ship and sending him to his doom. He really wasn't that bad a guy, just deluded and doing what he thought was best in a rather stupid and bad way. He could have been stopped in some better way, surely? Surely? It leaves a very odd impression of the episode as a whole, being much more nuanced than a regular 1960s hour of television. Ah well, it's pretty good nonetheless, with some great moments for Ilya and Napoleon, and some nice story and character moments.
That was Robert Culp, yes?
Next, we'll be skipping 'The King Of Knaves Affair', which is a bit unremarkable, and will rejoin at a point unknown.
O.
Post-script: Very cute act titles this week. Nice.
Saturday, 25 November 2017
A Moment Put Aside For Outrage
Let's have a moment of self-righteous outrage, for the supposed 'Black Friday' sales are upon us, and we have a moment to think. Somehow, we are supposed to accept that suddenly lower prices are acceptable from the people that sell us things, and yet not deduce that we may have been cruelly ripped off during the rest of the year. Seriously. How can it work now, and not before? Somehow, a large number of people don't become immensely nauseated by this, and still manage to buy lots of things, so it must work. Obviously, my outrage is an extremely localised phenomenon. Oh well. C'est la vie. How on Earth do they get away with it? Blasted pirates.
Of course, I'm assuming that they're actually putting anything good on sale, but I wouldn't know without looking. It's much more fun to mutter and fume based on moral indignation, after all. Take that, retailers of tat! Nyahahahaha!
Putting aside incoherent ramblings for a moment, it is time to report that Project Wood is over, and that a major weight has been lifted off the writer of this fine blog, and so things should look up here pretty soon. It was no fun to have four simultaneous major projects, after all, and was actually a major source of stress. Stress is to avoided at all costs. Stress is the source of problems that need not be. Stress is a six letter pseudonym for self-inflicted torture. Never indulge in stress when you can do other things. In any case, Project Wood is complete! All the very many TV DVDs are now homed nicely, away from massive stacks of boxes. Now, if only the movies could be so lucky, and the remaining backlog of books. We may not be materialistic here, but we do love the books, television series and films. And radio shows.
Now, having been incoherent for several paragraphs as usual, it's time to roll on out and pick up a book. Ah, books, the old fashioned but incredibly durable entertainment of history. 'Three Men In A Boat', 'The Code Of The Woosters', 'Journey To The West', 'The Voyage Of The Beagle' and more... The book piles are nice right now. Very nice. Time to read.
O.
Of course, I'm assuming that they're actually putting anything good on sale, but I wouldn't know without looking. It's much more fun to mutter and fume based on moral indignation, after all. Take that, retailers of tat! Nyahahahaha!
Putting aside incoherent ramblings for a moment, it is time to report that Project Wood is over, and that a major weight has been lifted off the writer of this fine blog, and so things should look up here pretty soon. It was no fun to have four simultaneous major projects, after all, and was actually a major source of stress. Stress is to avoided at all costs. Stress is the source of problems that need not be. Stress is a six letter pseudonym for self-inflicted torture. Never indulge in stress when you can do other things. In any case, Project Wood is complete! All the very many TV DVDs are now homed nicely, away from massive stacks of boxes. Now, if only the movies could be so lucky, and the remaining backlog of books. We may not be materialistic here, but we do love the books, television series and films. And radio shows.
Now, having been incoherent for several paragraphs as usual, it's time to roll on out and pick up a book. Ah, books, the old fashioned but incredibly durable entertainment of history. 'Three Men In A Boat', 'The Code Of The Woosters', 'Journey To The West', 'The Voyage Of The Beagle' and more... The book piles are nice right now. Very nice. Time to read.
O.
Thursday, 23 November 2017
Story: 'Wordspace' Phase II, Part XV
( Part I , XIV , XVI )
Surprise, having recovered from his faint, and being unexpectedly resourceful on occasion, had rushed off to find a pot of t's, returning quickly. He and Dream enjoyed their snack, while Infinity looked on bemusedly. The crunching was a funny noise in the underground cavern.
"Where did you go, Dream?" Asked the indescribably curious Surprise. He had asked many times before, only to receive a confused and distracted answer.
Dream turned inward, and considered. "Wherever it was, it seemed as if the world was everywhere, or everywhere was here. Did you really all start dreaming while I was gone?"
"Yes. Mystery became quite confused by it all. You know how he is; always frustrated when he's not the one mystifying people."
Dream smiled fondly. "Yes, I know. He's probably out there right now, trying to reach the core of whatever's going on."
Surprise looked around at the word that made everyone feel small. "What about you, Infinity. What did you see while you were asleep?"
"I do not know. Neither of us knows?"
* * *
Fire, Earth, Water and Air surrounded the Invader. It looked down upon them and considered. Earth, Water and Air didn't look, or consider. They flowed over the Invader, and stiffened into a set of restraints. Then, the Invader rumbled over and fell onto the surface of the Wordspace. It was immobile, for now, and sheer Elemental stubbornness was something very difficult to overcome.
War approached, and stood over the captured giant. She looked grim, her syllables taut with tension.
"What in the Lexicon are we supposed to do now?"
There shall be more.
Surprise, having recovered from his faint, and being unexpectedly resourceful on occasion, had rushed off to find a pot of t's, returning quickly. He and Dream enjoyed their snack, while Infinity looked on bemusedly. The crunching was a funny noise in the underground cavern.
"Where did you go, Dream?" Asked the indescribably curious Surprise. He had asked many times before, only to receive a confused and distracted answer.
Dream turned inward, and considered. "Wherever it was, it seemed as if the world was everywhere, or everywhere was here. Did you really all start dreaming while I was gone?"
"Yes. Mystery became quite confused by it all. You know how he is; always frustrated when he's not the one mystifying people."
Dream smiled fondly. "Yes, I know. He's probably out there right now, trying to reach the core of whatever's going on."
Surprise looked around at the word that made everyone feel small. "What about you, Infinity. What did you see while you were asleep?"
"I do not know. Neither of us knows?"
* * *
Fire, Earth, Water and Air surrounded the Invader. It looked down upon them and considered. Earth, Water and Air didn't look, or consider. They flowed over the Invader, and stiffened into a set of restraints. Then, the Invader rumbled over and fell onto the surface of the Wordspace. It was immobile, for now, and sheer Elemental stubbornness was something very difficult to overcome.
War approached, and stood over the captured giant. She looked grim, her syllables taut with tension.
"What in the Lexicon are we supposed to do now?"
There shall be more.
Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Boop Boop
Gargle. Gargle. Is this going to work? Are the words going to flow? After a couple of days of juggling ruined plans and barely sleeping due to dehydration, it seems almost impossible to focus long enough to make a blog post. We've already discussed how crazily error-strewn the first version of 'The Disappearance' was, and it seems redundant to have the similar discussion about the revised version of 'Wordspace'. Yes, version two of 'Wordspace' actually has conceptual errors and inconsistencies. It will have to be re-edited again, eventually, perhaps for the book release! Oh, what wishful thinking...
Oh, this is a hard one to write. I can't imagine what's going to finish off this post. Not the faintest idea. Perhaps moving away from the board game obsession is a useful topic? Books are regaining their prevalence once again. It's very difficult to find new books to read when you have some criteria to stick to, isn't it? Yes, as a slightly prudish person who enjoys story and characterisation, it's hard to find those novels which are interesting, funny and non-gratuitous in any of the relevant ways. It's actually really difficult! That's why the world of archive and vintage fiction is so appealing. There was a time when stories were the rulers over flash and substance, or at least it feels that way. This is what it feels like to be and old fogie, isn't it?
There must be modern authors to get interested in, but it's so hard to find them. Everything I touch feels like a soulless bestseller in its prose, and that is a terrible barrier to overcome. You can't turn up with plain bestseller writing when the reader has read Lord Dunsany, Arthur Conan Doyle, Woody Allen's prose, GK Chesterton, or even David Eddings. It's a fool's errand! There will be more on this in the future.
O.
Oh, this is a hard one to write. I can't imagine what's going to finish off this post. Not the faintest idea. Perhaps moving away from the board game obsession is a useful topic? Books are regaining their prevalence once again. It's very difficult to find new books to read when you have some criteria to stick to, isn't it? Yes, as a slightly prudish person who enjoys story and characterisation, it's hard to find those novels which are interesting, funny and non-gratuitous in any of the relevant ways. It's actually really difficult! That's why the world of archive and vintage fiction is so appealing. There was a time when stories were the rulers over flash and substance, or at least it feels that way. This is what it feels like to be and old fogie, isn't it?
There must be modern authors to get interested in, but it's so hard to find them. Everything I touch feels like a soulless bestseller in its prose, and that is a terrible barrier to overcome. You can't turn up with plain bestseller writing when the reader has read Lord Dunsany, Arthur Conan Doyle, Woody Allen's prose, GK Chesterton, or even David Eddings. It's a fool's errand! There will be more on this in the future.
O.
Sunday, 19 November 2017
In Retrospect
Looking over the draft version of 'The Disappearance', which will soon be revised into something much much better, it becomes clear the quality control on these serial stories is pretty low. In fact, there was no quality control at all! There are typos, grammatical flaws, odd vacancies, and plain inconsistencies. It's alarming, but somehow also reassuring. After several weeks of painting in short bursts, for example, it seems as if perfection is perennially unattainable. Yes, it's rather embarrassing to see just how much gibberish there was in 'The Disappearance', but at least the path of improvement is clear. It just needs to be rewritten a few times, have a few gaps filled in, have some consistency resettled into it, and be processed a few times through the editing mill in time for the thousandth post. So, that's easy! That was irony, folks!
The thousandth post is coming, and is becoming a bit scary. A thousand posts is a ridiculous number, signalling the passage of ludicrous lengths of time, and the madness of our current plane of reality. A thousand posts? Of this stuff? Is is possible? Is it feasible? Is it allowable by law? It has been ninety-nine-per-cent gibberish, after all. What a staggering number. Perhaps it has all been some kind of delusion, and in fact the whole Quirky Muffin is a metaphor for something on a different level of being. Perhaps all of reality is like the tip of an iceberg, and we're all just the smallest parts of the manifestations of utterly incomprehensible multi-dimensional beings. Perhaps they like broccoli, which is actually high entertainment in the multi-space? It all makes sense, if you close your eyes and think of dodos. Oh, dodos, what a shame it was that you vanished from the world we know. Sigh.
In any case, the next few weeks will be all about getting 'The Disappearance' into shape for the thousandth post, and in understanding just what on Earth has happened in 'Wordspace' to date, in the hopes of it actually continuing to completion. 'Wordspace' is by far the most interesting story to ever be attempted here, and it would be nice if it went somewhere. It would be very nice. Anything else would be a waste. The other stories could go either way, but this one needs to be finished. Perhaps the third year of OU study should be delayed in order to get some stories finished. Perhaps.
The new week is looming, and now it's time to get some sleep and prepare for a new set of teaching hours, a new set of studying challenges, and yet more corrective painting. Project Wood will finish this week. Hurrah!
O.
The thousandth post is coming, and is becoming a bit scary. A thousand posts is a ridiculous number, signalling the passage of ludicrous lengths of time, and the madness of our current plane of reality. A thousand posts? Of this stuff? Is is possible? Is it feasible? Is it allowable by law? It has been ninety-nine-per-cent gibberish, after all. What a staggering number. Perhaps it has all been some kind of delusion, and in fact the whole Quirky Muffin is a metaphor for something on a different level of being. Perhaps all of reality is like the tip of an iceberg, and we're all just the smallest parts of the manifestations of utterly incomprehensible multi-dimensional beings. Perhaps they like broccoli, which is actually high entertainment in the multi-space? It all makes sense, if you close your eyes and think of dodos. Oh, dodos, what a shame it was that you vanished from the world we know. Sigh.
In any case, the next few weeks will be all about getting 'The Disappearance' into shape for the thousandth post, and in understanding just what on Earth has happened in 'Wordspace' to date, in the hopes of it actually continuing to completion. 'Wordspace' is by far the most interesting story to ever be attempted here, and it would be nice if it went somewhere. It would be very nice. Anything else would be a waste. The other stories could go either way, but this one needs to be finished. Perhaps the third year of OU study should be delayed in order to get some stories finished. Perhaps.
The new week is looming, and now it's time to get some sleep and prepare for a new set of teaching hours, a new set of studying challenges, and yet more corrective painting. Project Wood will finish this week. Hurrah!
O.
Friday, 17 November 2017
Getting Back On Track
All of the stories here at the Quirky Muffin seem to have vanished, which is sad, but it does provide an opportunity. 'Wordspace', in particular, is now so stalled that it allows a re-read and re-assessment of what has come before. Has enough time passed to make it possible to go on? Of course, being exhausted all the time makes being creative very difficult, which is the main problem! There is no inspiration while sleepwalking around the world, nor is there energy to evaluate and re-evalute possible future directions.
So, we have an opportunity to get back on the story track, hopefully before the thousandth post hits the virtual printing press. This is good, isn't it? IT will be nice to know what on Earth is going on? It's very pleasant to now be almost finished with Christmas shopping and bookcase painting, leaving each day virtually free of ancillary projects. Thank goodness. It's nice to be able to focus on just three things instead of five, this weblog duelling with tutoring and studying for the majority of the week's useful hours.
Oh, Christmas shopping, why do you multiply so?! Why? Another idea just popped into my mind, blast it. Grumble grumble. I blame Barney Rubble.
What will happen with 'Wordspace'? I have no idea, as I don't even know what has happened so far at this point. There is just a bare shadow of events lingering in the memory, hidden behind the confusing clouds of the last few episodes of stalling, needlessly added to the end of the narrative. You wouldn't think that it would be difficult to continue, with so many things happening at once, but all those things were really just methods for not advancing the main plot. Something will have to give. The wood must be found amongst the trees. Somehow.
And now, we return you to your regular scheduled existences. Please return the curtains to their resting position and do not upset the apple carts on your ways to the exit.
O.
Note: No apple carts featured in the making of this post. At all. Something is wrong with the world.
So, we have an opportunity to get back on the story track, hopefully before the thousandth post hits the virtual printing press. This is good, isn't it? IT will be nice to know what on Earth is going on? It's very pleasant to now be almost finished with Christmas shopping and bookcase painting, leaving each day virtually free of ancillary projects. Thank goodness. It's nice to be able to focus on just three things instead of five, this weblog duelling with tutoring and studying for the majority of the week's useful hours.
Oh, Christmas shopping, why do you multiply so?! Why? Another idea just popped into my mind, blast it. Grumble grumble. I blame Barney Rubble.
What will happen with 'Wordspace'? I have no idea, as I don't even know what has happened so far at this point. There is just a bare shadow of events lingering in the memory, hidden behind the confusing clouds of the last few episodes of stalling, needlessly added to the end of the narrative. You wouldn't think that it would be difficult to continue, with so many things happening at once, but all those things were really just methods for not advancing the main plot. Something will have to give. The wood must be found amongst the trees. Somehow.
And now, we return you to your regular scheduled existences. Please return the curtains to their resting position and do not upset the apple carts on your ways to the exit.
O.
Note: No apple carts featured in the making of this post. At all. Something is wrong with the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)