AmadanNaBriona

Re: A Thread for Random Videos I found this via MC Lars's mixtape Indie Rocket Science Akira the Don's "Superfriends of Rap" version of Living in the Future The only comfort I take from the fact that we've taken all the right missteps to make Cyberpunk prophetic rather that speculative is that at least the whole "Rebel cyber-geek revolutionaries will rise as hero figures" paradigm also seems to be coming about.

Re: Unleash The Clockworks Of War! I could easily see war machines and war vessels having capstan type arrangements for winding up big springs, or rowing machine style cranks. my brain is beginning to brew up some interesting designs... let me revisit this after I've pondered and it's not after 3 am

Re: Unleash The Clockworks Of War! "Crazy Old Maurice, he's always good for a laugh!"

Re: Unleash The Clockworks Of War! Well, yeah.. I mean, the single easiest way they could have convinced my 16 year old self to study Trig would have been to mention that it was essential to historical gunnery. That said, I'm actually half recalling systems from the latter portion of the 19th Century, around about the turn of the century that I stumbled across whilst doing some research a few years back for some Space 1889 to Hero conversion stuff. It know it was back when I was looking hard at Hotchkiss revolving cannons and Nordenfeldt guns, to fix the time a bit. As I recall it was an early attempt to build basically a self adjusting gun mount, so you could target optically and click in your range estimate and the gun would set its own elevation and adjust for wind. OH, here's a fun link, just cause... http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1880DisappearingGuns.htm

Re: Unleash The Clockworks Of War! Ever watch one of the Mythbusters episodes involving arrows? Their launch mechanism of choice is two high speed spinning wheels. Good clockworks could easily allow for Heavy Metal style full auto dart guns. Also, weren't the first targeting systems clockwork mechanisms?

Re: Order of the Stick Honestly, I can't remember how to tell the difference other than intelligence level. I'm trying to recall, from the distant past, if my first exposure to the word "ordure" was from the Otyugh entry in the MM, or from the first Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser book I read.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life. while discussing the sad fact that a future in space probably means getting comfortable with a shopping mall style environment... "No you don't understand. What I'm saying is that Jessica is willing to turn into a mutant rat girl before I'm willing to live in a mall. You have NO idea how much I hate malls."

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Reach Out -Cheap Trick

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished? In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick, a composite account of the events and aftermath of the Essex being rammed and sunk by an enraged bull sperm whale. Lots of good details on the lives of 19th century whalers and on the effects of starvation and dehydration in long term situations. Good read.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? This one does... [ATTACH=CONFIG]40921[/ATTACH]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? A double feature of Northern bada$$ery Hannah (The Bourne Identity meets Waif-fu) and Rare Exports (Finns deal with Santa and his "little helpers") My favorite bit about the latter film? the way the Finns totally just flat out accept the weirdness involved without so much as a pause. "Oh, so it's a fantastical creature. No wonder." That and chainsawing off Santa's horns as a trophy

Re: Musings on Random Musings Sodom was vice, and vice-a-versa. Wanna see where the vice is worser? Here it is, I mean here it is!

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Barrett's Privateers -The Corries

Re: The cranky thread I'm reading the account of the whalermen who cast off from the wreckage of the Essex, after she was rammed by a bull sperm whale (the first mates account is what inspire Melville to write Moby Dick). I've reached the point where they're starting to eat their dead. The chapter digresses into a brief explanation of the effects of starvation on the human body. I recognize the symptoms. I currently suffer from them. I really, REALLY, want my damn teeth fixed.

Re: The Voynich Manuscript Kinda reminds me of the weirdness that occurred at Runamo, where the researcher entered a sort of trance state and had a vision of a suspected bind-rune that would decrypt the inscription. Which he then applied to come up with a fairly accurate if somewhat mundane description of a particular battle in typical period Norse poetic style. Geologists have subsequently proven the formation is natural, not an inscription. Never underestimate the weirdness that brews in the northern latitudes.

Re: Real Life Dragon Discovered I could make one of these fellas an awesome terrarium.

Re: Real Life Dragon Discovered 'Cause it's really cute? best guess...

Re: A Thread for Random Videos Saw this and lost it... (Mildly NSFW)

Re: A Thread For Random Links OK, so this is awesomesauce. As part of the Melbourne Music Week, an artist has built a 23 foot tall pyramid shaped theremin

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? been checking out Requiem for the Dead, my friends band (He, like most of my musician friends, daylights as a freelance sound tech) I think I'm gonna go to their premier show in Cupertino on Dec 2nd. I generally dig everything I've heard so far, even if some of the lyrics are a bit... disjointed? The Death Note of Shipwrecks

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? I just watched somewhere around a dozen of the latest dispatches from Anonymous. I'm in this weird state between tears and maniacal laughter. I read about this, like, in the 80's. it was called Little Heroes I was so hoping the dystopian predictions of the cyberpunk authors wouldn't come true.

Re: Somebody needs to write this villain up now! I thought that looked familiar! I had that issue.

Re: A Thread For Random Links Good for at least a few minutes of amusement to any Boondock Saints fan

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? pondering small living space storage solutions, so I had to put this on...

Re: A Thread for Random Musings