The word "super"

So here I am reading an article about Guantanamo bay inmates being sent to "supermax" when I got to thinking... why the fuck do people feel the need to add the word "super" to everything?

Let's think about it, "supermax" means super maximum security in this context... so maximum by definition means the most... super maximum doesn't make any fucking sense, you can't make maximum more fucking maximum it's already maximum.

And while I'm here, why do they need to call the US aircraft carriers "super carriers" I mean FFS ships already have classes, and one class might be bigger then another of the same type, why the fuck do they need to add super to the front...

Fuck. I swear people hate English. I blame Superman, without that degenerate interplanetary refuge we wouldn't have this obsession with adding super to every-fucking-thing.

What's next? Super ATM Machines (Yes I know, it's suppose to be there)?

Super Car washes?

Grrr fucking people shit me.

Star Trek TNG Rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClP8n6asn3w

And just to cheer myself up after that massive rant below, I thought I'd share this very awesome Star Trek parody. Yes it's rap, but give it a chance, it's good and actually funny.

Damn the children. Damn them to hell

Damn the children. Damn them to hell.

I'm so fucking sick to death of the "oh wont someone think of the children" crowd. Screw the damn children, look after your own stinking kids you fat headed morons.

In case your wondering what brought this on, it was hearing from someone how his legally purchased copy of Left 4 Dead 2 was stopped by Australian customs.

If you've been living in a cave you might not of heard about how the game was "refused classification" or "banned" in Australia due to the fact that the fuckwits running the country have no fucking clue actually plays games... you know adults.

But oh no, games are for kids, so we don't need an 18+ rating, so anything that exceeds the M15+ rating is "banned". For the record from what I've seen of the game, it's not a kiddy game and does need an "adult's only" rating, you know if we had one in this country.

I'm not even interested in this game, hell I haven't played any of the "banned" games over the last few years, not because I respect the law in this case, or because I'm afraid of getting caught, but because I'm not interested in those types of games.

But even still, seeing stuff banned for "the sake of the children" just makes my blood boil, we have X rated movies, kids are allowed to read crap like twilight which is basically a how-to guide for setting up an abusive relationship...

Speaking of books, is there even a ratings system for books? I've got some stuff in my collection that has some fairly detailed bloodshed/sex in them and no sign of any kind of rating, all purchased in stores. The John Ringo Kildar (good story, horrible politics not even subtly hinted at) series for example has descriptions of people getting their limbs blown off, graphic depictions of sex, and that's just the fucking TAME stuff in them. If it was a movie it would be R18, easy.

But oh no, we can't shoot zombies in a video game. And everytime the hint of boobies comes out in a game (see Mass Effect) it's like someone set fire to their bibles.

The same rational is use to defend the idea of a national internet censor... how about parents actually freaking take responsibility for their spawn and look after them and stop infringing on the rights of adults.

I'm so fucking sick of this crap. I don't have kids, I don't want kids ever and all I hear about is how we need to screw over the adults for the sake of the children, but there is an easier cheaper way to deal with this shit, make parents actually parent their kids... rather then plomping them down in front of the computer, TV, or X-Box.

It's time like this I want out of this damn country, fucking moralistic hypocrites ruining things for everyone else, fuck you, fuck your god, fuck your holybook, fuck your moralising, I'm sick of you twats, live and fucking let live you cunts, leave us alone.

Come to think of it, all the name calling, swearing, and just plain ranting isn't like helping my case... oh well. Fuck 'em, they'll just blame it on all the video games I played growing up and ignore my argument anyway.

WoW is a seductive beast.

World of Warcraft is evil. I'd just like to get that out there. I played for a good four years almost non-stop, with only small week or two breaks here and there, and finally about 6/7 months ago quit.

I've been doing good. Now I'm not bashing anyone who likes WoW, each their own and all that, it is after all a fairly good game if you can get passed it's community of retards.

It's just I found it was the only game I was playing, I'd hardly play anything else, instead of reading a book, I'd play WoW, instead of watching a movie, I'd play WoW, instead of writing I'd play WoW, instead of working on a coding project or video or any other hobby I use to have, I'd play WoW.

I think you've got the point, it was taking over my leisure actives, which before WoW (and to a degree AO) were veried and while geeky, much more rounded.

Funny thing is, I didn't notice any of that until after I quit the soul-sucker, I quit because I was bored with all the existing content, the headaches (literal and figurative) that would come after long frustrating raid sessions, and then after I'd done a few bits here and there that I was actually interested in... that would be it for the week, nothing else to do. But I'd still log in, and sit there... for hours... doing nothing in-game or out.

I mentioned the community above... well if you've played WoW you know it's about one step above non-stop 24/7 riot without the police showing, and I don't mean the fun kinds of riots, I mean the burn down everything in sight while hurling hideous memes at everyone kind of riots.

And the forums were worse.

Err... this isn't going how I intended... anyway my point when I started this post was to related that today I was watching the IGN daily fix and they mentioned a new WoW patch, and then I got an email from blizzard about free game time if I wanted... then I noticed a video for the WoW patch on IGN in the other content box at the end of the video...

I've watched and looked at WoW content since I quit, but damn Blizzard knows how to make a good cinematic, always has, I've often said that if they went into CGI movies with their current staff of writers and artists they could put Dreamworks and Fixar would of the game in months.

So I was sitting here tonight, feeling slightly bored, unable to go play Dragon Age or AC2 due to the sleeping child in the lounge room (her mum's sick and we're baby sitting for a few days while she's in the hospital), and there sitting in my inbox is the WoW invite... taunting me... seducing me with it's tight lines and free epics...

But no! I've 6 months clean! I can enjoy other games! I've seen more movies in 6 months then I have in the last 5 years, and I'm finally making head way through the stack of books I brought over that time that I'd "been meaning to read".

So no WoW, you wont seduce me again! I'm not falling for your lies again!

Now if only cigarettes would as easy to quit I'd be free of my most self-destructive vices.

Victoria's Secret Commercial By Michael Bay HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNScRM_NzLI

Okay, this is what the guy should stick too, rather then raping my childhood with movies like Transformers.

The Irony of The ABC

Last night as I was laying in bed about to drift off to sleep, a copy of a Honor Harrington book on my bedside table, I had just finished rereading one of the chapters on Haven and it's dictatorial rule, and state owned and controlled media when a thought occurred to me.

"State owned media is almost always portrayed as 'evil' yet I trust the ABC far more then any commercial media outlet"

It struck me so hard I laughed. The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) is state owned and regulated, but not directly controlled, with many many people in Australia choosing it over commercial outlets due to it's reputation as serious and honest. Sure the government make a big stink now and then about "bias", but I've seen conservatives and liberals both make the same claims over the years, and other news outlets just plain hate them, so I ignore it.

Isn't an irony that people have started to trust state owned media more then the so-called "free" press to deliver real unbiased news about real world issues? I don't trust Newscorp or any other local Australian media, and I definitely don't trust places like Fox or CNN with their blatant bias, one on either side of the political fence.

When did this happen? It should never of happened, but really it was bound to happen when the media companies got so big they started to be able to impact the news they were suppose to be reporting.

Then there is the issue of profit, the search for the almighty dollar, I'm far from a communist, but when you start putting profit as the main motivator of a news organisation it's naturally going to lead to pandering to your audience, and that's when you start being news and start being entertainment.

The ABC is tax-payer funded, it doesn't have to worry about making a profit or ratings or any of that other dribble, so it actually reports the news as it happens, rather then slapping their own opinions on it or slanting the story to appeal to their subscribers.

There is also the factor of the ABC does less "cute" and "cleb" stories then their commercial competitors. If I'm watching the news I want news, not a story about some cleb I don't care about screwing around, or some dog down a drain.

I realise this is starting to sound like a love letter to the ABC, and that wasn't my intent, as a media outlet it's far from perfect, but in today's world it's vitally important that we fight to keep it, otherwise all we'll be left with is people like NewsCorp, and noone (apart from Murdoc, who recently said he wants the ABC out of news because it's "unfair") wants that.

And don't get me started on NewsCorps opinion of Blogs, for a company that blantently rips them off all the time on their sites, without even fact checking the stories, calling Blogs plagiarism and theft to be the hight of bullshit.

Anyway I'm done for now, I still think it's funny that I've come to trust a state-owned media outlet far more then any other source.

Whatever happened to the spacesim?

So I went looking for a Space Sim on the 360... only to find nothing. And only maybe 3 Flight Sims, 3 amid the masses of unwashed unplayable FPS cash-ins. I then went and looked on the PC... only to find nothing since Freespace 2 (not counting the upgrades and mods for it)...

My friend Ashleigh got me a copy of Freespace 2 over half a fucking decade ago, and by the time I got it it had already been out for a good while.

So where have all the Space Sims gone? And don't fucking tell me that those 360 Arcade games for Star Trek and Battlestar are space sims, you can only fucking move in 2d.

The space sim use to be huge, the X-Wing games, the Wing Commander games (don't get me started on the 2d movement bullshit crapfest that is the newest version, fuck you devs) and of course Freespace, so what happened?

Did the infestation of retarded Halo/CoD/MoD FPS fucktards who think anything that doesn't fit into their grey/brown shoot 'em up world is "ghay" kill them off? Their are already less and less RPGs, with only a handful of really good ones coming out each year due to the same thing.

Seriously if I can browse a store and find over a dozen new release FPS games that are all the same fucking thing when it comes down to it, but only one decent new RPG (Dragon Age), a few pre-owned Flight Sims, and not a single Space Sim, there is something seriously wrong with things.

Yea there are other genres to enjoy, but some many other gamers are only into FPS games that it's starting to ruin it for those of us who enjoy more then yet another WWII "reenactment" (because apparently only US troops took part in WWII).

I mean I enjoy some FPS games, I also enjoy RTS, RPG, etc, etc. But really less and less of those games are coming out as well, while more and more sports and FPS games are coming out. I mean seriously, are we loosing our hobby to the very people who use to deride it? The same we lost most of the Internet to the idiots!

So what happened? I really wanted to go frag some aliens in my fighter and drop some torpedos down a battle-station.

Oh btw Ace Combat 6 on the 360, the only Flight Sim I could find that looked decent (I refuse to purchase anything with Tom "I've got a US flag up my arse" Clancy's name on it), really really sucks.

When Eyecandy is too much

So I was bored out of my mind last night and was re-watching some old stuff I had laying around, and I got to thinking about some of the "eye-candy" we see in popular media.

I'm talking about the Seven of Nines, or the babes in chain-mail bikinis in video games, and why they annoy the holy shit out of me.

Don't get me wrong, hot is hot, and I'm a fan of a hot chick as much as the next guy, but having a hot chick dressed in almost nothing just to have a hot chick dressed in almost nothing is ... dum da da da! immersion breaking.

One thing that always got me was for example Troy on Star Trek TNG, she's a Commander on the federation flag ship... walking around in a skin tight body suit... Yea I know that in Trek Starfleet isn't really a military organisation, however, Uniforms serve several purposes, and there is a reason beyond the military utility as to why they exist.

They espouse uniformity (hence uniforms), a sense of belonging to something larger then yourself, they encourage a group or unit identity, be that a charity group like the Salvation Army, or the real Army. By being out of uniform she sends the implicit message that she isn't part of the group, that she is somehow above the group, not something you'd think a shrink would want to do.

It's just as bad, if not worse, in video games, take for example the ever present chain-mail bikinis you see in every fantasy game, they offer no protection, use it's a game, yes it's fantasy set in a world of magic and elfs and unicorns, but ffs that just means we're already working hard to keep our heads in the game, no need to needlessly break immersion just to have some T&A around.

As I said earlier, I'm not very PC, so I don't really care about any of the "it's offensive to women" bullshit (when those coke ads with the shirtless guy gets pulled off TV then they can talk, until then STFU) that gets thrown around, I'm against it on a more practice ground, it doesn't suit the story, if you've got a hooker in the game, by all means have her in next to nothing, but some tough warrior lugging around a sword bigger then my leg, she knows better.

Oh and what's up with the boobs on aliens, you've got reptiles with fucking tits... Jesus. You know what purpose breaths serve right? the feeding of young, the only reason men have them is we're a genetic modification of the female form, that's it, sure we may like to look at them, but the only real reason we have them is to feed kids. Reptiles don't do it that way, birds don't do it that way, or fish, or anything other then mammals (hence why breasts are called mammary glands).

So when I see a sci-fi series with a hot chick painted green with scales with huge freaking knockers I just want to go "ugg...". If they evolved from reptiles chances are they'd feed their young via other means, if they don't just go out and eat someone else's kids a few hours after hatching.... yea that hot reptile chick wont have the same parts as you either, sorry to say.

Okay now I'm just ranting... where was I...

Oh yea, I really wish more shows would have women dressed similarly to how they would dress in a real world situational analogue. It doesn't mean dress them in a burlap sack, after all a woman can be hot in conventional clothing or uniforms, after all if all we wanted to see was titties we've got the internet for that, it's the allure of what's under the clothes that gets us, show a little make us think about the rest.

Anyway I find chicks in uniforms mega hot.

Actors runing movies ... that they've already done

So I was thinking last night, am I the only one who can't watch movies that use to be favourites of mine because of the giant dicks the stars in them have turned into?

I mean, I use to love movies like Top Gun and Days of Thunder, good popcorn stuff, but the second Tom "Thetans" Cruise walks on screen I groan and want to turn the movie off.

I mean seriously the guy is a giant dick these days, and he's not the only one, Sly Stallone's stuff has been ruined for me, since he's turned into a creepy old man.

Have douchbag actors ruined your classic movie collection?

About the only actor that I detest that I can still watch is The Goveninator, yep, sure he became can a politician (I hate them all, doesn't matter which side they are on), that's one step below "puppy killing halocaust denying jay walker" on the douchbag scale.

I guess it says something about his movies, or it could be that if you sat through Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Junior and still enjoyed the gore ridden early action stuff before he started "acting" you can put up with anything short of trying to personally kill you and molest your pets.

So any you'd care to share?

Sports... /sigh

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chief John Coates has taken a swipe at Federal Sports Minister Kate Ellis, saying she has gone missing on the issue of sports funding.

This week the Government received the Crawford Report, its long-awaited review of sports funding in Australia, which did not recommend the $100 million in extra funding being sought by the AOC.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/22/2749861.htm

Jesus Christ on a pop-sickle stick. What the fuck is wrong with these people? The world's economy is falling apart and then want a hundred million dollars extra to fund people who play sports for a living?

Fuck them, and fuck their little athletes as well. People are suffering all over the world and the nation, people are loosing their jobs left right and centre and they want us to piss away money that could be used to help them for fucking sports.

They already get too much fucking money in this country, fuck them, use it to fix the roads around here, or build more hospitals, or I don't know fix the education system.

Fuck Sports.

Dragon Age - A Love Letter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4OruGI5gRw

This game is perhaps the best game I've played in the last 2 or 3 years, including Mass Effect and Fallout 3, it beats the ever loving Christ out of Fable 2.

I'll do a more detailed review on it later, but for now, watch the video, buy the game, and love it. It is simply awesome.

Everquest, A Perfect Storm or Zeitgeist?

Video at IGN.com

IGN is running a series on 10 years of Everquest (yes I know UO was first) and it got me thinking, was it a perfect storm of talent, creativity, technology, and passion that created the MMO phenomenon or was it just Zeitgeist?

If you don't know what Zeitgeist means, it's a German phrase meaning "the spirit of the age", meaning that if it wasn't Everquest and UO that started it, it would of been something else, but it still would of happened.

Not to diminish the work of the amazing people who made those games, they played their part and poured their blood into their work for sure, but it makes one wonder, if not Everquest and UO, what would of been born in their place?