On an equally depressing note one moronic american seems to object against the usage of the words "master" and "slave" referring to hard drives and stuff on your computers controllers. There should be more neutral words used in his opinion. And as we all know, opinions are like assholes : every moron thinks his one is the best. Fuck the hell off. This should've been an urban legend, but alas it isn't.

Editorial - 25 November 2003

Being a webmaster is nu fun at all lately. Budgets are still low without a chance of rising again, bosses are still inclined to follow the obvious wrong turns in the roadmaps in shiny powerpoints presented by smooth-talking suits full of hot air, some co-workers tend to be ridiculously stupid and the pay has never been as good as you could read in the papers during the internetboom. I'm just totally fed up with all my reports being put aside, the lack of enthousiasm for innovation and the silly politics of it all. Getting the blame for slow responses and sudden connection-drops of the website/database when you're pushed using software against which you warned them because of slow responses and low stability ... I feel like a pinata here ...
Song of the week : "You Are Free (To Do As We Tell You)" Pitchshifter
Oldie of the week : "Blissfully Ignorant" Satanic Surfers
Last seen movie : "Night Of The Living Dead" : the first of what would become known as George Romero's "zombie trilogy". Filmed in black and white in 1968 for virtually no money, this movie isn't your average gory blood and guts shocker. Sure some images might be deemed too graphic for some viewers, but the lack of colour and close-ups tone down the impact. Which is good, because that keeps the focus on the tension and the climactic buildup. Throw in some racial and political comments along the way and this is much more than the ripoffs produced during the eighties.
Doing this week : Not amused.

Editorial - 17 November 2003

There's a whole invasion of old people going on tour these days. David Bowie passed through town just two weeks ago, in a month Metallica is coming and a mere four months later Eric Clapton is doing his guitar-thing in the same hall. Does liking all that stuff and going those concerts classify me as old too ?
Song of the week : "I Believe ..." The Darkness : ridiculousy campy song
Oldie of the week : "Basket Case" Green Day : wake-up song extra-ordinary
Last seen movie : "Election" : Matthew Broderick is a high school teacher organising the student election, Reese Witherspoon the driven A-student determined to win. Sounds funny, witty and promising, but frankly is neither of them. Merely kinda funny. Watchable.
"Chicken Run" : best tribute to "The Great Escape" ever. From the makers of "Wallace & Gromitt", this clay-figurines stop-motion-action is thrilling, warm, scary and damn funny. All about a group of chickens on afarm whose existence is endangered when the evil farmers decide to sell chicken pies instead of eggs. See it, love it, buy it.
"Waterworld" : it has an interesting premisse (a world almost totally overflown by water), epic sceneries and a great beginning. Sadly it turns into a stinker after the first hour, only slightly redeemed in the last ten minutes.
Doing this week : Bored.

Editorial - 11 November 2003

Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

by John McCrae - 1915
(A 42-year-old physician in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, died of wounds in 1918.)

Editorial - 10 November 2003

Anyone seen the lunar eclipse last saturday-evening ? Thought it was kinda cool to see, so I stayed up late (2 o'clock) watching X-Men DVD bonusmaterial. Around 1 o'clock part of the moon was already covered up until she completely disappeared around a quarter past two. Only thing left was a lightly glowing gray circle where the moon was. After a few minutes the wellknown yellow shine slowly started coming back.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "Girls Of Porn" Mr Bungle
Last seen movie : "Bad Boys II" : If you liked the first one, you'll like this one unless you dislike big chases, explosions and sexy jokes. If you disliked the first one, you're sure going to dislike this follow-up. It's a good movie because it's bigger than the first one and features some cool sceneries and has Henry Rollins in a (too) small role. It's a bad movie because it's too long, has an idiotic change of story in the last half hour, is less believable and focuses too much on gory details and cheap shock effects with bodyparts. Now you decide.
Doing this week : Try and catch up with the "to do" list ? Well, maybe ... last two days off, back to work on wednesday. As usual it's been relaxing and I have managed to do only half of what I was planning on doing - mostly due to some unforseen extra activities that pop up last minute. Oh well, nothing beats last minute fun stuff, init ?

Editorial - 5 November 2003

Tonight I'm going to see David Bowie in concert. Haven't seen him since his "drum and bass" years in the mid nineties - which were great by the way. Nothing better than some Nine Inch Nails in your music I always think.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "I'm Afraid Of Americans" David Bowie
Last seen movie : "Purple Storm" : hong-kong action with terrorists unleashing a purple gas - hence the title. Using the amnesiac son of the leader, the police tries to find out more. Like all chinese/japanese/ hong-kong movies a lot is left to the imagination - making way for big settings and visually stunning action. As usual it's fun to watch, but boring after an hour or so. I even fell asleep - and that doesn't happen often during movies.
Doing this week : I'm having the week off, so I'm not really planning on doing anything sorta speak.

Editorial - 1 November 2003

Had a Halloween party yesterday in Worf and Kira's new house. They're completely renovating the place so it was an appropriate place to hang around dressed up as ghosts and ghouls. There are probably some pictures taken, but I'm not quite sure - both digital cameras were acting up, so it's possible nothing much will show up ...

darkman says sleep tight

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