Suzy McHale’s Journal: 2013
January
Wednesday 2/1: Program and young male annoyances
New Year’s Eve was thankfully quiet in my suburb (aside from just one illegal firework let off somewhere nearby). I just slept through the New Year otherwise :-). The weather is heating up again (in the 30s for the next few days), unfortunately.
I have come to loathe iTunes with the heat of a thousand suns; I upgraded to version 11 on my PC and synching it with my iPad erased all the ebooks loaded in my library! I did not have a backup for it either, so now I have to reload all the books (not a lot, but still a nuisance to do). I uninstalled iTunes and reverted to the previous version (10.7). Given that experience, I have no desire to switch to Apple from Windows; Apple is just as closed-in and proprietary, if not more so. The iPad is pretty but limited in what I can do with it (mainly surf the Internet and read ebooks); not being able to plug in a USB drive and use portable apps on it, for example, is a real nuisance.
I had an exasperating afternoon yesterday trying to delete a wiki (Dokuwiki) that I installed for a sub-site (I installed a plug-in that messed it up); two folders refused to delete and I could not change file permissions via FTP (I put a query to the forum there). As things turned out, my website host was able to do it on request. I wanted to try having my own wiki as the commercial free hosted ones don’t meet all my requirements, but so far I have not found anything that is just right. I think I found a solution with this file, so I will try reinstalling Dokuwiki after all – the only other alternative, Mediawiki, is a massive 73 MB installation! (Dokuwiki is around 10 MB.)
“Call to ban youths from driving high-performance cars,” ABC News, 2/1. This I can agree with! While most cars can go relatively fast, the high-powered ones (often modified) are a particular menace, mainly because they are usually driven by aggressive young males whose attitude is, “Get out of my way or get run over!” They are immediately identifiable by their loud engines or exhausts (not sure which?) and seem to be in plague proportions on Melbourne’s roads. Not surprisingly, they are disproportionately represented in accident statistics. If you hear one come up behind you, you are guaranteed to get tailgated and harassed (as I have seen as a passenger or pedestrian – I have yet to re-learn to drive). I am so fed up with these idiots and would like drivers who display such attitudes to lose their licence for a period of time (years or even for life). Driving on Melbourne’s increasingly crowded roads is stressful enough already.
Saturday 5/1: Over 40°C; Dokuwiki struggles
Melbourne had its first 41°C day for this year yesterday. There has not been any good rain for a few weeks now; just a light shower or two. We might be heading back into another drought period, which is not good as the population (unfortunately) continues to increase.
I am still fussing around with Dokuwiki but it is an exasperating process; the main issue is with the file permissions procedure. If I re-upload some pages that I previously saved onto my hard drive (DW stores them as plain .txt files), I am unable to edit them, even if I change the permissions, as I posted in this forum entry. It means I have to manually re-create each page rather than upload saved ones, which rather defeats the purpose of easily transferring data. There is also no easy way to re-name pages. The program certainly is not novice-friendly (though it is apparently one of the easier wikis!).
Saturday 20/1: Striking gold
Melbourne has had no good rain for at least 7 weeks, and vegetation is drying out – a lot of street tree saplings planted over the last year or two are dying off from heat stress. It looks like the above-average rainfall of the last two years was an anamoly, unfortunately, as noted in my previous entry. There has been severe bushfires in various parts of the country. One reason for the heatwaves is the late onset of the monsoon in the north of the continent, which shows how wide-ranging weather systems here are. I have been thinking that the Australian continent is somewhat like a smaller version of the ancient Pangaean supercontinent, with narrow fertile regions around the edges and a vast desert interior.
A lucky prospector found a huge (5.5 kg) gold nugget somewhere near Ballarat last Wednesday! Despite decades of prospecting, there’s still gold to be found, apparently. My family used to go for daytrips to the region on weekends during the 1970s and 1980s; below are Dad, me and my sister somewhere near Wedderburn. Dad brought along a gold detector – a very basic one, unlike the expensive model mentioned in the article – but never found so much as a speck of gold! The trips were generally enjoyable, getting away from the suburbs into open countryside, and I rather miss them. I don’t have the means to travel, so I haven’t gone outside my suburb in years.
I gave up on trying to install Dokuwiki – the file permissions are too confusing – and decided to use an external wiki instead.
Thursday 31/1: Rain at last
I have my first cold of the year :-(
A storm front passed over Melbourne and eastwards nearly an hour ago with heavy rainfall – something that has been absent in the last 8 weeks or so! The rain gauge mounted on Dad’s shed has 50 mm worth of rain.
The remnants of a tropical cyclone resulted in heavy flooding for much of Queensland and parts of NSW over the last week – the worst since the 2011 floods. So now they will have to clean up all over again. In Victoria there have been a lot of bushfires flaring up in various country areas (many, frustratingly, deliberately lit).
February
Saturday 16/2: Asteroid hits Russia
A 50-meter-diameter near-Earth asteroid, 2012 DA14, passed close to Earth this morning, only 27,700 km away, though it was in no danger of impacting. It was visible from Australia but small and difficult to see; I could not see it (too much light pollution perhaps).
A meteor did make a spectacular impact in Russia yesterday over Chelyabinsk, captured on many car dashboard cameras, and did quite a bit of damage to buildings and injured people (mostly from broken glass), though no one was killed at least. It was only an estimated 15 meters diameter but, traveling at 54,000 km/h, it created a big fireball and huge sonic blast as it broke up in the atmosphere. It was unrelated to the asteroid (came from a different direction) and was undetected before entry.
A big cumulonimbus cloud puffed up in the sunset sky to the north yesterday, and was briefly lit up orange before dispersing – no thunderstorm ensued, disappointingly. There has been no rain since the downpours of two weeks ago. An unpleasant humid and hot period of weather has set in, typical for this time of year here, though without the rain which usually accompanies it.
Friday 22/2: Mars mission proposal
The weather has been humid and unpleasant all week, and continues into next week. Still virtually no rain has fallen here.
Millionaire Dennis Tito, who went to the International Space Station as the first space tourist back in 2001, has put forward a proposal for a privately-funded mission around Mars in 2018, for a crew of two to last 501 days. Various spaceflight forums are discussing it (with much skepticism). The technical aspects and logistics are daunting (radiation shielding, carrying enough supplies, providing power and propulsion, being able to fix anything that breaks as there will be no rescue from Earth), not to mention the cost (no idea of this yet). There is a news conference next week with more details to be provided. The plan also piqued my interest as it sounds a little like my own story (a Russian mission of two around Mars) though I don’t think there is an alien spaceship to be found there in orbit :-).
Saturday 23/2: Odd green flash
I saw a big greenish flash in the southwest sky on my early morning walk at 5:15 am; perhaps it was distant heat lightning over the horizon. I noted something similar in my 19/3/2007 entry, only to the east.
Wednesday 27/2: Tropical weather
Melbourne at last got some heavy rain yesterday, which caused the usual havoc, and some more today, along with cooler weather after 2 weeks of unpleasant humidity. The weather is described in the linked article as “monsoonal,” rather ususual for this far south (there has been heavy rain and flooding further north in NSW and Queensland). Heat and humidity are the worst types of weather for me as I just can’t function; I have a portable fan in my bedroom which has seen almost continuous use, but no air conditioning.
March
Tuesday 5/3: Heatwave; GP checkup
After that brief reprieve from the hot weather, it’s back to more heat and no rain this week – over 30°C from yesterday until next Monday Tuesday at least, unusual for this time of year. In fact it has been the hottest summer on record for Australia generally. A future where this becomes the norm is concerning.
Went to my GP today for an overdue checkup. No major issues – blood pressure is fine – though I am having a blood test to check hormone levels (as I still get bad cystic acne – at 42 frustratingly! – and other symptoms which make me think my hormones are out of balance). I have not gained weight, though I felt like I have. I am 159 cm tall and around 61 kg so I am close to the upper ideal range for my age and weight if the BMI chart is accurate. Frustratingly, I suspect I may be like the people described in this article, “Losing Battle,” who have genes predisposing them towards weight gain. Having to be that constantly vigilant does detract a bit from enjoyment of life. I don’t count calories currently, though I probably eat more than I should (due in part to comfort eating because of depression and such). I actually eat a bit less than I did a few years ago – I can’t get away with that indulging anymore as I get older.
Thursday 7/3: Heatwave continues; PM resigns
The endless heat is now set to continue to next Wednesday, so the misery continues.
The Victorian Premier, Ted Baillieu, resigned last night for somewhat unclear reasons. Wish the rest of the Liberal Party would follow! Under them there have been drastic and damaging cuts to TAFE colleges and public hospitals, both of which meanly target the disadvantaged. I am grateful I had my two surgeries under the previous Labor government as now I would be on a lengthy waiting list. I hope I will need no more in the future. I am fed up with essential public services being used as a “political football” and wish that some legislation would be introduced to make them exempt from funding cuts.
Thursday 14/3: Cooler at last; car race nonsense
After nearly two weeks of unrelenting heat a cool change finally came through yesterday, albeit with no rain. That sort of weather is physically draining and my bedroom fan was running almost non-stop (I have no air conditioning). There is more heat to come this month, though.
The Grand Prix takes place this weekend in Melbourne. I hate the race and the car culture and the idiot bogans associated with it, not to mention the obnoxious Bernie Ecclestone. The race should never have been held in a public park; the horrendous noise is very stressful for birds and animals there. They don’t have hearing protection so the high volume must cause some damage.
Tuesday 26/3: Gardening interest
The Autumn weather has been much milder, thankfully, though there is a 34°C day coming tomorrow; but cooler weather is following after that, at least.
The first 14 minutes of the sci-fi TV show Defiance was put online – unavailable to viewers outside the USA, annoyingly, but it is viewable for now on this site. It looks reasonably good so far, but I have seen no indication that any Australian TV channels will buy it, so I’ll have to try to find it online (which is not as easy as it was). I am most interested in the aliens and worldbuilding aspects.
I have found myself becoming increasingly interested in gardening in the last few years; I was mostly indifferent to it before. I bought myself a plant (for the first time!): a Cordyline Red Sensation, a striking red-leaved plant that grows up on a stalk. I like unusual-looking plants (see my 15/9/2011 entry about the Gymea Lily), especially plants with purple-red leaves (I get bored with green!). Alien-looking plants especially (they provide inspiration for actual alien plant designs!). Some weird-looking plants can be found on isolated islands such as Socotra and Madagascar (both of which are predicably being damaged by humans).
April
Tuesday 2/4: Alien planet mapping
The weather has been cooler since I last wrote, but there is some warm weather to come (though not as intense as previously). I really want to start wrapping up in my fleecy tracksuits and hoodies!
I have been preoccupied the last 3 weeks with trying to do a digital map for my worldbuilding and story project. Below is a first attempt (a little outdated already), showing elevation. The exoplanet is a single Pangaea-like continent, and I found some blank map projections I can use as a grid (I found out that the latitude and longitude lines are called graticules). The tablet on my desk has barely been used as I have not managed to find out how to create digital art, but I discovered I can draw continent outlines and fill them in, at least! I downloaded an old copy of Photoshop (CS2) from the Adobe site (I can’t afford the AU$1000 or so for the latest version!). My computer, though, is struggling – it only has 2GB of memory and this gets used up rather quickly!
The projection in the image is equirectangular; but I didn’t allow for the distortion at the top (north) and bottom, so the land there should look much more stretched out.
A global projection using NASA G.Projector:
Sunday 7/4: Daylight Savings ended
Daylight Savings ended today, finally! It extends for 6 months of the year now, and is just too long.
Saturday 13/4: Dismal department store novels
The novel Silentium has been out for a couple of weeks, but unlike last year (see 3/1/2012 entry), Big W did not get it in, most annoyingly! The book is otherwise $28 in specialized bookstores, which is far too much for a paperback novel. (Books, like most other things, are much more expensive in Australia – one of the few disadvantages of living here.) This inconsistency is most frustrating!
The book selection in department stores is very limited and dismal, mostly consisting of generic “chick lit” (novels that supposedly appeal to women – namely boring romance and relationship stories), thrillers and crime, young adult paranormal novels and similar. Absolute crap, in other words! Science fiction and fantasy novels are rarely found. The amount of dumbed-down rubbish published now is dismaying.
I did find another edition of Silver Brumby stories (16/12/2012 entry); four more in the series published in one volume, so I bought that. I wish I hadn’t given away all the original novels I had when young! (This site has an overview of the series, as does Wikipedia.) They are still a great read – one of the few books I can get enthusiastic about – and have evocative descriptions of the Australian landscape.
Thursday 18/4: Defiance; alien conlang
I was able to watch the first episode of Defiance, and found it fairly entertaining. (It is screening in Australia, but only on pay-TV, which I don’t have.) I hope it does not get canceled like Terra Nova was; I was quite disappointed by that! There is no sci-fi on free-to-air TV at the moment, so I am rather starved for it. Some conlangs were made for some of the alien races, so I hope more details are released about these, and more about their cultures.
My own conlang for my aliens is coalescing slowly (I would describe my process as muddling through it); I still find a lot of grammar concepts difficult to grasp, though! The problem with English is that it is what can be described as a promiscuous language; it has absorbed lots of words and grammar from different languages and is as a result a bit of a mess. Many other languages are a bit more pure so their grammar is more consistent, but features such as cases or genders can be difficult to comprehend if one’s only language learned has been English.
I am focused on my worldbuilding so I have done little elsewhere on my website! I have found r/WorldBuilding at Reddit to be generally friendly (unlike some subReddits), so I visit it frequently.
Saturday 20/4: Boston terror
An awful week in the USA that began with the bombing of the Boston Marathon on Monday has culminated with one of the suspects being caught not long ago (late morning in Melbourne time) after an overnight manhunt – his accomplice, his older brother, was shot and killed last night. Both had emmigrated from Chechnya with their parents some years ago. The reasons for their crime is as yet unknown. The drama had what felt like the whole Internet riveted – updates were quicker there than on the traditional media (TV news). (I even had dreams about it during the night, but taking place in Melbourne.) The 19-year-old will probably wish he had been killed – whatever happens, his life is pretty much over; he will either have life in a maximum-security prison, or get the death penalty. From what that Wikipedia link describes, the prison option seems a lot worse – he is only 19, so that is possibly 60 years or more behind bars (assuming he lives to 80 at least).
May
Sunday 5/5: Lawrence of Arabia viewing
I watched Lawrence of Arabia for the first time, on the remastered blu-ray I bought earlier this year. Yes, it does live up to the hype – an awesome experience. With my short attention span I would normally find it difficult to sit through a 3h 45m movie, but I was riveted for this one. It was a lot more complex than I initially though it would be, with some unexpectedly harrowing scenes – Lawrence seemed very conflicted and on the point of a nervous breakdown at times (he found that he enjoyed killing, but hated himself for this), and being tortured also damaged him. He also found it difficult to fit in anywhere and that he didn’t belong (something I can relate to), and was at a loss after the main mission of the movie had been achieved.
There were no speaking parts for women, though, and hardly any to be seen – Arabian women were kept separated and invisible. So life for females in that society seemed very restricted. Though the men didn’t have it easy, either – they were the ones who went off and got killed or maimed in battle.
On a perhaps more shallow observation, I loved the way the Arabs looked – the colorful flowing robes, swords, horses and general demeanor – in contrast to the stiff and drearily dressed British soldiers. Yes, that is a hopelessly romanticized view, but I love a lot of traditional costumes (ancient Japan being another) – clothing in modern society is so banal and ugly, and mundanity has become the standard, including in the military.
The desert landscapes were awe-inspiring and the cinematography really emphasized how beautiful but vast and inhospitable they are. There is so much space – a refreshing contrast to the cluttered urban areas where I live.
The letter below, regarding the situation in Syria, was published in The Age today. Reporting on the war there by the Western media is very one-sided, mostly ignoring that some of the rebels are Al-Quaeda trained.
Danger is very real
Thanks, Peter Fagg (Letters, 28/4) for bringing up a topic so often overlooked by the mainstream press. Throughout the Middle East and Africa, minority Christian groups are constantly under attack from Islamic militants.
As a result of the ''Arab Spring'', the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical Islamist groups have gained significant, if not total, power in post-revolutionary countries. In Syria, Christians support the undeniably cruel dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad simply because they fear persecution of minority religious groups once radicals are in control. Evidence of al-Qaeda's affiliation with the rebels seems to justify their concerns.
Please can the Western media take a closer look at what happens when a Muslim-dominated rebellion succeeds.
THOMAS BAKER, Camberwell
The saying “Be careful what you wish for” certainly applies to Egypt, who since the 2011 revolution have had a Muslim government and the lurking threat that they might become a radical religious state – such governments are generally not female-friendly. There was a report about the war on an Australian program in March; a quote from the transcript:
The rebels are a mixed bunch. All of them want to get rid of Bashar al Assad. Most want some kind of Islamic state and a few go further, seeing the war here as part of a greater international jihad. The regime is being supported by Russia, Iran and China but the rebels are only getting limited support from the west and its Arab allies.
If there is one observation I have repeatedly found accurate, it’s that humans just don’t learn from history – the same mistakes are made over and over again.
Friday 10/5: Solar eclipse
There was an annular solar eclipse over Australia this morning, though only northern Australia got to see the full coverage – Melbourne was just 25% covered. I did manage to get some photos; just my usual handheld binocular projections.
The weather has been unseasonally warm since Wednesday; in the mid-20s.
My parents returned today after a week away in the country; I had a rather lonely week as I have no friends my own age (or other ages) in the real world and I can’t drive, so I become rather isolated. Public transport is not as frequent as it could be; buses only come every ½ hour (I caught one for the first time in years!) and fares are rather expensive.
Tuesday 14/5: Star Trek: Into Darkness
I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness today, the sequel to the 2009 “rebooted” Star Trek. I quite enjoyed it; the movie certainly wasn’t lacking in action and explosions (hard to top crashing a spaceship into a city)! A lot of purists (Trekkie fans) seem to have various gripes, but I am not a fanatical fan, though I have watched some of the various series.
One thing I hate about going to the movies is emerging from the cinema afterwards – an unpleasantly jarring return to reality! Especially when the movie has been a sci-fi one with spaceships going around the universe, but the real world is far more mundane and depressingly limited.
Wednesday 15/5: Aging signs
I have noticed more signs of my aging over the last year: the beginnings of jowls or saggy cheeks, and some loss in muscle tone, despite doing much the same exercise as I have for years. Another thing to fret over! I hate to think what I will look like in another 10 or even 5 years. I thought that I had gained weight, but it hadn’t changed much according to my last visit to the doctor (5/3 entry), so the muscle tone loss is the only other reason I can think of.
Saturday 18/5: Fast trains
Prompted by a post at r/Japan, I went hunting on YouTube for some Japanese fast train (Shinkansen) videos and found a few. The trains are seriously awesome! If only Australia could have these also, perhaps linking capital cities. Sadly, no government here has the vision or will to implement such a hi-tech project; they can only find money for more environmentally-destructive roads as rail systems such as Melbourne’s antiquated one struggle to cope with ever-increasing demand.
Sunday 19/5: Alien invasion novel
There is a new Young Adult novel released called The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey that features an alien invasion, rather than the usual tedious paranormal themes (werewolves/vampires etc.). It is not too bad, though I detest teenage protagonists generally, finding them irritating, and the ones in the novel are no exception. The aliens, though, are rather disappointing – they are almost a direct copy of the ones in The Host by Stephanie Meyer: namely, parasite-type aliens that embed themselves in a human host’s brain and take over their personality. The main difference is that the aliens in The 5th Wave are malevolent, while the ones in The Host are benevolent. For myself, I don’t find alien parasites plausible (how would they cope with biological incompatability?) or particularly appealing.
Wednesday 22/5: Autumn here at last
The weather finally feels like Autumn: damp and chilly, with deciduous leaves turning red and gold. Though this makes arising in the morning difficult, and clothesline washing hard to dry!
“Solving an Alligator Mystery May Help Humans Regrow Lost Teeth”. These tooth-regrowing articles seem to appear every few years, but nothing ever comes of them! Also, Australian scientists are studying how salamanders can regrow their limbs, with the hopes that this could one day be applied to humans. Mammals have not been well done by in these aspects of evolution! I wish governments would prioritize this type of research as its becoming reality would improve life for millions of people.
I made a dentist appointment for a checkup for next Tuesday (I am overdue for one), which I am predictably not anticipating with joy (who does?).
Tuesday 28/5: Another filling :-(
My dentist appointment did not go too well today as I need another cavity filling! I will have to make another appointment to have it done. The offending tooth is the lower left second molar, which has been a bit vaguely achy for a while and has deep crevices; I thought the aching was due to a receded sensitive place on the side. (I would like to get a second opinion anyway, but can’t afford this.)
I wish I’d had sealants put on my lower molars years ago, but I did not know about them then. I already have 2 previous cavity fillings in my lower right molars (in 2007 and 2008), so 3 teeth will now be compromised :-(. I wish the tooth regeneration mentioned in my last entry was reality, then I could just have the teeth extracted and new ones regrown – a dental visit would be a lot less unpleasant (aside from the extractions).
June
Saturday 1/6: Third tooth filling
I am now the not-very-proud owner of my third filling :-(. The dentist, Dr Ting Ting Chen, was quite nice and I managed to have the filling done without anasthetic (though there were some sensitive spots!). I am dismayed to think that 10 years ago I had no fillings, but I now have three (plus some recession), all in my lower molars (they are all composite). I now wish I had got sealants put over them, but I did not know of them then.
Melbourne endured a big thunderstorm and heavy rain last night (The Age, Herald-Sun reports); it seemed like a tropical/monsoon-type storm as the weather was relatively mild and a little humid for this time of year. The radar image below shows a big front streaming south-east across the Australian continent from the Indian Ocean, so that is probably why.
Over my suburb there was a deafening CRACK of thunder directly overhead at 10:25 pm, followed by another soon after – quite scary! Unlike the last big storm in September 2011 (29/9/2011 entry), the power did not go out this time (lightning struck a powerpole in a nearby street in 2011). The storm cell seemed to hover or circle overhead for a few hours.
Saturday 8/6: Saving General Yang
I just watched a movie called Saving General Yang, which was awesome! It was a Chinese historical film, with lots of scenes of battling armies and (cute) men in cool armor. It got rather sad as the movie progressed, though! The movie was apparently released in Australia earlier this year, but I never noticed it – though these types of movies only tend to get limited releases here. As well as science fiction, I like these types of historical movies, as well as Japanese samurai ones.
The TV series Game of Thrones has become hugely popular, but this means its fans are particularly rabid and descend like a pack of direwolves upon anyone who dares criticize it (see any post about it at Reddit, for example). I have only watched the first episode of the first series, and the latest one (S3 episode 9) to see what the fuss was about. The slaughter scene at the end seemed over-the-top to the point of silliness (an orgy of throat-cutting!). I just find that unrelenting bleakness and continuing slaughter of characters rather off-putting after a while.
I came across this review of Saving General Yang that raised an interesting topic for me:
Filmed in the 21st century, the string of moral virtues as loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness set in the backdrop of ancient Chinese society evoke as much thinking as longing in the modern society. When General Yang chooses to die in warrior’s honor; when his seven sons unite in venturing to their enemy’s den to rescue their father; when each of these seven sons draws up their swords, knives, and bows to fight and slay with all their might, the mix of tragic and heroic grandeur combined casts all such notions that are growingly distant to the modern world as loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness in a renewed insight.
The individualism that is characteristic of Western culture is increasingly seeming dysfunctional to me – there is an excessive emphasis placed upon this to the detriment of social stability – and it also infects and disrupts other cultures.
Wednesday 12/6: Achy teeth; R'ha short film
My teeth on the new filling side are still achy, including the first molar in front of the filled one, so I hope that one won’t need treatment too :-(. I may have to go back to the dentist for a check. I really can’t afford any more fillings. It is a composite filling like my previous ones. I would really like gold fillings but they would be more expensive. (Fillings comparison table)
An awesome short amateur-made computer-animated movie called R’ha by Kaleb Lechowski was put online earlier this year to great acclaim; it features an alien being interrogated by an Artificial Intelligence that his species created and which turned on them. It has now got some interest from Hollywood. Hopefully the movie won’t be distorted into something that is nothing like the original, as can all too often happen. I would certainly see it in the cinema if it is ever made into a feature film! I wish I could do something similar with my aliens.
Thursday 13/6: 25-year failure
Melbourne and Victoria have had yet more rain; it has been raining steadily all day, and there is more to come.
I received an invitation to the 25-year reunion for my school Year 12 class in July. Like last time (30/6/2008 entry) I don’t think I will go, for the same reasons. I was the one and only failure that year – the only one who didn’t graduate – and have failed at life since. I really would have nothing to say to anyone there.
Sunday 16/6: The Burning Zone
At long last, via digging through the IMDB, I have managed to find out the name of a U.S. TV series about virus hunters screened in Australia from 1996-1997: The Burning Zone. This was a rather bizarre but creepy series that had imagery which remained with me for years. It seems to be rather obscure and is not on DVD. One particularly creepy episode was #6, “Lethal Injection,” where the protagonists found a way into some sort of other dimension with sinister black-robed figures, as described in this blog entry:
Perhaps the most memorable expression of The Burning Zone’s spiritual philosophy occurred in the installment called “Lethal Injection.” There, Marcase visited a hellish “after life” dimension after taking an experimental drug. In the after-life, he encountered whispering, black-shrouded ghosts who could remove a man’s spirit by touch. But he was protected from the loss of his soul by beings he termed “angels.” At the end of the episode, Marcase – again, a well-educated scientist, remember – theorized that this alternate dimension was actually an entrance to Hell for angels who had fallen from grace.
I actually liked the combination of science and mysticism – similar to The X-Files, which was also screening then and which I also watched regularly. There is almost nothing worth watching on Australian TV now, aside from occasional nature documentaries or series like Dr Who, which only have short runs. Science fiction is virtually absent.
I managed to find the episode online – only a poor-quality copy from a VCR – and it is as creepy as I remembered! A government organization is giving injections of a special drug to prisoners on death row that temporarily kills their bodies and sends their spirits into another dimension to get the secrets of the Universe – such as a mathematical formula for a black hole – from the sinister black-robed creatures that reside in a city there, where a huge red moon floats in a black sky and green lighting flashes. Some screenshots: red moon, an unpleasant awakening, black robes, portal to Hell, fallen angel. If only I could see it digitally remastered and in high definition!
Another years-long mystery solved for me! (Previous ones: 20/4/2012, 31/8/2010)
Tuesday 18/6: Still achy
My filling is still very sore, with aches and pains in the area around it. Looking back at my journal entries regarding my last composite filling (14/10/2008), I was complaining about pain for at least 3 weeks after it was done, though I didn’t note when it eventually eased (I will for this one, assuming it hopefully does heal). Googling about the issue brought up a lot of similar complaints, such as the hundreds of entries in this forum thread.
Saturday 22/6: More achy teeth
I am going back to the dentist on Tuesday as the molar in front of the filled one has decided to become troublesome and aching; last night it felt as though spikes were being driven through my face. The detail from the x-ray below was taken on 29 May, just before I got lower left molar #2 filled, but #1 in front became painful after that. Not being an expert, I can’t tell if anything is wrong with it there. It has a deep fissure on the top that is discolored black, though, and that is where it is a bit achy.
I am frustrated at these continuing problems; they are certainly not due to neglect. I brush and floss at least twice a day, rinse my mouth with water after eating, don’t drink soft drinks. I don’t know what more I can do, short of liquefying my food and drinking it through a straw so that nothing touches my teeth! I am also frustrated that dentistry is not covered by Medicare and can thus get very expensive.
More unwelcome news generally is that Victoria has Australia’s highest population growth rate, via immigration and births. The negative effects of this are obvious: infrastructure and public services (health, transport, etc.) are not keeping up with demand, roads are choked with traffic and suburbs are increasingly becoming overcrowded and overdeveloped. Quality of life is being impacted (though things are still better than many other countries).
Tuesday 25/6: No achy source
The dentist could not find anything obviously wrong, though the dark fissure in the molar had a tiny bit of decay which she removed and then put a sealant in. The pains and aches were likely due to my jaw misalignment (I have an overbite), with the lower molars getting more pressure and wear than normal. As I can’t afford an orthodontist, all I can do is try not to clench my jaw, and wear a mouthguard at night.
Man of Steel opens in Australia this week, so I might go see it next week (discount Tuesday – $12, normal adult tickets $19). I have read the novelization so am already spoiled :-). I do like the alien worldbuilding approach to Superman and Krypton.
July
Wednesday 3/7: Man of Steel
I went to see Man of Steel in the cinema yesterday. I am not normally interested in superhero movies, but this version had more of a sci-fi theme to it. (This year is a good year for sci-fi movies!) I generally enjoyed it, but had some mixed feelings:
- The special effects were excellent, as was to be expected. Some great flying scenes, including the shots of Earth orbit!
- Loved the worldbuilding done with Krypton, and the design.
- Flashbacks were used a lot, which could be a bit disruptive to the flow of the story.
- Henry Cavill was a convincing Superman.
- The Superman as Jesus allegory was a bit overdone!
- The overall feel of the movie was rather grim and joyless, compared to the original. Despite the latter’s now-cheesy special effects, I felt it had more heart.
- The movie dragged in places and the fight scenes at the end can only be described as “Disaster Porn”! Quite a few critics had qualms about the excessive destruction (the city’s repair bill would be over $700 billion, according to one estimate).
Thursday 4/7: Prime Minister musical chairs
So Egypt’s president got dumped earlier today. Seeing as he had ties with an Islamist group, that probably isn’t a bad thing – though the country is in chaos yet again. Australia also swapped Prime Ministers again last week, though that didn’t make headlines outside of here and did not involve bloodshed, though it was certainly controversial. I just don’t want the Liberals (conservatives) to get back in power again as a lot of public service funding cuts will inevitably follow.
Saturday 6/7: Shut-ins
“Hikikomori: Why are so many Japanese men refusing to leave their rooms?,” BBC News, 4/7. This article was linked to at Reddit. The condition is certainly not exclusive to Japan, though – I would describe myself as partly one. I earlier came across this 2011 forum post, “Been living as a shut in since 1999,” by someone who seems to be in the USA (he has no personal information in his profile). It is not a happy way to be, but society is a daunting and hostile place – and seems to be ever more so as the years go by – and not everyone can cope with it.
Friday 12/7: Surgery dream
I had a rather disturbing dream this morning: I was under a general anesthetic about to undergo some sort of facial cosmetic surgery, and I was lying paralyzed but aware of the surgeons around me. I was breathing but could not move to speak and make them aware that I was conscious. Fortunately I woke up at that point! I have been under a GA, so I wonder if it's a vague memory of that? Along with some sort of sleep paralysis.
Wednesday 17/7: First digital art attempt
I actually managed to do a digital art piece! It is more of a sketch as I am an amateur at that type of art. It is of an alien eye, one of my characters:
I am having much frustration with the cursor sticking and jerking on the screen when I use my tablet (it is a Manhattan WP8060, an older model no longer supported – it was a Christmas present a few years ago). I don’t know what is causing it, but I can barely draw anything; trying to draw curved lines freehand is nearly impossible. I also have only 2GB of RAM which is used up rather quickly!
The program I used is Photoshop CS2; it is quite old but I can’t afford the ridiculous prices wanted for it in Australia. It was downloaded from a page with no-longer-supported software at Adobe (which you have to sign up before seeing). I also have GIMP which is an open-source program somewhat similar to Photoshop.
I wish I could do some sort of digital art course to learn the technique properly but again cost is an issue, and I don’t know of any courses.
Sunday 21/7: Alien map
I have been trying to do a more realistic version of the map I mentioned back in my 2/4 entry, but no success so far; the technique is difficult and I have not figured out how to do it. I want a version like the photo-images at the NASA Blue Marble site, but I don’t know of software that could generate that. Complicating things is that the vegetation of the exoplanet is shades of red and orange – no Earth-green – as the crude example below shows. The slowness of my computer is also a major frustration when working on large images; it chokes up on them.
Tuesday 23/7: Ancient Aboriginies
There is an ABC documentary series screening called First Footprints, about the occupation of Australia by Aboriginies for the last 50,000 years or so. The first episode showed the amazing rock art that has survived in many places for tens of thousands of years, and the connection with the land and ancestors that the Aboriginies still have – they can look at the art and know its meaning. They have an entirely different way of regarding the landscape than what our modern industrial society does; for the latter it is something to be possessed, dug up and exploited generally. I have come to appreciate the different view in recent years, and envy their link to their past; one lady elder was pointing at some paintings that her remote ancestors did, 40,000 years ago. It’s something I can barely imagine as I feel so disconnected and aimless in my own life and society, so watching that made me feel rather peaceful. I wonder if some of the ills in our society – perhaps a reason for some mental illnesses – are due to us losing that connection.
The June issue of National Geographic magazine had an article on Australia’s Aboriginals which is also interesting reading.
Sunday 28/7: More memory; no reunion
I thought I would try to add some more memory to my computer – it only has 2 GB – but found when trying to add another 2GB (which Dad dug out from his shed) that the second memory slot seems to be faulty as it was not recognized at all. It only has two slots. So it looks like I might be moving yet again to a newer computer – another Dad-build (as I call them – he seems to build them every couple of years). It is probably time I did anyway, though I am still staying with Windows 7 for the near future. I hate the process of moving, though – it is the digital equivalent of moving house and is just as time-consuming and tedious. I can’t do a disk image as both systems have OEM versions installed on them.
The 25-year reunion for my school class took place last 19 July, but as usual I did not attend (and forgot about it anyway!). Looking at the few photos (some out of focus!), only 13 attended (and everyone looks older!). I would have felt out of place as they are no doubt successful in their lives and I am not. One movie I saw on TV some years ago which I rather liked was Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (yes, really!) where the title characters pretended to be successful to impress their classmates, and despite being caught out ended up with the formerly nerdy and bullied guy who was now a billionaire. Life hasn’t worked out like that for me, though.
August
Sunday 4/8: RAM upgrade
I now have 4 GB of RAM on my computer, but much to my annoyance only 3 GB is actually used – the rest is taken by the graphics card – so performance is not a lot better (it still struggles with a 200 MB Photoshop layered image). I also found out that Windows 7 32-bit can’t go any higher – if 8 GB or more is wanted, the 64-bit edition is needed. Also annoying! (There’s a list of Memory Limits for Windows Releases at the MS site.)
Australia got its fastest-ever supercomputer last week, in Canberra, mainly to be used for weather and climate simulations. It has 160 terabytes of memory!! And is big and also quite noisy. I wonder if such processing power will be minaturized in a decade or two, and everyone will carry its equivalent around in tablets, or maybe neural implants by then.
I came across this video of a maglev train in China that goes up to 431 km/h! If only Australia could have a fast train, but no government here wants to spend the money on one (though they can magically find billions for yet more environmentally-damaging freeways). There is even a small political party devoted to the issue (as I recently found out).
A dismaying health tidbit from the Herald-Sun, 31/7:
The long and the short of it
AS we age, we get shorter, with a new study showing men lose about 1cm in height each decade from age 40. By age 70, men lose, on average, about 3.8cm in height; women lose up to 5cm. As we get older, the disks in the spine dry out and become thinner, causing it to shrink.
As I am already short (just under 5 feet 3 inches, or 162.5 cm), so I could end up shrinking to little more than 5 feet if I live to old age!
Friday 9/8: Virtually homeless
My web host informed me that he is unable to do site hosting anymore due to health issues, so my site here will disappear next week. My domain name still has a couple of years until expiry, but I am unable to afford web hosting so it’s back to free websites, I guess. I am grateful for the years being hosted, but unfortunately it couldn’t last forever.
The only free sites on offer that seem somewhat reasonable are:
- Google Sites – I have an account here; it has a 100 MB space limit (my website is nearly 70 MB). But it is limited and annoying to use; I can’t do FTP bulk uploading, I am restricted to their template designs and it is integrated with other Google services, which I don’t particularly like. I can point my domain name here (if I can figure out how to do it!).
- Neocities.org – I recently found out about this; it is a private venture to provide free basic website hosting like the old Yahoo Geocities did. I can point my domain name here and do my own site styling – but each site has only 10 MB of space allocated, so there is no room for my entire site; just a few personal pages. I don’t know how sustainable its model is.
I also considered Wordpress.com, but it does not allow domain pointing for free sites.
I wish governments would provide basic free (taxpayer-funded) site hosting for their citizens, that would be permanent (well, for as long as our civilization would endure) – enabling everyone to leave an archival record of their existence. Relying on companies and paid hosting is too precarious and impermanent.
Tuesday 13/8: Hosting reprieve
My site hosting has possibly had a reprieve, so it may not shut down after all – not quite sure of what’s happening yet.
Friday 16/8: Winds; election; Egypt chaos
Today has been the second day this week with gale-force winds over Melbourne and Victoria, doing the usual damage – a lot of trees get uprooted, unfortunately. These winds tend to come in springtime; we have barely seem to have had a winter this year.
The Australian Federal Election is due to take place on 7 September; I am dreading it as there is the seemingly probable possibility of the Liberals (conservatives) getting elected, and the subsequent funding cuts to public services that always follow.
Egypt is in chaos again. An Islamic type of government is most definitely not female-friendly, though, so I can’t say I feel much sympathy for the Islamic Brotherhood protestors. I also hope the Ancient Egyptian artifacts won’t be damaged; a few were in the 2011 uprising. Perhaps they would be safer returned to their respective tombs and sealed in.
Tuesday 20/8: Digital art attempt
I did another small digital art piece (just an alien hand!). I have uploaded it and some of my old traditional art to my DeviantArt account (the odd username comes from feeding my name though the Elite Namelizer – which only makes sense if you are familiar with the Halo video game. I’ve never played any video games, but am otherwise familiar with some, namely Halo and Mass Effect). The only concern is the issue of plagarism and art theft, though I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting my modest efforts. The process is rather frustratingly slow, though (or maybe I have lost patience) – I have a lot of images in my head, but getting them out is tedious.
Sunday 25/8: New hosting
My website is now hosted on a new server location, so I’ll have to see how things work out.
It is also in dire need of “spring cleaning”; there are a lot of unused or outdated files, and it also needs a design makeover as it feels rather stale. I rather like the “flat design” and minimalism that is the latest webpage fashion, but it requires a big overhaul of the underlying CSS and HTML markup.
Monday 26/8: Website work
I spent a tedious day fiddling behind the scenes with the underlying style sheets of my website, and I rather like the result – it looks somewhat cleaner and less fussy. I removed the decorative lines that were everywhere, and changed the fonts – also enlarged them as I find reading it a bit of a strain on an iPad (I hope I don’t need bifocals yet!).
One hassle is trying to lay out images and captions; mine are of different sizes so they require some rather convoluted CSS to arrange. Another annoyance is that the <cite> tag in HTML5 is only used for pieces of work (books, movies, articles, games, tv shows, etc.), not also for ships’ names and such as I was doing, so I had to go and replace hundreds of tags with the <i> tag. More tedium!
September
Thursday 5/9: Election dread
The weather was unseasonably warm this week, with yesterday getting up to 26°C, and it is barely out of winter. I also have a cold.
Federal Election takes place this Saturday, which I am dreading as the Liberals (fiscal conservatives) look almost certain to prevail, with funding cuts to public services to follow. I will be putting them last on both Senate and House of Representative ballot sheets. I will put the Stable Population Party first on the Senate sheet, and either Labor or Greens on the House of Reps.
Saturday 7/9: Voting day
I voted today, and I filled out below the line on the House of Representatives ballot – all 97 candidates for the Victorian section! Stable Population Party was first, followed by Labor then Greens, and Liberals last after a long list of obscure parties. Senate was: Greens, Labor, three nutty right-wing minor parties, Liberals. Sadly, it looks as though Liberals will be in government again after today. I was quite happy when John Howard was defeated in 2007 (25/11/2007 entry), but will feel the reverse tomorrow :-(.
Labor practically self-destructed, though – the ongoing infighting and replacement of not one but two leaders during their term (Kevin Rudd → lost popularity so panic mode and replace him with Julia Gillard → lost popularity so panic and replace her with Kevin again) left a bad taste with many.
October
Tuesday 1/10: Wind chaos
Melbourne has had some windy weather last week and this week; last night was the worst, with winds gusting to up to 140 km/h! (ABC News, The Age) They were the most severe winds in nearly 30 years. In my immediate area, there were just a lot of tree branches broken, rubbish bins blown over and some outdoor furniture tossed about. Around 500 trees were blown down – as this happens every time there are strong winds, it’s a wonder there’s any trees left :-(.
Friday 4/10: Daiso opens
A Japanese-owned store chain called Daiso recently opened a branch in Chadstone shopping center last month, so I have been going in there on my once-weekly visit. It is similar in concept to the Chinese-owned discount stores that have proliferated in recent years in Australia, but is much nicer in layout and appearance. I have bought a few cute novelty things already :-). Some of the items are made in China, though, which is a bit disappointing – apparently this is common even with Japanese brands.
I watched the Pacific Rim movie which came out in Australia a few months ago. It was visually spectacular if rather empty, and perhaps a bit too long. The parallels with the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime were quite obvious in places.
Thursday 10/10: Developer protest
I was pleasantly surprised to see someone in the neighborhood feels the same way I do about property developers – “DEVELOPER SCUM” – if this recent protest graffiti is anything to go by! The house was demolished last week; yet another old but still livable home fallen prey to parasite developers. My old neighborhood is slowly disappearing house by house, and their ugly barren replacements are not improvements, adding to the overcrowding and overdevelopment plaguing Melbourne generally. Population growth is ruining the city – the latest dire predictions are for Melbourne alone to grow by 2.5 million, and for residents to lose right to objecting to inappropriate developments in some areas. I feel so angry and frustrated at this blind rush to destroy what is livable about the city, but am powerless to do anything.
Sunday 13/10: Housing crisis; aging ills; Bronies
The fence section with that protest graffiti has been removed, so at least I got a photo of it!
A news report on ABC News last night said that 1 in 8 house buyers in Australia are now overseas investors or owners, which is alarming. This certainly doesn’t help the housing affordability crisis, and really should be disallowed. A lot more people here have to rent rather than buy, which adds to insecurity and stress. I am unlikely to ever own my own home, certainly not in my current situation (less than $1000 in savings).
An elderly family friend is having to go into managed care after two falls and deteriorating health – she is returning to her home town of Perth – so it has been a rather stressful year in that regard. She went to my parents’ church and they have been helping her quite a lot (they are now old themselves). All the people I depend upon are getting old, and it is depressing. I don’t know any people around my age in real life; certainly none in my situation.
“Brony spectacle signals acceptance of ‘different kinds’ of masculinity” – I regard the My Little Pony fandom as bizarre, and it’s a sorry reflection on our society that this sort of infantile nonsense is popular amongst so-called adults!
Monday 21/10: Tooth pain
I have more tooth pain, so I am off to a dentist yet again tomorrow (3rd time this year) – a new dentist in the same clinic (Southland Dental Surgery) as the one I saw last time seems to have left, unfortunately. I seem to see a different one each year, but I don’t know where else to go. My lower left molar has two suspicious-looking dark spots – on the site and on the exposed root – and the area has started aching, so I am dreading more fillings. My teeth seem to have been gradually deteriorating since 2007 or so – ten years ago they were fine with no fillings – despite me being ever more diligent about cleaning, flossing and rinsing after eating. I do have some sugar and carbohydrates with most meals (3 meals and 1 afternoon snack every day, and no soft drinks or eating in between) but rinse and brush afterwards. Short of cutting out everything but meat, vegetables and eggs, which would make for a rather deprived and miserable diet, I don’t know what more I can do.
Saturday 26/10: Tooth pain unsolved
The dentist could find nothing obviously wrong to explain the aching, but suggested using sensitivity toothpaste on the receded gum place (which I do) and also said I should ultimately consider orthodontics as my bite is misaligned (moderate overbite). Which is not possible for me as it is expensive (a few thousand $) and it looks an uncomfortable procedure, though quite a few adults undertake it now.
I did a purge of my bedroom; mainly a few years’ worth of accumulated newspaper clippings and printouts which I tend to keep because they are of interest but never look at again. My hard disk drive also has around 500 GB of stuff on it! I have an irresistable urge to hoard information, though I may never use it.
I have been looking at what digital graphics tablets are available, but there is either Wacom, the main brand which is very expensive, or various generic Chinese-made brands, most of which are very difficult to buy retail in Australia – the selection as such is very limited here, annoyingly.
November
Wednesday 6/11: Eyes OK; archaic sport
I had my biennial eye exam today. My prescription hasn’t changed (nearsighted, −4.00 diopters in each eye and some astigmatism) and my retinas are healthy. A lot more pleasant than a visit to the dentist! If only glasses were a bit more affordable.
Yesterday was a certain horse race event. Which I couldn’t care less about, and dislike because of its inherent cruelty. One horse broke its leg during the Cup race and was euthanized.
This blog entry on the race was linked to on Reddit. She perfectly expresses my feelings towards it:
However, this is Australia, so let’s be honest, when two or three gather in the name of public revelry, drunken folly inevitably follows. And what results is a cultural projection that paints our nation as a bunch of backwards, stubby-nursing, loud-mouthed bogans.
The sporting obsession here is an international embarrassment and makes Australia look like what she described. I do like Australian Rules Football to some extent (go Richmond!), though the footballers get idolized to an absurd degree in the media. At least it doesn’t involve animal cruelty.
Saturday 9/11: 43 today
Today is 15,706 days since I was born.
I have been looking at what graphics tablets are available in Australia. The Wacom brand are the most prominent, but as they are the dominant brand they are also expensive – $350 or more for the version I favor, but from its reviews there seems to be issues with a rough drawing surface wearing out the pen nib, and some USB cable connection problems. Other brands are near-impossible to buy in-store here – I prefer this as it makes any returns much easier. My own tablet is a Manhattan (by UC Logic) that is a few years old; it has only 1024 pen pressure levels and 2000 lpi resolution, which are rather basic now – 2048 and 5000+ are better. There is an affordable Chinese brand called Huion with higher sensitivity but it is only available through Amazon.com. I found an obscure called XP-Pen with similar sensitivity on an Australia site but can’t find any reviews for it. So variety here is still limited.
“George R.R. Martin: Hands off my characters”. Some acerbic comments from the A Song of Ice and Fire author who is no fan of fan fiction!
Wearing his distinctive cap and braces combo, Martin discussed the topic of fan fiction, where lovers of his sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire books create their own stories in his universe. “It’s a lazy way to go when you’re just taking my characters,” he said. “I recognise that it’s an act of love … I would rather they make up their own characters and their own stories and not just borrow my world.” Martin said he didn’t read fan fiction but heard bad reports of its overall quality. “These characters are real to me, I’ve been living with them since 1991,” he said. “I know what they would do and what they can’t do, and some fan writers take over them and make them do things to my mind that are wildly out of character.” He urged aspiring writers take on the challenge of creating their own world. “Tackle the big thing and you’ll be a better writer at the end of it,” he said.
If I were an author, I would feel the same way; it is just rude to appropriate and bastardize another’s characters in the way fan fiction writers do. They have such an entitled attitude, however, that it is impossible to reason with them.
Saturday 23/11: Alien worlds
I have been preoccupied the last two weeks with reworking my alien planet maps; below is a globe version done in GIMP. It is better when compared to my last attempt (21/7 entry), but still not photorealistic. The clouds were taken from a NASA satellite image. I would like to render planets like is done by NASA and such for exoplanet concepts, but don’t know how they do it – my process below was quite laborious and slowed my poor computer to a crawl! The map has about 74 layers or so and takes up nearly 2GB of memory – as my computer is 32-bit and has 4GB RAM, it is obviously struggling, and it is not an old computer either.
December
Wednesday 11/12: Tooth woes
I visited the dentist today because of more toothache (in my upper premolar this time), but she couldn’t find anything obvious such as a cavity, and said it was probably due to my night guard not fitting properly anymore (I have had it since 2009). So I will probably have to get another one sometime.
I watched the movie Elysium yesterday. It has received a lot of criticism due to a somewhat simplistic storyline, but I still enjoyed it – it was visually spectacular and the technology was cool. And I kind of liked that the whole point of the movie was for everyone to get access to free advanced health care! There was also plenty of gory scenes, including the director’s inclination to blow up characters into little meaty chunks with advanced weaponry (a feature of District 9)!
I also watched The Wolverine last week. I am not particularly interested in the titular character, but mainly watched it because it was set in Japan with all the associated cool culture stuff, even if just about every cliché made an appearance (including ninjas on rooftops!).
And I watched Breaking Dawn Part 2, the last of the Twilight Saga movies, but I found it a bit tedious and it would make no sense at all to anyone who hadn’t read the novels. The whole Twilight mania is past its peak.
Tuesday 17/12: AI avatar; drug denial
Thursday is supposed to reach 40°C, or close to it! The spring and summer so far in Melbourne has been relatively mild, without the unpleasant humidity that accompanies some years. That luck has run out, though.
I managed to do another digital art piece, a depiction from my story and world of an alien Artificial Intelligence’s holographic avatar, as it appears in the starship it inhabits. Much of it is rendering through filters, and using the Paths Tool for the helmet and horns. I still can’t draw freehand very well (wobbly lines) or shade smoothly, but a better digital tablet is not affordable, or otherwise easily available. One more affordable brand that seems to be getting good reviews is from a Chinese company, Huion, but it is not available retail in Australia, and I can’t order it as I don’t have credit or debit. The equivalent Wacom model is nearly $400 here!
Last night I watched a documentary about legalized marijuana use in the USA. There seems to be a greatly increased acceptance of mind-altering drug usage amongst the younger generations (20s and below), which I have noticed on forums such as Reddit, where it has widespread support. I can see some limited legal use for the drug as pain relief, but I don’t think smoking or injesting it on a regular basis is at all psychologically healthy – there seems to be a lot of evidence linking it to the onset of mental illness in genetically suspectible young people. Using stimulants like amphetamines at dance parties and such is also another increasingly public trend.
Try to point out the negatives, though, and such opinions will get scornfully dismissed. This post on a long-term usage study at Reddit has over 1000 comments, most of them in complete denial that the drug is anything but “harmless”.
In my view, dependence upon any mind-altering drug for recreational purposes is a moral weakness, and something that should be avoided. I am certainly glad I did not take any such drugs as a teenager – who knows what it might have done to my mind, considering all the problems I have had with depression and such without drugs.
Friday 20/12: Declining dollar
The temperature yesterday in Melbourne did get to 40°C; the hottest December day in 3 years. Christmas Day is so far predicted to be in the mid-20s, which is bearable.
The Australian dollar is below U.S. 90c, which is annoying, as overseas products will become more expensive again. One of the few negatives about living down here is the high cost of living. Privatizing essential services such as electricity has not helped this.
Two movies of interest coming out next year are Transcendence and Interstellar; they both involve my favorite technologies (Artificial Intelligence and wormholes).
Tuesday 24/12: Teeth again
With very inconvenient timing, I have a toothache again – in my lower left 1st molar again. There is a dubious-looking fissure to the back of it, so I think it will need a filling. The dentist I see is away for 3 weeks, and the clinic is closed for most of this week, so I just have to endure it. That will be my last intact lower molar gone :-(.
Saturday 28/12: New PC
Tooth and lower jaw are still aching; I had a miserable Christmas Day because of it, mostly spent lying on my bed.
More happily, I did receive a new computer – another “Dad-build” – this a 64-bit one with Windows 8.1 installed and 8 GB RAM. Getting used to the new system layout is a bit distracting, but it is not too bad. The computer is a lot quicker than my previous one (32-bit, 4 GB RAM), and should hopefully cope with large digital art images! Most programs seem to work OK; the only annoyance is with the latest versions of GIMP (2.8 series) that don’t detect graphics tablet pen pressure on 64-bit computers, though the 2.6 series does. It is a known issue, but whether it will be fixed is unknown yet.
Tuesday 31/12: Teeth false alarm
I saw a dentist (Dr Ted Yu) at Southland Dental Clinic yesterday, who was quite nice; he could find nothing obviously wrong after examining the area and taking a digital x-ray. He put sealants in both teeth as a precaution; the 1st molar has a deep fissure with a tiny bit of decay, so the sealant should stop progression (hopefully!). Only other things I can do are take painkillers and use a hot compress on the jaw area.
Another year of nothingness for me, aside from getting older. I did begin attempts at doing some digital art, at least.