Xorton's Rant

My apologies... For those of you opening this blog entry expecting a review of Oscar Trit's Collection of Norwegian Folk songs, featuring the Trondheim Hammer Dances... this is in fact a blog with my most recent doodle. While we're on the subject, it's rather hard to stay positive in this day and age... which is why comedy is so important. It was wonderful to hear that the Python's have returned for a few performances. Wouldn't it be lovely if they came back and did a few television specials? Certainly the demand is there. Apparently the performances sold out in a matter of seconds. And now it's time for the penguin on top of your television to explode.

Released : July 1994 Publisher : LucasArts Developer : Totally Games Platform : DOS, Windows, Mac Type : Space Fighter Simulation Graphics : Narly Game Play : Narly Originality : Narly How many hours I’ve wasted : Narly The Nostalgia Factor : Nary " Alpha one, mission critical craft under attack! Alpha one, mission critical craft shields down! Alpha one, mission critical craft hull condition critical! Alpha one, mission critical craft destroyed! Abort mission, mission failure! " Tie Fighter was the much anticipated sequel to X-Wing, the first fighter simulation released by Lucas Arts and these two games are probably the best fighter simulation games of any genre ever developed. Tie Fighter was one of those games I'd personally waited years for... finally an opportunity to pilot a Tie Fighter and shoot up hapless Y-Wings. As with most games released by LucasArts over the years, the graphics and sound for the period were nothing short of outstandi...

There are very few occasions for which I'm at a loss for words, but during a conversation this past week, one of these notable incidents occurred. I was speaking with a young individual who through the course of conversation revealed that she had no idea who The Doors or The Rolling Stone were. While she was aware that there had been a band called "The Beatles", she hadn't heard any of their material and believed that they were an old band that came to prominence during World War II or maybe World War I. Yes, in that bloody summer of 1916, troops of the British Empire Expeditionary Force in France were enjoying the off key warbling of the Liverpool Fab Four Quartet and their latest hits: "Mean Mr. Mustard Gas" and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kaiser". It was such a shame when John Lennon was later assassinated in Sarajevo by Gravrilo Princip. Sir Paul of course, is still cranking out the tunes... not bad for a man of apparently 116 (and st...

Once again, it's that time of year when everyone throws financial caution to the wind and contributes to supporting China as the world's greatest (and soon to be the only) source of manufacturing. To get back into the seasonal spirit, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit some of last years rants: l Can't Draw Bears How to Escape the Dreaded Office Pot-Luck Some Random Things That Annoy Me Why I Despise Christmas More Tragedy's With Mr. Snowman Tragic Holidays Too Political Snowfall And while were on the theme of Winter, just a friendly IT related reminder not to leave your consumerist electronic devices out in the cold.

For Immediate Release Coming in April 2014: Shortlist for uni-sex first and middle names: Higgs-Boson Quasar ("Higgy" for short) Nebular Organbank  Sagan Tiberius Aluminum Mallard  Trafalgar Metronome  Pulsar Hyper-Nova

I don't think anyone has undertaken such a thing, but I would be interested to see the results of a study on how many IT professionals suffer from serious depression, unresolved anger issues, suicidal tendencies or a general desire to liquidate the majority of the human race. In my many years in IT, one of my chief complaints is that a large minority of the users I have supported (that frequently take up the majority of my time) have absolutely no idea of the extreme toll that the dumb things they do (often repeated with alarming regularity despite our best efforts to train them otherwise) take on the poor overworked IT staff that try their best to support them. The worst offenders are a small (but vocal) few that are well aware of the pains they cause us, but are happy to make it known that they don't care. I'm sure many people in the IT industry feel the same frustration. Of course, come the New Order, such people will likely be marched off to special "resource...

As I think about it, Halloween really is the most enjoyable "holiday" out of all our stupid traditions. Carving pumpkins, dressing in whatever kind of costume you'd like, decorating your house to look all scary and randomly roaming the streets in the dark imposing on strangers for sweets... it's all rather fun. Even some mischief (namely egging, smashing pumpkins, and what not) is generally tolerated. The tradition is an old pagan one (and the only one thankfully that hasn't been corrupted by Christian influence... although some fringe elements try to have it cancelled every year). Pagans of course, always have the best holiday events. We should really introduce more.  In fact, I enjoyed Halloween so much when I was younger, the last time I went out, I was 18. Normally, trick or treating at that age, you'd get told to sod off... however, I went out as a woman (which wasn't all that convincing due to my beard) and everyone got such a laugh, my gro...