Random rants go here.

[Lady Pyro]

Time for an explanation from my favorite author! Terry Pratchett explains:
"Nothing goes around with that kind of heat inside it. How do swamp dragons manage it?"
"Oh that's just chemicals," said Lady Ramkin dismissively "They just distill something flammable from whatever they've eaten and ignite the flame just as it comes out of the ducts. They never actually have the fire inside them, unless they get a case of blowback."
"What happens then?"
"You're scraping dragon off the scenery," said Lady Ramkin cheerfully. "I'm afraid they're not very well-designed creatures, dragons."

[Angelus3K]

Time for an explanation from my favorite author! Terry Pratchett explains:
"Nothing goes around with that kind of heat inside it. How do swamp dragons manage it?"
"Oh that's just chemicals," said Lady Ramkin dismissively "They just distill something flammable from whatever they've eaten and ignite the flame just as it comes out of the ducts. They never actually have the fire inside them, unless they get a case of blowback."
"What happens then?"
"You're scraping dragon off the scenery," said Lady Ramkin cheerfully. "I'm afraid they're not very well-designed creatures, dragons."

Brilliant lol!

[Lady Pyro]

Oops, used the word 'explain' more times then I meant to. Apologies all around, I was super tired while hunting for that quote (from the novel 'Guards! Guards!). Also, if none has been read, check out Terry Prachett's Discworld series. I'd heavily recommend it, but I'm biased, I own every book he's put out (that has been made available to me).

[Gronagor]

Who else think Madonna is going overboard with another black child from africa?
Really starting to become apparent that she's only doing it to get attention.
If it's about having a child that has something in common with the previous one,
it's obvious she shouldn't have taken the first one either.

[Lady Pyro]

I haven't really heard anything about any of that, I guess I just don't keep up on celebrity 'news' but if these kids need a home, who cares what her motivation is? She's got enough money that these children will be well taken care of and have a shot at a future most children stuck in 'the system' wont have.
But I don't have all the facts, so I could be wrong.

[Gronagor]

Ok. I guess there are no homeless children in the West.

[Lady Pyro]

Why would where the child is from matter? Kids need homes around the world, why would the West prioritize? Or should people only help 'their own'?

Sorry that sounds ruder then I meant, but I sincerely hope that isn't what you're implying.

[Broomie]

There's a huge difference between a loving family adopting a child anywhere in the world, and Madonna adopting a child from anywhere in the world. When she was living in the UK she was sometimes blasted in the tabloids that not only is she an unfit mother but she's never around for her children. It got worse when she split up with Guy Ritchie and sent him a comprehensive list of what to do and what not to do with the children (the list was mainly of the latter) which was shown on the news and tabloids. The list was ridiculous and she was practically prisoning the children from doing anything with him. She's crazy, simply effin' crazy.

[Lady Pyro]

Well I admitted before (and will again) that I don't have all the facts in this case but if tabloids in the U.K are anything like the ones we have here, I wouldn't really trust them not to exaggerate.
But yes, it's entirely possible she'll be a terrible mother whose never around, but she's got the money that, even if these kids are raised by Nannies, they're going to be better off then in an Orphanage or an over burdened foster home (Yes, I know there are other possibilities but far to often it's one of those two). It would seem to me that with her funds, they now have a shot at a fantastic education (private schools, choice colleges), will be well provided for and have many more possibilities laid out in front of them.
But I don't know, I've never been in an orphanage or in Maddona's home to know how they compare, I could be wrong.

[Gronagor]

So... you wouldn't think it strange if a white kid from the US was adopted by an east-african family? (In other words, away from the culture he/she knows and his/her people?) PS: I'm not making this a racial issue... I don't approve of black South African couples adopting black East African children or white Australians adopting a white child from europe either.

And I was actually suggesting that Madonna's just doing it to stay in the spot-light.... using these children in other words.

PS: It does sound a bit arrogant to say the life over there is better than here...



Just watched this new 'Hulk Hogan gone crazy' thing going on over there.
Talk about the media making something out of nothing.
I'm pretty sure almost all husbands who's wife slept with another guy uttered words of '... gonna kill that guy...' once or twice.
If they didn't, it would be weird. Saying something out of rage and actually doing it still two completely different things.

(Heck, what should Hogan have said? 'I hoped they enjoyed it'????)

He said he understood the rage OJ felt... so what?!?

[DrJones]

Yesterday, I spent most of the day walking around with a bag that felt like a ton after so many hours walking. I had fun and breathed fresh air, but now my legs are totally tired now. *Yawn*

I will probably sleep for the rest of the day once I finish my japanese assignment.

[Gronagor]

Oooh. Japanese assignment... tell more!?

[DrJones]

I've been studying japanese for three years now, and since last year I also have a personal teacher. She has made me write some essays and translate some child stories lately, and from class to class I have to pass some grammar and vocabulary tests, too. Fun times.

[Lady Pyro]

That's pretty awesome, I'm terrible at languages and am always impressed by those who manage to learn them. What motivated you to learn Japanese? I always wanted to learn Spanish but bombed at French in school and figured I wouldn't do any better trying to learn on my own.

[DrJones]

The reason is quite stupid. My friend happened to buy a book titled "Let's learn japanese in three weeks!" and we made a bet about who would be the first to throw the towel, and he lost. I also made friends with some translators that helped me with some questions, so it kept me motivated. I still do translations from time to time (not only japanese, also english and spanish). Also, everytime a friend looks for a present, the easy way for them is to buy me a japanese book, and so I have ended with a whole lot of self-study books.

Japanese is fun, but rarely useful. It does impress people when they find out, so I get nerd points for that. There's also the chance that it can open me a door in the game industry, as they usually switch personnel from task to task and it could be handy for them to have a man that can do coding, animation, and languages. But I don't rely on it.

At the time, I also knew latin and esperanto, but I forgot them for lack of use. If you don't have an use for a language, it's better not wasting your time learning it. You can forget your own language if you don't use it in a long time, for example if you end stuck in a desert island and don't have anyone to talk.

[Lady Pyro]

You animate too? That's awesome. I'm not smart enough to code or retain languages, you're very lucky.
I think I talk to myself to much to ever loose English, but I can understand how having no use would cause you to forget. It's a shame though, it always does help spruce up the resume.

[DrJones]

Yes, I do. The jumping guy in my avatar, for example, was done by me years ago. I even have a light board to do animation in the traditional way, which is faster, by the way. I unfortunately didn't keep a backup of most of my drawings, so they are lost in the sands of time. I would do more, but it's quite addictive once you start, so I try not to draw these busy days.

[Lady Pyro]

I miss traditional animation, I haven't done it since school (The last time I had access to light boards and capture cameras). What I end up doing a lot of the time is 2.5D, which is a mix of flash and traditional. It's slow (if you want it to look good and not 'flashy') but you have more freedom then 3D, which I'm finding myself impatient with due to its limitations (and my own when it comes to 3D).
I don't do a lot on my own free time (That's usually reserved for comic stuff), so a lot of my experience is dictated by work, and work's been limited so I pretty much just take when I can get. You're very lucky to have such a wide range of skills.

[Brainiac]

...I won't believe the Goblins 4 release until it is on the shelves.

It's out (for some), Spikey. Time to start believing. And change that icon name to Woodruff and the Schnibble!

[Quest For Glory Fan]

Where did you pull that quote from? Is it still in French only?

Edit: just actually clicked the link, it says it is released in England tommorow... ooooh Broomieeee!

[Brainiac]

It's a few pages back in this very thread, QfGFan. Spikey had various icons for classic games on a desktop pic he posted, including Woodruff and the Schnibble listed as Goblins 4. Obviously, he'll need to fix that now.

[Angelus3K]

Yea I saw Gobliiins 4 was getting released soon, I don't know about the 3D look (obviously they didnt have a big enough budget to do amazing 3D) but hopefully it will work, I guess it wouldnt have attracted casual interest if it was still 2D.

Looks great though, I just hope it is lol!

[DrJones]

So, I have been pretty excited lately after watching this trailer from an animated movie that was on production for twenty-six years before the studio went out of business. I discovered that some person spent three years trying to restore the original film from the leftovers, and the good news is that he left it free for download in Bittorrent!!!

The bad news is that this is a rare film and almost nobody was seeding it, my brother managed to find a source and it's trying to burn it in a DVD, but the file right now is giving problems because it's in a weird format, but it's not going to stop us.

I can say without a trace of doubt that it's the best work of animation I've ever seen, moreover after knowing that it was drawn entirely by hand, as computers weren't as advanced as today (production started in 1964!). I think only Princess Mononoke, which also went overbudget and only got published because the animators chose to work for free on the last months, comes close in smoothness and attention to detail in every frame as this movie. Definitely a must watch.

Oh, and you can find low-quality versions of the movie on google video (v2) and youtube (v3, in 11 fragments).

[DrJones]

Just for comparison's sake, this is the trailer of the piece of trash that Disney Miramax released with the same name in an attempt to ruin forever the good name of the film, and also to hide the fact that Disney's Aladdin was a total rip-off of it. They even redubbed some characters to make references to Aladdin to make it look as if it was done the other way around. It's so different from the original it should count as awful fanfiction. Unfortunately, this half-assed work that got bashed and rated below 20/100 in most review sites is the most known one and the one you'll find if you buy the recent 2007 DVD. Don't buy it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASkw3p9Z ... re=related

It's also full of stupid songs and musical numbers. Damn Disney black-suits!

[Lady Pyro]

I have a copy of the 'restored' version (the one with storyboards to fill in the holes) for a few years now, our animation class watched it. It was a great display of what people could do when motivated by passion instead of money and deadlines. Unfortunately that's one of the reasons it never got finished either.