INFURIATION!

Now, I hate to turn things all political here on the Blog with no name, but I am INFURIATED by today's (02/12/10 for posterity) Question Time, specifically by the Liberal Democrat panelist and his responces to questions posed in regards to the raised Tuition Fees. I was so royally pissed, I drew this. While the finances of the government and the raised fees are a travesty in of themselves ... what frustated me (read frustrated me as "MADE SO PISSED OFF THAT I WANTED TO GO INTO THE FUTURE AND EAT MY OWN UNBORN CHILDREN") is that this Lib Dem MP was upholding the policies of the Tories!!!
Now, don't get me wrong, they are together in a government, and, to an extent, they need to work together ...
... but, the Liberal Democrat PMs were elected by Students and those that support the Lib Dems' agreed pro education policies ... by offering their behinds to the Conservatives, they have completely betrayed their constituents and every Student or ex-student that voted for them.

Call me naive, but in this age of New Labor and Neo Conservatives which are often hard to tell apart, I held the Lib Dems on a pedistal. They were The Other One. The party that actually stood for something ... that promiced to actually make a difference in this world.
Thanks for shattering that illusion, guys.

So, this is both a call for both the Lib Dems to grow some backbones, and a call for the parties in general (and NOT just the back-benchers) to actually stand for something.
How about a Labor Party who actually have a socialist agenda?
A Conservative Party that aim to actually lower a tax?
Or perhaps a Party of Lib Dems that aims to instigate positive change?

Just a thought.

Planning to start a coup and set up a Dictatorship with Stephen Fry as grand overlord (I mean ... c'mon. Who's better qualified!?) -
Rude Rabbit

A Triumphant Return! ...?

A faboulously awesome friend of mine, Richard Sharp (Yes, like the Napoleonic Rifle Captain) has recently started a blog, and this spurred me to kick start my own. You can read his Blog here, if you're into that kind of thing.

Well, what has changed since my last post ... hrrrrrmmmmmm ...
I've graduated from Highschool (YAY!) and joined ranks of the unemployed (Boo!)
I've retuned to England (YAY!) and it's BLOODY FREEZING (Boo!)
I'm going to trek off across the country to see my old friends soon (YAY!) but I won't be able to see them all (Boo!)

That's a quick update. More may follow in future posts which, I ASSURE YOU, are coming.

So now I'm living in Swanage, a town which is in almost every Geography textbook in the UK, with one of my crazy aunts and her deaf dog. Upon arrival I managed to get aforementioned canine sent to the emergency room by throwing and stick and causing it to run headfirst into a breakwater. A good start to my British Residency.

So, here I sit, with quaint view of the ocean in between the terraces, trying to remain optimistic about the days to come ...

Oh, and I finished Assassain's Creed, and have subsequently began playing Assassain's Creed 2. I might post my next entry about these two games.

I leave you with a quote from Entzio's Uncle: "It'sa Me! Mario!"

PS: A While back I rolled my eyes at some of people's views on Role Playing Games.
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP
Yep ... totally warrented.

Left Behind

Hidee-Ho, my planetary neighbors, what shakes? It's been a while (And the understatement of the year award goes to ...!) since we last spoke, which is kind of a cliche opening for a blog post, and I thought I'd start off another blog-run with a good old moan.

The internet in Indonesia is slow. VERY slow. This in itself is annoying, as one might imagine, but, after a while you get used to having to wait five minutes for a single web-page to load.
What makes it MORE annoying is recent technology.

Y'see, people are becoming more and more internet dependent. The Facebooks and Twitters of this world are household names, and YouTube videos are constantly referred to.
This stinks.
It stinks because I cannot join in the fun. Pages crash, the internet dies, and videos take five hours to load.

The reason I bring this up, is Ubisoft's new DRM thingy.
For those of you that do not know, DRM is a copy-protection system that maintains contact with Ubisoft servers as long as the game is being played.
If you have a stable internet connection, this is all well and good, but, if you're like me and you live in a third world country with internet as reliable as a drunk pigeon, you're out of luck.
No Assassin's Creed 2 for me.

I understand Ubisoft's dedication to not getting their games ripped off, but, really, they're not giving ME alot of choice. If I want to play a Ubisoft game, I'm going to have to get a pirated version, and it's only a matter of time until one appears.

My only regret is how this course of action doesn't help those without any internet at all. They're just screwed.

So, I advise you all: If you're going to be a massive jerk and alienate your customers; DON'T.


Rude Rabbit will be back soon with yet MORE gripes and grizzles!
Have a nice day. ^^

Empty-headed ...

Tragically little to say today, so I thought I'd muse (Bad Puns FTW) on The Resistance, the new album by my sometimes-favourite band.

It's really good.

...

....

.....

Um ... okay, I suppose I owe you more than that.
It's alot more orchestral/piano-filled than Muse's other work ... and that's REALLY not a bad thing. It feels quite rock-opera-y ... a undertone that is complimented by Exogenesis, the three-part symphony that the album ends with.

I highly recommend checking it out, if not buying it. You'll be happy you did.

Wishing he could think of something deep to say,
- Rude

Neophobia! (I suppose ...)

Muse has released a new album.

For those of you who don't know, Muse currently competes with Gorillaz as my Greatest, Most Favouritest Band of all Time, Ever, a title I do not hand out frivolously, and so, when I heard that their new album, The Resistance, had arrived I jumped for joy.

I have not purchased this new GlitterDisk (ATOP) and so, being the cautious buyer I am (hur, hur hur,) I decided to see if I could here any of the new songs. After all, legitimate CDs are (relatively) expencive out here in the third world. I don't want to buy anything that's CRAP. Luckily, YouTube is packed to the brim with such videos.
So, here we go; Uprising.
Stop reading. Just ... listen to it.

Done? If so, good. If not, you're a disobedient little swine and I pity your inability to follow simple instructions. Of course, if you have good REASON not to listen, I guess you're forgiven ... just ... don't let it happen again, okay? Good. Now, have a cookie.

Anyway, wasn't that AWESOME!? I certainly think so. It's a strange mix of 1984, Dr. Who, Night of the Living Dead, V for Vendetta and the Teddy Bear's Picnic.
Now, I'll admit, at first I was a little taken aback by how techno it all sounded, but my fears were quickly put to rest by Matthew Bellamy's crooning and the piercing crash of his electric guitar.

Hey, Rude! I, once again, hear you shout, you're a slightly philosophical video-game/movie-nerd, you're not allowed to write about MUSIC!

Well, never fear, darling reader, for that's not the main topic of this little rant is not the song itself, (though it IS awesome,) but the general reaction to it. While YouTube comments are generally ... well ... shit, the ones for this song are unusually coherent. If you take a second to read a few, you'll notice another pattern emerging; they're mainly negative.

This is funny, as it reminds me of the reaction to some of the comments about Muse's LAST album, Black Holes and Revelations, with the masses screeming that it's not enough like Muse. I believe we can safely disregard these comments, as Uprising is MUCH more like Muse's early work than Revelations, and, to be frank, Muse is like whatever Muse wants Muse to be like.

So, why all the fuss? The answer is simple my friends: Neophobia!
I'm pretty that's what you'd call it, at least.
People do not like new things ... this is a fact. From the earth revolving around the sun to flying machines, new inventions, new versions of things and new editions of the same old thing annoy and frighten people.

I would go on a rant about how true and annoying this is, but, I see little point. It's well documented, and I'm sure you've experienced it at SOME point in your life. So, instead, I leave you with a thought: Next time you see or try something new, try going at it with an open mind. Who knows? It might be good ...

On a partially related note, how do you like the new look? I think the pink really suits ... but ... that's just my opinion.

Brad Hookman? REALLY?

Today on the Blog with a Memorable Name; an experiment!

It's tradition that, during their final year, students at my place of education write two essays on a subject of their choise, and give an accompanying presentation. True to geeky-form, I did mine on Role-Playing Games, and the stereotypes associated with them. Specifically, why these stereotypes hamper the popularity of these games, and stop them from being accessed by a less geeky audience.
On a side note, have you seen some of the crap people think about RPGs!?! Check it out. You WILL be scared.
Anyway, inspired by this "Senior Project," I desided, "Hey, why don't I put my money where my mouth is and get some noobs to play an RPG?"
So, after some quick talks with a few people, I got a group together who had never played a Role Playing Game before. It consisted of an adult male (AM), an adult female (AF), a teenage male (TM), and a teenage female (TF). Yesterday, we played about 75% of the "Ill Tidings" adventure of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with me as the GM, and each of them as a PC. My friend, with about as much RPG experience as myself was also there to help out, taking the role of a 5th PC. It's in the "Knights of the Grail" sourcebook, if you are inclined to look it up. I know you're not, but, hey, I try to be considerate.

The game itself went ... okay. Character creation took a LONG time due to me having to explain everything five times, but, really, you'd expect that, even with a group of experienced RPers using a new system. AF created a haughty Elf Envoy called Gythithy (I love randomly generated names! XD) TM, a tough Dwarf Pitfighter called Noragund, and TF, a crafty Halfling Knife-Thrower/Acrobat (Entertainer Career) named Agnes. AM, who was rather counter-productive throughout the whole game, created a none-descript Human Fisherman called Fisherman. After Vetoing this, he changed his name to Hookman. I told him to get a given-name, and he chose Brad (Which really fits with the Medeival Europian feel, doesn't it?). Brad Hookman.
This became a pattern throughout the game.
Being pressed for time, due to the lengthy character creation process, I rushed my introduction to the world. This, as any GM/DM will tell you, was a BIG mistake. This gave my players very little idea about their overall goal (Fighting Chaos) and so, when they found their first Chaos Mutants, rather than fighting, they wanted to run away. More my mistake than theirs, but, it's interesting to note that they felt such strong self-preservation insticts for their characters at such an early stage.

At the end, they all shared similar views about the game:
Character Creation: Way too complicated and WAY too long. They wanted to play the game, not spend an HOUR setting it up.
Story: They thought it was fun to play the story out, and enjoyed play with their characters, though, as above, they would've liked a little bit more background. My fault, and, therefore, not a great representation. They also liked the investigation elements, and seemed pleasently surprsied that we weren't just going around cutting down monsters.
Out-of-Combat actions: Everyone (other than AM) took to these quickly, and enjoyed the roles their character had to play.
Combat: Similar to Character Creation, though, there were parts that they enjoyed. I could tell TF was taking great pleasure in knifing everyone to death, and TM's joy was palpable when he finally killed the choas cultist he's been fighting.
The general consensus was that, if we had a little more time (I.E. more than one session,) it'd be more enjoyable, as the rules confusion and character-creation process wouldn't be a problem.
AM - Unenthusiastic, wasn't paying attention, didn't seem to enjoy it. When he DID have input, it was (for the most part) unconstructive. I explained to him several times that he only determines the actions of his character, not the results, yet he INSISTED on saying "I hear the wizard inside the building killing people!" *Shakes head with dismay*
AF - Was involved, enjoying them game and really getting into it. I was impressed!
TM - Seemed slightly bummed that he didn't have great success with his character (Bad rolls) but, other than that, liked the game.
TF - The real success story of this game. While she wasn't as enthused as AF, her enjoyment far exceeded my expectations.

So, our verdict? Role Playing isn't for everyone, but, the "Not everyone" isn't nessicarily confined to gamers/geeks. Success? Partially. Am I going to do it again? I would like to. Not just so I can verify what we've seen here, but also to show more people that RPGs don't turn you into a bloodthirsty killer.

In closing, Jack Chick rhymes with dick.

A Word from our Editor

Watchmen is awesome.

That is all.

Humans: Revenge of Michael Bay

I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Monday and ... WOW. I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone (Despite the fact that only three people will ever read this, and they probably don't care) but, I have to say, nothing's changed. Michael Bay (I hate to place the blame solely on him, but, as far as I can tell he's in charge of the whole thing) has made exactly the same mistakes as he did in the original film. What ARE these mistakes, I rhetorically hear you cry? Well, allow me to explain ...

At it's core, what is the plot of the Transformers cartoons?
The heroic Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, attempt to stop the villainous Decepticons and their monstrous warlord, Megatron, from taking over the world/galaxy/universe/planet cybertron. They disguise themselves as vehicles and wage a war on earth, befriending humans and getting into all kinds of trouble and intrigue. They normally end up fighting over some series-specific artifact or Energon source, but, generally speaking it all goes in a similar direction.

Now, in contrast, what is the plot of the first Transformers film?
Sam Witwicky buys a car in an attempt to meet girls, which steals itself, while an air force base in Afganistan is attacked by a mysterious helicopter-transformer. Some hackers do some things, some soldiers get attacked by a scorpion, and, after being attacked by a police-car Transformer, Sam's car takes him to meet some other robots who tell him the plot of the Transformers cartoon.

Instantly, you can see the shift in focus from Autobots to humans, and did you see how long it took us to get to the robots? There is far too much focus on the fleshlings. All we need is a human protagonist, like Sam, to introduce us to the Autobot/Decepticon war, and maybe a supporting character to get a second opinion on everything. Sam and Mikeala ... or however you spell that ...

You can pretty much copy and paste that last paragraph, and you'll have a fair review of the new movie.

A lot of critics have been complaining about mindless CGI-flaunting and and racial stereotyping, but, as someone who understands that showing off CGI is what you should expect from a CGI-film, and who doesn't really know what a black-stereotype is (I thought they were hillbillies. o.o) I'm not really all that bothered. But, what I AM bother by is the fact that movie-makers seem incapable of learning from their mistakes. The universal feeling among Transformers-fans was that, frighteningly, we needed more from the Transformers. Bay had a chance to reconcile himself with the fandom, but, instead, he wiped their hopes on his arse while saying "Arcee has one line! What more do you people want!?" (What does he mean "You People?")

Basically, this film isn't what it should be; a film about the Transformers. You're still going to go out and watch it, I know you are. It's a movie where shit blows up and giant robots kick the capacitors out of one another! That's awesome!
But ... it's not as awesome as it could be ... not by a long shot ...

This has been Rude Rabbit ... eternally disappointed.