Cassander's Scratching Rock

09:52 am - STAGE BUILDER - Super Smash Brothers Brawl Custom Level

Been doing some level editing in Smash Brothers Brawl recently... it's pretty limited what you can do, but it still can be fun. I finally got around to uploading a level on www.smashlevels.com.

Anyone else have this game?

Name/Link: STAGE BUILDER

Concept: This is a re-creation of the "Stage Builder" interface from SSBB  :-D

Details: In the upper right, I tried to recreate the block editing screen. I did the basic floor blocks and then skipped down to the last set of specials, since the middle set were a bit too big for my space and the bottom set looks better. In the bigger upper left portion, I put the level-editing window with the smallest allowable level... just four floors. Below, in the bottom right, there are suggestions of the buttons below the editing screen, like "OK" and the toggling indicators.

Play: The main action seems to flow either on top of the level editing pane or inside it, basically focused on the level-within-the-level. More agile characters might lure opponents to the left, and Smash Balls can take the action over to this more volatile area. The wheel in the bottom right seems to be a good place to die ;-)

Current Mood: accomplished

08:08 am - webdesign for Frai

Well, I spent some time yesterday helping Frai with her website and she's now got a new version up with her latest pictures and with some enhanced pages... it's now got a listing of prints as well as some more pics and text to fill out some of the pages. Still no store functionality for prints, alas, and the great problem of there being no affordable way to accept online payment for adult works. Paypal and all its ilk, unfortunately, don't allow any sexual material (perhaps even tasteful nudes... most terms are unhelpfully unclear) to be bought or sold. It's really annoying that they equate any nakedness or sexuality with porn, but oh well. Paypal recently changed their terms, but they have to be the most silly and unfair ones ever... they basically say you might be able to get away with stuff if its ok with them, but in no way give any guidelines with whats ok. And if they deem it not to be (with no prior warning!), then they get to close your account and stuff. Ugh.

But anway, enough with the ranting... the updated site can be found at www.fraisala.com.

Current Mood: accomplished

07:56 am - Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit kills wife, son, self.

WTF can you say about something like this? Although I haven't watched any wrestling recently, I have watched my share over the past few years and even went to one live event. In it, Chris Benoit made his challenger, Orlando Jordan, submit in record time, something like 35 seconds. It was bizarre at the live show, but was really funny afterward as Benoit kept subtly taunting him with the time. He even made a cup of coffee once in that exact amount of time as a demonstration of how short it was. He did it in a very non-over-the-top, nonchalant way that was terribly funny when contrasted with his "Rabid Wolverine" reputation.

My wife and I used to joke about that nickname... how he never really lived up to it since he was so unassuming most of the time. Sure, sometimes, he'd "put his body on the line" as the announcers loved to say, and jump out of the ring at someone in a reckless fashion which made for a good stunt, but he wasn't very crazy as far as wrestling personas go. Now, those jokes aren't funny at all.

I wasn't his biggest fan, but I liked him well enough. I can't comprehend how he killed his wife and son... a seven year old child. But, I guess, I wouldn't be able to comprehend it with anyone. Shows how little we know people we see on TV or even interact with in everyday life. I can see the attraction in blaming it on steroids... "the drugs made him do it!" Makes him more of a victim again, which is how people want to see him. And he was a victim, but really, who among us isn't? Are other murderers really any different from him?

I really feel bad for his biggest fans. The kids who'd wear his Tshirts and make hand-drawn signs cheering him on in the stands. The guys who've been a fan of his for the past two decades. As terrible as it is for someone you respect and admire to die early, how much worse is it for him to become a murderer?

Current Mood: confused

11:22 pm - Bong Hits 4 Jesus

I encourage any and all students to make signs or t-shirts saying "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" and to bring them to school.  If only I were still a student... I should have spoken up when a kid in my class had to remove his "Legalize Hemp" shirt.

Current Mood: angry

07:01 pm - Today's post is sponsored by...

...the number 09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0 (base 16).

Current Mood: mischievous

07:20 am - 1 American life = ??? Iraqi lives

What happened at Virginia Tech is certainly a tragedy and is certainly newsworthy, but I am getting angrier everyday they draw this thing out. A few days after the attack, over 100 Iraqis died in a single car bomb, and it got drowned out in the news. We get reports about every detail of the VT victims' lives, but know, or seem to care, little about the lives of the Iraqi victims. How come we see pictures of the soldiers who die in Iraq but not the civilians? How come we don't hear about their stories?

I hate racism and I am embarrassed that my country seems to think that 1 American life is worth 10, 100, maybe 1000 lives of people in other countries.

I mean no disrespect to the victims of the worst shooting in US history, but this is out of hand.

Current Mood: angry

11:30 pm - TrustFlow results for cassander42

I tried out TrustFlow II for LiveJournal. The following people not on the friends list for cassander42 are close by:

• just_the_ash (50 - 100)
• sabotlours, berin, mrcougar, ladyursus, nightwind292, itzafurrball, tfbaxxter (100 - 150)
• rjtremor, badjahsensei, furloph, skipai, wyldside, dewhitton, vlad_badger, snifflesthelion, kelsied, jonnorthwood, tigerman, hunterkitty, nekomonthetiger, mammallamadevil, rhanlav, boinggoat, judithnorthwood, rainbow_lioness (150 - 200)

Created by ciphergoth; hosted by LShift.

TrustFlow II: Who is closest to your friends list?

08:21 am - Through His Webcam, a Boy Joins a Sordid Online World

Well, I take issue with the title of the article. It should be "Teen" instead of "Boy". But it's an excellent article nonetheless. It's inspired a lot of thought about what is and isn't wrong and what should or shouldn't be illegal. I thought I had it all figured out till I read this article. Now I'm not as confident.

Through His Webcam, a Boy Joins a Sordid Online World (NYT - free registration required)

December 19, 2005
Through His Webcam, a Boy Joins a Sordid Online World
By KURT EICHENWALD

The 13-year-old boy sat in his California home, eyes fixed on a computer screen. He had never run with the popular crowd and long ago had turned to the Internet for the friends he craved. But on this day, Justin Berry's fascination with cyberspace would change his life.

Weeks before, Justin had hooked up a Web camera to his computer, hoping to use it to meet other teenagers online. Instead, he heard only from men who chatted with him by instant message as they watched his image on the Internet. To Justin, they seemed just like friends, ready with compliments and always offering gifts.

Now, on an afternoon in 2000, one member of his audience sent a proposal: he would pay Justin $50 to sit bare-chested in front of his Webcam for three minutes. The man explained that Justin could receive the money instantly and helped him open an account on PayPal.com, an online payment system.

"I figured, I took off my shirt at the pool for nothing," he said recently. "So, I was kind of like, what's the difference?"
( Read more... )

Current Mood: contemplative

07:37 am - Murder is wrong

It doesn't matter if you are killing a cow or a convicted killer, murder is wrong.

When Maryland or California kills someone, they lose all moral ground. They tell their citizens that it is ok to kill. I don't care how guilty the person is, it's still wrong. When you have a creature in your custody, completely imprisoned by you, reliant on you, it is at the very pinnacle of all that is wrong to torture or kill them. America as a country is poisoned by this evil fruit... by silently turning our backs to the rape and killing in prisons, we willfully encourage all citizens. No wonder we have such a high murder rate. No wonder the members of our military see fit to play sexual games with those in their stead.

I am disgusted to live in this country. Idiots call it the best country in the world. They are wrong. We are a pathetic, brutal people bathed in violence.

You can tell a lot about a people based on how they treat the helpless - animals, elderly, and prisoners. Looking at America, you can tell that this land is rotten to the core. But what else would come of a country founded on the raping and killing of the native people of one continent and the slavery of those from another? Yes, violence buys power but only at the cost of destroying the possessor.

Murder is wrong.

Current Mood: angry

10:33 pm - X-mas Meme

Got this from Ursus and Relee.... It just figures that poor Pandaguy is the one who needs medical help.

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! Last month I donated bone marrow to pandaguy in a life-saving procedure (300 points). Last Friday I punched grey_archangel in the arm (-10 points). In April I gave ursuscal a Dutch Oven (-10 points). In August I signed my organ donor card (28 points). In October on a flight to Colorado Springs, I stole the emergency flight information card (-40 points). Overall, I've been nice (268 points). For Christmas I deserve a new bike! Sincerely, cassander42

09:15 pm - Completed Oyster Discography and Storm Lyrics

Well, the complete Oyster discography is up with my song descriptions, as well as my Storm Lyrics. Thanks to grey_archangel and Stan for their help.

Oyster Discography
Storm Lyrics

11:57 pm - Oyster Song Introductions Part 3

I finished the last of my song introductions for www.heathernova.net's discography. Once I get some feedback on these, we'll be able to finish the discography page for Oyster. Yay.

For those of you who are not Heather Nova fans, Oyster is the greatest album ever made by anyone. Just thought you'd like to know ;-)

Oyster Song Introductions Part 3

Current Mood: accomplished

08:31 pm - a meme from Relee

1. Reply with your name and I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on your journal.

08:26 am - Gay Marriage Is Here To Stay in Massachusetts

As a little background, a couple years ago, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that denying marriage to gays was unconstitutional discrimination. The legislature promptly got to work on an amendment banning gay marriage but allowing civil unions. Luckily, in Massachusetts two successive terms of the legislature must pass an amendment bill and the citizens must vote on it before it gets added to the state constitution. Apparently, people are so used to gay marriage there now that the second voting on the amendment just failed spectacularly in the legislature. Gay marriage even has a majority of citizens supporting it. So it's official.... gay marriage is here to stay in the United States.

In related news, the Governator of California has said he will veto that's state's gay marriage bill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/14/AR2005091400292.html

Massachusetts Lawmakers Reject Bid to Stop Same-Sex Marriages
Constitutional Amendment Is Defeated in 157 to 39 Vote

By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 15, 2005; A03

BOSTON, Sept. 14 -- Amid a pep-rally atmosphere, Massachusetts legislators on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to halt same-sex marriages here -- showing how quickly gay nuptials have moved from being a court-ordered imposition to a powerful political cause.

By a vote of 157 to 39, members of the House and the Senate meeting together voted down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have eliminated the same-sex marriages legalized two years ago and replaced them with "civil unions" for gay couples.

Instead, the vote leaves same-sex marriage as the status quo in Massachusetts, and it now seems likely to remain so until at least 2008.

But, in a broader sense, the vote also illuminated how widely Massachusetts has diverged from much of the nation, where several dozen states have passed laws limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. California's lawmakers have passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. It is now sitting on the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who has said he will veto it.

Politicians here credit the weddings themselves with shifting the political momentum, saying their growing ordinariness has defused some of the opposition.

"The difference is that we have marriage," said state Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios (D) after the vote, while other supporters screamed and cheered nearby in a rally under a mural of the Boston Tea Party. "We've got a world that hasn't changed."

The issue of same-sex marriage has been on the front burner of politics here since November 2003, when the state's Supreme Court ruled in favor of seven same-sex couples who had pressed for the right to wed.

The court found that "the right to marry means little if it does not include the right to marry the person of one's choice" -- making Massachusetts the first state to offer gay couples more than civil unions.

Weeks of emotional debate followed, as some state legislators sought to nullify the court's ruling. Finally, plans were made to amend the state constitution to permit civil unions but ban marriage. But such amendments require votes in two successive sessions of the state legislature.

The proposal passed in March 2004 but still required another vote; it was the measure turned down on Wednesday.

In the meantime, the weddings began. Since the first one on May 17, 2004, more than 6,100 gay couples have wed, accounting for about 17 percent of all the state's weddings during that period.

Each one made the idea of same-sex marriage more acceptable, observers say.

The differences were noticed by politicians, who say they started getting more letters in favor of the marriages, and by public-opinion pollsters, who noted in March that 56 percent of state residents believed same-sex marriages should be allowed.

"It's one of those areas of politics where people have become accustomed to something that was once radical," said Julian E. Zelizer, a history professor at Boston University. "It's just normative at this point."

By the time Wednesday rolled around, support for the civil-unions measure had collapsed. Forces in favor of same-sex marriage were feeling too confident to compromise, while opponents had united behind another constitutional amendment that would eliminate same-sex unions of any kind.

Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who is contemplating a presidential bid in 2008, favors a complete ban on any legalization of same-sex unions. In an interview this week, he said he has concerns about whether children brought up by a same-sex couple could develop normally.

"The ideal setting for raising a child is where there is a male and female," Romney said.

Even though the amendment under consideration was known to be dead beforehand, its killing took on a party atmosphere.

First, there were speeches, from legislators who compared Massachusetts's place in the national debate to the radical role the state's Minutemen played in the Revolutionary War.

"We are as out of step today as we were on the village green in Lexington and Concord," said state Sen. Edward M. Augustus Jr. (D). "Massachusetts has always been the conscience of the nation."

Current Mood: happy

07:31 am - Gay Marriage Bill Now Passed by Both Houses Of California Legislature

Who would have ever thought that The Terminator's signature would be all that's required for California to grant marriage to all its citizens? The California Assembly passed the gay marriage bill and now a bodybuilder gets to choose whether to sign it. That sure sounds good, but for this particular bodybuilder...

Oh well, at least the bill got this far, even if the Governator vetoes it.

Current Mood: excited

10:58 pm - California Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill

Now it's not in law yet, since it would need approval by the Governator and the lower house, both of which are in doubt, but this is definitely a nice bit of good news in very bleak times. I won't even link to the idiot christians who say that "God" sent Katrina to punish New Orleans for an upcoming gay festival.



Calif. Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill

( Read more... )

Edit: Added lj-cut

Current Mood: cheerful

10:08 pm - "Astrology for Dummies"

Astrology for Dummies

That was the name of one of those little books I saw in line at the grocery store. I thought, "No shit!" What a great book title :)

05:45 pm - Redbird Lyrics

I've now completed the lyrics for Heather' upcoming album, Redbird. I make these by carefully listening to the songs and notating exactly what I hear. Where I'm not sure, I get a little help from my friends on HeatherNova.Net.

Next up will be finishing the song introductions and music descriptions for Oyster... just got four more to do and one to revise.

You can check out my Redbird lyrics here. Redbird will be released in Germany on August 8th followed soon by released in the rest of Europe. Redbird will not be released in America except on iTunes.

Current Mood: accomplished

11:25 am - Redbird Samples

You can listen to some samples from Heather Nova's upcoming album, Redbird, here.

And here's some stuff I wrote about some Oyster songs.

Current Mood: excited

03:55 pm - Anthrocon Thoughts and Furry Disillusionment.

Well, I just got back home from Anthrocon.

Ugg.

I'm not sure I even want to call myself "furry" anymore.

I donno how much I want to go into it now, but a few warnings for anyone thinking of going to Anthrocon as their first furry con:

1) You better either create furry art or like dressing in fursuits. Or you better really like spending an entire weekend buying furry art. Cause there isn't much else. Well, if you like cartoons and kids stuff this is for you. Michael Jackson would love Anthrocon.

2) But not cause of the sex. There's no sex. None. Well, you'd have to be especially invited if there is any. Everyone is very reserved. Lots and lots of prudes. Yeah, there's a mature section of the art show, but that's mostly porn. If you expect mature, fun, adult talk that reflects some of the online furry stuff, then you are in for a disappointment. Everyone is very reserved and paranoid about seeming weird.

3) Too paranoid. People there hate furs. Yes, some people attending anthrocon just loathe real furs. One guy reminded an art show staff to make sure to take off her ears and tail before we left to go get some supplies (I was volunteering). I asked why. He said that normals couldnt handle furry and that anyone who goes outside with ears and a tail on is a crazy idiot who doesnt know the difference between real life and fantasy.
Some people do go outside with their tails and ears and they run into no problems, just like everoyne else I know who does the same in their everyday life. But this guy and his kind (they are what's keeping me from local Washington furry meetups, well, part of it) are hateful people who just like to talk snobbily about furries as if they are scum. Grrr.
As a note, the tail was floor length, so it was a good idea to take it off anyway. What really got me was the way he talked about furs with such disgust and venom... why go to a furry con, idiot?

4) If you are a vegetarian or vegan, beware! Hate speech is prevalent at the con, especially aimed at vegetarians. People have anti-vegan buttons on. In an elevator, a guy said someone called him and asked whether he should run over the PETA protesters at KFC. I said of course not cause they were right. I was then attacked for thinking that raising animals to be tortured and slaughtered was bad.
I had to get off the elevator cause my blood was boiling over so much I couldnt get out a reasonable answer to the "what, lions shouldnt eat me" or whatever they said. what I should have said was "Do you go out and hunt your prey with your bare hands?" or "Yeah, and I'm a dragon... if you believe so much in carnivorism, why dont you get eaten by me instead."
So yes, furries are more hateful than most people toward vegetarians. It's a gay guy going to a southern baptist convention. Ugg. And what's worse, these people should be the most sympathetic... they are supposed to like animals. But instead they spew vile at anyone who seems to care about animals.

5) And this brings me to another point. Many furres dont seem to like animals. They like fur itself... the substance. It's like they all have a fur fetish but no love for actual animals. No regard for how they are treated. It is repulsive and ugly. Ugg

Perhaps I missed some things, but basically, my entire confidence in furries is shattered. I'm not into kids shows or cartoons. I'm not into fur fetishism and fursuits. I'm kinda into the art, but after a couple hours of looking at the artists ally and dealers room and artshow, that's pretty much it. Yes, I am a dragon. So what? When I first heard of furry 10 years ago or so, I was told a furry was someone who basically was an animal and a human. Back then, they were very vegetarian friendly as well. Things have changed. A lot.

No, not all furs are bad. Many seem like they'd be nice in a different setting. But there are some really bad apples. Either you have to be a prude or a freak who's into teh pron. Maybe other cons are better, but I have my doubts. Any place that tolerates so much hate is nowhere I want to be.

On the other hand, my wife, also a vegetarian and a lifestyler, had a good time (other than the sprained foot problem). But she spent most of her time at the artist's ally doing artwork. And she's more into watching fursuits and, well, she's ok with cartoons and stuff.

But for me... I donno. I can't stand the people who never want to let others know they are furry. I say we should be proud to be furries. But after what I've seen, I'd rather not be associated with them.

Current Mood: disappointed