Now you see me...

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Rant: Plato hasn't a clue

Recently got hold of a copy of Saving The World: a Guide to Heroes and I have an issue with it. Granted, I know this book was written back at the end of season 1, but still, this bothers me. My issue is in Part 1 Going Deep, section titled Comics, an article titled "Growing Pains: Heroes and the Quest for Identity" by Ben Strickland. On page 101 of the book is the bit I have issue with. Ben is referencin' Plato's Republic and goin' on about this bloke who finds a ring, the ring of Gyges, that allows the wearer to do what I can do: go invisible. The bloke apparently then uses this ring to rape the queen and kill the king and then takes the king's place. The theory is put forth that because I nick stuff that this is the path I will follow. Really? Really?!?! You're gonna take the words of a long dead writer who was obtuse enough to advocate that The Iliad and The Odyssey should be banned and attempt to apply them to me? Yeah, I nick stuff! Been doin' that since I was 16, been invisible since I was 13. What exactly would you have me do? I nearly died when I went against the Company openly! Or did you miss that bit? Have you seen what I've done since I left Peter's flat? Have you seen how it was that the wankers of Buildin' 26 caught me? I was defendin' friends! How about the fact I saw Molly safely 'ome to India? Are these the actions of a murderer or rapist? Any birds I shagged consented to it. Any who said no, I left alone. I never killed anyone in cold blood, never tried to take over as any king or president or anythin' like that. I won't say I haven't defended meself but were I as immoral as you would seem to suggest by your article Mr. Strickland, why did I risk me life to take a stand against the Company in the first place? You've likely seen that not only did I not go after Arthur Petrelli or Daniel Linderman, I also didn't take revenge on Bennet for shootin' me. Sure I steal. I can't exactly get a 9-5, can I? You've no doubt noticed I haven't cleaned out any banks. And where have you seen me livin' when I'm free? The roof of a buildin' in New York City and in a flat with friends in London. You don't see me livin' it up on some tropical isle somewhere, do you? I've read Plato and I never much cared for what he wrote. But you go on and buy the words of someone who'd have kept us all from The Iliad and The Odyssey. I'll be over 'ere bein' me, with me own code of ethics, thanks very much.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Why My Mantra is "People Suck"

...beyond bad things done to me personally that I don't care to discuss right now.

Exhibit A: Balloon Boy Hoax. If I need to spell out why this reinforces my mantra then you haven't been paying attention and should crawl back under your rock.

Exhibit B: Telemarketers. Again, a no-brainer unless you live under a rock. I know that a good many are on the federal do not call list in the USA and they still get calls on unlisted and unpublished numbers. What's worse is that they now have machines makin' calls. If you're gonna be annoying at least have a human do it!

Exhibit C: Internet companies not keeping up with their technology. MySpace is not allowing links to stuff on Blogger. It's not Spam people. Get your heads out of your arses and fix the coding! Things were bad enough when you introduced 2.0 for profiles which quite frankly sucks. And what is with all the #Failwhales on Twitter? This service is a free, user friendly, and popular tool. Did you lot not anticipate the popularity of this service? Kindly fix your servers. And while we're at it, I should mentions some EBay related problems. I'll say this much, at least it's not the site itself or the servers that's the problem there. It's some of the sellers. They demand immediate payment and then wait well over a month to ship the merchandise that's already been paid for. They fail to respond to messages sent on EBay too. If you can't keep up, then don't sell on EBay! And Blogger you are by no means blameless. I'm sick and bloody tired of hearing how your site refuses to upload pictures due to "internal error." You want your site used? Fix it!

Exhibit D:The JP who refused to marry an "interracial couple." He seriously needs a reality check! 1) It's 2009 not 1909! 2) the only race on this planet is the HUMAN race and this bloke is not helping my faith in it. To him I say: Wake up you git!

Exhibit E: Health Insurance Companies and access to Healthcare in the USA- This is a biggie and by that I mean it in the British sense that it's a load of shite. It's a right pear shaped mess. 200% increases in premiums and then the companies refuse to cover what's needed. Look at that baby who made the news because his parents' insurance refused him coverage. And that's just the tip of the iceberg for those fortunate enough to afford insurance. Don't get me started on what 'appens to those who can't.

And people wonder why I'm so negative.

Monday, October 19, 2009

For those who are lost...

Granted this still might not help, but ya never know. The Parodyverse in which Burnt Toast Diner exists (see link) is separate from most of what you see on Twitter and other interactions (RP) I am involved in elsewhere. In terms of the Parody Universe, Tarot aka Trace aka @Tarot1 and I are traveling around, lookin' for the Sullivan Brothers Carnival and she's retired from Nursing and was recently captured by that lot from Building 26 and I got her free. In terms of most of what you see on Twitter, I'm stayin' with Tarot, who is still actively working as an 11-7 nurse and she's not recently been captured by anyone. Which is why you'll see me "tweeting" about what she's doing and remindin' her to go to bed. We would join the Carnival if we could find it, but Tarot, while she's a more powerful seer than she gives herself credit for, she's not a locator. True, I could've had Molly find them, but I didn't want to involve her and I thought it was enough of an imposition to ask her to find Tarot for me. I know what it's like to be taken advantage of for your power. It sucks, quite frankly, and while I may not be a people person there are some things I just won't do. That is one of them. And no, I wasn't tossin' Peter Petrelli off the roof of the Deveaux building for my own amusement. He needed to get a handle on his powers and quickly. If you'll recall, he was in danger of blowin' up most of New York, as well. He was one of my students who needed to be shown what he was capable of. And for the record, I had thought that tossin' Peter off the roof would have shocked him into flying. Fortunately, he had also copied Claire's ability to rapidly heal as well as his brother's flight. And while I'm discussin' what I will and will not do, I'd like to add one thing to that list as well as to my list o' rules. I've come to a decision. I'm not cuttin' my student, Tarot, loose regardless of whatever you see on telly or the latest replacement for Isaac puts in an online graphic novel. While I don't do domestic and I firmly believe that people as whole are a selfish and deceitful lot (that whole "balloon boy" hoax being exhibit A of that), and those that I had trusted most treated me like absolute shite, I'm not about to do that to one of the few people who's been more than decent to me even if I'm not always that nice to her. While she's far from perfect, and sometimes I wonder if she' off her trolley, Tarot is loyal to me. So no, I won't chuck her out in the cold. Yeah, I know, I left Peter, but there really wasn't much more I could have taught him and besides, now Bennet knows he failed to kill me. No tellin' who else that backstabber revealed that little tidbit to. As for Tarot, she's been up front with me and told me she'd called the Company to leave nasty messages for Thompson's son. She also told me they'd grabbed her when she was 4 and may very well be lookin' for her now. While I don't buy the whole Primatech is gone as I know the Company is likely to continue in some form (My recent run in with Building 26 being proof of that), I do appreciate that she warned me about what she knew as well as the fact that she told me to run if they come for her. I'd thought, initially, that she was just tellin' me what I wanted to hear, but I've gotten to know Tarot, and while she has her flaws, given what I've seen, if I run, I'm takin' her with me. If I can help her get some control over her gift before that happens, so much the better.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Ground rules

Given all the activity on Twitter and elsewhere, I reckoned I should set up some ground rules.

1) Canon - while I realize a good many break this or ignore it by choice, I don't. If it's canon and by that I mean something that that dimension on the other side of the 4th wall managed to show on Telly or in one of those online Graphic Novels that Isaac Mendez painted before he died, than as far as I am concerned it happened and supersedes anything else. You want to break Canon with your tweets or whatever, have at. I won't. At most, I embellish and try to fill a few gaps in, and as far as the folks I chat with on Twitter go, unless they claim canon status, I'm treating things as they are, that being that there's a major rift between the dimensions and there are often multiple variations of the same person running about. As for me chatting with folks I normally wouldn't, well, with that rift going on, a good many are a lot different and more tolerable than those in my home dimension.

2) Shipping and Slash - see canon above and also note that while a good many are doing this I am not. Anyone wondering why the "*awkward*" comment gets thrown about there it is and just for the record, I am straight. I just don't do domestic. You lot wanna pair off and "dance," have at, just leave me out of it. And Read my previous post containing my profile if you want to know why I get so upset with all the "*gropes*" business being tossed about. I'm invisible unless I tell you otherswise and unless we are in the same area, you can't grope me, not to mention that I don't like it. While I'm aware there's another bloke claiming to be not only me, but "mostly canon" running about, I am not him and he is not me. Maybe he will enjoy your attentions. Maybe he won't.

3) My "student" - until and unless canon contradicts my interaction with her, I will mention her from time to time. There is some history and I had Molly track her down recently. Goodness knows she made enough fuss looking for me. All you need know is I met her in 1994 while still working with the Company and only recently reconnected. And yes I'm trying to train her.

4) The Burnt Toast Diner - go ahead and read it. It's amusing if not necessarily accurate. I post there for fun sometimes.

5) OOC or Out Of Character Comments- I try to avoid those but occasionally I will comment on something going on on the other side of that 4th wall. And I thought I saw odd things before the rift!