64 posts tagged “cyber-noir”
The first snowstorm has come and gone and La Cité is still standing in one piece. While it seems that my annual Holiday pilgrimage to Bytown has been put on hold in order to celebrate Christmas with the family. yay!
Seriously, as I'm taking a few days off after my post-Christmas work, I might head over there then but it's still Up In The Air (With George Clooney coming soon in theatres). But all shameless plugging aside, If you take out the avove-mentioned family duty, my calendar is wide-open, a blessing in disguise as it were.
The MtG Tarot Fates seems to share my cheery thoughts as I got PLUNGE INTO DARKNESS for today's draw. Well, a little too obvious, even for me.
Next, they'll buy a full-page ad in the BigMediaCo's newspaper to decry my current situation...
Last night's office party was great! Good food, relatively good booze, and lots of people having fun which is the best recipe for such a gathering.
And meanwhile, the cold is spreading to the land, making quite a contrast with the warm temperatures of the previous days.
I can't wait for time-off at Christmas, I just need a couple days to recharge my batteries because I get these insominia attacks, being able to sleep just a couple of hours at the time.
Just a couple more days!
For someone who is considering using the beginning of 20th Century as a starting point for my next story, why is it that I'm looking at sources about Fantasy?
Maybe, it's because that you can always fiond something intersting and it's just a matter of being able to adapt it to the new paradigms.
After all, this is the era of Sherlock Holmes and Jules Verne, so, my work is half-doe already
For my Tarot draw, I got THE HERMIT (REVERSE) Imprudence. Hastiness. Rashness. Prematurity. Incorrect advice. Failure caused by dullness. Over-prudence causes unnecessary delays. Hmm, dullness? Yes I can see how it applies. Good thing that the coming weeks are slow by nature, not whitstanding the whole Holidays thing, of course...
First snow on La Cité, which means that, while Bixis are stored for the season, Alouettes are coming home, and...
ILLUMINATI's back whipping their favourite target: One Random, current rank Captain.
Big week-end on the conspiracy fornt.
My anonymous benefactors contacted me again through a flash drive left on the bus. The content was interesting: the CV of a Tunisian Security Guard, phone numbers and contact to a nearby shopping mall plus a couple of photos, including a CCTV snapshot. Noted everything down and disposed through the usual channels.
Still confused about the Serena Williams-lookalike in a thong picture's significance in the Game...
Of course, this small win was compounded by the fact that my ATM card has been gobbled up. Hopefully a minor setback and not a prelude to me fleeing the country in the middle of the night...
AND I almost lost a couple of days of vacation because I thought it was more logical to split a 7-hour block (as I lost a day and half-an-hour from last year's Happy-fun-Exile) into 2 workable 3,5 hours since by union rules, a work day is supposed to be a minimum 4 hours of work. But Union & HR didn't seem to be on my same logic plane. It took a lot of convincing (and putting the phone away to cover the sounds of my teeth grating) to get the message through.
To quote Xander: "And the fun just keeps on leaving..."
Could be worse, I guess, could be Tiger Woods. What? Too soon?
Hmm, DRAGON SCALES? This is a weird draw. Clearly it's an indication that I need to "Suit Up!" in order to prepare myself for the fight.
At least the stakes are less personal this time around, which is a big plus.
It's the light at the end of the tunnel, less than 24 hours to close. It's doable, I'll be cutting it close but I can do it, I got the knack.
Having said that, I would have preferred had my week-end been more an opportunity for me to rest at home instead of having to write during the hour of the wolf.
Still, compared to the previous years, it has been a relatively hassle-free month.
I have taken a few hours Saturday to visit the Raven to in order to celebrate Ms Raven's birthday. Had a lots of fun as always and managed to play a turn of the Galactica boardgame, which looks interesting, even for one who has only a superficial knowledge of the mythos. The tricking of not knowing who to trust brings a nice twist to the game.
In other news, my quest to find a new starting point for next year,story-wise has taken me, not towards a new RPG source, but rather a nice collection made by BigMediaCo's publishing arm.
Starting with a list of basic recipes, they offer lost of alternate choices, which makes for a lot of fun.
From barbecue to pies, I can find many uses for this, if only to get inspiration to depict "original" food in another atmosphere.
Having this already planned, I kind of postponed my "celebration" of my 1-month exile last year. The past 12 months has been illuminating. I went through such a whirlwind of emotions when I didn't know what would happened, being out of the loop only to be relayed the apocalyptic gossip was gut-wrenching. I'm still on cruise control and while some people raise an eyebrow now and then expecting a reaction, I choose to bite my tongue. BigMediaCo is only my employer, no more no less.
Today's MtG Tarot is SHIELD WALL.
Raising shields is a nice euphemism when everything's going down. The problem with that is that, one has to be careful. Keep them up for to long, and not only do you drain yourself, but you run the risk of losing perspective.
It's all about balance, which I guess is the main lesson I keep from my misadventures.
Last stretch.
I have my plate full with Cloud City and a few extra-curricular activities but I should be on schedule to complete yet another year.
News of the day is that Stephen Harper willl FINALLY drag his Neanderthalian butt to the Copenhagen Climate Conference. There was a time when Canada was on the foreront on subjects like the Environment, Human rights, and other socially-conscious fields. But Harper's PC have done a great job of torpedoeing all of this.
When Bush's US has a better environmental record than your own government...
To celebrate my 1-year anniversary of my exile, today's MtG Tarot draw is TWIGWALKER.
Seeing oneself as an insect is not really a stretch, with the bosses's attitude towards our brethen, but it's the card's ability that I find interesting. To sacrifice one's self to strengthen others, it is an intriguing possibility.
If things go any worse, I'll need to remember this line.
Caffeine tweaks in my bloodstream.
I don't know whether it's because all the daily trips between my home, Cloud City, and back to my home are taking their toll, or that my mind's made up about changing the focus for next year's story, but I feel more tired than usual.
And yet, I feel strangely at peace, as if I'm riding the eye of the storm
Working late at night has some perks, as I got to watch some of the last qualifiers for next year's World Cup. I have to admit I can't believe that France managed to squeeze in with "La Main de Dieu". I doubt les Bleus have ever gone into the tournament with less reason to, as they will in South Africa.
I was surprised to read (if I got that right) that the 2010 tournament will be the first one without a country making their debut. Notwhitstanding that, while I'll be cheering South Korea (as the odds of seeing Canada back are slim, to say the least),
I already have a list of dark horses, teams that have little chance of making it but which will draw my interest: Algeria, Honduras, New Zealand and North Korea. Actually, these 4 countries have been in the news so much lately, maybe my subconscious has a reason to pick these 4.
If today's MtG Tarot pick is any indication, GREED, might be the signs under which the World Cup will be under.
Of course, that would explain the reason why Ireland got such a raw deal...
To think I was supposed to take the day off because we were supposed to have this meeting at BigMediaCo, only to have it postponed at the last minute.
And to think, I might have use that timke to catch up on my writing... instead of burning the midnight candle...
Sigh
With Super-Obama heading to China, I'm kind of surprised that no one on the conspiracy fringe are not chalking this up on him meeting his Communist masters and getting his orders... and thus bring ruin to AMERICA!!! bwa-hah-hah-hah!
Weird to have BURN TRAIL as today's MtG Tarot draw.
Along with what happened at work, one has to wonder whether the Fates are picking up on some bad vibes at BigMediaCo.
Yet another case can be check on the Vancouver Olympics to-do list as the Olympic flame is beginning its journey from Greece to the Wet coast, crossing the country before returning back to the hosting city.
It will be kiond of special, as even though I missed on the chance to become a torch bearer (in hindsight, maybe it's better this way... Wouldn't want to be remembered as the guy who snuffed the flame, because he dropped it), a colleague of mine has been chosen for the task. It's too bad, I won't get the chance to cheer her on as she'll be doing this at about 60 Km from my home,but there's a GT in Long-eye in the evening so I'll be sure to drop by.
It feels weird that while Canada will be coming up with Olympic fever, I'll probably be cheering from the sunny beaches of Mexico as it falls smack dab into my usual window that I choos to leave. AHaven't gotten confirmation yet if I get the dates I've chosen but it shouldn't me much of a problem as I usually squeak by. I should get final word by Monday.
Very weird MtG dras as I got UNDERWORLD DREAMS for today's pick.
Then again, Halloween being next week it might be the Fates' macabre side that is seeping out.
Still I'll sleep with one eye open, just in case, Hades is coming for me...
Second time in less than a week that I am sleeping through the alarm. Fortunately my internal body clock prevents myself from oversleeping more than 15 minutes (so far), but this is yet another sign that the long week-end cannot arrive soon enough, permitting that Cloud City duties do not eat up my time.
In other news, it seems that La Belle Province is using the same strategy than Bristish Columbia, Ontario, and New Brunswick into suing Big Tobacco for a tune of $30 billion dollars (almost a paltry sum to Ontario's $50 billion).
The only problem I have with this is the utter hypocrisy of our governments. Let's be honest if our elected officials has our best interests at heart. Instead of levying taxes on Junk Food and going after tobacco companies, they would act in such a way that these things that are harmful to us are phased out. But instead greed prevails and they act as this is a cash flow that they can tap without remorse.
Much like the tax hikes the provincial government wants to put across the board, without realizing that it is AGAIN the people who are taxed to the gills which will get the shaft, and by pure happenstance, the Corps can sleep well, knowing their status is protected and they don't have to worry in paying a dime.
No MtG Tarot, instead I pull ALGIZ. Algiz can be easily recognized as the antlers of the elk that it represents. The elk can represent victory, but is much more appropriately associated with the thrill of the hunt itself. This rune therefore can portend vigor and success in active endeavors. Also, this rune seems symbolic of a hand with outstretched fingers - a protective hand. This hand may suggest that you will be shielded from things negative - the problems still exist, you are spared the brunt of their force.
I have great fun with runes and their open-ended interpretrations. The thrill of the hunt? I do have my data gathering scheduled for this week-end, but it could be about so many things both in my Real Life or in my Augmented Reality that I'll keep my eyes and ears open...
With my plans for the week-end all Kia-ed Out, I'm looking once again to my graal-like attempt to go down to NYC. I'm looking at Thanksgiving (Canuckistanian) week-end, which would also provide me with an excuse to use the Big Apple as the setting for my next data gathering.
If Cloud City was 100% up and running, I would definitely be doing that instead, I'm just crossing my fingers.
In the mean time, I'll be cheering tommorow the Impact in their away game against the Charleston Battery. Barring a last-minute collapse, they should pass the first round, crossing swords with the league's regular season champions Portland Timbers.
GO IMPACT!!!
My MtG Tarot draw of the day is ARGOTHIAN WURM, which its mechanic permitting opponents to block its coming is oddly reminescent of my ordeals trying to go away, where everyone else seems hell-bent into providing opportunities to thwart me
