munkeymunkey

Of course it's slower. Loading times still do exist on the Internet even today. And know what, I actually enjoy them on this game. -Gata And compared to the 2-5 minutes of waiting per page I used to have with dial-up, this is a breeze. Less suspense I suppose, but that was lost in the past already.

I'm impressed, and rather nostalgic. Nice work on this. If you're up for proofreading, here's a few notes from the opening scene (In Episode 10-0) No apostrophe Missing the word "the" between was and gate Spelling: decended --> descended Spelling: Takyua --> Takua Also, check capitalization in several places. That's all I had time for tonight, but it's looks like a great start!

Here is something you won't see every day: Top 20 Posters That's right. 17914 is the place to be.

Well, that's not a tropical rain forest, it's a cloud forest. It is constantly foggy, but it doesn't rain anywhere near 8 months per year. This picture is form Monteverde, Costa Rica. It averages 80 to 120 inches of rainfall per year. That is wetter than the Northeast US, but it's drier than Seattle, Lousiana, and the Everglades. Much of the rainfall falls in the form of fog, so it isn't actually raining. But everything is GREEN. It also isn't windy. Beaches are windy.

It's very windy. It's very snowy. Well, it isn't quite snow either. It isn't rain, though, nor sleet. It isn't even ice. It actually looks like tiny little pellets of whiteness, short of like that obscure type of packaging peanut that is tiny, round, and sticks to everything. Apparently this is called grapple. So I looked it up online and received this answer: "It is caused by the partial melting of a snow flake that refreezes before reaching the ground. Not too uncommon but not seen in huge amounts or frequently. It will produce this and often the warm layer that is causing the melting will be cooled by evaporation processes and it will change back to snow. There are some cases also where the warm layer rapidly increases and it will change to either sleet or to freezing rain and then to rain. " I found that interesting, but with 35mph sustained winds, I'd rather just be somewhere else. Like here... Edit: Because the beauty and comfort of Monteverde isn't apparent from the picture: "Well, that's not a tropical rain forest, it's a cloud forest. It is constantly foggy, but it doesn't rain anywhere near 8 months per year. This picture is form Monteverde, Costa Rica. It averages 80 to 120 inches of rainfall per year. That is wetter than the Northeast US, but it's drier than Seattle, Lousiana, and the Everglades (the really wet places in the US). Furthermore, much of the rainfall falls in the form of fog, so it isn't actually raining all of those 80 to 120 inches. "But everything is GREEN. It also isn't windy. Beaches are windy."

Bionicle Storyline and Theories - Always prestigious and occasionally pretentious, the inhabitants of S&T approach their intricate passions with diligence. Alabaster buildings and cleanly streets complement the typical order and organization for which its members strive. It isn't loud or bustling, but its thronged with thought and certainly very active. S&Ters live with high intensity, high stakes, and high rises. Historically, S&T has been home to great thinkers, and although the active individuals change, there is a tradition of a small core of highly dedicated, thorough, and knowledgeable members who lead their fellows in theorizing, disproving, and and discussing. That may be a little too flowery and poetic for this purpose, but it's what came to mind when I pictured S&T. I think it fits the "ice" image well.

I was reading through an old interview* (well, not that old) with Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), and there was a quote that really struck me. I decided to share it with everyone: “You’re, like, It feels like it’s either black or white. Either I’ll just, like, devote my life to trying to do good, or I’ll do nothing. But, there’s an in-between area. It doesn’t mean you should do everything, or can, as a citizen, or a family person, or a friend, or whatever. But, just do something. You’re on your honor. Basically, it’s your own conscience that will tell you are you doing quite enough to where you can feel okay about yourself, or are you not? Only you can answer that.” - Viggo Mortensen, October 2008 I don't think I've ever heard anyone put it quite so succinctly before. I know I often worry about how much I should be doing for others, and I suppose this gives the slap-in-the-face answer: I need to stop worrying an honestly ask myself. If I'm still concerned after that, I should probably do more. I don't want to go forming a credo out of one side comment during an interview, but still, I felt that there was wisdom in what he said, so I wanted to share. (I also greatly respect Viggo Mortensen as an actor. If you watch the cast commentary for the special extended edition Lord of the Rings movies, you'll know what I mean. His fellow actors were impressed with and inspired by him.) *I would give a link, too, but I couldn't find an appropriate one. This was in Chicago when Good was opening. (It's an awesome movie, by the way.)

Absolutely nothing of course. Why? Does it have any other meaning to you?

I was browsing through the forums today, and I saw something that made me unhappy: Now, why does the Twilight Disk look like that? In my opinion, the Twilight Disk should look more like this: (It would need some better photoshop work, of course.) But seriously, a Twilight Disk without Edward Cullen? That's like making a Narnia Disk without Peter Pevensie! (That is -MX-'s signature in the image, by the way.)

I love this sort of stuff, so I'll give my input: 1. I like the basic structure, SPIRIT, as well as most of the details. For Admins, I think that they are so special that each could be a form of Toa-originated Titan (maybe even kind of like Takanuva in 2008). OoMN might fit better in this case. Also, are we still implying that Admins are coming from the same Matoran, Toa, etc. rank and file? I think we ought to since example like black Six and Tufi Piyufi would suggest that a Matoran can rise to such status. I know that it isn't necessary to be strictly agreeable to Bionicle since obviously just by creating the project we diverge, but I would prefer something that is more agreeable if possible. 2. I see BS01 as existing, at any rate. We have a sub-forum for it, after all. Still, as was stated above, it deals with the official storyline. My idea there is that what it considers doesn't necessarily exist but exists in BZ-Nui's world as BZ-Nui would in the Bionicle world (or something like it). Consider it a form of science or religion, maybe. I like either a or b. 3. I'd like to revive Takua's idea: Can we not also search for sales updates on Amazon, eBay, and B&N? Should we include these places as well as being navigable? It's easier to accept BS01 because Crystal Matrix made it while a strong member of BZP. Now it has its own forum. It feels sort of like a vassal state or a protectorate to me more than something separate. We could include Bionicle.com, but I feel that if we do that it is an easy step to including a variety of other sites as well. Placing it in a fictitious, quasi-existing stay recognizes its relevance but draws a definite line between what actually exists and what doesn't. 4. Well, yes, but I'd rather see all of this determined first.

Saturday, a staff worker for the college arrived in Alumni Hall with her cleaning supplies to scrub off the grime and germicals left by the bustling, sometimes less than considerate college students that use the bathrooms on the first floor. On this day, however, she had more than the usual to sanitize - for along with the normal dirtiness, there was a filth greater than any natural process written on the walls. I can't repeat most of the language here, but the specific words aren't as important as the message of this bigoted script. In a direct response to the election of Senator Obama as the next president of the United States, the words sliced through the campus conscious like a rusty blade. "Lynch them all," it said, among other things with offensive words as well as meaning. Lynch them all? I can only hope that alcohol or some other substance was involved in impairing the judgement of this person or persons to the point where thoughts were not clear, but even so, that doesn't change the fact that such a horrid emotion was felt. And that is a sobering realization. I never thought that such an atrocity was possible when I was child, and even before Saturday I never thought I'd witness such dehumanizing bigotry (dehumanizing for the writer, that is). I was naïve, surely, but that doesn't change the fact that this came as a terrible shock. The University has done a less than admirable job reacting to this incident. Except for the hasty scrubbing away of the offending script, the University acting slowly, only holding rallies and speeches against it Tuesday and Wednesday. Student organizations did somewhat better, bluntly stating the poor showing of the community without reservations. I didn't even hear about it until Monday night, myself, and even then I didn't know exactly what had occurred. And although I may not be the most aware of what goes on in the wider community, I keep myself informed enough. This sort of thing should have absolutely zero tolerance, and the administration should have acted immediately - not so much to catch the individual perpetrator, but to purge the community of these evil sentiments, which apparently still persist. One individual can be confined, castigated, and censured, but such sentiments will infect the community much worse if left to fester in insidiousness ignorance of its members. For although this incident in intensity is something isolated, there is a basis of racial disrespect that is present allowing such intolerable intolerance to exist. Every time a joke is made about her ethnicity, every time he's described as being a certain way because of his race, every time we assume something about somebody simply because of their nationality or race, we contribute to this evil. Evil doesn't have to be spoken or scribbled on a bathroom wall. It can be thought. It can be felt. And either way, it's still the same evil. It's still the same harm. It's still the same reprehensible act. And it's still a problem in our society. So I'm typing today not to simply rant, but to preach. Don't let prejudice exist in your own community. If a friend says something, even if harmless, that is racially insensitive, call that person out. For in truth, that little comment, even in jest, is not harmless; it's harming. It's harming to others, it's harming you, and it's harming to that friend. Be gentle and considerate in your castigation, certainly, but castigate. Make sure that person realizes that his or her statement was racist and unacceptable. That friend may not realize it otherwise.

Some of you may have noticed that the title to the OGD has been changed from "Official Greg Discussion" to "Official GregF Dialogue". OMG, TWGE! No, the world is not going to end. We can still call it the OGD, and the name is actually an improvement. The word "discussion" has misled some people to believe that they are allowed to post randomly in this topic, crack jokes about Bionicle-related content, and carry on two or three sided conversations while everybody else is searching through the clutter of posts for GregF quotes. If you look at the first post of the topic, it states: Notice how the only thing that is under the "things to do" list is posting your Q&A. We leave a little wiggle room so that you can make commentary, but theories and questions DO NOT belong in that topic. Extensive commentary is also not allowed. Therefore, the word "discussion" was misleading. I deleted about 30 posts yesterday that were theorizing or commenting about things, and half of them weren't even directly related to a GregF quote. Electric Turahk and I have both seen a cycle of people getting way too out of hand with this until one of us posts here in bold letters for people to stop doing that. Then people tend to get the message and try to follow the rules, but after awhile this diligence erodes. When half the posts in this topic are discussion instead of GregF quotes, it makes it very cluttered and difficult for people to find quotes. The main function of this topic is to be a depository, not a place for theories. That's what we have the whole S&T forum for. There was also an interesting critique on my choice of the word "dialogue". Here is the post and my reply: But this is a dialogue. People ask GregF questions, and GregF answers those questions. That's two people talking: Feste: Good madonna, give me leave to prove you a fool. Olivia: Can you do it? Feste: Dexteriously, good madonna. Olivia: Make your proof. (Twelfth Night) Compare that to this: Utopia:1) Is it possible for someone to replace Mata Nui? (the Makuta of Metru Nui and the Barraki thought it is, Karzahni also, but is it really?) GregF: 1) No Utopia: 1. Is the job of maintaining the universe something only Mata Nui could do, or could someone else take up this position? GregF: 1) No, someone else can't do it unless they had the power of a Great Spirit. (Official Mata Nui's Status Topic) That's a dialogue. The name stays. If you have any comments, questions, or limericks about the change, please do so here. Do not use the OGD. That's not what the topic is there for.

On how many college campuses can you go out of earshot of all human activity, immerse yourself in nature, and see not only deer, skunks, and salamanders, but also coyotes? Yes, I mean -on campus-. There are some, I'm sure, but only a handful, I'd expect. Even colleges in remote areas tend to be either too developed or own too little private land. And even those in contact zones with larger fauna tend to have enough students and faculty to deter the activity of such animals except in the dead of night. I've asked a number of friends, and none of them have had such encounters on their campuses. When I go running on my campus's cross country course, however, I routinely see deer springing and leaping away. I used to think it was just in fear of my own bumbling along the trail, but this is apparently not so. The entire course is thick in the woods save the start and finish, and the school owns all of the land and some more around it. The town's population is sparse, granted, but still, I'm surprised by the seclusion available on these trails. I can run for forty minutes to an hour around them and not meet another human being. The other day, I turned a corner, and about 15 to 25 meters away was a coyote. It was about dusk, so I suppose it was a decent enough time for her to be out and about. Her eyes were almost gray and very startled. She tensed and bristled at the sudden sight of my panting form charging around the corner, a bundled runner decked with blue under armor and red headband and gloves (yes, I have ghastly color coordination). It took me a moment to recognize whether this was a coyote or somebody's dog, but as I slowed down and steadied my focus, I caught sight of the curvature of her mouth, the perking of her large ears, the texture of her coat, and the tell-tale dorsal stripe. She paused for the longest time, as if confused by this sudden encounter. Was this runner a threat? Had she chosen to fight, then I'm sure she'd have won. Perhaps she would have if she hadn't been alone. But she didn't. I suppose my audacity startled her even further than the initial surprise of having a human charging toward her. Springing to retreat, she pranced down the trail and out of sight. Thinking better of my choice of direction, I then turned around and went back the way I came, but the image of her stays in my mind. She is the first coyote I have seen in months, and I never expected to see one here on a college campus, even if I am in the middle of nowhere.