Brickmuppet Blog 2.0

February 18, 2013

Video Interlude

This works surprisingly well.

This one actually looks to be a test, but it's a very well timed test.

^{Also: Tsukasa LOL}

Oh lord...I guess this was inevitable...

I don't "get" Touhou, but this fan-made video is very nicely done with a superb use of rotoscoping. I understand it's several years old but I'd never encountered it till last year.

^{That's Cristina Vee doing the vocals.}

Here's a Chinese version of the song using a piano and a violin. It also has a clever take on the video...

...rotoscoping the rotoscoping with sand.

Finally here is proof that less is sometimes more. The original vocals, same basic video exact same 'choreography'(it looks to be a re-skinning of the shadow vid) but this time done with Miku Miku Dance.

It's actually a perfectly decent video and a very impressive job by MMD standards....and yet...

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February 17, 2013

Burning Questions

One of our readers from Canada, Peter (TNSG), has some questions about US politics.

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1 Thank you for your reply, and thank you for correcting my misconceptions about "let it burn" and "going Galt". I should perhaps apologize for this lengthy comment; feel free to edit it or delete it entirely if you wish.

...a failed state on your southern border with 1200 nuclear weapons and several times your population can safely be categorized as "a bad thing". And lets be clear the prospect of the US as a failed state is a nontrivial possibility at this point.

My personal nightmare scenario in that regard would be a Second War Between The States--one that could end up going nuclear. My fears are compounded by the fact that Canada's most densely populated areas, including our two largest cities (and the city I live in), are more-or-less downwind from big US cities; it doesn't help that US leftists are already waging what amounts to a cold civil war.

The USSR held on for 70 odd years and what sprang up in its place was such that at least one of our readers came here to escape. (...) Desperate hungry people are not fertile ground for the tree of liberty, nor are the listless or the ignorant. They are lye to its roots.

I saw that those were major flaws in the "give them what they want, it'll blow up in their faces" plan I'd outlined in my comment, and I suspected that the problem was really with my (mis)understanding of the ideas behind "let it burn". (I should have gone into more detail about my uncertainties in that regard.)

An economic collapse means desperate hungry people looking to a strong leader to save them...looking for some group to blame for their woes, and who are willing to give up many rights if their children can but eat.

One wonders if this has been the leftists' gambit all along, with of course one of their own becoming the Dear Leader. This may be a variation of the Cloward-Piven Strategy; the idea being (again, if I read it correctly) to deliberately implement policies that will hamstring free enterprise, drive millions of people into welfare (or some other dependence on government cheese), run up the national debt, and ultimately trigger an economic collapse. Then, having given the nation's economy the death of a thousand cuts, the leftists will declare the collapse to be The Final Failure Of Capitalism and will implement The Only Obvious Alternative, i.e. communism. (The flaw in that plan--beyond its despicable ruthlessness and treachery--is that there's no guarantee that the leftists will get the upper hand in any post-collapse power struggle, or that they won't turn on each other in a new Reign of Terror.) In that light, Pelosicare Obamacare, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Dodd-Frank, the stimulus, and other recent US policy debacles look ominously less like bugs and more like features.

Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Mon Feb 18 16:10:44 2013 (ElBzz)

2 Oh. One other thing. A good deal of this sort of Let it Burn talk is sarcasm or ironic, but that's hard to filter out even between us down here and certainly across cultural/national barriers.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Feb 18 16:39:31 2013 (vp6an)

3 I hardly think a $44 billion cut in a $3.6 trillion budget counts as Draconian, except inasmuch as the ruling class is planning on making full use of the Washington Monument defense. (You hear an ~$88 billion figure, but half of that is things that weren't going to happen anyway, relabeled as cuts, like how in 2011, they said "we're not going to do a Census this year." Boom, you can now claim the cost of the 2010 as a cut in the 2011 budget (or could, if there were one.) Also, remember that the remaining $44 billion or so is not a cut in absolute terms, but a reduction in spending increases over 2012, so the 2013 spending will still be higher than 2012 spending!

Posted by: RickC at Tue Feb 26 20:58:53 2013 (WQ6Vb)

4 It's not even a cut...
However it will hurt. it WILL be painful. I live in Hampton Roads and layoff notices are already starting to go out. The POTUS is making sure that this is as painful as possible...milking it for all it is worth. For those like my sister who will be laid off this will indeed be catastrophic.

That being said, it's the least bad option available and to be frank much more severe cuts are needed.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue Feb 26 21:06:12 2013 (vp6an)

5 "to be frank much more severe cuts are needed."
Absolutely.

Posted by: Rick C at Thu Feb 28 20:00:13 2013 (WQ6Vb)

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February 16, 2013

Asteroid Addendum

Well, that was exciting.

We had a near miss from an asteroid big enough to cause a 5 megaton blast if it hit. Over a thousand people were injured in Russia this morning when a small meteor detonated above (and impacted just outside of) the town of Chelyabinsk. This afternoon, bolide exploded above Rodas Cuba causing minor damage and another bolide lit up San Fransisco this evening but did no damage.

The near miss asteroid has pretty much been established to be unrelated to the Russian meteorite, though its unclear if the two bolides were related to the Russian event.

2012DA14 which passed inside Geostationary Orbit got some buzz in the press over the last few days and Drudge, of course, hyped it like it was the Sweet Meteor Of Death. It was discovered by an amateur astronomer in Spain, not NASA or any other credentialed body, so if not for him we never would have seen it coming until it was upon us (if then). If it had been the tiniest bit off its actual course it would have hit. At this point we could have done nothing about it.

The objects that caused so much excitement in Chelyabinsk, Rodas and San Fransisco, well, we never saw them coming.

This pic is making the rounds today....because it's true.

Next time the S.M.O.D. Squad comes visiting they may not be so congenial.

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February 15, 2013

Aiee. Aiee I say.

Doom. It is upon us.

....or Drudge is milking this for all it's worth.

UPDATE: 5 min Later

UPDATE 2:

But I did laugh...

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Meteor Strike!

One of the Brickmuppets crack team of science babes brings us news of asteroid 2012 DA14 which is going to pass incredibly close to Earth this afternoon. The space rock, about the size of....What?

^{Spectacularly so!}

...Oh! An asteroid, apparently unrelated to 2012DA14 and estimated to have only weighed about 10 tons, entered the atmosphere and came down on Russiaa bit before 9:30 this morning local time, but due to its small size it was not detected before entry.

The bolide spectacularly detonated over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk and caused a surprising amount of damage. Nearly 1000 people are reported injured as I type this.

^{Pics via}

Most of the damage seems to have come from the sonic boom and possibly the concussion of the explosion itself as the damage to the zinc plant above seems remarkable for a sonic boom. At least some fragments of the object impacted with the largest reported impact at this time being this neat hole punched in the ice of a nearby reservoir.
(Pic via RT)

Instapundit points out it's probably still a good idea to duck and cover when you see a flash of light in the sky. Here's why...

OUCH! Those poor kids! I hope no one was blinded.

UPDATE: Compilation of videos here:

UPDATE 2: I'm going out the door, but Scott Lowther has a huge roundup here, here and here.

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February 11, 2013

Something, ANYTHING Else

Tearful, fearful, Sayaka is giving me the creeps, so I've gotta post something just to get the creepiness off the top front post.

^Via

Wait...

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February 10, 2013

It is Vital to Remember That Dispair is a Sin...

...because it is the surest path to oblivion.

Do not give up hope.
Do not yield to anger.
Do not succumb to fear, for while the situation is dire, all is not lost.

"You don't understand! No one believes me, but I have SEEN the math!"

Oh...

Oh dear...

Well, I still prefer tilting at windmills to oblivion or serfdom so lets discuss this below the fold.

more...

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1 People have trouble visualizing the scope of the debt. Telling them that a stack of 16 Trillion dollars would reach the moon doesn't help, because they can't get their brain around the distance to the moon.

They've seen Airplanes though. I tell folks at work, where we build 787's this:

1 787 lists for around $200 Million. So 5 of them is a Billion dollars.

(And here's where the numbers still get all mind-boggly)

So FIVE THOUSAND 787's is a Trillion dollars.

So our national debt of $16 trillion would take EIGHTY THOUSAND 787's to pay off, if the world could afford to buy them all. But at the projected production rate of 10 per month, it would take 666 years to build them.

And that's not counting new debt.

Posted by: Mauser at Sun Feb 10 23:33:11 2013 (cZPoz)

2 Being a Canadian, I don't really have a dog in this fight. However, I am still worried about what's happening in the United States right now, both out of concern for the welfare and liberty of people in the US and a more self-interested concern about the knock-on effects that future economic and political turmoil in the US will have on Canada. (After all, the US is my country's neighbour, closest ally, and biggest trading partner.)

If I may, I'd like to ask your opinion about the "going Galt" and "let it burn" movements I've read about in the small-c-conservative US blogosphere. If I'm understanding things correctly, the starting premise behind these movements is that the leftists are going to win, no matter what--which seems at first glance like giving in to despair. However, the idea seems to be more like letting the leftists build the New Socialist Worker's Paradise, in the sure and certain expectation that the New Socialist Worker's Paradise will collapse under its own weight, much like the old one (the Soviet Union) did. Then, once the dust settles and the leftists have been run out of Washington in disgrace (tar and feathers will presumably be involved), sensible people will have a chance to rebuild the republic on a sensible basis. (The "going Galt" movement seeks to speed the process up by starving the Worker's Paradise of tax revenue it will need to fend off collapse.) It's not so much giving in to despair but enduring short-term pain for longer-term benefits, or so the theory goes.

Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Tue Feb 12 23:54:42 2013 (ElBzz)

3 That is a good question. I'll try to answer it in a bit of depth later this weekend.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Fri Feb 15 11:46:00 2013 (vp6an)

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Things have been exceedingly busy

...of late. I missed 11 days of school (out of 20 so far) due to the shot-proof flu and subsequent pneumonia, combined with a violent reaction to an antibiotic. Also the alternator died. Thus I've been playing catch up.

I have a couple of unfinished posts on current events and tech...but they are depressing me and sapping my energy.

Additionally I haven't been blogging about anime much because nothing that's streaming right now interests me and Nisemonogatari made me feel quite unclean.

So, gentle readers, here's another random picture to tide you over till I catch up .

^{Art by Sabaku Chitai is a slightly off model representation of Anglerfish Team from Girls und Panzer...and yet is strangely awesome.}

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NecroSpammers

Pixy (The great guru of Mee.nu) has done a fine job keeping the pernicious purveyors of processed pulled pork shoulder at bay. Occasionally, a singularly sharp spammer will succeed in sneaking his shameful solicitations into the sidebar, but for the most part readers don't see the vast majority of the spam comments.

The depraved, delinquent douchenozzels often comment on posts over a year old, and they tend to comment in the same posts over and over. The latest fusillade of frustrating fiendishness fell upon two recent posts and here, but mostly, they continue to flood this post.

What is it about Kannagi?

I apologize to you readers for venting my vexation at this venal villany by maltreating you with my maladroit metablogging...so here is some tangentially related anime art as atonement.

^{Kannagi is no longer being published in the US but DVDs still turn up.}

more...

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February 06, 2013

This is Why Maintenance is Important

The former flagship of the Argentinian Navy, the destroyer ARA Santisima Trinidad turned turtle at her moorings last month.

^{...and took out a trawler in the process from the looks of it.}

I guess the Falklands Islanders are allowing themselves a non-existent laugh.

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February 04, 2013

I Didn't Think They HAD Parking Lots Back Then

Neat!

The body of Richard the Third has been found under a parking lot in Liecester.

Jerry Pournelle has some interesting thoughts inspired by this news.

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February 03, 2013

So you're called to student council room...

A good chunk of the Tank club is there.
What runs through your mind?
A: " Am I in trouble?"
B: "What is the midget up to THIS time?
C: "Are they finally going to let the guys join the neat clubs?"
D: "What in the HELL is that picture on the wall? Seriously?"

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Breitbart.com Blacklisted?

Hmmmmm.....

I got a Malware Alert when trying to visit Breitbart.

UPDATE: Via Instapundit, It was a hack. More here.
more...

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Yes Indeedily!

If Leiji Matsumoto really isn't your thing....GET OFF MY LAWN!

_{(These kids today....)}

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1 I've never gotten around to seeing the original anime. A few times when I went looking for it, all I found were what appeared to be sequels. Is the original version still available?

I am looking forward to this version, though I do prefer my space pirates to be a bit, younger...

Posted by: Siergen at Sun Feb 3 21:15:33 2013 (Ao4Kw)

2 Siergen...why don't you have a seat over there....

While you wait for Mr. Hansen you can watch the whole 42 episode original series on Crunchyroll. Be advised it is as much a horror series as it is an adventure series but it's got Kei Yuki in it and she's legal and smart and cute.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Feb 3 21:38:26 2013 (vp6an)

3 This Fan film I found linked to the second video seems to have scored some alternate footage, including some closeups of Emeraldis at the 51 second mark. Never quite pictured her as the latex type, but it's... nice.

Posted by: Mauser at Mon Feb 4 02:01:56 2013 (cZPoz)

4 In the pink skinsuit? No, that's Kei Yuki the ships third officer.

Here she is introducing Tadashi, (the Audience Identification Character) to the ships cook.

http://brickmuppet.mee.nu/images/harlock783.jpg

Note that unlike some other shows the male lead gets a skinsuit too.

http://brickmuppet.mee.nu/images/harlock782.jpg

Here they all are asking the important questions

http://brickmuppet.mee.nu/images/tumblr_l8akye1HXe1qapmmp.png

^{The important answer is "NO!"}

Emereldas is captain of another ship entirely.

Note that except for the last OAV series, which is (sort of) a sequel to the first series, the "sequels" are all actually re-imaginings with completely different universes and similar characters.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Feb 4 06:38:43 2013 (vp6an)

5 I've always wondered -- is Kei Yuki from Harlock related to Yuki from Starblazers/Yamato? Or are they just drawn alike?

Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Mon Feb 4 08:33:55 2013 (cvXSV)

6 Kei Yuki and Yuki Mori are completely different and the series are in separate universes. Both women are Matsumoto designs though.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Feb 4 08:48:20 2013 (vp6an)

7 Matsumoto is one step above Tezuka when it comes to character design. And his long and lithe females have long attracted me to his work (although the potato people have a counterbalancing effect).

I've been curious to see his debut work, "Sexaroid", although not because of the title.... well, maybe a little. But 1969 vintage anime isn't really a hot commodity these days.

Posted by: Mauser at Tue Feb 5 04:50:49 2013 (cZPoz)

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Peter David is Asking for Help

Author Peter David has had a stroke.

Actually he had a stroke on December 29 but I just found out via twitter.

Tip jar and more here.

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Yet More Linky Luv

A collection of links, mostly political is below the fold.
For those unenthused about such matters here is a completely unrelated picture of some cute girls with cake and Pocky and tea...and Zipatone.

^{CGwC&P&T&Z are Yuno and Maya from the Hidemari Sketch franchise.}

more...

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Matt Yglesias Makes a Profound Discovery

That name....it means politics is afoot, so the post is below the fold.

For those of you uninterested in such things here's a shorter, less comprehensive version of the post.

more...

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I think that Mr. Yglesias has had his first contact with liberal hell:

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-three-types-of-people-youll-meet-in.html

Of course, being a member of the ruling class unlike the rest of us he could probably found a connection to "take care of it."

Posted by: J Carlton at Mon Feb 4 22:16:28 2013 (i0RQw)

Jerry Pournelle's page had this little comment on his mail section a while back, which I thought was appropropriate.

http://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/?p=10667
Important comment:
"on the end of entrepreneurship

Being a founder of a startup here in silicon valley, I can comment on Spengler's essay. In the EDA business (Electronic Design Automation) everyone expects to get bought by one of the large EDA companies. No one expects to go IPO. Why? All of those wonderful laws the democrats passed after the fake energy crisis. Once you pass the small business threshold and enter big business, the cost of doing business goes up prohibitively. Further, the extra burdens placed on IPO's in the last 10 years, make it much harder to go public. The net result is we all (if we are lucky) join the collective. We get paid for our stock or get new company stock, stay the minimum required time and leave. Those of us with the energy, do it all over again. The unintended consequence is we build bigger and fewer large companies. Just what the democrats like. As Amity Shlaes pointed out in "The Forgotten Man", bigger companies act more like the government and are easier to manipulate. Resistance is futile."
The Spengler column:
http://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/11/07/if-you-believe-in-staples-clap-your-hands/
the big problem right now is that we need 100 Facebook IPO's a year right now just to make good on the recession and we are not going to get them.

Posted by: J Carlton at Mon Feb 4 22:29:32 2013 (i0RQw)

3 J Carlton. Thank you for that comment and the links! You very succinctly conveyed what I was trying to.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed Feb 6 15:42:08 2013 (vp6an)

4 Your welcome. Ever since I was "restructured" out of a job, I've had a fair amount of time to catch up on reading stuff like this. It beats running around and looking at all the "for rent" signs.

Posted by: J Carlton at Wed Feb 6 16:04:00 2013 (i0RQw)

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February 02, 2013

An Amazing Saturday Afternoon

I headed to school this afternoon around two to make use of the language lab. As I cleared the tunnel I heard a PSA on the radio. The Virginia War Museum had some special guests today from noon to three. I decided that school could wait and drove the 45 minutes to Newport News. I just barely made it, but I got to meet Mr. Williams here, who graciously let me take his picture and patiently answered my many questions. They were breaking down, so I had the considerable honor of helping him, his daughter and his three comrades break down their display and load it into their cars.

During World War 2, Mr. Williams flew red tailed P51s in Italy and Germany. He is one of the last of the surviving Tuskeegee Airmen.

Thank you for your service sir!

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Ed Koch

Neo and Professor Jacobson have thoughts on the passing of Ed Koch.

I certainly didn't agree with him on a lot of things, but he was a likeable character who seemed to be decent and principled.The nations political discourse is much diminished by his loss. Additionally, it should not be forgotten that long before his entry into politics he was serving his country at the Battle of the Bulge.

Mayor Koch with the tombstone he bought some time ago. which contains the last words of Journalist Daniel Pearle "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish." It also contains a prayer from Deuteronomy: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one,"

Godspeed Mayor Koch. May you rest in peace.

UPDATE: The NYT has released a video interview with the late Mayor that he'd asked not to be aired until after his death.

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February 01, 2013

10 Years

Great things are not easy.
They require great people to take risks.

While we mourn there loss we are fortunate to have had such people as this...

May we continue to be so blessed...

In happier days, Leslie Fish eloquently captured the hope so many of us had when the great ship first took to the sky.

'Foundation of our future, courier of dreams..'
We should let that be the epitaph of the ship and her brave crew; an inspiration to do still greater things, for if the boundaries of the future are allowed to be set by the risk adverse, the timid, those unwilling to take risks...or far worse, those who would presume to forbid others from doing so...then our future will be a dark age.

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