Yeah, it's not the 'appropriate' time for such things, but if I left things till the right time I'd just keep putting it off because I'm spending the real New Years being social (or, let's be honest, working after everyone else has called in 'sick'*). So, with this in mind, I'm making resolutions now, to take effect immediately, or at least once I wake up tomorrow.

And why am I posting this here instead of just telling myself I'll do these? If I just tell myself, I know it won't happen. I need to write it down somewhere that others can see it. That way if I start to stray, as it were, then anyone who has read this will be able to get me back on track.

( The List.... )

PS. Now that I think about it, today is Beltane here in the south, so I'll rename these my Beltane resolutions.

The time has come to try and sum up the week and a half karanina and I spent in the US. I'm doing this entirely from memory, so I may leave things out, but I'm sure there are people out there who can either correct me or fill in the blanks. This first part covers our time in Vegas, while the second is GenCon Indy. There is a third part, more of a rant, which I wrote during a bout of insomnia in Vegas.

( Planes, Shuttle Buses, and the airport from Hell.... )

Okay, this is getting pretty long, so I'll be cutting it up into 1-2 day segments.

( Viva Las Vegas, not so viva the heat.... )

( Weekend Foursome.... )

( The Moment You've All Been Waiting For.... )

( Leaving Las Vegas.... )

Oh yeah, I have an LJ. I probably shouldn't ignore that for too long, y'know, just in case :p So for those of you I haven't seen or talked to recently, a quick catch up...

On Thursday, karanina and I are boarding are heading off to America for a little under two weeks. We're spending the first week in Las Vegas (where we're being joined by two of her friends for the weekend), then we're heading on to Indianapolis for GenCon.

I'm going to try and post regular updates (with photos!) while we're there (internets and time permitting), so what happens in Vegas might not actually stay there ;)

We're also both taking our cellphones with us, so if you need to get in touch just email or txt (if you call there may be international charges incurred at your end).

Step 1: Sit them in front of the computer.

Step 2: Press play....

The first trailer for Under the Mountain has been released. For those of you that didn't grow up in NZ, it's a sci-fi adventure story set in Auckland. Think of it as a Kiwi version of 'Race to Witch Mountain'. Kinda.

The movie looks pretty good, and the Wilberforces are a whole lot more scary than the the 80's TV version, though that is mainly thanks to the wonders of CG.

Weird Al + Ray Manzarek from The Doors + Liam Lynch =


Woah. Very kewl.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, give this a try:

Designers 'n' artists market day - Featuring local fashion, designers and artists. Ponsonby Community Centre, 20 Ponsonby Terrace (Three Lamps end), 2pm-6pm.

This is being organised by my brother's girlfriend and her sister. This is their first event, but they hope to make it a regular thing.

Apparently, MTV wants to produce a remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with an all new cast, and new songs. Blasphemy!

There is an online petition up to get MTV to not go forward with this project. You can sign it here. The target number of signee's is 5000 and I was number 4209, so there isn't much further to go. If this doesn't work, I guess people could always get dressed up and march on MTV HQ.

Dollhouse has been renewed.

As has Better off Ted.

And Castle.

Yay!

For those of you who haven't heard about it yet, there's a new episodic web serial coming.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Very shiny!

There is also a Part 5

At one of the local bookstores, they have Robert Pattinson's Unauthorised Biography shelved in the Science Fiction section.

ROFL.

Okay, I've been neglecting this for a while. This is partly because I've been watching a whole lot of movies and tv shows lately, so here's an update.

( Sixteen through Twenty Five.... )

The Good: Watching The Boat that Rocked on Friday. Lunch with my family and dinner with karanina's family on Sunday. Chocolate. New Doctor Who and Red Dwarf (!!!) on TV. Having Halloumi cheese at Mum's. Mmm.

The Bad: Having our washing machine break down on Saturday, leaving us without clean clothes for Sunday. Luckily, we stayed the night with karanina's parents and used their washing machine.

The Just Plain Crazy: Being visited by two Jehovah's Witnesses on Sunday... in the middle of lunch. They saw us eating through the window and decided to not knock on the door. I went outside and questioned them, finding out they were just trying to spread 'the good word', as it were. I was going to sting them along for a while before asking them in to celebrate the rebirth of our lord Cthulhu, but I was usurped by my Mum who stormed out of the house and bluntly told them to 'sod off'. To be fair, we have relatives who are JW's, but for them to be doing their rounds on Easter Sunday was just going a bit too far.

What a fun weekend.

Attn NIN fans, this might be of interest to you. Trent answers questions about the future of NIN and the music industry, digital marketing, the most embarrassing song on his iPod, and other topics of interest.

Some very interesting comments and thoughts in there. Well worth checking out, even if you're not a fan.

Every once in a while, flash mobs actually manage to do something kinda kewl...

According to this article, the US Congress may finally be passing legislation which will allow Amerians to freely travel to Cuba. This is expected to create over 20,000 jobs, and generate $1.6 billion dollars each year.

There's only one thing I can say about that: sweet. (Oh, and about bloody time.)

Okay, so the trade embargo will apparently still be in place, but at least this is a step away from paranoid Cold War legislation.

I was playing a skirmish game of Red Alert 3 the other day. I was playing as the Empire/Japanese and was engaging in my usual tactic for winning the game easily - building about 50 Rocket Angels (armoured flying infantry who fire rockets at their enemies). As I finished building the last of the Angels I ordered them to attack the enemy base. At this point a wonderful moment of convergence occured.

While playing the game I was listening to the soundtrack (not score) for The Watchmen. It's a good collection of classic tunes, so a nice change from the game's own techno soundtrack. Anyway, as my virtual army soared through the sky, the current song on the soundtrack ended, and the next one began.

The next song was Ride of the Valkyries.

Sure, it might have been more awesome had my army consisted of 50 helicopters, but I'll work with what I've got.