Piling Up

Today's word is "ARRRRRGGGGHH!". This is the word that originates from the depths of a Squid's soul when faced with three maths jobs that have to be done simultaneously, and they have to be done now. If the next three or four days are light on posting, then I apologise, but it's in the very good cause of not getting me fired, or having my brain burst into flames.

Good God

Yay! A rare chance for me to be positive about politics and organised religion at the same time!

Liberal-leaning religious groups are launching radio ads in five states this week in which local pastors urge senators to back efforts to overhaul the nation's health care system... While participants said they are not focusing on specific policies, they said they wanted legislation that would provide federal subsidies for people who cannot afford adequate care... "It's morally unacceptable in this country," the Rev. Cory Sparks of Lafayette, La., said of the current health system's problems in a conference call held by leaders of the effort Tuesday with reporters.

The endless, grating, selfish hypocrisy [1] of the Religious Right has been poisoning political discourse for far too long in America; it's a delight to see Christian authorities reminding us God is against the poor dying for no reason. I suspect it's very deliberate that these pastors are staying clear of offering specific alternatives. They don't need to, it's not their job. Chris Matthews had it dead right last week (and that isn't a sentence I ever thought I'd write), essentially saying that step one is deciding people have to have access to healthcare, and step three is making fucking sure it happens. Step two is for the politicians.

Of course, it's difficult to see any way out of the problem that doesn't involve raising taxes, so one could argue that implicitly that is what these people are arguing for. Even in America, though I'm not sure any person sufficiently dedicated to Christ's teachings [2] would be against what could be considered state-enforced charity [3]. Anyways, it's just nice to see Christians (who of course have as much right to lobby their government as anyone else) making the case that America should have less suffering, rather than less alternative lifestyle choices.

Update: footnotes fixed.

Update II: This, by the way, is exactly the sort of shit I'm talking about.

[1] To say nothing of baffling in its priorities. Even if I accepted for the purposes of argument that I should respect a religion for having a different position on homosexuality than my own (which I don't, because those people are dicks), the idea that somehow its a more pressing problem than murder and pain and suffering seems beyond insane. I always imagined these people getting to the Pearly Gates, and watching St Peter flick through their This Is Your Life book, only for him to sigh in exasperation. "That's what you've been focusing on? Katrina displaced one hundred thousand people, you twat!"

[2] As oppose to dedication to the Church, which (regrettably) is often a very different thing.

[3] Sure, it sucks for the atheists, but "I don't believe in God so I can be as selfish as I want" ain't exactly the world's most sympathetic argument. Fortunately, despite the tedious insistence of many Christians, it's not an argument one comes across particularly often.

Three Questions...

... for your consideration.

1. What the Hell is Sarah Palin up to?

2. How the Hell can anyone love a TV show much they want to base British government on it?

3. Why the Hell would anyone name a killer dinosaur "Banjo"?

Update: Steve Benen lists seven possible answers to the first question. He plumps for answer 1, but I'm gonna put money on 3.

Running Out Of Youth

Today regular comment-haunter BigHead increases in age. How else could I honour the birthday of a fellow mathematician but through the medium of the great Tom Lehrer?



Advice every young mathematician should take to heart.

Friday 40K Blogging: The Sons of the Lion

Today, MotCC is proud to present Lion El'Jonson's finest: the Dark Angels. This army was started early in 2000, and finished in (if memory serves) 2005. I'm a lot more proud of this army than Hive Fleet Tengu, probably because my previously rudimentary paint skills (not that I'm Michelangelo these days or anything) are less obvious with a more muted colour scheme.

A couple of overview shots.

My Company Master and his command squad. In truth, both this unit and the veterans squad are somewhat sub-optimal, having but one apothecary, one veteran sergeant, and one lascannon between them. This is because of the re-jig in the latest Dark Angels Codex, which decreed that every infantry squad be either five or ten models strong. The resulting re-ordering of the force spread a few things a little thinly, but I refuse to paint any more models for the army. Life's too short.

A Dark Angels Librarian. Later Codexes have scaled back the blue idea a bit, but see above comment regarding life span.

The Deathwing. These are some pretty old models, which makes them a bit smaller than current Terminators, but with far more experience. They're a crack team of Yodas, essentially, but with an assault cannon. Judge them not by their size.

A Techmarine and his two servitors, which I loosely based on First Contact Borg. It... didn't entirely work.

The aforementioned veteran squad. Note the orange trimming, to tie them into the command squad. The idea of a fiery orange to complement Dark Angels green is an idea I picked up from way back in White Dwarf 170, a fact that makes me feel old and creaky beyond belief.

Next week, the army's troops, fast attack, and heavy support slots.

Space Booze Is The Best Booze

Thinking back to my weekend in Sheffield, and specifically Mozz and myself attempting to try every single cocktail available in Wetherspoons (ably assisted by our glamorous assistants, natch), it occurs to me that we missed a trick by not at least attempting to come up with some sci-fi themed cocktails (Hell, nothing could be worse than the “cranberry chiller”, or whatever the Hell it was called).

MotCC thus humbly presents five drinking options for the genre connoisseur.

Woo Who

Ingredients:

-1oz vodka
-½oz peach Schnapps
-4oz cranberry juice.

Instructions:

1. Put on maudlin, emotionally-manipulative music on your CD player;
2. Turn up the volume to the extent that all conversation is impossible;
3. Drink cocktail whilst making puppy-dog eyes at women who are far, far too young for you. Pretend this is in some way emotionally deep, rather than incredibly disturbing;
4. Save the world essentially at random thirty seconds before the bar closes. Order another cocktail, and start up with the pining/perving again;
5. Win a BAFTA, because people are idiots.

Arrakis Bug

Ingredients:

-1oz Midori melon Liqueur
-½oz Malibu coconut rum
-½oz banana liqueur
-1 ½oz sweet and sour mix
-1oz pineapple juice
-The largest tequila worm possible.

Instructions:

1. Mix ingredients together, adding worm last;
2. Use hob to evaporate cocktail in its entirety;
3. Eat the worm;
4. Turn into a crazy super-powered prophet-God;
5. Be shit for at least three books;
6. Get Kevin J. Anderson to make the next cocktail. Tell him he’s mixing it all wrong.

Harvey Dent Wallbanger

Ingredients:

-3oz vodka

-1oz Vanilla galliano

-6oz orange juice

-10oz sulphuric acid

-two identical glasses.

Instructions:

1. Mix a Harvey Wallbanger in one glass;
2. Fill the second glass with the acid;
3. Decide which to drink via a coin toss.

Dr Manhattan

Ingredients:

-5oz rye whiskey

-2oz sweet red vermouth.

-Angostura bitters (dash)

-Maraschino cherry

-giant blue radioactive cock.

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together, garnishing with the cherry and the giant blue radioactive cock;
2. Drink before you have a change to think about what you’re doing;
3. Attempt to remove the floppy glow-in-the-dark phallus from your throat without choking to death;
4. Complain that only Alan Moore truly understands this cocktail, and all other versions are shit.

Long-Dong Island Ice Tea

Ingredients:

-1oz vodka
-1oz gin
-1oz tequila
-1oz rum

-1oz triple sec

-1 ½oz sour mix

-coke (dash)
-giant blue radioactive cock.

Instructions:

As above, but ensure the huge blue irradiated dick is entirely erect before consuming.

Good drinking, people.

Shake #12

Today's shake: Strawberry Laces

Taste: 8
Texture: 6
Scorn: 1
Synergy: 8
Total Score: 7.75

General Comments: This shake tastes pretty much as one would expect, like a Nesquik strawberry shake with extra sugar. This, of course, is awesome, but more is to come. Every mouthful causes tiny flecks of strawberry lace to settle on your tongue before exploding with taste-packed goodness, significantly improving an already pleasant experience. In fact, the only down side to this prince amongst drinks is what happens when these flakes miss your tongue and hit your teeth; the particles in question start off rock hard (which isn't something that one appreciates regarding things being launched at your teeth), but almost immediately soften before bonding to your incisors and refusing to let go. With careful, restrained sucking, however, this problem can be minimised.