Cargo to haul and bills to pay....
Mood:  caffeinated

I thought I'd drop a note for those who might be wondering when their next installment of Exodus might be coming out. Well, to paraphrase the opening of "Wing Commander: Privateer", I've got "a load of cargo in the hold and a load of bills to pay at home". I am working now, and that seriously cuts down on my available energy to be a starving artist. :) All I am thinking about right now is making money.

My dream computer may be on hold, dammit. I had it all designed on paper too, a nice Asus socket 939 motherboard with built-in WiFi, a 2.6Ghz AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 processor (which is at least equal to Intel's 3.6 Pentium 4), a $600 ATI Radeon x800 XT Platinum Edition video card, 500 watt power supply, Silverstone TEMJIN Black ATX case, dual Western Digital Raptors, the fastest non-SCSI hard drive made, dual hard drive coolers, and a nice round gig of unbuffered dual-channel DDR SDRAM. What I could have rendered with that, not to mention knocking the stuffing out of some games...

But my aged transportation, an '82 Ford Fairmont Futura, is proving itself unreliable, so I am thinking of putting off the monster computer and buying a scooter for emergency transportation purposes, because I can't afford to miss work for a frelled-up automobile. I seriously would like to put a bullet in it's engine block right about now. Anyway, Honda has some nice scooters, priced a full grand under Vespa's entry level model, and I'm thinking about buying one. Whaddya think?



It's the sort of thing I like, a reasonable compromise between hard necessity and frivolous fun. :) Rather have my car be reliable and get the computer though. I'll still get the computer as long as my employment holds up, but it will be later.

Time to fess up....
Okay, time to fess up. I don't have time for Exodus any more and I am unlikely to have time for the foreseeable future. It's too labor-intensive, which was fine back when I didn't have a real job and just did odd jobs and freelancing. Now though, I can't justify the time to make an episode. As with everything in life, there is a cost-benefit analysis to be made, and Exodus was sucking down a lot of time for no benefit to me.

Perhaps sometime I will have more time on my hands again and can take it up again, because I am very proud of the work I have done on it, but for the present, Exodus is on indefinite hiatus.

Now you've gone and done it...
Mood:  accident prone


Navigator Joe stunned with disbelief at the news...

Shocking though it may seem, circumstances have compelled me to get a real job. If you must swoon with disbelief, please go outside to swoon and don't soil the carpet with your comatose saliva. :)

Yes, I must be a working stiff again, which means that Exodus episodes are going to become less frequent regrettably. I don't know when Episode 15 is going to get done, maybe I can get it done before I start working, and then again maybe not. See, ya'll shoulda used my PayPal link more often and I wouldn't be in this unaccustomed position of needing real gainful employment. :)

The good news in the long run is, one of my first priorities (after paying my car insurance and getting some car repairs and paying for meds and and paying off my debt to the Momma Bank) is to get a new computer, which will mean shorter rendering times. The computer I have now has been faithful, but it's reaching the end of it's operational life and my computer monitor as well is showing signs of senility. My CDRW has expired despite drastic intervention measures on my part and now it hangs partially disembowelled from it's front orifice in my computer case. Plus, I'll be able to buy some games and other stuff I have been jonesing for, like Battlefield Vietnam and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Mmmm, automotive and airborne carnage. Money is good. :)

So be patient, friends, as I sort out some mathematical imbalances ITRW (i.e. the imbalance between income and expenditures) and Exodus will continue as I am able to do it.

In case you're wondering....

In case you're wondering, no I haven't gotten started on Episode 15 in any significant way. I think I am still in a post-election funk and feeling uninspired.

What I have been doing instead is playing Caesar II, an old Win95/Dos game, but it's fun. I have been stomping my way through the provinces, kicking barbarian butt and bringing civilization to the poor unenlightened masses of the outer Roman Empire. I like these sorts of games because their worlds are all mostly blank slates and you can build everything up from zero. One such game, Sid Meier's Civilization, played an important role in getting me interested in computers again in the post-Commodore 64 world: having played that on a Mac originally, I knew that I would have to get myself a real computer come hell or high water. :)

Some day someone needs to make a game where you can really work from zero, from empty continents and ignorant savages, without prefabricated parts. A game where you can design the technology that you use in extravagant detail, build your own building designs, really create your own world from nothing. Such a game might be too complicated for mass consumption or profitability. It would be nice though.

Another Win95 game was really insanely time-consuming. Ascendency was a great game where you create this galaxy-spanning civilization and interact, ally, trade or destroy other species, build planetary infrastructures and planetary defenses, but it took FOREVER to play one complete game.

Anyway, all of this is by way of saying I haven't done jack with Episode 15. :)

A Little History Lesson

HOPE
Mood:  quizzical



I am not going to write about the political event that happened yesterday. There is substance in that to mull over for days to come. Instead I am going to write about hope.

Probably most great art nowadays is not optimistic art. The list goes on and on of great modern works in art and movies and music that are pessimistic about human nature and humanity's future. And if you ask my mind about it, it will agree; humanity is a mess, there is an awful lot of darkness in human nature and not much light. I myself am very mistrustful of other human beings aside from the small circle of friends and family, because I know, there is much evil in the hearts of men, and little good to show. Most desires are dark desires, and men are driven by their desires, mostly to no good end.

There is no great disappointment where there was not first great hope. I am bitter about humanity for the very reason that my heart is full of longing for a hopeful future for humanity, for a better tomorrow, for a day when the whole species will be lifted out of the mud and into the sunlit uplands of a wise, progressive, and kinder day. My mind says this will never happen. My heart says, damn the probabilities, what could be more important, more worthy of fighting for? If Mankind in the end shows itself as a petty, greedy, self-destroying species, nobody will be terribly surprised. I won't be. But what a wonderful surprise it would be in the end, long after I am dead no doubt, if we do grow up and become what we could become.

Hope is rightly considered not the belief that things will work for the best but the utter commitment of one's soul that they must, and that such a cause, however lost it may be, is the one worth believing in.

This is why I can't do pessimistic art. To me, to show what is is no great accomplishment: any person with any sense at all understands the horrors and senselessness that humanity perpetrates: of war, famine, homelessness, greed, cruelty, murder, rape, poverty, and all the rest. It is no great accomplishment to simply open your eyes, and for those who do not open their eyes, I have no patience to open them for them. To paraphrase Robert Kennedy, I cannot see things as they are and ask, "Why?". I know why, it has been the same story since Cain and Abel, since the first shambling proto-human stole the food out of somebody else's mouth. I must see things that never were and ask, "why not?"

In Exodus, it is not that the scientifically advanced and powerful Centauris are the hopeful characters. Someone else figuring out how not to screw themselves does us little good. It is people like Samia and Dr. Wilbur, toiling in the dark, hoping for long shots, that are the hopeful characters. But sadly, it seems that it is in the darkest of darkness that the light shines brightest, and we may never win that war finally in this life but we can still lose it. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter", and the world begins to die when there are no longer people who fight for it to live. As long as we are not silent and still do fight, maybe in some sense we are already successful.

"If you are sincere, you have success in your heart,
And whatever you do succeeds."
-The I Ching, Hexagram 29, The Abysmal

"The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
-Luke 17

Update
Mood:  party time!

Just want to keep ya'll updated on what is going on. I have been working on a lot of stuff not directly related to getting Episode 15 on the air, so I haven't actually started in on Episode 15 aside from corralling a bajillion textures which I will need for the very cool but very difficult Tsudio city scene upcoming in Episode 15. In fact, if I get as far along in Episode 15 as I would like (though I never do), this will be one hellacious episode to get done. I won't be doing much work on it tomorrow either, being glued to the television for the slugathon of democracy that is taking place. Pray for no coup d'etats.

On the plus side, I have listened to the draft version of the new Exodus theme for the new Exodus intro by Mushroom Suzie which will be coming up like early next year sometime. I think you will like.

Speaking of like, I really like the anime series "Stand Alone Complex" and adore the theme for it, which was done by the Russian pop star Origa who is very popular in Japan, and produced by Yoko Kanno who has done or produced the music for like every anime ever made practically. You can download the theme here, but do remember to obey all copyright laws and delete the mp3 after listening the hell out of it for 24 hours. The lyrics are in Russian and English. Origa also does albums, which are available in this country through Amazon.com.

Check out the draft version of the CD cover I am doing for Mushroom Suzie!
scroll down....

The War President

Class Warfare Made SIMPLE
Mood:  irritated

Ever wonder why liberals and conservatives come to the positions they do? Here is your easy simple guide:

SOCIAL SECURITY:

Liberals believe that social security should be an inviolable safety net in case the worst happens. In other words, if your whole life goes to shit and your legs get cut off and the stock market crashes, you have a fall-back position.

Conservatives consider Social Security as simply a form of investment, and one which, being potentially less lucrative (and also more secure) than the stock market, should be abolished as soon as possible. Since Conservatives represent the interests of corporations as will become evident, having a form of emergency relief is not high on their list of priorities.

ABORTION:

Liberals believe that the government should stay out of the issue, aside from potential health ramifications (an indigent pregnant woman who goes into a public hospital and will die if the baby is not aborted, for example).

For Conservatives, this is a triple whammy issue. First off, abortion decreases the labor force and thus increases the wages of labor. It's supply and demand, and business wants the supply of labor high and the labor force desperate and pliable. Look at Mexico for an example of this philosophy in action. Unwanted children also keep families over a barrel and hence make them more pliable and more willing to put up with bad working conditions.

Secondly, Christianity is an important force for keeping the labor force meek and pliable and abortion has become a hot-button Christian issue, so the conservatives get a double benefit out of this.

CIVIL UNIONS:

Liberals: None of the government's business, two people of whatever sex can enter into any contractual relationship they please, so long as they aren't violating the rights of anyone else.

Conservatives: A double whammy issue for the conservatives. Gay marriage also decreases the work force since gay couples can't have kids of their own. It's also a hot-button issue with their devoted minions the Christians.

PHARMACEUTICALS FROM CANADA:

Liberals: People need medicines, they are not optional in many cases but necessities of life, and thus any means that can put cheaper drugs into the hands of the people who need them, particularly lower income people and elderly people on the aforementioned Social Security, is a good thing.

Conservatives: Representing as they do the interests of corporations, the pharmaceutical corporations are powerful and helpful allies, and anything that would impact on their profit margins is therefore a bad thing.

WAR:

Liberals: War is only to be used as a last resort.

Conservatives: War is an instrument of national political and economic interests and also makes money for a large number of corporations at taxpayer expense. Since individuals represent a larger percentage of the tax base than corporations do, that increase in tax cost is a good deal overall: all forms of corporate welfare are a good deal for corporations even if they wind up paying slightly higher taxes as a result.

DISSENT:

Liberals: Dissent is patriotic since the country is based on the idea that no individual or group has an ironclad claim on the truth.

Conservatives: Dissent is unamerican since it rocks the boat and disturbs the status quo, which is favorable to corporations.

SOCIAL SPENDING IN GENERAL:

Liberals: Social spending is a legitimate way to further better conditions for everyone.

Conservatives: Social spending is a disincentive to a pliable workforce. A desperate workforce is a cheap workforce. Any governmental attempt to make citizens more secure in times of need is therefore counterproductive.

MINIMUM WAGE:

Liberals: Everyone needs a living wage.

Conservatives: A minimum wage costs corporations money and works contrary to their desire to get the most work out of you for the least wage.

TRADE UNIONS:

Liberals: Workers have a right to organize for better conditions, and it was precisely this right to organize which is responsible for doing away with dangerous, inhumane, and abusive practices which corporations so willingly participated in in the past.

Conservatives: Conservatives don't like unions. Why? Because when labor "sticks together", wages go up. That's why workers unionize. Seems workers don't like being "over a barrel".

I could go on and on, it's the same story.


These same sorts of business-motivated conservatives historically:

Opposed anti-trust legislation.

Opposed child labor laws.

Opposed universal free public education. Some of them still do.

Opposed literacy for African-American citizens, in particular.

Supported the establishment of "Jim Crow" in the south.

Opposed state laws guaranteeing minimum wages and restricting working hours for industrial workers.

Opposed the right to vote for women.

Supported prohibition.

Opposed the League of Nations - and continue to oppose US participation in the United Nations.

Were involved in countless financial and government scandals, including, manipulation of stock prices during the Civil War, rampant cronyism and nepotism during the Grant administration, the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920's, Watergate, the Savings and Loan crisis, the present "no bid" contracts for Halliburton - the former employer of the Vice President - and many, many more.

Opposed agricultural subsidies, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Rural Electrification, and almost all of the rest of the New Deal.

Opposed Social Security.

Opposed the Fair Labor Standards Act establishing the eight hour work day and overtime pay, and some still do.

Opposed the National Labor Relations Act guaranteeing workers the right to collectively bargain.

Opposed US entry into World War II to fight fascism.

Traded with the Nazi's during the war. Noteworthy cheap-labor conservatives "trading with the enemy" included Henry Ford and one Prescott Bush, father and grandfather to two Presidents.

Opposed the GI Bill of Rights.

Opposed creation of the United Nations.

Opposed the Marshall Plan.

Opposed FHA Mortgages.

Opposed the creation of Interstate Highways. These had to be billed as the "National Defense Interstate Highway System" to get some of them to go along with it.

Opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Opposed the Civil Rights of 1964.

Opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Opposed Medicare.

Supported both overt and covert intervention, leading to the creation of right-wing dictatorships in Iran, Guatamala, Cuba [before Castro, mind you], Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, the Congo, Chile, Brazil, El Salvador, the Phillipines, Indonesia and many others.

Supported the war in Vietnam including "bombing them back to the stone age".

Supported covert and illegal air strikes against Cambodia.

Supported domestic "surveillance" of opponents of the war, civil right supporters and other "dissidents" who believed in things like equality and democracy.

Opposed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

Opposed the Equal Rights Amendment.

Supported shifting the tax burden from the top to the middle, and the creation of massive deficits for the purpose of bankrupting the Federal government.

Opposed the act creating "family leave" - unpaid mind you.

Opposed and continue to oppose National Health Insurance.

Support taxing the wages of working people, but not passive investment income such as dividends and "capital gains".

Support "vouchers" to subsidize parochial and private schools, in order to create a "two tiered" educational system. Remember, they opposed universal public education.

Support "free trade" policies that allow US manufacturers to export jobs to third world cesspools.

Support the dictatorial regimes in those same third world cesspools.

Oppose restrictions on green house gasses and other pollutants.

Support "privitization" of Social Security, something they have hated since its inception, and which they have concocted a novel way to get rid of.

Oppose government support for the development of alternatives to fossil fuels, but they . . .

Support invasion of Middle Eastern countries like Iraq, in order to secure our supply of those same fossil fuels.

AND YET, SOMEHOW, these people have the unmitigated gall to call themselves the party of the people, as versus those "New England Liberals" and "Hollywood" and "cultural elites".

Just goes to prove Hitler's dictum: TELL BIG LIES.