the eggplant tyrant's recipes for a new world order

VM 2x22

2006-05-10T06:55:34Z

So... the torrent is up. That was quick.

Because I need to get this out of my system...

2006-05-10T06:06:21Z

ZOMG.

Okay. So. Things that struck me:

-Somehow, Dick ended up being the least reprehensible of the Casablancas brothers. Because he's just not smart enough, not complex enough for true evil.

-Fucking Cassidy. Fucking raped V, and probably Mac (That was not a girl who'd had a pleasant, desired sexual experience. Oh God, poor Mac. Poor, poor Mac.)

-Okay, Beav behind the crash makes sense (as much as anyone would), and I was kind of expecting it, but... I didn't want to believe it. And Beav giving V Chlamydia... Poor kid. Poor, poor V. Making him the rapist was at once a perfect move on the writers' parts, and infuriating, because a) him doing that makes him no longer the poor molested kid -- he's now the evil that hurt Veronica, so that audience will buy him as bus crasher and b) it can serve to lessen Duncan's culpability in the whole rape/Shelley Pomroy's party awfulness. I mean, it totally doesn't change anything he did, but now suddenly he's not the rapist, because there's someone else she can pin it on. So she's not going to deal with her Duncan rape any time soon.

-V/L. Like whoa. Also, I'm choosing to believe that dream sequence existed for two reasons: to show us Veronica finally seeing her 'normal' plan for the pipe dream it is, and giving it up; and to show us that V truly wants to be with Logan now. Because even in her 'normal' world, she's going out with him, and Duncan's hanging out with Dick (which is whole other levels of repression and transferral, potentially, but that's another story for another day). They'd better not start season three FRICKING BROKEN UP!!!!!

-Woody is... exploded. Well, then.

-I knew Keith wasn't dead, but still. That hurt.

-Weidman holding the gun that finally goes off, and a controlled, silenced one, at that? Awesome. And speaking of our buddy Clarence, I read Christopher B. Duncan's name in the credits, got a momentary Weidman thrill, and forgot about him appearing by the time he showed up, so it was still a nice surprise.

-How terrible is it that Duncan calling the shots, talking to good ol' "CW," interests me more than anything else he's done so far? He totally pulled a Weevil. Also, that means that he's at least got some sort of clandestine contact with some part of his family, explaining his ending up in Australia, as well as his presumable supply of money.

-Also, CW shout-out? Oh, guys.

-The pacing was a little terrible. Because a several-minute-long dream sequence? In a season this filled with questions? Okay, then.

-As Amy pointed out, Jackie told Terrence that they both knew she was going to Paris. Which is bullshit.

-Lamb is a dick. Like, a huge dick. Because he waited to arrest Weevil in the middle of his graduation.

-L/V! Which, while still a bit unearned (because that's how they do things), is at least starting off on better terms: Veronica told her Dad she was going to ride with Logan because they had things to talk about. And Keith was wondering how Logan was taking the whole "Aaron got killded, yo," and not flipping out when Logan's crashing on the couch. That whole tapes debacle must have really softened him toward the boy. That and the year almost since he kicked him out of the house. And the explanation I'm sure Keith got about the rooftop madness, and the fact that he left as soon as Keith showed up, alive and well.

-So... Beav jumping off the frigging building was a little awful, in the "oh, ugh, I can't believe they just did that. I expected better of them" sense.

-Hart mattered. Which, I figured as much, but still.

-Dammit, Beaver...

-I'm gonna miss Clemmons. He kind of rocked.

-On a somewhat related note, it was so nice to watch the finale at my place with my friends/VM viewing group. Because it's been a year-long journey, and most of us graduated Uni yesterday, and I'm not going to have most of them around next year, so if I don't have this show I am going to be very sad.

-So the Fitzpatricks were basically BIG FRIGGING RED HERRINGS ALL ALONG.

-Hmm. "Cliffhanger" plot points: Weevil arrested, V waiting for her Dad, Keith distracted by something the newly rich and briefcased Kendall wants from him. Things I'd like to know, but don't absolutely need an answer to -- a decent way to end the season when you're not sure whether or not you've been picked up. Though V waiting for Keith was, frankly, something of a lame ending.

-I think mini-mysteries might be the best way to go, because the pacing this season kind of sucked.

-Kyle Gallner did a good job, though. Who knew Beav could be so scary?

-Logan/Veronica couch mirroring shot! Rather neat, if a tad awkward-looking both times.

-I've got somewhat mixed feelings about this ep, but I enjoyed it. We'll see what I think after I've watched it again... the whole season, really, from the start.

Hey you crazy cats

2006-04-28T14:40:11Z

In packing/cleaning, I've come across the following things I really don't need anymore thanks to Spiffy Mc-iBook. I'm going to try to sell them off; I just figured I'd check with you guys before I brought them to anyone else.

External CD-R/W drive
connects via USB 2.0
40x12x40 burn speed
Manufacturer: Pine (since bought out[?] by LG)
Original box, all cables and drivers

Ethernet Router
4 ports
Manufacturer: D-Link
Original box, all cables, drivers, and documentation

PCI cardbus Wireless card
54Mbps, 802.11g standard wireless card (1 slot)
For laptops with PC card slots (those little narrow slots that look like they'd fit a really big business card) and no wireless internet card
Maufacturer: Hawking Technology
Only used it for about a week before my stupid laptop died
Original box; all drivers and documentation

I also have a 2-slot Ethernet PCI card (for laptops with two PCI slots and no ethernet) and a Targus Universal Notebook Adapter. (Click the link to see if you can use it with your computer -- the third bullet point under "features.") Neither of these have the original packaging, but they're in excellent shape and work well.

Set your own price.

eggplant_tyrant @ 2006-04-12T15:50:00

2006-04-12T18:49:39Z

You scored as Moya (Farscape). You are surrounded by muppets. But that is okay because they are your friends and have shown many times that they can be trusted. Now if only you could stop being bothered about wormholes.

</td>

Moya (Farscape)

100%

Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)

88%

Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)

81%

Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica)

75%

Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)

75%

SG-1 (Stargate)

69%

Serenity (Firefly)

69%

Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix)

69%

Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)

50%

Bebop (Cowboy Bebop)

50%

Enterprise D (Star Trek)

50%

FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files)

31%

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

Guys... I'm a geek. I actually stopped for a moment to consider which crew I'd rather join. For the record, Moya's right up there. I could hang out with Aeryn frickin' Sun! Though I have to admit, I'd be a mite intimidated at first... I'd probably hit it off a bit better with John and Chiana.

You know you're a language geek when...

2006-03-16T00:04:21Z

Yeah, okay, well I thought it was kind of funny.

eggplant_tyrant @ 2006-02-23T00:19:00

2006-02-23T04:21:19Z

So Rimers went pretty well tonight.... I'm so happy to have opening night over with. I mean, it's a huge thrill and all, but I'll feel so much better tomorrow knowing, beyond a doubt, that we can do this. It was up in the air for a little while there, but it's safe to say we've landed on our feet. (Now we just have to keep the energy up.)

Everybody wish a safe trip to Mr. Matt Dinan! Here's hoping Texas is good to you.

eggplant_tyrant @ 2006-01-27T13:42:00

2006-01-27T17:39:22Z

<td align="center">Your walk is:
The Result of a Ballet Accident

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

This is sooo true!

Hey-o

2006-01-18T19:49:33Z

I think I'm back. Life is more or less under control again, and... I kind of miss this whole thing.

In other news, sneak-attack rehearsal, while not exactly a bad thing, does throw a wrench in the homework plans for tonight. Oh, well. I knew it was overly optimistic of me to think I'd get my paper half-written tonight :)

Anglo-Saxon group - kingship

2005-11-24T22:11:29Z

Of interest only to my group in Anglo-Saxon class (For real. The rest of you don't care.)

WHAT MAKES A KING?
or, why does Aelfred get the crown and I don’t?
-Kings generally claimed descent from the gods -- Woden/Odin, primarily, but also Seaxnet ( in the case of the East Saxons). This was both logical and clever: by claiming godly ancestors, they established a "divine right to rule," of sorts, thereafter giving weight to the idea of hereditary kingship. (“Odin’s my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, so I am more fit to rule than you.”)

-Really, though, it was all about who was the best warlord. In a society where conflict is a way of life, you’re going to welcome a leader who can win battles and protect you from raids. This idea of rulers basically winning power by battle led to the peculiar situation of having multiple ‘rulers’ within a kingdom, which did all sorts of crazy things to the way we’re used to thinking about kingship. Heirarchies existed not only within society as a whole but within the rulers themselves:
Apparently, there were different levels of kingship in Anglo-Saxon England -- from sub-
king to king to overlord. Put simply, the most powerful and successful kings -- those with
the best armies, etc. -- held some measure of authority over smaller, less powerful
kingships. The highest, most powerful kings reached a point where they could declare
themselves “overlords” over the other kingdoms.

-These “overlords” are sometimes referred to as “bretwaldas”, meaning “ruler of Britain”. This is more a historian’s convention, hoevever; the term comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and was referring specifically to Egbert of the West Saxons (a 9th-century overlord). More on that later, because it’s all sorts of messed-up and misleading.
The first big overlords:
AElle of the South Saxons
Ceawlin of Wessex
AEthelbert of Kent
Raedwald of the East Angles

-While kings had a more direct influence over the areas they ruled, overlords were a bit more removed. Often they were the nominal heads of ‘states’ with actual kings of their own; those kingdoms simply paid tribute to the overlord. (Tribute is particularly important insofar as it enriches the overlord, which in turn secures his power to an extent -- overlords had the best armies, and you’re not much of a king if you can’t pay your army.)

Neat fact: According to Yorke, helmets were used instead of crowns for coronations until about the year 900. This gives weight to the status of king as warlord, both officially and ceremonially. (Imagine what that would look like today. Queen Elizabeth II with a fine helmet on her head... our money would look vastly different, that’s for sure.)

-Since warlord-kings relied on good armies, loyalty was rewarded materially. This, of course, required the king to have considerable assets.... In fact, the king’s hall was central to this relationship between king and warriors, as king used the hall to provide food and lodging for his warriors.

WHAT A KING DOES (responsibilities, etc.)
Lawmaker, peacekeeper, accepter of tributes...

-The first surviving legal code was drawn up by AEthelbert of Kent; the fact that it applies to different levels of society (it has provisions covering the different rights and punishments of “nobles, freemen (ceorls), unfree peasants and slaves” - Yorke, p. 18) implies the the king really was more than a warlord. He had a direct responsibility for, and power over, everyone within his territory.

-To that end, the king was the one who would set the wergild, so he was in a way also the keeper of the peace (as wergild was basically in place to curtail blood feuds). In addition, the king got part of the fine for serious crimes, so he had a financial interest in keeping the feuds from getting out of hand and making sure the truly dangerous/deviant were punished.

“In the case of the king, the resources and tools with which to rule are that he have his
land fully manned: he must have praying men, fighting men and working men. You know
also that without these tools no king may make his ability known. Another aspect of his
resources is that he must have the means of support for his tools, the three classes of
men. These, then, are their means of support: land to live on, gifts, weapons, food, ale,
clothing and whatever else is necessary for each of the three classes of men.” (162)
^Barbara Yorke quoting King Alfred’s translation of Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy. It is, apparently, the first recorded (written) explanation of the principle of the ‘three orders’ of classification for subjects within a kingship: Peasant, priest, and killing machine soldier. Peasants existed to support the ranks of the other orders, doing the gruntwork so that there would be food for the warriors and the clergymen. In return, the warriors protected the land from invading forces and helped enrich the kingdom through conquest. The clergy, for their part, provided for the spiritual aspect of people’s lives and, to an extent, could add prestige to a family line by bestowing saintly status upon an ancestor...

Aside: Clergy, once pledged to God, were not allowed to hold public office. As such, when an old king wanted to retire to something more peaceful, he would sometimes join a monastery. (See, for example, Sigebert of West Anglia, Ine of Wessex, AEthelred of Mercia...) As Yorke points out, this voluntary retirement “also seems to have carried the added bonus of being able to nominate one’s heir” (174). Joining the holy orders could also be used as a political weapon, however; there are cases where it seems as though kings were forced into joining the clergy by power-hungry kinsmen in order to free up the throne.

Reduced to its most basic elements, one can say that a king needs an army to secure his power, and material assets to secure an army. While sacking your neighbours certainly helps you amass riches, the proles are needed to provide a more consistent, reliable source of goods. In return, an army can provide relative safety (and be a terrible danger if it is turned against you), so the ‘normal folks’ also have a vested interest in being a part of a strong kingdom.

SO WHAT IS A “BRETWALDA,” ANYWAY?
So glad you asked!
-Potential answer #1: The overlord’s overlord. A king who has fashioned himself an emperor of sorts, having conquered many of his smaller, neighbouring kingdoms. The word means “Ruler of Britain,” and seems to connote a certain amount of unity and a grandness of scope; a kingdom that stretches across the entirety of Britain. There were several “Bretwaldas;” they were the best of the best of the best!
-Potential answer #2: Nothing, that special really. It’s this word Bede made up and/or a corruption of “brytenwalda,” meaning, possibly, “wide ruler” or “emperor”; he used it because he needed a word to describe these kings who seemed to have accomplished a lot.
The big difference between the two is that in the first case, the term “Bretwalda” has deep meaning and significance, whereas in the second it is simply a convenient word. The problem with the word is that, despite only appearing the once in one version of the Annals (the ‘A’ manuscript, according to Steven Fanning on page 23 of "Bede, Imperium, and the Bretwaldas"), it has become a somewhat accepted and meaningful term within Anglo-Saxon scholarship. So “bretwalda” can be used as in the following passage:
There is a distinction between a superficial overlordship whose raison d’être was the
collection of tribute (bretwaldaship) and the overlordship of one kingdom over another
which was based on personal ties and obligations and which the superior party hoped
would ultimately lead to the annexation of the lesser ruler’s kingdom. (Yorke, 159)
It can also be used interchangeably with “overlord” (those kings who ruled other kings). It can also denote a particular set of six or seven (and there have been arguments made for an eighth) kings whose kingdoms really seemed to flourish. But none of this is really supported by other sources concerning the structure of Anglo-Saxon kingships, which makes the academic use of the phrase a bit anachronistic and dodgy (and which, naturally, has sparked all kinds of debate about what it really means, and whether or not it can be properly applied to overlords in general).

-The quote itself speaks to a difference in conception between “bretwalda” and “overlord.” In this case, Overlords seek to make the conquered territory fully their own, whereas Bretwaldas are happy with the tribute minus the responsibility of having to really deal with the people they have won.

A FEW NEAT TIDBITS:
-There is a certain amount of evidence that Anglo-Saxon kings were influenced by their Frankish and Romano-British counterparts and predecessors. This is mostly seen through accoutrements and trappings (kings being preceeded by standard-bearers in the Roman and British fashion, evidence of Roman and Frankish styles taken up in the design of the nobles’ clothing and armor); as such, it is difficult to know to what extent (if at all) the Anglo-Saxon kings also incorporated foreign ideologies into their rule.

From Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo Saxon England by Barbara Yorke, page 16:
“Tacitus observed that amongst the warring Germanic tribes of the first century AD a particularly powerful king could win the submission of neighbouring tribes on the reputation of the size and effectiveness of his army alone.”
Rather cool, in that little kings sometimes willing became tributaries to these überkings (making themselves sub-kings in the process) rather than risk be destroyed by their neighbours.

Because I can.

2005-06-30T16:28:59Z

Okay, guys, it's reminder time.

Veronica Mars is on tonight, CTV, 9:00. Tonight's episode, "Return of the Kane", is full of lovely character development. It sets up the different relationships really well, and offers some interesting insight into the town, the school, and the messed-upness of these people's lives. In other words, even if you don't know what's going on up to this point, you can pick it up here and get a feel for the dynamics pretty quickly.

If you do want to get caught up on the story, you can always read Couch Baron's excellent recaps for episodes 1-5 over at Television Without Pity... In fact, even if you've already seen the episodes, or don't ever plan on seeing them, the recaps are still worth a read:
one, two, three, four, five

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-30T10:27:00

2005-06-30T13:34:01Z

Hee hee. I just got the e-mail saying I was approved for a course overload.

Why is this funny, you ask? Simply, I have been registered for all of my crazy courses since, oh, April. This includes not only the overload, but the double-overload and the two classes that are currently scheduled for the same timeslot. Their system is a bit buggy, methinks.

Well it amused me.

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-27T00:30:00

2005-06-27T03:38:31Z

Nothing real to say. I just made a new icon.

(Caz is my new favourite. Seriously, though -- how unfair is it that both Zachary Ty Bryan and Jonathan Taylor Thomas were on VM and I wasn't?)

Okay, spycat, you win this round

2005-06-25T22:11:13Z

Songs for Silverman is pretty fantastic.

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-21T20:13:00

2005-06-21T23:18:12Z

chuckle.

(ever notice how stupid most synonyms for laughter sound when used as one-word sentences? no? okay then. move along.)

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-17T16:17:00

2005-06-17T19:21:40Z

Three sentences left and my brain has shut down. I don't know what's wrong with me -- I'm usually so good at introductions and conclusions.

randomness

2005-06-12T00:41:05Z

-Even though it is entirely too warm for it, a bowlmug full of tea still makes me one happy clam.

-Unsurprisingly, I am the only eggplant tyrant on the internet. It seems that no one else sees the eggplants as important enough to tyrannize. I refuse to allow that to devalue my accomplishment.

-I am considering pimping Veronica Mars to my mother. This is a true sign of devotion. I know that my mother enjoys mysteries, but our relationship is such that I was shocked when she said that Johnny Depp's performance in Pirates of the Caribbean made her think "a gay pirate?" It is simply weird to consider talking to her about a show that explores such issues as child abuse, sex/drugs/alcohol in the teen crowd, sex/drugs/alcohol in the adult crowd, date rape, incest, suicide, and much, much more; and all of that in shades of gray.

-The jack for my power cord is acting up again. This frightens me. I cannot afford for this to be a recurring problem. I think I'll be calling the warranty guys on Monday.

-My American Lit essay would be very easy to write if only I knew what I wanted to write about.

-I need a haircut, stat.

-I want some popcorn so badly right now. This is what I get for drawing the tasty and using it as my computer's wallpaper.

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-11T17:51:00

2005-06-11T20:56:22Z

Remus cannot stop staring at her friend, whose abdominal muscles are glistening in a way that is perhaps unhealthy. They are at least mercilessly bright. It is possible that McGonagall oiled him this way -- but such thinking leads Remus down a dark and dangerous path into the forest of uncertainty and from there the swamp of Take My Eyes, I No Longer Want Or Need Them. That McGonagall should have a life outside of Hogwarts is perfectly understandable and Remus isn't surprised at all. That she should be oiling a man panther is another matter entirely. Remus is no longer hungry.

I think my laughter might have frightened the neighbours when I read this.

Shoebox updates are the best.

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-09T16:56:00

2005-06-09T20:11:18Z

You know what Thursday is? I know you do, but you've all forgotten by now because I haven't been haranguing you about it nearly enough :)

Thursday is the night Veronica Mars airs on CTV. At 8 pm, they say, though it might actually be 9 because they're really stupid like that sometimes. But I'm not bitter or anything.

It's only the third episode, so you still have plenty of time to get on board. I'd suggest joining in as early as possible because the thing about a murder mystery is that the clues tend to build on each other, and it's much more fun if you're there from the beginning, figuring things out as you go along. Also, it'd be good to have an idea of who everyone is before next week's episode, because there's a lot of great backstory in episode 4 that will mean more if you've got a sense of the characters.

Come on. If you won't do it for yourselves, do it for me. Give a few episodes a try. I promise you won't regret it. (And if you do, you might not want to tell me. I wouldn't want to have to disown you ;)

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-05T01:05:00

2005-06-05T04:19:23Z

So I made another background. Because if I'm going to draw a picture, I might as well be narcissistic and look at it and pat myself on the back everytime I turn on my computer.

I kinda like how this one turned out, though, so I'm showing it off.

800x600 or 1024x768

So her face is a bit wonky still, and there are a zillion little things I might go back and fix sometime. And I'm sure as soon as I look at this on another computer I'll be angry because the colours will be all wrong (blasted LCD screen). But this is all beside the point because I've worked on this long enough and for the moment I'm satisfied.

Have I mentioned lately that I heart my tablet?

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-06-04T04:45:00

2005-06-04T07:51:16Z

I am a huge mega loserdweeb. Patheti-sad to the max, yo.

I'm not going to say why, but believe me that in this case it is true, beyond the shadow of a doubt.
(I need a life. I'm just not sure I want one.)

Woo. Hoo!

2005-05-27T00:59:09Z

Shoebox update!
(This should not make me nearly so excited. But then, I have been accused of being excitable...)

eggplant_tyrant @ 2005-05-25T12:37:00

2005-05-25T15:45:22Z

Something that amuses me: when people consistently spell "know" "kno" so they can be cool lazy internet spellers. Because dropping the other silent consonant would change the word into either "no" or "now", but it's such a hassle to leave that "w" in -- why should a monosyllabic word get two silent consonants?

Something that annoys me: those stupid yahoo! messenger ads with the emoticon-heads. For someone who's always found cutesy little emoticons appalling (especially the animated ones), those ads are like scenes from a horror movie. It's almost enough to make me want to switch from yahoo to gmail as my primary e-mail address.

pretty-tentious poetry post (alliterative, at that :)

2005-05-24T17:26:15Z

The Brain -- is wider than the Sky --
For -- put them side by side --
The one the other will contain
With ease -- and You -- beside --

The Brain is deeper than the sea --
For -- hold them -- Blue to Blue --
The one the other will absorb --
As Sponges -- Buckets -- do --

The Brain is just the weight of God --
For -- Heft them -- Pound for Pound --
And they will differ -- if they do --
As Syllable from Sound --

-Emily Dickinson.

Am I stretching too far to see faith, reason, and imagination in here? (Not that it matters by this point, but still.)

Moaning and complaining like a real livejournal (feel free to skip)

2005-05-24T01:06:53Z

Number of times my left knee has 'popped' this month: 3
Number of times my right knee has 'popped' this month: 1
Note that the right knee is the one that freaked out at me last summer. Its most recent pop is best described as "minor", while the left knee popping would probably fall under the header of "moderate", with "major" popping describing incidents leaving me unable to walk for a day or two and requiring several months' recovery time. (The big difference being, as far as I can tell, that with a major pop the kneecap stays out of place and I have to shove it back in myself after I've already fallen and pulled a bunch of muscles.)

So. I know some of you out there are good at getting yourselves injured and have extensive experience with recovery periods. What can I do to help these stupid limbs along, apart from icing the swollen muscles and doing some strength exercises? Do you think I should try to see a doctor re: freaky knee demons?

quotes of the day

2005-05-23T01:50:47Z

That's right, supremeoverlord. You are engaging in the study of Fascist - Commie violence, making you unfit to lord supremely over all.

"I do not believe any man closely connected with psychiatry should hold a high public office since psychiatry has lent its violence to political purposes[...]
"I tell you this because I think psychiatry and all Fascist - Commie forces have had their day."
-L. Ron Hubbard re: Richard Nixon. (That guy was such a nutbar. Maybe I'll start my own creepy 'religion' and make lots of money, too.)