It's a mixture of Western and a mixture of Horror, and it's called The Burrowers (don't believe it's screened here yet...so I won't say too much).
There are some strange goings-on out in the West, when a family goes missing. As it's a white family, a posse gets together and goes out hunting (Red) Skins, but there may be more going on than just human interactions.
Performance-wise we're talking mid-level stars here, some people you would recognise, but no big name stars. There does seem to be a 'subdued light' filter to everything, but the night scenes are quite viewable. The creatures are built up slowly, with just hints to begin with, until we finally see... whatever they are. (San loss!) To be honest, the ending wasn't that surprising.
A decent enough movie, but nothing earth-shattering. Not over the top horror, but it gets the job done. If you like this sort of movie and have time spare, not a bad way to pass the time.
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Friday, 31 July 2009
Burrowingers
Thursday, 30 July 2009
HC Again
We have a new player, so go easy on them by having wussy mods, aka CSI-style case mods.
The first one wasn't supposed to be a mod, but due to a certain player stuffing up their rolling, we launched into an exciting time, the reason behind it all being something two of us spotted as soon as it started. Darken Your Door.
Then we are onto a case proper. We encounter the largest palm tree in the world, fail to get between two police partners, and Ulman refuses to look at the gift on his desk. Place.
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Beware the Spinal Trap
Over in Britain, Simon Singh is in a legal battle with the British Chiropractic Association, because he dared to publish an article asking "where's the science?". Below the fold is a blog-friendly version of that article, which many blogs are posting today. A full, uncensored-by-lawyers version of the article is available via Orac.
More about what bloggers are today doing and about this in general can be read in Ben Goldacre's Guardian article.
Beware the Spinal Trap
Some practitioners claim it is a cure-all, but the research suggests chiropractic therapy has mixed results – and can even be lethal, says Simon Singh.
You might be surprised to know that the founder of chiropractic therapy, Daniel David Palmer, wrote that “99% of all diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae”. In the 1860s, Palmer began to develop his theory that the spine was involved in almost every illness because the spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body. Therefore any misalignment could cause a problem in distant parts of the body.
In fact, Palmer’s first chiropractic intervention supposedly cured a man who had been profoundly deaf for 17 years. His second treatment was equally strange, because he claimed that he treated a patient with heart trouble by correcting a displaced vertebra.
You might think that modern chiropractors restrict themselves to treating back problems, but in fact some still possess quite wacky ideas. The fundamentalists argue that they can cure anything, including helping treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying – even though there is not a jot of evidence.
I can confidently label these assertions as utter nonsense because I have co-authored a book about alternative medicine with the world’s first professor of complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst. He learned chiropractic techniques himself and used them as a doctor. This is when he began to see the need for some critical evaluation. Among other projects, he examined the evidence from 70 trials exploring the benefits of chiropractic therapy in conditions unrelated to the back. He found no evidence to suggest that chiropractors could treat any such conditions.
But what about chiropractic in the context of treating back problems? Manipulating the spine can cure some problems, but results are mixed. To be fair, conventional approaches, such as physiotherapy, also struggle to treat back problems with any consistency. Nevertheless, conventional therapy is still preferable because of the serious dangers associated with chiropractic.
In 2001, a systematic review of five studies revealed that roughly half of all chiropractic patients experience temporary adverse effects, such as pain, numbness, stiffness, dizziness and headaches. These are relatively minor effects, but the frequency is very high, and this has to be weighed against the limited benefit offered by chiropractors.
More worryingly, the hallmark technique of the chiropractor, known as high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust, carries much more significant risks. This involves pushing joints beyond their natural range of motion by applying a short, sharp force. Although this is a safe procedure for most patients, others can suffer dislocations and fractures.
Worse still, manipulation of the neck can damage the vertebral arteries, which supply blood to the brain. So-called vertebral dissection can ultimately cut off the blood supply, which in turn can lead to a stroke and even death. Because there is usually a delay between the vertebral dissection and the blockage of blood to the brain, the link between chiropractic and strokes went unnoticed for many years. Recently, however, it has been possible to identify cases where spinal manipulation has certainly been the cause of vertebral dissection.
Laurie Mathiason was a 20-year-old Canadian waitress who visited a chiropractor 21 times between 1997 and 1998 to relieve her low-back pain. On her penultimate visit she complained of stiffness in her neck. That evening she began dropping plates at the restaurant, so she returned to the chiropractor. As the chiropractor manipulated her neck, Mathiason began to cry, her eyes started to roll, she foamed at the mouth and her body began to convulse. She was rushed to hospital, slipped into a coma and died three days later. At the inquest, the coroner declared: “Laurie died of a ruptured vertebral artery, which occurred in association with a chiropractic manipulation of the neck.”
This case is not unique. In Canada alone there have been several other women who have died after receiving chiropractic therapy, and Edzard Ernst has identified about 700 cases of serious complications among the medical literature. This should be a major concern for health officials, particularly as under-reporting will mean that the actual number of cases is much higher.
If spinal manipulation were a drug with such serious adverse effects and so little demonstrable benefit, then it would almost certainly have been taken off the market.
Simon Singh is a science writer in London and the co-author, with Edzard Ernst, of Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial. This is an edited version of an article published in The Guardian for which Singh is being personally sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association.
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Wednesday, 29 July 2009
The Chronicles of Risan: Part the Thirtieth
We ran (literally!) back to the Emir's city to find more chaos blobs there. One still remained, being fought by Reed and guardsmen. We got stuck in, and laid the smack down on it, when something really icky happened. It infested me. Like, got in under my skin. Eewww! Worms, man, worms under my skin! And it altered my body! Made me stronger, yes, but also slightly less agile and uglier too. Oh, it also made me attack my allies, but I've done that before. While we put the creature down, the changes it did to me are permanent. [And that is how you introduce a slight statistics rearrangement in the middle of a game.]
While we took stock of our situation, and I did some shopping, we found out we needed more information, in particular from an Eye Tyrant (Beholder!) named Azrazin or something (to be honest, I wasn't paying complete attention at the time. Look, shiny new Gauntlets!). The Emir paid us money to go to talk to him, and off we went!
Oh, and the Beholder was also a Wizard. With illusionary fortifications and everything. We decided for the main entrance (Not Party Subtle), walked in and got into a fight (strange that). There was a really annoying creature I spent most of my time with, while others dealt with goblins and human fighters. All of whom had their two eyes removed and one eye in the middle of their head inserted.
After dealing with them, we didn't have enough time to really rest before some proper Cyclops came along. They seemed to see Drow everywhere, so obviously confused [they could see through the Disguise Hat, which is what more than some of us can]. Still, we got stuck in and laid the smack down. Surprisingly, I was barely hit at all!
Then we found the Beholder. Which attacked us for the mere reason we killed its guys. Huh, some people. However, as it was a wizard, it was just as annoying as Alrick with laying down tentacles, and not being able to be seen from a distance. Not to mention the eye rays. But I only nearly died once. Once we took a good chunk of it out, it surrendered to us, and offered to help us find the information we needed. Despite some members of the party threatening to kill it anyway, we accept its offer.
Turns out there's a Chained God somewhere that is escaping, and only another God can chain it. But no God can go where the Chained God is... Now there's a stumper...
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Monday, 27 July 2009
Ice Age With A Vengence
Time for more cutesiness, and what better way that have lots of story about "family" in Ice Age 3? Everyone's hooking up or producing a family, even Scrat isn't immune (although what exactly Scrat's true love is...).
But there are dinosaurs, through a plot contrivance that isn't as bad as many other plot contrivances out there, and the dinosaurs stop the schmaltzy family ooze from being too overwhemling, as soon Sid is in trouble and hilarity ensues. If it wasn't amazing enough how those prehistorical mammals were like it, it's even more amazing that they actually know what dinosaurs are (for some reason, that plot point really bugged me. Do they have history classes or archeology or something? And yet, I can buy that a sabre-tooth tiger, a mammoth and a sloth can come together as friends. Huh).
Surprise guest voice is Simon Pegg, playing Buck. Definitely him if you know what to listen for, and he clearly has fun with the part. As do the rest of the cast. It's odd how hearing a mammoth with the voice of Roy Romano is considered perfect casting.
Fun enough movie, but remember it is for kids, which some parents might utilise by bringing their clearly too young offspring too. Not the first kids movie better enjoyed by having no kids around.
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Saturday, 25 July 2009
Friday, 24 July 2009
The Ninth Revolution
This is undoubtedly a strange listening experience. Very discordant sound that just grates on the ears, and yet... is something that draws you in. Definitely should be heard with headphones.
On the other hand, having heard The Residents, not that bizarre, really.
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