Given that it was Robots, of course I had to go look. Thistle Hall is not exactly in the middle of town (at least, not in the middle of the town where everything else is), but still easily in walking distance.
Robot Show is a collection of Robots, most of them made from "found" objects (aka junk). Some really amazing creations there, and well worth checking out. (Although it does finish today, so get in quick!)
A few Dalek references in there, and some that were more stuffed toy than robots. One set I did like was a set of Aristocratic dolls, created by Graeme Thompson, that had been robotised, with one in particular catching my fancy. It was for sale, as were most of the other pieces, but that art is not something I was willing to pay that much for... (it was a really nice piece... damn, still tempted to go and get it...)
I would say this could be checked out, but unless it starts touring the country, I'm thinking most people won't get to see it.
Oh, just found a Facebook page, and there's a YouTube video [at 2:10 was the robot I mention above]!
[END]
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Go 'Bots!
Thursday, 8 October 2009
The Chronicles of Risan: Part the Thirty-Third
So, we were in whiteness, having just beat up some angel things, and avoided a nasty trap, and pushed on through a white door into more whiteness. And more angels. And a Dwarf Fighter by the name of Orsik. Only one of these things were useful to us.
Certainly not the angels. It was a big beat up fight, that just went on and on, with so many of us doing stuff. One of the angels marked me, so I went over to sort him out... only angels can fly, which makes most of my abilities obsolete. Nuts. I backed off and got my bow out, although I did swap around weapons a bit as things came onto ground level.
But there was that one that marked me. Finally, it was time to deal to him. I let loose two arrows, and... bam! Right up the angel highway. [I needed to roll amazingly high to hit, and got two crits with the one power! Woo! Best I will ever do!] Next people to hit him also laid down the smack on him. [Next hit on him was a crit, and I think also the one after that as well.] Pretty much the only time in the entire fight I managed to hit anything (which wasn't to say I wasn't doing damage, just that I wasn't doing any due to my weapons).
After that, we took stock, then headed into the final confrontation, only to get our minds assaulted. I managed to overcome the psychic assault without problems, although the others had some difficulty. Meh, some of us are made of sterner stuff.
That just left a god to deal to...
[END]
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
DW: The Krillitane Storm
Last up, and while the first book didn't mention the monsters, the second book made a pun, in this case... not even not trying to. The Krillitane Storm by Christopher Cooper.
It's the twelfth century, so you know there's going to be lots of aliens, including the Krillitane... which is handy, as that's what we get! (What? Why? Can not we have an actually historical historical? But this isn't the first time I've complained.
Clearly, the obvious reason for this being set that then is... nothing to do with Earth. It's more about the Krillitane history, and without time travel being all over the place we have to be in Earth's history. That said, not sure why we have to be on Earth, per se, other than an easy setting (in which, yes, aliens can be put).
It's an interesting take on the Krillies, to make them slightly more complex than "we eat you!", but at the end, during the big fight, I really couldn't care who won, and wondered if "kill them all" was an option. Not to mention not being exactly sure why there were some fights going on, other than it was the climax, and that's what you do. Bit of a mess all round, story-wise.
Not that much better character-wise. The aliens look human, and even have extremely human names. (What? Really?) Not sure where they all came from either, as we haven't really had many humanoidal races in Earth's past. (That said, I'm suddenly flashing back to The Empire of Glass.) The pseudo-companion may as well have been human, and the bad guys were basically one-dimensional. Unfortunately, I doubt the blue-skinned woman was a reference to Raffalo.
Some interesting premises here, but largely a run-around.
ORDER: Yeah, whatever.
[END]
Monday, 5 October 2009
Aucklandering
So, when this is posted, I'll be in Auckland, all things going well. I'll be popping up the night before(*), so wouldn't have had a chance to catch up with people I know.
It's a really fly-by visit for work, but there are a few things I wouldn't mind going up to Auckland to try. Walking, or even jumping off, the top of the Sky Tower (although the prices don't impress). Maybe consider bungy jumping. Although more likely just cruise the sites.
However, don't get to go up that often. Usually when I do, it's because of some other event. That said, haven't gone up for a sci-fi conference recently, and Armageddon isn't the draw this year (and isn't in the main town centre anyway).
Any particular parts of Auckland you think are "Must See"?
(*)What tense structure do you use when writing something that should have happened by the time this is read?
[END]
Sunday, 4 October 2009
HC Again
Catching up, last week I sharked in on Saturday's game. Logan was wanting someone else to take over GMing reigns when he finished, as he's running low on mods at the moment (waiting for new CSI-style shows to start, and has been indulging in MMO playing). However, we provided another option whereby we take a long time to do a single mod. Ha! And Terry has reached 'danger zone' in poz... Madman and Asylum.
Then yesterday had my usual day, although with Terry down I was on my backup character, and then Pete wasn't there, and Marcus was on a no-brainer... which just left Dale (another Australian, playing Bruce) and myself to really carry the case, with Dale in the lead role. Unfortunately, things do go that well, and then Dale's brain switches off, and it's left to me. Last time, I failed to solve the mod... no pressure. Indy Redoux.
[END]
Friday, 2 October 2009
DW: Autonomy
Yet another book, this one Autonomy by Daniel Blythe. Go on, just guess what villains are in this book. Can you?
(Quick note to those who read this full review before they read the book: there's a skip of four years between the opening "prologue" and the first chapter... although this is in no way clear.)
Take Rose, remove anything not to do with Autons, and expand the scene of the Autons running around the stores... and expand it into a book. Hey, you've just done Autonomy! Although there's far more development of the Autons than what kicked off the series (admittedly the Autons were never the point of Rose), however there's also a large dash of "anti-plastic" (not quite the same when not said in a Northern accent).
Daniel takes his time getting on with it, with plenty of one-off Auton attacks, and generally goes at a casual pace revealing the plot. Which indicates there isn't a lot of plot, but also that he isn't really trying to great character development either. We have Kate Macguire, the pseudo-companion, some kids, Reece and Chantelle, and some badly done villains, say hello Max. (Actually, that reminds me of another way to present this story. Take The Long Game, and insert Autons... and, bam!, Autonomy again!)
It's an adequate, if not innovative, read.
ORDER: Reference to a few stories, although not to Taking Of...
[END]
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Dog Star Children
Ah, classic New Zealand science fiction/fantasy! I saw (at least some of it) a long time ago, read the book, which cleared up some confusions, and have now seen the DVD release.
An alien device starts making a young girl go sleepwalking, and under cover strange alien components in the swamp. Which is tapu, and should be left alone, as the Maori characters tell us at least once per episode. And after all the mystery is built up to promising a really exciting climax in episode six, it all goes down the toilet. Not sure what the ultimate point was, but the series does undercut itself.
Not sure what the intentions of this series were: was it that ancient traditions should be respected? Certainly the "leave it alone" meme does well. Was it to watch out for alien space craft? The series mines the Dogon Sirius link, which has been discredited since.
The three child stars were Sarah Dunn, Jeison Wallace and Hamish Bartle. Not huge careers in TV it would seem. Roy Billing has a big role as Gretchen's... uncle?, but I last saw him as an evil Wilberforce.
Special effects consist largely of a nice Brass Daisy prop, and some glows around things. Oh, and an alien creature that looks impressive until it moves, shame about that.
Enjoyable, though, until the ending.
[END]
