|
LiveJournal for Nonsanity and the Fluff & Such Cast.
|
|
|
Monday, September 14th, 2009
|
|
|
|
non
|
|
|
|
|
That's right. Fluff & Such's next project won't be a music video, it will be a LIVE performance! (Well, there MIGHT also be a video too... Who knows?)
FLUFF & SUCH'S INVASION OF THE BODYSTOCKINGS
A sci-fi puppet musical featuring Nonsanity, the Fluff & Such cast, and a host of talented puppeteers.
- Experience bone-numbing FEAR as hideous creatures from another world plot to take over Earth!
- Be SWEPT AWAY by a forbidden and ill-fated inter-species romance!
- THRILL to a climactic final battle to save our world! (Rendered in patented Puppet Slowmoavision™!)
- GROOVE to the almost non-stop song stylings of Jonathan Coulton and Laurie Berkner!
The mysterious and secretive government organization, the FIB (the Furries In Black), is closely watching the actions of someone prophesied by enigmatic aliens to be either the destruction - or salvation - of Earth. Who's side will this wildcard take in the end, and will he get the girl along the way... Or will the girl get him? (Or is the girl even a GIRL?)
These and many more questions will be answered or patently ignored in...
FLUFF & SUCH'S INVASION OF THE BODYSTOCKINGS
(coming to an Anthrocon 2009 near you)
On a completely unrelated subject... Well, slightly related. (Okay, okay... Its pretty much the same thing!) Those "talented puppeteers" mentioned above might include YOU! I'm looking for hands that can act, and need your help. If you (or someone you love) have a talented hand (DON'T make me have to rephrase that!) then contact Nonsanity (gmail) to arrange a video audition. (Bring your own webcam or YouTube upload.) And make it snappy... The sooner the below-stage cast can be paired with the above-stage cast, the more time both will have to practice! Expect there to be at least two hours of rehearsal at AC prior to the show where the whole cast can run through the fun once for their own amusement. For those that have the technology, group video-chats can also be arranged prior to AC for rehearsals. And don't worry about having to perform songs you don't know - There will be a lot of puppet swapping to cover parts, so that fewer hands are needed to support the whole cast of characters. I'll be fully prepared to perform all leads in the musical numbers (I've had a lot more exposure to the music while crafting the play), but not every song is a solo and I'm sure my arm would appreciate some help from those "talented puppeteers". Then again, someone does have to play the mind-control zombies. That reminds me:
In the words of one (failed) FIB recruit: "Only the best of the best... of the pretty-goods..."
~ Nonsanity
~ Chris Innanen
|
|
|
|
Saturday, January 10th, 2009
|
|
|
There are any number of reasons that someone can faint. In this case, as one doctor said, if blood flow to the brain becomes reduced, the brain will shut down to protect itself.
I passed out once in high school. The whole band was in full tux regalia with their instruments on risers on the auditorium stage while a photographer took his own sweet time out in the audience. I was in the top back row under hot lights in a black polyester tux holding a euphonium for 45 minutes with my knees locked. I'm just lucky I keeled over forward instead of into the 6 foot drop behind me.
After a few minutes rest in the wings I was recovered enough to resume my position. I can tell the final picture came from after this event because my bow-tie was crooked. So that was from heat and lack of blood flow from the locked knees.
My father passed out in a Wendy's in Ocean City. He had recently taken up running and had spend all morning running along the beach. In his case, it was dehydration. It's too bad too, I think he was next in line...
|
|
|
|
Friday, January 9th, 2009
|
|
|
|
non
|
|
|
|
|
I don't post to my journal that often. The last post was actually written as a forum posting on a different site, and I decided to cross-post it here. Mainly because of what I read on that forum...
I only read the one thread with about 30 posts in it (all about head/neck pain and colds), but fully 1/4 of the posters admitted to going to chiropractors for their head and neck pain. Most of them recommended others do the same. All of them - really, ALL of them - reported it didn't help one bit! And they recommended it?!? A few even mentioned trying acupuncture, again with no beneficial effect, and one mentioned homeopathy with no results stated (but one guess what it was).
Of course, none of these activities will do anything for a viral infection, as most colds are. Chiropracty, because bending the body won't kill off infected cells. Acupuncture, because whatever benefits people claim to get from acupuncture doesn't come from the needles actually penetrating the skin, but from the whole procedurearound it - as it has been repeatedly shown in studies using sham needles, particularly those that neither patient or practitioner can tell from real needles. And of course homeopathy, because its just... "magic" water! (OMG)
And so my post in that forum was mainly just to slip that last paragraph in. I quite like how it came out, and while I may tweek at a bit more, I think I'll be adding it to my forum posts whenever apropos. In fact, here it is again, just for good measure! MUAHAHA...
*WARNING* Be aware that both patients and medical practitioners fall prey to medical scams every day and never shake themselves loose. There are many still commonly used treatments that have been shown to do nothing (or actually harm) when given the most rigorous testing. Don't lose your money (or your health/life) because you couldn't be bothered to check. Ask your general practitioner questions and read any pertinent articles on QuackWatch.org or ScienceBasedMedicine.org for your own safety. Your health is SO important - Don't trust it to mere anecdotes and testimonials. There are people and organizations that test all this stuff HARD and WELL. Please don't ignore or dismiss them in favor of flashy advertising and word-of-mouth rumors of efficacy to the detriment of your health.
|
|
|
|
|
On Friday morning, my 4 year old daughter passed out without warning. She had fully recovered within 10-20 seconds, and seemed perfectly fine, but we took her to the emergency room for good measure. They tested for causes that would require immediate medical treatment and found nothing. The following Thursday she came down with a mild cold.
Over the weekend, my wife started having symptoms of headache, neck ache, nausea, dizziness, and blurred vision. On Monday night she passed out, also recovering within 10-20 seconds. Spent all night at the emergency room testing for causes that would require immediate medical treatment, and again found nothing.
Now I had had a week of head and neck pain followed be the onset of cold symptoms later in the day the Friday my daughter passed out. It is the following Friday and I'm feeling considerably better, through with still some lingering stiffness in the neck and some sniffles.
It looks like - and at least one doctor made the same suggestion - that all three of us are suffering from a viral cold that starts out with a week of head and neck pain that trails off into a week more typical cold symptoms. If my wife's nose starts running like crazy on Sunday, we can call this hypothesis valid. (At least enough to stop worrying about other things... Schwarzenegger: "It's NOT a tumor!")
*WARNING* Be aware that both patients and medical practitioners fall prey to medical scams every day and never shake themselves loose. There are many still commonly used treatments that have been shown to do nothing (or actually harm) when given the most rigorous testing. Don't lose your money (or your health/life) because you couldn't be bothered to check. Ask your general practitioner questions and read any pertinent articles on QuackWatch.org for your own safety. Your health is SO important - Don't trust it to mere anecdotes and testimonials. There are people and organizations that test all this stuff HARD and WELL. Please don't ignore or dismiss them in favor of flashy advertising and word-of-mouth rumors of efficacy to the detriment of your health.
|
|
|
|
|
If you've wanted your own website, now is the time!
http://www.dreamhost.com/105321.html
Two years for the price of one from Dreamhost. I've used them for several years with nothing but great things to say about them.
The deal ends tonight. You don't have to say I sent you. I'm not getting paid or compensated in any way for this. Just passing word of a good deal.
(And yes, their humor is always like that. Their "monthly" newsletter is the most entertaining I've ever seen.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oh, and here's the placeholder site for "The Fuzze Brains" project I want to do. :)
|
|
|
|
|
I've been researching this, and here's what I came up with:
The immune system has two types of responses, general and specific. The specific form is for when it detects something it's seen before, like a particular virus marker, and it activates a very directed response to that intruder.
The general form is for when the immune system can't identify the intruder, and the clinical term for it is "inflammation". This is a good thing in that it can fight off most non-aggressive intruders, but it's a bad thing in that prolonged inflammation can lead to hardening of the arteries and pulmonary complications - like heart attacks and strokes.
The trick with vaccines is to introduce just enough of a potential infective agent into the body that it trains the specific response but doesn't activate an inflammatory response. Almost all vaccines use broken up pieces of dead viruses for this, and they don't trigger the general response at all (or much).
So getting a shot won't shake up the hive, as it were, and get all our immune bees buzzing and ready. Even if it did, that would be a bad thing to do as a matter of course since causing inflammation when there really isn't any need for it has bad side effects.
The immune system is VERY complicated and muddled, and it is already working as best it can if you are generally healthy (no immune diseases). So "boosting" any part of it will likely throw the whole thing out of whack and make you sicker and/or more prone to getting sick.
So when a product says it "boosts the immune system", it either means absolutely nothing OR it means IT MAKES YOU SICK (causes inflammation). Somehow I doubt most of them are going for the second meaning, so...
It's bunk. :)
For a GREAT - and far better explained and more entertaining - version of this information, listen to Quackcast #22 - Boost Your Immune System And Die and it is SOOOO worth the 20 minutes of your life!
|
|
|
|
|
You've all heard those words before, haven't you. How could you not when so many products and activities tout this as a result. We've probably all heard the phrase so often that we take it for granted.
It means NOTHING.
I don't like to see my friends and family taken advantage of by unscrupulous marketeers. If there is one rule of thumb to go by in medical decisions that can cover the most ground, this is the one:
When you hear "boosts your immune system" you are being CONNED!
It's not the only handy rule of thumb by ANY stretch of the imagination, but its the one I suggest starting with.
It sounds so good... To boost (aid, assist, relieve) your (cool medical lingo) immune system, seems exactly what you'd want, eh?
It is, however, a load of fetid dingo's kidneys and an EXCELLENT way to identify a medical scam. (Or if you prefer: S.C.A.M. aka Supplementary, Complementary, and Alternative Medicines.)
Just look at Airborne, and the lawsuits that resulted from its unsupported claims. (And that's ignoring the fact that it has so much of certain vitamins that following its recommended dosage and taking a multivitamin at the same time could, over time, cause serious damage to you!)
Here's an excellent summary of this phrase by Steven Novella (and more):Claims that nutritional supplements “boost the immune system” are a favorite in the industry. However, this is not a scientific concept. The immune system is a complex system of the body. It fights off infection, foreign bodies, and abnormal cells, such as cancer cells. However, it does so at risk to the host itself. The inflammation caused by the immune system often causes more damage than the infection the inflammation is fighting off. Reacting to foreign substances, in many individuals, can be exaggerated to the point of life threatening allergies. Also, there is an entire category of disease known as autoimmune diseases, in which the immune systems attacks its own body. They include many chronic and serious illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. Because the immune system is a double-edged sword, any attempt at manipulating the immune system is also double-edged. Therefore increasing immune system activity is just as likely to be harmful to a person as beneficial.
But that's too much science for most people to want to learn. If this blog was read by a LOT of people, I bet many of them would skip over that paragraph midway through its third sentence. That's fine... You read LiveJournal for fun, not study-hall. But then how can everyone learn that sometimes what seems right and true just isn't, and people are taking advantage of you because of it?
Anyway, I know I've used this blog mainly as a news outlet for Fluff And Such Puppetry, but there IS a tie-in... I'm thinking about making a series of informative videos with the F&S cast that highlight some of the worst scams and fuzzy-brain-thinking out there in an entertaining way. If anyone thinks they might like to help with it, please let me know. I want to make sure I have enough material to last for a while before I start.
Hmm... Maybe I should call it: The Fuzzy Brains
|
|
|
|
|
It's something I've been meaning to do for ages, but since I was putting up my Chocolate Bunny Death video there, I also uploaded all the main Fluff & Such videos too. Now it should be much easier to bring them up on any computer or pass the links to your favorites to other people. The main link is:
http://www.youtube.com/nonsanity
There seems to be some trouble getting the thumbnail images on a few. I've poked at them, so hopefully that'll get fixed in the next 6 hours or so.
Feel free to comment, rate, link, etc! :D
|
|
|
|
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
|
|
|
|
non
|
|
|
|
|
Per comments on the homeopathic topic I mentioned...
It's woolly thinking from before most people knew the particulars of atoms. My favorite example of its silliness from Wikipedia:
"For more perspective, 1ml of a solution which has gone through a 30C dilution would have been diluted into a volume of water equal to that of a cube of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 meters per side, or about 106 light years. Thus, homeopathic remedies of the standard dilutions contain, with overwhelming probability, only water (or alcohol)."
Without atoms, there would still be some small part even then, but because matter is atomic, the odds of having even one atom of the original substance in a final homeopathic "remedy" is less than winning the lottery twice in a row.
And the "shaken not stirred" part is almost as funny.
But people tend to hate to admit they were wrong if they ever once believed. And so they continue believing because denying the change is easier than changing. Same with vaccine opponents, IDers, and AIDS deniers, among others.
*sigh*
If it wasn't for the fact that most people just don't care, I'd despair...
Oh, and believers in such things tend attack the PEOPLE that point out evidence that they might be wrong instead of debating the evidence itself. The Straw Man...
What do you do when you are accused of "being judgmental and assuming that if someone disagrees then they are simply misinformed" simply because you write calmly and informatively. The calmness is assumed to be arrogance, perhaps. Even when I don't say (OR mean) "I'm right and you are wrong, so there!" some people see it there anyway and attack.
Though the misinformed part I would heartily agree with! EVERYONE is misinformed, always... At least on some things - most things even. Even me. But I like to at least know HOW misinformed I am, whenever I can.
|
|
|
|
|
|
non
|
|
|
|
|
By the way, I'm all better now. I took my prescribed antibiotics and the bacterial sinus infection was eliminated.
Antibiotics kill bacteria. They make you well. Colds are viruses which aren't helped or hindered by antibiotics, they make no difference in that case. When proscribed by a competent doctor (and most are) antibiotics should be taken.
Though in general, antibiotics shouldn't be used when they AREN'T needed (like with cold viruses), since that kills off the weaker bacteria and leaves the resistant bacteria with no competition. Likewise, if proscribed an antibiotic, take the complete course and don't stop early. Stopping early will also allow the somewhat-resistant bacteria to survive, and perhaps mix with others to make fully-resistant bacteria. Some antibiotics no longer work well because they killed off everything they could. (If they hadn't been used, all that bacteria would still be alive and killing people or at least making them sick.) So that's a good thing - but it does mean we have to keep designing more and better antibiotics.
But hey... Don't take my word for it. I'm just writing what I remember, and I could be remembering wrong. So I just did a Google search on "anti-antibiotics' to see what arguments there are completely against their use. I didn't see any in the results, but did find this link from St. Johns on the subject. (Looks like I remembered right.)
I did find a couple of con sites, like one blog by someone claiming to be a "Certified Body Ecologist". You gotta love it when someone makes up a term like that and slaps "certified" on the front to make it sound more legitimate and real. I did a search on "body ecologist" and found a site explaining what it is (which is also the site offering the "certification"). I was hoping it might be based on science and logic (there IS some early promising research in pro-biotics), but no... It's based on anecdotes and mysticism. The site has such doozies as this one:
"A series of vaccinations containing toxic mercury and aluminum add to the amounts of toxic metals already inherited from the mother and father."
It's the old and repeatedly shot down carp that childhood vaccinations cause autism, ADD, and (oh, what the hell) general naughtiness.
[ They don't. ]
Oh, and homeopathy is so wrong it's hilarious! But I'll talk about that later if anyone likes, otherwise just read around. (That last link is a good start.)
|
|
|
|
Friday, January 4th, 2008
|
|
|
Anyone need a quick narration ala Don LaFontaine? My sinus infection has given me the bass rumble of movie trailer voice overs everywhere.
In A World Where Disease And Depravation Stalk Our Land Like... Two Giant Stalking Things
One Man With Post-Nasal Drip Cries Out To The People...
"Coming Soon To A Theater Near You"
(hear it)
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
|
|
|
Thanks to a $100 savings bond my grandparents bought me when I was 4 days old, and which I just got my hands on (yeah, that means it stopped accruing any interest and got stuck at $560.04 a full 7 years ago... oh well), Fluff & Such Puppetry once again has a VIDEO CAMERA!!! (that works)
It's a Sanyo Xacti HD700, which means I can record in 720p high definition now! It records to SD cards (I ordered two 8GB cards to go with it) in H.264 format and the samples I've seen look great. This means clean and easy keying will be in my future.
So hurrah for getting back to it! And thanks to the one person that donated $18 last year to help me get a new camera. You now honorarily "own" 4.5% of my video recording apparatus. :)
Now all I need to do is set up a new blue/green screen set and pick which shelved video project to work on first...
|
|
|
|
|
Some new features in Google Maps were introduced recently, two of which suggest some Improper Use Entertainment...
Go to http://maps.google.com and right-click on some road. You get a pop-up with a number of options including "Directions To Here" and "Directions From Here". Select the "From" option and you get the starting mark for a route. Now go somewhere else and make the "To" mark in the same way.
Now here's the cool bit... Go to part of the blue line that connects the two points, and put the cursor over it. You will see a little white box. DRAG this box to some other place, and the route will change to pass through that point. Neat, huh? It's rather handy for me since neither Google nor the route guidance in my car seem to want to give me the routes I use to get to and from work. Now I can force the issue.
But where's the inappropriate use? Here it is: Draw a picture! Try to draw a picture using roads...
Oh, and if you need more than blue ink, you can use one of the other new features in the "My Maps" tab, the Distance Measurement Tool. With that turned on, clicking on the map makes points connected by straight red lines. Handy for figuring out irregular distances, but also adds red ink to your drawing.
If you do one, I'd love to see it. Maybe it can become a new fad. :) (If so, you heard it here first, folks!!!)
~ Nonsanity
|
|
|
|
Saturday, March 10th, 2007
|
|
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
|
|
|
I get poked every now and then by someone-or-other (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) unclekage most recently) about making more puppet videos. I always let the poker know that I'm not out of ideas (I've got several really fun ones in mind), I just haven't had the time (I have a adorable two-year-old to play with), space (the "studio" became the nursery and I haven't been able to face the piles of junk I'll need to shift/sell/throw away to make the office into a new studio), and equipment (my video camera is virtually kaput).
Cassie goes to bed around 7, so if I got the office cleared out I could work there without disturbing her. I've got to sell off the queen bed in the "office" and move some junk out to make room for lights, stage, and bluescreen accoutrements. I've got to buy a new decent quality (wish: progressive) video camera.
Ideas:- "Myself" by Kara's Flowers (later, Maroon 5)
A test subject in a MiB-like lab setting gains strange powers.
- "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne
Story driven video.
- "Calling America" by ELO
Starts on a desert island, visits space, and has lots of phones in it.
- "The Way You Love Me" by Faith Hill
Tired of only seeing her beloved in video chat, she builds a robot of him.
And, as I've always warned, the ultimate tear-yanker:- "If You Sleep" by Tal Bachman
His love is dying in a hospital, while he waits, thinking...
(Though buggerit! on "If You Sleep"... I just looked at a lyrics page and it's "gleaming CARS" not "gleaming cards". I'll need to re-storyboard that bit...)
Anyway, that's the current state of Fluff & Such.
~ Night
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007
|
|
|
Now that I'm trying out NetFlix's "friends" feature, I'm seeing something interesting...
Even with the labels NetFlix adds to their 5-star system, people use them slightly differently. For me, it breaks down to:
5) a definite favorite, I like it for more than just being a good move
4) a good movie, willing to re-watch sometime
3) a decent enough movie, not sure about the re-watch potential
2) a seriously flawed movie, no desire to see it again
1) I want my two hours back! (Report A Problem: "Movie Sucks")
I guess my outlook on the stars stems from the fact that I want the ratings to be useful to ME, so it's all about re-watch-ability and not overall quality.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Some movies get their ranking for other reasons, but I try to stick with this yardstick.
|
|
|
|
|
LiveJournal for Nonsanity and the Fluff & Such Cast.
|
|