The Saga of Runolfr

Sarge's Shack

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:05:00 +0000

This is somewhat overdue, but William, Juliana, and I stopped at a little roadhouse called Sarge's Shack both going to and returning from Magna Faire.

Sarge's serves a pretty standard "roadhouse" menu of steaks, chicken, and fish dishes with southern country sides. The beauty is that it's all good. On the way down, I ordered a pretty small steak medium rare, and when I first saw it I was worried that -- being on the thin side -- it would be overdone. Nope, it was a perfect medium rare. The cooks at Sarge's absolutely know what they're doing. If you're traveling between Nashville, TN, and Huntsville, AL, Sarge's Shack is an excellent place to stop for lunch or dinner.

I took pictures on our second stop, on the way back from Magna Faire for Sunday lunch, so -- unfortunately -- no steak pictures.

Dickens Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Franklin, Tennessee has a Dickens festival every year. Last year I drifted in by accident because I wanted to have lunch at McCreary's Pub. This year, I actually planned to attend (and dressed warmly enough). Like most street festivals, this one has food vendors, art and craft stands, and street performers, like this handbell choir...

In addition to the video, I took some ordinary pictures of the festival, too. Didn't seem as crowded this year; possibly a combination of the gloomy overcast and it being Sunday instead of Saturday.

A Brief Moment of Idiocy from Ray Comfort

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:56:00 +0000

Much like Allecto, Ray Comfort is a train wreck that I can’t help watching. Unlike her, he produces a steady stream of nonsense, so I don’t really have to wait very long for him to say something absurd and irrational. I’ve found it mostly pointless to post responses on his weblog, since he almost never bothers to address any of the points people make, so I'll contribute to my blog instead of his.

The Religion of Evolution

I was asked recently during an interview if I thought that the Theory of Evolution was a religion. I said that I think it is.

Cue Ray projecting like a movie theatre.

If evolution is responsible for everything that has evolved--everything, then it is worthy of praise. What it did was miraculous, and time is the miracle-method it used. Its prophet was Charles Darwin (the faithful can pay homage to his facial hair in the Natural History Museum, in London), and Richard Dawkins is the sitting pope.

Worthy of praise? No one who accepts the Theory of Evolution thinks it's worthy of “praise”. It’s worthy of recognition for its accuracy, which means that it has earned its place in classrooms. You could call that “praise”, I suppose, but it's not what Ray's talking about.

Charles Darwin was not a prophet; he was an ordinary naturalist who made an observation and happened to publish his discovery before anyone else. He didn’t ask people to believe him on faith, he showed them the evidence he had collected and explained the conclusions he’d drawn from it.

Richard Dawkins is not a religious figure; he’s an advocate for scientific thinking. As far as I can tell, Ray has ever experienced scientific thinking, which might explain his endless misunderstandings of the thought process.

According to his decree, if you disagree with the canon of evolution you are "wicked." So those who don't believe, should therefore be excommunicated from the realm of science.

Dawkins does not make “decrees” that people are wicked for disagreeing with evolution, but he’s not shy about criticizing people who lie about evolution, as many creationists routinely do.

The "Bible" of the Darwinian believer is On the Origin of Species. If you write a mere Introduction that disagrees with its sacred contents, it is tantamount to blasphemy. Be prepared for an inquisition from believers and threats of book burnings.

There is no more a “Bible of Evolution” than there’s a “Bible of Newtonian Physics”. The Origin of Species just describes the theory as Darwin developed it, and evolution theory has changed over time as new information has become available. It’s historically important for being the first published description of the theory, but it's not some kind of unchangeable scripture. If you write an introduction that disagrees with it, that’s your business, but if your introduction is full of misinformation and long-refuted claims about the theory and about science in general, people are going to call you out on it.

So, if you believe in evolution, don’t question dating methods, or the credibility of revered paleontologists, or the learned priestly professors.

Actually, if you believe in evolution, feel free to question any of these things (although you’ll be hard pressed to find a “priestly professor” outside of a theology department), but actually learn what the theory says before you start criticizing it. If you question seriously and actually do the science, you’ll come to the same basic conclusion: the Theory of Evolution accurately describes how the diversity of life on Earth developed from a common origin.

Just believe.

That’s what you do, Ray.

Magna Faire 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:15:00 +0000

Well, I have a day off today, so I suppose it's high time I at least posted some pictures from Magna Faire. Magna Faire was essentially an all-dance event for me, as I didn't think I'd have time to get in and out of armor around performance times.

Yes, we had live music for the ball. Very good for three musicians who had never played a note together before, if you ask me.

I have video my entry with Juliana, but I'm waiting to do a little editing before I post it.

Science vs Superstition

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:54:00 +0000

OK, I'm not using the same terms as the video author, but I completely agree with the sentiments.

If you're reading this, you do so because scientists are right about electromagnetism, chemistry, and mathematics. Think about it. If you spent money for a computer, you're trusting in the science used to design them. If you trust them on that, do you have a good reason to arbitrarily distrust scientists in other fields of study?

Science has a track record of success to which pseudoscientists try to attach themselves like leeches. Meanwhile, people who don't like the information that science discovers try to undermine it. If it gets undermined enough, civilization as we know it will collapse, and we'll descend into a new dark age.

Legomatrix

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:14:00 +0000

I agree with Amy: this IS awesome.

A Quote About Life and Evolution

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Even a superficial glance is sufficient to show that all the innumerable forms in which the life-urge of Nature manifests itself are subject to a fundamental law -– one may call it an iron law of Nature -– which compels the various species to keep within the definite limits of their own life-forms when propagating and multiplying their kind.

If you can tell me who wrote that, you're probably not a raving creationist.

Ghost Lab: It's Lame

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:06:00 +0000

So, in the pursuit of "puppy time" last night, I lazed on the couch and watched half of an episode of Ghost Lab. Yep, it's basically Ghost Hunters on Discovery.

They were at a restaurant called the Catfish Plantation south of Dallas, TX, that supposedly has a few ghosts in it, one of whom reportedly likes to move small objects. Consequently, they had high hopes for filming some objects "moving by themselves". As many cameras as they put in the house, they never managed to actually film anything moving itself, but naturally they had an array of "personal experiences". They also got a couple of odd visuals that couldn't actually be called evidence of supernatural activity, but which they considered pretty spooky all the same. Big surprise that people who are already believers have "experiences" in a supposedly haunted restaurant while staying up all night inside it in the dark.

Since the ghost has a reputation for moving silverware when you're not looking, they carefully set the tables in the restaurant dining room. A couple of times the flatware did move "when no one was looking" (and naturally the cameras were off at those times, too), but there was never a time when anything moved when there was actually no one in the room, let alone when being observed by a camera. Funny, that.

The "moving things" that they did catch? A butter knife that they'd balanced on top of a vase eventually fell off while they were interviewing the restaurant manager on the last day, and a door at the edge of a dark shot of the dining room appeared to be moving back and forth slightly. The door? It looked like a camera artifact to me: bad resolution combined with being at the very edge of the frame resulted in an unsteady image. The knife? The minor vibrations of people walking around the room could easily destabilize something like that over the course of hours.

In short, they got nothing (which they admitted) and called it a win (huh?). I called it quits after the first segment. As expected, their efforts at control were really, really weak, and they were steeped in confirmation bias. It rates a big "ho hum" from me.

Crystal Ball

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Sadly, I didn't get a whole lot of pictures from Crystal Ball because, during the dinner break between class time and ball time, I left my camera at Tsire's place. I do have a few pictures from the early part of the day, but nothing very exciting, with the possible exception of this video from Mistress Alphia's Spanish Pavan class.

She graciously consented to doing it with me for video after teaching it. Spanish Pavan is from Orchesography, Thoinot Arbeau's 1589 dance manual from France. I haven't gone back to read the original text yet, but I gather that the actual choreography isn't specific; Arbeau only describes the music and the basic steps: the actual movement around the floor is arbitrary. This choreograph is, I believe, from a team A&S entry of Alphia's.

Skeptics' Circle 123

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:18:00 +0000

The 123rd Skeptics' Circle is up at Blue Genes Science News. If you're finding out about it from me, you've probably already read my contribution, but there's plenty more skeptical goodness for you to read.

Tinfoil Hats

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

You are standing on a street corner, waiting for a light to change, when a stranger approaches you. He has a tinfoil hat on his head. He offers a tinfoil hat to you and says, “You need to put this on.”

“Why do I need to do that?” You ask.

“You need to block out the alien mind-control rays. It’s the only way to be safe.”

You say, “I don’t believe there are any aliens. There’s no evidence they exist.”

He says, “Of course there’s no evidence; they use their mind-controlled minions to eliminate any evidence. The only way to be safe is to wear a tinfoil hat.”

You say, “I’m not aware of any alien influence.”

He says, “Their control is subtle. The mind-control itself keeps you from realizing you’re being controlled. You’ll never know the difference unless you put on the tinfoil hat.”

You say, “I haven’t noticed anyone behaving like they’re controlled by aliens… except maybe you.”

He says, “You just don’t recognize the alien mind-control, but surely you know about all the crimes, murders, and suicides in the world. That’s all the result of alien mind-control. If you don’t put on the tinfoil hat, you could be next. There’s no telling when they might decide to have you kill yourself or someone else.”

You say, “Things like that have happened for as long as people have existed; it’s just one of the bad sides of human nature. There’s no evidence that it’s the influence of aliens.”

He says, “The aliens have been around for at least as long as we have, and like I said, they erase all evidence of their existence.”

You say, “If these aliens want to control everyone, but a tinfoil hat can block them, why do they let you walk around distributing tinfoil hats? Wouldn’t they use their mind-control powers to force some of us to stop you? By taking away your tinfoil hat, for instance?”

He says, “I don’t know why they let me do this. They’re aliens: their motives make no sense to us. But for that very reason, you need to wear the tinfoil hat. There’s no telling what these inscrutable aliens might decide to make you do.”

You say, “Sorry, I don’t want to wear a tinfoil hat, it looks dumb.”

He says, “Of course you think it looks dumb; that’s their mind-control at work. But can you really afford to keep walking around without a tinfoil hat? What if I’m right? You might walk off a cliff or run over your best friend tomorrow if you don’t.”

Looking around, you can see that there are actually quite a few people around wearing tinfoil hats, so you agree to wear one. You notice absolutely nothing different when you are wearing the hat, except that people who aren’t wearing them think you look silly, and people who are wearing them congratulate you for wearing yours. While wearing your tinfoil hat, you do a little research, and you can’t seem to find any evidence that people wearing tinfoil hats are responsible for fewer crimes or have fewer accidents than people who don’t wear tinfoil hats.

In your research, you also discover another group of people who think you need protection from the alien mind-control rays. However, they say that wearing a tinfoil hat won’t help at all; you actually need to be wearing an aluminum foil hat. In fact, they say wearing a tinfoil hat will amplify the alien mind-control rays, making you more vulnerable to their influence. According to aluminum-foil-hat-wearers, the tinfoil-hat-wearers have been fooled by the aliens or even collaborated with them.

Not long after that, you discover the copper-wire-basket wearers and the lead-lined-baseball-cap wearers. They also want to protect themselves from alien mind-control rays, and they each say that their method is the only real method of stopping the rays. They also say that the other groups are influenced by the aliens to trick you. None of them can offer evidence for their claims, saying that the aliens make it impossible to provide any.

So what do you want on your head?

Star Trek: Voyager "Threshold"

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:00:00 +0000

It's no secret that "Threshold" is the worst Star Trek episode ever. It's badly written (curse you Brannon Braga), makes zero scientific sense, and ends with an off-screen reset to the status quo. The "discovery" that they make in the episode is, of course, dropped without comment and never mentioned again in the series. Chuck Sonnenburg took one for the team in order to review it and share the pain.

Part 1 of Chuck's Review
Reading and watching his review, though, I noticed something that he apparently missed. The plot can be interpreted as a horribly mangled sexual initiation story.

Excited talk about getting over the "threshold" -- CHECK

Rather "climactic" behavior from Tom as he goes over the "threshold" -- CHECK

Bizarre allegory to getting STDs from going over the "threshold" -- CHECK

Unplanned pregnancy as a result of going over the "threshold" -- CHECK

Now your mind is scarred by this episode, too. Enjoy.

Army of Darkness

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

And we close out the month with what might be the greatest Halloween classic of all time.

You can't go wrong with Bruce Campbell. And just for fun, we'll make today's a double.

The Changeling

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

I saw this movie back in the eighties, and it is pretty scary without being a gorefest.

Rated R back then, apparently, but I would barely rate a PG today, I expect.

Green Lantern

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

From what I understand, there actually is a movie in development, but this video is a mash up of clips from assorted movies with some pretty good tweaking.

One can only hope that fan videos like this will influence some casting decisions.

Legend: Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Not only is this a very sensual seduction to evil, but it's one of the reasons I adore Mia Sara.

And the scene continues...

Noodle Ad

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

I don't know what it is, but it scares the hell outta me!

New Shameless Commerce

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:44:00 +0000

So I tried Google Ads, and not only did they not actually get any attention, they were usually idiotic products like spells from the dubious "Magicks of the World" site. So, I'm going to try Amazon ads. At least I get to decide what will actually be advertised. I will shamelessly promote books and music that I like.

Things to Remember If I’m Ever in a Horror Situation

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Something that came up in conversation at the Halloween party over the weekend. I'm sure that this could be expanded greatly.

Neither I nor any of my friends/allies will go anywhere alone; splitting up to gather supplies or search an area is right out.
If I have shot the killer/monster in the chest and it hasn’t been affected, I will at least try a headshot.
I will make use of the known traits of any killer or monster that is threatening me; if it’s afraid of cats, for instance, I won’t go anywhere without one.
I will wear sensible shoes, so I won’t have any difficulty running, should it become necessary.
I will never abandon a weapon; you never know when it will come in handy. Needless to say, if I suspect there's a hostile person or monster about, I won't go anywhere unarmed.
I will get a pocket maglite with a lanyard and keep it handy.
I will be immediately suspicious of anyone that causes dogs to bark or cats to hiss. At the first sign of trouble, I will endeavor to obtain a friendly dog or cat as a warning system.
Finding a wandering cat after hearing a strange noise does not mean that I have found the source of the noise.
I will not dismiss a “supernatural” threat just because I’m a scientist or skeptic; if it has observable and repeatable effects, it moves into the realm of the “natural”, anyway.
If I’ve incapacitated a murderer/monster with a history of surviving “mortal” injuries, I will dismember the body; burn the parts; secure the ashes of each in separate, sealed containers; and bury the individual containers at widely separated locations.

Junk It!

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

She's the most frightening character in Mystery Men.

Halloween Party

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:25:00 +0000

My big Halloween party was early this year, on the 24th, at the lovely home of Dakyn and Ginevra. I arrived in time to help with some party prep work, then everyone went on a trip to the Bell Witch Cave before coming back to the house to costume up and party down.

The whole album is online, of course.

Top 10 Giant Movie Monsters

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

You'll be very surprised by number one, but I think the best moment of this review comes toward the end of number three. Language warning on this one, if that matters to you; the narrator is a bit free with the four letter vocabulary.

Totoro

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

It's a good day to abuse some more anime.

The Candy Man

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

More editing into creepy trailers.

Of course, in this case, the real thing isn't much less creepy than the faux trailer.

If I Ever Become a Vampire

noreply@blogger.com (Lord Runolfr) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Found this list linked from Nodwick.com, but it's probably been floating around for a while.

I shall wear tweed, and cheerful bright clothing. Further, I shall only wear trenchcoats if it is raining or foggy.

I will not take my victims home. My neighbors are far too nosy.

I will be secure in my immortality. I do not have to share my story with any reporter or struggling writer.

I will not purchase an expensive foreign sports car or motorcycle. An economical, multi-terrain vehicle with 4 wheel drive will be just fine.

I will immediately become Agnostic, disarming any cross-wielding religious maniacs.

I shall not keep a coffin in the basement, that's the first place people look.

I shall immediately purchase a Hooked on Phonics tape, in order to lose any Romanian accents I may have.

My ghouls shall have good posture.

I will purchase a digital watch with an alarm. I will set this alarm for TWO hours before sunrise, giving ample time for traffic and other inconveniences.

If I feel truly alone, and need a companion to share all of eternity with, I shall purchase a dog. Preferably one that is not larger than I am.

If the neighborhood kids are snooping around my house, I will not change into a giant wolf and attempt to destroy them. Instead, I shall call the police and have them arrested for trespassing.

If I believe far too many people are becoming suspicious, I shall not attempt to kill them all. I will simply move, and leave no forwarding address.

There is no logical reason for someone to mistake another human being for a fifteen-foot bat, not even in hysteria. Therefore, I shall refrain from such transformations in public.

Artists are over-emotional and unstable. I shall not keep company with them whatsoever.

I will not attend gatherings of my own kind. If I'm a lethal killing machine, doomed for all eternity to destroy those around me, they probably are too.