Production Website

Due to a hopeful increase in my creative output the next couple months due to classes ending, and the rather encouraging increase in Traumador's blog traffic I've finally hit a point where it makes sense to open a formal blog for Prehistoric Insanity.

Now it won't just be me blogging on this. Peter Bond is already aboard, and will have a bunch of news and posts about his new movie projects in particular the Bluebell Woods. There is also likely to be some Traumador preview stuff coming soon. Most important of all hopefully I get some time in on the year long abandoned delta patrol.

Point is I'll post little notices here when I post something project related, but in future any post substantially about my movies or creative stuff will be on the Prehistoric Insanity Blog.

Cartoon RAGE!

So having a bit of free time this weekend to just let my brain re materialize I poked around on youtube.

Here I made a awful discovery.

As many probably know I'm a HUGE fan of Bruce Timm's animated DC comics cartoons. My movie folder is half full of the complete series of Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, and Justice League. They are the best depictions of superheroes in any medium in my opinion.

It was a great loss 2 years ago when they cancelled Justice League after 4 amazing seasons (the 3rd be a particular highlight). Leading up to that cancellation a new breed of DC cartoon had been creeping in, and contaminating my beloved Timm series.

In particular "The Batman". Done in blatant anime rip-off style with inferior writing, voice castings, and concepts. Timm's series had something for both kids and adults (I still remember watching his Batman in elementary and loving it). This new breed of DC cartoon is watered down into the kid only zone, and frankly this is a poor move. Kids today recognize this difference and aren't likely to stick with the franchise long term like I and others have with the Timm stuff.

This pains me as instead of giving priority to the long running and still very successful Timm line of cartoons, slowly but steadily these new anime knock offs eroded the Timm series to the point that the network cancelled the Timm line.
Now with the Justice League and Superman off the air for a couple years, this is what we get!!! "The" Batman struggling for ideas (curiously very similarly to Smallville) has had to resort to making their Batman's show into a blatant rip off of Timm's Justice League. With unoriginal watchtower design and everything!

As if that weren't enough this upcoming season their introducing "The" Superman on "The Batman". Due to the inabilities of the writers' of "The" they're trying a new desperation tactic. Rather than mess it up on their own they'd rather leech off Timm's stuff and cast the exact same voice actors for Superman and Lois Lane that Timm had!?!?!

I sit here and wonder in my head why did we have to lose the Timm shows if "The" was just going to rehash them? Rehash them badly!




Now of course I know why my thoughts are silly and invein, in show biz new and shiny is always better than tried tested and true (though new and shiny tends to be exactly the same anyway). It cheeses me off is all!

What next "The Firefly" or "The Star Trek"... oh wait. "The Star Trek" comes out a year from now.

I think I'll just go cry myself to sleep with a Justice League episode playing in the background.

Lemming Ducks

Well finally there is some good news in life. I have one last day left in posting. More importantly, though I apparently did so by the skin of my teeth, I've pasted this posting!

Now it's come at a cost. I'm starting to develop a nasty head cold, and been stressed to the point of less than 5 hours sleep a few times. If not for the turning point of that good news today I'd probably give up on life. To illustrate how I live in Murphyzarro (that's my new term for Murphy's law mixed with Bizarro world) let's look at my walk home from school today (after recieving this good news... the universe needs to remind me whose in charge).

As I approach the Leith (aka aqueduct enclosed stream) bridge I have to cross to get home I see on the other side a elderly woman trying to herd a group of lost Ducklings. As it's spring here in New Zealand we have a lot of cute little Mallard chicks running after their mothers. Well this group has clearly lost their mommy and is desperate to find her...

Seeing how this good willed woman is having trouble with them, and as of such just stressing and freaking them out I step in to help her out. I hope Shannon Helm is reading this little story as it is proof of one of my major beliefs in life.

"No good deed goes unpunished!"

So stepping in with I take charge of the flock of cute little down balls. Armed with the ideal duck herding tool my umbrella I set about my task of trying to get them out of at least harms way, and maybe find mommy.

The problem their up on street level of a major road with no where immediately to go but the sidewalk or the road (to get promptly run over). I opt to herd them back across the bridge's sidewalk and onto a side street running parallel to the Leith. After a few close calls of a duckling or two running away from me sideways into the road I get them on the side street. PHEW! I think...

Here it at first just seems to be a big, but not life threatening problem. We're still 3 metres above the Leith, and the artificial banks here are initially straight up and down walls. I aim to get my little flock down further to where are least the walls slope at a 45 degree angle down to the stream.

About 2 metres down the side street some of my flock suddenly duck (get it) under the fence onto the precipice of the sheer 3 metre wall. They fortunately stop seeing what is for them a 3-4 storey fall straight down. I try to reach my umbrella in front of them, but yet keep my body back so they'll run back under the fence and back onto the sidewalk.

That's when disaster strikes! Mother shows up down below in the river under the bridge (the opposite direction from safe slanted wall section) calling her babies who she realized has a big scary human looming over them...

For a moment I think it's okay my 3 stray wall sitters double take the fall, and hesitate. Just as I'm about to let out the sigh of relief one of them jumps. The other two follow nearly immediately. My heart literally stops.

From behind me the nice lady who got my attention earlier says "oh good their flying down to the river." Just as number 4 leaps off the top to plummet the 10 feet to the ground. I can assure you seeing its fall well from this vantage they didn't fly...

Dashing to my last three who are on the other side of a big flax plant I swore to arrive to watch them all throw themselves over the edge.

Now the tale doesn't have the worst ending it could. Apart from number 4 (who took a running start, and thus fell further out from the wall) I couldn't see their landings making me think I'd just killed a whole family of ducks (not outright dead mind you, but mortally wounded). Thankfully they slowly started walking back into view from the bottom of the wall (which I can't quite see the bottom of due to the fence).

However there was some damage. At least two of them had bad limps, and one of these I'm certain broke its leg based on its stopped every few step to sit down. Most however seemed okay.

There was nothing I could do about it. I still feel terrible. Clare and Rhonwyn on hearing the tale have tried to assure me that I probably saved some of them from being run over. Still my good intentions like a lot lately have become a lot more stressful and intense than it should have.

I just stand by my belief that no good deed goes unpunished. So the question why do I keep doing them?

The Middle of the End...

Well it had to happen sooner or later... the good times had to come to an end.

As was foreshadowed in the beginning of the End TM things here in New Zealand were going to deconstruct, and done so they have.

It all ended in the midst of explosions, and this time I'm not hyperbolizing or being dramatic. There were actual explosions all around Dunedin... due to

Guy Fawkes Day

Showing just how "British" NZ still is there were full on celebrations of the guy who tried to blow up the British Parliament several hundred years ago. What this entails around Dunedin anyway is every university flat (apartment) that still has residents to go and buy tons of fireworks and setting them off throughout the night.

We by chance accident were out hunting vampires that same night (hence Clare with stake er uh cricket wicket), and saw much of the festivities.

Despite the pretty lights and loud noises not all was joyful in the world of Dunedin. For you see all of us had various woes, but I get ahead of myself... this was the end of the story. First the leadin

The Middle's Beginning

I'd spent the weeks lead up to the middle of the end planning like a madman for my 10 day posting (this means I needed a lesson plan for EVERYTHING I'd do in the classroom for 10day. In the end this amassed a collection of some 146 plans). Now as we all know paperwork and organization is NOT my strong point...

However I needed a most organized binder for my posting. I had to drain all my surrounding organization energy to pump into the binder. As a result the rest of my room was well this. A record unclean for even me. My floor was (okay nearly still is) pure paper. Not a bare patch of carpet to be seen.

It was worth it though. The head of the program on the final check and inspection of the binder "jokingly" asked who I stole the binder off due to its pristine nature. I'll get a pic of it up soon. It truly is amazing I of all people put it together... but at a cost LOL

Now as I'm sure many of you know I've had something border lining a chronic addiction to Vanilla Coke since its introduction in 2002. It had stopped being made in Canada for the last few years for some reason, but arriving in NZ I was delighted to discover it was being made in 600ml bottles! The catch only this size which is proportionally the most expensive (my theory on how they can make a profit off the flavour). I've been trying to resist, and apart from vacations I'd been doing good until this planning crunch.

I'm back on a bottle a day. Which though a tiny fraction of what I used to drink in the great white north when it was on tap at 7/11, but it is still an addiction.

So I'm going to up my efforts to end the Jonsing...

An unexpected treat was meeting with my recruiter (who set off this whole adventure a year and a half ago... man that seems like a lifetime ago!) was receiving a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! I haven't had one since Canada cause they don't do peanut butter things here (their actual peanut butter is different and gross!).

Back to the Story

So the big event that marks the middle of the End TM is the departure of all the normal uni people around the hall. We Ed graduate people are an odd bunch we started a month before everyone, and end a month after everyone. Meaning the hall was empty when we moved in, and is now close to empty again for the End TM of our courses.

Most notable departure was of course Rhonwyn. She left exactly 2 days (she claims 1) after our 6 month anniversary. I can't claim any romantic awards for this event. I was up to my eyeballs with teaching so nothing particularly special happened. In my defense I did manage to take her to dinner a few days before on the weekend.

Another notable disappearance was the German (this photo being taken about 3 minutes before I saw him for the last time till next year).

Andy flew out on the same plane as Rhonwyn so that day was a big hit to our social group. In fact to be precious it was the near extinction of it. All that remains is me and Clare (who is sticking around to work... she like me has had an insane week. Her finals have all been this week so I've had company in my misery at least)

Needless to say emotions were high surrounding these events... and you're all probably thinking what an ass I am for taking a picture of Rhonwyn crying. Well jokes on her, and well you. This is her actually laughing at a really bad joke I told about the German the night before they left. I just posted it as a proxy of the sadness...

Well okay I'm a little bit of a dick. I also faked a crying picture just so that I can claim to be a new age sensitive guy... oh yeah probably shouldn't have said that part than...

The End of the Middle of the End TM

So now I'm mostly on my own dealing with the drain, strain, and uh brain of the End TM. Clare has kindly been letting me watch some Farscape when we both have spare moments in the busy schedule (last night being the first time multiple eps were watched).

Otherwise I must devise solutions to this problem on my own. Which can be well kinda bizarre to the average civilian...

Captain Windo the wind up Tyrannosaur Skeleton thinks I should stop wasting time blogging, and do some marking. Frankly I can't argue with his insistent mechanical logic (even if it stops after 30 seconds until he's wound again).

The End TM marches on.

I'm safely over the halfway on my posting. When that is over 2 last homework assignments. Than my parents arrive for the End of the End TM.

So till than I'm ending the Middle of the End TM...