Happy Monday, all! Hurrah! That dang weekend is finally over, and we're back at work! It don't get no better than this, no sirree.

Interesting new facts about the script for the next Superman movie, which goes to show that it's easy to get worked up about details, especially on the Internet, and especially when it's already been decided for us how we're supposed to feel about something. It's called editorialising. It's the scourge of the Net. I'm not saying it's not important to state opinions, and to take a stand -- especially when you're faced with a studio like Warner Bros., who've made so many boneheaded decisions in the past -- but movie (and comic-book) geeks are too-easily fired up, and they'll wage war against anyone and everyone at the drop of a hat (or some other droppable item). Sometimes, it's better to give people the benefit of a doubt before attacking, or at least hear both sides of the issue. Even better; judge for yourself. Don't just listen blindly to what other people think. I'm, ahem a bit guilty of that myself.

Anyways. Feeling under the weather today. And yesterday...damn. Horrible, horrible day. I stayed in bed until 3 PM, and barely moved off the couch until it was bedtime again. I did read most of volume one of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, however. Excellent, excellent graphic novel. Absolutely worth picking up if you haven't yet read it. Volume II is currently being published. And the movie's on the way, so there's every reason to be excited.  ¶ 11:36   

  Ain't It Cool News has posted a story that may (or may not) ease everyone's mind a tiny bit in regards to the next Superman flick. I dunno...at this point, it's probably wiser to sit back and remain skeptical than to get your hopes up. It might work. It probably won't. Que sera, sera.

Saturday. Blue skies, warmer than yesterday, crisp, clean, and all autumny. Brilliant. Tonight I'm off to a big (?) birthday bash at my mate Nico's house -- should be good fun, that. I'm in the mood for a laugh.

Watched Guillermo del Toro's Cronos yesterday. The DVD's being lying around on top of my must-see pile for a while, but I just haven't been in the right mood to see it. Aside from the fact that I was incredibly sleepy, and had to shake myself awake a few times, it was a pretty good movie. Not great, a trifle, but a well-made, low-budget twist on the vampire genre. As a freshman effort, it's admirable, and del Toro has evolved really well in the past five years -- with Mimic (which I actually liked), The Devil's Backbone, Blade II, and (coming up) Hellboy, and, hopefully, H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness (damn, I still want to make that flick! Actually, I'm working on something that will be pretty cl-- hey, wait, I'm not supposed to talk about that. Yet).

Time to get outside and away from the screen. Too much typing makes Ragnar a dull boy.  ¶ 13:41   

  Friday nights are the best.

You've just finished a long week. You have the weekend ahead of you. Anything you do tonight, no matter how late you stay up, you have Saturday and Sunday to recover. It's all good.

Cooked myself a great dinner tonight; steak, boiled potatoes, red wine sauce, mushrooms, a tossed salad -- took a while, but it was worth it. I rarely have the time or the opportunity to cook, so it was refreshing to eat something other than frozen pizzas, sandwiches, or, well, nuthin' for dinner.

I briefly considered joining my mates at the bar, but I've decided against it. I'm stayin' on the couch tonight. Period.  ¶ 23:26   

  Tired and sleepy. Yawn.

Been sleeping poorly the past few days, so the weekend couldn't have come at a better time. Pretty chilly at night, though, so I'm waking up with a sore throat. Need more heat. Or fur. One of the two. Furry is good.

There's an office party this evening, but I think I'll skip it -- go work out instead, and then head home, and become one with the couch until bedtime. Couchy goodness all around. Yum.

Tomorrow night I'm going to a birthday party, and that's all I have planned for the weekend. I like that. Nothing I have to do, nowhere I have to be. That's what the word 'weekend' means, you know. It's constructed from two words: Wee and kend. 'Kend' is an ancient Sumerian word for 'doing'; an action, an activity, an event. To 'kend' something. And 'wee' -- well, we all know what 'wee' means. No, not that. 'Little'. 'Small'. 'Tiny'.

Wee-kend: "Very little that has to be done."

Or, alternatively: "Taking a piss."

And that's the truth. Honest.  ¶ 16:53   

  Rollercoaster day -- up, down, left, right -- so I won't write much.

Just saw episode 2.01 of Smallville; a great and energetic start to season two, although I'm slightly concerned that the show will stagnate soon if it doesn't alter the format a bit, bring in some new characters, take a few creative chances. There's only so much you can do with such a rigid setup -- we all know where it's heading -- unless you're willing to stir things up a bit. I'm not talking about altering the mythology (the "reimagining" that J. J. Abrams and Warner Bros. are responsible for is a great example of how not to manage a property), but there are ways to be inventive, creative, and original without breaking the format or screwing around with established origins. The show's supporting characters, for example, are brutally underused. Look to The West Wing, Buffy, and Angel for how to properly handle a talented ensemble cast. Those are shows that survive the absence of their leads (maybe even thrive on it). Smallville could never survive without Clark and Lex. Lex, by the way, is increasingly becoming the heart, soul, and body of the show. When the show's had its seven seasons (unless WB kills it off to help sell the movie...freakin' idiots), and Clark Kent dons the blue suit, they should consider a spin-off: "Luthor". Now that show I'd watch.

Had a brief discussion about The Longest Journey today. Everyone agrees that a sequel is a no-brainer, and we need to do one. Only problem is how, when, and by whom. Time's running out. If we started development right now -- and that's not gonna happen -- it'd be two, two-and-a-half years before it hit the street. And the world might forget. I'd love to actually see that game on both the PC and the Xbox; the story and gameplay I have in mind would work really well on a console. Problem is, I'm busy, and will be for a good while. So's everyone else at Funcom. We're all busy bees. So we don't have an answer. Yet. But hopefully...

Damn. Couldn't keep it brief, could I. Bed now. Sleep.  ¶ 23:35   

  I came home early today so that my front door could be painted. It is now eleven, and my door remains very much unpainted.

All apartment-owners have been asked by the contractors (who are primarily doing renovation-work on the building's exterior) to sign up for a time-slot to get our doors painted. See, when your front door gets a new lick of paint (apparently), it has to be left ajar for four to five hours. Obviously, it wouldn't be very smart to leave my door open while I'm at work, seeing as I have stuff in here -- not to mention a cat -- that I don't won't stolen. So today, even though it's (gasp!) work-out day, I returned "early" for my self-assigned slot at seven P.M. I even purchased a game (see below) to have something, uh, "constructive" to do.

No painter ever showed up, and no paint has been applied to my door.

Now I have to sign up again. Which is hard, because -- barring Saturday and Sunday -- I don't have any spare time. Monday to Friday, morning to night, I'm fully booked. It's actually frustrating; I want more time at home, but the days are packed. Hmm.

Played The Thing for another hour or so, and it did improve, although I'm currently a bit stuck, which is a shame, because getting stuck this soon is never very enjoyable. Then again, I suck at games (obviously, seeing as I design the damn things), so it could just be me. How is it? Still not great. The monsters are not as frightening as I'd imagined they'd be, and if I'd been designing this game, there are a lot of things I'd do differently, to increase the sense of isolation, desperation, and fear. The setting is great -- Antarctica, darkness, snow, nasty Thingies -- but the execution is just average. So far. I do want to play it more, though, so it's starting to hook me. Finally.  ¶ 23:16   

  Great first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer season seven -- I just watched it -- with a mix of funnies, action, and a back-to-the-basics (and High School) approach...as well as a neat and "oooh-mysterious" ending hinting at much slaying goodness to come. I won't spoil it (I never do), but it does appear that the season -- perhaps the series' final season, sniff -- is on the right track, and definitely worth catching if you've got any sense at all. With Angel starting up in a few weeks, and Firefly looking interesting, we might endure the long, dark, and harsh Norwegian winter after all. Yay.

I purchased The Thing for the Xbox today, and so far, so eh. The visuals are okay, but bland, the controls a little hard to get to grips with, and the sound is fine. Not a lot of action yet, but I haven't played it all that much. It hasn't gripped me, and if a game doesn't immediately grip the player, that's a major problem. But I'll definitely spend some more time with it before I pass final judgement. Fact is, playing the game made me want to see the movie again instead -- I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

The movie, though, is most certainly a Good Thing (pun intended). It's one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Period. And a sequel would be very welcome.  ¶ 21:44   

  If you're interested in more fun facts and (mostly) substantiated rumours about that whole big Superman-movie mess, check out Coming Attraction's detailed description of everything that's happened so far. Cancelling Smallville to pave way for the big-screen Man of Steel? You will believe that studio executives (especially at Warner's) have absolutely no amount of sense whatsoever. Whatever happened to integrity? Oh wait, they're soulless demons -- they never had any integrity.  ¶ 12:30   

  Fun episode.

Microsoft just announced that they've acquired Rare -- one of the best console developers around, previously exclusive to Nintendo platforms -- and that Rare is working on a sequel to one of the best first-person shooters around, Perfect Dark. Neat-o. Extremely stupid and arrogant of Nintendo, though. They need good games, just as much as everyone else. After all, they can only do so many in-house productions. Smart Microsoft. Dumb Nintendo.

Some dire news about the next Superman movie. I won't spoil it, but check out this article for details. It's sad when a studio doesn't understand its own property, and destroying an American legend like this is simply unfathomable. Everyone -- everyone -- is familiar with the mythology and history of the Man of Steel. To change it like this, without any purpose other than "surprising" the audience, is ridiculous. Hopefully, Warner Bros. will receive enough negative feedback to make them rethink their strategy.

And, man, I liked the sound of the Batman vs. Superman movie. Why didn't they go with that one? Idiots.

Bed now. Ragnar sleepy.  ¶ 23:40   

  Looong day at work. A triple-O day. A long, tiring, but incredibly productive and fun day. A twelve-hour machete day -- long, sharp, and...uh pointy. Good for those African safaris, cutting vines and stuff. Yes.

Similes ain't my forté. (Or was that a metaphor? And I call myself a writer. Pft.)

Big two-and-a-half-hour brainstorming session tonight, fuelled by pizza. So much pizza, in fact, that I'm all pizzaed out, which is very rare. I'm quite pizza-resistant. I can stomach a lot of pizza. 'Pizza' is an absurd word, it really is.

But yeah, a really fun, really worthwhile brainstorming session. I really love working in a creative industry. Getting paid for sitting around a table, eating pizza, being loud, and trying to come up with wild ideas...God knows, I'm a lucky, lucky guy. What were we brainstorming about? That, I can't tell ya. It's a Secret. You know, hush-hush. I'll let you in on the Secret next summer.

King of Queens now. Gotta run.  ¶ 23:04   

  The seventh season of Buffy is about to begin, and I have the first episode in my bag, ready for viewing at home tonight. Much yay-ness all around! I've been preparing all weekend long by playing the Xbox game, which really is very, very cool, and worth a look even for non-Buffy fans. It's got great visuals, sound-effects, music, and voices (the entire cast participates, aside from Mrs. Freddie Prince Jr.), solid game mechanics, cool fighting moves, and it's pretty true to the show. Only problem is, the game "skips" on my Xbox -- caused, I believe, by a hardware problem related to streaming; of course, it had to happen to me...it always does -- but it doesn't detract too much from the fun. And it probably won't happen for you. If you have an Xbox, that is. And play Buffy. Which you should.

Anyways: The first episode of Buffy, tonight. Aaah. Sweeeet.

Talking about all things Whedon -- yesterday, I checked out the premiere episode of Firefly, Joss Whedon's new show on Fox (that is, it's broadcast on Fox in the US; I saw it on VCD). It was...interesting. I'm not so sure it's good, at least not yet. I don't want to see that episode again, but I do want to keep watching. It's bound to improve, and most of the cast seems pretty interesting. It didn't immediately strike me as anything extraordinary, however, and there was little to no wow-factor. It's a Western (no, really; there are saloon-fights, country-and-western music, sheriffs, horses, and small towns harassed by rich city-folk). In space. And that, pretty much, is it. For now.

I'm sure that'll change, and that there are surprises in store. But all in all, something of a letdown -- not a huge letdown, but still... You'd expect something more, is all.  ¶ 17:58   

  It's really quite cold today.

Looking out the window, summer still appears to linger, but looks can deceive: it's absolutely freezing. A week ago, all you needed was a t-shirt (and pants. I shouldn't have to mention pants. It's really quite obvious, when you think about it. Normal human beings always wear some kind of pants -- short or long), and today it's sweater-and-jacket weather (and pants. Of course).

It's cold, chilly even, but beautiful, crisp, and welcome, after a particularly hot and humid few months.

And that's it for the weather.

I'm seeing Signs tonight, and I'm giddy as a little schoolgirl. I love M. Night Shyamalan's films -- Unbreakable more than The Sixth Sense, actually -- and from what little I know of Signs (I've tried to steer clear of spoilers), it seems absolutely brilliant. Besides, Shyamalan was born one week after me, and we went to the same film-school, so hey!

Before that, I have a bunch of research to do, and an article to publish, so I must...go. Now.

(Oh, and I got a bunch of DVDs today, including (yay!) season one of 24. Can't wait to see it again, this time in anamorphic widescreen. Hurrah!)  ¶ 16:08   

  Last night I saw Dagon, Stuart Gordon's latest H. P. Lovecraft adaptation.

I've always, for as long as I can remember, been a huge fan of horror -- in all shapes and guises: Books, comics, haunted houses, movies...you name it, I jump. I'm a sucker for anything and everything goosebump-inducing. Part of it is because I get easily scared -- I have a disturbingly vivid imagination -- and it's not very hard for me to imagine that some things do go bump in the night. Heck, I'm frightened to death of plain, old darkness. Especially if I'm alone. At night. In the woods. Far away from other people.

Ack. I get the shivers just thinking about it.

So, yup, part of it is the sheer tummy-wrenching effect horror-stories have on me. But the other reason for my fascination with horror is probably a little more banal:

Horror is forbidden.

At least, horror movies are -- were -- forbidden.

My parents, quite wisely, refused to let me see scary movies. I did catch the odd fright-flick, mostly by accident, but being denied (and not having access to; we didn't have a VCR until I was 14, and even then I couldn't get my greedy hands on any proper horror movies for years) those morbid pleasures made me crave them even more. I saw King Kong, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy -- Universal's classic 1930s monster movies -- on TV...until, that is, my parents put their collective foot down and said "nope". Keep in mind, this was the 1970s. You'd think that forty-year old black-and-white pictures with nary a drop of blood and absolutely no nudity would be okay, but...no. They didn't want me to see scary stuff, and they didn't want me to see "grown-up" movies (ironically enough; who'd ever consider Boris Karloff's Mummy to be too adult?). So I was left with the burning desire to see horror movies, partly sated by reading Fangoria, and partly sated by an unrestricted supply of horror literature.

I devoured all kinds of books from a very, very early age. My Dad used to take me to the library once a week, where (li'l ole me being the librarian's favourite) I was allowed to check out more books than anyone else my age. I remember reading Lord of the Flies waaay too early, and being completely and totally freaked out. I remember reading Edgar Allen Poe. I remember reading Stephen King the first time (I think it was Cujo, but I'm not sure). And I remember reading H. P. Lovecraft.

Lovecraft stuck. Maybe it was because of the powerful imagery in his stories, imagery that conjured up the worst horrors from the best source there ever was: your own imagination. And my imagination, and nightmares, were pretty damn monstrous, let me tell you. When Lovecraft's protagonists saw things they were unable to describe, they were right there, in my mind's eye, and I knew exactly what his poor victims were going through.

With my fascination for both Lovecraft and horror movies , it was no wonder that I always wanted to see one of Lovecraft's stories done justice on the silver screen. And whenever someone did attempt to adapt one of his stories, or his rich mythology, I was hopeful and expectant. A Lovecraft movie done well had -- still has -- the potential to be a masterpiece.

It hasn't happened yet.

The best "Lovecraft movies" ever made are not based on any of Lovecraft's work: Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, The Thing, Alien -- these are movies that feel like Lovecraft movies, in the true spirit of the author, even though they're not, while the movies that are based on Lovecraft's work -- like Re-Animator, and now Dagon (both from Stuart Gordon) -- do not. Why is that?

Re-Animator was, still is, a fun littleflick. It's a great horror movie; funny, gory, sexy, and dark. But though it's based on one of his stories, it's most certainly not a Lovecraft movie. It doesn't even try to be. Not really. It tries to be exactly what it is; a low-budget, wacky, bloody, slightly exploitative but still intelligent 80s gorefest. Dagon tries, however. It tries hard. It's more faithfully Lovecraftian. It combines a couple of stories -- Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth -- into one, and attempts to be a scary, atmospheric, grotesque, and (somewhat) faithful adaptation.

It fails. It's all right. It's a solid 98 minutes of decent entertainment. It's got its moments. There are scares. There's nudity. There's big teeth and tentacles. There's a few good scares. But I expected so much more.

Correction: I'd hoped for so much more.

Lovecraft still hasn't been done well on film (unless you count the non-Lovecraft Lovecraftian flicks listed above), but there's still hope. Oh, yes, there's still hope. In 2004, Guillermo del Toro brings us Hellboy. And then (fingers crossed!) he'll make At the Mountains of Madness.

If that flick doesn't get it right, then, shucks, I guess I will have to take a crack at it. No, really. I will. Swear to God.

Someone's got to do it.

And I have a few Good Ideas. Eek.  ¶ 23:24   

  Someone please stop me from getting lunch at McDonald's. I hate it. I've always hated it. It makes me sick, in a blah way. Why, then, do I repeatedly fall back on a "meal", featuring very little that resembles an actual meal, but much saltiness and fatty fat-fats.

I need a ward. Any volunteers? You get to work in an energetic and youthful environment, and there's the added bonus of me. The growth-potential is simply staggering.

Anyways. Still lots of mail that I can't get to, so if there's anything you need an answer to, please resend it. I also don't have anyone's e-mail address.

Workin' out in a few minutes. Not hugely excited about that.  ¶ 17:49   

  Spotted this somewhere:

And for all we know all the important stuff on the next MMORPG was on Ragnar's harddisk that he toasted during the move to the smaller offices. :)

How to approach this one? Okay. Let's see. If there were documents like that on my harddisk -- and nowhere else -- and I'm not saying there were, they'd be perfectly safe, because I've been able to pull all the data from my HD (except, for the time being, my Outlook inbox). As for "smaller offices" -- that's not exactly true. The total floor area may be smaller, but then there's also much less "dead space" here -- fewer big, empty corridors -- and more actual office space. So, while I'm now sitting in a smaller room with three other guys, there's really more room for everyone, and there's still space to expand. It's all good.

I take Ragnar's statement to mean that Funcom will inevitably make another MMORPG, but to me it's pretty clear from his language that no specific games other than AO are yet planned.

Yup, Funcom will be making more MMOGs. Guaranteed. Unless, that is, someone drops a bomb on us tomorrow. Because that, believe it or not, would seriously hurt our business.

But dropping Midgard does not mean we're dropping out. We made a conscious decision to put a game on hold, based on facts that you've been privy to, and we're exploring other options. "Seeing other people," as it were.

Until we've safely launched the booster and expansion packs, however, we won't be talking about any Next Big Thing.

Are we going to be sitting on our arses, though, twiddling our thumbs and expecting the future to land in our laps? Nope. Rest assured of that. We have Plans. They may be the kind of plans that involve lots and lots of elbow-grease, but there you go. That's why it's called "work", and not, uh, "not-work". See? I'm good with the words-es.  ¶ 16:48   

  It's been a pretty exciting evening, truth be told. Some fun news. Good stuff. Which can't, unfortunately, be told. Because it's all very secret, like. I can tease, but I can't tell. It's all hush-hush. You know. On the QT.

Frustrating, n'est pas? Mwoa-ha-ha-ha! That's what you get for reading my journal. Suckers.

The days are rather chilly now, and although I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, the 45-minute walk home from work this evening was quite cold -- at least at first. Of course, a 45-minute brisk walk tends to warm you up quite a bit, but it'll soon be heavy-jacket weather, and six months of darkness and snow and icy winds.

Friends now. Then King of Queens. Then bed. Gimme a break -- these are the only sitcoms I ever watch. I'm allowed. There is a quota, you know.

"I could dance with you 'til the cows come home. On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows 'til you came home."  ¶ 22:41   

  Lots of helpful suggestions to yesterday's plea -- cheers to Jameel, Christina, Jørgen, and Thomas for their excellent tips. I've listed some of them here, if anyone else out there gets into a similar situation (back up your data, kids!):

I haven't personally tried this, but the description on Cnet sounds like it might be what you're looking for. Worth a shot if your HDD seems hosed. LMK.

http://download.com.com/3000-2094-6730657.html

This one worked really well, and I was able to retrieve the documents I needed for this Thursday, which was a relief. I need to upgrade to the full version to recover my Outlook inbox, but at least it's still there, so I'm safe. Phew. A recommended download for anyone who's lost files.

For the hard drive problem... if the drive is ok, you should be able to put it in another computer as a slave hard drive. Then boot up the computer and you should be able to copy data from your hard drive to the main hard drive of the 2nd computer. Then put your hard drive back in the original computer and reinstall the OS. What OS are you running? You can do a repair of Windows XP that works really well...

I'm running Windows 2000 at the office. I did a reinstall of the OS on a separate drive, and attempted to access the damaged HD, but no luck. Apparently, the partition data (?) has been shot to hell, and the filesystem is irrevocably damaged. Ideally, I'd get that repaired, but since I can now access the data (with GetDataBack -- see above) and save the most important files, I'm okay. This happens so often with my SCSI disks, but never, ever with my IDE disks. As for XP, I'd love to upgrade, but I'm not sure I want to risk that just yet -- my streak of bad luck could still be in effect. I'll play it safe and stick with boring, old 2000.

I read about your harddrive crash, i had the same thing a couple of weeks ago, and of course i did not make backups either :( Anyway i used easy recovery to recover allmost all of my files (check http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecovery/ )

I'm going to check this one out now -- if it's as good as GetDataBack, and if it's free, I'm all set.

Thanks again for your suggestions, people! You're worth your weight in gold, all of you!

"You know, for kids!"  ¶ 12:18   

  All right, I'm doing the Cry For Help thingy:

Anyone out there know of any good, free software that can recover FAT tables, partition information, or any other potential hard-disk data killers? It appears that my HD might be physically okay (at least most of it), but it's completely inaccessible from within Windows or from my Partition Magic software.

Aaah!

Everything Anarchy Online-related is safe, so don't panic -- it's just everything else I'm worried about. Like all my e-mail, from all of y'all, for starters.

I hate losing stuff. It. Makes. Me. Angry!

Nice offices, by the way. I'll try to post some pics when I get the chance. And yup, I'm still at the office. I have a deadline on Thursday that I have to meet. Nnngh!

"I have no response to that."  ¶ 21:32   

  Finally online at the office, although it does appear that at least one of my hard-disks is FUBAR. The one with all the important documents, of course. As well as all my mail. Hurray. Yippie. Five months since my last document backup. Joy.  ¶ 18:16   

  Sunny day today, but chilly, and after a long tail-end of summer, it seems that autumn's knocking at the door. The air is dry and clear, the green is beginning to yield to other colours, and it's too cold to keep the windows open in the evening. Funny how one day can make such a difference.

Chances are that tomorrow will be a less-than-productive day at the office, with all my belongings in boxes scattered around the building (some confusion is to be expected), and my PC dead. And I have this big deadline on Thursday...gkk.  ¶ 22:45   

  There's lots to write about, but I think I'll skip it all and make this a short post. A bit sleepy, even though (or maybe because) it's Saturday, so I believe I'll catch my Zs in a few momentos. The cat's already asleep, sprawled on the floor by my bed. Precious.

I've had a strikingly dull at-home-in-front-of-the-telly evening, watching whatever movies happened to be on -- Bedazzled and Way of the Gun, in fact -- and playing quite a lot of Buffy on the old Xbox. More about that tomorrow. And yes, I'm just too lazy to come up with any decent links.

Nighty-night.  ¶ 23:49   

  Today shall forever be known in infamy as Hell Day. Come to think of it, it's Friday the 13th, which would explain a lot.

All of the day was spent in preparation for the big move. I'd already packed most of my stuff, aside from my PC and whatever crap I needed to do my job, but there was still stuff around the office that needed packing and labelling and moving. There was also garbage to be tossed out, and other people to help.

Around noon, my PC began stuttering. I switched it off. I switched it on. It now refused to boot, or to even recognise the fact that I'm running Windows 2000. And with the network department busy, there was no one to assist. I was forced to surrender.

Long story short, it appears that both my hard-disks are shot. This sort of stuff happens to me often, and I always lose so much work. There are tons of documents, e-mails, pictures, and private files -- including MP3s -- that I have no backups of anywhere. I backed up my mail a few weeks ago, but everything I've received since then, including mail I retrieved from the server this morning, is dead, kaput, gone (so resend it, if there's anything important). Worst of all, the documents I've been working on lately have all been wiped.

Ggggggggggk!

Yeah, yeah; I know. I should do backups more often, but it's so easy to forget. Thing is, I've lost at least five hard-disks at work through simple misfortune. They've just died on me. I've never had that problem on any non-work PCs. And no one else at the office has been as unlucky as me. Me and HDs don't get along. I don't even do anything to them. It happens between the switching off and the switching on. It's bloody frustrating, mate.

Oh well. There's no point spending the weekend worrying about it, even though I've lost weeks of work. There's nothing to be done until Monday, and I'm sure things are going to be quite chaotic at work the first couple of days. Maybe, hopefully, there's some way to fix the disks. I'm just praying my PC and all my boxes filled with useless junk find their way to my new office without being subjected to some horrifying accident.

At least I got my copy of Buffy for the Xbox today. Yay! Can't wait to play it. I paid an arm and a leg for it, so it'd better be damn, damn good.  ¶ 17:44   

  Forgot to mention that I had Spanish class numero dos today, and it was all fun and stuff. Yup. Except for being hushed by the teacher, I did quite well, thank you very much.  ¶ 21:49   

  Long, headachy day today.

I didn't want to mention it until it was official, but we're moving. "We" as in "Funcom". We're relocating our offices, after (I believe) almost six years. This is a Good Thing, by the way. We're all sick and tired of our current/old offices. And we're not moving very far -- another five minutes down the road, if you're walking. But the past few days have been hell, as there's been mucho packing and lifting and throwing stuff away in addition to the already-filled-to-the-brim-with-things-to-do standard workday. And I have a lot of crap, accumulated through my eight long years with the company. I've tossed a lot of this crap in the garbage, but there's still a mountain of crap left, and now that's all been packed into cardboard boxes, ready for the short trip down the road. Where I'll probably leave it in the boxes for the next five years.

Come Monday morning, everything will be ready for us, and I'll be able to squeeze myself into a much smaller office, together with four other guys, a video-editing suite, and a motion-capture setup. Yay-ness. And such. I've grown used to having space around me. Now I'll have people around me. All. The. Time. Ack!

But new offices equals a new start, more inspiration, and (probably) better working conditions. So everyone benefits. Even the people who play our games. Promise. I'll submit a full report about our new space next week.  ¶ 21:48   

  Today. One year.

It's hard to believe that so much time has passed, so quickly.

I'm not going to write a lot, because there's been enough of that. Writing. Commentary. Views. Opinions.

I haven't been back to New York City this past year. The city was my home for many years, I've visited often since then, and I have friends and family there. I want to go back, and soon, and I know it'll be painful. But I have to see.

Still, this day, September 11th, is just a day. Making it anything more -- or less -- than that just doesn't seem right. It's important to remember, and it's important to mark the occasion, but it's dangerous to linger too long in the pain and the anger. For those who lost friends and loved ones, it must be possible to mourn. But to use this day as a rallying call for war, that isn't right. The war might be justified, but it shouldn't be celebrated.

I'm not saying that this has happened -- in America or elsewhere. From what little I've seen of today's events, it all appears respectful and muted, as it should be. And every year, as this day arrives and passes, I hope the pain will be less, and that, eventually, there will be no reason to stand up and use this day to muster support for a campaign against terrorists and their actions.

Eventually, I hope, there will be no reason to do that.

Even so, there's been an unreality to this day that's shared by many of the people I'm around; a sense of trepidation, perhaps, a sense of sadness, and a sense of melancholy for what was lost -- but also a sense of hope. One year ago, many shared the fear that things would only spiral downwards, that the world was on the brink of self-destruction, that world-wide war was imminent, and that liberty was under mortal threat. Now, that seems very unlikely. Terrorists have not gained the upper hand. Democracy prevails. We live. The world is here, and it's pretty much the same as it ever was, except, perhaps, a little wiser to the fact that we need to be vigilant, and never allow those who seek destruction to destroy our hope in the future.  ¶ 23:54   

  Back again, as promised, with some thoughts. Actually, that link below doesn't contain the whole letter, so I'm posting it here for everyone to read in its entirety, and I've added a few comments at the bottom:

Greetings all,

I’m afraid I have some really bad news.

Funcom is putting Midgard on permanent hold - entombing it in the permafrost, so to speak - and moving on.

It may sound brutal, but there are several reasons why we're not going to proceed with Midgard at this point.

If you look at the massively multiplayer online worlds in production, it's obvious that there are lots of great medieval fantasy games in the pipeline, and many of them will feature game-play similar to what we’ve designed for Midgard.

Midgard was a unique concept, and it was never going to be "just another fantasy world". After all, it was based around the exciting history and mythology of the Viking Sagas. But, since much of modern fantasy springs from Northern European mythology, Midgard would still be pitched against a number of broadly similar settings.

Basically, what that means, is that Midgard was the right game at the wrong time.

There’s still some hope, however distant and faint. Midgard remains a strong and unique concept, and we'd love to get back to it... some sunny day.

If we ever do decide to restart the project, however, Midgard won't see the light of day until 2006 - at the earliest. We're going to keep the website and the forums up-and-running, but don't expect to hear anything more about the game... at least not for another few years.

So there you have it, guys. Thanks for your support and for sticking with us this long, and keep in mind that, although I'm as heartbroken as you are, I also believe that we've made the right decision. Our options are wide open now, and Funcom will make another massively multiplayer online game.

In the meantime, go play Anarchy Online! It may not have any Vikings or longboats or fjords, but it's a great game getting better by the day!

Farewell,
Ragnar
Ex-Game Director of Midgard (RIP)

I don't expect this news to come as a great shock to anyone. After all, it's almost exactly one year since the Midgard-team was put to work on AO. But it's still sad. There was a lot of promise in the concept and in the work we did, especially with the design, and with the concept and pre-production art. Hopefully we'll be able to post some of it on the site -- there's so much great art, it'd be a real shame if it went to waste. The good thing was that a lot of those talented people were put to work on Anarchy Online, and really making a difference. Compare AO as it was a year ago to how it is today. How's that for a makeover? The AO team did do a great job, given the circumstances, but they needed help, and help they got.

So, Midgard's death was never in vain, not for a second. Funcom is still around, we still have the only big sci-fi MMOG out there, and we're still kicking arse and taking names...whatever that means.

As for why we've decided to let Midgard go... Fact is, this is not the best time to put a lot of time and effort into a fantasy-style MMOG...especially one as ambitious as Midgard, with gameplay that's never been proven to work in a massively multiplayer setting. Like the letter above says, I do hope we can return to Midgard some sunny day. But not today.

This is also a strange and unfortunate day to be breaking the news, but that's just coincidence, so don't read anything into it. We were going to make this announcement on Monday, but -- surprise, surprise -- there were delays. And there's so much else happening, it's hard for everyone to get everything out on time. Witness the latest patch, for example. Trust me when I say it's better to do it right than to deliver on time.

It's late, I'm tired, and I have one more post I want to write before hitting the hay. But I expect there'll be a lot of reader mail tomorrow, so I'll post some of your comments in the journal, and talk more about Midgard soon.

And, hey, one more thing: Don't ask me -- well, you can ask, but don't expect an answer -- about any Next Big Thing. Funcom will keep making games, but when, and what, and how, and why...that's an issue for another time. We're not going to make any announcements any time soon, and AO will remain our number one priority for a long time, especially with the Booster Pack and Expansion Pack in the pipeline. They're both occupying a lot of people's time, believe me. So the fact that Midgard is going into permanent hibernation doesn't mean that there's anything to replace it with. But neither does it mean that there's nothing to replace it with. Either way, you won't hear it from me. 'kay? Good.  ¶ 23:22   

  Bad news, I'm afraid:

A Letter from the Creative Director to the Midgard Community

I'll post a few thoughts later tonight...  ¶ 19:30   

  Just a good-night post, and a link:

Was Hitler human?

Can and should "true evil" be humanised, explained, and demystified?

I've been intrigued by this movie ever since I first read about the script, several years ago, and I have no doubt that Cusack and company have done the subject justice in a considered and responsible way. Noah Tyler is perfect for the part of the young Hitler, and I hope the writer and director haven't shied away from the tough issues.

As for the question above -- if we don't attempt to look behind the mask of evil, we'll never understand it, and it'll be harder to prevent it. To treat Hitler as merely a pale copy of Sauron -- the way he's usually presented; a stereotypically evil tyrant, a demon from hell, almost a fictional, mythical character of Indiana Jones movies, Bugs Bunny cartoons, and South Park Christmas Specials -- lessens the reality of it. This movie will hopefully make us see how a "normal" person can become something much less than (but still frighteningly) human...a true and real evil.  ¶ 00:01   

  Hey all.

I realise that it's important to post even when there's nothing to post, just to reaffirm my presence and the continued existence of this journal. So, after a brief -- but oh-so painful silence -- there will be daily updates again. Daily. As in every day. Except weekends. Holidays. And the odd non-weekend-non-holiday-day.

Besides, I'm out of the creative slump and back in action. Baby.

What's happened? It's been a turbulent weekend, and an even turbulent-er week...so far (it's only Tuesday -- who knows, the world could end tomorrow). Saw Spirited Away on Sunday, and it was wonderful, everything I'd hoped for, and more. Beautifully drawn, amazingly imaginative, funny, sad, magical, and spiritual. Very, very inspiring. Great little touches, and a movie that brilliantly mixes the grotesque with the comedic, the sweet and melancholy with the dark and terrible, the mythical with the contemporary. Perhaps not quite as brilliantly as Princess Mononoke, but it's hard to top perfection. It really is. Catch it at the cinema if you can, buy the DVD if you can't. You won't regret it.

The party on Friday was low on the fancy, and short on the schmancy. It was, in fact, a rather regular gallery opening with complimentary wine, followed by a rather regular loud-crowds-drinking-lots-of-beer thingy.

The web-guys at Funcom launched newly revised Anarchy Online site today, which looks sweet. Change is good.

I began working on a big story-related journal entry on Friday, but other things popped up, so I haven't had time to finish it. Yet. I'll post it later this week, probably, pending some major tasks waiting for me at the office. We're- well, maybe that's not official quite yet. I'll hold off on it until someone else leaks it. I hate being the...leaky leak all the time.

More tomorrow.  ¶ 23:40   

  I got my package from Amazon Japan today with Miyazaki's Spirited Away. That was really quick. They said it'd take four to six weeks. It took two. It can't possibly have gone by land (i.e. sea), like the site said. Boats travel slowly.

Planes fast. Boats slow. Even a child knows this.

But it did indeed arrive, and I just watched the first ten minutes. Amazing. Can't wait to watch the rest of it, probably this weekend. Too bad none of the extras have English subtitles, though. They look pretty interesting. The US DVD will probably be released this Christmas, so I'll pick that up too.

Had my first Spanish-lesson tonight. It was a lot of fun. Learned some basics, and ninety minutes flashed by in a jiffy. The three of us - my brother, my pal Dag, and myself - were pretty much the only guys in the class (there was one other, but he was together with his girlfriend, so he'd probably being forced into attending). Everyone else, including the teacher: women (obviously). Does this mean that it's unmanly to learn Spanish? That it's a womanly pursuit, much like knitting and childbirth? What sexist nonsense, says I! Poo on archaic norms and societal expectations!

And, heck, what's so wrong about spending Thursday evenings in a classroom filled with women, expanding my cultural and linguistic horizons? Nothing, that's what. Nothing at all.

Besides, the teacher was really cute. Never a bad thing.

Tomorrow, it's Friday (in case you'd missed that somehow), and I've been invited to a fancy-schmancy party - the official opening of a seasonal exhibit here in Oslo - where I, a base commercialist, will mingle with the high-and-mighty of the artistic elite. And drink lots of white wine, probably. I'll have to, just to work up the guts to say "hullo" to people who probably quote Sartre and Kant like I quote Buffy the Vampire Slayer (i.e. often, and well). I haven't even read Don Quixote yet. I'll be the odd man out. Then again, there's fun to be had, new people to meet, and, of course, white wine.

I'll wear my Good Jeans.

Feel like sleeping a lot this weekend, but I've finally gotten around to working on the outline of a new screenplay - currently called "Sunflower" - that I'm pretty excited about, so I should really spend some time with that, while I'm still extremely motivated. I'll talk more about it when it's progressed beyond the pen-and-paper stage. In about, oh, four weeks.  ¶ 23:43   

  This is probably the best piece of marketing hype I've ever heard:

"Halo 2 is a lot like Halo 1, only it's Halo 1 on fire, going 130 miles per hour through a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas... And the ninjas are all on fire, too."
- Jason Jones
Bungie Studios

Updates have been a bit scarce (and brief) lately, and that's partly due to busy workdays and little spare time, and partly due to a seasonal lack of inspiration. There's basically been precious little to write about. There's also stuff that I can't write about, for obvious reasons. And there's stuff that I would never, ever tell anyone else. (Like this weird dream I had the other night - boy-oh-boy, the thoughts that go through my twisted head...)

This evening I begin my Spanish class, and I'm actually a bit nervous. The last time I was in a classroom in front of a teacher was, I believe, in 1993, and I have this irrational fear that I'll be called on to speak without knowing a single word in Spanish. And that my pants will fall off. And everyone will laugh.

Okay, so I know a few words, but most aren't the sort of words you speak in front of a teacher, let alone a classroom filled with complete strangers. It'll be...interesting. And also a lot like going back in time, except without the benefit of the funky DeLorean.

Hail to the King, baby!  ¶ 16:52   

  Doh! Asheron's Call 2's Beta has been temporarily halted, leaving me...well, Beta-less. Just when I was starting to enjoy myself. All right, back to Anarchy Online we go!

Yesterday, I got Super Mario Sunshine and Super Monkey Ball 2 (everything's just super) for my GameCube, and although I didn't spend more than an hour with each game, first impressions are favourable. So far, however, Mario hasn't wowed me the same way Super Mario 64 did, but then I didn't expect it would. Crappy FMVs and voice-acting, and too much up-front story (I want to start playing - if I wanted a good story, I'd play an adventure, not a platform game) diminishes the experience, but the game itself feels great, and looks solid. It's not revolutionary, but it's more Mario, and that's always a good thing.

Super Monkey Ball 2's story mode is frighteningly absurd and nightmarishly alien - filled to the brim with weird character voices and a twisted, only-makes-sense-to-a-child plot - but more fun than the first one. Of course, the multiplayer mini-games are the most fun, and worth the price of admission.  ¶ 12:28   

  Last night (literally: 3 AM), I became an official Asheron's Call 2 Beta-tester. Woohoo! Unfortunately, the game refused to run on my home PC (doh!), but it's working decently on my office PC, although it's far below minimum specs.

First impressions? They're a competitor, so there's that whole conflict of interest thing going on, but so far, so good. I was a big fan of the first one, and I like the scope of it - the sprawling, open world; the grand vistas; the epic landscapes. But, like I said, I can't really talk too much about it. Suffice it to say, a new MMOG is always good fun - especially when it's a brand new world I don't know anything about (as opposed to, say, Anarchy Online, where absolutely nothing is a mystery to me anymore).  ¶ 15:50