September 28, 2003

No Rubles Here

in response to Rick's latest post in which he calls FDR a commie, i have only this to say: how many goddamned world wars does a man have to win to get some fucking respect around here?

apparently, more than one.

now reading: Daredevil Vol. 1: Guardian Devil- Kevin Smith

thecomicman spoke @ 05:43 PM |

September 24, 2003

On Why Females in Literature are Horrible, Horrible People, introduction

wait for a real discussion while i go to class and formulate this like a paper of sorts. to whet your appetites, i will use the following texts for my sources:

Naomi by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, featuring Naomi

Miss Nume of Japan by Onoto Watanna (real name Winnifred Eaton), featuring Cleo

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser, featuring Carrie, Mrs. Julia Hurstwood, and Jessica Hurstwood

"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, featuring Grete, Gregor's sister

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, featuring Iran, Pris, Irmgard Baty, and Rachael

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, featuring Mrs. Joe Gargery,
Miss Havisham, Estella, and Miss Havisham's female relatives, Georgiana and Sarah Pocket

My Antonia by Willa Cather, featuring Mrs. Shimerda and Mrs. Cutter

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, featuring Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen Fairfax, and Cecily Cardew

Ukigumo by Shimei Futabatei, featuring Osei... i think (the internet has failed me; i can't find the name of the female protagonist to back me up)

Daisy Miller by Henry James, featuring Daisy Miller, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Costello, and Mrs. Walker

now reading: Me: A Book of Remembrance- Winnifred Eaton

thecomicman spoke @ 12:20 PM |

September 22, 2003

so, GameSpy is retarded

over at Penny Arcade, they mentioned that GameSpy had put up a list. this list was the 25 most overhyped games in the history of gaming. then they proceeded to be retarded. Final Fantasy VII, dear readers, was not an overhyped game. in fact, it was under-hyped. it wasn't until after the game was released and everyone realized how awesome it was that everyone was saying so. at this point, it ceases to be hype and begins to be review.

so, in conclusion, GameSpy is retarded.

now reading: The Ronin (Usagi Yojimbo, Book 1)- Stan Sakai

thecomicman spoke @ 12:08 AM |

September 21, 2003

hey, i figured it out!

the Golden Bough thing! it's not the one from the Aeneid or the one with the apples. there is another one that is important to Diana in some way or another. this Golden Bough is supposed to be protected by a priest-king. if a slave can get past the priest-king without being killed and snaps off the Golden Bough, he gets the right of trial-by-combat. if the slave wins, he becomes the new priest-king charged with protecting the Bough.

our Bough didn't seem protected by anyone and the only possible priest-king i recall was Michael (Kerry's character), but he didn't seem too interested in protecting it. my interpretation is this: if the Bough gets snapped off, whoever snapped it off has to fight the priest-king (possibly Michael) and obviously defeat him. however, the myth goes on to say that the priest-king may not leave the Bough unprotected. Michael obviously has left it, so he probably isn't this priest-king (plus, Michael is Christian and the priest-king is not supposed to be). however, i don't think Hal would be so jerky as to make the reward for defeating the priest-king a super-long stay on this island while you wait for the next guy to come and challenge you. this might end up being a single combat, like when Thalia had to beat the minotaur by herself, but i doubt it. i propose we take on this priest-king (after we get Jean-Claude's bird and figure out what's wrong with Reynaldo's boots) and take the booty that will most obviously be hidden there.

that's supposed to be Boneyard v2, but Amazon has decided not to differentiate the two volumes at all.

now reading: Boneyard 2: In Color (Boneyard (Graphic Novels))- Richard Moore

thecomicman spoke @ 02:22 PM |

why Rick's blog is actually not the best and other stuff

why Rick's blog is not the best: have you read it? seriously, have you? then that's all you need. unless of course you are as evil as he, then you might think his blog is the best.

disappointing D&D session: Hal's ex-roommate was moving and needed Halifax to help, so we didn't start 'till like 3:30. then we ended at 10:30 because Halifax was feeling tired. i don't blame him, but it was disappointing.

then i read that thing where N. quit the game the first time and i got all pissed off again, but i'm better now.

then i made Dan play 'Man's Chess' with me. this crazy version of chess makes the King less important. you can throw him into harm's way and be fine. every other rule stays exactly the same except that the object is to remove all of your opponents pieces from the board.

why Reynaldo is actually more useful than you all might care to admit: he takes risks, goddamnit! i swear to God, if he hadn't gone into the hidden room with the huge hammer on Talos Island and started poking around in that coin pile, we wouldn't have found a goddamn thing! if he hadn't run off faster than anyone else, our new, faster, better ship would have been lost at sea. sometimes, bad stuff happens, but what are adventurers to do, but risk life and limb for that quest or reward? if we were role-playing as i envision true role-playing to be like (where everyone acts like their characters would if they were actually in these scenarios), we wouldn't have so much goddamn time to plan. we'd be forced to rush into everything. N. wouldn't have time to do all his mathematical nonsense if we were truly role-playing. but that's okay. not everyone wants to do it that way (including me; i wouldn't be able to make any wiseass comments if we were truly role-playing) and that's fine. i like rushing into things, and apparently no one else does, and that's fine. if i can deal with N.'s excessive planning and Sam's lack of enthusiasm unless she's rolling dice, then you can all deal with a player who hates most planning and would rather jump into the fray. after all, it's not like i can do this shit in real life. i enjoy playing characters too. but i enjoy playing the characters that can do stuff i can't more, even if it is just a 'teenage power fantasy.'

now reading: Sister Carrie, Third Edition (Norton Critical Edition)- Theodore Dreiser, Donald Pizer

thecomicman spoke @ 01:18 AM |

September 11, 2003

this might work out after all...

it turns out Kerry is my lab instructor guy. the first one starts in about forty minutes.

this should prove interesting.

i'll let you know if he starts genetically modifying the other kids in class.

now reading: Same Difference & Other Stories- Derek Kirk Kim

thecomicman spoke @ 04:22 PM |

September 09, 2003

oh yeah, i almost forgot

i hung out at the sci-fi table for a bit yesterday at the club fair between classes, and what should i see but the funniest thing i have seen in a very long time.

almost next to each other were the tables for the 'Free Palestine' club and the 'Israel Forever' club. that's not exactly what they're called, but that is the overreaching goals for the clubs. i watched them for a bit while they attempted to persuade any poor schmuck who was unfortunate enough to stop at the 'other' table to their side.

now reading: My Antonia- Willa Cather

thecomicman spoke @ 03:27 PM |

hey, how you doin'?

school is going to be much easier than i had anticipated this semester. i was taking about three English courses per semester before and had a lot of reading every night, but this semester i had to take some courses from that ridiculous nonsense that is MAP, so i had room for only one English course (which was a blessing in disguise because almost every other class i was interested in was cancelled about three weeks ago when the English department found out it had no money). the reading is ridiculously light for me and these MAP things are easy as hell. i look forward to next semester when i can take lots of fun stuff (an English course or two [i think i'm done with the major, but what the hell], a computer class to finish off my minor, a Japanese literature course, a World War II history class, and another film class [or that Anime class if it shows up]).

fun stuff recently: i have all but one issue of Excalibur. everyone keep an eye out for Excalibur #61, the return of the Phoenix (Rachel, not Jean).

i went with Sam to go see an anime film titled "Millenium Actress." this was an excellent, excellent film... except for the last line, which in retrospect, didn't actually happen. the narration technique for the film was very unique and super-cool.

new tv season starts soon. hopefully, i will have time to view all the shows i am interested in.

look for a California post soon. i swear one is coming.

my computer is still being stupid. J-Pop tried fixing it, but the problem wasn't what he thought it was, and now Sam and i will attempt something different when we get the time.

D&D rocked this weekend. we killed a big metal man with a plan that i originally
formulated, but which in everyone pitched in a thing or two, and then the plan required usl all working in concert to bring his dumbass down. then we searched and searched... and searched.... and then searched some more until we finally found the treasure. it consisted of Speedy Boots (which i got to keep), a golden candelabra (which i got to keep because i'm greedy like that), some magic rings (which were divided between N. and Dan to hold), a big magic mace that will probably not be used for awhile because it is too heavy for, or unusable by, most of us, and those who can use it have other stuff they'd rather use, and lots of gold. i, being a mage-thief, was very happy with our findings.

i got Speedy Boots!

now reading: Marvels- Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross

thecomicman spoke @ 11:42 AM |