March 25, 2004

look at me!

I Am A: Neutral Evil Elf Mage Thief


Alignment:
Neutral Evil characters believe in Number One. Their personal gain takes precedance over all else, and they will work with whomever necessary and whatever institutions necessary to further their own goals.


Race:
Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently concern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.


Primary Class:
Mages harness the magical energies for their own use. Spells, spell books, and long hours in the library are their loves. While often not physically strong, their mental talents can make up for this.


Secondary Class:
Thieves are the most roguish of the classes. They are sneaky and nimble-fingered, and have skills with traps and locks. While not all use these skills for burglary, that is a common occupation of this class.


Deity:
Velsharoon is the Neutral Evil god of necromancy, liches, and undeath. He is also known as the Vaunted, the Archmage of Necromancy, and the Lord of the Forgotten Crypt. His followers practice the necromantic arts, and raise the dead to do their bidding. His symbol is a crowned skull.


Find out What D&D Character Are You?

ha-ha!

now reading: Hellboy Volume 3: The Chained Coffin and Others - NEW EDITION! (Hellboy (Graphic Novels))- Mike Mignola

thecomicman spoke @ 11:30 AM |

Eureka bitches!

not that any of you care, but i watched the Farrelly Bros. movie "Stuck on You" on the flight back from London (it was pretty good, and not standard Farrelly fare). this film ended with Greg Kinnear and Meryl Streep doing a "Bonnie and Clyde" musical in Martha's Vineyard (never mind why or how; watch the movie if you wanna know so bad). the important part is that Greg Kinnear sings a super-cool awesome version of Gershwin's "Summertime" that i could not for the life of me find anywhere to download. it also doesn't help that "Stuck on You" didn't have a soundtrack for mass consumption. i was racking my brain and it was pissing me off until, of all things in the cosmos, the Fox News website told me that the version that Kinnear sang was made famous by one Billy Stewart. i did a search for that and bada-bing! while not the exact version Kinnear sang, it's very fucking close. and i am happy-bo-bappy.

now reading: Hellboy Volume 2: Wake the Devil - NEW EDITION! (Hellboy (Graphic Novels))- Mike Mignola

thecomicman spoke @ 09:38 AM |

back... and to the left

apparently, people just don't know how long a week lasts anymore. i am back from London. cool stuff i did/saw/bought:

took in Evensong Mass at St. Paul's Cathedral.
took a photo of Sir Winston Churchill and Boba Fett hanging out.
saw Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament (where Big Ben is located).
crossed the Millenium Bridge to get to the Bankside of the River Thames.
went on a tour of the new Globe Theater, which is just a few yards from where the original one stood.
went to the Tower of London where a Beefeater (they don't know why they're called that either) showed me around. also, where i inadvertanly stepped on over a thousand dead people, including Queen Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More (the Man for All Seasons), and Lady Jane Grey (who, i am convinced, was one of the Phoenix's hosts). also, where the Crown Jewels are located.
bought a super-cool game called Outrage! the object of the game is to steal the Crown Jewels. we should play soon.
went to Buckingham Palace where i saw the Changing of the Guard.
watched Samantha try to pack a whole bookstore into our two suitcases to bring back home.
ate some pretty good Indian food, as well as some super good noodles at Wagamama. i still hold to the old joke that England colonized the rest of the world so they could use it as one big take-out place.

that's it. overall, i'd say London was like a Guy Ritchie movie, only not as many Pikies (you should see all the dogs with diamonds in their stomachs over there).

now reading: Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction - NEW EDITION! (Hellboy (Graphic Novels))- Mike Mignola, John Byrne

thecomicman spoke @ 09:11 AM |

March 24, 2004

"What is love?" the original post

so Sam found the original Thin Red Line post, so here it is, in all its glory:

i finally watched 'The Thin Red Line,' and i gotta say, i didn't hate it. yes, the philosophical voice-overs were annoying as hell, but it didn't detract that much. this movie was about how men cope with war. some of them cope by being super annoying with their musings on God and nature, while others stop caring about everything, while others try to find the silver lining in everything, while others still send men to their deaths to get promotions and make it all worthwhile. it wasn't the best movie ever, but neither was it the worst. it's somewhere in the middle. it would have been better if i hadn't been hit over the head with certain points.

also, i didn't catch the line that Dan keeps repeating: "What is love?" i got something very similar ("Love. Where does it come from?"), but not exactly that. did Dan just get the line wrong? nevertheless, that line wasn't so bad. actually kind of liked it (especially in context, and with the rest of the mini- speech following it). there are much worse lines in this movie, most of them spoken in voice-over by Privates Witt or Train.

in short, i liked this movie. more importantly, i finished 'Grave of the Fireflies.'

now reading: The Age of Innocence (Modern Library Classics)- Edith Wharton, Louis Auchincloss

thecomicman spoke @ 10:30 PM |

March 15, 2004

London Town

so, here i am in dreary London Town, only it's not so dreary 'cause it frickin' rocks my meerkats! except for the expensiveness of the place, it's really cool. there's alla these comic book stores all over the place and gaming stores too.

but first, some history. the plane had video games. i played Super Punch-Out and then fell asleep because i was really tired (i only slept three hours after gaming, then went to work, then to the airport). we landed and bought a weekly Tube Pass. this means we pay £20 and ride an unlimited number of times for a week. this is super cool. if you remember, Tokyo had no such magical pass and half of my money went to their mass transit system. then we went to Nina's parent's flat (where we are staying for free; thank you!), except we only had two keys, but there were three locks. as visions of sleeping in the streets of London ran through my head, Sam called Nina's mom, who called her friend in London with the extra keys, who then came and opened up the place. whew! we dropped our stuff and went out. i'm not entirely sure what happened while we were out (because i was really tired as i only slept four hours on the plane for a grand total of seven hours for two nights), except that in London, a Quarter Pounder is still a Quarter Pounder, and i can sleep for fifteen hours if i have to. today, we've been mostly on Charing Cross Road in Soho where all the bookstores are. we've been to many comic book stores as well, where i've spent only £11 so far (about $22). then we came here, to this £1 an hour internet place. we'll probably be going soon as i believe the hour is almost up.

cheerio!

now reading: Trilby (Oxford World's Classics)- George Du Maurier, Dennis Denisoff, Elaine Showalter

thecomicman spoke @ 12:23 PM |

March 11, 2004

Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula

i refuse to call it "Bram Stoker's Dracula" because it is obviously not the story that Bram Stoker wrote. i just watched it (again, apparently; it was on my list, but i don't remember watching it before, as evidenced by it being number eight for the year), and i have a few questions: where did all the sex come from? and this ridiculous love story? what the fuck? and the breasteses? why are there so many breasteses? Stoker never mentioned any breasteses. and Van Helsing, by far the coolest character in all of 19th century literature, is a crazy somamabitch that falls for Winona Ryder's breasteses and nearly dies by vampire bite even though he's supposed to be the smart one. and boy, does Coppola love nepotism. i counted five different Coppolas working on this film.

although Dracula's shadows in the castle were awesome, as was Tom Waits as Renfield. supercool.

and Monica Bellucci as one of the three vampire whores. can she ever not not show her breasteses? what is wrong with her?

now reading: Dracula (Norton Critical Editions)- Bram Stoker, Nina Auerbach, David J. Skal

thecomicman spoke @ 01:46 AM |

March 04, 2004

"What is love?"

there used to be a much better post here about how i watched "The Thin Red Line" and didn't hate it, and i gave all the reasons for why it was actually pretty good, but it got rerased when the server moved or something. now, you all have to imagine that i explained it to you and just agree with me already.

also, i watched the remaining eight minutes of 'Grave of the Fireflies.' the remaining four were credits.

now reading: The Couriers 02: Dirtbike Manifesto (Couriers)- Brian Wood, Rob G

thecomicman spoke @ 06:10 PM |

March 01, 2004

a freakin' sweep!?

i know this is an unpopular stance to take, but i don't care. the fact of the matter remains that 'Return of the King' simply wasn't that good. in fact, it was the worst of the three films. for it to win Best Picture among everything else it won is ludicrous. i thought the Oscars were supposed to vote for the best films in each category, not what the zeitgeist of the moment is. Coppola and her film deserved both best direction and picture, but whatever, it's the last 'Lord of the Rings' movie and Sofia's got a bunch more movies in her. we'll give it to her later. that's bullshit. you give it to the best movie, goddammit.

don't even get me started on the song category. every other song (with the exception of 'Scarlet Tide') was better than 'Into the West.' but hey, it's the last 'Lord of the Rings' film.

bloody tossers.

now reading: Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories of Yiddish New York- Abraham Cahan

thecomicman spoke @ 04:37 PM |