11.19.2010

Golden.

I love heading over to Pravda's English site and scanning headlines because more often than not you will find a thing of great beauty. Today's big winners?

Birth of twins: Devil's will or double joy?

And

Magic rituals lead to ecological disaster.

Awesome.

11.11.2010

There Are Two Ways To Look At This

The first is that the technology behind this 3D hologram and its synthetic voice is pretty darn sweet.

The second is to return to that place that we call "oh, Japan."

You will probably experience both of those perspectives in that order.

Also? Why did it have to be a horrific-dinner-plate-eyed anime girl? So, I guess that technically makes three ways.

10.31.2010

Stewart-Colbert Rally: I Was There

Living in Baltimore and having off yesterday, I teamed up with a friend and headed down to DC. I figured if a good number of people showed up both sides would try to spin it. (And having attended Tea Party rallies, I know exactly how that ends up.) As it turned out a huge number of people showed up. Seriously.

I spent today surfing the web checking out what various sources are saying about the event. A lot of it is spin. The left is claiming it as a Democrat event. The right is marginalizing it (when they're not ignoring it altogether). I see a lot of people doing what the left does to the right- namely posting the loonies and ignoring everyone else. I think yesterday was important- if not for the national dialog then at least for the people who attended (physically or online).

A lot of people would like to get back to a place where no one was Hitler or Stalin except for Hitler and Stalin. A lot of people think that being obstructionist not because you honestly disagree with a thing, but for the sake of partisan obstructionism is actively detrimental to the ability of our country to function. And yesterday was a way for a lot of people to express that. So I'm writing this post. And here are a few things I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else:

1.) It really was non-political: Stewart and Colbert kept things light and non-partisan. Stewart's speech (scroll down) at the end summed up the idea nicely. Sure, you had a number of people who defined "sanity" as their own political agenda, but they were definitely in the minority from what I observed.

2.) There were Republicans!: Granted, there were certainly more Democrats, but it was by no means a one party event.

3.) Most people seemed to be fed up with both parties.

4.) From what I saw it was pretty interesting mix of people. But then I was amongst the (larger) number of people who couldn't see the stage at all (figure 2/3 to 3/4 of the crowd- but just a guess based on our location (land marks) and aerial photos.) Posts closer to the stage definitely have a monochromatic theme going on though. Still, after everything ended walking through the crowd and around the mall the mix seemed pretty good.


You might be thinking "Sure, now that Democrats are in power using inflammatory rhetoric necessitates a call to "restore sanity", but where were they when people were comparing Bush to Hitler?" And you'd be right- there are a hell of a lot of hypocrites in this world, but being a hypocrite doesn't make you wrong. The appropriate thing to do when other people act like an ass isn't for you to act like an ass too. But there are two possibilities for yesterday: 1.) I spent the day surrounded by a bunch of hypocrites with a good point. Or, 2.) I spent the day with a bunch of people who had finally had enough. Either way you cut it, I don't find a loss.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the phone died on the walk from the car because I forgot to charge it the previous night. (I did hope to be able to get at least a few shots before it quit, but no such luck.)

Anyway...that's all I have for you for now.

10.14.2010

Uh...Huh...?

I guess the first thing is this. An online Collectible Card Game (CCG) based around the Stargate franchise is, frankly, weird to me. And it's less the Stargate and more the online CCG that's doing the weirding. I can't even put my finger on exactly why it's weirding me out- in my younger days I played a number of CCG's from Magic: The Gathering to Marvel Overpower. What I do know is that conceptually it gives me a sense of unease somewhere between my first 2NE1 music video and the idea of a bug laying eggs in my ear.

So the second thing would be 2NE1, a K-pop band which serves as either a raging indictment of the wholesale exportation of American culture or a testament to the universality of girls shaking their...assets... as an indicator of cultural awesomeness. Possibly both. Picture, if you will...never mind. I'll just show you.

This was the first 2NE1 video I was exposed to (thank you, Jacob):


Then I found this, at which point I honestly did not even know what I was watching anymore:

9.15.2010

Great Old Spice

Eldritch horror for the win.

9.10.2010

I Don't Know If I Should Laugh Or Vomit

Maybe the vomit part is just the hangover talking, but still....Uwe Boll (nope, not just the hangover) is taking on the Holocaust.(unfortunately, you'll remember his "movies" House of the Dead, **Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, ect.) You're not delusional- you read that correctly. The man who essentially made a career on raping the collective gamer childhood is making a movie about the Holocaust. Specifically Auschwitz.

Granted, Mr.Boll has made a number of films not based on video games. They also suck in ways previously unknown to mankind.

*Hat tip: J.

**Corrected

9.03.2010

Oldy But Goody

Once upon a time the radio was something actually worth listening to. Back in those bountiful days Baltimore's 98 Rock actually rocked. They also had a sense of humor and did much to fan the flames of Dundalk-Essex rivalry. In that spirit, I give you the classic Devil Went Down to Dundalk.

8.23.2010

So Very Well Done

Star Wars as a silent movie.

Hat tip: Kevin

What Would Largo Do?

Aside from be awesome that is. Apparently a heck of a lot. Including building a java fueled car. For those of you who are not webcomic addicts: *Mega Tokyo.

*Archive binge warning.

Hat tip: R-san

8.15.2010

Pics From The Con Weekend









Way late, but here anyway. 3 were taken by a friend who was on staff.

So Very Wrong

Squid fly. That is all.

8.03.2010

Technical Difficulties

Been having some issues with my network hub, but I hope to get pics from the weekend up over the next day or so. Sadly, I had to take them with my phone, but better than nothing, eh?

7.30.2010

Under Siege

Otakon is in town for the weekend. Staff rolled out the setup yesterday and today the hordes arrive. Here's the rub, otaku aren't the geekiest out there, but as a whole they're pretty grody.

Look, I'm just going to say it: There are a lot of geeks out there for whom the flak with regards to personal hygiene and social skills is not undeserved. In addition there is a particular brand of geek-girl who, by simply being very likely the only (but possibly one of very few) girl(s) that will speak to/associate with geek boys has essentially attained queen-b status. 90% of otaku fall into those two categories (oddly enough, yaoi fangirls not so much).

So, that's thing the first. Thing the second would be convention behavior for certain geek groups. Which, look, there's just something that happens when a lot of geeks come together and it's rarely pretty. Sure, I want to go to Comic-Con (I also want to go to E3), but it pretty much stops there. Those are conventions where the pull (in my book) is worth the horror show that is geeks en mass. I'm not saying they're all huge neck-beards. Most of them are quite average looking (cos-play aside).

At any rate expect photos over the weekend.

7.29.2010

Good Morning, Baltimore!

A Hopkins researcher was robbed and stabbed to death walking home from Penn Station. Baltimore (or at least the part that's not, you know, killing people) is outraged that the murderous scum isn't just murdering other murderous scum.

The year so far.

(I'll post an image later. This comp is giving me grief about it.)

Chewbacca On A Squirrel Fighting Nazis

Really really! It's weird and awesome.

7.28.2010

Science News Cycle

The awful truth.

Wonderful!

L.A.B.W. has trailer goodness.

There Are No Words To Describe The Pure Awesome

SyFy makes me either giddy or mortified. This? So. Freaking. Giddy. I might even watch the movie.
Mega Python vs. Gatoroid - Sneak Peek

*added* I mean, what's better than a cat fight between washed-out pop starlets?

And Then There's This

While we're on the subject of Comic Con, I feel I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Fred Phelps took his trashy ass act to the convention- or rather the street outside of the convention, and Comic Con responded the way...well, the way only a bunch of geeks can:

I Will Go To Comic Con...

...at least once in my life. I will go because things like this must be seen live and surrounded by fellow geeks.

It's A Step

Anticipating Californians' passing of a law permitting casual marijuana use, Oakland (a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" to be sure) is working out how to tax it. My dig at Oakland aside, that's some rare good news to come out of Cali.

The End Of History, Indeed

The folks at Brew Dog are apparently to be watched out for. Plus? It's in a stoat.

7.27.2010

o_0

Hot girl fights Germans, dragons, and samurai. I give you Sucker Punch. You watch trailer now!

Great News Everyone!

The U.S. Copyright Office has decided that it's no longer illegal for you to use your property like it's, you know, your property. I'm snarky, but only because it was fucking stupid in the first place.

If we were talking about an individual it'd be like "Well golly, is there something else you shouldn't be doing in the first fucking place that we can give you a medal for? Like not like not assaulting little old women?". But it's the government so we'd damn well better pat its idiot delinquent fucking head and give it a cookie so that it doesn't follow it up with taking a crap on the couch when company is over.

*Hat tip: Kevin

It's So Creepy



Also, Jonathan Coulton is awesome.

7.21.2010

Sorry For That Earlier Post

So to make up for it here's our old friend Shiina Ringo (hooked up with Tokyo Jihen this time).


Watch Tokyo Jihen (Just Can't Help It) ~ Yukiguni in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I generally dislike Tokyo Jihen, but this bit really puts Ms. Ringo's talents to use unlike so much of what they do.

Again, sorry about earlier.

110 Million



*This is also why no one sings along to Dr. Wily's theme from Mega Man 2.

7.19.2010

Oh, For Fuck's Sake

Maryland State Trooper caught with over 3,000 images of child porn on his computer. No, I honestly do not know what the hell to say to that.

Librarians Pokerface...

Don't know what to tell you.

7.16.2010

Curious

So I'm trying to get into SyFy's new show, Haven, but it's just not holding me. Which is weird because it's components- at least a good number of them- would usually be a game maker for me. In the pilot we had a woman who controlled the weather with her emotions. Of course her story arc revolved around a dude running a con on her so... maybe it's just that Haven seems to be about making super powers boring?

I stopped watching Heroes because it was angst-ridden, repetitive, and direction-less, but at least it wasn't boring. It just sucked. So what does that say about Haven?

In all fairness only one episode has aired, but the pilot is your bait and hook. Haven's pilot just left me with a general feeling of meh. Decidedly underwhelmed would be a fine way to put it. I sat through a little under a season and a half of Dollhouse and that was really based on The Joss more than overall quality of the show. Haven doesn't have The Joss or anything even remotely comparable, so it has three more episodes to win me. That's about as long as I gave Painkiller Jane, which- to be fair- Haven is nowhere near that bad. (PKJ was so bad it was offensively embarrassing. Hell, I was embarrassed on behalf of everyone involved in that debacle.) Haven is just boring.

But in a show about a town of people, some of whom have super powers or something "boring" should never come to mind. Which brings us to something else. What the hell is Haven about really? We've met one character with super powers- maybe two? Our intrepid FBI agent isn't on duty, but on vacation to explore a possible connection between the town and her biological mother (our daring FeeBee having been raised in an orphanage). And her being sent to town for her initial investigation was apparently some sort of plot. That's a lot to pull together and nothing in the pilot built any sort of case for those things being anything other than a bunch of loose unrelated bits. Or maybe it did and I just missed it because there was something more interesting happening elsewhere. Like paint drying in the hallway.

Facebook Group....

OF DOOM!!! No. Really.

7.14.2010

No Offense To This Guy...

...but his wife is clearly a goddamn lunatic. Seriously, if my scroll bar is anything to go by, then I've just scratched the surface of this article and I can already tell.

The very second she said, "I don't want to have sex until Bella does." (yes, from Twilight), he should driven them both to his lawyer's home address, rang the bell, and demanded that divorce papers be drawn up at once on the grounds of his wife's newly discovered gross mental instability.

Rocket Propelled Chainsaw

I have no idea where I'd use this or what I'd use it for, but I know that I want one.

Hat tip goes to Kevin.

7.04.2010

Timing Is Everything

Mr.Smith Goes To Washington is on TCM right now. It remains one of my 3 favorite films of all time.

6.29.2010

Good Job Japan

I missed the final moments of the Japan/Paraguay match today. Paraguay took it in a penalty shootout, but Japan's team played good football. I was pulling for them and it was nice to see them make it this far. Looking forward to seeing what they bring to the table 4 years from now.

Congratulations, Paraguay on a hard fought match.

6.22.2010

One Step Closer To Those 1950's Sci-Fi Films About The Future

New Zealand company, Martin, has developed jet packs (that's right, jet packs) that they're hoping to start selling to private consumers by the end of this year.

I say now's the perfect time to start pushing the FAA to beef up it's capabilities. The only more tragic than not having jet packs, is having them and having the man keep you grounded.

Particles! Physics!

So...there may be 5 types of Higgs-Boson.

Wait. What. Just...Why?!

So in a handy little helping of "Why the sweet baby Jesus would you do that!?" I give you a link to the free ebook, Marienbad My Love*, the world's longest book.

Also? Here's what the "author" has to say for himself.


I think my summer reading project will be making my way through this monster. According to TVtropes' so bad it's horrible entry on it (4th entry down), not a word of it makes a lick of sense. Don't worry, I'll be sharing my trials and tribulations with you lovely people. So...I guess that means it's new tag time! I kind of want it to be something descriptive of what I'm sure will be the coming brain melting, but we'll just settle for MML.

I'll be starting the title today.

*Shortened- the full title is 60 pages long. No, really.

6.07.2010

Awesome And Cute

ZOMG, Baltimore, WTF

Seriously.

So over the weekend a Baltimore City police officer shot some dude 6 times (fired his gun 13 times) outside of a bar because- wait for it- the dude grabbed the ass of the officer's female companion. Needless to say, the dude is dead.

Additional fun facts:
1.) Baltimore City police are required to carry their fire arms at all times when within city limits. On or off duty.

2.) Our culprit has been in trouble before for shooting people while under the influence.

3.) McNulty! (end of video totally not work safe.)

I don't have anything to say about this because seriously, what.the.fuck. Though in closing, I would like to remind those of you playing along at home that The Wire was not just a show.

6.04.2010

Falcon 9 Is Go!

At 2:45pm EST SpaceX's Falcon 9 successfully made its first launch. This came after several delays (weak signal from the Failure Termination System, a sailboat in the red zone, and an abort due to the rocket entering safe mode). A heartfelt congratulations to the folks over at SpaceX. We were pulling for you.



Oh, and for anyone who's never done a live feed for a launch? Highly recommended.

SpaceFlightNow and SpaceVidCast are streaming the post show press show.

6.01.2010

More Truth In Advertising

So the following monstrosity greets weary travelers as they exit Baltimore's Penn Station:

Right. Just take a look at that sucker.

This isn't exactly new. It's been up since June of 2004. Not exactly to rave reviews. In fact, I don't really think I can say I know a single person who doesn't hate it.

But you know what? It has it's...value merit worth purpose it serves a (dubious) function well. Namely: Truth in Advertising.

This is Penn Station:

Not a bad looking piece of architecture there, right? Classic. Elegant, even. Now, just think about the fact that this piece of shit:

was plopped down in front of that gorgeous building.

The inside of the station has the same classic feel as the outside, so when people leave the station to be confronted by that...thing, they tend to have certain reactions.
1. What the shit?
2. You can't tell me someone thought that was a good idea.
3. I hope you horse-whipped the bastards.
4. How long until it's gone?
These sentiments also happen to be very common when confronting Baltimore as a whole.

Furthermore, the glaring horror of that "statue" (and the process by which it came to be) right next to Penn Station (and, ironically, mere blocks from Maryland Institute College of the Arts) is sort of a Baltimore in miniature, where no matter how nice of a neighborhood one may find oneself in, it is almost a certainty that one is no more than 3 blocks from The Wire.

So, bravo, hideous eyesore joke of a public art piece and your horribly humiliating location (also visible from a major highway). And bravo to you, cabal of tasteless bastards, who got it there.

5.20.2010

I'm So Doing This This Year



Except, I'm thinking of going with a utopian version.

5.18.2010

Injury Update...And Other Update Type Things

Went back to work April 22nd- which, it was nice to get out of my apartment and have things to actually do. Discovery: I don't write well when half of my body is out of commission and in varying degrees of pain. (Though maybe given enough time I could acclimate and become an even better writer? No. Don't want to test that.)

Cast came off of the wrist today. Now I have one of those Velcro splint things. It's funny (and a little weird) seeing how much my arm has atrophied over the past few weeks.

So sure, my injuries have something to do with my being away, but honestly I just didn't know what to say.

I found a new webcomic.

I also recommend checking out Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. It begins with out titular character trying to hang himself make himself taller. Beautifully animated to boot.

4.21.2010

People Want To Hold Signs In The Rain Today

First we have a group of students protesting the closing of their school by the Archdiocese. Enrollment dropped by 500 students, so...probably not gonna win that one. Still, they win best sign for "Archbishop aborts Cardinal Gibbons". It's nice to see kids love their school.

On the opposite end of the spectrum (and a few blocks away) we have a small gathering of (presumably) local hippies celebrating(?) "existence day". By holding up signs by the end of the park. Okay, let's take a second here, because this is the kind of shit that makes people hate hippies. Making a spectacle out of something sacred is so incredibly gross. It's like pretending to speak in tongues to appear pious or holy, or holding an orgy in the middle of the street because sex is just about growing closer. Or maybe I'm just sick of people's spiritual talk-talk. Don't say it, just fucking be it.

4.20.2010

Truth In Advertising...

...albeit, probably unintentional.

So i'm watching the O's game (depressing, but not as bad as last night which was almost suicidal) and during the break for the 7th we get the following from the announcer: Tonight's game has been brought to you by Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey, reminding you to please drink...(wait for it...wait for it...) responsibly.

Right?

Also? I got the stitches out of my left knee today so yay!

4.09.2010

Opening Day

So I sucked up my injuries and braved the crowd to today's game. There was the usual guarded hope, if a bit more pessimism than previous several seasons.
The game was good. Seriously good.

But what most people will remember is that the O's would have won if not for Michael Gonzalez, who was literally booed off of the field. I've never seen a Baltimore crowd go after one of our own like that.

If today's game is any indicator this is going to be a bumpy season for both players and fans tired of having defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

4.05.2010

Like...Seriously?

This may be the saddest thing I've seen in a while. Finer parties have told better jokes than I can manage so I'm going to just add "what the hell, people."

Seriously, What.The.Hell. Nothing says "desperate pathetic loser" like completely abdicating all responsibility for attaining the basic minimum of social skills required to meet a girl and arrange a gaming session (without having to pay). I mean...you're not even gonna have sex with this person. There will be no longing looks. No cuddles. No pimply nerd grease awkward making out. Not even D&D themed cyber sex. This is even sadder than chat room dating and that's pretty damn sad. What I'm saying here, is that anyone who has to pay people to play video games with them online should make a rope out of their filthy tube socks and hang themselves with it because they have officially failed at life.

You know what should happen when you use Game Crush (as a paying client- I can understand being a payee because that's just opportunism at it's fucking finest)? The minute you arrange your "play date" your door bell rings. You answer it and lo and behold standing on the other side is God, who then proceeds to bitch slap you for all He's worth (which, you know, is probably a lot). He then tells you that you're the most pointless creation He ever thought of. He laughs at your tears (which smell like gravy). Then, out of a newly discovered sense of shame and propriety you go back into the basement and hang yourself with the tube sock rope, making the world a better place. Congratulations! The End.

4.02.2010

Burn, Burn, Your Eyes Are Gonna Burn....

Some companies really shouldn't be online. Because I think we've just proven that there is such a thing as bad publicity.

3.19.2010

And We Though Amanda Was Losing It!

Before we get into things, I just want to cover a few things.

I've signed up for the frakking text blast for The Caprican. That's how much I love this show. I didn't even do that shit for BSG- though now I sort of wish I did. But that's like a frakking threshold thing right there.

Also? Sister Clarice is totally channeling Caprica Six.

Now on with the show!

The previouslys have Amanda! Excellent because I love her so much already. The previouslys helpfully remind us that she's going totally crazy right now- like more than usual- (or at least she totally thinks she is.)

I love how Joe and Daniel are both trying to find their daughters and both frakking up all over the place. Joe by being the biggest n00b ever and Daniel by just being desperate bullying asshole. Like the shit that dude does this week. So frakked.

Into the real game and Joe Adama is cubing the frak up.

But what I really want to talk about is how, unbelievably enough, Daniel Graystone's relationship with the Zo-bot manages to be even creepier and grosser now that he knows Zoe.2 is in there. Seriously, between this shit and the whole "rip off your arm" thing you can kind of see the world ending right before your frakking eyes.

But this is his desperate grief. Motherfrakkers trying not to drown will drown your ass in a heartbeat just trying to stay afloat. They don't mean to do it, but you're is still underwater. So in his desperation not to drown, Daniel hammers at his daughter.2 with everything in his arsenal. And it's ugly and terrible and just unbelievably sad. But mostly horrifying. Because seriously, this is what's going on: His daughter is dead and he kidnapped her avatar because "a difference that makes no difference is no difference at all", then he thought he lost that too, but now maybe not, so he engages in actual psychological war against her to get her back. Which, people do this shit to each other all the time, just without the giant robot bodies. And it's just as successful in real life as it is in this show.

And on the polar opposite end you have Joe Adama, who's back in his robe and bumbling around Grand Theft Caprica. Does he even go to work these days? I wonder if Bill has gone back to hanging out with the Tauron mafia. Anyway...Joe becomes a virtual stim-junkie and after a heart to heart with brother Sam, he takes a level in bad ass and finds a lead- a GTC cabaret and a wall of painted flowers. It's looking like daddy's little girl is making a new home for herself. His new guide points as much out, suggests that he takes his dork self back to the real world (and you know, his not dead son- though until Joe snaps out of it he's actually better off being raised by the mafia and grandmom), and Joe gets out his sad thinky face. Again.

Oh, and Vergis tells Amanda that Daniel totally had three people killed in order to steal his MCP while Daniel is downstairs trying to get Zoe.2 to talk to him by having her shoot the dog! Don't worry. The gun was loaded with blanks and it turns out that Zoe new the whole time- but wait! In the matrix she confesses to Lacy that if there had been real bullets in the gun she might have shot dear old crazy desperate dad!

This!Frakking!Show!

So next week is the season finale. I'm so excited!

In Case You Haven't Heard

Caprica is the best frakking thing on TV right now. Seriously.

It's funny. I didn't think I would like it, and the pilot did little for me- but after two episodes it was wham! And now I'm hooked. I just had to let go and let it be it's own thing. It's totally worthy of the BSG legacy.

All of the things we covered before? So there. You want to talk theology? Caprica. You want to look at the line between "us" and "them"? Caprica. How much Bill Adama rocks (even in elementary school)? Caprica. We'll be doing occasional (and maybe more than) here.

Fight Smack

Cause orphans don't have parents.

3.12.2010

What I've Been Getting Myself Into....

Slowly going the way of Steven DenBeste apparently. Anime and manga. Yeah. I know. Still, I've found some rather good items.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is an excellent (and highly traumatizing) manga and the anime does a fantastic job of keeping the creepy in tact. You can find both mediums online. Apparently there's also a live action film (ye gods!), but I'm going to hold off on that until I finish the manga series at the very least.

I just started Tetragrammaton Labyrinth. It is...interesting. Also online.

The manga for Furi Kuri (FL CL) is, impossibly, even more bizarre than the anime- and the anime was...well..."If you want to understand FLCL, watch it from beginning to end. The desire will pass."

I've also been trapped in the link maze that is TV Tropes as you can obviously see from this post.

Glad To See That I'm Not Alone

From Television Without Pity:



Hell, even the character captions think the whole Jenny storyline is bullshit. Katee Sackhoff deserves better, show! Much much better!

2.05.2010

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Blizzard.

So the snow had started coming down before I left for work. I will spend 1.5 hours on the clock today. I will then head to Best Buy (or Game Stop- both are loathed) and pick up Modern Warfare 2 or Bayonetta. Then off to the market to snag some frozen pizzas and the booze mart for some...well- booze. It's shaping up to be a long and glorious weekend filled to the brim with achievements. I'll see you on Xbox Live- totally before you see me.

1.15.2010

1.08.2010

1.07.2010