November 6th

Happy fucking election day.

Anon Strikes Back

I just spent the last half and hour or so watching Twitter go crazy over Anon's response to the take down of Megaupload (currently trending under "the internet strikes back" at the time of this posting).

The call to arms went out earlier:


Here's the thing- this will probably prove to be counterproductive to yesterday's massive protests. Still, it feels damn good to watch the people hell bent on dismantling the greatest platform for free speech mankind has ever known get a little cyber cider in their eyes courtesy of Anonymous.

In case you were wondering? Some of the rat fucks behind PIPA are already running scared.

New Comic

I give you, Get your censor on

SOPA/PIPA

The problems with SOPA and PIPA are numerous, but they condense to one unavoidable point: Both pieces of legislation give sweeping censorship powers to corporations. This will not only increase self censorship- it will stifle future innovation and creativity by making the internet a riskier place to start new businesses, which in turn will lead to fewer and more cautious investors. This is actually what corporations like the MPAA and RIAA want. This isn't really about piracy because these bills don't really have chance at stopping piracy. This is about shutting down competition.

One of the founders of Veoh details how Universal Music (UMG) through a completely groundless lawsuit abused the DMCA and ultimately forced him to sell the start-up off in a fire sale.

Today Ars Technica is contributing to the fight against these two extremely dangerous pieces of legislation by arming the populace with loads of information.

Artists (you know, the "content generators" that SOPA and PIPA are going to murder the internet to allegedly protect) say that the bills would do far more harm than good.

Google has a take action page.

In case you're still unclear:


Alright, here's a song:


Finally, somethings never change (language warning):



Contact your Congress people.

Update: A host of webcomics are participating in the blackout strike.

Why I Love This Town

BPD were arresting a gentleman for- honestly- what the fuck ever because it's Baltimore. The interesting thing is that while they were cuffing the suspect a random dude attacks one of the arresting officers. The funny thing is that exact freaking thing happened in the very first episode of The Wire. I tell you, this town.

What I'm Currently Reading (and some other stuff)

Hope you had a fun and happy solstice and that 2012 proves better than 2011.

Since the DC reboot two things have happened. Thing the first is that my local comic shop closed. Lame. Thing the second is that I decided to just have the three (soon to be five) monthlies that I'm reading delivered. Thank you, Comix Zone. In case you were wondering? Getting comics in the mail is so very awesome.

Currently reading:
Wonder Woman
Batwoman
Super Girl

Will start reading this month:
Birds of Prey
Justice League

I am also using the hell out of my Crunchyroll subscription. No, I am still not watching Naruto. I am, however, watching Battle Girls Time Paradox which is kind of like someone was watching a lot of Koihime Musou and thought "Hey, why don't we do this with feudal Japan instead of just ripping off classic Chinese literature?". It's not as fun as Kiohime, but it's good. I just finished Murder Princess, which probably benefits from being 6 episodes long considering that it's fairly consistently meh. The animation isn't terrible, but it's not particularly good either. The plot is fairly predictable. The characters are unremarkable standard anime types. And while I will never stop wishing that Funimation would offer subs as readily available as their dubbed work, the voice acting in Murder Princess is acceptable. (Or maybe I mean that I wish Netflix offered subtitle options for more of it's instant selection?) It's pretty heavy on the romantic two girl friendship, which is something. I guess. So, Murder Princess: Come for the intriguing concept of a near death experience causing a princess to swap bodies with a bounty hunter (of monsters) and then convincing that bounty hunter to avenge her father's death and protect the kingdom, realize that the A-plot is pretty meh, then end up staying for the les yay (which is intense enough to practically be the B-plot). If you like that sort of thing.

I've been dragging my feet on finishing Geroge R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons because I have been informed that the end will make me want to punch Mr. Martin. More so than usual.

I finally finished Planetary. It took longer than I expected because something happened in the second volume that crawled inside of me and murdered something precious. That is not a complaint; it means that story was resonating with me. Still, it took me a while to get through that. Though I am pleased to say that volumes 3 and 4 resurrected that precious thing. The art is beautiful and the story is nothing short of amazing and ridiculously fun. Seriously, guys. Planetary is totally on my favorites list.

I have also been running around the land of Skyrim killing the ever loving fuck out Dragons and just about anything else that I come across. It is sweet.

On Comics

Credentials are in order, I suppose. I started off reading Spider Man back when I was a not quite so wee tyke. I dropped Spidey (and the rest of my Marvel reading) with the clone saga. I stopped reading comics for a number of years, but started picking up trade paperbacks some years back. I returned to monthlies (DC) three months before they announced the reboot.

Come September, I'll be picking up...well, I'm not quite sure yet, but I'll keep reading comics. I guess September will begin a chronicle of a lapse comic nerd trying to cope with the DCU reboot. To kick things off, we should start with my current pull list:

-Batgirl
-Birds of Prey
-Secret Six
-Wonder Woman
-Batman Inc
-Power Girl
-Zatanna
-Detective Comics

Anyone keeping track can see several problems coming down the pike in September already.

That said, TPB's that I'm catching up on:
-Powers
-Planetary
-Hellboy
-Fables
-100 Bullets
-Sandman
-Wonder Woman (selected)
-the occasional impulse buy

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.

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.

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.

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:

Great Old Spice

Eldritch horror for the win.

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

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.

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

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.

Creeeeeeepy

Just. Creepy. And, no, the pie doesn't help.

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?