The Dark Crystal

I finally watched The Dark Crystal a few weeks ago and completely forgot to review it on my glorious blog (as if anything of any importance is ever written here). Anyways, as I child I remember this movie being so pretty, the story enchanting but a little bit on the creepy side.

To be perfectly honest, that's exactly what I got out of it this time as well. Of course, there was a lot to laugh about at this age too, like the very hippy/organic overtones, but on a whole it was a great movie.

I'm a very BIG fan of puppets. I find it an amazing talent that is little used now in todays digital age. For this reason I was enthralled with this movie. The puppets so imaginative and well made and just watching them move shows the brilliance behind them. There are very little times you feel the puppeteers are awkward with their monstrosities (though those big crab bug things could have been made a little better).

The story itself was good too. Not too adult or too childish. It's a little new age for me but it was a complex story done right. They added a history to the story which was well done and gave it depth, but they didn't elude to it too much and focused more on the "here and now" so to speak.

All in all, this is a great family movie, one I think made for all ages. It's still one of my top childhood movies even after watching it again as an adult.

College for the already graduated

I've been looking to begin classes again to prepare myself for eventual graduate school and it's really become quite frustrating. It's so hard to find classes to fit my nice 9-5 working schedule which really sucks. I have to say, I'm really losing hope in the United States roster of professors. What happened to the good old days when your professors were also action/adventure archaeologists that go around the saving the world and only hold class once a year?!?

Wait? Indiana Jones wasn't real? Well how was I supposed to know that? I wasn't even born when the first movie came out, I can't judge what professors were like in a time I didn't even exist...all I have to go by is Dr. Jones.

Anyways, this is really tough finding professors who even want to answer your questions let alone actually help you out and give a course after 4pm...woe is me and to my finally cushy 9-5 schedule.

Spirituality in the US

So I've been doing some research on Buddhism specifically the art created for it in China and I must say that the western world sure knows how to skew things. I've had so much trouble weeding out the historical books from the 'spiritualism' writings it's starting to become a hassle to look.

I'm all for people learning about other cultures and following their own path but I find it pretty ridiculous that people need to join the latest fad or bastardize real spiritualism to make something that fits them. Americans are good at that. I'm continual struck by how many people write books on Mandalas or Buddhism and have so much inaccuracies about the terminology, history, etc. Yoga is another one. So many people are so called practitioners yet know nothing of the philosophy or reasons behind it. It's just cool and makes you seem healthy.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for people trying new things but if you're going to become an expert or advance into something besides a beginner...shouldn't you know a little about it first? Otherwise your "liberal" ignorance is no better than your hated "conservative" rivals.

Why people get sick...

Not feeling so hot today...think I may have a small cold. It's funny how this happens. You feel fine, may even eat healthy, but you change one thing in your life for a couple of days (like going to the frozen tundra to party for a weekend) and come back to your nice routine to feel achy and ill. I don't get it and now that I had all that time I could have rested, I'm back at work hoping to make if through the day.

Way back in the day they said there were only 10 or so virus/bacteria...something like that, I'm too lazy to wikipedia it. Did people get less sick back then? There are somewhere in the thousands of bacteria/virus species now. Thanks antibiotics...thanks kids with paranoid parents...thanks nature...now I got to suffer through being sick a whole ton more.

Anyways, I'm just being cranky. I want to go home and play Super Mario 64 ds (also not going to wiki). It's a great game and just like the original Mario 64 except with Yoshi, Luigi (yay!), and Wario (wtf?!?) and no clunky awkward controller to move them around with. Plus I can play it in bed with tea...so nice...

The Savage She-Hulk

I've almost finished the original Savage She-Hulk series and I've got to say, for it being an eighties comic, it still has a very 50's style flair. It's a great laugh but the narrative dialog does get a bit tedious at times. You start to feel dumber because their explaining everything in the panels that you can clearly see happening (I can see She-Hulk picked the guy up...you don't need to tell me that). I'm also having trouble with some of the enemies they've picked her to fight. Her arch-nemesis is a crook named Trask...okay I can handle that...but you're going to have her fight the Man-Elephant and the Grappler in between major storyline arcs...hmmmm.

However, even with all these bad qualities, I do have to give this a very big nod. She-Hulk is not really that gorgeous and is very assertive. Not in a sexual way though, she's more of a complete brute and very much more masculine than many female comic book characters. I can appreciate that since I feel comic books like to categorize women into 2 types: sexy femme fatals and sexy good girls...not much else to them. I enjoy when comics go out of this mold to try something different. Brian K. Vaughn does a lot of this in his work. There are others that do but a majority don't.

To tell you the truth, I've always had a fascination with the She-Hulk. She's taller, stronger, and tougher than most men but that doesn't bother her. She's also highly intelligent and not afraid to speak her mind. She's one of my female heroes along with Chun-Li and Gran'ma Ben (Rose Harvestar) which both are strong, independent women that don't fit with the 2 stereotypes above.

That being said, I'm really enjoying this series and can't wait to delve into the Sensational She-Hulk comics before ultimately finishing with the newer ones that are still in print. What a great female character. Though I do warn you about the quality of this comic, I urge you all to read a comic that deserves more merit than it's given.

Going Green

So I got this interest a few weeks back in the idea of converting my car from gasoline to vegetable oil. Don't laugh. I think it's an awesome idea and fuel would be (get this) FREE! What's not to like about that? Apart from the car smelling like Chinese food or French Fries (which is way better than Gasoline) I can't think of any down sides to it. My sihaya was skeptical and a little surprised since I'm not really the type to be all environmental and what not. I was asked why this change and whether or not I was becoming an environmentalist over this so this got me to thinking...why would I want to do this. Here's a few reasons why I think I find this so appealing starting from the least important to the most important:

5) I hate the smell of gasoline. It makes me nauseous. The smell of chinese food...does not. And it also doesn't slowly kill me (at long as I don't eat it).

4) It's an eco-friendly way to recycle...which makes me look good and feel like I'm doing something for the environment.

3) It's cheaper and I always love a good deal. I'd only have to pay for the parts to install and maintenance, then I won't have to worry about buying gas ever again.

2) I can have a vintage (well, at least older) car and not have to worry about it killing me with maintenance and toxic fumes.

1) I'd be independent from mechanics. I think this is overall the most important reason to do this. You have to build your own engine out of the parts that are given to you. For this reason, you know what's there and what it's function is. I think this is very important since it's so easy to be swindled if you don't. I mean, there are so many ways a mechanic can get one by on you. If you know how to fix your engine, you won't have to have a third party telling you what it needs. You can do it yourself.

So there are my reasons. I think we all should start a revolution and start getting our gas at the restaurant down the street instead of the big oil tycoons in their multi-million dollar homes.

Northlanders: the comic that destroyed something I love

As a nerd with no prejudice, I enjoy comic books along with sci fi and fantasy books, video games, Bruce Campbell, and Vikings. While on the last raid of my local comic book shop, I came across the comic Northlanders written by Brian Wood. I had already read three of the DMZ graphic novels, which was also written by him and was hesitant to pick it up since I didn't like what he had written the first time (I even read three to see if it would change my mind as the story progressed...nope). But since it was about vikings and it had the tag line "Vikings done right" I thought I'd give it a shot.

Alright, where should I begin? It was awful. The entire plot was DMZ placed in viking times, all characters in their same respective roles as the first (for the most part). At first I found it dull and uninteresting just like DMZ had been. The dialogue reminded me of the way douche-bag frat boys talk about their weekends. The characters were so cliche and dry, but it wasn't in a humorous or nostalgic way, it just felt like there was no originality to it. Plus the plot was completely predictable.

After reading it, I decided to do a little research about Brian Wood and his preparation for this comic. To be honest, I've never felt this kind of distaste for a comic book writer as I have for this man. I mean, if Hagar the Horrible does a better job of representing vikings than you do as a serious comic book writer, you've got to work on something. After a small amount of time I found out that he spent months and months RESEARCHING this stuff, with a laundry list of titles he claims he read and an interview where he states he went to Iceland to do more in depth study...

At this point my blood began to boil. This guy spent THAT much time researching this and still got it completely WRONG? What the hell?!? "Vikings done right" my ass! For the amount of research he claims to have done, his work is utter shit. He not only used modern phrases and vocabulary that would not have been used back then (I know the language is different but using the word 'girlfriend' for a mistress is not okay in my book) but his main character had way too much of a modern thought process than any hero I've ever read in Norse literature. The main character not only grew up in Scotland but lived in the Middle East for years before returning. However, he has no sense of religion and hates any part of it...which makes it tough to swallow since he lived in two very religious settings at a very religious time. His thought process for why he feels this way is also something you might hear from a high school student as well. You could not tell at all that he did any sort of research besides using wikipedia for name references.

See, I wouldn't minded if this was more parody of comics like Conan the Barbarian with its zany masculine ways, but it's not. In fact, if you can't take it seriously (which I couldn't) I figured I'd try to look at it as something I'd like for irony purposes. But I couldn't even do that! It had too much seriousness to be ironic but it was too incorrect to be serious! It awkwardly straddles the fence between the two leaving you uncomfortable and no sure whether to laugh or get angry.

Nevertheless, from his livejournal account this Brian Wood guy seems like a decent fellow in person. I think I'm more angry at the fact that gets so much praise for sub-par work. I'm glad people like Brian K. Vaughn and Alan Moore are still ranked above him. Their writing is much more brilliant than I have seen him to be able to accomplish.

A Winter Day

Today I have decided to add a short little fiction created by myself. Feeedback is very much appreciated:

He had been all excited about the weatherman's call for snow. He'd even stayed up late playing through that tough boss on his virtual game with anticipation of a late morning. But as morning came, he continued to wake up through the black morning hours with no reply from his companies message service. As the dawn finally faded the darkness, he could finally see that no snow had fallen. Distraught for his lost hours of leisure time, he finally pulled himself out of bed and into his work uniform.

Outside was miserable. Nothing but ice cold rain and gray heavy skies. He trudged over to his auto, pulled his jacket close to him, opened the door and sighed. "80% chance my ass," he adjusted himself into his seat and turned the machine on, "I'm going to need a lot of caffeine to get myself through this day." He made his way through traffic at a painfully slow rate, grumbling softly at the fear of some drivers under the sound of the latest music from the colonies. The rain had stopped by the time he reached the office parking lot and it left the world in a cold gloom as he entered his office.

He greeted the reception as warmly as he could and received the same reply. This mutual feeling of unhappiness gave him a brighter mood but did nothing to curb his fatigue. "Coffee," he slowly poured the brown liquid into his cup, took a heavy sniff of the aroma and took it back to his desk to engage his machinery. Looking out the window across from his cubicle his mind began to wonder.

How many days of his life were so cold and gloomy? Had there been days like this before the Interstellar Charters? What about the Economic Conflicts? Perhaps someone, hundreds of years before 3010 had been through similar experiences and dealt with the vain promise of a leisure day in the snow. What would it have been like then? That's something you never learned in the history books.

He shrugged off the daydreams and began to concentrate on his work. Waste recycling units weren't going to sell themselves afterall.

Ghost Hunters vs Paranormal State

I'm so psyched to watch Ghost Hunters tonight since I haven't had a chance to watch it in three weeks due to the holidays. It is the only show I force all others to make plans with me around it so I can devote three hours to watching its re-runs, new episodes, and specials. I enjoy the people and fantasize about being part of their ranks of Ghost Hunting companions (though I would never be able to stay up as late as they do...I'm such a baby about my sleep).

Paranormal State I actually have a closer affinity to since I once was a Penn State University Student and I'm closer to the age and demographic of the members. However, I feel that Paranormal state is so childish compared to its peer. I was not the biggest fan of Penn State University and they do remind me of most of the students I didn't really get attached to from there. I also feel that it hearkens back to those awkward teenage years where everything paranormal is believable and there are still monsters living under my bed but that was cool. They believe everything and they're too goth for my tastes.

Ghost Hunters on the other hand has an older membership to their team and they don't believe everything that seems paranormal to BE paranormal. I like how they try to prove it false. Although in recent episodes they seem to be a little more lenient, they do have a criteria for a place to be haunted, unlike Paranormal State where they believe everyone and everything.

A good example is the soft touch by a ghost experience. While doing an investigation of a supposedly 'violent' demon, the Paranormal State crew stay a night to investigate the house. While in the dusty, cobweby basement, one of the members states he was touched on the shoulder. They automatically believe him and state that this is the most haunted of locations in the house. In Ghost Hunters, the members hear a witness explain that women sometime feel their hair lightly touched while in the basement. Upon investigation, they realize this is because of the spiderwebs that softly tug on the long hairs of the women. Problem solved. Evidence found. No evidence however for the lofty crew of sleuths from Paranormal State. The basically decide that since one of their members says its true. Its true.

So this is a small argument (I have tons more) of why Ghost Hunters is so much better than Paranormal State. I would continue my argument with other points but I am more than likely the only person on earth that even gives a damn on this subject so I'll finish here before you all realize how much of my time I waste on these thoughts.

Ugh...

I couldn't think of anything to write about today. Probably because I'm so friggin' tired.

I spent most of last week partying and I don't understand how people can do this for weeks at a time. Maybe I'm just old but staying up excessively late and sleeping in even later makes me feel like crap. I have found a kind of appreciation (very very slight) for frat boys and their sluts in the fact that they do this all the time. Perhaps that's why their grades are stereotypically low and they aren't known for their intelligence...hmmmm...

In any case, I was at Magfest 7 most of this time and I did make some good purchase while in my drunken/tired stupor. I have as of late been collecting video games (specifically playstation) and found Dragon Quest 7 for $20! Other than that I also purchased Final Fantasy Tactics and Breath of Fire IV for another $40. Such sweet deals. I already own BOF I and II which means I have only to by III and my collection will be complete. I realize this is just rambling but I'm not sure what else to write about except the fact that I'm so excited with my video game collection and I got to watch people play the new Street Fighter 4 (which was also thrilling). Okay, I'm going to go sit brainlessly and pray work gets out soon so I can go home and SLEEP.

The massacre of China

So I would like to point out the continent of Asia has been brutally murdered by awful musicians, rich white spiritualists, and others of an ignorant nature. This all stemmed because I was watching the 3rd Mummy movie (something about an Emperor's tomb was the title...I don't really care to look it up) and it absolutely destroyed China with Ninjas (they are Japanese), Yeti that play American Football, and Yaks that look more like big cows than, well, yaks.

I can't believe I sat through this movie! Just the fact that they decided to try and make this historical by adding the Terracotta soldiers as magical beings made me a little angry (more or less because it was added to make it look more legitimate which the movie in its entirety, was not at all). That and the constant crossing of Chinese to English and back again. I'm sorry, but I don't think ancient Chinese sounds exactly like its modern counterpart or that an isolated ancient Chinese woman can speak English perfectly. That and the young female character knows how to speak Yeti-ish (wtf?).

It also takes a well documented historical figure and completely changes who he was. It is true that Qin Shi Huangdi was a brutal ruler but he did unify and create autonomy in the Chinese once warring states. He also built the wall to keep invaders out and again to unify China. This movie makes him seem completely tyrannical with no motive but to have sex with women.

Anyways, it probably happened with the first Mummy movie, but again I don't know anything about Africa so I can't judge. However, after studying a good portion of Indian, Chinese, and Japanese histories I can safely assume that this was awfully mistranslated and massacred the poor culture to death. Thank you summer blockbuster.