LAgrrl's Recent Comments
Snyder on WATCHMEN - Jun 19, 2007 - 02:30am
Zack Zack Zack thwapt! doesn't he know better than to talk about commercial concerns in an R rated "art" movie? (comics are art right? well some of them are and Watchmen is one of them imnsho) I loved his Dawn of the Dead remake but really, who wants to hear that the Director of one of the most beloved intellectual comic books of all time is mainly thinking about -- how to make money. Uhg. Dumbest Interview Ever.
Zack Zack Zack thwapt! doesn't he know better than to talk about commercial concerns in an R rated "art" movie? (comics are art right? well some of them are and Watchmen is one of them imnsho) I loved his Dawn of the Dead remake but really, who wants to hear that the Director of one of the most beloved intellectual comic books of all time is mainly thinking about -- how to make money. Uhg. Dumbest Interview Ever.
Feeling Buggy - May 12, 2007 - 08:14pm
How come this is the only manga review this weekend? oh well Elemental Gelade is ok but if you want to read something that does a little bit more than kill time give "The Time Guardian" a looksie. no pun intended heh. I love the premise of this book! First you have to discover The Time Shop, if you do you can then "borrow time" from the store. You trade your memories or future blocks of your time for some borrowed time. Miu (works there) is paid a few extra seconds of time, a day. There are fantasy elements obviously, including an assistant frog but the stories are not juvie fantasy, they're wonderful. As you can imagine they're about the reasons people need to borrow time and they range from the frivolous (running late) to the touching and thought provoking (people that don't really want to borrow time, they want to forget someone that hurt them or something that happened to them, so they sort of use the shop in the reverse way it was originally intended to be used) I LOVE this book! The Time Guardian written by Daimuro Kishi and illustrated by Tamao Ichinose. Hey mXm! I've heard of most of those but what's dead ringers?
How come this is the only manga review this weekend? oh well Elemental Gelade is ok but if you want to read something that does a little bit more than kill time give "The Time Guardian" a looksie. no pun intended heh. I love the premise of this book! First you have to discover The Time Shop, if you do you can then "borrow time" from the store. You trade your memories or future blocks of your time for some borrowed time. Miu (works there) is paid a few extra seconds of time, a day. There are fantasy elements obviously, including an assistant frog but the stories are not juvie fantasy, they're wonderful. As you can imagine they're about the reasons people need to borrow time and they range from the frivolous (running late) to the touching and thought provoking (people that don't really want to borrow time, they want to forget someone that hurt them or something that happened to them, so they sort of use the shop in the reverse way it was originally intended to be used) I LOVE this book! The Time Guardian written by Daimuro Kishi and illustrated by Tamao Ichinose. Hey mXm! I've heard of most of those but what's dead ringers?
BIONIC WOMAN Pics - May 12, 2007 - 07:26pm
Too early to say for sure but it looks like Femme Nikita + Birds of Prey + Buffy + Alias - Barbie = Bionic Woman. I'll be there.
Too early to say for sure but it looks like Femme Nikita + Birds of Prey + Buffy + Alias - Barbie = Bionic Woman. I'll be there.
LOST: The Brig - May 04, 2007 - 04:38am
First I thought the island was purgatory then hell but now I'm seriously starting to think "total immersion video game". heh. Is it just me or aren't the coincidences getting to be just a little too unrealistic? how can the island have any "rational" real world explanation with all these crazy coincidences? halucinogenics maybe? anyhoo I'll make a 5 dollar bet now that Cooper isn't really dead. No way Sawyer just murdered someone in cold blood because then he really is going to hell. Figuratively anyway. Two "outs" come to mind. One it wasn't Cooper, it was "island magic-box Cooper" I noticed when Locke moved the sack filled with Cooper, it seemed almost wooden? maybe a bad job in Lost production, or maybe because when he catches up with Ben and opens the bag, Magic Island Box Cooper will have reverted back to some inanimate form. And that means that Sawyer didn't kill anyone. Two, Cooper isn't dead, he was just unconscious, he wakes up while he's on Locke's back and you guessed it Sawyer didn't kill anyone. I hope.
First I thought the island was purgatory then hell but now I'm seriously starting to think "total immersion video game". heh. Is it just me or aren't the coincidences getting to be just a little too unrealistic? how can the island have any "rational" real world explanation with all these crazy coincidences? halucinogenics maybe? anyhoo I'll make a 5 dollar bet now that Cooper isn't really dead. No way Sawyer just murdered someone in cold blood because then he really is going to hell. Figuratively anyway. Two "outs" come to mind. One it wasn't Cooper, it was "island magic-box Cooper" I noticed when Locke moved the sack filled with Cooper, it seemed almost wooden? maybe a bad job in Lost production, or maybe because when he catches up with Ben and opens the bag, Magic Island Box Cooper will have reverted back to some inanimate form. And that means that Sawyer didn't kill anyone. Two, Cooper isn't dead, he was just unconscious, he wakes up while he's on Locke's back and you guessed it Sawyer didn't kill anyone. I hope.
The Heart of Japanese Culture, Part 1 - Apr 20, 2007 - 02:15pm
Wow Krasch I didn't know that, thanks. I didn't mean Wiki itself was unreliable btw, I meant looking up the pronounciation of Japanese words on Wiki was hit and miss. Sometimes they include the pronounciation sometimes they don't, which drives me crazy! I think there should be some law that pronounciation should be in brackets right next to the Japanese word. So you're saying that there's a consistant english pronounciation pattern to all Japanese words? Can you point me to the article or tutorial on that please Krasch? That'd make my life less dorkish. I think. I don't want a repeat of when I went around pronouncing Manga like an Italian chef would. heh.
Wow Krasch I didn't know that, thanks. I didn't mean Wiki itself was unreliable btw, I meant looking up the pronounciation of Japanese words on Wiki was hit and miss. Sometimes they include the pronounciation sometimes they don't, which drives me crazy! I think there should be some law that pronounciation should be in brackets right next to the Japanese word. So you're saying that there's a consistant english pronounciation pattern to all Japanese words? Can you point me to the article or tutorial on that please Krasch? That'd make my life less dorkish. I think. I don't want a repeat of when I went around pronouncing Manga like an Italian chef would. heh.
First look at Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight"? - Apr 20, 2007 - 01:22pm
Oh puh-lease Ponyboy, it's so obvious you're jealous of Maelstrom that I bet A LOT of people want to frown at you when they read your attacks on him AND your attacks on other people here too. People like YOU Ponyboy turn message boards into graveyards with your petty jealousies and vendettas against anyone that is smarter than you or that you think is a threat to you. This article is a perfect example, out of all the posts the most interesting to read, the most intelligent and funny is Maelstrom's, it takes a couple of photos and builds a whole theory. You didn't even NOTICE half the stuff Maelstrom commented on, you were too busy attacking other people. What did you do Ponyboy? besides attack people I mean? then there are some other good replies in here and then there's YOURS Ponyboy the single most boring and useless post in here that doesn't even comment on the subject, but instead replies to other people's opinions by attacking them. YOU'RE BORING Ponyboy. And just in case you think it's just me that thinks so, look at Maelstrom's profile versus your profile, I put the mouse over his name he has OVER 4000 hits, you don't even have 800 hits Ponyboy. SURPRISE SURPRISE the guy with the LESSER amount of people interested in him is attacking the guy with the GREATER amount. Jealous of Maelstrom much Ponyboy? you're such a typical boring brat it makes me so mad that people like you get away with this sort of thing because people are scared to say anything. If people like you win, then message boards DIE when everyone that you attack, which is going to be everyone that's more interesting than you, which is like EVERYONE ELSE, when they're all gone, and there's no one buy petty small people like you left Ponyboy, the place dies. What an ass.
Oh puh-lease Ponyboy, it's so obvious you're jealous of Maelstrom that I bet A LOT of people want to frown at you when they read your attacks on him AND your attacks on other people here too. People like YOU Ponyboy turn message boards into graveyards with your petty jealousies and vendettas against anyone that is smarter than you or that you think is a threat to you. This article is a perfect example, out of all the posts the most interesting to read, the most intelligent and funny is Maelstrom's, it takes a couple of photos and builds a whole theory. You didn't even NOTICE half the stuff Maelstrom commented on, you were too busy attacking other people. What did you do Ponyboy? besides attack people I mean? then there are some other good replies in here and then there's YOURS Ponyboy the single most boring and useless post in here that doesn't even comment on the subject, but instead replies to other people's opinions by attacking them. YOU'RE BORING Ponyboy. And just in case you think it's just me that thinks so, look at Maelstrom's profile versus your profile, I put the mouse over his name he has OVER 4000 hits, you don't even have 800 hits Ponyboy. SURPRISE SURPRISE the guy with the LESSER amount of people interested in him is attacking the guy with the GREATER amount. Jealous of Maelstrom much Ponyboy? you're such a typical boring brat it makes me so mad that people like you get away with this sort of thing because people are scared to say anything. If people like you win, then message boards DIE when everyone that you attack, which is going to be everyone that's more interesting than you, which is like EVERYONE ELSE, when they're all gone, and there's no one buy petty small people like you left Ponyboy, the place dies. What an ass.
The Heart of Japanese Culture, Part 1 - Apr 19, 2007 - 03:38am
Wow. That was a good read. Just one little thing, so I don't look like a complete dork is it possible to put in english pronunciation keys for Japanese words? or do you or anyone know of a Japanese-English audio dictionary? and please don't anyone say Wiki, they're hopelessly unreliable on word pronunciation. Anyhoo, can't wait for part 2, very interesting read Janet!
Wow. That was a good read. Just one little thing, so I don't look like a complete dork is it possible to put in english pronunciation keys for Japanese words? or do you or anyone know of a Japanese-English audio dictionary? and please don't anyone say Wiki, they're hopelessly unreliable on word pronunciation. Anyhoo, can't wait for part 2, very interesting read Janet!
No Standing? - Apr 19, 2007 - 03:13am
I am SO guilty. I had to laugh when I read your Death Note comment because I did the same thing with that exact manga. One of the employees came around us or stepped over and around us more accurately, a couple of times and smiling cheerfully every single time. Except the last time. That time (around the fourth) I could have sworm he gave me the evil eye. What can I say I usually scan a manga or two and then pick up what I'm there for on the way out, it's a sort of self-imposed freebie. I look at it this way, I spend $30 on mangas, I get to scan some other mangas as a bonus. I know some smaller manga stores that actually give you a 4th book for free or for 50% off if you buy 3 but they don't let you sit on the floor and read any other mangas. That's why I spend my money at the big book stores that do. I don't think Manga's are necessarily a good financial investment and I don't think they want us thinking too long and hard at how much money we spend on "comics". They probably don't agree with my bonus freebie manga scan philosophy, but they never say anything. Not verbally anyway. Just the ol stink-eye occasionally. heh.
I am SO guilty. I had to laugh when I read your Death Note comment because I did the same thing with that exact manga. One of the employees came around us or stepped over and around us more accurately, a couple of times and smiling cheerfully every single time. Except the last time. That time (around the fourth) I could have sworm he gave me the evil eye. What can I say I usually scan a manga or two and then pick up what I'm there for on the way out, it's a sort of self-imposed freebie. I look at it this way, I spend $30 on mangas, I get to scan some other mangas as a bonus. I know some smaller manga stores that actually give you a 4th book for free or for 50% off if you buy 3 but they don't let you sit on the floor and read any other mangas. That's why I spend my money at the big book stores that do. I don't think Manga's are necessarily a good financial investment and I don't think they want us thinking too long and hard at how much money we spend on "comics". They probably don't agree with my bonus freebie manga scan philosophy, but they never say anything. Not verbally anyway. Just the ol stink-eye occasionally. heh.
"28 Weeks Later" International Trailer Online! - Apr 06, 2007 - 02:17am
Karl Schneider said, "The film is set six months after the rage virus has annihilated the British Isles, the US Army declares that the war against infection has been won". Is there a big "Mission Accomplished" sign in the background? heh. Can't wait for this, I loved the first 28.
Karl Schneider said, "The film is set six months after the rage virus has annihilated the British Isles, the US Army declares that the war against infection has been won". Is there a big "Mission Accomplished" sign in the background? heh. Can't wait for this, I loved the first 28.
Long Live The New Flesh! - Apr 01, 2007 - 07:08pm
Jessica Chobot said, "This gives me cause to stop and pause and wonder how much, if any, things have changed since the ‘80s till now with how quickly technology has advanced and will continue to do so. Has society become more comfortable with the advancements one comes across almost everyday? Will there be a level at which we simply cannot go any further? If so, once we hit that level, where do we go from there?" Hi I enjoyed your article Jessica! Where to next? I hate to say it but Khan may have had something with his "Improve Man!" speech (see original Star Trek episode 'Space Seed'). We're good at improving technology but in comparisson the evolution of our humanity seems to be seriously dwarfed. Look at this Persian Gulf fiasco, World War III could hinge on something as petty as someone's unwillingness to admit a mistake. So yeah we should go "inside" just maybe not the way some of the guys here would like. :)
Jessica Chobot said, "This gives me cause to stop and pause and wonder how much, if any, things have changed since the ‘80s till now with how quickly technology has advanced and will continue to do so. Has society become more comfortable with the advancements one comes across almost everyday? Will there be a level at which we simply cannot go any further? If so, once we hit that level, where do we go from there?" Hi I enjoyed your article Jessica! Where to next? I hate to say it but Khan may have had something with his "Improve Man!" speech (see original Star Trek episode 'Space Seed'). We're good at improving technology but in comparisson the evolution of our humanity seems to be seriously dwarfed. Look at this Persian Gulf fiasco, World War III could hinge on something as petty as someone's unwillingness to admit a mistake. So yeah we should go "inside" just maybe not the way some of the guys here would like. :)
In Search of the Otakukin - Mar 30, 2007 - 08:23pm
I'll admit the whole tantrum in the Kurt Russell comments section might have colored my reading of this article. So I went over it again fresh and I can see that Janet was trying to qualify her statement, saying it applies only where it applies, but that's a circuitous argument isn't it? I can see she didn't mean to imply a majority where dangerous, but its pretty clear the argument is that enough of these dangerous fandom people are around, enough to warrant a front page article on the subject. and it's just not true, how is this argument any different from the hysteria that surrounded Dungeons and Dragons players in the eighties? Journalists bought into the "some of these people are satanists!" argument and it couldn't have been further from the truth! the next thing you know the word "dangerous" gets thrown around and associated with ALL D&D players and movies are being made where "dangerous obsessed D&D fanatics" are killing people. When you throw around words like "extreme" and "dangerous" it has an effect, other people will read this, people who may not know anything about fandom, and they WILL elevate an infinitely small problem and turn it into a stereotype of ALL otaku. Just like what happened with D&D. Next we'll have government committees meeting to decide whether to ban certain types of fandoms, because hey, "these people are potentially dangerous!" "even Janet at Mania said so!" Which is exactly what the government tried to do with D&D. Because some journalists said it was filled with satanists and had all the characteristics of a cult worship, governments and local committees had meetings on whether to ban it, I think it was banned in the south for awhile. I'd like to see more articles on how fandom is often misunderstood by the mainstream. What's really the difference between 5 guys dressed up in baseball shirts, who hang around a playground talking about their favorite baseball players and 5 goth fans who hang around a graveyard dressed up in goth attire and talk about their favorite vampire books? There is NO difference, it's the exact same behavior, except that society accepts one as "normal" and the other as "peculiar" or "dangerous". In reality statistically obsessed sports fans are way more "dangerous" than obsessed otaku or goths or D&D players, but you wouldn't know it to look at the media or public opinion. THOUSANDS of sports fans physically hurt other people, ranging from murder to physical assault, look at european football hooligans, look at our Hockey players, even ice skating for god's sake has had REAL dangerous murderous nutballs in it, there are way more "dangerous" sports people in the world than dangerous otaku, goths and D&D players. I just think this kind of article feeds the mainstream view and fear of us, even if it was not the authors intention. I think the more important message that needs to get out there is that statistically even if you combined EVERY dangerous nutcase in EVERY fandom everywhere in the world it wouldn't come anywhere even close to the number of dangerous obsessed sports fans.
I'll admit the whole tantrum in the Kurt Russell comments section might have colored my reading of this article. So I went over it again fresh and I can see that Janet was trying to qualify her statement, saying it applies only where it applies, but that's a circuitous argument isn't it? I can see she didn't mean to imply a majority where dangerous, but its pretty clear the argument is that enough of these dangerous fandom people are around, enough to warrant a front page article on the subject. and it's just not true, how is this argument any different from the hysteria that surrounded Dungeons and Dragons players in the eighties? Journalists bought into the "some of these people are satanists!" argument and it couldn't have been further from the truth! the next thing you know the word "dangerous" gets thrown around and associated with ALL D&D players and movies are being made where "dangerous obsessed D&D fanatics" are killing people. When you throw around words like "extreme" and "dangerous" it has an effect, other people will read this, people who may not know anything about fandom, and they WILL elevate an infinitely small problem and turn it into a stereotype of ALL otaku. Just like what happened with D&D. Next we'll have government committees meeting to decide whether to ban certain types of fandoms, because hey, "these people are potentially dangerous!" "even Janet at Mania said so!" Which is exactly what the government tried to do with D&D. Because some journalists said it was filled with satanists and had all the characteristics of a cult worship, governments and local committees had meetings on whether to ban it, I think it was banned in the south for awhile. I'd like to see more articles on how fandom is often misunderstood by the mainstream. What's really the difference between 5 guys dressed up in baseball shirts, who hang around a playground talking about their favorite baseball players and 5 goth fans who hang around a graveyard dressed up in goth attire and talk about their favorite vampire books? There is NO difference, it's the exact same behavior, except that society accepts one as "normal" and the other as "peculiar" or "dangerous". In reality statistically obsessed sports fans are way more "dangerous" than obsessed otaku or goths or D&D players, but you wouldn't know it to look at the media or public opinion. THOUSANDS of sports fans physically hurt other people, ranging from murder to physical assault, look at european football hooligans, look at our Hockey players, even ice skating for god's sake has had REAL dangerous murderous nutballs in it, there are way more "dangerous" sports people in the world than dangerous otaku, goths and D&D players. I just think this kind of article feeds the mainstream view and fear of us, even if it was not the authors intention. I think the more important message that needs to get out there is that statistically even if you combined EVERY dangerous nutcase in EVERY fandom everywhere in the world it wouldn't come anywhere even close to the number of dangerous obsessed sports fans.
In Search of the Otakukin - Mar 29, 2007 - 08:44pm
oh please. This is the same type of stereotyping and labeling that gives ALL fans everywhere a bad name. You're just rationalising why you as a fan are better than someone else as a fan. "I'm good, but they're crazy!" "I'm alright, but they're off the deep end" "they have lots of friends online" what was that supposed to be about? you're saying they're so crazy they have friends? oh please. Sounds like sour-grapes to me. You're playing the same old us and them game that goes on everywhere else. Who are these so called crazy fan people, have you ever met one? Some fans might be more extreme than others in their devotion, most fans might look different or act differently than "normal" people, but if they're part of an online community and they have friends (oh no, how aweful! they have friends!) or they're going to conventions, or they're with other people that are like them, guess what? they're not crazy loners. I've met some colorful people sure but I have never met one of these so called lurking crazy "dangerous" fan people. When you make this kind of argument you're no better than sports people that think fans of sciffy are weirdos, you're playing right into their game because you're AGREEING with the people that hate sciffy fans, you're saying that these nutjobs EXIST, they're lurking out there, they're dangerous, but oh they're not you. Oh no, not you. I just started reading here and I don't know if I'm coming back, so far everything almost everything I've read here are attacks on other people. I figured that Kurt Russell tantrum was an isolated incident then I read some interesting articles on Battlestar Galactica and Lost and thought it was an isolated case, and now I read this crap, fans attacking journalists, fans attacking OTHER fans? Stop trying to belittle other people to put yourself up, you're better than that.
oh please. This is the same type of stereotyping and labeling that gives ALL fans everywhere a bad name. You're just rationalising why you as a fan are better than someone else as a fan. "I'm good, but they're crazy!" "I'm alright, but they're off the deep end" "they have lots of friends online" what was that supposed to be about? you're saying they're so crazy they have friends? oh please. Sounds like sour-grapes to me. You're playing the same old us and them game that goes on everywhere else. Who are these so called crazy fan people, have you ever met one? Some fans might be more extreme than others in their devotion, most fans might look different or act differently than "normal" people, but if they're part of an online community and they have friends (oh no, how aweful! they have friends!) or they're going to conventions, or they're with other people that are like them, guess what? they're not crazy loners. I've met some colorful people sure but I have never met one of these so called lurking crazy "dangerous" fan people. When you make this kind of argument you're no better than sports people that think fans of sciffy are weirdos, you're playing right into their game because you're AGREEING with the people that hate sciffy fans, you're saying that these nutjobs EXIST, they're lurking out there, they're dangerous, but oh they're not you. Oh no, not you. I just started reading here and I don't know if I'm coming back, so far everything almost everything I've read here are attacks on other people. I figured that Kurt Russell tantrum was an isolated incident then I read some interesting articles on Battlestar Galactica and Lost and thought it was an isolated case, and now I read this crap, fans attacking journalists, fans attacking OTHER fans? Stop trying to belittle other people to put yourself up, you're better than that.
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I love how TV producers are always complaining about having to appease the viewers "shrinking attention span"/"Attention Deficit Dissorder" when I'm convinced THEY play a big part in the creation of the problem in the first place. 5% of the pubic probably have the real A.D.D the rest of us just have the symptoms (difficulty focusing). Hundreds of people are flashing images and sounds at us trying to get our attention daily! so NATURALLY we have difficulty focusing, it'd be like trying to concentrate in a room full of screaming kids except that instead of telling the screaming kids (ithe tv series/movie producers, advertisers) to quiet down and re-think their approach, we live in a bizarro world where the doctors say "nonono since you can't focus when they're screaming at you, YOU must have A.D.D so we'll prescribe you medication". I wonder if your newer = louder, faster and less coherent only applies to animation? I can think of one example in the live action world off the top of my head, the Colbert Report's theme music vs The Daily Show's. But I think Colbert might have done that consciously for exactly that reason. Look at me, I'm louder, faster, less coherent than my predecessor Stewart! heh. Good article Oxford.