Now, I don't know if these were pitty clicks, but if they were... keep'em coming! Now that I'm above the 10,000 mark, I'd rather not like to go back to the dungeons.
Well, it turns out that Lucky #10563 is a little webcomic called Baka-kun that, much like JTV, hasn't been updated since 2006 (according to this website, which is not accurate to say the least). The plot is listed as "Starting with the relaunch, Baka-kun investigates the worlds of parody and satire as the new crew learn to not strangle each other."
Now, I could continue to rattle off all those ranked under me and berate them for not trying hard enough to beat ME... and perhaps some day, if I have time, I will... however I feel the need to highlight at least one other. Coming in right near the bottom, at 10776, is one of the best-named webcomics I've ever seen...
RoboNinja Vs DinoPirates
It appears to be at least 3 years deceased, and god only knows what it was actually about (I'm at work, therefore affeared to go clicking around too much), but that is undeniably an awesome name. For them to have ranked that much lower than I... dear god, I don't know which god you pissed off, creator of this comic, but you sure did piss him/her/it off good, didn't you?
BTW, for refference, Errant Story is ranked 43 of 10827, 2 under Dilbert, and Exploitation Now is still sitting pretty at 3146, three times my own ranking.
After having gone through that mess, I think you can possibly see some of the problems I'm encountering at work recently. About a year ago, I took a change of position within the company itself, to be one of the front-runners of a new department that was forming. Not only was it considerably more money, but it was also the opportunity to boldly go where we'd not gone before. I was excited.
Now, almost a year in, I'm ready to die. It's not that I don't enjoy the job - I do. I like what I'm doing, and I'm good at it. Being completely honest and not braggartly at all, I probably know more about the various levels of the job than anyone else does. The job itself isn't the problem... the politics are. I can't stand fucking job politics. "This has to be done this way because some guy six levels up who has no idea what we're doing or how it's done." "You can't contact the people who can actually help you, you have to call someone else who has to call someone else in order to get authorization to do what we're actually paying you to do." "Oh, the executives from the high up offices took everyone to a hockey game tonight. Except you. You have to come in."
There's been some recent upheavals - we finally picked up the remainder of the work we were supposed to be doing in the first place (there've been a lot of distractions that've come up)... 3rd shift carries most of the burden of the extra work, since most of it needs to be done in the middle of the night when the systems we're interfacing with are all offline... unfortunately, nobody really told the people of 3rd shift (of which I am one) what was going to go on, how bad things were about to get, what would be expected of us... we didn't get any advanced notice at all, just a memo to show up for a meeting a few weeks ago. A meeting the executives had scheduled in the MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING DAY, I should point out.
The worst part is that, a few days ago, the highest official at my specific office said that they needed to speak to me in person (this after I was raising some issues involving another employee who hasn't been there nearly as long yet somehow mysteriously believes he knows more than everyone else) about something. She wouldn't say WHAT she needs to talk to me about, just that she does... she missed our 'appointment' a few days ago, and due to my crazy schedule I won't have an opportunity to have this meeting until Monday AM. That means the entire weekend, I get to stress about what it is she needs/wants from me. It doesn't have to be bad - the supervisor didn't know what was going on, said nothing bad had been mentioned to her, so she said if it IS bad it couldn't be THAT bad.
Still, I worry... it's my nature. So, my entire night off Thursday was spent stressing out... and my entire night tonight will be too. Whatever happens, I'm staying as late as I need to on Monday to ensure I get my audience before New Years.
- Mood:
stressed
This is the fruit of a long and actually very productive Hilary started on her forums about anime and downloading. I've come to an epiphany about the nature of copyright... it's brilliant, it's simple, it's sleek.
If you paid for it, everyone else should have to pay for it too.
If you got it for free, don't make money giving it away again.
That's all there is to it. Think about it...
To clarify (for those not already aware of this situation)... Normally, we in the US get a cheaper-made but still similar version of the far nicer, more detailed Japanese versions of the megazord each season. Electronics will be stripped out, plastic parts substituted for the original diecast pieces, quality of the detail and paint will be less so, but they're at least similar to one another. The pieces between the US and Japanese robots are reverse-compatible, which means that when the US decides not to sell whatever 'chase' megazord piece of the season they opt to leave out (the most infamous was in Power Rangers Wild Force, where they left out the Elephant... which was one of the main zords they used in almost every episode) diehard collectors have the option of purchasing the japanese counterpart.
Not so for Operation Overdrive. Instead of getting a copy of the 12 inch incredibly articulated richly detailed part-metal Japanese Daibouken, we got... a 15 inch tall plastic with 6 points of articulation, no detail, and no metal. It didn't even transform the same way... the Daibouken's helmet comes off to reveal a non-helmeted head, allowing you the option to switch out helmets depending on which mode you're in... where the US version's head is one solid detachable brick of cheap plastic.
Here's a side-by-side picture of them for comparison: Daibouken on the left, Drivemax Megazord on the right.
That wasn't the end of the assult, however. No, not by a long shot.
There's also a second megazord designed to merge with the Daibouken/Drivemax. Called the DualDrive Megazord (don't remember it's japanese name), it consists of five support vehicles that can either merge with the DriveMax or can form their own megazord. When the toy came out (just last week), what did we get? We got the exact same core as the DriveMax except painted black with two relatively correct support zords (drill and crane, which make up the arms) but ugly crappy hollowed out incomplete versions of the other two zords for the feet.
So instead of getting (left - a picture from the show), we got (right - no picture from the show to match, since this doesn't technically exist)...
And then there's the Flashpoint Megazord next to it's US counterpart...
What, you only see one picture?!? That's right, it's not even being released in the US. Not at all.
So... after all that, I'd been looking forward to what autrocity they were going to commit with the biggest baddest Zord of the season... the Battlefleet Megazord. Five component zords become either a huge battleship or a huge megazord with spinning fists, lots of metal, lots of detail... I expected the worst.
Well, I finally saw the Battlefleet Megazord toy this afternoon. (I did not BUY it, not yet, waiting to find out whether Jacque's job is going on strike first). It is... awesome. We got, as far as I can tell, the most faithful exact replica of the Japanese version that I've ever seen. It's big, it's heavy, it's detailed, it's all the right colors, it's fists spin... I still have to crack one open to be sure, but it appears that they went all out with this last zord set.
My theory is that, realizing what a horrible mess they'd made of the season by botching the first megazord (and thereby screwing up through assosciation the rest of them) that they almost HAD TO do a good job on this last one to earn back some credit from the fans who were so pissed off about all this.
| "Friday Night Fu (Episode 001)" on Google Video |  |
| Episode 1 Original air date August 17, 2007 The Movie: The Guy with Secret Kung Fu 1981, dir. Joe Law There are two guys, not one, and the kung fu isn’t secret at all. Go figure. Two rebels are recruited to take on the infamous Dragon Gang. Along the way, they rescue a beautiful damsel on distress, team up with the daughter of a crusty coffin maker, and fight off the hungry attacks of a really fat zombie. The Fu: A bigass welcome back from the Fu Crew! Episode 1 went off with a few hardly missable bumps - the movie died on us at one key point; I forgot to turn my mic on in another; my mic just up and fell off during one host segment; and Director Matt, fresh out of the Nick Nolte Institute for Better Living, was a bit rusty at the helm. And yet it wasn't too shabby, all things considered. The movie was plenty fun (how far can you throw a coffin?). La Lohan stopped by for a few minutes, as did the no-longer-fat Fat Zombie from the movie. And, of course, much time was spent with our dear pal Professor Fu. Not bad for the first show! |
|
Many many years ago (over 8, at least) there was a tiny little tv station here in cincinnati which didn't get any love from anybody. It was very... very much like Weird Al's tv station in UHF. They had a mix of satellite feeds from strange (and now extinct) sat channels like Network 1 (which brought us "Japanamation" two nights a week) and some highly eclectic local programming. Highly eclectic.
Well, eventually the station got picked up by the fledgling UPN, making it their Cincinnati network operative. Most of the crappy network programming fell away, but from this demise rose a new and wonderful thing: Friday Night Fu. Combining two things I love... Kung Fu movies and Making Fun of Bad Movies into one hybrid concept... presenting (and mocking) bad Kung Fu Movies, Friday Night Fu was around for 2-3 years and was a staple of my television diet.
Alas, as all good things oft do go, FNF (later just called 'The Fu' during it's 3rd season Saturday run) slipped into obscurity and was not continued.
UNTIL NOW!!!!
I missed the first episode (Damnit, damnit, damnit!) which aired last night, but they're back. I'm going to try and record it here, however since I've got peeps in the city, I'm also going to implore them to set up a vcr for me.
If you live in or around Cincinnati, I strongly recommend you a) Write to TimeWarner and request they carry the 'real' local channels like 25 and 38 and not just the digital CinCW that they've opted to carry and... I can't believe I'm gonna say this about something else but... b) tape trade? I know The Fu can't officially endorse this line of action, but I can't think they'd be overly against it. To those of us not around here, I suspect it may be the only way...
- Mood:
excited
I think we all have a dark side that we fear.
I was, once upon a time, a fan of Pro Wrestling, especially a tenacious little scrapper from Canada named Chris Benoit. So of course, learning about the crap that happened of late, the events leading up to his death, especially as we find out more and more about the really bad things that went down, can't help but remind me of something from my own past. See, there was a guy I went to highschool with...
Now, to preface, my highschool had an abnormally high mortality rate. Something to do with rednecks, shotguns, alcohol, and the fact that they built at least one of the major schools in our district on an Indian Burial site. (No, I'm not kidding).
But back to the guy. He was smart, funny, well liked, always ran with what I considered to be the cool crowd. For my highschool, that actually meant our Marching Band - the sports jocks had their own cool crowd, but the jock cool crowd was the most sorry, depressing excuse for a clique you've ever seen. No, in my school, anyone who was anyone was in the Band. And he was in the band. Hell, for his class, he kinda WAS the band. He was iconic.
He and I shared a number of interrests, and he and I were prone to be thrown on assignments together whenever we had the same class because I was one of the few people that could keep up with him/surpass him on intellect and speed of wit. While we were not 'friends' in the conventional sense, I still held him in great respect. I sensed in him a kindred spirit, a person I could relate to.
And then, one day a couple of years after he graduated, he came home one afternoon high on any number of frequently trafficed substances and, with a large knife, killed the mother of his child while the baby watched on.
Now, I know that they say that drugs can make a person do all sorts of things. And I've seen some insane stuff throughout the years that fully supports that theory. But, I will say, that I've never seen drugs make a person deliberately do something that wasn't already within them, part of their capacity, something that they could possibly have done without the drugs helping them.
And then, thinking of the similarites between he and I, I started to worry. Could I turn rogue? I don't do drugs, but I do have a temper, and have on at least one occasion gone overly dramatic on someone. Could that be me plastered over the front of the local paper? Could that be me, the source of endless gossip? Is that darkness within me, as it was within him, waiting for something or someone to show it the way to the surface?
So, as I said at the top... I think we all have a dark side that we fear. But I'll correct that now: I hope we all have a dark side that we fear. Because, this is one of those times where I suspect fear is good. It's the people who say self-confidently "That could never be me, I'm not going to be that guy"... those are the ones more likely to fall. We fear, because we suspect it could possibly be us one day... and that fear might just be the thing that keeps it from being us one day.
I didn't get an invitation to my own 10-year high school reunion.
I couldn't have attended anyway - it was booked the same day as my wedding, and even if I hadn't been getting married, I probably would have blown it off anyway - but there's something to be said to the principle of the thing. You can't not invite someone to their own class reunion... it's bad form.
I intend to draft a letter to the organizers pointing out their (probably deliberate) oversight, reminding them that I'm not dead or in jail (like a number of my classmates), and perhaps mentioning (politely) that they suck. However, being as that I am too close to the subject matter, I don't appear to be able to speak elegantly on the topic and am therefore outsourcing this opportunity to be snarky and confrontational in a subtle, treacherous way to anyone who wants to pick up pen (keyboard) to paper (screen) and help.
If anyone has any words, phrases, or anatomically based insults about their parentage... they would be welcome.
- Mood:
groggy
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
weirdonian wrote:"Project Badger Jim was a complete success. He emailed me Sunday (February 25th) with news on just why he's been so elusive, namely a promotion at his work and an unreliable internet connection. Come to find out he also got a new Nintendo Wii, which Jenny has informed me of. I knew it couldn't be all work and bad connections keeping you off the tubes, Jim, lol."
I suppose I should be flattered, such that I am of a level of importance that my mere absence would inspire someone to suddenly take it upon themselves to stalk me.
Yes, I am alive. (And in California.... again...)
No, I'm not dead. Nobody turned me into a newt, either, although I can say with certain assurances that I do feel better.
No, I don't know when I'll be home. They're unofficially trying to get the home office to lend me out ANOTHER week.
Yes, Hilary, I brought the Jornada and continue to write in my spare time.
Also... Hilary (and anyone else interested) should check out http://www.erikanson.com
So... how is everyone else?
- Mood: Californiacated
I have found myself somewhere I honestly did not expect to be... California.
Burbank.
Yeah, I'm surprised too.
More later.
To clarify - The last time she and I were anywhere near each other, she taunted me by playing video games in her underware... Then, when I did not become a ravenous manslave to my passions (not that there were an abundant amount with her anyway), she accused me of forcing myself upon her, and did so in a public and vocal forum which caused me to go running and hiding from one of my oldest and most lovedest internet haunts.
To make matters worse, when I later am being the semi-occasional-internet-stalker that I am and I google her to see what she's up to (out of morbid curiosity) I discover that my 'former friend' is writing a giant fan fiction novel about she and my magical adventures together. In essence, she out-stalked me, which I'm almost certain is considered rude. She stole my name (Main Character is named Drakken) and my likeness (minus a hundred or so pounds, plus what I used to have in the way of hair), as well as my mental instability (in the novel, 'Drakken' is a ghost which comes to inhabit her body, thus providing a running commentary to her waking world).
The website was dedicated to the production of her then-novel-in-progress which appears to have been sacrificed to the altar of FFXI and World Of Warcraft, as so many good projects of late (and thousands of bad ones) have been. The name of the website is based off a name of a place I made up during the original role playing game she and I met in, so I've got as much claim to it as she... however, is revenge served several years cold to a person who may not even be hungry really revenge? Should I stick it in the emo-microwave for a few minutes and warm it up a little, or put it in the tupperware container of regrets and shove it into the fridge of absentmindedness where it will grow moldy and brown?
To be evil, or not to be evil... that is the question.
Began : February 1998 (Original story idea), April 2006 (Actual in-earnest writing)
Finished : January 7, 1:54 AM
Statistics:
Pages : 114/Letter Format, ~450 Paperback Format
Word Count : 112,551
Characters (no spaces) : 526,929
Characters (with spaces) : 644,007
Paragraphs : 2,152
Lines : 6,169
First Word : Our
Last Word : Waffles
Yes, you're reading this correctly. I'm done. Still got a lot of work left to do, but novel numbero uno is complete. That's all she wrote... or I wrote, as the case may be.
- Mood: victorious
The recent burst of writing comes part in parcel with a challenge I received from Hilary, who tasked me with the completion of this particular writing endavour before the end of the year. In the last three days, I've written nearly 10,000 words, bringing my total count up to 98,000. Now, I'd like to have gone that extra 2,000 tonight, but I'm afraid that if I do I may die from exhaustion tomorrow (and if not that from Jacque when she reads this and sees what I've been up to).
I've retired to the basement, because it is A) away from the laptop, and B) Dark.
Damn caffeine. So as it giveth, it taketh awayth.
Met:
princessleia2 yesterday. Wasn't planning on it. Had neglected to mention my attendance on the interweb for the specific purpose of keeping my much-hidden identity (I'm really Deep Blue the Chess Computer) secret, but then I saw here and introduced myself... about twice before she realized who I was... and then we talked. It was cool.Miss my laptop. Someone forgot to bring the bag with my laptop. Having to write novel on paper. My hands hurt.
Learning.
It's fun-demental.
Isn't history fun?
1. The Shiny One
Three years ago, my mother bought my brother and I twin super-shiny laptops. State of the art, top of the line, experimental Gateway models. A couple thousand dollars a pop each. Mine... melted, some time ago. The warranty is almost up, and while I may be at least partially responsible for it's meltification, I finally ceased my procrastination and sent it in to be repaired.
2. The Black One
Jacque's much-bedeviled Dell Laptop also died some time ago. This spring, I think. She turned it over to me, who completely and totally failed to repair it. Now, ages later, upon her request (and in fear of being computerless on our convention trip this coming week) she requested I have one more go at repairing it. The outcome? Well, I'm typing on it as we speak. It's shakey, to say the least, as I can't find half it's screws, but it works again. Jacque says (though she'll deny it later) that I am a god.
3. The Ancient One
My newest aquisition is a Pentium 1 150 Meg. Compaq laptop running Windows 95. It's the perfect word-processor for me, since it's super fast and distraction free. God, I had forgotten how much faster Win95 was than 98, 2000, XP, Vista, NT... well, maybe not NT. If a Pentium 4 with 2 Gig of ram is an elegant tank, than using this laptop is like being strapped naked to a missle. Maybe not as nice, but so much faster, so much more direct.
Thursday : Work. Was suggested that the bachelorette party might be still going by the time I get off. It was a lie. Went home and sulked. Played Geist, which I've owned/borrowed for almost a year and never touched. It was fun. Also invented my own alcoholic drink - it was 1 part vodka, 1 part gin, 3 parts tequila, and a dash of red grenadine. I call it the Liberator because while I'm not entirely sure what it tasted like, it did eat a hole straight through the bottom of the glass and made a break for freedom.
Friday : Wedding Prep Day - I didn't leave bed until almost 3 because I knew it was going to be one of those days. It was one of those days. We were on time to the rehersal dinner - except the rehersal dinner had been relocated to 30 minutes away from where we were told to go, a minor oversight which would have been easy to compensate for if someone had told the best man and maid of honor. Nevertheless, we struggled through.
Saturday : The Wedding - They got married. I said some stuff, people clapped. I've got a video camera full of it, which I will be handing over to Hilary at some point so she can master copy it for the hive. Went to Hilary's party later - an experience I shall not comment about in Public Mode. Got to bed around 6 AM.
Sunday : Slept.
- Mood: drained
Examples: Planet Of The Apes,
1980-1990: If a movie was not horrible, the studio would have a series waiting in the wings to release upon the unsuspecting public as a cartoon or a primetime show on thursday nights on ABC.
Examples: Teen Wolf, Bill & Ted, Harry and the Hendersons
1990-2000: The movie, now horrible or not, is a function of the tv series. If they can't make an action-figure-centric saturday am cartoon series from it, a t-shirt-centric action prime time series from it, or a graphic-novel-centric gritty cable show from it, they simply aren't interrested.
Examples: Men In Black, Godzilla, The Crow, Highlander, Spawn, Honey I Shrunk The Kids
2000-????: If, since the invention of television, it managed to stay on the air for more than 20 minutes without being cancelled due to horrible ratings, they can/will/have already made a movie from it.
Examples: Miami Vice, Knight Rider, Starsky and Hutch, Transformers, Charlie's Angels
