Laaaaaate...

It has just occured to me that I haven't updated in a while. Sorry 'bout that. Its like 5 am or something now, but I'm still posting cause I love you all....or hate myself.
I just saw The Hulk for the second time and enjoyed it thoroughly once again. Its really a very different type of movie from most of the previous comic based movies. It has much more depth and emotion, something I attribute to Ang Lee's (of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) directing. He does a wonderful job with what I have always considered to be one of the least interesting comic book heros. Especially when you compare it to the horrendous Incredible Hulk television series. If you've never seen it, it is comprised mostly of Bruce Banner walking to some town, meeting a girl, getting mad for some stupid reason, turning into a bodybuilder painted green, breaking some things in slow motion apparently cause that makes him look stronger, and then having to leave cause the he doesn't want to endanger the girl with his inner bodybuilder. Oh and very bad sad 80's music throughout the whole thing. That and they somehow managed to make the whole thing into a cheesy romance drama. Yeah, thats about it.

...Did I mention its like 5 am? Well if not it, it is indeed very very 5 am. The saga of me being a confused little boy when it comes to women continues. Although I am not freaked out anymore, but I am still uncertain how to proceed. Oh well, things shall sort out....hopefully : ) Hmmm, I have just talked to Ian and now see that all my girl troubles pale in comparison. No wonder he has such a large supply of angst to put into his comics. But I shall let him divulge if he so chooses. Anywhoo, I'm gonna head off to bed now. Out.

Mawwage

Heh, I had a new experience today.
I have been talking with a girl in my calculus class a lot, and we are becoming friends. She is really cool, really easy going, and, best of all, loves video games. We talked about how she beat halo, and how there is a really great classic arcade downtown that I really should visit sometimes. She is pretty, smart, and all around wonderful. But…
She is married.
I am totally not used to girls my age being that unavailable.
I must be finally growing up.
Funny, I don’t feel it.

Webcomics and Goats

Okay, so I have been thinking about webcomics, and I have been becoming increasingly filled with rage.
Let me elucidate:
Ask anyone about the chance of your Average Joe breaking into the mainstream entertainment industry, and Mr. Anybody will tell you that Joe is about as likely to become a rock god as he is to grow a tail and turn into LIZARD JOE!™. Because in the entertainment industry there is someone who tells you if your stuff (let it be writing or film or goat pornography) sucks: The publishing conglomerates. And when they do reject your work, you just give up and go somewhere to hang yourself quietly like most people in “the ‘biz” do, and then it is over. Conversely, when someone does actually manage to create something original, or at least marketable and potentially popular, those same publishers take care of marketing it and making you millions of sweaty dollars. Either way, you didn’t have to really worry about the quality of your own work; people handled that for you.
Then came the Internet, and Internet based entertainment.
Suddenly the critical publishing corporations were taking out of the picture. Anyone could “publish” anything and put it online, and maybe make money from it! Or at least gather tons of adoring fans that would love them unconditionally, right? This mentality is especially true in the world of webcomics. After the success of strips such as Penny Arcade and PVP, everyone and their pet monkey threw up a Keenspace site entitled something like “Nickel Arcade,” or “SUPER COMIC OF UBER L33TNESS!!!11!” believing that “it’s so easy!” and that “I could do that too!” Now there are thousands of strips online. But, and here is a shocker, most of them are bad! Really Bad! Make your eyes bleed and your spleen go on strike bad! And so the rare original and well-drawn comics that debuted on the web these days get lost among the throng of crappy Sinfest clones that already exist. And because everyone is too busy trying to coax their spleens back into their bodies, no one takes the time to weed out the good from the bad. Virtually the only way to get any sort of readership built up is too be linked from an already successful comic site. Megatokyo gained readership from a Penny Arcade link, Mac Hall got it from a Megatokyo link, and so on and so forth. But unfortunately, it seems like all the successful webcartoonists are all too busy being successful too link to anyone but each other! I mean, Piro recently put up a “Linkup” section to give quality sites recognition, and what was one of his first links? PENNY ARCADE! Yeah, they needed a link, I’ll bet there was dancing in the streets of Wangville that day.
Anyway.
The point I was trying to make is that sometimes we need someone to tell us creators when our stuff is terrible. Some sort of pre-publishing censoring to tell us whether our work is even worth the effort of promoting, and, on the other hand, also to tell web audiences that they should give our site a second look, that it isn’t crap like all the others. Because right now, it’s just as hard to sell entertainment in the virtual, self-published world as it is in the real one.
Well, except maybe for the goat porn.

Tranquility Now!

This morning I had a truly tranquil experience. It was about noon and I had just gotten out of the shower. The weather outside was warm but stormy: lighting and thunder, heavy rain pounding the windows. I had the house to myself, no one yelling or screaming. I was sipping some sweet Kurn’s brand Guava Nectar™ and listening to David Bowie’s “Thursday’s Child.” Just lying back on the couch, with my laptop, surfing the net for computer upgrades. And, for the first time in the last few months, I felt calm. Content. I have been happy, but today I truly felt complete, like I wasn’t looking forward to anything, just enjoying the moment. Of course after a few hours my family returned, and a few hours after that I had to go to calculus class, thereby shattering any sort of personal well-being. But for a brief moment, it was wonderful.

Creeeepy!

Women are confusing. The same circumstances can mean totally different things to different people. How are we supposed to know the rules when they change from person to person? Ok, enough angst.

Eternal Darkness for Gamecube is totally sweet. I played it once before, but Andy just got it and I now remember how cool it is. I generally hate the survival horror genre, but this game is different. It mostly has puzzles and creepiness. LOTS of creepiness. And even when its not creepy its just really cool. I want a Gamecube. There should be an online fund to buy me one. I know! Just email me your credit card numbers. I will withdraw how much I think you should give me. It works out perfectly! Ok, more painting tomorrow, so off to bed.

Operation Idiot

I work everyday at a supermarket deli making sandwiches. Putting aside the mind numbing soul crushing monotony of the job, forgetting the cretins who I am forced to call co-workers, ignoring the terrible hours and numerous injuries, there is really only one thing I hate: the Customers. Not all of them mind you. The beautiful friendly girls can come get a samichie from Uncle Ian anytime. What annoys me is the people who treat their lunch like it was some sort of intergalactic mission. Every decision of Operation “Toasted Rye” must be carefully examined from every angle; the consequences of rushing the question of “what cheese do you want?” could be catastrophic. There is absolutely no circumstance that warrants taking ten minutes to make one’s vegetable selection. Stupid people are their even stupider priorities. It’s just lunch: please, for the love of god, get over it.

Danger Danger!

I routinely make poor decisions. I should not be allowed outdoors

There is no more akward a situation than being around someone that "likes" you, who you don't "like" but still like them enough to not really be put off by the idea. How are you supposed to act in those circumstances? Normal harmless flirting between friends of different sex suddenly becomes much more confusing. How do you respond to it? You don't want to avoid the person, because you like them, but you don't want to give the wrong impression either. On top of that, it's so easy to let yourself slip into becoming interested when you know it would be a bad idea. Plus a cute girl flirting with you is a hard thing to resist. Why is it that someone who you know likes you suddenly becomes more interesting? Bahh! Confusing! Maybe if I just close my eyes and pretend I notice nothing it will go away. Heck, maybe I am imagining some of it. ...I'm gonna curl up into a ball now.

Meat hats are scary

Alright, Ian's previous post kinda scares me. But at the same time I kinda want one... Anyway, sorry for the recent lack of posts, I've been out and about the last couple of days. Yesterday I played lots of Super Smash Bros. at Andy's house and then we went to Cory's house and watched like 3 movies. So that took up pretty much all the day. In fact I didnt get in till 5 am. Which leads me to my fun adventure. There was a large thunderstom that night, which was still sort of going on, but it was mainly just lots of lightning and some medium light rain. But it had previously been very windy. So I'm driving home at 5 am, and I get to a mile from my house and there is this big tree that has fallen accross the road. No way to get around it. This is the only road to my house. So I think, I could just go back to Andy's house and sleep there, but I've already driven 15 minutes to get here and I really want to sleep in my bed, so I decide to park my car on the side of the road and just run through the thunderstorm. There are absolutely no lights on my road (I live in the country) so the only light was the persistant lighting. Much fun. So I was a little wet and cold but it was a fun adventure so it was all worth it.