Everyone loves a good reinterpretation of their favorite characters. Doing the X-Men as babies was just… I want to say cheating, because babies are so easy to garner positive attention for, but lil’ Magneto is just too adorably dark for words. But why is Deadpool in there? Whatever, he breaks the fourth wall, he’s hilarious.
it's the booties
like a boss
Every Asian guy I’ve dated (Chinese, Korean, and now half Chinese) has said that I’m more Asian than him. I watch anime and read manga. I’ve done martial arts on and off for half my life. I’ve even read my fair share of anime fan fiction (>.<). Boyfriend makes fun of me for using chopsticks to eat everything (eg. scrambled eggs and tater tots), etc. It pleases me.
Giant Robot is a great source of entertainment for eggs like me (white on the outside, yellow on the inside). I’ve bought a few art posters from them (I’ll have to put them up later). Meanwhile, their online shop is littered with stuff like Bossy Bear, which just might become my new favorite thing. Also, I want one. The description reads:
“Bossy Bear is very bossy. And he’s also had just about enough. Bossy has reached his limit. Just like you, Bossy has a strong side. Well Bossy’s strong side has come out, and he wants things his way NOW!!! Let Bossy help you find your strong side.”
Just PRECIOUS.
If you don’t have even one friend who would laugh and then hug this… your friends might suck. Plus it’s on sale at Things from Another World, my favorite online comic shop. They’re always having some kinda sale, bless ’em.
he's great with the kids
optional hood? YOU BET
I went to the Renaissance Faire with friends last weekend. So much fun. Now I need to get a real costume instead of just pairing that bodice I have with a tank top and long skirt.
Which means I’d have to start working nights as a security guard, because those costumes are really, really expensive. I’ve been eying this little number (pictured) from Ravenswood Leather for a ranger-type costume, something tough but feminine, because that whole damsel look is pretty but just not me at all.
I’d have this stuff forever, too. Every Halloween I don’t want to wear the full dog-suit costume, BAM! I whip out the Ren Faire getup instead. It’s a totally foolproof plan.
I hear there are people in the world who:
a) Have never played any game resembling Dungeons & Dragons.
b) Have not seen this video.
And that’s just a shame. Both are fun and awesome and thoroughly entertaining. Enjoy 🙂
While we’re at it, The Guild is worth checking out. Short, hilarious episodes tell the story of a diverse group of PC gamers (namely World of Warcraft-ers).
It occurred to me recently that there’s a difference between “on purpose,” “purposely,” and “purposefully.” Although they’re all similar, they imply subtly different levels of enthusiasm for committing an action.
seriously, Louise, wtf?
If a hypothetical lady, Louise, were to throw a kitten “on purpose,” she did so with intent. Her intention was to throw a kitten, and she did. She doesn’t have to have any other reason for throwing the kitten.
However, if she were to throw a kitten “purposely,” this would imply that she had some underlying goal to achieve, and throwing the kitten was simply a step toward achieving that goal. There is some implied (potentially malicious) intent behind the purposely executed action.
“Purposefully” is, in a way, the strongest of the three phrases. It implies that as Louise throws the kitten, her reason for doing so is in the front of her mind and it is strong enough to drive her to action (she is literally “full of purpose”). To do anything “purposefully” gives the action a sense immediacy, and urgency that doing something “purposely” or “on purpose” would lack.
I’m inclined to say that “on purpose” and “purposely” are, in essence, interchangeable. After all, if Louise throws the kitten at a man “purposely,” with the implied malicious intent of hitting him with it, he has every grammatical right to turn around and exclaim, “You bitch, you did that on purpose!” So perhaps the two have the same meaning, and are just used in different forms. Still, I would argue that there’s a very subtle difference between the two in common usage.
I invited a bunch of work folks over to watch some anime. I sent out a mass email invitation complete with offers of deluxe home-made ramen, their choice of mochi ice cream flavor, and about a dozen synopses of some movies and TV series the anime first-timers might enjoy.
I got one response. Thank god it was yes. I’m a little sad.
why is it wrapped up? wtf?!
I understand why people are hesitant to watch anime. I get it. Really. They picture the giant eyes, and the impossible hair, the enormous swords, the subtitles (how dare they make us read for entertainment!). As an avid anime fan, I’ll be the first to say it: anime can be weird and off-putting, just like any other genre.
But it also allows us to think outside the box like no other medium. It’s a cartoon! Anything can happen! Who wouldn’t love that? The cost of an anime movie is a lot cheaper than a live-action movie, so technically we’re getting more fantastic stories that look amazing from anime per dollar. That’s five amazing animes for the price of one live-action film! I’m totally making these number up, btw. I’ll have to do some research.
totally, completely accurate
RESEARCH COMPLETE
Ok, so it looks like the budget for Spirited Away was ¥1.9 billion, which converts to roughly $23 million. Scratch together two times that amount, and you could almost afford to hire Eddie Murphy to ruin your film (and that doesn’t even cover the cost of a fat suit). Inception had a budget of $200 million. Paprika, an anime movie on the same topic (dream-based science fiction-action-thriller-mystery!) was supposedly made for around $3 million. And Paprika was part of the inspiration behind Inception!
In case you’re still not convinced that anime is worth your while, AMERICA, here’s a screenshot I took of how Naruto hoped he would look once he was transformed into a cat:
initiate heart melting
P.S. Like how I blamed my coworkers’ lack of interest in anime night at my place entirely on anime? I’m sorry, my friend, but it’s you or me! lol
I was poking around http://www.totallylookslike.com when I stumbled upon a comparison of John C. Calhoun and Sam the Eagle (spot-on). I remember being a little bit afraid of Sam the Eagle. If I had had as much exposure to the visage of John C. Calhoun, Sam would have been a welcome fright.
"You're shitting me, right?"
Yikes, right?! Look at that mug! And the neckbeard, lol!
The 7th Vice President of the United States, this guy didn’t stop at horrifying people with is face. He supported slavery, famously calling it a “positive good.” He was known by supporters as the “cast-iron man” because of his staunch defense of his political stances. Like how slavery was natural because every society has a ruling elite which reaps the benefits of said elitism due to the back-breaking labor of the lower castes. It’s natural.
"WTF is that?!"
Apparently he died ten years before the start of the Civil War, so he didn’t get to see all those slaves freed. Can you imagine if he did? How could he possibly look any more displeased?
In my first art history class back in high school, my teacher (Mrs. Hill, so awesome!) told us about the advent of the camera, and how it essentially put portrait painters out of work. Our teacher told us a story about how, around this time, some snooty queen asked her court portrait painter why she shouldn’t fire him and hire a photographer instead. The painter apparently responded, “Your Highness, the camera cannot lie.” Awesome answer.
Bearing this truth in mind, why the fuck didn’t the artist of this portrait do a little more to make VP Calhoun look like an intelligent, respectable government official instead of a wild-man who was dressed up like a gentleman for a day as a joke? Answer: John C. Calhoun was so out of his mind enthused about slavery, even a formal portrait artist couldn’t gloss over all the crazy in those eyes. There must have been some surprising shit off camera to entice VP Calhoun to make a face like that.
the nerd army finally has a uniform they can afford
I’m a nerd, no mistake, but I like to think of Firefly as a series anyone could get behind. It’s really funny with lots of action and amazing characters. It might be the best action/comedy series ever, but that’s not really fair to say since there isn’t even a full season worth of episodes to compare it to. Still, there isn’t a single person I wouldn’t recommend it to.
The movie (Serenity) is basically a feature film length and quality season finale. Serenity was on the Syfy channel (I can’t believe they changed their name. Stop hiding what you are, nerd!) earlier today, and I had to watch. So good!
This year’s ComiCon was my third overall, and my first as a member of the press (which didn’t make much of a difference, actually). I crashed in a hotel closet the first night, and shared a bed with a very nice lady comedian the second night. Saturday morning, she and I went to a nearby restaurant (and I use the term loosely) for breakfast. It was like being in a third-world country: everything was brightly painted to cover rust, nothing matched, there were album covers and instruments covering nearly every surface, and there were several full-sized painted figures of various celebrities scattered around (Elvis made me jump as I turned a corner). The owner was a character; I’m definitely going back my next trip.
My goal for this year’s ComiCon was to take photos of as many cosplayers as I could stand. 200 photos later, mission a-fracking-ccomplished. I also got to interview a bunch of them on camera for Comics on Comics. Those interviews should be up on their website soon. So much fun! Some of them just loved to tell us about their costume, others were so shy I couldn’t get more than a word or two out of them (so cute!).
My celebrity encounter
I got to meet Richard Taylor, who is bar-none the kindest, most generous and engaging semi-celebrity I will probably ever have the pleasure of encountering. He’s the head of the Weta Workshop which did all the props for The Lord of the Rings movies. He was just standing on the floor near the Dark Horse booth chatting with whomever was waiting patiently for their turn. He turned the conversation to my friends and I as soon as we were introduced, asking us where we were from, how do we like the con, do we work in the industry, etc. I couldn’t get over what a nice guy he was. Color me impressed.
I also got to meet Scott Kurtz who creates PvP Online, an online comic I’ve been reading for years. He was very low key, and happy to chat a bit.
A few things I’ve learned about cosplaying this year:
-It pays to have a comfortable costume (especially shoes).
-Earn the Roadblock achievement- A true sign of an amazing costume (or a skimpy one) is when one person can cause a traffic jam in the main hall while everyone stops to get a photo.
-Be a good sport- A great costume will make you a celebrity for a day. The first time some random stranger asked for my photo, I got pretty excited (my costume was very accurate, but pretty simple). The only exception to this rule came when I spotted a girl with a fantastic Scout costume from Team Fortress. I asked for a photo and she immediately froze, then took off waving her bat over her head as she went. I was in shock. AWESOME.
-Plan ahead- Every decent costume requires a good amount of planning, so you have to start months before the con to make sure you have everything you need. Some assembly will always be required.
-Just smile- I was pleased to rediscover that true cosplayers are not attention whores. They dress up because they love a character, not because they want people begging for a photo-op. Speaking of which…
-DO YOUR RESEARCH- If you’re going to dress up as a character, you’d better believe there will be people at the con who want to see that trademark move, or hear that catchphrase your character is always saying. If you can’t deliver, get ready for some seriously disappointed nerds. I photographed a woman dressed as the White Queen. Her costume was fantastic, so I asked which comic she got her inspiration from (Uncanny, Astonishing, etc). She had no idea what I was talking about. So disappointing. Would it have killed her to read up on her character on Wikipedia before the con? Visually, she was perfect for the role of Emma Frost, but she knew nothing about the X-Men universe. Which brings us to our next topic…
-Dress to your body type- How many fat, out of shape jedi did I see in San Diego this weekend, LOL! I didn’t see any Man-Faye (thank god), but if you’re gonna wear something tight, your options are to either get a gym membership months and months before the con, or dress up as a fat character. Really!
-Go all the way!- I saw so many people there with pieces of a costume on (wearing a Master Chief helmet ONLY is not a costume!). Don’t be scared, guys. If there’s any place where people will accept you in your bizzarre outfit, it’s ComiCon. Which brings us to…
-Do it or don’t- For everyone who bought their costume at Hot Topic, you’re taking up space at the con that could be filled by legitimate nerds. Buying Emily the Strange comics does not make you a comic book nerd. Just set your DVR to record Fringe, re-read the Twilight saga with your cat, and give your passes to real fans.
The Comics!
Archaia Press had a crazy deal going on for their graphic novels this year. I got 5 hardbacks for $50. The deal was: 2 for 1, 5 for 2, or 7 for 3. Made the whole trip worth it.
I got two of the Mouseguard books which I’ve been meaning to check out. At the Darkhorse booth I got Beasts of Burden, which is great so far. I also picked up Batman Grendel for $6. I grabbed a Wolverine sketch for my roommate (he’s her favorite), and a couple prints for myself.
The final hilight
Saturday night before I left, some friends and I went to an Italian restaurant called Acqua al 2. A few of us had a fillet mignon with a blueberry reduction sauce (see the Fileno al Mirtilio on the menu). It was like eating a meat pancake. So unusual and very tasty. The perfect end to an exhausting weekend.
P.S. My costume was a huge success! I got every aspect just right, and enough people recognized me to make me satisfied that I did a good job on it. Yuri Sakazaki, you’re my hero.
Be Random, Be Clear 
