Sunday, December 30, 2007

Fushigi Yūgi in 30 Seconds

"Tamahome!"

"MIAKA!!!"

"Tama...home..."

"Mi -- Mia...ka..."

"NURIKOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

"...Yui-chan..."

"Hotohori-sama?!"

"...Nakago."

"NORM!!!"

Saturday, December 29, 2007

March of the Sinister Ducks

Proving yet again that he is the most multitalented individual in the world of comics, Alan "The Peacock" Moore tells us the truth about those avian ne'er-do-wells...

Friday, December 28, 2007

10 Answers of Doom!

Here it is! Muahaha!!!

1. Alex P. Keaton (Family Ties)
2. Death of the Endless (The Sandman)
3. Drizzt do'Urden (Forgotten Realms)
4. Filby Pott (me!)
5. James T. Kirk (Star Trek)
6. Lex Luthor (Superman)
7. Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
8. Sauron (The Lord of the Rings)
9. The Scarecrow (The Wizard of Oz)
10. Wonder Woman (her own comic)

Incidentally, in a dance-off between Death and Sauron, Death wins every time.

From Swinebread (whose blog I really need to start reading regularly 'cause he's gracious enough to read mine):
if 7 did a cooking show would 1 like it?

Are you kidding? Who wouldn't like Cooking with Mario? He's the Mushroom Master! He puts the "fun" in "fungus!"

From Ami (who totally made this meme worthwhile -- thanks!!!):
If 2, 3 and 6 were turned into Dinosaurs (they still have their intelligence), what Dinosaurs would they be? Who would be eaten first and who would most likely survive past the initial meteor impact and why? :o

Drizzt would be a dromaeosaur (raptor) of some sort, because they're graceful, deadly, and incredibly overhyped. Lex would be a tyrannosaurus, for obvious reasons. Lex chows down on Drizzt before Death shows up, she being the meteor.

1 wakes up being drawn by Ian Churchill at his worst, is s/he happy about this? xD
So Alex is Power Boy, basically? I don't think he'd mind, though he'd need to do something about that hideous chest-hair.

If 4 and 5 were trapped in a desolate world all by themselves as the last people left, how long would it be until they fell in luff? xD
Um... Jim Kirk might be willing to screw anything with two legs, but I think even he would draw the line at Filby. Like srsly.

7, 8, 9 and 10 play Magic: The Gathering, what colours would each play, what type of decks would each play? :D (this is my favorite question)

Matching their colors up with their personalities, I'd say it'd go thusly:

Mario's deck is white (because of his commitment to duty), with a strong artifact presence ('cause he relies on versatile equipment). He's playing for fun, so his deck doesn't follow any particular archetype.

Sauron's deck is black and white because he's completely self-interested yet wants to rule as the ultimate authority (unlike Yawgmoth, who wanted to destroy his enemies, Sauron wants to rule them). He's playing an aggro deck, maybe something like the "Ghost Husk" archetype, tricked out with lots of expensive rares.

Befitting his great intelligence, the Scarecrow is playing mono-blue. He's got a control deck with lots of counterspells and bounce effects.

Wonder Woman is playing a green deck, because she's both nurturing and super-strong. Her deck is mainly huge creatures, buff effects (Might of Oaks is made for Diana), and maybe some protective effects like high-toughness treefolk and life gain.

(As for the rest of the chars, Alex is white/black, Death is black/green, Drizzt is red/green, Filby is blue/black, Kirk is white/red, and Lex is black.)

Who would be ultimately the best player of all 4 in your opinion? (considering stuff like money to spend on cards, creativity, intelligence, guile, etc) :D

Sauron has the most resources at his disposal and is incredibly, um, guilesome, not to mention aggressive, so he's probably the best player. Diana and the Scarecrow would give him a real run for his money, though.

If they had a 4 way match and 8 could pick one format to play, what would s/he choose?

Sauron would choose to play in Vintage Format, 'cause it lets him use his Black Lotus, set of five Moxen, Demonic Tutor, and Necropotence.

Imagine all of your characters had been turned into babies (this idea was given to me by a friend who wants to be known only as a green dinosaur xD) but retain their general intelligence but are subject to the emotional states and instincts of babies :D

Who is the first person to want to find a "cure"? Who is most likely to be the one okay with staying this way? Does nebody WANT to stay this way?

Drizzt would be the first to set out looking for a cure, 'cause he's that kind of heroic type, while Luthor's pride won't let him stay that way, prompting him to help the elf. Mario would rather be an adult, but given that he's saved the Mushroom at least once while in diapers, he can get along. Death would probably enjoy the time off from her responsibilities, but would want to get back to normal.

Would any try to act like things haven't changed and try to find a way to adapt to their normal life? xD

Baby Alex would continue carrying around a mini briefcase and Wall Street Journal, yes.

Who is the first one to cry? :o

Filby.

Who is the first one spanked? >.>

Filby.

What would be each one's favourite toy? :D

Alex: Wall Street Journal: Tiny Tots Edition.
Death: Kid's gardening kit.
Drizzt: Toy sword. Two of 'em.
Filby: Jar of paste.
Kirk: Plastic rocket.
Lex: Pastel blue death ray.
Mario: Game Boy of course!
Sauron: My First Artifact of Ultimate Doom.
Scarecrow: Blackboard and chalk.
Wonder Woman: Golden jump rope of truth.

Imagine their first day of preschool, what does each one do? xD

Alex: Convinces the cafeteria to stop taking lunch vouchers. No pinko social programs in his school!
Death: Plays nice with Diana and takes care of the class hamster.
Drizzt: Beats up some bullies.
Filby: Sulks in the corner 'cause Lex gets away with everything and he doesn't.
Kirk: Kisses Diana on the playground and gets slapped three zip codes away.
Lex: Stages a hostile takeover of the principal's office.
Mario: Helps Drizzt out.
Sauron: Starts building his power base to conquer the day care across the street by corrupting nine other kids with cursed pacifiers of doom.
Scarecrow: Astounds the teacher with his l33t math skillz.
Wonder Woman: Plays with Death then joins in with Drizzt and Mario.

4 has a date with 6's mother. Creepy? Not creepy? xD 8 finds out, does s/he tell 6? 8 finds out regardless, is s/he happy about this? 4 marries 8's mother and becomes 8's parent now, how is their relationship? XD

An evil, wrinkly old hobbit dating Lex Luthor's mother. That about sets the bar for creepy.

Sauron tells Lex, yes, because he fucking hates hobbits.

Um... Sauron doesn't have a mother. He's older than the universe. Unless you meant "6" in the second half in the question, in which case Lex is pretty pissed off to have a lame-ass shadow of himself as his pop-in-law, though he might warm up when he realizes how useful Filbs can be in scheming.

1 and 10 are presidential candidates, which party would each run for? (they can't both run for the same party) Out of 3 and 9, who would each choose for their running mate? Out of their supporting casts (of those 4 characters), who would they choose for a potential secretary of defence, attorney general, surgeon general and secretary of state? xD

Alex P. Keaton vs. Wonder Woman? I can see that. Obviously Alex is a Republican. Diana would prefer to run for the Green Party, but would run as a Democrat out of practicality.

Alex chooses the Scarecrow as his running mate, whose rustic ways endear him to midwestern voters while his considerable intellect gives him clout among the Wall Street elite. Given that his family is mostly liberal, he instead chooses his cabinet from among the Scarecrow's circle of friends: Secretary of Defense Omby Amby (he's a one-man army!), Attorney General H. M. Wogglebug, Surgeon General Nick Chopper (any man who can chop off his own limbs and replace them all, including his head, with tin prosthetics must have one hell of a head for medicine), and Secretary of State Dorothy Gale. (We'll pretend that non-Americans, non-humans, and royalty/nobility are allowed to run.)

Diana's running mate is Drizzt do'Urden (who is almost as pretty as she is, natch), who provides Bruenor Battlehammer as Secretary of State, netting Diana both the elven and dwarven votes (heh). The rest of her cabinet: Secretary of Defense Steve Trevor, Attorney General Regis Rumblebelly, and Surgeon General Etta Candy (whose constitution always has room for a few amendments).

Who would win a presidential debate? Who would voters most resonate with and why? :o What would the news media say about them? Would each focus more on issues or attacking the other side? :D

Diana's the better and more charismatic debater, but the fact that she's a pagan feminist turns off a lot of people. Needless to say, Fox News savages her. Alex would be more comfortable taking pot-shots at her, but they'd both stick to the issues for the most part.

Would any of those 4 appear on the Colbert Report or Daily Show? xD

Alex and Diana both have a pretty good sense of humor (though Diana's is more understated), so sure, they'd both go on either show. Scarecrow wouldn't hesitate to go on either, but Drizzt's too retiring to do so.

Ultimately who would win and how close would it be? Would the votes be divided by certain demographics or regions?

Alex would win, mainly because of his greater experience in politics, his "traditional values" campaign, and his down-home image. The fact that Diana is way more progressive than the Democratic mainline doesn't help, sadly; she really only makes strong headway in New England and California.

Do you think the winner would be good for America? :D How long until they're impeached, and why (if at all)? xD

Alex isn't the worst that could happen. Imagine Ronald Reagan without the senility, heartlessness toward minorities and the disadvantaged, fundamentalist rhetoric, and foreign scandals, basically. And a lot prettier. And with a laugh track. But just as many jelly beans. Heck, he'd probably be the best Republican president since Eisenhower. I'd still vote for Diana, though.

Diana goes on to successfully run for governor in Massachusetts, introducing sweeping and widely popular reforms in health care, gay rights, and environmental protection. She plans on shooting for the presidency again in 2012. Or 2016. Or 2020. She's immortal, she can wait.

2 and 5 get into a heated argument about something they believe differently in that comes to blows. What were they most likely arguing about? 7 comes in, does s/he pick a side or try to mediate or just turn around and leave? Who would most likely resort to personal attacks first? xD

I really can't see Death and Kirk getting into a fight like that. They're both pretty easygoing. Mario would probably side with Kirk, though.

From Tricia (who came unlooked-for out of the e-ther!):
All ten enter a dancing competition. Who pairs up with who (given that 4 and 5 are a pairing) and which partnership wins?

Filby and Kirk: Filby's lame in one leg, so they're first to be disqualified.
Alex and Diana: To show there's no hard feelings off the political field.
Death and Scarecrow: He's offbeat, and she likes that.
Lex and Sauron: Great evil minds dance alike?
Drizzt and Mario: They got picked last. :(

Alex and Diana win.

Odds and evens are split into two teams and placed on a deserted island/planet/whatever where they have to make use of natural resources and are told they are in competition with the other team for a fantabulous prize. Who wins?

Team one: Death, Filby, Lex, Sauron, and Diana.
Team two: Alex, Drizzt, Kirk, Mario, and the Scarecrow.

I'd say team one has the best thinkers of the bunch, but infighting between Lex, Sauron, and da Filb tears them apart, letting the more well-rounded team two win.

Thanks guys! That was fun!!! :D

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

More gushing.

Seriously, Fushigi Yūgi is made of win and awesome. I just watched episode 33, and it had me crying for like 20 minutes because my favorite character died heroically... Maybe it's just the time of year or all the holiday stress, but I get really depressed around the holidays, and it just gave me a chance to blow off some pressure. A cathartic experience. Kudos to the show's creators.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

10 Characters of Doom!

From Ami. (Who will be the only person to respond to this, I know it.)

I'm gonna make a list of 10 characters, it is a secret list. If you want, comment to this post with a question like, "2 and 8 have a dance off, who wins?" and then I answer them in a separate post and it is the most fun meme ever. And you can ask as many questions as you like.

Monday, December 24, 2007

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Photobucket

Merry Bat-Christmas and a Happy Bat-New Year, everyone.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Some brief fanboy gushing.

My sister let my borrow her VHS box set of Fushigi Yūgi (The Mysterious Play), and I've gotta say, it's somewhat awesome.



And it has an awesome theme song. Dig those guitar riffs! It's like one of those fantasy movies from the '80s with a cool rock soundtrack, like Legend or Labyrinth. It's just... awesome!

That is all.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Ten Comic Book Characters I Don't Particularly Like

Apparently there was a meme on LiveJournal this past week to list 10 characters from comics you hate. I missed out on that, but being disgracefully late never stopped me from getting involved in a meme!

Note that I really don't hate many characters (except for #4, whom I don't really see as redeemable), and there are rare instances when I find even these sad sacks interesting, but in general they just bore me and/or piss me off.

1. Spider-Man
Yes, Spider-Man. To be fair, it's not really Spidey I have a problem with so much as the editors mandating his life's direction. It's just one insipid tragedy after another. The poor shmo isn't allowed to be happy for even a moment. Instead it's just angst, angst, angst. NO THANKS. I'll be over here reading my happy, hope-inspiring Superman comics, thankyouverymuch...

2. Green Arrow
I dislike Green Arrow for the same reason I dislike Michael Moore: He claims to speak for the same political ideals I do, but at the end of the day he's just an obnoxious rich white guy with a chip on his shoulder. They both just end up making me look worse.

3. Egg Fu
He's Fu Manchu as a giant yellow egg. We couldn't have just left him buried back in the Silver Age where he belongs? I wish that when they reintroduced him last year they could at least have purged him of all his Yellow Peril elements and made him completely alien, but no, he may not have the moustache anymore but he's still "Chang Tzu," the living embodiment of the "inscrutable East" stereotype.

4. Mother of Champions
In the same vein as the above... Yeah, she's appeared for no more than two or three panels over a year ago, but the very fact that a Chinese woman whose super-power is having lots of babies so much as exists pisses me off.

5. Catwoman
The "femme fatale" thing never really interested me all that much. That's pretty much all I have to say.

6. Sally Floyd
...on general principle.

7. Orion
I'm one of those people who doesn't worship the warrior archetype, and as such Orion holds little to no interest for me. Mister Miracle is so much more interesting, or at least he was before Jim Starlin stuffed his wife into a fridge.

8. Major Force
Speaking of fridges!

9. Bigby Wolf
I don't hate him so much as I'm incredibly tired of how Bill Willingham constantly uses him as a mouthpiece for his political views. "Operation: Israel" my ass.

10. Jean Grey
Stay dead, already!

Honorable Mention:
11. Wolverine
Yeah, he's an obnoxious manly-man prick and he pretty much singlehandedly killed the concept of the "cape," but his gruff obnoxiousness makes his brief humanizing moments that much more effective (and the parodies more hilarious). So he manages to stay off the list.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Filby's Wish List

Well, it seems that my pay has been doubled. That means I'll be able to pay off next semester's tuition and driving school by the end of January! Woohoo!

So that got me thinking: Now that I have a singularly disposable income, I really need to come up with something to dispose it on. I don't plan on being a total spendthrift (I'm part Scottish, after all) so it'll be maybe one item per month (two tops), but still...

  • Books: The Children of Húrin by J. R. R. Tolkien.
  • DVD: Vol. 2-4 of Mobile Police Patlabor (I already have Vol. 1) plus the movies and straight-to-video series, the special edition of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (I have the whole series on my HD but it's good enough for me to want it in tangible form), various Studio Ghibli movies (Spirited Away, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, etc.).
  • D&D: Hard copies of the 3.5-edition Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. Screw 4th Edition, I ain't playin' it.
  • MtG: The complete Lorwyn and Morningtide sets. I practically never play but I'm in love with the art.
  • Comics: Trade paperbacks of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps from 2005 to the present.
  • Electronics: Personal computer, scanner, printer.
  • Art supplies: More of 'em.
  • Some kind of automosomething.


Can I get any more recommendations?

Friday, December 07, 2007

Thoughts on The Golden Compass

Apparently a lot of religious people are getting up in arms over this movie The Golden Compass because its creator is an outspoken atheist and he used his books to get his beliefs across to young readers.

So... wait wait wait.

One British guy writes a series of fantasy novels explaining his personal beliefs, and they're hailed as being among the greatest young adult literature of the 20th century.

Another British guy writes a series of fantasy novels explaining his personal beliefs, and... controversy.

Huh?

Okay, honestly? I liked The Chronicles of Narnia. They were well-written, they had engaging characters and exciting plots, and while I didn't agree with C. S. Lewis's Christian message I thought it was stated gracefully and eloquently. In fact, the main problem I did have with Lewis is simply that his fictional world wasn't created with as much verisimilitude as Tolkien's. :P I highly recommend his books.

So why the hell can't right-wing Christians have the grace to let someone outside their group have their say? Hypocrisy, much?

Ahh, well. In a way, the Christian Right is actually doing the "atheist agenda" (heh) a favor by raising such a stink. No such thing as bad press, after all.

Anyway, if I end up seeing this movie for political reasons, it won't be because the author's an atheist. It'll be because the villain is an evil woman named Coulter. :D

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

More Ranting (SPOILERS for Countdown: Arena)

Countdown: Arena #1 pissed me off.

So they introduce 52 alternate versions of the DCU and its most popular characters... and immediately start slaughtering them en masse.

I'm insanely pissed that Victorian Batman and WWII Batman unceremoniously got their throats ripped out by Vampire Batman. I really liked both of them. Hell, I put in like 300 votes for WWII Batman just because I knew Vampire Batman would kill them if he won and I didn't want them to die. I was right. Lot of good my votes did...

Screw you, DC. That was a stupid move.

Thoughts on the Latest JSA

A Japanese super-villain named Kamikaze whose power is blowing himself to smithereens and pulling his limbs and guts back together.

What.

The.

FUCK?!?!

What's next, a super-villain named Suicidi al-Bomber who just happens to be Palestinian?

I'm just... WHAT THE HELL?! I'm just saying, kamikaze is the ultimate example of the sheer insanity of theocracy. It is tragic and disgusting. And it should not be invoked so lightly and in such a crass manner.

And of course he's a huge fat sumo-looking guy who prattles on about honor. Excuse me -- "HONOR!" And his costume looks like Mount Fucking Fuji. Jesus H, could this get any more stereotyped and insensitive?

Regarding his companion Kung the Obake: "Kung" is not a Japanese name. The Japanese language doesn't have an "ng" sound (as in "ring" or "sing" -- when the two consonants are together they are pronounced separately, like "Ringo"), and words don't end in consonants other than "n." (If I'm mistaken, please correct me.) They could at least have called him "Kun" or "Kunge" or something; it would've been nonsense but at least it wouldn't have been out of the question for the Japanese language.

Regarding Judomaster: Since when doesn't she speak English? Isn't this the smart-alecky woman who was cracking wise -- in English -- about Big Barda's mighty mega-rod (which looms large in her hands) in Birds of Prey last year? I really hate the whole "silent exotic foreign woman" thing they have going for her now. And do we really need yet another Asian super-hero whose gimmick is martial arts or mysticism? Why aren't there any Asian supers who wear capes and shoot laser beams from their eyes?

Bah.

I really wish they'd focused solely on the Kingdom Come plot, because this "legacy heroes" plot is just feeling tacked-on to fill up space. They're trying to tell two stories in the space of one, and it's annoying me.

I mean... I'm just angry because this is Geoff Johns. HE CAN DO BETTER.

Just Posting to Say...

...that "Doctor Psycho" is the coolest super-villain name ever.

And Gail Simone writes him really well.

And I liked him better without the full beard and sunglasses. He should look like a sleazy little know-it-all bastard with a ponytail and goatee, not like Gimli son of Gloin joined ZZ Top.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

'Twas the Dark Knight Before Christmas...

Okay, I realize that Pott Manor Bag End is in serious danger of turning into a video linkblog, so I'll try to cut back on the videos for the time being. But first...

Monday, December 03, 2007

Changes

Decided to change the blog name, mainly 'cause I'd been using the same name for my LiveJournal.

I've finally succeeded in swindling that fool Baggins out of house and home. Muahahaha!!!