The Magic of Years Gone By

Terese Nielsen has a DeviantART page! She's like the best MTG artist there is, along with Quentin Hoover and Wayne Reynolds and John Avon and Rebecca Guay and --

OMG it's Gerrard

he is so beautiful *swoons*

>_>

<_<

-_-'

*ahem*

Seriously though, I miss the good old days of the Weatherlight saga. I understand why a lot of people look back on those days rather less than fondly -- the characters were shallow, the tie-in books were mostly awful, and following a preset storyline detracted from the sense of exploration that made Magic great. But having those characters to latch onto, no matter how shallow they may have been, went a long way in getting me hooked on the game.

Even today, I still miss Gerrard and Squee and Volrath... and Urza, that crazy old bastard... *sigh* Good times, good times...

My City Screams!

You know, I'm kinda pissed off at Frank Miller for his upcoming adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit, which is apparently going to be Sin City 2 ("The city is my mother. The city is my lover." *GAG*). He seems to have missed the part where Eisner wrote the Spirit as an easygoing, compassionate protagonist in tongue-in-cheek life-affirming stories, and has instead opted to write him as a cheap knockoff of a version of Batman that hasn't been seen in 15 to 20 years.

I just really, really hate Frank Miller. He's such a disgusting conglomerate of every negative stereotype of masculinity there is. The Dark Knight Returns was a great book, I admit, but everything since then -- Sin City, 300, All-Star Batman & Robin The Goddamn Batman -- has been a festering mass of gratuitous sex, violence, and pandering to braindead fratboys who think being a man means acting like a fucking ape.

Oh, and whores. Can't forget the whores.

Gawd, Frank... just... just stop being such a damn parody of yourself, already...

Worlds Collide

Normally I wouldn't post about this because I'm not sure what level of reference my friends have about these issues, but since Ragnell the Foul has written at length about it (go read it) I think I can safely assume that it's known to the comics blogosphere at large now.

So apparently some guy who calls himself The Ferrett cooked up a scheme to grope women at conventions by offering "yes, you may grope me" buttons at the front door.

Um.

That's creepy.

Apparently some women don't mind that (at least going by the comments on his post), but it seems to me that most of the women who would submit to that kind of bizarre crap would be doing it because they're too insecure to say no or think that pleasing these creeps would get their respect or something. But the real thing that kills it for me is that there would be a lot of teenage fans at these conventions as well, and this kind of shit just isn't appropriate for what should be a family-friendly event.

And really. "The Open-Source Boob Project?" Like someone on the Penny Arcade forums said, why does everything nerds do have to reference something else nerds do?

Anyway, once again, this is not something I'd normally write about if not for the fact that I'm already acquainted with The Ferrett by way of his column on magicthegathering.com. In fact I first read about this story at the MTG Salvation forums, so when it appeared on Ragnell's blog I had a strange "worlds collide" moment. The thread on the subject is mostly full of annoying nerds making excuses, saying how they "don't see the problem with it" and bemoaning the evil feminists who are trying to spoil their fun, but there was one post I really liked:

I'm surprised so many people here are supporting this. Even if you're not supportive, not being directly opposed to it is pretty shocking to me. I've researched into it a bit, and the response from the general public, online and off, is so strongly negative that it's not even funny.

The only people okay with this seem to be guys into the hobbies that would be at these conventions. Once more I am reminded of the social retardation of the Magic fanbase, and sigh at having to game with them.

Seriously, nobody thinks this is anything but creepy except for *gasp* other creepy nerds.

...which pretty nicely sums up my reaction as well. I don't like being associated with a community that thinks this is okay, just like I hate calling myself a Democrat when a plurality of Democrats are against gay marriage. The Ferrett and his ilk are the people that make me ashamed of calling myself a nerd or a geek.

I do wonder if Wizards of the Coast will see fit to terminate The Ferrett as a columnist. This is a bit like the Don Imus incident from last year, which I think was justified (he seriously pissed off a large number of potential consumers, which is just bad for business), but Imus aired his crap on the job while The Ferrett did it on his personal journal. So I could see it going either way.

All I can say is that I wouldn't miss him, since his writing style annoyed me anyway.

Great Minds Think Alike

Regarding Mortal Kombat vs. DC: David Willis agrees with me.

He is an intelligent man, and knows it is wise to do so.

Now this is a crossover I can get behind!

This made me laugh out loud:



I guess you have to be versed in both mid-'90s TV cheese and late-night anime to really get it, but... well, Ed as Iolaus, that just cracks me up. XD

OMG

I usually do all I can to avoid "metablog" talk about other blogs for fear of inciting Internet drama, but...

OMIGOD LOREN JAVIER CAME BACK

I knew there was a reason I kept his blog in my bookmarks.

I'd never have been exposed to awesome people like Thom Wade, Tom Foss, Ami Angelwings, and the incomparable DJ Black Adam if not for that guy.

If you're reading this, Mr. Javier -- Good to have you back.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC

In the words of George Costanza, worlds are collidin' here!

Who in the world thought this was a good idea? I mean, it's painfully obvious it's "inspired by" Capcom vs. Marvel. I must say, if a simple crossover was all there was to it I wouldn't mind, but considering that this is the bloodiest fighting game series out there crossed with the poster universe for "Thou Shalt Not Kill," they're going to have to either nerf the MK characters or "grim 'n' grittify" the DC ones, and either way you're losing something.

In Tennis, Love Means Nothing

Ridiculous over-the-top crap like this is why I love anime:



...what do you mean, it's not awesome?

~~~

Got nothing more to post, I'm afraid. Recent events have left me rather weary and uninspired. Hopefully back up to operating strength in the near future.

Oh, my!

It seems that an essay on the Ottawa Skeptics website linked to my essay on moral panic as a reference! I feel so special! Heh.

Anyway, I still think it's a pretty good read I threw together if I dare say so myself, and invite any of y'all who haven't read it already to give it a one-over. ;)

MTG Preview Season!

Okay, time for a fanboy moment.

I love it when preview season rolls around for Magic: The Gathering and I get to check out all the new, weird, and wonderful cards I have to look forward to. Like this sweetie from the upcoming Shadowmoor set...



I am all over this. Not only is that some incredible art by the talented Mark Zug, but she could fit my white kithkin weenie deck like a glove. 80% of the creatures in it are 1/1 to begin with so it's no huge loss, and when all my opponent's creatures are 1/1 as well, all the better! Plus she only makes them 1/1 at their base, so I can still pump my kithkin up with my Wizened Cenns and Burrenton Bombardiers. Sweet. :)

I also really love the hybrid mana mechanic. It simultaneously encourages mono-color and multicolor deckbuilding. I can put cards like her in a blue/white, mono-white, or mono-blue deck and not have to worry whether I have enough Plains or Islands to get her out, or I can put her in, say, a white/red deck and not have to waste space on any Islands.

And really, "Godhead of Awe." That is a seriously kickass name.

I am ready to explore Shadowmoor right now! So bring it on, Wizards!