Dyschordant's blog

How the fuck does one guy with a 9mm hand gun and a .22 caliber rifle kill over 30 people? How? Seriously, not one person tried to stop him? Nobody threw themselves in front of this guy and tackled him? I am just absolutely dumbfounded. And then to hear Bush get in front of the press and wax sympathetic about the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. Hey, Republican assholes, this is why we need gun control. Take a step back towards reality for a minute and do something good for the human race for a change.

In other news, Louise and I went to see Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters Saturday night with Sean and Amanda. There were definitely funny moments, especially the opening sequence, but overall it didn't really work well as a movie. There's a reason the disjointed non-plots work in 15 minute episodes. While the humor remained irreverent, silly, and even brilliant at times, it's hard to walk away from an hour and a half of random comedy and not think to yourself that you could have easily watched this chopped into 15 minute blocks and it wouldn't have made any difference.

Still playing a lot of Super Paper Mario. The game is a ton of fun. Without doing much of the side stuff, the game still clocks in at least 24 hours of gameplay. That's pretty good for a platformer. More news on school and such later in the week.

Not much new has been going on lately. Louise and I had a nice day out on Saturday shopping. The main plan was to pick up a few small gifts for Louise's grandma for easter, but while we were at Best Buy picking up a flash card for her mom's camera, we saw some great deals on DVDs that I couldn't pass up, so we ended up getting Tom Goes to the Mayor: The Complete Series, Scrubs - Season 2, the complete series of Excel Saga and the complete series of Samurai 7. What was amazing was that the Samurai 7 collection came with a special edition guide booklet for each DVD full of storyboards, artwork and interviews. I've been listening to a lot of Ringside lately, which is basically just two guys, a guitar, and a lot of mixing/electronica. While the album as a whole isn't that fantastic, some of the individual tracks are amazing. The other band I've been giving more time to is The Kaiser Chiefs. I'm not sure, but I think this album is growing on me. It's definitely "sing-out-loud-able".

 

Other than that, I had my meeting with a school advisor today. I basically learned about all of the hoops I have to jump through before I can start paying for years of classes. It seems daunting at first, but once I get past all of the administrative parts and actually find myself in a classroom, I should be okay. I still need to fill out a FAFSA application, take some placement tests, enroll for classes that coincide with my plans to later transfer to a state university, and get someone to agree at my current job to give me part-time hours. No problem.

P.S. - Super Paper Mario comes out tomorrow!!! *drool*

I spent over half the weekend playing Shining Force EXA for PS2. It is a pseudo sequel to Shining Force Neo. Both are fantastic overhead action RPGs. While the story is completely different and the definition of what the "Shining Force" has changed as well, many of the previous monster designs and game locations have stayed the same. Fortunately, none of the game feels stale and the improvements made upon the original design are fantastic. In the original game there was very little opportunity to use all of the available characters equally, and grinding became an important part of the end game. In EXA, there's very little need to grind, there's plenty of side quests, characters to recruit, and the cell-shaded animation is beautiful. The in-game sequences blend very smoothly with the hand drawn animation cut-scenes.

Next week Super Paper Mario comes out for the Wii. I can't wait to get it. I haven't been this excited for a Mario game in a long time. There are usually two kinds of people. Those who never get tired of Mario games, and those who've had it up to their eyeballs with Mario years ago. Personally, I think that as long as they keep inventing new gameplay styles and focus on fun, I'll keep buying them. For those that don't know, Super Paper Mario features a 2-D Mario that can flip his world around to get past obstacles and find secrets. It also features an RPG aspect as instead of simply acquiring power-ups, you have hit-points and earn experience as you kill monsters. It also features various uses for the Wii-Remote, though I'm not familiar with what they all are. I know you hold the remote side-ways to play, and shake it for a special attack. You also point it at the screen at times to use it as a flashlight.

Other than that we went to see Meet the Robinsons this weekend. The movie was funny if not predictable, but the thing that really killed it was they insisted on showing it in digital 3-D. This requires you to wear glasses that by the end of the movie have made you feel like you've watched the whole thing cross-eyed. My eyes really hurt afterward. I also applied for classes at a local community college last week and I should be able to fill out my FAFSA application soon. I've already started looking for new job opportunities as I've pretty much had my fill of what I'm doing now, and I doubt they'll be all that flexible with my schedule.

It took me all of about 30 seconds after seeing this new t-shirt design on Penny Arcade to whip out the credit card and place an order. It's just that bad-ass.

Guitar Hero is just one of those games that breaks all genre barriers. It's something that both RPG nerds and Madden jocks can play together. And one day you'll walk into your local bar and it'll be Guitar Hero night, where people take turns shredding on a small plastic guitar to all their favorite songs.

I like to call it: Utopia.

I am the neglectful author. I had to sit perfectly still and contemplate the following question: "Why the hell have I not been updating my blog?" I mean, I know I have a lot to write about, but I never get around to it. And the answer was actually quite simple. It's the difference between having a life that was more fun to write about than live, as opposed to what I have now; a life that's more fun to live than write about. So I have determined to write more, regardless of how much fun I'm having.

Life is pretty level right now. Still need to get going on college, but waiting for money issues to level off. Been playing a lot of video games ever since I got a Wii for my birthday and managed to get a new computer put together. I will eventually work my way through Zelda: Twilight Princess, but am currently distracted by Shadow of the Colossus. Got Cooking Mama: Cook Off! in the mail yesterday and from what I've played so far it's fun. Controls take a lot of getting used to, but once you've learned all the basic cooking functions, it gets a lot easier. Also getting a big kick out of Warioware: Smooth Moves and playing a bunch of classics on the virtual console. So much fun. Right now I'm waiting for Shining Force EXA to come in the mail, and eventually I'll play and finish the other 6-8 console games I've got waiting in the wings.

Louise and I have gone to see a couple movies lately. Zodiac was fantastic, but definitely felt a little long. Reign Over Me was also fantastic, and wonderfully written. We had planned to see The Last Mimzy and TMNT at some point but will probably wait until they hit DVD. This coming weekend The Lookout opens, which I'm fairly excited to see. The original trailer is much better than the crap they're showing on TV. The fact is that the movie is not a conventional action/thriller. It's a character driven movie, and often those kinds of movies just don't do well. But if you don't think Joseph Gordon Levitt isn't a legitimate actor now, you need to go watch Brick and Mysterious Skin.

Been listening to a decent amount of new music, though I'm not terribly fond of most of it. Right now the top two albums on my list are Almost Here by The Academy Is... and Wincing the Night Away by The Shins. I checked out the new Modest Mouse album, and it's alright. It didn't especially blow me away. The new stuff by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and the Kaiser Chiefs were about the same. For the record, I do not think that the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus sounds like Coheed & Cambria. They sound more like a watered down version of Hawthorne Heights. Too much screaming ruins music, please stop. The Kaiser Chiefs are very Brit-Pop which can sometimes be very cool and sometimes be very lame. All three albums are ones that I could take two to three tracks from and leave the rest.

I've also been reading a ton of comics lately. I burned through over a dozen volumes of manga in the past month. I read a few different trade paperbacks, including the first volume of The Sandman Mystery Theater. The one that was started in 1993. Great stuff. I'm almost finished reading the Ron Jeremy biography which is very funny and well done. After that I'll probably read Chuck Palahniuk's book of essays and this great little book Louise and I found called "I Know You're Out There", which is a compilation of a bunch of interviews a gentlemen did about some of the bizarre personal ads he received while he was the Personals Editor for a major newspaper. Not to mention this book Louise found full of wacky Japanese inventions. Recently, I found some great deals on comics, including Ultimate X-Men 3-5 for a dollar each (they're listed as being worth $8.00 each) and Uncanny X-Men 240, 241, 243 for a dollar each (again, each are worth $8.00). That's forty-eight dollars worth of comics for six dollars. I also found the first two volumes of Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men for five dollars each at Barnes & Noble. They were originally priced at thirteen each. Can't beat that.

300

 

TMNT

 

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

 

Spider-Man 3

 

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

 

Transformers

 

Keep an eye out for upcoming trailers for "Stardust", "30 Days of Night", and "I Am Legend".

Hilarious video about the horrible launch of the PS3. (First seen on Kotaku.com via YouTube)

 

 

100 Bullets: Decayed (vol. 10)

Azzarello and Risso continue their American Noir masterpiece as all the pawns start to fall into place and the endgame between the Trust and the Minutemen begins. Highly recommend that you start at the beginning of the series if you've never read this before. Not a story you can pick up from the middle.

 

Lucifer: Evensong (vol. 11)

The final chapter in the Lucifer story from Mike Carey and a slew of talented artists. A great finale that asks as many questions as it gives answers, though doesn't make you feel like you haven't gotten the whole story. There's plenty of room left to make more Lucifer stories a possibility, which I'm sure is something that both Vertigo and fans of this series are happy about.

 

Welcome to the N.H.K. (vol. 1)

Welcome to the N.H.K. is the manga for people who are looking for a story with more social content and adult themes. It is the tale of a young man who has become a "Hikkimori" (shut-in), which is a growing epidemic in modern Japan. He reads a lot of pornography, comics, and takes drugs to escape reality. He becomes convinced that his ailment is the fault of a government conspiracy and that a girl who's trying to help him break his social sickness is actually out to assassinate him. Filled with a lot of humor, thought, and social commentary, this is a great read. Just keep in mind that this story is definitely not for children.

 

My-HiME (vol. 1)

My-HiME is a sci-fi/fantasy story about a school that comes under attack from mysterious beings known only as "Orphans". It contains all of the classic shonen themes: Girls with unrealistically large breasts, mysterious transfer student, super-powered students, and unknown bad guys. But to be honest, as much as it appears to be a shonen book from the outside, it is actually a seinen story. Both protagonists have serious back stories, one having been injured while trying to save a friend from being raped, and the other who's had to constantly deal with an ill family member and poverty. Like most shonen/seinen stories though, this one starts off light and humorous, but expect it to get a lot more serious later on.

 

Finally, I wanted to mention yet again what a great book Bleach is. When I first saw this aired during [adult swim], I took it for another Dragon Ball Z, but after reading a few volumes of the manga, I can't put it down. Great story, great characters, and has a lot to say about love, death, and relationships. Start reading it now!

One day people all around the world will wake from their warm and fuzzy beds, dripping with sweat, and realize that Joss Whedon is not the messiah. They'll silently continue to go about their lives and latch onto other delusions, but the rest of us will no longer have to constantly hear his overinflated praises. I wait longingly for that day.

And it's not even that I hate him all that much. The most obvious analogy I can think of is Michael Bay. Michael Bay has some directing talent, but made it famous off of over-the-top action that directors like John Woo had been doing for years in Hong Kong cinema. Critics and audiences were amazed(!)... because they never bothered to watch any movies from Hong Kong. Now people pray that he doesn't ruin their intellectual property with his movies. That's J.W. in a nutshell. I can't watch five minutes of "Buffy" or "Angel" without cringing at how bad it is. I can't believe anyone would consider "Firefly" anything close to original. And I can't understand why anyone would think he's the next big thing in comics when there are already so many talented, yet extremely under-appreciated writers in the industry.

I was so disappointed to hear that "Wonder Woman", the movie he was scheduled to write/direct got canned. It would have been a fantastically, humbling bomb for a horde of rabid fangirls.

Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) continues where he left off in vol. 14, "Phoenix?" with the addition of the reality-altering mutant known as Magician joining the team. Though the storyline is only a short, three issue stint, it manages to bring up some interesting questions through the use of foreshadowing. Is Charles Xavier as benevolent as he would have everyone believe? Is Jean Grey just playing possum with her Phoenix-like abilities? Kirkman does a great job continuing where Brian K. Vaughn left off. The real reason to get this book though is for the Ultimate X-Men Annual #2. With Rogue's power-absorbing mutant ability returning, what will happen with her relationship with Bobby Drake? Was Nightcrawler really being controlled by the Weapon X Project, or is there a heart of darkness within this disturbed X-Man? If you haven't yet gotten your foot in the door with this series, now's the time to start. On top of each trade paperback still being readily available, there's also the "Ultimate Collection" editions that have been released, so you can buy a big chunk of the story at once without putting too much of a dent in your wallet.