I Was Barely Able To Remember My Password
So. It's been some time. I dunno, I guess I've just felt less like attention whoring and if I ever needed a small fix I could just change my facebook picture to a different comic book image that I like and move on. However I just kind of find myself feeling like writing today. Facebook is way too public and lj seems lame and dead enough that anything I say will probably go unnoticed. At first I didn't understand why everyone wanted Michael Bloomberg to run for President, especially considering how unlikely it is. On the other hand, I could see a scenario where if Rudy Giuliani does not get nominated by the Republicans (which, I expect it'll be him or Romney, or if Thompson takes it seriously he also has a good shot, but I haven't seen anything to indicate he will take it seriously. Early primary states need face time and he doesn't even have a paper campaign put together and also has said things that seem to indicate he thinks he can campaign without putting in the face time, which if he had any kind of team put together they'd tell him he was wrong on that) and especially (but not necessarily) if Hillary Clinton does get nominated by the Democrats (which looks increasingly likely. I'm an Obama guy first and a Gore guy second but I don't have any objection to Hillary, she just doesn't energize me. That said she's probably the better candidate than either of the two guys I named) I feel like Bloomberg could structure his campaign similar to Perot in 92 but with less crazy and also less dropping out, endorsing clinton and then getting back in anyway (which crazy strategy managed to take almost 1/5 of the popular vote). The idea is you run on change but more than that run on competance. When I look at Bloomberg's beliefs they scare me (pro-gun control, banned trans-fats, banned smoking, loves to cut services) but I could definitely see him positioning himself as a fiscal conservative for change with moderately liberal social positions and taking votes from a pro-war republican and a more liberal democrat (I mentioned Hillary because she can also be branded pro-war, even if she isn't per-se, or could by Bloomberg anyway). On the other hand, I'm not sure how well an effiminate, Jewish, New York millionaire would play in the South or midwest.. I think the civil war in Gaza definitely vindicates me on Hamas being total, insane, genocidal thugs who aren't truly interested in the cause of Palestinian statehood (except in cases where a palestinian arab state replaces Israel on the map) but I'm not sure anyone disagrees with this statement except for Jimmy Carter. But hey, they stole a Nobel Peace Prize! I know the whole situation is completely fucked and obviously its very sad, but THEY STOLE YASSIR ARAFAT'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, which is obv fucking hilarious. So yeah I think the world shoul rally around Abbas and the fatah party in the West Bank. There are obvious problems with this, but I think considering Hamas' violent coup and summary eexecutions for all (and the looting, you can't forget the looting) AND fatah's comparable committment to the peace process and an eventual two state solution even the Palestinian racketeers have an obvious moral mandate in this situation. Work is good. I'm now a barn for UGA food services. It's fun. Today I played final fantasy 3 for like 3 hours on the clock and did maybe half an hour of actual work. What else do I wish to talk about?
Top 5 Big Comic Book events from the recent past:
5.Marvel Civil War-Ok, so continuity errors were common and overall it seemed like it was edited by a 4 year old (as in not at all, no one was ever asked to rewrite or redraw anything ever) but the art was fucking amazing and the storyline was pretty engaging. The series was obviously about life in Bush's America, but less obvious was the ambiguity. The fight scenes were great. The arguments made on both sides were also cool. It doesn't rank higher than this because of the aforementioned poor editing and because the ending was a total copout.
4.Planet Hulk-Not sure if this counts as a big event because it only ran in one book but on the other hand, it was 12+ issues long and definitely led into an actual big event in the form of WWHulk. The twin criticisms that I have heard is that the first part is just the plot of gladiator and that the second half is a ripoff of a Hulk story from the early 80s. I don't think either criticism is valid. The total difference in spirit (and plot) from gladiator is noticable, and I thought the Sakaar setting was really awesome and original and Hulks weird role in their religion was cool. Also every single page of art was great great great. The feel was very much "no one here but us monsters" and I liked how Bruce Banner was hardly in any of the issues at all, except for Hulk talking about how much he hates Banner. I liked everything about this book but I don't think it was quite as ambitious nor as well plotted as the other series.
3.Marvel Annihilation-I think it's odd that my top five list is 1dc2dc345marvel but that's just how it fell. This series is awesome. First the complaints. The art is really uneven. I think that's a product of the unique structure that is actually what makes this event so cool, but the super-skrull and ronan artists don't seem to have followed the style guide or whatever, but I guess my main point is that like 8 miniseries look pretty in synch and then those end up looking really cartoonish in comparison, not so much bad art, as pretty jarring in the middle of a storyline. Now then, what I liked. I loved the way this series was done. Instead of a "main series" with a bunch of different storylines each character had their own miniseries that were chronologically broken up, that tied together and then ended in the main series, wherein all the characters had teamed up. The story maintained unity of location really well and felt less confusing that most comic book storylines. Also where the art was good, it was gorgeous. I like big space stories and am particularly fond of the Marvel space setting. This was really great and cool.
2.52-52 was great. Every week I felt like I had an episode of Heroes and an issue of 52 to look forward to. In the aftermath of infinite crisis DC decided to skip ahead one year and then simultaneously have a weekly series lasting one year to fill in what happened during the "missing year." The writing was fantastic and the art was really great for DC. It had this really campy, almost silly tone most of the time that was really refreshing compared to oh, say, every other comic book (90s was all about being extreme, 2000s is all about being really serious and also really self referential). But the best thing about 52 was the treatment of characters. The attempt to put really deep, I hesitate to say realistic but lack a better word (human?) chacterization ahead of a complex plot or big, easy to hit out of the park ACTION was refreshing, and the book still managed to keep up and have a cool plot that slowly revealed itself week after week, and great action (though more of this was in the second half of the book). I came to love characters I'd previously only known peripherally (like Rorschach clone The Question or Football star from the future Booster Gold) and despite an almost total lack of Big Names (Superman, Batman, etc) I never felt bored or cheated.
1.Infinite Crisis-This is going to require more explanation. When I say Infinite Crisis, I'm actually referring to the 2+years of D.C. comics that includes Identity Crisis, Countdown to Infi Crisis, and the 7 part Infi Crisis miniseries itself. This was pretty harshly criticized by fans, moreso than any of the other "big events" I named. People complained about the ending, about who died, about who didn't die, about who the villains were, etc. People complained about the very concept of someone punching reality, or that the effects of said reality punching were seemingly random continuity changes, some of which have yet to have any ramifications whatsoever. So why do I consider this event the best "big comic event" and probably my second favorite comic book story of any kind next to Watchmen? The writing is the best the best the best. No other Marvel or DC book even attempts to humanize superhero characters as much as this did, and this did it for all of them. The dialogue was great, even quotable, when most comic dialogue is 90% throwaway lines. But what I loved about it was how much it was about the history and fandom of comic books. Panels and layouts are stolen directly from Watchmen or from the 20 year old Crisis on Infinite Earths. These old, silly characters are ressurected and turned into the two archetypes of comic book fan. The villains, are basicallly, one guy who wants to bring back the golden age (any comic book fan over 30) when heroes were heroes, villains were villains, and moral ambiguity was nonexistent and the other guy just wants to write a fanfic where he's a real hero (comic book fans under 20). The art, while not as well produced as most of the marvel stuff, did succeed in being super iconic and immediately recognizable in tone and "what's going on." The layout of images across pages and page to page is the best in any contempoarary comic book. Also I thought the story was cool and the ending was definitely not a cop-out. Every character exists as the most iconic, pure, distilled form of that character you can imagine. I have nothing bad to say about infinite crisis.
So, I've handled comics and politics, and I'm slowly getting drunker, and definitely nobody is reading at this point. The people who care about comics are likely to be bored by the politics and the people who care about politics are likely to be laughing at me after I seriously considered Michael Bloomsberg's candidacy and then when they read this comic shit they'll be gone. So I'm guessing my audience at this point (if I have any) is Heather. Hey babe! Love You! I like monsters.
Moving on. I'm going to go ahead and say I'm a fan of Paris Hilton. There, I said it, it was me. Most people are like she's a dumb ho &ct. As far as I'm concerned, well lazy-eye=not hot and blond=not hot, but I think I assign a lower "not hot score" to lazy eye than most guys and the rest of her is fairly hot, so that's basically a push. I just like her style. The service she provides as well. Her life is entertainment. Following her exciting life lightens peoples' general loads. I haven't seen the sex-tape. Who'd want to see green porn? I don't get that. But any time I get to hear her talk or read about her on celebrity blogs I am amused. Also look at this self portrait she drew. Isn't it adorable? I agree, it is.
More Gin time. Gin gin gin, I like gin, it's not a sin as long as it's gin!
Moving on on. I've only lived here liike 7 months and I finally have a floor that can be walked on and posters and stuff on the wall. Hooray.
Also, I've always stuck up for the intelligence of religious people in the past, but I'm going to go ahead and say, I have a problem with Christianity, Islam, Mormonism and Scientology. If you believe in one of those, I'm probably going to have some sort of lack of respect problem for you. Christianity and Islam are too otherworldly for me. In other words, they both exalt death over life and in so doing deny human achievement. I can accept theism but you have to be willing to put humankind above god, or at least not place death above this world with no reason to do so. Scientology and Mormonism I have problems with on the grounds that if you can believe something so far fetched and crazy then what the fuck is wrong with you. I know that this statement makes me a bigot and pretty much disqualifies me for public office. I'm fine with that, this is honestly what I think, and I really strive to be open-minded at all times.
Poltically I believe in non-coercive government (think small) and a realist foreign policy (think Kissinger) and progressive taxation (think Roosevelt I guess). Also I think all drugs should be legal and there should be practically an open border with regard to immigration. (no, really, I do). I also never supported the Iraq war but definitely don't want to pull out anytime soon. It would be irresponsible on a massive level to do so and I think we're pretty much committed to staying in Iraq in some form until there is a stable nation. Also, considering we took apart their military and have'n't really done enough to replace it, I think we're pledged to defend Iraq in event of war until forfuckingever, which is probably what is going to insure they don't get invaded again to begin with.
Do you like anime? I don't. Well, not really. I feel like I've watched a lot of it though. All that is irrelevant though. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of the best television format programs I have ever seen ever. The writing, cinematography, structure, animation, everything add up to pure joy. I mean, I like the characters and writing, but the structure is what is knock out. Also it seems unique among anime in that it has any self-awareness, and it actually has a ton. Most anime takes itself so seriously, and also acts like theres not a whole genre out there doing the exact same awkward boring thing it is all the time. Haruhi plays with anime conventions, while actually "doing them" better than any other thing I've seen. The dialogue is awesome, so is the pacing, so is the theme and spirit of the whole project. Go SOS-Dan!
I guess compared to myself historically I don't have a ton to say about my own life but what is there to say? I'm pretty happy in general. I'm in love with this girl I live with. I know it's sappy to say and dance about it but she makes me happy any making her happy makes me happy. Also I like sex. I like to drink and smoke. I get to do these things. I also don't feel ridiculously stressed all the time. I get a good balance of alone time/Will+Heather time/Hanging out with my homies time. I get to play games all the damn time.
Also, regardless of what anyone else says, the new Wilco Album is awesome. I like it more than Ghost is Born. Sure its really accessable and kind of jammy, but its really fun and the lyrics are good (except for the awful awful awful "Impossible Germany, Unlikely Japan" which is sooooooooooo bad.