Tuesday, October 31, 2006

"Biggie Smalls, Biggie Smalls..."

My holiday video roundup has hit a few snags, not the least of which is the sudden disappearance of the vast majority of Freakazoid videos from YouTube. Damn it, now "FwF!" posts from as recently as two weeks ago are broken, and you guys won't get to see Candle Jack. Thanks a lot, GoogleTube. I'll see what I can do about this later...

And then I find out that Google Video wants to charge $1.99 to watch "Thriller." I believe I paraphrase St. Benjamin when I say "Wotta revoltin' development!"

But I'm not totally content-free for Samhain. As a little "screw you" to the King of Pop, here's "Thriller"...as performed by Legos.

Continuing the trials and tribulations of dating a werewolf (that's what Michael is in the beginning of that, right? Some sort of were-something, anyway), here's the crew of the Satellite of Love.

And since I can't hear that without thinking about the end credits, here are the end credits.

Crow T. Robot engages in some truly frightening Cryptozoology here.

And finally, here's The Cure, to ensure that you have pleasant dreams tonight.

Monday, October 30, 2006

In honor of "Satan's holiday"...

Daimon is the #3 name for satanic progeny. #2 is Damien. #1? Greg.I joined NaNoWriMo because I'm a bandwagon whore. This will undoubtedly be the worst decision I have ever made, except perhaps my decision to use more instances of hyperbole than there are Hydrogen atoms in the universe. The book (if you can call it that) that I'm writing (read: never, ever coming close to finishing) will earn me a special spot in Hell, where demonic surgeons will turn me into a terrible copy of some hideous Rob Liefeld drawing. While singing "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing."

Anyway, I'm writing my take on the Apocalypse and the Antichrist and whatnot. Real light fare. If you've been paying attention, you'll know my feelings about pedestrian, run-of-the-mill, cliché Antichrist characters, and you'll know how much I dig Christ figures and Monomythic heroes and that sort of thing, so that should give you some idea of what to expect. It'll never be published, it'll probably lose me some friends, and it might just end up being one of the most blasphemous things ever written. You know those comic revamps that are built around "everything you know is wrong" (*cough*Martian Manhunter*cough*)? Yeah, it's kind of like that, but with the Bible.

It sounds like I'm really proud of this, but I'm not. I think I have a cool idea for a story, I just wish it weren't such a heretical idea. Hopefully there'll be a good story in there someplace.

And just to piss everyone off, the protagonist is female, and I'm writing in first person. Somehow, some masochistic part of me decided I actually possess that kind of audacity.

At this point, I call it Considering Lily. I'm sure I'll call it other names as the deadline approaches. Good thing it's an easy semester!

Someone, please, for the love of all that is holy, talk me out of this. I just know I'm going to lose what little respect and dignity I have left.

It came from the planet Krypton!

I already tried my hand at the Six Word Stories over on my other blog, but I left out my comic-related one. After seeing the short comic stories at Kalinara's and Oddity Collector's, I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon too. The one I omitted from my original post is up first, with new ones following.
Batman: Finally, the Joker pulled a gun.

Animal Man: "We've met. You had hair then."

Green Lantern: The Guardians were wrong. About everything.

JLA: Without J'onn, the League couldn't exist.

The Question: "The Question? What's that?" asked Vic. (Or "asked Charlie," depending on when you're reading).

Seven Soldiers: The universe says "five more minutes."

Flash: Wally returns. "Thanks Bart. Now rest."

The Sandman: Neil awoke, took pen, and wrote.

Superboy: Brainy revived him. "Welcome back, Conner."

Supergirl: She wouldn't be his secret anymore.

Fantastic Four: Family that adventures together stays together.

Speedball: Top: rubber. Bottom: spring. Bouncy, trouncy...
and: Tigger plus Spider-Man equals superhero. Genius!

Spider-Man: Peter wakes. "The Other" = bad dream.
and: Great responsibility doesn't preclude great happiness.
and: Optimism is cracking jokes at Galactus.

And, of course, there's Superman. The first two I think are neat, but the other two are things that I think actually capture something about Superman.

"Maybe Luthor's right. Maybe I should."
For Jor-El so loved the world...
He smiled, then saved the world.
His greatest power was always love.
This is, I think, my favorite meme. Keep it going!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Friday with Freakazoid!

Today, Freakazoid presents us with an important lesson about "the wrong crowd."
"Wanna go play a game or pretend we're kitties?"

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Snippets tend to be slightly bigger.

I planned on blogging the six-word stories here, but realized pretty quickly that I was going to break the family-friendly language rule I've got over here. So, I posted it over on my vulgar blog instead. Check it out, if you're interested.

I mentioned recently my deep love for all things He-Man. That definitely includes this. Funny, funny stuff. I found a YouTube version, so I'll even embed it, saving you the trouble of following pesky links.

But...but Supergirl has a belly button! And a skirt!

You can make a hawk a dove / You can end a...wait, sorry, wrong songSo, this Supergirl sketch has been making the rounds lately, setting the feminists all a-twitter with its attention to realistic body types and its lack of cheesecake.

I'm gonna get hit for that "a-twitter" remark, I know it. It's okay, I was a-twitter too, but maybe not quite as much as Dawn was.

I haven't been able to see more of his work than what Dawn posted, since it's not showing up for me on the site she linked. And believe me, I think it's a huge step up from where we are now. The Batgirl design...not so much. But then, I don't think Babs's costume was very sexist to begin with. Barbara's usually shown to be built pretty reasonably; I can't think of any instances where she had huge breasts and the crazy arched back and all the other dumb things that are associated with comic women.

But I still have some problems with this Supergirl.
  1. Why is she just wearing Superman's costume? Yes, she has gloves, and her cape has a yellow lining, but otherwise it looks like she just raided Superman's closet. Isn't there a difference between "non-sexualized" costumes and "masculine" costumes? Can't a costume be feminine without being sexualized? I'm not saying Supergirl should have a skirt and bare legs and high heels and a midriff shirt. But can she at least not wear the superbriefs? Maybe bring back the pointed belt, maybe trade the gloves for some short sleeves, something to set her apart from Superman stylistically? The best thing about the four Supermen after the death was the way they each did new things with the costume. Can't Supergirl adapt something like that?
  2. She doesn't look much like a Supergirl, she looks like Superwoman. That's not a problem really, if we're talking about a grown woman. But this Supergirl looks less like a 16-year-old than the current one does. If these are stories about a 25-year-old superheroine, that body's a lot more believable.
  3. Hey wait, haven't I seen that look before? Right, I have: on Power Girl. Wide neckline, circular cape clasps, broad shoulders, gloves...she really looks like Power Girl after a breast reduction. Again, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't seem like "Supergirl" to me.

Which isn't to say there aren't things I like. F'r instance:
  1. The ponytail. In this image, the hair is kind of funky looking, but check out the multiple-angle sketch on Dawn's page. I'm absolutely convinced that the ponytail is the perfect look for Supergirl now. It's feminine, it's practical, and bottom line, it looks great.
  2. The cape. Different artists choose to make Superman's cape anything from knee-length to long-enough-to-drape-over-things, so I'm not totally sure that this is an intentional departure from Superman's cape length-wise. But the yellow lining is a fantastic idea; it's a subtle change, but it emphasizes that most underused color of the costume, emphasizes her blond hair, displays something of a more jovial disposition than the current Supergirl, and goes a long way to giving this costume its own distinctive character.
  3. The clasps. They're just a good idea. Another little detail that sets this costume apart from Superman's, gives some color variation in the shoulders, and somewhat prevents the bunched-up look that people give Superman and the rest of the family when they try to make it look tucked-in.
  4. The gloves. Again, they set the costume apart from Superman's and give some color variation, besides being slightly practical (though how much protection an invincible person needs can be debated). They're a bit of a throwback to one of her '60s-'70s costumes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
  5. Big feet, no high heels. While Linda's last costume also had some fairly practical shoes, it's nice to see that they didn't go with the stiletto-heel boots which are so popular with the superheroines these days. And actually paying enough attention to consider whether or not she should have little dainty feet? Wonderful.
  6. The figure & face. This is anything but waifish Supergirl. She may be a bit too "Superwoman," but there's no denying that she's got a far more believable body. But I love the attention the artist paid to her face. On the sketch mentions that her well-defined chin 'shows superness,' which is perfect.
So there's a lot to like about this design. I'd add a dash more femininity and stir in a little more youth, then bake it at a temperature of "distinct from Superman" before I'd call it perfect, though. Hopefully, hopefully, someone will take notice.

P.S.: You know what I really want to see? A picture of this Supergirl feeding the current Supergirl a hamburger or some chicken or something. Because damn it, that girl's in need of an intervention.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

More things that bring you here

I got several hits looking for combinations of "George Lucas" and "Stephen Colbert," which is understandable.

Continuing that Star Wars thread are "luke skywalker as a Christ like figure" (you could make the argument, but he fits better in the broader Monomyth category) and the attack of "supergirls clones." And continuing the Supergirl thread is a search for "supergirl and captain boomerang." I hesitate to think at what fanfiction and disgusting fanart a search like that might turn up.

What exactly is "Kandor Scissor Talk"? Is this another one of those "things I'd rather not know" searches? I have similar trepidation regarding "bet drawn jack o lantern," though I'm not sure why.

I've mostly kept my deep love for all things He-Man off this blog, for no real reason except the usual He-Fan burnout (don't ask), so it surprises me to get a hit from "she-ra and he-man costumes." I really ought to do a post on He-Man stuff at some point, but it seems like if I start doing that sort of thing, I may never stop.

Somehow, over all the lyrics sites that litter the web, I'm on the first page of a Google search for "so i don't have to dream alone," because of this post. Looks like there really need to be more websites devoted to the songs of the '50s, even if they are essentially about wet dreams.

"Fan reaction to the death of Cyclops in X-Men: The Last Stand": It sucked.

"I hate Rob Liefeld": Join the club. You're in good company.

"Michael Turner sucks": Yes, we know.

"Batman vs scarecrow fear gas episode": 'Fraid you're going to have to narrow it down a bit.

On the Batman front, we have "Talia raped Batman," which is an interesting claim. Bruce implies it in one of the recent Morrison issues, but I haven't read Son of the Demon to see how well it holds up there. Of course, Superboy-Prime could have retroactively punched some rohypnol into Batman's drink.

In the same vein, someone wonders about "selina kyle's breasts." As long as Adam Hughes does the covers, the rest of us need not wonder.

Someone in Niceville, FL searched for "tom foss + criminal record." Whatever it is, I didn't do it. And whoever told you I did is a dirty liar.

Some poor schmuck is getting "peer pressure from the guys over being whipped by my girlfriend." Dude, unless "being whipped" actually destructive to your self-esteem and well-being, "the guys" need to shut the hell up. Either they're jealous that you're in a relationship, they're trying to mask the fact that they're just as "whipped," they're jerks, or they're actually concerned for your well-being. Evaluate which one it is, and then maybe evaluate your relationships.

In the 'Brilliant or Stupid' category, we have "Silence of the Lambs X-Men crossover." Given that one of the Hannibal Lecters and Dr. Chilton have both appeared in X-Men films, we're not too far off.

A reader from the UK asks this perennial question, "where superman keep his boots." Much like the sound of one hand clapping, or how many licks it takes to get to the center of Li'l Kim, the world may never know the answer.

Okay, I know Halloween's coming up, but why would you search for "dung costume"? That's a pretty crappy plan, if you ask me.

The award for best search goes to "el dorado and apache chief action figures," for combining obscure cartoon characters with action figures and unconventional use of the spacebar. I suspect there's some wishful thinking involved, too.

But my favorite search is "is harry potter a monomythic hero?" You betcha, buddy. We'll have to see in the next book if he goes through a literal death and resurrection, or if his descent into the underworld with Dumbledore in the last book was enough.

So...what brought you here?

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Weaponblogging

Okay, so it's a fact of life that most weapons are somewhat phallic. Swords, guns, knives, missiles, even whips (gee Catwoman, what would Freud say?). Some of this is practical. After all, I don't know how you'd stab someone with something circular. Anyway, I read somewhere recently that a lasso could be read as a vaginal weapon. That got me thinking: what weapons aren't phallic, and what exactly do they represent?
So, here's my list of nonphallic weaponry. Feel free to add to it:
Vaginal
Lasso
Chakram (you know, that thing Xena had)

Scrotal/Testicular
Grenades
Bolo
Yo-Yo

???
Sling (testicular?)
Slingshot
Frisbee
Boomerang
Garotte/Razorwire
Shield

Boobular
Acid-squirting flower
2:50: