Conflict on Demand

So... Who wants to see me cosplay as Captain Hammer?

As a lurk on the forums of upcoming cons, I find it hard to take any time out of my day to post, let alone post anything positive. I see the average age hovering at 14-15 and multiple threads dedicated to parents not wanting to attend or "what should my parents do?". It really takes a bit of my con-weary soul and crushes it a little bit more.

I know most of us started conventions young, hell, my first convention was the day I turned 15 if I remember right. My father, curious as to what this gathering was, bought a badge and escorted me through the con. I know he probably hated it, and I know I was a reckless kid and probably told him I hated the idea, but I think it was the best thing for me, and the con.

Even a year or two later, my crippled mother still insisted on parental guidance and protection. Going so far as camping up in the hotel room the bulk of the convention, making brief visits downstairs to touch base with me and ensure that I was not a liability to the facilities and that I was Safe.

This was, of course, 2002-2004 and therefore is an ancient practice called: PARENTING.

Now we live in a day and age where 13 year olds have unrestricted access to all the things that we were smart enough to avoid, or our parents intervened and shielded us from. We didn't have things like Myspace, or Facebook accounts glitzed up with pictures of ourselves half naked. We didn't have social networks of strangers numbering the hundreds, and of those hundreds, dozens willing to help us evade our own parents. I'm of course, not bashing children solely, we were all inexperianced youths who tried to be sly at one time or another. A good deal lies with todays parents not caring, Instead of suggesting a family explore the convention together, the 14 year olds are being told by the older minors that there is a mall a few blocks away that they can goto and the parents actually listen to this advice. The don't care, children have cellphones now, they have false bravado brought on by reality shows and self centered stars and starlets, so they must be okay, right? So as a parent, they shouldn't have to do shit unless they end up on a reality show with a nanny who drops in as a 'suprise' and reminds them of how goddamn awful they are at this.

I don't really drink anymore, so I can't goto conventions to party, and I don't think I've outgrown costumes and good times with friends I rarely see. I enjoy seeing what conventions have to offer, but these know-it-alls raised by the digital medium while their parents drop them off and hope for the best are really getting to me. I know I view some things through rose-tinted glasses, but even without them, older conventions just felt better. They felt more fluid, more organic, you felt like you belonged. People were generally more respectful and the phrase 'con-slut' was an actual insult and reserved for the lowest rung of the convention ladder.

I know more and more of you are growing upset with the current affairs, and I hope that together we can try to re-spark some of that old wonder and enjoyment we used to feel.

Tyler T

Tropic Thunder has to be the most hilarious movie I've seen in a while, I think I liked it as much as Step Brothers, but I'm not entirely sure. Step Brothers is far more quotable and reminds me of so many of the man-children I know from viewing at cons and such. Tropic Thunder is pretty strong at the beginning, but about 2/3 through, it just seemed to slow down for me.

Clone Wars was pretty bad as far as dialog and general campiness went. It played out like the extended edition pilot episode of a TV series, which I assume is what they were going for. Ahsoka had an interesting design, and I decided to bite the bullet as far as she went and hope for the best, but I hated her almost the entire film. She mirrors Anakin and is a mouthy, disrespectful excuse for a Jedi, hope she grows up by the time they use her in another film or series. I like her character design at least. Infact, I grew to like the style the movie was in once I started watching it, the fights between the Clones and Droids were pretty sweet, since I love large scale fight scenes. I don't mind the 'action figure' look as much when it's applied to the fully armored clones as well. I'm not saying I disliked it, I would be up for seeing it again since it was fluffy fun, but if you expect serious and adult-oriented drama, you won't find one.

Well, I'm moved into the Bowling Green townhouse that will be my home for the next 12 months. I'm living with 2 anime/gaming geeks on the highest level, while my girlfriend, who is named Megan by the way, and I live on the basement level. The middle is going to be a room full of videogames and such.

If you want to, imagine me running up a flight of stairs from a basement bedroom, clutching a baggy of nickels and dimes in hand, then vaulting down the flight of steps from our split level house. Madly gaining on the majestic tune of an Ice Cream Truck. Eventually I stop infront of the white beast, threatening to use my body to protest it's movement, just for a spiderman shaped ice treat. That was my yesterday.

I'm also riding my bike daily, feels great.

I've got to run though, Megan's cat is sick, so her mom is coming up and they are whisking little Neko off to the Animal Hospital. Hope she's well.

The Dark Knight was an Excellent film. It did so much right, and I loved the focus shifted from Batman vs. goons to Joker vs. Dent. It did a lot of subtle hints to comic fans, and other ...things. My girlfriend can rant about that kind of stuff better, since she's a bigger Heath and DC fan than I am.

'Nuff said.

Next Week is The Dark Knight, which means more Bruce being emo and more kids who have never seen or read the source material talking out their asses. I'm already seeing forum after forum talking about the BEST JOKER EVER1!!!1!!1 in the movie. I'm not saying Heath will be a bad Joker, in fact it looks like a GREAT take on the Clown Prince of Crime. But comparing it to the other Jokers is stupid, since it's not solely based on the source material, but more of a reimagining of the character by the people who brought us the 'Begins' universe making it an entirely different beast all together.

Hellboy was an all right movie, Hellboy II is an all right movie. I'm bored at this second, so you get a review; ( Hellboy II Review )

40 20lbs Curls
6 sets of 10 80lbs Benchpresses (60)
2 sets of 10 100lbs Benchpresses (20)
10 80lbs barbell curls
10 80lbs lifts

That's kind of a weak workout for me, even as just a short burst, I really need to work on getting back into the flow of things.

Oh well, tomorrows another day.

You guys should giver Blassreiter a shot.

It's an anime distributed online produce by GONZO that has been a good ride for me this evening. It has to do with a motorcycle racer being attacked by a nanomachine 'demon' during a race, and becoming crippled. He gets offered a medicine that will give him his legs back, but makes him go insane, not to mention become an Amalgam/Demon.

It sort of feels reminds me of kamen rider, and several animes bundled into one. Hell, even his transformed state looks like a mixture between an Evangelion and Jehuty from Zone of the Enders to me. One character even has a transforming motorcycle.

I'd say check it out if you're in a dry spell like I am.

Decent streaming version can be found on Veoh.


Link to Episode One

This is from the comment section about The Tower of Druaga game(very much 1984 and with nes graphics);
"This is game old like in the 90's maybe?"

Well, the 90's were apparently a century ago. I feel Old.
Who wants to go yell at kids at the park?

Hancock was good, if you don't expect more than what it throws at you. Megan and I had fun with it. Will Smith is the master of looking sad all the time, it's official.

( A quickie about Ragnarok )

I also wore a LED light ring in my boxers and became Iron-Dong briefly at someone request.

Look, at 30-32 seconds, See that big guy in Beige and the guy in Blue next to him doing a solo suicide rush? That's me. Haha, that's awesome.

I'm in a few more scenes(in beige). I charged alot during Ragnarok XX.

This year is Ragnarok XXIII, and now I AM SO FUCKING PUMPED!

Saw the Hulk with my Girlfriend.

It was great, and deserves the high praise it got. Most negative critics don't follow comics, expected some deep piece, and just didn't realize it was the Hulk. It really showed care and catered to fans of the old 70's series, and dropped tons of small tips of the hat to fans of comics. "Supersoldier Serum on Ice" made Megan and I crack up, no one else seems to have gotten it.

Character development was there, but done in a very subtle way and wasn't at the forefront, which I think is why people always bitch about movies like Iron Man and the Hulk not having a lot of characterization... They expect it to be thrown right into their faces like some two-bit "Deep" movie wannabe, half-assed anime, or can't pick up on things since they avoided or disliked the source material. I'm sure the 5 year time jump from the first Hulk appearance didn't help these "critics".

Ultimately Hulk is about a man controlling his rage, and his emotions. If he loses control on any front, he becomes everything he hates.

-------------

I hope Captain America and Thor movies are done well, I'm uneasy to hear that Marvel was apparently trying to force the Iron Man director to hit specific deadlines with IM2 and Avenegers, of which he said the movies would suffer if he had to hit them.

With this, I have ceased to become a man and have become a God.
(You LJ-cut bitchers can blow off, MGS deserves un-filtered imagery.)

Without spoiling it, it promises:
Nanomachines
Ninjas
Cyborgs
Cyborg Ninjas
Mechs
Naval Fights
Tanks
ZOMBIES
Blood
Microwaves
Shitting
Camp
Fire


The perfect game. I'm not kidding, everything is so over the top, campy, and well planned out it's insane.

Anyway, here are my Stats as of beating it:
Total Play Time: 18:59:26
Continues:15
Alert Phases:79
Kills:396
Recovery Items Used:54
Weapon Types Procured: 45
Flashbacks Watched:120
Special Items Used: None

25,439 Drebin Point Bonus
169,512 Drebin Points at Games End

Final Title: Eagle
Other Earned Title: Hawk, Hyena, Pig, Panther

Most of my Alerts were the machine enemies, watch out, since they have a beam that searches that can spot you if it hits you, even with 99% camouflage rating and to a lesser extent, enemies seeing me mere seconds before I dispatched them.

As for the titles, you can ask me what they mean I have them in my strategy guide(Didn't use it save for a handful of times this time around to not spoil the surprises, but it will come in handy next time.). The title of Eagle however means I got over 150 Headshots.

Officially no longer living at Charing Cross. It was a fun adventure, and I'm a little sad to see it go. The summer promises to give me fresh adventures though, and in July, I have to adjust to roommates at the Townhouse.

Mom and I kicked ass on the cleanup, I'm always surprised and awed she can hammer out work like she does. She makes Diabetic, Liver Failure, Crohns, Insomnia, several other diseases, and a shattered spine look like nothing.

Dad showed up and helped with the final push.

It was the official end of my first college semester to me, even though my classes ended a month ago.

...Hope I can get a bike ride in between storms tomorrow....

The more I see about this CGI crapfest, the more I realize Lucas is out to destroy all his credibility.

I mean seriously, they could have atleast tried to make the characters look good, right?

The post series Extended Universe was somewhat forgivable, a few interesting gems spread throughout the absolute shit, but cramming poorly realized prequel after prequel out of LucasFilm is just destroying the franchise.

Beyond Milking, DESTROYING!

Anyone up for a camping trip at the end of June in Cambridge, Oh?

Of course, I mean camping AND fighting, since it is Ragnarok.
Partying, etc... blah blah blah.



It kicks ass, and is only $45 for SEVEN days of camping.

Own New:
Bicycle
Pokemon Pearl

Saw Indiana Jones, awesome movie, good all around. End of the movie was kind of WTF'ish.

Epic Song;

Well, I had a fun day.

Spent nearly $100 after discounts on Books(and some the day Prior). The general gist of my summer reading consisting of; Crime, Nazis, The Occult, Mafia Types, "Evil" Individuals(Pol Pot, Hitler, Stalin, Hussein, etc) and more Crime.

My crush on crime is growing into a full-blown obsession. I would like to thank my instructor in Criminal Justice last semester for that; Judge Bachman has created a monster.

The Nazi Occult book? Well, that's just personal interest. It's not really an obsession with the morbid, more like I'm deeply interested in reading about plight and how demented individuals can be.

I also acquired a book with excerpts from the Hagakure.
Also scored a hardbound set of Lord of The Rings for $15, marked down from $65.

Quick Edit: Megan and I also saw Prince Caspian a few days ago. It was good, and the fight scenes were well done.