[X] My Assistant

[Wesley Street]

Currently reading PK Dick's The Man in the High Castle. My fiancee also purchased a subscription to Asimov's Science Fiction for me for Christmas so I've been leafing through sci-fi short stories.

Re-re-watched Ghost Dog.

[ravensmuse]

Realized I haven't done this in awhile...

Reading: Recently got halfway through Rising Sun, on my gf's suggestion. Very good, but hilarious for the "Japan is taking over the world!" mentality that SR had back in the day. Retroactively funny now that we're twenty years down the line and Japan's businesses are in the toilet yet their culture has completely infiltrated us. Want to see the movie now though.

Besides that, I've been picking up some old school Spelljammer stuff lately and my gf found another couple of Changeling:tD books we were missing for the collection. Also been re-reading Red String (romantic original English manga) and found Tweep (Questionable Content minus the hipster drama + Calvin and Hobbes sentimentality + Charlie Brown bittersweetness + awesome literary interludes). I like webcomics; they're a good way to waste a lunch hour and a lot of them are very well presented and written.

Watching: Like, nothing. Missed out on a lot of Clone Wars because I can't seem to nail down the current airing time for new episodes. Waiting for new episodes of My Life on the D-List, Project Runway, Toddlers and Tiaras (Can't. Look. Away. At. Car. Wreck.), Burn Notice...and I think that's about it, off the top of my head. Mostly we've been sticking to Cake Boss.

Seriously, if you're not watching My Life On the D-List, do so. Kathy Griffin is hilarious. Anyone else watch her and Anderson Cooper on New Year's Eve? "Anderson Cooper, who'd be on your death panel?"

I also want to see Avatar really badly, and Kick-Ass, which looks hilarious. But that will probably end up being a rental when my gf isn't around (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Playing: New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Why? The Mega Man 9 Effect. Seriously, it's like if they crammed all of the best parts of Mario 1, 3, World, and Yoshi's Island and Mario World Paizo into a gooey blend and served it up raw. I have seen enemies in this game I haven't seen since 1994.

Oh, and Pokemon Ruby. What? I'm working on my backlog. Ignore the fact I want Diamond. Go away now.

[PBTHHHHT]

Read: Titanicus by Dan Abnett, it's a WH40k novel about the Legion Invictus, a Mechanicus Titan Legion, defending a Forge World from a Chaos Titan Legion. Reminds me a little bit of mechwarrior, but these mechs are a bit larger.

Watched: Avatar on IMAX 3D, I liked it a lot visually. on tv... Cake Boss, Iron Chef America, Worst Cooks.

Playing: TF2 and Civ4, also started a little bit on Dragon Age

[Freejack]

Reading: Swords of Lankhmar (5th in the series).

Watching: Soap. Got the 4th season over Christmas so I'm watching it start to finish.

Running: Shadowrun 4th Google Wave and local game. Trying to get another game going at my FLGS.

Carl

[Wesley Street]

Okay, so I'm reading Gantz and Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit. In the past I've enjoyed Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell, Gunsmith Cats, Planetes and a few other action and sci-fi manga series. Any recommendations for stuff that has come out in the past two or three years?

[PBTHHHHT]

Okay, so I'm reading Gantz and Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit. In the past I've enjoyed Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell, Gunsmith Cats, Planetes and a few other action and sci-fi manga series. Any recommendations for stuff that has come out in the past two or three years?

Moonlight Mile, it's somewhat similar to Planetes where two characters want to get into space.

[ravensmuse]

Bleach (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(Yes, it's shonen, but it's reasonably mature shonen that moves quickly enough. And it's getting pretty close to zero hour now).

I've totally been out of the manga circles lately though. Have you watched Tengen Toppen Gurren Laggan yet? NGE meets FLCL meets crazy awesome, hugely following the Rule of Cool.

[Backgammon]

Just came back from seeing Sherlock Holmes.

Oh. My. God. FUCKING good movie. Far better than avatar I would say. I do have a penchant for Robert Downey Jr., and he's VERY good in this movie. Guy Ritchie was an unusually excellent choice for this movie. London is so cool to see. Rachel McAdams is a weak spot, but you gloss over it. I highly recommend it.

[Wesley Street]

Bleach (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(Yes, it's shonen, but it's reasonably mature shonen that moves quickly enough. And it's getting pretty close to zero hour now).

I've totally been out of the manga circles lately though. Have you watched Tengen Toppen Gurren Laggan yet? NGE meets FLCL meets crazy awesome, hugely following the Rule of Cool.

I've heard about Bleach from a couple of friends but I've never seen the anime. How many volumes are the manga?

I loved FLCL and have liked a few other anime titles that have been released in the last ten years. But my anime collection was described as "Anime for People Who Hate Anime"... which is pretty much true. I feel like (almost) everything that's pumped out to the mainstream falls into Princess Robot Bubblebum territory.

[Bitten the Bug]

Lesseee...
Avatar.. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. I think I want to be a Na'vi. Then I can have a dragon as a friend/pet and ride 6 legged horses (yeah, I like horses). Oh my god. I am going to see it again. And again. And again, until my husband grows tired of it. Then I want to watch it again. The details, my gods above and below, the details!
Then I saw My life as a Geisha in japanese (can one watch it in any other language?) Which reminded me (again) of why I want to learn japanese.

Urhmm, books... A lick of Frost and Swallowing dark by Laurell K. Hamilton and on to Princeps fury by Jim Butcher.
A lick of Frost and Swallowing dark is about 300 pages pr book. I read them in 3 hrs flat and that is both books. Is that fast for a non native speaker?

[ravensmuse]

I've heard about Bleach from a couple of friends but I've never seen the anime. How many volumes are the manga?

I loved FLCL and have liked a few other anime titles that have been released in the last ten years. But my anime collection was described as "Anime for People Who Hate Anime"... which is pretty much true. I feel like (almost) everything that's pumped out to the mainstream falls into Princess Robot Bubblebum territory.

Bleach is up to ...23(?) volumes by this point in the States, close to 200 episodes in Japan, and they're at Chapter 371 if I remember correctly in the Japanese manga. I warned you, it's a Shonen manga. However, it's well written, smart, with crazy character designs and a good moving plot that you will guess at. I've been following it since the very start and it's ended up the only thing I'm really reading seriously now. I think it should be ending soon though (the main character and the main Big Bad [the person whose manipulated everything since chapter 1] just crossed swords).

Gurren Lagann is like if you took Eva, drop-kicked the angst, and made it follow the Rule of Cool. It's about giant robots beating up giant robots and being completely hot-blooded and making your way through the world because of it. It's silly in the FLCL vein, not nerd guys stumbling into the girl's shower for panties silly.

There's also Genshiken if you're looking for something very down to earth. It follows an otaku club in Japan for the four years the two main characters are in college; one is a shy comic book nerd and the other a hot fashionista type that joins to get closer to the hot guy that used to be a complete nerd (and her next door neighbor). Loads of geek references in this and you will learn things - it's how I learned a lot about GunPla, for instance - and if you're watching the anime, the animators got to use real references to things and even got to use footage from actual Guilty Gear XX matches in it. Great series, rarely "anime" funny (there's one scene I can think of, but the character is imagining himself in a dating simulator), and one of the few anime me and my gf agree on.

[PBTHHHHT]

Lesseee...
Avatar.. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. I think I want to be a Na'vi. Then I can have a dragon as a friend/pet and ride 6 legged horses (yeah, I like horses). Oh my god. I am going to see it again. And again. And again, until my husband grows tired of it. Then I want to watch it again. The details, my gods above and below, the details!

To quote Col. Quaritch:
"Hey Sully, how's it feel to betray your own race?"

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

An additional aside:
Are you feeling a bit blue after watching Avatar?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/...lues/index.html

An enjoyable movie, the visuals were awesome.

[Critias]

Meh. Pocahontas with blue cat-elves. I'll wait and see the special effects in a movie that has a story I feel like watching.

[Wesley Street]

Genshiken

This I read the first volume of in manga-form. I will need to find more as it was quite good. I especially enjoyed the club president's rant about how if you aren't masturbating to drawn images, there's something wrong with you... and provides compelling anthropological evidence.

Meh. Pocahontas with blue cat-elves. I'll wait and see the special effects in a movie that has a story I feel like watching.

Call Me Joe.

Are you feeling a bit blue after watching Avatar?http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/...lues/index.html

This is why I stick with NPR and the BBC. I love how journalistic standards in America have slid so far that reporting on message board postings makes national news. I'm now waiting for a Fox News op-ed piece on how furries are evil godless communists.

Also, if you're feeling sad because a place in a sci-fi movie is so beautiful, try getting out of the house and going to a large national park.

[Bitten the Bug]

Just read Princeps fury by Jim Butcher.. Me like! A bit railroadish here and there, but that could be due to my impatient nature and penchant for devouring books rather speedily. I am looking forward to read it again after my husband is finished with it. In a week or two.
I am currently reading Exile's honor by Mercedes Lackey. I am rather fond of Alberich Weaponsmaster.

Last movie seen? 300.

[Eugene]

Reading Barry Hughart's "The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox." Hilarious.

[Wesley Street]

The fiancee and I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. My lady and I now have a deal. We can watch romantic comedies so long as there is nudity (male or female) and it's actually, y'know, good.

Love Actually would be an example of "not good." And I should know, I sat through it three times with three different girlfriends.

[Backgammon]

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one of the funniest movies I'd seen in a long time. I loved it too. The british guy is awesome.

[Wesley Street]

Russell Brand's stand-up comedy is kind of annoying but he was the perfect prick-Brit rocker. I loved Aldous' music video where he held up a sign, Bob Dylan style, that said "sodomize intolerance."

Judd Apatow gets branded by uppity critics for creating nerd wish-fulfillment flicks... but I think our time has come to take the rom-com genre.

[PBTHHHHT]

Just watched the film, Moon.
I enjoyed it, highly recommended. Shows a good scifi film that doesn't need wizbang graphics, animation, or action.

[Backgammon]

I rented Pandorum the other day. Not bad, really. They used their limited bugdet very well. It's not *great*, but it's entertaining enough. It has Denis Quaid in it, which is cool only because it prompted my brother-in-law to point out that Denis Quaid is a poor man's Harrison Ford, which I find to be hilariously true.

[Freejack]

Just watched Eagle Eye. Pretty good movie and inspiring for hackers and diggers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Recently watched The Hurt Box I think it's called. It's ok.

Also watched The Orphan. That was pretty good too.

Carl

[Bitten the Bug]

Movie: Sherlock Holmes Got absolutely nothing to do with the Detective at all.

Books: Masquerade, very old book about Alias of Westgate.

Rpg: Non existent.

[Wesley Street]

Just watched Eagle Eye. Pretty good movie and inspiring for hackers and diggers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Recently watched The Hurt Box I think it's called. It's ok.

Hurt Locker. That was an excellent film. Eagle Eye... made me want to poke out my eyes. Hollywood + ZOMGComputers = shit.

Watched Cold Souls last night. Mildly depressing dark comedy but interesting.

Just started re-reading Dune. It's awesome. Again.

[Stahlseele]

Hollywood + ZOMGComputers = shit

dude, you had better not be dissing Tron there . .