Posted by erin at 12:42 AM | Comments (7)

Date-Based Archive Taxes Done At Last!

I liked it better when I could do the EZ file tax forms and call a number and write down two things and be done with my taxes in about two hours.

This year I had the most complicated taxes to date - not only did I work in two different states and pay interest on student loans (which gives one a significant discount), but I also got the payout from my half-assed retirement savings from my last job, which came with at least two tax forms.

I used H&R Block's online service - which, as I discovered in last year's debaucle, you must use their federal tax service in order to file state taxes through them. Then they only let you e-file in one state, and you have to mail in the other state's form - and for the state of New York you have to mail a signiture document if you e-file (I was e-filing to avoid the post office, damnit).

My point is - one six hour tax session, three H&R technical help chats, and one trip to the post office later I am FINALLY DONE. Soon, soon, my fat return will be direct deposited!

To keep this post from being as boring as I feel I will now post an anime wallpaper I found that is so cute it had ought to be illegal:

Click to see the whole giagantic image.

Posted by erin at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

Date-Based Archive My God, People!

Both Netflix and Greencine have Doctor Who titles to rent! Now you have no excuse for not watching fine titles like "The Power of Kroll" as pictured below:

Kroll is a monster not unlike Cthulhu.

Both sites also have the anime title "Sukeban Deka" which features a protagonist who weilds a yo-yo as a weapon. This is from the description:

"About that yo-yo: it's super-hard bulletproof ceramic, with a string of aramid fiber, and flips open to reveal our hero's badge."

You can bet that's next in my rental queue!

For the uninitiated: Netflix is a DVD rental service that lets you rent as many DVDs as you'd like, for $20 a month, but you can only have three discs out at a time. They're super-fast in the mail, and the postage is free. If you're like Adan, and you lose the envelope, the website does provide instructions on what to do. I first tried the service for a trial month last summer, and then Johan bought me a new 3-month subscription for Christmas. Since I joined last year, Netflix's library has siginificantly improved, and the mailing time has gotten better.

Greencine is another site that does the same thing, but they have more "alternative" titles, like obscure documentaries, and more anime. I'm thinking about signing up with them when Netflix runs out. However, I should probably wait until I have my own DVD player, so I don't have to continually hog my roommate's PS2 and television all the time.

I do plan on posting more about the road trip eventually.

Posted by erin at 03:49 PM | Comments (7)

Date-Based Archive Party = next Friday

So the party I was hinting at in the last post isn't this Saturday night after all, but instead next Friday night. Because Alison is flakey, that's why.

Posted by erin at 02:19 PM | Comments (9)

Date-Based Archive Now it can be told!

At last! The comic is finished and in the mail! Here is a sample panel, as I don't plan to put the whole thing online until after I've found out if I've won or not:

(Click for a larger view)

Alison drew the characters, based on my ideas for what they ought to look like, and I drew the backgrounds and wrote the script, which had revisions by Alison, and N., and suggestions from Hal and Kerry.

To celebrate the completion of the comic, we will throw a party, which anyone reading this is invited to, (because it will be at Alison's apartment and not mine). The party will probably be Saturday night. We will distribute crappy photocopies of the comic for your reading enjoyment.

Despite Hal's best efforts, I removed all the swearing from the text, just in case.

Posted by erin at 06:33 PM | Comments (5)

Date-Based Archive Help Save Home Movies!

Last night the guys from Soup to Nuts, otherwise known as the people who make the Adult Swim show "Home Movies" gave a talk at NYU as part of the Director's Series. Many of the voice actors were there, as well as the show's producer and some of the technical staff. They screened an episode that hasn't aired yet, and there was a Q&A session and they gave away some stuff. The Q&A session was the probably the best I've ever been to, as the panelists evaded giving real answers and opted to joke around instead.

Anyway, my point here is that they announced that Cartoon Network only commissioned 52 episodes of Home Movies, and about 48 or 49 have already aired, meaning that the show is coming to an end. At present, there are no plans for more episodes, and no plans in the works for a DVD! The show's creators would at least like to put out a DVD, but haven't started any concrete planning for it.

Now, Cartoon Network thinks that 52 is a magical number. They think they can air 52 episodes of any show, ad nausium, again and again, and viewers will never tire of it. I AM REALLY SICK OF THOSE FIRST 52 EPISODES OF INU-YASHA! I like Inu-yasha, but there are 150+ episodes of that show and watching the first ones over and over is starting to really turn my stomach.

There are only 52 episodes of Kids Next Door that have been commissioned as well. That doesn't really bother me, as we'll be making the show for the next three years or so.

Anyhow, if you've seen Home Movies and liked it, and you'd like to see more episodes of the show, or at least a DVD collection, you can write to Cartoon Network at this address:

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/gen/help/index.html

...and tell 'em what you think.

Posted by erin at 07:09 PM | Comments (2)

Date-Based Archive Tales from the Road - Part 1

Way back the Monday before last Monday Maggie and I waited outside a Seattle resturant for her friends to give her a good-bye-breakfast. I found this elf on a newspaper box:

His name is Herman. We took pictures of him in various locals from there on out. I'd like to send Herman to England with those of you who are going. We could attach a URL to him of his photos or something.

Anyway, this guy's name is Jake:

He informed us that he had scarred his hands yesterday while trying to make his own aftershave in his sink. He put the wrong chemicals in and caused a small explosion. I kept pressing him for details - Why make one's own aftershave? For cost effectiveness? Were regular aftershaves on the market not satisfactory for his needs? In the end, the reason was that he felt his chemistry degree had been going unused for too long. Nevertheless, Jake was highly amusing. He also fosters kittens. Its too bad Jake doesn't live around here, amusing us with his tales of chemistry and letting us play with his kittens.

This guy: is apparently the "Seattle Aaron" but he spells his name wrong. Maggie claimed the universe would explode if we met, but so far this has proved incorrect. Apparently most of Aaron's interactions with women end when they hit him. Nevertheless, he turns out to be the mysterious jerksquad.com writer who comes up with good threads now and then.

This is MaLora, who is KL's high school friend. MaLora was sick and sleepy at the resturant, but she gave Maggie an awesome mix tape for her trip, called "Maggies Across America". It included both the "Mm-na-mm-nah" song from the Muppet Show, and a cover of the theme song to Dukes of Hazard. I assume the rest of the tape was also totally awesome, but Maggie's tape player didn't work that well for actual tapes - just CD's and the Ipod. By her musical taste alone, I'd say MaLora is probably totally awesome.

Maggie is basically correct in her description of our drive from there on out. Washington state is not the most interesting to drive through, but much of Oregon is pleasant rolling hills and lots of sheep farming. There were some baby lambs that were very cute. All the sheep farms stop at the highway exit called "Wolf Creek".

Maggie and I imagined the possibilities of being a friendly wolf rancher in Oregon. "I don't understand why my neighbors hate me!" Conversation remained pleasant for the first two days, then I ran out of stuff to say.

Northern California is much more mountainous that I had anticipated. I always just assumed I could drive in the mountains, and that turned out to be partially correct. As we drove higher and higher into snow-covered peaks, I got pretty worried. Particuarily here, where the road disappeared into the Matrix:

More tales of the Road tomorrow.

Posted by erin at 05:06 PM | Comments (3)

Date-Based Archive Cosplay Complex and UFO Princess Valkyrie – making Tokyo Mew Mew seem like a good show.

I don’t know if I reviewed Tokyo Mew Mew here before, so I ought to start off by mentioning that it’s a terrible show. Tokyo Mew Mew would be just another magical girl anime, but instead, it gets all pervy, adding cat ears to the magical girls, and making them wear horribly fetish-y dresses that are too ruffly and accessorized with garter belts. I’m sorry, but no junior high kid should be wearing a visible garter belt – I don’t care how magical they are.

Tokyo Mew Mew is a bad show, but Cosplay Complex makes TMM look “as pure as the driven snow.” I caught several episodes of Cosplay Complex at an animation party/video game tournament at Pratt, thrown by some people who’s mailing list I’m on. We were watching the Chinese DVDs, so the English subtitles were not exactly quality, but I think even untranslated this show would be equally as horrifying.

As one might expect from a show titled “Cosplay Complex” this is an anime about cosplayers, which is entirely recursive. First of all, it’s really easy for an anime character to look like another anime character. Second, this might have been a redeemable show, were it about real cosplay. If the characters sat around sewing costumes and making wigs, it might be more or less OK. Instead, the show centers around how quickly characters are able to change their clothes.

Now, if it stopped there, and it was JUST about characters changing their clothes, it would still be perverted, but it wouldn’t have had N. clawing at his own eyes. But Cosplay Complex doesn’t stop there! Oh no! It also manages to throw in a character who’s both a furry and a pedophile, and also a lesbian.

There’s really no excuse for the tasteless horror that is Cosplay Complex. If it were blatant pornography, I wouldn’t have felt so bad for watching it. Sublimated pornography is somehow a million times worse.

Cosplay Complex would be totally irredeemable, but there are a few good gags. The opening and closing theme songs are quite good. And then during the end theme song they show photos of real Japanese cosplayers – good ones! That’s really the highlight of the show. They ought to have made the show just that – stills of Japanese cosplayers. And maybe some interviews where they talk about how they made the costumes. You know, instead of giving anime characters magical fairies that turn into costumes and enlarge characters’ breasts magically using their mysteries interdimensional cosplay powers.

UFO Princess Valkyrie is barely worth mentioning. I mean, you can understand why I downloaded it, right? It has “UFO” and “Valkyrie” in the title! Unfortunately, this show loses points for following some kind of ecchi Di Gi Charat tradition by throwing in some cat-girl maids for no reason, and it loses more points for magical breast enlargement. THAT’S RIGHT! A SECOND SHOW WITH MAGICAL BREAST ENLARGEMENT!! SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH JAPAN, PEOPLE! Later in the show, the Princess in question, who is maybe 8 or 9 years old, kisses some guy who’s maybe between 13 and 15 (god I hope he wasn’t an adult) and this turns the Princess into a 15 or 16 year old. A younger girl turning into an older girl is pretty standard fare for anime, but nevertheless, its still confusing, and, in this case, disturbing.

For some reason, the UFOPV world is populated not just by babes and cat girls and bishonen, but also by talking animals that are short and cute, and weird other animals that may or may not be aliens. In an unexpected turn, the family’s pet rabbit (which talks) goes out drinking with his cute friends at a ramen stand. Here’s a picture:

MY GOD! Did he just mention a war?! What kind of world is this taking place in?!

Next the drunken rabbit is turned enormous by the Princess’s Key to Time, and he drunkenly stumbles around town causing mayhem. That’s really funny – and there are some other good gags. But thanks to the NON-STOP-PERVERSION the show is largely unwatchable.

Posted by erin at 01:47 PM | Comments (2)

Date-Based Archive Ubercon III – Partying with Gabe and Tycho

The weekend before I left on my cross-country journey with Maggie, I attended the third Ubercon , wherein I didn’t really play any games, except for a very small round of Apples to Apples, which I had never played before. I sat in on Hal’s game of Living Greyhawk D&D and ate some Cheetos, then me and N. went to Gabe and Tycho’s Q&A session.

Now, keep in mind N. just wanted to go to stalk Tycho. He quickly realized during the Q&A session that those very technical news posts on the PA site contain actual information – information about the video game industry, and technical jargon about processor speeds that N. knows nothing about. How can he marry Tycho if they really don’t have that much in common?

Then we went to Tori’s party, which Tycho also attended, but not Gabe, since he’s agoraphobic most of the time. The party totally great, with lots of candy and snacks and alcohol that I probably should have consumed slightly less of.

The next day I left Ubercon to pack and get on a plane, and I made sure, before I left the con, to buy this badass T-shirt:

And a copy of “The Gamers” on DVD for N. It has six commentary tracks.

More catch-up entries to come!

Posted by erin at 06:45 PM | Comments (12)