bonesiii

Gman had the same confusion, DV--what I'm saying is, this is how I, personally, define "cool" when I use that word (since many people have asked me how I define it, as I said in the first paragraph). Not saying other people don't define it differently. Remember, though, this taste (or the general idea) seems to be the one usually shared by most Bionicle fans, so it seems to be to be worth the time to try to sit down and define it somehow. So, no, I'm not saying this taste is "better" than yours--remember I consider all tastes to be equal. On an individual basis. But as we've been over countless times before, since they're all equal, they're like a vote, so what's best for Bionicle's health is the majority. That's why I am saying this is the majority taste. The big picture I'm saying that most complainers miss is that fact--they often think their own taste is more important for Bionicle to target over everybody else's, but it is just impossible in the real world. Hope that clears that up...

Yeah--it is a good feeling when we're in the group of tastes LEGO's marketing to. That's what makes me wish that reality could be different and somehow they could also please the minority tastes--I have been there of course back with things like gears that I didn't like, and when there's something like that that I dislike, it makes me feel like Bionicle isn't as good as it could be, in feelings, though as a logician I at least know that's only true for me personally for sure. But it's definately a good thing that Bionicle -is- focusing on the majority, for the reason you said. Hopefully it can be a consolation to the minority tastes in some small way. I agree that the Bionicle lines is cooler right now....I don't understand why people keep complaining. Well, I understand it--everybody's different, and to people who aren't into this style, it's not as "cool" in the other sense of the word. Being a fan of something can be very emotional, and people miss things that were powerful forces in their lives in some ways. I don't blame them for complaining about that. It can be hard to step back and look at the big picture. Thanks, VK! We agree there on some points. BTW, I've just posted an in-depth analysis of Diosjenin's topic-post, here, including the details on what I see as problems with the Mahri--I'm interested in your thoughts on that. Yes--that Jaller pose is especially awful. XD That's fair enough. My main problem with the blasters (BTW, are you sure it's Cornak with an "n"?) is the look, and I thought the squidders looked alright--but if the blasters fire better, might outweigh that. I had thought they looked bulky too, but I'm not as sure, re-checking a few of the farther back pics from Toyfair--at certain angles they seem skinnier than at others. Not sure... Heh, it's ironic that you don't like his mask. I've seen that a lot here--maybe that should be the subject of a poll. (Personally my sig is full though. :-P) Yeah, I can see that, definately, though I don't mind Kongu except for a bit more armor, plus the launcher design itself--I don't mind the two launcher idea itself, and in a way it's fitting for an air Toa. For Matoro, the tubes are the main thing that I don't like. I love the shoulder armor, Toa-foot body design, and hunchback differentiation. Thanks, heh. Took a whole day to find 'em all. GMan--I'm PMing you about your flame comment before I make any attempt to try to reply to that here. I hope you rethink that behavior. [Edit: I've recieved your reply, and I'm glad to here you did not intend to flame and you see your mistake. Thank you. ]

That's perfectly normal, Advocate. Happens every year with every set. It's because it's not really "opinion" but "taste" and "preferance." Different people have different preferences. So where someone sees Hewkii's mask as ugly, someone like me sees it as rad cool, lol. Personally, overall I am really excited about them, since there's a lot of "cool" in them. I'm not very happy with the launcher though, and I agree about the color scheme problem that causes. But that's still a matter of taste, and that doesn't necessarily amount to an actual problem.

If you know me very well at all, you know I love the "Coolified" style of appearance in Bionicle sets. This style is in many people's eyes the opposite to the 2001 style, yet in my tastes at least it is the best Bionicle can be, and it seems like most fans share my preference in this, though it's certainly OK for others not to (to each hisher own). Because of the majority "Cool" preference, I think Bionicle is at its absolute best, stylewise, when it uses this style to the max in the sets. Both in terms of it's health as a franchise, and, luckily, for my own personal tastes too. [To be clear, not saying other people can't see the word "Cool" differently; this is how I personally define it. ] But what exactly is "Cool"? How can it be defined? I've been asked this before, and it's a little difficult to pin down. It's got variety. It isn't one exact "just so" style. And yet it has rules. It is something I know instantly when I see it, and something I'm dissapointed to miss when I don't see it. I know it is intense, but then some intensity isn't cool--some people who aren't into Cool even find it intimidating, even going too far (though down what road depends on the person). Some who aren't like me even see it as "ugly", because they have different tastes. It is often these people who are confused when I use words like "cool"--what does it mean, they have asked? Overall, the best way I know how to describe it is this: Ruthless Elegance. Cool does not hold back. Cool has well-aligned curves, spikes, spikes, serrations, scales, flares, knife-edges. Cool is made out of exploding gas, biological beings, stone, plastic. It's got texture, it's got form, it's got a pattern, it's got chaos. It's feathers and razor-teeth. Cool is elegant, not cheesy, but not "refined" per se or "classy" or any other terms. It isn't fragile, but it isn't industrially plain. It isn't afraid to be as elegant as it's possible to be. Yet it can contain elements of industrial plainness, or smoothness, or blockiness, even cheesiness! It is intensely powerful. It is also ruthless, because it knows that its intense style is not evil, though it can be scary--it knows it is neutral morally and can be equally expressed by both good and evil, and it is not afraid to express itself. It celebrates and exalts in its expression of elegance. But these are all just words. I know what they mean only because I have the meanings behind the words in my head. A picture, they say, is worth a thousand vocalized sound waves, or in this case, digitized linguistic symbols. So I thought today I would present with you with a Visual Guide to Cool. This guide will feature a selection of the coolest images I know of, picked out of this Gallery. There are gobs of bonus images in the gallery you can browse as well when it is public. Gallery Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 Barraki Something some people don't seem to realize is that "Ruthless Elegance" isn't something invented by Bionicle or any other human being. Ruthless elegance can be found all over in nature. Probably the most obvious example of Bionicle similarities to real world "RE" is the Barraki. Carapice. Eel. Manta Ray. Each of the Barraki features their own unique sort of Cool that has a direct or indirect parallel in the world of nature, especially in undersea creatures. And these are rad cool creatures. You've got Carapar: Ehlek: Mantax: Kalmah: Pridak: And finally, Takadox: Okay, so that's a color edit, lol. Actual image here. Undersea The Barraki represent a whole class of ubercool undersea creatures, but they only scratch the surface. There are Icefish and Lionfish and Sunfish and Starfish (Sea Urchins in that pic too). The Range of Cool Ruthless Elegance isn't just found underwater, though. In the animal realm it also includes things like Egrets: It extends into space in a Solar Flare: Humankind has harnessed the power of Cool to fly in the sky: It exists in the plant world in a Dragon Tree: And it once existed in actual "dragons"; Dinosaurs: Extinct Animals That was the head of a T-Rex--but the Tyrannosaur's feet were cool too. Another really cool dino was Styracosaurus: And who doesn't love good old Sabertooth Tiger? Ancient predators even included giant girds, like the "Terror Bird" in this artistic interpretation. Reptiles There are a lot of "living dinosaurs" in terms of coolness even today, like the late Steve Irwin's favorites, Crocodiles. Isn't it Gorgeous? There are lizards with frills: And turtles with spikes. There's even a miniature version of Styracky. Mammals My brother Ojilom's mascot, the Elephant, is, as it were, Ele[g]ant. Especially its skeleton. Have a look at the skeleton of a Whale. And just as there are mammals in the sea, there are mammals in the air. But we usually think of mammals as being on the land, like the Armadillo: Or being furry, like the Emperor Tamarin. Birds Feathers instead of fur. There's the peacock of course, with its tailfeathers. And it comes in white: There's everything from the Hornbill to the Turkey. Bugs In the insect and arachnid world there's the somewhat familiar Wolf Spider to the unfamiliar Scale. Nui-Rama have their equivalent in Dragonflies: And Kraata have a rough equivalent in Snails. Plants To eat the bugs, there are Venus Flytraps, Sundews, and Pitcher Plants. Other plants range from cool ground foliage to Oak trees; their leaves seen here. Flowers aren't all roses. And don't forget ferns: Sun Those ferns need light--how about a nice star for us all to orbit? The sun can do a good imitation of a Zamor Sphere in certain types of photos. And personally I really like blue. Nebula Who knew. Carapar has his own giant cloud of gas--the Crab Nebula! Ooooh. Ahhhh. Explosions are the answer: It's the BOOMarang Nebula! Look at the Shockwaves. And look--Nebulae even mimic nukes! Manmade Cool We of course have nukes, and other types of Explosions. We've put Ruthless Elegance into everything from Buildings and Boats to Buggies and Biplanes. Bionicle Of course humans have also put coolness into all manner of fiction as well. But that's not my goal for this blog entry--it's to show that all of the above has existed in the real world, for real reasons, and usually without our control. In Bionicle, we've had rocking cool Rahkshi, we've had Kanohi masks, we've had Visorak; the one I think is the coolest being Da Greenie. Only recently though has Bionicle reeeeally gotten into Ruthless Elegance. The Piraka show this off like crazy. Take Thok, for example. The Toa Inika had this up the wazoo, with their rad Zamor multiclips, the Zamor launchers themselves, and their cool armor, feet, and masks. My favorite of the masks is the superior Sanok. But Ruthless Elegance has really taken off this year with the Barraki, and if Toyfair is any indication, the rest of the sets too! Good old Carapar, my favorite. Ehlek, after he "charges up" from the lightstone in the Bionicle.com movie/vision, looks really cool. And Mantax--wow, have all the promo pics of him competely slapped him in the face, as it were. Mantax's head is awesome, but I have never seen an actual image of its full awesomness until the piece was shown in one of the Toyfair playsets. See here. I want Mantax now. Of course each of the Barraki is also cool in a unique way, as we are all well aware. Even Pridak, my least favorite (due to the color scheme), has awesome tools, which I was excited to see in silver with Hydraxon. But the Toa Mahri. Wow. I've got a few complaints, not least of which is the launcher, which in appearance, to me, is decidedly uncool (I hope it's a prototype...). But there's just sooo much else that roxorz my soxorz better than ever before, it is sheer awesomeness incarnate. Hewkii's new mask is just as rad cool, if not more so, as the Sanok. As is Kongu's. And Hahli's mask. And! And. And. And. Hahli has... WINGS!!1!1!! *spamming spree of joy* Yay! Hwoot! *Toa With Wings!* Huzzah! Hooray! *deleting spamming spree of joy* Yahoo! Google! The wings are coolified, even. I like wings. Can ya tell? :-P And the masks of the others are about as cool, as well as most of the tools (though I would like a bit more armor... ). And the titans have so much coolness, just like Axonn, Fenrakkvezon, and Brutaka did last year. You knew this was coming: Wowser Bowser Good Gads Gadunka. What a rad cool Piraka foot! And the face is cool too. All in all, Bionicle is delving into Cool more, and more betterly, than they ever have before. Personally I am very excited about this. Beyond that, though, I strongly suspect that most typical fans are too, and so I would not be surprised to see Bionicle's recent gains keep going up! Well, that's enough for this entry. I hope this guide has helped explain in a couple ten thousand words what "Cool" means to me.

Time for the next installment of the Bo Ring Cartoon Collection blog feature! This is a cartoon comic series created, written, and illustrated by me, about a news reporter who is... less than top notch. You can see the first collection here: Bo Ring Collection #1. Enjoy! Collection #2 Gallery Bo Ring Cartoon # 38 Bo Ring Cartoon # 39 Bo Ring Cartoon # 40 Bo Ring Cartoon # 41 Bo Ring Cartoon # 42 Bo Ring Cartoon # 43 Bo Ring Cartoon # 44 Bo Ring Cartoon # 45 Bo Ring Cartoon # 46 Bo Ring Cartoon # 47 Bo Ring Cartoon # 48 Bo Ring Cartoon # 49 Bo Ring Cartoon # 50 Bo Ring Cartoon # 51 Bo Ring Cartoon # 52 Bo Ring Cartoon # 53 Bo Ring Cartoon # 54 Bo Ring Cartoon # 55 Bo Ring Cartoon # 56 Bo Ring Cartoon # 57 Bo Ring Cartoon # 58 Bo Ring Cartoon # 59 Bo Ring Cartoon # 60 Bo Ring Cartoon # 61 Bo Ring Cartoon # 62 Bo Ring Cartoon # 63 Bo Ring Cartoon # 64 Bo Ring Cartoon # 65 Bo Ring Cartoon # 66 Bo Ring Cartoon # 67 Bo Ring Cartoon # 68 Bo Ring Cartoon # 69 Bo Ring Cartoon # 70 Bo Ring Cartoon # 71 Gallery Support Banners: [url=http://www.bzpower.com/forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=39&showentry=9976][img=http://www.majhost.com/gallery/bonesiii/BZPstuff/BoRingCartoons/bonesblahgbanner.gif][/url] [url=http://www.bzpower.com/forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=39&showentry=9976][img=http://www.majhost.com/gallery/bonesiii/BZPstuff/bo_ring_banner.jpg][/url]

This is true, heh. My point was more that as individuals focusing on our tastes to decide our "should" opinions is illogical, so it probably wouldn't fit very well to have a huge crowd in the forest, lol. But yes, that is very true.

*finally gets around to this* What follows is a very short story that I wrote as a "Velika Mode" analogy in a recent debate topic, intended to help explain a mistake a lot of people make in how to look at what Bionicle should do. Someone PMed me and said they actually enjoyed the story, so I figure I might as well put it here, lol. Whether you wanna read this for its meaning, or just as a short story, enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------- There was once a man who came upon a pond in the middle of a magical forest. He liked the pond, as it reflected his image, as well as the images of the trees around it. As he looked at his image, he realized that the pond allowed him to understand what he looked like better than he normally could. He could see his face, for example, or the top of his head. This pleased him greatly, and he eagerly looked at the images of the trees, hoping he could see them more clearly now as well. But what he saw instead was distorted, wavy trees in the gentle waves of the pond. They didn't seem exactly the same as when he simply looked at them--but he liked the wavy reflections enough, and he was so excited about the pond that he decided to always look at the trees through the pond's reflection. The day wore on, and something changed. In the ripples, he saw specks of strange colors interrupting the wavy images of trees. Try as he might, he could not get a clear image of the strange colors. So he grumbled that the forest had changed for the worst--he just wanted to watch the wavy images of green leafy trees, since it was what he was used to by now. This dissapointed him, for he liked the forest too, and wanted it to be the best it could be. Finally, a wizened old man walked up to him. The old man stood somewhat behind him, and the man could not see him through the pond, so he had to glance back at him. He quickly returned his eyes to the pond, and ignored the old man. Until the old man suddenly said, "Ah, the forest is lovely this evening, isn't it?" The man didn't answer at first, for he was puzzled. He could not agree, because in the pond, the forest looked worse, and he could not understand why. So he said, "Well, it was... but it's gone downhill since this morning." "Really?" the old man said. "What makes you say that?" The man explained. "Ah, the old man said, smiling gently. "Your mistake is that you are trying to understand the forest through your pond, rather than looking directly at it." The man's eyes widened. Slowly, he lifted his eyes. He beheld that each and every tree was filled with colorful flowers that had opened during the midday sun. He had to admit the flowers looked better than he'd thought, but he still would have preferred if they were gone. But then he noticed that energy was flowing into them from the sunlight. He asked the old man about this. "You see," said the old man, "the light-flowers absorb energy that strengthens the bark of the trees. This same energy flows up to the leaves that you like so much, and it is in fact because of the flowers that the trees are here! The tree will not look the same for the rest of the day, but it will be healthy." "I see," said the man, with a smile. --------------------------------------------------------- The meaning: » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «The pond represents personal tastes, the forest represents Bionicle. The mistake a lot of people make is that they look to their likes and dislikes to decide what they think Bionicle actually should do--this obviously does not work because Bionicle doesn't revolve around just one person. The point is that, hopefully, even if there's been some change to Bionicle that we don't like, we can still be satisfied that it's OK when the change helps Bionicle's health as a franchise.

Again, nothing wrong with all that--what I'm disagreeing with is the idea there there is "elimination" with debates. You understand that? I mean, when you lose debates, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to debate again, especially if you can admit when wrong. And I know you're joking, but I'm not really saying this is "teachings" -- it's just my opinion, and I don't claim it's 100% fact. It's just that everything you're raising, I've already considered in-depth years ago, and I really think that in some ways, I'm seeing this issue a little more clearly. But you probably think the same thing, lol--this is why logic is the key, because even when figuring out issues of logic, wisdom, and everything, logic is the key. Lol. Well, I'd disagree, of course, but to debate that point would require us to define "wisdom." I'm not sure how you're using the word; it may be different from how I use the word. To me, logic is the key to wisdom, as well as understanding; I do not, actually, see knowledge as the most important thing. This is why I'm a logician, lol. Knowledge without wisdom can be very dangerous, actually--just as one (very extreme) example, a lot of the senior staff of Nazi Germany had a lot of knowledge. But they lacked wisdom, and believed things that were just plain rediculous, logically speaking. And it got waaaay out of hand, deadly out of hand. When it comes to "Bionicle wisdom", I see my view as the wise one. Not for egotistic reasons, but because countless debates have gone on about the issues such as the ones in Kraggh's topic, and logic always supports the opinions I now hold in the end. Of course, that's because I have been wrong many times, and have changed my mind, as I described in the blog entry. And so far, nobody's ever been able to show logically that I'm wrong now, though they have tried, oh how they have tried. To me, this means that it's "wisdom". However. I would agree that I have not been as "wise" as I could be in presentation. (As I said.) One of the main problems is that each different person responds better to a different presentation style, but still, I could do better in ways that aren't related to that; trying my best. But despite these flaws that I admittedly have, the challenge I can always raise is this: "Regardless of what you think of me, look at my logic. Unless you can show that I have made a logical mistake, I believe anybody can see that I am right, if they have an open mind." Logic is the key to wisdom, whether it is me or my opponent who needs wisdom, or both, lol. Well, I think I do that, actually. Again, though, I think in terms of wisdom, the most important thing to make clear is that I am basing my opinions on sound logic, because that is what matters in the end, regardless of debate style. I blame Survurlode. Yes, it was understandable.

I agree. (I explain this very clearly in the Debate Guide.) I think that confusion is what causes most of the problems in debates, actually--that's why it's important for us to be clear about what we mean. This was part of what I felt caused problems in your "Downfall" topic, Kraggh, for example--that word doesn't, to most people, mean that you're talking only about tastes. You posted recently that you meant more of "downhill", but that word has the same meaning to most people, from what I've seen. Just one example, but it's a good one, I think, of the kind of confusion that makes a lot of "taste-discussion" posts look like "opinion-discussion" posts.

Before I reply, I want to clear up part of what I meant, as I just said in a PM: Well, I doubt that feeling of being proved wrong is really that good....And I don't know why, but I sort of feel that being proved right can bring us closer to the truth than being proved wrong; there can be infinite wrong theories/points, but there can only be one truth. A wrong theory only gives us an example of a misconception, but a correct theory brings us the truth, and facts. So, what's so great about being proved wrong? Of course, my post has many flaws(compared to bones' blog entry, lol), but still, I think that being proved wrong isn't great. I don't think you understood quite what I am saying, DQ... Let me quote something that ccso said in an older version of the S&T rules from before I was a staff member, and that I've kept around in my version of those rules, that I think helps explain: Now, as I've said in the Debate Terms Guide, "opinions" are also like theories, except not about Bionicle or a storyline, but about reality itself (see the Dictionary.com definition provided in the "Opinion" section in the guide, orange link in sig). Debate is all about different people with different opinions talking amongst each other about those opinions. I really think if we look at debate the way ccso is saying about theory discussions, it's a better experience, and even being proven wrong "helps us make better" opinions. And at the same time, it helps avoid flame, which is also something that's important to me when I'm posting in a debate topic, especially being a moderator. Does that make sense? Now to be clear, I'm not talking about taste, or preferences, or likes and dislikes. That stuff isn't a matter of logic, but just of preference. When it comes to Bionicle, I'm talking about figuring out what actually helps or hurts Bionicle's health as a franchise. Well, it depends on what you mean by "pride", Emperor? Do you mean "self-esteem"? Or do you mean "ego"? If you mean self-esteem, then what I'm saying is, if you look at debate my way, then that isn't a problem. Because losing a debate is just as good as winning--and either way, debate helps sharpen our logical skills, and helps us be more confident in the next debate. If you look it as defensive debate, and you look at it as important not to "lose", then yes, it can hurt your self esteem--but my whole point is that if you look at it my way, it can't. If you mean pride in the negative sense, in terms of egotism, I've already talked about that in the blog entry--hopefully you understand why that is a bad thing... Again, this looks at debate as a "game"--almost like football seasons, lol. It just doesn't work that way, at least not on a forum like this. You are not banned for losing a debate, lol, and you still have the right to speak your mind, as long as it's done respectfully. Who wins or loses debate depends (or it should) on logic, so if I was wrong once, but now I come to a new debate, and logic is on my side in this one, what possible problem could I run into? What could stop me from speaking my mind there too? And how could having lost one debate have anything to do with my logic in the new debate? In fact, I would counter that being able to admit when I'm wrong shows that I am, in a sense, better able to approach a new debate. If I come into debate, and everybody knows I can admit when I'm wrong, then they must work doubly hard to debate me--because they cannot just pretend that I say things despite knowing I'm wrong. Does that make sense? Okay, then let me put it to you this way. I say that I am right on this (just as a hypothetical, I mean). I think that I have strong logical reasons to back me up; for example, years of experience with debates on BZP and seeing the results of the "defensive" way of looking at it (it often ends up in flame wars). Now, if that be the case, to me, a "defensive debater" is "obviously wrong", as it were. Do you see how I'm looking at it? I'm not being 100% serious with this hypothetical, though, because I understand the view of debate as a fight for honor. This is a little better than plain old defensive debating, but see, you still need to realize that there can only be two basic kinds of debate--truth-seeking or defensive. I view debate as an activity demanding honor as well, but I do not view it as a "fight." That attitude is what leads to flame, in my experience, and that is bad. To me, making sure I'm being logical is the matter of honor. It doesn't seem honorable to me to just defend my view no matter what, which is what defensive debaters seem to do. So I think you're basically seeing this the same way, but I'm just not clear on if you agree that defensive debate isn't good? I agree. Nothing wrong with that. What I'm saying is, I think it's also important to be clear in your mind that you could actually be wrong. For example; the cause in a typical Bionicle debate might be to show that removing gears was actually a good decision for the health of Bionicle, because I believe that logic supports that view better than the opposite. The meaning being that the goal in that debate is to figure out what is actually helping and what isn't. Nothing wrong with all that--I am simply suggesting that if it can be shown that you were wrong, then the honorable thing to do is admit it. And that there is no dishonor in being wrong, if you can admit it. (Especially because once you admit it, and take up the more right opinion, you become right!) Instead, in my mind, there is dishonor in sticking to an opinion that is clearly wrong, as shown in logical debate. To be clear--this doesn't mean we should not have "faith", whether in the religious sense of that word, or just in the sense that we might run into a situation where someone seems to have disproved the idea, but you sense that something is off and that you're missing something. In real life, this happens all the time--a person might feel intimidated by someone they're debating, and simply not be able to think of the right response fast enough. Usually, if you hold your ground in cases like this and think it over afterwords, you think of what you should have thought of, and realize you were right--that is, that the opponent was using a logical fallacy. "Faith" in that sense and in the religious sense is very good. Again, logic there is the key as well. But online debates are different--we have time to proofread, to analyze more in-depth, and think of those things to say. It's not like spoken debate--and we can even analyze the exact structure of the opponent's logic and find the fallacies. That's why it's doubly important to understand logic well, really whether spoken or not. Okay, but I hope you see why such a complaint topic/debate should not just be for fun. I understand that debating is fun and all, but are you implying that it doesn't matter in that topic who's right and who's wrong? That would be unwise... I don't want to presume that I understand what you mean by this, however, so I won't overthink this too much... Pretty much it appears I agree with you, actually, and I don't think you're agreeing with the PMer as much as you might think--you based your view on reasoning, as you said. I just think that you're still looking at it partly in terms of "defensive" debate, which isn't as good. You recall for example what I said about that in the "Debate" section in the Debate Terms Guide, for example? About how defensive debate can be used to justifcy flaming, and other lesser things like that? We agree that that is bad, right? Kraggh--you appear to have misunderstood a lot of what I'm saying, and I've PMed you about this. It's difficult to compose a coherent reply to your comment without clearing up what I am saying first, so I'll hold off until you reply to my PM (my second one, that is). As far as human emotions go, see here: I think that we have brains for a good reason (the reasons I think this get into religion, which we cannot discuss here, but regardless of that, we do have brains, not just emotions). Emotions aren't there to rule us--but then perhaps you did not intend it that way anyways. In terms of taste, I've talked about this a lot, but you really need to read the Debate Terms Guide to understand what I'm talking about. If you read that and still don't understand what I'm saying, Kraggh, then my question to you is, if I "don't feel human emotions", then why exactly am I a fan of Bionicle? Bionicle is entertainment--why exactly am I here talking about entertainment in the first place if I don't feel emotions? I hope you see how... strange... that idea is... (No offense. ) I good way to sum up how I look at it is to compare to the old Star Trek idea of Vulcans--aliens who, being unhuman, tried to suppress all emotion and lived as robotic-like logicians (hence the I am not Spock joke, if you didn't understand that, lol). The vulcans often stated that humans were defined by emotions, and vulcans by logic. That is not my view in the slightest--though the general goal of being logical is of course good. I believe that logic and emotion are both vital to humanity. Emotions are like a sense, like vision, like hearing, and they can help you understand the intent of what someone says (though this gets confusing, unfortunately, on the 'net), as one example (among hundreds). Yet, we cannot let our emotions rule us, because that would make us less than human (IMO)--it would basically make us animals--in fact, that would be like a form of robotism. We would only be able to do what our emotions programmed us to do. Emotions are really just chemical reactions, you know. Also, because different people have different personal tastes, and because by definition no one taste is better or worse than others, different things would please different people--and they would be "ruled" to do radically different things. That can get dangerous, because if we cannot control our actions, what happens when we get violent? A healthy human mind has a balance of the two, in my opinion. When it comes to debate, logic must be central. When it comes to viewing/reading entertainment, emotion should be central (as two examples). To me, logic really means nothing without emotion, because if we can never feel pleasure or pain, then what point is there in logically figuring out things like right and wrong in the first place? And in the same way, emotion means nothing without logic--it's really just chemical reactions that if allowed to rule us uncontrrollably can cause a lot of harm. So we need to balance the two. You get the idea? Anyways, this is getting really deep here, XD. The way we balance them is by choosing to like what we like, and not apologizing for that--but at the same time, respecting others' ability to like different things, and accepting that, logically, companies must appeal to majority tastes (for example). In other words, by seperating our emotions and tastes from our "should" opinions. Again, I can't really respond to the rest of what you say without making sure you understand first where I'm coming from, and understanding where you are coming from too... The main mistake you seem to be making appears to be that you don't think truth exists as an absolute, which I can easily disprove, but I do not want to presume that that is what you meant, and it doesn't sound like it, from your first PM... *long comment, lol*

Often people wonder why I devote so much time and energy to logically analyzing and debating in complaint topics, focused on figuring out if there are problems with Bionicle. In general, people often wonder why I am logician to begin with. Why do I do what I do? The following is a quote from a PM that someone (I do not know who, nor do I want to know who) sent to someone I was debating today: This is a very telling insight. It's not often that I am privy to "behind the scenes" conversations like this (not to over-analyze it, of course). Sadly, it illustrates the wrong way to go about debates that I see all too often in all walks of life--it's about "beating" the opponent. See, as a logician, I approach debate in a way that has much better results: I always win. And I always lose. What I mean is, I look at debate as a search for the truth, between two sides who are friends. I don't want to "beat" anyone, I don't want to "win", as if this was a game or a sport, as if it was about one-up-manship. It isn't. This is about reality, trying to understand it, trying to find it. About truth. That's important to me, much more important than my own ego or whatever. (I regularly torture my ego, whip it, suffocate it... stuff it in a toaster... Make it step on Lego bricks... ) So, since I look at things logically, if I ever had an opinion that didn't jive with reality, my friends (debate opponents--anyone) would hopefully be able to show me where I was wrong, and I would be glad for this! Because then I could stop believing the illogical opinion, and take up a new opinion that is closer to reality! If this happens (and it has many times, believe me, lol), I still end up being right. And my friend has helped me get closer to reality, which is what I wanted in the first place. See how this is a win? However, if I am ever tempted to "beat" someone, or "own" them, whatever the label, I must turn down that temptation, however appealing it may seem. It is a trap, a venomous snake that sings a sweet song until it sinks its fangs in. But my ego so wants to push me towards those fangs. Hence the torture. I call this "truth-seeking debate." But the kind that this PMer seems to be using is "defensive debate", where the goal is just to speechify words to defend your own opinion, no matter what it is, no matter whether it jives with reality or not. That's sad. I have zero interest in that. And there's something else to notice--that PMer said that I am "almost impossible to beat". Well, I would actually say that is true of defensive debaters--if logic itself doesn't convince them of reality, nothing does. Defensive debaters don't want to admit when they're wrong. I do. Really, I am much easier to "beat" in that sense than anyone else. Because I am honor-bound to concede, when logic demands it. I have to be honest, I have to honestly believe what makes the most sense to believe, as far as I can know. I am very comfortable with this bondage--it means I'm a lot more likely to be right! And I like being right. Not just that--the idea of being wrong terrifies me. Imagine if I was wrong in a question of life or death--and I chose wrong, because of my ego. Now that is scary. The only other type of debater I can think of is one who will give in for illogical reasons, and that to me is pretty sad--it doesn't have anything to do with reality. Facts should be everybody's "weakness." Except--they aren't a weakness! Facts are what debate is all about! You might be able to sway someone like this, but it's no accomplishment, is it? It's possible you might convince them of reality, but they don't even know it. I am extremely glad I don't live like that. It's important to me to show this sort of person logic too--logic is the key. So my challenge to that PMer (and to everyone, really) is, can he or she accept the possibility that heshe could be wrong too? What if the reason that debater had trouble "beating" me, is that I actually happened to be right? The PMer seems to assume that I must be wrong. Perhaps the PMer should realize that he or she is actually wrong about something? As for Bionicle... When it comes to Bionicle debate, my concern is that there are real problems with Bionicle (or there could be, and have been). I want Bionicle to do well, and to me complaining about real problems is a vital part of helping it do well. If we cannot logically find real problems... what happens when a problem gets too big? No more Bionicle. It isn't enough to just accept every complaint and pretend it's a real problem--it isn't enough to pretend that if I don't like something, it's a problem. But far more importantly--it is not enough to just ignore complaints, and pretend everything is OK automatically. So I have to logically analyze, I have to challenge people when their logic is flawed, I have to concede when there are real problems that can be logically shown, and I believe that I can do some good for Bionicle this way. And even if a complainer is logically shown to be wrong, I hope that I can help them see that, and come away happier for being able to know that even though they don't like something, they can rest assured that something is helping Bionicle, not hurting. This is probably my weakest area, and I think I come off as too condescending a lot or sometimes I'm just so tired of debating someone who doesn't realize that what I'm talking about has been debated to death in the past and take too many logical leaps, or I let frustration get into my post, which really hurts this goal. I don't want that--and as a logician honor bound to be honest, I must admit that it is a serious flaw in how I debate, way too often. Trying my best to avoid that, because the goal is to help show others a better way, not to "beat" them. That is why I do what I do. But--I could still do better, and I thank the hundreds of people I have debated who have been able to show when I've made those kinds of mistakes. Even though my ego loses every time... I avoid the poisonous fangs, so I ain't complaining. And to people thinking like that PMer--let me tell you, one of the most exhilerating experiences possible is admitting when you're wrong. To people who never have, it can be scary, but I've admitted being wrong enough times to know it shouldn't be--it is actually fun! When I can get closer to reality, I feel like an eagle soaring over the clouds. This isn't a dry, boring, robotic life, being a logician. It is wonderful! And I use the eagle metaphor for a reason--it sometimes feels like having eagle eyes, being able to see what many others can't. (The ego is the rat in this equation.) And one final note: I am not Spock.

Hey, guys--this is a quick callout to any of my fellow "S&T geeks" for the Storyline FAQ Topic. As you guys probably know, I haven't been able to pay much attention to BZP this fall due to tons of college homework. Well, the FAQ's topic's last additions (aside from one I just made, which reminded me ) were from early 2006, so there's probably a lot of frequently asked questions that could be added for later 2006 and the leadup to 2007. That topic works by linking to S&T topics where someone's asked the common question, it's been answered well, and usually the topic was closed because the answer was provided. Being out of it, I obviously haven't any idea which topics those are. So, anybody got some suggestions? Anything you guys have answered, have seen answered, have in your tracked topics list, or if you're staff there, have closed? You can comment suggestion links here or post them in the FAQ topic itself.

Thanks a lot for all these pics, GMan (though stop sneaking around )! These Takadox pictures are definately a lot better than the ones in the front page article currently--the body design looks fine in them but I wasn't as impressed in the other pics. I'm really curious about Pridak now, because he seems least impressive to me from the pics so far, and I'm seeing a lot of people agreeing with that (though that can't be taken as an indicator of the fanbase--I just wanna see better pics ). And Carapar looks even more awesome even then I thought. One question--do you see that main color on his head, shoulder armor, body, leg armor etc. as brown in person? Or yellow that sorta fades into brown? The front page pics make it look more like yellow fading to brown, but yours seem more like brown itself with yellow structure pieces elsewhere.

In most debates, most of the "disagreements" actually arise because one side or another (or both) fails to clearly define the terms they are using. This is a continuing and profound problem on BZP that I run into often; and often I find myself needing to repeat myself over and over as new debate topics pop up with members posting in them that missed the last topic. Gets tedious, so here's a basic dictionary of the debate terms most important to Bionicle debates on BZPower! [Note: I maxed out this blog entry! XD This will instead serve as a link to a topic, thusly. Please post comments in the topic instead of here, until it dies.] I'll also include some common logical fallacies and the like frequently used on BZP, and a few terms that I came up with myself that describe some common tendencies we have here. Of course, this is nowhere near complete, but it does cover most of what is important. Any formal definitions I provide are from Dictionary.com and thus are easily verifiable by anyone who doubts me. Other links are to Wikipedia--note of course that this content could be edited/vandalized after I link to it, so keep that in mind when following those links. Each opening word(s) to be defined are bolded and blued. Key phrases or words within the definition are bolded so you can avoid sifting through the longer explanations if you wish. And when one defined word is mentioned in another's definition, the word is blued. Also note, some erroneous quotes here are from a certain BZP member, and are used with permission--the member has since realized the mistakes made in them--the quotes are not to be taken as disparagement of any member, but rather examples of very common mistakes made by many, many members of BZP. I'll leave it up to that member to decide if he wants to identify himself or not. Keep in mind that the point of this blog entry is not to stifle debate or complaining, but to help BZPers improve the quality of their criticism of Bionicle--so that it can be 1) constructive, 2) useful, and 3) logical and reasonable. I'll be linking to this often, I expect, in future debates, rather than repeat these definitions over and over. Feel free to link to it for the same reasons. Basics Problematic Cliches and Fallacies My Terms Hope this is useful!

Today the Bones Blog brings you an exclusive interview with none other than Evil Lord Survurlode himself! Since the discovery of this wannabe architect of BZP's doom, I have been attempting to contact him for an interview, but the server kept eating my PMs for some mysterious reason... Anyways, he has agreed to give this interview via his evil Poolantir crystal globe, wired into a telephone system. Still trying to figure out how the pics come through the phone, but I guess it's a power of the Poolantir. bones: Well, how to begin. Welcome, Mr. Evil Dude--I'm sure BZP's members are eager to hear more about you, considering you want to make their lives as miserable as possible. Know thy enemy *cough* I mean, because you're such an interesting person! Survurlode: Thank you! I am that! bones: Why don't you begin by introducing yourself... and don't take that the wrong way--your evil clock minion kinda did... Survurlode: Don't worry--I'm a big enough guy--both because I can handle the idea of some poor souls having not heard of me... and 'cuz I need to lay off the Twinkies a little.... *ahem* Who am I? Well, my little BZP-lings, have you ever wanted to load a page on BZPower, but instead had to wait a very long time? That is me. Have you ever got a board message with some cheesy joke and some bubble wrap on it? That's me. My mission in life is to end your ability to access BZPower. Obliterate it. Ruin your fun, your life, everything! Here's a photo of me, from last week: bones: You look very familiar. Survurlode: Indeed I do. As you know, bones, I am in fact the brother to Sauron, the ancient Lord who once nearly conquered Middle Earth, and made a ton of cash in movie sales. I'm a lot more handsome though. He controlled forces associated with fire--I instead control the sea. Floods shall wreak forth upon the Earth, and all ye who buy stock in inflatable rafts shall prosper! Behold; the instrument of thine doom! bones: We are all glad you're weaker than Sauron... Survurlode: HAH! Nonsense, dude! In recent years my successes in thwarting BZPers have strengthened me, and I've begun to redefine my goals, branch out as it were. I just had a meeting with the Chif Evil Clock the other day, and it looks like we're closer than ever before to ruling all of Earth! Clocks have enslaved more people in 2006 to our evil schedules than ever before! bones: Oh goody. Soooo. Does this evil thing just run in the family or what? Why choose this life? You could have gotten a job at Seaworld or something and retired rich. Survurlode: That's easy. My name is "Evil Lord Survurlode"--I wouldn't be a very good Evil Lord if I was a good guy, would I? bones: ... Uh, riiight. Next question. You may recall that the BZPower News Team interviewed you several years ago, but the interview was never posted on the front page. Binky said he tried to put it up, but it just wouldn't go through; it appeared to be some sort of glitch. It was only later that I uncovered a few quotes from it in an old printout--my dog actually ate most of the printout, so I couldn't read the whole thing. You wouldn't happen to know anything about the glitch would you? Survurlode: Ah yes. Those were the days--I could thwart BZPers left and right and they had no idea who I was or even that I was doing it! Ha ha! Yes, I had the article stopped--how is classified--because unbeknownst to me, Binkmeister had secured some classified quotes without my permission, including my comments at the creation of the Evil Clocks. bones: I noticed some of the quotes seemed out of place. Neato! Survurlode: But you, you cursed skeleton, snuck the truth by me. The blogs were a new feature, so my Grem--my... influence... hadn't yet gained control of that system. The word is out now, so I can no longer hide the truth. bones: Glad to be of service. You can thank Binkmeister for devising the blog system. *snickers* Now, the snippets of the old article that I recovered gave some hints as to your strategy for conquering BZP. Since the jist of it is in the public eye, wanna comment on that strategy? Survurlode: *grumbles* Oh, I suppooose. Well, you see......... bones: .... I'm waiting? Survurlode: Board Message: What do you get when you mix a cellphone with a Bohrok? A Bohrok Kal! Ah-HAHAHAHA!1! bones: Oh great. Now Board messages can come over the telephone?!? Survurlode: Board Message: We are the Piraka; Who don't do anything! We just stay at home; And lie around! bones: I... I guess I refresh by saying something. Survurlode: Can you hear me now? bones: Um... Hello again. Survurlode: Good. Sorry about that, the Grem---I mean, the phone system overloaded there. It's a beeyoootiful thing, idn't it? bones: You were saying? Survurlode: Right. Well, it begins with a top-secret algorithm the Gr--I had uploaded to BZPower's server. Binkmeister knows this, but he doesn't know how to stop it. Whenever a BZPower wants to load a page, the ping runs through the algorithm, which artificially inflates the number of refreshes tenfold. You can see the algorithm running here: The load increases even more when more members are online. So you are faced with the priceless dilemma: stick around, you harm the server load; leave, and you bow to my wishes! Muahahaha! bones: I notice two parts that seem odd at first glance. This is a board message, which is supposed to make us bored, right? Survurlode: Right. You're talking about the random cheesy message and the bubble wrap, right? bones: Yeah. I mean, some of those messages are really funny! Given, it's still annoying when they just keep popping up, but they lessen the annoyance. And speaking of popping, who can turn down bubble wrap? Survurlode: Well, bones, you've hit the nail right on the head there. Who indeed? See, that's the catch--while I distract you with these funny messages, you're more interested in refreshing the page so you can get more. More refreshes, more multiplied pings, more server load. What's more, everytime a bubble is popped on the bubble wrap, the server load actually multiplies by twenty. Reloading the wrap? Forty. That lady isn't saying she wants more bubble wrap--she wants more server load! bones: B-but... it's not fair! Survurlode: Evil Lord, remember? bones: *sigh* Survurlode: Of course, the other part to pay attention to is the call to the flood of SURVURLODE--yours truly. Every ping draws a bit of my power into the virtual world known as BZPower--rising a flood of water that threatens to engulf the little island you call home. You all have seen it--as your page loads ever-so-slowly... you see nothing but a big blank window of either blue--the water--or white--the churning foam as it rises. bones: But surely we can break the habit, and choose to ignore the bubble wrap! Survurlode: Bones, take a look at this image. I call it "Wrap and Roll:" bones: Ooooooh. But no... Must... resist.... Survurlode: I call this one "Follow the Bubble Brick Road:" bones: *drools* Wait, no! Survurlode: But wait, there's more! Order today and get a free set of Ginsu knives to make your bubble popping ten times as fun!!!! bones: Resist! Survurlode: This is why I am more powerful than Sauron. Sauron had to try to conquer by force because nobody wants to be burned alive! But my power is more attractive. You see, the bubble wrap idea came directly from my power--as I churn the waves with fury, often the sea makes foam: One day I saw a little Matoran run up to the foam after surviving a flood of mine, and he began popping the bubbles as his quaint way of getting back at me. But as I watched... his frown turned to a smile, and he couldn't stop! He popped every bubble on that beach, and then begged me to make more! bones: Wow. I hope I don't end up like that guy... Okay... Why don't we try another subject, hopefully one less... spooky. You're a powerful Evil Lord. A guy like you needs minions. We've already met the Chief Evil Clock and heard about his armies. Are they your only minions? 'Cuz I'm seriously thinking sledgehammers are the way we should go... Survurlode: Oh, no, my friend, they are not all. I have many minions. bones: I'm not your friend. So, care to elaborate? Survurlode: Board Message: Secret Message #78,921: Dimensioneer likes Bionicle. bones: Um... boy that was clever... Survurlode: Board Message: One Refresh to thwart them all; One Refresh to overload them. One Refresh to flood them all, and in the bubble wrap bind them. bones: Whoa. That one is more interesting... Survurlode: What's in your wallet? I mean... Can you hear me now? bones: Wrong ad there dude. Hello again. Survurlode. Bad. I mean... good. Sorry, the G---the phone service again. bones: I get the distinct impression you wanna avoid the subject of who your other minions are. But you keep mentioning this "Grem something." What does that mean? Survurlode: Curse you, oh ye of abundant calcium. *sigh* I guess the cat's out of the bag on that too. Well, it's really pretty simple, bones. You see, Sauron had Orcs to serve him, otherwise known as Goblins. Well, I have Gremlins instead. Gremlines are like Bohrok with fangs and ears--I based them off of a stolen schematic of Fohrok from the Brotherhood of Makuta, but I made them biomechanical with the DNA of Orcs. The combination didn't exactly go so well... and they ended up very glitchy. Here's a photo of one of them: bones: Interesting. You said "glitchy"--what do you mean? Survurlode: Well, they have a habit of trying to bite everything they see, for one. Sometimes they spark and dance around like Matoran who ran into a Room Rahi and went nuts. They imitate broken records sometimes, so carrying on conversations is rather difficult. They also have intense phobias... but their brains are so mixed up they randomly mix up what they're afraid of and what they aren't. bones: Sounds... inefficient. Survurlode: But oh, they have their uses! In their rare moments of sanity, they are coding geniuses, and they designed the server lode algorithm. They can hack computers with their minds... and they even function as my island's telephone connection! bones: Wow. So... that's how Board Messages come over a phone... Any other minions? Survurlode: Well, let's see, you've met Tikatahk... so there's-- bones: Who? Survurlode: What? Oh. Whoops. Um, Tikatahk. It's the Chief Evil Clock's real name, but he hates it--that's why he didn't tell it to you in your interview with him. I have a feeling my alarm clock is going to be very cruel all of a sudden.... bones: Awesome. Go on. Survurlode: *glares* Well, there are Uruk Kal--supercharged Gremlins that are part Clock--Tikatahk invented them. You've already heard of Hapori Doom, right? bones: WAIT! Did you mean to say you were behind the server shutdowns when Hapori Dume invaded? Surverlode: Surprise! Yep--Old Happy was a rogue member of the Brotherhood of Makuta who got stuck in the form of Turaga Dume whilst competing with Makuta for appointment to the Metru Nui job. He was laughed out of the Brotherhood, so I welcomed him with open arms. He's been a loyal slave--ah... friend ever since. bones: I see. Anyone else? Survurlode: Well, there was Gollaga for a while, though he escaped centuries ago... bones: Who? Survurlode: He's an evil Rahaga. He was able to steal the One Refresh when he escaped my service, and it turned him into a wretched creature that can't stand any kind of food other than cheese puffs. bones: Cheese Puffs? Survurlode: I don't understand it also. Anyways, he still performed missions every once in a while for me when I offer him certain... rewards. bones: More Cheese Puffs? Survurlode: No, the right to stay alive. bones: ... Right. That would do it, eh? But! It seems you just made a major slip-up, Mr. Evil Dude. You just said this Gollaga has the One Refresh. Survurlode: Oh, he lost it long ago, don't worry. bones: Bah. Still, I think I'll want to try to talk to him sometime.... But why don't we turn to that subject now. The One Refresh. What exactly is it? One of the server busy messages for your phone service had some sort of poem about it... It sounded interesting. Survurlode: Well, as you probably gathered from the quotes you obtained from the old BZP interview, it was based on Sauron's One Ring. You see, Sauron was an old fogie, and back in his day, they didn't have computers. They just had phones. You called people by making a Ring. So he decided that to call everybody up all at once and thus hold them all under his spell, he would have to craft a One Telephone Ring. bones: So that how that worked. Sounds different from what I remember... but whatever dude! So you did the same with your One Refresh? Survurlode: Correct. I forged it in the protodermis depths of a deep sea trench... whose location shall remain a secret... and endowed it with the ability to protect my life force against any attack should I ever need that, just like Sauron. But I devised ways of preventing its destruction, unlike Sauron--his ring was destroyed in the very fires that made it in Mount Doom. bones: Doomah. Survurlode: Whatever. You can see an image of my One Refresh here, along with that poem you heard, which is the lyrical manifestation of the very spell that bound its power: bones: Hm... glowing blue pedestal. Will have to remember to keep my eye out for that... Survurlode: Don't hold your breath. It's hidden in the hardest place to find in all of existence. bones: In all of it? I guess you're really worried about it. I wonder if there's a Frodo/Bilbo parallel here? Do you mean by that that even you don't know where it is? That maybe it's in the hands of a tiny creature out there, maybe a Voyatoran, who's just waiting for a Toa to tell him about a quest to destroy it? Survurlode: Board Message: Secret Message #5,400,738: bonesiii likes cheese puffs. He must be as evil as Gollaga!!! Muahahahaha! bones: ..... I get the feeling there's something fishy about these messages... Survurlode: Board Message: Thank you for calling Survurlode Industries Inc. Your input is valuable to us. Please hold. Thank you for calling Survurlode Industries Inc.... bones: Um... Can you hear me now? Survurlode: Board Message: A computer virus. Five dollars ninety-nine cents. Overloaded RAM. Seventy dollars. A glitchy browser. One hundred dollars. A server bogged by cheesy server messages and bubble wrap addicts. Priceless. bones: Hello? Survurlode: Board Message: Pop Bubble Wrap! bones: No! Resist! Survurlode: Board Message: Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles! bones: Resist! Survurlode: Page Cannot Be Displayed. bones: ... Well, folks, I guess that's all for this interview. I was hoping to figure out the mystery of the Poolantir, but I guess it'll have to wait. Thanks for listening, and here's hoping the next interview provides more clues about how to defeat this wacko! Survurlode: I heard that!

The Frog in the Bog The frog in the bog dislikes smog and fears dogs near the clog in its log near the soggiest jogger who flogs lazy hogs, drinks eggnog, and plays Pog in the foggiest fog in the bog, turning cogs using togglable progs in the log'rithmic blog about Gog and Magog typed by groggy couch-hogging green frogs who read logs while they jog in the foggiest fog by the log in the bog! ... You're probably wondering if I've gone insane--no, no, just felt like putting this up since I worked kinda hard on it and I think it's fun. It's what I call "Tri-Syllabic Poetry"; you find all the possible beginning sounds/letters for a rhyming sound you know, and try to write a poem with it that has some sort of coherence (as in, some sort of rough storyline...)--and it MUST rhyme every three syllables. Not that easy really. Ya gotta make charts and stuff. Had thought of it last year but never had opportunity to waste time on it, but recently in Linguistics we studied minimal pairs, which are words that basically only have one difference (Fog/Bog)... plus we're starting the Poetry section in another class, and I'm not normall into Poetry... at all... so I needed some excercise to get into it, lol. It works really well with Bionicle; there's so many "ahk"s and things like that. I wonder if anyone can come up with one to beat this'n: Kopaka's Akaku Kopaka's Akaku shows Rahkshi who flock near a rock as they thaw cold Bohrok and this shocks poor Kopaka who locked them in blocky ice boxes; he gawks as Bohrok start to walk and then mock him with talk--they're Bohrok Kal--and knock o'er the rock like a sock then they rocket at Vakama's Croc, which unlocks any lock, like Cahdok and Gahdok's, while the Rahkshi just balk at Kopaka like jocks--at a dock o'er in Ga-Koro, Thok and Piraka Avak come in Vahki boats, Zaktan by ox-pulled cart, Hakann, Reidak, and Vezok by Brutaka's mask, mocking Kopaka with hockey sticks, chalk art, and talk--all this knocking, unlocking, and mocking's from clocks--Evil Clocks! Even harder would be making it actually fit official story, XD... In case anyone is curious (and really, really bored), here's the rules I was sticking to: 1) MUST rhyme every 3 syllables. 2) Must use as many 3rd-syllable starting sounds and/or letters as possible, including mixes (like "smog" or "frog"). 3) Must not repeat excessively. 4) Must have some sort of logical cohesion. 5) Focus on sound primarily, not letters, since that's where rhyming comes from. Kopaka's Akaku contains every single possible beginning sound in the English language, incidentally, not counting mixes, except the "zh" sound (as in "Jacque"--if yall wanna beat me figure out how a French name can go in Bionicle ). You can "cheat" to get the rhyme too--I got "yahk" by saying "by ox" which phonetically is /bajaks/ (bahyahks).

In order to keep my blog from dying a long and painful death, I'm taking an hour or so today to launch a feature that I've been meaning to post on BZP for several years but never got around to it... This is a hand-drawn comic series I began drawing for fun many years ago (before I knew of BZP, I think, though my memory is faulty). It's based around a news reporter who is, how shall I put it... less than top-notch... Originally planned to post this as a COT topic, but I figure a regular feature in my blog will be a better way to put this up since it's easier to keep track of (and can't die ). So without further ado... meet Bo Ring! Collection #1 is the first 36 cartoons (including the intro stuff). Around 108 have been scanned and maybe 30 or so more drawn--they will be posted in succeeding blog collection entries. The first few I'll d-link here; the rest will be simple links. Feel free to comment on this entry--this has been a looong time coming so I'd love to hear what you guys think! Enjoy! Bo Ring Cartoon # 7 Bo Ring Cartoon # 8 Bo Ring Cartoon # 9 Bo Ring Cartoon # 10 Bo Ring Cartoon # 11 Bo Ring Cartoon # 12 Bo Ring Cartoon # 13 Bo Ring Cartoon # 14 Bo Ring Cartoon # 15 Bo Ring Cartoon # 16 Bo Ring Cartoon # 17 Bo Ring Cartoon # 18 Bo Ring Cartoon # 19 Bo Ring Cartoon # 20 Bo Ring Cartoon # 21 Bo Ring Cartoon # 22 Bo Ring Cartoon # 23 Bo Ring Cartoon # 24 Bo Ring Cartoon # 25 Bo Ring Cartoon # 26 Bo Ring Cartoon # 27 Bo Ring Cartoon # 28 Bo Ring Cartoon # 29 Bo Ring Cartoon # 30 Bo Ring Cartoon # 31 Bo Ring Cartoon # 32 Bo Ring Cartoon # 33 Bo Ring Cartoon # 34 Bo Ring Cartoon # 35 Bo Ring Cartoon # 36 Gallery

I didn't call it anything. 'Cuz it's still classified. Leon Uris. Will have to remember to look into who that is.

Yes, yes! Believe it or not, I'm still alive! My prediction that I'd be super busy thanks to this college semester has unfortunately turned out to be very very very true--I basically have no time for BZP except a few hours sometime on the weekend, and wednesday. I've basically retired from my modding duties except if I have a spare minute or two. I'm still coordinating a project coming up for Reference which I think you guys will like--nothing too fancy since none of us really have time for much right now on the reference staff, but will come in handy. (Yes, classified. ) And yeah, still posting epic chapters, lol. That update for the RPG is taking longer than I hoped, but Ojh has almost got it ready. Hoping to get that up this weekend. In general though, I'm completely swamped with homework. On the plus side, though, at least I'm enjoying the subjects I'm studying. WWII, a subject I'd tried to get for a while but wasn't working with me schedule, continuing German, and got two lit courses that are pretty interesting. The main creme of the crop though is linguistics, a subject that's fascinated me since I was a little tot. The /fonεtIk sImbolz/ are really handy to know, and the principles behind linguistics in general are fascinating. I'm pleased to find that many of my own personal observations I made back when I was just a young teenager turned out to be accurate (), and it's really cool to be able to get some systematic study of accents and sounds that don't appear in english. (But of course linguistics is about much more than just auditory sounds!) Es ist so kuhl! And everybody should take a WWII course sometime in their life--there's just so much that's super relevant to our lives today, both in the fact that we live the way we do because of it and because of vital lessons to be learned from mistakes and good choices made in it. In those violence debates, WWII gets cited as an example a lot but apparently overlooked even then by most--it really shouldn't be. A careful understanding of that war and what was going on and why can reveal so much that is applicable not just to real life but to Bionicle and pretty much any fiction dealing with a struggle between good and evil. Plus it rocks. This course focuses on video footage from the war, which really keeps boredom out of the subject, definately a plus. And ironically taking German turns out to be pretty useful in two of the other classes--I can understand a word here and there in the German videos, understand some important linguistic facts since English and German share common roots. Huzzah for cool subjects! (But not for whoever invented homework... )

Thanks again to all you guys--about half of your suggestions are in the article today. Probably the other half gets the next one. BTW, it turns out Greg did NOT say the Lost Land isn't the 2007 location. So it still might be--not sure what the quote Vader Hater saw and I thought I saw was, but apparently that is not confirmed. So I just didn't address that issue in the article, though perhaps next time I should debunk the myth that he confirmed it, lol. Edit: Another from Darnzerf: Keetongu a DH--from the erroneous DH Guide cover. Darnz: Bionicle words can be different in different languages- They are the same in all countries.

Hmmm... it's been online for at least a few hours today... and BZP's server is still running? Could yonder Evil Spike really have been vanquished?? *crosses fingers*

Ez seems to be doing alright--I was afraid she might start giving up as dogs often do (and I've witnessed this in the past with my uncle's dog when another of his dogs died, so I know). I think we're lucky in a way that she wasn't that close to Penny, being adopted recently, and being very used to switching owners and leaving other dogs behind a lot. The one I've noticed acting differently is Hunter, actually. She comes downstairs more now, but she still looks over at Penny's spot, expecting Penny to be there. But no.

I've had the Post New Entry page up here for a few hours trying to figure out how to begin this... I guess perhaps this is the best way to do it: I don't know. When I said the Dreaded real life was attacking, I didn't realize it was attacking this strongly. One of my family's two dogs just died Monday, Penny. Golden Retriever, only 9 years old (compared to an average 12). We got Penny a few years after our last dog, Duke died (he was also a Golden, and lived to an amazing 15 years). She was an excitable puppy, and I remember she liked to try to eat a yellow ended toy golf club, and she was convinced that carpet was her territory for a long time. Once tamed, and for so many years, she was the sweetest dog you could imagine. She loved to high-five (I taught her that'n!), and get brushed. She'd sometimes run like a bullet all over the yard, chasing a ball or just for fun. She liked to chase ducks in water, and on land she liked to chase squirrels, though if she caught them she hadn't the foggiest idea what to do with them, and just let 'em wriggle loose. She enlisted dutifully in the War Against Cats, as the Sphinx Queen of the Upstairs, Hunter, will attest, but was always outsmarted, lol. Most of all she liked walks in the neighborhood or in metroparks. Lately she had to get used to Ezzy, the second dog (I think her name is technically spelled "Esne", but we just call her Ezzy, lol--she was adopted from a dog rescue service my parents are part of), and a regular part of the day is was to walk them around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, she wasn't as lucky as Duke in her old age. This wasn't a total surprise; she had had epilepsy for several years, and probably lived a lot longer than she would have if we hadn't gotten her on epilepsy pills. I still remember the day we found that out--we'd just finished watching Jurassic Park on some TV channel, and I looked over at Penny, and her eyes had turned red. I tell ya, not fun, especially since nobody had any idea what that meant (it was a seizure). The pills stopped that, thankfully. (Why is it that that feels like just yesterday?) Lately, she started to drag slightly behind on walks, which we of course just assumed was arthritis, since she was old... But it got worse, and she seemed to have trouble breathing... and one night she was coughing up blood. It turns out she was anemic, and nobody could figure out why. That was back in early August, and she just got worse from there. All along she was as sweet as always--the emergency vet remarked that there are three kinds of pets--dogs, cats, and Golden Retrievers. Goldens like Penny are just so friendly. We put her on medicine that seemed to help for a while, but she wasn't showing the right side effects of wanting to eat a lot that the medicine was supposed to make (instead, it was hard to get her to eat). She got weaker and weaker, until we discovered that her muscles were shrinking. Near the end, she couldn't even stand up on her own, her neck felt thinner than my wrist, and her leg muscles were practically not there. It was like my member name "bones" had become real for Penny. I got to say goodbye on Monday morning before heading into classes--we expected what might be coming, and my parents took her to the vet while I was in class. All day I knew that she might be put down, and I tell ya, that was for me the worst part, being in class while it ended. It was the second week of classes, and missing now would be unwise, but I feel like I should have been there. I was there when Duke died, and I'd always thought I'd be there for Penny. She had to be put down--the vet found a tumor that was literally sucking her blood away from the rest of her body. They couldn't even get blood into the legs to take a blood test. And then she was gone. I still can't believe it, I don't think it's sunk in. On the one hand it wasn't a surprise, but on the other, she was way too young for her breed to die already. And it all happened so fast. One week everything was normal, the next we were already used to her having to struggle to stand up. Now it just feels like she has slipped into a different room and she'll walk back in any second. I'm just glad I did get to say goodbye, and she was still responsive at the time. Well. I hope this does her justice in some small way--we'll miss you Penny!

I think we've got a version 2.1 just about ready, though I dont' remember if Ojh got that game done or not come to think of it... Hopefully that will be in a few days. I made the Matoran sprites, yes. Not sure if the body is original--might be based on the size and shape of one someone else did. Not sure though--not based enough to really be from it though. Pretty much Ojh and I looked for good Matoran sprites, didn't like any we found, so I drew the most set-style ones possible (Mctoran that is). Ojh has been fixing up many of the previous level Wahi/hut interior graphics for this update. I believe all the Wahi are pretty much done, although I still have to have a look at how he did Po-Wahi to see if I agree with it. Lol, that one was Ojhilom's idea, I think, the bottle of air. Tiribomba of course had to be in there, yes, that was me. XD. And many thanks, bngi, for that walkthrough! (Which is added to the second post of the topic in case anybody wonders where.)

Well, this semester of college has started up, and now that the first week is over and I have the syllabi and such, I can officially say that I am going to be absolutely swamped. Just a heads up guys that I might not be anywhere near as active as y'all are used to--it would be appreciated if people keep that in mind when considering PMing me about things not vitally important or whatnot. At this point I'm just hoping I won't have to resign from any of my BZP duties, though I'm almost sure something's gonna have to change. The RPG is a huge priority for me right now--it's not as important as other things on BZP but that is the reason it got postponed in the first place. I can't postpone anymore, so that is what most of my free time will have to be devoted to right now. So I'm pretty sure you won't see me writing very many of these longs posts and such or even modding much. I predict yall will sneak several complaint topics past me. *tricksy little hobbitses* At the very least, expect to see me take breaks from BZP this fall. *glares at Dreaded Real Life*