Lazzy the Spazzy

To celebrate the birthday of Emperor Whenua, a very special friend (if at times eccentric), I have gone through 47 chat logs (and nine chatroom logs) accumulated through half a year of Meebo-usage, to find our most memorable chat moments and share them with you all. Here goes... My remarkable punctuality: Our relationship in a nutshell. EW actually inspired me to make one of the posts I remain most proud of in my four years here. I guess you're just an inspiring kind of guy, EW. We share the same opinions on a lot of things...interests, too. A shame I can't be there with you on the Jamboree right now, but we'll definitely do a camping trip someday. You've helped me out of potential mistakes that would've gotten me in trouble. That's what I love about you, EW...you're a depemdable guy. Another reason why I consider EW to be one of my best friends here -- he reminds me of what's important. Also, when I get out of line you bring me back to reality. Most of all, though, I'll cherish the silly moments we've shared. But what I value most of all in you is the way you understand me so perfectly. Here's to another three years (hopefully more) of friendship! Congratulations on making it to adulthood, Emperor Whenua!

Heh, guess I wasn't the only one affected by the ninth-anniversary-nostalgia. Yeah, I don't know...actually seeing what used to be, that's really, how do you put it. Kind of makes me sad, really. We've been here so long, and so much has changed.

Never thought I'd see the day. CNN just did an article on their website about Comic-Con. That's right, Comic-Con made it into a mainstream media news site. I've never actually been to a Comic-Con myself, but I've heard enough over the years to know that it used to be exclusive to us geeks. According to the article, over the past few years more and more mainstream stuff has been making it into Comic-Con; last year, people reportedly were not able to get into the panels they wanted because the Twilight panel was flooded with kids and their moms. At the very least I think it's clear that without such mainstream panels as Twilight in the Comic-Con, geeks like us would have more space to just browse the panels we like. Now, apparently, it's becoming less of a geek-exclusive even and more of a commercialized one. Like I said, I've never actually been to one myself, so I have no idea if these changes are factual. Today being the first day of this year's Comic-Con IIRC, I was hoping to get other opinions from whoever is at the Comic-Con or has been to one. Has Comic-Con really changed these past few years? If so, by how much, and are the changes a good or bad thing? Should Comic-Con change even more, in organization or otherwise, to accommodate these chances?

You could, you know, do that commission thingie. =P I don't mind paying for it, even. But yeah, proportions schmroportions (is that how the saying goes?). I think it's fine...well, I might not be the best judge, I only really pay attention to the faces, and the faces are perfect.

So, after sending someone a PM, the content of that message prompted me to try to figure out how to get to a list of my previous topics... It took a while, but first I stumbled onto the subscriptions page, containing the only topic I ever actually subscribed to -- the Covenant of the 13. It's an epic by Wolf Eyes (sadly no longer active), and it's a great read. I'm still rereading it, so I have no idea if she ever actually finished, but anyway. So, I finally wound up in my topics list. It actually took up two pages. It had every topic I've ever started, every story I've ever written, every RPG I've ever run. Wow. Can someone say nostalgia? (rhetorical question, don't actually say it) But man, I just started scrolling through those topics...one thing led to another and I was skimming through old epics I'd read, such as Nid's Arachniphobia (about Nidhiki's missing years). It really reminded me of how much I had experienced at BZPower...fitting for the reminder to come at a time when we're all celebrating this site's ninth birthday. But wow, four years passed by really quickly. I still remember the exact thoughts in my head as I typed up some of those stories...I even recognized a quote I pulled from real life, a few days before I actually wrote the story I put the quote in. But enough of that. I hope you didn't mind suffering through an old member's boring reminiscence... I guess what I really got out of this was that I realized how little I wrote as time went on. There was actually this one instance back in 2006, where I wrote two stories in the span of 15 minutes. Where did that prolificness (I know that's not the right noun, but bear with me) go? How did I go from that to one story a year? I should start writing more. Maybe keep better track of my time, make better use of it. We human beings can get a lot done if we use time management properly. Well, that's it. Just thought I'd share my thoughts with you all, if anyone's listening reading out there.

Toy Story 3 was def a great movie...I don't know, it was the first time I was actually afraid that » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «they were going to die at the end... usually I'm like "main character invincibility" but dang do the creative team know how to grab your mind...or something like that. I'm not too sure how the saying goes.

I just find other ways to waste my time. I have this strange compulsion to fill my daily procrastination quota. I don't know, that's probably not a good thing...

I personally don't think 'Zaria' sounds feminine but I can see why you think it would be (the 'ia' ending). Matter of opinion, I guess. Orde's referred to as a male a bit too much for it to just be a typo... The interactions within the team seem a bit forced, but maybe that's because there hasn't been enough story for it to feel natural yet. In light of that I think Greg made the right choice to only have four main characters from the start; I'd rather have stronger characters than more.

^Similarly Raleigh scattering is also why the sky turns red-orange-ish when the sun rises/sets, but it's too complicated for me to understand beyond that. The oceans aren't blue. Well, clean oceans would be but I don't know if any exist.

So, let's see...I have prior BZPRPG commitments already, plus I just got in over my head joined the To Save the World RPG...and now I'm joining two more RPGs from season (maybe a third). Outside of that, I have a group epic that doesn't have a direction yet, and then I'm planning to join at least two BZP contests. Finally, there's the SSCC2 topic to clean up. Hmmm...sure, why not? I can do this.

Maybe next century...USA victory was a long shot this time around.

Whoever did Iroh's voice nailed it. Awesome VA skills.

Second day of the tour of Shanghai. So far, three things resound with me the most: 1) Bus drivers here are even better than the ones in America. Didn't think I'd ever say this. 2) Farmers don't have to pay tax. 3) Shanghai has three times the population of LA. Congestion is like...whatever it's like, it'll be an understatement. You have to come and see for yourself. I spent more time staring at the back of people's heads and getting pushed around than sightseeing.

It's been almost a week and I'm still reeling...I can't believe it's been almost ten years! Wow. Edward! Al! <3 Greed! So many heartwarming moments...and that last double spread...Hohenheim! Mustang + Riza! Finally! =]

The final chapter is OUT!! I'm just about to start reading it...here goes! Woohoohoo!

1. Yes 2. Yes, if it's possible to do both 3. Bionicle 4. Yes

=[ I was just about to recommend that to you as a proud Firefox user...but yeah Firefox is amazing.

The paradox of technology in fantasy was a huge part of what first drew me in, and I share ToM's nostalgia for the early years (who doesn't?). But another thing that pulled me in was the novelty - the way the idea seemed so new, the world seemed so new; how new developments just kept popping out, always changing the Bionicleverse. I think there's value in that as well, the way bits and pieces of the Bionicleverse fall together as we get introduced to its nature little by little. In retrospect, looking back at Bionicle as a whole, it's easy to see it as Bionicle losing its romance, its flair, its fantastical nature. But back when we were being introduced to Metru Nui, to Voya Nui, to Mahri Nui, back when things were still changing, even if the universe was slowly losing its mystery as a result, there was still a sense of novelty about that, and I think that's also part of what made Bionicle so successful.

Just read DC Comic's Justice League of America: Salvation Run, and I think it's one of DC's best, or at the very least a must-read. The basic premise of this is that, seeing as how more and more supervillains are overrunning the world, the government decides to set up a sort of Prison Planet - another world deep in space and far away from Earth. Captured supervillains are deported to this Prison Planet via Boom Tube (teleportation machines), and left alone to "start a new life" apart from civilization as we know it. So, a bunch of murderers, psychopaths, egomaniacs, lowlifes, together on a wild and dangerous planet. You can imagine what this band of backstabbing villains will do to each other...the thing is, the creative team doesn't leave much to your imagination. I was surprised at the sheer darkness and savage morbidity of this story (faint of heart be warned), but that's part of what distinguishes Salvation Run from the rest. It's becoming more and more cliche to make villains more sympathetic to the audience, but writers Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges play these villains straight. These are evil people, through and through, and the creative team doesn't make any attempt to euphemize their nature. In short, this is basically a version of Lord of the Flies...except these guys' fall from humanity has already occurred and there are no Piggys to prevent them from degenerating further. A frightening but believable tribute to the villains of the DC universe, Salvation Run is definitely something that even non-DC fans should give a read.