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Wrinkledlion X

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Blog Entries posted by Wrinkledlion X

  1. Wrinkledlion X

    Computer Magic

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    So yesterday I got an awesome high resolution Samsung monitor for my computer, and it's really cool. If you want an idea of the scale of this thing, look at my new (awesome) desktop. It's shaped for movie-viewing, too, and I've already watched Howl's Moving Castle on it in full-screen with no black bars or anything. (Hence the desktop.)
     
    And because of this, I've been reorganizing my desk, and I found this old photo of my dad under it. Magnificent!
  2. Wrinkledlion X

    Schoogle

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    So, sorry I haven't updated much lately, but I've been busy.
     
    I started school on Thursday, and it's gone well so far. I have better people in my classes this year, unlike last year when, by pure chance, I got absolute strangers in most of my classes. My teachers are pretty cool, too:
     
    Physics Honors - A really cool, funny guy who basically spends the whole period entertaining the students. Also, he likes a certain stick figure-based webcomic that has a jumble of four letters for its title and I'm sure that if you've ever read it you know what I'm talking about and if not just ignore this sentence. Point is, he's cool.
    AP European History - Another cool guy. He's also funny on occasion, but not as constantly as my Physics teacher. He makes up for it by telling really good stories for practically the whole period, though. Technically they're "lectures," but he teaches through narratives, so it's really fun and entertaining.
    Algebra 2 Honors - I haven't really spoken with her. On the first day she was pretty much silent and just had us do a bunch of math review problems. My sister tells me, however, that when she was in her class, she was a bit of a psychopath and had a feud with a neighboring math teacher that escalated into a screaming match and broken windows. After a while the two of them were moved to classrooms on the opposite side of the school. (...So this will either be a terrible class or a really entertaining one. Let's wait and see.)
    Animation 2 - I already know this teacher. He's cool.
    Spanish 2 - Seems like a good teacher. Pretty straightforward and no-nonsense. Her class is always totally silent, though. Completely.
    English 2 Honors - This is the only one I've taken a disliking to already. She's always, constantly smiling in a way that strikes me as really fake, and she's already assigned us a ton of work. On Friday I had to take a 100-question test on our Summer reading books, and now I have an in-class essay to do tomorrow. LAME.
     
    In other news, I've switched over to Google Chrome.
    At first I didn't see much different from Firefox besides a slightly cooler aesthetic, but now I'm discovering all the cool features it has. For example, hitting Shift+Esc brings up a special task manager that allows you to see how much individual websites you have open are taxing your CPU. And, of course, being Google-made, you can use Google search directly from the URL bar. Plus there are lots of skins that have cool designs and stuff besides just boring color changes. I'm using default right now, but they're still neat to have as options.
  9. Wrinkledlion X
    Wow, Amazon is fast. I already have that stuff I ordered.
     

    » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «So yeah, Raid on Vulcanus was incredible. It's been a long time since I've felt this way about a BIONICLE book. 
    I won't give too much away, but I'll say that in some ways it reminds of 2001 through 2003 in its structure, but it really has a very different feel to it. One of the first things that struck me while reading it is that Vulcanus is a very different kind of village than Ta-Koro. Unlike the laid-back and serene villages of Mata Nui, where all the little Matoran gather 'round the campfire to be told stories by the wise old Turaga, the villages of Bara Magna have all the hustle and bustle of actual towns. In fact, the Glatorian stay at an inn, and there's mention of Strakk getting into a fight with Vulcanus' "main chef." Raanu also came off more as a mayor than as a mystical shaman like Vakama.
     
    In other ways, though, Raid on Vulcanus is far more like the old days than anything we've seen in recent years. I'm very happy to see that there's an actual feeling of real community and culture that hasn't been present for a long time. When the characters travel around you meet up with an extended cast of villagers who serve as familiar faces, sort of rooting the location down. It's like back on Mata Nui when you'd run into Jala, Kapura, Vakama, and even those little guard-guys whenever you went to Ta-Koro. They were kind of just the "townspeople."
     
    Also, though this isn't inherent in the book itself, the role of the book in this year's story is far more... 'episodic' than anything from 2006-2008. The last several years have been completely single-minded. The goal was generally just "get the Ignika, destroy the evil team." (This was lessened a bit last year, but it was still very much there.) Whereas in 2001-2003, though the overall goal to awaken Mata Nui was there, there were many separate adventures along the way that were only loosely connected together. Because Raid on Vulcanus shares this quality, I have a feeling this book will be a lot easier for a casual fan to pick up without being confused or overwhelmed.
     
    And that brings me to the meat of the book. The villains of this book are not the Skrall, despite what everything else this year would seem to indicate. Though they play a role in it, it's largely behind-the-scenes stuff. The Bone Hunters are the real villains here, and they do a very good job of it. I wasn't very interested in them before I read this book, but now I've been inspired to draw a picture of them or something because I now know that they have an actual culture and aren't just a generic bunch of baddies. The book makes mention of veteran Bone Hunters, young ones who are still learning, and also the fact that they have their own language, which really surprised me.
     
    In fact, just about all the characters come off as far more interesting than I expected, including Ackar, Malum (and his Vorox tribe), Metus (Greedy McGreedster), Strakk, Raanu (who turns out to be a tiny bit cowardly) and even Gelu (who turns out to be a main character, much to my surprise).
     
    And before I finish, here are a few of my favorite minor points in the book:
    Ackar apparently has traumatic memories of a Core War battle fought in the Iron Canyon, where "two armies crept through passages too narrow for more than one warrior to pass through at a time. If the leader of the column got killed, he would block the path, leaving all those behind him exposed to the spears and arrows of the enemy in pursuit." Vorox are apparently like magpies. When Gelu and Gresh toss shiny armor into their midst, they squabble over them because they want the 'treasures.' It's... Kinda cute. When Gelu encounters Malum and sees how crazy he is, he mentions that he's not a coward, but "this place reminded him a little too much of the Agori 'settlements,' the places for those who had spent too much time in the sun and sand and lost their minds." I don't know if that'll ever become a plot point, but it's certainly interesting. So go out and buy it, it's amazing.

  10. Wrinkledlion X
    I will now begin to unload all the stuff I did over the past month on you.
     

    A sad, fat child. (I gave him an AC/DC shirt because I figured that was the most incongruous thing he could be wearing.)
     

    A gangly, awkward man who I can only assume has a stamp collection.
     

    EAT CORN.
     

    Another Hunkerdown (see here), this time from the side.
     

    A sea-dwelling Hunkerdown. The name "Hunkerdown" doesn't seem relevant for an ocean creature, however, and the name "Sea-Hunkerdown" sounds rather clunky, so I'm calling it a "Sea-Dagra." I imagine that it's dumber and more vicious than its cousins on land, and will sometimes attack ships for no good reason.
     

    The HMS Stuntbundler, a semi-steampunk ship with a disgusting name.
     

    Helioteuthis, Squid of the Future! (Created for a contest on another forum.)
     

    A sand-walrus. It would be largely sedentary, only uprooting itself once or twice a month to create a new burrow. It spends its days covered in sand, waiting for prey to come within lunging distance. Maybe it lives in the same desert as the Hunkerdown, I dunno.
    Oh, and it has a beard.
     

    Fudley Bankworth, the corrupt mayor of Stickington. He's so rich that he secretes money as he walks.
     
    And finally:
     
    "Out of Order."
    Made for the UCLA Animation Workshop. Includes a bouncing ball, a walk-cycle, and some sort of Russian villain trying to get a soda.
  11. Wrinkledlion X

    So...

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    I've placed an order on Amazon for Mata Nui (canister version), Desert of Danger, and Raid on Vulcanus.
    Later this year I'm planning on Skopio, Stronius, (maybe) Ackar, and (maybe) Kiina. Any sets you recommend?
  14. Wrinkledlion X

    Dictators

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    Comrade Anonymous' blog has introduced me to a fun new game.
    Click "Random article" on Wikipedia and click around until you reach a 20th century dictator.
     
    Here are some:

    Random: Nizymenia (A type of algae)
    to
    Biological classification
    to
    Charles Darwin (Subsection "Social Darwinism")
    to
    Capitalism
    to
    Mao Zedong
     
    Random: Wildlife Express Train (A ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom)
    to
    East Africa
    to
    Idi Amin
     
     
    Random: "You"
    to
    Germanic Languages
    to
    Germany
    to
    Adolf Hitler
  15. Wrinkledlion X

    Huh

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «If the Element Lord of Water ruled the "Great Sea" on Spherus Magna, I wonder if he/she might be on the Endless Ocean Planet.
  16. Wrinkledlion X

    Heeeey

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    Yeah I've been busy.
    Have some drawings as an apology for infrequent updates.
     

     
    Dr. Chilblain is a hypnotherapist and a listener of Ben Aldrecht. He believes in the mystical healing abilities of various Native American religions, and believes himself to be descended from their adherents (he isn't, but he has a long ponytail anyhow).
    The office building in which he works as a hypnotherapist had no empty rooms, so he was given permission to operate out of the broom closet free of charge so long as he worked as the night janitor as well.
    He is a man of many watches.
     
     

     
    A doodle of a drunken man.
     
     

     
    Dank Bliggins is a crooked cop and a secret agent who likes to stick it to the man. He's essentially a 70's action hero who tends to get into car chases set to bongo music.
     
     

     
    SANTA GREASE IS A GREASY SANTA WHO's TOTALLY METAL. This is a graphic for TRENCHMOUTH.
     
     

     
    RUST-BITER BITES RUST. (Also for TRENCHMOUTH.)
  18. Wrinkledlion X

    Saw Up

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    Wow, that was easily better than Wall-E, in my opinion. Absolutely fantastic. It's rare for a movie to have so much humor, excitement, and pathos so densely put together. One second you're tearing up and the next you're laughing out loud. Great color and animation, too- I loved the character design, and I loved the attention to detail. Carl Fredrickson's stubble actually grew over the course of the movie.
     
    Man. Awesome.
     
    Oh, and this has the best Pixar villain ever. At first he was one of those villains where you just enjoy how evil he is, but then he crossed a line and became actually hateable.
     
    Go see it.
  19. Wrinkledlion X

    Surel Input

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    I've been getting a lot of comments in my Surel art topic saying that my Surel looks too much like General Grievous. The head design is actually Metus' helmet flipped over, but I filled in a generic round shape where Metus has his mouth showing. I think the roundness lent to the Grievous-esque skull shape that everyone was recognizing, so I've been experimenting with a more angular version.
     
    What do you think? As good, better, worse? More or less like General Grievous?
  24. Wrinkledlion X

    New Game

    By Wrinkledlion X,

    Remember that game where I gave you the definition of a word (La-la-land) and you had to guess what it was?
    Guess what.
     
    It's back with a vengeance.
     
    Don't use Google or anything.
    Here's the definition:

    (I swear, that's actually a definition.)
     
    Get thinking, now.
  25. Wrinkledlion X
    Wow that was awesome. Go see it.
     
    And when watching, take note of a weird trend in the trailers beforehand. Two separate previews use the tagline "Make contact on [Release Date]," and two more use "Also Sprach Zarathustra" as their theme. Very strange.
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