Journal Entries
Years of frustration at an end!
Posted Mar 14, 2004
I just figured out why I could never get Inform source codes to compile correctly! I always got library files from the same place, and they were corrupted everytime! Ha ha ha. 
Now then, I'm going to go wreak massive violence, mischief and mayhem on the owners of a certain website. Later!
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Latest reply: Mar 14, 2004
Countdown To Spring Break
Posted Feb 27, 2004
This week has lasted so very, very, very long. But now it's Friday.
I had a CORE class at the beginning of the morning. That's done with. Now, thanks to a cancelled Theater class, I have an hour-long break with which to study for my Computer Science class' test.
After my computer science test, I'll have an hour break with which to finish my Spanish homework from last night, and to polish the Spanish presentation that I'm slated to give today.
After Spanish, I've got an hour break with which to practice my saxophone to make it presentable for my sax lesson.
After the sax lesson, I don't have any more classes technically, but I will have a final CS program to finish coding before midnight tonight, at which point the grade will be considered "dead."
So I'm in the clear. Just gotta make it through today.
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Latest reply: Feb 27, 2004
Comic Readers Are Held To Unfair Standards
Posted Feb 17, 2004
I am, and have always been, a fan of comic books.
If you must know the details, I prefer the Universe of DC to Marvel. DC always seemed to have the more human aspects to their stories (with the exception of Spider-Man and a few of the X-Men comics), especially when you look at some of the works of Marv Wolfman in the eighties (he's one of the people who created the "modern" Teen Titans franchise by throwing together new characters like Cyborg, Changeling and Raven, while also giving more personalities to older characters like Dick Grayson and Changeling. In fact, he's one of the reasons why the original Robin/Dick Grayson rebelled against Batman, struck out on his own and became Nightwing. But I digress.)
I've also enjoyed the Archie Comics group. I never really got into the Archie comics as a whole (I'm okay with the gang at Riverdale High, but I really have to be in just the right mood to find them enjoyable), but if you look at what Archie comics did with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and later with the Sonic The Hedgehog character (the Archie Sonic is one of the most popular versions of Sonic in the world, at the moment), you've gotta love their stories. And who besides Archie comics could come up with cross-overs like "Archie Meets The Punisher: The Team Up You Never Wanted To See!"?
But anyway, comic books are, by their nature, silly. You can get a lot of deep, serious storylines in comic books, often dealing with important social issues. But that doesn't change the fact that they're short, relatively cheap pieces of escapist fantasy that are primarily read by kids.
Now, I'm no Comic Book Guy (a character from The Simpsons), but it's tough to not get treated like that sometimes. I think I buy maybe one comic book a month, not counting the one or two subscriptions that I set up for some of the harder to find comics. But if I happen to walk up to the checkout aisle of whatever store I purchase the comic in, very seldom is the comic book not treated by the cashier as something unusual.
That in itself is okay, especially if you know the cashiers (not hard in smaller communities like mine). But the worst of the difficulties can come from Sarcastic Fromer Comic Fans.
The other day, for instance, my dad picked up the most recent issue of Teen Titans, which I had accidentally left on a table. He read it, and had basically the same initial reaction that I had: "So....I remember when comic book had....stuff happen in it." I agreed with him on that point, naturally. The issue was just brief soliloquioys (too tired to spell it right) with each of the major characters while they were at "real life" (Tim Drake/Robin trying to see his future career, Conner Kent/Super Boy having uncomfortable conversations with Clark Kent/Super Man, Koriand'r/Star Fire contemplating patience and her garden, etc.) No action, no plot development, just teenagers/young adults being moody. Kid Flash was dealing with some villain, but he had more than enough time to think about his feelings during it.
So yeah, not the best issue. My dad didn't let it rest as easily, though. As he had no other previous exposure to these comics, much of his later references to pop culture for the day included references to "super kids who don't do much." (Note: don't get me wrong, he didn't go on and on about it. He probably just found it amusing, like I find various shows amusing that I haven't looked at before. In fact, he commented "this is more like it" when he looked over an issue where some actual super heroics were displayed).
But what's the best defense? There are people who lived through the "golden age" of comic books where Super Man could just pick up an airline carrier without any effort who see a need for more action faster (I blame publications like "Amazing Stories" and "The Brave And The Bold", personally), and people from the "Modern Age" of culture who want more personality to characters and don't want as much of the action as before.
"Teen Titans" might make a decent showing for pleasing both parties, as would a lot of the modern "Spider-Man" comics, just to name a few examples. But few parties want to take the time to look, I've noticed.
Meh. That's a good amount of rambling. Maybe someone's responded to one of my forums by now, so I can stop wasting time here.
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Latest reply: Feb 17, 2004
40 mph on the Highway....man, we're zippin'....
Posted Jan 27, 2004
Gotta love heavy snow and thick slush. Took me an extra half hour to reach the campus today. Fortunately, I had actually done my homework on the previous evening and didn't need to rush anything to get through! I was happy to dangerously swerve at the lightning speeds that lie between 30 and 40 miles per hour.
Now then. It seems the library has a book that I would otherwise have to shell out 10 bucks for at the book center. I think that I'll take the free option.
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Latest reply: Jan 27, 2004
LOOK, JUST KISS!
Posted Jan 18, 2004
I don't care who initiates it. Persephone, Red,....just someone kiss and move to the next scene! PLEASE!
Goodness, the Matrix is too long of a movie for this.
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Latest reply: Jan 18, 2004
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