What a Crazy, Crazy Bunch

   Yes, that title is itself a crossover, of John Munch (the king of crossovers) and Robert Munsch (the king of... Murmel murmel murmel.) How... meta, I guess.

   Today marks the 20th anniversary of the television debut of John Munch, the cynical Baltimore Police Department detective from Homicide: Life on the Streets who who would on to detective for the New York Police Department in Law & Order: SVU. Yep, it's been twenty years to the day since the premier of Homicide: Life on the Streets, which debuted immediately following Superbowl XXVII (the one with the halftime show by Michael Jackson, which singlehandedly set the new standard in halftime shows after it became one of the most watched events in television history. (Maybe the character would not have become as popular as he did if not for that. In fact, NBC was cashing in on that, so that as impressive as the ratings were, they were still seen as a disappointment after the media blitz to cash in on Berry Levinson, and I guess all this research is kind of derailing me from my original point. (See, what did I tell you? Never do research. (Alright, do research, but do it beforehand, so that it doesn't derail you with so much information to pack in. (But anyway.)))))

   Munch, as portrayed by Richard Beltzer, went on to connect the universes of Law & Order, The Wire, The X-Files, and some less serious stuff, like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Arrested Development, and 30 Rock. No, I'm not sure how that works either. It's clearly just Richard Beltzer as himself in those ones, only, Richard Beltzer as himself as John Munch. That's not confusing. Anyway, happy birthday, John Munch!

Correspondence 4/5/09 9:54 - 20:41

   Super powers! Pretty fun stuff. Cailin references an idea for a superpower that will be of nominal importance later, so pay attention.

Brand New SuperPowers

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 5, 2009 9:54 am

You know what would be an awesome superpower? The ability to detect change.

Re: Brand New SuperPowers

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 5, 2009 4:34 pm

I always figured super deduction, and the ability to subconsciously plot perfect escape routes would be cooler.

Re: Brand New SuperPowers

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 5, 2009 4:46 pm

No, I mean, changes. Not money. But, it's like psychic-ness, although not as specific.

Re: Brand New SuperPowers

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 5, 2009 4:58 pm

That is pretty vague.

Re: Brand New SuperPowers

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 5, 2009 4:59 pm

Yes, but stinking awesome.

Also, the ability to control the environment around you by drawing a picture of it and then changing the picture.

Re: Brand New SuperPowers

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 5, 2009 5:36 pm

That would be cool too.

Re: Brand New SuperPowers

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 5, 2009 5:38 pm

And then he would get a camera installed in his head, and Adobe Photoshop technology, and he could edit his surroundings using the computer in his mind.

Re: Brand New SuperPowers

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 5, 2009 8:41 pm

ASTOUNDING.

Axe Cop

   When is that coming out? All I know of the time I'm writing this is that it's a thing, and there was this:

   But the new Axe Cop animated television show on FOX should (hopefully) make up for their cancellation of the animated Napoleon Dynamite show.

Correspondence 4/4/09 9:40 - 10:06

   Final proof that no, Peek at 'Chu was my idea, not Cailin's. I'm not sure what her original idea for what the song was going to be was, but there it is- "totally unrelated to these pocket critters." It does seem like something she'd come up with, but it also seems like something I'd come up with. I guess that's why it's cowritten.

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 9:40 am

SO, is Peek at chu about a guy who accidentally kills his girlfriend by hiding the evidence in his Pokémon memorabilia?

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 9:41 am

I LOVE THAT IDEA SO MUCH

all I had in mind was something, well, totally unrelated to these pocket critters

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 9:43 am

And the vocals shall be accompanied by a ukulele.

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 9:45 am

yes yes yes yes

I killed her dead,

Her blood lined the halls,

So I hid her head,

Amongst my pokeballs.

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 9:49 am

Oh, Peek at chu, Peek at chu,

If there's one thing that a man is expected to do,

Peek at chu, Peek at chu,

is return to the scene of the crime, for to

Peek at chu, Pikachu,

return to the scene of the crime.

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 9:51 am

Either we are both geniuses or just totally insane.(is that the chorus you're writing?)

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 9:51 am

I guess????

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 9:53 am

I like it. How does he accidentally kill her though?

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 9:55 am

...?

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 9:57 am

.....!

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 9:58 am

Rat poisoning.

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 10:00 am

Nice. We can work Ratata in then.

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 10:01 am

All right!

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 10:04 am

I was also trying to rhyme Squirtle with blood curdle, and waging war with Bulbasaur

Re: cannibalism

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 4, 2009 10:05 am

You do that.

Re: cannibalism

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 4, 2009 10:06 am

Oh I will.

Other//half

   I've told you a lot about what I'm doing with Other//half, but I haven't even told you what Other//half is. Well, uh... It's gonna blow your mind. That's all I've got to say for now.

   Okay, maybe I could stand to clarify a bit of what I've already told you. I've thought a lot of it out already, so there is a lot that could be told, but there's still more to think about so a lot that can't be told because, although it's been developed, it's got a lot of room for more development. But I suppose I can lay out the world.

   Picture this: science has proven the concept of a soul of sorts. Quantum energy bundles linked to consciousness. I've told you this much already, so, at least you're this far. Okay, now, the "soul" can leave its host body, providing it instantly be transferred into the body of another host. Imagine the ramifications of that. Body swapping, gender swapping, species swapping. Got it? Race and sex and even species don't mean much as identifiers anymore. We've got a rich wide world here, complex and unimaginable. Alright?

   Other//half proper takes place after that, where further soul-swapping technology is pioneered. Souls can now be remixed, split and combined, following the same rules previously: no two whole souls occupying the same body at the same time, no souls existing as only half. There would be two people, both sharing an identical soul combined of half and half each of both of their previous souls. Now imagine the ramifications of that. The religious and theological implications of this are explored-- are any previous sins committed by only one of the /halves now staining both souls? It may not have been you, but you are both identities now, or neither: an amalgamation. But that was in your past, in the other//half of your existence.

   There's the title. Other//half as a name is very symbolic, of many things. The other person you were, the other person you are. The other people you both were and are.

   Yeah, it gets complicated. I'll deal with it.

Correspondence 4/2/09 17:21 - 18:13

   THIS POST IS ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE COMRADE HELICOPTER LOGO,OUR MANTLE, OUR SYMBOL OF EXCELLENCE, OUR MESSAGE OF AWESOME.

Comrade Helicopter Logo

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 2, 2009 5:21 pm

So.

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 2, 2009 5:23 pm

...YES?

(I AM TOO LAZY TO DISENGAGE MY CAPSLOCK AND REWRITE THIS)

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 2, 2009 5:43 pm

IT NEEDS TO BE THERE FOR THE CH WIKI LOGO

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 2, 2009 5:47 pm

THAT IS TRUE...

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 2, 2009 5:52 pm

...?

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 2, 2009 5:55 pm

THE LOGO

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 2, 2009 5:57 pm

YES GO ON STOP

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 2, 2009 6:00 pm

WELL IT NEEDS TO BE RE WORKED...IT SHALL BE OUR MANTLE, OUR SYMBOL OF EXCELLENCE, OUR MESSAGE OF AWESOME, THIS SYMBOL SHALL ROCK THE COSMOS AS SHALL OUR THEORETICAL JAMS

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 2, 2009 6:02 pm

SO YOU SHALL DO IT THEN STOP?

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 2, 2009 6:03 pm

I WILL....

MAYBE LATER THOUGH

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 2, 2009 6:06 pm

Would you +LIKE A REFERENCE?

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 2, 2009 6:07 pm

WOULD I EVER

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From POMegranate to Persomem   Apr 2, 2009 6:11 pm

Ssssssssssssssoo SyhaLLm Uit BCE DONE!

(SORRY JUsT haaving trubble WITH P

RKkeSS%ING SHIF/t AAAAAND TYPING AAAAAAAAT SAME TIME WITBH ONte HAAAAAND)

Re: Comrade Helicopter Logo

From Persomem to POMegranate   Apr 2, 2009 6:13 pm

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT IS THIS

The Sine Wave Revisited

   Maybe the sine wave isn't entirely broken. A lot of indie bands have been becoming popular. Maybe this is the new direction in pop music.

   There's been an onslaught of more foreign music too, lately. There's always been that to an extent, from "Sukiyaki" to "99 Luftballons" to, uh, "Feliz Navidad?" This music, whose genre name I could only find, something like "ferriner music," by Old Racist Tom. Well, I guess he'd know. Old Racist Tom knows all about races, because he's a scientist who studies them for a living (that is what that means, right?) 

   Gagnam Style, already an explosive hit stateside, could be the first snowball taht's going to start an avalanche here.

   Either one of these would work. I certainly don't like the other option.

The Sine Wave of Pop Rock

   The '50s had good pop, but their rock was lacking, (makes sense seeing how it was just being invented.) In the '60s rock came into its own, and the pop scene declined. The '70s had good pop, terrible rock. The '80s had good rock, but awful pop. The '90s had good pop but crappy rock. The '00s had good rock, bad pop. See how this cycle works, decade by decade? Now it looks like it should be a decade of good pop music again, but... where is it? Where's the good pop music? It's as if pop music nowadays is designed to be bad. I'm not speaking through a filter of nostalgia or anything- it is literally that, as though the pop music is deliberately calibrated to be unpleasant.

(Video unrelated.) (No, seriously. I like Rebecca Black. But it serves as a good illustration to what I mean, N'est-Çe-Pas?)

   Deliberately writing songs in sharp, minor, and sharp minor keys, incessant electropop looping, vocals that are usually either grating (Lady Gaga, here's looking at you) or soulless (Lady Gaga, here's looking at you.) Take this music video, "Love You Like a Love Song" by Salena Gomez and the Scene (not to pick on anyone in particular, I just chose this particular video because Pink sucks (yes, Pink, and not Salena Gomez, it's not like I had a Pink video here before swapping it out or anything (not even I would subject you to that)-- there were originally pink ponies in this music video, which is apparently cruel to animals or something? and something something PETA something something P!nk. Well, screw you, Pink, that paint was non-toxic (And you can quote me on that. Put it up on a t-shirt, that'd be nice.)))

   Regardless of how you feel about the song itself (not that bad, I don't think) you can't deny that something went wrong in how they handled it. The... unpleasantness, there. Mixed in. It's characteristic of the entire modern pop genre. I don't mean the entire genre, but that... genre, of genre. 

Correspondence 3/23/09 21:28 - 3/24/09 19:34

   The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and Six More. Some expansion on that parasite organs girl story (we need to come up with a good name for that, don't we), and then Comrade Helicopter junk. We discuss a song, whether to call it Are_You_Satisfied or AreYouSatisfied, or whether to have that as two different songs. Headers and Closers. Also I'm alright with the effect that caps lock has on some sentences. IT PLEASES ME.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)
From  POMegranate to   Persomem   Mar 23, 2009 9:28 pm
(A little Roald Dahl reference there.)
So, first things first: The Wonderful Story itself.
I was browsing Wikipedia today, and I stumbled across an article. The "Mad Human Disease" (You know, from the genetically modified wheat story) actually exists, and is called Kuru. (It is called this because it is a New Guinean disease, and the people there catch it by cannibalizing brains.)
What is really interesting is that the disease is characterized by uncontrollable laughter.
A brilliant mystery twist, neh?
So, The Six More are songs which I have written, and should be added to the official list of songs that I have written:
1. Stop Me If I'm Wrong
2. Have Fun Out There
3. Oh Boy
4. Are_You_Satisfied?
5. So So What
6. Shockingly Personal

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 3:44 pm

God that is so creepy yet so awesome. And does "Are_You_Satisfied?" intentionally have underscores?

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:13 pm

Yes. That's the way the song title looks in my head. But it is admittedly more impressive there. Maybe I should have more words, or just more underscores?

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:14 pm

ADD BOTH

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:16 pm

_Are_You_Happy_Now?

[As the mame of the song]

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:17 pm

YES

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:18 pm

Should I be worried

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:18 pm

SHOULD I TURN CAPS LOCK OFF

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:20 pm

Maybe. I'ts just unnerving and worrying, not annoying.

It's not like you're shouting at me.

(Or do you just want me to call it AreYouSatisfied?)

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:21 pm

I ACTUALLY LIKE IT WHEN IT IS SCRUNCHED TOGETHER LIKE THAT

IT PLEASES ME

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:22 pm

Bet you can't spell it correctly.

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:22 pm

OKAY

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:23 pm

Does that mean I win the bet?

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:24 pm

I WAS AWARE OF NO WAGERS GOOD SIR

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:25 pm

But I still win.

So, AreYouSatisfied?

No, maybe not. Completely different song.

Are_You_Happy_Now?

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:26 pm

BOTH COULD WORK

COULD BE A SERIES

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:28 pm

Maybe. Maybe not. Completley different type of song.

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:29 pm

BUT INEXPLICABLY RELATED AS A RESULT OF THEIR TITLES

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:30 pm

Headers and Closers to an album?

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:30 pm

PERHAPS

I ALSO JUST THOUGHT THAT HEADERS AND CLOSERS WOULD BE A PRETTY COOL SONG

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:31 pm

Well, I haven't written any of those. We'll put it on a third list: Songs to be written.

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:32 pm

AND SO IT WAS WRITTEN

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From POMegranate to Persomem   Mar 24, 2009 7:33 pm

So, Like, you have started the list?

Re: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (and Six More)

From Persomem to POMegranate   Mar 24, 2009 7:34 pm

I HONESTLY HAVE NOT I PROCRASTINATE SO MUCH THESE DAYS

Power! Unlimited Power!

One day in office, unlimited political power. Go.

One day? I don't know, is that... is that really long enough? Even with unlimited governmental powers, I don't feel that one day is long enough to make serious change. You could extend control for longer than that using your unlimited powers within that day, but that's dodging the question (actually the entire discussion is dodging the question, as this was written in response to a Macbeth prompt, about what he did with all his power.)

   It's especially difficult considering that even if you knew what to do, you wouldn't know how to do. You hear about the economy being bad? Want to fix it? Alright. More taxes! Less taxes! More spending! Less spending!

   Day's over, go home.

Hits

   It's so cool how this blog's name is coincidentally a very popular phrase to bundle with Boolean operators on search engines. (Dudes love Disney, I guess, and dudes love especially searching for it alongside phrases I also coincidentally have done posts on- mostly bed sheet stuff.) Even when it doesn't make any sense-- well, I suppose ESPECIALLY when it doesn't make any sense. Ice Age isn't a Disney film, but if you want to search for it anyway, boom, there I am. It generates so many hits.

   But, also, people continue to search for EMP stuff, which is weird. You'd better be doing that for research purposes only, buddy. Or causing blackouts for, you know, somehow legal purposes. The feds can monitor your search history, you know that? Even with your history deleted, they can track your IP address from the server itself. And besides, I don't think you're liable to get any good hits on Google; that's "deep web" stuff; stuff that can't be accessed through use of search engines. Or at least, I think not. Maybe I'm wrong. Huh. That's, what, two minutes of research, tops? Well, I'd rather be wrong and neglect to do those two minutes of research than be right but have the feds on my tail. My sweet, bushy Tippy Toe tail.

I will make literally any excuse for a good Squirrel Girl reference. Or a bad one. Via Marvel Universe Wiki.

   I've got so many projects running, though, I kind of don't want the hits. Not until after I've already got some of the projects off the ground, at least. When I've proven myself. Which obviously I can't do right now. Right now, it's kind of embarrassing.

   But I guess I'll live with it.

Bitrack Robomney

   It's inauguration day, but either way this picture would work, no matter which candidate had won. I had draw this the first time around that these two campaigned a race for the presidential slot. It can be seen as either Romney or Obama! Kind of.

An Odd Thought About Future Children

   It's kind of weird to think about, but know that this day, today, very well could be the birthday of some unborn child of mine. Yeah. (Or the conception date, but that's significantly more easy to arrange.)

   What decades will this child grow up in, and what stereotypes about those decades will future future decades remember about them? In the '80s, we could not guess what the '90s would hold, much less the naughts or the tens (the teens? I feel this current decade should be called the teens.)

Robin Hood II

   More observations from just one watch-through of Robin Hood. I keep on getting déjà vu each and every time I post this up, and I don't know why.

1. The Crusades were caused by Sir Hiss hypnotizing King Richard just so his brother John could usurp the crown. Hundreds of years of sad and confusing history, explained away like that.
2. Arrow cel in foreground on one frame- since animation is done frame-by-frame, there's no way they didn't notice this. It's not like a miscolored frame or something that can slip past placing it down one frame at a time, that's clearly there. But, as a fan of animation, I've got to say you'd be surprised what level people can go to of just not caring about individual frames.



Ouch.

3. I can't unsee the reused animation in the "phony king of England" segment. You know what I'm talking about. And I can't unsee that. To be fair, Robin Hood was the first Disney animated picture after Walt's death, so it was bound to be lower-budget. It's still got some fantastically high-quality animation, though, but I'm not sure if it's because of that.
4. Robin is inordinately fond of dressing up as a bird. Pervert! Maybe. When he does, though, his tail seems to magically disappear.
5. Alan a Dale's "knees" are usually shown bending backwards, which is correct for a bird, but they bend forwards when he has to sit down such as in the "Not in Nottingham" musical sequence.
6. The male church mouse is voiced by the same guy who did the porcupine on Fox and the Hound and Piglet in Winnie the Pooh.
7. At the archery tourney, they did some really clever stuff with some character design more or less exclusive to that segment.
8. That turtle there is Toby's father. Either he's a widower, divorced, or there's some kind of adultery with the prize being a kiss from Marian.

Quality Entertainment

   That conception, of these groups being losers, must be on some level fair: it ties to the "starved-for-culture" thing, where we allegedly eat lichen off of river rocks for nourishment. They're losers because their quality of entertainment is so low. That seems to be the stereotype. For any degree of outcast. Bronies buy anything with a pony on the cover, furries buy anything with a fox on the cover, Juggalos any album with a Psychopathic records label, country music lovers any album with a pickup truck and an American flag. Society looks down on those with such easy-to-reach standards.

   That explains the old "geek" stereotype, as until science fiction and fantasy moved into the mainstream a few years ago the so-called "geeks" and "nerds" were that easy to please, at least in society's eyes, as exhibited by the pulpy magazine covers and low-budget serials. But then science fiction became mainstream, and they could actually afford to have distinguishing tastes. Um, to an extent. Now that we've moved past that, we've got the opposite stereotype: the impossible-to-please fanboy. We've become too complacent with the high standards. Entertainment grows customized, so you get exactly what you want.

   Maybe because of this the increased customization of entertainment isn't a good thing. We give ourselves lower standards again. It fits your specific narrow interests, so you jump on it. You don't care if it's good or not. That's exactly the thing. The way science fiction nerds did use to buy anything so long as it had a spaceship on the cover, so is the way more recent fan groups such as furries snatch up anything with a foxy cover. Of course, there's a lot of room within that, but they're still looking for mainstream entertainment value within their narrow interest, is what I get out of that. We are drawn to these like magnetmoths getting drawn to an iron lightbulb. And so we have no choice.

   Or perhaps not? In politics, there is the right and there is the left, correct? Yet the greatest champions of both sides are bigoted blowhard idiots. As many good points as they raise, you're still embarrassed to agree with them. So we are either fine or not fine with mainstream, depending on who is looking.

   Urgh, not that mainstream stuff is any better. 90% of everything really is crap. Still, 10% is a lot, and there's so much room for incredible beauty and versatility.

And Remember, Kids, Any One of You Could Grow Up to Become Mayor

   I'm... not sure if that's true or not, actually. Sure a heck of a lot easier than growing up to become president. You still have to get voted for by a majority, though, right? Except for the Mayor of Hollywood, which is a ceremonial position appointed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. (Hollywood is a district of Los Angeles, so its mayor would at press time be Antonio Villaraigosa.)

    Previous Mayors of Hollywood have included Monty Hall, Charlton Heston, Lawrence Welk and Betty stinking White, but after the death of Johnny Grant the position is unoccupied. Which means that I guess that while you probably won't be president, you, yes you, really can become the mayor! Of Hollywood, no less!

   No official power, and even no salary, plus you have to attend dead actors' funerals, but, it's probably still a kooshy and glamorous gig. Alright. And it can happen to you! It's probably going to be like Angelyne or somebody instead, but, you can always hope! There can always be some kind of electrical fire or something...

   Yeah, you could be like John Goodman! No, never mind. You know what, I think it should be John Goodman. I nominate John Goodman for Mayor off Hollywood.

Parasite Girl

   You haven't heard of the parasite girl universe yet, have you? Well, mostly we've talked about it in real life, and haven't done any correspondence on it that you've seen yet. So there's a girl, and she happens to have parasites for organs. Like, a leech acts as her kidney as it filters her blood, stuff like that. Here, let Cailin explain it, I asked her about her once and it's her character.

   "Well, she gets in an accident, and... something something, no insurance, most likely fatal, mysterious foundation offering new experimental surgery, and... Parasites for organs, each specialized for an organ purpose. The liver is replaced with a parasite that, in essence, filters and consumes toxins from blood, and excretes the remaining blood, along with its waste, which actually happens to be a rich nutrient. And so on and so forth.

   "I think I put her in a catholic school."

   So there you go. In this world, (and hereafter is my contribution to the story,) there is a seemingly random deadly outbreak. It turns out that they're all dying of mad human disease, basically human spongiform encepalopathy. They all ate what amounted to be human neurons, from genetically modified wheat- wheat that was modified with human DNA. It's a big bio-engineered future this takes place in. The word "Crichtonesque" was bandied about.

   This outbreak represents an earlier outbreak of a human-to-human-spread strain of avian influenza that was caused by eating food with tainted chicken feathers in it. It's called Cysteine, which is (was) also sometimes extracted from human hair and is used as a flavoring agent, mostly to make stuff taste like meat. Now, Cysteine sounds exactly like Sistine, which refers not only to the famous chapel but also to any pope named Sixtus. (A tie-in to Catholicism.)

   Here, the article I cited when coming up with that development. This is one link that I found that tells you a little about it; I found a bunch of other websites, too, if you want to do your own research. http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/New-technology-for-cysteine-food-ingredient

   Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had legalized the existence of Silver Bullet, who's what amounts to a gritty '90s superhero, acting as police, judge, jury, and executioner (yeaah, like Judge Dredd, but less silly and in-your-face (which you know Judge Dredd totally is.)) He gathers up evidence on criminals, and assassinates them when he determines that they would otherwise receive the death penalty for their actions. Of course, this means that he can only kill after it's too late for the criminals' previous victims, so he develops an alter-ego: Black Arrow, who preempts criminal activity while the future serial killer is still in animal-cruelty stage. While Silver Bullet fires a one-shot kill between the eyes (using a silver bullet, of course, encoded into which is holographic documentation and evidence of crimes worthy of capital punishment,) Black Arrow kills by sending his black arrow into the back of the neck, with no such documentation. For all the FBI knows, it's a serial killer with a copycat M.O.

Keeping My Finger Squarely on the Pulse of the Internet

   Or at least I HOPE it's the pulse that I'm keeping my finger squarely on. Eww. It's actually kind of wet, and sticky...

   I'm not sure when exactly this blog became an analysis of nerd culture. Well, it's other things too, like a blog for one, but a blog can mean a lot of things. For me, I guess, it's most of the things that a blog can mean.

   But when did it become so? Around the time I started looking into My Little Pony, I guess? Like, seriously into it. Watchponies time frame. Though before that even at the very beginning, there were the trope things. Art tropes, though. Historical. Not science fiction and geek stuff. But, there were schedulings to be had, and so I took a date I knew.

Correspondence 1/14/09 18:24 - 1/17/09 15:03

   In this installment, we discuss some more miscellaneous ideas, the difference here being some (but not all) will set up and provide context for some future discussions of ours. This could easily be three posts right here, but this conversation more or less actually happened sequentially like this. I know, you're saying, I could split this apart and get three posts from this instead of one. Good point. But I'm not doing that. I feel that would be cheating you with too-short posts. Anyway. Great fun.

Re: CHINA!

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 14, 2009 6:24 pm

Weren't you saying something about a political map of Antarctica?

Re: CHINA!

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 14, 2009 6:57 pm

Yep, and how it'd be easy to color.

Re: CHINA!

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 14, 2009 7:29 pm

How's this for a video game mechanic: ammo being the same thing as life? So instead of shooting the enemy away, you could just buckle up and strategically conserve ammo?

(it would gradually refill, of course.)

Re: CHINA!

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 14, 2009 7:42 pm

It's probably been done, though I can't think of an example.

Whatever Happened?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 15, 2009 7:18 pm

Evidently The Strokes already have a song called "Whatever Happened?", but, far as I can tell, it's not about Robot Jones, so we should be good.

Re: Whatever Happened?

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 16, 2009 9:37 pm

Unless I am not mistaken, my sad, green friend*, that song in question is called, What Ever Happened. (I looked it up on iTunes, and Apple is very seldom wrong.)

*-Emperor Palpatine, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Re: Whatever Happened?

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 17, 2009 3:03 pm

Well, if you say so...

Correspondence 1/24/09 16:09 - 1/25/09 22:06

Re: 8 racist words you use every day

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 24, 2009 4:09 pm

Oh man. I just came up with something literally five seconds ago.

It's the name of a Theater. (For plays.)

Charlie Bucket's Bucket Theater for the Performing Arts... (and Crafts.)

Re: 8 racist words you use every day

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 24, 2009 5:33 pm

I like it!

That is two votes now.

Re: 8 racist words you use every day

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 25, 2009 9:41 am

And I came up with a t-shirt last night. It says:

CHICKS DIG ME...

PLEASE.

Re: 8 racist words you use every day

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 25, 2009 9:54 am

I like it, the capitol letters definitely have to stay, adds to the desperation. And I would most definitely wear that shirt.

Re: 8 racist words you use every day

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 25, 2009 10:05 am

Capital letters.

Re: 8 racist words you use every day

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 25, 2009 10:06 am

Pfffffffffff

Posts?

   Hmm, coming up with two years' worth of distinct topics is going to be difficult. I suppose the topics don't have to be distinct, and I could split it up and do serieses (yes, I'm serious! Also, yes I'm sorry for that pun. And don't call me Shirley. (That pun, I am not sorry for.))

   I've figured something out, though: a post seems fuller and more worthy of being if you plug in it pictures to look at or a video.

   See what I mean?

Neeerds, part III

   I guess it's a matter of when and where the awkwardness takes place. The nerd is fine alone, not necessarily because of any given introversion on his part but because it's where he can't be seen as being awkward. He does have his own specialties. The nerd still needs to learn to interact outside of his designated field, like when going shopping and... stuff? I guess? I don't know, what do people do? Go to the discotheque? No, see. Such a lifestyle is exactly as cut off as the lifestyle of a nerd. Except for maybe generally the clubber goes clubbing a more often than the DND campaigner goes campaigning. But is that enough to make the party-goer not a nerd? The frequency of engagement in the hobbies?

   There clearly is a difference between the gamer and the other guy, even though the social interaction of both groups comes almost exclusively within their hobbies. But what could it be? Muscularity? Pastiness? It can't be the number of people in the crowd, could it? That's kind of misleading, since they're interacting with one another in a less significant way than the hobbyists would be. But there's at least the illusion there. That could possibly be it... Or could it boil down to whether the IQ is above or below the median, (and generally very much so?) You know that's also the stereotype. Both are seen as, in terms of grey mattery stuff, horribly out of sync with the general populous. So are these not both different forms of being social outcasts? Will those with non-average intelligence be accepted?

   But the clubber isn't seen as a nerd, or an outcast. They're the ones seen as the opposite of that, though it should conceivably be the same. But it's not the same, somehow. The party-goer is seen as more social than the con-goer, perhaps because the nerds only connect on an intellectual rather than emotional level? And that makes them less social. Great. Society is always far more willing to, if not promote, than at least tolerate idiocy over genius. And, I guess you can quote me on that if you want.

   Is that the perception? Quite possibly. Nerds, seen as ivory tower intellectuals unable to comprehend the plight of the common man. But the common man is unable to comprehend the inherent awkwardness why they can't deign to step out of their ivory towers. We all go through life unable to comprehend anyone else in anything but glimpses, but this is taking it to an absurd degree.

   There has to be some medium, right? No? Or, yes. I guess I've been discussing it. Conventions. The medium between the two is conventions. But, if you didn't attend the conventions or show any other outward sign of nerdiness, you wouldn't be viewed as a nerd. So it does hold up, what I've been saying.

   I just don't know if there's a way to change it.

Social Neeerds (Neeerds, part II)

   Okay, check this. The stereotype would hold up either way, regardless of the existence of cons. One one side of the coin, looking from the public's perception to the nerd, there's either no social interaction, in which case no social life, or there is, in which case it is that all-consuming nerdystyle interaction and nothing else. On the other side of the coin, from the nerd to the public: either they do have hobbies, but they wouldn't have any interaction from that, or they don't hobbies, in which case they have no life's passion.

   So, far from the stereotype of the unsocial nerd, it's not nerdy until it is a social thing. A hobbyist can have a hobby, but it doesn't and indeed won't become nerdy until the hobbyist joins others. Nerd-dom is inherently a social thing. What would the word be for the opposite of that, where the hobby is an absolute secret and there's no social interaction? Oh, yeah. "Creepy." That'd be creepy.

   Does that mean that the only difference between creepy and nerdy, between perfectly socially healthy and acceptable and borderline illegal, is public support for it? Well, yeah, that's how these things work, but, let me rephrase that. That the only difference between being creepy and being nerdy is whether you tell people about your hobby? If making hair shrines had a convention, would it cease being a stalkerish thing to do? Or could that still be both? Okay, so creepy isn't always nerdy, nerdy isn't always creepy. Some things are in fact both, and many things are neither, and anything can be creepy when viewed in the wrong light or uncreepy when viewed in the right light.

http://wondermark.com/662/ Click to enlarge.

   Great. Going back to it, no, I'm not a nerd. But I'm a creep.

Neeerds!

   As I've said, I try not to ally myself with fandom and community aspects like that, but does liking something instantly make you belong to that community? Well, not the community, but the fandom, the community minus the community, if that makes any sense. You've already applied to the fandom with your... fandom, of that thing, but you decide to ignore the surrounding community.

   Cut off as you would be from the mainstream fandom, completely missing out on any fan theories or any of the other social aspects, even the memes (well, especially the memes, in the word's original definition as a cultural earmark.) You'd be, not behind, but cut out entirely. You don't have to attend any of the conventions to get all of the news. You know when the new season or book or whatever is coming out (updates every Thursday.) You don't have to be a con-goer to enjoy. You would still be able to enjoy science fiction, fantasy, video gaming, board gaming, computer gaming, computer computing. All nerdystyle things. But no cons. As lifebloody (?) as they are, you don't have to go. You'd just be an outcast among (?) outcasts, is all, not in any of their social functions.

   There's another contradiction in there: the nerdystyle, no social-life things revolving around the social and cultural aspects. Yes? Or, maybe that's the source of the public perception: that's the only societal interaction you get, through these hobbies and interests. But that could easily be turned around and looked through on the other side of the lens. The nerd sees the public as the Great Unwashed who lead boring lives and don't know what they're missing, and the public sees the nerd as a loser who can only make friends through his (yes, his- remember, this is the public perception we're talking about) hobbies? So, in one viewer's view it's the other who has no life, and vice versa? Okay, that makes sense.

   Still, I would stress that this model wouldn't be entirely accurate. The reasoning behind this is, after all, kind of circular. Clearly, either way nerdiness would have to be all-consuming. I guess that was the stereotype all along. Too much of one thing or another. Nerdiness would depend on the threshold. If you get too involved in something, anything, even your job, as a hobby, you're a nerd. Going clubbing, not a hobby.

A Memory of Light

   The finale to the epic Wheel of Time series is upon us. This is it. The big one. The last volume in the cultural waterstone (?) that is THE WHEEL OF TIME. I'm not even a big Robert Jordan fan, but I'm still somehow geeking out. It's not just the Brandon Sanderson stuff; it goes beyond that, somehow, as though I'd still be doing this if Jordan were still alive. It's the Wheel of Time, man. It's been decades coming, but now it's concluding. I guess I'll feel the same way when that Song of Ice and Fire series thing concludes.

   Am I... a nerd? There was the science stuff, but the pop culture stuff was more mainstream. Internet mainstream, at least. Except when I delved into nitty-gritty brony minutia. The manestream seen in terms of the mainstream? Shoot, that's kind of a contradiction there, isn't it. Maybe there's something under the surface...? Yeah, alright. The only reason I did that was so I could analyse why it was so internet mainstream, even though a lot of aspects aren't. Okay, that works out. I guess that's exactly what I've been doing all along. And I guess that means a yes.

   I didn't really consider myself to be a nerd until this summer, when I realized how intensive some of this stuff was. And on this blog, when I reported on WorldCon, after I had recommended a nominee for that year's Hugos. It's all sci fi and fantasy and filk. Worlds that, while I have no stake in them, am strangely attracted to. I have a love/hate relationship with my love/hate relationship to Star Trek.

   All of this from that one announcement. See, see what I mean by needing a springboard to leap off of?

Dear & Deep

   Trying to figure out something good. Dear and Deep. Personal, even. I just need some kind of theme to do posts on. A theme, because just writing about whatever would just be writing about whatever. Posts just for posts, just to keep this daily. Kind of arbitrary. But posting on whatever is what I do anyway, so...

   But generally I've got current events or what's going on in my life to sort of "springboard" off of, at the least. A reason to have the post. Cut off from that, having it all scheduled beforehand, the springboard is going to be artificial to nonexistent. Aside from events you can see coming from far off, like really big movie releases, or yearly holidays, I'll have none of that springboardiness.

   Two years? Why couldn't it have been three? At least then it'd be to 2015 where I could say, hey, there's a new Star Wars coming out, what's up with that? 729 previously scheduled posts is plenty as it is. Two years, minus a day, since I posted twice when Adam died. Now I'm catching up with that. I wonder if I wouldn't have to do this if that hadn't happened? No, I was planning on having this going throughout anyway.

   I'll get things I was planning on posting anyway but needed an excuse to post out of the way, but that's only about a year's worth of material. One more year's worth of stuff, entirely unsolicited and springboard free, and we should be fine.

Mind is Blindness

   Maybe other people are the same person instead of different people. Generally, with autism, there's this sort of "mind blindness," which basically means that you're unable to comprehend that anyone else would have different thoughts from you. That's the thing, though. I don't even know if I have that. Does intellectually thinking it must be tabula rasa with opinions formed by experience mean that you think all people have the same opinions?

   Maybe everyone has the exact same opinions as you do, they just don't talk and act like it as some sort of elaborate complex rhetorical device. I don't know if I'm all that. I don't even know if I'm above average. Because as just one person, it's impossible to tell what average means, because you can't tell what it would mean to be other people. Except for yourself. You can tell your own averages. So much of our lives are lived vicariously, through stories and memories, our own or of other people's. We can stand having the best be behind us because we know that it is the best, so we can selectively choose the best to replay.

Correspondence 1/1/09 15:40 - 16:04

Re: To begin again
From  POMegranate to   Persomem   Jan 1, 2009 3:40 pm
We should have a section from the General's viewpoint in, what, the second book?

Re: To begin again
From  Persomem to   POMegranate   Jan 1, 2009 3:41 pm
Yeah, I think it would be book two.

Re: To begin again

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 1, 2009 3:54 pm

Yes, a good glimpse inside the mind of the as-yet-unnamed General (or whatever his/her rank would be) to reveal his view on the world, and why he would be too proud to call in for backup and holy crap they're making a live-action dragon ball movie?

Re: To begin again

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 1, 2009 3:58 pm

Yes, and it looks terrible.

Anyway, I figure the general would be your average glory seeking type, doing anything for power and fame.

Re: To begin again

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 1, 2009 4:00 pm

Ahh,so the (he/she's definitely a) general (, then?) wants it all for (his/her)self.

And that's what I thought, too.

Re: To begin again

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 1, 2009 4:02 pm

Yep, the military is like that, and people will fight pretty hard for a piece of ribbon.

Re: To begin again

From POMegranate to Persomem   Jan 1, 2009 4:04 pm

And then, at the end, he loses his selfishness (for a very selfish reason, he wants to be remembered as a martyr) as he warns them not to send backup, that it's too dangerous.

Re: To begin again

From Persomem to POMegranate   Jan 1, 2009 4:04 pm

Ha ha, I like it!

Why It Is?

   Nope, still can't get it out of my head. Quite frankly it's just as surreal each time I re-remember the existence of the brony fandom. Seriously, each and every time. Right now, even now, I'm going, wait... wha-a-a-a-t? Which I suppose is to be expected, because wait... wha-a-a-a-t? The lessons in friendship are good for some. And just the lessons. (Educational/Informative programming for you, right there. In the first season, at least. They took that out.) A lot of the fandom extends well beyond the show, so it's not entirely about that. It could be about the whole... idea, of friendship being magic. Or something.

   But, it's so good. It's one of those things: You've heard of it? How are you not entirely obsessed with it? How can you not be fascinated by it, if not obsessed? I'm sure you can think of some examples and things like that in your own life. I feel that way about most things, in fact. It's baffling reading articles on the Brony fandom and the author gives a disclaimer that they are not a member. How is that even possible? I don't know.

It is exactly, exactly like this.

   Differences of opinion aside, it should still be impossible to miss out on the quality. And the ... And the awesome. Just the sheer awesome which is so awesome that the word awesome becomes a noun in itself.

   But, I suppose you could still see what your (totally hypothetical example alert) ex-girlfriend sees in her new boyfriend (or you know whatever) without being physically or emotionally attracted to the boyfriend in question. I mean, that happens, allegedly. So there's this heterosexual (?) process. I guess that proves bronydom straight? No, wait, that proves it gay. Metaphorically. In this example, you do find your girlfriend's new boyfriend sexy. (So, bisexual, then?) There's a difference between seeing what someone sees in something and seeing it yourself. I guess. There really shouldn't be, because that really doesn't make sense. But people do some crazy things in the name of not liking stuff.

Correspondence 12/25/08 18:24 - 12/26/08 17:16

   More Cailin art! Also, I get over the excess adrenaline from beating a space pirate boss in Metroid Prime: Corruption. At least I think it was Corruption.

Re: A picture I drew

From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 25, 2008 6:24 pm

Okay, I'm better now.

Goshdurn space pirates.

Re: A picture I drew

From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 25, 2008 6:52 pm

Which game were you playing?

Re: A picture I drew

From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 25, 2008 8:33 pm

Which as in you know the series I'm talking about, or which as in what?

<<I'm stalling to see if it's which as in you know the series.>>

Re: A picture I drew

From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 25, 2008 7:51 pm

And another.

Re: A picture I drew

From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 26, 2008 2:42 pm

Well, I guess I meant what, but I do have an idea as to which.

Re: A picture I drew

From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 26, 2008 4:59 pm

I was playing Metroid.

Re: A picture I drew

From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 26, 2008 5:08 pm

I knew it!

Re: A picture I drew

From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 26, 2008 5:16 pm

Aha!

That's why I stalled!!

It's okay now, I've defeated the boss, and now have the spider ball.

Correspondence 12/25/08 17:46 - 18:17

Correspondence, Holidays special, I guess. Happy new year? Anyway, Cailin shows me some awesome art she did, and I react by making a bunch of typos. It's justified- I was pretty shaky after... well, you'll see.

A picture I drew

From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 25, 2008 5:46 pm

I drew a vaguely Christmas-y image of Kite and Nephyrem.

And I do realize that everyone I draw is rather lanky... such is the flaw in learning anatomy from your own body.

And the director's cut...

Re: A picture I drew

From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 25, 2008 6:12 pm

I suppose that that's humorous... I can't really tell. I'm still shakey from just barely defeating a boss on a video game. And th4en I died. So I supposed Im'r kind of upseyt.

And yes, ally thw here spelling smistakes are because I'm still si shakely.

Re: A picture I drew

From Persomem to POMegranate   Dec 25, 2008 6:15 pm

I know exactly what you mean.

Re: A picture I drew

From POMegranate to Persomem   Dec 25, 2008 6:17 pm

I am trying to relax right now by listening to songs on my brand new Christmas mp3 player.

It could be wr fking.

(But justr a little bit)