It's Working!

I added a Google search for the site at the bottom of the page. So, if you wanted to know what I thought about Returner, or anything else, you can look it up below.

And the Web-Slinger Rides Again...

I hadn't intended on going to this tonight, but Reeta and Claire were really looking forward to seeing it (as was I), and after getting (the vast majority) of our stuff moved yesterday and this morning, and general muscle fatigue, we decided we needed a break.

And it was very, very good. Sad in parts, funny in parts, exciting and compelling, with an awesome job by cast and crew, and a special kudos to Sam Raimi. Easily +2 Cokes. The only downside is that we got to the theater about 3 minutes before it was starting, and the only seats that Reeta, Claire, Brent (Reeta's sister's husband - doing a residency here in town for a month), and I could get together were on the front row. I'll have to see it again a little further back, so I can get an idea of the whole thing.

But so many moments in this were picture perfect. I mean, seriously, got me all choked up, perfect moments. Of course, I almost cried at Lost in Space, so you have to take everything I say with an abnormally large grain of salt. As in all things here, YMMV.

Why I love our Prophet

He's very good with his words. Deseretnews.com | Medal for Pres. Hinckley is 94th birthday present: "When reporters told him that Pope John Paul II had said he was troubled by the Iraqi war when he received his medal, President Hinckley said, 'Well, he may be troubled by the war in Iraq, but he cannot discount the bravery of the men and women who at the behest of the commander in chief are there in the cause of freedom.'"

When President Hinckley was interviewed for 60 minutes a few years ago, a lot of people were worried about it. President Hinckley himself stated after the interview that he had been a little worried. But he handles the media so well, it makes me think that whoever succeeds him will have a hard time following in his footsteps.

Note too, that he didn't make any statement quoted here about the Church's official position on the war in Iraq, nor did he make one on his own personal position re: the war. And on this issue, that's probably the way it should be - members and citizens should make up their own minds as to whether or not it was worth it.

Enter the Hypno-Toad

So, we were at a public gathering the other day, and Claire asked Reeta "Is the Hypno Toad going to come out?" Then today, she asked Reeta to change the channel to "Adult Swim."

Sometimes, she scares even me.

Well, from THIS side it looks like...

This has probably been discussed in other places to death, but I'm a relative newcomer to the Blogasphere, and the Bloggernacle, so here goes. (Prepare for random bomb throw).

I wonder how many LDS members look at terrorist organizations like Al Qaida, and think "Gadianton Robbers"? Now, sure I agree that it's not a perfect likeness, and I'm sure people have thought this all through. (In fact, if someone can point me to something that discusses the similarities and differences, I'd really appreciate it.)

For those of you who just had your personal version of a "What the heck?" moment, here's a little catch-up. The Gadianton robbers were a "secret combination" discussed in the Book of Mormon (starting at Helaman 2, and discussed in various places thereafter) who used conspiracy, assassination, violence, and other methods in a bid for political power in Book of Mormon civilization.

There are the superficial similarities, such as a penchant for violence and an affinity for mountain caves. But the story in 3 Nephi gets particularly interesting, as the Gadiantons start insisting that they are the legitimate rulers of the country. The main difference between that story and the situation in which we find ourselves now lies in the relative strengths of the parties involved. Terrorists are not yet so strong that we find it necessary to gather together in a central area and essentially tell them to come and get us, a la Pelinnor Fields in the Return of the King. Here's hoping that the bad guys get thumped before we get to that point.

Anyway, I'll think about this some more...

One more quick note

As Claire was watching me play Soul Calibur II, she pointed out a character and asked if I would let her "run around dressed like that". (Yes, that's exactly how she said it).
I said "No".

She seemed okay with that.

Fond memories

Light blogging over the weekend and into next week as I get a memo written, my family and I move to new digs, and I try to complete Soul Calibur II's Weapon Master mode with Kilik (the man).

I remember the first time I played Kilik. I was at the Hollywood Connection in Salt Lake City, with a boyfriend (now ex-) of one of Reeta's sisters. While we weren't that close (at the time), he was the only person I could find who actually wanted to go see "The Mummy". (Reeta was not yet into Steven Sondheim films). We played laser tag (I always get creamed at laser tag, but it's still fun), we saw the movie, and I found a game called "Soul Calibur" in the arcade. That I played once. With one quarter. And won. The whole game. That experience firmly planted in my mind the superiority of Kilik over all other combatants in that game. Now, I know that's not true, and that it was a measure of luck and button mashing that brought me victory that day, but he's still my favorite character in the game.



In fact, his picture is the portrait of my favorite Neverwinter Nights character, Kalkin of the Hand (currently a level 20+ monk working his way through Hordes of the Underdark).

I am the King of Bad Ideas

Sigh. I couldn't resist. Reeta's resolve broke down just a little bit, and I POUNCED, BABY! YEAH!

Here is the EVIL!


The Evil included 007:Nightfire, Pac-Man Fever, Wave Race, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 (Claire's new favorite), and Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II. And then I had to get Soul Calibur II and Zelda: Wind Waker. Yeah, I've been waiting for this for a long time. (sigh) Wind Waker isn't here yet (darn eBay seller wouldn't take PayPal, dang it!), but SCII is like pure unadulterated heaven. With Link.


It's bad timing, yes. We're moving in a week, I've got a memo to get finished by 8:00 pm Monday, and new classes starting on Tuesday, etc., etc., etc. Ugh.

THOSE MOUSEY BASTARDS ARE DOING IT AGAIN!!!!!!

Anime News Network - Miyazaki DVDs Delayed

Man, I e-mailed Buena Vista Home Entertainment once or twice a month for two years when my copy of Kiki's Delivery Service advertised "Castle in the Sky", and then it was "Delayed".

Let's hope that this doesn't turn out the same way... lest they taste my blade!

BLACKFIVE: Are We Sorry?

BLACKFIVE has a great post up. I'd like to add that I'm sorry that terrorists have decided to behead another innocent man.

That was murder. Pure, plain, and simple. And we punish murderers. If caught alive, we try and punish them. If they resist... we'll be a hell of a lot more merciful to them than they have shown themselves to be.

Gmail invites

Okay, so selling them on eBay isn't profitable any more, but anyone with a Google Mail account can help support our troops by farming those invitations out to military personnel at gmailforthetroops.com.

Apparently, the idea was started by Wil Wheaton. (Yes, apparently THAT Wil Wheaton). Thanks to BlackFive for the link.

No one is Pro-War

The other day, I was talking to a friend, and he mentioned that he and his family were anti-war. And the thought came to me that no one is really pro-war. No one sane, at least. I myself am not pro-war.

I'm anti-terrorist. And I realize that it's going to be a fight to get rid of them.

And now it appears that they've beheaded another U.S. citizen.

My sympathies go to Paul Johnson's family. And may I also say (not that anyone much will notice, but...) it seems like incredibly poor taste to try to stick a camera in their faces right now, as some are no doubt trying to do. Moreover, I think it would also be incredibly poor taste to try to use this for any kind of political gain on either side. It's cold blooded murder. It's evil. And it needs to be fought against with everything we have.

BLACKFIVE's Blogaversary

This is one of the funniest things I've read in a long, long time. I cracked up at my desk, laughing out loud. I'm going to print it out and send it to my little brother, going through basic in the Army right now.

Thanks to Frank at IMAO for the link. I've been reading Blackfive for a while, but I hadn't looked up any of his older stuff - this was great.

Buck Buck #3... unexpected compliance

So, Reeta last night gave me permission to go to eBay and bid on a Gamecube. As long as I don't spend too much - and that definition varies depending on what else comes with the 'Cube. I really want to be able to play Wind Waker, Wario Ware, Pokemon Colloseum, Soul Calibur, etc., etc., etc... So, bidding right now - $20.50, and less than five hours to go...

Buck Buck #2... GBA Video?

So, the other day (yesterday), I decided that I would also take a quick look at one of the GBA video cartridges recently put out by Majesco. Being a big fan of Spongebob and Fairly OddParents, I opted for a cartridge that included one Sponge, one Fairly, and one All Grown Up episode. And then I watched the Spongebob episode - "Pizza Delivery".

Bottom line? I probably won't buy another one. The animation isn't all that great, definitely not very smooth, although the sound was pretty good. And the amazing voice work of Spongebob and crew is where a lot of the humor comes from.

Spongebob: +2 Cokes
Majesco Cart: 0 Cokes

I'll hold off on buying the GBA Video Player from Lik Sang for now.

Buck Buck #1... you need a feed

Remember that game, where one person would grab a pole, tree, something like that, and then someone would run up behind them and jump on their back? Go listen to Bill Cosby sometime - he explains it. Bottomline - a quick succession of jumps, each individually different, adding up to a long chain, until one big heavy giant mother of a post comes along and knocks the line down.

It's almost embarassing to say this, but I don't use my blogroll very much. I use a newsfeeder (SharpReader), and if you don't have a feed, chances are I don't get to read you very often. (embarassed glancing over at Menagerie, which I really enjoy reading.) It's just so darn convenient to fire up the feed reader, and go to town.

Former diplomats...

CNN is reporting on a coalition of former diplomats who think Bush should go.

Just one quick bomb to throw here - Charles Freeman, former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, complains that the Bush administration has a "general disdain for the United Nations and international organizations that the administration still finds difficult to conceal".

What, This U.N.?

How about This U.N.?

While a general disdain for the U.N. is justifiable, all things considered, the fact remains that we're still working with them. (Warning, that link requires Adobe Reader - get it at Adobe's Website.

The hands of an enemy...

So, last night I was trolling the web for interesting things, and I found someone webcasting Bull%#!*.

No, the Penn & Teller series. They purport to blow myths out of the water. I caught a couple of episodes, and it was some really funny, amazing, stuff. A little language, but funny. And maybe it's the lasting effects of that, but tonight, as I was flipping channels, I saw the family of the captured American, Paul Johnson, begging and pleading with the "Saudis" to get it done, and bring his Dad home.

After carefully listening to what was said, I'm willing to believe that he was talking to the terrorists, and not to the Saudi government. After all, for any government to deal/negotiate with terrorists is to grant an image of respectability and legitimacy to what amounts to a group of thugs, murderers, thieves, and vandals. Criminals.

And personally, I don't understand the rationale of the latest attacks in that area. Attacking oil pipelines? Threatening your own local economy? What could they possibly hope to gain from such a thing? That the Saudi government will roll over and say, "okay, maybe we won't implement any democratic reforms"? If they succeed in halting the oil industry, what happens then? The U.S. will get oil from someplace. It'll be expensive, but we'll get it. The only thing they'll wind up doing is a) pissing us off even more (Gas is HOW MUCH A GALLON? HEADS WILL ROLL!!!); and b) self-bankruptcy. If they're getting any money from that region, that money is coming from oil. It sure isn't coming from olive farms.

Sudden Utility

So, I've been downloading anime for almost two years. I've got a lot of things on disc, but I never watch them because it's a pain in the neck to load it back onto the computer hard drive and erase them when I'm done.

Not any more.

Reeta and I were at Target, looking for an inexpensive DVD player to replace the one that her Mom took back to Utah (because ours has a tendency to overheat and lock up), and we found the Phillips DVP642, which plays DVDs, CDs, MP3s, and MPEG 4 video and Divx files.

Which means that now I can take any of the Full Metal Alchemist cds I've made and pop them in and play them as though it was a DVD, and the picture looks awesome. (I'm using an old Mitsubishi TV, and S-Video connections). So far, I'm very happy with it. And spending money on things stimulates the economy, right!?! So not only do I have a spiffy new DVD player that will play all of my archived Naruto episodes, but I'm also striking a blow for freedom and capitalism! Hooray!

In other news, Reeta and I got the position as apartment managers of a complex here in Portland, so we'll be moving sometime in the next couple weeks. Plus a research project I need to finish by next Thursday. Plus we're babysitting a neighbor's dog. Plus... plus... plus...

UT Feature Story -- An Anime Explosion: Challenging themes, complex characters make Japanese animation a global phenomenon

UT Feature Story -- An Anime Explosion: Challenging themes, complex characters make Japanese animation a global phenomenon

So many interesting articles - thanks to ANN for the link.

Fools mock but...

So, apparently there's a new policy in place regarding who can and can't purchase certain items through LDS outlets. I think that's a great idea, because I've never been happy with the idea of someone selling something that's so important and sacred to me.

Also, I believe that those who participate in activities that cheapen, belittle, or mock the religious views of another show themselves to be without human feeling, and of little moral character. Whether or not I agree with people of other religions (and I've dealt with quite a few, including Moslems, Hindus, Wiccans, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, Evangelicals, Catholics, Jews, etc.), I still respect them as people, and I still respect their right to worship (or not) whomever they choose.

A while ago, I found a site about a booth set up at the last Burning Man Festival that revealed and mocked LDS temple ceremonies. I haven't linked to it here, because a) I don't want to send that kind of thing traffic, and b) beause of some nastily inappropriate pictures on the site. When I hear about people performing this kind of activity, I typically have two reactions. The first is anger. How dare they do that with something I feel is so sacred? The second is to wonder how someone got that bitter and horrified with life in the first place. If this policy makes it more difficult for someone like that to get the tools to mock my faith, so much the better, not because we can't take a joke, but because some things are just not funny.

Times & Seasons: 'Learned in all the arts and cunning'

Times & Seasons (something that sometimes I cringe in reading), has an interesting discussion going on about lawyers, ethics, and what that means to LDS members. If you're interested, you should take a look.

HoustonChronicle.com - Atheist dad can't sue over Pledge

HoustonChronicle.com - Atheist dad can't sue over Pledge

And so the Court neatly sidesteps the issue of deciding this case on its merits. possilby they feel that if they did have to consider the merits, they'd probably wind up excising the "Under God", and they probably don't want to have to do that.

Then I go to the movies...

Having a free ticket, and having made some fairly decent money off eBay in the last week or so, we headed to the movie theater. Claire and Reeta went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Claire's first time), and I went to see my main man, Vin Diesel in "The Chronicles of Riddick".

Personally, I loved it. Aside from a couple of wierd editing glitches where I'm sure some plot in the first twenty minutes or so wound up on the floor, the rest of it was pure action bonanza. Personally, I'm giving this one at least +1.5 Cokes, but Your Mileage May Vary.

My tastes seem to run in that direction. I'm the kind of guy who will sit down and watch Japanese kung-fu science fiction action flicks by choice (remember Returner?), but I wouldn't sit through the English Patient unless I was paid off. Not even free would get me there. (Best Picture? You've got to be kidding.) You would have to drag me kicking and screaming to see Titanic (which I've still never seen, thank goodness, please James Cameron, make something I'd actually like to see next...) I loved xXx, I loved Pitch Black. The Fast and the Furious was watchable. I understand David Twohy wants to make 2 more Riddick films, and I want to see them. I personally enjoyed the ending of the movie. I've heard some people (I don't know why I'm sending that guy traffic...) complain that the ending should have been different. I see what they mean, but actually I like this ending too. I won't give anything away here (in case anyone besides me actually wants to go see it), but the ending was actually really cool.

Anyway... again, +1.5 Cokes (Out of a possible +/- 2 Cokes). Because of my personal bias, you may want to subtract a full Coke off that to get a more accurate read.

First, the Long Goodbye

Well, my Mother-in-law and my Brother-in-Law have moved out, and have made it safely back to Utah. It was an interesting nine months. I'm genuinely surprised at how well everything related to that turned out. Although I'm sure we honestly will miss them, it was fairly stressful having that many people in such small quarters, and I'm feeling fairly relieved.

So, to the Longs, thanks for all your help this last year. I'm sure we appreciate everything you've done for us. ^.^

Where do I put the lever?

Frank, over at IMAO, says this, which dovetails nicely with what I said a couple days ago in the post below.

But there has to be more that people can do than blogging. Anti-war people "protest", pro-war people blog and call in to various talk-radio shows. Who gets the media coverage? The anti-war people, of course (although some might say that a pro-war "demonstration" also would not get media coverage because of bias in the media - but I'll hold off judgment on that issue for now).

Are there any pro-war demonstrations going on? Any people marching in support of our troops, in support of our fight to protect ourselves, in support of our struggle to prevent another 9/11? If there are, then why haven't I heard about them? If there aren't, then why not? Do we not feel passionately about our support? Or are we trying to help in other ways?

Aristotle said that if you give him a lever and a place to stand, that he would move the moon. Is it possible for us to stand and move in such a way that we strengthen our resolve? I'm not exactly sure, but I feel this need to try...

Learning in Wartime

It was my last year of undergrad school, and I was taking my last class in my Psychology major - it was on Philosophical Bases of different schools of Psychological Thought. And one of the first things they told us was... "Everything you've been learning for the last four years is WRONG. It's ALL FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED." And the class explored the fundamental philosophical breakdowns, pitfalls, and general mistakes of each and every psychological theory we had learned so far.

It was extremely depressing. I knew I should have studied computer science. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable class. (It's unfortunate that it was taught in a warm room in the afternoons, and that the professor had a soothing voice, because it also has the dubious honor of being the only class I've ever actually fallen asleep in). And on that horrible first day, they handed out a quote from C.S. Lewis. It's one of my favorites. "Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered."

I've never been able to find the entire sermon online (it's still covered under copyright), but last week, I finally found out what book it's published in - C.S. Lewis' collected sermons, "The Weight of Glory". And whaddayaknow? The college library has a copy. And I read that sermon, and wondered how applicable it was to the situation facing the United States today. Given in Oxford, in the Autumn of 1939, less than a year before the Battle of Britain, Lewis speaks matter-of-factly about the impending war, and about the students' role in it.

"Life has never been normal", he asserts. "The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it." Life today is definitely not 'normal' for any of us. We're just human beings, trying to do what we think is best, but these are strange days indeed, when hate and strife and conflict seem to be defining us more and more. In Lewis' day, that conflict was directed against an "Axis of Evil". Today, jealousy, hatred, and vitriol seem more and more to be directed at the United States.

And not always by those who live outside our borders.

There are always those who hate a leader. There are always those who feel that other's "think they're better than us", so they try to tear those people down. In a morally relativistic world, that's an understandable response. In that world, no one is better than anyone else.

I've decided to move out of that world. I want to live in a morally absolute world. In that world, there is right, and wrong. I don't decide what's right and wrong. I don't make it up as I go. Neither does anyone else. But I think that we do recognize it when it's placed before us.

I believe that most people in the U.S. think that a democracy in the Middle East is a very good idea. I honestly believe that most people in the U.S. don't think that the Iraqis are incapable of governing themselves. However, I also believe that the story that we're doing good, that we're doing the right thing, that things by and large are going well in Iraq (with a couple of dramatic, loud exceptions where our soldiers and Iraqi citizens are still in danger)... that story just doesn't sell newspapers, doesn't sell advertising space, doesn't get you in good with the editors. It's unfortunate (as well as being, IMHO, wrong). There's such a cynical slant to the media today - a sense that everyone is out for number 1. There's a real distrust of government (which can be good), which becomes an overpowering paradigm that the government can't do good, or is inherently evil (which is bad). Everyone is looking for the next Watergate, a fact that is eloquently expressed in the names we give to the many scandals that have come along. Filegate. Contragate. Travelgate.

This cynicism, this absolute and utter refusal to portray government or military activities in any kind of positive light is nothing less than an attack. It's an attack on people who have no alternative source of information. It's an attack on the impressionable, on the uneducated, on the unprivileged. It's an attack on the American Dream. It's an attack on ourselves. And it needs to be recognized as such.

Quoting again from C.S. Lewis, and placing the original quote back into the context of the thoughts immediately preceding and following it, "To be ignorant and simple now - not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground - would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defence but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered. The cool intellect must work not only against cool intellect on the other side, but against the muddy heathen mysticisms which deny intellect altogether."

Here's to the search for good philosophy. Heck, here's to the search for good. I hope and pray that we find it - in ourselves, in each other, and in this country. There's so much to love about America. There's so much here that's RIGHT. Let's never, ever forget that.

Utter Complete Randomness...

Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A Fly Can't Bird, but a Bird can Fly.
Ask Me a Riddle, and I reply,
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.

Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A Fish Can't Whistle, and Neither Can I.
Aske Me a Riddle and I reply,
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.

- A.A. Milne...

(I love Pooh).

So, who WAS the Prisoner of Azkaban?

... asked a little old lady I overheard on the way out of the theater yesterday. Great movie. If anything, it seemed a little short. Visually incredible. The scenes with the Hippogrif, Buckbeak were amazing. +2 Cokes. If anything, it was a little short (at 2 hours and 20 minutes, saying it felt short is a compliment, if anything).

I was pleasantly surprised. I honestly wasn't expecting this to be good, but if anything, they're getting better.

I think I'll buy another game today...

Gotta practice my deathmatching... I'll play some UT2K4 this weekend, and maybe pick up the supposedly really decent Star Trek: Elite Force 2. EF 1 was a lot of fun (a lot of that was the portable Photon Torpedo Launcher, and the movie-style disintegration of people who caught a compressed phaser blast), and EF 2 should be a lot of fun too.

I just hope my computer will run it.

Bad rap for metal

A friend of mine stopped by yesterday, and as we were chatting, he told me he found a place downtown where we could play Halo head2head on the PC. He asked if I wanted to get together next week sometime and play. The poor guy. I've always wanted to do something like that. And the obvious thing that you need if you're going to be playing First Person Shooters in a Competitive Environment is ... really good background music.

Flash back. I was a Junior in High School, and a friend of mine made a mix tape for me. The whole thing was hard rockin' bands. AC/DC, Judas Priest, Dokken, Scorpions, etc. It was lost when I went on my mission, dang it, and it makes really good background music for running around with a shotgun. (I still miss that tape... dang it.)

So I started looking around on iTunes and other places last night for really good hard rockin' music to throw on a mix cd. I re-introduced myself to AC/DC's "Who Made Who", and The Scorpions' Rhythm of Love. I found a new favorite in an older song - Warrant's Uncle Tom's Cabin, and I got a guilty pleasure to throw on the mix. Twisted Sister's classic "Burn in Hell" - a song which until last night I couldn't watch without thinking of Pee-Wee Herman biking through their video shoot. It's a sign of my upbringing that I find it difficult to enthusiastically sing along with the band during the chorus. Then last night I started actually listening to the words of the song, and I got the biggest shock. The whole song is about changing your life before it's too late, otherwise, you'll burn in hell. It's a time-honored traditional Christian message. And I'm laughing really, really hard that something I always thought was so... naughty actually turned into something that was trying so hard to be good.

For the intellectually curious, my Headshot mix consists of...
For Those About to Rock, We Salute You - AC/DC
Who Made Who - AC/DC
Burn in Hell - Twisted Sister
Revolution Calling - Queensryche (from Operation: Mindcrime)
Uncle Tom's Cabin - Warrant
The Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
Master of Puppets - Metallica (from the S&M album)
Bang Your Head - Quiet Riot
I Want You to Want Me - The Clash (doesn't really fit, but oh well)
Until It Sleeps - Metallica (from S&M)
Eyes of a Stranger - Queensryche
Sad, Sad Kid - The Pillows (from the FLCL OST-1, Addict, a really good cd but not really metal - good guitars, though)
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n Roll) - AC/DC

Good music for virtual deathmatching!

Elvis has NOT left the building

What the heck happened to me? I was doing so well, posting 2 or 3 times a day, then summer hit, and apparently my priorities just went to crap.
And I've been busy.
Working.
Studying.
And Playing Neverwinter Nights. After purchasing the Hordes of the Underdark expansion (which is lovely, but now my installation of NWN is well over 3 gigs), I've been trying to decide if I want to attack the HotU campaign, with my old monk, Kalkin ng Kamay (Kalkin of the Hand), or if I should start another character and work his way up. I'm running through the Shadows of Undrentide campaign again, this time with a straight fighter (something I've never done before). And I'll find a campaign to run another sorcerer through. I'm fascinated by the possibility of epic levels and feats, and some of the new prestige/epic classes (Red Dragon Disciple? Weapon Master? Oh yeah, baby!)

Also, I've been watching a lot of anime. While nothing has yet taken the place of FullMetal Alchemist, I've found some comfort with Last Exile (I watch the last episode available here in the States tonight, but the new DVD comes out on the 8th! Helllooooooo, Netflix!), Martian Successor: Nadesico, and my Donald Duck collection. Donald rules.

We're also looking at moving here in the Portland area, pursuing a quest for cheaper rent. In particular, we're looking at managing apartments, something that would result in work for rent + extra money, and would wind up saving us about $800.00 a month. I hope we get that.

Today, I've found a new webcomic. I read Penny Arcade and MegaTokyo every time they come out (M/W/F), and occasionally I'll read a whole bunch of Sinfest, but now I've got a new daily comic to read - Sluggy Freelance. Go, and partake of the awesome lemon-fresh goodness that is... Sluggy Freelance. Now I'm going to have to find and buy the books, dangit!