Eldrad must live

Happy Monday.

Apparently my 1000th journal entry passed without much fanfare a couple of entries ago. Go me! Also, happy birthday to dincrest!

Also, I am zesting a lemon to make buccellatti, and man, my fingers smell totally awesome. Lemony fresh and zestily sweet! Hopefully the cake will taste as good. I'm making it because lordtravis, teachingmusic and bshippotemkin are coming over for dinner, and I'd like to have dessert for them as well. :D

The other day I saw Saved! at Judith's...man, but is that a funny movie. Jena Malone was good, and Mandy Moore kind of rocked in it. Also, Macaulay Culkin seems halfway normal and slightly well-adjusted now! :O

Let's Positive Linking!
- Hott lesbo Victorian porn. (From jokersama.) Not worksafe, obviously (it's PORN); also has minor bestiality (so that's why those Victorian ladies all had lapdogs!), subliminal wangs everywhere, unorthodox use of a sundial, and a PENIS-SNAIL. (Those wacky Victorians.) Seriously, how can things get awesomer than a penis-snail? XD
- AHHHHH BIZARRE FRENCH AIDS AWARENESS AD WTF! (From naruto_nerd; quite probably not worksafe.) I mean, I understand the meaning behind it, and it's certainly memorable, but still, wtf. Though at least they ALLOW advertising for safe sex there...I don't think I've ever seen a TV commercial advocating it here.
- If y'all haven't seen Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House press correspondent dinner/lunch/thing, you should. It's hilarious, though it says something about our government that, like bshippotemkin, my first response was worry for Colbert's well-being. XD

Edit: Apparently the porn entry has been deleted. And I did not save any of it to my HD to show you guys. I'm gonna have to hunt it down again now, aren't I? D:

Wow, I've got far too many links I've been saving up over the past week to post them all in three- to six-link increments in entries about other things. So once again, in lieu of actual content, have a hefty meal of links instead!

But before I get into the linkspam, happy (belated) birthday to aurianrose! (I started writing this entry yesterday, but somehow it didn't get finished till today...urk.)

Let's Positive Linking, Ginormous Edition!
- Poster Child. This is a group that makes "?" blocks from the Mario games (complete with power-ups inside, often!). Pretty cool, but recently several teenaged girls were arrested in Ravenna, Ohio...because apparently the police thought the boxes were bombs and that these teenage girls were a bunch of Miyamoto-loving terrorists on a jihad against Bumfuck, Ohio. GOD SO DEEPLY, DEEPLY STUPID. It turns out they won't be prosecuted, but there's still a very definite tone of disapproval in the police statement. WTF, the police should be the ones being forced to make the apology, not the other way round! After all, you can't convince me that NONE of these policemen played Mario as kids and knew what this about. >_<
- Missouri makes the news again, this time for a Grain Valley couple who claims to have sextuplets, but it turns out to be a hoax. God love the Independence area.
- Knitted roast dinner. (From pirochan.) :D~~~
- Department of Homeland Security gets "F" for online...well, security. I know I feel better that we're spending so many billions on protecting America from the EVIL EVIL TERRARISTS.
- An interesting story on a transgender woman and her problems with World of Warcraft's policies. (From tanzy.) The woman definitely has a valid complaint...seriously, banning people for nonderogatory remarks about sexuality while everyone on the chat channels is all "LOL N00B FAG" is just stupid.
- AUGH THE HYPOCRISY. At least these people aren't reproducing.
- Butt-sexiness now scientifically determined. Why am I not surprised that Kylie Minogue scored so highly on the bottom test? XD
- Men who have sex with dolls. (From jokersama.)
After a last attempt with a dating agency, Malcolm came across RealDolls online. 'I bought Rebecca a few months ago with the money left from my redundancy payment,' he recalls. 'In my imagination, she's 14 and earns pocket money by working in her school library. 'She's very important to me,' he continues. 'I feel affection for her which goes beyond sexual desire.'
...EEEK.
- Voicesvoicesvoices! (From jokersama.) The crop circles are sadly the tamest of the conspiracy theories he subscribes to.
- Having picked up the new Anita Blake "novel" at the library for the purpose of amusement masochistically weeping at the porny wreck that a once-beloved series has become, this comparison of the novels to an early Squaresoft RPG (complete with the phrase "Random Sex Encounter") deeply amuses me. XD
- Alison Jackson. (Site slightly not worksafe; for bare "Beckham" butt, "Cherie Blair" nip slip, and "Prince William" trying on royal robes naked.) An awesome British photographer who works with celebrity lookalikes to stage shots that aren't real but we all know in our heart of hearts probably could be. She did the cover of this month's New York, with Brangelina carrying their baby (which, of course, has yet to be born) in order to make fun of the celebrity craze. I want her book of photos so bad, it looks AWESOME.
- Trailer for Studio Ghibli's next movie adapted from a beloved children's fantasy book, Tales from Earthsea (based on Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books). Let's hope it's a little better as a movie than Howl (which was beautifully animated, but mystifying if you hadn't read the book even though it diverged very very drastically from said book).
- Gerard Butler (a.k.a. the Phantom of the Opera in the movie) has some scary, scary fans.
Another voice pipes up. "I have a Gerry doll. It's a mannequin really, but it's full-size and anatomically correct." Kelly's friend Paulette Comstock, who hails from Wisconsin, moves closer. She wears a T-shirt featuring several photographs of Butler. Her hair is a shock of dark cherry, framing piercing pale green eyes. The look could be bottled: menopausal intensity. "We dress him up too, " she says with a wink. "It's great fun. Although it can get out of hand. You ever tried cleaning up chocolate spread?"
EEEK again. (What is it with the RealDolls today? D:)
- Snack Food Zodiac. I am a Ding-Dong. D:
- Founder of Greenpeace argues that environmentalists being stupid. This is certainly thought-provoking, and I've certainly been all about the GMO foods (dammit, I really want to try grapples one of these days!).
- Lance Bass quite possibly gay. (From jokersama.) SHOCK. At least it makes him that much more appropriate for Sephiroth. XD
- Housefly gets glasses. (From enkiae.) Some scientists clearly have far too much time on their hands. Still, AWESOME.
- Good procrastination advice. (From...someone. rathershady?) It'll certainly come in handy over the next couple weeks!
- Strange Things are Afoot at the Circle K. Or, The Blog of That Lolicon Oklahoma Cannibal Killer. He's apparently a fanboy, eep. (For the record, his favorite Final Fantasy game is IV, which makes me feel a lot better that I vastly preferred VI.) But he seems so normal from his blog! (In fact, it's not all that unlike mine!) In fact, I'm fairly certain I've visited that blog before (or at least one with that title). Eep, I hope I don't turn into a lolicon cannibal killer. D:
Also, creepily, his last post was after he killed that ten-year-old girl but before the body was found. D:
- Rosa Parks posthumously pardoned by Alabama. I'm not sure what offends me more, that they felt their pardon was worth anything after this long (seriously, it's been 50 years and the woman is dead; that's like adding insult to injury), or the fact that three senators are apprently still racist enough to oppose it.
- Bill in Ohio attempts to make abortion a felony. (From naruto_nerd.)
- In happier news, ZOMG VERY BIG AND CUTE RABBITS.
- Read the newspost below the comic. Apparently Scientologists are fighting against anti-suicide programs in Florida schools because they use psychology. DUBBA TEE EFF.

...whew!

Also, I'm finishing up my reading in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance for today. Maybe it's just that we've been reading a lot of nonfiction in that class and so it makes a nice change, but I'm really liking this novel. Maybe I should give Hawthorne's other books another try one of these days.

Edit: Also, for some reason I keep craving Mega Man-esque synthesizer techno-pop, and the MM OC remixes just aren't cutting it. Does anyone have anything that would meet that description (other than the DDR song "Pink Rose," which I already have)? If you give some to me I will love you long time! :D

For some reason, I keep listening to this song over and over. You wouldn't think the ending song from an anime about gay shota incest (Papa to Kiss in the Dark) would be so cheerful, but then you'd be wrong! :D

Also, earlier this morning the GetBackers opening theme song ("Love That Never Wavers") came on as I was having an IM conversation with my friend Colin from England, and I suddenly had this visceral sensory memory of sitting in my room in Middle Mill, watching GB fansubs on my laptop in the middle of the day with the sun shining in through the curtains. That, of course, led to a cascade of more of the same type of sensory memories - sitting on a picnic blanket in Fairfield Park with Min-Hee, going to the Odeon with Col and Min, shopping at the Borders with the 300-year-old staircase, etc. - and nostalgia suddenly gripped my gut like a vise grip. It has yet to let go.

...When I met with the DGS yesterday, she said I should look at doing research abroad (i.e., England, given my specialty/ies) during the summers, and I think I may do that next summer. It's been far too long since I've been to England.

Let's Positive Linking!
- Best IMDB entry EVAR.
- Man files complaint against Easter Bunny. That damn evil bunny, when will he be stopped?
- Dog-Gone gas neutralizing thong. (All from surlykitty.) But how will people blame it on the dog now?

Well, I've finally worked my way through all the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure scanslations. That said, it is totally the most awesome series EVAR and you should all be reading it if you're not already. If you want to read it, scanslations of parts 3-6 are here (the translations for part 4 are completely cracked, part 5 is ongoing but unfinished so far, and part 6 has stalled for the moment, but they're better than nothing) as well as ongoing scanslations of Steel Ball Run, the JoJo AU that is kind of serving as JoJo part 7. If you want parts 1 or 2 (part 1 is mostly setup but does have its moments of Specialness, and part 2 is delightfully cracked-out), just IM me at MegatenYosi (AIM) or yosituna@hotmail.com (MSN), and I can send them to you.

It's kind of funny - as nemissa said on IRC, "jojo is special in that the original manga somehow manages to be gayer than the fanworks." IT'S TRUE. No matter how gay JoJo fanart gets, it never manages to overtake something like this (note: "weird sexiness" was translated "dubious sensuality" in the official translation), or this (notice in addition to the gay pose, the questionable positioning of GioGio's hand BELOW MISTA'S BELTLINE).

Also, how can you not like a manga with a character like Doppio, who treats the most random things as phones (complete with making the DORURURURU ringing noise with his mouth)? I haven't read far enough to figure out whether his Stand power actually allows him to use random things as phones, or whether he's just poco loco, but either way he's Special with a capital S. <3

Let's Positive Linking!
- 3.6 billion degrees Fahrenheit reached on earth. Of course, taking humidity into account summer in Kansas City is still hotter. XD
- Mega Man vs. Ghosts 'N' Goblins (Flash game). Of course, I speak as someone who, hopped up on OC remixes and nostalgia, picked up Mega Man Anniversary Collection this weekend. It's either a lot harder, or I've lost a helluva lot of hand-eye coordination since I was 8. D:
- An awesome webcomic based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (a Chinese history epic). It's also Special with a capital S...I'm fairly certain the original RotTK didn't happen quite like this. Or like this. Or like this. However, even speaking as a history major, this is probably an improvement on the original. XD

I need to work on cutting down my BPAL backlog...so, review time!

( BPAL: March Hare )

( BPAL: Aureus )

( BPAL: Dragon's Heart )

( BPAL: Kuang Shi )

In other news, tonight I baked three loaves of challah and half a dozen bagels. You can tell I'm hitting that busy time, because baking is one of my preferred procrastinations from schoolwork. Because who can fault you for procrastinating when the end result is tasty treats? :9

From iowayehudit:

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	High
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	Very High
Envy:	Medium
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

Discover Your Sins - Click Here

Ahhh, sloth. I've been meaning to do something about that tendency one of these days, but you know I really can't be bothered. XD

Let's Positive Linking!
- So this is what Homeland Security is devoting their resources to. And this. Nice to know our government is watching out for us so...thoroughly. >_<
- Haha, what a great newspaper error. Apparently there's a student newspaper even worse than the U-News! XD
- British atheist looks at Colorado Springs megachurch. I do agree with the original poster that the British guy is just dripping with audible scorn, and actually gets kinda heated (though I imagine if you're a British person unused to wacky American fundamentalism, you might get kind of exasperated in a "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO STUPID" way). Sadly, the pastor does have a point in that the British guy totally does come off as arrogant (even though he's right). On the other hand, AUGH but said pastor is creepy and smarmy - and also apparently ill-informed as to what the Nuremberg trials actually were. XD
- Man, the day I win the lottery I'm totally going to buy a house just so I can build one of these. Of course, I suppose I'd actually have to PLAY the lottery first. XD
- Haha, this completely not worksafe music video is amusing! It's especially amusing given the production of Love's Labors Lost that I recently saw was set in the same time period, so now I'm imagining the King of Navarre asking the Princess of France whether she takes it up the ass. XD
- Apparently aliens are stealing schoolgirls' slippers. God, I love the Japanese (in general, and Mainichi Wai Wai in particular). What would we do for fubar without them?
- JOJO + STAR WARS FOR THE WIN. :D :D :D
- This is SO HOW IT IS. (From firestorm717.) Which reminds me, I need to do my taxes and FAFSA this week. D:
- Apparently the reputed Shakespeare death mask may in fact be genuine. (From rathershady.) They still seem pretty unsure about it though.
- For animal lovers (or haters), 50 Animals in Casts. (From surlykitty.) SO CUTE BUT SO SAD ;_;

I officially hate R.K. Milholland of Something Positive now. Damn him for doing that to me! ;_;

Also, today I was searching for something innocuous and came up with two of the worst things in the entire world:

1) white nationalist websites featuring racist fucktards with names like TeutonicPride1488, and
2) Nick Carter/Mandy Moore fanfic.

AUGH SOMEONE PLEASE BLEACH MY EYES

Let's Positive Linking!
- The Cloud Song. Adorable yet slightly disturbing, for any FFVII fans out there.
- OMG I AM DED OF CUTE. (From jokersama.) With the little tongue, and the water... +_+
- Dubya has been eaten by a grue. (From ahebert.) Gotta love those old text adventures.
- Confused Harry. (From jokersama.) What is it with all the delightfully fucked-up Silent Hill stuff lately? :D
- This made me laugh way more than I probably should have. It's taken from this strip from iharthdarth.
- You've gotta love it when Osamu Tezuka tries to go dark. I especially like the boxer flash and the throwing the silverware out the window.
- Scary-Go-Round makes fun of Questionable Content. I'd be offended if I weren't laughing my ass off. XD
- Cingular tries to patent emoticons. Personally, I'm waiting for them to try to patent netspeak too. "OMGLOL(c)!"
- Bipedal crocodilian dinosaur found in museum basement. (Yes, again from jokersama.) Their basement must be kind of like my parents'. XD

OK, I totally feel like a ridiculous BPAL glutton, since I got three months' worth of orders this a week. (Part of it was that I was gone for a month, and then I guess they cleared up their backlog over the holidays. XD) But I'm now DROWNING IN BPAL...I have to do a crapton of reviews over the weekends so that I know which ones I like. (I'm highly amused by the fact that they sent Follow Me Boy as one of my frimps. XD)

Last night I had my first History of Western Letterforms class. It seems pretty cool - mostly focused on hands-on work, exploring doing calligraphy of various hands throughout the ages - but a little more work-intensive than I was expecting for an undergrad class. Now, admittedly, it's more fun to practice calligraphy than to read yet another scholarly article, but we're doing like three pages of calligraphy homework a week, and by page I mean "no margins chock full writing a crapload of stuff." And also, because we're trying to get things right, it's taking FOREVER - I spent most of class yesterday (about two hours) drawing basic Roman letters with pencil on graph paper and didn't even finish half a page, and we have to have three pages of it (plus another full alphabet) next week. You'd be surprised how hard it is to draw decent-looking versions of the letters we write EVERY SINGLE FRICKIN' DAY. D:

Oh, also, I finally found a used couch that's pretty nice and that they'd deliver (it's even a sleeper, and in a color I like) and so I should have it tomorrow morning. :D

( BPAL: Nyarlathotep )

( BPAL: The Lion )

( Game inventory meme )

( Ten facts meme )

Let's Positive Linking!
- Apparently Rasputin is the major baddie in Kuzunoha Raidou. INteresting...
- A new, more informative Silent Hill trailer. (From enkiae.) OMFG WATCH IT
- Expose radical teachers and get $100! Yay for university McCarthyism (NOT).
- Cyclops kitten. (From rathershady.) OMG SO CUTE
- Most college students lack skills - MAD SKILLZ, that is. Actually, I have all of the skills they're so worried we don't have, so I'm not frettin'.
- Apparently Kirk Cameron has gone all fundie Christian, and in the process has lost his mind. WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CRAWDADS

Edit: Oh, and for rathershady, a link to the webcomic One Over Zero.

OK, more SuikoTactics.

( In which we meet The Maybe Traitor and Corselia grows Mary Sue Princess Power (oh noes) as well as a backbone (oh yesses) )

( BPAL: Al-Araaf )

( BPAL: Alone )

( BPAL: Spirits of the Dead )

Let's Positive Linking!
- Murderous Santa display protests secularization of Christmas. Featuring Santa: Special Serial Killer Edition! :D
- 83-year-old grandma hits 3-story beer bong. I would totally be all OMG COOLEST GRANDMA EVAR, except that Old Grandma Hardcore is still cooler. However, this lady shows a definite adventurous streak that I have to admire.
- Top 100 Engrish moments in videogames. Wubba, wubba. I'm in the pink today, boy!
- Knitta, please. A new and bizarre kind of urban graffiti. (This and the above links have been brought to you by jokersama.)
- Bush Shuffles His Shuffle. Or, The Confusing Part of Using an iPod. (From surlykitty.)
- A funny Advent Children parody. (From firestorm717.) I liked the Pokemon reference the best. XD
- Apparently Suikoden Tactics is getting a UK release for all you Brits on the flist. Now you too can have TOTALLY HOTT short-shorted gay pirate action, the sequel! :D

For some reason I'm feeling very nostalgic today - not for anything in particular, really, just for about everything. It's kind of a weird feeling, because normally I can put a specific name to nostalgia - like "oh, remember England?" or "oh, I remember that trip to Memphis!" But now it's just kind of a generalized nostalgia for all of my various past experiences. It's weird.

In related news, I just put together a ginormous playlist of all my '80s (and a little '70s) soft-rock. It is the AWESOME PLAYLIST OF DOOM! *insert silent squeeing here*

Okay, um, today was kinda eventful. I was part of a theory study group looking at the exam questions for our final, then Amy (one of Ben's friends who lives up here) took me out grocery shopping and to get some boots so that I'm a little more snow-ready. Afterwards, we picked my truck up from the shop and took it home. But having spent all day around other people, I'm feeling kinda lonely. But I keep telling myself that I'm getting ready to go home next weekend and spend most of a month around other people, so I should enjoy the solitude while I've got it. XD

Let's Positive Linking!
- Gay marriage passes in Britain, yay! Hahaha, the Pink Pound. XD
- Crimes against kids increasing in Japan. I like how even though their crime rate has risen 50% in the last four years, that just means they're up to 30 murders a year. FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.
- The straight dude's guide to Brokeback Mountain. (From firestorm717.) *refrains from a South Park "gay cowboys eating pudding" joke because they've all been made in the months since this movie was announced*

Edit: Remember the Escapist article I linked to a couple days back? Well, the author has put up a response to the criticisms, and it makes him sound like even MORE of a smug, pretentious fuck. If the Escapist article was irritating, this will make you want to either gouge your eyes out at this guy's ego or slap the fucktard silly over his puerile posing. (enkiae and I have been pointing and mocking and snarking over AIM all evening; it's fun, you should try it!)

Edit 2: Holy crap, a Tri-Ace double whammy: Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth have both been announced! The first is a sequel to Valkyrie Profile, only one of the best games for the PSOne (which I bought when it first came out, gave it to my sister a few years later when she was complaining about not having enough games, and then she promptly turned around and sold her game system and games for a pittance, AUGH); the second is a remake of the original for the PSP. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to do the Mexican Rain Dance Localization Dance. And while I'm at it, I'll ask for a domestic release for Devil Summoner PSP too.

Edit 3: Oh no, Eugene McCarthy and Richard Pryor died. ;_;

Edit 4: Okay, by popular request (or just because I felt like putting it up): enkiae's and my snark over Chris Crawford's articles (both the original Escapist article and then his rebuttal posted on his own website which is linked above).

( click for snark )

The bad: Disney is replacing Christopher Robin with a Mary Sue.
The good: Neil Gaiman's hilarious response. Gosharootie!

Er, yes, and more BPAL reviews. I added alchemylab back onto my flist - BIG mistake. I will never go there again unless I am looking for something very specific, because it's too tempting to just be "ooh, I've heard good things about this one, oh, I should get this one, etc."

( BPAL: Mi-Go Brain Canister )

( BPAL: Fruit Moon )

Let's Positive Linking!
- Woman hires hit man for cheese. I believe that headline speaks for itself.
- The ugliest dog EVAR, which recently died. It looked kind of like something out of a survival horror game, but I'm still kinda sad that it died. ;_;
- Design the Silent Hill movie poster! If my MAD PHOTOSHOP SKILLZ actually, y'know, EXISTED, I'd totally do this!
- I kinda want to smack the irritating sense of self-entitlement out of this brat (assuming such a thing is possible). Newsflash, kid: not everything is about you!