There once was a man named Shin';
His beard was quite far from thin;
Though he must concede,
He's quite the dickweed;
But hey, he's warm 'neath his chin.

-- Sommael Guy, Esq.

I post, therefore I obsess way too much about my life.

Likes and Dislikes

Do any of you have something (whether it's a movie, TV show, book or whatever) you like -- you may not even like it that much -- that, for whatever reason, you feel an intense urge to defend when someone throws out even the slightest insult against it?

I have no idea why, but I feel this for Dragon Ball Z. Yes, I know. I KNOW. Trust me, I know every fault the series has inside and out, and I agree they are very serious faults (understatement of the century, I realize). But, God help me, I still like watching the 'tard. I have searched deep inside my soul many times, but I cannot find the answer to this. If I want blind action, there are a bajillion better series to go to. If I want goofy humor, there are a bajillion better series to go to. If I want to shut my brain off, there are a bajillion better series to go to. Yet I can't escape DBZ. It is a horrible disease, and I know it is a horrible disease, but if someone throws out a bad word against it, then I am there to fend off the hatred. It is totally instinctual; I probably have some fucking DBZ genome hardwired into my DNA or some shit. Ugh, this is depressing me the more I think about it, so let's move on to the second part of this.

On the flip side, is there something where, under normal circumstances, you would just not like the movie/book/show/whatever, but because of abnormal circumstances, you have come to view this thing with an intense hatred reserved for those who murder your family?

For me, The Boondock Saints fills my mind with a venomous hatred such that I am surprised my skull does not melt when I think about it. The hype for this movie was just so enormous before I saw it, and ALL my friends talked it up like crazy, and then I finally watched it and was like, "OMG, I think I hate life now." I mean, it reaches a level of fail that would embarrass Ace. It tries to do so much, and the results are just so miserable. It fails as an action movie, outside of a couple of nifty stunts. It fails horribly as a morality tale. It fails as a black comedy. It fails as a hip crime movie. The director and writer, Troy Duffy, must not have watched enough Quentin Tarantino, because he fails really hard at making homages to better movies. Just ... God, when I think about this turd, I want to communicate solely in the foulest blasphemies possible. There is no level of sacrilege evil enough to symbolize the hate I am feeling at this moment. I don't even think it is the worst movie ever made; circumstances just made me despise it with the passion of a thousand suns.

Anyway, no real reason for this, except maybe that extreme reactions to anything are hilarious. Share!

Life: 09/06/08 | Posted By: Shinmaru | 6 comments | Tags:

The Obsession Grows

After noticing there was no category for Revolutionary Girl Utena avatars on OB, I went ahead and made some today. They are definitely not of the quality of most avatars people submit on OB, mainly because 1) I suck at this and 2) Most of the Utena pics I found on the 'net suck. Oh well. The important thing is people can finally have their Kid!Touga and Kid!Saionji avatars.

Right now I am through ep26. The new arc is starting exactly how I thought it would, and I am not complaining about it one bit. After ep26, I am wondering how I could have thought Shiori was such a hot evil chick (which I still think) and at the same time have totally glossed over Kozue. Well, um, she showed me a thing or two, haha. I'll never doubt you again, my dear! Wish there were better Evil!Kozue pics around -- the more evil women avatars there are, the better.

I am beside myself with excitement about ep27, because it is apparently another Nanami comedy episode. It feels weird to be so eager about brushing aside the main story for some laughs, but Nanami has yet to fail me so far, so I am expecting another chunk of gold from this episode. Then we can get more dueling -- if I am guessing correctly, Juri is up next. Oh, baby. Anticipation levels up to 11!!!!!

In other news, this is my last week at my internship. I have had a ton of fun there, and I am sad to be going. Don't know if there are any job opportunities there at the moment, but I'm definitely going to let them know I'm interested should any arise. I am actually interested in pursuing copy editing as a career now -- I would not be earning much less than I would as a journalist, and I am pretty damn good at it if I do say so myself. The biggest problem I can see is there are definitely fewer positions for copy editors than there are for journalists. I shall persevere, however, because I am awesome.

What else ... all my Rock Band playing has vastly improved my skill at Guitar Hero III. This week I went through all the songs in hard mode and beat my high scores one by one, sometimes by as much as 70,000 points. I finally have the hang of hammer ons and pull offs, though I still can't beat "One" on hard because it is Satan incarnate.

Lastly, some plugging:

• Allamorph can't get into theO chat because his college campus sucks. Help him out by visiting his AIM chats. The room is nullspace.
• lol @ Des
• RANDOM WRITERS BLOC PLUG

OK, I am out.

Life: 09/05/08 | Posted By: Shinmaru | 11 comments | Tags:

This Is Depressing

I linked to that Empire Top 500 Movies of All Time dealie a while ago, and it appears as if Empire went through all the votes and compiled their list. Empire released its top 100 via a collage of magazine covers it will be releasing over who knows how many months this month.

I had a nice look see at the top 100 ... and exactly one movie from my list made the list. Sooooooooooooo lame. (It's The Empire Strikes Back btw.) My taste isn't even totally outside the mainstream lol. Once again, my (awesome) list:

1. Dr. Strangelove
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Psycho
4. Duck Soup
5. Dog Day Afternoon
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
7. Grave of the Fireflies
8. The Hustler
9. Paths of Glory
10. Mulholland Dr.

Some people aren't liable to vote for in droves, of course, but the film geeks couldn't come out for Strangelove? Psycho? People adore Eternal Sunshine -- that couldn't get the recent movie vote? Come on.

Check out some of the gems that got on in lieu of my favorites (no, I'm not bitter at all):

• Speed (WTF)
• The Gold Rush (not a bad movie by any means, but this gets on and not Duck Soup? INJUSTICE)
• Titanic (not at all surprised this is on the list ... but, seriously, come on)
• Superman: The Movie (am I seriously alone in hating this? Ugh. Couldn't believe this is so revered as it is when I first watched it)
• Top Gun (oy vey)
• Men in Black (I like it, but ... good lord. My faith in humanity is slipping)
• Gremlins (I give up)

I am by no means a film snob, but Jesus friggin' Christ, am I this far out of the loop? One thing I will say in this list's favor is that it is a REALLY bizarre mix of tastes, and I like that. Where else would you see The Third Man and A bout de souffle on the same list as, well, Speed and Gremlins? Still, it leads to movies getting snubbed that I would have everyone in the world watch, and it also leads to movies making it that I wouldn't touch with a 100-foot pole.

Oh well. I'll be looking forward to the whole 500 being released. I will crack up if one of my movies is 101 lol.

EDIT: Also, Adam gave me a new nickname in the chat today, and I combined it with the old nickname he gave me ... so I am now "Shiggy Lemons." I am pleased with this development.

Life: 09/01/08 | Posted By: Shinmaru | 7 comments | Tags:

I Suppose You Have No Choice But to Revolutionize the World

I doubt chat has ever been greater than it was last night. Just hours of utter insanity. The Chatlogs of Doom can offer only but a taste of what went on. Wish I didn't get disconnected so much -- there was some gold people might not see (unless SomeGuy or Des or Korey or someone else saved bits people haven't posted yet).

Other great moments: Adam making everyone into mods again, leading to vicious paranoia as everyone desperately tried to make sure they weren't disconnected from the chat and subjected to the evil of the other temp mods; Ace somehow becoming a permanent mod and flaunting his power; excellent discussion of Des' final LttP videos (Armos Knights are teh sux, Agahnim = the Brooklyn Brawler of Zelda, etc.).

Good thing I have no school and no work until the afternoon, since I stayed up until 3 a.m. enjoying the insanity, haha. West Coast ftw.

TOPIC SHIFT. I am watching the 1960 version of The Little Shop of Horrors, and it is maybe the weirdest movie I have ever seen. A very young Jack Nicholson makes a short appearance and is really super creepy. MST3K would have had a field day with this movie.

MOAR TOPIC SHIFT. Finished the second arc in Utena yesterday. In probably any other series I would have thought of it as a total waste, especially considering where the series is going now, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and assume it will make more sense once the series is over (knowing Utena, though, it will make sense in the most bizarre way imaginable).

I am really looking forward to the next arc and am once again greatly amused at the humongous nuts this series has. If ep25 is any indication, Utena is going to fight all the Student Council members AGAIN. Only Utena could make absurd repetition so wonderful. Anything that gets me more Miki and (ESPECIALLY) Juri is cool with me.

EDIT: A random thing I think is funny -- the "do do do" piano cue for the random, two-second flashbacks you occasionally see in Utena sounds almost exactly like the "SHOCKING PLOT DEVELOPMENT~!/YOU FOUND SOMETHING" cue in Hotel Dusk: Room 215 for the DS.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll sit here and wonder why I bothered to notice this.

LAST TOPIC SHIFT. I'm still working on my Writers Bloc prompt response. Hopefully I will finish it tonight, but who knows. This story is proving difficult to write 1) because it's something outside my realm of experience (which isn't a bad thing at all) and 2) due to that, I am writing this story very delicately, which also means I am writing it very slowly, haha. Right now I am at a REALLY important exchange of dialogue between the two main characters, and I have been fretting forever about it lol. This part is the most ambiguous in my head, so it has been tough going.

EDIT2: Slow goings here at work, so I caught up on all the guestbook signatures I have so woefully let pile up. Hope they are, um, enjoyable. lol

Life: 08/30/08 | Posted By: Shinmaru | 4 comments | Tags:

Legen ... wait for it ...

Probably should not post about this before it is OFFICIAL~ but it's already in my profile, so WHATEVER MAN.

(This is an automatic message, do not reply.)

- "Bossman" Adam

It was only a matter of time. I AM A GOLDEN GOD.

Life: 08/28/08 | Posted By: Shinmaru | 6 comments | Tags: