Remind myself I'm an idiot

I feel like I want to throw up.

So I'm just cleaning out my pockets tonight and I find a bill with my credit card info on it for a total of over $70... for the comics yesterday. I don't know how I didn't notice but it's a shock to realize it after the fact. And at that particular shop it was just the two trade paperback collections and the Ghost in the Shell novel. How is it possible?

Well, the cover prices on DC and Marvel trades follow some kind of alien conversion process... The She-Hulk book for instance is $20 in American money. But the Canadian tag? It's $30!! I mean, whoa - that's a 50% difference - and the last time I check, the relation between Canadian currency and American currency had been on a closing trend, not splitting. How the hell are they justifying this?

The two major outfits in town have approached the problem in two very different ways...
The Comic-book-shoppe is having a standing policy to charge 20% below cover price - but this applies to hardcovers only.
Silver Snail (the distant cousin of the famous Silver Snail in Toronto) has taken to charging what appears to be a kind of arbitrary discounted price based on actual currency exchange rates.

Over time, Silver Snail's policy has saved me hundreds of dollars since they started this last summer. And my pimping shirt for CBS has been saving me tons too on just about everything else... the catch being I can't be walking around in a T-shirt during the winter months, of course. *sigh* I sure hope it warms up by the time the Civil War trades are released in a few months. Because this is ridiculous. >:(

Takei on Hardaway

I haven't laughed this hard in a good long while... nice to know George Takei shares the sense of humour I have when I shake my head and grumble, "ugh, white people."



PS: if the video doesn't display right... Check it out here.

Weekender Briefing

Yes, I know I just finished posting another post a moment ago but y'know, didn't want to overextend the scope of each post.

I'm finally getting into the groove with the fluff involved in Warhammer 40'000 and am well into my first WH40K novel. It's the Dawn of War novelization by CS Goto. While I'm told this is not the best book he's written (and that his DoW stories got better as they move the plots further away from the original game's storyline), I suppose it could only be a good thing that this is my first experience with his work anyway.

I've heard that writing action scenes is an author's least favourite thing to do. And that's understandable. Action is frequently something very visual that is difficult to describe (and make it interesting no less) in words. Goto however manages to run with it. And the author must do so considering the subject matter. Unfortunately that also means the bulk of the narrative is all about depicting the graphic violence on the battle field. Which, in one way is either incredibly thrilling, or quite long-winded ...all depending on the reader's current mood. And so it took me a good long while to get into the flow of the plot. What's particularly jarring (and I credit the author with handling such a balancing act) is that the DoW game featured no less than 4 races (in the first iteration anyway). Although the book addresses the humans as the main protagonist race, it does give us a reasonable look at the motivations behind the other sides of the battle in small enough chunks that it doesn't completely ruin the pacing.


Another book I've been reading is "White Maze" - a curious items I had grabbed at the local anime/manga specialty store. Although I do get picky with this genre, I will devour anything Ghost in the Shell. Long time readers of this blog will note that I own a complete set of the Stand Alone Complex DTS-edition DVD among other memorabilia...

This book is actually the third in a group of stand-alone stories translated into English and published by TokyoPop (which depending on your view of things can both a good and bad thing). I'm not entirely certain if this is an artifact from the process of translation but whereas the book I reviewed above drags its heels on action narrative, this book takes the "Dan Brown" approach and rapidly "gets to the point" in all matters. Action is sparse but when it does happen, there's often just enough detail that anybody who's watched the animations can see everything happen in the mind's eye. In fact, I'm reading it so quickly I picked up another one just today (yup, the backlog is running high again).

Speaking of the backlog, my haul today:

• Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex "The Lost Memory" - can only assume it'll read kind of like "White Maze" - very light-weight stuff.
• Dawn of War "Tempest" - yes, it's book 3 but I can't seem to find "Ascension" anywhere - will probably have to order it directly from The Black Library (unless Amazon stocks it again; that sure would be handy). Like I said, the first book is coming along so I'm thinking I'll get to this within a couple of weeks.
• She-Hulk Vol.4 "Laws of Attraction" - loved the first 3 volumes. This is one of the best comics series in publishing today - zany comedy unlike anything else out there.
• Road to Civil War - yeah, the prelude collection... I kept waiting for Silver Snail to get it back in stock but it looks like I'm not the only one who know's about their trade sales. Finally got this 2 weeks behind the times.
• Wonder Woman #4 - it's the one series I feel is "worth waiting for." Since late fall, this is only the 4th issue to come out?! And I hear the last chapter of the current story is delayed so the next issue will actually be a filler story. Argh!!
• Ghost in the Shell 1.5 "Human Processor Error" #5 - thanks go to Weirdguy for warning me this issue came out. I've blogged this series before and I'm loving it.

On total tangent, I was listening to Space Station Liberty's Richard Epcar interview podcast today and took note that they revealed that the dub for Solid State Society was already complete and that the entire cast of Stand Alone Complex had reprised their roles for the job. Absolutely cannot wait for July to roll around. I wonder what goodies Bandai and Manga Entertainment will be bundling into the limited edition this time! Life is good at this time.

Feeling the pain(tballs)

It's odd to have woken up this morning to find any bruises I had last night almost completely faded. Played paintball for the first time. Interesting experience - all at once not what I expected and everything I expected. For example, I did not find myself totally blown away (although I was hit several times). But also, when I was hit, more often than not, the individual paint pellets almost never broke on impact - effectively turning the bullet into a flying rock ...a rock that could unpredictably hit you either on your face mask (which is tough enough to protect you and break the shell open and splatter the paint) or on your neck (where I was unfortunate enough to be shot)... And just so you know, a person's neck just above the collar-bone is not hard enough to break a paintball open.

Strangely enough, I'm happy to report that I although I'm suffering from a "hangman" situation (1 hit on each of my limbs plus my neck and head), none of the hits were on my thighs... which also happens to be where I'm feeling the most fatigue. So I'm free to rub A-535 any time I want (thank god!).

And I needed that because a hot shower didn't help any after 4 hours at the paintball facility (although it did stop me from "smelling like a man.") All it did was loosen my leg muscles enough to make me feel it... all of it.

Update: Here are some photos one of the boys forwarded thanks to the miracle of digital photography...

This was us having a snack break at the mall before the game.

And this was us getting geared up in the staging area just off the field. Yeah yeah, there's a few obscured faces but they're not important people (i.e.: people I don't even know). ^_^;

D.O.M. 11

This post has nothing to do with anything except to point out that both Ikimasshoi News and Hello!Online reports that this week's issue of Friday magazine published a new interview and article about Kago Ai and it sounds like the parent company of Hello!Project, Up-Front Agency, is considering finally lifting the suspension on Aibon...

Let's celebrate with a DOM post using a shot from a simplier time ...something from before this whole scandal business occurred (thanks for nothing, Friday!).


Ok, let's just hurry up and put this behind us. Fine, underage smoking is illegal... but so is underage-drinking and I think we've all done that before.

computing quibbles

You might recall a while back I decided to give Thunderbird a trial run. Well, as with all things computing, everything's come down to the novelty over productivity. At least in the short term.

So to follow up, nowadays I'm really enjoying Thunderbird's built-in RSS reader functions. Since I'm the sort of person who has their mail client open pretty much all the time, it's handy to have all my RSS bookmarks available in the same app - this is even better than the "Live Bookmarks" in Firefox. It's particularly great for notifying me of updates on sites that just don't update that often... (I frequently find myself forgetting to check a site because they just haven't had anything new for so long I've given up on it).
...certain bloggers, for instance. No names mentioned. *ahem* ^_^;;

And what about the whole thing about syncing my PDA with Thunderbird? Well, actually, I never did find a suitable Mozzilla conduit for that. But as I said before, it's all a novelty. As a government employee, I'm bound by certain security protocols - one of which is the restriction on non-certified hardware. So while I love my old Sony T-615C, I'm not allowed to sync it at work - which effectively reduces any usefulness it could be to me on a day to day basis. I used to take notes at meetings on it, but well, without the ability to sync myself at my desk, I'm forced to transcribe everything later anyway (which can be just as well done by paper and pencil).

In any case, I've been using any "real" function on the PDA less and less. These days I just use it to store ebooks to read while sitting on the can, etc... (yes, that was probably too much information).

Speaking of novelty... I've decided to unplug my wireless router for a bit. The novelty of sitting in bed upstairs and surfing the web on my PSP has simply worn itself out. At one point I thought perhaps it'd be handy to have wi-fi in the house if my brother would drop by with his laptop and he'd have the convenience... but if you've been reading FusionAce - it seems less and less likely he'll ever bother to show his face around here.
Maybe in a few days I'll get around to plugging the wi-fi back in - I must admit that it does come in handy in the mornings if I quickly want to check my email before leaving - a PSP boots in only a few seconds - way faster than a PC booting into Windows.

In the meantime however, I've been leaving ZeroPrime running overnight crunching data anyway. Besides the usual J-pop torrents, I've also been working to get a backlog of downloaded videos through PSPVideo9. Kamen Rider Kabuto finally ended (pretty good ending too). And now I'm going through my old CD-R archives. It's amazing how I have complete series predating even DVD-R! I have fansubs of Gundam Seed I never even watched! Hmm... the follow-up series Gundam Seed Destiny is licensed commercially now but I wonder if I can track down any outdated fansubs.

Before anybody gets on my case about illegal downloading, let me just say this: realistically, it's the only way to stay ahead of the curve. We're all fighting a losing battle and everyone's out to profit as much as they can by their own means. I've chosen my option and I'd be crazy to pass it up. I mean, I could say "I can live without it." But then why would I want to deny myself an extra luxury? And anybody who's seen my collection can vouch for the truth - I've done plenty to support the DVD companies... especially the small-fish companies like anime distributors.

Reaction: Pan's Labyrinth

That's funny - I don't remember doping up before the movie started but I had one hell of an acid trip... Despite previous explorations into foreign film from time to time, nothing could've prepared me for El Laberinto del Fauno. Certainly not the promotional materials... I mean you had to wonder if the guys cutting together the trailers even watched the movie. One thing's for sure, director Guillermo Del Toro was up front about it when he said it was "a fairy tale for adults." Please don't bring your kids to this... it's rated 14A for good reason.

I'm not sure if a dub has been produced, but the version showing around here is the original Spanish film with English subtitles and it was a surprisingly smooth viewing experience. Not sure if my experience with subbed videos helped, but everything slid into place very nicely and I didn't miss a bit of the action.

And there is action... lots of graphic violent action. Not at the level of a pure horror film, but there was definitely gore involved. People getting beaten to death, cut up, shot, stabbed... the Spanish civil war of the 1940's was not a pretty time to be hanging around Europe.

The setting is 1944 Spain and the Franco military is fighting a guerrilla resistance. Ofelia has traveled with her very pregnant but also very sick mother to a remote outpost where her stepfather is in charge of the local fascist group of thugs. And then things go totally Alice-in-Wonderland...

While we've been seeing a large dragonfly buzzing around, little Ofelia has been convinced it is a fairy... and the fairy goes on to lead her into the woods where an ancient stone maze hides a secret portal to an "underworld" waiting for their reincarnated princess to arrive... The plot follows Ofelia's efforts to complete 3 tasks given to her by a faun creature living in the maze - a creature who assures her that her destiny lies with them. But what price is she willing to pay to get there?

Ultimately this is a story of hope (in a most extremely desperate time if there ever was one) and the choices of morality we must make. But then, isn't every good fairy tale rooted in learning something about oneself? I'm giving this movie 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up.

pre-order for what?

Hmm... just a thought. I never pre-order anything figuring... why wait?

But for a place like YesAsia.com - they frequently sell-out their initial allotment (depends on what you're looking for, of course). A month and a half ago I ordered the two singles due out from Hello!Project this winter... the first one (celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the premiere J-Pop project) came out last month. My order didn't ship because I had also pre-ordered the one due out mid February (the latest Morning Musume single with a bonus DVD).

By now I probably could've downloaded both (including the DVD materials)... ah well. Such is the way of shopping on the web. But you'd think distributors would take this into account by now and allow retailers to ship a little earlier so that pre-order customers would get it around the same time as the locals who have access to brick-and-mortar stores.

So yeah, my CD singles arrived tonight. Very pleased with the 10th Anniversary single featuring Iida Kaori, Goto Maki, Abe Natsumi, Niigaki Risa, and Kusumi Koharu... came with some collectible cards... not sure what if anything I can do with them, but they're cool to have.

The second is sort of a mixed bag. "Egao Yes! Nude" is the newest single (translates something like "smiling-face, Yes, Nude"; and no, I have no idea what that means). I pleased to own it. It's place in history is that it will be the last single to feature Yoshizawa Hitomi, and the first to feature Mitsui Aika. The edition I chose came with a DVD - which of course is a Region 2 disc. That in itself is all part of the international-collector's frustrations... What does annoy me is that it's actually just a commemorative disc introducing Aika - with clips from her audition and interviews with the other members... what it DOES NOT include is a music video for the new single. And I'm like, "WTF?"

Powers Roleplay begins!

Reminder to comics fans: the next arc of Powers Online has begun! The new story is called "Roleplay" and begins its "page-a-day" publishing schedule today (although, the first page is already so I maybe it might have started yesterday, I'm not sure).

Personally I loved the first arc, "Who Killed Retro-Girl?" and fell in love with both Deena Pilgrim and Christian Walker. Something about the style in which they were presented - they became real people in my mind's eye. Hmm... I wonder if we'll meet that orphaned kid again. They first arc never did address those "dreams" she claimed to have. And don't forget, the archive for volume 1 is still available to read in its entirety on the "Daily Powers" site!

I'm excited to be able to read the coming arc. (Look for the "Daily Powers" link in this blog's sidebar).

PS: if you've already read it, you're not allowed to post spoilers in my comments! ^_^;

Oh... not so sexy anymore

Seems the web-filter in the office suddenly came to its senses and decided Blogger was not as filled with sex as it thought. Must've been Valentine's Day...

Hey, I just noticed that last night was the second time the DJ left me comments and Blogger swapped comments with the posts. Well... it was when I read them this morning (seems to be the right comment with the right post now tho). I wonder what happened?

what singles talk about

Bloggers are sexy

I just thought it was funny to note that as of February 14 (Valentine's Day, no less) 2007, the web filter at my work place is now blocking my access to the Blogger.com domain name. I can access individual "blogspot" sites but will not be able post comments because I won't be logged into blogger from work. The Blogger title bar at the top of all blogspots is filtered and I cannot access the main Blogger page. It has been blocked under the category "Sex."

Yes, Bloggers are too sexy... But I didn't need my boss to tell me this because I've known this all along. ^_^;

web-stores and backlogs

It's a lazy Sunday and I decided I would catch up on some reading and watching some video that are piling up around here.

One series I downloaded and never got around to was Kiddy Grade. I got this before ADV licensed it - that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, Just finished watching the first episode (of full series of 24). A little weird ...reminds me a little too much of Dirty Pair. The updated character designs help a little but I couldn't shake the feeling I've seen this before. The Bome line released a 2-pack of the leading ladies and I've yet to open that package up - they've been sealed away since before I moved... maybe it's time to give them some respect... Hmm...

On to the second episode of Witchblade. No, this is not the Top Cow comic - but rather a Japanese take on the concept of a living bio-mech weapon attached to a female human. And it's so Japanese that it's not even funny - includes a post-apocalyptic setting, a lost little girl and sleazy but good-hearted scumbag, a mystery organization, and an even naked-er Witchblade warrior than Top Cow originally published. I don't know what to make of it yet. I'm enjoying the mystery tho...

Went back to a book I put down last summer (or was it the summer before that?). I had finished 2 of 3 stories in an anthology publication of "The Further Chronicles of Conan." I'm not sure why, but at the time the sword & sorcery genre had just taken its toll on me. As of last week, I'm about half way done with the third and final book by Robert Jordan in this collection: Conan the Victorious. Man, those titles were lame. ^_^;

Also have a on the backlog Dawn of War - the adaptation of the Blood Ravens storyline from the video game of that name. The novel has a couple of sequels that I'm realizing are becoming hard to find. I might resort to ordering Dawn of War "Ascension" directly from BlackLibrary.com some time. But we'll see how the first one goes - I've never read a Warhammer novelization before so it'll be interesting at the very least.

Speaking of on-line mail orders... besides that Paypal thing I mentioned last week, there've been a few other items hanging over me...

Back in January when I was all nuts over Ultraman Tiga... yes, you guessed it: I placed an order for volume 2 almost as soon as I'd finished volume 1. I knew they were back-ordered but I decided to try my luck anyway. I got a shipping confirmation today. I suspect it's because I also placed an order for a rare DVD of "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers."
That's a cartoon from the late 80's I enjoyed as a kid... one of those lost-causes that got cancelled within only 1 season because the syndicated show couldn't nail down a toy deal. Sad - because it was practically America's answer to serialized story-telling a la Japan-anime. Plus it had space cowboys on robot horses, how could you not love that?

Another order pending since ...forever, is something I've been waiting for from YesAsia. I've never done this but it's the first time I have ever (and will ever, likely) buy actual Hello!Project singles. But I figure it's a special occasion. The first disc is a single produced to commemorate the 10th year of H!P and it reunites several members of Morning Musume past and present. It's been out for a month but since I preordered the newest MoMusu single at the same time to save on shipping, it'll only ship this week... The newest MoMusu single can be heard here (hint: it's the first item under "news" labelled "music").

On a somewhat related note (I know, this post is getting really long-winded): is it just me or have e-commerce web-sites been really wacky lately? Both Amazon and YesAsia have been acting strange. For Amazon, my DVD's don't appear in my "open or recently shipping orders" list. I have to click the drop-down list to view it under "within 6 months." And for YesAsia, I almost had a panic attack because my credit card info did not appear with my order so I thought maybe they'd have a problem with it... I don't know what's going on...

Anyway, back to my weekend viewings... Still have that box of Voltron DVDs...

Future lost footage

After watching the Robotech movie this past week and talking a bit about it with Weird Guy, I was driven to look for some side-info (because I cannot be outgeeked by anybody else, right?). I remembered seeing a United Nations public service announcement done as a Robotech clip a while ago and started searching for it.

I found it here:
http://www.theshadowchronicles.com/info.php?id=un
It's a strange little bit of history. Supposedly, in the middle of putting together Shadow Chronicles, the folks at Harmony Gold decided to do this side project to promote the anniversary of the United Nations. And you'd think this would have been promoted to death but I've never seen it anywhere except by a link on the official Robotech.com web site.

It's also a little bit weird: while it does feature Scott Bernard (our hero from the third generation) and Ariel the Invid, they not only appear in their Shadow Chronicles animation designs, but also with different voices. I mean, if you weren't really paying attention, you would not know that these are supposed to be characters we last saw 20 years ago!

As it stands, now that the Shadow Chronicles movie is completed (the first one anyway), we have the original voice of Scott Bernard back, we have an official "new look" for the character, and the UN clip has almost disappeared into the ether - which it shares a DNS with www.theshadowchronicles.com - nowhere on that site is a link to this clip. One day it will sadly slip into oblivion like the Robotech Movie (another completed project but mysteriously lost).

long lost follow-up

http://benohki.blogspot.com/2006/09/minor-on-line-orders.html

Yes - that was 4 and a half months ago. And you know what? It just didn't happen. The run down goes something like this:

1. Placed order on a whim for some movie memorabilia (if you must know it was a Superman Returns trinket).
2. Wait.
3. Two days later a Paypal request comes in - I pay it.
4. A couple of weeks later no news...
5. Another few weeks... I'm moving out from my old apartment soon and wondering if it'll arrive in time before I'm out.
   
6. I successfully make contact with someone at the web-store. They inform me that the item was sold-out. I'm annoyed that they made me pay for something that was not in stock... but having done so ensures that they'll reorder from their supplier.
7. I'm moving out - I send another email telling them so (with forwarding info).
8. December rolls around, by now I've made up a rule to write them once a month. No reply this month.
9. New Years - I write them again ...my writing tone gets a little more snarky as we go.
10. Last week, contact reestablished. Admits that stock never arrived with other orders. Offers me a refund or a "similar" item. I choose a refund... that was Friday.
11. Paypal notified me of a $30 credit today.

Hmm... this is worse than having cash in my pocket... It's a paypal credit for crying out loud. It's not like I will actually lose out on a withdrawal to my credit card. I'm going to spend it, damn it!

RTSC: the new "Episode 1"

Well, it's finally here - Robotech is back after a 20 year absence. The Shadow Chronicles was released with ...well... non-existent fanfare. Which is surprising given the current status of anime (or rather any alternative animation not aimed specifically to small children). I grabbed the DVD on my way home from work tonight.

What's there to say? Here's what I posted at an enthusiast web site just a few moments ago...

[...]It didn't suck - anybody who says that is overreacting. I predict that this will be the new Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Your first gut feeling is "wow! Robotech! It's been so long and I missed you so much!" Then you sit back and think about it after you finished watching it. And a few days later after the excitement settles, you realize, "hey wait, it wasn't really that great, in fact, some of it wasn't so good." And then a few more years down the line, like a Jar Jar Binks, you'll start to hate it less and less and eventually just say "oh let's just ride with it, it was fun anyway."

There is however, one little item that will likely always bug me... the feeling that this was all fanservice - a nod to the fans and nothing more. Here's what I mean (and I'm not talking about that peek-a-boo chest on Janice's costume).

I'm talking about the "nice touch" the creators decided to have by allowing Janice to take make an impromptu performance of the old "It's You" song originally sung by Minmei in the original Robotech series. And this all took place at the karaoke stage. Plus, not so coincidentally, Janice happens to be voiced by Chase Masterson - an accomplished singer in her own right.
...and the polar opposite of what made that scene so right?


The creators decided they just had to sneak in another song, the "We Will Win" anthem (also from the Macross Saga part of Robotech). I mean, who is having a conversation with some one and then suddenly break out into song? Ugh... but at least we got one last look at that fantastic cleavage of hers...

A work in progress

Just felt I should spread this post that was added to Jim Lee's studio blog last week. The master was recorded while doing a 1-hour-challenge piece. It's very cool to see the process from conception to finished product... very few get to witness what happens between a comic artist sitting down at a blank sheet of paper and then turning out a fully inked drawing.

gelatometti: Crosspost from Myspace
Iron Chef Battle 2005:
Gelatomettisti Jim Lee vs Mike Turner

And now you are one of the few! ^_^;;

The Micro-Samurai

Something I picked up yesterday at the local comics specialty store. I normally have an aversion to any "varient" designs on my favourite characters - and it gets worse when it comes to in-house designs toy companies come up with that have nothing to do with the story as is.

(yes yes, Batman is a trained martial artist, but he was never a Samurai).

This is however a "Microman" - old school folks will remember these babies from the late 70's as "Micronauts." And in a strange irony, this variant design looks more like a Microman figure than any of the other licensed "Micro-Action" series figures I've ever encountered (exception being another Batman shown here which actually does have the "all chrome head" scheme familiar to Micronauts fans. I've since fallen in love with both and intend to hunt down last year's "Cyborg Superman" as well.

Sadly, mine had cracks in the plastic arms at the elbows. I don't know if the plastic was brittle and was already cracked when I bought it or it my manhandling the box out in the freezing cold yesterday on my way home had anything to do with it. I've repaired it as best I could with super-glue but that makes for permanently positioned joint... it's just too delicate to make a working hinge out of the remains. Too bad.

a few leagues short

I had a funny thought during lunch today.

"40'000 Leagues Under the Sea" doesn't add up.
http://www.rain.org/ocean/ocean-studies-challenger-deep-mariana-trench.html
The deepest part of the world's oceans is the Mariana Trench which reaches as far as 10'923m, which if one does the math using 1.6km to the mile and 3 miles to the league, is actually only about 2.275625 leagues. It's just a tad shallow. This is all relative of course.

Besides, giant squid have been found before (although not quite as large as Disney would have you believe). But who knows? Really.

things missed and things bought

For a guy with so much experience buying stuff on-line you'd think I would've embraced the opportunity to reserve stuff at my local brick and mortar stores when they started offering such a service (save on shipping and guarantee what you want to be there when you arrive, etc...).

Remember that door-crasher camera that was always sold out during the boxing-day sale? It was a 6mp camera and this week Futureshop offered a deal on the 7mp version of the same thing (I even went to the trouble of doing the research on this baby). I was trying to figure out why the 6mp version was priced higher than the 7mp version. Seems like they essentially swapped some functions out, etc... But really, I doubt I'd miss anything since well. The last camera I bought was a 1.3mp POS that quite frankly offers an improvement over ...a camera phone. And the only reason for that is... well, my phone has a camera on it.

Back to the story at hand: apparently I have some kind of mental condition that prevents me from making commitments to buy things. This psychological effect leaves me unable to reserve stuff on-line to pick up later. When I woke up this morning I made my decision that this price was right. So I made my plans to head over to the brick and mortar (stupidly forgetting to check on-line if they even had it in stock anymore. And of course, when I got there, it was sold-out ...of course.

On the bright side of things. By being there I stumbled on another deal I didn't expect - I found out that 4Gb memory sticks are on sale this week for only $100. If you didn't realize, it's essentially getting 2Gb for free because the 2Gb sticks regularly retail for that much.

Did I also mention I'm the kind of person with a mental condition that isn't satisfied until the money burning a hole in my pocket gets spent? Hmm... now to figure out what I can stuff onto my PSP with so much room to play with.

Powers - 1st arc complete!

Powers is Law&Order set in a super-hero world. Now is a good a time as any to remind everyone that Daily Powers one of the coolest freebies on the web. This week Daily Powers finished their first run of a-page-a-day publishing on the first storyline about a couple of street-beat cops living in a world populated by super-powered heroes and villains.

Check out the archive of the first book here!!
http://comics.newsarama.com/powers/

The first arc "Who Killed Retro-Girl" is a full 139 page story. It's been a bold experiment and I think it worked out for the most part (except for days where you had a large single-panel splash-page published; those were the times frustratingly little story occurred while a miniscule amount of plot unfolded over the course of several days). Did I already mention this is free? ^_^

Anyway, I encourage everyone to give it a try. And as they've just announced, Daily Powers will present the next arc "Powers: Role-play" very soon.