Chomic is a term created by my friend, Pharaoh Mobius. It was a word he and a friend created to describe online comics. I first heard him use this phrase in late 2001 when he decided to make an online sprite-based comic based on an RPG that several of us* were participating. That's a story for another day, though. I only have about 15 minutes before I'm going to get breakfast.
Not so long story short, I've asked him for his old "Tales from the Duh" sprite sheets and I'm going to make a few comics to be posted here. I'm not going to bother setting up an account at a comic place because I tend to get bored easily. (Remember when I was going to program an Atari game? Or make a portable out of a console? Both projects put on hold indefinitely.)
I came up with a few ideas on Monday. It's not going to be a continuation of the old comic because I couldn't do the story justice. I want to make about seven to ten comics with about 3-4 panels each before I post anything. I just want to see what kind of punchlines and scenarios I can come up with. And even if my humor fails, my bad attempt at background items should at least make it worth it. If I have any kind of success, maybe I can make it a weekend thing. I've been really lazy updating this blog on weekends.
Surely I can at least cut and paste and throw in some lazy dialogue and an obvious punchline, right?
* - And by us, I mean the people who I've linked to. Check out those links to your right.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Redskins Watch (8/21/07)
Once again, I didn't watch the whole game against the Steelers. In fact, I was taking a bath and I had just switched on the channel when I saw Jason Campbell grab his leg. I didn't have the greatest expectations for the season and I was lowering them after last week. Now it appears that the biggest reason for this season to exist is out the window. Thanks a lot, Steelers. You just keep going low against QBs like you always do. (Yes, I know this is only the second time it happened in the last couple years, but damn.)
Hopefully his injury isn't serious. Still, damn.
Hopefully his injury isn't serious. Still, damn.
Monday, August 20, 2007
This Week In Entertainment (8/20/07)
My Pick of the Week is the DVD set for the Tenth Season of South Park. I caught a few episodes after the whole Scientology thing and there were a couple classics. I didn't see all the episodes, but I loved the episode where they made fun of Family Guy and the media's fear of Islamic terrorists and the episode that made fun of conspiracy nuts. This season also included a hilarious take on evolution. (And while the creators of this show clearly have no use for religion, I think the Richard Dawkins got it far worst than any of their takes on religion.) Sadly, for some stupid reason, the only episode that was nominated was nominated for an Emmy was the online RPG episode. I don't know who's to blame for this but the Emmys suck.
I was born in the 80s, so I'm required to poin out that Mr. T's "I Pity the Fool" series is out on DVD. Amazon says it's the first season, but I thought the show only lasted six episodes.
Lita should like this one: It's season 2 of The Dog Whisperer. I've never seen this show before so I can only assume that Cesar spends a lot of time grabbing dogs on the shoulder and saying "Tsssst!"
In theaters this week is Mr. Bean's Holiday. I'll probably see this on DVD but early reviews suggest that they didn't learn from the first movie.
For the DS, we have Brain Age 2. I'll probably pick this up, even though I don't have the time to train everyday.
The Wii Virtual Console is scheduled to have Super Metroid today. Great game, even if there's a couple places where I got stuck. (So stuck that I bought the Game Boy game thinking that there was a clue there. I was wrong.)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Harry Potter and the Fifth Movie
I saw the fifth Harry Potter movie over the weekend. Since I don't want the last update to continue to be sports related (since it annoys 2/3rds of the people who read this blog) let's see if I can remember anything about it.
First, let's go quickly go over the first four books/movies.
Sorcerer Stone - Harry Potter finds out he's a wizard and gets to go to a school. The book is a hit because it actually makes school look fun, making it a hit with teenagers/young adults. Kids probably read it too.
Chamber of Secrets - Basically, Sorcerer Stone but a little darker.
Prisoner of Azkaban - FORGET Chamber of Secrets! We're REALLY DARK! So dark, the director of this movie is going to make the whole movie dark.
Goblet of Fire - Ok, so it's gotten really dark, so we'll make a fun book. ... HA! Suckers! VOLDEMORT IS BACK! EAT DEATH, MINOR CHARACTER!
So that brings us up to the longest book in the series, something about a phoenix. Ok, so it's Order of the Phoenix, but it usually takes me a minute or two to remember that title. Of all the books, that's the one I have trouble recalling. I can certainly pick out scenes here and there, but overall I can't remember the general plotline. I think there were scenes that I recalled from this book but I would wonder if they were really from the fourth or sixth one.
Let's forget all that and go to the movie. The movie starts with the Dementor attack from the novel. After the fourth novel dumped the Dursleys, I was wondering if that was the last time we were going to see them. I was also wondering about Harry's cousin, who was a fat runt the last time we saw him. I had to check to see if it was the same actor, because he was much bigger in this movie, and appropriate for the role. (He seemed to be cross-eyed, which I thought was weird.) Later we see Harry's horrible step-parents. The movie omits one of the more interesting scenes from the novel where a letter makes Harry's aunt stay a little longer. Instead, they just hear about Harry's expulsion, and I like the uncle's one-worded response. Speaking of the uncle, he looked a little cross-eyed and sick in this film. I hope the actor is ok, but now that I think of it, I wonder if the eyes were meant to be a reference to the sixth novel.
The Order of the Phoenix arrives to take Harry away. We're introduced to a few key characters and not-so key characters. We get to see the real Mad-Eye Moody, and I think it's a shame that the last one doesn't count. From the novel, I imagined Moody to be sort of a no-nonense kind of guy, but I thought the actor made the character likable in a crazy kind of way. The next character we meet is Shacklebolt, who gets a good line but doesn't do much else. The last character we meet is Tonks.
Tonks is an interesting character in that she seems to be a fan favorite despite her limited screen time. I admit that at the beginning of the sixth book when she rescues Harry from the train, my first reaction was, "Who!?" She gets little screen time, so it wasn't really necessary to include the "Don't call me Nymphadora!" scene, unless we're suppose to laugh at her silly name. Which I will. Nymph! Ha! I think the most memorable thing her character ever did was make a lot of Americans ask what the heck 'wotcher' meant.
The movie introduces an actual important character when the students wait for their carriage to arrive. When I was imagining Luna Lovegood, I thought of her as being a little more goofy, probably because the illustrations in the book nudged me more in that direction. In this movie, the actress makes her more spaced-out. Despite the fact that she reminds me of a blonde version of one of my cousins, I eventually accepted this. It's just too bad that this movie didn't include one of my favorite scenes from the book, where Luna wears a lion's head and shows it off to Harry before a quidditch match.
Finally we see Umbrage at Harry's trial and at the beginning of the school year. She was one of the most evil characters in the series and the actress did a great job at making her so unlikable.
Still, the best character in the movie is the actor who plays Filch. I had forgotten that he was really into Umbrage's reign and the movie has fun with him putting up every education decree. One of the funniest scenes is when he's waiting for Harry's "Army of Dumbledore" to come out of their secret hiding place. It's interesting the kind of mileage they can get out of a minor character.
I think that's enough for characters. Let's move on to some stuff that happens in the film. (I apologize for the jumbledness of this post, but I've only seen this movie once and my bad memory is making me recall the film in bits and pieces.)
One things I remember while reading the book was that Harry was kinda a jerk. Even given all the trauma he had gone through, I still thought he was losing his temper way too often. The movie dropped some of the scenes where Harry blew his top so he wasn't as angry. The only scene after his first detention where he really lost it was when Dumbledore was ignoring him after the snake bit Ron's father. By the way, the snake attack was a bit shocking for a family movie and I think the PG-13 rating is more justified here than in the last movie.
One of the scenes I was looking forward to was when George and Fred revolted. On a side note, it's kind of a shame that their business hasn't been developed in the movies, but I understand that it's a pain for the movie makers to make a two and a half hour movie. The revolt is good, but it's nowhere near as crazy as the book. I think in the book they were unleashing whirlwinds and they got one of the ghosts to assist but here they just set off a ton of fireworks. It's not quite as a "HELL YEAH!" moment as in the book.
The short-lived relationship between Harry and Cho is also short-lived in the film series. Here, the films just make Umbrage force the truth about the Dumbledore Army by truth potion, and then we get a brief scene where Harry blows off Cho. Oh, and on a COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE (at least for you people who haven't read the books) Ginny gets very few lines, even though she fights with Harry at the end.
I was surprised that they added Gwarp to the movie. I guess they had to justify the obligatory scenes with Hagrid but I wouldn't have been surprised if they cut his half-brother out.
The movie ends with Harry and his close friends going to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Harry's godfather. This is where the movie out-darks the last two films. It reminds me of the look of Batman Returns. I can't remember much about the end of the book, only that Sirius is killed by crazy Bellatrix and falls behind a veil. I never understoof the poin of the veil, since a killing curse is enough. (The movie has her sneak attack Sirius instead of letting Sirius's pride being a part of his downfall.)
The movie has a standoff where Harry is forced to handover the mcguffin to Lucius Malfoy. I don't remember if that was a part of the novel, but it seemed like the series should have ended at this poin. Instead, the Order of the Phoenix shows up in white streaks of light and they fight the death eaters who turn into black streaks of light for some reason. I don't recall that in the novels at all. It was ok, but a bit silly how that got the DA out of the jam they were in.
On a positive note, the death eaters don't look as silly as they did in the last movie. The KKK is really scary, but the poiny-hat death eaters weren't so much. I thought the masks in this movie were an improvement.
Finally we get to the big showdown in the film and novel. Voldemort vs Dumbledore. For me, I remember it in the novel like this: "And then Voldemort shows up! But Dumbledore also shows up! They're fighting! Look at all the pretty lights! Oops, it's a tie, Voldemort leaves." I forgot about the part where Voldemort tried to possess Harry. I guess I'm a crappy reader.
The movie ends, and here I think the cuts hurt the worst. Harry Potter doesn't seem to be that badly affected by the events that happen during the movie. In the book, he's absolutely furious at Dumbledore but here they just have their usual chat. The wrap up also seems to cheerful. It's too bad. Maybe the DVD will have a ton of deleted scenes, but I'm not counting on it.
I hate to end on a down note, because I still enjoy this series. I'm glad my sister brought me to the first couple films and that my friend Lita encouraged me to read the books. Now bring on Half-Blood Prince!
YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS, POTTER?!? HUH?!?!?
First, let's go quickly go over the first four books/movies.
Sorcerer Stone - Harry Potter finds out he's a wizard and gets to go to a school. The book is a hit because it actually makes school look fun, making it a hit with teenagers/young adults. Kids probably read it too.
Chamber of Secrets - Basically, Sorcerer Stone but a little darker.
Prisoner of Azkaban - FORGET Chamber of Secrets! We're REALLY DARK! So dark, the director of this movie is going to make the whole movie dark.
Goblet of Fire - Ok, so it's gotten really dark, so we'll make a fun book. ... HA! Suckers! VOLDEMORT IS BACK! EAT DEATH, MINOR CHARACTER!
So that brings us up to the longest book in the series, something about a phoenix. Ok, so it's Order of the Phoenix, but it usually takes me a minute or two to remember that title. Of all the books, that's the one I have trouble recalling. I can certainly pick out scenes here and there, but overall I can't remember the general plotline. I think there were scenes that I recalled from this book but I would wonder if they were really from the fourth or sixth one.
POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT LURK AHEAD!
Let's forget all that and go to the movie. The movie starts with the Dementor attack from the novel. After the fourth novel dumped the Dursleys, I was wondering if that was the last time we were going to see them. I was also wondering about Harry's cousin, who was a fat runt the last time we saw him. I had to check to see if it was the same actor, because he was much bigger in this movie, and appropriate for the role. (He seemed to be cross-eyed, which I thought was weird.) Later we see Harry's horrible step-parents. The movie omits one of the more interesting scenes from the novel where a letter makes Harry's aunt stay a little longer. Instead, they just hear about Harry's expulsion, and I like the uncle's one-worded response. Speaking of the uncle, he looked a little cross-eyed and sick in this film. I hope the actor is ok, but now that I think of it, I wonder if the eyes were meant to be a reference to the sixth novel.
The Order of the Phoenix arrives to take Harry away. We're introduced to a few key characters and not-so key characters. We get to see the real Mad-Eye Moody, and I think it's a shame that the last one doesn't count. From the novel, I imagined Moody to be sort of a no-nonense kind of guy, but I thought the actor made the character likable in a crazy kind of way. The next character we meet is Shacklebolt, who gets a good line but doesn't do much else. The last character we meet is Tonks.
Tonks is an interesting character in that she seems to be a fan favorite despite her limited screen time. I admit that at the beginning of the sixth book when she rescues Harry from the train, my first reaction was, "Who!?" She gets little screen time, so it wasn't really necessary to include the "Don't call me Nymphadora!" scene, unless we're suppose to laugh at her silly name. Which I will. Nymph! Ha! I think the most memorable thing her character ever did was make a lot of Americans ask what the heck 'wotcher' meant.
The movie introduces an actual important character when the students wait for their carriage to arrive. When I was imagining Luna Lovegood, I thought of her as being a little more goofy, probably because the illustrations in the book nudged me more in that direction. In this movie, the actress makes her more spaced-out. Despite the fact that she reminds me of a blonde version of one of my cousins, I eventually accepted this. It's just too bad that this movie didn't include one of my favorite scenes from the book, where Luna wears a lion's head and shows it off to Harry before a quidditch match.
Finally we see Umbrage at Harry's trial and at the beginning of the school year. She was one of the most evil characters in the series and the actress did a great job at making her so unlikable.
Still, the best character in the movie is the actor who plays Filch. I had forgotten that he was really into Umbrage's reign and the movie has fun with him putting up every education decree. One of the funniest scenes is when he's waiting for Harry's "Army of Dumbledore" to come out of their secret hiding place. It's interesting the kind of mileage they can get out of a minor character.
I think that's enough for characters. Let's move on to some stuff that happens in the film. (I apologize for the jumbledness of this post, but I've only seen this movie once and my bad memory is making me recall the film in bits and pieces.)
One things I remember while reading the book was that Harry was kinda a jerk. Even given all the trauma he had gone through, I still thought he was losing his temper way too often. The movie dropped some of the scenes where Harry blew his top so he wasn't as angry. The only scene after his first detention where he really lost it was when Dumbledore was ignoring him after the snake bit Ron's father. By the way, the snake attack was a bit shocking for a family movie and I think the PG-13 rating is more justified here than in the last movie.
One of the scenes I was looking forward to was when George and Fred revolted. On a side note, it's kind of a shame that their business hasn't been developed in the movies, but I understand that it's a pain for the movie makers to make a two and a half hour movie. The revolt is good, but it's nowhere near as crazy as the book. I think in the book they were unleashing whirlwinds and they got one of the ghosts to assist but here they just set off a ton of fireworks. It's not quite as a "HELL YEAH!" moment as in the book.
The short-lived relationship between Harry and Cho is also short-lived in the film series. Here, the films just make Umbrage force the truth about the Dumbledore Army by truth potion, and then we get a brief scene where Harry blows off Cho. Oh, and on a COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE (at least for you people who haven't read the books) Ginny gets very few lines, even though she fights with Harry at the end.
I was surprised that they added Gwarp to the movie. I guess they had to justify the obligatory scenes with Hagrid but I wouldn't have been surprised if they cut his half-brother out.
The movie ends with Harry and his close friends going to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Harry's godfather. This is where the movie out-darks the last two films. It reminds me of the look of Batman Returns. I can't remember much about the end of the book, only that Sirius is killed by crazy Bellatrix and falls behind a veil. I never understoof the poin of the veil, since a killing curse is enough. (The movie has her sneak attack Sirius instead of letting Sirius's pride being a part of his downfall.)
The movie has a standoff where Harry is forced to handover the mcguffin to Lucius Malfoy. I don't remember if that was a part of the novel, but it seemed like the series should have ended at this poin. Instead, the Order of the Phoenix shows up in white streaks of light and they fight the death eaters who turn into black streaks of light for some reason. I don't recall that in the novels at all. It was ok, but a bit silly how that got the DA out of the jam they were in.
On a positive note, the death eaters don't look as silly as they did in the last movie. The KKK is really scary, but the poiny-hat death eaters weren't so much. I thought the masks in this movie were an improvement.
Finally we get to the big showdown in the film and novel. Voldemort vs Dumbledore. For me, I remember it in the novel like this: "And then Voldemort shows up! But Dumbledore also shows up! They're fighting! Look at all the pretty lights! Oops, it's a tie, Voldemort leaves." I forgot about the part where Voldemort tried to possess Harry. I guess I'm a crappy reader.
The movie ends, and here I think the cuts hurt the worst. Harry Potter doesn't seem to be that badly affected by the events that happen during the movie. In the book, he's absolutely furious at Dumbledore but here they just have their usual chat. The wrap up also seems to cheerful. It's too bad. Maybe the DVD will have a ton of deleted scenes, but I'm not counting on it.
I hate to end on a down note, because I still enjoy this series. I'm glad my sister brought me to the first couple films and that my friend Lita encouraged me to read the books. Now bring on Half-Blood Prince!
YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS, POTTER?!? HUH?!?!?
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Redskins Watch (8/14/07)
Last Saturday the Redskins played the Titans in their first preseason game of the year. Since it's only the first preseason game, it doesn't really matter, and therefore I don't have to watch the whole game to give any thoughts on it. Besides season ending injuries, there's not much you can take away from the game. Still, here's my kneejerk thoughts.
My biggest worry about the Redskins right now is their offensive line. It would be typical of the Redskins to slightly improve their defense after last year but then watch as their offense dramatically decline. Jason Campbell fumbled a couple times, one after a linemen missed a blitz. I really want to see what Jason can do this year and I don't want him to become the next Patrick Ramsey. I really don't want to see Brunell this year.
Jason had a couple good passes, but we didn't have either of our two best running backs playing so the offense didn't do much. I'm losing patience with Al Saunders even if this was only a preseason game.
As for defense, Vince Young didn't play because of some mystical mysterious unmentionable rule. I forget what it turned out to be, but it was really lame. I think he missed curfew or something, but why did that have to be hushed up by the announcers and the Titans? We got Kerry Collins instead. I still remember rooting for the 1996 Panthers. The Redskins defense was ok, but the Titans did a better job of moving the ball.
I didn't watch the second half. I just remember being online and seeing the score at the two minute warning, thinking the Skins were about to be shut out. I finally refreshed the page and the Skins won by 14 poins. I really hope that we don't see our third string QB play this year.
We got the NFL Network announcers, for some reason. Usually we get the local radio guys for preseason, and the guys we got were pretty boring. It sucks that we now have a HD tv and we might have to turn the volume off and the radio on during the game.
My biggest worry about the Redskins right now is their offensive line. It would be typical of the Redskins to slightly improve their defense after last year but then watch as their offense dramatically decline. Jason Campbell fumbled a couple times, one after a linemen missed a blitz. I really want to see what Jason can do this year and I don't want him to become the next Patrick Ramsey. I really don't want to see Brunell this year.
Jason had a couple good passes, but we didn't have either of our two best running backs playing so the offense didn't do much. I'm losing patience with Al Saunders even if this was only a preseason game.
As for defense, Vince Young didn't play because of some mystical mysterious unmentionable rule. I forget what it turned out to be, but it was really lame. I think he missed curfew or something, but why did that have to be hushed up by the announcers and the Titans? We got Kerry Collins instead. I still remember rooting for the 1996 Panthers. The Redskins defense was ok, but the Titans did a better job of moving the ball.
I didn't watch the second half. I just remember being online and seeing the score at the two minute warning, thinking the Skins were about to be shut out. I finally refreshed the page and the Skins won by 14 poins. I really hope that we don't see our third string QB play this year.
We got the NFL Network announcers, for some reason. Usually we get the local radio guys for preseason, and the guys we got were pretty boring. It sucks that we now have a HD tv and we might have to turn the volume off and the radio on during the game.
Monday, August 13, 2007
This Week In Entertainment (8/13/07)
My Pick of the Week is...a documentary? The heck? This movie is about a man's quest to get the all time score in Donkey Kong, and the reviews at Rotten Tomatoes are very good. Hopefully the word 'chumpatized' on the poster I put up here isn't actually used in the movie.
Also out today should be Metroid for the Wii Console. I know it must look primitive to people who haven't played it before but back when it was first released it was brilliant. (With the exception of those verical hallways where you had to jump up. Darn those were annoying.) I already have a couple versions of this so I don't need to spend the 500 Wii poins. JUSTIN BAILEY ________ ________!
Also out for the Wii (and GameCube and various other systems) is Madden 08. I haven't touched a Madden game since my intro to the series, Madden 94 for the SNES. I liked the Madden 07 demo I played at a mall so maybe I'll pick this one up. This will be the first Nintendo football game with online options.
Moving onto DVDs, we start with the Anniversary edition of Labyrinth. Lita hooked me up with a copy of this movie before but now I can buy this DVD to pay off a piracy offset.
The Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie comes out this week, not to long after it was released in theaters. How did that Boston ad do for you guys?
A very funny show if it's the one I've seen on Comedy Central, it's Rowan Atkinson Live! The best bits are the ones where he's a principal telling a parent about a student he killed and the one where Rowan does all the characters in a play. It also has the bit where he's in a church, which he did as Mr. Bean once. Very funny, if a bit salty, stuff.
Speaking of Mr. Bean, this DVD includes his first movie and Johnny English, a movie that was funny but I'm having problems remembering. Say, is there a sequel coming out soon?
I would buy this movie if it included a bit where Robert DeNiro looks into the mirror and screams "SEGA!!"
At first I thought it was weird that they made this compilation without the most famous movie in the series, then I realized it was probably better this way. Wouldn't you be appalled if they included the first movie just to make you buy the latter ones?
SPOILER ALERT - IT WAS THE ONE-ARMED MAN!
I saved this for last because it made me laugh. Here's a collection of three movies under the title of Computer Science 101, yet it includes ridiculous anti-CS movies like Hackers. I admit I haven't seen it, but doesn't include 'hackers' using ridiculous GUIs? If there was a young kid I hated who wanted to be a CS major, I would give him these movies to screw him up. (Still, this set is better than say, the Anatomy 101 set. That includes friggen Showgirls. Do you want to think of Jesse Sprano when you think of female anatomy? Yikes.)
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