Check out the hopefully-soon-to-be-corrected article here, and go to Texas ComiCon this weekend, its gonna be loads of fun!
I’m pretty sure Mr. Ferrigno would prefer to be referred to as an ACTOR
Category Archives: RANDOMIZER9.COM
Worst. Spammer. EVAR.
Spam. If you’ve been on the Internets for more than say, a few minutes or have ever had an e-mail account, you should hate it in all its forms. One particularly odious form of spam is blog spam, where people will post comments on blogs that serve no purpose other than to try to direct you to some skeevy website of questionable repute.
While Askimet is pretty darn good at catching spam comments, one occasionally slips through the net and has to be sent to Binary Hell the old-fashioned way. I thought this one was HILARIOUS. Click the picture to see the derp in all its glory.
I think you’re supposed to only post ONE of these…
Magic Can’t Do EVERYTHING
Magic is pretty cool stuff if you’re a writer because you can pretty much do anything with it. Its almost a requirement in some respects, I can’t imagine writing a story in a fantasy setting without having a magician, wizard, or some kind of creature that uses magic.
Of course, just because you can do everything with magic doesn’t mean you should.
I am currently writing a series of furry short stories that take place in “The Enchanted Forest.” The first one, titled “The Hunter,” may or may not have been printed in the Anthrocon 2012 conbook but that’s neither here nor there. The Enchanted Forest is a magical place where, among other things, one can find a village called Aetherwood, where faeries live and grant wishes to those that can find it. I am admittedly borrowing the idea from “Fantasy Island” TV show, but with more fantasy and more fur! :3
So this is a place where magic exists and the faeries throw lots of magic around to bring the wishes of their guests to life. While the temptation is there to have everything happen with just the wave of a wand, I find that it is much more interesting to put limits on what can be done with magic in these stories.
I’m hoping that it helps prevent me from pulling the old ‘deus ex machina,’ too. If magic has infinite capabilities, then it can be the solution to just about any problem that comes up. This would make for some boring stories if at the end of each story, a character waved their hand and everything went back to normal, like in a TV show where everything seemingly ‘resets’ at the start of each episode. It also means actions can ultimately have no consequences, and as The Enchanted Forest stories are essentially morality tales, there need to be consequences or else the protagonists won’t learn their lesson.
The question then becomes: what limits should be placed on magic? I’ve got the following so far:
- Magic can be used to manipulate the land, create plants and even animals, but not people.
- While the faeries of Aetherwood can use potions and spells to change their appearance, the color of their eyes does not change.
Granted, that’s a pretty short list, but hopefully more ‘rules’ come to me as time goes on so I don’t pull too many things out of my posterior.
Or I could get off my rear and write a proper ‘bible’ for this world. That’s a topic for another time, though.
RANDOMIZER’S REACTION: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Resistance is Futile!
This is the second time I’ve written about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, click here to read the first post.
I have friends, both male and female, that enjoy watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and so I knew that I was going to have to eat those peas sooner or later. I just didn’t think it was going to stem from a discussion about time travel.
So I was shooting the breeze with my friend Chris while we were at a pizza joint and I started talking about a story idea I had that involved time travel. As expected, we started talking about media we’d watched or read that involved time travel and the “rules” that they had followed, so the conversation turned to Doctor Who, the Terminator series, Back to the Future, TimeWalker…and then out of the blue Chris suddenly says: “This reminds me of an episode of My Little Pony!”
I did a facepalm, much to Chris’ delight. Chris is a brony, you see, and so he likes to insert My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic into virtually ANY conversation we’re having…or at least it seems that way to me. Much to his chagrin, I still haven’t seen the show but figured what the hey, it was finally time to eat my peas. So we went to my place, fired up Netflix and saw not only the episode in question (“Its About Time”), but I also figured we’d also watch the first two so could get introduced to the show and the characters.
I have to say its pretty good. In terms of quality, I thought that the show was very well done. The characters and scenery were pleasant to look at, if not downright cute. The animation was pretty good, though I could see little instances here and there where it had that ‘Flash look’ to it. I felt the voice acting was very good, and the music fit the action well, with various variations on the main theme throughout.
While it does have some kid’s show trappings, like the ‘moral of the story’ bit, that’s okay. I liked what I saw, I found it entertaining to watch and thought it would be fun for everyone. So it has a nearly all-female cast? Big deal, so did Golden Girls. So its bright and colorful? Big deal, so are Super Mario games. Do some of the bronies need to simmer down and stop shoving it down everyone’s throats? Yes they do, but obsessive fanboys are present in EVERY fandom so you can’t really hold that against the majority of fans who aren’t screaming their love of it from the mountaintops.
Based on the few episodes I saw, MLP:FiM is a fun show for everyone to watch that is deserving of the attention it has been getting, even if the more overzealous members of the fandom tend to ‘squick the mundanes.’
Is it good enough to be deserving of that level of obsession? I can’t say based on having only seen three episodes, so I guess I’ll have to see some more in order to find out…
Uh-oh. This is how it starts, isn’t it?
Facebook Ads are Funny
I don't want to return to school with Grant, he's creepy!
I obviously read the ad wrong, but hey, at least I read the ad.
Booze? Well, that explains how Wall Street lost all that money
I don’t know what they’re selling but what were they THINKING?
Sick? Wild? I'll stick to Pac-Man
I still can’t get used to the word ‘sick’ being used in a good context.
In Defense of “Old Media”
Someone still loves you, radio!
I usually make my weekly run to the grocery store sometime during the weekend, which is probably not the smartest thing to do because everyone else does the same thing. Of course, life often gets in the way of that plan and I end up going on Monday instead, which is also annoying because it means I have to burn precious after-work-before-bed time. As I am one of those oddball men that actually likes to shop, it really isn’t that big of a deal because I can easily spend an entire hour at HEB buying groceries for the week. It also isn’t unusual for me to show up with a list of five items and leave with twenty…I’m thinking the two are related somehow.
In any event, it was time to go to the grocery store again, but this Monday introduced a new wrinkle: the Spurs were playing and it was an important game. Like most folks, I don’t pay much attention to basketball until the playoffs arrive, and the Spurs had lost two in a row and so they were in a ‘must-win situation.’ While I would have loved to just sit and watch the game, I had groceries to buy and laundry to do after that, so I made my list, checked it twice, and headed out the door.
Now I have a problem: I can’t keep tabs on the game while I am in the store. I do have a smartphone, though, so I figured I would open up a web browser and keep tabs on the game via a sports website. At the time I left my apartment, it was a close game and waiting for the browser to reload and update the score was agonizing. It then occurred to me that for all the 4G-dual-core-Flash-touchscreen-whiz-bang technology my smartphone had, I would have been better off with a cheap transistor radio tuned to a local sports station. Much to my chagrin, the last update came fifteen seconds before the game ended, and I ended up having to visit a different website to get the final score because the page stopped updating.
As great and wonderful as the Internet is, radio and television (aka “the old media”) still outdo the ‘net by leaps and bounds when it comes to things that are happening live. I am certain many of us remember refreshing our browsers at work every few minutes on 9/11, only to be stuck with pages that loaded slowly, or not at all. Meanwhile, at the same time TV and radio stations were providing a steady stream of information that kept going independent of how many viewers were watching. Sure, it wasn’t all ‘interactive’ and ‘social’ and all those things we expect nowadays, but when something is happening right now, give me a radio or a TV set anyday.
Kicking Tires
Buying cars seems to have changed a little bit since I bought my trusty Dodge Neon back in 2006. I have been going to dealerships and looking at vehicles for a few weeks now and thus far the salespeople aren’t quite as pushy as I remembered back then. I’d like to think that the Internet and social media have made it harder for bad dealers and salespeople to get unnoticed.
In any event, I haven’t had to raise my hackles at any pushy salespeople, even though they’re on a hair trigger almost from the moment I leave home to go looking around. One guy made me wonder, though.
As I was shopping for a new vehicle last Saturday, I happened upon a Ford dealership and pulled in to check out what they had. A younger gentleman introduced himself and showed me around the vehicle I was considering. We went out for a test drive and started just talking about stuff. I made mention of my job as editor of Original-Gamer.com and he made the comment that yeah, he had played World of Warcraft and League of Legends.
I figured, okay, I can talk shop with this guy. As it turns out he, was either a poser or had been out of the game for way too long. He asked me what “MUMORPUHGERS” were, barely batted an eye when I mentioned my beta invite to Mists of Pandaeria and didn’t know what E3 was. Really?
I guess shopping for a car hasn’t changed that much.
Steampunks and The Furry Fandom
Glue some ears on her and call her Furry?
The Furry Fandom and Steampunks. On the surface, these two groups/sub-cultures/what-have-you would seem to be very far apart, but I think they have more in common than there appears to be on the surface.
First, there is the Furry Fandom (AKA ‘Furries’ for short): these are people that enjoy works of art and fiction that feature animals with human-like qualities, such as the ability to talk and walk upright. There really isn’t a hard-and-fast rule as to what makes a character ‘furry,’ as far as I can tell. For example, both Mickey Mouse and Mrs. Frisby (that is, the one from the book) would be considered ‘furry.’
Next, we have the Steampunks, who combine Victorian era aesthetics and dress with fantastic accessories and weapons, asking what if the scientists and engineers of the day had found a way to power everything either with steam or some new form of energy. Think Victorian-era dress accentuated with leather, brass, gadgets of all types and for better or for worse, gears.
I have had exposure to both groups, having attended the first two Aetherfests in San Antonio as well as Furry Fiesta in Dallas this past February. In doing so, I noticed a few similarities between the two groups:
The first, and probably the best thing that separates these groups from ‘traditional’ comic book, sci-fi and anime fans, in my opinion, is that they are both very creative. Members of both groups choose to create their own characters and personas.
In the case of steampunk, it is almost a necessity as there is not very much in the way of established material. While there are a few folks that take existing characters and reinterpret them in the ‘steampunk’ aesthetic, such as Steampunk Boba Fett, they are in the minority. Instead, most steampunks will create a character, usually with an honorific or military title added to the name. Groups will sometimes refer to themselves as being part of an “airship crew.”
Insofar as the furries are concerned, you are not going to find very many folks dressed up as Bugs Bunny or Baloo at a furry convention. Instead, just like the steampunks, people will make up their own characters, often referred to as ‘fursonas.’ While many furs wear ears and tails at conventions, the apex of adopting a fursona is represented by the ‘fursuiters.’ Fursuiters dress up in costumes to fully take on the appearance of a character. The effort required to create a fursuit, to say nothing of putting one on, is impressive. Indeed, at Furry Fiesta I witnessed a wide variety of species represented. They also come in many different styles, from the cartoony to the more realistic.
Or glue some gears on him and call him Steampunk?
Secondly, both groups appear to be more receptive to writers. Writers are virtually nonexistent in most fan groups save for science fiction. Heck, I can count the number of writers that I’ve seen at conventions on one hand. Thus, I was encouraged to see a few writers with tables at Furry Fiesta and Aetherfest. Both conventions even held panels that were involved writers: meetups, discussions of the craft and even story readings. As a writer myself, I find it very encouraging and hope to have a table at a future event.
Both groups also attract older crowds, at least from what I have observed. The Anthropomorphic Research Project believes that there is “…evidence to suggest that there is a significant proportion of furries over the age of 25 (upwards of 30%)” I don’t know that anyone has done a survey of Steampunks, but most of the attendees I saw at Aetherfest appeared to be at least college-age or older. Being just south of 40 myself, I was relieved to not find any teenagers running amok at Aetherfest and just a few at Furry Fiesta.
Finally, both groups like to prefix everything with their descriptor: if you are a furry, then everything starts with ‘furry’ and if you are a Steampunk, everything starts with ‘steam.’ 😉 Okay, I’m just being silly now.
Despite being somewhat ‘on the fringe’ (or perhaps because they are on the fringe) both the Steampunks and the Furry Fandom have quite a few things in common. I’ve enjoyed taking part in activities held by both groups, and I look forward to continuing to do so in the future…just gimmie some glue, some gears, and some ears! 🙂
Artwork “SteamPowerGirl” by Chris Holm, used with permission.
Photo taken by me, so nyeah
Yeah, I’m workin’ on it!
As you’ve probably noticed, I’m goofing around with the layout/design of the site, so bear (or fox) with me while I get this here chingadera figured out 🙂
RANDOMIZER’S REACTION: AetherFest 2012
For more info on Steampunk and Aetherfest, visit the San Antonio Neo-Victorian Association’s website!
The best compliment I can give to AetherFest is that I should have set aside more time for it. Unfortunately, I ended up being a very busy nerd that weekend (to say nothing of stupid work on Friday) and thus, could I only make it out on Saturday. I had a good time, though. Like last year, (actually, like most of these things) I spent a significant time hanging out at my friend Chris Holm’s table, shooting the breeze and watching the festivities unfold before us.
Unlike last year, I did not try to dress the part. I really should put an outfit together, or at least jazz up the half-baked one I currently have. The opportunity was certainly there at Aetherfest, because there were a good number of vendors and dealers there selling all sorts of clothing and accessories. The spirit was there, but alas, the funds were not. Indeed, I felt just a slight twinge of guilt over besmirching the proceedings with my uncouth presence.
Aetherfest was greatly improved over last year, not that there was too much wrong with the event itself. There were more vendors, some of which were put in the main area, and the panels were held in bigger rooms that were located on the first floor, so they were easy to find and could accommodate more attendees. I attended a panel on the history of burlesque and learned some interesting things in addition to being entertained by the presenters and their tales. While I did not attend any of the main events, I heard lots of good things about them.
In conclusion, Aetherfest appears to have fixed the little issues that I had with it the first time around and ended up being a really good event, at least from my limited perspective. I really need to just go ‘whole hog’ next year; take some time off from work, get a proper outfit together and take in all that Aetherfest has to offer.
Eduardo Soliz 