...the damn song makes no sense.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 06:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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 That was unexpected.

^{You're telling US!?}

Episode 14 of  Sword Art Online again surprises.

There's a lot to like about this episode. It touches on several interesting ideas.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 03:46 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:06 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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That debate was almost painful to watch.

Romney beat Obama like The Hulk beat Loki.

more...

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:47 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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You are about to close 131 tabs. Are you sure you want to continue?

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As with the first two films,  a promo clip with the first 10 minutes of the third Yamato 2199 movie has aired on Japanese TV.

As the third movie starts the ship is finally leaving the solar system. However, it seems their FTL communications can't punch through the heliopause, so, for morale purposes the Admiral arranges for everyone to have 1 minute to talk to their families back home one last time.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Colleen Doran is having an art sale.


From the artists mouth...

For collectors, we have a limited number of first edition GN’s still available. My BOOKSTORE IS HERE. We only have about a half dozen of the original Volume I left. They will be gone by NYCC, I am sure. First come, first served.

My previous edition covers are now for sale HERE. Volume II cover has already sold. These are already reduced prices, but I accept payment plans. I will also consider a reduced price if you buy more than one painting.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yeah, it's politics...so its below the fold.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:32 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Don has collected a series of links purporting to document the decline of humanity.

He missed this.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 04:18 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Sword Art Online, despite its stupid premise, continues to impress me.

Asuna, the female lead, is particularly well realized. She's not a shrinking violet. She does not exist to show how awesome the male lead is. Asuna is a full fledged hero in her own right who at this point has unambiguously saved the heroes ass once more than he's saved hers. Unlike Kirito, Asuna was not an experienced gamer and certainly not one of this games Beta Testers, yet she has through sheer determination become at least his equal. She helped form and is now second in command of a guild that is fighting its way through the upper levels, she is however quite close to burnout when she meets Kirito for the second time.

_{(She's so buff that she could even afford to buy up her cooking skill to the max...my God, she's perfect!)}

On the other hand, Kirito, the male lead WAS a Beta Tester and as such is something of a pariah. The beta testers were deeply resented by the other gamers because they knew where everything on the lower levels was, and they did not share with the other players or train them.  Kirito did do a bit of mentoring, but is haunted by the mistakes he made early on and at one point early in the series he abandons clearing the game to schlep amongst the lower levels where his skill levels (about 3 times what is common in those regions) make him almost godlike. He spends several episodes doing good deeds and trying to be a hero with decidedly mixed results before realizing that his place is on the "front lines" and heading back.
At this point he's far past any areas he covered in Beta and so has no innate advantages. Though far from perfect he's an interesting and decent person, however he is weary and close to dispair when he by chance, encounters Asuna for the second time.

Kirito has developed as a character quite a lot over the course of the series but its the relationship between the two that is most interesting.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Episode 3 almost entirely consists of a quiet conversation in a park. The dialog is interesting, though I'm not sure the subtitles are doing it justice. While intriguing, the episode really reinforces my belief that this show cries out for a good dub.

Compared to the previous episodes the character designs are occasionally off model in this one...

Although it was a near run thing our stalwart hero did eventually manage to vanquish a 10 year old girl.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In the blogosphere, we frequently find links to stories like this, this and this, which are just damned appalling.

Its's important to remember however, that while rare, there are stories from the opposite end of the spectrum as well.

Read the whole thing. There's more here.

These are two really impressive people.

_{Hat tip to Cdr. Salamander .}

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Nazi-Acquired Buddha Statue Came From Space

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:45 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Colleen Doran has a post on the importance of trademark and I must say that...I cannot unsee it.  To assure us that this atrocity IS personal she also links to this.

In other news, there is a pending bacon shortage. A BACON SHORTAGE!

Not only that, I realized that I'm fresh out of tar and feathers.

With the car in the shop, I'm unable to stock up so I decided to check on the Japan/China situation and blundered into this.

I then decided to put my bagel to the side indefinitely and just look for images to use for reaction shots and macros for the blo....

...OH HELL NO!

^{If you don't get this piece by Poly-M...Congratulations. It was a test and you passed.}

We'll ask an artist for her opinion on these matters.


I think I'm in agreement with Mio on this.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 04:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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^{Art by Ramune}

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Wonderduck has a poignant post on the impact a well written comic can have. Go read the whole thing.


...then go buy Yotsuba@!.

It really is that good.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Star Turtle Village is in Peril!

We don't have enough ninjas!

Now is a most excellent time to start playing Billy Versus Snakeman as Star Turtle Village needs Ninjas. With its huge number of options it is ideal for a beginning player and has all sorts of bonuses and perks for established players as well.

Just click on this here banner here

Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

For established players or new players that just want to be at a village from the very beginning, then Fractale Village is the place for you! Established and ruled by the benevolent Pixy Misa, Fractale is a quiet, serene village hidden deep in the heart of math.

...Oh and all the nonjas are cute girls (well, except for Archie).

Just click on this banner if you want to learn math ninjutsu...

Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

Billy Versus Snakeman is a simple browser based MMOG in which is set in a universe composed of offbeat parodies of anime shows. You start as a lowly genin, dreaming of ninja awesomenes. However, as you rise up the ninja ranks, you gain new goals that take you on bizarre adventures, involving, wasteland scavenging, soul reaping,  monster fighting.  hanafuda, majong and darts as well as exciting careers in the fast food industry. It has a limit on how much you play a day ( you have a very limited amount of stamina) so you are only on about 15 minutes a day. Thus there is no danger of one getting eaten by the game and becoming one of those online gamer after-school specials..unless one were to play multiple characters.

Oh, wait...

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Japanese Coast Guard cutters have intercepted Chinese fishing vessels and patrol boats making a run for the Senkaku islands and engaged them with watercannon.

However, the Chinese vessels were not PRC, they were ROC.

Yes, the REPUBLIC of China, better known as Taiwan, also lays claim to the islets. and a small task force of patriotic Taiwanese fishermen sallied forth to make sure that this unspeakable mess got even more complicated. Taiwanese patrol boats, which had been escorting the flotilla gave covering fire with their own watercannon.  It appears that no one was injured.

Chen Chun-sheng, chairman of the Su'ao District Fishermen's Association, emphasised that the purpose of the operation is to protest Japan's "nationalisation” of the island chain and also to advocate the rights of Taiwanese fishermen. The operation was made possible with a NT$5 million (US$170,500) donation to subsidise fuel costs, Chen said.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:52 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Really?

I don't even...

Filched from Don who nicked it from RSM who despite being a journalism major knows basic chemistry better than the people at Dominoe. This is of concern because if their chemistry is THIS bad then they might think Zyklon B is a vitamin.

Buyer beware.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Chinese media is claiming that the fishing fleet that left for the Senkaku Islands mentioned in this post was apocryphal.

Information that a large number of Chinese fishing boats are heading for the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture is false, the chief of a Japan Coast Guard office in the southern prefecture said Tuesday.

A senior official of the Japan Coast Guard said the agency was already braced for a more aggressive maritime offensive from China, considering the moves it has recently taken.

"We need to deal with it,” the official said.

The primary duty of fishery monitoring ships is to prevent illegal operations by fishing boats.

But a source close to the Japan Coast Guard said the reality is different. The source said Chinese fishing boats tend to move upon the instructions of a monitoring ship.

"With a single command, fishing boats could head southward (to the Senkakus) all at once,” the source said.

The Japan Coast Guard has assembled 50 patrol boats around the Senkaku Islands in case Chinese government ships or fishing boats enter Japanese territorial waters. Many of the vessels have been sent by regional coast guard headquarters across the country.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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