Genshin 6.1Genshin Impact is a free to play, online, gacha game. This means that expectations are rather low. However the game has, over the 18 months that I've played it, actually impressed me with its storytelling.
What starts out as a bog-standard fantasy game (with, God help, me isekai elements) develops over the first few scenarios into something quite unique.
Then it gets really strange
And awesome..
Over the last 5 years (or 18 months if you're speed running it like me) Genshin Impact has drip-fed its players a quirky, interesting and exceedingly deep, & detailed backstory for the world in which the player finds him/her self.
This drip feed has been quite entertaining and thoughtful, providing a very well realized world and that worlds history which one uncovers different layers of , as one wanders across the planet of Teyvat exploring each country and discovering how their histories and challenges tie into the larger story. Amazingly the characters one encounters are well written, and well realized.
With the 2 latest updates, however. this drip feed has stopped.
It's been replaced with a firehose.
Genshin's 6.1 update story was "all that and a bowl of grits". Exceptionally well written, with excellent character development, surprises galore, and building on the previous story in a believable way, An Elegy for Faded Moonlight ties together or clarifies more than half a dozen plot threads, some of which had appeared to just be flavor text. It resolved the current in-game crisis in a most satisfying way, while simultaneously setting up foundations for future mayhem. The only online game I've seen that has anything on a par with this is Final Fantasy14 with its award winning Heavensward update from a decade ago. This really was a 9/10 out of 10, and exceeded even the high expectations I have come to have of this game.
My only concern is that the next updates will be hard pressed to live up to this. But given the tightness of the story and how well it integrates elements from the beginning of the game, I do hold out some hope that this is not a fluke and they've really been working towards a coherent and satisfying ending.
Fingers are crossed. But as of now, it's looking quite good.
This Time FOR SURE!
TONIGHT! at 6:30pm EDT/ 10:30pm UTC. Join us as we are assisted in our quest to solve our audio issues by TEVAT'S FRICKING GODDESS OF WISDOM.
No, we didn't pull her but the quest does revolve around Nahida. We'll also be joined by The Balladeer and, presumably, a metric ton of lore. So, grab a drink and a snack, stop by, say "Hi!", and prepare to mercilessly harass a streamer as we try again (this time WITH SOUND) to do INVERSION OF GENESIS (the quest we started on Friday) in GENSHIN IMPACT! Join the fun at https://www.twitch.tv/brickmuppet
Next week's schedule sees some changes, as we RETURN to Hydaelyn, amusingly, we're now actually farther behind in the story than when we started Final Fantasy 14. We will attempt to finish Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, derp around in Doom 2, and do SOMETHING on Thursday. Friday, we'll be celebrating the end of the week by chilling in Genshin Impact with another audience participation stream. Tonight, however, we must try to save a Raccoon! (We might also have to rescue an annoying redhead) as we seek to thwart a corrupt CEO, defeat Lovecraftian cultists, and finish the incredibly well written, and horrifying.....uh....BEACH EPISODE of Zenless Zone Zero's second season. Stop by tonight, be amazed by the story and take the oportunity to bully a streamer, the fun begins tonight at 6:30pm EDT / 10:30pm UTC over at https://www.twitch.tv/brickmuppet
Music: Amaranthe's Digital World Video: a selection of ZZZ Cut Scenes.
Zenless Zone Zero is an astonishingly well written game and despite all the issues that are inherent to the Gacha model, it is quite satisfying.
It's VERY Free To Play friendly (I have yet to spend a cent after one year). The story itself is weird and as mentioned here, despite the Xianxia elements, it scores surprisingly high on Moh's Scale of Sci-Fi Hardness, (4-4.5 is the number I keep coming up with...and that is SO strange*).
I started streaming this game as a temporary filler and was frankly put off at first by the very unconventional mechanics. However the story was interesting and it has grown on me. While lacking the gorgeous scenery and astounding open world of Genshin, it is every bit as well written as Genshin Impact and the more urban environs are interesting in their own right.
The combat playstyle is reminiscent of the arcade fighting games of long ago with every character having a specific set of keystrokes to maximize their ability in addition to the usual controls.
I do recommend it.
Tonight we'll be streaming the premier of the Summer Event and exploring more of the story, in an early stream 6pmEST/10pmUTC over at https://www.twitch.tv/brickmuppet so stop by, say "Hi!" and bully a V-Tuber as he roll the Gacha and tilts at the RNG.
*While the science is fairly solid given the conceits of the plot....we should perhaps have a trigger warning for engineers...there is no engineering here!
And Now: A Word From Hololive
The Star Spangled Banner is a hard song to sing. A lot of V-Tubers try from time to time and it's frequently done as a bit, since hilarity often ensues. Hololive does this in the context of a beat game that scores the player on how well one matches the proper version of the song....Naressa Ravencroft took it seriously though, and pretty much nailed it.
(In fact, I'd never caught the last word of the first verse until now)
A video that makes a compelling case that Zenless Zone Zero is less Chinese supernatural fantasy (Xianxia) than it is a Chinese fighting vigilante hero story (Wuxia: what we usually think of as kung-fu stories).
It posits that the retroisms in the game are NOT just nostalgia, but an important part of the actual 'science' behind the lore.
FIRE!
Join us tonight at 8pm EST/ Midnight UTC as we continue to explore the Outer Ring in Zenless Zone Zero! THERE'S FIRE! THERE'S PIGS WITH SPIKY BASEBALL BATS (Who are ON FIRE)! THERE'S EVEN MORE FIRE! MOTORCYCLE RACES...IN FIRE! & FIGHTING OF MONSTERS...IN THE FIRE! https://www.twitch.tv/brickmuppet
...and a girl wearing a pickelhaube for some reason..
Zenless Zone Zero is...weird. A supernatural / cyber-punk story by the makers of, and with similar mechanics to Genshin Impact, The combat mechanics seem more forgiving, but also more random and mysterious.
The story itself, at least as far as we got on stream Monday night, is genuinely intriguing. It also leans much more into Manga/Manhwa/Comics than anime or light novels for its storytelling style (particularly noticeable in contrast with Genshin)
I've only played one day and I'm not at all clear on some of the mechanics (like pulls), but I'm actually liking it so far and find it quite interesting. The slightly scuffed V.O.D. from Monday's toe dip into the game from is here. Note that ZZZ doesn't actually start until 18 minutes in, due to channel bidness and the fact that I sat through the whole ZZZ opening bit, thinking it would be a lore dump. (it is not, it just sets the mood)
Anime, especially Fantasy Anime, has seemingly devolved into a morass of formulaic, trope-ridden cliche' buffets, and isekai stories that are little more than horny-N.E.E.T. affirmation fantasies. Frieren is one of those shows that really brings this unpleasant fact home as it demonstrates quite convincingly that the vast majority of shows are utter garbage...by comparison.
This show is thoughtful, exceedingly human, and quite genre-savvy, touching on concepts often talked about in the fantasy genre but seldom explored.
Frieren is an elven mage, over 1,000 years old, who joined a party of misfit adventurers on their way to travel to the dark lands and defeat the demon lord....basically the plot of every fantasy anime ever....except that this story begins as they are being welcomed home from their journey and honored for their success in ridding the world of the threat. As the night wears on a meteor shower that only happens about every 50 years occurs and the Emperor of the land they saved takes it as a sign, proclaiming the beginning of a new golden age. Frieren is unimpressed with the view, noting that she knows of a far more spectacular place to view the heavenly spectacle, one that is only a weeks travel away. Himmel, the leader of the victorious party of heroes notes that the meteor shower is a one night affair. Frieren, confused, explains that she was offering to take them all to the far better location when the meteor shower arrives again in 50 years, and seems perplexed at her companions reaction.
50 years later, Frieren the Elf keeps her promise, setting in motion a journey of understanding and discovery both for her, her companions and others whose lives she touches over the next few years...
This is a wonderful series that explores the meaning of heroism, virtue as well as both the pain and importance of loss. Elves great lifespans give them a vastly different outlook from the other races, and Frieren's is more different than most as she seems to actually be slightly autistic. She is definitely suffering from PTSD. She has to overcome, or at least account for her neurodivergence, inner demons, and her completely different perspective as she pulls together and mentors a new band of adventurers on a journey of discovery, whimsy, as well as peril, for while the lord of darkness may be gone, the world is not without danger.
This story is brilliantly paced and has some of the best character development and exposition I've seen in years. It brings laughter, heartbreak, and thrills in equal measure and is one of the most satisfying shows I've seen hands down. In any other show this elf girl would be a Mary Sue as the sheer depth and breadth of the experience mean that she is amazingly OP. Yet Frieren also has much to overcome and the story is as much about those who she mentors and those who mentored her. (This has a surprisingly ensemble cast). There was one point in the show that I dropped it for a bit. In this case it APPEARED that it had gone full Shonen and devolved into a tournament arc. In fact it kind of does. But it does so very well, in a way that both provides exposition and subverts expectations...but not in a Ryan Johnson way, in a very good way.
This show is excellent, my only complaint is that it ended. The ending is quite open ended and given the existence of vast story material in the manga as well as it's excellent ratings in Japan I'm huffing the hopium that this will not be the end of this wonderful show.
In the meantime, I would strongly advise anyone who has not seen it to do so. It was fantastic.
1
I cannot do this show justice with mere words. Watch it. There are constant callbacks throughout this series, but the show does not rub your nose in them. Pay attention....
Posted by: ubu at Fri Jun 21 16:21:11 2024 (jH+gB)
Midnight Movie Night on Kick!
Tonight (Sat7/8/23) at 21:00 EST/ 01:00 UTC we'll be doing another Testing and Breaking Things Stream over on Kick.com.
We'll be doing a bit of grinding in Disgaea to level up the new character and around Midnight we're going to watch some Silent movies, a silent short that is TBA and Der Golem (1920)
A German expressionistic Horror film set in the middle ages. The Golem is the last film in what was the very first Multimedia mass merchandising SciFi Horror Franchises, with Book, Radio, Film and Merchandise elements. It is also a prequel that serves as the origin story for the film series. https://kick.com/brickmuppet Come by, say "Hi!" and poke about while checking out the Beta of Kick.com!
(We actually showed this looonng ago on Twitch, but only had 2 viewers the whole night and this film really deserves to be seen. )
About a month ago, a friend of many years whom I had not seen in forever invited me to go see a Robert Plant concert in Charlottesville on the 18th.
Well, this past Thursday, when I made the commute to Charlottesville, to my utter astonishment, I had no trouble at the Richmond beltway and arrived in 4 hours....way less than expected. Given that we suddenly had time to kill...hours, in fact.... she asked to go see the new Guardians movie.
Now, I have not been impressed with any of the Marvel Movies I've seen after Endgame and the buzz amongst fandom is that the MCU has become a steaming pile of poo. Furthermore, giving money to Disney is on my "to do" list about even with "licking doorknobs in Wuhan". So, I was....unenthusiastic. However she really wanted to see the film, and honestly, how bad can a Guardians movie be? So I went without any outward protest.
Well...
That was a happy accident.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is an absolutely superb film. Whether you've seen the other two movies or not (and I missed 2 due to my stroke) this film is an amazingly fun romp. I laughed, I cried...no really, there are moments in this film that are heart wrenching, and others that are heart warming.
Marvel has largely run out of A-List characters to bring to the silver screen, but the B-List comic characters they dug up for this film are handled fantastically well and with absolute respect for the source material, In some ways, allowing what had been also-rans in the comics to realize their full potential.
They made the High Evolutionary a top notch, Grade-A villain and, while there were some minor liberties taken with Adam Warlock, in this film he is a great character with a fantastic arc. This film was quite clearly a labor of love.
This dippy comic book movie has more to say about, friendship, sacrifice, tragedy, utopianism, responsibility, mercy, and the nature of heroism than just about anything else I've seen in the last 10 years.
it is a surprisingly deep and even insightful movie by the standards of todays entertainment , all the more surprising given that it is a comic book movie with over twice the USDA recommended daily allowance of poop jokes.
But there are enough pathos, ironic and unironic philosophizing, superb characterizations and slam-bang-oh-my-God-action-sequences to make this a healthy, balanced, and white-pilling film-going experience.
The action choreography in this film is brilliant while retaining a human...er...sophont element that makes it all the more impactful.
I highly recommend that you go see this film.
However, while I almost never include trigger warnings, I must warn that some of the characters are put through the ringer , physically and psychologically in ways so absolutely gut-wrenching as to leave me amazed that the film didn't get an "R" rating. Also...utopians will not be pleased.
Heroism action, redemption, action, and fun and even more action can all be had if you go see this film.
Be Careful Not to cut Yourself on That Edge
I have never had Netflix, and I was not inclined to give that company any of my money. However, my cellphone recently saved my live, preventing me from being impaled with an 80 pound steel bar...and in the process sent me down the rabbit hole of cell phone replacement via insurance. After activating Narmaya, my brand new Samsung Galaxy A42...I noted that it had a Netflix trial on it. I decided to check out that new Cyberpunk series that's currently streaming. I looked forward to a good laugh at the expense of the 'Netflix Adaptation'.
Now I've given Netflix $19.95 US of my monies...but I got to watch the whole series.
I do not regret this purchase.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners is excellent. Studio Trigger stood by their guns and took no nonsense from Netflix and provided Unadulterated Cuberpunkery. For fans of the recent CD Project Red video game, or Mike Pondsmith's old pencil and Paper RPG from 30 years ago, this is a breath of fresh air. This show is extremely respectful of and faithful to its source materials canon. As such, it is a pretty good representative of the genre.
That is to say, it is Dystopic as hell. It's also an astonishingly bloody show that does not flinch away from the genre's more gruesome implications. Edgerunners is also quite possibly the most non-PC thing made in the last few years, at times straddling the line between an "R" rating and "NC17" with regards to both gore and nudity and is a passionate middle finger at the censorious scolds of all stripes.
It's also, in its perverse way, a Shounen show, but one that is really well done.
This is not an upbeat or happy show, but it follows desperate, broken people who maintain a sense of dignity and honor in spite of being in the most Hobbesian of environments. It also features excellent writing and top notch voice work in the English dub.
Studio Trigger has a remarkable reputation as is, but they have outdone themselves with this one.
1
"However, my cellphone recently saved my live, preventing me from being impaled with an 80 pound steel bar."
Way to bury the lede. Glad you're still kicking.
Posted by: Rick C at Tue Oct 25 10:35:18 2022 (kbV78)
2
Glad to hear you're okay!
If the company is still around, I bet they would appreciate a thank you note/recommendation. That kind of thing makes an engineer's day.
And maybe they'd re-continue that product line.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Wed Oct 26 14:42:31 2022 (sF8WE)
The Mechanical Man
Last night, besides the gachiest gacha game that ever gachad' and a successful grind session in FF14, the stream presented to our 8 viewers a 1921 Italian techno-thriller.
Only about 26 minutes of this ~80 minute film still exists, and the title cards of the only English version I've found are not particularly helpful.
In fairness, most of what's missing is merely context to the story. The footage we saw last night eschews such boring world building to get down to the important business of screwball chases, cosplay follies, and robot rampages.
So, for the 8 non-robotic viewers that my stream summary says watched the film, here is an overview of of what seems to have been going on, cobbled together from a discussion in film class 10 years ago, Wikipedia, the very sparse English subtitles in the version we watched, and the infinitesimal amount of information I was able to glean via my very atrophied 2 years of Latin from the more extensive Portuguese subtitles.
Spoilers Follow:
This was an interesting and remarkably forward looking film in a lot of ways.
The basic set up is that a city in post WW1 Italy is being beset by rising crime and a string of political assassinations. Meanwhile one Professor D'Ara, a scientist/engineer, has become the talk of Italy by inventing what is essentially an anthropomorphic, remote controlled drone, to which he gives the perfectly straightforward name of Mechanical Man. The device is fantastically durable, being built like a light tank and possesses speed comparable to an automobile. It is hoped that it can be used in mining and dangerous heavy industrial jobs.
A gang of criminals led by a remarkably competent and brazen woman(for a '20s film) named Mado attempts to steal the device but they are thwarted and it is put under close guard. Mado's gang proceeds to kidnap and tourture Dr. D'Ara in an attempt to get the robot blueprints from him. The police, led by a famous detective do locate and overwhelm the mob, arresting most of the leadership including Mado who is badly burned and suffers a heart attack during the raid. D'Ara did not break but the police discover he died from the gangs tender ministrations.
Mado turns out to be as dangerous and creative as The Joker, from Batman. It turns out that she faked her heart attack and her burn. Using her feigned coma to lull the hospital workers into complacency, she sets fire to the hospital, murdering numerous patients in the process, frames Saltarello (Dr. Dara's brother) for arson and murder, swaps a murdered nurse for her body (faking her own death) and escapes Scott free to reunite with the remains of her gang. (This is where the limited surviving footage mostly picks up...with the villain's clever arson and Joker-esqe escape from the hospital)
She the kidnaps Dr. Dara's daughter and forces her to give her the location of the robot blueprints. The detective Ramberti, who arrested Mado suspects that she is not dead but is unable to do anything until he finds Dr. Dara's daughter who has been free'd by The late professor's brother who is on the run from police, having been framed for arson and mass murder. (Whew!)
Meanwhile a series of smash and grab robberies are taking place that generally involve safe's being stolen wholesale or armored cars being broken into. Also a series of murders, with the victims being pulverized transpire over the next few weeks. There is one group of witnesses, a rich socialite reports that a mechanical man tore into her house and stole her jewelry safe while she and her friends were far enough away to not be noticed.
Mado has built her own mechanical man.
Allow a moment of silence for the chap that took refuge in the dresser.
Saltarello meanwhile is still on the run from police and trying to clear his name and avenge his brother. He has a close encounter with the mechanical man as the latter assassinates a politician.
He takes refuge at a costume ball, where, for reasons not entirely clear, he suspects something bad is about to go down. The ball, has apparently been a big looming "thing" for most of the movie, is being attended by a veritable "Who's Who" of Italian Politics, Industry, and old money. He has to flee, but not before he dresses up as Napoleon.
Meanwhile, Mado sics her Mechanical Man on Detective Ramberti and a number of witnesses including the late Dr. Dara's daughter and Dara's engineering assistant . They flee but discover that not only is the Mechanical Man bullet proof, but it can break through walls and iron gates. It also has cutting torches in its fingers that make short work of the iron door they attempt to slow it down with. They escape in a car, but the mechanical man almost overhauls the car until Terminator1921 suffers a short circuit and crashes by the side of the road in flames.
This chase is silly, but surprisingly good.
Ramberti and his party then run into a bunch of bicycle cops with his car, (literally) and he subsequently tries to get help to recover the infernal device.
Meanwhile Mado is able to get a team together to recover the Mechanical Man before Ramberti gets to it.
Saltarello escapes the costume ball, dressed as...uh...Napoleon or something, steals a police motorcycle, and is pursued and confronted by another detective (who is in an 18th century...dress, because he was undercover at the costume ball). The detective explains that Saltarello is no longer under suspicion for murder/arson/jaywalking.
The public is completely unaware of ANY of this so, a few hours later when some cosplayer shows up at the costume ball dressed as the famous 9 foot tall mechanical man, the person is awarded best in show and becomes the toast of all the movers and shakers of Italy, sitting down with them and not saying anything.
"This is not at all sus. Not one bit."
This lasts until, well, he gets right up close to all the most important people in the social register and reveals that his costume...isn't...and begins crushing them, throwing them off balconies, and generally being impervious to bullets.
MEANWHILE: Dr Dara's assistant, who has been trying to get the ORIGINAL mechanical man working again succeeds in getting the wireless remote control to work. He then sends the ORIGINAL Mechanical Man out to fight Mado's Mechanical Man. They engage in a robot slap-fight in the ballroom, destroying it in a most satisfactory manner as they wack away at each other.
Botfight. BOTFIGHT!
Saltarello arrives at Mado's headquarters to find her frantically manipulating the wall sized control panel during the fight which she is observing via a television screen.
(BTW, in 1921 Television won't be invented for 7 more years)
He starts to sneak up on the most dangerous lady in Italy but decides to throw random switches in the hopes of throwing off her control. As a result the control panel shorts out. Mado is electrocuted and dies. The Ersatz mechanical man goes berzerk but is subdued by the original and explodes.
Mado is revealed to be a famous rich socialite with connections in politics and industry (explaining how she had access to the physical plant needed to make a Mechanical man in mere days). She also is the person responsible for having the big costume ball that gathered all the assassinate-able people in one place. The second detective, no longer in his dress, thanks everyone including Saltarello who is still dressed like Napoleon.
Later, Saltarello, in a normal suit, says his goodbyes to everyone and gets in a plane and flies off into the sunset.
*******************
Years ago I was told by a film student, when the discovery of this film caused the topic to come up, that this was one of a series of "great detective" films that was popular in Italy at that time, and that the detective character in this film is a star of numerous other films around the same time. That is, this would be equivalent to Sherlock Holmes meets The Terminator. I don't know if that is true, the detective is a central but supporting character in the extant footage, but I'll put it out there. If there is a "franchise character" in this it's seems more likely to be Salterello, though I can't find any references to such a thing.
There are probably several details that I've got wrong. If anybody speaks Portugese, then please correct me in the comments.
*******************
I was chuffed when I heard that the remnants of this historic film now had English subtitles, but as we discovered during the stream, they were so laconic as to not be particularly helpful. When they are compared to the very lengthy Portuguese subtitles, it's obvious the 'restorers' did not hire a translator.
My onstream commentary was based on my knowledge of the film from reputation, and the little bit of research I'd done, fully expecting that "English Subtitles" meant something.
On the other hand, the DMCA-Free Electro-Swing BGM that I paired with the film on stream was a surprisingly good fit.
In any event, this was an enjoyable watch, being a completely whackaloon little film that had all of its buildup and exposition destroyed allowing one to get right into the important business of fire, explosion, murders, and the first Robot Battle in cinematic history. So I'm calling it a win.
Screenshots for this post are not by me but were knicked from the film's IMDb entry and Tumbler's SciFi .gifs page.
Streamery Alert
Tonight at or before 9:00PM EDT / 01:00AM UTC my internet alter-ego will be streaming over at twitch.tv/brickmuppet.
(We may be a tad earlier as there are a few widgets I want to test.)
We'll ultimately be streaming Final Fantasy 14 again, but first there will be a brief 'just-chatting' segment and maybe a short silent film. We'll be going at least three hours so if you're hunkered down, stop by and say "Hi!".
As always, any Feedback on audio levels or video streaming quality are greatly appreciated.
Streamery Alert
Tonight my internet alter ego will be streaming again this evening from 18:00PMDST / 10:00PM UTC for about two hours. Plan is to be playing Final Fantasy 14.
Come on by, point and laugh knowingly at the silly noob who's gotten himself completely lost in Eorzean and is developing a shellfish allergy....
Note: After I get a handle on handle on how best to fit streaming into my schedule, which should be by next week, I'll have a schedule up every week a week in advance.
We. Be. Streamin'.
Tonight my internet alter ego will be streaming from 18:00PMDST / 10:00PM UTC for about two hours.
I streamed it last night and I'm trying to pin down a lag issue that is present in the stream and VOD but not my computer, so feel free to come by and laugh at the silly streamer who is hopelessly lost in Eorzean, and has developed fungiphobia.
Also: feedback regarding AV levels is appreciated.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Jun 20 13:18:58 2022 (aw2/F)
3
There seems to be an intermittent issue with the video quality of the game I'm streaming. It gets REAL laggy at time ON STREAM. But it looks fine on my computer. I wasn't aware of the issue until I watched the VOD to check my work and only caught it by chance.
I'd think it was a bandwidth issue, but like I said, the game looks GORGEOUS on my computer, but is sometimes super-choppy on stream. Anybody know what might cause this?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Jun 20 13:21:42 2022 (aw2/F)
4
I was planning on watching the stream and maybe drop a comment or two, but I was listening to Gura's Birthday Countdown, and completely forgot about your stream until...Uh, it was already over.
I will try better next time.
Posted by: cxt217 at Mon Jun 20 14:44:57 2022 (MuaLM)
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!