Shinmaru

[b]Kindergarten:[/b] Keep your fingers away from doors as they are closing. [b]1st Grade:[/b] The older and skinnier the teacher, the more cruel and heartless he or she will be. [b]2nd Grade:[/b] GeoSafari is the greatest thing [i]ever[/i]. [b]3rd Grade:[/b] Spending a week in the ball room passing out dodgeballs with your most loathed enemy is a much worse experience than one could possibly fathom. [b]4th Grade:[/b] Being forced to dance the Macarena onstage in front of parents and faculty is [i]not[/i] classified "cruel and unusual punishment" according to the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. (Bastards.) [b]5th Grade:[/b] Neither is having to pay fake money in order to use the restroom. [b]6th Grade:[/b] Playing [i]Wheel of Fortune[/i] on the computer is so much more fun than paying attention to petty things like "math" and "science." [b]7th Grade:[/b] Mrs. Williams wore a wig. [b]8th Grade:[/b] Middle school graduation ceremonies are amusingly tiny, no matter how many people go to your school. [b]9th Grade:[/b] "What the ****? High school isn't [i]anything[/i] like [i]The Breakfast Club[/i]! I got ****ing gypped." [b]10th Grade:[/b] Tennis is about a billion times more fun to play than it is to watch. [b]11th Grade:[/b] "Wow, there are places on the Internet where people post about video games [i]and[/i] aren't completely retarded??" + God is on my good side because I got an A- in Trig/Pre-Cal. [b]12th Grade:[/b] I make a sexy Meursault, doing an English project on Pixies (as in the band) = WIN, and Edgar Degas had [i]such[/i] a ballerina fetish. Also, girls don't like wearing orange graduation gowns.

[quote name='Charles][CENTER][IMG]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/49/195949.jpg[/IMG'][/CENTER][/quote] Even Triple H has no choice but to job to the might of The Game... that's how powerful it is. :)

[size=1]Do do do do do do do... do do do, do do do do, do do do do do do do do do do... do do do, do do do do, do do do do do do do do do do... The sharp, electronic noise pulsed heavily in Vincent's ears. He rolled over on one side to evade the cacophonous horror but to no avail. Faint sunlight crept slowly down the bookcase at the side of the bed, looming like a guillotine threatening to cleave his now sleepless sleep clean in two. The young comic/technical writer rolled over at the last second, tumbling off of the bed in a heap of blankets and pillows. "When I bought that stupid alarm clock," Vincent noted to himself, "I never figured that the [i]Super Mario Bros.[/i] theme could be so annoying." After getting up and stretching a bit, Vincent opened the blinds and braced himself as the awesome glory of God's earthly mornings poured into the room, warm and refreshing as always. He shut the blinds immediately, and instead took the opportunity to spread one blind open very slightly, peeking out at the noise and bustle of the city with one restless eye as if he were in the middle of a war zone. Cars were moving, people were walking and talking; nothing was different, though Vincent knew that something was going on, somewhere. [i]It's too bad that I don't have any time to see for myself[/i], Vincent thought. The [i]Super Mario Bros.[/i] alarm continued blaring away in the corner of the room. Vincent crossed over, stepping deftly amongst the many stacks of books and CDs scattered upon the floor, and shut the clock up with a tap on the hat. All was well in the world. Following a quick shower, and ready to take on another day, Vincent thrust open his closet with a flourish. Hanging inside in neat rows were several outfits that had been freshly ironed a few days prior. Each individual ensemble stood out brilliantly amidst the others in a dazzling display of uniformity. "Which should I wear today?" Vincent pondered to himself. "The one on the left is looking particularly snazzy... but the second to the middle has always been my go-to-guy for the beginning of the week. Then again, I hear that we have new interns coming in, and the third to the left has always gotten people on my side..." Eventually he closed his eyes, picked a random set, and put it on, ready at last to head out the door. However, just before he could leave, his stomach rumbled loudly. The intense noise cut through the morning dash like a hot chainsaw through butter. [i]Breakfast[/i], Vincent thought, so loudly that were his life a sitcom, the audience would have heard his cogitation loud and clear. [i]I forgot to eat breakfast! I guess that I don't really have much time though. I'll just grab a quick meal at the office or something.[/i] Still, he hesitated. The cabinets called out to him longingly; he could smell faint traces of Boo Berry and orange juice. Vincent's hand hovered above the doorknob; his fingers shook faintly. He made an almost imperceptible movement towards the kitchen, and then surprised himself by pulling open the door and thrusting himself outside. "Whew," Vincent said. "Glad I was able to avoid [i]that[/i] temptation! If I stopped to eat, I probably would have... missed the bus..." He ran downstairs as quickly as he could, but it was too late. The bus was pulling away by the time he got to the stop, leaving a mere puff of smoke in its wake. "Damn. Guess I have no choice but to walk." He half-heartedly hoped that there wouldn't be too many distractions on the way to the office.[/size]

[b]Dragon Ball Z[/b] is a huge guilty pleasure for me, mostly due to how completely absurd it is. To this day, I'm not certain what element of the series amuses me the most - there's so much to choose from: The "epic" battles that drag on through episodes and episodes of punching, kicking, grunting, and the same three or four lines of dialogue from the battle's participants; the bad voice acting, [i]especially[/i] in the beginning of the series (Goku's "surfer dude" phase is too great for words, seriously); the grandiose, ultimate powers that just happen to become obsolete a few episodes later ("Super Saiyans r the strngst fightarz in da galaxy except Dr. Gero made a buncha super-strong androids kthxbai" or "ya Vegeta i was totally SS2 when i fought u but i could've been SS3 the whole time lol@u"); or maybe it's just the sight of Vegeta in a pink shirt. For me, DBZ is just too goofy not to love. I'd never buy the DVDs or anything (I'd probably be driven into bankruptcy if I tried), but I watch it when it's on TV. :)

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/motivator5854422.jpg[/IMG] P.S. It'd be nice if the top line didn't always have to be all capital letters. P.P.S. By the way, that's me in the back checking out that girl's rack. EDIT: Haha, nice job finding the screenshot, Sangome. *high five*

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']That's totally cheating. Maybe I should just stop coming to the Lounge so I can win.[/size][/quote] Awesome, now [b]everyone[/b] wins!! :bdance: ([spoiler]Yeah, I went the easy route. Sue me. If it gets me five OtakuDollars, then I don't care.[/spoiler])

I hate to parrot everyone, but yeah, [i]Grave of the Fireflies[/i] definitely goes on the list, though by the end I didn't really feel sadness so much as... appreciation for life, I guess (not that nobody else who has mentioned the film didn't feel that as well). It's hard to see how much suffering that Seita and Setsuko go through and not cherish what you have at least a little bit more. [i]Magnolia[/i] is a pretty sad film. By the end of the movie when everything is breaking down ([spoiler]Frank is at his father's deathbed, the pressures of the quiz show crush Stanley, Donnie almost throws away his life, Claudia finally begins to turn hers around, etc.[/spoiler]), it's just... wow. Incredibly emotional stuff; it's a long film (a little longer than three hours), but it's definitely worth seeing. [i]The Hours[/i] is also very sad. When everything comes together at the end and it's revealed that [spoiler]Richard (who comitted suicide like a few minutes before) is Laura's son who never really recovered when Laura left the family to overcome her depression and feelings of monotony concerning her role as a wife and mother[/spoiler]... it comes down on you pretty heavily, to say the least lol. See this, too, all of you!! :P [i]The Boondock Saints[/i] had me bawling, too... mostly over how absurdly overrated and terrible the film is. How so many people fell in love with it is beyond me.

When The Game destroys the world (starting with OB), and Desbreko is among the few who still possesses a working mind, I've got dibs on being his annoying lackey. (I totally lost, btw.)

I probably won't be on until 11:00 PM EST at the earliest, but you can count me in too. With me in the group you can rest assured that none of you will come in last place. :) EDIT: My friend code is 420982-807257, by the way. EDIT2: I guess that putting my friend code in this post is okay since it's not all that I'm posting. :p

From [url=http://www.behindthename.com/][b]Behind the Name.com[/b][/url]: [quote]MICHAEL Gender: Masculine Usage: English, German, Czech, Biblical Pronounced: MIE-kul [key] From the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mika'el) which meant "who is like God?". This is the name of one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies, and thus is considered the patron saint of soldiers. This was also the name of nine Byzantine emperors and a czar of Russia. Other more modern bearers of this name include the 19th-century chemist/physicist Michael Faraday and basketball player Michael Jordan.[/quote] That looks pretty accurate to me; it does a nice job of underscoring how awesome I am. "Who is like God?" I am, of course. The only archangel actually [i]identified[/i] as an archangel in the Bible? Damn right. Take that, Gabriel, Raphael, and all of you other losers!! And not only am I the leader of heaven's armies, but I'm also a god of basketball [i]and[/i] gambling. Best name ever, pretty easily. Sorry to outshine all of you so badly. EDIT: And that bit about J.M. Barrie inventing the name "Wendy" for [i]Peter Pan[/i] isn't exactly true. He popularized the name, no doubt, but the name was actually in use before Barrie published his play (albeit very limited use).

Why not? I haven't tried out for an RPG in a long time. This could be pretty fun. :) [size=1][b]Name:[/b] Vincent Zavala [b]Age:[/b] 27 [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Ethnicity:[/b] Half-Mexican, half-crazy European mix (English, German, Dutch, etc.). He amuses himself by referring to his ethnicity as "Chicaucasian." [b]Appearance:[/b] Average height (around 5'9") and average build (not too skinny, but not really big either). Vincent has brown eyes and short black hair that he doesn't mess around with too much. His face is mostly clean shaven, with the only exception being a short, slight goatee that he's worn since high school. Despite his not spending much more time in the sun than any other person, Vincent's skin is never lighter than a smooth brown (except for his upper arms which are hilariously white). The only physical feature of his that Vincent pays any attention to are his larger-than-normal feet (you know what that means, ladies ;)), which he manages to stumble over daily. For work, Vincent has several copies of the same basic outfit: A dark blue dress shirt with a red tie, black dress pants, black socks, and black dress shoes (sometimes brown if he's feeling wild!). Because coats annoy him so much he never wears them, unless they're specifically demanded and he has no other choice. In his day-to-day life, he mostly wears shirts relating to geek culture (video games, bands, movies, comics, anime, etc. - none of those "witty message" shirts, though, because they suck) and whatever pants or shorts he feels like throwing on. [b]Personality:[/b] Though one would think otherwise from his passion for dark and sarcastic comedy, Vincent is actually a fairly positive person, though he isn't exactly as outgoing as he'd like to be. However, he's always up for conversation, especially when it relieves the extreme boredom that overwhelms him at work. Vincent is at heart an observer of life, and he enjoys commenting on all of the absurdities that life puts on display for all to see. (This has the unfortunate side effect of Vincent seeing many things that most do not, but not really being able to do anything about them himself.) His sarcastic quips can occasionally be hurtful but more often than not those are merely accidental; he never intentionally hurts a person unless he feels that he or she actually deserves it. He also enjoys showing his lighter side through his unnatural love of strange, quirky (and mostly cheesy) puns. Like Myers, Vincent has an incredibly active imagination. When doing abnormally tedious projects (of which most projects around the workplace are), he is prone to wandering, both figuratively and literally. Left alone, Vincent will enter bizarre worlds of his own creation, free from the limitations of business calls, memos, and TPS reports, though the presence of another person is enough to yank him back into reality. For strange reasons all his own, Vincent also enjoys the occasional jaunt through certain "unknown" areas of the office building during break time. He hopes to one day find a room not unlike floor 7½ from [i]Being John Malkovich[/i]. What he'll end up doing in there is anybody's guess. [b]Family:[/b] Vincent moved away from his family years ago, but he still keeps in contact with them due to the fact that his mother constantly calls him. He's always invited to every get together that they have, and he always ends up going because 1) he still enjoys being with his family and 2) he's not very good at saying "no." Vincent is currently single, with that "currently" threatening to stretch into "perpetually." Vincent is just not very good at making that all-important leap with women, since no matter how much one observes life, women will always be confusing. (:p) [b]Information:[/b] Vincent originally moved to the city to follow his dream of being a comedy writer. However, he grossly underestimated how difficult that would be and he makes due with his current job as a technical writer for small-time products. Vincent has been following this line of work for about three years now. In his spare time in his cramped apartment, he works on his stand-up act which he hopes to one day take to the stage in one of the city's comedy clubs. He actually has had a decent amount of material ready for months; unfortunately, he suffers from acute stage fright, and the few times he has gone onstage as a comic have been miserable. Still, he pursues his dream vigorously. The other big reason that Vincent decided to move to the city is that, originally being from a small and boring town, he became infatuated with the sheer variety of things to do within it. When he's unable to sleep at night, Vincent slips on a jacket, chooses a random direction to walk in, and keeps going until he finds something that grabs his attention. He's subbed for "yellers" advertising outside strip clubs, sat stuck in sycamores above ferocious felines, and traversed the city's underground sewer system, among other activites: Whether it's in the thick of the town or just on the outskirts, Vincent is obsessed with exploring every inch of the area and experiencing everything that it has to offer. But only when he's really bored.[/size]

I'm always ridiculously behind on current cinema, so all I've seen from the current year is The Da Vinci Code and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (as I should have expected, A Scanner Darkly wasn't showing anywhere near where I live :(). Of the two, Dead Man's Chest is by far the better film. Great battles, good characterization (Elizabeth and Will didn't annoy me, yay), it's funny as hell, and it didn't drag on much at all (not for me, anyway lol). Ask me again a year from now, and I might be able to give you a better answer. Or, better yet, ask about 2005 and 2004. :p

[quote name='AzureWolf][COLOR=maroon']Grow up. Learn to accept other people's opinion and respond more maturely. You will always find people who will differ from you, so I ask for a little more courtesy.[/COLOR][/quote] Um, it seems to me that Retribution is commenting on the actions of Congress rather than your opinion on the matter. I agree with him too. It's an absolutely pointless display of power... if schools and libraries wish to prevent children from going to 'social sites,' [b]then they can do it themselves[/b]. I suppose that the bill is well intentioned, but it's something that's much better handled at the local level. There's no reason at all for the federal government to have their hand in this.

[quote name='Dagger][IMG']http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/DaggerIX1/motivator1256561.jpg[/IMG][/quote] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/motivator5571821.jpg[/IMG] Sorry, I couldn't resist. :) [spoiler]I had to resort to a lame MS Paint representation of the infamous translation error because I couldn't find a screenshot of it anywhere...[/spoiler]

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/motivator7392546.jpg[/IMG] P.S. This GWB picture amuses me to no end. P.P.S. The picture Baron posted creeps the hell out of me.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/motivator6953576.jpg[/IMG] I already feel like going outside and doing a million zillion jumping jacks.

[quote name='Papa Smurf']I forget the name of this other episode, but it was memorable only because I got to hear the guys say "Wood for sale!" when a redneck hick was carrying around a 2x4, and "Saw him? He was delicious!" in response to the main character asking about his father. lol[/quote] "Saw him? He was delicious!" is definitely from "The Final Sacrifice." That's an absolutely amazing episode... the sequence of riffs starting when Mike Pipper (the "grizzled prospector") arrives to when Rowsdower leaves on the horse might be the funniest I've ever seen on MST3K. The movie dumped a ton of comedic gold into the writers' laps with the Pipper character, haha. And, hell, Rowsdower ("I wonder if there's beer on the sun?"), Troy ("Oh, man, I haven't felt this tense since Mock U.N."), and Satoris ("Canadian villain, Garth Vader.") weren't slouches in the ridiculously lame character department, either. It's like the filmmakers were [i]trying[/i] to make the easiest film in history to riff on lol.

I knew that [i]someone[/i] had called Han a pirate at some point lol. Did Leia ever call him a pirate, too? I seem to remember her doing so, but that could just be in my mind, haha.

[quote name='Charles]Some of these games, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, [I]really[/I'] frustrated me--especially the underwater dam where you had to defuse bombs. So, I find the little touches in these videos, such as the way The Angry Nintendo Nerd is blowing dust from the cartridge, or trying to reach an impossible pizza, genuinely funny.[/quote] Haha, man, no kidding. I don't think that I ever got past that dam level when I was a kid... those electrified plants in particular just frustrated the hell out of me. Ugh. And yet I kept trying and trying and trying... gamers are such masochists. :) The best part of the TMNT video, for me, was Angry Nintendo Nerd trying to get at that pizza for like a minute and a half. God, the jumping in that game was so completely ridiculous lol. What a total crock. It was also very funny when he kept attempting to jump over that tiny gap, and it turned out that all he had to do was walk over the stupid thing. I remember being [i]so[/i] pissed off because of that lol. Game designers were quite evil back then. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link would be a good choice for Angry Nintendo Nerd (if that hasn't been done yet, anyway). When I got the Zelda: Collector's Edition disc, I hadn't played Zelda II in years so that was the game I'd been looking forward to the most. I remembered it being a pretty rough game, but Jesus Christ, I was humbled lol. You need to put in some real work to even have any hope of beating the tougher enemies, much less the bosses... the Iron Knuckles and Stalfos and whatnot could get pretty nasty unless you fought so much that you had Superman-level strength. If Twilight Princess were even half as difficult as Zelda II, then you'd hear so much bitching from gamers weaned on Ocarina of Time lol.

If ninja are in need of some star power, then I think that it should be noted that, although he does not conform to the "traditional" image of a ninja, Batman is a ninja, or at the very least possesses many ninjaesque characteristics (mastery of martial arts; highly developed strength and discipline; excellent at sneaking into places and leaving without a trace; access to tons of kickass equipment; etc.). Out of everyone mentioned so far, I think that Batman is pretty easily the coolest. Yes, even cooler than I am somehow. However, there's one thing that I've been wondering that may swing me over to the pirate side... when we speak of pirates, are we strictly referring to sea pirates, or could someone like my hero down here be considered...? [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/Hansolo.jpg[/img] I mean, for all intents and purposes, Han Solo [i]is[/i] a pirate: He travels to far off lands (and galaxies); he smuggles and has stolen his fair share of booty; he's got the roguish good looks, and, really, Han is a master of getting some. You all saw how Princess Leia was all over him in the original Star Wars trilogy, right? She was so eating out of his hands. And who else but Han Solo could respond to a declaration of love by saying, "I know" and get away with it? If we're including space pirates in this, then I'm all over that. I can't say that I'm at all interested in sailing the seas, but I could never resist traveling the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon and shacking up with a young Carrie Fisher.

My own pictures were used against me. This is a crime against humanity. :( I [i]am[/i] one of the few cool pirates though.

[quote name='Sara][color=#b0000b][size=1]Right now what I [i]really[/i] want is a shower. Summer humidity makes me feel [i]gross[/i].[/size'][/color][/quote] Haha, I hope that your buddy up there wasn't around for the shower. Anyway, I want a decent sock that's comfortable, that will stay on my foot! It would be kind of nice for this heatwave to die down too. Please, God, please?

Kind of a random time to bump this thread, but whatever. I've been watching a ton of MST3K recently, and a standout episode that I recently saw was "Laserblast." Just fantastic riffing from start to finish ("Hey. Read between the lines," and "Can I get a plunger?" being my favorites; I literally cried from laughing so hard at the second one), a couple of great host segments (the MONAD segment and Mike as Captain Janeway, although the latter is a bit creepy too), and a hilarious sendoff for Dr. Forrester (but only if you've seen 2001: A Space Odyssey :p). If you haven't seen "Laserblast," then you really should. It's quickly become one of my favorite episodes. :)

The first song that popped into my head when I saw this topic was "Just Like Honey" by The Jesus and Mary Chain. It's one of those songs where [i]everything[/i] that a band goes for stylistically gels together just right; I honestly think that, musically (not so much lyrically though I like the song's lyrics), "Just Like Honey" is pretty much a perfect pop song. The melody might be a bit abrasive at first, but as the song goes on it just melts so beautifully into your ears. Anyway, I know I can't upload the song and share it on here, but I assume that it's okay to link to the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lHiBO8uFoY][b]music video[/b][/url] (if not, then the link can be removed easily enough lol). If that's not cool, then, uh... buy [b]Psychocandy[/b], or [b]21 Singles[/b], or watch [b]Lost in Translation[/b] (its presence at the end of [b]Lost in Translation[/b] adds to its beauty - it's so bittersweet)! All are acceptable ways of hearing the song. :)

[quote name='silver_blade][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]o.O Has no one else mentioned this one? I don't think I've seen any of Bradbury's works listed.[/color'][/SIZE][/quote] I love [b]Fahrenheit 451[/b], but personally I prefer to recommend books that are less well known. A lot of my favorite books are fairly popular -- [b]Catch-22[/b], [b]The Catcher in the Rye[/b], [b]Slaughterhouse-Five[/b], [b]Invisible Man[/b] (by Ralph Ellison, not [b]The Invisible Man[/b] by H.G. Wells :p), etc. -- and I assume that most will have at least heard of them through school or something (maybe teachers have even forced you to read 'em all). The books I've mentioned in this thread, however, were all either random recommendations from friends or books that I just randomly stumbled upon while searching for something else. I don't know that I would have heard of any of them otherwise (maybe [b]A Scanner Darkly[/b] due to the recent film adaptation). So, yeah, most classics already get tons of recognition from millions of readers all around the world (and deservedly so in many cases), and I'd rather spend my energy recommending something that you may not have heard about before rather than being the millionth person to suggest that you read [b]The Great Gatsby[/b] (as great as [b]Gatsby[/b] is :)). [QUOTE=Lunox] ***If you like it- [i]The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle[/i] by Haruki Murakami[/QUOTE] Yeah, that's a great book; [b]Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World[/b] is fantastic as well (I always switch between those two when deciding what my favorite Murakami novel is, haha). And, Retribution, I'll be starting [b]Neuromancer[/b] soon, so hopefully it will be as good as advertised. :)