Shinmaru

[QUOTE=Goddess][center][URL=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/anne-mae/pedro.jpg][IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/anne-mae/th_pedro.jpg[/IMG][/URL][size=6][b]+[/size][/b][URL=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/anne-mae/jdepp.jpg][IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/anne-mae/th_jdepp.jpg[/IMG][/URL][size=6][b]=[/b][/size][URL=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/anne-mae/shinpir.jpg][IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/anne-mae/th_shinpir.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/center] [size=1]The images are thumbnails, you can click on them to enlarge them. Every time I look at Shin's pirate picture, those two characters always pop into my head. I couldn't resist. I knew Shin was good for something![/size][/QUOTE] I think I'm more Johnny Depp than Pedro, personally. YA RLY LOLZ Also, Desbreko's images were funny. Bravo, sir. Bravo.

Weird Al is awesome. He was the first musician I really got into, and I still enjoy his music today. Sure he makes a ton of really silly songs, but what's wrong with enjoying some really silly **** every once in a while? Frankly, I would much rather listen to Weird Al Yankovic than a bunch of other bands today who supposedly aren't "silly and stupid" or "dumb and pointless".

I don't know if I have a favorite genre... I do love shoegazer dearly (bands like Curve, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, etc.), but it's definitely not the only genre I'll listen to or seek out. I like tons of different genres, and I'll try out just about any band if someone suggests it to me. Basically, if it sounds good to me then I'll like it. Here are my current ten favorite bands to at least give [i]some[/i] idea of what I like: [list] [*]Sonic Youth [*]Pixies [*]Curve [*]The Beatles [*]David Bowie [*]Cocteau Twins [*]Jucifer [*]The Cure [*]The Arcade Fire [*]Beck [/list] ...I hate to stop it there, though lol. I also greatly enjoy Ween, Denali, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Amps, Modest Mouse, The Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, Au Pairs, Toadies, Apocalypse Hoboken, Cobra Killer, Tsunami Bomb, Mastodon, Cibo Matto, Dinosaur Jr., Echo and the Bunnymen, Fiery Furnaces, The Go! Team, 50 Foot Wave, Beastie Boys, Blonde Redhead, and tons more. I could sit here listing all day, but I think I'd just bore all of you lol.

[QUOTE=luzkage]Second: Freddy VS Jason. Those two used to be the most feared serial killers. The movie killed them. the plot was weak and near pointless. Characters die and there's no change in them. Random murders here and there and I guess they said, "we have a movie" and decided to earn a few bucks off the public. The West has lost their touch with horror flims with the excessive gore and violence. This movie is a disgrace compared to the classics or even recent movies (Texas Chainsaw Massacre). A real horro film attacks the psyche suspense and shock not the stomach with nausea.[/QUOTE] Freddy vs. Jason wasn't meant to be an "actual" horror film... it was made to pit Freddy and Jason against each other while killing a bunch of people along the way. Fan service, basically. If you don't like the movie, then that's perfectly fine, but I don't think that anybody should go into it expecting an intense, psychological horror film lol. You'll just be disappointed. And the person mentioning Hitchcock's films alongside The Omen IV... man, I don't think you could me more wrong lol. They're anything but "uninteresting and poorly executed" to me. The "uninteresting" part is certainly arguable, since different people find different things interesting, but "poorly executed"? I don't think so. I'd tend to think that since Hitchcock's style has become so incredibly influential, then he must have done [i]something[/i] right. Just a hunch. :) Anyway, when it comes to bad movies, I'm usually a good judge of what's likely to be bad and what's likely to be good before I see it. So, I tend to dislike films more that end up being disappointing to me rather than out and out bad. 48 Hrs., for instance; I could just not get into it [i]at all[/i]. I have no idea why - I love Eddie Murphy, he's playing a real smart-*** character, it should be great, right? Yet I wasn't really laughing at all, and everything else that was going on was completely uninteresting. I was so disappointed with 48 Hrs., because I was expecting a good movie. History of the World: Part I was also incredibly disappointing. It's a funny movie, but Mel Brooks' other movies blow it out of the water. Even in Mel's other lower-level films (Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, etc.) there's at least a decently funny story to go along with all of the jokes... History of the World doesn't really have much of a story at all. I knew that going in, of course, but I still don't like it. When you put out films like The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein, I think that's a sign that you're capable of writing a damn good story along with being funny. Some of the "sketches" fell flat for me, too... the whole Louis XVI bit barely made me laugh at all. I didn't laugh very much at the Caveman bit either. To be fair, I [i]did[/i] like the sketch in Rome and I thought that the Inquisition song was funny. Still, though, that's barely half the movie lol.

Awful movies are the best guilty pleasure of all... I swear, they're just so much fun to watch. There's just something appealing about a movie that's just god awful in every way imaginable. I have MST3K to thank for heightening my appreciation for terrible films, haha. It's gotten to the point where I eagerly seek out horrible movies rather than happening upon them by accident lol. Cracking on them is great. :) Don't know if I have any other real guilty pleasures. Winona Ryder, maybe? I've gone out of my way to see every movie she's been in, good or bad (I don't think I've done that for anybody else lol). Then again she's too awesome to be relegated to guilty pleasure status, damn it, especially since she's been in plenty of films I like (Heathers, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, etc.). So, that's a no go I guess. Winona forever!! :D Ooh, I've got another one, actually - the accordion. I swear, the accordion has to be the most underrated instrument [i]ever[/i]. How it got such a dorky reputation is beyond me. The accordion nothing less than awesome and I won't hear anything to the contrary. I wish more bands would use the accordion in their music... it's a cool sounding instrument that I think complements rock surprisingly well. The Arcade Fire, for instance, makes excellent use of the accordion. For that (and for being better than you), The Arcade Fire has my love. (I also wish that more bands would use the organ, but that's probably a subject for another thread. :p)

I don't have very much music saved on my computer at all (I mostly pop in CDs and DVDs when listening to music) so hopefully there will be some variety here: 50 Foot Wave - "Hot Pink, Distorted" (First song from 50 Foot Wave's [i]Free Music[/i] EP. 50 Foot Wave is my kind of band - they're a solid, energetic rock band and fun as hell to listen to.) Tsunami Bomb - "Take the Reins" (Tsunami Bomb was awesome. More high energy music, and Emily Whitehurst's voice = yay. Sucks that they broke up. :() Video Game Pianist - "Final Fantasy IX Ending Theme" (Desbreko directed me to the Video Game Pianist a few days ago... video game music on piano, what's not to like? I enjoy the Super Mario Bros. and Zelda songs he plays more than the Final Fantasy music though.) Sleater-Kinney - "Burn, Don't Freeze" (I was cruising 'round Wikipedia and randomly came upon Sleater-Kinney. I'd heard of them before, so I decided to try out some music. Lo and behold, I like them! Good band. Side note: There can never be enough women in rock. [i]Never[/i]!) Pink Floyd - "Comfortably Numb" (Great song, enough said.) Yoko Kanno - "Space Lion" (I forget which song this is... but it's good, I know that. I love Cowboy Bebop's music so much. That and the FLCL soundtrack are probably the only anime soundtracks I'd listen to outside of watching the series.) Devin Davis - "Cannons at the Courthouse" (Must thank Tony for turning me on to Devin Davis. He rules. I hope I'm not the only person who ended up enjoying his music. It'd be sad if that were the case. :() Curve - "Weekend" (One of the weaker Curve songs I've heard but still a fun listen. I love Curve with the passion of a thousand suns. Toni Halliday

[quote name='Samsara']I just turned 20 last month. *sigh*, I feel so old.[/quote] Same here... I turned twenty a little more than a month ago. I was seventeen when I first started coming here. Wow, I've kind of been here for a while, haven't I? Yikes. I think I'm about right for my age: Mature in some ways and immature in others. I'm still living and learning. At least, I try to learn a bit when I'm not sitting around here all day anyway. :p

My brother got Season One of The Muppet Show on DVD for Christmas, so we watched some of that today. The Muppet Show still rules. It caters almost perfectly to my sense of humor, haha. Some of the jokes are a bit dated or a bit too corny, but the pure awesome of the Muppets keeps the laughs flowing most of the time. From the first disc I've enjoyed the Ruth Buzzi and Rita Moreno shows the most. Great stuff. As for my favorite Muppet... Gonzo was always my favorite growing up, but now it's either Rowlf or Fozzie. Rowlf is just cool as hell, and Fozzie is hilarious whether his jokes are incredibly corny or just plain bizarre. I think I'm leaning more towards Fozzie at the moment. It's incredibly rare that I don't laugh at a Fozzie joke. Then again, Rowlf has "I Never Made An Onion Cry," which is an awesome song. Hm.

[quote name='SaiyanPrincessX][SIZE=1]I have an account. I mainly got it because I know people from school on there, and since I graduated I don't seem them anymore, so its a good way to just chat a bit, etc. So thats my main reason.[/SIZE'] :animestun[/quote] Yep, that's the reason I have a MySpace account as well. I didn't want to lose contact with some good friends of mine from high school, and MySpace just another way to keep in touch with them. I've got some people from OB on my friends list just for the hell of it too. I don't do very much on MySpace, though... my page is basically a big list of things I like lol. I tried keeping up a small blog there, but I got bored with it quickly. Updating my regular website is tough enough. :p If anyone actually cares to add me to his or her friend list, here is my MySpace page: [b][url]http://www.myspace.com/shinmaru[/url][/b]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082]Don't worry, peoples. I have all the pics saved now, and you know how I love [url=http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/rupees/otakufiles/][u]archiving things[/u][/url'].[/color][/quote] Is anyone else uncomfortable with Desbreko having our pictures saved on his computer? :p I saved all of the pictures I felt like saving... kind of a nice trip down memory lane, though I don't look all that different. :P

I saw Narnia this afternoon and I liked it. I can't say that I had [i]that[/i] much of a problem with the pacing... obviously some parts felt a bit squeezed, but I think that it worked well overall. And I have to agree that the complaints about the Christian overtones are very overblown (not here but elsewhere). From what I've heard the themes of Christianity are much stronger in the Narnia books than they were in the movie - they were still present in the film, of course (Daughter of Eve, Son of Adam, [spoiler]Aslan's resurrection[/spoiler], etc.), but it never felt to me as if the film was laying it on thick lol. I liked the kids well enough (Lucy was particularly good as other people have pointed out), and the battle scenes were great. The White Witch was also pretty cool. What an evil, evil lady. :p

I have no clue what I'm getting (except for a few things... some Murakami novels and possibly The Cure's [i]Disintegration[/i]), and I like it a lot better that way. Christmas is so much more fun when it's full of surprises. Of course that doesn't stop me from lurking around the Christmas tree every now and then to screw with my parents. ;)

[QUOTE=Desbreko][color=#4B0082]I suppose it wasn't the [i]final[/i] boss, but the Thunderbird from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was one of the hardest end fights I've beaten. First off, you have to use half your magic to cast Thunder, just so you're able to damage the sucker. Then you have to cast Jump so that you can get the height to be able to hit the thing. And you definitely want a Shield spell up so you'll only take half damage. Which leaves you with a pretty much empty magic meter, meaning no Life (cure) spells. So this huge bird is flying around the one-screen room, shooting tons of fireballs down at you, and you have to jump around like a maniac and hit a tiny little spot on it with your even tinier sword to damage it. And as you do more damage to it, it shoots more and more fireballs, some of which seem to be so fast you can't dodge them unless you already know they're coming. I think it took me about ten tries to finally learn the patterns well enough to beat it.[/color][/QUOTE] God, like [i]every[/i] fight in The Adventure of Link is tough. Even some of the regular enemies are just total bastards to beat lol. That game is just hard as hell... I like it a lot, but I can see why people wouldn't look back on it with fond memories. Boy is it ever nice when you beat those bosses, though. :D And, yes, I'd agree with Des that the Thunderbird fight is one of the more difficult boss battles I've ever come across (that's without putting really geeky limits on myself throughout the game like some people :p).

New episodes of Lost resume on January 11th. So, about a month or so from this coming Wednesday. Such a long wait. :(

[QUOTE=Doukeshi][SIZE=1] Caring, peace-loving my butt. The amount of anger and jealousy that man felt was phenominal. He wasn't perfect and serene, he was a regular bloke with one hell of an ego. Its not a good thing he died sure, but it isn't the travesty that everyone makes it out to be, he wasn't Ghandi for crying out loud.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] Well by the same token just about everyone has their bad qualities... for example, Gandhi was a racist. It's well documented that he didn't care for Africans very much at all. Does that mean that we should disregard every great thing that Gandhi did? Of course not. But I think that people should be more aware of things before they deify people (not that you were doing that with Gandhi, but just in general). I wouldn't put John Lennon on the same level with Gandhi at all, but he was a pretty influential person. At the same time, as Doukeshi pointed out, he had his faults just like any other person. :)

I like the idea, too. I think that simply posting your Friend Code/Gamer Tag in the thread, and then having a mod edit it into the overall list would be better than PMing the information for mods to add in later. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what James thinks of that, haha. But, yes, great suggestion. :)

Why not? My name is Michael Zavala. I come from a quiet town in Southern California where it's too hot in the summer and just right in the winter. I prefer a quiet, peaceful atmosphere to a loud, energetic one, and so I'd rather not move to a big city unless I had to. Unfortunately I'm smart enough to know that will never work out, and I'll probably be stuck in an annoying city right off the bat when I move out. Why? Because things just work out that way. Yes, nothing but rose-tinted glasses over here. I turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. That probably won't hit me very much at all until I'm about to turn 21, and I realize that, yes, I've actually been alive for twenty years. When I turn 21 I don't plan to drink very much (if at all) not because I am a prude, but because alcohol has never appealed to me very much ever. I have no problem at all with people who drink casually. Smoking, however, is something that annoys me a lot, moreso because I'm surrounded by smokers at school whenever I go. However I can't do anything about it, since they're basically allowed to smoke wherever outside, so I just ignore it. I'm a Sophomore at Cal Poly Pomona and I major in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism. My major is one of the smaller ones on campus, yet every Com class I want is taken every quarter. My experience is that being a Sophomore isn't much different from being a Freshman, because we get it up the *** when class scheduling comes along too. I'm basically in the same position I was in last year, because I'm not a very social person... at least when it comes to getting to know people. Plus everyone here is obsessed with "networking" and that annoys the hell out of me. I have two siblings, a sixteen-year-old sister and a fifteen-year-old brother. I'm of the opinion that I was a terrible older brother until about three or four years ago when I stopped being a complete ******. This might sound incredibly corny, but getting along with my brother and sister is one of the few things that really keeps me happy. Not that I'm depressed or anything (I honestly don't think I've ever been [i]truthfully[/i] depressed in my life), but it's hard to find stuff to make me smile sometimes. My siblings always make me smile. :) I am currently unemployed, and I don't think that I'll be getting a job any time soon. I tried getting a job at a Halloween shop a couple of months ago, but that ended up not working out. I was actually looking forward to working, so that was very disappointing. Random Stuff: I love puns of any type, and I try to tell at least one joke with a horrible pun in it every day. If I did this to anybody outside of my family I'm sure that I would be punched in the face. I like playing Jeopardy! a lot, even though I'm sure that I would get creamed if I ever made it onto the show. I love self-deprecating humor, because I think that it's important that a person can have a laugh at his or her own expense. If a person takes everything too seriously then that person is not worth taking seriously, I think. [u]Catch-22[/u] is the funniest novel I've ever read. Right now I believe that Curb Your Enthusiasm is the absolute funniest show on television. However, I fear for myself whenever Larry David does something on that show that I would probably do in the same situation. Right now my musical obsessions are Cocteau Twins and Denali... which tie into another musical obsession of mine: female singers in rock bands. Is there anything better? I think not. Lastly, I am a huge fan of Winona Ryder and have seen almost every movie she's been in (even the horrible ones), though even my blind love for her would not keep me from thinking that those "Free Winona" shirts were among the dumbest things I've ever seen in my life. That was sort of fun, actually.

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3]I think in that movie (and many others), the stuff they don't really explicitly show comes off worse. I think most people have better imaginations than what can realistically be displayed in a film... If certain things are tried with today's technology, it just winds up looking fake and then, laughable. [spoiler]Anyway, the one scene that comes to mind instantly from that film that fits within that is Lust. The image of what he had made and the fact that the man was forced to use it for an extended period on the woman is pretty damn horrifying.[/spoiler][/QUOTE] Yeah, that's what I was going to come in here and say. You only actually see one person murdered in the entire film ([spoiler]John Doe at the end, obviously[/spoiler]), and the movie just leaves your imagination to fill in the gaps with the other murders. The scene that you mentioned is what I always imagine to be the most brutal murder committed in that film... I mean, just the guy's reaction to what he was forced to do is unsettling enough, but when you actually find out what happened and you're left to think about it afterwards it's just so twisted and horrible lol. EDIT for Mugen: [spoiler]He died on the way to the hospital I think.[/spoiler]

[QUOTE=Dagger]Also, [spoiler]OMGWTFPOLARBEAR!!11!!![/spoiler] I had to do it. :animeblus ~Dagger~[/QUOTE] Get ready to do that a lot over the course of the first season. :p Be sure to report your thoughts in this thread. It'll be fun to have some more reflection upon the first season of the show. :) Anyway, last week's episode was really great. [spoiler]Ana Lucia's[/spoiler] flashback was good, and the ending was fantastic. [spoiler]I love a heartwarming reunion. And we'll get more Jin/Sun interaction! Man do those two ever rule.[/spoiler] I'm greatly looking to finally seeing [spoiler]just what the hell Kate did.[/spoiler] And then six weeks without Lost!! Joy!! :( EDIT: This post spoilered just in case Dagger wanders in and sees my post... I ruin future events for [i]nobody[/i]!!

I used to think about things way too much before I started a story... then I'd get to a certain point, and it would end up going nowhere. Now I just have the basic skeleton in my head and let the characters dictate what happens. It's more fun that way. I know where the characters are going, otherwise the story would be too unfocused, but it's always the character that chooses what path to take. :) For some reason, I have the most fun writing really arrogant characters. Their dialogue and action is just [i]too[/i] fun lol. I don't consider myself very arrogant (unless I'm just having a bit of fun), but I like writing for characters who are unlike me. It makes for a neat experience. Also, I have the J.D. Salinger-complex where I insert italics into everything lol. I enjoy playing around with changes in tone within dialogue. If I ever read my stories out loud, I tend to leap completely into character and overact like crazy with that. >_>

[quote name='Solo Tremaine][color=#503f86']I'm nice and single, although not through choice >.>;[/color][/quote] Lord, ain't that the truth? I think that my biggest problem is that every time I find a girl that I like, she's already with someone. I'm still friends with a lot of them... but none of them are available lol. It's incredibly annoying, let me tell you. I've basically given up on finding a girlfriend for now. It's too frustrating and depressing to think about. :animestun

I really enjoy a great horror movie. There's just something about that feeling you get while watching a really good one that's just so cool. I love it. :) Lately my favorite horror movie has been The Thing. It's been almost twenty-five years since the movie was made, and the special effects are still amazing. Every time that the thing is outed is just a nerve-wracking experience lol. This is a movie where special effects are used to their highest potential for sure. I love the palpable sense of paranoia you get in the movie as well. The Thing was one of the few movies that just scared the hell out of me the first time I watched it, and kept scaring me every time I watched it afterwards. I still can't help but be a bit scared when watching it - The Thing still does that to me, haha.

I'm not as big a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean as a lot of people seem to be (mostly because I think that it was too damn long), but more Captain Jack Sparrow can only be a good thing. I'll never get tired of him lol. I'll probably end up seeing it with my family... I just hope there aren't five million points where the movie could logically end, only to keep going on and on and on like the freaking Energizer Bunny. :mad:

Hm, I don't know if I'll be able to go and see this in the theater, but I'll probably give it a watch sometime (as in a year later than everyone else lol). I liked the mini-series (I was practically the only guy in my AP English Lit class who did...), so hearing that this is of similar quality is good. :)

Yeah, [spoiler]Dumbledore's mood swings[/spoiler] were so bizarre lol. He's been dubbed "[spoiler]Grumbledore[/spoiler]" at a few places I usually go. :p I'm wondering if a lot of that was Michael Gambon's choice, or the director's choice. Michael Gambon is usually a great actor, but I guess that he's due for an odd choice every once in a while... lol. Anyway, though Goblet of Fire is far from my favorite Harry Potter book, I thought that this was the best of the Harry Potter films so far. It's nice to see that each successive sequel has gotten better (that's what I've thought, anyway). My big problem with Azkaban was that the pace was very zonky, and Goblet of Fire took care of that quite nicely. I don't really mind most of the stuff that was cut out of the film, because a lot of that just isn't "movie material," you know? Some stuff just works much better in novels than they would in a film. The only bad thing was that the first time I saw the movie, I got stuck in a crappy audience with tons of screaming girls. Ugh. The audience was tons better when I saw the movie a second time at least. :)