Xander Harris

Very beautiful stuff.... I wouldn't call it a psalm. People assume it is going to be a religious writing, which this isn't. I would call it Hebrew style poetry, instead. One idea to try: In Hebrew poetry, they often repeat the same thing different ways. For example: I stubbed my toe upon the stone/As I walked my toe did strike a rock/ There's a technical english term for that which I can't think of at the moment... I would say to try and add some more of it. You'll notice that it's used a lot in the psalms. I like a lot of the imagery you use. Very vivid. Keep up the good work!

We just finished reading "Gullivers Travels" in English class. In it, Gulliver travels to various strange countries, and uses the inhabitants of them to satirize current events, society, and human nature. We were supposed to write a satire of our own. I am breaking historic ground as the first person to write something in the same style as "Gullivers Travels". No one else has made up their own strange land before. I decided that after 6 years of living in small town Iowa, it was high past time I wrote about it. So here is: Bob's Travels. (Note: Any constructive feedback would be greatly appreciated. Also note that this is only my first draft, so it isn't perfect. But anyone who lives in small town Iowa ora similar region will appreciate it, I think.) ***************************************** Bob's Travels A voyage to the Blitherdewivles It was on the fourth Sunday of January, In The Year Of Our Lord 2004, that I set out from Des Moines airport on a flight to Japan. I intended to sell my brand of energy drinks to the natives. During the flight, a great storm tossed our plane about. We lost contact with the mainland, and our plane crashed into the ocean. As the water filled the plane, I smashed a window and climbed out. Everyone else was so busy panicking that they died. Oh, well. I swam for several hours, while sea gulls circled overhead and currents threatened to pull me under. Finally, I felt land beneath my feet. I struggled onto the shore of a small island. As I lay there breathing, I wondered if I would ever see my pet parakeet again. Then I passed out. When I awoke, I saw surrounding me a bunch of strange looking people. They had smooth purple skin, and had two mouths. The stood there looking at me for a few moments, with bemused expressions. Finally, they lifted me to my feet and gave me a shove to make me walk. They led me across the beach to a desert. After walking in the desert for a good hour or two on a perfectly straight road, we arrived at their city. The crowd led me to what must have been their palace, and presented me to their king. One of my captors spoke to the king in a strange gibbering tongue, using his left mouth. The king laughed at whatever the man said, and they both gestured at me mockingly with their left hands. At the same time, the captor was speaking to me out his right mouth, in perfect English. "This is the king. He will decide what accommodations we can provide for you. We are the Blitherdewivles, greatest race in all the world. Thank you for visiting our city!" He extended his right hand, and I shook it. The king questioned me for several minutes, wanting to know where I came from. I told him about the United States, and the great state of Iowa. He was fascinated by me, and asked me to dine with him that night. I agreed. At the dinner, I continued to be amazed at the incredible hospitality of these marvelous purple people. Each one of them shook my hand firmly, and took the time to learn my name. The fact that they took the time to do this was amazing, since it was clear that they had far better things to talk to each other about using their left mouths. I quickly picked up their language that night, having a certain skill with words. Most of their conversation revolved around the sacred games of "Glibiwibi". I later had the joy of attending one of these holy tournaments, which I will recount shortly. The king asked me many questions about my place of origin, and seemed quite interested in tales of the United States. His left mouth kept laughing at me the entire time, which was quite disconcerting. It turns out that everything we thought was good about our society is pathetically inferior to the Blitherdewivles. I told him of our televisions, and he told me of his city mimes. I told him of modern medicine, and he explained the effectiveness of leechcraft and ritual bleedings. I told him about tractors, and he informed me of the benefits of Mlikiti labor. At this, I became confused. I asked him what a Mlikiti was. His right mouth explained that Mlikiti?s are valued members of society, like any other Blitherdewivle. His left mouth was chattering away about how Blitherdewivles with lighter or darker purple color than other Blitherdewivles were Mlikitis. I didn?t quite understand this, as all the Blitherdewivles I saw during my stay in that land had exactly the same level of purple in their skin. He said that good Blitherdewivles used a local herb known as Nhiahia to ensure that their skin stays the right color purple. He also said that all Blitherdewivles were required to attend Glibiwibi games, and talk of them whenever possible in their spare time. Those who did not were Mlikitis. Mlikitis were also those who had come from other Blitherdewivle nations, and those who participated in other ceremonies than Glibiwibi (and likewise state sanctioned activities) were Mlikitis. He said that some types of Mlikitis were put to work in the sewers, others had the job of making other Blitherdewivles feel superior, and some were eaten as delicacies. I of course believed his most noble right mouth on this matter. Although I was a Mlikiti in that land, Blitherdewivles would occasionally crowd around me in the street and sing my praises for a minute or two. Their left mouths explained to each other that it made them feel good to befriend a Mlikiti. They would then give each other pats on the back as a reward. I wondered sometimes if the concept of friendship in that land was different than in our own, since none of the Blitherdewivles so much as talked to me at other times. But I felt so special during those times when they would honor me. Like I said, I attended a game of Glibiwibi while I was there. The king?s left mouth said he would chop my head off and feed me to the other Mlikitis if I didn?t go, and the right mouth said I could go if I wanted to. I had been favoring the right mouth so much, I decided to humor the left one and go see a game of Glibiwibi. In this game, the most honored and respected Blitherdewivles meet in the center of town, which is reserved for Glibiwibi games. They then proceed to strike one another repeatedly with sticks. A point is scored for each whack. There are judges for these games, and they are the ones who declare every point. The residents of the town don?t care much for these judges, however. The crowd screams at the judges with both mouths continually, lay all blame on them, and occasionally excrete feces upon them. This is just one of the brilliant social inventions of the Blitherdewivles. They don?t wish to cause hard feelings, rivalries, and hatred by blaming the participants for their failure to beat their opponents rapidly enough. And so the judges fulfill their civic responsibility by taking all the blame. If only we could apply this system to our own nation, life would be so much better. Another interesting thing about the Blitherdewivles is their Assembly Houses. Each Blitherdewivle must belong to one of these exclusive clubs, even the Mliklikis. The assembly houses are large, ornate buildings where Blitherdewivles assemble to dress in fancy clothes, and gossip over glasses of steaming Juri Juice. I myself joined the King's Assembly House, which had a bitter rivalry with an Assembly House located exactly seven inches away from it. Occasionally, the various Assembly Houses join together to for massive contests. One involves the children of the town, who are to be entertained by various members of the Assembly Houses. Whichever house does the best job of entertaining the children wins! After several months of living among the Blitherdewivles, I spotted a plane flying past above me. I quickly built a fire, and the flames attracted the pilot. He picked me up and took me back home to Iowa. My parakeet was overjoyed to see me! Unfortunately, the person who had been house sitting for me had taught it a bunch of bad words, and all it could do was swear. So I had it put to sleep. The End. ***************************************************************** For added discussion value: who else here has read Gulliver's Travels? What did you think of it? Has anyone else written any satire in a similar style?

WOW!!! :eek: That was simply incredible. :love: Excellent 'pacing', varied panel size, and gorgeous art. I don't think it needs any more dialogue. It takes real skill to be able to tell an action story using pure visuals. Remember when Marvel tried to do 'silent month' a while back? Most of the issues sucked. But this was great! If this is the kind of stuff that's found here, I ought to start hanging out in the Manga forum more often...

Excellent point, Transtic Nerve. What is 'cool' anyway? It's entirely a subjective term. I'd like to make an addendum to my earlier post. I failed to answer SoapyShoes question about Barnes and Noble. The other people I see in the fantasy/manga/rpg isle scare me. They typically don't bathe, and look at me with scary, hollow eyes. You meet some freaky people in comic book stores, too. I always get a kick out of the weirdos who can't seem to decide if they are goths or punks, and dress in a bizzare sort of hybrid way. They are obviously on drugs of some kind. I feel sorry for anyone who thinks getting arrested is cool. But it's true that it sometimes increases people's popularity... I really don't get that.

Am I popular? I don't know. I'm certainly popular among creative people like myself. I don't really have many enemies anymore (although I've had quite a few in the past). A girl in my sunday school class thought that the proposition of me not getting along with someone was laughable. "You are a really easy person to get along with" she said. O.k. So I know how to play the game. I know how to get everyone to like me, or at least tolerate my existance. But that doesn't mean that I am someone everyone wants to hang out with. It doesn't mean I am someone people would want to be seen with. Girls like to be with me, and a lot of girls think I'm amusing, but they don't tend to want to go out with me. I don't play any sports, unless you count my PE class. So am I popular? Among some people, yes, among the general populace, no. But that's o.k. Many of the 'popular people' I really have nothing in common with. I find them fairly boring. Why would I want to spend my time with them? It's the different, interesting people I like. And I don't need to be adored by millions, if I have a few good friends who like me. Sometimes I wish I had more sex appeal, though. It would be nice to have a girlfriend... ******************************************************************* OOOO! I almost forgot! The senior citizens in our church all seem to think I am the greatest! They all love me! OOOO! I'm a huge hit with the junior high kids, too. My sister tells me they dig me! Yeah! OOOO! Babies and toddlers like me, too! Cut out everyone from age 15-50, and I'm the most popular person ever!!! Hooray! :raspberry

[QUOTE=sublime2004][b][size=1][color=darkgreen] To me, it doesn't matter whats in the commercial. I'm not gonna buy something I don't need or want just becuase I like the commercial. I have not to this day bought a Quizno's sub or Geiko insurance.(but I guess those weren't sexy commercials) .[/b][/size][/color][/QUOTE] But those singing hamsters are so cute! I don't buy Quizno's either, but I love their mascots :love: But seriously, let me say that the example ChibiHorsewomen gave shows the odd kind of sexism we are developing in this nation. If it had been a female being forced to strip by guards, the populace would have been outraged. It would have been called exploitive, demeaning and chauvanistic. Your local women's rights groups would be scandalized. But since it's a man it's o.k.? Just something to think about. Does sex sell? Of course it does (and I'm not just talking about porn). Like James said, sexual drive is hardwired into our beings. I won't go see a movie just because it has a hot actress in it, but it certainly is a plus. Girls are the same way. Orlando Bloom sold far more LOTR tickets than any special effect or epic story. As far as sex selling products... I don't think that is quite as effective. Personally, I find comercials for McDonalds featuring slim supermodels saying they eat at Mcdonalds all the time to be hilarious. And those Budwiser commercials where these guys drink beer (apparently by the boxful) and all of a sudden these babes like them? How getting drunk out of your mind and puking on your date's shoes could be attractive is beyond me :rolleyes: There may be some truth in those breath mint commercials.... girls tend to prefer guys who smell like mint instead of garlic. But I still don't get how the mints give that one dude telepathy :D Seriously, most commercials are funny because they advertise such ludicrus benefits that have nothing to do with the actual product.

Well, this is my senior year this year. I never bought a class ring... an absurd amount of money for a piece of jewlery signifying what? That you went to high school? Most people go to high school. I don't need to go bankrupt to prove it. My parents tell me that back in the day class rings cost 25 bucks, and you gave them to your girlfriend in college... Whatever. I did manage to find a once-a-week in the summer job for a few years, so I'm able to afford prom. Our class made so much money last year, that I don't have to pay for graduation robes. I find I kind of enjoy being a senior. We get open campus. We don't have to come back next year. The teachers who have ruled our lives for so long will never have any power over us again. My favorite teachers are retiring, so I got to be in the final class to have them. I had the lead in the play this year and went to all-state speech (finally!). So all in all, I think senior year has been pretty good. I actually could care less if I see anyone in my class again, but about 10 of them are going to the same college as me. They are all people I get along with decently, though, so it's all good. Most of my friends right now are a grade or two below me, and I'm going to college 20 minutes away, so yeah, I'm not really going to be missing anyone next year. Except one of my best friends who will be joining the Navy sometime next year. He wants to be a SEAL. We'll see how that goes...

Well, I always use names of fictional characters when I sign up for message boards. I was watching a lot of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' when I signed up for this, so the name was the first thing I thought of.

I think everyone has points in their lives when they don't know why they bother living... I never got too suicidal myself, because I knew my parents loved me and my God loved me, even if life royally sucked at the moment. It's a rare case indeed where suicide is truly the best option. There's always hope, especially in America. If you ever feel like killing yourself, you need to go talk to someone about it. Someone grown-up and sane.

Well, during my elementary years (I was homeschooled) I was reading a biology book. While innocently flipping through the pages I came across a chapter on human procreation. See, I knew about eggs and sperm before that, I just assumed that when a mommy and a daddy were asleep in the same bed, the sperm climbed out and went over to the mommy. Simple enough, right? So anyway, I was reading this science book, and all of a sudden I was like 'Yuck! They do WHAT!?! EWWWWWW!" So yeah, a scientist told me. Although I don't think anything could be weirder than watching hours of porn with your mom, Hell's Fire...

Well, The Passion Of The Christ stirred up a lot of controversy, and made a ton of cash. Were it any other film, there would be a sequel in the works. Of course, here in the real world, the sequel already exists. It's called The Book Of Acts. And in a way, the sequel is still being written, every day of our lives. Let's travel back to the earliest days of the world's largest religion, to the time recorded in Acts.... The Earth quaked. The sun went black. The temple curtain was split in two, removing the barrier between Jew and Gentile, between man and God. The stone was rolled away, and the Christ ascended into heaven while his disciples looked on. The New Covenant had been created, all things were made new by the sacrifice of Jesus. Now, all men could be saved from death and hell. His followers prayerfully chose another man to take the place of Judas, Matthias. And then they waited for the Helper the Master had promised to send... This is a historical drama about the early days of the Church. The story begins with the day of Pentecost, and continues on from there. You will create fictional citizens of Jerusalem, and play out the spread of the gospel. We will deal with some of the issues that the early church faced. Here's what I need: Name: (historical authenticity good, but not required. Either make an original character, or use a minor character from the scriptures.) Age: Sex: 2-3 Greatest sins and weaknesses: Occupation: Race: (Jew or Gentile) Alignment: Christian, Jew, Polytheist, Persecutor (actively tries to destroy The Church) Bio: For Christians only: 2-3 Favored Spiritual Gifts: (1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12:4) Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Ability to Distinguish Between the Spirits, Serving, Teaching, Encouraging, Praying, Leadership, Showing Mercy. Strongest Fruit Of The Spirit: (Galatians 5:22) Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control Here's mine: Name: James (hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it ;) ), son of Zebadias Age: 20 Sex: Male 2 Greatest Sins/Weaknesses: Lustfulness, Holds Grudges Occupation: Tent-maker Race: Jew Alignment: Christian Favored Spiritual Gifts: Knowledge, Teaching, Ability to Distinguish Between the Spirits Bio: James always loved to go to the Synagogue and hear God's Word preached. He studied it carefully, and was always fascinated by the prophecies in the book of Isaiah. One day, a childhood friend who had been blinded several years previous met James on the street. He had been healed, and told James to come see the man who had cured him. After hearing Jesus speak that day, James left his tent-making business to travel with the Rabbi. There was something about him that just seemed right. Sometimes Christ would do things, and James would be reminded of a passage in Isaiah. Could this man be the Messiah? Then his master was taken and killed in the most brutal manner possible. James watched as even Peter, one of Jesus close friends that James had always looked up to, turned his back on the Rabbi. James was devastated. He was about to go back to tent-making, when he met one of the disciples on the street, telling him that Jesus had risen! Now, James hides out from the Romans with the other Christians in Jerusalem, awaiting the promised Helper. All of a sudden, he sees a flash of light, like fire, come from the room the Apostles are in. He watches them head outside, and then begin preaching to the surrounding crowds in a multitude of languages! James will do his best to help with the task of redeeming the world...

The year is 2080. The United States has completed it's first permanent Martian base, and is launching a manned exploratory mission to Pluto. Only 3 probes have ever journeyed to Pluto, and they showed it to be fairly desolate. But after oil was found on Mars, NASA began to feel optimistic about the possibility of valuable substances on other worlds as well. Little do the astronauts know, however, that Pluto is anything but barren, and is certainly not uninhabited. The Chezna, an ancient race of blue skinned magical beings, live upon Pluto, which they call Chexzara. They use powerful magic spells to make Pluto seem to be uninhabited. Magic. A mystic force stronger than gravity or electricity, more potent than atomic fusion. In ancient days this incredible force of nature was prevalent. Reality could be shaped by it's use, and many ancient struggles of good versus evil were waged by it's power. Power granted by the Chezna, the master's of all mana. They were the gods of the ancient world, worshiped by the human mortals. Those humans who gained the power of magic did so only because they were granted it by their Chezna masters. As time went on, the Chezna lost interest in humanity. A brutal civil war on Chexzara forced them to withdraw from earth, and they never returned. They had forgotten the reason why they had journeyed to Terra in the first place. They abandoned their mission, and became isolated and self-serving. In eons past, the Great Seers, now extinct, had prophesied the coming of a Great Darkness. This darkness was destined to consume all light, and end everything that was good in the universe. Yet there was hope. The Chezna were told that their deliverance would come from Earth. They were to prepare humanity as their allies in the coming struggle. For it was prophesied that all other species would serve the Darkness in the last days, except the Chezna, and the ally they were to prepare... Now, their world is in crisis. There have been sightings of the Three Spirits Of Chexzara, the old gods of the Chezna. Disruptions in the very nature of reality, caused by wicked spells cast in secret by servants of the Darkness, threaten to rip Pluto apart. The word from beyond the Chezna's own solar system is that of a great conqueror, who has enslaved many of the Great Races, and has set his eye upon the Sol system. The Time Of Turmoil has come, and the Chezna are not prepared. Into this tumultuous environment comes an experimental spacecraft bearing members of the race the Chezna had forgotten... O.k. Sign-ups. Everyone will start as human astronauts, but as the story progresses, I will open up the option to play Chezna as well. Here's what I need: Name: Age: Appearance: Sex: Bio: Scientific Specialty: Navigation, astronomy, mechanics, computers, life science, geology, etc. 2 general skills or traits: Good talker, good brawler, sexy, strong, willpower, courage, tenacity, good shot with weapon of choice, martial artist (specify type), good with languages, magical aptitude (useless at the start of the game, but will become very important later on)...etc. 2 (or more) quirky skills or traits: Can play the trombone, wiggle his ears, good at chess, hates classical music... etc. Weapons and equipment: Be somewhat realistic. This is only eighty years in the future. Here's mine Name: Fred Johnson Age: 35 Appearance: Average height, tongue ring, a big toothy grin. Reddish hair. Sex: male Bio: Enrolled in the Space Academy at 18 years of age, because his father got a job as an instructor there, so Fred got free tuition. Always a bit of a rebel, he was assigned to the Pluto mission because his superiors wanted to be rid of him. Scientific specialty: Navigation 2 general skills or traits: Good brawler, good with languages 2 (or more) quirky skill or traits: Used to smoke cigars, but once he got into space travel he's taken to chewing on them, loves soft rock music. Weapons/equipment: brass knuckles, laptop computer This ought to be an interesting story.... I'm kind of looking forward to seeing what happens next :D ...

Name: Liout Gender: Male Age: 25 Appearance: Tall, black haired and good looking Species: human Class: officer Team: Rebel Disadvantages: Loves carousing and wenching when the opportunity presents itself Homeworld: Naboo Bio: One of the most diligent and dedicated members of his Rebel squad, he is rising quickly through the ranks, and is along on this mission as a commanding officer. Equipment: A blaster pistol and state of the art datapad Skills that need points: Ranged Combat: +5 Melee: +2 Stealth: +3 Grace: +3 Health: +4 Strength of Body: +3 Strength of Mind: +3 Piloting: +0 People-Skills: +4

My first reaction was.... wow, that's kind of gross if taken literally. I assume you are talking more in emotional and spiritual terms, though ;)

O.k. I would say definately apologize to her. Tell her you are sorry, and then don't talk to her again, ever. It sounds like both of you would be a lot better off without each other. I have some more advice, but I want to give it through some personal examples. First of all, feeling pain when a girl you really like turns out not to be interested in you the way you are in her is normal. Many a time I have had this feeling... there's nothing wrong with it. I think you will find, though, that many of the girls you crush over without getting anything in return are not girls you would have been happy with anyway. For instance, when I myself was in Junior High, I had a huge crush on a girl named Rhonda. I mean huge. Once, in study hall, I tried to draw every inch of her hair, because I thought it was so beautiful... I wrote a mushy love note to her, which soon found it's way to everyone in the school. That was the end of that. :laugh: Nowadays, I can hardly stand Rhonda. Her mom is an irritating gossip, and she's not much better. She has nothing worth interacting with in her head. She is the absolute definition of stupid, annoying blonde. I can't stand her, and yet there was a time when I would have sworn I was in love with her. Xander Harris has a great interest in women, and always has. There have been many girls I have been interested in, but nothing came of it. The worst is always when the girl starts being nice to you, and you think you have a real shot, only you soon find out the reason she is so cheerful is that she just acquired a boyfriend that isn't you... But I go on with my life. I hang out with my male friends. I type an absurd amount of crap on Otakuboards ;) I get involved in school and church activities. When the time is right, I will find my soulmate. Until then, I just need to concentrate on being the best person I can be, so that when I find that special girl, she will have found a complete and special man. So my advice? Keep on with the counseling, but realize that you will only be free of this obsession when you find other things to do with yourself. Ever try Roleplaying? If you are a creative fellow, that's a great way to get a bunch of guys together. Most of the friends I have I got through roleplaying. Join some extracurricular activities. Buy a new video game (preferably a strategy or RPG game) and play it obsessively. Spend more time here on Otakuboards. Go to church/synagogue/mosque/whatever more. Get out there and live a bit. And it's o.k. to be friends with girls and nothing more. I'm friends with a wide variety girls. Hopefully one of them will end up being something more than a friend. And those that don't still make great companions. Anyway, good luck. And don't ever try to kill yourself again.

Holst's 'the planets', especially 'Mars' goes great with Thor. I read one of the pivitol issues in the 'Sprial' arc while listening to that... Sojourn brings LOTR music to my mind, and occasionaly Pirates of the Carribean. There's this one song off my Dungeons and Dragons Roleplaying soundtrack that seems to pop into my head whenever I'm reading or writing something exciting...

"She Bang! She Bangs!... I have no professional training" with those words and a few spastic hand motions, William Hung won a place in America's heart. And now the 'King' of untalented singers (move over, Brittany Spears) has released his own album! 'Inspiration' features Hung's signature song, as well as his unique renditions of several others. You too can channel your inner lovable geek and become rich and famous by following the 'words of wisdom' Hung has recorded upon this humble CD. And did I mention there is a bonus DVD music video with Hung in all of his glory? I actually don't own a copy yet, I was just listening to the samples on Amazon, and laughing my butt off. I intend to buy a copy, for novelty's sake, since it's only ten bucks. So, who else here wants an entire CD of Hung? And, to add some depth to the discussion, what does our fascination with this guy say about us and our culture? I'll leave the answer to those who post next...

I origionally posted this in MyOtaku, hopefully it will reinvigorate this thread... Let me start by saying that Hellboy is the best looking superhero picture ever. The costumes are strangely realistic and believable. I thought the red body suit that Ron Perlman wore would look hokey. In actuality, Hellboy looks quite cool. Liz's pyrokinetic powers are shown through simply masterful special effects. They managed capture the essence of flame with a CGI effect. If someone could really create and control fire, that is what it would look like. Guillermo del Toro makes special effects into an art. In so many films, you feel as if the director simply said 'and here we insert a special effect', and assumed that since it was expensive and involved computers, the audience would be wowed. Not so with del Toro (love that name). He gets each effect from exactly the right angle, for the perfect length of time. The CGI and the live action blend seamlessly. Here is a man who takes pride in his work. There's a lot of good humor in this film. The ending features a delightful reversal on what has become a bit of a genre flick cliché. The girlfriend is presumed dead. The hero walks up to her, and speaks in her ear. She stirs. The music swells. She is alive! Just like how it happened in Superman, two of the Matrix movies, X-men, etc. etc. I breathed an inner sigh of disgust. "When I was on the other side, I heard your voice. What did you say?" I won't give away Hellboy's response, you'll have to see the film yourself. But it isn't what you would expect. The whole thing has such an entertaining pulp, comic book feel to it. For instance, the Nazis are creatures of pure evil, bent on the destruction of the world through black magic. The demonic monsters look like Cthulthu. The heroes work for a top-secret government organization. There are some deeper themes in this movie as well. Hellboy is a demon, summoned forth by the Nazis. He is taken in by a devout catholic who works for the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. This is his 'father'. Hellboy struggles with his heritage, with what he was born as, and what he could choose to be. This is a classic example of the 'monster as fallen human' analogy. We too are born as corrupted evil beings, yet are given a chance to be something more. It's interesting that although the choice is Hellboy's, he is given it because of the love of his 'father', and apparent whims of destiny. Both predestination and free will co-exist in this film. It will leave you with something to think about. The script and the actors really bring each of the characters to life. This movie did a much better job of making me care about these people than any of the X-Men or Matrix movies did. Ron Perlman gave a brilliant performance as the lead character. Selma Blair really makes you feel for poor Liz. The evil Nazi's are great. Kudos all around. The score to Hellboy is pretty good, too. Unlike so many genre films that use an intense, dark theme throughout, the composer varies the style of music. It's light and fun when it needs to be, atmospheric at times. When it does become intense and dark, it has a far greater impact than it would have if the music were like that the whole way through. I was going to buy the score at Wal-Mart, but it turns out it will not be released for another few days. Oh, well. Hellboy isn't a perfect movie. The villains could have used a little depth. Some of the fight scenes dragged. But over all, it was a highly entertaining film. If you like comic book movies, funny one-liners, action or horror, you will enjoy Hellboy.

Well, originally I came here because I had some friends at school who wouldn't quit bugging me until I signed up for 'these cool message boards we're on". I found I really enjoyed the prefecture stuff. In my isolated little corner of Iowa I don't tend to communicate with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, and here I can. I like talking (and occasionally arguing) with all the talented, opinionated and intelligent people that hang out here. I also really enjoy the Battle Arena. Online sparring is an entity onto itself. At first glance it would seem the only thing that matters is the ability to write decently, but you soon find that the actions your character takes has a real effect on the outcome as well. You start to see that there is applicable strategy to winning a spar ,which primarily consists of limiting your enemy's options as much as possible without god-modding. I can get RPG with pen and paper games (although I get much pleasure from the Adventure Arena as well), but the Battle Arena is a different sort of creative game. I really don't watch much Anime either (no cartoon network), but I love the Cowboy Bebop DVDs my friend owns.

:laugh: LOL :laugh: Wristcutter, you're a stud.

[QUOTE=sublime2004][size=1][b][color=darkgreen] It sounds to me like you have an allergy to salycilic acid (the main ingredient in most facial cleansers) Unfortunately, I have never seen a face cleaner that doesn't have at least some SA in it. I reccomend you stick to soap. I personally use that liquid gel stuff you get from bath and body works. Mmmm. Cucumber melon. Anyway, it works for me...[/b][/size][/color][/QUOTE] Actually, there are cleansers w/o Salycilic Acid (although I find SA works great on pimples). The one I'm using now is based on Benzoyl Peroxide. BP stuff tends to be white. You could also look into the Stridex foaming face wash, which uses some chemical starting with a T instead of SA. Maybe you should go get an allergy test from a doctor before you do anything...

Try some of the oxy and stridex products. They work good for me :)

Scene 3: Ethan Rayne awoke in the OtakuLake hospital. He was not the only person there that night. The hallways were jammed with impromptue stretchers. All around town, people were being smashed, hit, mauled, or bitten by a virtual army of supernatural creatures running rampant through the town. Ethan was lucky. He had been brought here before all the chaos started. Slowly, painfully, he started to get up. There was an IV in his arm, and a cast on his leg. He actually felt quite good, though. Enough of his potion must have sunk through his skin to provide some magical healing. The bag that held his possessions sat on a table several feet from his bed. Ethan ripped out the IV and walked over the the table. No nurses were around to impede his progress, thankfully. He quickly pulled out a goat's head, a parcel of Chimera root, and a vial of virgin's blood. He tossed them all into a ceramonial urn, and began to chant. A sharp pain and a wave of nausea came over him, but he pressed on through it. His only chance of getting revenge was to complete the spell. A thick green smoke rose from the urn and swirled around the chanting mage. Shapes began to form in the mist. They were coming. The champions of this town. Robert was the first to materialize. "Ethan. I should have known you were behind this." Robert ran forward, his fist ready to strike. "Wait! Wait!" Ethan stumbled away, as the other defenders of Otaku Lake appeard behind Robert. He just about fell over when Godzilla showed up, smashing the cieling of the hospital and roaring in pain. There was a vampire there too, but one look from Raven, one of the local slayers, who had also just appeared, stopped it in it's tracks. "My good man, this is not my doing. It is a Nteino demon, who stole my spell components! He took the statue, the costumes, everything! Here..." Ethan rumaged around in his sack, and brought out a small compass. This will lead you to Myork. There you can break the spell, and return your champions to their normal states. Wait! Before you go... Myrok has seeded this town with her eggs. She cast the spell as cover. If you don't find and destroy the egg-sacks, this entire city will be overrun with Nteino demons. I tell you this because I for one don't have the strength for another teleportation spell, and would hate to end my life as food for a bunch of overgrown beetles." Robert led the way out the door, managing to coax Godzilla and the vampire along with the help of Raven and Superman. (Nathan had to airlift the giant green monster out of the hospital) and that brings us to... ACT 2 Scene 1 ALL are led into battle against Myork at the costume shop. She is armed with a dagger for each hand. Her amulet can fire a powerful burst of energy. And she has recruited a cadre of people in evil costumes to help guard the shop and the talisman that powers the spell. If you want to split up and have some people go after the eggs in this scene, that's o.k. Otherwise your characters can just force the location of the eggs out of Myork after this battle, in ACT 3. Whatever you do, have fun, and good luck!

I love that show! The dialogue isn't really all that funny, but the contestants are hilarious. They always try to keep a smile on their face and a bounce in their step, even when they have just leapt into a wall or smashed their heads on a rock. I love all the mascots and such that run around cheerfully harassing the contestants, as well. :laugh: And the huge group events where they all roll down a hill or attack a fort guarded with waterguns. I seriously wonder why anyone would try out for that show, though. They don't seem to win anything. And yet they come out in droves to abuse their bodies on international T.V. Absolute comic gold. :D

hmmm. I think the problem with translating Japanese is that they speak more with similies and less with adjectives then we do, which might make electronic translation difficult.