Semjaza

Thanks for the response on Batman-ish stuff. I was going to bump this last week, but not a single thing worth purchasing (at least to me) was released. Saved it for this week. [URL=http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_020205.txt]*click* Comic List for 1/2/2005 *click*[/URL] The big thing I expect every one to buy is the trade paperback of Books of Magick: Life During Wartime. It collects the first six issues for only ten bucks! Just buy it and if you hate it, you didn't waste much money. I also heard that Black Panther #1 was quite good, so I'm interested in picking that one up. It's always nice when a character comes back. Well, not always, but in this case. I also want to see what MORA #1 is... maybe someone knows and can save me the time of looking.

I did one of these last year and it got very few posts... at least from what I remember. Really everyone listens to music and if you have some CD that came out last year that you really loved, then mention it. You don't need some big, specific list or anything. It's always nice to be told about new musicians or albums one might have overlooked or why people like bands you otherwise hate. At least in my opinion. I'm only including worldwide release dates. Muse's Absolution came out in the US in 2004, but it's original release date in Europe was 2003. I'm not including it because of that, but other people can do as they please. Here's some of my choices (not all of them because otherwise my Best of 2004 thing on my site will be useless lol): ----------------------- [IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002SVU3Q.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg[/IMG] [B]Album:[/B] Leviathon [B]Artist:[/B] Mastodon [B]Reason:[/B] While they've not been around too long, Mastodon's key EP release, Lifeblood, was really damn impressive. Certainly not something you'd call mindblowing, but it was definitely a sign of great things to come. Their LP that followed, Remission, was everything I think people were hoping Mastodon would prove to be, that the EP wasn't just a fluke like so many other releases. So now we're on to Leviathon, their second LP and in my opinion, one of the best albums to hit last year. Leviathon is more polished than Remission, which might bother some people... but it's something that serves the album more than hurts it. Leviathon manages to go into new territory, much as their last album, merging together metal, hardcore and other rock styles into something that few other bands have really pulled off (let alone well). Add to this several tracks that are based on Moby Dick and you have a really interesting, well planned album. I don't think anything other than a metal band could pull something like this off. [B]Track to Try:[/B] Megalodon --------------------------------------------- [IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002IQK40.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg[/IMG] [B]Album:[/B] ...Is a Real Boy [B]Artist:[/B] Say Anything [B]Reason:[/B] This one came out of nowhere for me. They've had previous material, but I had never heard it. This was the main release and it was suggested to me by someone who typically recommends crappy music I never enjoy. He didn't seem to particularly love this band, however, but just suggested it because he thought it was something I would like based on one song he heard on a sampler. I can't thank him enough for it. I don't know how popular this band is (or rather the main guy behind it, Max, because he does pretty much everything), but they should be freaking massive. To me, this is rock music that should appeal to anyone on this planet if they give it a real chance. Some of the best rock songs I've heard in years are on this one album. Despite being on what is largely an "emo" label, they are not an emo band in either the traditional hardcore influenced or new "anything-that's-whiny" way. I'd say they'd fit more into what people expect from a lo-fi rock group, except with a surprising amount of reliance on keyboards. I absolutely love the vocals, the playing is pretty much flawless and the writing is some of the best there is out of a modern rock band. Say Anything manages to write songs that are self-defeating without being angsty, downtrodden while still somewhat uplifting, heavy when it should be and soft when it shouldn't. These seem like easy things to do when thought of, but in practice seem to be very rare in music as of late. Just excellent. [B]Track to Try:[/B] Anything, really... Maybe "Woe" and "Writhing South" --------------------------------------------- [IMG]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00025ETFK.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg[/IMG] [B]Album:[/B] The Empire Strikes First [B]Artist:[/B] Bad Religion [B]Reason:[/B] I'm a big Bad Religion fan and own pretty much all of their material up until this point. It was a given that I'd buy this album, but it wasn't a given that I'd really love it. Their last album, Supersonic, never really won me over despite being decent. Before that, New America, which has a lot of great standalone songs really failed to be a great, coherant album. It just felt like some collection. The Empire Strikes First fixes these issues. Perhaps it is because there is actually something for them to go against, what with the war and everything. Perhaps they're just getting back into the groove they once were in. Whatever it is, we wind up with a really excellent punk album both in sound and ideal. I think what sets Bad Religion apart in general is at its strongest on this album. Political bands often shoot themselves in the foot by relying so strongly on the message that the song either is not that interesting, feels pretentious or doesn't stand the test of time because it refers to very specific events that are quickly forgotten. On The Empire Strikes First, Bad Religion mangages to write very strong songs that both have a strong political/organizational message underneath, but also succeed as interesting, well written stories that are testaments to those who have dealt with the very problems the songs speak of. Because of this, I don't really think any songs on this will ever really be out of standard or not applicable. They always apply to something. Great album. Seems a little too much like Supersonic at first, when in reality it's really just what Supersonic [I]should [/I] have been in the first place. [B]Track to Try:[/B] Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever, To Another Abyss, The Empire Strikes First --------------------------------------------- Anyway, these aren't what I think are the three absolute best, but simply three that I think were among the best and the easiest to write about from memory at school. I'd write more but I don't have the time or interest lol... But here's a bunch of albums I think rock and will talk about elsewhere at some point. They should all be tried at least. I broke them up so they can be seen a bit more easily. David McCormack - The Truth About Love, McLusky - The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire, Dogs Die in Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself, Scarling - Sweet Heart Dealer, Error - Error EP, Bjork - Medulla, Damnwells - Bastard of the Beat, Hot Snakes - Audit in Progress, tweaker - 2 AM Wake-Up Call, Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat, Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous, Modest Mouse - Good News... Presidents of the USA - Love Everybody, TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes, William Shatner - Has Been, Blood Brothers - Crimes, Air - Talkie Walkie, Green Day - American Idiot, Beta Band - Heroes to Zeroes, Vandals - Hollywood Potato Chip, Brian Wilson - Smile, Isis - Panopticon, John 5 - Vertigo, Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand, Visqueen - Sunset On Dateland, Morissey - You Are the Quarry, Arcade Fire - Funeral, Marah - 20,000 Streets Under the Sky Zero 7 - When It Falls, Hope of the States - These Are the Lost Riots, The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free, Ambulence LTD - LP, Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days, Drive-By Truckers - Dirty South, Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower - If You Cut Us, We'll Bleed, Magnetic Fields - I, Interpol - Antics The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows, Monster Magnet - Monolithic Baby!, Minus the Bear - They Make Beer Commercials Like This, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus, Ataxia - Automatic Writing, Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles, Snow Patrol - Final Straw, Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse Anyway, who else?

[quote name='James][color=#334366]In regard to breakability...I'm hoping that Sony fixes some of PSP's design issues when it comes out here. Kutagari's statements don't lead me to believe that they will, but [i]hopefully[/i'] they will. If not, PSP is unnecessary shooting itself in the foot. lol[/color][/quote] Maybe it was mentioned, but this reminds me of something about the PSP that was brought up recently. Apparently one of the buttons randomly sticks and it's impacting gameplay for people, obviously. Sony's response to this was basically that it was supposed to stick and that developers would have to find a way around it. Obviously a very ridiculous and arrogant statement. I have no idea if future models will be fixed or not, but I'd hope so.

They're more progressive metal than anything, I'd say. I really enjoy Dream Theater overall. Their CDs have an epic sort of quality about them that I enjoy... plus Petrucci's guitarwork is some of the best there is. I actually got into them by accident. Columbia House sent me some CD of theirs since I didn't mail in that stupid "No thanks" card. I wound up paying for it and not listening to it at all for months because the name just led me to believe that it would be some weird ambient, electronic music. Obviously. I realized I was completely wrong once I played it.

I personally don't know anyone that listened to Say Anything before I went on and on about them, other than the kid who introduced them to me: John Pressley. He only heard one song and figured I'd be into them. Guess he was right lol. I guess he's a good one to mention, although he usually goes on and on about pop rock/punk bands that he likes, not taking into account that he knows I'd not really be interested. I think he just wants me to like what he does lol. Most of what I listen to isn't really suggested to me by any one person. I read reviews often (check out local papers, especially ones trying to be "cool" -- they will turn you on to a lot of stuff) and I also post on a music forum, which leads to a lot of "check this out if you like ___" and that's the end of it. In my everyday life off the internet, I don't really have much of anyone to talk to that shares my musical taste. Most of the people I know who are older than me refuse to think that anything better than Kid Rock has come out of the last ten years (which is to say they think everything sucks) and are still stuck in music from twenty years ago. Friends my age really either don't seem to be into music or listen to thing that completely just don't interest me. Particularly really lame mall punk bands that all sound alike. My best friend, before we really talked much about music, mainly just listened to Genesis and Elvis. At least he likes NIN now, so we have more to talk about concerning music lol. There are certainly people that are willing to listen to what I have to say about what I or they listen to, but it's hard to have a real discussion when no one else you know cares about Big Black or Arcade Fire or whatever else. I don't have as much of a problem with musicians like David Bowie, who are obviously far more popular. I also just go to music stores and look around. There's usually posters or stickers on the CDs that say "if you love ____, you'll like this". That's how I originally bought my first Zeromancer CD years ago. Plus you can just listen to literally anything. I pick up new CDs based simply on cover art and their name. Never heard The Tea Party before, bought one of their CDs I thought looked neat and liked them ever since. Sometimes I try to find out more about some genre or sub-genre I don't much about and wind up finding a lot of new groups I don't know and wind up liking. That's how I originally stumbled on Curve probably countless others. I also found out about Jack Off Jill originally because I'm such a big Manson fan and they were involved musically together years and years ago. Same with Rasputina. As for this forum itself, I don't know. When I think of people that like similar bands, we all kind of seem to listen to the same things. Shinmaru is a good example of that. When someone's favorite bands are also some of your favorite bands, there's not much introducing to do lol. I'm sure I might have checked out something because he mentioned it, but I honestly can't remember offhand. Satan665 mentions a lot of things that I've either not given a good chance to or not gotten around to as well. Ratatat is a good example... I've still not had a chance to really listen to them. I'd say, mostly, rather than turning me on to things I didn't really know... a lot of people here get me to check out bands that I wound up ignoring or just assuming weren't things I'd like. Mitch with Radiohead for example. I didn't care for a lot of their stuff until I really gave it a chance since he talked about them so much. The Bends rocks, so there. I'd say the main person here who got me to listen to things I normally wouldn't have was likely Olga the Dwarf. He just listens to a type of music that I really just ignored for a long time. I've found myself listening to a lot more hardcore type stuff since a few of his posts. Anyway, that was rambly and not completely on subject, so I apologize.

In Hardwired, they automatically go into the archives after a set period of time. No one can post in them there. Otherwise, stuff in Hardwired, last I was informed, can really be posted in any time. It shouldn't affect anything.

I know that I personally wouldn't want to register for a forum that wouldn't let me post my own threads from the start. "Here are some topics, discuss only these" would not make me feel welcome or all that interested. That's a basic ability in every forum on the internet and to take that away here gives a strong feeling of heirarchy that would make one feel distanced and potentially unimportant, among other things. While I'm not exactly concerned about the specfic psychological consequences of telling xXxAnimeLuvr69xXx that his posts suck, it isn't beneficial to the site as whole. People here have already complained about a "heirarchy" of sorts here that I feel is currently almost non-existant beyond the expected member vs administration issue that accompanies a site of this nature. There's been a few in this very section that I can remember offhand. This would just strengthen that complaint. It makes me think of innocent until proven guilty. In essence, this is telling anyone that comes here as a new member that they need to make up for the mistakes of others they have no relation to. It's like some "original sin" they have to make up for just by registering. That's not a good thing. The whole idea of this just strikes me as pretentious. As though this place is so intelligent that it can't let its face be ruined by those who don't prove their worth. Even if it was presented as a "reward" for being a good member, it's not very enticing. My reward is to get to post my own threads? Other places let you access an arcade or get larger avatars. There's nothing rewarding about getting to post threads like one could on every other message board in existance. It's easy to say this would be a good thing if you've been here awhile and don't have to worry about it in the slightest. Initially, I'd think it was something that'd be worth the time. Yet, if I go back and remember my beginnings here, it's certainly something that would have been a major turnoff and would subsequently make me feel as though my input wasn't as important as older members, regardless of what the original intentions of this rule were. And when I remember that most of my first posts were in existing threads and not ones I had newly created, I still would have been majorly turned off if this were a rule. I simply would have not stayed here at all if that was a requirement. I think, potentially, it would turn away far more people than it would ever attract. If it did become a rule, I would hope these people could at least freely post in the Suggestions forum from the start, so they could at least get help if needed. And I swear the PM rules thing was suggested several months ago, if not more lol.

[QUOTE=The Vampire: Ed][COLOR=Red][FONT=Comic Sans MS] Hey, Freddy vs. Jason kicked ***. It wasn't really meant to be a horror movie, it was something for the fans who's been wanting to see the legends of slashers go at it. They couldn't completely head away from the horror aspect their individual movie series' featured because then it just wouldn't feel anything at all like a Freddy or Jason movie. Freddy vs. Jason was meant to be a fun movie for the fans, and if you went into it expecting a horror movie then you can only blame yourself when obviously the main attraction was meant to be exactly what they named the movie after, Freddy vs. Jason.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] I'd agree with this. I don't think anyone watches Freddy movies to get scared anymore, probably since the first one came out. At the time the first film was pretty freaky, I suppose, but certainly not the sequels. Freddy vs. Jason wasn't meant to scare the crap out of you. It was meant to put the two biggest slasher bad guys outside of Michael Myers together and let them fight it out. That's it. That's all it ever was since it was first discussed years upon years ago. It's fun, gory and humorous, just like each of the better Freddy films (outside of maybe New Nightmare, which took itself rather seriously -- I liked that one overall). Personally, I really enjoyed the film. Doesn't make you think, but it is entertaining and I have enough experience with the two of them that it filled some wierd nostalgic niche. I think a problem is that people think horror movies have to be one way. Horror films don't necessarily have to scare the crap out of you or anything else. Evil Dead 2 is definitely horror, but at the same time, there's probably just as much comedy in it. There's many different types. You can't go into every horror-themed film expecting the same sort of style.

Every Curve album is worth buying, even those they have available only on their website (there's a few of them, I believe). Pubic Fruit is excellent and I fully recommend it. Come Clean is also quite good, as is Gift. Gift actually had a song on it that was used in various commercials and the original Spider-Man film (at least in the commercials anyway). "Hell Above Water" was the title. Gift is probably the easiest of these to find, next to Doppelganger. Gift is, however, a bit more "rock" in a sense... more similar to Garbage than other Curve albums. I think the most amazing thing about Curve is that it's really only just two people. That and Toni Halliday is as attractive as her voice leads you to believe. I'd have to agree that it's probably the best female voice I've heard in any genre similar to this. The sad thing about Curve is that they never really got the commercial acclaim they deserved. I don't know if it's still an issue (may be, I've never seen them hit Chicago since), but their label couldn't even afford to send them on tour years back. It's kind of strange when groups like Garbage have hit the big time, which is probably one of the better direct comparisons to Curve in many senses. Garbage mainly exists because of Butch Vig, who visited with Curve before Garbage was even created. In many senses, it's almost as though he ripped off Curve, sound, voice and all, although twisting it to be a bit more market and radio friendly. Shirley Manson certainly tries to attempt the ability of Halliday, although I don't think she comes close at all. Oh well. I'm glad more people like them now. The first time I posted about Curve, I don't think anyone really responded on here lol.

Minish Cap certainly isn't my favorite Zelda game, but it's still a very good one. I'd say it's a worthy entry in the series and will likely remain one of the better games this year. I doubt most people would finish it in nine hours, especially if they even remotely tried to get some of the sidequests and kinstone things finished. Same goes for RE4, which is one of the better games I've played in the last several years and certainly the best game in the entire series as far as I'm concerned. There's a few games I'm really looking forward to. I'm only going to list the five that come to mind first... [B]Call of the Cthulu[/B] I love H.P. Lovecraft, which this is inspired by... although it's not a direct adaptation of his writings, but more of a combination of his stuff and stories by other horror writers (others have continued the Cthulu Mythos since his death). It's obviously a horror game, but seemingly more in the vein of Eternal Darkness. It also has that whole sanity idea, but the game has no visible health, magic or sanity meters. These are instead figured out through your characters onscreen actions. Anyway, looking forward to it a lot. I think it hits in March, after many delays. [B]Area 51[/B] I just think this looks fun. I've played the demo, which seemed like a nice combination of The Suffering (which is severely, severely underrated) and alien shooter FPS games. Pretty much just offers the types of things I'm interested. [B]Dragon Quest VIII[/B] I love the series and this game looks phenominal. I can't wait to finally play it... whenever the hell it comes out. [B]Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga[/B] Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, in my opinion, was the best RPG of last year on any platform. This will likely be the best RPG of this year outside of Dragon Quest VIII, at least for me. In Japan this game was called Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, but was renamed for the US, I assume to tie it together with the last SMT as the start of a franchise here. Better graphics, fully voice acted, a different battle system style, etc. I can't wait for it. [B]Radiata Stories[/B] A Square-Enix game made by Tri-Ace... who are mostly known for the games they've done for Enix in the past. Supposedly an amazingly good game according to Japanese articles. It looks and sounds pretty interesting, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to The Legend of Zelda, Killer7, Zoo Keeper on DS (probably out by now), Star Fox Assault (assuming it turned out well), DK Jungle Beat, Castlevania DS, Katamari Damacy 2, The Suffering 2, Sega Classics Collection, Musashi Samurai Legend, Stella Deus, etc.

James and I talked about them quite a while back. I can't really remember what about, but I think I was suggesting other albums of theirs or something to that effect. Overall they are a very good group, but they do have a lot of tracks I just never want to listen to. At the very least, I guess they should be thanked for helping trip-hop into existance... Some other bands I listen to now might not even have existed if it wasn't for what Massive Attack was doing. My favorite of theirs is probably Blue Lines, Mezzanine is probably second.

The only real way to fully understand the film is to listen to the commentary and watch the extras. They explain things the original cut of the film doesn't even attempt to. I think that's what I enjoyed about it so much, you have to unlock things yourself. There's a new cut of the film coming on DVD in February, I believe. It was in theaters as a "Director's Cut" this Summer, but I never wound up seeing it. Apparently the stuff that was put back in gives a full explanation to everything (and fills in Drew Barrymore's character, who I hated in the original cut). Sounds interesting, but I don't know that I'll use it to replace my original copy lol.

Thriller is good. I also like most of Marilyn Manson's videos. I'd say the best one I've seen is Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution". It's a great animated video. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned yet. I'm even more surprised that I was the one to bring it up first considering I can't stand the group. "Go with the Flow", as mentioned, is also an excellent video. The use of color is something that I really enjoy (I go for similar things with a lot of my work). There's also a ton of simple symbolism in it that I think is pulled off well.

[spoiler]You do realize that this is a joke parodizing EA's recent acquistions and such? It's just a parallel to the comic they just put out saying the same things. Posts on other comic sites are just jokes in relation to this as well (ex: [url]http://www.cad-forums.com/showthread.php?t=30304[/url]). You cannot copyright something like that. It's like Time getting the rights to be the only news magazine in the world or Fox News being the only channel that can talk about politics. This is presented so seriously that I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Once I know I can just take away these spoiler tags...[/spoiler]

People apparently like it. I personally find the US arm of the show to be ridiculous and hokey at some points, but at the same time it is rather interesting in other ways. The music industry knows what the highest volume of people buy, and for the most part, it's non-threatening pop music. While I don't particularly want to listen to that sort of music, many people obviously do; which is why so many similar artists survive in different genres, particularly what can be classified within the general container term of "pop". Different isn't always good, at least for public perception. I wouldn't rightfully say they have any less "taste" than I do, as that's completely subjective. I know I get weird looks and comments for listening to Xiu Xiu or Deerhoof for that very reason... it applies to anything. My only real problem with the show is that it makes stars out of people by forcing them to be what amounts to karaoke singers. I think a show like this would be far more entertaining and interesting if these people actually performed their own material... Even after the winner puts out an album, it's still mostly written by someone else (if not entirely). It admittedly bothers me. Perhaps there are already shows that do that, I don't know.

I've traded in so many older games for newer titles that what I bother to play seems to be changing constantly. Recently, The Minish Cap has pretty much just been living in my DS. There's been better Zelda titles, but the game is still very enjoyable. Before that, I had Advance Wars 2 in there (was only $10 at Best Buy a few weeks back). On GCN I was playing Baten Kaitos for a few weeks... until RE4 came out. I finished the main quest in that, however, and once I'm done playing with the stuff I unlocked, I'm sure I'll move back to Baten Kaitos. Both excellent games, I think. On PS2, I've really played nothing other than Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Katamari Damacy for the past few months or so. Both simply excellent games. The former may not be for everyone (check out the thread on it here, I think it was pretty good), but the latter is something I think anyone can get into... Especially since it retails for only $10. I did spend about ten hours with Shadow Hearts: Covenant until I realized it was never going to get any more interesting. What IGN was so excited over in that game, I have no idea. It's average. On PC, I keep going back to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Despite its flaws, I have been enjoying it. The only reason I've not played it the last week or so is because something that was supposed to happen never did. I've not been able to get to the next area and have no idea why lol.

[quote name='Heaven's Cloud][color=indigo']I am sure everyone else will have a different opinion, but I wouldn?t buy any of the Batman comics right now.[/color][/quote] How about other series then? All I am unwilling to bother with is pretty much just Superman. The last issue really got me interested in it again. At some point it was just starting to get annoying... It kept tossing the same few problems for Spider-Man back and forth over and over again. Yet, now that they came up with [spoiler]the Sinister Twelve (not original, but I thought it was fun to see lol),[/spoiler] I feel like some of the ideas presented are finally really coming together.

This is one of those threads that you've seen so many times over the years that you think you posted in it already. I guess I never posted in this one. It's hard to narrow this stuff down. There's a lot of great movies out there and certainly more than were probably more influential than the ones I'll wind up with. I guess that doesn't matter in terms of favorites though. 1.) Nightmare Before Christmas - This has been way up there ever since I first saw it. I remember the first ads for it in comic books even. I didn't get to see it until it hit tape, however, and never had my own copy until the excellent Special Edition DVD was released. The movie has its problems... In particular, I think the end is rushed in a few respects, both in the demise of Oogie Boogie and in the very, very sudden realization on Jack's part that he and Sally belong together. Those are made up for by the just insanely meticulous visuals and excellent music. It's just a phenominal thing to watch. I suppose the sad thing about the film is how Burton's role NMBC is really overplayed, he kind of just came up with the idea and let Henry Sellick do the work. 2.) Edward Scissorhands - I think this film pretty much solidified Depp as the greatest living male actor... at least in my opinion. I can't think of a single other person who could have portrayed someone as solitary, yet still oddly curious, as he did. More realistic emotion conveyed through his expressions and body language than many other actors can accomplish in their entire careers, speaking parts or otherwise. Plus the film is just beautiful in every sense and has possibly the most fitting and satisfying ending I can think of in any modern movie. 3.) Pee-wee's Big Adventure - In my opinion, this is the single greatest movie ever made. It has every last thing I could possibly want in a movie: comedy, action, drama, romance... yet still is able to distance each one of these enough that the movie can't be pinned down to any of them. I just love this movie. I could write a lot more and be far more specific, but I won't bother here. It was Burton's first film as well as Elfman's first film score... so that's notable.

I honestly pay little to no attention to Batman at this point. I've spent so much time trying to figure out what Vertigo, Image and Marvel comics to pick up that I've mostly ignored the DC universe (I did get Outsiders for about six issues though, plus some Catwoman way back). What would be considered worth picking up at this point? Batman and otherwise? Anyway, my one comic shop got nothing, but the one I prefer (Chicago Comics) had theirs. Don't ask me. I wound up getting last weeks Marvel Knights Spider-Man (I really enjoyed it, particularly the end) and Trigger #2 in addition to Life During Wartime. Seemingly no one else here bothers with Trigger, but it seems promising. #2 seemed a bit less impressive than #1 in writing and art. Maybe the artist is different, but the women in #2 had very angular, masculine features. Bothered me.

I have a few of Rammstein's albums. Herzeleid, Sehnsucht, Mutter, Reise Reise and some others I can't remember the names of. My first exposure to them was years back when their song Du Hast was blasted on the rock stations in the US constantly. I don't particularly like that song, but it was enough to get me to bother to buy Sehnsucht, which had a number of much better songs on it. I'd assume most people here heard of them around the same time. I think what I like most about them is the way the idea of "German efficiency" is so prevalent in their music. It's incredibly structured and nothing in it feels out of place or unnecessary. Even their stage shows somehow manage to feel controlled despite all the chaotic things going on around them. It's hard to explain well, I guess.

I don't know that I really collect things just for collection's sake. I wind up having a lot of certain types of things, mostly because I just keep buying them... I mean, I have a ton of games, but I don't actively go out and find ones to add to my collection, the totals just add up. I do have a bunch of random gaming related things that really serve no purpose though... like toys and Japanese imports I never use. At one point I was collecting picture discs of my favorite musicians. They're basically just records with the art printed directly on the vinyl. They're usually limited edition when a group bothers to have one put out. The look nice, but usually don't sound all that good compared to plain vinyl. I also spent around $90 to get the first ten or so copies of The Walking Dead comic. I normally wouldn't bother, but I LOVE the series and these were all first prints and autographed. I already owned them all, but they were worth the cost. I think that's about it.

Being one of my favorite groups, I tend to be rather defensive about Marilyn Manson. However, this is largely due to the fact that being a fan of this band also leads to a large amount of insults and snobby remarks. Far more than any other musician I listen to, even ones I would consider "worse" in many regards. I guess this is mostly because Manson managed to bring these things to the general public in ways other similar groups have not managed. I would say that a lot of people have a problem with this group as a whole (particularly the frontman for obvious reasons), but most of the time it's almost completely unfounded or cannot be backed up with much factual information. If you're just not into the sound then whatever, no one is going to change your mind... but I find that 95% of the people I talk to that have some problem with the group know so little of their music, image and history that there's nothing even worth discussing. Image is obviously something the band is known for. The typical person seems quick to compare them to Alice Cooper, another artist known for his "image". Even Alice Cooper himself seems to think that he created this theatrical aspect for reasons I've never been able to figure out. How a middle-aged man wearing eye make-up and walking around with a snake while singing songs about turning eighteen and getting out of school in the summer is comparable to the depth of what Marilyn Manson has accomplished is just beyond me. Cooper's image was arbitrary, it had no real purpose nor explanation and, for the most part, what he sang about didn't even fit with the "evil" ideals he tried to convey for himself through this image. He just wanted to look dark, end of story. For all the genius the man seems to think he possesses, he still has not managed to change or alter this image in any way over his lifespan. In comparison, I think the only true likeness to the group at this point is David Bowie. Not in the sense of how good or important they may be, but certainly in the sense of their approaches. Bowie created entire characters that had their own histories and destinies. Between Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Halloween Jack, I really don't know of a single other band that managed to combine the imagery and the music so well. Of course, to people who don't bother to look into these things or really give them a chance, he just looks like a goofball with lots of make-up, glittery clothes and bright hair. There's so much more to it than this and I believe the same of Marilyn Manson. If nothing else, you should appreciate that Marilyn Manson has pretty much single handedly kept the idea of a concept album and theatrical performances alive in modern rock (decent performances... not GWAR style nonsense). They were more or less dead in the early 90s following grunge. I find a lot of people seem to think that the group dresses is "gothic" looking things and that's the end of it. Yet, to someone who actually keeps up and pays attention, there have been several distinct looks for the group. Not only in dress, but in writing, sound, theatrics and attitude. Even today, there are other bands that do these ideas, but generally there is very little purpose behind it other than to look "cool". A lot of Japanese rock bands latched on to this idea at some point. The only reason I would think that this idea would be considered "old" or "worn out" is simply because so many other copy-cat groups popped out following this time period, just like with anything in music or media. Originally there was a very heavy reliance on child-like ideals and Willy Wonka in writing, imagery and such. This moved on to the Antichrist Superstar era that most people seem to think the group has and always will be in. Yet, at this point, there was such a change in their approach and imagery that a lot of former fans were turned off. The same happened with the next album, Mechanical Animals, which had a heavy reliance on glam rock and electronica. It too had different imagery and even lead to the creation Omega and The Mechanical Animals and also Coma White, obviously an homage to Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars that Bowie had created. These things go on and on, leading to at least another two or three separate looks and attitudes in subsequent releases. Of course, to everyone else this is just seen as the same old stuff. For me, that attitude is just incomprehensible. This is also ties directly in the music (particularly the writing), which changed substantially between each new release. If the group was only interested in attracting the same people over and over again, I really don't know why they would significantly alter their approach like this. In fact, the release of Mechanical Animals was probably the most self dentrimental thing the band had done in its history. So despite all the imagery and such, the reason I keep up with the band so heavily is really Marilyn Manson's writing ability. In the genre, it is really unmatched in many senses (although there have been some songs I don't like at all) and I think it is some of the best writing out there in music today, if one is objective and ignores their personal issues with the subject matter. One of my favorite abilities of Marilyn Manson has always been his creation of new words that actually make sense, not only in context, but in and of themselves. It's also incredibly intelligent and makes an insane amount of references, most of which are lost on the average listener... but if you already are interested in the same subject material or bother to hunt it out, there's probably more to his words than 95% of the lyricists out there today. Anyway, I could go on and on (I just did), but I'll stop there. There's a lot to say about the different musicians involved (hell, even the mentioned John5 is an amazing guitarist who has played with countless other bands and recently released his own album... Manson kicked him out for unknown reasons though lol). I just wish people would put their assumptions aside and just listen to these things. I think, on a whole, people respect my opinions on music. I certainly don't think I would talk so often and so passionately about a band that really wasn't worth the time. ---- Lest We Forget seems not worth a purchase for the general Marilyn Manson fan, I would say. I originally didn't really want to buy it, but the inclusion of Personal Jesus and a music video collection DVD kind of persuaded me. The DVD is missing the video for Tainted Love for whatever reason, but on a whole it's interesting and decently produced. It was nice seeing some of those old videos, particularly from Portrait of an American Family... The sad part is that (s)AINT isn't on the retail copy. It wound up getting banned here and the only way to get it is to order the set off the official site. Lame. It's on the internet though. The CD also has different mastering than the originals. This is probably most obvious in The Beautiful People, which has instruments and such coming to the front that were almost inaudible in the original cut on Antichrist Superstar. Plus, some of the singles included on this collection were previously only included on soundtracks (Another Teen Movie, for example) that I would never have bothered to buy or overpriced import singles .

I didn't see one of these around, so I figured what the hell. I know there are comic readers here and I could mention several offhand if I had to. Hopefully we'll all have something worth discussing... The first one went pretty well before it disappeared, the second thread just kind of died instantly. [b][CENTER]Week of 1/20/2005[/CENTER][/b] Normally these would be out today, but because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day it was pushed back to tomorrow (Thursday)... at least at my shop. If you want to know what is going to be in-store, check out the list [URL=http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_011905.txt]here[/URL]. Personally, I'm picking up: [list] [*]BOOKS OF MAGICK LIFE DURING WARTIME #7 [/list] And well, that's actually it. However, there is a trade paperback of Ex Machina being released that same day. If you don't already get the series, I highly recommend it. It's basically the story of a man given alien superpowers that eventually runs for mayor of New York City and wins. The comic details the various problems he and his admistration go through, some normal, some not so normal. Very well written and drawn. Life During Wartime is one of my top comics right now. It follows Timothy Hunter, the young magic-wielding kid from the various Book of Magick series over the years. However, in this comic he's an adult, which obviously leads to some new problems. The comic is very hard to follow in the first few issues, but I think rereading it is pretty rewarding. The current issues (#6 and the upcoming #7) are dealing with the side characters, so it might be a good point to jump in on. Based on my experience every issue isn't too hard to find though. Other than that I tend to pick up The Walking Dead (awesome, must buy), Marvel Knights Spider-Man (good, starting to get bored with it) and Astonishing X-Men (very good, although the last issue was mediocre and filler-ish). I plan on continuing to pick up Trigger as well, but it's still only on #1. Anyone else?

[quote name='Daermon_Nashabe']I wouldn't mind a books of magick film either but those that haven't read any of the comics would think of it as a Harry Potter rip-off. [/quote] That's personally why I cited Life During Wartime, as in that series, Timothy Hunter is well past his college years and the comic deals with more "adult-ish" subjects. Although even in the originals, despite the obvious similarities of the main character, the stories couldn't be much more different, I do agree that people would be quick to judge it as a rip-off.

[quote name='Charles][left']There's not a lot to complain about in terms of unique software. Try again.[/left][/quote] I agree with Charles. I feel as though people who find nothing to play on GameCube simply aren't looking hard enough. It doesn't have the sheer number of games PS2 does and admittedly, there are a [b]lot[/b] of bad GCN titles like on the other two, but there are still more interesting, quality games on the system than any normal person could possibly buy within its timespan. To consider the GameCube a failure despite its decent commercial success (it certainly isn't doing as poorly as many want people to think), its library, the fact that it's obviously still supported and the obvious examples of systems that died or committed commercial suicide is bizarre to me. Not seeing countless "me too" games such as Manhunt, Painkiller or The Getaway honestly doesn't seem like a flaw in my opinion, despite how "grown up" they supposedly are. I'm happy when I get a good game and there are enough of them on each platform. Being able to choose from a sea of titles doesn't make that process any more simple. Dreamcast was largely just a disappointment because of Sega's handling of it. A lot of the touted ideas never really saw completion or were not done well. Internet capabilities in particular. The thing certainly has a lot of great games on it, so I can't be disappointed with it in that department. Then you have Sega's abandonment of the system, which sucked in and of itself. I was also disappointed when SNK abandoned the NEOGEO Pocket Color. It really was the only decent competition Nintendo had since the Game Boy's inception.