“You’re from Wisconsin. Artificial light is fascinating to you.”

broderic on September 14, 2008

Link of the Day [9.14.08]

Is liking anime sexy girl figurines a strange sexual fetish? Or does this article not get the otaku culture from which the figure collecting hobby arises from?

I get the feeling that the author is attempting to assume a provocative stance on the strangeness of a foreign culture being brought to our shores by the manga and anime industry in order to criticize it. He wants to point out how ugly it can be or how very strange the fetishism found in the otaku culture is. While he does make a point on how slack the censorship is in the Japanese culture, he makes it sound very prurient which I don’t think it is.

I don’t know. At times, it is strange, and at times, it is rather sexy. Yet, pornographic it is not. Unless you look at all the hentai manga and anime.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26639577/

“Do you know what a big James Caan fan I am? I mean, he’s like the real life Don Corleone.”

broderic on September 13, 2008

Link of the Day [9.13.08]

I’ve got nothing so far today, and it’s early morning. Or late at night, for those night owls.

So here’s a junk link for you to read. I haven’t read it, but the article title, “The Problem with Biking in America,” pretty much says it all.

There are many problems, the first being that we don’t take the bicycle serious as a form of transportation. We don’t think about using to commute to work or school, or to go shopping or out for the evening. It’s seen as a fitness equipment, and when was the last time we loved our fitness equipment. Hopefully, we can change our perceptions and make the bicycle a good, reliable transportation mechanism.

http://bygonebureau.com/2008/08/25/the-problem-with-biking/

(ht kottke.org)

“Did you commit any crime that was not SAT related?”

broderic on September 11, 2008

Link of the Day [9.11.08]

To comemerate the tragedy of seven years ago, let’s dive into one of the funniest conspiracy theories out there. I love me a conspiracy theory but this one is pretty dumb. The twenty dollar bill prophesied the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon? Please. Tphttt.

BTW, whatever became of that guy who masterminded it all? Didn’t he die in Abu Ghraib? No? Remember, this happened during a Republican presidency, and the mastermind is still out there all throughout a Republican presidency. Another fucktard Republican is trying to trick you into believing that the fucktard Republican party can protect you. They are only scamming you into believing that they are tight on the national security front.

I can prove it. Do you have a twenty?

http://www.foldmoney.com/

“Geek test!”

broderic on September 10, 2008

Link of the Day [9.10.08]

So. How do you find NewsRadio quotes? Google.

Here’s a tip: to search a particular site add “site:foobarbaz.com” to your search query. Of course, replace “foobarbaz.com” with whatever site you want to search for your term.

Today’s link is an example. Enjoy all that NewsRadio goodness! And post your favorites in the comments!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&
q=memorable+quotes+newsradio+
site%3Aimdb.com&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

“Dave, if by some incredible miracle Bill does come back, don’t tell him I put his coffee mug in my pants.”

broderic on September 9, 2008

Link of the Day [9.09.08]

That’s one crazy link, hunh? I know that it is better web etiquette to put an actual descriptive phrase for the link enclosed in those anchor tags, but I’m just continuing on with the grand tradition of the raw URL, because it’s the way it looks if I post via email. Keep it the same for both web-based or email-based posts and you don’t have to worry about the format. You do have to worry about the length of the line, because iPhone wraps it weird;.

Anywhoo, today’s link is to OtakuUSA magazine’s article on “Gateway Anime.” That’s anime that leads you to becoming a life long fan. It’s similar to how cigarettes or pot can lead you to harder drugs like crystal meth or special K. I know my gateway anime is Robotech. I did watch a few episodes of StarBlazers, but it was usually on crappy UHF and hard to get good reception, so it was tough to watch. And I did love watching Speed Racer and Kimba, the White Lion, but being so young at the time, I didn’t think about them being “Japanese Animation.” They were just some cartoon.

Robotech was different. You couldn’t wait for it to come on, so you’d hurry home to watch it or set the VCR to tape it. Then you’d watch it over and over. And not too long afterwards, you buy your first Valkyrie fighter. And it was cool. Next came the models. And finally, you’d get that first crush on a 2D girl. Oh, Lisa Hayes (Misa Hiyase in the original Macross), forget that lame Rick Hunter…

Hunh? Where was I?

Oh, yeah, Robotech was my gateway anime that started me down the anime fandom road. Not to mention School Rumble.

http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?
sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&
tier=3&nid=F15C3E187035436091591E5987742890

“Well, these may not be those, but that is not too shabby. “

broderic on September 8, 2008

Link of the Day [9.08.08]

When NewsRadio Quote Month started, the DVD for the show hadn’t been released. I had to scour the interwebs for NewsRadio quotes. Fast forward a few years later, and you can get the entire five seasons on DVD. Thank you megacorp.

When you finally watch them you see the brilliance of the show. I will be happy to put NewsRadio up against any other sitcom ever produced as the greatest comedy. Evah. It starts strong from the pilot episode through the death of Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman), and although uneven and lacking the finer wit of the previous four, it’s fifth season grows and grows on you.

Here’s a fan writing for The Onion’s AV Club wherein she watches the first two seasons on DVD in the first box set. All her synopsis of those episodes are a great reads and brings back fond memories of each show. It’s also a font of NewsRadio quotes that I haven’t used yet. Heh. Heh.

Where’s my discs?

http://www.avclub.com/content/tvclub/show/NewsRadio

“Britches?”

broderic on September 7, 2008

Link of the Day [9.07.08]

For all you car junkies out there. Top Gear does plenty of testing of cars. Nice fast cars, and they’re not afraid to push the limit. In with a British feel.

http://www.topgear.com/

“They use a word that rhymes with ‘gritches’ that starts with a B.”

broderic on September 6, 2008

Link of the Day [9.06.08]

Liking anime means that sometimes you end up immersing yourself in that otaku culture. You like what the crowd like (Macross Frontier, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). You do what the crowd does (wish to go to Japan or Akihibara). You buy things the crowd buys. Anime figures.

Good Smile Company makes very nice figures of characters from anime. They’re mainly the girls, because nothing gets the otaku heart pumping like 2D girls rendered in 3D. Finally, Good Smile Company is recognizing that the otaku culture is no longer contained on the shores of Japan, and with the globalization of anime, it can be found all over the world. They’re creating an English version of the site run by Danny Choo to get all information about their line figures to those who have money to burn. Now I don’t have to learn Japanese.

http://eng.goodsmile.info/top/eng/

“These are actuall rap lyrics. ‘Life ain’t nothin’ but gritches and money,’ only they don’t use ‘gritches.'”

broderic on September 5, 2008

Link of the Day [9.05.08]

I sing the praises of Macross Frontier, and for those who have watched it, it’s good, right? Yet, I wouldn’t have even cared for it, if not for watching Robotech, the US derivation/adaptation of Macross, Mospaeda, and Southern Cross anime.

You can get Robotech via iTunes, now. In a perfect world, we would also be able to get the original Macross and Macross Frontier as well. When are we going to break down those country ID barriers? Steve Jobs tear down that wall!!!

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?id=286444269&s=143441

(h/t Anime News Network)