Well, that last post seemed to work, so let's try again, this time with Buffy, season 5.

Quick post (because I'm not sure I can actually update from the computer I'm using) to create a link for Firefly so I can order it through Amazon & earn myself some money. (That's why this weblog has so many links to Amazon. Please, click through & buy stuff. I'll get a cut.)˙

I've been reading quite a few books over the past few days, but using a dial-up to poke around Amazon for the info I need to make the links is going to take too long. It'll have to wait until I get to the library. But for now I'm going to mention that I will be using some of the money I got for Christmas to buy myself Firefly. Man I loved this series and wish Fox had given it a chance.

Not too much to add since the last time I updated.

Books

• Days Like This by J. Torres & Scott Chandler.
  
• Black Jack: Two-Fisted Surgeon by Osamu Tezuka.
  
• Powers, v.5: Anarchy by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming.
  
• Kyle Baker Cartoonist by (surprise, surprise) Kyle Baker. (No Amazon listing.) I prefer Baker's longer works, particularly The Cowboy Wally Story and Why I Hate Saturn, but this is still pretty damn good.
  
• Leave it to Chance, v.3: Monster Madness by James Robinson & Paul Smith. A great all-ages comic that will sound pretty silly if I try to summarize it. Just check it (or the earlier two volumes) out.
  
• GURPS Faerie, a role playing book I started months ago. It's beein sitting in a stack of other books for a while.
  
• And I began Osamuk Tezuka's Buddha, v.2: The Four Encounters. This is an amazing work. I don't think I realized just how strong a creator Tezuka was until I read these books. I had been reading various Astro Boy collections, and they're good, but the stories are pretty repetitive. The Buddha books are much better. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of this series.

Okay, that was more than I expected.

Movies
The only thing I've watched since Wednesday has been Standing in the Shadow of Motown, a documentary about the Funk Brothers, Motown's house band during its heyday.

Saw Return of the King on Wednesday night with Teena & Jennie. Man, that was impressive. Best of the three.

Another personality quiz. This time it's "What character from Monty Python & the Holy Grail are you?


Well, u-- um, can we come up and have a look?


What Monty Python Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Boy, I really haven't been keeping this thing up to date, have I? Catch-up time.

Books

• Hammer of the Gods: Mortal Enemy by Michael Avon Oeming and Mark Obie Wheatley.
  
• Miss: Better Living through Crime by Philippe Therault, Marc Riou, and Mark Vigouroux. French crime comics set in Manhattan in the 20's.
  
• The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings by various. I actually started this anthology when it came out, back in October. But it's taken me until now to finish the last couple of things in it.
  
• Pop Gun War by Farel Dalrymple.
  
• Crayon Shinchan by Yoshito Usui. Manga about a bratty 5-year-old.
  
• Heavy Liquid by Paul Pope. I liked this quite a bit. More than I have Pope's other works, but still not enough to buy it. The library is my friend.
  
• This morning I started Sandman Presents: Taller Tales by Bill Willingham and a variety of artists. This is a collection of stories spun off of characters Neil Gaiman created. I have some problems with some of the Sandman spin-offs; too serious, too self-important, & too gothy. That's not a problem here.

Movies
I've been watching a few DVDs

• Down from the Mountain. A concert film of the music that was featured in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  
• My Fair Lady. I think this is the first Audrey Hepburn movie I've ever seen. Throughout the movie I was struck by how much Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins reminded me of some of the characters that Michael McKean plays (although I couldn't name a specific one; certainly not David St. Hubbins).
  
• Repo Man> (Now there's an odd juxtaposition of movies.)
  
• And last Friday night, Teena & I went to see Love Actually. It was a great movie, and it's not just the company I had that's making me say that. Lots of characters, and lots of stories, but you can keep them all straight. Some excellent performances, especially by Emma Thompson. Highly recommended.

Yet another online quiz. This time it's Muppets!

You are the the Swedish Chef.
You are a talented individual, nobody understands
you. Perhaps it's because you talk funny.

FAVORITE EXPRESSION:
"Brk! Brk! Brk!"
HOBBIES:
Kokin' der yummee-yummers

FAVORITE MOVIE:
"Wild Strawberries...and Creme"

LAST BOOK READ:
"Der Swedish Chef Kokin' Bokin'"

QUOTE:
"Vergoofin der flicke stoobin mit der brk-brk
yubetcha!"


What Muppet are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I tried taking the test again, & changed just one answer & came up as Kermit. Cool!

What Common Breed of Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


These things keep telling me I'm stubborn. I really don't get that.

Books
Well, in the week since I added said anything about the supposed purpose of this page, I have read

• Nightmare Alley by William L. Gresham & adapted by underground cartoonist Spain. Noir story of the rise & fall of a sideshow mentalist.
  
• Scatterbrain by various. Humorous comics.
  
• Fray: Future Slayer by Joss Whedon & Karl Moline. The creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer takes a look at Buffy's world a few hundred years in the future. I quite enjoyed this & hope he writes more comics.
  
• Fagin the Jew by Will Eisner. The grand-master of comics reclaims Dickens' character and tells his story in such a way as to make him sympathetic.
  
• Unlikely: Or How I Lost My Virginity by Jeffrey Brown. An autobiographical graphic novel. Scratchy drawings but a compelling story.
  
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I'm reading this for The Usual Suspects' book club for December. It's always nice when a childhood favorite holds up when reread as an adult. And Jules Feiffer's illustrations suit the book perfectly.
  
• Joan, Book III by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.
  
• Exiles, v.2: A World Apart by Judd Winick, Mike McKone, and Jim Caliafiore. This is a cross between the X-Men and Quantum Leap, written by a guy who is probably best known for appearing in MTV's The Real World: San Francisco. I quite like this series, although not quite enough to buy the collections. But I'm more than happy to read the library's copies.

Movies
The only movie I've watched recently is Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women in Music. But I have recently purchaced Millenium Actress

Still haven't had time to update about books & movies. Soon, I swear. But right now it's yet another personality quiz.

What subcategory of indie rocker are you?


You're a Mod. You dig expensive things, like suits and speed. You have a fine appreciation for the Kinks and know that Motown started it all, and you have fabulous style. Hey, nice hair.


You Know Yer Indie. Let's Sub-Categorize.
brought to you by Quizilla

Lots of work in the morning & a dental appointment in the afternoon yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to update. Info about books & movies later. Right now, though, it's the results of "Which Edward Gorey Book Are You?"


The GashlyCrumb Tinies - You have a terribly wicked sense of humour and people are drawn to your wit. Children beware of the thin, pale man with the black umbrella!


Which Edward Gorey Book Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Link stolen from gretchin.

Books
Forgot a couple books in yesterday's entry

• Joan, Book II by Yoshikazu Yasukiko
  
• Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II by Keith Giffen, Gerard Jones, and M.D. Bright.
  
• Yesterday I read The Annotated Mantooth by Matt Fraction & Tim Fischer. This is hard to describe, so I'll just quote from the back cover: "What if James Bond were a talking ape and Ian Flemming were drunk the entire time he wrote From Russia With Love?
  
• Currently reading Judge Dredd: The Day the Law Died by John Wagner, Brian Bolland, Mike McMahon, et al.

Movies

• Continuing a Thanksgiving tradition, my mother came to pick me up on Wednesday, and we saw a movie to give traffic a chance to die down. This year we saw A Night at the Opera Very silly, but what else can you expect from a Marx Brothers movie?
  
• And I watched several videos while visiting my grandparents: Pecker A different kind of silliness. John Waters makes interesting movies.
  
• Joe vs. the Volcano What may be Tom Hanks' most unusual movie. A lot of people hate this movie, but I like it a lot. You just have to remember that it's not taking place in the real world. It's more like a fairy tale.
  
• The Thin Man Wonderful old movie. I'm definitely going to have to watch more of these movies. I wasn't so interested in the mystery, but the interaction between Myrna Loy and William Powell was simply marvelous.
  
• And I've been watching the first season of The Awful Truth This is good, but it has dated. Michael Moore talks about what a bad job Clinton is doing. And while Clinton wasn't the best friend the working person ever had, he now looks positively wonderful by comparison.

Books

• Speaking of Michael Moore, I read Dude, Where's My Country? In comparison to other books I've read recently, Al Franken's was much funnier, and Molly Ivins' was better put together.
  
• I've also read In Nomine Game Master's Guide In Nomine is a role playing game featuring angels & demons. I'm considering running a one-shot for some friends, so I decided I should finally read this. It was interesting, & gave me some ideas for what I want to do.
  
• And I've been reading some graphic novels too. Nemesis the Warlock by Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill, and Jesus Redondo
  
• Yossel, April 19, 1943 by Joe Kubert. This is Kubert envisioning what his life might have been like if his family had not been able to emmigrate from Poland in 1926, shortly after he was born.
  
• I'm currently reading Green Arrow: Quiver by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester. I enjoy Smith's movies, but for some reason his comic book writing doesn't do much for me.

Read several books & saw lots of movies over the long weekend. However, my lunch break was largely taken up by arranging a dental appointment, so updates will have to wait.

Here's a couple personality quizzes (swiped from Gemma) that are completely off-base for me:

You're a natural born trouble-maker. You hate authority and do everything you can to get around the law, or in some cases, break it. Naturally stubborn, you hardly ever sway once a decision is made. Your nature is fiery and courageous, and always out-going. You love attention and usually have kinky fetishes you're not afraid to explore. People either love you or hate you.


What Type of Soul Do You Have ?
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Gabriel. You're most like the ArchAngel of Communication, in charge of things like telephones, libraries, internet, and the 411 phone menu. You're organised and are not shy about inflicting that organisation on others.


Which ArchAngel are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla


Stubborn? Out-going? Organized? Not very likely.

Last night I volunteered at the Hollywood Theater, but there was a scheduling mix-up, and there were two volunteers there. That's too many for a Monday night. They're pretty quiet, despite being cheap (only $3). So I got to see a movie, The Taxidermist, an Italian film (translated some places as The Embalmer). It was pretty good to start with, but about halfway through, it slowed way down & made some turns I really didn't like. In the end I hated it. My disparaging of the movie led to the other volunteer deciding not to see the second showing.

Books
Read some more graphic novels this weekend.

• Buddha, vol. 1: Kapilavastu by Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy. I've got no idea how Buddhists feel about this, since Tezuka adds some characters, but it's a damn good story, well told. I hope the library gets the other volumes of this in soon.
  
• YuYu Hakusho, v.2 by Yoshihiro Togashi. More manga.
  
• Out of curiosity, I checked Left Behind Graphic Novel, v.1, bk. 1 out of the library.
  
• And getting away from graphic novels (for a while anyway), this morning I startedDude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore. Now this is the kind of propaganda I like.

Movies
I saw lots of movies this weekend. On Friday, some friends & I gathered to watch the extended editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Great stuff, but 7 hours is a lot of time to spend watching movies. I also watched Sex and Lucia and Chris Rock - Bring the Pain. Both of those were checked out of the library. Also, I bought and watched most of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. And Teena & I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl yesterday.

That's enough for now. Books later.

Parental warning: This post contains harsh language.

I just learned that, barring unforeseen circumstances, my last day at work will be December 24th.

Merry fucking Christmas.

Books
I've been reading graphic novels over the past few days.

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike & Dru by Christopher Golden & various artists. This is a collection of stories, one of which was co-written by James Marsters, the actor who plays Spike. It's okay, but I can't really hear the characters' voices when I read the stories, so it doesn't feel much like an extension of the tv show.
  
• The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa. This very sweet story draws on fairy tales to tell a new story, sort of like Fables by Bill Willingham or Castle Waiting by Linda Medley, but this book is aimed at a younger audience than the other two.
  
• The Matrix Comics by a variety of writers & artists. Pretty good. I'd say the best piece in this collection is the prose story by Neil Gaiman.
  
• Creature Tech by Doug TenNapel. I liked this, but I'm not sure how to describe it. Quite odd.
  
• Swamp Thing: Reunion written by Alan Moore & illustrated by various artists. DC has finally finished collecting Moore's run on Swamp Thing. It took them long enough. For years I'd been saying that they should reprint all of his stories. If it weren't for Moore paving the way, demonstrating that mainstream comics could be well-written, DC wouldn't have hired Neil Gaiman, and we'd never have seen Sandman.

I just want to say that Amazon's new "search books' text" feature can be annoying. When looking for The Courageous Princess, it turned up thousands of results. Too many options can be just as limiting as too few.

Well, the Ready to Wear videotape seems to have really fouled up my VCR. It won't play, record, rewind, fast-forward, or even eject the tape that's in it now. No more time-shifting for me. And I find that the only things I'm really going to miss are Angel and The Daily Show. That's something; I don't appear to be quite as addicted to TV as I thought.

Still, a VCR rockets to the top of my Christmas wish list.

Before I get to the books I read over the weekend, I feel I should mention some strangeness that happened when I updated this morning. After I hit the "post & publish" button, I went to check out how the site looked, but instead of my weblog, I got what appeared to be an Arabic-language bondage site. I didn't stick around long enough to confirm that. I update this site during my breaks at work, and the sight of a woman wearing (is that the right term?) a ball-gag was enough for me to shut the window. In the few seconds I had that site up, it looked like the URL was correct for this weblog, so I've got no idea what happened. Everything seems fine now. Very weird.

Books
Read several graphic novels over the weekend:

• Human Target by Peter Milligan & Edvin Biukovic
  
• Dragon Ball, v.13 and
  
• Dragon Ball Z, v.13 both by Akira Toriyama.
  
• One Piece, v.1: Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda. Piraty fun.
  
• Joan, Book 1 by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. This is the story of Joan of Arc, but we see it through they eyes of another young woman dressing as a man. It's set a few years after Joan's execution. I'm not quite sure what to make of this yet. But I like it enough that I'll be checking out the other volumes from the library.

Movies, TV, etc.
So on Friday, Teena & I went over to Harmony & Topher's place to watch more Sports Night. We got through 8 episodes this time. I adore this show, and I especially like Joshua Malina's character, Jeremy. But then I sort of identify with him. Of course, my nerd energy is directed in more traditionally geeky pursuits (comic books, science fiction & fantasty, etc.) instead of sports, and I'm definitely not as witty a conversationalist as he is. But he's a character in an Aaron Sorkin tv show, so there's no shame in that. (One of the complaints I've heard about Sports Night and The West Wing is that "people don't really talk like that." To which my response is: "No. But wouldn't it be great if they did?") We'll be watching more episodes as soon as possible. Unfortunately I don't think that will be until December.

I tried to watch Pret a Porter/Ready to Wear last night. However, the tape I checked out of the library wasn't in the best of condition. Towards the end of the movie, the tape started sticking. Finally it just stopped entirely (and got stuck in my VCR for a while), so I don't know what happens after the La Fontaine "show." Of course, it's not like there was a plot to follow, but I would like to know what happens to the characters.

DVDs
A few new purchases

• Down from the Mountain, a concert film featuring songs & performances from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  
• Lilith Fair (I don't need to explain what this is, do I?)
  
• Cowboy Bebop Actually, what I bought was a 3-disc set that Amazon doesn't carry. I bought it off eBay for $19 & $12 shipping. The shipping seemed rather expensive until the package arrived & I saw that it had been shipped from Hong Kong. I haven't watched this yet, but I popped disc 1 into the player last night to see if it was the same dubbing job I know & like from Adult Swim, and it is. I'm wondering if I bought a bootleg, but the packaging is quite nice (and considering how little I paid, I don't think I'll be investigating too closely).

Went to see Lost in Translation with Gretchin & Sven last night. I was a little apprehensive going in. I'd heard so many good things about the movie from so many sources (although I did make an effort to avoid details) that I was concerned it couldn't possibly live up to the expectations I had for it.

I needn't have worried. It was great. Bill Murray is just wonderful in it, as is Scarlett Johansson. If you haven't seen this yet, I highly recommend it. It's the best movie I've seen in quite a while.

Books
Finally finished Bushwhacked yesterday. Also read The Authority, bk. 1: Relentless by Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch. What if superheroes decided to police the world? Pretty good, but still a little too mainstream-superhero-ish for me. (Not that I don't enjoy good mainstream superheroes, but if you're going to stretch the boundaries, why not go all the way?) I like Ellis's work, but nothing except Transmetropolitan really clicks for me; it's as if it's almost, but not quite, where it should be. This morning I started New X-Men, v.2 written by Grant Morrison & illustrated by various artists. When I stopped reading "The Uncanny X-Men" back around 1988-89, I didn't think anything would bring me back to the comic. I was wrong. Morrison is one of my favorite comic writers. I love his take on the X-Men, which odder than his run on "Justice League" but not as odd as things like "Doom Patrol" and "The Invisibles," which I think is appropriate.

DVDs
Last night I watched What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Man, Bette Davis was creepy in that movie. And I purchased Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Looking forward to watching that, but I may save it for the Suspects TV nights & when we finish watching Sports Night.

Watched eXistenZ last night. Two science fiction movies with Jude Law in two days. I liked it quite a bit, but I wonder if Cronenberg talked to anybody that actually works with computer role playing games before writing the screenplay. It's been a while since I've seen a Cronenberg movie (I think the last one I saw was Naked Lunch in the theater), so I'd forgotten how disturbing some of his imagery can be. Creepy good stuff.

Yet another personality quiz.


You're Lou Reed.
God, you are cool, can I touch you so the magic will rub off?
You are perceptive, witty, and badass. You wear cool shades, even at night, and probably wear black more than most people. You don't give a fuck what other people think, but you are also very sensitive in the way that you pick up on things that others don't. Sometimes you come off as an asshole, but that's what makes you cool. You are a poet, and you embody New York City. You will still be hip when you are old, and artists love you.


Which rad old school 70's glam icon are you? (with pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

Cool! Doesn't seem at all accurate, but hey, Lou Reed!

Books
Okay, when I said I'd finish up Bushwhacked over the weekend, I clearly had forgotten that I would be going to the comic book store & pick up stuff from the past 2 weeks. Purchases from there, books I'd ordered through work, and other library books made up my reading over the weekend.

• Blueprint for Disaster by Darby Conley. This is the latest Get Fuzzy collection. Wonderful stuff.
  
• I Want to Be the Kitty by Patrick McDonnell. The latest Mutts collection. More comic strip goodness.
  
• Moby Dick adapted by Will Eisner. Eisner is the grandmaster of comics, but his last few projects haven't done much for me. Probably because they're aimed at children.
  
• 100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. Crime comics. I like this, but not enough to buy it. Which is why I check it out of the library.
  
• Sigil, v. 3: The Lizard God by Mark Waid & Scot Eaton. Science fiction comics. Eh.

Movies
Watched a few things over the weekend.

• Devil's Playground, a documentary about Amish youth and rumspringa, the period of time after their 16th birthday when they are released from the rules of Amish society so they can make an informed decision about whether they want to join the church. Fascinating stuff.
  
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a film by Pedro Almodovar. At first I didn't much care for this, but I warmed up to it by the end.
  
• Gattaca. Finally saw this movie. There were parts of it that stretched my willingness to suspend disbelief, but generally I quite liked it.

Also, watched some TV: 4 epsiodes from the 1st season of Alias. Man this show moves fast. Also finished watching the 1st season of Sex & the City. Ultimately I liked it more than I did at first, but there were enough episodes I absolutely hated that I won't bother watching any more of this show.

And I actually went to a theater to see a movie: The Matrix Revolutions. A lot of people hate this movie. I liked it fine, but then I didn't expect all that much going in. Sometimes diminished expectations are a good thing.

Yet another personality test:

You are Neo, from "The Matrix." You display a perfect fusion of heroism and compassion.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Oooookay. If I'm the Chosen One, I'm a little concerned. On the other hand, I'm about as good at expressing emotion as Keanu Reaves.

Books
I'm currently reading Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America by Molly Ivins & Lou Dubose. It's excellent but depressing as hell. I should finish this up over the weekend.

The copy of Fugitives & Refugees I ordered through work arrived today. Now that I own a copy I can mark up, I can really get started on using it for excursions around town. First up, Shanghai tunnels!

DVDs
Completely forgot to mention that I recently purchased The Lion King, Disney's version of Hamlet.
edited to add that I'm about to purchase Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere from Amazon (and find out if the Amazon Associates program works when I make the purchase).

Also, on Friday I went over to John, Bryan, & Becca's to watch horror movies. We flipped channels for a while, then we watched "Vincent" and "Frankenweenie," the shorts that come as part of the extras on the The Nightmare Before Christmas DVD. Then Alex came over & we watched Phantasm, a movie I had never seen before, but I remembered the tagline from 1979: "If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!" It was actually pretty good. The characters may not have been the brightest bunch, but they weren't horror-movie-stupid (you know, the person who goes to investigate the noise coming from the basement with a candle & no matches). And the kid who was the main character is pretty damn resourceful. Plus, there were references to Dune!

Video
For a while now, I've been curious about Sex & the City, so I checked the first season out of the library. I watched the 1st four episodes last night. I hated the first episode, but by the time I got to the 4th, it had grown on me somewhat. I'm still not sure if I'll watch the rest of the season. But the show definitely reinforces the showbiz stereotype that only beautiful people have sex.

Movies
Yesterday I watched Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), which I had checked out of the library. It's the movie that Vanilla Sky (which I haven't seen) is based on. The movie didn't do much for me. It was okay, but nothing spectacular.

Books
Finished up Monstrous Regiment on Friday & then read several graphic novels over the weekend:

The Return of Lum: Lum in the Sun by Rumiko Takahashi.
Inu Yasha, v.14 also by Takahashi. I think Inu Yasha may be my favorite of Takahashi's work, although the Maison Ikkoku series is also excellent.
Lucifer, bk. 2: Children & Monsters written by Mike Carey & illustrated by various. I like these stories, but there is a certain "Vertigo-ishness" about them that kind of bugs me. I think it comes from people trying to write like Neil Gaiman & not succeeding.
Electric Girl, v.1 and volume 2 (which isn't listed at Amazon) by Michael Brennan.

Also this weekend I created a couple new mix CDs. Ever since I got access to a CD burner, I've considered re-doing one of my very first mix tapes "Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll" in the new format. I finally did it. Instead of one side per theme, it's one CD. If you go to The Art of the Mix and use the advanced search option to look for mixes by PhilipF, you'll find this weekend's work (along with my other mixes).

Yet another personality test.

Which Dr. Seuss character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Last night some friends & I went to see a performance piece called Faust (Faust). Not quite sure how to describe it. The flyers call it "a liturgy, a science experiment, a haunted house, a musical." That sounds about right. (If I start to describe it myself, I'll end up going into more detail than you want to know.) There is information about it at Liminal Group's website. It was interesting, but it took me a while to get into it; I may be growing too old & fuddy duddy for avant garde theatre.

Here's another personality test: Which Halloween Character Are You?

I came up as Halloween Night itself.

You are the mysterious night and all its sounds. No one knows much about you or what and how you think, unless they're really close. You prefer the peace and solitude. You are quiet and don't express many of your feelings. If you had the ability to be invisible, you would love it, and take advantage. You are more of a nocturnal person and don't really like going out much, but the thing about you is that you may know how to have a good time. Hmm. Anyway, have a Happy Halloween, Shadowy One.


What Halloween Figure Are You? (Fun Quiz! MANY RESULTS!)
brought to you by Quizilla

I stayed home sick from work yesterday & watched a couple movies: Identity, which I enjoyed right up until I figured out the big secret (about 5 minutes before it was revealed), then I became unwilling to cut the movie any slack, and it fell apart for me. I also watched Monsoon Wedding which I enjoyed a lot more. Certain aspects of it reminded me of my family in Mexico, but those were more about one culture dealing with the influence of a more "modern" culture than about any actual similarities.

Oops, nearly forgot: I also watched Rex the Runt, claymation shorts from Aardman Studios, the Wallace & Grommit people. Silly stuff. Lots of fun.

And I read Black Candy by Matt Madden. I didn't much care for it. It, like a lot of other "alternative" comics, doesn't really have a story. Some stuff happens, then it just ends. This was better than some, in that the art was good and there was something of a plot, but there were also a lot of details that just didn't go anywhere. What was the point of the whole thing? I don't know.

Movies
Watched several movies this weekend, most of them at my friend Steve's 2nd Annual Halloween Horror Movie-a-thon. We watched

• The Lair of the White Worm. A very 80's movie (despite being based on a Bram Stoker story). Also very strange, but that's not surprising, considering that it was directed by Ken Russell
  
• Robot Monster (although we watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version). An awful movie, but how can you pass up the chance to see a film where the bad guy is a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet in place of the head?
  
• 28 Days Later An updated version of the zombie movie. I quite like it. The DVD has 3 alternate endings. I still like the one that originally showed in the theatrical release, but the "radical" alternate ending is pretty good too.
  
• Audition A very creepy Japanese film that starts out looking like a rather slow-moving romantic story. Don't you believe it.

So that was Saturday (which was also my 36th birthday). On Friday, I got together with several of The Usual Suspects (Harmony & Topher and Teena, who I met for the first time) to watch Sports Night. We got through 6 episodes. It's such a shame that this show only lasted 2 seasons. All 3 people now seem to be hooked on the show, and we plan on getting together again to watch more episodes, but I don't know just when that'll be.

On Sunday I volunteered at the Hollywood Theater in the afternoon (and I arrived too early because I had forgotten to set my clocks back). After my shift, I watched Melvin Goes to Dinner, which took a little while to grab me, but in the end I liked it quite a bit.

Books
I've got several graphic novels that are due back at the library soon, so I read those this weekend rather than Monstrous Regiment.

• 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, which I just can't recommend. It's a really great idea for a horror story (a group of vampires invade an Alaskan town above the Arctic Circle), but the execution just didn't work. This is me at my nit-picky worst, but I was really annoyed by a stupid mistake early in the book. On the third page, still setting the scene, there's a caption that says in Barrow, Alaska, the sun doesn't set between May 10 & August 2 and the sun doesn't rise between November 18 & December 17. I realize not everybody is as anal retentive as me and may not remember their high-school earth science very well (if they got it right in the first place), but it would not have taken much research to learn that in any place where the sun does not rise for a period of time in winter, it will not set for the same length of time in the summer, not nearly 3 times as long. Also bugging me was the fact that the period of night-less days is asymmetrical around the summer solstice, you know the longest day of the year and the period of sunless days doesn't even include the winter solstice.
  Okay, rant over.
  
• I also read Legacy: The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan by Joe Kelly & Brent Anderson. I quite liked this; it went a long way towards redeeming the character of Hal Jordan in my eyes. (You'd have to be an old time Green Lantern fan to understand what I mean by that.)
  
• Confessions of a Cereal Eater, v.2 by Rob Maisch, et al. Autobiographical stories. Okay stuff, not great.
  
• The Nevermen, v.2: Streets of Blood by Phil Amara and Guy Davis. Great, weird, kinda steampunkish noir story. Not sure what else to say about this. I love Guy Davis's art, and want to see him get a lot more work.

The other morning I had a kind of strange moment while reading Fugitives & Refugees. In one of the "postcard from xxxx" sections, Palahniuk talks about being part of a "Santa Rampage." People from Cacophony Societies all around the country gathered in Portland & dressed in Santa suits. They were going to go to Lloyd Center, encircle the ice rink, & summon the spirit of Tonya Harding (never mind that she's still alive). Anyway, the police were there to stop them ("A thin blue line versus a fat red line.") The confrontation took place in the park across the street from Lloyd Center. About a minute after I read that, I was walking across that same park as part of my morning commute.

Finished F&R yesterday and started Monstrous Regiment. Still not very far into it yet, but I'm enjoying it. Not surprising, though. It's a Discworld book. Pratchett is very consistent. I do think he needs to stop relying on using either Commander Vimes or Granny Weatherwax in every book, but it looks like Vimes isn't the primary character this time, so that's good.

And here's another personality test:

You are Form 5, Dragon: The Weaver.

"And The Dragon seperated the virtuous from
the sinful. He tore his eyes from his sockets
and used them to peer into the souls of those
on trial to make a judgement. He knew that
with endless knowledge came endless
responsibility."

Some examples of the Dragon Form are Athena
(Greek), St. Peter (Christian), and Surya
(Indian).
The Dragon is associated with the concept of
intelligence, the number 5, and the element of
wood.
His sign is the crescent moon.

As a member of Form 5, you are an intelligent and
wise individual. You weigh options by looking
at how logical they are and you know that while
there may not always be a right or wrong
choice, there is always a logical one. People
may say you are too indecisive, but it's only
because you want to do what's right. Dragons
are the best friends to have because they're
willing to learn.


Which Mythological Form Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Books
Currently reading Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon by Chuck Palahniuk. (Only took 3 months to get it from the library. Not bad considering that I was something like 268th in line when I put in my hold request.) This is the first thing of his that I've read (although I have seen the movie version of Fight Club). It's making me want to visit various cool places around town. I've been here for years, but there are plenty of places I've never been to, and this book may just be the stimulus I needed to get me going to them. Anybody care to join me? I may need to actually buy a copy, as it'll take a while to get to all the places he mentions that sound interesting.

Books
(I didn't intend "later" to mean "the next day," but at least it still fits the definition.)

Didn't finish Lolita until last night, because I didn't feel like reading it over the weekend. Instead I read a whole bunch of graphic novels.

• The Return of Lum: Feudal Furor
  
• The Return of Lum: Creature Feature, both by Rumiko Takahashi
  
• Dragon Ball Z, v.12 by Akira Toriyama
  
• Catwoman: Dark End of the Street written by Ed Brubaker & illustrated by Darwyn Cooke. This is the first collection of the new, revamped, noir-ish "Catwoman" series. I really liked this & now feel I should be reading the comic. I think budget demands will limit me to buying the collections or checking them out of the library.
  
• Preacher: Dead or Alive by Glenn Fabry. This book is simply a collection of the covers to the "Preacher" comic book series, without all the cover copy. There is also commentary by the artist, Fabry, and Garth Ennis, the guy who wrote the comic.
  
• StormWatch: Final Orbit written by Warren Ellis & illustrated by various. Superheroes. Not as good at Ellis's Transmetropolitan series, but still pretty good.
  
• Rising Stars, bk. 2: Power written by J. Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5) and illustrated by various. Yet another version of superheroes in the "real world" but better than most.
  
• Spider-Man's Tangled Web, v.4 (Amazon doesn't have this) written & illustrated by various, including Ted McKeever & Darwyn Cooke. Offbeat Spider-Man stories.
  
• and finally: The Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames & Demons by Paul Dini & Bruce Timm, the people responsible for the extremely cool Batman: The Animated Series. This book is a collection of all the comic book stories they've done, including "Mad Love," the origin of Harley Quinn.

Movies
It was a busy weekend for me when it comes to movies.

Friday night, Michael & I went over to Bill's house to help him break in his new 42" plasma TV. We watched The Attic Expeditions (which I had been warned off seeing when it was featured in the 2001 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival; it wasn't as bad as I feared) and The Matrix Reloaded (like Michael, I don't see why people had such problems with this movie; I liked it better than the first one in the series).

Saturday I went to seeKill Bill, v.1 with Michael. About what I expected; pretty good (if horrendously violent) stuff.

On Sunday I saw Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Enjoyed this quite a bit, but all the plotting became a little too Byzantine for my tastes.

Will post about books later.

Cool! A Dr. Who personality test.

You are the Second Doctor: Affable, impish, and
fond of simple pleasures as well as simple
pranks. Your mischievous exterior camouflages a
powerful mind and a great deal of courage.
Although you care nothing for appearances, you
place a high value on the bonds of true and
lasting friendship.


Which Incarnation of the Doctor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Books
Since the last time I listed books read, I've finished

• GURPS WWII: Weird War II, a role playing book about what the 2nd World War could have been like
  
• Dragon Ball, v.12 (which I linked to earlier)
  
• YuYu Hakusho, v.1 (ditto)
  
• The Return of Lum: Sweet Reveng by Rumiko Takahashi, more manga checked out of the library
  
• Fantastic Four: Unthinkable by Mark Waid & Mike Weiringo. Some mighty fine superheroics here. The FF as they should be done.
  
• The Return of Lum: Urusei Yatsura by Takahashi. I've been reading the Lum books out of sequence as that's how I've been getting them from the library
  
• Blankets by Craig Thompson. Thompson's previous graphic novel, Goodbye, Chunky Rice garnered all sorts of praise, but it just didn't do much for me. This one hits a lot harder and is just fantastic. Highly recommended.

Books
Haven't mentioned books in a while. I have decided not to continue listing every single book I purchase (I blame laziness), but only those about which I have something to say. For instance, I recently got Monstrous Regiment through work. It's Terry Pratchett's latest Discworld book. I was reading the cover blurbs and came across yet another comparison between Pratchett & Tolkein. (Or maybe it's just the same quote used over & over. I haven't looked that closely.) The only similarities between the two that I can see is that they're both male & English and that their writings contain fantastic elements. The Discworld books are fundamentally about people, and Middle Earth was Tolkein's attempt to create a mythology for Britain. The only thing I can think of is that the reviewers that make these comparisons don't read SF or fantasy & so Tolkein is the only name they can come up with. (Or perhaps they think it's the only name the public will recognize.)

Another recent acquisition: Stray Toasters by Bill Seinkeiwicz (not linked because Amazon only has the out of print Marvel/Epic edition from 1991). So glad this is back in print. I've been kicking myself for not buying the previous edition for over 10 years now. Damn, I wish Seinkeiwicz still did as much comics work as he used to. But I'm sure other venues offer him much better pay.

Today, another book I ordered through work arrived. (I've accelerated my orders since I know this resource will be going away soon, and there are so many books I want.) The Sandman: King of Dreams by Alisa Kwitney. It looks like an interesting exploration of the comic series, although a hefty chunk of the book seems to be taken up with full-page reproductions of pages from the comics with no commentary. If you're buying this book, presumably you already own the graphic novels, so what's the point of the reprints?

I'm still reading Lolita. This is the first time I've read any Nabokov. I'm finding Humbert very creepy and wondering how much of his narrative I can trust. I am also glad that the cover is subdued. I do most of my reading on the bus, and considering the reputation this book has, I am happy that I'm not reading an edition that advertises to everybody "Hey, this guy's reading that dirty book about the child molester!" I haven't seen either of the movie adaptations, and I wonder how they handle the unreliable narrator problem in the different medium. I'll have to watch one or both after I finish the book.

I've also read a few graphic novels that I'll mention later.

DVDs
Two recent acquisitions: Wings of Desire purchased from my Gold Box (one of the exceedingly few times I've found something that I even considered buying) and Muppets Magic: From the Ed Sullivan Show, an early birthday gift from Gemma & Dee. (Thanks!) It was interesting watching these early skits. Several of them were redone a decade latter for The Muppet Show. There's one piece in particular (about a lizard eating worms) I remember. I thought "Boy, that lizard looks like Kermit." And, sure enough, the original version featured the familiar frog (even if he wasn't as familiar then).

Another personality test.

I amShub-Niggurath! Shub-Niggurath is often called the "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young", and is the force of creation, life, evolution/mutation. She represent the force of the one universal constant (ie change) on the biological. She is often envisioned as a dark, low lying cloud, with goat's hooves with numerous tenticals writhing from within. Her rites are best performed during a New Moon, or on Mid-Summer's Eve.

Which Great Old One are you?

Hmm. I am finding that the times I want to update this page are not the times when I can. Maybe it's time to re-think the whole not having a computer at home thing.

Saw just about everything that played at this years H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, including Beyond Re-Animator, The Shunned House, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, and The Eldritch Influence, not to mention numerous shorts. Lots of bad films (as expected) & a few good ones. I especially liked the last two features named, an animated adapation & a documentary, respectively. I was looking forward to them and probably should have not saved them for the final 2 movies of the weekend. Dream Quest is a little slow, and I was quite tired by the time I saw it. I would have liked it better if I'd been more alert. I also enjoyed The Stone Tape, a BBC production from 1972 that felt a bit like a Doctor Who story from that time, or possibly a Quatermass story.

Other than HPL films, I watched several other movies this weekend, including Tron, which was the first time I'd seen it. Pretty good. And now I finally get what South Park's version of Moses is a reference to. Tron was my final Netflix movie for the year. I cancelled my subscription because the new tv season is starting (even though I'm only watching a few shows). This will give me a chance to watch some of the many DVDs I actually own.

Also watched this weekend: Spy Kids (checked out of the library) and The Goonies, another movie made long ago that I'd never seen before. I enjoyed it (at least once the kids got into the caves), but I don't think I would have if I'd seen it when it came out. In 1985, I'd have thought it was too young for me.

More later.

Yet another posting that doesn't have anything to do with books or movies, but I need a place to put things like this up. I took the "What SF character are you?" quiz and came up as Marcus from Babylon 5

Will post information about the many movies I watched at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and the many books I bought at a comic convention later.

Going to the opening night of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival tonight.

Yeah, this doesn't have anything to do with the themes for this page, but I just had to share:

Movies
Last night I watched a couple of documentaries, courtesy of Netflix:
The Directors: Terry Gilliam and If I Should Fall from Grace: The Shane MacGowan Story . They were okay, but neither went into the depth I would have liked. The Gilliam one was short (1 hour), and the background info was pretty sparse, but the interviews (with Gilliam & actors from his movies) were good. The MacGowan piece was more interesting (possibly because I just knew less about him to start with).

Books
Just got a couple more books that I ordered through work: YuYu Hakusho, v.1 by Yoshihiro Togashi and Dragon Ball, v.12 by Akira Toriyama. More manga.

(You may be wondering why the book titles are links. I have joined the Amazon Associates program. If you decide you want to own any of the items I list here, you can just follow the link, & it will take you to Amazon.com, where you can purchase them. {And if you do, I'll get a percentage of the money. Yes, it's a means of begging, but at least it's a fairly unobtrusive one.})

Movies
Watched Spirited Away last night over at A's. Beautiful, sweet movie. I really love it. But I do wonder about some aspects of it: Are they just strangeness, or are they references to Japanese culture/myths/etc. that I just don't get. I especially wonder about the 3 heads & Noh-(No-?)Face. Guess it's time to hit Google.

Books
Started Lolita this morning (for The Usual Suspects book club). Not far enough into it to have an opinion yet.

2 books I ordered through work came in today: Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson and Alias, v.3: The Underneath by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. The latter is a collection of the comic book series; no relation to the TV show.
A roleplaying book I won on eBay, Deadlands: Hell on Earth: The Wasted West, arrived in the mail on Friday.

I read a couple more The Return of Lum books (from the library) yesterday: Trouble Times Ten and Ran Attacks! These stories are probably the weakest of Rumiko Takahashi's work that I've seen. Still pretty good, though.

Movies
Over the weekend, I watched 7 Faces of Dr. Lao and Go, both checked out of the library.

Movie
I watched Novocaine last night, courtesy of Netflix. Quite liked it. But then it's a noirish dark comedy about a dentist, and it stars Steve Martin. What's not to like? I wish he'd make more movies like this & fewer ones like Bringing Down the House. I wonder just how he decides which roles to accept. But much as I enjoyed the movie, it finally killed off my crush on Helena Bonham Carter.

Books
I'm currently reading A Series of Unfortunate Events, vol. 10: The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket. This series continues to get better & better. Very funny stuff, especially the definition of Sunny Baudelaire's word "Busheney." Either read the book (recommended) or email me for that definition.

Recently I read For Better or Curse, a Lum collection by Rumiko Takahashi. Light & fluffy manga.

Yesterday, influenced by sale prices and triple points for the frequent buyer's club, I purchased

New DVDs

• Red Dwarf, series 1
  
• Red Dwarf, series 2
  
• The Osbournes, season 2

Movies
Went to see Luther last night. Overall I liked it. It seemed (from what I remember from college) fairly historically accurate. Although there were certain scenes & details that were clearly there to make the story more movie-like.
Until I saw his name in the opening credits, I had had no idea Peter Ustinov was still alive.

Books
Yesterday I read Epicurus the Sage by William Messner-Loebs & Sam Keith. Humorous graphic novel about Greek philosophers & gods. Glad to see these stories back in print.
Also read Promethea, bk. 4 by Alan Moore & J.H. Williams III. Who'd have thought that a treatise on magic could be disguised a comic book? Well, if anybody could pull it off, it's Moore; and he has. This collection contains the 2nd half of Promethea's trip up the Sephiroth (the Tree of Life from Kabbala [sp?]). Great stuff.

Can't forget movies.

Friday I stopped by the Hollywood Theater, figuring there'd be something I was interested in (the free admission I get as a volunteer also helped). I ended up watching the PISS Film Festival. (That's Portland International Short Short Film Festival, nothing to do with watersports.) None of the films were over 10 minutes in length. They ranged from okay (an animated film "25 Ways to Die" which was very derivative of Bill Plympton's work) to very good (a piece about clown bank robbers for BBC Scotland). Overall pretty good.

Saturday morning I finished the I, Claudius DVDs from the library, including the 60's (?) documentary about the 30's (?) movie version starring Charles Laughton & Merle Oberon that was abandoned when Oberon got into a car accident. Interviews with the director, Robert Graves, surviving cast members, etc. Very interesting. In the afternoon, I went back to the Hollywood & saw On Line, which was okay. It explored some of the issues with online journals & message boards but did it with something that would be a bit more visually interesting (i.e. video chat & sex). It was okay.

Sunday morning I watched a movie from Netflix, Slums of Beverly Hills.
eh.
I don't regret watching it, but I'm glad I didn't pay any more for it than I did.

Last night I watched the Adult Swim cartoons I'd taped Sunday night (specifically Big O, Aqua Teen Hunger Force (which was a new episode, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Also watched the first episode of Alias season 1 (from Netflix).

Forgot yesterday to mention the books bought & read over the weekend, not to mention movies seen.

Friday was payday, so I went to the comic book store & picked up the books that had accumulated over the past 2 weeks. Bought (and have since read) Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman et al, What's Michael?, v.8: Showtime by Makoto Kobayashi (manga about cats), and Understanding Gamers by John Kovalic (comics about people who play RPGs & other games). Bought(but didn't read) Human Target by Peter Milligan & Edvin Biukovic, Nodwick Chronicles III by Aaron Williams.

I also went by Bridgetown & looked at their sale books and picked up a couple Fading Suns & Unknown Armies books. And on Sunday I got the three 7th Sea books I ordered through my friend B's wholesale account.

Other books read since I last updated: Ranma 1/2, v.22 by Rumiko Takahashi, Fair Weather by Joe Matt, Hey, Wait... by Jason, and Stylish Vittles, bk.2: All the Way by Tyler Paige. All of these are checked out from the local library. I also read The Barefoot Serpent by Scott Morse. All of the books I finished this weekend were graphic novels.

And now for

Everything Else

• 10 Things I Hate About You
  
• 12 Monkeys
  
• TheAdventures of Buckaroo Banzai
  
• Ali
  
• Aliens Resurrection
  
• American Beauty
  
• The Anniversary Party
  
• Apocalypse Now
  
• The Bat/Shock!
  
• The Big Lebowski
  
• Big Trouble in Little China
  
• Black Mask
  
• Blade Runner
  
• Blazing Saddles
  
• Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
  
• Carnival of Souls/Horror Hotel
  
• Clerks
  
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  
• Daredevil
  
• The Dark Crystal
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
  
• Dogma
  
• Drunken Master
  
• Edward Scissorhands
  
• Excalibur
  
• Eyes Wide Shut
  
• Fiddler on the Roof
  
• The Fifth Element
  
• Fight Club
  
• A Fish Called Wanda
  
• The Fisher King
  
• A Fistful of Dollars
  
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, v.1
  
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, v.2
  
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, v.3
  
• For a Few Dollars More
  
• From Hell
  
• Galaxy Quest
  
• Gandhi
  
• Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai
  
• Ghost World
  
• The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
  
• Gosford Park
  
• Groundhog Day
  
• Henry V
  
• His Girl Friday
  
• The House of Mirth
  
• House on Haunted Hill/Last man on Earth
  
• The Inspector General
  
• Iron Monkey
  
• Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
  
• L.A. Confidential
  
• Labyrinth
  
• Lawrence of Arabia
  
• Life Is Beautiful
  
• The Limey
  
• Local Hero
  
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Special Edition
  
• M*A*S*H
  
• The Maltese Falcon
  
• The Manchurian Candidate
  
• The Man With Two Brains
  
• The Matrix
  
• Men in Black
  
• Monty Python & the Holy Grail
  
• Moulin Rouge
  
• The Mummy
  
• The Mummy Returns
  
• Muppets from Space
  
• The Muppets Take Manhattan
  
• North by Northwest
  
• Nosferatu/Phantom of the Opera
  
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  
• Pi
  
• Pink Floyd: The Wall
  
• The Princess Bride
  
• The Producers
  
• Pulp Fiction
  
• Rear Window
  
• Ringu
  
• Road to Perdition
  
• Roxanne
  
• The Royal Tennenbaums,
  
• The Scorpion King
  
• Shadow of the Vampire
  
• Snatch
  
• Spider-Man
  
• Standing in the Shadows of Motown
  
• Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
  
• Starwoids
  
• This Is Spinal Tap
  
• To Die For
  
• True Stories
  
• UHF
  
• Unforgiven
  
• The Usual Suspects
  
• White Zombie/The Devil Bat
  
• The Wicker Man
  
• William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet
  
• The X-Files: Fight the Future
  
• TheX-Men 1.5
  
• Young Frankenstein
  
• A Zed & Two Noughts
  

Well, that's not exactly everything. I've got one DVD each of Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang, & 3 Stooges shorts, but since I can't remember the titles, I haven't added them to the list yet.

Today it's

TV Shows

• Alice in Wonderland (TV movie)
  
• Angel Season 1
  
• Babylon 5: In The Beginning/The Gathering
  
• Babylon 5 Season 1
  
• The Best of 'Insomniac' Uncensored, v.1
  
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1
  
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2
  
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3
  
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4
  
• Classic Commercials
  
• Farscape Season 1
  
• The Life of Python
  
• The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe
  
• M*A*S*H Season 1
  
• Malcolm in the Middle Season 1
  
• Monty Python Live!
  
• MST3K: The Crawling Hand
  
• The Osbournes Season 1
  
• The Prionser, set 1
  
• The Prisoner, set 2
  
• Sports Night

I have to admit, the most recent entries on top thing just isn't working for the DVD listing part of this. I should probably find another place for that. But for now it'll have to do.

Last night I watched Live Nude Girls Unite from Netflix. If I went to strip clubs, I would now insist on going to unionized ones. Also watched episodes 11-12 of I, Claudius from the library. Gotta finish that up before Wednesday, when the set's due.

Oh yeah, books.

Currently reading GURPS WWII: Weird War II edited by Ken Hite.

A book I ordered through work, Fantastic Four: Imaginauts by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo, has arrived. I also acquired Tokyopop Sneaks, which is a sampler of manga titles published by, amazingly enough, Tokyopop. It came in as a freebie from Diamond. Somebody decided "This looks like a Philip book" & gave it to me.

More movies!

Non-Japanese Animation


• Batman: The Legend Begins (90's TV show)
  
• Beauty & the Beast
  
• Chicken Run
  
• Clerks Uncensored
  
• Creature Comforts (shorts from Aardman [the Wallace & Grommit folks])
  
• Futurama Season 1
  
• Monsters, Inc.
  
• Mulan
  
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
  
• Powerpuff Girls: Down & Dirty
  
• Powerpuff Girls: The Mane Event
  
• Powerpuff Girls: Meet the Beat-Alls
  
• Powerpuff Girls: Powerpuff Bluff
  
• The Powerpuff Girls Movie
  
• Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends Season 1
  
• Schoolhouse Rock!
  
• Shrek
  
• The Simpsons Season 1
  
• South Park Season 1
  
• Superman (Fleischer shorts from the 40's)
  
• Superman: The Lost Episodes (more Fleischer shorts)
  
• Toy Story/Toy Story 2
  
• Waking Life
  
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
  
• Yellow Submarine

Test, test. Is this microphone on?

So here we go; I'm about to plunge into the world of weblogging/journaling. (Albeit because I think a regular movie night is a good idea, and this seems like the simplest way of letting my friends know what I own.)

So anyway, it seems like the simplest way of handling this would be to add movies by category rather than entering the entire list all at once. I think I'll start with something small.

Anime


• Animatrix
  
• Barefoot Gen
  
• Castle in the Sky
  
• Cowboy Bebop: the Movie
  
• Inu Yasha TV Special
  
• Kiki's Delivery Service
  
• Princess Mononoke
  
• Spirited Away

Well, that's enough to start.