JT vs. PA

I don’t know if you’ve been following this, but it’s hilarious. After a few modders and small game developers went through on Jack’s proposal, Jack deemed the proposition as satire and being as such he’s not obligated to come up with the $10,000 charity donation. The creators of Penny Arcade thought that this was a pretty shitty thing to do to a charity, and so made the donation themselves on behalf of Jack Thompson. He took this as an attack on his character (which it was, but not an undeserving one) and is now trying (rather unsuccessfully) to get them arrested. He should just stop before he makes it any worse. He’s not helping his cause, at least not from my vantage point. The gamers are being calm-headed and giving. Jack’s acting like a madman on a vendetta. Which do you see as being more aggressive?

See Jack's hypocrisy

This article is too funny. It appears that Jack Thompson is losing what little support he insinuated he had. This is the guy who’s so upset with the “violent” video game industry that he proposed that he’ll donate $10,000 to charity if someone makes, markets, and sells a game about a father so distraught over the death of his son that he goes on a massive killing spree, taking out anything and anyone related to video games. I guess this is the sort of game Jack thinks should be made, not one that promotes cooperation, understanding, and non-violent means of problem solving, but ironic gore-fests.

So many comics, so little time (and money)

The list is complete. IGN Comics has been working on The Ultimate Bookshelf [of graphic novels] for the past few weeks. They’ve gone through all the books that are out there (and some that aren’t yet or aren’t anymore) and listed in alphabetical order which books they would love to have sitting on their bookshelf. I was excited to know that not only have I heard of quite a few of them, but I own some of them, too. The list spans all eras of comics as well as all genres. I thought it was great a list and introduced me to some interesting books I never heard of, as well as explained a few I had seen/heard of but knew nothing about. If you like comics, you should definitely peruse what they have. And if you like me, then you’ll send me a book or 2 from the list.

Wooooooo*2

Wow, what an awesome couple of days it’s been. Sunday we went to the Foo Fighters – Weezer concert and last night we went and saw Serenity. I don’t think it gets any better than that.

The concert was amazing. The opening band was the Kaiser Chiefs, not exactly a sad start to things. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re like a mix of punk/alternative UK bands (Sex Pistols, Bowie, The Who, etc.). Their big single right now is “Oh My God,” you’d probably recognize it if you heard it. They gave a good performance and kicked the night off to a great start. Afterwards Weezer played, who rocked the house like they always do. I have to admit that I wasn’t such a big fan of their new stuff, until I heard it at the concert. They are definitely concert songs that lose a little something when not being sung by a throng of enthusiastic concert-goers. Some of the highlights from the Weezer portion include: the playing of a short portion of Song 2 by Blur, the lit-up Weezer W, the playing of a Foo Fighters song, the selection of a random concert-goer to get up on stage and play guitar with the band (he wasn’t great but at least it looked like he had played the guitar a few times before) after which they let him keep the guitar, the Weezer confetti, and of course Rivers’ mocking of Cherish (she screamed “Wooooo” in a quiet auditorium, to which he replied “wooooo, that was good.” Rumor has it that her life is validated now). After a small break, it was time for the Foo Fighters to take the stage. These guys are the physical manifestation of rock. They just started playing and hardly ever let up. The amount of energy and excitement they create is unbelievable. I was blown away. They are definitely one of the best concerts I’ve been to. Some highlights from their portion: the highflying crowd surfers, Grohl’s run through the crowd and subsequent thanks for not being molested, the switch between Grohl and Hawkins so Hawkins was the lead singer and Grohl the drummer, the color palette choices and lighting effects for most of the songs, and the shout-out to Cannon Falls. Oh, and the thing that made the concert just that much better: it was free. Cherish won tickets for box seating from her work and so gave us the tickets she had bought beforehand. How awesome is that?

Speaking of awesome, go see Serenity. I’m serious. Go now, stop reading and just go to the next showing. This has to be one of my all time favorite movies. I’ll even go so far as to say that it’s my favorite movie. This movie is just incredible. I don’t know if it’s because there’s been a recent lack of decent movies out there or what, but it just stands out in my mind. Let me try to explain how much I like this movie. After we went and saw it last night I was actually reaching for my wallet to buy another ticket before I realized that we had just seen the last showing for that night. I’ll admit that I have on occasion seen a movie more than once at a movie theater, but usually it’s because it’s due more to social causes than anything else (i.e. with friends who haven’t seen it yet). I’ve never understood the people who plan a whole day around seeing a single movie (i.e. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.) over and over again. But this movie, I’m dying to see again. It’s like watching it only increased my desire to see it. Joss is amazing at creating wonderful worlds with believable characters, how can you not help but follow him. I’m not the only one who thinks this movie is great, if you need a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh opinion (the first one by Orson Scott Card basically says everything I want to say in the way I want to say it). If nothing else just go so I’ll stop nagging.