Tyler Shepard

I calculate 1000 comics are at least 7000 pages of advertisements

2009-12-09T21:11:21Z

First question: Is there anywhere better than eBay to sell a bunch of crap? I've gathered up about 1000 comics (1091 to be precise) I'm looking to unload, but checking out the new fee brackets (new to me, at least, haven't used eBay to sell in about 5 years) I'm roughly looking at between $175-$300 in charges if everything sells. Apparently, being broke, I don't have the venture capital to use feckin' eBay. Or at least don't want to get reamed so bad. So, is there anywhere people would recommend I can try to sell them and still get a decent return?

Also, if anyone is interested in buying any of said comics, I'll post the list here. Still figuring out prices, but can probably cut a better deal for people I know. It's formatted for my purposes but I think y'all can make heads or tails as necessary (admittedly some volume numbers are approximated because I could not make sense out of some titles' release schedules):

Edit: Aargh, it undid my indents... Lemme see if I can fix that...
Edit edit: Ahh, fuck you LiveJournal...

Marvel:
X Titles:
X-Men
vol. 1: 175, 188
X-Men Annual 8
Uncanny X-Men
vol. 1: 147, 174, 178, 187, 189, 197, 198, 200, 201, 305, 481
Uncanny X-Men Annual 1
X-Men: The End
Book Three 1-6 (of 6)
Wolverine
vol. 3: 42-53
42-48 are Wolverine: Civil War
50 is autographed by artist Simon Bianchi
Wolverine Origins
vol. 1: 1-11
Generation M 1-5 (of 5)
X-Men: Phoenix Warsong 1-5 (of 5)
X-Men: Deadly Genesis 1-6 (of 6)
X-Men Fairy Tales 1-4 (of 4)
Jubilee vol. 1: 1-6 (of 6)
Civil War: X-Men 1-4 (of 4)
The 198 1-5 (of 5)
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl 1-5 (of 5)
X-Man
vol. 1: 9, 13, 17, 21, 27, 32, 40, 44
Excalibur
New Excalibur vol. 1: 6-18
X-Factor
vol. 1: 14
vol. 3: 1-18
1 autographed by writer Peter David
1, 2 are B+W variant covers
8, 9 are X-Factor: Civil War
New Mutants
vol. 1: 19-23, 30, 35
Generation X
vol. 1: 1-3
Exiles
vol. 1: 3, 79-87, 89-92
Cable & Deadpool
vol. 1: 30-32
30-32 are Cable & Deadpool: Civil War
Alpha Flight
vol. 1: 1, 2, 4, 10, 15-18, 22, 25, 26, 29-34, 36, 71, 74
Spider-Man:
The Amazing Spider-Man
vol. 1: 529-538
529-538 are Spider-Man: Civil War (including Road To Civil War)
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
vol. 1: 6-16
The Spectacular Spider-Man
vol. 1: 67, 142, 200
The Sensational Spider-Man
vol. 1: 28-34
Web Of Spider-Man
vol. 1: 2-4, 50, 100
Spider-Man Family
Amazing Friends (one-shot)
Spider-Man/Arana: The Hunter Revealed (one-shot)
Spider-Man: Black & Blue & Read All Over (one-shot)
Ultimate Civil War Spider-Ham (featuring Wolverham) (one-shot)
Fantastic Four:
Fantastic Four
vol. 1: 219, 220, 260, 263, 265, 266, 271-274, 278, 280, 281, 286, 536-543
536-543 are Fantastic Four: Civil War (including Road To Civil War and Civil War epilogue)
Fantastic Four Annual 18
The Thing
vol. 1: 5, 15, 16, 18, 19, 26, 31
Fantastic Four: A Death In The Family (one-shot)
1602: Fantastick Four 1-5 (of 5)
Franklin Richards: Son Of A Genius
Super Summer Spectacular (one-shot)
Happy Franksgiving (one-shot)
Iron Man:
Iron Man
vol. 1: 131, 164, 194, 197, 202
vol. 2 (Invincible Iron Man): 7-14
13-14 are Iron Man: Civil War
Iron Man Hypervelocity 1, 2
The Avengers:
The New Avengers
vol. 1: 20-27
21-25 are New Avengers: Civil War
Civil War: The New Avengers: Illuminati (one-shot)
Illuminati 1, 2 (of 5)
Young Avengers
vol. 1: 9-12
Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways 1-4 (of 4)
West Coast Avengers
vol. 2: 1, 22-25, 27-29, 31, 87, 100
Several creases in foil cover of 100
The Incredible Hulk:
The Incredible Hulk
vol. 1: 237
vol. 3: 106
Marvel Super Heroes
vol. 1: 97
King-Sized Hulk 1 (one-shot)
She-Hulk
vol. 2: 8
8 is She-Hulk: Civil War
Punisher:
Punisher War Journal
vol. 1: 1-3
1-3 are Punisher: Civil War
Ms. Marvel:
Ms. Marvel
vol. 2: 6-8
6-8 are Ms. Marvel: Civil War
Doctor Strange:
Doctor Strange
vol. 1: 65, 66, 68, 69
Doctor Strange: The Oath 1-5 (of 5)
Civil War:
Civil War 1-7 (of 7)
Civil War: Frontline 1-11 (of 11)
Civil War: The Return (one-shot)
Civil War: Choosing Sides (one-shot)
Civil War: War Crimes(one-shot)
Civil War: Casualties Of War (one-shot)
Civil War Files (one-shot)
Civil War: The Daily Bugle
Civil War: Opening Shot promo
Marvel Zombies:
Marvel Zombies 1
1-5 (of 5)
Issues 1 and 3 are second printing variant covers
Marvel Zombies Dead Days (one-shot)
Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness 1, 2 (of 5)
Ultimate Fantastic Four
vol. 1: 30-32
Annihilation:
Annihilation: Prologue (one-shot)
Annihilation: Nova 1-4 (of 4)
Annihilation: Ronan 1-4 (of 4)
Annihilation: Silver Surfer 1-4 (of 4)
Annihilation: Super Skrull 1-4 (of 4)
Annihilation 1-6 (of 6)
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus (one-shot)
Annihilation: Nova Corps Files (one-shot)
Complete runs:
Marvel Team-Up
vol. 3: 1-25
Squadron Supreme (Supreme Power) 1-7
Stan Lee Meets _____ 1-5
Sentinel 1-5
Sentinel Squad O*N*E 1-5
Claws 1-3
Bullet Points 1-5
New Mangaverse: The Ring of Fate 1-5
The Falcon vol. 1: 1-4
Hawkeye vol. 1: 1-4
Eternals 1-7, plus sketchbook
Last Planet Standing 1-5
Multiple issues, ongoing:
Captain America
vol. 1: 293, 294
vol. 5: 22-24
22-24 are Captain America: Civil War
Black Panther
vol. 4: 18-25
18 is Black Panther: Civil War Ceasefire, 22-25 are Black Panther: Civil War
Moon Knight
vol. 2 (Fist of Khonshu): 2-5
vol. 4: 1-9
7-9 is Moon Knight: Civil War (Casualties Of War)
Ghost Rider
vol. 1: 8-10
8-10 are Ghost Rider: Civil War (Casualties of War)
Spirits of Vengeance
vol. 1: 2, 4, 8
Thunderbolts
vol. 1: 103-105
103-105 are Thunderbolts: Civil War
Daredevil
vol. 1: 218, 221, 226, 241, 87*
Daredevil Saga promo
Immortal Iron Fist
vol. 1: 1, 2
Heroes For Hire
vol. 2: 1-3
1-3 are Heroes For Hire: Civil War
Marvel Team-Up
vol. 3: 3, 5
The Secret Defenders
vol. 1: 7-10
Cloak and Dagger vol. 2: 2, 3
FoolKiller
vol. 1: 6, 8, 10
Micronauts
vol. 1: 15
vol. 2: 13
Alpha Flight
vol. 1: 1, 30
X-Factor
vol. 3: 12, 13 (variant cover)
Darkhold
vol. 1: 2-4, 8
Marvel Age
vol. 1: 5, 7, 12, 21, 26, 34
Marvel Age Annual 1
Multiple issues, mini-series:
Agents of Atlas 1, 2 (of 6)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
Deluxe Edition: 2, 7, 8 (of 20)
All-New (2006): 1-10 (of 12), Avengers 2005
Silent War 1-3 (of 6)
Onslaught Reborn 1-3 (of 5)
Hercules: Prince of Power vol. 2: 2, 3 (of 4)
The Gargoyle vol. 1: 1, 3 (of 4)
Secret Wars II vol. 1: 1, 7 (of 9)
The Falcon vol. 1: 1, 2
Cloak and Dagger vol. 1: 1-3 (of 4)
Wisdom 1-4 (of 6)
Ultimate Powers 1-4 (of 9)
Beyond 1-5 (of 6)
Zombie 1, 2 (of 4)
Marvel Age vol. 1: 12
Single issues:
Nova vol. 1: 5
Death's Head II vol. 2: 5
The Saga of Crystar: Crystal Warrior vol. 1: 3
Marvel Spotlight (Sub-Mariner) vol. 1: 27
Deathlok vol. 1: 25
Terror Inc. vol. 1: 1
Doom 2099 vol. 1: 1
Spider-Man 2099 vol. 1: 23
Moon Knight vol. 4: 7
New Avengers: Illuminati 1 (of 5)
Iceman vol. 1: 4 (of 4)
Jack of Hearts vol. 1: 2 (of 4)
X-Men and the Micronauts vol. 1: 3 (of 4)
Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 1: 4 (of 12)
The Punisher vol. 1: 1 (of 5)
The Mighty Marvel Western presents: The Two-Gun Kid (one-shot)
Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files (one-shot)
The Eternals vol. 2: 4 (of 12)
Rogue vol. 1: 2
X-Men and Alpha Flight vol. 1: 2 (of 2)
X-Men vs. The Avengers vol. 1: 4 (of 4)
Wolverine vol. 3: 50
NYCC exclusive B+W variant cover, autographed by artist Simon Bianchi
Licensed comics:
Stephen King:
Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born 1-3
Edgar Rice Burroughs:
John Carter, Warlord of Mars
vol. 1: 2, 19, 22
Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle
vol. 1: 13, 15-18, 21, 24-26
Star Wars
Star Wars
vol. 1: 30
Return of the Jedi
vol. 1: 1, 2
small tears on the edge of the covers
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
vol. 1: 2
Battlestar Galactica
vol. 1: 12
Godzilla
vol. 1: 6
Shogun Warriors
vol. 1: 5
Elfquest
vol. 2: 4-6
Conan
Conan The Barbarian
vol. 1: 122
King Conan
vol. 1: 1
Kull The Conqueror
vol. 1: 25
vol. 3: 3
Red Sonja
vol. 1: 4-6, 5, 6
vol. 1: 1, 2
Epic:
Sergio Aragone's Groo The Wanderer
vol. 2: 3-5, 7-9, 11
Coyote
vol. 1: 7-9, 15
Dreadstar
vol. 1: 6, 18, 19
small damage to cover of 6
Black Dragon
vol. 1: 1, 4
The Alien Legion
vol. 1: 7, 8
slight discoloration, tear on crease on cover of 7
Feud
vol. 1: 1, 2
Sachs & Violens
vol. 1: 1
Swords of the Swashbucklers
vol. 1: 1
Void Indigo
vol. 1: 2

DC:
Batman:
Batman
vol. 1: 500, 651-653
651-653 are part of 1 Year Later
Batman Annual 14
Detective Comics
vol. 1: 817-819
817-819 are part of 1 Year Later
The Batman Chronicles
vol. 1: 2
Nightwing
vol. 1: 118-124
118-120 are part of 1 Year Later
Robin II: The Joker's Wild 1-3 (of 4)
Batman and the Outsiders
vol. 1: 1-4, 9, 12, 13, 15-17, 21, 23
Batman and the Outsiders Annual 1
Batman: Secrets 1-5 (of 5)
Batman: Year 3 1 (of 4)
Batman: Year 100 1-4 (of 4)
Batman/Spawn: War Devil (one-shot)
Batman Returns (one-shot)
Superman:
Superman
vol. 2: 1, 2, 37, 75, 76, 78
Superman: The Man of Steel
vol. 1: 25, 26
The Man of Steel 1, 4, 5 (of 6)
Superboy
vol. 2: 5
Supergirl
vol. 1: 2
Green Lantern:
Green Lantern
vol. 4: 10-18
Ion: Guardian of the Universe 1-12 (of 12)
Guy Gardener: Collateral Damage 1, 2 (of 2)
Crisis On Infinite Earth:
Crisis On Infinite Earth 2, 5, 7, 10 (of 12)
Infinite Crisis:
Infinite Crisis 1-7 (of 7)
Aftermath: The Spectre 1-3 (of 3)
Brand New Day (one-shot)
Day of Vengeance (one-shot)
Rann-Thanagar War (one-shot)
The Omac Project (one-shot)
Villains United (one-shot)
Teen Titans:
Teen Titans
The New Teen Titans/Tales of the Teen Titans
vol. 1: 2
vol. 2: 8, 9
vol. 4: 35, 36
Tales of the Teen Titans: 46, 48, 49, 53, 54, 56, 57, 61
Tales of the New Teen Titans (mini-series)
vol. 1: 1, 4 (of 4)
The New Teen Titans
vol. 1: 11, 12, 16
The New Teen Titans Annual 1
Teen Titans
vol. 3: 34-45
34-36 are part of 1 Year Later
Team Titans
vol. 1: 4
Complete runs:
52 1-52
Secret Six
vol. 1: 1-6
Deadman
vol. 2: 1-4
Multiple issues, ongoing:
Action Comics
vol. 1: 842, 843
Green Arrow
vol. 1: 1, 3, 4 (of 4)
vol. 3: 60-71
60-62 are part of 1 Year Later
Blue Beetle
vol. 7: 1-8
Shadowpact
vol. 1: 1-10
Justice League Europe
vol. 1: 6, 28, 43
vol. 2 (Justice League International): 57
Secret Origins
vol. 1: 23, 25, 49
Batman and the Outsiders
vol. 1: 1-4
Green Lantern
vol. 4 14, 16
The Omega Men
vol. 1: 8, 17, 19-22, 26, 27, 30, 31
The Fury Of Firestorm
vol. 2: 35, 36, 38
All-Star Squadron
vol. 1: 1, 25, 366, 39-41
All-Star Squadron Annual 2, 3
The New Gods
vol. 2: 1-4
Swamp Thing
The Original Swamp Thing Saga
vol. 1: 2
vol. 2: 14
vol. 3: 17
vol. 4: 20
Swamp Thing Annual 3
Vigilante
vol. 1: 10-13, 20, 21, 25
Vigilante Annual 1
Arion: Lord of Atlantis
vol. 2: 13, 16, 24-27, 34, 35
Multiple issues, mini-series:
Who's Who
vol. 1: 6, 11
Mystery In Space With Captain Comet 1-3 (of 8)
The War That Crime Forgot 1-4 (of 12)
The Creeper 1-3 (0f 6)
Cosmic Boy 1, 2, 4 (of 4)
Legends 1-3, 5 (of 6)
Sword of the Atom
vol. 1: 1-4 (of 4)
vol. 1: 1-3 (of 4)
Sword of the Atom Special 1-3
Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld 2-8 (of 12)
Single issues:
The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive vol. 1: 1
Wonder Woman vol. 3: 1
Outsiders vol. 4: 35
35 is part of 1 Year Later
52 28
Ion: Guardian of the Universe 6
Sgt. Rock vol. 32: 376
The Dreaming vol. 1: 17
Mnemovore vol. 1: 1
Justice Society of America vol. 2: 7
Blackhawk vol. 31: 251
Secret Origins vol. 1: 23
Superman vol. 2: 75
The Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 34: 284 (x2)
Batman Annual 14
Licensed comics:
Snakes On A Plane 1, 2 (of 2)
Star Trek
Star Trek TNG: The Modala Imperative
vol. 1: 1

Image:
Spawn 41, 43, 45, 48, 53
Elephantmen 5
Truth, Justin and the American Way 1-5 (of 5)
Freshmen
Freshmen 1-6
Freshmen Yearbook
Freshmen II 1-3
Freshmen II 3 variant cover
Sidekick 1-4 (of 5)
The Last Christmas 1-5 (of 5)
Youngblood Strikefile 4
Backlash 21, 29, 30
Badrock and Company 1-3
Stormwatch 1
Doom's IV 2
Fear Agent 2
Battle Pope 8
Loaded Bible: Jesus Vs. Vampires (one-shot)
The Savage Dragon vs. The Savage Megaton Man (one-shot)
Boof and the Bruise Crew 3, 5

Other:
Dark Horse:
Serenity 1 (of 3)
Ironhand of Almuric 1, 2 (of 4)
Terminator: Endgame 3 (of 3)
Arch Enemies 1-4 (of 4)
IDW:
Transformers
Transformers: All Hail Megatron 1
Transformers: Maximum Dinobots 1
Doctor Who
Doctor Who 1
Doctor Who: The Forgotten 1
Silent Hill
Silent Hill: Dying Inside 1-5
1, 2 autographed by artist Ben Templesmith
Slave Labor Graphics:
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac 1-7 (of 7)
Tron 1-3
Gloomcookie 2
Oni Press:
Blair Witch Project (one-shot)
Glow-in-the-dark variant cover with certificate of authenticity
My Inner Bimbo 1 (of 5)
Dynamite:
Darkman vs. Army of Darkness 1-3
Avatar:
Blackgas 2 1
Valiant:
Secret Weapons 1-3
BOOM! Studios:
Cthulhu Tales 1
Abstract Studio:
Echo 1-5
Malibu Comics:
Breed 5
Mirage Studios:
Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 32
Viz Comics:
Mobile Suit Gundam W-Wing Ground Zero 1
First Comics:
Grim Jack 10-13, 18
John Sable: Freelance 6, 24, 25, 27, 32
Red Circle Comics Group:
The Fly 1
Blue Ribbon Comics 1
Verotik:
Sunglasses After Dark 4, 5
Lodestone Press:
The Futurians 1
Crystal Publications:
Eagle 2, 11
Defiant Press:
Warriors of Plasm 1
Hot Comics
Chrome 1
Caliber:
fringe 4
Comely Comix:
Captain Canuck 10
First Summer Special (one-shot)
Planet Lucy Press:
Ragmop 3
Visionary Publications:
White Raven 2
Rebel Studios:
Faust 10
Silverwolf Comics:
The Dungeoneers 2

dino_rider @ 2009-09-25T18:02:00

2009-09-25T22:09:24Z

I've said something along these lines before, but after hearing news tonight about the Venom movie moving forward a little more, I'm refinining my Spider-man movie theories. Which I shall now post here to check back against because that'll be easier than tracking down an old Tweet.

Spider-man 4: J. Jonah Jameson hires Alistair Smythe to develop the Spider-Slayers program and involves Mac Gargan (Bruce Campbell) as Scorpion. By the end of the movie, Mac is defeated, unScorpioned and has a run-in with the symbiote a la modern Spider-man comics. This parlays into the Venom spin-off with Mac Gargan in the title role to make up for the fact that Eddie Brock, the other best-known Venom, was already killed off in Spider-man 3. This also gives the added benefit of Bruce Campbell starring in the Venom flick, which therefore will be fun no matter how hard it does or doesn't suck. Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are currently penning the Venom flick, and judging by the trailers for Zland, they're frenetic and inane enough to be a good match for Campbell's style.

And while on the subject, I still say Black Mask and Penguin for Nolan-Batman 3.

dino_rider @ 2009-09-09T22:50:00

2009-09-10T02:51:35Z

Back home. Trying to decide if I want to bother writing about it. Probably won't.

dino_rider @ 2009-08-16T23:49:00

2009-08-17T04:44:41Z

Back when the ConnectiCon program initially dropped, there was an advertisement that, for obvious reasons, caught my attention. It was two books, Lovecraft's works retold as parodies of classic children's stories: Where The Deep Ones Are and The Antarctic Express. To my chagrin, no one at the con actually carried these books. I was narrowly able to pick up Deep Ones from a booth that was able to go back to home base and pick their last copy up for me by the end of the weekend (thanks, Modern Myths!*). Turns out, I'm learning tonight, Antarctic Express probably wasn't even out by the time the con took place, all sites say its coming out in August 2009 still without a specific date. Hopefully be picking that up soon but we'll see.

Now, a shocking admission: I've never read Where The Wild Things Are. I got the gist of it, and got all the Innsmouth jokes, but the format was based entire on WTWTA and I just didn't connect with it. Eventually snagged Where The Wild Things Are, and am currently rereading Innsmouth for the hell of it. As such, it's a cute, little, fairly-insubstantial collector's item Lovecraft fans can get a chuckle out of. And as a side-note, I'm happy to see they're getting actual children's books authors and illustrators to handle these instead of someone just trying to mimic the style. Here's one of Christina Rodriguez's blog posts on the Antarctic Express: http://christinaerodriguez.blogspot.com/2009/03/illustration-friday-legendary.html

But reading Innsmouth again, I'm struck by thoughts I had the first time reading it. Lovecraft, as a rule, is pretty impossible to translate to film properly. The stories are filled with impossible geometry and indescribable horrors, which obviously do not translate properly to a visual medium and maintain the same atmosphere the writing creates when fueled by your own imagination. Shadow Over Innsmouth is the exception to the rule. The horrors in here are, admittedly, fairly describable. Spoiler alert: There are fish-people in various stage of mutation, ranging from ugly people with big eyes to the full-on Deep Ones. Out of all the stories I've read, Innsmouth is the most easily translated to film, and is one of the better stories to boot. Which makes all the more tragic the fact that it has been translated to film twice. First as Dagon, which I have seen and can safely say it deserves to be shown on Syfy at 2 AM if it has to be shown at all. It gets the point across, but it has so many unnecessary, goofy and disrespectful changes and just straight-up isn't very good. Second as Cthulhu, which I have not seen and was not even particularly aware of, but by the sound of it is no better off.
I know Guillermo del Toro has had his sights set on At The Mountains of Madness for a long time, but I would love to see someone with his sense of style and directing take on Innsmouth. Really I'd just love to see an adaptation of Lovecraft's stuff hit the mainstream for once and not be some cult B-movie like Re-animator (as much as I do love that film**) or some shitty low-budget realization like everything else. Seriously, look at all that. How much of it have you actually heard of, let alone seen?

While on the subject of Lovecraft, an aside: The current story arc of Atomic Robo is focusing entirely on a Lovecraftian horror from beyond the fold of our comprehension of space and time, and the first issues features a lovely cameo from the ranting, racist man himself. Highly recommended.

*Odd realization, I've stopped by that booth at every CTCon I've attended, and never knew what it was called before.

**Wasn't aware of it til just now, but Stuart Gordon, Re-animator/From Beyond director also did Dagon. Kind of disappointing, since I enjoyed all his previous attempts.

District 9 rantings

2009-08-14T08:27:13Z

Wanted to put down my thoughts on District 9 but there was a lot more of them than I could squeeze into 140 characters, so looks like I'm posting on LJ twice in one day after nearly a month of disuse.

I'm going to try and keep this spoiler-free as best as possible. I'd been avoiding information on this film as best as possible, and as such I went in completely blind to what it was. I got the general idea of it, aliens in slums, parable for apartheid and all that, but, after seeing it, really had no idea what it was about. This kind of helped, because in a geek-world of spoilers and script reviews, there are no secrets anymore and going into a movie with the barest knowledge of it is a refreshing, wonderful thing. In this case, though, it also kind of hurt it as the assumptions I did have were way off.

As for the movie itself, it wasn't some grand vision, nothing revolutionary, nothing particularly new at all. Honestly, we've seen this kind of thing all before, albeit rarely so polished and beautiful and that's where the movie wins. The bulk of the movie is truly a sci-fi action movie. Not like the term usually denotes like GI Joe or an effects-driven Michael Bay piece, but not an epic thing like Lord of the Rings (it's 4 AM and I can't think of a proper sci-fi equivalent, dangit). It was character-driven without a huge amount of depth, the action was fast and fun without being some huge, glossy set piece. Again, there was nothing particularly that stands out from it, but I really have nothing bad to say about it either. It was simple and uncluttered, and benefited from it entirely.

Alternatively, the first 20 minutes or so were the documentary-style scenes you mostly see in the promotional materials for the film. Tonally, this turned out to be completely different from the rest of the movie, but I can't think the rest would have worked without this introduction to the District. These scenes were frank, dark and above all immersive; grounding the fantastical elements and making the situation almost seem plausible. Yes, there are aliens and gravity guns, but they're just in the background. These scenes focus on the bureaucracy and the corporations and the horrible people at the heart of the District, and they as real as anything. There was one scene where an egg clutch is burned, while the people stand around and make jokes, and I sat there horrified for a few seconds before it clicked back on me that what I was seeing wasn't real. These scenes were slowly phased out as it cut between the shaky-cam docudrama and more traditional film scenes. However, it switched back and forth for a bit, making the transition jagged and a bit rough to follow. I think this was the only major complaint I had with the film, as the two parts of the movie seemed so tonally different jammed next to each other this way.

Design-wise, the "prawns" and their tech was beautiful. The creatures really felt integrated into the environment. I'm unsure if it was all CGI or if some shots were practical but it all worked regardless. The weapons were very reminiscent of Halo and Half-Life/Portal and other FPS standards, and looked great in action.

And I think I'm done. Probably should have gotten some sleep before attempting that. Oh well.

dino_rider @ 2009-08-13T13:26:00

2009-08-13T17:31:41Z

After Hipster Girl and Art School Girl came up on my iTunes playlist, I decided to see what all songs I had that followed the _____ Girl(s) formula. Compiled the list and didn't really accomplish much except made a new playlist and got that thing where if you stare at the same word over and over again it starts to look weird, but figured I'd post it here because I haven't done anything else on here lately.

Another Girl
Uptown Girl
Sunday Girl
Coconut Girl
Summer Teenage Girl
Factory Girl
Star-Stealing Girl
China Girl (David Bowie)
Chelsea Girl
Punk Rock Girl
L.A. Girl
Young Girl (The Distillers)
Hot Girl
Party Girl (Eban Schletter)
Sulky Girl
Party Girl (Elvis Costello)
Brown-Eyed Girl (Everclear)
Saturday Girl
Beautiful Girl
Science Genius Girl
New York Girl
Stupid Girl
Young Girl (Gary Puckett & The Union Gap)
Extraordinary Girl
Hollaback Girl
Bright Light Girl
Wrong Girl
Classic Girl
Pretty Girl
Rock Girl
Pretty Little Girl
Dreamgirl
Single Girl
Call Girl
Last Beautiful Girl
Rapgirl
Hipster Girl
Baby Girl
My Girl (Otis Redding)
West End Girl
Ladybird Girl
London Girl
Cybersexy Girl
Fat Bottomed Girl
Nobody's Girl
Living Dead Girl
My Girl (Rockapella)
Brown-Eyed Girl (Rockapella)
Northwestern Girl
Mockingbird Girl
Weather Girl
That Girl
Sour Girl
Art School Girl
Plastic Girl
American Girl
Cornflake Girl
Brown-Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Shibuya Girl
Hyper Girl
Rich Girl
Dead Girl
China Girl (Voltaire)

dino_rider @ 2009-07-17T00:00:00

2009-07-17T04:07:27Z

Just something I wrote up for review and critiquing, ignore if you don't want to read it. Short story idea I had while driving today, just threw together a hyper-rough-draft tonight. The parenthesis'd passages I'm going to go back over and expand on and just generally clean the whole thing up but here's what I have so far:

I didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t believe it had come to this, but I had high hopes for what would transpire this evening. The preparations for the night had all been made, the candles were lit, the pungent smell of cooked meat hung in the air and everything was laid out as perfectly as I could manage. I held my wife close, took in her familiar scent, but despite everything I did this would be the last time I ever held her.
Three years ago, we had a blessed life. That is to say, our parents hated our respective choices for a spouse, we lived in a rundown apartment and scraped by day to day but we had each so we were left wanting for nothing. (We had met as college as juniors, in the same (XXXX) class, and married not long after graduation. She took a job as a secretary in a childrens' hospital and I worked as a writer, putting my dream of the great American mystery novel to the side in favor of whatever paying freelance work I could find.) We lived as best we could on what little came in, but we made it work as best we could, supporting each other.
And then she was hit by a bus.
She was announced dead at the scene, I identified her and then I don’t remember much for the next month. In mourning, I was not capable of a coherent thought. I saw my friends and family come and go to give their condolences and support but I do not clearly recall any of it. The depression only got worse until I forced myself back to work to at the very least help get my mind off it. I had taken an offer to write some short stories for a horror anthology, and in doing research for it I stumbled across a book on the subject of resurrection folklore. I cannot imagine how foolish it seems to you, but in my depression and desperation I latched onto the idea.
I read every word in the book and, as you may imagine absolutely nothing came from it. It was a collection of old wives’ tales, myths and legends without a basis in reality among them. A sane man would have given up the idea as folly (rather, a sane man most likely would not have pursued it to begin with…) but within my the spark had caught, and I did not discount this tome as the only source for such information. It became my obsession.
I consulted many more books and tracked down as many “experts” on the subject as I could. There was little substance, but for every fifty failures I found pieces of a trail that may lead to truth. I began spending what money I had left to travel and research. What else in life did I have to spend it on? Piece by piece, from the forgotten shadows of the world I gathered the information I needed from all sources. Religion, alchemy, witchcraft, remnants of powers so ancient they had been lost from mankind’s memory, all had answers for me. I formulated my plan, and found what it would take to bring my wife back. Most of the ingredients were actually common enough, but the hardest was the most dreadful: I found no way around it, every plan of action that promised to work for me required a human sacrifice.
(I am not a particularly fit man, nor a trained kidnapper. However, I found my intended victim in a despairingly young woman living on the street. In bad health and not at peak physical condition herself, I overpowered her and brought he back to the hovel I had been squatting in as I prepared.) (I prepared the scene for the ritual as I understood it, candles lit, markings on the ground recreated from ancient texts and a large fire-pit. I cut similar markings into the girl as the texts instructed me, and, bound, set her over the fire. In a moment of remorse or possibly simply one of lucidity I saw the evil I had become to complete my goal. However, at this point such remorse served no purpose, I could save this girl’s life no more than my own soul, and steeled my resolve to see this ritual followed through.)
As the girl writhed in pain, I gathered one final ingredient: my wife’s corpse, recently interred from her grave.* I briefly held her to me, oblivious to the stench of the grave radiating off her. I separated myself from her and placed her in the marked spot for the ritual. The preparations for the night had all been made, the candles were lit, the pungent smell of cooked meat hung in the air and everything was laid out as perfectly as I could manage. I said the words I had learned, performed the motions and made the arcane marks. There was a moment after I finished where time stretched infinitely out, the seconds never ending and in this space I was sure nothing would happen and it was all folly after all. Some deep-buried part of me even prayed this was the case. But slowly, singular changes almost imperceptible, my wife seemed to… inflate, for lack of a better term. Mass returned to her rotting flesh, color returned to her grey skin. Soon I was no longer sitting before a corpse but rather a woman who may well have been asleep, perfectly healthy except for the lack of breathing. And then even that changed, her breast rising slightly as life returned to the body. To my wife. My wife was back!
I was shocked, ecstatic it worked, completely beyond words as her eyes opened and looked to me. Eyes full of… confusion? No, anger? Without hesitation, she sprang up and struck me with her hand.
“Idiot! Stupid idiot!” She started before a sob choked her words. “I know everything! Everything you did! And you know nothing! Heaven! You pulled me out of Heaven! And you could have joined me if you had just let go! Now I’m some… unholy abomination, and you… you’re something worse. For only a handful of years on this plane? You damned both of us for that?” She collapsed, sobbing once more.
I didn’t say anything more. How could I defend myself from this? I grabbed my knife from the sacrifice. I walked over, placed my hand on her should and jammed the knife in the back of her head. She fell, lifeless as she had been moments ago. I next took the knife to my own wrists and throat as best I could manage. I did not fear what damnation I had created for myself, it was not divine judgment I feared but that of my wife. I hoped eternity would be enough time for earn her forgiveness. I had no idea what waited for us now because of my actions, but it didn’t matter, because we would be facing it together.

(*Note: Have the sacrifice originally hired to help dig up the grave, then once the task is done he knocks her out, maybe…)

Admission: Before anyone says anything, I know, very derivative of: Lovecraft, Supernatural, FMA and any number of other sources you can throw at me. Hopefully I can fix that too.

Some ramblings on the subject of Deadpool

2009-07-16T04:03:56Z

With Deadpool becoming more and more popular in mainstream Marvel comics, I've been looking at the character lately and considering his place in the Marvel Universe. With the similar powers and MO, one might be tempted to say he is most like Wolverine. He is utterly deadly with nearly any weapon, as far as we've seen pretty much indestructible (if he has a limit we have not witnessed it yet) and completely insane. He is at the very least a minor threat to every living being and at worst an unstoppable killing machine if he put his mind to it. However, it is that last point, his very instability, that lowers him from threat to annoyance to most of the players concerned.
He is vain, narcissistic and completely self-absorbed. As such, he takes that great power he wields and only uses it as it amuses or pleases him. To his favor, he fancies himself a hero, and is wont to stradle the line between neutral and good more often than not, swinging whichever way will make him look the best. The fact that death and destruction follow in his wake only speaks to his methodology and not his intentions. These aspects combined, he is less hero or villain and his blowing into town is more akin to a force of nature, a hurricane sweeping through or Galactus wandering through the cosmos. Granted, you'll probably have an easier time reasoning with the hurricane.
The ability to break the fourth wall and more recently the inner dialogue going on between voices in his head suggest an almost omnipotent presence in the comic-verse, or at least a higher awareness, on a meta level, though not a particularly useful one within the scope of the comic itself. This, coupled with the immense power and penchant for acting on a whim, leave Deadpool in the position to be a better example of a Trickster God than Loki has ever been used.

dino_rider @ 2009-07-02T02:32:00

2009-07-02T06:34:35Z

So Michael Kupperman spent most of the day on Twitter giving out various pieces of advice and trivia on ventriloquism and ventriloquist dummies. For fun and boredom's sake, I have compiled the insanity... here:

After taking your ventriloquist's dummy out of the box, hold it at eye level and, staring it down, shout "I'm not afraid of you!" 67 times.

Remember, being a ventriloquist is like being a lawyer (originally they were the same thing). You have your own advocate, right on yr arm!

Remember: In elections, your dummy gets a vote too. Don't peek at his selection, he has the same right to privacy that you do!

Does your dummy snore? Perhaps you should consider widening his nostrils... With his consent, of course!

Dummies sometimes need a checkup. But you don't go to a doctor's office, like a person! Instead visit a bar or nightclub.

Is your Dummy upper-class? Try to notice if he's wearing a top hat or monocle. If he is, he may have expensive tastes in entertainment!

Remember! No actitivities of a sexual or amatory nature should be conducted around your dummy. Or, needless to say, with!

Never give your dummy your banking or credit card details, no matter how much they insist that it'll "be a funny routine" for your act.

Your dummy may have the spirits of previous owners trapped in it. Try talking to them, find out what's making them so angry.

To experience life through a dummy's eyes, look for the book "Get Your Hand Outta My Ass," by Lord Chuckles.

The Susquehanna College of Ventriloquism boasts a student body of 1,300 and it's dormitories were recently voted "The Creepiest in America."

"Being a ventriloquist and a dentist at the same time is like having a funny lawyer on my left hand while I work,"- Steve Guttenberg, Jr.

If, against all the odds, yr dummy isn't alive, you'll need 2 learn how to speak w/out moving yr lips. Try threatening yr lips in the mirror

No dummies have become ventriloquists themselves (uninsurable), but there have been "double dummy acts" where the dummy has his own dummy.

Famous "Double Dummy Acts" include "Ray Doomed with Loco and Mini-Loco", and "Jimmy Nervous and his Descending-Sized Dummies."

Interested in all-ventriloquist drama? Check out the Double Voice Theater Co. in Pasadena, CA, currently presenting "24 Angry Men."

Ventriloquists: When on trial for murders committed by your dummy, don't blame it on him- you'll look crazy.

Ventriloquist/Architects! When your buildings collapse, don't blame your dummies. They didn't go to Architecture school- you did!

Ventos was the restaurant chain where the waiters were all ventriloquists; they used to be really popular, Nixon was married in one.

Kruschev vowed to crush the US in ventriloquism, and built a superb Olympic team, all of whom were killed by James Bond.

dino_rider @ 2009-06-23T01:15:00

2009-06-23T05:25:02Z

Blah blah blah suicide blah blah blah full of rage blah blah blah I don't even feel like whining anymore. Just sick of the monotony.

Ganked from stardustxsiren

2009-06-16T16:21:44Z

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... Read More”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

dino_rider @ 2009-05-29T01:01:00

2009-05-29T05:17:08Z

So I spent the night pretending to be an audience member. I guess? Any way you look at it I'm going to be on TV.

Basically Michael and Michael Have Issues was doing a scene where Michael and Michael were doing stand-up in a college, and they brought a bunch of Stella fans in. So basically we were a NYC audience mass-acting as a college audience and they did a little stand up and the requisite acting for the scene and filmed our reactions. It was kind of a weird experience, to be honest, since I really didn't know what we were going into. In particular, one part was just Michael Showalter reading random punchlines for what will eventually be a montage, but just hearing them all fired off at once was pretty trippy.

Also seeing this done got me pumped again because I would love to write something like this. Ooh, I just need an idea. And a budget. And industry-insider friends. And a SOLID GOLD THRONE, from which I may issue my decrees. And... getting a little ahead of myself.

Now if you'll excuse me, Reilly is fighting a paper cup so I'm gonna go watch that.

I really need some Green Lantern icons

2009-05-25T01:18:41Z

This is important (read: bitchin') enough to cross-post. Nathan Fillion is... Hal Jordan:

via Nerdist

I've picked out most of the movies this was made from, but that makes the editing no less impressive. Appealing to my fandoms aside, the ability to create something like that out of mostly-pre-existing footage is staggering.

I feel extra geeky since I was already in my GL tee. >_>

dino_rider @ 2009-05-05T03:18:00

2009-05-05T07:21:50Z

This cold war with the Fisher Cats has gone on long enough. It's time to bring the fight to them!

I may be slightly crazy right now.

Line.

2009-04-27T17:06:07Z

So I actually saw Twilight last night (Rifftrax'd, of course). To be honest, I have managed to pull my not-in-the-game thing and the extent of my exposure to this "phenomenon" has been the haters ON THIS VERY SITE. Never actually met, heard from or read anything of a fantard. So aside from some bare knowledge I went into this thing blind. The one thing that struck me was, despite the shortening attention span of American youth, this movie was very anti-ADD. Plot-points, if I can use the term, were stretched out unbearably long and aside from a fairly cool baseball game (I would totally watch a cross between Twilight and the Bad News Bears) I'm reasonably sure nothing actually happened. A lot of exposition leading up to nothing, the inherent problem with most origin stories but to an extreme, excruciating point. The difference between Twilight and a good movie, I think, is that a good movie could cover all the critical events of Twilight before their opening credits rolled with nothing lost in the compression. If the powers that be weren't interested in stretching this out to make the maximum amount of tween-money, I honestly think they could crank out at least 2 books per movie, and save us all a lot of time. And they'd probably be better. Getting back to the attention span point, all the books are out, right? Do they really think anyone but TEH HARDKORR fans will care about these movies 4 years down the line? Harry Potter Mania has been dying down since Hallows released and they still have 3 movies to go. I don't think the fickle-by-nature Twilight crowd will have half the fanatical following HP even now by the time Whatever It's Called The Last One comes out.

Oh, and the sparkling? Could have been the biggest let-down ever, except it fell from so low to begin with. That said, the Rifftrax was actually pretty funny. Still want to know how they won that Golden Onion.

PEE ESS As predicted, I ended the day in good company, a bit tipsy and watching a terrible vampire love story. As such, I had started my day alone, sober and watching a very good one. Let The Right One In (free on Netflix Instant if you have the service) was almost analogous to Twilight in terms of plot, except, again, it was done well. An oddly endearing film, contrasting itself with a stark, almost genuinely terrifying at times, depiction of a vampire (although not as gory as some reviews led me to believe). There are actually a lot of similarities to be drawn between Vampire Cedric Diggory (forgot the character's name) and Right One's Eli, in terms of powers and character, but just goes to show how an idea can be beautiful in one person's hands and idiotic in another's.

Gathering Storm parody vids. Comedy Central has some crazy embed codes.

2009-04-21T17:59:46Z

I've never actually seen the commercial in question, but I think I'm getting the gist of it.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage Commercial

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

I think FoD's was the best, but I still crack up whenever I hear "the homo-storm got me".

Edit: Heh, right after posting this, there was a thunder-rumble. :3 I think there's a storm gathering.

Just started watching the show, funniest thing I've seen so far

2009-04-21T06:30:34Z

Well these are fun

2009-04-16T17:08:15Z

Dog Hates ME

dino_rider @ 2009-04-15T14:40:00

2009-04-15T18:50:04Z

Trying to come up with something to say about the tax-day protests and how retarded (and offensive and disheartening) it all is but thinking about it my mind becomes a boiling, churning sea overcast by writhing red-black clouds of rage and instead of wanting to write I just want to get up and start throwing bricks. So I'm just going to let Best Week Ever handle it.

RT @dino_rider

2009-04-12T17:53:09Z

Starting to feel like I'm missing out on things with people so I reactivated my Facebook account. x-posted

dino_rider @ 2009-04-12T09:18:00

2009-04-12T13:32:39Z

Well, that was way better than hiding eggs. Chocolate bunnies would be a nice addition though.

... Totally fighting the urge to throw up right now...

MMO talk. Yeah, I know you don't care. Oh, like you ever cared about the other stuff.

2009-04-10T21:18:05Z

Been playing the Lord of the Rings Online free trial at stardustxsiren's suggestion, just to get the MMO bug out of my system. My trial's up tonight, but I think I ended on a high note.

I was hanging out in the Barrow-downs grinding wights, trying to reach level 20 before I ran out of time just as my own personal goal. I got zombie-raped at one point, and the closest res point was at Tom Bombadil's house, so I hung out with that dude for a while. WACKY TIMES. Ventured back into the barrows, hit 20, blah blah. Eventually the zombies and barghests bored me, so I hopped down from the ruins I was on into the woods. Took aim at a bear hanging out by a couple trees, but before I could fire off my arrow one of the trees got up and attacked me. ONE OF THE TREES GOT UP AND ATTACKED ME. Simply put, I freaked the fuck out. Had no chance of killing the thing, so I ran. Eventually had about 6 bears, some worms and half a god-damned forest chasing me. Re-enacted a scene from Evil Dead, rezzed, said so long to Tom, ported back to Bree and then I just cried. Logged out and really I don't know if I can go back in after that, that was pretty tops.

That said, though, fun game, a lot more than I expected. Tempted to keep going with it but I'll have to think about it. Also just as tempted to head back to WoW since I remember just how much I enjoyed the Hunter class, especially with the animal taming WoW affords me.

dino_rider @ 2009-04-09T12:25:00

2009-04-09T16:35:21Z

Just to let everyone know, klaatubaradanikto@comcast.net will be dead as of this weekend (sad...) and for now I'll just be using tashepard@gmail.com because all the good names are taken. Update your whatevers.

Now begins the unholy process of changing everything over to that...

We shall have a festival and burn Tatopoulos in effigy to celebrate.

2009-04-07T06:45:09Z

2008 was year of the vampires. And vampires are stupid! I am officially declaring 2009 the year of the Teen Wolf. Or just werewolves in general. My reasons so far being:

-There was a Teen Wolf on How I Met Your Mother.
-Tracy Jordan described the plot of Teen Wolf in detail to Larry King on 30 Rock.
-Michael J. Fox wrote a book. Michael J. Fox WAS Teen Wolf. Coincidence?
-The new Twilight movie coming out this year involves werewolves I think? Werewolves WHO ARE TEENS, I imagine.
-THOR: Hammer of the Gods is about vikings AND werewolves. And when has a SFO ever failed to please? Monster Ark, but I digress.
-As far as I'm aware, unlike Underworld 3, most or all of this year's werewolf movies are Patrick Tatopoulos-free.
-They're remaking the Wolf Man with a man who may in fact BE A WOLF MAN. Also it has Megatron! (via al_fuego)
-True Blood pussies out on the naming scheme and may have some kind of Shapeshifter this season! (via el_kevin)
-The people who make Pushing Daises are making Bitches, or Sex And The City With Werewolves. This article talks about it kind of but really confirms I was right about 2009! (also via el_kevin)
-It came out last year but I didn't watch Being Human until this year and its pretty awesome. And there may be a second season? I think the Werewolf is working on Stargate Universe though (can't confirm this but it totally looks like him in the cast pic) so I don't know what's up. But that is a good show you should all watch!
-Not from this year at all but awesome! (via morganwolf)

-And more!*

Bonus link: WHEELCHAIR WEREWOLF!

In unrelated news, I totally got to read Lovecraft while actually in Providence. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS ESCAPED ME until one of Emily's roommates pointed it out.

*No more. Unless you know something? Keep 'em coming.

I need some YGG icons...

2009-04-04T20:54:29Z

I was just channel surfing the other day (yesterday? I have lost all sense of time at this point) and I noticed PBS had the Electric Company on. I had never seen the show as a child, in fact the extent of my knowledge of it comes from Family Guy and Spider-man comics with a cross-dressing Shocker, so I figured I'd check it out. Turns out they made a new one, and... frankly, it was just terrible. It certainly was no Yo Gabba Gabba, but the thing that caught my attention was that Jack McBrayer was in it, so I had to see how it through.

So I was doing the same today, channel surfing and all, and to give you an idea even Sci Fi was playing a movie I wouldn't watch. Yo Gabba Gabba was about the only thing I could settle on, so I wound up there. And who was doing a knock-knock joke with Paul Scheer? JACK McBRAYER. I can't help but imagine if I had ended up going to NYC today I would have seen him in Rockafeller Plaza. And this also indirectly reminds me I should get back to catching up on 30 Rock...

Just generally talking about Yo Gabba Gabba, I have to say this episode ("Weather") is insane even by its own highly-set standards. A quick run down of what I've seen in the past twenty minutes: a story about how water and oil can and should mix, a techno dance break-down about rain, a Banana Splits-esque montage in a park that included a giant emo purple rectangle with legs, and a child stuck in a giant game of Tempest. But hands down the best part was this rendition of Rainbow Connection (sounds a little f'ed up):