Remi's Bloglet - Friday 16 August 2002

Someday I will get around to drawing up my long-threatened diagram proving that Ice Cube is, in fact, William Blake. John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats talks records, hobbies, drinking, and Law & Order. _
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05:16:06 AM, Friday 16 August 2002

I finally got the reading copy of 'New Testament Story' which will be helpful in straightening out my thoughts on End of the Age. Plus, it only cost seven bucks! Yay! I got to 100 popularity in Rock Star Game, and now I have a portfolio I can point people to. All-in-All a good day, now all I need is the job that the portfolio is designed to get for me . . . _
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02:05:00 PM, Tuesday 13 August 2002

First one to find the mistake in today's Too Fat gets a free drawing of whatever they want. _
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11:42:51 PM, Monday 12 August 2002

I don't think I've ever used this as a forum to truly rant about things on, but here goes. I applied for a job at the University, a job in graphic design. I grew up around graphic design tools (my parents worked out of the home, they had PageMaker for one of the earliest Macs), I began designing when I was in High School. I continued through college, doing occasional poster design for KWP and the last minute fixes on the '99 yearbook (I'm uncredited, but you can ask Roberta if you don't believe me). I also worked as a production assistant at a design studio/copy place in Miami and as a printer at a place that sold baby announcements.

After I graduated I went on and got a job as a designer at Steve Jackson Games. I've had my work published and sent out to thousands of people. I've worked and gotten paid for it. I have a decent portfolio that I'm proud of. I'm not some schmuck who worked on the school newspaper for a couple years, or some guy who bought a Mac and a copy of Quark and suddenly thinks he knows what he's doing and now the world owes him a living.

The bottom line is: they won't hire me. The employment office won't even forward my resume to the departments that are actually doing the hiring. Because I don't have a fucking degree in graphic design. Because I didn't learn bad habits from a bunch of idiots who couldn't make it as a designer. Because I didn't learn the basics of typography from some guy who probably doesn't have a degree in graphic design, anyway.

Is this why I can't get a job? Because I don't have a specialized degree in an _art_? I might as well just sit at my drawing board all day and draw and draw and draw and hope that someday I'll be able to just let my work speak for itself. Fuck. _
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01:55:58 PM, Monday 12 August 2002

I put today's comic in the wrong folder last night, so it didn't update. It's up now. _
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09:33:24 AM, Monday 12 August 2002

Just saw xXx. It's a great action movie simply on the virtue that it manages to actually have a heartbeat through its entire running length. When it lags, it pulls out a bigger and better stunt or set piece. The jokes are lame, the cars are fast, and the explosions are incredible. There's some really neat camera work, with extreme close-ups opening up into wide sets. This is stuff that's not in the digital zoom we've become accustomed to or the grainy film blow-up of yesteryear, but something that looks amazing and sharp and real. Vin Diesel sweats charisma, even when he can barely speak his lines convincingly, and his smile kills. The movie is a loud blast of fun and has your exotic locales (alright, Prague, which isn't real high on the exotic-o-meter at the moment, but they make it pretty, prettier, at least, than Blade 2), your greasy terrorists, and your incompetent policemen. Oh, and a bad-ass, half-his-face-melted Samuel Jackson making the cheesy dialog work for its pay. It has the feel that the James Bond franchise has been reaching for since . . . well, since Sean Connery stopped being Bond (I was gonna say 'From Russia With Love', but I'll give the other Connery Bond canon the shake they may or may not deserve). The opening segment even pokes fun at the clichéd tuxedo-clad supersecretagent. So with all this I want so badly to unequivocally recommend this as a great popcorn flick.

But I can't. xXx has inherited the vicious, misogynistic streak of the early Bond movies. Women are there to be used, manipulated, fucked, and thrown away. They're little more than window dressing. Even the seemingly cool love-interest gal vacillates between helpless waif and manipulated slut. She's never shown in a position of control or power. This attitude ultimately sinks the movie for me. While the big stunts and big threat thunder along to the end, it's the faceless 'bitches' that stay with me. _
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05:15:28 PM, Sunday 11 August 2002

::Sigh:: Nothing like a bunch of really laid back people and vague paranoia to really get me into full-bore-asshole mode. How's Remi going to dig himself out of this comedy hole? _
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04:58:49 PM, Sunday 11 August 2002

Dad, would it be okay if I linked to your blog? I think some folks might be interested in the life of an embryonic sushi chef. _
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11:53:40 PM, Friday 9 August 2002

The third segment of e-sheep's excellent War in Afganistan/sf story Spiders is up. It really, really kicks ass. Read the first two chapters before hitting the third. _
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09:04:24 PM, Friday 9 August 2002

One last thing: my parents bought me a drawing board, and I finally picked it up today. It's wonderful and finally gives me a place in the house where I can draw freely, and widely, and without obstruction. It's wonderful. It came with a lamp and a chair, too. Hopefully the drawing production will go up. Urgh, saw that there's a Pat Robertson book called 'End of the Age.' Ah well, I knew what I was getting into with that title. _
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03:46:18 AM, Friday 9 August 2002

The ever-interesting Dave Wisdom brought some friends (who in turn brought yet another friend) to band practice today. It was a lot of fun having a bunch of rock monsters in the room and being able to kick up a whole bunch of noise. If this keeps up and we become a 'band' we'll have outgrown the computer room in the apartment (thank goodness!). More information as it occurs. _
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03:43:25 AM, Friday 9 August 2002

I am updating Too Fat regularly, now (Mon and Friday), so go get the new one. This'll be my last post on updates unless things get hinky. _
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03:41:15 AM, Friday 9 August 2002

I got back a little while ago from a Hero System game with a bunch of people I barely knew. I had a blast. Hero has a well-deserved reputation for being the crunchiest of crunchy RPG's and I can't imagine trying to navigate it without the pre-generated character the GM provided for me. Luckily, the group is pretty easy-going, and I was able to get a little clear on the rules before we rushed in. The set-up (we're a load of supervillains who have been hijacked by a mysterious agency to disrupt drug trafficking in Panama) played out with a good mixture of 'oh my goodness we are up to our ears in crap' and humorous interplay. I'm playing a former 'Crocodile Hunter' type with the body of the Rock and the head of an antelope. He also has hooves. The chupacabra jokes flowed freely. Looking forward to the next session. _
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12:10:37 AM, Thursday 8 August 2002

Type in your secret code and get yourmission from the Master Ninja! You do have a code, right? _
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03:47:57 AM, Friday 2 August 2002

As promised, Too Fat is once again updating. It should update soon, depending on how fuxxored the keen servers are. _
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01:11:14 AM, Friday 2 August 2002

Now Mirabai will never have to leave her room! _
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02:29:02 PM, Wednesday 31 July 2002

Due to scheduling trouble and trouble writing up a character generation guide the Nobilis online meeting will be postponed. I will e-mail those still interested with the pertinent information soon. _
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05:05:52 PM, Tuesday 30 July 2002

I've finally set up the End of the Age site in preparation for my return to comics-making. _
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01:52:22 AM, Tuesday 30 July 2002

Dang, I missed Martin's blogathon. Good job, Martin. _
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10:48:35 AM, Sunday 28 July 2002

Hey, I can look good in short hair! It took me more than three years to recover from my last über-short cut (Sorry, Mr. Alexander). The hair cuttery woman was way too pleased that I was cutting my hair. Liz says that, combined with my glasses, I look like Mirabai. I can live with that. Mirabai is cool. _
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06:20:10 PM, Friday 26 July 2002

We're headed deep into the forest
I've got the pedal to the floor.
the engine shudders, like a dying man
when you reach out to grab my hand
and you can bring out all your weapons
you can't make me go to war.

The astoundingly beautiful Family Happiness by The Mountain Goats _
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11:30:53 PM, Thursday 25 July 2002

My dad's gonna be a sushi chef. Neat! _
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04:38:40 AM, Wednesday 24 July 2002

I recently traded a bunch of RPG stuff I would never use for a copy of Nobilis. I want to run this game so badly. The world perfectly mixes mundanity and myth in a delicious cocktail. The player characters are humans whose souls have been sliced open and a shard of pure power has been inserted, giving them domain over one thing. Waves, murder, typing, howls, the character is the living embodiment of that concept and draw their powers from it. Characters playing in a game together create their originating power (called an Imperator), whom they serve, and create a Chancel, which is their home. This review gives a good overview of the game. I think I have an idea for a game, but I have no players. Anyone interested in a regular game to try this bizarre and powerful game out? _
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09:02:03 PM, Tuesday 23 July 2002

Cool! There's a sequel to the Adventures of Baron Munchausen RPG! _
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10:26:33 PM, Monday 22 July 2002

Ha Hai! Little Green Sponge Strikes Fear Into The Hearts of Mortals! Download the song everyone will be talking about.
(I wouldn't complain if some great person would mirror this song on their own server, as the Keen severs aren't always that reliable.) _
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05:58:16 PM, Sunday 21 July 2002

Yay! After almost two (or is it three?) years of development, Ambrosia has finally released Pop-Pop a fusion of Arkanoid and Street Fighter that can be played over the internet. I've played a couple games and it's a lot of fun. So all you mac usin' people, come on line and we'll play a few games! _
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03:51:39 PM, Friday 19 July 2002

A site selling cool Japanese toys, including 'Kubrick' Sets of Resevoir Dogs and Tron, as well as figures (originally sold in a vending machine/art project, I believe) by weirdo cartoonist and part-time genius Jim Woodring . _
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08:21:26 AM, Thursday 18 July 2002

I know there's at least one person who reads this blog that plays HeroClix, here's a link to a list of recent rule clarifications. _
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04:13:09 PM, Wednesday 17 July 2002

Apologies for Stupid Quiz, but I love Mr. Men. I don't know why.

which mr. men/little miss are you?
take the quiz & find out! :)
quiz made by jaded_dazey
[via Occasional Fish] _
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11:02:54 AM, Wednesday 17 July 2002

Mon ami Sharon dans son chapeau kitty. _
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10:47:28 AM, Wednesday 17 July 2002

Dude! Britney Exposed!

[via boingboing] _
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10:41:59 AM, Wednesday 17 July 2002

::looks at fax:: "Yes!!!!" ::bounces around pumping fist like he's in an eighties Van Halen video::

Okay, so it's not the biggest victory in the universe, but at least I'm not a total loser. _
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03:40:34 PM, Monday 15 July 2002

Is it really cooking the books if it's the government doing it? This seems like something that's being addressed, but slowly, simply because it's a huge job. The only reason to bring an article like this out right now is to draw attention away from the chicanery that caused this corporate meltdown. I smell a bait-and-switch. _
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03:51:22 AM, Monday 15 July 2002

I have nothing interesting to link to and nothing to say, but I want to make a blog entry. I get this itch around 3am to blog, and most of the time I don't, but this time my impulse won out and I am rockin' out with a new blog entry. Yeah!

Today, I co-wrote a song about a little green sponge that uses the Force. Dave Wisdom was the other co-author. It's kind of sad that it took two people to write a song as stupid as the one we did, but it's ours, and we will play it with pride. Look for a demo sometime soon. _
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03:40:29 AM, Monday 15 July 2002

Hm I actually kind of like Chasing Amy now. Joey Lauren Adams' voice still drives me up a wall, but it's a funny and effective, if not a little overly-sentimental, movie that starts out strong, sags a bit in the middle, and then charges across the finish line like a champ. _
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02:25:51 PM, Sunday 14 July 2002

For a quick condensation of what's up in the world, Google News ain't bad. _
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04:12:10 AM, Sunday 14 July 2002

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