Monday, May 17, 2004

   It;'s Over
The last day of school is tomorrow; big whup. Really, I'm not feelin' it. Everyone else is all emotional, but not I. Soi it's over; so what?

I'll still keep in contact with my same small group of friends, and next fall I get to do the same thing in a different building on the other side of town. High school is just a means to an end.

As I was getting my yearbook signed, I realized something: I have a lot more female friends than male. I don't know why, really, but it's true.

Let's see. On the male side, I've got Ernesto, David, and John. On the female side, I've got Carolyn, Stephanie (who won't e-mail me back), Kelly, Libby, Julianne, Anjuli, Nichole, Rachel, Yulia, Myssy and probably others I'm forgetting. Even on-line, the trend continues. I'm friends with Solo, Domon, and Ben. On the female side, there's Vicky, Ryo-Tas, Bandit, Rayne, Godel...

You get the point. As I think about it, I realise this has been true for most of my life. I wonder if it's just a coincidence, or if it says something about me. And if it does say something about me, I wonder what that is.

Right after class lets out tomorrow (noonish), I'm going right out to apply for several different jobs in downtown Brandon. Yay.

I saw two movies this weekend, and will be mewntioning them to kick off the grand return of Bug Business!

As a reminder, these are Spoiler Intensive. Also, seeing as there's been little response to my comic reviews (Read: No response at all), I'm going to just do one a week, one something remarkable.

Movies:

The Last Samaurai: Wow, what an overhyped piece of tripe. There's a lot wrong with this movie, but most of it isn't actually the fault of the film itself;it's symptametic of another trend entirely.

See, here's the thing: the samaurai portrayed in the movie weren't noble, or anything; they were terrorists. Most of their army was composed of peasants that were forced into service. They were political fascists who wanted to keep Japan under a feudel system. The Emporer, on the other hand, wanted to modernize, and raise the quality of life for everyone in the nation.

Also, the romance between Cruise's character and the Japanese woman simply wouldn't have happened. Nope, not at all. No matter what his virtues, Cruise's character was ganji: a foreigner. She would have been far too repulsed by him to touch him, let alone play tongue hockey.

What feww people realize is that, until about fifty, sixty years ago, Japan was a very closed, rascist society, and many Japanese still are today. It's not really their fault; it's a mentality born of their geography. Nonetheless, a Japanese woman at that time would *never, ever* considewr any sort of relationship with any non-Japanese male.

I said these problems weren't exactly the movie's fault, and they aren't. It's all part of a greater trend: re-writing history. Now, what we like to do is take the parts we liked from history (in this case, the cool samaurai fighting against long odds) and ignore the less-savory aspects of reality (these people were terrorists and fascists.)

Why do we do this? I don't know, but it's a dangerous mindset. After all, you know what happens to those who don't learn from history.

Troy:

I saw this with Yulia (in one of those outing where you're not sure if it's a date or not), and I gotta' say, my favorite part was the fact that I was there with Yulia. If that doesn't count, then my favorite part was the preview for Spider-Man 2 that showed before the film began.

Yeah, I didn't like it. It was an oversexed, innaccurate, obnoxious thing. Ah, well. SM2 is out on June 30th. ^__^

Comics:

The Spectacular Spider-Man #14: I love this title, but this issue definatly stands out. First, the art is fully painted. Fully painted art is always cool. The plot deals with a paraplegic man whose father often takes him up to the roof of their building and lets him watch the city.

Every so often, Spider-Man swings by, and the paraplegic man begins to admire him. However, one night, the man finds himself caught up in a battle between Spider-Man and Morbius, the living vampire. The ending is touching, and the issue itself is brilliant. If you see it, get it.

TV Shows:

Smallville: Muyndane, save the ending. Really, that's all there is to it. F'ing brilliant ending. ^__^

Angel: Any show that can use Crash Bandicoot as a metaphor for a meaningless existance is cool. This episode really just sets the stage for the series finale. Hope Spike doesn't die again.

Cartoons:

Danny Phantom: This episode feels slightly out of place; I'd like to switch it around with the one that preceeded it. It's a minor thing, but wasn't Stalker free at the end of the Plasmis episode? Eh. *shrugs*

This ep was cute, but a bit of a let down after the Plasmis ep. That was the ep that cemented me as a Danny Phantom fan.

Jackie Chan: Oh, wait, there was no Jackie chan!! Has it been cancelled? Hope not...

Megaman: NT Warriors- Well, a lot of new characters and plots were introduced in this ep, so I can forgive the lackluster conflict. Next week should be more interesting.

Xia Lin Showdown: This time of year, every show seems to be building up to a finale, and this was no exception. Mu-Ya has a body again. Okay...I assume that's bad. Again, wait til next week.

Yu-Gi-Oh: Hell Poemer kicks some arse, is all I need to say. too bad for Joey; you know he's going to loose. you know he is...

Ninja Turtles: Great way to end the season: starting a new plotline with almost no relation to the old ones, then not following up on it. good job. >>;

Anyway, before I leave ya'll tonight, here's something I stole from Solo's site. ^__^

In no particular order...

Full Name: Eric Raymond Wilson
Age: 17
Hair: Brown and spikey
Eyes: Sky blue
Sex: Male
Favorite Anime: Too many to narrow down
Favorite Manga: Currently, Shaman King

Seven things that scare you...
1. My own brain
2. Abandonment
3. Being buried alive
4. Camel Spiders
5. Loosing control of my life
6. Drowning
7. Hillary Clinton

Seven things that make you laugh
1. Myself
2. Horror movies
3. Weird Al
4. The unexpected
5. Politicians
6. The ironic
7. People

Seven things you LOVE...
1. My family
2. My friends
3. Italian foods
4. Movies with Will Ferrel
5. Adventure
6. Debate
7. Lizards

Seven things you hate...
1. N SYNC's music
2. The use of LOL in spoken speech
3. the lack of responsibility in the world
4. Eggs
5. Love bugs
6. The Family Circus
7. Reality TV

Seven things you don't understand...
1. Girls
2. the French
3. Females
4. Cheaters
5. Ladies
6. Modern art
7. The fairer sex

Seven facts about you...
1. I'm asthmatic
2. I skipped the third grade
3. I lived in Europe a combined eight years
4. I love Reese's Pieces
5. I've only had two girlfriends in my life, and I don't think I really should ghave pursued either of the relationships in the first place
6. My favorite color is black
7. I have a looney Tunes tie, but I can't tie it

Seven things you plan to do before you die...
1. Fall in love and have her love me back
2. Gain a law lisense
3. Publish something
4. Win something important
5. Raise a child that turns out better than me
6. Own a bean bag chair
7. Own a leather jacket and look good in it

Seven things you can do...
1. Argue over nothing
2. Decry communism
3. Cook pasta dishes
4. Lift 275+ pounds with my legs
5. Emotionally console someone
6. Drive a stick shift
7. Improv comedy

Seven Things You Can't Do or Can't Do Well...
1. Draw
2. Shut up
3. Math
4. Run over extended distances
5. Type quickly
6. Dance
7. Maintain a decent relationship

Seven things you say the most...
1. Just tell them how you feel
2. Hah, loser.
3. It's funny because (Insert obvious observation here)
4. Yo.
5. Well,
6. No
7. Yes, ma'am

Thought of the Moment: If you aim for the Moon, you'll land among the stars. so, if you aim for the Noom, will you land among the rats?

Quote of the moment: "Duffman...Can't breathe! Oh no!" -Duffman, "The Simpsons"

Sol

XV

Tybalt regained conciousness to the sound of blood rushing past his eardrums. He opened his eyes; he was upside down, bound from steel wire from the ceiling.

He appeared to be in some sort of laboratory, and not a clean one. Various mechanical devices in different stages of disrepair littered the steel shelving units around him. The walls were smooth and silver; he was on a space ship. That couldn’t be good.

“Well, soldier boy woke up!” A voice called. High-pitched, and obviously female…

“Who are you?” Tybalt demanded. “Please show yourself.”

“Oh, I’m sorry; what was I thinking? You can’t turn your head like that. My bad.”

She entered his field of vision from the right corner of his eye. It took a few seconds for him to flip the image in his mind, but Tybalt grasped the characteristics of the being he was looking at. She was short; he’s say only about one and a half meters tall. The most striking feature about her was her eyes; most bipeds had two, but she had a third in the center of her forehead. Her skin was teal, and she had a series of orange tiger stripes running down the side of her face. Her hair was an unkept wall of purple, like a pair of frizzy mops. She was standard in other respects; two arms, legs, mammary glands, five fingers, no tail. Her wardrobe consisted of a sloppy pair of brown worker’s overalls, over a black sleeveless shirt. She had a pair of three-lense goggles, and pale yellow gloves.

She seemed very out-of-place in this situation, Tybalt decided. She did not project the aura of someone who would plan a kidnapping, for whatever reasons.

“I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure,” he said. “I am Tybalt, prince of the Empire of Natas. I’m also upside down. Why?”

The female chuckled. “Sorry to leave you hanging, but I’ve got to keep an eye on you until SAU-7 completes his search.”

Tybalt nodded knowingly. “I see; so that’s what this is about. I assume you are his hired gun?”

She nodded. “On the credits. The name’s Tazer.”

Tybalt was already freeing his right hand as he kept her occupied. He wasn’t Natas’s son without reason… “Tell me; how did you land without my ship’s scanners picking this craft up?”

Tazer smiled with pride. “I blocked your scanners with a dampening field.”

Tybalt was a bit surprised. “My scanner is state of the art. The technology doesn’t exist to block it.”

“It didn’t; I invented it.”

“You created a blocking system to counteract my scanners? Just like that?”

She shook her head. “I knew you’d have the most advanced tech; I had already created the blocking tech. That’s what I do.”

Tybalt’s right hand was free, but he wasn’t going to strike yet. “I thought you were a bounty hunter; why are you working as such if you…invent things?”

Tazer sighed. “I’ve got to pay my bills somehow, right? SAU-7 pays good credits for this job, so I took it. It wasn’t my ideal career, but whatever works.”

Tybalt’s left hand was now free. “You’re playing a dangerous game here. You do know who I am?”

She shrugged. “You don’t scare me. Anyway, your guys stole SAU-7’s cybernetic system, what I hear.”

“That’s not exactly how it happened, but that is inconsequential. Release me.”

She laughed. “Why would I do that? I’m getting paid to keep you here while SAU-7 searches for his system. I get paid, and I use the money to fund more research.”
In a single motion, Tybalt formed a plasma dagger and sliced through the steel wires that bound him. He performed a graceful summersault and landed in front of the astonished Tazer. He placed a plasma blade at her neck. “Tell me; is your research worth your life?”

“My…my research is my life…” she said slowly, shaking.

Tybalt shoved her to the ground. “If you interfere with my plans again, I will have no choice but to kill you. Don’t throw your life away.”

She didn’t say anything, but watched him fearfully as he walked away. “Bu-….where are you going?’

“To find your employer.”

---
“He’s loitering,” Von said into the radio. “Lady Rena, he’s been standing in the same spot for a half-hour; I don’t think this is necessary.”

“I apologize for the mediocrity of the mission, Von,” Rena’s voice came back. “But the bounty hunters that we detected are an unknown variable; we cannot leave the Sol system open to abduction.”

Von was hiding in a tree, across the street from a human drug store. Simon had been standing in front of it for a while, sipping a soda.

“Can’t I just tell him the situation?” Von asked.

“He told us not to, and we shall abide by his wishes,” her short reply came back. “I refuse to go out of my way to help such a brat. He is important only because of the Sol system; nothing more.”

Von sighed. “Well…he did help us…”

“Von, please do your job. I’m trying to do mine.”

Von sighed and turned off the radio.

---
Rena was in the center of town at a busy intersection, regarding each passerby with suspicion. Somewhere, a bounty hunter ship had landed, and she intended to spot them before they found whatever they were after.

There were really only two options, she thought as she crossed the street. Either they were after Tybalt, in which case she had nothing to worry about, or they were after the Sol System, which presented a whole host of problems…

This would have all been so much simpler if that damned sol being had cooperated! She decided as she crossed the street. At first she thought he was fairly decent, but to behave as he did in an emergency situation…he was a selfish fool, and she might end up paying for it. Damn him!

---
The selfish fool in question was actually doing a fair bit of soul-searching at the moment his name was being cursed. Simon was actually starting to regret his decision. He’d been afraid, sure, and he still didn’t want any of this responsibility, but he shouldn’t have yelled at Von. Rena deserved it…

He knew the sol system was spreading; he had activated it in the school bathroom. It now covered a good portion of his torso, his upper neck, and a little of his face. It was very disturbing.

What he would do, he decided, was tell Susan about “Timothy”, or at least tell her that he was dangerous. He started to walk away, only to feel someone place their hand on his shoulder.

He turned around. “Von?”
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