Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Happenings
As if you couldn't figure this out already, I have to mention that I'm very excited about Spider-Man 2. I was able to see the first film before it was released theatrically (thank you press sneak previews) and it ranks up there with one of the best experiences I had during my high school career. My high school career was crappy, so what? That doesn't make Spider-Man 2 any less exciting.

Since I know I'm going to love the movie anyway, I have purposely avoided every single trailer, poster, or possible spoiler available in an effort to make my movie going experience even more entertaining. I did the same thing with X2 last year and it turned out to be my favorite movie of the year, if not ever. This as frenzied as my anticipation for a movie can get. I’ll be seeing it tomorrow at midnight, and I can’t wait.

So I went to buy the tickets today for our group (there are ten of us going total) and there was a man handing out flyers outside of the theater. I noticed the words “Shy Captain and the World of Tomorrow Advanced Screening” on the flyers, and immediately ran towards him. Before he could even get a word in I agreed to take his flyer, and several more for my friends. That’s going to be tomorrow night as well, before the Spider-Man 2 midnight showing. I’m really looking forward to Sky Captain as well, so I should have the time of my life at the movies.

Construction on my oddly shaped room is going well. I should be able to move out of my current room and a few feet down the hall by August, and then I’ll focus on furniture. Aside from my television and a few random things I’ve had framed, (including Sara’s “Lady Play Your Mandolin” art piece she made for me at Christmas) I don’t have a single piece of furniture for the new room. I’m kind of bored by the whole ‘bed’ concept, so I’m considering just buying a giant bean bag and sleeping on that. It wouldn’t cost much more than a bed and it gives me something interesting to show the people who visit. Once that whole mess gets sorted out, I’ll have to take some pictures and post them on here, or on Tori’s OB Picture Site, which admittedly I haven’t even registered for yet.

I haven’t posted a picture of myself online in a while, but if you know what I look like I see no need to keep updating OB with new images every time I get a haircut. Speaking of which, my hair has been tinted to a lighter brown, and I’m quite happy with the results. This is the first time I have ever dyed my hair, so it was kind of nerve wrecking. If they made some sort of mistake the barber, I might end up looking like an idiot, or worse, get in trouble at work. They have some strict rules about how one’s hair can be – it can be quite frustrating for my female friends, who have to walk a fine line between “conservative Disney” and “trashy normal” when visiting the salon.

And it’s getting especially difficult with Critter Country Prom coming up in the next few weeks. What is Critter Country Prom? Working at Disneyland was so much like being in high school (rumors and gossip abound) that my friend Lindsey and I decided that we should throw a Prom. It’s only for people who operate attractions in our general area, but it has already developed a large following among Winnie the Pooh and Haunted Mansion Cast Members. The event itself is basically just dinner and dancing at Disneyland, but the real thrill is that everyone is going to dress up in formal attire. I’ll be wearing a tuxedo to the event, it’s going to be awesome!

The Prom is less than two weeks away, and I don’t even have a date yet. It seems like everyone else does, though, so maybe I just missed out. For all intents and purposes, it looks like the person I asked to Prom will be working that night, so I’m going stag. Too bad, I was looking forward to having the Prom experience that I never got to have in high school. Aw.

Apartment Building C is going well so far. I think it is going to be hilarious, and the posts so far have been really well done. I love it when members go against the conventions of most RPGs and come up with something completely unique. I can’t deny that every time I look at it I’m reminded of Anime Stereotype High School, but I hope this one will be much more successful. This one has structure, so at least in that respect it has some sort of advantage. “hero” is coming along fine. I had to rework some of the plot issues, so that things won’t be so open-ended for the players, but in the end things should be better off because of it. Now I just need some graphics, which Syk has agreed to provide. He seems awfully busy these days with work, though, if anyone else wants to help out just contact me so that I can get this launched as soon as possible.

Now, about my date with the former porn star… well… it was interesting…

…and by that I mean it was The Most Platonic Date Ever! Sorry to disappoint you guys, but I guess when you used to do the types of things he did as much as he did, you don’t go out and seek it on a date. Like he said to me after revealing his past career “I just want to find someone to hang out with, and we’ll see how things go from there.”

So we hung out at Disneyland, which is one of my least favorite places hang out these days, but during the night we managed to have a good time and some fun conversations. The only downside (besides the obvious ones that can be associated with dating a former adult film star) is that he is hung up on someone who doesn’t love them back, a problem that everyone seems to have. Not me; at least, not right now. I’m trying my best to just have fun for once, so let’s just see where that takes me…
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Thursday, June 24, 2004

Just My Luck
Yesterday I was working on the Splash Mountain ride and sorting guests into logs when I saw who I thought was my friend Mike.

Who is Mike? Well, I met him through an online dating service a few months ago and last Saturday night we had our first "date." He is a really nice guy, and we had a good time together when we finally met. Coincidentally, he is an annual passholder at Disneyland, which pretty much means he pays a reasonable fee and can go into the park whenever he wants. He told me he was visiting Disneyland that day, so for most of my shift I would search for him through the constant stream of guests that were entering the ride.

So before my first break, I thought I had spotted him. The two of us made eye contact, we smiled, and he immediately hopped into his log (His part of the line was being sorted by someone else.) His log was dispatched into the attraction before I could really say anything, and as luck would have it, I was sent to a break shortly after.

I decided to wait around for his log to return, even though it would take up most of my break. I hadn't seen him since Saturday, and I just wanted to say 'hi.' A few minutes later he caeme back and approached him. We started talking for a few moments until I realized that this wasn't my friend Mike, this is someone I had never met before!

Before I could explain the mistake I made, he handed me a small slip of paper with his name and phone number on it. So, by not being able to remember what my dates look like, I ended up with a new phone number and AIM screen name.

That night, after work, I go home and get on the computer, hoping to catch him on AIM. He's online, and we start to talk for a while. During the course of our short conversation I learned a few interesting things about the guy, including the fact that he used to be a porn star.

Um, yeah, I think I'll pass on this one. Thanks for the number, though.

Edit: It looks like I'm seeing a movie with him tonight. Hm.
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Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Behold the Power of Z
It's been a while since it debuted, but last night I was able to watch the final chapter in what is probably the greatest science-fiction saga of my generation. No, I'm not talking about the Matrix Revolutions; I'm referring to the Disney Channel's own Zenon: Z3.

Some of the international Otakus may have no idea what I'm referring to, but anyone who grew up with the Disney Channel knows exactly what I mean. These movies, corny as they may be sometimes, are thoroughly entertaining, especially to their target audience. The first film was made in a time when the Disney Channel didn't make TV movies, and when there was very little original programming on the network. Due in part to Zenon's success (and other films like Brink, or Smart House) the channel was able to start a series of original tv movies, something that continues five years later.

Oddly enough, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century is only one of two Disney Channel original movies that have spawned sequels. The other, Horse Sense, had a sequel, but it sucked and we shouldn't discuss it. However, Zenon the Zequel was just as engaging as the original, even though Zenon's best friend Nebula had to be recast. It had everything the first film did, including a very catchy song of it's own, "Galaxy Girl," which works as an excellent companion piece to "Zoom Zoom Zoom," the fun pop tune from the original.

So needless to say, my expectations were high for a third installment. Admittedly, a lot of time had passed since the first film. Kirsten Storms, the actress who plays Zenon, was probably in her early 20's. Could a movie about an older Zenon really keep my interest like the previous two entries in the series had?

Zenon: Z3 is a mixed blessing. While much of it keeps the same magic that was present in the first two films, new additions and casting changes make this a slightly different film than it's predecessors. My biggest complaints involve the recasting of Proto Zoa, and the total absence of her parents in this movie.

Also, Raven Simone (Nebula from the first film) returns to reprise the role she started. Sadly she is there in such a minor way that her appearances feel a lot more like cameos than anything else. Her scenes were completely unneccessary. A new African-American character, Cassie, has much more screen time and a more important role in story. I suspect that Raven wasn't able to do the entire filming, and Nebula's scenes were rewritten for the new character of Cassie. Still, Cassie is a nice character, and makes for a good counterpoint to the always-brash Margie.

Dasha, Zenon's new adopted cousin is another big addition to the cast. Much of the story revolves around her conflicts with Zenon. It takes a lot away from the main plot, dealing with Zenon's new romantic interests and strange happenings on the moon. The fact that Dasha looks exactly like a young Zenon is annoying to me, since it would have been a good opportunity to add some diversity to the cast.

The entire film takes place on the Moon and on Earth; unless I missed something in the first few minutes there was a complete lack of Zenon's space station! The space station had served as the main backdrop for the previous two films. It's like doing an episode of Happy Days away from Arnold's Diner. Even if the characters are there, it still doesn't feel the same.

All in all, the complaints are pretty minor. On a positive note the movie contains much more action than any other Zenon movie. As a result, there are many more special effects. It's interesting to see how far the special effects have evolved since the first one.

The story is fairly solid; having seen the Chronicles of Riddick the night before I tried to compare the two, but Z3 kicks Riddick's butt in just about every regard. A zillion dollar budget isn't neccessary to tell a solid story, especially when the movie has a heart to it. That's something you can't really duplicate, and why I feel a lot of science-fiction movies suck, including the latest Star Wars trilogy. First and foremost, the story is about the characters, and not fancy effects or fight scenes.

So I highly recommend this series of films. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Proto Zoa songs to download...
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Friday, June 11, 2004

Grad Nights, Workin' at the Disneyland
It's 8:30 p.m. and I've only just woken up. Why did I just wake up? Because thanks to the Disneyland Resort, I didn't make it to bed until about 1:30 in the afternoon.

Last night, and several other nights for these past two months Disneyland has been hosting what are known as "Grad Nights." These are private parties for graduating high school Seniors, and it generates a huge amount of money to let these hooligans run amok in the park after hours. Only about half of the attractions remain open, and unfortunately I work on two of them that do: Splash Mountain and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Splash Mountain, for one reason or another is quite possibly the most popular attraction in Disneyland's 49 year history. Regardless of how busy the park is, or even how cold it is, this water ride manages to keep a consistent two-hour wait.

I don't really understand this phenomena. The other major attractions at Disneyland, some of which can't handle as many guests-per-hour and theoretically should have longer waits, have nothing on the big wet mountain. Even on Grad Nights, when only an insignificant number of guests enter the park we manage to have a two hour wait. That's two hours you could be enjoying other attractions, or doing something productive with your time. Oh well, I'm happy to be on everyone's favorite, I suppose, but Lord knows I'm not always there.

There is also the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Disneyland's newest attraction, which opened last year to some very mixed criticism. Personally, I think it's a cute ride, but a lot of people don't seem to agree. It replaced one of the more beloved attractions, and is placed directly across the road from Splash Mountain, so it certainly has a lot to live up to. Unfortunately most people feel that it's lacking.

It's not uncommon for Winnie the Pooh to have nobody in line on an average day. Literally, NOBODY. I mean, ten minutes could pass on a weekday afternoon without somebody deciding to come in and try the darned thing out. By comparison, Splash, which is only ten feet away, will have many thousands of people waiting in it's queue at the exact same time.

It's not that I don't enjoy working the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but due to it's laid-back pace I find it difficult to stay awake during the day there; having to operate it at 3:30am is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Since getting trained on Splash my loyalty has shifted considerably, and I feel bad about it. But working Grad Nights on a busy attraction is much more interesting than standing around and doing nothing at Pooh.

The graduating Seniors at Splash are ruthless. They try to get out of the vehicles during the ride, play with scenery and props, or worse yet, attempt some sort of naughty act. I’m not talking about chewing gum here, kids. Many of the seniors are underage, but it’s still common to find them smoking, drinking, and engaging in all sorts of “adult” acts at these private parties. Why anyone would want to do such things at Disneyland is beyond me (speaking of which, there is a great book Mouse Tales by David Koenig, which has a lot of great stories) but it’s an awful lot of fun getting the people we catch thrown out of the park. They aren’t just booted out of Disneyland, they have their diplomas taken away by the school, and in some cases they are even arrested by the police. Yay!

So that’s why I prefer working Splash to Pooh on Grad Night – it’s where the action is.

In case you were wondering, here are links to videos of my two attractions. Compare and contrast.

Splash Mountain!

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

Warning: These are large files. 18 and 13 MB, respectively. They may take a while to load, especially on slow connections.
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Thursday, June 3, 2004

This Will Not Do
Anyway, I'm working quite hard on the last chapter of Kill Adam, but every time I sit down and write I feel like completely redoing the post. Nothing seems like it's good enough, and I wrote myself into a corner (or more correctly, a bunker) with the last chapter.

So like anyone should, I traced the problem to it's source -- the preceeding post. I admit, my previous post in Kill Adam was pretty sameful. It was filled with dozens of glaring errors, and didn't really feel complete to me. First I finally added country music at the beginning of it, then I started to correct the grammatical errors... and then things got a little out of control.

Major chunks of dialogue has been added/removed/changed and everything was remade to seem like I had put some thought into it in the first place. As a result, it has ballooned into my largest Kill Adam post yet, and possibly my largest post on the boards ever.

More or less, it's a completely revised post, and after looking through all my Kill Adam work I feel the need to go back and fix everything else. Consider this the "Special Edition" to prepare for Volume 2, because a lot of what I want to add will make more sense when both volumes are released.

But before that, the end of Volume 1 needs to be done. I always procrastinate on the larger projects, but it's nerve-wrecking having to do the finale of such an awesome body of work. Hopefully the weekend will provide me with more time, but we'll see what happens, okay?
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Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Generic Life Post
Since I'm not one to talk about my daily life very much, I figure it might be a nice change of pace from the other random things I write about.

"Fake School" is officially over, and by the end of the week my parents should learn what my "fake grades" are, heh. It is a big shock to me that they haven't figured out the truth by now, and I almost feel guilty that this whole charade has gone by without a hitch for the past semester. The important thing is that I'm really going back to school in the Fall, and I'll actually try my best at it for once.

A word to the wise, don't try pulling a "Fake School" on your own parents anytime soon. Mine are just incredibly self-involved, and probably wouldn't notice/care if I left a trained chimpanzee around the house to take my place. At least he would clean up his room every once in a while.

Spaking of which, it looks like I will have my own bedroom by the end of the Summer. I don't know anyone my age who doesn't have their own bedroom, but this will be the first time since my brother was born that I have a space to call my own. I'm apparently too poor to move out, but my Mom saw my need for a place of my own (and the chance to do some remodeling in the house) so our awkwardly shaped attic is going to become my room. It's more or less a triangular shape, with a pretty low ceiling. My sister might end up taking it if the ceiling turns out to become a problem for me and my tallness -- so I'll take her bedroom, and my brother will my current bedroom (which is noticably larger) all to himself. Oh well. I doubt I will be there for too long anyway, I want to move into a dorm (or some apartments) by the beginning of next fall.

Life and love is being annoying as usual. I find a nice guy who works at Disneyland and who likes me in return, but he doesn't want to pursue a physical relationship because he's not attracted to me. Now attracted to me? Then why did we make out so many times when we first met? More or less he's my boyrfriend, I guess... I don't know... people are stupid, individually and as a whole. We'll see what actually develops, because he's just as intent on seeing and being with me as ever. Bleh.

...and on a final note for today's post, this is the type of art gallery I wish they had in the ol' USA.

Have a decent day.
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Saturday, May 29, 2004

Wicked
For the first time in well.. a long time I've done some recreational reading. It's not that I don't do a lot of reading in my daily life; my involvement on the boards shows how much reading I actually do, if nothing else, but it's very rare these days that come across a physical book that I want to read.

So, I was as surprised as anyone when I came across "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. My psuedo-boyfriend friend Ryan had been reading it, even though I had heard of the book before I didn't know an awful lot about what it entailed.

This is more than the "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" from the Witch's point of view, it's a biography of a largely unexplored character, complete with interesting bits and facets about Oz. A lot of information is given about the political, social and relgious aspects of the place -- having grown up on the Oz books I find this part incredibly entertaining.

Elpheba (the Witch's real name) grows as a normal child in Munchkinland. Not unlike most children she has a Father, a Mother, and even a caring Nanny to watch over her. Because of her abnormal skin color her parents fear her from the day she is born, making her an outcast in her own household. Her only refuge is her brilliant mind, and she buries herself in fine works of Ozian literature.

As a result, when Elpheba comes of age she is able to attend Shiz University, the most prestigious of the all-female campuses in Oz. There she thrives on the knowledge of her instructors, even though the student population shows and unbelievable ammount of fear and distrust towards her. Even her own roommate Galinda (the correct Gillikinese pronunciation of "Glinda") hates her intitially. Over time the two spark a semblance of a friendship, but certain events force Elpheba away from Shiz and into a life of hiding.

"Wicked" was published over ten years ago, but seems incredibly topical today in our "age of terror." The Wizard of Oz is an incompetent ruler who ignores the problems of his citizens, and focuses on military efforts that will lead to increasing his personal wealth. He uses an army of secret police to keep his country obedient so they will never discover their leader is a cornfed hick from Kansas.

Reading the original L. Frank Baum Oz books is not neccessary to enjoy this novel, but it does help. Little jokes and tidbits can't really be understood if you don't know much about Oz, but not understanding them won't detract from the amazing story that Maguire is telling.

Just recently a Broadway musical version of "Wicked" opened to great reviews. I've been listening to the soundtrack non-stop for the past couple of weeks; and it's still really entertaining. "Wicked" was nominated for 10 Tony awards, which was more than any other Broadway show this season. So I guess that's pretty cool if you're into Broadway and all of that stuff.

Anyway, this book receives Shy's Seal of Approval. This should be required reading for all of members of the Shy Fan Club.
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Thursday, May 27, 2004

hero
I'm very excited about the Adventure Arena these days. With Kill Adam moving onto the next chapter and new projects appearing all the time, there is a lot to keep me interested. One of those things is my own personal work-in-progress "hero."

I've had some difficulty trying to explain what it is exactly, but this does it as well as anything else.

Basically, it's going to begin as a collection of short stories, each one featuring a seperate setting and character. The characters get to have super-powers, but the thing is they don't know which abilities they will be until I assign it to them secretly at the beginning of their "issue" (what the chapters will be referred to as.)

The abilities given out will be based on the character's sign-up. Their powers will tie directly into their internal and external struggles.

I'm hoping there will be an incredible diversity with the characters introduced in this project: the story spans from the beginning of time to the present day, so there's no limit of what one could create.

One issue might be about a weak-willed office worker who gains the power to control minds and take over their company. Another might be about a man who can see into the future, and the only way to prevent World War 3 is by assassinating President John F. Kennedy. Anything is possible, and I hope the participants take full advantage of the freedom they have. The events, the people, and the history are more important than the powers themselves; people need to realize that in order for "hero" to be a success.

Because it's not about having the power, it's about how you use it.

Intially the issues will be self-contained, but there is be a major story-arc to everything from the very beginning. Just as the storyline progresses the format will move from self-contained, single character issues to more complicated ones dealing with multiple players and stories at one time.

But that's only after the major players are introduced, and the mystery of why and how these powers are given out begins to unfold.

So that's what I meant when I said "I want to make a superhero RPG." It's not very generic, at least, it doesn't have to be if people understand what is trying to be done here.

Expect it soon -- once the aesthetic aspects are worked out. Me not being the html wizard that I am makes it difficult to come up with something truly unique. Maybe with some luck the writing will be able to stand on it's own.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments about this blatant act of self-promotion?
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Monday, May 17, 2004

Killing Adam
So another chapter has come and gone, and this roaring rampage of revenge has reached the end of it's first volume. I guess we're almost halfway through the saga, but with the ideas I have it seems like Kill Adam could stretch out over many, many seperate volumes, each one telling a piece of the complete story.

I guess it's really a question of how much detail and backstory the reader wants on these characters. Does it matter how the train conductor's wife mourned his death at the hands of Persona? Probably not, but knowing these things makes it so much more fleshed out. I'm a bit of a failure when it comes to writing what I'm actually supposed to be writing about; but when it comes to moving onto random tangents I'm a champion.

Of course, it's not really my place to say how far Kill Adam goes. While I was pretty heavily involved in the founding and intital development of this RPG, James has really taken supreme control over it.

Kill Bill looks like it's going to be at least four complete volumes; with the first two films, an anime prequel, and possibly even a sequel in 15 years time. Just following the story of the Bride led the writer to create enough for four films, just imagine how much potential there is between the eight or so main characters created by the participants in Kill Adam.

After a brief conversation with Tony last night I had an idea for an RPG. The basic premise is a story about superpowers and how they would affect you and the ones around you in your daily life. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but the working title right now is "Hero" and should be launched after KAv1 (fun abbreviation) is completed.

In other news, my color scheme has been changed. After much hassle I settled on what is currently being used, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how I think it turned out. Yay for me and my poor color use.
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Tuesday, May 4, 2004

Stylize Me
As it turns out, I have no talent in making a custom style for myOtaku. We'll see how this turns out after a week or so of heavy construction.
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