I have viewed the first of the anime movies I queued up on Tubi! I started with Hells (2008), which actually began quite promisingly before devolving into characters screaming nonsense exposition (major characters were revealed to be Cain and Abel, also the talking cat was God) and optimistic bullshit ("I'll never give up!" "You can do anything if you just believe!") at each other around the 20-minute mark, which they energetically kept up for the remainder of the nearly 2-hour film. It was deeply stupid and kinda exhausting to watch.

BUT I did like many of the character designs... which nagged at me, since I found some of them *incredibly* familiar. Googling confirmed that this anime was based on a 2002-2004 manga that featured character designs also utilized in the 1998-2001 toyline Resurrection of Monstress.

I'd actually picked up one at Otakon in my late teenage years -- the pink/purple repaint of the witch character Noctilca -- and I've got another one from a friend in a random fodder lot. (If I haven't already dismembered her, she may be rescued for the collection.) So as much as I ultimately did not enjoy Hells, I appreciated the unexpected callback to my convention days and figures of yesteryear? Anime conventions were great places to find toys before ticket prices ballooned and shipping fees dropped, and I really did enjoy wandering the dealer's rooms in search of neat new figures from lines I'd never encountered before. Ah well -- nothing good lasts forever. And fortunately, while Hells was decidedly not good, it did not last forever either.

(Plastic endures for a good long while, though. <3)

A thing I've been pondering today: the extent to which we associate cleanliness with emptiness (and also the extent to which we apply that idea not just to how we organize our spaces but how we approach topics like mental health, relationships of various kinds, and even the types of personalities we seek out and try to cultivate). I'm not sure that we necessarily perceive clutter as "dirty" in *precisely* the same way, but we definitely have a similar view of it that makes it relevant in this discussion as well.

And then the clutter got me thinking about libraries. Somehow old-school libraries (and, it occurs to me, old-style museums) come off as cluttered even in their natural states, which could partly explain the zeal across the country to renovate and modernize them by *REMOVING MANY OF THE BOOKS* and prioritizing the addition of more open community spaces. (Having recently *finally* visited the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, I'm also inclined to think of more modern museum exhibits here -- I definitely dislike said exhibits, and somehow they come off as less *organized* to me than the more classic designs even though they may boast greater economy of space and cutting-edge technological effects and whatnot.) (more...)

What a goofy and groanworthy post title. 😀

So you know the drill -- I mostly do my posting on Facebook these days given that at least there (mostly) the people who see my posts know me in some capacity, which I hope means they'll be more inclined to give me the benefit of the doubt than try to have me crucified/cancelled for voicing unpopular/unsanctioned sentiments. (It sure as hell does not always play out that way, but that is my hope.) But also -- I remember when I appreciated that random folks might see things I've written and have things to say, which is to say that I remember being a whole hell of a lot more optimistic about the motivations of strangers on the internet. Indeed, I made and have even retained a number of rl friends whom I first encountered through this very blog, nor was that unsurprising to me: that's how the internet worked. But things work differently today -- on the internet and in vampire fiction.

So that was a weird segue to justify reposting an essay I just shared on FB. 😛

I really do not care for this Interview with the Vampire TV show. I imagine it's excellent for folks who aren't familiar with the source material, and I imagine even a number of folks who *are* acquainted with Anne Rice's original novel (and the 1994 film, since she also wrote the screenplay) find it compelling to the extent that they prefer more recent vampire media for its focus on gore and nonchalance and cruelty -- and sex. (more...)

I hate myself.

So today I was driving to a session when I spied a guy standing by a car on the side of the road and frantically waving for me to stop.

I am extremely hesitant to stop for folks on the side of the road. I once knew a guy who, after stealing a car, apparently ran it into a ditch and banged himself up and -- now visibly in need of assistance -- stood waving for help on the side of the road. When a family indeed stopped to render aid, he carjacked them at gunpoint. And while I hope and maintain that *most* people wouldn't do this, given my close knowledge of the risks I am wary as all heck when it comes to folks on the side of the road.

Moreover, this relatively isolated curved stretch of road was just off of an exit, and it's a turn I've taken at 80+ miles an hour -- and because at least at one time the main road was as potholed as any Baltimore city street, many drivers would largely forgo the road for the use of the shoulder. This is a dangerous fucking place to be standing outside of a car and trying to catch the eyes of the speed demons flying past. *I'd* never choose that place to stand. And yet I know that if I *were* in that situation I'd really be in trouble, and I'd hope to hell that someone would stop for me. (more...)

While I understand why some folks appreciate the service, I don't usually have a subscription to Amazon Prime: I don't make enough Amazon purchases to warrant having one at the current pricing, and I've found that when I do have Prime I order *way* more things than I want or need simply to justify paying for the service. And when I do need to order things from Amazon (especially with what action figures cost these days), it's not hard for me to get my total over $25 to qualify for the free shipping. It's not 2-day shipping, but I'm rarely in that much of a hurry to get my stuff.

Yet every year, as December 20 approaches, I remember that I've not yet ordered certain Christmas gifts -- which means I end up getting a 30-day Amazon Prime trial so that those arrive on time. And then, for the next 30 days, I order more things than I want or need in order to take advantage of the service while I have it -- though I was super good this year (by which I mean I was too distracted to pay attention) and mostly failed to do that.

As a final Amazon Prime purchase, however, I ordered a pair of UV black light flashlights. I've wanted some for a little while now, a desire that was intensified a little over a month ago when I bought a glow-in-the-dark figure that apparently *only* absorbs UV light, which at time of purchase made it a kinda lame and not at all a glow-in-the-dark figure. I kinda doubted the UV light would make much difference, but for $9 and a thing I could use in other contexts (I've got some 3D glasses that respond to blacklit objects, so that's also a thing I could play around with), I figured I'd give it a shot. (more...)