I'm not usually terribly keen on the blue background -- I think it somehow distracts the eye from the figures themselves -- but I was shocked to discover how easily it's removed! Seriously, I was able to isolate the figures from the background in the first image below in three minutes or less. If I find that this initial experience wasn't just a fluke, I may have to take advantage of this to make more toy comics.

Bring on the classic figures, Character Options. I'm ready!

Which is to say that I was trying to cut off a figure's head with a hobby knife and it slipped... not good. And why is this knife so sharp, yet so useless? It was barely doing more than scratching the figure, yet it went through my flesh so cleanly that I didn't even feel it at first. And then when I looked at my finger, I thought maybe I'd just scratched it as well... until I touched it and blood just shot out from it in a clean arc. Seriously, it was like in the movies where someone gets slashed by a sword or a laser trap -- first nothing, then PSSHHHHHHHHHHHH! Ridiculous.

I seem to be doing alright typing without using my left pointer finger -- which should make the loss of the digit a little easier to deal with should I end up developing a severe infection or damaging the finger beyond repair in future mishaps -- but I'm still worried. Finger, heal thyself! Please?

Dear Wikipedia,

I miss you. I don't know why you're not responding to my connection requests and causing my browser to become impatient. Is your server experiencing high demand or a temporary outage? I'm not unable to browse other sites, so I don't think it has to do with my connection or firewall or proxy settings. I don't think consulting my network administrator or Internet provider for assistance is going to help either. I don't need counseling or reassurance, Wikipedia -- I need you.

Please come back to me soon, okay?

xoxo Wes

In other news, Scary-Crayon was updated Friday -- in addition to finally getting that Mai & Chun-Li figure review up, we've also posted a quick haiku and the exciting second installment of Mickey's Sarah Jane Smith Fashionista Fever! And for those of you who just watched "Turn Left" Friday night, you might want to check the review I did of it a few weeks ago. 🙂

Also, here is a quick review of Hancock that I originally posted on a forum! Spoilers are hidden after the cut, so I don't advise clicking if you haven't seen the film and care about having certain plot developments revealed.

I don't think Hancock was actually good, mind you, but I went in knowing nothing about it except what I'd seen in the trailers -- so when Hancock morphed into something I wasn't expecting, I was kind of intrigued. I do think the movie cheated by telegraphing the wrong finale (the wife basically intimated that Hancock was a jerk who lets people down, yet he'd actually spent the last millennium or so protecting her?), and the stuff with the bad guys was pretty lame, but the new backstory and dynamic were interesting enough to me that I could divorce them from the movie in which they appeared. Plus, I thought the movie suggested that the alien couple was essentially broken up by the bigotry and discrimination in America (or at least that's what I read into the notion of the couple getting attacked and references to fires in earlier days), which was also of interesting to ponder... especially in light of the notion that they were created by some superintelligent alien beings (who presumably would have been able to predict the future that their superpowered couple would inherit).

Anyway, I guess my opinion of Hancock is akin to how I might feel about an inoffensive but mostly unfunny joke that ends with an even less funny yet interesting suggestion about time travel and quantum physics. I'd have trouble calling the joke a success in terms of what it set out to do, but I'd appreciate the thought-provoking effect it had upon me.

All for now, then! Until next time, folks.

The first sentence in the CNN political ticker report about the death of Tony Snow reads:

Former White House press secretary Tony Snow -- who once told reporters "I'm a very lucky guy" -- died at the age of 53 early Saturday after a second battle with cancer.

Why would they choose that quote, only to follow it up with something that is so decidedly unlucky? I enjoy an ironic and/or morbid crack as much as and probably even more than the next guy, but even I would curb my wicked sense of humor when writing news articles about the deaths of public figures (excluding entertainers, of course). That's just tacky.

A few days ago, I asked a question... and now, it's answer time! But first, let me say that you shouldn't feel too bad if you didn't get this one. Not that you would or should feel bad, of course -- and if you do, keep in mind that I wouldn't have asked it if the answer were completely obvious. Moreover, even if you answered incorrectly, you likely based your conclusion on correct premises. You might also have guessed correctly based on incorrect premises, in which case you're just lucky. 😉 (more...)