Edwin MacPhisto

Hint: it's lucky it's even on the list, because it's wanky, nonsensical prog shit that wishes it could be King Crimson and lacks the virtuoso musicianship that sometimes makes even the most ridiculous of prog rock tolerable. Meanwhile, yes, there's not enough Justin Timberlake on that list. I wonder if Joe Budden's "Pump It Up" didn't get a UK release. Summer jam of 2003, and how can you not love the weird acceleration sounds throughout? interesting. You bash progressive rock and then praise an act like Justin Timberlake. Yessir. I'll take his two picture-perfect singles this year off the first couple tracks on Deloused any day. The production's impeccable, there's genuine joy in the music, and the hooks are luminous. Though I generally don't like prog as a genre, I do like many of its best acts. One of my absolute favorite bands is Tool, who are pretty much the proggiest hard rock band in all the land. They do it well, with incredible atmospherics, vocals that complement the music rather than distract from it, and a weird sense of subtle humor (on Aenima and Undertow, at least, less so on Lateralus) that keeps a 70-minute album from getting too mired in the pretentiousness of it all. The Mars Volta don't do it horrendously - I'll admit overstatement for effect - but I really don't think they do it close to well, either.

And now I'm back. It was pretty much what I expected, but actually a bit more disappointing. The battle at Minas Tirith (and I don't think I need spoiler tags to say this) felt like a major rehash of the Helms Deep battle, except that it was light out. For the most part, it lacked that scene's building tension and consistency, instead choosing to just scale up the numbers on either side. I most enjoyed the quieter moments, particularly Faramir's charge and a lot of the "epilogue" segments. But, as with the first two films, I was rarely compelled to see beyond the spectacle. For me, this whole trilogy just didn't have the intangible "it" that makes an adventure click. Oh well.

I'm off in a bit to see an 8:00 show. I didn't like Fellowship at all and thought Two Towers was just okay, so I'll be back with the skeptic's viewpoint later this evening. I do think this'll be the best one, but I'm not sure how much I'll like it. Until then...

Protesting for the sake that it shouldn't be in a museum is dumb, but I do agree that they should do more than just display technical information from the plane. It's more important than an engine, wings, and a payload.

Thinking about it is fine, but as soon as we actually do it, we lower ourselves to a despicable moral level. If we're going to be the moral guidance of the world and we're going to be responsible for rebuilding Iraq, stooping to the level of the people we've expunged isn't a reasonable option. Last night Sean Hannity was suggesting that we "not cut off his fingers or anything, but rough him up a bit." Thankfully, at that point, the other three people on the show called him the equivalent of a blithering nutsack.

The asshole writer will now step in and tell you what you're doing wrong, harshly and cruelly. Too much exposition, largely incoherent. Before you set out to write a large elaborate espionage/romance plot, just write a couple short stories, a few pages really, with simple structures and characters just interacting. You're not actually writing anything at this point; you're just dumping characters and directly stated motivations out onto the table. Don't explain every little detail (Jessica's father, who cares?) because it shifts too much of the focus onto unnecessary elements. So, yeah. Write a few short stories and scenes. Work on displaying characterization in a fashion beyond "He is this way and here is why" before you try a novel-length piece. As for the story itself: there isn't much "story" (by which I think you mean strictly plot) in this excerpt. Royale is Trout's boss, Trout is being kept in the dark, they're into investigative type work. Jessica is a woman who's obviously going to have something to do with what's going on. Worry about characters and actual writing before you worry about a big convoluted plot. Plot is the sledgehammer. Sometimes you need it, but you're better off working with a chisel.

Hint: it's lucky it's even on the list, because it's wanky, nonsensical prog shit that wishes it could be King Crimson and lacks the virtuoso musicianship that sometimes makes even the most ridiculous of prog rock tolerable. Meanwhile, yes, there's not enough Justin Timberlake on that list. I wonder if Joe Budden's "Pump It Up" didn't get a UK release. Summer jam of 2003, and how can you not love the weird acceleration sounds throughout?

So I remember thinking about Xenosaga a few months back, but being turned off by the price and the chatter about too many cutscenes. I know there was a lot of discussion on here about whether it was good or not. It's $20 at most stores now, and I'm thinking about picking up a copy. Now that you've all had some time to play the game and get some perspective on it a few months off, what do you think? Oh, and I love the original Xenogears, so AndrewTS need not reply.

Inspired by all this chatter, I busted out the old SNES tonight and started a brand new FF6 game. The characters remain incredibly compelling, and for all the glory of polygons and 3-D, I really still love those sprites. I frickin' love this game. Time to head off to Mount Koltz...

Fuck schnapps. If you want fruity, go get a bottle of 99 Apples. The 99 stands for 99 proof: tastes like sour apple, stronger than whiskey. Put it in a tumbler with some ice and go wild. They make 99 Bananas and 99 Blackberries too, but I haven't had a chance to try them. I also prefer flavored vodka to schnapps, if you can afford it. All the Stoli flavors - orange and vanilla being probably the best - are solid and smooth. There's some crazy blue raspberry stuff out there too. If you must have schnapps, I've always been a fan of a few splashes of any peach in a glass with some Sprite. It's also very much-adored by the majority of college-age womenfolk.

That's easy for you too say. I've only ever had one person ask me if I wanted to feud with them, over three god damned years. I did! Wheee! I want my Christmas match and I want it now.

Seriously, that's the best double A-side in years. And most successful, too. "Hey Ya" is number 1 on the Billboard charts and "The Way You Move" is number 2. And the album - a double album - has already sold over 3 million copies. I (heart) OutKast so very much.

My favorite FF6 party was Terra, Cyan, Setzer, and Locke, if only on personality. If you spend the time to get all the characters back and go up against Kefka and the final tower, it really doesn't matter WHO you take. As long as your party isn't Gau, Mog, Umaro, and Gogo, you'll still win. As for Celes, did anyone ever really use Runic? I found that in most of the game, it was useless, since it never seemed to absorb the all-effect spells like Meteor, Ultima, or any of the special abilities that really harmed your party. She was still a great fighter/magic-user combo.

Bush is on ABC right now, if you haven't been watching. Interview about the capture of Saddam and what not. Some very interesting insights, and a few that might interest the more liberal folks on the board: he's basically saying that weapons of mass destruction don't matter in the scheme of capturing Saddam and he's not answering questions about what he'll say if we don't find them. Doesn't look very classy right there, but I'll be damned if he isn't a charming motherfucker. I'm not sure if I want him running my country but I wouldn't mind having him over for Christmas dinner.

Make it non-prescription. Unlike RU-486, this hasn't caused *any* health crises as far as I know, and the utility is absolutely worthwhile. If a few stupid individuals abuse it by using it in lieu of regular birth control, so what? They'll spend money on it, they won't have to deal with the health risks of abortion, and everyone's a winner. And in the cases of rape victims, it's an even bigger no-brainer.

I have a thought that's more important than all of this bickering. Has Saddam Hussein seen the South Park movie? If not, are we allowed to show it to him?

I dunno. Jack White might not be a big guy, but crazy usually beats big, and he's loonier than a racoon on PCP.

Come to the University of Virginia, where our English department is ridiculously overfunded and overstaffed with really frickin' great professors! I love it here, and that's why I came here. Sure, they don't have nearly enough Econ professors, but I ganked that shit in high school and had no designs on taking a single math or science class ever again. Books and books alone for me, with some history, government, and philosophy on the side.

The Scalia ones from Tom the Dancing Bug are always my favorite in this genre. What a bad-ass.

"Growing On Me" sounds like Ric Ocasek produced it. Therefore, I love it. You make it sound like the Cars and I'll line up and buy whatever the hell you're serving.

Actually, this is coming from one internet political cartoonist who I sincerely doubt believes anything as ridiculous as that. I like the picture of Karl Rove, because he looks like a gumdrop.

So I'm flipping around the newschannels looking for any new information on how Iraqis being taken into custody today, and I come across a Fox News anchor interviewing Howard Dean's foreign policy adviser. Hilarious! I mean, I'd never actually watched Fox News before. I gravitate MSNBC cause of those smokin' hotties Brian Williams and Soledad O'Brien. This anchor - and maybe someone can tell me who he was, on at 2:45, kinda jowly, big forehead - was just baiting the hell out of the guy, making all sorts of ridiculous statements in hilariously overblown rhetoric about how Dean thinks we shouldn't have captured Saddam, etc. Then the policy adviser starts to respond, and the anchor cuts him off and says they're going to commercial. Is that how it always works, or did I just catch a really funny moment?

Oh, I'm glad they at least picked a good song. "Growing On Me" is probably the best one on the album. Or maybe "Friday Night," which reminds me of a strangely self-conscious Morrissey. ... ::goes and listens to the Darkness::

I'm three days into my break and I'm already talking about classes. Damn you, Mole. Joyce's Ulysses: A seminar for my English-Modern Studies concentration. My favorite professor is teaching this, and it's time to finally rock that James Joyce action. All Ulysses, all the time. Aesthetics and Politics: An English Criticism seminar, with a focus on the relationship between, well, aesthetics and politics in literature, music, and various arts. American Writers in Paris: Another English seminar, but more of a fun, novel-based one. It's basically covering the like of Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and their contemporaries writing overseas in the 1920's. Mass Media and American Politics: Politics course. The name pretty much says it all. Viewing America 1945- : A mixed media history course I've been meaning to take for a while. It's contemporary American history from the end of World War II to the present, focusing on newsreels, newscasts, and films as artifacts of how people saw history while it was happening. And, for a sixth class, I may apply for another advanced fiction workshop, if only because John Casey (Spartina and The Half-Life of Happiness, among other great books) is teaching it.

Terra needing to be babysat my ass. Maybe in the World of Balance in-character, when Locke and Edgar are always stepping up for her, but once you get to the World of Ruin, she's the queen of tear-yo-ass up both in-game and in-character. And FF Tactics might be my favorite Square game on the original Playstation. Sure, they don't have noses, but sooo much fun. It really is one of the few games where I got a bigger kick out of leveling up than the actual story.