MUSIC MON! I WISH I WAS A DISNEY PRINCESS, BUT I'LL TAKE GOAT WARRIOR! (WTF)

FROZEN 2? (ADHD)

My prediction for Frozen 2?

In Disney's desire to cross-promote their various franchises with cross-overs and, in order to ease the American audience into the idea of the X-Men (yes, they will somehow get rights to have the X-Men in their films), they will make Frozen 2 an X-Men film. How do they expect us to take that big pill of awesome? With a big glass of the following:

A few years after the events of the first film, Elsa AKA The Snow Queen, has taken her place as the rightful ruler of Arendelle with her sister, Ana, by her side. Ana and Kristoff have married and have an infant daughter. Meanwhile, Mephisto, a class two demon, Hell-Lord and father of several Marvel characters including Nightcrawler , will return to Norway to take his daughter, ELSA, back under his wing. The true origin of Elsa is revealed:

Elsa and Ana's parents were unable to conceive a child, or so they thought, and turned to dark magic books to solve their problem. Mephisto appeared and made them a child from the snow and promised they would conceive, but said that he will return for a Princess of Arendelle some day. They agreed, deciding they would raise the snow child, and return her to the daemon once they had their own child.

But love, true love for their snow child, made it impossible for them to make the sacrifice. They had another daughter and furthermore could not bare to give her up. They spent years trying to find an alternate solution or help, slipping past Mephisto at every turn as their snow daughter's powers increased, until, finally, he destroyed their ship for their meddling and they were lost at sea.

Now, Mephisto returns to Arendelle for a Princess: Ana or Ana's daughter will do... Then again, Mephisto is always willing strike a deal with the powerful Elsa!

Drama! Action! Super heroes!

Your welcome, Disney.

Call me. XOXO

P.S. I may or may not be suffering from food poisoning and haven't eaten in nearly 18 hours. So, I apologize if nothing I just typed makes sense. Still, Snow Queen could be a bad ass member of the like 1900's European X-Men called the X-Knights or something? You know you want it Disney! Think of the merch!

THE BABY GOAT WARRIOR!

Finally.

The universe needed a parody of Fran Drescher's klassic sitcom, The Nanny.

Well, maybe not a parody involving a horrible goat man monster grunting and whipping and making disgusting faces. Then again, I guess a horrible baby goat warrior is still more appealing than Fran Drescher's laugh.

Hold your applause. People.

I WISH I WAS A BLACK GUY! (JULIAN SMITH)

You all knew this kid. In an innocent sort of way, it's cute. I mean the 90's did try to push the stereotype of "the cool black guy" into literally every kid's program or film. It's actually one of those weird examples of a positive stereotype that ultimately winds up hurting everyone because it sets up certain expectations (like "Asians are good at math").

But the older said kid gets, the less cute and more just embarrassing it becomes.

WORD OF THE DAY! 4/9/15!

DEADPOOL LEAKED TEST FOOTAGE!

WILL THE DEADPOOL FILM BE PG-13?

dead pool [ded-pool]
noun
1. A game of prediction which involves guessing when and/or how someone will die.


EX. I like Dead Pool.

I think we all hate how X-Men Origins: Wolverine managed to fill every scene with as many fan and audience disappointing bull*** as they could. The story was garbage, the action was non-sense and not even in a good way, and they butchered/mutilated so many interesting Marvel characters in their first on-screen appearance.

The only good part of the movie was the introduction of Wolverine's paramilitary mutant group and the highlight of that scene was Ryan Reynolds cracking jokes like out of an over-the-top 80's action movie (Predator anyone?) and stealing the show as a samurai sword-wielding wise ass. It was a pretty promising introduction for Deadpool's early days before he got completely Unfortunately, like everything in that film, Deadpool came out of it with absolutely no dignity. How little dignity is that? This much:

They literally took Deadpool, "The Merc with a Mouth", and grafted his mouth shut to turn him into a stupid video game end boss for Wolverine and Sabertooth to fight.

And the next few years we saw growing fan hype for character (which, I hate to say, nothing turns me off a character more than over-saturation) and Deadpool became one of those films in production hell but, as I sit here typing this bull crap, they're filming a new movie. Hollywood, amirite?

Here's to Fox pulling off a film that I can enjoy as much, if not more, than Days of Future Past.

BONUS: BATTLE FOR EQUESTRIA (WITH PINKIE-POOL)

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/20/13!

bell jar [bel-jawr]
noun
1. A bell-shaped glass jar or cover for protecting delicate instruments, bric-a-brac, or the like, or for containing gases or a vacuum in chemical experiments.

EX. There is something about the proverbial "devil in the bell jar" that appeals to my sense of visual and literary taste. To capture and contain evil, to put it on display, makes it an example. To combat evil, one may argue, you must understand evil. If you put a villain in a regular jail cell that means that you don't want to see them and want to hide them away. The problem with hiding evil is that it makes it all the more effective. When people forget evil and fail to understand it, they're almost always doomed to be defeated by it.

Then, of course, there is the dramatic license of having the villain contained, but not sequestered away from outside contact. This is the reason we love scenes where a villain taunts the hero from inside their glass prisons, because the glass represents the thin and fragile barrier between the two characters and how easy it would for the evil to escape.

I think there is certainly something to it-- after all, putting something on display and under glass makes it all the more... tantalizing...

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/5/13.

upsy-daisy /upsa-daisy [p-see-dehy-see/up-suh-dehy-see]
interjection
1. Used as a reassurance upon lifting a baby up or upon tossing a baby up into the air (which is pretty inadvisable).

EX. I wonder how often Wolverine hears "upsa-daisy" before being tossed by a super strong hero at some threat in what has been called a "fastball special".

POWERPUFF GIRLS FASTBALL SPECIAL?

WEEKLY ROUND-UP! 9/3-9/9 2012! BRONY APPRECIATION WEEK

WEEKLY ROUND-UP PRESENTS

 BRONY APPRECIATION WEEK

 7. WORD OF THE DAY! 9/8/12. Filial Rivalry.

I was a little worried about Word of the Day getting stale but, two days in a row mind you, I made up terms- neologisms that either reflect an element of fiction or internet culture- that help express ideas in an interesting way. I don't just want to celebrate wonderful words; I want to become part of the process of creating new words that help shape the way we define our worlds and our lives. If you have any ideas for new words, lemme know by commenting below.

6. TABLETOP TALES: THE HAUNTED WURMWOOD DECK: MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL EDITION!

I have been playing a ton of magic lately, literally indoctrinating and helping three friends learn how to play, and as I prepare (and can't wait for Return to Ravnica) I decided to burn off some of that excitement with, not one but, two deck articles this week. The Wurmwood Deck is one of my favorite decks and, mayhaps, it will be seeing some Golgari additions soon.

5. TABLETOP TALES: A DECK OF BLOOD & PORCELAIN: TEMPERED GLASS EDITION

Hey, I just notice a "glass" motif between the Mirror-Madness and Porcelain, ha! Anywho, one of my deck-building philosophies I live by is that you shouldn't just build the deck that'll win; you should build the deck you want to play. Build it and good times will come.

4. WORD OF THE DAY! 9/7/12. Pugnificent.

And, perhaps, my favorite of the two made-up words/terms I came up with last week was the affirmation for the "so ugly its cute" gimmick with the combining of "pug" and "magnificent" to create something I feel could be used to describe a lot of situations and hope to hear exclaimed at some point in my life.

3. WORD OF THE DAY! 9/5/12. Melee.

Not much to say about this one, but it reminded me how passionate gamers are about their games (including myself). As someone who wants to make board games and card games for a living, or at least the world-building and story stuff for them, I spend a lot of time thinking about such things...

2. WORD OF THE DAY! 9/4/12. Argentum & Brimstone.

I got to mix my love of Hanna Barbera with my love of fictional science?! Caloo calei! A win-win for all involved.

1. WORD OF THE DAY! 9/6/12. VICE

If the worst thing I ever did on Dumbledore Shot First is to do a lopsided and somewhat silly analysis of a children's cartoon show that I enjoy infrequently, than I'd say I'm doing pretty decently. If you want to see part two of the analysis, CLICK HERE.

BONUS VIDEO & ANOTHER BONUS VIDEO

WORD OF THE DAY! 9/8/12.

filial rivalry [fil-uh-eel-rahy-vuhl-ree]
noun
1. The competition between a parent and child or between inventor and invention, in fiction or non-fiction, to live up to, surpass, to redeem, or to defeat one's creator or creation.

EX.

RELATED TO STAR WARS & X-MEN

The best example of filial rivalry in science fiction, of course, is the relationships of the Skywalkers; specifically, Darth Vader AKA Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke, to a lesser extent his daughter Leia and to an even lesser, but still significant, his grandchildren as is set up in the Star Wars mythology. Luke, initially, wanted to destroy Darth Vader (Obi-Wan Kenobi's murderer and the man whom he believed had killed his father) but after discovering that, in fact, Vader was what his father had become and meditation that brought him closer to the truth-- the truth being that forgiving his father and seeking to help redeem his father was the best course. In the end, Darth Vader fulfills the (rather obnoxious) prophecy of restoring "balance to the force" or "saving the galaxy" by throwing the Emperor to his death, in order to save Luke. This final act of sacrifice and ensuing death scene, where we see his human side for the first and last time (discounting the prequels) is a beautiful and artful way for Luke to begin his quest to undo the "sins of his father". The relationship between Luke and his father is perhaps one of the best stories in film fiction and has become a part of modern mythology.

Also worthy of note is that, in some versions of the X-Men mythos, Mystique is Nightcrawler's mother and Rogue's step mother. The quest for these two people to discover their origins lead them to find things in their past that they'd rather not know but, for their own sake and those of the readers, was a path that needed to be explored.

Such relationships and such parallels between stories across the history of fiction have created some of the most engaging stories; after all, most of us have families or, at the very least, loved ones that we simultaneously love and yet still have conflict with; conflict and resolution are the two opposing and working parts of any story.

WORD OF THE DAY! 4/22/12

deviant [dee-vee-uhnt]
adjective
1. Differing from the norm.
noun
2. A person or thing that deviates or differs markedly from the normal form.

EX. Adolescence is dangerous. That time between teenage years and adulthood? Even more so. In these formative years, a person is constantly seeking new role models and ideas to follow. During this metamorphosis, which can last from anywhere from a decade to, in some desperate case, several decades determines who that person is going to be for their rest of their life. In a round-about way, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is more about this personal journey that it is about the temporal romances of youth. It is about whether you will grow up to follow the standards set by society or will you become a deviant element. Will you be a hero or a villain? This is really the heart, the question, that lies at the center of the X-Men comics as well.

Just as in real life, some people will try to guide a young person into one philosophy or another. This is the core of mentoring and probably the factor that lies at the center of every revolution. Some contrary older, wiser men or women attempting to lead a young person into their tutelage and into their fold. This is the conflict that begins the battle of beliefs between the tolerant and pacifist X-Men and the militant and unforgiving Brotherhood. Every mutant discovered by the former friends, Prof. Charles Xavier and Magneto, have to make a choice. Do they choose the path of peace or the path of war? Do they choose reform or revolution? Do they choose to be a hero or a villain?

Your formative years are about choice.

Villain teams never wear matching costumes...

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/8/12

Canuck [kuh-nuhk]
noun
1. A Canadian; especially a French Canadian.

EX. Yes, technically James "Logan" Howlett AKA Wolverine is a Canuck. But technically he was almost a badger. That's a story for another day.

Bi-Weekly Double Down! 1/23-2/5 12

BI-WEEKLY DOUBLE DOWN:

BROUGHT TO YOU BY 
GENTLEMAN CAT

7. Word of the Day! 2/2/12. Hypothetical.

Gary Oak is, perhaps, the biggest troll in all of video game history. The only worse trolls would be Toad ("You're Princess is in another castle!") or maybe Athena in the God of War series. What do you guys think?

6. Word of the Day! 2/1/12. Atavism.

When is Marvel going to make Scott Summers and Logan make dirty hate sex in the woods?

5. WORD OF THE DAY! 1/31 /12. Percentage.

“Remember my super cool Rattata? My Rattata is different from regular Rattata. It’s like my Rattata is in the top percentage of rattatas.”-Joey, Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heartgold & Soul Silver

4. Word of the Day! 1/30/12. Doppelganger.

All I know is that if I saw one of the creepy little Mythbusters at my door I'd run or stomp it into the welcome mat in pure unadulterated terror.

3. Word of the Day! 1/27/12. Schematics.

Pokeballs are simply fascinating little device that exist to fit a niche in their universe and when probed with inquiry quickly develop into something wholly sinister.

2. Word of the Day! 1/24/12. Escapade.

Age of Escapades: The Chronicles of a Boy and his Magical Dog

Sung to the tune of the Adventure Time Theme

"Age of Escapades

To arms my kinsmen,

To quest far and within. 

With Jake the Hound

And Finn the Friend

Our quest never ends,

Age of Escapades!"

1. Word of the Day! 2/4/12. Thinkology. 

Wizard of Oz: They have one thing you haven't got: a diploma. Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Universitartus Committiartum E Pluribus Unum, I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of ThD.

Scarecrow: ThD?
Wizard of Oz : That's... Doctor of Thinkology. 

"A Boat Would Be Splendid, Arthur."

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/7/12

popinjay [pop-in-jey]

noun

1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.

EX.  Magneto is quite the popinjay in his evening wear.

Note: Magneto should always have a cane.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE X-MEN FASHIONS! 

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/4/12

thinkology [thingk-ol-uh-jee]
noun
1. Quite literally, the science of thought.
2. Fiction. The methods of Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax including, but not limited to : psychology, reverse psychology, intuition, will power, placebo effect, literary effect etc.
3. Fiction.The doctorate awarded to the Scarecrow by the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz.

EX.   Nothing in the universe is more powerful than thinkology.

The science is derived from the manipilulation of thought and, time and time again, it has been shown that such power is the mightiest in the universe. The human mind can build grand cities and tiny wonders, it can construct flights of fancy and constructs of flight, and it can create life and preserve it. Arguably, the will of man has burned forests and fields, torn down mountains and trees of life, and create countless methods of murder and tools of extinction.

The human mind is the only consciousness we have even begun to know or understand and, as of this moment, it may be the only one that we will ever know. Thus, humanity is the keeper of the greatest power in the universe; the human imagination.

Will you use it to build yellow brick roads that take us the future or do you wish to cast our future into rubble and silence?

Think about that.

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/1/12

atavism [at-uh-viz-uhm]

noun

1. Biology. a. the reappearance in an individual of characteristics of some remote ancestor that have been absent in intervening generations.

                   b. an individual embodying such a reversion.

2.  A revision to an earlier type; a throwback.

3. A step, or several steps, backwards in evolution. 

EX. It appears that secondary mutations are not always useful in the X-Men universe. Sure, Angel gets metal skin and  Beast becomes a cat guy, but sometimes you get your total f***-ups. Shooting concussive laser beams out of your knuckles would seem to be a bit harder to control, but shooting claws out of your eyes would be just about useless, if not agonizingly painful.

In such situations, could an atavism come in handy to reverse the effects?

WORD OF THE DAY! 1/22/12

^ SOURCE

implausible [im-plaw-zuh-buhl]
noun
1. not plausible; lacking having the appearance of truth or plausubility.
2. unrealistic or unfeasible.


monologue [mah-no-lawg]
noun
1. a form of dramatic speech, comedic solo, or the like by a single speaker.
2. a prolonged talk or discourse by a single speaker, especially one dominating or monopolizing conversation.
3. any composition, as a poem, in which a single person speaks alone.
4. a part of drama in which a single person speaks alone; soliloquy.
verb
5. to perform a speech.

bullet time [bool-it-tahym]
noun
1. is a special and visual special effect that refers to a digitally enhanced simulation used to show effects, ex. bullets moving through the air, that could not be performed easily through traditional slow-motion capture techniques.

EX.The above scene is an implausible moment-- from the monologue performed in the space of a snap shot bullet-time moment to the awkward flexing of Psylocke's spine that would normal break her like a twig. In comics, such implausible moments fall into two categories; the first being an injection of implausibility for the sake of having a moment of pure action-packed fantasy moment and the latter being a frustratingly or embarrassingly ludicrous moment.

The above scene appears to be the latter based on a mix of visual cues; from her spine-bending to her silly little speech that would take a few seconds to say to her extremely sexist costume that barely covered the middle third of her butt. Everything her looks incredibly awkward and, assuming the comic is not based on rubbery hose animation mechanics, ex. Felix the Cat, we can conclude this either the result of a combination of translation lost through collaboration between writer and artist and the results of the Über-sexist comic book styles that still dominate.

MIXED BAG. WEBCOMIC SHOUT-OUT #4

HARK A VAGRANT!

REUSED: Hark, a Vagraint is a wonderful webcomic by Kate Beaton. She covers a range of subjects from history to literature and, as seen above, occasionally draws a dandy strip satirizing our favorite super heroes. I have been reading her strips for a couple of years and they are an absolute treat. They range from silly comics about the "Sexy Tudors" to the tragic but amusing life of a chimney sweep. Her comics are usually done in black and white, a style I prefer, but occasionally she does colored comics like the one above. Check out her website and if your really dig here, consider picking up one of her wonderful books.

P.S. She is so cool she even got an homage on Adventure Time dedicated to her Shetland Pony character in the episode "The Eyes".

P.P.S. Her comic is so awesome that I decided to link it twice in a row. Deal with it.

Word of the Day. 9/30/11

Word of the Day 

zip-a-dee-doo-dah [zip-uh-dee-doo-dah]
interjection
1.  Slang. Used ironically in response to someone giving a long explanation of trivial minutia.
 adjective
2. fantastic, wonderful; wonderful feeling

EX. After Professor Scrooge McX explained that HAMMER BROS. was sending their giant robot lawyers to take out Magnet Pete, Logan Louse spit out,"Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Professor. This ain't our problem."

Word of the Day. 9/26/11

Word of the Day

prequel [pree-kwuhl]

noun

1. a literary, dramatic or film work that is set before an already produced work.

abomination [uh-bom-uh-nehy-shun]

noun

1. anything greatly disliked or abhorred.

2. intense aversion or loathing.

3.a vile, shameful or disturbing action.

4. a failed copy of the original.

EX. Wolverine: Origins is a prequel to the X-Men film franchise. It is also an abomination to most true Wolverine fans, movie buffs and people with the ability to see and hear (or even not see see or hear).

DAILY ROUND-UP. 9/7/11

Here are some things that got my attention today. (Oh and Happy Birthday Pop!)


PORTAL 2 WHEATLEY PUPPET!

This video is a few days old but, after seeing it again for about the sixteenth time, it is still one of the coolest things among cool fan things made by Portal fans. I am blown away by this puppet, this video and honestly, if this puppet maker doesn't already have an awesome job, I'm looking at you Henson Studios and/or Disney, she should!

Here is also a link to a blog detailing the design and building process.

FURIN COSPLAY BLOG!




DND FOR 8 YEAR-OLDS!
A Dad plans a Dungeons and Dragons birthday for 8 year-old son? Check. He makes custom characters with awesome and easy to understand sheets? Check check. He shares them with us like its no big deal? DAD OF THE YEAR. (Dads are awesome.)

This is awesome and proves D & D is great for all ages. I love the way these characters are drawn and the way their powers are characterized. This really goes above and beyond the call of Dad duty. Bravo.






POKEMON FIELD GUIDE IN THE STYLE OF DARWIN!
Today has just been an awesome day in fan-art. These sketches, done in the style of Darwin's field guides, complete with diagrams, observations, but unfortunately no samples, is awesome.

I really love realistic Pokemon art, as it shows a more mature and fantastic version of the cartoon monsters we all love. I chose Hippowdon because of the interaction with nature. Check it out.






SYMPHONY OF SCIENCE- THE QUANTUM WORLD!

I am a huge fan of the Symphony of Science. This is great for anyone look for a sweet techno remix or for someone who sees the beauty of the universe through the sweet lens of science.





PORTAL 2 SPACE TRIAL!

SPAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCEEEE! WEEEEHAHA!



BULBASAUR'S SOLAR BEAM!
Gotta love sweet anime moments!






10 TO AVOID XAVIERS SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED!
Not even a passing mention of the biggest danger of all. TEENAGE ANGST! CLAWS COME OUT  MY HANDS! THESE WOUNDS THEY MUTANT HEAL!

GINYU FORCE! SPACE COSPLAY!