Interesting Digital Comics

Filing away for future reference, assuming I ever manage to get myself out from under the mountain of books I have waiting for me on my shelves.

Cory Doctorow's Futuristic Tales

This one I absolutely must read - it's LotR told as a group of D&D gamers. Sounds brilliant.

Twenty Sided

Persepolis 2.0

Found this morning via Boing Boing, a well done update to Persepolis detailing current events in Iran. It's great to see this stark and effective art style getting co-opted to tell another story. It's simple and accessible, and reproduced easily enough that the quality of this novel is high, making it enjoyable.

Persepolis 2.0

Today in Horrible Books That Became Horrible Movies

Courtesy of Chris, the funniest mash-up i've seen in a while:

Buffy vs Edward Cullen

I hope this strikes a blow to prepubescent teen girls with unrealistic notions of romance the world over!

Bleach Redemption

I am finally excited to read Bleach again, since some of the under used characters are finally getting a chance to fight.

Like many rabid fangirls I've been waiting to see Shunsui and Ukitake fight since, oh I don't know, the original Soul Society arc when their fight was teased and cut away from, never to be revisited (SHAMELESS TORTURE). Bleach sports an impressive number of characters, and it's a shame that two of such good quality have pretty much sat idle for years while a seemingly never ending stream of crappy characters powered up and fought.

I was excited to see that they would be included in this arc, but even so I was pleasantly surprised with this week's development. More than seeing them each fight what I've wanted is to see them fight together, and that appears to be what is in store! I'm a sucker for the older characters in most mangas, especially "man friends" - warrior characters who posess a depth of bond with one another. Grown men who understand teamwork and serve as an example to the younger crowd who have yet to learn such important lessons. Ukitake and Shunsui both posess an enormous gravity and depth that surpasses most characters in Bleach - or perhaps their comic relief is just slightly less and it appears that way. Though they are light and warm in their daily mannerisms, they are both serious and shrewd when necessary. I'm excited to see what these two have up their sleeves. It takes a lot to make a pacifist fight and I'm sure it's not something we'll get to see any time soon once this is over.

It was chapter 156 when the fight cut away, depriving us of the fight and leaving people wondering exactly what was going on, and now 208 chapters later, we finally get to see! The first fight was against their will, and consisted of zero action - simply the provocation for them to release their swords and fight. Though Shunsui had previously "fought" Chad by dodging his attacks till he was nearly out of stamina (and offering him a drink to pass the time rather than a fight) and Ukitake was seen briefly fighting in a flashback, there was very little combat for either of these captains.

Laura's Handy Chapter by Chapter Timeline:

Chapter 105 - 106 - Well met! Ok technically we've seen him sleeping and avoiding work previously, but now he's going to....wait, drink sake?

Chapter 107 - The "fight" is already...over?

Chapter 138 - Oh, what's this? Action in the works? I hope we're not TARDY or anything.

Chapter 151 - OOPS we were late...run!

Chapter 156 - Hey, we're finally gonna fight! How exciting! Except....cut away!

Chapter 172 - Hey, look, we were fighting this whole time and we didn't even break a sweat. Now that the action is on us again...wait, what? Truce? You've got to be kidding me!

BIG FUCKING GAP of badness. BADNESS.

Chapter 316 - Hey remember us? We're back and ready for action. You know, eventually.

Chapter 329 - Hey, I'm even taking this seriously and I won't try to slack off...well, we can slack off for a while since there are other incredibly long fights to watch.

Chapter 335 - Still screwing around? I swear, I'm left handed!

Chapter 361-362 - Ok it's really on this time! Right?

Here's hoping it's not another YEAR before this fight concludes!

FINALLY!!!!!!!

Mission Failure

I broke my New Years Resolution, I bought 3 books without finishing the proper number...

First and second were China Underground and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence, purchased for my trip to Japan (a good excuse, right? right...). China Underground was finished in Tokyo, but I was too tired to read much by the time we got to Kyoto, so Zen is barely cracked. Thirdly I finally located a paperback copy of People of the Book on my birthday (another good excuse, right? yeah....) at the Barnes and Noble downtown on my way to the Paramount to see Rent (aside note: yay!).


Not to vent, or anything, but I have been trying to find a copy in a store for ages now, and all they ever carry by Geraldine Brooks is her best selling previous novel, March. I understand how they chose to stock their shelves and push the books Oprah says are good to read, but seriously, could we maybe get a little bit of diversification? I've stopped into 4 or 5 LARGE bookstores and faced the same problem: 6 or 7 volumes of March and nothing else.

It's almost as though they try to punish me for shopping in their stores instead of buying online....so sad.

A Bit of a Stretch, Yeah...

But I can't help it! These jokes are so funny, and good jokes are like a good book. Well thought out and cleverly delivered.

Besides, who doesn't love funny old people? Old Jews Telling Jokes will make you laugh