Man, what a difference a week makes, eh? Crybringer here, for your Wednesday update.

It’s really tough to pin down any one thing to talk about, since a number of events and activities are centered around this time of year. It’s a funny sort of gravitational effect, from the cemented traffic lanes, crowded stores, busy busy busy blog posts, new releases, re-releases, private and personal get-togethers, and then of course the Big C. I mean, Comiket. Did I mention how excited I was for Comiket?!

So, coining my blog stylings from the esteemed Sports Guy of ESPN, here’s a geek’s bullet list of random events and points-of-interest. I might actually use text bullets!

• Last weekend was an EXCELLENT movie double-header. “I Am Legend”, starring Will Smith was a sensationally bleak ride for the first half. Although purists who were expecting Vincent Price, The Omega Man or a cinematic transcription of the book have plenty to boo about, the movie actually manages to command a degree of subtlety that most disaster or post-apocalyptic movies lose in the sturm-of-FX and drang-of-bad-dialogue. I think this review encapsulates the feeling. Spoiler-free, methinks. But following that was a rediscovered little brit-crime gem; “Layer Cake”, starring James Bon– I mean Daniel Craig. Bloody cool and visually sleek, just like the dialogue, but with smart pacing and a few legitimate twists. Excellent work, considering we never learn the lead character’s name. You can find it on DVD for a reasonable price and I DEFINITELY recommend it as a movie buff stocking stuffer this season.
• While everyone else in the gaming world is Rock Band-ing out, the nostalgic charm and soulful stylings of old arcade games still gets me moving. As a die-hard shoot ‘em up fan (You kids don’t know the meaning of “mob” unless it consists of 200+ projectiles ALL AIMING AT YOU!) , this “Shooting Game Historica” just makes my heart swell two sizes. A palm-sized Vic Viper? You shouldn’t have, Santa.
• One of my favorite artists, “o_8″ I rediscovered recently, was really generous in allowing me to join in some networked doodling sessions over OpenCanvas. It’s a slick little program, and for those artistically inclined, it’s far and away better than simple text chatting. For best results, use a tablet (another gift suggestion, AMIRITE?)
• A holiday tradition of mine, I’m actually breaking this year. It was this time, five years ago that I made a pact to read a good book over the holidays. I mean, I was at my parents house, adrift and far far away from a solid internet connection, quiet spot to draw or even a decent cellphone signal! What else was there? (oh yeah food.) Bruce Sterling’s “Holy Fire” kicked things off, then it was a double dose of Mark Roger’s “Samurai Cat” series. Did a run through some old Robotech/Macross US novelizations too! Now, I’m without a heavy dose of cyberpunk or satirical pop-culture slaying to drown out the Christmas carols! Who’s got some winners?!
• Lastly, let me wish you all the best this coming holiday — I’ll be back per usual on BOXING DAY, the worst single day of any retail grunt’s existence. Don’t let the horror stories fool you about Black Friday. It’s the returns after Christmas that carve a trail of tears into a part-timer’s soul. So please everyone, be safe, be happy, be Merry, and be extra nice and understanding to both your friends, family and those downtrodden soldiers of the cash registers! Their sacrifice might get you a replacement Rock Band!

(Be back with a festive pic in tow later today! >_<)

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Since Rich was kind enough to help me out a bit yesterday, and since I seem to be in an extraordinarily chatty, I feel like telling you about a couple of my family’s holiday favorites. When I was a very small child my parents tried to expose us to a wide variety of literary styles and subjects. My father would read us just about anything, but the one that left the most permanent impression on me was when he tried to read us the Orthodox-Geek classic, Lord of the Rings. We didn’t get very far into the story on the first try (hey, Dark Riders are freaking terrifying when you’re 4!) but I recognized that here was an author I wanted to keep on my own shelves.

Imagine my joy when I discovered that he wrote a far gentler fiction for his own very young children, and that he carried it on over 20 some years. I found this out the day my mother brought home his Letters from Father Christmas. In the copy that we have are reproductions of the actual letters, written in “Father Christmas’s” own shakey hand, and pictures he drew of elves making toys, the North Polar Bear making mischief, and even a few attacks by goblins who it seems have a weakness for mechanical toy trains. There’s a lovely article about it here, also. It also mentions an audio recording that I suddenly feel is necessary to my continued existence.

Just to make this an even longer post (I told you I was feeling chatty,) I would like to share my other somewhat geeky favorite. Berkeley Breathed has made a rather successful career of writing about penguins and anxiety closets, but did you know about this book? The Red Ranger Came Calling is a wonderful story about a boy, a very grumpy boy, who is shipped off to his aunt’s unexciting house every year for the holidays, and he very much is disinclined to go. He never gets what he wants, and knows that this year will be no different, until he stumbles across a secret. Santa Claus is not only real, but is retired not far from his aunt’s house. This boy introduces himself as the Red Ranger and challenges the ancient Santa to prove it. I really encourage everyone to find this book and read it, as the end will leave you both stunned and laughing out loud.

All right, I think I’ve blathered on for plenty long enough. Rich should be here soon to write about something wonderful I am sure, but I do rather hope you look into these book, since I think they are just right for the holidy geek in your life. Even if they don’t believe in Santa.

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So as Mr Rich said, I was forced to return to my ren-faire roots yesterday. At about 4:30 yesterday afternoon the wind took out the power to a large part of my neighborhood, and it turned out, many other parts of the DC area. This morning at sometime around O-Dark thirty the power came on, but the lovely cable monopoly hadn’t yet caught up with the power people and we just got internet back about an hour before I got home from work. Huzzah!

As far as geeky pursuits with no power cord went, I curled up on the sofa next to a warm fire and plowed through a couple of books. My family *gasp* talked! Being a bit on the intellectually geeky side we ended up discussing Zorn’s Lemma and the Axiom of Choice, and telling really dorky grad school jokes. Wrap that up with some Christmas cookies, sock knitting, and some Christmas Carol read out loud, and I’d call it rather a success, doncha think?

Well, I’m not going to write up the entirety of the post I had planned for today, maybe I’ll polish it up really good for next week, if I remember. I will however say that this is the time of year that charities make their really hard sell and that there are, out there in the world, loads of geeky charities to choose from. The big one that everyone thinks of is of course, Child’s Play, and I heartily encourage you to consider them if you have a few extra ducats after the holiday sales have done with you. Not only does it help sick kids, but it helps to ensure that the kids of today are the geeks of tomorrow!

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The holiday season has arrived, readers! Wake up with a lighter step! Take things with a warmer stride! And do your part to fight back against the Christmas-can-die-in-a-fire callousness.
(Seriously folks, you get semi-free stuff and certainly free food! Lighten up!)

But I’ll tell you, I personally am looking forward to something better than my Amazon Wish List. (If I had one anyway:)

COMIC MARKET 73* is on Dec 29th through the 31st in Tokyo! A motherlode more than your existing motherlode of doujinshi awaits!!!

*[The quick & dirty explanation is that Comic Market (Comiket) is a bi-annual Japanese small press convention of independant comic creators & cosplayers, offering primarily independent comics called “doujinshi.”]

As an artist & manga fan, I’m reminded around this time of year just how lucky we are to be able to reach media like this. Even if one hasn’t set foot in Japan, to think that one can actually sample, buy and communicate with the myriad creators at Comiket courtesy of the Internet is just mindboggling! And more so than before, there are individuals like the writers at Heisei Democracy, bold bloggers like Danny Choo, or able-bodied and strong willed artists and fans who are making their way to Comiket and experiencing the event firsthand. Someday, I hope to join them, and see the faces behind my favorite circles as well. I’ve GOT TO meet Himukai Yuji.

But, for now as I approach a real milestone of my life (30 years on this planet!) I look to Comiket news all over the net, steeple my fingers and itch for deliveries to my favorite mail order catalogues, and prepare to do what comes natural to me — geek the heck out. Add on the defensive buffs of Christmas holiday fever (+5 Happiness, Luck & WellWishes) , New Years Eve drunken schenanigans (+10 charisma, -6 agility) and my birthday to cap off the winter (30% critical up), and I personally can’t help but be a bit… jolly!

Likewise, more than new Iphones or 1080p TV’s… what events this holiday season are you all looking forward to?

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Well, I sure hope that everyone’s had a lovely weekend. I know I did- starting on Thursday with a giant feast, and continuing on with a full on geekfest of video games, movies, and You Tube videos of impossible Mario levels designed by a sadist. I even FINALLY got to see Portal. With the exception of a pretty bad case of motion sickness, we all agreed that it is indeed as awesome as has been said. On the whole a great holiday weekend…Well. Now with the Official American Holiday Season Opener out of the way, I am forced to turn my attention to what the heck do I get the geeks on my list? There are dozens of things I could go out and snap up (assuming there are any left after Black Friday,) but most of them have already been pre-ordered by my friends. As a result of that sort of thing I DID get to see Mass Effect, and man is it pretty. We only played for about 2 hours before we had to go be grown ups for a while, but I am definitely looking forward to seeing more from that. On the other hand, it means that he already has it.Another difficulty I often encounter with buying gifts for geeks is that I don’t specialize. I honestly don’t know that much about computer parts or software stats or any of that, so I can’t look for lots of specific things for people. I can’t buy my WoW buddy a better graphics card or my music editing friend a new digital recorder. I could, of course, ASK them their opinion on such things, but I think that the surprise of a gift is half the fun.Well, whatever I do, I’m sure it’ll be appreciated. Maybe I can make everyone an 8 slot bag… everyone needs someplace to put all the loot, right?

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For those of you celebrating it, Happy Thanksgiving!

For everyone else, have a wonderful Thursday!

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First, a preemptive Happy Thanksgiving to the people who are celebrating it this Thursday! To everyone else, Happy Fourth Thursday of November!

To most American geeks, Thanksgiving means time off from school or work, turkey (you can insert whatever other dish you want) and tons of other food, and time to enjoy their geeky hobbies.

But for a while now, it has come to mean something else.

“Black Friday.”

I don’t honestly remember when it started, but for a long time now, the day after Thanksgiving is a day where my friends (and once, and only once, me) wake up incredibly early (or sometimes not even go to sleep) and stand in line in order to get incredible discounts on everything ranging from toys to computers to games.

At first, it was just something they did. There was no special preparation beforehand. I’d get a call later that day, with the spoils of the day explained to me in detail, and that was the end of it.

Now, some of the people I know go to bed early on Thursday night (admittedly made easier from the Thanksgiving-induced food coma), have made battle plans based on what they’ve learned from staking out the stores and internet research, and prepare snacks, special outfits, and other “necessities”.

I’m not going Black Friday shopping this year, partly due to my own plans and partly because I don’t feel like fighting the insane crowds, but I’m sure that many of the people I know are. And I will admit, I’m kind of looking forward to hearing what they managed to snag.

Are any of you fine folks planning on any Black Friday shopping? If so, where and why? And do you have any special preparations or rituals you do before you go? If you’re not going, what are you going to do?

Me? I’m resting.

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