“Ding! Well, ding a while ago, it turns out. I somehow failed to notice.” said I from the sofa, my laptop being particularly useful for lazy sofa gaming. “Grats, hon! I should run you through Deadmines. Lots of cloth.” came the reply from the desk, where my S.O was playing something completely different.

Sundays are made for being kinda lazy, mostly cozy, and getting back to the family thing. In our case that meant a day long pajama-based game day. While I played WoW and he played something else (I forget what) (probably lots of things) we left the TV on as background noise. At one point he put in a fantastic compilation of giant robot anime opening themes, and we got to listen to 2 hours of background robot evolution from the 60’s onward. It’s honestly trippy to watch the Transformers opening and not hear ‘Transformers! More than meets the eye!’ Cool, but very trippy. Then some bad movie goodness from Deathstalker 2 (if you like B movies, really. Check it out. It’s got Queen Kong in it!) and later, when the games had lost their appeal for the day, Haruhi came in to round out our lazy geeky day off.

I have to say it was a fabulous day and I really rather enjoyed it. The fact that I got the final score of the Superbowl from the trade channel in Stormwind pretty much says it all, I think. How do you spend YOUR lazy days off?

Share This

Last week I talked about quilted video games, and while I still lust after an alliance throw blanket for my sofa, I might want to scale it back a bit. I might want to look towards something I can do without having my heavy sewing machine shipped across country. Hmm… perhaps some cross stitch?

I know, I know, cross stitch is usually that aisle in the craft store where you see older ladies and canvases painted with big eyed cats. Or maybe you went there when you were a girl in elementary school so you could get the emboidery floss for freindship bracelet making. (ahh, those were the days…) You know that this is the part of the post that I point out the less stereotypically grannylike aspects of this hobby.

Take a look, for instance at this blog. Sprite Stitch is an entire blog devoted to one crafter’s passion for game sprite inspired cross stitch. I love what he’s done with the Companion Cube, for example.

Fantastic, I say!

Again, the older game sprites seem to lend themselves naturally to this style of art. I am amazed at the number of images and mentions I found about game based cross stitch. There is even an article here about the steps one might take to go about creating your very own cross stitch pattern to geek out with, and a pattern generator you can use for free at Dark Lilac.

Who knows, once you do one you might want to do another and another…. till you end up crating beautiful works of Geekery like these done by this fellow over here. Just amazing. I hope I can be this good someday.

If I practice…

Share This

Unfortunately Plague has hit the House of Spwug hard this week it seems. I’m working on the Saturday post even now, and I’m hoping to have it up tonight. I really am very sorry folks. Things are looking up, though. Two of us are medicated and in recovery so things should settle down pretty soon.

Share This

Fandom can be a lot of fun for both fan and object of the fandom. Let’s be honest. It can be a real thrill for a fan to come up with a new way of expressing appreciation, and it can be just as thrilling for a creator to see what fans come up with. (“You made a copy of my main character out of spun sugar and vegetables? Really? That’s AWESOME!”) Where might I be going with this? Good question.

I was thinking the other day about designs for various craft projects and I was bouncing around the internet and I stumbled across this. Ok, ok, it’s not the most amazingly exciting thing ever, but it got me thinking and the more I looked the more 8-bit quilts I found. I found Zelda. I found Mario. I found Q-bert! I found GALAGA! It made my nostalgic heart glow.

I didn’t find any newer characters, though. I’m somewhat disappointed! I’m sure someone out there is quilting the Master Chief. I know someone’s curled up on the sofa with their PSP and Sonic the Hedgehog wrapped around them. I have faith- FAITH!- that somewhere, someone is putting the last stitch in the Alliance Insignia to show just what World of Warcraft faction they swear allegiance to, and to warm themselves with on cold snowy nights after a successful raid. I just know it. And as soon as I get my sewing machine here at my new place I will be one of those people.

Aaaand now you know I quilt. You already knew that I knit Woolen bags. How do you show YOUR fandom?

Share This

I spent this weekend mostly playing Okami, which is a basic good-versus-evil adventure sort of game. I will admit that yes, it is very very well designed visually speaking, but that’s not why I’m drawn to play it. I play it because of the writing. This game manages to weave a number of Japanese myth cycles into a really rich, interesting game world, and the characters I’ve encountered on my way along have been so well scripted that I find them very compelling. There’s even one character that I’m basically keeping track of because I really really want to see him get a pie in the face or something.

I’m a sucker for a good story, to the point that I’m willing to give any flaws a lot of slack. In Okami your major weapon is the Celestial Brush which is a serious pain in the ass (and my fingers) to use. I have to push one button to activate ‘brush mode’ and then use a joystick and another button to draw my intent, which let me assure you is excruciatingly tough. Don’t even bother trying to draw a straight line. Meh.

Story is my thing. It always has been. Even lame fight scenes, horrific editing, and somewhat retarded gameplay are forgivable in my eagerness to hear a good tale told, but that’s just me. Is there anything you particularly enjoy from movies or games?

Share This

Ok, so I don’t really have much to talk about right now, I’m afraid. I’m still settling into California and looking for a job and other fun things like that. We went out and got another DVD rack at Ikea to fill with all the anime and games and stuff that is even now in the hands of the UPS guys. It’s kinda already full, though… hrm.

I am getting to finally hang up a bunch of the art and such on the walls. I keep looking around and being surprised by how many artists we know. I think I will hit them up for more pretty things to put in this here blog. Ok, I am clearly starting to ramble here. Instead of continuing to bore you I think I’ll fire up World of Warcraft for the first time in what feels like forever. I’ll bet I can hit 40 on this character tonight if I actually try. And don’t make dinner…

Share This

The first in our series of articles from what would have been our next print issue. Here, with more of his ranty stylings, is an article from our very own Angry Zen Master. -Neomera

The morning of September 11, 2001, I sat in my living room starring unblinkingly at the television. I had just seen the second tower fall live on CNN and I needed someone to explain just what the hell was going on. My mind could not perceive such horrors let alone process seeing it all happen in real time. I needed more information. And for the next few hours, for the next few days, CNN streamed information into my brain meats faster than I could absorb.

The September 11 attacks really put news organizations on the front page. Never before had the twenty-four hour news cycle been so challenged with keeping a frightened, angry, and hurt public as informed as humanly possible. They did their best to stream information to the public as quickly and efficiently as possible without tainting stories with spin or punditry.

The twenty-four hour news cycle was working, keeping the public well armed with raw information. Thusly armed, we gradually recovered from our initial fears.

It’s now more than six years later and when I turn on CNN, I’m subjected to uninterrupted coverage of OJ Simpson’s pre-trial hearing, Miss Teen South Carolina’s gaff when asked a geography question, Britney’s latest public humiliation, Tay Zonday singing about Cherry Chocolate Rain. The same twenty-four hour news cycle that calmed a terrified people is now filling hours with sensationalist tabloid fluff. They’ve traded journalism for entertainment.

Cable network news is all about ratings. They will do anything to appear to be relevant. There’s no better example than CNN’s YouTube Presidential candidate debates. On paper, it certainly seemed like a good idea. Young people complain all the time that Presidential candidates and politicians are truly out of touch, that they don’t care about the issues that are important to the average citizen, that they’ve sold our government out to special interests. What better way to prove these conceptions wrong than by giving the public the opportunity to address the candidates themselves. Sure, that’s a winner of an idea.

I have never witnessed so many softball questions at any sort of debate ever. Instead of taking the candidates to task for the failures of the past six years, the questions presented the candidates the perfect opportunity to reiterate all their campaign rhetoric. There was no real debate, no real discussion, no real information. CNN might as well have aired three hours of campaign ads.

The twenty-four hour news cycle has completely destroyed news journalism. Gone are the days of in-depth investigative reporting. Objectivism has given way to opinion pieces, punditry, and ultimately, sensationalism. The latest hit on YouTube is given as much air time as Bush’s insistence that Iran is still pursuing nuclear weapons. It’s nearly impossible to take the cable news networks seriously.

These days, I can’t help but smirk every time I hear James Earl Jones recite CNN’s tagline, “The most trusted name in news.” It should read, “The most trusted name in tabloid news entertainment.”

Share This

We’ve had a couple of questions that I can now actually answer, so here ya go. The print version of Spwug is going on haitus while we work out some problems we’ve come across. It’s a bunch of dull business crap that I won’t bore you with, but the upshot is that there won’t be any printed magazines for a while. What we’re going to do in the meantime is on Saturdays we’re going to publish the content we had for the next issue on this blog on Saturdays. Hope you enjoy it!

Share This

Like many people, when I come across a new web comic I start at comic number 1 and read everything they have. Sometimes it’s terrible and I’ll give up after a couple of strips and wander off. Mostly I’ll read through the whole archive and then see something shiney and wander off and forget about it. Once in a while though, I’ll read everything and love it, and it goes on my list. The plots: so ingenious! The characters: so complex and well written! The art: ok, sometimes not the best I’ve ever seen, but more than up to telling the story. I’m a big fan particularly of strong plots with a liberal dose of humor.

So I recently found a new webcomic, and I did what I so often do and hit the Wayback button. I have to tell you that I am hooked, and it’s all about character. Planet Karen has no plot, but it is big on Karen. In fact, it is her diary. It’s a daily slice of her life, and can be anything from a trip to get groceries to thoughts on a fall day, half remembered dreams, and conversations with fictional characters, or sometimes it gets more deep into her struggles with depression, discovering that she has diabetes, or her financial tightrope walk. In other words, just life. The tone is such that I kinda feel like she at least tries to keep even the disasters in perspective, which is nice in an age of rampant flame wars and blogged whining. On top of all of that, the art is quite good, and she is constantly developing new skills to refine her style, which I appreciate.

I can’t really say very well what’s so utterly compelling for me about Planet Karen. I guess I can relate somewhat to much of what she writes about. Man, if I had a dollar for every time the banks screwed me in exactly that manner, I might be able to actually pay their fees! I know exactly how it feels to be having a terrible day until some stranger smiles at me for no reason. I tried to explain to my mother what I find so fascinating about the glimpse Karen allows us to view, and my mother said “yep. People have days.”

I just wish I could draw mine out so well.

Share This

…might well have been my favorite character in Avenue Q. She just seems to have been the most sensible character of the lot, although Gary Coleman comes a close second.

I bring it up only because I got to go see it last night. It was my Christmas present from my sweetie. He knows that I hardly ever get to watch a show, even if I’m running lights for the blasted thing. The hard part about going to shows for me is that I keep watching the tech aspects and forgetting the show!

This I find is a pretty common problem for people- leaving work at work. Watching anything in Japanese or playing most games with above mentioned sweetie is most educating. On the other hand, it does mean that I get more of the jokes in the anime that I watch.

At any rate, I hope that even if you’re not into the whole Christmas thing, at least you ahve a day off to enjoy. So enjoy it!!

Share This