Visual schmizual

Ho ho ho.

Being bored, I wrote a song. It's a song about nothing at all. It has only 4 chords.

Also, I somehow have this vague notion that putting up a list of what I fave been reading/watching this past hols would be a good idea and amuse and annoy some people. This is why I do things.

On to this "list".

In no particular order (other than NEXTWAVE which is first because it is so awesome.)

1. NEXTWAVE: Agents of H.A.T.E.
"Healing America by beating people up" With a tagline like that, how can it not be awesome? I've been hankering to get my grubby mitts on this comic ever since I saw the preview panel of a killer koala (a Drop Bear...hahaha) breaking it's teeth on Aaron Stack's metal skull. "Suffer fleshy ones.""Fear my robot head" says Aaron(full of useful devices) also sometimes known as Machine Man (and is ****). It is written by Warren Ellis, he of Transmetropolitan awesome crack, and beautifully illustrated by Stuart Immonnen (this man is an art-demigod). What more could you possibly want? Also, it has its own theme song (by a band called "Thunder Thighs".Heh.) and features a giant green dragon-lizard-thing with no genitals wearing purple underpants. Need I say more?

Memorable quote: "I shall kick you to death with slippers on, so it does not hurt so much."

2. "Fragile Things" and "Smoke and Mirrors". Collections of short fiction by Neil Gaiman.
What can I say? Cool, interesting, brilliant ideas wrapped in beautiful prose. Particularly loved "Snow, Glass, Apples" and "Sunbird" among many others. This shouldn't be recommended, as you should already have read it.

3. "Vernon God Little" by DBC Pierre
Not as good as I had hoped. I probably don't "get" a lot of the issues it tries to lampoon.

4. "The Losers" 1-3
Intriguing thriller comic, reminescent of A-Team shenanigans. Jensen gets some of the best scenes, including the "laptop interrogation", "deep sea fishing" and "I've got a hat".

5. Top 10 (Vol.2 and "beyond the farthest precinct")
What if you were a superhero police officer in a place where everyone has super powers? Okay, it's not really that weird, but the whole series is an awesome read. It's written by Alan Moore! Similar to Kurt Busiek's Astro City series, in the fact that we see a lot of the practical aspects of superhero abilities.

6. Keroro Gunso (Sergeant Frog)
Five space aliens from the planet Keron, part of an advance scouting team, are stranded on earth and live with humans after a mistake causes the main invasion force to abandon them. However, the leader, Keroro is too busy doing household chores and building Gundam models to bother taking over the world. Hilarious! I have an "Afro Gunso" model in my room! Muahahaha.

7. Honey and Clover 2
Yeeeeessss..! I loved Honey and Clover, so of course I have to watch the second season. It's still beautifully animated, and the story is still good with Morita's random humor thrown in. Too bad it's so short, but the manga's already ended so I guess there's not much they could have done without making it seem to drag on. Highly reccomended. Watch Season 1 first though.

8. The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
Ahh.. I just finished this yesterday. It's so quirky and funny. I love the ending dance (although..seeing it performed by 5 guys on the streets in Japan on YouTube is something I wish I could un-watch) animation which is very fluid and natural. Great animation, a quirky and interesting story, and a weird but engaging cast make this anime series a top pick.


9. Katekyou Hitman REBORN!
There's a 1-year old Mafia hitman who shoots a "Dying Will" bullet at people to make them stronger. Two 5 year old kids that get switched with their older selves when hit with the 10-year bazooka. A timid, loser Japanese kid is the potential 10th Don of the Vongola Mafia family. It's got a pretty interesting plot and its populated by an absurdly weird cast of characters. Not bad so far. I'll follow this and see how it goes.

Urgh...I noticed I don't actually have anything interesting to say about any of the books/comics/manga/aninme I've watched/read. However, I really did enjoy all of them and the best way I could share the experience is to get you my friends to enjoy them as well! Hahaha. To that end, expect me to bash anyone I see in the JCR with my hardcover copy of NEXTWAVE when I get back to IH.

Aaron Out.