The Life and Times of Jessi B*

Heads Up

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:12:36 GMT

My buddy sethimothy posted this, so I though I'd re-post. I was affected, and you may be, too.

Check your LJ for Internet Transmitted Diseases.

This Will Be a Comic Soon (So Dumb)

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:38:03 GMT

I got some lovely gifts for my brithday. The most notorious of them - - well, you'll see.

I had this plot, where I would get something dumb and hilarious for my father-in-law for Christmas. I had thought about it, and decided that a leopard-print Snuggie would fit the bill.

This past week, Matt and I went over to his parents' house, and they had presents for me. My mother-in-law gave me a wonderful set of dessert teas, yummy. My father-in-law... ...gave me a Snuggie.

Of course, this was hilarious, and I took it to our gaming session that night, and discovered several things about the Snuggie:

1) It can fit anyone, even 6'6" lanky Mike.
2) Cats like to lay on it.
3) You can turn it into a coat by just wearing it on your shoulders.
4) It is also a very effective Black Mage cosplay without having to sew.
5) (and this is the most surprising) I LIKE IT AND I HATE MYSELF FOR LIKING IT.

The damn thing is useful when I'm trying to do comics, and I find myself curling up into it every now and again. The bright blue fleecy hospital gown is actually kind of nice to have around, and I shouldn't like it at all. But I do. It's a mystery.

Now I need to figure out what to get Bill for Christmas. I was thinking a ShamWOW or a singing bass. I haven't decided which would annoy and amuse him more.

Obama is a Jedi

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:30:11 GMT

YOU BEST BELIEVE IT (there's also a trailer for a hentai game called "My Grilfriend is the President" - probably NSFW)

IMMA LET YOU FINISH

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:45:57 GMT

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. <3 Matt took me out to the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and brought me roses. Lovely~ (Thank you, love.)

Looks like a lot of jackassery has happened in the world recently. Summary?

- Kanye West is a jackass.
- Obama agrees.
- Leno premiered his new show. Conan gets screwed once again by NBC.
- Philly is closing its libraries, effective Oct. 2nd. What the shit.

In sad news, two very important people have passed away recently - Norman Borlaug, who has fed millions of people around the world with agricultural science, and Patrick Swayze, who has made millions of people around the world swoon with his awesome acting abilities. Take a moment to read about Norman Borlaug - the magnitude of his work in agriculture just boggles my mind.

AHAHAHA ASSHAT

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:04:13 GMT

Guess who I'm not voting for in the Governor race. HOW IS A SECOND PAYCHECK DETRIMENTAL. GUESS ME AND MY OVARIES SHOULD JUST QUIT AND STAY HOME WAITING FOR MR. STORK, PASSING THE TIME BY MAKING SAMMICHES.

Also, Marvel being bought by Disney? True. Hopefully, this means Marvel won't run out of money. Not sure how it's going to affect Disney comic properties or future Marvel movies, but who knows.

Snow Leopard is fantastic. I declare victory in my battle against Photoshop force-quits. :D

Make It Work~

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:53:42 GMT

Quick post: Tim Gunn from Project Runway is donning the Iron Man suit on the 26th. Also, Hellcat's in it. <3 I must pick this up.

Sidenote: The new penciller and inker for Deadpool? TERRIBLE. The writing is still fun, but UGH, the proportions are so out-of-whack and the inks are so over-hatched that it makes me sad.

Ch-ch-ch-ch CHANGES

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:31:39 GMT

Lots of things happening, and I haven't been posting. Here's a rundown:

Otakon was good all-around - made more money than last year, had fantastic help (thanks Julia and Mike), Mike made a hilarious Barry, I got to see a lot of webcomic folk again, got together with other friends, panel went well (despite the smartass in the Lucario outfit that felt the need to share his "knowledge" every five seconds - I heckled him into submission). Everything was great. We also had a bunch of awesome readers come by the table and come to the meet.

Shortly before I took off for Otakon, I got the call I'd been waiting for since... ...wow, since much earlier this year. It took that long for me to get my clearance. I can't talk too much about it (still), mainly because I'm not sure of where specifically they'll put me. Just know that the benefits and the paycheck will help us tremendously. Unfortunately, it also cuts into my comic-making time, which means I have to get a lead on both the regular comic and the Dungeon Mastering strips. O_O Intimidating.

That Damn Apartment

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:00:21 GMT

I was preparing to work this morning when the fire alarm went off in the building. Smelled nothing burning and didn't hear the sound of rushing water, but I figured it would be best to get out. I called the non-emergency number for the fire department. They got there within five minutes (they're good). I stood outside talking with one of my neighbors in the blistering heat for about half an hour - her kitties were definitely not pleased with the situation, and I can't say that I was, either.

Turns out that the fire alarm malfunctioned. According to one of my other neighbors, this is fairly common. In the eight years he's lived in the building, the only alarm that was legit was, coincidentally, when our apartment flooded earlier this year. The hot (I mean really hunky, but they were probably really warm in their gear) firefighters reassured everyone that it was all okay, and that they'd fix the problem. (Somehow, I don't think they'd piss off a sweaty fat girl who has a mom-purse and is wearing ghetto jammies.)

In a separate incident, my neighbor's water main valve broke (fortunately in the "off" position; he shut off the water while he was on vacation and was turning it back on), but in order to fix it, they have to shut off the water in the building for an hour. I was able to get a pitcher of water through the Brita filter, but I feel disgusting (and I really really really don't feel like taking a coffee-pot bath).

At least I can settle back in to working (for now). Seems like I have plenty of comic fodder for the next week or two after Ota, at least.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to empty the ice maker and bury my head in the ice to cool down. Hot as balls out.

Also, if you're going to Ota, and you haven't seen the GND plans, take a look at what's going on here.

The Interview Meme

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:50:23 GMT

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

I was interviewed by sethimothy here (thank youuuu) - I'll interview everyone who responds after Ota.

1) General readers of my livejournal recognize you as an artist; would you consider yourself a "professional artist" though? Why or why not? I'm a professional - I get money to do artwork as my living. It's not a steady monetary source, but getting cash for something that I enjoy doing is always good.

2)What are some of your favorite shows? I usually watch my shows when I'm doing artwork; it's good white noise, and I can listen to them to get most of the gags or info. I like the Colbert Report, Mythbusters, Penn & Teller's Bullshit (I have to dig around the net for that), MST3K, and Squidbillies. As far as anime goes, my most recent faves are Mushishi, Magical Lyrical Nanoha (definitely a fresh take on the magical girl genre), and Ghost in the Shell (loved the series, just saw the most recent movie).

3)If you could spend a day with my dog Marcus, what would you and him do together? YAY PUPPY~ We'd definitely go for walks; I would spoil him silly with treats and belly rubs. I'd also see if he'd like to be brushed. We'd probably end up napping in the sun.

4) If you could have a small garden, and you knew anything could grow in it, what would you plant in it? Herbs. Definitely herbs; probably some veggies. I'm not good with flowers, and there's nothing like fresh, low-maintenance veggies (like potatoes and squash). Plus, it would remind me of my Grandfather's veggie garden - reminds me of where I came from.

5) What are some of your favorite protagonists who, by virtue, are not traditional heroes? Sam and Max - they have a very twisted buddy-cop relationship, but they're both very madcap, and no matter how absurd things are, they usually do what's best for everyone. What's best is not necessarily what's right, though. The Bride from Kill Bill is out for revenge - she does terrible, horrible, bloody things, but you find yourself rooting for her the whole way because of the pain that she went through.

DO IT

WONDERFUL! Better than Mama!

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:42:21 GMT

Got the pieces for my Cooking Mama cosplay yesterday. I'll probably carry around my DS and a cheap spatula with it. The aprons have nice deep pockets that I can seal with Velcro. As you can see in the picture below, Mama's hair is pretty short. Would do the hair, but I'd rather not wear a wig. Maybe I can curl my hair up a little bit, but my hair is so long that I think it won't stay in.

It really is an easy closet cosplay to do - not very many parts to it.

BOING!

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:22:36 GMT

I was wondering if this would ever happen, and I'm very amused and pleased.

I'm currently working on a new Earthbound piece, since my original is beginning to show its age. Last year, I did a piece of fanart of Mother 3.

Starmen.net is a fangathering of Mother & Earthbound fans on the Internet. Sometimes they show some of the memorabilia and stuff that they've gotten, and while I was looking for references for the new piece, I found this picture on the front page. Look at the bluish poster in the corner!

I'm over the moon. It's not the main part of the picture, but I'm pleased that someone really liked this piece enough to post a bit of it onto Starmen.net. XD

Hopefully, the new Earthbound piece will do as well as the Mother 3 piece.

I Wish I Had Showtime

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:52:12 GMT

When I work on comic stuff, I listen to NPR (like a dork), watch Conan and Colbert, and sometimes Japanese shows (Gaki no Tsukai is one of my faves - I'm a sucker for manzai teams). One of my favorite things to watch every now and again is Penn & Teller: Bullshit!. While I don't agree with what they have to say all of the time, and while Penn himself can act like a gigantic douche, I still enjoy the show. They present some good arguments against organizations like PETA and serious issues such as the "war" on drugs and being green. The seventh season premieres on the 25th, and while I don't think I'll be able to find it on the Internet, there's an important episode that I want to see.

On July 9th, the episode is titled "Violent Video Games". Penn and Teller themselves made a videogame that never got a full release, but you can find it for emulators pretty easily. (For the curious, it's called Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. It features a game called Desert Bus, where you drive a bus across the desert. It's the most boring thing on the face of the planet, and P&T did it on purpose. People even do it for charity.)

I have a feeling that I know what they'll say, and I also have a feeling that a very special person will be a target of investigation. His name starts with "J" and ends with "ack Thompson".

I'm looking forward to this.

In the meantime, my Otakon work list is moving, which is nice. Plans are changing a little bit, but I'm confident it will still be a good convention if the payment ever gets there. Also, I wasn't aware that only the USPS can deliver to PO boxes. ...so I had to give them money again. Joy. Apparently, they located the other letter and are sending it back to me, so at least I know it's not lost anymore.

What to do...

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:29:57 GMT

I sent out the payment for Otakon on June 5th, with confirmation and Priority shipment and everything. I got a tracking number on it, so I've been tracking its progress. It should've been there by now, but here's the adventures so far (and this pretty much copy-pasted):

Your item was processed through and left our ZIP Code 20199 facility on June 10, 2009. The item is currently in transit to the destination. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.

Detailed Results:


	Processed through Sort Facility, June 10, 2009, 7:46 pm, ZIP Code 20199
	Processed through Sort Facility, June 06, 2009, 3:54 am, BALTIMORE, MD 21233
	Processed through Sort Facility, June 05, 2009, 11:09 pm, ZIP Code 20199
	Acceptance, June 05, 2009, 4:11 pm

The mailing address is a PO Box, soooo... ...why's it going everywhere?! It should have been there by now. If this ends up costing us the table, I will not be happy. >:(

EDIT: Your item was misrouted. The error has been corrected and every effort is being made to deliver it as soon as possible. Information, if available, is updated periodically throughout the day. Please check again later.

HAHA OH WOOOOOW Filed a report, have to rush to do all of the paperwork again and Matt has to run to get another payment. Seems like there just has been bad luck this year. Hopefully, something good will come out of all the fuss.

Hell Hath No Fury Like Nerds

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:25:31 GMT

Yes, I'm well aware how much of a butthole I look like when I nerd rage (let's face it, all nerd rage is stupid), but Activision can suck it. They're apparently suing Double Fine Productions over Brutal Legend. Then again, Activision tried to pull this crap with the developers behind Scratch so that DJ Hero could come out before it, and that got flipped on them. (Long story short, Activision filed a suit, the original developers counter-sued, claiming that Activision was using their coding without compensation. Activision had to pay up after being found guilty.)

I'm convinced that Activision has become what EA used to be, ironically.

Poor Tim Shafer. Poor US. Lots of gamers have been looking forward to this, and this may mean a delay, or worse - no release. That would, indeed, be brutal.

EDIT: Shafer's response: pure comedic gold.

E3 Impressions

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:20:20 GMT

Interesting:
- Brutal Legend. Seriously can't wait for this. Tim Schafer is love.
- Secret of Monkey Island. THAT'S RIGHT. SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND IS BACK. I cannot contain the excitement that I have for this, though I'm hoping that if this does well, other classic Schafer games like Grim Fandango and Full Throttle will come back.
- Lots of Nintendo franchises. Mario's got a ton of stuff coming (Super Mario Galaxy 2 - featuring Yoshi in space and weird tongue physics, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, New Super Mario Bros. Wii), new Zelda is on the way for DS (but we knew that already), and Metroid is getting a makeover from Team Ninja (which looks pretty good so far). Definitely want to see more about Metroid, but I was kind of secretly hoping for a StarFox revamp.
- WarioWare: DIY. That looks like a lot of fun. Want!
- Star Wars: The OId Republic. Count me in, that trailer was great! As Matt said to me, THAT'S how the SW prequels should have been.
- The Last Guardian. From the folks behind Ico and Shadows of the Colossus, the heartwarming tale of a boy and his giant bird-rat.
Want To Hear More:
- Project Natal. The possibilities are there, but can the control really be defined better than it is? Seems kind of spastic (GO BRICKOUT GIRL, GO). Also, is this really as practical and intuitive as they're saying it could be? I mean, I'm a fatty. I don't move a lot. I couldn't see myself playing this for long without collapsing in failure and whining for cake. Also, a controller gives us a tool to connect ourselves with - a tangible way to connect with our game. I'm not sure if people would be totally alienated by not having anything in their hands when they play. (Then again, the geeky side of me is screaming "HOLODECK! YESSSSS!")
- Specifically, the idea of character interaction with Project Natal - Peter Molyneux's "Milo". Fascinating. ...creepy, but still fascinating. I'm curious as to what kinds of capabilities this would have, and what kinds of things you could do. (Seeing the demonstrator actually attempting to catch the "goggles" and run her hands through the "water" shows that she's immersed in it. Astounding.)
- Beatles. No singing from Sir Paul and Sir Ringo? Sad. But Paul calling himself an android is amusing. Looking forward to three-part harmony.
- Left 4 Dead 2: still haven't really gotten to play the first, but just about anything with zombies, I'm down with. It's kind of a big f*ck-you to the folks who bought the first game, though, thinking about it, since L4D isn't that old and most of the new content could have been downloadable...
- Mass Effect 2. Liked the first, even though I haven't come close to finishing it.
- No More Heroes 2. More Travis Touchdown in our future is a good thing.
- XBox movie sharing-video-conference-thinger. Now you can MST3K with folks around the world.
- PS3 motion controller. Prototype is hideous, but the 1 to 1 tracking looks great. I expected this to be stupid, but I think that this is more practical than Natal, and more accurate than the Wiimote. I definitely want to see more about this.
- MAG. Such a great idea, can't wait to see the full product.
Good-To-Hear-But-Not-Interesting-To-Me:
- MGS: Rising. Oh, a game with Raiden. That's nice.
- Kingdom Hearts on DS and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers on WiiWare. Neat.
- Assassin's Creed 2. The idea of having daVinci as my personal invention monkey is cool.
- PSP Go. Looks nice, but I'd rather grab a price-dropped PSP, instead. I am starting to see more titles I want to pick up, though, which is a good thing.
- God Of War III and Uncharted 2.
Boring and/or Just Plain Stupid:
- Iwata's talk of a pulse sensor. What. Seems to have very limited applications, and hardly anyone would want to have that strapped to them as they play.
- Tsuda's attack on Wii. Waggling your body seemed just as silly as waggling a remote, pretentious dipshit. You look like a greasy douche.
- EA yammering on about their sports games. Nothing new or different there, though the extensive team customization for Madden seems neat.
- Social networking (Twitter and Facebook) on XBox. Yeah, I have a device for that. It's called my computer. Then again, if you're really into social networking, that's cool. I just don't see what's so neat about that.
- FFXIV Online. That's right. Sony announced it would be an exclusive. Will it stay that way? I'm skeptical about that part. Otherwise, I don't think that that's a big deal. Seems silly to announce 14 before 13.
- Can we agree that the forced interactions and awkward segueways in ALL of these presentations need to stop?! Seriously, Microsoft was the worst offender.
- MGS: Peacewalker. That trailer was waaaaay too long. Kojima needs an editor.
- FFVII on the PS Store. ...if you haven't gotten the chance to play it, that's great, but this game has not aged well. I would've liked an update. Or, even better: FINAL FANTASY 6. That would've gotten my attention.

Overall, a solid E3. There was little that blew me away, but I'm definitely excited about the possibilities. One thing still bothers me: no price drop for PS3.

Qu'est-ce qu'on mange ce soir?

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:12:41 GMT

This is L'Auberge Chez Francois, and it is a beautiful and amazing place containing a very old, respected, and talented chef and his intelligent and dilligent staff. I seriously have nothing but the highest praise for this place: I will never forget what a wonderful night we spent there,

We got dolled up and headed over. Got there early, and got to sit outside on the beautiful terrace. There was a little herb garden, as well as quietly running water and soft lights on the trees. My starting drink: champaigne with raspberry liqueur and a fresh raspberry floating in it. Delicious fresh bread came out as Matt and I chatted in the cool breeze, served with imported butter and fresh cottage cheese mixed with chives.

Amuse bouche is like a teaser for your mouth - the appetizer before the appetizer. (So overindulgent, I know...) It was a small slice of quiche with tomato, bacon, leeks and herbs - very light and tender. The appetizers: I had tuna tartar in lime and salt, topped with vodka sour cream and a little caviar. Matt had bouillabaisse with mussels, scallops, and other seafood floating in a very lovely saffron broth. (When food is this good and rare, you share with each other - it's a must!) For salad, I had a gorgonzola and candied pear salad, while Matt had a tomato salad with smoked gruyere and big chunky bits of bacon (which I stole - that's smokehouse top-notch stuff, there). There was lemon sorbet to cleanse our palates, and then we settled into the main course. (I will admit now that even though I'm a fat girl who loves the food, I was having a hard time packing in such rich, decadent, lovely food - I had to reach deep.)

Main courses: Matt had duck l'orange, served with wild rice, candied walnut and pear, and roasted veggies. Matt let me have a bite (since I had never had duck before) - duck tastes like a gamey, yummy porkchop, and the sauce it swam in was definitely light and citrus-y. I had a 12 ounce Delmonico steak, served with au jus, bearnaise, roasted vegetables, and a glass of the house red - AMAZING~ The onions and tomatoes melted in my mouth, since they roasted so well, and the steak itself was marbled so nicely... ...with a little bit of the bearnaise, I was in heaven. There are few things in this world that are better than a good quality, masterfully cooked steak. There was also some nice root veggie puree with carrots (and I'm pretty sure parsnips, too).

You'd think we were done, but nooooo. Dessert was coming. They brought out some homemade merengues on dark chocolate ice cream with a candle to celebrate the occasion, and then our formal desserts. Matt had a plum tart with cinammon ice cream, while I had the lime tart with lime sorbet. I couldn't eat it all, so I took the rest of the tart home with me and ate it for breakfast (it was good when I first had it, but the next day, it was even better!). The tarts had light, flaky crusts, and the fillings were so wonderfully made.

After a brisk walk on the terrace, we headed out - a first anniversary that was indeed as memorable as our wedding one year ago. <3

One Year Later

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:55:04 GMT

...one year later, it still feels surreal. Wonderful, but surreal. Being married is an incredible adventure, I must say. Between not living together for the first couple of months of our marriage, to being flooded and gassed, we've managed to terrorize the Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Baltimore, most of VA and DC with the POWER OF LOVE. THE POWAAAAAAHHHH. :P

Let me also say that French food is incredible, and that our evening was certainly a memorable (and filling) one. I'll talk about the specifics tomorrow.

Here's to a year - looking forward to more. Love you, Matt. <3

In It To Win It

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:33:36 GMT

Finally. Got the e-mail I've been waiting for last night. We're in the Alley at Otakon.

THANK GOODNESS. Now I can get to work without restraint. >:3

EDIT: What a rush of energy! I realized that I hadn't updated my personal gallery in... ...ever, so I put some new stuff in there. I've also been sketching like crazy.

Also, one of the "big" things I mentioned a long time ago? Came to fruition. I was asked to create a chibi for Marianne, the anime reviewer for a local cable access show called "Fast Forward" to use on air. I made a few different ones, and one of them made its premiere on the May episode (which, coincidentally, is a review of "The Gokusen" - one of my favorite anime). You can see the video here - it's a Windows Media file, though, so if you have a Mac, you may need to get the free Filp 4 Mac player in order to see it (unless Quicktime does something magical).

Anxiety

Wed, 27 May 2009 12:56:02 GMT

Apparently, e-mails for Otakon's Artist Alley waiting list have already gone out. One hundred and twenty four of them. I did not get one, and they're sending out table e-mails later today. This means one of two things:

1) We were victorious in getting a table (which would be very good) or
2) We didn't get a table and couldn't even get on the waiting list (which would suck)

I am a bag of nerves - I need to get things done ASAP so I can get them printed, but it would be all for nothing if I didn't get a table. Well, maybe not all for nothing, thinking on it; that means there would be less work to do for Zenkaikon and Anime USA. For now, I'm only planning two or three new pieces (as well as some other things, hoo hoo) to bring.

Matt and I will be at Ota no matter what - we made the hotel reservations as soon as they opened them last year, and I'm doing a panel with Julia, so my pass is free. Plus, the folks we're sharing a room with (Julia, James, and our friend Mike) are wonderful company, and we're heading in on Thursday so that we don't have to wait in the gigantic killer line that wraps around the BCC. (I don't think we're going to be as lucky as we were last year with the head-of-line pass, though that was pretty sweet.) I'll also be coplaying some simple things (White Mage has never gotten old, grabbing stuff to be Cooking Mama) since the hotel's right next to the BCC.

Also, rented Punch-Out. I'll need to buy it at some point! It's so much fun, and I enjoyed the original a long time ago. The nunchuk setup can get a little tiring, so I prefer the classic NES control scheme, and the characters (and voiceovers) are fantastic. So impressed with this. I hope A Boy and His Blob comes out just as good (if not better).

That's a new one

Thu, 21 May 2009 17:56:39 GMT

Wow. Matt pointed this out to me today: we're on TV Tropes. Just look near the end of the webcomic examples.

...that is COOL. XD

Richmond and Stuff

Mon, 18 May 2009 12:03:26 GMT

I had a great weekend with my folks - came down Friday night, stayed with them through Saturday. Matt, Dad, Mom and I made the trek to Buz and Ned's for legendary BBQ and came back home to share it with my grandparents and Mags. Follow up an amazing meal like that with Grandma's strawberry pie, and it was a good time.

Sunday, we went down for Chris's graduation ceremony. Took a good part of forever. However, Tom Brokaw was the speaker, and it was enjoyable. It took forever to get through, so we left late.

Get back at 10 at night to see that Otakon's AA opened up three hours earlier. ...without notice. >:[ Not pleased, but I was just relieved that they finally opened it at that point. I have no idea if I'll get a table or not, but my fingers are crossed.

He Has A Point

Wed, 13 May 2009 21:34:28 GMT

Gaiman's thoughts on fan entitlement.

Food for thought, for sure. Comments?

To Boldly Go

Tue, 12 May 2009 02:56:45 GMT

(thanks to Lauren and Rachel)

Yes. I liked Star Trek. A LOT. :D

GOOD
- Casting was dead-on. Especially loved Quinto as Spock and the McCoy. The Chekov was adorable as hell, and Simon Pegg - wow. I could barely recognize him!
- Visuals were fantastic - CG fit in everywhere, cinematography gorgeous.
- Character interactions were spot-on.
- Mother f*ckin' Nimoy. Hells yeah.
- Sound was great - little snippets of the older effects, while the music was triumphant and exciting (though silence seemed to be a great way to emphasize the dramatics)
- Design overall was fantastic. Some people aren't into the new Enterprise design, but I loved it! It was industrial, yet sleek. Futuristic, yet not totally alien. (hurr hurr)
- Script was good; there were a couple of moments where I was a little confused, but I was able to pick back up on it.
- Uhura X Spock: not canon, but it just seems to fit, so I'm cool with that.
- This is not your father's Star Trek. More on this in a bit.
- There are bad experiences, but seeing how Kirk and Spock were able to grow from those tradgedies is what made them interesting. Yes, Kirk was mopey, but after a good pep talk from Pike, he knew he needed something to fill the void in his life - he needed to honor his father. Spock was a "child of both worlds," but in the process, became a stoic badass who told the Vulcan High Council to suck it when they revealed that they viewed his humanity as a "weakness". (Spock is a Momma's boy, but it is in a very dignified and loving way.)

NOT AS GOOD
- Villain, snore. Eric Bana was good; it was just a dopey character. Then again, he's acting as a setup; if there's a sequel, we'll get to see Klingons.
- Predictable, for the most part, but that's forgivable. We already know how the story ends before we get into it, honestly.

For those who are concerned about continuity, I say relax; they constantly acknowledge it throughout the film, and the little fan nods sprinkled throughout should leave Trekkies with a good feeling.

As I said before, this is not your father's Star Trek. It's not a Roddenberry Star Trek. This is J.J. Abram's Star Trek. Sure, he wasn't a fan of the original series, but that doesn't mean that he can't have an interesting viewpoint or idea of how it should be. His vision works - it's not the deep morality plays in campy getups that we remember, but that is just fine! We can talk about artistic intent to death, but the point is this: much like the Dark Knight last year, this is a great new interpretation of a franchise that makes it feel plausible and accessible to all those who watch it. To nitpick and fawn over continuity and look for things that aren't there is frivolous. It keeps you from enjoying yourself.
If this is your first time with Star Trek, it's a great place to start. If you've loved Star Trek for years, give it a chance.

Also, I have to say this: I WANT TO SEE THIS IN IMAX. I bet it looks amazing. (BTW, the theater we went to showed this in a Director's Hall with nice leather seats and stuff. So worth paying a few extra bucks to sink into them.)

TREKTREKTREK

Mon, 11 May 2009 14:39:56 GMT

Seeing it tonight - wasn't able to see it over the weekend. However, this made me bust out laughing.

Also: Maggie graduated, yaaay~

What a Twist!

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:30:32 GMT

We thought there was a serious gas leak with our oven, so we called a technician to look at it.

Good news: There wasn't a leak with the oven.
Bad news: There was a small leak in our main line.

DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUN

...not that great of a twist, but still, whaaaaa?

UPDATE: There's supposed to be a plumber coming to fix the leak, but he hasn't gotten here yet. >:( Fortunately, the part of the main line that has a leak runs in the closet outside on the balcony. Still had to shut off the gas, though, so we have no hot water or gas at the moment. Matt had to leave for work early so he could shower at his parents' house. My shower came in a coffee pot - had to heat up water without the gas, and it's quicker than the microwave. Add a little cold water, soap, and a washcloth, and it's actually not too bad. I'd rather not ever do it again, though.

Thank you all for your concern, but we're doing juuuuust fine. <3

AND NOW THE APARTMENT IS TRYING TO EAT ME AAAARRRRRGH