I'm doing a bit of research for one of my supervisors - putting together a list of various religious and ethnic holidays, for faculty to use as a guide when scheduling class stuff.

So I'm at a site describing Christian holidays, and I see an advertisement for this. The "Psychedelic LED Jesus Lamp."

.... I think the best part is the copy: "Many are LED but few are chosen." XD XD XD

TonariNoTotoro-Bus Stop

Warning: it's pretty creepy and possibly NSFW due to gore.

But I actually think it's kind of funny. XD;;; Funnier if you've ever seen My Neighbor Totoro. And great for Halloween!

I can't really focus on anything right now except for my need for the day to be over so I can go home and collapse.

But! In the meantime, have these words of wisdom from comics:

"It ends in a question mark. Like a Canadian statement."
-Bucky from Get Fuzzy, my favorite newspaper comic strip.

"Everybody always rags on Bats for playin' it harsh, but ISN'T IT INTERESTING how his worst villains are back in like, five minutes. Batsy's like the low-flow toilet of superheroes!"
-The titular hero of The Non-Adventures of Wonderella, a hilarious web comic spoof about the cheerfully ignorant Princess Dana of Diaphinus. This quote is extra amusing to me because I'm reading the latest volume of Manhunter, and Kate had that dream about Batman beating her up because she killed villains. Take that, Batsy. XD

"I've never known privilege, aside from being a white American with superpowers."
-Wonderella again. Seriously, read this comic.

"Oh, the brothers."
-Hayden Panettiere on Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia. Okay, this isn't from a comic - but it's from a video on Adrian's YouTube account wherein Milo totally cuddles Adrian from behind. I refuse to apologize for this.

But I have to share the reason I've been giggling like an idiot at the front desk this afternoon.

linaerys has been linking to Heroes posts from 12_12_12, which has reawakened my love for the show. Not because of anything like plot developments or character evolutions, but because of the true source of my love for Heroes: the characters being huge freaking dorks. XD

Check out 12_12_12 for shots of Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar being special and touchy. For hilarious excerpts from the deleted scenes on the DVDs. For Milo's attempts to fix the god-awful fashion sense of his fellow castmates. For pictures of the cast in lederhosen. (I am not kidding.)

Also? That entire cast is terribly slashy. And not just Milo and Nathan, but also Milo and ... just about anybody. And Sendhil Ramamurthy and Greg Grunburg. And ... and ... guh.

ETA: Co-executive producer Michael Green on Christopher Eccleston: "Christopher Eccleston gets all the credit for making Claude the badass he is, probably because he’s a ninja in his own right. We were already hoping to get him around the time his scenes were getting written, so we definitely had his voice in mind. Luckily, his voice can make anything sound cool."

XD XD XD

ETA again: Wait wait wait HOW have I not seen "Brokeback Petrellis"??

From a co-worker on her way out the door:

"Once again. This time, with clothing."

"College students should be unformed lumps of clay fired in the kiln of unchallenged thoughts."

Required viewing for anyone who's had to deal with smug, self-assured college students who don't think they need an education. "Now he make double-plus think despite unwell school!"

This is all I've got - I'm pretty much running on fumes right now. If anyone has spare motivation or encouragement to throw my way, it'd be much appreciated.

Ladies and gentlemen, we've finally found proof of objectification in comics.

Is it Greg Land's eternal pornface on women? Nope. Michael Turner's inability to draw a woman's waist wider than her neck? Pssh! Rob Liefeld's ... well, anything? Of course not!

The actual culprit is, of course, Alex Ross. Yes, we all should have known, what with all that suspicious talent and photorealistic painting ability.

Look! He painted a guy who may-or-may-not-have-an-erection-or-on-the-other-hand-may-just-be-flaccid-but-well-endowed!

I mean, clearly we've never seen any female superheroes subjected to this sort of humiliation - drawn with exaggerated sexual body parts or with a hint of possible sexual arousal. And poor Citizen Steel, he's actually portrayed in a powerful pose that emphasizes his strength, rather than being reduced to contorting himself to display all his curves to the viewer at once! The horror!

The worst part of all, of course, is that Alex Ross has forced male comic fans to - gasp! - see a dude's penis. Which, like, totally makes you gay! And isn't! that! terrible! and not a homophobic reaction at all!

I don't know if the male population will ever recover from this setback.

Hat-tip: WFA

Next time you find yourself thinking, I swear I've heard this all before, whip out one of these handy bingo cards!

-Anti-Feminist Bingo by Lauredhel from Hoyden About Town
-Anti-Comics-Feminist Bingo by Karen and Betty at Girl-Wonder.org
-"Geek Girl" Stereotype Bingo by tekanji at Shrub.com
-White Liberal Bingo by i_dreamed_i_was

... In other news, I'm trying desperately to avoid falling into OMG-I-don't-know-what-I'm-DOING panic over the 10 page research paper I have due on Friday. And, um, haven't started. >_> Wish me luck.

Sure, Power Girl has big boobs. Yet she's a strong, independent character with a rich history, plenty of internal struggle that allows her to rise above it and make us see beyond the superficial aspects of her characters appea - sorry, my train of thought has been distracted by the sound of a THOUSAND LOSERS FAPPING.

-Paperghost, in response to the cover of JLA #10.

Yeah, I needed a cheap laugh like that.

The sad thing is, I actually like Michael Turner's style and think he could be a good artist if he just, y'know, learned anatomy.

... writing things in all-caps just makes them seem funnier to me. No, I don't know why.

But maybe that's why I was giggling like a 6 year-old while reading the Girl-Wonder.org caption contest for Ultimate Power #6. "ULTIMATE POWER: WHEN I THINK ABOUT YOU, I TOUCH MYSELF #6 (of 9)." Hee hee.

Or maybe it's just the picture of Ollie in the poster's icon.

I remember that the all-caps was one of the reasons "The Adventures of God" made me laugh so much, back in the day. Apparently, something about big letters tickles me. (If you've never read the fic, do. X-Men + GOD = lolz)

Maybe I should stop dinking around and get back to work. Yeesh, can we tell I'm ready for the weekend?

Thomwade shows us all how to impress female comic book fans in Advice for Artists & Writers: Getting the Elusive Female Audience. My favorite of the list:

6. Trace Porn: If you do decide to go for more realism, trace porn! This way, you get those rare women who want a more plausible body type. And bonus: poses. By tracing porn you can get those realistic poses and facial expressions that occur when fighting villains. You can really capture the closed eyes and wide open mouth that scream "OH YESYESYESYES! I am kicking your assssssssssssssss!" Plus, the girl is already naked, so you can draw the costume as it should be...looking like body paint.

Finally, Greg Land's secret strategy revealed!

Hat-tip: Tekanji.

Young America's Foundation has made a list called The Dirty Dozen: America's Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses.

#6 on the list is a Special Topics course in my Women Studies department titled "Border Crossings, Borderlands: Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Immigration."

GO US!

In the words of my departmental advisor, "I'm deeply disappointed they only picked one and that UW as a university wasn't even ranked."

(Gotta love how they seem to think that one of the really weird and crazy things people could think of studying is ... Native American feminism. 'CAUSE THAT'S SO FREAKY. Racist fucks.)

"She's a female character, and one of two things can happen to her: she'll get raped, or she'll get pregnant."

No, it's funny, I promise. And so true. Extra points for the sci-fi (specifically, BSG) context.

(From Racy Li.)

Stephen Colbert rocks my socks. Again. Last week on an episode of The Colbert Report he did a "Salute to the American Lady," including this segment that hilariously mocks people (men) who say they "aren't sexist."

If you've seen much of Colbert, you'll probably recognize the theme from his "non-racist" remarks. Here's one of my favorite examples, a segment on Senator George Allen trying to prove he isn't a racist fuckwit.

Colbert's satire in general is really well done, and more insightful than I expect even out of most liberal comedians. I'm afraid it goes over a lot of liberals' heads, though, when he mocks the liberal tendencies to be "blind" to race and gender.

Also, here's another bit from the "Salute to the American Lady" episode with Gloria Steinem. *points to icon* I love how she manages to hold her own against Colbert without breaking out of the comedy routine.

First of all, coramegan linked this video from The Daily Show, a collection of clips from the "Even StepVhen" feature with Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert. Hilarious stuff. XD

Also check out this clip from the 9/12/06 episode - or, as Jon Stewart calls it, "the fifth anniversary of the misappropriation of the events of September 11th."

Next, Luke notified us about a documentary called "I Was a Teenage Feminist" that looks worthwhile. There's a trailer, as well as clips showing surveys asking women whether or not they call themselves feminists and men what they think feminists are. (Warning - that last clip made me want to curl up into the safe haven of my feministy friends-list. Or fulfill some stereotypes and go on a castratin' spree.)

It's discouraging, but definitely enlightening, to see what the general public thinks/thinks they know. It's also encouraging, too, to see normal people proclaiming their feminism. I loved how in the second clip, the first woman who says proudly that yes, she is a feminist, is Asian. :D Also, I loved this quote: "Saying I'm a feminist almost seems the same question as asking me whether or not I'm black. I don't really understand why I wouldn't be." XD XD XD

Look out, it's ... ANONYTROLL!

Lock your doors and cower in fear, it's ... ANONYTROLL!

You don't know who it is or what it wants because it's ... ANONYTROLL!

But still you should still tremble before the faceless person on the Internet who may or may not be above the age of 12 because it's ... ANONYTROLL!

( Since Anonytrolls love attention, who am I to deny one? )

I'm in an indulgent mood, so why don't I fulfill Anonytroll's prediction? Indeed, I am riled. Riled, I say! So much riling, I could not be riled further! I have a surfeit of riling!!1

( Rant Powers, activate! )

Alas, Anonytroll probably won't see this because trolling is often a hit-and-run action, but ... I hope that somehow, somewhere, Anonytroll's heart is warmed to know that it outsmarted a random person on the Internet. It's a laudable goal in life and I wish Anonytroll success in its endeavors.

I've been much too serious lately. You know what we need here? We need a list of all the names of the dude from the Space Mutiny episode of MST3K.

Yes, there is "Big McLargeHuge"! But don't miss the thrilling "Punch Rockgroin"! Or the slightly perplexing "Roll Fizzlebeef"! And who could leave out "Crunch Buttsteak"?

And also ... "Bob Johnson." Brilliant, guys, brilliant.

... random things happen to brighten your day.

1) Ice cream at work. I still don't know why we got it, but who's going to say no to black cherry and vanilla ice cream with walnuts and whipped cream?

2) This is for all those silly people who think the Internet is useless - for without it, we would not have things like "Don't Shoot the Puppy." (Link given to me by our receptionist. He is younger and geekier than my other co-workers, so I don't have to pretend to be mature around him.)

On the way out of my neighborhood and to the bus stop, one of the houses I pass by has a giant bush in front of it. It's about six or seven feet tall, and until a few months ago it was so large it bulged out over the sidewalk. This was a bush that would not be contained. Unless you wanted to walk in the street, you would have to duck and squeeze your way by it every time you passed this house.

It is also, apparently, some sort of Mecca for bees in the summer. You can't see them all - the bush is darkly colored, and most of them are inside somewhere - but you can hear them, a loud and steady ominous hum. Last summer, as I passed by the bush every morning, I thought of it affectionately as "The Wall of Bees please to not kill me kthx."

A few months ago, the owners of the house apparently decided that terrorizing the neighbors was no longer fun, and hacked off most of the protruding branches, so now the bush is mostly concave. Easy to slip by - and now that summer is approaching again, no longer a Wall of Bees so much as a sort of ... Bush-Cave of Bees.

Anyway, so I thought I wouldn't have any problems going by the bush this morning - and I didn't - but a few steps past it, I noticed a strange looking pile, about two feet in diameter. It looked like a pile of small leaves or tree bits or ... bees. A GIANT PILE OF BEES. YAUGH.

I stopped myself before I could step into the pile and cause them all to rise up and slay me, but still - what. The. Hell. Pile of bees.

(I don't normally have a problem with insects or spiders and such, but for some reason, swarms of small wriggling things make my toes curl.)

So that was my morning. Also, this. It's actually almost too much Jesus-mocking for my tastes (shock), but I figure there are some of you out there who would enjoy it. XD;;