Man, I really have to catch up on The Legend of Korra now, don’t I?
In Russia, game tests you!
“Epic game development” – A development process where a lot of important information (location of critical resources, build-in cheat codes, status of some sub-systems) never gets written down, but instead is passed by the word of mouth from developer to developer, like a folk tale. Most game development in Russia is Epic.
—Anonymous, explaining some terms unique to Russian video game testers.
How to win the “hearts and minds” of dickwolf-loving folks
That was absolutely beautiful, and actually changed my mind about the Dickwolf shirts.
Internet confession: I was the one who yelled “bring them back”. I didn’t do it because I hate feminists. I didn’t do it because I hate women. I did it because I felt like those shirts were a justified “fuck you” to a section of humans that were rallying, unnecessarily, against a good joke. I didn’t know how wrong I was until right now.
Thanks for helping me straighten that out in my head.
—Penny Arcade fan Justin Winzey gains a level in Sensitivity, thanks to MC Frontalot. Read MC’s essay first, then scroll to read this comment.
Trisha’s Take: The next step in fixing the “Mike Krahulik Problem” at Penny Arcade
My reaction when I feel backed into corner is to be an asshole. It’s essentially how I defend myself. It’s been that way since was in elementary school. I’m 36 now. Maybe it’s finally time to try and let some of that shit go.
—Mike Krahulik, explaining how he reacts to criticism on Twitter.
When I first heard that Penny Arcade creator and artist Mike Krahulik had stated at the recent PAX Prime during a Q & A panel led by president Robert Khoo that it was a “mistake” for them to pull the “Team Dickwolves” T-shirts from their store, I was shocked, but not surprised.
If you haven’t seen the remarks in context yet, press play on the video below, fast-forwarding to about 22:09 minutes in:
Khoo has just asked founders/creators Krahulik and co-founder/writer Jerry Holkins if there were any mistakes that they think that Khoo has made as their business manager. Here’s a transcript of Krahulik’s prompt, out-of-the gate reply:
Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: The next step in fixing the “Mike Krahulik Problem” at Penny Arcade“
Trisha’s Cosplay Pic of the Day: Princess Leia at San Diego Comic Con
A long time ago, on an Internet far, far away, Carrie Goldman’s parenting blog “Portrait of an Adoption” was swarmed by Star Wars fans who wanted to show her daughter Katie that it was totally okay for girls to like the movie and series.
Now, Goldman is at San Diego Comic Con to moderate the con’s first-ever panel about “anti-bullying” on Sunday at 4:00 pm in Room 4, featuring panelists like NOH8 founder Adam Bouska, TV writer Jane Espenson (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Once Upon a Time”), and voice actor and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Her Universe). She’s also there to promote the book she wrote, Bullied: What Every Parent, Teacher, and Kid Needs to Know About Ending the Cycle of Fear, which grew out of her work with Katie’s school to address the “bullying” problem.
And like most people who go to Comic Con for the first time, Goldman posted a selection of her favorite photos of people in cosplay. But what strikes me about her selection of photos and captions is that Goldman emphasizes how much fun everyone in her photos is having or how great they look, not how “hot” or “sexy” or whatever.
(Also, this Princess Leia? So much gravitas!)
It’s a nice, refreshing change, and if her panel goes well tomorrow, I hope to see more of this kind of refreshing change when viewing cosplay galleries.
Trisha’s Link of the Day: “The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage”
If you were to ask me where you could find a webcomic which tells the tale of Charles Babbage’s self-proclaimed war against street musicians, I wouldn’t have had any recommendations for you… until now.
With its tongue lodged firmly within its cheek, I present to you this short story arc out of “2D Goggles or The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage,” lovingly entitled “The Organist” by Canadian illustrator Sydney Padua.
Much thanks to Jane Irwin and her comic Clockwork Game for the hat tip.
Trisha’s Quote of the Day: Why joke-thieves will never prosper
But why is it—and this only seems to apply to comedy—that some people so deeply resent those that can write jokes, can invent new perceptions of the world that actually make people laugh? Resent them so much that they have to denigrate the entire profession, just so they can feel better about themselves? Do they really think they’re less of a person if they can’t make up a joke, or be funny in the moment? Why is it so crucial to them? Is it because all of us, at some point of darkness or confusion or existential despair, were amazed at how absurd a thing as a simple joke suddenly lit the way, or warmed the cold, or made the sheer, horrific insanity that sometimes comes with being alive suddenly, completely, miraculously manageable?
Those people—the public and, sadly, a lot of journalists—those people were my target, in all of my seemingly “unmeasured responses” to thievery. Because I can’t stop joke thieves. They’re always going to be there.
But what I can hopefully stop—or, at least, change for the better—is the public (and media’s) response to joke thieves, by hammering away at this same, exhausting refrain every time I see some thumb-sucking “think piece” by a writer who should fucking know better, cyber-quacking away about “cover songs” and “vaudeville” and a million other euphemisms and deflections away from the simple fact that an uncreative person took a creative person’s work, signed their name to it, and passed it off as their own for their personal glorification, monetary benefit and career advancement. There’s no wiggle room there. Even the thieves know that, better than the dullards who are rationalizing and defending them.
—Comedian/actor Patton Oswalt, educating the media on why he’ll never be sympathetic to joke-thieves. The other two parts on heckling and the ongoing discussion about rape jokes are worth reading as well.
Geekly Speaking About… Cameras, Cosplayers, and Consent
Even though it’s been a long time since I went to an anime convention, I remember how exciting and how much fun they are to attend. I also remember how much drama can surround an anime convention, especially when it comes to cosplayers and the people who like to take pictures of them. The topic of today’s podcast surrounds the dealer’s room at the recently concluded AnimeNEXT convention in Somerset, New Jersey, and one dealer in particular who decided that the next innovation in images on body pillows should be actual human cosplayers. Read along with us using the links below, and then listen to the podcast to untangle the legal issues involved.
- Here’s the article which prompted it all, written by Linwood Knight. As a side note, one thing that I think Knight should have disclosed in this article is that he, too, used to be a staff member at AnimeNEXT. I also believe it was irresponsible of OH! Entertainment to use the AnimeNEXT logo to illustrate its article.
- Later, Knight was able to get some commentary on the issue from the dealer in question, Eric Pearce from 2 Image Solutions. Don’t click that link, though, because the website has been disabled, either by Pearce himself or by the webhost.
- One of the affected cosplayers, this is Marie Grey’s account of her interactions with Pearce and how the situation was handled.
- Finally, Pearce’s decision to pull the product from general sale can be found on his DeviantArt site.
- And just for completeness, you can contact our legal commentator James Renken through his website.
In short, this kind of incident could have been easily avoided by all 93 of the cosplayers if they’d just read the agreement carefully, questioned its provisions, and/or refused to sign. That’s why the “Contractual Obligations” episode of “Strip Search” has been the most important one, and the one that all creative fans need to watch.
Here’s hoping everyone involved has learned a valuable lesson.
Trisha’s Video of the Day: GODDAMNIT, Neil Patrick Harris!
Why the fuck can’t the people who put on the Oscars have this much fun with opening numbers?
Also. while not as epic as his closing rap number from 2011 (check out how it was written!), his closing number with singer/actress Audra McDonald as also quite sweet.
Trisha’s Take: “Star Trek Continues: Pilgrim of Eternity” review
Star Trek Continues – “Pilgrim of Eternity”
Directed by Vic Mignogna
Written by Steve Fratt and Jack Trevino
Story by Vic Mignogna and Jack Marshall
Starring Vic Mignogna, Todd Haberkorn, Larry Nemeck, Chris Doohan, Grant Imahara, and featuring Michael Forrest
Rating: This series is suitable for all-ages.
As a bit of a disclaimer, I was never really into the Star Trek franchise as a young geek. The Original Series was long gone before I was born, and since my parents aren’t into fiction that strays too far from reality, I didn’t watch “Star Trek: The Next Generation” with my parents, like many of my fellow geeks did with theirs. Therefore, when I heard that anime voice actor Vic Mignogna was involved with a project to continue the original serial, I didn’t think too much of the project at first.
At the same time, this is the same Vic Mignogna who produced his own fan-film for Fullmetal Alchemist titled “Fullmetal Fantasy” where he dreams that after receiving a replica State Alchemist pocket watch, he has transformed into main character Edward Elric and that everyday people around him have been transformed into characters from the series; this is definitely a form of meta-fan service as Mignogna is the English dub voice for Edward Elric. According to Mignogna, there were some legal issues regarding his showing it at anime conventions for a while; this ban seems to have been lifted since the short film has now shown up on Mignogna’s concert DVD.
I believe I saw “Fullmetal Fantasy” within the first year of its debut in either 2004 or 2005, and I remember being impressed with how professional it all looked, even to the point of one of the scenes taking place during a rainstorm, one of the most expensive effects to reproduce for filming. After doing some more research on the production staff of Star Trek Continues and learning that Steve Dengler, philanthro-geek extraordinaire was an executive producer, I knew I had to see at least one full episode. Continue reading “Trisha’s Take: “Star Trek Continues: Pilgrim of Eternity” review”