kate

jigokuen:

My piece for Qpop's Sailormoon Tribute Show! Come by and say hello and check out equally cool arts!

Have I ever mentioned that my favorite movie is Studio Ghibli's Laputa, the Castle in the Sky? I don't mean animated movie, or movie from Japan. Just my favorite movie of all time. I'll admit that a lot of that is nostalgia talking, but no matter how many times I watch it, the movie never bores me, with romantic elements like air pirates, girls falling out of the sky (literally) and grand castles floating in the sky. I probably watch the movie at least once a year, but I still get all excited when the movie shows the legendary floating island of Laputa for the first time.

Young Luke Triton finds a similar legend in his "Legendary Mysteries", a book on legends from all over the world. The wandering castle is said to be floating in the sky, appearing all over England. And also, right above Luke's head. The castle disappears just as fast as it appeared though, and puzzled by this, Luke hopes his mentor, the famous archaeologist Professor Layton, will be able to explain this mystery to him. However, it appears that more people have seen the castle: Layton is asked by his old friend Andrew Schrader to find out what happened to Thomas McLuhan. McLuhan disappeared while on his way to his family home up in the north of England, leaving only a letter saying he saw the wandering castle and plans to go there. Layton, Luke and Layton's somewhat bumbling friend Jeremy Campbell decide to travel to the north to unravel this mystery in Layton Kyouju to Sayamoeru Shiro ("Professor Layton and the Wandering Castle").

Level-5's Professor Layton franchise is one of the more surprising hits of the last few years, as the games starring the English gentleman professor are built practically entirely out of puzzles and riddles. Sure, Layton and Luke are always on a different kind of adventure, be it investigating a curious village, or being aboard of a spooky Orient Express-esque train, but in the end, it's always about the puzzles. You see that, Luke? That reminds me of a puzzle. You shall not pass! Unless you solve this puzzle! It's too late, I switched on the Doomsday Device! But you can switch it off with a puzzle! I wish the real world worked like this. And despite the games being essentially big compilations of puzzles, they have been consistently extremely succesful all over the world, and have also spawned other media like theatrical releases and novels.

(And while I am describing the games as puzzle collections and thus may sound dismissive, I have enjoyed all six of them. Well, all except Miracle Mask. Sorry. Heck, I even played the spin-off game)

The games consists mostly about puzzles, but the story is basically a mystery story, in a very broad sense of the word. The world of Professor Layton is a steampunk end-of-century England, with a dash of fantasy, so as myseries, the stories are seldom fair to the player, but they are presented as detective stories. One could say that Professor Layton is more about a detective (Layton solving puzzles and mysteries), rather than really being a fair detective story itself. That didn't stop the professor from doing a fantastic crossover game with one of the greatest detective game franchises ever, though.

But back to the Professor Layton and the Wandering Castle. It's obviously a spin-off novel (set after Professor Layton and Pandora's Box, for those interested), written by mystery writer Yanagihara Kei.  The book is aimed at younger readers (children~young adults), something facilitated by the narration by the professor's young apprentice Luke. As a boy's adventure with a bit of mystery, a bit of science fiction and a bit of fantasy, Professor Layton and the Wandering Castle is really amusing.  The professor and Luke act like they do in the games, and the mystery they try to solve (the floating castle), is definitely something that fits in with the rest of the series. It's a fun adventure, and like the games, things keep moving and new story developments are presented to you constantly as other wind up, keeping momentum right until the end. You don't need to have extensive knowledge of the games either to dive into the book (you could even do without easily), so a lot better than something like Danganronpa/Zero (also a spin-off of a game). Like the Layton games however, you shouldn't expect a fair play orthodox mystery: expect science fiction and fantasy-esque twists and turns, but that's part of the package.

And Professor Layton wouldn't be Professor Layton if you weren't presented with a puzzle once in a while. At certain points of the story, the reader is presented with a puzzle like in the games (for example, one early puzzle is a coded message). This is fun in theory, as it feels like one of those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style stories, but you don't actually need to solve these puzzles to continue with the story and they feel kinda artificial in the story. Granted, that's also the case with the puzzles in the games ("Thanks for opening the door. Hey, that reminds me of a puzzle"), but in the games, you have to solve at least some of them to continue. Here you can just turn over a page, and you'll have Layton saying "every puzzle has an answer!" (but not really commenting on the puzzle in detail).

But what am I complaining about? As a Professor Layton novel, and as a children's mystery novel, Professor Layton and the Wandering Castle is quite fun, doing every thing you'd expect from something with the professor's name on it.

 Original Japanese title(s): 柳原慧　『レイトン教授とそまよえる城』

Skim the news nowadays and you're bound to encounter two political storylines seemingly at odds with each other. They appear side by side in major news outlets; sometimes even in the same headline. In the first storyline, the Republican Party is at war with itself, divided between establishment and tea party, staring down its own demise as the nation's demographics change and majorities of Americans embrace Democratic positions on gun rights, immigration, marriage equality, and other important issues.

Yet in the second storyline, the GOP is ascendant, poised to grow its majority in the House of Representatives and—more significantly—win back control of the US Senate in the 2014 midterms. Senate Republicans are already planning their majority agenda, divvying up committee chairmanships.

How can this be?

News stories galore have explored one or the other of these narratives, but never reconciled them. Here's how the Republican Party is on the brink of a meltdown…yet on track to retake Congress in November.

Luck of the Draw
The GOP is on pace for major gains in 2014, in part because of luck. Democrats stand little chance of winning back the House. They would need to erase the GOP's 17-seat majority, while successfully defending their own members, including 13 incumbents in toss-up races. (RealClearPolitics rates only three House GOP races as toss-ups, which has at least something to do with Republican gerrymandering of congressional districts at the state level.)

The real action this year is on the Senate side. And looking at the 2014 Senate electoral map, this much is clear: Republicans were dealt a good hand.

There are 36 Senate seats up for grabs this year, and the GOP needs to pick up 6 of them (while defending those it now controls) to reclaim the majority. Seventeen of those 36 seats are held by Democrats running for reelection, and 4 are open seats once held by Democrats. The Republicans, on the other hand, have 12 Republican incumbents up for reelection and three open races for seats previously held by Republicans. So that's 21 seats the Democrats must defend to 15 for the Republicans.

With fewer seats to defend, the Republican Party and right-leaning super-PACs and nonprofits have more leeway to invest in advertising and voter mobilization to flip seats now held by the Democrats.

The Obama Factor
President Obama's popularity is in the tank. At the moment, a paltry 43 percent of Americans say he's doing a good job; his approval rating hasn't touched 50 percent since June 2013. Those numbers have a significant effect on his party's prospects in 2014.

Historically, the performance of the president's party in midterm elections tracks closely with that president's own standing. Unpopular Obama? Expect a dismal election cycle for Democrats.

On this subject, we turn to the generic congressional ballot, which pits a hypothetical "Democrat" against a hypothetical "Republican." FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver calls the generic ballot the "single best measure of the national political environment." The Democrats need a lead in the generic ballot to minimize their losses this fall. Right now, however, the generic ballot shows Democrats and Republicans in a dead heat—bad news for the Ds. And as FiveThirtyEight's Harry Enten recently pointed out, the president's party almost always loses ground in the general ballot between the spring and fall of a midterm election year. In other words, the already grim outlook for the Democrats will likely worsen by Election Day.

Obama's sagging approval numbers could neutralize the party's advantage when it comes to voter turnout and demographics. Young people prefer the Democratic Party to the GOP in huge numbers—in 2012, Obama took 60 percent of the vote among those younger than 30. The same goes for minorities, who turned out in historically high numbers in 2012 and backed the president by huge margins. But this is an off-presidential year, independents are disappointed in Obama's second term, and excitement is muted among young and minority voters. For all these reasons, it will be harder to mobilize Democratic voters on Election Day.

On the GOP side, the party's base of older white voters is angry. They're ticked off about Obamacare, and they're eager to express their outrage at the ballot box. Even though white voters' share of the electorate continues to shrink every four years, poor turnout among young people and minorities and high turnout by the GOP's base spells success for the Republican Party.

"The Sixth-Year Curse"
Don't blame Obama entirely for the potential Republican takeover of the Senate. History, too, is very much on the GOP's side.

Young and minority voters have a habit—Obama or not—of skipping midterm elections. As political analyst Ronald Brownstein pointed out, young voters made up 19 percent of all voters in the seven presidential elections between 1984 and 2008. But two years after each of those elections, young voters' share of the electorate sunk to 13 percent—a big enough drop to put a dent in the Democrats' chances.

Since 2002, the same has been true of minority voters. "One reason Democrats were routed in 2010," Brownstein writes, "is that the minority share of the vote dropped 3 full points from its 26 percent level in 2008."

For a combination of reasons and circumstances—scandals, economic downturns, fragile political coalitions—history does not favor the party of the president during his sixth year in office. In five of the last six second-term midterms, the party in control of the White House lost, on average, six Senate seats and 29 House seats, according to the political analyst Charlie Cook. In fact, no president dating back to the Civil War has picked up Senate seats for his own political party, writes the scholar Colleen Shogan. Only President Bill Clinton in 1998 managed to accomplish the seemingly impossible, breaking even in the Senate and gaining five seats in the House.

So…Do The Democrats Have Any Hope?
A glimmer, maybe. On the House side, Democrats would need another headline-grabbing GOP debacle—a major political scandal, another gridlock-caused shutdown—to see their fortunes rise. It's happened before: The many overreaches by the Newt Gingrich-led House in the mid-1990s helped the Democrats gain seats in the 1998 midterms. On the Senate side, Democrats are praying for more Todd Akins—that is, gaffe-prone, far-right candidates who, as Akin did in Missouri in 2012, win their primaries and then implode.

That's not as likely in 2014. The slate of establishment Republicans up for reelection—Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, among others—appear to have learned from 2012. They're taking their primary campaigns seriously by raising boatloads of cash and securing key endorsements. The only Republican incumbent who faces a viable challenger is Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi. If the tea party only manages to knock off Cochran, and the rest of the GOP incumbents win their primaries, the odds of another Akin calamity are slim.

What Could 2014 Tell Us About the Future?
The 2014 midterms could worsen the pendulumlike pattern of US elections. In 2008 and 2012, we saw the rise of what some pundits call the "modern Democratic coalition"—young people, minorities, and women. That coalition turned out en masse to elect a Democratic president and Democratic lawmakers. But in off-year elections, youth and minority turnout drops off while a shrinking but fired-up Republican base springs into action to vote out the Democrats.

If this becomes a pattern, as Ronald Brownstein suggests it might, the effect on Congress and policymaking could be disastrous. "The problem," he writes, "is that these tectonic forces are pushing toward divided government precisely as the parties are displaying ever-less ability to make it work."

Let’s have a look at some upcoming Free Comic Book Day titles, today from Dark Horse Comics who have two offerings, the first in all stores, the second in some. First Saturday of May, remember! I think I’ll be bringing a bevy of children to London’s stores with me…

Avatar/Hellboy/Juice Squeezers

By Gene Luen Yang, Faith Erin Hicks and more.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sokka follows Suki as she gives a lesson in manners and encourages a young girl’s strength. Itty Bitty Hellboy has fun toying with nemesis Rasputin, and the Juice Squeezers crew leap into action to defend one of their own against a persistent bully. Hilarity ensues!

Project Black Sky by Michael Broussard.

When a biological weapon is hijacked from a secret facility in Nevada, the president calls in two of his top guns: Captain Midnight and Brain Boy! Will the two disparate heroes, a time-displaced inventor from World War II and a snotty psychic Secret Service agent, be able to work together to stop the threat released from Block 13? And what does the mysterious rogue agency Project Black Sky have to do with it?!

Preview: Dark Horse’s Free Comic Book Day’s Offerings For 2014

GTO, Future Diary, Liar Game, Iryu, Switch Girl, this spring's Gokuaku Ganbo, more

emeraldcitycomicon:

Did you guys see the preview io9 posted today of the Winter is Coming art show coming to LTD Art Gallery ltdartgallery? It’s an art show full of pieces inspired by George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels. It will be at LTD from March 1st to 23rd, and then will be appearing at Emerald City Comicon! That’s right, all the beautiful art will be available for ECCC attendees to see during the convention.

Here’s the full list of the artists involved:

• Aaron Jasinski jasinskiart
• Alexander Laccarino thatkidwhodraws
• AMOK
• Augie Pagan
• Barry Blankenship
• Braden Duncan
• Brian Ewing brianewing
• Brian Rood
• Bruce Yan
• Camilla d’Errico camilladerricoart
• Carl Faulkner
• Carolina Eade
• Cody Vrosh codyvrosh
• Conor Nolan conornolanart
• Craig Drake craigdrake
• Cris Griffin
• David Kloc davekloc
• Donato Giancola
• Emiliz Tolibas
• Guillame Morellec
• Jae Drummond
• Jarreau Wimberly
• Jason Engle
• Jen Zee jenzeejunk
• Jim Burns
• Jonathan Bergeron johnnycrap
• Jonathan Seright
• Kali Ciesemier kalidraws
• Katie Wheeler
• Lannie Pihajlic
• Levi Hastings
• Maj Askew shootaskew
• Marc Simonetti marcsimonetti
• Marco Cardonna
• Mark Englert
• Mark Evans
• Marc Fishman
• Meghan Stratman
• Mick Minougue
• Mike Moses sufferme
• Nan Lawson nanlawsketch
• Nicolas Delort nicolasdelort
• Paul Ainsworth paidesign
• Rhodora Jacob rhodora-jacob
• Rich Werner
• Ruel Pascual ruelpascual
• Sam Bosma sbosma
• Sam Wood
• Sam Ho nosmallvictories
• Scott Campbell
• Sean Closson thecoffeeisblack
• Siolo Thompson
• Stacey Aoyama
• Primary Hughes primaryhughes

Y’all into GAME OF THRONES???

Oh hey! It looks like my ADVENTURE TIME: THE FLIP SIDE #5 variant cover has been released, for Boom Studios! I was given “Western Movies” as a theme for the cover, and I asked if I could do the lettering too. I had a good time with this!

Spaghetti Western posters are pretty fun, the mashup of ＊60’s design＊ with ★cowboys★ is a good combo, and I was basically taking my cues from the awesome posters for A Fistful of Dollars and Death Rides a Horse.

lordtimeblogposts:

X-Men  Class Yearbook Photos; Art by Evan “Doc” Shaner art by George Kambadais; Art by Rogan Josh; Art by Russell Dauterman; Art by Thugg; Art by Kris Anka
 

Love seeing these together!

Methinks mine needs color?

s-c-i-guy:

fuckyeahdinoart:

Dinosaur pattern rolling pin

I require this

discostatisco:

beben-eleben:

29 Life-Changing Quesadillas You Need To Know About

PORNOGRAPHY

“I realize you can’t read my mind, but do your best.”

Astro Boy/Mighty Atom's 11th birthday celebrated with collection of 170 items

Kotobukiya has posted a teaser for its upcoming Bishoujo Freddy Krueger, which is very loosely based on the iconic villain from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise... basically amounting to an attractive female cosplaying as the dream demon-empowered nightmare.

While the idea continues to be a glorious train wreck, the experience may be somewhat soured by Kotobukiya's decision to use translucent hair (a widely disliked trend in collectibles today). However, judging just from the the teaser, the Bishuojo Freddy is still on track to be a completely WTF! figure perfectly suited to sitting on your coffee table where it will baffle visitors.

Akiko Higashimura's manga about jobless illustrator among roommates with diehard hobbies

UK indie developer NotGames has launched a new game called NotGTAV, an extremely low-budget PC parody of Rockstar's popular open-world action adventure, set in the UK. The game lets you: harass sheep in rural Wales, raid a LIDL in Swindon and play as David Cameron in London running over liberals and public sector workers," according to Eurogamer.

read more

With a complete guide to a Satanic wedding. I know what I’m doing this weekend.

 

Photo of Kalustyan’s via

Five years of MoCCA at the Lexington Armory! We’ve seen a lot of pizza come and go. Although the area surrounding the Armory is both drab and expensive, because of its proximity to the Baruch College campus, there are several cheap and tasty eats nearby. Due to the whirlwind churn of real estate over the last 12 months, some of the new spots in the neighborhood are totally unknown to us—and some old favorites, like Baoguette (now a Subway), are just a memory. (Also gone, the Chinese bakery and all the other cheep eats next to SVA on 23rd. This is really a sad sad time for the 99%.) But one thing is certain — if you like Indian food, you have come to the right place.

Also, read on for the best cauliflower and best brussels sprouts you are EVER likely to eat.

I’ve marked NEW listings below.

Old Favorites:

• ROOMALI (On 27th between Lex and 3rd):
Curry Hill, as it is often called, is filled with great Indian cuisine, but this is the best fast food in the area. An incredible bargain. Last time we checked it was $12 for TWO chicken roti rolls — basically an Indian burrito — which will feed TWO hungry cartoonists for lunch. Throw in a mango lassi and you are well under $10 per person. The roti here are fresh grilled and filled with a well-spiced mix of chicken, egg white and veggies. There are also vegetarian options.

• LAMAZOU (3rd Avenue and 27th St.): A neighborhood gem, and home of some of the best sandwiches in the city. Lamazou is one of the city’s finest cheese shops and their sandwiches are ALL amazing. The egg salad is made with Roquefort for extra kick, and all the cheeses are aged to a loamy goodness. The cold cuts are all top notch as well — Prosciutto di Parma and Serrano ham. We know people who go to Lamazou every day and just go down the list of sandwiches — every one is a journey into flavor. Also, a bargain — a half but still filling sandwich is under $7. You can get a full sized for under $10 for a hearty appetite. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

• Luu’s Baguette (134 26th, just off Lexington) Vietnamese food in New York is pretty indifferent north of Chinatown, and I would have to say this is the only authentic pho you’ll find north of Chinatown. It isn’t as good as Baoguette but you can get passable banh mi, pho noodle soup, and a variety of hot and cold drinks including the rocket fuel known as Vietnamese coffee, hot or iced. Ingredients include ripe, so tread lightly. Luu’s isn’t geat but is if very cheap — all the entrees are under $10 — and if you are just in the mood for Vietnamese it will get the job done.

• SHAKE SHACK (in Madison Square Park, 23rd and Madison):
The lines are sure to be horrific, but people still love this place. When it started, the idea of eating a good burger outside in a park seemed like a complete novelty luxury for outside starved New Yorkers, but now it’s an institution. I don’t eat burgers, but when I do…etc etc. Many more gourmet burger spots have opened nearby, but again, as a non-beef eater I can’t recommend any of them more than another. If you must get Shake Shack, enjoy.

• NUM PANG — As much as I loved my Baoguette, this Cambodian-styled sandwich shop has more varied offerings, including salad version of all the sandwiches. The coconut tiger shrimp sandwich was full of both tiger shrimp and coconut—can’t say that happens often enough. I’ve had to avoid this place to avoid pigging out on the bread but everything I’ve had was off the hook.

NEW • Ilili Box food cart in Madison Square Park (24th and Broadway) — I’m hoping this will be open for the season now. Ilili is a spendy but tasty Lebanese restaurant a few blocks away that should be better known, but you can get reasonably priced portions of their specialities here, including a sumac chicken sandwich and the BEST BRUSSELS SPROUTS I EVER HAD. They come braised with grapes, fig jam, vinegar, walnuts and mint yogurt—be forewarned it’s very sweet but you won’t be able to stop eating it. I also like their two lemonades, one red with blood orange and basil, one green with mint and cucumber. Think of this as gourmet falafel cart food.

NEW • GREAT SICHUAN (363 Third Avenue) — There are a lot of “grand” and “great” Sichuan restaurants in Manhattan but this is one of the better ones, with Michelin Guide rankings for several years. Service can be…adventurous. The soup dumplings are excellent and you’re better off with Sichuan specialties than “american Chinese” food like General Tso. Honestly, if you want Chinese go to Chinatown.

INDIA CALLING

• DHABA – 108 Lexington (Between 27th and 28th). GREAT FOR VEGETARIANS. The best Indian food in Curry Hill in The Beat‘s opinion. They offer authentic Punjabi food as well as English-style indian dishes like vindaloo. Our favorite: the chaats, street snacks made from various combinations of chutneys, puffed rice, potatoes patties, mint and tamarind. YUM. And only $6-8 each. If you’re into the current craze for cauliflower, the aloo gobi here is the best I’ve ever had — grilled and chewy on the outside, sweet and creamy on the inside. Be prepared for a looong wait if you go for dinner however. RECOMMENDED

NEW • Chote Nawab (115 Lexington at 28th) — owned by the same restaranteur as Dhaba (and nearby Korum) this offers more northeast Indian styled meat-based dishes — the giant lamb burger is a particular treat, as the Voice’s Robert Sietsema noted. The menu is an eclectic mix of treats from all over India, offering unusual flavorings. RECOMMENDED

NEW • Unnamed chaat place on the corner of 27th and Lex — (99 Lexington) This brand new place stands were my beloved Curry Leaf once sat, but it’s a more modern take on Indian food with street foods—chaats—from all over India. I have yet to check it out but maybe MoCCA will be the time!

• More Indian food: most of the places in the Curry Hill strip between 27th and 28th on Lexington have improved greatly in recent years, and many have fans. Some people swear by the vegetarian Saravana Bhavan, but it’s not a fave of mine.

• KALBQ — 36 Lexington (below 24th) — I cannot claim that these Korean-Mexican tacos are great, but if you’ve never had one, here they are. Still no definitive review on this one.

• WAHOO’S FISH TACOS 333 Park Ave. South (between 24th and 25th) You cannot get a great fish taco in New York City, and even this eastern outpost of the Cali/Texas staple can’t do it. However, they have a lot of vegetarian options, salads and the like. I’d call the food here just okay, but the salads are fresh, which cannot always be said for local stuff.

• EATALY (entrance on Fifth Avenue, inside the old Toy building) — Not new, but still fun to go to. I still like their sandwiches, their amazing iced cappuccino, and the focaccia. For an afternoon iced or hot cappucino this is a fun place to go with real Italian ambiance. Or for $10 you can get a pound of grilled brussels spouts at the hot food bar. For me Eataly is about two things: the home made bread and the great coffee drinks. If you want to spend $12 for a glass of wine, it will be lively and quaffable. The pizza here is also excellent. Face it, it’s a Battali/Bastianich joint so everything is going to be just fine. WARNING: Eataly tends to be mad crowded on weekends so get there early for a morning cappuccino and pastry and then avoid.

• But what about the pizza? Despite being the authentic New York City food, I cannot claim that any of the local spots are worth more than a hail mary pass. Vezzo (Lex and 31st) is legit good but it’s a sit down place. Forcella on park aslso has fans but is is NOT CHEAP. If you are looking for a slice, you are on your own, alas.

I NEED COFFEE

• They finally opened a Starbucks for the Baruch college crowd, just below KalBQ on Lex between 24th and 25th. Neighborhood twist: there is some kind of halfway house on the corner and weird bum-type people hang out in front muttering to themselves. Also, Eataly, and Gregory’s, on Park between 25th and 26th, which has my beloved cold-press iced coffee. FIKA ESPRESSO BAR has opened a closer outpost, at 303 Park Avenue South, just above 23rd. For authentic Swedish style espresso and coffee.

NEW Mystery Bubble Tea place: (corner of 25th and Lex, right across from the Armory) — haven’t been here yet so let’s try it together! It replaced a froyo joint so it is already a winner in my book.

AVOID the mystery coffee across the street from the Armory. It is always deserted, and the one time I ordered an iced coffee there they didn’t know how to make one. It takes some effort to be an empty coffee house around the corner from a college, but they did it!

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO COOK:

EATALY, see above — imported Italian ingredients, pestos, fresh veggies including exotic garlics, truffles by the ounce: spendy but intriguing.

KALUSTYAN’S (123 Lexington between 28th and 29th): I rate this as a MUST SEE. Tis is probably the coolest thing in the whole neighborhood. Although it bills itself as an Asian spice store, they have gourmet delicacies and staples from around the world, including some Brit treats: Future Mr. Beat buys his brown sauce, Branson pickles and disgusting Marmite here. The spice selection is dizzying, with every kind of sauce or spice blend or special ingredient from Asia — fish sauce, tom yum paste, ras el harout, dried apricots, black garlic, preserved lemons, rose water, 117 kinds of honey…your mind will boggle and your foodie imagination will run wild. Plus there is a little deli upstairs that sells reasonable Indian food. Also if you are looking for something sweet, grab a chunk of honey pistachio baklava — just don’t touch your comics stock afterwards! BONUS: it’s next door to the building where Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as president following the assassination of President McKinley!

BARS:

Sadly, Murray Hill/Flatiron bars are mostly ghastly sports bars beloved of an obnoxious jerk/jock/douchebag crowd. You will find the many Irish bars of the neighborhood get the job done (although none are cheap) but avoid anything that looks vaguely trendy. You will regret it. The only place I drink regularly is the RODEO BAR (3rd and 27th). Seriously, the bars of Murray Hill are legendarily horrific. The Mad Hatter is also a lot of fun and they are MoCCA friendly —they are showing the NCAA on Saturday, but will be free on Sunday night for our traditional hang out.

NEW • WHITMAN AND BLOOM (384 Third Avenue) — if you want to experience authentic Manhattanite cuisine and ambiance—that is, overpriced and douchey—this is one of the few places where the stink of entitlement actually turns into the hospitality that normal people aspire too. Happy hour runs until 6 on Saturday and ALL DAY Sunday with $5 beers, $6 wines and $7 artisanal cocktails. Yep that’s what passes for cheap in Manhattan. The decor here is truly breathtaking though, as what was once an Ernest Shackleton-themed pick-up bar (!) has been turned into a lofty yet warm Victorian library. It’s possible that living in Murray Hill has raised my threshhold for expensive and “farm to table” however, so your mileage may vary.

Do you have a favorite eatery in the neighborhood? Have you found pizza? Share in the comments!

!!!SPOILER WARNING!!! THIS POST ASSUMES YOU’VE SEEN ALL OF KILL LA KILL

Kill la Kill has been a fairly controversial show since its start. Back in the early episodes I remember seeing a great deal of questions suspicious of what I’d call the anime’s “integrity.” Does this story have any legs or is is just a random assortment of wacky and violent things? Is there a solid sense of character development at work, or is it all style and flash? Are the ridiculously skimpy outfits there to titillate or to make a point?

In other words, is the show smart or stupid?

For those who’ve watched through to the end, I think the answer is pretty clear: much like the question of whether Ryuko and Senketsu are human or clothing, Kill la Kill is neither smart nor stupid, yet it’s also smart and stupid.

I’m oversimplifying the point in the hope of expressing my thoughts succinctly, so let me elaborate.

A lot of features of Kill la Kill simultaneously buck and conform to convention. Traditionally, when we think of narrative in anime, we think of it as the visual style serving the plot, but in a lot of cases Kill la Kill shifts between which facet, narrative or style, takes priority, and sometimes they act as equals. In this last regard, I think one of the best moments to showcase this in Kill la Kill is Satsuki’s apology to Ryuko, where her characteristic blinding aura takes on new meaning.

Kill la Kill also encompasses both of anime-as-animation’s dual personas. Is anime a detailed and expressive medium which breathes life into its characters, or is it a series of creative money-saving cheats honed through decades to become a craft all of its own? In Kill la Kill, while it’s easy to tell which moments are which, often the scenes which exemplify the latter quality of anime are so smart and effective that I wouldn’t be surprised if people preferred them to be “static” shortcuts.

When it comes to anime and pop culture references, the series is rife with them. Yet, there’s no need to “get” them to enjoy the show, or to take meaning from it. I’m 90% sure that Ryuko and Senketsu’s decent to Earth is a reference to the ending to Zambot 3, only the show takes the extremely bittersweet conclusion of Zambot 3 and turns it into something more sweet than bitter.

(Pay attention to the last 6 minutes or so. Also, Zambot 3 spoilers of course).

What about the theme of clothing? Did it truly serve the show in the end? When Senketsu burns up in the atmosphere and tells Ryuko that all girls stop wearing their school uniforms eventually, while it doesn’t explain everything in the show, it does highlight one of the consistent themes of the series, which is that it’s about girls growing into women. The moments of embarrassment, the rebelliousness and desire to make up for lost time, there are a lot of different threads at work here (pardon the pun), which may not be entirely consistent, but it doesn’t feel like the ideas presented by the series are any lesser for that. Ryuko’s motto, that she’s all about not making sense, comes to the fore here. While what she says is true in a sense, her ability to embrace nonsense, to swing wildly in terms of her emotions, and to come to conclusions which are less about solving problems and more about coming to terms with things in ways which fit her, all of that has its own logic.

What works, works, and who’s to say anyone has to follow the template laid out for them? Though, even that isn’t wholly consistent because the “purpose” of Senketsu has a clear arc, at least in terms of utility. Of course, the real purpose of Senketsu was to bond with Ryuko in more ways than one.

As for one of the main controversies, that of the show’s depictions of female characters, I find that we’re left with a surprisingly complex situation as well. All of the major female characters in Kill la Kill are strong in significantly different ways, and they each bear their own distinct personalities and personas which celebrate their broad archetypes but also encourage viewers to think about those differences as more than just “uniqueness points.” Ryuko’s strength is her passion, Satsuki’s is her indomitable will, and Mako’s is her relentlessness. This extends to a certain degree to the rest of the cast as well, for both men and women, notably the Elite Four. With respect to the tendency for the series to dress its central characters up in absurdly revealing outfits, it’s a curious thing that often the way that Ryuko and Satsuki carry themselves drives attention away from their curves and towards their intensity. It’s not even entirely a matter of personality over looks, as Senketsu and Junketsu themselves also sometimes help to, in a somewhat contradictory fashion, put the focus on themselves and not on the bodies to which they’re clinging.

 

While I find that the initial criticism of Kill la Kill came from a place of fear (oh boy, it’s anime at it again!), I think those who were initially wary of Kill la Kill also had every right to be. There was no definitive sign that the differences and the “stupid” elements wouldn’t transform the show into an Ikkitousen or some other show where the girls are action figures placed into awkwardly sexual poses. There was no definitive sign that its setting would be any different from Baka and Test or any number of series where the idea of “high school” is pushed to the “extreme.” What Kill la Kill manages to do, however, is give these inclinations teeth. It shows that these tropes and “vapid elements” have more power in them than simply their ability to distract and excite, that they can be engaged and utilized to express something I would dare call truly artistic.

 

“As payment, I was thinking dinner at my place.”

Bruce Timm has completed a new short entitled "Batman: Strange Days" which will premiere on Cartoon Network next Wednesday, April 9th, following an episode of "Teen Titans Go!" (6:30pm ET/5:30pm CT). The monochromatic piece, which was created as part of this year's 75th anniversary Batman celebration, pits Batman against Dr. Hugo Strange, a classic "Detective Comics" villain who predates the Joker and Catwoman.

That’s what’s unique about MoCCA Fest, you never know what you might manage to get your hands on and stay ahead of the small press curve. This weekend, from April 5th-6th in New York, Z2 Comics is going to have pre-release advance copies available of both Paul Pope’s Escapo and Dean Haspiel’s Fear My Dear, two new graphic novel at their booth, #D25.

Escapo is a remastering in full-color with a great deal of extra content of Paul Pope’s 1990′s work of the same title and will be available for $25.00.

Fear My Dear is a collection of Dean Haspiel’s Billy Dogma comics never before seen in print based on his webcomic series and will be available for $20.00 and Haspiel will be on hand to sign copies on both days of the Fest.

MoCCA Fest Boasts Advance Copies Of Paul Pope’s Escapo And Dean Haspiel’s Fear My Dear

This is artwork that I did for the BakerStreetBabes for 221B Con. I won’t be attending this weekend but you can find this print at their table :)

ednons-blog:

kaijubollocks:

kaiju-what:

Gipsy Danger cosplay! Like her page at:

https://www.facebook.com/NonaNeonCosplay?ref=stream

S TOPS BR REATHJIG HOWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOOOOO

ASDFGHJKL I WANT ONE

AMAZING

I'm pumped for Brynhildr in the Darkness and all the other spring anime starting from this week. And honestly, it's hard not to get excited when you live this close to Akihabara and can experience everything on the ground level. Why, the AmiAmi blog is heading to the Belle Salle monolith for an otaku fest at this very moment. 

Wait, I signed up for an otaku fest, not Oktoberfest! Not that I'm complaining about a chance to enjoy German brews in April. All things considered it could be way more bratwurst. No sense in being a sauerkraut about it.

Enjoy beer, brats and a live band playing everything from drinking songs to do-wop. If you're too young to booze might I recommend the giant pretzels and wiener curry. Mmm, taste the Akihabara hospitality! 

Goodsmile Racing was parked outside to remind us not to drink and drive. Does this mean that Miku will be out designated driver for the evening? Wait, get me on the phone with her handlers at Crypton Future Media! I got a great idea for cosplay taxi drivers. Trust me, it's inspiration talking, not the alcohol.

2014 Oktoberfest in Akihabara
Event dates: March 28th-April 6th
Address: -3-12-8 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Belle Salle Akihabara
Hours: : 11:00-21:00
Official homepage: http://www.okt-fest.jp/okt-akb2014.html

Since they're running at the same time we visitedThe Comic Artist and His Assistants exhibit over at GAMERS. Enjoy a sneak peak of the spring season's hot new romantic comedy!

Our manga author protagonist has stayed buried in his work for so long that he's forgotten how the real world works. So he ends up in all sorts of wacky situations, like trying to cop a feel from his assistant because, as they say, "Write what you know" and the poor guy doesn't know the difference between a butt and a boob. And don't leave him alone to write about women or human behavior in general. Good thing he has a flock of cuties to educate him in 15-minute comedic spurts. Hopefully his career doesn't get cut short by a run-in with an honest-to-goodness yandere. 

Event dates: March 28th-April 6th 
Address: 1-14-7 Soto Kanda, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo
Takarada Building 7F
Hours: 10:00-21:00
Official homepage: http://www.anibro.jp/museum/index_mangakasan.html

Home Fate Series and TYPE-MOON Ace Anniversary Event at Gamers about a day agoAnimate Promotes Clean Living With No-Rin about a day ago

We noted the other day that a new art dealer—Felix Comic Art— was offering rarely seen pages from Bryan Lee O’ Malley’s Scott Pilgrim books. Well, the sale is now live and as you can see the pages are flying off the site.

Priced from about $200-500 I would have to say these are a bargain. And while it’s a shame they don’t have any lettering, there are still some fairly iconic pages available. (The above one is still available for $500 as I write this.) Seriously, if I had some spare money I would invest in this. Scott Pilgrim is already a cult book and film, but depending on how Seconds, O’Malley’s follow-up GN due this summer does, he’ll either be the next comics superstar or…merely the author of the zeitgeist comic of the Aughts.

PS: I am told that O’Malley is still on great terms with his previous art dealer, The Beguiling. This is just a matter of making the art available to a wider audience than the more localized store.

Guren no Yumiya to open this winter, Jiyū no Tsubasa to open in 2015

Most parents of young children will tell you that it is hard to get your children to brush their teeth regularly and properly without some prodding, nagging and constant reminders. Luckily, there's an app for that.

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Google has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether its photosnapping Street View program is legal after a federal appeals court ruled that it violates privacy laws. If it takes the case, the high court’s ruling could have far-reaching implications on whether private companies can freely collect personal data that most government agencies typically can’t without the court’s permission.

From 2007 to 2010, Google’s Street View program used cars equipped with cameras and antennae to roll through neighborhoods snapping pictures collected. The cars tapped into unencrypted Wi-Fi connections nearby to gather geolocation data — including local weather and restaurant listings — to help verify where the pictures were taken.

But Google’s Street View cars were also collecting “names, addresses, telephone numbers, URL’s, passwords, e-mail, text messages, medical records, video and audio files, and other information from internet users in the United States,” according to the Federal Communications Commission. Google said it purged the data it gathered in about 30 countries once the practice was uncovered in 2010.

The Internet giant has staunchly maintained that sniffing out data with its software isn’t wiretapping, but more like using a radio to catch AM/FM broadcasts anyone can access. Google was even cleared of direct responsibility by three federal agencies — the Justice Department, FCC and the Federal Trade Commission. But in September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the program violated the Wiretap Act, which protects public electronic communications, such as Internet traffic, from being intercepted or stored.

Google’s defense of its actions now, however, raises questions about the company’s commitment to privacy. In the wake of the Edward Snowden leaks that revealed how the National Security Agency relied on Google for its PRISM metadata program, Google has been very outspoken about how such surveillance infringes on privacy rights. The company has even met with President Obama several times alongside fellow tech giants including Facebook and Yahoo. “It’s really outrageous that the National Security Agency was looking between the Google data centers, if that’s true,” Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal. “The steps that the organization was willing to do without good judgment to pursue its mission and potentially violate people’s privacy, it’s not OK.”

Google’s data collection practices frequently raise privacy concerns. The company collects user data through its search engine, social network, Google Plus, GMail, and Android software for mobile devices. Google was recently outed with Apple and Microsoft for a loophole in its privacy policies that allow the company to read and share email contents without any legal ramifications. Moreover, Google is currently fighting class-action lawsuits claiming it reads emails from its more than 400 million GMail customers.

Google said its Wi-Fi tapping is legal because it doesn’t collect “auditory broadcasts,” or radio transmissions, and only uses publicly accessible connections. Because they’re not password-protected, Google said “the information transmitted across the network may be acquired by the public,” according to court documents.

The appeals court said that’s only partly true, in its decision. Getting private data like emails and documents over an open Wi-Fi connection has some degree of difficulty and “requires sophisticated hardware and software.” On the other hand, security researchers can also mine and analyze data to look for vulnerabilities collected through unencrypted Wi-Fi connections — even if they don’t read it.

Government agencies have used similar technology to listen to Wi-Fi traffic and collect payload data just to get a person’s location, sometimes without a warrant, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Law enforcement use devices such as a “moocherhunter,” which can pinpoint a Wi-Fi user’s physical location, and a “stingray,” which can snag data off cell phones.

The post Google Wants The Supreme Court To Legalize Collecting Private Data Through Open Wi-Fi Networks appeared first on ThinkProgress.

And level grinding was my favorite part about playing RPGs. Now I just feel like a heel.



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