The Blog of Nang

In the summer of 1998, my house was without power for nearly a week straight. It was interesting as the house was completely quiet...and completely dark at night, making ventures to the bathroom at night all the more scary. It's a good thing I had a very inactive bladder.

One of the less fun aspects concerned the moving of the food from our refridgerator. In the first day, after several hours, we had to run and take our food to another location that had electricity. Since we had a gas stove, we could cook, but aside from soup, there was no point to doing so, given that we lacked a working refrigerator to store any food in.

With the exception of our little area, all of the surrounding neighborhoods received power within hours of losing it. This left us nothing to do but sit and read the paper, and watch TV on a battery operated set, since any chores would require some electricity. It was a wonderful idleness, but I was glad when it was over, and thankful to have lights again.

None. Animals are ugly, smelly, dirty, dangerous creatures even when they are young, and they tend to make a mess in any environment populated by humans. Then again, with the exception of the dangerous part, so are human babies, which is why I don't think of them as cute either.

The only way something can be cute is if it doesn't stink, doesn't eat, doesn't excrete anything, but is pleasing to the touch. In that case I'll take a stuffed toy mammal any day. There's no preference of animal choice there.

As much as I hate Opera I might have to go back to it.  Why?  Because LJ just ate my entire post!  I suspect Flock is involved.

Although I tend to still wallow in the muddy pit of despair as a favorite pastime, overall I do feel moderately better than I did a year ago.  In fact, I have to admit, I feel better about myself than I have in the past few years.  This isn't due to some magic realization that no one cares about me and thus I shouldn't worry about what others think; all  that line of thinking did was cause me to become even more vulnerable to those people who cared what I thought. (To the haters: If you are as apathetic as you claim, then take no action at all against me or anything I write, say, or make.).  No, it's in large part due to the fact that I realized I had been hanging out with the wrong crowd for the bulk of my Internet existence.

For the vast majority of my time on the Internet.  I hung out with two crowds -- fans and artists.  At first, this would seem to be ideal as fellow fans already have the common interests necessary to build relationships, and artists can give people someone to look up to.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the fans would form their own cliques to purposely exclide me, and that 99% of artists use the fact that they created something as a counterargument to anything I write.

( A synopsis of what I've gone through... )

Because of this, I have slowly but surely withdrawn from any community of which I was a part.  I couldn't converse with other fans of whatever I liked at the time without being called "stupid" for having a different opinion.  Rarely, there were individuals who did not fit this archetype, but overwhelmingly, the negativity not only heightened my own predisposition to paranoia, it also made them look better, which only reinforced my pessimism.  If I were nice and they were mean to me; it was my fault.  If I took offense, then somehow, in a twisted sense of blame the victim, I was the one who was undignified for being hurt.  I may stop in to write in an occasional post in the places where, if not welcome, I am at least allowed to post, but when my content is prejudged without reading the text, I simply don't have the energy to express myself in vain.

This, though, only made me feel worse at first, because I like conversing with people and responding to topics.  I channeled some of my energy into YouTube, which helped tremendously.  Yet at the same time, I learned that as I was moving forward, the very people who shunned me wouldn't let me have my peace and destroyed things I worked on for weeks, months, and years.  I learned there was something worse than being ignored -- to be censored and have one's work destroyed.  How ironic, that the people who said that it was wrong for me to be jealous of their abilitiy, actively go and destroy my inferior product.

However, over the past year or so, I have followed the blogs that centered around the buying and selling of domain names.  This practice inrtrigued me, because like most people, I thought that once a domain name was registered, it was gone and aside from gross incompetence, nothing could be done about it.  Little did I know there was far more to the registration of a domain name than the mere technical aspects of DNS, the relationship between registrar and registries, and ICANN.  No, there is a completely optional market out there, one in which opportunity is rich.  Since I lean heavily left in my political beliefs, it amazed me that a market so pure existed -- and the people so friendly.  Don't get me wrong.  Domainers -- those who specialize in the acquisition and selling of domain names -- are not a universally harmonious lot.  Like people, they have different agendas and different viewpoints, so it's probably patronizing of me to characterize them as "good people."  In general, though, they are competitive and opinionated, but peaceful, and I have never seen any disagreement lead to death being wished on a party simply because of an opinion.  There's a professionalism here that is lacking in most communities, where irreverence is rewarded with both attention and dollars, and respect for equality met with scorn.

I have to admit, there is a bit of envy as I write this.  You see, I'll never be a domainer.  I know this because I have no money to invest, I have no imagination when it comes to domain names, and most importantly, I have no desire to see my real name plastered across the Internet.  I'm not a business person.  Yet many of the more notable domainers do not simply write to their audience.  Even someone who has no knowledge about a domain name or webhosting can read what has been written.  They genuinely want to share knowledge with their readers while at the same time being business savvy.  I've learned far more about the domain name process through these individuals than I would have otherwise.  They represent an ideal that I had no idea existed  -- business people who instead of tearing each other down to get ahead, share knowledge and operate on a policy of careful disclosure.  To be fair, there is a perception that domainers are "cybersquatters" who "steal" domain names, although more often than not, it is the scammers, thieves, registries, registrars, and ICANN who perform actions to reinforce this stererotype than domainers themselves.

Maybe if I had actually followed domainers sooner, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble as I did with my fellow fans and creators.  Heck, maybe i would have even joined in on the fun of domaining instead of wasting my years catering to the egos of those who simply want people to praise them.  But at the same time, there are opportunities with each unregistered name.  Domainers can look to the future and keep a positive attitude.  Why can't I?

I edited Jorge D. Fuentes Sailor Steeler sprite and the Steelers win the Super Bowl twice since then.

I edited the Chill Penguin sprite and the Penguins win the Stanley Cup.

What pirate sprite would I have to edit to get the Pirates to win something?

Sometimes, I wonder how people keep going, keep moving forward, keep producing.

I know what it's like to have the itch, the urge, the mind-wracking craving to bring a dream into reality and to achieve a goal.  But after a while, despite the utter never-ending, ever increasing pain and discomfort, my mind reached a point where it realized that the actions to work to that goal only made the pain worse, and that as much as it hurt to give up and watch people speed away from me, it hurt even more to continue, to the point where the hurt itself was paralyzing.

I just can't understand why other people don't do that.  Or was the pain never that bad to begin with?

Yeah, this is another notification.  As much as I like the old layout, I realize that I need to update things a bit to make it look a little more modern around here.   So this place has a shiny new exterior.  Whee...

Sprite comic author attacks sprite comics, longtime fan

Brian Clevinger, the author of an immensely popular sprite comic, 8-Bit Theater, insinuated Thursday morning that sprite comics are not a legitimate art in the midst of a tirade against fans he previously called "entitled whiners."

A heated discussion on the Nuklear Power Forums, the official message board for 8-Bit Theater, led to Clevinger making a public declaration of his feelings on the medium.  He wrote, "Sprite comics make for good practice to start a real comic. The problem is that after all these years I've never seen anyone who got the progression from sprites = practice to real/original art = real comic."

In the same post, he rebuffed the implication that 8-Bit Theater was not a real comic, joking  "Right, because I have so little to do with these 8-bit pages. They appear fully formed."

One poster, claiming to be a fan of the Clevinger since 2002, took offense at the remark and declared she would no longer buy any of his products.  In response, Clevinger berated the individual with numerous insults such as  "stupid, stupid, stupid child" and "asshole."  Another moderator openly wished death on the poster.

The discussion had been started by another poster who criticized fans who commented on 8-Bit Theater, an opinion Clevinger appeared to endorse with his remarks.  Several posters did not share this viewpoint, including one from another commenter.

"People are throwing out ideas and a few suggestions in the threads to talk about the comic,"  he wrote.  "I have no idea where along the line this becomes 'imposing one's will'. There doesn't seem to be any actual effort on anyone's part to force or manipulate what is going on in the comic. They're just discussing the comic. It's what people do."

In response to the remarks that followed the discussion was locked by the moderators.

8-Bit Theater is a sprite comic -- a genre of comics published on the Internet which uses video game graphics as visuals -- that has been in existence since 2001.  Clevinger has since written a novel, Nuklear Age, and is currently the author of several projects, including the ongoing comic book series Atomic Robo.

I'm going through my old posts and adding tags to most of them, so if you've seen something that's been edited, then that's what has happened.

ogrebattle -- As much as I love the steelers_fans community, I have to say I like the Ogre Battle community a lot more, simply because it is so small, and yet is one of the few places available for Ogre Battle discussion that hasn't faded away into oblivion.

evil_kieben  --  I've known him since 1997, back in the days when Gouki's Page of Whatever was the best place to go for Street Fighter discussion, even if it was a modified Guestbook.  We drifted apart, came together, drifted apart...then came together again.

Then again,  I've known just about all my current LJ friends for years.

miluda   -- I came across her in 1998 on Tavish's site.  I can't remember if  it was before or after Xoom hosted his Negative Edge site and brand new guestbook/board, but I think that's when it was.  Nevertheless, it was when ennui put up his ePoS (ennui's Page of Stuff) and we REALLY got to know each other.  Sadly, she's the only person from those days aside from Kieben that I still contact.  Man I miss ennui, Bushin, WillEVA, EvilNeil, Douggie (a.k.a. CyphR), The Amazing Saikyo (BJ), Cerberus, Mav Hunter from Toronto with that Talbain icon...

magnus_samma   -- I met him in 1999  I know him from back in the day, when InsidetheWeb had a message board system that Red Draco/Nadia Eisner  (now known as Nadia Oxford) used for her web site's forum.  We got to know each other more through AIM, wherein I think I called him more nasty names than I called the rest of the people on my friends list combined.  Despite this, or rather because of this, he's the only person from that crowd who I will have anything to do with, as the rest of Mechadrake crowd decided stab me in the back, share my e-mails with other people, call me slurs, and otherwise turn from supportive and caring friends to utter jerks in the span of 24 hours.

damaris   -- Even though I had been a fan of 411 Wrestling since 1997, and posted on the early 411 forum (the threaded 1999 one where everyone complained about Wresltemania XV), and the rebooted forum (when Stephen Martin was a 15 year old mod and banned us from using HTML)  I really didn't get to know her until the new version of Game Time Forums started in 2001 and she was a mod.  Good times for arguing with her, and in spite of our disagreements, she's one of the few people who I can say made GTF a richer place.  Ah, GTF, where all of the Mechadrake crap happened but only on a magnified scale.  And the sad thing is that they're still obsessed.

sin_ominous  -- I've known him since about 2004  Like the others above, I met him through a message board, ICVDForums.  Again, he's one of the few people from ICVD who I will talk to this day.  One notable difference between this situation and the two listed above is ICVD never pretended to be nice in the first place (which I admired), but upped the ante on Mechadrake and GTF by permanently taking down not one but two of my Web sites long after I no longer posted on the board, but that's another story...

loogaroo  is more of an acquaintance, but I've known him off and on since about 2003 or 2004.

By the way, I really don't know littlekuriboh.  I just friend him so that I can see his updates.   I just friend him so that I can see his updates.

This one.

I am aware that I often come across as a firebrand when not working as a full-time sourpuss, but there is a matter that I would like to bring to the attention of anyone who reads this.  Star Trek, a film based on the famous franchise which is being released to movie theaters in a few weeks.  This film is getting a lot of attention, both good and bad, but so far the buzz is good, as director J.J. Abrams,  Given that Paramount has really amped up the advertising for Star Trek (I'm seeing more ads for Star Trek than for X-Men Origins Wolverine), this movie seems like it will be a hit.

That's why I urge you, not as a Trekkie, but as a simple Internet user and YouTube, to not see this film in the theaters or purchase it on DVD when it is released.  I also do not want you to watch this film by alternate means, because it might actually increase your interest in seeing the film at the theater.

Why am I advocating to not see what is likely to be the sci-fi flick of the summer?  Let us not forget that Viacom is still has a lawsuit  against YouTube, and as a consequence of this, I am personally boycotting any Viacom-properties produced films.  Since this lawsuit has not been settled or resolved, I am protesting with my dollars.

I understand that Viacom owned properties have produced and distributed films since the events of July 3, 2008.   But "Star Trek" is what comes to mind to many people when you think "Paramount Pictures" and this is easily the most prominent of Viacom's properties.  This is also one of the most effective ways to have a voice in the matter.  You can boycott your favorite television show as much as you want, but unless you've got a Nielsen device, it matters very little.  On the other hand, the funds you spend on the movie ticket more directly impact the success of failure of the movie.

I beg you.  Please, do not go to watch Star Trek.

It's funny because, I was just looking at my first post a few hours ago.  magnus_samma and Arturo Sanchez (formerly nycfurby ), used LiveJournal, and so I had decided to join the service. At the time, I was depressed because some of the people on-line whom I had become friends with had decided to kick me when I was down. I had destroyed my website, Nangbaby's Home Page, and I had no more outlet for the things I wanted to write, so I decided to post...and darn near five years later, I'm still on LiveJournal, whining about people who kick me when I'm down (among other things), although not as much as I don't tend to let anyone become close to me any longer.

So today, I decided to take on a task so simple that it would be impossible to screw up.  I was going to organize the images on my hard drive.

Let me start from the beginning.  Like most Internet users, if I see an image I like a lot, I tend to save it on the computer. That way, if anything happens to the copy on the Web, at least I have a copy.  Note, I don't save everything I like, so it's not like I have entire archives of art or photos, but a selection here and selection there.

However, I tend to dump everything in the same folder, which means I have photographs, fan art, screenshots and Super NES sprites all in the same place.  So today I decided I was going to change that and categorize this stuff.

So in sorting items, I come across this amusing screencap from Jump the Shark 2007.



Now, I never thought jumptheshark.com would die the way it did, but still, I wonder where the blazes would anyone get such an idea that Goku and Vegeta are related, let alone cousins.  I mean is there some really popular fanfic out there that someone is confusing the show with, or did this idiot pull this crap out of his or her stinkhole?   The sad thing is I don't think this an instance of random trolling but someone being stupid, making a comment that has nothing to do with the argument of whether or not Dragonball Z "jumped the shark."


Well, I have enshrined your stupidity, nameless Internet person.  And if the files on my hard drive last long enough, you will not be alone.

Why does optimism rise like a phoenix from the embers of despair?  I'm trying to put this fire OUT!

Every time I think I can do something, every time I even try to do something, I not only fail but end up worse off than had I not try.  But I delude myself every time into thinking I can go for it, that I can try, and that I can keep moving forward, and I end up getting stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits!

Sylar is overpowered now.   I'm envisioning him taking on the lower tier DBZ characters...and he's winning!

And that's without flight.  Please, Heroes writers, keep Sylar away from Nathan!  This is getting out of hand!

You know, I'm going to categorize movies by how bad they are when I see that they are memorable garbage rather than average films that just could have been better.

First, there are the truly underrated movies, movies that while mainstream critics universally call bad.  A prime example is Pootie Tang.  This should actually be a category of good movies rather than bad, but I'm listing it here because I can.

Then there are, of course, overhyped pieces of junk like Transformers, Men In Black, Titan A.E., Star Wars: Episode I, that probably aren't the worst movies of all time or even close, but just irritate me because of sheer popularity...and are lousy.

Then there are those indie films or critically acclaimed films that make absolutely no sense and thus I hate for the absolute lack of sense they make, and how the craft and care can't make up for the ball of confusion I've been twisted in after watching it.  Beloved and Satyricon fall here.

Then there are failing sequels like Spider-Man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, Men in Black II, Shrek the Third, and Batman and Robin.

Then there are some movies that while not of the greatest quality and are critically flawed in several areas, contain just enough goodness to tick you off, making it seem worse than what it was.  Watchmen, Underworld, Ghost Rider, Battlefield Earth and Johnny Mnemomic.

Then there are some movies that would be decent if they didn't end horribly.  John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars comes to mind.

Then there are some movies that really are on the low end for most of their running times, but end nicely enough to elevate the mateial beyond the bottom of the barrel.  Aliens vs. Predator is a fine example of this.

Then there are some movies that are low-budget or plain incompetent (sometimes intentionally so) that are so bad that they're entertaining.  Dracula 3000 and Bones come to mind here.

Then there are the really bottom of the barrel movies, movies so bad that the reviews did not adequately prepare me for the EPIC FAIL of  these movies and failed to have me do anything by wonder why I watched them.  Things like Wild Wild West, Norbit, Cursed, Belly, Hulk, Deliver Us From Eva, Inspector Gadget, The Breed (the dog movie, not the Adrian Paul one)...and now Twilight.  This is the level of badness that makes me want my money back.

And then there's Tank Girl, a movie I consider the worst of all time.  There have been movies that come close, and there are some days in which I consider Highlander: The Source to actually be worse, but nine times out of ten, I'll say Tank Girl, because at least I could understand Highlander: The Source.

Edit:   I've since seen Dragonball: Evolution.  It's so bad it's entertaining, but not as thoroughly terrible that it's not watchable.  So it's on the Dracula 3000 level, which is miles better than I expected, sadly.

One word:  Matlock

I don't know why, but sometimes characters bother me long after I have given them up. For instance, last year I tried my hand at NaNoWriMo again, this time by picking an idea that was so horribly cliched and bad that I felt I could write it in my sleep. I failed, of course, but the problem is despite quitting the novel, the characters don't go away. And now the stupidest thing brought them to the forefront. Although these were five principal characters of the novel, none of them were the main character (Alexis "Lexie" Peters, a stereotypical amnesiac). Instead they were superheroes, also known as ParaNorms (colloquially known as "pears").  These five didn't work as a team, have secret identities, but gained the unofficial name "The Valkyries."

( Prepare to gag... )


There, now that I got these horrible characters onto this page, may they bother me no more!