I'm not the only one, right?

I rented The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yesterday, and got to relive all the excited feelings from back in December when I saw it in theaters. The viewing was a bit more haphazard, as I kept waiting for my parents and older brother to come in and watch with me. Plus I had to keep pausing or rewinding to earlier scenes to remind my mother that this movie isn't any of the earlier versions of the movie. Don't ask me why it was a surprise for her to see that all the dwarves look different.

At one point Ben and I were on the computer as neither of us remembered who the actor playing Bard the Bowman will be (who is also for some reason going to be in a couple reboots: Dracula, as well as The Crow), and besides getting lost clicking links and looking at awesome things on The Mary Sue, got into a discussion over watching certain franchise films despite confirmations that they suck. The topic that sparked this (not) new debate was the X-Men film series. I haven't watched any of them as they don't seem particularly well made from a story perspective, and then Ben stated he'd watched all of them despite knowing they weren't well made from a story perspective. The talk then devolved into how great the 90s animated series had been before remembering we were hungry and still needed to finish The Hobbit. The company hadn't even fought with the trolls yet!

Still, I started thinking back onto similar arguments we had on just such an approach to media. I am of the opinion that if something is bad, I will not throw more money at it than I have to. For example, The Chronicles of Narnia films became strangely awful starting with Prince Caspian. Thus, I felt no need to purchases DVD copies of either it, or its sequel, Voyage of the Dawntreader. Especially now when money is tight, and traveling is difficult, if I can acquire the means to view something for free, even if it's just a small preview of a project, I will do so (internet permitting). Then later, I will make efforts to support said project through monetary means if I actually like it. This view probably explains why I'm so into crowd-funding projects, especially Kickstarter.

Ben, on the other hand, will support something even if it is terrible. We have had many a debate just on Star Trek shows and movies, and why he would pour so much money into a franchise he's able to find so many flaws with. I still question why he would pay money to go see the re-released Star Wars films when he is so vocal about the editing changes, such as "Han shot first," not to mention the nefarious Jar Jar Binks.

So really I couldn't decide if this issue is a Ben thing or a male thing. I don't have much empirical evidence to support either conclusion, therefore I have no choice but to keep assuming my brother is full of crazy like the rest of the family (self included).

Sorry, Not Here Right Now

I have been away for awhile. My class load this semester consists of completing my community nutrition internship, Nutrition: Quantity Food Purchasing, and Culinary Techniques II. Lots of things happened in the last month, but not much I feel comfortable sharing in the not-anonymity of the internet. I am going to propose that my go to blog-topic when I haven't much to write about will be things I like to read.

Let's start with webcomics.

It is an interesting medium, as even more so than print comics, it is highly fluid and influenced by audience participation in the form of comments, forum posts, and fan works. In a comic that updates, weekly or even daily, an artist/writer can get immediate feedback and adjust the story accordingly. Some have even successfully put their work into print. Scott Kurtz, the author of PvP, has written a lot about the subject, in addition to the subject of  making comics a successful business.

Currently I have bookmarked over 100 webcomics. Some have finished, and the creators moved on to other projects, some fizzled out and haven't updated in months or years without any peep from the creators. For a lot of them, I slowly drifted to more sporadic checking so that I may consume bigger chunks at a time. Others I stopped checking daily because my constant attention was not necessary for me to understand the story, as is the case in a lot of my bookmarked humor and slapstick type comics. Come to think of it, I blame a lot of losing time to my hobbies to having to devote more and more to school and upkeep of my household, as it is difficult to read webcomics on my phone or iPad at either work or school without seeming obvious. Plus there is the additional quantifier in that I like to sit and immerse myself in the work when I'm reading. It is easier to browse Pinterest, or play a short mobile app game than try to engage in a few pages of story. That could also explain why my DVR and online streaming queues are so long and unwatched. However, I probably could make time if I put some effort in. It worked for including an exercise routine into my week, so why not?

I'm thinking to link a few webcomic type things at a time whenever I feel like blogging, but don't feel like I have anything to entertain the internet with. These are some such comics I find are pretty awesome:

Gunnerkrigg Court Nature vs tech + boarding school full of mythological references and robots.
Skin Deep If mythological and folkloric figures had chosen to hide among normal humans. Story takes place in the modern American Midwest.
Trying Human If aliens (think 1950s aliens) conducted research and were trying to hide among humans. Also, how it is difficult to talk about weird experiences with normal people.
xkcd Funny comics about math, science, and engineering. The alt-text is always good, too.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things One artist's crusade to maintain the classic manly muscly hero image from action stories by referencing a lot of video games and pop culture.
Girls with Slingshots The shenanigans of two women and their group of friends. Also a talking cactus and many sex jokes.