Penguin in the Rain

Tobey Spidey vs Andy Spidey

2011-07-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

Spider-Man was always my first love as far as comic book heroes.

Back when I first started reading comics, I didn't have any comic book mentor to point me towards the greats. I had to wander through the store like a Frodo without a Gandalf picking up whatever looked interesting. The first good comic I stumbled upon was Brian Michael Bendis's Ultimate Spider-Man.

To me, the essence of Spider-Man has always been his youth--how hard it is to be a hero when you're still feeling emo about life and dealing with zits and paying rent. That's why I've never been interested in reading the aged Spider-Man comics, and, while I still was one of the few to actually kinda like the Spider-Man films, Tobey always seemed too old for the role.

So that's why I'm really digging these shots of the new Spider-Man films. There's a focus on a younger Spider-Man, with a rangier teenage body and haircut that looks like something a high school/college kid might actually wear. I do want him to look a bit nerdier, but to be fair they haven't shown any shots of him as Peter Parker as opposed to Spider-Man.

Here's hoping Spider-Man gets his due in the film medium!

You can see more pictures at iFanboy.

In Which I Reach Out to Google...

2010-08-11T02:47:00.000-07:00

Why the Music Industry is Really Losing Money (and it's not even your fault!)

2010-06-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

The above screenshot was what I saw when I tried to watch the embedded video on a Tor.com post (this one, actually). Fail, Sony Music Entertainment, fail. Recently, our government has decided to put a lot more money into punishing piracy which has entertainment CEOs doing the Macarena all over the place.

They shouldn't be celebrating.

Since when does a business putting money (it used to be their money, now it's our tax dollars) into stopping a practice ever make them money? It doesn't. It's spending money to end up...not making any money. Which used to be what businesses cared about.

Instead of developing new systems for distribution on this beautiful thing they call the internet, they're stuck on their obsession with an outdated form - the CD. Guess what, Music Industry? The CD is never coming back. Never. Kiss it goodbye and pull the plug. Getting what I can call nothing but revenge for all the albums out there never paid for is just not a good business practice.

They send cease-and-desist for YouTube videos with their copyrighted content, take it away, and yet offer no alternative. No "get it here!" instead.

Okay, in normal life, here's how it goes:

Friend: "Hey, you have to listen to this new song. It's sweet! [posted link]"
Me: "I love it! I'm going to have to check out the rest of this band's stuff." (and I never would have heard it otherwise)

In Sony's mind, this is how it should go:

Friend: "Hey, you have to listen to this new song. It's sweet!"
Me: "Yeah! And since there's nowhere I can stream it online, to satisfy my modern day must-have-it-instantly needs, I'm going to stop what I'm doing (so I don't forget about it later), hop on my bike to ride to the store (because I'm under 16), buy the entire CD that I've never heard, all to listen to this song!"

The only alternative to the above scenario is to buy the song with insane DRMs attached to it on iTunes. And let's face it, who today buys something they haven't sampled at least a little?

Here's what you do Sony. Sure take down content on YouTube, but provide a link that sends people to your own SonyMusicTube. Numerous streaming sites have proven that people will watch ads before and between a streaming video. What you have to remember is, people want to do things legally, people watch your content on YouTube because you give them no other choice.

Okay, so you do this, and soon people are coming to your site, because it's legitimate and has higher quality than what they can find elsewhere on the internet. Soon YouTube videos aren't a problem for you because everyone is just coming to your site for the content. Do you see shows you can watch for free on Hulu being watched on YouTube? Then you start adding services where if you register you can share your favorites with others, where Sony can recommend music based on what you like, where they can offer special discounts on concert tickets and special paid-for content. Soon you have a bunch of subscribers, subscribers that maybe don't might paying a dollar here or there for something special (ever heard of how a free to play MMO makes money?).

Anyway, so to sum it all up again Sony, and the rest of the music industry, is stupid. The CEOs all ought to be fired by the board of directors and replaced with people that actually know how to run and adapt a business to new environments.

My Favorite Free Software

2010-06-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Having gotten a new computer several months ago, I had to spend the necessary time getting rid of all the crap they load up new computers with, and then download all the programs I can't live without. All of these are free, and most of them are Open Source, huzzah!

Utilities
Panda Cloud Antivirus -the best free anti-virus software (and no downloading big definition updates! The updates are kept "in the cloud")
CCleaner - cleans out your computer to keep it from getting sluggish
Malwarebytes - one of the best virus removal softwares (although Spybot has never failed me)

Audio/Video
VLC Media Player - plays just about any file format
Songbird - I promised I would never let the resource hog that is iTunes touch this computer. It's a toss-up between this and foobar2000 depending on what you're looking for. I opted for the more easily accessible features.
Gimp - Free alternative to Photoshop.

Other
Firefox -always the first thing I download to quit using Internet Explorer (shudder) as fast as possible. Chrome is also an acceptable alternative. Once again, it's whether you want the most lightweight thing you can find, or if you want a lot of customization.
OpenOffice - can do everything Microsoft Word can. It can also read Word, etc. documents and save into those formats, but you never have to pay for it!

Vintage Salt and Pepper Shakers!

2010-01-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

I got the idea here. Aren't the owls just lovey?

from Tamora Pierce

2009-07-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tamora Pierce is the author of the famous Song of the Lioness series among many others. I've been reading her since I was a little tween, and find her writing to be just as good now that I'm an adult as I found it to be back then (which I find wildly impressive). I finally womanned up and wrote her a fan mail. And she actually responded! I thought my heart would stop when I saw an actual email next to the auto-reply email in my inbox. It's not everyday you have a "from Tamora Pierce" waiting in your subject line.

Below you will find my email and her reply.

Me:

Hello!

I always thought that authors (well, the popular ones anyway) hated fan mail as a waste of time. Then I read on Scott Westerfeld's blog that one of the reasons he writes YA is because he's addicted to all the fan mail he gets as opposed to when he wrote for adults! So I thought maybe it was time for me to write my first fan mail.

I owe you a big thanks. I'm 23 now, but I grew up in a strict Mormon family, where at eight years old I thought that my only acceptable path of life was being a stay-at-home mom. I had big dreams of doing other things, like being the first female president or a super hero, but I was told over and over again that God had a plan for me: marriage and kids. Being the bookworm and the fantasy nut I became, at some time I picked up your Alanna series. I couldn't help but be fascinated by this girl who had a life decreed for her, but did what she wanted anyway; that being true to herself, to her own desires, was more important than pleasing higher powers.

Your books affected me. At twelve years of age, my young woman leaders tried to get us to sign a promise that we would do certain things in our life (temple marriage, etc.), and I, rebellious creature I was learning to become, refused to sign it for it said (#6 on the list, I believe) that I would "obey my husband, as he is god's voice for the family" or some such. At fourteen, I was fighting with my teachers: "Why can't women be leaders in the church?" (Because they don't have the priesthood) "Why can't women have the priesthood?" (Because their divine mission is to bear children) "What about after we die?" (No, you still can't have the priesthood) "Why not?" (Well, your husband will have it so through him, you will be able to receive its benefits). See, Mormons believe that after death, they will become gods themselves, and through the power of the priesthood, that only men can have, they will create new worlds. Well, I wanted to create worlds. I would be good at it, dammit!

Polygamy was particularly a sticky point, Mormons believe that in Heaven polygamy will be necessary. "Why can't a woman have multiple husbands, then?" (Because polygamy occurs through the priesthood, which *ding* only men can have). I was a feisty and clever little lass, and upon not being able to win an argument once, a red-faced member of the bishopric council told me that I would go to Hell if I didn't learn to "just accept it." I went for my patriarchal blessing at sixteen, which is the single most important document in a Mormon's life, God's personalized plan for you as channeled through the Patriarch. Mine said "Have as many children as you are able." I cried, because that was not what I wanted with my life.

At nineteen/twenty, after much soul searching and overcoming a LIFETIME of training (what some might even call "brain washing") I left the church for good, realizing that even if it was true, I'd rather be in Hell. My family didn't take this well, to say the least. I am now 23, unmarried, childless, and with no plans to ever bear children: an absolute tragedy of an old maid in Mormon terms. And I couldn't be happier. I think you may be one of the few to understand.

Well, I'd like to think I'd have found my own way clear through my intelligence and gumption, but who can say? Without books, I had no access to the outside world. Without that little seed planted in me with Alanna, Daine, Kethry, and now Beka, teaching me that maybe there was a different way of thinking than the one and only Way I had ever come in contact with. Maybe, just maybe, it was okay to do and be what you wanted.

So, for the part you played, thank you for freeing me from a life that would be pure misery for me.

I wish the absolute best for you, and hope one day I'll get to come to one of your appearances and be honored to see you in person. Thank you for listening to my story.

*~Rie

Her:

Dear Rie,

Scott Westerfeld isn't the only one! Fan mail is what convinced me to stay with YA rather than try a second time to write for adults, back in the mid-eighties, and I have never looked back. When fans tell you that your books changed their lives, you know they are telling you the truth, because you can remember the books that changed your life.

And yours is one of those letters I will keep for the rest of my career. I actually know a lot more about Mormonism than most Gentiles, in part because my dad and stepmother lived in Buhl, Idaho, where I first encountered Mormons as a strong community force. During that time I was also a housemother in a group home for girls, and two of our girls were Mormons, so it was my job to make sure they attended all their religious meetings and meet with the people who took care of them during church and weekday functions. I spoke to Mormon missionaries and read The Book of Mormon as well, researching what turned into a radio play about tent revivals (I was researching all Christian religions). And recently I have been reading all I can about the FLDS, which means a lot of reading about LDS as well. Everything you mentioned going through was something I recognized, and my heart just pinched. There's just no way around the priesthood definition, is there.

My hat's off to you for holding your course against such heavy pressure! It takes rare courage to resist church and family, particularly when the two are so intertwined! And I am deeply honored that my books were able to help. When I was growing up, I was told there were things I could not do: I could not be president. I could not be an FBI agent. I could not be an astronaut. All of this just seemed plain wrong to me, and that thinking is what gave birth to Alanna and my other heroes. At least I did not have a church confronting me at every turn in my life!

Thank you so much for your wonderful letter! I think you will always find strength where you need it!

Yours,

Tammy Pierce

Tamora Pierce

www.tamorapierce.com

tammypierce.livejournal.com

My head is still alternating between doing cartwheels and swooning!