Thursday Thirteen: The Art of the Internet.

(Internet Love by tipsyfairy.)

Hello friends. I have a favor to ask today. I have been given the opportunity to design a Continuing Education course for Broward College. If it gets approved, I will be teaching adults how to maximize their presence on the internet. Help me make sure I have all the bases covered. Is there anything you would add to this list? Do you know of any really good sources for general computer skill summaries? Thanks for any help you can provide, this is what I want to teach:

1. Web Design. Creating your own little corner of the internet is easier and more beautiful than ever, thanks to amazing free software such as WordPress.

2. Blogging. No matter what your particular life is full of, you can share it with the rest of the world quite easily.

3. Message Boards. Whatever hobby or subject you are interested in becoming a bigger part of, you can find an active group discussion revolving around it.

4. Email. Whenever you need to get in direct contact with a single individual or corporate entity, the access points are readily available.

5. Ebay. Or Amazon, or any other way to hook up with buyers.

6. YouTube. Making videos and slideshows, then broadcasting far and wide.

7. Facebook. And any other social networking site that allows massive connections.

8. MySpace Music. Is there a better place to get your own original stuff heard?

9. Wikipedia. Reading an encyclopedia has never been easier, and now you can write part of it yourself!

10. Being part of the political process. Whether Redstate or Daily Kos, your voice can be a force in the party of your choice.

11. Google ads. Making money just from being popular is a very intriguing idea.

12. DeviantArt. The glory of a worldwide gallery, complete with communal critique.

13. Simply surfing. The one thing that the internet truly excels at. Connecting the dots from interested individual straight to source.

Darkstalkers Preview: Vampire Proper.

Now THAT is the way to drink blood. Jose G. has hooked us up, not only with the proper way to dress our dapper undead Jedah, but with a new keyword.

Darkness means:  Free -> Move this character to your hidden or visible area. Use only once per turn and only during the combat phase.

I don’t know about you, but I am mad for the alternate win conditions. Especially when they key on counters. Sink your teeth into the rest of the Jedah legend suite. I’m turning into a bat and flying away until next time, grooving on my favorite background in the video game turned into a Vs. System location.

Slurp.

Disgaea’s Sturmhimmel.

I know it’s only a level ten skill, but it has one thing that the bigger moves don’t have. That frozen pose is different for every character. It is my quest.

Wallowing in Disgaea.

That’s the whole Disgaea crew, as colored by Shun. We have been jumping around on little boxes and busting giant spells for a few days, and so far our favorite move is the Archery skill called the Sturmhimmel. It splits the screen in half diagonally, with the real-time fireworks occurring only in the bottom left half of the screen. The character who is using the bow appears in a rosy illustration on the top right half, posed as a killer cupid.

I have only accomplished the skill with Laharl. I assume that other characters who level up with the bow will have a different floating arrow illustration.

We will level up another dude with a bow by tomorrow either way and find out. If each character class has its own frozen archer version, that will be our first alternate win condition. To get all the little angel pictures and post them here on the blog.

Darkstalker Preview Week: Jose G. in the House!

On TCGplayer his is known as “emmanuel”. On dot org his handle is JoseG. He is Jose Grau, and he is my new hero.

I have never been able to get enough of Anita. I often play Marvel Vs. Capcom in Beginner mode so I can just bring her back and forth onto the screen until my eyeballs are full. Now she goes Vs. System, becoming a talisman in the process.

Feast your eyes, share your reactions, and check in all week for more Jose G!

Sunday Mandala: Gnomo Sapien.

This one speaks for itself. Here’s the source. Happy Sunday.

Crazy Quilt Resurfaces.

Oh, the obscure. Last night I was watching Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network. I saw Crazy Quilt. Really, I did.

This particular Art Villain is a quirky smirk on the collective mug of fanboy faces everywhere. We share a fascination until the fictional entity becomes a beacon that inquiring interwebs want to know. Crazy Quilt, from DC Comics. We have written about him here before on Full Body Transplant. Now he resurfaces on cable television. The Psi-Bank of mankind will be colored accordingly.

In honor of Crazy Quilt making the big-time, I present a special repeat perfomance of the plea for his card to be created.

Oh, the obscure.

Life is a crazy quilt of connections. Letting go of everything allows one to stand of the verge of nothing and become a patchwork kaleidoscope of infinite possibility.

One possible villain who needs a Vs. System card? Crazy Quilt.

I wrote a bit about this mad artist on the mothership once upon a time.

Life went on for the Outsiders, but a single image in the final issue of my 30-book immersion distracted me from their mission. The last story contained a panel that flashed something even more vibrant than usual. Could my eyes be deceiving me, or did I just catch a glimpse of the Crazy Quilt?

Sixty years ago, Jack Kirby created one of the most colorful personalities in the entire comic book universe. Crazy Quilt was a successful artist and a master criminal. He left instructions for his henchmen by using coded imagery in his paintings. The strategy was just too cool, but it couldn’t last. During a botched robbery, a bullet to the eye blinded him, and then he got busted.

…………

…………

While in prison, Crazy Quilt volunteered for an experiment to restore his eyesight. A special helmet was fused to his optic nerves. It went haywire and caused him to see colors so bright that they drove him mad. He fought Batman, Robin, and the Boy Commandos throughout the ages, and then disappeared from continuity. In Outsiders #50, he is back . . . as a woman.

Gail Simone is the mastermind behind the reemergence of Crazy Quilt, and she has not yet revealed the secrets of his modern transformation. Whatever’s going on, it is extremely intense to look at.

…………

 

Now, a year after I wrote that, I stumbled upon a very special description of Crazy Quilt on an art site.

Crazy Quilt is an obscure D.C comics villain who ran around in a patchwork patterned tunic and tights which he accesorized with a jaunty scarf. Crazy Quilt referred to himself as the “King of Color Crimes”and he could shoot light rays out of a special hat. Sadly, he didn’t last long.

What would Crazy Quilt’s cards look like? The possibilities are endless. One more time, quoting myself…

…………

Life is a crazy quilt of connections. Letting go of everything allows one to stand of the verge of nothing and become a patchwork kaleidoscope of infinite possibility.

…………

Darkstalkers Preview: Finish Him with a Flourish.

In my humble opinion, that is the swan song from Silkmane’s Darkstalkers set. Click that link for the entire run. Then meet back here on Monday for the beginning of emmanuel’s completely different Capcom concoction!

Fantastic Friday: Pi’s Cubecraft Deadpool.

     

Oh. My. Pi had always been one of the coolest cats in the community, now he has attained Godhood. He posted his Deadpool Cubecraft, and life will never be the same. Please, somebody, anybody, make me a Squirrel Girl. Thank you.

Thursday Thirteen: Ultimate Squirrel Girl Review.

If you have ever been within 12 miles of this website, you know that I have a thing for Squirrel Girl. Upper Deck blessed me with an official Squirrel Girl card last year, but even that could not prepare me for this.

Rainer wrote the ultimate review of the original 1992 Squirrel Girl appearance in Marvel Superheroes. He also posted the entire story. Today’s Thursday Thirteen is the first half, with some of his best reactions. Meet me back here next Thursday for the rest.

In the words of Rainer, “The Coming of Squirrel Girl” is…

1. Too weird not to post.

2. One of the most eye-opening comics I have read in quite some time.

3. Veers into Tobe Hooper territory.

4. “Here’s the deal: No deal.”

5. The most cool – i.e. emotionally muted – I have ever seen Iron Man.

6. Measured and solid hand in drawing the characters and environment. Except on  Squirrel Girl’s face.

7. Ye Gods.

8. Something only achievable in comics, those weird facial expressions not possible by any human being and much more mind imprinting in the static pages of a comic book, as you could just stare at it conceivably forever, where as in animation it would pass shortly.

9. You can’t help but notice her.

10. The ultimate fangirl.

11. Well meaning yet strangely off putting.

12. A big cake of headscratching.

13. Massive icing.

Wolverine is a Gamer?

It sure looks like Wolverine shares our love of cardboard competition.

Thanks to Alan “cassius335” Wilkinson for such a snarling sporting event.

Two-tone Tuesday: Scream.

(Scream by Yusufartun.)

Just one of those days. Scream it out and move on, it’s all good.