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Tuomas Holopainen from Nightwish

 

Plugging Friends

No, I’m not here to plug another quick-paced book. On the contrary, I’m here to plug blogs from two of my favorite people in the whole world: Gracie Jones and Susan Wilson.

Susan’s blog is a weird-ass news blog called “Deep Space Cowgirl”. In addition to advertising it on this site, I’m also drawing pictures for her in hopes that she’ll use them. I already drew her a picture of Balok from Star Trek in a cowboy hat and space armor. I’m not too sure if she’s keen on my squid in an astronaut’s suit, though. Either way, I think of Susan as family, mainly because she was at one point dating my brother James. And because she’s family, I’ll do anything within my means to help her out. Maybe she can make some money from this blog, which is nice since I’m currently unemployed and need more people to filter-feed off of. Hehe!

Gracie’s blog is one dedicated to the art of writing. Like me, she too wants to become a professional author and hopes to do so through the writing prompts she has suggested over the weeks. This isn’t just some willy-nilly list of prompts; these are thoughtful questions that every writer should consider. That, and they’re lots of fun to do! But if for some reason you get completed with these homework assignments and don’t see another post for a while, don’t panic. Gracie’s laptop is busted to the point where it’s in two pieces. It’s hard to write blog entries when your laptop looks like it’s been assaulted by a wild cheetah. Give her time and patience and something will come up.

Susan’s blog can be found here: http://deepspacecowgirl.wordpress.com/

And Gracie’s blog can be found here:
http://foraspiringauthors.blogspot.com/

As my English teachers in college used to say to me, happy reading!

　

***FACEBOOK MEME OF THE DAY***

Grammar: it’s the difference between “knowing your shit” and “knowing you’re shit”.

"Kick-Ass 1 & 2" by Mark Millar

Have you ever felt like putting on a superhero costume and going around fighting villains in brutal street wars? Buy copies of “Kick-Ass” and “Kick-Ass 2” before you make any sudden decisions. What can you expect from the two-part series? Brutality. Lots and lots of brutality. These kids (Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl) are barely old enough to know how to drive a car and already they’re engaging in hellacious fights with villains who aren’t afraid to die. Broken bones, electrocuted genitals, torn flesh, massive bleeding, gigantic bruises, and a litany of other monstrously violent battle scars cover the bodies of every pubescent superhero who tries to make a name for himself. But it’s all in a day’s work for Kick-Ass and crew. You’d think that he would get used to all of these beatings by now, but as the story progresses from part one to part two, the brutality multiplies to greater volumes. The worst of the beatings happen to people that Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl care about such as parents, friends, love interests, etc. It was almost enough to make them want to quit being superheroes until the villains pushed a little too hard a little too much. With this cluster-fuck of violent behavior going on in these beautifully drawn graphic novels, you’re bound to have some critic out there complaining that they “normalize” all of the adult content that takes place. I remember reading a review that complained about Hit-Girl swearing at such a young age in the Kick-Ass movie. I see these reviews and wonder if these critics even know the difference between fantasy and reality. In the fantasy world, violence, swearing, sex, and drug use are beautiful things. They have to be in order to keep the reader’s attention. In the real world, martial arts violence is brutal and upsetting. This kind of debate was going on with “A Clockwork Orange” and the same arguments could be made in that conversation. Reading comic books like “Kick-Ass” and “Kick-Ass 2” is a form of escapism. We escape from one world of dullness and enter a world of fantasy and wonder. That’s how fiction works. If people tried being superheroes in real life, the pain that Kick-Ass felt after having his balls electrocuted would pail in comparison to what the would-be heroes would feel. In some ways, “Kick-Ass” is a fair representation of what vigilantes can expect if they become too independent of the police and military. It’s an ugly world out there, I agree. But it’s not worth having fried balls over. Leave that to Kick-Ass and his crew of head-stomping superheroes!

　

***JOKE OF THE DAY***

Q: What’s it called when the earth shits itself?
A: Gaia-Ria.