300, the state of the symphony, and other stuff!

Well, I saw "300." There are many reasons to enjoy this film. If you really dug the zero-g massacre on the Klingon ship in Star Trek VI, you'll dig this movie. If you liked the Matrix's "bullet time," you'll like 300's "spear time." This is also a film that approaches Verhoven-level limb detachment, so be warned if'n you're squeamish.

Now, I know it's not historically accurate in a lot of ways, and better heads than mine have examined it, including the folks at Wikipedia. The other aspect of the film that gets discussed is parallels to our current political climate. I, for one, don't think it works as either a criticism of any current wars or any current leaders per se. I say that because I love me a good metaphor, especially a subtle and sneaky one that smacks you in the face when you least expect it. For this movie, I've heard the Spartans represent America, fighting the Middle Eastern enemy, but... in this movie, the guys from Persia are more technologically advanced, they aren't terrorists, just aggressive, and the Spartan-Americans defy religious edict rather than claim it. And on and on. I've tried to kind of shoe-horn it, but every angle where I think I've got an analogy, there's something that keeps it from fitting perfectly. So, I just gave up and enjoyed watching the Chippendales with shields play in a swords-and-sandals epic where everyone seemed to have the "great cleave" feat.

I also created a t-shirt design involving the 300 that's debuting at Offworld Designs' booth at GAMA in Las Vegas this weekend. I'll post 'er here (along with some more designs for this summer) when it goes up for sale in the coming weeks!

And now, after much delay due to my inability to schedule my bathing routines, let alone my updates, we proudly present the rules for the Zombie Chow Down game! All you need, in addition to the rules is a method for determining where you munch your victims. We recommend a pair of these body part dice.

The Symphony Art project for this year will be completed this Saturday (that's when it's due. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, like in my college art classes), and this is the state it's currently in. I'm taking lots of film footage of the process, so I'll have something to show everyone on YouTube soon. In the meantime, I've added a button below called 'Who Arted?' which leads to very crude HTML pages of past non-comic projects I've worked on (or at least two of them. I'm hunting up the photos of at least one more previous art thingie).

And here's a video game update: Namco has officially announced Beautiful Katamari, with even more ginormous playfields. Sadly, it's for PS3 and Xbox 360, so we meager PS2 owners will have to upgrade.

Doctor Who hinted at more plot to come this season. Are we going to see the Master? I heard rumors about the Doctor having a grandson; is he in the works? Also, are the writers planning on sticking to the "13 regenerations" rule, which will mean an eventual end for our beloved Time Lord? I must say I didn't notice that the majority of this week's episode used the same set over and over, because gosh-darn-it, the setup for the episode was pretty entertaining. Both Who and Farscape have that "out there" sci-fi that gives you improbable ideas and settings, and leaves it up to others to explain why it is as it is, and I, for one, like some of that along with my more "realistic" sci-fi (i.e. B-5, BSG, etc.).

This... is... LINKAAAAAA!

- The second Fantastic Four film is coming, but did you know an FF film was made by schlock-master Roger Corman in 1994? Check out the trailer from this lost masterpiece.
- No con is safe. The 501st Stormtrooper Legion has their own hot-air balloon.
- In case you think you're having a bad day, look at what happens if the storm sewer violently backs up on the interstate you're using.
- More Tower Defense-style gaming! This time, the name of the game is Onslaught!
- From last week's comment thread, we re-present some handy convention costuming rules.
- I so want a hamster shredder! It's not what you think, and is kind of a cute idea for the office.
- Don't Hassle the Hoff: A long time ago in a film far, far from epic, David Hasselhoff had a lightsaber battle with a stop-motion tin man on steroids. I loved this film as a kid, when our small town would occasionally get free Showtime for a weekend.
- And lastly, because I'm a TMBG fan, here's a nifty flash film of their song Mister Smalls.