I learned something very important on Thursday. Never drive a Go-cart with a razor blade in your hand. Quick bit of backstory to this important piece of information. I work at a car dealership washing cars, as many of you already know. One day I had forgoten to take off a sticker on one of the cars I had washed, where supposed to take off all stickers on the cars once were done. So I went to the back to pick up a razor blade so I could take it off. Once I had taken the thing off and had begun heading toward the back, I noticed the go-cart off to the side. So I put the razor blade in my pocket and drove the go-cart to the back. Needless to say it was an umpleasant experience, being poked in my thigh the whole ride.

Well the same exact thing happened Thursday, including the position of the cart, except this time I was determined not to be poked in the thigh. So instead I held the razor blade in between my right thumb and index finger as I drove. When I came to a sharp corner, I had to pull the steering wheel hard. I ended up slashing my left middle finger with the blade. The moral of the story? Never, ever, ever drive with a razor blade in your hand.

Another quick thing. I have finally found out how to spell uhright's last name correctly....... after six years of knowing the guy. I always wondered how the teachers could so mercilessly butcher his name for so many years. Well today I found out the reason. You see, I always thought his last name was spelled Carigan, Care-again. Pretty easy, right? Well today I was looking through some of his old art and noticed a piece poking fun at teachers mispronunciation of his name. I finally noticed a second "n" in his name. For six years I have overlooked that n, man I feel like a moron.

Anyways,

Peace!

Ok, I know this cartoon is a little old, but still I wanted to get my thoughts out on it. To put it simply, I dislike this cartoon...... a lot. I was going to write a column with about six or seven reason why I didn't like it, but...... I forgot most of the reasons between when I thought them up and know. So instead we'll be going with the few that I actually remembered.

Reason #1: Mr. Freeze. I can't believe how much they changed him! They turned him from one of the most sympathetic villains in Batman's Rogue Gallery, along with Two Face and the new Clayface, into a normal common criminal that gets in an accident. Though, yes it is a little tragic, it is no where near as sad and tragic as the one from the animated series and the newer comics. Where as the old Mr. Freeze was a criminal so he could gather funds to get revenge on the company and the man that caused his wife's death, this one is a criminal just for the heck of it. Personally, I could care less about the new Freeze. He gives me no reason for sympathy. The old one you could at least sympathize with. Maybe not condone his actions but sympathize? Heck yes! Not only that, but the only reason he wears a suit is to control his powers, unlike before where Victor Fries had to wear it just to survive. Wait a minute...... Powers?!?!?! Since when did Freeze have powers?? He always used a cold gun, which helped solidify his position as a scientist. Oh yeah, that's right! This Freeze is no longer a scientist, just a common crook. And, not only do Freeze's victims survive being totally frozen, but Let's not forget the cold related puns! Even before he even becomes Mr. Freeze, Victor claims, "No way I'm letting some bat freak throw me in the cooler." GAH!!! It's like I'm watching Batman and Robin all over again!!!! And it goes on and on through out the whole stinkin' episode! Not to mention Batman's witty warm relating responses, like this doosy. "We both know you put yourself on ice, I'm here to bring on the thaw." *Cringe* Okay, moving on. Finally, the voice. Though the voice was okay, played by Clancy Brown I believe, I much preferred Michael Ansara's cold, robotic voice that he provided for the character.

Reason #2: The Joker. Oh man, where do I begin with this one? Ok, I know. Let's start with his looks. Basically he looks like a monkey. Huge feet, huge hands, always climbing on things. Yep, defiantly a monkey. Not only that, but the guy fights like one too! Now, I like the fighting style but it's not for the Joker. Joker used his wits and cunning and rarely resorted to fighting Batman, mainly because he knew he would lose. When he had to resort to hand-to-hand combat though, he was mainly a straight forward, throw punches kind of guy. Not no artistic, showy, jumpy fighting style. Save that for Spidey! Take the excellent episode, "Laughing Fish," where the Joker tries to get a patent for his smiling fishes. What originally looks like a strange caper for no reason what so ever, eventually turns into an elaborate trap set up for Batman. It almost works too, until Batman uses the shark in the fish tank he's trapped in to ram into the glass, breaking it. In this one though, the Joker is releases all the inmates from Arkham, for no reason what so ever. He later has a scheme for filling Gotham City full of Joker gas in a balloon. This is much like the original Batman movie plot, which feels a little better than the original "Let all the guys in Arkham loose" thing. Finally, again the voice. After growing up with this cartoon (Hey! I was born in 88, so I can say I grew up with it!) I have had Mark Hamill's voice programmed into my head as the Joker, especially that awesome laugh, (That laugh was soooo creepy.) so I may be a little bias. The guy does a fairly good job, until it comes to his laugh. He sounds like he's doing a Hamill Joker impression, and failing miserably. I'm dead serious, and the laugh from Hamill is what really solidified him as the Joker in my opinion. This guy just sounds like he’s slaughtering it.

Reason #3 Two Face. Well, it's not Two Face himself. It's that there is no Two Face!! How do you not put one of Batman's most classic villains into this series?!?!?! Sure you have Clayface taking over as Batman's close friend who ends up horribly disfigured, but that wasn't the only reason I liked Two Face. I really enjoyed Dent's split personality and how he used the two faced coin to make decisions and how he would talk to himself all the time, refereeing to one side as Harvey and the other as Two Face. In a great example from the comic books, Batman is poisoned. Two Face is talked into flipping the coin to see if Batman will get the antidote by Robin. Fortunately, the coin lands good face up and TF strong arm's the Penguin, who was helping with the crime, to give up the antidote. (Why they would make an antidote in the first place is beyond me. But hey, it's a comic book, right? Got to go with that whole "suspended belief" thing.) Also there's times where Harvey is talking to himself in the mirror, one side talking like Dent would and the other in a dark tone like Two Face. Moments like these are what made him one of my favorite characters, and they didn't even put him in the cartoon!

#4: Inconsistencies. The cartoon is really inconsistent with certain things. In Mr. Freeze's introduction episode their's quite a few. Theirs one part where Bruce flashes back to when his parents are murdered. Right before he does, you see a picture of Thomas Wayne, his father, with grey hair around his temples. When the flash back starts his hair is perfectly brown. (Maybe the had Just For Men in Gotham back then?) Also, when Batman is frozen, his hands are out a little bit in front of him. When he escapes, he does so by flicking a switch on his utility belt. Wait a minute, I thought we were talking about solid ice here? How did he move his hands from out in front of him, which were no where near his belt by the way, to his utility belt? It's little things like that, that really bug me about this cartoon.

Well, there you go. The reasons why I really dislike The Batman. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and watch "Heart of Ice" and "Laughing Fish" from Batman The Animated Series to get this nasty taste out of my mouth.

Peace!

P.S. Oh! I forgot. I’ve seen a few screen shots of the new Harley Quinn design. I must say.... I absolutely hate it! It’s so bulky, just like everything else in this show (another reason I hate it.) Bah, there is no hope for this show what so ever. Bruce Timm, please come back and make a new Batman series!! PLEASE!!!!! You too Radomski!!

*sigh* Anyways, Peace!!

So I was hanging out with a friend the other day, when I got to play that new game, Disgaea 2. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I normally hate Tactical RPGs, mostly because the stories aren't as deep as some turn based RPGs, but this one is fairly deep. Not to mention it is extremely hilarious. I would suggest this game to anyone who enjoys a good story.

Most people know how I feel about BoF III, it being one of my favorite RPGs of all time. So I won't divulge into his one much. If you get a chance, try it out.

Another great RPG is the .hack series. Almost everyone who has talked to me, knows how much I love this game. I like it mostly for it's story. The game play can leave much to be desired, but the story makes up for this problem greatly. I also like how the anime and manga aren't adaptions to the game, but add on to it and help you figure out what's going on in the game.

The final RPG I'm going to talk about is Tales of Symphonia. Though the story isn't as good as Tales of Legendia, but the game play is much, much better. Legendia's game play feels much slower and doesn't have the same 3D feel that Symphonia does.

So if your looking for some good RPGs to play here's four (seven if you count all of the .hack series) with good stories and good game play. Disgaea 2, Breath of Fire III, the .hack series and Tales of Symphonia. Know go play them!

Peace!

So I was playing Breath of Fire III, from now on referred to as BoFIII, the other day when something popped into my head. Why is it that most people use the same characters in their party and yet they look forward to getting new characters? Seriously, it doesn't make much sense if you think about it. Oh sure, theirs always the story value, but seriously besides that why are they there? Really, who uses Cait Sith in FFVII? Or Donald from Kingdom Hearts, when there's a sweet Disney or Square character you can use?

I know, I know. I'm guilty of this accusation also. In BoFIII, for instance, I mainly use Ryu, Rei and Garr. Occasionally switiching Garr and Momo if I want a magic user without losing strength. Nina sees almost no action, unless dictated by the story. In .hack I never touch Piros except for his character missions, mainly because his personality annoys the heck out of me and because I like Heavy Blades like Black Rose and Sanjuro better.

Where am I going with this, you ask. To tell you the truth, I have no idea. Just thought I would point something out to everyone.

Peace!!

So yeah, basically the reason I joined was to keep tabs on my buddy uhright. Make sure he doesn't post any terrible drawings, things like that. Just joking u.r. just joking. No, really though. I just wanted to see his drawings and leave some comments, along with a few other artists. Don't expect to much out of me. Actually don't expect anything out of me. I don't think I've ever completed a drawing, so......

I may use this as a blog or something. I will defiantly be using it to keep track of my favorite pictures. Anyways, just wanted to explain why there will be no pictures from me........ ever. Peace!