TheRaySays

Brilliant once again good sir. Love the use of the gold bars as the background for the main text. I wouldn't have thought of that. (Y) Thanks again and always.

It's that time again... This will be used in my sig AND the diary in question and credit will be given in both places at the very least. Size - Consistent with the last one, 400x172 or thereabouts. Text - small font: "NWA: Mile High presents", big font: "GOLD RUSH", small font at bottom: "3-Way Ladder Match * Hardcore Challenge * Title Round Robin" and "February 25, 2007" Fonts - something bold, manly, and rugged, like Algerian or Bernard MT Condensed for the title The smaller text can use something basic and clean Images - Flash Funk, Nova, and Yuji Nagata (these are just samples, use any appropriate to year 2007, no title belts please) over some gold bars or ingots Colors - Gold is the theme here, so that and contrasting colors like purple, perhaps?

C-MIL, you are indeed a life-saver and a golden god. Thank you. I, on the other hand, am an idiot.

GODDDAMMMMITTTT! Sigh. Any chance we can sub out Axl Rotten for IAN Rotten? That's the second time I've been confused by my own damn diary...

Wow. Excellent job. Thanks! (Y)

Okay, I don't want to make a new thread every time I'm looking for one of these, so I'll keep them all here. That being said, I know this is non-paying free time fun work, so I'm grateful for even thoughtful consideration let alone any attempts. These will be used in my sig AND the diary in question and credit will be given in both places at the very least. Size - I'm not fussy, though the first one will set the standard for the rest in the interests of consistency. Just nothing that will get me a "zOMG, your sig's fooking huge!" PM from anyone. Text - small font: "NWA: Mile High presents", big font: "ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY", small font at bottom: "Hardcore Challenge * Trios Match * Title Tournament Qualifiers" and "January 28, 2007" Fonts - something bold, manly, and rugged, like Algerian or Bernard MT Condensed for the title The smaller text can use something basic and clean Images - TAKA Michinoku and Axl Rotten (these are just samples, use any appropriate to year 2007, no title belts please) over a vista of the Rocky Mountains, perhaps with a road or highway trailing off into the distance Colors - Well, TAKA's pics all seem to use blue as his color theme, so maybe pair that with a contrasting color like red, yellow, or orange? I'm open-minded

I think it's one of the greatest comic series ever (perhaps better than the much-lauded Sandman, IMHO) and never jumps the shark either. Just a solid run to its conclusion. I wholeheartedly recommend reading all of the trade paperbacks in order. Just don't skip ahead. There are some serious mindfucks that need to be read in sequence to truly appreciate and after being spoilered it'd be kinda like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

He should really just write and film someone else reading it. He's waaaaay too stereotypical internet nerd to me, complete with requisite sthpeech impediment and over dramatic outbursts.

Uuuh, Black Widow anyone? I imagine she'll be revealed to be working for the villains, then turn face in time to join The Avengers. I approve. (Y)

Don't be hating on me, godddammit. I've got Elephantmen shit y'all ain't even heard of.

Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, unless you have an unnatural aversion to historical fantasy. I can't bring myself to read Eragon. Juvenile fanfic with big publisher backing is still just juvenile fanfic. I'm about to finish Fire by Sebastien Junger (author of The Perfect Storm). It's a non-fiction compilation of articles about dangerous jobs and war-torn regions. The last article deals with Bin Laden and the Taliban and was originally published mere months before 9/11, and still offers insights I haven't seen picked up elsewhere. I'm also still easing my way through House of Leaves, which isn't an easy read but is certainly rewarding. I loved The Jungle. I seriously need to reread that.

That's a great short film. While the collector is a sympathetic figure, I detect a bit of hubris in him, a reluctance to sell his life so cheap... which, of course, is merely a reluctance to accept that his collection isn't worth $3 million and that the world, indeed, doesn't really give a damn about his passion for vinyl or even music. Growing up sucks, at any age.

Ultimate Spoiler/Opinion! Spoiler: Click here to viewNo way do they ice the Ultimate Universe before doing a major crossover with the regular (616?) universe.

This was awesome fun. Thanks!

1I: Spoiler: Click here to viewShaft in Africa?

8C: Spoiler: Click here to viewAssault on Precinct 13 (remake)? BTW, that Brian Cox picture in 3E is killing me! I'll hazard a guess: Spoiler: Click here to viewThe Ring?

3D: Spoiler: Click here to viewOne Eight Seven?

2G: Spoiler: Click here to viewThe Bank Job?

I'm not going to bother answering ones already shown to be correct. Of the remainder: Spoiler: Click here to view1B. Car Wash 2C. The Butterfly Effect 2F. Star Trek: Nemesis 3B. Jacob's Ladder 3D. Dangerous Minds 3E. X-Men 2 3H. Jumper 4D. Hard Boiled 4G. Children of Men 5A. District B-13 5B. In Bruges 5I. Harvey 6E. Superman Returns 6J. Thank You for Smoking 7F. The Seven Samurai 7G. Underworld 8C. Training Day 8E. The Incredible Hulk I have to share any credit with my wife. Great concept/quiz. (Y)

I'm about halfway through volume 3, but haven't messed with it in some time. Thoroughly enjoying them, tho.

You say that like it's a bad thing. I watched the first 2 season 4 episodes and loved them both. "We're going to hit you where it hurts." "Yeah, in your dick!"

My mate loves House of Leaves. Or at least I think it's that one. Is that the one with about four words per page? ¬_¬ Seriously, some pages are pretty much blank, right? Never read it, I assume there's some sort of 'artistic' reasoning for it? I always assumed it was because he was Welsh and couldn't cope with more than a few words per page. I haven't gotten to that point yet, so I don't know, but I do know that I've read some pages that were crammed with text and footnotes and whatnot, so it'd be quite challenging to the... uh... Welsh? I also know that the format of the text is related to the subject matter at times, so I'm sure it has 'artistic' purpose.

I just started reading "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski while I'm still reading Neil Gaiman's "Fragile Things" at work. "House of Leaves" is a bit pretentious and unwieldy, but undeniably creepy, and I'm less than a hundred pages in. (Y)

Right now, I'm reading "Fragile Things", a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman, and it's predictably brilliant. Right before that, earlier this week in fact, I also finished Haunted by Chuckie P. What a weird coincidence. In any event, I think the short stories range from ho-hum to brilliant, while the framing story's pretty overwrought and gratuitous and repetitive and overwrought. The characters are fairly unlikeable, yes, but they're also meant to be unreliable narrators in the vein of horror anthologies like the original "Tales from the Crypt" (the one with Joan Collins and Peter Cushing and Ralph Richardson as the Crypt Keeper, not the puppet). Hell, he even draws the comparison to Canterbury Tales and the Villa Diodati, so it's not like he was hiding his intentions. Whether or not it worked for you, though, is obviously subjective. That being said, to say that the sole purpose of "Guts" is gross-out is really selling it short. Unfortunately, I think Chuck's doing himself no favors with all of the "fainting hype" that's surrounding that story. It's like when people overhyped "The Blair Witch Project," saying it was the scariest film they'd ever seen. "Guts" is really not that gross, at least no more disgusting than dead baby jokes or Faces of Death or other juvenile nonsense me and my pals dreamed up when we were kids. The point of the story is made evident in the explanation of l'esprit d'escalier, The Spirit of the Stairwell. What I liked was that the point of the story is NOT that French expression, but what the expression leaves out. There are some things even the French don't have names for, things people don't like to talk about, like your mother finding your gay masturbation carrot or having to explain what happened to their son. That's what the story is about, how everyone has to suffer some secret shame or embarrassment in their life, but he's seemingly got one that trumps them all. I know I wouldn't want to trade places with St. Gut-Free. And, yes, none of the stories are remotely realistic, but I also think that was intentional. They're all written in second-person narration as I recall, which is a really weird tense ("Don't laugh, but I'm going to tell you a secret..."), and utilize the whole "unreliable narrator" gimmick (coincidentally, that was also Gaiman's plan for most of the stories in "Fragile Things", which I didn't know before I started reading it right after "Haunted"). It's why I also take the self-mutilation with a grain of salt. All of the characters are prone to gross exaggeration and are engaged in the act of creating fiction, so none of their claims or experiences are to be taken as gospel truth. Sorry to go off on a little rant, and I don't want to sound like some English teacher, I just really like discussing literature. I'm just glad, but not surprised given the high signal-to-noise ratio, that folks on EWB still read books. We're a dying breed, my friends. (Y)

I loved it and actually found the trio of main characters (I don't count Reddick since he's more of a mentor figure) quite compelling. I don't know, maybe I'm just predisposed to liking shit like this.