Do Not Disturb Any Further

Body painting as high art

Body painting doesn't have to be all cheesy hippie flowers and rainbows. Check out this stunning body art from Emma Hack.

Young Turks skewer TV, cultural, "news" silliness

My good friend Cheryl introduced me to the Young Turks, a group who offers entertaining commentary on all kinds of political, cultural, and media silliness. Check out the video of a man who is absolutely convinced he can levitate and the interviewer who keeps her cool admirably while he spontaneously demonstrates. Enjoy their take on Glenn Beck and his "profound" principles. Feel uncomfortable during a discussion about the sick humor and sad facts of a PSA depicting a Chris Brown/Rihanna tussle.

The Young Turks gang doesn't get an unqualified two thumbs up, however: I was disappointed by an uncritical interview about the Whole Foods boycott, in which the boycott's originator described his outrage about the Whole Foods CEO's position, seemingly without being aware that he let his outrage guide his actions so that all of the "research" he did supported his reaction further. He also didn't seem aware, or refused to admit, that he -- the freakin' boycott creator -- couldn't list exactly which sources he'd gotten his data from, but he remembered it was in this or that publication by this or that expert. Hardly a shining example of proper research and deductive reasoning. His own "proof" to justify his outrage was his outrage itself, and the Young Turks interviewer let this slide. Bad reporting all around. Whole Foods is a (legal, profitable) corporation that both fulfills its financial duties to its shareholders and mostly succeeds in fulfilling its perceived duty to provide politically correct products and services to a politically correct market. The boycott is being fueled by poorly established self-righteous indignation that damns the entire corporation in retaliation for the (legal, fiscally acceptable within his corporate framework) opinion of the CEO. An educational campaign would be just as effective to counter the CEO's position without seeming so foot-stampingly childish. A more rational approach would be doing actual research, refuting the CEO's comments, providing alternatives, and pointing out how unwise it is to offend the tender sensibilities of Whole Foods' primary customer base.

Talking Points Memo aptly describes another problem with this particular boycott:

But it's also rather horrifying to see Progressives try to destroy someone economically for expressing their opinion on a matter that he has no control over. Someone even compared it to Rosa Parks. But what can Mackey do? He's not on Obama's team. He's not a Republican politician or someone with big connections. Pretty much the most he can do is say, "I apologize for expressing my opinion, I won't do it again" and it affects the progress of health reform not one iota.

It's all just a waste of some good, strong liberal outrage that's going nowhere fast instead of trying for more effective communication and acceptable healthcare options. Hmmm... Just like all the rest of the healthcare debate, isn't it... Okay, enough of the Whole Foods tangent and serious politics stuff. Now, back to your regularly scheduled discussion of entertainment.

So The Young Turks aren't always consistent about the focus of their commentary, but they're damn sure entertaining.

Zippo lust strikes again

Zippo has made some shiny new lighters in brass featuring maneki neko, the Japanese beckoning cats I love and collect. But I can't get one easily: they're not sold here in the U.S. They're only sold in Japan, like lots of other cool types. Carbon fiber! Totoro! Brass gears! Skulls! Little green tadpoles & frogs!

I want!

Military guidelines for handling psychological stress

The U.S. Department of the Army has developed detailed guidelines for handling psychological stress. Check out the recommendations for Combat Stress Control In A Theater Of Operations Tactics, Techniques, And Procedures provided by the Virtual Naval Hospital (via the Wayback Machine).

Here's how this topic is introduced:

In one's own soldiers and in the soldiers of the enemy, control of stress is often the decisive difference between victory and defeat across the operational continuum. Battles and wars are won more by controlling the will to fight than by killing all of the enemy. Soldiers that are properly focused by training, unit cohesion, and leadership are most likely to have the strength, endurance, and alertness to perform their combat mission. In these soldiers, combat stress is controlled and positive combat stress reactions, such as loyalty, selflessness, and acts of bravery, are more likely to occur. However, uncontrolled combat stress causes erratic or harmful behavior, impairs mission performance, and results in disaster and defeat.

The straightforward, casual tone is fascinating: I never would have expected something so clearly explained from a government source. Particularly for a subject as nebulous as psychology.

I'm also impressed by the ruthless assumption that emotional reactions can and should be deliberately manipulated. In general, people don't like to think (feel?) that emotional reactions like loyalty and bravery can be consciously shaped. But these guidelines openly describe time-tested methods for building and enhancing the desired emotional reactions while minimizing undesired ones. It's impressively practical stuff that can likely be useful at work or other group activities.

Here's some more interesting glimpses into the mind of the military:

• Battle Fatigue: Normal Common Signs: What to do for Self and Buddy
• Combat Stress Control Services (one chapter of a larger publication that defines the duties and expectations for health support personnel)
• When the Mission Requires Recovering Human Dead Bodies

Charming blog post about visiting the capitol

Check out this delightful, art-filled post describing the author's visit to Washington, D.C.

Then, for fun, go watch "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock. Knowledge is power!

Fun with Photoshop: real-life depictions of Far Side cartoons

Okay, maybe not "real" real, but adapted from real-world images: A contest from Worth1000 in which people created new versions of Far Side cartoons.

Check out the rest of Worth1000 to see a lot of creativity and whimsy in action.

How much time have I spent watching anime?

At a rough guess, over 2 months of my life. A fun time sink courtesy of Anime Planet.

Aion beta is over

And I'm worn out. Don't know how much actual in-game time I spent, but it sure added up over 7 days. I took lots of screen shots that I'll post eventually.

This Aion beta, my guild, Oculus of Nex, played the "enemy" race, Elyos, so we could scope out the enemy's territory and abilities. I found them to be pretty similar to our preferred race, Asmodian.

However, the Elyos are the "light" side, and they're supposed to look prettier. This meant that I sometimes ended up with clothing I found very unattractive.

The worst was the pink boots. I hate pink. And the dyes to change the color of your armor are hella 'spensive, and I was always broke. Pink clothes shouldn't be a problem once I get to switch back to Asmodean in the live game.

Now, if I can just learn some actual strategy so I'm less of a burden on my more-experienced guild-mates...

Katekyo Hitman Reborn seiyuu singing their theme songs

Here's some delightful silliness: There's a Katekyo Hitman Reborn convention in Japan called ReboCon. At the 2009 con, the anime seiyuu performed some song and dance routines for their theme songs. The videos are hilarious. Check out Mukuro Rokudo's seiyuu camping it up , Squalo's seiyuu forced into a curly wig by I-Pin and Lambo's seiyuu, and some of the interwebz commentary. Or just work your way through the entire concert in order.

Behind the scenes at Fail Blog

The good folks at Fail Blog are sharing some background on what they do all day. Good geeky entertainment.

Silliness: Naruto dress-up

Starting with Itachi and Kisame.

Okamiden: Okami game coming to DS

The gorgeous and deservedly lauded Okami will be getting a spinoff for the Nintendo DS called Okamiden: Chisaki Taiyou (Okami Chronicles: Tiny Sun). Looks like the main character is another wolf, Chibiterasu (a chibi version of Okami's main character Amaterasu). Check out the news from IGN, Escapist, Sarcastic Gamer, 1Up, and Joystiq. Sweet!

Console RPGs cliches

Hours of fun matching your favorite console RPGs with this list of cliches.

Some of my favorites:

• "No! My beloved peasant village!": The hero's home town, city, slum, or planet will usually be annihilated in a spectacular fashion before the end of the game, and often before the end of the opening scene.
• Supply and Demand Axiom: Killing a powerful enemy will usually yield an item or weapon that would've been extremely useful if you had gotten it before killing that enemy.
• Sephiroth Memorial Escape Clause: Any misdeed up to and including multiple genocide is forgivable if you're cool enough.

Inspirational piercings

Hitsugi from Nightmare (Naitomea) has the best piercings! I've so gotta go get something pierced! (More pics of Nightmare.)

Fun with bento

From people who spend a lot more time making food look attractive than I do, here are some creative bento lunches. They all look pretty darn tasty except that icky pink-fruit-salad one in the middle. I choose the soccer-themed one as the winner.

Silliness: If 4Kids got their hands on Bleach

Here's one fan's take on what Bleach could have been like if 4Kids had obtained the license. Extra credit to the creator for changing Yuzu's name to Samantha and Rukia's name to Sharon. (Background: 4Kids is notorious for their ham-fisted "localization" of the anime they've licensed. If you have any interest in the One Piece anime at all, do NOT watch the 4Kids version, or you won't wanna see the rest.)

Clockwork art lust

I adore clockwork things where I can see the gears. Dale Mathis makes some shiny gear-y masterpieces. I have no place to put an office desk (if that's even human-sized in real life), but damn, it's pretty.

Next Aion countdown in progress

Only 6 days until the next Aion beta test. This one will last a whole week, so maybe I'll advance far enough to actually get out and hunt the enemy instead of just grinding levels. Sweet anticipation!

Sorta recommended: Wallflower anime

I would love to give an enthusiastic recommendation for the Wallflower anime series. It's got tons of potential. The heroine Sunako is shy and wounded, and she's very withdrawn after her middle-school crush called her "ugly". She's thoroughly antisocial, she loves banned splatter flicks, and her best friend is Hiroshi-kun the anatomical model. Silliness ensues when she moves into her aunt's mansion to live with four bishounen, "dazzling creatures" who are tasked with turning her into a "lady".

So there's lots for me to love, what with the pretty boys and Sunako's hobbies.

But it gets old a lot faster than I expected. The same stuff just keeps happening: Sunako constantly bursts into nosebleed-geysers when she looks too closely at Kyouhei, the designated love interest from the four pretty boys. There's half a dozen kidnappings (Hiroshi-kun gets kidnapped twice). The Goth Loli girls, who are neither particularly goth nor visibly loli, stalk Kyouhei daily but repeatedly fail at everything. Kyouhei is harassed everywhere he goes because he's just too darn gorgeous for the world to ignore.

I kept waiting for something to change, even taking a tack I didn't like. But no joy. And from the comments about the ongoing manga, there's no change there either. At least 90 issues, and Sunako and Kyouhei are still dithering.

I really loved the first few episodes when I first saw them, but that was before I watched Ouran High School Host Club. I found Ouran far superior, and now I can't stop comparing them. I can recommend the Wallflower  for an occasional dip into fluff, but sadly it's not a must-see series.

Outrage over ad showing Jesus taking photo of nuns...

...is disproportionately emphasized in comparison to the real issue: FP7 won some awards for ads that did not adhere to the rules.

Here's the basics:

• There's an annual award for advertising presented by Dubai Lynx.
• There's an advertising agency called FP7 with branches in Dubai and Doha that submitted some ads for the 2009 awards. (I can't find a web site for FP7. Way to promote! Their parent company is Fortune Promoseven.)
• Some of the ads did not conform to the award rules: They were not "implemented" in the required region and time frame, or FP7 did not get approval from the companies that the ads were for. Therefore, Dubai Lynx disqualified some entries, and took the awards back for the others.

Philip Thomas, Dubai Lynx CEO, said the problem ads "infringed our requirement that all work presented must represent the client who approved it. Our rules are very clear with regards to this". However, I could not find this requirement in the rules, either current or updated. (The term "implemented" is a key term that is not defined in the rules.)

The thing that made this issue show up in my search results, though, was the fact that someone found some of the ads offensive. Some other people thought that FP7 plagiarized a little too blatantly and were really stupid to use a pig in a mouthwash ad for the Middle East.

FP7 is allegedly returning all awards it got from Dubai Lynx, even those that adhered to the rules.

What have I learned from all this? Nothing. I'm peeved that I was lured by inflammatory headlines to snappish articles about advertising industry infighting and manufactured scandals incited by poorly defined rules.