Wednesday, November 27, 2002

I like James Kolchalka's American Elf website (despite the fact he makes you pay to see his archives). He's a cartoonist and a musician. He draws slice-of-life vignettes of cute cartoon people. That's a bad description, you should see for yourself. Personally, I'd never make you guys pay to see my archives. What kind of a girl do you think I am?   12:45:39 PM

Okay, here's an oldie for all you regulars: July 25, 2002   Dearly Beloved, we are now entering the Marvel Age.   If you think about it, the DC universe dominated the past two decades: Superman in the 80’s, Batman in the 90’s.   Now, Spider-man is the big movie sensation this summer, X-Men was the big thing last summer. I think it’s going to be a Marvel kinda decade.   For those who aren’t big comic-book losers*, I’ll elaborate:   The DC (“Detective Comics”) universe is populated by godlike overachievers such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. They were all born to a higher purpose, have the approval of the general public (no matter how freakish they may be), are usually from the highest socioeconomic strata available (Superman and Wonder Woman are aristocracy, Batman is a millionaire), and rarely falter in their dedication to their work. They were conceived to be role models.   Those who had greatness thrust upon them, such as Spider-man, the X-men, and the Hulk, on the other hand, populate the Marvel universe. Most of them are everyday schmoes from all across the social strata, but mostly from the middle-to-lower ranks. The general public distrusts them at best, hates and fears them at worst. They’re always questioning their roles in life, when they aren’t actively resenting being superheroes. Marvel characters are populist folk-heroes, or anti-heroes.   The 1980’s saw the popularity of the Superman movies, because he’s the ultimate yuppie: just brimming with bourgeois charm. The 1990’s had the Batman movies, because he’s the ultimate expression of the dot-com lifestyle: rich, yet isolated and misunderstood. He’s too deep for us.   The popularity of Spider-man shows a dramatic shift from this: Peter Parker is a nerd with a bad job, no girl, and a costume that’s always being lost in the wash, but every day he goes out and fights crime. Not because he wants to, but because he has to. I think that’s a pretty good representation of the post-New Economy zeitgeist. * I didn't really mean "losers" when I said this. But of course, I sort of did, though.   10:35:43 AM

Re: Whassup with the funky comments? I'm glad you asked. I've never liked the way Radio comments work. People comment and you're pretty much stuck with that forever. Haloscan gives you the ability to customize your comment template and edit your comments. I'm going to see how it works out. 10:15:33 AM

I know what you’re thinking.   You’re thinking about the same thing I thought around 10pm Central time tonight.   What the…? Where’d the blog go?   Well, my friends, even I can’t tell you that.   Some mysterious conflict deep in the bowels of my configuration wiped out every blog entry since yesterday, effectively leaving me with nada.   Zip. Zero. Five months of blogging effort down the proverbial tubes.   I still have about 90% of the drafts I made, so if there’s something you really want, just let me know and I’ll send it to you.   As for me, I actually am not as upset about it as I thought I would be.   Granted, I am a little devastated. I sort of feel as if I lost my baby pictures in a fire: not really all that important in the grand scheme of things, but still an emotional shock.   I’m feeling optimistic, though. I’ve zipped up the whole Radio UserLand file structure for later forensic research into why this happened, and zipped up my 38-page word file with all my drafts in it, and am resolved to go onward towards the future.   There are a ton of things I’ve learned about blogging in the past five months, and as with most of the things in my life, I usually have those “If I can only do that over again…”   Well, now I have my chance. I get to do it all over again.   Oh, I expect I’ll rerun an old post now and then; sort of like how Dear Abby and Ann Landers do on Christmas and when readers send in old clippings. But for the most part, I’m starting over anew.   (Okay, seriously now...   That "starting anew" stuff was just on of those 2 am things. I'll post twice a weekday, time permitting, one new post, one "classic post", until I run out. Then the usual 1 post per weekday thing. )   1:58:53 AM