...in case it hasn't:  The Periodic Table of the Superpowers.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Article with pictures here. Even given the effects on sea water on dead animals, it's hard to figure out what this is or was.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Manhattan sidewalk now sports "New Yorkers" and "Tourist" lanes.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Okay. So Cindy and I saw Iron Man II last night.
This is a well made superhero movie. It is not a particularly challenging film, and doesn't quite have the sheer unbridled joy of the first film, but it is a solid entry in the franchise. It is pretty hard to be joyous and uplifting while your douche-bag hero is dealing with deadly disease, daddy issues and his inability to balance his ego and his mortality.
Strangely enough, it doesn't need the combat sequences; though the nerd-gasm of seeing the dubious comic concept of the suitcase armour realized was one of the high points; physics notwithstanding - how much would it have weighed? The joy in the film is the easy chemistry and lightening fast dialog between the primaries; well that and Robert Downey Junior's Tony Stark spraying his alpha-douchebaggery around at firehose pressures to the frustration of everyone around him and the delight of the audience. It is an epic performance in that he makes the intensely unlikable Stark charming and sympathetic, despite being an arsehole of such magnitude that one could lose the entire Spartan oil-wrestling team within.
The villains are enjoyable, from the slime dripping senator to the wince inducing Justin Hammer. Mickey Rourke plays it tight and mean as the villainous Whiplash; and has the best birdy pals since Alfred Hitchcock. This is one of the few times since the fifties era of epic he-man scientists, where a physics major feels as much a physical threat as an intellectual one. No Doctor Manhattan doesn't count, as the only thing he has going for him physically is his dangling bits; which never seem to get to a particle colliding Hadron despite the presence of the Silk Specter.
The soundtrack, despite a nice funked up queen riff is merely okay. I like AC/DC as much as the next long haired type; but the film, or rather the experience of the film suffers greatly from not having those metal-heavy bars of I AM IRON MAN! Pumping out. Three seconds of music, or more specifically the right three seconds of music can impact a two hour production. It is an odd thing to be missing; three seconds of Ozzy cannot be that expensive or overwhelming (and I refuse to make the Sharon Osbourne nods quietly to herself joke.)
Don Cheadle stepping in for Terrence Howard is... well he just it. The performance was merely okay. I didn't like him as much as he never really felt like Tony's friend; and looked more annoyed. Howard in the first film managed a wonderful, subtle combination of put-out, frustrated, embarrassed and genuinely fond in his dealings with Stark's antics, where Cheadle just looks like someone handed him an English cucumber and asked him to sneak it through customs while wearing only flip flops and a thong.
For the comic book nerd, whether tentative, or raging; there is a lot to enjoy; from cameo appearance be famous hardware (you did stay to the end, right) to Samuel L. Jackson going Oedipal gerund eyepatch on an Oedipal gerund Fury as the head of Shield. Scarlett Johansson does fill the black cat-suit of the black widow nicely and her extended fight scene perfectly interlocks technique with superheroic flair. It feels very four colour; and looks great.
Gwyneth Paltrow once again rocks as Pepper Potts. Great body language; great dialog; and a nice combination of real-person-in-an-unreal-situation reactions and steely spine in dealing with crisis. Director John Favreau's Happy Hogan is a lot of fun and is given a little more to do in the film.
As good as the first one? No.
Did I enjoy it as much as Kick-Ass? No. (Seriously, go see Kick Ass, if only to watch Nicolas Cage redeem himself from a host of sad-sack action film attempts and that sodding Wicker Man remake)
Worth your ten bucks? Absolutely.

Atlantea: Holy crap... Just thought of something.
Atlantea: I'm doing the "Revenent Hero" project Arc.
MicroShade: Hmmm?
DarkSeraphim: yes?
Atlantea: Mostly the Crey Revenant Hero arc deals with biologicals and cloning. But a key element is this:
Atlantea: ."Late in the document you come across the fact that the original Revenant Heroes had little or no control over their powers because their minds had not developed."
Atlantea: ." Technology to fix that defect was 'secured' by Dr. Paul Summerfeld, who based his research off of the deceased Dr. Friedken's mind uploading work."
Atlantea: Thing is - Dr. Friedkin uploaded her mind to the Net, becoming "The Doctor". And what, pray tell, is Cyberman 8? A guy who had his mind "uploaded" into an android. AND -
Atlantea: ." The Revenant Hero Project is currently on it's 9th generation of the technology, being field-tested by Crey as the Paragon Protectors."
Atlantea: The 9th Generation of tech. Cyberman 8 was so named because of the original subjects back in the 60s. He was the 8th attempt. And the first successful one.
Atlantea: That's been part of his background all along.
MicroShade: Well.... I'm currently delivering canisters of Outbreak. The key point to this is that I get to claw up longbow inflicting great amounts of pain in the process.
DarkSeraphim: so.... C8 was a a Crey off shoot?
Atlantea: More like the other way around.
DarkSeraphim: wait, that couldn't work, the PP haven't been round that long
DarkSeraphim: wait.... crey stole the tech that made him?
MicroShade: Crey stole the idea from C8?
Atlantea: Dr. Friedkin based her upload tech on that of Dr. Tani - the guy who made him.
DarkSeraphim: .... that would make a good snipet.
Atlantea: They stole it from Dr. Friedkin.
Atlantea: See the connection?
MicroShade: Write it! Write it! WRITE IT!!!!
DarkSeraphim: hee hee.
Atlantea: I'm definitely thinking about it. Does it make sense?
DarkSeraphim: luckily that tech is not as messed as what dib uses.
MicroShade: *starts cant*MicroShade: makes definite sense.
DarkSeraphim: but Dib uses something similar to the A.I. tech from the halo-verse
DarkSeraphim: and that has the unfortunate side effect of.... killing the subject as it uploads.
Atlantea: Mind - they went a different direction with it. They "upload" into clones, where Dr. Tani uploaded to a positronic brain and Dr. Friedkin uploaded directly to the global network.
MicroShade: makes more sense then the brainwave I had the other day.
Atlantea: So yeah. *Makes notes*

Now this is some impressive work.
--------------
Epsilon

Deep Discount is having an up to 50% off anime sale through the end of the month, with a decent but somewhat randomish selection.  They had Gurren Lagann (subs only) volumes 1 and 3, but not 2.  Huh?  Link
Also, Rightstuf is having a Funimation sale, 40% off.  Linky
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

Quote:However Mrs. Lackey (or at least her lawyers) is
"Anal Retentive" about the Copyright to the World in Question.

Quote:News: Concerning Fanfiction:

As you folks already know, my agent, Russel Galen, has in the past been
opposed to fanfiction. However, he is also Cory Doctorow's agent now,
and Cory is a persuasive little gnome.

As a result of this, I am happy to announce that we are officially
permitting fanfiction to be licensed as derivative fiction under the
Creative Commons umbrella.

What this means is: NO, you cannot make money on it. NO, you cannot
self-publish a fanfiction novel of Valdemar (or any of my other stuff)
and try and sell it on Amazon. And NO, I still am not going to read it,
because I am already so far behind on my research reading I barely have
time to read that.

But YES, you may write and post away, folks, so long as you license it
as derivative and under Creative Commons. If it is anything other than
PG-13, please take all the proper precautions to stick it somewhere that
innocent souls won't be corrupted. Do not scare the children or the
horses. Have fun!

The Dojo at work
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100520/od_ ... a_ninjas_2

I had to share this, from The Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator
Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining
Quantum Leap and
Friends.
The story should use losing one's virginity as a plot device!