Last Thursday I made the probably unwise decision to see the live-action interpretation of Ghost In the Shell starring Scarlet Johannson at the local movie theater.  The terrible weather in the Bay Area aside (continual rain, Washington DC-like cold, gusts of wind up to 50 miles per hour), it's just not a good movie.  I was expecting a half-assed retelling of the original movie's story with additional Hollywood elements, and I wasn't disappointed in that respect.

tl;dr - Don't bother.  ScarJo's new movie is a bad cosplay that'll leave you feeling like you just took some pills a random person …

Fans of Shojou Kakumei Utena will no doubt be thinking exactly the same thing I was when I took these pictures in a rose garden in Miami Beach, Florida a couple of weeks ago.

While wandering around northern Virginia recently, Lyssa and I happened across a couple of new stores that could really use patronage as well as suggestions if they're going to take off. The first is a little pagan-type store on Route 50 west called Sticks and Stones (9970 Main Street; Fairfax, VA; 22031; phone 703-352-2343) which opened its doors just a week ago. Their selection's not bad for a brand new shop - a little thin on books but they have a good selection of practical materials and good prices all around. They're taking suggestions for things to stock and classes to …

Time's getting down to the wire and there's no escaping it. The wedding is now two solid months away and Lyssa and I are scrambling to get our plans in motion. Last week the invitations came back from the printer, the directory of local hotels came back from Kinko's (I'll mirror them here to make it easier), and the custom printed stamps that my mother had made up for were put to use. Last week, parts of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were spent writing names and addresses, stuffing envelopes, and sticking things together. I spent a goodly amount of Friday …

The Wachowski brothers, who made their names in Hollywood with the Matrix trilogy, are bringing the classic anime Speed Racer to the silver screen as a live action movie with a projected release date of 9 May 2008. True to form, they're pushing the envelope of video technology yet again with a new digital video camera that will keep the entire frame in focus at all times, giving the same visual style that you would see if you were watching a cartoon.

Go ahead. Watch a movie, then watch a cartoon, and compare the relative sizes and distances in each …

Lots of cosplay pictures from Tekko 2k5.

It is now officially the middle of January - so why is it 65 degrees Farenheit and why are there people walking around in shorts and t-shirts? No, seriously, what gives? I'm sitting here in khakis and a polo shirt in downtown DC (wishing that I was working from home because it is, apparently, a holiday and as such 90% of the city has the day off) in a building that's so empty that most of the hallway and office lights weren't even turned on to conserve power. It's a little creepy, actually.

Friday night I wound up staying up late …

• Capes and cloaks are practical fashion accessories. They always hang properly, always have stiff collars that never fall over or flop around, and always conveniently trail behind you when moving at high speed at shoulder height, which obviates the possibility of getting tangled up in it and wiping out.


• Impalement through any part of the body is merely an inconvenience, not a reason to visit the trauma unit of the local hospital.


• People standing on objects several times too thin to support their body mass are a commonplace occurrance.


• The fastest mode of locomotion is telekinetically-enhanced high jumping.
• Your torso …