by Makoto Kobayashi
Collection of short comics about orange tabby, Michael. Recurring characters: Richard Kimbly, fugitive veterinarian; Catzilla–overweight calico; Popo–Michael?s sometime girlfriend/wife; and his various owners, though not passed from one to next. Belongs to several households, it seems. Almost like he has–heh heh–nine lives going on simultaneously. Unlike Bucky Katt or Heathcliff, Michael doesn?t walk on two legs or speak to humans, i.e. Pluto : Goofy :: Michael : Garfield. Interacts with people as a real cat would. Simple lines, little detail, but excellent cat drawings, down to how kitty bodies quiver when pooping.
by Motofumi Kobayashi
Follows a trio of Roadrunners and three Montegnards during tour of duty in ?Nam–code name Cat Shit One (play on Dog Shit One, reference to West Point lowerclassmen). Mission to destroy Ho Chi Minh Trail. Americans and Vietcong portrayed as rabbits and cats. Whimsical yes, but serious stories. Scenery and dialogue contribute to “realism.” Historical info. in sidebars and gloss for military slang. No interest in Vietnam War history, and admittedly purchased because of cute cats and rabbits. However, Kobayashi’s art and writing are engrossing, as well as educational. Always a good mix. Not for kids under 16.
I’ve never liked grocery shopping.
When I was single, I lived a few blocks away from a Jewel. I didn’t have a car, so I only bought things as needed. I’d empty my backpack and use that to hold the groceries. I’m pretty much a wuss, and there was no way I could carry 12-packs of diet Cokes during the walk home.
Even with a car, I prefer to go to the store late at night when they’re mostly empty. The downside to that is having to lug bags and bags up two flights of stairs from a parking spot a block away, because by the time I’d get home, all the good spots (what Brian and I refer to as “looky-looky here”s) are taken. Well, OK, he’s the one who does the shopping. He says he doesn’t mind it. He says.
Normally, I’m OK about waiting in line for most things, unless the person everyone’s waiting to see is totally incompetent–I mean, new. At the post office, I fucking hate idiot customers who haven’t prepared their packages properly and hold up the whole line. Fucking get a clue and read instructions. Read them online before you even go. It’s not that hard!
Read the rest of this entry »
So the OT DVDs are out. I meant to pre-order them months ago, but never got around to doing so. Oh, well. They aren’t going anywhere, and I’ve never been the gotta-have-it-first type.
As sacrilegous as this may sound, I’m more excited about Star Wars: Battlefront.
Wednesday Weird Ones (dead link, 11/29/06)
1. Which is cooler: robots or giant monsters? Why?
Although I like robots or, droids, giant monsters are cooler because they’re actual life forms, which makes them all the more fascinating. Who knows? Maybe some of them have evolved into humans!
2. If for some reason you needed to throw a porcupine, how would would you go about doing it? If you threw the porcupine agianst a wall would it stick better than a jellyfish would if it was thrown from the same distance?
I don’t like the idea of throwing a porpucine–it would make feel really bad. 
But if I absolutely had to, I’d wrap it up in a thick blanket and throw the porcupine, blanket and all.
A jellyfish is more likely to stick to a wall upon which it’s thrown because of its body’s gelatinous composition. Whereas, a porcupine’s needles might have a more difficult time adhering to most hard surfaces, unless, of course, the wall is made of cork–like a giant dart board. 
3. Until the unfortunate twist, didn’t you think that Hansel and Gretel were quite ingenious for making a trail back home only out of bread crumbs? What would you have made the trail out of?
Leaving a trail is ingenious, yes, but a trail of bread crumbs was a bad idea. If it were me, I’d leave something inedible, such as fist-sized rocks.
4. Of what item in your grocery store’s freezer section are you most afraid? How about in the fresh produce section?
Cuts of meat that are “exotic,” like beef hearts and kidneys. Basically stuff I wouldn’t eat.
5. How much do you enjoy blogging in cubic joules per meter seconds squared?
Huh?
Question of the Week
What is one activity you thoroughly enjoy doing that a large percentage of people would probably consider, at the least, trite and boring ?
I love to alphabetize books and CD’s. With the books, I also categorize them by subject and genre.
However, the Star Wars Expanded Universe has a ton of books and comics that are all tied to each other. These are on a shelf of their own and in chronological order, based on the events in the SW universe.
I think I have the makings of a very fine librarian. Hee hee.
Monday Madness
1. My ________ is the most used piece of furniture in my house.
printer–two of the cats’ favorite “bed”
2. The one electronic “gadget” that I use most often is my ________.
I don’t think we own any.
3. My favorite appliance, and the one I absolutely cannot live without is the _______.
microwave
4. One thing that I thought I just HAD to have at one time, and I now barely ever use, is my _______.
coffee grinder
5. I find it easiest to keep in touch with family and friends via ________.
e-mail
6. I own more cd’s (or other music media) than I do _________.
shoes
7. All my important addresses are stored in/on my _________.
Rolodex
8. If I had to live without TWO keys on my keyboard, I would choose _________.
insert and caps lock
9. I probably own about _____ pieces of software that I haven’t used in years.
zero
10. There are a few food items that I try NEVER to run out of, and those would be __________.
diet Coke
Cheesy but funny. Chow’s character’s too silly, prefer hardened hitman persona. Disappointingly, action nowhere near John Woo’s two-gun goodness of either Chow’s or Woo’s other movies.
I haven’t posted in awhile because I’ve been busy setting up the new sites for bloggo chicago (TypePad blog, dead link, 11/29/06) and slacktivities (another old TypePad blog, dead link, 11/29/06). I’m still debating over whether or not to move this blog (Cell 2187, my old SW blog on Blogger) as well. For now, at least, I’ll keep it here.
After having answered a post in an online community that discusses the EU, I realized that I haven’t posted here about how I got into Star Wars to begin with. Or rather, how I rediscovered it.
This past winter, I began collecting Star Wars LEGO sets. (I had been collecting Harry Potter ones as well, and how I got into LEGOs altogether is a whole other story.) Last January, I picked up Heir to the Empire and was immediately hooked. I had no idea it was the first of the EU books written.
Of the Star Wars novels lining shelf after shelf at Borders, I just picked it out by chance. Apparently, it was a good choice. I didn’t realize it was part of a trilogy, so when I reached the end, I freaked and had to have the next volume immediately.
Since then, I’ve read the rest of the Thrawn Trilogy; several prequel comics mini-series; all of Jedi Apprentice (I’m a sucker for backstories, plus Obi-Wan’s one of my favorite characters); a few Jedi Quests; the young Boba Fett series; the prequel novels except for the ones still in hardcover (too bulky); the Han and Lando books; the OT; the novels up to Jedi Search except for the X-Wing series; some of the Tales From anthologies; and some of Dark Horse’s Tales series. I’m trying really hard to keep up with the current ongoing Dark Horse series, Empire and Republic.
I’m so behind on my reading.
Most Tuesdays, I have an early afternoon appointment in the Gold Coast. I take the Michigan Avenue exit after traveling southbound on Lake Shore.
At this time of day, Michigan Avenue is filled with cars, cabs, and buses. In order to get to my destination, I have to make a right turn on a street going west. Even more cars, cabs, and buses clog the rightmost lane, so you end up waiting through two changes of traffic lights before finally making the turn.
This past Tuesday, I noticed something very wrong. As I made my way down the offramp and onto Michigan Avenue, the lanes were clear. There may have been one or two other cars besides mine, but for that area, that’s empty. I hadn’t heard about any parade or protest scheduled for the day, yet there were crossing guards on nearly every corner. Curiously, no security barricades lined the sidewalks.
Not only that, as I continued going south on Michigan, every single traffic light for blocks were synchronized. When I lived in Houston, this was common, and you only had to find the right speed in order not to get stuck at a stop light. I have never experienced this in Chicago until that day. That is just plain wrong.
I’m certainly not complaining, but it was very disturbing. Very disturbing.
