JAKE AND THE DYNAMO … on Audio?

Okay, Jake and the Dynamo is not currently available on audio.  Before that happens, I need to get a better microphone and learn how to use some of this editing software. But a reader made this ad and sent it to me, and I thought it was really cool.

I especially like the musical choices he’s got in there. I wish I had some video to go with that rousing number at the end. Considering the way the characters bounce around like pinballs during the action sequences, I think it’s appropriate.

If anyone cares what I usually listen to while writing Jake and the Dynamo, however, it’s usually Disturbed. I have played this one on repeat enough to make it the unofficial theme song:

History of Magical Girl Anime, Part 5

Unfortunately, part 4 of SourcererZZ‘s thorough history of magical girl anime is not available in my country because of a copyright claim, so we have to skip ahead to part 5, where he starts with 1993’s superhero parody Moldiver. He continues from there through 1995. These are the years immediately after the appearance of Sailor Moon, when the genre enjoyed a surge in popularity.

I particularly enjoyed his discussion of Magic Knight Rayearth, an RPG-inspired adventure with a twist, which is the only story by CLAMP (that team of manga-ka that is both so prolific and so overrated) that I like.

Unfortunately, his sound quality is going down the tubes. SourcererZZ has always been hard to understand, but now he’s got a bad mike to go with the broken English.  His description of Moldiver is more-or-less indecipherable, but he becomes intelligible shortly after that.  In spite of the shortcomings (and, alas, the missing episodes), this is the most thorough overview of the genre I’ve ever come across.  His research, and his insane ability to find clips from obscure cartoons from the days of laserdiscs and VHS, is quite impressive.

Why the New ‘Ghostbusters’ Looks Like Suck

The remake of Ghostbusters has certainly stirred the pot. Its trailer has the dubious honor of being the most disliked movie trailer in YouTube history. At the time of writing, the dislike count is 839,395. That last dislike on there is mine. I don’t normally hit dislike buttons and, in fact, generally dislike them, but I wanted my own piece of YouTube history.

Recently, the popular Cinemassacre released a video in which reviewer James Rolfe says, calmly and reasonably, that he is not going to see the film because the trailer looks terrible and the new movie pays obvious disrespect to the franchise. His reasoning, given the subject matter, is sound: Continue reading “Why the New ‘Ghostbusters’ Looks Like Suck”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 5

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 5: SPACESHIPS AND DINOSAURS

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Strict rules governed physical contact between teachers and students, but in the heat of the moment, Miss Percy apparently forgot them.

She grabbed Jake by a belt loop and the back of his collar and hauled him away from Dana. He could have fought off the teacher as easily as he fought off the little girl, but he didn’t resist. Instead, slouching with his hands in his pockets, he stared at the floor while Miss Percy clutched his shoulders, shook him, and wept.

“How could you?” she cried. “How could you?” Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 5”

A JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Public Service Announcement

As our regular readers have likely guessed, the next chapter of Jake and the Dynamo, to appear at midnight tomorrow, will deal with more serious subject matter than the chapters previous.

In keeping with the increasingly serious content of this serious story, the next chapter contains coarse and vulgar language of the sort that is only appropriate for serious works.

Also, it contains dinosaurs.

In fact, the chapter is so serious that it even presents a single instance in which our protagonist, Jake, utters the so-called “c-word.”

However, in order to protect the sensibilities of the more sensitive members of our readership, we have elected to print the word as “cr_d.” This is to avoid giving excessive offense.

Thank you for giving your attention to this delicate matter.

Art Friday

Featured image: “The Last Sad Melody” by Suki-Manga.

A Brief Meditation on ‘Doom’

Well, yet another version of Doom is out, and everything I’ve heard about it is positive. The graphics are certainly impressive, but from what I’ve seen, I’m almost inclined to say too impressive. It reminds me of a claymation somehow.

Doom is one of those great titles that appear unpromising on the surface but have some je ne sai quoi that give them a compelling charm, so they simply won’t die. Like RoboCop. Or Sailor Moon. The game’s core concept is clever, and it is a concept to which, curiously, the video games have remained faithful whereas adaptations in other media have screwed with it and consistently ruined it. Continue reading “A Brief Meditation on ‘Doom’”

Musical Interlude

Listen to “Magical Girl (Marisa’s Theme)” by Odyssey. It’s rather catchy.

Updates and Stuff

Featured image: “Magical Girl Rainbow Dash” by My-Magic-Dream.

I’m an archaeologist by day and a magical girl geek by night; I’m behind on reviews, but it’s field season for me now, so I’m working long hours, and I want to spend the evening on chapter 15 of Jake and the Dynamo, as I want to keep the novel updating on a weekly basis for as long as I can.

So … no new material tonight.

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 4

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 4: NO LOVE LOST

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As the sun turned red and slowly set over the bay, it softened the scene of death and destruction with rich hues of rose and violet. With knees trembling, and with dried tears still on his cheeks, Jake slumped under a canopy that the emergency aid workers had erected. A thick, sharp smell like lead solder hung on the air, but every once in a while he caught the smell of blood, which made his stomach lurch. A low chatter surrounded him, and people frequently brushed past. First-responders and paramedics treated those with minor injuries. Ambulances, one after another, carried away the seriously harmed. Out in the street, in neat rows, the less fortunate lay with sheets over their faces. Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 4”