If you always got here by the .com addy (http://themizarkshow.com) then you aren't here cause that is the new sites name. But if you used the .blogspot.com addy to get here, you need to change that shit up. All new posts will be on the new site (thanks to the powers of wordpress.org) and the site will expand to host my old comic endeavors, some short stories and poetry I wrote and don't hate, and some photos and other stuff.
So, the move isn't cause I hate blogger, but because I just wanted a blog site that could be more than that... which Wordpress is great for. See ya blogger. Thanks for all the great times and for continuing to host my photoblog.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Christmas War
Since it's the holiday season these days, I have the joy of hearing Christmas Music for almost 8 hours a day while at work (thank god I have a Zune, otherwise I would kill people). I also have th joy of hearing all about Christmas/Holiday debates and frustrations via the news. And so far, the one thing I've taken away from this overly Christmasy season so far is that we are sending some very confusing messages to children via holiday music and classic, holiday stories.
For instance, in the tune "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," we are told that Santa is basically a god-like creature who see's all things, good and bad, judges people as good or bad, and rewards those who are good. But, we can't just be good, we must be good for goodness' sake. Presumably, that means that good deads cannot be good without being done for the right reasons, a very Kantian ethical system. But the song is basically about being good so you get rewarded with presents and not coal, poop, or other horrible gifts (eg: dress socks, underwear that doesn't fit, christmas sweaters): a Humian based, do things for the good outcome, sort of rationale.
In another instance of this Christmas confusion, we have "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which focuses on the tale of a brave young reindeer, whose nose glows red for no good reason, and is therefore picked on by his/her peers. In the end, Rudolph saves the day because its a foggy night and the others can't see where they are going since Santa is too cheap to put headlights on his sleigh; so Rudolphs freakish nose becomes that light and presents are delivered as they should be. All this story really teaches, however, is to choose carefully who you make fun of because you might need their help later. If it helps children be nice to each other, I guess that's fine, but teaching them to do so just because they might need their help later places them in a very selfish sort of mindset. Shouldn't we treat others nicely because we are all individuals/equals? I guess it could be argued that the song tries to teach that... but I don't think it does a good job of it, if that is the case.
And then we have the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, which teaches that we can be selfish assholes until we're old farts and then give out some free goodies with all the money we've horded and made off of those around us, and will be saved from damnation and ghostery. So, why be good your whole life, when all it takes is a change of heart somewhere down the road? I guess we have the worry of never knowing when our time will be up... and in Scrooge's case, he has a whole past full of regrets and sorrow. But that isn't what changes his mind about being good, cause he has presumably lived with the knowledge of that stuff for a while; it's seeing his grave and knowing that no one cares that he has died. Once again we have a case of selfish intentions as the reason for a paradigm shift.
Now, I'm not terribly fond of Christian holiday tunes, stories, and the like, but at least they have a fairly solid message which they stick to. It isn't about us, it's about others, it's about equality/individuality, and it's about doing the best you can with what you have.
If athiests/agnostics want to be taken seriously, they have to rethink these "secular" messages. In the state of Washington, there is a poster up next to the nativity scene on the state capital building which says this is a season for reason, and that "religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." Honestly, though, the secular songs, stories, posters, and ethics put forward this time of the year prove that poster otherwise.
As most of you know, I'm not a religious person anymore and really don't care for organized religion as a whole... but I'm also not up for blatently offending people of belief during their times of celebration and worship. If these groups want to be taken seriously, they have to stop acting like their hearts have been hardened and think things through like rational people, rather than angry nutjobs who want to blackout Christmas and all other religious holidays while still enjoying the perks of having them around.
For instance, in the tune "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," we are told that Santa is basically a god-like creature who see's all things, good and bad, judges people as good or bad, and rewards those who are good. But, we can't just be good, we must be good for goodness' sake. Presumably, that means that good deads cannot be good without being done for the right reasons, a very Kantian ethical system. But the song is basically about being good so you get rewarded with presents and not coal, poop, or other horrible gifts (eg: dress socks, underwear that doesn't fit, christmas sweaters): a Humian based, do things for the good outcome, sort of rationale.
In another instance of this Christmas confusion, we have "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which focuses on the tale of a brave young reindeer, whose nose glows red for no good reason, and is therefore picked on by his/her peers. In the end, Rudolph saves the day because its a foggy night and the others can't see where they are going since Santa is too cheap to put headlights on his sleigh; so Rudolphs freakish nose becomes that light and presents are delivered as they should be. All this story really teaches, however, is to choose carefully who you make fun of because you might need their help later. If it helps children be nice to each other, I guess that's fine, but teaching them to do so just because they might need their help later places them in a very selfish sort of mindset. Shouldn't we treat others nicely because we are all individuals/equals? I guess it could be argued that the song tries to teach that... but I don't think it does a good job of it, if that is the case.
And then we have the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, which teaches that we can be selfish assholes until we're old farts and then give out some free goodies with all the money we've horded and made off of those around us, and will be saved from damnation and ghostery. So, why be good your whole life, when all it takes is a change of heart somewhere down the road? I guess we have the worry of never knowing when our time will be up... and in Scrooge's case, he has a whole past full of regrets and sorrow. But that isn't what changes his mind about being good, cause he has presumably lived with the knowledge of that stuff for a while; it's seeing his grave and knowing that no one cares that he has died. Once again we have a case of selfish intentions as the reason for a paradigm shift.
Now, I'm not terribly fond of Christian holiday tunes, stories, and the like, but at least they have a fairly solid message which they stick to. It isn't about us, it's about others, it's about equality/individuality, and it's about doing the best you can with what you have.
If athiests/agnostics want to be taken seriously, they have to rethink these "secular" messages. In the state of Washington, there is a poster up next to the nativity scene on the state capital building which says this is a season for reason, and that "religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." Honestly, though, the secular songs, stories, posters, and ethics put forward this time of the year prove that poster otherwise.
As most of you know, I'm not a religious person anymore and really don't care for organized religion as a whole... but I'm also not up for blatently offending people of belief during their times of celebration and worship. If these groups want to be taken seriously, they have to stop acting like their hearts have been hardened and think things through like rational people, rather than angry nutjobs who want to blackout Christmas and all other religious holidays while still enjoying the perks of having them around.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
People in the Morning
The one thing I hate about working night shift, is that people in the morning are either way too happy to be awake and starting their day, insanely grumpy and total assholes, and/or have put on way too much perfume, collogne, or deoderant, which means I have to smell a weird blend of breakfast foods, perfumes/collognes, and whatever else is in the air.
Maybe our health classes in middle and high school need to teach how to properly apply fragrances so that people aren't pouring that shit all over them selves in the morning so they smell good all day long. I mean, honestly, no scent is gonna make it all day, no matter how much you apply. How about taking some with you and spraying it on later once its worn off if you care that much?
Oh, and about grumpy people... when you complain to someone about something someone else did/said, stop first and contemplate whether or not it's really worth it. I have people regularly come up to the desk in the morning asking why they are taxed so much, why their room rate is different than it was quoted, how a movie charge was added to their account, and generally just trying to get out of paying for stuff.
So, this morning, someone claimed they had been quoted one charge and been actually charged something higher (a difference of about $8). Do I take them at their word and drop the charge? No, I get out the paper they signed that says how much they will be charged and show it to them. Did they admit they were wrong? Nope. Did I drop the charge? Nope. Should I drop the charge? Yeah... but the reason I did it was simple: you should never sign something without reading it first. They had agreed to pay that amount and if they had been quoted wrong, they should have complained then. Not at the end of the next person's shift.
Lessons you should take away from this: first of all, stop using excess fragrance, because no one cares and you're wasting your money. Second, read before you sign anything. Third, never expect people to believe your word when they deal with people who are wrong and/or trying to get out of charges at all times. I have no reason to believe that people are generally good cause most people I deal with aren't.
Follow these rules, and the next night auditor you meet will probably not rant about you in his blog. And might actually be nice enough to drop your charge $8.
Maybe our health classes in middle and high school need to teach how to properly apply fragrances so that people aren't pouring that shit all over them selves in the morning so they smell good all day long. I mean, honestly, no scent is gonna make it all day, no matter how much you apply. How about taking some with you and spraying it on later once its worn off if you care that much?
Oh, and about grumpy people... when you complain to someone about something someone else did/said, stop first and contemplate whether or not it's really worth it. I have people regularly come up to the desk in the morning asking why they are taxed so much, why their room rate is different than it was quoted, how a movie charge was added to their account, and generally just trying to get out of paying for stuff.
So, this morning, someone claimed they had been quoted one charge and been actually charged something higher (a difference of about $8). Do I take them at their word and drop the charge? No, I get out the paper they signed that says how much they will be charged and show it to them. Did they admit they were wrong? Nope. Did I drop the charge? Nope. Should I drop the charge? Yeah... but the reason I did it was simple: you should never sign something without reading it first. They had agreed to pay that amount and if they had been quoted wrong, they should have complained then. Not at the end of the next person's shift.
Lessons you should take away from this: first of all, stop using excess fragrance, because no one cares and you're wasting your money. Second, read before you sign anything. Third, never expect people to believe your word when they deal with people who are wrong and/or trying to get out of charges at all times. I have no reason to believe that people are generally good cause most people I deal with aren't.
Follow these rules, and the next night auditor you meet will probably not rant about you in his blog. And might actually be nice enough to drop your charge $8.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Girl Practice
I know I said it would still be awhile before girls made their big splash in the B4B world... but it's not actually going to be that far off after all. I was shooting for early 2009, but it looks more like late 2008. I know you're saying, "it is late 2008!" But don't lose your marbles just yet. I'm still working out design kinks as you can see below:
So, as I figure out how I'm going to make them look decent without completely changing how I draw the strip, you'll get updates on here of that progress. Eventually, I'll be changing how I draw the heads and bodies of characters, but I'm putting that off for a while. Doing two comic strips is enough to keep me busy for now. Promise.
What My Days Look Like
I keep telling myself that I'll blog more regularly each time I start to write one of these damned things. Then I write one or two which I never actually release to the public, delete one, open the window at least once and wander off to do something else instead, or just plain forget. Lately, I've not been writing in here because of my jobs and "hobbies"...
To give you a feel for my work week, I'll just lay it out for ya. I wake up around 10pm and run around getting ready for work so I can be here around 10:45 or so. My coworkers are usually late for their shifts, but if the night shift is late it's like some sort of heinous crime. Double standards are lame, but I try to get them off at 11pm if possible even though I'm usually here until 7:15am or so. It doesn't really bother me that much though, cause I'm basically guaranteed a few hours of overtime everytime I'm scheduled five days a week.
I then work for my 8 or so hours, and then leave as soon as I can. Sometimes I stop for food or to get something at Walmart, but usually I just go straight home. Once there I shower, eat and watch something, and then start on stuff for my comics, sidejobs, or writing. I spend pretty much the rest of my day doing that stuff with some breaks for videogames, or to sometimes see people when I'm feeling more sociable than I have been lately.
That's pretty much my life. 8 hours working. 4-5 doing hobbies. 4-8 hours sleeping. And whatever fraction that's left after that stuff is spent cleaning, staring into space, chatting, and doing other stuff I decide has to be done (shopping, driving, eating more, and hygene stuff mainly).
I have a more interesting blog in the works, but am focusing on finishing a paper which should have been done forever ago so I can finally get my freaking diploma from my college graduation which the school is holding until this incomplete is finished. I was gonna just fail the paper and take the grade as it was, but then my family decided to conspire against me and isn't giving me gifts for b-day or x-mas if I don't finish this paper. I'd call bullshit on them, but I don't wanna chance it. They know I'm a materialist and spend all year deciding what to buy and what to put on a list... and since I only get presents one month a year, I'm not losing that because of one stupid, fucking paper.
To give you a feel for my work week, I'll just lay it out for ya. I wake up around 10pm and run around getting ready for work so I can be here around 10:45 or so. My coworkers are usually late for their shifts, but if the night shift is late it's like some sort of heinous crime. Double standards are lame, but I try to get them off at 11pm if possible even though I'm usually here until 7:15am or so. It doesn't really bother me that much though, cause I'm basically guaranteed a few hours of overtime everytime I'm scheduled five days a week.
I then work for my 8 or so hours, and then leave as soon as I can. Sometimes I stop for food or to get something at Walmart, but usually I just go straight home. Once there I shower, eat and watch something, and then start on stuff for my comics, sidejobs, or writing. I spend pretty much the rest of my day doing that stuff with some breaks for videogames, or to sometimes see people when I'm feeling more sociable than I have been lately.
That's pretty much my life. 8 hours working. 4-5 doing hobbies. 4-8 hours sleeping. And whatever fraction that's left after that stuff is spent cleaning, staring into space, chatting, and doing other stuff I decide has to be done (shopping, driving, eating more, and hygene stuff mainly).
I have a more interesting blog in the works, but am focusing on finishing a paper which should have been done forever ago so I can finally get my freaking diploma from my college graduation which the school is holding until this incomplete is finished. I was gonna just fail the paper and take the grade as it was, but then my family decided to conspire against me and isn't giving me gifts for b-day or x-mas if I don't finish this paper. I'd call bullshit on them, but I don't wanna chance it. They know I'm a materialist and spend all year deciding what to buy and what to put on a list... and since I only get presents one month a year, I'm not losing that because of one stupid, fucking paper.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The World Ends With You
I really haven't used my DS much this year. I got it in the summer of 2007 and played it quite a bit from then until spring of 2008 when I basically caught up with my backlog of games. Since then, its collected dust while I played the PSP all summer and fall. It isn't that I hate the system, its just that the recent games for the system have been either so casual, simple, or stupid that I just can't get into them.
But, while visiting my brother in Lincoln this October, I borrowed three games: WarioWare Touched, Elite Beat Agents, and The World Ends With You. Of those three, I did what I wanted in the first two in one slow night at work. But when I started TWEWY, I found out I started something much bigger and much more intense.
When it came out I wanted to play it, but my brother had it, tried it, and wasn't thrilled, so I let it fall on my list of games to borrow in the future instead of purchase. Cause, honestly, I've been burned too many times on the new Nintendo systems to buy something I think looks cool without trying it first. But, honestly, I should have just bought this game. With the exception of the first party games on the DS, this is the best game I have played on the system. It is literally right up there with Phantom Hourglass, New Super Mario Bros, and the Advance War games.
I would try to explain it, but really... you just need to try it. The controls are simple but have a depth which is amazing. The weapons are completely different than any other RPG I've played. The combat is intense. And the item and leveling up system is brilliant. If it were on any other system, I honestly don't think the game would work. It is crafted to be an experience only met on the DS... which is something I don't think many developers have been able to do well until recently.
I guess the point of this post is to say: if you have a DS, enjoy RPGs (jRPGs especially), and need something to keep you busy this holiday season while you're going to and from god knows where... check out The World Ends With You if you haven't already played it. And if you have and didn't like it, I feel sorry for you, cause it is one of the best portable games I've ever played.
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