Thursday, March 15, 2007

Audience participation

-Hate Poll and bonus Simpsons-related Hate Poll. The preliminary results has me wondering about you folks; perhaps a post-poll audience survey will follow on Friday.

-Somebody sent me an email pointing to this farewell address, apparently in hopes of me tearing into it. I've never heard of this blog and I have no idea what issues are being discussed in it. I didn't read all the back-and-forth between the blog author and an anonymous poster because it was kind of vague and boring. The only reason I'm linking to this at all is the apparent feud between Marionette (the author of the blog in question) and Scipio (who recently left his blog the Asorbascon, only to return a few days later--and holy shit, if you type "asorbascon" into Google, this blog is the first thing that turns up! Well, at least it was yesterday. Really!). People leaving comments agree that Scipio is kind of a mean asshole. Seriously? I always thought he was one of these harmless antiquarians (or to use the academic term, cultural necrophiliacs) who posted wacky scans and waxed poetic about the different haircuts Barry Allen has sported over the years. Maybe I underestimated him. Please, friends, tell me of Scipio's crimes against bloganity.

-For those of you who play video games, I don't think there's any greater fun to be had than running from cops in Saint's Row while listening to "All the Way From Memphis," or slaughtering a rival gang to the soaring harmonies of "On a Carousel." Also recommended: the theme from Deep Red. Future plans: "I Wish I Was a Girl," Gentle Giant.

-Guy brings up an interesting dilemma--the Punisher as Captain America would be hilarious, especially in that costume and especially with Matt Fraction as the writer. In the hands of another writer, it could be terribly banal--"America is like the Punisher because it's a war machine that executes its prisoners, unlike the rest of the civilized world," etc.* On the other hand, it would mean plenty of annoying blog posts. You would think that would be a windfall for this site, but I find that sort of hive mind outrage more depressing than inspirational. I guess those of you who come here looking for that kind of thing would win, though.

*Which is not to say I'm pro-death penalty, cause I'm very much not so, but I don't need Judd Winick to validate my beliefs. In fact, I really would prefer he didn't. Which is not to say Winick is anti-capital punishment, just that he' s one of these writers whose politics are similar to my own, and yet whose views on politics I would be happy to never see again. Avoiding his work makes this easier, but I think of it as a special bonus given that I have no interest in his comics in the first place. Was his Real World-inspired comic actually any good?

-I have to cut it short today, since it's my anniversary. And I don't mean "blogoversary." If any of you thought that's what I meant, I strongly advise you to go somewhere quiet and reexamine your life. I mean really, you should know this blog only started a little over a month ago.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, there was this (which looks like a joke until you read some of the comments). And this. And more besides, which yr other readers might be able to point you to.

I mean, it's all storm-in-a-teacup stuff. Actually, more like storm in a thimble. But that's how wars are fought and won in the interblogoverse.

Mr. Rice said...

I can't believe I just read some of that "feud" thingee. I always remember Scipio as a combination of how you see him and how this Marionnette person does. He's a petty, mean, cultural necrophiliac.

James Meeley said...

They are both just being ass-hats. Both of them trying to stir their readers to choose a side in this stupidity (their side, of course) is just so petty and immature. Heck, you'd think they took the basic concept of Marvel's Civil War and decided to make it into a piece of blogging reality. And it reads just as pathetically and pointlessly as Marvel's version, too. Sad. They should both have their blogging licenses revoked! ;)

Spencer Carnage said...

I'm with Mike Sterling.

Batiduende said...

I actually like The Absorbascon and Nostalgia Necrophilia, but Scipio can be a mean asshole about the dumbest things. I remember months ago when some dead blog or other made a top 50 DC characters because someone had made a top 50 Marvel characters list. Someone commented he liked Darkseid better than Kyl Rayner. Scipio started posting comments in his usual mean asshole way about how only a child rapist pinko Nazi would prefer Darkseid to Kyle.

Honestly, I think he is the kind of person who can't accept people having different opinions, no matter how silly the subject.

He also got into some trouble with the feminists for this post here. He is not completely without a point, but he is such an asshole about it that it's hard to even give him that.

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

I'm giddy at the prospect of introducing the term "cultural necrophilia" into the blogosphere. Now I just have to concoct a reason why my love of Silver Age comics is somehow deeper and more enlightened.

I just realized Scipio is the guy who owns Big Monkey Comics, which I mostly know from that brouhaha with Big Planet Comics, which I assume is better than Big Monkey Comics because of that friendly, kid's-menu-at-Denny's-style map that Fantagraphics keeps printing in its pamphlet-type comics. Also, I'm guessing from the nature of the posts at the Absorbascon that I'd be more likely to find a replica Green Lantern ring than a copy of The Chuckling Whatsit at his store, right?

Jog said...

"All the Way From Memphis"

Christ I love that song.

kalinara said...

Actually the guy feuding about Darkseid versus Kyle Rayner wasn't Scipio. It was Chris Sims

:-) A very funny conflict, as I recall.

Mr. Rice said...

Oh, and happy anniversary, man. How long?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez said...

Ugh, I can't believe I read that whole thing! I know most bloggers are inherently self-centered exhibitionists, but damn, that was just pathetic.

It was worth it, though, for the perfection that is "cultural necrophiliacs". Kudos!

PS: Happy anniversary from the real world! How many years has it been? We're celebrating #9 this summer.

Anonymous said...

So does that make people who repeatedly visit the blogs of cultural necrophiliacs "cultural necrophiliac voyeurs?

Which one is worse?

Marionette said...

God, you read the whole thing?

Even I didn't read the whole thing.

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

As a couple, it's our fifth anniversary. As a married couple, it's our first. So yes, we got married on the same day of the year that we started going out. And yeah, that day was the Ides of March, but neither of us has ever waged an illegal war in Gaul, so fingers crossed and whatnot.

Rose said...

I haven't respected Scipio since I made a comment about Homeric etymology and he tried to correct me and was demonstrably wrong. I probably should have started a blogwar about it but didn't bother since I hadn't actually respected him before then either.

Batiduende said...

Actually the guy feuding about Darkseid versus Kyle Rayner wasn't Scipio. It was Chris Sims


Yes, but no, but yes, but mostly no.

The person I remember being a jerk was in favor of Kyle, not Darkseid, and it was certainly not Ragnel. I read it in the comments not as a post too.

Here it is. Last comment.

Nowhere near as bad as I remember it, though.

Mr. Rice said...

Dick: Huh! My wife and I have been a couple for five years and our first anniversary is coming up, too. Congrats again, I hope it's going well.

Marionette said...

You know, in the interests of balance, shouldn't someone post a link to where I've said mean things about someone other than Scipio? Only it's looking a little one sided right now.

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

Joe, I would say that, in my experience, permanent, cohabitational monogamy is really awesome, whether it's sanctioned by law or not (though obtaining legal sanction certainly has its benefits; being married has made it that much more obvious to me how shameful it is that same-sex marriage isn't legal in most of the US).

Mr. Rice said...

Glad to hear it, Dick. They say the first year is the hardest and mine's going pretty well, too.

Hate Filled Poster said...

"Glad to hear it, Dick. They say the first year is the hardest and mine's going pretty well, too."

That's cool. I just bought "the ring" this last Sat. myself.

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