The Grillo Log

a solemn vow (?)

2009-02-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

I'm still here and I intend on writing more and frequently...

But I just can't guarantee it'll be any good.

So there.

A fuckhead and his craft

2008-06-02T17:52:00.001-04:00

So I've got writer's block.

Or is it a mixture of fatigue and a lack of time?

No excuses, at any rate.

Lame toy nostalgia

2008-05-27T21:35:00.003-04:00

Eigh. The things I post to maintain a habit.

Anyway, as I was browsing /toy/ this evening I noticed a thread on My Pet Monster.

Compare the noses:

(American Greetings 1986 ver.)

(Toymax 2001 ver.)

When you see it you'll shit bricks.

Putting my money where my mouth is

2008-05-25T11:17:00.004-04:00

So, to follow through with a previous entry, I registered an iTunes account this morning.

Now I am conflicted between the choice of buying single songs that I like versus entire albums. I recognise this as being a problem I had from the beginning, years ago when iTunes first came out and I wrestled with consumer savvy (ie. piracy) versus fair payment for services rendered and confronted with it again... I really don't know still.

It just makes me remember Scott McCloud and the concept of micro-payments.

Let us never speak of the subject again

2008-05-20T09:56:00.001-04:00

Falling out of a groove and the difficulty of getting back into it.

I'm sure that most of you know how much of a chore keeping a blag current can be. Went away for the long weekend and when I came back yesterday I tried to pinch off an entry but just couldn't get into it. I still have it in a Notepad on my desktop, too. Will we ever see it again? I wouldn't hold my breath.

There really isn't any merit to this entry. It's just a warm-up to get back into the habit.

And that's the thing. It has to be made into a habit. And habits have to be enforced (emphasis on the "forced" part). Laziness is the enemy, the "Eigh. Don't wanna. (Insert excuse or acknowledgment of a lack of excuse here.)" voice that exists in the minds of many who think they can and will blag and blag meaningfully.

And when all is said and done, I want to believe that I did blag meaningfully.

"You're not a fan..."

2008-05-14T11:20:00.003-04:00

Unless you've supported the artist/writer. And that means paying the piper.

That said, I can probably say that I haven't been much of a fan of anything for the past couple of years thanks to the internet. "ZOMG TORRENT PLS" et cetera. I have twelve gigs of music in my computer, and the two dozen or so CDs I ripped from my actual collection only account for a small percentage of that space.

Being someone who knows enough to say that most writers and performers are underpaid (or at least aren't paid very much and have to cling to every cent to get by to the next paycheque), I find it bothersome now to think. But for some reason... the economy and royalties and what have you seem to mean zilch if it means I can have what I want as fast as my internet connection will allow.

Oh, and fansubs. Haha... I'm terrible about fansubs. Even if licensed anime doesn't appear/disappears on AnimeSuki, it will eventually appear on Tokyo Toshokan, and then YouTube, Veoh and crunchyroll. Not to mention Pirate Bay, Mininova, Demonoid and assorted IRC channels. It's just too easy.

I feel kind of at odds with buying translated and licensed releases because when a mistake is noticed it's put up online for everyone to see (such as a typo in Yotsuba&!). And it brings me no peace knowing that an inferior product is being sold as official.

On a completely unrelated note... when Radiohead's In Rainbows came out for download I abstained out of guilt... and then later resolved to buy the CD after it was ripped to YouTube.

Anyway, it's frustrating. I think the best way about it all is to be a responsible consumer. Only buying responsibly and not blindly snatching something because it's licensed. Or in the least being aware of what you're buying... I know I'm BAWWWing inside over that typo in Yotsuba&!, but I'll still buy it because I love that series and I want a copy of it that I can flip through and hold.

Back to Radiohead and downloading music... I kind of like the way things are right now. Being able to listen to whole tracks through download and deciding whether or not the whole CD is worth it or going the iTunes route and buying that one song you really enjoy. It's safer that way instead of having to troll through the hit and miss-tags of P2P programs. And once a song is out there, it can go through as many hands as people are willing to share. I wish I understood the music industry better, but from what little I understand, it's an outdated model that needs to adapt with the times for the sake of its own future and that of future recording artists.

Well, that all went all over the place, didn't it?

I guess the bottom line is that you're being a bit of a dick if you call yourself a fan of someone but you don't support them financially if you just download their releases. The only way to ensure the future of these creative minds is to be a consumer whore--but not really.

Ugh.

Neckbeards

2008-05-13T11:21:00.001-04:00

When exactly did the term "neckbeard" enter the lexicon?

To those of you who don't know, in this case it doesn't have anything to do with facial hair (well, tangentally it does, but not in a literal sense) but rather refers to basement-inhabiting comic book-reading, action figure-collecting, vidya game-playing nerds. The term I believe is derived from a general disregard of hygiene--a scraggly neckbeard.*

If it weren't for /co/ (or was it /toy/?) I would have never heard of it.

Do I approve? Um... I guess. It provides a very specific mental image and mentality, where simply saying "nerd", "geek" or "dork" fall short and seem to blend into the grey now.

* see Urban Dictionary definition

A pathetic lament

2008-05-12T13:06:00.001-04:00

When I noticed the first wave of Transformers: Animated toys at my local Wal-Mart my insides squee'ed in delight. But then I had to wrestle with myself, justifying the en masse purchase of them all. About $15.00 CAD a pop times three (they had Cybertron mode Prime, Prowl and Lockdown but no signs of Bumblebee anywhere, nor any of the Voyager class) and by looking at the nearly exhausted Movie line, about $30.00 CAD for a Voyager.

So I started to do the math. I won't go into details, since it will only show you all the extent of my pathetic longing, but it basically amounts to $500 CAD to buy the lot (considering all future, desirable releases). That's a spicy meat-a-ball, comrades. Oh, how they taunted me. Haunted my thoughts. But I know myself well. I'm all stoked at the moment and I'll have a bunch of good, stupid nostalgia-fueled romps and battles of good versus evil, but inevitably they'll be exiled to a Rubbermaid storage container (gave up on displays since it's a bitch to dust and shelf space [space in general, actually] is at a premium).

I mean it's selfish for a twenty-something to be getting these things for himself (consulted the wife on it, turns out the daughter's into Power Rangers now and Transformers are off her radar) and considering the myriad responsible things one can do for five bills... I just had to go with common sense.

Oh, but how I dream. How I imagine. Making stupid play noises. Transforming them and untransforming them in front of the nephew, letting him try it out, bonding in that little way at least.

Ha. They're just toys. But even saying that I know I still want them.

Have you seen the photos of Blitzwing? Damn that's one sexy piece of plastic. No, I wasn't being serious. But seriously. I can't even say I only want one figure from this line. And if it had to be, it'd be Leader class Megatron, but it would be a painful choice (with Herr Blitzwing being a very, very close second).

As I said before, I've got a Rubbermaid chest of the Armada line along with a Cybertron Primus. I wonder if he and Unicron are getting along in there...

Right. Bottom line.

Since I'm a TV only cast completionist and a bit of a scale-fag, I would have to buy the entire cast at appropriate sizes in order to feel happy and complete. Even if this limits the amount of figures I'd be buying out of the entire line (the main line versus things like the Activators, for example), this still translates to a big wad of fat cash. And there's the rub.

I could be using that money for better things--collecting interest in the bank, for example. We're on the verge of a recession here, after all (so I have heard... just look at the price of petrol there, comrade) so... It's just better to abstain.

As miserable as it makes me, the down I feel now is probably countered by hypothetical financial woes down the line.

Le sigh.

Kool-Aid

2008-05-12T09:44:00.002-04:00

So my sister and I started to cut out Kool-Aid points last week and after a cursory search of the site we couldn't find a chart to see what we could redeem them for. According to this article Kool-Aid discontinued the Kool-Aid points programme back in October 2007.

Well poop.

We had only saved three packets so far (which equals a modest nine points), but I was looking forward to seeing that jar of clippings fill up over the months as my nephew chugged more and more sugar-sweetened powder drink.

Your opinions aren't worth shit

2008-05-11T20:51:00.003-04:00

Right you are, Mr. Grillo! Right you are!

I'm not going to pretend that the things I post on this blog matter in the least, nor that anyone is going to read them. But in saying that, it gives me license to speak about anything I wish with no repercussions--that is, only allowing my often failing perception of good sense to be my only guide.

Does this serves as some sort of disclaimer? Frankly, I'm not sure.

What I will admit, though, is that I will often eat my own words and will try to catch myself on my own bullshit. I wish to retain some semblance of my chosen trade to appear in these entries and not for this to serve as another self-aggrandizing ego-blag.

Habeeb it, interweb.

EDIT (2008/05/11):

After glancing at this again, it would probably have made more sense if this entry was entitled "My opinions aren't worth shit". Sorry if this offended anyone.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

2008-05-11T17:30:00.002-04:00

Just watched the first season thanks to a friend.

"Seinfeld on crack" indeed. It went completely below my radar save for the odd time I'd flip onto Fox, wonder what it was and then changed the channel again. I think it was the switch to F/X that did it for me. I haven't heard any mention of it from friends until a short while ago, which is odd for a series that started back in 2005.

Well, anyway. I recommend it. If you enjoyed Seinfeld or Arrested Development, I don't doubt that this would be up your alley.

Doin' laundry

2008-05-10T15:23:00.002-04:00

Knee-high!
Argyle!
Tube!
I was thinking of you while I jerked off into my sock last night
I was thinking of you while I jerked off into my sock
I was thinking of you
I wish I had more than two
Cuz I didn't have anything else to do
I was thinking of you while I jerked off into my sock

- Nerf Herder, Doin' Laundry, Short Music for Short People (Fat Wreck Chords, 1999)

This is probably more of a memo to me than serving anyone else...

How to sort laundry.

First, separate into colours. Usually this means whites, darks and colours. Usually those of the same colour category have the same washing instructions that correspond with a setting of the washing machine dial. This is not always so, however.

Some whites, such as my now shrunk-down-one-size shirts, wash in cold. Now, the "whitest whites" setting of my sister's washing machine calls for a warm/cold wash and rinse. Bah. Darks in general probably wash best in cold. Don't quote me on that, read the damned label.

Colours are what you should really look out for. The labels are there for a reason... read them, or face shrinkage and/or fading.

So this effectively splits your washing into six groups: hot and cold of: whites, darks and colours.

Of course this hot/cold split may be avoided altogether by purchasing a cold water detergent and thus save some money on hot water. I can't say that I have invested in this, however.

EDIT (2008/05/10):

I neglected to mention towels. Towels are another creature entirely.

Starting small

2008-05-10T12:04:00.000-04:00

So instead of posting blag-related posts directly to the YOSC WordPress I decided to do some independent spamming so that I can submit articles of actual merit and content when a good idea bubbles to the surface. In other words... I guess I'm pre-screening myself instead of posting any old thing to the YOSC WP. Everyone will be happier this way, I hope.