Sundown

I doubt there's any of the sort in M0 either. My point was only that fixation on barely teens as sexual objects (evidenced elsewhere in anime) remains a fixation on youth and sex, disturbing from where I see things. It actually has little to do with whether sex is appropriate for the actual individuals of that age. Of course. At least a few of those I'd wholeheartedly agree with-- and at least a few of those are ideas now firmly ingrained into Western culture. The point was that just because it's possible to isolate an idea or standard of behavior as being "Western" or "recent" doesn't mean it doesn't still hold some sort of objective validity, and doesn't mean that it doesn't have value when applied to other cultures. Same goes the other way around, which was why I'd posed that there are likely just as many things "wrong" with our society as seen from another vantage point. Welp, one can only hold to this unconditionally if they believe that there is indeed no absolute truth, and that all morality and beliefs are purely cultural and purely relativistic. I'm not much of a moral relavist, so this argument doesn't hold much sway over me. Some truths are truths, and some fall into the grey. But for one to say "I believe that this particular issue is abhorrent-- but because you practice this outside of our culture, it's thus perfectly acceptable, and I therefore have no right to speak about this issue as it applies to you-- so go right on ahead, with my hearty applause," one speaks with a intellectual disintegrity that cripples claims on any truths he holds to. As long as there will be real moralists, there will be those who apply their beliefs onto mankind as a whole. Because real moral truths can never say "This is right. And this is wrong. But only for us. Because it's not really true." Not to mention that culturally relativistic thinking applies it's own morality steadfastly onto every culture and people-- that of "thou shalt not judge, especially if they are not your own." This is just as much a forcing of one's own belief and morality about judgement upon others as any other form of forced morality. To see any of this is "right" or "wrong" simply means you have an opinion, not that you're necessarily ethnocentric. People do have ideas that tend to be their own, and sometimes is contradictory to what their culture states as acceptable. And asserting that ethnocentricity, and applying one's values onto other cultures is somehow bad and a thing to be avoided, is itself a somewhat ethnocentric view. It's one held strongly by modern, educated cultures that give emphasis to cultural freedom and allowances for conflicting views. It's actually not one observed or respected by many, many cultures. And it's just as ethnocentric to suggest that one's naughty for measuring another culture with one's own measuring stick, as it is to do the measuring in the first place. At least if one really believes that all moral stands are cultural, societal, and ethnic in nature. At any rate I think in most societies, however much they diverge, sex with children is considered something to be frowned upon. The issues you bring merely point out at what age one is considered a child. But the fact that there seems to be a line at all in most cultures, and that it varies and people have a hard time agreeing on where it lies (or caring to define it in the first place), points to the fact that sex with children goes a little bit beyond ethnocentricity. 18 is an arbitrary number of course. It's just one that our culture deems a healthy cutoff. That line can move from culture to culture, but the fact that the line exists and does move says that there's something that makes many cultures uneasy about children having sex, especially with decidedly not-children. Precisely. Although making moral judgements is what makes us human. And I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing or a thing to be done away with. And of course, suggesting that not making moral judgements and not being ethnocentric would be a good thing, would itself be a very moral and very ethnocentric sentiment. It ain't? O_o -Al

That's a nice argument. But the reality is that it wouldn't stand very long in court, here or in Japan (I'd think) in cases involving sex with minors. And that argument doesn't begin to make barely-teens-as-sexual-objects resound as acceptable or justifiable in most modern folks' minds. Not that I think M0 Ep 4 is kiddie porn, as I haven't seen it yet. Just because it's possible to label something most of society sees as divergent as being "a relatively new, modern, and western idea" doesn't justify it or excuse it under the brush of moral and cultural relativity. The age of sexual and emotional maturity is entirely in our heads. Sure. So's anything else that has to do with "morality", standards, and acceptable behavior, really. And at the risk of sounding like a bigot or some ig'nant Westerner-- just because some other culture that allows for sex with small children, multiple partners and wives, and condones what we would consider incest-- doesn't make it automatically healthy and acceptable if only we were open minded enough to cast off our "Western" inhibitions and if we were only able to see things from their perspective. And it doesn't make one ethnocentric saying so. I imagine there's plenty things wrong with Western culture from the eyes of other civilizations. And you know what? They'd probably be right on plenty counts. Lastly, while the case can be tenuously made that the decision to have sex lies largely with the individual, and different cultures allow for different ages where that decision is respected and considered valid-- Depictions of young individuals engaging in sexually related activity have nearly nothing to do with standards on at what ages humans should partake in certain behavior. It has almost everything to do with facination of and fixation on semi-children of that age as sexual objects, usually by individuals many years removed. That's what creeps me out, but I'm just a ig'nant and ethnocentric Westerner. -Al

I think the E's bleed energy badly with high-alpha maneuvers, again, because of the conformals. You can point the noise pretty quickly, but you'll putzing along if you get too eager. The new engines likely help there though. At least that's what Janes F-15, and dissertations from Sean Long, Janes' Mudhen pilot consultant had drilled into me. -Al

The E's likely have respectable maneuverability when empty, but I doubt it'd ever fare better than a C speedwise, due the conformal fuel tanks strapped to the side that really wreak havok with drag. E's don't hit the mach 2.5 that's regularly posted as the 15's top speed. Actually, C's don't either, for that matter. -Al

What's derogatory is decided more by the people one's referring to than it is by other parties. I'm not sure what innaccuracies are involved in referring to folks as "Oriental" other than the fact that it conjures up images of buck tooth Charlie Chan and such, while Asian just sounds technical. For what it's worth, many Asian Indians consider themselves Asian, and the term Asian Indian is often used refer to those groups, but the division between the two seems to lie in the fact that appearances and culture are at times more defining than the continent they actually do come from. -Al

Hmm... so they opted for the worst of both worlds. Upgrading an existing and mediocre design-- and yet still managing to spend the huge gobs on it that could have been directed towards a completely new design and airframe, done right. If they were going for a new and more 'spensive plane, they could have at least done it right. I dunno... say something cool like fresh design to fill the 14's role, akin to what the F-22 is to the F15. That would own. Instead we get the Super bug and JSF. I thought the Navy demanded twin engines on their plane. Whatever happened to that requirement, or is there a Naval JSF that does have two engines? -Al

I love the Tomcat to death, yes... but I've heard on good authority that one of the huge benefits of switching over to Super Hornets is the ungainly amounts of maintenance time involved in servicing F-14's compared to the other options. The time difference is something on the order of several magnitudes over, and this is actually one of the biggest reasons for dropping the Cats-- for something that can do the job, if not as effectively in areas, but would be much easier to maintain. The guy I'd heard it from was CJ Martin, the designer involved in the Janes' sims series, who was a Naval tweak and had also been involved in the Hornet test programs. -Al

READ: Silly. What does game quality have to do with anything? That said, I actually enjoyed Enter The Matrix. First fighting game that actually felt like a kung-fu movie. And although this royalty/review system has potential for abuse, it might actually not hurt publishers that badly in terms of them wanting to take unconvential risks and making non-mass marketed games-- since few if any titles based on licenses have ever ventured to provide gameplay that wasn't a re-hash of some existing mainstream forumla. Wonder how this effects the Matrix MMORPG, or if their contract sidesteps this clause, since the project was started long before it. It'd be nice for that game to not suck. -Al

O_o WTF, mate? That's a hentai anime plot device if ever I seen one. -Al

IT NEEDS TO BE DONE! Excelsior, the series! Sulu-Trek!! Before he shrivels and dies! -Al

like it? I found it on a gallery site featurign th emnay enterprises. O_o I ADORE that design! That would have been the perfect mix of retro and new, having elements from the old show, combined with slicker and more modern influences... without looking *way* too advanced compared with the original designs. And it having bits of Yamato thrown in is a good, good thing. *fawns* -Al

To drive your enemies before you, and to hear the lamentation of the Meltran? -Al

Worked for SNK when it was still around out here in Cali, and of the native/mostly-native Japanese men that worked there, 3 of the 6 were about 6 feet or taller. Then again, these were the CEO, the Producer, and the Engineering Lead, soo their height might've contributed in some way in their getting their positions. I still loomed a few inches above most everyone during a trip to Japan a few years back (being 6' 2"), but it wasn't like they were midgets. Was actually surprised by the number of relatively tall women in Tokyo, but then again, tall, lanky, model types tend to gravitate to the cosmo-urban places. -Al

"Chicaahgo." "Baahx. (Box)" "Saahx. (Socks)" We like giving our Chicago-grown friends a hard time about that. =D -Al

That was not the first thing I'd thought of that Duke could do with Scarlet. Perhaps some childhoods are stranger than others. -Al

Forget Ahnuld Valks. What we need are Schwarzentraedi. Grab a 1/6 Arnie T-800 figure and call him Ahnuldolza. The UN Spacy doesn't stand a chance. -Al

Yes he can. I'm the boss of him and it's alright with me. He just needs to run it past his other several million bosses.

That official promo shot of the figure posed is incredible. Has to be one of the best proportioned large female figures, still capable of poses screaming character. Just wish she came with an unhelmeted head. Nazi helmet and mask wearing chicks just aren't my thing... but gals in armor are. Seems like the figure's a worthy part of a kitbash... perhaps for an Appleseed ESWAT figure. Or they can just make some female ESWAT operative figures of that quality already. -Al

Painted the Gakken Cycle "Scott Bernard" figure's eyes in, shoddily... then attempted to paint the visor blue like the TV show showed, using metallic blue paint that'd settled so the metal flakes were at the bottom of the jar and the transparent blue solution was at the top. Except the paint didn't settle completely, so Scott was stuck with a visor that he couldn't see through very well, was sparkly, and marred with Zentradi sized paint brush streaks. -Al

I thought Wonder Woman there looked particuarly Danger Girl-ly, too, actually. Duh me, since Campbell's worked on both titles... and guess it's the "in" style being emulated now. -Al

That's what I figured. An artist goes with a face he really digs and slaps it on everyone, even those characters it really doesn't fit. Bugs me especially if it ain't my kinda face... strong jawline and classical features. Mmm. That's a "Woman". I think the issue that some folks have with Superman here isn't that he's too big or too bulky. It's that he's too cut. That super-toned look just makes him look too poserish-- Come on, he's Superman. He's an alien. He's been around since the 50's. He's naturally super-strong from the rays of our yellow sun. He's the conservative granddaddy of all super heroes. What does he care about sinewy tone and winning body building contests? Superheroes bent on fighting injustice are usually a little too occupied to be spending vast hours in front of gym mirrors sculpting little muscles that don't do much but look good. I guess I've just been too influenced by Alex Ross, John Byrne and older Superman books. Now batman, I guess I could see doing that. Sort of. Bruce Wayne was always a little foofy. -Al

Err, thought spandex was worn in films to simulate the look of the body hugging unnamed material in the comics, not the other way around, with the pages portraying spandex. But Alex Ross does pwn. -Al

But don't we see "Spiritia" measured, quantified, transferred, and stored in the series itself? Those episodes do portray Spiritia as a sort of energy that does have quantity, whether it be mystical, life force, or what not. There's quite a lot to explain away or ignore within M7 to hold the stance that Spiritia *isn't* a quantifiable energy, especially when many segments in M7 go out of their way to portray it as just that. I'm kind of wondering if I've been watching the wrong episodes, or just not getting it... since the concept of Spiritia as quantifiable energy seems to be made pretty prominant and pretty clear. If Spiritia really isn't what the goodly chunks of the series portray it as-- quantifiable energy-- and it's not supposed to be considered such, even though it's shown time and time again as just that... then again, that points to possible Bad Storytelling. Or me being a clueless nit. Hrm, Keith seems to explain that the Sound Boosters amplify and channel Spiritia Energy, and that's exactly what the series itself says about them. Given Keith's dedication to, knowledge of, and passion for M7, I think I'm inclined to agree with him... which of course turns Spiritia into energy that is amplifiable, channelable, and quantifiable. Exactly as the series portrays... as opposed to some nebulous life-happy-energy-Force that's ever only felt, with no pseudo-scientific and measurable root cause. -Al

Nyeh. Not particularly impressed with Turner's Wonder Woman there, actually. She's lost the strong jawline and her classical Amazonian beauty, in favor of the minxious starlet look. She looks like a Gen 13 character doing wonderwoman cosplay. Artistic interpretation, I guess. And Superman still looks meeetro in that panel. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Thuperman. -Al

Hrm. I'm a Jim Lee fan, mostly of his X-Men stuff... but neither really wow me here-- Lee's isn't bad, but a little "Eh.", and Turners' looks like one of the myriad of Jim Lee copycats, even though I do like how he draws musclature. But his Superman looks positively... metro. What with them funky eyebrows. And not metro in the Metro-polis way. -Al