zip-a-Dee

Thus far.

2008-12-01T22:56:43Z

So here I am sitting at work coloring a picture of a parrot for a children's rain forest web page. My ass is killing me because it's next to impossible to find a freaking chair with padding around here. An Idea emerges: some people got fired, perhaps I will liberate one of their chairs from isolation. It worked! Finally my ass is comfortable, it feels as though it is begin held by the hands of God.

Anyway, I've been watching a lot of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I'm on episode 11 and this is the plot so far thanks to Wikipedia:

Gurren Lagann takes place in a fictional future in which human beings have been forced under Earth's surface and live in isolated subterranean civilizations. These "villages" have no contact with the surface world or other villages. Because frequent earthquakes damage infrastructure, the villages must constantly extend deeper into the earth — individuals relegated to this task are known as "diggers".

Giha Village is the home of Simon, a fourteen-year-old digger who was orphaned when his parents were killed in an earthquake. Although Simon is respected by the village elders as the best of the diggers, he is ostracized by his peers. Simon discovers a special drill key deep in the ground and is soon recruited by an eccentric fellow orphan named Kamina into his group "The Gurren Brigade". Kamina dreams of the surface world, which he once visited as a child, though he had to return home as he was too weak to survive there.

After a failed attempt at reaching the surface, Kamina is jailed by the village elder. Simon resumes digging, only to discover "a big face" deep in his tunnel. As he excitedly fetches Kamina to show him the discovery, Simon is also caught by the village elder. Fortuitously, Kamina's punishment is interrupted by the collapse of the ceiling over Giha Village, as an enormous robot falls into the cavern. A girl named Yoko appears and tries to defeat the machine with a large rifle, but to no avail. Simon takes Kamina and Yoko to the "big face" he found earlier and discovers that the small drill key can be used to activate a small robot, named "Lagann", which he uses to destroy the invading robot and effectively break through to the surface.

Once on the surface, Simon and Kamina discover there are more large robots known as "Gunmen" (piloted by "Beastmen") that terrorize the surface dwellers during the day. Simon and Kamina help Yoko and her village destroy three more Gunmen of which Kamina takes one for himself, naming it the "Gurren". Eventually, Simon and Kamina decide to embark on a journey to end the constant struggle between the Beastmen and humans, and are initially accompanied by Yoko and Leeron, a mechanic from Yoko's village. As they head out to find the headquarters of the Beastmen's Human Eradication Army, the group encounters various Beastmen warriors including the vicious Viral.

Along the way, Simon and the others are joined by more humans, including the "Black Siblings", led by Kittan, and Rossiu, a strict young man from an underground village, to form "The Dai-Gurren Brigade".

Before a final battle with their old enemy, Viral, the Dai-Gurren Brigade plans to hi-jack a giant Gunmen with which the Beastmen have previously attacked them. Kamina plans for Simon to steal the Gunmen using his robot, Lagann. After some encouraging words from Yoko, Simon starts to remember all the time they have spent together and realizes his love for her. As Simon is thinking of her, Yoko walks off to meet Kamina. While Kamina is talking, Yoko kisses him, and he reciprocates. Tragically, Simon follows Yoko and discovers that she loves his brother instead of him. This causes Simon a significant amount of psychological trauma and consequently to be distracted during the final battle, ultimately contributing to Kamina's death.

Though Kamina dies in the ensuing battle, the Dai-Gurren Brigade ultimately defeats the Human Eradication Army, causing the arrival of Nia, the mysterious "daughter" of the Beastmen leader Lordgenome, and the repopulation of Earth's surface.

Personally I love the show, the action scenes are amazing and the designs are sweet and intuitive. From a critical stand point the characters are not very fleshed out and that is sometimes hard to deal with.

I've decided to make a Gurren Lagann costume for the next Animenebraskon. Looks like 2009 will be quite the busy year for costume making. First up I have to get cracking on next year's Halloween costume (Hellboy (probably the comic version, not the popular movie version)) then Gurren Lagann plus any costumes or props that I'll be making for other people along the way.

Thinking about dusting this bad boy off.

2008-08-06T20:54:14Z

I haven't really used this thing for like 8 months so here we go again. I figure that doing this thingis really more of a winter activity just because it really sucks to be outside and I need to get the thought's out of my head so I don't get a case of the cabin fever. It's August now so I'll probably start picking this up again when I start working on my Halloween costume which will hopefully happen soon.

Maybe I'll also post recipes on here too, since I'll always have this space to rant and can easily check it at any time.

Hotmarcus' Meat and Veg in Creamy White Sauce:

1 - carrot
2 - celery stalks
1/2 - cucumber
1/2 - large red onion
2 pinch - minced garlic
1 pinch - chili powder
2 ts - cornstarch
2 tb - water
1 1/2 cup - sour cream
1 can - chicken
2 pat - butter
1 1/2 tb - vegetable oil
1/2 box of minute rice
salt and pepper to taste
-----
First, peel and slice the carrots, cucumber, celery and onion(don't peel) as impossibly thin as possible.

In a large pan add the vegetable oil and the onions add first pat of butter when the onions start to get soft, when melted add the carrots, cucumber, celery and 1 pinch minced garlic, stir frequently.

Follow the directions on the box of minute rice and put the water on to boil in a different pot.

After the water comes to a boil add the rice and follow those instructions. Next in a saucepan add the water and cornstarch and stir until there are no lumps. Add the sour cream over a medium heat keep stirring until warm and smooth adding 1 pinch of minced garlic, 1 pinch of chili powder and salt and pepper to taste.

Add 2nd pat of butter, stir in adding chicken and salt and pepper to taste.

remove rice from heat covered while letting the chicken get heated up.

when it looks ready spoon rice on to a plate and put vegetables and chicken on top and drizzle the sour cream sauce. Add a garnish of some type, I used raw carrot.

serves 2.

The Reminder - Feist

2008-01-09T22:51:04Z

The Reminder
By Feist
1 disc 13 tracks
Polydor France
May 2007

I can't say that I was disappointed with this album because I knew exactly what to expect, one of those slow sad type albums that all of the indie girls love. I knew that the songs that I was familiar with would be good (i.e. My Moon, My Man and 1 2 3 4) and the rest of the songs would be slow boring ballad types. But you know there were also some up-beat songs, I'll give credit where credit is due, I'm not saying that this was a horrible album, far from it. Tracks like I Feel It All, Sea Lion Woman and Past in Present are great tracks to get ready to in the morning. I suppose that a hand full of the other tracks are pretty appropriate for the season, I could see myself laying in bed on a Saturday morning watching the snow lightly drifting down with The Park or How My Heart Behaves playing just above quiet in the background. I'd say that this album would not be very good for driving although 1 2 3 4 is quite catchy and fun to sing in the car. So keep this album at home in a pile of CDs on your stereo near the top, and sit in a mood lit room with/thinking about your significant other or if your single think about Feist, she's pretty.

6.5 out of 10

Juno

2008-01-09T22:01:33Z

Juno
Directed by Jason Reitman
Runtime: 92 minutes
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Dec 2007

Synopsis from IMDB

"Juno (Ellen Page) is a Mid-Western highschooler, who decides one day, out of boredom or curiosity, to have sex with her friend Bleeker (Michael Cera), a member of her school's track team. She likes him well enough, but isn't hung up on him. This one time encounter results in Juno's pregnancy. She and her best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) decide to take control of the situation by browsing for prospective adoptive parents in the local Pennysaver, and Juno settles on seemingly perfect, affluent couple Mark and Vanessa (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.)"

I'm not quite sure why this movie was so hyped up. I'm sure that all the Michael Cera fans had something to do with it, plus all the Judd Apatow fans probably thought that Cera was pumping out another Superbad, this was not the case. Instead we get on overly pretentious jab at a faux teen culture. The character Juno had a constant holier than thou attitude the entire time which was fine at first but it quickly became irritating. The Bleaker character was as to be expected not a far reach From George-Micheal, I love Michael Cera but my faith in his actual acting abilities is starting to fade. Jason Bateman seemed to be the most decent actor in the whole picture. His was the only portrayal that was subtle (especially with Garner's signature over acting) and you genuinely want to know more about his character; right off the bat he seems a little strange and you want to know why.

Speaking of strange, Ellen Page and Olivia Thirlby will be in another movie together called Jack and Diane which sounds loads better than Juno here's the synopsis from IMDB:

Jack and Diane, two teenage girls, meet in New York City and spend the night kissing ferociously. Diane's "charming innocence quickly begins to open Jack's tough skinned heart. But, when Jack discovers that Diane is leaving the country in a week she tries to push her away. Diane must struggle to keep their love alive while hiding the secret that her newly awakened sexual desire occasionally turns her into a werewolf. Written by filmsalt.com"

So Juno, not that great, worth seeing alone or with friends but not in the theater, glad I saw it for free.

4 out of 10 stars

AVPR

2008-01-09T19:47:29Z

Alien vs. Predator Requiem
Directed by Colin Strause & Greg Strause
Run time: 86 minutes
20th Century Fox
Dec 2007

synopsis from IMDB

"A little town in the hills of Colorado will become the battleground between two of the deadliest extra-terrestrial lifeforms - the Alien and the Predator. When a Predator scout ship crash-lands in the hills outside the town, Alien facehuggers are released in the crash, and an even more evil creature - a hybrid Alien/Predator - is also released. A man & his son hunting in the forests near the crash site soon become the first victims of the facehuggers, and when a Predator receives data about the crash on his home planet, he comes to Earth. One at a time, the inhabitants of the town become targets of the Aliens and the Predator, including the local sheriff, a young female soldier recently returned from Iraq, and several teens. Though the National Guard is called in, they are unable to stop the deadly creatures, and a plan is set in motion to destroy the town with a nuclear device... Written by Derek O'Cain"

This was not a good movie, I really only went to it to get out of the house for an hour and a half. The only redeeming parts of the film were the Aliens constantly killing any near by people. Also the "Predalien" was pretty sweet.

The story in this movie is really weak, especially the "human drama". I didn't find myself caring about any of the characters but I was surprised when the characters that i thought would make it to the end of the movie didn't and the characters that i thought would didn't. The dialoge is about on par with a 5th grade playwright with tourettes. Also how a small helicopter could make it through the pressure of a nuclear blast while flying is beyond me.

The only way that this movie could be good would be if you were watching it on a Friday night with a bunch of friends, possibly drinking a beer whenever a chestburster explodes out of someone's chest, that means four beers when the four chestbursters rip their way out of the pregnant woman's womb.

4 out of 10 stars

MW

2008-01-09T18:48:15Z

In order for me to update this thing more often I have decided to make this blog more for the reviewing and criticizing of comics, books, movies, music and other things that interest or disgust me. Also because I have a boring life that I'm sure that no one is interested in reading about.
So here we go.

MW
by Osamu Tezuka
1976-1978
584 pages
Vertical Publishing
September 2007

Here is the synopsis from the Osamu Tezuka Wikipedia page.

"A diligent and efficient bank employee, Yuuki Michio, has another side: that of a brutal kidnapper who commits horrible crimes, one after the other. Yuuki frequently visits Father Garai at his church, repenting for his sins each time he commits a crime. The two had witnessed a terrible event on Okinomabune Island in the neighboring of Okinawa Island fifteen years ago. During the incident, all the island's residents were killed by a poisonous gas (called "MW," a secret chemical weapon), which leaks from the storage area of foreign military forces on the island. Yuuki also goes mad under the effect of the gas. While taking revenge on criminals who cover up the event, Yuuki finally locates the whereabouts of MW. Knowing that he has little time left, as his brain and heart are increasingly affected by MW, he plans to release the toxic gas all over the world when he dies, to bring the whole human race to extinction."

I had read Apollo's Song by Tezuka in one sitting over the summer while driving back to Lincoln from Illinois and it seemed to go much faster than when I read MW (which took about a week reading for no longer than 2 hours at a time) which is only 40 pages longer. This could be because MW's story line is much deeper and complex. Apollo's Song is more along the lines of a bitter-sweet fairy tale, although much more bitter than sweet with it's brooding main character being pretty much taunted by unrequited love. MW makes you think, both about what Yuuki will do next and what is going on in his sick and twisted mind, and that the government lies to it's people and that enough people stand up they can challenge it but there is always a chance of a silent consequence-free retaliation on their part. It is also interesting to see how the homosexuality aspect of the story is handled with the involvement of a priest and the fact that it was happening when homosexuality was still very taboo in Japan. The gore and murder scenes are quite unusual and interesting. Some are generic like an old bishop on R Air Base getting shot in the face three times. Some are a bit more inventive like the old bar keep who gets long needles shoved deep under his finger nails and then is released just to have his genitals bitten off by a trained dog.

If you're looking for a good book to kick off the new year this one would be on my list of recommendations and I don't even read that much manga.
I'll give it an 8 out of 10 stars.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-11-27T10:34:00

2007-11-27T17:43:32Z

hello livejournal,

just so you know, i'm not dead, yet.
I've been holled up in my bedroom with the doors and windows taped shut and the light blocked out, my thoghts were my only company, also i was forced to eat my shoes and drink my own filtered urine. but now i'm out and up for anything.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-10-28T17:37:00

2007-10-28T22:51:12Z

So here's what's been going on lately, I guess that I've been very busy as of late so i haven't had a bunch of time to post here. Here it goes:

My Halloween costume this year is Captain Cold (pictured below), "Small-time criminal Len Snart sought a way to even the odds against the Flash so that he could begin a criminal career in Central City. Stealing an unpublished scientific article on the Flash’s speed, he came across the theory that a cyclotron might interfere with the hero’s speed. He designed a weapon and exposed it to radiation in a cyclotron laboratory. However, rather than counteracting the Flash’s speed, the gun could instantly freeze anything. Len Snart became the costumed criminal Captain Cold.

As he repeatedly clashed with the Flash, he learned to create ice slicks, to freeze people in suspended animation (Snart was a criminal, not a killer), to make walls (and safe doors) so brittle with cold that he could simply knock his way through. After Barry’s death, however, the thrill was gone. Snart’s career was not just one of crime, but one of battling the Flash.

Bored with a Flashless life, Snart and his sister Lisa (the Golden Glider) went legit and opened “Golden Snowball Recoveries.” Using the same costumes and weapons they had employed as criminals, they became bounty hunters for hire (Flash #27, 1989), and even worked with the new Flash on occasion.

Still, Len Snart could not resist when Abra Kadabra brought him and four other Rogues an offer that would bring them respect. An offer that would “guarantee that they would be remembered forever not as has-beens... but as the most infamous villains of their age.” What Kadabra did not tell them was that it would cost them their lives. The five died, and unleashed the demon Neron upon Earth (Underworld Unleashed #1, 1995).

Neron was not finished with them, however. As part of a convoluted plot to force the Flash into a deal, he sent the Rogues’ bodies to Earth without their souls. The bank robbers who had so enjoyed matching wits with the Flash were now soulless killers, in command of vastly enhanced powers, with even more powerful avatars that caused enormous damage and killed thousands before the Flash was able to turn the deal around and force Neron to halt the destruction and return the Rogues’ souls to their bodies (Flash #127–129, 1997).

Captain Cold, like his fellow Rogues, returned to his life of crime, though for a time he was concerned with protecting himself from Neron. He has since taken on a leadership role among the villains of the Twin Cities."

Anyway, I have an art show coming up in Kansas City, MO. Justin, Brian and I are going up there for the day (Nov 2nd). I'm assuming that we'll just screw around there until the show.

Saturday (Nov 3rd) is my birthday so that will be fun.

I'm also currently smitten.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-10-28T17:23:00

2007-10-28T22:23:27Z

o1. Name:
o2. Birthday:
o3. Place of residence:
o4. What makes you happy?:
o5. What are you listening to now/have listened to last?:
o6. Do you read my LJ?:
o7. If you do, what is particularly good/bad about it?:
o8. An interesting fact about you:
o9. Are you in love/have a crush at the moment?:
1o. Favourite place to be:
11. Favourite lyric:
12. Best time of the year:

RECOMMEND
o1. A film:
o2. A book:
o3. A band, a song and an album:

PLUS
o1. One thing you like about me:
o2. Two things you like about yourself:
o3. Put this in your LJ so I can tell you what I think of you.

Man oh man.

2007-10-01T23:30:21Z

ida poster
Originally uploaded by marcustegtmeier

what a boring weekend for the most part, here's the break down:
friday: went out to eat with my mom, sister, aunt and grandma. then sat around and called or text messaged people to hang out while trying to fight the tears of justin ditching me to hang out with his better friends. then i waited and talked to amburr, who is now one of my fake online girlfriends who lives in another country, for several hours until niles called and i hung out with him and he was very drunk. till 6 a.m. then i slept.

saturday: i woke up at 4:40 p.m. and i was pissed. then at 6:30 i wen to my grandma's house with my parents and sister to eat with her and my aunt before she left on sunday. at some point i hung out with kim, we watched "the game" starring michael douglas and sean penn. and then i waited around again after she left and ended up hanging out with doug at some early hour until he had to go to work at 7 a.m. then i went home and slept for four hours.

sunday: i pretended to read then i mowed the lawn and saw "good luck chuck" (which needed more than a boob montage to keep me interested) with niles and then ate and went over to lindsay's sweet house and drank some gin and tonic and went home.

now i'm tired. i also finished my poster today.

Super Bored at Work

2007-09-29T05:11:45Z

Super Bored at Work
Originally uploaded by marcustegtmeier

i work at NET now, this is my desk.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-09-28T10:33:00

2007-09-28T15:53:16Z

1. Person who tagged me: dicloniusnyuu
2. Relationship with her: Secret Online BFF & Lovers (SOBFFLs)
3. 5 impressions of her: Cute, Swedish, snappy dresser, Bowie fan, Japan lover
4. Most memorable thing done for me: Made me jealous of Asian boys
5. Most memorable words for me: "what would you do with me?"
6. If become my lover: pass...
7. If become lover, things to improve are: now live halfway around the world.
8. If become enemy: it would be rather easy to move on.
9. Reason become enemy: moving to Japan and living with another boy. I'm keeping my eye on you.
10. Most desirable thing to do for her now: soup?
11. Overall impression of her: total unappreciated babe.
12. How I think people will feel about me: pass...?
13. The characteristic I love about myself: uh, pass
14. The characteristic I hate about myself: passed
15. Most ideal person that I want to be: probably Vincent Price but not dead.
16. Say something to the people you care about: hello.
17. Pass on to 6 people who you want to know how they feel about you.
1. deadringrancor
2. implicitlyyours
3. amburr
4. ___slush_
5. sqweezil
6. tampons_float
18. 6 relationship with you: friends
19. 1 male/female: male
20. Is 4 studying: studying the ladies ha ha just kidding.
21. Last time you chatted with 3: a while a go, she's too busy with her Canadian modeling.
22. 5 likes what music?: Hasil Adkins.
23. Will I woo 3: ...someday.
24. How about 1: already have
25. Is 2 single: yes
26. Surname of 6: Walton
27. Hobby of 4: fashion i think.
28. 5 & 2 get along well: yes
29. Something casual about 1: his hot tight shirts?
30. Tried developing feelings for 3: not really.
31. 5 lives at: 28th & N/Northplatte.
32. What colour does 6 like: blue maybe
33. 3 likes 1: They don't know eachother
34: How I know 2: ex-girlfriend
35. 5 got pets: yes
36. No 1's sexiest person: either keria knightly, maggie gyllenhaal or kirsten dunst

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-08-30T10:07:00

2007-08-30T15:10:05Z

1. YOUR REAL NAME
Marcus

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus TizZLE)
MartizZLE

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal.)
Yellow Cat

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (ur middle name and street u live on)
Howard Park Ave.

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name)
Tegma

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink
Red Coke

7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms middle name)
Aghorke

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (parents middle names)
Norman Louise

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Jack

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-08-21T16:38:00

2007-08-21T21:46:58Z

~ Pick your birth month.
~ Strike out anything that doesn't apply to you.
~ Bold the five-ten that best apply to you.
~ Copy to your own journal, with all twelve months under a lj-cut.
~ Tag 5 people from your friends list.

JANUARY:
Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY:
Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH:
Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL:
Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people's problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY:
Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE:
Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY:
Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people's feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST:
Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER:
Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people's mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER:
Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn't pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER:
Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER:
Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

NOVEMBER:
Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. ~~Can become good doctors.~~ Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. ~~Stubborn and hard-hearted~~. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. ~~Does not appreciate praises~~. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love ~~and emotions~~. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. ~~Homely~~. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. ~~Not able to control emotions~~. Unpredictable.

sweetest ride on the block

2007-08-06T16:49:37Z

sweetest ride on the block
Originally uploaded by marcustegtmeier

oh man,

friday i got off work at like 11:30 and rode my bike home in the sweltering nebraska heat and shortly after arriving nile and nathaniel came to pick me up and we were off for cedar rapids iowa, 5 hours later we finally got there, we were going to see the queens of the stone age. the show was pretty good, the first band was the gasoline angels they weren't very good. they were a two piece band of brothers, the one sang and played guitar and the other played drums, truly "posers and models with guitars..." the singer was very hard to understand and his mouth moved really weird, it made me uncomfortable, and people in the audience would yell, "you rock" and the like and they didn't really. then finally queens of the stone age came on and rocked it pretty hard, the lighting was really good, which is something that you don't really hear that much when you think of how a live show but that's how good it was. the whole thing was pretty enjoyable until this tall dorky guy was standing right in front of me so i couldn't see josh homme but then he migrated away then all was good until this skanky chick wedged in front of me with her short friend which was fine until she tried to get her smelly gweedo boyfriend whom i was blocking with my shoulder but she managed to pull him in, damn, so there i was with this fucker standing directly in front of me, i was going to make this guy's life a living hell, i didn't drive 5 hours and pay 24 bucks to stare at the pack if this jerk's head, so i started rubbing myself up against his back, that didn't work, so i then proceeded to breath heavily on the back of his neck, also didn't work, so i just waited to for him to go get another beer and took his spot next to his slutty slut, ha ha vengeance is mine! After the show we stared to head back to lincoln and after getting lost for a little while we were back on I380. we decided to hit up the perkin's that we saw on the way there about an hour down the road. the water there tasted funny and the steak that was in my platter wasn't quite cooked all the way through, but oh well we hadn't eaten all day. we finally got home around 4:30 a.m.

it felt good to hit the sheets.

saturday, i started to paint maggie and lauren's shed, so i got ready to go. i loaded up my bike baskets with a couple cans of spray paint (i was only going to go lay down the line work) and a few jars of screen printing ink because after that i was going over to delphine's house to finish her screen printing lesson. my bike was pretty heavy by this point which was fine until i stared going up hill plus to make things worse it was so incredibly hot out and i was just dripping with sweat.
so i got their house quickly painted and i was off with the speed of the old vietnamese man who used to ride his three wheeled bike through my neighborhood. when i got to delphine's house we did the screen printing and some graphic design stuff. her dad thought that my bike was cool. then ate some ravioli and spaghetti but when i went to put some sauce on the spaghetti i noticed that there was some mold on the lip and cap of the jar so in the garbage it went. the ravioli was perfection though, so that was good. then it was time to ride home so i could drive back and pick up delphine. after that we went to justin's place so justin, alex, delphine and i could go the bemis underground in omaha and see justin's comic with the secret ending and we did just that.
on the way to omaha we talked about porn and how the porn barn was gone, followed by a little video game theory, delphine was none too impressed. and to add insult to injury we stopped krypton comics's new store and i picked up the first two issues of the new "tank girl" series (with variant covers), the stories are written by alan martin which is same but good, and the art is by ashley wood, which is different but awesome, justin picked up "the maxx" vol.5 and "Akira" vol.3 and maybe something else, alex picked up some "futurama" comics and delphine didn't get anything but i saw her eying the "nancy drew" manga and the "power girl" bust. after that we headed for the bemis but we were early for the dance party so we walked down the street and checked out drastic plastic and i got a jacket and some pink undies. then we decided that going to zio's pizza would be a good idea even though none of us really seemed hungry. stephanie tanner there with her boyfriend who's name escapes me at the moment. the pizza was good and the beer smelled good. so now it was time for the dance party, thanks to my art scene connections i ended up getting a "you-can-drink" wrist band and i got pretty juiced up and then i danced, oh god i danced! we left and delphine drove my car home and survived, she tamed the beast. then bed time.

sunday, finally a day to kind of laze around, i finished "tank girl: the odyssey" (vol.4) and cleaned my room and i was getting pissed off because it was so hot in my room + my dad was being an even bigger dick than usual. so i had to get out of there so delphine and i went to target and i got a new bag and she got some new shoes and then we went to super saver to see all the drecks of society. then dinner where i ate turkey loaf and mashed potatoes yum yum. after that justin, delphine and i watched "kamikaze girls" i'm too lazy to type the synopsis so here's wikipedia:
"The movie begins with a flashforward of Momoko getting hit by a car while driving a moped, then shifts to the past to introduce her background and early life.

Momoko, who was born near Kobe, wishes that she had been born in Rococo-era France. Her father, a former small-time gangster, was involved in selling fake brand name clothing. After making a fake "double-brand" he finds himself in trouble with Universal Studios, Versace, and the mob, and so he and Momoko move to his mother's house in the rural town of Shimotsuma.

Momoko must go to Tokyo to shop for her clothes, but constantly finds herself short of money for the expensive trip and the pricey clothes she wants to buy. She decides to sell some of her father's fake Versace products, and meets Ichigo (prefers to be called Ichiko), who answers an advertisement she has placed.

Ichigo is a racy, boyish yanki-type who belongs to an all-girl bōsōzoku (motorcycle gang). Gradually, the unlikely pair become friends.

Soon Ichigo needs Momoko's help. Akimi, the leader of Ichigo's gang, is leaving, and as a tribute Ichigo plans to have her coat embroidered. She has heard that there is a legendary embroiderer in Tokyo named Emma and she persuades Momoko to go there with her.

Although they never find the embroiderer, they do stop at Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, the shop where Momoko buys her frilly lolita dresses. An assistant notices the beautiful embroidery Momoko has stiched on one of her garments and calls the designer himself to come to look at it. Later in the film, the designer asks Momoko to embroider a sample garment which accidentally came back plain.

Back in Shimotsuma, after an argument, Momoko offers to stich the embroidery on Ichigo's coat, which she does with great skill.

The final scenes of the film concern a fight between Ichigo and the members of several all-girl motorbike gangs. It is revealed that the crash at the start of the movie occurred when Momoko was rushing to help Ichigo. Momoko does not die, but instead challenges the entire motorbike gang and wins, rescuing Ichigo."

this was an all right movie, seemed a bit drawn out in some places but other than that it had an interesting feeling to it. i'd say 6 out of 10. then after that we discussed the noid and talked about our group dynamics. then parted ways for bed.

now it's monday and it's really hot, it was 79º at 10 a.m. with 88% humidity and it'll get hotter..

welp lunch time.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-08-03T10:29:00

2007-08-03T15:38:45Z

feenz, justington and i went to see Paprika at the ross last night, it was a pretty good movie, but it wasn't the weirdness of the picture that made it less enjoyable, it was the over explanation of the various key plot points. the animation was spot on and the references (i.e. "from russia with love" "roman holiday" "monkey king" and "tokyo godfathers" to name a few) were really fun. i'd give this movie a 8 1/2 out of 10.

i also bought some sweet stuff for my bike, pictures soon.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-07-30T13:30:00

2007-07-30T18:50:47Z

so this weekend i had the opportunity to go see 2 movies, the first being the simpson's movie which i actually thought was pretty good, i thought that it would be really bad considering how much the show has been sliding lately but the writers really brought it to the table this time, even thought all of the main plot points were just recycled from past simpson's episodes, oh well, i give it an 8 out of 10.

the second was 1408 (finally) i'd say that it was a pretty decent thriller, which i'm sure that stephen king is pleased to hear. the story was pretty original and although john cusack is getting pretty pudgy he fit the part pretty well. the part that impressed me the most was when the phone melted, it was one of those "wow! how'd they do that?!" moments.

and when i wasn't at the movies i went to this employee apreciation party for the blue orchid with the feenz and ate a bunch of mussels, snow peas, chicken, pork and peanut sauce, plus free booze! a good time was had by all!

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-07-24T10:16:00

2007-07-24T15:28:44Z

so, we got our new computer yesterday and much to my dismay, we got vista, and after turning it on for the first time and trying to sign on to (dial-up) (shitty) aol it was already slow, like really slow, like 5 minutes for the desktop to finish loading slow. and after that it prompted me for a virus scan. sigh, will smith was right, parents just don't understand. it's not all bad though, it is really small. and the box was pretty nice. but sadly i have to say goodbye to photoshop, flash, acid 3.0, fruity loops, and any number of other pirated programs that i frequently use.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-07-23T09:43:00

2007-07-23T14:49:28Z

so apparently the motherboard is fried in my parents computer, so we're going to get a mac laptop and an external hard drive. i'm fine with that.

also, don't forget to check out

Acid Free

Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man		80%
Spider-Man		80%
Green Lantern		75%
Superman		70%
Hulk		70%
The Flash		65%
Catwoman		60%
Batman		60%
Wonder Woman		50%
Supergirl		50%
Robin		47%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-07-19T16:40:00

2007-07-19T22:01:23Z

well well well, make sure to check out the new acid free design by clicking on the image below and comment on what you think about it that kind of stuff really helps us, it's still a bit under construction but it works fine.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-07-17T12:04:00

2007-07-17T17:23:12Z

transformers the movie (1986) last night, it had everything you would expect from an 80's transformer movie, that guy from the micromachines commercials, hair metal, cheesy dialogue, robots in disguise and weird al. and up until i saw this movie i was convinced that the transformers obeyed the basic laws of physics but i was mistaken when megatron transformed in to a gun and shrank from a giant robot to a small hand held pistol or when alex pointed out how the lasers curve as if they were heavier than other kinds of light. but none the less i enjoyed it.

giant bowie poster

2007-07-12T15:36:05Z

giant bowie poster
Originally uploaded by marcustegtmeier

Maggie and Lauren have moved into Lauren's grandmother's house, and it stinks of vile potpourri but at least now it has a little class with this nice poster created on rasterbator and printed off at work for free.

in other news i've been geting my old transformers toys together and so far i've found the autobots bumblebee and cosmos, i think that i have a thundercracker who is a decepticon.

wall of shelves

2007-07-06T15:16:34Z

wall of shelves
Originally uploaded by marcustegtmeier

so this is what i have so far for my wall of shelves so far, hopefully it'll be bigger soon, you can see my yellow television next to my old mac SE.

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-07-03T10:11:00

2007-07-03T15:13:23Z

so i saw ratatouille and i was better than i had expected. the animation was amazing and the story was for the most part surprisingly original. the story wasn't without it's tried and true disney plot points but aside from a forced love interest there wasn't really any other problems that i had with it. it seems that pixar is really pushing the envelope with what they are capable of and i know that people have been saying that for years, ever since toy story came out but every time they do something it's got something new, we had the opportunity of seeing the first trailer for wall-e which looked to me to be live action, so that will be exciting.

"WALL E" starts out on Earth in the year 2700. Which -- due to the horrible way that humans have treated this planet -- is now just one massive trash heap floating in space.

Earth in fact has become so toxic that -- centuries before our story actually gets underway -- mankind has abandoned the planet. We're now all living aboard the Axiom, this massive spaceship that circles high overhead. Waiting for the day that the planet once again becomes inhabitable.

But the only problem is that mankind hired this enormous, inept corporation -- Buynlarge -- to supervise the clean-up effort. And that company -- in turn -- sent hundreds of thousands of robots down to the planet's surface to pick up all of the trash.

But Buynlarge's Waste Allocation Load Lifters -- Earth Class units really weren't up to the task. And so -- over the centuries -- these robots slowly began breaking down. Until now (as the film's story finally, officially gets underway) there's only one WALL E left running on the entire planet.

And so every morning, this WALL E powers up and then tries to accomplish the task that he's been programmed to do. Which is pick up all of the trash that's been scattered around the Earth. It's obviously an impossible job. But still this robot (with the help of his pet cockroach, Spot) does what he can every day.

But here's the thing, folks. Over the past 700 years, WALL E has gotten ... quirky. To be specific, he's become somewhat self-aware & curious.

"Curious about what?," you ask. Well, humans for starters. Over the centuries, this WALL E has collected an amazing array of human artifacts. Things like a Rubik's Cube, a light bulb, a Playmate portable ice chest. But this robot's proudest possession is an old VCR. On which he plays -- over and over again -- a VHS copy of "Hello, Dolly !"

Now let's pause here for a moment and just think about that. Everything that this robot knows (Or -- more importantly -- thinks he knows) about mankind, he's either learned from picking through garbage and/or by watching a 700-year-old Barbra Streisand film.

Anyway ... Given that he's the last operational robot left on the planet, with only Spot to keep him company, WALL E has become lonely. He longs for companionship.

Which is why this robot is thrilled one morning when a spaceship almost lands on him. And what should float out of the craft but this sleek new unit, EVE.

Eve has been sent down to Earth to find ...something (Sorry. But I really don't to give "WALL E" 's entire story away with today's article). And as this sleek new unit hovers around the planet, endlessly scanning the Earth's surface ... WALL E follows along behind EVE like a lovesick pup. Desperate to get her attention, to have this newer model notice him.

It isn't 'til a sudden sandstorm forces WALL E & EVE to seek shelter in the very same vehicle that these two mechanical devices then really begin trying to communicate. With the trash-collecting robot trying to impress this more advanced model by showing off his collection of rare human artifacts.

But then EVE is recalled. And as she reboards her craft to return to space, WALL E has a decision to make. Should this robot just do as he's programmed? Remain on Earth and continue to pick his way through those never-ending mountains of trash? Or should WALL E actually take a chance, continue to try & win EVE over by following her out into outer space?

At the very last moment, as EVE's rocket is actually blasting off, WALL E latches onto her craft. And this robot -- along with the rocket -- is hurtled off into space. Which is where the real fun begins ...

Now keep in mind that all I've described here is just the first third of "WALL E." Which plays out with little or no dialogue. By that I mean: The age-old trash-picking robot and the sleek new scanning droid may beep & boop at one another. But -- with the exception of the music & the dialogue that we hear coming from that VCR that plays "Hello, Dolly !" -- that's it. The rest of this section of Pixar's 2008 release is (in effect) a silent movie.

And wait 'til you see what happens to WALL E once he gets on board the Axiom and finds out what has become of mankind. How -- because humans have grown even more lazy in the 700 years that they've been off Earth -- we're all now just these enormous fat blobs who can only move about because we travel in huge floating lounge chairs.

The rest of this amazing motion picture is set deep out in space, where WALL E runs into some even more mis-begotten creatures ... And some 700 years after doing what he was built to do, this robot will finally discover what he was meant to do.

Trust me, folks. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to "WALL E." There are so many other aspects of this Andrew Stanton that are daring and/or charming. Take -- for example -- Fred Willard's involvement with this production. Fred plays the president of the Buynlarge Corporation. And this will be the very first time that a really-for-real human performer will appear in a Pixar production.

There's so much more to talk about in regards to "WALL E." But -- as I said earlier -- I don't want to totally ruin this upcoming Pixar release for you. I just want to give JHM readers some sense about the size & the scope of the story that Andrew Stanton is trying to tell here. The sort of a picture that he's trying to make this time around.

Given what you heard so far, aren't you interested in learning how the rest of "WALL E" plays out? The story that starts in the year 2700. After Earth has been abandoned. But someone forgot to turn the last robot off.

-from Jim hill media

marcustegtmeier @ 2007-07-03T09:18:00

2007-07-03T14:20:46Z

i want this shirt.