(Edit 2: Posted the links to the contestants entries. Also, in other news, if you want to join an OCT and missed the boat on Oberon's Garden, one of our contestants is starting one. I urge you to check it out. )

(Edit: Alright, the round 4 entries were due a full day ago. Judging will now begin. Congradulations to all our contestants and I hope you all had a Merry Christmas).

1. vs [link]

2. [link] vs [link]

[Edit: I've moved the blog I mentioned over to Wordpress.com because I liked the interface a lot better. So the URL for the blog is now [link] All the old posts from the last blog are there and all the new ones will be as well so yeah, check it out. Have a nice day. )

So it's come to my great dismay that people actually read the stuff I write now.

...I know, I was shocked too!

So assuming you do like the stuff I write, I just created a blog here: [link] I'll probably start posting my personal musings about nerdy stuff, probably review video games and other stuff, talk about writing, and basically just whatever I feel like talking about. I had one at the blog over on typepad previously, but I didn't like the options they limited free users with (which is to say you had no options. Basically you had one theme you could apply on your blog and that was it. I get that its primarily a paid blog site, but still, I like Wordpress.com's options a lot better).

And some of you already know this, but I also have a twitter. [link] So if you're interested in tweeting about all things tweetable so that you can return tweets about all the things I tweet which are themselves tweetable, you can do that. I like saying tweet.

Tweet.

But yeah, pretty much my twitter and indeed most twitters are just place for me to share my impulsive pointless thoughts to anyone who will listen, not unlike crazy people on soapboxes in crowded streets. So yeah, enjoy that

Anyway, that's it for now. Have a good day all.

Tweet.

So as we all know, it is now the holiday season. I’m sure many of you have a big work load during the holidays (I currently work in retail, and anyone whose worked retail during the holidays knows it’s very busy and some days want to make you contemplate creating self-inflicted gunshot wounds just to avoid having to talk to one more impatient). I realize that it can be very easy for many people, especially those that are busy, to forget why the Christmas season is so important to us all.

I think almost everyone has an attachment to the holidays, even though most can’t exactly say why. It’s hard to explain. Obviously we all loved the holidays since we were very young, even if some of us, like me, did so for greedy reasons. Some people attribute this to the commercialization of Christmas, but I sort of believe the selfishness that kids possess at a young age is universal to some degree and existed long before that. But more than that, I think we were all mesmerized by the spirit of it. Lights everywhere, everyone acting a bit cheerier than usual, Christmas specials that oozed sap on TV (we all have our favorites. I personally like the Muppets Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. One of the first Christmas specials I remember watching a lot, aside from all the Rankin/Bass stuff, was Flintstones Christmas Carol. Considering I now look back and sort of despise the Flintstones, I still have an odd affection for the special, even thought I’m not sure why). Pretty much everyone grew up with that. The holidays were a time when everyone seemed a bit happier and we’re told the importance of giving. It holds so much we all still feel a shadow of that feeling to this day, even if its lost is impact.

It’s hard to say what the true magic of Christmas. The best way I can describe it is a type of mind virus. Even if you’re life isn’t that great, even if you sometimes think that you’re a cosmic plaything doomed to failure, even when you deceive yourself into thinking you don’t have something to live for, something about this time of year worms its way into your head. You see the specials on TV, all the decorations up, and it starts to take hold of you. You remember that there are people who care about you, many of them who care enough to take a moment out of their busy lives to pay you a visit or get you a gift, for no other reason that they believe you’re an important person in their lives who deserves it. And that there are people you care for who deserve the same thing, who you care about and want to show that you do. That’s really what Christmas is all about. Yes, we have it hammered into our skulls since grade school it’s about giving, but that’s not really the true scope of it. It’s a time when you can forget all your problems for just a little while, show the important people in your life you care, and above all, remind yourself that you are not alone and, even though it might not always seem like it, most people do care about someone in their lives. People can act like pretty selfish pricks sometimes, but I believe fundamentally most people do care about each other. I think most people realize this when they get older, really showing the personal growth we experience from the more selfish nature of a child and how we feel as an adult. Maybe they don’t consciously realize it, but around Christmas is when the best of us seems to come out and we let others know we care and are cared for.

And so, even thought it's a bit early, I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, a time when you show the people you care for that no matter what they may think, they are not alone.

(The deadline for Oberon's Garden Round 4 is December 20th, 11:59 PM. The matchup journal entry can be found here: [link] Just wanted to keep a link up to that on the main page)

And now for something completely different...

I recently had an opportunity to interview Lewis Lovhaug, better known as Linkara, the comic book reviewer on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses. His videos can be found here: [link] I asked him a few questions about his videos as well as some of his other projects.

Me: First of all, I would like to thank you for the interview. For the benefit of our readers, can you just briefly tell how you started doing comic book reviews and how you came to be on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses?
Lewis: I started doing text reviews in the same vein as the Agony Booth or Jabootu’s movie reviews. After the “Ask That Guy” contest, I had so much fun doing the video that I decided to make comic reviews in video form. I submitted my stuff to That Guy with the Glasses, they liked it, and the rest is history.

Me: What is your process for doing a video? How long does it typically take to make one of your videos and what does that work entail?
Lewis: As I read the book I write out a script separating live action bits and voiceover bits. After I film I collect panels and edit it all together into a video. It can vary – theoretically I could make an entire video in 24 hours but I have to pace myself or I go nuts.

Me: How does it feel to work on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses? Judging by the number of crossovers you guys have done, it seems like you all get along very well…
Lewis: It’s fantastic! I love that I can share my love of comics to everyone and we all get along very well on the site.

Me: Now, you have reviewed many horrible comics. However, are there any terrible comics in particular that you really wanted to do a review for, but couldn’t get around to it for whatever reason?
Lewis: Nope. If there’s a comic I want to review, I put it on the schedule and I find a way to make it happen.

Me: You’ve spoken at length before about the specific qualities you look for in a bad comic, but what kind of specific qualities do you look for in a good comic? What are the best qualities of comics you actually enjoy reading? What are some of your favorite comics you are reading currently?
Lewis: It varies. Fun superhero stuff is what I tend to appreciate more.

Me: You recently did a very funny review of Superman IV with the Nostalgia Critic. Do you have any plans in the future to review any more bad comic book movies? There are more than a few that probably deserve it (please do the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie, please do the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie… )
Lewis: Maybe, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Me: I believe you also stated some time ago that you were considering doing video game reviews as 90’s kid. Are you still considering this? (Mostly I’m asking since I find 90’s Kid hilarious since I’ve known at least 2 or 3 people in my life who basically are that character).
Lewis: I’m still considering it – it’s a matter of time, figuring out the best format, and what sort of games he’d review.

Me: You’ve done just over 50 videos. What was the video you would say you most enjoyed doing and what would you say is the video that was the most difficult or frustrating for you to do?
Lewis: I really had fun with the New Guardians #2 review and the Silent Hill stuff. As for most frustrating, probably the Superman 4 video because of all the technical problems we had.

Me: Is there one specific joke from your videos that you’re particularly proud of writing? Basically do you have a favorite joke that you made in one of your videos?
Lewis: “Oh, boo hoo, we’ve all got problems.” I just love that joke for some reason.

Me: One interesting thing about your videos is that they sort of have a weird story arc to them, with characters like Mechakara and Spoony’s Dr. Insano popping up with some degree of frequency. What made you decide to put this kind of storyline in your reviews? Was it a conscious decision or did it just sort of happen over time?
Lewis: A conscious decision, especially to emulate comic book story-arcs and whatnot.

Me: Going back to your taste in comics, are there any comics you really enjoy that you feel are very underrated that more people should take an interest in?
Lewis: Booster Gold, currently ongoing, and the weekly series that finished up a while back called Trinity. Trinity is highly underrated.

Me: Now just the opposite. Are there any comics that you feel are very overrated and, if so, what specifically do you not like about them?
Lewis: The Boys. Also Army@Love – hate them both with the fire of a thousand suns.

Me: Now, although you’re obviously most well known for your reviews as Linkara, you’ve done numerous other projects as well, so I’d like to ask a few questions about those. I understand that before you started writing comics and doing reviews, you wrote a series of self-published books called Angel Armor that you started writing as a teenager and continued to write as you got older. I haven’t really seen a whole lot of other people ask a whole lot about it, so I was wondering if you could tell us a bit more about them. What are the books about and how did you get the idea? Do you intend to keep creating more books in this series?
Lewis: I’m currently in the process of rewriting the first one. Essentially it’s a schoolboy in a Tolkien-esque fantasy land. I don’t talk about them as often because, well, looking back they’re not very good. I’m going to fix this, but for now I prefer to sweep it away like I did my fanfiction.

Me: You’ve also written a webcomic called Lightbringer about the world’s first superhero. Tell us about that and how you came up with the idea. What made you decide to write a webcomic?
Lewis: Modern day comics, whenever they create a new universe with superheroes populating it, always seem to want to give it a full looooong history of superheroes, with their own golden and silver ages and blah, blah, blah. I wanted to start from the ground up, get people interested in superheroes as they’re first emerging in a modern world. Kind of like Heroes but not so stupid and with costumes.

Me: You’ve also written an indie comic called Revolution of the Mask. What is this comic about and how did you come up with the idea? What made you decide to try to make this idea a semi-professional endeavor of making a comic?
Lewis: Revolution of the Mask is about a dystopian future that, at its core, is really just about superheroes and why they’re awesome. I based it on an underutilized plot thread from a B-movie called “City Limits,” where purportedly a group of teenagers have a society built around comic books, but there isn’t much evidence of that, so I wanted to write about that and better utilize it.

Me: Outside of comic books and graphic novel, do you have any favorite novels or stories?
Lewis: T.H. White’s the Once and Future King is my favorite book. Not many other hobbies outside of comics, I admit. Just not into very much; I’m kind of boring that way.

Me: What do you do when you’re not making videos? What other hobbies do you have outside of reading comics?
Lewis: Watching other people’s videos, mostly. XD Or watching a show or something that has been recommended to me or the occasional video game.

Me: Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?
Lewis: Anything else I’d like to say? I will say Craft Porcelain, since that is a tag on something on my desk.

And there you have it. The name of the webcomic mentioned in the review is Lightbringer, which you can find here: [link] Revolution of the Mask can be purchased and viewed on Brain Scan Studios website here: [link] I hope you all enjoyed this interview. I might try to do some more in the future. So to all my readers, remember to live long and Craft Porcelain.

[Edit 4: As of about 12:01 am on December 23rd, there's only one day left until the deadline for Oberon's Garden, which is Christmas Eve, December 24th, 11:59 PM. Contestants, make sure your entry is finished by then and remember to submit a note to me with links to your entry. If you need more time or don't think you'll be able to make it, let me know. Have a good day].

[Edit 3: Due to several requests, I've decided to extend the deadline several days to Christmas Eve, December 24th, 11:59 PM to give people some more time. To be honest, I was a little uneasy about setting a deadline closer to Christmas since I didn't think that would help since the entire month of December is busy enough already, but some people requested it so I guess its okay. If you have a conflict with that or have any questions, just let me know. Have a good day].

Alright, we're up to the semi-finals now and its time for the match-ups. A few things I'd like to go over first. First of all, pretty much every contestant who has made it into this tournament at all should consider themselves a winner, since I couldn't ask for a better batch of contestants. Second of all, I am sorry for the long delay last round as there was some complications in the lives of several of the judges. I apologize for the delay and I will try to avoid taking this long in the future, but some of those elements were well beyond control. You can rest assured I will do my best to prevent any future delays in judging, however.

Now then, lets get on with the matchups for the SEMI-FINALS.

1. Vs

2. Vs

Now them, I'm going to put the deadline approximately a little over one month from today. The deadline will be Christmas Eve, December 24, 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. HOWEVER, if you need more time when the deadline comes near, please let me know as I know the holiday season can create some complications in most people's schedules so, if this is the case, when the deadline gets near, feel free to let me know as soon as possible.

So, contestants, good luck and have fun with it