I spend most of my time on this site in either the Reviews section, or the Forum, so the Blog I set up for myself rarely sees any action. Here’s some of the latest reviews I neglected to post here, just incase someone actually reads this blog-thingy:

February 24, 2010 – LaughingMan returns with a review of the sleeper-hit 2-D fighting game, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger.

March 30, 2010 – LaughingMan reviews the interactive drama video game, Heavy Rain

May 19, 2010 – LaughingMan reviews the first episode of the latest Sam and Max adventure The Devil’s Playhouse: Episode 1: The Penal Zone.

June 15, 2010 – For the first time ever, the founders of Cheshire Cat Studios.com, LaughingMan and Zimes do a co-review. Their victim is arguably one of the worst JRPGs of all time Enchanted Arms.

If the British had told the American Colonists that the heavy taxation laws that they passed, without representation by the colonists, was for public health care, would the American Colonists have still revolted?

I believe that our Founding Fathers were not as gullible as their descendants.

I am reading some articles on DIGG and I’ve noticed that the trend for anything Tea Party related is the following:

- How A Prankster Plans To Destroy The Tea Party Movement
- 47% of Tea Partiers Pay No Federal Income Taxes
- Foes of tea party movement to infiltrate rallies
- Obama: Tax Protesters Should Thank Me for Tax Breaks!
- Obama Fans Storm Tax Day Tea Party In D.C. (VIDEO)

The news media that is actively attacking the Tea Party movement and promoting the “Crash the Tea Party” activists is the very same news media that promoted “Rights to Protest” during every other protest rally for the last 10 years. In the eyes of modern Liberals, only they have the right to protest.

It is no surprise that the Liberal media is trying to squash the Tea Party movement before it gains any more momentum, since in the Age of Information, misinformation and propaganda is the greatest tool. There have been stories surfacing of people infiltrating Tea Party rallies and pretending to be fanatics, shouting that “Obama was born on the moon!” and deliberately writing signs using bad English grammar, and even going even as far as using racial slurs against the President in order to cast a shadow of ineptitude and bigotry over the Tea Party movement as a whole.

In my eyes, the problem with the Tea Partiers is that they aren’t doing enough to make themselves heard. Members of the Tea Party believe that what they are doing will be a gunshot heard around the world, but in reality I feel that their efforts are impotent in the greater scheme of things. America is an Oligarchy where the rich and famous tower over us, passing their laws and reaping the rewards because, like Dante and Virgil in the Fifth Circle of the Inferno, Anger, they have positioned themselves so far out of harm’s reach that they are immune from our cries of anger and view us as wretches fighting amongst ourselves in the filth of the river Styx.

In all honesty, do you think that those who are reaping the bounties and riches of the corporations they place in priority above you honestly care about whether or not you will vote for them in the next election? They are, as the mob would put it, “Made Men” where even if they were cast out of office like lepers, they would still have their wealth and business ties to fall back on while you, the voters, would simply elect other Straw Men (ie T. S. Elliott) to repeat the process over again. This two-party political system, this “8 years Republican, 8 years Democrat” cycle, these two heads of the Hydra must be cut off and soldered to keep from regrowing.

It will take the looming threat of the hordes of the angry souls tipping over the boat and dragging Dante and Virgil into the filth of equality to birth any real change in the course of our country. And that angry horde of souls can be the Tea Partiers.

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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – When the Cicadas Cry

You can read my full review by clicking the link below:

http://www.cheshirecatstudios.com/reviews/higurashi-no-naku-koro-ni-when-cicadas-cry/#LaughingMan

I can’t remember exactly how I came across Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. I believe it was one of those acts of fate where you stumble upon something that, while not ‘life changing’, still manages to leave an imprint. I was browsing one of the written posts for an online comic I used to read and my eyes stumbled upon the writer’s ecstatic remarks regarding what he called ‘one of the best stories’ he ever came across. Since I was bored at the time, I began downloading the WIND fan subbed series to kill time. What I found was an anime that I not only liked, but an ingenious story that literally shook me to the core.

I’ve made my negative opinions of anime very well known in my prior Devil May Cry and Demonbane reviews, but anyone who knows me knows that I praise a well-told story. Complex stories and character development are my cocaine, regardless of their medium, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni provided me one hell of a fix.

After the dreaded Demonbane review -in which I lampooned for being the WORST of everything anime after their complete bastardization of the works of H.P. Lovecraft- I was presented with a second challenge by ONOE: To finally review the one single anime that I honestly enjoyed.

To quote ONOE:

That is why I wanted you two to review Higurashi because I have a feeling that Demonbane gave you negative impression of anime as a whole and I wanted you both to see that there are some good ones that people in the states and elsewhere never see. I hope your reviews of Higurashi changed your minds about the anime stereotype.

It probably won’t. Stereotypes are never 100% conclusive, but without a common trend among a demographic, there wouldn’t be a stereotype. Hence, I still think that 99% of anime is pure bullshit. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is the pleasant exception.

Still, along side Kenny Farino and ONOE, I’m accepting not only this challenge, but this privilege.

It will be hard to praise everything about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni without giving away too much of the plot, but I will try to keep this review relatively spoiler-free with the exception of some MILD SPOILERS involving character motivations that will be required to explain just how ingenious Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is.

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Ah, Goode’s Q… Just like morphine, you know how to make all the pain go away.

Seriously, though, if everything can go wrong during my day, there’s always Goode’s Q. ‘Southern Comfort’ without either the alcohol content, or fathers with shotguns.

Admittedly, I acquired a taste for Cajun food from my mom’s cooking. It wasn’t that she could cook ‘real Cajun’ but because she had a knack of ‘blackening’ every meat she ever attempted to cook. On the years she hosted the Thanksgiving dinner for the extended family, her Christmas stocking often consisted of kitchen timers and turkey basters.

I used to eat at the place when it was Frank’s or Frankie’s because they had decent food. Then when it went out of business and became a Cajun restaurant, I decided to give it a try. The first thing I actually ever ate there was a simple hamburger. Why a burger at a Cajun place? Simple: You can always tell if a restaurant is worth eating at by having them prepare the simplest thing on the menu. I’ve eaten at places that can really screw up something as simple as a hamburger (CATIN’S), but I’ve never eaten anywhere that could IMPROVE a burger like Goode’s Q. I’m not sure if it’s some sort of seasoning or if it’s the wood in the BBQ grill they use, but even their burgers have a great ‘smokehouse’ flavor. And for less than $8 for the flame-kissed smokehouse burger and battered fries, it’s a no-brainer.

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So here is my morning in a nutshell:

I got to Home Depot a few minutes before the appointment I’ve scheduled a week in advance. I go to the kitchen cabinetry section and patiently wait for the of the kitchen designer I made the appointment with to show up. Fifteen minutes after my appointment deadline I start getting the feeling that I’ve been brushed off.

After another ten minutes of pacing between the kitchen cabinetry section and the kitchen appliances section, hoping to run into one of the ‘well-educated and professional workers’, I finally catch a rep from the appliances section and ask for her help locating the missing cabinetry designer I’ve been waiting too long for. She asks who it was and I give the designer’s name and she said, “She called in sick this morning.”

Fucking fantastic…

Home Depot worker: “Didn’t you get a phone call?”

I’m standing there like ‘If I got a phone call I wouldn’t be here‘.

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Something about BridgeMaxx rubs me the wrong way. Right off the bat, BridgeMaxx bought out Sofast, so I’m wondering if they will be ‘Sofast v2.0′.

But about a month ago they actually solicited at my house. I was kinda shocked when I opened the door and saw two guys dressed in button shirts and ties asking if they could talk for a second. I was going to tell them that I’d already found Jesus and wasn’t interested, but they weren’t carrying Bibles, they were carrying little black internet hubs. Not immediately recognizing what the small machines actually were, I then assumed that Scientologists were in town and paused a moment to try to remember if I’d unloaded my shotgun.

They still handed me a pamphlet and asked if they could tell me about the services they were offering (for this life, not the next) but I took the pamphlet and made a bogus excuse about going barhopping on a week-night… well, maybe it’s not so bogus for me…

Anyways, after they left I read the pamphlet and it sounded alright until I read the part about $150 cancellation fee as well as the standard monthly fee that isn’t low enough for me to go through the headache of switching ISPs.

From the GreaterFalls.com blog:

Starbucks was PACKED this morning – amazing how many people were there! They’re closing at 6:00 pm this evening, but don’t worry — they’re opening up at 3:00 a.m. tomorrow (Friday). That’s right – THREE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING, so that folks who plan to do some way-early Black Friday shopping can get hopped up on caffeine and be ready to do battle.

http://www.greaterfalls.com/index.php/2009/11/26/starbucks-update/

Here’s the irony:

People go to stores at 4am to save money on the $700 HDTV, but first they go to Starbucks to get a urine cup-sized cup of coffee for $5.

According to the local buzz, the ISP and website development/hosting company, Sofast Communications, has been bought out by the company BridgeMax. The result has been countless Sofast customers being left high and dry while dozens of the clients who have had websites hosted by Sofast have disappeared all together.

Stories of Sofast’s sudden disappearance alters depending on who you ask. While most are complaining of the sudden loss of service, others claim to have been pre-warned of the impending service termination. The warning apparently notified Sofast customers that Sofast Communications would be suspending their services in November and that new ISPs, and websites and email hosts would be needed. However, existance of such a warning is unconfirmed in light of the large public backlash in regards to internet service, emails, and websites having ended unexpectedly.

Several of Sofast’s clients have tried repeatedly to get help from Sofast technical support employees, however their former address is now vacant, the doors of their new location are locked, and all incoming phone calls meet a busy signal. Local news stations have tried to get comments from Sofast, but like the customers, the can’t get in touch with anyone, either.

For anybody who has lost their website because of the Sofast woes I strongly suggest checking out the local website designers and developers Shortgrass Web Development. They do a lot of good work around Great Falls and they have even done some nice work here at CheshireCatStudios.com.

They do NOT provide internet service, however if you have lost your website or your email, definitely contact them to get you back up and running.

www.shortgrass.com

After Sofast pulled the carpet out from under their customers’ feet, I hope this blog helps a few people get back up.

Rammstein – “Liebe Ist Fur de Alle” album review

Devil May Cry – Future – Series wrapup

Miss .45 – Obscure B-Movie Review

More to follow shortly…