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floatingleafIt seems my profound joy about having been able to download an entire 31-volume comic series for free was a bit untimely. Some of the PDF files are corrupted and will not open. Including the one with the latest volume, which I had obviously never seen. And, predictably enough, the one before it ends on a nasty cliffhanger (predictably in terms of my famous luck, not the comic series itself - since, for the most part, each volume tends to have its particular plotline wrapped up nicely by the final page). *gnashes teeth* I swear I was so pissed about that last night I felt almost ready to scream. I mean, I'd just finished reading volume 30 the previous night, and I was sooo looking forward to getting home from work and opening that last volume. *sigh* I should have checked if all the files worked before I even started reading any of them - but it never occured to me to do this, since the few I randomly opened were fine. And the worst thing about it is that I can't ever order that volume in print, because it doesn't seem to be available anywhere. I almost wish I hadn't known it existed... lol. It wouldn't be quite as bad if I believed it simply hadn't been released yet. But I know it's somewhere out there - just not accessible to me for some twisted reason. *gnashes teeth again* I went Google-hunting, and found a link to another download site - this one is not for free, but there was an option of gaining 3-day access for about two bucks. So I signed up for that, and am currently downloading something that looks like it might be the latest volume (there were no titles on the files, I am just assuming they were in chronological order, lol). But it's probably in Dutch. Not a good idea, since I still won't know what the hell is going on... but I couldn't resist downloading anyway. How pathetic is that?... *sigh*
It's almost worse than reading a WIP fanfic which suddenly breaks off on a cliffie - because then at least you know that whenever the next part is posted, you will not miss it. It's more like the author flocking their journal before you finish reading the story, and then refusing to let you in... lol. Not that anything like this ever happened to me (not yet, anyway). I'm just thinking that's what it would feel like. I know it's utterly ridiculous to get upset over something like this, but there you go. I have no life outside of fiction, remember?...;)
In other news, this website research project we're doing at work is really widening my horizons, I tell you. It's taking me places I never wanted to go... lol. And I don't even mean the abundance of inventively icky/in-your-face porn sites either (fyi, crude porn does not offend my morals, but it often does offend my sense of the aesthetic, which can be almost worse ;P). I mean the abundance of religiously wacky, mindlessly indoctrinating sites, for example. Like, say, Focus on the Family. You know, the famous Christian right-wing organization that so passionately opposes basic human rights for LGBT people, among other things. Their website happened to be on my list, so I flipped through it out of pure curiosity - and one of the things that caught my attention was a letter from a woman seeking advice on a family-related issue. So what had upset this lady so much that she felt the need to share it with the entire religious community?... Well, she was seriously angsting over the future of their marriage, because she had caught her husband looking at internet porn. *blink*
Every sexually and/or mentally healthy male (and many females, I might add) looks at internet porn (unless he happens to be one of the 'old school' guys who still have no internet, lol... but then he looks at TV porn, or magazine porn, or whatever else is available). It doesn't necessarily mean that he no longer loves his wife, or that he has sold his soul to the devil. How repressed do they think people can get before it leads to insanity and/or violence?... But then, apparently insanity or violence aren't quite as bad and sinful as having sexual urges of any kind (outside of the marriage bed, obviously). It's better to just push them into the subconscious until they find some unexpected, explosive outlet - in which case you can simply claim that you had been possessed by the devil, and weren't responsible for your actions. Sweet, innit?... A pointless rant, I suppose, but this is one of the things in this world that I just DON'T GET. Denying basic human instincts, pretending that we're something we are not. If sex is wrong outside of marriage, then gay people are evil, because they mostly have sex outside of marriage. But if they DO want to marry, somehow that's even more evil. They should become ascetic saints - then maybe God can forgive them. Unless they happen to look at internet porn, that is. *massive, resounding headdesk*
But speaking of marriage - here is an interesting article from my favorite news site, AlterNet (also found thanks to the research project). About a straight couple who don't believe in marriage, but decided to get married anyway, because they felt that their commitment to each other wasn't being treated seriously enough by society (friends, family, prospective employers etc.).
http://www.alternet.org/sex/141446/i_don%27t_believe_in_marriage_--_here%27s_why_i_%28grudgingly%29_got_married_anyway/
And another interesting article, this one on American capitalism and how illusion-based and damaging it is. Nothing new, perhaps, but it struck a chord with me, because it gave me a better understanding of what seems so disconcerting to me about American culture in general. Or the popular, consumer version of it, anyway. Down to the fake smiles that people seem to be flashing at random strangers for no reason. And the predominant, profesionally-enforced 'can do' attitude that often doesn't seem to have any basis in reality at all. I think I'm perhaps beginning to see where this is all coming from, and where it can eventually lead - and it's not a pretty vision at all.
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/141656/naomi_klein%3A_let%27s_put_an_end_to_sarah_palin-style_capitalism/
But, thank God (the REAL God, if there is one - not the stern, white-bearded biblical guy who loves the rich and hates fags, thank you very much), there are still people here who actually have brains and OMG USE THEM, and see what's going on. So maybe there's hope.
And now I MUST go eat something and read some more FICTION (because yes, I do need my happy bubble, no matter how socially conscious I may have unwittingly become - or perhaps BECAUSE of it, since the bubble saves my sanity from dropping off the deep end, it seems).
ETA: The file I downloaded was indeed the latest volume of "Thorgal" in Dutch... but my laptop wouldn't open it anyway. There are other zipped files of the comic available from the site I'm currently on, but they all seem to take forever to download, and I don't even know if any of them contain the volumes I'm looking for (either the latest one, or the few old ones that I can't access). So I might have to just give up, and get used to the idea that I'm not gonna find out what happens after that evil cliffhanger anytime soon... *frustrated sigh*
It's almost worse than reading a WIP fanfic which suddenly breaks off on a cliffie - because then at least you know that whenever the next part is posted, you will not miss it. It's more like the author flocking their journal before you finish reading the story, and then refusing to let you in... lol. Not that anything like this ever happened to me (not yet, anyway). I'm just thinking that's what it would feel like. I know it's utterly ridiculous to get upset over something like this, but there you go. I have no life outside of fiction, remember?...;)
In other news, this website research project we're doing at work is really widening my horizons, I tell you. It's taking me places I never wanted to go... lol. And I don't even mean the abundance of inventively icky/in-your-face porn sites either (fyi, crude porn does not offend my morals, but it often does offend my sense of the aesthetic, which can be almost worse ;P). I mean the abundance of religiously wacky, mindlessly indoctrinating sites, for example. Like, say, Focus on the Family. You know, the famous Christian right-wing organization that so passionately opposes basic human rights for LGBT people, among other things. Their website happened to be on my list, so I flipped through it out of pure curiosity - and one of the things that caught my attention was a letter from a woman seeking advice on a family-related issue. So what had upset this lady so much that she felt the need to share it with the entire religious community?... Well, she was seriously angsting over the future of their marriage, because she had caught her husband looking at internet porn. *blink*
Every sexually and/or mentally healthy male (and many females, I might add) looks at internet porn (unless he happens to be one of the 'old school' guys who still have no internet, lol... but then he looks at TV porn, or magazine porn, or whatever else is available). It doesn't necessarily mean that he no longer loves his wife, or that he has sold his soul to the devil. How repressed do they think people can get before it leads to insanity and/or violence?... But then, apparently insanity or violence aren't quite as bad and sinful as having sexual urges of any kind (outside of the marriage bed, obviously). It's better to just push them into the subconscious until they find some unexpected, explosive outlet - in which case you can simply claim that you had been possessed by the devil, and weren't responsible for your actions. Sweet, innit?... A pointless rant, I suppose, but this is one of the things in this world that I just DON'T GET. Denying basic human instincts, pretending that we're something we are not. If sex is wrong outside of marriage, then gay people are evil, because they mostly have sex outside of marriage. But if they DO want to marry, somehow that's even more evil. They should become ascetic saints - then maybe God can forgive them. Unless they happen to look at internet porn, that is. *massive, resounding headdesk*
But speaking of marriage - here is an interesting article from my favorite news site, AlterNet (also found thanks to the research project). About a straight couple who don't believe in marriage, but decided to get married anyway, because they felt that their commitment to each other wasn't being treated seriously enough by society (friends, family, prospective employers etc.).
http://www.alternet.org/sex/141446/i_don%27t_believe_in_marriage_--_here%27s_why_i_%28grudgingly%29_got_married_anyway/
And another interesting article, this one on American capitalism and how illusion-based and damaging it is. Nothing new, perhaps, but it struck a chord with me, because it gave me a better understanding of what seems so disconcerting to me about American culture in general. Or the popular, consumer version of it, anyway. Down to the fake smiles that people seem to be flashing at random strangers for no reason. And the predominant, profesionally-enforced 'can do' attitude that often doesn't seem to have any basis in reality at all. I think I'm perhaps beginning to see where this is all coming from, and where it can eventually lead - and it's not a pretty vision at all.
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/141656/naomi_klein%3A_let%27s_put_an_end_to_sarah_palin-style_capitalism/
But, thank God (the REAL God, if there is one - not the stern, white-bearded biblical guy who loves the rich and hates fags, thank you very much), there are still people here who actually have brains and OMG USE THEM, and see what's going on. So maybe there's hope.
And now I MUST go eat something and read some more FICTION (because yes, I do need my happy bubble, no matter how socially conscious I may have unwittingly become - or perhaps BECAUSE of it, since the bubble saves my sanity from dropping off the deep end, it seems).
ETA: The file I downloaded was indeed the latest volume of "Thorgal" in Dutch... but my laptop wouldn't open it anyway. There are other zipped files of the comic available from the site I'm currently on, but they all seem to take forever to download, and I don't even know if any of them contain the volumes I'm looking for (either the latest one, or the few old ones that I can't access). So I might have to just give up, and get used to the idea that I'm not gonna find out what happens after that evil cliffhanger anytime soon... *frustrated sigh*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-06 11:52 am (UTC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-20 09:12 pm (UTC)Anyway... insane work hours don't sound good to me, but if you're enjoying it, by all means go ahead and make a fortune.;)
And yes, I've heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. If the religious right keeps going off the deep end the way they are now, I just might blow a fuse and become a Pastafarian.:P
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-25 12:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-26 01:55 am (UTC)