there are no good puns for “april”

There’s a small handful of things I’ve wanted to write about since my last post, but none of those thoughts have come together into a coherent standalone ramble just yet. March kinda passed in a blur, but some media highlights:

• Jack Stauber. Holy shit, Jack Stauber!!! Was introduced by a friend and this was the first video I watched, which among other recent uploads made for one hell of an impression. He makes these trippy VHS animations using (and often combining) surreal claymation, live action, MS Paint-looking animation, and some of the most bizarre music I’ve heard in a while. Consider it a “creator chose not to warn” experience. If that sounds up your alley, dive the heck in. Pick a video, any video; there’s no continuity.
  • Also, not everything is chaotic glitchiness! He’s got some full-length songs too, several of which are used in <1-minute videos. Of the calmer songs, “Today Today” is hands down my favorite. But if you want to spend a good few minutes wondering what the fuck you just watched, consider “Lima Bean Man” and (volume warning) “Shattered Molars”. For a dubiously-healthy tonal mix, also check out his series for Adult Swim, Shop!
• On a more mainstream note, the new Mary Poppins was whimsical and I’m sure it satisfied the nostalgic yearnings of people who grew up with the original. Personally I couldn’t unsee/hear the chimney sweep guy as “wow, that’s Lin Manuel-Miranda Hamiltonmusical!”, the 2d sequence just made me sad Disney’s not making fully 2d movies anymore, and I will forever be annoyed on Travers’ (the original Mary Poppins author) behalf courtesy Saving Mr. Banks. But anyway.
• *Also saw Captain Marvel, which did its job as a superhero power fantasy But With A Woman. If I think back on it too long I start poking more and more writing holes in it, but it was fun while it lasted and Carol and her “best friend” were in lesbians fight me on this.
• BUT. FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKING MARVEL courtesy Into the Spiderverse, and yes I jumped on the bandwagon real late with this one but W O W. WISH I’D SEEN THAT IN THEATERS. It really felt like a high-budget passion project from start to finish and I would LOVE to see more movies with experimental cgi animation like this!!

In other news, I’ve finally succumbed to using markdown to write posts. Prior to this I’ve been using HTML in a word doc Because I Can^TM; links were fun to code, as you can imagine. Still, that whole Jekyll/GitHub thing uses markdown for the main content, and while I have no problem reading HTML it is less of a pain in the ass pulling up the guide + the recommended WYSIWYG editor.

Oh, and as for why I’m talking code again, and the main reason I finally logged into Dreamwidth in the first place? Personal! website! is now! a thing!!! \o/ And it only took like five hours of hyperfocus! Granted, I don’t quite know what to use it for, but I’m gonna put that off give it a day or two. If it still looks Acceptable with fresh eyes, I’ll finally get that sucker on Github for easier updating.

…Not coincidentally, I am also facing a minor crisis to the tune of “do I keep my Professional Art Portfolio completely separate from my Internet Shenanigans or say fuck it and unite it all under the banner of a-flyleaf,” so that’s been fun. It is a bridge that needs to be crossed sooner than later. BUT FOR NOW that sure is a thing that finally got coded! There’s a marginally more interesting preview to the left; click for fullsize. Images from Duolingo’s amazing April Fool’s offer and the webcomic Morally Grey.

…I feel like thre was supposed to be some kind of concluding paragraph to this but it got lost in the midst of coding shenanigans. Whoops.

*EDIT 7/30/19: Oh hey, clearing out some old notes and found the post-watch thoughts! Here ya go.( unedited and raw )