(no subject)

Right now I'm watching The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China on the Discovery Channel.

It's pretty cool, though the main reinactor isn't that great. Cool costumes. It's about the first emperor to unite China, who happens to also (I didn't know this) be the guy responsible for the army of terra cotta stone soldiers discovered a few years ago and still being excavated. I saw some of the pieces in a huge Ancient China exhibit in the San Francisco art museum about 4 years ago; it was extraordinary.

EDIT: This guy also began the Great Wall? Holy moly. He was a busy tyrant, wasn't he?

EDIT: Died of mercury poisoning. Rather embarrassing way to go, in the end.

(no subject)

This Naruto/Avatar:TheLastAirbender crossover fan-comic amuses me greatly. Because Aang and Naruto would so get along, it's true. And the Zuko/Sasuke comparison is amusing too, even though it's only marginally accurate, because although they've both had crappy childhoods, Zuko's actually a pretty decent kid under all his angst and he hasn't really done anything that bad, and has done a few very good things, whereas Sasuke's done one good thing and is otherwise a complete and total shithead who isn't worth even a drop of the loyalty that Sakura and Naruto give him. If the two characters were to ever meet, Zuko would probably despise Sasuke for being a miniature Zhao.

The fan-comic, though, is awfully cute.