Sunday, January 13, 2013

Grand Opening!

Greetings and salutations to one and all of the internet! Welcome to the GRAND OPENING of The N8Dogg Blog!

Introduction

My name is Nathan Barlow and I am an aspiring artist/writer. I've been drawing pretty pictures, and writing numerous stories for over 20 years. I am a proud nerd, an avid fan, and a consumer of geek culture. Beyond that I'm about as average a person you can find.

Why Start a Blog?

Quite simply, I'm looking to be more creatively productive in the years to come and a blog seems like a good place to start. On many occasions I've found myself thinking that I should write down my thoughts about a movie I had just seen, a game I had just played, or a conversation I just had etc. etc. It is my hope to use this blog as a means to share and publish my thoughts on my own personal interests, as well as increase my output as a content provider.

The Rules

These rules are for the most part self-imposed so as to keep my blog posts on topic. If you wish to abide by them then you are more than welcome to. If you don't... its not like I can stop you...

No Hate- I don't like to think of myself as a negative person and I would like to avoid having this blog devolve into a pit of rage. I do believe that there is a clear distinction between hate and having a negative criticism or disappointment in something. I also believe that being calm and constructive is the better approach to an issue. Unless of course anger really is the only way I can convey my thoughts.

No Religion/Politics- I'm going to be pretty stringent on this one. Unless religion or politics have a direct connection with the topic at hand, it has absolutely no place here. Discussions get too heated too quickly when these things get brought in. Enough said.

Keep it Fun- I don't want to come off as being too serious. If what I'm doing just isn't fun for me or you, then I guess I should stop. Also just because I'm adhering to a "no hate" policy doesn't mean that I'm above poking fun at something or making humorous observation.

Keep it Clean- I want people to be able to read this blog from work if they want, and I can't have pornographic material on here in order for that to happen. That doesn't mean things of a risque nature are completely off limits, because fanservice can be fun. Just nothing explicit.

I am not a Journalist- As much as I may try to maintain a fair and objective perspective on things, like most people out there, I am still subject to bias. There may come a time when I may not address a topic simply because it is not to my interest. I may do an interview with someone simply because I am a fan of their work, or maybe they are even a friend. I make no allusions about myself. I am not here to be an impartial reporter, I'm here to be me. I will make it a point though to have integrity.

The Categories

"Variety is the spice of life" they say... The blog will be divided into different categories dedicated to specific subjects on old and new material. This is to help keep things organized and easy to find, plus I've simply got a lot to talk about. They will feature reviews, news, commentaries, or just stories of my own personal exploits etc. It all depends on what I feel like I should post. I will try to keep the categories rotated so as to prevent myself from discussing one subject too much, but some I will lean more towards. 


  • A Night at the Movies: Live-action film
  • TV Land Dinners: Live-action TV
  • Animation Nation: Anime/Cartoons
  • Jumping Off the Page: Comic book/Webcomic/Manga 
  • Novel Approach: Literature
  • Roll of the Dice: Tabletop RPG's/Card games/Board games
  • Game Save: Videogames
  • Ear Worms: Music/Music Videos
  • Statuesque: Figurines/Toys/Collectibles
  • Geek Speak: Misc. Conversations/Interviews with fellow nerd alumni.
  • Ink Stains: I share my art and fiction with the world.
  • The Con Report: My memoirs from conventions I have attended.


The Grade Scale

I will be doing a lot of reviews on this blog, and with reviews inevitably comes a grade scale. As common as the star, letter, thumbs, and number systems are, I don't feel that they truly articulate my sentiments. I'm instead opting for a rating/factor system that will hopefully better convey my feelings. Pulled straight from the Urban Dictionary (and color coded for your convenience) I hope this will provide a short hand version of my reviews for those who don't want to read the whole thing.

!!!TERRIBAD!!!- My worst of the worst, and lowest of low. Hopefully I won't have to hand out too many of these. As much as I would like to believe that creators out there don't strive to make garbage, I still end up with some from time to time. When I feel there just isn't enough or simply no redeeming factors to a product this is the rating you'll see. Sometimes though one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Craptacular!- I would never use the word good to describe it. Something that by all means should be Terribad to me, but yet somehow isn't. That entertaining guilty pleasure through and through. Maybe the product has some degree of charm, or character that just cannot be ignored. Maybe it is somehow so bad that it manages to break out of the "Bad Things Continuum" and enter the "Good Things Continuum." Whatever the factors, it isn't Terribad. It is a dubious honor, but an honor all the same.

Mediocremarkable- The patron saint of all mediocrities.  I don't regret the investment, but some factors hold it back. Perhaps it isn't very memorable, or just doesn't have any noteworthy attributes. While I can't think any lower of it, I also can't bring myself to think any higher of it. Not quite Craptacular, but far from Splenderiffic.

Splenderiffic!-  Generally I like it when the positives far outweigh the negatives. Sure there are problems, but it wouldn't stop me from giving strong recommendation or putting money in for a purchase. These are the conversation starters, the rising legends, and examples of the great things in the world of geeks.

!!!AWESOMESAUCE!!!- My best of the best, and highest of praises. A spectacular spectacular, where no words in my vernacular can describe this great event. I am dumb with wonderment. This is the one that in a perfect world I would love to hand out the most. Reserved for those things that I know I could talk about at length for hours on end, or simply give me a nerdgasm every time they come up. Ultimately whatever criticisms I have they are rendered negligible to the sheer awesomeness that is before me.

(Factors will exist on a positive and negative scale that will fluctuate depending upon application. For example, sex appeal in one product may be considered a positive, but in a different product sex appeal may seem to hamper it and thus becomes a negative. How the factors stack up will determine if something could end up in one of these five ratings.)

In Closing

So there you have it folks! The ground-work for what will hopefully be a fun and prosperous en-devour for us all! Sorry for the sense of formality that this post took, but I felt it necessary to set up what this blog is going to be. I look forward to your thoughts and comments in the future, so til then...

PEACE OUT!

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