Well, would you consider living in continual fear that if you stray from some unknowable secret path decided on by a vengeful yet unnamed god, you will die a good thing?

That actually brings me to one of the nits that I have with death note. Since I am only halfway through the cartoon, I don't know if this is eventually fixed but even so:

Light wants to be worshiped as a god. Yet unless he reveals himself to the world and tells everyone what to do to avoid his wrath, then the most that can come from using the death note is to setup a situation where people are worshiping Kira. What Kira really wants, is any body's guess since nobody really knows what the deal is.

Also, I found L to be more evil than Light. Really, Light had Ryuk messing with his head. If you want to say that Ryuk is evil then the idea is that that evil is slowly infecting Light. If Ryuk is not evil, then what?

However, remember when L first comes into the story. He picked that convict that was going to be killed later on as a fall guy to test a theory that there might be some connection between Kira and the first unexplained death (the street punk outside the store who was messing with Light's friend). If the theory had been wrong, then what? And what is L's excuse for that type of behavior. He certainly did not have a real death god messing with his head. He was fucked up entirely on his own merit.

What about Light's father? He allowed his house to be bugged because L felt a vague unease about some facts that did not add up. Then, later on, the father allowed both of them to spend a few months in solitary confinement, again based on no evidence what so ever.

Bored. Ryuk was bored. He had no malicious intent. He was apathetic towards humans. They were basically a food source for his kind (in that they killed them to extend their own lives). He didn't care what they did to each other so long as they kept him entertained. And Ryuk never messed with Light's head. Aside from providing the Death Note, Ryuk played a very small part in any of Light's plans. Light's actions were his and his alone. Ryuk only provided him the opportunity to fulfill that potential.

And so was Light. In fact, I would argue that the two men were reflections of each other. If L had been the one to find the Death Note, he may well have been Kira with Light (if he'd been given the opportunity) hunting him. I saw them as basically the same character, the only thing seperating them was their situation.

Not as such.  Plus, I'm leaving soon for a vaca.  I'd like for those here to do a get together, so we'll see how it works out in time.

The Cosmic Moose is Supreme! The Panda is a chump!

(high five for entering record-breaking epic derail territory)

Did you just pull the wus card? A moose is a gigantic, woodsy, rough-and-rugged tower supported by rock-hard hooves and topped by pointy, hard cartilage. It would impale you without a second thought.

Pandas are cranky balls of fluff that are too weak to move very fast because their food source (bamboo) has no nutritional value. I could probably put a tu-tu on a panda without injury. Try that shit on a moose.

Moose 1, Panda 0

Suck on that, panda-lover.

I can't even believe a Canadian is opting for panda over moose. It's practically treason.

So let's see here, Pandas eat leaves and shoots.  Moose eat leaves and twigs.

Cats eat herbiviorous animals.

Um, yah...

Pandamnit! The Cat is supposed to be kept quiet to those who haven't paid their joining fee of $10,000. Are you trying to bankrupt us?! Fucking hell.