Before we begin, I have a couple of little announcements to make. Thus far, I have tried to get every letter I've been sent included in a Dear Lucy. But recently, I've noticed a few little things that could probably improve the feature overall. Unfortunately, this means declining to answer some emails, according to a couple of little rules. And so I am posting those rules here and now. If I don't answer your email, it's for one of these reasons. Ready? Here we go: Rule #1: Since the object is to get as diverse a group of topics as possible discussed, I'll no longer do "conversation" style threads of emails, of the sort that might appear in a forum. What defines a conversation? It's a judgment call on my part, but as a general rule of thumb, I won't answer emails that are replying to the answer I gave to an email that replied to a previous answer. To put it simply, no topic will be discussed for more than two updates. The progression goes like this... Email #1 -> My reply to email #1 -> Email #2, replying to my reply -> My reply to email #2 -> No more. Rule #2: While in the past I have replied to all email in the order in which I received it, from now on, priority will be given to senders who have not had an email posted before. It might not always be easy for me to remember who's been posted previously, so I may slip up now and then with this rule, but I do know there are some people who send me an email practically every week. I'm not saying I won't answer email from people who have sent one before, I'm just saying that they get moved to the end of the line. I hope you understand. I think it's only fair to give more people the chance to be posted. Rule #3: Not really a rule, but a request. I noticed this week that five of the ten emails I'm answering are about music. While I do enjoy discussing music, for the sake of diversity mentioned above, could you try to lean a little bit more away from musical questions? It's not that I really mind, but I feel it'd be hypocritical of me to promote diversity by editing out emails while using the extra room for yet another email asking if I think Evanescence are good. And now, down to business! Dear Lucy, I've always wondered - which human races match up to which animal species in terms of anthropomorphic characters? I was always curious how artists decide who is what, so to speak. Thanks, May. I think it varies from artist to artist. Some probably don't even think about it, and just create the anthro characters based on what animal would be cool, not what human race it's representing. One artist I know of applies animal to race roughly geographically, based on the origin of the race. But it's a matter of taste. As far as BDK goes, there isn't much correlation between species and race. Do you know if we're ever going to see or hear anythign more about Fisk again, now that he's moved away? ~Drake I doubt it. Much as I dislike having my ties to my brother cut off, circumstances beyond my control have contributed, and so it's likely I won't be seeing him again any time soon. He's like a Splinter Cell or a Man In Black, and so I just have to go about my life as if he doesn't exist. hey Lucy, if you live in new Talia, then where's old Talia? Britain, I assume. Most of the "New" places are based on British places: New York, New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, Nova Scotia (New Scotland)... Just not New Mexico. Or Newfoundland. Dear Lucy , I just wanted to show you MY kitty. His names Bastian and hes just my sweety. I think he has a crush on Lola though. Anyways another question for you . When it comes to you and Fisk. If you ever did find that right cat to settle down with would you keep on 'seeing' Fisk? Cattibrie I actually stopped "seeing" Fisk awhile ago, so I don't think things would change. And even if I was still "seeing" him, I wouldn't cheat on my boy- or girlfriend if I was in a serious, monogamous relationship, whether with Fisk or Zig Zag or anyone else. And your kitty is certainly... Poké-riffic. Lucy! Odd question I got here for ya, but it must be asked. Well not MUST but ..it's...well...anyway. Litter boxes or toilets? I also notice that your apartment is getting a background. Bravo! -M Desert Hot Springs, CA ( AKA: Meth lab U.S.A.) (DHS has also been an Americas Most Wanted...)(...And people find it strange that I have bars on my windows.) That's actually a fairly decent question, in its way. The answer is toilets. Dear Lucy I've been meaning to ask you this; You seem to know a little something about computer games,.giving advice to Lydia, so I'd like to know what your thoughts are on computer/video game music. Something you like? Maybe even something in particular? Personally I'm a big fan of Terry Scott Taylor, and his crazy drunken blues sountrack for The NeverHoOd i an all-time favourite of mine. I also enjoy many of Koji Kondo's (Legend of Zelda) and Nobuo Uematsu's (Final Fantasy) works, along with the music from such games as StarCraft, The Elder Scrolls series, and practically everything made by Rare. Looking forward to hearing form you. Your personal rumblepak; Peter Meldgaard, Denmark I actually know next to nothing about computer and video games. I know about Counter-Strike, and I've heard of EverQuest and StarCraft, but that's it. Lydia is the gamer in this household. So... No, I don't actually know anything about video game music. I have traditionally had plenty of actual, commercial music to keep me more than occupied. And... personal rumplepak? Am I being stalked? Hey Lucy, I just wanna know your opinion abotu these groups: "Korn" and "Evanescence" You like them?, you hate them? and if you like them, wich is your favorite song of each one?. Greetings from Mexico City Furry Jedath. Korn are okay, though they have tended to get a bit monotonous recently. I think they peaked around Follow The Leader and/or Issues. You can only write songs about woeful childhood angst so many times. They have remained fairly solid as far as actual music goes, though. As for my favorite song, I like "Freak On A Leash" and "Let's Get This Party Started." As for Evanescence, I've said it before and I'll say it again: They are the best new band I've heard in years. My only concern is that I'm afraid of their second album. It feels like they could all too easily go the way of Linkin Park, resting on their laurels and releasing basically the same album again without showing any signs of growth. But we shall see. I hope my suspicions are baseless. My favorite song of theirs is, predictably enough, "Bring Me To Life." Dear Lucy, How can you miss out the band Muse from your rock lesson? If you still don't think they are worth a mention, listen to one of their song called Plug It In Baby (how appropriate). Keep on smuttin'! Jason I mentioned Muse last time here on Dear Lucy. I like them, but I don't think they're that important. They aren't popular and bad enough to be offensive (like Nelly or Kelly Clarkson), and they aren't good enough to be a revolutionary step forward in the history of rock (like Radiohead or Beck). They're just... there, and I don't think listening to them is a matter of life or death, either as a demonstration of what to do, or of what not to do. Do you listen to any electronic music or DJ`s, like Underworld, Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim, Crystal Method, Aphex Twin, Chemical Brothers, DJ Shadow, Paul Oakenfold, Prodigy, and such? My tastes change all the time, and right now I`m into stuff like Jungle, Trance, Ambient, Experimental, instrumental hip-hop, and House. I was just curious because some of my friends work in music stores and they`re like, totally harcore into this kind of stuff. They tell me that less people are buying guitars and drum sets and instead picking up synthesizers, music software, and turntables. Undine I have listened to my share of that, mostly in my previous job at Sonica. I like it, but I don't go out of my way to listen to it. I actually really like when it's incorporated into rock, like Garbage or (recent) REM tend to do. But if more people want to create that kind of music alone, then more power to them. I think everyone should create music they want to create, and make it as good as possible. As far as commerical success goes, though, I don't think most of those aspiring electronic artists are ever going to amount to anything. The mainstream market just isn't there. Pop and rap and R&B are taking over, indeed have taken over, with rock holding on barely to the edge, and country maintaining the same sort of "I don't really care about music at all" market it's always had. Acts like the ones you mention are very, very lucky exceptions, and you will often find them played on rock radio stations and TV shows anyway, lumped in as a fringe spinoff of rock, not generally given recognition as their own genre. Hey Lucy! ....I just wanted to say that your song selection for Rock Lesson is awesome.... is it safe to assume that you like Kelly Clarkson? Oh, and do you know if you will be keeping the same name for your band, now that the lead singer is replaced? Thanks. Cody, Ontario On the contrary, I think American Idol and its spawn are possibly the worst things ever to happen to music. They're taking fledgling musicians who specialize in an inherently terrible genre of music, destroying the dreams of 99.99% of them, getting washed-up divas and utter assholes to decide which one is the least offensive (done in a way to insure ratings over actual musical quality), and handing that one a record deal so he and she can spew perfectly generic pop into the world via an album that wouldn't sell half as well if it hadn't been advertized on TV for months beforehand. Given how expensive CDs are nowadays, the amount of money being thrown away on Clarkson and her ilk when it could have been spent on the White Stripes or Super Furry Animals or Wilco or any number of superior acts is just disgusting. So... As for the band, we're definitely going to get a new name. We haven't decided on one yet, though. We're sorta considering calling ourselves the Rhythm Method at this point, but who knows?