Milk & Cookies

:(

2008-06-14T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today I fell victim to a severely miscalculated biking incident.

My poor phone! Man, they really aren't joking when they say Razrs are fragile. Some slight bending and twisting due to impact, and it's as if the entire top half of the phone has shattered. The outside screen is obviously a mess, and the inside screen has some cracking and image problems. It's still usable and the phone still actually works, so that's a point for the Motorola company, I guess.

I'm a bit sad. I really liked that phone. Ah well. It served me for at least a year and a half now. I got it right as the Razr 2 was showing up, so it's well past it's technological expiration date. My next phone will probably have GPS and lasers and mechanical arms.

THE GARDEN CHRONICLES et cetera

2008-05-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

(I need to blog more often so I can stop cramming 3+ topics into every entry.)

It's official - I'll be in California over the July 4th weekend. Anime Expo is part of my plans, but I'm also looking to make this a varied and fun-filled vacation. Full of Intrigue and Danger and Adventure! I'm flying in with Jill Wednesday night and we'll be there till Sunday afternoon. Dis should be pretty fun.

I was on Amazon.com at 2am the other night. Around the same time I was admiring the convenience of their "one click shopping" button, I decided that I should probably avoid online stores after midnight. Luckily, I still felt good about my purchase the next morning. I ordered a rather unique looking cookbook I ran into at work, The Veganomicon, which will hopefully increase my healthy vegetable intake. I also ordered the first 13 episodes of the Funimation release of One Piece (acquaintances need not fear - as nearly all previous One Piece parties I have thrown have ended in disaster, I will refrain this time). They shipped separately, one from Nevada and one from Colorado. I'm tempted to say "let's have a race and see which one gets here first," but I'm not sure it's possible to count as a "race" when you choose free economy shipping. ETA June 4th. :p

Perhaps it's the spring air, but I've made several recent attempts to delve into the Amazing World of Plants. I started my garden last summer with two plants that grew well enough that I began to have grand illusions of my miraculous green thumb. It's now four failed starter-plants and one singed houseplant later, but I haven't given up! (Well, I have given up on starter plants.) I visited a nursery last weekend, and after assembling my current plants, leftover seeds, various pots, and dirt, I have myself a couple of nice little garden area.

My indoor area isn't very exciting at the moment - I have a recovering burn victim, a dying chives starter kit, and two recently seeded pots that will hopefully sprout soon.

The story behind my burned plant is kinda funny, but mostly sad. First off, here's what the thing looked like sometime last summer.

The picture's dark so the deep green is slightly deceptive, but it was a very healthy plant. I could tell it as going to need to be re-potted at some point. This spring during a really sunny day I put it outside for several hours. Only later when trying to deduce what sort of root-rot or evil foreign insect had destroyed it did I read "Indoor plants love the summer sun, but make sure to introduce them gradually or you may burn and severely damage your plant." Woo. A week later I re-potted it, which added transfer-shock to it's list of issues.

Abort, abort! Mayday! We're going down!

A lot of the leaves turned that sickly brown/yellow and either fell off or were pulled off out of pity. I don't have a picture of it at it's worst, but it was pretty limp and bare. There's actually a significant amount of new leaf growth going on currently, and it's starting to look fairly green and healthy again. I'm actually surprised it's still alive. Obviously, I'm keeping it indoors for the time being.

My outside area is awesome. The balcony faces east and gets a ton of early morning sun. My hanging plant had all but overtaken my bookshelf, and it seems to enjoy the bright sunshine, so moving it was a win-win. The empty pot on the top should eventually sprout sunflowers. On the left we see my new strawberry plant that I'm super excited about. I did a lot of strawberry research before purchasing. This type is Quinault, an everbearing variety which means it should produce strawberries in chunks throughout the summer and fall. The first year doesn't usually have a significant harvest, but one of the green strawberries has already grown a lot and is turning red. I'm pretty excited!

Strawberry test #1! Will birds land on our balcony and eat it?

Wasn't this entry exciting?! Expect more experts from the dramatic and amazing world of my garden soon!

Without Furthur Ado...

2008-05-16T20:19:00.001-07:00

Why Speed Racer is Getting Terrible Reviews and Why You Should Go See it Anyway.

Speed Racer cost $120 million to make and made around $20 million it's first weekend in theaters. Now I'm no mathematician, but those aren't very good numbers, comparably. Critics are doing their critic thing and being pretty critical of the movie, so if you were mildly interested but haven't seen the movie yet, you may be thinking "gee, maybe I'll skip out on this one after all." But I am here to say no! You should go see Speed Racer.

Granted, you all know that I like strange things for strange reasons, and that I believe that a bad film can easily also be an enjoyable film *cough*SuperMarioBrothers*cough*. But Speed Racer is not a bad film. It's not exactly a likely runner for Best Picture either, but trust me - this film is worth seeing. Well, probably.

Overall, Speed Racer is a lot like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: it uses experimental images and editing styles, is an homage to an older style of storytelling, is utterly enjoyable to the right crowd and likely to confuse the pants off nearly everyone else. Granted, Sky Captain had a much higher Rotten Tomatoes score (Sky Captain: 73%, Speed Racer: 34%), due to a large number of factors. I completely understand where nearly every critical remark for Speed Racer comes from, but while some are legit, others deserve an adequate defense.

They turned this into a melodrama? Oh noes!

If you've even seen snippets of the old show or heard the jokes about it, you'll understand that when the critics dismiss Speed Racer as "melodramatic," they're missing the point. Is it? Of course it is! It's Speed Racer! Non-melodrama would be out of place here. The important part to consider is what was done with the high-energy, eclectic, melodramatic source material. In short, a lot of amazing things.

Starting with the characters, their transition into live action was handled very well. You may recall the Scooby Doo movie, who's biggest saving grace was how well Shaggy and co were translated on screen. Speed, Pops, Trixie, and the rest have been made even more "believable" with the aid of well written dialogue and story that make perfect sense within the world. When Speed shows up and talks about racing, you really feel and understand his passion for racing. The actors did a great with it. The plot itself is well written, and while everything is a bit over-the-top, it meshes and is a great deal of fun.

The original crew

Similar to the Superman movie released last year, this film was obviously worked on by people who have seen, understand, and love the source material. There are all sorts of inserted details, references, and scene setups that were straight out of the show. The film does tend to put these references everywhere (which is pretty appropriate consider it's a re-make), but while someone with no history of the show would easily still understand what's going on, the ridiculous actions taken could be a little disorienting to uninitiated viewers (at one point, a driver actually catapults a beehive into the car of an enemy racer). There's probably also some added level of entertainment when you DO get the references or are familiar with the show's style. This means the entertainment value of the movie is increased for a specific crowd who knows and understands the old series. A crowd consisting of those interested in animation history (including me), anime fans with an interest in anime's history (an all too rare breed), and any persons older than 70 who watched the show in the 1960's.

While the above group is likely to be very pleased with the movie, those aren't exactly summer blockbuster numbers. So who exactly is this movie targeted at? Children? I'd say yes, but the reviews are correct that the film has a hard time focusing on one demographic - the film fluctuates between silly juvenile scenes, intense action scenes, and adult drama centered around fixing races and stock trading. Again, this is fairly appropriate for the subject matter, as the original series contained nearly as bizzare a mix. These days we seem to like our entertainment a bit more focused and defined, so it's easy to understand this complaint. Personally, as an adult I am not above laughing at a bizzare candy freak-out moment with Spritle and Chim-chim, but if that turns you off then so be it.

"Innocent Bystanders"

Length is another complaint, but one that boils down to enjoyability. If you have nowhere to be and are having a blast (as I was), you won't notice. If you're on a schedule or just aren't that into it, I can understand the complaint. At two hours it really is a long movie, and there are a few things that could have been tightened up or cut completely. Overall I thought the pacing was fine and the plot moved along at an enjoyable enough rate (though I have been disagreed with on this).

If you haven't seen this film and want a sum-up of the many words used above, here is the shortlist of things that made Speed Racer highly enjoyable. Any of these things appeal to you:

It's Speed Racer - if you have seen the show - whether you loved it or hated it - there's a lot here to laugh at and enjoy. If you haven't, you'll probably still get most of it if you have ever watched a Saturday morning cartoon.
High-Powered Action Scenes - Do you play Mario Kart? Replace blue shells with buzz saws, bombs, and giant flails. Add a lot of speed, spinning, and more "blue sparks" than you thought possible. There's more sliding here than in in Tokyo freaking Drift. The non-car action scenes (yes, there are a few) are just as fast-paced and fun to watch, and you can actually follow them (no annoying super quick cuts or shaky camera effects here). The over-the-top style made these scenes even more entertaining.
Visuals - Everything is very bright and beautiful. Costuming, lighting, camera angles and everything are done very well. The cg scenes are integrated well enough that you rarely think about them during the movie. This film is a feast for the eyes if nothing else.
Super Fun-ness - You like fun don't you? You're not a drudgy fun-sucker are you? Are you!?

Let's not mince words - as a big fan of the show (and of this sort of really bizzare entertainment in general), my review is biased. But I honestly think that within the context of the source material, this is a very well made and enjoyable movie. While there are obviously things to criticize, don't listen too hard to the critics, and don't go into the theatre looking for the flaws that are obvious when pointed out. This is a fun movie. Go sit and have fun.

Although it seems like the film may have done better if it was less like the original show, I seriously doubt that to be the case. The alternative to this faithful movie is a Speed Racer "re-imagining," where Speed solves crimes with his trusty Mach 5, or maybe Pops is the oppressive controlling figure who "just doesn't understand" his emo, illegal drag-racing son. Please try to come up with a re-imagining plot that would be good. Go on. Give it a try. In short, this movie was pretty much doomed from the start. At least this way a select few of us got to really enjoy the nuances of a faithful transition.

Overall I don't feel too bad for the film - it's still going to turn a profit in America. It also seems like the type of thing that will be a ridiculous hit in Japan. I'm likely to own the DVD one day, and may break down and buy merch next time I'm at Walmart. So while it's disappointing that so many critics and audiences are lukewarm on this, I was extremely pleased with it, and that's really all that matters. Go Speed Racer, Go!

Wooooo!

It's Hard to Want to Stay Away

2008-05-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today was the release date for Death Cab for Cutie's latest album, Narrow Stairs. I haven't had time to fully digest the songs yet, but on on first listen the album is good. Really good.

Advance reviews have played up the album as dark and moody, but it's not anything devastatingly emo. Ben Gibbard's lyrics have never been in the realm of bubbly optimism - they're probably best described as a hopeful realism. This album does have deeper, moodier sounds and lyrics, and it's quite a bit different than past Death Cab albums, but fear not - it has the same thoughtful lyrics and smooth and deliberate musical vibe.

The Narrow Stairs single is "I Will Possess Your Heart." If you haven't heard it yet, here's the radio edit version at four and a half minutes (the official song and video are eight and a half minutes long).

I listened to Plans earlier today, and a year after first hearing it I still can't get enough of most of the songs. We'll see over the next few weeks how Narrow Stairs compares in replayability.

I have to admit, as much as I love Death Cab for Cutie, I'm just slightly more in love with the Ben Gibbard/Dntel joint musical project, The Postal Service. Recent interviews make a follow-up to Give Up look highly unlikely, but at least Death Cab is going strong for my Ben Gibbard fix. I really should look up Dntel music to add more techno-vibe to my library.

2008-05-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

Oh hey. I graduated last week. By the way.

Has it sunk in yet? No. Although high-stress study alert has died down, I still feel perpetually busy or like I should be busy. I've yet to really, truly relax or contemplate the fact that I don't have to register, buy books, attend lectures, or do homework next fall.

A positive side effect of my "getting things done" mood is that even I'm surprised by the amount of things I've accomplished this week. I paid the gas bill, went to the bank, assessed my student loans, went shopping, bought a swimsuit, bought new summer shoes, etc etc. My room's still a mess, but spring cleaning will likely be my next big project. Maybe ceremoniously recycling old school notebooks will help me feel a bit more graduated.

And in case you were wondering, my new swimsuit is awesome, and my shoes are super cute. I was going to post pictures of them as well as proof of my graduation, but my camera is having connection issues with my computer. They seem to be mad at each other for some reason, but hopefully they'll get over it soon because it's really awkward since I'm friends with them both.

Telephone Game

2008-04-15T23:46:00.001-07:00

I found my phone! Through a set of very bizzare circumstances. When I was at Ted's play last night, I ran into Tod, who I haven't seen in months. I wave, and he comes over and asks if I found my phone. Apparently whoever found it called him. Tod said it was "some college," through which I deduced that it was probably Provo College, which is right across the street from where I thought I lost it. So I called them this morning, and then went in and picked it up.

My question is: Why call Tod? He's not on my list of recent calls. He's not on speed dial, and his name is halfway down the contact list. My sister-in-law apparently also got a call, and they didn't leave a message. But no one thought to call "Mom"? Or "Work"?

Even more bizzare is the fact that after plugging my phone in, I checked the recent calls list to see who else had been contacted. No numbers except the ones I called a week ago were in there. Mysteeeeerious.

Whatever. I have my phone back! Happy day.

"Woah."

2008-04-10T18:51:00.001-07:00

Good news - I passed both my independent study classes! By a lot actually: one solid A and a B+. Two of my regular classes are "finished" minus a paper in each. I still have classes and finals for the rest of them, but I'm pretty well on my way to being completely graduated.

Bad news - I lost my cell phone! Booo. Feel free to call me and leave a silly message that I may never get. If someone answers please feel free to give them my contact info or something.

And now, onto more new discoveries and another attempt to entertain you for the next 15 minutes.

Movies on the Internet

There's not much in the new theatre right now that really interests me, and, let's face it, there probably won't be till Speed Racer comes out next month. Until then, I've discovered a few ways to re-discover old favorites online. I'm not talking about hulu's free tv and film collections, although it's certainly fun to browse if you're willing to sit through an entire streamed movie. But if you don't have the bandwidth or attention span, here are some options.

Five Second Movies
Five Second Movies is one of those bizzare youtube channel that is ultimately not doing anything particularly unique, but is pretty entertaining. The context is simple: take a film and boil it down to its barest essence. At best these could be called experiments in editing: the effect of the juxtaposition of clips and removal of context on humor. At the least, they're fun and don't require much time or effort. These are just a few of my favorites, and will probably take you less time to watch than they took me to link.

Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi
More Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of the King
All the Harry Potter Movies
All the Rocky Movies
All the Spiderman Movies
Ghostbusters
Home Alone
Jurassic Park
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Lost in Translation
The Matrix
2001: A Space Odyssey

How it Should Have Ended
A bit more on the creative side of things, the concept of How It Should Have Ended is pretty self explanatory. If the film would have been cooler with more robots, better dialogue, or less nonsense, HISHE explores the possibilities. The more they release, the more complicated they get, but they keep getting funnier so I'll allow it. Here are a few of my favorites.

Lord of the Rings
Star Wars
Superman
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Spiderman 3

Also check out the HISHE Special: Surviving and Alien Attack, and the Oceans 40 trailer.

I mostly listen to music at work these days

2008-04-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well, Friday was the last day to turn in Independent Study classes for graduation. Supposedly, I finished them on Wednesday and now only have my term classes to worry about. I say supposedly because I do not yet know the fate of my English final... long story. But either way - I have a free weekend finally! I'm using it to hang out with friends, play WoW, and putting off cleaning my room - all the things weekends were meant for.

Other than that, there's not much new going on in my life. I'm still just chilling around Provo, still have no idea what my plans are after graduation, and still have no set opinion on the election. But I have made a lot of new discoveries lately, which I will share in order to hopefully provide you with something to read and maybe entertain you for the next 15 minutes.
Recent Musical Obsessions

Punch Brothers - Punch
I heard of the Punch Brothers on NPR: All Songs Considered and was impressed, though a little intimidated. The group is technically bluegrass, or rather what bluegrass would sound like if Debussy or Gershwin composed in the style. I picked up the album during a CD sale at borders, mostly because it was there and some of my other choices were not, but I am certainly glad that I did. The main substance of the album a set of tracks titled "The Blind Leaving the Blind," Movements One Through Four. It's hard to describe the complexity of these tracks except to say that naming them "Movements" is not a pretentious act. Their complicated nature makes the group very different than anything else you're probably listening to, which makes these pretty re-playable. The other four tracks on the album are more accessible but still plenty impressive, and you can watch the group perform the title track "Punch Bowl" here. You can also check the afore mentioned All Songs Considered show here - scroll down to listen to the entirety of "It'll Happen" and some brief album commentary.

Current Track Obsession - "Nothing, Then"

Radiohead - In Rainbows
Radiohead has always been a group I knew I'd probably love if I ever got really into them, but was really only aware of a few of their songs. At the CD sale mentioned earlier I also picked up In Rainbows, the group's latest CD. Frontman Thom Yorke was the recent guest DJ on All Songs Considered, so the group was on my mind while browsing for new music. The tracks are strange and delightful, and mess around musically ("15 steps" is in 5/4 time signature, one of only two songs I know of to pull this off). I've been listening to it a lot since I got it.

The packaging of the CD is pretty awesome - it's a thin cardboard "box" that comes with all the proper CD labels inside should you want to provide your own plastic case. If not, then you get free epic stickers for all your stuff. It also saves you the trouble of having to trash the case if you keep your CDs in a different holder, and it brings the cost of the disc down to $13 instead of the normal $20.

Current Track Obsessions - "House of Cards," "15 Steps"

Radiohead - The Bends
Due to an epic sale on top of a sale, I couldn't pass up also getting up the band's heavily lauded 1995 album. Where In Rainbows has a new-fangled digital, "energetically-spacey" sound, The Bends has an airy yet down to earth feel. Like a cloud that can't get off the ground. Like a heavy fog. An awesome heavy fog. That analogy does absolutely no justice to the sound. Go listen to The Bends.

Current Track Obsessions - "Planet Telex," "Just"(the infamous music video), "Fake Plastic Trees," "Black Star," "My Iron Lung," and half of the rest of the album.

It turns out I was right - having listened to a decent sized chunk of their work, I really really love Radiohead. I'm very likely to pick up more of their past albums at the next big music sale I find.

Nooo!!!

2008-03-06T23:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't yet picked a single candidate to support in the presidential election, but something has just come to my attention that cannot be ignored.

This video contains SHOCKING footage of Mike Huckabee (especially 4:20-5:20):

Having just barely dropped out of the race, this news surfaces much too late. AMERICA, you have LOST YOUR CHANCE.

If only this information had been showcased on national television during the campaign. If past elections have been any indication, it could have been a major turning point in the race.

Quote #1 - Final Hint

2008-03-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

Ok folks, pay attention! This is the last hint for movie #1 before I declare it a lost cause. It's a good one, though a little obvious if you're familiar with the story.

Quote 1:
A: Eeeauuugh!
B: Who is this? Where did he fall from?
A: The moon! What time is it, Earthman?

Quote 2:
A: I love you.
B: Yes, speak to me of love.
A: I love you.
B: That's your theme. Embroider it.
A: I love you... so much.

Quote 3:
"Nothing more? There are fifty score variety of comments. Nay, more. Just change the tone, for example.
Aggressive: A nose in such a state, I'd amputate.
Friendly: It must dip in your cup. You need a crane to hoist it up.
Descriptive: A rock! A bluff! A cape! No, a peninsula in size and shape!
Curious: What is that oblong? A writing desk, or am I wrong?
Gracious: Are you fond of birds? How sweet. You provide a Gothic perch for them to rest their feet!
Truculent: A smoker? I suppose...the fumes gush out from that nose like a chimney on fire.
Kind: It will drag you in the mire head-first with it's weight.
Tender: I'll have an umbrella made to give it summer shade.
Pedantic: The beast of Aristophanes, the hippocampocamelelephant, had flesh and bone like that up front.
Dramatic: It bleeds like the Red Sea!
Impressed: What a sign for a perfumery.
Lyrical: Ah, Triton rising from the waters.
Naive: How much to view the monument?
Warlike: Train it on the cavalry!
Practical: Put that in a lottery for noses, and it'll be first prize.

And finally, with sighs and cries in a language deeply felt: Oh, that this too, too solid nose would melt!"

Name that movie! By chance, these quotes are in reverse order of how they appear in the film.

My artistic talent is limitless.

2008-02-29T23:29:00.000-08:00

Click here to create your own painting.

Truly, this painting bears my soul to the world.

I added a bunch of video clips to the quotes in my last entry. It's totally unnecessary in most cases, but after looking up a few it sorta became a challenge - "how many of these obscure quotes can I find on YouTube?" The answer is more than I was expecting. I didn't add them all, but you can watch the ones I did if you want. But if you don't I probably won't cry.

Also, I added supplemental quotes to 1 and 5 so they'll get guessed. I'm pretty sure most of you can figure out 5 just from context now.

(To view the answers, hints, and video clips go here. )

Meme

2008-02-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

This meme is brought to you by neromir and xirax, and is made possible by viewers like you.

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies/tv shows.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie/tv shows.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie/tv shows.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search or other search functions.

I admit that in a few cases, good quotes over-rode the "favorite movie" bit. These are not necessarily my top 15 of all time. Also, I tended towards more obscure quotes - I'll be impressed if they all get guessed!

(If you want to view the answers that have been guessed so far, go here.)

1.
A: Eeeauuugh!
B: Who is this? Where did he fall from?
A: The moon! What time is it, Earthman?

2.
A: You mean you could've taken your hand out of that cuff at any time?
B: No, not at any time, only when it was funny.

3.
Drink cactus juice! It'll quench 'ya. Nothing's quenchier! It's the quenchiest!

4.
Yes, I did it, I killed [name]. I hated her, so much... That... it... it... flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, heaving... breath - , heaving breaths. Heaving breath...

5.
"This is the first time I've seen an execution!"
"It's your execution!"
"What? YOU'RE JOKING!"
"You're the one who's joking!"

6.
[name A] is late. [Name B] can only see two explanations. 1 - he didn't get the photo. 2 - before he could assemble it, a gang of bank robbers took him hostage. The cops gave chase. They got away... but he caused a crash. When he came to, he'd lost his memory. An ex-con picked him up, mistook him for a fugitive, and shipped him to Istanbul. There he met some Afghan raiders who too him to steal some Russian warheads. But their truck hit a mine in Tajikistan. He survived, took to the hills, and became a Mujaheddin. [Name B] refuses to get upset for a guy who'll eat borscht all his life in a hat like a tea cozy.

7.
'Rare' implies dangerously cooked. When I say rare I mean just.. let it look at the oven in terror, then bring it out to me!

8.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't on the verge of doing snoopy dances.

9.
I'm a god. I'm not the God... I don't think.

10.
(Reading ancient hyroglyphs)
It's ancient writing that says, "Sacrifice the full moon on the Prince of Plenty"... That doesn't make any sense. Oh, how silly of me! It's eyes before eats except after teeth. I got it reversed, it says, "Sacrifice the Prince of Plenty on the full moon."

11.
Smell BAD!

12.
Dearest Mother,
I have completed my enrollment for [name of school]. I hope to get used to the school as quickly as possible and lead a healthy, academic life. But... I'm surrounded by people who, frankly, scare me. And I'm kinda freakin out.

13.
This is piss. Piss with ink.

14.
A: Time for paint!
B: Yes! Awesome! Super-duper rad hot rod flames!
C: No, bunnies!
B: Hot rod flames.
C Bunnies!
B: Hot rod flames!
C: Bunnies!
B: HOT ROD FLAMES!
C: Bunnies!
A: QUIET!
...later...
B: I don't even know you anymore.
A: Shut up. At least the bunnies are on fire.

15.
Remember, trust the fungus.

Test Results: You Test Negative for Epic Fail!

2008-02-26T15:14:00.001-08:00

One of the reasons Valentine's Day started on a down note was the fact that I took a History test that (a) took much longer than I imagined it would, because (b) I somehow studied all the wrong things and was clueless for most of it. There was a written part but only the multiple-choice section was scored immediately, so I walked out of the testing center with a whopping 54%. I've been depressed about it but it turns out that after my EXCELLENT essay on the Port of Nagasaki was factored in, questions were thrown out, and the score was slightly curved, I walk away with a 79.8%.

This is very very good news, since being a senior means I develop ulcers and rashes at the mere suggestion of failing any of my classes. On the other hand, I can't say my story is quite as dramatic as Neromir's latest test scare. Many congrats to the both of us! We should start a "I used to complain about test curves but it turns out they totally saved my grade" group on Facebook or something.

All of this after SETTING the curve on my Comms midterm two weeks ago. I swear, the ups and downs of this semester are going to kill me.

And now boys and girls it's time to go work on my independent study classes. I promised to treat myself to something nice if I finish the next three assignments by tonight!

I am a samurai

2008-02-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day went very... not as expected. I didn't get home till after 8pm, and had absolutely no appetite for sugar. But on the plus side I sent off a couple of Valentine's care packages to family members which was fun, and watched one of my favorite movies. Then I woke up Friday morning totally sick. Yay. I also received some mysteeee-rious roses, which deserve mentioning just because of how full and pretty they are. I'm curious as to where the mystery personage purchased them.

Media Mo-..Saturday?

My brother has been collecting free online video games for a while now and has a pretty good collection. When he was here last week from Idaho, he spent a few minutes on my computer while I showed my mom around the apartment. Next time I checked my computer I found a new bookmark called "Kim download this!!!!!!!!"

Synaesthete is one of the more bizzare rhythm games I've ever played, though it's not completely original in format. As a psychedelic trip into the collective unconscious accompanied by trance music, this is basically a freeware Rez. But Synaesthete approaches the idea of a rhythm/shooter from a completely different angle - rather than Rez's approach of combat creating the music, in Synaesthete the music creates the combat. It's subtle, but makes for a very different type of gameplay.

Unlike Rez's basic point and shoot, Synaesthete has you following the standard rhythm game "press button at the correct moment" format - while simultaneously navigating a 3-d playing field and dodging enemies. This might be pretty foreign and difficult at first, but it doesn't take long to figure out how to manage. What's really novel about this is the "optional" nature of the rhythm part. Unlike Guitar Hero or DDR, the three colored bars that fall from the top of the screen aren't meant to connect to each other. Each follows a separate beat - playing all of them at once with only one hand would be impossible for most of the game. You're left to sound out the beats and pick one to follow, or to find patterns and rhythms between two or more beats. The more beats you play and the higher your combo the better, but there's no penalty for skipping beats or taking a break (other than being less able to defend against enemies).

As you would expect, the composition of the songs are set (for the most part), which lacks Rez's novelty of every play though being slightly different. But since Rez has to allow beats and melodies to have varying amounts of time between them, and because there is a high level of repetition, the music itself would usually sound somewhat amateurish if it was completely on its own. So while Rez gives the player more creative power, Synaesthete gives you more structure to work with. That's the trade-off.

The Synaesthete soundtrack - very solid and enjoyable if you're into trance - is composed by William Towns, the technical director of the project. The entire soundtrack is available (also for free) on the Synaesthete website. My absolute favorite song from the soundtrack is Tryptonaut, followed by Shore.

Overall this is a fun and impressive game, especially considering it's the side project of a couple of college kids. If you like rhythm games, trance music, or free video games, I highly recommend checking it out. Because, you know, it's FREE.

EXCITING NEWS... Plus Actual Life Updates Below

2008-02-11T21:56:00.001-08:00

/celebrate

This is the greatest moment of my entire fake-life.

I've been hording dwarf reputation for months to buy the dwarven ram mount (the draenai elekk mount is an ugly little bugger), and until this weekend I was still several thousand points away. I haven't logged in for almost a week so I only found out about Lunar Festival on Sunday. Good thing I didn't have any other plans that day (and good thing I didn't log in on Saturday afternoon). I ran around the entire world, collected 35 of 50 ancestry tokens, resulting in a total of 2650 rep, PLUS a ton of festival dumplings, PLUS firework launcher schematics, PLUS a million freaking firework rockets, PLUS this sexy number:

She is totally working this outfit. It suits Puoko a heckuva lot better than the festival dresses did. Plus her cloak is totally color coordinated: +8 Fashion Sense!

Despite really being the longest and most complicated fedex quest ever, Lunar Festival was a lot of fun! A++ would go again. My only complaint is that the night elf booze was pretty weak sauce - I kept sobering up faster than I could drink the stuff.

(Family Members and Non-WoW players can stop skimming now)

That's all I planned on writing, but I should probably mention my real and much more complicated life. First of all, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! It was actually last Thursday, but I'm told the celebration lasts for a while. If you hurry up you can probably still use it as an excuse to eat something unhealthy or slack off in the name of celebration. The best part about this year's holiday is that this marks the beginning of the year of the rat - my year, baby! And it's going to be an excellent year. I can sense it in the cosmic karmic zen.

I've been keeping up with school, but I keep drifting between freaking out that I need to be studying every second of the day because it's my last semester, and then realizing that if I get Cs in all my classes, I will still pass and graduate from college. I'm trying to achieve a balance to minimize the stress that both sides are causing me. But my first wave of tests has arrived - I feel pretty good about most of them but we'll see how it turns out.

As always, I'm super excited about Valentine's Day! I can't believe it's only a few days away. In years past I've thrown some sort of girly singles party (with awesome results), but this year most of my college girl friends have moved, gotten married, or lost contact. My only local female pal this year is Dantzel, and I'm faaaaairly sure she'll be spending the day with her fiancee. This means no major party. But don't think I don't have plans, yon reader. Nay, I indubitably do. I've re-arranged my schedule to do all Thursday homework early and plan on an afternoon of chocolate, bubble-bath, nail polish, and yoga. I figure at this point, I'm safe from any last-minute Valentine's dates - the day has way too many connotations for a first date that isn't pretty awkward. And I'm excited enough for my girly day off that I might decline anyway.

Speaking of days off, last week I took Wednesday off when my family came down from Idaho. We dropped Sarah off at the MTC. It was a strange and unique experience - which is the same way I'll describe having a family member on a church mission. I kept teasing her about all the free blessings I'm gonna get while she's gone, but apparently God is using this as an excuse to prod me with spiritual experiences. The day after we dropped her off I got a phone call to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. I was nervous, as always, but prepped enough cause I didn't want it to be a standard "ye same olde doctrine" talk. But then afterwards people kept coming up and saying how it was just what they needed to hear and how I was "wise beyond my years" or something so... I guess it was pretty good? I assure you, my brilliance was likely accidental. The praise almost makes me more nervous - if this keeps up they're gonna make me RS president before the end of the semester. I blame you Sarah!

Those are all the life updates I can think of right now. In closing, just remember to never give up on your dreams. You too can attain the things in this life that are truly important.

Wheeeeee!

Your Patriotic Responsibility

2008-01-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

You might have heard about the economic stimulus plan to stave off the possible ressession around the corner. If not, READ ON.

First, an over simplified economic explanation: Recessions are to a large degree in the mind of the taxpayer. People think there might be a recession around the corner, so people start saving. Which means they stop spending. Retailers do poorly. The prices of goods go up. We hit a bear market in the stock exchange. People spend even less. Etc.

So how do you prevent this downward spiral? By promoting spending. To illistrate, imagine the totally imaginary scenario that almost a third of the US population wakes up and finds $600 on their doorstep. In an excited frenzy, everyone goes shopping. This would cause a HUGE boost to the economy, will mean large gains for retailers, will delay furthered rise in prices, and be generally awesome.

And so - ok, check this out - so the government decided this was a pretty good plan. No, seriously. So apparently "tens of millions" of these checks will be in the mail sometime after taxes are over and before this summer. The catch is that if everyone deposits the money and sits on it for a rainy day the economy will kinda ge screwed anyway. This plan only works if everyone goes out on a major shopping spree with their government money. Therefore, it is your PATRIOTIC DUTY to consume as many material goods as possible. This is both the most ridiculous and greatest government plan I've ever heard of.

I'm still somewhat skeptical - let's be honest, the idea of the government slipping me a briefcase full of cash sounds just slightly unlikely. According to what they're saying now, I should be eligible for the $600 package (individual tax filer, <$75,000 annual income), but I'm still waiting for the loopholes to appear that disqualify me. But that doesn't mean I haven't started on a list.

I honestly have no idea how I'll spend $600 at once. Sure I could buy a diamond encursted watch, but so far I tend to have small, reasonably prices items on the list, like beauty care product and books. Adam suggested I add a Wii to the wishlist, and that sounds tempting. Maybe a diamond encrusted Wii. I'm sure I'll be able to fill out the list by the time the check magically fabricates in my hands. If it never does, I may go on a mini shopping spree with my tax refunds. You know, for the good of the nation.

2008-01-08T18:17:00.000-08:00

It feels like the first two weeks of school are already over, because I don't usually have my schedule finalized until then. But shock and awe, I'm in all the classes I need and am happy with the layout. Now that I have extra time, I just need to see my academic counselor and make sure that these classes are for sure for serious going to really actually get me graduated by April.

It's going to be a pretty heavy workload this semester, but it's so broken up into different types of work that I think I can handle it. The independent courses really don't look too bad - provided I actually do them and don't just wait till March. I have a capstone project in one class I'm really not looking forward to doing. There also my 1 credit pass/fail research practicum course, where I get to help a professor complete an academic research project. No idea what I'll be doing yet, but I did manage to get signed up with one of the professors in the department I have an academic crush on (which is sort of like a man crush, only instead of a non-sexual admiration from one guy to another, it's just from one knowledge seeking student to her few truly brilliant professors). Hooray for research!

My only real concern of the moment is getting over this cold before we actually begin any hard work in my classes. Oh, and earning enough reputation from the dwarves to be able to buy a ram mount. Because elekks are too rotund.

Answer to previous entry: It seems I forgot to add the most important premise - pretend this is a puzzle, and that said puzzle has a solution. Because it is. And it does. It was not, nor does it even resemble, my actual resolution list. I don't really care about world maps. The solution is yes. No, you didn't get any extra points for being a smart alec.

But having now gauged the interest/ability of my readership in logic puzzles, I know not to post too much about my Metalogic class, nor the deep dark secrets of math that may be discovered within.

New Years Resolutions

2007-12-29T10:23:00.001-08:00

New Years Resolutions

1. Graduate college.

2. Eat healthier.

3. Own a world map.

4. Don't get fired from my job.

5. Accomplish at least one item on my list.

6. Work hard on item 1.

7. If I accomplish item 2 and item 6, then I will accomplished item 1.

8. If items 4 and 5 are completed, I will purchase a world map.

9. If I accomplish item 3, I will be motivated enough to accomplish item 6.

10. If 4 items are completed, I'm obviously working hard enough to not be fired from my job.

11. If I complete item 5 quickly I will have time to go shopping for healthy groceries.

12. Write a New Year's Resolution list.

Will Kimberly accomplish all her New Years Resolutions in 2008?

And One More Thing

2007-12-23T13:41:00.001-08:00

One of my big projects near the end of the semester was a class presentation on family portrayals in the media. We discussed social learning theory (individuals learn how to act by watching others) and cultivation theory (individuals learn how the world works through personal experience and media experience). I had just gotten the Adobe Production package and volunteered to create a couple of clips. There was going to be an opening montage and then two example clips. Sadly, due to compatibility issues with the school's media lab I couldn't export the montage video, and after set-up issues we only had time for one of the example vids.

Regardless, I had a lot of fun doing it. The montage was my favorite, though admittedly it ran long and was choppy. My teammates consoling told me I should finish it and send it to them (likely never expecting to see it). But surprise, surprise - I got bored this weekend, so I re-mixed it a bit, exported it correctly and uploaded it to YouTube. It's still choppy and doesn't flow as well as I'd like, but overall I still like it.

The montage was entirely for fun, and during the presentation itself we kept the topic fairly moderate, boiling down to "there are both good and bad effects, but overall individuals' experience with their own families and with peers are the strongest ones." Some of the other presentations took a slightly more sensationalized view of their topic (video games make you dumber, the internet makes you less social), citing strong media effects theories which assume the premise that the individual is highly influenced by media messages. I'm really glad I got grouped with fellow moderate classmates, or our group project could have turned into "Single parent Disney families are severely detrimental to young children and will invariably screw them up for life!" Which would have been a real shame since I really disagree with the sentiment. I seem to disagree with a lot of sentiments in media theories and communication studies, and take issue with a few of the "experts." Ironically, this is probably a sign that I'm in the right field of study.

Woo... tangent.

I'll be out of town next week with my family. Christmas morning is going to be rad - the presents I bought for everyone this year are pretty flippin sweet. I have to be back to work next Monday (stupid "open all year" company), but at least I managed to bribe enough people to get Wed-Fri off. Happy Holidays to everyone! See you all after New Years!

4 Things + 1 Thing

2007-12-10T21:48:00.000-08:00

A) If your roommate makes brownies to munch on during a stressful week, and you are going to steal one - at least ATTEMPT to make it subtle - steal a sliver, take one from the same row that others are missing, replace the tin foil neatly on top. More offense will probably be taken at the unabashed act than in the thievery itself.

B) If you're doing a powerpoint presentation where you've split up all the slides and one person will later combine them - DON'T DO ANY FANCY FORMATTING THAT YOU HAVEN'T ASKED THE REST OF THE GROUP ABOUT. Especially when the teacher has explicitly stressed that the slides need to look consistent for full points.

C) After one person has already agreed to perform said task of combining slides, do not fake sympathy that you're sooo distraught for making them do when you were more than happy to hoist it on them at the group meeting. And DO NOT offer on insist on helping when they are already halfway through doing it - at this point you're really just bothering them more than anything.

D) ANGER! BLRAUGH!

Moto Monday
Go Speed Racer, Go!

I have this... strange attraction to Speed Racer. I'm not sure if it's the campiness, the ridiculous world, the action packed drama, or some combination thereof. But I love it. So when I watched this trailer last night I nearly choked on my sandwich. I knew this was in the works but... holy shlamole.

I cannot truthfully say that this looks like any sort of cinematic masterpiece. But it's going to be nerdy eye candy and over the top drama. I'm intrigued by the highly cartoony car sequences and brightly colored sets - it looks like someone was playing a lot of Double Dash while making this film. Even if the movie ends up being terrible, it has the chance of being even campier fun than the original series. I am so going to the theatre for this one.

Check the official movie website to download a higher quality trailer.

My upload space is giving me grief again, so that's pretty much all I got this week. Enjoy.

Blame Adam

2007-12-09T23:14:00.001-08:00

I have created a YouTube account. And several other video sharing sites as well, which I'm currently messing around with to see what my options are. I can't deny that YouTube is the site that's permeated the internet's social sphere the most, so that's what we're going with for now. Enjoy last week's Sokka video, and the two week prior Mulan OST video.

I admit the quality isn't as bad as I'd expected, but am I the only one noticing a slight "gridding" effect? Eh, whatever. It's good enough for those of you who weren't going to download the whole thing anyway. Future videos will probably have an embedded version and a high quality download version. Because that's how I feel like doing it. Cause, you know, these kind of options are so vital to my audience of six.

New question - will YouTube delete these videos within the month? Time will tell!

Squish Squash, Sling that Slang

2007-12-02T23:36:00.000-08:00

I have nothing due this week until Thursday. Thursday I have two major papers due but - get this - they're both the "final draft" of different parts of papers I've been doing all semester. So I get to spend an hour or two making it all flow and then formatting it to be pretty. And that's it. This is going to be the best week ever. Maybe I'll have time to read one of the books I bought last month, watch a DVD, or hit lvl 30 on my Shaman. I already had time to prep this entry real good and post it early - I may even blog more than once this week (gasp shock). The only major downside to life at the moment is that it snowed over the weekend, so going outside is going to suck. Time to bust out the wool coats and long underwear.

Megabling Monday
I made up the word Megabling, but I think it's totally rad.

Does anyone else here think rap music is actually pretty fun, except for all the times it sucks? Wait, no... allow me to clarify. I'm responsible for two accounts at work that look up articles about Russell Simmons, so I've had to read way too many articles in the past year about the crap going into and coming out of the rap industry. Hip Hop artist feuds, Don Imus, Russell Simmons rap "summit," - barf. Obviously the style's root's are deeply intertwined with rebellion and black culture, but somewhere along the way, mainstream rap became a symbol of a very specific set of things. I think there must be an actual physical check-list of requirements for mainstream rap songs. I'm sure you can think of most of the elements - it's a fun group activity if you want to get your friends involved.

So I don't dislike rap, it's just that 90% of it is about junk I don't really care about. Making an entire song style only about a certain type of (fabricated) lifestyle is like if someone decided that that all science fiction had to be about robots turning on humans, or that all piano pieces had to be in the classical style. There are so many other things! Arbitrary and invisible borders are totally whack.

So screw all that. Here are some hardcore rap antitheses tracks. Enjoy, yo.

I Scream! - No Cutting Corners -- It seems that Parappa the Rapper released a CD. Don't get your hopes up - it's not very good. The games are set apart by the ridiculous situations of each individual level, which isn't really doable on an audio CD. Instead, Parappa sings about all the topical things his under 12 fans will really relate to. I picked this song because I liked the chorus more, but all the tracks are mostly interchangeable and the same themes appear pretty frequently.

* Drugs and guns are bad
* Stay in School
* Eat your vegetables
* Friends are the best thing ever.

The songs really aren't that great, or particularly compelling or relevant to anyone who is out of grade school, but it's fairly fun and notable for the fact that the topics discussed make this pretty much the most direct rap antithesis ever.

Kim Possible - Ron Stoppable - Naked Mole Rap -- Is there a white boy nerdier then Ron Stoppable? No. Is there a less hardcore thing to do than to have him rap about Rufus the naked mole rat? Not likely.

One Piece - 4kid Opening - One Piece Rap -- The great thing about this song is how hard it's trying to simulate mainstream rap. It could not have failed more. If 4kids hadn't actually been trying to pass this off as the legit opening of the show it would have been hilarious. Set sail for One Piece. And in case you missed it, One Piece is the name of the treasure in the Grand Line. Just so we're clear. Ya yo.

Veggie Tales - Stuffmart Rap -- A very heavily Christian media group using rap as it was meant to be used - to say a lot of stuff really fast.

Bonus Round - Rap Battle Breakdown - The freestyle rap battle is a fascinating part of rap culture, but after watching enough battles degenerate into "your mom" lyrics and comments on the opponent's sexual preference, they're relatively difficult to watch in a non comedic sense. Taking a cue from the epic potential the rap battle has, I present the following.

Parappa the Rapper 2 - Noodles Can't Be Beat -- Giving Parappa a second chance to wow us. I haven't yet played the second Parappa game, but this is probably my favorite song on the soundtrack. It's a full on rap battle about whether noodles are the greatest food ever or not. Parappa... wins? By default I guess. The beats and lyrics here are surprisingly tight.

Video: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Tale of Sokka -- The ultimate freestyle battle. Sokka proves that the epic rap battle can transcend even rap itself. This video is available in two flavors - multimedia size (11mb) and the excessively "pimped out" version (40mb).

Video Editing Blues

2007-11-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

(~~Links now working~~. ~~Links not working~~. ~~Some links working~~. I think we have it folks.)

Well, here it is everyone - the week every assignment ever is due. I feel moderately progressed in most of them... but in the next few days we'll test whether that's adequate or not. Bleh.

And regarding the Adobe package, I've thought it over and given the fact that my computer now grants me the powers of a demi-god of digital video control and editing, I can officially declare my buyer's remorse over. I also remembered that I don't own a car, so I'm allowed to drop this kind of money every once in a while that would have been going towards gas, insurance, booting, and towing expenses otherwise.

The programs has already been helpful with some of the school projects. In fact, I've spend the week ripping clips from various DVDs and editing them together for the "portrayal of family in the media" project due next week. While pulling a few clips from Mulan, I remembered something about the soundtrack I discovered years ago - which led to the discovery that this program may be a bigger and more entertaining time-waster than most video games I own.

"I'll Make a Man out of you" Monday
An OST so original, they couldn't use it in the film

Mulan has some fun musical numbers and some really beautiful scores, so not long after seeing the film in theatres I bought the soundtrack. I really grew to like the track "Mulan's Decision," referring to her early in the film choice to run away and join the army in her father's place. It wasn't till months later when viewing the film again that I realized that it wasn't the same track used in the movie. It seems that for whatever reason, the main section of the song was switched out for a more... edgy... pop beat... sort of thing, that in my mind just really didn't live up to the soundtrack version. I think at some point years ago I played the track while watching the film on mute in an attempt to see what it might have sounded like. Today I look back at this primitive method and scoff, with much smugness.

Yesterday I produced exactly what it would have sounded like. Just because I can.

Mulan's Decision - Film Score -- This is the film version you're familiar with. Looking at both version, I can kinda see the appeal of this version, and it's not as though the music ruins this scene or anything like that, but I still think that overall this is the weaker of the two videos.

Mulan's Decision - Original Score -- This is the version using the original score included on the soundtrack. It's longer for added aural context, and much bigger (40 mb) because I wanted it to look pretty. Since editing in animation is generally one of the first steps rather than one of the last, the point where the track ends and starts up again matched up perfectly. It's possible that some of the internal scenes could have been altered slightly had they gone with the original track, but most of the key moments match up so well that I doubt there would have been much difference at all. I did some finagling to keep in as many of the sound effects as I could (any during the middle stretch are gone), but neither audio track was edited for length. The video wasn't edited at all.

Mulan OST - Mulan's Decision -- And finally, the full audio track itself. One of my favorites on the album (which I really recommend, as long as you skip the 98 Degrees/Stevie Wonder "True To Your Heart" single).

PS. I've been messing with various compressor programs and codex all week. Both above videos are XviD and look relatively decent. The larger file even continues to look decent in full-screen. But I'm not satisfied with the size of either of them - I wasn't able to get below 20 and 40 respectively. To those of you downloading - are these acceptable sizes, or does a 2 min clip need to be 10 mb or less? Is the video great or could it be better? Or would you rather it was worse for a smaller, faster download? To the experienced video renderers/editor out there, any helpful freeware recommendations or settings advice would also be welcome.

*Thanks to Xirax for the file storage space.

Thankful list coming soon.

2007-11-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Thx Tuesday
DL plz.

Happy Thanksgiving week all. Just one song for you today, and then onto those life updates you people keep saying you want me to post. But first, in the spirit of giving thanks here's a mighty fine tune. I Like Hubcaps, a song about all the stuff Brak likes. Strangely enough, this doubles as my own personal list. Recall it's wise words are you reflect on all the things you are thankful for this weekend.

I'm not sure who started it, but it seems as though colleges nationwide have decided that Thanksgiving break isn't a holiday weekend so much as it is a chance to do more schoolwork than normal. I have two major presentations due next week, and my groups for both are either not able or willing to meet, email, or otherwise do anything about it. I have a major paper due that I've barely started on, and one minor group paper that we actually seem to be sort of on top of. I do have a lot of time in the next few days to do it all... but I'm feeling pretty stressed and anxious, and probably will until the end of next week.

On the bright side, the two presentations were sorta bad luck of the draw and we're going first of the class - meaning we're the first ones done. Which means in at least two of my classes, the major end-of-the-semester projects will be out of the way fairly early. I'm sure I'll be thankful for that.. a week and a half from now.

The weather got really chilly all of the sudden, and it's been getting darker waaay too early. Why can't we do daylight savings the other way around to give us more time in the evening? I think it would be less depressing that way. Anyway, I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt sucking down hot cocoa and buttered toast like some sort of pre-hibernation binge. Winter has never been my favorite season, but it wasn't till a few years ago it became a chore in and of itself. It seems to get worse every year. Global warming is a lie I tell you! A vicious lie!

Today I'm also suffering from buyer's elation and buyer's remorse at the same time - for the opposite purchases than I'd originally pegged. I've worked with the Adobe production programs before, and a few months ago decided to pick up the student edition of the Production Suite set - a $1700 bundle for just over $300 at the student discount. I've been totally spazzed about this for weeks, and finally picked it up just today. It's installed and I've re-visited a few projects I've done in the past, but... right now I'm totally terrified that I'll never actually use it for anything. The fact that it's completely non-returnable is just making me more anxious about it. Video editing is something I've always loved doing, so thinking about owning this product was a thrill. Having it in front of me, I keep seeing red dollar signs and thinking "Winter tuition is coming up! Rent will be due!" despite the fact that I carefully made this purchase knowing I have quite enough funds to cover it all. Buyer's remorse is a natural part of any major purchase... and this is the most "major" purchase I've made all year. But it still sucks.

Purchase number two happened a few days ago on a whim. See, I've been watching this show, Avatar, which pretty much pwns in nearly all areas. Despite the fact that it's produced by Nickelodeon, Avatar is one of the greatest series to be produced in America in years, if not much longer than that. It boasts a complicated serialized story, a heavily researched eastern influenced world, amazingly animated fight sequences involving the greatest magic system ever, and *gasp* believable characters who change and develop. I knew halfway through Season 1 that I'd be picking this show up eventually and have been comparing prices for a while. I would have waited a while longer, but then there was Episode 11 of Book 3. It pushed me over the edge (this statement refers to both my purchasing patience and my sanity, as Troy will attest). After a satisfying session of severe geeking out, I noticed Amazon lists the box sets for 30% off the SRP, and on a complete impulse I bought the first two seasons, somewhere in the back of my mind sure I'd regret it hours later. I'll get back to you if that ever actually kicks in. I'm still geeking out about it, and I'm counting down the days until Fall of 08 which is probably when Book 3 will be released as the third box set. And I'm totally gonna capture clips with Adobe Premiere and post them for your viewing pleasure once the shipment gets here.

And those are this weeks adventures in having too many expensive things I want to buy and really jittery nerves about spending money.

Ok, I need to calm the crap down and go to bed. Tomorrow I need to work on an idea I have for a video segment for one of my group presentations. I also need to figure out if I need to cook anything for Thursday. I should really attempt to de-stress and get as much stuff done and out of the way as possible. Good luck to the rest of you suffering from similar "vacation" problems, and remember to relax and have a happy Thanksgiving holiday.

Wakka wakka wakka

2007-11-12T23:02:00.000-08:00

Oh snap, I knew I was forgetting something today. :p

I'm still recovering from being sick. Like waking up with a sore throat and being ever so slightly still congested. It's been 9 days! I'd better wake up the picture of health tomorrow. That's why I'm going to bed in 15 minutes. I'm attempting to blog speedy-like.

Today in class I realized that most people are still afraid of the internet as a social tool. I'm... flabbergasted. If this is the digital era, then why does admitting to a college class of my peers that I have a LiveJournal account make me feel like a NERD? It doesn't help that most of the "meeting people online and not having real friends is weird" opinions were from girls. Oh, the laments I have about my peers, and about my very gender. The weight of this world's biases and stereotypes is heavy. Oh gods of digital promise - of future promise - take me to your utopia where all are equal, none are judged, and broadband is free. And everyone has a personal jetpack.

Solar Mass Monday
Do you know what pulsars are? Proof that the universe is insane!

Monty Python-Galaxy Song --During my short despair for the human race today I listened to this song, as I often do. Perspective is good for you. As a side note, taking an astronomy class really gives you some respect for the scale of this stuff. The universe is terrifyingly awe inspiring. You know how sometimes you see a picture of a spider or bee and you know it's not a real bee but it skill kinda freaks you out? This x-ray vision of a black hole does that to me.

Cheers

2007-11-05T23:23:00.001-08:00

Saturday night Troy and I raided the one of the specialty foreign food markets in the area and then proceeded to consume a large amount of Asian specialty drinks and snack foods. I was looking for either sour or hot drinks - the very idea that these things exist is intriguing. Unfortunately, I wasn't extremely successful finding either of these things, but I managed to discover a few disturbingly awful drinks. I had a purple/brown drink made from something called "Açaí," a Brazilian berry that has some sort of turpentine-like aftertaste. But Troy wins the awful drink contest - he found one that tasted like turpentine and bananas.

For the record, "rice punch" does not mean "sweetened rice punch." It means it tastes like carby water. Fiery Ginger Beer is pretty good - or would be if I was a bigger fan of ginger. It's not hot so much as... just gingery. But Dantzel would probably kill for this stuff. Plum Juice, Orange drink, Cinnamon Punch (personal favorite!), and the hard to describe "jelly drink" all win approval.

I woke up Sunday morning with a terribly sore throat. At first I thought maybe I was having a mild allergic reaction to the ginger drink, but no, it's just my first real sickness of the season. Flu, I think. But thanks to nasal spray, decongestant pills, half a bag of cough drops and the wonders of modern medicine, I am functional. Purchasing Sudafed was complicated quest in and of itself, requiring a cashier to open the locked case, an ID check, and a sign-off sheet. Apparently the recent legislation has made it necessary to keep track of certain decongestants, due to the fact that chemicals in these drugs can be used in the production of meth. Oh, the many things I've learned while in college.

Clay-Mation Monday
Klogg will eat your soul.

We're pretty overdue for Neverhood stuff, don't you think? No, of course you don't. Most of you haven't even played this game, and it's frankly not likely that any of you will do so at this point. That's why I'm here to enlighten you. The Neverhood came out in 1996, and is an adventure/puzzle style game done in complete claymation. It's roughly Myst-ish in the sense that you begin the game as Klayman, who wakes up alone on a strange world and must discover the story and his own history along the way. It's a lot more fun that Myst ever was though. The soundtrack was an appropriately odd accompaniment to the visual style and the humor. Here are some select clips and Terry S. Taylor pieces from one of the greatest nonsensical claymation games ever.

Klayman Shuffle -- The Neverhood's opening theme is as sporadic in melody as the game itself. The sound here is very muted and malleable and... clay-like if that makes any sense. Most of the game is full of similar sounds, though some parts of the game are eerily silent of full of stark horns or tinny sounds (mostly near the end of the game). The game is an odd clashing of things that at parts seems more experimental than purposefully clever, but overall the final product came out as one very memorable game.

Triangle Square -- Another excellent piece that's fun to listen to.

Southern Front Porch Whistler -- A more relaxed sound. Very impressive whistling skills. Ben, if you're reading this, do you whistle? If you do you should totally learn this one on the banjo.

The Weasel Chase

Operator Plays a Little Pingpong -- This type of lyrical gibber jabber is pretty common throughout the soundtrack. The game title/ending theme has the best/worst of it, but wasn't included because it really is a lot funnier after actually completing the game. This one's one of my favorites.

Sound Effects Record Number 32 -- At one point you find a radio that contains several stations with... very unique tracks on all of them - almost enough for an entire soundtrack itself. Obviously Terry S. Taylor was enjoying his job. Perhaps a bit too much.

This is far from the extent of this soundtrack's range. The music's.. different, but so is the game, which is quite an impressive piece of work. I found out that in March of this year, the possibility of a Neverhood animated film was being discussed, and a studio has been named. The theoretical film will probably take out some of the slightly more depressing parts of the game, though I'm willing to bet it won't be aimed at an audience of strictly children. Also, it would probably be several levels of awesome, so I'm going to pre-recommend that you look into it if it ever comes to pass.

Super Halloween Time!

2007-10-30T23:12:00.000-07:00

My Spoooooky Tales of October:

Last week I went to a haunted house. It was fun... but I've decided I'm uncomfortable with haunted houses. Not because they're scary, but more because I'm never sure what my reaction is supposed to be. I guess I get giggly when I'm nervous, so I always walk through with this weird terrified laughter, which I always worry annoys the actors. And some bits are honestly more cool than they are scary, so is silently commenting on that in my head a failure on my part to be scared correctly? Regardless, it was pretty cool. A number of hilarious things happened that I won't soon forget.

Two weeks ago I carved a cool pumpkin with Ted, Dantzel, Troy, and others. Sadly, I failed to take a picture right when it was finished, and even more sadly, I failed to light the sucker after I picked up a candle to dry the insides out. So a week later I noticed that not only was the pumpkin pretty much caving in, but it was completely full of fuzzy mold on the inside. Scaaaaary mold! It no longer graces my doorway, in case you were wondering. Oh well - I guess I don't have to worry about pumpkin smashers this year.

Terrifying Tuesday
AAAAAAaaiiieeeeeee!

Goosebumps - Television Theme -- The Goosebumps marathon on CN already gave me plenty of blogging fodder, but I had to find that incredibly catchy theme song. So I searched long and hard and after about 10 whole minutes, I did. Here it is. You can watch the video of the Goosebumps intro if you want to see R. L. Stine in action (and figure out why that dog is barking). I was always amazed that the power of evil was able to turn that nice woman on the billboard into Michael Jackson.

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge - Underground Tunnels -- So, at the end of this game the ghost pirate LeChuck gets voo-dooed into the zombie pirate LeChuck. Then you get stuck in these underground tunnels with him, and as you walk around with nowhere to go, LeChuck will randomly enter the scene and you must perform evasive action or else he blasts you to another part of the caverns (around 1:20 is when LeChuck enters). I was about 10-12 at the time, but I can't be the only person who found this part to be terrifying. Man, the midi tunes for most of this game are horrible. That's frightening in and of itself.

Biohazard 4 - Del Lago -- Resident Evil 4 is undoubtedly one of the best survival horror games I've ever played. Though honestly, coming from me, that means it's like... best of 3 (and I'm including the end of Monkey Island 2 in that list). But most survival game connoisseurs will back this claim up, and it's a game that just kicks butt in general. Most of its soundtrack is distant ambient chords and ghostly trailing crescendos, which works beautifully in the game but less so for listening purposes. It's also incredibly difficult to pick one of two good themes here since the songs are so varied. Here's one of the more listenable tracks, from the excellent fight on the lake.

Biohazard 4 - Regenerador -- Freakiest. Enemy. Ever. I don't want to talk about it. I have to post this for the sheer fact that it's one of the most personally terrifying things I have, but holy snickers, I'm gonna have nightmares just listening to this song again. I'm just... going to post it without listening to the full 60 seconds. Have fun.

Resident Evil - Peace of Mind -- Save game theme. Real fear comes from those quiet moments of suspense that throw you off balance. The more action packed a scene is, the less "scary" it becomes. This "peaceful" tune is a break from the anxiety of the rest of the game, but in some ways is more haunting than the majority of the gameplay. Not something I regularly put on my iPod. I don't recall specifically which game this save theme is from, except that it's not 4. If you know, drop a comment so I can attribute it.

Biohazzard 4 - Mercenaries~Leon -- Yeah! Blowing stuff up! Whew, I feel better. Included with Ada's Mercenaries theme for good measure.

Kingdom Hearts - Spooks of Halloween Town -- And then bringing us completely back to spooky fun, the KH theme from Nightmare Before Christmas world. What made this world especially fun were the excellent costumes the crew wore to try and look scary. Tee hee, adorable.

Lotsa stuff this time. You know, so you don't feel gyped if you feel like skipping the super scary stuff. I gotta go finish my costume, but I'm planning on posting a picture of it later on, hopefully posing with Hiro Nakamura (of Heroes) and another star of some kind. Maybe Han Solo too. Have fun, don't pick up any evil talismans, and eat your weight in candy. If you see me on campus say hi and I'll give you some. I love this holiday.

PLACEHOLDER!

2007-10-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

Post late. Coming tomorrow. Spoooooky stuff. Promise.

Reader Beware, This Post Has No Flair!

2007-10-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

So I've been skimming the Goosebumps marathon on Cartoon Network while re-arranging my room. I didn't read the books or watch the show a lot when I was younger, but right now this is way more fun than it should be. I'm still iffy on the whole Cartoon Network showing non-cartoons thing, but this is seriously one of the best Halloween preps ever. This show is great in such a terrible but respectable way.

I just saw an episode called "Be Careful What you Wish For," which was one of the books I actually read, and they totally changed the ending! Let me set the stage for you - the main character is a girl named Samantha Byrd. She's klutzy, and her mortal enemy is Judith who teases her at any chance, including shouting "why don't you just fly away Byrd!" every few minutes. Samantha meets a crazy bird lady, gets three wishes, makes a mess of all of them, blah blah blah, and in the end wishes Judith had met the bird lady instead of her.

Book - Judith's first wish: "fly away Byrd!" Samantha turns into a bird. Classic twist ending. TV show - Judith's wish: "I wish wherever I was people would gather around and admire me!" She turns into a statue, and Samantha walks away smirking. Whaaa? Did all the birds go on strike that week demanding higher quality seed? Did they have a half-off coupon for gold body paint? Why did they even bother keeping the "fly away" foreshadowing in the episode? I suppose there might have been censorship issues with the jerk "winning" in the end, and the fact that life isn't fair isn't really a lesson we want to teach our children, is it? Luckily, Goosebumps is full of some of the most heartwarming and useful lessons that television has to offer.

Important life lessons learned from Goosebumps:

1. Scientific expeditions are meant to be fun - What self-respecting archaeologist wouldn't walk into a tomb with his small children and tell them they can try resurrecting the mummy if they want to?

2. Authority figures are out to get you - if you see illegal or supernatural activity, police will be brash and accusing, and parents will refuse to believe any and all evidence. The less helpful they are, the more likely they are to be in on the whole thing.

3. "One more time to be sure" - The possessed magical camera makes bad stuff happen every time it takes a picture. But you'd better take a few more to make sure it's not just coincidence.

4. All magical items are either indestructible or fragile as all get out - A lightly tossed softball will break a magic mirror with explosive force. A mummy can destroy a thousand year old amber talisman with a swipe of his maimed arm. Similarly, if you lightly drop an item and it doesn't explode, it must be "indestructible." No need to try a baseball bat for good measure.

5. There's nothing like good old fashioned gender stereotypes - If the girls aren't complete wusses, they're pushy know-it-alls. If the boys aren't prank-pulling jerks, they're the timid, nice-guy type who can be bullied into anything with a "whatsamatter, scared?"

6. Ignore the history and the locals - Why do they even bother bringing Egyptians along on these pyramid episodes? All they do is scream about curses to chuckling archaeologists. "Oh, you locals and your colorful legends."

7. Approval of others outweighs rational action - Sure sneaking into the home of the local mad-man could result in a slow painful death, but you don't want your friends to think you're lame. Similarly, if your ventriloquism dummy is speaking to you, it's much more important to convince your parents that you're not insane than it is to take that sucker out back with a hatchet and a can of lighter fluid.

8. All magicians use real magic - Young aspiring magicians need not apply. Parlor tricks are all well and good, but you can't be a real magician unless you're in possession of a real magic wand, a possessed rabbit, or some sort of talisman. Stop boring us with your "saw the woman in half" routine. If you don't have any magic you could go the sci-fi route instead, but careful or you might end up in the middle of The Prestige.

9. Siblings are the devil - Occasionally you have a single close knit, probably twin, opposite gender sibling. But more often than not, they hate you as much as you hate them. They're probably indirectly the reason you're in the middle of this nightmare. They either won't believe your tale till the last possible second, or they screw you over by the end.

10. Either don't be such a jerk, or kick it up a notch - if you're the main character, you always get your comeuppance in the end. On the other hand, if you're a minor character, being a jerk is like a free ticket to coming out on top after the "twist ending" (unless your episode gets a rewrite). So if you do decide to be a jerk, go all the way and be the jerkiest jerk you can possibly be.

Boot to the Head

2007-10-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Walmart and bought some stuff. Then I went to Ted's to eat orange rolls. Then I went home to write a blog. In the 7 minutes Troy was helping me carry my groceries up to my apartment, the parking enforcement managed to come by and put a tire-boot on his car. The guy was still there right after reporting it, and was "nice" enough to let him off with half the boot price ($25). There's the university parking enforcement for you - punishing chivalrous acts since before it was profitable.

Minor Monday
Babies babies babies!

This is dedicated mostly to Mike and Kirsa, who are excitedly expecting their first child. Also to Nate and Kris who are also expecting but I'm pretty sure don't read my blog. And to Stephanie from work who I know doesn't read my blog. And to Ted and Dantzel who have made at least 3 babies on my "Rub Rabbits" game, and around whom the subject seems to come up a lot for some reason. And to everyone else out there expecting, or who just likes babies in general, or at least songs about babies.

(Who coined that "babies babies babies" line? I want to say Jill but I know she doesn't keep up with blogs anymore. Anyway...)

Um Jammer Lammy - Baby Baby!! -- Bringing us back to the excellent Um Jammer Lammy soundtrack. Lammy's radical take on babysitting is probably not the ideal way to put a child to sleep. This originally wasn't my favorite level, but the song was fun enough that I kept going back for repeat plays. Will be sure to give your child an intense sense of rock.

Um Jammer Lammy - Parappa - Baby Baby!! -- Parappa's mellower version is certainly awesome, but probably still not the ideal sleep tool. But it will undoubtedly give your child an excellent sense of groove. Which will you pick to encourage - rock or groove? Bass or flow? Science or art?! I bet parenting is hard.

Tenchi Muyo - Washu's Lullaby -- I'm not well schooled on the Tenchi Muyo series and it's various storylines and universes, so I'm not really sure what plot points this song is connected to. I'm not even sure where I originally got this song, but it's a good bit of music that's relevant to the topic. This is the english dub version of the song.

Arthur - Crazy Bus! -- I've included this "absolutely bus-a-looey" song because I thought it might be useful as a training tool. Listen to this song on loop for several hours, and try to lengthen your tolerance level over time. But don't pull a Francine and bottle all your anger and resentment inside - we all know that like a soda, the pressure will eventually build up until your head pops off.

Zorak's Nugget of Joy - Babies -- A cautionary bit of advice from everyone's favorite praying mantis thing. Not actually a song.

We Love Katamari - Baby Universe -- (lyrics) This came up when I searched my computer for "baby." Like all katamari songs, it ultimately manages to be about so much and so little at the same time. Let's pretend that one of those things it's about is actual babies. At the very least, it sounds like the kind of songs babies might like to listen to.

Wow, I had a lot more babies songs than I expected. Congrats again to everyone ever who's in the middle of, will eventual, or previously has ever had a baby. I can't offer much advice beyond these random songs since I've never been a parent, but if there's one thing I urge you all to remember, it the old saying, "Flat tire is no problem because it's only flat on the bottom."

Risky Safety

2007-10-20T00:44:00.001-07:00

Ever feel broke, but you just keep finding things to spend money on? I haven't put myself in the poor house just yet, but boy am I tempted. A few recent baseless wants:

Lately I've been craving all three sets of this out-of-print series: Not available anywhere, might be available, probably available.
I will never be able to justify buying The Complete Glenn Gould, but boy do I want it.
My skincare line of choice has way too many non-basic items that I want. Maybe next paycheck?
I could probably afford this 1980's collection, but I need to stop 20-30 dollaring myself to death. Q: Will I ever be able to afford both sets of the 1963 collection? A: No.

Speaking of 20-30 dollaring myself to death, I did put down a moderate sum of money last month at Right Stuf, and picked up the entire series of Omishi Magical Theater! Risky Safety on high recommendation. The 3-disc set, originally $90 for 24 10 min episodes, is about to go out of print and has been reduced to $14 for the entire thing. I'm totally about to full on review this sucker, so bunker down.

This show is about Risky, an apprentice shinigami (angel of death), and Safety the apprentice angel. The twist: they share the same body. Risky appears where there are enough negative feelings around her, and Safety when there's joy, goodness, etc. This could lead to a lot of drama, but it turns out both are pretty mediocre at their jobs. Overzealous Risky is definitely the more resourceful of the two, but Safety usually manages to get better results from sheer good nature. The two come across Moe, a jr. high girl in a fit of depression, one aiming to steal her soul and the other to encourage her not to give up hope.

To avoid mis-representing Risky Safety, let me just frankly say that this is not the kind of show where big, dramatic things happen. The two title characters influence their surroundings, but episodes are generally about things like misunderstandings with boys, resentment among friends, and dogs: a Holy war this is not. But these are only apprentices after all, and the show's small-scale nature turns out to be rather charming. The final story arc is certainly the most dramatic part of the series, but the consequences involved are still limited to a handful of people. This is pretty far removed from the earth-cleaving drama of Clamp's X (which I never really got that into), though some of the elements are the same (we do get a few episodes involving dragons of heaven and hell).

Because the show's time frame is so short, it doesn't attempt to go into depth about much. Weird things that happen just happen - this series contains barely any exposition at all. In some ways this is a relief - the hierarchy of Hell isn't really necessary information when Risky is running around being evilly cute. On the other, at times the fact that you're only skimming the surface makes it a little difficult to really get into the show. I liked the series, but there weren't many moments where I felt real drama or anxiety for what was on screen. I can't even imagine watching this show with my group of friends. I watched most of the first disc a few years ago at some sort of gathering - by the end of episode two I'm pretty sure I was the only one still paying (moderate) attention. It's mildly a comedy and mildly a drama, but overall It's something you'd watch when everyone involved is in a really mellow mood.

That's not to say the show didn't have an impact. It's a series with a considerable aftertaste. Remembering the episodes now I feel very fondly of each mini-plot line and of the characters. It's a unique twist on the shoulder angel/devil motif that admittedly isn't anything grand in and of itself, but that doesn't mean it isn't anything special.

Visually the show is very appealing. Packaging is beautiful, and translation notes are extensive and a really nice touch. The audio has some good moments, but nothing super noticeable. The voices need to be mentioned here though. I began watching the series dubbed. I'm generally a fan of dubbed anime, but I have to admit that the whole thing is a lot easier to swallow subbed. The overall pacing of the show is fairly slow, and the english voices are presented in a very high pitched cutesy manner. For some reason I'm not sure of, this made the slow pacing more noticeable. About halfway through the series I switched to Japanese, and things immediately felt more engaging. Not the say the english voices aren't good - Risky's voice in particular is very fun in the dub, but overall I recommend the original Japanese for this one.

You can actually check out the first episode over at the official website, both subbed or dubbed. It's short and free, and Risky breaks a lot of stuff. Make sure to watch the preview(s) to see part of Safety's angel dance. :)

In short, was the series worth $90? Heavens to Betsy, no. That prices makes this niche title even less accessible. Is the series worth $14? Probably, if you like cute things, short things, and non-action centered things. It's actually gotten it's fair share of really positive reviews. I can't say my opinion is quite as glowing, but I am glad I got it and watched it all the way through.

Money money money money

2007-10-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Oi, here I am you insatiable masses. With my fatigued brain and frost bitten fingers. My bicycle breaks are wet and squeaky, my stomach full of empty carbs, my room a mess. For you!

Many apologies for the late Monday thing - I was pleasantly surprised to hear more than one quandary about it. The people love me! Or... the people love free candy! My plan for worldwide renown and popularity is working perfectly.

Wandering Wednesday
My head is spinning cause the world is so great.

Psychonauts - Their Own Flesh and Blood -- Monday evening I got caught up preparing a class presentation for Tuesday. Tuesday I have late classes and then studied for my two Wednesday tests. I'm freshly back from the testing center. There was a 5 hour gap between tests (during which I was at work), but for both tests I had this song stuck in my head on loop the entire time. It's not really that I had any undue anxiety about the tests - I think my brain just thought it was funny. Leaving the testing center I scrolled to it on my iPod. The second it started loudly playing I realized I was standing on the poorly lit back stairs on campus near Rape Hill on a cold October evening. Dramatic.

Oh snap, now I totally have to do a Halloween/horror themed thing later this month. But first I have to think of a good costume this year - otherwise it's gonna be a depressing holiday. Anywho, back to the feature...

Space Channel 5 - Part 2 - Invasion Song Mecha (King Kong Kahn) -- You guys also get another chunk of the Space Channel 5 soundtrack, since Xirax was asking about my favorite soundtrack pieces and this came to mind. Technically he asked about movies but I'm too scatterbrained to comply to all his outlandish requirements right now. This is the boss fight for the first level - one of the more stylish fights of the game and one of my favorite pieces on the soundtrack. What I really want to do is post a clip of me playing this level. Because I rock seriously hardcore at this game. Instead here's a clip I found on youtube. You can pretend it's me playing if you want (the mp3 is instrumental with minor japanese vocals at the end - the clip is in-game from the english version). It's not really required viewing, but if you've never seen SC5 in action, you really out to.

You make me losing my control

2007-10-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

I beat Psychonauts at Rank 100! I collected all the figments, sorted all the emotional baggage, found all the mental cobwebs, all the psi cards, all the brains, and all the scavenger hunt items. Also, that was one of the most rewarding final levels ever. And most twisted. But I can't pick a favorite level. They were all fun to play, and I enjoyed going back to pick up all the collectibles. I now desire to find some of the super extra meta-game collectibles. Like one of these. And I really want one of these.

It's been 2 years since Psyhonauts was released, and Double Fine hasn't produced much since (except frequent blog style updates). I call for a Psychonauts sequel. I demand a Psychonauts sequel. Pleeeese giiive meeeeeee.

By popular demand (I'm pretty sure that was my Mom), here are some photos of my new bedroom. Those may safely scroll past. No longer a drab sea of white and brown, I've added a whole 3 pieces of color furniture! Yay!

Item One: Blue laundry basket! My books and DVDs in this corner are pretty colorful too. And there's Harold the guitar, on loan from my sister for the semester. But it's not like she can make me give it back if she leaves on a mission. Bwahahaha!

Close up of my media shrine. I mean dresser. That tv only looks like it's about to fall off. It's actually quite stable. I hope.

Ta-da! Red bedspread. I considered other more blue-ish and more heavily patterned bedspreads, but then I realized they were pretty tacky looking - this is Big Lots we're talking about after all. This one was cheaper, and a whole log cheerier. Is comfy too. That lamp is colored item #3. I only put it there temporarily, but I don't really know where to move it to. It'll probably sit there till I knock it over one morning or rearrange my room.

My computer desk. If you look closely at the monitor you can see this very blog post in progress! That door on the right leads to my private bathroom, which has not been photographed. Can you identify the best out of print psychic platformer of 2005 in the photo?

Partially because the bike rack arrangement at this complex is stupid, and partially due to increased paranoia, I've taken to keeping my bike in my room. I lock it outside on rainy days to help preserve the new carpet in here. Those double doors lead to the shared bathtub/shower. It's a weird arrangement, but I get a huge, deep bathtub with jets, so I can't complain. Jet controls are up top, next to my poster. Please note that the controls are crooked, not the poster. It bugs me every time I look at that wall.

Multilingual Monday
Now taking requests...

It's Engrish day. Part 1 at least. Some of the funniest moments of being an American watching a foreign film or series is seeing extreme American stereotypes, butchered english, and ruined moments due to misplaced phrases. My favorite bad example in recent memory is Super Gals episode 3. Miyu's having problems with a stalker, when her older boyfriend Yamato shows up on the scene to protect her. The scene's supposed to be at least slightly dramatic and romantic.

Dramatic Entrance: Yamato Arrives!

Revelation: Yamato bravely confronts the crazy stalker boy, proudly showing his confidence!

That being said, there are plenty of examples of GOOD foreign english. There's always been that magical attraction to heavily accented english, and the songs below are some of my all-time favorites. My realm of experience lies mostly in Japanese series and films, so that's where these all originate from.

Metropolis - St. James Infirmary I fell in love with this song in the Betty Boop short "Snow White" while seeing the Cab Calloway version paired with some amazing rotoscoping. I fell in love with it again after re-discovering the song's inclusion in the japanese film Metropolis (another stunning animation piece).

Card Captor Movie II - 24 Whatever kind of day I'm having, this is the perfect song to mellow out with. It's perfectly girly with it's Cinderella chorus and airy vocals. Every time I listen to I want to go paint my nails two times or more. :)

Card Captor Sakura - Froggy Mix - No Nagging Anymore Probably the most "engrishy" of the group, but such a good song. I listen to it whenever I get into a "boys are dumb" mood.

Space Channel 5 Part 2 - This is My Happiness Space President Peace is the greatest fictional president ever. I'd vote for him. The english in this song actually borders on fluent, though it was originally written in Japanese and there are moments where this fact shows through. This is a very happy song.

Psychonauts

2007-10-02T00:33:00.000-07:00

I spent a large chunk of change at Big Lots the other day, pretty much re-doing my entire room in primary colors. New bedspread, laundry basket, lamp, and other stuff. I like scanning the game display when I go there since there's the occasional dirt cheap gem, and I happened to see Psychonauts for $6. "Isn't this that game that like everyone and their dog has recommended I play?" I asked myself. Apparently it is, because the game is super awesome.

You play as Raz, a psychic child who wishes to join the elite ranks of the Psychonauts. The story and visual style are really engrossing and a lot of fun. The gameplay gets crazy but is all manageable, and offers a lot of versatility, control, and humor. It's the kind of game that encourages you to set things on fire with your mind.

The story takes place in the real world most of the time, but you have to enter characters' "mental worlds" for training, reconnaissance, and battle. This is where the game's design really stands out. There are all kinds of bizzare objects to collect, secrets to find, and insane maps to explore and figure out. Right now I'm inside an asylum guard's mind looking for "the milkman." Brrr, that place is creepy as all get-out.

Agent Nein's inner Psyche

Agent Vodello's inner Party

The game proudly proclaims it's connection to Tim Schafer, but it wasn't till after installing and playing all weekend that I realized that Schafer is one of the big names behind Monkey Island and Full Throttle - two of my favorite games of all time. The writing is very funny and the story multi-layered yet followable. This guy and the rest of his crew at Double-Fine Productions really know how to put together a solid game.

I'm about halfway through (I think?) but I've got a lot of backtracking to do for all the collection sidequests (I suffer from a touch of gamer's OCD). I was skeptical when starting the game, but am really glad I picked it up. I'm going to go ahead and recommend checking it out if you haven't - if you're at all a fan of the LucasArts games mentioned, or of platformers in general, this is a pretty awesome addition to the genre.

Pu-tha-go-ras Su-witch-u

2007-10-01T19:04:00.001-07:00

Oi. Today was... a day. And I'm still alive. Hooray - let's hope I can keep this up for the time being. I don't care if I have any responsibilities today - I'm going to spend the rest of the evening playing video games and watching anime. Maybe I'll go buy terrible junk food and complete the unholy trifecta.

2 + 2 = Monday
That's mathematics!

I've never been particularly challenged by math, and I respect it to a certain point of difficulty. I've pretty much avoided taking any math in college (and will graduate without anything post-pre-calc. Bwahahaha!) There is something very satisfying in the enclosed world of a math problem, which I suppose is where my love of logic stems from. Yet math in and of itself is not that much fun. And when teachers try their hardest to convince you that advanced math is useful in the real world, I'm pretty sure they're just full of it. Who uses calc? Rocket scientists, computer programmers, and Calc teachers. There are the obvious uses of arithmetic, geometry and algebra though, so today is dedicated to the importance of math. But mostly because songs about math are funny.

Tom Lehrer-That's Mathematics! - Tom Lehrer is a man full of intelligence, satire, and music. His songs continue to be funny even after being dated several decades. Back in the day he held lectures about various subjects, during which he would insert these songs where relevant. There are a couple of albums out of his work. These two featured songs of his are far from his best, but still very fun.

Tom Lehrer-New Math - The "new math" movement referenced here began in the 1960's.. and ended in the 1960's for obvious reasons.

Animaniacs-Multiplication - Many Animaniac songs are obvious homages to some of Lehrer's work. His Elements song is likely at least partial inspiration for all the "list" songs that came out of this series (Countries of the World, US Cities and their Capitals, Every Word in the English Dictionary, etc). "Buy a calculator - you can multiply too!"

My little brother found this one. Mmm... Algorithms. I totally would have watched a series like Pythagoras Switch if I'd had one growing up. Maybe then we'd all have a greater appreciation for this stuff. I call for a localization of Pythagoras Switch as soon as possible!

XD

2007-09-30T01:46:00.000-07:00

<3 <3 <3

:)

2007-09-29T14:14:00.001-07:00

It's today! It's today! One Piece Funimation dub premieres today!

(Haha, Veoh skews the window a bit in blogger doesn't it? Oh well, I'm leaving it.)

It occasionally still boggles the mind that this is even occurring. The One Piece fandom is incredibly lucky. In any other situation, a bad dub would simply stand as a bad dub. A lucky show like Card Captor Sakura might get eventual sub-only dvds. An unluckier show like Yu-Gi-Oh might get considerably less. One Piece is getting a re-dub, uncut hybrid releases, it will continue airing on television, and is likely to get decent merchandise. The fate of the show's popularity is still uncertain, but One Piece is getting much more than a second chance in America. Whatever the outcome, I'm pleased as punch with everything that's happened to the show in the past few months. I must even thank 4kids - if their dub and edits hadn't been so terrible, we probably wouldn't be getting this new dub. So thank you 4kids for not settling for mediocrity, and going above and beyond the call of duty in overacting, unnecessary edits, and poor marketing choices.

With any luck for my less enthusiastic friends and family, this event will somewhat satiate the inner (and very vocal) fangirl within me. I can't deny that all the horror that's happened to this title has made it a sort of unattainable forbidden fruit, and that I've been a little dramatic at times regarding it. In all fairness, 4kids has done what it thought was best. In all rationality, 4kids is moronic for picking up this kind of show in the first place, but let's not dwell on the past. For today a new era is born, a new era of excellence where even considering all possible disasters, uncut DVDs will still be made available to all. A new age of quality. A new age of adventure! A new age of Piracy!

PS. The next person that tries to argue with me that the OP pirates aren't pirates, or that the show itself is pretty stupid, or otherwise blows off my opinion in some sort of argumentative manner without even attempting to understand why I like the show, is going to get punched. I have my fandom - leave me alone if you're gonna be a jerk about it. When the polar ice caps melt and I'm sailing around the Nevada Sea having a great time, I'm not gonna let you join my crew. And then won't you be sorry!

I don't know! Third Base!

2007-09-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

The weather suddenly turned on us this weekend. Today's high was 57 (compared to last week's 80's). I got to wear my sweet jacket and the awesomest gloves ever, but I have to say, jacket season on a bike is not really all that fun. As you ride the wind whips past you so you can't NOT wear a jacket or you'd freeze. On the other hand, riding starts to heat up the core of your body so you get hot even though you're actually also cold. It kinda sucks. I expect the weather to yo-yo a few more times before the cold weather really kicks in - enough time for me to get used to wearing socks and close-toed shoes again.

I must have looked like such a freshman on campus today, hauling around a guitar on my back, carrying my huge astronomy book around. Along with my purse, notebook, and a pizza box I was having a really hard time getting around with only two arms... Despite the fact that I don't really need a shoulder bag this semester, I think I'm going to get one just so those 5 minutes between classes is less frustrating.

Mad Mad Monday
Who?

I wasn't really sure what to play for you guys this evening. There was stuff I want to post, but I just didn't feel like any of it tonight. So instead of that, this is something I only recently discovered. People have been posting old radio dramas and comedy shows online as podcasts,and finding and listening to these has been the highlight of my weekend. I used to borrow old Abbott and Costello tapes from my local library, but they mostly consisted of their most famous segments, not the entire 30 min broadcasts. Even next to contemporary comedians, Abbott and Costello are still one of my favorite comedy acts.

Their most famous segment is probably 'Who's on First," but while most people get the reference, it's really worth checking out the original bit if you've never heard it.

Abbott and Costello - Who's on First

Abbott and Costello repeat gags and re-use their most popular segments throughout the course of their radio and film careers. For that reason the bit really stands on it's own well. But if you want to hear it with surrounding context, you can download one of their full length programs here. In this one, Joe DiMaggio sends Lou Costello a letter asking him to sub for him on the New York Yankees as he recovers from foot surgery. It's worth checking out, as is the rest of the podcast.

One Piece Premiere

2007-09-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

You're Invited!

8pm on Saturday, September 29th, at Kimberly's apartment. There will be food, music, and socializing. Episode begins at 11pm. Pizza will be provided - if possible, RSVP to ensure a proper head count. Please bring a snack to share or a few dollars towards the pizza fund.

The aim of this party is to celebrate the release of Funimation's version of One Piece and to view their treatment of the series. This will be episode 144 by the Japanese count. Because it's at the beginning of a new story arc, there shouldn't be any spoilers. A short review of "the story so far" will be available, along with a history of 4kids treatment for anyone who hasn't heard me babble about it yet. Contact me to RSVP, if you have any questions, or need directions to my place.

Going Ons

2007-09-21T19:46:00.001-07:00

Quark decided to show One Piece at the anime screening this week in honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day. I had nothing to do with this. I'm not sure which I find more funny - the fact that when I was Films VP of Quark I would NEVER have touched 4kids One Piece, or the fact that I was eager to go and had a relatively good time.

The current Films VP didn't actually show up, so the prez, having heard that this was one of my favorite shows, asked me to substitute. Actually, it was more like he let me since I volunteered once I got there. It ended up being a really good thing I was there to warn them of what they were about to see, since most of them (including the MIA Films VP who picked the title) had no idea. I got to stand up in front of a captive audience and rant about the history of One Piece and what 4kids did wrong and what 4kids did right (haha) and the future of One Piece in America. I don't know if any of you have ever experienced it, but ranting about a passion to a halfway interested audience is GLORIOUS. It beats boring my friends who I'm sure all roll their eyes behind my back. ;)

I invited everyone there to my One Piece party on the 29th. I need to post on the Quark boards about that so people remember. I expect maybe 3 people who only know me through Quark to show up. I'll post all the formal details for the rest of you guys soon.

In other news, I just received a package I ordered from Right Stuf. I finally decided to collect Princess Nine. You wish your favorite sports anime was this cool. Bad News - The discs have been discontinued by ADV. Good News - Vol. 3-6 are $7 clearance on Right Stuf. Bad News - NO ONE IN THE UNIVERSE HAS VOLUMES 1 AND 2. I've looked everywhere I can think of online and called all the DVD dealers in Provo/Orem. Borders said they had them but it turns out they were lying. Next stop is checking out eBay and Amazon used sales... SOMEONE's gotta have it and not want it. So if you see anything... or know of any super secret online DVD/anime retailers... let me know. Dang.. 10 steps behind the curve yet again.

I also picked up the series' two soundtracks for $4 each. Listening to them has just got me more anxious to find the first two discs. Much of the music is orchestrated. By the Philharmonic Orchestra! Man I love this series.

Speaking of Music, I also picked up the first disc of Beck (on sale for $14). I've heard a lot of good things about it. Plus it came with a Beck guitar pick! Since I actually play the guitar now (hahaha), the purchase is already useful. Apparently Greg Ayres can sing. Who woulda guessed? I can definitely see myself collecting this entire series, depending on how disc one turns out.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me

2007-09-17T01:06:00.000-07:00

An early post, so you can spend all of Monday enjoying it.

Monday: Pirate Edition
YOU are a Pirate.

This Wednesday, September 19th, is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. In honor, please enjoy the piratical goodness contained herein, and don't forget to celebrate by throwing a few "arrrr"s and "ahoy"s around.

Lazy Town - You Are A Pirate. I spent days looking for this mp3. You should definitely check out the now famous video here. One of the greatest pirate songs to come out of children's television in decades.

Reliant K - The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. This song was awesome when it first appeared on Veggie Tales. Personally I feel it's been a bit played out since then, but that's not to say I don't enjoy it. It certainly deserves its place on this list. If you too have heard this song often, maybe you've yet to hear this version at least. And who knows, maybe someone out there hasn't heard it at all.

Monkey Island 3 - Barbershop Trio. Ah Monkey Island. This isn't a soundtrack piece - it was captured in-game (not by me). After Guybrush assembles a crew out a shorthanded barbershop quartet, your map is stolen and the crew breaks out into song. Figuring out how to get them to stop proves difficult. Catchy tune though.

Monkey Island - Scumm Bar. Classic pirate tune from the first game. The Monkey Island games flip-flop in awesomeness: Odds = good, Evens = Meh. In Game 4 you return to Melee Island and the Scumm Bar. The updated song may have superior sound quality and fancy background chatter, but really fails to capture the gritty, welcoming mood of the first. It's actually pretty generic sounding. At least we can mathematically prove that Monkey Island 5 will be super great, making up for 4, as the third game did for number 2.

Saturday Night Live skit. To get you in that swashbuckling mood.

Ray Stevens - The Pirate Song. Not into the traditional pirate lifestyle? No problem. We got you covered.

Arrogant Worms - The Last Saskatchewan Pirate. Proving once again that Canada is awesome at everything.

Pirates of the Carribean. The famous track. You know, that one. The one everyone knows.

One Piece BGM - Kaizoku. The argument that One Piece pirates aren't real pirates is rubbish. They're simply not traditional pirates - by any means. Heck, they don't even talk like pirates (don't study them for ideas on Talk Like A Pirate Day). Even in music, One Piece doesn't have a lot of songs that are all that pirate-y, though "traditional" themes show up here and there. The songs on this track (translated as "Pirate") are about as yo-ho fabricated pirate lifestyle as it gets. To the Grand Line also has a great pirate sound, particularly in the second half.

One Piece Movie 4 - Port City Hannibal. Port City Hannibal - where all the scum and villainy across the Grand Line come to hang out. I love the theme mixing in this song. The OP movies are a whole separate bag from the series when it comes to soundtracks. Some, like this one, feel kinda pirate-y. Others, not so much. But I'm saving all my favorite tv and movie pieces for the One Piece premiere in a few weeks.

These monday things keep multiplying... If you're wondering, no, this isn't the extent of my pirate song collection. I've tried to boil this list down best I could (but plenty of stuff snuck back on there), and I've spared you from a few I only keep around for novelty purposes (The Wiggles had more than one). Don't expect 10+ songs next week though... If anyone actually enjoys this enough to expect anything at all.

I hope I have inspired the sea rover in everyone. Including YOU. Because YOU are a PIRATE. Let me know how Talk Like A Pirate Day turns out for everyone. :)

I leaned stuff at school today!

2007-09-10T19:40:00.001-07:00

17 credits! Not as impressive as it sounds, as 2 of them are Guitar (easily less work than any .5 credit dance or exsc class). And 3 of them are Asian Cinema taught by the bestest teacher on all of BYU campus, so that class will be a more a treat than anything. All the other classes I've been to have said stuff like "Usually I do a lot of quizzes, but I didn't this year" or "I've never had open book tests before but this year I figured why not?" Best semester ever. I hope. Get back to me on that in a month or so.

Which brings us to this weeks...

Media March
Oh how I want to be...

You get to hear my first guitar song ever! Lucky you! It's "When the Saints Go Marching In." No really, just give it a minute and I promise it sounds like it. Song performed by me + posted on the internets = As of now I am OFFICIALLY an independent artist. Boo ya!

Sunday Recording - using only the text book as a guide. Sorry, no singing. I didn't want to hit you with a double whammy of terrible and amature folk music.

Monday Recording - after my first actual guitar class. Equally no singing. Uses an actual strum pattern. Sorry for the pauses in these. G chord is hard to switch to. Especially when your fingers really hurt from all the bad takes you've done in the last 20 minutes.

How it's supposed to sound (as recorded and sung by my teacher).

Falling asleep? Here is one of the greatest versions of this song ever.

That's all for this week. But as an extra note, I want to remind everyone that September 19th is almost upon us! This day always sneaks up on me. But this year I both have and shall give proper warning to anyone paying attention. September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Next Monday's entry will be filled with much pirate-y goodness in celebration. For those of you with the guts to observe the date this year, I want some swashbuckling tales of your adventures! Is anyone gonna dress up? Totally send me a pic if you are.

We Shadows vol. 1

2007-09-07T19:12:00.001-07:00

I was all set to play some FFXI when PlayOnline hits me with a big honkin upgrade. Since I've got some time to kill, lemme tell you about a graphic novel I picked up last week...

While reading up on different cons and listening to various interviews, it became obvious that Sonny Strait (voice actor, director, writer, and artist extraordinaire) had an agenda at this year's con circuit. Sonny recently signed a deal with Tokyopop for a new series. The first volume came out just a few weeks ago and he's been pushing it like crazy. But it wasn't the fact that Sonny Strait is an awesome voice actor that got me to buy this book. The final proverbial nail in the coffin was when Publisher's Weekly described the art style, saying "Strait's art is eye-catching: more anarchic than pure manga; it's influenced as much by Tex Avery as by CLAMP." Did they just say Tex frickin Avery? Old cartoons being my one true weakness, that's when I knew I would soon be out $10.

The cover, description, and foreword all assured me that this comic was about faeries. Yet the first page opens up with a man visiting his shrink, describing his most recent "lost time" episode. Once he leave, the shrink turns to the audience and introduces himself as the narrator, who then proceeds to somehow lose track of the audience. Cut to the queen of faeries who wakes up naked inside a venus fly trap. Cut to a part-faerie mercenary and his drunken donkey-faced friend. Somewhere in there we're introduced to Goat, the main character, who laments that her only friend is a mushroom and she hopes that doesn't make her insane. She thinks she's a faerie princess in training but she's actually.. well, I shouldn't give anymore of it away. It's much more fun when every new page turn brings a new "wtf?!" moment (not that anything I could say could prevent that).

As far as comics go, I'm pretty tired of crappy shojo, invincible heroes, and cliche enemies. I like bizzare things that mess with my expectations. Even so, I almost feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew with We Shadows. I'm tightly gripped by it's story, but I expect this will be an abusive relationship. As Wendy Pini says in her foreword, "You may end up wishing We Shadows were merely surreal, like Alice in Wonderland. No such luck. Sonny really is messing with your mind."

The volume ends with a few things tied up, but several questions left dangling. The most pressing of which is: When does volume 2 come out?

Random Candy Oh Noes!

2007-09-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

Months ago I had to research an Elvis Anniversary "Collector's Edition" Reese Peanut Butter Cup. They were Peanut Butter and Banana Creme flavored. This flavor combo was intriguing, and it was probably one of the oddest things I had to profile that week.

Today I saw them while grocery shopping.

Just to improve your random knowledge database, there are 4 collector's edition wrappers, and some kind of connected contest to win Elvis memorabilia. This creation stems from Elvis' apparent love of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Isn't it great that I learn so many applicable things at work?

I thought it strange that the anniversary mentioned was the 30th anniversary of his death - candy seems an odd way to pay homage - but I can't complain too much after buying and eating the thing. It was totally delicious.

With The Funk

2007-09-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

Got back from Idaho a few hours ago after helping my Mom move all weekend. It was fun visiting the family (and Reilly, who is apparently my "new best friend"). I brought with me a new bike that I'm very happy about, a new comic book I hope to post more about soon, and the knowledge that my hair CAN be curled using copious amounts of product and a hair difuser. The pictures are mind boggling, and may appear here if I can ever get them off my currently dead camera.

I didn't get to go to Anime Banzai, but I'm thinking of throwing my own Anime convention instead. Contact me if you're interested in participating. First, I'll need to gather a group of 10 friends. Eight of them will sign up to be guest speakers on panels of topics of their own choosing. The other two will put together the screening room schedule, and hopefully only one of them will flake out. At least 3 guests will drop out at the last minute (any out of state volunteers will work perfectly for this). Everyone else will bring snacks, and after 10 minutes of the first BS panel we'll skip out on the rest and just watch anime all night.

I'm planning on a killer con summer next year (we'll see how my enthusiasm, cash, and time frame hold up for that though), so let me know if there are any current plans to any specific cons.

Manic Monday
It's just another...

The promised Monday update is late, but twice as good.

For anyone who played Parappa the Rapper, you probably know of it's pseudo sequel, Um Jammer Lammy (not to be confused with it's actual sequel, Parappa the Rapper 2). I must confess... I'm not as good at the Parappa and Lammy games as I'd like to be. The gameplay is awkward at times, and it often feels like hitting the button "on cue" is later than the game would like. I hear people using these excuses on Space Channel 5 and Elite Beat Agents and mentally scoff at their obvious lack of win (and so fully admit that this may be the case for me). Still, the visuals are so bizzare that I can't help but enjoy playing, and the excellent music doesn't hurt either. Particularly in the case of Um Jammer Lammy, listening to the soundtrack usually brings as much joy as the game itself.

Um Jammer Lammy - Fire Fire!!

After completing the game as unfortunate guitarist Lammy, you unlock Parappa mode with hop-hop versions of all stages. The Fire Fire stage is probably my third favorite Lammy song, but may be my favorite Parappa song. Super groove time.

Um Jammer Lammy - Parappa - Fire Fire!!

These downloads brought to you by Joe Chin internet service provider. Giving you overpriced slow internet since before it was profitable.

Meanderings

2007-08-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

I'd like to think that in general I'm pretty mellow. I don't complain a lot and I don't give too much thought to minor setbacks. But unarguably, I am having a crummy week.

Today I had a very important meeting at work at 2pm. I left my house at 1pm. I got to work at 2:15 pm. I HATE THE BUS. Sure the 830 comes every 15 minutes - unless it's late, or early, or just doesn't feel like coming at all, making me miss the transfer that would have gotten me there half an hour earlier. I could have walked to work in less time. But walking is so slow! How do pedestrians on foot stand being so slow? The best part is that work is 10 minutes away from my apartment on bike. Grawr.

Sad as life without a bike is, it looks like I don't have to worry about it much longer.

I called my mom and she said that if it doesn't turn up by this weekend, I can always just take Dad's bike back with me. Afterwards I got all emotional about it. That bike shouldn't be available. Since it is, I'm grateful that's an option rather than buying a new one. It will be a bittersweet item to bring home, and I'm still hoping my own bike turns up for that reason.

I've actually had my dad on my mind a lot this week. There are a lot of thoughts running through my head, but I don't think I'm an open enough person to blog them all. I guess it's enough to say that it feels like it's been both longer and shorter than 3 months, and that I really, really miss him.

Knowing that either way, I will have a bike by the time school starts gives me one less thing to fret about. Now to just figure out my class schedule, tuition, student loan info, and how I'm getting to Idaho this weekend. Oh, and finishing unpacking all my boxes.

Alright people, I know it's uber short notice but I want to go to Anime Banzai on Friday! My ideal plan is go to SLC on Friday, leave on the shuttle for Idaho Friday night, and then hitch a ride back from either Troy or maybe Tom, with bike in tow. If that falls through I'll just head to Idaho Friday morning, so let me know if anyone's interested in driving to SLC and going to the con! Like ASAP.

Check back Monday for more random media things. Posting those is actually a lot of fun. I hope a handful of you are getting as much enjoyment out of it as I am.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

2007-08-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

Old Mill doesn't believe they have my bike. I called the police department and they dispatched officers to my apartment before I knew what was going on. Nerve racking, but a report has been filed.

Also...

It was freaking delicious.

Media Monday
Wait, is this actually an ongoing thing?

Space Channel 5 part 2 - Title Theme - Mexican Flyer (Big Band version)

Space Channel 5 part 2 is still my favorite rhythm game. Enjoy the title theme, originally by Ken Woodman & His Piccadilly Brass. The entire game mixes big band, techno, and funkified 70's sounds. Say what you will about how ridiculous this game is - I love it's bizzare world, awesome gameplay, and super funky style. Expect more of it's music in the future. I've really been itching to play this game lately. I should have gotten Jill's PS2 back from Ted before he left for Korea.

Well, I'm off to catch the bus. If anyone sees my bike around town, let me know.

The Obscure Holidays are the Fun Ones

2007-08-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

I'm about to start taking my computer apart. I just wanted to say before I do so:

Happy National Banana Split Day! Now go get ye to the local ice cream parlor and partake. Twill be the high point of my weekend considering all that's happened so far.

Day Thus Far

2007-08-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

I rode my bike to the new place to sign a contract with the landlord. Write a check, sign my name, get a key, BAM - 10 min tops, right? The Landlord called after 10 min of waiting and said she got stuck in Orem and said she'd be there a little late. After waiting over a half an hour, she then called and said it would be a lot longer than that and that we could sign it tomorrow. So I left, and took the bus back home, because my bike was gone.

BAM.

I'm hoping ground maintenance took it per their "no stuff on the sidewalk rule" that my probably-new-roommates looked up after the fact. They apparently don't believe in office hours on Saturday so I won't find out if they have it until Monday. If they don't then I get to fill out a stolen property form with the Police. It shall be a new and grand adventure.

On the up side, unless something goes terribly horribly wrong, I now have (per verbal agreement at least) a place to move into tomorrow. Most of my friends with cars are out of town, but anyone reading this want to help? I would totally buy snacks or something for anyone willing to do so.

Bleh. I'm gonna go eat some pancakes.

I used to worry 'bout the future...

2007-08-23T21:45:00.001-07:00

Found a new apartment. I want to buy it. I desire to give the landlord a lot of money. So WHY WON'T THEY ANSWER THE PHONE?! It's too late for them to call me back tonight, which gives me plenty of time to stress about the possibility that in the 45 min between when I talked to the landlord and looked at the place they sold both available contracts, and the fact that I have one day to figure out where I'm going when I get kicked out of here on Saturday.

HURRAY FOR MOVING!

Well, I'd better get back to packing (lies - I'm probably playing Elite Beat Agents).

Media Mondays

2007-08-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Media Monday
Dedicated to providing some semblance of wanted content.

I'm giving you something to download today. Because I want to show how much I care. And because giving away free candy always makes the come back for more.

Though I most certainly am a girl, I wish to say that I am not a very girly-girl. I suppose I lean somewhat towards the androgynous in my interests. I like shows and movies that have CONTENT, not hot men or cutesy critters. Though I can appreciate such things, I am not easily swayed by appeals to my girly nature. I most certainly can choose not to love something adorable as easily as I can chose to do so - the decision is not outside myself.

Well, except for Chopper.

Chopper, the archetypal animal side kick, has a reputation of being popular among female fans of One Piece. This is easy enough to explain - quite simply, none of them have a choice. Despite my personal arguments against it, Chopper may very well be proof of predestination. And if Chopper's involved, it can't really be that bad can it?

The sight or sound of Chopper at any time may cause a veritable well of joy and happiness to spring up within me, often impairing judgment. This effect may be amplified if it's Chopperman related material. Such as this:

The Chopperman Theme Song (lyrics translation)

This song often causes me to stifle giggling at work. I could be morose or frustrated one minute and suddenly nearly sparkling with a huge dopey grin on my face for the next three. Omg I'm giggling right now while thinking about it. I must be stopped.

Kyuun Spark!!

*falls to the floor twitching*

Stuff I've watched lately

2007-08-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

I saw Stardust last week. It's been a while since I've seen a high-fantasy movie or a movie based on a book that I throughly enjoyed. Stardust was both, and it ended up being a really solid film that didn't skip a beat. It's way fun and has my recommendation.

I caught High School Musical 2 on Disney tonight. The story of a boy with two beautiful girls chasing after him, yet who still somehow feels his masculinity is compromised by his natural singing talent. Also, there's a baseball dance number! If you thought sports animes were great, wait till you check out this latest entry in the sports musical scene:
Ryan is my hero. HSM two-part marathon anyone? No serious, let's do it.

I finished Niea_7 again this week (that makes three times total). Every time I watch it I remember why I like it so much, and then eventually forget and have to watch it again. I dunno it's... relaxed. And makes me feel a lot better about my future whenever I watch it. To quote Genzo, it's just really free. This time I own the discs, and I noticed a really bizzare in-joke on the DVD cases. The backs are all... Sound of Music references? "How do you solve a problem like NieA?" "Some of my Strangest Things" "auf Wiedersehen, Goodnight..." and "Climb Every Rooftop." ...what? I think next time I'll watch it in Japanese - I think I've only seen the English dub (cause it's good).

Have you ever heard of The Adventures of Mini-Goddess? I apparently own it now, and have seen all 48 mini-episodes. It's rather bizzare.

Cons and stuff

2007-08-19T00:43:00.000-07:00

With the summer and the con-circuit winding down, I kinda felt sad that I'd missed out on going to any this year. But about an hour ago I discovered that there's going to be a con held in Salt Lake two weeks from now. Anime Banzai will be a 2 day Fri/Sat event, and much smaller than AX (so there's a better chance of doing everything you'd want to).

Anyway... that's the same weekend I might be heading to Idaho. Nothing's set in stone either way, so we'll see. But... would anyone else around here be interested in going? $30 at the door for both days. If there's no interest and everyone I know with cars will be gone that weekend, that makes my decision pretty easy. Still, I think I'd really like to go if I'll be in town and other people want to.

There was apparently some discussion about this con in 2006 on the Quark boards (in fact Kirsa actually went to it last year), but nothing this year. I haven't posted there in months... but maybe I'll go mention it on there later this week and see if there's interest.

And now for no other reason than that I like playing with my toys...

This is the Ultimate Showdown (of Ultimate Wingedry).

Winged Contender number one is Charles the III, a sharply dressed bat and deadly rival to hero Viewtiful Joe! Winged Contender two is an old one that needs no introduction - plushie Cthulu! Winged Contender three is everyone's favorite bug type from the original 150 - Butterfree! And Winged Contender four is the star of his own Disney animated series, Goliath the gargoyle!

Oh the humanity! Who will reign triumphant? Place your bets now!

Thrilling conclusion! Flood story and aftermath.

2007-08-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

These are photos I took pretty much as soon as I got home, several hours after the flooding occurred. My roommates had moved my furniture and sucked up a decent amount of the water at this point. ... Here's the immediate aftermath of the flooding.

My room sans stuff on the floor - a rare sight.

The thick padding under the carpet. This stuff is AWESOME by the way. It ensures that a carpet stays wet for several days after attempting to dry it. Many thanks to Ashton for finding us that huge power fan.

So exactly how much water can a carpet hold? At least 9 of these. For pete's sake, how long was that hose on?

After going over the carpet with the vacuum for the 7th time, we at least know that the carpet is indeed still wet.

I already said it but I got very lucky. Amongst the items that were miraculously saved:

My japanese edition of the One Piece Color Walk art book.

I'd picked it up off the floor that very morning, so it missed being waterlogged by hours. I'd also just barely returned Troy's expensive hardcover BESM book which had been sitting on my floor for weeks. My DS lite spends it's nights (and most days) on the floor next to my bed since I use it as an alarm clock. For some reason I picked it up and put it on my desk that morning.

Items that didn't escape so easily:

My scripture quad I've had since I was 8 years old! Aw man...

Only the last 200 pgs of index or so got wet, and luckily these things are built durable. It'll be fine.

A lot of papers I'd been meaning to put in my file box got wet. Some of these unimportant, some of these more so.. most of it was pretty salvageable. My sheet music got wet, making it the second time for them (left them out in the rain a couple months ago). My FFXI Vana'diel map got wet (although now it looks distinctly more map-like, so I can't complain too much about that). Probably the item that I lament the most out of all of them was my copy of the novelization of the Death of Superman. I got it for Christmas from my uncle a long time ago, and I'd just barely retrieved it from Idaho to keep at my place. It's shown some spots of molding, so time will tell if it's salvageable. I really liked that book...

This book I just bought got totally soaked...

Earlier this summer I bought several fake tatoos (cause fake tatoos are fun). Some of them were on the floor and got wet, and, well, they transfer onto that clear plastic when that happens.

These are not very useful to me.

Mr. Genius Car Wash finally showed up to our house several days after the incident. He is quoted as saying "wow, that really sucks... keep me posted on what happens." Note: If you ever find yourself in a situation where you've flooded someone's house, it's probably polite to ask how extensive the damage was. If you don't have the means to help pay for damaged items, you might at least offer to help vacuum carpets or move furniture. If you don't have the time for this, then saying, gee I dunno, "I'm sorry" might be a good idea. Maybe.

While my computer was over at Troy's, I had Troy's computer techie roommate look at it. He works at a computer parts store and has a lot of his own stuff lying around, so he was able to fix me up with a pretty much new computer for relatively cheap. Sadly, it's been at Troy's for over a week while he finished up with it (he kept forgetting the last 2 things he needed for most of that time), but I've finally got it back. In fact, everything in my room is back to normal. Everything's moved back into my room, everything's clean and organized. Everthing even smells normal. Just in time for me to find a new apartment and move out by next week! Awesome.

Prime Blogging Material

2007-08-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

The basement flooded on Wednesday. Nothing too deep, but deep enough that the thick carpet in my room was completely soaked, with small pools on top, according to my roommates. I've currently transported my computer to Troy's house while the carpet dries out. I've been trying to spend as little time at home as possible, since the entire downstairs smells like wet rug. It's pretty gross.

If only I could say that this was the fault of some broken water line or kitchen piping disaster. The story's pretty funny, but only if you have a high tolerance for the stupidity of others. As luck would have it, I generally do. If you don't you may want to change your channel now.

My basement room has a big window well that lets sun and air into my otherwise underground room. Right outside this window well is a small garden area and a hose our landlords use to water said area. It's also apparently a convenient place to wash your car, as regularly this kid comes by to wash his truck. I only found this out after the fact, but apparently no one in the house currently knows this kid beyond his name. He used to know people who lived here last semester. He doesn't even live in the ward anymore, but he still regularly comes by to wash his car.

Apparently, sometime on Wednesday he came by. Once he was done, he left the hose on full blast and drove away. Right next to my window well. Which proceeded to flood. Did I mention I leave my window open pretty much all the time?

Several hours later (I wasn't home at the time) my roommate noticed water seeping out from under my door. She ran in and started moving all my stuff that was on the floor. My miracle roommate Ashton somehow acquired a water vacuum and a giant fan, and they started soaking up the water from the floor as best they could. They eventually called me, and I came home pretty soon after that.

The water spread pretty far. Both my roommates had wet carpets a foot or two into their rooms, and the hallway was pretty wet. My entire room - every corner - was soaked, all the way to the back of my walk-in closet. The fan's been on full blast the entire time, and I've run the water vacuum over the carpet twice more. (Question: how much water can a thick carpet and carpet padding hold? Answer: A whole effing lot.) I'm almost out of fabreeze trying to keep the wet carpet smell to a minimum.

I'm really grateful my roommates moved my stuff as fast as they did. I'm actually extremely lucky - my computer's fine, all my books are fine, my files are fine. Very few things were ruined, and none of it important or at least irreplaceable. I miraculously straightened my room right before leaving, so some of this stuff missed getting ruined by mere hours.

We've tried contacting Mr. Car Wash Genius, but as far as I know he hasn't gotten back to anyone who's called him. Overall this has been a pretty funny episode in my summer vacation. As soon as the situation had really sunk in I whipped out my camera, thinking "this is SO going in my blog." Pictures will be forthcoming once my camera, computers, and wires are all in the same place.

Episode 6: Fighting Love? Fighting Claws! A Girl's Heart is Always True!

2007-08-08T10:56:00.001-07:00

Kuro: I always have a plan Sailor Moon. And today's plan is... your DOOM!
Sailor Moon: Oh snap!

Goliath: Seriously, where the crap is that girl? We're supposed to go handbag shopping after this.
Meowth: Meowth, that's right!
Goliath: Shut up Meowth, you're not even supposed to be in this episode.
Supergirl: Ok seriously, can I get the alcohol menu?

My room is a mess again.

2007-08-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

My brother recently got a pet gerbil. My sister-in-law had to go and send pictures, so now I've been subjected to it's utter cuteness and wish-i-had-a-pet syndrome has temporarily kicked in. When I was younger I managed to convinced my parents to let me get something small and cageable, so during elementary school there was a short series of hamsters (all meeting terrible ends). I never could convince them to let me have a rabbit. And I've always wanted to try mice or a rat... Oh well, maybe someday after I move out of student-approved housing.

For now I've been very happy to have the company of two plants I took in over the summer. I've yet to kill them! They're actually both incredibly healthy looking. I live in the basement so I get limited sun exposure, but they're positioned to take full advantage of it. If it's overcast or my blinds are down for a few days, you can really tell. It's been sunny, so here they are sitting in my window, (almost) as green as can be.

I should probably hang the one on the right before I've got vines all over my carpet. And I think the one on the left needs a a bigger pot. It's grown quite a bit taller over the past two months, and leaves on the outside keep turning yellow and falling off.

Besides, the pot it came with is just cheap plastic. And yes, that's a pie tin underneath it... But where does one go to make such a purchase? I've never really had to buy plant supplies before. I'll ride around Provo and check out the craft/gardening scene. I'm sure I can find one with minimal effort (but if anyone has a suggestion to reduce my effort to zero, that'd be nice).

Wait a second... what the heck is that behind the plant?

Holy crap! It's scary looking enormous fisted Luffy (last mentioned here)! *dun dun DUN* It appears as though he's getting ready to eat that magical girl!

But here comes the real Luffy and Sanji to save the day! XD Joy of joys!

Thus ended Scary-looking Enormous-fisted Bizzaro Luffy's magical girl killing spree. Thanks to our heroes.

~The End~

Stay tuned next week! Captain Kuro makes a special guest appearance and challenges Sailor Moon to a fight! But what about her lunch date with Super Girl and Goliath the gargoyle!? Will anyone survive?! Will Kimberly ever put her toys away!?!

Mithra Know How to Party!

2007-08-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hey all! ~.^

Mahina here, giving you the latest update from Vana'diel! I was recently invited to a killer beach party at the luxurious Valkurm Dunes. (thanks for the invite Fylia!) I didn't think I'd be able to make it, cause the traffic to Mhaura was terrible - there were goblins everywhere. But I made it and I was surprised how cheap boat tickets were! I got an AMAZING deal and it was only 100 gil! The Hume ticket attendant probably thought I was cute (lol he was super HOTT!). The boat ride was really cool so I took a lot of pictures. I hope you like them!

Here's me on the boat:

Here's more of the boat:

Me posing with the captain! He was really nice.

On the boat I found out why tickets were so cheap. Can you believe the waters around here are so dangerous? And they don't even hire any guards or anything so you pretty much just have to fend for yourself. I almost died SERIOUSLY. o.O Here's a pic of some of the monsters that came aboard while I was on. Like right after taking this one of them jumped at me. It's way too bad I didn't get a pic of THAT!

It was kinda late when we got to Selbina. That place is really cool! I hope I can go back and do some shopping or something there sometime. Here's me posing with the Elvaan at the docks, for no real reason. ~.^

The party at the dunes was pretty cool, but Fylia said that it wasn't as good as other times she's gone. Apparently these Goblin Bounty Hunters recently moved into the area and are pretty much annoying all the residents and visitors there. One of them showed up and the party just fell apart - it was way super lame (but just the end, the rest was cool). Maybe I'll post pictures of the party later!

Bye all!
~Mahina~

Weather Update

2007-08-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at work, about an hour after I got there, there was a sudden "ffzt" noise. All the lights and computers blinked off, resetting everyone's computers. While everyone was muttering and logging in again, someone who had been outside on break walked in and asked "Did you guys hear that noise outside?" Apparently there had been some really loud pop as a transformer on a nearby power line blew. The rest of the building was completely without power, and only our department was spared. Lucky us.

Then about 20 min later, another "ffzt" noise and all our IP phones turned off. The internet of course went with them, and since we all work on remote desktops, work was pretty much over for the day. After about half an hour of waiting for word from the power company, they told us it would be several hours so we all just left.

One of the visiting managers said the surge might have been cause by lightning. Despite no signs of rain at all, there had been some stormy dry lightning off in the distance surrounding Provo. Provo is as muggy and humid as all get out this week, and it still hasn't rained yet. There are drops here or there, but no downpour. It's been pretty awful. Still, it's better than 100 degrees of dry air and direct sunny rays which was what the weather was like last week.

Gosh I can't wait for fall.

By the way, the day trip to Lagoon on Saturday was AWESOME. Amusement parks are the coolest places ever because roller coasters and carnival rides are the greatest things ever. We actually covered pretty much the entire park, even including dilly-dallying and delays, so that's one thing Lagoon has over Cedar Point. Of course, Cedar Point has several things over Lagoon. And by over I mean taller. And by taller I mean the roller coasters. Lagoon's tallest was 110 ft. It was fast and pretty dang fun, but nigh incomparable to the 160 ft Mean Streak or 310 ft Millennium Force.

Plus Ben! And More!

2007-07-27T23:09:00.001-07:00

NO! Ben! I didn't forget your gifts. I was simply.. saving the best for last. And if I had forgotten about them (which I didn't!) it would probably have been because you gave them so early that when recalling all my gifts I didn't think about them. But I've already bragged to all my friends about what you got me so accusing me of forgetting is moot either way.

BEN'S PRESENTS:

As opposed to the DSLite, which averaged the "Most People Involved in a Single Present," Ben won the average for "Most Presents from a Single Person." Four films. Three disks. And many several weirdos and pirates. Impressive to say the least.

First off we have The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values. The former I have seen at least 3 times (and totally fell in love with when showing it at Quark about a year ago). Values I've only seen once. But now I can watch it again and again whenever I want!

Blackbeard is a Mini-series that apparently ran on Hallmark over a year ago. I haven't heard of it (neither had Ben), but it's described by the creators as "a little Master and Commander, a dash of Horatio Hornblower, some Captain Blood and some history." The only one of those things I've seen is Master and Commander, and that was pretty awesome. And history. I likes me some Blackbeard history. Have yet to watch this one, but I hope to be able to add it to my collection of made-for-TV-awesomeness next to 10th Kingdom and Gulliver's Travels.

Lastly, Cutthroat Island. Cutthroat Island... man oh man. Remember how when Pirates of the Caribbean came out, everyone said "The return of the pirate movie!" and "Finally, a good pirate movie!" and "This film will really put pirates back into pop culture." They said that because prior to that film, movies like Cutthroat Island were made. It apparently tanked at the box office in 1995. In fact it is in the Guinness book of World Records as the biggest box office flop in history. I watched this movie several years ago, and despite not remembering much about it, I do remember laughing - a lot - at parts that probably weren't intended to be funny.

I'm waiting for the perfect time to watch this gem again, and I'm starting to suspect that time might be the upcoming pirate party (PS. Plan on mid-September everybody). It would be full on MST3K style of course. Beats a lecture on OP episode comparison. Probably. If not at the pirate party then sometime with a large group of people. Anyone morbidly curious enough?

ALSO!

An additional addendum thanking James for his gift: A full edition of Final Fantasy XI in a shiny box, complete with a free month. Sure he got it for cheap with slightly selfish motivations - I am still grateful. I'm really loving it so far. It's different than World of Warcraft - in some ways better, in some ways not. He also got me into his respectable guild, the Shirt Ninjas (started by Real Life Comic's Greg Dean), and everyone's been super nice so far, helping me kill stuff, taking me to high level areas, and giving me free gear. Speaking of which...

This is my character, Mahina, in the Summer Festival gear that a very kindly guildmate paid for (that stuff's not cheap). He says he did it out of spite... or something like that. But isn't she cute?! This gear is probably just as revealing, if not less so, as the starting Mithran Separates outfit. Maybe I'll post more pictures once I purchase some actual pants. Or really tall boots.

Birthday Thank You Notes

2007-07-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

This is the story of how my family got me the perfect gifts for my birthday this year (even if some were by accident), and how my friends helped.

I guess I'll share the most complicated story first. Samantha, knowing I had a DS with a scratched up screen, went with Joe to pick out a new game and brand new screen protectors. They got me Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, which I'd played and loved but didn't owned. Later in the same week, Ted saw the game cheap and, also knowing I wanted it, bought it for me as an early gift. When I got to Provo, Sam luckily found out before my birthday, and they exchanged the game for Brain Boost: Beta Wave. The screen protectors they got me ended up being for the DSLite and wouldn't have fit on my DS Phat. Sad times indeed, but I brought them home anyway.

Part 2 of this story is, of course, when the diabolical plot to steal my DS was set into motion, and Troy appeared with a ridiculously complicated story of how his parents were coming through on the way to see his sister and he wanted to show them the DS and to make sure to include more of the educational games rather than the blah blah blah.. Unsuspecting, I gave up my DS for what would be the last time, as my friends cashed it in and purchased the DSLite upgrade to surprise me with later that week.

So now I have two new awesome games (one I wanted, and one that I didn't know existed but is way awesome) to play on my beautifully bright DSLite with brand new screen protectors and an extra stylus. Whew.

*Sanji Bauble Not Included

In a much more straightforward gift, Sarah got me an extra big memory card for my camera, which has lead to the photo surge seen earlier this month (and as seen above). Paired with my recent discovery of Picasa and Google Images (which I've already gushed about enough), I plan on keeping the photo trend going.

I also got some cash from my mom, which turns out to be the exact amount that the first One Piece uncut box set will cost when it hits stores sometime after Nov. It will be set aside for the specific purpose until then.

Ilya also suprised me with the DVD of Masters of Russian Animation: Vol. 2. I saw some of these in my History of Animation class where I fell in love with the Eastern European shorts, so this was a really great gift to add to my ever growing cartoon collection. Here's one of my favorites, a 10min short by Fyodor Khitruk in 1973 called "The Island."

Ilya's also been posting other Russian animation shorts on his blog lately if you're interested.

So Thank You to anyone who got me a gift, or was at my awesome party in Idaho, or sent me well wishes. It was a super great birthday.

Blogs: The Current State of Things

2007-07-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I just got caught up and spent a long time modifying the layout on my Live Journal site. It seems a shame for this work to go to waste, and though I consider my Blogger site my "main page," I can't say it's format has won me over entirely.

THEREFORE, for the time being, I will be updating both my Live Journal and my Blogger site with identical entries. Choose the one you prefer and bookmark it. My Xanga site can be considered inactive after this entry. If I decide to stop double posting I'll let both sites know.

Milk11 at Live Journal
Milk11 at Blogger

(And since you're already reading this, I won't waste this opportunity to let everyone know the current state of the forthcoming Pirate party. Pay attention sea rovers; Peace Main and Morgania alike!

Exact Time: For some inexplicable reason, Cartoon Network plays 3 hours behind schedule on our cable. The 10:30pm EST premiere should take place at 8:30 MST, but will be playing at 11:30pm at my house, making for a late evening party (8-12?). If the party takes place at my house that is. I'm open to volunteers or suggestions for alternative hosting.

Exact Day: Unknown. Like a navigator-less crew, we have a destination but no clue when we will arrive. Funimation originally stated the episodes would begin sometime mid-August, "after all 4kids episodes air." Cartoon Network will air episode 97 tonight (of their 104 episodes). If they continue with one episode a week, 4kids version will finish September 8th. Either mid-September is the official date or the Toonami schedule will change (as it often does). In either case, the Cartoon Network TV schedule is posted nearly 2-weeks in advance, so I'll keep an eye on it and announce the date when it's official.

Numbers Expected: I understand that with the loose date and time, many people aren't sure if they'll be able to come. However, if you'd like to come if available, let me know so I can get a feel for the number to expect. If like 3 other people tops are gonna be there, I might be better off watching it in my room with my Sanji plushie and a box of cookies. If a dozen or so want to show up, I'll start saving up now so I can buy everyone free pizza. Piiiirate pizza. With Pepp-Aarrrgh-oni. Comment, email, stop me in the street, whatever. Just tell me.)

Village Inn - Photo Round

2007-07-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jill came down to visit, and a small group of us ended up at Village Inn for pie (surprise, surprise). I passed my camera around just to see what it would come back with.

Troy's Photo

Tom's Photo

Dantzel's Photo

Ted's Photo

Jill's Photo

My Photo

We've All Got Wheels...

2007-07-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

There's a large assortment of bikes hanging out in my back yard. I know for a fact that this collection regularly changes - bikes are removed, added, or simply re-shuffled in the pile. I'm starting to wonder if my roommates aren't running some illegal bike smuggling ring.

Mine is the one on the far left. The rest belong to my 4 other roommates? Seriously, what the heck? Are we the new campus police vehicle compound?

How I Spent my Idaho Vacation

2007-07-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I went up to Idaho for the somewhat annual Hill Family Reunion in Island Park. As promised to my family, here are some of the photos I took.

We spent Tuesday through Sunday at the campsite at Island Park. Despite many of our relatives being busy, almost everyone showed up for at least a little while.

Sitting around the fire pit, we have (from left) Uncle Kay, Amanda (cousin), Uncle Steve, Grandma Hill, Aunt Debbie, and Mom.

Traditionally, the Hill family reunions are spent in a camping style, though this has "evolved" over the years. This year the camp had a total of 4 RVs, two of which had working toilets, one of which had AC. All had electricity. We also brought up my uncle's new projector screen and, shining on the side of one of the RVs, had movie nights and played Guitar Hero 2 after dark. Ahh, it's so refreshing getting away from the city and going back to your wilderness roots.

Just like every year, there was quite a collection of pit-bikes, motorcycles, and 4-wheelers at the camp. It was really dusty this year, but what riding I did was fun. In the middle of the week, most of the heavy riders went up to a point on the mountain where my dad had been riding the year before. They mounted a plaque with his name on it. From the pictures I saw, the scenery up there looks gorgeous. Maybe next year I'll go visit the spot.

One of the highlights of most years is floating down the river nearby. It's a great way to cool off (and a good place to wash off all the dust and dirt). I floated thrice this year, resulting in only two accidental sunburn lines on my shoulders - a vast improvement from years past. The rest of my family got toasted though. Aloe Vera became the camp's prized possession.

Ben shows his support for Doritos new cheeseburger flavored chips.

Near the end of the week we decided to drive to Montana to visit a nearby "ghost town" of Virginia City. I have to say I prefer the actually abandoned kind of ghost towns over the refurbished into a dozen overpriced stores kind of ghost towns. But both are enjoyable in their own way.

Horses!

Trains!

There were plenty of really neat things to see, though we passed up a $12 area train tour and a $7 horse-and-buggy city tour to explore on our own.

Ouch.

Right as we were halfway through town, a lot of wind started flying around, throwing dust everywhere. Eventually it rained, which was a really nice change in weather from the previous few days of unrelenting heat. We quickly ran through the rest of the town before heading a mile and a half down the road to Nevada City, where we hit the Music Hall.

Nevada City Music Hall

The music hall in Nevada City is probably my newest favorite thing in Montana ever. It had all these huge music machines that operated on pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters. We started out listening to some of the full band machines, and then tried out some of the player pianos. Some of them were a little disappointing, because you could tell that some instrument was missing or broken. One such machine claimed to be able to play a violin/piano duet. "Heralded as the 8th Wonder of the World!" You could tell the violin was trying to do something, but all you could hear was the occasional empty piano chord. Most of the machines were impressive with size if not sound, and the whole place was a sight to behold. Inevitably, someone started putting change in all the machines at the same time. You'd be surprised how much noise some of these archaic things could make.

I got a bunch of videos of the machines playing, but my camera died before getting many good still shots. I'll have to look into video uploading to see if I can easily share any of them.

Well, that's pretty much it for the highlight photos of my trip. I had a lot of fun. There are more photos if you're interested - you can check out the full album here.

A Test and a Declaration

2007-07-12T18:35:00.001-07:00

It's true. I am.