Sunday, June 25, 2006

Waking Up to Caffeine Withdrawal

I still haven't gotten to Howl's again yet, I'm doing that today period. I've had a lot of rain come through here, so much I haven't been able to finish that sidewalk yet, and it's probably grown over again so I'll have a time of getting it reigned in. Anyway, that's a project for another day. Also still waiting on the main compute to get back up and running to scan that picture in, but oh well, what's a little bit of time? Now the good stuff: Comments: Mamma Vash: Ah, that was just incidental on my part then. The tunnel's facade kind of filled up the viewfinder but it made for good shooting. I think I like the number 19 shot myself, that one speaks a lot with so little. It's actually two separate downloads, Irfanview the image viewer is the main dowload, but you'll have to install it, then download and install the irfanview plug-ins to get the sepia filter. A little tedious, but worth it in the end as you'll have an image viewer for just about every image file format that's out there right now. Well, I used get a channel called Movieplex, which was actually an Encore channel that featured their different "premium" movie channels (Westerns, mystery, drama, action, and a few others) on expanded basic cable. Once in a while they'd run an anime movie, but for the most part Cartoon Network has been my primary source for anime programming (not something I care to brag about), and now that I'm on a lesser known cable provider, even requesting channels like ADV's Anime Network, or the Funimation Channel won't be as easy, I've already done that but don't expect to see either in my line-up anytime soon. I've done that a little, and I'm into Sony's MiniDisc thing now too, you can get over two hours of music on one disc (80 min) less than three inches across, and the sound is comparable to that of music download services, so there's no real issue with sound like you may see Sony bashers online trying to claim. Much of my anime music collection I can't discuss because of legal technicalities, but I'm working on correcting that as best I can. I can say that I've recorded onto MD most of the themes from the anime DVDs I have (I don't have the software to rip them straight to MP3 format, that stuff isn't cheap anymore), and like to listen to those, especially the theme from Whisper of the Heart, but I've always like John Denver's original of that so hearing a Japanese reversion was like a little bit of harmony for me. Unfortunately, I don't see myself traveling to Ft. Lauderdale FL any tiume in the near future. Aside from not have the finances to do it, my family (who would have to take me) has an aversion to that state (I don't know, so don't ask) so it would take a lot more than I can muster emotionally to be able to convince one of them to take me. I'm still struggling with CG myself, though mostly for want of time to sit down and work through some practice. If you need a good free program that can contend with Photoshop, try out Pixia for that. I can help you along with the basics of that program if you decide to use it. I also recommend getting a tablet to work with. Drawing on a computer is so difficult with a mouse, but one of those WACOM tablets (Pixia supports tablet input by the way) is just like drawing on paper to a degree. And I know what you mean, being ambidextrous, I make twice the mess with my hands, from pencil smudges to everything else. I have joke for myself that I can't draw without getting a little bit of something on my hands, and it never fails. When I'm done a picture, somehow I'll have pencil, ink, and whatever else I've used, stains all over my hands. Except when I do digital art, the pixels can't rub off onto my hands :P Oh, if you didn't pick it up, the first link is to the original creator's (Isao Maruoka) web page, the second one will get you the English version of Pixia. kout3uka Let me tell you, I didn't fully appreciate the meaning of that phrase until I was standing about halfway through the 1,376 foot tunnel in pitch black with a little bit of light behind me, and a tiny glimmer of light peeking around the bend in front of me. Next time I'm there, I'll set the camera up for low-light (night mode) photography, and maybe get a half-decent shot of that view, it's both creepy and exciting at the same time, and maybe I'll be lucky to get a shot of the ghost too, she was there, but I guess a little camera shy last time. That's what they call them here in WV, but in Texas they called them "webworms" Those silky webs you'll see on trees where the branches come together, and the leaves will be eaten through full of holes, those things. The only way to get rid of them is to take one of those hand torches (like you see chefs using on TV to caramelize sugar or light a flambé) and burn them out, the trick being not to torch the half dead, dried up, leaves on the whole tree in the process. On Appleseed, I was surprised to see it too, considering Spirited Away and several others (this was before Howl's was imported I believe) were [cough]deliberately[cough] overlooked. On FLCL, like I said,I wish I could find someone from the Tech TV message boards (Even the Mod who wrote it himself) who has that thread saved somewhere because I'd like to read it, it was well written from the little I skimmed of it in late 2003. I'm sure if you look hard enough, you can find fan sites that cover the hidden stuff, and deeper meaning to all that silliness, I just haven't taken the time to do it yet myself, and I still haven't seen that whole series yet. Only two episodes? Here I was thinking it was a more traditional 26 episode set I had to look for, but that'll be easier on the finances. Well now, I'll have to make a concentrated effort to find it as soon as I can. Oh, I should point out that Movie Gallery, Blockbuster Video, Hollywood Video, and all the regional/local video rental stores really, REALLY suck when it comes to animé titles, so forgive my cringing at the rental suggestion, but I will try my hardest to buy a copy somewhere. Outlaw Melfina If you mean the ALT tags for the rail trail pictures, I have an unusual wit about me that makes for some interesting captions. It was an experience I thought I'd share with my regulars, how often do you get to walk an hour and a half out of your way to find a famous haunted tunnel on a rail bed abandoned by the railroad and turned into a state park? It's probably the only 70+ mile long yet no more than 10 feet wide park in the state. So far, the only thing GONZO is animating that I don't particularly care for is the latest incarnation of the Transformers franchise (That show's getting to be worse that certain animé shows which will remain nameless), but I'm what you call OG and can remember the early years of that show in the 80's so I'm kind of biased toward a 2D animation look for those famous bots. Other than that, GONZO blows me away with everything I've seen of theirs. The visual styles are breathtaking. I've heard of the "Tate", it's supposed to be one of those "If you ever get the chance to visit you'd be a sucker not to" places, of course they say that about a lot of international places here in the US just to make those of us who can't travel the world feel left out I guess. I have relatives working in the security field, so I can appreciate what the guards and officers do, it's a matter of safety for everyone even if it's a bit inconvenient. Well, I just really don't like to have my picture taken, I'm kind of scary to look at to be honest. I think that's a direct reflection on how I feel about myself actually, since I don't feel all that good about myself right now, having my picture taken just doens't seem to be right. When I am in higher spirits, I'll probably be more open to it, and more willing to let it be done. I agree with that quite a bit, the intrigue of experiencing something not native to your own language and culture is fascinating. I've seen movies in French, Japanese, Spanish and German, and would like to see stuff in other languages just for the novelty of it. Of course, I also listen to the short wave bands, and once in a while pick up a (non religious) program or two, a really good one out of Taiwan that's done in English and Chinese. To me there's no such thing as "culture shock" I'm in awe of all the world's cultures, and want to know as much about all of them as I can learn, and I do mean ALL cultures. To me there's very little that's more intellectually amusing that seeing Gérard Depardieu delivering the page long monlogue from Cyrano de Bergerac where Cyrano is "teaching" someone how to properly insult his (Cyrano's) rather large nose. If you can keep up with those lines as they flash acros the screen, you can handle anything (I've read the play translated to English and I can't keep up all the time). It's also amusing to watch Jeopardy and see Alex Trebek fly through the clues with French in them and I can just picture the producers sitting there going "So THAT'S how to say it right." Sometimes I think they try to stump him with those things. I'm still learning Japanese, and all I've got to work with at the moment is a CD language course, so it's not going to be the best. I wish I could find a complete Kanji chart (all 1,945 characters) so I could learn those too, but that will have to come later. For the record, that "scary" guy with the sword is me, and I do collect swords, knives, and the like. Anime Dreams! Picture Requests Pending Complete Sanosuke (Rurouni Kenshin), for Caprice [Upload Pending] Melfina (Outlaw Star), for Outlaw Melfina Duo Maxwell (Gundam Wing), for kout3uka Project Closed Upon Completion The Silver Run Tunnel All images in the table hosted by Photobucket.

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