Wednesday, December 13, 2006

It's A Christmas Miracle!

What a surprise! My family actually ended up decorating our tree the night of my last post, around 9:00 PM. Go figure. lol Every year, our tree looks so pretty. I love it! ^_^ I feel like taking a picture and posting it. Only if people are interested though. Okay, so real quick I'm going to mention something .hack. >.> I know, I know! I always do this. But this time it's a bit of a dilemma. See, there are three keywords in .hack//G.U. that everyone has been looking for yet no one has really found; or rather, no one is posting its whereabouts. I don't expect everyone to understand what I'm saying, but I'm just requesting from anyone who has .hack//G.U. to send any info on these three keywords: Magnolia; Dead Wood; Radiation. I'm working alongside some other people on a .hack forum to find these, but there's been no luck. I thought it might help to post something about it here, with the luck that maybe someone will see it and know something about those three words. >.< Here's hoping... So yeah, in other Christmas news, I have no idea what to get my dad. And, I only have $30 to spend between him and my mom. T_T Great. It's easy enough to shop for my mom, but Daddy dear can be pretty difficult. I can't just buy him classical CDs all the time. Even if I do find something... I only have $30. Gashsplurnit. Ah well, I'm sure I'll find something. If you have any suggestions at all, please feel free to share! Anything you think people in general would like (that's not too expensive >.>). Ta everyone! God Bless

Comments (1) | Permalink

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Christmas Tree + No Decorations = Sadness

Okay, so my family finally got a Christmas tree yesterday, and... we have yet to decorate it. It's about 7:40 PM at the moment, and my mom has to go to bed around 9:00 so she can get up early for work. I doubt the decorating will get done at all by now. Oh well, the tree isn't everything. It just brings the whole Christmas theme together, that's all. And yes, I am being bitter. But I don't want to sound like I'm only complaining. My family and I did get to see The Christmas Carol play in Seattle yesterday. It was pretty good, funny too. We also got to eat Thai food for dinner; I love spring rolls now. Green tea ice cream ain't too bad either. And now, my very brief .hack//Roots Dub rant, Episode 5. Really, this time it shouldn't be that long, because I don't have much to add on to what I've already said before. I will say that Paul Dobson seems to be having a hard time keeping one set voice for Naobi; it keeps going from deep to deeper. Also, I still hold that Andrew Francis (Haseo) and Kirby Morrow (Gord) are the same voice actor. Or even twins separated at birth. Your pick. To keep everyone updated, here's my list of the best, worst, and average voiceovers so far (rated according to how much I love or hate listening to the VA): The Good - Ovan, Ender, Tawaraya The Average - Phyllo, Shino, Naobi, Gord, B-set The Bad - Sakisaka, Tabby, Haseo That's it for me. Hopefully we'll be able to decorate that Christmas tree soon... but since it's 7:56 right now, it's not very likely. -_-; God Bless

Comments (1) | Permalink

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Still alive! Sort of...

It's been awhile since I've gotten online. And, I really shouldn't even be on now, since I have a ton of schoolwork. I don't want any catch-up work during Christmas break, so I'm working my butt off to get it all done. But, I'll just be making this post, and then I'll get to that. >.> And now, time to give my critique of .hack//Roots Dubbed, Ep. 4. Every time I've done this, my post is always so long. This time there's not too much to say though, so hopefully it'll be shorter. The Good Ovan - Still the best out of all the voiceovers, I love it. B-set - Yes, she was actually good in this episode. She didn't sound so very valley girl; instead, the voice fit her very well and she didn't sound awkward either. Tawaraya - He was great in this ep! I was surprised, actually. I think he's becoming one of the better voices in the show now; his voice fit, and no awkwardness. The Bad Shino - She's sounding very fake, so even though her voice fits her okay (now that I've gotten over the Sango-ness a bit), it still doesn't count for beans if she sounds off. Sakisaka - Yes, he's on The Bad list again, but not for any awkwardness, he actually was better this time. I still think his voice doesn't fit him very well. We'll see if he improves over time, though. See! All done! And don't worry kingN, I don't mind if you don't read it, I just need to rant. XP Only 22 more of these before I'm done! lol I gotta be going now. Unfortunately, I don't even have the snow to enjoy, it's all gone now. Sadness. I'm still crossing my fingers for a White Christmas though. I want one so bad! I'll try to get on again later to check some sites. Ta! God Bless

Comments (3) | Permalink

Monday, November 27, 2006

Winter Wonderland... For Once!

Good news everyone! It's snowing in my little town of Monroe! One should note that it almost never snows here; maybe a snow flurry here and there, but not actually stick-to-the-ground stuff. But, strangely, it's been snowing the past two days. I think it's really cool, since we never see it like this, but my sister is still out there. My mom is super worried, she hasn't been able to enjoy the snow with Robin (my sister) gone. I mean, we're talking 6 inches or more, and the snow isn't really letting up. My mom's car is getting burried, and it hasn't been out there for very long. But hey, I'm going to enjoy this snow while we have it. I mean, like I said, this barely ever happens in Monroe. This gives me hope that we may just have a White Christmas this year. I honestly don't care if it doesn't snow again the rest of winter, I just want a White Christmas gashsplurnit!! Okay, tis time for yet another .hack//Roots dub rant. This time, I'm just going to discuss the ones that stood out as either good or bad in episode 3. Here we go! Ovan - We'll start with the good news first. Ovan's VA is still going strong. I didn't really notice anything wrong with him in this episode, so that's a plus. I think Michael Kopsa is the English VA... whoever it is, he's won me over! Tabby - Okay, so Tabby's supposed to be annoying, at least in the beginning. But with the Japanese VA it was a lovable-annoying; I just can't see the English VA doing Tabby's important scenes later on. I'm worried for our li'l catgirl. Haseo - And now, the worst of the whole episode. Haseo started out as one of the better voiceovers, but he's just gotten worse since episode 1. Actually, it almost sounds like Kirby Morrow (who plays Gord in Roots) and Andrew Francis (Haseo) could be the same VA! Seriously, Haseo sounded a lot like Morrow throughout the ep. Plus, it's that awkward speech thing I ranted about in my last post; Francis seems to do that often. Haseo could get better, or he could keep getting worse. Let us hope! One of the other things that's annoyed me with Roots is that because of the time it's on, they have to speed up certain parts of the episodes to fit the commercial brakes. In Ep. 3, it was really apparent when they sped up the last scene when "GOD DIVA" was playing. Now, when they speed it up like that, all the dramatic pauses are gone, and it sounds even worse. Plus, when the music that's playing during the scene gets screwed up from the faster pace, it makes the whole thing look worse. I feel sorry for those that have to watch the sped-up episodes. Now, I'm sure some people really like the Roots dub; but for someone who fell in love with the series watching it in Japanese, it's pretty hard to get accustomed to English. For example, I've been hearing people complain about the Eureka SEVEN dub, but I don't mind it at all (you gotta love Crispin Freeman!). Those that are complaining about Eureka SEVEN have probably been watching it in Japanese all this time, so to see it any other way is just weird. That's me when it comes to .hack//Roots. I think there are plenty of good dubs, it just really depends on which version you see first. And so, my post ends. I just wanted to make this before our power possibly went out. See, if that happens, I won't enjoy the snow anymore. XP Ta, everyone! God Bless

Comments (4) | Permalink

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Roots dub: Episode 2!

Okay, I know you must all be shaking your heads, for my post is yet another .hack-themed one. This time, I'm going to give a quick impression of what I thought of the Roots dub, second ep (I'll make it shorter this time, promise). I'll give them by name, and try to keep it down to a couple sentences. Shino - She's actually not bad. I'll even say she's one of the better voice-overs in the whole show. It's still that Kelly Sheridan (or SANGO) thing. XP Even my sister thought the same thing as me this time when she heard it. (So it's not just me! YAY!) Ovan - THE best voice-over in the whole show! I have to say, I think I'm liking Ovan's English VA better than his Japanese! Shocker... Haseo - He was actually worse in this one. Instead of giving his voice more of an annoyed tone, he sounds extremely bored with everything. I don't think that's quite right; he sounded very off for me in this ep. Sakisaka - Still bad. That's all I gotta say. Tabby - Well, she got down the annoying feeling. lol I suppose I could get used to hers, but I'm still on the fence with this VA. Naobi - Okay, just to mention something, Paul Dobson (Naraku, Myoga) is doing the voice for Naobi. It's not bad in this ep either, but I still keep getting the Naraku vibe from him. Ender - Still perfect, also one of the better ones. Tawaraya - Better in this ep, but also on the fence with his VA. I'll probably end up getting used to it. Just as long as he doesn't play Touta later on. Phyllo - I'm still not completely accepting of his voice, but at least he doesn't sound awkward when he talks, which most of the characters have a hard time with. So, also on the fence still with Phyllo. B-set - She's horrible too! Man, all the somewhat minor characters are getting the worse voice-overs! She's as bad as Sakisaka... *crosses fingers* PLEASE get better, B-set! You don't got the looks goin' for ya, so you gotta have something! Gord - As I was watching the part where Gord comes in, I kept thinking I recognized his voice from somewhere... then it hit me; Miroku! Yes, Kirby Morrow is the English VA for Gord. It's not terrible. Again, it's the whole "I keep thinking of this character when I hear that voice!" thing, like with Shino. We'll see how I like his as the series progresses. And that's about it. So, all in all, the dubbing isn't bad, I just have high expectations. A lot of the VAs from InuYasha are appearing in the series; Kirby Morrow, Paul Dobson, Kelly Sheridan. Wonder how many more there'll be. Roots is being dubbed at Ocean Studios, same place as IY. I think the main problem I have with the dubbing is how awkwardly they seem to talk, not necessarily the voices themselves. Haseo's would've been better this episode if he had sounded natural. But NO! Apparently sounding off is considered a good thing! Bah! That's it, I'm shutting myself up. I've given a good enough review of the VAs for episode 2, so I shall end the post now. I had other stuff I wanted to say, but I'll just include that in my next post, if I don't forget. Ta! God Bless

Comments (2) | Permalink

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Shorter post, but still .hack

I guess my last post was too long for some people. I promise you this one won't be nearly as long, but it's still about .hack. I shall never cease to bore you all! HAHAH! Yes, anyway. The past two days I've been browsing the Apkallu japanese site for images; the name is based off of the one in the G.U. game, which is also based off of some other mythical name. Anyway, they have a lot of great pics in there! Most of them seem to be pictures of what their own characters would look like, which is cool. But I also wish to see more fanarts. I still got 35 pages to go though, I've only been through 5 so far. @.@ They're long pages too! I thought I'd post a couple of links to images that I like so far from that site; one original character and one fanart. .hack//Roots Chibi Cast RUN AWAY! So yeah, if you want to browse the site yourself, just click on the link from before. I think I've begun to take one more step towards ulimate geekdom; I am now browsing a fanart forum and saving tons of pictures. T_T I've never really done that before, not on this scale. I used to save a lot of Tsubasa Chronicle images; and if you look at my wallpapers, most of them are still Tsubasa. Still, .hack has truly taken over my life. And I predict it can only get worse... or better, depending on how you look at it. Also, another reason I know I'm becoming an ultimate geek is that I'm breaking out like crazy. XP I have been for the last couple months. It's very annoying; my old facewash used to work so well, but then after working at the fair, it just... stopped. Gashsplurnit. I was using ProActive up until earlier today, but that hasn't been working very well. (The commercials LIE! Do not believe them! LIES!) Now, my mom has gotten me another type of facewash, which I hope will finally do something! If it doesn't, I'll end up going to a dermatologist. Why am I the only one who breaks out like this in my family? It's not fair, they should all be cursed with bad skin. -_-; I better be freakin' gorgeous in my twenties... God Bless

Comments (2) | Permalink

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

.hack//Roots English Dub; First Impressions

Some of you must have seen this coming. Roots was bound to be dubbed eventually, and I was bound to post about it sooner or later. Now, the time has come. I promise you this, I will hold myself back. If I am allowed to speak too freely, then the post shall never end. Now, let it begin. I'm going to try and keep this clean, and not get too messy in my little review. This is my impression of the voice-overs for the first episode of Roots. 1) Things I Liked Ovan and Haseo's voices were pretty good. They were as close to the game's VAs without having to actually use the game's VAs. Except Haseo's last line in the ep. sounded off. Also, Ender was pretty good, but I hope they don't use the exact same voice for Pai later on. 2) Undecided In the middle are the VAs for Naobi, Tabby, Phyllo and Shino (whom I'll get to later on). Phyllo's voice sounded almost too creepy-grandpa like, so it may be awhile before I can get used to it. Tabby's is also pretty annoying; hopefully, it'll not be too Valley Girl later on for the more important parts. Naobi was okay; no real criticisms or praises. 3) Horrible Beyond Recognition Sakisaka and Tawaraya were the worst. Sakisaka sounded like a surfer dude, and Tawaraya's was just annoying. I could get used to it eventually, but I really hate Sakisaka's voice. 4) Shino Before I get into it, people must note that I really love this character (for some unexplainable reasons), so I'm especially critical of her voice-over. Right off, I'm telling you that Sango of IY (Kelly Sheridan) is voicing Shino. That seems so wrong to me. I will never hear Sheridan's voice without thinking of Sango now. So, when someone puts her voice into one of my favorite character's bodies, there's a problem. All in all, Shino sounded too old, but it wasn't necessarily bad. Remember, I ranked her in the middle in Part 2 of the review, so it's not that Sheridan is doing a horrible job, I just love Shino too much. I even had my sister listen to the dubbing of her, and she didn't think anything was wrong with it. Still, I must say, I will never grow accustomed to that voice for that character. Ever. 5) The Cheapskates That Are Bandai The biggest problem with the dubbing was that they didn't even use the same VAs from the games. Yuri Lowenthal voiced Haseo in .hack//G.U. and did a great job, but they felt the need to just hire someone else to do the anime. Same thing with Ovan. I don't know what kind of reasons they have for it, but I think it would've been much better to just use the same VAs from the games. That's another reason why Shino's voice was such a disappointment. Kari Wahlgren voiced Shino in her minor appearances in the game, and she sounded great. So why not just use her for the anime? I don't understand. A lot of .hack fans will be angry about this whole issue, I can tell you that. I don't feel the need to review the general episode, since you all know I love the anime to death. I can only hope the dubbing improves over time. Oh, I'll watch the dubbing! All 26 episodes, but most likely only with the recorded ones on my computer. Once I buy the DVDs, it's back to Japanese. In other .hack-related news, I beat .hack//G.U. today. I've gotten everything; all the items, monsters, sidequests. Everything. It's going to be a long 3 or so months until Vol. 2... gashsplurnit. At least now I might be able to login more often. Now that I've beaten the game, I must have the soundtrack. I have the ending credits theme stuck in my head. Darn you .hack! Also, haven't changed the song on the site yet. Next time I find a .hack//G.U. or Roots mp3 though, it'll be on here, I promise you that. I need to go now. It's 1:27 AM where I live. Time for bed, methinks. Ta! God Bless

Comments (2) | Permalink

Thursday, November 9, 2006

N/A

Normally, I like to wait til 9:00 pm to post, so it'll carry over into the next day, but I don't have the time for that tonight. A couple days ago, I went and saw the Dead Sea scrolls with my family (as I mentioned in the previous post). The Dead Sea scrolls are really important, because before then the oldest copies of the Bible were from the 11th century; these are from around Jesus' time. They aren't just Bible copies, though; there was also something called "Book of War", which is apparently about what the Jews thought Christ would be like. The Jews exspected Jesus to go into battle and free them from their oppressors; twas very interesting. The exhibit itself had a lot of stuff; mostly background information about the people who wrote the documents and where they lived, Qumran. I also found out why the Dead Sea is called the Dead Sea; it has the most salt deposits out of any other body of water in the world, you can't drink it at all. Also, the scrolls were able to stay intact for so long until their discovery in the 1940s because the area of Qumran is so dry; it only gets 4 inches of rain every year, and all in winter. There was a lot of other stuff too, but let's talk about the actual scrolls now. It was pretty amazing; I honestly exspected them to be bigger, but they're really small. Some of them are barely legible, while the one of Psalm 119 was in such great condition. Man, the Psalm 119 scroll was so cool; it's the biggest scroll out of the bunch. You can totally read the writing on it too; unlike Exodus, which was almost impossible to read. All in all, it was great. I get this feeling that I didn't fully appreciate what I was seeing. Unless I plan on going to Israel later in life, I'll never really see those again. Just another little detail. I decided to change the song on my site, but I haven't finished uploading the MP3 yet. Hopefully, by the time you guys read this, I'll have it up. I thought it would be cool to have a .hack//Roots song up there, since I haven't done any from the new generation yet. The name of the song is shining of breast. And yes, Nehszriah; .hack music owns ALL. EDIT: Okay, so that new song isn't working out right now. So, I'll find a different MP3 link that'll have to do. T_T Darn it. God Bless

Comments (2) | Permalink

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

The Dead Sea... Squirrels? o.O

Today, I don't have school. Not because of Election Day, but because my whole family is going to Seattle to see the Dead Sea scrolls. Actually, we're going to leave in about an hour, so I have to make this quick and get ready. XP It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. They're on loan from Israel until January; tis a good thing we're going now then. My mom told her assistants at work that she was going to see them, and they said something to the effect of, "What? The Dead Sea... squirrels? Scrolls? What are those?" Apparently, they had heard about it on the radio, but misheard it as the Dead Sea squirrels. Now, that's just weird. I guess, as a Christian, you assume sometimes that people will know about such famous things. But then, every now and then, you get a slap in the face from reality. I remember seeing a question on Jeopardy a couple months ago that was, "The second book in the Bible." No one could get it. A five-year-old Sunday School kid could answer that easy. "The Bald One" poem that I wrote got some reviews! One of them was really nice. I hope they weren't being sarcastic though, that would suck. But yes, it's pretty cool. Also, my sister got a review for her story, "Nadir". She was very happy about that. If any one of you was the culprit, thank you. And so, I must be getting off. But quickly now, I shall answer a question. Yamis Pharaohess, the song on this site is called "Grandpa's Violin" from the .hack//Liminality Original soundtrack. Man, I'm so far behind in my online comics. T_T Monkey wants more time! Why did I sleep in an extra half hour? A fool, a fool I say! God Bless

Comments (4) | Permalink

Sunday, November 5, 2006

The Bald One

The results of the Halloween contest are up. Congrats again to all the winners. Our very own Nehszriah won the e-card part of the contest. v^.^ I may not have gotten into the top three, but I'm happy with the ecard that I made, so it's all good. Last Tuesday was Halloween, but it was also my dad's birthday, and it reminded me of this poem I wrote about him for school once. So, I decided to post it on FictionPress; I just got it through, so here's the link (too lazy to get the HTML): http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2271957/1/ Also, look at my one favorite story on my profile. It's a cool science fiction/fantasy story written by my sister. It's underappreciated really, so if you're interested try out the first chapter (and leave a review, for goodness sakes!). And, I suppose that's all. I'll go around and check some sites later today. Ta! God Bless

Comments (3) | Permalink