Tuesday, April 3, 2007

   BRUSH YOUR TEEEEEETH!
Still running around getting Sakura-Con related stuff together. Had to have a talk with the parents of one of my friends and explain the plan a little better - y'know, they had the whole "sending our daughter hundreds of miles away for the weekend and we have concerns" thing goin' on. But that's done now, so it's all good. Also good is that now we have a hotel to stay at! Across the street from the convention center, no less! Somehow I feel like that'll be substantially better than the 20-minute drive in from Bellevue every day.

So this meet-up . . . anyone else finding it funny that the Canadian guy is the one planning the Seattle meet-up? Ah well, can't bother Gail, she's been on vacation and stuff lately . . . and hey, I think the planning has come together well enough. Yeah, I'm stoked.

Last bit of fun news . . . I'm gonna be a Turk on Friday night. I was originally planning on just being Shinpachi all weekend, but then I caught on that they were having a Masquerade Ball the first night of the con' - y'know, formal-ish type stuff. So, I figured I needed something a little more formal than hakama, haori and flip-flops. Luckily I have a bunch of suit jackets and such in my closet, so that'll work well enough (though the cosplay snobs'll probably mutter about having the wrong coloured shoes and buttons on my jacket instead of a big zipper . . . we'll say I'm a "Before Crisis" Turk, then!). Yeah, last-minute outfits are fun . . .


I guess that's it for now. I gotta be up and about today buying birthday presents and American currency . . . so I'll leave you with a funny video because it cracks me up to no end. We'll call it . . . "4Kids Licenses the Movie '300'":



Ciao!
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Monday, April 2, 2007

   And now a public service announcement . . .
Those of you who have not read my blog for the past year, you don't know this. But when April 1st comes around, I tend to turn into a real dick at this website.

Go through the archives, it's all there . . . especially that very first one . . .

Yeah, "Notebook of Fear" is bollocks. So is ".hack//Boobs". But don't worry, I've a feeling I'll be using these titles later on in life . . . because they just make me laugh contently.


I'll try to post the REAL DVD releases later today. Y'know, sans-boobs.
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Sunday, April 1, 2007

   Notebook of Fear . . . seriously, what the crap?!
I mentioned it in my "New DVD Releases" post at the front page, but I left my own personal thoughts out of it. I mean, it was the news post, I can't mess with that by ranting about it. So, I'll do it here on my blog, where I can rant about such things.

So yeah, "Death Note" is now officially known as "Notebook of Fear" in the North American release. And . . . honestly? It's retarded. It's like, "Timmeh" retarded. No, I take that back. It's well beyond "Timmeh" retarded.

I mean, I can accept that the "Detective Conan" thing probably can't be helped because of trademark issues and stuff. I can live with "Hajime no Ippo" being turned into "Fighting Spirit" because the Japanese involves a double meaning in a way that gets lost in a translation. Those are pretty fair excuses, I think.

But mother-lovin' Death Note?! The title is English already!!! Laaaame lame lame . . .


And yes, I will concede that in the end it's a pretty moot point. Much like that whole stink-up about "Prince of Tennis" and the changed OP, the core of the show is still gonna be the same. And just like the edited Naruto, I wasn't watching it just for blood and swearing . . .

What can I say, when people think they have good ideas about localisation, more often than not I'm unimpressed. This goes beyond anime, too . . . two words: "Shaolin Soccer".

Biggest movie out of Hong Kong in years. Broke records left and right. Rave reviews everywhere. And Miramax got the license and sat on it for years and years. And then they chopped out about 20 minutes. And then they wanted to call it "Kung Fu Soccer" because they were afraid people wouldn't understand "Shaolin". Yeah, LAME. Not even the imports, either . . . these were the same guys who when approached by Peter Jackson about a "Lord of the Rings" adaptation, suggested that they "kill a hobbit off" at the beginning to streamline the story and characters. Lame lame lame.

Also, it might just be a title, but one of the things I probably took to heart more than others from high school English was that the title is indeed a very important part to anything, be it a book, essay, or what have you. Like, they're important to not mess around with . . . and I don't care if the original producers okay'ed it, it's still lame as hell . . .

. . . y'know, I just can't keep ranting about this. It's just gonna go around and around in circles and I'm not gonna make any point about it. I think I'm gonna just try to relax at work while I wait for this damn ridiculous day to be over with . . .


"NOTEBOOK OF FEAR" IS FUCKING STUPID!!!!!
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Thursday, March 29, 2007

   Graveyard shifts, eh? Bring it on!!!
This morning I intend to stay up until perhaps 5 or 7am before going to bed. Changeover at Superstore, so I work from 10pm-7am tonight/tomorrow.

Then I do it again starting Friday night! Yay! Heh, yeah, this is gonna mess me up . . .


In other news, I'm mostly set up for Sakura-Con. Got a car, got my Shinsengumi outfit put together more or less, got money in the bank, got a sleeping bag for stupid "Faramir's" house that has no couch . . . got my gifts for the locals (couldn't find a panda, but it'll hafta do for now) . . . we should be set.

I should probably figure out a good time to try to convince people to gather for a "theOtaku meeting" there, maybe get some PMs out . . . we'll see . . .

I'm also sad that "Rome" is over. Was such a great show, with such great lines . . . guy asks his buddy how his kids are doing, he tell him his daughter "practically runs the Aventine Tavern, and can freeze troublemakers with a look like Medusa on the rag..."

That's just good writing.
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

   Don' Miss it!
I watched nine straight episodes of Initial D last night after work. That's spanning three discs, y'know. Yeah, I'm very convinced that I'm gonna need to get a couple OSTs before the road trip.

Not too much news right now. Just got through inventory at work (which sucks), Watched Rocky Balboa with commentary the other night, and started reading "Black Cat" and "Battle Royale".

I think I need to start investing in "Black Cat", I'm enjoying what I've seen of it so far (one volume of manga and one episode of anime).

I need to figure out how to swing a wakizashi. Obviously it's shorter so it whips differently from a katana/bokken, and the grip's not long enough to really two-hand it except maybe for thrusting. I need to search for videos, I think . . . 'cause you gotta know how to look like you know what you're doing in cosplay, y'know . . .


I'll leave it at that for now. Just kinda felt like typing tonight.

[EDIT:] Alright, here's news. I'm halfway through watching "Trapped in the Closet". Holy crap, this is bad . . . but I can't look away . . . . .
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Saturday, March 24, 2007

Here's a fun video for ya . . .
Let's have another fun look at what it is to be a Vancouverite, where everyone is always complaining about everything else about the city. Seriously, people hate bus drivers, tuition prices, gas prices, politicians, the US, noisy people on the skytrain, the Toronto Maple Leafs, protestors themselves . . . and of course, above all, cops.

Let's take a look at the most recent bit of conflict in British Columbia's Lower Mainland. Take a look, the video's only a minute or so . . .



So what is happening here? Obviously there's a brawl on the ground involving two men and two police officers. A third cop comes onto the scene using his baton. Firemen are standing in a circle around the incident. The cop with the baton later has some less-than-pleasant words with the firemen once the men are subdued.


Here's the rest of the story.

St. Patrick's Day, late night. There was a car crash in downtown Vancouver; three Vancouver police officers went to check it out, as did members of the Vancouver Fire Department. Once at the scene, they found a crashed SUV,two drunk men and a woman (who later turned out to be the driver at the time). The older man stated that he was a Vancouver firefighter; the younger man was his son. Several of the firemen recognised him. The son became confrontational and uncooperative, swearing at the cops and not answering the questions. The son eventually pushed one of the cops; the fight started from that point. The father/fireman jumped into the fight. The police called for back-up. The firemen stood around the fight, urging their colleague to calm down while also asking the cops not to hurt them too much. The policeman using the baton more or less ends the fight.

Oh yeah, that back-up the cops called for? The two police cruisers - one marked, one unmarked - ended up colliding in the rush to get there; two officers in one car suffered minor injuries, the other two sustained more serious soft tissue damage. All seven officers went to the hospital for treatment.

End of the day, the off-duty firefighter and his son face charges of obstruction and assaulting an officer. Further, in typical Vancouver panache, the firefighter filed a complaint to the police commissioner and is threatening a lawsuit against the city.

And while all that was happening, someone cracked out his cell phone in time to get a snippet of it all.


It hurts my head as I read through the comments on this video. I originally wanted to comment on it and leave my thoughts, but the more I thought about how I wanted to word it, the more I knew it was pointless. I say it often that no matter how well you argue a point, if someone has already made up his mind you're not going to change with with any amount of rational debate (let alone irrational). So yeah, to hell with 'em.

We as people often tend to think we're all quite clever, that we're so sure of our rights and our freedoms. That all are accountable for their actions, and that none are safe from such accounts. Thus, when a police officer pulls out his metal baton and uses it against an unarmed man (regardless of how much he resists, shouts or attacks back), that's clearly a misuse of force and the police officer is in the wrong. He's a trained official, after all, he should be able to handle it in a better way . . .

Let's look at it differently. We wanna be able to sue our police force like any other person in the city, huh? So let's say this: say these two drunk guys were mouthing off to any other sorts of guys in the downtown bar area, or that they decided to get aggressive. Would ANYONE be shocked if those men fought back and a big fight ensued? Would anyone be nearly as defensive about their actions if one of them had pulled a knife or something? No, we'd say the guys were shooting their mouths off, it's their asses and that the guys they pissed off had a knife was an unfortunate bit of fate.

But no, they're police officers! We wanna watch those corrupt bullies go down!

I find it hard to feel sorry for the guy that gets smoked with the baton. I mean, they're LAW ENFORCEMENT, they're not duelists; there ain't no fair honourable fights if you're gonna stir shit up in public . . . they want you to stop it and they warned you about it . . . but you didn't want to listen.

So likewise, there's all this other stuff about the firefighters standing around not getting involved. Some say the cops might've told them not to get involved, others say the cops were pissed that they didn't get involved. That's a whole other thing I'm not gonna bother getting into, as that'll probably hurt my head even more than this kind of stuff usually does.

It's a pretty safe bet to say that politely asking a large, drunk, pissed off man to calm down and stop fighting isn't gonna work - imagine what police forces would be like if they had to do that! So let's see, they have the extendable baton, pepper spray, tasers, and a .40 caliber pistol . . . well, we obviously can't use the gun because they aren't threatening life. We can't use the taser because there have been a small percentage of incidents where people died from those as well. Can't use the pepper spray, that has bad connotations. And of course, you DEFINITELY can't use the baton because DEFINITELY hitting people with anything is a no-no, and then they'll sue you later for it.


Do a google search involving "Vancouver police downtown fight", I bet you'll find all the news reports about that night. But hell, while at it you might as well see how else people complain about the Vancouver Police Department! Clearly they're all out of control and abusing their authority . . . because that's what cops do, right?

I don't know about you, but when I was convinced to walk around the absolute worst, seediest streets of Vancouver last Tuesday (for fun, no less), I felt more than comfortable knowing that a police car including officers was across the street as we made our way through the very concentrated group of people, some of which who were smoking substances inside plastic pen shells. Like, when you have a city that has to host The Olympics in three years, I'd imagine it'd look somewhat better to have people being taken down by cops than having people fighting in the streets freely.

Heh . . . and then of course when things happen, who are the first people people complain didn't do their jobs? Irony in there, I'm sure.


Vancouver Police have one of the hardest jobs in the world. No question.
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Thursday, March 22, 2007

   Everyone go and point at her now . . .
She's 19 now. If she comes to Canada, she can legally drink and stuff. Let's all point at her and make noise at her and stuff now, okay?

Tanjoubi Omedetou, Ojou-chan!


By the way, it's NightBeck if you didn't know. As I already said, go bug her about being old now. She deserves it.

And as a present, make sure you do her "Heroes Mad Lib". It'll make her feel good.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

   Movie Gush-Reviews Monthly Limit Exceeded. Please Try Again Next Month.
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!"
(Rocky Balboa to his son)


Yeah, "Rocky Balboa" is awesome. It's very Rocky, and I love Rocky. Makes you feel good inside. Few movies always make me smile at the end the way Rocky movies always make me smile.

"Rocky Balboa" came out yesterday on DVD. Go watch it. Peter Petrelli plays his son.


Wow, today was such a good day on so many levels . . . clear skies, new DVDs, wonderful company . . . yeah, good day.
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Sunday, March 18, 2007

   Re: April 6th to 8th . . . . .
Asked for it off from work, supervisor said okay.

Guess I'm goin' to Sakura-Con this year. Cool.


And Aurus, if you don't go I'll cry. I'll help pay your way if I have to (we'll call it a birthday present for all the ones I missed), so you'd best think of a better excuse to not go now.


[EDIT:] Kids these days have no idea what "minimalist" means. Aiyaa . . . . .
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Saturday, March 17, 2007

   Okay . . . April 6th to 8th . . . . .
So you CAN still register at the door, but it'll cost me $60usd . . .

. . . my own fault, really. Alright, time to start asking for another weekend off from work . . . . .


Miss Aurus? Madam Panda? You guys wanna help me with directions and stuff once I'm in the general area?
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