Wednesday, July 12, 2006

   Damn video games . . .
Since I was reminded that "Naruto: Ultimate Ninja" had come out in Region 1 form for PS2, I finally picked it up yesterday.

Not an especially deep game, but very fun. Plays just like the show. Heh . . . being that I haven't seen as much of the dub yet, it is actually pretty strange to keep hearing him shout "Believe it!" I mean, it's not like I didn't believe people about it, but maaan . . . fun times . . . . . I've so far unlocked Neji, Hinata, and Cursed Seal Sasuke. I'm proud.


Aaaaanyways, everyone enjoying Evil's article? Yeah, we all are . . . it is getting to the point where we're enjoying it for reasons not originally designed, though . . . . . I think that bit has to end. Like, once and for all.


. . . and don't forget to read mine either, if you get bored from the other stuff! Just sayin' . . .


And then once you're done that, here, have a Weird Al Yankovic AMV:

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Monday, July 10, 2006

   Pirates 2 is good. You should watch that some time.
Now, first off I was originally planning to just say a bit about how I've worked all weekend and stuff, and then plug my article about appreciating dubs again. I think I need to plug an even better article, though.

"I am Otaku. Hear me Roar" by Color Me Evil.

I can honestly say that satirical humour seems to be getting lost on a lot of younger people today. It's a shame, it really is. These are the kids who are going to go out and watch "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and only laugh at the funny French accents. They're gonna miss the debate on Government, faulty science, supposedly-pure knights getting seduced by convents, supposedly-brave knights chopping down a wedding party, and the anticlimactic "arrest" ending. It's a shame, it really is.

It reminds me of a yearbook write-up from a guy in the 1999 graduating class of my high school. Y'know, those things where the grads talk about how much fun high school was, all the initials to all their friends, being glad to be done, looking forward to the 10 year reunion . . . anyways, not all of 'em are so straight-forward. Allow me to reiterate Mr. Eric Mak's thoughts:

"By the time you have read this, a bomb which I have built will have been placed somewhere in NWSS and it will explode as soon as you finish reading this. If I win, NWSS will be wiped out off the face of the map. Even when you deny it, reader, you are the same type of person I am; a person who can no longer feel anything unless he commits diabolical crimes like this. This scheme is the result of having spent 5 years studying for tests and having no life. Good By my ......."

Needless to say, once the yearbooks came out that year, a LOT of people in my classes were going, "omigod! Go to page 146! This guy's psycho! He wants to blow up the school!"

. . . . . . now, this was 7 or 8 odd years ago. Even I knew that this guy was just playing around. Shall I go through the points? Yeah, let's do that . . .


"By the time you have read this, a bomb which I have built...will explode as soon as you finish reading this...."
Yes, because bombs can in fact be timed for some two-thousand odd students who will all finish reading one entry of page 146 of the yearbook at the same time . . .

"...If I win, NWSS will be wiped out off the face of the map..."
The . . . road map?

"...Even when you deny it, reader, you are the same type of person I am; a person who can no longer feel anything unless he commits diabolical crimes like this..."
Do I need to go into how a lot of people reading this were probably smoking pot every weekend anyway? And furthermore, who says diabolical anymore?!

"...This scheme is the result of having spent 5 years studying for tests and having no life...."
Who would write this in a yearbook if it was serious?! Who?! This is basically the, 'in case you didn't get the joke yet..." line.

"...Good By my ......."
Oh, it cut off. I get it, because the bomb blew up at exactly this moment, so we're all dead now . . . almost makes you wonder how this got by the yearbook censors . . . . . oh yeah! 'Cause they realised it was a joke!


I spent a lot of time explaining to my peers that this was all a wind-up. I don't care how disinterested the guy looks in his grad photo, his write-up screams "ridiculous!" all over. And yet, there I was, explaining to people in the hallway and in my Science 10 classroom that he's joking.


I for one think Evil's article is very well sharpened and tuned. She's getting a lot of flak from people not getting the joke, which is a shame. Now some, they've either commented back, or edited their comments once they realised it was in fact, a complete satire. Others, meanwhile, refuse to even admit that it's satire, and that it in fact negatively impresses the real truth behind some very pathetic people. That's just, well . . . . . whatever.

My guess, though, is that a lot of people who knee-jerked, voted down and left a humourless response have since read all these comments about how it was all a joke, and would rather just step away quietly lest they have to work out the problem of being left out of a joke - 'cause well, no one likes it when they realise they didn't get a joke. That's what I'm at least hoping for, anyway.


So yeah, those of you with a taste for irony, satire, and all the intelligent humour that goes with it, read Evil's work. And if you still don't get it, well . . . . . therein lies a whole other joke to laugh about.


Ohhhh yeah . . . one more thing . . . . . Maris', my most favourite Dutch girl in the whole world, turned 19 yesterday. Send her some well-wishes while I let her pound on my head for not saying something earlier.

That said . . . happy nineteenth, beautiful. I wish you a wonderful year even better than the last.


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Thursday, July 6, 2006

   Superman is a dick, but Lex Luthor is an asshole . . .
Saw that movie again. I saw it in IMAX this tim, though. 3D movies are quite fun. I also noticed that Richard and Clark part their hair on different sides . . . maybe that means something . . .

Alright, I finished my Pizza Pop. I can type more interesting sentences with two hands now.

Seriously, it was food. Seriously . . . . pervs'.


In less strange and slightly more tasteful news, I upped a new article about Dub Appreciation. I think it came out pretty okay, especially after those wonderful people at SOAP scooped me earlier in the week on the subject (theirs is good too, read theirs as well). So yeah, basically I just talk about how we can at least appreciate anime dubs, even if we don't exactly like 'em.

So yeah, check it out if you please.


And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to brush up on my German greetings. Auf wiedersehen!
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Tuesday, July 4, 2006

   And suddenly, fireworks sounded from the south . . .
Happy Independance Day, all of ya State-side! I spent a lot of today trying to think of something really good to post for you all, but I just felt like there was no way I was gonna be able to top my post from last year with the time I gave myself. Heh, I guess . . . my sentiment is still about the same as it was last year. Granted, I actually got to hang out in the dead center of The States earlier this year which also played with that sentiment - for the better, of course - but yeah, I don't think I'm gonna be especially eloquent tonight. So I'll make it short and sweet instead.

I hope you all have a great holiday, that work doesn't drag ya down too much, and that the skies are gorgeous, wherever you might be. Happy Fourth of July, you guys.


Aside from that, my shoulders are still UV-broiled, I've unintentionally frightened a young and completely undeserving member of the community, and I'm about to get my butt served to me in response.

Jess', I will make it up to you for that . . . and darlin', just don't aim for my shoulders or front of my neck, they're still sunburnt - anything else is fair, though.


A'ight, I'm done. Have a good one!
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Monday, July 3, 2006

   Who makes asians play softball for charity?!
Heh . . . Superstore played softball for children's charity yesterday. Four different stores playing against each other . . . . . Richmond got killed. I see several factors contributing to our store's death. First off, we were like, the absolute youngest team out there with an average age of about 21 to 22 - normally youth would be an asset in athletics, but sadly it just wasn't the case here. Second, I have a feeling the people playing from other teams actually in fact enjoy and play baseball somewhat more regularly than we do, or had played it more regularly at some point earlier in life - I'll put it this way: we barely had enough mitts, one baseball bat, and one teeball bat(?!?!) while another team had an entire roll-out bat rack thing. Yeah, we got tarred. And my shoulders and neck and probably nose are probably sunburnt now.

The things we do for the children, eh? Maybe the next fundraisers'll be a bit better . . . but that's for another day.


So let's see, more fun news, more fun news . . . . . I saw "Superman Returns" on Wednesday. 17 person outing. With everyone paying me back for buying the tickets earlier in the day, I'm not going to have to use a bank machine for maybe a month. Oh, and the Housewares Supervisor from work is apparently having wet dreams about Brandon Routh now . . . it's kinda weird to have her talk about how in love she is with Superman, but what can ya do?

But yeah, anyways, the movie rocks. Like, remember how I said that 'X3' was "good, but it should have been bloody brilliant"? 'Superman Returns' is bloody brilliant. If you're in the know, you also catch a lot of cute little references to comics, to earlier movies, and stuff like that. But yeah, it delivered big time in just about every way. Kevin Spacey's Lex? Insanely cool. Brandon Routh's Superman? He just looks good flying around and using heat vision in just . . . very, very hardcore ways. Cyclops as Lois' Fiance? He's . . . . . very likable. I thought he was really interesting because it'd be so easy to make him this petty, jealous asshole and stuff . . . but he's so damn cool! Makes that whole dynamic really interesting. And yeah, Superman gets to do "super" things. It's like, people say that he can do anything so he's no fun - buuuut, he's still only one man, and has a LOT of people to save in very little time. They do that well in this movie.

So yeah, go watch it. Now.


Anyways, for Canada Day we did a lion dance in Chinatown for the Chinese-Canadian something-rather. There were some Chinese-Canadian veterans, a bunch of politicians and stuff, some scouts to raise the flag . . . it was alright. One TV camera filmed us - the drummer and cymbal people - for a while, so that was exciting . . . . . in the evening it was a kung-fu performance at the Chinatown Night Market (which is not quite as elaborate as the Richmond Night Market, but it has nice scenery, being in the middle of a blocked-off street instead of near the river on the edge of town). I only did one thing, but it was also alright. My feet were tired that day, in any case.


Oh yeah, if anyone new to the site reads this, there's a website for ya to check out:

http://otakucreche.bravehost.com/main.htm

Basically, it's a group of myO old-timers willing to give a guiding hand to whatever, should anyone want it. It's kinda neat, it follows a Star Wars model that I think they use at theforce.net's messageboards . . . and yeah, it should be pretty fun. So yeah, if you're new to the site, do consider lookin' for a myO master to get you settled a little quicker, be it general questions about the community, prettying up your blog page, or anything else. Give 'er a shot, if ya'd like.


Short news of the day . . . I'm somewhat working on a couple articles (one topic of which SOAP recently did themselves, the clever people they are), chopping away at "Ouran High School Host Club", bought the first volumes to "FMA", "Dragon Head", and "Remote" (and am enjoying them all quite a bit) . . . and now I miss my bed. Have a good Monday, everyone!


Random SomeGuy Trivia: I have notoriously bad hand-eye coordination. Toss me something to catch, the result could land either way; give me a stick or bat of some sort and THEN proceed to throw/pass me something to hit? Even worse.

Footballs and hockey sticks are slightly grey areas, though, I'm not completely useless with those . . .
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Saturday, July 1, 2006

   Aged 139, still lookin' fine!
Happy Canada Day, myOtaku! The nation is 139 years old today! If you live in the country, have a celebration or two with some red and white. Even if not, have a drink or somethin' as well. If you specifically live below us, I'll be sure to return the favour in a few days.

So yes, today, remember to add the "u" in your words ending in "-or". Think about how funny Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and all the Kids in the Hall are. Go curling. Measure something in centimeters and liters even though Canadians still use imperial units for everyday things anyway. Dare to slip an "eh?" at the end of a sentence (don't linger on it, though, a proper "eh?" requires it to be little more than an afterthought to the main point, not the point itself). Think about how odd it would be to have a Queen who becomes your queen the second she touches down on the land. Wonder in awe at how women are just so much better at hockey than men. Smirk at the t-shirt that says, "Canadian Girls Kick Ass". Think happily about marrying someone of the same sex - or, if that doesn't work, think about two other people of the same sex getting married. Try to figure out what the "2" in "Joint Task Force 2" stands for. Appreciate the quality of your driving vehicle and be glad that it's not a broken, failing, 40 year old Sea King helicopter. Eat a beaver tail (the fried, sugared dessert). Eat a beaver tail (the animal appendage). Spend a moment or two to figure out where all the Chinese people came from. Contemplate your accent and figure out what in fact makes it an accent. Eat french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. Laugh about how French people in France think the Quebequois talk funny. Spend a moment of silent thought for the lost Avro Arrow. After that's over, stand tall as if standing on Vimy Ridge itself. Kiss a Gemini. Kiss a railroad worker. Better yet, kiss a Chinese railroad worker! Sew a flag on your backpack. Vote Conservative even though you feel as though you stand with Liberal ideas. Wander quietly through the streets, looking for Hollywood film sets. Cheer at the end of the anthem, especially if the actual singer holds the mike up to the audience for the middle part . . .

. . . . . and last but not least, don't forget to always, always, stand on guard for thee.


Happy Birthday, Canada.
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

   A man can fly . . . and, he can return . . . . .

Dun dadah dundun, dun dun dun,
Dun, dadah dundun, DAH da-daaah!
Dun, dadah dundun, dun dun dun,
Dat dat dah, dat dat dah, DAH dada-...


(Dun dadun dundundun, dun dun dun dan dun
dun dadun dundundun, dun dun dun dan dun
Dan dadun dan dadun, dan dan dandandun
Dan dadun dan dadun, dan dan dandandun)

Dun dun dun DUUUUUUUN
( . . . . . dun dun dun dan dun
Dan dadun dan dadun, dun dun dun dan dun)
DAN DADUN DAN DADUN, DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN
DAN DADUN DAN DADUN, DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN-


-DAT DADAAAH!
Dat dat dadah Dahhh!
Dat dat dat Dan dadum, dat dat dadah dat-dahhh!
dat dat dat DAAAAH dah! Dat dat dat DAAAH dah!
Dah dah dah Dat dat dat daaah!
Dah dah dat dat dat daaaah!

Dat dat dat DAT DADAAAH!
Dat dat dadah Dahhh!
Dat dat dat Dan dadum, dat dat dadah dat-dahhh!
dat dat dat DAAAAH dah! Dat dat dat DAAAH dah!
Dah dah dah Dat dat dat daaah!
Dah dah dat dat dat daaaah...


Dat da-daaaah, dee dah dah dat dadahhhh,
Dat dadaaaah, dah Deee dadah dat dee dadahhh,
Dat dadaaaah, dee dah dah dee dat dee daaah,
Bah dee dah dee dat dah daaah, bah dee dah dee dee Dat, deedaaaah,

Dat da-daaaah, dee dahdee dahdee dat dadahhhh,
Dat dadaaaah, dat dat Deee dadah dat, dahdee dahhh,
Dat dat dat daaaah, dat dahdee dahdee Dahdeet deet Daaah-


-Bat dat dat DAN DADUN, bat dat dat dat dat DAT DADUNNN!
Bat dat dat DAN DADUN, dat dat dat dat dat DAT DADUNNN!
Bat dat dat DAN DADUN, dat dat dat dat dat
DAN DAN DAN DAAAAN!

Dun dun dun DAN DADUN, dun dun DAN DADUN,
dun dun DAN DAN DUN,
Bah dah dan dat dat dan dat dat
DUN...(dun dadun, dun dun dun dun dun)
(dun dadun dun dadun, dun dun dun dun dun)


DUN, Dadah dundun, Dah Dah Dunn!
Dun, Dadah dundun, DAT da-Daaah!
Dun, Dadah dundun, Dun Dun Dunn,
Dat Dat Dah, Dat Dat Dah, DAT da-DUN!
(dadun dun dadun, dun dun dun dun dun...)


Dahhh dahhh dahhh Dahh dah-daaaah,
dahdah daaaah, dahdah daaah dee dadeedaaaaah,
Dahhh dahhh dahhh Daaahhh daaah,
dahdah daaaah, dahdah daaah dee dat dadaaah!

dat dat deet daaah, dahdah dah deedee daaaah,
dahdah daaaah, dat dat dah deedee daaah,
dat dat dat DAAAAH, deet dahdee deet daaaah,
Bahdah Dat-Dah-Dah, Dat-dah-Dah,
Dat dat dat-dah-dah, Dat-dah-dah, dah,
DAT... (dadun dat dadun, dun dun dun dun dun
Dat dadun dat dadun, dun dun-)


Dat dat dat DAN daDAH, dat dat dadah dahhh!
dat dat dat DAN dadah! dat dat dadah Dat daaah.....

. . . . . . yeah, I'm kinda excited . . . kinda . . .
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

   My wrist is sore . . . . . no, not that you perv'!
Well, the Night Market performance was alright, and people seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Granted, the actual Night Market people did NOT give us parking spots so we all ended up parking on the streets far away anyways . . . and then the VIPs all filed out from the stage show right before we finished . . . . . worst part, though, was that by the time we finished going to all the stalls with lettuce hanging outside them, it was about two hours later! Once we finally finished, they were already announcing that the Night Market was going to close in 15 minutes - no time to get food, no time to shop around . . . grr. So now I have to go back again. Grr . . . . .

Interesting story about that night, though . . . I inexplicably ran into "The Girl" while we were going shop to shop! Seems she was there with some friends (most of whom I recognised, though I was never really close enough to them to say hello or anything). In any case, she's going well, she'll be graduating next winter, and . . . . . yeah.

Oh yeah, for those of you newer to my page, "The Girl" played a large part of my early myO years. I think it's probably self-explanatory how that was . . . . . but yeah, no funny feeling stirred up, it was good to see her after not doing so for basically a whole year . . . heh, yeah. Probably a good thing, I figure.


So yeah, after a week of working and a night of lion dancing, needless to say I'm pretty tired and sore . . . . . buuut, yesterday (which also happened to be the stepdad's birthday) the aniki decided he wanted to go out and enjoy the hot weather (t'was quite hot out that day). He wanted to hit the beach, or maybe go to the shooting range . . . . .

. . . . . now, I was still in bed when I got his call . . . but come on, he wanted to take me to a shooting range! I didn't make it explicit, but I was pretty excited.

Now, there was all kinds of drama to actually get to an open shooting range - y'know, long drive east into the ranch and farmland areas of Greater Vancouver, one range was closed because of some big event with members of parliament and stuff (bastards) . . . but eventually we got to an open outdoor range, the aniki set us up with some targets, ammunition, and his service pistol (which he had apparently been wearing on his hip under his shirt all that time). Then for an hour we shot up big things of paper.

Also at the range were a couple people with pistols, a couple Taiwanese guys with pistols and a rimfire rifle . . . later on another big asian dude came with a revolver and some model of the Russian SKS rifle (now THAT was cool) . . . heh, the aniki later commented that one of the Taiwanese guys was "a doofus! He has a scope on a handgun!" That amused me . . . in any case, let's talk about my second day ever firing a pistol and the first time ever reloading and all that jazz . . .

Heh, there's no way around it. Shooting guns is fun. I mean, by the end of it my wrist was so tired and weak from holding and shooting the aniki's Beretta (which many people apparently dislike for its weight and heavy trigger and stuff), my arm was covered in specks of brass and gunpowder, and my thumbs were both kinda hurting from loading the magazines (seriously, my thumbs hurt more from loading the rounds into the mags than my finger was from pulling the trigger!) . . . but it was totally worth it. My brother, meanwhile, was getting all cop-like, pretend-drawing from his side, shooting one-handed with his offhand . . . heh, he actually ended up breaking the wooden target post and it fell over. Cracked me up . . .


So yeah, after that we came home, had dinner with the family for the stepdad's birthday . . . yeah, pretty good day. Today, I expect I'll do very little except watch various Superman DVDs, be they The Animated Series, the Christopher Reeve movies, or "Lois & Clark" (SUCH a great show!). I might also go out and get that documentary done by Bryan Singer and Kevin Burns, "Look, Up in the Sky!" about the history of Superman. Gotta get into the mood, y'know? Yeah, Wednesday's gonna be fun . . . . .
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Sunday, June 25, 2006

   Li-on Dance. Lion. Big cats, NOT cowboys.
Been quiet online, I know. It's been a busy week at work (I've been there basically every day since Tuesday). We're all trying to get things into working shape since we're being audited next week (though we're technically not supposed to know). So in effect, Superstore spies are gonna infiltrate us and see how good of a job we're doing. The supervisors and managers are a little tense these days.

Meanwhile, my supervisor had his wisdom teeth out and has been away all week. Bastard . . . meh.


Shinsengumi fans, pay attention to this section!!!
So here's some fun stuff: I bought 2003's "When The Last Sword is Drawn" earlier this week. Basically it's about this country samurai who goes to Kyoto and joins the Shinsengumi so that he can get money to support his family at home. Meanwhile, he has interactions with Saitou Hajime the whole time (who's the other main character)! They show a lot of the later Shinsengumi stuff (basically all the stuff that happens AFTER PMK), but it's just cool to see "another version" of the story.

So yeah, Souji still pwns with a sword, Saitou's more drinky and angry in this version, Kondou is especially loud and commanding (and a little more of a jerk - Saitou actually refers to him in a voice-over as "a snob" for passing Souji over and inheriting that other guy . . . it seemed funny to me to look at it this way, but meh). Hijikata, meanwhile, was not nearly as scary as he is in other versions . . . whatever. The other big thing about this version was that the Shinsengumi here wore black and red instead of blue and white. Weird, huh?

But yeah, really cool. Good fights, neat visuals, emotional ending, y'know. What's REALLY wild about it, though, is that a couple of the actors in the movie actually went on to star in the 2004 "Shinsengumi" taiga drama that I was completely in love with the past two years! The Saitou from "When the Last Sword is Drawn" played Serizawa in the tv drama, and the guy who played Souji was Yamanami in the drama! It was twisted to see that!

Heh . . . if that wasn't twisted enough, Joe Hisaishi does the music for it, too - he's the guy who scores Miyazaki's movies!

So yeah, go watch it (and the Shinsengumi drama), if you haven't yet.


Today after work I have a lion dance to do at the Richmond Night Market. Should be fun. I hope they have okonomiyaki this year. But if not, I'll still have a chance to buy some cheap DVD-Rs, food, and whatever else I fancy. I'll tell ya all about it later. Meantimes, you all take care, a'ight?


Random SomeGuy Trivia: The Bacon Mushroom Melt from Wendy's is one of my great food weaknesses. It's so bad for you, but it's sooo good . . .
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Thursday, June 22, 2006

   It is much too late to be posting . . .
I work in less than seven hours and I'm still awake. Tsk tsk . . .

Not completely my fault. It's quite time-consuming playing a board game against yourself - what should have only taken two hours ended up taking . . . I dunno, about twice as long?

To be fair, I also had "Lois & Clark" playing on the TV front of me as well (SUCH a great show . . .), but that's besides the point . . .

I'll quickly explain that bit: I few days back I bought "Axis & Allies: D-Day". Neat addition to the series, a little more tactical than strategic compared to the ones before it, and I think it's pretty neat. However, the night we played it, "Faramir" started agitating me with his "this game has no strategy to it whatsoever" and "the whole game is based on luck" and "I've got it figured out and there's no way this could have worked any other way." I was quick to rebut him, but he was repeating himself too much to care. Man . . . he knew he was being annoying, he knew most likely he was just riling me up more than making a point (which was wrong, might I add) . . . . .

. . . so yeah, I played it again tonight to try out some new ideas. As it turned out, the plans actually work quite well . . . heh, the dice rolls were just really bad for one area of it.

. . . but don't get me wrong, strategically the Allies' loss was more of a loss of time compared to the all-out splattering they took the other night. On a luckier dice day, that game could have gone either way in those last turns . . . . .


So yeah, I'm somewhat trying to get back into war-gaming. It happens.

And if all of that went over all your heads, here's a picture of me with my next door neighbours whom 'Beck has indirectly met.

Five and three years old. Cute, huh?


Alright, bedtime. See ya.
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