Wednesday, March 2, 2005

   Alright, back to business . . .
Midterms? Check!
Shakespeare essay? Check!
Shakespeare play? Crap!

I don't recall if I told you guys about this project we were assigned . . . we have to perform a 50 minute version of a Shakespeare play in front of the class. We're performing this Monday, in fact. I know half my lines right now, and not all too well, either.
So this is where I go "dang" again, I think . . .

So yes, on Monday March 7th there will be a most humpish production of "The Taming of the Shrew" in Buchanan B212 of The University of British Columbia at 3:00pm(PST). If you have free time, do feel free to come by and see real metal swords being hung off of people's belts, though they are Chinese swords and not European Renaissance style. Hehe . . . actually, I think it's very fitting for us to have geographically faulty weaponry in our play, since it was I who brought up a similar issue with a version of "Romeo and Juliet" we watched. Divine justice, I guess . . . ah well, I'll take it if we get criticised (though we won't).

Yes, now was definitely a horrible time to start playing "Civilization 3" again . . . what was I thinking . . . . .

Alright people, have a good one. Adjö så länge, and don't forget to watch "Beck" (the anime)!
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Monday, February 28, 2005

   Methinks I see a long night ahead of me . . .
I could probably get away with not finishing my week-late essay tonight, but I'd rather not have to do that . . . so, I guess tonight shall be one of those long into the AM-type things.
On the plus side, I don't recall coughing all day. Score.

Oscars were last night, and I totally didn't even notice. I did check it out now and then, but I'll be honest, I wasn't especially interested this year . . . I did enjoy catching the clips of Halle Berry accepting her Razzie for 'worst actress', though . . . very classy (and amusing) move for her. Personally, I think more people should go to the ceremonies to receive their Razzies . . . I mean, Paul Veerhoeven accepted every single one for Showgirls when it came out! Every single one! THAT is class.

But to finish up with a blurb about the Academy Awards . . . . . did anyone else notice the band was playing the theme from "The Terminator" during the end credits? I thought that was quite interesting . . . and then the trumpet went really high, and then I smiled . . .


Alright, back to essays. I'm too lazy to look up a real language, so I'll just say . . . Navaer.


[EDIT: No proofreading, but the essay was completed at about 2:00am. Not too bad, I suppose . . . alright, night night. Bed beckons.]
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Sunday, February 27, 2005

   Update:
Sore throat is just about gone, which is great. I still have these fits of coughing early morning and late night, though which is not so great. But, for the most part it looks like I may possibly actually be getting better . . . here's hopin', anyway . . .

And Beck (the anime) continues to rock my world. BT users, you better be watching it soon if not already!

And now I must finish that blasted essay which I should have finished a week ago. But first, a service announcement for my page:

I am NOT Sorimachi Takashi, as cool as that'd actually be. That said, my myO avatar is NOT me. I only bring this up because so many people lately have been signing my guestbook either asking me about that, or praising me wrongly for that.
[/serviceannounce]

Alright, happy Sundays people. I'm sure it'll suck for essays, but be fun for "Shinsengumi" (they keep dying!!! Gen-san!!!). Ahem . . . anyhoo, Hara da-ma!
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Thursday, February 24, 2005

   I need an early night tonight . . .
Yes, I am the backwards green lion. Good times . . .
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Wednesday, February 23, 2005

   Just checkin' in . . .
Haven't played around online during regular hours too much. Midterms (which will hurt very much) and that essay that is now officially two days late and possibly still growing . . . on the plus side, I might be able to convince the prof to allow me a slight break, considering I'm on antibiotics now.

Oh yeah, I went into the walk-in clinic today. Seems my chest is clear, so it's all in my head . . . erm, physically in my head. So yeah, he put the popsicle stick in my mouth, I said "ahh," and he told me he saw bright red everywhere. That said, I'm about two steps away from full-blown strep throat and am now eating pills that'll probably make my bathroom habits all messed up. Good times, ya? Heh . . . well, for the most part I should be okay, unless it goes on for another week . . . in which case I might not be so okay . . . . . but I'm sure that's not gonna happen, so you people'd best not worry, yo.

Buuuut, since I'm not around to play with you guys right now, I'll post a quick image of the "big mall" performance I snagged from another club-member's blog page:


(Remember when I mentioned how I got caught up in a large sequence in front of the fountain and faked my way through it? Heh . . . I'll let you guess which lion I'm piloting . . .)


That said, I'm not sleeping enough and not studying enough. Khairete!
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Monday, February 21, 2005

   Hmm . . . I seem to be more sick than I thought . . .
Throat is still very much in pain, meaning I haven't exactly cut as deeply into that Shakespeare essay as I thought before . . . well, that's not exactly as cause-and-effecty as I make it out to be, but ya know. Oh yeah, I don't know what I was thinking before, but it's a 2500 worder, not the original 8500 I pegged before; in retrospect, that number was much larger than I thought it was. In any case, I doubt I'm gonna finish on the date . . . and I'm DEFINITELY not staying up ridiculously late tonight for that! Ah well, Globe's a pretty lax guy . . . wow, I got quite a few lax profs this year, I'm lucky . . .

Anyway, I'm just glad that my midterms aren't 'til Wednesday and Thursday. That gives me a little breathing room now, especially when considering I kinda don't wanna do much of anything right now (seriously, the nose and the coughing I can handle, but this sore throat thing has GOT to go!) . . . but let's get out of that whole thing . . .

[coughs lightly and dryly . . .]

In other news, I checked out the trailer for Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven", which is basically Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson hangin' out during The Crusades. Trailer looks good, premise sounds good, and the director does good work. Methinks this should be a good one, with lotsa crazy epic fighting and perhaps a decent social commentary to boot. Yes, methinks May should be a good month for us . . .

[coughs again . . .]

Alright, let's see if I can't at least dent this thing to one third completion at least . . . . . näkemiin, everyone!
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Saturday, February 19, 2005

   Hmm . . . . . no performance after all . . .
I got a call at the last second saying that I didn't have to go to the performance after all. I was fine with that. Heh.

So yes, I talked to a guy during a practice last night and he said he was just putting the pictures together, so I can get them from him some time (hopefully soon). Then you can see the lions and their Lettuce Destruction in full glory! Nyah hah hah! Oh yeah, and as it turns out, just about everyone at the club is sick with coughs, headaches, sore throats and all that. Guess that explains where I got sick pretty well . . .

And then the internet saw the glorious return of Molly! Ah, that was a glorious thing indeed . . . we've all missed ya, milady!

Ah . . . . . other than that, I got my Friday anime fix of Gundam Seed, Inuyasha and Witch Hunter Robin as usual. Very happy, as usual. Though, I'm also sad, because this is the last day of no school on a school day . . . . . man, this reading week went by fast . . .

That said, I have an "8500-worder" about "Othello" and its film representations due on Monday. Should be fun . . . I'd best start that soon, I think . . . . . and that is it for me for now. Now I just sit here, chatting with people, twirling a tonfa that I found in the basement somewhere . . . . . but that's for another day . . . or not.

Heh, salaam.


[EDIT: Hehe . . . my buddy "Faramir" is addicted to Civ3 now . . . sucker . . . . .]
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Friday, February 18, 2005

   No! For the love of all that is good!!
. . . . today there's another performance . . . technically it's not for New Year's, but still . . .

Anyway, I still haven't asked around for pictures yet. I've been busy feeling sick (might be a flu or something, I've had headaches and really brutal intestinal issues), for the most part.

Yesterday was pretty cool, though. For most of the day I helped my older brother move into his new house. He hauled out a lot of furniture from the house with a bunch of help from his police friends (cool people, I must say), and we all got it set up in his pretty townhouse about 5-10 minutes away. Man . . . that dude's got a nice house. Maybe it's because I recognise all the furniture and stuff, but wow, it's comfy.

Hehe . . . I'll tell ya the best part about the move, though. While hanging out and toasting with his cop buddies, I suddenly found out that his ENTIRE squad is using his slang terminology! I don't know how he did it, but his word "hump" was used by basically every single person in the house!

"Look at that hump driving behind us . . ."
"What a hump . . ."
"Can you believe how that hump [name here] came here in all that nice clothes for moving stuff?"
"It'd look kinda humpish if we move the chair there . . ."

I tell ya, some strange Twilight Zone stuff's goin' on . . . . . but yeah, fun stuff. I should make friends with a bunch of cops some day . . .

Anyway, Tylenol hasn't kicked in yet, so I think I'm gonna run away to the couch. Do svidanja!
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Wednesday, February 16, 2005

   Late New Year's Account: Part 2
Sunday:


Woke up, ate something tiny, and watched an episode of "Xenosaga: The Animation" . . . I think . . . anyway, I got to the other mall right at the buzzer.

This mall wasn't quite as elaborate a deal as the last one. Still had some dignitaries, still had the city's mayor say some words . . . I didn't listen this time, though. I was too busy stretching myself out . . . as it turns out, we were ALL still sore from the day before! Quite a shame, really . . . it was gonna be a long day . . .

So the 3 lions did their thing on the stage. I turned over cymbals detail to the younger people - me and another senior student fel that 'd be good for them - and watched the performance. So far so good. Now it was time for the choy-chang part . . .

Now, this time around it was a little different. This time we only had ONE team of lions going around the different stores in the mall, meaning that technically this should be easier for us since there'd be more people to switch back and forth with. In theory, anyway . . . . . the other difference . . . we were ordered to NOT destuct the lettuce! We were told to take it down, and hand the lettuce back to them intact! Aww!

So yeah, this tired and sore group of lion dancers and accompanying musicians made their way through the mall . . . and made their way through the mall . . . . . and made their way through the mall . . . heh, turns out, when you only have one team to do all the stores, you have to walk back and forth around a lot . . . especially when the mall is arranged in such a way in that there is basically a central sort of hub and the halls all spread out from it . . . ick.

So yeah, this one took MUCH longer to finish than the last one. We were walking around the mall by about 1pm, and didn't stop until about 3:30pm. Owie. By the end of it my ears were ringing like mad and my feet were just tired . . . oh yeah, and the arms couldn't handly cymbals well any more either. Basically, we were all dead.

At that point I decided I wasn't hungry enough to spend money at the mall for food, so I just went home. And then I loafed around for the rest of the day. It was great.


Anyway, still no pictures yet . . . I will hunt those people down soon. So yeah, that was my New Year's summed up. Saturday was much more interesting than Sunday, but Sunday hurt a whole lot more. But, it all ended and then we got to go home. And . . . yeah. That's about it.

And now it's back to normal life, more or less. Which is great, because I've missed it. Everyone take care of yourselves, and I'll see ya soon . . .

. . . and holy crap! "Naruto" got licensed!!!

. . . but that's for another day. 'Til then, do widzenia!
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Tuesday, February 15, 2005

   Late New Year's Account: Part 1
Well, I'm feeling much less sore today, which is great! So let's talk about why I felt sore to begin with, shall we?


Saturday:

Woke up . . . late. The guy who I was supposed to call to wake up actually called me to tell me to wake up - basically, I'm never gonna hear the end of that one ever again. Quickly called up the older brother (who now seems to have the power to sleep at his own incomplete house now) to check up on his situation, showered in about two seconds, and got out the door. Picked up another guy on the way and we headed out for yum-cha near the mall.

After breakfast, we went to the mall to get the lions, drums, and dragon out of the rental truck and set up. By about 11am, we were more or less ready . . . and cue the dignitaries for all their speeches . . .

[paraphrase]
"Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! Gung hay fat choy! This year is the year of the rooster, meaning there will be much wealth, luck, and prosperity for us all. Not only is it the year of the rooster, but it is the wood cycle of the year of the rooster. This means we will have more prosperity and luck. Coming up we will have a lion dance and a dragon dance . . . now we usually only see the lions, so we're extra lucky to have a dragon here too! And while the Kin Fung Athletic Group Incorportated dances to bring us all luck and prosperity, we will watch and bask in the prosperity and wealth that they bring us. And luck. So again, Happy New Year, thank you for coming to the mall, and may you have much prosperity this year!"
[/paraphrase]

Anyway, while the MC, mayor and MPs and stuff spoke, all I could do was try not to laugh or snicker. Seriously! I wish I was kidding, I heard the word "prosperity" so many times it's all but lost meaning to me! Hehe . . . and then the whole thing about my club being "Incorporated" . . . ohhh man, I don't know where that one came from . . . . . but anyway, fire marshall's gonna light the fire crackers now . . .

. . . . . at this point I realised I wasn't wearing ear plugs . . . dang, running a dragon past a thing of exploding fire crackers HURTS! Heh . . . any cameras filming us as we ran by must've been met with all these scared and pained faces . . . . . ah well . . .

Alright, this is getting long. Sufficeth to say the dance outside the entrance to the mall was a great success (except for my older brother who, while holding the dragon's head, led it into the mall before we bowed to the dignitaries . . . silly boy . . .). Then we went inside to do more dancing near a big fountain.
It was during this fountain thing where I suddenly found myself in the head of a 2-man lion. I thought we were just gonna walk the lions in before moving on . . . . . but no, seems the 8 lions were DOING A ROUTINE as well! Hehe . . . . . so there I am, surrounded by "professional" lion heads going through this sequence that I've only ever seen from the outside . . . . . so yeah, I faked it. We're in a big public performance and I was faking my part through a large 16-person (not including the 7-person dragon that did stuff just before). I just remember seeing the guys in the lion in front of me at one point. They were just howling with laughter at seeing me in there . . . ah, life . . . . .

Anyway, after that, it was finally time for some choy-chang (aka. "Lettuce Destruction"!!!). And right off the bat . . . we didn't have a gong stand on our drum cart. So, either we had someone HOLDING the damn gong for someone to hit (and these are big, cast-iron mothers, mind you), or we just screwed the gong and didn't use it. Anyway, with our small insertion teams we got around to all the stores in the mall. It was actually for the most part pretty well organised. I took part in many tail-missions as well as two leading "lettuce destructions" of my own - I was proud. And then this went on and on for a while . . .

By the time it was over, our sifu told us to go to another mall so we could eat (it was about 3:00pm by now). The meal itself was nice (though we were all still full from breakfast). The best part of it was after we finished and we all got out of our seats . . . . universal groaning from EVERYONE! We were so sore from all the lion dancing and stuff! Haha! It was great . . .

But yeah, after that about half the people had to go to another small New Year's type thing, so we split up from there - I drove home, buying PMK along the way (20% off!). I was tired.


And . . . this took a long time. I'll talk about Sunday later.

Now, I know I posed for a bunch of stupid pictures with people, so someone must have some digital camera pics by now . . . I'll ask around a bit and see if I can't hook you all up, a'ight? 'Til then, um . . . . . I dunno. Enjoy your V-Day+1, I guess.
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