Three Bingles Worth

Vibram FiveFingers: Sprint

2008-05-30T18:21:00.001-07:00

I love my Vibram FiveFingers Surge model shoes (read about them here and here) and ever since last autumn I have wanted to get a lighter pair of FF's for warmer weather, especially since the heat generated by my foot muscles (insulated by the Surge's neoprene) can make my feet pretty sweaty. This spring they actually did away with the old Surge model and added two new models, one of which replaced my previous desire for a pair of Sprints: the new KSO model (short for "Keep Stuff Out"), which is a lot like the Sprint except the whole foot is covered in order to, well, keep stuff out.

Unfortunately, the KSOs have proven to be so popular as to make them difficult to obtain so it was back to the Sprints. I decided this was fine since the Sprints come in more jovial colors anyhow. Maybe by the time I have money to get another pair of FFs next summer, new KSOs will be out in more vibrant color schemes. ;)

I ordered a pair of red Sprints. Now, let me tell you, the 'red' on the vibram site looks rather orange but in reality the shoes are cherry-hotrod RED. I was bummed about this, particularly since I tend to avoid wearing red but in the end said to heck with it and kept them. (Too much of a hassle to return things through the mail from Alaska). I also ordered a pair of Injini toe socks from the Vibrams site to help insulate my foot and keep grit out.

Fitting
Whoa, this was a big surprise. Before I ever got a pair of FFs I recall reading about how all these people had all these problems getting their toes in the slots but I never have any such problems with my Surges. Of course, the Surge model was made of thicker stuff - these thinner Sprints are TOUGH to get your toes into! And my toes were prepared! Not a big deal - the time it takes to sort out my toes is time that would of been taken by tying the laces on my running shoes. The heel is much more spacious than on the Surge - and I don't need the extra room (who has heels this bulbous?) and some of the material in the inside back of the heel rubs a bit. I read about this; I may have to tape them (wearing the Injini socks takes care of this as well). Otherwise, the fit is great, the straps are well placed and I can't see the main top strap ever chafing.

Comparison to the Surge
I am blown away by the difference between these and the Surge model. The Sprints are SO much thinner than the Surges - and I already thought the Surges were thin and tactile. Gravel hurt more than 'usual' with these; textures and edges were even easier to feel and to grip than in the Surges. Enhanced gripping was particularly notable while walking the rails of a train track. There is much more flex for individual toes, too. The material itself is a great change; my feet actually breathe! Worn with the Injini socks, my feet still overheated on this, a cool day in the 50's, but they did not get clammy with sweat like in the Surges.

I haven't worn these in water yet or done any serious hiking but I look forward to putting them through the paces and temperature tests. Overall I am happy about the lighter, thinner, more flexible nature of these shoes, though there are some rough edges here and there that aren't existing in the Surges (the Surges envelop the foot like a perfect glove). Don't get me wrong - I still love my Surges but they simply either need to be worn in water or in cooler weather.

I see with the Sprints that FiveFingers are not for everyone. The KSOs may have taken out some of the rough edges, looking more shoe-like for one, and perhaps being a tad more comfortable. However, if you are at all interested, I highly recommend looking into trying out a pair of any model.

Wii Pro Gamer's Case

2008-05-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

As seen here at Amazon.com.

I take my Wii around a bit and looked into the many different case and bag options for hauling the console around. I eventually went with Intec's Wii Pro Gamer Case for several reasons:
• Hard side case
• Inexpensive at $25
• Compartmentalized
• Built specifically for the Wii
• Looks good

Construction - In appearance, the case is a blank, metal suitcase that does not say "wii" anywhere, making it an anonymous container, which can be a pro for keeping would-be thieves second-guessing the contents. Every other case I saw was a soft case or bag emblazoned with "Wii" that, other than the material the enclosure was made of, offered little protection from crushing forces. The Pro Gamer Case is a hard-sided aluminum case. You can stand on it and your Wii is not going to get crushed, nor are any of the more fragile elements, like the thin sensor bar. The inside is lined with some sort of black suede-like materal that won't scratch anything and the partitions themselves are sturdy. I read somewhere a complaint about the hinges; they only open to 90°, much like a musical instrument case, but I find no problems with this. It would take a lot of force to break the hinges.

Compartments - To me, this is the next biggest selling point. No other case has quite the compartmentalization that the Pro Gamer Case has. The slot for the Wii itself includes velcro straps to hold the Wii down but these are barely needed. The console fits SO snugly it can actually be difficult to remove. Inside the lid are two elastic bands made especially for the sensor bar, holding it securely in probably the safest configuration of any setup thus far. The rest of the organization made possible by the case varies due to its one flaw, which is seen as a major flaw by many people: the lack of room for the power block.

In the main area of the box, there's a long, skinny compartment above the one for the Wii. This is the perfect size and shape for the Wii stand. The other, smaller compartments to the side are good for Nunchucks and for the audio/video cable, but none are wide enough to accommodate the cables protruding from the power block. The only way to do it is to put the block in at an angle in the largest of the side compartments and then carefully stuff the cables in around it, a far from ideal situation. However, the Wii does not need its stand to run properly, so if you are willing to leave the stand at home, the power block can be fitted into its slot comfortably, leaving ample room for up to 4 Nunchucks and the audio/video cable.

The lid not only has the slot for the sensor bar, but two more loops the perfect width for Wii game boxes, game manuals, or two Wiimotes side-by-side in each band for a total of 4 Wiimotes. If you place the Wiimotes so that the band runs between the buttons, then there isn't as much chance of the buttons being pushed by the lid partition and thus draining the batteries.

Price - at the time I bought my Pro Gamer Case, the next best choice, the G-Pak, was over $100 in price. The G-Pak is notable for its VERY spacious main compartment, game disc holders in the lid, and the ability to leave the Wii strapped in the case with its cables plugged in so that once you get where you are going, you simply unzip the bottom of the case to reveal the cables and then plug in the Wii without having to unpack it. The one flaw with this (other than initial price) is that, like most other cases and bags, there is no compartmentalizing. Everything gets tossed in, free to move about.

Conclusion - There are a lot of cool options for the Wii (including a cute bowling-ball bag style setup) but for the protection of the Wii and its components, despite the lack of forethought in designing room for the stand and the power block, this is by far the best way to go for the Wii.

Portal [game]

2008-03-16T14:57:00.001-07:00

From Wikipedia: Portal* is is a single-player first-person action/puzzle video game developed by Valve that is often boasted by fans as being more popular than the main fare of the Orange Box (Half Life 2). It was released as part of "The Orange Box" for the XBox 360 and Windows but will be released on its own this April 2008. It is a short game consisting of 19 levels, taking anywhere from 3 to 5 hours for first-time players to finish (I took about 6, spending time exploring and experimenting with the portal gun).

*Note: be aware that the Wikipedia article is full of un-noted spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Setting: A sterile, white & grey walled "Enrichment Center" for "Aperture Science Laboratories".

Premise: You are a woman named Chell. You wake up in the Enrichment Center and are prompted by a female robotic voice (GLaDOS) to begin your training process by completing a series of puzzle tests, one per level. Generally, the test is to cross a room, overcoming various barriers, and/or manipulate a few buttons in order to gain access to the exit door. The puzzles are often very simple but require lateral thinking to discover the answer.

Early on, you obtain the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" (portal gun) which, as you guessed, creates portals. Portals come in two colors: blue and orange - the color difference is there only to aid the player in telling the portals apart; they otherwise do the same thing. Go in one, come out the other. Once placed, a portal stays put until the player shoots to move it elsewhere. Only one portal of either color can exist at any given time.

Gameplay
I played this on an XBox, using a traditional XBox controller. Both control sticks are required for movement - one for forward and side-to-side movement and the other to aim the portal gun. It takes some getting used to (and a large screen helps) but with a little patience it becomes second nature. A friend of mine watching had previously played Portal on a PC with a mouse and decided that was the way to go - particularly for aiming.

I am a long-time MYST player and the more mechanical levels of Portal will be right up any MYST fan's alley. But the majority of Portal revolves around using the portals and physics to get across many of the more challenging levels, particularly with the "speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out" mantra. Because you cannot run or jump, you have to harness physics (usually the physics of gravity - i.e. falling) to create speed to accomplish some amazing feats. Because the game is in first-person perspective, these feats become truly stunning and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Also, for those of you who hate dying in games, its pretty hard to die in this game through most of it. Luckily you cannot fall to your death - you can only drown in sludgey water (where applicable), be crushed under heavy objects (again, not a common situation, or take too much sustained energy damage from lazers in two or three levels, but again - avoidable. You pretty much never have an opponent other than the puzzle itself.

Storyline: because this is ultimately a mini game, there is only a basic storyline. What really drives the game forward is the mystery of the facility, GLaDOS' motivations, and the amount of humor in the game. It uses lots of techno jargon in silly ways, is full of things that later become inside-jokes to Portal players - and heck, the supposed reward at the end of the game is cake. What is there not to like about that? :D

Conclusion
I almost wish I had my own XBox just so I can play Portal. Maybe on my next Mac I will break down and install Windows via Parallels *just* so I can play Portal. The creators at Valve intend on creating a full blown Portal game of some kind and I will be on the wagon to get it when it comes out.

I honestly can't find anything bad to say about Portal - even about its short length, simply because they used every level to its fullest (particularly the last two) to where any more would of felt tacked on. The visuals were clean and were never glitchy, the sounds were practical, the story was funny yet mysterious, and the controls were smooth and pretty easy to use. Portal is a very unique game can appeal to a varied audience and is worth at least a rental. Go try!

And for those of you who *have* played, here's two shirts I made:

Vibram FiveFingers Surge: winter update

2008-03-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

Back in August, I made a post about my new Vibram FiveFingers shoes (I loved them). Last fall in the 50°F+ temperatures, my feet would completely sweat through the Neoprene lining, prompting me to plan on buying a pair of Sprints later this spring. Because the Surge model insulated so well I decided to test them out through an Alaskan winter and spring.

Conditions
I tested them on ice, in snow, and down to temperatures as cold as 12°F (-11°C). I kept my feet dry and I got my feet damp. I tested them walking and jogging, on pavement and on rougher, natural surfaces. I never went further than a mile at a stretch, though, as I wasn't keen on risking frostbite.

Findings
If your feet get wet, you are screwed - your feet will get cold no matter what.

Now, as long as I kept my feet dry...
When I would first leave the house, the wind or cold would go right through the Neoprene making my feet cool, but not yet cold. About as cold as feet on wet grass on a summer morning. Standing around on a cold surface is no good at all, the cold seeping right through the soles. If I kept moving, my feet were fine - by the time I half-jogged, half-quick-walked to my destination a mile away, my feet were actually making their own heat and felt just fine.

It was a wonderful sensation to have my feet feel so light, not weighed down by heavy snow boots, and to still be warm, although it took some excercise for my feet to keep them warm. Better yet was the feel of snow, particularly frozen road grader leavings on sidewalks. It is one thing to run around barefoot in summer or to wear these shoes on dirt, woodchips, grass, and rocks and to know what it feels like barefoot, but a totally different thing with snow because most of us aren't crazy enough to go barefoot on snow. So we don't have a good idea of the true sensations of running around on crunchy snow. And let me tell you, it feels *good*. I felt sneaky, too, like a kid doing something they ought not to. I purposely left 'barefoot' prints in the snow on the sidewalks. I wonder if anyone ever saw. ;)

Ice. These shoes are no good on ice. Great on rocks, great on wood and grass and dirt, horrid on ice. Unless you like to skid a lot.

As far as temperatures go, and being mindful that I am a woman, I was comfortable anywhere above 22°F (-5°C) - the warmer, the better, of course, as long as my feet stayed dry. And keeping my feet dry was impossible in fluffy snow of any depth. Drifts and hard-pack were fine as long as I didn't sink into it at all. 18°F (-7°C) is about as cold as I will personally go if I am desperate to wear my FFs. Colder temps would probably be do-able if I went a longer distance to have more time to get my feet temperature up but it just wasn't for me.

Damp feet were fine above freezing (32/0) though I still have yet to try completely WET feet. I predict, however, that wet feet can stay comfortably warm in temperatures above 40°F (4°C) easily as long as they are kept moving.

Conclusion
Obviously I wouldn't wear these all winter but after growing to love them in the fall, I found any excuse to wear my FiveFingers in the winter. As soon as the thermometer got up above 22°F (-5°C), I had my FFs on to jog to work or to the store. Even though I only got to wear them every few weeks, my feet loved it and *I* loved it (wearing my FFs and running around makes me feel like a kid again and gets me out of most bad moods). Now that it is spring here, I am finding I wear them more often than not if I am going to be active outdoors. I still don't wear them if I am going to end up standing around a lot as they aren't warm enough for that. So:
• Keep DRY in colder temps
• temps as cold as 18°F (-7°C) bearable if staying in motion
• bad on ice
• snow feels fun on the feet

My final conclusion is that in dry conditions, these shoes excel in active motion in temperatures between 18° to 55°F (-7° to 12°C) - any colder is just plain cold, and any warmer my feet sweated through the shoes. I am constantly amazed by these shoes and look forward to really putting them to the test this summer. I hope to obtain a pair of Sprints to go along with my Surges and test them both in water. Keep an eye out for future posts. :)

"Dark Passion Play" by Nightwish

2007-10-05T11:58:00.001-07:00

I recently obtained Nightwish's new album, "Dark Passion Play" (DPP for short). For those of you not in-the-know, Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic power metal band who on all previous albums was fronted by a female operatic vocalist, Tarja Turunen. If they aren't the first, they are definetly the most famous band of their kind to use such vocals.

Due to internal issues, the band replaced Turunen with a more 'traditional' sounding vocalist, Anette Olzon. Fans have been pretty divided over this, even before hearing Olzon sing. Originally I was put off Nightwish because I thought it strange to have opera singing with metal. But once I got beyond that, I fell in love with the music and came to like Turunen's voice just fine. Though I had no allegiance to Turunen I was worried that a non-operatic voice would not be able to withstand the power and bombast of Nightwish's sound.

I was wrong. Gleefully so.

Musically, the album is Nightwish. That is who it sounds like, no one else could of created this album. When put into their discography chronologically, I can see how it logically flows out of their previous album, "Once". DPP follows the heavier, more aggressive, crunchier sound of "Once" and one-ups it. "Once" also was the first album to try to utilize a full orchestra and choir but DPP multiplies that by 10. Where "Once" had an orchestra backing up the songs, the orchestra IS the songs on DPP, making the album a gigantic monstrosity of dynamic sound. Some versions of DPP come with a second CD of just instrumental/orchestral versions of the songs. I've heard a few of these and it is amazing how well they stand up without lyrics or lead guitars to carry the songs through, each song standing well on just the orchestra/choir.

Vocally I think Olzon's voice does just fine. Vocal duties are split evenly across this album between Olzon and bass guitarist/male vocalist Marco Hietala. Hietala previously primarily sung back-up/duets with Turunen but never really got to shine on his own. And shine he does - the man sings as well-if-not-better than the best of them. Aside from adding to the dynamic quality of the album, spreading the vocal load between the two voices helps to ease Olzon's new sound into the music and into the aural image of the band.

Comparitavely, Nightwish still does not sound like anyone else out there. Some fans accuse them of sounding more "pop-ish", likely due to Olzon's more traditional singing style and the 'catchiness' of a few of the tunes ("Amaranth" is the only one that comes to mind). I have to argue with this and point out that this is by far the heaviest, most aggressive album they've made. Furthermore, Nightwish is a symphonic power metal band - by definition power metal is epic and melodic, often more "positive" sounding. I can pick out a dozen pre-Anette Nightwish songs that could be considered "poppy" but aren't by diehard fans simply because the vocals are operatic (and in itself, operatic vocals are not traditionally "metal" either). So I think the argument is largely based on the fact that people just hate change.

Personally the album makes sense to me. There are songs on here Turunen could of sung but others I just don't think she would of worked out for. Olzon's voice adds an element of flexibility to Nightwish; there are just some songs that would be crushed under the weight of operatic vocals. And with enough attitude, a more traditional vocalist can fill the gap left by the missing "epicness" of operatic vocals. So I am perfectly happy with Olzon's voice. I also like that we get more of Marco's vocals on this album as well - and that's saying something for me, since I normally prefer female vocals.

Conclusion: I love this album. I don't have to stretch to accept it at all - it just makes sense in the flow of Nightwish's growth. The album works on a whole and most of the songs stand alone on their individual merits. We'll see how it stands the test of time but after a few days of listening to it, it is swiftly becoming my favorite Nightwish album.

HIGHLIGHTS
Bye Bye Beautiful - obvious lyrics spitting with anger. I wish I could write songs this well for the people who have done me wrong.
Amaranth - catchy or not, this'll be one of those concert favorites like "Nemo", "Bless the Child", and "Wishmaster". This is the song people are judging the whole album on, which they shouldn't, but it's still a great song.
Sahara - I like the subtle nature of this song. The chorus has this understated power that love. I think Olzon's vocals shine best on this track.
The Islander - written by Hietala, an accoustic sea ballad. It gives me chills. There have been a few other accoustic songs in Nightwish's history and this is the best. My favorite track. Olzon's backing vocals are the cherry on top.
Last of the Wilds - instrumental Celtic influenced song with fiddles and pipes. A rousing song - something Runrig may of done if they were metal. Love it!

"Ciao, Baby" by theSTART

2007-10-02T14:39:00.001-07:00

When my friend Trey and I were in Denver we hit a few Hot Topic stores. At one store they were not playing the usual thrashy, growly music and I was liking what I was hearing. It was a band called theSTART and it was their new album, Ciao, Baby!. I had to have it.

I ordered it from Amazon.com and got it yesterday and I listened to it 5 times in a row (this is unusual for me). I love it. For me it is instantly accessable and catchy without being trite, already-done, or simplistic. theSTART is neo-80's new-wave/punk. When I first heard them I immediately thought of electro-goth duo Collide (Collide is much darker and has an industrial, rather than new-wave, flavor, and they also utilize middle-eastern tones). After a few listens I now think that its better to describe theSTART as a mash of Garbage, No Doubt (for vocals and pep), Goldfrapp, and Siouxsie & the Banshees. Funny enough, theSTART has opened and toured with Garbage and the Birthday Massacre as well as Front Line Assembly, all bands I think they can relate to and all bands I like.

The use of digital bass, heavy and buzzing, is reminiscent of Goldfrapp and middle-era Garbage. The vocals and plucky guitars are punk influenced. Some of their atmospheric keyboards/guitar is reminiscent of 80's Blondie and Siouxsie & the Banshees. The vocalist, Aimee Echo, sounds similar to Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons, according to my musically encyclopedic sister. Or for you non-80's folks, reminiscent of a raspy Gwen Steffani (No Doubt), as far as vocal dynamics and range.

The whole album is a highlight but if I have to pick a few "must-listen" tracks, they'd be:
Wartime - Goldfrappish, modern beats, off-kilter catchyness
Runaway - catchy, singalong, frentic 80's punk
Blood On My Hands - attitude, catchy, definite early punk vein in the guitars/vocals, lovely rasp
Dance Revolution - dark, boiled down. Sounds like a Siouxsie & The Banshees song with Gwen Steffani lyrics/beats thrown in

Positive with attitude, light enough to be a great summer album with dark enough 80's threads to make it good for the turning seasons (if you find your music seasonal, which a lot of mine is - no B-52's in the winter, sorry). Love it. :D

Scrapped Princess

2007-10-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the Wikipedia entry for Scrapped Princess. (if you read that Wikipedia article, don't read past the "Story" bit - the character profiles and everything below are rife with spoilers). I bought the boxed set (6 discs in one plastic box - the best deal for your money). In Japanese and English, though I always watch my anime in Japanese with subtitles.

Scrapped Princess is about this 15 year old girl, Pacifica, who was born to the royal family and then ordered to be killed as a baby when a prophecy from the Church of Mauser was made saying she would become "the poison that destroys the world" upon her 16th birthday. Well, she wasn't killed and was instead sneaked to a family who raised her as their own. Their parents now dead and the Church of Mauser aware that the princess lives, Pacifica and her two older adopted siblings, Shannon (a very awesome swordsman) and Raquel (a wizard), take to the roads to escape.

The story takes place in a high-fantasy type world, swords-and-horses kind of place with a *very* slight steampunk aesthetic, mostly in terms of clothing technology. As the tale wears on, though, sci-fi and high-technology creeps in as we discover more about this worlds past. It's pretty neat - I'm guessing this whole world and society is post-apocalyptic, only the sci-fi apocalypse happened 5000 years ago.

The characters are very three dimensional right from the start. And none of them are stereotypical - I honestly haven't seen characters like these in any other anime yet. Pacifica wears pink and acts the spoiled princess, but under it she's honestly a sweet person, very caring about others, and is SUCH a tomboy (reminds me of Aeryu from "Simoun"). Raquel is the tall "Sachiko/Sakaki" looking older sister - she's very quiet and can seem absent minded but as you learn more about her powers, you start to realize that she's just extremely understated and has WAY more awareness and power than anyone lets on. And Shannon, the older brother, is the biggest surprise - I thought I'd hate him. I thought he'd be the gruff, "dark horse" brooding swordsman. But he's not - he's the housekeeper, OCD, cynical, mother-bear of the group, quickly becoming my favorite. Side characters are just as interesting, too.

The story is neither dark and heavy nor silly and over-the-top. No high-pitched voices anywhere, no goofy faces. Humour is actually more realistic (often in the form of sarcastic comments between the siblings). The plot is detailed and complex and only halfway through I'm having fun guessing at what is around the corner.

The music is also very good, fitting the setting and era (i.e. no bubblegum pop or heavy metal or anything uncharactaristic of existing technologies for the most part) - and the animation itself is high quality stuff, from Studio BONES (the folks who brought us Wolf's Rain, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Cowboy Bebop). I'm starting to see a trend with BONES productions in that they're rock solid in all departments - characters, animation, story, music - everything. It's a whole package.

Conclusion: I'm only halfway through but I'm really fond of this anime already. It's solid: no single element is carrying the series on its own. I'm made to care about the characters and I'm interested in finding out about this world's past. Halfway through, it is worth watching. And heck, I even got my anime-hating sister to watch and even enjoy it thus far, so it must be good, right? :D

Spork Spork Spork!

2007-08-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

I randomly stumbled across this strange eating implement one day on Amazon.com and after reading colorful reviews I decided I had to try one.

And try I did – I was on a photoshoot this past summer and the photographer had one of these sporks, made by Swedish camping gear maker Light My Fire. I was able to briefly try out the spoon-end in some potato salad but did not get to try out the sporky-fork/knife end. Grr. So last week I stopped by REI and picked up a lime green spork for $3 (you can buy a set of 4 for $9) and have been trying to remember to use it for as many meals as possible to get a good feel for it.

Light My Fire Stats:
Heat resistant PC material
Teflon-friendly
Machine washable
Extremly durable
Civilized colors
Weight: 9 gr
17 cm

I am rather fond of the spoon-end. It's deeper than most spoons and so holds more than you'd think - very good for people who prefer the larger spoons in their silverware sets (which I do). I like it especially for cereal and soups. It is good for potato salads, too.

The fork is a bit unwieldy, but then so are most wide-tined plastic forks. I had roasted cauliflower and chicken and was dipping both into ketchup. Admittedly, roasted/baked cauliflower is a bit rubbery so I think any non-metal fork would have issues with that. The chicken was much easier to stab, though the fork had shallow stab-depth for the large pieces of chicken. The chicken itself was a whole breast. Because the knife serrations are on the side of the fork, unless you have a second spork with you, you have to use your fingers to hold your food while you cut it with your spork. By that point you either a) could of done with just a normal fork and knife or b) eaten the item with your fingers (I mean, you're probably camping anyway, right?) As it was, I had to use my fingers. The serrations worked okay but I'll have to test it on more foodstuffs before I make a decision on it.

Conclusion
I justified my purchase of this spork by declairing it my way of not using any more disposable plastic utensils. Lately I've been eating a lot of deli salads that require flatware of some sorts and I just hate throwing away those spoons and forks. (Still need to find a way to circumvent those plastic containers, though). It's something of a novelty item, really, though as advertised you can put this spork in your kid's lunchbox or keep it in your backpack/purse for those times when you need a spoon/fork. Making it a double-ended utensil cuts down on bulk and minimizes the clutter of multiple utensils, though it can be messy switching back and forth between ends during a single meal.

Is it worth it? For me, probably not - I don't travel much and there's metal flatware both at home and the office so I really don't need my own spork. If I travel more or go on more picnics/roadtrips/etc. then I'll probably be taking it with me. It's novel, it works better than a true spork, it's sturdy, and I paid $3 for it so it BETTER see some action. ;)

Picross DS

2007-08-20T00:16:00.000-07:00

A review of Nintendo's PicrossDS

Picross DS Wikipedia article
Nonogram - Wikipedia article about nonograms (what Picross is)

About Picross
Picross is a puzzle game that is often described (and not just by me) as a cross between sudoku and minesweeper. Basically you have a grid in which you need to fill in squares in order to make a pixel picture. Easy mode grids are 5x5 and Normal mode grids (so far) are 15x15 and apparently they can go up to 20x25. The grids start out blank (unless you choose to start with a hint). From there you must figure out which squares to fill in by looking at numbers along the top and left sides of the grid. The numbers tell you how many squares are filled in that row and in what groups.

For instance, a row may have the numbers 5 3 3 next to it. That means that there is a group of 5, a group of 3, and another group of three squares colored in - each with at least one blank space in between them (groups cannot be touching, obviously). So you compare the info of the rows with the info of the collumns and based on how much room you have, where those squares should go.

Some of them are easy. In a 15x15 grid, if you have a row that's "5 4 4" then you add those up in your head (13) plus one blank at least between each number for a total of 15. That means that the 5 and the second 4 MUST be touching opposite sides of the grid. Nice.

If you're patient, you can use lots of logic to fill everything in without time penalties (if you guess wrong then you get penalized minutes to your time score). I'm not very patient so I choose to have a hint at the start.

Picross DS fun stuff
Each level is themed so you can kind of guess some of the things you're trying to 'draw'. Like, one level was all African animals, another was fruit, another was sea animals, etc. Being able to guess pixel pictures is handy for when you get stuck and have to guess at a square placement.

Each puzzle starts out as a complete mystery so you have NO idea what you are drawing. Once you've completed a puzzle, though, it gets a little icon in the menu so you know what it is. It also records your best time for each puzzle so you can try to beat your best times on each puzzle.

Each level has its own theme for the squares, which is fun. Easy mode levels were 'apple' themed, so each square was like a red (square) apple and when you clicked on it you whittled it to a core. The African animal level's squares were grass patches so when you filled them in, it mowed away the grass. Apparently there is a bubble-wrap level - I can't wait for that one. Should you dislike a level's theme you can revert to the generic blue-square theme.

There's also a head-to-head time-challenge mode, a daily-picross mode, and you can download puzzles via Wi-Fi. Also, in normal mode, once you've completed a row of puzzles, you unlock the ability to do a quick special level, of which there seem to be two kinds. The first kind involves giant flying pixels that you must tap quickly to 'tag' - needing to tag a certain number of them before time runs out. The second kind involves drawing the shown image (in a grid, of course) before time runs out.

There seem to be 135 single-player puzzles from what I read online (not counting what you can download.

You can turn off the music but keep the sound FX.

You can save your progress on one game at a time - when you turn on your DS it will ask if you want to restore your game so you don't have to go through the menus to go back to it.

Not good stuff
Each cartridge only holds scores and stuff for one person, unlike games like "Brain Age" that have multiple slots for multiple players.

By default, on larger puzzles you have to zoom in (it shows you the larger puzzle in the top screen) so as you fill in squares, the screen floats around to keep you centered. If you aren't careful, this can cause you to tap the wrong square and incurr a penalty. However, I discovered that by using the D-pad you can turn this off. Nice.

Conclusion
If you like games like Sudoku and minesweeper and you like stylus-based games (you can use the D-pad for this game, too) then Picross is a fun game. I find it addictive - and it's $20, so it's one of the lower-priced games (new). Reccomended.

Clif nectar® cacao bar

2007-08-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

I am not normally into the whole energy bar thing. I prefer to obtain my nutrients from foods I recognize as actual food. But there's something to be said for having some handy munchies with you on a hike or bike ride. My problem is that I cannot eat grains (especially corn), casein, or soy. This makes finding a replacement for the traditional granola bar somewhat of a challenge.

Earlier this week on a whim I went to the energy bar aisle of my local grocery store. There are so many kinds it boggles the mind. I noticed the word "Organic!" plastered over a lot of the boxes and thought I'd read some labels and see if there weren't any that were Kara-friendly, as I like to say.

Sure enough, the Clif nectar® series of energy bars are gluten/soy/wheat/dairy free and are made only with ingredients that are also gluten/soy/wheat/dairy free (dunno why they seperate wheat from gluten in that statement...). I got the "cacao - organic chocolate, fruit & nut bar" that is "dark chocolate walnut" (it's hard to pin down the name - there are several sentences on the package). And in fact, there are only 5 ingredients total:
• organic dates
• organic walnuts
• organic unsweetend chocolate
• organic cocoa
• organic vanilla
(may, of course, contain bits of shell or pits)

The bar is kind of on the small side, 1.6oz/45g - but the wrapper is pretty (that counts for something, right?) and is designed to make you feel that you are saving your health, the rainforest, and small children in Antarctica by purchasing and eating this energy bar.

I don't care so much about the nutrients - I just care that it's putting something into my stomach to stop hunger. So if you want to know those things you'll have to go read your own package. I do, however, care about taste. The bar itself looks remeniscent of a fudge brownie and kind of smells like one, too, albeit with a bit of a Fig Newton-fruity-sweetness hint to it. It tastes like mashed up dates with dark chocolate and tiny bits of walnut. Which is what this is. The bar counts as two servings of fruit because that's what it is - mashed up fruit that resembles... not.. fruit.

Overall it's not bad. I haven't had a regular Clif bar in years or even a PowerBar but from what I recall this Clif nectar® tastes a sight better. If I could eat granola I think I would stick to granola bars but for my restricted diet these are something of a treat.
3 out of 5 stars for gluten-eaters
4 1/2 stars out of 5 for restricted diet folks

Vibram FiveFingers: Surge

2007-08-01T23:31:00.001-07:00

My Vibram FiveFinger Surge shoes got here Tuesday. I was very excited about these shoes - I originally read about them on BoingBoing.net and then scoured the internet for reviews of this peculiar footgear. This link in particular was very interesting in what it had to say about foot health and how we are NOT built to wear shoes - how going barefoot is the healthiest thing to do for our body. If only we had a way of protecting our feet from modern day debris...

Enter the FiveFingers. They protect the feet allowing for them to move as if you were running around barefoot. Because the shoes act as a protective glove, all of your normal foot muscles are activated when you walk - muscles that atrophy from wearing shoes. FiveFinger fans tout the benefits of the shoe, saying they have increased foot strength, cured foot and leg pains, better balance, better posture, and more. Beyond that, the shoes sounded like fun to wear - they are so light you hardly notice you're wearing shoes at all.

Now, as a kid I grew up in the countryside where I could run around barefoot quite a lot and I love to go camping where there's no danger of glass or metal to cut my feet on so I can run around without shoes and feel the dirt beneath my feet. So these shoes sounded pretty awesome to me.

As I said, I got the Surge model (the middle, grey ones in the picture). They are the thickest pair with neoprene fabric to keep your feet warmer in cold water. The extra fabric also provides the feet better protection from stray branches and thorny things on trails, which is why I chose these. That and Alaska is cold.

I'd read all about people's first time wearing these shoes so I was prepared. Putting on the FiveFingers (FFs for short) for the first time was interesting - getting each toe into its slot was weird but once in the toes felt fine and I didn't feel strange about having 'stuff' between each toe. In fact, I didn't really notice much at all - which is saying something as I'm one of those people who detests anything being between their toes. Overall, the FFs literally fit like gloves, nice and snug around the arch, around the toes, and around the heel. I was a little worried about my smallest toes as they didn't quite reach into their slots but I found that as I wore the shoes around my feet spread out a little and so it wasn't an issue at all.

For the first two days of owning the FFs I wore them indoors only since they can't be returned if they've been worn outdoors. There's not much variety in surfaces in a house and office to show the worth of these shoes but it was enough to make me confident that they at least fit well.

This evening I finally took 'em outside. I ran around the backyard lawn and it was like I could feel the give of the ground beneath my feet, wheras if I were wearing normal shoes it would of been... well, the way hardpacked ground feels in shoes. I immediately was aware of how you have to move differently in FFs - you stay up on the balls of your feet just like if you were barefoot. It takes some getting used to because you're aware that you have something protective on your feet so you're wanting to put weight on your heels, but that causes jarring to the bones just like if you were barefoot.

Next I had to take them down to the river. I hopped on my bike - that was strange, too. I don't ride my bike "properly" in that the pedals rest beneath the arches of my feet when I ride (I don't use toe clips). So just like if I were barefooted, I had to use the balls of my feet and kind of grip with my toes a little to pedal.

At the river I experienced all kinds of terrain. Dirt trails with tree roots, sand, gravel, mud, water, cement blocks, boulders, tree stumps, turned earth and woodchips... All of it was so sensual. There's no way to experience it than to wear FFs. You simply do not get any sensation of texture wearing regular shoes but most of this terrain would shred and bruise bare feet. It was amazing and felt so wonderful to sense the give and texture of everything I walked on and yet have my feet protected. The woodchips and turned earth were a particular delight - and just like I've read everyone say I felt more a part of the environment I was in. The river gravelbed with its golf ball sized gravel was uncomfortable to walk on causing a bruising feel, just as it would barefooted, except did not cause any lasting pain. And the neoprene in the shoes insulated my feet well enough against the cold Matanuska water. I didn't spend much time in the water as I honestly didn't want wet feet. I'll have to try these out specifically for water at a later date and report back on drying time and things like that.

As far as balance and motion go, I haven't felt this agile since I was a kid. I was leaping up onto treestumps and logs at odd angles that I would of slipped and fell from had I been wearing shoes. I could feel the specific angles, textures, and edges of everything through the FFs and grip a lot of it or dig my toes into it. The closest thing to it would be to be totally barefoot.

I was gone for about an hour and now that I am home already I can feel the muscles in my feet starting to ache from being used. Vibram reccomends taking it slow with this footwear and slowly increasing ones usage of them in order to build up and strengthen the foot muscles.

The only cons I have with these are that the neoprene isn't very breathable, but there's no in-between model so I'll suffer. Also, the seam down the back of the ankle kind of rubs awkwardly on my left leg sometimes - I'll have to tape it.

Other than that, the straps work great, the Surges are very lightweight and kept my feet warm. Also, I'm having an easier time putting them on the more I wear them - my toes know where to go now. :D

Conclusion
The FiveFingers were everything I thought they'd be and I'm delighted to own a pair. I'll be wearing them as much as possible before the snow flies. If you think any of this sounds fun and you spend any kind of time outdoors and generally want or like going barefoot but can't then I totally recommend these shoes.

Madlax

2007-07-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

I finally watched all of the 2004 BeeTrain anime Madlax. This is from the same studio that gave us the anime Noir and .hack//SIGN

In short:
• Long and drawn out story, could of been done in 13 episodes rather than 26.
• Action was not as interesting or creative as "Noir" and for being second in a set of three "girls with guns" anime (following "Noir" as the first), there wasn't near as much gunplay - it was very secondary to the plot.
• More characters than "Noir" with more intwined connections. Much more complex plot than "Noir".
• Music was a cross between "Noir" and ".hack//SIGN" and not as good as either though it's by the same composer
• The ending was lackluster and didn't make the journey seem worth it.

The story
We first meet Madlax, the title character. A 17 year old assasin-for-hire in the fictional, civil war-torn country of Gazth-Sonica. She's supernaturally good at what she does but is also a kind, almost light-hearted person. She doesn't remember anything from before 12 years ago and is searching for her father. The first word she ever remembers remembering is "Madlax" which she takes as her code name.

The second episode (and for a few eps onward) we meet the other main character, Margaret Burton. Margaret is a 17 year old school girl, who looks much younger than Madlax, who also cannot recall anything from before 12 years ago - the first word she also recalls is "Madlax" but doesn't know what it means. She's kind, very gentle, and kind of eccentric and has a paranormally accurate "gut feeling" about things. She is an orphan and lives alone with her ever-protective maid, Eleanor. Margaret is also good friends with her next-door-neighbor/tutor, Vanessa. They all live in the fictional Paris-like country of Nafrece.

Margaret has a book written in some bizarre symbols she cannot read. She doesn't know why but this book is very important and she doesn't let anyone see or touch the book. However, her book is missing some pages and she is compelled to find a whole copy. This leads to an underground mafia-like global organization, Enfant, to learn about the existance of her book - and they want it BAD.

Margaret has dreams or visions and gut feelings that often are connected to what Madlax is doing or feeling and we aren't sure why that is - somehow their pasts are connected by Margaret's book. But how? Why? By the time we realise the two women are connected, halfway through the series, do we even CARE?!?

Comparison to Noir and .hack//SIGN
I'm comparing "Madlax" to "Noir" and ".hack//SIGN" because they're all by BeeTrain and because they have similar elements.

Noir and .hack are extremes on a single spectrum. Noir has very little dialogue and lots of action. .hack//SIGN has nothing but dialogue and very little action at all. Both have a mystery plot. Noir's is semi-supernatural but only in the skillz of the main characters. .hack has a more interesting mystery, which is what carries the entire series - plus it has much more character development.

Madlax is somewhere between the two. It has action where Madlax is involved but a lot of dialogue about the plot as far as everyone else is concerned. It's more political stuff, which gets really boring particularly because we have no idea what is going on. There's a supernatural element which is more annoying than anything throughout the whole thing - every episode has scenes of the burned out ruins where the showdown 12 years prior had taken place and we have no idea what its about until the last five episodes. It's annoying and uninteresting to me.

Madlax has way more characters than Noir, of course, which has three, but just about as many as .hack. The characters develop to a degree but not as much as in .hack//SIGN, which concentrates on the characters' friendships and developing bonds which are the ultimate secret to unravelling the mystery in that series. I found myself not really caring about any of the characters in Madlax except for Madlax, Vanessa, and Margaret. The rest could go jump off a cliff.

The music was so-so. It was all done by Yuki Kajiura, who did the music for Noir, .hack//SIGN, and Mai-HiME. The music was way better than that for Mai-HiME and was a cross stylisticaly somewhere between Noir and .hack//SIGN. Not much of it really caught my ear the way either of those two series did and there were no single stand-out tracks as with all three of the other series I mentioned.

The animation itself was pretty good - not too many talking heads and hardly any repetition. In that respect it has Noir beat.

Seeing as how this is the second installment of the "girls with guns" trilogy, there were some interesting paralells. Besides the fact that there are two main characters who are girls, they both resemble their previous incarnations of Kirika and Mireille of "Noir". The seiyu for Margaret is the same as that for Kirika. The personalities are different, though both Margaret and Kirika act and "seem" younger than they are and are both spacy and quiet - AND both Kirika and Margaret are the true centers of either show. The sniper woman in this series acted like the envious Chloe of "Noir", though she wasn't near as psychotic or talkative, they both had a music-box chimey theme. And both series had books in them that were the secret to the whole thing. The book of Les Soldats in "Noir" told of the maidens of death, and the three books of truth here in "Madlax" explain the power behind Margaret and Madlax.

By far I prefer Noir. Though the first 6 or so episodes of Noir are dreadfully repetitive, once beyond that the series takes off at a good pace and has a satisfying build up and conclusion. It's even good upon a rewatch. "Madlax" dragged til the very end. It did kind of pick up a little beyond halfway through as far as the plot coming together but the action and plot development dragged horribly. The climax took about five or six episodes and the finale took two, and the very end was less than satisfying. Though it was perhaps more realistic and "human" than Noir, I by far prefer the stylistic, artistic, subtle uniqueness of Noir. And I'm not disliking "Madlax" simply because of "Noir" - I'm disliking Madlax on its own merits. And it just does nothing for me.

I mean, I can watch slow anime and be entertained -- "Aria" is a great example of a super slow-paced anime that manages to keep me engrossed. Madlax was slow paced when it felt like it should of been FAST. That's a huge difference and not a good one.

About the only thing going for Madlax was Madlax herself, the few eps of just her and Vanessa, and... uh... that's it. Thumbs down. :\

Equilibrium

2007-07-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

Saw the film Equilibrium this past weekend - has Christian Bale and Taye Diggs in it. Pretty good movie. NO spoilers below

Takes place after the 3rd World War, which destroys nearly everyone and everything. It was so horrible that the remaining government decided to do away with human emotions, since it was human emotions that led to the fighting and the wars - and humanity cannot withstand another world war.

So they invented this serum stuff that everyone injects three times daily or so that inhibits emotion. The city they all live in is pretty high-tech, surrounded by the skeleton buildings of the bombed out old city from the war. Everything is colorless, everyone wears blacks and greys - there's no uniqueness. Things are done for efficiency's sake. Our main character, Mr.Preston (Bale) is a Cleric - the highest order of the police/military force. Clerics are like super-assasins. Think "gunfighting martial arts" remeniscent of "The Matrix" except it's all down to a science, not gut-luck. Preston is THE best Cleric there is.

The job of the Cleric is to hunt down sense offenders -- humans who refuse to take the emotion inhibitor and who feel emotion. Some of these humans try to fake their way along with everyone else in the main city, and others live out in the 'wilds' of the dead city, collecting art and pretty things and generally trying to be human but having to always hide.

The movie follows Preston as he discovers his partner Cleric (played by Sean Bean) is himself a sense offender and must kill him himself. But not before his partner says some things that stick with Preston. Distracted, the next day Preston accidentally breaks his last remaining dose of the inhibitor. Rather than getting his dosage renewed, he for some reason decides to see what happens without it. And slowly begins to feel emotion. Is it good or bad?

You can guess where this goes.
The message is both underplayed and overplayed to a degree - kind of like "V for Vendetta" but futuristic post-apocalyptic and darker. The two films go well together, I think, both being about what happens when governments go too far in controling what makes us human, what makes us free. So the story is good, the action is good (the gunfights, once they explain why they work the way they do, are good) and definetly attention-keeping. Christian Bale did a good job with his character - particularly the subtleties of feeling emotions for the very first time. Taye Diggs, on the other hand, pissed me off - I didn't like him in this film at all. Diggs plays Preston's new Cleric partner. He seemed to show emotion when Clerics are not supposed to - although its possible the inhibitor doesn't perfectly inhibit EVERYTHING and that Digg's character was feeling anger without knowing it. *shrugs*

Anyway. Good film - two thumbs up from me. :)

A Quiet Mind

2007-07-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.aquietmind.com/

This is the site for the A Quiet Mind podcast. It's a very relaxing, quiet, meditative series that focuses on learning to quiet your mind and gain a more relaxing perspective on yourself and the world around you. It's not rooted in any particular spirituality or mode of psychology at all, either.

Each episode is roughly around 10 minutes long - a perfect length. Just long enough to be informative and thought provoking and just short enough that you can slip in an episode before work or before bed. I've found the meditations so far to be very helpful in lowering my anxiety levels and gaining perspective on how I interact with others and with myself.

I should note that Robert Jackson, the narrator, does not sugar coat anything. AQM is not a cheerleading pep-talk about being positive. For me, a very logic-based person, this is refreshing and appeals to my idea of common sense. I think the frustrating thing about sugar-coated "You can DO IT!" therapy is that they make it sound like it should be SO easy, "all you have to do is think happy thoughts!" So the moment you fail, you beat yourself up for it. But not so in AQM. Jackson kind of tells it like it is - all we can do is to live in the 'now' and be happy with that - and he tells us how to go about this and reminds us that it takes time. It is a very reassuring, forgiving podcast and I like that.

I cannot reccomend this podcast enough.

SimplifyMedia

2007-07-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is pretty nifty: SimplifyMedia

It is a plugin for iTunes that allows you to share your iTunes library by streaming your tunes to friends who also have SimplifyMedia. It's like instant messenger for iTunes in that each person makes a username and then you can add up to 5 computers under your name for sharing. You can have up to 30 friends.

SimplifyMedia is a cinch to use. I installed it at work and at home so I can stream music from my home computer to listen to at work - especially handy if I forget my iPod. I also had Trey install it on her laptop up in Fairbanks and that worked, too.

Pros
• Easy to install/set up/use
• As long as SimplifyMedia & iTunes are open and running, you can share your library with other SM friends or with yourself
• Perfect for showing friends songs without having to up/download anything
• The songs stream at the bit rate they exist in its library - they aren't down-sampled
• Private friend list so ONLY your allowed friends and you can access your tunes
• Songs can only be listened to, not stolen or manipulated or re-arranged in any way
• it's for Mac and PC and works seamlessly between the two
• it's FREE

Cons
• it IS streaming, like net radio, so the faster your connection, the less re-buffering you have to suffer
• it doesn't show playlists within the selected library
• Songs can ONLY be listned to, not copied
• it's still in beta so there's the possibility of glitches

Trey is on a bad connection plus wireless so it was a bit more difficult to listen to her library - it kept having to rebuffer all the time. So I wouldn't use this to sit and listen to her library just to be listening - I'd use SM to browse for new music from her. :) In contrast, my connection at work is really fast and my home computer connection is slow DSL but I didn't encounter any rebuffering except perhaps at the start of a new song. Otherwise it was just like listening to my native iTunes library. Very nice. :)

* Location:home
* Music:"Manakin" - Delain

Transformers [film]

2007-07-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today we went into Anchorage, spent entirely too much money (kind of) hitting every store we normally go to, and ended with seeing Transformers. The film in short (no spoilers):
• Best effects/CGI I've seen in a film, ever.
• Lots of nods to the original series - this film is geared toward adults who runneth over with nostalgia.
• Simple plot with obligatory action movie elements that always piss me off: computers and hackers not being at ALL realistic, the government and soldiers not being realistic, and humans always able to outrun EVERYTHING.
• Lots of humour - it was a lot smarter than I thought it was going to be and not at ALL "for kids".
• The film slowed down noticeably when the main human characters (Sam, Michaela) or the Transformers weren't on-screen.

All in all, I was pleasantly suprised. I only really go to the theatre to see things that a) I may never find on DVD and b) things that are fun to see really, really big and loudly, the second of which often can conflict with my low tolerance for lower-brow films. I tend to like my films to have brains. I wasn't expecting much but the film was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. And it's probably way better if you were a Transformers fan as a kid (which I definetly was - I can still sing the theme song and name half the Autobots and Decepticons). My inner child squiggled with glee when Optimus Prime rolled in to fight Megatron - I honestly felt relieved for the good guys, heh. :)

So yes. Definetly worth seeing in the theatre.

Splashdown

2007-06-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably haven't heard of Splashdown. My sister discovered them back in the 90's so I've been listening to them for about 8 years now. Sadly, difficulties with their first major label resulted in there being no major label releases of material as well as the demise of the band itself.

Splashdown independently released three+ albums worth of stuff before this happened and a fourth album worth of material (with a lot of remixes - one by Rhys Fulber!) after. The songs were never signed over and rather than have them moulder on some shelf, the band has given permission for their songs to be freely downloaded online.

This is the point of my post.
You can download their entire discography HERE. That's roughly 50 songs.

It's hard to describe them. Splashdown is a 3-piece with female vocalist. Their music is described as a unique mix of electronica, rock, jazz, with middle-eastern influences. Melissa Kaplan's vocals are kind of jazzy with the ability to flit from note to note with middle-eastern dexterity. The bass is dynamic and at times jazzy. Crunchy percussion/keyboards can be Björk-esque. I can't think of anyone they really sound like.

If I have you, I recommend listening to these songs for a taste:

"Halfworld" from the Halfworld EP
"Charming Spell" from the Redshift EP
"Mayan Pilot", "Dig" are both more jazzy, from Blueshift
"Elvis Sunday", "Games You Play" are more pop-rock from Blueshift
"Waterbead" from Blueshift & "Beguiled Mark II" from the Halfworld EP are both crunchy electronica/rock
"Karma Slave" - good aggressive, grungy rock sound
"Asia at Odd Hours" from Possibilities is more electronica pop, more polished

There are multiples of several of the songs - they're all different versions. Like, I prefer the original "Ironspy" (Halflife) to the newer one (Blueshift) because it has more grit (very subtle). Also, "Beguiled" was redone as a gutsy, dark song that is mostly percussive in "Beguiled Mark ii" - the revision being much much better.

Anyway - it's sad to see such an awesome band's music left adrift on the net. It's really solid stuff and it is beyond many of their fans that they were not signed earlier in their career. But at the time there wasn't anyone else really like them that I could think of and the music industry has been playing it really safe since the mid 90's and arguably earlier.

If you like strong female vocals with a slight jazz edge, electronic crunch, dynamic and interesting bass lines driving everything, you might like Splashdown. Some of their songs like "Presumed Lost", "I Understand", and "Lost Frontier" sound like they could of been on the radio - they have that air of familiarity, so at first glance they seem radio-friendly but you start checking out the rest of their stuff and you see they're really kind of unique. IMHO. ;)

And hell, it's FREE. :D

The Fountain [film]

2007-06-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

My sister and I watched The Fountain last night.

I won't say what it's about exactly because that ruins the mystique and kind of sounds cheap when its described when in fact it is a deeply multilayered, beautiful film. The symbolism is present in every frame - the lighting, the colors, the composition of each frame, the storyline itself. It unfolds and unfolds. Oh, and I really liked the music - though if I had the soundtrack, I'd probably cry every time I heard it. ;)

Hugh Jackman was fantastic in this film - his emotions were not over the top at all, they were subtle, deep, heartfelt, and real.

The effects were fantastic - if you watch the DVD extras you find out that there's hardly *any* CGI in the film! All the cool outer space nebula textures and things were actually all macro-photography of chemical reactions in petri dishes - so all looks and moves in a natural, organic way. The flower sprouting part was mostly done with physical props and effects - the tree-climb was actually done. It all just made everything that much more realistic so that you could sink into the film.

I warn you that it is a very very sad film - make sure you have tissues on hand. At the same time, though, it's kind of positive and just so beautiful that I didn't come away too overwhelmed or sad. "Beautiful" is the key word.

So yay! I don't know if I'd watch it over and over again - probably preferable to watch it with a partner, if you have one. But definetly worth watching, IMHO.

Pacific Northwest Coast Art Books

2007-06-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Pacific Northwest Coast Native Art Books - remember how I said I locally ordered those three books, one called "Learning by Doing" and the other two called "Learning by Designing", volumes 1 & 2? Well, they are fantastic books.

Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast
Learning by Doing Northwest Coast Native Indian Art
Learning by Designing Pacific Northwest Coast Native Indian Art, vol.1
Learning by Designing Pacific Northwest Coast Native Indian Art, Vol.2

"...Doing" is literally a classroom in a book - it's for teachers to Xerox into handouts for students for learning basic forms. I am a little beyond it but it has good "how to learn" info and has good practice for basic forms, which I'm still a little sloppy at. It's like drawing circles - it's hard to make them symmetrical and 'perfect' looking but if you practice long enough they become more natural. Same idea.

"...Designing", vol 1. is my favorite by far. It goes into all the basic forms (ovoids, U-forms, S-forms, eyes, salmon-trout heads) and how those make up basic parts (heads, arms, feet, bodies, faces, ears, etc) and what characteristics make up the major animals (Raven, Bear, Wolf, Orca, Eagle, etc.) and has dissective how-to's for how to go about designing a salmon-trout head, an orca head, etc. VERY useful to know what order to draw each thing in so that you can begin inventing your own designs. What's more, it chops up the entire Pacific Northwest Coast into four quadrants of art style - because there are HUGE differences in all of them (Tlingit, the furthest north, looks NOTHING like Salish, which is the furthest south). And through every single excercise and element the book constantly shows how a north coast element is different from a mid coast, west coast, and south coast element.

The second volume gets really technical and has lots of interviews with artists and things. It doesnt have much in the way of lessons or how-to's except for one big "how-to" for a generic Wolf, Orca, Thunderbird, Raven, etc. I think it will be more useful later on. Right now I've been practicing basic forms and find it to be calming and meditative. :)

Another good book is Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form by Bill Holm was extremely helpful. This book does not go into detail about meanings of the designs or even how to do them - it explains the 'rules' of how NWC is put together - the principles of design, figured out by years and years worth of reverse-engineering by comparing hundreds of examples of NWC art and seeing what is done and what is not done.

Linksys Routers - a review of support

2007-06-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

Story
Got DSL and a router for Xmas. Went to set up the router and only one computer could connect through it at a time to the internet - whichever computer connected first got the connection. Called the ISP, they tried to get me into my router, but no browser could get into its configuration page (http://192.168.1.1). They said to call Linksys.

Called Linksys, got someone who I could barely understand (I think ALL their call centers are in Asia). They tried a ton of ways to get me into the router to no avail. Though they do not support Macs and have zero literature on their routers and Macs, the woman on the other end was quite knowledgeable. However, she couldn't figure it out and pronounced the router to be faulty and so had us send it in to them for a replacement (we'd lost the reciept).

Got the new router, went to set it up. Still couldn't get into the configuration page. Did a massive Google search on Macs and this model router - finally found some info on how to set up Network Prefs to get into the damn contraption. Was able to get into the router but had no clue how to set it up. Was stuck with three options:
1) connect to internet 1 computer at a time directly through modem with PPPoE settings,
2) connect to internet 1 computer at a time through router with PPPoE settings with inability to access the router, and
3) connect to just the router and its config. page but not the internet.

Once into the config page I still had no idea how to set it up to let me be ON the net AND to have more than one computer connected at a time.

Called my ISP. They had no clue what to do - as soon as I said "Linksys" she went on a sympathetic tirade about all the problems customers have with Linksys. Seems I wasn't alone but I still had my connection problem.

So I started a thread on the MacOSG about my problem. A few screencaps later the knowledgeable folks there had me up and running both my computer AND my sister's on the net.

The Solution
• Uncheck PPPoE options in the Mac's Network settings.
• Enable DHCP on the Mac - being sure to enter in my ISP's DNS numbers. Turn on the router and let it connect to me. Good!
• Using a browser, go into the router's config page (http://192.168.1.1)
• Set it up for PPPoE, enter in settings given by ISP. Enable DHCP.

Voila. Now we are both online, my sister and I. :D
I have the wireless function turned off for now since neither of us has an Airport card (we had thought Kais had one in her iMac - she plans on getting one soon so we don't have to trip step over the cable in the hallway).

Conclusion
Linksys sucks, but I guess that was a given. What was most amazing to me is how simple this was and yet the Linksys techs, with all their techie knowledge, had no idea what the problem was. One minor thing - pointing the Mac's network settings DIRECTLY to the router in order to access it, or knowing that PPPoE enabled will not allow a person to access their router. *headdesk* Thank god for the MacOSG.

Fullmetal Alchemist

2007-06-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last week I finished watching the 51 episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA) and it was awesome:
• Great voice acting (Japanese)
• Good quality animation for a series - not a lot of reused frames or overuse of stills at all.
• Good soundtrack
• Great characters with nice character development and motivations across most of the board
• Awesome storyline - no loose threads, every plot element comes full circle over the course of the entire series.

Synopsis for those who don't know
FMA takes place in an alternate version of an early 20th century Europe and follows two teen brothers, Edward and Alphonse, who are talented alchemists in search of knowledge (and the fabled philosopher's stone) that could help them gain their original bodies/limbs lost in a horrible alchemy attempt at bringing their mother back from the dead. Their journeys lead them to uncovering all sorts of mysteries that twine into the brothers' own pasts.

Thoughts
I was really impressed at how solid the storyline was. With some of the longer series I've seen (most under 38 episodes) there are places where the story lags a bit. The most common pattern I've seen is that the first 6 or so episodes are a little slow and don't play as strong a part in the story as a whole as do later episodes. Not with FMA - the story starts off strong right away and I'd say all but maybe two episodes were integral to the series as a complete storyline. It didn't feel like I watched 51 episodes - it was just such a solid story it flew right by. Also nice is that they didn't run out of funding toward the end like with Neon Genesis Evangelion, which ruined that series for me. So the quality remained high throughout.

FMA would make a good anime for folks who don't normally watch anime. It takes place in more of a European culture so doesn't require knowledge of Japanese culture, which is sadly a put-off for some non-anime fans. FMA also blends humour in nicely, though it does use stylized faces for overly cute/silly bits, which I know some folks also don't like but is totally normal for most anime fans. I thought it helped keep the series from being overly heavy and brooding.

My only regret is that there isn't more, other than the movie "The Conqueror of Shambala" and apparently some OVAs (need to confirm this). I just bought it on Amazon.com and hopefully the universe doesn't continue to prevent me from watching it by keeping the DVD from arriving. ;)

Conclusion:
9 out of 10 stars, highly reccomended.

Picassa

2007-06-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

I am getting tired of Photobucket's clunky interface. While I was working on putting art onto my Blogspot blog I realised I don't really have a clean collection of ALL my art in one spot. When I first started dabbling online I tried creating collections of my stuff on Geocities, but that place is crap. Photobucket is okay but clunky. I looked at Flickr but it's owned by Yahoo and Yahoo is pretty anti-Macintosh so I don't like using any of their products. Picassa, on the other hand, is owned by Google, which is Mac-friendly. And it integrates well with other Google applications so I'm going to begin collecting all my art into albums on Picassa and relinking stuff to there.

Also turns out you can download something that integrates iPhoto with Picassa online - since the Google Picassa application doesn't exist in Mac format yet.

So far I like Picassa. It's not as clean or high-end looking as Flickr but it does the job just the same and it integrates better with Blogger.com, since Blogger.com is owned by Google. Another fun element is the ability to mark your images on integrated Google Maps. Handy if you want to give folks an idea of where you were at when you took a certain photo.

Linking directly to images is clunkier than Photobucket, though. Gotta figure a way around that...

iTunes U

2007-05-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is the best: check out the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) and in the upper left hand nav box you'll see a link for iTunes U at the bottom. This takes you to the iTunes U central area where a dozen or so universities have started putting college courses, lectures, and other podcasts online for the public to download for free.

Psychology, business, technology, art history, quantum physics, social sciences, language, literature, stuff on how-to like teach and write - there's months and months worth of stuff to listen to and learn. Pretty cool!

Some of the universities are a little on the slim side as far as content goes. Stanford and Berkeley were my two favorite spots for downloads, having not only the most total but also the most in liberal arts and social studies, though there are some goodies in some other places (Seattle Pacific, which seems to be Christian, has some interesting stuff on the Lord of the Rings as a Defence of Western Civilization). Stanford has a few lectures by the Dali Lama in both the Philosophy and Spirituality sections. Berkeley had a neat section for the study of sex and sexuality in history.

And most of these are pretty hefty - many weighing in close to two hours apiece. I downloaded a whole bunch to pick through while I'm at work. I've got a lot of spare mental time on my hands doing thoughtless work and these are perfect for keeping my brain busy instead of drifting off into thoughts that can often lead in a depressing direction. ;)

Anyway, thought I'd spread the fun news. For those of you still in college this may be depressing news but for me, I miss the charge my brain would get after a good day's learning at school. ;)

What the Bleep Do We Know?

2007-05-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

I tried watching this once before but it's such a deep documentary/movie you really have to concentrate on it - if you're not into it, you'll fall asleep. And this time I was able to and I think I got a lot out of it.

The beginning is a bit too broad, I think, so it takes a little while before it starts to get specific enough to pull you in. It starts on the universal level, talking about quantum physics and how matter works and then eventually gets to how that relates to us as humans and how quantum physics shows how we as ENERGY and MATTER can affect everything around us, even with thoughts. And very importantly, how we affect OURSELVES with our thoughts. Very heavy stuff but it really hit home there at the end with all this re-wiring of my brain I've been going through and gave me new ways of doing that.

"Down the Rabbit Hole" is the extended version (not sure what they added) and it comes on 3 or 4 DVD's, double sided so that you can watch the whole thing as-is, you can watch JUST the scientific interviews, JUST the story elements that paralell what the scientists are talking about, etc. You can also watch it in a random order each time if you like. Kind of cool. Also fun for me is that nearly the entire thing is filmed in Portland, Oregon: tons of shots on or near the MAX, the zoo tunnel, Goose Hollow, Pioneer Square, and just various points throughout the city that I don't know the streets to but recognize it all and have been there. :D Fun!

Since I watched this, I've been finding books and talks and podcasts galore that all connect over the same things - the quantum physics of how everything is energy and anything is thus possible... It has all helped to change my thoughts toward positive thinking for the better. Amazing.

American Doll Posse

2007-05-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

I've listened to this album once and 2/3rds through so far. For me, Tori's music can be chopped into three sections: Early: LE, UTP, BFP; Transition: FTCH, TV&B, SLGs; and Modern/Epic: SW, Beekeeper, and now ADP. Although, "classic" Tori for me includes the first FOUR albums. Before I get going, let it be known that I prefer oldschool Tori, those first four albums. But I've found things to be liked in her later stuff, too - I just don't find nearly as much of it as moving as her earlier stuff.

Folks on Amazon.com said that if you liked The Beekeeper, which was pretty mellow, organ-inspired, that you'd maybe not like ADP. Good thing I really disliked The Beekeeper (I only listened to it once, sorta kinda). ADP is definitely still "Modern" Tori, as it were - her vocals still aren't as pretty or coherent as anything from her earlier stuff and still not near as angry as anything from BFP (which I think is her angriest as it seems the most true from her heart of all her albums for me). But this album definetly comes from an angry place. What's so different about it is that it's so heavily political. Odd that I FIND it odd, coming from Tori. R.E.M. or Indigo Girls, sure, but Tori? It *should* be expected of her, really, so I am unsure why I find it odd.

Whenever I listen to anything of hers (ever since "To Venus & Back") I try to pretend I've never heard anything from her before TV&B. It makes it easier. For "Modern" Tori, the album is pretty good, albeit very long at 23 songs. On first listen, if I am patient, there is something interesting and dynamic about nearly all of the songs so I do look forward to getting to know them better. I kind of wish she'd enunciate better - I mean, Tori has never been one to really enunciate lyrics but most fans kind of get the hang of her off-kilter pronunciations of things. But I think even the most talented Tori-translator will be put to the test with this album. Good thing it comes with lyrics in the liner notes. :D

Definitely an aggressive album - she's seriously using the whole band and it's fun to hear her do that, to let everybody really rock out. She's channeling the Beatles White Album and other '68 era artists in rolling style rock and she's not pulling punches in her political accusations while doing it, too. Oddly, some of my favorite bits from this album so far are the little "intermission" songs, the little 1-minute ditties. They're not the bubbly oddities of "Mr.Zebra" but they allow for little bursts of "we don't quite fit in like a normal song" that are delicious enough to make you wish they WERE longer, much like good ol' "Mr.Zebra". My favorite song off ADP so far is in fact one of these songs, "Devils and Gods", which is a mandolin piece - another oddity, Tori singing to a solo instrument that is not played with keys. A beautiful song with VERY poignant lyrics:

Devils and Gods, now that's an idea
But if we believe that it's They who decide
That's the ultimate detractor of crimes
'Cause devils and gods
They are you and I
Devils and gods,
They are you and I.
Devils and gods,
Safe and inside.

So I'll be giving this album a good, heavy listen and we'll see how it holds up later on.

The Practice of Happiness

2007-04-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

I read this chapter about trust in a book called The Practice of Happiness by John Kehoe - the dude who wrote "Mind Power". I don't care what you think about positive thinking and books about it. All I know is that I've been good at negative thinking and it hasn't gotten me squat other than depressed. And I'm tired of it. So what do I have to lose from trying to think positively? Sounds funny when I say it that way.

This book has been pretty helpful in getting me through some rough patches this summer. It makes some good arguments for positive thinking - I mean, what do we have to lose by trying to be happy? Particularly when things seem like they can't get any worse?

"The Practice of Happiness" is a very short, quotable book - good for reading in chapter-by-chapter spurts. It's more of an inspirational read than a "how-to" read, like Kehoe's other book Mind Power in the 21st Century.

MySpace

2007-03-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

Yet more reasons to hate MySpace:

1 • There's SPAM! Can you believe it? People can't really go around auto-spamming LJ. Far as I know it's too complex to really do that. Well, that and there's no LJ e-mail, but still. If I wanted SPAM I'd use a Yahoo email account.

2 • Regular users randomly message you with L337 hatemail! What the hell? I mean, it can be easy enough to be flamed here on LJ but it's MUCH easier to get such folks banned from LJ. Myspace doesn't give a shit about people's blog-well-being.

3 • interface? what interface?

4 • design? what design?

I could go on. Ugh, I HATE how every one or two click steps there are in LJ take 3 or 5 clicks in MS. Literally. I am not making this up. It's like Windows Vista asking you to apporove some inane action and then letting you know you did it okay. So:

1) click to initiate action (do the action)
2) click to approve the action (click)
3) Does this look good? (click)
4) action approved (click to get to an actual menu)

That's just to POST. In LJ you:
1) click create post (do the post)
2) click to post it. (click)
3) window rerouting you to chosen journal view (click to choose)

So one less but it somehow feels like 2 less clicks.

Then there's the general quality of blogging there. Which is next to nil. But then again, of the 7 people who have me friended on MS, only two of them actively seem to blog. No, correction, one of them doesn't blog, she only writes those Bulletin things, most of which are memes (ugh!) and the other mostly writes things I cannot read. So there really isn't ever anything for me to read. So in the end, this whole excercize is just one overblown, annoying e-mail wannabe program. I should stick to my guns and only use real email to contact people and LiveJournal to blog about personal things. Ugh.
~==~

In other MS news, I did find a CSS hack to force MS to look halfway decent. ~~You have to be logged in and over 18 to see it~~ - [I hated MySpace so much I deleted my account - couldn't stand it]

Also, if you have Firefox, you can install Greasemonkey, which then allows you to install user scripts that do nifty things. Like block all the ads in MS. Block the "cool new people", "cool new videos", New authors, books, comedy, etc. There is a script that, and this is the BEST, removes ALL customizations, forcing all profiles to appear like basic MS profiles. Does wonders for legibility, should you be forced to spend much time in MS. Haven't quite found a script that makes actual blog spaces legible, though.

But all that hassle... Does nothing but make me appreciate LJ that much more. :D

Pan's Labyrinth

2007-02-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

We saw Pan's Labyrinth this weekend. In short, with no spoilers:
• DARK and very violent. Had to cover my eyes for many many parts.
• In Spanish (which enriches the film so much) so subtitle-haters beware
• Ofelia's fantasy plot may seem unconnected to the violent Spanish war setting but when the two are combined at the end create a much larger metaphor for innocence and war. Watch it and think about it.

In conclusion, though I hate violence and bugs, the textures and mood were very well done - I didn't know much of ANYTHING before going into this film so it was very exciting. Kind of a positive-sad movie in some ways. I really liked the fantasy side of it a LOT and the larger metaphor has really stuck with me. A very heavy film, I don't know if I'll rewatch it anytime soon but definetly worth a watch.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

2007-01-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today I bought Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for my DS. It is way cool.

I've only ever played "Symphony of Night" before so I don't know how Castlevania games are across the board. The graphics on this game are great - detailed, rich, and crisp, even on such small screens. The character movement is just like Alucard in "SoN", or at least very close to it. (Re-reading the above article, this probably due to the fact that they used a lot of sprites from "SoN", which explains a lot.)

Apparently with most Castlevania games you are one of the Belmonts and you only ever have one weapon throughout the entire game for the most part. "SoN" was a bit different because you were a Dracula descendant and you could choose between hundreds of types of weapons you got off dead enemies. You can do that, too, in DoS. Yay! So the equptment works the same.

One thing that is pretty neat is your ability to capture souls. Most, if not all, creatures in the game have souls that they "drop" every once in awhile that you automatically absorb, giving you a new ability. The more of each kind of soul you absorb (say, bat souls) the more powerful that ability becomes. This kind of replaces Alucard's four abilities in "SoN". There are four categories of souls and you can have one of each type of category equipped at a time. Familiars are back, too, but they are a type of soul you can equipt -- same with the various weapons of Castlevania fame (dagger, holy water, cross, axe, diamond...) - those are replaced by soul weapons. I haven't gone very far in the game and already I really like this new soul system - it's highly customizeable for different players. Say, by killing bats you can obtain the bat familiar. By killing Wargs you obtain a kind of warg fang bite thing that does a lot of damage. Using souls uses MP, which is the only thing you ever use MP on - well, that and special weapon attacks. You aren't casting spells like "Soul Steal" all the time like in "SoN".

Another interesting thing is that boss enemies can't just be killed - they have to be sealed. You must take them down to zero HP, which causes a Magic Seal thing to appear on your screen with the pattern of seal you must now 'cast'. You use the stylus on the touch screen to quickly draw the pattern you just saw in order to seal the boss permanently. Failure to draw the symbol correctly means the boss regains some HP and you have to take it back down to zero before you can attempt to seal the enemy again. You learn seals BEFORE hand and have the ability to practice them at any time you like. And they're pretty simple in the beginning so it's not that freaky. In comparison, the non-mandatory spells from "SoN" were WAY more difficult due to the directional pad not always doing what you thought it should of done. ;)

I also really like having the two screens on the DS. While you run about the castle, the map is constantly displayed on the upper screen. VERY handy. And apparently this is the largest castle of any Castlevania game made yet. I am so very excited.

Microsoft Word

2007-01-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned this? How much I detest Micro$oft Word? My dislike is not based on who makes the program, either. It's based soley on poor interface and poor document handling, etc. I seriously have no idea how the masses put up with Word — well, no, I take that back. The masses who all blindly suffer daily from using Microsoft software are obviously used to torturing themselves - no, they actually LIKE it.

Word is so cumbersome to navigate and get anything built properly. There was a time when I knew how to use Word but that was several years ago. I do recall knowing how to use it well enough to create fancy little newsletters for a class project in highschool. I can compare what I felt learning Word with what I felt learning, say, QuarkXPress – industry standard software for page layout. XPress (often called "Quark", though that's like calling Photoshop "Adobe") is to Word what graphing calculators are to simple, basic calculators, at least in terms of what the two programs can do and are used for.

But Learning Quark was WAY easier. Hmm. Shouldn't that say something? Shouldn't learning to ride a tricycle be more simple than learning to drive an 18-wheeler? Apparently this isn't how things go in the software world.

Anyway, my gripe with Word is that everyone USES this vile software to transport text around the globe. And it SUCKS. It REFUSES to give up its vile formatting when imported into a more dependable and versatile program. It drives me NUTS when I get text from a client that I have to lay out in Quark and I must first "de-Word" it, much like picking the ticks out of a newly adopted dog from the pound (or one would imagine). I go through the little song and dance of resaving the file as plain text so that when I put the text into Quark, I don't have to go through weeding out the bizarre residual glyphs from Word formatting. GAH! Sure the process takes only a minute to re-save but when working at a fast pace, minutes count. And the longer the document and the heavier the formatting, the longer the weeding.

Every flipping book, magazine, newspaper, and most newsletters you read were designed in something like Quark or InDesign. Not Microsoft fucking WORD. And yet Word refuses to be functionally helpful to those who are *actually* IN the business of dealing with WORDS. Does anyone else see the irony here?

Seriously, if i have to open Word again one more time today I am going to throw something heavy.

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora

2007-01-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

So, I got as far as 6 episodes into Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora:

The Good
• So far it is easier to follow than Kannazuki no Miko (KnM) was.
• We also got a solid explanation for the existence of the Absolute Angels (this series' Orrochi) which was also nice.
• The mecha are more interesting than KnM's. They look better and fight more interestingly.
• Evil Psycho Lesbian leader of the evil Absolute Angels.
• Kuon (Chikane) is in love with and not abusing Himiko (Himeko). What a first.
• Already some of the Angels have some depth, as of episode 2 (particularly the Chikane/Himeko clones - Kuon/Himiko)

The Bad
• Everyone else has very little depth
• Obnoxious stereo-hetero couple as the central romance.
• SO much fanservice. Nudity abounds with way more bathing and molestation than is neccessary in two episodes than would be tolerable for an entire series. Gawd.
• Music (opening/ending) SUCKS. At least KnM's themes were worth downloading, imho.
• There is mecha, which although has an explanation, the explanation is still a weak reason to have it. The series would work much better if the characters just had swords - same way KnM would of worked better.
• Evil Psycho Lesbian leader of the Absolute Angels. Can we be more stereotypical?

The parts that are ressurected from KnM:
• Chikane and Himeko - as bad guys (Angels)! *gasp*. At least they're in love and kiss.
• Oogami Souma - obnoxious dude is now also a bad guy (Angel).
• Catgirl chick is back though she's blended with some other manga/anime character.
• The scarred up meathead dude is also back. Yay.
• The Evil Psycho Lesbian leader of them all reminds me of the nun chick. Hmm.
• Kuu is a lot like Himeko - totally clueless about her surroundings and has super low self esteem.
• Kuu also has a dykey roomate like Himeko did. Only this one for sure is a dyke.
• Pointless mecha.
• Takes place in a town that symbolizes all the same stuff the town in KnM did.

The story was really horrendous til we got to Kuon/Himiko, then suddenly there was some depth, albeit minor. I think the creators are weighing heavily on KnM for backstory/back-character development for Kuon/Himiko. I was hoping for more continual development there but the segments on those two are so far and few between (and short) that the pain of the rest of the series just wasn't worth it. The main character, Kuu, is WAY more annoying and pathetic than the original Himeko, if you can imagine that. And her obsession with her 'prince' is just sad. Stereotypes abound with gender roles and sexualities. Love between girls is at first something to be disgusted by but upon reflection, something that is beautiful and thus should be exploited (although I must say, the kiss between Kuon and Himiko was very nice: loving, tender, and beautiful). Any hetero couples must be fantastically gorgeous: any long-lasting couple will include a male who is at least two feet taller than his female partner, be a total gentleman, and be tall dark and handsome, and the female should be super girly, blonde, self-concious, shy, and have no self-esteem.

Overall
This story was so shallow I couldn't bear to watch another episode. Even for Kuon/Himiko I could not bear to push on. It just wasn't worth it - and I tried HARD (you've SEEN some of the stuff I've made myself watch!) So by far one of the worst anime I have seen. Even Iczer One was better because it was at LEAST so ridiculous as to keep me watching out of sheer shock. And that's saying something.

2 out of 10

Maria-Sama ga Miteru: Vacation of the Lambs, OVA 1

2006-12-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

In short and with no spoilers, this is top notch Maria-Sama ga Miteru. And as an Original Video Animation (OVA), the quality is even higher than usual:
• Beautiful, detailed backgrounds
• higher frame rate of animation with way more detail
• at 55 minutes or so, much longer than a normal episode
• VERY close to the novel, including dialogue, plot, visual details, and character interactions
• even the sound was improved, probably because it is a DVD rip that was subbed

Let's just say I grinned like a fool throughout the entire thing. The Powers That Be really outdid themselves with this one and as long as MariMite OVAs continue to be made, I kind of hope the story is ONLY released in OVA format if it's going to be this good.

You can read a thorough transcription of the novel here at okazu.blogspot.com:
Notes from 12th Marimite Novel, pt1
Notes from 12th Marimite Novel, pt2
Notes from 12th Marimite Novel, pt3
Notes from 12th Marimite Novel, pt4

And you can download the actual OVA here:
Lililicious and Otenba team up:
http://marimite.otenba-quality.com/ - this has a variety of download options, including direct download

My personal response
Yumi is so> gay. ;)
I thought this when I read the novel translations and transcriptions but to actually SEE her reactions and what she focuses in on with Sachiko - particularly when Yumi goes to wake up Sachiko for breakfast the one morning... I just don't think straight girls are like that, are they?

To someone who has only seen the anime and has not read (or read about) the novels, you'd think the interactions between Yumi and Sachiko were TOTALLY upped in comfort level between the two of them. But in reality novel!Sachiko was always much more touchy-feely with Yumi than anime!Sachiko was. So as far as character interactions go, this OVA is the most true to the novels of any of the anime.

I grinned like an idiot through the whole thing. There's something special about having a series you've rewatched a dozen times and know by heart and getting to see a brand new episode (even if its one I already knew the story to). After a year of watching all kinds of random anime, watching "Vacation of the Lambs" really hit home why I love Marimite so much and why I got into anime in the first place. That characters can be so developed and so human...

I thought the new version of the opening theme was pretty good, too. I like that they kept the OP - it really set the tone and the mood and the nostalgic feeling. Even the other soundtrack bits within the story were all tracks from the series. It helped with the comfort level, relaxing the viewer and soothing away any apprehension that they might butcher our beloved characters and story. :P I didn't care for the closing theme - I knew ahead of time that it was a new one. FYI it is by KOTOKO, the gal who did the OP and EP for Kannadzuki no Miko.

9 out of 10

The Lost Room

2006-12-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Well, we all liked it at our house, anyhow. ;) Usually SciFi movies and such scare me off with bad acting and cheezy story/effects - but this had none of those. The acting was really great, most of the characters were fleshed out, but by far the story was really well done.

The story revolves around the key to the lost room (its a motel room) and about 100 other everyday objects that also came from the room, all of which have unusual properties. The key, obviously, can open most doors, taking the user into the lost room. From there the user can go to nearly any other door they can visualize. The comb can freeze time for up to 10 seconds for the user, the pen can electrocute and fry someone, the watch can hardboil eggs, etc. Some are more powerful than others, some have properties left to be discovered, and some temporarily obtain new properties when combined with other objects.

The thing with the room is that each time the key holder leaves the room, the room resets. If the bed was mussed, it is suddenly made, etc. Anything left behind in the room, such as clothes or people, disappears. The only thing that can survive the room reset are objects.

Minor early plot spoilers from here to the cut!
Our protagonist, detective Joe Miller (dude from Six Feet Under) loses his daughter to a room reset (she's played fantastically by Elle Fanning, Dakota's little sister). So now Joe is on the hunt for some way to retrieve her, running across various people and factions of people involved with the mysterious objects.

Maybe that sounded cheezy. It's not - it's really fun to see what different objects can do and why they can do it and who you're gonna find using them. *shrugs*

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

So apparently it was made in hopes of a series coming out of it, similar to how Battlestar Galactica got its start. I kind of agree with most critics that it may of been better off as JUST a miniseries because as with most things, the magic is lost after however many seasons and they STILL haven't solved the puzzle or whatever. Kind of like what is happening slowly with Lost. Only with the Lost Room, our protagonists will be attempting to put to rest the lost room and in doing so, destroy the objects for good somehow while the Order tries to reassemble them all. The only interesting thing thrown into the mix will be Joe and how he interacts with the objects now that he himself is an object as the replacement Occupant.

Which the Order will probably find out once they take a good gander at that polaroid.

The only big plotholes that bothered me (or story holes or whatever) were Ruby even KNOWING to look for objects or whatever, and Juliana Margules' character and Joe sleeping together so quickly. For the second, I guess if they were only *hoping* to get a series out of this and there was a chance they weren't going to get it they thought, "Well, we'll have them sleep together NOW just in case we don't get a series."

The thing I like most about the Lost Room is that it's the real world with magic properties that are relatively subtle. So they don't have to go over the top with effects and end up being cheezy - because lets face it, to have a realistic outer-space type show, you need some damn fine effects. :D Anyway, it just gets my imagination going.

Strawberry Panic!

2006-10-04T01:23:00.000-07:00

So the last episode of Strawberry Panic! (SP! for short) was released yesterday and I watched it this morning.

Spoilerless Synopsis
SP! takes place at an all-girls school very similar to Lilian of Marimite but with three schools or 'houses' to it, each school having its own uniform. Each school has an elected president and govorning body who work together to do stuff we never see. More importantly, there is an Etoile, a girl who is elected as the star of the school by the student body. She acts as inspiration and a target for admiration for the whole school and works closely with the governing body.

The story follows new girl Aoi Nagisa and a whole huge cast of characters, roughly 3 characters per school plus a few extra. The show is primarily about the relationships the girls forge amongst themselves and the trials and tribulations that go along with that - except most of the time the stories are highly inane or overly melodramatic and end up being laughable or boring. If you watch SP! thinking that it is trying to be Marimite, you will be annoyed to tears. If you watch it as a parody of Marimite, however, you might just find SP! entertaining.

While the "plotless, everyday-feel" element was done artfully in Marimite, the same thing is done horribly in SP!, which is the boring side of the series. And while the inter-character relationships in Marimite are touching and somewhat realistic, the same element in SP! is over-the-top soap opera. What makes it entertaining is the fact that it is unabashidly yuri. Characters are outright obsessed with one another, unrequietedly in love, passionately kissing, or having sex. (Those last two don't happen every episode, unfortunately).

What pisses me off is that there seem to be HUNDREDS of teeny-boppers roaming the net, praising the name of SP!, saying its their favorite anime ever. It disgusts me because they truly think it is high quality. The music sucks, the animation is not so hot, the style is bizarre, the plots can be painfully dull, and it just totally panders to a loser fanboy/fangirl audience.

That aside, it isn't the worst anime I've seen. Iczer One can keep that prize for now. As fucked up as it was, Chikane and Himeko's relationship in Kannadzuki no Miko was far more interesting. But while its animation and, sadly, plot isn't as amusing as that of He is My Master, the character relationships were far more taseteful.

SP! Is pretty hit-and-miss for me. It started out well because the story between Nagisa and Shizuma (the school Étoile) was strong... but episodes devoted to those two grew further and further apart - which is awkward since they're the central characters. The whole thing could of been condensed into 13 episodes rather than 26, but there were good moments between other characters as well which made it worth watching - at least in the name of watching "all that is shoujo-ai related". :D

Manga version
Also of interest, I've been keeping up with the manga scanlations, which aren't near as far along. The story is COMPLETELY different in the manga and, as seems to always be true, the manga is a tad more lighthearted (and better drawn). Another interesting difference is that the anime focuses on the relationships between characters while the manga (which came first) is more about the physical relationships (i.e. kissing and sex).

All in all, I don't plan on ever watching this again. It ranks higher than "Iczer One" and well below nearly everything else I've seen so far.

5 out of 10

Who Wants to Be a Superhero?

2006-08-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Has anyone with SciFi been watching Who Wants to Be a Superhero?

I know it's super cheezy and kinda low-budget but I like it anyway because unlike most reality shows, these people are encouraged to be at humanity's BEST. Yes, to a stereotypical, ultra-high degree, but isn't that what classic comic books are about? It's nice to see a lack of backstabbing, a lack of taunts, put-downs and emphasis on breast/dick size. It's nice, for once, to see some people who honestly (or at least halfway) try to be good people.

I know not all the contestants have been perfect or ARE perfect, and a lot try simply because that's what you have to do to win, not because they really want to put forth the effort to be really good people. But at least the principle is there. And that's what I like about it - and its something that has been coming out more and more as fewer heroes are left after each elimination.

Sometimes I get really pissed off at the world. Okay, most of the time I am really pissed off at the world. I get really depressed about it and snarky and angry and I can be mean to those closest to me. On the flip side of that, I like to think I'm honorable, I try to be nice, I try not to judge people and I try to give the benefit of the doubt. TRY. Something that brings me down is when I expect the same back from the world and I don't get it in return. I think, either the world is REALLY shitty or I seriously have way unattainable standards and am at risk for living in perpetual disappointment.

What a pessimistic, depressing thought.
I mean, just watch the news or look at global politics. Ugh! Humans are horrible! And I nearly daily read the posts about how rude and awful people can be over at the LiveJournal community customers_suck.

But, at that same community, every few posts, people mention a good customer that gives you hope. Something that maybe gets you through the week. Nothing too huge, just someone sticking up for a cashier who was just harassed by a previous customer, maybe. That little thing might of been the thing to save that person's job that day. That's a hero. And that person doesn't even know it.

So I watch Who Wants to Be a Superhero and I think that maybe I'm not alone in wanting to be better than I am and trying despite my weaknesses. That I'm not the only one who thinks people should be better and expects that before expecting the reverse. Heroes have a thankless job, so when we do things that are nice or if we've tried to be nice to someone who isn't, at least we put forth a good try. Maybe it's overly-hopeful to some folks the way sugary musicals are, but without those hopes and ideals...

Anyway... Just kind of nice...

Kasimasi ~ Girl Meets Girl

2006-08-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

Just finished Kasimasi today. It's a romantic comedy about a boy, Hazumu, who is permanently turned into a girl after an alien spacecraft crashes into earth and destroys his original body, and how his friends deal with the change.

Hazumu is pretty feminine for a boy to begin with so he takes to being a girl easily. The first few episodes have humerous moments particularly with his tomboy friend, Tomari, who tries to teach him how to behave properly as a girl (like not spreading ones legs while wearing a skirt. And no, Hazumu is totally innocent about the entire thing - he was very feminine and genuine to begin with and is happy being a girl, so there isn't any of that "boy gets to be a girl so he can use the girl's locker room to get his jollies" or any of that happening.

The series is alllll about shoujo-ai. Yasuna is a girl who cannot see men -they appear as a static grey to her and so she avoids them. Nonetheless she becomes good friends with Hazumu, the two of them having much in common. When Hazumu declairs his love for her, however, Yasuna rejects him. (Which is when Hazumu goes to the mountain where he was hit by the aliens). When Hazumu becomes a girl, however, Yasuna is overjoyed because now she can see Hazumu and fully love her properly. Yasuna is cool, too, because although she seems like this quiet girly-girl - she's really not. She stands up for herself and can kick butt when needed. By far the most original character in the series.

But she's not the only one. Hazumu's childhood friend and protector, tomboy Tomari, struggles with the fact her friend is now a girl and struggles with her feelings for Hazumu now that she's a girl. Also, Hazumu's best friend, a boy named Asuta, suddenly finds himself attracted to his friend.

What is interesting is how the characters each accept Hazumu's love for another girl. Some say that because Hazumu was originally a boy and his personality is largely intact, it is expected that he'd still be attracted to girls. For the most part, though, the consensus is that love is love is love and it doesn't matter who you love.

There's some obnoxious elements - Hazumu's father is a pervert who has always wanted a daughter and you can imagine why. There's this random school teacher who serves NO purpose to the story at all except to constantly pop in saying how she's been single for 35 years, and then pines over one of the aliens who stays behind to observe the earthlings. And lastly, the spaceship was molecularly re-engineered into a humanoid girl who says "puu" all the time. Agh, she was annoying. Luckily they're not around that often. And there's a large "stupid-male" element which got annoying to a degree, too, but I've seen WAY worse so, meh.

The love triangle that forms between Hazumu, Yasuna, and Tomari, becomes very melodramatic but in a very realistic way. And it really keeps you guessing as to how this is all going to work out. Overall, the story (12 episodes) is so fluid that I never noticed the passing of time - it kept me into it and before I knew it, I'd watched it all. *pouts*

Overall, good humour, interesting character development with some realistic character interaction. There's several kisses and none of them felt fan-servicey, they felt genuine (yay!). The animation is good and the music didn't bother me, either. Thumbs up. :D

Dancer in the Dark [film]

2006-08-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen Dancer in the Dark? "The one starring Björk," is how a lot of people describe it. :D

(no spoilers)
It's the story of a woman, Selma, who dreams of being a dancer in a musical. She is from Czechloslovakia and is a single mother of a 12 year old boy. She works two jobs, one at a factory making ?sinks? and an at-home job putting pins into cards, one crate at a time. She's a dreamer but well loved by everyone. Thing is, she's going blind and won't tell anyone for fear of losing her job and place in a local production of "The Sound of Music". A LOT more happens but it'll spoil the film. The signature of it, though, is because Selma's so preoccupied with musicals, periodically, the sounds of things around her - the factory, a passing train, office scribbling - turn into a Bjorkish industrial musical piece, and everyone breaks into choreographed dance and sometimes help in the singing. Sounds weird but it actually works.

It was a compelling blend of documentary-feel camerawork, a story of humanity, a glimpse into a person's psyche and their view of the world as a musical (hence the musical moments)... Just... At first I thought it was kind of strange (the opening music bit with the never ending frames of random art splatters was wayy too long for me, but very much what musicals used to do), but the characters lives grabbed me. It was shot so intimmately with the hand-held camera work and the grainy film put it firmly in its era, making you really feel like you were back in the day (50's or so) - but still every shot was composed so beautifully... You knew when a musical bit was going to start because the camera became stock-still steady and the framing was super-composed, every single shot could be framed and hung on a wall. Colors and focus became sharper, too.

Be warned, though, as it is an extremely moving film toward the end. There is a violent scene (I dunno how bad - I didn't look) and a super sad segment. But just so artistically well done I am glad I saw it. :D

I thought the acting was very good - I liked Bjork's acting a lot, too. Not something I'd sit down and watch any day or often but if you're a film buff or want to see something new and different, then here you go. :)

Mai-HiME Soundtracks

2006-08-12T01:15:00.000-07:00

I got this weeks ago but didn't say whether or not it was any good.
I actually obtained ALL of the Mai-HiME soundtracks, every single one, and not all of them are by Yuki Kajiura - same goes with the .hack//SIGN soundtracks, by the way. The only soundtracks I'm going to talk about, however, are those by Kajiura.

Chronologically, of Kajiura's soundtracks that I have, Noir is first, then .hack//SIGN, and lastly Mai-HiME. All three come in volumes of two, one for each 13 eps. Both Noir and .hack are very solid for the most part but I found there to be big gaps in Mai-HiME's soundtracks with songs that just... didn't fit.

Mai-HiME does sound like Kajiura's work - it has that ancient/new age/European sound that is especially envoked when the female vocals start in. Examples are "Canta Per Me" (Noir), "Key of Twilight" (.hack), and the "Ensei" songs (HiME), usually sung in either English or Latin. The good songs on the soundtrack are VERY very good. But the not-so-good songs on HiME's soundtracks are very very bad. More so than the other two series there are a lot of filler tracks, probably because HiME was not created by Bee Train - while Bee Train's director gives Kajiura free reign to do what she likes with the music for their anime, she probably had tighter restrictions for HiME.

Also, there is a WAY more lighthearted side to HiME, so there are a lot of those goofy, lighthearted sorts of songs that just don't withstand listening to outside of the anime environment. And perhaps the biggest thing that seperates HiME from Noir and .hack is the battle-tournament nature of HiME. While Noir has a MUCH higher body count, the gunfights were poetry and the music reflects this. HiME, however, serialized the fights and the music also reflects this with intense, heavy beat, electric-charged theme songs for the opponents. Also not quite withstanding listening to outside of the anime environment for the most part.

There are a ZILLION songs on these soundtracks, too! While there are 32 tracks between the two volumes of Noir and 39 between two volumes of .hack, there are 58 songs between two HiME albums. Again, much of it is filler.

What makes this set worthwhile, for me anyway, is the "Ensei" series of songs. I haven't seen HiME in over a year so I can't recall what it is the theme for, but there are 7 distinct versions of it between the two albums. "Ensei ~Omou Kokoro~" fits right in with the Noir soundtrack and indeed when I first started collecting anime music last year, I thought it WAS from Noir. Love this song! MMM! Also nifty is the "It's Only the Fairy Tale" instrumental version, without the awkward Engrish singing of the Alyssa Sears character - which can be endearing at times but sometimes you want to mix stuff together in a serious manner and this verison does the trick well, a classical guitar replacing the vocals.

So there you have it. While I still HIGHLY reccomend Noir above all else for soundtracks and .hack follows close behind, I found this set a bit disappointing for the amount of tracks there were, though there are a few jewels to round out any good Kajiura/anime soundtrack collection.

.hack//SIGN

2006-08-03T01:11:00.000-07:00

No spoilers in this post. But do NOT read the Wikipedia article - it is FULL of spoilers. I will tell you what you need to know.

Basic Info
.hack//SIGN is a fantasy/sci-fi/drama/mystery/adventure made by Bee Train (Noir, Madlax, Tsubasa Chronicles) that ran 26 eps in 2002, followed by three episode-sized OVA's that act as tag-along episodes, from what I can tell. The music is by the ever famous Yuki Kajiura (Noir, Mai-HiME, Mai-Otome), considered by many to be some of her greatest soundtrack work to date.

Basic Story
The entire series takes place in a massive online multiplayer role playing game, sometime in the very near future. The World, as it is called, is extremely immersive that people use virtual reality headsets to play in. Tsukasa, around whom the story pivots, is mysteriously stuck in The World, unable to log out. We mostly follow the actions and conversations of a group of random players who come together over their concern/interest in Tsukasa's predicament. As the story unfolds, we slowly find out more about each character, including a little of their Real Live selves. To what extent is it "just a game" and to what extent do they take responsibility for their actions and for eachother as real humans? And how serious is Tsukasa's plight in The World - for him it's not much of a game as it is a Reality.

Other Commentary, Notes & Comparisons
.hack//SIGN could be the polar twin to Noir. While Noir has very little talking and TONS of action, .hack//SIGN has tons of talking and very little action. For being inside a video game, it is amazing at how little action takes place. Despite that, the element of the story taking place INSIDE a game is pretty novel. The game-slang is there, complete with acronyms (BBS - bulletin boards, PC - player character, etc) and the way people refer to the world around them verses the Real World.

That's probably the most interesting thing to me -- the divide between the game and the Real World. It's not so different from the Net world of LJ and email versus the "Real World". The circumstances between people meeting is different in both a game and the Net in general than from Real Life, but it all boils down to words and people, and that's the same no matter what the environment or mode of communication. This is something I think about all the time and it is a common theme in this series.

The story was a little hard to follow. I think this was largely due to the variety of subs I have in my episodes, though I downloaded all of them in one giant torrent. It may also just be due to the way characters say things in highly philosophical terms - characters in Noir were a little like this, kind of hard to follow in some of the brief things that were said or in how the plot was unfolding. Could just be a Bee Train thing. ;) The gist of it was enough to follow, though, so if you watch it, don't get too stressed out over missing a sentence or not knowing exactly what a character meant by such-and-such.

--Ohh, some fun trivia: one of the main-main characters, Mimiru, is voiced by seiyu Megumi Toyoguchi, our very favorite "Satou Sei" (MariMite) -- also "Meg" of Bakuretsu Tenshi, "Alti" of Simoun, and a ton of things most of us haven't seen. ;) I should of noticed as she uses her "normal" range, the same range she uses for Sei (she was unrecognizeable as Meg).

Yuri
There is VERY much an underlying yuri theme but it isn't a main focus or a fanservice element at all (there is NO fanservice whatsoever). It just happens to be there. I can't say more as it's toward the middle-to-end and I don't want to spoil. Just know it'll get there eventually. You don't see anything, nothing physically happens - nothing like that. But it is very human and that makes it that much more special. Brought tears to my eyes twice. :')

Music
In case I didn't mention, the soundtrack RAWKS. Miss Kajiura was allowed free rein on .hack//SIGN (and probably for Noir, as well). The director of Bee Train trusts her completely and just lets her compose whatever she wants - even with vocals, which is a rarity among in-episode soundtracks and she's one of the first to really do it, too. The result is that many of the tracks stand alone very well as just beautiful music.

Conclusion
Definetly a memorable anime. A second watch will probably reveal a lot more layers, particularly with the characters themselves moreso than the story. Has a ton of heart; isn't superficial at all or silly and though it can be dramatic it is never heavy handed. Kind of inspiring and uplifting. It's super heavy on the dialogue and light on the action and ALL about the mystery, which kept me hanging til the last second -- finding a place to pause between episodes was killin' me! Most certainly goes into my pile of favorite anime. :D

He Is My Master

2006-07-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

(Make note that I was in a VERY lighthearted, VERY forgiving mood. I almost didn't keep watching this series, the use/abuse of the female characters is extremely terrible most of the time. Honestly, looking back I don't know how I could be so forgiving.)

He Is My Master is a 12-episode ecchi anime, based on a manga of the same name, about this rich perverted boy, Yoshitaka, who hires three girls to be his maids so he can get his jollies commanding them to do menial chores and spying on them with hidden cameras.

Sounds awful, doesn't it?
It was actually sort of funny. There's a lot of fanservice (nearly every ep has a nude bath scene), though not any of the jiggly-boob kind, which is the kind I hate the most. Basically a fanservice situational comedy with lots of ridiculousness humour, the humour making it entertaining enough. I hate to admit I got a few hearty laughs out of it.

The Story
Two sisters, Mitsuki and Izumi, run away from home in order to save Mitsuki's pet alligator, Pochi, from being put down. They end up in the service of Yoshitaka because a) they need a place to stay where Pochi can also live freely and this guy has TONS of land, b) Izumi breaks a bunch of stuff, thus owing Yoshitaka a ton of money so she's working for him to pay him off. Soon, a third girl, Anna, joins the cast as the third maid - originally after Yoshitaka himself, she becomes infatuated with Izumi and gets herself hired as a maid in order to be closer to her, even going so far as to learn Dutch and read up on the Netherlands so she and Izumi can run away there and get married. (This is the yuri content of the series - no, doesn't make it worth it).

Pochi is both disturbing as well as one of the more entertaining part of the series (we're being VERY forgiving). He's this giant cartoony alligator who does not speak. He is completely devoted to his owner, Mitsuki, and absolutely hates men and will protect the girls from them at all costs. Equally, he is obsessed with girls in skimpy clothes, especially Izumi, whom he loves to chase and rip the clothes off of. Which is totally disturbing, but it's funny when he "tastes" someone by chomping their heads/upper torsos. :D

Yoshitaka is obnoxious with his lowlife-ness and lack of decency, but what makes it better is that really, Izumi's younger sister, Mitsuki, the seemingly innocent one, is the person running the whole show. She thinks Yoshitaka's habits are silly and that anything can be fun, no holds barred - so it turns out she's using his inner nature against him for her OWN fun. O_O

The girls' parents are pretty strange. Their mother had Izumi when she was 16 and their dad is a total punk-rock lolicon. But whenever he gets out of control, the mom is there to whack him over the head with this strange statue/idol thing. The mom is strange; she thinks it's fine that the girls are living with a pervert, particularly if Izumi can marry into his money, but encourages Anna, saying to her specifically in one ep: "Anna-chan, love has nothing to do with gender, so go for the gusto, eh?" which is the greatest redeeming factor for the whole series.

Mitsuki is always having contests for things, which I got a little tired of. Izumi's protests at everyone obsessing over her got a little old, as did Pochi trying to rip Izumi's clothes off (which I never liked to begin with). Anna was great, though, in her die-hard chase for Izumi (there's one scene where Izumi tries to distract her and takes off her bra and tosses it, which Anna chases and gets, and we see her on all fours, drawn with dog ears and a wagging tail with the bra dangling from her mouth, all happy... It actually made me laugh).
~==~

Definetly not the deepest anime I've ever seen, though oddly definetly not the most shallow. It had brief flashes of heart (which Yoshitaka immediately shatters) but it's mostly about being silly anyway - I mean, it's SO over the top you almost forgive it for the awfulness. I give it 3 stars out of 5 just for Anna and Pochi. And Mitsuki - she was too diabolically kawaii. :D

Fight! Iczer One

2006-07-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

So I've been going over and over the Shoujo ai anime list over at Wikipedia, looking for new stuffs to download. Iczer One is one of those that I downloaded. I figured, hey, it's only a 3 ep OVA, so who knows?

Yeeeeeaaaahhhh... it was bad. Mind you, this is basically a rundown of the entire plot. As if you're going to watch it, so it shouldn't matter, right? Anyway, spoilers ahead:

Visuals
As an anime from 1985, it certainly looks it. Kind of dark since it was all hand-done, lots and lots of lines and details everywhere, cheezy music, cheezy sound effects... it's OLD. One interesting thing, though, is that people are much better proportioned, particularly in the weight department. Our girls have a little meat on their bones - they look HEALTHY.

Story
The anime opens on some spaceship thingey on the far side of the moon. Everyone on board is female and apparently they are all named after colors. Two chicks, Cobalt and Sepia, are in a sci-fi bedroom area talking about a mission to prevent Iczer One from merging with her partner. Sepia tells Cobalt to be careful on her mission, and they proceed to make out. Oh yeah, they're buck naked.

So Nagisa is our main character, besides Iczer One. Nagisa is a schoolgirl, on her way to school when she spots Iczer One watching her from some trees. Nagisa comments to herself on Iczer's bizarre outfit before continuing on to school.

At school, Nagisa starts having daydream/nightmares as she's trying to take a test. This is when I realised this was a horror sort of anime as far s monsters go, something one should not watch while trying to eat squishy food. The kind of monsters with teeth and eyes and tentacles where those items should not be on a body. Really over detailed, slimy, and gross.

Later, Nagisa is surrounded by some masked students on the roof, falls off the roof, and is rescued by Iczer One.

Nagisa wakes up at home and the day starts as if nothing went wrong, except Nagisa's parents turn into those gross monsters like the ones from Nagisa's nightmares. I think the house turned into a monster, too, or something - I dunno, I was busy doing something else when it showed where the giant monster came from. Anyway, Iczer shows up and kills them all. Nagisa goes into a really idiotic fit about her mommy and daddy being dead and demands that Iczer give them back. Because, you know, you can raise people from the dead easy.

We keep getting scenes from on the ship on the far-side of the moon. Apparently, Sir Violet (a green haired woman with a man's voice) is in charge of the ship. She keeps talking to this giant wall of red, pustuley living tissue in the vague shape of a vulva with a really large golden transparent sphere where a clit would be. Inside the sphere is a golden female humanoid curled in the fetal position. Sir Violet does all the talking, we never hear what gold thing says.

As it turns out much later, the gold being is Big Gold (of course) and she, too, has a super deep male voice. She's in charge of this whole ship and all the beings on board. We eventually, excruciatingly, find out that their race are called the Cthulu and are very similar to humans and were apparently once part of earth before they left to... go elsewhere. Their planet is now dead and now they're back, though we dunno why. Big Gold's TRUE form is actually a building-sized super computer, as she is no longer alive. Iczer is a daughter of Big Gold or an artificial being derrived from Big Gold and just called her daughter. Who cares.

So, back on earth, Iczer is running around fighting monsters. She can shoot yellow beams out of her fists and is pretty super strong and agile. She also keeps slipping into Alternate Dimensions. To Quote Iczer, "I'm in an alternate dimension. Oh no!" Which is really pointless and dull.

She keeps trying to convince Nagisa to merge with her and fight to save the planet. Nagisa refuses. Eventually, Iczer calls upon her giant robot, called Iczer Robo, and beams Nagisa inside. While Iczer is in a pilot seat with small pink hoses hooked up to her bustier, Nagisa has to float around in a seperate compartment, buck naked, in some breatheable green liquid, with the same little hoses hooked up all over her body.

Nagisa refuses to fight.

Until Iczer brings up her parents death and suggests vengence. Suddenly, Nagisa thinks this is a hot idea and bOOM, the power of Iczer Robo is complete. By saying yes to fighting, they are now "merged" and fight as one.

And they do. And they win against whatever it was they were fighting. Oh, yeah, they fight Cobalt, who is in another robot. They rip Cobalt out of her robot and crush her.

So Iczer drops off Nagisa in her old neighborhood. The whole country has been overrun with a virus or something that turns everyone into monsters, but somehow Iczer thinks Nagisa will be just fine. Nagisa is suddenly is wearing a flashier, skimpy outfit. She asks Iczer what's up with this outfit and Iczer tells her it will protect her. Yes, of course - less clothes = more protection. Didn't we learn anything from Xena?

On her own, Nagisa goes back to her own house and finds a little girl and her mother, whom she befriends. She goes upstairs to her parents room and finds that the bodies are all gone somehow. But suddenly, monsters come out of the walls and floors and attack with face tendrils, which Nagisa's bracelet fry to a crispy pile of dust. All is saved...
... except back downstairs the mother of the girl is now a bloated monster. Nagisa toasts her, too.

I don't remember what happens next. Sepia is super upset and distraught over Cobalt's death. But the Cthulu have made another Iczer - Iczer TWO, who takes Sepia as her partner. They go down to Earth in a super robot, Iczer Sigma, and fight Iczer Robo. They rip Robo's arm off. Then, Iczer Sigma stomps on the little girl Nagisa was trying to save. With Nagisa horrified by this, suddenly power beyond belief comes to Iczer Robo and they do something amazing and defeat Iczer Sigma.

And it turns out that Nagisa had given her bracelet to the little girl, so she survived after all. So to protect her, they take hte little girl far far away to the countryside to protect her. But while they're there, Iczer Two arrives with Blue and Red and kidnap Nagisa and kick Iczer One's ass.

Back on the mother ship on the far side of the moon, Iczer Two wants Nagisa to be her partner since she's so powerful to Iczer One (who, by the way, seems to be passionately worried about Nagisa all the time). Iczer Two has Nagisa pinned to a wall in a cell and tries to force her to become her partner by having some pod creature at Nagisa's feet sprout tentacles, which menacingly wrap around Nagisa and hover over face in a threatening bukake pose.

Interstingly, with as many tendriled monsters as there are, none of them were sexual at all the way tentacles ALWAYS are nowadays in anime. This was the only scene with even REMOTE "sexual tentacle tension" and it wasn't much at all. Which is fine, as I don't care for tentales, but anyhow.

Also odd, as desperate as everyone is to destroy and stop Iczer, all the monsters always corner Nagisa, the source of Iczer's power, and then just... kinda hover there and watch. They never DO anything! Stupid monsters!

So... Nagisa, threatened by Iczer Two and the tentacle pod. Nagisa says she'd rather die, kill me now. As the tentacles near, she screams out for Iczer One.

Iczer one is unconcious in a field. Iczer Robo appears, beams up Iczer One, who then wakes up and beams to this monolith thingey, destroying Iczer Robo in the process of smashing through the walls. Iczer One is now surrounded by monsters and fights and kicks ass, before Iczer Two appears and brings out Nagisa, who now has glowing green glazed eyes. Telepathically, Nagisa calls out to Iczer and tells her she cannot control her own body -- shoot me before I shoot you and kill you. At first Iczer refuses, she's crying and torn over killing Nagisa. But then she shoots her anyway. Nagisa thanks her, then dies and we see her spirit drift toward Iczer and apparently get absorbed because suddenly Iczer gets her second wind, has super super powers and destroys Iczer Two.

Then Big Gold kills Sir Violet And shows up to congradulate her. Now let's take over the world. Iczer One says, "never!" so Big Gold suggests they fight in their true forms. Nothing happens to Iczer One, so that must be her true form, while Big Gold turns into a gigantic pillar of golden light. Calling Nagisa's name, Iczer surrounds herself with a gold bubble, draws her blue light saber, and flies into Big Gold, which causes Big Gold and Iczer to merge into one being, but technically, Iczer is the dominant personality/apperance/etc.

Stuff blows up.

Iczer is floating around in space or somewhere over Earth, holding Nagisa's body. She's saying now she has the power of Big Gold, she's going to find the Cthulu a new home and watch over them (so they don't go bad again). She's also going to grant Nagisa's wish to put Earth back the way it was. Which she does. Next scene is basically the same scene where we first saw Nagisa, waking up and getting ready for school. And on her way to school, she sees Iczer again but doesn't recognize her, while Iczer stands there with a goofy sad smile and tears in her eyes as Nagisa takes off with her friend to get to school on time.

The end.

Conclusion
Really gross monsters, stupid-stupid dialogue, trite characters with no depth. Hated the animation, hated the music and HATED the sound effects. There was very little yuri. The very brief nude makeout scene at the beginning, and then Nagisa and people are naked often, but that's about it. Nagisa depends on Iczer for protection but doesn't seem to love her or anything, and Iczer is just weird. She seems randomly obsessed with Nagisa the way Najara was for Gabrielle but no good vibes necessarily.

The whole thing is a super drama, no humour at all, and no POINT at all.
There you have it.

Wolf's Rain OST

2006-07-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

Wolf's Rain OST I and II

I've got to say, this music is really good IN the anime but outside of it, I really don't care so much for it.

Yoko Kanno is a phenominally talented composer, having done the scores for "Ghost in the Shell" and "Cowboy Bebop". Some songs in the Wolf's Rain OSTs I really like but for the most part, it's just not my cup of tea musically. Jazz-based with lots of accoustic guitar, there are wonderful songs - I can appreciate the technical beauty and style of all the songs... I just... not for me, thanks. The songs I do like are the accoustic guitar instrumentals - those are just... wow. Like "Hot Dog Wolf".

I think Yoko Kanno writes technically more traditional, more complex music than Yuki Kajiura but she definetly writes the music as a soundtrack/score. Meaning the albums don't stand on their own very well, the overall flow feeling disjointed as is my issue with most soundtracks/scores.

Noir OST

2006-07-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

I love this set of soundtracks, really just one split into two volumes on two discs. Yuki Kaijura is brilliant - she's done the soundtracks for .hack//SIGN and Mai-HiME as well as many others.

Several of the tracks stand out as songs that don't SOUND like they came from a soundtrack - always a mark of a good composer if the music can stand alone without having to rely on the imagery remembered from the series/film it was scored for. :) These songs exist because the director at BeeTrain asked her to simply write what she wanted - entire compositions, no holds barred, and that he and the animation team would then later work them in as needed. This is opposed to an artist writing a piece that is exactly a minute and some-odd seconds long to fit a certain scene. The result is that her soundtrack work sounds great as stand-alone music - it also shines through as one of the best element in any anime her work appers in.

Kaijura's work often sounds kind of new-age ish though for Noir there is a French tinge in many of the tracks. A mix of sounds smoothed over with the same flavor makes for a dynamic set - and I'm proud to say I own the actual CD's. :D (got them for $10 at a Sam Goody's that was going out of business.)

Years after watching "Noir" I still find myself listening to the soundtracks as stand-alone music. This is significant for two reasons: 1) I rarely like soundtracks and 2) I'm usually into a soundtrack simply as an extension of the movie/series it was from, not for the merits of the music itself.

Haibane Renmei OST

2006-07-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

Three soundtracks worth of music, light and airy, countryside kind of music with both middle-European and Japanese influences, accoustic with harpsichord type strings, guitar, flute, tambourine, harp, violin... very light and relaxing, nice to listen to first thing in the morning when you want some tunes but nothing heavy or too driving.

I haven't listened to all of them all the way through yet but I really like what I have heard so far. :D The three soundtracks are called:
Haibane Renmei Soundtrack: Hanenone
Haibane Renmei: Petitnone ~Out Of Tracks~
Haibane Renmei Image Album ~"Sei naru Shoukei"~ (an image album, of course, being songs inspired by the series but were not IN the series... I think.)

The opening theme is, of course, the best but there's a wonderful song called "Wondering" off the first soundtrack that will bring tears to your eyes (well, it will if the anime moved you at all). It's a beautiful, wistfully sad song with Uillean pipes that would go well with Celtic Christmas music. ;)

Bakuretsu Tenshi OST

2006-07-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

Bakuretsu Tenshi (Burst Angel)

I FINALLY got this! I had to track down people on some torrent boards and beg them to seed it - crazy.

It's two discs worth on just one OST. It's got a "good, bad, & the ugly" dirty electric guitar western kind of theme but with a modern beat and some futuristic sound effects for ambience. Definetly has a "ride to the sunset" mood. It's funny because I really didn't recall the music from the episodes all that well at all. Then as I listened to the soundtrack, I found msyelf recognizing most of the 46 tracks. O_O; :D

Good background music, fun to listen to. Nice to have but not as much of a keeper as, say, soundtracks by Yuki Kajiura. ;)

Earthquakes

2006-07-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

Earthquake this morning:
Local Date: Thursday July 27th, 2006
Local Time: 05:18 AM AKDT
Universal Time: 07/27/2006 13:18:00.556 UTC
Magnitude: 4.89 ML
Latitude: 61.1494
Longitude: -149.5856
Depth: 15 miles (25 km)

And it was only 35 miles from here (12 from Anchorage) which is super close for an earthquake. We've had 5's before that didn't feel as strong simply because they were further away. I was so tired, though, from being up half the night in pain that I fell RIGHT back asleep before comitting to memory how the quake had felt. So all I remember is that it was a hard one, that I heard it coming louder than any quake I'd ever heard, and that it happened. lol. My friend Cassandra sleeps through most quakes (they always seem to happen at night) but my family and I must be pretty sensitive because the sound always alerts us enough that we are awake to gauge the severity of the quake (i.e. duck and cover or not) until it is over and we roll over and fall asleep.

If you've never heard an earthquake, there is no real way to describe it. It's vast, mile stretches of hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of feet of rock, gravel, dirt, and who knows what, sliding and grinding against itself. But it's SO huge that you hear it where it starts and then as the earth around the epicenter shifts in domino-like fashion, outward like a ripple, you hear the sound get closer and closer, increasing in volume until it hits YOU. And that all happens in less than a second.
Sometimes the vibrations come casually, like a train rolling by, the ground and everything in the house (and the house itself) starts shaking.... dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah dah dah dah dah DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH dah dah dah dah dah da da

Or sometimes you hear it and then BAM!!! it hits and everything is shaking in a sneak-attack quake. Sometimes it is so fast that you don't hear anything at all until it hits.

But the sound itself is SO vast and so deep... It's like a sound that you aren't really hearing - you are hearing it with your body, with your skin, and with your 6th sense, not so much with your ears. The sounds are too high and too low. You know how sometimes in good silence, your ears can create roars that are only happening in your head, except that you can TELL they're coming from your head. It's almost like that in that you know you are hearing this sound, that it does exist, but it's not coming from somewhere normal or it's not being picked up in a normal way. And it's SO vast and SO heavy, it's literally the entire world. It is directional, for sure, you can tell where it is coming from, and the oscillation of sound can be different depending on the speed of the quake.

And this quake was particularly loud, probably because it was so close, and maybe also because it was on land rather than out in the inlet like they usually are.

I hate it when they have earthquakes in movies - most TV shows do a good job and I think it is precisely because of the low budget. Movies make the jolting too... I dunno... perfect and crumbly. Yeah things CAN crumble, I'm sure, but they just have the movement all wrong. They're loud but it doesn't seem like much is happening. Everything seems detatched from the sound that is occurring, and even though you're in it and things are moving and you can feel it, it feels like the quake is flowing AROUND you. Like standing in a river - you feel the river, it affects you, it jostles you, but it flows around you. And maybe because it IS -- the vibrations from a quake are directional, they are going by, not happening RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE - and that's how movies always make them seem. Bah. :P

So yeah... earthquakes... :P

Bakuretsu Tenshi (Burst Angel)

2006-07-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

In short:
Awesome animation with smoothly integrated cgi, beautiful to look at. Cool character designs and fun spaghetti western genre/mood/palette. Fights can be repetitive but aren't dull and have some cool moves, good music, story could be better but there is a plot throughout (not the best, not the worst), psycho-bezerker killer bounty hunter chick (Jo)

Lots of people think lots of different things about this anime. Here's what it is and isn't:
• It does have an underlying plot throughout the entire series - even if an episode *seems* like a one-shot. Plots are not as twisted as GITS:SAC, but you might not realise they're related until maybe halfway through. There are some very superficial elements and some really superficial stories that, while they DO tie into the major plot, they still seemed kind of pointless. The story overall isn't the most stunning, but it isn't totally boring - and like most anime gets better past the halfway mark.

• It does have lots of fighting, but I found the fights way more interesting than, say, Kannazuki no Miko. Maybe not the most creative fights ever, though there are definetly some cool moments that had me saying, "Oh, wow!" out loud, heh. For the most part, if a battle got dull, I'd just admire the animation.

• The animation is beautiful. They use a lot of CGI but it's so well integrated that it doesn't stand out at ALL. Best integration I've seen so far in any anime. I love the western sunset palette.

• Fanservice: Not quite to a disgusting degree, but some of the female characters do have some amazing breast activity *rolls eyes*, and there are lots of panty shots. Not tons, but enough. Oddly, they manage to smooth it into the whole world so that I wasn't overly bothered with it at all.

• The theme of the series, the mood, is a WESTERN. The way stories unfold, the fights, the clothing - it's a western. And it's FUN. The end of the series is also totally so very spaghetti western in style. I love it. Though don't let me fool you - it takes place in a futuristic Tokyo filled with high-tech gadgetry. The attitude (and tons of guns) and the other things I mentioned make it a western in everything except tumbleweeds, horses, and saloons. Although, there is *one* horse...

• Some things seemed pointless, like Kyouhei, or whatever his name is, the chef. He had no purpose. I think originally he was going to be there for the whole harem-style group of characters with him being the fish out of water norm-boy, but that definetly died a quick death within 3 episodes.

• Music is good. I like the "bad guy is coming, we're gonna fight" theme. :D

• It has humour that isn't obnoxious or over the top. Kick-ass type of humour, not goofy humour.

Yuri content: is there or isn't there?
Ok, I don't know WHAT people are talking about: they say they watered it all down from the manga and hid all the subtext between Meg and Jo. If that's so, then I must have super yuri-goggles because I got a lot more than I was expecting. Sure, there are obvious outright occurences (well, one) but these women live for EACHOTHER and they say as much. Often. Kind of a Xena/Gabrielle type thing where you know they are 100% loyal to one another and live for one another, though you could argue wether or not they are actually in passionate love. More than best friends, less than lovers. Yikes - I do sound like a hardened Xenite, adamant in the relationship. Maybe that's where I get my ability to find subtext. ;)

More yuri than: Noir, ROD the TV, GITS:SAC,
Less yuri than: Marimite, Strawberry Panic, Simoun, KnM

Perhaps less in terms of obviousness, but I say the quality and pervasiveness of it makes it way better than, say, KnM, Noir, and Strawberry Panic.

Meg and Jo
Meg and Jo are the most fun duo since... since I dunno when. Very Xena/Gabby in that Meg is always getting kidnapped and Jo is always going bezerk, killing a zillion people and going through anyone and anything to rescue her, even if its good guys. Gotta love that kind of devotion (otherwise it'll annoy you to tears that Meg gets kidnapped so much). And they go back a little ways, which is what the manga is about (which has been liscenced and will hopefully be available soon as there are no scanlations). Also in the Xe/Gab fashion, Jo is the dark warrior who has obviously seen a LOT whereas Meg is more happy-go-lucky, "let's have fun". (Ok, think early Gabrielle...). Though Meg DOES have the capacity to kick butt (wish we'd see more of that).

Other stuff
Other characters are fun. Sei is cool - her breasts get huge in some eps which annoys the hell out of me, and some people rather hate her reverse-cleavage outfit but I rather like it. Her character gets more interesting as the series progresses but we don't find out enough. I don't think they really plotted her character too deeply though they easily could of. Kind of like Youko in Marimite. Amy is the computer hacker kid and she's so-so. I don't care either way about her character.

Some of the one-shot-ish stories were really fun; I particularly liked the girls school ep. and the obvious backstory eps. :D

All I can say is I want the damn OAV to be released! I dloaded the artbook, too, which has all the episode commercial cut-shot art in it, too. Some good stuff!

Quote that made me laugh: "Those who jump over people's backs don't live very long." -- Jo (it was funny at the time...)

Conclusion: It's a fun series - Watch it for the prettyness and for Meg/Jo slashyness. And possibly the fights, though as far as sharpshooting goes, as good as Jo is, she doesn't hold a candle to Kirika. You may have to leave your brain turned 'off' for chunks of it - it's not a particularly smart anime and is low on character development or deep, emotional plot. In the way that I prefer deep, requires-lots-of-brain foreign films, I do still like to watch fun action flicks. That would be Bakuretsu Tenshi.

Haibane Renmei

2006-07-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

No spoilers.

I just finished watching all of Haibane Renmei. Wow.
First off, it's beautifully drawn. If anything, watch it for that.
Secondly, what a wonderful story. Just... It's not goody-goody, but it's not overly dark. Nothing happens beyond reason - as in, there's no drama for drama's sake, so by that I guess I mean it's very life-like. Which is funny coming from me, since I tend to *like* drama. :D

I tell you, though, the first episode right off the bat punches you in the gut. My eyes went wide, "I didn't know Haibane Renmei was like THIS!!??" heh. But nah, that's just... well... you have to watch. Just watch it, dammit!

Anyway, yes. 5 stars out of 5, possibly the best anime I've ever seen - yes, maybe even better than Maria-Sama ga Miteru (gasps, I know, beat me with a stick for saying so!) - but I say that on grounds that Marimite's animation wasn't always evenly done across the board, and it isn't a finite story (yet). But still...

The kind of thing that leaves you not knowing if you want to smile or cry. :')

The Devil Wears Prada [film]

2006-07-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

In short:
• good acting
• 3-D characters
• story that could of been ultra cliché was not cliché at all.

First off, Meryl Streep was awesome. Her character is such a bitch but Streep manages to bring humanity to her character. Even though this woman is a complete devil, she's got emotions and she has motivations for the way she acts and you do see it slip out here and there, but not in a cheesy way, either. Very subtle. Streep is amazing to watch anyhow; she can convey so much with just the twitch of an eye, for goodness sakes.

The gal who plays the main character did a good job as well. I had seen her in The Princess Diaries and was afraid she might bring a bubblegum cliché performance to the film but she did not. She was human and she does evolve but while staying true to herself.

Which is what the film is about - staying true to oneself. So many films are about some girl starting out frumpy, heading for sucess, and along the way they're taught how to be fashionable and how to get the cool guy or whatever -- like in films like She's All That or even in the Princess Diaries - and dozens of others. And our main character, Andy, *does* start out frumpy and heading for sucess, and she does learn how to dress fashionably and gets to be cunning at her job. And in the end when she realises that there are limits to what she'll do before she's no longer being herself, it's a realistic realization. There's no huge change -- she keeps what she likes about what she learned, like keeping some of the nicer clothes for instance, but it's toned down. Just... more "normal". And she gets the kind of job she wanted in the first place - she doesn't settle, but she's equally not going out there for some hot-shot position for the status or money of it.

And the romance in the film is treated the same. It's just all very human, with humour, style, and then some. It may not be blockbuster-stuff, but it is a smart film, intelligent, with little trace of bubble-gum, if any. I found myself on the edge of my seat, rooting for Andy. And if a movie can do that, if it can make me really care, then I give it a thumbs up. :D

3 new anime

2006-07-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

So I started in on some new anime today:
• 3 eps of Simoun
• first ep of NANA
• 6 eps of Strawberry Panic!

Simoun
I read about this at Okazu and have been interested in this series since then. The background on this over at Wikipedia: Simoun (anime) tells a bit about it better than I can. To be very basic, the story happens on a different earth-like world where the people have very different technology from us - very stylized/art nouveauish in a way. Anyhoo, the people of this world are what is left of a very powerful, ancient people and they don't know how to use any of the technology that still survives today. The one kingdom that has all the technology protects it with the use of simoun, an aircraft powered by the ancient technology that is flown by a pair of pilots.

The people of this world, though, are all born female and they do not settle on a gender until they reach the age of 17 at which point they go to this holy spring to either stay female or become male. Due to the technology of the simoun (aircraft), however, only non-adults can be pilots.

I only saw the first three episodes. Basically we learn about the star lead pilot, Neviril, a girl who loses her copilot while attempting an extremely difficult defensive maneuver. The pair were definetly romantically involved - and that is NOT subtext, no yuri-goggles required. The ancient technology is partially powered spiritually -- pilot/co-pilot pairs kiss the green orb that powers their ship before taking off in order to turn the orb on. Neviril and her original partner unintentionally started the trend of kissing eachother before kissing the orb on their simoun craft. So though their kiss was genuine and passionate, not all the other pilot pair kisses are.

So far the series doesn't seem to be *totally* using the yuri angle as fanservice. Everyone is kind of ambisexual all around so there isn't that "service" tension so many other series have. The gender ambiguity is refreshing to me, particularly because even the gender of adults is difficult to determine as female seiyu voice the male characters, who are also drawn rather femininley.

The animation itself is pretty good, though I'm not a huge fan of combining traditional and digital animation unless it is seamless. I like the style as well -- the not-so-technologically-advanced peoples seem to have a kind of 1920's/30's level of technology which is inventive - I'm a sucker for old-fashioned/steampunk technology. :D

WANT MORE!!!! XO

NANA
NANA is about two girls named Nana who seem to be total opposites whose paths keep crossing, leading the two to become roomates - and most likely eventually friends as well. I only saw the first ep so it's hard to tell.

I'm not sure how much yuri content there is going to be. There's enough for the ol' yuri-goggles as far as the "normal" girl oogling the cool and dark girl but that's all I've seen so far and it's not enough to make a person watch it just for yuri content.

The animation is clean and angular, the music so far is pretty good as well. The opening credits make the series seem like it's going to be much more serious than it is - goofier than Marimite, slightly more serious than Azumanga Daioh. Both Nana's are 20, which is refreshing, although the regular-girl Nana looks younger than she is, which is getting old (WHY can't people be drawn their age?!?)

I only have the first 5 eps out of something like 26 I believe, so who knows. I'll watch the rest and then decide whether I want to bother with the rest. Wikipedia makes it sound like there's hardly any yuri to be had, and while that's not my only criteria for an anime, I certainly relate more to queer characters and I've got enough yuri-endowed anime that I could be watching instead. ;)

Strawberry Panic!
Fun seiyu facts:
"Etoile" Shizuma is voiced by Hitomi Nabatame (Eriko in "Marimite")
Nagisa Aoi (our protagonist) is voiced by Mai Nakahara (Mai in "Mai-HiME") who sings the opening theme

There's good and bad for this series. And mixed, too, I suppose.

First, the main "pair", Nagisa and Shizuma, are a Yumi/Sachiko, Yumi/Sei, Himeko/Chikane, any famous kohai/sempai rip off. Nagisa is like a slightly more mature Yumi but with more confidence and never cries (so far). She, like Yumi, gets chastised for running in the halls, learned piano years ago and can sort of play now, and isn't too sure about her feelings for a certain sempai but is in deep nonetheless.

Shizuma is a perfect cross of Sachiko, Sei, and Chikane. She talks JUST like Chikane from Kannazuki no Miko and has a wild mane of lion-like hair like Sei. She's happy in the presence of Yumi/Himeko/Nagisa but has some kind of sad past, sad eyes, mysteriousness - like Sei and Chikane. Also like Sachiko and Chikane, Shizuma is great at piano and is the star of the school. Similar to Sei (at least in reputation), Shizuma is a playgirl, making out with girls left and right, never keeping one for more than a month apparently.

This, and other elements, lead to total element ripoffs from Marimite. For instance:
• Nagisa's first stunned run-in with Shizuma that leaves her heart blindsided and stunned
• Shizuma fixes Nagisa's crooked tie - ever so Marimitely (except Shizuma tries to kiss Nagisa after)
• Middle-ground in the greenhouse. Just like Yumi/Sachiko in their greenhouse, and Himeko/Chikane in their secluded rose garden.
• Piano duet! Complete with Nagisa messing up her part, just like Yumi
• It's a Christian/Catholic type school, complete with prayers and a Maria-sama statue!

Shall I go on?

Despite the fact that this series is a total rip-off of so many other anime before it, there are elements keeping it interesting. Like, if you ever wanted Yumi to have more guts, then you'll appreciate Nagisa. Or if you wanted Sachiko to kiss all the girls, you'll like Shizuma. There's a ton of "loser-fangirl" service moments, too. Apparently half the school (all-girl, mind you) is sleeping with one another - there's lots of sex in the manga, apparently; the anime focuses more on relationships. But Shizuma tries to kiss Nagisa at least once per the first three or four episodes, sometimes more than once in an episode. With such a strong start, the 4th-6th episodes were boring as hell with the highlight being some of Nagisa's friends cleaning stairs and having a tea party. Yay. (sarcasm)

The animation is similar to Kannazuki no Miko only less colorful. The plot is only interesting when Shizuma is involved (well, for me). A lot of the characters are a little over-the-top -- "ohhh!"ing girls with high pitched voices, a school prince who is VERY Rei-like... It really makes Marimite shine even more in comparison. So I'm going into this focusing on the fanservice, because being shallow is about the only way to make it through this series without melting my brain.

I'll definety watch the four other episodes I have and I'd probably want the rest just so I can see where this thing with Shizuma and Nagisa go, because they're hinting that Nagisa is more than a fling for Shizuma. Perhaps high drama will ensue. Woo.

Edit to add...
Oddly, a bonus for me in Strawberry Panic! is part of the dynamic between Nagisa and Shizuma. Whenever Nagisa catches Shizuma's gaze, she completely freezes, can't talk, can't think, can't move... totally stunned. I used to think this sort of thing was silly until I had the very same experience with a girl myself -- I did the exact same thing around her (well, I could move...). It wasn't any one thing in particular about her. I generally can't shut up around people and can usually speak in an orderly, concise fashion. Not around this girl, however. I'd get around her and I couldn't think of anything to even think ABOUT, I couldn't speak - and when I'd try it came out very badly, and I am uber-concious of my body and movements. Of course, we've since had a very bad falling out and I know she's no good for me at ALL, but I can't help but still feel some of this if I'm around her. Grr. How very Phèdre/Melissande of me.

So, um, yes. Though it pains me, I relate. Shizuma better treat Nagisa right or I'll smack her both sides up and down. XO

The Sky Unwashed

2006-06-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Just got done reading "The Sky Unwashed" by Irene Zabytko.

Amazon.com gives this synopsis:
inspired by the true story of villagers who defied the forced evacuation of their Ukrainian town after the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the 1980s. The narrator is septuagenarian Marusia Petrenko, a hard-working grandmother who lives with Yurko, her only son; his wife, Zosia; and their two small children, Katia and Tarasyk, in a tiny house where only a thin curtain separates Marusia's quarters from the rest of the family's. Like many of the townspeople in Starylis, Zosia and Yurko work at the nuclear power plant in nearby Chernobyl. The drama begins one spring weekend in 1986, when several of the village's men do not return home from their shifts at the plant. One by one, the people of Starylis begin to notice a strange metallic taste in the air and to suffer from itchy, watery eyes. The official word is that there has been "a fire" at the plant, according to the militsiia who round up villagers for evacuation to Kiev. But in Kiev things are not much better. The Petrenko family is eventually separated: Marusia stays with Yurko, who is suffering from radiation sickness, and Zosia takes her children to Moscow in hopes of a better life. Over the months that follow, Marusia battles to reunite her family and to return to Starylis, which has been declared uninhabitable due to radiation. While readers may find the English transliterations of names in both Russian and Ukrainian a bit confusing (the city is Kiev on one page and Kyiv on the next, for example), this is a minor irritation in an otherwise quietly insightful novel about a indomitable individual defying the state in order to return to her home.

I'm generally not a big "normal" fiction reader. But, being fascinated by nuclear disaster and survival stories as well as true(ish) stories, this was a good, quick read that really gave some good insight into the lives of the people directly affected by the Chernobyl accident. And as far as nuclear-survival fan-girlness goes, this gave a nice picture of what it could be like to try to survive in a radiated land, albeit without protection.

Theatre of Tragedy

2006-06-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

Theatre of Tragedy is a gothic metal band from Norway. Interestingly, I found them through another gothic metal/folk metal band called Leaves' Eyes. Leaves' Eyes is fronted by Liv Kristine, who used to be the female vocalist for Theatre of Tragedy. :D

Theatre of Tragedy started out as a gothic doom metal band often credited as the first of its kind to feature dual male and female contrasting vocals, influencing an entire generation of European metal that followed. Another distingushing element to ToT's music was that they originally wrote all of their lyrics in Old English.

ToT's first three full-length albums are completely in Old English and are thoroughly doom/gothic metal. The first two albums are darker and not as well polished as their later work and include harsh male growls and grunts, which I'm not overly fond of. Liv Kristine's vocals are high soprano, fragile and secondary to the male vocals at times.

This all changes with their third, and best liked, album Aégis. Aégis loses the male death grunts and instead Raymond sings in a kind of narrational sort of way. The album has a theme of women of European mythology. The songs are more accessible than their previous albums with more polish, stronger song structure, and choruses you can even sing along to (if you can remember odd lyrics in Old English, that is). They've added string-sounding keyboards, which almost make this album 'symphonic metal'. The result is beautiful, dark, well crafted album that has become one of my favorites of all-time.

After Aégis, ToT went on to evolve their sound, focusing more on keyboards and programming, and dropping the Old English completely for modern English. Their next album, Machine is a kind of techno-rock with some good songs here and there. After that came Assembly where the shift in style is complete. Gone are any hints of metal - this is a pop rock album with heavy synths. "Superdrive" is a perfect example of the shift the band took.

Unfortunately, Raymond's vocals remain front and center for most of the songs, always as a kind of narrator, never actually singing. After a while it gets really old - particularly when Liv Kristine's voice is the best part of the music. She's almost audibly being pushed to the side.

After Assembly Liv left the band to concentrate on her own project, Leaves' Eyes, with her husband - a folk-metal band focusing on Viking and nature imagery. Meanwhile, ToT returned to their metal roots, probably due to the resurging popularity in the genre due to bands like Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil. They hired a new female vocalist who sounds remarkably like Liv and recorded the album Storm.

It's a solid album - the tracks purposely flow into one another in a jarring manner, not too sure what I think about that. Storm takes what was best in Aégis and combines it with the successful polish and structure of Assembly for an updated version of their own metal music. It'd be like Lacuna Coil adding epic keyboard synth strings to their music.

A highly inventive band, for sure. Their successes are strung out across several albums (except for the entirety of Aégis) but in a lot of ways I think other bands took what ToT started and made it even better (Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil..)

Ladytron

2006-06-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Ladytron is a 4-person electronica group from England. All four members play instruments (everyone, at the least, plays keyboards) and the two women do vocals, sometimes in an understated, nearly spoken tone. The music is analogue electronica, very beat driven, crunchy, and sheik. Their earlier music is grittier, and much more analogue sounding than their later music, which is more polished with a slightly more pop-tinge to it.

My sister already has their 1st and 3rd albums, 604 and the Witching Hour so it was really cool to finally get a hold of their 2nd album, Light & Magic to see how they got from point A to point B, the 1st and 3rd albums being quite a leap from each other. If you have never heard of Ladytron, read the above Wikipedia article and try to find a few clips to listen to. They are smart and original and really withstand repeated listening. They're difficult to describe beyond that, so if you already know of them, this album is right up there with the other two.

Song highlights:
604: Mu-Tron, Discotraxx, P.A.C.O!, Playgirl
Light & Magic: Seventeen, Evil, Turn It On
Witching Hour: Destroy Everything You Touch, Sugar, Weekend

Lacuna Coil: Karmacode

2006-06-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Lacuna Coil
I already have all of Lacuna Coil's earlier albums (In A Reverie, Halflife, Unleashed Memories, Comalies).

Karmacode is their latest, just came out this year. Their name isn't well known in the U.S. from what I can tell though their music is everywhere - I even heard them one day in Fred Meyers. Their music is in countless movies (like Underworld) and videogames and they grace the shelves of Hot Topics everywhere.

One criticism of LC is that songs on each album run together, sounding too alike. Their sound is so even across the board that you can listen to nearly their entire discography on mix (barring Karmacode) and you'd have a hard time feeling that the songs were from different albums. I do have a hard time remembering which song is from which album but in the instance of LC I like the smoothness and lack of contrast of their songs. I bought all their albums at once *because* I liked the way they sounded - so I consider their "same across the board" style to be a boon to me. There aren't any huge leaps in evolution, so you can mix all their music in any order and it works and feels right - so it's not such a bad thing.

Karmacode, however, is a bit of an evolution. Again, a lot of the songs run together a bit on the first few listens. The sound is a bit more polished and a bit more commercial with less inventiveness but with the same LC sound. This time through there are songs I don't care for and overall only three songs really stand out for me, "Within Me", "Devoted", and "What I See". Oh, and they even do a fun cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" that I like. So, some good, some bad.

The Gathering

2006-06-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

The Gathering
In my search for more goth metal music I came across this group, a Dutch alternative rock band that is actually one of the bands that started and popularised the whole goth metal/doom scene, predecessors to more well known groups today like Lacuna Coil and Evanescence. Perhaps most important of all is that this is the band that originated lead female vocals for the genres.

Their music is very atmospheric - it doesn't thrash; it is metal in that it uses heavy guitars. The "doom" category is actually a label for darker immagery or mood and/or lyrics. They do have a dark mood, but it is not depressing. I often use the word "epic" do describe their songs because the songs could fill valleys with their soaring mood, though the term is more often used for symphonic or power metal, which the Gathering is neither. I find it inspiring to listen to their music outdoors in the mountains - it feels wrong to cloister the songs indoors.

The vocalist, Anneke, has an ethereal alto, flitting between notes like Sarah McLachlan - very talented and in command of the music while also flowing with it. Despite their status of being one of the parent bands of dark alternative rock and despite their major popularity (at least in Europe) they are sadly missing in the United States music scene.

I quickly visited Amazon.com and bought their first, second, and fourth albums with Anneke, Mandylion, Nighttime Birds, and if_then_else.

Mandylion definetly has a metal feel to it but with hints of tribal influence. "Eleanor" has epic, subtle bass walks; "In Motion #1" has a beautiful, soaring rolling gait; "Mandylion" is a tribal drum and vocal piece; and "Sand & Mercury" is an epic tale of a song, the first half of which is instrumental and is possibly one of my favorite goth metal songs of all time.

Nighttime Birds picks up the pace a little. It's songs are slightly less dark, more epic in scale and complex. Highlights include "On Most Surfaces" and "The May Song".

if_then_else is a slight departure. Enter keyboard work and a gritty, industrial feel, more rock than metal but without losing their 'large' feel. Has some tracks making it much slower than the other two albums I listed but they're beautiful songs. "Rollercoaster" is a great rock song and "Saturnine" is by far one of the best epic ballad type songs I've heard, building up to a wonderful string outro.

Conclusion
The Gathering has quickly become one of my favorite bands of all time. Their music is not standard; it's smartly written and simply beautiful.

Collide

2006-06-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Collide is, as Wikipedia says, an "electrogoth/industrial" group, fronted by a female vocalist. Their music is dark, edgy, and often kind of erotic/sensual. I already have their album Some Kind of Strange which I totally love but this time I found songs from albums that were released before and after. Some songs were far darker than those from SKoS but for the most part they keep this interesting thread of melody through the darkness. It takes me awhile to get into dark industrial music - it took me a long time to get into Front Line Assembly, for instance. But once I find a hook, that glimmer of warmth, the intimidating factor of the music just kind of wraps around me outwardly, almost protectively. Does that make sense? Anyway, great evening music, I really like them.

Songs I reccomend:
Somewhere
Shimmer
Complicated

Edgy, gritty, sensual, with a kind of World/India ethereal darkness to it. Electrogoth/industrial is a broad descriptor but that's what they are with spice thrown in. Highly reccomended.

Sonata Arctica

2006-06-05T17:41:00.000-07:00

Sonata Arctica: a Finnish power metal band. I don't even know HOW I found this band - they aren't gothic. They weren't listed in with the folk metal bands, though some of their lyrics could be described as such. They are a power metal band and fit that genre to a T and for the most part I really don't care for them at all.

Male vocal lead with a thick Finnish accent, thrashy power guitars, very standard power metal. But I do recognize that they are good, dynamic song writers - I just don't care for power metal at all. I did like two of their songs so it wasn't a total loss:
"Tallula" and "Letter to Dana".

X-Men 3

2006-06-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

In spoilerless short: I liked it, definetly worth seeing in the theatre. I didn't like the switch in directors and it did seem like they tried to cram in too much but as this is an ongoing movie series, each movie does have to set up more stuff for later so in that respect it does feel like part of a greater story.

If you haven't seen it yet, stay til after the credits, too.
Like I said, it did feel crammed.

SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THE FILM BELOW!

Jean & the Phoenix Saga
Obviously with Jean disappearing in the last film, the Phoenix Saga had to be addressed. The comic book version is way too sci-fi for the X-men world that the movies take place, in, which tries to make everything more realistic, so in that respect I like how they worked in this whole Jean backstory of her powers and worked it into the Phoenix just being part of her. I thought that was well done. It kind of felt like it was sort of taking too much of a back seat to the Magneto plot, though, with the Brotherhood on the one hand... On the other hand, with the Phoenix being a part of Jean (rather than a giant space opera thing) it would of been a weak film had everything centered SOLEY on Jean.

I thought her powers could of been emphasized a bit more but that could be because I'm an X-Men fan already and I'm used to the REAL Phoenix. I'd like to hear opinions from people wh haven't had much to do with the comic version of the story on this one.

Jean and Wolverine
OMG! Now, I'm a huge Wolverine fan, of course, and I have always been a fan of the relationship between Logan and Jean. I thought they've done a great job with the short span of time in the film (as opposed to the relationshpi taking a little longer in the comics). In the comics, Jean does have an element of reserve toward her own powers - and she loves Scott (Cyclops) because HE is safe and represents control and order. Logan on the other hand is wild and free - he calls to Jeans dark side.

In the film, I love how they did the paralell with Logan's memory blocks to Jean's memory blocks (something that doesn't exist in the comics). It was a fantastic way of further making their relationship a bit more believeable with the short time span. Just - the whole thing was showcased so well without being over the top, particularly with Logan having to be the one to take down Jean in the end - because he's the only one who could survive it with his healing factor compensating.

Wolverine
Speaking of the healing factor -- this film did a great job of showcasing his healing factor more. I'm used to the Wolverine of hte comics constantly being shredded to bits to where no normal person or mutant could survive. And it isn't uncommon for his flesh to give way and expose his bones (with or without adamantium). Also, Logan still feels pain despite his healing ability - and I thought Hugh Jackman did a good job of portraying that, particularly in the scene where he's fighting the dude in the woods who is pulling bone spikes from his body and impaling Logan with them. The whole thing was much more ... realistic in terms of how Wolverine is than, say, the fight between Logan and Yuriko at the end of X-Men 2.

And again, awesome acting on Hugh's part - particularly his body language. Wolverine is strong and confident but moves in an animalistic way. And they did a little bit more to showcase his animal-like senses, though they could of done more.

(For a second, I thought they were going to jump the gun on a Wolverine story when Magneto grabbed Logan by his skeleton. I thought Magneto was going to rip out Logan's adamantium right then and there, giving us a lead into a Wolverine spin-off film.)

Storm
They did a great job incorporating more Storm into this film. The character writing and the acting was awesome for the character this time around - much better than the previous films. I like how they incorporated Storm's leadership ability into this film, particularly since she WAS a team leader of the X-Men (dunno if she still is or not). Liked the hair, too.

Other X-Men
I liked the progression in Bobby/Iceman's powers. I like how his abilities finally manifested fully due to his life or death fighting situation with Pyro - that was a great way of working it out.

Angel's plot was only weakly worked in. The first scene of him as a child made me think it was going to link in more with everything else, since it was shown right next to the scene of Jean as a child. There were just SO many mutants in this film that they were showcasing it was *almost* jumbled but not quite. Like Beast being in there - I mean, he was there because he was working with the government and they hint at the fact he used to be an X-man way back in the day. And Angel's father was the one who made the cure, and he made the cure to help his son, not hurt mutants, giving the whole film less of a black-and-white feel, but it was so loosely woven I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Shadowcat/Kitty Pride -- she was awesome! Though she's a teen in the film, I like how they emphasized that she's not a fighter - she has to use her intelligence to defeat the enemy. That's how she was in the comics, too. She probably had my favorite fight/flight scenes of the whole film, too. Heh. Really stole the show from the returing characters.

Magneto and Xavier. I love the backstory on this being brought in and I loved the line, "Charles Xavier did more for mutant kind than you can even imagine". No matter their differences in approach for mutantkind nowadays, they have a healthy respect for eachother - again a great example of the shades of gray rather than black/white.

Mystique - she's an underestimated character, I think. She is very intelligent and mysterious. Kais and I discussed that part of that mystery is aided by the fact she rarely speaks in the film. It isn't because she's the "female bombshell" token character - that's how she is in the comics. With what little she did have to work with, I thought Rebecca Romijn did a good job - particularly after she was shot with the 'cure' and reverted to her original form in front of Magneto. Half of her shock was also in the fact that she's shapeshifted so much she doesn't recall what she used to look like, her past being lost to even herself.

Another point about there being so many characters -- this film has LOTS of them, it's not as isolated as the first two were. Though I'm not sure how it worked out for the movie, this IS how the comics are. A lot of the X comics are SO full of mutants it can be hard to keep track of what is going on. It really is epic - it isn't one hero isolated to one town, like Batman to Gotham. It's a whole planet of mutants struggling to find a place in the world. The first two movies do well to introduce us to the idea of mutants to begin with, and this movie acts to widen the scope.

I think that scope could of been more powerful, though. In the 2nd film, they really brought it home what it's like to find out you are a mutant by paralelling it to coming out as a gay person (the scene where Bobby tells his parents he's a mutant). That was more personal and I thought carried more weight. And when Jean was speaking to the ?senate? in the first film. This film was a bit more... cartoony feeling in that respect.

(oh, I also did like there being more mutants, if to show their teamwork better - like in the danger room scene, particularly with Rogue borrowing Colossus' powers to avoid getting hurt).

Set up for the next film?
I stayed til after the credits and it shows Moira McTaggert working in a hospital when suddenly a patient speaks out to her. It's a whiskered Charles Xavier calling her by name and she gasps and says, "Charles?" So it looks like the disintegrated characters will return (as I thought they might). I'm just not sure how that's going to work out. Did something Charles do save them? Or did part of Jean with her super abilities do something to save everyone she loved right before she died? That is definetly within her powers using the Phoenix force, for sure.

And we know that mutants who were 'cured' are regaining their powers. Before I saw the bit with Xavier at the end, I kind of thought that perhaps when his powers returned, Magneto might return to help lead the X-men like has happened in the comics. In particular it would of been a great homage to the "Age of Apocalypse" alternate timeline in the comics where history is altered because Xavier dies. The world becomes a much darker place and Magneto leads the Xmen in Charles' memory.

And Rogue... Is she going to cross paths with Mystique, the woman who raised her in other versions of things? Rogue is a hugely popular X-Character and I just KNOW fans are dying for her to obtain her invincibility and flying ability. I'm thinking they might work in a storyline where Rogue isn't aware she's got her powers back and accidentally absorbs Carol Danvers' (Miss Marvel)'s powers of invincibility and flight permanently, as happened in the comics.

But as for a greater storyline, I'm not too sure where they're going to go with it. I mean, the Phoenix Saga we all knew had to happen as it's one of the greatest Marvel stories ever told - it's quintessential X-Men. But where are they going next?

Conclusion
So, I loved all the little bits and pieces a LOT. There were lots of great moments. But that's what it felt like overall - little moments losely strung together. The whole thing wasn't as solid as the previous two films and yet it still works. It somehow feels wrong and yet ... not. Weird how that works.

Killer Bunnies

2006-05-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

So we finally got a set of the Killer Bunnies card game on Sunday (it's full name is Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magical Carrot). It's a non-collectable card game that is expandable through the addition of many booster decks that add new dimensions to the game. The point of the game is to collect as many carrots as possible through the use of your killer bunnies while trying to slay as many of your opponent's bunnies as you can. At the end of the game, the magic carrot is revealed, but you have to have at least one surviving bunny in order to win (which is the point of trying to kill your opponent's bunnies - if they have no bunnies, they cannot win.)

It's kind of a strange game in that you can have the most carrots and you could of been kicking ass the entire game but when it all comes down to it, winning is a lottery since no one knows which carrot is the winner. Having more carrots gives you a better chance of having the winning carrot but so far, more often than not, someone with just one or two carrots ends up winning. Maybe it's karma. :P

Pros
So if you are ultra competitive, that might frustrate you. I rather like it as it means you can also win after having played the suckiest game ever - no matter how skilled you are, it all boils down to luck, which makes it an even game for anyone. So no matter if you win or lose, what you remember are all the bizarre ways you were able to scrape by in the game or annhiliate bunnies.

The cards are humerous and inventive and often outlandishly powerful - like the Nuclear Warhead card which automatically wipes out 5 bunnies (a LOT) or the Ebola Virus, which infects one bunny per round - and to survive, a bunny must roll a 12 on a 12 sided die to live. You cannot get attached to your bunnies as it is nearly guaranteed they will die. More often than not, though, you have to laugh at HOW they die.

Good replayability. Our first morning, Kais and I must've played it 6 times in a row. Because the cards you draw are random, you could have a really powerful game, you could have a game where all your bunnies constantly die, you could have a game where it's difficult to even GET a bunny, or maybe you get one survivor bunny that hangs in there. And of course you can never be sure who is going to win.

The cards are super durable, extra glossy and thick.

Cons
The instructions that come with the game are about as clear as mud. We played three games with what we thought were correct rules before downloading a more precise PDF version off the Official Killer Bunnies Website. So if you do get the game, PRINT OUT THE RULES FROM THE SITE!

The game artwork is a bit too simple. The illustrations and the coloring are not very complex and look a little cheap. Although some of the bunnies are hilarious - like the one in the "Containment Suit" card or the astronaut bunnies on the "Black Hole" weapon card.

The cards are super durable, glossy and thick. This is only a con if you get several of the booster decks because you end up with so many cards that it takes a LONG time to thoroughly shuffle them all. And the durability of the cards makes them too thick to use in an automatic shuffler.
________________________________

All in all, it's a really fun game. Once you have the rules down, it goes rather quick - at least, if I compare it to Settlers of Catan or Zombies!!! (which can occasionally turn into a 3 hour game), so perhaps an hour is an average length game with just the Blue and Yellow decks (the Killer Bunny decks are color coded - blue is the starter deck and each booster must be purchased in a certain order. Yellow is now packaged automatically with the blue cards.)

Killer Bunnies can be played with 2 to 8 players (possibly more with the addition of more booster decks) and is for ages 12 and up. The game is not gorey at all - not a drop of blood to be seen, just slightly violent.

The Night Watch

2006-04-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention a few weeks ago that I finished reading The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. Despite the very different era and story format, it still has the feel of a Waters novel but I found it to be a bit lacking. The story starts in 1947 and works backward - it starts off with characters in a dark place and they're given to you without any backstory -- you find out about why they are doing what they are doing, how they got to be where they are, etc. by slowly being given their story as you go back through time. It's a really cool way of filling us in, revealing the mystery.... My only problem was that I was expecting the novel to twist and pull the rug out from under me like in the previous two Waters novels. Instead, I found the story kind of predictable and the ending disatisfying. I wanted to know much more about the characters than what we were given.

Good points were that the characters were really interesting and the backward format was well done. I liked the story itself and the telling of it. I just wish the story were longer and fuller. The lack of length and depth left me wanting more in a very wistful way -- because the story starts in despair and goes backward to a more hopeful time, you do end up feeling a bit more hopeful but again in a wistful way. Maybe that was her point. That after all is said and done, we look back to better times.

Gokujou Seitokai and Azumanga Daioh

2006-04-27T00:04:00.000-07:00

Trey and I have started watching Gokujou Seitokai which is full of more WTF-goodness (and most of it in Pucchan) than in most other anime I've seen so far. I think the whole Pucchan puppet character *alone* has more WTFness than Sana-chan of Kodocha - okay, easily. Just... WTF? *laughs* Oh, it's too good. And we've only seen four episodes. :D

Trey also started me on Azumanga Daioh which possibly has the best "pat-on-the-head" character of all time in the form of Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga. What's great about this anime is how realistic a lot of the humor really is. For instance, at one point Osaka is spacing out in class but at the same time is like she's intently following something around in the air. The first thing that came to mind with the way her eyes were moving is when you look at the sky and see dust motes floating across your eye itself and as you follow them they dart away, so you look back to the starting point and there they are again. And it turns out that is *exactly* what she was doing! ROFL! And here I thought I was the only one. ;)

LiveJournal

2006-04-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

When I look back at my very oldest entries, it is apparent I didn't really know what to do with myself once I obtained an LJ account during its famed "invite only" era. It has eventually evolved into an amalgam of sorts, a multi-purpose area that I use for a few things. Mainly, that would be to 1) Keep my friends updated on my life and to 2) Journal, to rant and rave and think out loud about everything. These are the two main reasons for my LJ existing. But secondarily, I keep my LJ to meet people with similar interests and to talk about and do creative stuffs involving those interests. This last element is something I simply cannot do in person so in a way this secondary reason really could be an integral reason for my LJ's being.

Beyond that, LJ is my social life in a masochistic sort of way. Masochistic in that people are generally pretty busy and response time to real time problems often doesn't line up -- which really is my own problem of needing to be a little more self-sufficient, I suppose. It's hard to quantify how much of it is my own fault/problem when I'm so isolated in my life at the moment. Like, even if I get my drivers licencse, say, where am I going to go? I don't like social places. Introverts simply don't hang out. Anyhoo, that's not really the point of my post.

Okay, we have established LJ is yay social life. :D

I don't like timeframes, I really don't. I tend to keep my life as flexible as possible so that should the mood take me or someone gives a call, I can usually take leave and go do something at a moments notice, or at least with shorter notice. I'm pretty good with email and will generally reply as soon as I read it - which is actually due to the fact I recieve so little email. But I like LJ so much better because most of the people I care to communicate with are on LJ. Not everyone has time to chat, so by posting I can tell everyone everything all at one time in a format that people can read at their leisure.

I like the comment structure. I like that it's all self-contained (although now Gmail is kind of built the same way - I find Gmail really appeals to the LJ side of me).

I love the design of LJ. Its clean, uncluttered, and easy to follow. People can make a visual mess of their journals but they generally have to really go out of their way to do so.

I love that the user info page is seperate from the blog bit of the page, kind of like the foyer from the house. Again, navigation is pretty straightforward there.

I like that communities look exactly like regular journals so there's no confusion as to how they work.

I... heh, I was going to list a bunch of other little things but thinking about it, it's all navigation stuff. Interests, communities, just -- all of it is so simple.

I also like that the basic information that you can plug into your Info page is just that - basic. And you don't have to give info you don't want to give. MySpace, in comparison, makes it look like a dating site - height, weight, age, sexual orientation.... If you WANT you can plug all that info into your user info text area but really, who cares? I'm not going to read your journal differently if you are 5'2" as compared to if you were 6'2". I mean, seriously.

To me, that lack of information makes journals seem a little more... serious, I guess. Though definetly not all journals are serious - and there are plently of blinky-meme filled LJ's just like you find on MySpace. They just seem to be a little fewer between.

I like that LJ was made by a single guy, a home grown type of thing that is run by a smallish company who is gonna keep it relaxed and not cluttered with ads and all that crap.

All in all, LJ is a place I actually feel GOOD about paying an optional $25 for a paid account. I am not much of a power user but I do like having that much more flexiblity and it just feels good to support something so well designed. :D

Feng Zhu [art]

2006-04-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

Feng Zhu is an awesome artist. He's done designs for all kinds of things, from video games to movies, comics to television shows - including Stargate. What I really like are his digital sketches and the simplicity of them, but how he can turn them into something fantastic with a little color and strong lighting.

Symphonic/Goth Metal

2006-04-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

Symphonic goth/metal

A Wikipedia article about Symphonic Metal
A Wikipedia article about Gothic Metal

Symphonic goth metal is basically unheard of in America. The closest thing we have is Evanescence (which I don't care for) and even then it's still not anything like its European cousin/predecessor. From the vast amount of symphonic goth/metal [sgm] bands, you'd think that's all they listened to over there. ;) It's definetly not like anything on the radio in the US, or possibly in the UK, either, seeing as how it's kind of hard to find even sgm stuff there (according to Trey, anyhow) and so for most Americans it seems to be an acquired taste.

The first I ever heard of it was when Trey showed me some songs by Dutch band Within Temptation. I knew one of their non-metal songs, "Neverending Story" from a Xena fan-vid that was made from the song. I was shocked to hear all this other music that they made. It was their not-so-metal stuff that pulled me in first. Songs like "Ice Queen" and "Dark Wings". Their older stuff contained "death growls" which are apparently typical of goth/dark metal and at first I didn't know what to make of them. The thing that got me beyond the death growls was the fact that the music was so intricately done and well performed. No two songs were alike and were all so very dynamic. The guitars weren't monotonous and were all very unique. The best part was the way that Sharon del Adel's voice (she's the female/main vocalist), despite its soprano, was piercingly strong and powerful, holding its ground with the heavy guitars and orchestra. Like a dove in the face of a storm. The immagery was fantastic and it just pulled me in.

I think the immagery is the main thing. SGM music is usually thematic. You could create an epic film using a single album from most of the bands. It's "musical" that way, almost sound trackish -- and generally I'm not big on musicals or soundtracks. I think because I saw that first Xena video I could see the power of the image within the songs. But strong immagery is part of SGM music, it seems -- usually medieval, fantasy, warriors, magic, ladies, vikings, stormy weather, lost love, romantisiced death, and all that is dark in that romantic way. This actually was not a selling point for me, but at least for Within Temptation, it did help pull the songs together. Listening to the albums like they are a story, like it's an aural film/story really helps the believeability for the American ear, I think. ;)

The next group I heard was Italian band Lacuna Coil. They're not really symphonic, just goth metal. All their albums could of been written in the same year for all the band evolves with their sound (or rather, doesn't -- it's more like they're slowly fine-tuning their stuff). They have two vocalists, one male, one female. The female sings on every song while the guy sings on about two thirds of them and sometimes does a harsher growlier voice, though genearlly never a "death growl" type of thing. With the dual dynamic, they can kind of do that stereotypical goth metal "soap operal" lyric thing, which isn't why I like Lacuna Coil. I like them because their guitars are so very unique and yet familiar. They don't sound like but they do remind me of Metallica - how you can tell a Metallica song anywhere, even if you've never heard it before, just because of the signature guitars and drums. Lacuna Coil has that same quality; the guitars and drums never get tired. Also, the female vocalist is more in the alto range and very powerful.

Some bands I've heard I really did not like at first- like Nightwish. Some SGM bands use a more operatic vocal that to me puts the music over the top into the realm of the absurd. (Wikipedia does, in fact, describe them as "opera metal"). Ugh.

In general, a lot of SGM bands I've heard seem to use soprano vocals in tandem with death growls. So far the only death growls I've ever been able to tolerate have been those in the first Within Temptation album (which, oddly, is my favorite of their albums - death growls and all). For me, the soprano vocals often tend to be too light and flighty; they don't hold their own with the power of the music.

Folk Metal: Leaves' Eyes

A Wikipedia article about Folk Metal

I recently discovered, quite by accident, the Norwegian folk metal band Leaves' Eyes when trying to find music by Lacuna Coil. They're once again interesting because of the folk element. Folk Metal tends to use native folk music elements. In the case of Leaves' Eyes their music hearkens back to the days of Vikings, and in fact their most recent album is about just that. (In fact, there is a sub genre called "Viking Metal", heh).

I made an offsite backup of their first album and for the most part it's pretty monotonous, actually. The vocalist sounds amazingly like Sarah Brightman, though not quite as strong and clear. They use some death growls here and there and they're quite badly done, unintelligible (you could actually mostly understand the death growls from Within Temptation) and just... un memorable. Leaves' Eyes' songs in general are not very strong - the songs all kind of run together and are not dynamic at all. Nothing pops out in most of them and it all sounds the same.

There are a couple jewels here and there, though, that I have become rather fond of. "For Amelie" is my very favorite, definetly more in the Folk Metal genre than in the symphonic/goth genre, and even then the guitars don't kick in til later. It's primarily a piano, fiddle, bass, and some kind of tinny folk stringed instrument - probably just an accoustic guitar. What makes it so great is the 3/4 time -- no one ever writes in 3/4 time. And 3/4 time with electric guitars (which, as I said, come in later) is even better. :D So the song overall has this almost lilting, wistful feel. I love it. If this genre sounds at ALL interesting to you, I reccomend this song.

I am working on making a backup of their more recent album, which seems a bit cleaner in terms of instrumentation, from what I can tell from four songs. So far, "For Amelie" is the lightest song by far on their first album. "Mourning Tree" is an even lighter song on their current album, mostly accoustic guitar with fiddle and flute, some keyboard strings, etc. - with no grinding guitars at all. I think they shine best when sticking closer to their folk element than to the goth/metal side of things.
____________________

I doubt anyone will find this particularly interesting; I just felt like writing. It's kind of a mini-rundown of my thoughts about European symphonic/goth metal and related bands that I've heard so far. Description of the music, what I like about it, what I don't like about it... We just simply don't have it here in America, and I wonder how many people are aware of it who might like it. Definetly an acquired taste for Far-Western ears but fun nonetheless.

The Adolescence of Utena [movie]

2006-03-28T23:57:00.000-08:00

I definetly have to agree with all those Utena pros out there that this movie makes WAY more sense if you've seen the series first. Which I had - I saw the series first - the only reason I was able to understand a lot of the symbolism was because I'd seen the series. Technically, and according to the creators, the movie is not in any way related to the series. Which is true as far as the plot goes. The characters have the same basic essences for the most part but their lives as we glimpse them are only distantly related to their incarnations of the series.

The first thing I noticed about the movie is how beautiful it is. I know Japanese animation quality goes from (in order of lesser to greater) series, to OVA (Original Video Animation), to movie. And for the most part I've just been watching serials. Utena is a "liney" anime - it has lots of thin, flowing lines to it. And to see it animated in a high quality with just... MORE... it was gorgeous! The designs for the entire thing are just astonishing - I adore the architectural complexity of their world. And each shot was framed so nicely; nothing was ever wasted.

The music improved, as far as my tastes go. I'd already downloaded the "love theme" Toki Ni Ai Wa (At Times Love Is…) and it was used so gorgeously in the nighttime dueling platform dance scene between Utena and Anthy.

Where the series ran way too long, the movie ran too short for me in terms of character development, particularly as far as Anthy goes. Although I think they tried to balance this by making the characters overal WAY more emotional than they were in the series. Where in the series we can only guess at Anthy's emotions, in the movie we get to see right away that Utena's princely behavior resonates with Anthy in Utena's first fight with Saionji.

Speaking of Anthy and Utena.... The tension between the two of them was at a low but usually consistant level in the series, though often rendered into subtext for season 2 and of course obliterated in season 3 with the whole Akio thing. The movie had it ramped way up which I both liked and almost disliked. I could of DIED, the tension was so delicious in the scene between Utena and Anthy in Utena's room after the duel with Saionji -- and on the dueling platform before their dance together. And the drawing class bit was good -- but I felt like we lost any motivation for Anthy after she was "won" from Saionji.

Spoiler warning here
I dunno... I only saw the movie all the way through once and a half now, so I'm forgetting things. I guess the car ending was what really threw things off. Neither the series or the movie gives an absolute end, and though we are more certain of Anthy and Utena's destiny together at the end of the movie, I felt like the drive for the two of them to WANT to be together was much lower than it was in the series by the last episode.

The ending... I understand the car thing completely, but only because of watching the series. I HATED the damn car metaphor in the series. Watching several episodes in a row with so many reused scenes really drove that one into the ground, ugh. I thought the car chase was a bit drawn out and predictable in the movie. I'm not a big car chase fan, so that doesn't help. Heh, I actually was TOTALLY lost as to why the hell Shiori was the one chasing Anthy in the Utena car because I didn't understand at first that Shiori was the girl who Touga tried to save.

So, oddly, that combines some elements from the series, though I'm confused as to how this all works. It seems that Utena was dating Touga. Juri wanted Shiori, Shiori had some pissy moment with Juri or something and to get back at her, tried to get Touga to go out with her? And then Shiori ended up in the river and Touga died trying to save her.... uh... I forgot why Shiori was pissed off at Utena for that, though. Grr. Remind me? END OF SPOILERS

Anyway. All in all, I like it a lot. It's a completely different feel from the series, different story, so if I want to relive the series, the only real way to do that is to actually WATCH the series, which is a hefty chore. :\ I'm going to have to find myself an episode guide and figure out what the highlights are and just watch those. :D

Edit to add: The manga version of the movie is a good way to summarize some of the story elements in a non-surreal way, though it has a slightly different story from the film as far as a few key relationships go.

Accordion

2006-03-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

I'm getting better at my accordion coordination. I guess I haven't written about this at all yet. Let's see...

I'm borrowing my Aunt Peter's accordion. It's a ladies-size, full-button (120 bass) piano accordion, which means it's the kind with 120 bass buttons on the left hand side and a row of 41 piano keys on the right hand side. It's a jaunty white and red pearl colored accordion that looks to be from the 40's or 50's, which isn't a good thing, actually because unlike some instruments, accordions tend to get worse with age. There are metal reeds inside that are held in place with special wax which ages over time, generally failing after a period of 30 to 40 years. This accordion has a few sticky buttons and some notes don't play fully at all. Better than nothing, though.

This thing weighs 18lbs/8kg and has thin leather straps to strap it to my body -- real hard on the ol' shoulders. Anyway, it takes an astounding amount of concentration to coordinate the three things you're doing at once: pressing the buttons with your left hand, pressing keys with your right hand, and working the bellows with your left arm. O_O;. Working the bellows rarely has anything to do with the timing of the music, which makes it that much more difficult. Argh. But I'm having fun: my Aunt PeterAnn figured out the chords to the Amelie themesong ("La Valse d'Amélie") -- see, the buttons on the left side actually play whole chords, and you fill in the notes with the keyboard on your right hand side. The whole song is 8 chords, two sets of four, but it's actually kind of easy because you're doing an "oom-pah" pattern in pairs. So, two different E chords, one is the "oom" the other is the "pah-pah" -- do that twice, then switch to F and do the same thing. And E and F are right next door to eachother so switching between those twice is easy. Then I gotta slide my hand down to B and C - same idea.

But then working in the notes on the right hand is tricky. And remembering to keep the bellows going! ACK. But it really gives me a strong sense of accomplishment; I feel really good about it. :D Maybe one day when I'm rich I can buy a new accordion to play with.

It's such a "nerdy" instrument nowadays but it is SO much fun to play - it makes you laugh. Learning to play the accordion takes SO much coordination and I can literally feel my brain swelling with accomplishment with every new thing I learn. It's simply a fabulous thing to learn. I highly reccomend it.

Ultraviolet [film]

2006-03-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

No spoilers.

Saw Ultraviolet with Morgan and Cassandra on Monday. I only wanted to see it because Milla Jovovich is in it. I knew ahead of time what kind of film it was -- a kind of action adventure based on a non-existing comic book. It felt like a comic book; it even had the same plot holes that made you go..."what? why is that happening? why are their teeth like that? why...?" Some of the CGI settings were REALLY fake, but in a stylized way, so you know they did it on purpose, but not to WHAT purpose. It felt comic-booky but it was almost like they couldn't make up their minds. The rest of the special digital effects were way cool, though -- the costume/hair color changing thing was very cool. The fight scenes had decent choreography (and I should know, I was sitting there with a black belt and a brown belt in GoJu Ryu Karate), lol - the fight scenes had a lot of creativity -- particularly the one with the sunglasses (that's not a spoiler; if you see it, you'll know what I mean. Very cool shots for that). The story was okay, nothing to squee about.

Milla's acting was so-so. I think she could of had better directing; there were places where she totally could of pushed it, but at least she never felt like a re-run of any parts she's played before. I was particularly watching to see if she'd use elements from her portrayal of Alice from Resident Evil, but she didn't at all. She even did the "cool-hero snarky one-liners" in an original way.

Oh, and the boy who played child-Orlin from Stargate SG1 was in the film.

Overall not that great of a film. Disappointing story and characters, not one for rewatching.

How I got into anime

2006-02-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

Telling people you like anime is a lot like telling people you're gay. If you tell people you like anime, they automatically assume things about you -- unsavory things at that. You're unkempt, you're nerdy/geeky, you do not eat well, you are lonely, you cannot get dates, you want to be Japanese, you have low expectations of quality in your entertainment sources, you have a childish mind and childish humour --- all kinds of things. And while some folks DO seem to fit into stereotypes in one way or another, you seriously can never peg a person with stereotypes.

I actually hesitate to tell people I like anime BEFORE I hesitate to say I'm gay. How sad is that? I guess at least gay people are funny (Will & Grace, Ellen, every gay supporting character in a straight film). But anime?

It is kind of strange, though, to finally GET it. Way back in highschool, my girlfriend's sister was a HUGE anime buff, I got to watch a little. It was okay. The big-eyed giggly girl thing really annoyed me as did the whiney wimpy hero stereotypes. Then I went to college and I started going to these Saturday anime club anime showings a classmate of mine. We'd watch 3 hours worth of anime, mostly stuff that hadn't been liscenced. One thing non-anime fans don't seem to get is that the stuff that gets liscenced here is stuff that is much more palatable for westerners. It's suited to the average American tastes - as much as anime can be. The stuff that DOESN'T get liscenced, or the stuff that doesn't get widely released is very different. Anyway, moving on...

So I saw a LOT of anime this way. I looked forward to seeing more episodes each week of the different series we were watching, and I did kind of get interested in trying to find some more anime, but not in any obsessive way. It wasn't until after I graduated college that I started looking for anime (and some manga) at the library. Neon Genesis Evangelion was the first anime I ever searched out on my own - it's one of those big titles you have to watch because it's classic. Like watching Citizen Kane if you're a film buff. I also read Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind -- now THAT was good reading. I also read some lesser titles, like the American "Gunsmith Cats", "Neon Genesis Evangelion", and "Ghost in the Shell". Still I didn't like those as much as western graphic novels, and I never did find any more anime on my own.

Then, right before we all moved away, my roommate finally got me to watch some Full Metal Alchemist. Ohh. That was good. Very good. Good enough that I wanted to keep watching. But then we all moved and I was cut off. The stress of moving and things put it out of my mind for the most part.

Fast forward nearly a year. A friend introduces me to Maria-Sama ga Miteru and I am finally hooked.

See, I like to collect things. I collect coins. I collect patches and interesting packing lables. I collect European goth/darkwave/synth metal music. I collect post-apocalyptic items/stories/games. And I collect lesbian stuff: books, music, stories, movies.... It's slow going in the lesbian world, particularly in serial television. But when my friend showed me MariMite -- and "Kannazuki no Miko" and "Mai-HiME" and "Noir", I was exposed to a whole new world of opportunity as far as lesbian-ish relationships go in a serial format. On top of that, I already had the hang of watching anime (listening in Japanese, reading in English; facial expressions; 'limited' animation style; pacing of story/action...). And it just CLICKED. Suddenly it all came into focus. Not ALL the anime I watch has to be queer in content ("Wolf's Rain", "Full Metal Alchemist"). I just finally saw something so artful that it actually surpassed every other genre of film or television I'd ever seen -- in this instance, it's MariMite's depth of character.

In the end, I like the creative plots, worlds, characters, and stories that can be found in anime. Anime isn't just for kids -- most of it isn't. There's violence, strong language, sex, crime, drugs - anything that can be found in regular film or tv, if you want it. It also has this style to it, a sense of humor sometimes that is just really endearing. It just feels fresh because it isn't deepfried American-on-Wonder Bread. I'm so sick of most American films as it is - even a lot of our television is just so ... gross. Maybe that's why I'm so drawn to shows like "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica" -- they're some of the only series out there that aren't episodic in terms of plot. It's one gigantic story, each episode a chapter -- its all linked together.

That's another thing people don't get about anime. It's usually finite, an end has been planned. The first few episodes are almost ALWAYS dull and slow in comparison with how they end up. You cannot sum up an anime by a couple of episodes -- often you may not appreciate a series til you've seen it in its ENTIRETY, when it finally clicks and comes to an end -- an end that is usually not clean and perfect, an end that is more like real life. I was never a fan of short stories; I always liked big novels with awesome plots that beg you to read "just one more chapter" before going to bed way past your bedtime. That's what anime is like for me.

A lot of my frustration is probably due to being surrounded by people who prefer teeny-bopper movies and predictable books/music/tv (small town). But I'd like to hear what your thoughts are on your process of becoming an 'otaku' if you're up to sharing. :)

Accordion Solitaire

2006-02-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

This is a very easy solitaire to play, but very difficult to win - I've never won and I think Kais has done it once. The best I've done is gotten it down to three piles, the goal being to get all the cards into a single pile.

This is how it works. You have all the cards shuffled and in your hand. One at a time, you take the top card and flip it over and lay it down next to the card you just layed down, in a row. If the card you lay down is the same number or suit as the card next to it or as the card three cards down, you can take the new card and put it on top of the one it matches. If it matches both the card immediately adjacent to it AND the third card up, you get to pick where it goes. And by "third card over", I mean you skip cards one and two and put it ON THREE, no exceptions.

When you move a card, you move all the cards that are under it as well, so you are slowly combining piles in an effort to get all the cards into a single stack at the end. By moving a card/stack to a new spot, you might create a chain reaction of cards/stacks that can now be moved. Sometimes you can move more cards depending on which order you move them in if a chain reaction comes up, so pay attention to see how far you can condense your cards.

That's it. You go til you've exhausted the deck. If you do absolutely terrible, you might end up taking quite a bit of space with all the cards.

This is a wonderful version of solitaire, if you have the room for it. A lot is left up to luck but it's a nice way to while away time while listening to music.

Depeche Mode "Playing the Angel"

2006-02-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

I like this album a lot - the album before this, Exciter, was SO dull. Slow with no catchy songs, Depeche Mode lost the dark and brooding tones they'd run with from Music for the Masses to Ultra. But with this album we're seeing a kind of return to form.

Playing the Angel sounds familiar, a kind of neo-retro Depeche Mode (yeah, of themselves) the way a lot of new bands are doing neo-80's - but it sounds new at the same time.

Favorite songs on this album are:
Precious
Lillian
A Pain That I'm Used To
John the Revelator
Suffer Well

"Precious" is probably the most familiar in terms of sounding how you'd expect Depeche Mode to evolve, but with that obvious neo-80's/neo-DM sound. ;) 'Tis my favorite of the bunch. All in all this album has songs that will be on my playlists for a long time to come.

Abandoned Things and Post-Apocalyptic Genre

2006-02-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Abandoned things and places explained

I wonder if my taste for dark/broody/industrial sorts of music is related to my penchant for abandoned structures/objects. Somehow they seem to go together well and if I'm painting something abandoned, this is the sort of music that goes with it best. Hard to tell since I've only done two abandoned paintings but the mood of the two things, the physical things and the music, are similar for me. They all work under the umbrella of "post-apocalyptic", and most of you know how much I love post-apocalyptic stories. Games, movies, books...

I think that's why I love the post-apocalypse genre... or maybe not WHY, but what I like about it. Particularly post-nuclear/war type apocalypse. Because things have been damaged, abandoned, left behind. Often its things that were perfectly FINE when they were abandoned and it's only time that has worn them down -- which is my favorite type of abandoned thing: old mines, and mining equiptment were all working fine when they were just LEFT there. A post-apocalyptic landscape would be chock full of these things.

And it's not WHY they're now abandoned that matters so much, it's the stories behind them before they were abandoned. It's crazy that there are these things laying around and no one seems to know why. The Colluseum - we know what it's for, who built it, etc. Ancient artifacts all have scads of scientists pouring over them and what they were for. But more modern items, though way easier to decypher the stories for, no one cares about. One day, everyone who remembers will be gone, and that day isn't too far off. I found that generator/compressor thing up there on the mountainside and no one seems to know what it was for. I mean, I can GUESS, but what's better is wondering who bought it, who dragged it up there, how long did it operate for, was it working when they left it? A human or group of humans were THERE and they were busy and productive and here's sign of their story and what makes it seem almost supernatural is the fact that it was left there not long ago.

If you believe in the energies of places and things, then you might get this. When I was in Rome and was in all these old buildings and in the catacombs... they were SO old and though we know the stories of these things, they had no energy to them at all. It was like becuase so many hundreds of thousands of people had been there since they were abandoned that the energy was worn away like an old coat of paint. Ancient places that are hard to get to might still have this energy but obviously it would be very difficult for me to get to them to find out. So I have things like mines and wrecked trains that not so many people have been to, that haven't been there for so long, so the energy is still there.

And bringing it full circle -- a post-apocalyptic landscape would be chock-FULL of these sorts of things and places. Ta-da. I'd never thought to link all this together before. :)

Photos copyright©Kara Stenberg

The Adolescence of Utena [manga]

2006-01-13T23:35:00.000-08:00

Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena
This is a manga version of the anime film of the same name. The overall plot is the same but with much more explanations into the motivations of Utena and Anthy. It roots Utena's story firmly into that of Touga having been her lover in a past that Utena is now trying to escape. The manga has very little surreal elements so this is a perfect guide for those who just watched the movie and whose heads are spinning with "WTF?"

In comparison to the series/movie... I wasn't too keen on the whole Utena/Touga story (though better than Utena/Akio) and Anthy seemed a bit shallow because the manga doesn't give much time for character development. I'm amazed they were able to trim it down so much but I guess it's not too hard - the majority of the duels were pretty pointless in the grand scheme of the overall story in the anime other than to proove Utena's worth as a prince but I can definetly see that element being proved in a much shorter span of time.

As far as yuri goes, the vibes between Utena and Anthy were barely there, particularly with Utena appearing shocked and in distaste of the kisses. Ugh. Also, I don't think there are many ways they could top the drawing of the Sword of Dios from Anthy's chest the way it was done in the anime. O_O; Kiss or no kiss. I mean, the way Utena draws the sword in this manga, she's very reluctant and it's about the sword, not the connection between the two characters.

All in all, its entertaining enough for $9 and very re-readable when the Utena mood strikes me. It's also surreal enough in structure to make you have to think about the characters motivations in why they each block out the past and re-create their realities, so there's still fodder for brain excercise, which I like.

Revolutionary Girl Utena [anime]

2006-01-13T23:14:00.000-08:00

This review is built out of three reviews from my LiveJournal, so it's a bit choppy.

The Yuri content of Revolutionary Girl Utena (RGU), for me, so far ranks third behind MariMite and Kannazuki no Miko, but not by far. Although with the opening sequence alone, it possibly ranks first. Oh, and if this doesn't convince you, Utena drawing the magical sword of Dios out of Anthy's chest in nearly every single episode is the sexiest scene I've EVER seen in anime. ^_^; I know, I'm a sucker.

RGU is very obviously 90's. Which is obvious once you hit the music. I'm not overly keen on any of the music, particularly the duel music. The "Truth" ending theme wasn't too horrible and the opening theme slowly grew on me, though I wouldn't go too out of my way to listen to it - it's catchier than a lot of other series. "Virtual Star Hasseigaku" is by far the best ending theme/song in the series, accompanied by the best closing sequence animation.

Superficially, the series is structured in one of those typical fight/arena series, where each episode cumulates in the protagonist having a showdown with some other character, and right before the fight you get the same song with the same animation with it every single time. Utena has to duel everyone three times in three arcs of the series (one arc for each 13 episodes). Though there was an evolution to these arcs, it was very obvious to me the second time I watched RGU that the entire series could of been condensed into 13 episodes and saved us all time.

One thing I like about RGU is the lack of outright stereotypes. Once you think you've found one, you discover they've put a twist on it. Also, I really appreciate the theme of "Normal is what normal is for YOU" - epitomized by Utena herself.

The shadow puppet things are really annoying and some episodes (like the cowbell one) seem absolutely pointless. But as a whole, so far I'm having an easier time following along than, say, Yamibou or Kannazuki no Miko.

Solid storyline, if a bit tedious at moments with pointless bizarreness at times, good character development with realism and honor paid to all the characters (at least, for the main characters), and the entire thing was wrapped up well without any loose threads, as long as you aren't opposed to endings that make you think for yourself. As for yuri content, there was more of that in the opening and ending sequences (second version of the ending) than in the entire series, all three seasons but I think that's mostly if you're measuring by fan-service. ;) RGU addresses gender roles in an obvious way without making it a main point, which I really liked - it is just worked into "that's how life is" and any f/f relationships are treated pretty much the same. In that respect, I rank it second only to Maria-sama ga Miteru in terms of queer awareness in anime I have seen personally.

I have watched all of RGU twice and after the second time I felt I'd wasted my time and felt more than ever that this series could of done with some hefty condensing of the entire thing into way fewer episodes. The repetitiousness drives me crazy, boring me to the point that I no longer cared to try and decypher all the fun surrealness. I can see how everyone benefited from the creators creating the film Adolescence of Utena - which basically condenses not only the characters, duels, and Anthy and Utena's relationship but also condenses all the surreal elements into a single 90 minute film. Perfect.

Myst, Riven, Exile in brief

2005-12-31T15:24:00.000-08:00

Lately, Kaisa has been playing "Myst III: Exile" on her new iMac. We're both big Myst fans, starting back when Myst was new. I loved that game! We got Riven when it was new, too, only our computer wasnt' fast enough to run it properly so if I hadn't looked it up, I NEVER would of figured out how to open those domes around the islands because the video would freeze the computer. :\ Despite that, Riven is my very favorite of them all (so far) for its detailed luciousness and mysteriousness and plot. I even have an actual Moiety knife which I use as a letter opener. :D

Anyway, so I was chatting to Eric about Myst a bit and he said there was a fifth one out. We didn't even have the fourth! I needed to check the mail today, so Kais and I both went, and then went to Fred Meyers afterward, where they had both Myst IV and V. We just bought IV: Revalations, since it was only $20, and headed home.

Unfortunately, Kaisa has first dibs on it since she's already nearly done replaying Exile. Once she's done, I'm going to replay Exile, too, while she tackles the latest Myst incarnation. I'm muchly excited as Cyan is once again onboard for this game and it got better reviews than Exile (my least favorite of them all).

Besides the strange texture to everything due to the 3-D-ness of Exile, I think the lack of cultures is what makes it feel... empty. The only age that got me excited was the last one because people LIVED there, and you can't even explore it! Grr. I know Myst had no big civilizations, either, but you KNOW people lived there and that it had history. And it was new. The four main ages of Exile are just training grounds for learning how to write an Age. Or write TO one, I should say.

South of Nowhere, first episode

2005-11-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

Watched the premiere of "South of Nowhere" and was glad to see the promise of young lesbians on tv. yay! I could actually relate to the main characters because I'm from a small town and I feel exactly like the three siblings do when I'm around big-city folk. I don't do any fancy handshake stuff - I just do a simple handshake. I don't do popularity contests and I don't do the dating/dance thing. I also don't do the beat up someone for looking at me weird/looking at my gf too much thing. And the parent saying anti-gay things around me when I think I might be gay is also a home-run hitter as well. I look forward to the next episode.

Noir

2005-09-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

Assuming you are all good at looking things up in Wikipedia, I will skip to my review of the series:

I've read it all over the 'net and I agree - I am amazed anyone continues to watch Noir after the first five episodes. They repeat so many scenes over and over, like a blacksmith pounding an anville, I just want to shout, "Enough already!" I suppose it might not of been so bad if I were watching it weekly as it aired on TV but that is not the case with watching it on DVD. Luckily I was prepared with the knowlege that the first eps were like this and so persevered, much to my delight.

The first few episodes are pretty standard as far as story goes. There is some mystery but it's mostly confusing - repetitious flashbacks and the usual Japanese storytelling element of just throwing the audience into the story and making the viewer figure stuff out over time. The story is kind of slow, developmentally, until the third main character, Chloe, shows up. Then the series really takes off: the action sequences are more interesting, the plot becomes more direct, and the characters are now a part of a giant story arc that takes them to the last episode, rather than living more episodically.

As of the first half of the series, I was thinking Noir was okay but not my favorite. After that last half Noir became one of my favorite anime. The limited animation is eased over with good music by Yuki Kajiura (some of the music, like that damn watch song and the opening theme I really don't like), and like Wikipedia says, the lack of blood kind of adds to the stylistic air of it all. I think if there HAD been blood, it might of felt too much like a gore-fest with plot and characters being secondary. Although it pissed me off when OUR characters got hurt and unrealistically nothing came of it except maybe some bandages or a hole in the shirt.

Noir seems pretty unique to me in the world of anime. It's definetly done in a film noir style - in framing, in dialogue, in story, and in action. It's amazing how much can be conveyed in the flinch of an eye rather than giant stretches of dialogue. Noir made me appreciate the subleties that can be achieved on a small budget with anime. Noir even holds up in re-watching and I find that when compared to other gunfighting anime, I like Noir the best - even beyond higher budgeted series like Ghost in the Shell. Noir excells in its simplicity.

I've seen a lot of anime since I originally watched Noir and this is still one of my favorites.

Mogwai

2005-09-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Mogwai is a "post-rock"/progressive band from Scotland, which is a really undescriptive description. It's rather gentle drawn out music based around a single theme for each song. Post rock is to rock what new-age is to folk -- some new age, particularly the more ambient stuff, is drawn out and rather gentle, changing in sound and pattern over time. That's what Mogwai's music is, only with electric guitars and the like - and instrumental. Nice background music.

For the most part Mogwai is made up of electric guitars and drums - little to no vocals (I have most of their songs and there's only a handful of songs with vocals). Even the fastest song is still quite slow by most standards. The songs tend to be very atmospheric and slowly evolve and progress, like trance music.

My favorite songs are those that have some kind of hook and those that build and build, slowly layering on the guitars until they burst.

Some key favorite songs:
New Paths to Helicon, part II (Government Commissions version)
Golden Porsche
Ratts of the Capital
Burn Girl Prom Queen
Dial: Revenge
You Don't Know Jesus
Summer
Waltz for Aidan
Stanley Kubrick

Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

2005-08-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Spoilers for the entire series: this is a rant. Consider yourself warned.
When I watched this, I was watching it for yuri content and little else. It wasn't the most painful thing I'd ever seen, and sadly I must admit the masturbation scenes (Hazuki) were unfortunatley the best part if you're going to be a loser fan-girl about it, because any scene involving Hatsuki (Eve) was just too painful to watch. Some of the episodes were dreadfully boring - like, most of the ones without Hazuki. Episodes with Gargantua were dull - and he just pissed me off. The only decent eps with him were of when he was a kid, and even then only the last episode of him with a kid was at all interesting to me because at that point they'd finally FOUND Eve and I was able to cheer Hazuki on in trying to talk Eve/Hatsumi into staying with her.

Which of course, didn't happen, and the whole thing being in Hazuki's head and she being the only one in her reality to remember Hazuki was ridiculous. How depressing is that?!? What is the POINT of an ending like that? I *almost* don't mind tragic endings if they have a greater purpose, but this one didn't. Eve is all powerful, she could choose to be with whomever she wanted to. I mean, its' not like she'd be missed at the library -- she'd already been GONE for hundreds of years, albeit in different worlds for 16 years at a time, but still, she never went BACK to the library or her real job in between those lives. So what DIFFERENCE would it make if she took one more little break and spent a life with Hazumi?

And Lilith's hat was UGLY and large and pointless. I hated it near as much as I hated that bloated little bird.

I liked the outer space episode, that was pretty good. The thing with the parents was CREEPY. I didn't see that coming at all.

Anyway. As much as I just complained, I don't regret watching it at all. I don't think I'll watch it AGAIN, but as far as shoujo-ai/yuri history goes, it is a well known example (unfortunately, heh) and to have a better frame of reference for yuri in anime, I feel more knowlegeable the more I watch. Like with lesbian films - I've watched a lot of them, and a lot of bad ones, too (like "Therese and Isabelle", this 60's French pulp black and white film that was SO terribly dubbed in the version I saw... it was laughably bad - to the point of where I'd actually watch it again just to make fun of it some more). So, yeah.

The Birthday Massacre

2005-08-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

This is one of those wonderful instances of happy accident. My boss was the one who stumbled upon The Birthday Massacre (TBM for short) while looking for a "happy birthday" song to send to someone for their birthday. He found the song "Happy Birthday" by TBM and was disturbed by it. I went and listened to it to see what he was talking about and liked what I heard. I made offsite backups of their songs to review before purchasing both their albums Nothing and Nowhere and Violet.

TBM's music is hard to describe. It has heavy synth-goth electric guitars remeniscent of APerfectCircle/Lacuna Coil/The Cure - with that warped echoey 80's sound. The chord progressions are not your typical metal/goth at all. Then there's all this 80's synth that sounds like something from an 80's cartoon film like Rainbow Brite except that the mood of the music overall kills any potential cheesyness usually associated with such synths. And that's the key to the music - the mood it captures. The lyrics themselves are dark; horror stuff - like a narration from the video game "Alice" or if you made depressing endings for 80's films like "Pretty in Pink" and "Sixteen Candles". TBM's name comes from one of the songs, about a literal birthday massacre where the birthday boy and his girl kill all the guests. But if you weren't paying attention to the lyrics of most of their songs you wouldn't guess that's what they were sinigng about because the music doesn't have that immediate sense of doom or horror that most pop-goth music does.

The most impressive thing for me is the nostalgia of it. You probably had to of grown up as a kid in the 80's to really appreciate this: for me, my most treasured memories of being a kid in the 80's were of swords and sorcery, of riding horseback and defeating immesurable etherial magics. Stuff like "The Neverending Story", "Labyrinth", and Jim Henson's "the Storyteller" capture that dark mythology with creatures equally scary and creepy but fascinating and magical. TBM's music, for me, captures the sound of my memories, the way I felt back then, believing in this drama much larger than me. Their music is at once 80's but dark and mysterious and modern at the same time. I've never heard anything that FELT like a memory before; like I know it. It's like smelling something that you hadn't smelled since you were a kid and wondering how the hell it could be here, now, and being overtaken with memory at it.

So, yeah. Yay! I likey very much. Oh, and very cool - they recorded this as their previous incarnation "Imagica" - they did a remake of the Neverending Story theme song. :D Which is probably the most positive/bubbly thing they've done by far, but hey....

Edit to add: I always thought the lyrics and mood of their song "The Dream" described the main character Sarah of the film Labyrinth pretty well. Then one day I stumbled across a fan video for Labyrinth that uses this song! It's not half bad, either. :D

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

2005-06-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

Spoilers for Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith"

To be rather brief: I thought this film was much better than I and II, but still not as good as the original trilogy, which I grew up with.

What I did like: I liked that the digital effects got better. I liked that they started to make the ships look used; they had texture to them, made them look more real. Still looked digital but it's progress, I guess. I also liked that the ships were degenerating into the ships of the original trilogy -- it was cool to see the predecessors to the Star Destroyer class ships, and the ships that will eventually evolve into Tie Fighters and X-Wings. It was so cool to see the familiar ship of Bail Organa - and what a shock when we suddenly got to go INSIDE. One of the last ships we see inside of is the FIRST ship we see inside of in Star Wars IV: A New Hope. What a blast from the past that was.

The only planet I really liked was the Wookie homeworld - that place was cool; I'd actually like to go there. It was cool to see the Storm Trooper forest uniforms - to see how ALL storm trooper uniforms evolved. Really shows how the Empire in the future makes everything uniform and sterile. Corouscant was impressive but too much to look at when you get up close. The shots of it from space are astounding, to see an entire planet made of city... scary.

What I did not like: The digital stuff was just still too shiny for me. Yoda was still too shiny, the ships were still too shiny, the worlds were still too shiny... Much better than the last two films, yes, but still not as good as if they'd built sets, ships, and puppets. I don't know if thats just because I grew up with the look of the originals, but I'm sticking to my opinion.

The dialoge was some of the most trite, cheesy, and ridiculous stuff I've heard in a long time, barring the last two Star Wars films. The scenes between Padme and Anakin were some of the MOST painful, particularly because I KNOW these people can act and I've seen them do so but to see them hobbled by such terrible dialogue and direction literally made me cringe and shift in my seat.

The story itself: I liked how they showed Anakins evolution; it just felt too rushed in a lot of ways. The entire storyline felt like it was on the right track but just didn't go the whole mile. Kaisa informed me that Anakins shift to the Dark Side WAS quick once Palpatine got to him after Anakin killed Mace Windu - that once you start down the Dark Path, the change is pretty swift. So I guess this all would of felt more natural if you KNEW that ahead of time, but most folks don't and it still felt rushed to me. It really sucks that this film suffered so badly because George Lucas was so hell bent on covering his ass with his pulp story obsession - it didnt feel like a pulp at ALL to me; so why couldn't he let the creation be what it was supposed to BE? It could of been a really strong film with a powerful story, but instead it was laughable. Watching it, I didn't know whether to take pity on the poor film or laugh at it and turn it away.

In a morbid way I did like when Anakin finally fell - when Obi Wan cut off his legs and arm and left him to burn and die. When you see everything Anakin went through in this film, you almost wish the original trilogy had showed more of Vader's side of things to further help with his vindication at the end to be more powerful. It really goes to show that he was doing the wrong things for the sort of right reasons and that really he wasn't an evil guy, just twisted. We see so many stories of good people going bad and somehow they seem so irredeemable becuase of that. We forget that equally, you can take utterly evil people and turn them to good, too. You have to forget about 'tainting'; that's seeing things from only a 'good' standpoint.

One other thing that bugged me: there also seemed to be two kinds of shots - full shots and tight medium shots. Especially during the light sabre fights - you were so close you couldn't see what they were doing. It didn't serve to pull me into the fights at ALL - it felt cramped and the entire time I kept wishing they'd pull out so I could see what was going on.

Did you catch...
The Millenium Falcon in the lower right corner near the beginning, showing some kind of spaceport on some well-lit planet?

The guy who played that one "storm trooper" with the dark hair, whom Palpatine contacted and had attack Obi Wan? The guy played Jengo Fett in the last two films.

At the very end, Vader and Palpatine were on the bridge of a star Destroyer looking at the construction of the first Death Star. They were accompanied by General Tarkin (who would become Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars IV: A New Hope). Here, however, he was played by Wayne Pygram, the guy who played Scorpius in "Farscape". (I missed that part - Kaisa caught it).

Garbage: Bleed Like Me

2005-05-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

Am listening to Garbage's new album, Bleed Like Me.

If I were to rate the songs on each Garbage album, overall I'd give Version 2.0 the higher rating of the first three albums, just because I like the songs on that album more evenly. However, I like the feel, attitude, and sound of the first album the best.

Bleed Like Me is like a combination of the first two albums (thank goodness, because I really didn't like Beautiful Garbage). It's got more edge but the uniquely jarring 'garbage' sound of the first album is still non-existant. The overall sound of the album is more in a punk vein with driving beats and rhythm guitar. Vocally, Shirley seems to sing with moderation, so though the material is lyrically edgier, she doesn't quite have the dark, commanding tone she had on the first two albums.

That said, the album feels too short - it's only 45 minutes long with 11 songs. Either some of the songs need to be extended or they needed another two songs on here. This isn't to say it makes the album bad; it's kind of the same with Neko Case, whose songs usually average at a length of 3 minutes each, making her albums around a half hour in length each.

The album overall has a consistent feel, a strong theme. Not quite as catchy for singing along as Version 2.0.

Overall, I'm pleasantly suprised; it's different than I thought it would be - it talks about the dark places without dwelling in them, is how I'd put it. A nice recovery after their last album, at least for me, since I didn't like the last album. They kind of brought back the strong pulsing beat of the guitars and drums that was signature Garbage from the first two albums.

1) "Bad Boyfriend" has bite remeniscent of "Medication" and "I Think I'm Paranoid".

2) "Run Baby Run" is my favorite; sounds like a radio hit the way it is structured. Again, a blend of the lighter songs off the two first albums. Reminds me of some of the songs from Hole's Celebrity Skin album.

3) "Right Between the Eyes" is another lighter feeling song, also guitar driven, though. Goes with "Run Baby Run".

4) "Why Do You Love Me" seems to draw from punk music in its structure, particularly the guitar riffs. Probably has the most repetitive chorus ever written by Garbage; I don't know if I like it or if it'll annoy me.

5) "Bleed Like Me" is probably the darkest song they've ever written as far as content, about self abuse, hurt. From struggling with gender identity to cutting and suicide. This song has the closest feel to the first album, polished dysfunction. Now this is Garbage.

6) "Metal Heart" is another darker song, faster paced and very mechanical feeling; edgy.

7) "Sex is Not the Enemy" is a pro-sex song that for some reason brings to mind the B-52's on crack with lots of electric guitars.

8) "It's All Over But the Crying" is the first slower song, has a piano in it. Don't know what to say about it.

9) "Boys Wanna Fight"... 'but the girls are happy to dance all night'. Fuzzed out lyrics, moshing beat kinda. By this point the album has kept up such an even beat that it all feels like it blurrs together.

10) "Why Don't You Come Over" has this off-kilter chord progression and vocal melodies remeniscent of mid-career Suzanne Vega in the chorus, except with electric guitars.

11) "Happy Home" is the last mellowish song that has a slightly different sound structure, enough to stick with you at the end. It doesn't remind me of anything, which is probably good at this point. Original is good.

Overall the album isn't as innovative and interesting as either of Garbage's first two albums and I really don't find myself wanting to go out of my way to listen to Bleed Like Me. If you're a diehard fan, then you'll like the album but if you're growing out of the band then it's possible to do without this album.

Yuri in Anime

2005-05-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

Brief descriptions in list format...

.hack//sign: Japan, series 2002. Unique in that this anime takes place almost entirely within a Massive Multiplayer Online Game in which Tsukasa is mysteriously trapped, unable to log out. He meets and befriends a wide variety of other players who team up to try and solve Tsukasa's problem, which only uncovers a much larger plot within the system. Specifying the yuri content here spoils the suprise.

"Kannazuki no Miko": Japan, 2004 series. In short: two girls (Chikane and Himeko), best friends, turn out to be the reincarnated Lunar and Solar priestesses who must battle the evil 8 Orochi to restore the world to balance. Chikane is in love with Himeko, who herself is torn between male childhood friend Oogami and her best friend Chikane.

Kasimasi: Japan, 2006 series. A boy, Hazumu, is hit by a stray alien ship and killed. The aliens, in apology, make a new body for him - unfortunately, he is now irreversably a girl. Hazumu has two best friends who are girls. One was falling for him when he was a boy but now struggles with her feelings now that Hazumu is a girl. The other girl Hazumu fell in love with as a boy but was rejected by her - but now that Hazumu is a girl, she wants him/her. Everyone around Hazumu has to adapt to Hazumu now being female - and oddly, Hazumu is the one person LEAST bothered by it. Lots of gender issues are brought up without being actually talked about. And there's a happy lesbian ending. :D

Maria-Sama ga Miteru: (Japan 2003-04) Anime series. One main character is DEFINETLY gay, and you can argue that most of the rest of the nearly all-girl cast is as well. TONS of subtext and maintext. This series has little in the way of plot as most people know it; it's all about character development, and this series has by FAR the best character development of any show I've ever seen. About a group of girls who attend a prestegious all-girls Christian school where elder students take on "petite soeurs" (underclassmen) and guide them through their lives while attending Lilian.

Noir: Japan, series 2001. Film noir style anime about two female assasins who have mysteriously linked pasts that are coming back to haunt them. The yuri content of this series isn't obvious - though it was way more obvious the second time I watched it.

Puni Puni Poemi - Japan, anime, subtitled. IMDB says: "This is a 2-part OAV spin off of the Japanese anime series "Excel Saga". Shinichi Watanabe returns to deliver some of the most outrageous, outlandish, series that parodies the magic girl anime (ie: Sailor Moon). However, this thing has a lot of perverted humor including 10-year old lesbians, incest, and lots more. You have been warned!". Yes. This is just one huge parody of all anime, and the lead character is a lesbian. It's not reeeely perverted at all, but you have to have a good and slightly off-beat sense of humour for it. I just HAD to put this on the list.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - Japan, anime (series 1997, film 1999). The mother of all current yuri anime. Also very bizarre, stylistic, symbolic, and difficult to watch, unfortunately. The film has nothing to do with the series, just reuses characters and motifs. Both feature tomboyish Utena, new to Ohtori Academy, who is thrust into a strange and dark world of sword dueling for the ultimate prize: Anthy, the Rose Bride, and the key to Eternity. In either version, Utena duels at first because she's dragged into it and second to protect Anthy's honor as a human being while everyone around her treats Anthy like a piece of meat. Both result in mutual respect and desire, though the point of the series is far more abstract than that.

Simoun: Japan, series, 2006. In short, this entire series is voiced by a female cast, even male characters. Everyone on this world is born female and at age 16 or so can choose their future permanent gender. The country of the main characters is in posession of strange, ancient technology that makes them the envy of the rest of the world and thus at war. The technology that drives their fighting aircraft, the Simoun, seems to require a spiritual element: it can only be flown by pre-gender-chosen girls. Before each flight, the girls must kiss the orb that powers the Simoun and before that, they ritualistically kiss one another. Tons of lesbian drama that somehow doesn't seem fanservicey at all.

Strawberry Panic: Japan, series, 2006. Awful, stereotypically, cheezy, whiney, schoolgirl drama-cutsey anime where EVERYONE is a frikkin' clueless lesbian or lesbian predator. Lots of inferred lesbian sex and lots of girl/girl relationships, although as far as kissing goes, nothing has the sheer volume of Simoun, on principle. Not a very deep series, though - it's a wannabe parody of Maria-Sama ga Miteru. Taken as a silly anime, Strawberry Panic is almost enjoyable.

Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito Japan, series, 200?. Psychotic. Hazuki and Hasumi are (adopted) sisters. On the eve of her 16th birthday, Hasumi disappears - turns out she is actually the demi-goddess Eve. Hazuki is in love with her sister and will stop at nothing to find her as she follows after a random trail of clues through dozens of bizarre worlds contained within books in the Library of Eternity or some such. Highly bizarre and difficult to watch, though not as difficult as ...Utena.

Lesbians on TV

2005-05-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

Now we're starting to see television series' appear with lesbian characters and even lesbian casts. Here are the shows I have seen that have lesbian characters (because lesbians are still a minority on TV compared to gay men):

Ellen: (US 90's) not all of it, but I did get to see most of it, including the famous episode where Ellen comes out. HUGE impact on my life.

The L Word: US 200?. Don't make me describe this. You're silly if you don't know what it is. Wish they had a better array of lesbian character types. High drama that sucks you in.

Wonderfalls: (US 2004). Short lived series that went 13 eps, only four or five of which aired in the US. The main character's sister (who is one of the main supporting characters and thus in nearly every single episode) is a lesbian. And her relationship with another woman was given as much screen time as most straight supporting couples are given, if not more. The best part is that she's so far from the stereotype it's insane. Femme, chain-smoking, REPUBLICAN, SUV, money-hungry attorney. Hilarious - I think she would of become a famous lesbian TV character icon had the show not been erroneously cancelled by FOX.

Xena: Warrior Princess: (NZ/US) Everyone knows Xena, come on! This show inspired me to believe that there WASNT something wrong with me because I was attracted to women. It got me through high school and beyond without becoming suicidal and for that this show forever has my grattitude. Not a lot of outright lesbian content, but the subtext might as well of been maintext.

Films with Queer Characters in Them

2005-05-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

Films that have gay characters in lead positions but the film isn't a "gay" film or where it's a gay situation comedy type thing but not totally exploitive... Minor reviews.

"Antonia's Line" - Dutch with English subtitles. "Chronicles the lives of four generations of a family of women, all strong and independent because of the matriarch, Antonia. Her daughter Danielle's lesbianism is treated very normally. Danielle's daughter Therese later has Sarah, who is the narrator of the story." Great film overall - very pro-womyn. :D

"Best in Show" - US. This film is so cool just for the fact that every single line of dialogue in it is improvised. A film without a script - that's frikkin' awesome acting. Follows several groups of dog owners at a dog show, where two unlikely women fall in love. Hilarious.

"Boys On the Side" - Three girls (Drew Barrymore, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mary Louise Parker) do a kind of running away road trip. Whoopi's character is gay, ML Parker has AIDS, and the Indigo Girls make a cameo apperance. There's a little bit between Whoopi and ML near the end but not much.

"The Closet" - French, subtitled. A quiet man who works at a condom factory is completely walked all over by his ex wife, his son, and his co-workers. Everyone thinks he's completely boring and dull until one day it "slips" that he's gay and suddenly he's the life of the party. Though the only gay character is the main character's gay neighbor who coaches him through being "gay", I love this film. Very pro-gay.

"The Color Purple" - I've only seen most of the film once. It's a very visceral and important film for black Americans but the book pushes the envelope much further. The film is famous for basically ignoring Celie and Shug's relationship, which is very important to Celie's growth in the book. Great acting though, still a powerful film.

"The Hours" - I don't consider this a queer film, really. I've not read the book, either. About three women in three different eras, one of whom IS a lesbian, dealing with depression. Not bad, but I have no desire to watch it again.

"The Object of My Affection" - Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd. This girl falls for her best friend, who is gay. Maybe a bit cliche in parts but it does go to show that you cannot change a persons orientation no matter how much you love eachother.

"Three to Tango" - Matthew Perry, Oliver Platt, and Neve Campbell. Peter (Platt) and Oscar (Perry) are partners in an architecht firm. Peter is gay, Oscar is not. This powerful guy is holding a competition for which architect firm is going to get the job designing a new building - due to a mix up, the boss thinks Oscar is gay and thus entrusts him with chaperoning his mistress, Amy (Campbell). Oscar has to keep up the pretense though he falls in love with Amy. I really like this film; while it does use 'gayness' as a humour factor, it has some poignant bits where Oscar finally "gets" what his friend Peter goes through some days, being gay. That and I love Neve Campbell.

Gay & Transgender Films

2005-05-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

Gay and Transgender films I've seen - list with brief reviews.

"Bent" - in English; WWII. Clive Owen is a gay guy in France when the Nazis take over. Having to leave his partying lifestyle, he and his lover flee to the forests where they are eventually captured. It's worse to wear the pink triangle than the yellow star; this film gives the viewer a feeling of vertigo, a feeling of insanity and lost time, very much like what the main character goes through in order to survive as long as he can. Very visceral film. I liked it though I dont know how often I could watch it. Not a happy film.

"Big Eden" - US. 2000. White writer gay guy (Arye Gross) escapes to fictional Montana small town where he falls for the big, silent Native gay guy (Eric Schweig), whom everyone knows is gay but he doesn't talk about it. really sweet film; I wish more small towns were this open. I'd love to see it again. Kind of movie that makes you go "awwwww...".

"Boys Don't Cry" - US. The film that made Hillary Swank famous - and she does an awesome job playing Brandon Teena. Also not a happy film; I like to watch it to be amazed at how believeable Swank is as a young man.

"Cruising" - US. "A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York's S&M and leather districts." Al Pacino plays the cop who goes undercover as a gay guy in the S&M scene to find the killer. Didn't do anything for me except make me view Pacino a little differently.

"Hedwig & the Angry Inch" - the film version. I'd never seen the show, and I was a tad bit shocked the first time I saw this, as I'm not into the camp scene. But the soundtrack grabbed me and now I likes it all a lot. :)

"Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" - Australia. Drag queens travel Australia in a bright pink school bus. I don't remember the plot. The ping pong ball scene obliterated anything valuable I would of remembered.

"The Wedding Banquet" [This] One was about this gay couple where one was Asian American and the other is white. The Asian guy ends up marrying a woman to keep her from being deported as well as to please his family, whom he is in the closet from. This comedic situation also puts stress on the men's relationship until it finally boils over.

Another was about two young boys who find love at the beach... Don't remember much else.

Another was an 80's film about a young skinny guy who slowly figures out he's gay but is totally taken advantage by every guy he turns to... I think Culture Club did like half the soundtrack - what was this one?

"Burnt Money" Really boring South American film about two robbers who are in love but on the run and can't expose their love for fear of being killed... There was a huge standoff with the police at the end? *shrugs*

Lesbian Film List

2005-05-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

Films with L/B Female lead characters that I've seen - very brief reviews.

"Aimee & Jaguar" - German, subtitled. Possibly my very favorite of all - I have a thing for WWII, and what makes this one bettter is it is based on a true story - based on the book of the same name, which I also have.

"Bar Girls" - US. Indy. Cheese to the max. Possibly as unbearable as "Girls Can't Swim". Low budget, NO acting ability, boring plot, stereotypes, and LACK of representation of real butch lesbians, though they try to fit in everything else. HATE THIS FILM.

"Better than Chocolate" - in English. This seems to be a favorite, but I just didn't care for it. It falls into the 6-minutes til sex category - in that apparently, lesbians will sleep with eachother after knowing eachother for only 6 minutes. :P

"Bound" - U.S. I can't help it; I love this film, despite the swearing and violence. The hot-shot style of it is just like half the other straight mob films out there, with characters that always know what to say and are ultra suave when hitting on people. Noted sexpert Susie Bright advised all elements of the film regarding lesbian sex and culture for this film, too. And what hot characters we have in Corky and Violet! *purrs*

"But I'm a Cheerleader" - U.S. I wish I'd caught this in the theatre - the mixed reviews caught me off guard. I like the humour, how it makes fun of not only the anti-gay crowd but also makes fun of the LGBT community, too. I like that it can tackle serious and heavy issues without a heavy hand.

"Claire of the Moon" - 1992. At a women's writer workshop getaway in the northwest US, Claire struggles with her sexual identity after discovering her roomate is a lesbian. Bad acting, bad everything. Don't make me watch this again.

"D.E.B.S." - 2005ish. Indy spygirl spoof. You can definetly tell it's an ind film but as far as indy films go, it's very well done and very silly. The romance was good - creative and fresh; didn't feel like I was watching the same old lesbian film in new clothes at all. Also impressive is the mostly-female crew that MADE the whole film. Very light hearted and happy and edited so that the lesbian relationship is incidental, but not in a totally non-chalant/blazé way. Only thing that REALLY bothered me was that of all the characters, only Lucy seemed to know how to hold a handgun properly. Grr.

"Everything Relative" - U.S. Basically a lesbian "Big Chill", which I haven't seen. Old college lesbian pals reunite, opening old wounds and making new connections. Definetly for the generation before mine; I didn't care much for this film at all.

"Fingersmith" - U.K. 2005. 3-part mini series based on the Sarah Waters novel of the same name. I read the book first - - DEFINETLY read the book first! The film stays very true to the book and handles the plot twists quite well. The moments between the two female characters are really intense in their subtlety, but not near as good as in the book. This isn't to say the film isn't good - just that the book is SO good that no matter HOW good the film was it couldn't keep up with the book. It's about a theif, Susan, who teams with another theif, Gentleman, to insinuate themselves into a well-to-do household in order to get the rich man's niece, Maude, to fall in love with Gentleman so he can swindle her of her inheritance. But that's not quite what happens...

"French Twist" (Gazon Maudit) - French, subtitled. I almost forgot I'd even seen this film. Not very memorable. Soft butch falls for married "straight" woman. The husband isn't too keen on this... the wife wants both and tries to balance her life with a husband AND a girlfriend, including through a pregnancy. Come to think of it, I wouldnt mind watching this again as a refresher... I remember the struggles were poignant but sometimes painful to watch. And it was supposed to be humerous.

"Fried Green Tomatoes" - U.S. This really isn't categorized as a gay film, and there is no obvious gayness in it. But if you have any kind of gaydar at all, you KNOW that Ruth and Idgie are more than just "transcendant best friends". And if you have read the book, "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe" by Fannie Flagg, you know this for certain. If you get this on DVD, be sure to watch the Making Of and watch the film with the directors commentary for further proof these women are in a relationship. Luckily, because the book isn't explicit and the way the director filmed it, you don't feel like the film DIDNT go far enough with showing their relationship because it treats them like anyone else. One of my very favorite films/books.

"Fire" - India, in English. A rebellious young bride finds difficulty assimilating into her new, more traditional Indian family. Her husband gone often, distant, and philandering, she finds comfort in the company of her sister-in-law, an older woman in a sexless marriage. The young girl is kind of annoying but the story is good and it's interesting to see gay themes in other cultures. This film was banned in India. Overall, it's okay, but I do like it more than I dislike it.

"Gia" - U.S., HBO. Angelina Jolie plays Gia Marie Carangi in this film that losely follows the true and tragic story of the worlds first and most famous supermodel.... Who happens to be a lesbian.

"The Girl" - French, subtitled. Saw this once in the theatre. Noir ish type film. Almost too artsy; sex scenes were ultra close up and blurred, the dialogue was very stiffly given (it's noir...)... I liked the dyke character and hated the femme. Interesting story but I'm not sure how often I could stand to watch it.

"Girl Play" - US, 200?. It's meh.

"A Girl Thing" - US. I think this was made for TV. Stockard Channing is a psychologist who goes over the relationship woes of four different women (one of whom is a lesbian) while facing her own personal struggles. Don't remember much about it. Was okay, I guess.

"Girls Can't Swim" ("Les Filles ne savent pas nager") - French, subtitled. I don't think this is even IS a queer film at all. I don't remember - but for some reason we thought it was. Instead, it was THE worst film I'd ever seen. Two girls. One sleeps around with all these local boys while her best friend sleeps with her father. AWFUL.

"Girls In Prison" - U.S. I'm *pretty* sure I've seen this. Campy, stereotyped, guilty-pleasure type film. Anne Heche is in it.

"Go Fish" - US, indy. Some of the same characters from "Watermelon Woman" are in this. Our queer indy film culture is important but I didn't really care for this film.

"Heavenly Creatures" - NZ. Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet. Based on a true story. Two girls become obsessively best friends, lost in the make-believe world of their making. Warped and psycho is what this is. Nothing explicit, doesn't really give a good name necessarily to same sex love, but Kate Winslet is hilarious. I catch this on TV when I can. "Oh! MArio LANza!"

"High Art" - US. Very depressing, good story. Ally Sheedy like you've never seen her before. I've only seen it once and would like to watch it again. Journalist falls for strung out, once famous photographer (Sheedy).

"If These Walls Could Talk 2" - U.S., Showtime. Series of interconnected short stories that happen in different eras in the same house. Bring a box of Kleenex and someone to hold. Shows a great shift in social standing for lesbians though the different stories, from two elderly women who cannot say they're anything other than roomates, to Ellen and Sharon Stone trying to get pregnant via artificial insemination.

"Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love" - US, indy. I don't know if this IS a true story or not - I think it's losely based on the lives of the writers, or something like that. VERY losely. About a highschool tomboy, white lesbian who lives with her lesbian aunt and works at a gas station/mechanics and her unlikely friendship and eventual relationship with a non-white girl of "proper" and high standing. Lighthearted. Pretty good for an indy film; I liked it. :"D BTW, "The L Word"'s Laurel Holloman plays the tomboy, Randy.

"It's In the Water" - U.S. This says it all: "In Azalea Springs, the country club still sets the rules. Here, being a member of "The League" is a must and only hair dressers and interior designers are supposed to be gay. A frenzy breaks out when a tipsy comment starts a rumor that the local drinking water turns you gay. This spark adds fuel to smoldering fires as the religious and socially righteous begin to join forces. The combination becomes the catalyst for residents who must now face or deny their own realities in this outrageous comedy with a queer little twist." - Cheesy. Don't care to see it again, but glad to of seen it at least once. Meh.

"Kissing Jessica Stein" - US. At first I didn't know what to think of this film. Some accuse it of straight people "trying out" being gay. It's not. Interestingly, what Jessica goes through in becoming more comfortable with being with a woman is VERY similar to what I went through. The film is ultimately about being comfortable with your sexuality and ignoring labels.

"Late Bloomers" - US. Two middle aged mom/teachers/coaches unexpectedly fall in love. I'm *pretty* sure I've seen this and wasn't impressed - I just don't relate.

"Lost and Delerious" - Canada (English). Tragic film. Folks either love or hate this and I'm kind of in between. It's very dramatic and tragic. Some days it's good, others, I just want to smack Paulie.

"Mulholland Drive" - US. "A sexy thriller as two beautiful women are caught up in a lethally twisted mystery – and ensnared in an equally dangerous web of erotic passion..." This is easily the most fucked up movie I've ever seen. It makes absolutely NO sense but I love it anyway. Each time I watch it, it traps my brain and I sit trying to figure it out... was the first half what happened or is it the blonde chick's memory of happier times? Better watch this with friends, especially if you like brain busters.

"Oranges Aren't the Only Fruit" - U.K., BBC. I've never read the book, but this was a good story in a disturbing sort of way. A lot of it hits you in the gut, so it's not one I like to watch a lot, but definetly one to see.

"Salmonberries" - US. This was filmed in AK! That's about the only good thing. K.d. Lang is Kotzebue, a very disturbed orphan girl trying to find meaning in existance when she meets a much older, lonely German librarian in the local library. The two form a kind of bond - it doesn't go very far. I almost didn't get through the whole thing. It wasn't all that great; but for some reason it sticks in my head. The story is weird but at least the acting is good.

"Saving Face" - U.S. 2004 film. From Wikipedia, "tells the story of Wilhemina, a young Chinese-American surgeon, her pregnant mother, and her dancer girlfriend. While Wil struggles with allocating her time between her mother, who, shunned by the Chinese-American community, has come to live with her, and her girlfriend, Vivian, whom she presents to her mother as only a friend, her mother must decide whether the demands of her father's reputations, or the demands of her own heart, are more important." Great film.

"Serving in Silence" - U.S. 1995 TV movie. Starring Glenn Close as Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, "The true story of a decorated officer's legal challenge to her involuntary discharge when she admitted she was homosexual." Any scenes between Glenn Close and her character's love interest are pretty chaste, but this is an important story about acceptance in the workplace. Definetly a safe film to watch with your straight friends and family, and especially a must for Stargate slash writers, as it's a true story - the one that sparked the whole "Don't ask, don't tell".

"Set Me Free" (Emporte-Moi) - Canada. I barely remember this one. This school girl falls for her teacher, can't understand why the affection isn't returned, then some kind of strange three way relationship goes on with the girl, her brother, and a girl friend of theirs. I need to see this one again.

"Show Me Love" (Fucking Åmål) - Swedish, subtitled. This movie is kind of corny, but the characters are all perfectly flawed. It's hard to like any of the characters at first but that is part of its charm. And it's in SWEDISH! Heh. I like it.

"Therese & Isabelle" - German, dubbed in French, dubbed in English, black and white. You CAN get this subtitled, apparently. And unless you've seen this 60's film in the theatre, you're missing out on all the juicy scenes. This film is SO pulp and so corny - the sort of thing you watch with friends to make fun of.

"Tipping the Velvet" - U.K., BBC. Read the book before you see this. Might come off as corny if you don't. It's got some flaws but just the fact this AIRED on tv is astounding. The songs, the era (1880's), the costumes, Nan's struggles - all brought to life. I kind of think of it as seperate from the novel, but I love this miniseries. Definetly a must-have.

"Treading Water" - US.2001. I am pretty sure I've seen this, too. Don't remember anything about it except there was water and the girl lived on a boat and was the black sheep of the family.

"The Watermelon Woman" - US, indy. I even had to watch this for a film class in college. It's got some good info to think about but it's not something I'd watch a lot. VERY indy.

"When Night is Falling" - CAN (English). Not to be confused with the gay film "Before Night Falls". This movie I've only seen once. It's got some highly unlikely plot points and some very unusual characters, but it wasnt' the most horrible thing I've seen and I wouldnt' mind watching it again.

Fallout [short film]

2005-04-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

This has nothing to do with the game "Fallout", though I found this article and series of links on the No Mutants Allowed Fallout site:

Fallout, a PA movie short
Posted by Kharn - at 2:12

Here's something we missed; in 2003, William Joines did a short entitled "Fallout" for his junior thesis project. After watching it, I can only conclude that the 15-minute $650 dollar short is an excellent piece of work, with some really impressive acting and set-building.

The basic premise is that of a little girl waking up in an empty and damaged fallout shelter with her memory gone and we watch her as she tries to survive and regain her memories, locked in the shelter. The short was shown on the Riverrun Film Festival and was a Student Academy Award Nominee.

Be sure to check it out as you can see the whole thing on Will Joines' website

Link: Fallout page on Will Joines' website

Link: in case any of you ever want to build a bunker set, here's how to do it; John Steckley set-building page

After checking with the director, we can verify that there's no relation the the Fallout game. Spotted on Fallout.ru

..................................

If you're into short films, post-apocalyptic/sci-fi/survival stories, or just want to see a neat and well done story about a little girl with lost memories, check it out. Very very cool - I wish I'd put more time into the film projects I had to do as electives at my college. ;) Very atmospheric.

Files are .mov format, the large file took me around an hour to download on DSL.

Tipping the Velvet [film]

2005-04-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

So these are just my impressions of the mini-series version of "Tipping the Velvet" and my comparison between it and the original novel. Spoilers Abound for the film and the novel!

First Impression
At first I wasn't too sure about the score choice - but I hadn't seen what the tone of the series was yet. The music seems typical of what I've seen of other BBC series', but I just assumed since TtV is a period story that it would have period music. But by the end of the show, the music had grown on me and I kinda like it now. Heh.

Another first impression: Nan's hair. I don't know what it is with me, but in most books I read, I always somehow miss the part where the author says what color the protagonist's hair is. When I read TtV, I pictured Nan's hair as blonde. Off the top of anyone's head, do you know what color it was in the book?

Series style versus the book mood
At first I wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that the series is SO much lighter than the book. The novel is so dark, brooding, and erotic whereas the series shows these dark things but makes dark humour out of it with the music and Nan's narrative and expressions. (Ok, it's not as dark and erotic as Kushiel's Dart or either of Sarah Waters' other two books, but I just mean in comparision to the series...)After seeing the whole thing I realised that if they HAD done the series with the same mood as the book, with the same drama, it probably would never of made it to television - at least not with more cut out and an NC-17 rating. And this was more or less referred to by Sarah Waters as well, at least in her suprise that TtV was going to be made into a series on the BBC.

Characters
Nan
I liked the gal who played Nan (I'm bad with names, I don't remember who it was). I thought she had good body language and was into the role - maybe I'm just jaded by American TV mini series' and the crappy acting they can have, but I was warmly suprised. She also had a good voice to play Nan - she could convincingly lower it to sound more masculine. Combined with the way she carried herself, she made a good pair with Kitty like in the book... How Nan looked TOO convincing as a male, way better than Kitty, so they had to tone her down.

My only small gripe with Nan was that she was still too feminine - her arched eyebrows, her very feminine eyes and shapely lips. I don't think they could of done a WHOLE ton to change that to make her like the Nan in the book, who was NOT distinctly female. I know women who look like boys and she was not it. The only thing that really saved it from totally pissing me off is the fact that the way a lot of things were portrayed in the film were symbolic - the cartoonish special effects, the obviously plastic roses, the music.

One thing they had NO excuse for, though, was putting Nan back in a dress at the end! In the book, she decides what is comfortable for HER. This time it's not her boss's decision, it's not her empty stomach demanding, and it's not her mistress's command -- it's Nan's decision to wear men's clothes. I found this element of the book significant because it represents Nan's coming to terms with herself and her past and how she represents herself thus in the real world. And there was no reason at all that they'd NOT do that in the series at all - I mean, they were halfway there when Nan narrates the part where she gets mens clothes in which to do housework and she gets her hair trimmed. After that I fully expected her to stay in men's clothes from then on like in the book.

Kitty
This is just me, I always pictured Kitty as a bit less feminine in apperance, but I thought she was striking in the role, particularly when she would prepare for the tossing of her rose. And combined with Nan in their double act... wow.

Diana
Perfect. Although I don't remember Diana ever saying anything about love in the novel - it was all about control and power, not about love. I think they changed it up a little in the series for two reasons - one, to lighten the doom/gloomness of how it really was living with Diana Lethaby. Secondly, to make Nan's leaving more of a triumph rather than the skidding of a street sex junkie hitting bottom like it was in the book. Because in the series, the story was more about Nan's eventual and gradual triumph over life's shit. More on that later.

Walter
whoops, forgot him. Of course, his role was really minimized, but he was too old! Eeeewww! Although, Kitty was older in the series, too, so it wasn't so bad. ;) he was good, though - just the right parts of nice and a bit sleazy.

Florence
Florence was the only person I really had a problem with, but it has to do with the way they totally flipped her part around in order to highlight Nan's triumph in the series. In the book, Flo was much more standoffish and rigid toward Nan. In the film she came off as inexperienced - which she was. But in the book, she knew MORE than Nan did about the REAL world. Nan had only ever experienced life through the fantasy worlds of the stage, of the underbelly of the street, and of the slavery of living under Diana Lethaby's thumb. None of these places were like the real world and none of them had REAL people in them either. In the book, it is almost a shock when the reader and Nan hit this straight stretch of normality. Housework. Politics. Regular social activities. Family life. Nan had forgotten how to behave in that kind of world, and she especially had never been queer in the real world, either, which was the biggest change, I think.

I think they changed Flo because of what the series was going for. If they had totally copied the book, it wouldn't of worked. Novels can get away with things, with the lengthy descriptions and emotions that just don't work with the limited time frame of television. So the pacing was changed considerably - it picks up the pace, which also picks up the mood. And so the end result of the story had to hit a higher note than the novel.

The pacing, the plot changes
In the novel, Nan is rarely an instigator; she's a follower. She didn't really have big dreams. She had a boyfriend because that's what you're supposed to do. Then she saw Kitty and the obsession began - and she followed Kitty to London. She followed Kitty's advice and the instruction of Walter in becoming Nan King, the performer, and when her heart was broken, Nan ran chaotically to the streets. Without any guidance, she simply roamed until, once again, upon the 'invitation' of another person, she was persuaded into a new occupation, a sex worker. Then she was basically kidnapped by Diana, held hostage by her desire to BE desired, to run away from the memory of Kitty by spending all her time in another woman's arms. And when Nan finally stands up for herself she's thrown out in the street where she wretchedly hits absolute bottom until she finds Florence. Struggle after struggle...

It's funny how she ended up staying with Florence - kind of the same way she ended up with Kitty, by constantly being around until the other person simply can't do without you, and KNOWING this is what you're doing.

and then the final big responsibility of choosing where to be, where to live, who to be friends with and then confronting the people from her past who changed her the most. Confronting and triumphing in spirit and destiny. This is how the novel works.

And it would of been rather boring as a mini series, if you think about it.

So in the series, Nan is a bit more proactive in her destiny. Nan wasn't bitter about being kicked out by Diana - not like in the book. And it's Nan who is wise about the world in the end, not Flo. And the end - the end was perfect. With the single toss of a rose, Nan cuts off her past completely to start life anew.

Conclusion
I'm always a larger fan of the book than of the film as far as these things go, because it seems no matter how they do it, the characters in the books, the emotions, are much more personal and intimate. But they did a really good job with TtV. It usually seems there are three possible results with tv movies made from books. They either come out EXACTLY like it, and thus dull; they come out SO different that there's not much relation between the two and thus the book-fans are completely alienated; or it just comes out cheesy. And luckily, TtV is none of those.

The stage performances
Oh! I forgot to say - another great thing I liked about the series, another thing Sarah Waters mentioned in the interview. The singing and dancing! I'm normally not a musical fan, but it's like Sarah said - in the book, the performances are spoken of, but you don't get to see it, to hear it, to see the reaction of the crowd. Its a totally different experience that was great to be able to see. I got a much better idea of what that kind of performance would of been to an audience back then.

I also loved how the WAY the songs were performed changed to kind of fit the story and mood... In the beginning we have the lone Kitty Butler, and she's good. Light, sleek and charming. A strong first impression. Then we get the duo of Kitty and Nan, the teamwork, the connection, the DANCE, the lighthearted joy. Next we get the utter bottom-feeder performance between Kitty and Walter with Kitty portraying Walter's son. It was just WRONG in the book and it was just wrong in the series. In both formats, you could feel Nan cringe upon seeing it and I did, too. Ugh - where is life going to?

And finally, we have Nan's comeback performance. She was SO timid in the beginning and every single ounce of strength she'd gained through all she'd been through came out in that performance. Compare it to the first performance by Kitty and Nan just blows it out of the water. She's far more confident and bold. I'm not sure if this was intentional, if they toned down the past performances, or if the gal who played Nan was seriously just better than the gal who played Kitty, but I think it really clinched the ending.

The sex
I was pleasantly suprised by the quality of the sex scenes. I'm so tired of halfhearted lesbian performances that come off like straight male fantasies. I'm tired of over-the-top "oooh, I'm so into you" acting that just ruins the humanity of what is going on between the characters. Yay for sex! :D

The flashbacks
I also really liked the useage of the flashbacks Nan would have of Kitty. It really helped highlight Nan's perpetual heartache and keep it emotionally true, like in the book. I could relate to that. So that when we got to the end and Nan makes her choice between Kitty and Flo, the choice is that much more dramatic. I actually found myself wondering over who she'd choose, though I knew damn well that Nan chooses Flo in the novel. ;) So that's a mark of good storytelling in my book. :D

Jarhead [novel]

2005-03-28T13:55:00.000-08:00

I finished Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles by Anthony Swafford. It's very from-the-gut, dark, and doesn't pull any punches. It tells of the author's unwavering drive to become a Marine and of the reality of the hell of actually BEING one and living through a war that wasn't a war out in the desert.

The book doesn't offer up any excuses, it doesn't really give you any trivial information, and it doesn't really give up any deep insights. It simply tells of what it was like, what the other Marines were like, some things he thought of during the things he went through and tells factually the things he saw and did, letting the reader take everything for what it is. War. Meaningless war. Neither pro nor anti anything. Gives you a lot to think about.

I liked the matter-of-factness of the book - makes it a balanced read for people both pro and anti war. War is what it is and this was one man's experience of it. Kind of makes my stomach lurch whenever I read a "Semper Fi" bumper sticker, though. Urgh.

The Radioactive Boy Scout

2005-03-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Radioactive Boy Scout - The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein

I just read this book yesterday, got it out of the library and finished it the same day, which is something for me, as I usually take my time with books. But I HAD to know what happened to David Hahn, the teen who attempted to build a model nuclear breeder reactor in a potting shed in his backyard in Detroit in the 90's.

I've always had a strange fascination with radioactivity, both the facts and the fantasy of it. I don't know why; in reality it scares the bejeebers out of me yet I find information and stories about it really interesting. The history of Chernobyl, the Bikini Atol, the tests in Nevada. Post-apocalyptic fiction, particulary post nuclear-apocalyptic stories, I can't get enough of - like Z for Zachariah. The "Fallout" RPG games - getting to BE a character in this neo-retro post apocalyptic nuclear world. Films, no matter how cheesy - "The Postman", "Mad Max", the one realistic film that was made to scare people about nuclear destruction that follows some individuals trying to survive after a nuclear attack whose name I always forget...

And what makes this book even better/scarier is that it really HAPPENED.

The book was written by an investigative reporter and doesn't just tell David Hahn's story, how he managed to build something that generated extremely large amounts of radiation levels measurable from several blocks away - it also tells us the history of radioactive materials and their scientific discoveries and uses and the history of the damaging effects various radioactive materials have caused. It tells us about how the government put a happy face on atomic energy and how it was this very out-of-date information that under-informed David enough to go through with much of his experimenting. Lastly, the book details David's family life and how he was able to get away with so much with so little supervision. It's absolutely stunning and really amazing. This teenager was a chemistry genius who was figured out how to procure all kinds of highly restricted radioactive material -- and it's not an evil genius story, just a kid obsessed with a project whose consequences he never really thought about or informed himself about.

Anyway. Good read - I'm not a chemistry buff and the technical stuff was written so I could understand it but without talking down to its audience. And you really feel for David - if only his parents were more supportive, etc.

How the Sun Works in Alaska

2005-02-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

It isn't dark here all the time, just to get that out of the way. ;) But it DOES get dark in the winter.

It's just like anywhere else in the world that is a significant distance from the equator. As winter approaches in the northern hemisphere, the earth tilts AWAY from the sun on its axis. This makes the sun appear lower on the horizon. The further from the equator you go in the winter, the shorter the days will be. The opposite is true for summer, though, and people tend to forget that. As summer approaches, the earth tilts toward the sun and we get more sunlight; the sun appears higher in the sky, and the days grow longer.

But it's not just a half-and-half jump. (You wouldn't BELIEVE how many people think this). It's a gradual thing.

Ok. Anchorage is the closest place to me on this sunlight chart - the daylight hours are a bit different for Palmer because we're surrounded by mountains. Fairbanks is a little less than halfway up the body of the state heading north, and Barrow is the farthest town North in the US. But you get the idea of the angle affecting hours of light from this chart:

Maximum Daylight Hrs. at Summer Solstice (June 20 or 21)
Anchorage
Sunrise - 3:21am
Sunset - 10:42pm
Hrs. of daylight - 19:21hrs

Fairbanks
Sunrise - 1:59am
Sunset - 11:48pm
Hrs. of daylight - 21:49

Barrow
Sunrise - May 10
Sunset - Aug 2
Hrs. of daylight - continuous

Yes. So the sun literally goes in circles around the sky in Barrow. You can get photos of this, timelapse. Now for the darker days..

Minimum Daylight Hours at Winter Solstice (Dec. 21 or 22)
Anchorage
Sunrise - 10:14am
Sunset - 3:42pm
Hrs. of daylight - 5:28

Fairbanks
Sunrise - 10:59am
Sunset - 2:41pm
Hrs. daylight - 3:42

Barrow
The sun sets November 18th and does not rise until January 24 for a period of 67 days in which there is NO daylight in Barrow.

The boundary for this is the Arctic Circle. Starting at this level of lattitude, there is one day where the sun does not set in the summer. From there north, the amount of days with Midnight Sun increases. Fairbanks isn't far from the Arctic Circle, so they get a lot of daylight.

And even though the sun goes below the horizon in the summer, it doesn't get DARK. It's kind of dusky. In some places, it's still bright enough to read without straining your eyes or anything. Geography has a lot to do with it - mountains to the north of you will make it darker out, but for the most part, anyplace north of Anchorage doesn't ever get DARK out in the middle of summer.

As for winter, that's another thing. The sun doesn't technically RISE in Palmer til even later because the mountains are so tall and they're RIGHT there. And closer to Solstice, the sun barely scrapes along the tops of the mountains to the south, even going behind Pioneer Peak if you're in town. Today I noticed that the sun is about a hand's width above the same mountains in the middle of the day now. Certainly seems cheerier with the increased amount of light.

Funny, because it used to not really bother me. Or maybe I just never noticed. Or maybe I've been too busy in the past to let the lack of light depress me or something. One thing's for sure, in the winter with the sun so low on the horizon, you get KILLER sunsets and sunrises ALL the time. :D

This may all seem completely fascinating to folks who have never thought about it before. Equally it might seem totally logial and not that interesting. I choose to enjoy and relish the little things like this that are around me daily - it enriches my surroundings and makes the universe seem that much more special and interesting. It's fun to mark how much daylight we've got and it adds to the uniqueness of each season. Some people complain about the amount of darkness in the winter but personally I find it cozy and magical, just as I find the summer daylight envigorating.

Just my three bingles' worth.

The Aviator [film]

2005-02-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

No spoilers.

We saw the Aviator in the theatre yesterday. I love aviation and aviation history, so yay! Of course, you should know ahead of time that it's not simply about Howard Huges, but also about his OCD and other mental problems he suffered from, which I think are a testiment to what he went through to still create the things he did. Not to condone any of the iffier things he did, but you gotta feel for the guy in some way. The whole film makes you squirm because of that, but soar whenever Huges gets into a plane - which I'm sure is how HE felt, as well.

And I couldn't wipe the grin off my face at the Spruce Goose parts - I've seen the real Goose all rebuilt down in McMinville and it is something to see at 5 stories high with the widest wingspan of any aircraft EVER built - you could use ONE of the wings as an airstrip for a Piper Cub.

And Cate Blanchette as Katherine Hepburn? Wow, she was fantastic - what a remarkable actress.

So, not necessarily a film you HAVE to see in the theatre, although it looked like it was filmed in cinemascope (the widest ratio they generally film at). Any part showing flying aircraft was much better on the big screen, I'm sure - especially parts with the HK-1 (alternately H-4 or Spruce Goose) because of it's size - it was meant for the big screen.

Affinity [novel]

2005-01-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

In short, if you haven't read it, you should. Get it from the library, borrow it - something. You will be amazed, whether you like it or not (this falling into the 'mindfuck' category).

From Wikipedia: Margaret Prior (also called "Peggy" and "Aurora"), an unmarried woman from an upper class family, visits the Millbank Prison in the 1870s Victorian era England. The protagonist is an overall unhappy person, recovering from her father's death and her subsequent failed suicide attempt, and struggling with her lack of power living at home with her overinvolved mother despite being almost 30. She becomes a "Lady Visitor" of the prison, hoping to escape her troubles and be a guiding figure in the lives of the female prisoners. As she peers through a flap in the door, entranced by the sight of a girl with a flower — she is reminded of a Carlo Crivelli painting. Of all her friendships with prisoners, she is most fascinated by this girl, who she learns to be Selina Dawes, medium of spirits.

It is a Sarah Water's book, so you know that there is a woman/woman relationship involved in the character development. This story slowly unfolds, teasing the reader along. The setting is wonderful, you feel like you're going behind the scenes of a Jane Austen story to see what life was REALLY like beneath the frills and pomp - gritty and real.

DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST unless you have read the book. I'm serious - you'd be so spoiled, it wouldn't be worth reading. It'd be like knowing the entire mystery and how it works BEFORE you read the mystery. In other words, there'd be no suspense, no wonderment - it'd be ruined. This means YOU.

~==~
Ok. I hope if you are reading this, you have read the book.

Hope, you were, by the way, correct in that I want to stab the author. And hug her at the same time, though, for writing so craftily what she wrote.

I feel so... gullible and tricked. It's so amazing - right at the beginning of the book, we see signs of why Selina Dawes isn't to be trusted. I was hesitant to believe her, but as surely and slowly as Miss Prior fell for her, so did I. It was SO slow and so elegant, the way the reader is drawn in - it takes over half the book before anything huge happens. Very realistic to the end in how we think everything is as it appears to be, right up to the moment the mirror is shattered, the curtains taken away and we see the world for how it really is. And in that split moment, everything seems foriegn - everything we were doing just a moment before seems like it's from another life completely - a life lived in a dream world that never counted for anything. We're left so stunned we don't know what to even THINK. We want to believe in the illusion so badly because what we felt for it was so genuine... What Margaret felt for Selina was so beautiful and true, how could it of been for nothing?

Now I feel like I'm pointing out the obvious - how unbelieveably crafty Selina was. What an actress... It was even hinted at in the beginning, but I chose to believe... like Margaret, with each movement of the spirits, I chose to believe rather than try hunting down an obvious answer. It was too easy.

Even right up to the night Margaret stayed up til dawn waiting for Selina to appear - I was right there with her. I had my inner doubts - maybe she won't come. Maybe Selina was indeed delusional from her stay in the prison. Maybe the spirits simply won't be able to do it and the two will kill themselves rather than be apart. Maybe maybe maybe... But never that maybe Selina would have other plans alltogether. Even once Mrs Jelf arrived at the house and began telling of her part in Selina's escape, I thought maybe the concentration on the spirit was just a way of distracting Margaret from negative thoughts til Selina could arrive and explain everything. Then I thought, as Mrs Jelf was revealing what SHE felt of Selina - that maybe Selina really was in love with JELF and that Selina was going to arrive and there'd be a confrontation and the two would go off together.... But in the end, I really thought that Selina was going to appear and go off with Margaret. So I was just as shocked AS Margaret with each revelation of every piece to the puzzle.

And the whole time it was RUTH VIGERS?!? I couldn't even make a sound, couldn't shake my heads. I wasn't anything yet I was everything all at once, I was so stunned. Because I should of known. Somehow, I should of seen it all along.

And I feel SO gullible. Gullible. I mean, I like to be suprised in stories - books and movies and TV shows. I try NOT to guess at what is going on. Of course, often, TV and movies are easier to guess at than books. And I think, maybe I COULD of remained objective... maybe I wouldn't of fallen for it. But Selina was too good; I was drawn in and I fell for it, too.

Now I don't know what to do with the book itself. Laugh at it, glare at it? Put it on my bookshelf with my collection? I do re-read books, but this... this isn't a story to be re-read, a world to be re-visited. This book WAS an experience. And like most life experiences, things one cannot repeat. Something one cannot go back in time and recapture. It's one of those "first time" things - the first time is always the best, full of wonder and suprise. And once that's over with, even the anticipation of the end result in subsequent experiences cannot capture that naive suprise.

Anyway. Like I said, I'm a book collector - I love my books. But I honestly dont think I'd ever be able to re-read this one. Who to pass it to, then?

I'm serious... I was just BUZZING during the chapters leading up to Selina's escape.... When she got put in the darks... I was just fluttering inside. I HAD to see what happened. I couldn't stop reading. And it built and built and built -- then... It was like jumping into a glacial lake. Solid cold came over me, slowly dripping, coating me, like a giant egg cracked over my head. And all time stopped as I found out the truth to Selina's plans.

In the end, as much as I want to throttle Sarah Waters, I want to praise her as well for such a good job. To write something like that, that can DO this to a reader - that's just amazing. *shakes Sarah's hand and thanks her for holding my heart to the light, warming it, then quickly lacerating it and stomping upon it before handing it back*. I almost feel BAD for appreciating the book - like a dominatrix who suddenly realized she liked being a bottom, liked being abused all a long.

Ok, weird analogy, but it's what came to mind. :P

Strangers in Paradise

2005-01-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Official Strangers in Paradise website

The best thing about SiP is that it isn't necessarily a comicbook-readers book. It's the book for people who DON'T read comics.

SiP is about the not-quite average lives of three people (to start with). It's got everything from humour to pages black with blood. Love, angst, drama, fun-times, art, gangs, murders, cops, Texas, lesbians!, snipers, mafia, drugs, and characters we CARE about. Hell, we even want to know more about the antagonists to the point of liking THEM, too.

Terry Moore, the author, used to work in TV as an editor, and he sets up each storyline like a storyboard with text so it reads like you're watching a really great TV show. And of course, if you've never read an independant title, the series HAS an ending we're heading toward. So everything is serving a purpose and WON'T be repeated again the way that regular superhero titles do.

Also, Terry Moore has a beautiful line style (the books are in black and white), very art-nouveau inspired (think Quinton Hoover, if you know who he is). And lastly, it's totally queer/queer friendly. The way it deals with issues, it just makes them part of the story the way if YOU actually stumbled across it in real life. In so many TV shows, they deal with things like, say, AIDS in a one-time episode or story arc and then you never hear about it again. But the way they show it, they're FOCUSING on it which makes it surreal. "She's dying of AIDS... let's show all the minutae of what that's like". There's a time and place for that, but in a larger story it comes off like a lesson rather than part of the story.

Queer themes are like that as well in the story in a lable-defying sort of way. Thus the more main character of the three - Katchoo. "Everyone calls her a lesbian. But she's been with guys. Is she bi? But she HATES men, she prefers women. (But she still says there might be guys out there who are still bad). So she's bi?" - Katchoo doesn't lable herself and refuses to be political about it. I think that'd be the ideal place for our society to be and I know some individuals who ARE like this. So in a way it's kind of refreshing - we don't need to see Katchoo pushing LGBTI issues. Just her being who she is is somehow enough. And no, it's not a half-assed gay-character thing. I've read solidly GAY comics and I just don't like being drowned in my own issues all the time.

It's hard to describe Strangers in Paradise without giving everything away. Every issue is full of suprises and you never know how Terry is going to twist it all with the unveiling of each TPB. You just have to sit there and read and trust that he knows what he's doing since he's already had this thing planned out for years. :D

http://www.strangersinparadise.com/issues.html -- go here. This shows the covers of all the trade paperbacks to date. The first volume is only three comics long - Terry did them for fun, not expecting SiP to take off so it FEELS really short and not so permanent. So I highly HIGHLY reccomend you try out SiP somehow (they had them at our library in Portland) -- but get the first two TPB's - volume 1 and 2. (Amazon.com sells them used, by the way). :D

By far one of my favorite stories of all time in any medium (books, films, anime, graphic novels, etc).

The House of Sand and Fog [film]

2005-01-16T13:14:00.000-08:00

The House of Sand and Fog starrs Jennifer Connelly and Sir Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi"), primarily. I've always kind of tip-toed around Jenniffer Connelly films due to the whole stigma she carries from earlier 80's films. But she was very good in this movie. The entire cast of the five main characters are just phenominal in their acting. The cinematography alone makes it one of the top three most beautifully filmed movies I've seen lately, and the story...

The imagery, the story, the characters are all so filled and entwined in symbolism, nothing is left un-thought of but it feels so natural. Apparently they filmed the whole thing without storyboards and just went with the flow, which is amazing because you'd think just the opposite - but it does feel very natural and organic.

Without giving anything away, it is a drama that kind of rips you open, stomps on you, but doesn't come off as trite at all, definetly not a rehash of anything I've seen before. And after, you don't necessarily feel DOWN. It's definetly more... "down" than, say, Eternal Sunshine... but I felt better about life after watching this film than I did ES. Strange.

And just to give a hint of how good the cinematography was, I've never been so compelled to rip a DVD out of the player and immediately go cap it. ;) Go watch it!