but I don't think I can remember the password. Might be stored on my other computer. Oh well.
"大神"というゲームができたばかりだから、ほかのを選べる。
I wonder if they can use やっつける to "beat" a videogame like we do...
開発が終わったばかりだから、まだ新しいゲームです。
These sentences are sort of pointless.
あのばけものを倒せたら、たくさん経験値をもらうよ。
I wish I knew how to say "grind" in Japanese. It's rather idiomatic.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Japanese and other crud and I never actually have a unified theme so why do I need a title?
I ordered this kanji game the other day and it has shipped. Of course, NOW the site decides to have it's 20% off everything in-stock sale, but what do we care about that? Between this kick in the ass for my kanji and hanging out with Shin, I may be able to scrape a little bit off the intermediate MOUND of DEATH.
Intermediacy is a crying shame. Kind of like mediocrity. Probably because they're almost the same. Maybe you could say they're the same, except at different levels of achievement, or maybe they really ARE the exACT same.
Either way. Hopefully this thing gets here soon.
"Ohio City remained an independent municipality until it was annexed by fuck Cleveland in 1854." Apparently, they have a good public library system there. In Cleveland, I mean. Reading the featured widipedia article is a good way to read about random things you may or may not really care about.
The store was lame as hell yesterday, so having a day for working on previews and things is good. Gonna have lunch with Randy, since we rarely hang out. Gotta call Mickey up. I think I also have an event to go to later, for some games.
I'm gonna go finish doing all the things I'm supposed to do.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
All manner of awesome
I got the boy the Absolute Edition and we read the first three chapters last night. So far I'm really enjoying it. Never read many comics, except maybe some manga, but even then not as much as I meant to. It's sort of weird to have your first real foray into actual comic comics be this weird post-glory pessimistic thing, where Superman is just a memory. I mean, I've never read a Superman comic in my life : / Anyways, nostalgia is sort of my style, anyhow :D Good luck finding any role models, though. This isn't that type heroism.
So, I'm having a really great day for no reason. Didn't want to sleep anymore despite it being only 7:56 in the morning when I woke up, so I had breakfast and set about reading some more history. I'm about half-way through! Europe is learning print books, so it's pretty exciting.
In three hours I'm gonna be hanging out with Shin at Cup-a-Joe, so hopefully we'll get along @_@ I want to speak Japanese, but I'm so nervous always >_< Anyhow, for the moment, I'm going to read about the Gospel of the Witches, since the article is featured on Wikipedia. Seems like the right way to continue the morning ^_^
Monday, March 26, 2007
Clash of the--OMIHELL it's the week already again
Yesterday we cleaned a lot and then cooked a bunch and then finally settled down to watch a movie. The boy got me Clash of the Titans LAST weekend, but we never got around to checking it out. For some reason I was under the impression it was a lot older than '81, at least like...'77, or maybe '72. That isn't that much older, but the 70s seem very different from the 80s. I guess I was under the impression because Jason and the Argonauts is from '63. Actually, this movie is Ray Harryhausen's last role as super special effects creator extraordinaire, so it wasn't totally off-base of me to think of things connected to him as being more 60s/70s.
I'm pretty sure Perseus looks like a Greek version of my sister's boyfriend, which was sort of weird. I mean it's not a perfect, but there is definitely a distinct resemblance.
I really enjoyed the movie. It felt like something that could make a good video game, actually, but then that's why I was given it as a place-holder for God of War 2 (they were out of copies.) The boy was quick to note that all of the actors who were "too good to be in this movie" were playing the gods, which is sort of funny. Would never have recognized Laurence Olivier, though. Did a good job at portraying the uber-bastard nature of Zeus, though. The look of beast-fellow Calibos
remind me of not so much this
as the devil puppet in Jan Svankmajer's Faust, which the above reminded me of enough that I quit looking for an actual picture of it.
RIGHT.
Anyways, now I really do want to see Jason and the Argonauts.
In other news, I can't believe it's Monday. Not only that, but it's raining...
Phoo.
OH and I got my first check from Ziff Davis. I'm officially officially a freelancer now, I guess. Whoo hoo.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Instant Gratification
Yesterday featured, among much Mother playing, a bizarre confluence of events that led to me desiring and acquiring the ability to watch a certain anime at almost the exactly same time.
1. I was reading about pre-European American and was curious about quipu.
2. Wikipedia is always helpful.
3.
In film?
4. The Mysterious Cities of Gold, a Japanese and French co-production. OH WONDER OF WONDERS. I was just about to tell my friend who is stockpiling anime for our upcoming club meetings to look for it when...
5. I found it out would be showing THAT VERY EVENING.
Needless to say, it was awesome. Totally old-school animation and music. Unfortunately the English dub, but that even added some charm. Can't wait for next Saturday.
1. I was reading about pre-European American and was curious about quipu.
2. Wikipedia is always helpful.
3.
In film?4. The Mysterious Cities of Gold, a Japanese and French co-production. OH WONDER OF WONDERS. I was just about to tell my friend who is stockpiling anime for our upcoming club meetings to look for it when...
5. I found it out would be showing THAT VERY EVENING.
Needless to say, it was awesome. Totally old-school animation and music. Unfortunately the English dub, but that even added some charm. Can't wait for next Saturday.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Yet Another Food Blog
Last night I finally went grocery shopping at the store where I work. We're going to attempt gyudon tonight, which should be easy enough, especially since the rice is already done:
I got some salmon to have for lunch with some nori and whatnot. I call it onigiri, but I probably shouldn't...
What I have known for a long time is that I am pretty much the antithesis of Japanese cooking. Well, not entirely, but at least as far as presentation goes. I really REALLY don't care. I mean, clean dishes are nice when available, but as far as the actual food goes I just want it to taste like it should. If it TASTES like seaweed and grilled salmon with a bit of soy sauce and freshly steamed rice, then that is awesome. That picture is particularly horrid due to the fact that I wrapped it and put it in the fridge. I KNOW that the seaweed will get all soggy and I KNOW that it's poor form to do it that way. I also know that it's not folded or rolled or compacted correctly. Hopefully the soggy seaweed won't change the fact that it's YUMMY. I have had store-bought soggy seaweed ones with no complications, so I imagine it will be fine.
What surPRISES me is that while the grocery store around the corner has canned salmon, the Japanese one does not. Really, it's just as well, because I'm sure I'd be charged an arm and a leg for it. Next time I feel like fakey-onigiri, I'll just get the canned stuff and see how that is, cuz buying grilled every time might be ridiculous. Of course, it is so incredibly cheap for me to have perfect store-bought onigiri that I may as well take advantage of it while it lasts.
Brought home some recently expired yomogi anpan (mugwort...? flavored red bean buns) and they are tasty. Also had some bibimbap prepared veggies, although I was too hungry to wait for the rice and decided to eat the salmon rather than fry an egg to go with it. More like salad that way.
Hopefully my stomach will survive all this stuff :D
In other news, I finally went into the awesome British import store. It is pretty much around the corner give or take a couple blocks.
Fingers and Malteasers remind me of being ill in Northhampton (although I was better by the time we were eating candy :D) I kinda began to miss England a bit : / They had meat pies and Lucozade and all sorts of things. Real live Mars bars, too, although as you can see I didn't get one. That was a distinct oversight. NO JAFFA CAKES. That was almost a personal affront, but I managed to withstand it. The Lion bar and Kinder Bueno almost made up for it by making me nostalgic for France at the same time. Although I ate more Country than Bueno. Note also that I have purchased a pack of the FABLED Jammie Dodgers. Although I've heard of them before, this will be my first time having any.
I got some salmon to have for lunch with some nori and whatnot. I call it onigiri, but I probably shouldn't...
What I have known for a long time is that I am pretty much the antithesis of Japanese cooking. Well, not entirely, but at least as far as presentation goes. I really REALLY don't care. I mean, clean dishes are nice when available, but as far as the actual food goes I just want it to taste like it should. If it TASTES like seaweed and grilled salmon with a bit of soy sauce and freshly steamed rice, then that is awesome. That picture is particularly horrid due to the fact that I wrapped it and put it in the fridge. I KNOW that the seaweed will get all soggy and I KNOW that it's poor form to do it that way. I also know that it's not folded or rolled or compacted correctly. Hopefully the soggy seaweed won't change the fact that it's YUMMY. I have had store-bought soggy seaweed ones with no complications, so I imagine it will be fine.
What surPRISES me is that while the grocery store around the corner has canned salmon, the Japanese one does not. Really, it's just as well, because I'm sure I'd be charged an arm and a leg for it. Next time I feel like fakey-onigiri, I'll just get the canned stuff and see how that is, cuz buying grilled every time might be ridiculous. Of course, it is so incredibly cheap for me to have perfect store-bought onigiri that I may as well take advantage of it while it lasts.
Brought home some recently expired yomogi anpan (mugwort...? flavored red bean buns) and they are tasty. Also had some bibimbap prepared veggies, although I was too hungry to wait for the rice and decided to eat the salmon rather than fry an egg to go with it. More like salad that way.
Hopefully my stomach will survive all this stuff :D
In other news, I finally went into the awesome British import store. It is pretty much around the corner give or take a couple blocks.
Fingers and Malteasers remind me of being ill in Northhampton (although I was better by the time we were eating candy :D) I kinda began to miss England a bit : / They had meat pies and Lucozade and all sorts of things. Real live Mars bars, too, although as you can see I didn't get one. That was a distinct oversight. NO JAFFA CAKES. That was almost a personal affront, but I managed to withstand it. The Lion bar and Kinder Bueno almost made up for it by making me nostalgic for France at the same time. Although I ate more Country than Bueno. Note also that I have purchased a pack of the FABLED Jammie Dodgers. Although I've heard of them before, this will be my first time having any.
Breakthrough in Pancake Science
Wheat flour!
*chorus of angels*
Not that regular is bad, or anything, but I experimented with wheat today and it's glorrrrious. So yummy! @_@
Next question is how much sugar? I didn't really measure today, since there was barely left in the box, and I think I must have added more than I usually do (probably closer to what the recipe I sort of follow calls for--1/4 cupish--that's to a cup of flour.) They were very tasty. I had them with apple sauce, although I did splurge on super expensive pure maple syrup...
I'm actually quite proud of myself. Having been up an hour I saved 18 dollars at the grocery store (which means that by buying loads of cheap soup, I effectively got that expensive maple syrup free, plus a bit) AND I took the garbage out AND I made a tasty breakfast. Floor sweeping and videogaming to follow...
*chorus of angels*
Not that regular is bad, or anything, but I experimented with wheat today and it's glorrrrious. So yummy! @_@
Next question is how much sugar? I didn't really measure today, since there was barely left in the box, and I think I must have added more than I usually do (probably closer to what the recipe I sort of follow calls for--1/4 cupish--that's to a cup of flour.) They were very tasty. I had them with apple sauce, although I did splurge on super expensive pure maple syrup...
I'm actually quite proud of myself. Having been up an hour I saved 18 dollars at the grocery store (which means that by buying loads of cheap soup, I effectively got that expensive maple syrup free, plus a bit) AND I took the garbage out AND I made a tasty breakfast. Floor sweeping and videogaming to follow...
Friday, March 23, 2007
Bible Lit
I found a syllabus to a rather demanding sounding Bible Lit class. What interests me MOST, however, is the assigned reading. Presumably this is the important stuff minus the unimportant stuff, i.e. the stuff smart people should read. I'll get to it sometime after the History of the World, probably in the the wake of a couple novels... Pretty excited, though, because the boy is always very impressing with his biblical knowledge. He said it's ok to skip the pointless parts, and I figure this is a good way to do so without giving myself the task of deciding what is skip-worthy.
# 1 - Week 2 - Genesis 1-11 (11 chapters)
# 2 - Week 3 - Genesis 12-19, 21-22, 24-25, 27-33, 37-45, 48-50 (31 chapters)
# 3 - Week 4 - Exodus 1-5, 7-12, 14-20, 32-34; Numbers 11-14, 20-24; Deuteronomy 34 (31 chapters)
# 4 - Week 5 - Joshua 1-10, 23-24; Judges 3, 4, 6-8, 13-16, 19-21; I Samuel 1-7 (31 chapters)
# 5 - Week 6 - I Samuel 8-10, 12-18, 31; II Samuel 5-7, 11-18; I Kings 1-11 (32 chapters)
# 6 - Week 7 - I Kings 12-14, 17-19, 21; II Kings 1-7; Amos 1-9; Hosea 1-3, 11-14; Micah 7 (31 chapters)
# 7 - Week 8 - II Kings 16-25; Isaiah 1,5-9,11,12,35,53,61; Jeremiah 1, 7, 18, 29-31; Zephaniah 1-3 (30 chapters)
# 8 - Week 9 – Daniel 1-6; Ezekiel 1-4, 8, 36, 37; Ezra 1, 3-7; Nehemiah 1-5, 8, 9; Psalms 1,2,22,51,118. 137-138, 150 (34 chapters)
# 9 - Week 10 - Job 1-7, 38, 40-42; Ecclesiastes 1-3, 12; Proverbs 1-8, 15, 31; Song of Sol. 1, 8 (27 chapters)
#10 - Week 11 - Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2; Mark 1-16 (20 chapters)
#11 - Week 12 - Matthew 5-18; John 1-21 (35 chapters)
#12 - Week 13 - Acts 1-28 (28 chapters)
#13 - Week 14 - I Thess. 1-5; Galatians 1-6; Romans 3-8; I Corinthians 1, 5-15; II Cor. 1-2 (31 chapters)
#14 - Week 15 - Philippians 1-4; Colossians 1-4; Titus 1-3; Hebrews 1, 11, 12; I Peter 1-5; I John 1-5; Revelation 1-5, 21-22 (31 chapters)
# 1 - Week 2 - Genesis 1-11 (11 chapters)
# 2 - Week 3 - Genesis 12-19, 21-22, 24-25, 27-33, 37-45, 48-50 (31 chapters)
# 3 - Week 4 - Exodus 1-5, 7-12, 14-20, 32-34; Numbers 11-14, 20-24; Deuteronomy 34 (31 chapters)
# 4 - Week 5 - Joshua 1-10, 23-24; Judges 3, 4, 6-8, 13-16, 19-21; I Samuel 1-7 (31 chapters)
# 5 - Week 6 - I Samuel 8-10, 12-18, 31; II Samuel 5-7, 11-18; I Kings 1-11 (32 chapters)
# 6 - Week 7 - I Kings 12-14, 17-19, 21; II Kings 1-7; Amos 1-9; Hosea 1-3, 11-14; Micah 7 (31 chapters)
# 7 - Week 8 - II Kings 16-25; Isaiah 1,5-9,11,12,35,53,61; Jeremiah 1, 7, 18, 29-31; Zephaniah 1-3 (30 chapters)
# 8 - Week 9 – Daniel 1-6; Ezekiel 1-4, 8, 36, 37; Ezra 1, 3-7; Nehemiah 1-5, 8, 9; Psalms 1,2,22,51,118. 137-138, 150 (34 chapters)
# 9 - Week 10 - Job 1-7, 38, 40-42; Ecclesiastes 1-3, 12; Proverbs 1-8, 15, 31; Song of Sol. 1, 8 (27 chapters)
#10 - Week 11 - Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2; Mark 1-16 (20 chapters)
#11 - Week 12 - Matthew 5-18; John 1-21 (35 chapters)
#12 - Week 13 - Acts 1-28 (28 chapters)
#13 - Week 14 - I Thess. 1-5; Galatians 1-6; Romans 3-8; I Corinthians 1, 5-15; II Cor. 1-2 (31 chapters)
#14 - Week 15 - Philippians 1-4; Colossians 1-4; Titus 1-3; Hebrews 1, 11, 12; I Peter 1-5; I John 1-5; Revelation 1-5, 21-22 (31 chapters)
1UP Action
Recent previews:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Harvest Moon Wii
Heroes of Mana
Kotoba no Pazuru: Mojipittan DS
Mercury Meltdown Revolution
More next week. Aside from that, the localization club has been discussing Ainu folklore a bit, with a new member even busting out some translation! I'm really psyched!
Annnnd this morning I posted the boy's encounter with Calorie Mate on my game blog, complete with photo documentation. Hoo hoo hoo ha ha ha! (For some reason there is a formatting problem in the permalink that doesn't show up on my actual page. Dunno what to do with that, so it's just going to be there, I guess.)
Look forward to more awesome soon :D including...I sure hope, Freeloaders stuff! I really dunno when we're launching this thing, but I'm gonna start writing columns soon to put some pressure on. Really the only person I'd be stressing out would probably be the boy, which is horrible and he doesn't need it, but I hope whoever needs to get their act together will do it when he tells them to!! RAR!!
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Harvest Moon Wii
Heroes of Mana
Kotoba no Pazuru: Mojipittan DS
Mercury Meltdown Revolution
More next week. Aside from that, the localization club has been discussing Ainu folklore a bit, with a new member even busting out some translation! I'm really psyched!
Annnnd this morning I posted the boy's encounter with Calorie Mate on my game blog, complete with photo documentation. Hoo hoo hoo ha ha ha! (For some reason there is a formatting problem in the permalink that doesn't show up on my actual page. Dunno what to do with that, so it's just going to be there, I guess.)
Look forward to more awesome soon :D including...I sure hope, Freeloaders stuff! I really dunno when we're launching this thing, but I'm gonna start writing columns soon to put some pressure on. Really the only person I'd be stressing out would probably be the boy, which is horrible and he doesn't need it, but I hope whoever needs to get their act together will do it when he tells them to!! RAR!!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The Disturbingly Short Life of a Banana Almost-Scone
I'm a little upsetting! All I wanted was to munch a banana not-really-scone with my coffee this morning and a problem I have had before has returned again for this new batch.
They're already old.
For some reason, the banana, which was getting old to begin with, hence the baking with it, likes to ROT inside my scones. Or something. I imagine that's what must be taking place because it doesn't TASTE very good. Last time I blamed the older than a week or so cream cheese, but it turns out that it's probably the bananas.
When my mom used to make banana bread we never refrigerated it, so when the boy suggested my bready biscuity sconey description-defying banana (oatmeal, walnut--for those not keeping tabs, I make these fairly often) bakery items should maybe go there I was caught unawares. I guess it makes sense, though.
Next time I'm doing applesauce ones, anyhow, cuz the boy likes them better, what with all the cinnimininium.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Ok, Ok, I'm working--I promise!!
But first, a story:
I just learned the word 忌まわしい, which means "abominable." What better way to remember this word than attach it to something I can automatically associate with?
忌まわしいsnowman
But I knew there must be a word for snowman, possibly even other than スノーマン, so I looked it up. There it is: 雪だるま. "Yuki" as in snow, "daruma" as in...one of those funky little dolls...
Yeah, those.
Anyhow, so it's more like a "snow founder of Zen" ;D
Interestingly enough (or perhaps, not surprisingly, given Hokkaido o_O), they also have a word for "abominable snowman:" 雪男. This is the one that literally means "snowman," although something about that must be abominable to Japanese sensibilities. Now I'm very intrigued :D
Anyways, uhm, 忌まわしい means "abominable."
Now I'm gonna go accomplish things! That aren't blogging! W00t!
I just learned the word 忌まわしい, which means "abominable." What better way to remember this word than attach it to something I can automatically associate with?
忌まわしいsnowman
But I knew there must be a word for snowman, possibly even other than スノーマン, so I looked it up. There it is: 雪だるま. "Yuki" as in snow, "daruma" as in...one of those funky little dolls...
Yeah, those.
Anyhow, so it's more like a "snow founder of Zen" ;D
Interestingly enough (or perhaps, not surprisingly, given Hokkaido o_O), they also have a word for "abominable snowman:" 雪男. This is the one that literally means "snowman," although something about that must be abominable to Japanese sensibilities. Now I'm very intrigued :D
Anyways, uhm, 忌まわしい means "abominable."
Now I'm gonna go accomplish things! That aren't blogging! W00t!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Awesome o_o
Friend Ian just sent this to me since he knew I was writing an essay. Not a research paper by any means, more of an application to teach ESL in Japan (maybe...shhh...) but...
WOW.
Happy +10
Top 5 Eurovisions to Watch
The exciting conclusion! Remember to see the videos here.
5: France - LES FATALS PICARDS - L'Amour à la Française
I took two stills each of 5-2.
France was feeling bilingual. This song is sort of like Romania's, only better. It has character, but it's sort of corny character. I wonder if this is their best song; the music is cool, but...meh. 5 is such a meh place. I'm sort of puzzled why they even got this high up.
4: Switzerland - DJ BOBO - Vampires Are Alive
And they're not kidding about it.
Yes, it's a dance track about vampires, probably in love, living forever.
"And we will be forever young." Just watch this and laugh, because it's so serious.
3: Belgium - THE KGMS - Love Power
Stands for Krazy Mess Groovers--they're funkin' it up.
Yeah, this is one of the songs I actually like. I'm a sucker for a good jam, and I mean, that's what this contest is supposed to be about, right?
2: Israel - TEAPACKS - Push the Button
I know this is silly to say in a European contest, but (screw it, I'm not European) this guy scores points for his accent.
This song is UBER schizo. Language and style all change at a moments whim. Even the video goes animated after a bit.
In any case, it's totally brilliant...and about terrorism. I love this song. Gotta find more stuff by this band. Hey, they have a myspace, how convenient :D
AND NOW...
THE MOMENT...
YOU'VE ALL BEEN...
...
...
WAITING FOR!!!
1: Germany - ROGER CICERO - Frauen Regier'n Die Welt
How...can you not love this guy?
He's got a great voice, a great look, and a great SWING BAND backing him up. Amazing. And he sings in German. It's beautiful.
He's also got a myspace, where you can check out more songs.
I can't wait to see him knock everyone's socks off in May!!
So there you have it. Of course, there are other songs that aren't...terrible. There are other songs that sound interesting, but these and to a lesser extent those in the last entry are the ones that I'm particularly interested in seeing come party time. And I really do want to throw a party this year, as opposed to last year, where I actually FORGOT to even watch it. BWA HA! *cough* :D
5: France - LES FATALS PICARDS - L'Amour à la Française
I took two stills each of 5-2.
France was feeling bilingual. This song is sort of like Romania's, only better. It has character, but it's sort of corny character. I wonder if this is their best song; the music is cool, but...meh. 5 is such a meh place. I'm sort of puzzled why they even got this high up.
4: Switzerland - DJ BOBO - Vampires Are Alive
And they're not kidding about it.
Yes, it's a dance track about vampires, probably in love, living forever.
"And we will be forever young." Just watch this and laugh, because it's so serious.
3: Belgium - THE KGMS - Love Power
Stands for Krazy Mess Groovers--they're funkin' it up.
Yeah, this is one of the songs I actually like. I'm a sucker for a good jam, and I mean, that's what this contest is supposed to be about, right?
2: Israel - TEAPACKS - Push the Button
I know this is silly to say in a European contest, but (screw it, I'm not European) this guy scores points for his accent.
This song is UBER schizo. Language and style all change at a moments whim. Even the video goes animated after a bit.
In any case, it's totally brilliant...and about terrorism. I love this song. Gotta find more stuff by this band. Hey, they have a myspace, how convenient :D
AND NOW...
THE MOMENT...
YOU'VE ALL BEEN...
...
...
WAITING FOR!!!
1: Germany - ROGER CICERO - Frauen Regier'n Die Welt
How...can you not love this guy?
He's got a great voice, a great look, and a great SWING BAND backing him up. Amazing. And he sings in German. It's beautiful.
He's also got a myspace, where you can check out more songs.
I can't wait to see him knock everyone's socks off in May!!
So there you have it. Of course, there are other songs that aren't...terrible. There are other songs that sound interesting, but these and to a lesser extent those in the last entry are the ones that I'm particularly interested in seeing come party time. And I really do want to throw a party this year, as opposed to last year, where I actually FORGOT to even watch it. BWA HA! *cough* :D
It's that time again...
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2007 HELSINKI
I always pretend I'm going to sit through all the videos and make my judgements based on this extensive research, but it's all but impossible to not content yourself with the first round of the chorus on some of the more typical (i.e. awful) ballads. This entry will be the start of my TOP TEN WORTH A LOOK picks. Some of them are actually good, some of them are strange. Here we go...
10: Sweden - THE ARK - The Worrying Kind
Yes, those are little black wings. The song is ok. I mean, it's better than a ballad.
9: Romania - TODOMONDO - Liubi, Liubi, I Love You
Has some character, corny as it is.
8: Denmark - DQ - Drama Queen
A) Someone didn't get the memo that being a drama queen is a bad thing. B) Wrong kind of queen. I still semi-approve.
7: Andorra - ANONYMOUS - Salvem El Món
Wholesome lyrics, catchy emo style, teeny boys. Whee. They have a tempo. I'm proud of them for that.
6: Ukraine - VERKA SERDUCHKA - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
WTF.
This will be continued later. I have to pretty literally RUN to work right now. These videos are up at the media center, so go check'em out!
I always pretend I'm going to sit through all the videos and make my judgements based on this extensive research, but it's all but impossible to not content yourself with the first round of the chorus on some of the more typical (i.e. awful) ballads. This entry will be the start of my TOP TEN WORTH A LOOK picks. Some of them are actually good, some of them are strange. Here we go...
10: Sweden - THE ARK - The Worrying Kind
Yes, those are little black wings. The song is ok. I mean, it's better than a ballad.
9: Romania - TODOMONDO - Liubi, Liubi, I Love You
Has some character, corny as it is.
8: Denmark - DQ - Drama Queen
A) Someone didn't get the memo that being a drama queen is a bad thing. B) Wrong kind of queen. I still semi-approve.
7: Andorra - ANONYMOUS - Salvem El Món
Wholesome lyrics, catchy emo style, teeny boys. Whee. They have a tempo. I'm proud of them for that.
6: Ukraine - VERKA SERDUCHKA - Dancing Lasha Tumbai
WTF.
This will be continued later. I have to pretty literally RUN to work right now. These videos are up at the media center, so go check'em out!
Tuna Melt (and assorted comments)
I will tell you how to make it!
2 slices of wheat bread
1 slice of provolone cheese
4 smallish tomato slices (or maybe two big)
1 individual sized can of tuna (I used StarKist solid white albacore packed in WATER.)
dab to your tastes of mayo (Don't need much more than a tsp. I used Miracle Whip.)
dab to your tastes of mustard (I used lello)
some little celery bits (for crunch!)
Preheat oven arbitrarily to something that will melt cheese. Make the bread into toast. Put the last four things in a bowl and mix well. Scoop mix onto one piece of toast, followed by tomato, followed by cheese, followed by other toast. Bake (for maybe longer than I did because the cheese could've been a little more melty, but I was hungry dammit!)
Serves 1 well with grapes and water.
---
Yeah, I cooked a bit yesterday. Finally made chicken and broccoli as well (which is yummy and goes over sketti.) The boy actually liked it, which is a feat. He doesn't generally approve of chicken.
---
Go figure! Chanpon updated with a list of what to see in Tokyo. They have also apparently started a series on cyberpunk.
---
My localization club finally has posters. It's amazing. I love it. Hopefully we'll keep getting more people and it will be a super groovy sub-community.
---
Hi, actual Mother 3 translation with progress happening on it! Nice to meet you! Hope to see your actualized self soon!
---
I just had a great weekend, so this week better have something cool up its sleeve to compare.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Oh! Hi, everybody :D
Those are the locations of my readers for the 13-17th--click to enlarge. Wow! Google Analytics is pretty fancy. I had no idea Piipo-kun would be such a driving force for my traffic ;p
FFXII: Revenant Wings, anyone?
See, now I KNOW that you're all here, so you can't hide by not posting comments ;D I mean, c'mon, we could all talk about cool indie games, or something.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Indistinct Ramblings
So, since I'm not allowed to eat anything after breakfast because of my doctor's appt this afternoon, of course even thought I'm not really hungry I'd like to be munching on something. Like a donut. Orrrrr some of the leftover korokke in the fridge, or anything, really. Not being able to just makes everything look that much tastier.
I realized I haven't really been blogging about work. It hasn't been so bad lately, especially since I changed my schedule to MWF. Actually, though, the past couple weeks have just been MW since they mixed up the day I wanted off. Tomorrow I took just because it'll be nice to have a day after this whole doctor thing to relax and play games, turn in a preview, that sort of thing, probably get stuff to make TUNA MELTS with.
Anyhow, yesterday at the store there were two bloggable events. I'm going to start looking for bloggable events to keep my mind off the numbing boredom. The first is that I was viciously attacked by a pointy plastic bag. It left stingy little scratches on my hand, and I'm not sure what I did to provoke that.
SECONDLY, however, was an even better thing. This Chinese family came in with twin boys, about 3 years old, maybe? 4? They both had hi-lighted faux hawks to match their parent's highlights. The mom and one boy had blond, while the dad and the other boy had red. It was...totally adorable. The twins were sitting in the shopping cart sword-fighting with the sticks that indicate where your groceries end and that other guy's begins. They looked so sad when I had to take them away *sniff* but they still blew Erin and I kisses as they were wheeled out the door.
I wonder what age it is that kids don't sort of auto-smile back at you. There was a baby in the other day and babies always always smile at me, unless they're already cranky and crying or something, too busy squirming uncomfortably to notice me. All the babies are my friends :D These kids, though, the two twins, they were just sort of blank. More the, "I don't know you, why are you smiling at me?" face. The kisses were just a demo of their no doubt charming personality programmed by their parents.
SO IT GOES!
Seems like the Freeloaders project will be under way soon. Not sure exactly when, but there is certainly no lack of material to use. All we need is the template and I can write up a storm. Hopefully the video of Pixeljam will get edited somehow. Seems like everyone is too busy, but maybe the boy and I will just do it tomorrow...
I realized I haven't really been blogging about work. It hasn't been so bad lately, especially since I changed my schedule to MWF. Actually, though, the past couple weeks have just been MW since they mixed up the day I wanted off. Tomorrow I took just because it'll be nice to have a day after this whole doctor thing to relax and play games, turn in a preview, that sort of thing, probably get stuff to make TUNA MELTS with.
Anyhow, yesterday at the store there were two bloggable events. I'm going to start looking for bloggable events to keep my mind off the numbing boredom. The first is that I was viciously attacked by a pointy plastic bag. It left stingy little scratches on my hand, and I'm not sure what I did to provoke that.
SECONDLY, however, was an even better thing. This Chinese family came in with twin boys, about 3 years old, maybe? 4? They both had hi-lighted faux hawks to match their parent's highlights. The mom and one boy had blond, while the dad and the other boy had red. It was...totally adorable. The twins were sitting in the shopping cart sword-fighting with the sticks that indicate where your groceries end and that other guy's begins. They looked so sad when I had to take them away *sniff* but they still blew Erin and I kisses as they were wheeled out the door.
I wonder what age it is that kids don't sort of auto-smile back at you. There was a baby in the other day and babies always always smile at me, unless they're already cranky and crying or something, too busy squirming uncomfortably to notice me. All the babies are my friends :D These kids, though, the two twins, they were just sort of blank. More the, "I don't know you, why are you smiling at me?" face. The kisses were just a demo of their no doubt charming personality programmed by their parents.
SO IT GOES!
Seems like the Freeloaders project will be under way soon. Not sure exactly when, but there is certainly no lack of material to use. All we need is the template and I can write up a storm. Hopefully the video of Pixeljam will get edited somehow. Seems like everyone is too busy, but maybe the boy and I will just do it tomorrow...
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
New rule
Well, probably not, but let's just say that it is: Always do a google search for a picture, unless of course, you have one.
You may not come up with this:
but the offsides rule image is fun to run anyways.
See also: Star Nose
PS - Does anyone know how to get image links within the blogger html template? I looked up the code, but I wasn't sure how to fit it into the way they make you add images here...
Saturday, March 10, 2007
BotanicalGardening.com
So, now that my dad's website, BotanicalGardening.com is starting to shape up, I decided it was time to throw down some links. Obviously it's still a work in progress, but he's got some nifty pictures up and is in the middle of his coverage of the Philadelphia Flower Show, so I figured now is a good time to add him to my Wonderfulity list :D
Basically, my dad is an uber genius at plants. He went to school to be a lawyer, and that's what he was for a while, but his hobby was always plants and he was so obsessed that he taught himself TONS of stuff. He writes books and articles, takes pictures, was a curator at the New York Botanical Garden, and now he's head landscaper at a mansion outside of NYC. The fun stuff can pay off if you work hard enough at it! :D Anyways, his website will keep accumulating super useful info for people into pretty much any kind of gardening, so if you like flowers, seeds, leaves and dirt, it's THE place to watch!
Basically, my dad is an uber genius at plants. He went to school to be a lawyer, and that's what he was for a while, but his hobby was always plants and he was so obsessed that he taught himself TONS of stuff. He writes books and articles, takes pictures, was a curator at the New York Botanical Garden, and now he's head landscaper at a mansion outside of NYC. The fun stuff can pay off if you work hard enough at it! :D Anyways, his website will keep accumulating super useful info for people into pretty much any kind of gardening, so if you like flowers, seeds, leaves and dirt, it's THE place to watch!
Keeping score at GDC
I wrote a lot of stuff this past week, with more to come post-embargo. Here are the linkzorz:
Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising
Crysis
Hellgate: London
Mario Strikers Charged
Big Brain Academy
Fury
Luxor 2
Tabula Rasa
GDC blogs one and two describe my various adventures through the week, and just for kicks, I'll throw in some links for the two blogs I did today about some wicked free games: Sprout and Guxt.
Ta-da! I know I've been lazy about linking my stuff, but moo. Honestly, if you read and enjoy this blog, you should probably just be reading my videogame blog anyways ;p
Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising
Crysis
Hellgate: London
Mario Strikers Charged
Big Brain Academy
Fury
Luxor 2
Tabula Rasa
GDC blogs one and two describe my various adventures through the week, and just for kicks, I'll throw in some links for the two blogs I did today about some wicked free games: Sprout and Guxt.
Ta-da! I know I've been lazy about linking my stuff, but moo. Honestly, if you read and enjoy this blog, you should probably just be reading my videogame blog anyways ;p
Thursday, March 08, 2007
A man died last night
So yeah, I was reading about Warhammer when all of the sudden a little before 1 am I heard a lady yelling for help and banging on doors in the hall. I went out to see what was happening and she said she didn't know what happened to him and to call 911, so I did.
I think I did a really good 911 call, started right off with the address, very clearly and calmly. Anyhow, it got a little messy in the next minute because suddenly the neighbor rushed out and dialed them on HER phone. So, while I'm pretty sure the ambulance showed up after my lady dispatched one, the other lady ended up getting CPR instructions out first, so after that I was sort of uselessly on the phone. At least it was co-opted cleanly, that's the important thing.
I never met the guy before, but he was there not moving and we had to move him onto the floor. 47 graying hair in PJs. We hoisted him off the bed and I paid special attention to not bump his head. They were tilting his neck and his eyes rolled open, but he wasn't actually there. I sort of wonder if he was alive at that point or not.
The other neighbor had gone downstairs to let the ambulance people in the front door, so I took up the position I would occupy for the next hour as human door-stop. They brought LOTS of people. All of them went in and for some reason I had the impression they would rush away just as fast as they rushed in (which is really why I was still standing there.) I mean, it's an emergency, right? They bundle the person into an ambulance and zoom away sirens blaring, right? They didn't even bring a backboard at first. Instead they cleared out the living room quickly, throwing an easy chair up on the couch and creating an effective ER right there. I'm not sure what exactly they were doing, mostly trying to get him to breath. They definitely shouted, "Clear!" when they defibbed. They don't make that up for TV...
Eventually a guy went down for a backboard (which, what the difference between that and a stretcher is, I'm not clear on) but he just had it standing against the wall. At one point they were on the phone trying to reach a physician, but got put on hold... Anyways, time sorta melted. The other neighbor who called 911 was actually friends with him, so she was quite upset. The lady who came out of the apartment crying was still inside. I held the door.
After a while they started coming out and when he said it the first time it was almost like I didn't understand it, because I really didn't expect the guy to die. I mean, he wasn't very lifelike when I saw him, but I figured if an ambulance was coming he would be ok. We thought it was a seizure at first. Actually he had had a huge heart-attack, which apparently had been in the works for a couple days, because he had even gone to a doctor for arm pain and been prescribed pills. It's too bad that for whatever reason they didn't decide to run some tests for his heart.
We waited for the police and they were collecting statements. I was strangely ignored and just held the door. The coroner WAS exactly like a media interpretation, at least what I think of one as. Older guy with a gray mustache and an accent (something Eastern.) Held the door. Eventually they sealed off the area as a potential crime scene, which is what they have to do because he died. Before that I did go in to see if anyone needed anything, because I felt pretty useless at the door, and he was all covered up with his feet poking out. I really didn't think that would happen. Once it was sealed off, though, the lady and the neighbor were sitting outside talking, about the complete unreality of the situation, what a joker he had been (she had thought at first that he had been kidding when he fell over clutching his arm), how much liked music, how they had had the whole day planned tomorrow. At first I assumed she must live there, too, but she was actually visiting from two hours south.
That's really the thing that got me the most. She had just arrived that evening and they had been having a great time and now he was dead. You don't really think of your friends dying. I mean, you try not to think of anyone dying, but you realize that grandparents and eventually parents will. Outside of a freak accident, your friends don't just up and die on you, or so you think. But somebody has to go first. This is what I got to thinking after I confirmed the police didn't need a statement from me, I said how sorry I was and went home. I had a boy to hug and that lady didn't anymore, that's what made me cry.
Managed to finish my research, but I didn't get to bed until a little after 3:30. Hopefully I won't be cranky, today. It's going to be quite exciting since I have stuff to cover, and I want to be performing in tip-top. Had ham, eggs, and cereal for breakfast with some coffee, so I'm at least full of calories to burn. Gotta run...
I think I did a really good 911 call, started right off with the address, very clearly and calmly. Anyhow, it got a little messy in the next minute because suddenly the neighbor rushed out and dialed them on HER phone. So, while I'm pretty sure the ambulance showed up after my lady dispatched one, the other lady ended up getting CPR instructions out first, so after that I was sort of uselessly on the phone. At least it was co-opted cleanly, that's the important thing.
I never met the guy before, but he was there not moving and we had to move him onto the floor. 47 graying hair in PJs. We hoisted him off the bed and I paid special attention to not bump his head. They were tilting his neck and his eyes rolled open, but he wasn't actually there. I sort of wonder if he was alive at that point or not.
The other neighbor had gone downstairs to let the ambulance people in the front door, so I took up the position I would occupy for the next hour as human door-stop. They brought LOTS of people. All of them went in and for some reason I had the impression they would rush away just as fast as they rushed in (which is really why I was still standing there.) I mean, it's an emergency, right? They bundle the person into an ambulance and zoom away sirens blaring, right? They didn't even bring a backboard at first. Instead they cleared out the living room quickly, throwing an easy chair up on the couch and creating an effective ER right there. I'm not sure what exactly they were doing, mostly trying to get him to breath. They definitely shouted, "Clear!" when they defibbed. They don't make that up for TV...
Eventually a guy went down for a backboard (which, what the difference between that and a stretcher is, I'm not clear on) but he just had it standing against the wall. At one point they were on the phone trying to reach a physician, but got put on hold... Anyways, time sorta melted. The other neighbor who called 911 was actually friends with him, so she was quite upset. The lady who came out of the apartment crying was still inside. I held the door.
After a while they started coming out and when he said it the first time it was almost like I didn't understand it, because I really didn't expect the guy to die. I mean, he wasn't very lifelike when I saw him, but I figured if an ambulance was coming he would be ok. We thought it was a seizure at first. Actually he had had a huge heart-attack, which apparently had been in the works for a couple days, because he had even gone to a doctor for arm pain and been prescribed pills. It's too bad that for whatever reason they didn't decide to run some tests for his heart.
We waited for the police and they were collecting statements. I was strangely ignored and just held the door. The coroner WAS exactly like a media interpretation, at least what I think of one as. Older guy with a gray mustache and an accent (something Eastern.) Held the door. Eventually they sealed off the area as a potential crime scene, which is what they have to do because he died. Before that I did go in to see if anyone needed anything, because I felt pretty useless at the door, and he was all covered up with his feet poking out. I really didn't think that would happen. Once it was sealed off, though, the lady and the neighbor were sitting outside talking, about the complete unreality of the situation, what a joker he had been (she had thought at first that he had been kidding when he fell over clutching his arm), how much liked music, how they had had the whole day planned tomorrow. At first I assumed she must live there, too, but she was actually visiting from two hours south.
That's really the thing that got me the most. She had just arrived that evening and they had been having a great time and now he was dead. You don't really think of your friends dying. I mean, you try not to think of anyone dying, but you realize that grandparents and eventually parents will. Outside of a freak accident, your friends don't just up and die on you, or so you think. But somebody has to go first. This is what I got to thinking after I confirmed the police didn't need a statement from me, I said how sorry I was and went home. I had a boy to hug and that lady didn't anymore, that's what made me cry.
Managed to finish my research, but I didn't get to bed until a little after 3:30. Hopefully I won't be cranky, today. It's going to be quite exciting since I have stuff to cover, and I want to be performing in tip-top. Had ham, eggs, and cereal for breakfast with some coffee, so I'm at least full of calories to burn. Gotta run...
Cliffhanger
It's 3:30 in the morning, I'm very tired, just finished taking notes on the stuff I'm looking at for GDC tomorrow. Took longer than I thought because a man died...I want to blog about it a lot, but it's going to have to wait.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
March 1st
Sitting here on the edge of my seat with a stomach full of smoothie (which went much SMOOTHER, har har, this time) and 9-grain French toast. Good breakfast. Lots of food, though. Anyhow: ANTICIPATION.
I found this crazy ESL tutor opportunity where I can make about as much, but possible more (depends on what my schedule at the store would end up being, but honestly happiness is worth more than like 20 bucks...) than I do at my grocery store job for tutoring five hours a week. It's brilliant insanity and I just need that e-mail to come shooting through my inbox that says in flaming glory, "YES, YOU ARE THE ONE." My reply to the ad was pretty powerhouse, so we'll see what happens...
hopefully soon.
I sent it last night...
ARRRGH! Updates forthcoming...I HOPE.
--
Oh, and this... Why am I suddenly referencing a song from the '60s? I dunno, ask the editor @_@
--
Nothing yet : / I thought for sure I would get something this afternoon while I was at work, but nooooooooooo dice...
I found this crazy ESL tutor opportunity where I can make about as much, but possible more (depends on what my schedule at the store would end up being, but honestly happiness is worth more than like 20 bucks...) than I do at my grocery store job for tutoring five hours a week. It's brilliant insanity and I just need that e-mail to come shooting through my inbox that says in flaming glory, "YES, YOU ARE THE ONE." My reply to the ad was pretty powerhouse, so we'll see what happens...
hopefully soon.
I sent it last night...
ARRRGH! Updates forthcoming...I HOPE.
--
Oh, and this... Why am I suddenly referencing a song from the '60s? I dunno, ask the editor @_@
--
Nothing yet : / I thought for sure I would get something this afternoon while I was at work, but nooooooooooo dice...
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