| Musings |
[Aug. 25th, 2009|10:40 pm] |
Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, better known as Ted Kennedy, a member of the United States Senate since 1963, one of the last great liberal lions, and the last of the Kennedy brothers, has died tonight. May God rest his soul, for he has surely earned it, with all the years of hard work, aspirations, disappointments, setbacks, and comebacks.
Ted Kennedy lived through more history than many of his colleagues ever learned, and played a role in the making of much of that history. He was elected to his brother John's old seat in 1962. He struggled all his life with the tragedy and elusive grandeur that surrounds the Kennedy name. In the mid 60s, he was in a plane crash; a fellow Senator dragged him out of the wreckage and he survived, although he was bothered ever after by the piercing his lung had sustained in the crash. He lost two brothers in five years, John in 1963 and Robert in 1968. There were many times that he could have been President; indeed, many thought he should have been President, both for his own talent and to finish the work his brothers had left undone. In 1968, Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago and several other leaders of the Democratic Party asked him to run at the Convention against Hubert Humphrey, to take his brother's place. He refused. Many people assumed he would run in 1972, and once again give Richard Nixon nightmares of the Kennedy name. When he did not, they felt sure he would run in 1976, but he did not run then either. He seems to have felt burdened by his brothers, burdened by destiny. Perhaps he thought that if he reached for the same prize both brothers had sought, he would share their fate. And who can blame him? Particularly since his brother Robert's large family had been put into his care after his brother's death. When he finally did run, in 1980 against Jimmy Carter, it was an uphill battle against all odds, and ultimately he did not prevail. Perhaps the world would be different if he had prevailed, in the primary and in the general election, and perhaps the world would be better too. In the face of defeat, he gave himself to his work, immersing himself in committee work and the crafting of legislation. There were more crises, more setbacks, more failures, yet he persevered through all of them somehow, and every time made a comeback.
It is hard, writing this, to believe he is truly gone. Ted Kennedy was a fixture of the nation's political life for over two generations. He was part of the history of the Senate even while he was still living. The world changed around him, yet he remained much the same. God only knows how many people were fostered into politics by him, and how many more were inspired by his example.
To be fair, Ted Kennedy was not a perfect man. But he does not need to be to have our respect. Unlike other men who served long years in the Senate, such as Strom Thurmond or Jesse Helmes, Ted Kennedy will be remembered because of what he built, and what he spoke out for. For over thirty years he pushed the argument that in America, in this day and age, everyone should have health care. The tides have gone up and down and up and down and up again with that argument, and all the while, whether he was winning or losing, Ted Kennedy was there, pushing for it. He spent decades trying to get justice for the people of Northern Ireland, who have suffered dreadfully at the hands of the United Kingdom through the years. He consistently supported increasing the minimum wage.
The 2008 campaign was, it turns out, the last ride of Ted Kennedy. Oddly enough, his speech at the Democratic National Convention was the first time I had seen him give a speech. I was entranced. It was not so much the words he was saying, but the knowledge that this man had seen it all in his lifetime, and still had the fight to carry on, even though he was in cancer treatment then and probably in a great deal of pain. He never let it on. He was still talking about the future, talking about the grand things that would be done in the Congress the next year. It was said of him that he never let illness, or anything else, get in the way of his work. He could have been coughing up a lung, and he would still appear on the Senate floor for a speech or a vote.
Ted Kennedy, who was 77, was the only one of the Kennedy brothers to die a peaceful death. His eldest brother, Joe Jr., was shot down by German artillery during World War II. John, the luckiest of them all (he was given the Last Rites on four separate occasions), was assassinated. So was Robert. Compared to them, particularly John and Robert, Ted seems much smaller than they were. Perhaps this is because he was the youngest brother, or perhaps it is because John and Robert were killed while still young, their fires undimmed by age and disappointment. Yet even if Ted Kennedy were the smallest of the Kennedy brothers, he still stands tall as a giant among the petty and cringing figures that pass for statesmen today. I do not know if we will ever see his like, or the like of his brothers, again. The new generation of Kennedys seems in many ways a pale mockery of all that was and all that could have been. But it is well, in this difficult time, to remember what it was that made the Kennedy brothers great. They carried in them a sense of responsibility, a sense that they all owed something to their country. They were the sons of great wealth -- their father had made millions in the stock market -- and yet never developed the sense of entitlement that so often afflicts the sons of great wealth. Rather, they felt that everyone had a responsibility to serve their country, and because they had been born wealthy, they had a responsibility to give more of themselves to their country than other men. And give they did. John gave service to his country twice, once in the Navy during World War II and later in politics. His service in the Navy nearly killed him, and his service in politics did kill him. Robert served his country first as a counsel to Senate committees, then as his brother's Attorney General, then as Senator from New York, and then as a man who would be President. He gave and gave and gave of himself, until he gave his life. And last of all there was Ted, who served long years in the Senate, always being torn between people's expectation that he run for President and his own belief that he was unsuited to it. It is ironic that it was the descendants of a poor Irish immigrant who best embodied the principle of noblesse oblige, of service to the nation, while so many of the rest of us have forgotten it.
I have no words left, and in fact have spoken too long on this matter. I will only say this much more: god speed, Ted Kennedy. |
|
|
| And so it begins... (and Black Lagoon questions at the end) |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|01:25 am] |
... another three day descent into madness, sleep deprivation (well, more than usual), and walking around dressed up like fictional characters. Yes, my friends, convention season is upon us, and I am about to go down to Sakuracon tomorrow. It should be fun. It helps my mood immensely that I have lately, almost by coincidence, been getting back into watching AMVs. And Hellsing Ultimate. Gotta love it.
But most of all, there is my touchstone, my all time favorite, the thing that surpasses and outdays practically everything in my book.
Black Lagoon.
I love Revy so damn much. She's amazingly hot, of course, and the fact that she's incredibly dangerous and could kick my ass eighty-five ways to Sunday makes her even more hot. But it's more than that. She has a way about her, a don't-give-a-damn attitude, a free spiritedness, a willingness to take whatever life throws at her and persevere in spite of it. I admire that. At the same time she has a tragic air about her as well, the air of someone who has suffered immensely and endured far more than I ever likely will. And yet she rejects pity. She doesn't usually make a habit of pitying herself, and doesn't take it from others.
Her and Rock are an awesome couple. At least, they are in my head. Rei Hiroe (the author) has been making hints in that direction for some time now, but it's all been kept very quiet, which rather frustrates me. I don't want to see them being all lovey-dovey; that would defeat the point of the show, and in any case would break character in all kinds of ways. At the same time though I'd like to see a little bit more than a hint every chapter or two. Ultimately, I guess, I'd like to know if I'm just imagining things, or if I and everyone else who noticed this really were right all along. And her childhood. Revy's youth is a great mystery. Again we've had little hints here and there. We know she grew up poor in Mott Street in New York City's Chinatown. We know she committed her first murder at 14. We know that she racked up quite a record with the NYPD before she skipped the country and relocated to warmer climates. We know people at the NYC 27th Precinct still remember her (crossover with Law and Order anyone? I'd like to see what Goren thought of her, lol...). We're pretty sure that while she taught herself how to shoot, it was Boss Chang who taught her the two-fisted gun fu that she uses with such beautiful deadliness. I, for one, would like to know what the hell went on with her in her younger years. Was she always an orphan, or did she have parents once? Who is that man with the pillow over his face, the first man she ever killed? Was it just a random killing or was there a dark purpose to it, or was it vengeance for something? What did she do to make the hardbitten cops of the 27th precinct remember a teenage hoodlum from Chinatown? Teenage hoodlums from Chinatown are usually a dime a dozen. Which leads one to believe that she must have done something more, something to distinguish herself from your run of the mill, garden variety punk. And how the hell did she meet Boss Chang anyway, and how did she come to learn gun fu from him? So many questions...
... which, I suppose, is what fan fiction is for. XD I'd rather not write it out, but at the same time I don't know that Hiroe will ever actually get around to it. So in the meantime that he doesn't, I'll probably end up writing my own speculations. That is, when I'm not working on my own creative projects :D
And now, I'm freaking tired. I should be sleeping. I've gotta get up at 7pm if I'm gonna catch the train tomorrow, and if I don't catch the train I'm, well, kinda boned. Not badly, I suppose, but it would be a pain.
Black Lagoon euphoria keeps me awake. It always does. Maybe I can persuade my body that it needs to sleep, and my mind can be filled with dreams of a glorious, violent heroine, drenched in blood and sweat and gunsmoke, a hurricane of passion and fury and sorrow and pathos. It was my housemate who once said that if I met her I would kiss her, even if she wound up shooting me afterwards. Thinking back on it, I'd have to agree with him. It's one of those things that demands to be done, even if it looks as crazy as jumping off a cliff.
Now, for the Black Lagoon question, to all the people who read this who have seen/cared about Black Lagoon, a completely hypothetical question for you:
Casting call for a live action Black Lagoon movie, with John Woo and Quentin Tarantino to direct! If you were to pick the cast, who would you pick?
My own answer: I think it'd probably have to be mostly a cast of unknowns, like Star Wars was back in the 70s. I'd probably have to go to New York City and wander around Chinatown to find someone who could play Revy... the closest I can think of among established actresses is Zhang Ziyi. As my housemates have said many a time, she seems to be really good at playing crazy sluts, and while Revy isn't exactly a slut (at least not anymore... she did work for Rowan "Jackpot" Pigeon, heheh) she definitely has a fairly large helping of crazy. The only problem with Zhang Ziyi is her English. Revy speaks English as her native tongue. It would take a hell of a lot of voice training to get Zhang Ziyi to sound like a New Yorker. Anyway, tell me what you think! |
|
|
| post-election analysis |
[Nov. 5th, 2008|11:11 am] |
Okay, so it was a very good night last night. I now feel satisfied that America doesn't fuck up everything it touches and that maybe, just maybe we have a chance of getting this stuff right now.
Barack Obama completely thumped John McCain in the electoral vote, winning now by 349 electoral votes to 162 for McCain, with 26 votes currently unassigned due to the closeness of the race in Missouri and North Carolina. He also won the popular vote by 52.4% to 46.3%, with 1.3% divided among third party candidates. Pretty good work, I'd say. A lot of people, particularly in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and the upper Midwest, have said that if Obama was white, he would have had this thing in the bag months ago. As it is, he had it in the bag anyway. Whatever people who are still afraid of him may think, I think they will be proven wrong. Or proven right, but not how they think. Diana believes that the average American wants everything to improve without having to sacrifice anything for it, for things to get better without anything actually changing. Of course this is impossible, and Obama knows this; he just called for a new spirit of sacrifice for the greater good in his victory speech last night.
All I know for sure is that, somewhere, the spirits of Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy are smiling and tears are streaming down their ghostly faces.
That said, a mountain of work still needs to be done. The Republican Party, as presently constituted, will not die an easy death. The radical wing of the party will probably gain more influence; I would rather this didn't happen, but it's something that I and everyone else has to prepare for.
As far as specific results on the down ticket races, some of them were very disappointing. Gary Trauner didn't win in Wyoming, which sucks. Bob Lord, Judy Baker, Joe Garcia, and Dennis Shulman seem to have all lost. Charlie Brown in CA-04 is stuck in an extremely close race. Dan Maffei and Eric Massa did both win in New York though. The biggest, and most pleasant, surprise of the night (apart from the enormity of Obama's victory) was that the voters of Idaho's first district elected Walt Minnick, the Democratic candidate, as their new representative. This is mildly personal for me. My grandmother grew up in Post Falls, a village in Northern Idaho. This place is also where the Aryan Nations camped out in the 90s. It is vindicating to see that this place has, maybe, begun to turn around.
Senate races are crazy business. Al Franken and Jeff Merkley might still win, but it will probably be close, although Minnesota will be closer than Oregon. The populous counties in Oregon still have to finish counting their votes. Jeanne Shaheen, Kay Hagan, and the two Udall boys all won. Lunsford and Musgrove lost. Martin may have to face Chambliss in a runoff election in December.
Oh, and Alaska seems to have decided that it wants to be the new capital of crazy people. WTF mates? You seem to have reelected one convicted felon to the Senate, and another one to the House of Representatives, and your governor is a woman who believes that the end of the world is coming and that this is a good thing! WTF mate?! I mean, sure, vote for who you want to, but good god, against a rogues gallery like that, we still lost? I realize Ted Stevens is an incumbent and brings home the bacon in spades, but for heaven's sake, the man was convicted! Does that mean nothing?! *fumes* ... okay, Alaska ain't as bad as all that. Realistically that Congressman and Senator were incumbents of extremely long standing, but still...
Anyway, more later. |
|
|
| and now for the bigger thing that happens in November... |
[Nov. 1st, 2008|01:09 am] |
SO! Who all's doing Nanowrimo this year? *looks out into the crowd hopefully*
You don't have to be doing it at full tilt, goodness knows I'm not. But at the very least, all us writing buddies ought to get back into the old novel writing mode. It's been far too long since we were all working on something, together, with the singleness of purpose that we felt in the past. No excuses now. I know I've been a less than stellar example/participant/fellow writer in the past, but those days are gone. Let's get out and DO THIS THING!
And to all of you who are new to Nanowrimo? Best of luck, go get it! YOU CAN DO IT!
*goes back to working on his own novel that he should really be working more on than he is, heheh* |
|
|
| a funny string of sentences |
[Sep. 18th, 2008|06:32 pm] |
Before our roleplay session today, I had to clean the kitchen so that there was room to make tonight's dinner. As I was finishing up and Diana was starting to make potato soup, this is what I said:
Me: "Well, it turns out that this kitchen is only mostly clean. There's a big difference between mostly clean and all clean.
Now mostly clean is slightly dirty, but with all clean, there's really only one thing you can do with all clean.
You pull out some pots and make a new mess."
Diana: *giggles* |
|
|
| Black Lagoon - insert incomprehensible fanboyish sputtering here |
[Sep. 8th, 2008|01:35 am] |
gjkjgajghdkjagkasdjhgdgdkkjaldsjkjaajk
Black Lagoon novel! Black Lagoon third season! Black Lagoon scanlations!
Why haven't I been paying closer attention to this fandom? Why? I love it so!
Realistically, the novel may not be as good as I'd hope it to be; the English translation, if we ever get it, will almost certainly be no great shakes. Even the Twelve Kingdoms English novel was a little bit iffy in spots, even if over all it was spot on. On the other hand this is an excellent incentive to improve my Japanese...
And the idea of a third season of Black Lagoon just warms my fanboy heart. Warms it, I tell ya!~
A public service announcement: a large amount of Black Lagoon manga is found in scanlated form at OneManga.com, if anybody didn't know already.
I love this stuff so much. XD
DAMN IT! I could have bought that novel while I was in Japaaaaaaan XDDD
Oh well, Kinokuniya might have it. They have the Black Lagoon manga in Japanese, why not the novel? And otherwise there's always the internet... |
|
|
| Zetsubou-Sensei vs. Kemonozume, presented by Marusaia |
[Mar. 9th, 2008|05:57 pm] |
You can find a lot of weird, interesting, and funny stuff on Youtube. This is one such thing. It's a mashup of the Sayounara Zetsubou-sensei opening animation and the Kemonozume opening theme song. It's a surprisingly good match. The song and the images match up nicely, and both of them (to me at least) evoke the flavor of pre-World War II Showa Japan, a world that had a foot in two centuries, a world that was a madcap blend of kimono and suits, shamisen and jazz music, katana and trains. Pre-war Showa fascinates me. It's a world that, looking back on it, seems beautiful, melancholy, flashy, and understated all at once, and the fact that the era was such a mix of old and new only adds to the fascination. It's no wonder I'm writing fiction based in the period.
Anwyay, here it is. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) minako134, this is for you! Doesn't it fit well? Heheh, watching this is making me really want to see Sayounara Zetsubou-sensei. Time to finally take your advice XD
This isn't mine. You can see the original and comment on it here |
|
|
| In Memory of a Great Man |
[Mar. 6th, 2008|10:18 am] |
After some thought, I've decided to write something brief on the topic of Gary Gygax's death.
Gary Gygax was born in 1938, and died this last Tuesday, March 4, 2008, at the age of 69. To a very large extent, he is the one we all have to thank for developing the D&D roleplaying game. Without him, it's anybody's guess if the game would have come about or not, and it's anybody's good guess if the roleplaying genre in general would have developed. All things considered, even if we don't know it, many of us owe a lot to the crazy guy who thought up the idea of combining fantasy novels with tabletop wargaming in the late 60s. Here was a man who did something amazing.
Gygax cut his teeth on fantasy and science fiction novels, enjoyed them throughout his life, and wrote a few of them himself over the years. While I have no way to vouch for whether they were good or not, and while some of you may not be big fans of D&D, here is a man who is truly inspiring: he went out and lived his dream, grabbed it with both hands and lived it. How many people can say they have pursued their dreams as he did? He loved gaming, he was obsessed with gaming, so therefore, he tried to go into business as a gamer. He didn't always succeed, but he did well for himself. He also never stopped playing, never left the hobby that had so inspired him. Even though his health had been in decline for the last several years, he had been gaming actively up until January of this year. Here was a man who would not be kept down by anything.
In his own words: "I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else."
Go well, Gary Gygax. You've certainly had an effect. |
|
|
| Weird Stuff Spam |
[Mar. 5th, 2008|12:12 pm] |
Phoenix Wrong: No Shit Sherlock flash video from New Grounds. Two things: Numa Numa, and the 4chan Dio WRYYYYYYYYYYYYY flash video audio. THIS MAKES IT WORTH WATCHING, DAMMIT~!
Phoenix Wrong 3 flash video from New Grounds. Got soem funny stuff in it. Ted Stevens once again rears his head in the world of internet jokedom (because, after all, "The Internet isn't something you dump something on, it's not a big truck, the internet is a series of tubes." I'm sorry, whether the man's idea was right or not, that line has to be one of the funniest I've ever heard.
MUDAH DA! This is the original Jojo's Bizarre Adventure flash video from 4chan that started it all (I think...). It may not make much sense if you've seen Jojo's... |
|
|
| A Fast Food Public Service Announcement |
[Mar. 1st, 2008|09:54 pm] |
Fun fact about the menu at Wendy's: the Baconator hamburger sandwich is made of a bun, two quarter pound beef patties, two slices of American cheese, six strips of bacon, mayonnaise, and ketchup. It could easily be called by the alias of "Heart Attack in a Bun." In fact, I think the healthiest thing in that sandwich would have to be the ketchup, because it sure isn't the mayonnaise or the bacon (the beef and the cheese hold marginal positions, and the bun is omitted because it probably has next to no nutritional value anyway).
Another fun fact: the next time you're at Wendy's and short on cash (or at Wendy's in general), instead of ordering a double or triple patty burger, order several burgers off the dollar menu. It's cheaper, and you end up getting more food in the end. For the amount of money it takes to buy a 3/4 pounder hamburger at Wendy's, you can get four double stacks at 99 cents each, and you can get all the usual fixings on the double stacks that you could get on a regular burger. So unless you've got a real hankering for chicken burgers (or even if you do, I think they're on the dollar menu somewhere), the dollar menu is the way to go.
That's about it for the moment. Just thought I'd share all that. I imagine a lot of the people on my f-list don't always have a lot of money (or would rather spend their money on something besides food), so I figured you'd all appreciate a money-saving device for the next time you're at a burger joint. |
|
|
| 漢字 |
[Mar. 1st, 2008|01:08 am] |
松江
雫
金多郎
金多朗
徳川 |
|
|
| politics |
[Feb. 11th, 2008|02:44 pm] |
So, this last Saturday I went to the Washington state Democratic party caucuses held up at Western's campus and cast my vote for the delegates who will elect other delegates who will elect other delegates still, who will finally, eventually elect the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States. It was a confusing process, frought with madness and rules lawyering. Ultimately, it was a rather interesting and gratifying process, even if it did take a very long time.
And yet, I feel nervous and introspective, and as I reflect on the events of last Saturday (and the preceding year and a half, or for that matter, the last three years, since I and many others started thinking about the 2008 presidential election as soon as the 2004 election was over)... as I reflect on the events of the foregoing period, I wonder if I cast my vote wisely.
This kind of introspection and second-guessing is nothing new for me, really. It's pretty much standard procedure in everything I do, whether it's taking a trip to Seattle or doing something extremely important. In this case, though, I think a little introspection would not be a bad idea, given that voting is one of the few times people in this country can make their opinions known directly and relatively accurately. Certainly this presidential election is at least as if not more important than the last two.
In a nutshell, my dilemma is, which Democratic candidate do I want to be president? It is not such a clear question as it seems. Both candidates have some degree of merit to them, and both of them have traits that make me want to never have anything to do with them. Barack Obama, as my friend Justin pointed out, hsa been rather vague on specifics, arguably in the same way that Woodrow Wilson was in 1912. He is probably the only person in the Senate who has appeared on a stage with both Bernie Sanders (an independent socialist) and Joe Lieberman (an I-can't-believe-he's-not-Republican Democrat). Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing I am not sure. One of Obama's greatest traits is that, more than anyone else in politics today, he seems to be a conciliator, the type of man who can get a bunch of people who don't like him to actually listen to him, and the type of man who can get a bunch of people who disagree to come up with something they can agree on. As much as people say he is inexperienced, he really isn't, no more than anyone else. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, has served eight years in the US Senate (you can argue that her years as Bill Clinton's wife count, but her role was entirely informal then). John Edwards served only one term in the Senate. Obama, by contrast, has served four years in the US Senate and eight years prior in the Illinois State Legislature. In any event, it matters little; all of them have spent less time in public office than John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee.
Then we have Hillary Clinton. My impressions of Clinton have not been favorable, for someone who grew up in the 90s. My perception of her is that she is an equivocator, something of a coward, and someone who is willing to renegotiate everything she supposedly stands for. The clincher, for me, was the fact that she not only voted to invade Iraq (which even at the time was a sketchy premise) but has never apologized for making that mistake. And a mistake it was. Clinton can talk all she likes about establishing a universal health care system (ha ha), but that system could have been built and funded many times over with the money the US has pissed away in Iraq. Personally, I would rather be $9 trillion in debt and have socialized medicine than be $9 trillion in debt, stuck occupying a distant country, with the consequence of everybody hating your guts. And yet, somehow, in spite of all this, Hillary Clinton is perceived in some quarters as more reliable than Obama. For some reason which I do not entirely understand, she is getting the blue collar vote and the Hispanic vote and the women's vote in droves.
And then there is the matter of the process of the nomination. Paul Krugman, a man whose opinion I generally respect, wrote today in the New York Times op-ed page that he preferred Clinton to Obama, but that he nonetheless thought both would be fine candidates. However, what he was disturbed by was the tendency of supporters of one candidate to not wish to support the other should the other be nominated. He observes this mostly among Obama supporters. I must admit this is true to some extent in my case. While I would probably vote for Clinton were she nominated, it would feel like swallowing medicine, and I do not particularly trust her. Krugman also feels that the Obama "movement" is becoming a cult of personality. He is not the first person to make this charge, and I wonder at times if there is some truth to it. For myself, I will say that I am hungry for a hero, a person who will rule justly and wisely. I feel that this country has not had such a person in a very long time, and that it needs such people, not only in the presidency, but in as many positions in the government as possible.
And yet, a part of me also feels that politicians shouldn't have to be heroes. The age of heroes, for good or ill, seems to be over. They're the kind of people you read about in novels and history books or play as in videogames and tabletop RPGs. They're not the kind of people that get elected to public office, or if they are, it seems to be very rare.
I will probably be going through this back-and-forth with myself for the next several months. I will say that Mr. Krugman is right on one point: the Clinton hating should drop down. Obama, if he wins, should win on his own merits. He should win he was truly better, not because Clinton was worse.
Treat others as you would wish to be treated... it's an old adage, but I'd say it's still true.
For the record, I have been and for the foreseeable future will be supporting Obama, on the grounds that he actually seems to think instead of following prepackaged policy scripts, and on the related note that he seems far more genuine. This is not to say I still do not have my doubts, but for now, he's my candidate. And, if push comes to shove, I would almost certainly vote for Clinton in the general election. |
|
|
| Now for something fun! |
[Jan. 25th, 2008|11:51 pm] |
So here's a variation on a meme I've seen floating around on LJ. I'm going to list the first few lines of my favorite ten or so songs, instead of the ten that show up on a random selection off of my iTunes. See if you can guess what they are!
01. "I never really feel quite right / I don't know why, all I know is something's wrong / every time I look at you you seem so alive / tell me how do you do it / walk me through it / I'm following every footstep."
02. "As I was going over the far-famed Kerry mountains / I met with Captain Farrell and his money he was counting / I first produced my pistol and I then produced my rapier / said 'stand and deliver, for you are a bold deceiver!'"
03. "Yozora o miage hitori / houkiboshi o mita no / isshun de hajikete wa / kiete shimatta kedo / anata no koto omou to / mune ga itaku naru no / ima sugu aitai yo / dakedo sora wa tobenai kara"
04. "I like big butts and I cannot lie / you other brothers can't deny / that when a girl walks in with a itty-bitty waist / and a ROUND thing in your face / I get sprung!"
05. "Goku tama ni, boku tama ni / yume ni yabureru hito no kakera ga / yama no you ni mieru / kami-sama ni, hotoke-sama ni / sugari naiteru hito no kakera ga / yama no you ni mieru"
06. "Akaku nijimu taiyou wa subete o / terashitekita ima mo mukashi mo / kono yuuyami ni egaiteru souzou wa / hatashite kono te ni oenai mono na no ka"
07. "So one two three take my hand and come with me because you look so fine that I really wanna make you mine / I said you look so fine that I really wanna make you mine / oh four five six come on and get your kicks now you don't need the money when you look like that do ya honey?"
08. "Cultivate your hunger before you idealize. Motivate your anger to make them all realize. Climbing the mountain, never coming down. Break into the contents, never falling down.
09. "Kirameite yurameite aoki yume maihanatsu Hana moeyuku"
10. "I'm lying in bed, I'm in room 26, thinking on things that I've done Like drinking with squadies and bulling my boots, I'm counting the medals I've won."
There, I actually came up with ten of them! Guess names and artists. Have fun! |
|
|
| Snatch |
[Jan. 22nd, 2008|12:28 am] |
*in British accent* "I fucking hate Pikeys!"
I actually do not hate Pikeys, or the Irish Travellers as they are more commonly known. This is merely a reference to Guy Ritchie's 2000 film "Snatch." It is awesome. Everybody should see it. It is a kick in the goddamn pants. The characters in it are brilliant, like an Englishman named "Turkish" who promotes underground boxing, a sweet-talking, tattoo-sporting Irish Traveller, and a crazy goddamn Russian arms dealer.
This isn't much of a review, because I'm tired right now. I'll just say that it's an awesome movie. And I recommend it wholeheartedly. It is very funny, in a somewhat macabre sort of way. Well worth watching. |
|
|
| Roleplay fun |
[Dec. 26th, 2007|06:54 pm] |
We just played through most of the dungeon of "The Sons of Gruumsh" today. We were playing for something like seven or eight hours. It was great fun.
There were a couple of golden lines, like:
The Ghael Eladrin (an elf celestial): "Come and meet your doom, you foul pig-faced halfmen!" (referring to the orcs)
The half-elf Paladin: "May the Loyal Fury guide my hands against your orcish devilry!" (right before he used smite on the boss)
Just sharing. :D
To explain the references... the game takes place in the world of Faerun, aka the Forgotten Realms. "Pig-faced halfmen" refers to the fact that orcs in D&D are frequently described as having faces that look like somewhat like pigs. "The Loyal Fury" is a name given to Torm, god of duty, loyalty, obedience, and paladins. My character is a devotee of his. |
|
|
| Street Fighter IV and Chun-li |
[Dec. 25th, 2007|03:39 pm] |
SFIV is coming out soon... and Chun-li's thighs are still safe. They are still the same huge, thick, lovely, voluminous thighs that she had back in Street Fighter II.
As a Chun-li fan, and a fan of Chun-li's thighs, this makes me happy. Only problem now is figuring out which platform SFIV is going to be on...
Still though... Chun-li's thighs are serious business, man!
Hah, and the comments are hilarious...
"I would not be surprised if thighs are the new boobs!" Agreed! At the very least, they work on Chun-li.
Hmm... I wonder if the fact that I'm agreeing with all of this should bother me... heh, probably not. I gave up being sane a while ago. |
|
|
| Merry Christmas! |
[Dec. 24th, 2007|10:20 pm] |
As it is a little after 10 PM here on the Pacific coast, and many of you are already in/past Christmas day, I wanted to wish you all a merry Christmas. I wish you all the best of everything as the year draws to a close and the new one is about to begin. I wish you all happiness, and hope that your new beginnings go well. This is, after all, a time of renewal. The world (at least north of the equator) is at its coldest now, and the days are short, but now the days begin to grow longer again... and for those who live south of the equator, you guys have cooler weather to look forward to, though from what you've said you'll enjoy it ;)
Anyway, I wish you all a merry Christmas, and all the best in the New Year!
Fröhliche Weihnachten, und alles gut gewünscht.
メリ クリスマス！ 青春の日をおめでとう！
Heh, it's probably not "omedetou," but whatever! I feel happy and sentimental! It is Christmas! Tell someone you love them and care about them! Give a gift, even if it's something little!
EDIT: It occurs to me that what I wrote wasn't the word for New Year's at all. That's 新春、 shinshuu, literally "new spring." What I wrote was 青春、seishun, Maito Gai's infamous phrase for "springtime of youth!"
Well... on second though, congratulating people on their springtime of youth is a good thing too... :D |
|
|
| Win |
[Dec. 19th, 2007|01:36 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | black betty by ram jam | ] |
Well, all results are now in. I received a C in Japanese 201, a B in German 401, and an A in Professor Wright's ancient Japanese history course, as well as a passing grade in the Kanji course. This leaves me with an overall gpa for the quarter of 3.0. Not my best ever, but I am happy with it. Things could certainly have gone better in Japanese, but all things considered I think everything went well.
On another note, minako134 got me a Christmas present. It is sometimes amazing how well people understand me. Then again, in her case, I shouldn't be too surprised, since we share many of the same "vices." :D
Man's Ruin: Geek Culture by *spacecoyote on deviantART
Hmm, I do believe all of those things have a little bit of my soul. Computers, check... children's card games (XD), check, somewhat... video games, check, somewhat... gaming, major check!... caffeinated sodas (Mountain Dew and Pepsi, I'm looking at you!), uber check... catgirls in bikinis... do you honestly need to ask? |
|
|
| ぼくがかつ！ I win! |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|03:21 pm] |
Well, it is done, finally. I have completed all of my final exams and projects for this quarter. I think I even did well on them, and maybe even better than well. Even after three years at this I can't really predict what I did well on and what I crashed and burned at, but I am sure I passed the Kanji class. It took retakes on several of the quizzes, but I did it. I even passed the final exam for that class, and the last two quizzes I needed to retake, on the first try. That really made me happy.
The Japanese 201 final went well too. I smoked the kanji and dictation sections, and I think I got most of the grammar section all right. I can say with a fair degree of certainty that I can construct keigo sentences now, in both exalting and humble forms... but whether I can remember the exact circumstance in which I need to use this or that form is another matter entirely. I also know the giving and receiving verbs better than I did the first time I was tested on them... I think I got that part alright. I'll find out next Thursday at the latest... and it probably will be then too, unless Professor Deguchi was really quick about grading them. He might have been for all I know... he said something about going to Japan for a visit over break.
And then, last of all, there was Ancient Japanese History with Professor Diana Wright. Professor Wright is well known for being a hard ass, but curiously I've never had problems with her. While she can be a hard ass, it's not usually in a way that bothers me. However, her standards are very high, so I was nervous about the exam. I think I did well on it, but again, I'll know for sure sometime next week.
Slightly related piece of news: the film Eijanaika by Shohei Imamura is awesome, crazy, and made of win. It is a fun show. It's got its depressing moments, but the rest of it is so funny that it more than makes up for it. Heartily recommended.
Question to the world at large... what happened to Radioblogclub? I went to what I thought was their website today to listen to music, and I got some page that didn't look right. Have they been bought out or shut down or something? What happened? I want my free online music!
EDIT
Also, what with one thing and another, I am beginning to doubt whether I'll be able to go to Japan on study abroad this spring. I still intend to go, one way or another... so in the end I will probably spend the same amount, just in different places. I dunno, it kinda bothers me that I dropped the ball on this one. I'll try and see if I can still get over there in spring, but given that the official deadline was November 1st, and that there was a lot of important stuff that needed to be turned in then that I didn't realize I needed to turn in until the 29th or so (yay for not checking e-mail accounts + e-mails from universities going into junkmail... wtf really?!)... I am just doubtful that it is still possible at this point. It really does make me sad. I had been having second thoughts about it earlier on in the quarter, but by the time I put the application in I had decided I would go for it, and I would be happy with the result whether I got in or not. It's not like I'll be suffering horribly if I just spend the month of June in Japan instead of spring quarter and June and July... it's just the idea of not getting in for such trivial reasons that rankles me. Anyway, enough whining. Time to start acting. I'll check around over the break and at the start of next quarter, before I start feeling ridiculously busy and overworked for a change. And I will tell myself that it's okay if I don't go. A lot of people who are interested in Japan don't spend a quarter of college there. It would be a good experience, but ultimately I can get that experience in other ways. Like graduate school. Hey, there's a mildly intimidating notion... if he weren't so serious my dad would laugh in my face if I said I wanted to get a Masters in history or anthropology or something like that in Japan. But anyhow, that's a decision that's still miles down the road. I cannot plan my whole life out down to a T, after all. At best I can have a general idea of what I want to be doing with my life, and go in that direction. Yeah, I know, "no kidding pal," but it's sometimes hard to make yourself believe this things, especially when you were brought up with the idea of "you work for a company for forty years, you get a gold watch and a pension, and you retire." That's rather boring, and the only way you can do that nowadays pretty much is to work in civil service.
So yeah... weird stuff happening, still enjoying the same kind of life I've been living since I started going to college. After one quarter off campus, I can say that it feels more difficult than living on campus, yet it does have its fine points.
Also, I've been feeling on the verge of some kind of change lately. What exactly it is, who knows... it's just that for a while now I feel as though I've been desperately trying to avoid change, even though I know that to not change is impossible. Hmm. It is sometimes very difficult to accept yourself as you are, to be able to be completely honest with yourself and say, "these are my good points, these are my flaws, they are both a part of me, and I accept all of them." It is very paradoxical that you first have to accept what you don't like about yourself if you want to have any chance of changing it... and, so I'm told, once you've accepted whatever it is, most of the problems associated with it go away anyway. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
contemplative