Long time no see...

I figured I'd get something in, and perhaps a few paragraphs more than a mention that I need to change the header text.


The really sad part is I never did end up using the SQL mess from last time.


Parsed about 30K images from Ajax, which leaves about 75K till I'm done, not really fast going but I've collected a preliminary ~2K to sort through for addition to Wallpapers and humor pictures. It's about time to get looking for New Year's pictures on some of the functional sites though.


No X-Mas wallpaper, my list consisted of 0 items so that's what I got. Didn't really feel the mood this year amid working (despite my vacation time) and everything, just took a lot of time to rest and recover from the year. Didn't want anything though, mind you, finalizing the list for the components I want to replace Asgard with and then I'll order up the new machine (while trying to figure out a name)


Came into work today (slightly late to open cause of Traffic Lights, fuckers going 25 under the limit, and just not wanting to get out of bed) with Star 94 on the Radio playing Panic: at the Disco's - I write sins not tragedies which is the "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the god-damn door" which sounds incredibly awkward for a work song, even if they just radio-silence the "damn".


At the War Room last night David passed me the source book for something called Cthulu Tech so I of course opened it up to see what it was like.

They claim
"Built on Framewerk
Gone are the days that hobbyists wanted intricate, complex mechanics in their games. Simple, intuitive systems like White Wolf’s Storyteller or Eden Studios’ Unisystem are now the order of the day. Even Wizards of the Coast's d20 has been streamlined from its more complicated days.

Framewerk, the proprietary system upon which CthulhuTech is built, is not only simple and intuitive, it is cinematic, exciting, and puts destiny back in the hands of the player. Its easy to grasp nature makes the game straightforward to learn and quick to start. Its clever dice mechanics make even the simplest of task resolutions exciting."

Ladies and gentlemen. The sytem calls for you to roll a number of D10's based on relevant skill expertise, the end value of which is computed via:

A) The Highest Value amongst the dice
B) The sum of any matching die rolls (ie: 4, 4, 6 can be computed as 4 + 4 = 8)
C) The sum of any "straight" of die rolls (ie: 4, 5, 6, 9 can be computed as 4 + 5 + 6 = 15)

Elegant and simple my ass.

There's roughly 20 non-combat skills and 8 combat skills each and the non-combats go all over the place including Crime, Larceny (yes, they're different), Seduction, Persuading, and many many others all of which have at least 5 specializations within them.

It uses a morphed variant of the Fallout system (which I'm sure has a different archetype as the true hier to power, but I don't dabble in anything aside from D&D and D20 Modern) which features 5 Attributes of 1-10 (allocate 35 total across them) and derives relevant abilities from these (Speed is a function of the average of Agility and Strength, etc). Couple in the requisite Min-Maxing of Flaws and Traits.

The oddity of it all though, is you gain generic EXP, which can in turn be used to buy anything: Attributes, Skills, Feats, Attribute-derived abilities.

Suffice to say I spent a good 45 minutes in recitation of this (to humorous effect) and still didn't even touch on the combat system.

Anime-side, not a ton to say since the dying sound card pisses me the hell off, but Macross Frontier is jaw-droppingly amazing. Year in retrospect coming later.

There's probably a simpler approach to this.

Just a quick code post at work, I'd wanted a Halloween image which I clearly don't have access to at work, so keeping it just to the code, and maybe I'll put up something Halloween-y later on (assuming I have images that aren't merely leaning to the gothic side of things) and by later I do mean much later, as in another day, as I'll probably be playing Hellgate all evening.

Anyways, SQL madness

select
DATEDIFF(n, pj_print_time_on, pj_print_time_off) [Print Minutes]
,(CAST(pj_print_counter_end AS int) - CAST(pj_print_counter_start AS int)) [Print Total]
,pj_print_spoilage_qty [Print Spoil]
,(((CAST(pj_print_counter_end AS int) - CAST(pj_print_counter_start AS int))) / (DATEDIFF(n, pj_print_time_on, pj_print_time_off))) [Print per Minute]
,pj_comments [Comments]
,DATEDIFF(n, pj_folding_time_on, pj_folding_time_off) [Fold Minutes]
,pj_total_folded [Fold Total]
,((pj_total_folded)/(DATEDIFF(n, pj_folding_time_on, pj_folding_time_off))) [Fold per Minute]
,pj_folding_spoilage_qty [Fold Spoil]
,DATEDIFF(n, pj_insert_time_on, pj_insert_time_off) [Insert Minutes]
,pj_insert_total [Insert Total]
,pj_insert_spoilage_qty [Insert Spoilage]
,((pj_insert_total) / (DATEDIFF(n, pj_insert_time_on, pj_insert_time_off))) [Insert per Minute]
from print_jobs
where DATEDIFF(n, pj_print_time_on, pj_print_time_off) > 0
AND (CAST(pj_print_counter_end AS int) - CAST(pj_print_counter_start AS int)) > 0
AND DATEDIFF(n, pj_folding_time_on, pj_folding_time_off) > 0
AND DATEDIFF(n, pj_insert_time_on, pj_insert_time_off) > 0
AND pj_entered_date_time > @StartDate and pj_entered_date_time < @EndDate

All it really lacks to truly impress myself is variable declaration to avoid the repeated usage of the mathematics in getting the 'per minute' values.

Musings on Tribal M:tG

Okay, less on the musing sort, more just a listing of notables to pair with my draft experience (Which I really should do a bit more often, they're fun). PS: I <3 Ashling, Liliana was nice to see but I don't do Goblins nor Faeries really, so her color wasn't much for the grand plan.

Planeswalkers

Ajani Goldmane - 2WW - Starting Loyality of 4

+1 : You gain 2 Life

-1 : Put a +1/+1 Counter on each creature you control. Those creatures gain vigilance until end of turn.

-6 : Put a white Avatar creature token into play with "This creature's power and toughness are equal to you life total.

Chandra Nalaar - 3RR - Starting Loyality of 6

+1 : Chandra Nalaar deals 1 damage to target player.

-X : Chandra Nalaar deals X damage to target creature.

-8 : Chandra Nalaar deals 10 damage to target player and each creature he or she controls.

Garruk Wildspeaker - 2GG - Starting Loyality of 3

+1 : Untap two target lands.

-1 : Put a 3/3 green Beast creature into play.

-4 : Creatures you control get +3/+3 and gain trample until end of turn.

Jace Beleren - 1UU - Starting Loyality of 3

+2 : Each player draws a card.

-1 : Target player draws a card.

-10 : Target player put the top twenty cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.

Liliana Vess - 3BB - Starting Loyality of 5

+1 : Target player discards a card.

-2 : Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.

-8 : Put all creature cards in all graveyards into play under your control.

Dual Lands (Reveal or comes in Tapped)

W or R (Giant) Ancient Ampitheater, B or R (Goblin) Auntie's Hovel, B or G (Elf) Gilt-Leaf Palace, U or B (Faerie) Secluded Glen, W or B (Merfolk) Wanderwine Hub

Legendaries

Ashling the Pilgrim - 1R - 1/1 Elemental Shaman

1R : Put a +1/+1 counter on Ashling the Pilgrim. If this is the third time this ability has resolved this turn, remove all +1/+1 counters from Ashling the Pilgrim, and it deals that much damage to each creature and each player.

Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile - 2WW - 2/3 Kithkin Archer

First Strike

Tap : Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile deals 2 damage to each attacking or blocking creature target player controls.

Brion Stoutarm - 2RW - 4/4 Giant Warrior

Lifelink

R Tap : Sacrifice a creature other than Brion Stoutarm: Brion Stoutarm deals damage equal to the sacrificed creature's power to target player.

Doran, the Siege Tower - UGW - 0/5 Treefolk Shaman

Each creature assigns combat damage equal to its toughness rather than its power.

Gaddock Teeg - GW - Kithkin Advisor

Noncreature spells with converted mana cost 4 or greater can't be played.

Noncreature spells with X in their mana costs can't be played.

Horde of Notions - WUBRG - 5/5 Elemental

Vigilance, trample, haste

WUBRG : You may play target Elemental card from your graveyard without paying its mana cost.

Nath of the Gilt-Leaf - 3BG - 4/4 Elf Warrior

At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have target opponent discard a card at random.

Whenever an opponent discards a card, you may put a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token into play.

Sygg, River Guide - WU - 2/2 Merfolk Wizard

Islandwalk

1W : Target Merfolk you control gains protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.

Wort, Boggart Aunite - 2BR - 3/3 Goblin Shaman

Fear

At the beginning of your upkeep, you may return target Goblin card from your graveyard to your hand.

Wydwen, the Biting Gale - 2UB - 3/3 Faerie Wizard

Flash

Flying

UB, Pay 1 Life : Return Wydwen, the Biting Gale to its owner's hand.

Incarnations

Dread - 3BBB - 6/6 Elemental Incarnation

Fear

Whenever a creature deals damage to you, destroy it.

When Dread is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.

Guile - 3UUU - 6/6 Elemental Incarnation

Guile can't be blocked except by three or more creatures.

If a spell or ability you control would counter a spell, instead remove that spell from the game and you may play that card without paying its mana cost.

When Guile is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.

Hostility - 3RRR - 6/6 Elemental Incarnation

Haste

If a spell you control would deal damage to an opponent, prevent that damage. Put a 3/1 red Elemental Shaman creature token with haste into play for each 1 damage prevented this way.

When Hostility is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.

Purity - 3WWW - 6/6 Elemental Incarnation

Flying

If a spell or ability would deal damage to you, prevent that damage. You gain life equal to the damage prevented this way.

When Purity is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.

Vigor - 3GGG - 6/6 Elemental Incarnation

Trample

If damage would be dealt to a creature you control other than Vigor, prevent that damage. Put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each 1 damage prevented this way.

When Vigor is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.

Commands

Austere Command - 4WW - Sorcery

Choose two - Destroy all artifacts; or destroy all enchantments; or destroy all creatures with converted mana cost 3 or less; or destroy all creatures with converted mana cost 4 or greater.

Cryptic Command - 1UUU - Instant

Choose two - Counter target spell; or return target permanent to its owner's hand; or tap all creatures your opponents control; or draw a card.

Incendiary Command - 3RR - Sorcery

Choose two - Incendiary Command deals 4 damage to target player; or Incendiary Command deals 2 damage to each creature; or destroy target nonbasic land; or each player discards all the cards in his or her hand, then draws that many cards.

Primal Command - 3GG - Sorcery

Choose two - Target player gains 7 life; or put target noncreature permanent on top of its owner's library; or target player shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library; or search your library for a creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.

Profane Command - XBB - Sorcery

Choose two - Target player loses X life; or return target creature card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to play; or target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn; or up to X target creatures gain fear until end of turn.

Championers

Boggart Mob - 3B - 5/5 Goblin Warrior

Champion a Goblin

Whenever a Goblin you control deals combat damage to a player, you may put a 1/1 black Goblin Rogue creature token into play.

Nova Chaser - 3R - 10/2 Elemental Warrior

Champion an Elemental

Trample

Thoughtweft Trio - 2WW - 5/5 Kithkin Solider

Champion a Kithkin

First Strike, Vigilance

Thoughtweft Trio can block any number of creatures.

Wren's Run Packmaster

Champion an Elf

2G : Put a 2/2 green Wolf creature token into play.

Each Wolf you control has deathtouch.

Changeling Beserker - 3R - 5/3 Shapeshifter

Changeling

Champion a Creature

Haste

Changeling Hero - 4W - 4/4 Shapeshifter

Changeling

Champion a Creature

Lifelink

Changeling Titan - 4G - 7/7 Shapeshifter

Changeling

Champion a Creature

Tribal Leads

Imperious Perfect - 2G - 2/2 Elf Warrior

Other Elf creatures you control get +1/+1.

G Tap : Put a 1/1 Elf Warrior creature token into play.

Incandescent Soulstroke - 2R - 2/2 Elemental Shaman

Other Elemental creatures you control get +1/+1.

1R Tap : You may put an Elemental creature card from your hand into play. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Sacrafice it at end of turn.

Mad Auntie - 2B - 2/2 Goblin Shaman

Other Goblin creatures you control get +1/+1.

Tap : Regenerate another target Goblin.

Merrow Reejerey - 2U - 2/2 Merfolk Solider

Other Merfolk creatures you control get +1/+1.

Whenever you play a Merfolk spell you may tap or untap target permanent.

Scion of Oona - 2U - 2/2 Faerie Solider

Other Faerie creatures you control get +1/+1.

Flash

Flying

Other Faeries you control have shroud.

Sunrise Sovreign - 5R - 5/5 Giant Warrior

Other Giant creatures you control get +2/+2 and have trample.

Timber Protector - 4G - 4/6 Treefolk

Other Treefolk creatures you control get +1/+1.

Other Treefolk and Forests you control are indestructible.

Wizened Cenn - WW - 2/2 Kithkin Cleric

Other Kithkin creatures you control get +1/+1.

Tribal Enchantments

Boggart Shenanigans - 2R - Tribal Enchantment (Goblin)

Whenever another Goblin you control is put into a graveyard from play, you may have Boggart Shenanigans deal 1 damage to target player.

Eyes of the Wisent - 1G - Tribal Enchantment (Elemental)

Whenever an opponent plays a blue spell during your turn, you may put a 4/4 green Elemental creature token into play.

Faerie Tauntings - 2B - Tribal Enchantment (Faeire)

Whenever you play a spell during an opponent's turn, you may have each opponent lose 1 life.

Favor of the Mighty - 1W - Tribal Enchantment (Giant)
Each creature with the highest converted mana cost has protection from all colors

Hoofprints of the Stag - 1W - Tribal Enchantment (Elemental)
Whenever you draw a card, you may put a hoofprint counter on Hoofprints of the Stag.
2W : Remove four hoofprint counters from Hoofprints of the Stag: Put a 4/4 white Elemental creature token with flying into play. Play this ability only during your turn.

Merrow Commerce - 1U - Tribal Enchantment (Merfolk)

At the end of your turn, untap all Merfolk you control.

Kithkin Pride - 1W - Tribal Enchantment (Kithkin)

Whenever a nontoken creature you control attacks, you may pay W. If you do, put a 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature token into play tapped and attacking.

Prowess of the Fair - 1B - Tribal Enchantment (Elf)

Whenever another nontoken Elf is put into your graveyard from play, you may put a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token into play.

Rebellion of the Flamekin - 3R - Tribal Enchantment (Elemental)

Whenever you clash, you may pay 1. If you do, put a 3/1 red Elemental Shaman creature token into play. If you won, that token gains haste until end of turn.

Fun Extras

Cairn Wanderer - 4B - 4/4 Shapeshifter

Changeling

As long as a creature card with flying is in a graveyard, Cairn Wanderer has flying. The same is true for fear, first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, landwalk, lifelink, protection, reach, trample, shroud, and vigilance.

Forced Fruition - 4UU - Enchantment

Whenever an opponent plays a spell, that player draws seven cards.

Aaah, Fall

Woot, missed September entirely. Somewhere between the job and the diversion-turned-lifestyle that is World of Warcraft I didn't really find the time nor content to eek out a full blown post in that time. A pair of half sorted anime image sites/folders, a partially organized music folder, 2 nearly renamed folders of anime (as I move them from viewed to storage on the USB HD), and the flash fueled distractions of Adventure Quest (58!) and DragonFable (9!) during my semi-unimpaired at Saturday work aren't really contributing to the efforts.

Overlooking the facts that Adult Swim seems to be running both a 2003 Calendar remarked for 2007 events and time-line accurate calendar that claims they were running Blood+ episodes 111-125 over the course of weeknights on the second and third week of September, it appears at present that they'll be replacing Bleach with Death Note after the end of the second "season" chronologically, though Bleach originally actually ran 52-53 as a double episode and this sorta cuts right before the good stuff of the Soul Society so I wonder what it is they're actually doing, or if they genuinely only have the first 2 sets of 26 at their disposal, which would be sad.

So, in the realm of anime here it goes.

I still haven't watched Hayate nor RxJ, I've decided that I'm totally dropping the former but likely to grab and watch the full series batch of the later from Umai.

With Black Order's staff vacations and A.F.K. doing, well, I have no idea what, my progress in Sayonara, Lucky Star, and Gurren Lagann have all ground to a painful halt. I'm eagerly anticipating all 3, but only LS really has any progression outside A.F.K. (Guerrand to completion, though 3 groups have all done the next episode of SZS). Also, I'm kinda curious exactly what the rest of Doujin Work looks like, I didn't think your-mom dropped series.

Darker than Black and Idolm@ster Xenoglossia are both headed towards their respective ends, and the screens for both look promising. I'm holding a bit of hope that DtB'll get picked up again at another date as Hei x Misaki was a fun pairing, or even the more fanart-beloved Hei x Ying.

Someone has taken up the chalice of School Rumble Season 2, which is great news for as much as I detest an unhealthy portion of the cast, it's still amusing enough to counterbalance. I just have to look at it not as romantic comedy/drama but instead as pure school comedy with a bit of Eri service.

Zombie Loan
Somewhere between the random philosophical musings on the nature of existence, the random allies, the shounen-ai, the yuri, the less than stellar production quality, anticlimactic battles, and the numerous major story lines completely left unfinished (Grim Reaper, the Yakuza, Ferryman, and the other Zombie organization, not to mention everything involving the Headmistress and the wolf-spirit) there just isn't much good that I can say about the show. There was certainly potential but all they managed to do was laying characters atop characters, alluding to other events and people, and resolving none of it.

Verdict - It's not getting licensed, I don't see why it would since it'd be nothing either than a waste of money, but save yourself the trouble and skip this one.

Claymore
Okay, so the death of Flora makes me very sad, as she outshone pretty much all the other Claymores in terms of looks and style in her short time amongst the cast. Raki is at least thankfully coming across less like the whiny, lonely, over-entitled brat I grew to hate his as. I'm not overly concerned with the remainder of the Claymore force stationed at Pieta, but I am curious as to what it was that Galatea destroyed in that Church. As an aside, the jumping between falling fragments of the chunk of earth portion of the battle was amazing.

Verdict - Too many pieces still left up in the air so here's hoping for another 26 in a year or two when there's more manga to support it. Also hoping that those 26 involve more than just Claire, I don't think a single Claymore can defeat a Dweller, I think teamwork really is and should be key, both in terms of telling a good story and in terms of logic.

Blood+
Took me what, 3 weeks to eventually pour through all of this? There was a ton less fighting that I hoped for, loss of all the good Sif, Mao accomplishes little since she's essentially encouraging a love that isn't meant to be (and on some levels ticks that "related but not by blood" nerve) but there's just something about cameramen I guess (direct Speed Grapher reference, I admit). Too much of the fighting isn't Saya, and a lot of that isn't even Haji either, too many battles end when Diva's Chevalier's cancel each other out.

Still a few pieces left at the end, namely the origin, purpose, and end of Nathan, given the events after his supposed death.

From the Wiki, did I just miss this part in one of the flashbacks somewhere?

• 1945 James becomes a Chevalier in Berlin. Acting on orders from Amshel, Solomon kills Martin Bormann, another Chevalier and a high-ranking Nazi. End of the Second World War.

Verdict - Glad that everything seemed to land in the proper places and was a fun trip getting there. Some of the flashbacks didn't really suit me, but at least they got the kids out of the picture pretty quickly (since the two of them were Eureka level annoyance combined with Kai's wishy-washy "I can't do anything" versus "I want to protect her"). Definitely glad I found the time to watch it, but not sure I'd do it again given the chance. Needed more Sif.

Bleach Movie : Memories of Nobody
Senna > Rukia & Inoue. But that's from a perspective that stopped when Soul Society did. Takes a bit of time, and plenty of oddness to get to the actual meat of the story (the last 20 minutes of warfare) but at least it's a decent trip. Being someone who stopped before even the wind-down of Soul Society I was pleased to just watch the old crew go to town against some fresh blood. Kenpachi's fight was too ridiculously over-the-top one-sided to keep a straight face at. Nice to see Rukia's "Blue Moon" since obviously she didn't do any fighting in the series through the course of Soul Society.

Verdict - Didn't quite inspire me to pick Bleach up again yet, but came close. Will probably have to pick up the manga though (yet I've been saying this about a ton of other series as well, and while I did DL Claymore's I haven't yet gotten to it.)

-- Since starting this both Lucky Star and Doujin Work have seen some loving, so I'll get to those, Jeanne, and the new season's pickings whenever I find the time to post again.

The problem with sending all your pawns out first...

...is that they're easily out maneuvered and captured. And when it comes down to the end game, having a Pawn cross can easily change the course of the game.

So yeah, I finished Death Note, 37 Episodes in a bit over 2 weeks, thoughts on that in a moment.

I've got RxJ through 15, though I've only seen through 8, haven't convinced myself I want to pick it up again, but I figure once they get into some action I will. Hayate through 17 though I haven't seen 11. Likely this won't make the cut. The service is nice, but one doesn't subsist on that and weak gags alone. I've dropped many a show for similar reasons, I'm not certain this one will be any exception. It's over my head half the time and beneath the floorboards for the rest, I'll just pick the pretty pictures off of whatever Danbooru clone comes next.

On that note, I can't help but hate e-shuushuu. So much potential wasted by lack of formatting in tags, ease of view, and a virus community that makes pages more words than pictures as people live out their e-lives. Not trying to be hypocritical given my own attachment to WoW (though I'm pretty much a strung-out raider these days, I've got enough insurance to survive till the end of time and there's nothing I still need that's out in the world; plus the alt thing isn't working out). Same deal with the WoW forums, fuckers need to stop getting in the way of my information with their e-relationships.

On a related note, it sucks not to have any conversations over lunch, bleh~

Anyways, let's not get tangental here.

Last post ended on Zwei 03, and since 04 isn't subbed yet I guess I can't really talk about it, but so long as S.ifl features alot of Chie, Ms. Maria, Midori, and Juliet (Nao) then I'll be happy.

As usual, I'm not afraid of Spoilers, so watch what you're reading if you're worried about that.

Death Note - This was the pawn comment. If I was talking about losing the tougher pieces it would have been a Geass commentary instead. Fantastic show, did a great job of supplying my anti-hero needs. I'd have liked to had Light manage to scribble out Near's name in his last frantic attempt though. The way the final events played out was fairly masterful, nice perfomance by Kira for having his hands tied as much as he did. Some masterful cinematography/animation throughout and very excellent plot twists. Very glad I could marathon it instead of being stuck on weekly cliffhangers.

Can't help but sympathize with Light throughout just because of the way he's cornered the entire time, his madness wasn't too infectious to me though since it gets diluted to detached killings unrelated to the nature of crimes (something evolves as the time goes on). The lack of focus on his family in all of this plays out the starkest contrast between this and Lelouch's anti-herodom. While Light just seeks to cleanse the world (and to a greater extent become God), Lelouch is doing it for the sake of Nanally (more on her later).

The entire conflict plays out nicely though. I like shows that can keep me guessing, and I'm even forgiving of those that don't give me the full deck of cards to play Solitare with (Not that it matters, 3 draw Vegas is a losing propostion no matter what else is involved). Alot of what I liked with Pirates of the Carribean's final piece, everything changing hands and everyone preparing to betray everyone else in a giant, tangled net of greatness.

Spin: It's over, nothing to spin about it. Not place to really continue it either, though all the concepts were brilliant. OST is great though.

"You know the guy who can pick up any girl? I'm him. On crack." -Nick Naylor, from Thank you for Smoking (2005)

Just felt that had to be said about Light, shame he doesn't seem to do enough with that power.

ED2 was masterful though. Would make for a wonderful Guitar Hero song. OP2 was, everything you expect from a Maximum the Hormone song I guess. Misa no Uta felt out of place as the single insert song, but at least it's likeable. And reminds me exactly who is the voice behind the crazy, suggestable gothic idol.

Code Geass - Hell yes, can't wait for the second season, though I worry about what could be the body count at the opening here. Nina's a total wildcard and a threat to everything that I worry about (and some that I don't). Hopefully Cornelia lives, I liked her alot more than
Euphemia. Though Euphemia's beauty was marred by her forced bloodlust and resultant emotional instability. Guilford was totally my favored Knight from the beginning. I suspect that several of the Order of Black Knight's elite aren't going to last past the opening volley of the next season.

Obviously the 7 on the island are the biggest questions. That'd be V.V., C.C., Lelouch, Nanally,
Suzaku, Orange-kun, and dearest Kallen/Karen, though concerns about Viletta and the school crew (minus Nina) are present as well. It is Sunrise, so I'm expecting something unexpected, obviously I don't know what yet. Here's to selective bloodshed of the people I don't really like.

Spin: Get another OP as awesome as COLORS please, don't kill Kallen, give Millay something to do, and keep ALI Project away from singing anything (that last one is sorta a more general request, but oh well)

Lucky Star - There's a strange breed of people out there that like Tsukasa. Those people I don't get. I understand the Mikuru-appeal, but I'm not sure what Tsukasa qualifies as. As a fan of the tsundere (debates about the applicability of the term in usage as someone who oscillated versus someone who transforms once aside) it should be obvious who I prefer the most, or not since I happen to like most of the cast. Speaking of which, some interesting observations about nearly the entirity of their voice extras.

Entry #1, Tachiki Fumihiko: Announcer (eps 8,15); Annoying Customer (ep 12); Baseball Analyst (ep 19); Baseball Commentator (ep 19); Big Guy (ep 5); Boy A (eps 11,13,15); Boy B (eps 11,13,15); Camera Boy A (ep 16); Camera Boy B (ep 16); Clerk (ep 11); Clerk A (ep 10,12); College Professor (ep 6); ComiKet Staff A (ep 12); ComiKet Staff B (ep 12); Cop (ep 5); Customer (ep 2); Director (ep 19); Gamers Clerk (ep 14); Goal Official (ep 8); Homeroom Teacher (ep 15); Host (eps 5,14); Host (Male) (ep 19); Male Student (ep 18); Man (ep 11); Man A (ep 2); Michael (ep 15); Narrator (ep 19); Newscaster (eps 14,19); Official (ep 8); Ordinary Person A (ep 6); Ordinary Person B (ep 6); Participant A (ep 12); Passerby (Male) (ep 8); PTA (ep 8); Recorder (ep 8); Reporter (ep 20); Salesperson A (ep 12); Salesperson B (ep 12); Santa (ep 11); Spiritual Counselor (ep 20); Student (ep 10); Teacher (ep 2); TV (Man) (ep 2); TV Businessman (ep 12); TV Personality (ep 10); TV Voice (eps 13,18); TV Voice A (ep 11); TV Voice B (ep 11); TV Voice C (ep 11); Yankee (ep 2).

Also known as Zaraki Kenpachi (you'll see why I bring him up a bit further on)

Entry #2, Kujira (Wakako Matsumoto): Anchor A (ep 8); Anchor B (ep 8); Announcer (eps 15,17); Brenda (ep 15); Bus Announcer (ep 10); Cafeteria Lady (Elder) (ep 8); Cafeteria Lady (Younger) (ep 8); Cherry (ep 20); Clerk (eps 9,17,19); ComiKet Staff C (ep 12); Commentator (ep 20); Cooking Researcher (ep 12); Cooking Teacher (ep 5); Couple (Female) (ep 9); Cousins (ep 13); First Runner (ep 8); Game Voice A (ep 20); Game Voice B (ep 20); Game Voice C (ep 20); Game Voice D (ep 20); Game Voice E (ep 20); Game Voice F (ep 20); Granny (ep 9); High School Girl (ep 3); Host (ep 15); Host (Female) (ep 19); Loli Teacher (ep 3); Passerby (ep 9); Passerby (Female) (ep 8); Performer (ep 5); Receptionist (ep 10); Register (ep 8); Reporter (ep 19); Salesperson C (ep 12); Salesperson D (ep 12); Salesperson E (ep 12); Second Runner A (ep 8); Second Runner B (ep 8); Teacher (ep 1); Third Runner A (ep 8); Third Runner B (ep 8); Waitress (ep 14).

Though perhaps better recoignized for efforts as Naruto's infamous Orochimaru. (Or Ursula in Kingdom Hearts, though that's neither here nor there).

Between them and Minoru, that's pretty much the entire cast of nameless extras right there, awful impressive.

I really like Lucky Star. Not the most expansive mix of BGMs but they all work for me (wish the "next episode preview" song was a tad bit longer but they seem to do pretty much every right that Hayate is doing wrong for me. And even if there are some references that go over my head the sheer 4Koma shotgunned volume keeps me from dwelling on it. This is Azumanga Daioh with all the right extras.

Spin: They're got the right formula. Haven't struck me with an ED that wows me yet though, not that I expect them to. Those songs were probably pretty nostalgic for some viewers in the intended audience, but I didn't grow up listening to those songs so I'm out of luck.

Toppa Tengen Gurren Lagann- Needs more subbage, enough said. Seriously though, watching Jiaz's subs, this show is incredible and I can't wait for Black Order to put out another set of it. It's going places that I like the look of, plus the 7 years future twist actually works here. As opposed to in Death Note where it's just used as a carte-blanche to give Near and Mello all the little tricks they could possibly desire (like a giant untrackable missle-rocket transport or that entire sub-desert mafia complex setup, that they don't actually use on a conventional basis).

Spin: Needs more subs. Glad we've diverged from the place where I feel like I'm watching the improved version of Eureka Seven though.

Idolm@ster Xenoglossia - It's very good still. I like it. Tempestas was sorta odd, but it tilted several hands into full view. Looks like we'll be playing with backstory for the next couple episodes (Mami's and then Chihaya's / Asuza's) which should set the stage nicely for the final battle. Pity this only running 26 as it is clearly going to HiME on me; cram far too much into the last few episodes. Too many falls and redemptions are possible, and the iDOLs have to change hands a few times still. The OP dropped a good deal of hint about the events that have occured, but what is yet to come is a delicious mystery. I'm awfully worried about the ribbon-wrapped key though.

Spin: Iori needs an animal, how come she gets the shaft? Also I'd really have loved an episode akin to the Eureka Seven episode where Renton realizes that the KLMs he's been smashing are also humans, possibly too late but I they need to stop pulling their punches and have someone with a name get hurt (the Techs on the island only sorta count and Iori's broken hands didn't last long enough). Jiaz is probably right about the iDOLs, their capriciousness gets called into play in an unbalanced manner and it hampers consistency and reasoning. Also, OP2 rocks, I want a new ED as well though.

Doujin Work - This one is sorta a guilty pleasure of sorts. It's quick and dirty, in both senses. Not sure I like the sorta dilapidated love-triangle effect though. I guess it serves its purpose but between the ultra-innocent, the quasi-innocent, and the absolutely-loves-to-stir-up-trouble there's still a bit of magic at work. Gotta see how it ends though, too curious.

Spin: Does her art really have to be that bad? It's kinda painful. Like really kinda painful. "I draw that bad level" of hurt.

Zombie Loan - Needs to make up its mind what it's trying to do. One moment I'm hating that Shito's gun has the to be the absolute worst weapon and combat style I've ever seen animated, the next they're musing over the death of a Zombie's soul and the price of immortality. At least the secretary slash medic has stopped using her hands as additional characters (knock on fucking wood here, don't bring that back). I get the feeling with a bit of a reinvisioning and touched up art this could be a really winner of a show. For now it's just got highs and lows, but enough highs to keep me interested in where the plot is going.

Spin: Firstly, less on the Yaoi overtones please. Secondly, good lord that some of the most explicit Yuri that I've dealt with, and I watched all of Chikane's antics plus all of HiME/Otome. Seriously, Yomi's comments cross the line, but so long as she's bringing her badass combat skills to the table I won't really be complaining.

OP is good, ED is senseless fun. The dancing buruma is just a bit odd though.

Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei - Amazing show, though I have no idea what's going on sometimes. Cast is a bit too large, randomness prevails, and yet I'm intrigued by where this one is heading. Bleak harem is a new variety, and I think it's paying off. Satiates my service needs without actually being a service-y show.

Spin: Is that OP signficant to anything. If so I fear for the future, if not I just am curious about exactly what the plot of this resolves down to. He hasn't actually cured anyone nor himself yet. At best he's redirected neurosi to himself. But keep those opening credits, they're incredible.

OP is absolutely amazing and disturbing at the same time.

ED is the same way, though disturbing in a different manner.

Darker than Black - The two at a time method of episodes still doesn't flow with me, but there's still alot of unanswered things at the present time. This is going to run past 26 right? Otherwise we're going to crash a ton of stuff down at once, and I'm already fearing that for one decent show this season, I'd hate to do it with two.

Spin - Some of the new renumerations are pretty creative, though most of the powers seem a tad on the killing machine side of things (not that that's a suprise). I was kinda hoping for a dead Hwang though and more focus on Hei, Ying, and EPR (which pisses me off as Primrose is only one word...)

OP2 is fantastic, I love the Initial D vibe at the beginning. ED2 I just can't get behind, I find myself just closing out after it starts up.

Baccano! - Take like 18 characters with a variety of god-complex clauses and missions, mash them up a narrow storyline, tack on a reflecive, outsider perspective and you've got Baccano's own special brand of madness. It's a bit early to comment on everything as a whole, but I'd like a bit less of the focus on people's routines and a bit more emphasis on the actual action and backgrounds. The Yuki-type is a nice touch however I'm mostly waiting to see Chane work some of her violence.

Spin: We're not gonna spend all 13 episodes just on this train ride I hope. We've seen some prior and post events but only as setup and resolution to the events. Hard to tell this early. I'm just hoping for some nice brawls and good laughes.

OP is incredible for a vocal-less track. Helps me keep track of who's who and is a very catchy beat.

ED is like they took everything they did right in the OP and did it wrong in the ED.

Claymore - Can't believe they killed Flora (I'm hoping she's only injured though everything about the show would tell me otherwise) as I'd taken a liking to her. I'll have to keep with the manga just to see what the non-immediate-endgame storyline ends up looking like. Still uncomfortable with everyone taking a liking to Raki, but I anticipate the coming bloodbath will be especially enjoyable.

Spin: I'd like a few more cool unique Claymore abilities to take the field. Also I still think that the organization is as much the problem as the Dwellers in the Deep, but there's not enough time for the anime to resolve both. Can we get a second season of this?

Tales of Symphonia - Wow...it's like they took the game and did it properly. Same voices and everything. This is what Ragnarok could've been. I just grabbed the first two (all that's out atm) cause it was sitting in easy reach (low hanging fruit principle succeeds again) but Kratos' defeat of Sheena was so absolutely true to form that I am in great anticipation of the rest of this one.

Spin: Nah, they've got this one, I'm just waiting for Zelos to show up.

Sidebar: There's a "Tales of Agriculture" manga and anime, I don't even want to konw.

OP is pretty cool with the flashes of action, and I figure it'll expand as the party does.

ED is, well did I mention this was a ufotable production? You guessed it, claymation of a excellent degree.

As for the cast:

Format:
#
Charname (VA); role decription - related roles.

Additional comments.

#
Lloyd Irving (Katsuyuki Konishi); the aspiring badass who gets the girl - Maxima in KoF, Haji in Blood+, Kaede Nonohara in Hayate, Asano Keigo and Hisagi Shuuhei in Bleach, Kenta in Karin, Sergay in Otome, and of course Kamina.

There's a slew of other major roles as well, including a number of pokemon - the burly kinds mostly, though he played Mew once...

#
Colette Brunel (Nana Mizuki) ; the self-sacraficing female, wants to be more of a contributor, oftentimes reduced to being emotionless - Riful in Claymore, Miskai Kirihara in Darker than Black, Wrath in FMA, Fate Testarossa in Nanoha, Hinta in Naruto, Shinobu in 2x2.

Plus a small force of haremettes, most of whom are probably the quieter onces but I can't know for certain.

#
Genis Sage (Ai Orikasa); young book-smart half elf mage - Ryoko in Tenchi Muyo, Quatre in Gundam Wing.

And a slew of young boys. Either way, I'm used to hearing him shout out spell names, so now's no different.

#
Regal Bryant (Akio Ohtsuka); troubled man with blood on his hands from his own love yet a powerful warrior - Ansem, Dyne from Lunar, Gabranth of FFXII, Solid Snake, and the voice of Spawn, plus Black Jack, Mister of Coyote Ragtime, FMP's Kalinin, GitS's Batou, the King of Ingary in Howl's Moving Castle.

Also a mix of lesser tough guys (Kyouraku Shunsui in Bleach (8th Divsion Captain), Rai-Dei the Blade in Trigun, and Inuyasha's father) and a few voice overs like Blade. Talk about a fitting role.

#
Refill/Raine Sage (Yumi Touma) ; knowledgable and capable elder sister of Genus, a teacher but a bit of a weirdo about learning things, troubled past as a half-elf - Ivy Valentine, Leifang, Lenneth Valkerie, Nephilim, Hijiri in Air, Emma of Emma, Chun-Li.

And a recurring role as a older Pichu in several short Pokemon features, but we won't hold that against her.

#
Presea Combatir (Houko Kuwashima); lone Yuki-type girl with fierce combat power - DoA Kasumi, MGS Mei Ling and Para-Medic, Seung Mina, Kagura in Azumanga Daioh, Clare in Claymore, Sango, Wendy from GunXSword, and Bocca from Melody of Oblivion.

Hopefully she'll get enough lines to make use of this talented mix of combant and confidant.

#
Kratos Aurion (Fumihiko Tachiki); detached combat master whose lying to himself and everyone else, also part time instructor / councillor - Gendou Ikari, Zaraki Kenpachi, Odin and Verdo and Wagner from Odin Sphere, plus Soul Calibur's Nightmare.

Kratos has been totally badass so far, hopefully they'll pull of his betrayal in the same cool and emotionless manner. Not really getting Kenpachi's bloodlust out of him, but the combat victor feeling is still there.

#
Sheena Fujibayashi (Akemi Okamura); thunder-scared assassin with something to prove but no drive to actually murder - Nami from One Piece. She also plays Chidori Kaname, but the Koi Kaze version.

I was half expecting to see Rikku (as another thunder-frightened) on that list, but I guess they're spreading around the number of VAs that can wimper in fear on command.

#
Zelos Wilder (Masaya Onosaka); full of himself prettyboy playboy who actually cares deep down - Aquarion's Pierre, Kero in CCS, Salior Moon's Jadeite, Leeron in Gurren Lagann, Vash in Trigun.

You listen to Zelos for all of 2 seconds and you know he's Leeron and Pierre. Damn it's nice to have that voice back.

PS: I'd really love another Tales game on a current gen system. I'll never understand making one exclusively for the GameCube.

Masterpiece Post

Quick Song Listing, almost entirely in this order, repeats omitted.

Daft Punk - Robot Rock
Sophie Ellis-Bexter - Another Day
United State of Electronica (U.S.E.) - Vamos A La Playa
Shiny Toy Guns - Don't Cry Out
Digital Planet - We'll See Heaven (Initial D 4th Stage)
Toshio Masudo - 300 Years of Love from Siberia (J2: The Counterattack of Siberia Yagyu)
Felix da Housecat - Money, Success, Fame, Glamour
Safety Scissors - Sunlight's on the Other Side
Jame Lavelle - Everything in its Right Place
2 Bit Pie - Here I Come
U.S.E. - Emerald City
Fall Out Boy - Grand Theft Autumn (Remix)
Milk & Sugar - Let the Sun Shine
Jenny Bliss - All About Me
Venus Hum - Montana
Puretone - Addicted to Bass
Erasure - Video Killed the Radio Star
Venus Hum - Surgery in the Sky
Annie - Helpless Fool for Love
The Crystal Method - Born too Slow
U.S.E. - Open Your Eyes
Data 80 - You are Always on my Mind
Darude - Sandstorm
Daft Punk - Face to Face (Cosmo Vitelli Remix)
Yoko Kanno - Velveteen
Eiffel 65 - Blue (Remix)
Statistics - A Number, not a Name
Queen of Times - Ever and Ever (Initial D Second Stage)
Erasure - All this Time Still Falling out of Love
Deux - Sun Rising Up (Jupiter Ace Remix)
Venus Hum - Soul Sloshing
Andy Bell - Delicious (Feat. Claudia Brucken)
Basement Jaxx - Get Me Off (Peaches Remix)
Galleon - The Best World
Maroon 5 - This Love (Junior Sirius Edit)
Bob Sinclair - The Beat Goes On
DJ Sammy - Heaven (Feat. Yanou)
Regina Spektor - Fidelity
Moonbootica - To The Club
Jordan James - Livin' On a Prayer (Radio Edit)
DJ Downfall - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (feat. The Postal Service)
Ayumi Hamasaki - Whatever
Scooter - Posse
Cirque de Soleil - La Nova Allegria
Peter Presta - Totally Hooked
Utada - Exodus '04 (Double J Radio Edit)
Basement Jaxx - Oh My Gosh
DJ Encore - I See Right through You
DJ Sammy - Why
Basement Jaxx - Rendez Vous

Au gratin ... with Cheese!

Yes, that is the same thing. No, it's not supposed to make sense. Well, unless you're family, in which case it makes all to much sense.


New wallpaper, needed something cooler for this sweltering heat.

Don't like the way these new headphones rest on my ears, though the mic isn't nearly as bad as the old one had gotten.

(Disgaea)
Did some empowering via Item World to crank out a pair of level 50 Infernal Armors, an 80 Infernal Armor (80 Base, 107 after affects), a 50 Beam Axe, and have a few Exaliburs and Satan's Motors slated as well as a couple more Infernals. Was using Teachers (just a 40 atm) to boost a trio of Dietician, Gladiator, and Coach - the three I had at the highest base - but have swapped over to an 80 Mediator to breed Sniper children for Cammy and Erika (Axe Beastmaster and Bow Thief) owning to the value of Hit in both of their abilities (the Beam Axe is -1700 baseline).

Gathered the Prism Ranger Pirates in the deepest of the armor trips, so that puts me at 15/16 on Maps, just lacking the damnable Animal Pirates despite several trips through the 21-40 range. Maxed on Female Warrior Lovers however I haven't really attempted to get any of the rest of them up, though Thief is at the top of my list. All the armors have triple Move boost just because it seemed the most logical choice at the time, I wasn't going for stat maxing with stacked Sentries anyways so I didn't see the need to enhance growth. Have 7 Collectors from Item World trips though, so I'm all set for Rarity matching when the time comes.

Ares (Male Warrior) is pushing level 2600 with 180K Attack, 200K Armor, and almost 570K Health. He's got the most Felonies of all my criminals however I've got no clue on the precise amount, probably not at the 300 cap yet but I have no good way of knowing except by doing the math, and really I'd rather just assume he's only got 150 or so and build on that to be safe.

Minerva (Female Warrior) finally got up to above 1000, at about 1400 right now. 300K Defense and Health with a respectable 160K Attack that's mostly driven by the level 80 Infernal since she's only got a Legendary Gaia Spear. No one seems to have any Holy Longinuses (Longini?) at the Rare rank, let alone Legendary. The fact that her only static maneuvers are Turbulence or Divine Strike is kinda weak though, since she's either Wind Reliant or single target. Spear Storm and Avalanche just don't hold it on smaller stages where I can't get the opening to use them.

Cammy (Beastmaster) has a twice range-increased Axe that gives her alot of opportunity to
counter and destroy targets that wouldn't normally be hers to hit. Anything at max range in a straight line is still Boomerang Axe fodder though. 200K attack, but without an Infernal her other stats are way behind, barely pushing 10K-30K, since her gear is sorta dated as well. Almost at 1000 though.

Erika (Thief) rounds out the powerhouses (yeah, I didn't level Adell, nor a Fist user, nor any Monsters, nor a Gun user). She's nearing 2000, but until I cap her lovers she's only got a 1.3x level range on stealing, which makes the bottom-grade pirates nigh untheftable at deeper items because of their high level multipliers capping them quickly.

Hopefully I'll have another largish anime post forthcoming now that I'm deep into Death Note (26 through)

First Fragments

Nothing like starting the day off in the red, course I think the instructions for the refunds should've been a bit more explicit, but perhaps that's just me. Laggy Internet Explorer fueled internetting isn't really the panacea to boredom that the much faster and Firefox-backed enviroment I have at home affords, but I'll take what I can get, given that I'm basically being paid to sit in front of a fan and surf the web anyways.



(HP & tOotP)

I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as a movie. Certainly there were pieces that didn't make it (a ton of them, that was a massive book) but I feel it did a good job with the time alotted. That's probably the breaker movie though, the one that seperates those that read the books from those that didn't. There's just so much more to the books, and really everybody could do with a bit more Tonks. Luna definately steals the show though, all I have to say. The Golden Compass preview needed more armored bear though.



(Anime)

Rest in Peace Nanashi (Yeah, I know, late notice, they've been dead nearly 3 months now), one of my preferred teams. Actually, one of the few now that Lunar never seems to be subbing anything I care about and Mahou and Static aren't really doing a whole lot either. At least A.F.K. and Eclipse are still being awesome.



Honestly, jaalin's comments on Zombie Loan are spot on. The show has incredibly varying animation quality, as if they really just paid for 70% of each episode and fill the rest with near stick-figures, and they're really sucking at explaining what's going on or why. I can't help but feel that I've seen the main characters before (though not in any series I've actually watched). And honestly, this show has to have the single most boring and stupid looking fights I've ever watched. And that's coming from someone who has seen a fair deal of Yu-Gi-Oh on American television and actually finished all of both Innocent Venus and Speed Grapher. Heck, throw Ergo Proxy near the bottom of that list and then drop Zombie Loan below that as well.

The Seventh Day of the Seventh Month...

of the Two-thousand and Seventh Year AD? Just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Good lord is Internet Explorer ever horrible, I don't get anyone who can be a proponent of it after having tried anything else out there in the Web Browsing world (except perhaps Netscape Navigator) -- and good lord am I ever going to shoot this freaking HP Keyboard.

To expand on last time's post. That ever so wonderful of lunches was cool Chicken Salad spread over toasted bagels with chips on the side and a gigantic bowl of watermelon, plus the requsite iced tea.

Been reading a bit of Violent Acres, which is another one of those "caught my eye with a post linked randomly and read a bit more of site" sorta deal. Not going to become a mainstay, but I can say I liked a few of her writings. I dunno how many others saw the irony of someone ranting that the Internet and Blogs and our upbringings have made us selfish and distant and that it's hard to find real connections and friends. Not sure I buy into any of that, but the derision that PostSecret (http://postsecret.blogspot.com/) as evidence of this phenominom (is that spelled right? I refuse to try and check on IE, it'd take too long) seems a bit odd, those aren't really confiditory secrets for the most part (I'm fairly certain I invented a word, but more power to me for it).

--Anyways, I liked this secret a ton, and admit to agreeing.

I wrote the stuff below before the stuff above, but for the purposes of flow, moved it down, sorta prelude to the next act sort of deal.

So, it's been awhile. Let's talk about the background to California. Now you might wonder how that's going to work, but honestly I've got a few things I'd like to say, and much as the fun of Cali wants to be written, I can assure you I've already been sidetracked.

From day 1 of my employment (discounting the orientation that had little applicability due to my seperate destination from 100% of the other participants) there was talk of sending me out to California for program training. And it took a bit of time to organize, but it did happen.

Now, officially, the sanctioned path is to book everything through an online service but that requires a code which requires a user name which requires a corporate credit card, so long story short I skipped all of those steps (except for the flight booking cause that was more than I really wanted resting on my shoulders waiting for reimbursement) and actually saved a fair bit of money cause Enterprise apparently doesn't care that I'm not 25 yet.

Well, that did bring the thought that I know a fair deal of people through various functions (mainly, though not exclusively WoW) that are out there, perhaps I could find some time in the evenings to get some visiting done. Of course, reality intervened and some were busy and many were a good distance away (cause California is pretty much huge in comparison to Georgia, and let's face it, 2 hours each way is about where you draw the limit when you have to spend 75% of the day in "class").

July Heat

Rabbit rabbit. (I wonder if that's a wiki-able superstition -- heh, guess so)

Nothing to add just yet, or at least nothing that I've substancialized into a formal post yet. Lunch today rocked, Marathoning 10 Eps of Gurren Lagann rocked, end of story.

Yet another not quite post.

Well, I'd hate to have pushed forward Sylaria's timetable for nothing, and I've got absolutely nothing going on (similar to the prior two weekends, only without the 4 hours of electronic deprivation to listen to AARP Defense Driving Courses ($10 and 8 hours for $200 savings? I think that's a trade I can make)), so here's the June catchup on hopefully everything.

I picked up an External Harddrive since Asgard was running on empty and Fry's had them on sale (They've got a 500 Gig for like $120 right now, but that's a new sale and wasn't going on when I was in there so I merely got a 160 -- I like how I call that mere...). Not certain why I bothered to try installing the software since I don't really care about automatic backups, but was amused to see it fail due to lack of Disc space. I'll be picking up Gurren Lagann, D.Gray-Man and Death Note as a result, but probably not the latter two until they finish and I can just grab a batch of it all. Also immediately hit up Nipponsei's Archive Bot for 1000% Sparkling (I got a few of the versions, probably won't keep them all) and all of Ghost in the Shell - Solid State Society OSTs. Sidenote, the damn Lucky Star BGM CD doesn't have the next episode preview song, I am saddened. Grabbed Daft Club whist I was at Fry's as well. Just stopped by the Dance section, saw it, and said "Why not." It's probably half and half with decent mixes and really not-decent mixes (put lightly), but it's still enjoyable. I definately prefer original Discovery though Interstella might have influenced that decision.

I'm up to Act 5 of Gwendolyn in Odin Sphere, getting thrashed by Paladins thanks to my lack of Aerial attacks and their Painkiller'd lack of recoil/pushback. Going to have to get extra Guerilla to come out clear in the fight, but on Hard they do such damage that clear is just about the only way to survive. Tough game, but very pretty, and good fun. Not so certain about how Grim Grimoire is going to be, that one'll be delayed till the jury gets in and a verdict is rendered.

(( Yeah, we all saw how far this got. ))

The Dangers of Letting me Code

Variable GiftArray05 = Floor(Block.[Record].[Record_gift1].[giftamount])
Variable GiftArray15 = Floor(1.5 * Block.[Record].[Record_gift1].[giftamount])
Variable GiftArray25 = Floor(2 * Block.[Record].[Record_gift1].[giftamount])

Variable GiftArray10 = IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray05] % 5) = 0), FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray05]) , IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray05] + 1) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray05] + 1), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray05] - 1) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray05] - 1), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray05] + 2) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray05] + 2), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray05] - 2) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray05] - 2), 0)))))

Variable GiftArray20 = IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray15] % 5) = 0), FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray15]) , IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray15] + 1) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray15] + 1), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray15] - 1) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray15] - 1), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray15] + 2) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray15] + 2), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray15] - 2) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray15] - 2), 0)))))

Variable GiftArray30 = IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray25] % 5) = 0), FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray25]) , IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray25] + 1) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray25] + 1), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray25] - 1) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray25] - 1), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray25] + 2) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray25] + 2), IIF (((Variable.[GiftArray25] - 2) % 5) = 0, FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray25] - 2), 0)))))

Variable GiftArray1 = Variable.[GiftArray10]
Variable GiftArray2 = IIF (Variable.[GiftArray10] = Variable.[GiftArray20], FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray20] + 5), Variable.[GiftArray20])
Variable GiftArray3 = IIF (Variable.[GiftArray20] = Variable.[GiftArray30], FormatCurrency(Variable.[GiftArray30] + 5), Variable.[GiftArray30])

4 Bells and all is well.

Just wanted to start here http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp07082006.shtml. I might get around to adding something else (like the PSP, Odin Sphere, Job, or any/all of California) sometime, but for now, I'm just enjoying doing nothing for a bit.

It's not Fallen Angel Flonne, but oh well.

Happy Flonne. My new near-Summer wallpaper. Makes me smile every damn time I minimize everything to the Desktop. Also one of the select few pictures of the second batch that I'm truly happy with, the rest violate some of my minor tenants of picture choice but are well enough done for me to have said "aw hell" and saved anyways.

I'm fairly certain Diana is convinced I don't know how to navigate, but in my defense I only got lost twice, and both times it was because the lovely state of California decided that labeling cross streets wasn't a necessity so I don't find myself to be the guilty party here.

Okay, so the 90 minutes of packaging has set my schedule back a great deal, but I'm going to publish this regardless of what else ends up being poured into it. And I'll be damned if Flonne there doesn't cheer me up every time (that's the heart of a good wallpaper right there).

Not gonna blog California yet, though I have more of a weekend than I'm accustomed to and I've already burned most of the anime resevoir (I'll have to flip a coin to figure out what series dies off to make room for a Gurren Lagoon marathon in week or so, but till then I'm kinda low) since my return on Thursday. So just a few quick thoughts based on another 1-2 episodes (depending on if I read Jiaz's posts on the topics or not) of the series.

Idolmaster -- I really just want the records to show I made my post before Lawson made his. Other than that, I stand by my thoughts and I'll probably stick with this one till the end. I survived Tokyo Majin GK and that got pretty bleh after the inital awe value, plus I've still got hope, despite the addition of the twins.

Hayate -- I figured it out. Aside from the fact that it's a readily available show that is pretty easy to watch, this show is my Negima?! replacement. It's my supply of girl antics despite all other context, and it's not even very good at that. Negima?! really needs some more subs out, cause I enjoyed that. Hayate is just weak gags and a cast that is, for the most part, even weaker. I cannot believe they made a failure of a choker. That's a primary moe-element and I would've thought it impervious to fail, how wrong I was.

Lucky Star -- Lucky Star is awesome, Lucky Channel is not, the ED stuff is really hit or miss. And that's really all there is to it. Yui sucks, Tsukasa is swing, the rest are hits. It's 4Koma goodness and it fits the venue perfectly. Not a sleeper hit nor a wild success, but a solid victory with some extra polish anyways.

Darker than Black -- I wasn't kidding about the consistant cast thing folks, find one. Okay, so Hei's power is Electricity, that makes a hell of a lot of sense. Doesn't answer the Bulletproof Coat deal really, but the rest of it all falls into place now. Also, just 'cause it might scar someone else's mind I'm putting this concept out there. Could you imagine a relationship scene between Yin and Hei? Doesn't it just feel wrong mentally? Yeah, I got that stuck in my head for like 10 minutes, figured I'd share the pain.

Romeo x Juliet -- Tybalt is awesome, I'll be sad if he dies but I sorta figure they'll keep kinda related to the script, somewhat at least. Her and Hermoine would be a great couple, since they deserve better than the fates have ordained. I want to start a betting pool if Romeo and Juliet are both gonna survive the series run. (Actually Jiaz, that'd be a good poll one day if you run out of ideas).

Claymore -- SPOLIERS! Yeah, I put that there just in case, but I figure there's no way to dance the issue with all I want to say surrounding it. I probably won't spill it blunt, but putting 2 and 2 together isn't rocket surgery.

I don't know what to say. That wasn't what I expected in the least and I'm kinda shocked. I'm impressed that they had the nerve to do that, curious and anxious of the future because of it (hell, if the 5 strongest of the organization (a bunch of fucking racist jerks~) are downed by just one of these Menos-Grande parallels than everyone's in deep trouble). I didn't like Pris from the beginning, but the other 3 were pretty cool, variety of talents, decent synergy and relational work, fleshed out pretty well, better than any other show has done in that level of time investment. I always suspected that human-Claire was going to be a Claymore, I didn't expect it to come out of this though. It doesn't answer why she's not in the OP, but it did answer the other OP-centric question regarding imagery. Since it has a class, I can't help but wonder if we'll get a few more of these, not that I want them, that'd make this into DBZ-more, and uhh, they're all blondes already.

Part of me feels ripped, the rest confused. 10% power for the eyes and held her own, or did she? Was the entire thing a ploy to get her to a point for the strike without having to unleash the inner force, or was there actually a stalemate at that power point? I really feel that there's so much that I didn't get to see in terms of capability. It's like if Byakuya showed up for the first time back when he and Renji were collecting Rukia from the real word, but instead of just severing Ichigo's spirit link he instead just went Ban-Kai and Annhilationscaped him right out of the show then and there. We knew back then that Ichigo was capable of some pretty impressive output, given his schooling of Renji, but we hadn't seen anything but the tip of the iceberg. Same deal here, except I don't think we're going to have a Sunrise styled reset or revivial. Which might be a good thing.

EDIT: I just actually made sense of the spoiler I've seen everwhere about Claymore. Holy crap. That makes a shit-ton of sense in several respects. Also. O.o Rocking...

Mai Otome Zwei -- I'm not one to reject service. But can I have some more of the gritty and serious awesome, and less of the stupidly stupid? Service is fine, sillyness is not. For example. I loved Episode 2, with the exception of the banana peel. It didn't need to be there, and it really shouldn't have. Keep the intern or the little child away from the storyboard and deliver something that people will be proud of. The show gets enough abuse for bending the rules of anime drama with non-death deaths, don't give them an easier target.

Kiddy Grade 2 -- Hell yes. And that's all there is to it. Oldschool characters in oldschool action plus a fresh and full cast complete with rivalries and powers and a grand scenario to play it all out under.

Next time, California and the PSP game highs and lows (plus probably Odin Sphere, it looks amusing).

Edit's Edit: Fixed the spacing...go figure.

Scheduling Conflicts

And to think, I could've used a Cinqo de Mayo title.

I would have much rather have had a post last weekend to seperate what will now become back to back anime posts (the opening outlook of episode 2 and the deeper look of the episode 4), though since I'll have all of last week's stuff as well, perhaps it won't be as bad as I could fear.

As for last week, for those who don't know, I spent the entirity, or at least the overwhelming majority of the 5 hour reprieve from standard existence granted by my dead-as-all-get-out weekend job crafting a masterpiece of a Disgaea 2 self-reference sheet. Two pages laid back to back and laminated for my utilization as I climb the game's tiers. The link for those poor souls who might be interested. I'm sorta proud of it.

Speaking of Disgaea 2, Ian's started it up as well, he's got a bit more class diversity, and is already figuring out that the Geomancer class is a ton better than I give it credit. Decent caster with high Int / Res and immediate access to Star and Healing magic, with a plethora of abilities to ease and enchance Item World, totally awesome. As for myself I'm sitting in Chapter 1 of Cycle 2, just spinning my wheels trying to unlock LoC before I go and rip apart all of the Extra Stages available at the start, then tearing through for the end set of Extra Stages and Dark World completion.

The Slug, Beastmaster, Mage Knight, and Healer all hit their 6th tier, joining my Thief and Warriors at the top evolution. I finially promoted my Skull up to Prism so he can unlock Galaxy. Sluggy holds my highest levled skill at 22 for his Lightning Blast, since there's practically no reason to not use it. Ares is at some 240K odd hp at just under level 800. Did 100 floors of a Legendary Subpoena, ended up getting Ninja, Red, and Z Treasure Maps added to my collection, so I'm down to just about 3 more Pirate sets before Land of Carnage opens her gates.

Eureka Seven's last ep will be reairing today. I have no clue why the hell they cut out what they did (a few 3-5 second cuts within the episode covering stuff that was stupid -- the kids -- but also the entirity of the post-union ending involving the children and Grandpa). Actually, cutting out the kids might not have been all that bad of an idea, but I'd really prefer if they cut them out when they were annoying and ruining the show, instead of at the end where they become somewhat worthwhile. Either way, it's basically a lightshow of an anime for a finale, so worth the watch even if you've got no clue what's going on. Does emphasize one of the reasons I prefer Fan-Subs to DVD'd professionals, since I'm one of those people who has the ability to process something beyond the bland yellow text (I really think everyone does, and that arguement is a cop out on Answerman's part, but that's another story) and the fact that people (in this case Nanashi) actually translate words that aren't spoken. What a concept.

World of Warcraft has finially fallen through the cracks. With having about 2 hours a day that don't overlap with the rest of my schedule thanks to getting up earlier, going to bed sooner, and the end of my day-cycle being pushed up by later returns from work; I'm finding myself just getting what I can out of those scattered 120 minutes minus the time I need to get stuff organized for the next day.

Speaking of the job, it's pretty fun, not at all something I couldn't do, though I'm working as a QC / Tester rather than coding, which is for the best since the code system we're using as a repositoire just doesn't handle multiple editors very well, it kinda goes a bit fubar. I have an aged developer's laptop, non-reimaged, so after getting all the software I could ever possibly need I'm running about 1.5 eps worth of anime of space (not that I'd ever have anime on it, I merely find that to be a convienent unit of measure). Definately a COLA increase with my lunches, but the wages, especially on a 80 hour period instead of a 50 hour period more than accomodates that. I might have to revert to a bento or something once I get into the rhythm, but getting out of the office for lunch is sorta nice, even if it doesn't count towards my 8 hours at work.

Got my first paycheck, which started me, as I got it on a Tuesday of the week I was being paid through, not that I'm complaining, it just seemed odd to get pay for days that hadn't even occured yet.

Went with David to see Hot Fuzz last Saturday. I think that Shaun of the Dead was probably the slighty better movie, being a Zombie movie that didn't really have any down period, and a cast that was limited in scope of annoyances. That said, Hot Fuzz was still awesome, still funny, and a prime example of how to parody properly. Not quite subtle, some of it absolutely pre-alluded, but all of it very good. Their works have the feel of a series of Monty Python skecthes tied into a cohesive plot, works wonders. Running jokes and a hearty no-gag-left-behind style do wonders for the level of enjoyment I get out of it, even if some of the running jokes might level a little to be desired (MAD TV grade versus Whose's Line grade humor).

Tons of Card/Board game-age when David's around (OOTS, Hearts mainly), plus Symphony of the Night on XBOX Live Arcade (Just about done with the standard castle, though I've only got the Silver Ring, and got stuffed by Belmont the first time I visisted thanks to the Ring of Aires (Holy Water Rain for 5 * 35 on a 240 hp pool? Complete domination). Also a lot of Wario Woods, which is basically decided by whether or not my early combo goes off early enough to be a hassle and not an eventual crystal-return doom for me, and a fair deal of Wii Sports for Bowling and the occasional Baseball / Tennis. Tells me we could use a few more games in the rotation, but as the demo for whatever the hell XBox's answer to Mario Party is (I've forgotten the name), that game is annoying beyond belief, just play any game and you'll want to murder the announcer already, though that's just rationale to shut the game on mute and play the Radio / Ipod.

Speaking of musical diversions, the whole Internet Radio rate change thing has me running a little scared as DI / Pandora / Kawaii are still solid cornerstones in my musical getup, at least until I tear apart Rhapsody for the music to solidify my collection and finish the last 80% of the musical folder rebuild.

Quick fix for my desire not to back to back anime posts, run out of time and end up not making many mentions of anime. Not idealized, but works for me.

(Image) "Wish you out, out the west trail."

Current Wallpaper, though Moyism's latest post has given me new goals to strive for. I definately have some nice Kenji artwork lying around too.

I spent awhile debating between Marona and Ash's quotes (in case you don't know, the prior post is Walnut's battle phrase from Phantom Brave) but eventually decided that neither really has the ring of Psycho Burgundy.

Lots of cool stuff for the PSP sorta in the wings, so I'm thinking I might spend the tax refund + Christmas money pick one up (or maybe even a 60g PS3 depending on price drops). Definately going to put the first new paycheck towards a working computer, though the job will probably axe a fair chunk of my WoW time, so I may have to spend a portion on Command and Conquer as well (what a horror that would be, buying an awesome game).

As for the Title this week, that's what the fansubs (Umai specifically) are trying to convince me is the lyrics to Romeo x Juliet's Ending. Given that, I figure you all can guess today's topic. I think I've seen enough of the new stuff to lay down at least initial thoughts.

Before we get back into stuff I did watch, I did want to touch on something I'm following but not watching. Welcome back Ichimaru!

Got Shinsen's chunk of Venus Versus Virus (5 - 11), but haven't given it a watch, on the docket for the weekend though. Scanned a bit of it, looks relatively interesting, finally some forward moving plot. Didn't watch Ergo Proxy 18 yet though, I think I've lost hope. There's just not enough there to keep me watching, it was unique to begin with but now that's sorta gone.

Tokyo Majin GK is just all kinds of everywhere with the awesome. I'm sorta hoping that they bring in the 9th vein recovered and sane, though it'd help if I didn't think she was a Keroro Gunso character redrawn by a different Studio. The cutaway during Aoi's disrobing was particularly disturbing, since it give the implication that she wasn't stopping just to reveal the burn-scar. Here's to hoping we see some more action out of the one I thought was going to be the main character. He's cooler than the Golden Dragon anyways. I do wonder about the "Dark Law Chapter" stuff though, exactly how many episodes should I be looking forward to, given that the Chapter hasn't changed for 11 eps.

Hayate the Combat Butler -- I didn't finish Shana (Will watch it for second season though) and I didn't watch all of Zero no Tsukaima either, so that bodes sorta ill for Hayate and Nagi. That said, Nagi is incredible, and the show has a ton going for it on the humor side, plus the semi-competitive female with the lead isn't so much in the way (Unlike, say, Siesta et al). On top of that, I've got a plot that's unexpected and creative (if you overlook the Ouran similiarities. The parodies and sheer boggle randomness might be enough to keep my attentions. Good OP and an Excellent ED sorta seal the deal. Lose the stupid censoring of things that aren't even really drawn there though, keep the verbal blocks though, ***dam is funny. Also, the Narrator owns.

Heroic Age -- Okay, I'll admit I'm not a fan of the Soukyou no Fafnir animation team, the gundam-esce characters always feel a little "off" in my book. Can't explain it, just a nuance of my being I'm sure. The show had me fairly engaged, as a sort of Starcraft venue with Hercules themes, but the 12 Labors were fairly stupid. I mean, it's a stretch to get those to reach 12, and they basically boil down to make Mankind the rulers of the universe, and we'll grant you 1 wish. Seriously, there are easier ways to get a wish granted (Binding a contract C.C. style) than doing war with the Bronze and Silver Races. The Bronze are totally zerg though, right down to the Hydralisk armies. The Silver have Protoss-esce technologies from what I've seen so far, which is limited. The feral-boy as a savior and repositorie of ancient power sorta got used by Aquarion though, so I'm not really digging rewatching it again here. If they don't refine Age quickly, I think I just won't be able to stick with the show. The 4 way relationship with the Princess and her helper plus Age and the Captain's son being developed would a good way to go. Though I think that Iolas is doomed given that the Princess faints in the presence of any male other than Age. The OP was alot better than I expected, the ED is reasonable though not a standout against the rest of shows this season.

Claymore -- Another show where the art has me a little off, but still solid. The concept of half-demon, half-humans sorta has me wondering about origins, and the random male that plays doctor is sorta creepy. It's an unusual pairing but I can see it developping into something worth watching. Claire is complete and total awesomeness though, so I'll stick with it. OP and ED are nothing to write home about, but not every show can be a winner.

Romeo x Juliet -- I'm with Jiaz on this one. This show is fantastic. If you're getting hung up on the fact that it's a altered, reversed, fantasy world variant on the original story you need to get past that and see just how awesome this story of star-crossed lovers can be. The OP hints at great and tragic things while the ED just plain rocks. Alot of blood is going to be spilled in Neo-Verona and I expect to enjoy every last drop.

Darker than Black -- Ep 2 proved that they're willing to take the powers they're granting to the Contractors and make them unique and powerful. Tag on the program requirements as part of the contract granted and we've got a serious foundation for a show that could go several ways already. Add in a crap ton of mystery, the power to alter and erase memories, and a small cast of powerful characters and that's a recipe for success. As soon as they proved that Jean's power wasn't rock-based teleportation but instead matter transposition the inner-geek in me started pondering just how cool that could be, and when he used that power to rip someone's heart out of their chest, the writer's proved they could be just an devious and ingenious as I was hoping. Yin is awesome, Hwang probably is packing some serious power, the cat just speaks of the power of Yoruicihi, and now all I want to know is BK201's exact power and contract (the apartment number was a nice touch though). The OP is excellent and I'm extraordinarily intrigued by the C.C.-esce character at the end.

The question now is whether or not there is anything else I want to give a try. And Gurren Lagoon, while looking promising, I'm not sure I can handle a Head-only Mech.

Fires of Battle, Reveal my Heart

Psycho Burgundy!

Had to get that out of the way, too much fun.

The Good: Filing my Taxes for last year and realizing that the new job has slightly over triple the annual income.

The Bad: Also realizing that said new job will involve at lot more work, a lot harder (intellectually, not phyisically) work, and a commute.

The Ugly: Posting on the World of Warcraft Forums to not only indentify Popotan characters, but also to distinguish Lucky Star from The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi for those less eductated on the matter.

As a parting note. Tokyo Majin GK is incredible. I haven't been this addicted to full-blown awesome shounen in awhile. Gattai level awesomeness at times. Perhaps I shout too many Guilty Gear quotes while watching it though.

(Image Overload) And out like a Lamb

Happy Year of the Boar (Yeah, sure belated I know but I had to upload the next album to Photobucket before I could say it -- this one is sorta more impuslive, which means that more borderline NSFW images ended up in the batch, as well as some pictures that are more random than background worthy (though the arguement swings both ways for pedophile Link who is mutually creepy and awesome in his image))

Not my current background however, I've got a quaint Ashley (from Wario Ware) with a Wii Mote wallpaper instead at the moment.

Hmm, seems I managed to leave the prior post untitled, which I may literally edit in as the title, as much as that wasn't the intended title in the first place it's the befittingest title now.

So, Grandparents paid a visit for the Sunday dinner (Note the lack of a Holiday term, while that may be a pretext it's genuinely unspoked in the context of a non-theistic household) and we had a few rounds of "Is that new", my Grandmother's favorite game, you'll have to press David for details, he's much more enthusiastic in his description. If I haven't stressed it enough before, anything that ever gets said in my house can get taken, twisted, and run for a touchdown pretty easily (ie: Thanksgiving away or any of the various usages of my family embracing the fact that I'm not homosexual but would support it anyways). So the following (which actually continued for another dozen or so lines of equal build) conversation broke out after I spent a good minute solid trying to find a way to extract a cupcake from it's plastic container (the standard grocery store 6-pack) without having to get my hands covered in the butter cream frosting:

"In the land of the blind, you're still handicapped."
"Ooh, handicapped, does that mean I get a parking spot?"
"Sure, there's tons of them, no one else is using them."
"So, as empty parking spaces as far as the eye can see, or not as the case may be, then?"

Secured the new job, start it in two weeks with a full day orientation opener. Going to be looking into Night School to finish the education as a result, here's hoping this is the start of something good and at least survivably enjoyable. I'm daunted, but that's true of me and anything new, I need to do something celebratory, but I've not got the foggiest clue what. I figure the combo of work + commute, let alone the prospect of night school, will probably crush my WoW time and then I'll have need to find something else to play. Hopefully the PSP or PS3 will be down in price by then.

And a bit more talk of Anime, as time permits:

Venus Versus Virus-



The jury is still out on this one, after a mere 4 episodes. I've called it a Pokemon meets Bleach thing, since the Viruses seem to have "types" like "earth" which grant them various immunities, weakness, and abilities, but otherwise have pretty much the exact description that Bleach gives to Hollows. The OP/ED speak of a much stronger relationship than I think is going to be evidenced in the show, at least prior to the very end. I'm curious as to where they'll be taking this one, I figure they're gonna go destroy the source of all Viruses to save each other. Shinsen just put out 5 more episodes though, so I'll probably have something more concrete to say in a few weeks. Until then I think I'll just lament the fact that they choose should a quasi-loli age/appearance for the primary cast and hope for some new gimmicks for the battles beyond anti-body beserking.


Negima-



This is probably the cutest of the Negima images I could find, isn't it nice? I don't think I quite agree with the extraneous random that gets into the show (Chupacabra, Mots and company), but it's a very cute and very amusing romp in the Magical Academy genre with touches of dark. Suffice to say all solid points in my book. There's still quite abit of drama and whatnot to pass through before the end, but with the lovely ladies, and the generally high quality art of the show, I think I'll keep watching till that end happens.

And just a set of images to polish off this belatedly belated post, I'll give the remained a fresh hit in a new post, perhaps alongside thoughts on the new season.

Black Lagoon-




Otome / Otome Zwei-

To go, Lagoon, Zwei, Geass, FMP:TSR, Tokyo Majin GK.

Alright, we'll see if I can manage this. I don't think I've seen a customer in hours, though being here alone means that the instant I see one I'll get three, and they'll all want copies without knowing how to use the copier or packaging or speak English worse than most immigrants and take forever to ask what they want before I convince them to leave. Yesterday I didn't have a co-worker from when I showed up until about 75 minutes after I was supposed to be off the clock. But hey, I've forged my dedication in 6 years of service right? I get a $1 an hour raise, which would've been cool ... a few years ago. Now I'm faced with the prospect of cutting and running, since the ACS just asked for my application again and I seem to be told that they're going to make me an offer shortly. This leaves me sorta jaw-dropped, as I'm fairly certainly that I proved myself not only incapable but borderline incompetent with regards to the position I applied for, though I will say I was a pretty good conversationalist (but that doesn't really come as a suprise to me). Oh well, we'll see how things play out, and then figure out how the hell I adjust to night school and raiding (hint, I probably don't which will be uncool, but necessary) or just getting back into college in general (being out of HS ~4 year with over 50 credits is sorta a special case for most schools, and it's a pain in the ass to get them to be upfront about it so I can apply properly).

Ranting and mindblowing news aside, since the new season is practically at our feet I'm hoping I can get enough presence of self to talk about the few last seasons (and at this point, before that as well I guess). I've covered Ouran, and Eureka, and Haruhi already, which were 2 of the biggest hits and one of the nicer shows (should be very easy to pick which belongs in each category).

Well, mailman came, which was a distraction to my original actions. I'm sitting here holding a magazine (well, not a glossy cover, but still a magazine) entitled Mortuary Managment. On the back they advertise a "Death Care Web Store" with classic 1:18 scale 1920's and 1930's Hearses, Lapel Pins, Industry Books (Embalming: History, Theory, and Practice), and a few various other pieces. www.abbottandhast.com if you're morbidly curious (pardon the pun).

I checked back, seems that it's been awhile since I had a substancial post on the topic of anime (we're talking back to August here I think), but sadly thanks to the Hard Drive and Disc Space woes, not a ton has changed.

I have no clue how Coyote Ragtime ended, it got licensed and fell through the cracks. Ergo Proxy has stagnated to the point where I'm not certain I care how it ends anymore. GunXSword continues to impress me for insubstancial reasons, partially in amazement at how mundane and tripe things can be made into such annoyances, though they got literally 2 and a half casts worth of cliches running around the place, I don't really see any good way out of the mess.

Polished off the second season of Tsubasa. Gotta admit, for straying into wholly anime original territory they did great. Right up until "chaos". That name gets dragged through hell and back everytime someone parades it out. Nothing good has ever come out of it as far as I'm concerned, always just someone trying to pose an enigma and failing miserably. Kurogane's backstory was probably the highight of it all, hell he and Fye are really the only reason I keep watching, that and the glimses of Yuuko through the cracks. The Dimensional Witch is an amazing character on several levels, and honestly I'm just not comfortable with the idea of Syaoran surpassing either of them for some reason. Though I'll admit, for whatever reason, I can actually cope with Sakura being practically a god incarnate. It wasn't a bad season persay, there were some great moments, but eventually they just seemed to be leaning on them music way too heavily. Also, not enough Fye awesomeness.

(Picking back up a day later, having been waylaid by customers and plans)

I didn't manage to finish Zero no Tsukaima, nor watch the last run of Trinity Blood (which I think devolved into the exact same mess that befalls Trigun and probably GunXSword - too many villians and not enough time to flesh them out coupled with the addition of a random character with connection that was always subtly alluded to but never included). I watched all of School Rumble Season 2 that ended up getting subbed (for the love of god, someone finish this, I need more Eri), but got defrayed from N.H.K. before finishing it (that show just gets too ugly at times).

I did however finish Innocent Venus, though the less said about it the better. I could do everyone a favor and just spoil the single plot twist, but I'll do you one better and just spoil the whole series: stupid.

So let's talk Black Lagoon instead. The first season ended weak (thank god Legarch didn't get to stick around) and the second started about as bad (With the American ganster...), though once they got Greenback Jane out of the picture, especially using the Congress plot with the Church of Battle Sister, everything got good again. I'd have liked a bit more related to Rotten the Wizard and Shenhua, or at least more Shenhua in general, but we can't get everything we like. The whole epic battle in the Bowling Alley was incredible, as was the entirity of the subterfuge in the complete Japan arc.

To go more Lagoon, FMP:TSR, VVV, Tokyo Majin GK, Geass (In a future post though), and Otome: Zwei.

Boredom really kills the power to write.

Errata 1: Despite what the tutorial told me, Hammer Ons and Pull Offs in GH2 can occur on non-consecutive notes.

At long last I got together my skills and my reflexes and managed to play through the last 8 songs on Hard (Mostly 3'd with a few 4 star songs) only to be crushed by the madness that is Freebird. I can play everything but the Solo, which isn't really saying all that much, as everything before the solo is pretty amatuer level stuff. I can't do speed yet. You can throw pretty much any complexity at me, chorded or not, and I can decipher the pattern and play it, but getting speed where the tempo (aka the music) isn't easily listenable is my achille's heel. That and Orange -> Green runs because for whatever reason I mess up the double shift Red to Green, or I fail at Yellow if I focus too much on the Red to Green transition.

Errata 2: Not Kamisama Kazoku I was thinking of, I'll try and get a Radio Blog Club link to the song over there (on the left) so I can enlist some help in figuring out why the riff is so damn familiar.

On the musical front, I pushed forward to a reconstruction of my Pandora stations. I took Masterpiece and split in into 4 fragments, attempting to create 4 stations that rigidly maintain the songs I enjoyed on their parent, but in a way where I'm not sifting through the other 3 categories to get to them. Been good so far, though I find that age is very poor to stations, so we'll see how they're holding up after another few weeks.

On the video game front. Yay for the confirmation of a NIGHTs sequel, here's hoping they don't screw it up. SSX Blur not having a real song list = fail, so I won't be getting that one.