December 17, 2011
Does Looking Forward to This Make me a Bad Person?
Of course not.
Being a bad person makes me look forward to this.
Understanding cause and effect are important.
Being a bad person makes me look forward to this.
Understanding cause and effect are important.
Yes, the full version of Katawa Shoujo, better known as That Atrociously Atrocious Atrocity (with the really cool characterizations) is coming out on January 4th.
Why the cringing you ask? Well, this is a dating-sim visual novel in which all of the young ladies posses various disabilities. Put together by a group of US fans, it is based on a joke sketch by a Japanese Doujinshi artist. Given such dubious subject matter and provenance, the correct response would normally be NO FREAKKING WAI GTFO!
However...
Back in '09 I sent a link to the demo release to our EBP who provided a review here. I played through the abomination myself and was impressed. The demo was quite large and the characters were superbly realized. The demo was not exploitative or insulting in the least. It was actually engaging, thoughtful and even touching. This promises to be a quite entertaining visual novel. I find myself looking forward to it. Still, I feel funny posting this heads up on my blog since I'm pretty sure that...well...there's gonna be talk.
..you know...talk.
Why the cringing you ask? Well, this is a dating-sim visual novel in which all of the young ladies posses various disabilities. Put together by a group of US fans, it is based on a joke sketch by a Japanese Doujinshi artist. Given such dubious subject matter and provenance, the correct response would normally be NO FREAKKING WAI GTFO!
However...
Back in '09 I sent a link to the demo release to our EBP who provided a review here. I played through the abomination myself and was impressed. The demo was quite large and the characters were superbly realized. The demo was not exploitative or insulting in the least. It was actually engaging, thoughtful and even touching. This promises to be a quite entertaining visual novel. I find myself looking forward to it. Still, I feel funny posting this heads up on my blog since I'm pretty sure that...well...there's gonna be talk.
..you know...talk.
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December 16, 2011
The Mighty Hitch has Passed
Christopher Hitchens has died. More here. (via)
Whatever disagreements one may have had with him on matters of philosophy, there was no one who was a stronger, more articulate advocate for the value of western civilization.
He was a great mind and he passed far too early. He was only 62.
UPDATE: Very thoughtful missives on his passing from CDR Salamander, R.S. McCain, Michelle Malkin, and The Anchoress.
Whatever disagreements one may have had with him on matters of philosophy, there was no one who was a stronger, more articulate advocate for the value of western civilization.
He was a great mind and he passed far too early. He was only 62.
UPDATE: Very thoughtful missives on his passing from CDR Salamander, R.S. McCain, Michelle Malkin, and The Anchoress.
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December 10, 2011
What I Learned at the Debate
The 3,547,862,241st Republican debate was heavily hyped.
However, there were no stitches and no one got hit by a chair.
Romney endorses gambling.
Newt is now the guy to beat.
Perry had his best debate ever but he is still painful to watch at times.
Santorum......
Bachman did better than usual, until she introduced "9-9-9" into the first debate that should have been free of it. She went downhill from there....
When Paul is good, he is very very good and when he is bad he is horrid.
It is not too late for the RNC to lawyer-up and seriously consider implementing Plan Don.
But enough of this.
On to the important questions.
Here are two dullahans having tea.
How do they have tea?
However, there were no stitches and no one got hit by a chair.
Romney endorses gambling.
Newt is now the guy to beat.
Perry had his best debate ever but he is still painful to watch at times.
Santorum......
Bachman did better than usual, until she introduced "9-9-9" into the first debate that should have been free of it. She went downhill from there....
When Paul is good, he is very very good and when he is bad he is horrid.
It is not too late for the RNC to lawyer-up and seriously consider implementing Plan Don.
But enough of this.
On to the important questions.
Here are two dullahans having tea.
How do they have tea?
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December 07, 2011
70 Years ago
...the fleet was sunk when caught unawares by a well planned sneak attack that came in two waves.
Soon the entire navy may be gutted, in two waves. Not only are numbers set to plummet due to austerity, but the ability to to maintain and replace any fleet may be eliminated by CBO ineptitude.
Which is the greater infamy?
Soon the entire navy may be gutted, in two waves. Not only are numbers set to plummet due to austerity, but the ability to to maintain and replace any fleet may be eliminated by CBO ineptitude.
Which is the greater infamy?
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December 05, 2011
A Total of 30 pages to go!
3 full days left before the last 2 papers are due.
I actually feel much better, and there is no more blood (yay!). This is a good thing. OTOH, The antibiotics, which in this case are heavy doses of Cipro, are really doing a number on me.
Blogging will resume sometime Friday or Saturday.
I actually feel much better, and there is no more blood (yay!). This is a good thing. OTOH, The antibiotics, which in this case are heavy doses of Cipro, are really doing a number on me.
Blogging will resume sometime Friday or Saturday.
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December 03, 2011
The Bridge is Back Under Loyalist Control
As are the engine rooms and lazarette.
Boarders have been repelled.
Blogging will resume in the near future.
In the meantime have some Saber.
Boarders have been repelled.
Blogging will resume in the near future.
In the meantime have some Saber.
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December 01, 2011
Completely Off Topic
Star Turtle Village needs NINJAS!
It's an AWESOME village!
It's got TONS of upgrades, which makes a beginning ninjas life much easier!
And now we are doing a membership drive....hence tacky retro mimeographed FLIERS!
Star Turtle Village needs NINJAS!
It's an AWESOME village!
It's got TONS of upgrades, which makes a beginning ninjas life much easier!
And now we are doing a membership drive....hence tacky retro mimeographed FLIERS!
UPDATE: One of the neat things about this particular time waster is that the stamina limit keeps one from wasting more than about 20 minutes of time a day.
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Early Christmas Present.
Sometimes, I want to ask Santa Clause or one of his surrogates two questions.
1: Was I somehow...bad?
2: If so, why does a lump of coal not suffice?
...Well there you go.
more...
1: Was I somehow...bad?
2: If so, why does a lump of coal not suffice?
1: You ordered Calamari on Saturday.
2: I was not so inklined.
2: I was not so inklined.
...Well there you go.
more...
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November 29, 2011
Jingle Hell
There was a bit of drama over the holiday here as both my father and grandmother ended up in the hospital. My father has a hernia that will be operated on in January and we finally found out what has been causing my grandmothers issues. It's an auto immune disease similar to Lupus. She's being treated for that now and for the first time in months is walking! Both were major scares but both turned out surprisingly well.
Which is good because...
It's now Christmas season at UPS.
It's exam and term paper season at ODU.
With 3 remaining papers due and a start time at work approaching midnight it's getting hectic. I keep telling myself there will be cake at the end of this month.
But looking at the piles of reference materials by day and the cardboard tsunami every morning I'm beginning to fear that this song may be more representative of what is to come....
Which is good because...
It's now Christmas season at UPS.
It's exam and term paper season at ODU.
With 3 remaining papers due and a start time at work approaching midnight it's getting hectic. I keep telling myself there will be cake at the end of this month.
But looking at the piles of reference materials by day and the cardboard tsunami every morning I'm beginning to fear that this song may be more representative of what is to come....
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November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope that those of you in the States and Territories of the United States have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday and that everyone else has a pleasant day. Remember, that today is not just about the turkey, it's also about perspective. Whatever curve-balls life throws at us there is still much to be thankful for.
This is particularly true those of us that were not present at the Pinedale Shopping Mall on October 30, 1978.
This is particularly true those of us that were not present at the Pinedale Shopping Mall on October 30, 1978.
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November 17, 2011
A Thing of Beauty....and Safety
...and ACTING!
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Why Today?
A week or two ago #OCCUPYSQUALOR announced that today would be their day of action. The eviction yesterday and multiple arrests seems to have neutered their plans a bit, but why did they chose today of all days. Why did it have to be today when they knew an eviction was coming?
Cdr Salamander knows.
Just be very glad September has passed.
Related item here.
Cdr Salamander knows.
Just be very glad September has passed.
Related item here.
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EXACTO
EXACTO is a guided a missile intended to be launched from guns and be interchaingable with existing ordinance increasing weapon accuracy and reducing the chance of collateral damage.. This is not at first blush in any way unusual. However, the guns in question are not 155mm weapons nor 105's.
EXACTO is to be launched from 12.7mm barrels.
No that decimal did not slip.
Fifty.
Caliber.
Guided.
Missile.
EXACTO is to be launched from 12.7mm barrels.
No that decimal did not slip.
Fifty.
Caliber.
Guided.
Missile.
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Schemes to Annoy the Virtuous Fan
Ubu speculates and rants on what may (or may not) be a worrisome development.
His concern is that the Japanese companies are simply going to cut the US distributors off. Instead of going that route they might start providing subtitles on their Blu Ray discs like they have done with Dog Days which provided English, French, and Chinese subtitle tracks. Given the seemingly rather myopic and desperate business plan of much of the anime industry, this does not seem far fetched, especially given that the US and Japan share the same region in Blu Ray. One thing is curious about this example though....France and China do NOT have the same region coding as the US and Japan (though of course there are the Quebecois). France, however, is a lucrative anime market and China is just plain huge, so this may be a reflection on the accessibility of region free players. Still, I'd be more concerned about this particular development if the language tracks were Portuguese, Spanish and English. So don't go to pieces just yet...
If this DID happen it would be unfortunate. The US releases would almost certainly penetrate deeper into the US market. There is also the fact that companies that bring this stuff over would be nuked and their now quite talented cadre of Voice Actors dispersed.
Then there is cost...Japanese discs cost several times what the US disks do. The business plan for the Japanese companies seems to revolve around really exorbitant BD with lots of extras and steam removal. This has contributed to the narrowing of the market in Japan, where the merchandise is priced high which weeds out the less fanatical enthusiasts which results in a smaller, more intense market which demands more fan service, which appalls polite society, further shrinking the market which causes the companies to raise prices which shrinks the market yet more thereby increasing the percentage of maladroit fandom demanding panty shots which further marginalizes the market until you get hemlines halfway up the buttocks and plots revolving around bust size competitions (oh wait). Eventually the market will consist entirely of 47 rich trustfunder NEETS who will die out never having touched a woman thus ending the industry.
Only moderate BD prices and Josei can save us from this fate.
On a related note there is this.
This strange bit of corporatism could have interesting results...not necessarily good ones mind you. I do note that this seems to be a sop to the biggest media conglomerates and they are only going for really big ticket properties. Therefore, it most likely will not affect most anime releases and certainly won't have much affect on more obscure shows. Dan Kanimitsu has thoughts. I for one wonder why they dont just have Toho and Daiei hire international actors and a few directors for international adaptations.
Of course, perspective is important. None of this is in any way the end of the world.
"Fandom...doomed...must..tweet EVERYBODY!"
...but of course your mileage may vary.
more...
His concern is that the Japanese companies are simply going to cut the US distributors off. Instead of going that route they might start providing subtitles on their Blu Ray discs like they have done with Dog Days which provided English, French, and Chinese subtitle tracks. Given the seemingly rather myopic and desperate business plan of much of the anime industry, this does not seem far fetched, especially given that the US and Japan share the same region in Blu Ray. One thing is curious about this example though....France and China do NOT have the same region coding as the US and Japan (though of course there are the Quebecois). France, however, is a lucrative anime market and China is just plain huge, so this may be a reflection on the accessibility of region free players. Still, I'd be more concerned about this particular development if the language tracks were Portuguese, Spanish and English. So don't go to pieces just yet...
Then there is cost...Japanese discs cost several times what the US disks do. The business plan for the Japanese companies seems to revolve around really exorbitant BD with lots of extras and steam removal. This has contributed to the narrowing of the market in Japan, where the merchandise is priced high which weeds out the less fanatical enthusiasts which results in a smaller, more intense market which demands more fan service, which appalls polite society, further shrinking the market which causes the companies to raise prices which shrinks the market yet more thereby increasing the percentage of maladroit fandom demanding panty shots which further marginalizes the market until you get hemlines halfway up the buttocks and plots revolving around bust size competitions (oh wait). Eventually the market will consist entirely of 47 rich trustfunder NEETS who will die out never having touched a woman thus ending the industry.
Only moderate BD prices and Josei can save us from this fate.
.....but I digress.
On a related note there is this.
A new company backed by the government will buy the rights to Japanese anime, toys and other creative products and tout them to Hollywood producers.
All Nippon Entertainment Works Co., which has received 6 billion yen (about $80 million) from the 90-percent government-sponsored Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), will begin acquiring rights this month. It plans to invest 3 billion yen over the next three years to acquire the rights to 10 products and get movies made.
This strange bit of corporatism could have interesting results...not necessarily good ones mind you. I do note that this seems to be a sop to the biggest media conglomerates and they are only going for really big ticket properties. Therefore, it most likely will not affect most anime releases and certainly won't have much affect on more obscure shows. Dan Kanimitsu has thoughts. I for one wonder why they dont just have Toho and Daiei hire international actors and a few directors for international adaptations.
Of course, perspective is important. None of this is in any way the end of the world.
"Fandom...doomed...must..tweet EVERYBODY!"
more...
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Decision Points
So...your wife is threatening to leave you.
Do you:
A: Get counseling
B: Sell the boat
C: Get a good lawyer and try to get custody of the kids
D: Burn a cross in your own front yard
I'm failing to see how this was supposed to work.
Do you:
A: Get counseling
B: Sell the boat
C: Get a good lawyer and try to get custody of the kids
D: Burn a cross in your own front yard
I'm failing to see how this was supposed to work.
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November 16, 2011
Would-Be Assasin on the Loose!
Seen here wearing the traditional garb of his native LA-La-Land
Seen here wearing the traditional garb of his native LA-La-Land
This Jackwagon's name is Oscar Ramiro Ortega and he is strongly suspected of putting a bullet through the President's window.
He's 5'8" tall, weighs 160 pounds and has multiple tattoos. He's reportedly been seen at the #OccupyRingworm encampment but a sweep by the secret service there did not find him.
UPDATE: They got him!
He's 5'8" tall, weighs 160 pounds and has multiple tattoos. He's reportedly been seen at the #OccupyRingworm encampment but a sweep by the secret service there did not find him.
UPDATE: They got him!
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November 13, 2011
I Always Liked Pertwee
...so did these fans it would seem.
...so did these fans it would seem.
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November 09, 2011
The Debate:
Regards Perry's explanation of which agencies he would cut, I....
Oh hell with it. I'll let this young lady comment.
Oh hell with it. I'll let this young lady comment.
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November 07, 2011
Don't Forget. There is an Election Tomorrow.
There are elections tomorrow for the Senate and House of Delegates in Virginia. A quick overview of whose in what VA district can be found here. The State Board of Elections page is here. There is a good page on Virginia at Ballotpedia as well.
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November 06, 2011
She's Come From the Sea to Pun-ish Us All
I laughed, I cried..I groaned, I wept, I cried, I laughed, I hurled, I laughed some more...
From the stygian depths of the Pacific, comes a being hell bent upon conquest and fueled by a thirst for vengeance upon all mankind. Spawned of rage at mankind's destruction of the marine ecosystem, the creature lumberers through the surf and slouches inexorably towards its unsuspecting victims. A beachfront noodleshop is the first to feel her wrath, after which...
...um...well...due to various and sundry complications tonight's program of bloody vengeance and world conquest has been delayed indefinitely.
But, there is shrimp fried rice..and the shop's signature ramen.
Thus begins Squid Girl , the tale of a girl from the sea with squid tentacles coming out of her head ,who, due to poor planning, ends up working as a waitress at a seaside noodle shop while she tries to devise various cunning plans to take over the world.
This is actually a nostalgia show, pining for the experience of what going to the beach in Japan was like some years ago. It's also a comedy that is directed by lunatics with a wildly inconsistent style that ranges from slapstick to poignant to just plain silly. The show consists (mostly) of a series of skits. The timing of the sketches is excellent and the production values are top notch.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
However, it isn't something that one would think would translate well. For one thing, the shows particular brand of nostalgia's going to be lost on most people here, and then there is Squid Girl's speech tic...adding "degeseo" (which means squid tentacle) to the end of her sentences. This sort of tic is something of a trope in Japan but doesn't work in English, where the closest equivalent is probably "smurf". Bang Zoom, the dub studio, went a similar route...inventing a number of adverbs and adjectives sharing the root word squid...and some puns...occasionally quite a few... episode 4 packs them in like sardines. Some purists will be unable to fathom why they did this. I suspect it was just for the halibut. In any event I laughed.
This show has sole.
All that aside the translation is faithful in spirit and is quite good. Six episodes in I'm quite impressed. It is a cute little show with an upbeat message.
I laughed, I cried..I groaned, I wept, I cried, I laughed, I hurled, I laughed some more...
From the stygian depths of the Pacific, comes a being hell bent upon conquest and fueled by a thirst for vengeance upon all mankind. Spawned of rage at mankind's destruction of the marine ecosystem, the creature lumberers through the surf and slouches inexorably towards its unsuspecting victims. A beachfront noodleshop is the first to feel her wrath, after which...
...um...well...due to various and sundry complications tonight's program of bloody vengeance and world conquest has been delayed indefinitely.
But, there is shrimp fried rice..and the shop's signature ramen.
Thus begins Squid Girl , the tale of a girl from the sea with squid tentacles coming out of her head ,who, due to poor planning, ends up working as a waitress at a seaside noodle shop while she tries to devise various cunning plans to take over the world.
This is actually a nostalgia show, pining for the experience of what going to the beach in Japan was like some years ago. It's also a comedy that is directed by lunatics with a wildly inconsistent style that ranges from slapstick to poignant to just plain silly. The show consists (mostly) of a series of skits. The timing of the sketches is excellent and the production values are top notch.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
However, it isn't something that one would think would translate well. For one thing, the shows particular brand of nostalgia's going to be lost on most people here, and then there is Squid Girl's speech tic...adding "degeseo" (which means squid tentacle) to the end of her sentences. This sort of tic is something of a trope in Japan but doesn't work in English, where the closest equivalent is probably "smurf". Bang Zoom, the dub studio, went a similar route...inventing a number of adverbs and adjectives sharing the root word squid...and some puns...occasionally quite a few... episode 4 packs them in like sardines. Some purists will be unable to fathom why they did this. I suspect it was just for the halibut. In any event I laughed.
This show has sole.
All that aside the translation is faithful in spirit and is quite good. Six episodes in I'm quite impressed. It is a cute little show with an upbeat message.
I'm particularly surprised that something as gentle and wholesome as this show was picked up by Media Blasters, who did Queen's Blade, Ikkitousen, and K...KanoKon. I guess it was a fluke.
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