August 18, 2015
Here is Some Wide Gauge Steampunk
...by Makkou 4 to offset the banality beneath the fold.
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August 16, 2015
How Far Can He Go? How Long Will He Stay Free?
The videos of the massive explosion in Tianjin keep getting pulled from the internet. However, one brave reporter, a He Xiaoxin, DID get into the affected area and took some pictures. I don't expect this report to remain up much longer, but I'm linking to it. I'm also posting his pictures below the fold to save them from the inevitable purge. I don't normally nick more than one pic from a news article and clearly identify the source via hyperlink and I certainly don't make a habit of nicking all the picture from a photo essay because that is, frankly, WRONG.
However, the likelihood of his work being bering deemed triggering to the Chinese government and sent down the memory hole moves me to do this. Fortunately, He Xiaoxin has extensively watermarked his work. If one reposts any of these, PLEASE make sure to credit He Xiaoxin and The China Digital Times. Also do read his whole article, not only to give the paper hits but because his text provides valuable context.
more...
However, if the article is gone then click on "more" and behold...the effects of a quarter kiloton blast....
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August 15, 2015
School Live Episode 6
In the latest episode of School Live, Yuki organizes a school athletic event, Sakura Sensei tries to get Yuki to address her properly and not drive off a potential new club member and Miki gains some insights into why Sakura Sensei seems so clumsy. Later Kurumi and Yuri explain to Miki some important facts about the school's rooftop garden and the yearbook project is finished.
In the meantime, hijinks ensue.
I must say that the music in this show is used to truly excellent effect.
"Good grief Yuki, you're SCARING the poor girl"
This is actually much more than a show about a bunch of girls in school...
...in its own bizarre way this show almost one of those Iyashikei (healing anime).
As usual, gentle readers, we admonish everyone to use spoiler tags in the comments.
And if you are not yet watching this show we admonish you to start with episode ONE.
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Some Days...
...it just does NOT pay to get out of bed.
Exemplifying this today is Dame Bozes Co Palesti, one of the highest ranking members of the Rose Order of Knights....
"My orders were as follows: to oversee the full mobilization of the Rose order of Knights and proceed via forced march to rendezvous in Italica with the detachment you had led to reconnoiter the probable area of operations. The overall mission of unit Rose was to be reconnaissance in force of the national cultural heritage site Arnus Hill, which has been taken by an invading force of unknown nationality. This force had defeated two Imperial and five tributary armies with astonishing alacrity and suffered no apparent losses. These facts made the proposed reece mission of paramount importance in assembling some effective defense of our nation. Additionally, the gravity of the situation indicated that we be marching in a state of tactical readiness and be prepared to engage any hostile forces we might encounter.
AS PER THE TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC SITUATION AS WELL AS MY LAWFUL ORDERS: Yesterday at approximately 15:00 we encountered a small enemy recon force using transport equipment vastly more capable than our own. Despite the danger, my troops obeyed my order to approach without protest. The enemy unit (which did not seem to possess any archers or spear carriers) did not engage, but rather sent out a single soldier, possibly to parlay. I assumed that we had encountered an isolated reconnaissance or foraging unit. Given our army's previous reversals with this enemy this was a rare opportunity and to pass it up would have been, in my opinion, to demonstrate criminal negligence. Thus, I gave the order to engage them with the hopes of collecting intelligence and possibly prisoners. The enemy retreated from the field with my soldiers in hot pursuit, but their...conveyances...possessed preternatural speed and the bulk of the enemy unit escaped. However, Dame Kalgi managed to capture one prisoner, who we interrogated and brought to you with the greatest possible dispatch. I felt this could very well be a development of paramount importance.
AS PER THE TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC SITUATION AS WELL AS MY LAWFUL ORDERS: Yesterday at approximately 15:00 we encountered a small enemy recon force using transport equipment vastly more capable than our own. Despite the danger, my troops obeyed my order to approach without protest. The enemy unit (which did not seem to possess any archers or spear carriers) did not engage, but rather sent out a single soldier, possibly to parlay. I assumed that we had encountered an isolated reconnaissance or foraging unit. Given our army's previous reversals with this enemy this was a rare opportunity and to pass it up would have been, in my opinion, to demonstrate criminal negligence. Thus, I gave the order to engage them with the hopes of collecting intelligence and possibly prisoners. The enemy retreated from the field with my soldiers in hot pursuit, but their...conveyances...possessed preternatural speed and the bulk of the enemy unit escaped. However, Dame Kalgi managed to capture one prisoner, who we interrogated and brought to you with the greatest possible dispatch. I felt this could very well be a development of paramount importance.
I should add that whatever actions are brought against me, throughout this movement our entire unit comported themselves in accordance with the finest traditions of the Knights of the Empire and deserve commendation and not condemnation for their performance during, what was, their baptism by fire.
Now, I mean no disrespect whatsoever to your highness, but can you PLEASE clarify what, exactly I did, or ordered those under my command to do, that was in any way a violation of my general orders, my lawful standing orders or was otherwise so wrong that you just embedded your chalice in my cranium."
I paraphrase somewhat, but it's hard not to sympathize with Dame Palesti's plight in the opening scene of Episode 7 of GATE. After all, no one bothered to text her that there was now a peace treaty. I mean, nobody yelled at Andrew Jackson.
This was another good episode which despite some silliness remained clever and intelligent. This episode changes the direction of several characters quite markedly, We also find out a few additional things about the other world...
This episode also moved the plot along, setting up a major shift in the direction of two characters (Princess Pinã and Dame Palesti) as well as establishing there are a LOT of really dark aspects to what is, after all, a version of the Roman Empire with feudal elements (tributary states). The dilemma the Princess faced is cringeworthy. She has the weight of the empire and al its subject on her shoulders and she only has the Empire's precedents to guide her as to the likely behavior of the invaders. That it was well established that Bozelle is one of her oldest friends makes her decision (which she clearly dreaded) all the more gut wrenching.
The fact that our heroes aren't jerks and are behaving in a basically rational, non-malevolent manner is a nice touch too.
This show is far better than one would expect from the premise..."Modern Japanese Army invades Middle Earth."
It is actually quite good and has remained consistently intelligent for seven episodes. So if you have not watched this (or gave up after the second episode) I strongly suggest that you add this to your watch list.
UPDATE: Over at Steven's place there is a post and comment thread regarding the design changes between the manga and Anime.This mostly concerns the costume changes , which can mostly be explained by the need to actually animate the show...but some of which are truly bizarre. There is also mention made of the changes to two of the maids to make them appeal to the moe' set, but I think that the anime managed to do something subtle and neat here in the process...
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August 13, 2015
Crossing the Streams Does Indeed Result in Something Scary
Art by ã„ãˆã™ã±
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August 12, 2015
SHOVEL!
Because no proper young lady should be without her shovel.
School Live's Kurumi and her shovel byã†ã¡ã‚…ã†ãã“
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The Sheer SCALE
of the blasts in Tianjin made clear by the buildings in these videos.
This looks to be at least as bad as Texas City or Black Tom.
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Desperation Can Lead to Poor Choices
Nations that are under stress from within or without have historically been prone to attempt unifying their populations and ameliorating or postponing their economic reckoning by military adventure.
In other news...there is this.
....Russia is within the perfect storm of an economic crisis. So, the Russian economy started stagnating in 2013. It was never really able to recover after the 2008-2009 recession, and in 2013 the economy really started to slow down. It's just grinding to almost a halt outside of energy. And so that was the very start of it. Then we had 2014 happen. The situation between the West and Russia over Ukraine eventually, of course, led to sanctions. And then, at the same time as sanctions against Russia, we had oil prices pretty much fall in half. And so it was multiple items put together, in which you had the Russian economy just take a nosedive over the past year and a half.
To the southeast of Russia, China is devaluing its currency.
The wild couple of days in the currency market compounded the damage already done by July’s stock market crash to the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping’s reputation as competent stewards of the country’s economy. Xi has amassed unprecedented political control and eliminated potential rivals through a massive crackdown on both corruption and political dissent. That might be all fine by Chinese citizens as long as the government continues to provide strong economic growth, but it works less well when the government seems incompetent on economic matters. The "Chinese dream†Xi has promised citizens includes not just national greatness but personal wellbeing.
However, despite this, the Chinese government is still hoarding oil....
More than 80 million barrels of new strategic reserve capacity is scheduled to start operations this year, and China will continue purchases to fill those tanks, according to Chauhan.
...and are saying that they may be the worlds largest oil importer this year.
North Korea has the advantage that its economy is already rock bottom and has nowhere to collapse to. However, the drought is causing problems for a country where forestry is serious business.
Naturally, the hermit kingdom is ramping up its uranium enrichment and mining as well as making noises about another nuclear test in October.
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August 11, 2015
I...Oh Dear.
This has to be one of the most sublime juxtapositions of win and derp, ever.
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More RWBY News
All for the moment! Stay tuned for more RT Animation announcements throughout the RTX2015 weekend!
Ahem.
In other news...
...Volume 3 casting announcements:
- Winter Schnee will be voiced by Elizabeth Maxwell (Major Kusanagi from "Ghost in the Shell: Arise")
- Uncle Qrow will be voiced by Vic Mignogna (Edward Elric from "Fullmetal Alchemist")
- Ren will be voiced by Monty's brother, Neath Oum
There is still no projected release date, but the cast additions certainly indicate that the third season is not vaporware.
more...
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August 10, 2015
The Alien Battle Station We Call Ceres Continues Slowly Charging Its Main Gun
One of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes discusses the continuing mystery of the bright spots on Ceres.
"When I find out who put that damned, irresponsible, Hoaglandesque post title over MY head. I am going to break my foot of in their a.."
Oh dear.
In lieu of expert commentary, we will go with the short, quick version:
No one has a good explanation for the glowy bits.
Note that "pyramid" is a bit dramatic. It appears to be a steep sided mountain...that glows.
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August 09, 2015
Double Shifts
...are in my future, probably until school starts.
Here is a gimmick that falls rather short of actually providing original content: YouTubery.
First, while I have lamented my having to work through my vacation, it is financially fortuitous. Sakuya here provides yet more reasons to be thankful.
The latest MMD upgrade (Version 9.23) looks pretty impressive.
It appears that they've fixed that, umm, bug the older versions sometimes had animating skirts.
It appears that they've fixed that, umm, bug the older versions sometimes had animating skirts.
Given the exuberantly elaborate costumes many of the Touhou characters wear, I was looking forward to seeing how this new upgrade would look animating those outfits.
Alas...
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August 08, 2015
Ringlets
They are called ringlets.
I did not know that.
From episode 6 of GATE, which is educational as well as entertaining.
Also: Don called it.
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A Wacky School Outing
The latest episode of School Live continues last week's flashback to the club's first field trip...to the local mall.
Now, our heroines have a very specific list of things they are supposed to get, (mostly in the hardware dept). Naturally, they hit music stores, clothing stores and try on bathing suits.
Hijinx ensue...
"We did NOT break any of these. That is our story and we are sticking to it!"
The pacing in this episode is a bit off, but it remained thoroughly entertaining (the John Carpenteresque soundtrack was inspired). there are some questions raised though.
As always with this show please avail yourself of the spoiler tags in the comments.
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August 06, 2015
OK This is REALLY Neat!
Here is an animation of the moon crossing the Earth from a million miles away. Note the lack of rabbits on the far side of the moon.
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Vacation DENIED
Yeah, there's been a LOT of perfunctory posting recently.
As "blog" theoretically means Biographical log, for those interested, there is a disquisition on the banal reasons for this extended programming anomaly below the fold.
As compensation, here, courtesy of GATE, (this season's surprisingly enjoyable and intelligent fantasy) is Tuka, Chuka or possibly Tsuka.
However her name is transliterated, the art is by Otono Fei.
more...
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August 05, 2015
OK This is Neat
An old ad for the Seawolf amphibian variant that was aimed at military customers. I'm skeptical about the claim this you tuber made in the title, but I particularly like the boarding operation at 7:00 and "ninja mode" at 8:25.
This would be my dream plane.
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August 04, 2015
Post Title Goes In This Field: Remember, Post Titles Should Be Short, Only Two Or Three Words And Be Humorous If Appropriate And Possible, However, Above All They Should Be Relevant To The Topic Of The Associated Post. For Frack's Sake Don't Write A Whole Friccking Paragraph.AND DON'T FORGET THE POST TITLE! Thank You.Management.
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How Much Will 150 Billion Dollars Buy?
Obviously, production and sales tax issues aside, one could purchase 150 billion of those sketchy Dollar Tree steaks. However, one would not be Iran, which is getting 150 billion in frozen assets freed up as part of the deal to...ummm....slow their acquisition of nukes.
Anyway, it is rumored that they have made some interesting purchases:
150 Chinese J-10 fighters (Guestimated at 5.625 billion)
250 Russian SU-30 Strike fighters (Guestimated at 9.375 billion)
100(!) Russian IL 78 refueling tankers (Guestimated at 3.5 billion)
That is a hell of a lot of planes. It's an especially large number of tankers, though if they are serious about power projection 4 fighters per tanker is not unrealistic...it just means the Iranians have given a lot of thought to logistics and other non-flashy assets an air-force needs.
The cost estimates come from Wikipedia and Global security and are WAGs only that don't take into account associated ordinance purchases, training or fuel costs. However, 18.5 billion leaves a lot of wiggle room for these and other pointy, sharp things before 150 billion is reached and its not like the 150 billion is their budget...it's extra.
A few things about this story.
Iran can't actually take delivery for a few years under the terms of the agreement and it's likely that most of the planes couldn't be built /delivered for some time anyway. However a chunk of the Chinese order (and possibly the Russian one as well) actually appears to be a preexisting order from 2007, which was frozen because of the sanctions, so its possible that some of the planes have been built and also conceivable that the ex-post facto nature of the arrangement could allow delivery sooner than normally allowed. That is unclear, but the deal is so full of unpleasantness that it is not beyond the realm of possibility.
This story itself is thinly sourced. It has popped up in a couple of places, but it seems to always refer back to the DEBKA story or a Wall Street Journal article currently behind a paywall. However, It is well within Iran's financial means and similar numbers of planes were being ordered in 2007 so it is very plausible.
This story also gives some idea of what a windfall Iran has gotten irrespective of the nuclear aspects of the deal by having its assets unfrozen. In adjusted dollars this is a slightly bigger infusion of cash than The Marshall Plan was for Europe.
Oy.
Dennis Prager has a good overview of the situation....
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Giant Minion Causes Chaos on Dublin Road
That's the headline...
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