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How do you know I'm not a foresaken noble, banished to this country because of a youthful, idealistic decision I made that brought shame to my entire house even as it saved an innocent child's life? What makes you think that I do not, even today, live in fear of assassins hired by my vindictive uncle, who, despite the families decision to simply cut me off, is consumed with a need for bloody vengeance against me for what he perceives as the worst sort of familial perfidy.
And for that matter what makes my vindictive uncle think that I do not have at the ready certain information to be released in the event of my death by foul play? Information that would not save or cost a single life if released now but would have most problematic legal ramifications for those individuals who were involved in a certain mining venture in the Balkans about 15 years ago?
Just asking.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue Mar 19 09:21:48 2013 (F7DdT)
They're willing to scream, "Ye're an eyeless, noseless, chickenless egg," but they totally elide "Oh Johnny dear, ye look so queer" from the chorus??
I do not understand today's music. Nope.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Thu Mar 21 15:38:43 2013 (cvXSV)
5
To be fair, the original version of the song doesn't HAVE a single chorus; it changes every time. Apparently the original tune doesn't reference Ceylon, either.
At least, as far as my exhaustive research (wikipedia) reveals.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Thu Mar 21 19:52:02 2013 (vZvpB)
GJ Club
I'd found a couple of cute animated .gifs and tracked down their source. When I read the premise for the show it did not excite me...at all. However, a bit of digging turned up the fact that despite the cast and premise it is based on a series of light novels...and not a dating sim.
So I gave an episode a whirl.
In a certain school with very garish uniforms four girls and a boy round out the membership of the mysterious GJ Club. The clubs purpose is unclear but within the tiny club room, the five young souls drink tea, play chess, change light-bulbs and have other such harrowing adventures....
Ghaaa! So...is this show set in Australia?
This is an odd one.
Case in point....
This here is Kirara Bernstein. She's...well she's an exchange student...from someplace. She doesn't speak Japanese confidently and is generally very quiet. She seems to be on Atkins. Kirrara is also exceedingly tall and a bit awkward. She nearly died when bitten by a black widow at age 4 and this has left her with a terrible fear of spiders. Is there anything else I'm failing to mention here?
About 2/3 of the way through episode one, Mao the rather manic club president and Nebbish McOrdinary here notice that, yes, there is indeed something odd about the girl sitting by the window.
...'kayy...not what I would have noticed.
Which precipitates a conversation that ranges from how there is no cut of meat on any animal that looks like that to whether or not eating it will allow them to "increase their hit points" and speculation on just how the HELL that thing Kirara's eating was prepared.
The other club members are Shion, an elegant but slightly out of touch genius chess player and Mao's younger (and much taller) sister Megumi who is the absolute master of the club tea service. The dude is named Kyoya and serves mainly to be the butt of pranks. He prefers Josei and Shojo mamga because they tend to actually have character development.
Artwise, GJ Club has got quite detailed backgrounds with the animation
itself being about average. There are occasionally some editing quirks
that are fairly clever.
Although his show's cast seems to consist entirely of cliches it has a fairly offbeat feel to it in part because the pacing and humor is rather dry, though there is some slapstick as well as the oddness evidenced above. By the
end of the first episode there are actual hints of personalities in some
of the characters.
I'm not sure what to make of this show...
However I laughed.. and it's cute so I'll probably watch at least a few more episodes to see where it goes.
Thus far it's way better than it ought to be.
UPDATE: It occurs to me that one of the things that seems so off center is that while it is cast like a harem show it's more a cute girls doing cute things sitcom with the caveat that one of them is a guy.
1
I once had some Austrian pork which looked a little bit like that - big old leathery lump of meat on a bone, sticking out on both sides. Big, heavy meal - this was a novelty place where they literally threatened to beat you if you didn't clear your plate - there was a red club hung on the wall for that express purpose. The pork was kind of nasty, actually .
Posted by: Mitch H. at Fri Mar 15 15:49:23 2013 (jwKxK)
Media Blasters Status / Other News
Media Blasters has posted an announcement on their website clarifying their situation. The rumor that they had no business liscence hit them hard as did an injury to the owner. Several titles are no longer in their possession and at least two are owned by them but with no plans for release. It seems that they intend to sell those rights to other companies.
The only
labels MB will continue to acquire and release in for 2013 are
AnimeWorks, Tokyo Shock and Kitty. In addition there will be a focus to
produce and release original productions through Fever Dreams.
So they are not in fact dead, though they are limping. I find it strange that they are going all in on their hentai line with one title a month in the pipeline. I would have thought that that would have been the hardest to get sales for given current technological realities. Perhaps the licenses were very cheap.
I noted in passing that Robert's Anime Corner Store recently covered this too, but I noticed a discrepancy between the RACS post (a few days old) and the current press release at Media Blasters. Squid Girl Season 2 is no longer on their list of "owned but not being distributed".
This is true on the Meada Blasters PR page and their Facebook page.
I wish they weren't being so koi... I'll just bob about here until they let minnow something"
I don't know if this omission means anything but I allow myself a tenuous hope as their dub of Squid Girl season 1 was superb.
Crunchyroll will be streaming the missing episodes of Girls und Panzer on March 28th.
"Panzer VORE!"
"No Saori, the word is VOR...You'll loose your broadcast license if you say vore on the air.
"I don't get it""
"That's 'cause you're a good person."
Gentle readers, if you don't get the joke don't google it. TRUST ME.
I wish to God I hadn't.
The James River Bridge
Replacing the spectacular diesel-punk edifice that preceded it, the new bridge has, since 1983, quietly allowed cars to transit the 4 and a half watery miles between Newport News and Isle of Wight County and ships to proceed up the channel to inland ports such as Richmond, Petersburg and West Point.
Picture taken from Huntington Beach, note that the shark net does nothing to dissuade the ducks.
The original span was considered a major engineering feat in 1928. It is a measure of civilization's progress that today, as a piece of infrastructure, it is fairly unremarkable. It would not be of any note whatsoever were it not for one detail. It has no service lane. It is therefore, one of the last places one wants to see steam jet out from ones hood just as one passes through the draw span.
And yet...there it was, jetting out both sides of the hood in utter defiance of all that is decent and proper. Recalcitrant steam, sadistic steam, steam that, like a spoiled and entitled female bully, chooses the most hurtful time and manner in which to make her cruel and demoralizing vituperation. Moreover it was doing this in MY engine compartment.
I had about 4 miles to go before I could pull over. The temperature gauge was rapidly moving towards the red. To break down on a bridge shutting down traffic during rush hour would ensure a ticket and I'd be taken to a mechanic wayy out in Isle of Wight county. So I kept going as the interior filled with the acrid smell of anti-freeze and the steam billowed past my window at an alarming rate...until it billowed no more, which was rather more alarming. Moments later the heater began to blow cold air and I knew I was done..fortunately I was approaching the top of the second rise in the bridge, which services pleasure craft and fishing vessels that moor up the Pagan river. So I gunned it for a moment, cut the engine and put the car in neutral as I reached the top.
By the time I was where I could pull off I was going about 5 mph which meant I was followed by a lot of VERY irate people, who, like me, were avoiding a major auto wreck in the bridge tunnel and were already driving 30 miles out of their way. I pulled over, waited for the car to cool, put in all my drinking and bug out water and tried to find the leak, albeit to no avail. There was a trickle coming out but I could not find the source of the leak so my duct tape was worthless. I drove to a truckstop and bought a lot of water (no sense in leaving a trail of antifreeze for 30 miles) and ran the heater all the way back. There was no huge jet of steam this time but there was a constant faint cloud billowing up from the hood. When my heater blew cold I knew it was time to pull over, wait for cool-down and refill the car. At each stop I searched in vain for the source of the leak.
I finally made it to the mechanic just as they closed. I just got a call a few minutes ago. It turns out that there is a small coolant hose behind a metal panel under the engine block, which I gather has not been changed since 1982. I should get the car back tomorrow.
1
Really, you need to do something about your Karma. Did you perhaps annoy a skilled practitioner of voodoo at some point?
But I must applaud your attempt not to block traffic. Here in Portland, there are several bridges, overpasses, and junctions where there will be no service lane, but for at most a half of a mile. I've lost track of the number of times I've sat in an hour of stalled traffic because someone couldn't be bothered to nurse a sick car a few hundred feet where they could get out of the way.
Posted by: David at Thu Mar 14 22:35:11 2013 (vyRm+)
2
If I were actually unlucky the car would have caught fire and burned up just like my Corolla did.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Thu Mar 14 22:51:36 2013 (F7DdT)
Midterms are Done
Well, Wednesday night I got in after 11pm after the crazy, cold, wet car problem mentioned below. I fiddled about for a bit getting ready for work, went to work, got out 2 hours late went in to take my pre-calculus midterm and promptly forgot what numbers are. I don't have my grade yet but I don't feel good about it. Fortunately this class isn't as exam weighted in its grades as most.
The other exams went OK.
There's only one grade I've actually gotten back. The Japanese midterm was an even greater worry than the math. I missed a lot of classes early on and was struggling, so I went to class yesterday with some trepidation.
I got a 100. A one with two zeroes behind it. I don't know when I've ever gotten a 100 on an actual exam, "A's" yes but perfect? Certainly not in Japanese. Even better, the instructor decided to let me make-up the assignments I'd missed so I've gone from hanging on for dear life to sitting pretty in my hardest class, which at 6 credits a huge chunk of my semester GPA. Happy day.
It's unseemly for southern gentlemen to gloat or emote so I'll just let these two young ladies convey my sentiments on the matter.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sat Mar 9 17:10:05 2013 (1BL+a)
3
Congratulations! And good luck (or well wishes or hoping for the best or hand in there baby, whichever is most appropriate) regarding the rest of your grades.
Posted by: Ben at Sun Mar 10 07:32:47 2013 (/Mdmg)
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at Sun Mar 10 16:08:53 2013 (vtGjZ)
5
Lucky you, my Japanese classes were basically self study with weekly sessions with a tutor, and then the grade came from a visiting professor from Cornell whose accent was atrocious.
It's probably why I didn't do so well by the end of them. I've forgotten most of it from disuse.
Posted by: Mauser at Sun Mar 10 18:47:36 2013 (cZPoz)
6
I cannot remember if the snake motif was in the show proper. Professor's totem is shark, not snake. Apart from her, nobody is symbolically linked with her animal. Sakamoto is obviously a cat, but...
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thu Mar 14 23:53:47 2013 (RqRa5)
7
I think the clip symbolizes dancing past ones setbacks and the snake represents the little problems one encounters in life, like being born bone-crushingly stupid...or a robot.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Fri Mar 15 05:51:50 2013 (F7DdT)
The parking garages whose construction was used to justify the large
increase in parking fees are now reserved for metered parking and
faculty. the large garage for the Convocation Center is frequently
unusable by students due to sporting events.
Which brings us to this.
One of the few remaining parking lots available to students at ODU.
Moments after this picture was taken my radiator hose broke.
Moments after that...it began to sleet.
3 hours after discovering just how awkwardly placed a Cressida's aft radiator hose is....I got home.
It's been one of those days. I may not get to sleep before work...in 3 hours.
Reading this post it is clear to me that I know the person in question. He worked in her mail room. I know this because I worked briefly in the mail room. I know this because he was briefly a business partner of mine and I spent a decade paying off the bills he left me with. I know this because he tried to frame a friend of mine for Kiddie Pr0n. (Read the whole thing.)
As far as I know the only contribution he made to the comic book was applying zipatone (badly), packing boxes, running a table at conventions and a lot of unwelcome drama. He was fired primarily for passing himself off as a creative contributor. This was a highly dishonorable and quite deliberate act. His termination was over a decade ago.
I'm not going to name the fink unless he attempts something else, but as my friend found out to his dismay, this fellow has a nasty habit of holding grudges and acting on them in a potentially very destructive and always quite passive aggressive manner. He is exceedingly good at passing himself off as harmless and likeable. He is neither.
So let me state that if you've encountered the claim that an affable, seemingly innocent fan is an uncredited contributor to A Distant Soil it is not in any way true and the gentleman's affability is an astoundingly convincing mask concealing a dark dark soul.
Oh My Yes. TESTIFY!
Exam day. I have no time but there is a full-on old-fashioned filibuster going on now.
This is a really compelling speech.
It may well be a historic one.
Senator/Doctor Paul is going to talk till he drops, or the President states categorically that he rejects drone strikes on American citizens. More here.
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To me, the most worrisome part so far was when Paul asked for a "sense of the Senate" resolution that the President shouldn’t kill
American citizens in America, and the Democrats objected!
They will fight any and all attempts to execute crimmals who have been convicted in a court of law, but they want the President to be able to kill any American that he wants, anywhere, anytime, without so much as a hearing? Really?
Posted by: Siergen at Wed Mar 6 20:56:45 2013 (Ao4Kw)
2
Yeah that was appalling. OTOH is was nice that it caused some Democrat Senators...quite liberal ones to break ranks and "ask questions" showing their support for Dr. Paul.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Thu Mar 7 01:07:38 2013 (F7DdT)
Exam Week
Midterms are upon me.
I have nothing, and will likely have nothing until Friday or Saturday.
As compensation for this, here is some publicity art for Yamato 2199 which I post with some trepidation as the LAST bit of Yamato 2199 cheesecake somehow caused a bit of consternation. Apologies in advance gentle readers for any distress.
1
What I've seen of 2199 is beautiful and highly lovable - taking what was good about the original series, and excising all the wonky "we're still figuring out how to write and produce anime hereabouts" elements which caused occasional WTF moments.
But I find it kind of off-putting the way the female characters have been updated. Where are all the interchangeable willowy Matsumoto women? Where's the casual late-Showa sexism that resulted in a ship with only one crew-woman? Wait, no, that last one is one of the improvements...
Posted by: Mitch H. at Wed Mar 6 10:26:19 2013 (jwKxK)
2
And they preserved the skin-tight pressure suits, which can't be a bad thing.
"The Medic's pressure suit seems to have a leaky area."
Are you implying that "physics" is more powerful than zettai ryouiki? How silly.
Posted by: Mikeski at Thu Mar 7 16:22:39 2013 (DU6Ja)
5
Actually, Zettai Ryouki does not, in fact, provide adequate protection against vacuum. This is an important point our female readers should keep in mind when choosing space attire.
Contributing to the Delinquincy of a Minor
For some time now, I've noted that my 13 month old niece really likes my red T-shirt for some reason. Seeng me in it brings a big smile to her face. As a result, I've kept it handy and only worn it when she shows up.
You can imagine my horror when my sister relayed to me that my niece recently identified her colors as blue, green, yellow and "Unc".
2
Kids can get categorization errors early on. I had some friends in Massachusetts who had a baby boy while I was there. As he learned to talk, early on the word "juice" meant "everything drinkable". It included milk, for example.
3
I once watched the three-year old daughter of friends of mine for the evening. While they were out, I took it upon myself to teach her the names of objects.
I got a phone call the next day, asking why little Katie kept asking for a "frisbee" to eat her cereal with. Or why she insisted the thing orange juice was poured into was called a "pwatypus" (she didn't quite have the pronunciation down).
Posted by: Wonderduck at Wed Mar 6 19:48:27 2013 (1BL+a)
Oh yeah.... Anime
Usagi Drop is no longer available on Crunchyroll, but it is available for purchase on DVD.
This is an impressive release with the 4 dvd only episodes, and an artbook.
To my considerable dismay, Squid Girl Season 2 (volume 3 of the DVD) seems to be cancelled. This is old news but I'd missed it. I'm not the only one. At least one other person I know was still expecting a March release.
It seems it was cancelled about two weeks after the release date was announced back in November.
I'm not watching any of the new shows at the moment. The season is a total bust for me. However, between school and work, I am currently watching the 1978 version of Captain Harlock on Crunchyroll. I've never seen the whole thing all the way through, and it turns out that at least some of what I saw was from a featurette that cut out a lot.
For sometime, I've been preparing (and deleting...and preparing) a review of the first 10 eps. of Yamato 2199. Now it turns out that she show, (which heretefore has been released only theatrically and on DVD) will start airing in Japan this spring, about a year earlier than previously announced.
This is one to look forward too. It's a surprisingly thoughtful and well paced show.
Additional Yamato related cheesecake below the fold.
Don is Mocking my Dulcimer
...with some contraption that looks like someone crossed a xylophone and a zither to produce some bizarre and unnatural hybrid.
More importantly, in the first video over there there is a dude with a saw...It is a worthy video indeed.
1
Today was the decline to avoid the Sequester. Things like my furlough don't happen until later...
Posted by: Siergen at Fri Mar 1 16:53:34 2013 (Ao4Kw)
2
Ghaah! Sorry to hear that!
Have they given you notice yet?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Fri Mar 1 18:09:22 2013 (F7DdT)
3
The warning letter came out a couple weeks ago - we should get the official furlough schedule next week. Unless they finagle some budge-juggling over the weekend, my office is looking at 20% reduction in workdays (and pay) from April 1st through the end of September.
Posted by: Siergen at Fri Mar 1 22:05:22 2013 (Ao4Kw)
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!