May 16, 2021
Gas is Back
" I don't have gas." Will no longer be an acceptable excuse for work. Hopefully, things will be better staffed and less hellish than they were this past week.
Almost all the gas stations now have fuel. There are no lines to speak of.
"Yay!"
I fully understand why the volume spiked with people stocking up on supplies via online orders, but I cannot for the life of me grok why THOUSANDS of people looked at a petroleum shortage and said "Now's the time to buy a petroleum powered generator!"
My back still hurts.
UPDATE:
Gas stations not ghast stations. There are no Ghasts in Southeastern Virginia.
Fortunately.
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I Did Not Realize How Prophetic This Show Was
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May 09, 2021
ODD TAXI
This is NOT a show that I would ordinarily have watched. From the promo material and character designs it would appear to be a show aimed at either little kids....or furries.
However, Don over at Zoopraxiscope is a man of impeccable taste and he suggested it may be the best show of the season. I just watched episode one and it is certainly interesting.
The show is indeed odd and much of the episode takes place in or very near a taxi so it already has truth in advertising going for it.
Thus far it concerns a taxi driver in funny-animal-Tokyo. Oderoki, the fellow in the center of the bingo card above, is an anthropomorphic Walrus who drives a taxi and seems to be "on the spectrum" since he tries to make a mental conversational flow-chart with 5 or so options every time he sees somebody because he has no idea what will offend people.
He is....blunt.
This show has, even in subtitles, snappy and engaging dialog that seamlessly transitions between the anodyne and the...other side of this show, which sneaks up on one.
The art is unremarkable but it works and its soundtrack is absolutely superb. I'm not sure I'd buy the BGM but it complements the story very well and sets the tone in a way that few scores come close to.
The cast of everymen and women are completely believable beyond the whole "anthro" thing and this show is astonishingly interesting.
I'm definitely watching this one.
Go visit Don. He's got all the necessary screencaps.
Odd Taxi is fascinating actually and has fully grabbed me.
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April 28, 2021
The Most Blatant Foreshadowing in the History of Isekai
Actually, that may not technically be true as I am not a fan of the Isekai genre in general, and can't speak authoritatively upon matters of the most stupidest anything, but what Aizawa says about three minutes into last week's episode has got to at least be in the running.
I particularly like the bewilderment our heroine goes through trying to work out what's going on with what amounts to a paternity claim...except it's a maternity claim, and being the alleged mom, she'd KNOW if the kid claiming to be her child has any possibility of being correct. Of course nobody believes her, because she's the cute blonde witch in the woods. With the hat. We are, of cours,e talking about the show that is pithily named I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level and while I did not have high hopes for any great art to come out of this series, even those hopes were not met.
This show is deeply stupid.
I laughed out loud multiple times.
This is not exploring great philosophical questions or great conundrums of the human existence, but two episodes did make me laugh like a loon three times in one day. And I needed that.
Will continue to watch.
Come for the stupidity. Stay for the omelets.
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April 27, 2021
Today's Hot Take
"Suss" seems to be a perfectly acceptable Woolseyism, is completely in character, and is no reason to go bat-scat bonkers.
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April 25, 2021
"This Episode is Downgraded to Merely 'Good' "
On this, the 5th episode of the 5th season of My Hero Academia, we are presented with the first episode that is entertaining, but not superb.
The rest have been stellar.
The season opens in the middle of last season's finale and has brought together a whole bunch of plot points that had appeared to just be background flavor text, but are actually quite important.
In a way it reminds me a lot about Chris Claremont's run on the X-Men back in the '80s (but that is a reference that both dates me and is opaque to the audience. Suffice it to say that the story is moving briskly and is internally consistent )
This is an emotionally moving series and this is looking to be the best season yet. The current episode is taking place in a brief tournament arc, a Japanese Shounen comic trope that seems to be demanded by the Shonen Jump style guide. These are generally dead-spots in a series and can often kill an otherwise promising show. However, My Hero Academia uses this conciet to expertly establish background info and develop characters quite entertainingly.
This season has previously reminded us that Best Girl has additional powers that we had all forgotten about.
Toxic Mucus For the WIN!
This show continues to be excellent and I highly recommend it.
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April 13, 2021
I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level
This is a show that delivers EXACTLY what it promises.
The hat is just a bonus.
Aizawa Asuza, aged twenty seven is an office lady who keels over dead from overwork after several consecutive allnighters. As our heroine mopes and presumably blows bubbles in Samsara while contemplating her meaningless, completely avoidable death, a random goddess shows up and informs her that because of her incredible dedication and said goddesse's boredom our heroine is going to get Isekaied to a world that the goddess has as a side project. Aizawa pleads not to forget what she's learned. "WISDOM!" the goddess rewards her with some more requests. Our heroine asks to live out in the country, on a farm and not get old and decrepit.
For some reason, instead of granting Aizawa a quick death, the Goddess sets her in a isolated farmhouse about an hours walk from a town with an adventurers guild, makes her a Witch, and gives her knowledge of a regeneration/immortality spell.
Ecstatic that she is now living in the country Aizawa Asusa resolves to NEVER do any work again aside from growing food. Her life lesson from her previous life is the importance of leisure! She will not forget that valuable bit of wisdom.
To her horror, she realizes she has to buy seeds, so she goes into town and along the way, she is attacked by a slime! The weakest of monsters is no match for a Witch and she notes that the little monster's death rattle produces a gem. After getting what amounts to a hunting license (joins the town adventurer's guild), she is able to turn these in for what amounts to money...which in turn can be exchanged for goods and services.
300 years pass, the economy apparently sucks as there has been no expansion of the town or notable sprawl. Aizawa goes into town every few days to turn in slime guts to the local adventurer's guild and buy stuff. During these three centuries our heroine becomes something of a local institution as that Witch in the woods with the hat: a farmer reluctant healer, and strict hermit. She has kept to herself mostly but has helped out the local town enough times that she is well liked despite being quite asocial.
She's in heaven. No schedule, long nights of sleep and leisurely gardening are her order of the day. She does NOT get bored with this...until one day the girl who processes bounties at the local adventurers guild asks to check our protagonist's "level" for records purposes.
It turns out that Asusa Aizawa has, over 300 years, killed enough slimes (and cast enough heals presumably) to have reached level 99...the maximum possible. That's remarkable. (Moreso if you play these video games.) Now this Podunk Adventurer's guild in the sticks has a level 99 that means prestige, and....challenges....you know...WORK.
Aizawa convinces the guild representative to keep her level secret as payment for having saved her life off camera.
Sadly the secret gets out, numerous adventurers looking to make a name for themselves show up to challenge the level 99 Witch. Her "secret" becomes spectacularly and pyrotechnically public, and finally a Dragon showes up...to...D...D...D...DDDDD...DUEL!
That was a cute first episode. I don't think it's going anywhere. It looks to be developing into a formula show.
Frankly this is kind of Mary Sue, though the ridiculousness of the ease with which our heroine became so OP is not skirted. (In that sense it's actually a notch above most Isekai shows.) There is a bit of an indication that our heroine may in fact have some lessons to learn, as she has rather overcompensated for her earlier mistakes to the point of sloth. There appear to be numerous light novels in this series indicating it may have something to say, but I'm not expecting much. Still the pilot was stupid cute fun and a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things ... Isekai fantasy is something I did not have on my bingo card. So I'll watch at least a few more.
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April 07, 2021
While I'm Getting Things Back Together
I got a new alarm.
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March 14, 2021
This is Why...
...it is important to ensure that one's marketing department has some passing familiarity with one's products.
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March 06, 2021
FALSE FLAG!!
In an apparent attempt to frame the competition, 2 South African one American and a Dutch V-Tuber have disguised themselves as Hololive and are now terrorizing the necromatically impaired...and themselves...and everybody else.
Those are some really good skins.
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February 26, 2021
Questions for my Readers: Uncategorized
Isn't LOG HORIZON supposed to be out this season? Did it not get picked up by an English Language streaming service?
What's y'alls recommendation for a VPN?
Any good shows running now that don't involve giving money to Disney?
Ordinarily, when thinking of concealed carry, I assume .380 ACP (9mm Cort). However, unforeseen circumstances have caused me to become very interested in .32 ACP. Are there any reliable defensive loads in that caliber?
Is it safe yet to upgrade to Big Sur? Also, given that I skipped Catalina because of the horror stories, can I upgrade straight from Mojave?
When you eat taoyaki, do you truly appreciate the effort that went into preparing it?
Art by Akai Sashimi. Support them on Booth and Fanbox!
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February 23, 2021
Condition: UNOPENED-STILL IN BOX
Hahahaha!
Victory is mine!
Most other Cara Dune figures were either sold out, cancelled after I ordered them, or were already going for more that a hundred dollars. I still hold out a very slim hope for the FuncoPops.
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February 18, 2021
Placeholder
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February 17, 2021
RWBY Season 8 Through Episode 9
RWBY has been a very uneven series, it started out with dreadful production values that were more than compensated for by engaging characters, an intriguing plot and the superb fight choreography of Monty Oum. The series had a lot of potential. Furthermore, it inspired tremendous goodwill as its cast and crew seemed likable and were punching so far above their weight that it was absolutely inspiring.
Mr. Oum's untimely death during the production of season three foreshadowed rough seas for the series, while the last season he worked on was by far the best until then, subsequent seasons were, despite much higher production values, not as engaging cumulating in the inept 4-episode faceplant that was the finale of season 5.
However, the subsequent seasons were, while very different, nevertheless enjoyable and the show has improved steadily; regaining much of its appeal even as Rooster Teeth has squandered much of its goodwill with the public.
Now, with season 8 the show has finally surpassed even the excellent season three, with absolutely brilliant pacing, action and storytelling. Characters develop in unexpected, yet believable ways for both good and ill and the plot has been full of genuine surprises with the action nonstop.
If you dropped the show, I recommend picking it up again, but you'll probably want to at least watch last season, as this one begins in the middle of the chaos that season ended with. Fortunately, with short seasons and 10-15 minute runtimes on most episodes, the show is a quick watch.
Monty would be proud.
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February 16, 2021
One of the Best Things About Science Fiction
...is how it allows one some escapist respite from any reminders of current events.
If you have not seen Babylon 5 you are wrong!
But, you are also lucky, as it is currently running on HBO MAX where it has been digitally remastered with modern monitor resolutions in mind. It really is one of the best sci-fi series ever.
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February 10, 2021
The Expanse Season 5
This show has been good from its beginning 5 years ago, but this latest, abbreviated, 10 episode season moves a mile a minute as it twists, turns and shocks the audience. Throwaway world building moments from earlier in the series come out of the woodwork to surprise and astonish.
The fifth season is a 4 ring circus. Since everything in the solar system except Bobbi' and Avaserala's employment situations were, as far as the characters were concerned, going gangbusters at the end of last season, the cast goes on vacation...which is where most of them are when things go pear shaped.
The Expanse is an excellent example of fairly hard sci-fi, but beyond its realistic portrayal of space its characterizations and human drama are much better than most, more mundane series.
The characters include a fellow who has (through either abuse, injury, or genes) basically a psychopath's brain, but who WANTS to be good..so he hangs out with what he assumes to be good people...to aid him in this difficult task. This season finally explains WHY he has this seed of goodness in the vast barren desert of his soul. It's very well handled.
The only even arguably unsatisfying moment in the entire season is an obviously late edit necessitated by production realities beyond the scope of this post, but your milage may vary, and it's a spoiler.
All in all this was probably the best season of this generally excellent show thus far. FWIW I think last season, while very good, was the weakest, though in retrospect, it set this season up superbly.
If you're not watching this show, you are wrong. It's currently available in full, on Amazon Prime.
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February 08, 2021
On the Utility and Proper Representation of Certain Character Classes
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November 21, 2020
A Lack of Subtlety in Designation Systems is Apparent
From This season's episode 2 of Is it OK to Try to Pick-Up Girls in a Dungeon?...which, 4 episodes in, is, even by the high standards of this show, exceptionally good.
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November 03, 2020
While We Await the Inevitable Chaos...
...let's take a moment to appreciate just how darned gorgeous this MOBILE game is.
...and what a good editor Kuro Ailfa is.
I am highly tempted to start playing this, but...you know...gacha.
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October 28, 2020
Meanwhile: In the World of Game Development
Perhaps, but how about you just say that you missed a comma or a period in the last tweet?
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