Tag: english

A rant

December 29, 2009
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Now before the good parts i write about the bad, so that i could focus clearly on the beauty in the next post. It won’t stay secret for a long what it’s about–you can already check it out. To gather “material”, i was browsing deviantArt, and realised two (as for me) annoying kind of pictures. They are not annoying in the common sense, i just lack a better word. First are upside down pictures of a girl (typical example included). They usually seem really good. One is almost hesitating to click the favourite button, but just hesitate a bit longer. There are two choices: click that button, because the pic as it is probably worth it. Or you could give a try, and rotate it. A whole different world. Usually it’s not that much of a nice picture. Rather ordinary, or in many cases, the model is plain ugly. I couldn’t really believe my eyes when i first desecrated a photo like that, but that hundred eighty degrees of rotation can do wonders indeed.

The other one is related to socks’ or stockings’ photos. It’s probably only me, judging simply from the massive amount of such pictures, but i can’t stand photos from top. As seen in any example, these photos are (probably) taken by the girl herself (i at least very much hope that guys are not shooting such photos). The legs are in a few certain positions, probably considered very sexy, but from this angle, to me it’s just creepy. My idea of such photos is that the feet are closer to the camera or taken from the side. But not from the top. Never. Okay, hardly ever. There are counter-examples as well, but then those are simply breathtaking.

Artemis Fowl and the Opal deception

December 27, 2009
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First impression: nice cover (see full post for pic). Second impression: why the heck do all books in series (see Harry Potters) have to have “Something and the Somethingy Something” (or in the case of HP “and the Something of Something”) titles? It’s a bit… cliché. Anyway. My brother wanted to borrow this fourth instalment of the Artemis Fowl series, and i decided that since i’ll be a bit overpacked (as usual) on my return to Japan in hardly more than just week, why not read it and let him borrow. So i did. It really felt good to be able to read two books in an afternoon, after the disillusionment of a mere hundred pages from Twilight in japanese during my lengthy travel home. Two, because i read the Arctic incident as well (second of the Fowl series), which i couldn’t really remember (though i surely read it sometime earlier). I had no problem remembering the first one, and i could more or less recall the Eternity code one (read it in english years ago). Now looking back, all the books have kind of the same structure, much like the Potters (not comparing qualities, different genre, just structures).

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My blue

December 25, 2009
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I’ve no idea what i was doing there, but all those strange and really ancient looking animals seemed peaceful. Well, maybe except for the blue tiger, or panther, or whatever, looking like a sabretooth. I decided to settle down near a creature looking like a rhino, sleeping-resting on a bit of an elevated platform. I sat down at the edge of the platform, looking at the animals walking around at our and at a lower level. I could again see the big blue cat moving smooth and gentle on the slope to our level. As it disappeared back from my peripheral vision, i decided not to be afraid just look and wonder at the beauty around me. After a while i could feel something coming close from behind, then suddenly i could feel the weight and see the blue beauty of two huge paws on my shoulders. There was no hostility in her and my fear was gone in an instant. She whispered something in my ears, and i could feel her changing into something more humanoid, though with a still feline form, with long blue hair. She hugged me and i woke up.

I was walking in a dark corridor of a familiar building, at least i felt it was familiar, although i couldn’t recall where or how i knew it. Two little cats accompanied me. Both looked exactly like my idea of The Cat, and were really nice and helpful. That was when my six years’ collection of National Geographic magazines decided to fall off the shelf. I didn’t fall asleep again.

Preparations

December 23, 2009
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I thought i was all ready, with all the presents and everything, and it turned out not to be so. I couldn’t buy any dvds today, which i’d have used to back up a few anime series from my home desktop computer to watch later, but of course in this great city no double-layer discs are available. Also, one of my presents just isn’t right anymore, due to a change… well, a change. And my present creativity has already reached the bottom line, meaning i have no usable ideas, at all—hardly any to begin with, just it’s easier to go random shopping in Shibuya with all the shops around, than in a small town with nothing just post-communist remains.

But it will be just all right. Or more than all right, hopefully much better than i had imagined before coming home. I was prepared for what i was not in the summer, that friends from Japan are facing for the first time.

Story. On saturday when i was running around with Sors in the capital, somehow we managed to stumble into two foreigner groups at the very same underground station (unintentionally). The (ticket)controllers (?), with their almost-japanese level of english knowledge couldn’t really help neither the philippino nor the bulgarian people. Latter were pretty surprised when i greeted them with (kind of) the only phrase i know in their language…

A rancid romance

December 21, 2009
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A great song from the new DSO album, totally unrelated. (Somehow this new one seems less catchy at first than the Butcher’s ballroom, still McDonald’s i’m lovin’ it.) Thus today became a DSO-day, i was listening to that all day, naturally when i was at home. When not, i was with people which means i didn’t have my headphones on (not antisocial enough for that). I have this habit of doing something-days in music, with bands at least two albums in my library. With just one it’s not fun enough, but from two on, unlimited. Change of subject, i started meeting people, yesterday as mentioned before, today Bogi, and tomorrow… well, no plans for tomorrow. If no one, i’ll just drive my family crazy making them listen to my music, which would (seeing the current trend) be DSO—and i guess everyone agrees that avant-garde metal might not be the easiest listening. Who knows, maybe i’ll switch to Tarot…

Oh, by the way, i found a really funny Star Wars-weather comparison page, via Yummie.

地震

December 18, 2009
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I had my first earthquake. Just now, before six (in the morning), on the day i’m going home. I just had my little breakfast, my wake-up coffee, and suddenly i felt my downside shaking. I first thought the coffee hit me in an unexpected way and strength, then i realised that probably just that wouldn’t start to swing my hanging clothes.

It’s so funny it took me eight months to have this experience. I’m feeling somewhat like Arthur Dent in Stavro Müller Beta. Or Barney after 200. Had this experience too. Now what?

Wishlist

December 17, 2009
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Of course now that Christmas is about a week away, i’m bumping into stuff i’d love to have for myself, but… Well, maybe with time. Most of them are books. Many books. The few that are not books are an electronic guitar (if it’s about looks, i’m in love with the Epiphone Emperor Swingster), a dslr camera, and if talking general, a laptop. One that will be strong enough to play StarCraft II, has a bigger hard drive (meaning at least 150 gigs) and all its stuff are usable under linux (especially wireless networking and infrared is important). (Neither of which properties my current laptop has.) These are the stuff i plan to buy myself in the coming one year, but still it’d be nicer if someone surprised me…

As for books, there are waaay too many. Just now i was inspired to write this post because i read that the author of the Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer has written (with permission, of course) the sixth piece of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and i’d like to read both. Both the whole Artemis Fowl series, by now six books, of which i only read the first three, and the new Guide. In addition to these, i’m still i serious lack of classics. That includes Shakespeare and Shelley just as much as his wife Mary Shelley, and all the other old “scary classics”. And all the Neil Gaiman books. I wonder if Shiga university library (if i get into that university) has english literature (i have no intentions of reading english classics in japanese), although i don’t expect them to have Colfer or Gaiman there…

Tool

December 16, 2009
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The american “progressive” band. Just like that, with quotes, because i’m not so sure. I won’t go into in-depth objective analysis of their music, just write down what i think now. Which may change eventually. I was listening to Tool‘s 2001 album Lateralus for a while now. I found it (if i remember correctly) while i was looking up info on Dream Theater‘s Count of Tuscany song. When i listened to my library in alphabetical order, of course i had Tool, and that is thirteen songs of Tool in line, in the list. It didn’t really catch my attention there, just after half an hour i got the feeling “haven’t i heard this song just a few minutes earlier” and then again and again. Lateralus feels as if all the songs were of the same template. The song starts with a rhythmic guitar riff, muted, later joined by drums. Then a more powerful version of the riff for a few seconds, back to the earlier, vocals. The vocals are more like spoken than sung. Chorus with more or less the same music, vocals resemble singing a bit more. Then a solo, which is as if it wasn’t even there, and end the song the same way as it started. The songs in themselves are good. Some could be even called outstanding. But thirteen piled up together, it’s as if you were walking around a statue of Brahma and you’d be surprised that it has a face on each side. I was wondering, is this really the future of “progressive”? Consider this a “first opinion”. Who knows, maybe i’ll get to like it, just how i fell in love with Gojira. Check back then.

Packaging

December 16, 2009
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Okay, this is simply hilarious. On friday i’m going home, so i started cleaning my room (again). This only means that finally i put all my clothes on the shelves and threw out the half-rotting heap of garbage. (Naturally, dish-washing is left for tomorrow.) I usually have such a pile in my room somewhere, simply because i try to keep all the junk separated (combustible, plastic etc), and i don’t have enough trash cans around (or simply i’m too lazy to get out of my chair to throw away that…). Well, that “that” is the key. Most of the garbage is plastic or paper: packaging. I don’t know how this goes in other countries, not even at home, since most of the stuff i’m buying and/or eating here were kind of natural, i didn’t have to think about it. Example: Halls throat candy. I eat a lot of that nowadays, because i don’t want to get ill, which goes all too easily in this time of the year (although the girl at the barbershop today told me that she was over the new flu in three days, which really means three days considering the insane level of japanese health care). Buy one: have the candies, wrapped in paper. Put that in a bag. And inside the packaging have each candy wrapped in plastic foil. Or: “butter” (it’s not actually butter, but no idea how it’s properly and usably called). Not counting the bag they hand it over, a paper box, the plastic box of the butter, and a totally useless paper sheet. Might be i’m just overreacting, but i feel like japanese would do better if they first cut the tremendous junk output (less waribashi are an example of that), and select the rest. It’s all nice doing the selective trash collection, but there’s still looong way to improve. (And not only the environment, i’d be happier as well, less junk.)

Full

December 14, 2009
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Today i woke up late, had my usual cornflakes-cereal breakfast around noon with a coffee, then started coding, and blogging, as reflected in the previous three posts. Then we went skating, “we” were Heajin, Jaeyeon and Theo, and had fun at the rink near Meiji Jingu. First time i had ice skates on my feet, and it was a nice experience, altho all the little “eight year old and fulfilling mommy’s big dream” figure skater girls had a really bad effect on my self esteem. After that with a little detour on the Yamanote line, i got home, on the way had a cheese-beef don at Sukiya and ran off for futsal. I haven’t been playing for… for quite a long time, roughly since the autumn mid-term exams. Say, two months? Thus i wasn’t exactly in my best form, messed up even more chances than usually (which means a really bad performance), but overall i enjoyed it. Since tomorrow i’m going to get my dreads fixed properly before going home (i’ve been a bit lazy lately), i decided to wash them tonight. As soon as they dry, i’ll head off to find someone who could help me decode a voice message left on my phone while i wasn’t paying attention (don’t really know when, i found it on the way home), left by some woman from as far as i could catch some university (just don’t know which), with a really serious problem on the field of articulation (meaning i had to listen about five times to be able to catch at least a few words). If i get that sorted, and fetch a milk from the shop for my usual before-sleep cocoa, the only thing that could make this day even fuller would be a hot chick waiting for me in the bed. (Not counting such stuff like my home friends popping up out of nowhere with a truck full of beer and fangirls…)