*This is just a direct copy of what I posted at AU*

Hey guys! Haven't been here in a while, what with my major 3-month long school project and all (I hates it!!!).

But I'm back, for right now at least (until the project's done next Thursday), until I can really come back.

So here's the reason I'm back: a shameless plug for Nodame Cantabile (original manga by Ninomiya Tomoko, won the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award for shojo), perhaps one of the best recent series I've come across. I've actually only watched the drama so far (and the drama adaptation's what I'm plugging), but it's seriously addicting. This series is like Yakitate!! Japan or Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, it came out of nowhere, unexpected, but GOOD. Really good. I haven't watched a series lately that I wanted to continue watching let alone keep it (Death Note and D.Gray-man, and the D.Gray-man anime could be better, but I like the manga, so what the hey).

This is a series with one of those "How the hell can you even make an interesting plot with that concept?!" series, that wins. Here's the premise:

Shinichi Chiaki is the top piano student at his university and an excellent violinist, but Chiaki doesn't care about playing these instruments as much as he dreams of someday being a conductor. Chiaki, however, has several deeply rooted fears about traveling, and so finds himself "trapped" in Japan. Because he's trapped, Chiaki starts to question exactly how far he can possibly go in music, especially when he's passed over again and again for others he thinks are less worthy of musical scholarship and fame.

Recently dumped by his girlfriend for a "sausage" looking fellow, passed over for a chance to go overseas, removed from his star spot in the piano competition because he walked out on his piano instructor, Chiaki is at his limit. This is when he meets Nodame, or Megumi Noda. Nodame is a free — if filthy — spirit who reminds Chiaki that music can be fun. She reminds him what drew him to be a conductor in the first place and, in learning how to deal with Nodame, Chiaki learns how to deal with others. Chiaki begins to realize what is possible for him, even within the country of Japan.

For Nodame, Chiaki is everything she isn't. Clean, neat, dedicated, studious and inherently arrogant about his accomplishments and capabilities, Chiaki constantly bullies her into being more serious about life. He sees potential in her and her abilities as a pianist that she doesn't care about. She loves Chiaki and wants to be with him, but, because she's not serious about her piano studies nor her personal hygiene, Chiaki denies her affections again and again.

But Chiaki and Nodame complete each other in ways no other can, a musical compliment that neither of them can completely escape entirely. Watching them grow as people and musicians, and even as a couple, is an interesting ride.

In a phrase, it's about classical music. Of course, the synopsis doesn't do it justice, as with most great series. But I implore everyone to take a chance with this series. It's funny and it's great.

Oh, what I'm plugging here is the live-action "dorama" version, but the original manga's also available from Del Rey (up to 16 volumes and still going in Japan), up to volume 7 currently. They're a little more expensive than normal manga, at $10.95, and the translation could be better, but it's a great buy if you want the original to go along with the live-action "dorama." It has an interesting, realistic/simple art style. There's also an anime adaptation coming out January 2007 (yay!), so be sure to catch that as well!

So, enough of my plug! Here are the actual files!

[url=http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/torrents.php?search=nodame&type=⊂=View+all&sort=]Torrent download page for all released Nodame Cantabile episodes so far, get MHfans files[/url] - If the link goes to a page with no torrents for Nodame Cantabile, just search for "Nodame Canatbile" in the search bar on the left, all torrents for it should come up in a page

[url=http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_40432.htm]Soft Subs for episodes 2 and 3 and general info about the group providing the subs[/url]

All Soft Subs found here!

I'll just put in a few last words here and leave you all with this great series. I've been getting the MHfans files (excellent quality) without the [BIG5] marker in the front (I'm not sure what they are, perhaps they're hardsubs or perhaps not, I personally don't think so, but they ARE bigger files with a big dimsension to go along with it: 1280 by 720). I recommend getting the ones I've been getting. And a word of caution I guess, to everyone: these are big files running at least 700MB to 800MB each, so be warned. And it also might take a while to get the episodes, so please be patient. However, as I've been getting 300KB/Sec to 500KB/Sec easy while downloading these episodes, maybe the wait won't be so long. But no matter what, please stick with it and give this series a try, and for first time viewers of live-action series, it's a great first plunge.

Bai-bai for now!

So I'm sitting here and drinking some green tea, trying to make sense of Omar's rather obvious-yet-obscure poem. I wonder, has my senses dulled? Seems like my intelligence has gone down some these past few years.

Anyhoo, it's been a while since I posted anything here, so I thought I'd update.

Don't know what to really talk about though. Oh, yes, the new iPod nanos. I absolutely LOVE them. Indeed, they are the mini reincarnate in nano format, hoorah! Really. It's just so awesome; it's more like the mini being rereleased in a slimmed down format than a 2G nano. So I'm very happy about that.

Lesse here. Oh right, I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo for my Personal Project. It seems very interesting, and a fun topic to boot. I've been doing some research on what I want to actually write about, and ended up with something regarding "people" who live forever (not gonna be as boring as it sounds) called eidolons. The term which (found while reasearching about synonymous words for the generic term "spirits") actually led to my discovery of Harlan Ellison's Angry Candy. I only borrowed it to see what the short story Eidolons was like, which was very "experimental" and abstract, and perhaps hard to understand. Nothing at all alike to what I'll be writing.

But I figure I'll be finishing up Angry Candy as I heard it was a good book.

That's about it for now. Gotta do stupid homework.

Next post'll probably be about Avatar: The Last Airbender. ZOMGWTFBBQ, an anime/East-influenced American Nickelodeon kid-cartoon?! Yeah.

Yup, he's dead.

Whoa! I mean, this came out of nowhere! But he's really dead. :( Too bad, I kinda liked the guy, and this was a freak accident so that makes it all the more "The hell?! Did this really happen?!"

Most people were expecting him to be done in by a croc, like how Timothy Treadwell was done in by Grizzlies. It's a sad thing.

Well, Irwin was a good man, maybe a little annoying, but at least he died doing what he loved, eh?

R.I.P.

As of yesterday, 8/24/06, Pluto has been demoted as a planet by the International Astronimcal Union in a decision at a conference of 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries! It's now a dwarf planet, and we now only have 8 planets in the solar system. Ha ha?

Well, this news comes after a week plus of debating of what a planet is, which was brought on by when the group's leaders floated a proposal that would have [url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/16/new.planets.ap/index.html] reaffirmed Pluto's planetary status[/url] and made planets of its largest moon and two other objects. The International Astronimcal Union is the leading body of professional astronomers in the world, composed of nearly 10,000 members (most with Ph.Ds), including 63 member countries. The resolution laying out the new planetary definition was passed by vote.

Now, two of the objects that at one point were cruising toward possible full-fledged planethood will join Pluto as dwarfs: the asteroid Ceres, which was a planet in the 1800s before it got demoted, and 2003 UB313, an icy object slightly larger than Pluto whose discoverer, Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, has nicknamed "Xena." Charon, the largest of Pluto's three moons, is no longer under consideration for any special designation

The IAU members gathered at the 2006 General Assembly agreed that a "planet" is defined as a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. So Pluto phailed 3.

The definition also lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun -- "small solar system bodies," a term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other natural satellites.

This has probably been debated before, but what the hell.

I was recently talking to my sister about anime we need to catch up on, and I mentioned she still needs to watch the early One Piece episodes (finish up Arlong and onward, skipping the crappy Apis Arc). She replied that she didn't really want to, because it had a "weird art style."

So I began thinking about this matter, is style more important than content? Is it vice versa? Of course there's a middle ground, that they're both equally important and in a truly masterful work, the two would be seemlessly blended and both would be appealing. But that is not the case in most works, we have one or the other outweighing, style or content. So what makes a good series, style or content?

When I took my Video I class last school year, I was told at the end of the year by my teacher that style is what gives a filmmaker an edge over the other, what makes one film shine over another. Content is important, but what truly makes or breaks something of a similar nature is its style.

And I agree, I believe style is in general, more significant than content. Some of you may be thinking, "Flash over substance! Outrageous!" But hear me out! What I mean is whether style or content is more important in works of whatever where the two are similarly balanced and there isn't a great gaping disparity between the two (ex. - All flash but no substance or depth, or All subtance, but the boredom'll kill you if you watch it, ahemTheAviatorahem).

Let's take Bleach and One Piece: both are greatly popular and are fun series to read. I like both, but you can easily see that what makes Bleach stand out is its awesome style while One Piece has a very involving plot and well-developed, complex characters (that's not to say Bleach has a boring plot). But while stylish, Bleach lacks in character development compared to series like One Piece or Naruto while One Piece has a somewhat unique-yet-plain style that many seem to dislike. So what makes the better series? Which series would a reader choose if they were presented with a few color spreads from both series? I think that it's safe to say they'd pick Bleach.

Yes, content is important and can pull in a potential reader, but if they're put off by the style, they'll turn away or have a spoiled experience of the thing they watched or read.

So I believe style has the edge over content. What do you think?

I've recently, and I mean like 5 minutes ago, opted to use this "blog" (or is it a "journal?") as my main, well, blog. I don't use MySpace (I just kinda have it, meaning it just sits there) and FaceBook is well, more of an online addressbook than anything to me, so what the hell, I decided this page will be my main form of communication (for the lack of a better word).

I actually had a "real" blog elsewhere, but I come here the most often when online, and everything's in a nice, neat package (unions, UCBs, "blogs") so I decided to just switch. Hopefully this move won't bite me in the ass somehow. >_>;;

So, hoorah for my switch!

...I really need a banner.

Whew! I'm finally updating this thing!

About time, too. Ever since a week before exams, I was too busy studying to ever update this thing, and through exams... Then afterwards (I kinda forgot about it >_> ). Well, now I'm back, and hopefully will stay faithful and continue updating.

Not much has been going on these days, and summer's slow as expected. It's almost three weeks now since vacation began, and I've not been doing much. Just sort of lolling around and chilling; enjoying summer in laziness for the sake of laziness.

Anyways, I've been spending some time watching and reading various anime/manga series with a bit of rereading/rewatching. There's Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu of course (which sadly has only one episode left :(), then Fate/Stay Night which ended a bit while ago, Bleach (fillers are horrigable), and etc. I've done some dabbling in various other series, ex. - Nana, I My Me! Strawberry Eggs, Spiral, Witch Hunter Robin, Stratos 4, This Ugly and Beautiful World, etc. Some are good, some not so.

Eh, not bad I'd say. Oh, but here's a news that really made me jump: D.Gray-man anime is coming this October! Yay! :D D.Gray-man + Death Note anime in October = Super Good Month. I'm happy about that. :D Plus, there's a Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright) manga coming out soon, which is also very good.

Oh, I've also gotten readdicted to the Pokemon games, and have found myself buying LeafGreen and Emerald! >_>;; They were a tad bit more expensive than I'd have liked ($30 used), but nevertheless, I'm enjoying them.

Well, that's enough of my rambling for now, and with that, I will see you all soon some later time!

P.S. - My PS3 price post is probably ne'er going to be finished (what with all that needs/was to be said about the matter all said by now), but I may go back and finish it for completion's sake. That or my ego. But I assure all the KH rant will be coming, so look out for it, eh?

This has been an exciting time for us gamers, hell, for everybody. E3's right on top of us and so many new announcements regarding the next generation of video gaming have been pouring out like mad.

Perhaps the biggest of all news was the bombshell of PS3's price. $600 for the "premium" version (the "real" version) and $500 for the "core" version (the "stripped down" version).

My first first reaction?

****!!!

$600?! Is Sony crazy? Have they finally lost it? I know I did.

Then the shock of the price slowly began to subside, and as I was looking through thread after thread regarding the PS3, I began to see some justification to this slap from Sony.


** As long as this tag here remains, this update isn't completely finished **

P.S. - Yes, my Kingdom Hearts hate-rant is coming soon. ;)

Wow, it IS my birthday. o_0! Hooray for me! (Though I wish it were on a Saturday instead or something) Eh, at least I get Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu episode 5 as a "present" tomorrow.

Amazing how I'm 16 now. Still no driver's license though. >_>;;

Looking back, I've been here almost 2 whole years now... Time sure does fly, eh?

Anyways, enough of my rambling, tomorrow's blog entry: my "rant" about Kingdom Hearts and how I hate its evil camera system. ;)

We've all heard it, and we've all been criticized because of it. From those "snotty Europeans" to old grannies, the range and variety of these critics is simply put, really big.

I'm talking about American rudeness.

More specifically, amongst teenagers this day and age. I had the unfortunate chance of encountering such rudeness personally today...yet again.

It occured during 3rd period today-- Spanish I to be exact. We were plodding along in our lessons, doing bookwork and other such activities as usual. Alas, then there arrived the time where we must do two activites on a separate sheet of paper. The activities weren't so bad, they were actually pretty damn easy.

Bam! (Excuse me for the rather outdated choice of interjection) The kid sitting in front of me turn around and ask me for a piece of paper. Now he hadn't particularly asked for paper any time in the past, and if he ever did, it wasn't much. However, I really didn't have much paper to spare (plus, C&E was next period), nor was I in a mood to give him any. So I tell him I haven't got any to give him, but problem is, there's a blank sheet of paper sitting on top of my desk and some in my semi-open binder, maybe 5 or 6 pages (which I needed to do my own work).

He asks for the paper sitting on my desk first, then from the very few left in my binder (which he forcibly tried to take after I said no), and finally, upon seeing my algebra 2 notebook, he tried to take some from there.

Each time, my answer was no due to the fact that I needed the paper myself and I had none to spare, or in the case of the algebra 2 notebook, I didn't really want to give him any.

After the exchange, he proceeded to insult me, of which he seemed to be fond of the word "f**." I reply back by telling him that I'm not Wal-Mart, and a pack of paper costs maybe a dollar, so go buy some. Then some more insults are exchanged before the girl next to me gives him a handful of paper.

Back then while it was going on, and even now, I am amazed at the mindset of people like him. The rudeness and vanity just perplexes me. He had the nerve to come unprepared with paper (and this was nearly every single day), ask me for some and when I refused, tried to forcibly take some, then when that failed, began insulting me.

It really seems to be a problem here in America, where people like him seem to think that it's a natural-born right to get what they want without question, without respect, and that others should automatically comply with and accept such behavior. What gives him the right to insult me when he's the one asking for paper? To be given paper, insignificant or not, is an act of generosity, not a duty. The item is mine, to be determined by me whether to be given away or not, not him, the beggar.

And this is by no means at all an isolated incident. It occurs everyday, in every class, especially with items like pencil or paper. The ones without simply don't have those because they're too lazy to remember to bring them. They forget it's their responsibility, and insult others when they refuse to bail them out of their lack of responsibility. They think it's within their right to demand and be fulfilled that demand, and when it's not, insult the one they begged. Not all of them do this, but enough do to make me mad. Everyday this happens, and I'm tired of it. Not only the fact that it's my paper being constantly demanded and given ("taken") away, but more so the attitude and idea those people hold.

It's a damn shame what's happened to showing a little respect and responsibility. A damn shame indeed.