October 2005 – Page 2

October 28, 2005October 28, 2005

Alchemists and the Philosopher’s Stone

So I was reading /. today an came across an interesting reply:

See, the alchemists have SEARCHED for the Philosopher’s stone for centuries.

FINDING, on the other hand… is a very different business!

For those that watch Full Metal Alchemist, you’ll recall that the Philosopher’s Stone was those red shards of stones that the homunculus had to eat to continue living. They also gave alchemists a great deal of power when used in conjucntion to their alchemy. The quote above did not seem to bee referencing FMA at all. So I did a search on alchemist and philsopher’s stone and it turns out the philosopher’s stone is considered the holy grail of western alchemy. There’s also a wikipedia article on it. It’s quite shocking to realize that they actually did their homework and made references to real things. Real in the sense that these things were “believed” to have existed and would’ve helped alchemists achieve their goal.

Speaking of /., there was this awesome quote:

The first game I had for Nintendo was two murderous games in one:

One where you leave a trail of death behind as you fight to rescue the human oppressor that subjugates the indiginous fungo-sapien population.

And the other where you blow the crap out of ducks and, after missing a few times, attempt to blast the smartass dog.

I don’t even want to think about the mass genocide in Metroid…

October 28, 2005March 13, 2006

Blingo!

I won another Blingo Movie Ticket! I actually selected the iTunes Gift Certificate since I can usually get better deals on movie tickets. This time it was actually thanks to one of my referals notoupee. I’m not exactly sure who you are, but THANK YOU!!!

October 28, 2005October 28, 2005

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) today. You can watch the trailer here. The movie was very pretty and beautiful, but yet Johnny Depp’s performace scares me. I really didn’t like the whole vibe of this movie and the old version made in 1971 had a more cheerful feeling to it. Since most of you guys already know the storyline behind this book and movie, I’m not going to bother explaining that.

So immediately I noticed many discrepancies between this movie and the 1971. I went ahead and IMed a lot of people (you may have been a victim of the IM and I thank those who were able to give me a response). I have read the book actually back in grade school, but I no longer could tell what was from the book and what was made up in the 1971 movie.

Spoilers:

First thing you notice is that there’s no spy telling Charlie to try to steal the secret recipe of the everlasting gumdrop, or however you say that candy. Nor does he get mentioned in the end that he was Willy Wonka’s assistance. So my first question to everyone was if they remember if this character was in the original story. According to most accounts I got back (ignoring the “I think he was in the book” replies), Snugworth (as I later found out what he was called) was only mentioned and played no big role in the book.

Second thing I noticed was instead of geese that laid golden eggs and sending the girl off as a bad egg, they had squirrels sending the girl off as a bad nut. Apparently the book used squirrels too.

Other small things you noticed included removal of the Fizzy Lifting drink which got Charlie in trouble in the 1971 movie. They also had a side story about Willy Wonka building a chocolate castle for a prince in India.

One major difference I also noticed was that they delved into Willy Wonka’s past when he was a kid and his father was a dentist. As you can imagine, having a father who’s a dentish doesn’t exactly make eating candy easy. Apparently this was a made up character and in the book there was no mention of such father.

One thing that I must say was that without Snugworth’s part in this movie, it didn’t seem whole. The moral story just wasn’t there and the only reason why Charlie was chosen to take over the factory was because he was the last one standing. According to the book, that’s how Wonka chose him too.

According to several accounts, this 2005 movie is in fact more accurate to the book than the 1971. I later found this Table of differences between the book and film adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which explained the differences between the book, the 1971 movie, and the new 2005 movie. Quite an interesting read. One thing they did do right was at the end, you actually get to see the kids leaving the factory. Mike Teavee, the guy who shrunk in the TV teleportation, actually got stretched. I guess with computers nowadays, doing that wasn’t too hard. One thing I do miss are the oompa loompa songs. Though they did have songs sang by oompa loompas in this movie, I miss the jingle. Those were classics! One thing they did bad, in my opinion, was that Willy Wonka came out as a crazy guy who makes candy. He would have these random flashbacks, not sure what he’s doing, making illogical statements, and basically acting like and immature kid. Though this might actually fit better with the original book.

October 28, 2005October 28, 2005

Gun X Sword Episode 9

Gun X Sword Episode 9 – Carmen Returns to her Hometown

This episode was a bit disappointing. In fact, this series has slowly turned out to be more and more disappointing. I guess if you’re into mechs, it’s cool. But their logic and reasoning for getting revenge is pretty stupid, especially with the main character you’re suppose to associate with. This episode, the mechs didn’t even appear, unless you count the opening sequence.

Spoilers:

In the previous episode, you remember Van and the other guy battled the dragon mech and found a encoded computer chip. Van took that computer chip hoping a scientist in a particular city could help them crack it. The 1st thing wrong with this episode is that the fact Van decided to ask for a ride. This a first time when he wasn’t really in a hurry. In fact at the end, he didn’t have a ride anymore and was fine. He actually catches a ride with Carmen, Agent 99 and you find out the city they want to go to is actually her hometown. Back there Carmen meets her best friend Haeta which she hasn’t seen in 6 years. The scientist is actually the Haeta’s father. The scientist decides to help them. Haeta is specialized in breeding flowers, but somewhere down the road, you learn the flowers have a secret behind them…

October 28, 2005October 28, 2005

Detective Academy Q Episode 27

Detective Academy Q Episode 27 – Disappeared Dragon

Detective Academy Q is also called Tantei Gakuen Q. I usually wait for Soldats fansubs for this series for 2 reasons. 1. Soldats maintains high quality releases. 2. They’re probably the only group still fansubbing this series. But it’s been a very long time since they released an episode. Plus where’s my MONSTER!!! Shinsen suddenly and randomly fansubbed episode 27, probably hoping to continue the series where Soldats has left off. We learnt of the Pluto’s Shadow a few episodes earlier. In this episode they introduce a new character and a mystery that has our main characters trapped.

Spoilers:

In this episode, they introduce a new character: Hongou Tatsumi, a new DDS teacher. DDS, for those that don’t know, stands for Dan’s Detective School, a highly renowned detective school where any student who waves his or her badge will immediately gain police help and support. During this episode, Kyu and Meg got assigned to do some cleaning and they find this mysterious door hidden behind shelf. There was a riddle to be solved before they could open the door and inside they found an mysterious room. What happens afterwards is something you’ll have to watch to find out…

October 28, 2005October 28, 2005

Blood+ Episode 3

Blood+ Episode 3 – The Place It All Began

This episode was mostly the history/background and begins the explanation of who Saya really is. Not much gore in this one until near the end, but still not that wasn’t much compared to what was shown in episode 1 and 2. You do get to meet mouse #2, but as I predicted in the previous episode, you’ve already met mouse #2.

Spoilers:

You learn that Saya was found during the Vietnam war. I’m still fuzzy between what happens between the Vietnam war and when Saya finally gets adopted. Apparently she was either sleeping or had amnesia since they were waiting for her to be ‘awaken’. They were planning to let Saya naturally remember the past on her own, but with the introduction of American soldiers occupying Japanese ground without permission, they need to use their trump card: Saya. You also find out that Saya’s foster father lost both his wife and daughter before adopting Saya and that both Kai and Rick are adoptees. Saya’s foster father was given till sunset one day to explain and say his goodbyes and would need to return Saya back to the Japanese government. However, the situation changes when Forest, a friend of his shows up and well… something happens.

October 28, 2005October 28, 2005

Dear God

Got these letters from Fresh99:

Dear God. Are you really invisible or is that just a trick – Lucy
Dear God, Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy – Joyce
Dear God, Did you mean for giraffe to look like that or was it an accident. – Norma
Dear God, Please Send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year. – Peter
Dear God, Instead of Letting people die and having to Make new ones Why don’t you just Keep the ones you got now? – Jane
Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church Is that Ok? – Neil
Dear God In bible times did they really talk that fancy? – Jennifer
Dear God – Please put another Holidy between Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in there now. – Ginny
Dear God if we come back as something please dont let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her. – Denise
Dear God, If you give me genie lamp like Alladin I will give you anything you want except my money or my chess set. – Raphael
Dear God, I Keep waiting for Spring but it never come yet. Don’t forget. – Mark
You don’t have to worry about me. I always look both ways – Dean
Dear God, I bet it is very hard. for you to love all of everybody in the whole world There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it. – Nan
Dear God, If you watch in Church on Sunday I will show you my new Shoes – Mickey D.
Dear God, If you let The dinasor not exstinct we would not have a country. You did the right thing. – Jonathan
Dear God, I do not think anybody could be a better God. Well I just want you to know but I am not just saying that because you are God – Charles

You know the last kid is going to be a great cars salesman.

This site also has kama sutra clothing advertisements (NOT WORK SAFE) (from deadlock). Ads for a youth clothing company in the UK. Pretty creative marketing I must admit.

October 26, 2005August 19, 2006

Interesting Song Meanings

So I went to lunch today with Jeremy. While we were driving there, we heard a Journey song on the radio and we got into a conversation of 80’s music. Well, it was more like him talking and me listening since I really didn’t have much background in 80’s music besides the fact I like listening to them. I hope I got the year right at least and crossing my fingers that they aren’t really 70’s music.

One of the interesting topics that came up was the meaning behind some of these songs. The most famous song that has been confused to be a love song is Police – Every Breath You Take:

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I’ll be watching you

Oh, can’t you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I’ll be watching you

Since you’ve gone I been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but it’s you I can’t replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby, please…

Oh, can’t you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches
With every breath you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I’ll be watching you

Every move you make
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you

I’ll be watching you
I’ll be watching you
I’ll be watching you
I’ll be watching you…

If you read the lyrics carefully, it’s a stalking song. He just got dumped and now he’s stalking her. And Jeromy brings up the fact it’s funny that many people play this song at their wedding.

Another song that came up during discussion was Billy Joel – Only The Good Die Young:

Come out Virginia, don’t let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Ah but sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well, will be the one

Well they showed you a statue and told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Ah but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done

Only the good die young
That’s what I said
Only the good die young
Only the good die young

You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain’t too pretty, we ain’t too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Ah but that never hurt noone

So come on Virginia show me a sign
Send up a signal I’ll throw you a line
That stained glass curtain you’re hiding behind
Never lets in the sun

Darlin only the good die young
I tell you only the good die young
Only the good die young

You get a nice white dress
And a party on your confirmation
You’ve got a brand new soul
Mm and a cross of gold
But Virginia they didn’t give you
Quite enough information
You didn’t count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
And they say there’s a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it’s better but I say it ain’t

I’d rather laugh with the sinners
Than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun

You know that only the good die young
I tell you only the good die young
Only the good die young

You said your mother told you
All I could give you was a reputation
Ah she never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me?

Come out, come out, come out Virginia
Don’t let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well, will be the one
You know that only the good die young
Tell you baby
You know that only the good die young

This was just a song about Billy Joel tryign to get into the pants of a Catholic girl. Haha.

For me, I just listen to music for the melody. The lyrics are just icing and if a songs good, I don’t really care for the lyrics.

October 26, 2005December 10, 2005

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000

So I went to the Microsoft Company Store today because I had to pick up a copy of Windows XP. I’ve been waiting for the company store to stock more Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for some time. They were available online, but required extra for shipping, which being a bargain hunter was a sin if you could get it cheaper locally. So I finally waited long enough and it’s finally here. I’ve been using a Natural keyboard at work for sometime. It’s pretty nice on the wrist and it didn’t take too long to get use to. I have this decent Logitech “normal” keyboard at home and I was able to swap between them without much problems. However I HATED the fact that the Logitech island was vertical. Many new keyboards are doing this and I HATE IT!!! By island, I mean the set of keys that consist of Insert, Delete, Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down. Also, the Logitech made the Delete key bigger (2 button size worth) and shited the Insert key to the scroll lock key.

The Natural 4000 is got it right. The island is correct and I actually like the feel of my wrist on it. They have this soft foam like thing where my wrist rests on and I personally thing the bottom of my palms are in a more relaxes position then even with gel wristrests. Then again, it could also be psychological since I paid $25 for this keyboard. Haha.

October 26, 2005October 26, 2005

Anime DVDs

So I get a call this afternoon from my apartment complex. I was in the middle of work, so I didn’t pick up the call, but the manager left me a message saying I had several packages here, 2 which have been here for quite some time and that I needed to pick it up or else they’ll be shipping it back. What’s funny was I’ve been to the office multiple times already to pick up packages (usually UPS or FedEx leaves me a note), and they’ve never mentioned that I had extra packages. I called back and ask if it would be okay for me to drop by around 3-4 to pick up theses mysterious packages. I really had no idea what they were.

Turns out that I’ve forgotten all about these orders.
1. PQI 512MB SD Card (got this for my uncle who only has a 16MB card for his canon SD300. i think it was like $20 shipped or something @ outpost.com)
2. Philips MMS430 2.1 Speakers (I don’t even remember ordering these. haha!)
3. ADV Films Anime DVDs

I had actually believed my ADV Films order was returned because FedEx told me the package was damaged and they returned it to the sender and I was to contact ADV Films to resolve this. What ended up happening was my emails never got returned and I ended up disputing the charges and either they refunded the money or the dispute went through. I never heard from them again, so I assumed they didn’t bother reshipping the DVDs to me.

So I was surprised to actually see this package today. However, now with the tracking # and reference #, which ADV Films never bother telling me, I see that one of the package was delivered on 10/5/2005 and the other was returned to sender on 10/6/2005. The 2nd package I believe were wall scrolls, which I couldn’t find in this box. Do note, this was ordered way back on Labor Day weekend and with no response from ADV Films, I had no choice but to dispute the charges. Anyway, let’s see what’ll happen.

Anyway, now with the goodies:

Noir DVD 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 + Box + T-Shirt – Noir is a very dark anime about an underground society which runs the world called Soldats. An analogous group would be the Free Masonry with all this Da Vinci Code hype recently. Among this group, they have 2 elite assassins called Noir. Both have somewhat of a hazy memory of their past, but they excel at what they do: killing. Story line was great, but what made this series even better was the soundtrack. It had one amazing soundtrack which I just can’t describe in words about how great it is. If you want to check out one of my favorite songs from Noir, check out Canta Per Me. If you like it, you might want to check out the rest of the 1st soundtrack of Noir.

Full Metal Panic DVD 1, 6 + Box – Full Metal Panic is a really short but fast pace and fun anime. It mixes up robots with high school girls, a plus for most anime geeks. It’s about a boy, who knows nothing besides fighting and war because he was a soldier since a very young age. Now he tries to adapt to a regular society to protect someone as a mission and as you can imagine, he’s having a hell of a problem trying to cope with regular life. If you enjoy Full Metal Panic, you MUST check out Full Metal Panic Fumoffu (a bunch of short stories which are hilarious) and Full Metal Panic – The Second Raid (the 2nd season of FMP).

Neon Genesis Evangelion DVD 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Resurrection, Genesis Reborn – NGE has always been one of those controversial animes. It had a great beginning. Aliens were attacking earth and the only way to stop them were these robots. However, these robots requires special pilots that could somehow link/connect with it spiritually. However, as the series went out, it got really weird and the ending was just disastrous with you staring at the screen asking yourself… what happend?

Azumanga Diaoh DVD 1,3 + Box – I’ve just started watching Azumanga Diaoh, though I’ve been recommended to watch it a billion times. Some of my friends are shocked I haven’t watched it yet. I’m shocked myself after watching the 1st few episodes on how I was able to let this slip by for so long. Azumanga Diaoh is about a bunch of high school girls and their daily lifes. However, it’s so funny and so cute at the same time. There’s this girl that’s obsessed with kittens (not sure why) and stuff animals (all her stuff animals are SOOOOO cute). I’d admit the kittens drawn on this anime are super cute. Then there’s another girl who’s like a super genius, entering high school at the age of something like 10. She has these bouncy pony tails and some are trying to figure out why they keep bouncing. Then there’s another girl who transferred from Osaka. Not exactly sure why she transferred but she’s a dud. She tries to concentrate but the only thing she can do is concentrate on trying to concentrate. It’s a hilarious series and I’m trying to watch it along with the new stuff that’s coming out. Sorta like Detective Conan, it’s all going to be watched some day.

Rurouni Kenshin DVD Trust, Betrayal, Reflection – If you know me, I’m a big Kenshin nut. That’s where my (^_^x) smiely comes from. I actually own the Trust and Betrayal DVD already, but the Reflection DVD by itself was like $7 and for $8 more, I could get 2 more DVDs + the box, so I thought it was a better deal. For those that own the Kenshin OVAs, did you know if you don’t like the Samurai X DVD covers, you can take them out and invert them and it’ll become the Japanese cover showing Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心). Kenshin is still my favorite anime of all time. I still remember waiting in IRC channels waiting for the next episode to be released. This was so far back, they only had VHS rips and the quality was pretty bad and was encoded in .rm format. Each file was about 50megs and I had to d/l them on 36.6kbps and later on 56k. It was like crack. I was totally addicted to it. It’s pretty hard to find an anime series that has that effect on me nowadays. Not even Naruto.

So they were giving away free gifts during the labor day sale and apparently I got a Gawl DVD and Noir lunch box. Pretty neat, but I’ve never heard of Gawl. The Noir lunch box is pretty nice though.

What Grinds My Gears: DVD Pakaging. I’ve always liked opening new packages, but when opening a new package becomes work, that’s past the line. I like the fresh new smell of DVD, but besides the outside plastic layer, they have an additional 3 tapes on each side of the case which I have to rip off before I can get to the DVD itself. And these tapes aren’t just some wimpy tape, these are some strong security tape. Takes me like 3 minutes before I can actually rip them all off. Plus they don’t always rip off nicely. Sometimes they leave the sticky gooey stuff on the cover. grrrrrrrrrrrrr.