Takuhai, tv tropes

Btw, Takuhai means 'home delivery'. References to this word in particular usually relate to the magazine known as Manga Magazine (I think) which wanted to change its name, because it would deliver to homes. However the name change was cancelled I think.
Probably too many people asked, 'Wot is tak-oo-hay? Weird...' Shame, cause I really liked the name 'Takuhai'.
Also, some people have complained that they did not receive the magazine even though they had joined.
So there you go.
Also... 'Okama' means (flamboyant) 'transvestite'.
And 'nakama' means 'comrade', which in itself there is no proper English word for... Basically, your nakama is your closest person (sometimes closer than family), like a team member or crew member (One Piece...) nakama for Naruto would be Sakura, Kakashi sensei and Sasuke (even though Sasuke is not trustworthy) and also Jiraiya sama (love him so much). Nakama for Card Captor Sakura would be Li and Tomoyo and Kero and Yue and Yuki and her dad and brother and also Mitsuki sensei and so on. Actually, she loves everyone...hard to choose. Sailor Moon's nakama are of course all the senshi on her side, and even those who would seem to be enemies (Stars and sometimes the Outers). But you get the point.
I just thought I would write this out while I was thinking of it. Words are great. So are cliques.
Most manga have at least one love interest/fanservice person, a muscular guy, a comedy guy, a cute animal, and a buzzword. Even girly manga can have different variations of these. For more information on trends and memes and tropes, check out tv tropes, just search on google and man you will love it or hate it, I personally love that site. Click click click, all day long...*sigh* I wish it were a reference book, I would love to buy it.
It is the bones and flesh of most cartoons, tv shows, movies, games and manga/anime.
Also look up 'know your meme', its awesome!
Right, must dash.
:)

Summer Rain...

Ok seriously this is madness...
It is Summer but it is rainy!
It's awful... how can it be Christmas and not sunny?
I don't understand at all.
The farmers are happy I think, but everyone else is like...'WHAT???'
My friend Tomoko said, 'This is like a Japanese summer, very humid, like monsoon.'
And I was like, 'Whoa ok, I thought they were just hot.' But apparently not. So you learn something every day, as they say (which is not strictly correct after a while but hey let's go with it).
It is damp with humidity in the 90th percentile constantly, so hard to do much without getting all sticky...
And it is rainy and cool with sometimes unpleasantly strong winds.
Yet it is still hot too.
I think you'd have to have experienced this to know what I mean.
I don't normally rant about the weather. Weather is not a topic of conversation as it used to be.
Everyone knows now that the art of conversation is in fact, dead. It's almost a zombie really.
In fact, you know what? It is a zombie. Ok? My arm is sticking to the mouse as I type, so let's make the so-called art of conversation a zombie.
Dear God, please help me to get through this year's muggy remainder and come out shining on the other side. Amen.
At least this heat has done wonders for my skin. It is softer than it has been in a long time.
God, also please help me reschedule that important appointment on Monday, I don't want to forget.
Amen again!
P.S. God, your English name is a bit silly, it's not a real name at all, merely a noun, like Human or Cat. I am sorry about that. I know you have a lot of names so I suppose you don't care. Good for you!
Hope you enjoy your birthday celebration even though it's not accurate and people mostly forget that this was supposed to be about you and the saving of humanity.
Christmas is for Christians. It's not about money or presents. People forget that.
And by the way, if you are trying to scam someone into giving you large sums of money by pretending you're in love with them, that does not make you a 'good christian', man from Africa.
Wow I'm cross because of this weather.
Anyway, I like Christmas. I like it because of the happy, cozy feeling and the cooking shows. I love Christmas cooking shows. It's funny, I wouldn't want to eat most of the food they make (I'm a vegetarian) but I love to watch them cook.
I tell you, I love gingerbread... loaf, cookies/biscuits or cake. Any old way you make it, I love it. Ah... I do love it so... and also hot chocolate is lovely at Christmas. Although it must be odd to other people who have cold Christmases to hear me say that. But hot chocolate is nice on a cool evening, occasionally you can get cool evenings in Summer.
Ok so what cooking shows do I like, and is that even the correct term? Oh well.
I liked Willie's Chocolate Christmas (I think it was called) and I do love to watch Nigella.
Nigella is my favourite.
I like Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsey (a bit). I hate reality tv but proper cooking shows are wonderful!
You know who else is charming? Rachael Ray. At the end of her show she does a little cooking segment and I love it.
I would like to see Oprah or Ellen cook too.
I don't know, they might already do that. I don't watch talk shows much.
Even if they aren't real good cooks, it doesn't matter.
Having someone chat to you and prepare food evokes/invokes? a really comforting feeling inside of me. It must be to do with parenting, perhaps I used to talk to my mum in the kitchen when I was little. I don't remember. But I hope to buy some shows on dvd soon. I just can't decide which to get first, and of course I prefer to wait for a sale. But the truth is, there aren't many sales on dvd sets, especially things like cooking shows. I wonder why?
I also loved reading Peter Mayle's 'A year in Provence', because he loves food. He writes about it most of the time,and he writes so well.
I like to read certain books whilst eating. It makes everything more enjoyable. But I do not know why exactly. I won't waste time wondering. Just enjoy.
This Christmas, God Bless you all and have a wonderful New Year.
Try to find a quiet place or corner sometime to relax and enjoy eating something lovely. I don't know if anyone will even read this (as I have noted before) but it doesn't matter really.
I hope you have a lovely Christmas.
I really do.
Man, I also love good fruit mince tarts...^_^
x
Here is a pic of some Gingerbread Men (done in the proper simple style I approve of) I got from a random merchandising website.

A Very Little Christmas Free Download

A Very Little Christmas Free Download
These guys are awesome, writing a Christmas album which isn't all soppy junk and also it's for free download! Yay go Kiwis! I like Bear Cat best.
And Lisa Crawley is my lecturer's daughter, she's becoming famous quite quickly.

Thoughts... Jellyfish...

Loving Princess Mononoke suite. Joe Hisaishi is the awesome.
Loving Ghibi movies... want all of them! I even liked 'All Our Yesterdays' which was not my generation and not my culture but still I felt like I could understand her. I loved the ending too. I remember trying to make my Japanese flatmate watch. Haha poor lady. Not everyone loves anime. Or manga for that matter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H82QHiUvY5E
Joe Hisaishi. The man.

Meanwhile, I was in Newmarket (an upscale part of my city) and I went into this bookstore run by a lady who I didn't really like but was okay, and it was all about the money and the promotion and the name-dropping and the right type of cover for the book. Suddenly I was like, 'I don't want to read about other people's lives, I want to read about my own...' And I don't know exactly what that means. But I know that I can't read most books because of the writing style. If it tastes wrong or I feel the author is trying too hard to condescend to the reader or push them instead of lead them gently, then I dislike it.
Also, often for me lately, music gets in the way. If the music I'm listening to suddenly becomes annoying noise that blocks what I am feeling or even thinking, then I must turn it off.
In this generation we treat everything carelessly, we feast on it by taking a bite of this or that and spitting it out to try something else, or we gorge ourselves on the amazing things we have so readily available, the things we love.
But these are not the ways to treat music and movies and words... we treat them so carelessly, and we ignore the beauty of them, and of numbers.
Numbers are so beautiful. Most people hate them.
But we don't really treat words with respect either. We don't respect people's views or their hearts, we don't see what they are trying to say because it is too easy to say whatever we want. We don't have to be careful or think.
I want to be able to say what I mean, but I can't most of the time. Except in regret... why is that? Why?
Well that about wraps that up in a gloomy gray blue ribbon! Translucent!
Ok so apparently a jellyfish is a bunch of organisms together, not just a single weird floating fish thing. COOL!
That almost cheers me up.
I like blue gray. Or blue grey. I want to name my next cat 'Grey'. But I come up with cool names for my next cat all the time and then promptly forget them. So never mind!
I can't really have a cat atm. I move around too much.
:)
God Bless

Alice in Wonderland

I like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel: Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
I like them a lot. I have two versions, one which is both in one volume, a cheap book but nice, with the illustrations by John Tenniel. The other is a single volume of the first book with illustrations by Tove Jansson. I like her work very much and have read many of her books. I have read at least 6 of her books, including one which is more for adults.
I want to collect her stuff one day.
I think I will use her as my inspiration when I got to art school next year.
Anyway, I dislike how people don't read the books and only watch the movies, the older Disney animated one and then the newer Disney/Tim Burton one. People need to read the books! They are delightful! That is all I have to say about that, for now.
:) Have a good day.

Pirates, Vampires and Zombies

This BBC article is disturbing but we can't ignore these things.
How did piracy become strong again? Maybe it always continued but was less known...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11704306

The East African Seafarers Assistance Program:
They help people at sea including helping people who have trouble with pirates.
http://www.ecop.info/english/e-sap-net.htm
I really hate pirates... The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies are amusing and entertaining but subversive. Pirates are not heroes. They are people who hurt others and steal. They may not all be bad people, merely good people who are desperate but that does not mean they are allowed to do what they do. Making others suffer because you are suffering does nothing to help anyone in the end.

Now: The undead.
Vampires are not sexy. They are gross things that drink blood...EWW!! I don't want anyone piercing my skin with their teeth and drinking my blood! I need my blood to stay with me! Vampires and zombies are essentially the same and yet somehow along the line people decided that zombies are ugly and gross and freaky and always look awful or at best comedic but vampires are hot. Nonsense! One eats, the other drinks, aside from that they are the same!
Real vampires are gross too. Deviants who have unhealthy appetites. In the news lately I saw there was a vampire couple who attacked a man recently and drank his blood but he escaped and now they are in jail.
And real zombies would be cannibals, I guess. Cannibalism is not good. If you eat human flesh you can get ill or go mad. It is unnatural, as is vampirism. Not cool!
So Twilight is ridiculous. All vampire stuff is. In short...I hate the actions of the undead or copycats of the undead. Not cool, guys!
Well, now that I have said that, I feel better.
And yeah, I read Twilight. I liked it at first but I realised it was just so pathetic that I didn't read the others. I can't buy into that fantasy. I prefer better fantasies. Sorry. I also read 'Interview with the Vampire' (or is it 'a'?) and 'The Vampire Lestat'. Didn't really buy into those either, even though I will admit I like Lestat's character. As a person he's cool, but the truth is, being a vampire kinda ruined him. He could've ben so much cooler as a mortal. So in the end it only proves that vampirism is BAD, not matter what.
And you know what? The book was better than the movie, every time. They usually are.

Things I did not really know about...

Cute dogs! >_< hehe!

Anyway, things I learnt about today:

Blauk.com - a social microblogging idea for strangers to critique each other rather than like Tumblr and Twitter where it's usually friends and friends.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blauk
Check it out. Launched 2010. I think it's very interesting. From India I think.

I don't do any microblogging usually, no Twitter or whatever.
Facebook is hard enough for me, I prefer plain ol' bloggin'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging
According to the Wiki explanation, most of us have microblogged at least once.

One other thing: Pirates. I hate them. I also hate vampires, and think that pirates and vampires have been ridiculously misrepresented and romanticised to the extreme lately. They are both disgusting, they feed off of other people's resources whether it be money or blood.


This article makes me very happy: People in China, netizens... (I kind of dislike that word but hey) are striking out against injustice! Read this BBC article. It's very long, but do your best because it is very uplifting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11576592
There is only one problem.
In history, when there is a new movement against injustice, it starts off well but some use it to abuse others instead of helping. They just don't know when to stop. I am worried that it will go too far (it has already) and people will be harassed and harried to the point of desperation on the internet. But there is not much we can do, we can only wait for those who are smart to put procedures in place to protect others from abuse. And we ourselves must be careful what we do and say on the internet, so that we don't abuse others.
The internet gives an illusion of total freedom of expression but in the end, people can still find you and so you are not free.
As well as this problem, the internet is easy to access for many people and so misinformation can still be a problem. Make sure important information is correct before you use it. Check more than one source.
And please treat others with care, to protect yourself and them.
:)

Foods that help with beauty

This image from icanhascheezburger.com

Red Capsicum
These colourful crunchy creations are found in most fridge salad boxes because they taste great (as far as vegetables go) and they can be added to so many dishes, from spag bol to curry, or just cut up cold with salad.
Like citrus fruit, "red peppers are bursting with vitamin C," says Fiona Hunter, Simple Nutritionist and member of the Simple Advisory Board, "which is essential for the manufacture of collagen. Vitamin C also helps protect the skin from the damaging effects of free radicals and slow the progress of ageing."

Barley Grass
"Barley grass helps to rejuvenate your skin and slow the ageing process due to its abundant minerals, enzymes and vitamins that revitalise the body's cellular structure," says Nutrition & Health Consultant, Julie Hotchkiss, "It also supports natural weight balance by activating the body's natural fat-burning process".
In short, taking barley grass can help you stay young, beautiful and slim. Not only that, but because of the high level of chlorophyll it contains, it's actually a natural body deodorant, so you'll smell nice too! Barley powder can be mixed with water, juice, or yogurt or sprinkled on cereal.
So you could also drink Barley Tea?

Salmon and other oily fish
The omega 3 fats found in the salmon, says skin care guru, Dr Nicholas Perricone, encourage the body to produce anti-inflammatory compounds which help to slow and even reverse signs of ageing in the skin. Salmon also helps to increase muscle tone and prevent sagging skin.
While some dermatologists are sceptical about these claims there are plenty of other reasons why it makes good sense to eat oil-rich fish such as salmon regularly, not least because of the weight of evidence that suggests it helps keep our heart and mind healthy.

Brazil nuts
A lot of people avoid eating too many nuts because they're 'fattening' but according to Fiona, Brazil nuts in particular, could do wonders for your skin.
She says, "Brazil nuts are a fantastic source of the mineral selenium (just four Brazil nuts will provide over 100% of the recommended daily amount) which helps protect the skin against sun damage and age spots. In one study people with the lowest intake of selenium were most likely to develop age spots." Much better for you than a chocolate bar at snack time...

Avocado, nuts and seeds
If you're looking for a healthy snack, you could do a lot worse than an avocado pear. Peel it, halve it and fill with cottage cheese, or simply eat it sliced with a squeeze of lemon.
"Avocado pears, nuts and seeds are all rich in vitamin E," says Fiona, "which helps protect against free radical damage and essential fatty acids keep the skin supple."

Beans, pulses and porridge
Carbohydrate has become a buzz word in the world of diets with the introduction of Atkins and similar low-carb diets, but not all carbs are bad.
In his most recent book, 7 secrets to Beauty, Health and Longevity, Dr Perricone suggests if you want great looking skin you need to choose low GI carbs and shun high GI carbs like biscuits and sugary drinks, which result in the over production of insulin which damages collagen and accelerates wrinkling.

Papaya, spinach and kale
It might seem like a random combination, but papaya, spinach and kale all provide a phytochemical called lutein, which according to experts from the Department of Dermatology at the University of Naples helps to boost the skin's antioxidant capacity thereby protecting against damage from free radicals.

Blackcurrants
Researchers at Hirosaki University in Japan have just completed an intensive study which shows that blackcurrants can actually help reduce dark circles under the eyes.
The tests proved that the consumption of blackcurrants improved the blood flow around the optical nerves and drastically reduced the effect of 'sagging eyes'.
The good news is that it's not just fresh blackcurrants that can help, blackcurrants in any form will do the trick - including in jams and pies!

http://health.msn.co.nz/slideshow_ajax.aspx?sectionid=75129§ionname=healthyeating&subsectionid=7776299&subsectionname=foodsthatmakeyoubeautiful_slide

:) Good! Can't wait to eat! Also apples are good for your skin too (my fave is the Pink Lady apple, hence my choice of colour for the word 'apples'). I think I can eat all that stuff except for fish, but I hope to be able to eat fish soon. It's hard to make yourself try to eat things you don't like. I shall persevere!
X3

Yotsubato!

Well I totally read 9 volumes of Yotsubato! this week, which is by the same person who did Azumanga Daioh (Kiyohiko Azuma, possb?) and I must say I like both.
I prefer Azumanga Daioh slightly because I have seen the anime (and own it, yeah!) but Yotsuba is funny too. Oh man I love her dad and his two friends, they are great! Really immature! Fantastic! And no perverts.
I give it a 5 out of 7 ******* because I didn't really get into the feeling of it. Something wasn't quite as good... probably because he didn't draw Yotsuba properly, always making her too semi-deformed. I feel like I never saw her real face. I know it's supposed to be cute but to me it just didn't work.
Faves: Fuuka probably wins, but all of that family are great. 'Asagi was a mistake.' Best line ever, mum!
Guys: I like Jumbo best ('Gaooo!'). But Yotsuba's dad is also cool, and I love how everyone treats Yanda. Yanda himself is actually kinda funny, being more deadpan than everyone else.
At first I hated him and also Miura but they are just not as generally silly as everyone else, they try to be factual or more realistic. They are great for contrast with other characters.
Well, the only failing in this manga is the drawing style chosen for Yotsuba, and a lack of proper plot movement. But since this genre is slice 'o life, which means that not much is supposed to happen, that's probably a moot point.
Yeah, liked it a lot. Want to buy it someday. I get so sick of manga that's all fighting and fan service, although there is a bit of that for this manga. Thankfully, it's way more subtle than usual types.
Hope there's more. Vol 10 not yet out I think... yay!
Btw LOVE Strawberry Marshmallow by Barasui.
These two manga are similar but not the same.
So if you like Yotsubato! (if you don't know it, look it up) then you will probably like Strawberry Marshmallow too.
If you ever wondered why I don't really give a summary or any real character info, it's because they might be classed as spoilers, and I don't want to ruin anything for people who are still reading or want to read.
Gtg bye
Nice day outside, gonna go for a walk.

Oh yeah, another review, of sorts!

Well if you want to add a Facebook badge to your blog using widgets, you should do it through Facebook, not your blog. The Facebook option makes it smaller and nicer. Found that out just now!
And that's not a South African 'just now', but a 'just now' just now!
Since I'm here, I will say I saw the 'Strong World' One Piece movie today (fan subbed yeah!). And I was appalled at the fan service overload for Nami and Robin. Disgusting. Otherwise it was ok but in fact the film was a bit dull, it was just the same old thing. I liked the animation. And I was glad to hear the voice actors... (Sanji and Zoro... AH!!!) and see Chopper. For me, One Piece is all about Tony Tony Chopper, and maybe some Zoro with a bit of Sanji on the side. Some of the comedy is amusing too. But I am sad to say that I find the fighting quite dull. All power and no proper skill. Never mind! DBZ was the same only worse, and Bleach ends up the same in the end. That's why Ranma was awesome because it was definitely about the power but also amusingly weird techniques and diff forms of martial arts. I mean, Martial Arts Cheerleading? LOL! Takahashi is a genius! And to top that off, it wasn't all guys, she let girls be strong too. Most shonen manga is unfair and makes the main girl smart but weak. At least in Naruto some of the girls are real strong!
Anyway that's enough about that.
Have a good weekend. I know it isn't the weekend yet... but have a good one all the same!

P.S Check this out. Every RPG is the same... LOL!
http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/every-rpg.jpg

X3

My cat plush

Well, I figured I'd name my cat plush 'Wheat'. It is the colour of wheat, after all.
It is a friendly, gentle name which reminds me of bread and the fact that city life would in many ways not be possible without country life. I know it seems a heavy way to name a plush, thinking about those things. But I live thoughtfully. So that's that.
It would be nice to be more carefree but I am not made that way. I will be carefree at times, but I will have to make that choice carefully. So I guess that may defeat the purpose of being carefree.
Anyway, I am learning to accept myself properly. This is not like merely conceding my own weaknesses grudgingly; but instead letting them wash over me like waves crash against rocks on the seashore. The main difference being that I will not be worn down. I will instead be allowing the weaknesses to exist for they are a part of me. I am going to let them flow and not try so hard to avoid them or stop them. I will grow stronger and be able to defeat my weaknesses one day, All of my life until now I have felt desperate, as if trying to stop waves with my bare hands, and always upset and frustrated when I mess up. Failure is the only option in this case. A mortal cannot defeat the ocean alone!
But now I can release myself from that burden. Thank you God!
Now all I have to do is try to relax more.
... how can I do that...? I will have to think about it.

Reviews of 3 manga

Review of Ouran High School Host Club:
Loved it. Especially the character of the heroine, Haruhi. She makes it particularly good (I was so sick of the typical yamato nadeshiko types!). Most of the boys are quite cliqued but the twins develop well, surprisingly. Loved everyone, so much. I will always feel good when I think of this manga, it is like going to a place where I was happy and felt comfortable. It made me laugh and made me feel safe. That may seem ridiculous but that is how I feel on rare occasions when I read a book that suits me well. And I have probably not felt that way about any manga before except perhaps Ranma 1/2. I regret that earlier characters are not able to return much i.e. Kasanoda, Nekozawa, Renge etc. Otherwise like I said, loved it so much. I would give it a 7 out of 7 if it wasn't for the less pleasant side stories that were sometimes included.
The ending was a bit silly (but hey it's a bit silly to begin with) but it was satisfactory. One slight problem, with the development of Suoh's character, he jumped from immature weirdo to mature b/f a bit too fast in the last volume. I will have to carefully look over it again to see if I might just be trying to critique it because I don't want to think of it as perfect. You know what? I take that back. Suoh is not really a mature b/f at all. LOL!
So 6 out of 7*******, not just because of the side stories I didn't like but also the art was a bit too girly regarding Suoh sometimes. I know girly-boys are popular in Japan but sometimes the art went a little overboard.
Um, Faves: EVERYONE!!!! You know, I think I may have reviewed this already but I'm gonna do it again!
Absolute fave... I guess in the end, Kyouya. What can I say. He is so...cool.
Wouldn't want to date him, but still so cool. Fave guy is him, and fave girl is Haruhi - tempted by Renge, but her character is too underdeveloped.
Hated: Well, the twin creepy sisters in the side stories. Disliked them a lot. Also I didn't like Hika and Kao much at first. Then I grew to like them. Esp Kaoru. And Hikaru... ok they are both cool for diff reasons. I think that the author leads the readers to like the twins in this way but who cares. Gotta move to next review, but can't seem to stop... ok!

Ok next review: Chobits.
Loved the art, disliked the adult crap, it was not entirely necessary (it sort of was as you find out in the end, but then again it sort of wasn't, it was mostly clearly fan service).
Give it 5 out of 7*******. Really disliked the ecchi (at least it wasn't hentai). But I liked the storyline, even though it was obvious fairly early on what was happening. I liked the Yumi and cake-store guy (forgot his name, he's pretty forgettable really) story the best. I think that is a real problem we would face if we did have personal humanoid companions.
I think that the ending was good, just finished it. However of course now the problem is that Hideki is going to be in a relationship with a robot woman with a slightly retarded personality (and no useful super-powers) and the body of a 15-16 yr old and he can't ever have sex with her or it will reboot her. So that's kinda dumb. But then they can't have kids anyway. I just think although it is good that he loved her for her personality and cuteness and didn't just want to sleep with her (although it's clear he would like that too), it is hard on him. For the rest of his life he has a girlfriend who is a second-class citizen, is kind of simple-minded (surely his interest in her looks will fade and then she will just be annoying) and also she will most likely never age in appearance. This kinda sucks. And if he loves her for her, that's also crap because the manga points out that she lost a lot of her original personality when she accepted her sister into her body. And what happened to the sister? I think she ceased to exist. If not, now he also has to deal with that problem also. What will happen to Chii-chan when all the humans who knew her die? Of course the answer to that is, read Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles. But not really. That is an alternate universe so forget it.
Anyway, I guess my favourite character was Yumi (the human, not the persocom) and then Ichiro, the father of the persocoms. If I am right, he is Icchan, from Angelic Layer (let's face it, it's almost completely spelled out for you anyway).
Btw I liked Angelic Layer although the main character is a cheap (and poor) attempt at copying Sakura-chan from Card Captor Sakura. Hmm, never finished Angelic Layer, or even got past vol 1 (no time yet) so might be mistaken about Icchan thing, so it isn't a spoiler if I'm only guessing, right? Anyway, proper reviews are usually spoilers.
Least favourite character was Chii, actually. She is an insult to human girls. I wanted to like her for her gentleness, but she was just too simplistic and I couldn't get past that fact. And that's all I have to say about that. But - one more thing, I kind of hope she will become a real person over time as she develops her learning and then maybe I could like her.

Btw, I love how CLAMP brings characters from one manga to another... <3 Esp in their Tsubasa series...

Before I forget to mention, on an unrelated note; please look up Meca Tanaka's stuff, it is quite good. Simplistic art style but original ideas and characters that aren't always exactly to type which is refreshing. I have read one series (Omukae Desu) and wish to read another one-shot (7-jikanme-rhapsody).

Last review; Cowboy Beebop manga, just quickly say, one story was gross in a bit but otherwise liked it a lot (the series as a whole), not sure I totally like the art style (Spike too girly) but liked it anyway. Good snappy dialogue, no wasted time, only problem is lack of chemistry between main characters. However that is part of who they all are so I guess I shouldn't complain. Never quite liked Ed, always liked Spike and Jet, jury still out about Ein and Fay respectively (at least Fay is cute). I think it does well to stick to the spirit of the anime without being exactly the same or that would be dull.
5 out of 7******* because I don't like the fanservice or that gross bit I mentioned. Also a lot of bittersweet stuff... I dislike bittersweet chocolate and bittersweet feeling. I guess I will never truly understand Japan then, natsukashii, nosutarujii, etc etc. I know the world isn't happy most of the time but that's why I like manga that mostly is, and I like predominantly positive things in general. Yeah, I know I kinda repeated myself there, drop it.
Ok gtg spent too much time on this and should be in bed. Wish I could colour some words... can't be bothered right now.
Night!

What I am trying to finish atm...

Well, I'm back, I guess.
I have finally completed Ouran High School Host Club and also learned a bit about real host clubs and hostess bars by doing internet research (thanks to Wikipedia!).
I haven't finished reading Bleach or XXXHolic yet...
I have almost finished Chobits. Should finish it tonight. CLAMP are good but they put too much adult stuff in a lot of their manga (sometimes more subtly than others...) which kind of makes the seriousness of what their plotline is trying to achieve seem hollow. Manga is either entertainment or education, I can't really accept 'edutainment' which is what they try to make Chobits into. I really like the ideas in Chobits, of exploring what makes humans human and asking if an A.I. being could develop a soul. But their ero stuff kills it! Either do it or don't, ok? Don't mess good stuff up by slipping rubbish in, please! I accept that part of relationships is sex, but they try to make it so forbidden that it makes it ludicrous. As usual they are trying to titillate the audience, what a joke. Sex is either naughty or nice, people, you cannot have it both ways or you are making a mockery of it and also making yourself ridiculous. This has a lot to do with my attitude toward sex rather than CLAMP in particular. I just get annoyed at mangaka in general for their condescension to their audience. Arina Tanemura is a particular example of such unsubtle-ty, to mess up my English. Anyhow, that is all irrelevant for most people.
Meh, tired of this topic now.
TTYL y'all. x
p.s. I wasn't going to read Chobits because of the ecchi element but frankly, it is worth sifting through it for the good stuff. That is not to say that I would bother with most ecchi or hentai. Not at all. Sick!!!!

Fushigi Yuugi and others

Read 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya', art is ok, but story too weird because I have only read 3 volumes. It's finally developing and now I can't read anymore... Crammed too much in, also weird bits with like Suzumiya being hard to actually sympathise with at all, her moods are too erratic, and her sort of sexual abuse of Asahina. Anime probably the same but I heard it was popular. Oh well. I think 'Lucky Star' would be better. Nothing like a bit of multi-coloured moe-moe overdose in the morning! I am gonna watch Lucky Star one day!!!! Argh!
Ok I don't know if I have actually reviewed Watase Yuu's 'Fushigi Yuugi' yet or not. So here goes.
I liked the anime, btw. I liked the omake the most... and the videos for their image songs (which may have been fan-made but you couldn't tell, man, look them up!)
I give the manga **** out of 7 stars because she makes Tamahome, Tasuki and Nakago have the same hairstyle, or too similar at least. Also the men in this manga are obsessed with rape! Everyone seems to want to rape either Yui or Miaka! It's creepy and surely men are not that bad! And Soi's power is too kinky. Other than those two glaring problems, its great, love the plotline although it is too melodramatic and so on. But loved her characters, (Chichiri!!! *sigh* Tasuki! *sigh sigh* and Tomo! YES, TOMO!!! SO WHAT??? I know he's extemely gay, so what???? I'm pretty sure he's not worried about being Bi. I know he's not real! Ok? *sobs quietly* Anyway, Ah, and Nakago... *sigh !!!* Ok, I'm done with sighing now) and her work on clothing and the flow of her art was very nice. It worked. Imho not all artists get the right look for their story. But Watase has. This is an old manga now, I suppose. She did a prequel, called 'Fushigi Yuugi Gaiden' (I think...) and I liked that too, but only read vol 1. Anyway, I liked the 4 gods and their seishi. The miko idea was ok too. Some of the seishi were so cool! Anyway, so because of Chichiri and Tasuki, and also Tamahome and Tasuki's fights, I will say you should read this. But it is a bit heavy-going, drama-wise. It can be wearying, for newbies to manga.
Sideline: Man, I think Yui is so cute! Wayyyy cuter than Miaka btw. Miaka is a sweetie but Yui is a LADY (only kinda mean). Those melting eyes... (although actually Yui and Miaka do look a lot alike if you ignore their hairstyles). Um, so... Tama-chan was real sweet, as the obligatory animal mascot/token cute beast. Yep. Love cats.
Well, that's it I guess, except to say also, I may have mentioned 'Kitchen Princess', um, it's real good but I hate how the writer kills one of the main boys (the one I liked!) halfway through and then replaces him with another guy who looks just like him but has a lousy personality. It seems pointless. I guess I have seen a similar plot like that before but this one was kinda brutal and because it had no subtlety, it was a waste of what could have been a real heart-wrenching plot point.
Art for Kitchen Princess: Shoujo, cute, good for fabrics and baked goods etc, real eye-candy.
Tends like many mangaka to not to develop the boy's looks enough (or token girls, in shonen manga it would be) because they are mostly either 'rival' or 'love interest' or both, and so not important.
However I really liked Akane's look. The heroine, Najika, was cute too. Interestingly though, Akane seems to have been developed more as a character both in personality and looks. I felt she outshone the main character a little.
This is the problem with many main manga characters. If the writer wants to make them likeable/identifiable with the target audience they are usually so passive and have one large flaw (which in girls is supposed to be 'cute' e.g. clumsy or a bad cook, in boys usually he's a lecherous type, but this is glossed over as him being 'a normal boy') and the writer tends to fail to let the main character develop much if they make supporting characters quite dynamic or weird. The audience will write and say, 'I like B-kun, he's my favourite', when it's A-kun's life story! So the writer must make sure B-kun gets lots of panels to keep audiences reading.
And I think that this is why the main character is kept devoid of many characteristics, so that the diverse audience can pretend they are like that person. It's the same as in games, the person you play as is quite generic so that anyone can feel they are that person.
I think perhaps I would like to see more manga make their main characters more defined. Like in Koukou Debut, the main character plays baseball, and does not seem to be losing interest yet, even past the first volume, which can be usual for some manga where the main character lists her interests or hobbies in the first chapter and then barely ever mentions them again. So I'm glad to see that.
Anyways, sorry I rambled on there (not sorry enough to delete it tho) and have a good day.
Btw do read 'Mink' (Cyber Idol Mink?) about a girl who can transform into a popstar, it's cute! But I can't get it here and don't know the original title, sorry, I will try to find out. I really enjoyed it and the art style was cute, it reminded me of 'St. Tail'.

Youtube User Alert!!!!

I just joined youtube and uploaded my first vid! The quality wasn't what I would like but hey. Here is the link, I think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt4EhfRMi50

Try it and see. Oh, it's sealions swimming btm, in case you don't want to waste a couple of minutes of your life on aquatic mammals. I totally understand.

XD ttyl!

The List at last!

Well my manga exploits remind me of how I wanted to list my favourite villains.
I will make it top 10 otherwise I will take too long to decide.
Then I better put my top 10 heroes as well, I suppose.
1 is most fave, 10 is fave but least out of the 10. You get it. Actually a lot of them are tied, cause I can't choose but whatever. They are all fictional...*sigh* well, maybe that is safer for all of us. This list and the other may be subject to change.

Villains:
1. Darth Vader from Star Wars
2. Queen Nehelenia from BSSM
3. Zagato from MKR
4. The Goblin King Jareth from The Labrinth
5. Magneto from the X-Men universe
6. The Scarecrow from the Batman universe (scariest, not favourite really...)
7. Catwoman from the Batman universe (so cool!)
8. General Nakago from Fushigi Yuugi (tortured villains are always cool)
9. Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender (was a great villain, better than his crazy sister, that's for sure)
10. Edea Kramer from FFVIII (was a really good villainess until she became her normal harmless self again)

Heroes:
1. Batman (best detective ever!)
2. Sailor Moon (shut up! she's awesome!)and co
3. Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Yoda and Luke, Han and Leia etc but Obi-Wan is the coolest of them all)
4. Wolverine (ALWAYS cool)
5. Wesley from The Princess Bride (love that actor!)
6. Aragorn/Strider from LOTR (in the book he's cooler)
7. Hancock from the movie of the same name (so funny!)
8. Harry Potter (is cool, again, shut up!)
9. King Arthur and co
10. Robin Hood and co

Well, that was kinda lame. And there's lots of heroes who are cooler than villains so I could go on listing my fave heroes (usually in manga...) but this was meant to be about the villains.

Villains are only cool for me if they are not real. When they are real I cannot see their good points, only how despicable they are. Like dictators and despots, madmen who incite their country to genocide, greedy grasping fat-cats who live off of other's suffering. Cruel beautiful people, or cruel ugly people. Landlords and bosses who are unfair, warlords and bounty hunters who kill and steal and torture. None of them are worthy of any list of mine.
They should all be made to realise how they have made others suffer. They should pay back what they have taken. Maybe they never could even in their whole remaining lifetime.
Anyway! Let's not talk about the filth of reality in this world. The internet has evolved into a form of escapism from that, right? Let's escape into manga again. Stories are what make life interesting and bearable. I love stories, but I need them to have a happy ending precisely because real life stories barely ever do. I don't like sad stories.

Alice Manga

I just read Heart no Kuni de Ochakai (aka: Tea Party in the Kingdom of Hearts). It is a cute one-shot set in Wonderland (as a surprising amount of manga can be!) So Alice themes abound.
I have found other manga with an Alice theme in the past, including a somewhat dark one called 'Are You Alice?' I think. I didn't finish it.
There is one popular manga called 'Alice 19th'. It is still ongoing, I think. I like the art but it is also quite heavy going. Might not read much because I dislike the themes which are too strong for Alice, in my opinion. Artistic license is all very well, but often people go too far.

The Alice manga usually have: Alice (not always a girl), the Queen of Hearts (not always a woman), the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire cat (all usually cute boys or girls who like Alice). They often include other characters but hardly ever stay true to the real stories. I think CLAMP did an Alice manga called 'Miyuki-chan in Wonderland' but as far as I recall the review, it is quite yuri... Ouran High manga has an Alice story in it which was cute but confusing.
I think there are other manga out there who have had an Alice theme or story included in their main series.
'Alice in Wonderland' and the sequel, 'Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There', are two of my favourite stories. I have two copies and one is illustrated by Tove Jansson. I also have some Tove Jansson books. I am amazed that few people have heard of her, btw. Look her up sometime. Speaking of Tove Jansson, her character 'Snufkin' is apparently the inspiration for Kubo Tite's Bleach character Kisuke Urahara (aka: 'Getaboushi', the guy who gave Kon to Ichigo and owns that cool shop, and wears that hat over his eyes all the time). Incidentally I liked Urarhara immediately, when I saw him in the first Bleach movie. He is the one Bleach character I instantly liked and wanted to see more of. I do not know why. Another interesting thing, the next time I felt that was when I saw Yoruichi-san, his cousin. So COOOOLLLLL!!!! Ok ok no spoilers. YORUICHI IS NOT JUST A CAT!!!!! She's also - ok ok. Sorry, couldn't help it. Anyway everyone knows all about them by now for sure!

But back to Alice. I liked both Disney's older animated film and their new one directed by Tim Burton. I love the Cheshire Cat, especially in the newer movie... so CUTTTEEE!!!! I have a thing for cats, as you may have guessed.
I want to buy both Alice films. One day I will!
Well, have a good day.

Canadian Priest gives communion wafer to dog.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10774706

Canadian priest sorry for giving dog Holy Communion

(The dog took the biscuit but no wine was offered to the animal)
A priest in Canada has apologised after giving Holy Communion to a dog.

Reverend Marguerite Rea of St Peter's Anglican Church, in Toronto, received complaints from Christians all over Canada after she fed communion bread to a German Shepherd cross named Trapper.

Area Bishop Patrick Yu said the priest had contravened church policy with her "strange and shocking" actions.

Ms Rea said it had been a "simple church act of reaching out" to a new congregation member and his pet.

"If I have hurt, upset or embarrassed anyone, I apologise," she told her congregation on Sunday morning, the Toronto Star reports.

Bone of contention
The canine controversy began last month when four-year-old Trapper and his owner, Donald Keith, 56, attended the church in Toronto's downtown area for the first time.

"The minister welcomed me and said come up and take communion, and Trapper came up with me and the minister gave him communion as well," Mr Keith told the Toronto Star.

"I thought it was a nice way to welcome me into the church. I thought it was acceptable. There was an old lady in the front just beaming when she saw this."

But not all parishioners at the service were quite so charmed by the sight of the priest leaning down and placing a wafer on the wagging tongue of Trapper, a German Shepherd-Rhodesian ridgeback cross.

Communion bread is considered by Anglicans to represent the body of Jesus Christ.

One onlooker filed a complaint with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto about the incident and has since left the church.

When news spread of the canine communion, St Peter's Church began receiving e-mails from angry Christians all over the country.

"Communion is a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus' body; he died for all of us. But I don't recall anything from the scripture about Jesus dying for the salvation of our pets," said Cheryl Chang, director of the Anglican Network in Canada, the National Post newspaper reports.

"I can see why people would be offended," said Bishop Yu.

"I have never heard of it happening before. I think the reverend was overcome by what I consider a misguided gesture of welcoming."

'Innocent'
Mr Keith has since been told that he and his dog are most welcome at the church, but Trapper can no longer receive communion.

"This has blown me away. The church is even getting e-mails from Catholics," said the truck driver.

"Ninety-nine-point-nine per cent of the people in the church love Trapper and the kids play with him. It was just one person who got his nose out of joint.

"Holy smokes. We are living in the downtown core. This is small stuff. I thought it was innocent and it made me think of the Blessing of the Animals."

To all of this I say, 'Ok, inappropriate, now GET OVER IT!!!!'
People are so tetchy. Dogs shouldn't take communion. The end!
All you dogs out there be sure and read this article to avoid future offenses of a religious nature.
Man...!

Good website.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Really good website with some thought-provoking articles.

I just found one about Christians and the poor, by Richard T. Hughes. Here is the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-t-hughes/a-riddle-of-life-and-deat_b_487476.html

Here is a quote from another of Hughes' essays:
'Even though we have no state church in the United States, there has emerged in the United States a Christian civilization that is deeply corrupted, a civilization that claims the label "Christian" only by virtue of its history, though if we would be honest, we must admit that America's history has never been Christian in any biblical sense.' Richard Hughes, Chapter Four: "Dare We Live in the World Imagined by the Sermon on the Mount?" from Preaching the Sermon on the Mount: The world it imagines. (St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 2007), p56.
Actually I think he is right. Other Western countries have a lot to answer for, but America has the most at this point in history.
Anyway, it really spoke to me, that book I listed above. I want to buy it.
Christians do not help others out enough. We talk about but we just don't have the time or the resources to do it, and we make excuses etc. Well, I want to do more.
I don't think we need to preach all the time at people either. We just need to help them out! In this cold world, getting anything for free is a miracle. So I would like to work more miracles like that. No strings attached.

Goma-kun says, 'YEAH! DO IT!'
Well, heck! Who can argue with that face? x3

More manga posts!

Oh I forgot! My favourite manga are Ranma 1/2 and Slam Dunk and Strawberry Marshmallow .

I have read most of each of these three, and am trying to collect them too. I like Ryoga from Ranma (although I like everyone), Sakuragi and Mitsui and Megane the vice-captain of Shohoku (forgot his name...I'm sorry!) from Slam Dunk (actually I like everyone...) and from Strawberry Marshmallow I think I like Chika and Nobue best, but I like them all also.

The truth is, in the best manga, I think you wind up liking nearly everyone because they are all interesting and help to bring out the best in each other.

Oh yeah! Fruits Basket ! I read it all. (Haha onigiri reminded me)

I give it 6 *out of 7, because her art style changed too much for me in the end. I felt they all looked too much alike at times also. I need characters to have more clearly defined looks. But I really liked this manga because of how in the end it all started to be ok. One other problem was the cliqued character of Honda. She was annoying. I don't care if she was wonderful, she was just a bit too irritating and weak and also a perfect cook and cleaner. Obviously a stereotypical manga heroine. But somehow the writer's attempts with Honda made it too much, I don't know how to put it but somehow Honda being a yamato nadeshiko didn't work. She didn't need to be quite as people-pleasing as she was made to be. But I guess that could have been her main flaw, since most of the manga focused on how people help each other to sort out their main flaws and become better. I know Yuki seemed to want to help Honda grow past her need to please. So did Kyo. Anyway, aside from that, it was great, I really liked it. At times it was amazingly raw and effective in a way that only manga can be.

Um, favourite characters: Kyo... Kyo... always Kyo... and then Momiji (who was amazingly cool despite his being serious lolicon/fetish fuel!) and then the ox, Haru. My fave couple would have to be Yuki's brother and his cosplaying maid/gf, Mine. She's a crack up! Btw, in case I seem to hate Honda, I don't at all. Actually she is my favourite girl. She is terribly likeable even if she is annoying. That is a common feeling within the manga often.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon : A classic, wonderful, loved it all. 6 out of 7 * because it could occasionally be confusing at times and the art was hard to follow sometimes too. Manga much better than the anime. Although the anime improved each season. Btw fave seasons of SM anime, season 3 and 4. S and Super S, and I loved the short Nehelenia arc of Sailor Stars. Stars was ok but season one and two weren't that good imho. The manga now, that was really good. I love Takeuchi's dynamic, flowing art style and her dialogue is good too. I felt if she could have done it again and developed more of the characters and maybe put in some more feel-good stories it would be amazing but hey a classic can't be changed, right?

Fave characters: Actually I love all of the senshi but the first 5 will always be the best. Usagi, Rei, Ami, Minako and Makoto. If I have to choose I would say in the manga I like Makoto best, I think. Then Rei. In the anime, I would say I like Ami-chan and Hotaru-chan. My fave villain is Nehelenia-sama in the anime, and in the manga, I guess... Queen Beryl and Prince Diamond. Can't decide.

I also read Code Name Wa Sailor V (also by Naoko Takeuchi) and I liked it a lot but the end sucked. I know it was like a pilot for Sailor Moon kind of but I felt so sad... I liked Kaitou Ace! Bring him back!!!!

Btw, Ranma's Rumiko Takahashi got me onto manga and anime, so I thank her for that. She and Naoko Takeuchi (Sailor Moon) are the two main inspirations that I will always go back to. They have their own distinct styles that are clearly inspired by others and yet remain their own. Third for inspiring me comes CLAMP. Dude... they are awesome!

I read Card Captor Sakura and I loved it so will give it 6 out of 7 * (I have never given a 7 yet) because I loveds the art and characters and storyline but I did not like the subtle adult themes. Teacher and child in love, and boy and boy (is Yuki kun a boy?) in love. I object to that kind of thing in a child's manga. But perhaps Card Captor Sakura is not for children, after all. I know CLAMP like subversion but in this case, it was too odd. I managed to ignore most of it though. It is still my favourite CLAMP series after MKR.
Favourite characters: Yuki/Yue and Kero and also Spinel (amazingly funny with Kero) and also Sakura herself. I liked her brother and her dad and her classmates - ok I loved everyone, ok? Except for Ruby Moon and I wasn't too fond of Eriol sometimes. He was kind of funny though. But I guess yeah, Sakura and her guardians were my main faves. Also I loved the anime and want to buy it soon.

While I remember, my fave CLAMP manga which I am trying hard to collect (there are only 6 volumes in all but they are hard to get here) is Magic Knight Rayearth. I love all of the MKR characters and the art is amazing. I loved the story even though it is bittersweet. The anime was ok... but manga is better! Favourites: I like Hikaru and Fuu best, then Umi. I also liked Guru Clef and of course Mokona! I was so happy to see many familiar CLAMP faces in XXXholic and Tsubasa. So wonderful to see old friends again, in a slightly diff art style but still the same in personality. They may have diff jobs but that's not why we love them.
Princess Emeraude and Zagato were such a nice couple. Wonderful contrast. Um but apart from them , my fave couple is Fuu and Ferio. He is so sweet and Fuu is probably the person I look the most like out of any character in any manga so far. I also like green.
Oh, rating... 6 out of 7* because I disliked the ending of the first series. Although it was still great... maybe they get ******* after all... Oh man, I also loved how they named people and places after Japanese cars. Alcyone, Cephiro, Lantis, etc LOL!!! One more thing about this, I just have to say that Princess Emeraude was the first princess I ever saw that has stuck in my mind as a real princess. I do not know why. But she is my model for a princess.

Read X/1999 : v good but too many adult themes and too depressing. Fell in love with Seishiro, and Kamui. Aside from themes, art was great. Probably because it reminded me of MKR. Started to get me depressed so had to leave it. Too dark for me. But still loved it...*sigh* Give it **** out of 7. Wonderful. Also read some of Angelic Layer, liked it but a bit dull, obvious CLAMP humour and characters, so became a weak attempt at re-creating the Card Captor Sakura phenomenon to me. Same idea, simple heroine with catchphrase (Sakura: Hoeee! Misaki: Eeekks! (not sure of Japanese for that).) who tries her best despite being ordinary. Becomes amazing etc, has eccentric friends blah blah blah. Somehow lacked zing. Good idea about the battling dolls though (probably been done before -). I give it a **** out of 7 for good art and sometimes funny jokes. End of CLAMP section.

I read some of Battle Angel Alita , gave it a *** out of 7 because too violent and crude and also somewhat pointless and unoriginal writing.
I loved Alita and the artwork though. I loved the little robot cat in the latter part of the manga. One-eyed little box-cat, so CUTTTEEE!!!! Anyway, haven't read all of it but don't want to. Loved Alita so much, the art is brilliant.
Amazing, wonderful, so easy to follow most of the time even in the battle scenes (of which there are many) which is hard to say for some manga. That's the only reason it gets a mention. Character design was very good at worst. And that is a lot to say about it. :) Wish he'd do a cleaner, simpler less violent story. I don't mind violence. I just get tired of it when it seems pointless or just another type of fan-service (which it often seems like it is to me).

There is a cute one-shot manga I just read online called 'Kanojo ga Cafe ni Kayou Wake' (also known as 'Great Waiters', or 'Kafe Impian', apparently). I really like the characters, as each of the five stories is about a different person (except one) and even though it's clique and cheesy, you can't help but wait anxiously for the happy ending.
I think my favourite story is the one about Aren and Hisako, the second story. It's sweet. But my favourite person in all of them would have to be both the owner of the cafe and Kuma-san. They are both endearing in different ways. I just hope Kuma-san stays looking like a bear!!!! >_<
I just read a one-shot called Caramel Milk Tea, I think it was. It was a mediocre story but I liked their obsession with tea. So I did enjoy it. I would give it a 50% out of 100 simply because of the tea.

Man, I have to stop! Ok, ok I will. But if I think of any more manga I have read, I will post it later.

Brains and Technology = Unhealthy if overused.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=1&src=tptw
Quotes:
'...understanding how attention works could help in the treatment of a host of maladies, like attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia and depression. And he says that on a day-to-day basis, too much digital stimulation can “take people who would be functioning O.K. and put them in a range where they’re not psychologically healthy.”'

It's funny, but people don't have to go out at all, they can sometimes work from home, and they can get goods and food delivered to their door. Other people go to and fro from work and home and that's it. They don't have to go anywhere else, they can watch movies online. They can buy anything online. You don't have to leave your property most of the time which scares me. You can talk to your friends online too. Some churches also have sermons online which you can stream, sometimes live.

'The believers are Mr. Strayer and Paul Atchley, 40, a professor at the University of Kansas who studies teenagers’ compulsive use of cellphones. They argue that heavy technology use can inhibit deep thought and cause anxiety, and that getting out into nature can help. They take pains in their own lives to regularly log off.'

'The study indicates that learning centers in the brain become taxed when asked to process information, even during the relatively passive experience of taking in an urban setting. By extension, some scientists believe heavy multitasking fatigues the brain, draining it of the ability to focus.'

I totally agree. It hurts my back and head and my brain feels tired and drawn after spending too much time on the computer or my gaming console. Also when I was studying for my degree, I couldn't sleep well if I worked too hard. I got a lot of A's but also felt really stressed. At one point couldn't think well and got stomach cramps. Once I got so confused and tired I had to actually take like a week off from study. I still went to class but I had to stop studying in my spare time.
I do feel oddly uneasy without my cellphone on me, despite the fact that I didn't get one till I was about 20. I'm only 29 now and yet those 9 years have seen me have my cell with me almost every day. I only text two or three times a day on average which is almost nothing at all. Yet I use my phone's clock and calculator and my calendar. Without my phone and computer, I would feel adrift and apart from others even though I can go through my day with only seeing or actually talking to my 3 flatmates (and even then, it's just 'Hi, how was your day.' and that's about it).

Well, this article was really good. Please read it.

Oh my gosh Ligers!

A private zoo in Taiwan has become the island's first to breed "ligers" - a hybrid of a lion and a tigress - but officials seized the cubs and said they may fine the owner.
The three liger cubs were born on Sunday at the World Snake King Education Farm, but one of them died almost immediately.
The zoo said the pregnancy of the tigress had come as a surprise as the pair had shared a cage for more than six years without incident.
Crosses between a lioness and male tiger, called a tiglon, can also occur.



So cute! I really like this Tiglon picture.

http://news.msn.co.nz/glance/7946249/zoo-fined-for-breeding-ligers

Japan and child abuse?

Japan's child abuse reaches record high
August 05, 2010|By YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Writer

2010-08-05 02:48:00 PDT Tokyo, , Japan — (08-05) 02:48 PDT TOKYO, Japan (AP) --

Child abuse cases in Japan have risen to a record high, according to police data released Thursday, fanning concerns about safeguards in a society long known for strong family values.

Japan has boasted a reputation as a relatively crime-free nation, and has a culture that prides itself on pampering, even spoiling, children.

But recent high-profile cases of child abuse have shattered that image, and have unveiled communities that have grown impersonal and uncaring for the plight of children.

Drawing widespread attention were media reports last month of a woman who was arrested after abandoning her two children, age 3 and 1, in her apartment without food or water until they died.

Neighbors said they heard the children crying hysterically, but nobody did anything about it.

During the first six months of this year, there were reports of 187 children who were victims of abuse, mostly physical abuse but some sexual, the highest since such records began to be compiled in 2000, the National Police Agency said. The cases resulted in 18 deaths, and 199 people were arrested, it said.

In another disturbing sign, the police report also found child pornography on the rise, with cases surging 63 percent from a year earlier to 599 cases in the first half of the year. About half the cases involved the Internet.

Such data strike a contrast to the stereotype of traditional Japanese culture that values family ties and neighborhood networking.

Masami Kimura, a lawyer who has been working to prevent child abuse, said the main change is that more people are now reporting abuse. He believes beatings in the name of discipline and other abuse have been common in Japan for decades.

"We talk to parents who hit their children, and they tell us that was the way they were brought up," he said. "But the idea that children have human rights is now gradually gaining ground."

Kimura and other welfare officials say people trained to handle child abuse are scarce in Japan, facilities to shelter abused children are packed, and legal systems to monitor and counsel families need strengthening.

"Japan has long had the belief that the law should not intervene in family affairs," he said. "But children, the weakest people in the family, are getting abused."

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-08-05/world/22206118_1_child-abuse-national-police-agency-japan

Manga

At the moment I'm watching season one of Pokemon (US) and also reading rather a lot of manga simultaneously.
Manga I have read recently: (CAUTION: SPOILERS!)

Ouran High School Host Club (unfinished) Rating: ****** out of 7 stars. Love the characters, don't like the short stories not connected to the Host Club. Otherwise, love it. I also liked how the main characters are slowly changing for the better. Some stories, the people never seem to change or worse, their quirks become exaggerated to the point of the ridiculous.
My faves are Haruhi and Suoh. But I like all of them, except I guess the twins are too abrasive for me at times.

Death Note (finished) Rating: **** out of 7 stars. Dull after a while. Not enough brilliance shown by Light despite great promise shown at first. Predictable ending. However L was delightful and his end was a shock.

Koukou Debut (not finished yet) Rating: *** so far. Cliques abound and the artwork is sometimes just not good enough. But still enjoyable for the minor characters e.g. Fumi-kun. Man, I would marry him...

XXXholic (unfinished) Rating: ***** out of 7 stars. Loved it but it scared the heck outta me at times. I am interested in Youkai so this manga intrigued me. I also love CLAMP. It is hard to predict what will happen although with the customers usually if you assume that the worst will happen, you're mostly right. I think I really like the minor characters in this one, the pipe fox spirit and the kitsune cart family and the usagi pipe cleaner merchant. I also liked the rain spirit girl. I didn't give this one a higher rating simply because I get scared or melancholy at some of the stories. Also, I do not understand the morality of some of the characters because I am not Japanese and I am a Christian. But on the other hand I am learning some things from this manga.

Bleach (unfinished) Rating: **** out of 7 stars. A bit dull, reminds me of DBZ. I wish they'd do more with the minor characters but to be fair, the writer is really good at bringing in new people as he goes along. So a minor character can become important later. Maybe he is over-reaching himself? I do like it despite it's fan service and bad language. I tell you what, I miss Kon. I have a toy of Kon, that my friend got me from Hong Kong. Kon is the best! Despite his stereotypical personality. I guess my faves are... you know what? I like most of the captains and most of Ichigo's friends, and his family. I like most of them but I will say I have a soft spot for Renji, Urahara, Yoruichi and also for Ulquiorra and Grimmjow. Argh I love Orihime as well! Ok fine, I also like Uryuu. Enough listing of who is awesome from Bleach, since I like almost everyone.

Naruto (unfinished) Rating: ***** out of 7 stars. Really good art and character development. Not read enough of it to see if I like it but still v good. I have seen most of the anime and enjoyed it.

Kirakira Hikare (finished) Rating: ***** out of 7 stars. Liked it a lot, so much that I read it again. Too short and a bit clique but a really charming little one-shot. The art is also charming. I like the main character although she really is a clique.

Sketchbook (unfinished) Rating: **** out of 7 stars. I like it but it is hard to understand at times, being so random. Also I don't like their stereotype of the foreigner. It was going for a whimsical feel but came off more as pointless and odd at times. I will try to finish it but it still seems like there are too many volumes.
I dislike the main character. She is beyond spacey. I do like most of the other characters in the art club though.

Azumanga Daioh (unfinished) Rating: ****** out of 7 stars. Probably my highest rating yet! I loved the anime (I own it) and this manga is very good. I love all of the characters, even Kimura-sensei. Haha! And Tadakichi-san is still charming, even when I can't hear him woof.

School Rumble (unfinished) Do not really like, might not bother with. Rating: *** out of 7 simply for the clearly defined art style. Don't like anyone in it much, not endearing or original.

I can't remember the titles of the rest, will post some other time I suppose.
:)

Rain

Well today, I was walking in the rain and I decided that I hate rain. Yesterday I got soaked and cold. It is never romantic. Especially when the wind blows my flimsy umbrella inside out AGAIN (Or I stupidly give my umbrella to my friend and assure that person I will be fine...Chivalry! It's dangerous!).
Anyway, so I was walking in the rain and it was merrily pattering away on my umbrella driving me mad with the irritating sound and the cars were zooming past and hissing in the water on the road, and then - it all stopped. No cars went past at that moment (about 5 beats/seconds) and I was under a tree.
I realised I like rain when it is not accompanied by these annoying sounds. So rain is not too bad. I still prefer it to rain only when I am inside and don't want to go out, or to rain when the country is in drought. But rain ain't so bad! It quietly and relentlessly falls on the earth and if it wasn't for cars and plastic surfaces, rain would always sound nice.
And that is my rant for this minute.
I'd say my rant for today, but I think that I might post other stuff later.
Oh yeah also go here for some really good manga - mostly shoujo.
www.anymanga.com

Satan's Business Meeting - thanks to my sister -

Satan's Meeting

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.
In his opening address he said,
"We can't keep Christians from going to church.
We can't keep them from reading their Bibles
and knowing the truth.
We can't even keep them from
forming an intimate relationship with their saviour.
Once they gain that connection with Jesus,
our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches;
let them have their covered dish dinners,
but steal their time, so they don't have time
to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ."

"This is what I want you to do", said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour
and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life
and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours
and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week,
10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children.
As their families fragment, soon, their homes
will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds
so that they cannot hear that still, small voice.
Entice them to play the radio
or cassette player whenever they drive.
To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly
in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant
in the world plays non-biblical music constantly.
This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers.
Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day.
Invade their driving moments with billboards.
Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogues,
sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional
offering free products, services and false hopes."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV
so their husbands will believe that
outward beauty is what's important,
and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives.
Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night.
Give them headaches too!
If they don't give their husbands the love
they need, they will begin to look elsewhere.
That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from
teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas.
Give them an Easter bunny
so they won't talk about his resurrection
and power over sin and death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive.
Have them return from their recreation exhausted.
Keep them too busy to go out in nature
and reflect on God's creation.
Send them to amusement parks, sporting events,
plays, concerts, and movies instead.
Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship,
involve them in gossip and small talk so
that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes
they have no time to seek power from Jesus.
Soon they will be working in their own strength,
sacrificing their health and family
for the good of the cause.
It will work! It will work!"

It was quite a plan!
The demons went eagerly to their assignments
causing Christians everywhere to get
more busy and more rushed,
going here and there.
Having little time for their God
or their families.
Having no time to tell others
about the power of Jesus to change lives.
I guess the question is,
has the devil been successful at his scheme?

You be the judge! Does "busy" mean:
B-eing
U-nder
S-atan's
Y-oke?

A view of Heaven - thanks to my friend Diana -

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble... At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.
When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up. 'The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree..

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Musical Interlude...not really.

When I was younger, I made up a poem.
'Music flows through my veins,
and when I walk, it plays.'

BUT!
Even I was startled into discomfort when I heard an American girl say something like; 'Some people have religion, I have music. Some people pray, I turn on the radio.' And another person, a young man I think, said something like; 'If I didn't have music, I would die. I would just die.'
I think these were quotes on the end of a recent 30 Seconds to Mars music video (good band, a bit rebellious teenager-ish but still nice).
It creeped me out... and I felt sorry for them. But at the same time, I almost understand how they feel because I love music so much that I would have to say it is almost like food for me.
Not the same as food, but almost. Music is what I 'eat' when I am bored or lonely or just on the computer. It is good noise to fill space when I am alone at home or lonely.
Music affects my moods often strongly so I have to carefully monitor (and limit) what I listen to. Sometimes it seems to be too much as if it is clogging my ears with too much sound (I don't mean too loud, I just mean too much sound somehow, like a music overload) and sometimes I just don't want music. But usually, yes, I dance to it, listen, sing, and enjoy it very much.
Many songs bring back memories of my childhood or teen years or a person who introduced me to a particular band or song.
I think ever since music became more accessible for everyday people, it has fulfilled these roles for many, many people all over the world.
So yes, thank you for music, Lord. We love it. It was a good day when it was invented.
^_^

Misericordia

I just had to post this because it is so much in my field/s of interest.
A misericordia (latin) was a thin dagger used in the Middle Ages by knights (and presumably others) to deal a death or 'mercy' blow to fallen opponents. Misericordia means 'mercy'. The word is used to means other things besides this but I was interested in this meaning alone. All I see here is the word 'misery', not 'mercy' at all. However I am pleased with the idea of a mercy weapon.
I read of this dagger in my book on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
So interesting! I would want one myself, if I were a knight. It would also be useful when out foraging for food in times of war or when hunting. Anyway, that is all.
Must insert cute picture...

Caption: 'I don't need misericordia!'
Haha double meaning... Anyway I'm very sorry for that lame caption. Please forgive me. I prefer to apologise rather than simply refrain from lameness, which would no doubt save trouble in the long run. But could I live with myself? Perhaps not.

Favourite book of the Bible.

Well, my friend posted on his blog what his favourite book of the Bible is. This reminded me that I may have done that already - but if so I will just do it again. I want to do it to!
So, my fave in the NT is Hebrews. Then I guess I like James. These two books really help clear up questions that I have.
In the OT my fave is Amos - and also Micah. I like Isaiah and Jeremiah too. Oh, and Ezekiel! You know what? All of the Prophets are great.
I love the (sometimes raw) imagery they use and their themes of justice and purity of worship.
But I suppose if I have to pick an actual, single favourite, then I choose Psalms. I enjoy Psalms because so many of them seem to be the outcry of my own heart, and yet they were written (aprox) 2000 years before I was born.
As for the Apocryphal books, I think so far I like Judith. It makes me feel as if justice can be done for women after all. I haven't read all of them yet though.

Inception and fave villains

I really liked the film Inception. I enjoy Christopher Nolan films. At least, I have only seen two that I know of, but yes, they both impressed me, especially the Dark Knight. It stayed with me for a long time after watching it.
I think I want to watch Inception once more to make sure I understand it. I like the actor who played the character having the idea planted in his head. He was also in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, playing the Scarecrow. Man, I tell you what, the Scarecrow has always frightened me and is my worst Batman or comic villain so far. The Joker comes a close second. I guess my third least favourite/most feared villain would be Apocalypse (sp?) from X Men. He is just too powerful and so vicious.
Speaking of villains, I would say my favourite villain ever would have to be Darth Vader. My second is Magneto. My third would be Catwoman, I suppose. But I do like villains who have been good but turn bad (face-heel turn) or bad guys who turn good (heel-face turn).
I shall have to think hard and make a list of my favourite top ten villains and heroes.
I'll get back to you.
I will have to make sure they are not all cartoon or anime characters, hehe.

Un-used Words

You may have to go ‘wurfing’ to find out the meaning of ‘polkadodge’ if a colleague casually dropped the wordf into a ‘nonversation’.
But this gobbledygook is an example of millions of ‘non words’ which failed to make the dictionary and lie unused in a secret vault owned by the Oxford University Press.
‘Wurfing’ means surfing the internet at work, while ‘polkadodge’ describes the strange little dance two passing people do when they try to avoid each other but move in the same direction, and ‘nonversation’ denotes a pointless chat.
These words were recently submitted for use in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) but will remain dormant unless they enter common parlance in the future.

Graphic designer Luke Ngakane, 22, uncovered hundreds of ‘non words’ as part of a project for Kingston University, London.
He said: ”I was fascinated when I read that the Oxford University Press has a vault where all their failed words, which didn’t make the dictionary, are kept.
”This storeroom contains millions of words and some of them date back hundreds of years.
”It’s a very hush, hush vault and I really struggled to find out information about it because it is so secretive.
”But when I spoke to them they were happy to confirm its existence and although I didn’t actually get to see the room they did send me some examples..."

All of these words have been submitted to the Oxford University Press for inclusion in the OED but were judged to be ”unsuitable”.
They now lie in a vault in Oxford alongside millions of other unused words which are written on 6in by 4in cards and stored alphabetically in 50 huge filing cabinets.
Some of these words date back to before 1918, when Lord of The Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien was editor of the OED, but newer ‘non words’ are digitised.
Fiona McPherson, senior editor of the OED’s new words group, denied the words are ”rejects” and said they have every chance of being printed in the future.
She said: ”They are words which we haven’t yet put in. I don’t like calling them reject words because we will revisit them at some point and they may well go in.
”They are not yet considered suitable for the dictionary because there’s not enough evidence that people are using them.
”If a word does come to our attention we can come to this room and check if it’s here. A lot of times people say these words but they are not written down or published.
”We read newspapers or novels and have readers who read through them looking for new examples of existing words or completely new ones.
”We also get people writing in telling us about new words, which is useful. The thing with the OED is anything that goes in never comes out.”

DICTIONARY OF NON WORDS;
Accordionated – being able to drive and refold a road map at the same time
Asphinxiation – being sick to death of unanswerable puzzles or riddles
Blogish – a variety of english that uses a large number of initialisms, frequently used on blogs
Dringle – the watermark left on wood caused by a glass of liquid.
Dunandunate – the overuse of a word or phrase that has recently been added to your own vocabulary
Earworm – a catchy tune that frequently gets stuck in your head
Espacular – something especially spectacular
Freegan – someone who rejects consumerism, usually by eating discarded food
Fumb – your large toe
Furgle – to feel in a pocket or bag for a small object such as a coin or key
Glocalization – running a business according to both local and global considerations
Griefer – someone who spends their online time harassing others
Headset jockey – a telephone call center worker
Lexpionage – the sleuthing of words and phrases
Locavor – a person who tries to eat only locally grown or produced food
Museum head – feeling mentally exhausted and no longer able to take in information; Usually following a trip to a museum
Nonversation – a worthless conversation, wherein nothing is explained or otherwise Elaborated upon
Nudenda – an unhidden agenda
Oninate – to overwhelm with post-dining breath
Optotoxical – a look that could kill, normally from a parent or spouse
Parrotise – a haven for exotic birds especially green ones
Peppier – a waiter whose sole job is to offer diners ground pepper, usually from a large pepper mill
Percuperate – to prepare for the possibility of being ill
Pharming – the practice of creating a dummy website for phishing data
Polkadodge – the dance that occurs when two people attempt to pass each other but move in the same direction
Pregreening – to creep forwards while waiting for a red light to change
Quackmire – the muddy edges of a duck pond
Scrax – the waxy coating that is scratched off an instant lottery ticket
Smushables – items that must be pack at the top of a bag to avoid being squashed
Spatulate – removing cake mixture from the side of a bowl with a spatula
Sprog – to go faster then a jog but slower then a sprint
Sprummer – when summer and spring time can’t decide which is to come first, usually hot one day then cold the next
Stealth-geek – someone who hides their nerdy interests while maintaining a normal outward appearance
Vidiot – someone who is inept at the act of programming video recording equipment
Whinese – a term for the language spoken by children on lengthy trips
Wibble – the trembling of the lower lip just shy of actually crying
Wurfing – the act of surfing the Internet while at work
Wikism – a piece of information that claims to be true but is wildly inaccurate
Xenolexica – a grave confusion when faced with with unusual words.
http://swns.com/millions-of-non-words-discovered-in-secret-vault-041432.html