Holy damn! Halfway through March already? My birthday just days away? Wow. Probably the most concentrated, contested and colorful week so far this year! But first, before I forget, don’t forget to vote for my “Angry Momo” fanart entry at Angry Mimi’s Peachy Blog — First Round and Final Round, lol. Vote! Do it! Do it now! Secondly, my Trendy Toyboxers, welcome to another five-course meal of humming-and-sizzling images and dozens of ruminating-and-illuminating leaps on art, anime and life. What else? This week, we dart around angry young mascots, peek backwards at scantily-clad police-girls and hot-wired cyberpunks, rewind across motorized birthday gifts, and hopscotch through a haphazard maze of random sandwiches, felines, smog tests, supermarkets, dentists, girl scouts, spanked maids, double laptops, and MP3 players! So what are you waiting for? Let’s pump up the volume and begin the show…
Category Archives: Computers
Blog 192 > Slingers, Angles & Angry Lolis
Oh man, my left eye is feeling much better, but I’m still feeling a bit worn down {sigh}. If you’ve been following my daily updates below, you know what I mean. And fast-forwarding with Daylight Saving Time doesn’t help, lol. But no worries. The show must go on! This week, we punch through a new batch of fiery female-slinging anime dramas, a coincidentally-named Mimi-friendly appearance, even more coincidental foosball-flinging ninja angles, some flame-throwing loli-against-loli anti-Mimi anger, as well as a touch of triangular blog-enhancing shenanigans! What? Only 30 images? Damn, this is gonna be a pretty tiny mega-post, haha. But who cares? Just let our five-piece predicament flow through your optic nerves and penetrate your otaku-enhanced brain. Ready? Okay, 3, 2, 1, let’s go…
Blog 191 > Otaku Antics & Sankaku Kicks
What? Wait, is it time already? How’s your day, my Trusty Toyboxers? That bad? LOL, well, as I start to frantically assemble this text, my 57 images are all set up, but I have no clue how to tie these random strings all together! Not yet, lol. Yeah, it’s been a freakishly busy week. A hectic week of head-scratchingly random albums, low-strung departmental coworker parties, scantily-clad figure-photoshoot possibilities, mouth-droppingly shocking otaku-blog battles, and mind-raging otaku-fan clubs! Hehe, yeah, 57 images, a pretty small mega-post, haha. But we’ll manage, won’t we? So enough of the eye-irritating introduction! Let’s grab some well-buttered popcorn, sit back, and enjoy this week’s spellbinding five-act show…
Blog 189 > Hearts, Ninjas & Toyboxers
Hey, Maria, what’s up? Whoa, really? Oh crap, wait, not another fabricated message, lol. Oh well, while the returning French-Japanese adult-video idol Maria Ozawa never sent me any stunning bright-eyed cheer, a guy can dream, can’t he? But if you’re wondering, my fellow Toyboxers, nope, this isn’t a “Palpatine’s Day” or “Anti-Palpatine’s Day” weekend post. Not really. Not officially, lol. Ehh, who cares? How was yours anyway? Oops, before you answer, get your twisted mind ready for yet another five-layered mega-post! This week, we leap through spiraling blog battles-and-rules, sneak under indestructible foosball ninjas, skip past random girl-shaped drama-and-gothica, peek at heart-breaking high-school girls, and slide down slippery ring-burnt relationships. Nothing dangerous, of course, lol. So are you ready? Now on with the show…
Blog 186 > Sevens, Heavens & Harems
Wow, Maria, thanx! Sadly, this is a fabricated message, lol. Japanese AV idol Maria Ozawa never sent me any congratulations of any kind. Dammit, lol. However, according to the mathematically approximate yet amusingly curious WebsiteOutlook.com, my site-and-blog’s estimated worth has leapt from $5861.90 to $7774.50 USD in a mere 3 weeks. Just as page hits and views and loads can be quite illuminating, my site worth (or lack thereof) must largely fall in the hands of my passing visitors and long-time readers. Humble thanks. Arigato gozaimasu. Muchas gracias. And may Maria watch over us. Hehe, anime joke. But on top of adult-video starlets and saintly anime, this blog week burns through itchy skin, drives through mystical fog, and hops through harems of women, lol. So on that nonsensical note, let’s begin the show…
Blog 185 > Wikis & Evangelion Gothlolis
Dammit! Seems like my posts are taking longer and longer to assemble, lol. But no worries. It’s worth it. Including this week. Not only do we dive into the wretched world of Wikis, Wikipedia and Wookieepedia, we also float along a WordPress upgrade, and wade through a massive photoshoot of Evangelion Gothlolis, both red-haired and blue-haired. Did I mention Danny Choo too? Yup, no doubt, it’s a three-headed mega-post. But you know why? Ahh, to celebrate something else… My final figure. Interested?
Blog 183 > Colors of Rage, Peace & Flesh
Heyyy, Happy Twenty-Oh-Nine! And for those of you in the Eastern Orthodox world who celebrate Christmas on January 7th, especially Anna in Ukraine or Lena in Russia, I haven’t forgotten you, hehe. “Merry Christmas!” To help celebrate, here’s an eye-grabbing “Snow White” photo (above) by Russian photographer and long-time LiveJournal buddy, Lena Chernaya. Plus some more titillating chaos about random shirts, bloggy values, and the comedy of hate, lol.
Blog 182 > Year of Anime, Rock & Otaku
Ah, what a year it’s been! For my last mega-post of 2008, I tackle another mixed bag of “Rock Band” sessions, a year’s truckload of anime speed-reviews and faves, and a sparkly sprinkle of otaku thanks and wishes. So happy holidays and all the rest. Now on with the show…
Blog 180 > Snowball’s Chance – Teaser
What the frak? Blizzard in Vegas? Bakana! Like I mentioned on Puppy-Chun’s blog, I believed it snowed in Vegas only *one day* in the last *three years*! Until today. At least six hours of non-stickable snow, followed by another six hours of stickable snow. Accumulation of up to eight inches deep. The worst Vegas snowstorm in years, if not decades! Damn, after slipping and sliding on the slow-ass highway drive home, I was lucky it took only an hour, lol. More pics coming soon…
By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask this. With all the different blog types, how do you prefer to get notifications? Some blogs feature a subscribe-able follow-up email notification with new comments, others don’t. Of course, there’s also the option to subscribe to a blog’s comments via an RSS reader. But RSS comments can get annoying if the blog gets too many daily comments to follow. Then there’s Meimi132‘s clever method of commenting back, not on her own blog, but on her commenter’s blog. Yet it can be tough to string together a discussion without duplicating them on one’s own blog, lol. Or do you just use the *brute force* approach of going through all of your favorite blogs on a regular basis? So what do you do? Which do you prefer?
Like I said, more pics coming soon…
Blog 179 > Death of Mice & Expression
What? The title? Yeah, I know, pretty strange if not cryptic title. That’s what happens at 4am in the morning, haha. But don’t worry, it’ll all make sense in the end. Mice. Bamboo. Wood. Apples. Dragons. Moons. Water. Yeah, it’ll all make sense. I hope. Good luck, lol.
Blog 178 > Blog Antics & Anime Battles
Holy crap! I’ve got so much crap to talk about that I may not fit in any anime crap, lol. But I’ll try. From old layouts to new readers, from post updates to blog widgets, from shiny iMacs to blazing Zazzles, and maybe some random tunes too. But what else? Anime mascots? Seems like every anime blog is caving in with their own new mascot~ not only Mimi, but Koshiko, Dancing Queen and the latest Meimi132 too~ inspired by DC no doubt, lol. Fortunately, I haven’t succumbed to peer pressure… yet, lol. But we’ll see.
Blog 177 > Mimi’s Zazzle & iMac’s Dazzle
Oooh, a new post… Ahhh, the lazy rainy-to-sunny holidays… Awww, thanx again Mimi-chan for your gracious mention of our Zazzle T-shirts. Like I commented on your post, 50% of the proceeds will be donated to your college fund~ because MIT is freakin’ expensive! Moreover, thanx to Lindsay@Zazzle for modelling our virtual T-shirt image~ doesn’t she make the shirt look smexy?
Blog 159 > Saber-Hectic September
Yeah, another grinding week in the real world. Office-chained client-work for IBM continues to be grueling. I continue to endure burn-out mode while my blood-shot eyes (including my supernatural left eye, lol) approach boil-out mode. Yet despite it all, I manage to limp along with anime and web design as my crutches, lol. So, in no particular order, a few highlights over the last couple weeks…
Blog 152 > Afro Samurai Attack!
Finally! A little late, but who cares? Some 18-19 months after its original broadcast, I’ve finally finished my 25th anime title of the year: “Afro Samurai”. Stylishly violent and almost-romantically post-apocalyptic, this 5-episode gem paints quite a refreshingly retro-futuristic view of hell-on-earth, life-long revenge, and inexplicable survival. Haha, Samuel L. Jackson voices the titular lead as well as his babbling sidekick, and why not? A bad-ass playing a bad-ass. Nuff sed, lol. Despite the brevity of the miniseries, the revealing flashbacks cast a shadowy depth to a seemingly simplistic quest. Quite impressive. Four of five stars. Can’t wait for the second season!
Now that that’s outta the way, time for some red-eyed ranting, lol.
Blog 150 > Colonel Panic!
Yeah-yeah, I know I’m cheating, lol. But Danny’s post “Kernel Panic” is another gem. Besides, if Danny can hijack my posts, then maybe I can hijack his? No? Meanwhile my comment was as follows. LOL.
The BSOD is pretty rare on my 2-year-old Dell/XP laptop. But forget about that~ Wouldn’t it make a *great* anime name? Colonel Panic! Colonel Panic! Where’s Lieutenant Distress? ^_~
Blog 148 > Lelouch Commands You
“Jump complete!” Well, after a Saturday of exporting XML data from my old WordPress 2.0 “Toybox”, installing the latest WordPress 2.6 “Toybox”, duplicating the template, importing the XML into the new template, then a Sunday of (category, link and post) cleanup, I’ve finally upgraded to the newest version of WordPress.org! So hopefully, this blog will feel a little less glitchy and a little bit quicker. ^_^;
Blog 141 > My Toybox Blog Layout
Hi, in the same spirit as Danny’s newest blog changes, I’ve decided to update the layout of my *Toybox* blog. Essentially, I’ve reorganized the center column: (1) moving my favorite blogs and sites to the top, (2) inserting the “Daily Updates” from my website to help fill in the gaps between less-frequent posts, and (3) lifting the more-lively “Danny Choo” posts above the lengthy “Category List”. That’s about it! Plus, it’s a good time to take a snapshot of my blog, more than a year after its rebirth, lol.
P.S. Okay, after a morning of packing more magazines and books (arghhh), gotta get back to drawing “Blade 1” (Day 2) for fighter Christine Toledo (Blog 136). My first commissioned anime-art project! ^_^;
Blog 094 > Ghost in the Figure!
Konnichiwa! For this massive 92-shot photoshoot, we step away from our Gothic Lolita Girls, and welcome the 1/7-scale “Purple Motoko” and approx-1/10-scale “Blue Tachikoma” figures released earlier this year!
Sculpted by Tuyoshi Takahashi, manufactured by a Vice & Alter collaboration, and released in January-February 2007, this faithful 1/7-scale PVC rendition of Motoko — from the long-running cyberpunk epic series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex — portrays her standing coolly and calmly in her gray combat suit with a black pistol hanging loosely from her gloved hand. Just as the Major should be, lol… Meanwhile, manufactured by Art Storm, and released in May 2007, this excellent approx-1/10-scale Soft Vinyl version of the blue Tachikoma — also from the same Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series — depicts the bubbly Artificially Intelligent spider-like mini-tank in a joint-poseable bright blue armor. Just as slick as its animated counterpart!
For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 117 shots, then narrowed it down to these 92 shots. While I used Photoshop to clean up an annoying dust particle which reappeared in Motoko’s hair for many of the shots, no color or lighting adjustments were made. Now, without further delay, enjoy the photoshoot!
P.S. Internet Explorer has now officially pissed me off. If Firefox can handle 90-100 images (4-10 MB total) per page without breaking, then why can’t IE? For instance, (1) both IE6 and IE7 erratically interprets pure black (#000000) in these images as transparent pixels, which results in white dots popping up through these holes (even if I change the [img] background color to black!), and (2) when using [div] tags, IE also fails to display the [div] content as the total number of images approaches 100. Ridiculous. So from this point onward, I can no longer promise my support of IE. Sorry.
Otakurl it! >>
My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (92) >>
Blog 092 > Otaku or Not Otaku?
A few days ago, my close friend Vanessa and I entered into an intriguing (almost heated) discussion regarding dating, relationships, and eventually my anime blog, particularly my figure photoshoots! In a nutshell, she was notably concerned about how my figure photos — typically of scantily-clad anime girls — would look to the random or casual blog visitor (especially a Westerner) not familiar with anime and its unique influence in Japanese mainstream culture. While they carry artistic value, she noted that the photoshoots could still be mis-interpreted as “creepy” or “perverted”. Fortunately, she knows me well, and understands that this is a common Western stereotype of anime fans (or otaku). But I admit, she does makes a good point that most visitors don’t know me so well, especially if they might include potential employers or recruiters or yes, even a new non-otaku girlfriend!
Needless to say, I value Vanessa’s opinion very highly. I can still enjoy anime, experiment with anime photoshoots, and blog about it, but I can do so without plastering and magnifying those images throughout my entire website. Consequently, over the last couple days, I’ve reworked my website in several ways. (1) I’ve restricted my anime header images to only a few specific anime sections. (2) I’ve moved the full photoshoots away from my blog posts and into these anime sections, behind a low-level anime login. (3) I’ve also set this anime login to protect any blog access from my website (i.e. front door), while keeping the direct blog address open (i.e. back door). (4) Similarly, I’ve also moved more-sensitive non-anime pages behind a friends-level login.
By implementing these changes, I hope to accommodate not only my otaku friends and acquaintances, but also my non-otaku friends (like Vanessa) who may feel awkward or afraid of forwarding my website to their own friends, and lastly, the random non-otaku stranger who may be a potential new friend. For a non-Japanese citizen residing outside of Japan, does this social sensitivity make me any less of an otaku? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I guess it depends on whether an otaku is supposed to possess any social graces to begin with, haha!
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