Category Archives: Experiments

Blog 158 > Deconstructing Danny – Part 3

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“You will know… when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack… No, no, there is no why. Nothing more will I teach you today. Clear your mind of questions.”
~ Master Yoda, Star Wars Episode V.

Previously in Part 2 [Link]

  • Mish [waves]: Hi Katt!
  • Katt [waves back]: Hey Mish! Wow, I like the red!
  • Mish [touches her hair]: Thanks. Just had it done. Hi Takeshi.
  • Tack: Hey Michelle. Looks really good!
  • Mish [smiles]: Thanks… So what’s so funny? I could hear u guys all the way from the library.
  • K: Haha, it’s nothing. Just some stupid guy talk.
  • Mish: U sure?
  • K: Yeah, we’re sure.
  • T: We’re stupid. Can’t u tell?
  • Mish: U guys aren’t stupid. Just “otaku”.
  • K [shocked]: Hey! When did u learn to use that word?
  • Mish: What? Otaku? U guys taught me that just the other day!
  • K and T [look at each other]: …
  • T [turns to Mish]: Really?
  • Mish: U forgot already?
  • T: Ahhh, wait… Oh yeah! The mall!
  • K: Hmmm, that’s right.
  • Mish: Yeah! U know, sometimes I think u two are hopeless.
  • K: Yeah.
  • T: Well, u just missed Jimi. She practically yelled at us.
  • Mish: Hehe, but Jimi’s too cute.
  • K: If u say so.
  • Mish: Anyway… I meant to ask u, since you’re the experts.
  • K: Sure. Go ahead.
  • Mish: Do u know where I can find some cute cat-ears?
  • K and T [look at each other]: …
  • K and T [together]: Hahaha!
  • Mish [confused]: What? What’s so funny?

Part 3

  • Tack [laughs]: Haha, so u haven’t seen Jimi yet?
  • Mish: Ummm, nooo. Why? What? She isn’t wearing cat-ears around campus, is she?
  • Katt [smiles]: Yup, u got it!
  • Mish: Nooo wayyy! You’re joking, right?
  • T: Would we joke?
  • Mish [thinks]: But now that I think about it, it definitely fits her. Hopping down the hall. Skipping up the steps…
  • T: Scratching our eyes out.
  • K: Haha, no question. Unfortunately…
  • Mish: Unfortunately?
  • K [turns, winks at T]: You’re right. We were joking.
  • Mish: What!?!
  • T [nods at K, turns to Mish]: Haha, yeah, you’re such an easy target!
  • Mish [smacks K’s shoulder]: I can’t believe u guys. Really, I can’t believe u.
  • T [laughs]: What? Didn’t u just say we were hopeless?
  • Mish: I was just being polite.
  • K: Haha, polite? How is that being polite?
  • T: Hahaha!
  • Mish [looks down]: Forget it. I’ll ask somebody else.
  • K: Hey wait, wait.
  • T: Come on, Mish, we’re just teasing. So why do ya need cat-ears?
    Continue reading →

Blog 156 > Deconstructing Danny – Part 2

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“But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.”
~ Master Yoda, Star Wars Episode V.

Previously in Part 1 [Link]

  • Jimi [points]: I think you’re both wrong.
  • Katt [surprised]: Oh shit! Where’d u come from?
  • Jimi: Huh? I was sitting right there. U just didn’t realize it. As usual.
  • K: Yeah, whatever.
  • Jimi: Hmmm, wasn’t Tack here a second ago?
  • Tack [runs back, blushes]: I’m here! I’m here! Hey Jimi.
  • Jimi: Hey Tack.
  • K [annoyed]: Christ, are u cosplaying again?
  • Jimi [sighs]: Why do guys always ask me that? Just because I’m wearing cat-ears doesn’t mean I’m cosplaying. I just couldn’t find my other hair-band, okay?
  • K: And the mini-skirt?
  • Jimi: So now I can’t wear a mini-skirt? It’s the only thing that matched my outfit. Jeez!
  • T [blushes]: I think it’s cute.
  • Jimi: Thank u, Tack. I think so too.
  • K: Wait a second.
  • T and Jimi: What?
  • K: You said we’re “both wrong”? How’s that?
  • T: Both wrong about what?
  • K: She said we’re both wrong about Danny. Right?
  • Jimi: Exactly.
  • T: What? How can we be BOTH wrong?
  • Jimi: Because I’m right.
  • K and T [look at each other]: Huh? Explanation please?

Part 2

  • Jimi [sighs]: You guys were talking about popularity and enjoyment and sensitivity…
  • Tack: What’s wrong with…
  • Katt [shrugs]: Yeah, so?
  • J [sits]: Oh god, u guys sound like old ladies. Did u exchange apple-pie recipes too?
  • K and T: …
  • Jimi: Reality is much darker than that.
  • K: You’re wearing cat-ears and you’re gonna talk to us about reality?
  • T: Hahaha, good one.
  • Jimi: Who else? Because like every other guy, you’re too distracted, or too stupid, to figure it out. Playing with your little dolls. Lifting up their little skirts. And peeking at their little panties. Awww, how cute.
  • K [annoyed]: Christ, here she goes again.
  • T [blushes]: They’re called figures…
  • Jimi [ignores them]: But since you’re not as stupid as other guys, I’ll tell u anyway. Because u…
  • Jimi and K [at the same time]: …don’t have a choice.
  • K: Yeah, we got it, we got it. Are u gonna tell us?
    Continue reading →

Blog 154 > Starting From Scratch

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Yeah! After Puppy-Chun’s blog post triggered my long-time Amazon wish, I finally received my silver “Wacom Bamboo Fun” tablet on Thursday (21 Aug 2008), lol. Then with the artsy addition of Orange-Mimi’s blog post, I started playing around with the tablet on Friday. Unfortunately, my digital efforts were so pathetic, they weren’t even worth saving. T_T;

Hence, after years of using my trackball mouse, I finally came to the realization that *before* I could pursue experiments on the tablet, I needed to re-acquire at least *some* of my lost pencilling skills. So what did I do? I started from scratch. Doodling. Sketching. Practicing. With pen on paper. With a bit more focus than I’ve had in years. Not much, but a bit more. As u can see (at the bottom), I’ve got a long way to go…

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Blog 153 > Deconstructing Danny – Part 1

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“I’m taking an awful risk, Vader. This had better work.”
~ Governor Tarkin, Star Wars Episode IV.

Part 1

  • Tack [smiling]: Hey Katt! What’s up?
  • Katt [lazily]: Hey, not much…
  • T: What’s wrong? U sound bummed…
  • K: I just visited DannyChoo.com this morning. He had another figure post…
  • T: Sounds cool!
  • K: …mixed with some of his inspirational wisdom again.
  • T [confused]: What’s wrong with that? U like those, don’t u?
  • K [nods]: Yeah, I do. Usually I do. But something bugged me this time…
  • T: Oh, really?
  • K: Yeah…
  • T: What’s that?
  • K: Well, u know that Cosby quote that Danny always likes to reference?
  • T: Oh yeah, something like “…the secret to failure is trying to please everybody.” Yeah?
  • K [nods]: Yeah… Actually, it’s pretty similar to that Lincoln quote “… can’t please all of the people all of the time”, yada yada.
  • T: Hey, that’s true! So what about it?
  • K: Well, I got to thinking about it… If Danny isn’t trying to please everybody, why does he keep on floating his polls and requests for opinions, et cetera. Isn’t he trying to please everyone?
  • T [laughs]: No way! Come on, Katt! Wait, you’re talking about his new portal design, right? He’s definitely not doing that.
  • K: Are u sure?
  • T [nods]: Yeah! He’s just trying to design the best experience for regular and potentially-regular visitors. But not ALL his visitors.
  • K: Huh? Potentially regular?
  • T: Sure! Why would Danny want to keep new readers who didn’t like figures or anime?
  • K: Yeah, that makes sense.
  • T: Not only that, if he wanted to please ALL his readers, he’d design his site for IE6, IE5, IE4… But that would be stupid.
  • K [nods]: Yeah… Or he could just be lazy, and not make the time to be backward-compatible.
  • T: Hahaha, good one. I guess that makes us ALL lazy, hahaha.
  • K [laughs]: Hahaha, yeah… I dunno.
  • T: What?
  • K: It still bugs me.
  • T: Really?
    Continue reading →

Blog 148 > Lelouch Commands You

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“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. ^_^;

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Blog 144 > Operation Woodstock

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Hey all, pretty big news!… After 6 long uncertain months (since Feb 2008), 2 different agents (Toni then Angie), and over $100K drop in value (from $360K down to $249K), I finally emailed Angie the Realtor my decision to *NOT* sell the house after all. And guess what? When she called, she was laughing because *THAT* was what she wanted to hear! She couldn’t or didn’t want to tell me that, because she wanted it to come from me, my own decision. Can you believe that? Although she lost a client, she hasn’t lost a friend… or a possible blind date for one of her girl friends, haha. ^_^;

Here’s the email I sent her on Friday (July 25th).

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Blog 135 > SOS Danny – A Wikipedia Tale

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For the humble readers of DannyChoo.com, I’ve got a short-lived (March 2nd to April 9th) tale which I’d forgotten to tell till now… Several months back on March 2nd, I was writing a blog entry quoting Danny, and wanted to reference him without citing his blog. Instinctively, I searched Wikipedia. But nothing. No Danny Choo. So what did I do? I decided to create an entry for him.

From that point on, 95% of the credit goes to *DOSGuy* (thanx dude!) for developing the Danny Choo article to its fullest. However, despite attempts to reinforce the entry over its several-week history, the article was speedily deleted on April 9th for failing to meet the guidelines of “notability”. Which, I admit, is understandable. Self-advertised popularity doesn’t necessarily equal encyclopedic noteworthiness (and vice-versa).

Luckily and incredibly, *DOSGuy* saved a copy of the article and still hosts it under his user page here.

So months later, the question remains: Do we have anything to add to the article that might make it good enough (notable enough) for resubmission? Should we care about Wikipedia or “notability”? After all, if indeed we have something, we can still edit it. In other words, S.O.S. = Save Our Stormtrooper Danny. ^_^;

P.S. Thanx *Chun*, I hope I can borrow your “seal of shock”. ^_^;

Blog 127 > Vinyl-Inspired Wackiness

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Vinyl bowls?… Yup, once more, just one day (Feb 10th) after her gun photoshoot in Blog 126 (Feb 9th), Lisa appears in yet another impromptu photoshoot! This time, she’s in my kitchen, heating old vinyl records in the oven to mold them into funky-looking bowls for gifts… Not only that, thanx to Lena and her amazing night-club photos, I was inspired to attempt my own HDR (high-dynamic range) photo-editing experiments… What do you think? Enjoy the rest of the vinyl-inspired wackiness, lol.

P.S. Yeah, I know, it’s been ages since my last anime-oriented entry. Unfortunately, more life-important work-editing, friend-helping and house-hunting activities have shifted my priorities around into a routine 5 hours of sleep per night… But hopefully, I can cram a figure photoshoot sooner than later. ^_^;

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Blog 093 > Fateful Circumstances Revisited

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I don’t know if this has ever been done before — creating a video by setting a figure photoshoot to music — but in any case, here’s my first one. Ever since my original Blog 044 > Fateful Circumstances anime-figure photoshoot (47 shots taken in March 2007) featuring Yukino & Arima (from Kare Kano) and Saber (from Fate/Stay Night), I’ve had this intriguing idea in my head, of somehow composing a slideshow and setting it to music. After a preliminary 3-photo test, plus a few hours composing this one, I think the video actually turned out pretty well for an experiment! Enjoy the show!

Original Photoshoot >>
Original Full-Size Video > 856×480 WMV >>

Blog 092 > Otaku or Not Otaku?

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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!

Click for December 2006 Photoshoot >>

Blog 070 > Past & Future Circumstances!

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Hey folks! If you don’t already know, I follow the otaku blog DannyChoo.com. Not blindly, lol, and not only for otaku news, but also for inspiration. And inspiration smacked me yesterday with Danny’s post on fan art of his mascot Mirai Suenaga. I’ve had several lingering ideas over the last months — okay, maybe just one idea, lol — but I was always too lazy to execute. Well, this time, I was fired up. The idea: Take the amazing and classic His & Her Circumstances (Kare Kano) image of Yukino and Arima dancing in the high-school hallway (seen here), and fuse it with Mirai. But how? Who would be her partner?

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Blog 049 > End of the Blox

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Well, folks, after only a month, I’ve decided to end my “xJAYMANx_weblox” blog (at Blogger.com). My experiments over the past week helped me decide to stick with just two blogs: (1) my heavily-customized (and soon website-integrated) “xJAYMANx_toybox” for public posts on anime, web design, other hobby-related activities, as well as life in general, and (2) my long-time “xJAYMANx” LJ for duplicated “toybox” posts, plus more friends-only posts. That’s about it! Blogger lived out its experimental purpose. Maybe something else will come along, but for now, these two primary blogs should serve me well.