xJAYMANx_toybox > Never forget how to play... » Foosball http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx Never forget how to play... Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:06:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Blog 218 > Endless Jumong, Autumn & Me http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/11/15/blog-218-endless-jumong-autumn-me/ http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/11/15/blog-218-endless-jumong-autumn-me/#comments Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:15:35 +0000 xjaymanx http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/?p=4407

Konnichiwa minna-san! Greetings, my Tingling, Trembling and Tumbling Toyboxers! Well, enough of the pompous pleasantries. Let’s get to the point. Are you ready? Ready to withstand another soul-smashing tsunami of spellbinding anime, American sci-fi, Hong Kong classics, Japanese comedies, and Korean epics? Ready to digest rock bands, canine menaces, cute costumes, and mouth-watering waves of food-food-food? Ready to battle an unimaginably monstrous mega-cast equaling fifty or more mere-mortal posts? Not yet? Then please leave the battlefield, hehe. But if you are, better polish your psychological shield and sharpen your cultural sword! Prepare to engage! On with the show!


From Autumn to Halloween

Ah, yes, from Autumn to Halloween, let’s navigate through the next 18 days of September and 31 days of October. Alas, a 49-day odyssey through overstated subtlety and understated ecstasy. Abandon hope all ye who enter here!

13 September 2009
Sunday. Somehow, got up 730am. While doing the laundry, worked on Blog 217. Chat too, lol. Napped 1230-230. More chat, lol. Replied to blog comments. Then back to work on blog. Tread w “True Blood” 5/xx. Even more chat, blog, etc.

14 September 2009
Monday. Home. “Ouran” 1/26 (finally started it). LOL, boy is a girl! Opposite of “Maria+Holic”, hehe. Finally installed the magenta ink I received today. Gahhh, when I uncapped it, it splattered! Damn! Luckily, the lemon degreaser I used on my foos table was able to clean the ink from the carpet and my skin. Gah. Tread w “True Blood” 6/xx. Worked on Blog 217 again. While I chatted till 1030pm, lol.

15 September 2009
Tuesday. For lunch, decided on “Burger King” in the Outlet Center food court. Oops, we parked at the wrong end, so we walked-talked across the mall, hehe. But it was fun! Home. “Ouran” 2/26. Near tears! Already? So soon in the series? Tread w “True Blood” 7/xx. Worked on Blog 217. Then sketched a cute little doodle based on our discussion, hehe. More blog work till 11pm.

 

 

 

16 September 2009
Wednesday. Hehe, decided to wear my pink shirt w black striped tie. Why not? Left at my usual 4pm. “Ouran” 3/26, lol. Later, 8:30pm chat. Then skipped my tread-run to finish Blog 217! Hey! Finally done! At 10:45! But we continued to chat till midnight.

17 September 2009
Thursday. Heyyy, visited Kris-chan’s “Bento Bako Weekly“, lol. Left 4pm. Home. Heyyy, Guiness is back! “Gundam Wing” 21/49 w dinner. Napped 6-7pm w Guin, aww. Hmm, Lois’s Facebook comments; offended by my Blog 217 statement about “one girl’s pain, is another’s panic, is another’s pleasure”? Later, tread w “True Blood” 8/xx (still too slow). Then 10pm chat. Till 11pm, hehe.

18 September 2009
Friday. Then after her meeting, 12:30 lunch at TGIF! Mmm, Jack Daniels appetizer sampler and mozzarella sticks! Vanilla cheesecake plus free vanilla ice cream! Haha, photos too, lol. Otsukaresamadeshita! I said it right! Asked her to “Kabuki”? Nahhh, we were still too full from TGIF. And tired, lol. Hugs. Ah, home. Guiness! “Gundam Wing” 22/49. Napped 6-8pm? Tread w “True Blood” 9/xx. WTF? Sam the dog? Dumb. Revealed too late in the series. Should’ve happened in the first few episodes. Forget it. Forget the show. Chat 10pm-130am! Happy Birthday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19 September 2009
Saturday. Wow, got outta bed 10am! Then as usual, let Guiness outside into the backyard. Sunny! “Gundam Wing” 23-24-25/49 (finished [36] first-half of season; 4 of 5 stars!). Ah, groceries! Through her influence, bought tons of fruits (apples: 3 granny smiths, 3 fujis, 3 braeburns; group of 7 bananas, 7 peaches or nectarines) and veggies (celery and lettuce), not to mention, generic low-sodium vegetable juice, lol. Right after that, decided to get a car wash, finally. Napped 3-5pm? Chat, lol. Then 6pm dinner. Since “True Blood” failed, tread w “Trinity Blood” 1/24? (again). Yup, stopped the “True Blood” crap, lol. But wait, after browsing through my Amazon lists with DivX players, decided to check my DivX player. Heyyy, the “Jumong” SRT subs work on my newer (exercise-room) player! Nice. Thank you Amazon! More chat. Till 1am, hehe.

 

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995) [36] and [40]. As of 19 Sept, my 36th anime title-or-season of the year. First half of 49-episode series, 4 of 5 stars. As of 13 Nov, completed the second half of the series, my 40th anime title-or-season of the year, 3 of 5 stars. Overall 3 of 5 stars.

 

 

 

 

20 September 2009
Sunday. Whoa, up 730am! Finally applied Soft Scrub Bleach to the shower tiles. For breakfast, had an apple, banana, pecan spinwheel and yogurt, lol. Did more soft-scrubbing to the shower. Then with her hard-drive situation in my mind, decided to back-up my iMac’s Windows XP files (19GB) to my WP Passport portable USB drive. Followed with some blog comment catch-up. From 1-3pm, watched my Netflix of “In the Mood for Love” (2000) plus extras. Wow, 5 of 5 stars! Maggie and Tony remind me sooo much of her and me! Uncanny! I mean, how did I avoid watching this? Since I already watched “2046″ before, how? After meeting her, must be fate? Later, chat while she was studying at the library. Meanwhile, during our chat, ordered “Battle Angel”, “In the Mood for Love” and its sequel “2046″ on Amazon, lol. Lunch w “Ouran HS Host Club” 4/26. She finally left the library at 7pm. Watched more extras from “Mood for Love”. Then tread w “Jumong” (2006) 1/81 (started, 1st half hour). Later, study/chat, hehe. Till 12 midnight.

 

21 September 2009
Monday. Home. Dinner. Celery and lettuce for salad, along w my leftover roast beef sub. “Ouran HS Host Club” 5/26. Napped 6-820pm? Tread w “Jumong” 1/81 (2nd half). Afterwards, chat 10pm-12midnight, hehe.

22 September 2009
Tuesday. Heyyy, wore my blue shirt and purple-blue-striped tie! So I left around 4:30pm. Well, at home w Guiness, I got her call at about 5:20pm, while she was at the parking lot, lol. Basically, she wanted to tell me in private what happened at her meeting. Wow, awesome! That’s the news she wanted to share w me. Dinner w “Ouran” 6/26. Then later, 6-645, chatted w her while she was in class, lol. Tread w “Jumong” 2/81 (1st half). Ah, bills bills bills. Hehe, another chat 920-11pm.

23 September 2009
Wednesday. Around 4pm, my car engine slowed way down. Light indicator: “Service Engine Soon”. Damn, maybe the air intake duct again? Damn. So took the local roads from work, down Warm Springs, all the way to Gibson, then Henderson Nissan dealership at the Auto Mall. Like before, tightening the air intake duct took a quick 15-minute fix! Wow! Dinner w “Ouran” 7/26. Napped 6-7pm. Then around 7pm, she called! She finished her exam! Congrats! Told her it was nice to hear her voice. Tread w “Jumong” 2/81 (2nd half). Later, chat from 915 to 11pm, hehe.

24 September 2009
Thursday. Happy Birthday, Joel! Yup, last night, sent him an Amazon gift email, lol. During my morning commute, noticed the 630-640am sunset in my rearview mirror, aww. Yup, early to office, 640am! Home. Guiness! “Ouran” 8/26. Chat, during her class, lol. Sorries over my earlier behavior! Meanwhile, I continued work on my web “triDocs”, lol. Tread w “Jumong” 3/81 (1st half). Chat from 9pm-11pm.

25 September 2009
Friday. Came to work early, at 645am. Because I arrived early, left early, at 3:45pm. Home. Guiness! “Ouran” 9/26. Later, chat 530-6pm. Tread w “Jumong” 3/81 (2nd half) from 830-930pm. Chat again till 1030pm. Hmm, did she fall asleep? So after an hour, around 1130pm, I wrote: “Sweet dreams.” Aww.

26 September 2009
Saturday. Up 6am. Because of air intake duct issue earlier this week (Thurs?), took the car to Henderson Nissan. Also decided to do the intermediate maintenance ($331.99, ouch). Waited from 8-10am, but did some web “triDoc” work. Afterwards, groceries ($108), including tons of veggies (2 celery stalks, 2 lettuce heads, 3 tomatoes, bag of carrots, container of grape tomatoes) and fruits (10 nectarines, 10 fuji apples, bag of 12 granny smith apples, bunch of 10 bananas). Whoa, 40+ pieces! Hehe, chat from 11:30-12:30. Whoa, napped from 12:30-3:30. Three hours! “Ouran” 10/26. Then intermittent chat throughout the day, as she studied. Later, 530pm tread w “Jumong” 4/81 (1st) since I was going out soon. Then 7pm, sent a bye-bye hug and signed off chat to take a shower, get changed and head to Coley’s “Beatles Rock Band” party! Wow, 730pm till 130am! Six hours! Not just Coley in his orange Sgt. Pepper’s costume (as John Lennon?), but also Vu, Bliss, Sam, Thomas, Andres, Edward, and of course, the cute Kate! Not to mention a dozen or so of Coley’s Asian students, lol. Funny that we rotated through the Beatles songs at least 2-3 times before we got tired of it about halfway thru the night, enough that Vu switched it back to regular “Rock Band”, haha! No complaints from me! Wow, I probably sang about a couple dozen songs! Including “I Am the Walrus” a couple times w Kate, haha. Not to mention, my favorite grunge tunes like “Man in the Box” (Alice in Chains) and “Alive” (Pearl Jam)! Loved singing “Wonderwall” (Oasis) too, but failed “Jane Says” (Jane’s Addiction), haha. Too high! My throat was scratchy and dying by then! Luckily, at my desperate request, Bliss and Kate saved me on that “Jane Says” song, aww. Vu and Kate left about 1230am, but I finally left 130am. Wow, home by 2. Bed by 230am. Whew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27 September 2009
Sunday. Somehow got up at 730am, lol. After a mere 5 hours of sleep, lol. Grocery shopping. Tons of fruits (10 bananas, 10 nectarines, 10 oversized Fuji apples, bag of 12-13 Granny Smith apples), lol. Laundry day. Called to tell my parents: “Happy 40th Anniversary!” But left the message instead. Oh well, lol. Put together a new Excel spreadsheet and line chart of my various savings and credit account balances. Interesting! Not great, but not as bad as I thought. “Ouran” 11/26 (aww, almost cried) and 12/26. Napped 1230-215pm. Heyyy, opened my last two-pack wrap of Strawberry Frosted Pop Tarts! Wow! While I still have some left at the office, my 3-year Pop Tart phase is drawing to a close! Chat from 230-430pm. Heyyy, Mom and Dad called back! Wished them a Happy Anniversary, talked for a bit. Till 5pm. Later, chatted from 630-8pm. Tread w “Jumong” 4/81 (2nd half). Even more chat, lol. Till midnight. Aww.

28 September 2009
Monday. Heyyy, didn’t wear my elbow pad for the first time in weeks! But then, garage, 7am “Service Engine Soon” again? Headache too. Texted them, asking to pick me up. But they were tied up. In fact, I decided to skip the shuttle and stay anyway, in case it was a quick fix. Which I expected. And which turned out to be the case. Done 830. Work 9am. “Ouran” 13/26. Napped 530-730pm or so. Chat 8-930pm while I uploaded “Rock Band” photos, hehe. Thus no tread.

29 September 2009
Tuesday. Home. Guiness! Texted her: Good grape luck! “Ouran” 14/26. Hey, for easier image-copy-pasting w my web-help project, installed Office Enterprise 2007 on my iMac’s Virtual XP. Also moved files from XP to iMac to make some room for disc burning. Tread w “Jumong” 5/81 (1st). Chat from 930-1030pm.

30 September 2009
Wednesday. Early to work, 645! Chilly for the first time! Got texts from Lisa: She may be picking up Guiness tomorrow night! Home. Guiness! Another huge salad dinner again, mmm, w “Ouran” 15/26. Followed by nap 6-7pm. Tread w “Jumong” 5/81 (2nd). Chat from 845-10pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

01 October 2009
Thursday. Whoa, got to work early, 645am? Then to celebrate Melanie’s b-day, 12 noon lunch at “Kabuki”! Sat in the bright sunny patio, met her friend and Muay Thai fighter Patti, ate colorful sushi “Sunkist” (Patti) and “Firecracker” (Melanie) which made my salmon California rolls look sooo plain, lol. Afterwards, walked two feet away to the “Yogurtland”. I didn’t get anything, but the do-it-yourself process was intriguing! Hehe, took final photos, then about 1:30pm, drove Melanie and myself back to the office. Yup, back to reality. Home. Lisa already at the house to brush and bathe Guiness. Mmm, my 3 Oreo+Cheesecake blizzards! Plus ordered Papa John’s pizza plus Cinnamon Pie! Mmm. Somehow I even took a mini-nap before Lisa inevitably left w Guiness about 7pm. Awww, his last day! Super-brief chat w LovelyDuckie-chan, lol. Tread w “Jumong” 6/81 (1st). Then chat 930-11pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

02 October 2009
Friday. Wore my elbow pad again, bahhh, lol. At 12 noon, lunch at the “Galanga” Thai Eatery. Wow! Tasty Pad Thai and Peanut Curry. Delicious! Finally decided on Outback Steakhouse, since she wanted “quiet and cozy” and hadn’t visited it before. So I suggested it and we got there about 5:30pm, lol. Nice chat. Until the check came. Apparently I lost or misplaced my credit card! I was so flustered! But after calling to ask the “Galanga” place, she calmed me down and reminded me that I used my card to order pizza yesterday! Whew, felt so much better. We finally left 7pm or so. Dropped her off at her car at the office parking lot. Home. The neighbor’s wife found and gave me the foosball score markers for the table, lol. But told her I already bought new ones from Amazon. Then I asked her and her kids to take a look at my cleaned-up foosball table (one kid said “Whoa!”). Later, realized her markers weren’t complete anyway. Oh well. Napped from 7:30-9:30pm. Then we chatted till 10:45pm. Thus no tread. Finally went to bed at midnight or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

03 October 2009
Saturday. Happy Tsukimi (based on an earlier chat), hehe. Up 8am! Somehow felt like searching for “In the Mood for Love” wallpapers and other images. “Ouran” 16/26 (whoa, moved to near tears). Heyyy, a surprise discovery, downloaded “Clone Wars – S2″ episodes 1-2! Grocery time from 11:30am-12:30pm, tons of fruits, veggies, even a couple of Asian DVDs (“Forbidden Kingdom” [2008] and “Memoirs of a Geisha” [2005]), hehe. Chat while having lunch, salad and slices of leftover pizza, hehe. While we chatted throughout the day, each did our respective house-cleaning, lol. I did my laundry, vacuum, washing Guiness’ intensely smelly blanket, the same one knitted by my Mom, lol. Finally moved out the various plastics bins to keep Guiness out! Yup, my anti-Guiness defense walls (around my iMac desk area, and at my bedroom door), haha. Meanwhile, we chatted and chatted all day. Then at around 7:20pm, she decided to call my cell. And we talked and talked. Fortunately, we picked up our Gmail chat at 9pm, lol. And we chatted and chatted all night, as I moved myself and my work laptop from the couch to the kitchen table, back to the couch, then on the floor, lol. Chatted till 12 midnight! Thus no tread.

04 October 2009
Sunday. Hmm, restless sleep. Not really dreaming, but waking and falling back to sleep, thinking about her. Ah, finally found time to replace the ceiling air filter. Dusty! Fiddling and fixed the main light timer. Vacuumed the dust off the exercise-room treadmill and fan. More dusty! Aww, chat during lunch. Napped from 1:30pm-3pm. Heyyy, from 4-5pm, watched my downloaded “Clone Wars – S2″ episodes 1-2 of 22 episodes (?). After that, decided to watch one of the DVDs I bought yesterday, “Forbidden Kingdom” (2008). Not bad for a second viewing! Till 7:30pm. Tread w “Jumong” 6/81 (2nd) and 7/81 (1st) till 9pm. Yup, two half-episodes, but still 1.25 miles treading plus interspersed biking. Aww, followed by chat from 9pm till 11:30pm.

 

05 October 2009
Monday. Based on last night’s chat, wore my blue shirt and blue-purple diag-striped tie, lol. Heyyy, radio station FM 107.9, “The Alternative” began its commercial-free Mondays. Sweet! “Ouran” 17/26 w huge bowl of salad again. Ham shreds and ranch dressing, mmmm. Chat. “Jumong” 7/81 (2nd) and 8/81 (1st) till 9pm! Wow, 2 miles, 360 calories! Even more chat till midnight, lol.

06 October 2009
Tuesday. Left eye was a bit red, runny nose, allergy? Left 4pm, left eye bothering. “Ouran” 18/26. Nap 6-8pm. Chat. Tread w “Jumong” 8/81 (2nd). She went offline 1030 (fell asleep?). Resumed till 11pm. Hmmm, Vacation Mondays? Again?

07 October 2009
Wednesday. Left 4pm, eye bothering. Vons, green and red grapes, lol. “Ouran” 19/26 w huge salad & BBQ meat, lol. Nap 7-8pm? Brief chat. Tread w “Jumong” 9/81 (1st). Eye bothering less. Chat till 11pm?

08 October 2009
Thursday. New clock alarm setting at 4:27am. Still somehow got up 4:30-5am. To work 7am. Left 4pm. She says she won’t be online tonight? “Ouran” 20/26. Overnapped 8-9:45pm. Brief chat before run. Tread w “Jumong” 9/81 (2nd) from 10 to 10:40pm. Then chat after run, 10:40-11:15pm.

09 October 2009
Friday. Second morning of new alarm: 4:27am. Early to work 6:30am! Dark and gloomy! Haha, 5:30-7:30pm Outback (appetizers+soup) dinner again! Afterwards, during drive back, she said she liked my voice (so I sang ABC’s), dropped her off at office parking lot. Nap 8:30-10:15pm (?), overnapped. Emails. Replied. Fallen for her. Tread w “Jumong” 10/81 (1st, 2nd). Two miles, from 11:30 till 1am.

10 October 2009
Saturday. Up 9am or so. Thinking of her all night. Laundry. Small bathroom, soft-scrubbed the tiles. Chat 10:30am (?) till noon. Lunch chat till 12:30pm. Groceries 1:30-2:30pm. More chat till 3:30pm. Nap till 4:30pm. Finally decided, Fettucini cooking! My first time! Boiled water, add salt, pasta, oil, stir for 15 min. Classico Italian Sausage sauce in microwave. Pics. Done 5:30pm! Mmm, ate tasty bowl. We chatted briefly till 6pm. Intermittent connection. Tread w “Jumong” 11/81 (all), 7-8:15pm (?). Two miles, 360 cals. Replied to emails. Chat from 9:30pm-12:15am. Wow.

 

 

 

 

11 October 2009
Sunday. Up 9am or so. 8am? 9am? Brief chat 10:45-11am. Bills! Lunch time. Mmm, fettucini leftovers. Saved some for Monday, hehe. Watched extras for “Forbidden Kingdom” DVD I got last week. Till 2:30pm. Chat 3-4pm. Watched “Battle Angel” anime DVD 4-5pm (finished [37]; 3 of 5 stars). Sentimental (manga) but still lacking. Afterward, 5:30pm, watched “Densha Otoko” (2005) film (from Netflix) w my big chicken salad. LOL, funny, condensed version of series! So I stopped after the first 20 min to save for later download, save it to watch w her. Planned to mail it back to Netflix. Burned “Haruhi – S2″ DVD. Added Amberlin and Butterfly Boucher to my iMac’s iTunes list. Amberlin amazing. Tread w “Jumong” 12/81 (all). Two miles = 360 cals. Random biking = 200 cals. So 360+200=560 plus 280 (another 50%) = 840 cals. Chat 9:45pm till midnight.

 

Battle Angel – OAV (1993) [37]. As of 11 Oct, my 37th anime title-or-season of the year. Two-episode OVA, 3 of 5 stars.

 

12 October 2009
Monday. No radio, no 107.9, instead played one of my burned Amberlin CDs in my car! “Ouran” 21/26. Download of “Densha Otoko” film done! Burned to disc. Mailed out “Densha” Netflix DVD in the morning? Then watched first 20 min again, lol. Browsed, searched Amazon. Ordered new Philips DivX player for living room! Tread w “Jumong” 13/81 (all). Two miles, bike, 350+350 cals. Chat 9-9:40pm.

13 October 2009
Tuesday. Left 4pm. “Ouran” 22/26. Napped 6:30-8pm. Tread w “Jumong” 14/81 (all), bike only, 14.5-15 mph = 700 cals. That night, no chat. Tried something new: Set my bill reminders on Google Calendar. Till 11:30pm.

14 October 2009
Wednesday. What the fuck! On my way from my car to office door, pulled out my keys and realized I lost my key fob! Dammit! Fuck! Not in pockets, not in car. Heyyy, the fob was found a couple hours later! Left 4pm. Vons groceries, got more grapes, 6 lbs! “Ouran” 23/26, big salad w turkey coldcut slices. Set up new DivX player, 7pm. Tread w “Jumong” 15/81 (all). This time, something else new: Decided to lower tread grade/slope to 1.5% (instead of 7.5%), in case I run w her in a couple months. Tread 1.25 miles = 200 cals (instead of 225 cals w 7.5%); bike 25 min = 300 cals. Chat 9-11pm. Added more bill reminders to my Google Calendar.

15 October 2009
Thursday. Home. “Ouran” 24/26. Napped 6:30-8:15pm. Tread w “Jumong” 16/81 (all) at 1.5% slope. Tread 1.25 miles = 200 cals. Bike = 50-60 min = 600-700 cals. Bike 12 cals/min. Chat 10-11pm or so.

16 October 2009
Friday. Early to the office: 6:30am! I left 4:15pm. Long day. Crashed into a nap 6:30-8:30pm. Text, pix, chat till 9pm, lol. Tread+bike w “Jumong” 17/81. Two miles! Tread: 1.5% grade/slope, 2 miles @ 7.5 mph = 17 min = 300 cals = 18 cals/min = 150 cals/mile. Bike: 10 miles = 38 min = 500 cals = 13 cals/min = 50 cals/mile. Total time = 55 min over 75 min period, 9:15-10:30pm. Aww, more chat 11:30pm-1:20am.

17 October 2009
Saturday. Up 9:30-10am. Chat. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 26/49 (starting 2nd half; while 1st half, 25 episodes, was [36]). Added Amberlin tracks to my home laptop iTunes, yeah! Awesome band. Groceries at 1:30pm. Removed my closed Borders credit card account from my list, confusing! Wow, at 2:30pm, after her meeting, she visited my house! We watched the Japanese film “Densha Otoko” (2005) while laying on the floor against the pillows and couch. Ate grapes. Sooo comfortable as she lay her head against my shoulder. Sooo adorable when she napped for a few minutes. Or when she sat up and recognized one of the plazas in Tokyo, lol. Watched it from about 3-4:30pm. She left about 5pm. But after she got home at 5:30pm, we continued to chat a bit online, aww. Salad dinner w “Gundam Wing” 27/49. Journal catch-up. Tread w “Jumong” 18/81, from 8:15-9:30pm. Tread: 300 cals = 2 miles = 17 min. Bike: 470 cals = 10 miles = 35 min. Chat from 9:30-10:40pm. Napped till midnight. Dozed off again. Overnapped till 1am, bah. I think I waiting for my Trend Micro to finish updating?

 

Observation. Having seen both, I still think that the “Densha Otoko” (2005) TV drama starring Misaki Ito is significantly more entertaining and emotional than the “Densha Otoko” (2005) film. Significantly.

 

 

 

18 October 2009
Sunday. Up 9am. Laundry! Extended monitor! Yup, decided to bring my HP desktop monitor to the kitchen table to attach to my Dell laptop, lol. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 28/49. Chat 11-11:45am. Continued chat, hehe. Mmm, big chicken salad lunch 1pm-1:40pm w more “Gundam Wing” 29/49. Chat resumed, lol. Napped about 4:30-5:45pm, during which she sent me a Pocky pic from her iPhone, lol. Brief 7:30pm chat. Tread w “Jumong” 19/81, from about 8-9:45pm. Tread: 2 miles = 300 cals. Bike = 500 cals. Total = 800 plus 50% more cooling-down burn = 1200 cals. Even more chat from 10pm till 12:30am.

 

 

19 October 2009
Monday. Up 5:15am. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 30/49. To the office 730am. Home. Dinner w “Ouran Host Club” 25-26/26 (finished [38]; 5 of 5 stars, aww, touching ending!). Tread w “Jumong” 20/81 (all; bike only) (finished my self-defined “Season 1″), from 7:15-9pm, 735 cals. Chat.

 

Ouran High School Host Club (2006) [38]. As of 19 Oct, my 38th anime title-or-season of the year. Full 26-episode series, 5 of 5 stars!

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 October 2009
Tuesday. Fuck! Woke at 4am the morning because of a god-fucking cramp in my right-leg calf muscle! So instead of 5-5:30am, got up at 4:30am, trying to massage and shake the pain away. Breakfast, shower, dressed, got ready, left 7:45am, arrived 8:15am for our company’s User Conference! UC Day #1. Yup, as greeter and room monitor. Fortunately, my leg ache faded in a few hours. Occasional texts between my cell and her Yahoo IM, hehe. Long but interesting day. Till 5:30pm. Home 6pm. Big salad dinner w “Haruhi – S2″ 2-3/14 (“Endless Eight”) till 7:45pm. Wow-wow, opened my email to see Apple’s brand-new 27-inch iMac! Damn! Worked on journal. No tread, to rest my calf muscle. Wow, watched first 20 min of “BSG – The Plan”! Wow! No chat that night.

 

 

 

 

21 October 2009
Wednesday. Up 5am, dressed up by 6:30am. Breakfast w “Haruhi – S2″ 4-5-6/14 (more “Endless Eight”, lol) till 8am. Then left for the User Conference. UC Day #2. Since I’d be there for only a half-day (half-vacation), actually decided to go with blue shirt (no tie), black slacks, and black blazer w brass buttons. Slick! I mean, both Mary and NaTasha complimented me, hehe. Saw Kelly (from IBM) again, haha. We couldn’t figure out what was so funny during our Training class back in March! Nice to see her again. Stayed from 8:30-11:45am. Then left to pick her up from the office to go to Borders. But first, we visited the Apple Store to see the new 27-inch iMac and wireless touch-mouse, wow. Then walked back to Borders. Finally found an open table. Nice long lunch (with fruits? grapes? plus a couple pastries from the UC, lol). Yup, Apple plus Borders from 12noon-1:30pm. Back home 2pm. Random chat from my Yahoo at home to her Yahoo at work, hehe. Napped 4-4:20pm. More chat till her 5pm class. Dinner w more “Haruhi – S2″ 7-8-9/14 (wow, finally ended “Endless Eight”!). Brief chat. Tread w “Jumong” 21/81 (all; started “Season 2″). Tread: 2 miles = 300 cals. Bike: 500 cals. From 8:45-10pm. Plus peeked at the first 5 minutes of my downloaded “Blood – The Last Vampire” (live action), wow.

22 October 2009
Thursday. Ah, arrived at 7:30am to an empty office building, hehe. Due to the User Conference. Left work 4pm. Dinner w “Gundam Wing” 31/49. Napped 6:30-9pm. Chat till 9:40pm. Tread w “Jumong” 22/81. Tread: 11 min, 1.3 miles, 200 cals. Bike: 45 min, 12 miles, 600 cals. Then chat 11-11:20pm, hehe.

23 October 2009
Friday. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 32/49. Office at 7:30am. Later, Outback w her, 5:30-6:30pm. Mmm, coconut shrimp, French onion soup, salmon! Back home around 7pm. Brief chat. Napped 7:15-9pm. Up a bit. Then napped again 9-11pm, lol. Thus no tread. But some work on typing up journal. Meanwhile, for the past week, still listening to Battlestar Galactica (BSG) soundtracks (since 10/18), Plumb (since 10/18), Amberlin (since 10/17) on all 3 of my iTunes (iMac, home Dell laptop, and work Dell laptop), hehe. Journal-typing till 2:30am. Bed about 3am.

24 October 2009
Saturday. Up 9am. Chat. Breakfast: Bagel, apple and anime. “Gundam Wing” 33/49. Decided to skip Lowe’s (thought of canned air and multiple sockets). Vons groceries (got multiple-socket surge protector). Continued chat 11am-3pm. “Gundam Wing” 34-35/49. Cleared out the numerous blog items in my Google Reader, whew. “Clone Wars – S2″ 3/22(?). Bills bills bills! Tread w “Jumong” 23/81 from 8:30-10pm. Chat till 11pm. Then decided to watch “BSG – The Plan” (4 of 5 stars) from 12-2am! Not perfect but not bad at all! Afterwards, browsed through Amazon for glass L-shaped desks till 3am, lol. Hmm, instead of using the kitchen table (for the past month)?

 

 

 

 

 

 

25 October 2009
Sunday. Up 9:30am or so. Checked Gmail and cleared more from Google Reader. Otaku Dan asked where I’ve been, lol. Chat. “Clone Wars – S2″ 4/22(?). Cooked fettucini! My 2nd time in 3 weekends! From 11:30am-1pm cooking! Ah, saved some pasta for tomorrow’s lunch. Some grapes too, of course. Nice call w the parents. She left about 1:40pm to do her groceries. Meanwhile, did some more Amazon browsing for external hard drives and headsets, hehe. Decided to continue “Haruhi – S2″ 10/14. Chat 5pm till treadmill. Tread w “Jumong” 24/81 (2 miles = 300 cals) from 6:30-8pm. Back to chat, hehe. Till 10:30pm. Hmm, why have I been using my kitchen laptop more often than my iMac?

 

26 October 2009
Monday. Left 7:05am. But halfway to work, realized that I almost forgot my fettucini lunch! So drove back home by 7:25am. Then drove back to work by 7:45am. Gahhh, annoying! Then 11:20am lunch downstairs. Mmm, fettucini w Spicy Tomato & Basil, but I think I like Italian Sausage better. Hehe, while I heated it up, NaTasha was surprised that I cooked it myself. Nah, not the sauce, just the pasta, lol. Left 4:30pm. Dinner w “Haruhi – S2″ 11-12-13/14. Almost done. Then tread w “Jumong” 25/81 (2 miles = 300 cals) till 9:30pm. Brief chat till 9:45pm. Created her “To-Do List” and my “To-Watch List”, lol.

27 October 2009
Tuesday. Breakfast w “Haruhi – S2″ 14/14 (finished [39]; hmm, okay, not bad but failed expectations, 3 of 5 stars). Whew, getting cold! Left 4:15-4:30pm. Wow, freezing outside! Even texted her, lol. Dinner w “Goong” 1/24 (started; not too bad, Kris-chan recommended it). Tread w “Jumong” 26/81 (2 miles = 300 cals). Hmm, laundry my 80′s shirts for Melanie’s Halloween Party? Chat. Sweet. Warm.

 

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009) [39]. As of 27 Oct, my 39th anime title-or-season of the year. Season 2 with 14 episodes, 3 of 5 stars! Can I hit my typical target of 50 anime by the end of the year?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observation. The infamous “Haruhi 2 – Endless Eight” arc. What’s the big deal? When you strip away all the impatient whining and restless ranting of short attention spans, it is incredibly unique. I remember an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” which follows a similar premise, looping through time for 17 days. But with the “Star Trek” episode “Cause and Effect“, you never get the feeling of “endlessness” depicted in this 8-episode “Endless Eight” sequence. Genius? Tragedy? Insanity? Or dare I say, esoteric art? If you’ve seen a favorite film at least 8 times, and have always found something new, then maybe you shouldn’t whine so much, hehe.

28 October 2009
Wednesday. Up 8:30am. Vacation Wednesday! Jaw still sore but okay. Like I said, felt like an over-extended muscle that just needs time to heal. Then 9am chat after I sent a text to her. Around 11am, took out all the house trash! Worked on journal. Needed to catch-up. Hmm, leverage journal for my blog too? Chat. More journal. Lunch w “Goong” 2/24. Still not a great K-drama, but okay. Ahh, Amazon, intriguing DVD binders? She left 4:45pm for her exam. Browsed Amazon for knitted beanies? Ah, ordered the classy-looking leather-ish DVD binders! Since spending $50 to store 150 DVDs in binders is cheaper and more compact than $100-150 of cases to store the same amount! Napped 6-7:30pm. Hehe, her call woke me up. Decided not to tread. Instead, cleared iMac hard-drive space and virtual XP space, burned Asian dramas to DVDs, cleared more XP space by moving these files to iMac space. Ah, she was back 9:45-11pm. Ordered a brown beanie to match my brown jacket and brown moccasin shoes. Plus ordered my 3rd Lasko portable electric heater. Nice.

29 October 2009
Thursday. Happy Birthday, Jeff! Heyyy, found a decent table on my neighbor’s curbside! So why not grab it? I was looking at tables on Amazon anyway, lol. Ah, back to work. Home. Ah, Lisa had already stopped by, took her books and ivory coat. Laundry: olive bed sheets. Dinner w “Goong” 3/24. Halfway through, napped around 7:30-9:30pm. Must’ve finished “Goong” afterwards. No chat. No tread again. But played w my foos stats on Google Docs till 1:11am, lol.

30 October 2009
Friday. Brrr, another cold night and morning. Hmm, should I wear a black outfit for the Halloween office lunch? Matrix style? With my air gun? Nahhh, maybe not. Just blue jeans. Especially when I’m going to be running around and printing. In prep for the office move, extracted my personal 20-inch Dell monitor out of my cube and carried it to my car. Haha, Paul jokefully shouted, “Stop thief!” Noon. Halloween lunch! So I went downstairs to check it out. Pizza! Kids kids kids! I passed out candy. Took photos too, haha. Relaxing after-work chat. Aww. Till 6pm. Home. Cleaned up the curbside table. Moved my laptop and monitor onto it. Chat 8:45-10pm. Done 10:15pm. No tread for the 3rd night straight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31 October 2009
Saturday. Up 5am! Happy Halloween Saturday! Breakfast w “Outlaw Star” 6/26. Readied for Melanie’s math study at Barnes & Noble by Seafood City. Yup, location was my suggestion since I was in the mood for Jollibee Filipino food. Especially if she was paying, hehe. Arrived at Barnes & Noble by 9am. Found Melanie, met Brad. Surprised how much geometry, trigonometry, algebra, calculus, probability and statistics I still retained! (But not matrices, lol.) Impressed Brad too. Dozens of math problems till noon, wow! Most of which I just looked at for a few seconds, before finding a solution or direction! Afterwards, Melanie paid for our Jollibee lunch. Mmm, ChickenJoy, Palabok, Shanghai Rolls (lumpia)! Lunched 12:15-1pm. Including food photos, lol. Then we finally left. Groceries 1:30-2:30pm. Afterwards, checked emails, torrents and Amazon. Browsed for desk chairs? Napped 4-6pm. Chat till 7pm. Salad dinner w “Outlaw Star” 7/26. Brief chat. Then tread w “Jumong” 27/81 (2 miles = 300 cals, bike = 500 cals) from 9-10:30pm. Wrote an email to Kris-chan about 11:30pm. Another chat till 12:30-12:40am. Started filling my new DVD binders (received them yesterday?), plus DVD burning. Till 1:10am. Stayed up till 3am. But due to Daylight Saving, actually 2am, lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Goong to Jumong and Beyond

Ah, this time, from “Goong” (2006) to “Jumong” (2006), let’s weave our way through my week-long email exchange with Kris-chan, author of her “Bento Bako Weekly” column. Why? So we can see how much I was disappointed by “Goong” yet utterly amazed by the epic “Jumong”!

 

 

 

 

 

27 Oct 2009

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: In case you’ve been wanting to buy any of these. They do have Jumong. I just ordered Goong/Palace. ^_^

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Hey, thanx! Actually, it’s a coincidence since I started downloading “Hana Yori Dango” last night. I even peeked at the first 5 minutes of rich kids and limousines, lol. Seems to be very “Ouran Host” like! Hey, I might’ve mentioned I already burned “Jumong” and “Goong” to disc. Oh man, “Jumong” was exactly what I was looking for to continue my “Damo”-style craving for ancient wartime dramas. Awesome, already up to episode 25 out of 81. Makes my nightly treadmill runs sooo much easier, lol.

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Oh, well, I have (most of) it burned, too. But it’s a good show, a fantastic production. And it was on sale. I kind of just wanted to support the distribution company, so they’ll keep licensing that sort of thing over here… By the way, when will you have a column again? I miss them… Speaking of columns, I missed my Girl G33k blog this week, because I ran off to get married. ^_^ I did get a Bento Bako out, though! I made an indirect reference to you, lol. You and your silly Moon Phase.

28 Oct 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Haha, Kris-chan, r u crazy? If I’m supposed to believe u got married, I’m also supposed to believe that u still needed to get your blogs and articles out? What kind of priorities do u have, hahaha. Yeah, Skip Beat is still on my list, but haven’t moved in that torrent direction yet. Though I do have a question: I’m planning to download the Korean “Boys Over Flowers” after I download the Japanese “Hana Yori Dango – Season 2″. Have u compared the two Asian versions yet?… Oh yeah, congratulations! I think… ^_^

P.S. Heyyy, Kris-chan, just finished “Goong” episode 1 last night. A little slow, but not bad… Now I see where “Jumong” got some of its locations and archery scenes from, haha. “Jumong” is way cooler, like “Goong” injected with a shot of “Lord of the Rings”, hehe.

29 Oct 2009

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Heh, well, my Bento Bako post I had been working on for over a month (along with the one going up next week). But yeah, I’ve been really busy with getting that together, and wedding crap, and haven’t been watching much anime lately…so I haven’t had anything to review anyway! I just finished the AIR movie though, so maybe I’ll get that up for next week. ^_^ My priorities are…well…. I mean, the wedding didn’t take much work, since it was really small. And I didn’t work on either website during the days we were gone. I did the Bento Bako post well before hand… I tried some Japanese food for the first time. Turns out I don’t like salted plum rice balls (when they say salted, they mean SALTED). I liked the curry sauce (it was actually kind of sweet in a way), and I LOVED the Tamago (egg omelet). I didn’t eat any sushi (I don’t like fish), but I did eat some veggie Maki-Zushi which was really delicious.

I was talking about the Skip Beat manga, lol, but the anime is good, too. I hope it gets another season. I thought there was going to be a live action from Taiwan but…I haven’t seen anything about it since I saw an announcement about it. I wonder if it was ever made, or if it’s going to be? Because I’m ready to drool over some hot Asians again… And I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about Boys Over Flowers; I haven’t seen the live action, or the anime, or anything. It’s certainly something I plan on getting to eventually, though. Just threw the anime on my Netflix list… Yeah, Goong is a little slow at times. It probably could have run a bit shorter and been OK. But the production value is so high, you tend to forget the pacing… I’ll get to Jumong someday, too. I was just way overwhelmed by the number of seasons and discs there were, so it will have to wait some time, until my Netflix clears up… And thank you! I mean, things don’t really feel any different, because we’ve been together for so long, and have been living together for 4 years or so. But now we can get a tax break. ^_^ How is your autumn of Autumn coming along?

30 Oct 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Happy Halloween!… Ah, no worries! After 5 years together, my ex and I had a small wedding too. In Vegas. Not as small, but small. Did u eat those onigiri correctly? Just teasing, but when I take a bite of rice, I only bite a little bit of the salted umeboshi to balance the rice. Little bit of umeboshi at a time, not all at once. Otherwise, saltiness can be too intense, hehe. Mmm, onigiri. Simple yet tasty. Especially when Autumn-chan makes them. Hmm, if not sushi, have you tried California rolls? Those are just as tasty too. Yeah, up to “Goong” episode 3. Still pretty slow. Especially when the characters are sleepy after their ceremony, lol. Well, I think the production value simply enhances what’s already there. In this case, it might actually enhance the slowness. Just as high production value would enhance the action in a action-based series. This might be bad advice, but if u downloaded or burned the first episode of “Jumong”, just watch the first 15 minutes to get a taste. Can’t hurt. Then u can drop it, continue, or do what u want after that. I won’t bother u again, lol. Ah, Autumn-chan. She’s been swamped by both work and classes, so I’ve been supporting her as much as I can, while trying not to be selfish with her limited time. Which can be frustrating. But understandable. Not just me, she thinks she’s selfish too. Eventually, when her last semester ends, she should be more free and flexible. Otherwise, we chat almost every night. Plus telling her “Osaki ni shitsureishimasu” (I’m finally pronouncing it to her standards) or telling each other “Oyasumi”. Which is always comforting… Haha, hot Asians… ^_^

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Yes, Happy Halloween! Will you be doing anything? I don’t know that we will, but I have a costume anyway, which I can just wear around the house, lol… No, no! I totally only took a little bite of the plum with some rice. I chewed it for a couple of seconds, then spit it out. It was VERY salty. The rice itself was salty too. I’ve had regular plums before, and I liked them. I guess something about the salt and the tartness of the plum just didn’t work for me… Isn’t a California roll sushi? What I basically mean is, I don’t like seafood… Well, I hope Goong doesn’t disappoint you! I’m afraid it will likely remain at that slow pace. It annoyed me on occasion, but it didn’t turn me off. I still really enjoyed it; it’s a lot better than most of the stuff on TV here, at least… Haha, no…I’m afraid to even glimpse at Jumong. If it’s that good, I might abandon everything else and just absorb myself in it, which would be bad, lol. So I’ll wait until I have the time to devote to it.

When Scott and I were first dating, I was still in college. We only saw each other on weekends. I would drive out to see him (we lived about 40 mins away in different cities) after classes on Friday, and stay until Sunday, then go back to school. I don’t think we talked just a whole whole lot during the week, because he worked all day, and I had classes, then homework, and sometimes theatre crap. So I get the being busy thing… What does “Osaki ni shiklajdiohjdisdi” mean? I’ve heard “Oyasumi” …that’s goodnight, right?… And yes, hot Asians! They make everything better. ^_^

31 Oct 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Konnichiwa, Kris-chan! Happy Hallow’s Eve! Still 11pm in Vegas. Nah, too dead tired to do any trick-or-treating. Instead, woke up early to help a software coworker at 9am study for her math exam (her last of several exams, applying to be a teacher when she leaves our company soon). Man, I can’t believe how much trigonometry, geometry, algebra, logarithms, statistics and calculus I still retain from high school Mathletes, AP Calculus and college, haha. Melanie and her friend Brad were shocked at how I could look at a graph, function or equation for 2-3 seconds and guess correctly. Several dozen problems for 3 hours. Flew by. My brain hasn’t been so math-fried in ages, lol. But enough about my math skills…

Maybe it wasn’t the best or typical onigiri? Who knows? Typically, California rolls are made with tasty crab meat. Mmm, unfortunately, I guess you wouldn’t really know. Ahh, seafood. I miss Red Lobster’s salmon and lobster… No worries, I’ll stick with “Goong” for now. While still mixing my Netflix’s of unfinished “Gundam Wing” and “Outlaw Star” along the way. Still treading to “Jumong” episode 27. So while it makes exercising fly by much easier, it never really drowns out all other shows or anime either, lol. I mean, I can ship you a disc copy of the first 12 episodes as an early Christmas present, if you’re willing? Somewhere in Texas, right? Free of charge.

Ah, yes, “oyasumi” is “good night”. A little bit different from “konbanwa” (also “good evening”). While “konbanwa” is more for greeting, “oyasumi (nasai)” is more for departure, like the end of the night, before going home or going to bed. Meanwhile, “osaki ni shitsurei shimasu” (“excuse me for leaving before you”) is typically said when leaving the office earlier than other coworkers. And their reply would be “otsukaresama deshita” (literally “you must be such a tired person!” but translated as “thanks for your hard work!”).

01 Nov 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: P.S. Well, I gave “Goong” another shot w episode 4. While the brotherly intrigue is getting deeper, I think it’s time to switch gears w “Hana Yori Dango” (Japanese version) anyway. Sorry. I’ll come back to it in 3-4 weeks (since “HYD” S1+S2 has 20 episodes plus a film)! ^_^

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Aaaaah! I hate math… I am SO terrible with numbers. It’s funny, because my mother is a math teacher, and my father is all into science (he’s a uh…chemical engineer maybe?), but I’m AWFUL with both subjects. I don’t remember any math from high school or college, and in HS, I went all the way up to AP Calculus, and was taking some Calc in college too (it was a class called uh…business math or something… it was the next one up from Algebra, and I had to take it). Much, much better with books (fortunately my boy is excellent with numbers). ^_^ But that’s awfully nice of you to help your coworker study.

Maybe the onigiri was off. Who knows… Anyway, totally against sea food here. Only fish I eat is tuna fish, out of a can, and mixed with boiled egg, relish, miracle whip, and a touch of mustard. I’ve thought about giving salmon a try, since I hear it’s very good for you. But there’s no way I’d eat it uncooked. Anyway, I had an opportunity to try new food, and I’ve been wanting to try Japanese for a while, so I ordered various things to taste. Scott hates that kind of food, so I can only ever order it in for myself… I’m sad you’re not enjoying Goong like I did. But I can’t deny its slow pacing. Haha, you don’t have to send me any Jumong! I promise I’ll get to it! It’s just that my Netflix currently has 426 DVDs in its queue. I’m going to start the Beserk anime tomorrow morning… By the way, been meaning to say, feel welcome to add me to your Facebook, Netflix, or whatever you’d like.

Oh! I’ve seen “osaki ni shitsurei shimasu” translated in manga and anime. Usually as “I’m leaving first.” It’s one of those funny sayings like “Please take care of me,” when a character visits someone else’s house. Unfortunately they don’t explain those sayings very well, so the cultural aspects sort of pass me by most of the time. I kind of just assume that the Japanese are exceedingly polite (which they do seem to be).

02 Nov 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Thanx Kris-sensei, although I feel bad for Melanie since she didn’t take calculus or probabilities in high school. So she’ll have a really tough time, even if the passing grade is 50% of 50 questions… Ah, as a Filipino, I grew up on seafood. Mmmm. So it’s not a big leap to enjoy Japanese dishes… What?!? Umm, 426 in your Netflix queue? Actually, here’s an idea. In case the 81-episode “Jumong” is too large a main course, what about the earlier Korean TV drama “Damo” as a 14-episode appetizer? Many of the same historical, stylistic and cinematic themes are presented in it. And much quicker to enjoy, hehe. If you enjoy this Korean appetizer, you’ll definitely be ready for the full course, haha.

While I rarely check my Facebook or Netflix pages or friends, there’s nothing stopping you from adding me either. I have an inkling that you’ve already verified the existence of my accounts… Ahh, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of the Japanese culture. For me, after watching anime and Japanese drama on Jap-audio and Eng-subs, almost non-stop since 2006, you can’t help picking up the sayings and holidays and foods. Even the mentality. Both the good and bad. Both admirable and repulsive. Fortunately, it prepared me. As if I was meant to meet Autumn-chan. ^_^

P.S. Would you mind if I reprinted excerpts or entire sections of this email discussion in a future blog post? Anything I shouldn’t mention? That is, if I ever make another blog post, of course.

“Ja ne!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact, due to the overwhelming international success of “Jumong“, not only has Hawaii declared a “Song Il Gook Day”, “Jumong” is aired in Iran with ratings of 70-85%! Unreal. I’ll even make the following recommendation: If you only see one Korean drama in your lifetime, then let that drama be “Jumong”. I mean, if “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy was toned down in special effects, yet stretched out into a day-to-day yet emotionally-wrenching 81-episode epic odyssey, wouldn’t you watch it too?

So my Treasured Toyboxers, did you survive? Did you withstand the soul-smashing tsunami of spellbinding anime, American sci-fi, Hong Kong classics, Japanese comedies, and Korean epics? Did you digest the rock bands, canine menaces, cute costumes, and mouth-watering waves of food-food-food? Did you battle the unimaginably monstrous mega-cast equaling fifty or more mere-mortal posts? You did? Then I applaud your strength and stamina! Likewise, let’s thank the glorious girls who graced our gleaming mega-cast. Thank you, Maggie, Kate, Bliss, Melanie, Patti, Lisa, Alita, Hermes, Misaki Ito, Haruhi Fujioka, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, NaTasha, Haruhi Suzumiya, Song Ji-hyo, Anna Tsuchiya, Kris-chan, Duckie-chan, and of course, the adorable Autumn-chan.

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

 

]]> http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/11/15/blog-218-endless-jumong-autumn-me/feed/ 49 Blog 217 > Despair, Devastation & Delight http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/09/16/blog-217-despair-devastation-delight/ http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/09/16/blog-217-despair-devastation-delight/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:40:03 +0000 xjaymanx http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/?p=4317

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Can you truly distinguish one without the others? After all, one girl’s pain may be another girl’s panic may be another girl’s pleasure, don’t you think? Haha, welcome back, my Traveling Toyboxers! Welcome to yet another deliciously disturbing taste of another marvelously mad mega-cast! A mega-cast of classroom-crashing desperation, triple-pistolled typhoons, purse-lipped pianists, lunar-licking digestion, and hardware-clashing relaxation! What am I talking about? Well, buckle up, pipe down, lean back, and let’s figure it out, lol. Ready? Three, two, one, let’s start the show!


Part 1 of 5 > Despair, Here, There & Everywhere

To fall or *not* to fall into despair? To fire or *not* to fire your weapon? To perform or *not* to perform your music? Those are the questions of the next 3 anime titles. Yup, 3 more anime titles-or-seasons: “Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” [33], “Trigun” [34], and “Nodame Cantabile – Paris” [35]. Yes-yes, for a total of 35 completed anime titles-or-seasons in just about 8 1/2 months so far! Well? What do you think? Despite work, play and live-action films, can I hit my typical target of 50 anime by the end of the year? Ahhh, the despair!

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Season 2, 2008) [33]. Ahhh, yes, the despair! But let’s see, where to begin? Well, about 17 months ago, back in mid-April 2008, I finished the first season of “Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” (2007). And I was utterly blown away! In fact, I gave it a 4 of 5 stars maximum for a half-season. Plus an Honorable Mention for 2008! So from 27 July 2009 to 23 August 2009, when I finally completed “Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” (2008) last month, I couldn’t wait for more! Yup, my 33rd anime title-or-season of the year. Season 2 with 13 episodes. Haha, just as mind-alteringly and mind-frakkingly uproarious as Season 1. Especially with its psychological cocktail of over-analytical despair-torn classmates plus teacher! Whoa, by combining Season 2 with Season 1, the series earns a desperately impressive 5 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, ranging wildly from 1024px-to-5300px resolution across both seasons, here are over 50 wallpapers, vectors, scans and other images to soothe your over-analytical soul, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Ahhh, bask in the air of despair!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So did you fall *in* or fall *out* of despair, huh?

 

Part 2 of 5 > Guns, Dunes & Humanoid Typhoons

To fire or *not* to fire your weapon? That is the next question. Ahhh, the guns!

Trigun (1998) [34]. Ahhh, yes, the guns! Once again, where to begin? Man, I’ve seen and heard about this classic anime for years! Ages! Yet I never got around to watching it. Why? Who knows? Maybe because there always seemed to be other better titles to watch? In any case, from 20 May 2009 to 06 September 2009, with the help of Netflix, I finally completed “Trigun” (1998). Finally, after more than 10 years later! Yup, my 34th anime title-or-season of the year. Original season with 26 episodes. While some of the wandering tales fly as dry as the sand they’re drifting in, there’s a certain mythical gust to the scenes, shots and characters. Even the shadow of tears may have flickered across my eyes toward the final showdown. But in the end, the series earns a decently wind-blown, sand-torn and bullet-bitten 4 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, aiming carelessly from 1500px-to-3400px resolution, here are 10 wallpapers and other images to vent your vengeful heart, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Ahhh, bathe in the hail of bullets!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So did you fight, flee, fall, or fire your weapon, huh?

 

Part 3 of 5 > Pianos, Paris Trips & Pursed Lips

To perform or *not* to perform your music? That is the final question. Ahhh, the pianos!

Nodame Cantabile – Paris (Season 2, 2008) [35]. Ahhh, yes, the pianos! And yes, this will be my third time featuring “Nodame”, hehe. First, my Blog 178 (Dec 2008) when I gave the first season of “Nodame Cantabile” (2007) an extraordinary and unforgettable 5 of 5 stars. Second, my Blog 207 (June 2009) when I gave the live-action drama (2006) a sublime 5 of 5 stars. And third, this Blog 217. Need I say more? Sure, why not? This time, from 26 August 2009 to 08 September 2009, I completed “Nodame Cantabile – Paris” (2008). Yep, my 35th anime title-or-season of the year. Season 2 with 11 episodes. While not as focussed, driven or intense as the first season, it is still an irresistible ride through the romantic-comedic world of classical music. Yet another shining and inspiring 5 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, soaring melodically from 1024px-to-2500px resolution, here are 25 wallpapers, vectors and other images to inspire your orchestral spirit, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Ahhh, soak in the shower of rainbow sounds!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So did you push, pull, pretend or perform your music, huh?

 

Part 4 of 5 > Another Autumn Embrace – August Moons & Noodles

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Which one will it be this time? After falling into “Zetsubou” despair, firing “Trigun” weapons, and performing “Nodame” music, let’s skyrocket beyond the anime atmosphere into the starry embrace of our surrealistic reality. Whatever that means.

Hey, remember my first weekend with Autumn-chan? Back in my Blog 215 > Embrace of an Autumn Night (Aug 2009) mega-cast? Well, on 17 August 2009, the following Monday morning after that weekend, as I let Guiness out into the backyard to do his duty before my getting ready for work, I noticed the prettiest sight in the eastern sky. Not just the morning Moon. But, correct me if I’m wrong, I believe Venus as well! As always, feel free to enlarge the shot.

Another shot. Are the Moon and Venus smiling at my Autumn embrace?

A zoomed shot. Check out the enlarged version.

Another zoomed shot.

Aww, wasn’t that pretty? Then, two Mondays later, on 31 August 2009, or two weeks ago, Autumn-chan and I decided to have lunch at “Jollibee“, lol. Haha, yup, the same Filipino fast-food place that I visited with Vanessa back in my Blog 060 (May 2007), more than 2 years ago! On Opening Day! Crowded! Crazy! But two weeks ago, it wasn’t so crazy. Well, not as crazy as me, lol. I know you want to enlarge the shot of those noodles, right?

Nahhh, not as crazy as me.

Mmm, Pancit Palabok!

Another inexplicable shot taken by Autumn-chan.

Hmm, wondering what she’s aiming at?

Ahh, another painfully posed photo.

Concluding with yet another delightfully deranged Jollibee-eyed composition.

Mmm, I think I’m getting hungry again. Damn Jollibee.

 

Part 5 of 5 > Another Autumn Embrace – September Hardware & Foosball

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Can you predict which one it will be next? After some surrealistic Autumn moons and noodles, let’s catapult across the chaotic chasm into the concrete embrace of materialistic reality. Is it truly real?

Real or not, guess what? The following day after Jollibee, on 01 September 2009, my ex-sister-in-law and ex-roommate Lisa decided to thank me for watching Guiness the Menace all these months since she moved out this past July. Thank me how? Well, with more than a dozen Asian DVDs! Wow, nice! Thanks again, Lisa! But don’t mind the “True Blood – First Season” box set. Yeah, I know it’s not Asian. I just borrowed it from my coworker Mary because she recommended it, lol. Still halfway through it. Not spectacular, but not utterly bad either. So I thought, why not toss in the DVD box set along with the rest of the DVDs? Yeah, why not?

Ah, Satoshi Kon’s “Millennium Actress”! Breath-taking anime film. But haven’t seen Jet Li’s “Red Dragon” or Tony Leung’s “Flowers of Shanghai” yet!

Still haven’t seen the Korean animated film “My Beautiful Girl, Mari” either!

Haha, can’t wait to see the Thai comedy “Iron Ladies” about transvestites, transsexuals and homosexuals! LOL! Or Beat Takeshi’s “Taboo”. Man, so many I haven’t seen yet!

Ahh, here’s the full DVD spread.

Here’s the reverse angle.

Finally, here’s a close-up of one of my favorite Hong Kong female-fighting flicks “So Close”! Delicious spy-girls and cop-chicks! Watched it again just last week, lol.

Haha, makes you wanna grab and enjoy another Asian film, doesn’t it? Well, not just yet. Because the following Saturday, on 05 September 2009, Autumn-chan visited me in another unforgettable installment of my adorable “Autumn Embrace” series, lol. Yup, first my Blog 215 > Embrace of an Autumn Night mega-cast. Then my Blog 216 > Time to Embrace, Rock or Die mega-cast. Now, this Blog 217, including “Operation Laptop Fan”, lol. Essentially, she surgically opened up her main laptop, as I assisted, so we could find the serial number on her malfunctioning boot-stalling fan.

I suggested taking photos to help her remember how to put the bits and pieces back together. Yup, she insisted on taking it apart herself! Again!

Hmm, probably the trickiest part was remembering how the fragile wires snaked around the various curves and crevices.

Even more wires, curves and crevices.

Plus a weird wire with a gooey bit of newly-detached tape.

Finally! The surgically detached laptop fan!

Yet oddly enough, despite the “7701A”, there was no sign of a proper serial number! Gahhh. Oh well.

Ahh, food! After consuming a couple of hours to disassemble, rest, then reassemble her laptop, it was about time for a sushi break in the sunny relaxing front-door breeze. Quite relaxing. Hehe, and yeah, the same sushi party tray of California rolls, surimi, shrimp ebi, and edamame, as last time. Plus baby carrots, a can of Diet Sunkist Orange, and a can of Diet Sunkist Lemonade, lol. Why not?

Yeah, as always, the soy-drenched sushi hit the spot, lol. But to make a long story short, despite the lack of Guiness the Menace and his attention-starved antics, Autumn-chan and I settled back and cuddled against the pillows and cushions to watch, smile and laugh at my embarrassing family videos taken during my East Coast Vacation (Blog 067) in 2007, lol.

Sadly, and all too soon, it was time for her to leave. So to soothe the momentary heartache, I decided to go to the 7pm Rock Band Party of another coworker Michelle’s house. Once again, I sang a ton of rock tunes on “Hard” difficult without any problems, lol. But when Michelle’s friend Nick noticed my elbow support, and listened to its foosball origin, he challenged me to a one-on-one foosball match, while inviting me to his barbecue party set for the next day. Haha, why not? Besides, as the Foosball Ninja (Blog 189), I need an occasional foosball challenge, right?

Fast-forwarding to the next day, on Sunday, 06 September 2009, we find ourselves at Nick and Vicki’s 2pm Barbecue Party! Whoa, so many young pretty people and their alcoholic activities, lol. Not only that, the birthday boy Zack on the far right is the spitting image of Lex Luthor as portrayed by “Smallville” (Blog 209) actor Michael Rosenbaum! Uncanny.

Here we go! Getting ready to make a toast! Hehe, I believe the blonde holding the bottle is Irish-born.

Making the toast to the birthday boy!

Cheers!

A-ha! Nick’s foosball table.

A closer view. Looks just like a Harvard-brand foosball table. Like mine.

A random kitchen view.

Another random kitchen view, lol.

Well, to make another long story short, despite the lack of familiar faces, I was more comfortable playing some fast-flying foosball with Nick, Paul, Zack and Kyle in various two-on-two combinations. While Zack and I won twice as a team, Kyle and I lost twice as a team. But let’s not forget Nick’s original one-on-one challenge! In between the food and beer sessions, I lost the first game by a score of 5-to-10. But later on, despite the tight foosball rods and the sloped corners, I still managed to adjust, defeat Nick on his own table, and win the second game by a score of 10-to-7. Awesome. A worthy opponent indeed. In fact, while I genuinely complimented him, “You’re awesome”, he wasn’t smiling too much when he replied, “You’re not half bad yourself.” Hmmm.

Fast-forwarding once more to the next day, on Monday, 07 September 2009, we find ourselves on the Labor Day Holiday! Yup, on this day, I finally decided to clean my salvaged foosball table. The same old foosball table that my next-door neighbor abandoned on the street curb for garbage pick-up, back on 06 June 2009. Ugh, that solidified soda puddle on the playing surface was the worst! But wow, luckily, the degreasing cleaner I bought slowly-but-steadily dissolved that puddle. So, after 3 months of sitting in the garage, my foosball table has finally been cleaned up. Not perfectly. But decently. All that’s left to do is to cover the bare and torn spots with some new wallpaper, reattach new 10-point score markers on either end, and add 3 shiny new foosballs. Hehe, I can’t wait! For now, here’s my newly-cleaned Harvard-brand foosball table.

A closer view.

An even closer angle.

Zooming back out.

A reverse angle.

A closer reverse angle.

Much closer, lol.

Reversing the reverse angle, lol.

Finally, an on-the-field perspective. Feel free to enlarge the view.

So, from DVDs to laptops to foosball, was it truly real? Which one was it? Was it despair, devastation or delight? Is it time to play foosball yet?

 

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Depth! Descent! Delicacy! Destiny! My Tragic Toyboxers, did you distinguish one from the others? Yeah, right, lol. You didn’t even try, did you? Unless you think one girl’s pain and another girl’s panic and another girl’s pleasure, are all the same thing? Nevertheless, didn’t another deliciously disturbing taste of another marvelously mad mega-cast dissipate into the darkness? Didn’t another mega-cast of classroom-crashing desperation, triple-pistolled typhoons, purse-lipped pianists, lunar-licking digestion, and hardware-clashing relaxation all dissolve into despair? They didn’t? Then I thank you. Just as we should thank the glistening girls who graced our glittering mega-cast. Thank you, the girls of “Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei”, Nodame-chan, Lisa, Mary, Michelle, Vicki, and of course, the adorable Autumn-chan. I still think I’m falling for her…

Can I hit my typical target of 50 anime by the end of the year?

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

 

Final Flashback

To fall or *not* to fall into despair? Ahhh, yes, the despair!

 

]]> http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/09/16/blog-217-despair-devastation-delight/feed/ 37 Blog 200 > Tasty Tales from the Toybox http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/05/04/blog-200-tasty-tales-from-the-toybox/ http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/05/04/blog-200-tasty-tales-from-the-toybox/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 09:10:34 +0000 xjaymanx http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/?p=2646

Awww, Danni, thanx! How have you been? Oops, wait. Oh no, a new fabricated message! Damn, lol. Ah well, although Cherokee-Hawaiian adult-film actress Danni Cole never actually sent me this sunshiny and spectacled cheer, the beach-house fantasy sounds like a perfect summertime anime episode, doesn’t it? Hahaha… Well, my Tumbling Toyboxers, it’s that time of the week again. Another weekly mega-cast to keep the otaku-sensei aghast! So, to celebrate this 200th Blog of the Toybox, we’re gonna take a dive at not only revealing why we blog to express and connect, but also why we choose to Twitter or Toybox. Why? Not only that, we’re gonna take a splash at unraveling why anime can never really be stupid. Why not? On top of those, we’ll trickle under our friendly neighborhood Uzumaki and Minami, trample past a few real-world and random-worded antics, and tumble upon the bottomless fall and bubbling rise of this humble Toybox! Sounds edible? Cool. So let’s turn on the oven and get ready to heat your inner mayhem. It’s time to cook this tasty show…


Part 1 of 5 > Why Blog? Why Tiny Twitter? Why Titanic Toybox?

Before we dive into our first blog topic, let’s welcome Danni Cole (caution: link NSFW) to the Toybox! Hehe, not only did her exotic resemblance to Dutch-Chinese actress Kristin Kreuk stun and strike me, but also her fearlessness in wearing glasses! Brava! And also her birthday on 22 March, just 3 days after mine. Go Pisces! If we can believe the internet too, lol.

Okay-okay, enough about Danni. Do you remember two weeks ago when I featured Otaku Dan’s introspective “Why Do We Blog?” (16 April 2009) post? Coincidentally, Angry Mimi-chan also proposed the same question in her “Why Why Why Do You Blog?” (22 April 2009) post, lol.

To refresh your tumbling memories, here’s my condensed reply to Otaku Dan.

xJAYMANx@Dan-man: Ultimately, I think I came to the decision to go on, not only for myself, the love of writing or the love of anime, but also for others in the community who love anime too. Maybe not a million or even 100 others, but for those few who’ve become familiar names or faces. Like u or Blowfish or Panther or Mimi-chan. Those who make me think or laugh or yell “WTF?”, lol. Not only on my blog, but on theirs as well.

I think that’s the best form of self-promotion of all.

Now, keeping this in mind, do you also remember Angry Mimi-chan’s hilarious “Truth About Twitter” (23 March 2009) post? Haha, you can also check out the original YouTube “Twouble with Twitters: SuperNews!” (16 March 2009) video. When I saw that video for the first time, I literally laughed out loud!

Likewise, to refresh your trembling memories, here’s my brief reply to Angry Mimi-chan.

xJAYMANx@Mimi-chan: Nahhh, no need for Twitter, lol. Facebook already has the same “status” thingie. But even then, I hardly update on FB much. Blogging seems more worthy of our precious time. >_<;

Hey, so did you see it? Did you catch that? I wrote: “Blogging seems more worthy of our precious time.” While bloggers and surfers may do both, doesn’t this suggest that we may only have time for one or the other? To Twitter or not to Twitter? And if not to Twitter, to blog instead? In fact, in Jenn Kei’s recent “Star Trek Za Movie” (01 May 2009) post, our comments below seem to suggest exactly that, lol.

xJAYMANx@Jenn-chan: Heyyy, you’re back!

Jennkei@Jay-san: Haha, I’ve never been away — I’m still sporadically posting on my Twitter! (Yes, I’ve gone over to the dark side…I’m sowwy..XD)

xJAYMANx@Jenn-chan: Awww, no problem, lol. Actually, I’m gonna be talking about tiny twitters versus mega-posts soon, so that’ll be interesting…

So I began to think about that. About Twittering. About blogging. If time-and-trouble determine whether we blurb on Twitter or Facebook or MySpace, or blog on LiveJournal or Blogger or WordPress, then for bloggers, wouldn’t time-and-trouble also determine *how* we blog? Daily versus weekly? Short versus long? For example, on one end of the otaku spectrum, Otaku Dan has maintained his short daily posts for ages (I don’t even know how long). On the other end of that spectrum, I’ve maintained my weekly posts since Blog 168, but these didn’t evolve into *mega-posts* until the Blog 170s-180s. Then of course, there are otaku bloggers with random posts sprinkled every few days or weeks. Clearly, every blogger has his or her own unique schedule and style.

But here’s the insane thing. Why *mega-posts* or *mega-casts*? Why do I have this insane need to cook up and construct gigantic and titanic and thematic five-part posts on a weekly basis? Why worry about an interconnectable theme among the parts? Why not split them up into five smaller posts on a near-daily basis? Ahh, haha, great questions.

My probable answer: “For the art, my friends. For the insane pursuit of art.” Most probably, lol.

Here’s the best metaphor I can find. Food. Yup, food. While many otaku-blog posts taste like messy burgers and salty fries, others taste like crumbly cookies and cheesy crackers, while still others taste like spicy chips and sweet candy, lol. Mmm, definitely tasty! But why settle for fast foods, snacks and desserts? Over time, I think I began to develop a palate for larger more-artful combinations, lol. Lunches. Turned into dinners. Turned into full five-course meals! Interconnectable combinations of sweet and spicy and meaty and juicy. Food. Haha, in real life, unless it’s a pot of instant ramen or oven of fish sticks, I can’t cook anything without a microwave or toaster. But in terms of my Toybox *mega-posts*, one *might* compare these works of art to those of a master chef. Maybe. Maybe not. Nonetheless, one can’t deny the ingredients. Or the combinations. But above all, the patience. Sigh. The utmost patience. Although sometimes, my patience can come close to collapse. Utter collapse, haha.

In a nutshell: “Where’s the art in Twittering?” ^_^

 

Part 2 of 5 > Can Any Anime Really Be Stupid?

Finally! After four weeks of being fuzzily amused by the cute-and-cuddly high-school-girl comedy “K-On!”, the fifth week finally lifted the series to “Lucky Star” wonderment! And do you know what did it? Do you? The teacher! The hilariously passive-yet-powerful Jekyll-yet-Hyde character of Yamanaka Sawako-sensei! Sawako-sensei was the missing ingredient! Reminiscent of the powerful-yet-pitiful anime shop manager, Anizawa Meito-san in “Lucky Star”, haha. Yes, indeed. Episode 5 of “K-On!” finally redeemed the series, lol… But to be clear, the series was *never* stupid.

Then again, can any anime really be stupid?

Wait, hold on! Before you answer too quickly, listen to my nose-congested arguments below, lol.

Here are the summarized contents to guide you.

xJAYMANx_broadcast 002
“From Drunk to Punk Trooper”
Saturday, 1:15am, 25 Oct 2008
MP3 Length 16:27 Minutes

  • OP – “Virgin’s High” by MELL from the anime “Sky Girls” [2007].
  • Second broadcast, hope not as crackly and staticky
  • Jackie Chan‘s and Woo Ping’s 1978 Hong Kong film Drunken Master
  • Got 89th figure Queen’s Gate Alice; Potter-esque “Zero no Tsukaima”
  • Anime in philosophical light: No art is stupid? Anime is art? So no anime is stupid?
  • Hated Metropolis, disliked Amazing Nurse Nanako
  • Sent in my absentee ballot, voted for NONE of the above candidates, liberating
  • Japanese street fashion, funny stuff, lol
  • “Punk Trooper”, Stormtrooper or Jedi drop-out, bounty hunter, jack of all trades
  • Katana bokken, test for Halloween costume, damn helmet so hot to breathe
  • Punk Trooper!
  • ED – “Last Regrets” by Ayana from the anime “Kanon” [2006].

So, there you have it! Can any anime really be stupid?

Haha, actually, the reason why I brought up this profoundly philosophical question is due to the “One and Only” Jem-chan, lol. One of us mentioned Skype and this was how our discussion unfolded.

xJAYMANx@Jem-chan: Actually, I do have some goofy audio on Blog 171 (if u haven’t peeked already). I think my nose is stuffed up from allergies or something, haha. You were warned!

Jem@Jay: You definitely sound like you have a cold. I am listening to your podcast. Lol, you sound “white” which is a good thing because you don’t sound fobbish or have a fobbish accent. Maybe some people were frightened away with your voice. I dunno… LOL, is anime stupid then?

[Then a few days later in our blog comments.]

Jem@Jay: I am quite appeased by your remark in regards to the tag and category. Pleased I am, hmmmmm!!! HAHAHA. I remember your podcast when you were talking about art and made reference to Zero no Tsukaima. Mind you, I have never known how to correctly pronounce it. Is art stupid? No. Is anime like art? Yes. If that’s true then, no anime can really be stupid. I really like your if and conjecture. I thought about it and it was a refreshing perspective to keep in mind. When I was listening to you talk, I verbally answered “yes” to the anime being stupid question, lol.

xJAYMANx@Jem-chan: Hahaha, so you’re “pleased and appeased”, are ya? Then my life-long quest is complete! LOL, I don’t think I ever heard it pronounced until I actually said it myself! But that can’t be true. I mean, I must’ve heard someone pronounce it during the anime credits, right? I must have. Then I forgot it. Then when it came time to actually say it, my brain told my mouth to say it like that. The subconscious can be a *good* thing once in a while, lol… Haha, I just heard my broadcast again. “Can anime be stupid?” That’s still a simple yet philosophically profound question. Can’t believe I actually came up with it, hehe.

In another nutshell: “Is art stupid? No. Is anime like art? Yes. If that’s true then, no anime can really be stupid.”

 

Part 3 of 5 > Uzumaki & Minami Revisited

Yup, two more! Stupid anime or not, I’ve managed to complete 2 more anime titles-or-seasons in the last 2 weeks: “Naruto – Season 4″ [17] and “Minami-ke – Okaeri – Season 3″ [18]. Yes-yes, a total of 18 completed anime titles in just over 4 months so far! Definitely on my typical pace to hit 50 anime by the end of the year, lol.

 

Naruto – Season 4 [17]. On 01 May, I completed my 17th anime title-or-season of the year. Season 4 (2004) with 26 episodes. Haha, despite all of the adoring love and acidic hate for this title, Season 4 still packs a mindless-yet-riveting ninja-powered punch to your chakra. Especially while dashing on the treadmill, lol. A solid 4 of 5 stars! So here are 3 wallpapers to brighten your day in blinding blonde and orange, haha.

 

 

Hey, if you’re interested, here are my speed-reviews for the previous 3 “Naruto” seasons.

Damn, where’s my instant ramen? >_<;

 

Minami-ke – Okaeri – Season 3 [18]. On 02 May, I completed my 18th anime title-or-season of the year. Season 3 (2009) with 13 episodes. Hehe, despite the change in animation style in the past, Season 3 still offers a smilingly offbeat yet gently heart-warming slice of life. Awww, another maximum 4 of 5 stars for a half-season, lol. So here are 7 high-resolution (1920px) wallpapers to celebrate the three sisters, their classmates and their friends. Gotta adore Haruka, Kana and Chiaki!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awww. Still kinda sad that “Minami-ke” had to end. At least, we have “K-On!”now, lol.

 

Part 4 of 5 > Hornsby, Foosball, Wordle & Random Ramblings

Let’s say it one more time: Awww.

But now, from tiny twitters and titanic toyboxes, to anime as an artistic-not-stupid form of expression, to ninja-enhanced and schoolgirl-powered anime stories, let’s rumble and ramble into the randomness of the real world, lol. For example, remember the company party back in February? Well, last week, I finally remembered to pick up a couple of cases of Hornsby’s Hard Cider, both “Amber Draft” and “Crisp Apple” flavors. Yummm. Especially with a roast-beef sandwich and a pile of mayo-drenched baby carrots!

A closer view.

And a closer view of the bottle, lol.

Then remember the set of six foosballs I bought last week? Well, forget those, lol. Because when I compared them to the foosballs at the office, these were the wrong size! Upon closer inspection, the 32mm-diameters were too small. What we really needed were the 35mm-diameters. So here are the new foosballs! Thank you, Amazon, lol.

A closer view. I just thought I’d add to the black-and-white motif with my chain-wallet and pair of dice.

Yeah, man, Linkin Park.

Leaping fluidly from Linkin Park word masters to linkable Wordle messes, ever created a “Wordle” cloud before? Man, I don’t even remember my first visit. Maybe last year? Two years ago? It’s been ages. But for whatever reason, the correlation networks and floorplans from last week reminded me of these curious clouds, lol.

LOL, Mimi-chan seems detached. And Minami-ke is about to break off!

Click the “Re-Layout” button. Another great big puddle.

Speaking of puddles, remember that Vietnamese noodle-soup place “Jenni Pho”? About five weeks ago? Well, Melanie (meh-LAH-nee) treated me to lunch there again last Thursday. And she asked me a curious question.

She asked me if I’d consider a single mother as a possible girlfriend (not her, she’s married, lol). Check out the “LOL” below!

So I wondered about her question. Actually, I wouldn’t rule it out.

But it definitely depends on the age of the child. I think.

A younger child is probably easier to grow up with than an older one. Notice how I’m saying “child” not “children”.

But Melanie agreed. Raising two kids is a gigantic difference from one kid. Gigantic.

Funny thing! After this question, she asked me, “You’re not married, right?” LOL, shouldn’t you ask this *before* the other question?

LOL, divorced since mid-2006… So did you enjoy the “Wordle” clouds? Quite amusing to see where the “LOL” landed. Okay, maybe not. You had to be there, hehe.

 

Part 5 of 5 > The Fall & Rise of the Toybox

A-ha! From twitters to toyboxes to anime to reality, let’s backflip into a reverse dive to refresh and reflect on how we reached this milestone 200th Blog of the Toybox. Yeah, why not? Like I mentioned in Part 1 above, “I’ve maintained my weekly posts since Blog 168, but these didn’t evolve into *mega-posts* until the Blog 170s-180s… Over time, I think I began to develop a palate for larger more-artful combinations, lol.” So let’s splash through 15 of the more memorable posts, between August 2008 and February 2009, marking the bumbling and bubbling rise of the Toybox, lol. Feel free to click an image to jump to its respective post.

First, here’s “Blog 148 > Lelouch Commands You” (August 2008). When I announced my blog upgrade and path change, this was the first real eye-opener at how many readers actually read my humble blog! Shocking!

A couple of weeks later, I posted “Blog 155 > Holy Crap, I Got Carded!” (August 2008). Not only was the story hilarious, but the photoshoot with Guiness the Menace was a blast, haha!

The following month, I posted “Blog 162 > Fumie From Edelweiss” (September 2008). Ahh, one of my finest figure photoshoots ever. Even created a YouTube music-slideshow video from it! And it’s also one of my final but most memorable “Danny Choo Member News” posts. Awww.

Shortly afterwards, I posted “Blog 164 > Mimi Says” (September 2008). Haha, pretty funny “Despair” de-motivational poster featuring a quote by the Angry Mimi-chan and the Tokyo Dance Trooper, Danny Choo himself! Let’s not forget his partner Tokyo Dance Lord, Hector Garcia, lol.

The following month, I posted “Blog 168 > Crows Zero & Clannad Two” (October 2008). A nice little mix of a Japanese live-action film and an anime series. This post marked the first time I held onto a weekly-weekend blog pattern. Why? Who knows? Too busy during the weekdays?

Yet another month later, I posted “Blog 174 > Wild Anime & Final Figures” (November 2008). Heyyy, this was around the time when my *mega-post* mentality began to take shape. And also around the time when the original “Mimi’s Rage” made its first appearance! Haha. “May Her Rage Consume You. Always.”

A few weeks after that, I posted “Blog 177 > Mimi’s Zazzle & iMac’s Dazzle” (November 2008). Haha, “Mimi’s Rage” continued to ripple outward. Meanwhile, I introduced my Website Outlook blog-value estimates for the first time!

The following month again, I posted “Blog 181 > Snowy Vegas & Shining Anime” (December 2008). Ah yes, the ridiculous Las Vegas blizzard! This was probably one of my first true *mega-posts* ever. Spanning across anime reviews, anime figures and real life.

Then the following week, I posted “Blog 182 > Year of Anime, Rock & Otaku” (December 2008). Not simply a full year-long list of anime, but also a Rock Band video, an Angry Mimi-chan video, and an Angry Mimi-chan sign! Can’t get any better than this, right? I think this was also the first time I uttered the term *mega-post* for my weekly masterpieces, lol.

For the new year, I posted “Blog 184 > Rewind in Anime, Myself & I” (January 2009). Yup, by this time, I was beginning to hit my stride in terms of posting weekly *mega-post*s. Including a YouTube video of my “Edelweiss Fumie” photoshoot!

The following week, I posted “Blog 185 > Wikis & Evangelion Gothlolis” (January 2009). Wow, another blog upgrade, more Danny Choo, and a massive 4-figure photoshoot of my “Evangelion Gothlolis” Rei and Asuka. Including my 92nd and final figure! Yup, incredible.

The following week again, I posted “Blog 186 > Sevens, Heavens & Harems” (January 2009). Haha, another Website Outlook assessment. I introduced Maria Ozawa for the first time with her fabricated message of congratulations. And I also introduced my “harem” gender-ratio structure, hehe.

Yet another week later, I posted “Blog 187 > Cops, Candy & Digital Sushi” (February 2009). Another full-course meal of Jackie Chan, Dairy Queen, Papa John, “Kiddy Grade”, and Digital Sushi! Yup, the lovely Digital Sushi, lol. As well as my experimental “Kamikaze Frozen” poem with self-portraits. This was also the first time my *mega-post* clearly featured 5 of 5 parts!

The following week again, I posted “Blog 188 > Kanons, Pirates & Bloodbaths” (February 2009). Hehe, another full-course meal of “Battle Royale”, “Pirates XXX”, and another massive 4-figure photoshoot. Yup, the “Kanon” girls! Oops, only 4 of 4 parts! But by featuring “Pirates XXX”, I also introduced a pornographic film for the first time, lol.

Yet another week later, I posted “Blog 189 > Hearts, Ninjas & Toyboxers” (February 2009). Hehe, yet another Website Outlook assessment, more Maria Ozawa, the new “Foosball Ninja”, and an unlocked “To Heart” photoshoot. Yup, definitely some crazy Toybox action!

Definitely, a wild and crazy ride! LOL, don’t you remember?

 

Well-well, my Tasty Toyboxers, that’s the end of Blog 200! The end of this week’s mega-cast! Did you enjoy delicious Danni’s fabricated-fantasy message? Did our mega-cast keep the otaku-sensei aghast? Hahaha. Yup, this week we took an artful dive at why we choose to Twitter or Toybox. Why? Not only that, we also took an artful splash at unraveling why anime can never really be stupid. Why not? How were the friendly neighborhood Uzumaki and Minami? The real-world and random-worded antics? The bottomless fall and bubbling rise of this humble Toybox? How were they? Were they edible? Cool. But before we forget, let’s thank Danni-chan, Mimi-chan, Jenn-chan, Jem-chan, the Minami sisters, Melanie-chan, Fumie-chan, Maria-chan, and Digital Sushi, lol. And anyone else I’m too burnt-out to mention! Did you properly cook your inner mayhem? Let’s hope so.

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

 

Final Flashback

From “Kamikaze Frozen“: “The crash of a thousand waves can be calmed in a single frame.”

 

]]> http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/05/04/blog-200-tasty-tales-from-the-toybox/feed/ 25 Blog 199 > Melons, Mimis & Masochists http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/04/26/blog-199-melons-mimis-masochists/ http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/04/26/blog-199-melons-mimis-masochists/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:06:59 +0000 xjaymanx http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/?p=2509

Ah, yes, my Testy Toyboxers! Alas, another weekly mega-cast to keep the otaku-sensei aghast! Aghast, you ask? Why yes! This week is gonna be a monstrous roller-coaster ride of wicked M-shaped mayhem! M-shaped? Hahaha, you heard me. Get ready to lose your mental marbles as we dive into blonde-haired Melon-transforming babes, swim through mind-curdling Mimi-flavored rants-to-raves, dodge under eye-popping Mimi-doubling pornographic models, squirt over sado-masochistic Jem-enforced spider-webs and Jay-enhanced house-harems, and swirl down a cyber-corrupted cocktail of ninja blades, foosball ninjas, fem-fashioned kickboxers, and Lisa-strung stockings! Whew, let me catch my breath. One, two, three. Okay, enough of the maniacal mumbling. Drop what you’re messing, flip off the mediocrity, and switch on your inner madness! Because it’s time to start the show…


Part 1 of 5 > Melons, Metals & Miniskirts

Are you looking for more Japanese socio-political news? More of the otaku-tinged Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso? Or yet another article on the recession-stained Japanese xenophobia? Hehe, no? Well, excellent, you’re in luck! This time, for Part 1, let’s skip over those muddy waters and splash into more-sparkling streams, lol. Including 2 more anime titles-or-seasons I’ve managed to complete in the last couple weeks: “Samurai X – Trust & Betrayal – Director’s Cut” [15] and “Akikan” [16]. Yup, a total of 16 completed anime titles in just under 4 months so far!

Samurai X – Trust & Betrayal – Director’s Cut [15]. On 17-18 April, I completed my 15th anime title-or-season of the year. While it isn’t the original 4-part OVA series (1999), this title compiles the series into a 2-hour feature-length film (2003). Nevertheless, I must say that this darker more-intense interpretation of “Rurouni Kenshin” is still wrenching in its blood-stained layers of tragedy. Wow, a fearless 4 of 5 stars! Since I already posted a ton of “Kenshin” wallpapers a couple of weeks ago, I’ll just add the link here, lol.

Akikan [16]. On 18 April, I completed my 16th anime title-or-season of the year. Original series (2009) with 12 episodes. Wow, mindlessly and unexpectedly entertaining! From the transforming metal-can gals to the fleshy high-school fan service to the crude homo-and-hetero ecchi jokes, it still squirts a maximum 4 of 5 stars for a half-season! Hahaha, and although it was unintentional, thanx Aprilius20 (or A20) for the negative recommendation! Yup, negative! Here’s our comment exchange several posts ago.

Aprilius20@Jay: Would you ever give an anime zero out of 5? Call me cruel, but that’s what I gave Akikan. My experience of watching ep1- watch, skip, watch, skip skip skip watch delete. That bad. Why don’t you try your hand at a review and see if you get your 2nd 1/5, or even a 0 like I gave it?… and if you have the patience to watch the entire series… all hail ^^;;

xJAYMANx@A20: Hmm, zero? Most likely not… But you know what? I’ll give it a try simply for the “challenge”. I’ll let u know when I finish the series.

Aprilius20@Jay: lol, maybe I was too harsh on it, with another show specializing in fan-service on hand that actually had a glimmer of hope in terms of story and (but eventually failed- Kanokon). Since you’re going to take up the ‘challenge’ I’ll just keep quiet so as not to unduly influence your opinion of it, just to be safe ^-^

xJAYMANx@A20: Hahaha, well, I just watched the first episode tonight. Maybe it’s because I came back from a party, but “Akikan” was freaking hilarious! Over the top and outlandish, yeah, but its cute carbonated mix of hetero-ecchi, homo-ecchi and love-hate-spats made me laugh out louder than “K-On!” so far! Reminds me of faves like “Midori Days” and “He Is My Master”, lol. Thanx, dude! So far, so good! ^o^;

Aprilius20@Jay: So my plot to expand my dislike of the show to other anime viewers backfired, eh?

LOL, yup, epic backfire. Sorry, dude. I guess it was meant to be! So to celebrate “Akikan”, here are 7 melon-juicy high-resolution wallpapers and images for your tasty viewing pleasure, lol. Enjoy!

First, let’s say “Hi!” to the blonde and green-eyed juice-can-transforming Melon-chan!

Here’s an awesome wallpaper of the entire high-school gang!

Haha, the inevitable pool-or-beach water scene!

A bit of baseball, lol.

A bit of cooking, lol.

This looks like the cover of the “Akikan” manga.

While this looks like some ecchi fan art, haha. Took a while to notice the banana gun!

Nice, huh? Hehe, now tell the truth. Don’t you wanna watch this mindlessly heart-warming and over-the-top (or topless) teen comedy? Tell the truth!

 

Part 2 of 5 > Mimi, Mio, Mugi & Miyuki

Haha, speaking of “mindlessly heart-warming”, ready for some more M-shaped observations? Of course you are! Well, if you’ve been following my sidebar comments on the latest anime smash “K-On!” (2009) by KyoAni, you already have an idea of my paradoxical impressed-yet-unimpressed assessment over the last 3 weeks, hehe. Here’s a quick summary to refresh your anime-numbed minds, lol.

Here’s an excerpt from three weeks ago.

Hahaha, wow! In the last few days, the brand-new high-school comedy anime K-On!, produced by Kyoto Animation (KyoAni), has stormed and flooded the otaku scene! Not only on Danny Choo’s website, but also on Sankaku Complex (NSFW)! While the premiere episode pinched all of the cute, clever and captivating points of a memorable “pop anime” series (not unlike KyoAni’s “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” and “Lucky Star”), is “K-On!” really anything new or different from what we’ve all seen before? Hehe, probably not. But who really cares, right? As long as it’s cute, clever and captivating, lol.

Here’s one from two weeks ago.

Hehe, tired of the endless posts and episodic reviews of “K-On!” yet? Ahh, the continuing power of market-powered pop-anime trends! I mean, it’s only the second week of “K-On!”. Does it make sense to review the first ten minutes of a two-hour film? Then the next ten minutes too? Then the next? Does a preview-review make sense when *everyone* is watching it anyway? Haha, just teasing!

Finally, here’s one from last week.

@Mimi-chan: Yeah, I’ve mentioned on my blog that there seems to be nothing new. Each of them seems like clones of characters we’ve all seen before. But there’s nothing wrong with that! Nothing wrong with cute and cuddly! I’m just surprised at all the hype that this is something earth-shatteringly different. Simply because it comes from KyoAni? ^_^;

P.S. Due to a challenge, I just started “Akikan”. Haha, in just one episode, the over-the-top concept has already made me laugh out loud more than “K-On”!

So while the series has been adorably amusing and memorably moe thus far, I still don’t sense the “earth-shattering” newness or understand the “mind-blowing” hysteria within the otaku community. Well, not yet, lol. If anything, the otaku-powered pop-anime mentality seems to be a forceful factor in fueling the fervor! So much so that one unexpected turn-of-events has been Mimi-chan‘s mind-lashing shift from rants to raves! Check out her assessment of the 4th and latest episode, lol.

In fact, under this light, “Akikan” isn’t earth-shattering either, lol. It may be outlandishly nonsensical and skin-baringly hysterical, but one could categorize it as another “high-school magical-girl fish-out-of-water comedy” manufactured from the ever-addictive pop-anime assembly-line! Hehe, right? But that’s okay. Whether it’s new or old, memorable or forgettable, entertainment is entertainment!

Now let’s switch gears for a moment. Maybe someone has already mentioned or blogged about it, but while I watched the 4th and latest episode (the “beach” episode), the girls of “K-On!” did indeed feel like clones of a previous KyoAni anime, namely “Lucky Star” (2007). Yup, “Lucky Star” clones, lol.

First, here are Mio, Ritsu, Tsumugi & Yui from “K-On!” (2009).

Now, here are Kagami, Tsukasa, Miyuki & Konata from “Lucky Star” (2007).

While the animation styles are distinctly different, their slice-of-life personalities are remarkably similar! Here’s the name-by-name comparison, lol.

“K-On” versus “Lucky Star”.

  • Mio (K-On) = Kagami (Lucky Star). The “tsundere” girls of the group. Forceful and commanding during one moment, then shy and submission the next moment. Both are coincidentally (or intentionally) left-handed. The most popular girls in the otaku community, lol.
  • Yui (K-On) = Tsukasa (Lucky Star). The “slow” girls of the group. Absent-minded and adorable. Yet lazy. They typically need a “push” to accomplish something, lol.
  • Ritsu (K-On) = Konata (Lucky Star). The “clown” or “loud mouthed” girls of the group. Rather tomboyish. Yet lazy too. But when it comes to non-study activities, they are endlessly energetic or athletic, lol.
  • Tsumugi (K-On) = Miyuki (Lucky Star). The “rich” or “refined” girls of the group. Quiet and collected. More intellectual or knowledgeable. Almost motherly. They typically act as the “soothing glue” which bonds the other girls together.

Cool, eh? While the name-by-name counterparts aren’t quite 100% identical, there is clearly a substantial 80-90% match with each of the 4 girls. Enough to call them “clones”? Perhaps. Which definitely supports the notion that “K-On” isn’t anything earth-shatteringly new. Apart from its music-band concept, which could be construed as borrowing from “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” (yet another KyoAni title), “K-On” is hardly new at all. So far. But that doesn’t make it any less entertaining, lol.

 

Part 3 of 5 > Mimi, More Mimi & Maniacs

Speaking of the Devil (and the unofficial idol of the “Danny Choo” otaku community, lol), do you remember Mimi-chan’s splendid April Fools “modeling contract” prank? You don’t? Well, here’s her announcement of the fake story, lol.

Hehe, quite clever, eh? But let’s take a closer look at what I highlighted: I thought it was a good plan at first (my original plan was to star in a porno upon my 18th b-day but that was too far-fetched)…”. Let’s replay that: “…to star in a porno…” What’s hilarious is that last year, back in July 2008, I accidentally stumbled upon a Japanese adult video (AV) actress who went by the pseudonym “Mimi”, hahaha. I just didn’t remember or realize the coincidence until recently! Yup, there’s already a Japanese porn actress named “Mimi”! And quite hot, I may add, lol.

Also known as Miku Hagiwara, Mimi-chan will turn 23 in a few months. And according to random sources across the cybersphere, she was briefly a fashion model. But here’s a cooler fact that caught my mathematical eye: “Special skill: Mental arithmetic.” Whoa, not bad, eh?

Here’s her full bio from Jheat.com (NSFW). Feel free to enlarge (no pun intended), lol.

Here’s Mimi-chan in “Sky Angel #58″. “Her desire is stopped by nobody,” hehe.

Here’s Mimi-chan in “Spermania #17″. Damn, I would’ve never guessed she was a porn starlet.

That’s it! Despite her slightly-crooked teeth, she’s still one of my newest faves, lol. Haha, and the coincidence is still pretty funny. But if Mimi-chan the “Angry Loli” ever decides to follow this pornographic path, I guess she’ll have to choose another name. Because one starlet is already wearing it (or not wearing it) well, lol.

 

Part 4 of 5 > Mia, Masochists & Blog Mates

Are we having fun yet? From mindlessly heart-warming anime like “Akikan” and “K-On”, to pornographic videos like “Sky Angel” and “Spermania”, are we having any sado-masochistic fun yet? Haha, not yet? Well, you must be doubly lucky this week, because here comes some pain-whipping webs and roommates!

First of all, do you remember Blowfish’s (or FlyingBlow’s) Shocking Truth post featuring correlation diagrams from Genzu.net? Haha, according to those diagrams, Jem-chan and myself were “former lovers”. Hmm, intriguing! Well, afterwards, Jem-chan and I decided to create our own diagrams, hehe.

Secondly, let’s introduce the incomparable “one and only” Jem-chan! Hmm, the unofficial idol of the “Trembling Toyboxer” community?

Thirdly, let’s take another look at FlyingBlow’s original network diagram. Not bad, lol.

Now, let’s take a peek at *my* network, combining the most-painful results of several diagrams, haha.

As you can see above, some pretty enlightening relationships!

xJAYMANx’s Correlation Network

  • Me and Jem-chan are once again “former lovers”, lol. Like before, I guess the furious fire died out just as fast as it started.
  • Me and Kris-chan are mutual “sadists”, haha. Now how does that work? Taking turns?
  • Me and Coco-chan are simple “sex friends”. Yup, sex without all the annoying relationship crap, haha.
  • Me and Mimi-chan are simply “friends”. That’s cool. No pain, no stain, lol.
  • Jem-chan and Kris-chan are “partners”. Ahh, intriguing! Wow, egos, ids and powerplays, lol.
  • Jem-chan boasts “evil” while Coco-chan boasts “justice”. Do you smell gun powder?
  • Jem-chan is in “serious love” while Mimi-chan is in “frivolous love”. Awww, lol.
  • Last but not least, Kris-chan acts “forcible” while Coco-chan reacts with “subordination”. Got S&M?

Hahaha! Now enough of those tangled spider-webs. Let’s tackle some tantalizing floor plans. Here’s Jem-chan’s 1st floorplan, cleverly colorized with my feeble Photoshop flair. The funniest thing here is that in order to get to my (blue) bedroom (with the infamous Billy Herrington, nooo), I need to pass through Jem-chan’s (pink) bedroom! I mean, if it looks a closet, and smells like a closet, then it’s gotta be a closet, right?

Here’s Jem-chan’s 2nd floorplan, populated with a plethora of pornographic personalities, haha. From Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson to Tera Patrick and the mesmerizingly-Asian Mia Smiles. Ahhh, sharing a (blue) bedroom with Mia Smiles! Not bad at all.

Now it’s *my* turn. Let’s get to *my* frantically-random floorplans, hehe. Wow, sharing a (blue) bedroom with the notoriously-angry Mimi-chan? Hahaha, oops, wait-wait. I won’t tell you how to “use your imagination”, but maybe I’ll think about moving into the closet *after* she turns legal next month. And less *angry*. Much less, lol. I mean, take a look at those adjacent walls. Right next to Kris-chan’s and Coco-chan’s bedrooms. Who knows how paper-thin those walls are? Especially with all of our socio-political arguing? And especially since Coco-chan is the householder?

Next, here’s my 2nd floorplan, adding Chun-chan, Lene-chan and Jenn-chan. Wow, again? Sharing a (blue) bedroom with Mimi-chan again? With no shared bedroom walls? Hmm, the rest of the house looks quite innocent. Lene-chan and Coco-chan share a bedroom. While Chun-chan and Jenn-chan share another bedroom. That’s about it. Although I’m kinda curious why Jem-chan’s bedroom opens into Mimi-chan’s security room, lol. Why? Is Jem-chan a householder and prisoner in her own home? Hahaha.

Finally, here’s my 3rd floorplan, adding the Filipina cosplayer Alodia and the left-handed bassist Mio-chan from “K-On”, haha. Hmm, sharing a (blue) bedroom with Mio-chan? A school-girl anime character? And also the householder? Ehh, I shouldn’t complain. Many otaku would kill for that, lol. If I set up a room-dividing shoji screen, maybe I won’t have to pay rent either!

Whew. So are we having fun now? Good! Because if you aren’t, you’re probably not strong or stable enough to endure the massive mayhem. So here’s a suggestion. Get a glass of water, take a couple of aspirin, and come back when your seeping stamina is restored. Sounds good? Meanwhile, the rest of us will be having some more fun, lol.

 

Part 5 of 5 > Mighty Ninjas, Blades & More Mates

Heyyy, you’ve made it to Part 5! From “Akikan” and “K-On” and animated school-girls, to “Sky Angel” and “Spermania” and sado-masochistic roommates, it’s time to dive head-first into a mystifying mix of mighty magic, martial arts and mini-clothed muscles, hehe.

For example, yesterday on Saturday, 25 April, I finally watched the Japanese film “Shinobi – Heart Under Blade” (2005), depicting the ill-fated clash between two ninja clans. Not bad! While it didn’t feel as epic as it could’ve been, there were still some tearful moments. A solid 4 of 5 stars! While I’ve just started the anime interpretation “Basilisk” (2005) this week, it already feels more epic and exhilarating with a larger ninja cast.

Here’s a revealing “Shinobi” image. Could either be a movie poster or DVD cover.

Here’s a more-romantic wallpaper. It’s hard not to love Nakama Yukie-san. Haha, I love her performances in the high-school comedy series Gokusen 1, 2, and 3.

Next, let’s slide like a slick shadow from ancient ninjas to foosball ninjas! Well, just *one* foosball ninja. Me, haha. Here’s a snapshot of the gang on 31 March.

To tell the truth, it’s amazing how far these guys have improved since we acquired the foosball table in January 2009. Back then, let’s assume I performed at 90% while everyone else ranged from 10-30%. After playing for the last few months, the Development guys now range from 50-60% (with a few higher exceptions) while the Solutions guys now range from 70-80% (with a few lower exceptions). Meanwhile, I can’t get much higher than 90%, haha.

Here I am below, monitoring the pitiful situation, lol. Actually, starting just this past week after the company-wide meeting, I’ve been crazy enough to challenge guys in a 1-on-2 match! It typically starts with all three of us laughing, like I have no chance at all. Which gradually turns into a really competitive game. And ultimately, ends with a victory. For myself, lol. And sometimes, I’ve won the re-match as well!

Haha, yup, 1-on-2 matches are incredibly fun! I mean, 1-on-1 matches are rarely challenging. And while 2-on-2 matches are challenging and amusing, they aren’t terribly risky either. But in a 1-on-2 match, since I don’t have the “safety net” luxury of a teammate, it’s like tight-rope walking without a net! It’s terrifying. But terrifyingly fun too! Especially when I’m victorious!

As of this mega-post, my current 1-on-2 record is 7 wins and 4 losses, haha. But all of those losses are accompanied by wins against the same two-man team. Plus all of these guys range from 50-80% skill! If there’s any way to raise my game from 90% to 95% or higher, this is it! And it’s awesome. I’m just waiting for the first guy (besides me) to attempt it, lol.

Oh yeah, also yesterday on Saturday, 25 April, I finally remembered to buy some replacement foosballs. After months of heavy play, those 3 red foosballs are all scratched up and worn down, lol. Time to speed up the game again!

Now, let’s slide once more from foosball ninjas to kickboxing babes! Remember the ALIAS flyer I designed a couple weeks ago? Well, Christine and Melanie finally printed the 3-by-4 inch glossy flyers!

Here they are! Printed on both front and back. I threw in a couple of dice to give a better sense of scale.

Hey, feel free to enlarge these shots. I think they turned out great! Amazing!

Haha, yup, that’s my anime-styled “Christine the Blade” vector artwork too.

Yep, one more time, another shadowy slide, another slippery ride. From kickboxing babes to scantily-clad roommates! Well, just *one* roommate. Just Lisa, lol.

According to Lisa herself, this photoshoot was taken by Viva Van Story on Saturday, 11 April. The same day as Melanie’s son’s birthday party.

But once again, ever since my Anime Rocks and Wild Anime posts, Lisa still manages to impress by looking totally different from her ordinary “frumpy” style, lol. Damn, does that look like her waist should hurt?

Ehh, I’m not too fond of the overly gold-and-red color scheme.

I mean, the red seems to blend too much into the gold. Where’s the contrast?

But Lisa seems to like it. Although I still think a higher-contrasting black outfit would look better in this pose.

Finally, her best pose in the bunch. Which should’ve been taken in a black outfit. Black, I say!

Hey, did I mention that her giardia, her 4-month intestinal parasite, finally disappeared? Yesterday, she told me her test was finally negative! Congrats! On that positive note, feel free to check out her page at Evie Van Covet @ MySpace. As well as my Anime Rocks and Wild Anime posts. Let us know what you think!

So, my Transcendental Toyboxers, that’s the end of our show! Another maniacal mega-cast has come and gone. And yes-yes, another mega-cast to keep the otaku-sensei aghast! How did we do? Did you survive the monstrous roller-coaster ride of wicked M-shaped mayhem! Did you lose your mental marbles? Did you miss the blonde-haired Melon-transforming babes? The mind-curdling Mimi-flavored rants-to-raves? The eye-popping Mimi-doubling pornographic models? Did you miss the sado-masochistic Jem-enforced spider-webs? Or the Jay-enhanced house-harems? Did you catch the cyber-corrupted cocktail of ninja blades, foosball ninjas, fem-fashioned kickboxers, and Lisa-strung stockings? Because if you missed anything, you missed a lot, lol. Let’s not forget to thank Melon-chan, the girls of “K-On”, the girls of “Lucky Star”, Mimi-chan, the other Mimi-chan, Jem-chan, Kris-chan, Coco-chan, Jenn-chan, Yukie-san, the girls of ALIAS Fight Wear, Viva Van Story, Lisa, and lastly, your inner madness! Didn’t I say this week would be maniacal? {Pause to breathe.} Okay, time to catch my breath. One. Two. Three.

Stay tuned for my bicentennial “Blog 200″! Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

 

Final Flashback

Here’s Mimi-chan in “Sky Angel #58″. “Her desire is stopped by nobody,” hehe.

 

]]> http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/04/26/blog-199-melons-mimis-masochists/feed/ 49 Blog 194 > Assassins, Serpents & Wishes http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/03/22/blog-194-assassins-serpents-wishes/ http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/03/22/blog-194-assassins-serpents-wishes/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:02:40 +0000 xjaymanx http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/?p=2030

Awww, thanx, Miyabi! We haven’t seen you since Hearts and Sevens! Sadly, I know this is another fabricated message, lol. Oh well, a birthday dream is better than none at all, lol. So, my Trembling Toyboxers, what’s in store for this broadcast week? Well, this week, we take another five-lap trek, peeking at ongoing otaku-blog battles, glimpsing at galactic hunters and bountiful assassins, staring through split-tongue serpents and masochistic dragons, digesting a few tasty birthday treats, and blinking at random red-red-red-tinged observations. And maybe, just maybe, Miyabi will say “Hi!” once more. Who knows? With her gorgeous figure in mind, let’s start the show…

Part 1 of 5. Ongoing Otaku-Blog Battles. Ah yes, the battles continue! Since our last exciting otaku-blog update, the theoretical numbers at Website Outlook have revealed yet another new development! The estimated worth of How a Girl Figures is now tied with a new challenger!

Website Outlook
Mar 15 | How a Girl Figures a.k.a. Dancing Queen

Oddly, that challenger is none other than my own site! Namely, xJAYMANx & xJAYMANx_toybox, hehe. How wickedly screwy is that? In fact, if you take a closer look, while our estimated values are identical at $12183.70, my site holds a super-slight lead in Daily Pageviews, 5091 to 4897. Crazy. Ridiculous. I mean, who visits my site? Okay, don’t answer that, lol.

Website Outlook
Mar 15 | xJAYMANx & xJAYMANx_toybox

Of course, surpassing both of our sites, the estimated worth of Angry Loli a.k.a. Mimi maintains a comfortable $1000+ edge. Again, lol.

Website Outlook
Mar 15 | Angry Loli a.k.a. Mimi

A-ha! For the first time, I’ve decided to include a graphical representation of “Blog Worth Over Time” pertaining to the otaku blogs on my “Battle List”, hehe. Based on Website Outlook’s theoretical numbers, this first graph depicts 11 “normal” otaku blogs, plus the “superhuman” blogs by Danny Choo (x10) and Sankaku Complex (x10), lol. To fit these two mega-blogs into the same chart, I simply divided their values by a factor of 10. As you can see, Sankaku Complex still holds a significant edge over Danny Choo. Enlarge for a clearer look.

This second graph depicts the 11 “normal” otaku blogs by themselves. Without the graphically-crushing effect by Danny Choo and Sankaku Complex, hehe. What’s remarkable to note is the similar trajectories between Angry Loli and xJAYMANx. Quite remarkable. As if a mathematical correlation existed between the two paths!

So what’ll happen in a couple weeks? Will xJAYMANx overtake Angry Loli? Nahhh, lol. I don’t think Mimi-chan would like that very much.

Part 2 of 5. Galactic Hunters & Assassins. Next, we jump from otaku battles to galactic bounty hunters! Hey you, do you remember the sexy punkish hunter who appeared for a split-second during Anakin’s podraces way back in “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” (1999)?

Well, her name is Aurra Sing. A bounty hunter born in the slums of Nar Shaddaa to a spice-addicted mother named Aunuanna. Here’s her introduction in the Star Wars Wiki.

Aurra Sing, also known as Nashtah, was once a female Jedi Padawan but, following a series of tragedies and misfortunes, left the Jedi Order to become a vicious bounty hunter specializing in Jedi assassinations. Her career spanned over seven decades, from at least 32 BBY to 40 ABY.

So why am I bringing her up? Well, yesterday, upon watching the 22nd and final episode of “The Clone Wars” Season 1, Aurra appeared for the first time in the CG-animated series! Nice.

Ah, the fearless bounty hunter Cad Bane.

The sharp-shooting assassin Aurra Sing!

And her extra long fingers, lol.

Aurra: “I’m in a bad mood.”

“Very bad.”

“Don’t even get up.”

“Because you’re dead anyway.”

“Bang. You’re dead.”

Bane growls in growing irritation.

Bane grins in satisfying victory.

Until he picks up Ziro the Hutt. Grrr.

Haha, splendid finale! Easily 5 of 5 stars! Then coming later this year, “The Clone Wars” Season 2. Definitely expecting more of Cad Bane and Aurra Sing. Nice. Very nice indeed, lol. Not to mention a live-action “Star Wars” series coming in 2010. Amazing. “Star Wars” is taking over the world. Again, lol.

Part 3 of 5. Dragons, Snakes & Earrings. Next, for the main event, we leap from galactic hunters and killers to Tokyo sadists and masochists! Way back in September 2008, fellow blogger Miko-chan recommended that I read the 2003 novel “Snakes and Earrings” (Hebi ni Piasu) by Hitomi Kanehara. Then again in February 2009, she suggested on my Tiger post that I check out the 2008 film “Snakes and Earrings” instead. So finally, a month later, I did.

Lui/Louis (played by the gorgeous Yuriko Yoshitaka) enters the dance club.

The beauty stares blankly until someone catches her eye.

The wildly-pierced punk, Ama (played by Kengo Kora, who also appeared in the high-school comedy “Gokusen 2″).

The punk notices her.

The beauty notices back.

He joins her.

She lets him.

He wants to show her something.

She wonders what it is.

His split snake-like tongue!

She reflexively sticks out her tongue, lol.

While his tongue grabs a cigarette, lol.

Lui is mesmerized: “Sugoi.”

Ama asks her something else.

Lui nods.

A wild night of passion between Lui and Ama.

A night which ignites their journey into the unknown.

Shiba/Shiva (played by Arata) the master tattoo-and-piercing artist.

The master’s intense gaze.

The introductions, lol.

Lui’s unusual request.

Shiba’s intense curiosity.

Inspecting her tongue! I wonder why…

Later in the film, a couple of famous actors! Do you recognize the one in front? Or the other one? Yup, Tatsuya Fujiwara! Star of “Death Note” and “Battle Royale” (reviewed in Blog 188), haha! And behind him is Shun Oguri! Star of “Crows Zero” (reviewed in Blog 168) and “Gokusen”, wow! Two big but hidden stars!

Hmm, I wonder if Meimi132-chan has already seen this film, hehe.

Whoa. Shocking. Almost disturbing. While not as violent or bloody as films like “Battle Royale”, it bluntly and forcefully and painfully explores the darkness and emptiness within the world of body modification and sado-masochism. Definitely not for everyone. Especially if it leaves you even more empty in the end than when you started. Like myself. I’m glad I tried the film for its dark and grotesque realities, as well as Yuriko Yoshitaka’s stunning beauty and arousing sexuality. But not to watch over and over. If ever again, lol. Seriously, Miko-chan, I don’t know how you managed to watch it six times already!

Part 4 of 5. March Birthday Week. Whew. Enough of the dire and depressing. Let’s move on to the weird and wacky! As many of my Tricky Toyboxers already know, last Thursday, March 19th was my birthday. So here’s a stack of photos taken at work and at home, with that light-headed state of mind, haha. Ah yes, here’s my awe-inspiring cubby hole! Do you like my plastic light-diffuser (white trashbags) hanging above? It’s probably been there for at least a year!

Why three computers? [1] Well, the left-most desktop is physically wired to the network. While it’s the oldest machine of the bunch, the network printing and Pandora.com music are best, lol. [2] The center laptop is my wireless work laptop, primarily and temporarily for my Tiger Team projects. It has the most-advanced Microsoft Word, but not Adobe Acrobat. [3] While the right-most laptop is my wireless home laptop, primarily for chat and non-work emails. If it had more memory, I’d also use it for Pandora. But it doesn’t. Plus it has the most-advanced version of Adobe Acrobat. Simple, eh?

Haha, yeah, on Wednesday, March 18th, our CEO and his admin assistant joined a game of foosball! And believe it or not, they won! Pretty embarrassing for the other team, lol.

Later that night, Lisa decided to cook a dinner consisting of whole-wheat farfalle pasta in garlic tomato sauce, Texas Toast garlic bread and asparagus, mmm!

Not necessarily for my birthday. But it was nice nonetheless, lol.

Extreme closeup!

Mmm, garlic and asparagus!

My first plate, hehe.

Lisa, I’m not ready!

Eh, not bad. Super-tilted, but not bad.

I don’t know what the heck Lisa did!

Playing dead.

Acting surprised!

Guiness the Menace is not amused.

Don’t you hate cellphone interruptions during dinner?

I guess not.

Guiness (at bottom) takes a peek at Lisa’s dinner, haha.

My second, and less artistic, plate.

Ah, the next day, Thursday, March 19th! NaTasha (from my Blog 191) and I decided to have my birthday lunch at “Outback Steakhouse”. Well, actually, I decided and she couldn’t refuse, lol. Mmm, coconut shrimp!

Ah, my favorite! Strawberry Smoothie! Sweeet! Yeah, I forgot to take photos of the actual steak and fries, dammit.

Then the following night, Friday, March 20th, I finally found time to take photos of my random gifts. Three birthday cards, two M&M eggs (from Lisa), and a Dairy Queen Blizzard (from Lisa’s mom), haha. The real cash wasn’t bad either!

A better shot of the pile.

Finally, here’s Lisa’s amusing collection. “A universal remote control does not, in fact, allow you to control the universe. I did not get you a universal remote control for your birthday because, believe me, you’d just be disappointed. [Then she added:] I did not get you a remote for your new T.V. either because there is no new T.V. Happy Birthday! Lisa & Guiness, too!”

LOL, that’s an inside joke since I planned to buy a new 46-inch wide-screen LCD HDTV this year. Sadly, the recession delayed that plan. Hence, no new TV yet. Just the same old 30-inch tube TV. But fear not! If not this year, then next year!

Part 5 of 5. How Random Ran Red. Last but not least, the inevitably random portion of the mega-post! Red, red, red! Ladies in red! First, if you’ve never seen an episode of “Battlestar Galactica” (2003-2009), here’s my glorious review from Blog 149.

Lastly… “Battlestar Galactica”, Season 4 (mid-season 10 of 20 episodes), treads a darker more-twisted road between post-apocalyptic machines and the last surviving remnants of humanity. Technology, terrorism, religion, politics, sex, suffering and death are all wrapped in a blood-soaked flag pointing towards possible salvation. Is there any hope? The story lines are wicked and wrenching yet oddly fulfilling in its unrelenting and unforgiving exploration of the human soul. Not to mention the hyper-intense special effects and heart-pumping percussion-oriented music. Breath-taking. 5 stars. Can’t wait for the final chapter. ^_^

Then last night, wow! I finished the final episode of the final chapter! Glorious! Wickedly breathtaking. Heart-stoppingly mind-blowing. Twists, turns and surprises, haha. Maybe I’ll take some screencaps for my next week’s mega-post! But for now, here’s the “BSG” version of “The Last Supper”. Sex, religion, politics, all wrapped into one 1600-pixel wallpaper. Steal it! Steal it now!

Secondly, do you see my “Live Traffic Feed” in the second column? Well, recently, I’ve seen quite a few visitors from Google Sweden linking to this “Lisa as Lolita” photo below. Yup, the same Lisa as the Lisa who cooked the garlic dinner above, lol. So I thought I’d mention this odd note. Sweden? Why Sweden? Hehe, in any case, here’s the original Blog 124 from January 2008. From Frumpy to Loli!

Finally, yeah-yeah, I know I know, “Angry Momo” again. This will be the last time, I promise! Yeah, I know she didn’t win the Final Round, hehe. But last night, Saturday, March 21st, during our random chat, Mimi-chan gave me permission to share Momo-chan as my Toybox mascot. If I choose to do so! Because, in her own words, “sharing is caring”. Aww.

I’ll say it again. Aww. That’s so sweet of her. I haven’t 100% decided yet. But if I choose to go ahead with Momo-chan as my Toybox mascot, I’ll actually be “un-breaking” one of my “Seven Broken Rules”. Yeah, un-breaking! Here’s the original list from my Blog 189.

Seven Otaku-Blog Rules Broken by xJAYMANx_toybox

[1] No official blog mascot.
[2] Not a participant in the e2046 banner exchange program.
[3] Not a member of a blog club or coalition, such as Team Blue.
[4] No major design change since April 2007.
[5] No up-to-date support of Internet Explorer 6, 7 or higher since July 2007.
[6] No blog-linked Danny Choo Member News posts since September 2008.
[7] No daily-post or holiday-post schedule. Specifically, no more than 1-2 posts per week.

LOL, so should I fix what’s already broken?

Well, that’s all for this week, folks! Sorry, my Tempted Toyboxers, I couldn’t bring back Miyabi (Maria Ozawa) for a final hello or goodbye. But I’m sure she’ll be back with another update in my estimated blog worth, hehe. So how was it? What’d you think of this week’s five-lap mega-post? Did you get enough? Peeking at ongoing otaku-blog battles? Glimpsing at galactic hunters and bountiful assassins? Staring through split-tongue serpents and masochistic dragons? Digesting a few tasty birthday treats? And blinking at random red-red-red-tinged observations? Thanx, Aurra, Louis, Yuriko, Lisa, and Mimi-chan! Thanx for the assassins, serpents and wishes! Peace. Out.

]]> http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/03/22/blog-194-assassins-serpents-wishes/feed/ 61 Blog 192 > Slingers, Angles & Angry Lolis http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/03/08/blog-192-slingers-angles-angry-lolis/ http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/2009/03/08/blog-192-slingers-angles-angry-lolis/#comments Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:25:27 +0000 xjaymanx http://www.xjaymanx.com/toyboxx/?p=1879

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…

Part 1 of 5. Anime Watching Update. Damn, it’s been over a month since my last anime-watching update in January! To rectify the brutal situation, here are my latest anime speed-reviews. Four more anime titles-seasons watched and completed since then, for a total of 9 this year.

Vampire Knight – Guilty [6]. My 6th anime title-or-season of the year. Second season, 13 episodes. Ehh, not bad, but kinda slow-moving in its over-dramatized soap-opera introspection amongst all the characters, both vampire and human. Adequate 3 of 5 stars. Here are a couple of dramatic wallpapers.

Yuki in one of her many vulnerable moments.

Yuki lying gently beside Kaname.

Martian Successor Nadesico [7]. Inspired by Lene-chan‘s review post, this is my 7th anime title-or-season of the year. First season, 26 episodes. Once again, not bad, as a multi-textured but more-humorous clone of “Evangelion”. Solid 4 of 5 stars! Here are three amusing wallpapers, lol.

The eccentric crew of the space battleship Nadesico.

The blue-haired Captain Yurika and the child genius Ruri.

Ruri in one of her rare nekomimi (cat-eared) modes, lol.

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino [8]. My 8th anime title-or-season of the year. Second season, 13 episodes. Entertaining drama but ultimately not-as-satisfying as the original girls-with-guns season. Decent 3 of 5 stars. Featuring the blonde twin-tailed assassin Triela, here are four beautifully-understated wallpapers.

Triela thoughtfully gazes into the necklace of her nemesis Pinocchio (in the background).

Little Henrietta fidgets beside the bear-loving Triela.

Triela poses with her favorite toys, both furry and deadly, lol.

Triela relaxes with her fellow assassins, Henrietta and Rico.

Sol Bianca – Legacy [9]. My 9th anime title-or-season of the year. Sequel season, 6 episodes. Ehh, not too bad. While the first 3 episodes sucked, the last 3 finally improved in its emotion and drama. Inconsistent 3 of 5 stars. Here are two hard-to-find images, lol.

Ah, the awe-inspiring Sol Bianca!

And the all-female pirate crew of the Sol Bianca.

That’s about it! So, at a rate of 9 titles or seasons for the first 10 weeks, I’m currently on pace to hit 45 titles or seasons by the end of the year. Not bad! Haha, maybe I should *cheat* a little by stocking up on quicker two-hour anime films! Nahhh, maybe not, lol. I’ll just whatever I see, whenever I see it, however I see it. Sound good?

Part 2 of 5. The Gunslinger & Mimi. Hehe, oh yeah, speaking of “Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino” and Triela, when I stumbled upon Episode 10, I burst into surprised laughter no less than two times! LOL, the first time appeared when Triela began talking to Maria, a girl she would be protecting.

And Maria asked Triela to call her “Mimi”, lol. Instantly, I thought of Angry Mimi and laughed in surprise, hahaha.

Coincidence? Oddly, I could almost sense a similarity between the two Mimis. I wonder if the writers…

Nahhh, it couldn’t be. Could it?

Haha, later in the episode, they played some chess.

Hahaha, isn’t this a perfectly Angry Mimi reaction?

Pretty hilarious, if you ask me! LOL!

My second burst into laughter appeared when they introduced the foosball table! Yup, foosball! Also known as table soccer or kicker, lol. I mean, if you remember my foosball antics last month, you know what I mean!

Yet another awesome coincidence, lol.

And here’s yet another competitive Mimi-esque moment. Finding a way to beat her opponent, hehe.

Haha, yeah, that was pretty funny. And if you didn’t already figure it out, this was favorite episode of the series. Double coincidence with Mimi and foosball. Can’t get any better than that, lol. Can it?

Part 3 of 5. Angles of a Foosball Ninja. The Ninja Legend grows! Speaking of foosball and kicker and table soccer, here’s a bit of an update since my foosball antics last month. Couple weeks ago, back on February 26th, my team earned its first win (best of three games, 5-2 and 5-1) in the Foosball Tournament. Well, during this past week, on March 3rd, my team earned its second win (5-0 and 5-0). Nice! But that’s not the funny thing, lol. Over the past few weeks, it seems my “Ninja” reputation has spread throughout the office to a point where even employees I rarely talk to, already know my foosball abilities! Too funny!

According to the guys who regularly play, my overall speed and left-handed power are what seems to separate me from the rest. I also have a few trademark moves, lol. Like my “payback” move, where I instantly smash a goalie’s kick back into his own goal! I agree, lol. In fact, some of them have already begun to pick up that move, lol. Another move is my ability to score from my left-hand’s five-man offense. Hehe, yeah, I already mentioned that in my previous post. But some have actually wondered if I was left-handed! For those who haven’t seen my previous foosball post, here’s a shot of the office foosball table.

Yup, so the Ninja Legend grows. Sadly, beyond the core addicts, the rest of the office employees are still too slow or too busy to move the tournament along. Oh well, lol. It’s understandable. That’s more fun for us! Which reminds me, check out this *sick* kicker table I found on the nets! Skinnier but twice the length of a normal table! Four players on each side! Sick!

Okay, enough about foosball, lol.

Part 4 of 5. Melancholy of an Angry Loli. Speaking of Mimi-chan, it’s always disappointing when “Anonymous” commenters still find time to ruin Mimi-chan’s cheerful posts with their fruitless poison. Namely, raining on her milestone announcement of her blog exceeding 100,000 hits. Why would anyone take the time to create misery? Who knows? Here’s a screencap of the post.

Next, here’s a screencap and spotlight on the “Anonymous” comment.

While I definitely understand Mimi-chan’s reaction, I also don’t think it’s worth her time to repeatedly react to the poison. My advice would be to acknowledge it quietly then thank the person for visiting. Nothing more. And leave it at that. Without wasting precious time and energy on a worthless provocation. Because everyone else can see right through it and defend Mimi-chan! Right? Don’t let it push your buttons so easily, hehe.

Part 5 of 5. Triangles & Tribulations. Damn, part five already? Yeah, I guess so, lol. Well, triggered by various Mimi-powered rants, as well as the findings from my previous mega-post, I finally decided to exchange blog feeds with the infamously-ecchi otaku blog, Sankaku Complex (Triangle Complex). Yup, finally, lol. First, here’s a screencap of my own blog.

Next, several screen-heights down, here’s my stylish insertion of Sankaku’s blog feed into the center column. Based on Sankaku’s images, I designed the 210×210 square image myself, hehe. Nice, eh?

Finally, here’s a screencap of the “Feed Exchange” page on Sankaku Complex. Pretty cool.

In fact, since installing Sankaku’s blog feed a few days ago, I’ve already seen several visits on my blog coming from Sankaku’s blog! Now that’s pretty damn fast! Hmmm, I guess this “feed exchange” stuff really works, lol. Unfortunately, Mimi-chan seems to have made quite a few “Anonymous” enemies there too {sigh}. Oh well, what can we do? The nature of the internets.

Whew! A few hours later, and I’m finally done! Although, my left eye is starting to twitch a bit again. Argh. But I hope you enjoyed our five-piece 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! Thank you, Triela, Yuki, Ruri, Mimi, and once again, Triela! And I hope this tinier-than-usual mega-post has penetrated and permeated your otaku-poisoned personality, haha. Just kidding, otaku-purified not otaku-poisoned! In any case, my Trusty Toyboxers, stay outta trouble, okay? Meanwhile, I hope I can finish a new piece of “Momo” fanart for Mimi-chan, lol. Peace. Out.

 

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