Blog 157 > My Anime Roommate?

So what do u do when the summer is so hot that your female roommate starts walking around the house in her panties? Answer: Nothing, since u can’t change her mind anyway. Then again, it’s no big deal for me to sit at my laptop in my boxers. Hence, it’s no big deal for Lisa either, lol. >_<

In fact, today, it suddenly hit me that Kallen from “Code Geass” reminds me of Lisa. Not only in their similar swings of melancholy, confidence, lovesickness and cheerfulness, but also in their variety of outfits, even their reddish hair. I mean, if she really wanted to, Lisa could definitely cosplay as Kallen! But I doubt she even knows what cosplay is. Too bad, lol. For more on the history of Lisa, check out my Blog 123 > Frumpy Orange Photoshoot and Blog 145 > Vegas in July.

As for myself, who do *I* resemble? See answer below, lol. >_< Continue reading

Blog 156 > Deconstructing Danny – Part 2

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

Previously in Part 1 [Link]

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

Part 2

  • Jimi [sighs]: You guys were talking about popularity and enjoyment and sensitivity…
  • Tack: What’s wrong with…
  • Katt [shrugs]: Yeah, so?
  • J [sits]: Oh god, u guys sound like old ladies. Did u exchange apple-pie recipes too?
  • K and T: …
  • Jimi: Reality is much darker than that.
  • K: You’re wearing cat-ears and you’re gonna talk to us about reality?
  • T: Hahaha, good one.
  • Jimi: Who else? Because like every other guy, you’re too distracted, or too stupid, to figure it out. Playing with your little dolls. Lifting up their little skirts. And peeking at their little panties. Awww, how cute.
  • K [annoyed]: Christ, here she goes again.
  • T [blushes]: They’re called figures…
  • Jimi [ignores them]: But since you’re not as stupid as other guys, I’ll tell u anyway. Because u…
  • Jimi and K [at the same time]: …don’t have a choice.
  • K: Yeah, we got it, we got it. Are u gonna tell us?
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Blog 155 > Holy Crap, I Got Carded!

Hey, holy crap, listen to this! This afternoon, Saturday (23 Aug 2008), I went grocery shopping like I always do. Got my food, got my drinks, even picked up another bottle of white zinfandel to help me sleep at night (NaTasha’s suggestion, lol). Just so u know, I’ve never been a regular drinker, and when I was younger and heavier, I looked much older, so ID-checking has very rarely come up.

But when that bottle of wine reached the checkout lady (she was cute for someone who looked to be in her 40s, possibly 50s, but definitely not absent-minded or elderly), do you know what she did? She carded me! Hahaha, yup, she actually asked for my ID! And for the reasons above, I think this was the second time I’ve ever been carded in my life! ^_^

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Blog 154 > Starting From Scratch

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

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

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Blog 153 > Deconstructing Danny – Part 1

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

Part 1

  • Tack [smiling]: Hey Katt! What’s up?
  • Katt [lazily]: Hey, not much…
  • T: What’s wrong? U sound bummed…
  • K: I just visited DannyChoo.com this morning. He had another figure post…
  • T: Sounds cool!
  • K: …mixed with some of his inspirational wisdom again.
  • T [confused]: What’s wrong with that? U like those, don’t u?
  • K [nods]: Yeah, I do. Usually I do. But something bugged me this time…
  • T: Oh, really?
  • K: Yeah…
  • T: What’s that?
  • K: Well, u know that Cosby quote that Danny always likes to reference?
  • T: Oh yeah, something like “…the secret to failure is trying to please everybody.” Yeah?
  • K [nods]: Yeah… Actually, it’s pretty similar to that Lincoln quote “… can’t please all of the people all of the time”, yada yada.
  • T: Hey, that’s true! So what about it?
  • K: Well, I got to thinking about it… If Danny isn’t trying to please everybody, why does he keep on floating his polls and requests for opinions, et cetera. Isn’t he trying to please everyone?
  • T [laughs]: No way! Come on, Katt! Wait, you’re talking about his new portal design, right? He’s definitely not doing that.
  • K: Are u sure?
  • T [nods]: Yeah! He’s just trying to design the best experience for regular and potentially-regular visitors. But not ALL his visitors.
  • K: Huh? Potentially regular?
  • T: Sure! Why would Danny want to keep new readers who didn’t like figures or anime?
  • K: Yeah, that makes sense.
  • T: Not only that, if he wanted to please ALL his readers, he’d design his site for IE6, IE5, IE4… But that would be stupid.
  • K [nods]: Yeah… Or he could just be lazy, and not make the time to be backward-compatible.
  • T: Hahaha, good one. I guess that makes us ALL lazy, hahaha.
  • K [laughs]: Hahaha, yeah… I dunno.
  • T: What?
  • K: It still bugs me.
  • T: Really?
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Blog 151 > Christine the Blade – Part 3

Well, yesterday (Saturday), spent a few hours experimenting with a new “Blade” design; integrated (1) previously drawn art, (2) recently downloaded Photoshop brushes, and (3) new geometric elements. And I’m definitely pleased with the results! But pleasing Melanie and Christine is an entirely different matter, lol.

On a more puzzling note…

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Blog 149 > Britannia Versus Galactica

Ah, finally caught up! Yup, over the last 5 days, caught up with the last 18 weeks of “Code Geass R2” (scheduled for about 26 episodes). Still such an ambitious and wide-sweeping storytelling scope! And just like the supernatural chess-match strategies in “Death Note”, still one of the most-intellectually engaging 5-star series in recent years. But if there’s any downside to such a broad tapestry of characters, it’s the relative lack of any resonating emotional depth among specific characters… so far. Thankfully, now that I’m caught up, the threat of spoilers has been drastically reduced, hehe. ^_^

However, while “Code Geass R2” and Lelouch have been magnificent, a half-hour anime can’t compete with the best one-hour live-action sci-fi dramas on television.

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Blog 148 > Lelouch Commands You

“Jump complete!” Well, after a Saturday of exporting XML data from my old WordPress 2.0 “Toybox”, installing the latest WordPress 2.6 “Toybox”, duplicating the template, importing the XML into the new template, then a Sunday of (category, link and post) cleanup, I’ve finally upgraded to the newest version of WordPress.org! So hopefully, this blog will feel a little less glitchy and a little bit quicker. ^_^;

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Blog 147 > Christine the Blade – Part 2

Hey, this time, she’s finally finished! Remember my *Blade* black-white art almost a month ago? Well, here’s the color version! Like I’ve mentioned many times, *Blade* is based on the Muay Thai (kickboxing) fighter Christine Toledo, commissioned by Alias Fight Wear, and obviously drawn in an anime style, lol.

But a couple weeks ago in July, I met Christine for the first time and saw my first Christine fight! So here’s my photo story, lol. ^_^;

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Blog 146 > Human Pets & Masters

Hey, ever heard of Human Pets?… If you haven’t, it’s a community which was born within the Facebook network, where humans buy, sell, feed and pet other “human” pets (or themselves), and have a fun time being animals, lol. But because this is gonna be a weird multi-topic post, I’ll leave the “Human Pets” for last, haha.

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Blog 145 > Vegas in July

Sorry folks, no anime or figures this time, lol. But like I mentioned in Mimi’s blog, my ex-wife’s little sister Lisa has been successfully living (and thankfully paying rent) at my house for the last 6-7 months. More recently, her Boston Terrier named Guiness was moved from her ex’s place and joined us last month, lol… So I thought, since it’s about that semi-annual time of year to post some self-portrait shots, why not? Here’s a big batch of photos taken on July 4th and today July 31st… Enjoy! I’m pretty sure, Miko-chan will, lol. ^_^;

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Blog 144 > Operation Woodstock

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

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

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Blog 138 > Operation Rebox – Completed

Mission accomplished! You didn’t think I’d make it, did ya? ^_^;

Back on June 22nd, I launched Operation Rebox. And now, less than 2 weeks later, the operation is complete (sorta, since I don’t really wanna take apart Darth Vader or Storm Trooper). If you threw your two cents of reluctant encouragement, thanx, lol. So to commemorate the event, here’s a nice sampling of the cleaned and *reboxed* figures… Photo Set 1 and Photo Set 2.

P.S. By the way, thanx *Chun* for our debate on commissioned art, thanx *Kris* for our discussion on anime blogging, as well as *Gordon* and *Meronpan* for your random blue-haired replies, lol. I’ve added u guys to my blog list. (If I missed someone, yell back!) Without doubt, the interactivity of the anime blogging community is another reflection of Danny’s tireless efforts. Speaking of tired… Orz

P.P.S. Ahh, what the hell~ *Team Blue* did it, so why not? Self Portrait 1 and Self Portrait 2.

P.P.P.S. Here’s the link to my DC Member News post, hehe.

Blog 135 > SOS Danny – A Wikipedia Tale

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

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

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

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

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

Blog 132 > Triple Monitor Goodness

Yeah, why not? A photo of my *anime*-style workspace at home. Very little attempt to clean up. Just 48 of my 79-figure collection, plus lots of goodies (and bills, argh).

My setup: (1) Left. 15-inch laptop. About 2.5 years old. My main machine, hooked up to center monitor. Working on Akiko. (2) Center. 20-inch monitor. To watch anime, movies, and check Photoshop graphics. Akiko on top of Purple Mirai. (3) Right. 17-inch desktop. About 4.5 years old. For BitTorrent and Pandora to free up laptop resources. Shiro Otoko & Mirai.

P.S. Planning to buy a 24-inch iMac and 50-inch plasma after I sell my house. ^_^;

P.P.S. Wow, lots of international comments too, hahaha. ^_^;

Blog 127 > Vinyl-Inspired Wackiness

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

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

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Blog 126 > Skirts, Boots & Guns!

Hahaha, Lisa returns in another impromptu photoshoot! Killer skirts, boots and guns, lol… Wrapped in her vintage dress from the 1950s, donning her favorite bright-red cowboy boots, and gripping my favorite Tomb Raider air-gun, Lisa finds some time to breathe before her Saturday night date (again), lol. Totally unscripted, flawlessly unplanned and unexpectedly cool!… Enjoy the rest of the shoot!

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