Awwwww, thanx Anna!… After sending her Christmas card on December 21st (Ukraine celebrates Christmas on January 7th), it traveled overseas from Kiev to Vegas, and was finally delivered to me 3 weeks later on January 10th. Despite being a bit late, it was such an unexpected surprise! Plus 3 hand-made paper snowflakes!!! Thanx again, Anna, this was the sweetest gift I received (besides telling me I look 27, hehe)!… And now, here are 7 of the photos I took on January 17th. Enjoy!
Category Archives: Random
Blog 124 > From Frumpy to Loli
Yep, “Lolita” is the word she used (whereas “Loli” is a more Japanese abbreviation)… In less than 24 hours, Lisa transformed from her stay-at-home “frumpy” look (in Blog 123) to her carefully-selected “Lolita” outfit for her date with (I believe) another English Lit professor, haha. She tells me she’s read Nabokov’s original novel, but she’s never seen the 1962 nor 1997 film adaptations. Though she does seem fascinated by the Loli-esque relationship between Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood… So here’s Lisa a bit more anxious than usual, intensely checking her messages just a mere hour-and-a-half from her scheduled date.
Blog 123 > Frumpy Orange Photoshoot
Frumpy! Yep, that’s what Lisa called herself, haha… Hey, remember my Blog 120 > Orange Christmas photo-post? Well, back in early December, due to various circumstances, my ex’s sister Lisa asked to move in with me as a housemate. Actually, I’ve known Lisa since she was a 12-year-old brat in 1994, so she’s not totally unfamiliar. But after a full 5 weeks of moving and assembling her stuff from 2 or 3 other places, and fulfilling her first-month’s rent to me, last night (Wednesday the 16th) was her first night staying over. Which somehow included an impromptu photoshoot in her new orange bedroom and “frumpy” stay-at-home outfit!… Consequently, here are 13 of the better shots. For more of Lisa, she can also be found at MySpace > EvieVanCovet. Enjoy the odd and orange frumpiness!
Blog 121 > August Cover Girl!
Ah, finally! My 2008 calendar finally arrived last week: The first edition of the “Canada’s Hottest Girls” Calendar, Ottawa Edition. And in it, one of my dearest friends Annie appears for August 2008! (I wonder if they knew her birth month?)… In fact, if anyone’s interested in purchasing the calendar: (1) Click this link to Canada’s Hottest Girls. (2) Choose the city: Ottawa. (3) Are you supporting one of Canada’s Hottest Girls: Yes. (4) Please select the girl: Anouck!… But now, here are a few photos of the hot calendar and the stunning Annie, hehe.
Blog 120 > Orange Christmas!
December 24, 2007. Vegas. My house. While clearing out the orange bedroom, I thought it would be a great space for a photoshoot. Skinny me (lost 20 pounds in 5 months) with my favorite Tomb Raider (H&K Super P8) airgun, lol. A great photographic way to end a memorable year, eh?
Blog 115 > Who Watches the Watchmen?
Wow. A couple months ago, on August 26th, 2007, an email subscription sent me an eye-popping article on the “Watchmen” movie coming in 2009! For those of you who know the title, you know what I mean! About 20 years ago, when I first read the award-winning “Watchmen” comic back around ’87-’89, I was immediately drawn in and amazed by the violence, psychology and complexity of a world where superheroes grew middle-aged and cynical. Not only that, but the symbolism — especially of the watch — within the comic and how frames seemed to meld from one to the next definitely made an impression on me. I think this was the first time I was exposed to such darkness in comics, manga or anime. And coming in 2009, I new “Watchmen” CG film will hope to live up to the highest expectations!… Below, here are 6 photos of the old “Watchmen” comic I’ve kept since high-school…
Blog 111 > Toying with the Treadmill?
Hmmm, why am I posting about my treadmill? Well, I guess it was to better explain my routine to my kewl California friend Megan (and to myself as well), but it seemed to fit my blog better than my website. For a quick background: Despite owning the treadmill since 2000, at the end of July 2007, I finally started to bump up my simple walking to a partial-running treadmill workout. Then on August 4th, I finally got a real set of running shoes — NIKE Air Max TL3’s — which without question fired up my workout. So comfortable yet light!
Now, after two months, at the end of September, I’ve hit the treadmill — with an action-packed DVD to keep me entertained — for a very consistent distance of 3.0 miles in 45 minutes (averaging 4.0 mph, while ranging from a walking 3.5 mph to a sprinting 6.0 mph, depending on the pace I prefer at various points in a film). And on a near-nightly basis! Not bad at all! So today, in anticipation of somehow taking this up another notch, I bought myself a second pair of the same running shoes! Who knows? I might even be brave enough to try some of the treadmill’s CRAZY training programs below! =)
Blog 110 > Urban Vinyl Toy Survival!
Photo 0671 by Megan | Click to enlarge
Those funky rabbit-shaped “dunny” designs!
When my kewl new friend Megan mentioned her “Urban Vinyl” toys for the first time (Sept 12th), I had no idea what she was talking about, lol. Were they made out of vinyl? Japanese toys? American? But after a bit of Google research — such as finding MillionairePlayboy.com and KidRobot.com — I gotta say: Whoa! That UV style is literally wild! If I’d have to compare it to a cartoon I’ve seen, I’d say “Ren & Stimpy”, very exaggerated, very brightly colored, like “comics on crack” (she liked that metaphor, lol)! But apparently, this toy style has gotten so wild that some designs can sell for hundreds of dollars! Is that possible? Well…
Blog 109 > Meez, Myself & I
Avatar by Lena | Click to see her post
My awesome MEEZ avatar, hahaha! Thanx, Lena!
Guess what? After waking up this morning, I checked my email to find that Lena (my kewl photographer friend in Russia) had designed a perfect MEEZ avatar of ME! HAHAHA, I told her it was awesome! I mean, the avatar had my shaved head, my glasses and goatee, my T-shirt and laptop, even the wood shelves, movie posters, widescreen monitor and high ceiling! Not only that, I ALWAYS squat on the floor when I use my computers! Definitely much better that those Yahoo avatars! Thanx, Lena! Next, click below to see how close she came!!!
Blog 107 > New York City!
Hey folks, I’m back! Sorry for the 2-3 week absence, but I’ve had tons of New York City photos to resize and organize for my website. While the wedding photos are protected behind a login (I’ve given some of you the login info), here are two of the photo sets I can show you, haha! These photos were taken in the morning and afternoon, mere hours before my brother’s wedding, at the Apple store, Nike store, and a Japanese bookstore. So enjoy the NYC sunshine!
Blog 101 > Shakira Versus Motoko
WOW, Shakira! First, let me say that during my workday breakfasts, I always keep the Spanish TV station turned on, since Spanish morning shows are always funnier, dancier, and never as serious as American morning shows. Much easier to wake up with a smile, lol. Well, today, the music video show of the hour played a newer Shakira video “Las de la Intuicion”. Usually, Shakira doesn’t turn my head, but I think this is the first time I thought “WOW!” seeing her. I don’t know why, but in her short black outfit and that bright blue-violet wig, she looked especially hot! If you remember my Blog 094 > Ghost in the Figure!, I think Motoko’s got some burning competition, hahaha!
Blog 100 > Another Dental Vacation!
Hahaha, yup! Another 6 months, another dental vacation! For those on LiveJournal who remember my Post 446 > Dental Vacation? back in January, you’ll know what I mean, lol. Damn, today was even more fun! Besides Jana’s easy cleaning of my teeth which started at 10am, most or all of Tiffani’s patients cancelled, so I was able to goof off with them till 12 noon! Talking about everything from losing weight, to Jana’s and my ex’s and best friends, to frames and LensCrafters, to getting more photo-boards and taking photos, to opening my laptop and visiting each other’s MySpace pages, to dating and finding people on Match.com, to joking about Tiff’s obsession with the owner of the Palms Hotel & Casino, hahaha!
Blog 097 > When It Rains, It Soars
Wow. I don’t usually rave over a musical artist. But in this case, I must make a startling exception for pianist-singer-songwriter Charlotte Martin. It’s barely two weeks since her song “Every Time It Rains” struck me on July 4th via the internet radio Pandora.com. Yet since then, I’ve been hooked by her heart-stopping resemblance to Tori Amos and to a lesser extent Kate Bush, whom she idolizes. Charlotte’s cover of Kate’s classic “Cloudbusting” is subdued yet piercingly refreshing. Tori yet not quite Tori. Kate yet not quite Kate. While some may deride her musical resemblance to her predecessors, Charlotte’s melodies and vocals are undeniably moving and clutching on a soul-stirring level that reaches their own. Fantastic! If you’re a fan of Tori or Kate and want to tread new paths that they themselves could’ve explored, then add Charlotte to your wish list. If you haven’t already.
Blog 093 > Fateful Circumstances Revisited
I don’t know if this has ever been done before — creating a video by setting a figure photoshoot to music — but in any case, here’s my first one. Ever since my original Blog 044 > Fateful Circumstances anime-figure photoshoot (47 shots taken in March 2007) featuring Yukino & Arima (from Kare Kano) and Saber (from Fate/Stay Night), I’ve had this intriguing idea in my head, of somehow composing a slideshow and setting it to music. After a preliminary 3-photo test, plus a few hours composing this one, I think the video actually turned out pretty well for an experiment! Enjoy the show!
Original Photoshoot >>
Original Full-Size Video > 856×480 WMV >>
Blog 092 > Otaku or Not Otaku?
A few days ago, my close friend Vanessa and I entered into an intriguing (almost heated) discussion regarding dating, relationships, and eventually my anime blog, particularly my figure photoshoots! In a nutshell, she was notably concerned about how my figure photos — typically of scantily-clad anime girls — would look to the random or casual blog visitor (especially a Westerner) not familiar with anime and its unique influence in Japanese mainstream culture. While they carry artistic value, she noted that the photoshoots could still be mis-interpreted as “creepy” or “perverted”. Fortunately, she knows me well, and understands that this is a common Western stereotype of anime fans (or otaku). But I admit, she does makes a good point that most visitors don’t know me so well, especially if they might include potential employers or recruiters or yes, even a new non-otaku girlfriend!
Needless to say, I value Vanessa’s opinion very highly. I can still enjoy anime, experiment with anime photoshoots, and blog about it, but I can do so without plastering and magnifying those images throughout my entire website. Consequently, over the last couple days, I’ve reworked my website in several ways. (1) I’ve restricted my anime header images to only a few specific anime sections. (2) I’ve moved the full photoshoots away from my blog posts and into these anime sections, behind a low-level anime login. (3) I’ve also set this anime login to protect any blog access from my website (i.e. front door), while keeping the direct blog address open (i.e. back door). (4) Similarly, I’ve also moved more-sensitive non-anime pages behind a friends-level login.
By implementing these changes, I hope to accommodate not only my otaku friends and acquaintances, but also my non-otaku friends (like Vanessa) who may feel awkward or afraid of forwarding my website to their own friends, and lastly, the random non-otaku stranger who may be a potential new friend. For a non-Japanese citizen residing outside of Japan, does this social sensitivity make me any less of an otaku? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I guess it depends on whether an otaku is supposed to possess any social graces to begin with, haha!
Blog 087 > Japanese Cuisine & Comedy!
One or two weeks ago, as part of her ongoing HTML studies, Vanessa suggested a weekend study session followed by lunch at the Osaka Japanese Restaurant on Sahara Avenue (Las Vegas). She later decided to skip the library, and on Saturday (yesterday), we finally went to the restaurant! Due to circumstances, I reached the place about 45 minutes before she and her sister Arlene did. But during the wait, I recorded a little video (at the bottom of this post) to pass the time, lol…
Blog 083 > Another Tease & An Act?
Oops, I lied in my last post! I lied about posting my anime-figure photoshoot NEXT. But not really, since I’m posting the next TWO posts at the same time, haha. So to continue the anime teaser, here’s another figure shot above!… And below, here’s a Dr. Pepper photoshoot I planned to show Anna…
Calling Dr. Pepper? LOL, okay, only my best Ukrainian friend Anna (a.k.a. The Real One) will get this “inside joke”. But for a couple of months now, she’s been missing “that f*cking Dr. Pepper!” When she first mentioned Dr. Pepper a couple of weeks ago, I told her I hadn’t had it for ages! Did I forget the taste? So last week or so, I bought a six-pack, and despite the initial weird flavor, it was easy to get used to, lol. Not bad at all. Soon enough, it’s pretty good! :)))… And now, my 9-photo reaction…
Blog 082 > A Tease & An Invite?
Hahaha, sorry about the anime teaser! But rest assured the figure photoshoot I postponed last week is being posted next!… Instead, here’s the photoshoot I promised weeks ago to take for my brother Joel. He’s getting married this September 1st, and this is my simple but effective step-by-step capture of “unraveling” the invitation as designed by his fiancee Christy. Nice, huh?
Now slipping into review mode (lol): While some may proclaim a lack of crispness or boldness, this horizontally-oriented lower-cased invitation definitely conveys an unimposing elegance which reflects the wedding location at the Japanese-styled Kitano New York hotel. The maroon, leaf green, and gold color scheme also works. But then, if I’m going to be a groomsman, why do they want me to wear a navy blue suit? Gahhh, lol. Okay, let’s get to the dozen-photo unraveling…
Blog 081 > Opening Pandora’s Box
Hey, ever heard of Pandora.com?… Just a few weeks ago, I heard about it for the first time by overhearing a co-worker. Within minutes, I visited the site and tried out the online radio. And now, a few weeks later, I can’t go online without listening to my randomized “Quick Mix” of customized artist-based stations! In fact, the first tab in my Firefox 2 browser automatically opens to Pandora! If you search for “Linkin Park”, that station will configure artists along that genre, and songs which you can individually “approve” or “decline”. I think I’ve tried another online radio in the past, but I don’t remember it, lol. The thing is: It’s hard to believe that I hardly open my Winamp MP3 player anymore!… So for those sitting at a computer all day, who are open and willing to try out new music that fits one or many artist genres, without the clunkiness of transferring MP3 files, this may be a welcome addition to your musical day! P.S. If you’re interested, here’s the main page and here’s my profile.