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!
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 122 > My 49 Anime in 2007
Happy New 2008, my fellow anime fanatics!… Back in my Blog 061, I noted that I watched 58 anime titles-seasons in 2006. While I couldn’t match that number in 2007, watching 49 is still freakin’ huge (or frakin’ huge, for BSG fans), lol. That’s almost one anime title or season per week! From the war-torn and tragic 1988 classic film Grave of the Fireflies to the wind-blown and melancholic 2007 Shinkai film 5 Centimeters Per Second. From the heart-breaking Kanon to the hilarious Lucky Star to the haunting Kino’s Journey.
Needless to say, 2007 was an amazing year for both old-and-new anime watching! Maybe I’ll hit 60 in 2008, hahaha!… Now, without further delay, here are my speed reviews for all 49 of the anime titles-seasons I’ve finished in 2007.
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 119 > Sepia Death Girls!
Finally! Full photoshoot is finally ready! As I teased in my previous Blog 118 > The Joy of Sepia, this month we welcome my latest “Death Girls” — 1/6-scale “Morte from Noir et Blanc” (Toranoana, June-July 2007) obtained in August 2007, and 1/6-scale “Misa from Death Note” (Jun Planning, June 2007) obtained in September 2007.
For this Canon photoshoot, I ended up with 65 shots, taken with the backdrop of a Japanese cemetery. And for the first time, I experimented with sepia! May not sound like much, but as my brother observed, anime and sepia aren’t usually associated with each other, right? In any case, I really like the Gothic atmosphere created with a simple change in color and contrast. I hope you do too. Enjoy the rest!
Warning > I recommend Firefox or Safari since IE 6/7 tends to break under the photo pressure, argh.
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My Anime Figure List >>
Click for Full Photoshoot (65) >>
Blog 118 > The Joy of Sepia!
Sepia! When I saw my friend Lena‘s “Mad Elephants” sepia photos in her LiveJournal, I had to do it too, lol. So I tried it with my “Death Girls” photoshoot taken earlier this month — my 1/6-scale “Morte from Noir et Blanc” (Toranoana, June-July 2007) obtained in August 2007, and 1/6-scale “Misa from Death Note” (Jun Planning, June 2007) obtained in September 2007. Hmmmm, I think their gothic outfits match the sepia style quite nicely! Their full photoshoot coming soon!
Blog 117 > Stunning Running Progress!
Holy crap! If you remember my post Blog 111 > Toying with the Treadmill?, you’ll know I’ve been accelerating my average treadmill speed since the start of August 2007. From a walking 3.5 mph in August, to a quicker 4.0 mph (3 miles for 45 minutes) at the end of September. Well, last night on November 1st, while watching “Battlestar Galactica – Mini-Series” (yet again), I ran 3 miles in a mere 40 minutes! That’s an average 4.5 mph! But I didn’t stop there, I added another 0.5 miles in 6 minutes! That’s an average 5.0 mph for the extra bit!!! Plus overall, that’s 3.5 miles in 46 minutes! Crap, I remember when I used to be out of breath in less than 1-2 minutes at 5.0 mph, let alone 6 minutes without even thinking!
Not only that, my weight this morning was a stunning 155 lbs! That’s a loss of about 15 lbs since I started my new nightly running routine just 3 months ago! Double crap, this is my best weight since my skinny days as a college undergrad! I doubt I can hit my freshman weight of 135 lbs, but then again, I never imagined I could hit the 150s. Damn. And while this is cardio and not strength training, maybe I don’t need that Bowflex so soon after all. I’d rather aim for a shiny new 24-inch Leopard-installed iMac, hahaha.
P.S. So how did this all start? Why August 2007? Well, I think it was as simple as this… On July 27th, two days before my great friend Anna’s 21st birthday, we had a comment-chat on her LiveJournal. Here’s a snippet.
- Me: Hehe, I’m not sure of the translation, but I think you’re talking about age? I still feel like 25 or 27! ; )))
- Anna: But you look like 28 ))
- Me: Awww, that’s sweet! I feel like it : )))… And u still look 19, hehe : D… P.S. So then you know people who are 27, 28, or 29?
- Anna: Thanx, Jay!… Of course, I have friends who are 25, 32, 34… Oh and 28. of course! ))
- Me: You’re welcome! : )))… Wow, so with all of your friends, I appreciate your compliment even MORE!
- Anna: Sure, you look younger and I don’t feel that you’re much older… Age it’s just year of your birth.=)
Blog 116 > Saber Trooper!
Triple damn!!! More than 2 1/2 months since my Vader Versus Haruhi photoshoot in mid-August! Tied up with work, anime, my brother’s wedding in September, and the completion of my latest Mirai masterpiece in October. But finally, we welcome my 1/6-scale “Saber in White Swimsuit” (Clayz, June 2006) obtained in August 2007, 1/6-scale “Bunny Girl Yuki Nagato” (Atelier Sai, April 2007) obtained in May 2007, and 1/7-scale “Storm Trooper” (Kotobukiya, November 2003) obtained in July 2007.
For this Canon photoshoot, I ended up with 59 shots, taken with various backgrounds. And for the first time, I experimented with the “Auto Levels” function in Photoshop. Wow, it automatically adjusted the color and contrast pretty well!… But what’s the funniest of all is that this looks like a trooper-armored Danny Choo kidnapping Saber and Nagato! Just like he “kidnapped” the easy-on-the-eyes Aya Hirano, hahaha! Enjoy!
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Click for Full Photoshoot (59) >>
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 114 > Saber Trooper, Coming Soon!
Coming soon! My full photoshoot of Swimsuit Saber and Storm Trooper!
Blog 113 > Shadows of Time, Final Day
WOW, I’m finally finished! After 38 random days over the last 5 months — maybe about 77 total hours — I finally completed my “Shadows of Time” art piece featuring my interpretation of the shadowy Shiro Otoko (Man in White) and Mirai Suenaga in her Meisai Gear battle suit!… Haha, I let Megan take a peek before my post, and she thought it was “absolutely gorgeous”. She’s a graphic designer, but she still can’t believe I did it all in Photoshop (Version 7.0). Yup, just PS7, my laptop, and my thumb-side trackball mouse. But most of all, thanx to Danny for the inspiration, and especially your infinite patience, lol. And now, here was my progress during these last 5 months…
Blog 112 > Rebuild of Gothloli Asuka!
Sugoi! Asuka finally came! Haha, no, not what you’re thinking, but close enough, haha!… During my routine anime figure sweeps, I found the matching 1/6-scale “Gothloli Asuka” (Dec 2007) figure for my 1/6-scale “Gothloli Rei” (Dec 2006) figure, both preassembled in polystone, sculpted by Suzu (Atomic-bom) and manufactured by Amie-Grand. Yes! So I ordered her immediately! Unfortunately, Asuka is likewise in the $120 USD range, which means more ramen for dinner, lol. Both who cares? The figure looks fantastic! Plus, by the time she’s released in mid-December, she’ll easily be sold out in the midst of the new “Rebuild of Evangelion” movies. I won’t regret missing this chance… By the way, did I mention Asuka’s detachable skirt? =)
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Blog 020 > Going All the Rei! >>
Blog 042 > Evangelion Lolitas! >>
Blog 085 > Does Faking It Matter? >>
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 108 > Figures of Air, Snow & Death
Photo 2292 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge
Can’t wait for her photoshoot, lol.
Wow, more than two months since my last collection update! Unfortunately, my 17 boxed figures have grown to 23. Argh, too busy for photoshoots! Nevertheless, here are my latest 7 of those 23 still-boxed figures, including Morte the Death Bringer (Noir et Blanc), Misa (Death Note), and the genuine-not-fake Gothloli Asuka (Evangelion), as well as characters from the breathtaking Kanon and Air series. Enjoy the rest of the photos!
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!