AAAAHAHAHAHAHA.

State of mind: delighted
Current soundtrack: Some random moojik

So. Hm. Nicovideo/Nicodouga. You find the weirdest things on it. Today alone I uncovered a behind-the-scenes look at Great*, an Ultraman version of Let's Go Onmyouji** and some snippets from Malay dubs. Naturally they were all bastardising the B.M. and I had to resist the urge to post subtitles. An English-speaking user on a Japanese site viewing Malay video clips. Ph34r globalisation, n00bs.

The interesting thing is that all the video comments go scrolling across the video at certain points. On one hand, it's irritating. On the other, it's kinda amusing, especially when you see things like Great crashing into the building, and a commenter going "Oh wow, that really looks painful". Or something funny happens, and a string of random 'www's*** goes flying across the screen. Yes, they're sorted by time, too.

Nicovideo requires registration, and you can only view the site between 2 am - 7 pm Japanese time.

*in which the intricacies of his helmethead assist greatly in hiding the power for his eyes :D
** Look it up on YouTube. It's been posted, parodied and rehashed like mad by now.
*** w=warau. Think of it as a long string of LOLOLOLOLOLOL...

It's that 'new car' feeling, yanno?

State of mind: awed
Current soundtrack: ...No music, la.

At first sight, she took my breath away. Actually, it was her 2 gigs of RAM and DVD-R drive that did it, but who's keeping count?

Out of the wrinkly plastic that enfolded her, she looked amazing. The smooth corners. The glossy screen. The deceptive lightness. The wonderful keys, all so irresistible to touch. I am only yet discovering her idiosyncracies, but I think we'll work very well together in future.

...Yes, I got a new laptop. I haven't named her yet, though, only decided that she's a she. I mean, soft touch, rounded corners, refined exterior, looks better unwrapped, asks too many questions, reacts wildly if you don't touch her right*...Cygnus mentioned Konomi, and I'm weighing in on Nagi/Noa Reborn. Suggestions, anyone? M'not calling her Maki, before someone suggests that. It's not on and anyway, Maki would stare at my laptop and ask what I need all that fillifelle RAM and space for. And I will have no definite answer, except that the RAM is for handling all manners of work.

Oh? You want pictures? You wait 'til I set everything up. All the programs and add-ons, and suchlike. Maybe get my imageshack account back, too, seeing as how I am inexplicably unable to log in. Then y'all get a picture.

But she's BEAUTIFUL, my girl is. This...this can only be love.

* You only WISH I was kidding.

Guh, Nazri. Just GUH.

State of mind: blank
Current soundtrack: Ultraman: Choutoushi Gekiden OST - Ougon no Choutoushi (Ike Takashi, Tozuka Osamu)

Words truly fail me.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/SundayInterview/20071028074831/Article/index_html

No quotes. No opinions. No, as Nazri likes to put it, 'rubbish'. For as long as this link stays fresh, you can go and see exactly what this man thinks of bloggers, protests with feet and, erm, the definition of 'crisis'.

私たちはもう 光の国に帰って参れぬ。

State of mind: gleeful
Current soundtrack: redballoon's Yuki no Tsubasa single

I had a dream where I went to a fantastic library. By fantastic, I mean there was a veritable final tome of Ultra information. Canon, noteable manga adaptions, stuff like that. Oddly enough, there was no mention of Ultra Ninja Manual.

The interesting part was that it showed some rather dubious backstory as to how Ultraman and Seven came to protect Earth. Showa canon dictates that Man kind of followed trouble down to our little blue home, and Seven apparently did something of similar ilk. (Why the heck was he poking around mountains, anyway?) On the other hand, we now have Man on the moon, sufficiently googlie-eyed upon beholding this new planet 'so beautiful...it could drop from the sky were one to not hold it up', and Seven heading down to Earth on Man's request. But oh, my friends, this read like a whackjob fanfiction. Man used to be a traffic cop on M78, and Seven was just...drunk a lot. But somehow they met, and gazing at the Earth from the moon, looming large and blue and misty, they thought as one 'Watashi-tachi wa mou...Hikari no Kuni ni kaette mairenu.'

It was sheer beauty. I had to look it up again (although as is wont with dreams, the content changed slightly). There it was, reversed white against the black, black blackness of space: 'We already...cannot return to the Land of Light'. It was not a matter of doing, but a matter of capability; transfixed by this planet, they could not leave more than they would not.

And then I woke up to battle my cold in a slightly dustier reality, sans that book. Goooods, I desire that book. There were several Scandalous Revelations I should have liked to read over.

That night I dreamt my teeth fell out.

Wheeling and dealing

State of mind: speechless

How'd I miss this one? Woke up this morning to read the papers, and some indignant letters leapt out at me.

Karpal: Lawyer wrote part of judgment for civil suit

Fair enough, but check out the end of this article:

Earlier, touching on the subject of manners, Karpal irked Datuk
Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) when he remarked that there was little
hope of seeing courtesy and good manners in the house."The Jerai MP is notorious
for using foul language. The Kinabatangan member (Datuk Bung Moktar Radin) is no better," he said, referring to a foul word uttered by Badruddin during a sitting. An angry Badruddin shouted back at Karpal. "You are no better. Calling us (BN MPs) animals... you insult people. Now you are sitting in a wheel chair. God has punished you."

...You see what I mean when I say some politicians do very well taking themselves down? All that sounds like is 'Same to you, serves you right, neener neener neeeeeener'.

Which reminds me, I got Amir Muhammad's 'Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest[sic] Things". And they do, honestly. Good grief, Bung, wash that piehole of yours out with soap!! Even Ng Yen Yen—yes, we know her, she launched S.O.P.—has a kindasorta dumb quote.

A eulogy for Noa-tan, a.k.a. This. Really. BITES.

State of mind: annoyed⇔depressed

Yesterday I became part of a not-so-proud majority in Malaysia - I was the victim of a snatch theft.

About 2.30 p.m. on Saturday, I'm heading to someone's nice, quiet house for a voice recording session when said someone screams. I turn, and there's this...skinny guy darting towards me. Of all things to do (running, screaming, yelling, clocking his white-helmeted face with Noa-tan's heft), I froze. And he grabbed Noa-tan's bag, thumping me on the back of the hand to make me let go. Bastard takes one step forward...and swivels round, snatching my pencilbox out of my hands as well.

...MY PENCILBOX. Ohyashure, that's going to be full of valuable shite.

I'm all right. I'm not hurt, and nobody else was. We got the license plate and I'm hoping it wasn't a stolen one, too. /snark While I am alive and kicking, although doubtlessly dead for progress showing tomorrow, is it natural for me to want to punch the sod smack in the kisser?

We're looking at two slim Malay/Indo men, medium-dark skin with tan or black jackets, possibly now with weapons (...from my pencilbox). They're swift and fairly silent, and the license plate is BHN 4638. USJ residents, especially, take note; and if you see them, my readers, notify the police ASAP. They snatched a girl's wallet the same day on the same street; both reports were made at the Sunway police station, 03-56382122.

I don't really care what you think about the local police force, but help us catch them, guys. I want my Noa back.

Prose arose.

State of mind: drowsy
Current soundtrack: Ultraman Dyna - Kimi Dake wo Mamoritai (Nakajima Bunmei)

Sweet, sweet googledy moogledy. They're changing the graduation theme. Again. Three times now, in six weeks, and tensions are rising. We've gone from heroes to villains to just raging against the machine. Moving on...

Write a letter to your favourite Ultraman!

Here's a quick translation:

At the moment we're collecting letters to the Ultra Heroes inside the (Ultraman Land) building. Let's write a letter to your favourite Ultra Hero and hand it over. You can even do it when you take your souvenir picture or shake his/her hand!

Come to think of it, I've been using the computer and my handphone to send mail so much, I've stopped writing letters. I was never much for writing letters, anyway, but...It may be more convenient now, but we shouldn't forget things like this.

A lovely sentiment, but what exactly do you SAY to your favourite Ultra Hero, particularly when you're a bit beyond the days of 'Ultraman is my bestest best friend and I took him home from the hospital and we fought coconut brushes?*' I can think of but a few things:

'Dear Ace, don't believe those manga artists. Nobody will die if you love them.'
'Dear Noa, how are you defending alternate Earth? Has Zagi visited yet?'
'Dear Mebius, are you eating enough curry? I'll treat you to some real good stuff if you come to Malaysia.'
'Dear Maa, have you found your parents yet? How are the others...Piko, in particular? :D'
'Dear Sebanecs Seven X, Elder Almighty, how did you get those damn abs!?'

But after that, what do you say? A simple 'ganbatte kudasai!' sounds so trite, and a sort of 'you're doing a great job as a suit actor' may spoil the illusion for any KPC little kids who want to read. What do you say, really, to the alien tribe that gives you something to laugh at and cry at; the alien tribe that comforts you in your darkest hours and marks your highest dreams?

What DO you say to they who saved your life, beyond a great hearty 'thank you'?

*True story. This is what happens when you let six-year-olds read Oscar Wilde.

"Hey//As long as you stand next to me//I will sing for you"

State of mind: rather unimpressed
Current soundtrack: Ultraseven X - Another day comes (Pay money To my Pain)

All right. All right. Call me some kind of plebe and roll me in breadcrumbs, already. I managed to snag the op theme of Ultraseven X, which I'm listening to again as I type this. After so many years of bouncy-bouncy-WHEEEEEE! DMM numbers, I really don't know what to say now. Tsuburaya suddenly decided that they wanted something along the lines of rock, so they got this band (longest name I've ever seen, by the way) to do the theme. In English. To be fair, it's pretty GOOD English—better than, eh, doa's PIECE OF NOTHING for lack of example.

The other reason I'm not laughing is because the full version of the song is SIX MINUTES LONG. Two of these are devoted to an intro that segues from slow piano to Tak Matsumoto-esque guitars and then some serious axe-grinding. You don't need two minutes of intro for an Ultra theme, full v or no! :O Neither do you need to do that...shrieky thing into the microphone. Srsly. I don't need to go crawling in my skin.

...Despite all this, given the appropriate avenues I'd probably fall for Seven X, despite the fact campiness of UM > staid, dark themes of Seven-ness. I watched the pre-millennium Seven OVAs and the only thing I brought out of it was knowledge of the Akashic Record. On the other hand, let's look at the record:

Tiga: "Type-changing? Whuffor? Why so different?...Oh. Hm. Daigo and Rena are cute. And there's backstory. And Tiga actually IS teh luff. Human power! \(xox)/"
Nexus: "*A* AAAAARRRRGHHH NOOOOO angsty serious Ultras WTHWTHWTH...ZOMG angsty serious Ultras with HUMANITY and LOGIC yes plz."
Max: "Meh, nothing to yell about at the first episode...ho hum...Heeeeey wait a minute, why didn't anyone tell me this actually became entertaining?!" (I have Lynn to thank for this, really. She sent me the amnesia ep...and the hovering monster...and the surreal Butterfly Dream thing...)
Gaia: ...No, wait, I never DID like Gaia as a series.

Cygnus, for one, says that Seven X is pretty sweet stuff, and I'm inclined to trust his judgement—he was pimping Max to me while I basically went 'meh' and 'uh huh, yariteshure.' Only later did I come yelling to him 'Why didn't you tell me it was THIS FUNNY?' He says it's definitely very pretty-shiney-whee visually, but let's see whether it comes down the puddle to Malaysia first-lah; by some miracle my download rate jumped between 0.7 and 100+ kBps today, but I don't think that miracle will last with TMNut Screamyx.

How many songs do you know that have the lyrics 'My past rides into my memory', anyhow? Heh.

(ETA: All right, all right. Roll me in breadcrumbs again. It wasn't 'my bus rides into my memory', it seems. At least it didn't turn out like the time 'grit your teeth' turned into 'eat your face'...)

Happy now, are we?

State of mind: furious with a capital F
Current soundtrack: Ultraman Mebius - Fukushuu no Yoroi (Sahashi Toshihiko)

Are you? Because in three years, I've never seen her cry before, and you managed to do that. Twice in almost as many hours.

You see her as this loud, hurtful, tactless person who has dissed the whole batch. I see her as one of the few and closest friends I have ever had here in TOA, who slogs her butt off, gets great grades and is as weird as all get out. She's vehement and loud and irreverent, but I have perfect confidence she's going to get out there and rock this world. You got a bone with her? Tell it to her face. Don't you DARE slag her behind her back.

She is not picking up her phone tonight and I swear to you, with every fibre of this sin-filled soul, that if you caused her to do anything stupid, you will pay. I might not be the one to dish that out, but if heaven has eyes...

(ETA 0104 Sun 7 Oct: She was *asleep* when I called. OTL Wahoo, wtg M.Y.! At least she seems all right now. I wasn't looking forward to some godforsaken surprise in the papers when I woke up.

Anonymous #1 - I kind of forgot. I think you're very lucky if you have never felt like the world has turned its back on you, and you are completely, wholly alone in a crowd. Gods know I have.

And why yes, I am a little insane. :D Thanks for noticing!)

O Manjusri, what in eighteen hells IS this?!

State of mind: negatively bemused

Death Note murders in Belgium.