Gamble on the bramble ramble ramble

State of mind: bleh
Current soundtrack: Black Jack 21 - Destiny (Shimatani Hitomi) on triple loop

I work on two briefs.

I tutor two classes and make them laugh, sometimes.

I have my first paycheck. (pictures laterterter)

I also have a huge rolling cold. Rhinovirii are attention whores!

Cold: *is coy and teasing*
M.Y.: Go 'way.
Cold: *whines*
M.Y.: Sod off, I have things to do.
Cold: *BITCHSLAPS M.Y. UPSIDE THE HEAD*
M.Y.: BAAAAAAK-CHOOM! (yes, I sneeze like that. In Caps Lock.)

Cold medicine brings strange dreams. I was back in my old highschool, and there was a tree with leaves of giant mantids, and flowers of butterflies. Also, one got to meet up with, judging by the age group, Sarutobi and three of her Ultrafriends. If you believe my brain the Ultra Galaxy series has spawned an RPG/FPS combo, the first chapter of which involves a fadorable grey puppy that belongs to...Hayata. I can't remember its name at the mo. The only way you could get tokens for it was with UG gashapons, and I didn't have the money so I watched on the sidelines.

Bilingual Batons of...Bombasticness!

State of mind: sleepy
Current soundtrack: Black Jack Back-to-back - Black Jack - Silence Whispers (TRF)

I cut my hair very short today, and got another meme! Not in English though—It's from one of my Ultra contacts, Sarutobi, and thus it is in Japanese. Apparently they're called 'batons'.

It's to do with fandoms and illustration, so here we go:

1. We will now start the illustration baton, but how's your state of mind at the moment?
   I'm...interested. And wondering how long it will take to translate/scan/answer. ;)


2. At what age did you start drawing on the computer?
   I think I was 6 or 7.


3. So now, how long has it been since you've started?
   Ah, asking for my age, are you? 14, 15 years? I still prefer my pencils for sketchery. :)


4. Can we see the first pictures you drew?
   You may not. That PC has long gone to a family friend's family. *gulp*


5. If possible, could you show us some of your first pictures?
   Isn't this a repeat of the previous question? Cheh. FINE. Where are those paintchat pictures? Ah, there we go.
   
   I've gotten a bit better since then—this happens to be the last paintchat I did before everyone really started going to work/falling ill/becoming busy.
   
   ...I miss yakking with those guys. :(


6. What do you usually do for colouring?
   Flat blocks of colour with two, maybe three layers of shading. Vector images...generally don't need that much colouring, and my pencil sketches remain black and white with occasional smudges of grey.


7. Whether it's art sense or anything else, is there anyone you want to train under or look up to?
   Oh yes, plenty. Ursula Vernon, for one. I suppose I want to have a go with Kidchan, Matsuru or Kinsun. And there's always U, Tuge, Natsuki and Sunagimo.


8. Answer honestly. Do you have confidence in your pictures?
   Mm. I like them, they get the message across and drawing makes me happy. No, that doesn't answer the question, does it? I'd say yes, although one tries to firm up one's skills and improve. :)


9. Now put 5 names for each category, and pass this baton on to them.
   Ehhhh?! One, I don't know that many people/bloggers/artists and two, I've never seen a meme try so desperately to spread itself. But OK. *goes through the fanlinks and picks out names*
   
   Cute pictures - Sarutobi, Weiss, Tama, Kannazuki Hayate, Himataro
   
   Cool pictures - Takigawa Takumi, Sunagimo, U, Zid, Halxion (actually...Hal's pictures kind of scare me.)
   
   Beautiful pictures -Tuge, Ursula Vernon, Firnheledien, Kidchan, Matsuru
   
   Warm pictures - F&S, Arche, Miyanishi Tatsuya
   
   Refreshing pictures - Kodama, Aimo, Midou Kazuhiko
   
   Soft pictures - Moyashi, Ten, Gizzy, Akeboshi, Kurage

[+/-] show/hide this post

Wokei, that's it.

Tomorrow is Re:Volt's exhibition launch! This is your chance to see the blogger in her Haado Gei short black leather outfit! (Hey, the dress code IS punk/goth/subculture.

One last meme

State of mind:
Current soundtrack: Ultraman Max Song Collection - Ashita ni Nareba (Project DMM)

[muse]Max songs contain a lot of the word 'genkai'. Mebius songs mention 'mugen' a lot. [/muse]

Well. As you can see, I'm back from Japan—and I returned with loads of UM stuff, a splinter in my finger, influenza virii and plenty of powerful memories. But before I actually, yanno, do some work and write up the whole trip, I thought I'd pop in what will probably be this year's last meme. :3

1. Was 2007 a good year for you?
   Yes and no.
   
2. What was your favorite moment of the year?
   ....Going to Ultramanland, obviously.
   
3. What was your least favorite moment of the year?
   A toss up between ending the year's first term—it was a very aggravating three-four months—and getting Noa-tan snatched. If they TOUCH him, I hope he shocks their balls off. D:<
4. What are your plans for 2008?
   Keep the job, start saving for UMLand AND Adobe Creative Suite, make new friends.
   
5. What countries did you visit?
   Japan!
   
6. What date in 2007 will remain etched in your memory?
   December 25th.
   
7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
   Got the YCLMS! *beam*
   
8. What was your biggest failure?
   Failure to acquire any sort of social life. Pflurgh.
   
9. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
   Flu, flu and more flu. And a twisted ankle.
   
10. What was the best thing you bought?
    Can't think of anything beyond all that UM music at the moment.
    
11. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
    In two words, Malaysian Parliament.
    
12. Where did most of your money go?
    Food and books.
    
13. What did you get really really really excited about?
    UMLANDUMLANDUMLANDJapanUMLANDUMLAND
    
14. What songs will always remind you of 2007?
    Probably James Blunt's '1973'. Ironic, I know.
    
15. 15. Compared to this time last year are you:
    a) Fatter or thinner? Slightly more weighty.
    b) Happier or sadder? Sadder. One more layer of cynicism—although when the happy breaks out, it shows all over!
    c) Richer or poorer? Marginally richer. Angpow money, mah. XD
    
16. What do you wish you'd done more of?
    Socialising, schmoozing and asking questions.
    
17. What do you wish you'd done less of?
    Self-doubting.
    
18. How will you be spending Christmas?
    I SPENT it. At Ultramanland, surrounded by stage shows, squeeing adorable children* and men in rubber suits.
    
19. Which LJ/MySpace users did you meet for the first time?
    ...BNF-known-as-N doesn't count, does she?
    
20. Did you fall in love in 2007?
    Speak not to me of love.
    
21. How many one night stands?
    What did I just TELL you!?
    
22. What was your favourite TV show?
    Mebius KINDA went on into 2007. Haven't watched any of those episodes though. ^^;
    
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
    Eyep.
    
24. What was/were the best books you read?
    For One More Day (Albom), Papa is Ultraseven, Home Sweet Home (Miyanishi), Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro), UM Story Zero (Mabune)
    
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
    Josh Groban. Yum yum!
    
26. What did you want and get?
    Ultraman music. The YCLMS scholarship. Some work. Lots of education.
    
27. What did you want and not get?
    Ultraman Fighting Evolution for the PSP TT__TT
    
28. What was your favourite film this year?
    300. SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAA!
    
29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
    I went to class, watched a movie—300—and through serendipity met some old friends for nonalcoholic drinks. I turned 20. I still don't really 'feel' it.
    
30. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?
    A love interest, perhaps? One that reciprocated, for once?
    
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
    Chunky shirts and mansandals. ;) Also, I discovered layers. And makeup. And the fact I don't look half bad in traditional Eastern costume.
    
32. What kept you sane?
    Ultraman. Not the fandom batshittery, mostly just Ultraman in itself.
    
33. Which celebrity did you fancy the most?
    Josh Groban. Again, yum yum!
    
34. Which political issue stirred you the most?
    BERSIH walk followed by the batshit that was HINDRAF. Brain hurty, kthxbi.
    
35. Who did you miss?
    My sister. Shortly. Currently it's a few good men back in Arao.
    
36. Did you treat somebody badly in 2007?
    I may have.
    
37. Did somebody treat you badly in 2007?
    It is possible.
    
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year?
    Three things are very important: gumption, social skills and time management.
    
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year...
    *cough*
    My past rides into my memories
    And it's coming again with this music
    I'm trying to fight for me
    For my life; for my right
    (Another Day Comes, Pay Money To My Pain)

[+/-] Was 2007 a good year for YOU?...

If I don't see y'all again before the year is out, here's wishing you a happy, happy 2008!

*apparently the words 'adorable' and 'children' coming out from my mouth = sign of the apocalypse.

Mm, what a lovely few hours.

State of mind: sleepy
Current soundtrack: Playlist name - series - song title (artist)

Tonight, I had a lovely evening out with my old friends from S(M)K Assunta: SK, GBW (real name Mickey), Firn, Charles and Ju. We were joined by Aris, another cosplay contact of Firn's, and drank punch with tinges of vodka in it, had shell pasta with very lovely meatsauce, and finished off with a pre-21st birthday carrot cake with cheese frosting. (I'm still really sorry I PHWOOPHED out all the candles, guys ^^;) We told lots of jokes and funny stories (I related my driving tribulations). This was followed by an intriguing if incredibly mystifying round of card tricks from Aris, and then the others went out to club, Firn and Aris discussed cosplay images and I, uh, went home.



See y'all online, guys. Eat lots of turkey at Christmas, and for the love of all holy, Dash does not drive y'all to TGIF, k? ^_~ (I kid. I'm sure normally Dash is a fantastic driver.)

Memestealage.

State of mind:
Current soundtrack: 300 - Cursed By Beauty (Tyler Bates)

Aaargh my stomach it be dying, and I know not why. It doesn't help my appetite happens to concurrently be shot to pieces.

And so I do backed-up memes. :3

1. Leave me a casual comment of no particular significance, like a lyric to your current favorite song, your favorite kind of sandwich, or maybe your favorite game. Any remark, meaningless or not.
2. I will respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. Update your LJ blog with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in your own post.
5. When others respond with a desultory comment, you will ask them five questions.

Here we go.

Dimmu's questions:
1. I've forgotten the reason you love Ultraman so much. Reenlighten me.
Oh pshah, that's easy. :D I wrote it down all here. But on a more current note, Ultraman has been a part of my life for almost all of it, in some way; also, that show is the reason to believe in a greater good, a greater presence. Not necessarily Gods of some sort, that's a different kettle of fish—just a greater good. :)

2. Just HOW proficient are you in Japanese? I know you can hold a teatime convo with Japanese friends, but your limit?
Good question. I know enough to read blogs and things, and verbally I think I COULD still hold a proper casual conversation. However, when it comes to officialese (education, certs, taxes, travel), I think my brain shrieks girlishly and shuts down. This will again be put to the test in about, oh, four days, so the answer for this may change.

3. Has your granddad sorta accepted you're doing art yet?
I think so. We don't discuss the matter much.

4. Who would be more mature, in your opinion: You, or Deru-senpai?
I think we're somewhat equal, but Deru.

5. And regardless of the answer you give for #4, WHY?
By virtue of age, experience and exposure. Not that one can tell sometimes, when we get to squeeing online. XD [+/-] DMJewelle's questions

Firn's questions:
1) What made you first start liking Ultraman?
At 4? Probably the weirdness of it all. Giant silver alien smashing scary monsters, WTH.

2) Why did you choose an icon with a girl that looks like my sister? XD
Amagai Konomi does NOT look like your sister. :O She's there because she's a nice young thing with glasses, and happens to be eye-smashingly KIUT. :D Shame she dropped the glasses for contacts midway through Mebius...sellout.(For the curious, the icon in question is here)

3) What is your greatest fear?
That I will end my life utterly alone, with not a single trace of evidence I existed.

4) What is your favourite dish?
With rice: French beans fried with soya sauce. DELISHUS. :9
Alone: A good carbonara pasta.

5) How do you think you have matured in the past 4 years?
I think I've become marginally more patient with people (...marginally.) and become more willing to work in groups. I don't lose my temper as easily, either.[+/-]Firn's questions

And now it's your turn, folks. Comment away. :D

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!)

*erk ork ark*...ACK!

State of mind: hopped-up
Current soundtrack: Animated!TF Movie theme on loop %3

After a long long absence from the theaters (the last silver screening I caught was 300 — yey manchest!), I decided I needed to go see Transformers, for my sanity. I used to love them robots back in the day. They also introduced me to the idea of death, for I clearly remember Ultra Magnus getting, um, stepped on by Megatron and wondering for years and years whyyyyy they filled his coffin with SPIDERS...Yeah, I don't get it either. (._.;) It was actually a whole mess of daisies. But it looks like this was something out of Headmasters, or so the Transformers Wiki tells me.

So! I accompanied my fellow fangirl Lynn to the theater. We came, er, a bit late, and had to squeeze past a lot of people to get to our seats. I then realised we were...rather close to the screen. But no matter! Movie! Hilarity! Big shiny robots!

Transformers: The Movie

The Not-so-rabid Fangirl Review

To summarise the story very very quickly, the uber 1337 powderfull Cybertronian Allspark plummets to Earth. Powderfull indeed, as not only is it able to Create Life, the right person touches it and it neatly compresses into a cube about, oh, a tenth-maybe-twentieth of its original size. Megatron pursues, but gets frozen in the Artic (n00b!). 19th century Witwicky finds Megatron, gives him a bad touch and gets the map to the Allspark printed onto his eyeglasses - many years later, Autobots and Decepticons show up to find the map to the Allspark, then the Allspark itself, and finally there's a big crash-boom-bang-through-buildings kind of fight, and the Autobots decide to make Earth their second home.

Now, I didn't want to watch the movie at first. I mean, I saw what they'd done to the designs first. Where was the sleekness? Where was the simplicity? Where was the Inherent Cheese?! And I'm talking about the Autobot designs here! And then I saw the really ah beng flames they'd painted on OP. But I did end up here, partly because it looked like the treatment was going to end up something like the 2004 ULTRAMAN movie - a modern reimagining of an old concept. If you compared Ultraman to The Next and then the robot redesigns, sure, it made sense.

...'mma going to kill that pimptastic Michael Bay. At least ULTRAMAN's got a three-minute time limit excuse hidden in the fandom's core consciousness. Transformers doesn't have enough Transformers. Not enough for my liking or Lynn's, anyway.

When I saw this, I squeed. Out loud. In a packed cinema. Thankfully nobody shushed me. *dies*

I mean, it was a pretty movie. It was full of crashes and booms and bangs, and every time the Autobots convoy rolled out, it sent shivers up and down and diagonally through my spine. There was a lot of pop culture references, like the insignia and the leaking lubricant. (I thought leaking lubricant meant to blather on? Or am I thinking of Kup from the other movie?) And it was full of human drama. Which meant there weren't enough Transformers.

There were also a few other problems I would like to address here:

How am I NOT supposed to love a woobie face like this? @_@

• Um, Mikaela. Just a little, in the beginning. After that she rocks socks in box...es. Because really, doesn't this kinda look like that Sideshow Mary Jane figure that has/d feminists up in arms? All right, it's fanservice, we get it. Cheez. Some of your audience happens to be female, you know. -_-;


• One has to sit through about half the movie before any Autobots finally appear. Hi, can we please have our protagonists nice and up front?


• The Autobots learned their English...over the Internet. Er. I'm just kind of glad nobody burst out in a string of 'all your base are belong to us' or 'zomg' or even 'is it can be cheezburger tiem nao pleez?' They seem to have picked up...rather a lot of slangy language, but thank god they didn't pick up Memeglish or Macroese. ^^;


• What did they do to Optimus Prime?! He's PRIME fercryin'! He's witty, but not snarky, grumpy or impatient; nor, for that matter, does he say things like 'My bad.'


• Snarktimus Prime also needs to keep that mouth-mask thing on. Mostly because it looks like his lips are pasted onto his chin. x_x Umf, do not want!


• The head of Sector 7? Needs to be given a goooood kick in the pants. He only useful for five minutes, and pretty much a turd for the rest of the movie.


• Did we really need to have Bumblebee's...lubricator outlet...there? I mean it was funny and all, but the term 'golden showers' never seemed so appropriate before.


• Those parties who decided to rope Bumblebee like a beef steer, tie him down and freeze him? OMAIGOD DAI. YU DAI NAO IN FAIYAR THXBI.


• [kindoflargespoiler]Did they HAVE to kill of Jazz? I mean, G1 Jazz roxxor the soxxor in the boxxor! He was one of my favourites along with Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus, and you SNAPPED HIM IN BLIMMIN' TWO![/kindoflargespoiler]


• Bumblebee's unusual British accent. British? Not that I have anything against the Commonwealth, but...nice, proper, mature British? I thought Bumblebee was supposed to be small and nippy and quick and young. D:


• Please do not perform petting or making out on top of Transformers, people. Even if they're in car form. Specially if they're in car form. Special-specially if the OTHERS are kind of parked around. Teehee voyeur TFs


• Not enough Transformers already, confound it.

In conclusion, while it was an adequate movie, humourous and awe-inspiring in good amounts. the focus might have been a smidge misplaced. Because I honestly and whole-heartedly tell you, there just weren't enough Transformers. For me, anyway. It's worth a tub of popcorn for the boom-bang visuals and the unintentional LOLmoments. Seeing 5 TFs trying to conceal themselves in a suburban yard is like watching Iron Giant in quintiplicate.

Oh, here. To show I'm not ENTIRELY humourless, have a Burger King commercial with Prime in it.

ETA: VGCats has summed up my feelings about the situation, and much better than I could. Hooray Intart00bz!

Memes again!

State of mind: drowsy
Current soundtrack: Black Jack - here I am (globe)
When I was typing this bit, 'Cross My Heart' came up on WMP. I love this song. In fact, it's one of my favourite pairing anthems—but I hate Ayashi no Ceres just as much as anything else by Watase. Darnit, how come such crap anime had such great music? O_o

With that in mind, a meme I picked off Fenix to do before bedtime:

Name 13 songs in your mind and answer the following questions.

1. Eiyuu (doa)
2. Heaven (Bryan Adams)
3. Cross My Heart (Day Break)
4. Qing Sheng (Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi)
5. Chikai wo Kimi ni (ibid)
6. Salvia no Tsubomi (HOME MADE Kazoku)
7. Taiyou no Uta (Amane Kaoru)
8. Pass The Flame (Yiannis Kotsiras)
9. Itsumo Soba Ni (Kirii Daisuke)
10. Kimi no Ai to Boku no Yuuki (Kageyama Hironobu)
11. Do You Hear The People Sing? (Les Miserables)
12. here I am (globe)
13. Kimi no Kiss de (ayaka)

Who do you remember when you hear no. 4?
The first man I had a crush on in college.

Does no. 8 make you happy?
It's spirited and energetic, but it doesn't make me HAPPY.

Has no. 3 made you cry?
Nope. Probably won't, ever.

In what occasion did you hear no. 9?
Someone on my old blog mentioned they had the image song for OuHos' Mori. I like Mori. I download.

Do you miss no. 10?
The sentiment makes me wistful, but I have the song on my laptop, so no. :)

Which lyrics do you like the best from no. 1?
Otoko nara
Dareka no tame ni tsuyoku nare
Onna mo sou sa
Miteru dake ja hajimaranai

(If you are a man
Then be strong for someone close to you
Same for a woman
Nothing starts if you watch without a clue)

...Yes, I translated the song. Yes, the lines rhyme. I had a lot more free time back then.

Imagine something when you hear no. 2.
I think of a man and woman at night, under a large tree. The stars are out. They lie head-to-head, staring at the sky and holding the other's hand.

Who do you remember when you hear no. 6?
My parents. For obvious reasons, if you've heard this song.

When was the last time you heard no. 11?
Three years ago, during Lit Nite 2004 (Miracles).

Who told you about no. 8?
No one did. I heard it during an ad for the Athens Olympics and went looking for it.

Do you often sing no. 11?
Only just recently, because it's included in the Les Mis epilogue. And I was singing that because I was preparing a wallpaper. >w>

Have you sung no. 7 to anyone?
Would anyone listen?

Does no. 10 inspire your life?
Sometimes. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy. :)

Does no. 5 tell about your feelings?
...This one? Hard to say. It energises me. It's my alarm ringtone. But yes, sometimes I feel this way. Or I need to. ;)

What do you feel when you hear no. 2?
Sorrow mixed with hope. A great deal of hope.

Do you smile when you hear no. 11?
No.

When was the first time you heard no. 1?
At the end of A Chinese Tall Story. And I fell in love.

If you could dedicate no. 9 to someone, who would it be?
Firn, most likely. The person I first wanted to dedicate this to probably doesn't even care now.

Does no. 7 mean a lot to you?
It...depends on my mood XD

What’s so special about no. 10?
I can actually see this as Dyna and Tiga's song. If you saw them fight together, you would too.

Would you sing no. 11 to anyone? to whom?
No, unless they wanted me to. (Why. Do you like. 11. So. Much?!)

Does no. 8 remind you of someone?
Not really.

What memory comes to your mind when you hear no. 5?
Seeing the Six Ultra Brothers for the first time.

Do you want to hear no. 12 right now?
Oo yes, let's. :D *puts it on*

Can you remember clearly the first time you heard no. 13?
I was...in my room, last year, during term break. Nothing else really worth remembering. XD

A short one

State of mind: drained

Well, the good news is I finally, finally, finally passed the circuit portion of the driving test. The bad news is barely 2 hours later, I almost rammed into a bus while attempting to get out onto the road.

...See you in July, SDC. *plonk*

On the plus side (also), I did manage to see an old friend of mine, Suzi, way back from primary school. We used to colour the illustrations in one of my Enid Blyton storybooks together. Fun times, those were. Also later at Pyramid I caught sight of my slightly-less-old friend Ju. She looked stylish as usual. *_*

I also took pictures of pretty flowers outside Sunway Pyramid



And messed around with one of them.



There's even an avatar version (muaha!)



And now I truly must be off before my New Media group leader decks me although three months ago I would have liked to deck him...

Virgin Meme!

State of mind: slightly muzzy
Current soundtrack: EVERYBODY NEEDS MUSIC (HOME MADE Kazoku)

You can tell I'm bushed when I type Mebius as Moebius. No, I swear to you it is NOT a typo. I wish it was, though; they pimp the 'infinity' theme enough as it is, and it would make for some SWELL jokes...

I haven't done a meme on this blog yet, so I ganked this from Jeff Morris's LJ.

Pick a character from the following fandoms, and I'll tell you at least three things about him/her that are in my personal fanon:

• Ultra Ninja Manual


• Ultraman: Super Fighter Legend


• Ultraman Tiga, Dyna, Nexus or Mebius (Actually, you can ask about the other Ultra Heroes as well. It's just that except for these series, I didn't really give two hoots about anything beyond the giant silver aliens beating up evil. ^w^;)


• Saiyuki (Reload)


• Samurai 7

...You can tell I have an incredibly one-track mind. Comment away and I'll put it up in the next post I see fit. :3 It'll probably include news about my first week back here as well.

Of Field Trips and Kengchows

State of mind: ...decidedly emo. o_O

This year's first Exploration Week has come and gone - much of it spent in the trusty arms of Morpheus (read: Zzzzz...). I had some personal victories when it came to work—second Motion Graphics idea approved without too much sweat, similarly for Multimedia Production—but am still soul-searching over a few other things (Online Media 3 being one of them...).

Anyway, this is not the place for pure unbridled emo - yet. The foundations will hold a little while longer, be they shaken—and I bring news of Islamic art and Jason Grove's visit to our college!

-----

Islamic Art Museum outing, or We Drive All Over KL: 15/3/07

Make no mistake: the Islamic Art Museum of Malaysia is PRETTY. The art is pretty. The fountains are pretty. The whole second floor, with its high ceiling, glass walls and tall pillars, is sheer beauty. I wanted to lie on the floor in that space of light and air and just stare at the ceiling and its inverted dome.

We were, however, on a tight schedule, and no pictures were allowed. (You can see a small part of the second floor on the website's main page, though.)

Let's go back a bit. There were six of us: me, JL, Cons, YM, James and WY. The plan for the day was quite simple, and had two steps:
- everyone meets up between 9-9.30
- hitch a ride from James' mum to museum and back

The plan instead morphed into THIS:
- 9.30 comes, and WY's missing
- long discussion on whether to keep waiting, or sod it for a lark and just go
- James' mum can't take us all to KL
- JL decides to drive, following James' mum from behind
- James' mum ninja-speeds off and we lose her
- decide to go to KL on own
- become hopelessly lost between streets
- arrive at museum in various stages of pissiness, sweatiness and relief, swearing the museum had better be worth the trip.

There's actually quite a bit to see in here: little (and large) models of famous mosques, matchlock rifles longer than we were tall, the most fantastic traditional robes, Chinese Muslim calligraphy, little books illuminated with gold leaf and beard combs that you could fill with rosewater so your wonderful chin tresses would smell sweet AND look spiffy. They had a special exhibition connected with spices around that time, and JL and Cons were VERY interested in the coffee section. >_>;

There's also one thing and one thing only you can take pictures of in the IAMM: the domes. They're very proud of their lovely lovely domes.

The museum has a little open courtyard with some fountains, so I would strongly recommend packing a lunch and taking a day trip. The food's EXPENSIVE, and if you don't like Middle Eastern cuisine, you may be pretty much screwed. The day we went, a la carte was not available and we had to have the RM38++ set lunch. All the appetizer and dessert you can eat (and they had some GOOD desserts, milk pudding yum), but see the comment about Middle Eastern cuisine. I'm still wondering how my baked chicken tasted like tandoori chicken. Good tandoori chicken, but still...

Souvenir shop has a lot of selection. I ended up buying a canvas bag and a postcard to send to Delilah. :D They have books for the kiddies, too, and I read through one. Somehow it amuses me to think of Moses/Musa flying into a rage and grabbing Aaron/Harun by the hair. By the hair. *giggles*

One thing that threw me for a bit of a loop was how nobody could seem to realise I was Malaysian. Some snack seller outside the museum thought me to be Korean; a guard inside was genuinely surprised to find I was a local. @_@ I wasn't even dressed that outlandishly - just a bit of layered T-shirts is all. I wonder what would have happened had I wore my cheongsam out...:D

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UK Antenna: Shynola's Jason Groves does TOA 16/3/07

Thank you, British Council, and thank you, o Multimedia Lecturers of Awe, for getting this guy to come in. The talk wasn't superbly formal, but it was quite funny. Jason Groves presents a lot like me—runs on for a bit and sputters to a stop. ;) He did have a lot of stuff to show, much of it incredible levels of pretty. And there was a 'documentary' about one of the first live action music videos they shot, which was amusing beyond all compare. I would love to be the King of Siam...

He even had fangirls. Quite a few of them. One of them me. *flees*

Kengchows all in a row: Mr. Groves, BC lady #1, our MMD head and BC Lady #2. Thanks for coming, guys!

In other news, I'm still learning how to drive.

In which one talks of many things.

State of mind: in pain
Current soundtrack: Whatever it is they're playing at the printer's (but bless Mr. William and his wireless connection!)

The world has decided to treat me quite nicely as of late. Ideas and concepts for Motion Graphics and MM Production have been approved without too much fuss and flurry, which is pleasing to say the least! Online Media 3 is still about the same, though. It's a very complicated situation. Suffice it to say the 'client' wants us to sell the product without revealing anything about it and there are two 'managers' who can't seem to agree on what they would like us to do. No wonder my group is 'ResLes'. Yes, I made up that name. I iz smurt.

...I don't think 'real' projects are like this, are they? D:

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I have a penfriend in Japan, back from my school days. Online she's known as Delilah; she runs/used to run a fansite for Koumyou Sanzo. It's all kinds of cute, but now I can't even remember the URL. Or the site name. *swt* We haven't been keeping in touch for some time — my fault here, as preparing for the scholarship presentations and such last year took up a fair bit of time. I did, however, manage to send her a postcard last month just before the CNY hols, thanking her for her birthday wishes, filling her in on the situation here and apologising for the delay between replies.

Today the post came as I was looking out the upstairs window and I knew she'd written back. Would you believe I could pick her postcard ('tis almost always a postcard) right out from the pile of mail we'd received? Two floors down? In any case she congratulated me on the scholarship offer, included New Year's wishes and went on to reassure me that all was cool and everyone had busy times. She went on to add 'Besides...you and me are and will always be good friends after all.' Oh damn, she got me there. I hadn't written to her for so long and she had every right to think this fandom-based friendship was over, but it was like nothing had changed...except for the fact this time her postcard was really messy. ;) I hope she's doing OK. She's not the type to make so many spelling mistakes per postcard, my surname aside..I really must bring that up with her the next time I write.

One wishes one had or could make more friends like this, but in life sometimes you take what you get. Thanks Delilah-san, you're really, really something.
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The ninth day of Chinese New Year (out of 15, for the non-local readers) is said to be the Jade Emperor's birthday. Hokkiens hold this day in highest regard, and on that day we hold certain prayers and rites (Pai Thnee Gong, which is how the papers like to spell it). Marion D'Cruz would have a right good laugh at me, but this is the one day I feel most Hokkien out of the year. The rest of the time I'm the polytheistic Buddhist banana who goes round bending paradigms. At midnight on the ninth day, I may be praying to Thnee Kong in English, but I'm holding those joss-sticks and folding the gold offerings with the rest of the women. It's kind of comforting, and some kind of anchor, if you like. And this year, I have a new phone, so I took some pictures (coming as soon). This I can do. This I can profile. This is my festival.


The preparations start a bit earlier, when the offerings are set up for the altar. Pineapples, plums, pomeloes, oranges and longan Usually my grandmother puts red paper cuttings on top of and below the stuff, but this year we went without. She is 80-something, and those are small scissors...maybe next year I'll take her place. At about 9-10 pm the altar gets prepared for the prayers, and the front is draped (sort of) with this cloth. It's a fairly interesting cloth, what with the lions and the brass studs and the 8 Immortals round the top edge.


This is what the altar looks like after we're all done praying.
Sometimes I forget halfway what I want to ask Thnee Gong and end up with long gaps of silence as I wave the joss-sticks, but it went all right this year. What did I ask for? SECRET.


Now comes the good part. We fold the gold! Every year my gran goes out and buys this special type of hell's money paper, which is stamped with gold leaf and has a stylised picture of the 3 Gods of Prosperity (Fu, Lu, Shou). She prefolds it into these triangles, and after we finish prayers, out comes the paper and the little plastic stools, and all the ladies sit outside in the night air folding up a big pile of gold as an extra, final offering to Thnee Gong. After this there are more sheafs of hell's money on top, folded to look like sheafs, there is a last confirmation of prayers before the altar and the pile of gold is set aflame.


People say that when you see the sparks going up and disappearing into the sky, it's a sign the offering of gold has reached Thnee Gong. Logic tells you it's just little sparks borne up on a hot wind, going out and floating down in the darkness, but then you remember the one year where the sparks did NOT go up properly and your grandmother broke her leg, your mother got stuck in a horrible job and your sports house lost horribly in the school sports. True story, this.


My belief system condones midnight snacking. When the last embers have burned out and everyone's done with flouting the rules against open burning *shifty eyes* some of the cakes come off the altar and go back into the house, where we cut them up and eat them. :D I assume it's kinda like eating birthday cake. All the bright red ones are ang koo or 'red turtles'; the pink one is huat kueh or 'prosperity cake'; the flat white one is bee koh or sweet glutinous rice. I don't know why I like huat kueh — it's bright pink and doesn't really taste of much — but I'll happily cut off chunks and start munching contentedly.

After that everyone goes home and sleeps, hoping that they won't wake up late for classes or work tomorrow. Birthday or no birthday, Thnee Gong's people gotta EARN!

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Circumstances come together in long and convoluted chains (particularly when I try to relate them) and suffice it to say I read a manga called Star of Happiness: Haghall. It's about an alien from the moon who's trying to prove to God-the-balding-disembodied-head that humans need not be destroyed just yet and there are good people still among them. It's part alien comedy, part existential drama and occasionally rather heartwarming.

I had a rather disturbing dream a few days back where there was an animated version of Haghall - possibly a movie. They found him guilty of killing a whole bunch of babies by strangulation, and the way he put it he said he prevented them from becoming the 'flaws' they would have grown up to be. It was a bit disturbing, but it DID fit in creepily with the tone of the actual manga. And I could actually see him doing this, trying to save the Earth from being ruled by pillbugs and telling God see, there are good people, you need not kill everybody off yet.

What I don't understand is how nobody has yet screamed at Haghall "WHY ARE YOU LIGHT GREEN!?" even if he's 'supposed' to be some Mexican masked wrestler on an exchange program. :/

The post full of Ultraman, part the first.

State of mind: insanely pleased
Current soundtrack: Heisei High playlist - Ultraman Cosmos - Wandaba Team EYES (Project DMM)

All right, all of you who knew me prior to reading this blog - you KNEW it was coming. Sooner or later, I was going to make a big squeeful post about Ultraman, or something to do with Ultraman. It had to happen, and y'all were just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Well, forget one shoe - here are several! *fling*

BANG! BANG! CRASH! WALLOP! SQUASH!

Over CNY, I met up with fellow squee-filled Ultrafangirl Lynn at Sunway Pyramid. I brought my sketchbook full of fluffy doodles to show her, plus the latest volume of Ouran High Host Club to show her the pseudo-UM appearances (hint: Last chapter volume 9, Tamaki's food-toy collection) ; she brought the Utraman Story 0 volume 3 that she borrowed from another Singaporean fan called Yoshi. For those who have not heard of Story 0 - it's thoroughly endorsed by yours truly. Great art, a solid story (although certain details taken as canon so far are conspicuously missing) and great art I worship Mabune Shinji. A fun hour was had by all as we hooted, squeed and translated stuff. I collapsed in laughter when she pointed out the EXTREMELY pretty human form of Ultraman near the end of the book. Not handsome: PRETTY. I guess you had to be there.

We went skating, and had sushi, and after she left I decided to go browse some handphones for a minute. I know Buddhism is supposed to be moderate and unmaterialistic, but OH MY STARS, I would kill for a MotoKRZR. So blue, so high-tech, so shiny...so expensive. *sigh* I then saw some signs up announcing the opening of the Sunway Petting Zoo Interactive Zoo, which I'd been dying to see for some time.

As luck would have it, by the time I got to the ticket counter, purchased a ticket and stepped through the entrance gates, the skies opened in a glorious Malaysian downpour. I spent about an hour waiting for the squall to stop squalling and fussed over an extremely patient sulfur-crested cockatoo in the meantime. Pictures came later. =3

(In the meantime, I'm hoping that macaw doesn't bite my ear off.)

Today was, all in all, a pretty good day. I went to open a bank account a bit nearer to my college, but was still a little apprehensive. The only experience I'd personally had with this bank was sending a postal order through it, once.

I guess I shouldn't have worried - good omens abounded. The bank was founded the same year that the first Ultraman took to the air; when I went to pick up my PIN pouch, someone had pasted an Ultraman Nexus card onto the table. To the best of my knowledge, they were only available at the launch of the Ultraman Nexus VCDs in Malaysia, and the N Project is one of my favourite Tsuburaya efforts by far.

The card in question: Nexus Junis and Dark Faust having a go at each other. Yes, Nexus looks that grumpy all the time.

And y'all thought I was just your ordinary Ultraman fan, huh? Not by a looooooooong shot. :D Which reminds me, gotta go down to the bank again after classes on Tuesday...