Tempests and Tablespoons

Back but Broken

2009-07-24T08:14:00.002-04:00

I am hoping to make a triumphant return to blogging soon with more episodes of Will It Nom. The bad news: since I am switching up my photo gallery, some pictures might be broken for awhile until I can fix them. Apologies in the meanwhile. The good news: The new gallery (mobileme) will allow me to more easily get pictures up, so hooray!

I'd also really love to get a sweet background going, so we'll see about that.

Meanwhile, enjoy these pictures from Otakon last weekend.

Will It Nom: Safety Guidelines

2008-09-22T19:20:00.002-04:00

I found this on MSNBC of all places:

Bad news foods

Avocados
They contain a toxic component called persin, which can damage heart, lung and other tissue in many animals. This fruit is very toxic to dogs, cats and most animals.

Beer
Alcoholic beverages can cause the same damage to an animal's liver and brain as they cause in humans. But the effects can be deadly on animals since they are much smaller than us. The smaller the animal, the more deadly the effects can be. Even a small amount of alcohol may cause vomiting and damage the liver and brain.

Nuts
Walnuts and macadamia nuts are especially toxic. Effects can be anything from vomiting to paralysis to death. Within 12 hours of eating the nuts, pets start to develop symptoms such as an inability to stand or walk, vomiting, hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), weakness, and an elevated heart rate. These symptoms can be even worse if your dog eats some chocolate with the nuts. The effect can cause kidney failure, often leading to death.

Chocolate
Chocolate contains theobromine, which can kill your pet if eaten in large quantities. Dark and unsweetened baking chocolates are especially dangerous. Giving your pup a piece of chocolate cake or even letting him lick the chocolate icing on the cake could cause him to become ill. Theobromine can also cause a dog or cat's heart to beat very rapidly or irregularly, which could result in death if the pet is exercising or overly active.

Candy
Candy or anything containing Xylitol (a common sweetener found in some diet products) can cause a sudden drop in an animal's blood sugar, loss of coordination and seizures. If left untreated, the animal could die.

Caffeine
Coffee, tea or any product that contains caffeine stimulates an animal's central nervous and cardiac systems. This can lead to restlessness, heart palpitations and death, depending on how much the animal consumes.

Grapes and raisins
Grapes and raisins can lead to kidney failure in dogs. As little as a single serving of raisins can kill them. And the effects are cumulative, which means that even if a dog eats just one or two grapes or raisins regularly, the toxin that builds in his system will eventually kill him.

Onions
Onions are another common food that can be highly toxic to pets. They can destroy an animal's red blood cells and lead to anemia, weakness and breathing difficulties. Their effects are also cumulative over time.

Medicine
Hide medicine from your pets just like you would from your children. The most common cause of pet poisoning is from animals ingesting a medicine or drug normally prescribed for humans.

And this is not just because furry pals are getting into their pet parent's medicine cabinets. In many cases, pet owners give their feline and canine friends an over-the-counter medication to ease an animal's pain. But acetaminophen and ibuprofen, the active ingredients in many common pain relievers, are extremely toxic to dogs and cats. They can cause gastric ulcers, liver damage, kidney failure and sometimes death.

Good news foods

Lean meats
Any cooked lean meat should be fine for most dogs. High-fat meats, chicken skin and fat from steaks or roasts are not recommended. Ingestion may lead to gastrointestinal upset or even pancreatitis. This can be a very painful condition for dogs. In addition, most companion animals do not need extra fat in their diets. Never give your pet meat with the bone in it. Animals can choke on the bones, and they can splinter as well.

Vegetables
Carrot sticks, green beans, cucumber slices and zucchini slices are all OK.
It's a jungle out there!

Fruit
Apple slices, orange slices, bananas and watermelon are all OK. Make sure the seeds have been taken out; seeds are not good for your pet!

Baked potatoes
Plain baked potatoes are fine, but make sure they are cooked — no unripe potatoes or potato plants.

Bread
Plain cooked bread is fine; just make sure there are no nuts or raisins added.

Rice and pasta
Plain, cooked pasta and white rice are OK. Often veterinarians recommend plain rice with some boiled chicken when gastrointestinal upset is present.

No onions!? CHECK!!!

Will It Nom?: Bananas!

2008-09-14T13:56:00.000-04:00

This blog is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Ah, bananas, nature's little self-contained snack. Of the family Musaceae, they are grown in 107 different countries [*]. The perfect size for a human to nom. But will Cass and Decker nom? This is...

Will It Nom?: Bananas!

First the wild card kitten, Cass, gives the yellow potassium stick a try.

At first she seems tentative.

But she decides she likes the smell! Lick that peel!

It's a win! Turns out Cass LOVES bananas. She ate several pieces, and now every time she sees me with a banana in hand she goes crazy until I give her some.

What about our control cat, Decker?

The approach.

Uh oh, this doesn't look good!

I think that's a resounding "hells, no!" Oh, Decker, when will you learn that bananas are delicious?!

Hope you all won your bets this week. Stay tuned for the next episode, Will It Nom?: Hummus Edition!

Meanwhile, if you have any interesting (and safe) ideas for Will It Nom, please feel free to comment. Thanks!

The Omnivore's Hundred

2008-09-09T14:56:00.005-04:00

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

Rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (specifically, I've eaten rose petals, mmm!)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Hmm, I feel so American! I definitely should work on some of these.

In Ur Vacashuns

2008-09-09T14:07:00.002-04:00

I am posting from beautiful North Myrtle Beach, SC. My white pasty geeky yankee self drove our butts down here through hurricane Hanna. Amusing, since I took the first leg of the driving because I didn't want to drive through the hurricane, even though I really didn't want to drive the DC leg... turns out I ended up driving the DC leg through the storm. Hooray!!! Mr.Curtis got to drive the last leg, which was beautiful, flat sunny weather down I-95. Rawr!

Oh well, we've been here since Saturday afternoon and though the sky keeps threatening to rain, it's been mostly sunny. We ate at an italian place on route 17 on saturday night called Benito's . The food was great (they have make your own calzones!) although a little heavy, but what was I expecting from an Italian place? Shrimp and garlic calzone, brilliant!

Sunday we ate at Johnny Rocket's, since I've been in love with that place since we ate there twice in Seattle. We were the only people in the joint when the entire waitstaff starts dancing to Splish Splash by Bobby Darin. It was legendary (did I mention I started watching "How I Met Your Mother"?).

Last night we ate at a local Irish place called Flynn's Irish Tavern. Great little homey Irish place with most excellent crab dip, Shepherd's Pie and Guinness Beef Stew. We were the youngest people there (it didn't help that we're generally the youngest people here and we were eating at 5pm, granny time), but the waitstaff was great and mmmmm Smithwick's (pronounced "Smiddicks").

So far, so good. Weather keep being your wonderful shiny self, and all will be well!

Will It Nom?: Intro

2008-08-25T18:19:00.006-04:00

Speaking of bananas...

When I adopted my new kitty in December, I expected rambunctious, talkative, and adorably squishily cute. What I did not expect, and what I quickly realized is that she has a VERY unusual palate for a kitty. I won't spoil the fun, but there are plenty of foods or drinks that I've never before seen a cat partake of that my cat will readily eat, slurp or at least lick to death. It makes me wonder... how far does it go?

How many various usually eccentric-for-cats foods will Cassiopeia nom? A new series is born! To compare Cass with a "normal" kitty palate, I will see also what our more conservative kitteh, Decker, will nom or not nom. Without further ado, may I introduce you to.....

Will It Nom?

(perhaps related to: Will It Blend?)

Featuring: Cassiopeia (The Wild Card)

Also Featuring: Decker (The Control)

Watch as these kitties battle it out to find the limits of their taste buds.

Stay tuned for the first episode soon to come, Will It Nom?: Bananas!

Note: Will It Nom? will never feature dangerous foods for kittehs!!

Awesome Banana Bread

2008-08-24T22:07:00.002-04:00

This is my mom's recipe for banana bread, she has it posted here at recipezaar. I've made it about 5 times in the last month now because we keep having leftover bananas at the end of the week that are getting too ripe for my taste. Only thing I've changed to the post here is the number of bananas - I usually just use two.

Awesome Banana Bread

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter (or 1/4 c butter plus 1/4 c applesauce)
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 ripe bananas, mashed
* 1/2 cup low fat or fat free sour cream
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

Cream butter, sugar and eggs together. Combine dry ingredients. Blend both
mixtures, beating until well mixed. Add mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla
and chopped nuts. Pour into buttered loaf pan. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at
350 degrees for one hour. Cool upright for 15-20 minutes before inverting
pan to remove loaf.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

I Got Better....

2008-07-14T21:26:00.002-04:00

Just a little something I made up... enjoy!

Sushi Bowl

2008-07-13T18:54:00.002-04:00

I got this one from the renowned 101 Cookbooks: Sushi Bowl.

Only things I changed from the original recipe are:
1. No onions (blech!)
2. I used white short grain sushi rice/ rice vinegar instead of brown
3. I made half the recipe since I was only cooking for two

The rice takes a long time to make, but I understood that going into the recipe since I've prepared sushi rice before. Everything else was relatively simple-- there are many pieces to this recipe but none are complicated. I would absolutely make this again!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

2008-07-10T18:46:00.003-04:00

This recipe was modified from the one found here at AllRecipes.

Except my modified version won't give you a heart attack. That is way too much chicken (and definitely way too much cheese and salad dressing) for one pizza! Plus, I didn't feel that the melted butter was adding anything... I assure you my version was excellently tasty! Serve with a side of celery for a familiar treat.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Ingredients
---------
1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cooked and cubed
2 oz hot sauce
Bleu cheese salad dressing
1 (16 inch) prepared pizza crust (Boboli)
4oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
---------

1. Preheat oven as indicated on crust packaging (usually 450F).

2. Cover pizza crust with bleu cheese dressing (as if it were pizza sauce).

2. In a small bowl, combine the cubed chicken and hot sauce. Mix well. Top pizza with chicken mixture and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

3. Bake in preheated oven until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly, about 5 to 10 minutes. Let set a few minutes before slicing, and serve.

YUM!!!

If Life Throws You Hot Dogs...

2008-07-10T18:43:00.005-04:00

....and you only have hamburger buns, make the best of it!!!

Meh, it all tastes the same!

Food and Fire

2008-07-06T12:38:00.005-04:00

I still have both my hands and all my fingers, though my scalp is a little worse for the wear. Unfortunately, the weather decided not to comply with my wishes for a clear day, and we ended up skipping public fireworks due to the day long stint of scattered showers. Good thing, then, that my dad had a stash of things that we could blow up in the backyard when the rain finally disappeared around 10:30 that night.

Since the rain was in and out the whole day, we got the grilling and half our eating done before it returned. We made the best of it, especially since we had some tasty food to get us through the day!

Appetizers were guacamole and tortilla chips that I hastily put together after a strong craving for avocados, as well as fried mozz made by my brother (recipe here). 10/10 for presentation (although I took mine without onions *shudder*!)

On the grill were beef ribs and chicken pieces, done by my dad the grillmaster. Sides of corn on the cob and pasta salad with creamy italian dressing were supplied by my mom. Go teamwork!

Can you tell it was overcast?

My job was dessert - double chocolate Ghirardelli brownies with caramel topping, aside some slow churned vanilla ice cream. Thank goodness for pacing ourselves!

This week will be spent atoning for my gluttonous weekend... but it was so worth it! I'll leave you with this most excellent photo of yours truly:

Teriyaki Chicken Salad

2008-06-26T22:47:00.003-04:00

This recipe is quickly becoming one of my staples. It's one of those "if you were on an island and you could only eat one thing..." kind of deals. My mom made up/started making this recipe years ago, but only just recently I started making it for myself. Now I get to share the awesomeness with the world. As always this isn't an exact science, but it's pretty hard to get this recipe wrong.

Teryiaki Chicken Salad

Ingredients
Cooked, cubed chicken breast (3/4 to 1 lb)
Teryiaki grilling sauce/marinade
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded thinly
Slivered (or sliced) almonds
Red seedless grapes

Dressing:
~2/3 C Mayonnaise
~1 Tbsp Teriyaki Grilling sauce/marinade
2-3 Tbsp orange juice (water, if not available)

Directions:
Cook and cube chicken, add to ziploc bag with enough teriyaki sauce to coat the cubes (around a tablespoon?). Add chicken plus all other ingredients into a large bowl to your liking of proportions (some will like more or less almonds or grapes). Mix dressing and add to salad.

Sorry I can't provide more intricate ingredient amounts, but honestly I've never measured most of them out. As long as the dressing is thin enough to coat the salad lightly.

Leftovers will get a little soggy on the day after, but the salad is still quite viable! Just drain and eat.

Picture!?

Movin On Up

2008-06-09T20:13:00.003-04:00

On 15 June we moved into a snazzy new 2 bedroom apartment. Here's a shot of my new spacious kitchen. Mmmm kitchen.

And pictures of SOMEONE wreaking havoc on the new place (I wonder who that could be....?"

We're all settled in now, so expect more postings soon. Next up, my mom's famous Teriyaki Chicken Salad!!

Memorial Day Tasties

2008-05-29T19:51:00.003-04:00

Memorial Day weekend was a much needed mini-vacation. We went shopping on Saturday for some things for the new apartment, chilled out on Sunday, and had a Memorial Day cookout on Monday at my parents place. My mom makes the BEST potato salad in the world (she's given me her recipe and I can never get it to turn out the same), and my dad's a pro on the grill, so that left me with dessert. I kind of made things up so the recipe doesn't really have a name..

The Nameless Dessert

12-14 Pastry shells
Vanilla Fruit Dip*
Raspberry Fruit Spread**
1 Pint fresh raspberries**
Shaved chocolate (optional)

*I used a ~15oz container of T.Marzetti French Vanilla Fruit Dip, but there's cream cheese, chocolate, etc to be had as well!
** Feel free to substitute berry-fruit of your choice. I surmise that apples and cinnamon might also be very tasty.

Directions
1. Coat the inside of each pastry shell with fruit spread.
2. Fill the rest of the pastry shell with fruit dip.
3. Arrange berries on top prettily.
4. Add chocolate shavings, if applicable.

Voila!

Oh yeah and there was that other food I was talking about.

Burgers- fresh off the grill with toasted buns..mmmm!

Famous potato salad

Spicy Baked Beans

Peace out!

Tasty Mechas

2008-05-16T23:02:00.004-04:00

Might not be the best series in the world, but the mechas are frakkin awesome.

So yes, these shall soon be mine:

Plus the original orangey EVA-00 prototype.

They're Revoltech, which is a line of Kaiyodo that is super-poseable (~14 joints) plus interchangeable hands and lots of sweet accessories.

And no Neale, this isn't what I was talking about at work today.

It's Not Stupid, It's Advanced!

2008-03-30T11:56:00.004-04:00

In the last few days, I've had some cooking successes, and I've also had some (good and bad) learning experiences.

I learned that I don't bake very well (I can manage to burn just about anything, including taco shells and cookies), but the cookies that I didn't burn turned out alright. I made 101 Cookbooks' Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookies, but I substituted chocolate chips in for cacao nibs, since honestly I didn't know what those were or where to get them. I didn't understand why they had to be put in the fridge, since it just made the non-circular log that I made cold and hard to shape. The original poster flattened the dough out and used cookie cutters. That would have been a better option, since the cookies would have had a uniform thickness which would have prevented edge-burning.

Since I didn't want to spend a lot of money buying pre-tempura'd shrimp, I made some of my own this weekend using the recipe for Tempura Shrimp from Sushiday. They turned out pretty well, but I didn't originally have the oil hot enough to instantly fry the shrimp, so the batter ran out into the pan. I used the tempura shrimp to make a Spicy Tempura Roll. Tasty!!

I also tried the recipe for the Super Bowl Rock N'Roll via Sushiday. While they were tasty, it was a little weird tasting essentially american ingredients inside maki.

But deviled egg sushi...oh man. Give me those any day! I ended up making it into a roll instead of piled on top of rice, since it was easier for me. Meh, it all eats the same.

Tonight I'll be making dinner for my mom since her birthday is coming up. Stay tuned for pictures of that!

Meanwhile, happy noming!

Chili in a Biscuit Bowl

2008-03-26T08:50:00.007-04:00

I made 30+ of these bowls for a chili cook-off at work for the SuperBowl. They are an easy way to do something different with your chili. You certainly don't have to make as many as I did, but you might have wished you had!

Recipe on Food Network

Forget the chili recipe they list, of course you'll want to use my "Yours Truly Chili". The bowls ingredients and directions boil down to this:

Ingredients

Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 cups biscuit baking mix (recommended: Bisquick)
2/3 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Flour, for dusting the work surface

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Invert (means turn it over, silly) a muffin tin and spray the underside with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Stir together the baking mix, milk, and cayenne. Shape into a ball. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times. Divide the ball into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a 6-inch circle. Place a dough circle over the back of each muffin cup. Press around the cup to form a bowl shape. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool slightly. Remove the biscuit bowls and reserve.

Top with cheese, sour cream, corn strips, etc!

NOTES: Flour is necessary for dough not sticking to hands! I had great success with two muffin tins turned over on a large baking pan (for easy removal). Also it helps to stagger the bowls on the tins in a zigzag pattern so they don't cook into each other. I apologize that I don't have any pictures of that process. Here's what I gots:

Full Size

Full Size

Easter Nomulance

2008-03-23T21:18:00.004-04:00

My mom made most of the excellent Easter dinner we scarfed down this evening. The menu consisted of:

1 Spiral-Cut Ham (6 lbs)
With three dipping sauces: Apple Raisin, Raspberry, and some Orange Mustardy Crap.
Potatoes Au Gratin
Hot Pineapple Casserole
Green Beans Almondine

The sauce idea was my mom's, since we couldn't figure out a ham glaze that our whole family could agree on. Fortunately, two of the sauces turned out excellently, but the bastardized mustard/orange marmalade/V8 mixture that was the third sauce was lacking (aka vomity). Honey Mustard would have been a better third choice. The Apple Raisin sauce was my favorite. It tasted just like an apple pie!! I could have eaten it by itself, and as my mom suggested, it would probably go GREAT on vanilla ice cream.

From left to right: Apple Raisin, Orange Mustardy Crap, Raspberry. I apologize for the poor shot, there was brotherference.

The Potatoes Au Gratin (pictured above) recipe was yoinked from Retro Recipes.

The Hot Pineapple Casserole was my job for the meal. I obtained the recipe from a co-worker last week. It is as follows:

Hot Pineapple Casserole

Ingredients
2 cans crushed pineapple
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup sugar
6 Tbs Pineapple Juice (reserved from cans)
1 cup Ritz crackers, crumbled
6 Tbs flour
1 stick melted butter

Directions:

1. Combine cheese and drained pineapple in medium bowl, and combine sugar, flour and juice in small bowl.
2. Pour contents of small bowl into medium bowl.
3. Empty into casserole dish, top with cracker crumbs, pour melted butter on top.
4. Bake at 350F for 30m.

So tasty! I halved the recipe so we wouldn't have TOO many leftovers. You can also cut back on the butter if you like. The dish was picked clean by the end of the meal. I claim success!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter, Merry Ostara, or *insert adjective here* Purim this week!

Happy Noming!

Making Maki: Part 2

2008-03-18T13:10:00.002-04:00

For those of you who DO want a good website on how to roll maki, I recommend this one:

Sushi Day- How to Roll Maki Sushi

Happy rolling!

Dear Katia

2008-03-18T07:45:00.002-04:00

Dear Katia,

I don't know why you gave out the wrong e-mail address at the business conference you attended in Valencia. Maybe you forgot what your e-mail was...three different times. Maybe you did it on purpose, in which case that's really mean. Maybe you gave them that e-mail address in the hopes that when you went home and tried to sign up, that this e-mail would be free to take. That someone couldn't possibly have taken it. Well you're wrong. That's MY e-mail address, and now these unfortunate people from this conference are trying to contact me, and I have to regretfully tell them that I am not Katia, I am Kiera. I live in the US, not Europe. I'm sorry, but I'm not your contact.

We share a last name, so that's enough for me not to hate you, but please contact these people and let them know you made a mistake!

Sincerely,

Kiera With Your Last Name

P.S.

Yours Truly Chili (and Some Cornbread or Something)

2008-03-17T20:13:00.002-04:00

Finally, a recipe that I can call MINE!

When I was in college, I asked my mom how to make chili. She didn't really have a "recipe", but she listed off the ingredients to make a pot of chili. Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans, meat. And anything else you want to throw in. That was it? Wow, that was easy!

For awhile I made some mediocre meaty chili. Then it happened that Pathmark dealt me a blow of...BAD MEAT. I mean bad. When I was cooking it, it smelled sour. I cursed the heavens and screamed, "NOW what am I going to do!?". I tried chicken chili, but it wasn't the same. So, I decided to forsake meat and make three-bean chili instead. I'm not a vegetarian, but it saves a lot on calories and fat and tastes delicioso!

But me, being me...I don't like hardset recipes. So for what it's worth:

Yours Truly Chili

Ingredients
1 medium can dark red kidney beans
1 medium can black beans
1 medium can cannelini (or white kidney) beans
1 medium can diced tomatoes
2 small cans tomato sauce
1/2 medium onion (or more, to taste)
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs cocoa
2-4 Tbs flour (depending on how well you drain your beans)
2 tsp cumin (<-- the really important spice!) 1 Tbs dried oregano Dash cayenne pepper, to taste. There's a rough estimate. No need to be fancy. Now, throw it all into a crockpot and cook it on low for 5+ hours. Done! Glorious. I don't like extra stuff in my chili like peppers or chiles. Blech. Simplify. Now for the "official" cornbread recipe, since that stuff can be more finicky. I honestly don't remember where I got this, but it's not mine.

Sweet Cornbread

Ingredients
1 1/2 C Flour
2/3 C sugar
1/2 C cornmeal
1 Tbs baking powser
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 C oil
3 Tbs butter, melted
1 1/4 C milk

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease loaf pans or round pan.

2. Combine dry incredients in medium bowl, wet in small bowl. Pour wet into dry and mix just until combined.

3. Pour into pan(s) bake 35m or until wooden pick comes out clean.

Picture!

Mmmm chili!

Making Maki

2008-03-16T21:13:00.002-04:00

For those of you unfamiliar with the sushi world... maki is the japanese word for "roll" and these "sushi rolls" are the most common form of sushi you'll see in the US. Even grocery stores sell them nowadays.

I'm a sushi-roll lover, but I hate the kinds from the grocery store. They're not fresh, they use low quality ingredients, and do you really trust your grocery store that much? We used to have a Panda Express near us, but that shut down months ago. I cried. We have a Japanese restaurant across the street, Yokohama, but you have to shell out ~6 bucks a piece for a roll. Making them yourself is so much cheaper.

I'm not going to go through how to make maki. There are a million and one websites that you can google for that, and I don't want to waste your time. Let's just say I made my first two rolls tonight, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. You really only need sushi nori (seaweed) (~$4/10pack), short grain rice and your chosen ingredients..which can be anything in long strip form...cucumbers, avocado, carrots, fish, shrimp, sauce, you name it.

My first roll came out riding the short bus, mostly because I didn't tighten it enough, so I gobbled it down to dispose of the evidence (it all tastes the same!). My second roll, however, came out MUCH better. I just need a MUCH sharper knife. Seaweed is a pain to cut if your knife isn't wicked sharp.

Pre-cut:

Post cut:

I encourage all you sushi lovers to try this on a rainy day. You'll need a bamboo mat and the ingredients I listed above, but it's rather simple. If you can roll a sleeping bag and you don't have bad arthritis, you too can make maki.

Now excuse me, I have some avocado rolls to eat....*nom nom nom*

Laurie Nemec's World Famous Chicken Thingies!

2008-03-11T21:38:00.007-04:00

Now the post we've all been waiting for!!!

Sunday evening I made my boyfriend's mum's recipe for "Chicken Thingies". It's a family "secret" so I was told I could only divulge the recipe if I 1.) Called them "World Famous" and 2.) Gave credit where credit is due. So there you go.

Ease: B

The recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups cooked, chopped chicken (to your taste of fine-ness)
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp chopped chives (or to taste)
2 Tbsp milk
Salt to taste
1/2 cup crushed, seasoned bread crumbs
2 packages crescent rolls
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions
Mix chicken, cream cheese, chives, milk and salt in medium bowl by hand to make filling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls. Each tube will contain 4 rectangles of dough with diagonal perforations. Press dough along each perforation so the rectangle halves will not separate. Place about 1/4 cup of the mixture into the center of each rectangle. Fold dough over the filling and pinch edges to seal tightly. Dip each packet in melted butter and coat with bread crumbs. Place packets on baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Except my version of the recipe says "mile" instead of "milk". Must be a code-word.

PIX!

The players

On the left is what the crescent rolls look like right out of the tube.
On the right is what it'll look like when merged.

Filling the packets. The top left packet is what it should look like when sealed.

Yum!!!!

I hear that the only thing I "could do better" is to chop up the chicken finer, but it's not at all bad roughly chopped like I did.

They *are* reheatable.

And as far as a rating, I'll let the "world famous" title speak for itself.

Cheddar Beer Fondue

2008-03-08T15:20:00.007-05:00

The Melting Pot is one of my favorite places to go eat, primarily because of their wonderful cheese fondue, but it is also a ridiculously expensive place to eat. So, when I started craving cheese fondue this week, I decided to look into doing it myself.

My criteria were simple. I didn't want to use "weird" cheese like Gruyere. Considering my favorite cheese of ALL TIME is any kind of extra sharp cheddar cheese (Tillamook makes a wonderful extra sharp cheddar), I googled hard for a good cheddar fondue recipe.

I was ecstatic when I found this recipe for Cheddar Beer Fondue, since that meant I didn't have to go out and buy wine either, since most of the recipes I was finding that used gruyere also used dry white wine.

Taste: A+++!

Ease: A

This recipe is posted several places, but I found it on Gourmet Sleuth.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
Dash cayenne
1 bottle (12 oz.) beer of choice
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
1 Baguette, cubed; each cube with crust

Instructions
In saucepan, melt butter; blend in flour, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and cayenne. Gradually stir in beer; stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat; add cheese, stir until melted. Transfer to fondue pot; place over low heat. Serve with bread cubes; use long handled fondue forks.

You might notice that this recipe as it reads on gourmet sleuth does not include cayenne, but their "cheddar beer fondue II" does. So why not combine? I also changed it up from 3 cups to a simple 8oz of cheese. I used a Lager (as the original recipe suggests), but you can use different beers for different tastes.

Also, and I must place this in high emphasis, you DO NOT NEED A FONDUE POT! I cooked my fondue up in a 10 inch skillet and transferred over to a warmed pot of water with a double-boiler insert just to keep it warm. You could just as easily do this in a large pot and forget about the double boiler-- it just might not keep warm as long.

The players. I never used the second block of cheese.

Le pain.

After beer, but before the cheese.

All done!

The presentation. I served with crusty cubed bread, apples, and broccoli. The two of us ate it as dinner, but this would also serve well as a party dish (as long as you had a good way of keeping it warm).

I was impressed at the ease of this recipe. I had never made any kind of fondue before, and to be quite honest I was concerned about attempting this. It had always seemed, to me, that there was some secret or that it was harder than it looked...

Absolutely, I would make this exact recipe again for dinner or a party!

Time to find a recipe that doesn't include beer....!

Jewelry Board

2008-03-07T08:00:00.003-05:00

I did lot of searching and heming and hawing over what I wanted in a functional jewelry holder. I didn't want a box because it takes up valuable desk space, can fall over, and I have nowhere to put it in my bedroom that is easily accessable. I decided I wanted a wall mounted jewelry box of some sort, but when I googled for these I winced at the pricing.

So I decided to DIY it and just use a cork-board. My original idea was to cover it in fabric and ribbon so it would look a little nicer than, well, a cork-board, but we found a half-cork half-dry board at Michael's, so that idea became rather non feasible. So here's what it became instead:

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I wish I had taken a picture before I hung all of these up. The previous arrangement had been a giant pile of knots and cursing and screaming...and now I can at least see that I own a few pairs of earrings. The only thing I didn't put up there are my rings. Now I need a small ring-holding device..hmmm...

Dirty Shrimp In Butter-Beer Sauce

2008-03-06T18:08:00.005-05:00

Last night I made Dirty Shrimp in Butter-Beer Sauce. It's only a little beer, don't get excited...but you do get to drink the other 3/4 of the bottle while you're cooking!!

Taste: A+

Ease: A

Recipe on Recipezaar

Ingredients
1 lb shrimp , shelled and deveined
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoons garlic , minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt , to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper , to taste
1/4 cup beer

Directions
1. Saute garlic and herbs in butter until garlic is slightly browned.

2. Add shrimp, stirring constantly, until shrimp are pink and done.

3. Pour in beer, simmer 1 minute more, and serve!

The original recipe is double this, but I was only cooking for two. The directions remain the same, so no matter.

Here's my favorite part: The pix.

My shrimpies had been in the freezer up until now, it took less than 10 minutes to thaw them with cold running water. Not the most earth-conscious method, but it works in a jiffy.

The other players.

We're cooking! Once we're pink we'll add the beer....

And then...

All done!

I chose to serve over rice. My parents served it with fresh bakery bread. You might need it with the kick this recipe has. Go light on the cayenne and red pepper flakes if you're not a fan of the spice.

No garlic burning this time. Woohoo!

NOM NOM NOM!

Linguine alle Noci

2008-03-03T09:28:00.005-05:00

This Sunday for supper I made Linguine alle Noci (Linguine with Walnut Sauce).

Taste: A

Ease: B

Recipe on Serious Eats

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 cup toasted hard bread crumbs
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
1 pound linguine
1/2 cup roughly chopped Italian parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated caciocavallo cheese or pecorino romano

Procedure
1. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons kosher salt

2. In a 14- to l6-inch fry pan, heat the oil over medium heat till smoking. Add the garlic and cook until light golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add half of the bread crumbs, the walnuts, and pepper flakes and cook until lightly toasted, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook according to the package instructions until 1 minute short of al dente. Just before draining the pasta, add 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water to the pan with the walnut mixture.

4. Drain the pasta in a colander and pour the pasta into the pan with the walnut mixture. Place the pan over medium heat and continue cooking the pasta with the walnut mixture until the pasta is lightly dressed with the condiment, about 1 minute. Add the parsley and grated cheese, stir through, pour into a heated bowl, sprinkle with the remaining bread crumbs, and serve immediately.

The result:

The only problem I had with this recipe is that it tells you to heat the oil on medium until smoking and then add the garlic. Don't crank it up this high if you're going to use pre-minced garlic.. it WILL BURN.

Also, as a recommendation, toast your own bread and crumble it on, don't use pre-packaged breadcrumbs.

This recipe is incredibly tasty! Who knew that walnuts went with pasta? Definitely spring for the fresh parsley, and feel free to adjust the amount of red pepper flakes according to your taste for spiciness.

"I Love This Show"

2008-02-11T11:16:00.000-05:00

I'm here. I'm just inundated with/addicted to/binging on Invader ZIM at the moment. I want to huggle and squish and snuggle G.I.R. Eeeeee!

My first comment on Zim was that it reminded me of "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy." Funny that, since they share a lead voice actor. Richard Steven Horvitz voiced both Zim and Billy. Zim debuted March 30, 2006. Billy and Mandy debuted August 24th, 2006. It makes me wonder. And I might get stoned for this, but I think Gaz is just a shadow of Mandy.

On the anime front... I tried getting into Azumanga Daioh, and while it's funny, it doesn't have that "must watch next episode" addictive quality that other comedic animes have, like Ranma 1/2.

Todd and the Guymelefs

2008-01-03T15:16:00.000-05:00

This is late in coming, but I saw Sweeney Todd the day it came out. Fortunately, I can say it was the best movie I've seen since 3:10 to Yuma and Stardust. I went with a few people, one of which was "ee-ing" over going to see it since he loves the operetta. I loved the movie, and so did he, so it's safe to say it's modification-approved. But really, did we really think that anything that Johnny Depp and Tim Burton were involved in would be horrible? Especially if it's dark. I had my reservations about Helena Bonham-Carter, but it was an excellent performance.

My boyfriend and I also sat down and watched the Escaflowne series, The Vision of Escaflowne. It's important to distinguish the series from the movie. I watched the movie a long while ago back in college and remember thinking, "I thought people said Escaflowne was better than this." A lot of fans of the series don't enjoy the movie. I figure I won't waste 2 hours of my time re-watching it.

The series is about a girl in high school who is wisked away to a magical world, Gaea, where one can see the Earth and moon in the sky. The empire Zaibach wishes to harnass the sleeping power of Atlantis, and she is caught in the middle of the clash between those who wish to see the power used and those who feel it should remain hidden.

It's good. Parts of the ending bothered me, and there were lots of lull periods. It could have been a half-season series and been better, but I know that's not reasonable to request, but it would have been a nice compromise between a crappy movie and an unnecessary full season.

But as my boyfriend pointed out, as great as Miyazaki is, it's nice to see some characters that aren't the Miyazaki stereotypes! The soundtrack, which I've been listening to for some time on my iPod, is also amazing. Definitely a one-season wonder, and a recommend to any anime goers, even those of us who don't like mecha.

Wiki: Vision of Escaflowne

Wow, I haven't done one of these in forever!

The Vision of Escaflowne

Plotline: Good
Characters: Very Good
Music: Excellent
Animation: Very Good

"I Am Legend" Smashes Box Office, Gives Warm Fuzzy Feeling

2007-12-17T11:23:00.001-05:00

Vampire flick "I Am Legend" reeled in 76.5M on opening weekend , supposedly making it the number one December opening ever.

Meanwhile, I am sitting back in my chair, shaking my head.

I know I'm a harsh critic, and I know the movie was going to be different than the book, but consider these things.

1. This movie was already made. It was called "28 Days Later" which was not based on a book and already did a great job of rejuvinating the zombie genre.

2. The ending of the book is not "Hollywood", so they had to change it to one of those warm, fuzzy, "hope goes on" endings. I'm sick of Hollywood treating all of us like 10 year olds that need a happy ending, but I guess that's what happens when 25% of the U.S. has not read a single book in the last year. Endings aren't always happy. I'd much rather have a sad-ending thinker movie than a plotless action flick, but I guess the opening numbers for the weekend say otherwise for the general population.

3. The best scene in the entire movie is the most tragic, occurs only about halfway through the movie and has little to do with the rest of the plot.

4. The vampires in the book could talk and were generally sentient, not just brainless monsters. The movie shows a glimmer of this and then disregards it for the rest of the movie. It also half-asses the fact that one vampire seems to know the main character...but since they can't talk, that kind of all goes out the window.

5. They bring God into the last quarter of the movie for no reason whatsoever. This was non-existant in the book. I don't have any personal quarrel with God, but in this case it was utterly superfluous.

6. His reason for being "Legend" in the movie sucks.

Just...step away from your car and go read the book instead. It'll be just as much as a movie ticket, but more enjoyable and thought-provoking. Plus, you can always donate it to your local library when you're done and let someone else discover the joys of reading a book. Plus, the proceeds of the book don't support the MPAA. What other reasons do you need?

Except you, the one that wants the happy fuzzy ending. You can go see the movie.

Next: The Mysterious Vanishing Ending!

2007-12-15T22:15:00.000-05:00

So I'm not crazy in thinking I saw scenes that were from the end of the book in the movie trailer when I watched it online. Apparently they filmed more scenes for the movie but they were cut due to *Foamy voice* "run time". At a paltry 113 minutes, I don't see how that is applicable.

Epic Fail.

You can watch one of the deleted scenes here:

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/12/15/watch-the-missing-ending-from-the-golden-compass/

The Disappointing Compass

2007-12-13T13:20:00.000-05:00

I saw "The Golden Compass" opening day. As I sat through the movie I became more and more disenchanted with the way it was presented. By the end I kind of just stared at the screen and thought to myself..."They're kidding...right?".

I understand that to make a book into a movie there are some compromises that need to be made. Plot arcs to take out and changes to account for that have been caused by said plot removals. Where did the Hobbits get the wraith-killing swords from? Who are Tom Bombadil and Ghan-Buri-Ghan? If you watch the movie, you don't know. I understand this.

However, changing around the sequence of the plot, without which the story still could have been completed in time, angers me. In the book, Lyra travels to Bolvangar and THEN to Svalbard. In the movie it's the other way around. Why?

Second, and most infuriating of all is a change that Pullman himself authorized. The entire ending of the book is not included in the end of the movie. Instead it ends on a kind of sigh, an "eh" feeling. Nothing epic. Just a meager cry of "yeah, we'll show them bad guys...!" One of the most enjoyable aspects of the book was the coming together of the plot in this climaxing, overarching, HOLY SHIT ending. If it doesn't make you go "OH SNAP", nothing will. But don't expect this from the movie.

I suppose I did myself in the moment I decided that I'd read the book first, however, my boyfriend hadn't read the book, and he was equally as puzzled and frustrated by the anti-climactic ending.

There were redeeming factors of the movie. It was generally entertaining, and they did a wonderful job of the battle between Iofur and Iorek. A jaw went flying and children had to be taken out of the theater and all was well. But next time don't rate your movie PG, k? This is not for the same age of kids as are watching Chronicles of Narnia.

It's an Alethiometer, kthx.

2007-11-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

So what if I sat down and read all of "The Golden Compass" on Sunday? It's good, and I couldn't put it down, okay? I was rather intrigued in a children's book that talks of parallel universes in a way that most of the general adult population of America wouldn't understand.

I told myself I had to read the whole book so I could go back and watch the trailer for the movie "The Golden Compass" coming out December 7th and see how true to the book it looked. I'm pleasantly surprised. There are a few scenes in the new global trailer that I thought for sure they would leave out of the movie adaptation, and the animation of the bear characters such as Iorek Byrnison looks freakin' sweet.

The movie feels as if it's being presented at a slightly different angle than the book presents itself, but only watching the whole movie will tell me if it bothers me enough to call crap on it.

The ONLY thing that bugs me about the movie trailer is that they call the alethiometer a "golden compass". They never refer to it in the first book as a compass except once where they say it looks like a compass. Other than that, they always called it an alethiometer, because that's what it is. I hope they don't call it "the compass" throughout the whole movie. Blech.

By the way, the original name for this book was "Northern Lights" from the His Dark Materials series. Why the rename for the American book? The last two books, "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass" didn't get a name change. It feels like Harry Potter and the *Sorcerer's* Stone all over again.

As far as the movie being so called "athiest propaganda", I call crap on it. Unless the movie differs greatly from the book there's no reason for this accusation. The book encourages us to not be controlled and brainwashed by the Church, but that's a far cry from athiesm. Sheesh. Get a grip. It's almost as bad as the athiests that called crap on the Chronicles of Narnia for being Christian. Except they had a little standing ground on that one because it sort of..well..was.. but if you don't want your children reading the book or seeing the movie, don't let them read or see it, and if it really bothers you as an adult, don't read or see it. People have a right to write whatever religious implications they want into their children's books, and you have a right not to read them. Just don't complain when I call you close-minded.

At least the movie comes in at 114 minutes compared to the film rendition of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" which clocked in at 135. My ass thanks you.

Ammy and the Flea

2007-11-19T20:20:00.000-05:00

I had no idea when I got into Okami on PS2 that it was estimated to have 60-100 hours of gameplay time. I had no idea how it would suck me in, how I would be hunched over on my floor with a pile of papers trying to collect all the collectibles and restore all the clovers (MORE BLOOM!), and work my way through puzzles that DON'T get tiresome with brush techniques.

Time and time again I have been blown away by this game. Originally I thought it was cute and had beautiful art. The gibberish dialogue bugged me and so did Issun, your wandering artist (flea-like) companion. But now I don't mind either so much, rather, I appreciate them since it wouldn't be Okami without them.

I'm only 37 hours into the game and I've laughed a lot, almost cried once or twice, open mouth-gaped a few times...generally thoroughly enjoyed myself.

However, now that I can pee on my enemies to damage them (not to mention trying to save up 2 million yen to get the akin "Brown Rage"), what more is left? Am I going to be bored in the last 30+ hours of the game?

I've told Curtis, who is currently playing Assassin's Creed, "My game is totally better than your game", and while I'm not saying AC is bad by any stretch of the imagination (mmm stealthy killing goodness), as far as a well rounded game goes I'd much rather put my time into Okami.

Well, I suppose we'll see how the last half of the game goes....!

Testing

2007-11-14T09:14:00.001-05:00

This is a test for LJ syndicated feed.

Voices of a Distant Star

2007-11-08T08:37:00.000-05:00

Voices of a Distant Star is a short film by Makoto Shinkai.

Mikako Nagamine is a school student who gets drafted to fight for the UN Space Army (UN Spacey), and she is faced with leaving behind her sweetheart Noboru Terao. As her spaceship, the Lysithea, travels into space to find and fight this group named the Tarsians, she gets farther and farther away from Earth. Text messages to Noboru are the only way to keep in touch with him. First the messages take months to reach home, and months to travel back, but as her fleet goes into warp to the Sirius System, she knows that the next message she sends will take over 8 years to get back to Earth, 16 years (at least!) for a reply. Noboru must make the decision over and over again whether to wait by his phone or get on with his life without Mikako.

It's a touching short film about distance and relationships. While watching, I recalled the years where we actually had to send real (snail mail..) letters to each other and where not hearing from someone for a day, a week, a month or even a year wasn't too abnormal. Today our communication is about "now, now, now!" We all want instant replies, instant gratification to our passing fancies and desires, and it is the same now with our communication with our friends and families. I don't see this film as a science fiction piece, but more of a piece about humanity and our endurance. While the end is vaguely reminiscent of Evangelion, it ends with what Wiki describes as a "simultaneous soliloquy" between Mikako and Noboru.

Definitely worth 24 minutes of your time!

Angelic Layer/ Chobits

2007-10-14T20:43:00.000-04:00

So, I watched seven episodes of Angelic Layer. I can't do it anymore. The concept is great: Tamagotchi meets Pokemon, but the plot arc is foot draggingly slow and predictable. I know it's supposed to be a teeny-bopper kind of anime, but I could even stomach Pretear over this.

I started watching Angelic Layer because Wiki suggested it before I started watching Chobits. However, since Chobits has gotten overall worse reviews than Angelic Layer, I think I just give up.

Wear It On Your Head

2007-09-17T07:10:00.000-04:00

I mean really....

Who steals underwear....?

RIP Panties. You served me well.

DDR Meets the Matrix

2007-09-11T09:32:00.000-04:00

I've found the best wallpaper ever!

MATRIX by ~Renderwahn on Deviantart.com

You know you play too much DDR when you start seeing the arrows move.

Keep It Movin'

2007-09-05T15:30:00.000-04:00

My photos have moved to a new home!

tempest.forgottenexpanse.com/photos/

Photos from PAX, Otakon, Katsucon, Guild Wars and more are there for your viewing pleasure.

Can't Control My Feet

2007-08-31T09:52:00.001-04:00

I got one of these for my birthday, along with this.

DDR is addictive.

This weekend we shall see. DDR vs GW:EN. Who will win?

That. Was. AWESOME!

2007-08-29T13:13:00.000-04:00

My boyfriend and I were in Seattle from Thursday to Monday at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) .

IT
WAS
AWESOME!

Other than our horrible and I mean HORRIBLE flight screwing-overs, of course. Let me touch briefly on that. We booked a month and a half in advance for a direct flight to Seattle from Philly and back. No problem. Around $400 a person. A few weeks before the event they email us telling us they've changed our flight, which now gets us in later than some of our plans. We had to call and change...that was bad enough, but we almost ALMOST missed our connecting flight in Las Vegas on the way home (we ran through the airport, but fortunately the flight out of LV was also delayed about 15 minutes, which allowed us to get our baggage transferred too-- hooray!), and we still got in at midnight EST. We would have gotten in at 6am had we missed that flight, all because they cannot keep their freakin word and give us the direct flights we paid for. Oh, and did you know they have ads the entire way on planes now and you have to pay for like ANY in flight food? Ok.... end rant about the plane flight.

Thursday we went to a "pre-PAX" dinner at P.F. Changs which was awesome. We met some Canadians at our table and had tasty food and got free appetizers. Afterwards, we crashed because of all the wonderful jet lag.

Friday we went and took the Underground Tour of Seattle, took lots of pictures, etc, then we went to the con a wee bit late. It opened at 2, we got there at about 1:45 and because of the line we didnt get in until around 2:45. Lots of DS playing. We rushed to the first theater to see some speed runs of games, then we lined up and got to see Wil Wheaton as the keynote speaker! We checked out the exhibition hall (I ran into my ex and that was kind of awkward). Then we chilled for the rest of the night.

Saturday was even awesomer. We watched people pitch their game ideas to a judge's panel. I went to a short panel on the "History of Guild Wars", but I didn't get to stay the whole time because we left to watch the Assassin's Creed Live Demo! Then it was a little bit of "I'm Getting Old When Life Cuts Into Gaming", focusing on how to balance and intertwine your "real life" and games. Then we took a nap and ate dinner before the concert of: John Coulton, MC Frontalot (OMG OMG OMG) and the Minibosses from 8-2am. It was awesome, but my back and feet were killing me by the time we got back to the hotel. Also, can someone PLEASE tell the artists not to request that the thousands of smelly nerds raise their arms?

Sunday we watched a round of gaming Family Feud as our wrap up, and we dined at the Space Needle which wasn't even revolving that night, but it was still good.

Monday we came home. I happened to meet and sit behind Tom Fulp, Founder and C.E.O of Newgrounds on the flight home from Las Vegas, which I didn't even realize until now. Awesome!

Hooray for vacation!

P.S. In other less important news, I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I've started reading the rest of the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. Yay!

Books and Games and Anime - Oh My!

2007-08-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

I really will miss Harry Potter once I'm done the last book. It's flying by and I'm about 1/3 of the way done. There has already been one death and many of the scenes are so incredibly vivid and capturing that I don't realize that 40 pages have passed by in the blink of an eye... If it weren't for the pesky thing called "a job", I would have finished it in a day.

Of course, there are other things to worry about, like all the other games that I'm in the middle of. Okami, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Hotel Dusk, Pokemon Pearl, not to mention Guild Wars and Diablo II that I've suddenly gotten back into.

Samurai Champloo is the current "active" anime. I've already watched it once, but my boyfriend is watching it for the first time. I certainly don't mind watching it again. AWESOME anime- another one of those one-season wonders.

My head is going to explode with all the media intake. But that's nothing compared to next week.

PAX

Oh I am so going. I am so staying in the Sheraton right across from the convention center. I am SO going to the pre-PAX dinner. I am SO going to the nerdcore show and squealing at MC Frontalot, and I am SO going to eat in the revolving restaurant in the Space Needle.

I'm going to pee my pants. Does that count as more than 3oz of liquid? Will the TSA take my pants if I pee them?

I Got a Button!

2007-08-02T14:59:00.000-04:00

I've only been to two anime conventions in my life. Sad, I know, but I've been previously broke (read: in college) and anime-friendless so I have my excuses. The first was Katsucon last winter in Washington D.C. Then comes my second, Otakon.

My first comment: It didn't feel like 25,000+ people, not in Baltimore Convention Center. It was actually almost, ALMOST a little disappointing considering how much bigger it is than Katsucon. The dealers' room was bigger at Otakon but I liked the dealers' room better at Katsucon... artist's alley was bigger at Otakon too, but I didn't find anything I wanted to buy. I bought a t-shirt and two art prints at Katsucon. There were great costumes at both conventions. There were great animes showing at both. Katsucon had Peelander-Z. Otakon had Eminence.

Honestly, I can't say Otakon was BETTER than Katsucon except in one area-- my own costume.

I was Kikyo at Katsucon. I was exceptionally proud of the costume because the pants were handmade; I didn't buy them. I was sad when only one person even said anything to me and I didn't warrant any pictures. I didn't realize until I stepped out of that role that people who play Kikyos and InuYashas and Mirokus and Narutos are greatly ignored unless you do something REALLY spectacular.

That being said, my friends and I decided to do something in a group for Otakon. My boyfriend introduced me to the Sandman graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman awhile back. We looked at the costumes and figured we could pull off Dream, Death and Destiny. Two months of dedicated work later, we did.

We were all taken aback at not only how many people recognized our costumes, but how many compliments we received and how many times we were asked for pictures. There were at least two other Deaths there, neither as good as me, and no other Dreams or Destinys to speak of. We did meet a Delirium or two along the way, though. Most people recognized me first, and the most overt compliments were directed towards our accuracy and how well Destinys book was done. Curtis (Dream) got hugged by two Okamis, and I was run after by a dealer who gave me a free button that said "Death is but a doorway....here, let me hold that for you". The whole experience exceeded my wildest expectations, and I am exceptionally glad (what's with the ex-words?) that our first serious attempt at cosplay went so well!

Highlights from the con include a box of giant pocky, Speed Racer, Karin, and a last minute tidbit of information that led us to see Sundays concert- Eminence with special guest Hitoshi Sakimoto. Crazy. Oh, and my favorite costume, the poor, poor Optimus Prime.

Edit: Here is my favorite picture of myself from the con.

Two Strikes for Amazon

2007-07-27T12:08:00.000-04:00

This is strike two, Amazon.

I preordered HP and the Deathly Hallows before noon on the date required (July 17th) to get "guaranteed delivery". I wasn't banking on getting it then- I'm no Potterphile- but it would be nice to have it on the day of release so I don't hear spoilers, I thought.

So they ship the other portion of my order-- Kushiels Justice-- and I received that book. The 21st comes and goes. No shipment of Harry Potter. What the heck?

I check the estimated delivery date. July 28th-30th. Huh? Okay....so I check the help site. It claims that you must have ordered standard or prime shipping to get the book guaranteed on Saturday. Nowhere on my order form when I submitted it did it state that particular fact, or I would have been sure to choose standard shipping.

It's not THAT big of a deal, though, but it irks me that it's July 26th and it hasn't shipped yet How do they expect to meet the expected shipment date? So I e-mailed Customer Service about
it. They responded with what I thought: since I chose free shipping I wasn't guaranteed delivery on the 21st and my order was being prepared for shipment now.

I get a shipping confirmation this morning. I go to track my package and they had changed the estimated delivery date to the 28th-31st. Again, not THAT big of a deal but all of this put together just bugs the crap out of me. Amazon used to be dependable and super fast and that seems to have gone out the window. Way to drop the ball. You'd better be glad I'm not a crazed Harry Potter fan!

For enlightenment, the first strike was when I preordered Guild Wars Nightfall. I was supposed to get a key to be able to play it two days earlier than everyone since I preordered. Amazon had nothing set up to give those out, in fact, I got the game several days after it had come out. So why did I PREORDER!? I'm never preordering a game from them again. Looks like books are out of the question too.

Rebuild of Evangelion Trailer

2007-07-26T15:55:00.001-04:00

So I saw the Rebuild of Evangelion trailer last night. Yeah. It had some reused scenes and some inserted "new fangled technology" that fits horribly in with the old animation.

The music's always good, though.

Good luck with that, Gainax.

Rebuild of Evangelion!?

2007-07-25T13:58:00.000-04:00

WHY?

Not only did they destroy the NERV and SEELE logos, my spidey-sense tells me that if they cannot do it right after a series, extra episodes and two movies, that this somehow, SOMEHOW a series of movies is not going to make it any better.

Rebuild of Evangelion

No seriously. Let's look at what Wiki says about this new series of movies:

Potentially Bad Things:

"A new design for Unit-01."

So one of the things that the series did right, seriously sweet, identifiable mechas that people happen to now have artbooks, tshirts, figurines and not to mention respect for...is changing?

"Several iconic scenes from the original series that have been recreated almost shot for shot, re-animated with modern digital animation techniques."

Again, Eva's animation was one of the things I DID NOT have any gripes with! Why!? And what's this "almost shot for shot" and "several" scenes? How much are they going to change?

Potentially Good Things:

"Another story change is that Kaworu will make a much earlier appearance; in the series, he was not introduced until episode 24"

Thank you! In the series all of a sudden Kaworu appears and you're like...what the...? More insight into Kaworu would be helpful.

But that's really it...

More comment as more information is available.

Paprika

2007-07-10T13:42:00.000-04:00

I herald the Apple TV for having a trailer for Paprika. The movie, not the spice...although paprika on deviled eggs is pretty tasty...

Wiki slap on Paprika (2006) . (Warning: Spoilers on Wiki).

At first I thought that the 13 year gap it took to make the movie out of the novel was a long time, but it pales to the likes of Metropolis which was made out of its 1949 manga counterpart. No matter, despite the long waits, both of these movies were exceptional. While I'll have to wait until later to talk about Metropolis, I saw Paprika last night and have to talk about it.

Paprika introduces us to a world not far in the future where an apparatus called the "DC Mini" is created by a genius who wishes for people to be able to share their dreams with friends. The DC Mini is being used to help in psychological therapy by viewing and analyzing dreams of patients. Unfortunately, the DC Mini turns out to be a more dangerous piece of technology than anyone imagined, capable of functions that, exploited by the wrong people, can be devastating as well as maddening. In the movie you get to explore the true last, vast frontier for humans: the dream-world. We see the characters struggle with their own pasts, confront themselves to be able to make it through the wilderness that is the human mind.

While Paprika was surely no Spirited Away, it deserves a serious watch and commendation. The animation is brilliant, weaving between dream and reality- sometimes lurching from one to the other purposely, leaving you with a feeling of psychological whiplash. For the most part the plot was excellently accomplished, closing with an ending reminiscent of the Neon Genesis Evangelion movie.

Maybe it deserves a second watch, but the characters could have been stronger; the most developed was the genius Tokita. Though the character association between Chiba and Paprika was interesting, for its importance it was relatively downplayed, anti-climactic and largely unexplained. I am no newcomer to unexplained plot in anime, however, the Chiba-Paprika relationship was one that I was disappointed to find unexplored. The plot arc with the cop Konakawa held my interest through the entire movie, but with all that was going on with the half dozen major characters in the plot, many of the characters didn't get the depth that they were entitled. Perhaps a visit to the manga is in order. I have a feeling it suffers from the same syndrome that Harry Potter movie 4 and LOTR suffered from.. wonderful but LONG story that some pieces simply must be cut out of to fit the entire thing into one film.

Also: please leave out love stories if they are going to seem like last minute throw-ins!

Susumu Hirasawa rocks the soundtrack. He also did the music for Paranoia Agent.

All in all, Paprika is a wonderful movie experience that we here in America are largely unable to experience through Hollywood. I made the comment in the first minutes of Paprika that "This seems like a movie that American cinema would try but utterly fail at...", and it was. Go watch it!

Plotline: Excellent
Characters: Good
Music: Very Good
Animation: Excellent

A Second Wind

2007-07-03T15:34:00.000-04:00

Oh yes. It is time to start the fun back up, boys and girls. There is so much I need to cover, including:

Witch Hunter Robin
Ranma
Magic Knights Rayearth
Tenchi Muyo
Deep Space Nine (wait, that's not anime!)
Lain
And much more...!

Woohoo!

UK Ladies Represent!

2007-02-13T16:50:00.000-05:00

What's with all the great English ladies coming out of the woodwork and making their way onto my playlist? It's not like they're new, but they are new to me. All last summer I almost exclusively listened to M.I.A. which kept me sane while I was looking for a job. Now I'm addicted to both Lady Sovereign and Lily Allen.

Hooray sassy, independent ladies! Special props to the indie M.I.A.

Rurouni Kenshin OVA

2007-02-12T16:50:00.000-05:00

If you don't like this anime, you're a lost cause to all anime. Rawr.

I can sum up my feelings about this 4 episode OVA pretty well.

Trigun: Out Of DEEP Left Field

2007-02-03T20:19:00.000-05:00

I remember seeing a few dubs of Trigun on Cartoon Network, and thinking it was another one of those silly lighthearted animes. That being said, Trigun is the only anime I can think of that completely took me by surprise. I was warned that it got much more serious halfway through, but I never expected what happened. Completely out of left field...a good left field.

Warning:Spoilers

Vash is an alien. A freaking ALIEN. I never expected that. I was thinking maybe he was some crazy beefed up assassin a la Bourne Identity or something. That he was one of the alien life forms used to power the plants that are used to colonize a planet just floored me. Being one of these aliens and having a twin brother that thinks completely opposite of him when it comes to perception of the human race gave Vash a depth of character that I doubt could have been achieved by other means. Not only is he cute, humorous and dashing as well as a hopeless romantic he is also brave and serious. I have to say: I <3> Trigun

Definitely a one season series I'd recommend to anyone. It's got a little bit of everything: Guns, romance, philosophy, villains, thinking, humor...name it. Even a little kitty that appears in every episode kind of like a Superman sticker or something is supposed to appear somewhere in every Seinfield episode. Oh, and I liked the kind of animation that was used. I wonder what other animes this particular animator has done....time to go do some research!

Hm. Grades.
Plotline: Excellent
Characters: Excellent
Music: Very Good
Animation: Very Good

Not Scrapping The Princess

2007-01-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

After watching Haibane Renmei, one of my friends suggested I watch Scrapped Princess. I'd never heard of it before, but I figured I'd give it a go nonetheless.

I meant to post about halfway through the anime, but I was so dragged into it I kind of skipped past that whole thing and watched through right to the end. It's only one Season (24 eps). It's relatively recent (2003), and one of the character designers, Takahiro Komori, also worked on Cowboy Bebop.

I was taken aback by how good it was, when it seemed so lighthearted and silly in the beginning. I'm in the middle of watching Trigun right now, and I suppose I could compare Scrapped Princess to that. The main character, Pacifica, is a 15 year old rambunctious, bossy, and innocent girl who is prophecied to destroy the world at 16. What was so interesting about this anime is how it so perfectly integrated her innocence with such a doomsday plot line. It's set in the future, yet not in the future. You'll understand if you watch. Oh, and yes, the end was actually conclusive, though..it leaves you with philosophical questions to ponder, such as:

Is it right to deny people freedoms because you want to protect them?

Is it right to kill someone because you've been ordered to, even though you know they don't deserve to die?

Is it right to kill someone because there is a possibility they might kill millions of people?

Or is it right to protect them just because of your personal feelings, even though they might kill millions of people?

And of course: "Would you?" could be tacked onto all of those questions.

All of these questions lead to a dramatic ending for Scrapped Princess.

Grades?
Plotline: Excellent
Characters: Very Good
Music: Good
Animation: Very Good

Lupin By Miyazaki?!

2007-01-09T16:48:00.000-05:00

Upon reading the comment left by parrots on my last post about Nausicaa, saying how I should watch more old Miyazaki films, I decided to look up Miyazaki on IMDB. I know he has directed films like Porco Rosso and Kiki's Delivery Service among many others that I haven't watched, but what I found made me do a double take.

Hayao Miyazaki was the director of 15 Lupin III episodes!

The catch here is that there were three different versions of Lupin. The first in 1971-72 was more serious, and this is the one that Miyazaki had a hand in. This is referred to as the "green jacket" version. The second series ("red jacket", 1977-80) is what has aired on Cartoon Network, and seems to be the most popular. There is also a third series ("pink jacket",
1984-5).

I never liked Lupin III, but that's probably because I've only watched the red jacket series. I really want to go and find the green jacket series now!

The Second Time Around

2007-01-08T10:37:00.000-05:00

So I watched Haibane Renmei again this past weekend with some friends, and this time I got to watch the dub instead. The dub was actually not half-bad, but I still largely prefer the subtitled version, as the voices in the dub became a little annoying after a few episodes. Still, it's nice not having to read my screen once in awhile.

What I figured would happen, happened. It was as good for me the second time around as the first; however, I think this is just the perfect anime for me. I think I'm a total fangirl of this anime because I enjoy the messages in it, as well as the fact that the Haibane look like little angels. It's almost as if this anime was made with me in mind. Creepy. Regardless, my friends did seem to enjoy it, but not nearly as much as me.

Still a big two thumbs up for Haibane Renmei.

A Change In The Wind

2007-01-03T11:28:00.000-05:00

Of all of Hayao Miyazaki's films, I watched Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime) first. So, when I watched his earlier film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no tani no Naushika) for the first time, my immediate reaction was to say, "Oh, Princess Mononoke was a natural evolution from this film. This one was imperfect so he did it over, and you can see that in his later film."

I was wrong. I got the DVD of Nausicaa for Christmas and watched it over. I was wrong to make my hasty judgments. Even the dub is awesome, with an all-star cast including Patrick Stewart and Uma Thurman.

I am sorry, Nausicaa. I am sorry, Miyazaki. Sorry for doubting you.

Anime Cliché #2: Animation and Styling

2006-08-25T12:24:00.000-04:00

The way a movie or series looks or feels to its audience greatly influences the reaction of that audience. If you don't like the style in which a movie was filmed, even if you love the content, it'll never be top notch for you. It's the same exact way with anime, except with an entire genre. The unique animation and styling of anime movies and series has long been a deterrent of many potential viewers. It seems to me that the average joe thinks of Dragonball Z or Pokémon when he thinks of anime, and these are among the series with the most prominent "anime clichés" in them. To fans of anime, these clichés can feel like home to us, while alienating others. For this reason, it's important to understand what the styling clichés in anime are and perhaps why they are this way.

Wikipedia has a great section on anime styling and animation, and I'll be using this as a reference as I explore this topic. Osamu Tezuka, a former Disney artist and manga writer, is credited as being the "father of anime", and he set the tone for how anime would be stylized.

This post will be broken up, because there are too many styling issues to cover without making things ridiculously long. Sections will include topics such as the drawing of the characters themselves and the way emotion, stress and action is communicated.

Anime Cliché #1: The Anime Ending

2006-04-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

No fooling! Two posts in one day!

I've decided to start a series of post about common anime clichés, why they bother some people, and perhaps the "why" behind the cliche or how I get past it.

The most prominent "cliché" to me is the typical anime ending. Many anime "thinkers" end ambiguously, leaving the watcher to figure some things out on their own, usually subplots that don't quite unravel all the way but sometimes even the main plot actually never resolves. I really want to cite a few animes that do these in a big way, but I fear giving away the endings to some of the best and more popular animes. The best example without spoiling anything is the series Evangelion, which is one of the most "sit down and contemplate" animes out there. The philosophy isn't spelled out, which means a lot of the pieces have to be put together in the watcher's head.

This bothers a lot of Americans who are used to close-the-door-on-the-mystery, Scooby-doo unmask the bad guy kind of ending which always resolves and usually pampers you through any thoughtful philosophy along the way (great example: Vanilla Sky). It's not necessarily a bad thing to dislike this popular anime cliché, as some animes go awry and no one can really figure anything out about the series...it's a fine line to walk between spurred self-reflection and confusion.

How do I get past series that I don't understand? There are a few things I do to help me along:

1. PAY ATTENTION to the series. Usually the big thinkers are only one season long, if that (13-26 episodes). This means every episode is crammed to get all of that philosophical goodness in. Brace yourself and pay attention to details, because falling asleep on several of the episodes will probably leave you in a confused state.

2. Give it awhile. Don't hurt yourself trying to figure things out, just let it sit and see if anything comes to you.

3. Consult friends. Talk a friend into watching it with you and discuss it. Anime is an experience and many times your friends think differently than you and so can probably think of explanations you'd never dream of.

4. Watch it again. I did this with "Spirited Away", and definitely got it the second time through. However, this isn't the most plausible strategy for 26 episode series.

5. Consult the internet! Make sure that you've watched the WHOLE anime before doing this, so you don't leave yourself susceptible to spoilers. There are a lot of people out there obsessed with "figuring out" animes, so I'm sure there's someone out there who can help you.

6. If all else fails...ignore it. Like I said, don't hurt yourself. If you don't get it, you don't get it. It could be you or it could be the anime. However, this being said, don't let not understanding one series discourage you from watching other good philosophical animes.

Hope this helps.

Record of Lodoss War

2006-04-01T13:42:00.000-05:00

I just had to watch it, because I've heard a lot about it. Record of Lodoss War has two different series, a 2-disc 13 episode series which is the one I watched, and a 4-disc series called Chronicles of the Heroic Knight. The Lodoss War OAV, also called Lodoss to senki was made in 1990 by Akio Sakai and taken from the novel by Ryo Mizuno.

3000 years ago, Lodoss was torn away from mainland during an epic battle between Falis, god of Light and Falaris, god of darkness. It became known as "Lodoss, The Cursed Island". 500 years ago, the homeland of Karla, a powerful sorceress, was destroyed by the complete takeover of the land by one military power. Because such a complete conquering destroyed her homeland, she vows this shall not happen to Lodoss. She lives on after death in a golden circlet, possessing the wearer to be able to keep Lodoss ununified at at odds with itself. This means she supports and spurs constant war and turmoil, and believes it to be the best for her beloved Lodoss.

My first thoughts at watching this series was that it reminds me of D&D, old style RPG,LOTR, or maybe a bit like the NES game Wizardry. There's a human knight (Parn), elven mage (Deedlit), cleric (Etoh), wizard (Slayn), dwarven fighter (Ghim), and a thief (Woodchuck..yes.). The story revolves around the main character Parn's struggle to become a hero, basically, and Lodoss' battle against self-destruction.

The Anime Critic claims that the "the story line certainly isn't skimped on in the slightest, the series strongly focuses on developing its characters as well." I couldn't disagree more. I liked the overall storyline, but it felt choppy, halting, and more than a little confusing. They could have explained the storyline a lot more. I usually don't ask this of animes, but when I get lost and cannot enjoy the series, there is something wrong. There is certainly little to no character development in anyone except Deedlit, Ghim, and Ashram. What really bothered me the most was the complete lack of development of the main character, Parn. He definitely was my least favorite character, and I found myself asking several times why he was the main character

They also tried to play up a romance between Parn and Deedlit, but it was gimpy and never really got off the ground. I think the romance was supposed to come across as subtle, but if that's true, why were the beginning and ending credits romantic and girly?

I expected too much out of this series. Oh, and the English dubs were absolutely dreadful. Not really a series I would recommend unless you just want to sit around and make fun of it with some friends. Record of Lodoss War could have been so much more.

Plotline: Good
Characters: Fair
Music: Good
Animation: Fair

Ah! My Goddess: The OAV

2006-02-18T18:16:00.000-05:00

Ah!(Oh!) My Goddess (AMG), made in 1993 by creator Kosuke Fujishima and director Yamada Tomoaki, is an anime that I am surprised I did not watch earlier. I had heard about it from friends as being a good, fun anime. AMG is only 5 episodes long and watches more like a movie than a series, although there is an additional separate movie (which I have not yet watched but will shortly).

Poor Keiichi Morisato is a college freshman living in a strict dorm with his auto-club pals. One day he picks up the phone to order some lunch...and finds that none of the delivery services are open yet!! What ever shall hungry Keiichi do? Enter Belldandy, a goddess, who appears to grant him any ONE wish of his choice. Though he is hungry, Keiichi instead wishes that a girl like Belldandy could stay with him forever! His wish is granted, and chaos ensues! He gets kicked out of his dorm for having a girl there, and thus begins Keiichi's new life with his goddess. Belldandy's two sisters Urd and Skuld also eventually come to live with Keiichi and Belldandy through some interesting circumstances. But all is not well, for there is a secret hidden deep within a memory that could tear Keiichi and Belldandy apart forever...

How does it turn out? You'll just have to watch! This was an incredibly fun and refreshing anime. It's probably best categorized as a romantic comedy, and did a great job of knocking me out of my sorrowful mood after seeing Grave of the Fireflies. Each of the goddesses has their own unique personality. Belldandy is a caring, motherly figure, Urd is the sexy troublemaker and Skuld is the young nerdy scientist. The music was fun, but not anything great. The animation was pretty decent, mostly since this was a short anime. The plot was a little...weird...but like I said, this isn't a serious anime by any stretch of the imagination.

Grades!
Plotline: Very Good
Characters: Excellent
Music: Fair
Animation: Fair

As a last sidenote, I happened to check out the commentary on the 2nd DVD. You can watch the anime with commentary from the English dub cast. While I watched the subtitled version, the commentary is really funny to listen to, and worth the time for some giggles.

Nightwalker: Hot Vampire-y Fun

2006-02-14T21:40:00.000-05:00

I found this series on "On Demand" (when they actually had anime there), and unfortunately had to suffer through most of the episodes with the English dubs. Sorry I tend to be kind of a purist because 90% of the time the dubs RUIN the series. Anyway...

"Nightwalker" is a 12 episode (half-season) series made in 2000 (info courtesy of Absolute Anime), which focuses on a vampire named Shido Tatsuhiko (that's DETECTIVE Shido to you!) who fights "nightbreeds", evil demons that possess humans. He has a gang of helpers including a little fairy-like thing named Guni, and his own personal buffet, Yayoi. I'm not sure of the origin of Guni, but he rescued Yayoi (in one of the episodes you get to see this), and she became Shido's "blood donor". Later, a little innocent girl named Riho joins the gang as his secretary, and the plot afterward is focused around Riho and Shido.

While Shido is a detective (think "Angel" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), he's got some pretty big problems of his own. He despises his sire, Cain, who believes that humans are only food for the obviously superior race of vampires. Shido broke away from his sire to help humans. Cain still loves him and wants him back (in a weird son yet master-apprentice Sith sort of way), but Shido keeps refusing. Even though Shido manages to stand his ground, Cain is still always on the back burner of his mind.

The plot echos this Cain-Shido relationship with that which forms between Shido and Riho. I won't give away what happens, but it's an interesting plot twist. Most of the episodes are cases that Shido is asked to resolve by one person or another, or tracking down nightbreeds and eliminating them. Ironically these two interests always seem to collide..

Lady 1:"Sir, have you seen my missing Grandpa!? *gives picture to Shido*"
Yayoi, half a day later: "There's been this weird nightbreed with gray hair killing people... *hands picture to Shido*"

You get the picture, I think. Pun intended.

Shido is a hot, hot vampire. I must admit I got a little flustered myself with the Japanese voice actor at some points. The animation itself was just okay. Lots of typical repeat sequences, but nothing that bothered me too much. Even though this series was only 12 episodes it felt a lot longer because it was kind of slow, though maybe I only felt this way because I watched it in two pieces and had to rewatch half of it. It was a good anime, and I love, love, love the opening song "Gessekai" by Buck Tick, but other than that the music was mediocre. The plot strayed a little bit, but pulled it together for the end of the series. The characters were very fun and memorable, and I love the fact that you get backstory on Yayoi.

Definitely kept the vampire genre in the game. Good but not great reviews for Nightwalker. I would still watch it if I had to make the choice all over again. As a last thought, the final scene of the anime is worth watching the series for.

Plotline: Good
Characters: Very Good
Music: Poor
Animation: Fair

Grave of the Fireflies

2006-02-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

You know when a movie starts with one of the main characters dying and seeing a mirage of his dead sister, it really can't end happily. Regardless, I enjoyed the movie "Grave of the Fireflies" by director Isao Takahata. Netflix recommended this one to me too, and after seeing that it won Best Animated Feature at the 1994 Chicago International Children's Film Festival, I knew it was worth a watch.

As I said, this isn't a fuzzy warm feeling movie, so if you want something to watch for giggles some friday night, this isn't it. Grave of the Fireflies takes place in mid- WWII Japan, where Setsuko and his sister Seita are struggling to survive amongst the air raids, lack of food and stingy relatives after their mother dies and their father disappears off to war. This is no story of triumph as you can tell from the introduction of the movie that both of the characters die. This is a story of pure struggle, and illustrates the frightening condition of Japan during World War II in vivid detail.

"Grave" actually reminds me a lot of "Life is Beautiful" (La Vita e Bella) by Roberto Benigni. Even the remedy of the war being over cannot save some people from a cruel death...

As for visual experience, the animation was surprisingly good, detailed, and moving. The music wasn't anything particularly special but complimented the movie well. The plot was engaging (I wanted to yell out to the characters a few times), and the characters themselves were convincing and vibrant. Definitely an "A" overall to "Grave of the Fireflies". Worth a watch, especially if you're into World War II stories.

Plotline: Excellent
Characters: Very Good
Music: Good
Animation: Very Good

Haibane Renmei: Thy Pedestal is High

2006-01-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

The more I contemplate on what I might have not liked about this series, the more I realize that there isn't anything... I sound like a crazy fangirl for this series...but the raw truth is that I think I am!

What's so good? I explained a little already, but let me elaborate. Opening and closing sequences have great animation and music. The entire series has wonderful animation and music. (Have I mentioned that I question the budget for this series? No wonder it's only 13 episodes!) The plot line is not confusing, but it is intriguing and kept my interest throughout. The characters are lovable and unique, and I empathized and related with several, felt joy when they were happy and felt pain when they were hurt. I wish I had more or better words to express my feelings.

The whole series watches more like a movie really than a series. While there are opening and closing sequences, there is no preview for the next episode. It might sound weird that I mention this, but think about how much more professional it seems when you take away that preview. The animation is stunning, more like the 3 episode Read or Die movie than a regular anime series. I looked my hardest for re-used sequences, and if there were any then they fooled me pretty well. The soundtrack by Kow Otani is full of beautiful instrumentals and feeling.

What also is different about this anime is that there is no "evil guy". The only evils that any of the Haibane must combat are their own inner demons. The plot actually shifts focus slightly in the middle of the series, but it is not awkwardly conceived. It is obvious that the makers of Haibane Renmei the anime planned and organized the series very well before creating it. It's a story. A beautiful story that made me cry.

There ARE unanswered plot questions. However, unlike NGE, these leftover mysteries do not leave me feeling empty or jipped. They are proper mysteries that would ruin the experience of the anime if they simply explained it all to me.

This anime shocked me in a good way as much (or more) as Noir shocked me in a bad way. I'd like to own this anime as well as the soundtrack. I highly recommend this to anyone. It's not necessarily an action packed thriller, but it deserves your time. I'd say that the only thing I regret is the short length, but then again that's what makes it good.

Now that I've hyped it up, I hope you don't take it home and hate it. I'll just hope that others can find as much enjoyment in this series as me.

Do I really have to give it grades? Straight A's for Haibane Renmei. I'm spoiled now.

Addicted to Angels: Haibane Renmei 1

2006-01-25T01:01:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned I'm a sucker for angels. Angel stories, angel paraphernalia, etc. I had a neighbor once who was addicted to all things elephant: pictures in the bathroom, ceramic elephants in the living room-- that's going to be me when I'm older, except with angels. I think you get it.

I rent from Netflix and love it, but don't particularly trust the recommendations they give me, so when they suggested Haibane Renmei I had to pause and think about it. The cover has a girl with a halo and wings. So I said..sure, why not? I got the first disc, and by the end of the first episode I was hooked. It has religious philosophy in a non-forceful kind of way, instantly lovable characters, a wonderful plotline and absolutely stunning art. The opening and closing songs/sequences to anime also tend to be important to me (maybe I shall do a whole post on this), and Haibane Renmei has a moving opening and closing.

I know. I'm gushing about an anime I haven't finished. As far as I know, though, it's only 14 episodes so I'm halfway through. I have not noticed any re-used sequences, just some beautiful animation work (can we say expensive?).

If you want a little bit of a teaser about plotline, the Haibane Renmei are an isolated group of angel looking creatures with a halo and wings, surrounded by a town of humans which is promptly walled off from the rest of the world. The Haibane Renmei provide services for the town but are not allowed to accept actual money. They work through a tally marker system of payment instead and accept used clothes from a local goodwill kind of store. The opening sequence shows a seed "planting" itself in a room at the Haibane Renmei's home, which grows into a cocoon and eventually breaks, and thus the main character Rekka is born into this new world with no knowledge of her prior life. She looks around 10 years old and is born this way. The other Haibane are anywhere from toddlers to 20 year olds. Who are the Haibane and why are they there? Why are they isolated? Each Haibane is named for what they dream while they are in their cocoon. What significance do these dreams have? I have many questions and am interested to see how they are addressed through the series.

One of the more recent episodes I watched had a "beginning of the world" story which was a partial fabrication based on a rotting book of that title, gaps filled in by two of the Haibane. The story they made up to fill it out went as follows: In the beginning there was nothingness. God took his halo and cast it above him and made the sun. Then he tore the nothingness in two making the sky and the land. The line wasn't perfect, so valleys and mountains were born. Then God drew and drew and made the landscape and animals. Then he created a creature in his own likeness, only with a hole in their halo and charcoal wings; these are the Haibane. God didn't like these creatures because they were too much like himself, so he put them in the back of his mind and created man without any halo or any wings. He was sufficiently happy with this and so went to sleep for a long time. The Haibane escaped from his head while he was sleeping and took refuge in the small town of Glie. God figured they couldn't do harm in their small vilage existance and thus let them be.

I can't wait to finish the series. After this I will be watching Grave of the Fireflies (movie) and then Nightwalker (series). Stay tuned.

Noir: A Surprising Disappointment

2006-01-24T23:10:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here watching the 7th episode of Haibane Renmei and wondering why I spent the last 2 months renting the 7 discs of Noir from Netflix. I just finished watching the last episode the other day, and had been waiting anxiously to post until it was all over. Well now it is.

I had heard from several sourced that Noir was a good anime, which is why I decided to watch it in the first place. It starts out pretty well, very Bourne-identity "Hey I'm a great killer but I don't remember ANYTHING"-esque. You follow 2 main characters: Kirika Yuumura, a teenaged girl who wakes up one day and doesn't remember anything about herself and wouldn't even remember her name if she didn't have an ID card (Oh did I mention she has this uncanny ability to kill people? Think River from Firefly), and Mireille Bouquet, a blond female assassin for hire. The beginning is very interesting; Kirika wakes up and all she can remember is the name "Noir", and Mireille finds her and decides to help Kirika figure out who she really is. Mireille ends up taking "Noir" as her codename as an assassin and Kirika helps her out with her gigs. Oh if only she realized what that codename really meant....

Babes, guns, mystery, intrigue...Sounds cool huh?

I thought so too! However, after watching maybe 10 episodes my interest turned to boredom. I took a gander (without peeking at spoilers) at episode ratings online. It seemed to me that the ending episodes were rated very well compared to the mire that I was stuck in, so I persisted and kept watching. By the time I got to the 20th episode or so I was almost ready to give up, but by that point why stop if there's only 6 more episodes? Banking on the hope that the last few episodes would pull everything together, I finished it up. It was a weak ending, though very "anime". You find out early in the series that Noir is the name of two women who are basically crazy powerful assassins. As I said, the position is for two, no more, no less. By the ending episodes there are 3 characters vying for those 2 positions. You're forced to choose favorites. My favorites didn't win, which is fine, but (I apologize for my vagueness, I don't want to ruin it), the way they came about not winning was lame. Parts of the ending were good for sure, but it was not as strong as I had hoped.

So what made me so bored? Well the re-used sequences became sufficiently annoying after a few episodes. You know the bad-anime staring contest that's so popular in those such as InuYasha and Naruto, where they cut to a character's face for over a minute as if to show emotion, then cut to the next...then back...and so on? Lots of that in Noir. If I was supposed to see anguish in those shimmering drawn eyes of Mireilles', I could have probably figured it out without having to stare at her for 30 seconds. Also, I feel that the entire story could have been squashed into a great miniseries, maybe 3 episodes like Angel Sanctuary. The music, which was appreciable in the beginning, turned sour after they re-used it throughout the whole anime.

There were up-sides. The plot IS good though drawn out. The characters (my favorite was Kirika) were recognizably humanistic and relatable, maybe except for that whole perfect killer problem Kirika has going on...

Time for grades?

Plotline: Very Good
Characters: Good
Music: Fair
Animation: Poor

Despite the plot, I'll have a tough time recommending this one because it's so frustratingly drawn out.

Angel Sanctuary: Incest + Power = Revelation

2006-01-08T14:07:00.000-05:00

When I first heard of the series "Angel Sanctuary", I was immediately drawn to the title. I am addicted to the concept of angels, and not just in the traditional Christian sense. NGE makes reference to angels, as they are the primary "enemy" in the series. I am also in the middle of watching a series called Haibane Renmei which is about angels. So yes, I am addicted, and so I was drawn to the concept also of an Angel "Sanctuary". Why would they need a sanctuary?

Angel Sanctuary apparently was cancelled, because there are only 3 episodes. They are pretty conclusive, so I'm not sure how much of a plan there was to continuing the series.

The series focuses in on a human character Setsuna Mudo and his sister Sara. You find out early that this series is about God vs Demons, Heaven vs Hell. Rosiel, a beloved Angel of God, is obsessed in "waking" his twin sister Alexiel. Alexiel led a revolt against God upon his disappearance, and was eventually punished for this by having her spirit imprisoned in a human body: Setsuna Mudo.

This series, like the movie Dogma, gets you thinking about which side is "right". Even though Rosiel is the beloved of God and works for Heaven, he's twisted and sick. The Angels are portrayed as monsters when they are shown slaughtering demons.

What also makes this anime unique is that Setsuna has an "unnatural" attraction to his sister. The both of them love each other deeply, more than any brother and sister should love each other. So not only does Setsuna have to deal with his incestuous sinning, he must now deal with the fact that he's the reincarnation of one of the most powerful Angels in existence: The three winged Alexiel.

I could spend a lot of time trying to explain all the backstory to this series. Fortunately, there are sites that have summarized much of the information already such as Fallen Angel and this site which is complete with pretty music, but I don't agree with some of their information such as Rosiel working for Hell.

Please don't shy away from this series because it involves incest and an argument against conventional Heaven and Hell. It is beautifully illustrated and well presented. There aren't any blatant incestuous sex scenes; the series instead focuses on the love that exists between these two people and thus the struggle that they are going through because their relationship is not accepted. There is also a hint of that anime-esque philosophy, where Setsuna must choose between a fake world where he can live life as he dreams it versus a real life of struggle.

This is a 3 episode, 1-disc series that I would definitely invest in and own. I highly recommend this series.

A note on the animation: Some repetition for emphasis, but they did well in not falling into the pit of reusing shots. There are also some still shots and artwork that are positively beautiful.

Plotline: Excellent
Characters: Excellent
Music: Good
Animation: Good

Just A Note on Mecha

2006-01-06T17:32:00.000-05:00

Me and mecha (pronounced like mecca, mechanical anime) don't usually mix. Mecha is anime that usually involves large robots of some kind (like Gundam), and is also typically futuristic since we don't yet have anything like them.

The fact that I loved NGE is kind of extraordinary, since I usually have little taste for mecha. Actually, I very rarely watch any series that involves guns either, except for Noir and Cowboy Bebop. It's just not my style. Unfortunately, until I run out of other animes to comment on, I probably will not get to watch series like Gundam, Patlabor, or Full Metal Panic! Sorry! I have many other animes to review which I've already watched. I really do hope to someday watch these series and hopefully fall in love with them as I know many of you have.

For now, many of my reviews will be the more fantasy kinds of anime like Inuyasha, Magic Knight Rayearth, Saiyuki, etc.

Also, if anyone who actually reads these reviews have any suggestions for anime that I may not have heard of and might like, feel free to comment!

Neon Genesis Evangelion

2006-01-06T16:53:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have watched this series, you will understand me when I say that it's one of the hardest animes to comment on for several reasons. Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE) is one of those 1-season philosophical animes similar to Wolf's Rain. However, what makes NGE unique and difficult not only to comprehend but to watch is the fact that the makers of NGE ran out of money at the end of the series. The original series was made in 1995 and was 26 episodes long.

NGE is about a boy named Shinji who is summoned to the city Tokyo-3 by his father who was never there for him as a child, and is employed with a company called NERV to pilot giant robot like mecha called the Evangelions (EVA series). He meets two other NERV pilots, Rei and Asuka, and together they pilot the Evas against "Angels" who are coming to destroy Earth...

If you take the time to sit down and watch these original 26 episodes, you will go through a slurry of emotions. I feel that NGE is a catchy anime in the beginning; I even got a friend of mine who doesn't watch anime to sit down and watch it simply because he was hooked after a few episodes. As the series progresses, though, it becomes harder to understand and becomes a dark, disturbing series. This is by no means a bad thing, but the audience starts yearning for that penultimate ending to what has been 20 odd episodes of build-up. With a dwindling budget and time constraints, the producers of NGE could not complete the ending properly, which left a lot of people burned and confused at the end of the original series.

When I watched the end myself, I did feel unsatisfied, but I did not turn away from the series. I was attached to the vibrant characters that NGE presented to me, and was determined to find my own ending to what might be called the most ambiguous "zen" ending of any anime I've ever seen. It takes some deep thought to comprehend NGE, which is what I love about the genre as compared to the typical American film that outlines the ending for you (Vanilla Sky as an extreme example).

I mentioned that NGE was difficult to watch. I mean this in the most literal sense; it is hard to get your hands on all the different things requires to fully understand NGE. After the original series, the producers KNEW they left their audience short handed, so went on to make a new ending in a movie form, "End of Evangelion"(EoE). They also made "Death and Rebirth" which features highlights from the series. I have not watched "Death and Rebirth", so am unable to tell you what this movie is like.

EoE did give much needed closure to the series. My friend who I coerced into watching NGE I think hated the movie...this closure was obviously either not enough or not typical enough for him. I do not blame him for giving his honest opinion, but as I mentioned before, NGE isn't really a "sit down have fun and giggle" kind of anime. It takes time to sit down and figure out what is going on. Friends that will watch the series with you are helpful. This is a series that deserves to be brought up in philosophy class.

The music isn't anything special in this series. The animation is somewhere in the middle. While they employ some interesting flashcard techniques and in EoE there's some brillint artwork-like animation, for the most part they do a lot of re-using of sequences, etc.

This series deserves much more discussion, but it's too much to put in one post, and I fear giving spoilers.

It's hard to rate this one, since the opinions on it are all over the place. In my feelings, however, it deserves these ratings:

Plotline: Excellent
Characters: Excellent
Music: Poor
Animation: Fair

If I could pronounce .hack//sign, I could watch it.

2005-11-11T14:36:00.000-05:00

I'm just kidding! I've watched .hack//sign (dot hack sign). It's been awhile, but I still have many lingering feelings about this series including both love and bewilderment. Part of the reason for my ongoing confusion about .hack//sign is the fact that there are many .hack series and games, and a friend of mine told me once that to really comprehend the plotline, you must watch and play them all. Well screw that! What if I just want to watch this one? So I did just that *smiles*.

It wasn't a complete bust. While I am still left quite confused about parts of the ending, there were also many themes in the series that became quite clear and were thoroughly enjoyable. To state a quick overview of the series; .hack//sign is about a virtual reality (VR) video game (think VR MMORPG) and the characters you meet both in and outside of that game (Tsukasa, Mimiru, Bear, BT, Suburu, Sora). You quickly learn that Tsukasa is "stuck" in the game for a reason that is illuminated in later episodes. You hear a lot about the rare item: "key of the twilight". Tsukasa journeys to attempt to figure out why he is not able to log out of the world, and meets several companions/enemies along the way including some of the VR administrators (Subaru and the Crimson Knights). There are captivating sub-plots involving both the player characters and their real-life counterparts.

As I said previously, the "ending" is a bit confusing, but I am referring to the ending as the whole conclusion of .hack//sign. The the sub-plots are extraordinarily done, and I thoroughly enjoyed the actual last episode. What makes this series fun for me is the fact that I've played MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role playing games. phew!). One of the episodes involved Mimiru helping out a new lowlevel, frustrating little girl character, and many MMORPG players can relate to this. The music is well done, though a little repetitive. The animation is unique and characters are pretty memorable, though you don't form as much of a bond to these characters as compared to a series like InuYasha.

All in all, .hack//sign was definitely not a waste of my time. However, it should be noted that if you are easily confused and do not like being confused, DO NOT watch this series unless you plan to commit to the whole rest of it such as the games, .hack//liminality, etc. You may get hung up in the fact that you cannot understand some of the series conclusions, and miss the interesting sub plots. This does not mean you are a bad watcher, or that this is a bad anime; you are simply not compatable.

From a rating of (Excellent-Good-Fair-Poor-Horrid):
Plotline: Fair (due to the confusing nature and limits of watching only .hack//sign)
Characters: Good
Music: Good
Animation: Fair

Starting Simple? InuYasha Overview and Review

2005-11-06T14:54:00.000-05:00

InuYasha was originally released in 1997 by Rumiko Takahashi, and it was a long running 30 minute series that eventually made it state-side. After 7 seasons, 167 episodes and 4 movies, the series ended in 2004. State side you will meet many fans of this show, but also those who say InuYasha is garbage and does not do anime justice. What is the reason for this stark difference of opinion?

Let me give you a brief overview of InuYasha (- spoilers). InuYasha is a "dog-demon" and also notably a half demon (his mother was human), and he foolishly but nobly falls in love with a priestess (miko) named Kikyo, who is in charge of a powerful item called the Shikon Jewel. The evil character in the series, Naraku, tricks the two lovers into turning against each other resulting in the death of Kikyo and the suspended-animation of InuYasha (pinned to a tree by Kikyo). Kagome, a resident of modern Japan, travels down a magical well that connects the two time periods and ends up freeing InuYasha, and thus begins the hunt for Naraku. Miroku, a priest, is cursed with the equivalent of a black hole in his palm that must be covered at all times and will eventually consume him-- also Naraku's doing. Others who have a vendetta against Naraku or his henchmen also join the group (Sango, Shippou).

Back to the split opinions of this series: It has to do with the fact that the series ran for 7 seasons. I have watched the entire series beginning to end in Japanese with English subs. When I began watching, I found the series enticing, the characters unique but somehow engagingly familiar, and the story common but compelling. However, somewhere around episode 60, my interest in the show began to decline. Why? Repetition. The previously captivating storyline became what could be compared to level-griding in a MMORPG...tedious, boring, no plot advancement. I watched the series from this point on because I was still attached to the characters (specifically to the ongoing budding romances between several of the characters in the show), and of course to get to the end!

So, I can see where those who seek to criticize this show find their ground. It does get quite "mindless" at times, especially (and I don't mean to be sexist here but I find it true) to men because I feel they get less attached to the cute romances. Also, there are a lot of cut-and-paste sequences in it (reused= cheaper), which gets annoying. The music isn't that great, either

However, though I do agree with the critical minds, I also see where the InuYasha fan-girls/boys come from. It's a funny, cute, fuzzy-warm series that you can enjoy sitting down to watch. Call me a fence-sitter, though I do lean slightly to the side of the critical on this one.

I can't brand this anime as a "must-see", because it's a cult sensation. You simply have to WANT to see this one to be interested enough to watch all 167 episodes. Plus, now that they are state-side and airing on Cartoon Network, one must battle with the fact that they are forced to watch English dubs. Though I am not TOO much of an elitist here (some dubs for anime can be decent), the dub for InuYasha is HORRIBLE. Watching the show in subtitles and then trying to talk to someone who has watched the dubbed version is like talking about two totally different shows-- all of the special moves, items, etc are referenced very differently. But, this is a gripe for a different post.

I won't give away the ending to InuYasha, but I'll just say it's very "anime-esque"

My overall experience with this series is pretty good. As I said before, an acquired taste. From a rating of (Excellent-Good-Fair-Poor-Horrid):

Plotline: Fair
Characters: Excellent
Music: Poor
Animation: Fair

Into the New: Exploring Anime

2005-11-01T14:32:00.000-05:00

I am a devoted and enthusiastic anime watcher. I am not a rabid manga-swallowing, own-every-anime-ever-made, dub-anime-watcher killer. I thoroughly enjoy this form of animation and the ideas and concepts brought up throughout the media. The list of anime series/movies I have watched includes but is not limited to: Cowboy Bebop, Tenchi Muyo, Inuyasha, Rurouni Kenshin, Naruto, Wolf's Rain, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Record of Lodoss Wars, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell, .hack//sign, Nightwalker, Magic Knights Rayearth, Saiyuki, Read or Die, Weathering Continent, Pretear, and Mononoke Hime. Some of these I have not seen in entirety (Ranma 1/2, Naruto, Saiyuki), and others I have not mentioned I have recently started watching (Noir, Haibane Renmei).

Hopefully here, through my explorations into the world of anime, I can come to better understand this form of art that I have come to love and respect. I do not consider myself an "expert" in this area, but instead am interested in learning more.

To better remember and catalog what I watch, I wish to share my opinions about the anime series I watch, perhaps even enticing others to watch without giving away too much of the plotline. Many of series listed above I watched quite a long time ago, and only remember general feelings and plots, while the ones I newly watch I can more succinctly state why I do or do not enjoy the anime. Either way, the posts will come as I get the urge.

A Feast For Crows

2005-06-18T14:49:00.000-04:00

Holy shit. It's done. I want to cry.

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/

A Feast for Crows, after it was supposed to come out in April 2004...is finally done. Only not really. He decided it was way too big to put in one book because even the third book, A Storm of Swords, was a production nightmare. So he's taking out all the east and north stories and putting them into his 6th book, A Dance with Dragons.

Upshots? AFFC is done and ADWD is half done.

Downshots? AFFC is not as comprehensive as people might want, and many characters aren't even in the book. So if you're waiting for Dany, you have to wait longer. The series will also run at least one book longer, but that could be good or bad.

You can read the whole story on his website.

*is in total shock*

Disciplined Breakdown: Day 2

2005-04-26T23:49:00.000-04:00

April 26:

I'm going to make an effort to make my blog posts shorter. They tend to get long and I know you could get bored or lost in reading them, so I'll try to take things a day at a time, here.

I covered "moving shortcuts" on the last post, and that stuff already being out of the way I can simply tell you what I've done. The entire shortcuts bar (contains multiple images including a bar.bmp which is the top image, then all the shortcut images directly under it, then an end bar), the top bar and the end bar are toggle buttons that minimize and maximize the shortcut bar. However, when the whole thing minimizes, only the top bar remains. There is also a "Hover" image, which means that when I hover my mouse over the top bar it turns slightly blue because LS is using a different image for that (covered in the shortcuts section).

I fixed all of my shortcuts to go with the programs that I use. For example, the email lookin thingy goes to my email (currently iScribe), web browser goes to Mozilla Firefox, "Amp" goes to Foobar 2000 lite, Graphics goes to Gimp, the book thingy goes to OpenOffice...etc. I haven't found a new use for the topmost "terminal" button that leads to a DOS prompt currently. The method of doing this is covered in the last post. Here's a picture of what the shortcut script would look like: (click for bigger picture)

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but since I nixxed so much of the original theme (VWM, etc), I moved all of the unused graphics into an "unused" folder. This lets me make sure the theme doesn't require any of those before I go deleting them forever. Plus, what if I want them again? It's a personal decision.

A small fix but important: When I moved windows over my clock, the clock would always go on top of the window. Bad clock! Easily fixed with "ClockAlwaysOnTop False"

Yes. These entries are backdated to when I made the changes. Deal with it ;)

Next Post: I actually did the changes in the next post on April 26th, but it deserves its own post because it's all about how I flipped the taskbar and shimmied it in between the shortcut bar and the system tray.

Yes. This is interesting to me. If it's not interesting to you...don't read it! :-P

Disciplined Breakdown: Day 1

2005-04-25T15:47:00.000-04:00

APRIL 23, 2005:
Good news! I haven't gone completely insane. I've had a few problems modifying some things, but other than that I'm doing fine. So here's the skinny...

I obtained the "Blue Heart" theme, which was actually made a long while ago as evidence by the changelog that came with it, but I have the most recently modified by Chris Fofiu. This picture actually came with the theme, and is what the theme usually looks like on a 1280 resolution (I have a 1024x768).

So I loaded it up as my new shell, and it coincidentally went very well with my new wallpaper. However, I immediately identified some unnecessarily/unsightly items...the first and most major offender being the virtual desktop (VWM--virtual windows manager). Think about it as picture in picture for your desktop. Now, one of the reasons I highly enjoy Litestep is that it takes up a lot less memory.

Size of litestep.exe at this very moment:
Mem Usage: 2,744K
VM Size: 6,164K

I encourage you to take a gander at your task manager and see what yours is. Keep in mind that my computer (P4 1.8 Ghz with 256mb of RAM) came to me, in box, with Windows XP Home Edition the summer of 2002. This computer never ran particularly well with XP, and I know I have seen performance increases just by switching to Windows 2000. Honestly, I don't think this computer was ever built to handle XP. That's another story. While I don't see a "mad skillz" increase by using Litestep, every little bit helps!

I also disabled loading of my desktop shortcuts (xDesk module).

Here's what it looks like after my original fixes. Explanation below.

I don't have a picture of the original load on my computer with the VWM. I immediately disabled it in the script. The bar that was originally at the top of the screen didn't do much except control the VWM and add "aesthetic value". Unfortunately for it, I did not find its value so...valuable. Nixed. (I commented these out, putting semicolons ; in front of all scripting commands. See my flickr account for a picture of this.) Also, notice how there is no foot looking thingy on top of the clock and volume control bars anymore? I didn't need it there (to lead to my file manager...), so I cropped the gray box that loads behind the clock and volume and help/recycle button, and had to move it down a little
(Note: When LS loads graphics, the point that you position it with is the upper left corner. So if this gray box named "gnomev.bmp", is positioned at X, Y, and I crop it 20 pixels, and want it to load only a couple pixels above the help and recycle buttons, I'd have to reposition it around y+/- 15. I'm still trying to figure out the coordinates system. That grey box is at 0, -201, and the help (?) is at 2, -195)

So that looked all well and good until I minimized everything....

I'm sure you can see a few weird things. First of all, everything is in different places, so my effective desktop space is VERY small (I don't want to cover any of these items with a window).
Secondly, why are there TWO re-expansion buttons for my clock/system tray? Thirdly, the entire shortcut sequence at the top left needs to be shifted upwards to be flush with the corner of the screen.

Also, there is a nifty desktop area command in the jdesk module:
jDeskWorkArea "x,y,x,y" so you can define your desktop area. This is the area a window will expand to when maximized. This will NOT prevent you from dragging windows on top of your bars. Here's a picture for your education:

If you want to see it bigger, or with my notes, click on the picture, which will lead to my flickr account.

.......................................
A little lesson on shortcuts. I HIGHLY suggest you visit this site for a breakdown of common commands for litestep. Though different module versions WILL DIFFER from these basic commands, this gives a very nice introduction if you've never scripted before. See the help files for individual modules for a list of everything they can do. More on that later.

*Shortcut [CAPTION] [X] [Y] [NORMAL.BMP] [HOVER.BMP] [CLICK.BMP] #[GROUP][FLAGS] [HOVER.WAV] [CLICK.WAV] [ACTION]

This is the basic setup of a shortcut. It is included in the shortcuts section of a script, usually near the end. Note that you don't have to include the click.wav for every shortcut IF you want ALL of the shortcuts to make the same noise. In this case there is something you can put before you list any of your shortcuts:

ShortcutSoundClick $Sounds$ButtonClick.wav

Where $Sounds$ is your designated sound folder, which is defined at the beginning of your theme. But don't worry about this unless you're planning on building from scratch.

The most important thing to see about shortcuts is how to change what they do or where they lead. This is included in the ACTION. So if I wanted to make the shortcut with the G on it lead to GIMP, it would look like this:
*Shortcut "Graphics" 0 252 gimp.bmp gimp_H.bmp .none #4 ["C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\bin\gimp-2.0.exe"]

If you know your default programs, you can also do this:
*Shortcut "Firefox" 0 117 WEB.bmp WEB_H.bmp .none #4 ["$browser$"]
-This will open my DEFAULT browser, Firefox. This will save you from inputting the filepath, as long as you are sure the program is your default.

To change the positioning of a shortcut...that's right.. change the numbers (x y). So if I wanted to move my Firefox shortcut 17 pixels in the y direction, I could put:
*Shortcut "Firefox" 0 100 WEB.bmp WEB_H.bmp .none #4 ["$browser$"]

To change the picture the shortcut usually shows, you would change "WEB.bmp". To change the picture when you roll over the shortcut, change "WEB_H.bmp. This theme has no different picture for when you CLICK on the shortcut, but if you want, you can do that too.

There will be more on shortcuts later.
.......................................

Lastly, I moved a bunch of images I knew I didn't need anymore into a different folder. I like to be organized.

NOTE: If you accidentally crash your theme or explorer.exe, DO NOT PANIC. This has happened to me many times. Some themes cannot handle recycling when you have the config file open. Simply log off or restart and you'll be fine..unless of course you've rendered your theme unloadable, which I doubt.

There is so much more left to do!! This was only my first crack at this theme (my first day on this theme), so expect more changes to come.

Can't I Change More Than the COLORS?

2005-04-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

Okay, so maybe we can change more than the colors in Windows...the wallpaper, the sounds, maybe even the look of the start bar or startup screen...but it still looks like Windows. Some of us get enjoyment from hacking Windows. Others use Linux in order to get away from Windows entirely. These two methods are great, and I have nothing against them; however, what if you don't have the savvy or patience to do either of these? (I'd become a Linux girl myself if I had the time/patience to learn. That'll come later, I hope!) But what about right now? Am I to suffer with the same old Windows shell until I learn Linux?

Fortunately the answer is no.

A year or so ago, I was recommended to try using programs that would allow me to create "alternate shells" for Windows. The "shell" is basically just explorer.exe, which runs the pretty start bar and system tray and clock, etc... try crashing it and see for yourself. I got my hands on LiteStep (LS). The homepage, litestep.net, is currently down or else I'd link you. For some good ideas on what it's all about there are many other good webpages, including those about themes themselves. Fortunately you can still acquire the download other places. I run the Omar installer, and though it doesn't particularly matter which you rock, you will need to know especially if you ask for help on a forum!! Omar comes with a sample theme (different installs may be different, don't shoot me if yours isn't exactly the same), called Austerity. It's a really nice theme because it still has a partial Windows feel so you can break yourself into the idea of a new shell without screaming, "I can't find ANYTHING! What the hell is this stuff!" and ripping your hair out.

To get a chance to look at the Austerity theme and see some LS setup (as well as to preview some of the material for my next post), visit my flickr photo page. As you can see, Austerity's start bar is made rather pointless by the standard LS replacement-- the right click. Right clicking on the desktop pulls out a comprehensive menu through which you can access..well.. a lot! I had a theme once that accessed my mp3 folder directly so I could browse all my songs. That got a little out of hand.

Now, once you get used the feel of LS, I don't recommend getting into building your own theme right away unless you're very patient and would like to learn all the scripting (or you're already familiar with it). It's much easier, though frustrating, to download pre-made themes and modify them. For you who feel like jumping in headfirst, there's a handy "how-to" floating around.

Get ready to mod a theme. I've taken the "Blue Heart" theme by Chris Fofiu (most people who make LS themes give absolute permission for everyone to change it around. If litestep.net was up I could tell you to comment on people's themes, too. Either way I still give people their props). Preview.jpg on the flickr site will give you a good idea what it originally looks like on a 1280 resolution (I'm on 1024).

For anyone who wants to follow along, I'll point out a few key programs you might want to check out when you want to start modifying: (they're all free, by the way)

Color Cop becomes handy when you need to match colors when changing them in the display or any kind of color.ini (which pretty much just changes the windows appearance in the properties-display box).

The Gimp ROX MY SOX (pardon my English) when it comes to graphics editing. Though you people with Adobe Photoshop may find the Gimp much different (I've had a testimony that it's tough to learn Gimp if you're used to AP), it's helped me through many problems. It doesn't matter whether you're seriously trying to edit or just roating or changing a few colors, or even if you know NOTHING about what you're doing, this program will help. You'll learn, I promise.

Metapad: You may have noticed if you've glanced around the photos that text editing is a big deal here. Notepad is good but metapad is better. I'm not doing a whole post on it, so go check it out.

Irfanview: A beautiful little program for viewing and semi-editing photos.

Coming soon: Let's hope I can fix the "Blue Heart" theme to suit my liking! Will I fix it or will I go crazy first?

The Ionic Blowhard

2005-02-27T15:35:00.000-05:00

I'm sure there have been times where you've been flipping through the stations or watching your favorite program on Lifetime (that's supposed to be a joke), when you run into this seemingly harmless and interesting infomercial about none other than the Ionic Breeze (Sharper Image). They show it working, cleaning dog scent or cooking fumes away to leave your home smelling "fresh and clean." They then flash this quick page of graphs-- Ionic Breeze scored high on these, it must be good! But if you look closely, the graphs are nothing but "best value" or "most trusted", not actually anything scientific. I don't know about you but that doesn't particularly prove jack to me, or is it just me who actually likes proof that an item works before I buy it? Then again, we have to remember that this commercial targets the unwitting people of America who like to buy on impulse.

What really gets me is that in February 2002, Consumer Reports published a report about a bunch of air purifiers. (Unfortunately they have since become a subscription service and I cannot seem to get access to the list.) Out of 16 competitors, the Ionic Breeze scored-- you guessed it, DEAD LAST. Consumer Reports published another, similar test in October of 2003, with the same poor results for the Ionic Breeze. Now, after these findings, what did the Sharper Image do? Maybe prove that it really works? No, they thought it would be much easier if they simply filed a lawsuit against the Consumers Union for maliciously posting falsified or inaccurate results. I like the quote in this article about the (eventually dismissed) case:

Williams, the Consumers Union attorney, said Sharper Image complained after the article was published that the tests were unfair. (Consumer Reports had placed each purifier in a room and measured how much dust and smoke were removed from the air in a half-hour.)

"They said the Ionic Breeze needed to run longer," Williams said. "So Consumer Reports went back and tested again, this time seeing how much cigarette smoke could be removed over 19 hours. It couldn't even clean the smoke from one-eighth of a cigarette."

So. Sharper Image couldn't prove their case. Does that mean that they were wronged, and that the Consumers Union did do bad testing? Does the Ionic Breeze work wonderful? Not necessarily. Personally, watching the commercial itself practically convinces me that:

1) it doesn't work (or at least nearly as well as they claim) and

2) it's a ripoff (they give you the "free bathroom ionic breeze" and recently have added the car one, too. This says to me that the original product is overpriced. Either that or they're trying to snag the impulse buyers. You can keep them free even if you return the ionic breeze. What they don't tell you is it costs 20 bucks to ship the darn thing back. Forgive me, I tried to calculate the costs, but I need the length, width and height. I'll leave you to prove the costs to yourself.)

My aunt swears by this thing, but I think it's an absolutely atrocity-- a way to con you out of your money and convince you it works (hey I'm sure the placebo effect works for appliances too!). Consumer(s) Reports/Union is reputable, and honestly, if I had allergies or asthma, I would go with the regular HEPA filter if it was bad enough to spur me to purchase an air purifier. My dad has pretty bad asthma and we have a squat, round air purifier in our living room that runs every night. Which is better? Who knows, but IMHO that's why we have people like the Consumers Union. Fortunately the Sharper Image couldn't silence them-- this time.

On another note, I found this cool Visual Thesauras online. It's nothing I would pay for, but it's fun to play with for a little while until it doesn't let you anymore.

My next post: That DELL commercial that runs on Cartoon Network ALL the time-- you don't have to know anything to get your kid a computer-- let us rip y--...-- I mean...help you!

Yay! My first rant!

2005-02-09T13:48:00.000-05:00

My LJ started bugging out on me so why should I stay there? I almost never post, instead I'm there to see my friends posts-- but if my friends page isnt working, why bother? You can see my old LJ here: Angel Sanctuary . Meanwhile I suppose I'll post my rant in both places....

I read the cover story about Firefox today in the most recent issue of Wired, and it got me all steamed up all over again about the flagrant and irresponsible use of IE by pretty much every common, ignorant (though usually simply naieve) computer user. With Microsoft working on Longhorn (which IMHO is an abomination in itself), it seemingly leaves little time or concern for support of its already dominating software such as IE. Though Firefox has exploded onto the scene, the article says, it has already won over its easy converts (traffic at BoingBoing is about 50% Firefox users) and so it's claim on 4% of browser use in total will most likely plateau if it cannot find new ways to reach non-tech savvy computer users. IE comes with your computer, why would a simple, regular joe computer user download another browser if the one he uses already works just fine?

Because it doesn't work just fine.

Take the Wired article's Rob Davis for example. I beg you all to read this article, it takes only a few minutes of your time. If you don't believe me, use Firefox for a month and compare the number of NOTICEABLE viruses and spyware you accumulate on your computer (gee, I hope you all use anti-virus software in combination with Spybot and Ad-Aware ) . See how un-clunky it is compared Netscape. And please, note the attentiveness of the Mozilla team to FIXING its bugs and holes. Even the best programs can have little loopholes or security flaws, but the difference lies in how fast and how well they are patched. For these reasons I urge you all to consider switching over to Firefox.

You should also note that although I am not happy with Microsoft, and would probably use Linux if I cared to learn that much about computers, my switch to Firefox was not spurred solely by my hatred for this monopoly. I'm sure it sated my hunger to revolt against Microsoft, but be assured I would not recommend a program that I am not thoroughly happy with.

By the way, to purchase the physical copies of Wired magazine only requires $10 a year. Sweet, huh? And if you think you're too strapped for cash even with that price, you can read them online. Eat your heart out, Time Magazine.

Lastly, I'm really considering posting my summary assignments for my Biology and the News class, as well as particularly stunning conversations that occur in it. The class, which I have on tuesdays and thursdays, is all about how media can influence science and how both impact society. Take the new topic of Intelligent Design, the cover story for the October 2004 Wired. You can read the article here. I'll let y'all read up on that and cover it later because its another rant entirely.