Time: 12:29 a.m.
What?:
Alright, well, um, I don't really think it's appropriate to recount the events of this weekend here, and I think just about everyone who reads this has been involved one way or another anyway.
All I really want to say is thank you to everyone who has offered their support and just been there when I needed them. Times like this make me realise how lucky I am to have such a devoted group of friends looking after me, so thank you. I hope I can do at least a little bit of the same for the people who need the help much more than I do right now. Thanks everyone.
Katy smoked a mascot on Monday, February 9, 2004
Time: 08:25 a.m.
What?: The Hateful World of Internet Shopping
I receieved this email this morning:
Hello Katy,
Your order has been shipped. However the shipping cost to the UK was $20.00 We have applied the $6.00 difference to cover the shipping charge.
Alex
Looks like the standard kind of bumpff you get when you order online doesn't it, despite the whole "you owe us $6 for shipping" crap. That's not particularly what I'm annoyed at. What does annoy me is...
THIS IS FOR THE WALLSCROLL I ORDERED A MONTH AGO!!! >_< >_<
*beats head on desk at prospect of never getting said piece of beauteous cloth*
Katy smoked a mascot on Friday, February 6, 2004
Time: 12:16 a.m.
What?: Tenacious D - Tribute
I really should do something about my music today. It's distinctly bad, even for me. ^___^ My name is Katy and I like bad American comedy rock music. o_0
It would be alright if it were just the Electric Six, cause, well, y'know, they're funny (well they are to me! ^__^;;;) but noooo, it's going into even stranger and more arcane places now. I have been convinced that I want to go and see School of Rock just because it has Jack Black in, and Tenacious D make me laugh more than they should. o_0 And now my
resident Playstation-sitter has given me reason to remember how brill Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are. ^________^ Best versions of Uptown Girl and Nobody Does it Better ever. Totally.
But anyway, yes, other than listen to very wrong cheese, not a huge amount happening today. Was quite chirpy at the prospect of having company this evening, which made a pleasant change to the last week or so of mingy sitting-in-room-and-working-constantly. I did actually manage to do a couple of pages of Wenamun in the end, which was fairly good. Especially since I didn't get home until about five this evening anyway. I hate long days. >_< Did have a fairly successful museum class though, which was pleasing. It's nice that there's one class I can kick ass in once in a while.
But anyway, I shall go back to thinking of suggestions for The Boyfriend's Phantasy Star Online characters now. He's going to be playing as the entire cast of Full Metal Alchemist soon. ^___^
Katy smoked a mascot on Friday, February 6, 2004
Time: 10:38 p.m.
What?: o_0
Best. Game Idea. Evaarr. o_0 It's like Ecco the Dolphin minus the cute little dolphin. ^______________________^
Katy smoked a mascot on Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Time: 10:02 p.m.
What?: Electric Six - Vengeance & Fashion ("...and you know that my suit costs more than your house..." ^___^)
I like this song, it's spiffy. And I needed something a little chirpier that Beauty is Within Us, which, whilst being wonderful, is a little too angsty to listen to *quite* as much as I do. ^__^;;;;
Aaaaaaaanyway. Stuff. Surprisingly little has happened since I last emptied brain to page. But then this is to be expected what with the other F-word looming. o_0 I'm actually mildly surprised at my productivity of the past couple of days. I have been quite the little translations bunny. But then this is probably the fear kicking in. Although I did find myself in a battle of wills with myself over whether to stop translating and go and play Soul Calibur or translate translate translate. Eventually we came to a compromise and I translated for five more minutes until my true self could be held in no longer. There's work enthusiasm then there's hitting things with sticks enthusiasm, and one of them is *always* going to win.
...but I did my Hieratic and four pages of The Misfortunes of Wenamun, which was good! ^______^
What else? Oh yes, vanilla latte in Brothers is very very goood. Especially on days when I feel like ming warmed up. And I'm not even a coffee person usually. I'm becoming more of one these days. I suspect this is yet more demonstration of my fear reaction to finals. I call it "Caffeine or Flight" syndrome. Give me vanilla latte or I will run away now. o_0
And on the subject of things lunchwise, gold star of the day goes to Jane, for buying me a very lovely bunch of tulips. ^_______^ They are now artfully arranged in a glass on the coffee table. I luff tulips, they are inherently linked with the part of my childhood spent growing up near Holland. We used to go to the *best* garden ever (which oddly enough, now has a
website o_0) and it was absolutely coated in the things. Cue small Katy and sisters running around pretending they were on Treasure Hunt (yes, that awful Anneka Rice show...I was six years old o_0) ^_____^ *childhood glee*
And now I think I shall geek about online then watch Frasier.
Katy smoked a mascot on Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Time: 03:36 p.m.
What?: ph34r the googling.... o_0
I find
this amusing. Bless their little scientist hearts. I'm no closer to actually finding out what a Julia Fractal is, though....
Katy smoked a mascot on Tuesday, February 3, 2004
Time: 04:07 p.m.
What?: I totally win the countries game...
You're Vatican City!
You're pretty sure that you're infallible in all that you do or say, and
it's hard to say whether you're right. You have a lot of followers, most of whom will
do whatever you say without question, or line up to see you ride around in your spiffy car.
Religious and reserved, you have some wisdom, but also a bit much contempt for everyone
around you. You're also fabulously wealthy, no matter what you say to the contrary.
Take
the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid
Although as Ivan pointed out, that would technically make me the enemy of the Hellsing organisation... Well alright not if you're following the *manga* storyline, not at the moment anyway. ^___^
I wish I'd gotten "You're Texas!"
You're Texas!
You aren't really much of your own person, but everyone around you wishes you'd go away, so you might as well be independent. You're sort of loud-mouthed and abrasive, but you do have a fair amount of power. You like big trucks, big cattle, and big oil rigs. And sometimes you really smell. But it's not all bad, you're big enough to have some soft spots somewhere in all that redneck madness.
Don't be so mean to my adopted sometimes-home! Although that is almost entirely true of places *outside* San Antonio. *cough*Austin*cough* ^____^
Katy smoked a mascot on Sunday, February 1, 2004
Time: 01:53 a.m.
What?: ...
I need Mosquiton and I need it now. Or soon. For it is the wrongest thing ever and thus
just so good. It's not fair that the only way to see the rest of it would be horrible bootleg dvds which I don't want to stoop to buying. >_<
Katy smoked a mascot on Sunday, February 1, 2004
Time: 10:09 a.m.
What?: Well...
...it's nice to see that Ed and Al appear to be able to transmute
wavering companies too.
Katy smoked a mascot on Saturday, January 31, 2004
Time: 12:13 a.m.
What?: Origa - Inner Universe
Well, I would say that Plutarch doesn't know his arse from his elbow as far as Egyptian religion is concerned, which is a shame given that he's a major source for much of the later Egyptian stuff. I am not impressed. Particularly since he doesn't seem to know the difference between a jackal and a dog, which *just makes my life difficult*.
By my choice of music, you may have guessed what I was watching when I got home. I seem to remember no one else being very impressed by it, but I'd rather like to see some more. It has people running around and shooting things. My kind of anime entirely.
Incidentally, I apologise for my early absence this evening. I was feeling somewhat devoid of enthusiasm (and patience) by about halfway through the evening, for reasons which are probably best expressed somewhere less public than here. I don't *mind* people who read this blog knowing, I just don't think it is a prudent thing to publish in this particular place, as it were.
Oh, and now I want to learn Russian.
Katy smoked a mascot on Saturday, January 31, 2004
Time: 03:45 p.m.
What?: Dead or Alive Extreme Eighties Cheesyball - You Spin Me Round
I absolve myself of any responsibility for my hateful taste in music, because as you can see the blame now lies squarely at the feet of a certain
Miss Elizabeth. I caught myself listening to The Eagles last night and enjoying it. The fiend.
Anyway, other than that. Something of an unbloggable week, actually. Work, snow and plastacine. I love plastacine. In fact, I wish snow were made of plastacine, just because it would be much easier to make snowmen and
really lethal snowballs. It might hurt when it was actually snowing though. But these are all issues I will have my technicians work out. At the same time that they're putting the wheels on cats and old people... (I just think it would make the world a better place o_0).
So yes, work bad. Work horrible thing I wish to ignore for a good six months. And my finals are, ooh, five months away? o_0
In summary, watch Gungrave. For the love of apples, please someone watch Gungrave!! *weeps*
Katy smoked a mascot on Friday, January 30, 2004
Time: 08:34 a.m.
What?: *ahem* ^_^;;
You will excuse me for being soppy today (me with feelings?! I know, I'm as surprised as you are!) but today's Daniel and my three year anniversary. Which I think is quite an achievement by modern couple standards, especially long distance ones! ^_^
So yes, I am cheerful. And I wish for many more three years with The Boyfriend, cause he's the best thing ever and I love him rather a lot. ^_____^
*apologises for high percentage of soppy glee in this entry* ^___^
Katy smoked a mascot on Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Time: 02:48 p.m.
What?: On the Wonders of Biseinen Hairstyles
Eeee! >_< I wish some other people here were watching Gungrave too, cause it's really good! >_<
Well, alright, I speak only of episodes 1-7 inclusive right now, whether or not it goes crap once the Brandon/Grave thing happens, I don't know, but right now it's spiffy. Muchly enjoyed ep 7, if only for the gratuitous "Brandon shoots things through cloud of rose petals" moment. Yes, really. He's infinitely cooler in his "five years later" incarnation. And he does bear more than a passing resemblence to Alucard, which I'm not complaining about. ^__^ I think it's the hair. The sort of "haircare is something that happens to other people" look they both cultivate. (Admittedly someone who can grow their hair at will ought to have less of this problem, but you'd never know to look at him...) Oh and Brandon actually, like, says stuff now! Not much, admittedly, but it's a start.
More work on my smelly Aegean essay now...
Katy smoked a mascot on Monday, January 26, 2004
Time: 08:54 p.m.
What?: Imahori Tsuneo - Knives
There are certain things that scholars can do to undermine my faith the quality of their work.
Quoting Alanis Morisette lyrics in articles is one of them. o_0
Katy smoked a mascot on Sunday, January 25, 2004
Time: 11:02 p.m.
What?: Imahori Tsuneo - 16% of Humidity
I recommend everyone get the Gungrave soundtrack on the strength of this song alone. It continues the theme of the rest of the Gungrave music in being entirely inappropriate to the feel of the show, but it has spazzy Mexican-sounding guitars and it makes me feel chirpy.
...except right now, because right now I am very much in bear-with-sore-head mode. I have had a very grumpy day. Didn't get all my reading done for my essay, didn't get any other work done, felt like a loser sitting on my own in my room doing work on a Saturday night, listening to my neighbours on both sides playing loud music. Best days of my life my ass. Oh and I've lost my commoner's gown. >_<
I could do with being sedated for about a week right now to get out of this bad mood. That and someone else to do my work for me.
Katy smoked a mascot on Saturday, January 24, 2004
Time: 01:51 p.m.
What?: muh
I shouldn't let myself sleep in at the weekend... Anyway, I thought it was about time I blogged, so, yeah. Various things I want to squee about.
I promised I would squee about Full Metal Alchemist, so if you're not sick of me doing it enough in real life, here goes... Yay Full Metal Alchemist!!! ^______________^ I must send The Boyfriend some FMA at some point, I really must. It's jolly good. Ed and Al continue to be the cutest on screen brothers ever, but I think all of us are amazed at how great all the other characters are too. Hughes is a particularly good example. Spazzy and fun but competant at the same time. And anyone who hasn't seen ep 13 ought to just for him and for Col. Mustang's shoujo sparkles. ^______^
Next point of squeeage is Gungrave. I really ought to have watched some of this over the holidays because the cd has been sitting there for goodness knows how long, but I just didn't get round to it until this week. I *like* Gungrave, even if very few other people do. I couldn't tell you why because the game is incredibly poor and the anime is...odd, but it's just quite cool. Yes, cool once you get over the retarded first episode. Brandon does a spiffy job of being a likeable character despite the fact that he barely says a word to anyone else. Brandon's internal monologues, however, are actually the slashiest things in the world, it's amazing. They almost exclusively concern Harry, his best friend and how much he wants to stay with him, and occasionally his concern for his girlfriend. ^_^;; I suspect I know why they're setting the character relationships up like this though, even if they are treading a quite bizarre line with it...the plot of the game rather gives that away. Poor Brandon is going to get plopped on from a great height soon enough. Anyway, Gungrave good.
Last thing to squee about is rather random but there we go. Thanks to Ivan for finding it, I watched the Yoshitaka Amano film 1001 Nights. Now, my review of this will probably differ from that of many other people in the world, in that, oddly enough, I'm a huuuuuge Yoshitaka Amano fangirl. So no prizes for guessing that I was entranced throughout the whole thing. It's essentially a big, moving, Amano picture but the way they did it reflects the feel of his art exceptionally well. Probably the best word to describe it is fluid. Barely anything stays still on the screen at any time and the images metamorphose or literally swallow each other up from one second to another. The way they did the animation really is stunning. And what's also quite interesting is the variety of different ways they seem to have done it. The vast majority of the film is done in traditional animation (albeit in Amano's style) but it occasionally gives way to (not too bad for six years ago) CG and what looks like stop-motion with paper figures. The film doesn't have any words, with the exception of the narrator at the start explaining the "story" (essentially, there's a prince and a princess, they're dreaming ^___^), but there is a lovely orchestral score. Think Fantasia with less Mickey Mouse and more naked women and you're about half way there. It's absolutely wonderful if you like Yoshitaka Amano's style, if not it's probably not your thing.
And now I should be writing my smelly essay on Egypt and the Aegean.
Katy smoked a mascot on Saturday, January 24, 2004
Time: 12:08 a.m.
What?: Full Metal Alchemist - Melissa
I'll save the I LOVE FULL METAL ALCHEMIST SO MUCH IT'S UNTRUE! rant for another day. Suffice to say I think I've had my revenge on my neighbour just because I've been playing this song constantly for the past two days every single hour I've been alone in here. *is vaguely shamed*
Aaaaanyway, I haven't been to
this site in ages, but I was most pleased to see one of the newer
updates. My opinion on the films could not be distilled more accurately. ^___^
And that's it for now. Go read the link if you haven't already.
Katy smoked a mascot on Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Time: 10:46 p.m.
What?: Dadada-dadaaaa!
(Yeah alright that's my attempt to represent the song that's been going through my head all day. Lameass, I know.)
On a slightly more chirpy bent than my previous entry, I shall do a recap of recent events. Saturday night was fun, even if I missed the film thanks to dissertation paranoia. It's going somewhere, I can tell you that much. Quite jolly was the unexpected presents I received: a Tenacious D dvd from Ivan, and a Gungrave artbook from Tasha! ^____^ Dinner at the Mongolian Wok was meat-n-garlictacular as it always is when they let me choose my food. ^___^
Return to Andrew's for some much-missed sitting around eating gummy sweets and sparkling conversation with the scums. In the movie of Ivan's life, I would be played by Bruce Willis. Whatever have I done to deserve this reputation? :O
One thing the evening did achieve, was a rekindling of my interest in Full Metal Alchemist, the game of which Andrular recieved for his unbirthday. To be honest, I wasn't *that* impressed with the two eps I saw of FMA at Ayacon, so I hadn't watched any more of it since then, but having seen the game I was a bit more interested in it all. So I went home and binged. And it'f spiffy, it really is. ^_______^ Couldn't quite put my finger on what it is about FMA that makes it so good, it's just a very fun show. Except for episodes 7 and 8. That's some freaky plot you got going there. o_0
Alright, well, other than that, work. And quite the
coincidence given that I spent a lovely break this evening playing Soul Calibur II and disturbing Jane by laughing riotously making Kilik knock unsuspecting annoying female characters out of the ring. (I do wish the announcer still said "Out of the Ring!!" and not "Ring Out" ...it's just not comedy enough any more! >_<) I'm afraid I have a certain fondness for Kilik, just because his Japanese voice acting was a tiny bit manic in the original Soul Calibur.
Anyway, stuff and things, stuff and things. Be thankful I haven't talked about Sephiroth or my ongoing plans for vampirethon today!
Katy smoked a mascot on Monday, January 19, 2004
Time: 05:48 p.m.
What?: Poo!! >_<
Poo poo poopants poo poo poo!! >_<
(I managed not to swear. How polite of me.)
Have just had an email saying I don't have Tuesday off AND I'm going to have an extra essay to do. Oh yay life. >_<
Katy smoked a mascot on Monday, January 19, 2004
Time: 02:34 a.m.
What?: Continuing a theme, as it were...
Just a point of interest.(?)
Looks like Miki Shinichiro might well be retaining the role of Sephiroth. Not that I think the IMDB are basing that on anything but past experience, but it's a nice thought anyway. I'll be a bit happier if/when someone other than IMDB backs this up.
Katy smoked a mascot on Sunday, January 18, 2004
Time: 03:36 p.m.
What?: *does Homer Simpson-style panic face*
GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT???? :O:O:O:O Liz told me earlier, I'M THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY!!!!! o__________0
Totally. I was asking Liz a biology question for my dissertation and she was telling me how one day everyone's going to look the same. And we're all going to be medium height, with brown hair and brown eyes....like me!!! :O:O:O
So yeah, I am actually the future of humanity, yaay!! ^____^ I now reserve the Sephiroth-like right to go insane and wreak havoc upon the world. Yippee!!! ^________^
Katy smoked a mascot on Saturday, January 17, 2004
Time: 01:10 a.m.
What?: Can't Sleep...
...although it's not insomnia of the "clowns will eat me" variety, I think it's the remnants of the jetlag keeping me awake at (mildly) silly hours. Since everyone else appears to have gone to bed, I have little else to talk to except my blog. How sad. ^___^
Anyway, this is going to be a long and rambling blog entry I've been meaning to write for a while. I can pretty much guarantee it's not worth reading. It's about 99% fangirlism and 1% links to sources thereof. But hey.
Now that we're actually in the right year for it,
I really wish they'd hurry up and release Advent Children!! I have spent most of my timewasting hours today scouring the internet for new pictures/video of it. Obviously there isn't any, but you can't blame a girl for trying. ^_^ I did find the very spiffy official website for it
here which is not modem-friendly but worth it if only for the little video clip on Sephiroth's profile page. And if anyone happens to pass by here who can read Japanese, a translation of that page would earn you my infinite respect. ^__^
Also on the quite funky/quite bizarre front, the range of
merchandise Squenix has released for the film so far. Is it just me or does that
thing Cloud has on his shoulder look far better suited to be an ornate door knocker? Just another reason why Sephiroth owns you, oh confused little hero boy. ^_____^
I must admit, when I first saw original promo shots of Advent Children I was less than happy. Sephigoth does take some getting used to when he's always been a little spikey-bangs-and-silly-eyes chibi, but I think I'm convinced now. The translation from old style to new actually got done really, really well, I think. I'm incredibly glad they released footage of the Nibelheim in flames flashback, because I think that probably is what won me over. I think it's probably the case with every Sephiroth fangirl in the world - the Nibelheim flashback sequence is just *the* best bit in the game. ^_______^ It just has everything that's inherently cool about Sephiroth in. He's evil, he's untouchable, he doesn't really care. ^______^
Well, alright, I half retract that first statement, on the grounds that I don't *really* think he's evil, he's just a victim of circumstance. ^___^ There are three characters in the game who have relatively impressive angst levels, Sephiroth, Cloud and Vincent, and Sephiroth totally wins the total and utter mishandling of said angst award. (By the way, this is probably going to get spoilery from here on, so if anyone out there actually cares, avert your eyes.) Cloud goes loopy and gets irritating for a good third of the game, Vincent gets tortured by guilt and turns himself into a recluse, and Sephiroth, well, he does what anyone would do in his situation, tries to destroy humanity and become a god. Rational thinking, of course. Still, I can't help but feel sorry for him, despite the obvious megalomaniac killer tendencies. He'd be a horrible person in real life, but in the game you just, well, feel a bit sorry for him. ^_^;;;
The scene in the library in the Shinra mansion is a particularly good example of this, I think. Sephiroth, upon finding out what he thinks is the truth about how he was created, goes and reads for days on end in the library of the professor who was experimenting on the Ancients (the people Sephiroth thinks he's a descendent of). I don't know, it just strikes me as quite sad. He got the wrong end of the stick about him being a creation from the Ancients, but not entirely, and the whole idea of it drove him loopy. I have a certain amount of time for things with generic genetic experiment angst - "you created me! Whyyyy??!! *death rampage*" - and poor old Sephiroth thinks himself into having it. ^__^
Hmm, if I don't stop this here it's going to end up being a very long entry, and, in fact, a very long night. o_0 I can't help it, Sephiroth is a dude. ^__^ I really can't wait to see what the deal is with Advent Children. At the moment I'm thinking the Sephiroth lookalike is something that got spawned in the crater, possibly, but who knows. Well alright, the writers. o_0
I wish Vincent could have been in Advent Children too. I would have loved to see him done cg'd.
Anyway, going to bed now.
Katy smoked a mascot on Saturday, January 17, 2004
Time: 09:55 a.m.
What?: Back in Oxford...
...In case people hadn't noticed. ^_^ Which means I have various things to blog about (in an attempt to hold of the work fear a few more minutes). Time between arriving in England and coming here was uneventful, which is how I like stays at home, actually. Except I saw Maroon 5 on a music channel, and now feel vaguely trendy for having discovered that song a good six months before pop music types in this country. ^___^
Anyway, Wednesday day was as chaotic as moving back usually is. Thanks of gigantic proportions to the scumbobbins that helped me move back in (you know who you are and I'm too sleepy/lazy to make the links ^_~). Suffice to say it would have taken an *awful* lot longer to move without the help. Small presentacular surprises I comandeered in America seemed to be appreciated by Lizzu and Jane, which was pleasant. Andrew and Ivan really need to get obssessed with something I can easily find presents of next time I'm in Texas, especially if the exchange rate continues to rock as it does at the moment. ^___^
Hmm, things this morning... Internet shopping continues to make me loathe it like a loathing thing. Especially when Amazon send me emails saying I can have fifteen volumes of Card Captor Sakura for £100 off the normal price. *shakes fist at horribly tempting offer* It would still be £150, but but but! *weeps*
Continuing the theme of businesses trying to pander to my whims,
this looked particularly fun when I read a review of it in America. More emailage this morning confirmed they really are making a first person shooter *just* for me. It would be a bit more apparent if I actually had a copy of the magazine I was reading it from, but essentially you get to play a half-vampire, with a big hat, guns and a bit of a penchant for killing stuff. Spiffiness. ^__________^ And just because it's a videogame of prominence in these circles at the moment, it's also by the people who made Galerians (which isn't *much* of a confidence booster, given that that and Guilty Gear are about the only good games Sammy have ever made, but hey o_0).
...and now I have to get dressed because I'm meant to be seeing my moral tutor in an hour. >_<
Katy smoked a mascot on Friday, January 16, 2004
Time: 11:03 p.m.
What?: Back in England... -_-
There isn't really much I can say that everyone couldn't predict anyway. I've pretty much been awake for a lot of Saturday night, all of Sunday and all of today. I couldn't sleep on Saturday night because I just kept counting the hours in my head before I had to leave. It sounds dumb, I know. It felt like I was going to waste those hours if I fell asleep. -_-
But the morning came, and I had to leave. I'll spare you the horrible details of me crying, but suffice to say it's not nice to be in the situation we are. It doesn't get easier the more you have to do it. -_-
So then I did a lot of flying and ended up in London. Where they managed to spend nearly three quarters of an hour trying to get baggage off the plane and to the relevant owners. -_- Eventually met Mum in the arrivals lounge a good hour and a half after I landed, then we went back home.
Not that any of that was interesting, but nothing interesting happened after that either. I pretty much just feel tired and sad about the whole not being in Texas thing. Sorry to be a whiner like this, but, well, some things... -_- Seeing my family again is nice, but not being able to see my boyfriend for five months isn't. -_-
Katy smoked a mascot on Monday, January 12, 2004
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