[ YAOI AND ASIA // FRIDAY 2.09.01 // 4:19 PM ]

Well, now I'm really glad I went to English today. I was going to skip, but since I skipped on Wednesday I felt bad and decided to attend. Well whaddya know...Italian drama today was actually one of the more interesting class sessions I've ever attended. The topic today was sexuality in the Italian Rennaissance, and boy, was it fun. We talked about all kinds of things, from the role of male stage players, women as sex objects and property, and audience response to (cover your eyes, kiddies!) homosexuality, masturbation, and phallus symbolism.

I've decided I want to do my first midterm paper on this. My teacher had a really cool book that he'd checked out of the school library called "Gender in the Italian Theater" and I'm going to go check it out once he returns it. Time to put those hentai skills and mind to good use! ^_~

Then I went and signed up for my Japanese oral quiz in the Asian studies dept building. I was expecting something like my Chinese reading quiz for this, but turns out that it's an in-class thing, with the teacher just asking questions. Oh well. I suppose since we're not supposed to know how to read Japanese yet, the reading quizzes will come later. What fun.

So I was walking back down the hall to the elevator and I saw my Chinese TA from two semesters ago. It was kind of weird...she recognized me and asked if I was still taking Chinese, the usual. I think she had expected me to say yes, because she looked kind of shocked when I said I was taking Japanese. Heh. I actually kind of miss Chinese, and I'm rather afraid I'll forget most of the characters before I start up again next semester. Missing Chinese. Whoever thought that would happen ^^;;;;

If you haven't read the quote of the day in my last entry, I suggest you do it and take it to heart.

~Ger

[ QUOTE OF THE DAY // FRIDAY 2.09.01 // 11:47 PM ]

"When I want to go crazy, I look at this little animated gif of a batwinged Duo flipping and going 'Yeah!' After a while, a murderous rage rises inside of me."

--Mearl Dox

^^;;;;;;;;

[ UPDATES! // THURSDAY 2.08.01 // 7:10 PM ]

Well, today was the day I finally decided to get off my lazy butt and do something about the various state of unfinished-ness that most of my sites were in. Updates can be found in greater detail on the front page of ChaoticEmpire.org but basically I updated the Saionji shrine and the Landover fanfic page. Believe it or not, all those little updates took the whole afternoon.

I'm still getting packages in the mail like a never ceasing flood. Laurel's package arrived earlier this week, and tonight my Macross 7 fansubs came. I got episodes 5-24, which is enough to keep me busy for a while, I imagine. If any of you are wondering where I get my fansubs, I'd like to recommend Sachi's Distribution. They have a very friendly staff, a good selection of titles, they accept all kinds of payment including cash, and their turnaround time is 2-3 days. That's right...I couldn't believe it myself, but it's true. Sorry to sound like a corny advertisement, but they're really good. They even gave me a refund with a little note attached when I had sent the wrong amount of money. I've been ordering from them for about 2 years now and they're great...anyway, check them out if you're looking for a good place to buy fansubs.

I don't know what's going on with certain members of my online family, but you know who you are. All I'm going to say is that this whole thing isn't worth the stress and the trauma that y'all are going through, and you know what my suggested solution to the problem is. I'm not going to say it again - you guys have to make up your own minds, and since I'm not technically involved with the issue, I'm not going to push my opinion on you. I'll let that one rest.

Lyra - glad your package arrived safely. QS, yours should get there tomorrow, if I remember correctly. I mailed it on Monday, so...anyway, you should be getting some nice new nihon no ongaku soon. ^_^

Midnight Revolution.org has been registered and Laurel and I have worked on a layout. There are actually two versions of it, so I'll post it to the ML or something and you can pick whichever one you like best.

Bleh...I'm going to see if anyone's in the TV lounge. I wanted to watch my Macross earlier and there was someone there. Just my luck. There's NEVER anyone in the TV lounge, unless I want to watch something. What is that. ><

~Ger

[ JROCK AGAIN // WEDNESDAY 2.07.01 // 10:36 PM ]

A few weeks ago I posted an entry about jrock and why I love it. I mentioned that the artists really feel the music as opposed to doing it all for the money, and how the lyrics were so much more meaningful than any American rock lyrics I've ever heard.

I was talking to Lyra a couple nights back in a chat and the topic turned to (surprise) Malice Mizer and then jrock in general. That made me think of a conversation I had with my brother about jrock. He had mentioned that a Glay concert had sold out a ton of fans (I can't remember how many...something like 200,000?) and that Glay was joining the league of legendary jrock bands.

I wouldn't exactly call Glay "legendary" as of yet - only two bands, X Japan and Luna Sea, really deserve that title - but they're pretty darned close. He then mentioned something about great rock bands, and how Glay was one of the last of a pioneer era. That really struck me. I'd never really noticed that about jrock bands, I suppose. It was like they'd always been there and they always would be there.

But it's true. First there was X Japan, the band that started it all. Then came bands like Glay, Luna Sea, and L'Arc~en~Ciel. Finally in a different genre of rock but no less larger than life, B'z. Those are the great five jrock bands, the ones that will probably make it into the legendary halls of jrock for years to come, the ones that defined the genre into what it has become.

But they're fading. X Japan disbanded in 1997. Luna Sea disbanded in 2000, just when everyone thought they were going to make it through their second decade, just as X Japan had. Glay, L'Arc~en~Ciel, and B'z are the only ones left, and fans of both Glay and Laruku are beginning to critize them, claiming that it's not about the music anymore. I can believe that with Glay, and to a lesser degree with L'Arc, and I can see either of those two groups being the next to go. B'z is probably the group that has stayed most true to their roots, and will probably be around for a few more years to come, but eventually they too will go their seperate ways. And then it will be over.

But there are other bands, right? What about Malice Mizer, the group I keep babbling about? What about groups like Pierrot and Penicillin and Dir en Grey and Lareine?

They are the "new" wave of jrock, the ones that came after the legendary great five. They are good bands in their own right, but they stand in the shadow of bands like X Japan, and while their appearance means the genre is expanding, it also means that jrock will lose the uniqueness that it once had. Sure, bands are increasingly more visual than before, and their lyrics are just as beautiful, but somehow their visual presence doesn't give as daring and bold a feel as that of Luna Sea or X Japan back in the day. The jrock bands of today are just really merely copycats. The band that I'd say is the closest to the original jrock bands is Siam Shade, but even they don't have the same ingenuity to their music.

Don't get me wrong. I love Siam Shade and Malice Mizer, and Lareine is quickly becoming a favorite of mine as well. But really, when those five groups I talked about cease to exist, the glory days of jrock will be over. Out of the "new" jrock bands I talked about, Malice Mizer had the most potential, in my opinion, to become a great band. They had the talent and definitely the vision for it. If Gackt hadn't left the band, it would perhaps have happened. But, as it is, Gackt is now quickly on the rise to his own legendary status as a solo jrock artist, and Malice Mizer is back to square one.

I'm writing this not because I am angry at the quality of jrock music these days, but just because I feel like expouding on my jrock argument a little further. People ask me why I listen to jrock. My former answer still stands, but sooner or later that uniqueness will fade, and my interest in jrock will wane. Days of glory and ground-breaking work must all come to an end someday, and it's just rather sad that jrock is coming to an end sooner than I wish it to.

~Ger

[ KATAKANA // WEDNESAY 2.07.01 // 2:33 PM ]

Well darn. Just got a cheerful email from my Japanese teacher wishing us luck on the katakana quiz tomorrow.

*blinks*

As I didn't KNOW there was going to be a katakana quiz tomorrow, I now have to study. What is that???? I hate katakana. It sucks. Boo.

Other than that my day has been non-interesting. I was so tired last night I fell asleep right as my head hit the pillow. Don't know why...this wave of sleepiness just hit me while I was doing my Japanese homework. It was that damn katakana again, I bet. ><

Hmm...I have flag honors today at 1630. I don't have morning flag honors this semester, which is nice. I wonder why Corcoran gave me all afternoon details? Waking up for morning detail is a pain though, especially if it's not a PT day. Glad I am that I have 2 afternoon details.

I'm not making sense, am I? I'm still sleepy. Bleh...and it's sticky and gross outside. That's one thing I miss about the cold weather that we'd been having...if it's cold outside it can't be humid. Now it's just kind of chilly and humid.

Laurel, did you make the changes to anc.com for mr.org yet? I'll try to work on the layout a little bit tonight. QS, I'm about halfway through revising that story, and you'll be surprised...it's actualy quite good, no matter what you think. I know you think it sucks, but it doesn't. Trust me ^_^ I'll send it to you when I'm done.

I suppose I should go polish my combat boots or something. Or study katakana. Or something fun like that. Hee.

~Ger

[ BLOODY HANDS // TUESDAY 2.06.01 // 7:40 AM ]

I'm sorry about last night, for everyone who was on. When I'm feeling like that I usually don't even get online, but for some insane reason I decided to stay on and talk to QS, since she messaged me. QS, what you and Laurel did really means a lot to me, just so you know, if I never tell you "in person." I'm lousy at expressing my feelings out loud...hell, I'm lousy at expressing my feelings at all. That's why I write, I suppose. My writing is a projection of me that's not entirely personal...heh, even writing this on this blog is starting to bother me. But I'm thanking you two, and the rest of my "family," in case I never tell you this again. I mean it.

I have Japanese homework to do and a hiragana quiz to study for, so I'll cut this short. But just in case you're wondering, no, the subject of today's entry is NOT something angsty and philosophical. We had PT this morning on the track, and the little bumps on the ground cut my hands open while I was doing pushups. So...uh...thus the bloody hands.

Itai...*goes to put some medicine on them* ^_~

~Ger

[ MONDAY 2.05.01 // 8:15 PM ]

[ AHEM // MONDAY 2.05.01 // 12:38 AM ]

I have just one thing to say in this blog entry.

LIST OF FAILED WEBSITE NAMES

genkirevolution.org
evilwriters.com
revolutionsrus.org
gimmerevolution.org
genkikids.org
takemyrevolution.org
genkichildrenontrains.org
nyahnyahnyahnyah.org
nyannyan.org
revolutionists.org/com/net
maniacs_of_panic.org
thegroupofpeoplewhowritebetterthanyou.org (tgopwwbty.org)

Notice that most of these names were suggested by Mearl. ^^;;;;

~Ger

[ NEW LAYOUT (AGAIN) // SUNDAY 2.04.01 // 10:12 PM ]

Short entry. New design! I got sick of Seifer, and it's only been three days. Ah, well. The blog looks horrible in Netscape (as usual) but is viewable in IE. And everyone who's in chat right now is aware of my feelings for Netscape, so...^_~

The layout is Shinya, drummer of Luna Sea and one of the best rock drummers in the world today. In my humble opinion, anyway. He's not (was not?) a very visible member of Luna Sea, and isn't the best looking guy in the world, but he's a freaking awesome drummer. You can probably figure out who my favorite member of the band is...

^_^ Lyrics are from Luna Sea's Sweetest Coma Again (or whatever it's called. I've seen like 5 different spellings)

Hmm...gotta go see what's up with the stellar soldiers list. Blog later.

~Ger