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L A C K . . . . . F E A T H E R S . . . . . v4.0
IMAGE-LESS
Yeah..? You got a problem with that, H U H ? ? ?
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+ + December 31st, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Thoughtful--
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How has 2004 been for me...
Very, very good. I don't know how else to say it. oo;
I moved to a bigger place, finally got into the course I've been looking forward to, made accquaintances with more people than I ever expected, mingled with many individuals and groups... It's really been just... great... Really great~
I sometimes do still wonder if it's real... me being where I am... doing what I love. Seems almost too sweet a dream.. All good things come to an end, they always say... I'm approaching my 3rd year here, and the dread of returning to my home country can only spur me to strive harder so I can find a job here and carve a niche out for myself, doing what I always wanted. RAAAAH!@&(!^$!*&^ やる気満々だぜ！ *燃*
*Ahem* Anyway... I'm a very fortunate person. I might always be complaining 'bout something, but hell I am lucky to have what I own, do what I have the chance to, and experience what I can. This can't last unless I work hard for it to. It's strange. Children have big dreams about what they want to do 'when they grow up'. But when most of them do come of age, those dreams simply dwindle into some old ragdoll thrown into a store to gather dust, shadowed by thoughts of what they 'should' do, not what they want to do. These become people who work their lives away, treating it as some sorta chore done only to bring in cash. For some, the promise of money does give them enough incentive to 'work', but for others, they have to drag their bodies to the office everyday for the rest of their working lives. I don't want to be either. I want my 'job' to be a passion. Something I do because I feel joy seeing the fruit~ I am glad I'm on my way to achieving that. I am also thankful I have not been reduced to that typical adult mindset (yet). I pray that I never will be.
"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."
- John Barrymore (1882 - 1942)
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:40 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 31st, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Chilly--
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p^-^q It was snowing again this morning. Heavier than the other day, and this time the snow actually accumulated. Went out to geta few photos and toiletries. Cars were broken down everywhere so getting anywhere by bus (it's nuts to be cycling in this kinda condition) look 3 times longer than usual.
 
View photographs here.
Stood in the cold wind for more than a damn hour waiting for the bus. I was feeling cold. This coming from someone who can walk around with summer clothes in 6 degrees C weather, well yeah. My fingers suffered the worst, and they still haven't recovered after 2 hours... *Is typing a lot slower than usual*
Tomorrow marks another new year....
"Do we, holding that gods exist, deceive ourselves with
unsubstantiated dreams, and lies, while random careless
chance and change alone rule the world?"
- Euripides (480BC - 406BC)
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 07:03 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 31st, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Irritated--
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... *slaps self*
...
...
Indeed, 'pride' is my sin. Guess I haven't changed.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 12:46 a.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 30th, 2004 (Thursday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Encouraged--
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Mom called up a few minutes ago. Unlike most other calls of doom, this one was of words of encouragement. ^_^
Legends of little people on an Indonesian island..? The mention of the legend just made me remember I know one. Unfortunately I've forgotten virtually all of it. -_- DAMMIT.
THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Sycia
2. ******* (Name given to by parents)
3. (^_^ My true name)
THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. Sycia
2. MesaRaven (I think that used to be my Y!M handle...)
3. ...??? Can't remember
THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. My abilities to manipulate... things... ^_^;
2. My determination.
3. My inner & outer strength
THREE THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. I'm far too critical about those I care for. -_-
2. I'm a selfish bitch.
3. Bad memory, though I can like it at times too
THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Asian (Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian)
2. European (British, Dutch)
3. Portuguese
THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Jellyfish. ¬_¬; They freak me out. How the heck do they live?!
2. What I deem more precious than my own existance, destroyed.
3. Being a sheep like everyone else.
THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Freedom
2. Air
3. Food & water
THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. A platinum ring (sentimental value)
2. A single silver eyechain (sentimental value)
3. Cargo pants? (usual attire)
THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS (or artists at the moment):
1. Bee Gees
2. The Corrs
3. The Cranberries
THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT PRESENT:
1. Братья
2. 扉の向こうへ
3. リライト
THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
1. Climb Mount Fuji YEAAAAH
2. Find a job here and begin working towards my dream
3. Go up to Aomori prefecture and eat fresh seafood~
THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (love is a given):
I see no point in answering this since I don't want one.
THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT PEOPLE
1. Frankness
2. Modesty
3. Inner strength
THREE THINGS YOU DISLIKE IN PEOPLE
1. Feebleness
2. Dispasson
3. Inflated egos
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE if you can guess the lie, you are amazing:
1. I can walk around in short sleeves and cargo pants (one layer of thin clothes) in 5 degrees celsius weather.
2. Napping during afternoons messes up my body clock.
3. I love cabbage
THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. Clean, non-shabbiness
2. Strong eyes.
3. Honest smile, laughing face~
THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
1. Forgive humans.
2. Be a nobody.
3. Let people in.
THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Drawing
2. Looking at the sky.
3. Reflecting
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Get good at drawing...
2. Go somewhere I can lay down on the ground/ grass and just look at the blue sky~
3. Try my hand out at being a seiyuu
THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
1. Animator / producer
2. Photographer
3. Seiyuu
THREE LANGUAGES YOU KNOW, OR WANT TO LEARN
1. Gaelic
2. Welsh
3. Spanish
THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Ireland
2. New Zealand
3. Canada
THREE KID'S NAMES:
Would I name what I'd eat?
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Create stories and tell the world them.
2. Return to Ireland.
3. Observe humans as much as I can.
THREE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW OR DIE PAINFULLY:
Hmmm. I don't think I have to mention their names... But I wouldn't want them to die painfully either. o_O;
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 04:15 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 29th, 2004 (Wednesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Bloated x_X--
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And I came back to delighted to find that the official Hagaren movie site uploaded the 2nd trailer I was talking about earlier.
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And now, for the trailer you've all been waiting for~ :)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala
鋼の錬金術師； シャンバラを征く者
 
 
 
Download it at the official Japanese website here
What was said by Ed through the trailer (the narration of title of the movie excluded):
Opening words:
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エド：
何かを得るためには同等の代価が必要となる。
錬金術、等価交換の原則。
引き裂かれた俺たちの痛みは、何を得るための代価だったのか。
Ed:
In order to gain something, one must sacrifice another of equivalent value.
That is the law of Alchemy. Equivalent exchange.
Was the pain of our seperation the price for something?
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Yelling bit:
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エド：
ここが俺たちの世界だ！
Ed:
This is OUR world!
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Note:
I don't watch fansubs nor the dubs so my take on the rule/ law of Alchemy might be a little different from the English side, but I've got the meaning down roughly. And if anyone's wondering, the masked guy in the trailer is the same guy featured here.
The movie will open nationwide in Japan, come summer 2005.
Sources:
Official TV series website (Jpn) ~ (link)
Official Movie website (Jpn) ~ (link)
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Aaaaanyway, it was snowing heavily for the whole of today. ^_^ Sycia was delighted. I guess it was a little cold, but eating warm meals kept me going a-okay.
Watched the latest Inuyasha movie with Joyce and am feeling a little cheated by the commercials that kept going, "The end to everything" or something of the sort. Duh... there wasn't any end to anything in there >_< The 'enemies' in there got defeated faster than any others from the anime series itself. There were some cute parts to the show though. ^_^ Like the ending credits for example. Loved that section best of all haha~
We had killed some time at a cafe while waiting for the show (it was a little cold to walk around outside, and slippery with ice all over), but what a place we chose... Joyce's small cup of hot cocoa cost 735 yen, while my meat pie was 350. x_X What's up with the cocoa?! >_< I feel the pinch too.
Head down to Akihabara after the show, and spent about an hour and a half at Animate. I didn't get anything this time round (thank goodness), though the artwork of Evangelion (books with sketches and design stuff) was tempting.
On my way home, saw some people from the Red Cross announcing they needed blood donations badly (Asian earthquake diaster aid thing). Went. x_X I had gone there right after having a heavy dinner of STEAK with Joyce. Yet those people kept insisting I consume more fluids; came outta the place bloated and feeling a stomachache coming on. Come to think of it now, why the hell did I go in the first place...
.... I forgot to write down all my feelings for the FMA event (too tired then, so forgot almost everything until I saw Mystique's report; she's pretty detailed about it. >_< My memory isn't as wonderful) Of all the seiyuus who performed there, I felt Envy's (Yamaguchi Mayumi) had done best. She had to portray glee, anger, angst, cruelty and insanity (or borderline-ness?) for her part, and that required far more effort that everyone else in my opinion. Of course everyone else performed well though~ Ookawa Tooru (Roy Mustang) sang a lot better onstage than in his album, but for some reason... Paku Romi (Edward Elric)'s singing wasn't as good (though I still love her voice ^^). Oh yes, and I was deeply moved by the performance by BEPA although they sang like the song was a new opera version... oo;
Darn it my entries are getting too long. >_<
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 10:33 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 29th, 2004 (Wednesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Joyful--
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*Wakes up*
*Drags self outta bed*
*Looks out window*
*Sees snow falling*
O_O
>_<
O_O
^_____^
It finally snows in Tokyo~!
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 09:19 a.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 28th, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Happy~--
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o_O It's a weird feeling to see the news you report (translate), carried faaaaaaar and wide. Very very weird.
Okay, after seeing the amatuer videos of the tsunamis, I now agree with Sis; it (earthquake + tsunami) is a beauty... such power. It culled far more than any terrorist group could ever hope to achieve. And no one can put the blame on anything. People scream about why there was no warning. Bodies of weak and feeble that succumbed lying everywhere. The true power, beauty of Nature. She shows no biasedness, nor mercy. Only those strong enough to fight for their existance will live through. That is the way earth is run, and how it should be forever more. Coastlines may decimated, but look at it another way and it's Nature's way of clearing something to make way for new development (much like, yet completely opposite of humans felling forests to build cities).
On a side note, drowning really isn't that bad. And since this isn't some terrorist attack, people are more busy aiding one another rather than filled with anger and pushing the blame to whoever, and whatever. That's a prettier sight than what happened to 2 buildings that collapsed 3 years ago...
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You scored as Buddhist.
Buddhist: 100%
Christian: 70%
Anarchist: 65%
Jewish: 60%
Cult: 60%
Catholic: 25%
Religion
created with QuizFarm.com
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*Looks above at Christianity percentage...*
....
*Runs to jump off balcony, head-first*
"One difference between death and taxes is that death
doesn't get worse every time Congress meets."
- Roy L. Schaefer
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:53 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 28th, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Happy--
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Hmmmm okay.... I didn't know about that big earthquake that happened in Indonesia until early yesterday morning... So it happened on the 26th... I had that earthquake dream just the day before (the 25th, scroll down for details)... I really wonder if this is a coincidence... Since I'm quite big on earth's geology, I dug up a map of Earth's plates here. No wonder that quake was so big... 3, possibly 4 plates were rubbing against one another. *Looks at Japan's side* ...... this place isn't much better. In fact it looks way worse... Way, way worse. Singapore is lucky to be located where it is. 9 countries around it were badly affected and it didn't get anything except for a few small tremors. Worse still, the big quake occured in the middle of the ocean. Tsunamis are far more fearful than stuff on your shelf falling on you. You cannot run from it. First the water retreats from the shoreline at mysteriously, then a wall of water races back at breakneck speed, crushing, enveloping everything in its path (yeah, kinda like those doomsday movies). No one is safe. Heck even Singapore will not be spared forever. Looking at the map, an earthquake at the right place would send tidal waves swallowing that pathetic island in a minute.
I was discussing this with Sis. She calls it a beauty. I consider it a power. I'm glad I can speak to someone about this without being called a sadist. I'm fascinated with geology. Forces like earthquakes are only proof of Nature's sheer power. No matter how much humans try to conquer her, what one would call 'natural disasters' will always be there to remind humans of their place below her. There is no way to hide from it as long as you're on her planet.
Then again, I find it quite amazing how such a 'disaster' can pull people together for once. You see more people helping one another out for once...
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 02:09 a.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 27th, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Messed up--
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And now the Hagaren trailer info~
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鋼の錬金術師： シャンバラを征く者
Fullmetal Alchemist movie: Conqueror of Shambala
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During the Fullmetal Alchemist Festival: Tales of Another (more...), the trailer for the upcoming Fullmetal Alchemist movie: Conqueror of Shambala was shown, followed by a short question and answer session with a couple of the production crew. This trailer hasn't been put up on the official movie site yet, but I suppose it will be soon.
The trailer:
Starts off in a factory-sort of place where a block of concrete / rock / metal is transmuted from a part of a pipe and dropped down below. It falls just before a mysterious figure who was doing something to what looked like Al's armor body from the anime series. Then we see the figure wearing a mask of some sort (somehow I am reminded of a cliche character type unique to the Gundam series at this point). Al (in his armor body form) turns and next is a short clip of Ed (with his automail right arm, wearing his usual red coat) running and shouting, "This is OUR world!" (これが俺たちの世界だ！). I don't remember the rest of the trailer at the moment.
Above is an extract of the Fullmetal Alchemist Festival: Tales of Another official pamphlet sold at the event yesterday. It mentions something about the movie based mostly on a man-made castle floating in the sea, and a new masked character (we still don't know if he's ally or enemy).
The staff interview:
The staff first confirmed that Shambala = Paradise. Other than that, I have a feeling those interviewed weren't exactly serious about what they were saying; they mentioned they were still doing the storyboard at this point in time. When asked about what sort of content the movie would consist of, they vaguely answered 'love-love' (?) and did make a very strange comment about Ed having less appearances in the movie (again, they seemed to be half-joking). What disturbed me the most is that they said the voice of Edward Elric might be changed (the whole stadium was freaking out, including me). I would like to believe that they said that to create more hype... but.... Oddly enough Paku Romi was still voicing Edward Elric in the trailer mentioned above.
Last note:
-_-; The trailer was and still is mess'ing with my head. There are a trillion and 6 million questions zooming through my mind at the moment I'm getting a headache.
I will scream, turn into Godzilla and stomp down BONES if Paku Romi isn't looked up to do Ed for the movie.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:51 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 27th, 2004 (Monday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Refreshed~--
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Okay... I guess I've recovered from the past days' buss of activity...
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Sunday
鋼の錬金術師FESTIVALもう一つの物語
Fullmetal Alchemist Festival; Tales of Another
Crawled ourselves (Joyce and I) out of bed at 5:30am and got ourselves breakfast at the convenience store right opposite. I was a little worried Joyce might get sick (oo; apparently my room was too cold for her) so I sorta forced her to down a full hot bento... oo;;
Got to the place (国立代々木競技場) at 7:30am. The reason why we were out there so darn early was because I wanted to get the limit-edition merchandise there. On the way, saw a veeeeery cute raven; didn't fly off when I approached and quite nearly melted in front of it ^__________^ There was quite a crowd already when we got there, and so we got in line to wait (and freeze in the wind). 9:30am we got in, I got the official event pamphlet, a strap thing, and a Ed T-shirt. Kyaaaa Joyce got the cute Roy T-shirt~
 : 
Went for lunch after that and came back to the place to find it erm... full of Ed cosplayers... there were a few people cosplaying other characters (Winry, or millitary folks), but erm... seeing 60 Eds in a single is enough. I know there was a foreign cosplayer who came for the event (got to know her via forum), and I think her group (cosplaying Ed, Winry, and possibly Al) got.... swarmed with fangirls (reason: their cosplay costumes, plus their built and looks fit the roles well, from what I've seen of their website). Saw a HUGE group of Japanese girls screaming and crowding around a corner snapping photographs frantically with their cellphones... so I'm guessing it was that buncha 3 professional-looking cosplayers who were the center of it (managed to see what looked like Winry's bandana and Ed's golden hair admist it)~
 Unfortunately photography was prohibited within the actual hall itself, so I couldn't get anything past this point (taken while lining up to get in).
--
The event kicked off rather suddenly with the first opening song: Melissa blasting through with its respective opening sequence (direct from the anime, except without credits) that just brought the audience in excited uproar. After that there were segments of edited animated sequences (taken from existing episodes) put together to tell the story of the Elric brother's beginnings & their journey, a short conversation between Roy and Hughes, as well as a discussion between Greed and Envy never shown in the anime before. The voice actors there performed their lines live on stage locked in concentration and filling the whole place with such intense emotion. It was a bit of a pity that most of the scenes performed were already done before within the animated series itself (the Greed & Envy discussion was made the exception). All these little segments were divided between live performances by the artistes (or the original opening / ending sequences and songs for those artistes who couldn't come).
One of the highlights of the event was the voice actors playing a little game among themselves. Paku Romi (Edward Elrc), Kugimiya Rie (Alphonse Elric) and Toyoguchi Megumi (Winry Lockbell) were on one team, pit against Ookawa Tooru (Roy Mustang), Fujiwara Keiji (Maes Hughes) and Yamaguchi Mayumi (Envy). The object of the game was to read out a script they were given (3 character mini-scenario) within an insanely short span of 30-seconds; this actually emulates a special feature on the Japanese DVDs called Ura-hagane. The Roy, Hughes and Envy team lost out to the fast-talking Ed, Al & Winry trio, and Ookawa Tooru (Roy Mustang) sang his character's song (Tsuki no Uragawa / The back of the moon) as a forfeit. The crowd just went wild, and that saw him through the whole song fine (in my opinion he was singing better in there than in his recorded single).
The other highlight was the actual AIRING of the official movie (Shanbara wo yuku mono / Conqueror of Shambara) trailer followed by an interview with the production members. I will be revealing what the trailer was about and what the interviews hinted at later.
One pleasant surprise that I had not expected (because the website hadn't mentioned anything about it) was a couple of Russian ladies; BEPA () suddenly coming onstage and singing the famous, heart-breaking song: Brothers (song played when the Elric brothers set fire to their home). The entire crowd was screaming and applauding as they started, then fell silent again, soaking in the lyrics while the scenes of the Elric brother's homely past with their mother was played over a huge screen. A little while later, Paku Romi (Edward Elric) and Kugimiya Rie (Alphonse Elric) came onstage to narrate over the Russian ladies' singing, the true meanings of those lyrics in Japanese to the audience. Somehow, even without having any knowledge of Russian, just listening to the song and watching the edited sequences was enough to nearly make tears stream out of my eyes again, thinking about how much teh Elric brothers have been through...
As the curtain call was made, it was revealed that the upcoming movie's opening and ending theme would be performed by L'Arc~en~Ciel. And JUST before the end, Paku Romi (Edward Elric) was called to do her character song: Ashita e no Basho (A Place to Tomorrow), which just left the audience screaming louder than ever.
Overall a satisfying performance, though I wish they had added in more original conversations between the characters, not just use sniplets from the series itself. I did, however, appreciate the fact they did show the audience the 30-second teaser trailer on the upcoming movie (though it left me with far more questions and confusion than anticipation...)
--
;_; L'Arc~en~Ciel made a surprise visit at the Osaka event, but not for Tokyo (their performance wasn't included in the programme in the first place but...) My ribs were vibrating from the sheer volume of music when COOL JOKE performed UNDO. Well actually it was just too loud throughout the whole event no matter who was speaking or singing.... People! We aren't DEAF!!!! >_< You wanna blast out eardrums out with that crazy bitch level of sound?!
It was quite problematic getting outta the place, but we managed to worm our way outta the crowd of 10,000 people flooding out the hall and bottlenecked at 3 measely small exit points. Head back to my place, had dinner and saw Joyce off. Came back to do my report on the event for this website (and community), bathed (and fell asleep in the shower countless times), then head off to bed and snoozed like a baby.
==================================
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:13 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 26th, 2004 (Sunday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---~_~--
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Very... very... tired...
And... very... very... confused... by... Hagaren... movie... trailer...
*Faints*
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:47 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 25th, 2004 (Saturday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Forgetful--
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o_O Oh... I forgot... Merry Christmas. And a Happy New Year I guess~
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:36 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 25th, 2004 (Saturday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Weirded out--
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o_O Another gruesome dream? Unlike the rest of em, I was unaware I was dreaming. The ground shook a little, then rocked violently, as if it was a real serious earthquake. I was still lying in bed (the main reason why I didn't know it was a dream), and somehow just didn't want to get up. The shaking grew worse and worse, and something fell on me (the floor above me?). The pain was quickly replaced by dull numbness. I could feel my head slowly and agonizingly crushed under the weight of whatever was on me. The pressure just got so great I was quite sure my head was just going to burst open under it and go splat. Yes, again death was just a breath away, but as usual, no fear of it. I was just casually wondering when my head was going go pop. It felt pretty uncomfortable (it was the left side of my head getting the most of the damage).... then it suddenly all went away. I suppose that was when I woke up... but my head was still on a trip... Weird. That's yet another different type of death to add to my growing list weee~
Joyce is over to stay. ^_^ We're going to that Hagaren event tomorrow~~~~ We had lunch at some western restaraunt, where I got served dessert first (what the heck was that waitress thinking?) but ate without complaint. After my main course, I got served that same dessert again. o_O Okie. I got an extra serving of dessert for free since the waitresses weren't paying attention...
Wonder what tonight's dream will bring~
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:32 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 24th, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Tired, yet happy--
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^_^ Hello again everyone. Back in Tokyo~
Didn't sleep the whole of Wednesaday night / Thursday morning~ And at about 6:15am, went out to get breakfast and waited for the bus. Stood there freezing my arse off (strong morning winds) for 20 minutes before that late bus came. Met Joyce at Shinjuku and we head down to Tokyo station. Since I've never been on one before, I was quite excited to get on the bullet train (Tsubasa type)~ at 8:26am. I'm glad we got reserved seats; big, spacious with huge windows. ^_^ Saw Mt Fuji on the way up to Yamagata (our destination, a prefecture rather far up northwest). But erm. For all the time I've been here, I've only seen Mt Fuji from 80,000 ft up in the air (plane back to Singapore) or on a bullet train going 300 km/h... I'd like to go see it ...normally, soon. The trip was about 3 hours long, and I took the chance to snooze, or gaze at the landscape (I didn't feel like I was sitting on a bullet train... felt as though it was a normal train...). Halfway through, we started seeing snow. :D I love snow. Further up some more, we were riding through blizzards. :D I guess even with me saying I hoped it'd be sunny, I was still inwardly wishing it would snow (well falling snow is something rather beautiful, if not a little blue~) Either way... I think I overdid it. O_O;;; We arrived at our destination at 11:54am, which strangely wasn't ravaged by blizzards (though it was still snowing darn heavily, but it did have the thickest snow around (or so it seemed). 1 foot of snow in some parts, 3 in others. Sycia was happy. ^_^ Frolicking even muahahaha. Was stomping about like a lunatic, making huge holes in the snow weeee~~~ Only problem was the sludge on the roads though. I had tried taking photographs, but the snow was kinda in the way, and I was paranoid about it getting into my camera. We had 2 hours before the bus would come fetch us to the ryokan (traditional Japanese inn with hot springs) at 2:10pm. so we went to the only apparent place selling food for lunch. Some soba (Japanese noodles) store at which I made a big boo-boo with muh order. >_< I'm fine with almost any kinda Japanese food, but something in that dish I ordered made it almost impossible to eat (even for a non-fussy eater like myself). Guess I was just being a little adventurous with it, but no way I'm gonna try that again x_X Walked around messing up snow for a long while before the bus came. My fingers just lost all feeling somewhere along the way. ^^;
It was another 30-minute busride to the actual ryokan. This ryokan wasn't the one we actually planned on staying in (the more popular ones were fully booked), but I quite liked the view for this one. It was right smack in the middle of... um... nowhere. The lobby had this grand view of a river with snow-topped pines and some hills a little further down. Incidentally, the room number was the same as Joyce's old dormroom (where we stayed for our first year); 210. Well the room was under her name too.... so... Japanese styled room with a great view of the snow-covered landscape. ^_^
We took about 10 minutes to settle in, before heading out again to Ginzan Onsen Machi (Ginzan Hotsprings Town?): Link. Borrowed the inn's boots before going out; I had to take the biggest boots (men's) there and the staff couldn't believe it when I asked for larger sizes. Whaaaat? My feet are big, but I know plenty of guys whose feet are much larger? Japanese are tinay. Even for guys. It must have been -2 degrees celsius (28.4 degrees F) and Joyce was freezing. I took my coat off at one point (I was only wearing 2 layers of clothes) and walked around a bit with short sleeves (was fumbling a bit with something else I don't remember). There wasn't much wind there so I was fine, but Joyce was freaking out at me so lol, I wore my coat again. The road was.... full of sludge and... ice... slippery and dirtaaay. The actual place was rather nice. A mini-town lined up on opposite sides of a river, traditional Japanese buildings, covered with snow.
More photos
^_^ A tad dangerous though... Icicles were kinda like... "BOMBS AWAY" everywhere... Heavy, sharp and sudden stuff. Aside from that and snow constantly falling, it was nice~ I only wish there were a wee-bit more facilities (like some place to SIT DOWN or have a cup of green tea or something). My hands were freezing (XD Because I kept running them through piles of flufffaaaaay snow~) and my camera was in constant danger of snow (water) getting in it. Poor Joyce, for some reason, was having her toes freezing in the boots from the inn (she claimed hers, the girls' version, was thin). Snapped some pictures, went back to the inn to warm up in the hot springs~ Now I understand why Japanese love them hot springs so much... ^_^ Feels goooooood~~~~ Came outta it thirsty~
Dinner was a blast. I was all along under the impression these ryokans don't feed you much, but boy did I eat my words. So many dishes including shabushabu (:o the beef was.... :o~~)& light-salted grilled river trout. Didn't understand why they only gave the rice out at the end (with dessert?!). Stuffed Sycia and Joyce. Turned in early (and terribly drowsy because of the hot springs thing and good dinner) and slept like a baby....
... and woke at 8am (that's the time we were supposed to go down to have breakfast). Thanks to Joyce we managed to get up at all. Breakfast was um... well filling, but er hmm... we had... natto (fermented beans in REALLY sticky paste thing)... Disgusting stuff that looks ergh, and smells worse most of the time. I'm really not picky about food, so erm, downed it anyway. Went for another round at the hot springs and left the ryokan via bus at 11:00am. The weather had cleared up some so it was slightly warmer. We came upon a lake while on the way to the train station, where there were wild ducks, geese and swams just... congregating there.
More photos
Bullet train trip back was... sleeepy~ Snoozed most of the way and later had an early dinner (4pm something?) with Joyce at Shinjuku. A bit too heavy a dinner... x_X But darn I'm miss'in snow already. Barely ever snows in Tokyo, and even if it does it's just not cold enough for it to accumulate. But that little trip was pretty enjoyable. Didn't have to worry or think about work for a while. ^_^ We should go for more of those trips yeah Joyce? Next.... Kyoto or Aomori? :D :D :D
List of Japanese Confectionery bought:
- Some grape jelly on a stick thing?
- Cocoa chocolate stuffed mochi
- Hiyoko (picture)
The last one some people might recognize from the anime Cowboy Bebop as some snack from Earth. This cute little snack was originally from Fukouka prefecture, but recently has become a popular symbol of Tokyo~ Well it looked too cute to ignore. ^_^
Oh... and when I was at the train station's busstop, this Primary 2 boy came up to me and started telling me how his day was (the bus being 10 minutes late and what not). Couldn't really make out what he was saying. Then this old woman who apparently met the boy on the bus walked up to me a little while later, telling me 'my son' had been a little worried about his bus being late. Wait, what son?! I ask. She pointed to the kid beside me and Sycia could've laughed her arse off silly. "??? Aren't you two...?" The old woman stammered. I laughed and said no, the boy just went ???? We (all 3 of us) were queuing for the bus so talked for some time about erm, stuff (the boy's school, world news, weather, etc etc). Towards the middle of the whole conversation, the boy asked her for the meaning of some complicated word. The old woman didn't know how to explain it and turned to me for assistance. O_o; I told her I didn't know either since I ain't Japanese. Both of them freaked out. o_O I had thought whatever accent was in my spoken Japanese would've given THAT away, but the old woman was thinking I was trying to kid her. o_O; The boy asked a pretty cute question haha:
男の子 「家から飛行機で来たの？」
サイシャ 「そうだよ、６時間か７時間もかかったよ」
男の子 「ヘッ？！遠ーい！」
Boy: Did you take a plane here from your home?
Sycia: Yep. It even took 6 - 7 hours to get here~
Boy: O_O Ee?! Faaar~!
Well... he didn't know what or where Singapore is, so I can't blame him. But that sure was funny. I'm still finding it amusing that they didn't believe I wasn't Japanese. That and the fact that old woman thought I was the boy's mother. o_O;;;;;;;; Talking to them was a bit of a challenge. >_< I had to switch between polite Japanese (to the old woman) and er... kiddish Japanese (to the kid) all the time... >o<
Finally, I see the end to it. How simple a realization, that took so so long. Nonetheless I am glad~
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:47 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 22nd, 2004 (Wednesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Anticipating~--
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o_O Okay... so this is how little scientists actually know about jellyfish.... Then again any creature that has no brain, nerves, blood, bones lungs, gills etc, and that's been around longer than the dinosaurs would baffle anyone at how well they survived. Sycia says 'alien spies'. Wait. The article says jellyfish have eyes. THEY DO????? I've looked at a gazillion of em and I've seen no eyes. o_O
The age-old question: Are tamotoes fruits or vegetables?
Fruit to me. Fruit: The ripened reproductive body of a seed plant. Cucumber, pumpkin, peppers... all of them are fruits to me. Fruits that you use in cooking. For the longest time I've wondered why people are so confused over the matter. o_O Isn't it pretty straightforward?
Samurai Deeper Kyo had been quite boring for me of late. Alright, so maybe my expectations of an anime or manga shot sky-high after watching and reading Hagane no Renkinjutsu-shi... The recent volumes of SDK have been nothing but travelling a little as the main big group, suddenly getting split up for whatever reason, fighting their own individual fights, travelling some more, regrouping, relaxing a little, then repeating the whole process again. I like action, the excessive fighting is making me yawn. Went down to the convenience store this afternoon to browse through the weekly comic compilation. ｦD The latest chapter of SDK was rather touching. Well, to me at least... Yuya finally meets up with Kyoshiro, and the short little conversation they had, and what came of it, ^_^* so schweet. Side note: How in the world does Kyoshiro walk in such an outfit?
And I finally know the story behind Kakashi's (from Naruto) Sharingan eye. Seems like all the main guys in the story have sad pasts. I just HATE it when there's a long flashback on a seemingly unimportant character's past right smack in the middle of an exciting fight. Pretty much given up on the anime at the moment, and just read the weekly comic compilations (free) for fun.
Weeehaaaaw~ going to them hot springs tomorrow (scroll down to December 14th's entry for more details). I shall wish for blue skies~~~ Be back on Friday~ On Saturday, a meeting with Lina, then Sunday... SUNDAY... :D That Hagaren Festival... Sycia is a busy person.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:35 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 21st, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Sleepy~--
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I do not see what's the hype about Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time. Joyce got the game way before its American release, and we both agree that it was cliche beyond any other RPG or anime we've ever come across. Cliche, and downright... dumb. It's supposed to be a serious story, but guuhhhhh I was cracking up at every major storyline event because they seemed to have occured in 15 thousand other RPGs. =_=; So... why is there so much hype about it among English audiences....
A day at school, animating stuff again. I was the first one there (as usual) and finished up quite a bit. Might have been more productive had my hands not been freezing to the point I couldn't feel my pencil. Was pretty weirded out that some group members were there doing absolutely NOTHING. Doodling their own stuff, chatting with other members but nothing on assignments. Why had they even come?
I finally got it. ^_^ Was playing around with it for a few hours already. Getting the hang of it...? *Doubtful*
Hehe, found a cute webcomic based on DnD stuff. Link.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:15 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 20th, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Thoughtful & amused--
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o_O; And we're gonna go see yet another movie. This time it's the 4th Inuyasha one. Not exactly a big fan of the series (it's getting really repetitive and boring), but the animation and seiyuu work is something I admire quite a bit~ That's the 4th animated film this month. OO; Then again I hardly watch movies any other time of the year, so I won't bother minding.
Tomorrow's a whole day of 2D animation work at school. ^_^ Looking forward to it and hope I'll get at least half of my stuff done.
Intending to get my tablet tomorrow...
Joyce commented on my dream being horrifying... XD I suppose it is (when you think about it in the normal sense). I just don't have my dreams scary enough to be counted as nightmares anymore.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:41 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 20th, 2004 (Monday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---o_O;--
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Mmmkaaaay, backlash from listening to home-music.... unpleasant things, memories invading dreams...
war-torn era... steam rollers, going over a man's legs as he was running towards te daughter he hadn't seen in a decade.... never got to her (she was running away from attackers) with those crushed legs (sound of crushing bones, flesh compressed and spilling outta skin, body fluids seeping, cry of agony, everything included) and had to be put out of his misery with a pistol... daughter could only trace his remains (that the merciful _male_ executor had kept) back to that place after.... 4 more decades?
On a more humorous note, why the hell was the executor speaking with Scar's (FMA) voice?!?!?!?!?! And yeah I was part of the dream, living it out as the person who shot the guy.
Meh. Joyce's teacher pisses me off.
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News from Japan
Fullmetal Alchemist Festival, Osaka Special Report from the Official Japanese website.
It was a little cold on Sunday, 12th of December, but that didn't stop the fans. People were already gathered to get into the place (Osaka-jou Hall) long before the actual opening to get the never-before-seen official merchandise sold there. When the actually place actually opened in the evening, the lobby was just overflowing with people waiting to get in.
A narration on the Elric brothers' journey was projected over a 400-inch LED screen. As always, it opened with Al's narration at the start, but this time, done live by seiyuu Kugimiya Rie.
When the cast, starting from Ed's seiyuu, Paku Romi came onstage, the hall was trembling with a storm of streams. But when Roy Mustang & Maes Hughes' seiyuus (Ookawa Tooru & Fujiwara Keiji) came up to go live narration, the audience was locked in silence, taking in every word spoken.
Next was a corner dedicated to something the fans have grown to love from the Fullmetal Alchemist DVDs (Japanese editions only). (Note: I think they are referring to Ura-haganes here: Previews to next episode, with crazy voice-overs and scenarios, somewhat, yet not related to the series' story, done by the cast in character). All this was again, performed LIVE for the fans.
Inbetween narrations, the fans were further delighted by the performing artistes (Kitade Nana, Sowelu, COOL JOKE, YeLLOW Generation) singing the respective opening and ending songs to the series. As the whole event was reaching its end, an announcement on next summer's movie was made. And after a staff interview, these words were projected over the screen:
OPENING and ENDING songs (for the movie):
L'Arc ~ en ~ Ciel
The hall was once more, shaking with the cheers of the audience. As the band entered its performance, the cheers turned into a fury of screams. With such an excited audience, it was time for the curtain call. Thank you to everyone who made this all possible!
For a few pictures of the event, click here
The Tokyo performance will be held on the 26th of December.
Note: I will be providing another (informal) report with pictures when I go for the event next Sunday.
Source:
Official Fullmetal Alchemist website (Jpn) >> link.
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"The one law that does not change is that everything changes,
and the hardships I was bearing today was only a breath away
from the pleasures I would have tomorrow, and those pleasures
would be all the richer because of the memories of this I was enduring."
- Louis L'Amour
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 02:02 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 19th, 2004 (Sunday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Joyful--
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Haha. This is weird.
^_^ *Listens to a particular type of old traditional dance music and is extremely happy* ^_^ Nothing beats the music of one's home. Brings back so many memories~
Happy, but not exactly very productive... o_O
"Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless
to express anything at all... music expresses itself."
- Igor [Fyodorovich] Stravinsky (1882 - 1971)
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:16 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 18th, 2004 + +
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--Feeling?---|---Content--
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t's been a really busy day... Met up with Joyce at about 9am to get the tickets for the Hagaren movie. Ticket sales started today (though the movie itself is only due in summer next year), and I wanted to go early so we could get the special merchandise that comes with em. When we arrived at the ticket booths, we saw this guy with a video camera filming a couple of people walking away from the booths. Thinking nothing of it, we went up to get our tickets. Turns out we were the 3rd and 4th to get them. ^_^ I got me keychains and we went to a side happily examining the keychains. It was only about after 3 minutes that I realized the guy with the video camera was filming us. Joyce had her back to him, so I guess he caught me fully. =_=
Sycia: Yay~~~ *Looks at keychains*
Joyce: So these tickets we can use anytime whenever the movie's showing?
Sycia: I guess so, *notices the guy filming her, and without a change in tone of her voice, casually remarks* and we are being filmed... *frowns*
Joyce: ...?
Sycia: We are being filmed.... =_= *starts to walk away*
Well surprise to whoever's translating what we said. He'll be the first one to know how disgruntled this foreigner was at being taped. I seem to have all the 'luck' with video cameras. In Singapore I kept getting caught on TV with classmates or whoever telling me they saw me onscreen. ¬_¬; Heck people, it's not like I grow 6 pairs of eyes or something so stop filming me.
Then we head off for breakfast. The wind was blowing too cold, and it was too early to go anywhere but McDonalds... After that it was off to watch Howl's Moving Castle. Gah it was over 2 hours long; tailbone ached pretty bad by the end. For some reason, I've never liked any of Miyazaki's other works; thought the stories weren't much to fancy. But this movie, I found quite intriguing, even though a lot of things were never explained... And Kimura Takuya was voicing the main guy? Wonder why he was casted... He wasn't a bad choice, but...
Got outta the theater and tried out that tablet I'm eyeing over at Biccamera. Didn't get it just yet, though I am tempted. I'll wait a little.
Then went down to Kinokuniya to find this FMA book. That's odd. The official GanGan monthly comic compilation said it would only be out at the end of January next year... I know lotsa fangirls would be drooling over the cover but... o_O Hmm I'd rather them both with clothes.
:o Says there on the official Hagaren diary that they've made the first 30-second trailer for the upcoming movie. I guess it will be shown at the Hagaren Festival. ¦D
GAAAAH CUTE! Black-tips are even cuter!~*#&!*(&^$*(&^ *Melts*
「努力は裏切らない」
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:32 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 17th, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Quizzical--
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Okaaaay.... Mom lost her voice all of a sudden last night.
Apparently the Fullmetal Alchemist manga's going to get licensed in the US. That means a lot of scanlations will stop since it'll be illegal to do so then. It was the same for fan-subs when the anime got licensed too. The pros and cons of having your favorite anime/ manga shot up to fame in the US officially... Not that it concerns me directly... The recent rumors of FMA music being brought over and licensed to be sold in the US also had the regulars of a huge fansite (that got asked to take down its MP3 downloads) raving mad.
今、愛しい人の死を観る嫌な事思い出した。
あの人の温もり…
あの人の笑顔…
あの人の声…
…二度と…
…あの怖い瞳観て
…とめられない
…逆らえられない
…慰められない
…何もできない
ただあの世に見送る…
あんな無用さ…いやだ
時間かかれば立ち直るが
傷跡は永遠に残ってる
あんな無用さの心覚えに…
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 06:18 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 17th, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Hmmm--
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So I'm gonna get a tablet.... And it's going to rip my wallet to shreds. But since I want something that'll give me more control over painting in Photoshop, hell why not.
ん〜今の時点なんとも言えないけれど、
銀山に行ければいいなぁ〜
もちろん一人で旅できるけど…
*Hears police sirens sounding all over the place with people yelling over speakers at someone to stop*
It's.... 4:00 am.... Wonder who they're all after. They've been at it for about an hour already.... How many times have they been running around the neighborhood anyway...
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 03:53 a.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 15th, 2004 (Wednesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Groggy~--
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Hmmm.... I don't know if I can call today productive or not...
Tried doing some of that animation group project thing. In the end I was testing timings of different elements, and scrutinizing animes with stuff flapping in the wind for reference (hair, clothes, etc). Hmmm that should be considered productive I guess.... though I wish I had done more.
I think I'll need a tablet... =_=;;; Joyce, may I drag ya around this Saturday to look for one?
o_O I wonder why people sing in the shower... Seriously don't get it...
Mountains!
Where is your dream place?
brought to you by Quizilla
: D Oh yeeeaaaah. Right on the bull's eye. Any place in Nature would be fine to me, but this has to be my favorite.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:57 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 14, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Sleepy--
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Waaahhooooo~ I'm finally getting a short break~
^_^ Will be staying over at a traditional Japanese lodge for 2 days and a night. Been meaning to drag Joyce somewhere during winter. And we finally got down to getting that done this afternoon. ^_^ Costs quite a bit (31,000 yen for 2 days and a night), and might ordinarily thought of as quite expensive, but I need to relax once in a while, and that particular area of Japan (5 hours from Tokyo by bullet train) is preeettty~~~ Some pictures here:
That's what the place looks like in winter, but I don't think it'll be cold enough for it to snow when we go. Or I could try... other methods...
We finally went to see The Incredibles. ^_^ Cute.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:36 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 14th, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Sleepy--
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Freedom has always been the most important thing to me. I often relate to birds, and flying in my dreams is quite the norm. Why would a bird, a creature that knows how endless the skies are, want to enter a cage?
o_O Currently listening to Naruto sing a traditional Japanese song (Enka).
ARGH ARGH ARGH. Too much to do this winter 'holiday'...
... and only now people realize how smart crovids are.... Right... but either way a victory for me~ ^_^ (Link)
Haha, Ura-Hagarens' just got funnier...!
Aru: *in a worried voice* What are we gonna do? I've been...
Ed: *in an equally worried voice* Aru....
*Short silence*
Aru: ... TURNED INTO THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE!!!!
ED: AAAALLLRIIIIIGHT! Now we can transmute ANYTHING we want! ^____^
Then Scar had to come in and try convincing them to redo the whole Hagaren series so he can debut right from the beginning.... XD
He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless, still dead.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 03:15 a.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 12th, 2004 (Sunday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Sleepy..?--
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American dubbing companies or censorship tend to change the storylines of animes some (I think Cardcaptor Sakura was about the worst that they've destroyed), so I have absolutely no faith in them doing
鋼の錬金術師 at all. Dubs, well... I don't like em, but I wouldn't tell others to hate em. Dubs of ANY kind usually sound pretty stale. For anime, I think that's because the original Japanese voice actors' performance is VERY strictly moderated. I mean, duh they have to get pass the producer and sound director of the anime, who sit behind a glass panel listening to every voice. The producer is the guy who REALLY makes the voice actors work according to how he wants the anime character in the situation he came up with, WORK. Furthermore, the Japanese recording studios are different from the American (this is what I gather, but correct me if I'm wrong):
Japanese studio:
All the seiyuus sit in the same room (except for Al's voice actress, who had to record seperately; her voice needed to be processed), with multiple mics set up in front of monitors with the anime scenes being played, and they go up to the mics and perform when it's their characters' turn. Thing is, everyone interacts with one anothers' characters, so you can actually build up REAL tension and emotions much more easily when performing with the characters you're supposed to be communicating with.
American studios:
Everyone records seperately, in front of a TV, with the American sound directors guiding them. That's about all I know for the American side.
But normally no one complains about dubs unless they've seen the original, and felt the original voices and emotions with them. After all, I believe that's the main audience dubs target...
It's 7:30am ^_^ Been up ALL night drawing humans. Up until now I've only drawn females. Tried a guy the whole night and ended up with someone who looks sly as hell, though handsome. o________O
Have to go to school in a few hours... hope I don't fall asleep x_X
What in the world??? Now I know why people say I sound British.... O_O Joyce, that guy reminds us of someone we know... doesn't he... XD
Haha! I gotta try this sometime.... XD I REALLY HAVE TO.
Wooooooo Now I always thought golf was boring, but if would help me achieve this then...
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 07:22 a.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 11th, 2004 (Saturday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Content--
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^_^ Great weather. Rain was initially predicted over Friday and Saturday, but the big cloud boom suddenly just began moving off course, away from this part of Tokyo. ^_^ So we're getting clear skies and relatively mild days~ Last night, however, was cold (I think?). Body was heating up again, so I couldn't tell until I breathed out through my mouth and saw the amount of condensation that formed O_O I estimate it was maybe 6 - 8 degrees. And I had been walking around in a thin, sort sleeved T-shirt and pair of cargo pants (my normal attire in Singapore, and Tokyo's summer).
Haha! Only in Ura-Haganes' will you hear Havoc VS Scar in a soccer match with Ed as the referee. XD And Scar getting disqualified because he used was about to use his hand... XD
*Grabs the newest GanGan* all recent issues of their monthly comic compliation comes with something related to Hagaren, free. Last 2 months were drama CDs, this month is a desk calendar (which is pretty sweet, in my opinion, not to mention useful). Well of course it's a marketing strategy~ : And wooo... Ed's Daddy is so different a character in the manga compared to the anime...
Still haven't gotten over the shocked of hearing a sexaaaay female ninja yelling in Ed's voice though (refer to previous entry)... *shudders*
And I suddenly wanna give my Mom a hug~~~~~~~~~~
Joyce took the US state test (scroll down for link) and got this result:
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You're Idaho!
You're a real meat-n-potatoes kind of person, or more accurately, a potatoes-n-potatoes type. There's little else that captures your attention from sunup to sundown than farming, eating, or simply admiring the splendor of the tater. Sure, you stop to see the butterflies once in a while, or to look at rocks, but mostly you just wish they were potatoes too. Secretly, you hold a stash of potatoes in the cellar for the time when the government comes to round them up and take them for their nefarious purposes. You will stop them!
====================
XD Well she did say she likes potatoes.
"When a man stops trying to prove he is a man, he is a man."
- D. Talmadge Gosnell
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 06:20 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 10th, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Headache-d--
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Okie, went out with Joyce after school. Walked a LOT trying to search out a bank branch, then went for the movie.
Sweet animation, wondering flowing hair, average story, interesting characters. And a minor female villain who nearly made me jump outta my chair when she being speaking like Paku Romi, and started yelling in Edward Elric's voice.......... (Sycia had thought there wasn't any seiyuu in there she knew, so she was shocked)
Stolen from a forum:
If you could go back in time and change ONE event, of any time, what would you change?
Anything changed would affect the present, and the backlashes could be devastating. For all you know, your own existance would just be erased from reality just by changing something in the past, regardless of when or where, big or small. The world has come to what it is through the actions that cannot be, should NEVER be undone like some quick-fix remedy. To do so would only to be denying what's known to us as reality. Wanna change something you don't like about it, well start from the present and get working. It is never too late.
Got a pretty bad headache... =_=; Sis where are yaaaaaa *waiting*
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Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence |
You've got a good sense of space and how the world around you looks. You can close your eyes and "see" images. You have innate artistic talent. An eye for color and shapes, you're also a natural designer. Since you think in pictures, visual aids and demonstartions help you learn best.
You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer.
What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?
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Navigator........? o_O Well okay... I guess I can figure out general directions of where to go, but that's about it. Never got lost though... Don't think I'm a natural designer either. But this quiz is right; visual stuff leave far more an impression on me.
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You Are a Hunter Soul |
You are driven and ambitious - totally self motiviated to succeed. Actively working to acheive what you want, you are skillful in many areas. You are a natural predator with strong instincts ... and more than a little demanding. You are creative, energetic, and an extremely powerful force.
An outdoors person, you like animals and relate to them better than people. You tend to have an explosive personality, but also a good sense of humor. People sometimes see you as arrogant or a know it all. You tend to be a bit of a loner, though you hate to be alone.
Souls you are most compatible with: Seeker Soul and Peacemaker Soul
What Kind of Soul Are You?
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Natural predator, undoubtably. Strong instincts, definitely. More than a little demanding, very true. Explosive personality..? I guess so, under it all. And yeah, I have been told before that I kinda give people the first impression of being arrogant (well, among other things). Hate to be alone? That's wrong. I love being alone. I need so much time to myself just to recover from any social event.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:29 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 9th, 2004 (Thursday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Deep in thought--
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I think tunes far more important than lyrics in a song. After all, it's the music and atmosphere that bring out the true emotion. Lyrics are simply words; messages manipulated into a language. However, music itself (or instrumentals) can be so powerful and moving, they can reach out to anyone, without any language barrier there to stop it. That's why I barely ever bother about lyrics in any song. If the music itself isn't appealing, forget it. Out it goes with plastic pop. Maybe I paid more attention to oldies' lyrics, but most present-day songs offer nothing but a monotonous range of love-sick, love-struck, love-hurt, or love-starved content that more or less says "GIMME SEX". Or nonsensical crap (well go think Barbie Girl by Aqua, or any damn song by Toybox). Not to say that all songs nowadays are crap; there are great songs, though few and far between. Maybe that's why my mind just auto-ignores most singers completely. Having said that, yes, I love instrumental music a LOT. Modern pop doesn't move me that much. Having said that, can anyone recommend any instrumental music? Classical I don't mind. New Age is fine too, but NO ENYA. Please, NO. Sad songs, YES~! ^_^
Article from Kyowa-chan: Link. I can't believe the what people will go to to push the blame onto others...
And this is so stupid, yet true (sadly)...
But, on a more serious note, this is exactly where the more humane side of me stands on the issue. The other side just says, "Go ahead and kill yourselves. Population control, yeeeaaaaaaah...~"
Not one for politics and all that sh*t, but I'm curious how future generations will be taught/ told about this historic 'event'.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 06:59 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 9th, 2004 (Thursday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Calm--
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Hmm... ジョイス、具合どう？
Going for a movie on Saturday with Joyce~ This animation is based off a Korean manga. Didn't pay much attention to the scope about it, until I watched the preview trailer on some free DVD. Sycia's reaction: *Jaw hangs upon seeing the quality animation*. I NEED TO SEE THIS. Don't know what the heck the story's about, but the 2D animation looked waaaay tooooo sweeeeet, the 3D animation was somewhat well integrated (though I was reminded of crappy Kung-fu flicks with outta place 3D effects at some point), plus delicious special effects. I guess you can watch the trailer on the website, but the quality's sucky so not much of the wonderous animation can actually be seen. We've got to watch a total of 3 animation films (watches a hole suddenly rip itself in her pocket), the 2 others being The Incredibles (yes I know I'm late, but foreign shows open much later -_-) and Howl's Moving Castle (latest Mayazakianimation). Been anticipating The Incredibles for quite a while (ever since I saw the teasers waaaay before the movie released in the US). ^_^ I'm not much a fan of Miyazaki's works for some reason (I don't hate his works, just not crazy about em...), but his animation is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Just to let everyone know, and because I want to complain about it; Aliens VS Predator is only being released in Japan on the 18th of December. Those bastards...
Братья
Прости меня, младший брат!
Я так пред тобой виноват.
Пытаться вернуть нельзя
Того, что взяла земля.
Кто знает закон Бытия,
Помог бы и мне найти ответ.
Жестоко ошибся я:
От смерти лекарства нет.
Милая мама! Нежная!
Мы так любили тебя.
Но все наши силы
Потрачены были зря.
Тебя соблазнил я
Прекрасной надеждой
Вернуть наш семейный очаг.
Мой брат, я во всем виноват.
Не плачь, не печалься, старший брат!
Не ты один виноват.
Дорога у нас одна,
Искупим вину до дна.
Мне не в чем тебя упрекнуть,
И я не обижен ничуть.
Тяжек, наш грех
Хотеть быть сильнее всех.
Милая мама! Нежная!
Мы так любили тебя.
Но все наши силы
Потрачены были зря.
Я сам соблазнился
Прекрасной надеждой
Вернуть наш семейный очаг.
Я сам во всем виноват.
Но что же нам делать, как быть?
Как все исправить, забыть?
Пытаться вернуть нельзя,
Того, что взяла земля.
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 05:24 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 7th, 2004 (Tuesday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Excited--
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Hmmmm.....
Special merchandise to be sold at the Hagaren Festival... >_< I think I'll have to go there early to get in line before the rest of the crowd does (well duh, 20000 people in Tokyo are headed there) well before the stalls' opening time (10am)... >_< MUST. GET. STUFF. Link. Seems like they're only allowing a piece per head. Oh well. Can't blame them... THAT'S... WHY... I... MUST... GET... THE... STUFF...
"Youth is such a wonderful thing.
What a crime to waste it on children."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 10:29 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 6th, 2004 (Monday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Amused--
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: ) Today's a special day.
Um, went to school, and got asked by a classmate if I had an hour to spare. Yes, why? She said the seniors needed people to help out, so I agreed to go (well, it's only an hour). Cleaned up keyframes in an insanely hot room (I think they turned the heater up to 35 degrees, because I began perspiring the second I stepped in... nutcases). I had to jet after an hour (well that had been agreed between me and that classmate), then suddenly the seniors asked me for when I'm free and blah blah. I was under the impression it was just a one-time deal. *Groans....* I can barely find time to handle my own stuff, so no...
I think I'm going to make it a point to note down, possible take a picture / scan every bit of crap English I see around here from now. Here's the first of em:
Direct your eyes to the bottom of the picture. Says: If eating sushi of "DAIKOKUYA", you'll be able to get delicious and healthy. Because we make an effort to choose flesh fishes and using vinegor, water, organic rice."
Sounds like customers are being fattened up for Thanksgiving or something... but what's flesh fish..?
"Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train.
Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train going sixty
miles an hour and you're just sitting still?"
- J. Paul Getty
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 05:26 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 5th, 2004 (Sunday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Disappointed--
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Uhh... >_<
There wasn't a typhoon passing over Tokyo early this morning, but it sure felt like it. Went to bed at about 3, woke up at 4:30 because of doors banging, stuff falling, snapping of branches etc etc, and the wind roaring. Couldn't sleep for a long time after that, but I woke up feeling like it was summer all over again (it's supposed to be winter). 25 degrees >_<; Suddenly it's too warm, and I couldn't get much snooze. And have a stiff neck to go with it.
Been fooling around with FireFox for a while. I still don't see what's so great about it... someone enlighten me. Don't get me wrong it works fine, but I want to know what is it that people choose over Internet Explorer. Personally Internet Explorer gives me (as a coder) more options to play with. Like a vast amount of CSS styles that'll only work on it. *Shrugs*
And some time back, I was talking to some guy about Bill Gates. We both came to the conclusion that the majority of people love to hate him because they're all jealous of his wealth and power. Some give the lame excuse saying, "His stuff screws up all the time." For Christ's sake, his stuff is being used worldwide more often than any other of the same kind, so you can't expect no one to find anything wrong with it. Saying Bill Gates monopolised everything is an indirect way of saying, "I hate it that he's got so much money & power!" If he didn't monopolise so much, can you imagine how much trouble with cross platform performance would be upon us. Really, people can be so ugly at times. I'm not for him either, but I see him a successful businessman, not some spawn of Satan or ruler of the world duh.
Tomorrow's a special day. : )
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:53 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 4th, 2004 (Saturday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Blue--
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Hmm. Somehow I just can't translate what I truly feel into words, written or verbal. Someone told me once he saw great sorrow in my eyes. I first retorted and said I had nothing to be sad about at the time, but as the saying goes, eyes are the windows to the soul. When you just get sick of flopping about in a sty of negative emotions all damn day 24/7, well, you tend to want to lie to yourself about being happy, or find little things to be distracted with. I'm not one to lie to myself though. The sadness has always been there. Even though I forget ever so often (-.-; Bad memory...), despite me not wanting others to know, it's there~ Have never opened myself up to anyone (... self autopsy woo), and it's looking like I never will. I'm not exactly angsty about it though (and no, I didn't get dumped, for those who're thinking that way lol). Going around day to day experiencing stuff like joy and gladness isn't hard for me. In fact Sis called me the most cheerful and bubbly of my friends, and I'm an optimist (overlapping realist too) I wouldn't call each and every emotion I display an act. It's more like... there's a shadow behind it all.
Bah, I had to choke myself several times to phrase everything above out into text. ｬ_ｬ; Am not good at expressing true self. Probably will never write about it ever again.
Hmmm~ The Hagaren movie looks set to be with nice animation~ Studio Bones keeps a sorta diary and the latest entry's with the one of the animator's complaining about how difficult the key-frames are to make, how long the storyboards took to come up with, how much touching-up needs to be done, etc etc. Studio Bones is well known for their quality animation (think Cowboy Bebop done by them and compare it to the shitty Bleach done by some other company), so if that guy's writing all this.. hmmm~ :~~~ Wooo I can't wait to see what the movie will look like... Link to the diary (Have you ever seen such a cute Scar~? XD).
You take the Road Less Traveled. Who wants to go where everyone else has already gone anyway? You look for the hidden paths, ones most don't see and don't care to venture down. You go boldly and stand proud discontent with what's been put in front of you, determined to find a way perfect for you even no one else will take it with you. You live as you want and not for others, but be careful not become selfish. Others may need you and you should be there for them, especially the ones close to you. You tend to be the leader in most situations and people listen and trust you not lead them astray. Your firm in your opinions and beliefs and unwilling to change yourself to suit other people. By the same token, you can be stubborn to a fault, change isn't always a bad thing you know. Everyone changes and grows, you shouldn't try to stay exactly the same or you could be left behind. Then again, you may change frequently. Some people change to fit in, you my little non-conformist, may change to be set apart. It's great to be different, but it's also just as great to have things in common with people, even if those people are in that "crowd" you seem to have a vendetta against. Don't try to be different, just be who you are, whoever that is and you'll be unique all on your own. So make some time for people, let yourself blend into the crowd every once in awhile, you may just learn something about them and yourself you never knew before.
What Path Do You Take In Life?
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I like the fact this quiz added the positive and negative points to one's personality. ^_^ Though of course some don't fit certain people. I blend myself into the crowd for disguise, but inside I still feel pretty far off from the rest of everyone. Distant~~~~~~~~ With no compulsion to get any closer~
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 11:50 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 3rd, 2004 (Friday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---ALIVE. ^_^--
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I feel rejuvenated. ^______^
Friday's class ends early, so I finally got myself down to the largest park in downtown Tokyo (Shinjuku Gyouen if you wanna be exact). I've been meaning to go down there for a while now, to snap some photos of trees in their autumn glory, but kept procrastinating (well actually, I placed schoolwork as top priority over it, so I never got down to visiting the park). But then a huge typhoon's gonna pass over, and the rain over this coming weekend is just going to tear all the remaining leaves away, so today was my only chance to go. Plus, my burning passion for photography just get re-fueled yesterday.
Got off at a train station I'm not familiar with, wandering about trying to look for the entrance to the park. After 20 minutes, yeah I found it. No, I didn't get lost. I was going in the right direction all the while, just that it's REALLY far from the station. Why was the entrance in the middle of a private housing estate?!
Anyway.... ^_^ I must've walked the distance equivalent to length between 4 train stations while in the park itself... It would've been much more a spiritual experience had there been much less to see and awe at, so Sycia was running about like a mad chicken trying to search out great spots, find the right angle, mind the lighting, get annoyed at people in the way... etc etc. ^_^ Still, I feel GREAT. Been letting schoolwork get to me a tad too much, so it's nice to take a short break and soak in some good vibes.
Bad thing is, I was looking at the sun too much (was trying to get angles with the sun glaring into the camera with some sorta flare), and for an hour after that, I was seeing weird colors. XD Yes I know one can go blind from staring at the sun. I wasn't staring, just taking quick glances. But took a tad too many...
I had use my camera sparingly though... my first set of batteries died on me even before I stepped into the park, and my second pair (Energizer brand) was kind enough to last until I found a Kodak store at the opposite end of the park and purchased additional batteries. Strange thing is I only ran outta memory space after taking all the photographs I wanted... :o 44 photographs in all, only 20 I saw fit to put up online. ^_^ Here's the one I love best!
The rest of the photographs can be seen here.
"In nature, there is less death and
destruction than death and transmutation."
- Edwin Way Teale
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 07:54 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 2nd, 2004 (Thursday) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Tempted--
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Fighting... temption... to... get... expensive... high-end... camera... fighting...
Was downtown looking at digital cameras again when the part digital, part manual ones caught my eye, and relit the fire I had for photography (no, not snapping pictures randomly like a dumb teenager obsessed with neoprints, but REAL photography). Forget about small compact cameras with 4 or 5 mega pix, I was look'in at those with 8 (with telescopic lenses... :o). The price tags did help drive my temptation away some, but not enough (6-digit numbers (yen), mind ya); it still took me a lot to tear myself from the whole place. These 2 models were the cheapest I was eyeing... but those that I REALLY want are like this one...
I do recall at one stage I was considering photography as a profession. Even now it doesn't seem that far off. The power of it, the endless emotions, the limitless meanings, all in a single picture...
Oh... and Nintendo DS was launched today at an astounding price of only 14,800 yen... Didn't know portable game consoles could get that cheap. Then again they must be trying to beat the PSP... But oh well. I'm not one for video games.
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world.
Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to
themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on
unreasonable people."
- George Bernard Shaw
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~ ~ ~ Sycia soared the skies at 07:51 p.m. (GMT +9) - lj ~ ~ ~
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+ + December 1st, 2004 (December) + +
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--Feeling?---|---Smiling twisted--
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