The real Halloween?

With all those noises from fireworks, it's kind of scary. I don't really want to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. Sigh... but of course I have to. Got hair-cut and car tune-up appointments.
Cost me a fortune! ($450 total! Aaargh!!!) Last year (or was it the year before?) when I was driving on Fraser Street not that far away from home, someone shot fireworks at my car. I don't think it was a direct hit, but it was quite scary. Even scarier than the flasher encounter 2 blocks away from my house years ago. Sigh... this city is rotting.

2012 = end of the world???

Came across this site while searching for crop circle pictures. Yeah it's saying 2012 might be the end of this world. There's a "missing earth" crop circle, Mayan calendar, even I-Ching analysis, all pointing to the year 2012. And of course there are also tons of stuff that I can't understand. So... can I take this as a sign of bull shitting, then? There is a lot of empty talk for sure.

On the other hand, a theory says that 2012 is only a consciousness shift point... as the population of the world approaches the critical mass of 10 thousand million, earth might begin to function as a single being. Interesting... Part of it makes sense, part of it doesn't. Arriving at that conclusion is very bold. Hmm...

Well, the UFO part near the end is too much of a science fiction, though.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Eat lots of candies! (Don't blame me for your cavities, though...)

Virtual pumkin-carving

Soooo coooool!! When you're done, the pumpkin even lights up!

Weird canned meat

Japanese stuff of course. Hokkaido canned curry with... deer, walrus, bear, and seal. The square boxes are also canned meat, the same meat, cooked differently.

Image stole from this Japanese blog. (The picture is way down.)

10th anniversary

Time flies. My bonus life has lasted 10 years so far. But what have I done in these 10 years? Sadly, none of my effort seem to yield any fruit.

Am I not digging hard enough? Am I digging the wrong hole? Or is it both?

At first I was just happy to be alive. Didn't think I need anything else. But, eventually, "alive" alone isn't enough. The "job" part was kind of expected, but I never thought I'd loose friends because of the side effects.

... Of course, I'd still like to believe life, no matter how tough, is still better than death. Haha... dumb question, isn't it?

Today should be a day to celebrate...

But...
Why have I fallen into a give-up mode?
What is this sense of panic when seeing everyone else move ahead and I'm still so behind?
Why can't I completely let go of the past and start fresh?
Why do I feel so trapped and useless?

Or...
Is it simply bad luck and bad energy flowing around me near Halloween, just like 10 years ago that almost took my life?

Pinky: sitting

The 2 official sitting Pinky(s) so far. (3 if counting the other Rabbit scooter Pinky.) Actually this is to test the compatability with this Re-ment Korean Tour. The stools seem to be just a touch too short, but the rest is great! The scale is almost perfect.

Fog

Just before 9 a.m.

Foggy.

Change of seasons

Is it that time of the year already? Spring and fall are not very good to the body. The nasal allergy returns. The change of weather pattern and moisture make my back whiny. There's a lack of energy in general. I'd move to a dessert if rain is giving me this much problem. But then I don't want wrinkles either... Oh well.

"Bust Emperor"

Remember this? Now there IS a boob version. Oh dear...

packing, plan B

The initial plan of putting all the swords together in a bundle for strength failed. (Because they aren't all flat. Some are curved, some have pegs sticking out, and some are attached to the hand.) So just in case, I'm bringing out my reserved secret weapon. An Oyumaru box from Daiso. The spear is still way too long. So it's taped to a pair of disposable chopsticks. Hope this works...

packing

Thanks Adrian for bringing the toys back to Hong Kong. Time to pack it up! Breakage might be a problem. Kanbe's sword is broken already. This sculpt totally doesn't make sense. The blade itself is detachable, but not the hands, which is one piece with the sword handle. The tassel of course is the continuation of that. It's just waiting to be broken. Sigh... I wonder if there's any PVC shell like Kikucho, that the store didn't give me. (This is the display set and was out of the packaging and all assembled when I bought them.) Oh well...

Samurai 7 figurines

Got a set for a friend in Hong Kong. It's all sold out over there. Can't believe she's willing to pay extra. This set went around half the world twice!

Made by a company called Organic. Hmm... never hear of it. Quality is very good! Here's the review at my toy site.

Hard Gay

Thanks Ashley for introducing me to this hilarious comedian. Back then the videos were in Japanese only. Now someone has subtitled them. I believe there are more to come because I've seen many more Japanese ones.

The basic. Early superhero Hard Gay.

Hard Gay Social Improvement 2
Hard Gay Social Improvement 3-1
Hard Gay Social Improvement 3-2
Hard Gay Social Improvement 4
Hard Gay Sakura Viewing
Hard Gay Ramen
Hard Gay Father's Day (Hahaha... poor dad...)

Cooking for kids series. One of my favorite!
Hard Gay Cooking
Hard Gay Cooking 2
Hard Gay Cooking 3

My #1 favorite episode!!! Can't believe he did that!!!
Hard Gay Hiromi Go Part 1
Hard Gay Hiromi Go Part 2
Hard Gay Hiromi Go Part 3
Hard Gay Hiromi Go Part 4

Hard Gay Pillow

"The television" is like the "TV Guuide" magazine. Everyone on their cover holds a lemon.
Hard Gay The Television Part 1
Hard Gay The Television Part 2

My #2 favorite.
Hard Gay Yahoo!

My #3 favorite.
Hard Gay TOMY Part 1
Hard Gay TOMY Part 2

Hard Gay Treasure Hunt Part 1
Hard Gay Treasure Hunt Part 2
Hard Gay Bug Hunt Part 1
Hard Gay Bug Hunt Part 2

Hard Gay Cupid Part 1
Hard Gay Cupid Part 2
Hard Gay Cupid Part 3

Black Friday today

A moment to reflect on "bad luck"...

Backyard mutant tomato

Probably another Siamese twins... or is it parasitic twins?

Japanese Media Art Top 100 (Manga)

Please refer to the previous post of anime result for the whole story. (^_^)

So, here's the result for the manga category. Total votes, 78980.

Manga

• 1. Slam Dunk (90's)
• 2. Jojo's Wonderful Adventures (80's)
• 3. Dragon Ball (80's)
• 4. Full Metal Alchemist (00's)
• 5. Doraemon (60's)
• 6. the Phoenix (50's)
• 7. Black Jack (70's)
• 8. Nausicaa (80's)
• 9. Mushishi (00's)
• 10. Death Note (00's)
• 11. One Piece (90's)
• 12. Parasitic Beast (80's)
• 13. With Yotsuba! (00's)
• 14. Nodae Kantabire (00's)
• 15. Akira (80's)
• 16. Azumanga Daioh (90's)
• 17. Doctor of the Animals (80's)
• 18. Yuyu Hakusho (90's)
• 19. Monster (90's)
• 20. Ushio and Tora (90's)
• 21. Hunter x Hunter (90's)
• 22. Hellsing (90's)
• 23. Fist of the Northen Star (80's)
• 24. Ookiku Hurikabutte (00's)
• 25. Berserk (80's)
• 26. Banana Fish (80's)
• 27. Bakabond (00's)
• 28. Rose of Versailles (70's)
• 29. Master Keeton (80's)
• 30. Glass Mask (70's)
• 31. Urusei Yatsura (Lum) (70's)
• 32. Asaki Yumemishi (70's)
• 33. Touch (80's)
• 34. Sazae San (50's)
• 35. Ashitano Jo (60's)
• 36. 20th Centry Boy (00's)
• 37. Fruit Basket (90's)
• 38. Lupin the 3rd (70's)
• 39. Warau Daitenshi (80's)
• 40. This is ____ Police Station (70's) Sorry it's beyond my translation ability...
• 41. Prince of the Rising Sun (80's)
• 42. Pluto (00's)
• 43. Atom Daishi (Astor Boy) (50's)
• 44. San Koku Shi (70's)
• 44. Ema (00's)
• 46. Detective Conen (Case Closed) (90's)
• 47. Devil Man (70's)
• 48. Gundam the Origin (00's)
• 49. Dragon Quest, Dai's Adventures (80's)
• 50. Nana (00's)

Again, the un-nominated works.

• 1. Honey and Clover
• 2. Aria
• 3. Hikaru's Go
• 4. Please Save My Earth
• 5. Mezon Ikokku
• 6. Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X)
• 7. Five Star Story
• 8. Planetes
• 9. Magical Teacher Negima!
• 10. Soten Kouro

I'm a little disappointed at Full Metal Alchemist not getting a higher score, but then, it got first place in the 2000's category! Yay~!! My other favorite Nausicaa is still holding strong after 24 years!! 2 of the classic shojo manga Rose of Versailles and Glass Mask got in there, but where is Candy Candy? She should really rank higher than those 2! Hmm... is it because of the scandal between the 2 artists...? I wonder if greedy bitch Igarashi realized she's shot herself in the foot!

I"m sure some of my friends would be glad to see Honey and Clover got first place in the un-nominated category.

Japanese Media Art Top 100 (Anime)

It's named "top 100" but they only release 50, hahaha...

This was a campaign to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Japanese Cultural Bureau's Media Art Festival. Anyone can vote online. The 4 categories were art, entertainment, animation, and manga. They're each divided into decades and each decade had it's own list of nominees. Anime got the most number of votes amoung the 4 categories. 80402.

As an anime and manga fan, I voted, of course, hehehe... I even got some friends to vote. So here's the result of the anime category. (Sorry, I'm sure I've mispelled lots of them.)

Animation

• 1. Evangelion (90's)
• 2. Nausicaa (80's)
• 3. Laputa (80's)
• 4. Gundam (70's)
• 5. Lupin the 3rd, Castle of Caliostro (70's)
• 6. Mushishi (00's)
• 7. Ghost in the Shell, Stand Alone Complex (00's)
• 8. My Neighbour Totoro (80's)
• 9. Full Metal Alchemist (00's)
• 10. Ghost in the Shell the movie (90's)
• 11. Dragon Ball series (80's)
• 12. Princess Mononoke (90's)
• 13. Akira (80's)
• 14. Spirited Away (00's)
• 15. Doraemon (70's)
• 16. Full Metal Alchemist, the Conqueror of Shamblla (00's)
• 17. Porco Rosso (90's)
• 18. Legend of the Galactic Heroes (80's)
• 19. Crayon Shin, Revenge of the Adult Kingdom (00's)
• 20. Gundam, Shaa's Counter Attack (80's)
• 21. Card Captor Sakura (90's)
• 22. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (00's)
• 23. Kamichu! (00's)
• 24. Patlabour the movie (90's)
• 25. Gundam Z (80's)
• 26. Hoshinokoe (Sound of the Stars) (00's)
• 27. Patlabour (80's)
• 28. Galaxy Express 999 (70's)
• 29. Nadia the Secret of Blue Water (90's)
• 30. Manga Japanese Folklores (70's)
• 31. Crayon Shin, Sengoku Battles (00's)
• 32. Grave of the Firefly (80's)
• 33. Conen the Future Boy (70's)
• 34. Howe's Moving Castle (00's)
• 35. Yamato series (Star Gazer) (70's)
• 36. Wings of Oneamis (80's)
• 37. Slam Dunk (90's)
• 38. Sailor Moon series (90's)
• 39. Gundam Seed (00's)
• 39. Keroro Gunso (90's) Keroro tied with Gundam and they're both #39.
• 41. Gun Buster (80's)
• 42. Doraemon movie series (80's)
• 43. Yuusha series (90's)
• 44. Cowboy Bebop (90's)
• 45. Samurai 7 (00's)
• 46. Nadesko (90's)
• 47. Heidi (70's)
• 48. Urusei Yatsura (Lum) (80's)
• 49. Astro Boy (60's)
• 50. Lupin the 3rd, first TV series (70's)

Un-nominated works can still get votes through comments. Here's the result.

• 1. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
• 2. Cowboy Bebop
• 3. 12 Kingdom Chronicle
• 4. Planetes
• 5. Tokio Kakeru Shojo
• 6. Rozen Maiden
• 7. Air
• 8. Aria
• 9. Eureka 7
• 10. Skride

Evangalion came in 1st without much surprise. Studio Ghibli is strong!! 8 titles! If you count the ones related to Miyazaki, there're 10!

Cool, Nausicaa came in 2nd. I though Full Metal Alchemist would do better, but... hmm... I guess this isn't bad at all. Considering the manga, TV anime, and the movie all got in the first 20.

The Gundam seires is a die-hard. The surprise is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It wasn't nominated, but ended up as #22.

The manga category continues in the next post...

Star Wars orchestra group

Cute! They look like Kubric figurines...

Happy Moon Festival!!

Happy Moon Festival everyone~! (^_^) Eat lots of moon cakes~! (Actually... I'm not a big fan of moon cakes...)

Flag parody

Hahaha... it's so funny! I wish I could read Russian... Oh well... (Click the image to jump to the site.)

Kings of Africa

Awesome collection of photos! (The comments are a bit scary, though.)

Weird food decorations

From the same site... Getting ready for Halloween??? Don't think I'll have much appetite if the food looks like that...

Click the image to go to the site. But be prepared... some look so real, you might get scared. Oh, and please don't blame me for it. Thanks~! (^_^)

Cool snow domes

Starting to get chilly. Summy's gone. Sob sob sob...
(Click the image to jump to the site.)

Car window

Finally got the diver's side window fixed. It hasn't been closing properly since the last break-in. Cost me $30, but I've heard it costs over $100 if I go back to Honda. The guy underestimated the job too! Initially he said $30 and about half and hour, but it needed almost an hour and a half! He had to open up the inside panel of the door, re-adjust some alignments, and weld a broken clasp. The price didn't go up although he had to spend triple the time. Make me feel bad... (But, hey, when time = money, I've given him an extra hour for the job.)

Then the burnt-out headlight was replaced for $12. Apparently the exact cost of the light bulb. He didn't charge me for labour... Total bill of the day, $42. Hmm... That's slightly more than a set of Re-ment candy toy. (It makes me feel very weird catching myself thinking money in terms of toys... yikes...)

Origami

Thought it would be the same old boring paper crane, but not!

Flying Paper Bird - video powered by Metacafe