Watched the rest of Black Lagoon: First Barrage last night.
It really is very good. I can always tell by how quickly I get through it--some shows take me weeks and I can't watch more than a couple of ep's at a time. BL I've watched the whole thing in two evenings of 6 ep's each. One for a review in future I think, though obviously now it's a Funimation release, but one would hope they're essentially just re-releasing, rather than fiddling with it.
The animation is of a very high standard, which does seem to be one of the advantages of going the 12-episode seasons route. I wish the Japanese audio was 5.1, but there's an English 5.1 up-mix. The extras are a little wimpy for a whole separate disk, but I can understand why they went that route--3 releases but the steelcase book has 4 DVD slots.
One of the bizarre things is that just as Geneon packed up they were starting to release some really good stuff. Geneon always used to be stuck in that mode of squeezing as much cash out of the user as possible. 8 disk releases used to be their standard, with no extras and no frills. But just before the end they seemed to be releasing stuff with fewer disks, putting in plenty of extras, doing nice packs like the steelbooks.
I'm not sure if it's ironic or just annoying :/.
Last night I also watched "Britain from Above" which is a new short documentary series presented by Andrew Marr. It's quite entertaining if a little "documentary lite". There also weren't quite as many nice map views with stuff overlayed on them this time. But then it was mainly about agriculture and farm use, so it's not surprising there wasn't so much to show in that fashion.
Over the w/end I watched Pan's Labyrinth. It's a Spanish language film by Guillermo Del Toro. Apparently Del Toro likes to mix it up--he does one big Hollywood film (Hellboy, for example) and then one independent Spanish language film (I think he's actually Mexican, but I'm not sure).
It was good, but unfortunately it was a bit of a hype-victim for me. I'd heard quite a lot that it was amazing and read some good reviews and so it had that difficult job of living up to the hype in my head. Even so it was good--perhaps a smidge too long, but not exhaustingly so.
I'm guessing it was released as a 2-disker (I watched it on rental) as the extras were thin on the ground on this disk--just a commentary by Del Toro. But that's not a bad thing--Del Toro gives good commentary on the films of his I've seen before.
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Monday, 18 August 2008
didn't quite do it
Bit of a weird weekend--had lots planned, but didn't quite do those specific things, but did closely related stuff instead.
I was planning to scan all the new mags, but haven't scanned any of them. But I did do some scanning--I scanned the DVD covers for Genshiken, Ai Yori Aoshi and GUNxSWORD, which I'll use for reviews and stuff. Also, I went through all my artbooks and unglued them so that I can scan them, which is a very tedious and time consuming process (you heat the spines with an iron to melt the glue and then pull out the pages).
I'd planned to phone my Dad, which I did, but due to circumstances I had to cut the call short and didn't quite get to talk to him about everything I'd wanted. Plus he had some questions about my freeview box, so that took most of the time up.
I'd also planned to go out to a particular pub for a few beers, and I did go out, but ended up around a friends place and was driving so didn't have any beers.
I'd planned to get a haircut, but due to needing to collect a parcel from Farnham Post Office and also wanting to send a couple of e-bay parcels I didn't get the chance. Plus it occurred to me I've got next Friday off, so I can just do it then.
The parcel I picked up had Gurren Lagann set 2 in it, but also had Aika R-16: Virgin Missions in it. As I'd mentioned before I'd planned to watch Black Lagoon this w/end. I was actually planning to cane it and watch the whole 1st season, but instead I watched the original Aika that I remembered I had still to watch as well as R-16.
Surprisingly, both shows turned out to be pretty good. The original is pretty old, so the animation is not the greatest, but what it does have--action, comedy and fan-service are there in spades. R-16 is meant to be a prequal, but it actually kinda doesn't quite make sense with the continuity, but it's no biggy as the show is also more of the same--action, comedy and fan-service.
I did also get stuck into Black Lagoon as well, though, and am now half way through. It's very good, though I've a feeling I still prefer the manga, but there's not much in it.
Dunno--I know I did stuff, but because I'm a list-oriented person because the stuff I didn't wasn't quite to plan it makes it feel like I've not achieved anything.
It's like, I put a load of stuff on e-bay too (I've been doing so much e-baying recently I'm almost out of stuff to sell :/) but because I put it all on in one day and (I now realise) a bit early in the day for my usual target audience, it doesn't quite feel like I've done it properly.
I was planning to scan all the new mags, but haven't scanned any of them. But I did do some scanning--I scanned the DVD covers for Genshiken, Ai Yori Aoshi and GUNxSWORD, which I'll use for reviews and stuff. Also, I went through all my artbooks and unglued them so that I can scan them, which is a very tedious and time consuming process (you heat the spines with an iron to melt the glue and then pull out the pages).
I'd planned to phone my Dad, which I did, but due to circumstances I had to cut the call short and didn't quite get to talk to him about everything I'd wanted. Plus he had some questions about my freeview box, so that took most of the time up.
I'd also planned to go out to a particular pub for a few beers, and I did go out, but ended up around a friends place and was driving so didn't have any beers.
I'd planned to get a haircut, but due to needing to collect a parcel from Farnham Post Office and also wanting to send a couple of e-bay parcels I didn't get the chance. Plus it occurred to me I've got next Friday off, so I can just do it then.
The parcel I picked up had Gurren Lagann set 2 in it, but also had Aika R-16: Virgin Missions in it. As I'd mentioned before I'd planned to watch Black Lagoon this w/end. I was actually planning to cane it and watch the whole 1st season, but instead I watched the original Aika that I remembered I had still to watch as well as R-16.
Surprisingly, both shows turned out to be pretty good. The original is pretty old, so the animation is not the greatest, but what it does have--action, comedy and fan-service are there in spades. R-16 is meant to be a prequal, but it actually kinda doesn't quite make sense with the continuity, but it's no biggy as the show is also more of the same--action, comedy and fan-service.
I did also get stuck into Black Lagoon as well, though, and am now half way through. It's very good, though I've a feeling I still prefer the manga, but there's not much in it.
Dunno--I know I did stuff, but because I'm a list-oriented person because the stuff I didn't wasn't quite to plan it makes it feel like I've not achieved anything.
It's like, I put a load of stuff on e-bay too (I've been doing so much e-baying recently I'm almost out of stuff to sell :/) but because I put it all on in one day and (I now realise) a bit early in the day for my usual target audience, it doesn't quite feel like I've done it properly.
Thursday, 14 August 2008
It only hurts when I...
I've done something to my left foot.
I don't know what I've done, but it hurts when I walk. It's basically the 'ball' of my foot (I dunno if that's the proper word--it's the forward part before your toes where your weight goes when you take a step). When I apply too much pressure, or pressure at a weird angle, like twisting on it, it's really quite painful.
It's a little sporadic though--it'll 'go' and walking is agony, but otherwise it's okay. It's a bit like as if two tendons are pushing against each other--so long as I don't put too much weight on it they're okay, but past a certain point and they become inflamed.
It started about a week ago and I've been trying to stay off it as much as I can, but then I'm not exactly active anyway, so it's not much different :/. Mainly I'm walking with a bit of a deliberate limp to avoid it.
I got a USB hub recently--it's been an absolute pain in the arse swapping cables over (and also kinda dodgy because of where I have to lean to get at them) so I figured a hub was the answer.
It's a 7 port one and it's pretty good. It seems a little slow when transferring data to my external HDDs, but nothing disastrous and it's not like I use the HDDs 24/7 or anything.
I've also finished off GUNxSWORD. The ending is satisfying--I'm often let down by anime endings, but this one was pretty good. It did leave quite a few things hanging though, as if they ran out of time a bit, but the main story was properly resolved.
Now I need to decide what to watch next. I was actually making something of a dent in my unwatched 'mu pile, but unfortunately I've been on a spending splurge following my loan coming through (I know, I know, but some of it is due to practicality--with ADV and Geneon going tits up I wanted to get some of their shows before they're completely sold out).
I should actually get Gurren Lagann Disk2 (actually disks 3&4--they're coming out in double packs) and the box for Code Geass (which has 2 DVDs in, I believe) this month, so I'll be watching them. But also, I believe funimation's release of Black Lagoon: Second Barrage is out this month too. I guess that means sitting down and properly watching the first season is the order of the day then :).
I don't know what I've done, but it hurts when I walk. It's basically the 'ball' of my foot (I dunno if that's the proper word--it's the forward part before your toes where your weight goes when you take a step). When I apply too much pressure, or pressure at a weird angle, like twisting on it, it's really quite painful.
It's a little sporadic though--it'll 'go' and walking is agony, but otherwise it's okay. It's a bit like as if two tendons are pushing against each other--so long as I don't put too much weight on it they're okay, but past a certain point and they become inflamed.
It started about a week ago and I've been trying to stay off it as much as I can, but then I'm not exactly active anyway, so it's not much different :/. Mainly I'm walking with a bit of a deliberate limp to avoid it.
I got a USB hub recently--it's been an absolute pain in the arse swapping cables over (and also kinda dodgy because of where I have to lean to get at them) so I figured a hub was the answer.
It's a 7 port one and it's pretty good. It seems a little slow when transferring data to my external HDDs, but nothing disastrous and it's not like I use the HDDs 24/7 or anything.
I've also finished off GUNxSWORD. The ending is satisfying--I'm often let down by anime endings, but this one was pretty good. It did leave quite a few things hanging though, as if they ran out of time a bit, but the main story was properly resolved.
Now I need to decide what to watch next. I was actually making something of a dent in my unwatched 'mu pile, but unfortunately I've been on a spending splurge following my loan coming through (I know, I know, but some of it is due to practicality--with ADV and Geneon going tits up I wanted to get some of their shows before they're completely sold out).
I should actually get Gurren Lagann Disk2 (actually disks 3&4--they're coming out in double packs) and the box for Code Geass (which has 2 DVDs in, I believe) this month, so I'll be watching them. But also, I believe funimation's release of Black Lagoon: Second Barrage is out this month too. I guess that means sitting down and properly watching the first season is the order of the day then :).
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
creepy crawleys
I seem to be infested with spiders this summer.
Everywhere I turn there's one hanging in the corner of the room. As soon as I set something down leaning against a wall a spider seems to set up a home in the crack that's formed.
Now, I'm not really arachnophobic, as such. I mean, I'll admit I'm not the hugest fan of bugs in general. But with spiders, I only don't like them when they're fairly large or they have fat bodies.
A lot of it's to do with all the legs--which is why I don't like bugs in general--but also when you get those spiders with the big fat bodies, I dunno, it weirds me out for some reason.
Luckily the ones I seem to get are more of the tiny body with long spindly legs variety, so I don't mind them too much. I get sick of having to clean up all the cobwebs, though.
And I also once heard that we each swallow several spiders (a year? in our lives?) while we sleep--occassionally they fall off of the roof (that's how they end up in the bath) and occassionally their fall happens to coincide with your open mouth. That's why I tend to pick them up and chuck them out the window when I find them in my living room/bedroom area.
Forgot to mention--newtype, animedia and animage turned up on Monday. Less than a week again, I believe. I really am impressed with cd-japan. Hopefully I'll get them scanned before the w/end, but if not I'll definitely do them then.
Everywhere I turn there's one hanging in the corner of the room. As soon as I set something down leaning against a wall a spider seems to set up a home in the crack that's formed.
Now, I'm not really arachnophobic, as such. I mean, I'll admit I'm not the hugest fan of bugs in general. But with spiders, I only don't like them when they're fairly large or they have fat bodies.
A lot of it's to do with all the legs--which is why I don't like bugs in general--but also when you get those spiders with the big fat bodies, I dunno, it weirds me out for some reason.
Luckily the ones I seem to get are more of the tiny body with long spindly legs variety, so I don't mind them too much. I get sick of having to clean up all the cobwebs, though.
And I also once heard that we each swallow several spiders (a year? in our lives?) while we sleep--occassionally they fall off of the roof (that's how they end up in the bath) and occassionally their fall happens to coincide with your open mouth. That's why I tend to pick them up and chuck them out the window when I find them in my living room/bedroom area.
Forgot to mention--newtype, animedia and animage turned up on Monday. Less than a week again, I believe. I really am impressed with cd-japan. Hopefully I'll get them scanned before the w/end, but if not I'll definitely do them then.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
e-bay
I use e-bay quite a lot.
Generally with the restricted living arrangements I have, it's difficult to keep a lot of stuff. But I tend to buy a lot of stuff.
Throwing it away is a (heart-breaking) last resort. Car Boot sales are a waste of a day, plus you have to sell everything at, like 5p, which is just pointless. That means using e-bay is the only real option.
It's a lot better than it was--back when I started, getting your stuff up was like pushing red hot needles underneath your own fingernails--distinctly painful, and very slow going. Nowadays it's a lot smoother in that regard.
But it doesn't mean it's without its problems. People have totally unrealistic ideas about things.
Often is the time I've put things on at a reasonable "buy it now" price and loads of people will watch it, but no-one will actually buy. Then I'll put it on as a much lower "bid" type auction, and guess what? It'll often go for what I was asking the week before, if not slightly more.
Then there's postage. People seem to have no idea how much it actually costs to send something through the post.
The Royal Mail is expensive, unless your item is heavy. Since most of what I sell is single books and DVDs it makes it look really expensive.
But that's not me charging a lot--it's because those are the Royal Mail's prices. People have no idea. I mean all they need to do is just go an look at the Royal Mail website--it's all explained on there.
It's like padded envelopes--I add a pound to cover these. Because, averaged out, that's what they cost. Padded envelopes are not cheap--especially the really big ones, which are way more than £1. Then you've sellotape, pens to write the address on, the carpark charge so I can get into the post office. But people just don't seem to get this.
But my biggest gripe is paypal.
I have no problems with e-bay charging fees or taking a cut of what an item goes for. That's how auction houses work. They've got a big site that presumably costs a lot to maintain and run and develop, etc. I've no real problems there.
What I object to is that paypal charge a small fortune for doing almost nothing whatsoever. My banks don't even charge me for transferring money and they're a bunch of bandits--how the hell can paypal justify it? Plus, they're just part of e-bay who are already raking in a small fortune.
But you almost can't do auctions without offering paypal. I've tried with just postal order and personnel cheque, but those auctions never go anywhere.
It's almost like racketeering.
Generally with the restricted living arrangements I have, it's difficult to keep a lot of stuff. But I tend to buy a lot of stuff.
Throwing it away is a (heart-breaking) last resort. Car Boot sales are a waste of a day, plus you have to sell everything at, like 5p, which is just pointless. That means using e-bay is the only real option.
It's a lot better than it was--back when I started, getting your stuff up was like pushing red hot needles underneath your own fingernails--distinctly painful, and very slow going. Nowadays it's a lot smoother in that regard.
But it doesn't mean it's without its problems. People have totally unrealistic ideas about things.
Often is the time I've put things on at a reasonable "buy it now" price and loads of people will watch it, but no-one will actually buy. Then I'll put it on as a much lower "bid" type auction, and guess what? It'll often go for what I was asking the week before, if not slightly more.
Then there's postage. People seem to have no idea how much it actually costs to send something through the post.
The Royal Mail is expensive, unless your item is heavy. Since most of what I sell is single books and DVDs it makes it look really expensive.
But that's not me charging a lot--it's because those are the Royal Mail's prices. People have no idea. I mean all they need to do is just go an look at the Royal Mail website--it's all explained on there.
It's like padded envelopes--I add a pound to cover these. Because, averaged out, that's what they cost. Padded envelopes are not cheap--especially the really big ones, which are way more than £1. Then you've sellotape, pens to write the address on, the carpark charge so I can get into the post office. But people just don't seem to get this.
But my biggest gripe is paypal.
I have no problems with e-bay charging fees or taking a cut of what an item goes for. That's how auction houses work. They've got a big site that presumably costs a lot to maintain and run and develop, etc. I've no real problems there.
What I object to is that paypal charge a small fortune for doing almost nothing whatsoever. My banks don't even charge me for transferring money and they're a bunch of bandits--how the hell can paypal justify it? Plus, they're just part of e-bay who are already raking in a small fortune.
But you almost can't do auctions without offering paypal. I've tried with just postal order and personnel cheque, but those auctions never go anywhere.
It's almost like racketeering.
Monday, 11 August 2008
a home for my scans
Well, something of a new chapter in the continuing saga of my scans.
I discovered that you can buy extra space from google. This blog is actually hosted by google and I really like the interface and it randomly occurred to me that I should set up a blog for scan city.
I'd discovered that when you upload pictures to your blog, they go into something called picasa web folders, also a google product. Then I discoverd you could buy the extra space and a plan formed that I could buy a wodge and upload my magazine scans there. That way, I can still use the main scan-city site to host my artbook scans as I'd originally planned, but it means my magazine scans aren't 'going to waste' (not that they ever were--just after the whole AP thing they'd been left without a home).
So I've set it up here - scan-city blog. It took a little experimentation last night to get things to work as I'd hoped. What I hadn't appreciated is that pics you upload via the blog get resized to be a max of 1600 pixels high. But if you upload directly to picasa they can be a lot bigger, so I had to work all that out.
Also, what I don't want to do is upload my originals. Generally, I actually scan at 400ddpi and occasionally do 600dpi too. I also save as very high quality jpegs, making the individual files quite monster.
Also, things like posters I often take multiple angles of. My scanner is A3, but Japanese mags are generally slightly larger than A4, so when they do a 2-page size poster it's a little bigger than A3. That means as well as doing a full-page scan, if it's a series I like or an image I like, I often scan it in two halves as well.
But I don't want all of them on there, or at those sorts of sizes, so it means I'm going to have to go through and re-save everything. This also gives me the opportunity to add a "micro sig" I came up with to identify the scans as mine.
I'm kinda used to this--it's similar to what I used to do for upload to AP--but of course I never kept the versions I uploaded to AP (my thinking at the time was why bother--I've got bigger versions already :/) so it means over a years worth of stuff to plough through :(.
I've also decided to combine the spreads from now on, rather than do individual pages like they are for that first Animage that's up there at the moment. It means I can make the files smaller, there's physically less files to upload and I also think it looks better.
I also scanned the new megami this w/end and I actually scanned some other stuff too--a freebie book and 'groundwork of gurren lagann'. Not huge things with too many scans, but hopefully it sets a trend.
Nia book turned up on Friday--it's nice, although I'm not really into loli, so it's not quite in the same league as the yoko book was. I've also ordered a second copy of Geass Rebels following the successful completion of some e-bay auctions.
Obviously doing some scanning means I had a chance to watch some new 'mu:
What else? Oh yeah--having spent a fortune on cleaning products the other w/end I brought them to bear this w/end, and everything (well, most everything) is all sparkly fresh again.
I discovered that you can buy extra space from google. This blog is actually hosted by google and I really like the interface and it randomly occurred to me that I should set up a blog for scan city.
I'd discovered that when you upload pictures to your blog, they go into something called picasa web folders, also a google product. Then I discoverd you could buy the extra space and a plan formed that I could buy a wodge and upload my magazine scans there. That way, I can still use the main scan-city site to host my artbook scans as I'd originally planned, but it means my magazine scans aren't 'going to waste' (not that they ever were--just after the whole AP thing they'd been left without a home).
So I've set it up here - scan-city blog. It took a little experimentation last night to get things to work as I'd hoped. What I hadn't appreciated is that pics you upload via the blog get resized to be a max of 1600 pixels high. But if you upload directly to picasa they can be a lot bigger, so I had to work all that out.
Also, what I don't want to do is upload my originals. Generally, I actually scan at 400ddpi and occasionally do 600dpi too. I also save as very high quality jpegs, making the individual files quite monster.
Also, things like posters I often take multiple angles of. My scanner is A3, but Japanese mags are generally slightly larger than A4, so when they do a 2-page size poster it's a little bigger than A3. That means as well as doing a full-page scan, if it's a series I like or an image I like, I often scan it in two halves as well.
But I don't want all of them on there, or at those sorts of sizes, so it means I'm going to have to go through and re-save everything. This also gives me the opportunity to add a "micro sig" I came up with to identify the scans as mine.
I'm kinda used to this--it's similar to what I used to do for upload to AP--but of course I never kept the versions I uploaded to AP (my thinking at the time was why bother--I've got bigger versions already :/) so it means over a years worth of stuff to plough through :(.
I've also decided to combine the spreads from now on, rather than do individual pages like they are for that first Animage that's up there at the moment. It means I can make the files smaller, there's physically less files to upload and I also think it looks better.
I also scanned the new megami this w/end and I actually scanned some other stuff too--a freebie book and 'groundwork of gurren lagann'. Not huge things with too many scans, but hopefully it sets a trend.
Nia book turned up on Friday--it's nice, although I'm not really into loli, so it's not quite in the same league as the yoko book was. I've also ordered a second copy of Geass Rebels following the successful completion of some e-bay auctions.
Obviously doing some scanning means I had a chance to watch some new 'mu:
- Allison & Lillia. Watched a couple more and my opinion is unchanged. It's really very good indeed. The story itself is quest like in nature, but it's also reminiscent of something like Kino's Journey. In fact, if you imagine Kino's, but with a central purpose as well as less reliance on the abstract and allegorical, you're pretty much there.
- Naisho no Tsubomi. Hmm, if I admit I thought this was good, it also kinda marks me out as a weirdo. This is what I could describe as a "coming of age" slice of life story. As in literally--it's about a girl changing into a young woman if you see what I mean. She enters puberty, gets a first crush on a boy, discovers what pregnancy is really all about (her mum). Really then this is more aimed at young teenage girls, but it's actually pretty well done--it has a strong air of reality to it and is sensitively done.
- Amatsuki. This was really very good. After something of a spate of Shounen Ai type shows I'd thought that this may be another, but it isn't at all really. It's about a kid that seems to have been time jumped back to the Edo period and has spirits and magic and stuff. That's not a very good sell, but I actually really enjoyed it--another stand out show of the season for me.
- xxxHOLIC - Kei. Kinda okay, I guess. I'm disadvantaged that I've not seen the original and I believe this is also somehow tied into Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, which I'm also unfamiliar with. I've an upcoming review of X where I kinda discuss how I don't quite "get" CLAMP, so I'll leave it there, I guess.
What else? Oh yeah--having spent a fortune on cleaning products the other w/end I brought them to bear this w/end, and everything (well, most everything) is all sparkly fresh again.
Friday, 8 August 2008
image test
Just testing out the image thing, really.
Oh hey - that seems to work quite well. In theory, clicking the above should bring up a larger image, but I can't test that till it's published, so here goes.
Oh - the above is a vector of Kei from Dirty Pair Flash I'm working on.
hostage
Watched a film called hostage last night. It was okay, but it did feel like it sorta lacked something. I dunno, it was like it lacked twists--as if there were parts that were meant to be twists, but they didn't quite have the punch to be proper twists.
The film starred Bruce Willis. I'm not sure if I quite like Bruce Willis--I mean, he seems to end up in a lot of poor films, but has also been in some really rather good ones. In terms of him as a person, though, every interview or thing I've heard about him has kinda made him sound like a bit of a dick-head.
Most recently I read the Kevin Smith collected blog book thing and he was in that (Smith is in Die Hard 4). And even though Smith professes his adoration for the man, what he writes in terms of what happened when he was there shooting kinda underlined the impression I have that Willis is a bit of bell-end.
My TV is on the fritz a bit. I got digital a little while back and have been nothing but impressed. However, the other day the reception seemed to go on the fritz, and I dunno if you've ever seen digital when the reception is poor, but it's outright unwatchable.
That's its big disadvantage. For normal telly if the reception is poor, you can still kinda watch it, it'll just have more 'snow' or the sound will be crackly. For digital if the reception is poor it stutters and the picture breaks up to such an extent you just cannot watch it. And it tends to be a threshold thing as well--perfectly fine down to a given strength, and then *bam* unwatchable.
Hopefully this fritzyness is due to a poor connection that I know about. I've asked my landlord to take a look see if it's come loose. Otherwise I'm kinda knackered. The worst thing is it's primarily the BBC channels that are affected, and it's those I watch the most :(.
Just got e-mails saying animedia, animage and newtype are on the way--so I should have them next week :).
The film starred Bruce Willis. I'm not sure if I quite like Bruce Willis--I mean, he seems to end up in a lot of poor films, but has also been in some really rather good ones. In terms of him as a person, though, every interview or thing I've heard about him has kinda made him sound like a bit of a dick-head.
Most recently I read the Kevin Smith collected blog book thing and he was in that (Smith is in Die Hard 4). And even though Smith professes his adoration for the man, what he writes in terms of what happened when he was there shooting kinda underlined the impression I have that Willis is a bit of bell-end.
My TV is on the fritz a bit. I got digital a little while back and have been nothing but impressed. However, the other day the reception seemed to go on the fritz, and I dunno if you've ever seen digital when the reception is poor, but it's outright unwatchable.
That's its big disadvantage. For normal telly if the reception is poor, you can still kinda watch it, it'll just have more 'snow' or the sound will be crackly. For digital if the reception is poor it stutters and the picture breaks up to such an extent you just cannot watch it. And it tends to be a threshold thing as well--perfectly fine down to a given strength, and then *bam* unwatchable.
Hopefully this fritzyness is due to a poor connection that I know about. I've asked my landlord to take a look see if it's come loose. Otherwise I'm kinda knackered. The worst thing is it's primarily the BBC channels that are affected, and it's those I watch the most :(.
Just got e-mails saying animedia, animage and newtype are on the way--so I should have them next week :).
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
suddenly, from out of nowhere... next week
Wow - it's been a week since I last posted an entry on the old blogo. Here's why:
Thursday was absolutely manic at work. There was a sudden decision to bid for something and I was roped in to do the legwork. Really, this was an impossible task, because the PQQ in question was some 40-50 pages in length. There would have been no way I could have done it if it hadn't been for an interesting discovery.
The PQQ was a direct copy (and I mean literally copy-and-paste) of an old PQQ we'd done for another contract. I won't go into details, but basically I was able to rip all the answers out, dust them down and re-use them. It still meant we had about 6 hours to do an entire 40-odd page PQQ, but it meant it got done.
Friday through Monday I was on holiday (more on that later), but since I only do the bloggage at work, that meant no posts.
Then yesterday, Tuesday, we went to Warminister to meet some guys from a company we may be teaming with on another opportunity. Meeting went well, but it did mean we were basically out of the office all day, so no post.
---
So, about the weekend.
It kinda went well, but on the other hand I didn't really get done what I really wanted to, namely the implementation of the new version of scan-city. This wasn't really for any other reason than I couldn't be arsed--I could have got it done, but instead I did other stuff :/.
Some of the highlights for the other stuff:
Watched Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi. It wasn't awful, like I was dreading, but then equally it wasn't anything special. I mean, it was basically just more of the same, but this time focusing a little more on some of the other characters. There was no real progress with Aoi and Kaoru's relationship and it ended in that typical "maintaing the status quo is best" ending you (unfortunately) get in these shows. Look for a review of both this and the main series in future.
I also cracked into GUNxSWORD. It's one of those shows that I've collected and have left sat on the shelf unwatched for years. I seem to remember watching the first DVD at some point before, but I never got any further. Why I'm not sure, as it's really good. Perhaps it's because the start is quite slow--the 'big' plot doesn't really kick in until the second/third disk, which is kinda late. Character design is by my fave guy, Takahiro Kimura. Animation is uniformly very good, which is almost a surprise in and of itself for a Gonzo show. Quite a few extras on the disks to boot.
The only real problem I'm having is with the subtitles--they're really quick and can be a little difficult to result. I'll have to re-watch in dub I think, which is no great shakes as it's got a 5.1 mix. Another one I'll be reviewing in future, I think.
My site update this w/end was a wall of LuLu I did a while ago. It's been on mt for ages and has become my second most popular wall on there. I also uploaded it to AP, where it's been fairly well received--it is quite old, after all. I also uploaded a png version of the LuLu vector to AP, which is actually a site update in a couple of weeks (in psd and jpg formats).
Lastly on the walling front, I uploaded one version of my dragonaut wall to mt. That's not proven so popular, but I was kinda expecting that. It's a fairly plain wall, for one thing (there's another version with a planet behind her, but I can't claim to be entirely happy with how that turned out, tbh). But also, dragonaut wasn't a brilliant series from what I saw of it and I know it wasn't very popular. Also, the chara designs are a little, well... extreme, shall we say? They aren't to everybody's tastes anyway.
I'm feeling a bit of a walling bug at the moment--this is again where I lament my doing too many hobbies, as it'll probably have passed before I get back up to speed on things I've given more priority like scan-city :/.
The new megami turned up on Monday, so I'll get that scanned. I didn't do any of the scanning I was hoping too over the w/end either :(. What the heck was I doing? Well, actually I was playing a bit of life catchup. You know I've been banging on about a lack of cash and needing a debt-consolidation loan? Well that all came through and so I spent a lot of the w/end getting in all the essentials I've been doing without--like electricity (the meter had dropped to less than £5.00!) and petrol (I'd been running on vapours the last week) and cleaning products (my bathroom has not been cleaned in weeks and mould is starting to grow :/), and it all sucked up a lot of time, but I'm pretty much sorted now.
Plus, last night I got two new artbooks through. Geass Rebellions, which is absolutely beautiful. I'm going to buy a second one of those for when I trash this one for scans. And Mine Blue, which has got some lovely stuff in, but it's only about A5 size--not sure if it's worth scanning it, tbh. I've got the Nia artbook on the way too.
Thursday was absolutely manic at work. There was a sudden decision to bid for something and I was roped in to do the legwork. Really, this was an impossible task, because the PQQ in question was some 40-50 pages in length. There would have been no way I could have done it if it hadn't been for an interesting discovery.
The PQQ was a direct copy (and I mean literally copy-and-paste) of an old PQQ we'd done for another contract. I won't go into details, but basically I was able to rip all the answers out, dust them down and re-use them. It still meant we had about 6 hours to do an entire 40-odd page PQQ, but it meant it got done.
Friday through Monday I was on holiday (more on that later), but since I only do the bloggage at work, that meant no posts.
Then yesterday, Tuesday, we went to Warminister to meet some guys from a company we may be teaming with on another opportunity. Meeting went well, but it did mean we were basically out of the office all day, so no post.
---
So, about the weekend.
It kinda went well, but on the other hand I didn't really get done what I really wanted to, namely the implementation of the new version of scan-city. This wasn't really for any other reason than I couldn't be arsed--I could have got it done, but instead I did other stuff :/.
Some of the highlights for the other stuff:
Watched Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi. It wasn't awful, like I was dreading, but then equally it wasn't anything special. I mean, it was basically just more of the same, but this time focusing a little more on some of the other characters. There was no real progress with Aoi and Kaoru's relationship and it ended in that typical "maintaing the status quo is best" ending you (unfortunately) get in these shows. Look for a review of both this and the main series in future.
I also cracked into GUNxSWORD. It's one of those shows that I've collected and have left sat on the shelf unwatched for years. I seem to remember watching the first DVD at some point before, but I never got any further. Why I'm not sure, as it's really good. Perhaps it's because the start is quite slow--the 'big' plot doesn't really kick in until the second/third disk, which is kinda late. Character design is by my fave guy, Takahiro Kimura. Animation is uniformly very good, which is almost a surprise in and of itself for a Gonzo show. Quite a few extras on the disks to boot.
The only real problem I'm having is with the subtitles--they're really quick and can be a little difficult to result. I'll have to re-watch in dub I think, which is no great shakes as it's got a 5.1 mix. Another one I'll be reviewing in future, I think.
My site update this w/end was a wall of LuLu I did a while ago. It's been on mt for ages and has become my second most popular wall on there. I also uploaded it to AP, where it's been fairly well received--it is quite old, after all. I also uploaded a png version of the LuLu vector to AP, which is actually a site update in a couple of weeks (in psd and jpg formats).
Lastly on the walling front, I uploaded one version of my dragonaut wall to mt. That's not proven so popular, but I was kinda expecting that. It's a fairly plain wall, for one thing (there's another version with a planet behind her, but I can't claim to be entirely happy with how that turned out, tbh). But also, dragonaut wasn't a brilliant series from what I saw of it and I know it wasn't very popular. Also, the chara designs are a little, well... extreme, shall we say? They aren't to everybody's tastes anyway.
I'm feeling a bit of a walling bug at the moment--this is again where I lament my doing too many hobbies, as it'll probably have passed before I get back up to speed on things I've given more priority like scan-city :/.
The new megami turned up on Monday, so I'll get that scanned. I didn't do any of the scanning I was hoping too over the w/end either :(. What the heck was I doing? Well, actually I was playing a bit of life catchup. You know I've been banging on about a lack of cash and needing a debt-consolidation loan? Well that all came through and so I spent a lot of the w/end getting in all the essentials I've been doing without--like electricity (the meter had dropped to less than £5.00!) and petrol (I'd been running on vapours the last week) and cleaning products (my bathroom has not been cleaned in weeks and mould is starting to grow :/), and it all sucked up a lot of time, but I'm pretty much sorted now.
Plus, last night I got two new artbooks through. Geass Rebellions, which is absolutely beautiful. I'm going to buy a second one of those for when I trash this one for scans. And Mine Blue, which has got some lovely stuff in, but it's only about A5 size--not sure if it's worth scanning it, tbh. I've got the Nia artbook on the way too.
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
small reprieve
Wages went in sometime yesterday--I honestly can't get my head around what happens with my pay any more. It's not the end of the month and it's not the last Friday. It just seems to be "sort of towards the end... ish" :/.
But at least it means something of a reprieve - loans still not materialised. In the letter it mentioned something about the 5th of August--I hope it's not that they're waiting till then. The whole point of getting a loan is that I need the money now. Delaying it seems pointless. Especially since it means both my old loan and c-card payments will come out, and the whole point is to reduce/remove those as soon as possible :/.
Got a message saying the new megami is on the way, so I should have that next week some time. Hopefully I can pump in some artbook scanning this long w/end to clear a few of them out of the way.
But at least it means something of a reprieve - loans still not materialised. In the letter it mentioned something about the 5th of August--I hope it's not that they're waiting till then. The whole point of getting a loan is that I need the money now. Delaying it seems pointless. Especially since it means both my old loan and c-card payments will come out, and the whole point is to reduce/remove those as soon as possible :/.
Got a message saying the new megami is on the way, so I should have that next week some time. Hopefully I can pump in some artbook scanning this long w/end to clear a few of them out of the way.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
oops
Looks like I'm fucked with my wage.
It turned out that I didn't get paid last Friday at all... Which is actually a bit of an issue--I'm positive I'm supposed to get paid on the last Friday in the month, which was last Friday.
Either way, it means I am probably without any cash to my name until Thursday, when I definitely will get paid.
I've therefore got just about everything crossed that the loan gets sorted today. If not I could be in some deep, deep shit, as I know I've got a couple of cheques that are due to come out as well as the direct debit for my car loan repayments due sometime this week.
I'm really in the hands of fate for this one :(.
Finished Look to Windward. Definitely a cracking book.
I also got the aircon up and running when I got back from work, and the evening was therefore a whole lot more pleasant than it otherwise would have been. Standing in front of the cold air blasting out of an aircon unit when the world outside is swelteringly hot is probably one of the most enjoyable experiences in the world.
It turned out that I didn't get paid last Friday at all... Which is actually a bit of an issue--I'm positive I'm supposed to get paid on the last Friday in the month, which was last Friday.
Either way, it means I am probably without any cash to my name until Thursday, when I definitely will get paid.
I've therefore got just about everything crossed that the loan gets sorted today. If not I could be in some deep, deep shit, as I know I've got a couple of cheques that are due to come out as well as the direct debit for my car loan repayments due sometime this week.
I'm really in the hands of fate for this one :(.
Finished Look to Windward. Definitely a cracking book.
I also got the aircon up and running when I got back from work, and the evening was therefore a whole lot more pleasant than it otherwise would have been. Standing in front of the cold air blasting out of an aircon unit when the world outside is swelteringly hot is probably one of the most enjoyable experiences in the world.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Swelteridge
A few years back now I bought an air conditioner.
The reason was because we'd had such a hot summer the year before I'd gotten virtually no sleep. I find it very difficult to sleep when it gets above a certain temperature at night. It's especially difficult in this country, I find, as heat is always accompanied by humidity (I presume because we're an island nation).
The aircon was awesome and allowed me to get a lot more sleep and be a lot more comfortable during the ensuing hot summer.
However, the last couple of summers have been total non-events, with almost constant rain (remember the big floods). So I've kinda moth-balled the aircon unit. I mean, the unit is still by it's window, but I've put all the pipes and bits away in some box somewhere, as is usually my way given my cramped living quarters.
But ironically this w/end was of course sweltering and I really could have done with having my aircon going. Especially last night, when it was just so muggy when I was trying to sleep.
The problem is also made worse by the fact that I live next to a river, so any open window is just a big invitation for all manner of flying bugs to wander in. Which is especially annoying at night when they're attracted by the lights. Running the aircon means all the windows are closed, and I even have a special cut-out I put over the window the aircon pokes out of so that no heat gets back in.
Tonight I shall make it my mission to get the aircon out and back working again. Luckily, I have next Friday and Monday off, so the chaos of half-opened boxes this causes shouldn't be a hassle for too long as I can tidy up then.
Finally finished off Ai Yori Aoshi. I've got the sequel "Enishi"to watch next. I've a horrible feeling this will be terrible, as the end of the first series kinda didn't leave anything open--it ended and was a proper end, so what can they put in a sequel?
I'm still of the opinion Ai Yori Aoshi is disappointing. There was some real flashes of greatness in the show. It could have been such a good straight romantic story with a sort of Romeo and Juliet feel. But instead we get half that and half "generic harem show". It just seemed such a... well, a waste.
I've nearly finished ploughing through Look to Windward, which is one of the Culture Novels by Ian M Banks. It was for a long time the last, but I believe he's done a new culture novel, "Matter".
When Banks is on form, as he most definitely is in Windward, I enjoy his stuff so much. They end up being the sorts of books that make me remember why I love reading and why I enjoy writing too. Sometimes I forget, when I'm struggling with something that's a bit more turgid. The Lord of the Rings, for example, made me forget for the best part of two years.
I'm pretty sure I've now read all the Banks sci-fi stuff (well, except Matter, which isn't out in pb yet). I've often wondered whether I should check out the non-sci-fi stuff--maybe later when I clear some more of my other unread books.
I also achieved my main objective for the w/end. trismugistus.com has been updated!
I've added a review of the quite good, but not quite great Ergo Proxy.
I also worked on a whole series of weeks of updates. These include a further 5 reviews, two wallpapers and associated character psd files, so that's ten weeks worth seeing the site clear up until the end of September, I believe.
It's also my plan to get scan-city up and working over my upcoming long-weekend, with lots of lovely artbooks to download. Whether I go for a super-splooge approach and get all the scans up at once (current favourite) or do it in a more phased approach I'm not sure yet, but at least it will be active.
The reason was because we'd had such a hot summer the year before I'd gotten virtually no sleep. I find it very difficult to sleep when it gets above a certain temperature at night. It's especially difficult in this country, I find, as heat is always accompanied by humidity (I presume because we're an island nation).
The aircon was awesome and allowed me to get a lot more sleep and be a lot more comfortable during the ensuing hot summer.
However, the last couple of summers have been total non-events, with almost constant rain (remember the big floods). So I've kinda moth-balled the aircon unit. I mean, the unit is still by it's window, but I've put all the pipes and bits away in some box somewhere, as is usually my way given my cramped living quarters.
But ironically this w/end was of course sweltering and I really could have done with having my aircon going. Especially last night, when it was just so muggy when I was trying to sleep.
The problem is also made worse by the fact that I live next to a river, so any open window is just a big invitation for all manner of flying bugs to wander in. Which is especially annoying at night when they're attracted by the lights. Running the aircon means all the windows are closed, and I even have a special cut-out I put over the window the aircon pokes out of so that no heat gets back in.
Tonight I shall make it my mission to get the aircon out and back working again. Luckily, I have next Friday and Monday off, so the chaos of half-opened boxes this causes shouldn't be a hassle for too long as I can tidy up then.
Finally finished off Ai Yori Aoshi. I've got the sequel "Enishi"to watch next. I've a horrible feeling this will be terrible, as the end of the first series kinda didn't leave anything open--it ended and was a proper end, so what can they put in a sequel?
I'm still of the opinion Ai Yori Aoshi is disappointing. There was some real flashes of greatness in the show. It could have been such a good straight romantic story with a sort of Romeo and Juliet feel. But instead we get half that and half "generic harem show". It just seemed such a... well, a waste.
I've nearly finished ploughing through Look to Windward, which is one of the Culture Novels by Ian M Banks. It was for a long time the last, but I believe he's done a new culture novel, "Matter".
When Banks is on form, as he most definitely is in Windward, I enjoy his stuff so much. They end up being the sorts of books that make me remember why I love reading and why I enjoy writing too. Sometimes I forget, when I'm struggling with something that's a bit more turgid. The Lord of the Rings, for example, made me forget for the best part of two years.
I'm pretty sure I've now read all the Banks sci-fi stuff (well, except Matter, which isn't out in pb yet). I've often wondered whether I should check out the non-sci-fi stuff--maybe later when I clear some more of my other unread books.
I also achieved my main objective for the w/end. trismugistus.com has been updated!
I've added a review of the quite good, but not quite great Ergo Proxy.
I also worked on a whole series of weeks of updates. These include a further 5 reviews, two wallpapers and associated character psd files, so that's ten weeks worth seeing the site clear up until the end of September, I believe.
It's also my plan to get scan-city up and working over my upcoming long-weekend, with lots of lovely artbooks to download. Whether I go for a super-splooge approach and get all the scans up at once (current favourite) or do it in a more phased approach I'm not sure yet, but at least it will be active.
Friday, 25 July 2008
salvation
Loan documents turned up last night, finally.
I was beginning to get more than a little worried as the end of the month approached. If it isn't all set up by then, things could get a little hairy for me.
My other irons in the fire seem to be bearing some fruit as well, though again, they seem to have taken an awfully long time to get there. I dunno, maybe it's just because of the pressure situation that it's seemed that way.
Luckily this month I'm sorta okay because pay day happens to be a bit earlier (for reasons there's no point detailing) but it does mean I get a little bit of wiggle room in terms of timing. If it was next month, I'd be in deep shit.
I'm hoping to have a fairly relaxing weekend this weekend. My only real goal is to get some site updates under way again. It's been too long since I actively updated my sites.
The problem is there's never enough time to do all the hobbies I have. For example, just recently I've been reading a lot, which means other things have to drop out to make room for it. But that means they start building up.
It's like I've done virtually no walling for what must be the best part of 6 months. But then where would I have found the time?
Part of me wants to scale back--give greater focus to fewer things. The problem is it's the variety that's a big part of what makes the individual things fun. If I spent all my time on one or two things, I'd become bored very quickly and then end up doing other stuff anyway.
I was beginning to get more than a little worried as the end of the month approached. If it isn't all set up by then, things could get a little hairy for me.
My other irons in the fire seem to be bearing some fruit as well, though again, they seem to have taken an awfully long time to get there. I dunno, maybe it's just because of the pressure situation that it's seemed that way.
Luckily this month I'm sorta okay because pay day happens to be a bit earlier (for reasons there's no point detailing) but it does mean I get a little bit of wiggle room in terms of timing. If it was next month, I'd be in deep shit.
I'm hoping to have a fairly relaxing weekend this weekend. My only real goal is to get some site updates under way again. It's been too long since I actively updated my sites.
The problem is there's never enough time to do all the hobbies I have. For example, just recently I've been reading a lot, which means other things have to drop out to make room for it. But that means they start building up.
It's like I've done virtually no walling for what must be the best part of 6 months. But then where would I have found the time?
Part of me wants to scale back--give greater focus to fewer things. The problem is it's the variety that's a big part of what makes the individual things fun. If I spent all my time on one or two things, I'd become bored very quickly and then end up doing other stuff anyway.
Thursday, 24 July 2008
odd names
This news article on the BBC has tickled me.
What a very peculiar thing to do - naming your child Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. I mean, it doesn't even make sense as an expression :/.
On the one hand I'm of the "poor kid" frame of mind, but on the other I'm thinking "lol".
Pretty slow just recently--still knackered after Tuesday so I've not really done much except watch a bit of telly.
Gadget show had there summer special on Monday. Suzi Perry in a bikini--life isn't all bad :D.
What a very peculiar thing to do - naming your child Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. I mean, it doesn't even make sense as an expression :/.
On the one hand I'm of the "poor kid" frame of mind, but on the other I'm thinking "lol".
Pretty slow just recently--still knackered after Tuesday so I've not really done much except watch a bit of telly.
Gadget show had there summer special on Monday. Suzi Perry in a bikini--life isn't all bad :D.
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
yesterday's meeting
So the meetings actually went pretty damn well yesterday.
The day itself was a horrifyingly long nightmare of trains, tubes, trams, hot & sticky journeys, long walks in shoes and all that rubbish, but the meeting itself was fine.
I had to get up at 5:45 to get a 7:00 train from Farnham. The journey from Farnham to London Waterloo always takes bloody ages, even though, to give some idea of the actual distance you could drive it in 20 minutes by Car (traffic not withstanding).
Then went on the tube to St Pancreas, which was fairly smooth. It was a little busy, but just that bit too early for the commuting hordes to appear, I think.
St. Pancreas you have to walk miles in to get to the actual platforms and there was a huge, 40 minute wait for the train. It was the quick train (only one stop) so it took about 1.5 hours (compare that to the hour it takes to get from Farnham to Waterloo :/).
Then there's a tram in Nottingham, but we got a bit lost when we got off so we walked around a bit much.
The meetings lasted about 4 hours, I think, then I headed off on the tram, this time walking straight there in less than 5 minutes.
Got to the station and the info there is crap - it's really hard to work out which platform is which and you've no idea until you actually get down onto a platform, so inevitably you pick the wrong one and have to go back up and come down on another platform.
The train took ages before it set off--a good 45 minute wait. And it was a stopping service, so it took two hours. Unfortunately, I also had someone sat opposite me so I couldn't stretch out my legs properly.
We got into St Pancreas at a couple minutes past six, which is tail end of rush hour, so the tube was pretty busy. Grabbed a bite to eat and the next train for Farnham was at about seven, so I was back home for about 8:30 with the car journey back home.
So in summary I set off from Farnham at 7am and got back to Farnham at 8pm. Four hour meeting means I spent 9 hours "in transit".
You may have gotten the impression I'm not hugely enamoured of public transport. You'd be right.
Oh, and it cost £120 each for us to have the pleasure of this 9 hour trek. (And that's excluding the £4.50 for car park at Farnham station and the £2.60 for the tram).
Also to go to Nottingham by car is about 180 miles. So call it 400 miles round trip. That's approximately a tank of petrol for me. At today's prices that works out to about £40. Even if you call it £50 or double it to two tanks at £80, that would still make it £160 cheaper than using public transport.
The day itself was a horrifyingly long nightmare of trains, tubes, trams, hot & sticky journeys, long walks in shoes and all that rubbish, but the meeting itself was fine.
I had to get up at 5:45 to get a 7:00 train from Farnham. The journey from Farnham to London Waterloo always takes bloody ages, even though, to give some idea of the actual distance you could drive it in 20 minutes by Car (traffic not withstanding).
Then went on the tube to St Pancreas, which was fairly smooth. It was a little busy, but just that bit too early for the commuting hordes to appear, I think.
St. Pancreas you have to walk miles in to get to the actual platforms and there was a huge, 40 minute wait for the train. It was the quick train (only one stop) so it took about 1.5 hours (compare that to the hour it takes to get from Farnham to Waterloo :/).
Then there's a tram in Nottingham, but we got a bit lost when we got off so we walked around a bit much.
The meetings lasted about 4 hours, I think, then I headed off on the tram, this time walking straight there in less than 5 minutes.
Got to the station and the info there is crap - it's really hard to work out which platform is which and you've no idea until you actually get down onto a platform, so inevitably you pick the wrong one and have to go back up and come down on another platform.
The train took ages before it set off--a good 45 minute wait. And it was a stopping service, so it took two hours. Unfortunately, I also had someone sat opposite me so I couldn't stretch out my legs properly.
We got into St Pancreas at a couple minutes past six, which is tail end of rush hour, so the tube was pretty busy. Grabbed a bite to eat and the next train for Farnham was at about seven, so I was back home for about 8:30 with the car journey back home.
So in summary I set off from Farnham at 7am and got back to Farnham at 8pm. Four hour meeting means I spent 9 hours "in transit".
You may have gotten the impression I'm not hugely enamoured of public transport. You'd be right.
Oh, and it cost £120 each for us to have the pleasure of this 9 hour trek. (And that's excluding the £4.50 for car park at Farnham station and the £2.60 for the tram).
Also to go to Nottingham by car is about 180 miles. So call it 400 miles round trip. That's approximately a tank of petrol for me. At today's prices that works out to about £40. Even if you call it £50 or double it to two tanks at £80, that would still make it £160 cheaper than using public transport.
Monday, 21 July 2008
Naughty me
I think I just got a telling off.
It was kinda disguised as 'advice' but I'm pretty sure it was really a telling off.
Ironically, I wouldn't even be in this situation if they hadn't sacked the person who really should be attending this meeting tomorrow. But that's not an excuse - my communication skills are appalling, I've always known that, but still, it does smart a bit.
Y'see somehow, I've ended up with more responsibility. Really on this contract I just do the grunt work. It's the person they got rid of, the former project manager, that understands it, that manages it and decides what's what. I just crank the handle each month.
But the new person in charge of me knows next to nothing about stats. So I end with the job of coverign that angle... but unfortunately I don't know a lot about stats either. Not in terms of detail, and the meeting tomorrow sounds like it's going to focus on detail.
Well, that's really cheered me up :(. I was doing quite well recently, but this has really put a kibosh on my mood.
I just want to curl up in a ball and let the world do its thing without me.
It was kinda disguised as 'advice' but I'm pretty sure it was really a telling off.
Ironically, I wouldn't even be in this situation if they hadn't sacked the person who really should be attending this meeting tomorrow. But that's not an excuse - my communication skills are appalling, I've always known that, but still, it does smart a bit.
Y'see somehow, I've ended up with more responsibility. Really on this contract I just do the grunt work. It's the person they got rid of, the former project manager, that understands it, that manages it and decides what's what. I just crank the handle each month.
But the new person in charge of me knows next to nothing about stats. So I end with the job of coverign that angle... but unfortunately I don't know a lot about stats either. Not in terms of detail, and the meeting tomorrow sounds like it's going to focus on detail.
Well, that's really cheered me up :(. I was doing quite well recently, but this has really put a kibosh on my mood.
I just want to curl up in a ball and let the world do its thing without me.
long day
I've got to go up to Nottingham for work tomorrow. It's for a meeting (well, two meetings) but it's one hell of a way to go.
What makes it worse is I've really no interest in attending either of the meetings. The first is to do with security (*yawn*) and the second is to meet a new supplier that our customer has hired.
This second meeting could go either way--either they're going to be good, or they're going to be a pain in the arse. I'm kinda bracing myself for the second.
The most annoying thing is that I think I'm going to be relied upon as some sort of "guru" of statistics. I'm really not--they fired the person on this contract who is. If this situation comes up I'm just going to put on a blank face and say "I don't know" a lot. It's hardly my fault they got rid of the other guy :/.
This last weekend I polished off the last few outstanding magazine scans. My mission now is not to let it all slip again. I need to keep up the momentum and scan all these artbooks I've got piled up.
In terms of new anime shows I've most recently watched:
I'm still waiting on the documents to sign for the loan. I hope they get here pretty soon, as it would be very annoying to exceed my overdraft limit simply because the documents took so long to get to me :/.
What makes it worse is I've really no interest in attending either of the meetings. The first is to do with security (*yawn*) and the second is to meet a new supplier that our customer has hired.
This second meeting could go either way--either they're going to be good, or they're going to be a pain in the arse. I'm kinda bracing myself for the second.
The most annoying thing is that I think I'm going to be relied upon as some sort of "guru" of statistics. I'm really not--they fired the person on this contract who is. If this situation comes up I'm just going to put on a blank face and say "I don't know" a lot. It's hardly my fault they got rid of the other guy :/.
This last weekend I polished off the last few outstanding magazine scans. My mission now is not to let it all slip again. I need to keep up the momentum and scan all these artbooks I've got piled up.
In terms of new anime shows I've most recently watched:
- Zettai Karen Children: It's distinctly average. I mean, it's not actively bad in any sense, it's just so very "seen it all before". There is also a slightly uncomfortable feel to it - a bit like Kodomo no Jikan last year, but not so extreme. One of the ten year old girls behaves like a "dirty old man" and it just doesn't quite sit right for some reason - maybe if she was 13 or 14, but 10 just seems a bit young.
- Itazura Na Kiss: Now this was a surprise. I had no real expectations going in, but it really charmed me. Admittedly it's not hugely original, though it is a bit convoluted to explain in a short blurb like this. It's a fairly gentle romantic comedy at heart, but with a female protagonist and more aimed at girls than boys, but still it's really well done.
- Allison to Lillia: Only watched one episode of this so far, but I'm really liking what I've seen. Possibly another highlight of the season.
I'm still waiting on the documents to sign for the loan. I hope they get here pretty soon, as it would be very annoying to exceed my overdraft limit simply because the documents took so long to get to me :/.
Friday, 18 July 2008
skint
I'm totally skint.
It's all entirely my fault - over the last few years I've been spending money like it was going out of fashion. You'll have picked that up from me talking about how I've so many unwatched DVDs and unread books, etc, etc.
But I've also done things that really didn't make sense. Like I bought a new car, which I did need, but for some reason I fixated on getting a particular model (one of the highest spec ones in the range) instead of thinking about the one I could best afford.
Thankfully, it looks like I've been able to take out a loan just recently that gives me a lot more breathing room. Basically, it allows me to consolidate four debts into one and whilst that does of course mean I'll be paying off a larger total sum for longer, it also means my monthly outgoings will come a lot more into balance.
Hopefully it'll mean I can also pay off another couple of debts with the money it frees up. But if not, it at least means I can afford things like food and petrol :/.
I also hope I've broken the back of my over-spending ways. I'm using all the stuff I've bought to kinda distract myself - the more time I spend actually sitting watching anime DVDs, the less time I've got for sitting on the net buying anime DVDs.
It's all entirely my fault - over the last few years I've been spending money like it was going out of fashion. You'll have picked that up from me talking about how I've so many unwatched DVDs and unread books, etc, etc.
But I've also done things that really didn't make sense. Like I bought a new car, which I did need, but for some reason I fixated on getting a particular model (one of the highest spec ones in the range) instead of thinking about the one I could best afford.
Thankfully, it looks like I've been able to take out a loan just recently that gives me a lot more breathing room. Basically, it allows me to consolidate four debts into one and whilst that does of course mean I'll be paying off a larger total sum for longer, it also means my monthly outgoings will come a lot more into balance.
Hopefully it'll mean I can also pay off another couple of debts with the money it frees up. But if not, it at least means I can afford things like food and petrol :/.
I also hope I've broken the back of my over-spending ways. I'm using all the stuff I've bought to kinda distract myself - the more time I spend actually sitting watching anime DVDs, the less time I've got for sitting on the net buying anime DVDs.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Not an ant to be seen
Well, there's been no sign of the ants at all this last couple of days. I didn't take any action (because I forget, tbh), but I'd better get some ant stuff for if/when they come back.
Scanned animedia last night. I also watched some more of Wagaya no Oinarisama and I'm really not sure if I can work it out.
It's sort of like a "monster of the week" show, but it also seems to be trying to mix in romantic comedy and other elements. It's almost like a "slice of life" show in some ways... but slice of life if a fox-spirit moved in with you :/.
I was also unsure if I liked it or not, but I'll err on the side of yes, I think.
I put some stuff on e-bay last w/end (the first bunch of stuff following the clear-out the other w/end). However, I've been getting a bit annoyed with e-bay. Things that are worth considerable amounts of money are selling for like, 5p and 10p. It was getting to a situation where the effort and expense of parcelling stuff up and taking it down to the post office was far more than the money I was getting for it.
Especially when you think that, as well as what it costs to send, paypal take a fee and e-bay charge both an insertion fee and take a cut of whatever it sells for. In fact, I bet it was costing me money on some occasions.
As such, I've put many of the items on with more realistic starting bids and reasonable "buy it now" prices. I did this for ones where it would kinda break my heart if they sold for small amounts of money. I'd rather keep them and be skint than see them go for less than a pound.
I used to do this when I first started using e-bay, but the items often didn't sell for several weeks (plus I'd have to drop the amounts) so I'd get stacked up fees.
But fuck it - if people aren't willing to pay a reasonable amount of money for second-hand but genuine retail products and not pirates, rips and fansubs, then fuck 'em.
Scanned animedia last night. I also watched some more of Wagaya no Oinarisama and I'm really not sure if I can work it out.
It's sort of like a "monster of the week" show, but it also seems to be trying to mix in romantic comedy and other elements. It's almost like a "slice of life" show in some ways... but slice of life if a fox-spirit moved in with you :/.
I was also unsure if I liked it or not, but I'll err on the side of yes, I think.
I put some stuff on e-bay last w/end (the first bunch of stuff following the clear-out the other w/end). However, I've been getting a bit annoyed with e-bay. Things that are worth considerable amounts of money are selling for like, 5p and 10p. It was getting to a situation where the effort and expense of parcelling stuff up and taking it down to the post office was far more than the money I was getting for it.
Especially when you think that, as well as what it costs to send, paypal take a fee and e-bay charge both an insertion fee and take a cut of whatever it sells for. In fact, I bet it was costing me money on some occasions.
As such, I've put many of the items on with more realistic starting bids and reasonable "buy it now" prices. I did this for ones where it would kinda break my heart if they sold for small amounts of money. I'd rather keep them and be skint than see them go for less than a pound.
I used to do this when I first started using e-bay, but the items often didn't sell for several weeks (plus I'd have to drop the amounts) so I'd get stacked up fees.
But fuck it - if people aren't willing to pay a reasonable amount of money for second-hand but genuine retail products and not pirates, rips and fansubs, then fuck 'em.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
my anime list
Between bits of work, I've been playing about with myanimelist.net today.
I'm the sort of person that likes lists of stuff and it's kinda fun recalling all the stuff I've watched/read.
Here's my page - http://myanimelist.net/animelist/trismugistus.
I've not much else to say today, really - not much has happened just recently :/.
I'm the sort of person that likes lists of stuff and it's kinda fun recalling all the stuff I've watched/read.
Here's my page - http://myanimelist.net/animelist/trismugistus.
I've not much else to say today, really - not much has happened just recently :/.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
new mags
As I'd hoped, this month's animage, animedia and newtype were waiting for me when I got back.
There's definitely more pics this month than there were a few months ago. Animedia has some scannable stuff in the back, for example, and newtype is groaning with stuff.
No weird freeby stuff this month. They don't half give away some odd things with the Japanese mags - key chains and playing cards and tissues are among the oddest I've got. Not that I'm complaining, it's just interesting the cultural differences.
There's definitely more pics this month than there were a few months ago. Animedia has some scannable stuff in the back, for example, and newtype is groaning with stuff.
No weird freeby stuff this month. They don't half give away some odd things with the Japanese mags - key chains and playing cards and tissues are among the oddest I've got. Not that I'm complaining, it's just interesting the cultural differences.
Monday, 14 July 2008
ants
Ants seem to be getting in my kitchen, somehow. Not at all sure how or where they're coming in.
I'd seen a few odd ones kicking about before, but I discovered a shed load of them making a bee-line (or ant-line if you will) for a tin of golden syrup that had a few drips down the outside of the tin (ants love sweet stuff).
I cleaned the cupboard and put everything in sealed plastic bags, so that should discourage them a lot, but I'll need to get some ant powder or something. I'd actually been trying to buy some when I saw the random ants, but it was really difficult to find any in the supermarket for some reason. I guess I can look in homebase or something - I'm sure they'll have something.
Polished off the magazine scans this weekend with the last two animages. I wouldn't be surprised if the next newtype, animedia and animage arrive today or tomorrow, so I'll have to get them done too and then the decks are cleared for me to attack all those artbooks I've got piled up.
Only managed to have a look at a couple of new anime series while I was doing the animage's, as it's actually a really easy mag to scan (it has the bit of having to un-glue it, but then the pages are all nice and easy to scan). The series were:
I also finished off the second disk of Gurren Lagann. The second disk was all stuff I've not seen before and I'm thankful that my opinion formed from the first few eps is definitely vindicated. It's a really, really great show.
Though I'm again struck the animation quality is kinda all over the place. Plus the chara designs often seem very, er, fluid. I don't really mind, but it can be a little distracting at times.
Also watched a few more Ai Yori Aoshi eps and I'm disappointed again. Some nice little "flashes" of the romantic comedy / slice of life stuff that really works, but mostly it was still grinding away at the generic harem style show stuff. Ah well.
Looks like the first season of Code Geass is finally getting its DVD release in August too. This was some very good news to compensate for the woes that have resulted from ADV's continuing slide into death's slow embrace.
What I'm referring to is that basically ADV have lost the licences to all of the shows they picked up recently. Now thankfully, the shows have mostly been transferred to Funimation, so I'm sure in the fullness of time they'll come out through them, but unfortunately two shows I'm collecting (Red Garden and Welcome to NHK) were literally at last volume release stage and they've now gone into limbo.
This is annoying on so many levels - I can't finish watching the shows; I've no idea when Funimation will release their versions; I've no idea if they'll keep the same number of eps per disk or use the same style for their releases and, in the fullness of time, I've no idea how it will work for resale. I'd bought both with the collectors boxes so it kinda makes the problem even worse.
*sigh*
Still, at least Funimation have announced release dates for Black Lagoon: Second Barrage and Hellsing: Ultimate (which they picked up from when Genoen pulled out of North America).
The western DVD Anime field seems to be in nothing less than a state of crisis. Let's hope official download/internet type stuff starts to pick up the slack - and quick. Not that I don't vastly prefer DVDs, but electronic files is a lot better than nothing at all.
Lastly, this weekend I actually started working on some updates for my websites. It'll be a while before I'm back in full flow, but I think I'm finally out of my non-productive slump.
It's weird when I get so much done - I end up wondering why all my weekends aren't like that.
I'd seen a few odd ones kicking about before, but I discovered a shed load of them making a bee-line (or ant-line if you will) for a tin of golden syrup that had a few drips down the outside of the tin (ants love sweet stuff).
I cleaned the cupboard and put everything in sealed plastic bags, so that should discourage them a lot, but I'll need to get some ant powder or something. I'd actually been trying to buy some when I saw the random ants, but it was really difficult to find any in the supermarket for some reason. I guess I can look in homebase or something - I'm sure they'll have something.
Polished off the magazine scans this weekend with the last two animages. I wouldn't be surprised if the next newtype, animedia and animage arrive today or tomorrow, so I'll have to get them done too and then the decks are cleared for me to attack all those artbooks I've got piled up.
Only managed to have a look at a couple of new anime series while I was doing the animage's, as it's actually a really easy mag to scan (it has the bit of having to un-glue it, but then the pages are all nice and easy to scan). The series were:
- To Love-Ru: watched some more of this and it's distinctly okay. My opinion didn't really change from what I said a few days ago.
- Library Wars: This was really good, actually. I didn't know much about it at all going in, but it's quite a nice show. The premise is a little hokey, but the real story is more of a love story than anything else, and it focuses on the relationships. Strangely, it reminded me of Full Metal Panic, for some reason, but with less in the way of an obvious comedic set-up.
- Wagaya no Oinarisama: just started and don't know quite what to make of it yet. I'd assumed it was a romantic comedy in a similar vein to kanokon from the pictures I'd seen, but it wasn't really like that.
I also finished off the second disk of Gurren Lagann. The second disk was all stuff I've not seen before and I'm thankful that my opinion formed from the first few eps is definitely vindicated. It's a really, really great show.
Though I'm again struck the animation quality is kinda all over the place. Plus the chara designs often seem very, er, fluid. I don't really mind, but it can be a little distracting at times.
Also watched a few more Ai Yori Aoshi eps and I'm disappointed again. Some nice little "flashes" of the romantic comedy / slice of life stuff that really works, but mostly it was still grinding away at the generic harem style show stuff. Ah well.
Looks like the first season of Code Geass is finally getting its DVD release in August too. This was some very good news to compensate for the woes that have resulted from ADV's continuing slide into death's slow embrace.
What I'm referring to is that basically ADV have lost the licences to all of the shows they picked up recently. Now thankfully, the shows have mostly been transferred to Funimation, so I'm sure in the fullness of time they'll come out through them, but unfortunately two shows I'm collecting (Red Garden and Welcome to NHK) were literally at last volume release stage and they've now gone into limbo.
This is annoying on so many levels - I can't finish watching the shows; I've no idea when Funimation will release their versions; I've no idea if they'll keep the same number of eps per disk or use the same style for their releases and, in the fullness of time, I've no idea how it will work for resale. I'd bought both with the collectors boxes so it kinda makes the problem even worse.
*sigh*
Still, at least Funimation have announced release dates for Black Lagoon: Second Barrage and Hellsing: Ultimate (which they picked up from when Genoen pulled out of North America).
The western DVD Anime field seems to be in nothing less than a state of crisis. Let's hope official download/internet type stuff starts to pick up the slack - and quick. Not that I don't vastly prefer DVDs, but electronic files is a lot better than nothing at all.
Lastly, this weekend I actually started working on some updates for my websites. It'll be a while before I'm back in full flow, but I think I'm finally out of my non-productive slump.
It's weird when I get so much done - I end up wondering why all my weekends aren't like that.
Friday, 11 July 2008
the mother of all tweaks
For a while now I've been working on and off on my first proper novel, Man in the Loop (MitL).
The central core of the novel is sort of about existentialism. The basic idea is that the main character is actually a "brain in a jar" who's plugged into a computer world.
He doesn't know he's a brain in a jar (well, maybe at the end) but the real thing he doesn't know is that actually when he was a proper human he was a serial killer. The idea was that in order to have this man in the loop system, the government has to use psychos because their brains work differently.
The MitL system was designed as essentially an Unmanned Vehicle (in this case planes) with an operator 'in the loop' but not actually on-board. But normal people couldn't operate it properly so they end up using serial killers who have been executed by the state.
So it's also about morality - you've got the US government who are supposedly all "democracy and freedom" using people against their will who they've actually put to death. The US is embroiled in a huge war in the middle east that covers the entire region and represents an escalation of the 'war on terror', but is also really a resource grab. They've had to use things like MitL to 'get the job done', as it were.
To juxtapose this, I had a female terrorist whose entire family had been killed when the Americans had mistakenly bombed her village. The idea was she would be responsible for bombing the MitL facility.
The idea also was to tell her story in reverse, where the other story would be forwards. So at the beginning she seems to be the bad guy, he the good, whereas by the end you realise it's more the other way around.
I've been working away on this for ages now and have loads of it written, but I've been struggling a bit and skirting around some of the difficult bits (meaning dodgy story elements) and I've kinda realised that there's a much better way for me to tell the story.
Essentially I can instead contrast the MitL guy's story against his original capture. In other words, it can be a detective story 'with a twist'. I could have the MitL man seeing what seems to be another person but is actually himself as a serial killer "leaking" into his own computer world. At the same time, the other thread could be the detectives tracking him down.
The problem is that it means totally abandoning at least two thirds of what I've written. It's a lot stronger and simpler way of doing things, though, and won't involve quite so many dodgy stuff.
A lot of what I've written is kinda comic-booky. I mean some of the characters almost have moments where they go "Muhahahaha" in a maniacal laugh stylee :/. But it was the only way I could think of bridging between the plot strands. Plus the terrorst is kinda cheesey.
I guess I need to bite the bullet.
The central core of the novel is sort of about existentialism. The basic idea is that the main character is actually a "brain in a jar" who's plugged into a computer world.
He doesn't know he's a brain in a jar (well, maybe at the end) but the real thing he doesn't know is that actually when he was a proper human he was a serial killer. The idea was that in order to have this man in the loop system, the government has to use psychos because their brains work differently.
The MitL system was designed as essentially an Unmanned Vehicle (in this case planes) with an operator 'in the loop' but not actually on-board. But normal people couldn't operate it properly so they end up using serial killers who have been executed by the state.
So it's also about morality - you've got the US government who are supposedly all "democracy and freedom" using people against their will who they've actually put to death. The US is embroiled in a huge war in the middle east that covers the entire region and represents an escalation of the 'war on terror', but is also really a resource grab. They've had to use things like MitL to 'get the job done', as it were.
To juxtapose this, I had a female terrorist whose entire family had been killed when the Americans had mistakenly bombed her village. The idea was she would be responsible for bombing the MitL facility.
The idea also was to tell her story in reverse, where the other story would be forwards. So at the beginning she seems to be the bad guy, he the good, whereas by the end you realise it's more the other way around.
I've been working away on this for ages now and have loads of it written, but I've been struggling a bit and skirting around some of the difficult bits (meaning dodgy story elements) and I've kinda realised that there's a much better way for me to tell the story.
Essentially I can instead contrast the MitL guy's story against his original capture. In other words, it can be a detective story 'with a twist'. I could have the MitL man seeing what seems to be another person but is actually himself as a serial killer "leaking" into his own computer world. At the same time, the other thread could be the detectives tracking him down.
The problem is that it means totally abandoning at least two thirds of what I've written. It's a lot stronger and simpler way of doing things, though, and won't involve quite so many dodgy stuff.
A lot of what I've written is kinda comic-booky. I mean some of the characters almost have moments where they go "Muhahahaha" in a maniacal laugh stylee :/. But it was the only way I could think of bridging between the plot strands. Plus the terrorst is kinda cheesey.
I guess I need to bite the bullet.
knackered
I'm so knackered today.
Had a meeting yesterday which basically meant I was in the car all day, which is probably the main reason why.
I just don't feel like doing anything - it's the sort of day I wished we worked flexi and I could have had either a lie in or I could go home a little earlier.
Had a meeting yesterday which basically meant I was in the car all day, which is probably the main reason why.
I just don't feel like doing anything - it's the sort of day I wished we worked flexi and I could have had either a lie in or I could go home a little earlier.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
kettles
How come kettles are always 1.7litres?
I've never figured that out it's such a random number. Why not 1.5litres? Or 2 litres?
And besides, they never actually take 1.7 litres anyway. If you actually fill them up that much then when it boils, it will bubble out of the spout, which is more than a little dangerous.
It just seems stupid to me - designed but not properly tested.
Well, just got an e-mail telling me newtype, animedia and animage are on the way, so I should have them early next week. I still need to scan the previous two animages, but I'm awful close to clearing the decks for magazine scans, so hopefully I can tackle some of the artbooks.
You never know, I may update scan-city.org with some more scans too at some point.
I've never figured that out it's such a random number. Why not 1.5litres? Or 2 litres?
And besides, they never actually take 1.7 litres anyway. If you actually fill them up that much then when it boils, it will bubble out of the spout, which is more than a little dangerous.
It just seems stupid to me - designed but not properly tested.
Well, just got an e-mail telling me newtype, animedia and animage are on the way, so I should have them early next week. I still need to scan the previous two animages, but I'm awful close to clearing the decks for magazine scans, so hopefully I can tackle some of the artbooks.
You never know, I may update scan-city.org with some more scans too at some point.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
back to work
Well, w/end off is over, so it's back to work... :(
Achieved quite a bit over he w/end. Moved my stuff around, sorted through a lot of boxes. Got four box-crates of stuff to sell on e-bay, chucked 3 or 4 black binbags worth of rubbish away.
I didn't quite achieve everything I wanted to on that front, though. It's always more knackering than you think it's going to be sorting though stuff. There's all the heavy lifting of course, but when you have limited space like I do you end up shuffling lots of things back and forth to make room and then there's all the thinking things through - "should I keep this, should I sell that?" Ah well, I'm sure there will be more opportunities.
Anyway, I also did a shed load of scanning while I was off. All I have left are two animage mags. Animage is the one that is glued, so I spent time unglueing it rather than scanning it, so it's all ready to go now. The next target is the huge pile of artbooks that are waiting for scanning. There are literally more than a dozen of them, though some have more images than others.
And obviously I've been watching fansubs while I've been scanning. Here are some thoughts:
You'll also notice the last three were kinda shoujo type series. There seem to have been a lot of these this year. Maybe it's just that I happen to have watched three of them (I tend to be utterly random when picking what order to watch things in).
Achieved quite a bit over he w/end. Moved my stuff around, sorted through a lot of boxes. Got four box-crates of stuff to sell on e-bay, chucked 3 or 4 black binbags worth of rubbish away.
I didn't quite achieve everything I wanted to on that front, though. It's always more knackering than you think it's going to be sorting though stuff. There's all the heavy lifting of course, but when you have limited space like I do you end up shuffling lots of things back and forth to make room and then there's all the thinking things through - "should I keep this, should I sell that?" Ah well, I'm sure there will be more opportunities.
Anyway, I also did a shed load of scanning while I was off. All I have left are two animage mags. Animage is the one that is glued, so I spent time unglueing it rather than scanning it, so it's all ready to go now. The next target is the huge pile of artbooks that are waiting for scanning. There are literally more than a dozen of them, though some have more images than others.
And obviously I've been watching fansubs while I've been scanning. Here are some thoughts:
- Kure-nai: watched a few more of these and I quite like it. It's more of a character piece than an action piece, but seems well realised.
- To Love-Ru: it's a fairly standard hot alien girl comes to earth and causes havoc in a young boys life series, but it's quite well done. Also doesn't seem to take itself too seriously and echii shows are never a bad thing in my particular book.
- Macross Frontier: Yeah, pretty good. This one seems to suffer with the same issue I've always had with macross series, though, being unusual pacing. In macross shows there always seems to be huge action sequences that are really exciting, but then you get equally huge periods of almost nothing at all happening. It unfortunately ends up making the quite bits seem more boring than they actually are.
- Penguin Girl (Penguin Musume Heart): I ended up just not quite liking this one enough. I dunno, it seemed like it didn't quite meet its potential, somehow. I mean, it's a comedy with a character who is anime/manga obsessed and there seem to have been a lot of those recently, so maybe that's why I found it a little disappointing.
- Kamen No Maid Guy: Again, I felt a little disappointed for some reason. This one has a really nice premise of a big tough guy (think fist of the north star chara) whose working as a maid for a hot, young heiress. However, I dunno, it never really seemed to get going. Not there is a slight caveat to that - the translation in the fansub translation was really poor, and also character tend to speak very quickly, so the text would be quite difficult to read anyway, even if it wasn't badly written. So perhaps that hampered my enjoyment.
- Nabari no Ou: I didn't find it all that engaging. I was also a bit confused by what it is - I wasn't sure if it was aimed at boys or girls, as it seems to have that classic "yaoi pretty boy" character design, but the subject matter is distinctly shounen in nature (ninjas and hidden powers and prophecies - not really my cup of tea) and there's a couple of female characters that sort of seem like love interests for the male lead. It was a bit sort of jumbled up.
- Junjo Romantica: didn't get very far with this. It's, well, let's just say it's not a show aimed at me :). I guess if you're a fan of the whole yaoi/boylove thing this is a good example of the genre, but it's not my cup of tea.
- Vampire Knight: Ugh. It's got vampires and a girl lead - it's like a distillation of all that appalling hormonal teenage girl dribble that I roll my eyes at on Urbis. Sorry, I'm sure it has it's fans and not wanting to slate it - it's probably better than all that - but count me out.
You'll also notice the last three were kinda shoujo type series. There seem to have been a lot of these this year. Maybe it's just that I happen to have watched three of them (I tend to be utterly random when picking what order to watch things in).
Thursday, 3 July 2008
big gun(s)
My new yoko (from Gurren Lagann) figure turned up last night. It's really rather nice, although there's a bit of dodgyness with the gun.
I've got a few figures where they're holding things like guns. They're always separate items that you have to slot in, but normally if they're long (like a pole or a spear) the item itself breaks in two so that you can easily slide it between their fingers and then pop on the end pieces.
However, with this yoko figure, the gun doesn't break and you have to bend her fingers in order to get the gun in. I mean, obviously they're plastic so her fingers do bend and go back to how they were, but still it's a bit of a heart-stopping moment prizing her fingers apart. It's certainly not something I'd want to do over-and-over again.
Also started watching Ai Yori Aoshi last night - got through six eps. I'm a little disappointed, tbh. The first three eps were really nice - sort of a romantic comedy/slice of life thing with ecchi that looked like it was going to be something a bit special. Then suddenly, in episode four it degenerates into a fairly standard harem style show.
Not that I don't like those sorts of shows, just the sudden change was a bit of a shock, plus I've seen loads of those already. What the first 3 eps were was something different and a bit more interesting.
It's weird - it changes so suddenly it's almost like they had one writer and then he suddenly got fired when the studio found out that he wasn't doing a proper harem show. I'm sure it's actually based on a manga where the same thing happens, but still it's a really sudden shift.
Well, my 4 day weekend beckons. Hopefully I'll get everything done that I want/need to, but either way it's going to be nice to have a bit of time away from work.
I've got a few figures where they're holding things like guns. They're always separate items that you have to slot in, but normally if they're long (like a pole or a spear) the item itself breaks in two so that you can easily slide it between their fingers and then pop on the end pieces.
However, with this yoko figure, the gun doesn't break and you have to bend her fingers in order to get the gun in. I mean, obviously they're plastic so her fingers do bend and go back to how they were, but still it's a bit of a heart-stopping moment prizing her fingers apart. It's certainly not something I'd want to do over-and-over again.
Also started watching Ai Yori Aoshi last night - got through six eps. I'm a little disappointed, tbh. The first three eps were really nice - sort of a romantic comedy/slice of life thing with ecchi that looked like it was going to be something a bit special. Then suddenly, in episode four it degenerates into a fairly standard harem style show.
Not that I don't like those sorts of shows, just the sudden change was a bit of a shock, plus I've seen loads of those already. What the first 3 eps were was something different and a bit more interesting.
It's weird - it changes so suddenly it's almost like they had one writer and then he suddenly got fired when the studio found out that he wasn't doing a proper harem show. I'm sure it's actually based on a manga where the same thing happens, but still it's a really sudden shift.
Well, my 4 day weekend beckons. Hopefully I'll get everything done that I want/need to, but either way it's going to be nice to have a bit of time away from work.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
thinking in moments
Part of the problem I have with the way my imagination seems to work when I'm writing is that it operates in snatched, often very visual moments.
Take for instance this piece. It's currently the third part of a longer piece. But it didn't start that way.
It started as a random cool thing that I thought up and wrote down. I then wove it into the story--indeed, the story almost developed around that piece. The part went through about 5 revisions, but that opening line--servos stuttering into life--never really changed.
This is really a mixed bag. It can be really frustrating having only a "cool bit" and not being able to properly weave anything else around it.
It can also be annoying. Sometimes by the time I've thought of the plot some other cool bit will be in my imagination which has absolutely no relevance the the previous cool bit.
But on the other hand, it can be exciting not knowing quite what's going to pop out of my head next.
Take for instance this piece. It's currently the third part of a longer piece. But it didn't start that way.
It started as a random cool thing that I thought up and wrote down. I then wove it into the story--indeed, the story almost developed around that piece. The part went through about 5 revisions, but that opening line--servos stuttering into life--never really changed.
This is really a mixed bag. It can be really frustrating having only a "cool bit" and not being able to properly weave anything else around it.
It can also be annoying. Sometimes by the time I've thought of the plot some other cool bit will be in my imagination which has absolutely no relevance the the previous cool bit.
But on the other hand, it can be exciting not knowing quite what's going to pop out of my head next.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
stuck in
I'm really getting stuck into all the stuff I had stacked up from the last few months.
I've finished Genshiken and all the extras. Great show and nice to have stuff like director interviews and other extras on anime DVDs, even if they don't really add any particular insight. Expect a review over on trismugistus.com whenever I get around to it.
I'm also about half way through the piled up anime magazines I need to scan, so that's good. As I've mentioned I watch anime fansubs while I'm scanning.
So far I've attacked:
What else?
Oh yeah - watched I Am Legend. What can I say? Disappointing somehow doesn't quite cover it. I mean I quite like Will Smith and there are some nice bits, but I dunno, the film just felt really flat somehow. Not sure if I'll review it or not.
Also watched the first disk in the first Gurren Lagann release. It's currently being released as three * 2-diskers with (virtually) no extras and sub only, though I understand there will be a more 'normal' release later in the year. I'm into new episodes (ie more than I'd seen from fansubs) now and I'm not disappointed.
One of the advantages of stopping fansubs after 3/4 eps is that when I watch the DVDs it's not like rewatching a show - it's new to me. The disadvantage is that I can become disappointed if it tails off later in the series and it can feel like I've wasted my money.
With Gurren (and the same will happen with Geass) I'm also a little hampered that I've built it up (hyped it) to such a degree in my own head that the show is predestined to be disappointing. The cure is to wait for ages before watching so it feels 'fresh' but it's also this mental build up that makes it difficult to wait :/.
I've finished Genshiken and all the extras. Great show and nice to have stuff like director interviews and other extras on anime DVDs, even if they don't really add any particular insight. Expect a review over on trismugistus.com whenever I get around to it.
I'm also about half way through the piled up anime magazines I need to scan, so that's good. As I've mentioned I watch anime fansubs while I'm scanning.
So far I've attacked:
- Persona Trinity Soul: I was surprised, it seems quite good. Some of those homoerotic undertones going on I feel, but I've no problems with that, just an observation.
- Mnemosyne: This I really liked. There's nothing truly new or unique about the show, and it cherry picks a lot of good ideas/concepts, but I quite like how it's all come together. It's also pretty damn adult in tone, which is at least some relief from all the moe and cutesy that anime can be at times.
- Kanokon: Again, I actually liked it. It's one of those shows were a dweeby/wimpy male protagonist finds himself subject to the affections of just about every girl that knows him (whether overt and in-your-face or more subtle and hidden). They're never realistic shows and should never be taken for more than what they are, but this one is reasonable enough. Though perhaps my opinion is swayed by the two things that set kanokon apart: the use of spirits (which translates into catgirls and other mildly furry elements) and fanservice that borders on pornography. I'm a sucker for those things.
- Kure-nai: just started, so I haven't formed an opinion yet... other than it has the most misleading opening title animation I've ever seen. It and the show seem to be at almost complete opposites :/.
What else?
Oh yeah - watched I Am Legend. What can I say? Disappointing somehow doesn't quite cover it. I mean I quite like Will Smith and there are some nice bits, but I dunno, the film just felt really flat somehow. Not sure if I'll review it or not.
Also watched the first disk in the first Gurren Lagann release. It's currently being released as three * 2-diskers with (virtually) no extras and sub only, though I understand there will be a more 'normal' release later in the year. I'm into new episodes (ie more than I'd seen from fansubs) now and I'm not disappointed.
One of the advantages of stopping fansubs after 3/4 eps is that when I watch the DVDs it's not like rewatching a show - it's new to me. The disadvantage is that I can become disappointed if it tails off later in the series and it can feel like I've wasted my money.
With Gurren (and the same will happen with Geass) I'm also a little hampered that I've built it up (hyped it) to such a degree in my own head that the show is predestined to be disappointing. The cure is to wait for ages before watching so it feels 'fresh' but it's also this mental build up that makes it difficult to wait :/.
Monday, 30 June 2008
zombie world
Do you think in zombie world, All Bran (the popular, high fibre breakfast cereal) is called All Brain? And contains nothing but brain... maybe fortified with Vitamins and Iron? Is there a zombie equivalent of Vitamins and Iron?
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
to sell or not to sell
Next week-end I'm taking a long week-end. I've booked both the Friday and Monday off.
The basic intention is to have a big sort out and decide what stuff I can sell and throw out a bunch of stuff. I'm a bit of a pack-rat, so I tend to horde stuff, sticking it in boxes and hiding it away when most normal, sane people would just throw it away.
I've loads of DVDs and manga and books and comics, but I've got conflicting emotions and am in a bit of a quandary over how far I should go. A big part of me wants to get rid of everything.
Here are the factors:
Hmm....
What I'm tempted to do is be merciless and get rid of what I can on e-bay. But stuff I'm really reticent to sell I can use "buy it now" and fix them at a fairly high price so that if they do sell, I won't fell like I've given them away.
The problem with this strategy is e-bay does tend to hit you with high charges if you put things on with large prices and then if they don't sell it tends to wipe out any money you do make from normal auctions.
The basic intention is to have a big sort out and decide what stuff I can sell and throw out a bunch of stuff. I'm a bit of a pack-rat, so I tend to horde stuff, sticking it in boxes and hiding it away when most normal, sane people would just throw it away.
I've loads of DVDs and manga and books and comics, but I've got conflicting emotions and am in a bit of a quandary over how far I should go. A big part of me wants to get rid of everything.
Here are the factors:
- I've already read/watched them once/twice/several times and I have literally hundreds if not thousands of hours of unwatched stuff that I will get stuck into before ever getting the chance to look at the old stuff again.
- They take up a hell of a lot of space that I really don't have.
- They also need to be lugged about every time I move (and are kinda a big factor in me not moving).
- There's an emotional connection - these are the things that define 'me'.
- Conversely, I feel like sometimes I'm too materialistic about stuff and feel a bit weighed down by all the stuff I own.
- Since I'm trying to stop buying everything and anything, they kinda represent the 'classics' that I can watch over and again, so they aren't 'dead weight'.
- They represent locked up capital and I could really do with the cash their sale would generate.
- Another big factor, especially for the DVDs, is that of redundancy. I got hit quite badly when DVDs came in with loads of VHS that were basically unsellable. However, it's not quite the same thing here - it's not like DVD looks bad, like VHS did. Also, to go blu-ray I'd need to complete upgrade my TV and stuff as well, so that's not going to happen for a long time.
Hmm....
What I'm tempted to do is be merciless and get rid of what I can on e-bay. But stuff I'm really reticent to sell I can use "buy it now" and fix them at a fairly high price so that if they do sell, I won't fell like I've given them away.
The problem with this strategy is e-bay does tend to hit you with high charges if you put things on with large prices and then if they don't sell it tends to wipe out any money you do make from normal auctions.
Friday, 27 June 2008
cloverfield
So I watched cloverfield last night.
I have to say I'm really rather impressed. At first, it didn't really grab me - the twenty-somethings at a party bit just seemed to... I dunno, soap opera-ish, and even by the end with their "love story" aspect I wasn't particularly into that, but the whole concept of the movie, filmed hand-held by a guy who just happened to be there at the time had so much going for it and was so well done it truly won me over.
I also remembered what yesterdays post was meant to be all about. I knew it was meant to be something about traffic, but as mentioned couldn't pin it down when actually writing it.
Basically, what happened was that when I was coming home the night before there was a traffic jam. It was at a choke point where a dual carriageway goes down to single lane and occasionally you do get jams there if there's been an accident or similar.
However, as we came round the corner, it turned out the jam was because the police had set up one of those stop and search things. This pissed me off no end. I mean, being held up for an accident is one thing, but having 25 minutes added to my journey home because of some fucking police stop and search ting is just fucking ridiculous.
Needless to say I swore quite a bit at them as I was driving the last part home.
I have to say I'm really rather impressed. At first, it didn't really grab me - the twenty-somethings at a party bit just seemed to... I dunno, soap opera-ish, and even by the end with their "love story" aspect I wasn't particularly into that, but the whole concept of the movie, filmed hand-held by a guy who just happened to be there at the time had so much going for it and was so well done it truly won me over.
I also remembered what yesterdays post was meant to be all about. I knew it was meant to be something about traffic, but as mentioned couldn't pin it down when actually writing it.
Basically, what happened was that when I was coming home the night before there was a traffic jam. It was at a choke point where a dual carriageway goes down to single lane and occasionally you do get jams there if there's been an accident or similar.
However, as we came round the corner, it turned out the jam was because the police had set up one of those stop and search things. This pissed me off no end. I mean, being held up for an accident is one thing, but having 25 minutes added to my journey home because of some fucking police stop and search ting is just fucking ridiculous.
Needless to say I swore quite a bit at them as I was driving the last part home.
Thursday, 26 June 2008
sir random of shizzle
Something a little weird happens when I write these blog posts. Normally, during the day I'll encounter one or two things where I think to myself - "Hey, I should blog about that tomorrow."
However, when I then come to write the post, I just end up writing a random shizzle post about whatever pops into my brain at the time I'm writing.
It's like today - I had something planned about how I really enjoy driving, but hate sitting in jams and this was going to lead onto some of the more bizarre "long-cuts" I've taken to avoid areas where I think there might be a jam.
However, when I started writing, all I could initially think about was how I've actually done some scanning and scanned in a newtype over the last couple of evenings. Also, I watched some Persona: Trinity Soul.
I tend to watch fansubs while I'm scanning - it's a convenient convergence. Scans take a while to do and involve lots of stopping and starting and waiting for stuff to happen, so watching the TV is difficult as you need to keep looking away and pausing, which is where fansubs are great. It also makes the time feel a bit more useful.
On the whole, I only watch fansubs to make an assessment of the series. Although I do dl all the eps (or as many as are done before licensing), I'll only actually watch the first three or four. This is about 1 DVDs worth and lets me assess the show.
I group things into four categories:
Perhaps this was due to me judging more harshly as a knock-on effect of the previous two seasons. 12 months before (in October 2006) Gode Geass had started and 6 months before, Gurren Lagann had started, so maybe I had been a bit spoiled, but still it seemed to be a distinctly lacklustre season.
Maybe that's why I've been so reluctcant with the new season's shows (the ones that started this April).
You see what I mean? I always seem to get stuck in the trivial stuff, rather than post anything properly interesting or insightful.
Such is the way of blogging, I guess.
However, when I then come to write the post, I just end up writing a random shizzle post about whatever pops into my brain at the time I'm writing.
It's like today - I had something planned about how I really enjoy driving, but hate sitting in jams and this was going to lead onto some of the more bizarre "long-cuts" I've taken to avoid areas where I think there might be a jam.
However, when I started writing, all I could initially think about was how I've actually done some scanning and scanned in a newtype over the last couple of evenings. Also, I watched some Persona: Trinity Soul.
I tend to watch fansubs while I'm scanning - it's a convenient convergence. Scans take a while to do and involve lots of stopping and starting and waiting for stuff to happen, so watching the TV is difficult as you need to keep looking away and pausing, which is where fansubs are great. It also makes the time feel a bit more useful.
On the whole, I only watch fansubs to make an assessment of the series. Although I do dl all the eps (or as many as are done before licensing), I'll only actually watch the first three or four. This is about 1 DVDs worth and lets me assess the show.
I group things into four categories:
- "awful" are the shows I'd rather scrape my eyes out than continue watching.
- "poor" are shows that I could watch to pass the time, but would probably only buy if they were in some super-cheap boxset.
- "good" are shows that are probably worthy of a purchase, though maybe wait to see if there's a thinpack release or similar.
- "awesome" are the unmissable shows I'm salivating at the bit to purchase.
Perhaps this was due to me judging more harshly as a knock-on effect of the previous two seasons. 12 months before (in October 2006) Gode Geass had started and 6 months before, Gurren Lagann had started, so maybe I had been a bit spoiled, but still it seemed to be a distinctly lacklustre season.
Maybe that's why I've been so reluctcant with the new season's shows (the ones that started this April).
You see what I mean? I always seem to get stuck in the trivial stuff, rather than post anything properly interesting or insightful.
Such is the way of blogging, I guess.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
One of those days
I'm having one of those days where I can't quite seem to get started on anything and stick with it.
It's a bit like a cross between boredom and listlessness.
I keep saying, "I know, I'll work on that!" And then I either open the file and instantly go "Nah, can't be arsed with that... I wonder if anything new has been posted on the forums?" or, worse, I don't even open the file up.
And this also applies to the distractions I use to clear my head as well. Often times at work I'll do something completely non-work related for quarter of an hour or so to help clear my brain of clag. It's a bit like distracting myself with something that's actually interesting.
But today I can't even focus on these. It was even difficult coming up with anything to put in the old bloggage.
It's a bit like a cross between boredom and listlessness.
I keep saying, "I know, I'll work on that!" And then I either open the file and instantly go "Nah, can't be arsed with that... I wonder if anything new has been posted on the forums?" or, worse, I don't even open the file up.
And this also applies to the distractions I use to clear my head as well. Often times at work I'll do something completely non-work related for quarter of an hour or so to help clear my brain of clag. It's a bit like distracting myself with something that's actually interesting.
But today I can't even focus on these. It was even difficult coming up with anything to put in the old bloggage.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
mmm, yoko
Great news!
Just received an e-mail saying that my copy of the first English language release of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is in the post.
This show is awesome and I will definitely clear some space at the week-end to give the disks a bit of a watch.
I'm just waiting for Geass to get itself released and I'll be like a monkey with a banana - no, make that a crate of bananas.
Huzzah!
Just received an e-mail saying that my copy of the first English language release of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is in the post.
This show is awesome and I will definitely clear some space at the week-end to give the disks a bit of a watch.
I'm just waiting for Geass to get itself released and I'll be like a monkey with a banana - no, make that a crate of bananas.
Huzzah!
moptop
I'm in desperate need of a haircut.
The excuse I've been using to avoid getting one is that the weather's so damnably changeable at the moment, I could find myself with a short summer cut when it's snowing outside. However, the real reason I'm avoiding it is I just plain don't like having my hair cut.
I've never been able to fully pin down why this is, but I think there are several factors. Firstly is the whole idea of a stranger with a sharp object very close to my head. That's never good.
Then there's the invasion of personal space issue to go along with that. I'm not good with that sort of thing.
Plus I always think I look really daft with a fresh haircut. It seems to take a while for the do to "bed in" as it were.
But I think one of the main reasons is that my mum used to cut my hair. Now this wasn't some random mum haircut thing - my mum used to be a hairdresser, so she knew what she was doing. But it did mean I hadn't ever had a haircut at a Barbers until my mum died a few years back.
So, in other words, it's not something I'm really used to in the way most people are, having not grown up with people cutting my hair.
The excuse I've been using to avoid getting one is that the weather's so damnably changeable at the moment, I could find myself with a short summer cut when it's snowing outside. However, the real reason I'm avoiding it is I just plain don't like having my hair cut.
I've never been able to fully pin down why this is, but I think there are several factors. Firstly is the whole idea of a stranger with a sharp object very close to my head. That's never good.
Then there's the invasion of personal space issue to go along with that. I'm not good with that sort of thing.
Plus I always think I look really daft with a fresh haircut. It seems to take a while for the do to "bed in" as it were.
But I think one of the main reasons is that my mum used to cut my hair. Now this wasn't some random mum haircut thing - my mum used to be a hairdresser, so she knew what she was doing. But it did mean I hadn't ever had a haircut at a Barbers until my mum died a few years back.
So, in other words, it's not something I'm really used to in the way most people are, having not grown up with people cutting my hair.
Monday, 23 June 2008
mad men
So I finished that series I'd tivo'd.
It was called Mad Men and was shown as part of the BBC's season looking at advertising. I quite liked the season and some of the documentaries in it, but knew I wasn't going to have time to watch the show, so I recorded it on my PVR.
To be honest, I probably shouldn't have bothered.
The season was about advertising, as I say, and one of the big things that came out of it was that during the late 1950's / early 1960s the creatives on Madison avenue in New York basically revolutionised the way advertising was done. They were called "Mad Men" (a phrase they themselves coined) and the show was therefore ostensibly set in that era/place.
However, and this was what disappointed me, actually it isn't. I mean, it is set in an advertising agency and the characters are Mad Men, but really, you could have set the show "last week in Birmingham" or "in 1980's Vancouver". The reason I was watching - the advertising thing - is almost incidental.
What the show is really about is the social changes that happened in the 1960s as the repressed (woman and blacks) were starting on the road to equality in the workplace and society. A big chunk is devoted to the Kennnedy/Nixon election, for example.
Now it does that pretty well, I'd say, but I dunno, it kinda left me cold.
You see, a real big part of the problem was that these people were about the most unsympathetic bunch of characters in a TV show ever.
All the men were incredibly misogynistic and racist, extremely caty, back-biting and jealous of each other... and the women weren't much better. They're all also clearly alcoholics and they smoke heavily, plus they shag each other at the merest drop of a hat.
Now, these things would kinda be all right in some degree of moderation, but they're so excessive in the show (for example, you literally never see the characters without a glass of hard liquor in their hands) it almost becomes parody. Plus it stretches the bounds of credibility - I don't care who you are, you could not consume the volumes of liquor these guys do and still function in your daily life.
I dunno, maybe as I say it's because the bit I was looking for - the advertising world and how that works - was so incidental the other aspects just ended up annoying me. I guess if I'd been less pre-expecting what the show was I would have liked it more, but in the end I just felt disappointed :(.
It was called Mad Men and was shown as part of the BBC's season looking at advertising. I quite liked the season and some of the documentaries in it, but knew I wasn't going to have time to watch the show, so I recorded it on my PVR.
To be honest, I probably shouldn't have bothered.
The season was about advertising, as I say, and one of the big things that came out of it was that during the late 1950's / early 1960s the creatives on Madison avenue in New York basically revolutionised the way advertising was done. They were called "Mad Men" (a phrase they themselves coined) and the show was therefore ostensibly set in that era/place.
However, and this was what disappointed me, actually it isn't. I mean, it is set in an advertising agency and the characters are Mad Men, but really, you could have set the show "last week in Birmingham" or "in 1980's Vancouver". The reason I was watching - the advertising thing - is almost incidental.
What the show is really about is the social changes that happened in the 1960s as the repressed (woman and blacks) were starting on the road to equality in the workplace and society. A big chunk is devoted to the Kennnedy/Nixon election, for example.
Now it does that pretty well, I'd say, but I dunno, it kinda left me cold.
You see, a real big part of the problem was that these people were about the most unsympathetic bunch of characters in a TV show ever.
All the men were incredibly misogynistic and racist, extremely caty, back-biting and jealous of each other... and the women weren't much better. They're all also clearly alcoholics and they smoke heavily, plus they shag each other at the merest drop of a hat.
Now, these things would kinda be all right in some degree of moderation, but they're so excessive in the show (for example, you literally never see the characters without a glass of hard liquor in their hands) it almost becomes parody. Plus it stretches the bounds of credibility - I don't care who you are, you could not consume the volumes of liquor these guys do and still function in your daily life.
I dunno, maybe as I say it's because the bit I was looking for - the advertising world and how that works - was so incidental the other aspects just ended up annoying me. I guess if I'd been less pre-expecting what the show was I would have liked it more, but in the end I just felt disappointed :(.
Friday, 20 June 2008
suit me to a tee
I think my perfect job would be as a vectorer.
There is no such job (well, I don't think there is anyway), but if it existed, it would vector tracing imagery. What the imagery was wouldn't really matter, but I find vectoring things to be really very enjoyable.
It's like this recent piece of artwork I did for my company. The timeframes were ridiculously short and so I ended up working my arse off and am now a bit knackered, but despite that I still enjoyed it a great deal. I also ended up with a real sense of satisfaction.
Also, the part of walling I enjoy the most is vectoring the character images. And nowadays I always vector them - even if, really, there's actually no need. Partly, I do this because I like the clean look it gives (which also really suits anime), but mainly I just enjoy it.
I mean, it can get tedious at times. Hair on anime characters (well, girls) is often the worst, with loads of lines going back and forth and swooshing this way and that and twirling up at the ends, but even then there's a lot of satisfaction in looking at the results once you've completed it.
I think what it is I enjoy about vectoring is it's, well, if not imposing order on chaos, then certainly it's tidying up the bedroom floor of chaos and organising everything into nice neat piles. I quite like that.
Shame there's no such job :).
There is no such job (well, I don't think there is anyway), but if it existed, it would vector tracing imagery. What the imagery was wouldn't really matter, but I find vectoring things to be really very enjoyable.
It's like this recent piece of artwork I did for my company. The timeframes were ridiculously short and so I ended up working my arse off and am now a bit knackered, but despite that I still enjoyed it a great deal. I also ended up with a real sense of satisfaction.
Also, the part of walling I enjoy the most is vectoring the character images. And nowadays I always vector them - even if, really, there's actually no need. Partly, I do this because I like the clean look it gives (which also really suits anime), but mainly I just enjoy it.
I mean, it can get tedious at times. Hair on anime characters (well, girls) is often the worst, with loads of lines going back and forth and swooshing this way and that and twirling up at the ends, but even then there's a lot of satisfaction in looking at the results once you've completed it.
I think what it is I enjoy about vectoring is it's, well, if not imposing order on chaos, then certainly it's tidying up the bedroom floor of chaos and organising everything into nice neat piles. I quite like that.
Shame there's no such job :).
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Sandwich rule
I've always been fascinated by how sandwiches pretty much conform to the rule "You get what you pay for."
Which isn't to say that sandwiches aren't over-priced - they are - but just that if you pay £1.00 for a sandwich you get about a fifth as good a sandwich as if you pay £5.00 for a sandwich.
I've also always been fascinated by expressions such as the above - you get what you pay for. I mean, that's a fairly innocuous and obvious one, but generally I love expressions and try to shoe-horn them into any conversation I'm having.
Not much of a blog entry, but I've been kinda busy this last couple of days. It's been kinda fun - I've been doing what I call "reprographics" which is basically the company is attending a roadshow in the near future and we need a big logo for the board as well as some "letterhead" type paper and name badges and stuff and I've been making them up.
We're not really that sort of a company so it's taken probably five times as long for me to do it in photoshop, rather than a proper design program, but as I say, we're not that sort of company so we don't tend to have those sorts of programs hanging around. Still, kinda fun.
I've always said there were only ever two things I wanted to do in life. The first was sing and the other was draw comic books.
I can't do either, unfortunately, as I don't have either vocal or drawing talent; however, through seer bloody mindedness I have sorta ended up with a few basic skills with the old photoshop, so it's fun to flex them every so often.
Which isn't to say that sandwiches aren't over-priced - they are - but just that if you pay £1.00 for a sandwich you get about a fifth as good a sandwich as if you pay £5.00 for a sandwich.
I've also always been fascinated by expressions such as the above - you get what you pay for. I mean, that's a fairly innocuous and obvious one, but generally I love expressions and try to shoe-horn them into any conversation I'm having.
Not much of a blog entry, but I've been kinda busy this last couple of days. It's been kinda fun - I've been doing what I call "reprographics" which is basically the company is attending a roadshow in the near future and we need a big logo for the board as well as some "letterhead" type paper and name badges and stuff and I've been making them up.
We're not really that sort of a company so it's taken probably five times as long for me to do it in photoshop, rather than a proper design program, but as I say, we're not that sort of company so we don't tend to have those sorts of programs hanging around. Still, kinda fun.
I've always said there were only ever two things I wanted to do in life. The first was sing and the other was draw comic books.
I can't do either, unfortunately, as I don't have either vocal or drawing talent; however, through seer bloody mindedness I have sorta ended up with a few basic skills with the old photoshop, so it's fun to flex them every so often.
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
those little tubes of cancer
I could be a smoker.
I mean, I am a smoker, I guess, but not a proper smoker. Currently I get through an average of around 5 cigarettes a week - so basically a pack of 20 lasts me a month. I used to smoke as a 'social smoker,' which basically means I smoked when I drank, but--partly due to the ban on smoking in public spaces--I don't really do that any more.
However, something I've found is that one of the most enjoyable things in the world is smoking while writing.
It's difficult to explain quite why it is, but for some reason the two activities just seem to go well together. While you're thinking of the next bit, you can take a draw on the cancer tube - it just seems to work.
So perhaps it's a good thing that I'm such a flake when it comes to getting things done - otherwise I might be on 20 a day!
I mean, I am a smoker, I guess, but not a proper smoker. Currently I get through an average of around 5 cigarettes a week - so basically a pack of 20 lasts me a month. I used to smoke as a 'social smoker,' which basically means I smoked when I drank, but--partly due to the ban on smoking in public spaces--I don't really do that any more.
However, something I've found is that one of the most enjoyable things in the world is smoking while writing.
It's difficult to explain quite why it is, but for some reason the two activities just seem to go well together. While you're thinking of the next bit, you can take a draw on the cancer tube - it just seems to work.
So perhaps it's a good thing that I'm such a flake when it comes to getting things done - otherwise I might be on 20 a day!
Monday, 16 June 2008
New mags
The new animedia, animage and newtype were waiting for me when I got back from work last Friday (yet more stuff to scan - *eek*).
They're definitely much better this month than the last couple of months, although animedia seems to be doing a lot of polls just recently. I think it's some kind of anniversary for them, but they're a bit of a pain the poll issues. I mean, they can be okay when you get a new spread froa classic series, but normally they just fill the pages with small, random screenshot type images which are a bit rubbish. I guess if I knew what they were saying it would be better, but still.
ADV's tailspin of doom seems to be continuing apace, with the replacement to NewType US going tits up after only the fourth issue - ANN article. It's a bit sad really, as whatever you may think about any one anime company and its releases (for the record I like ADV) the fundamental fact remains that the more western anime distributors there are, the better.
Speaking of which, I'd better try the whole Gonzo digital releases thing (assuming it's still going) when I get around to watching some 'mu. Good on them for trying, but the actual shows they're doing it for don't look all that great if I'm honest. I hope that doesn't affect things, as it would be a real shame to see something like this die at the first hurdle.
Not that I'm a big fan of purely digital copies of things, if I'm honest, but if that's the way it needs to go then so be it.
They're definitely much better this month than the last couple of months, although animedia seems to be doing a lot of polls just recently. I think it's some kind of anniversary for them, but they're a bit of a pain the poll issues. I mean, they can be okay when you get a new spread froa classic series, but normally they just fill the pages with small, random screenshot type images which are a bit rubbish. I guess if I knew what they were saying it would be better, but still.
ADV's tailspin of doom seems to be continuing apace, with the replacement to NewType US going tits up after only the fourth issue - ANN article. It's a bit sad really, as whatever you may think about any one anime company and its releases (for the record I like ADV) the fundamental fact remains that the more western anime distributors there are, the better.
Speaking of which, I'd better try the whole Gonzo digital releases thing (assuming it's still going) when I get around to watching some 'mu. Good on them for trying, but the actual shows they're doing it for don't look all that great if I'm honest. I hope that doesn't affect things, as it would be a real shame to see something like this die at the first hurdle.
Not that I'm a big fan of purely digital copies of things, if I'm honest, but if that's the way it needs to go then so be it.
Friday, 13 June 2008
Uhhh - not again
I'm a member of a site called Urbis.
Urbis is a writer's forum, but not in the sense of normal internet forums (though it does have one of those) but more along the lines of a writer's group like you might get as part of a teaching course. The jist is that you post up pieces of your work, and then other writers offer critique.
Now, there are quite a few of these types of site on the intarwebs, but what sets Urbis apart is their use of a credit system. This works like money - for every review you write you get credits, which you then have to spend to unlock the reviews people do of your own work.
It's quite simple, but very clever (as are all the best ideas) because what it means is that everybody is forced to contribute in order to get what they want - critique of their own work. Normally on writer's sites, everybody posts their stuff, but nobody bothers reading or reviewing it. And if they do review it, then they simply give you slap on the back and tell you you're great - even if you're not.
At Urbis, because you have to pay for reviews and the system is finely balanced so that, very roughly speaking, one review you write unlocks one review of your own work, if someone gives you a rubbish review, you can ask for a refund and then spend the points getting at reviews that actually help you improve your work. Also, things are done anonymously, so you can't really be prejudiced when writing reviews.
However, and this isn't really a complaint about the system, I do seem to find myself making exactly the same points over and over again.
There's a book called "Techniques of the Selling Writer" by Dwight Swain, and what this book does is to lay out all the fundamentals of modern fiction writing. One of the points made in the book is actually that there's no such thing as a set of hard-and-fast rules, but as far as these things go, that's what he gives you - a set of basic rules, the mastery of which will set you in good stead.
Some of the absolute basic ones are:
But the worst part is that I was the same when I started - someone on Urbis told me about the book. So in many ways I feel honour bound to pass this information on and tell them about the book, but it doesn't half get depressing when within the first 5 sentences of a 5,000 word piece someone has done all three of the above :(.
Urbis is a writer's forum, but not in the sense of normal internet forums (though it does have one of those) but more along the lines of a writer's group like you might get as part of a teaching course. The jist is that you post up pieces of your work, and then other writers offer critique.
Now, there are quite a few of these types of site on the intarwebs, but what sets Urbis apart is their use of a credit system. This works like money - for every review you write you get credits, which you then have to spend to unlock the reviews people do of your own work.
It's quite simple, but very clever (as are all the best ideas) because what it means is that everybody is forced to contribute in order to get what they want - critique of their own work. Normally on writer's sites, everybody posts their stuff, but nobody bothers reading or reviewing it. And if they do review it, then they simply give you slap on the back and tell you you're great - even if you're not.
At Urbis, because you have to pay for reviews and the system is finely balanced so that, very roughly speaking, one review you write unlocks one review of your own work, if someone gives you a rubbish review, you can ask for a refund and then spend the points getting at reviews that actually help you improve your work. Also, things are done anonymously, so you can't really be prejudiced when writing reviews.
However, and this isn't really a complaint about the system, I do seem to find myself making exactly the same points over and over again.
There's a book called "Techniques of the Selling Writer" by Dwight Swain, and what this book does is to lay out all the fundamentals of modern fiction writing. One of the points made in the book is actually that there's no such thing as a set of hard-and-fast rules, but as far as these things go, that's what he gives you - a set of basic rules, the mastery of which will set you in good stead.
Some of the absolute basic ones are:
- Show, don't tell;
- Nothing happens at the same time - only sequentially; and of course
- Review your work several times before you show it to anyone (for both spelling/grammar and sense).
But the worst part is that I was the same when I started - someone on Urbis told me about the book. So in many ways I feel honour bound to pass this information on and tell them about the book, but it doesn't half get depressing when within the first 5 sentences of a 5,000 word piece someone has done all three of the above :(.
42
I've tried not to include politics in the blog as, well, it's not all that interesting, but I've been kinda intrigued by the issues over the extension of the detention without charge powers to 42 days.
In theory this power is only for use with terror suspects and will allow police to detain them for up to 42 days without charging them. This is important as, since the signing of Magna Carta way back in the early 1200's, every person arrested or detained by Police in England has had the right to be released unless charged within 24 hours.
It's called Habeas Corpus and it's essentially seen as a fundamental human right. They cannot hold you without formally accusing you of an actual crime. It's important because it's what separates us from despotism and dictatorship - this is your real and actual freedom that people who talk about freedom actually mean when it comes down to it.
This power to hold was extended for those suspect of terrorism up to 28 days a while back now, and has recently been approved for extension up to 42 days by the House of Commons.
Really, this, for me, is a very scary thing, because it's the thin end of the wedge. Where does it go next? What other suspects of crimes might start to have longer periods of detention? How long does it become? 84 days? 168 days? 365 days? As long as the police need in order to manufacture evidence?
But the really scary thing is that, apparently, surveys indicate three quarters of the UK population agree with the move. To me, that's staggering, and it seems it's because it's about terrorism.
For some reason, people have become so brainwashed about terrorism that they somehow feel it is okay to abuse people's human rights because of it. And here's the key point in this - these people are suspects. They have not necessarily committed a crime.
There seems to be an attitude that if you're arrested for terrorism then you must be guilty. But what about those that aren't guilty? This is the fundamental point about freedom and why it is so important - everyone has the right to due process. Even the bad guys.
Of course, to some extent, I believe it to be a little academic, as I don't see why the house of lords won't just throw the law out the window, but bizarrely, this means that the unelected part of our democratic process is better able to safeguard our rights than our actual elected representatives :/.
In theory this power is only for use with terror suspects and will allow police to detain them for up to 42 days without charging them. This is important as, since the signing of Magna Carta way back in the early 1200's, every person arrested or detained by Police in England has had the right to be released unless charged within 24 hours.
It's called Habeas Corpus and it's essentially seen as a fundamental human right. They cannot hold you without formally accusing you of an actual crime. It's important because it's what separates us from despotism and dictatorship - this is your real and actual freedom that people who talk about freedom actually mean when it comes down to it.
This power to hold was extended for those suspect of terrorism up to 28 days a while back now, and has recently been approved for extension up to 42 days by the House of Commons.
Really, this, for me, is a very scary thing, because it's the thin end of the wedge. Where does it go next? What other suspects of crimes might start to have longer periods of detention? How long does it become? 84 days? 168 days? 365 days? As long as the police need in order to manufacture evidence?
But the really scary thing is that, apparently, surveys indicate three quarters of the UK population agree with the move. To me, that's staggering, and it seems it's because it's about terrorism.
For some reason, people have become so brainwashed about terrorism that they somehow feel it is okay to abuse people's human rights because of it. And here's the key point in this - these people are suspects. They have not necessarily committed a crime.
There seems to be an attitude that if you're arrested for terrorism then you must be guilty. But what about those that aren't guilty? This is the fundamental point about freedom and why it is so important - everyone has the right to due process. Even the bad guys.
Of course, to some extent, I believe it to be a little academic, as I don't see why the house of lords won't just throw the law out the window, but bizarrely, this means that the unelected part of our democratic process is better able to safeguard our rights than our actual elected representatives :/.
Thursday, 12 June 2008
bring on the rain
Following on from yesterday's bloggage, it's been so sunny, I washed my car yesterday evening. Such are the advantages of the lighter evenings in summer.
But then, guess what? It's rained overnight. How come that always happens? If I wash my car, it's almost guaranteed to rain on it :/.
I also took the opportunity as the family I lodge with are off on holiday right now. I always prefer to wash my car when they're not around. Partly, that's cos I'm so fat and unfit I get a real sweat on and it's a little embarrassing if they can see me, but mainly it's cos I don't want to talk to them about it.
I noticed the first few times that every time I went to to wash my car one of them would pop out for a chat about said car washing activity. Now, as I say, bit embarrassing with me panting and sweating, but also it would always start with that joke.
You may know the joke I mean - it's the "you can wash mine while you're at it" joke. For some reason this joke always really annoys me. No, you can wash your car, and I'll wash mine. How about that?
It's a silly thing and I've no idea why it gets my ire up so much, but there it is.
New monthly Japanese mags are on the way apparently :) and I think I've broken the back of my previously mentioned obsessiveness. Now I just need to drag my overdraft back into the black.
But then, guess what? It's rained overnight. How come that always happens? If I wash my car, it's almost guaranteed to rain on it :/.
I also took the opportunity as the family I lodge with are off on holiday right now. I always prefer to wash my car when they're not around. Partly, that's cos I'm so fat and unfit I get a real sweat on and it's a little embarrassing if they can see me, but mainly it's cos I don't want to talk to them about it.
I noticed the first few times that every time I went to to wash my car one of them would pop out for a chat about said car washing activity. Now, as I say, bit embarrassing with me panting and sweating, but also it would always start with that joke.
You may know the joke I mean - it's the "you can wash mine while you're at it" joke. For some reason this joke always really annoys me. No, you can wash your car, and I'll wash mine. How about that?
It's a silly thing and I've no idea why it gets my ire up so much, but there it is.
New monthly Japanese mags are on the way apparently :) and I think I've broken the back of my previously mentioned obsessiveness. Now I just need to drag my overdraft back into the black.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun
It's been really sunny and warm here the last three or four days.
Now normally I would be struggling with this. Being one big-arsed fat fuck, hot weather is generally not the most comfortable thing for me. My eyes are also very sensitive to bright light, so I end up squinting and still being nearly blind. Also, I need a lot of sleep every night and I find it difficult to get to sleep if it's warm and sticky. Hot is almost always accompanied by sticky in this country.
However, at the moment I'm actually kinda enjoying the hot weather.
The reason is that the last 2 years have been really bad weather wise. Now I kinda like rainy days, but this last couple of years it's rained almost continuously, with entire weeks of torrential downpours.
I also prefer it cooler, but this last couple of years it's been bone-chillingly cold. Even in spring and autumn I've had to have my heating on full blast, which is unusual for me. On top of which fuel costs have spiralled, of course, so it's been costing a small fortune.
So given all that, I'm almost glad it's sunny and warm - even if it's just because it represents something of a change :/.
Now normally I would be struggling with this. Being one big-arsed fat fuck, hot weather is generally not the most comfortable thing for me. My eyes are also very sensitive to bright light, so I end up squinting and still being nearly blind. Also, I need a lot of sleep every night and I find it difficult to get to sleep if it's warm and sticky. Hot is almost always accompanied by sticky in this country.
However, at the moment I'm actually kinda enjoying the hot weather.
The reason is that the last 2 years have been really bad weather wise. Now I kinda like rainy days, but this last couple of years it's rained almost continuously, with entire weeks of torrential downpours.
I also prefer it cooler, but this last couple of years it's been bone-chillingly cold. Even in spring and autumn I've had to have my heating on full blast, which is unusual for me. On top of which fuel costs have spiralled, of course, so it's been costing a small fortune.
So given all that, I'm almost glad it's sunny and warm - even if it's just because it represents something of a change :/.
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
scanning
Scanning stuff is a bit of an odd activity.
Well, it's not odd as such, but when you do it a lot, and you do it for a particular area like anime as I do, you end up with some slightly peculiar attitudes.
I mean, the fundamental truth is that the things you scan are not your own, as such. You scan artwork that was made by someone else and probably took them quite a lot of time, effort and a whole heap of talent.
But it's you that buys the book and, in the case of anime, has to pay quite a lot, since it all comes out of Japan. And at some level as the end consumer you're going to be the one paying the shipping costs, even if you buy it from a company local to your country.
So you're investing quite a bit of money.
Then, in my case, and I know I'm more at the extreme end, you take this book apart (you pull out the staples or use an iron to melt the glue and then slowly pull the pages apart). This is actually quite a time consuming process.
But what's even more time consuming is that you have to actually scan it. I have an A3 scanner so there's not much I have to do in more than one pass, but still, you need to scan at quite a high resolution - at least 400dpi - and that means it takes a good minute or so per page. Multiply that by, on average, around 100 pages, and you can see scanning a book can take around another 1.5 hours.
Having scanned them, you generally have to process them before you can save them. Often times this means rotating them slightly so that they're properly vertical, cropping off unwanted parts outside of the page, and maybe adjusting the levels slightly to compensate for colour problems. More time and effort.
If you're a real nutter you'll even go through the process of cleaning and tidying up the scan - if it's a 2 -page spread sticking it together, for example. If you do that it can take hours.
Then you save as a high quality file. Now if you're doing this as a dedicated activity, you're going to amass a lot of scans pretty damn quickly. That means a lot of big files, so you need some way to store them. For me that meant buying an entire external hard drive to put them on. But not only that, you need to back them up as well. That means burning them all to CD/DVD.
In other words, you have to pay money again to store the scans, as well as the time and effort spent archiving them in this way.
So my point, in summary, is that scanning artbooks (and magazines) in any serious capacity is not a quick and easy thing to do. It takes time, money and effort. And as such, what tends to happen is that you kinda become attached to the scans.
As I say, they're not "yours" as such, but you start to feel that at some level they are yours. It's your effort that's gone into making them.
And this is sort of where the problems start.
Because having done the actual scanning, most scanners then want to display their work on websites. This can take several forms - they may upload it to a public site (minitokyo, AnimePaper, for example) or they may have their own site (APA, ferricorp, for example). If you upload to public sites then normally it means you'll have to do some additional processing on the scan. The actual scan you made will probably too big for the public site and may also need additional tidying up. More time and effort. If you have your own site then you may not do quite so much tidying up, but you have to pay for the site. It costs money to have internet hosting.
But anyway, the fundamental issue here is that the scans become available for other people to download.
Other people who have absolutely no appreciation of the time, effort and expense that went into making those scans.
Other people who will re-upload your scans onto other websites, claiming to have made them themselves (or at least, not saying who did make them).
Other people who will give no thanks or acknowledgement whatsoever for what you've done to get the image available for them to re-upload.
These things are extremely annoying if you are the person who did make the scan. You see, it's not that you mind them having your scans, it's not that you mind them re-uploading them, it's that they do not acknowledge your efforts.
It becomes worse at sites like AP where they operate a system of exchange - for uploads you are enabled to make downloads. This means these unscrupulous people can "profit" off of your efforts and also affect the running of the site by effectively leaching their bandwidth.
It's why I've never really uploaded stuff to 4chan's /hr. In many ways sites like 4chan could be an answer to some of the issues above - you don't really need to tidy it up to the same degree (other people can if they want), the files can be really big and you're not paying for the hosting and bandwidth.
But /hr is also absolutely dripping with all those fuckwits that will re-upload your scans onto other websites and not acknowledge the source. Indeed, most of the uploads onto 4chan are such images - stuff taken without then being credited.
It's ungrateful is the problem - as I say, you have no problem with them having the scans, or even uploading them to some extent (though doing so en-mass is a piss take) but not saying who actually did the scan is just plain ungrateful.
There are a couple of ways around this (well, outside of not uploading your scans, but that sorta defeats the point). Firstly you can add a sig to your scans, saying who may it.
The problem with this is to some extent it disfigures the image, and that's not why you're a scanner. But also, you come in for a lot of flak. Which is so ironic it almost hurts - people who did not make the scans, and have no appreciation for what it takes to make them complaining that you've put a sig on and these same people are the ones who then steal your scan if it's sigless.
The other way is to try to police the internet. By which I mean you go to sites like mt on a regular basis and trawl through the scans to find the one that are yours. To say this is tedious is understating the issue on a biblical scale, but also, many public sites don't actually care where the stuff was stolen from.
Sometimes I do think "fuck it - I'll just upload my shit on 4chan. Let them steal it - it'll save me all the hassle." But every time its the lack of gratitude that stops me clicking the submit button.
... got a bit carried away there :).
Well, it's not odd as such, but when you do it a lot, and you do it for a particular area like anime as I do, you end up with some slightly peculiar attitudes.
I mean, the fundamental truth is that the things you scan are not your own, as such. You scan artwork that was made by someone else and probably took them quite a lot of time, effort and a whole heap of talent.
But it's you that buys the book and, in the case of anime, has to pay quite a lot, since it all comes out of Japan. And at some level as the end consumer you're going to be the one paying the shipping costs, even if you buy it from a company local to your country.
So you're investing quite a bit of money.
Then, in my case, and I know I'm more at the extreme end, you take this book apart (you pull out the staples or use an iron to melt the glue and then slowly pull the pages apart). This is actually quite a time consuming process.
But what's even more time consuming is that you have to actually scan it. I have an A3 scanner so there's not much I have to do in more than one pass, but still, you need to scan at quite a high resolution - at least 400dpi - and that means it takes a good minute or so per page. Multiply that by, on average, around 100 pages, and you can see scanning a book can take around another 1.5 hours.
Having scanned them, you generally have to process them before you can save them. Often times this means rotating them slightly so that they're properly vertical, cropping off unwanted parts outside of the page, and maybe adjusting the levels slightly to compensate for colour problems. More time and effort.
If you're a real nutter you'll even go through the process of cleaning and tidying up the scan - if it's a 2 -page spread sticking it together, for example. If you do that it can take hours.
Then you save as a high quality file. Now if you're doing this as a dedicated activity, you're going to amass a lot of scans pretty damn quickly. That means a lot of big files, so you need some way to store them. For me that meant buying an entire external hard drive to put them on. But not only that, you need to back them up as well. That means burning them all to CD/DVD.
In other words, you have to pay money again to store the scans, as well as the time and effort spent archiving them in this way.
So my point, in summary, is that scanning artbooks (and magazines) in any serious capacity is not a quick and easy thing to do. It takes time, money and effort. And as such, what tends to happen is that you kinda become attached to the scans.
As I say, they're not "yours" as such, but you start to feel that at some level they are yours. It's your effort that's gone into making them.
And this is sort of where the problems start.
Because having done the actual scanning, most scanners then want to display their work on websites. This can take several forms - they may upload it to a public site (minitokyo, AnimePaper, for example) or they may have their own site (APA, ferricorp, for example). If you upload to public sites then normally it means you'll have to do some additional processing on the scan. The actual scan you made will probably too big for the public site and may also need additional tidying up. More time and effort. If you have your own site then you may not do quite so much tidying up, but you have to pay for the site. It costs money to have internet hosting.
But anyway, the fundamental issue here is that the scans become available for other people to download.
Other people who have absolutely no appreciation of the time, effort and expense that went into making those scans.
Other people who will re-upload your scans onto other websites, claiming to have made them themselves (or at least, not saying who did make them).
Other people who will give no thanks or acknowledgement whatsoever for what you've done to get the image available for them to re-upload.
These things are extremely annoying if you are the person who did make the scan. You see, it's not that you mind them having your scans, it's not that you mind them re-uploading them, it's that they do not acknowledge your efforts.
It becomes worse at sites like AP where they operate a system of exchange - for uploads you are enabled to make downloads. This means these unscrupulous people can "profit" off of your efforts and also affect the running of the site by effectively leaching their bandwidth.
It's why I've never really uploaded stuff to 4chan's /hr. In many ways sites like 4chan could be an answer to some of the issues above - you don't really need to tidy it up to the same degree (other people can if they want), the files can be really big and you're not paying for the hosting and bandwidth.
But /hr is also absolutely dripping with all those fuckwits that will re-upload your scans onto other websites and not acknowledge the source. Indeed, most of the uploads onto 4chan are such images - stuff taken without then being credited.
It's ungrateful is the problem - as I say, you have no problem with them having the scans, or even uploading them to some extent (though doing so en-mass is a piss take) but not saying who actually did the scan is just plain ungrateful.
There are a couple of ways around this (well, outside of not uploading your scans, but that sorta defeats the point). Firstly you can add a sig to your scans, saying who may it.
The problem with this is to some extent it disfigures the image, and that's not why you're a scanner. But also, you come in for a lot of flak. Which is so ironic it almost hurts - people who did not make the scans, and have no appreciation for what it takes to make them complaining that you've put a sig on and these same people are the ones who then steal your scan if it's sigless.
The other way is to try to police the internet. By which I mean you go to sites like mt on a regular basis and trawl through the scans to find the one that are yours. To say this is tedious is understating the issue on a biblical scale, but also, many public sites don't actually care where the stuff was stolen from.
Sometimes I do think "fuck it - I'll just upload my shit on 4chan. Let them steal it - it'll save me all the hassle." But every time its the lack of gratitude that stops me clicking the submit button.
... got a bit carried away there :).
Monday, 9 June 2008
stuck in my brain
Don't you just hate when you get a song stuck in your head?
It just keeps looping around and round and you find yourself singing the words under your breath. Sometimes it's okay if it's a song you kinda like, but even then it can get a bit tedious after a while.
The worst is when it's so lodged in there you can't sleep cos you mind won't relax enough to stop it from looping the song endlessly over and over.
Maybe it's worse for me. I'm fairly sure I'm a bit OCD (Obessive Cumpulsive Disorder). I don't say that in an emo pity me sort of way, I just used to be really quite obsessive about things and occasionally still find myself utterly fixated.
I guess the best way to explain my particular thing was that it was to do with patterns.
Draw a small square with the tip of your finger on the palm of your hand. Right, now where did you start? It was probably at one of the corners, right? And you kept your finger constantly on the palm, rather than lifting it off to draw each side, right? What direction did you go in? Clockwise of anti-clockwise?
Well that's all perfectly normal. My problem was that, having drawn the square once starting at one corner, I would then have to redraw it starting at the other four corners. Sometimes I'd also have to redraw it four times starting at the different corners going in the opposite direction too.
If I didn't do this I would feel... odd. If I did do it, it would be, I dunno, pleasurable, I guess. Like finishing a good book or something - a pleasure in a sense of achievement.
Also, it wouldn't generally involve actually drawing the shape, just mentally picturing the action of drawing it. And the shapes were more complicated than squares, but not so complicated as to prevent their easy repetition.
It's not something I still do (nowadays I obsess over things like Civ3 for short periods - you may have noticed in previous blog entries) and it was probably not OCD, I was just reminded of it with this bloody song going round and round in my head like the patterns I used to draw.
It just keeps looping around and round and you find yourself singing the words under your breath. Sometimes it's okay if it's a song you kinda like, but even then it can get a bit tedious after a while.
The worst is when it's so lodged in there you can't sleep cos you mind won't relax enough to stop it from looping the song endlessly over and over.
Maybe it's worse for me. I'm fairly sure I'm a bit OCD (Obessive Cumpulsive Disorder). I don't say that in an emo pity me sort of way, I just used to be really quite obsessive about things and occasionally still find myself utterly fixated.
I guess the best way to explain my particular thing was that it was to do with patterns.
Draw a small square with the tip of your finger on the palm of your hand. Right, now where did you start? It was probably at one of the corners, right? And you kept your finger constantly on the palm, rather than lifting it off to draw each side, right? What direction did you go in? Clockwise of anti-clockwise?
Well that's all perfectly normal. My problem was that, having drawn the square once starting at one corner, I would then have to redraw it starting at the other four corners. Sometimes I'd also have to redraw it four times starting at the different corners going in the opposite direction too.
If I didn't do this I would feel... odd. If I did do it, it would be, I dunno, pleasurable, I guess. Like finishing a good book or something - a pleasure in a sense of achievement.
Also, it wouldn't generally involve actually drawing the shape, just mentally picturing the action of drawing it. And the shapes were more complicated than squares, but not so complicated as to prevent their easy repetition.
It's not something I still do (nowadays I obsess over things like Civ3 for short periods - you may have noticed in previous blog entries) and it was probably not OCD, I was just reminded of it with this bloody song going round and round in my head like the patterns I used to draw.
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