I've been doing some scanning in the evenings this week.
I didn't really get the chance to do any scanning last weekend. Actually, that's not true - I did some scanning, what I mean is, I didn't get the chance to scan any of the magazine backlog.
What I scanned instead were the covers of a whole bunch of manga and some DVDs. These scans will accompany some forthcoming reviews over on trismugistus.com.
I actually found the evening scanning went quite smoothly and I got more done in less time than I was expecting. I actually remember this effect from before I stopped scanning - it's like a classic example of practice makes perfect. The more I do, the easier and quicker it becomes.
I think there are two main reasons for this. First off, you get better at the whole position thing. See, all of the Japanese magazines are slightly bigger than A4 in size. To resolve this I ended up buying a cheap A3 scanner, but A3 is way bigger than the magazines.
That means I have to use the controls to select only a chunk of the full-area to scan and it also means I have to make sure that the page I'm scanning is lined up in that area. So you can easily see how with practice I get better at doing that.
The second one is more difficult to explain as it's basically that it becomes more like second nature. So where when I start I had to think about it, as I've done more of it, it's not something I have to think as much about, which seems to make it quicker.
Anyway, I've been checking out some more fansubs as I've scanned:
Mayoi Neko Overrun
Oh dear.
I think pretty much every season there's at least one harem type show. Sometimes there are several, but in other seasons it'll be just one. I think this is because there are some studios that basically specialise in this type of show and then there are those that dabble in them.
Plus of course they're perennially popular in Japan. They wouldn't keep making them if the Japanese Otaku didn't lap them up. And you get a lot of manga that falls into this bracket as well, so there's plenty of raw material available for adaptation.
What's interesting about these types of shows recently is they all seem to be adopting a cat theme. I dunno why, but there's loads of them been cropping up either featuring cats directly or cat-girls or characters obsessed with cats. It seems to be the in-thing.
And that's part of the problem with Mayoi Neko Overrun - it's coming at a point where it's main gimmick - cats - has already been done several times just recently. What kills it is that everything in the show has been done recently (and loads of times before in fairness).
I mean, it doesn't really even manage to have loads of fan-service or anything like that so it can appeal to the lowest common denominator. It's just a collection of clichés.
Occult Academy
I wasn't quite sure about Occult Academy after the first episode.
See, I'd stumbled across a few things that had basically said it was hilarious, and watching the first episode I didn't really find it all that funny. Now don't get me wrong here - I enjoyed it, but the point is I think I only actually laughed our loud once.
And the bit I laughed at came right at the end and I'm pretty sure the hilarious tag wasn't pinned entirely on a silhouette of a dude's cock falling across a girl's face (you have to watch it for that to make sense). However, while I still wouldn't classify the show as hilarious I did find the second episode a lot funnier.
There were some possible sources of worry, though. For example, Maya, the heroine, kept slapping, hitting and throwing things at the man guy, Fumiaki. Which is a gag that, as the world of harem anime has proven, tends to get a bit tiresome after a while. And if it's also a hint that the show is really just a high school (academy = high-school) rom-com with more garnish than usual, that would be a worry.
But overall, I enjoyed what I watched.
Toriko (the link is to the manga, as the OAV doesn't seem to have a page)
Right, imagine something like Fist of the North Star or Dragonball Z - an anime where it's basically all about the fisticuffs, and then cross that with a fishing program. Chuck in a little bit of Ray Mears style surviving and cooking in the wild and then add in a sous-son of Jamie Oliver, and, if you can get your head around it, that's pretty much Toriko.
It's kinda bonkers, but bonkers in a fun and amusing way.
I think really this is the sort of thing that could only exist in Japan. The Japanese are not at all squeamish about their food, which isn't uncommon in Asia, but they also aspire to high gastronomy as well.
So out of that you've got a series that's basically about a huge, muscle-bound dude going around beating up plants and animals... so that he can eat them.
I did enjoy it, but I would imagine it's one of those things that repeats itself over-and-over, so could get tiresome in the long run.
Friday, 30 July 2010
Thursday, 29 July 2010
just frigging BLOW
Don't you just hate people who don't blow their nose?
There are two sub-species of this annoying behaviour - first there are the chronic sniffers, and then there are the suckers.
Your first variety are people who just steadfastly refuse to blow their nose at all. Perhaps they've got a cold or just happen to have a bit of random snot or some other irritation in their conk, but instead of getting a tissue or handkerchief and having a good hard blow to get rid of it, they'll sit their sniffing. Every few minutes it'll be sniff... sniff... sniff... sniff - it drives me potty.
But I hate the second variety even more, for these people have somehow managed to grow up without ever realising the whole point of blowing your nose is to BLOW. You BLOW to push the unwanted foreign matter out of your nose. That's the whole idea and it's also why it's called BLOWing your nose.
But not these people. Oh no, blowing is too good for them. They suck. Both figuratively and literally.
They'll get their tissue, raise it to their nose and just as you think they're about to give a good blow and clear their conk, instead they squeeze the end of their nose as if they're trying to wring the snot out. In addition, either at the same time as this ineffectual squeeze or just after releasing their nose, they'll give a big sniff, sucking the root cause of the problem back up, instead of pushing it out.
I know all these intimate details, because my sister is that most heinous of beings - a cross-mix of both 1 and 2. She'll spend hours sniffing and sniffing, then when she finally does blow, it'll be of the ineffectual suck variety!
For years I was convinced she'd developed this strategy purely to torment me, but then I encountered other people that did the same thing.
Seriously - how hard can it be? Blowing your nose means BLOWing it.
There are two sub-species of this annoying behaviour - first there are the chronic sniffers, and then there are the suckers.
Your first variety are people who just steadfastly refuse to blow their nose at all. Perhaps they've got a cold or just happen to have a bit of random snot or some other irritation in their conk, but instead of getting a tissue or handkerchief and having a good hard blow to get rid of it, they'll sit their sniffing. Every few minutes it'll be sniff... sniff... sniff... sniff - it drives me potty.
But I hate the second variety even more, for these people have somehow managed to grow up without ever realising the whole point of blowing your nose is to BLOW. You BLOW to push the unwanted foreign matter out of your nose. That's the whole idea and it's also why it's called BLOWing your nose.
But not these people. Oh no, blowing is too good for them. They suck. Both figuratively and literally.
They'll get their tissue, raise it to their nose and just as you think they're about to give a good blow and clear their conk, instead they squeeze the end of their nose as if they're trying to wring the snot out. In addition, either at the same time as this ineffectual squeeze or just after releasing their nose, they'll give a big sniff, sucking the root cause of the problem back up, instead of pushing it out.
I know all these intimate details, because my sister is that most heinous of beings - a cross-mix of both 1 and 2. She'll spend hours sniffing and sniffing, then when she finally does blow, it'll be of the ineffectual suck variety!
For years I was convinced she'd developed this strategy purely to torment me, but then I encountered other people that did the same thing.
Seriously - how hard can it be? Blowing your nose means BLOWing it.
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
the silence and tg
No film review this week as I couldn't be arsed to watch my rental DVD, so I'm going to talk about some telly stuff instead.
A few weeks ago, the BBC showed one of those episode-a-day dramas.
They seem to have become a bit of a regular thing, and it can add quite a bit to the viewing experience. The most recent one was 'the silence' which was a reference to the main character, Amelia, who is deaf.
However, Amelia had recently got a cochlea implant. These are basically outside microphones that pick up sound and then transmit it to an implant that's buried inside your head and that effectively stimulates your hearing directly. You can read more about them on wikipedia of course.
Anyway, the point is that this deaf teenage girl ends up witnessing a murder. Her uncle is the detective that's running the investigation of that murder and of course he finds out she saw it, but his wife convinces him to "protect" her by not revealing she's a witness.
Now the above paragraph should clue you in on two of the things I didn't like about this series. First off it's almost totally reliant on co-incidences. Now co-incidence is okay, but this just seems to stumble from one co-incidence to another that it ended up feeling contrived.
The second thing is that you have a detective bowing to his wife's pressure not to reveal Amelia because she'll be put at risk. What the nature of the risk is we're never quite told, but also, is it me or is that damning indictment of the British Justice system? So this detective won't take Amelia in because she might be at risk? And he hardly takes a lot of convincing - what kind of statement is that?
Unfortunately, what makes this worse is when you add into it the fact that the detective is supposedly a workaholic who loves his job! To me that's just horribly inconsistent.
Then there are two more problems. I should also note I'm about to let rip with the spoilers.
First off, I didn't like anyone in the entire series. Amelia comes across as a petulant, whiny teenager, her dad started off okay, but then had this weird over-reaction that just smacked of cutting your nose off to spite your face and her mum had basically forced her to get the implant because she'd never accepted Amelia's deafness.
Her uncle is this work-obsessed, mr angry who's basically been an absent father and although we're supposed to believe he's a good copper, he makes a right hash of this case, her aunt is overly reactionary, unreasonable and utterly fails to own responsibility for the fact that she's basically caused the entire mess. Then there are their children - the older son has major daddy issues and acts like a twat, the younger son needs a damn good slap and the daughter's not really even in it.
Then there's the police - they're all either corrupt, a bunch of back-stabbers or wimps. After a while it just got silly - all of these people were basically unpleasant and I ended up not caring about any of them.
The second problem was that the thing didn't have an ending. Surely the whole point of these short-burst dramas is that you tell a complete story across the length of the drama. But this ended with loads of loose ends.
I mean, the whole thing was about a couple of murders, right? Well, nobody was brought to justice for them, but equally it wasn't about the fact that the baddies got away with it. Instead, it just felt like they'd forgotten to make episode 5 where all the loose ends were actually tied up.
The only good thing about it was that the depiction of deaf people felt more realistic. As I say, I didn't really like her, but then in a way that's something of a good thing. There's a tendency to portray people with disabilities as victims or as saints, but here she was basically just a regular teenager.
I've prattled on a lot there, so I'll just leave the TG thing to a basic summary - the episode last Sunday was one of the best in a while.
I always enjoy TG, but in recent series there's been a tendency to make the show just plain silly. Previously, I think TG used to really hit the nail on the head of being silly with/in/about cars and then occasionally being a bit serious as well. In recent series it's become more like the presenters just being silly all the time and not always about cars.
The news has become a classic example of this - previously it would at least focus on cars, but recently you can't even call it a news section. I mean, how is it car news if no cars are mentioned at all?
A few weeks ago, the BBC showed one of those episode-a-day dramas.
They seem to have become a bit of a regular thing, and it can add quite a bit to the viewing experience. The most recent one was 'the silence' which was a reference to the main character, Amelia, who is deaf.
However, Amelia had recently got a cochlea implant. These are basically outside microphones that pick up sound and then transmit it to an implant that's buried inside your head and that effectively stimulates your hearing directly. You can read more about them on wikipedia of course.
Anyway, the point is that this deaf teenage girl ends up witnessing a murder. Her uncle is the detective that's running the investigation of that murder and of course he finds out she saw it, but his wife convinces him to "protect" her by not revealing she's a witness.
Now the above paragraph should clue you in on two of the things I didn't like about this series. First off it's almost totally reliant on co-incidences. Now co-incidence is okay, but this just seems to stumble from one co-incidence to another that it ended up feeling contrived.
The second thing is that you have a detective bowing to his wife's pressure not to reveal Amelia because she'll be put at risk. What the nature of the risk is we're never quite told, but also, is it me or is that damning indictment of the British Justice system? So this detective won't take Amelia in because she might be at risk? And he hardly takes a lot of convincing - what kind of statement is that?
Unfortunately, what makes this worse is when you add into it the fact that the detective is supposedly a workaholic who loves his job! To me that's just horribly inconsistent.
Then there are two more problems. I should also note I'm about to let rip with the spoilers.
First off, I didn't like anyone in the entire series. Amelia comes across as a petulant, whiny teenager, her dad started off okay, but then had this weird over-reaction that just smacked of cutting your nose off to spite your face and her mum had basically forced her to get the implant because she'd never accepted Amelia's deafness.
Her uncle is this work-obsessed, mr angry who's basically been an absent father and although we're supposed to believe he's a good copper, he makes a right hash of this case, her aunt is overly reactionary, unreasonable and utterly fails to own responsibility for the fact that she's basically caused the entire mess. Then there are their children - the older son has major daddy issues and acts like a twat, the younger son needs a damn good slap and the daughter's not really even in it.
Then there's the police - they're all either corrupt, a bunch of back-stabbers or wimps. After a while it just got silly - all of these people were basically unpleasant and I ended up not caring about any of them.
The second problem was that the thing didn't have an ending. Surely the whole point of these short-burst dramas is that you tell a complete story across the length of the drama. But this ended with loads of loose ends.
I mean, the whole thing was about a couple of murders, right? Well, nobody was brought to justice for them, but equally it wasn't about the fact that the baddies got away with it. Instead, it just felt like they'd forgotten to make episode 5 where all the loose ends were actually tied up.
The only good thing about it was that the depiction of deaf people felt more realistic. As I say, I didn't really like her, but then in a way that's something of a good thing. There's a tendency to portray people with disabilities as victims or as saints, but here she was basically just a regular teenager.
I've prattled on a lot there, so I'll just leave the TG thing to a basic summary - the episode last Sunday was one of the best in a while.
I always enjoy TG, but in recent series there's been a tendency to make the show just plain silly. Previously, I think TG used to really hit the nail on the head of being silly with/in/about cars and then occasionally being a bit serious as well. In recent series it's become more like the presenters just being silly all the time and not always about cars.
The news has become a classic example of this - previously it would at least focus on cars, but recently you can't even call it a news section. I mean, how is it car news if no cars are mentioned at all?
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
it's a right fix-up
So, this last weekend was the German Grand Prix. I'd say it was generally an okay race. The first half was a lot more interesting than the second. Well, until that happened.
For anyone who doesn't know, Felipe Massa, who'd basically led the whole race after a cheeky move at the first corner, was given a veiled order by the team to let Fernando Alonso through to win. He duly did so, and of course a shit-storm has blown up about it.
It's a bit of a tricky thing is this. Back in 2002, Rubens Barrichello - driving for Ferrari - was ordered to pull over and let Michael Schumacher through to win the Hungarian Grand Prix. Now the way Rubens did this was to slow right down, just metres from the chequered flag and let Schumacher through.
In other words, there was no attempt to disguise the fact it was a team order. Back then of course we didn't get to hear the radio messages and it was always suspected that Rubens had deliberately done it that way in order to highlight the fact it was a blatant team order.
A huge shit-storm followed (I remember there were lots of boos when Schumacher was on the podium, for example) and the FIA tweaked a wholly rule that was meant to stop team orders so that it explicitly banned them. And so of course what went on last Sunday was in contravention of that rule.
It should be worth noting that Ferrari did not technically issue a direct order to Massa. However, the sub-text of the message and what subsequently happened mean it was not particularly well hidden. Of course, since we now have access to the team radios it's difficult to think how else they could have hidden the order.
And it's also difficult to really justify the order. From the constructors point of view, the net result is exactly the same - a one-two gives them exactly the same points independent of which driver is first and which second.
Now, Alonso is ahead of Massa in the championship, but it's not by a huge amount, and we're only just over half way through. However, you have to say that, generally speaking, you would normally expect Alonso to out-perform Massa and we've no idea, though it seems likely that Alonso's contract says he's the number 1 driver and Mass's that he's the number 2.
Which brings us to the fundamental question - is it right to have team orders? Or more specifically, since team orders as a general thing aren't banned, is it right to tell one driver to step aside to let the other drive through?
A lot of people will tell you no. And to some extent I agree with them. Really, if Alonso wants to get through he should do so via a proper overtake. He should prove that he's the better driver.
But to think that's the end of it is not to know what Formula One really is.
In most sports you're talking about individuals going head-to-head. Two runners racing each other or two teams of footballers trying to beat each other, etc. But in most motorsport you have a weird situation where you've got a team, but also two individuals.
However, the reality is that F1 is a team sport. Because you have the driver there a lot of people think it's an individual sport, but it really isn't.
F1 is also a massive commercial enterprise. Millions of pounds is spent and most of that money comes from sponsors. So there are commercial realities - Alonso carries with him some really big sponsorship.
And adding to that, overall we're talking about a championship that runs for an entire season - not just a set of individual races.
So when you factor in stuff like that, you can see why team orders like this happen. Yes, it doesn't change the constructors points, but it does boost the points of the driver who is already ahead. And when we get to the end of the season, if Alonso were to end up winning by a small amount, that's where it really matters.
Is that fair on Massa? Not really. Is it fair on the fans? Not really. Is it part of the sport? Yes, and it always has been.
Next weekend it's the Hungarian GP and then there's the summer break, where they have a few weeks off. Hungary is not normally the most exciting of races, but then Valencia is normally as dull as dish-water and that was quite good this year.
We do seem to have ended up with a spectacularly good season this year.
For anyone who doesn't know, Felipe Massa, who'd basically led the whole race after a cheeky move at the first corner, was given a veiled order by the team to let Fernando Alonso through to win. He duly did so, and of course a shit-storm has blown up about it.
It's a bit of a tricky thing is this. Back in 2002, Rubens Barrichello - driving for Ferrari - was ordered to pull over and let Michael Schumacher through to win the Hungarian Grand Prix. Now the way Rubens did this was to slow right down, just metres from the chequered flag and let Schumacher through.
In other words, there was no attempt to disguise the fact it was a team order. Back then of course we didn't get to hear the radio messages and it was always suspected that Rubens had deliberately done it that way in order to highlight the fact it was a blatant team order.
A huge shit-storm followed (I remember there were lots of boos when Schumacher was on the podium, for example) and the FIA tweaked a wholly rule that was meant to stop team orders so that it explicitly banned them. And so of course what went on last Sunday was in contravention of that rule.
It should be worth noting that Ferrari did not technically issue a direct order to Massa. However, the sub-text of the message and what subsequently happened mean it was not particularly well hidden. Of course, since we now have access to the team radios it's difficult to think how else they could have hidden the order.
And it's also difficult to really justify the order. From the constructors point of view, the net result is exactly the same - a one-two gives them exactly the same points independent of which driver is first and which second.
Now, Alonso is ahead of Massa in the championship, but it's not by a huge amount, and we're only just over half way through. However, you have to say that, generally speaking, you would normally expect Alonso to out-perform Massa and we've no idea, though it seems likely that Alonso's contract says he's the number 1 driver and Mass's that he's the number 2.
Which brings us to the fundamental question - is it right to have team orders? Or more specifically, since team orders as a general thing aren't banned, is it right to tell one driver to step aside to let the other drive through?
A lot of people will tell you no. And to some extent I agree with them. Really, if Alonso wants to get through he should do so via a proper overtake. He should prove that he's the better driver.
But to think that's the end of it is not to know what Formula One really is.
In most sports you're talking about individuals going head-to-head. Two runners racing each other or two teams of footballers trying to beat each other, etc. But in most motorsport you have a weird situation where you've got a team, but also two individuals.
However, the reality is that F1 is a team sport. Because you have the driver there a lot of people think it's an individual sport, but it really isn't.
F1 is also a massive commercial enterprise. Millions of pounds is spent and most of that money comes from sponsors. So there are commercial realities - Alonso carries with him some really big sponsorship.
And adding to that, overall we're talking about a championship that runs for an entire season - not just a set of individual races.
So when you factor in stuff like that, you can see why team orders like this happen. Yes, it doesn't change the constructors points, but it does boost the points of the driver who is already ahead. And when we get to the end of the season, if Alonso were to end up winning by a small amount, that's where it really matters.
Is that fair on Massa? Not really. Is it fair on the fans? Not really. Is it part of the sport? Yes, and it always has been.
Next weekend it's the Hungarian GP and then there's the summer break, where they have a few weeks off. Hungary is not normally the most exciting of races, but then Valencia is normally as dull as dish-water and that was quite good this year.
We do seem to have ended up with a spectacularly good season this year.
Monday, 26 July 2010
naily done
My toenail fell off.
Well, okay, actually I pulled it off. And I'm talking about the one that's only been hanging on by a thread since I walloped it. I didn't decide to take up self-torture over the weekend. That would be mad.
The weird thing (I mean setting aside the whole weirdness of bits of me dropping off) was that underneath the nail another nail seems to be growing. Well, that's not weird in and of itself - I'd expect a new nail to grow. The weird bit is how it's growing.
See, I'd always assumed that nails basically grow up from the bottom (where that crescent of whiter stuff is and your cuticle is). However, this new nail seems to be sort of coalescing from the pink bit, as if it's rising up or a general hardening of the skin, rather than growing out from the bottom.
It's all a bit odd, really.
And speaking of bits of me that are broken, I had the most horrendous gut ache on Saturday night. The weird thing about it was that I didn't really understand where it had come from.
I will admit that I did eat quite a bit on Saturday, due to an error on the planning front, but I can absolutely guarantee I've eaten more. I didn't really eat anything weird, and I didn't eat anything that I didn't make - no takeaways or anything.
But whatever the cause, I've never known discomfort like it. It wasn't out and out pain as such - if I had to describe it, it was like having already been stabbed in the gut, the person who stabbed me was twisting the knife. So it wasn't like the sharp agony of being stabbed, more like someone aggravating the wound. Not that I've ever been stabbed, you understand.
Anyway, it started late evening and kept going for so long that I eventually gave up trying to sleep. So I got back up and had a glass of milk. By this time of course thoughts of having developed an ulcer or a twisted bowel were surging through my head, so I checked out NHS direct.
It wasn't any use at all, but while I did this I had a glass of milk, in the hopes that it was just some extreme acid indigestion or something. Well, whether it was the milk or not, it gradually started to calm down, but then I was deluged by wind - I was burping up a storm and then on Sunday I was farting like something had crawled up my arse and died.
I'm therefore left stumped as to what caused it, but very relieved it subsided.
Well, okay, actually I pulled it off. And I'm talking about the one that's only been hanging on by a thread since I walloped it. I didn't decide to take up self-torture over the weekend. That would be mad.
The weird thing (I mean setting aside the whole weirdness of bits of me dropping off) was that underneath the nail another nail seems to be growing. Well, that's not weird in and of itself - I'd expect a new nail to grow. The weird bit is how it's growing.
See, I'd always assumed that nails basically grow up from the bottom (where that crescent of whiter stuff is and your cuticle is). However, this new nail seems to be sort of coalescing from the pink bit, as if it's rising up or a general hardening of the skin, rather than growing out from the bottom.
It's all a bit odd, really.
And speaking of bits of me that are broken, I had the most horrendous gut ache on Saturday night. The weird thing about it was that I didn't really understand where it had come from.
I will admit that I did eat quite a bit on Saturday, due to an error on the planning front, but I can absolutely guarantee I've eaten more. I didn't really eat anything weird, and I didn't eat anything that I didn't make - no takeaways or anything.
But whatever the cause, I've never known discomfort like it. It wasn't out and out pain as such - if I had to describe it, it was like having already been stabbed in the gut, the person who stabbed me was twisting the knife. So it wasn't like the sharp agony of being stabbed, more like someone aggravating the wound. Not that I've ever been stabbed, you understand.
Anyway, it started late evening and kept going for so long that I eventually gave up trying to sleep. So I got back up and had a glass of milk. By this time of course thoughts of having developed an ulcer or a twisted bowel were surging through my head, so I checked out NHS direct.
It wasn't any use at all, but while I did this I had a glass of milk, in the hopes that it was just some extreme acid indigestion or something. Well, whether it was the milk or not, it gradually started to calm down, but then I was deluged by wind - I was burping up a storm and then on Sunday I was farting like something had crawled up my arse and died.
I'm therefore left stumped as to what caused it, but very relieved it subsided.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)