最後まで諦めず不可能が可能にする

Radical Leaf-ectomy

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:08:47 GMT

The city sent out folks to check out the tree today, no fuss, no muss. I love Santa Clara. My tree is now all tied up and I no longer twitch at every breeze. The note left says they'll be back tomorrow to remove the branches threatening my neighbor's place and save the rest of the tree. I call this an all's well that ends well.

And now I go to wallow in hot water and pass out.

Timber

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:28:41 GMT

Tree in front of the house has a crack down the middle of it running three-quarters of the way to the ground. It looks to be a new crack, possibly from the big wind storms we had last night. I call the city tomorrow to, since it's technically their tree, pretty please do something about it before it splits all the way and falls on my neighbor's car.

I was fussing about not wanting the tree taken out and how I'll miss it -- right up until that unhappy part of my brain said "I better hope the city will take care of it. You know how much it's going to cost if I have to pay for it?"

I really hope the city handles it. Otherwise I'm going to be very, very, very most extraordinarily broke. And either way, I'm fussed because it's a nice tree for all that it likes getting into my sewer lines and tries to hide my property under leaves in the late fall.

Elevator Strangeness

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:14:01 GMT

Heard in the elevator at work: "That was so gay! I got killed by the mountain troll after it was dead."

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:57:03 GMT

Long day, long commute. Long week, come to think of it. But I can say this: For the first time in longer than I can count I have my DVR set to record WRC and I have confidence that something will record. That's pretty darn cool.

Still no idea what I'm doing for a Hallowe'en costume tomorrow. We'll see what inspiration strikes after sleep is done.

Easily Amused

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:49:25 GMT

English subtitle: Tokyo, Japan

Flashing Japanese neon sign: Kansai

Me: *amused*

Random Time Math

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:48:54 GMT

(Er... Since the icon is not obviously Ultraman related -- unless one cares to squint and wonder when the heck the Black Death turned companion to monsters rampaging to destroy Tokyo (it being an unlikely defender of truth, justice, and Japan's skyscrapters) -- the remainder of this post is related to Ultraman Moebius and unlikely to make sense to anyone who hasn't seen it. And quite possibly will make no sense even to those who have.)

So... I knew there was a time gap of several weeks between episode one and two in Moebius. What I hadn't realized is that the Gun Phoenix of episode two is not the same as the Gun Phoenix in episode one. In episode one it didn't have METEOR. It was installed in the time gap between the two episodes. This is based on Araiso commenting that METEOR was shoved onto the G.P. after the massacre with the Gun Crusader combined with it appearing that pretty much all of episode one takes place on the same day.

This random observation brought to you by madsqueeble asking me what I thought would happen if Mirai hadn't gone and fetched the rest of ~~his pet humans~~ the future crew. Which one day I really will write up my thoughts on that. Honest.

On an only somewhat related note, went back and rewatched the new long trailer. Words fail me at expressing how utterly cool this movie looks to be. 47 days... 47 days...
And I finally realized the ice world is actually Hikari no Kuni with the sun turned off. Which explains why there are so many Ultras kicking around. And also, I suspect, explains why they're kicking around in human form and can't transform: lack of sun is going to do unpleasant things to their available power levels.

New Trailer Up

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:45:40 GMT

New trailer, mostly new scenes. Actually, there's two new trailers, the second one is Haruna, is short, but also contains stuff that wasn't in any previous trailer.

Thanks, madsqueeble for the heads up!

And now I go pass out.

Oh, Darling, I've Missed You!

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:10:25 GMT

After over a month (nearly two, I think) of the media server not talking to the Xbox -- ever since the media server acquired a trojan horse (I think? It's a long story) -- I finally got all my kids to play nice with each other. It-- Oh, I-- *incoherent squealing* Oh, I have missed streaming downloads!

Gah, it must have been dead for nearly two months now. It started having problems during the time when we had a major database meltdown at work. Since I simultaneously had a minor plumbing meltdown at home, fixing the media server was not high on the list. Gah. Oh well, it's better now, and I can stop twitching that I can't get to my downloaded media easily. AND I can torrent Merlin eps rather than relying on Megaupload. Lo, there be joy here. Loads and loads of it.

Speaking of loads and loads of joy, my Minion delivered two lovely pieces of news to me today: First, Discovery HD is airing the WRC 2009 coverage. The only thing stopping me from going down to Costco Right Now and getting that new HD Tivo I've been coveting is that I'm still damp and smelly from going to the gym earlier today, and they close in 15 minutes. And I'm still seriously tempted to go even so. It's not like I'm going to see the people I run into at Costco again anyway, right? (Particularly not if in the future they see me first...)

The other lovely piece of news is rumors are flying that Ken Block is signing a program with Ford for a three-year run in the WRC, with Chris Atkinson as his teammate. It sounds like it might be a limited program for 2010, with a full run in 2011, possibly in the new Ford Fiesta WRC. This would be very cool as Chris sat out Rally Oz this year and I've been eager to get some news of what he's up to. (That, plus I have a high opinion of his talents as a rally driver and would love to see him get a chance in a car that doesn't suck. Yes, I'm a bad Subaru fan.)

Those last two pieces of news came up thanks to my boss's birthday being one day before mine. As is Chris Atkinson's. Life is weird.

Random Thoughts On Series 2 To Date

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:06:09 GMT

Hm. I think 2x04 is one of the best put together episodes to date. The humor's back on, but better timed than it was in 2x01 or 2x03 (where it sometimes felt off-pace and a bit forced; still funny, but not as naturally integrated.) All the main characters get a moment in the spotlight and most of them get a solid, competent part. (Morgana in particular had been getting a bit ragged about the edges lately; it's nice seeing her back to being strong and competent again.) Progress is made on the love triangle without being overly cloying. And Lancelot is just love. Beautifully implemented as a character (and the actor, num!), managing to balance all the ideals of courtly love but still managing to stay a sympathetic character rather than an overbearing prat. (One prat's enough for the show, thankyouverymuch.) I still very much love their choice of making Guinevere a servant. It throws an interesting kink in the dynamic and ups the tension.

I like the random parallels they manage between first and second season for the episodes. The second episode of each season featured a tournament. I forget what the parallel is for the third -- I'd have to watch 2x03 again. And the forth episode revolves around Arthur risking his life for a servant. I suspect the next pair of episodes will break this -- though I welcome being surprised by it.

No new episode next week, and the one following, I'm told, is a two-parter.

Lazy Fandom

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:30:23 GMT

I swear, Merlin fandom is making me lazy. I know the location of something that shows up in the episode before I even see the episode. The castle is Caerphilly Castle. Unsurprisingly, it's in Wales, not far from Cardiff.

On an unrelated note, I will not stay in Cardiff, for all that it is convenient and has a castle of its own. The city is a bitch, and whereas with my handy A to Zed it may now be my bitch, it's still a bitch nonetheless.

Edit: Ooh, it's got working siege engines! (The castle, that is, not Cardiff. Not that I necessarily put working siege engines past Cardiff.)

Ah, and I suspect parts of the moat were used for bits of 1x13. Behold.

Note To Self: Next Time Check The Calendar

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:43:20 GMT

So the Brazilian Grand Prix is next weekend. Wouldn't it have been cool to have found this out early enough that I could have downloaded this week's Merlin episode (which was not pre-empted for the Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying, said qualifying not happening until next week) early enough to watch it before bed? Ah well, I have an unexpected surprise, so I shan't complain too much.

Lost In Abergavenny, Or A Bored Actor With A Camera

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:49:57 GMT

The following video made me giggle a whole bunch, so I share it here.

And because I'm me, Abergavenny is in Monmonthshire, near the Welsh border.

Some Days Are Better Than Others, Section Leader

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:30:08 GMT

That is all.

Oh That's Just Special

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:16:30 GMT

What do you get when you make a toy out of mammoth, a T-rex and a triceratops? Well, when the triceratops' horn ends up in the middle you get the world's most phallic kid's toy. Just to share the fun I present you Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

I so can't wait to hear Jan's comments on that.

New Ultra Galaxy Movie Trailers

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:04:59 GMT

They can be found here. Amazingly they play even outside of Japan! Not a lot new but a little bit.

To Be Read Later

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:32:23 GMT

I want to read this post on Guinevere throughout the various versions. Just not right now, since it's late and I'm tired. Tired enough to mis-read something as "Colin Morgan - News for 'The Sex Change'". (The correct word was, in fact, "sea". Eyes crossing now.)

Also, based on the promo pics it looks like the jousting episode is the next one. Yay, pillow fight!

Randomly, WTF is with restricting episode trailers by region? Seriously, people. I thought it was only the Japanese who were engaging in that particular bit of stupidity. But now I've caught the BBC doing it as well. Why, people, why?

Serendipity Works In The Weirdest Ways

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:38:49 GMT

So it turns out sometime yesterday my phone got turned off. Not the total power off I can see it's a brick kind of powered off. The "I want to use my smart phone on the airplane but want to make sure the phone stuff is disabled so I don't make us crash" kind of way. Which is to say, turned off in the kind of way that I didn't even realize it was turned off.

Yesterday I finally got around to buying my plane ticket for Japan. I tried a new and different site to get the tickets, and realized that in the process I hadn't specified my seat reservation. (Those who remember my earlier post should be laughing up a storm at this point.) So I decided to call the place first thing this morning and see if I couldn't get that settled. I'm working from home in the morning since I'm expecting a phone screen for a job I want, so I used my cell phone to make the call rather than placing it from my desk phone like I normally would. This was pretty cool, since that meant I noticed that the phone was disabled and, y'know, fixed it.

Did I mention the phone screen today for a job I really want? I think having the phone on so the interviewer can contact me is a really nice thing. I'm very glad I missed specifying my seat reservation on that ticket.

This I Did Not Know

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:12:42 GMT

Apparently sweet potato produces bright magenta mold. It looks most unnatural.

...

Feel free not to ask how I know that. I'll just be getting back to doing the dishes now.

Tres Geek

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:12:35 GMT

Through sheer coincidence I happened to be staring at my countdown clock as it counted down to the start (in the UK) of Merlin season 2. I glanced down and noticed it was at 0 days 00 hours 00 minutes and 32 seconds, and was rather surprised. How did that suddenly happen? Now it's counting down to the new Ultraman movie, which will be in roughly 84 days 00 hours 52 minutes and 21 seconds, not taking into account what time the show times are, and the fact that I'm too lazy to do the math to account for time zone differences plus Daylight Savings Time. (Do you get the impression I liked that trailer?)

But all that reminded me of what I really wanted to post about.

So I still haven't bought my plane tickets to Japan. That's for the trip where I go to (among other things) watch the movie that starts in 84 days. (Such a large and comforting number, that. Three months. Only I see the movie at the end of the trip, so I'm down to two months and two weeks. Somehow that's not as comfortingly large.)

I was telling a friend of mine what the hold up on getting the tickets is. See, the flight I've found has a number of open seats. In fact, the flight's only about two-thirds booked. I have a wide range of choices in where to sit. Now, normally I go for the window seat, since I like leaning against the wall of the plane as a way of trying to sleep. But lately I've been getting frustrated at not being able to get up and walk around or whatever without disturbing the other people in my row, so I've been thinking that maybe I should be open to new opportunities and maybe go for an aisle seat instead. That seems simple enough. I'll grab an aisle seat in the area where I usually sit, on the section to the side.

But wait! I think. The center block of seats has a lot of rows with no one in them yet. Maybe if I get the aisle seat there I might luck out and get an entire row to myself. That would be pleasant. I should do that.

But what if it turns out that I don't get the row to myself? Then I'll be horribly disappointed and will be unhappy the entire flight.

At this point the voice of reason steps in: GET A GRIP, WOMAN! IT'S ONLY 12 HOURS, IT'S NOT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!! THE IMPORTANT THING IS NOT WHICH SEAT YOU SIT IN, IT'S THAT THE SEAT IS GOING TO JAPAN! QUIT DITHERING AND BUY THE STUPID TICKET!

...

Oh.

That makes a lot of sense.

My friend commented that I could start a new career: making hells for myself. I think I'm already there.

Day Of Flail

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:17:08 GMT

I wanted to synopsize the charlie-foxtrot meeting I had to attend earlier today in the form of a Greek tragedy, but alas, it's been so long since I've read those classics that I can't remember the style well. All I've managed to come up with so far is: "I would not shame my throat with shameful lies. And yet, in truth, I cannot say we are retesting because we have not yet, in truth, tested." That meeting needed a Greek chorus.

... Plus, I seem to have completely blocked the meeting from my mind. All I can remember at the moment is:

1) I spent a lot of time laughing in it. Just about any time my boss said something it made me laugh. And not in a good way. In that "you've freakin' GOT to be kidding me" kind of way. I'm glad he was on the phone and couldn't see me giggling.

2) Exchanging snarky comments with fresne in AIM, along the lines of "this is like watching a traffic accident", and something about it being a tragedy, and tragedies really ought to be Greek.

3) Watching the trailer for the new Ultraman movie over and over and over again. Are they still talking? Yes? Does it still make me want to pound my head on the table until blessed unconsciousness has ensued? Yes? Let's watch the trailer again! Damn, that looks cool! Oh, sorry, were you saying something?

Eh, it's probably best that way. As I commented to a friend, a year from now I won't care about what my boss said. I will still care about that trailer.

So anyway, my thoughts from the trailer...

Dang, that looks cool!!

I was expecting epic action flick, but this looks like it's going to blow all that away. Please tell me the plot will be strong enough to stand up, particularly if they're shooting for an international release. The action sure looks like it'll be up to to snuff at least. The director's background as a stuntman and his time spent on the Power Rangers series sure shows. I can just watch the clip over and over and over again, 'cause DANG!

Man, I can't wait to see Oki spazzing. There will be fangasm spazz of truely Ultra proportions here. Sort of like all the fans spazzing over finally seeing the Ultra homeworld. (Well, we've seen it before, but not in the 21st century. And it looks shiny!!)

Rei and Dan meeting... That should be intriguing. "Hey Rei, how's it going? Thanks for giving me Miclas and my fin back." Rei: "WTF? Who are you? Obi Wan Kenobi?"

I liked the random shot of Leo and Seven. Please tell me this movie is not AU.

Glad to see that while the crew of the Space Pendragon will be there and involved we are not going to forget what we're all there to see. (It ain't Rei screaming all the time, let me tell you. I got my fill of that in UG:NEO.)

Mama! I wanna see Mama fight!

Continuity, continuity, continuity... Is this AU or is it in the Showa'verse continuity? It can be either. UG's always seemed to be set in the Showa'verse future to me. If it is, then it's at least 50 years from the end of Mebius, probably more. (I mean, seriously. How long's it going to take for us to get common space travel, terraforming, and artificial suns?) If it is original universe, then Mirai should recognize Asuka (thanks to the Ultra 8 Bro. movie), but Asuka wouldn't recognize Mirai. Unless Mirai in that movie is from yet another parallel world. It's possible, and could explain a few things about that movie. (And make my head hurt some more...)

Thank goodness they're not over-poofing Mirai's hair like they did in the last movie. He's adorable there, but every time I see him in that movie I want to take a comb to his hair. And man, he looks hot here. Cute lil puppy grows up!

Zero... Whole lotta Zero in this trailer. I figured Zero would show up in the movie, but didn't think we'd get to see that much of him. I kind of half hope we don't get too into his story in this movie. I think it'll be distracting, like Kanata in the OVAs. And he creaks. I'm really not entirely sure what to make of the creaking.

... I think I haven't gotten around to posting about Zero yet. *tries to remember* He's secretly a sorcerer -- no, wait, wrong fandom. Ah, if you don't want spoilers, stop here. He's got a freak load of copyrights pulled on him -- more than for Hikari, for all that Tsuburaya holds a copyright on Hikari ski wax -- so there's a lot of speculation going around that there's going to be a new Ultraman series and he's going to be the star of that show. He's Seven's son, though Zero doesn't know it. (The score? 7-0. Ah, the multitude of bad puns that await!) For a while there was some speculation that maybe he would be Belial trying to redeem himself, but I'm thinking from what I'm seeing that isn't likely. Just so long as he doesn't end up with Rei hosting him I'll be happy. I think I had more to say on this, but I really can't remember any more what I've said and what I've forgotten.

Say, that planet Leo and Zero are on... Is that the one that King was on when Hikari visited him in Hikari Saga? Red, sandy, rocky dust filled planets all start to look the same to me.

And last but certainly not least: This is the Alien From Baltan. He will be appearing in this movie! (\/) (\/)

And on that note I remember that I haven't gotten any of the tickets I was planning on buying tonight, and go to bed.

Oh, and since it was pointed out to me earlier that I wasn't very clear... Yes, I'm going to be in Japan at the time the movie's opening. That's partly by sheer coincidence (we had a trip already planned for that time period) and partly by a combination of planning and state budget crisis. (Because we were planning on leaving a few days before the release, but then it worked out that we had to leave a week later. Darn.) So since I'm going to be there anyway, hell yeah I'm seeing it on a big screen opening night.

New Movie Trailer: Get It While It Lasts

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:46:42 GMT

Trailer for the new movie that *gasp* actually plays: here

...

Dang!

Note to self: 1. Get plane tickets. 2. Get movie tickets. Yes, tonight already.

And this confirms one of the rumors of who appears. You probably already know who, but watch the trailer if you don't.

Sheer Randomness

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:20:54 GMT

Fortunately vowels in Old English are pronounced very similarly to in Japanese.

I love the fall. Love, love, love, love the fall. It makes me happy.

This day featured not only a break in the morning, but a whole, honest-to-goodness hour for lunch. Away from my desk for every glorious moment. I feel absolutely decadent.

That is all for now.

Um... Dang!!

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:35:50 GMT

Merlin season 2 trailer. Needless to say, contains spoilers for Merlin season 2. Airing in 5 days 13 hours and 23 minutes. (Because it's useless to still be counting down to a trip that happened five months ago.) There is a less spoilery (and less impressive) other trailer here. About the only spoiler in this version also happens to be canon. (Unless you don't know who Arthur marries. And if you don't, um... what is life like living under a rock?)

Been a busy fandom week. I was going to blog on the info we've been getting on new Ultraman stuff but haven't had the time. There is stuff. It is cool. Much of it I can't see because Tsuburaya are sino-centric jerks. I go to bed now.

The Gentle Pitter-Pat

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:58:35 GMT

It's pouring rain at the moment. Hooray for El Nino, because it's pouring rain at the moment, and has been for at least 20 minutes now. I think I'll probably turn in early for the night just so I can fall asleep to the sound of rain.

I went to Santa Barbara for the weekend for a much needed "get the heck out of town" break. Only for the weekend, though. Time off... must wait until the end of November, really. *sigh* But it was good to laugh with friends over things that are genuinely funny (as opposed to they hysterical laughter over things that normally would not be, but are currently because one is so very, very stressed.) We went to a miniatures/gaming/military history store (rhylar, you would absolutely love the place -- I grabbed a business card for you) that was down the street from a Warner Brothers lot. I persist in pondering running away and joining the movie business circus. (Reality says: No. I want to get away from 50+ hour work weeks, not join an industry where only 50 hours is a normal-to-light week.)

Speaking of reality, no immersion program in the next two years it sounds like. Thank you, idiots who started the Tea Fire. But this frees us up for some other trips instead. So vacation time won't be a problem next year.

It's really just chucking it down out there. I hope this doesn't mean we'll run out by January.

Speaking of the Tea Fire, it's still a wonder to me just how much damage that thing did. I think when I was down in SB in January I didn't go via 154, so I didn't see up close and personal how much of that area got burned. (And 154 is a good ways away from where the fire started.) If we have a really wet year down there, there will be massive mud sliding. There just isn't any vegetation to keep the ground down. It looks like a lunar landscape still, nearly a year later. My friend whose house burned down says it looks like hers was the second one to get taken out -- her obnoxious neighbor who is causing all the problems was the first to go. That's part of why her tenants didn't get any warning. It was too early in on the fire starting, and people hadn't entirely grokked was they were dealing with.

(Why on earth is "grokked" in my spell checker??)

And now to finish sweeping my Friends page to see what happened while I was gone, and then away to bed and the gentle falling of rain.

For My Reference

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:56:55 GMT

New season of Merlin begins Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10:50 AM local time. (Local to me, that is. 18:50 if one is in the UK.)

I'm assuming checking for torrents at noon-ish is probably a bit optimistic, but having it by Sunday morning should be reasonable.