Thursday, November 25, 2010

Life, the Universe and Yakumo

Tsukamoto Yakumo from School Rumble, pretty much my favorite character from the series. She's here today to salve the broken hearts of those who tried to visit this site only to find it missing- some problems with the server, I think. Anyway, though this post is categorized under 'Art', it isn't by me, nor is the following picture, which was painted by my sister- I ran the above picture through Sumo Paint to remove the colors and she repainted it:

Friday, November 5, 2010

In which I lash out at everything


Edit: Some pictures are lost, thanks to some reorganization on Facebook. Much of the post still makes sense, though,

Looks like I can throw my umbrella away, at least for now- there’s nothing hanging over my head at the moment, except for a faraway cloud labeled ‘Exam Results’, though I have no idea when it’s coming to town. In the meantime, I suppose I’ve earned the right to ignore it completely (as well as everything else I ought to be doing) and just relax- and what better way to begin that phase but by incinerating every single thing that’s irritated me in the last few months?

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Ancient History: Mumblings from the Sickbed

Note: This is just a really old composition that I found buried in my external hard drive. It was meant for publishing, but somehow never made it through, till now. Some editing has been done, but not everything herein applies today as it might have done then.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

For I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds


"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." -J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, quoting the Bhagavad Gita.

This post falls into a long unused category, that of Dreams. By that, I do not mean objectives to be achieved, however impossible, or hallucinations brought on as a result of many a severe blow to the cranium. I refer instead to the flights of fancy experienced in that state which scientists blandly term Rapid Eye Movement.

Note: This is another post from my stockpile (which is running thin at the moment) of unpublished posts- can't post anything fresh out of my head right now, as I have a referral exam which I absolutely must pass... not to mention that I've been delaying revision due to the inescapable gravitational pull of Monster Hunter Portable 2G. Anyway, I'll be free sometime, say, early November.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Prince of Persia: But I really am a Persian!


Sands of Time is to be the first in a series of seven movies based on the presumably-soon-to-be legendary (if not already) Prince of Persia (PoP) video games. A quick summary might be helpful for newbies, no?

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Hotaru no Haka: A Different Perspective


Note: Just got back from an insane one month tour of China and Hong Kong, and still too tired (i.e. lazy) to do anything substantial. Therefore, chew on a pre-composed essay that's been lying dormant in the draft bin for ages.

Almost every review I’ve read of this movie waxes lyrical of its portrayal of the horrors of war, by forcing viewers to watch two orphaned children survive in the aftermath of Japan’s defeat in World War II. All concur, more or less, that Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies) is a must-watch movie for anime fans.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

CNY 2010: Bangkok Blues


Note: Yup, yet another delayed post. By the way, I'll be out of reach from the 4th till the 31st of July- just holler at me if you happen to be in China or Hong Kong, cos' that's where I'll be. Cheerios.

(Edit - March 2014) Facebook must have redone their linking system, because almost all the image links aren't working. I'm too lazy to do a contextual Sherlock and guess which photo goes where, so... if you're reading this now, be prepared for some oddness.

Hmm... the water was rather choppy, but this photo still turned out nicely, like the other photos I took from the boat... maybe I should consider a career in marine photography, haha. Back to the point (never mind the fact that I'm just getting started): In line with our newly (relatively) established family tradition, this year's Chinese New Year was spent in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Jumping into a Bear's Maw: Meme Trap

I've carelessly set myself up for participation in a so-called 'Comment Meme' by commenting on a certain Livejournal journal. Reading it, you will quickly come to the realization that I completely missed out on reading point #8. I've never been in the habit of doing memes, seeing them as an interactive breed of chain letter. On the other hand, I don't get many commentators, so that means I wouldn't have much work to do, hehe. Read on then, if you dare.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

The Place Promised in Our Early Days: Now why didn't I have one?

It’s been a while since I saw an anime that I’ve really enjoyed, one that would give me cause to pick up a wooden placard and preach about it to random people on the street like a raving, Armageddon-prophesying madman. Alright, I admit. I wouldn’t do that. That said, it did get me thinking about doing such a thing. Perhaps a simpler illustration would serve better: not since Code Geass have I been so impressed by anime. Nuff’ said, methinks.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Institutional bias, failed plans and self-inflicted torture

Quite a bit has happened since my last post back in February. Did your world darken while I was away? Or brighten up? Hmm. Don't answer that question, whatever your answer is. I have this niggling feeling that my draftsmanship has deteriorated during my long sabbatical. The only things I wrote during that period were dull law notes taken during revision classes. Hour upon hour of torture. It screws with your head, and not in a good way.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Genting 2010: New Continent Discovery Committee, Dismissed.

Obligatory group shot.
Um, well, there you have it. It's finally arrived- the post detailing what seems to be our yearly pilgrimage to the nearest naturally cold spot in the country, Genting Highlands, famous for having the only casino in the country, which in any case, might soon face a dearth of money-seeking pilgrims when the shiny new Singaporean casinos open their doors. Or is it casino? Ah, small matter.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

My Dream in the Year of the Tiger

Credit to Yamanowa.
You got me right. Tigers are facing extinction, unless we do something about it. Or perhaps, unless we stop doing certain things... Tiger liver for dinner, anyone? You get the picture. Now don't get me wrong- I like the big orange fuzz-balls as much as the next person on the street, but I'm not joining PETA anytime soon. While we're on the subject, I had better mention that although its namesake isn't doing very well in the survival department, Tiger Beer is still safe in many a beer-guzzler's refrigerator...

Monday, January 25, 2010

Why I Like It Longer. No, Seriously...

Let's see now...
I'm bored. I need something to amuse me, especially while I'm on the run, or in between classes. It would be nice to be able to surf the web. Or play some games. Maybe even watch a movie.

Then again, to do all that satisfactorily, I'd need a laptop computer, a game console, and a home theatre system. Sheesh. I'd also need a Hummer to carry all of it as I head to college.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Spice and Wolf II: Futures Trading, Medieval Politics, and Inter-Species Courtship

Huh. I just realized that I never made a post on the first season of Spice and Wolf- and here I am jumping into a review of its second season. Ah well. Speed review of season one, people? Here goes:

Craft Lawrence, white-haired but no geezer, is a travelling merchant whose dream is to make it big and have a shop of his own. One day, while camping somewhere between towns, he wakes up to find a naked girl in the back of his cart. Her nudity doesn’t hold his attention for long, though- she has a tail and animal ears. So begins Lawrence’s journey with Horo the wolf-goddess... Bah. That felt like something an underpaid bit-column newspaper writer would mash out. That was how I meant it to be though, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining, haha.

Friday, January 8, 2010

European Union Film Festival 2009

Flags. European flags, for what it's worth.
"Ed. For lack of a better picture."

I've been to five Japanese film festivals before, but this one is my first. That's not really surprising as it's the first time they're having it here, but there has been a French Film Festival in the past, which I missed. As you can see from the title, this is yet another late post- I've got quite a large backlog to clear. Both memory and diary are a little sketchy, so this might be a wee bit difficult.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Be nice to tigers this year, you hear me?

Meow.
Judging from all the pictures floating around 'image boards' like Danbooru, 2010 is the year of the tiger- hence the title. 2010 already? Sigh. Say, did the tiger just blink? Oh wait, it's just me scrolling down the page.

The Japanese have this old superstition concerning the first dream of the new year- they say that it is extremely good luck to dream of Mount Fuji, a hawk, and... an eggplant, for who knows what reason. Oh. Wiki says that there is a reason. I won't bother elaborating.