Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sealed Room

Yesterday, my foot was so swollen that it looked like my foot had two ankles, one right below the other. My bedroom faces east on the 2nd floor of this two story, modestly sized colonial. A small bathroom and a bedroom with a 4 season room finishes the upper story. A stair case coming off of the face of the bathroom leads to the living room downstairs. The front door lies a bit off of the mouth of the stair. The living room opens to a dining room and then to the kitchen. A glass and screen door open to the backyard.

With my swollen foot, I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it back up the stairs if I went to the kitchen for something to eat. The toilet was upstairs. It would be an uncivilized problem if I went downstairs. The pain deadened my appetite, so I didn't feel much like eating anyway, so I stayed upstairs.

I lay with my foot raised on a sleeping bag. I considered the work that I had. I thought about calling work to see if someone could bring by some shop tickets, so I could check them for fabrication. I could toss my key down the window. Once I thought about it again, it would help, because the front and side doors had locks that could only be unlocked from the inside.

So as long as my foot limited me, I was in a sealed space. Now, I could have slid downstairs on my butt in an emergency, but in from a certain perspective, I was in a Sealed Room. I could not get out. No one could get in. The feeling was claustrophobic, especially since Sealed Rooms attract murders, like master detectives generate cases. After all, no one could possibly get involved in so many cases by random happenstance. I postulate that Sealed Rooms are similar.

It was a strange feeling when usual entrances and exits, which I usually used without a second, looked like impenetrably barriers. Stranger still that my world would be limited to three rooms, when I usually could hop into my car and range for a dozens of miles. That my sky would be 8 foot nine inches high. While my foot fevered my body and the pain made itself feel permanent, my mind painted a picture of a home become a prison.

What a strange waking dream it was.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Through Time & Space: Back off Hollywood!

I used to have a neutral opinion of remakes, but enough is enough. Though there is some laughter for this overblown tribute to Goku, the sentiment is heartfelt. The black clad French fan laments "Plus jamais simple! Plus jamais simple!, which I would render as "it's never simple anymore!" This afront is accompanied by Zac Efron in Full Metal Panic! and the darkening of G.I. Joe.

Fans Lament the passing of Goku.

At some point, the remakes included an element of flattery. The remake had the potential to add to the original legend and re-energize the fanbase. The trend is clearly away from taking risks or creation to sacking the intent and energy of the originals. I think that it's time to take a stand against this wave. The trouble is that there are still spots of quality in the flood of crap and where to make the stand, but a stand must be made.

Full disclosure: I have not seen Dragonball: Evolution, but have been warned against it. I also plan to watch the Evangelion: Reboot series.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Three days to a new HD

On the first day, I installed the hard drive and the OS.
On the second day came the drivers, the browser, and much fumbling.
On the third day were the security software and the peripheries. And upon the third night, the geek looked upon the shining monitor and said eff-it.

It was a lot of extra work, since I haven't opened the case in a while or reformatted. But now this machine has 450+ GB of usable disk space on top of a 320 GB external HD. Real estate prices have fallen in this cyber-hood.

Now that I'm back, I have to find something to say.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Impressions of ToraDora!

I'm lucky that I see a dentist these days (after a five year hiatus), because this series had enough sugar to rot out my entire mouth. ToraDora was sappy, melodramatic, and predictable, but it was an unabashedly, energetic romance. It was also the highlight of many of my weeks.

I read a movie review in the local paper praising the show the Mentalist. I've never seen the show myself, but the series was not as well reviewed as some of its competitors, because it was not shocking or surprising enough. The reviewer pointed out that most critics are looking to be wowed or blown away. Instead, the Mentalist tries to delight the audience, which the director said was the goal.

I've used the word "entertainment" as a disparagement. More precisely, it was "just entertainment". While ToraDora certainly wasn't deep, there was a color and vibrancy that helped me unwind at the end of the week. Maybe there was more to it for me than another drama. Or maybe in my narrow worldview, I need a bit of "just entertainment".

As for the show itself, it starts out with a klutzy and violent Taiga (tiger or tora) putting a love letter in the bag belonging to Takasu Ryugi. The homebody Ryugi is often misunderstood, because of his gangster like looks. When Taiga breaks into Ryugi's home to burgle back the letter, their bizarre relationship begins.

The show featured several good voice talents including one of my recent favorites Kugimiya Rie who also played Shana in Shakugan no Shana, though fans will probably know her more as Eric Alphonse in [1]. She filled out Taiga's eccentric character to the T. Her Taiga interplayed well with a well played Ryugi.

Hori Yui plays a bizarre softball player Minori, who is Taiga's best friend. Her strangeness is complemented by the equally bizarre Kitamura, who is Takasu's friend. Most of the comic relief comes from the eternally single homeroom teacher. The cast is joined by a two-faced beauty Kawashima Ami, who helps to exemplify (the cliched) theme of honesty. They are all ably voice casted.

Despite the cliches in the plot, the pacing is energetic and quick. The early episodes feel rushed, but are functional. The haste makes sense, because the nuances are fully fleshed out in the novels. At first, I was a bit putoff, until I watched the first episodes of the Hajime no Ippo anime, where the frames were directly ripped from the pages of the manga. I swore that I could have seen the scotch tape protruding from the ends of my TV screen.

While the art was good and the animation was saved for the right spots. The voice talents are really what make the series work. They convey the exuberance of first love and youth with just the right touch of sarcasm and humor that works if you're in to soak in a light story of pure romance.

[1] You can look it up in animenewsnetwork.