Yes, as I write this, my kids are doing DDR in the kitchen. No, there is no PS2, TV, or dance pads in the kitchen. Yes, they are making it all up in their heads, amazing. I love these times! I love these kids! <3
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Author: blueZhift
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Hump Day Python Fun
The middle of the week is usually kind of blah for me. But this Wednesday is different for a couple of reasons. One, its report card day, which I hope and expect to be full of good news. And two, I have and interesting project to work on in Python! I love using a variety of languages to build software, but this cannot be done in a vacuum. I usually need something interesting to work on which people need, otherwise it’s hard to get the proper focus. Now that I have a project that will force me to delve deeper into the language, I’m going to have some real fun now! Oh I am such a geek at heart, it’s amazing that I have any kids at all!
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Open Source Games
While metamoderating at Slashdot this morning I ran across a link to IntelligentBlogger’s Top 10 OSS Games You’ve Never Heard Of. Looks interesting, I might try some of these out when I recover from some serious motion sickness induced by last night’s session of Kingdom Hearts! Ugh, I’m hoping I was just tired and not getting too old to play these games. i always thought arthritis would be the thing to stop my game playing, but this motion sickness is just, ugh…
A few days ago, I noted the rise of Yaoi manga at Borders and wondered where the culture police were hiding. Now after reading volume one of Yubisaki Milk Tea I’m wondering if I should quit using coupons and start paying for things in cash! Yubisaki Milk Tea is the first manga I’ve personally encountered that features cross dressing, and a heavy dose of lolicon (lolita complex) including underage nude girls, all in one package. I know such things have existed for some time in Japan, but this is the first I’ve seen of it in a mainstream bookstore. The story is interesting and I like the exploration of gender identity introduced by the the cross dressing Yoshinori/Yuki. But the lolicon undercurrent is a little pervy putting the manga right on the borderline of hentai. So the book is shrink-wrapped and marked with an M (mature ages 18+) for good reason. But there is nothing graphically explicit that would push the title over the line, so while it may inspire some really naughty thoughts, the police are not likely to come a knockin any time soon.
All of this makes me wonder if we’ll see another volume of this stateside at all. It also makes me wonder if manga in the U.S. has already peaked which would make catering to niches within manga another way to support sales. Or is this part of a greater trend in the entertainment industry to cater to more mature tastes?
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Uh Oh!
Uh oh, looks like I’m goin to hell now! Out on my lunch walk I stole a second glance at a cute nun! Too much Chrono Crusade I guess… No seriously, I think it was mainly because you don’t see too many nuns on the street in habits these days…Yeah, that’s it…
I was also lucky enough to find volume 3 of the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga at Borders which completes my collection up through volume 8. And Yubisaki Milk Tea is now out and on the shelves! I’ve been waiting for this one after the interesting write up in NewType.
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Trek 2.0 Back To The Future!
I watched Star Trek last night on G4 in the new Trek 2.0 format and am still trying to recover from the headrush of nostalgia it brought on. Purists may be annoyed to have the show in a box surrounded by panels with various bits of information, but if you’ve been using the web for the last few years, you’re already used to seeing things this way. The style has also been adopted by most news channels as well, so presenting classic Star Trek this way is not such a shock. With trivia scrolling across the top and chat across the bottom, it was almost like watching the show at a Star Trek convention. The left panel featured episode stats such as number of redshirts killed, while the right panel had price quotes for the Spock Market. I didn’t really get the the Spock Market which I tried out at the computer during a commercial break. The market is a share trading game, but I really didn’t quite get the point. I wanted to try chat out too, but it wasn’t working in Firefox at least. I’ll play around with it a little later in IE.
All in all, Trek 2.0 is a curious way to enjoy an old favorite and perhaps a good excuse for using a computer in the living room. I think the logical thing to do is to make further observations before formulating a final analysis.
This is just one data point to be sure, but I noticed today at Coconuts that the Naruto DVDs have already been marked down $5 from the already low $19.95 to $14.95. There were also a good number of copies available. I wonder if maybe the fans of the show were pissed off by the release of only the slightly hacked, dub only version in the U.S.. I know I was! I was looking forward to seeing it uncut in Japanese. The lame ads running on Cartoon Network right now are probably not helping. If it is true that sales have been bad, then perhaps next time the powers that be won’t diss the fans with a lame release. Yeah, I know the uncut version is coming later this year, but still I’m pissed! Yeah, I’m the impatient type…
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TsuShiMaMiRe At Anime Central
TsuShiMaMiRe will be performing at Anime Central this year. Upon hearing one of their tracks on their MySpace site, my wife pronounced them as “annoying”. I, however, like their sound and am looking forward to taking my oldest daughter and son along with me to see them perform. And I won’t have to feel guilty about not taking the wife! Hee hee. Actually, she’s a real jewel at these conventions because I can usually just do what I want while she has fun with the younger kids doing other things. Last year, I took the older kids with me to see the Pillows and we all had a good time, so I’m hoping to have some more good fun with them this year. My oldest has developed a taste for alternative rock, so she’ll probably go for TsuShiMaMiRe. I can’t wait!
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A Yaoi Invasion!
Perusing the manga section of my favorite Borders, I’ve noticed two or three self-avowed yaoi titles on the shelves! While there are already warning stickers on the shelves that some manga may contain mature content, I’m still a bit surprised that the conservative elements in the U.S. that rail against any and all things that even hint of sex have not discovered this! I guess they must be busy with other matters right now… In any case, I’m a bit curious, so I may check some of these out later. On an unrelated note, there’s also a large case of tarot cards near the Bibles!
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OMG! I’m Asuka!
All day I’ve been working on my first Ruby On Rails project. Not out of any trendiness or pure curiousity, though I have been very curious, but out of dogged determination and desperation. I have a project that needs to get done fast, and the initial way I started out just wasn’t going to work for the clients. Indeed, I’ve had to change my whole way of thinking about the problem. Anyway, I think it’s going to work, so I’m very happy and excited about it!
Also today, my cable modem and installation kit came! Yippeee! No more slow and often unreliable *cough*SBC*cough* DSL. Today was a really bad DSL day, I just kept getting dropped over and over, then as if in answer to prayer, the bell rang and behold, UPS with my package. I had prepared my cable arrangement yesterday, so once I configured the software and setup the Comcast account on my main PC to be sure that everything worked, I just had to clone the PC MAC address to my router. It’s all working quite well right now. Double Happieness!
So, feeling good and recalling a “what Evangelion character are you?” discussion with my spouse, I decided to see if there were any of those whimsical online exams around. I answered the questions as best I could and was a bit surprised at the result. I thought I might get a Shinji or Rei, but hey, it’s just fun!
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Red Letter Day
The weather here in Chicago has been pretty lousy for spring weather. Nevertheless, there are signs that the tourists are beginning to return. The return of the tourists usually coincides with the return of interesting new fashions to upper Michigan avenue and of course my favorite Borders bookstore. Yesterday during my usual shopping of the manga, I saw a young woman in a very attractive red plaid skirt with thick soled black shoes. Her stockings/tights were also red with an interesting pattern. It all went very nicely together in a sort of combination the gothic lolita and schoolgirl looks. She was probably a college student or highschooler on spring break.
Red seems to be an early favorite, as the day before I saw another young woman in a short skirt with bright red stockings that went alllllll the wayyyy up! This combo also had goth inspired elements, and she had a matching male companion to boot, no red on him but similar gothic looks.
After leaving the Borders I saw a tall young man with red hair, probably natural from his pale complexion, with matching red Converse style sneakers suitably worn. I don’t think it was an accident that the sneakers were red.
I’m reminded of all of this this morning, because my lovely WillowBrow is wearing a very nice black suit jacket with thin red pinstripes that I helped her pick out a few years back. This is still one of my favorite jackets on her. Sadly she never wears the matching skirt, which shows off her legs very nicely, because she says the slit is too high. Sigh…
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S-word Flies At Bristol
Went back to watch the race just in time for Martin Truex Jr. to wreck after a Tony Stewart induced spin. I guess the 5 second delay wasn’t turned on today because Fox broadcast Truex’s crew chief talking to him after the wreck and he referred to the car set up as “a piece of sh*t.” Announcers apologized for the language, but you can bet letters and fines will likely follow. Though, I don’t see how the chief could be fined for communications that are not intended for the public. Nevertheless, a lot of race fans do listen in both at home and the track. Oh well, that’s Bristol baby. BTW, Tony’s not really the bad guy here, Truex was getting into it with Gordon (from earlier an earlier Gordon induced spin) and Tony was being held up behind this nonsense. I guess Tony had enough. Again, that’s Bristol!
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Michael Waltrip To Drive Toyota
Watching the Bristol race today I just saw a Toyota racing ad in which Daryl Waltrip says that his brother Michael will be driving a Toyota in the upcoming 2007 season. Other drivers mentioned were bleeped out in the ad. This isn’t really a big surprise since Michael Waltrip has formed a team that will field two cars in the upcoming season. But, this is the first mention of it in a promotional spot that I’ve seen. (Actually no surprise at all, here’s the earlier announcement, duh…) Anyway, I can’t wait to see how this all works out. Michael’s not having the greatest season right now, but if he can organize a good team backed by some really great equipment and support from Toyota, he should be a strong contender.
Well off to watch the last 90 or so laps!
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Soyokaze no Yukue
Soyokaze no Yukue is the opening song of a Japanese adult dating sim game called X-Change 2 (nsfw!). It’s a very catchy and upbeat tune whose lyrics I’ve been looking for for quite some time. I finally decided to accept the challenge of transliterating the song myself. My Japanese skill is minimal at best, but this should be good enough to sing the song. If I ever finish a decent translation, I’ll post that too. Enjoy! BTW, the game is pretty good too. 😉
Soyokaze no Yukue
X-Change 2 Opening Song
Performed by I’ve
Vocals: Aki
Lyrics and Composition: Kazuya Takase
transliterated by blueZhift
March 2006
Mabushii natsu no hizashi ga mado tata itara
Tonireta yume no kakerana tsumadaryuo
Sone zo ne mo ichido tadooteku yubisaki wa joto
Dake yunai de hitotsu ni natte yuku kara
Kira kira toka ga yeku anata no hitori ni
Dakusau no omoide wo tsukuteku
Soyokaze ni nosetai jinai no seshiuna
Yura yura shite ima watashi no omoi
Tookute demo furinagara waratteru hanataba
Tsuni teku kino no onna ka gedo nana underuyo
Urito sonna ga kaze no kao ni ya
Utsunuita watashi no kokoro no
Naka yuuturi michite yuku yo
Kara kau anata nekoo anata no ena wo
Dakusau no omoide wo mokosu kara
Arozo nani kazanaata futari no mirai
Doki doki shinata aruite yuku yo
Kira kira toka ga yeku anata no hitori ni
Dakusau no omoide wo tsukuteku
Arozo nani kazanaata futari no mirai
Doki doki shinata aruite yuku yo
Walking the streets of downtown Chicago, one sight that has become more and more common is that of little Asian girls with white families. In most cases, it was safe to assume that they were a part of the wave of Korean and Chinese adoptions by American families that have taken off over the last few years. It takes a really big heart to adopt any child, and bigger I would say to adopt outside of your ethnic group. But I always wondered how these little girls would face the identity issues of growing up white, but being obviously Asian. Today’s New York Times has an article, Adopted in China, that addresses some of these questions that’s a really interesting read. I printed it out and passed it along to my oldest daughter, who being black and Chinese must confront some of the same issues.
One thing I am convinced of is that on the whole, these adoptions are a good thing. For the girls this is easy to see, but also for the parents and for the U.S.. As the parents of girls who are obviously not white, living in areas where the level of diversity is low and attitudes may be, let’s say, less enlightened, they have to face the problems of race in America head on. Being a parent is one of life’s most transforming experiences and there is no one you will fight for harder than your own kids. For these families in the suburbs, race is no longer something they left behind in the city, it’s the real thing. And I have no doubt that these families are going to be a force to reckon with in the fight for justice and equality.