Wednesday, May 31, 2006

New poll ...just for my own curiosity.

Just a thought... don't know how many people read this blog regularly, but I do have something to ask. So check out the poll question in the side-bar to the right.

I ask because I'm on a forum where the question came up in the general-topics board. And a lot of people (especially younger members) seem to get confused with what "street-smarts" are. One of the people is a born-again Christian and posted about how God has asked her to put others before herself so that means street-smarts isn't something that she needs because she feels that she doesn't need to get ahead. (I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the picture).

Well, instead of responding on the board (which I already have twice) with my opinion - I feel I've already expressed myself plenty and decided to take here to my own blog. And trust me, I know damn well I may step on a few toes: but that forum member is being a little more than naive, IMHO.
Trying to get ahead doesn't make one a selfish person. I'm all for treating your fellow person with fairness, but that doesn't mean you need to sacrifice your own chances in life. Doesn't part of making the world a better place for everyone include making it better for yourself too? By giving that up, clearly this member is demonstrating a severe lack of "streetsmarts."

So the rundowng goes like this:
Streetsmarts - the ability to deal with life; identify your options and workarounds in real-world situations.
Booksmarts - knowing stuff; trivia; and how things work.

Having clarified these terms and establishing that neither of these facets of life involve harming anyone else for your benefit, which do you think is more important to getting around?

Monday, May 29, 2006

Inspired: "Fast Forward" gear

Maybe it was nice weather, maybe it was the ING Ottawa Marathon this weeekend, or maybe it really had to do with the fact that I'm running regularly now (about twice a week). Got this on the weekend... Fast Forward T-shirt.

This is actually my second Fast Foward shirt (third if the count the long-sleeved version I use in the winter for skating). The first is one the old maroon with black shoulders and had a pale blue stripe across my chest (I hate it; doesn't look particularly masculine). This one is a bright blue with a charcoal highlight... It actually does have the same pale blue stripe but it's not as obvious because it's no longer running across my chest; and it's subtle because it's blue on blue).

It matches my shoes... ^_^;

Friday, May 26, 2006

D.O.M.5

Nigaki Risa was all of 13 years old when she auditioned for and joined the Morning Musume group (5th gen.) back in late 2001. Of the 4 newest members she distinctly looked the most like a kid (I still remember her shell-shocked face the first time she was caught on the Mecha-Mechaike Okajo comedy show; what a cutie).

But of all the members, the one thing that sticks out in my head is that she looks remarkably unchanged over the years... I was watching the Hello Project spring concert DVD for 2006 and thought - wow, I still think I need to wrap her up and cuddle for a little while. (ugh! fundamentally wrong somehow).
Anyway, here're some pics stolen from a fan-site...






On the left is a 2002 photo (or thereabouts) ...and on the right is a photo from the latest souvenir tourbook...

Thursday, May 25, 2006

GBP1S and a tatoo-removed

Firstly, I almost had a freakin' heart attack today when I thought my funky case I love so much started to smell lemony... the LEDs on the front panel didn't light up when I turned it on tonight. (A reboot later solved the problem although I'm not sure if the fact that I connected the panel's lead into another power supply cable had anything to do with that).

So anyway, here's my fancy new accessory set that goes on a 1/48 scaled VF-1 Valkyrie...
Before (in it's "Super" getup):
And After (had to remove the rifle because as it turns out, the marketting materials used a bit of trick photography never revealing the fact that although he can hold it, it's actually all crooked when he does): Anywho, I've decided to put up with the nakedness. That being I haven't applied any decals... I'm holding out for a set of amateur fan-produced ones because quite frankly, the ones supplied stock ...well... they suck.

A couple more pics with the missile-hatches opened up:


Well onto topic2 for this post. I'm happy to report that I've managed to rid myself of that "anti-piracy" tatoo taking up all of 1/4 of an inch on my screen real-estate. No, I won't tell you how I did it. Look it up yourself. Besides, there's no room for laziness in the warez game.

rant: international tracking #s

But first, as aside:
Since the last post I've been informed that the boxed set marked BSG Season 2.0 is actually the first half of the second season. The production continued after a winter haitus with a "second half" in January. Still, I'd rather have waited until June for a DVD set if I could've had all of it in one go.

Back to the topic at hand - even thought I really ought to be excited. If I do the math, a small package shipped from Hong Kong should take about a week to reach my door here in Canada. Most often it works out just fine. In fact, I'm expecting my GBP-1S set to arrive today (seems like truck deliveries of this sort always arrive on Thursdays).

But what gets under my skin is the uncertainty of it all. By default, Hong Kong's equivalent of "express mail" (whatever that really is) assigns a tracking number. You don't really pay extra for it (as far as I know, anyway) and it's sort of nice to have. Unfortunately the only thing it's good for is to know when it left Hong Kong. That is, the number is only recognized by the original carrier.

In the case of a typical order from my favourite overseas e-tailer, I can use the on-line facility at the Hong Kong post office to see when the package was dropped off at their local outlet, when it was processed (in my case, for Canada), when it was put on a plane, and when it arrived in Canada... Specifically, I know that my GBP-1S set arrived 4 days ago... but I have not idea where (can only assume it's sitting on a Canada Post truck by now). But the fact is, I really have no idea where it's been for the better part of a week.

Somehow I just wish everyone would use a standard tracking number system. I mean, they all look the same for cryin' out loud. They have 13 digits, 2 letters in the front and 2 at the end and numerics in between. The Canadian and American number systems look remarkably similar and you can't tell me there's no correlation between the two last letters on my number being "HK" and the fact that it's coming from Hong Kong, right? OK, whatever.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

BSG 2.0 rant

Those who know me know me well enough to know that I have a very low tolerance for commercial television. It's an outmoded vehicle for entertainment and I'll be glad when I get around to Canadian Tivo or whatever the next big thing is. I'm already a step in the direction of pay-to-play seeing as I tend to purchase DVDs or series I (un)intentionally miss on their first-run broadcasts. In reality I just don't have the energy to remember when a show is on or to have the patience to sit through commercial breaks.

But you know what grinds my gears?

What do Canadian fans of Battlestar Galactica get for their contribution of model-turned-actress Tricia Helfer? (well, actually Canada offered a lot more including production facilities)... well the production saw fit to allow us hand-me-down rights to broadcast the series on Space a full year behind the American counterpart Sci-Fi (as usual). Which greatly adds to the confusion: when exactly did season 3 begin?

Well, we found out didn't we? See, unlike the lengthy first season which featured a full 13-episode run (and the DVD set included the original mini-series from a couple of years ago), season two turned out to be a measely 8 episodes... which ended with a cliffhanger. I hate when they do that... especially in a DVD set.

See, by the time Space was able to catch up its broadcasts, the two-part "Pegasus" story (a remarkable adaptation of the original BSG episodes about the Galactica meeting up with a long-lost sister ship) was shown on 2 consecutive weeks, IIRC. I had no idea there was even a season change... and in fact, when I missed part two, I didn't even bat an eye because at the time, I knew the second season had already had it's American DVD release - which meant within weeks (or months actually) I'd get my grubby paws on the set myself when it was released up here.
But no - another travesty of DVD distribution occurs. Season "2.0" is 8 episodes over 3 discs. I'll even do the math for you: the first 2 discs are 4 episodes each and the last is only 90 minutes long... yes, it's 2 episodes... bleah. How this retails for forty-five bucks, I don't understand.

updating the haul file

A few things to update at this point...

Spent part of my weekend in Montreal with old friends. Played Karaoke Revolution until we couldn't take any more. Specifically, the Duets mode inspired my brother and I to go back and try the selection of duet-mode songs available in older copies of KR we had stashed away. We butchered "Under Pressure" well and good. But the "KR:Party" face-mapping feature was a big hit with my friends... and they in turn butchered several songs too. All done 100% sober - you can't beat that.

Post rant: I found a copy of Patlabor TV-Series volume 8 this weekend at Metro Video! MV is a small chain (native to Montreal, I believe) of specialty shops for DVD. Prices aren't fantastic, but competitive... and their selection is very unusual - you tend to find stuff you wouldn't expect to find in a retail location. In my case, a copy of a DVD that's been out of print for about a year.

Also picked up a used copy of Metal Gear AC!D... haven't gotten around to trying it yet (arrived home really late last night). I'm told if there's an unusual game to try for your PSP that'll be a particularly unique game experience, then this is it. I figure at only $30 (took advantage of my Edge membership), what's there to lose?

Oh and also, I received an email confirming shipment of GBP-1S kit on Friday. Hooray! If things work out the way they usually do, it should arrive on Thursday... keeping my fingers crossed.

Lastly, I finished reading Brown's DaVinci Code today during my lunch break. I can see what the hooplah is about now: it actually is a very engaging read. I'm skeptical of the movie and at the moment have no intention of paying to see it. I wouldn't say it's a life-changing story (I mean, it's a fictional flight of fancy) but it does certainly come with a feel-good vibe. Happy endings are a lost art, if anything. ^_^;

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Rant: inconsistent Patlabor

Somewhat related to the post from last week, I have to get this off my chest: What the F*CK happened with Central Park Media's releases of the Patlabor series?

History Lesson
Well, Patlabor came west back in 1994 (give or take) when Manga Entertainment snagged the rights to the Patlabor movie. They released a pretty good dub and all was well with the world (in fact, in 1995 they also released a dub of the second film featuring the same cast reprising their English roles). Many years passed without much of a peep out of the western distribution world...

everything else
Then CPM snagged the rights to the non-movie versions of the Patlabor franchise. This is where the fun begins... They released a single volume to test the waters (I think it was 5 episodes). Month passed before they released a socond volume... with a totally incongruous cover. The content matched up just fine (same cast, etc) but if you ever see the boxed sets, you'll see what I mean: the first volume doesn't look anything like the volumes that followed.

Last word
I don't pretend to understand the motivations behind corporate America. But for whatever reason, the Patlabor TV series seemed to die a slow painful death... the final insult being that after repackaging volume 1 through 8 as two boxed sets (4 apiece), Volumes 9 and 10 were available before they repackaged those as well with a final 11th volume... you read that right: volume 11 was never available seperately.

Lost word
The OVA suffered an ever more ridiculous fate. Titled in English as "The New Files" the mini-series got a decent bilingual release... at least... part of it did. The "mythos" episodes were compiled on DVD and listed as "volume 1"... but the rest never came out: instead, "Volume 1" was repackaged as a "New Files" boxed set with the missing episodes ...which were never rerecorded in English (they are however, sub-titled).

Where does this leave me?
Well, for whatever reason, I never did find volume 8 available locally so now I'm scouring the web for it. I'm also looking for a decent price for the 3rd boxed set so that I can have volume 11. I'm debating whether or not to bother with the "New Files" because I've already got the "Griffon Saga" from volume 1. Ugh. I wish I knew what prompted CPM to make such a mess of things.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Another Order in the Pipes

I'm such an undisciplined fool - I keep telling myself, this is the last one, I swear. But naturally every few months something I previously missed gets reissued... like say the Takara Masterpiece MP-01 Convoy from a couple of years ago. Hasbro released a version you may be familiar with - he even made an appearance on Robot Chicken for a prostate cancer clip... the 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime.

But that's not what I'm talking about today! With the Canadian dollar hovering at around 90 cents relative to the mighty US dollar, and Toy-Wave offering it at a sale price, and the planets realigning themselves, the time was right to place my order for the 1/48 scale set of GBP-1S pack.No, the actual robot toy doesn't come with it (I already have one), it's just the set of add-on parts. And yes, it does almost cost as much as the 'bot itself. I know - I'm a frickin' geek.
Paypal was sent this morning to my favourite overseas e-tailer. I can't frickin' wait.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Elitist DVD: Patlabor the Movie

Since I had mentioned it, I thought I would share some pictures of what made me think it was such a big deal. For one, it's a limited edition of 10 thousand (actually, realistically, this is still a fairly large number); mine is marked as 4346.

Firstly Patlabor the Movie is one of the first serious anime I've had the pleasure to watch - that was around 1994 when I stumbled on it while visiting my local HMV music store. In fact, HMV remains one of the driving forces in bringing anime to the masses (back then it was the domain of underground networks of fans trading VHS tapes by mail). I have a special love for this particular police drama because of that.

Secondly, this edition features the recent Dolby 5.1 remixed audio tracks (both in Japanese and a new English dub). But enough of that - let's get to the goodies of the LE edition!

It came in a heavy package with a resealable plastic wrapper like Japanese media usually does. My box was a little dented, but the card stock is about 1/8-inch thick, so it hardly bothers me...
Here's what came inside the slipcase: two books and a fancy dual-DVD digipak.
The first book is very cool for old-school fans like myself. It's a documentary-style look at behind-the-scenes of developing the movie including interviews and rare artwork by the designers.
The other book is a fan's dream: a complete set of the storyboards including translated dialogue. BTW, there you can also see the digipak opened up with the second documentary bonus disc that was not included in the regular edition.

Monday, May 08, 2006

It's all about the timing

There's always a time to buy - but some times are better than others. I just scored the Patlabor Movie LE DVD for just over $60 because I was tipped off late last night night that Best Buy was having their 24-hour-everything-on-sale deals. And since this wasn't a "web-only" item, I had them "ship" to an in-store pick-up location. The best about this situation? I originally planned to buy it today after work anyway. Oh, and I also get Canadian Tire money on my Mastercard for this purchase. ^_^;

Other fun stuff - I laugh in the face of financial uncertainty. Ha Ha Ha... ahem.

I picked up Karaoke Revolution Party this weekend... the face-mapping feature is hilarious. There's something just fun about seeing myself as a 3D polygonal model walking around on a virtaul stage. This must be what pro athletes feel like when they boot up games like the EA-Sports NHL or FIFA series and little versions of themselves...
The game itself is the usual par for course - several songs I know, several I don't know. A lot I thought I knew but realize after trying to sing them that I don't. And the DDR pad gives it a new twist. Very simple but still a very unsual sensation to be tracking two continuous streams of information on the screen with your eyes...

Sunday, May 07, 2006

WinXP Tatoo

Well, I've been tatooed for being the victim of piracy... Microsoft has seen fit to brand my desktop with this in my system tray...Yeah - that little star thingy in the middle - it's a shortcut to Microsoft's web site that lets me purchase a legit copy of WinXP if I want it... too bad I've sworn of Internet Explorer and that site doesn't seem to like Firefox. Not that this is an excuse - I really don't particularly feel like paying for WinXP either way. I'm just pissed that the OS industry in general has become what it is as a by-product of the computer industry as a whole.

Flashback to 1999-2000 and I was buying my PC. I had Win95 I think at the time... it didn't support USB and that's the ONLY reason I wound up getting Win98SE at one point. And then the trouble started. You know, for the most part, Win3.1 was the most stable OS I'd ever had and Win95 had some decent upgrades. But for the most part, from 98 onward, I haven't had such a great time with Windows. 98SE was a little better, NT and ME weren't particularly thrilling (and had their share of crashes), 2000 was robust but didn't handle certain drivers very well, and finally I came around to *ahem* "stealing" XP... well I'm certainly not fond of paying for stuff that just plain doesn't seem to want to work right.

I think the trouble is in that there is more stuff inside Windows now that ever before to screw up. When it was a shell on DOS, there wasn't much to go wrong and if something went wrong, DOS was responsible more that anything (not that it mattered because in the end you had a GPF screen anyway). *sigh*

Oh well, at least I was able to turn off the "victim of piracy" warnings. I'll live with the tatoo. F*ck it.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Things I've been up to

If you keep up with my life blog over filed under alias FusionAce, you'll know The Legion has been a little bit strapped for cash lately... but that hasn't stopped me from wasting a lot of time. Here's where I stand with my hobbies:

I'm done priming pretty much everything on my current Warhammer stuff - including the goofy Ork bike I bought last Christmas... just need final paint on that, and on the Tau Sniper team I got last month.

I'm stuck on Tomb Raider Legend already. I put it down for about a week and a half (life sort of got in the way)... and last night I got back into it. I'm on the Japan level and stuck at the boss battle. It's way too frenetic for a keyboard mouse combination. I might give the gamepad a try later. Dunno. I mean I know the moves to make: climb up to the same platform as the boss and run around there. He makes attacks in three patterns: a vertical you can dodge, horizontal high (you can duck under this) or horizontal low (you can jump over this). But try coordinating Lara Croft with the traditional WASD-layout...

Picked up Winter Assault again. I decided to give the bad-guy campaign a go. I never really got into the Orks, but if I leave it, I'll always feel like I only got half my money's worth. Finished the first mission tonight on my first try... not bad considering I had no idea what I was doing.
(oh btw, everybody knows by now that Relic has yet another Dawn of War expansion in the works right?)

Oh and finally, despite my cash troubles, I purchased the second season of the new Battlestar Galactica series on impulse this afternoon. The price was just too damn good and it was the last copy on the shelf. I mean good like in I've already done my research - it's was cheaper than Futureshop.

Either way, I just gotta think that I'm relatively lucky all around. My cash "problem" is actually due to the fact that I'm setting it all aside for my house... which essentially means that I'm building equity more than anything. It's just a matter of timing my luxury expenses very carefully.