Beware the flock of rabid sheep...

I never know what to put in one of these.

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:34:35 GMT

Howdy all, just thought I would just put some ideas to 'net.

I went to the movies yesterday (starting to get into the habit of it) and finally saw Pixar's new movie, WALL-E. While I absolutely loved the movie, and will probably see it again by the end of the week, that isn't the point of this rant. As always the previews are relative to the movie- since this one was rated G, you had a lot of the kiddie pics. Whatever. Of the first notable ones is from Disney, which has apparently taken some advice from Pixar and has developed a decent 3D picture with an interesting plot- Bolt. Cool little story about this dog who plays a superhero on a show and goes out to rescue his kidnapped owner or something. All the same, decent idea and some pretty funny parts.

Next up was the new movie coming from Dreamworks. Ugh. Madagascar 2, which to suffice it to say I won't be going to see. Compared to the other two their animation sucks, and the plot is horrible and tripe. Bad visual images.

All the same, it was interesting to look at these three pieces and just realize how much of a difference in quality there is between the three. You would figure that the other two might take a lesson from Pixar, and to a certain degree at least one of them is.

But I'll stop here while I am still somewhat making sense.

All is well on the Eastern front, nothing crazy going on. Getting my car worked on at some point during the week once my boss does an errand for me.

God must hate me more than usual.

Wed, 14 May 2008 01:14:06 GMT

Everything has been going so well, and I was wondering when the other shoe was going to drop.

Looks like it finally did.

I was sitting at my computer, minding my own business, when suddenly I get this horrible pain on the right side of my head. Now, I generally brush my teeth at night before I go to bed, so while I realize it is not as much as I should I apparently have an exposed nerve out of freaking nowhere.

Hell, I haven't had problem's with my teeth in months so it just makes since that it pops up the night before I have a long double, when I could really use the sleep.

Adding to this, I have health insurance but no dental. Obviously this is an issue, especially since it will probably need to be taking care of within a week or so before it drives me crazy or I overdose on pain medication. Plus, adding on top of the fact that I really really hate going to the dentist and I'm all sorts of happy.

But it is the pain that gets me the most. You would think if it was just a nerve around my tooth it would just affect the area. But no, it's the whole right side of my head, and particularly around my ear.

I'm really hoping this isn't something major like Bell's Palsy.

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:29:27 GMT

Around here, somewhat like URI, Thursday is the party night for college students.

I find it amusing that, while most people around here are packing up to go home and crash, I just woke up to go to work.

Hehe.

Brr...

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 14:28:48 GMT

Yeah, I know, it's cold out. But you never really realize how cold it is out until you have to wash trucks.

Mind you, I wash wearing the snow suit that I found the other day, so I was rather far from warm. I was freaking roasting in it today, which is a good thing to know since it was about 12 out where we were working.

The cleaning out of the trucks weren't that bad - it was the washing them that sucked. It took about a minute for the water to freeze to the trucks, not to mention that it was literally making a skating rink. And the trucks were on a hill.

All the same it only took us about three hours, which isn't that bad.

Got home, turned on the heat, and now I am going to have myself some cocoa :-D

From now on

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 04:46:41 GMT

From this point forward this is just going to be a personal journal; I'm going to be putting anything anime-related over at my site on myanimelist.net.

I am doing this because, well, it makes sense, and I know there are some people here that could really careless about my opinion on anime since they don't watch anime. Understandable.

http://myanimelist.net/profile/Darreal

Rather nice setup they have over there, I really do like it.

Had a great time today with the day trip to Barry's and such. Good times were had with him and his sisters.

"That was me being subtle."
"Yeah, about as subtle as pushing someone off a cliff."

Makes me Smile.

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:47:53 GMT

I have seen one of the greatest things I think I have ever seen.

Before GAINAX got together for Neon Genesis Evangelion they had their separate projects, like the guy who did the missile animation for Marcross.

Before they were even on the board when it comes to animation, at all, they created a four nifty atempts at cell animation. The first two can be found on Otaku no Video, one of their original OAVs. The other two were showed at anime convention in the early 80's, and since they were done on 8mm they never went out for sale.

So I decided to troll on Youtube, and sure enough a bunch of people had posted them.

Look up Daicon, but remember: these were created at a time when the animation was not a good as it is today, but the quality is still amazing.

Anime and Witing

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:37:40 GMT

"Kanon" just seems to reinforce that common stereotype that odd things happening at night in Japanese schools.

It's a serious epidemic that surely needs to be looked into.

Officially out of the writer's block (Ta-daa!) which needless to say makes me freaking ecstatic. I haven't been able to free-write since my days back at FSC. I am noting subtle changes, like with descriptions and just general structure of the poems and stuff. It all flows so well, much better than it use to, and the wording is simple yet descriptive.

Either way I am quite excited, despite the other stuff happening in my life.

At this point I have an epic (ten minute read) poem, two threes, and a nice unexpected little thought process story that just sort of came on a whim.

Oh, and on Sunday's I've been going to this cool open mic night down on Main Street at the Java Hut. I have only been going there about two weeks but for the most part, just listening to people read, not necessarily what they have created, other pieces in general, really just screwed with my thought process in general - in a good way. For a while I was trying to make things complicated and descriptive by using odd combinations of words to describe simple things. It always looked somewhat good (I am truly my hardest critic) but when I hear people read stuff like that aloud it just doesn't seem right in person.

So I have just resorted to writing things as I see them, and being somewhat content with that.

Lately I have been trouncing down there with Alana, a good friend of mine from high school - more on her hopefully later. Unfortunately she is not going to be able to come down this week, which means I'll be going alone. While I do have stuff I would dearly hope to present unfortunately there is going to be a competition, and while I don't mind participating the issue is that I don't know if I will have two poems that I am comfortable with performing. I presently have one - groomed it pretty well, if I do say myself - but I don't know if I will have a second done in time.

I do have some time until then, and I know I will have at least one day off between now and then. It's just that all of this has been coming so naturally, I just really don't want to force it and make a mess of it before I can get moral support from a group of people who barely know me.

Damn late night musing, me with the boring talk and such. I'll go back to webcomics and notoriously sad girls in snow so I don't have to bother you guys with my incessant ramblings.

Internet again? Impossible.

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:51:26 GMT

Yeah, we have a somewhat decent internet connection now, usually I just piggyback but I am debating about setting up something with Leigh so that I can have a better source. And yes, I mean Leigh back from the old days, she ended up moving in with Todd and I up in Worcester.

For a while we (Todd and I) were playing games pretty much every night, still trying to finish up DW4. We have something like six 11ths to finish getting, the just maxing out the exp to finish the game. I went off yesterday after dropping off my Dad at TF Green to look for Samurai Warriors but no luck. Oh well, it will still take up about 20 hours to finish DW4.

Last Saturday I turned 24, which was interesting to say the least. Had way too much to drink, but I had a good time with friends and such.

Finally got a full time job; working 3:30 pm 'til midnight Monday through Friday. It's a nice job, and once I am fully trained I'll be completely self-sufficient and won't be being trained anymore. Which will be nice. Tomorrow they start re-training me on the heavy equipment, which should be highly amusing.

I've also taken up an offer from my landlord to pick up another job that will be an early morning kind of thing. Pretty much washing trucks in the morning for about 4 to 6 hours then going home to get some sleep. Pretty much I will be working every other day, starting at the end of this week. Simple cake job, but pays well, so if I am lucky I should be making about 2500 a month, not including truck moves. Why work this much? Well, no reason in particular, I just want to be ready just in case I decide to go back to school, which is becoming more likely by the minute. Still don't know what for.

Hope all is well with you guys.

I know, I know...

Sun, 20 May 2007 18:26:36 GMT

Even for me this has been a long time without posting. But what can I say? Moved to a new apartment, which didn't have an internet connection, and it took me a while to figure out where I could get it, cheap. Yeah, I know, you can always go down to the library, but frankly, as much of a book person I am, it always bores me. So I ended up just heading down to Jillian's, a local bar hop about a mile down the road that offers free internet. And they don't care if you stay here hours as long as I keep ordering sodas. Works well for me.

As for the new apartment, I love it. It's close to work, and even when we move the warehouse in July/August my commute won't change at all. More on the move later, though. And work, lot of impotant stuff happening there.

Todd is a great roommate; he's only the third person I have ever met that we can get pissed at each other, and then a week later we are fine. We understand that we have to get along because we live together, so therefore it works. Yeah, it is screwed up but that is life.

Oh, and congrats to both him and Liegh getting engaged. I figured I might as well get that out there even though I don't think I have said it to either of their faces. Well, I most likely already did it over the phone. I'll stop rambling now.

Social life has been up and down. Typical. No girlfriend but right about now I am trying to get my education sorted out; trying to find out if I am still enrolled at Framingham State College, and if I am how I can transfer to Worcester State, simply because I am quite literally five miles away. No joke.

As for work, well...yeah, there has been a lot going on there. I was eventually pulled out of the warehouse so that I could do some simple inventory control. Mainly replacing titles that we run out of with new titles. Generally we have a growth of one to five percent in fair revenue.

This season it has been twelve percent.

Obviously they are rather happy with me. Which make it all the more interesting when HR turns to me and says: Get you degree.

So that is why I am going back to school. Finally.

Oh, this is highly amusing.

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 06:24:32 GMT

Yeah, I should do a real post soon, giving important stuff about work/moving. But I have WAY too much anime to watch, and more on the way.

Just what I expected.

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 05:18:28 GMT

What celestial choir do you resonate?

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:42:23 GMT

I'm seriously in the mood for a Road Trip this weekend. Don't care where, just don't want to be in Massachusetts. (hint hint NY)

I apparently have more in common with Leigh than I thought.

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 04:46:58 GMT

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!

Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Level | Score
Purgatory | Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo | Moderate
Level 2 | High
Level 3 | Low
Level 4 | Very Low
Level 5 | Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis | Low
Level 7 | High
Level 8- the Malebolge | High
Level 9 - Cocytus | Low

Level descriptions: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-information.html
Take the test: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv

The last time I took this test I was tossed into the seventh level, which is for far more dastardly people. So I am looking at this oddly as an improvement.

A comparison...

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 06:10:31 GMT

Disorder | Rating
Paranoid: High
Schizoid: High
Schizotypal: Moderate
Antisocial: Low
Borderline: Low
Histrionic: Low
Narcissistic: Low
Avoidant: Low
Dependent: Low
Obsessive-Compulsive: Low

URL of the test: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/personality_disorder_test.mv
URL for more info: http://www.4degreez.com/disorder/index.html

The last time I took one of these tests the results...well, freaked me out, so I stopped taking them. I scored rater high on some of the other disorders, but fortunately this one was a lot better. In a sense.

Life is going incredibly well right about now. I think the only hole that I really need to fill is the relationship one, but I am in no rush to resolve that problem. I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to getting a girlfriend the only things I can do is be myself and expect it to happen when I least expect it.

Seems to be a trend.

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:06:45 GMT

1) ARE YOU GOING TO LIE?
Depends.
2. WHAT KIND OF SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Gray work shirt.
3. WOULD YOU KISS ANYONE ON YOUR FRIEND'S LIST?
Have.
4. DO YOU HAVE "A THING" FOR ANYONE ON YOUR FRIENDS LIST?
...Yeah, something like that

6. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT TO HAVE?
At least one.
7. DO YOU HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH BOTH YOUR PARENTS?
Yes.
8. WHAT NAME WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE BESIDES THE ONE YOU HAVE?
Alex. Don't ask why, I don't know.
10. WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR LAST B-DAY?
Took the day off from work, slept in, was antisocial
11. WHAT'S YOUR CURRENT RINGTONE ON YOUR PHONE?
Vibe then ring
12. WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP TODAY?
ummm...10, then went back to bed until 1. Long night at work.
13. WHEN DO YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED?
In time.
15. NAME SOMETHING YOU CAN'T WAIT TO DO?
Play a video game
16 WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR MOM?
Monday
17. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH YOU COULD CHANGE ABOUT YOURSELF?
Sheesh...too much. Mainly medical stuff, but that is way to depressing to get into now.
18. IF YOU HAD A MILLION DOLLARS... WHAT FEW THINGS WOULD YOU DO WITH IT?
Buy a house with a lot of land
19) Do you love your siblings
Only child.
21. WHAT COLOR UNDERWEAR ARE YOU WEARING?
Black
22. LAST THING YOU ATE?
Saltines.
24. YOUR LEAST FAVORITE MONTH?
May
25. WHAT'S THE LAST PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU BORROWED FROM SOMEONE?
Sheesh...probably a jacket.
26. WHO IS GETTING ON YOUR NERVES RIGHT NOW?
...no one, actually.
27. MOST VISITED WEBPAGE?
Anime News Network
28.LAST PERSON YOU TEXTEd?
Jimmy
29. LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU SAD.
Can't remember.
30. WOULD YOU TAKE A BULLET FOR YOUR BEST FRIEND?
We actually talked about this....yeah, without hesitation.
33. HAVE YOU BEEN TO EUROPE?
Iceland.
35. IF SOMEONE YOU HATED DIED, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Nothing. I've had my peace and let it be.
36. HAVE YOU KISSED SOMEONE IN THE PAST WEEK?
Nope
37. IF YOU COULD TELL YOUR LAST EX SOMETHING WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?
Nothing left to say.
38. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR EX WOULD SAY TO YOU?
Nothing left to say.
40. WOULD YOU GET BACK WITH YOUR LAST EX IF YOU COULD?
Odd situation...but yeah.
41. WHO HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE EX?
...that is a loaded question.
42. WOULD YOU GET BACK WITH YOUR EX FROM QUESTION 41?
...see above
44. HOW MANY PIERCINGS DO YOU HAVE?
None
45. TATTOOS?
None, but maybe some in the future.
46. IF YOU COULD GET PIERCED ANYWHERE WHERE WOULD YOU GET IT DONE?
I'm not answering that.
47. WHAT ARE YOU MOST SCARED OF?
Life.
48. DO YOU LIKE BEING ON STAGE WITH A BUNCH OF PEOPLE?
Yeah, but not really.

Apparently when I am in Firefox whenever I hit the quotation key it opens up the find feature. Odd.

Stuff and things

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:37:19 GMT

Things are...good, I guess. I think I am just reaching a point in my life that while I am happy about how it is (apartment, job, social-esque group) I still feel like I am missing something major. And I guess I just have to go out and find it.

In good news, though, Tuesday night I had my first dream in the apartment. This is an obvious sign that I have finally got used to the aspect of living pretty much on my own and am comfortable with it. This is a very good sign. Also, I remember very little from the dream, which means it was a premonition, but I like what I do remember of it.

On a bad note I don't have Monday off. Damn Scholastic. Oh, and I have to work Saturday, which means I won't be able to go down to Neutral Ground and participate in Raw Deal. Sorry Cliff.

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 07:35:44 GMT

You know, I'll be the first to admit that I watch a lot of fucked up shows. But I draw the line at reruns of Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Another great weekend...

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:58:52 GMT

I decided, with the fact that both of my roommate's girlfriends were coming to visit, that it was probably in my best interest to get the hell out of Dodge and take a trip to Rhode Island.

After working a ten hour shift Friday I bombed down to RI, arriving on campus sometime around 12:15. Despite being incredibly tired I coaxed Barry to toss on Melancholy and proceed to make Cliff love to hate the main female character. He didn't end up getting any sleep, then went to work 'til 3.

Barry left for work around 1:30, and I went up to the Gaming Club to watch people play games. Cliff showed up, and there was much fun with Raw Deal and wrestling. We ended up making a rather disgusting deck for October 7, when they have the tournament down in NYC at Neutral Grounds.

When Barry got back around 11:30 it was decided that I needed food, so we took a rather impromptu trip to the 24 hour Walmart in Westerly. Long drive, but nice trip with soda, patties and popcorn. Got back to the dorm, made mad food and watched MST3K Pod People. McCloud!!! Quite entertaining.

Slept until 7, when Ryan called needing a ride to work. Picked him up at Cumby's and drove him up to Dave's in Wickford. Took an hour, but it was good to see him again, always a cool guy to chat with. Got back to the apartment and slept until 12:30, which then dealt with more food and Melancholy. Showering soon, and should be leaving around 3 or 4 to get back to Worcestor. Need to do laundry, and hopefully hanging with Anna later today.

Oh yes, I got the shipping confirmation for both the Card Captor Sakura Mega-Bundle and the full series of Peace Maker Kurogane, so those should be in either tomorrow or Tuesday. Happy Justin either way.

Another busy week this week, ten hour days then working Saturday. Lot's of overtime means more anime. Yay anime.

~Justin~

Baka internet...

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 15:04:11 GMT

I wake up, and I have to reboot the internet. It sucks, but it happens sometimes. Reboot. An hour later it goes down again. I just take this as an annoying sign that I should go shop for food and shower. Now I reboot it, and I'm crossing my fingers that it stays up long enough until Ouran 24 is done.

Is it just my computer, Rich, or have you been having trouble with this also?

Good news, good news...

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 09:44:39 GMT

I was glancing through the internet, obviously later than I probably should, and stumbled upon an article about Otakon 2006, in which a representative from Kadokawa Shoten announced that there had been multiple offers of liscensing The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, but not only the anime but the novels and manga. I guess this could be somewhat expected when both the opening and closing climbed to the top of their equivalence of the Billboards. Plus, apparently over 60,000 copies of the first DVD have been sold, and the CD single sold out within a day. This series is one of the few I would definitely buy as the DVDs came out and not when it is thinpacked.

Needless to say I am quite happy now.

BTW, I'm going to take a wild that today is National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Either that or the whole staff of Livejournal has officially lost all insanity and pants.

Anime stuff...

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 07:36:31 GMT

Went to Best Buy today with Anna, and ended up picking up Head Automatica's latest CD and also the first four discs of Wolf's Rain, which looks and feels different then I expected to. Bones, the animation group, also did Ouran High School Host Club, and there is such an odd difference between the two that it is ridiculous. Ouran is all bright and happy, while Wolf's Rain is all dark, damp and down-trodden. It's an interesting contrast between the two pieces, and after watching the first two episodes of Wolf's Rain I know I am going to need to pick up the second collection (19-26).

I've come to the conclusion that I will buy any anime that fits into these categories:
Animation
1. Production I.G: Quite literally one of the few groups that have been doing really amazing stuff as of late. Windy Tales is just a wonderfully odd anime, that is beautiful but captivating in it's pace. One also can't forget it's earliest productions, including Neon Genesis Evangelion and Azumanga Daioh, and also the underground classic Cromartie High School. Definitely a group to look for in the future.

2. Kyoto Animation: Four words: Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that the cells are hand-drawn and simply mixed together with CG. Amazingly well animated series, it is really hard to look away. But I find that a lot of the animes look similar in style, not only in color but in sequencing. I mean, as great as it is you definitely see similarities between Air and Melancholy, but to a certain degree Inuyasha is a toned down version of the two...anyways, I'll stop now.

3. Madhouse: Great things to say about Madhouse. Probably one of the busiest animation studios, when it comes to classic series. Also, they have some very good artists when it comes to facial expressions...Trigun, Card Captor Sakura, Chobits, Di Gi Charat...the list goes on. For a rather long time.

4. Bones: Check above. Not as a diverse group as the other two, but it has a good group of intersting animes.

Music
1. Composed by Yoko Kanno: Something about this woman, when she writes music for animes I just get completely lost in the story, almost to the same degree as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Obviously her best-known piece is Cowboy Bebop, but she has also been a major player in Escaflowne, Wolf's Rain and the most recent Ghost in the Shell projects.

2. Produced by Star Child: Hard working company that just seems to make soundtracks that are absolutely stellar. They have graced the prescense of Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, all the Gundams...oh, and the Shrine of the Morning Mist, one of the greatest underground finds I have discovered yet.

I have three actresses that I will always buy...but I am too tired to write them down and get all gushy about it. Sleep is needed, spending most of the day with parents/relatives.

~Justin~

Prophetic...

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:25:13 GMT

I'm sitting out on the porch, enjoying a smoke after my lunch, and the church just starts playing Amazing Grace, one of my favorite songs of all time. If that isnt a sign that I am going to have a good time being 23, I don't know what is.

Running around all day, doing random errands. Call the cell.

~Justin~

The internet is fucking with my head...

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:06:55 GMT

Now, I know I am not Trekkie but this still scares/makes me laugh, somehow, at the same time.

I was browsing the list of American advertising characters on Wikipedia (I know, BAD idea) when I came across Ronald McDonald. I thought, cool, he's a decent icon, I'll select him.

And then the trouble comes.

Apparently Ronald MacDonald is a living descendent of the people who started MacDonald's. He lives in Tampa, Florida and conceived and built the first Disco.

Funky.

Oh, and apparently he helped Dave Thomas open the first "Wendy's" restaurant.

Isn't that just helping the competition?

Anywho I get sidetracked, I keep going and they have a list of all the preformers of the character. I'm like, cool, it just switched over this year to Brent Spiner. Let's read his bio.

And a picture of Data pops up on my screen.

I'm like, wtf? What's this doing here, I got nothing against the Next Generation I just know I didn't click on anything ::Goes back to Ronald MacDonald article:: Oh mother help me.

So whenever you see Donald MacDonald on TV anymore just remember: Data wants you to get fat now on Big Macs.

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:55:11 GMT

I just looked at the amount of space I have left on my hard drive, and it is quite literally 500 MB. I have never ever cut it this close, even when I was randmly downloading things off the net. So, I guess it is time to start pulling some of my anime off...

Mind you, most of the series on there are two gigs or bigger, and I have about a gig of Ouran High School Host Club, so that can be transfered over to my iPod without a problem. Plus I am going to go through my iTunes and instead of maybe 100 songs that I know I love I'm just gonna get rid of everything else. Lately I have been downloading a lot of music from anime that I watch, and I should be getting a good deal on a car CD deck that also plays mp3 players. So things are going pretty well in this neck of the wooods.

Just a word to the wise...

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:15:40 GMT

Don't go get pints with a drunk Sicilian and expect it to be a normal Kosher kid-safe night.

More on that later, though.

Recently I have been downloading anime. Lots and lots of anime. As in, I still have at least 80 episodes left to watch. All the same I have been stuck on one in particular called The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Haven't heard of it? Well, I know Barry has but I wouldn't expect most of you to given it just aired March 2nd through July 2nd of this year. Needless to say, it is one of the most screwed-up animes I have ever seen, given not only in the animation and direction but also in the characters themselves. The first episode itself tells you absolutely nothing at all that has to do with the whole rest of the story (I think). Mind you, I'm still watching it, on episode 6 of 14.

And that is the other funny thing: There are two different ways to watch the series. Seriously. There is the way that it was aired on television and also the way the main character says it should. This is something I have never seen before in an anime (or regular television series in general). And the funnier part is that the way that it was aired is so royally fucked up!!!! The first three episodes make sense, but after that it all goes downhill. I'm watching it through how it was aired first, assuming I just plain don't get fed up, then I'm going to watch it again according to the main character.

Anyways, off to work at 2:30, hoping to catch up with Anna during her break at 2.

~Chow~