Archives for category: Life

In Memoriam – Satoshi Kon

August 26, 2010 //
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It’s really hard to put down into words all the things that went through my head when I first read the news. Disbelief, numb shock, then tears. Probably like many other Satoshi Kon’s fans from around the world when they first heard the news.

Anime Director Satoshi Kon of “Millennium Actress” Passed Away (from GIGAZINE)

Reading Satoshi Kon’s 2008 ANN interview was bittersweet; reading his final message was heartbreaking. My Japanese is very limited, but the basic gist came through – the pain that the cancer wrecked on his body and family; regret about unfinished work; gratitude to his family and friends.

Millennium Actress is and always will be one of my favorite anime films of all time – the story was profound, and exquisitely told. It moved me in a way that few other films have. Watching Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers cemented my status as a Satoshi Kon fan; watching Paprika renewed my love for this director’s incredible creativity and ability to tell stories that grab the imagination and take on lives of their own.

Satoshi Kon’s works will stand as lasting testimony to his unique vision. The world has lost a masterful storyteller – he will be sorely missed. My thoughts go out to his family and friends in the days to come.

Quote Seiho Takizawa:

ご冥福をナントカなんて書きたくない。

なぜ死んだバカヤロウ

Of Ponyo Cupcakes and Otaku Singledom

June 14, 2010 //
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I was incredibly jealous when I saw these on Tim Maughan’s blog. Not only because these Ponyo cupcakes look fantastic, but also because his girlfriend made these scrumptious delights for him.

Ponyo Cupcakes (from timmaughanbooks.com)

I’ve tried hooking my long-time boyfriend onto anime by starting him with a couple of my favorites – the Cowboy Bebop movie, Millennium Actress, and I may have also tried a Ghibli movie with him too. None of these worked, so I’m resigned to being the open-closet otaku in this relationship. We’ll camp out on the couch to watch Bones or Australia’s Greatest Athlete, but any anime will have to be watched on my spare time (and usually when he’s not around). Certainly I won’t be getting any cool Ponyo cupcakes from HIM anytime soon, sigh…

Omurice

March 8, 2010 //
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Last week I made omurice for the first time. The first two were a bit misshapen, but by the third try I managed to make a properly-formed omurice! I was so proud of it that I grabbed a camera to commemorate the success – but not before I took a bite out of it to make sure it tasted ok :D

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Moyashimon Loves Takoyaki!

March 7, 2010 //
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I’ve been so hungry these last couple of days, and I couldn’t figure out why. I had regular meals, but at random hours of the night/day I’d start gnawing on my boyfriend because of the mysterious hunger pangs. I think it’s because I’ve been vectoring/staring at my new wall, which has takoyaki in it.

Damn you, yummy-looking takoyaki!!

Takoyaki

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova – Falling Slowly

April 18, 2009 //
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I’m a bit of an Idol junkie, for the drama and Simon and what-not. Who knew it (actually) could be a place to discover good songs too! Kris Allen for his top seven performance performed such a delicious song that I had to research up the original. I ended up falling insanely in love with the original song. Which judging from all the YouTube comments, got majorly re-thrust into the public limelight because of Kris’ performance. Most YouTube comments are such trash, but they’re so much fun to read sometimes xD

And don’t get me wrong. I like Kris Allen – although I like Adam Lambert more xD – but I just find the original dude’s voice more soulful. Sorry Kris. Thanks for bringing such a great song to my attention though :D I’ll have to check out the movie where this song came from too – “Once.”

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Urahara’s Eyeshadow/Eyeliner?!! [Possible Spoiler... Not.]

February 6, 2009 //
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I’ve been gunning through Bleach the manga. I can kind of see how this one might be  more enjoyable as anime instead of manga, but my mom’s come to stay with me for a couple of months and it’s kind of weird to be like “Mom, please leave me alone. I need to watch some anime now.” Maybe it shouldn’t be weird but I don’t have that level of otaku-comfort around my parents yet.  They know I’m a raging manga fan though, after finally discovering the entirety of my rather substantial manga collection for which I pinched away years of middle/high-school lunch money. This happened a couple years ago, so they’ve more or less given up nagging me about reading manga.

Anyways… On the awesome character that is Urahara… (more…)

Yes We Can

November 4, 2008 //
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This has been the most exciting, nerve-wracking, amazing night that I will remember for a long long time to come. I am so proud to have participated in this historic election.

Aria the Natural Episode 14

November 3, 2008 //
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As much as I enjoy Aria, I will admit upfront that it’s not always my cup of tea. I have to be in a certain mood in order to watch it, and sadly that generally (or invariably) means that I’m horribly stressed. With the upcoming presidential election, work has just been kicking my butt. Sadly the stress levels will likely stay high for a while, since it’s going to be absolutely insane for the next few months to come.

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Ilaria Graziano – I Do

June 6, 2008 //
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The past two weeks have been the longest and probably the most miserable of my life so far due to a family medical emergency. I don’t feel particularly inclined to go into details, but it’s been insane. All of a sudden though I’ve found myself nearing the end of the tunnel with a bright light at the end. Things can only get better from here! I spent most of the day walking around being deliriously happy and just appreciating some of the little things I do on a day-to-day basis, but have just completely ignored and/or haven’t been able to enjoy. Like listening to music on my iPod or singing while I’m walking. The ordeal isn’t completely over, but I think my family have come out stronger and better, if not wholly in body (yet) then at least in spirit.

Two days ago Ilaria Graziano’s “I Do” came up on my Pandora station and I found myself clinging it like second skin. I’ve loved this song ever since crap gave it to me, not only because it’s beautiful, but also because I thought Ilaria Graziano just sounded like an angel singing this song. Senior year in college whenever I got stressed I’d put on this song and another PlanetES song that crap gave me, and I’d immediately feel calmer and somehow soothed. Listening to “I Do” two days ago had the same effect on me if not more, just thinking about the lyrics and such… I’ve been looping it uncontrollably since. I ended up MySpace-stalking Ilaria yesterday, and I seriously hope that she does more collaborations with Yoko Kanno because that combination is just pure win.

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Firstly

April 24, 2008 //
1

Loved this meme that Gids stole from Jisuk, so on and so forth. Haven’t done anything like this for a long time, but this looked like fun 8)

Flickr Meme
1. Go to www.flickr.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box
3. Use only the first page
4. Copy the html and paste for the answer.

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