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ocular_snipe
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Name: Eric
Birthday: 7/31/1986
Gender: Male
Interests: anime, writing, reading (really into "magical reality" books we're reading in english), oragami, legos, manga, and sleeping
Music: Queen, Stabing Westward, Nirvana, Evanescence, and Live
Movies: Memento, Fight Club, 8MM, and The Game
Expertise: Umm...writing I guess. I got first alternate to state in UIL Editorial Writing.
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
AIM:  ocular_snipe
Member Since:
5/17/2004
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| Not Dead...and BoredSo it's been a few years since my last post....yeah. Not really motivated to do this much anymore but I feel like it may be another useful way to keep in touch with Amanda while she's in Japan. For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about (which I would think is everyone reading this assuming anyone is) alot has happened over the last few years. I've graduated college with a BA in English and a film minor. I attempted to apply for graduate school but was rejected and am now trying to find work for the summer and following year until I can reapply.
Meanwhile, Amanda is waiting to go to Japan and teach English on the JET Program. Over spring break this year, we went on a trip to Tokyo. In part it was to get accustomed to the country and in part because we've never done anything cool over the break. I proposed to Amanda in our hotel room, which was across the street from Tokyo Tower. She said yes and now we're trying to prepare for all the difficulties that this next year will bring. We're going to do the typical "keeping in touch through email" and with webcams of course, but we've come up with some less traditional things as well, such as meeting up on Animal Crossing's wi-fi network. We're nerds.
Lastly, since it's been a while and is on my mind at the moment, I think I can mention that my mother passed away about a year ago. It's made things rough for me and my family, of course, but Amanda's family has been really supportive and helpful which makes it a bit better. It's come to the point we're I can usually talk about it without getting too upset.
Other than looking for work, I'm trying to teach myself Kanji, attending a Japanese class going over the summer, and reading lots of manga, comics, and critical analysis of anime (which is what I hope to focus my graduate studies on). I've also started exercising which is going alright though I got a little sick today and I almost always feel sore for a full day after.
-Insert clever quote that sums up the tone of this post here-
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| Useful Things Sakura From Naruto Has Done
a comprehensive, updated list
To prove that she isn't completely useless...
1. She has good chakra control and was able to climb the trees with no problem
2. She showed up for the Chunin exam, without which their group would not be eligible
3. Broke Sasuke's fall after fight with Rock Lee
4. Stopped Naruto's fatal fall in the Forest of Death with a Kunai knife
There are a few more things that come close. She would have done well at the written exam, if it weren't for the fact that the whole point was to cheat, which I don't believe she did. While she has been assigned to guard people alone, at no point so far has someone actually attacked while this was happening.
If you can think of anything else, let me know. As you may have noticed, I am only keeping track of the episodes currently running on CN and have not watched any further so I would appreciate if there were no spoilers. I could go into a whole rant about fansubs and downloads, but what's the point? Those of you who do aren't going to stop anyway. | | |
| Things...
Just got out of a test. Think I did prety well. Class in 15 mins, then I'm calling Jon (and will probably wake him up). Anywho, not much going on lately. Aggiecon is comming up later this week. I hope I work anime the whole time. Spring break was nice, did lots of things with my family, Amanda, and Evan (who needs to apply to A&M).
BLEACH WAS LICENCED BY VIZ.
That totally deserved it's own paragraph. So yeah, it will probably be another year before it comes out, but it's still cool news go to www.animenewsnetwork.com for more info. Speaking of anime, I have no idea what the next showing will be. I should probably talk to Little Buddy about that. I also need to talk to him about if he wants to show Interstella 5555 on the giant screen at aggiecon. Anime I'm planning on collecting this year:
1. Basilisk- ninja clans fighting against each other. It's badass.
2. Trinity Blood- kinda sad the manga will never be finished, looks beautiful.
3. KARAS- Looks even more beautiful, plus it's shorter
4. Hellsing Ultimate- might not get this one if that "one episode per DVD" thing is true
5. Naruto- I'm waiting for the unedited box sets due sometime in the summer. I solomly vow never to become an obsessed fan like those Narutards, you know the ones...
So I bet you're asking, "What about GunXSword and My Hime". If you are, you are an anime geek and my type of person. Thumbs up to you. In answer to my assumed querie, Amanda plans on collecting these shows, so I will not be. I'm also not getting Eureka Seven reguardless of how cool people think giant robots on surfboards falling through the sky are. In sum, this is another good year for anime...
Speaking of, Amanda finished her schedule last night (and there was much rejoicing *yay*) and the anime rooms for this year seem pretty cool, though I'm biased because alot of it is either mine, Amanda's or one of our close, personal friends.
I took Jon's test a while ago and got a 40...what the hell? Hope he can make it to con. Speaking of people making it to con, Mike is coming down, which should be a lot of fun. Haven't seen him in a while. I'm kinda upset we didn't get Greg Ayres back this year...
So yeah, besides all that (this is more than I expected to write) things are going along like normal, hanging out with Amanda, Kerri, Lauren, Amy, and now I realize I've started a list of friends and will likely alienate those I didn't mention. I have a few papers due at the end of the year that I'm working on, but I'm not too worried. Amanda and I are doing good (well?) and I'm happy.
It's 9:14 so I need to go to class...
"As with most things in life, the best way to avoid unpleasantness is to remain alone and paranoid." | | |
| Dear Diary, Chinchillas Sure Are Nocturnal
Well, I had a productivetastic day today, just thought I'd kill some time by innumerating what I've got done.
1. read 2 chapters for folklore (35 pages)
2. read book 1 of Native Son (93 pages)
3. Took a polisci test (made around an 85)
4. Made flyer for next weeks anime showing AND sent it in well before the meeting (though copies were not made)
5. Practiced for para para
6. Went to officer and Cepheid meetings
7. Wrote a letter to my prof about my project
8. Posted on wolf RP guild
Yeah, it's not often that I do that much stuff in a day (I haven't taken a nap all day) so I decided to brag a little. I'm well aware that there are people out there doing more work than me, however, I don't think any of them read this xanga (j/k).
All of this work is basically in preperation for Jon comming down this weekend. I got a few board games and a pile of anime to watch and don't want to have to stop for some homework or anything. Anywho...gtg, got some more reading to do...
Random Dialogue
Galstaff:"Dude, he said it was a magical sword..."
Gram: "He was lying."
Galstaff: "But he said he never tells a lie..."
Gram: "He was lying when he said that."
Galstaff: "DUUUUDE....." | | |
| Dear Diary, I Appear to Be Dead...
So without a huge summary of what Gilgamesh is, suffice to say it is an awesome anime with lots of mystery elements. To keep a record of the confirmed and developing plots, I'm going to explain Jon, Amanda, and my observations concerning them. Warning, there are spoilers ahead (even for you Jon) so don't read unless you're cool with that.
1) Opening scene:
Enkidu mentions that you can't get the "full range" of the music in digital and that "the speakers are vacuum tube as well". It is easy to forget in the events that occur afterward that technology was so hi-tech. Perhaps this is a statement by Enkidu that humans do not need to rely on computers and that they do a disservice to humans in the long run. To be sure it is foreshadowing his actions later. The tension between him and "The Countess" is illustrated clearly even in this first scene. I'm still a bit perplexed as to why Enkidu filed the report to end the experiments and then destroyed Heaven's Gate anyway.
2) Orga/Tatsuya
Jon and I noticed immediately that Tatsuya looked just a little too much like Enkidu and by the end of the second volume, we were calling clone on him and all the orga children. Here are a few clues given before the word "clone" is actually stated outright.
1.The opening sequence places Orga and cloning next to each other
2.All the children's uncanny resemblance to the workers at Heaven's Gate
3.The professor who says that the children's faces "brought back memories"
4.Duo(?)'s obvious avoidance of the question in the line "So this is the professor's...interesting..." (note he doesn't say son)
5.The Orga children being unable to picture what Orga is and then being attacked by living dolls with "Orga" printed on their chestplates
3) "The Countess":
It is obvious from her first appearance who the countess is, though this is not really meant to be kept a secret. It was believed by us at one point that she may be Kyoko's mother given her previous relationship with Enkidu and her insistance on a pregnancy test when Kyoko returned from Gilgamesh's kidnapping. However, this seems less likely now as we have seen Kyoko's mother and can't help note the resemblance. What will develop from the countess and Tatsuya's relationship is also in question, though as long as she doesn't get drunk again I don't think it will be a problem. Her ring has gone missing since the events of XX and she looks at her bare finger as she was talking to Tatsuya. Could the ring have been a keepsake from Enkidu rather than the more obvious wedding ring?
4) Enkidu
Novem hints in a rather cryptic speech in DVD #2 that Enkidu may be transmitting messages via the power Kyoko has for extra sensory hearing. Later, she hears tones and says "dad?". What are these messages trying to say?
5)The Legend:
If taken as an allusion to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the anime is different in a number of ways. Firstly, it has to be established that in this context, the countess is likely meant to represent Ishtar, a goddess who saught revenge on Gilgamesh by killing his partner Enkidu. But the opposite appears to be true in the anime, the countess is trying to stop Gilgamesh in an effort to hurt Enkidu. This also doesn't account for the third side introduced in the third DVD (the founder of Heaven's Gate, his daughter and bodyguard). However, this may shed light on Enkidu's ultimate goal. Could he be looking for immortality or the next stage of human evolution and if so, is he fated to find it only to be denied as was Gilgamesh in the original story?
6) Hiromi/Adopted Daughter
The founder of Heaven's Gate introduces a mysterious black haired girl as his "adopted daugter" shortly after discussing how much he missed Hiromi (the countess). The girl's face is obscured by her black hair and it has been shown that she possesses vast quantities of dynamis, which only the orga children previously possessed. Could she be a clone of the countess? If so, I like her saying "I'm just so stupid" all the time. Makes me laugh.
Who's side are you on?
Eric- Gilgamesh (Toru can burn in hell)
Amanda- Orga (but not the countess, she's a bitch)
Jon-Orga (unavailable for comment, just leave one...)
Okay, in closing, I'd like to say that I have thought of a music video for Gilgamesh to Tenacious D's "City Hall". Just throwing that out there. Got shot ideas and everything. Well, til next time...
"Just think of us as your private assassins."
"Yeah, except we don't kill the people you ask us to." | | |
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