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Today's Thoughts - April '04

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2003:	Dec · Nov · Oct · Sept · Aug · July

Log: #0078 - [2004-04-29]

updates

oh, there's new stuff! :
· the data section got updated - quest 1 and 3 have statistics now, quest 4 is running.
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

So... Life's fine?
First off, mine is not bad. Despite the fact that I feel like a cat that sits on a hot tin roof. But time will tell. Until then. Killing time. You've seen the new Quest-reports in the data section linked above?

Besides that and the fact that Kahimi hit 153 by now, I decided to bring Shinobu up a few levels. Best way to do so was stealing the Zalure S-Rank Shot and Yasus off RenaMS (hey hey, we said, you bots share!). It took its time, but was a nice run through Caves (again), Mines and Ruins up to Falz. DF didn't stand a chance. 10 Levels to go...
Maybe the Tripolic suits her...

Another point I wanna mention is the movie ''Lagaan''.
Its an indian movie (no, not american indian) from 2001, got an Oscar-nominee and goes 216 minutes - wow.

British India during the colony times. Villagers beg for rain, but its dry. They ask their Rajah to lower the taxes but he has to give most of them to the british colonialists and those decided to want doubled taxes this time.
Out of dumb circumstances, the british major and a lifely young man named Bhuvan from the village start a bet - a game of cricket: if the villagers lose, they pay triple taxes. if the british team loses, the villagers have to pay none at all for three years.

So Bhuvan starts a team and trains them - for the sake of their all existence, because tripled taxes means death.
Lots of music, three language based (at least in the german dub - english for the colonialists, german for the dialogues and hindi for the songs) and a very fascinating story.

There is no real need to see it more than once, but at least once should it be seen, I suggest.

Rena

Log: #0077 - [2004-04-27]

some thoughts about the environment and society

uh, something new besides this? :
· Aura sent over some new snaps but the order and texts are still pending so have a little patience.
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

PSO?

Bought some Add Slots. 11 of them to be precise. I wonder if I'll have use for them, but they dont hurt and better yet, an eventual lack of them doesnt force me to go online. Anyway, time will tell.

So, today's topic is Chikyuu Shoujo Arjuna (Earth Girl Arjuna).

taken from this site

Arjuna is a quite unique anime. Same Producer as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Strong message, nice artwork with good CG-effects and awesome soundtrack. First thing I learned about this anime was actually its score. Nowadays it get's aired on a Music-Channel in german dub.
First off, the dub is really good. Though it has the same lack all anime on this channel have: the track for background sounds and music is not loud enough.

Due to that channel's strange politics in airing an episode or not, I missed one here and there and just saw 4 of them up to now. But those, multiple times.
Arjuna leaves an impact that is pretty deep. The environment is important, yet it gets threatened like it would be granted to endure everything humankind can possibly do to it. Yet, in my personal opinion, the way how humans threat their own race is way worse. Nature will eventually survive the virus called homo sapiens sapiens.
The problem I have with Arjuna is, that it partly doesnt base on hard facts, yet sells them as if they were. These small things weaken the actual message: ''Save power, save water, save nature and with that, save yourself!''. I personally stand by that point but it's like fighting against windmills here and maybe, just maybe the time and energy put into that would have been better spent on other things.

In conclusion: Dont save darn pets, if you can save humans first!!

Rena

Log: #0076 - [2004-04-26]

watching movies

there's nothing new, right? :
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

PSO is boring. period.

Latest goals:
Bringing Shinobu to 122.
Bringing Kahimi to 152 or more via a round number of Seabed-Runs.

HL will run out tomorrow and I'm not really likely to renew it right away. We'll see. Weekend maybe.

Lately, it was movie-time again.

Lets be chronically:

First one was Kitano's 'Kikujiro no Natsu' (Kikujiro's Summer) which was in Cinema's around Years ago and finally got a release on DVD this month.

The story is about a little kid that decides to go see his mom during the summerbreak. Since kids shouldnt travel alone, a friend of his grandma accompanies her lazy-bum husband with him. But since he's gambling away their money on horseraces, their travel will have to take a quite different way to reach their goal.
This is a wonderful movie from a kid's view and the company of an unpredictable adult aiming at their goal.
This is a movie about shyness and friends.
This is a wonderful movie. Go see it.

The next movie was Kitano's 'Dolls'.

Stories in a Kabuki theater are mostly based on romances that are doomed to fail. Romantic doublesuicides are one way out mostly.
This movie takes the idea behind those stories and ports them into today's world.
Making decisions, letting decisions being made and living the consequences or fighting against them, trying to make them undone.
Making decisions, parting a love, does time has really no affect on a romance? Doesnt past that lies inbetween have always an echoe on the things that lie before it?
Making decisions, to the extend, and beyond. But for what result?

Dolls is about going a way in life - on purpose as well as forced into it. How much does it happen according to the own will? And society does only support certain ways.

Sad, lovely, visually wonderful movie with an awesome score (Joe Hisaishi, like with all other Office Kitano-productions) about inter-individual relationships which can be understood according to the scenes but would need to rely on some background information about japanese society here and there to be fully understood.

See it, but see it alone or with one close friend that will understand the movie as well.

The last movie in that timeline is Tezuka's 'Metropolis' (aka 'Robotic Angel' which in my opinion is a way too ungraceful and trite name for it).

Revolving about Babylon, with references about the 'Third Reich' (which are a main-point in most of Tezuka's works) and using the same Sci-Fi patterns that 'AniMatrix' uses, this movie revolves about a Tezuka-esque-plotline, has Tezuka-drawing-style added with computergraphics that work into the whole scene but arent perfect yet (this anime is however using state of the art technics at the time it got produced), uses music from the 1920ties and shows up the benefits as well as the consequences on a more and more machinized world.

I'd suggest seeing it, however, again this is no party-movie for a happy movie-night.

Rena

Log: #0075 - [2004-04-25]

spring is there

spring clean up? not really:
· Quest 04 is in progress (data).
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

Spring is here - wow, what news, right?
But really. Tree-skeletons grow green, Flowers peak their heads out. Sun is actually warm and the wind... well... if it werent for the wind, it would be pretty summery already.

Me, despite being a Winter-person, likes the Spring time a lot. Its not too hot and there cant be winter all the time anyway... At least not here...

Sooner or later, Kahimi will reach Aura Field requirements as a third Chara. More and more I seem to defocus on that as a final goal. I'll use her still. For hunting stuff, for other things, but first the other chars will see some more levels. Chara-Priorities shift a little bit. Mew is the next one to see some less time being played with.
Anyway, I seem to need a little break from C-Mode. At least I did the recent days. And then the new Quest is in progress...

Anyway, take care.

Rena

Log: #0074 - [2004-04-21]

an awkward first commercial breakup : Sleeping Madness (Ken Ishii)

anything...new?
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

As some might know, I'm into electronic music. Today, I wanna present my favourite album by Ken Ishii.

Ken Ishii is besides Takkyu Ishino one of the best known japanese electronic music artists in Germany and prolly anywhere else outside of Japan as well.
He for example made a track for 'Rez', the game I mentioned several logs ago.

Well, I kinda lack background info since I mayorly just enjoy his music. Out of all albums i could get my hands on, this one is the most enjoyable imho. All tracks are interesting, flow into eachother and overall its the perfect background music to write or read or work or learn.

I suggest to give it a try.

Rena

Log: #0073 - [2004-04-20]

at last

so, shiny stuff?

· yet another bunch of new snapshots.
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

Pretty close call yesterday. Since days Ryna and I where hunting down ''Ryna's Egg'', and yesterday, relying on Aura's Egg-luck, it finally worked. Whew. We then made a couple of runs as some sort of Bonus, but nothing interesting dropped.

Then, besides that - Barbarei found a Psycho Wand all of a sudden - woah!!

Rena

Log: #0072 - [2004-04-18]

still hunting

so, anything new?
· a few new snapshots.
· 2 new pictures by Maliit Lit.
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

Some new updates to the site - see above.

Besides this, things are quite interesting these days.

First of, we borrowed the DVD to Master & Commander. Ah, the memories ^-^

Not many new movies these days but a couple of old ones - 'Sen to Chihiro' (Spirited Away) or 'About a Boy' for example. Hm Hm.

Rena

Log: #0071 - [2004-04-12]

movies once again

so, anything new?
· 1 new snapshot.
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

PSO wise, good things and bad things happen.

First of, I lost Mew's Yasu9K due a sudden FSOD. Aura's present. Mew's best weapon. GAH!!!!

On the bright side, Chiyo cleared C4 with a neat time. Bordering to TA gaming. Tower, here I come - 14 more clear runs though. The FO-job in C4 is quite easy. And Olga's pattern gets more and more familiar now.

So, movietime.
Seen ''Starsky & Hutch'' lately - in the cinema, if you wonder.
Entertaining Movie, although the start is a bit slow. IMHO, there should be one or two more Wilson-Stiller-like jokes in the beginning, instead of half an hour into the movie. But the music was good - as well as the costumes. Lots of 'fros in there too. Neat movie, nothing special though.

L.A. Confidential - DVD for cheap bought lately.
Ah I love this movie (image). Not only because Russell Crowe, but also because Guy Pearce. Awesome script, awesome music, awesome actors, great movie. Go see it.

Pirates of the Caribean
So there, funny movie, besides that Johnny Depp seems to have either a heavy sunburn in the start of is infact looking for a bottle of Prosecco. Who knows, who cares. *laughs*
As guessed, this movie was really entertaining, though one big thing I dont get - Sparrow (Depp) takes one Doublone out of that Crib and is undead. Yeah, fine, but he was alive all the time and now he's already rotten to the bones? Makes no sense. Also with the other Pirates. They obviously didn't died so far and thus aren't zombies already. So why are they looking like some?
And, who else dislikes artificial 'there could be a successor movie'-scenes at the end of every teenager-popcorn-movie?

Rena

Log: #0070 - [2004-04-06]

at last!

so, something new by now?
· 2 new snapshots.
· added housoka.com to the link section.
· aura sent over 11 new snapshots.
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

Weeh, finally I cleared 2C4 - with Nocturne here. Thanks a bunch to you all, Aura, Maliit, Vulpes (in alphabetical order ^-^).

Most Ep.3 players have more time for Ep.1-2 again by now, Egg Rappies are out, Rena is closing in to 131, quite a couple of good drops these days. PSO is quite enjoyable.

Study-life goes on slowly, like usual. Things have to be sorted out. Info has to be collected. We'll see.

Finally, here, something to think about.

Enjoy the updates.

Rena

Log: #0069 - [2004-04-04]

being busy

hmhmhm, anything new?
· around 10 new snapshots since last time.
· the standard updates to the other stuff.

So, I finally got my hands on a PS2. Nice nice, playing 'Rez' (DC, PS2) all day, I finally unlocked Area 5 by now (which was easier than I thought). Scoring 100% shotdowns and 100% support items will be another thing though.

Rez scores easily in the top 5 of fascinating games. Its a little masterpiece with good difficulty and a very remarkable implementation of sound and visuals into the whole gameplay. (not to mention, Ken Ishii made a track for area 3 ^-^).

But whats really enchanting me is that awesome fifth level. Telling a story with graphics in a shooting game is something very unique. Absolutely cool.

The most interesting thing about this game however is the japanese special edition. Sadly I dont own it, heh, but here, have a look.
(I'd rate this linked site PG13 so I guess you wont get an 'irrepairable mental defect' by reading something more mature-themed)

PSO-wise, nothing much happened. I decided to level Shinobu when I have some time. Kuro got some action as well yesterday. I'm not really focusing on 2C4 these days, I have other things to do actually than getting a relyable team and succeeding in a clear game.
Well, we'll see what happens next time.

Rena

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