One thing that really surprised me was how serious the plot got, always in spikes. I mean, there is a huge conspiracy and ninja involved… well, I can’t say any more without spoiling it.

Refreshingly, despite the yuri subtext (there is an entire episode dedicated to the subject, which gets most of the speculations out of the way immediately), I was happy to find the series based around a group of strong female characters, building relationships with each other, learning inter-dependence, and enjoying life. Harem comedies really grind me, which is why I gravitate towards shoujo-ish type series. I felt like this was a series that I could show age appropriate audiences without offending/ingraining incorrect values.

So, if you have been watching anime for a while and occasionally dip into the wacky stuff, this is a series to pick up! And I will say this, if you watch it with your partner, cuddled up on the couch with no one else around, keep some tissues near…

We just want to see each other and have fun!

In it the world has been over run by a group of high powered mecha, a group of people employing Armored Cores. They maintain a prison for people, like myself, who are inclined to fight against their rule. They keep us in an maximum security… junk yard. The place stretches out in every direction for miles, and there are huge warehouses on the sides, atop which sit the mecha, many with appropriately sized sniper rifles. They constantly search for people building contraptions, which they then blow to pieces (and might even kill the people who built it).

Ours is a hopeless lot, until Doc Wall-E came to us. At least that is what I am naming him. He was just like normal Wall-E, except that he was infused with energy, and can levitate materials and build things like Doctor Manhattan! How he came upon these powers is beyond the scope of this narrative (I didn’t dream that part), but the important thing to know is that he doesn’t particularly care about our plight. He just needs to build mecha. From junk.

The problem is that as soon as he builds one it get destroyed. Becoming frustrated with this, Doc Wall-E begins to make a new kind of Armored Core, one which hides it energy signature, and won’t be spotted by the guards. He makes them look like the vehicles just laying around the junk yard: fire engines, sports cars, big rigs.

All us humans, we are starting to find them all around, and begin to piece together a plan to use them to get out of there, so we coordinate an offensive wherein we all activate our Cores at the same time, thus Transforming our pieces of art-junk into full mecha to fight for independence!

Needless to say, it was one of the best dreams, ever! To see Wall-E levitating engine block with his little two finger hands and infusing them with energy to comments of “whoooaaaa” is a unique observation, and fighting Armored Core while piloting Transformers in a post-apocalyptic junk-yard, well, that just blows my mind! ^_^

First, a comparison. The way the terminal acts in Xubuntu with 50% transparency is shown below.

I had to look up have to take screenshots.

As you can see, it does what it says it does, sorta. It drops the background color for the background image. That window is above the web browser, and what I would like it to do is show the what is actually “behind” it (which happens to be the web browser, in this case. Apple’s Teminal.app does it the way I want:

One More Robot, a great webcomic. ^_^

I got used to this type of transparency after hours of following along written tutorials on the command line, with the website behind the full screen terminal. That is my dilemma, which term/settings do I configure to get that in Xubuntu?

From the beginning of the film—which I won’t even talk about, since it would spoil the surprise—the film takes on this tone that is kinda difficult to catch. It switches between taking itself seriously (<- is that correct word usage?) and ripping on Hollywood.

It is a movie I would watch again, just to experience the reaction of the audience. There was one part where I starting laughing at a movie reference and was made self-conscious by the fact that only I found it funny (my infectious laugh doesn’t do well in theaters).

Worth seeing and discussing.

When I got home Susan, Zone, and I finished the Zabuza/Haku arc of Naruto. Wow. That was really fun to watch again, and a lot of flashbacks. And not interesting “at the beginning of episode” flashbacks. Sheesh. I have half a mind to edit that arc into an OAV-ish story. It would flow so well.

Now we are started on the Chuunin Exam arc. I can’t wait for certain characters to show up. Watching Bleach I forgot how many characters there are in Naruto. And each with their fair share of flashbacks, too! (I am not sure how I feel about that…)

Oh, and I want an Inari! He is adorable!

This is a game of survival, and we need you to survive.

Super-threats are massively disrupting global society as we know it. There’s an entire generation of homeless people worldwide, as the number of climate refugees tops 250 million. Entrepreneurial chaos and “the axis of biofuel” wreak havoc in the alternative fuel industry. Carbon quotas plummet as food shortages mount. The existing structures of human civilization—from families and language to corporate society and technological infrastructures—just aren’t enough. We need a new set of superstructures to rise above, to take humans to the next stage.

You can help. Tell us your story. Strategize out loud. Superstruct now.

It’s your legacy to the human race.

http://www.iftf.org/node/2097

OMG!

I am tired of demons being so powerful that only a select few can fight them (I am looking at you, Claymore). I just don’t enjoy watching people struggle in a world where they can’t do anything except wait for their demise or being saved by the main character.

However, I will say this: Dark Boots = yummy!

A huge seeded bagel with Tofutti, tomato, slightly grilled red onions, and of course lox. Baby carrots on the side and not in the picture is a bottle of Jolt Cola. Boo-yah!

I went to the Timbuk2 store to pick up a new cross-strap. The one that came with my bag broke. It was cool seeing all the possible designs for bags. If I didn’t have a perfectly functional and new bag, I would get one now. Chicken and egg situation, that is.

Afterwards Susan and I went to this really cool eatery called Frjtz. Susan took some photos, and I will link to them when she puts them online. I will be returning there very soon.

Wandering around we stumbled upon Isotope. I had read about it, and was happy to find this little hip comic shop. The owner proprietor himself (James Sime, it turns out) was there, and I got to chatting with him and he informed me of my next comic purchase, the Ultimates. He suggested it after talking about the Iron Man movie, and how this imagining of Marvel is more in line with the movie versions. I held back because I have a stack of manga and comics waiting ,unread.

When we left there I saw that Justin was watching The Happening, so we decided to return to Berkeley and see it as well. I could write on and on and on about the movie, but instead I will say go see it. I liked it, even though it had me twisted in knots the entire time. There were a few times that I had to blur my vision and realize I was in a theater because I was getting too anxious. The brand of despair prescribed in this movie is something else. We can talk about how it failed after you see it. ^_^