Category: general

:)

Once again, I must say: I really wish I could screencap.

The resolution seemed to come quickly, and then all of a sudden the decision was made and it was not the decision I was expecting. “Wait…it can’t end like that!” I protested.

And it didn’t! XD

There could absolutely be another series, if someone were so inclined. This time it would have to be a new enemy as opposed to an ancient one, I think. Maybe something on Earth!

I’m very pleased with this series. The whole thing. That doesn’t happen very often. Yay!

Now I will just have to wait for all the DVDs to come out here so I can see the episodes in widescreen…and, of course, hope for another series to be made in Japan.

Thanks, Kyou Kara Maou, Takabayashi Tomo, NHK, and the fansubbers, and Geneon, and the people who distribute raws, for giving me so much enjoyment over the past year. And a special thank you to Kevin for recommending the series in the first place!

P.S. I now know what maruma means.

First and foremost, I need to go back to Hirashimizu Pottery in Yamagata to get another beautiful hand-made tea set.

I got two decorated tins, a tea scoop and some green tea at a shopping street in Yatsushiro. My host mother also gave me some sencha. I can probably go to a tea shop anywhere to replace these items, or I can find them online.

I had a little wooden doll, a kokeshi. I think I bought it at a souvenir shop just outside Suizenji Park in Kumamoto City, but I could be mistaken. In any case, I know where I can get one online.

I’d like another charm from Todaiji in Nara. The one I got on our honeymoon contained a blessing for “gaining knowledge”. We also need to get Sean another cute cat statue from there ;>

When we were in Yatsushiro we went to a warehouse that had lots of discounted home items. I got a coffee set (why? I don’t drink coffee) that happened to match a set of dishes my host mother gave me. You can see some of the coffee cups to the left, as well as the creamer for my tea set and some coasters. Unfortunately I don’t seem to have a picture of the teapot and cups :(

I also got one of those dolls that are usually displayed in glass cases from that warehouse. It was in somewhat bad shape, and only cost me 500 yen. The owner kept trying to convince me to buy the 1500 yen doll. I liked the face on this one, though.

This last thing is kind of silly, but I like it. It’s a little stuffed animal I got out of a bear claw (or, as they call them in Japan, “UFO Catcher”). According to the tag he was a hamusutaa. A hamster in a raincoat! Genius.

There are probably other items, but these are the main ones I could think of today.

This is the most awesome thing I have ever seen.

I must have it!

I traced these (quickly and inaccurately) from the pamphlet given to me by the apartments we’re going to hopefully move to April 11.

The one on the left is a normal unit, and the one on the right is a corner unit. Both have their advantages, and I don’t know yet which one we’re getting. I’ll ask when I drop off the application.

(I don’t know what kind of crack the person who drew these was smoking. You can tell that the living room on the right is bigger than the one on the left, but they didn’t change the dimensions.)

All in all I like this design. It’s shotgun, but it works. One nice feature is having the washer and dryer right in the clothes closet. How convenient is that? I also like that the second bedroom’s bathroom is accessible both from the bedroom and the hallway.

The apartment they showed me was a normal one. It was sort of weird to have the kitchen right there as soon as I walked in, but I figure that could be softened maybe with a curtain or–dare I dream?–a noren. (I could have sworn I posted somewhere about noren before, but I guess not. Suffice it to say I’ve been drooling over them for years.)

I don’t know if I want to hope for a corner unit. The kitchen is nice and compartmentalized, which I prefer to having two entrances, and technically it has the same amount of counter space, but there’s less square footage and probably less cabinet space. That huge bedroom is neat, with plenty of closet space, but since we have zero possessions that’s not really a huge selling point right now. Also, that coat closet stuck in the middle of the living room is kind of bizarre. I guess a couch or screen would have to go nearby to continue the illusion of a separate room.

Not having (m)any possessions is actually kind of a good thing, because rather than having to try to make various disparate pieces match each other, I get to start over essentially from scratch with my decorating.

Right now I’m checking out JapaneseGifts.com and other places that sell Japanese-style decor. Man, wouldn’t a kotatsu be nice? So expensive though…

Speaking of expensive, check out this Complete Tatami Room Kit. いいな。。。

I’m not sure which room of this apartment I would do up in tatami, though. One of the bedrooms would make the most sense, but both bedrooms are already spoken for :> We already have a bed for the master bedroom, so no floor-futons. I don’t know if Sean would go for that, anyway. And there’s no way I would put a bed on top of tatami mats.

The second bedroom will be our office. We don’t have any furniture for our office yet, but I imagine that room will be full of computer equipment, which wouldn’t be conducive to a minimalist old-style Japanese room.

About the best solution I can come up with is to partition off an area in the living/dining room with screens. That would probably get awkward :>

Ah well, I’ll probably need to save my dream of a tatami room for we get a house. But I can definitely put some Japanese touches in the apartment. Noren, screens, wall scrolls, ikebana-esque flower arrangements, zabuton…

…and maybe a kotatsu. I would sooooo love to have one :D We could use it as a coffee table!

Really?!

(Honestly, I’m impressed with Dr. Kunio Kitamura and his efforts to raise awareness of sexual issues in Japan. But that title cracks me up!)

Here’s my translation, with discussion, of the title of the last episode of Kyou Kara Maou, which aired today (and which I will hopefully see soon).

The title of the episode, as listed on NHK’s Anime World website, is 「マた会う日まで」. My translation for this title is “Until the Day We Meet Again”. Those of you with no interest in the Japanese language can stop reading now!

Laborious Pronunciation Discussion

In the preview at the end of episode 77, Yuuri pronounces the episode title mata au hi made. This is important to note, because his pronunciation can be a little confusing. At first I thought he was saying shima de, and this drove me bonkers because 日 is not pronounced shi, ever. After spending a good deal of time trying to figure out if this was one of those situations where they use a different kanji than normal in order to add meaning, I suddenly remembered that Yuuri’s h is a fricative. (In other words, he pronounces it with friction, rather like a cat’s hiss.)

The best evidence of Yuuri’s fricative h comes in every episode featuring the kotsuhizoku, or “flying bone tribe”. He gave them the nickname kohhi こっひ. Get it? kotsuhizoku. (That extra h is not something we do in English, and is somewhat hard to explain, though I’ll be happy to try if anyone’s interested.)

Back in the beginning when KKM wasn’t on DVD, the fansubbers wrote this nickname as “Koshi”. And indeed, it does sound like Yuuri’s saying that. But he’s not!

I had one other pronunciation difficulty when translating this episode title. For a time I was convinced he was saying hima de instead of hi made, which introduced quite a dilemma, as there is no word 日ま hima. I spent quite some time trying to figure out if it was a pun before I realized it had to be hi made. I think my Japanese word-break comprehension is still unfortunately informed by the English rules for same.

With the pronunciation understood, let’s break the episode title down.

Laborious and Possibly Redundant/Unnecessary Ma Tangent

The ma in mata is written in katakana with a circle around it, just like the ma in Maou. (Note that this can’t be replicated in standard Japanese encoding. The NHK website uses a graphic for the ma.)

The actual kanji for the ma in Maou is 魔, and it means “demon”. So, mazoku 魔族 = “demon race/tribe/people”, makoku 魔国 = “demon country”, maken 魔剣 = “demon sword”, mateki 魔笛 = “demon/magic flute” (which is interestingly enough how they write the name for Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” in Japanese), majutsu 魔術 = “demon skill/technique” (demon magic), etc. The general word for “magic” in Japanese is mahou 魔法.

Obviously the ma in mata is not the same as the ma in Maou. It would normally be written in hiragana, thus: ま. Writing it in katakana (マ) and putting a circle around it is simply a reference to the title of the series and the “demonic” nature of the plot.

Translating the Title…Gee, That Was Easy

The word mata また means “again”.

The next part, au 会う, is the verb for “to meet”.

Hi made 日まで adds the meaning of “until [such-and-such] day”.

Taken all together, the title might be translated as “Until the Day We Meet Again”. A fitting title for an ending episode–especially given the episode’s plot.

I’m watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie starring Cary Grant.

Is that awesome or what?

“You listen to me. I’m an advertising man, not a red herring. I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders dependent on me. And I don’t intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed.”

I am seriously digging this movie.

An Affair to Remember was the first (and perhaps only until now) movie I ever saw Cary Grant in. His role in North by Northwest is pretty different from his role as Nicky Ferrante, although he’s still a lady killer ;> Ah, I loves me some Cary Grant.

Netflix rules. I’m getting exposed to so many great movies I’ve never heard of ;> Next in my queue is the first DVD of an anime ADV just released called Diamond Daydreams. It’s about six girls who come together through their heartbreak, or something. (It sounds like it’s based on the type of game Shibuya Shori likes to play ;>) When I read about it in the ADV newsletter I thought it sounded like something I’d be interested in seeing, but not something I wanted to buy without knowing whether or not I liked it. Netflix to the rescue!

I had a great first day at work.

The first thing I did upon arrival was fill out scads of paperwork. Once I was done with that I met a producer who had had a little training in my position, and he showed me the ropes for most of the day. He was great, very laid back, and happy to go off and do his own thing when he saw I had a handle on things.

I spent most of the morning learning how to use the robust content management systems and the ancient application that they use to manage the news. Things sort of tapered off right around lunchtime.

I’d planned to go to a huge Chinese restaurant I pass on the way in, but instead I drove to downtown Augusta and got a huge hotdog off a vendor. It had mustard, ketchup, horseradish, cheese, and sauerkraut on it.

It was the best. Hotdog. Ever.

I took it, a bag of Cheetos, and an orange soda back to North Augusta and over to the golf course, where I sat in my car and ate and then took some pictures of the few bushes and flowers that were blooming along the road.

Then it was time to go back to work.

As soon as I arrived, my supervisor gave me a belated tour. Then I was given a key to the building and a code for making long distance calls. And then it was time for the news meeting, where all the producers get together and discuss the lineup for the evening news. I sit in on this so I know what’s going on and have a handle on which stories are important for the website.

The meeting was really fun. I don’t know if I’m more outgoing now or if this environment is just right for me or what, but I never felt awkward. And that is really saying something. Everybody just seemed to be my kinda people.

After the meeting I headed back to the office I share with the graphic designer to get to work on putting stories online. By this point my email address had been passed around and now reporters were sending me their stuff.

When it came time for the news, it was pretty hectic. I had to record the broadcasts digitally for video clips for the website, and upload text content at the same time. Since the text is written for TV, it usually doesn’t flow very well for reading, and often includes special codes that mean things only to the directors/camera operators/on-air talent/etc. So I have to remove all the excess, clean up the prose, and finally publish the piece using the CMS. It’s not difficult but it is time-consuming. Those last two hours of work were a little crazy.

All in all, I am very happy with how my first day went. I met a bazillion people, producers and reporters and others, whose names I hope to eventually learn ;> I learned a lot and feel comfortable with the job. My supervisor has already ordered me some business cards!

This job is really cool. I think I’m going to have fun :)

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I set my alarm for 7:45, but I was on my way out the door an hour early this morning! When I checked the time to make sure I wasn’t late, I got very confused :> Having work that doesn’t start until 10 is going to be an adjustment…

My tentative plan for the future is to 1) join the Riverview Park Activities Center in North Augusta; 2) purchase a car that is big enough to put my bicycle inside, like Mari’s PT Cruiser. Then I will see about heading to North Augusta early to bike/work out, going to the Activities Center after work, or both.

I love that my new job is just down the street from the Activities Center :)

Sean and I have picked out a place to live; it’s an apartment complex off Wheeler Road, close to the Augusta Exchange and pretty much as convenient to everything as Springhouse. The apartment we want will come available April 11. Here’s hoping someone else doesn’t snap it up before we get our application in ;P

And now I’m off to see about breakfast! I probably won’t blog until I get home from work today (alas) because I plan to eat out for lunch. So I’ll see you later!

It’s a full time web publishing position. My hours are 10am to 7pm. I start tomorrow.

I’ll be making more money than I am currently, though not as much as I was in the too good to be true job I held for three weeks last year (;P).

It’s something I know I can do, but it will still be challenging. I won’t be trained; I have to teach myself how to do everything. It’s pretty much right up my alley, since I’m the type of person to figure stuff out on my own rather than have someone show me.

I’ll be working in an industry I haven’t worked in before, which will be interesting.

When I wrote the other day about seeing my time in a new light, I was also thinking about the freedom I’d be giving up if I accepted the position. I decided that a steady paycheck was more important at this point. I’m going to keep doing design on the side (and lusting after Adobe’s Creative Suite), but at this point I’m not prepared to depend on it for income.

Plus, I think this job is something that is varied enough to keep me interested, but not constantly demanding. I’m hoping it’s something I can do for a long time.

Wings on DVD!!!!!

Me so happy!

And it’s 30% off right now…>_>

Check out Google’s new page creator. This is great for quick websites. I’m not usually a fan of WYSIWYG, but you can edit the HTML if you want, and the templates are pretty. Here’s mine! (Of course, I’m not sure if I’ll use it for anything ;>

[Unpublished–see comments.]

Via Slashdot.

I ran out of Slim-Fast earlier this week, so I’ve been having unhealthy breakfasts of McGriddle sandwiches and chocolate muffins. Today I decided to go to Publix and pick up something more nutritious.

As I was heading back to the fruit salads, I passed through the organic foods section. The frozen dinners caught my eye: pot pies, shepherd pies, salisbury steak, plus Thai, Chinese, and Indian selections. I picked out some Chicken Tikka Masala for lunch, then snagged some veggie chips kettle-cooked french onion chips and my fruit bowl and went to check out.

The lady at the checkout, Jyoti, has checked me out many times. Today she said, “You like spicy Indian food?”

“Yeah, it’s good,” I replied.

“You know there’s an Indian market where you can get ready-made dinners?”

“Really? Where?”

So now I know about Maharaja Foods & Imports on Washington Road (listed on this page). I’ll have to check it out!

They arranged to meet the guy in a park just a 10-minute drive from Red Square. After the crew stood around shivering in the cold of a Russian winter night for a few minutes, the sniper called them on a cell phone and told them to meet him in a deserted building on the outskirts of the city.

After they arrived, the crew and the translator wandered around the building for a while, trying to figure out what would happen next, and finally a man appeared wearing a pullover mask with holes for his eyes, nose, and mouth. He refused to give a last name and suggested they change the subject when they asked him about his reasons for wearing a mask. He claimed to have been trained as part of a special KGB unit.

Click here to see what happened…and why they needed a sniper.