I’m not actually extraordinarily happy with it, but that could just be because I’m tired and I have other things on my mind. The ignition switch in my car is busted, and a replacement will be like $150…$150 I would rather be spending on equipment for my bike. Like a bike rack.

:P

But anyway, here’s the update. Maybe I’ll like it more tomorrow…or maybe I’ll wonder what the hell I was thinking when I wrote it :P

Using a high school pimp for at least some of his liaisons, a Chofu doctor named Toma Seizaburo has paid 70 schoolgirls for sex over the past six years.

“I’m glad I was arrested. I couldn’t stop myself,” officers quoted Toma as saying.

I’m a rabid archivist. I’ve copied stuff from floppies to hard drives to CDs to DVDs. And I’ve lost data. The New York Times feels my pain…

In the meantime, individual PC owners struggle in private. Desk drawers and den closets are filled with obsolete computers, stacks of Zip disks and 3?-inch diskettes, even the larger 5?-inch floppy disks from the 1980’s. Short of a clear solution, experts recommend that people copy their materials, which were once on vinyl, film and paper, to CD’s and other backup formats.

But backup mechanisms can also lose their integrity. Magnetic tape, CD’s and hard drives are far from robust. The life span of data on a CD recorded with a CD burner, for instance, could be as little as five years if it is exposed to extremes in humidity or temperature.

And if a CD is scratched, Mr. Hite said, it can become unusable.

Meanwhile, a mysterious submarine has appeared near Okinawa.

Crewmembers of an MSDF P3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft spotted the submarine in seas off Miyako and Ishigaki islands, southwestern Okinawa Prefecture, early Wednesday morning. At 8:45 a.m., Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono ordered the MSDF to chase the submarine after receiving approval from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

I told you the items were unrelated.

[Addendum]

“Some people are saying digital data will disappear not by being destroyed but by being lost,” Dr. Rutenbeck said. “It’s one thing to find the photo album of your trip to Hawaii 20 years ago. But what if those photos are all sitting in a subdirectory in your computer?”

Okay, people need to seriously organize their computer files. I don’t understand how you can not have an intuitive directory structure in which you can find all your items easily. The “My Documents” folder, in fact, is fantastic, because you can just dump everything there, and then save everything in My Documents. It’s not difficult, people. STOP THE MADNESS!

For a year, Julee Lacey stopped in a CVS pharmacy near her home in a Fort Worth suburb to get refills of her birth-control pills. Then one day last March, the pharmacist refused to fill Lacey’s prescription because she did not believe in birth control.

Yahoo News

Okay, dumbass, listen up.

You are not Ms. Lacey’s doctor.

You are not Ms. Lacey’s preacher.

You are in no way qualified to decide whether or not Ms. Lacey can or cannot have a prescription that she was given by a licensed physician unless you can show that it would be harmful to Ms. Lacey due to drug interactions.

I’m sorry that logic apparently has no place in your daily life. I’ll try to make this simple for you.

If you do not feel you can morally give Ms. Lacey what she needs to keep from bringing an unwanted child into the world, then pass the job off to another pharmacist. And if you feel that even this would make you party to breaking God’s law, then get a different job.

Get this through your skull: people are going to have sex whether you like it or not. Birth control is not abortion. But if people can’t use birth control pills, then they will use abortion–legally or illegally–as a form of birth control. The deaths of all of those children will be on your head.

Is that clear enough for you?

Wrote some more tonight. But I’m at just under 20%, with 9886 words, when I should be at 14,516 words (according to my basic mathematical calculations), or 29% done. (It actually looks like there’s a dot on the Progress Meter thingy that tells me where I should be at this point. I’m not sure because I don’t see anything on the site mentioning that. But look at the thing.)

At any rate, must…write…more…

Evenings are okay for writing, but only if I also include some writing in the morning and afternoon too! o_o

What can I say, it’s a slow day ;P

Anticipation, cont.

Apparently this is far more important than, say, writing my book. ;P

Here’s the piece, originally posted on Box of Bunnies. The first bit is responding to the argument that “Yes, master” has a less accepting connotation than “Yes, my master”, and was therefore used to highlight Vader’s progression into service under the Emperor. I later respond to the idea that the suit in the teaser might be empty, and to comments about the cheesy orange eyes. I then fall into pure rant-mode (which is the strongest part of this whole blurb). Check it out :>

Yeah, you’re right about that connotation, I think, Dan.  (Though Vader never truly submitted to Palpatine.  He always entertained thoughts of overthrowing him and becoming the emperor/man in charge himself.  Maybe he adopted the "my master" later on in order to try and convince Palpatine that he was sincere.
 
(Palpatine, of course, knew all this, as he was a brilliant evil genius, manipulating Vader’s greed towards his own ends.  But I digress.)
 
It still sounds cheesy, but meh.
 
As for the suit being empty, if it’s empty, why do the arms need to be shackled up (in the doofiest possible pose)?  I would guess that this is the point at which Anakin is fused to the suit (he is a cyborg, after all, and from recent "leaked" pictures it appears that he loses his leg as well as the hand he already lost.  Those lava injuries are going to be bad, my friends).
 
The Dark Side does (according to comic book/novel canon) degrade the body.  This is why the Emperor is so old; he has his own cloning tank for when his body fully dies, and he uses the Dark Side to transfer his mind to a new cloned body.  (Which looks very buff and Aryan.)  I don’t know if this is going to be refuted by Episode III, or if we are going to see that Senator Palpatine is a clone puppet of Sidious, the real Palpatine…or what.  (If the Kaminoans are to be believed, the cloning process does not result in a fully formed adult, like it did in the comics.  But maybe Palpatine uses the Dark Side for that, as well.)
 
So!  Orange eyes could be a sign of the Dark Side decaying you from the inside.  (The Emperor’s eyes are orange/yellow, in Jedi.)
 
Regardless.  Here’s how I see the progression:
 
First, we have the Holy Trilogy.  It starts with a fable, an epic, that involves the fate of a handful of people as well as the fate of the galaxy.  (And originally, it didn’t have stupid slapstick comedy added for no reason.)  It continues into a darker tale, a film that is a lot scarier.  I was afraid to watch it as a kid.  But ultimately, it’s not a harmful movie, even allowing for the cliffhanger.  It’s life.  Bad things happen.  You deal with them and move on.  Luke’s new hand is a symbol of the fact that he’s going to keep trying.  Then we have Jedi, which is the weakest (I’ve argued before that Attack of the Clones is actually better than Jedi, but that really depends on my mood).  This movie wasn’t scary, but it had a lot of psychological stuff going on between Luke and Vader.  It also had cute animals dying in a forest, which could be rather scarring.
 
The point I’m trying to make here is that the (original versions of the) Star Wars Trilogy were intelligent movies.  They weren’t "films", in the hoity-toity sense.  They’re not overly complex.  But they’re not dumbed-down, either.
 
But then we get the prequels.
 
The Phantom Menace: What, exactly, was the point of this movie?  What happened here that couldn’t have been interjected into Attack of the Clones as flashbacks?  There is no epic, no endearing characters.  We watch, detached, as some people run around fighting for reasons that are unclear.  There’s no emotion, no desperation, no need for them to win.  I believe what happened here was a combination of too much complexity (in the plot, concerning galactic affairs) and too much dumbing-down (in regards to the characters, especially the comedic ones, but including others, like the completely pointless Mace Windu, and the inexplicably stubborn Qui-Gon Jinn.  Padme was flat and stale, and Anakin was made of cardboard).  Add in some stupid slapstick comedy and you’ve got yourself a winner!  ;P
 
Attack of the Clones: Far stronger than TPM, but still not much of a movie.  I had to craft an elaborate explanation for the wooden acting–one which I still cling to, desperately.  This movie is 3/4 exposition, 1/4 climax, and then some hasty denouement that barely squeezes in.  Threepio takes up Jar-Jar’s place as Repository of Stupid Humor (though I’ll admit to liking his better than Jar-Jar’s).  This movie, in an apparent effort to stave off the issue of complexity, has some really, really dumb moments.  Example: Obi-Wan can’t find Kamino in the archive.  Jocasta Nu tells him "If it’s not in the archive, it doesn’t exist."  Obi-Wan is completely baffled by this, because he knows something is there.  The answer is patently obvious, even if you did grow up in a complacent culture with self-important librarians.  But instead we are "treated" to a scene in which a kiddie Jedi points out Obi-Wan’s lack of higher brain functions.
 
Due to the dumbing-down process, both TPM and AotC are kiddie movies (which is insulting to children everywhere–maybe I should say they’re movies for dogs?–because kids have every right to complex entertainment, damn it).  It’s unclear who Lucas was trying to cater to here–families?–but obviously he was trying to cater, rather than just trying to tell a good story.  Or at least, I’d prefer to believe that…and I’d prefer to believe that his edits to the originals are along that vein as well, even though he denies it ;P
 
The third movie, then, following two "family" movies, is supposed to be really Dark and Evil.  But Lucas is committed to keeping it PG, from what I know.  And I’d believe that, from the teaser.
 
Because the teaser is CHEESY!
 
What happens to dark subject matter when it isn’t treated with the proper respect?
 
It becomes CHEESY!
 
What’s going to happen to Darth Vader, arguably the best villain of all time?
 
He’s going to turn CHEESY!
 
Given Lucas’ current outlook on filmmaking, there is no way that this film could be anything close to Empire unless someone else directed it.  Therefore, the themes explored in this film are not going to be given the proper weight.  Vader will go from being the symbol of all the evil that lies in the hearts of mankind…to a caricature.
 
I don’t know why people are getting excited about this movie.  Everything I see just reinforces the fact that it’s going to suck.

I haven’t written enough. I need to get off my proverbial ass.

Yesterday I worked from 7 am until around 4:45 pm, with a short break somewhere around 9 when I ran to Publix to grab some nigiri sushi (which sucked, by the way–I’ll stick to rolls). When I got home, I sort of putzed around the Internet until it was time for bed. Then I took the laptop back to bed with me, but Sean followed, and my writing was again put off :> Finally I wrote for approximately half an hour, and posted it, and went to bed.

The writing shouldn’t be put off until the last minute like that. I need to try to do better today.

Speaking of today, I was planning to go biking with Brooke, but it looks like I have to work until 2 ;P I’m not sure if that will leave us enough time to ride (she has work at 4). I’ll have to talk with her about it.

My diet is coming along okay. I’m down 11.5 pounds right now. I’d made it all the way to 12, but then I went up a little, and now I’m going down again. (It’s so much fun watching your weight fluctuate every day. Really.)

At any rate, a coworker of mine, who works nights and weekends and who I therefore don’t normally see, said to me yesterday, “You’ve lost weight!” So that’s good :D

It’s really interesting what a difference 10 pounds can make. Mari’s lost about that, too, and she looks great. She’s pretty close to an optimal weight, I think. Brooke is too.

I’m behind ;_; But I’ll keep working on it!

There’s an article on ArsTechnica about Best Buy’s attempts to get rid of 20% of its customers. (I found it through Slashdot.) I can’t really say that I blame them, considering. However, one of the ways to combat the “devils” is customer profiling, which I find intriguing and worrisome at the same time. Profiling could be good, in that it leads employees to give customers what they want, but it could be bad, as the article points out, by marginalizing those who don’t fit into any of the nice categories.

An interesting read. I wonder if I’m a Jill?

OMG!!!!

I am so buying this.

When it’s available.

Oh yeah.

Mainichi has a very good article about the passengers of the derailed bullet train in Niigata, and how they reacted to the accident. Basically, they all stayed calm and helped each other. That’s really admirable given how scary it must have been.

I’m glad they’re all safe and sound.

This is great news! I have been dying to see a bunraku play for ages. Now, if I get the chance to go to Osaka, I’ll actually have an idea of what they’re saying/doing!

I think I would like to see the play twice…first without any translation at all, and second with the translation :)

Here are a few more bunraku links:

Japan-Zone.com: Bunraku

Japan-Guide.com: Bunraku

The National Bunraku Theater [in Osaka]

Artelino.com: Bunraku

The National Theater of Japan’s Bunraku dictionary

The National Theater of Japan’s Introduction to the World of Bunraku

There’s a mystery/horror anime called Karakuri Zoushi Ayatsuri Sakon, or Puppet Master Sakon, which is all about a boy named Sakon who does bunraku (and solves murder cases). I’m still not sure where Sakon lives, but the OP (which is fantastic, by the way–it’s performed by Fukuyama Yoshiki, who many people remember as Basara‘s singing voice) shows what I believe to be the Fushimi Inari Shrine (check the last picture from this post at Sushicam, and you’ll see the torii gates that I believe I’m seeing in the OP). The show is kind of creepy and kind of beautiful.

I’ll have you know, though, that I wanted to see a bunraku play long before I ever really got into anime. (You know, back around the time AJ was the one renting anime, and I was the one saying, “No, I don’t really like it…” Ah, how things change.)

Thanks to BoingBoing, I have found the perfect pair of glasses. Look at these things.

Unfortunately, Sean doesn’t seem to like them as much as I do…:>

A Japanese professor of politics named Kato Tetsuro discovered some recently-declassified documents detailing the U.S.’s propaganda campaign against Japan in the U.S. National Archives, and Japan Today has what I consider to be a teaser article up about it. (Ignore the stupid “who cares?” comment; Japan Today’s comment section is absolutely worthless, a quagmire of smallmindedness, intolerance, and idiocy, as I’ve mentioned before.)

Masanori Nakamura, professor of modern Japanese history at Kanagawa University, said it cannot be claimed that the idea of using the emperor as a peace symbol as presented in the document led directly to the postwar imperial system, but it is significant that the United States harbored such an idea at an early stage in the war with Japan.

This is pretty interesting, and I would like to read the full documents, as well as Kato’s article.

Yesterday, I went biking with Brooke and Mari. Then I sat down and wrote a whole bunch. Then, I met up with Brooke and Mari and Brooke’s friend Nathan for dinner at Fazoli’s, and finally, Brooke, Nathan and I went to the Columbia County Fall Fair. (I was thinking we were going to the Georgia-Carolina Fair, but you know, I have no idea when or where that is.)

The fair was great. I hadn’t been to a fair in years. When I was a kid, Mom used to always take me and the boys to the Bluegrass Fair out at Masterson Station Park, which apparently doesn’t have a website.

We’d drive into Lexington, park in this huge field, and trek over to the fair, where we’d spend hours exploring, playing games, riding rides, and eating FUNNEL CAKE. Last night was like reliving that experience.

Despite our diets, Brooke and I even indulged in that sinful confection (and we forced Nathan to eat some, too). I have a picture of Brooke and Nathan with the funnel cake, but I’m not allowed to reveal it in public. (Something about a “chess cake dance” has apparently soured Brooke’s opinion on pictures…I wouldn’t know anything about that, though…) Here, however, is a picture of me sitting on a bench, right after eating FUNNEL CAKE:

You can just pretend this is proof that I ate it.

Brooke and I rode the Sizzler, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and the Himalaya. The Tilt-a-Whirl was, by far, the best. I was so dizzy (and crushed) during the Sizzler that I shouted to Brooke, “I’m not as young as I used to be!” The Tilt-a-Whirl, though, was a lot of fun centripetal force without a lot of whipping my brain around. I don’t know, it was just better. The Himalaya was okay, though kind of boring after the Tilt-a-Whirl. I’d forgotten how hard you have to hold on to keep from crushing the person next to you, too.

I was going to play some games, like darts or pool or throwing a ball at stuff, but they were all so expensive :/ Things like that are more fun when you’re not the one paying for them, I think ;)

But I did get to ride on the merry-go-round, right as the fair was closing at midnight. Brooke tried to get a shot of me riding, but they all turned out horribly, and therefore they will not be posted.

Here’s something fun, though (click for large size goodness!):

So, it was a good day. Since I did Denny’s for lunch, Fazoli’s for dinner, and then had funnel cake, I ended up gaining a pound back–the 40 minutes of biking and the few hours of strolling around the fair apparently weren’t enough to counteract those foods’ combined evil influence. Still, I’m not unhappy. I think my weight loss is going pretty well, all told, and I had a lot of fun. Hopefully today we’ll go riding again, and I’ll eat more responsibly :)