日常生活

Motivation

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:25:25 -0800

For the full comic, and more, click here.

Eureka Seven

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:24:07 -0800

Ad Astra

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:44:00 -0800

Since Gears of War didn't turn out to be the awesome "board game that we play every weekend" I've kept searching for another game to play. (Really, I've been pushing to play GoW again, to at least beat that first annoying level, but the others won't comply. What do?)

I noticed Ad Astra was on sale and figured we should give it a try. I didn't really know what the game was about and after having seen a quick review on the game on Youtube - after I had ordered it - I didn't think it would be very good. (But hey, it was on sale..)

My brother, a friend and I tested the game yesterday and as it turns out, Ad Astra is actually a lot of fun to play! There's a lot more strategy in this game compared to many of my other games (which are mostly just all about killing stuff). Travel to various planets, gather as many resources as possible to score more than the others and eventually win the game. For some reason that setup worked out just fine with us. Maybe we're getting too old for mindless mayhem? Grah, the horror!

The tokens, or pawns, are all pretty neat. A few of them look a bit fragile and the ships are a little skimpy for my liking, but all in all, they're very nice looking.

Both my brother and the friend commented that it would've been interesting if there were a way to attack the planets in an "intergalactic war kinda way" somehow.

I suppose there's still room for some mindless mayhem, after all. :-)

Jump For It

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:29:00 -0800

Jump For It - The figure in this image reminds me a bit of myself in that it feels like I'm jumping off of the mountain of dark dreary thoughts, aiming for that happy place where the sun is always shining. My girlfriend is the sun of my life, making me smile like I haven't smiled in ages. She's pretty awesome and I love her very much. <3

Quantum Cat Curiosity - The first one of two cat-tees. Ironically they're both of Shroedinger's cat. I prefer my cats alive and well without the guesswork, thank you!

Shroedinger's Cat - Wait, now they're in a box each? Well I suppose that only makes it easier to grab the one that's still alive.

MoriarTea - I don't know enough about Sherlock Holmes - hey, to be fair, I don't know enough about anything - but he drinks tea which makes him a pretty cool guy. Eh solves difficult cases and doesn't afraid of anything.

Night of the Living 8-Bit - There's just no preparing for an 8-bit zombie apocalypse. These babies are back from the past to haunt you.

The Dark Tower part III

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:22:00 -0800

It took Mr King many years to write The Dark Tower-series and it looks like it'll take me a few years to read all of it, mostly because I try to read other books inbetween (for no apparent reason, really).

I'm roughly twenty chapters into The Waste Lands and it's been pretty good so far. Seems the books get better and better with each instalment, which is nice. Gives me something to look forward to.

I like the way King writes, so when I'm done with The Dark Tower I'll look into getting some of his other works. I've been hearing good and bad about Salem's Lot, for instance. ;-)

The Dark Tower

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:49:00 -0700

Rock Science

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:17:29 -0800

One of my brothers bought the game Rock Science and the three of us broke it in yesterday. It's a trivia board game with a Rock-theme and we quickly found out that neither of us is a Rock Scientist. A lot of the questions were super hard (or rather, they're about bands that neither of us listen to). To move your marker (which is a cool guitar pick) you have to answer a question correctly. Or - and this is what got us around the board - you "bet" that the player answering the question can't get it right (which happened about 90% of the time, even on the easier "Poser" questions).

Yeah, we suck.

Eventually I completed a lap around the board, just shy ahead of the others, winning the game. Woop! But rather than feeling victorious, I walked away from the table full of shame, feeling like a poser. Not worthy..

There are some additional rules with the game, such as a drinking game variant, which I'd like to try out some time. (Not that I see how that would make things any better)..

Star Map

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:35:00 -0800

Star Map - Back in the days they didn't have GPS. Back in the days, before they had proper maps, people navigated using the stars. It's no wonder they eventually had to turn to technology to do it proper because they're going the wrong way... It's either that or, since they're pirates, they're waiting to ambush someone else following that star map. You never know with pirates..

Escape - While I sometimes feel like escaping, I imagine using more...reliable means of doing so. Still, taking a companion on an adventure sounds like a terrific idea.

+5 Sword of Critical Hits - "So uh, I'm attacking the Kobold Slinger, and.... I'll just move over here to.. I'll swing my sword and, let's see now.. I'm rolling... 1d8.... Plus... 5...? Yeah, plus 5.. And I deal.... Lemme see... 12 points of damage. Wooh yeah, take that you little twerp! How do you like that sword now? Hahaha ha hahaha..."

"12 points of damage doesn't seem so critical..."

Guess what.

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:07:00 -0800

Comic by Akishiro. Used without permission. :-(

I have depression. I never know how to bring this up with anyone. The fact that I don't like talking about myself on that a personal level doesn't help much. It sucks because there are several people I wish knew about it. (Partially because maybe it'd help explain why I'm being a dick some times). Writing this is a start though, I suppose. Baby steps.

I don't remember exactly, but I was 16-17 something when I was diagnosed with depression. (I can't remember if I was even "diagnosed", but I got medication and counseling for it, so probably, yeah?)

I wasn't on the medication for very long, not nearly as long as I probably should have been. Long story short, what happened was that I met a girl in a chatroom. We talked [almost] every day and she made me happy enough to decide to quit the meds (even against the counselors suggestions, hurr durr). Dunno what "damage" that caused, if any, but I was pretty happy for a while there, and that was all that mattered.

Still, it gradually went downhill and today, several years later, I'm back to feeling like shit most every day. Some days are worse than others, naturally. In a way, I've been depressed, on and off, for nearly half my life. That's a great fucking life, right there.

Not that long ago I was reflecting on the meds and how I probably would've had better use for them today than back then. Still, I don't really want to resort to medicine to fix things (even though that may be one of very few options).

Recently, in the last few weeks, I've started to feel a little better. I've been more happy and talkative than I have in several years. Feels kinda great, actually. The reason is, again, because of a girl. A woman, I suppose I should say - I'm getting fucking old..

Having depression is getting fucking old.

Talking to her have been really nice though, and have brought smiles I've rarely seen before (both hers and mine, and hers will melt a frozen heart). I don't know where this road leads, but I'm glad I ended up on it...

Game Over

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:33:23 -0800

A while back the money ran out on my account and I have been on another of my "sporadic" breaks. My plan to reach level 85 on my paladin was put on hold, once more. I only got to about 71 when my account was frozen from the lack of funds, and I haven't been bothered to reactivate it again. Truth is, I have decided enough is enough. I'm quitting, finally.

Game Over.

It's been a good few years and you will be missed, but I suppose I've finally come to the conclusion that it's time to move on... I tip my hat to you, WoW. :-)

Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:51:23 -0800

Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device - If Leonardo da Vinci had come up with the Handheld Portal Device (and I'm not saying he didn't), it might have looked like... Like, uh.. Like it always did... Imagine playing Assassins Creed with this baby. :o

This Was a Triumph - The cake is a lie! It's a tasty, triumphant lie - sure - but a lie none the less.

Haunted Scarecrow - Don't gaze into the pumpkin's eyes or you'll end up harvest. Seriously, don't! According to that grin you'll be the pie!

Who Watches Us? - I've seen V For vendetta only once and I thought it was alright, not awesome (but I do like the mask). Same goes for Watchmen. Combine them for greatness, though.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:03:00 -0800

First impression: "WTF Steam?"

I got home from work and started installing the game. Six hours later, it's just about ready to launch. Six hours. What. The. Fuck. It feels like the DVD didn't contain anything else than an initial pre-install program asking for the key which, once entered, turned over to Steam and downloaded the game. Seriously yeah, I think I downloaded the fucking game and the DVD was just a facade...

*clicks PLAY*

(A.k.a. To be continued)..

Edit 11.30am: I accidentally attacked a man instead of talking to him and the entire village of Riverwood came out to get me. Fuck this - restart from previous save..

Edit 1.00pm: Experiencing a lot of glitches, a lot of them to do with either my character's model or lightning of the world around me. I fell through the floor in a cave, and the screen went haywire, flickering. Loading a previous save didn't fix the flickering so I closed the game.. Hopefully when I restart the game will be back to "normal".

Edit 5.15pm: I could continue (thankfully) without too much trouble, even though glitches appear here and there all the time. A few screenshots:

A lot of these glitches happen when I tab in and out of the game, but they also randomly happen when stepping through doors to new areas/buildings. It has also started crashing, kicking me out of the game, forcing a restart which is quite annoying.

Despite all the bugs I'm facing, I think it's an alright game but there's just too much to take in. There are so many things to pick up, and you can only carry so much, and I have no idea what things are useful. Do I need a cooking pot? A broom? (I actually got 2 of those). And all the clothes that I strip of the dead bodies I leave behind me...

I haven't really figured out how to use magic yet, but I'm getting quite skilled with a bow, so I'm thinking I won't be needing it. Yet...

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:47:00 -0700

I got StarCraft II a while back and it's really rather sweet. The single-player campaign is pretty interesting; I'm currently on my second playthrough (started on casual and are now working on normal).

Rather than campaigning though, my focus have mostly been on custom games, such as tower defence or tug of war. Having a blast playing with my brothers and some friends. Heaps of fun!

We've played a few 2v2 and 3v3 matches but I suck pretty bad at those so I generally avoid them. (It's no fun losing all the time..)

Guilty.

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:34:34 -0700

For the full comic, and more, click here.

WoW: Mists of Pandaria revealed

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:48:20 -0700

Yesterday Blizzard revealed WoW's fourth expansion to be Mists of Pandaria and it looks pretty interesting. A lot of players were upset by the news of the new playable race pandaren, but frankly I'm looking forward to it.

The pandaren brew beer for fcks sake, they can't be any less than awesome!

My Imoto

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:05:00 -0700

My Imoto - I was looking around for something "Japanesy", and BAM, here's "The Great Imoto" to the rescue. And how about that, a friendly, giant monster, not out to destroy your town, but - perhaps - to make friends. How nice. I think!

A Fistful of Woolongs - This one's inspired by Cowboy Bebop, one of the funkiest and best anime series I have seen. It's been a while now though, I think it may be time to brush up on my boogie...

Snack Attack - Did you know Japan is a dirty, perverted place? Ah, of course you do. How silly of me, everyone knows that... This one made me hungry for Japanese... Whether it'd be the food or the girls, I dunno.. （　ﾟ Дﾟ）

Ya, enough about Japan already....

Celebrate Mediocrity - It's tiring to be your best all the god damned time, you need to rest eventually. Why not rest ALL THE TIME?!

Untitled Madness - Let's face it, who can put a name on madness anyway?

Zombie Apocalypse - Are you ready? *pump-action shotgun* I know I am! I have played Left4Dead, I know how to handle them..

Gears of War: The Board Game part II

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:39:00 -0700

Everytime we start playing a new game there are always some rules that we miss. Rather, that I miss - I'm usually the first one to glance through them. GoW:tBG was no exception.

Three of us started out on Friday, gathering up all the pieces from the box, setting up the first stage and taking the first plunge through the Locust swarms. After a few unlucky turns, near-dead and hardly off the first map-piece, I realized that we had missed a couple of rules that would have made it easier on us. After some yelling at me we decided to start over.

The next time we set off things turned out better for us, but we still faced a lot of resistance as we pushed forward through the swarms. We got up to about halfway through the map when one of us had to break up early on account of work on Saturday morning. We decided to leave the table overnight and come back the next day.

When we came back on Saturday we still faced a lot of resistance, and my brother started to lose his patience when we realised that there were more rules we had missed. Come on, this is the first level, it can't be this bloody hard...

Turns out no, it's not really - we (ok, me) are just stupid and very unlucky with the rolls. We decided to restart once more, but my brother had had enough, so our friend took over the role of both their characters, while I grabbed the last char we hadn't played before then, meaning we were now 4 "players" instead of 3. That ought to even the scores some, right? Right? Nope. Still hard as all hell.

We went at it for little over an hour (or maybe two) when my brother returned to the table announcing he wanted to play Magic: The Gathering. I groanded a bit, but agreed - it had taken us too long time to get nowhere on the first level. It's a hard ass game...

Come Sunday, I decided to try play it solo. The amount of starting monsters on the map changes depending on how many players there are which made it pretty easy to get through each room; either killing the Locust or skipping by them, rushing to the end objective of the map. It took me less than half an hour to kill the last of the Locust and beat the level. For serious and like a baus.

I actually think it's a great game and having played Gears of War I & II on the 360 I think the transition from digital media to a board game captures the feel of those games pretty well. It's just very luck-based with the dice, but there are ways to turn them in your favour.

I like how your life is slowly regenerating over time (like in most modern day shooters), instead of as in say, Castle Ravenloft, where your life pretty much just drops all the time. ;)

I'm insisting on another round next weekend to get through the first level, hopefully further than that, because I know we can do it....we have the technology...

Edit October 9: No.

Gears of War: The Board Game

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:20:19 -0700

We haven't touched a board game in a while, the weekends being occupied by Magic: The Gathering. I've been meaning to change that, and have been looking for something new and fresh. I stumbled upon Gears of War: The Board Game. Buying it on Friday.

It looks pretty sweet, kind of reminding me of Doom: The Board Game except it's full-on co-op against an "AI", like Castle ravenloft (meaning not one person will be stuck playing the DM; cards determine how enemies react). Brilliant, really.

Looking forward to playing it. :-)

(Click image for video)

The further adventures of Borkedhorn

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:18:00 -0700

Darker than Black

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:05:00 -0700

Watching The X-Files again

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:40:34 -0700

The X-Files was my favourite show when I was a kid. With mysteries, thrills and government conspiracies, TV didn't get any better than that. Those were good times.

My brother recently bought the box with all 9 season and the 2 movies and we've been watching an episode every now and then. Some episodes are really cheesy, what with it being from the 90's and all, but all of them bring back so many memories. I am constantly reminded of what made the show great and why I wanted to be like Mulder when I grew up, trenchcoat and all..

I wanted to believe. In some ways, I still do.

Metroid: Other M

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:18:00 -0700

I recently beat Super Metroid on the SNES (via emulator on the HTPC....with cheats...) and when I found out that Other M picks up where Super Metroid ended I decided I'd take a peek.

It starts out a bit cut-scene-heavy, but they are soon replaced with all the more action as Samus blasts her way through the levels of a "Bottle Ship" (whatever that may be).

I haven't really played any of the "Prime" titles, so controlling Samus in 3D is a new concept for me. The controls were a little odd at first but the transition from 2D to 3D works really well and it doesn't take very long getting used to.

Samus will auto-aim most of the time, as long as she's somewhat facing the foe, which makes it much easier to deal with enemies. I also like how, instead of enemies dropping items, Samus utilizes a Concentration technique to replenish health and ammunition. It's a bitch to use when you're in a tight spot, but you don't have to go out of your way to collect a few extra missiles, should you need them.

I've played around two hours and so far it's been a pleasant experience. :3

The Horde

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 04:46:10 -0700

I don't always shop at Threadless but when I do, it's Back to School Sale. I feel a little cheated though, I bought these tee's for $12 a piece - which is a bargain from their usual $19/$20 - but the next day I got a mail saying "they're now only $10"... >:|

The Horde, Perfect Timing and The Guest dropped in the mail today, along with Red Revenge from Woot. Tasty. :-)

Edit: And I almost forgot about Another Dramatic Moon Scene. Seems like the recurring theme this time around is "man versus very large monsters" (or just large amounts).

Scary comic time

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:18:00 -0700

I don't know the language, but I'm guessing it's Korean. Honestly, I don't think it matters whether you can read it or not; it scared me shitless just from looking at the pictures. Just click the image and scroll down....

Source: [comic.naver.com]

I'm a Potato

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:31:26 -0700

Before you say anything; there is no such thing as too many Portal-themed t-shirts. Well, in all honestly, there is no such thing as too many t-shirts, period, and he who dies with the most t-shirts wins!

"So, how are you holding up? Because I'm a Potato" is one of the best quotes from Portal 2, one of many, many good ones. It's starting to smell like there'll be another run through the Enrichment Center in the near future. Perhaps some Co-op this weekend... Hmm...

Moving to another universe, "These Aren't The Droids you're looking for" is another great quote, although I'm not an as huge fan of Star Wars. This shirt was randomly picked in Qwertee's InsaniTEE Sale and it's not horrible. Quite humorous , really.

One machine to rule them all

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:00:00 -0700

My brother and I decided to build a HTPC. Having all media and games (well not all, but a lot more of it) in the same place, within easy reach, is awesome. The build is near perfection, with only a few small "bugs" left to sort out, such as a the screen flickering now and then, sometimes losing colours, something which I have yet been unable to find the cause of.

And the connectivity of the mouse and keyboard is less than desirable. I'm buying the Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 which hopefully will sort that out. Looks pretty neat, that one.

The media-side is "powered by" XBMC, a superb piece of media-center software that looks and operates just delisioucly. :-)

Games.. Well, the current-gen gaming will still be "left to" the consoles we have (Xbox 360 and Wii) but [more interestingly] various emulators will take care of the older-gen (Nes and SNES and the like). Using a wireless gaming reciever we're able to play with the 360's controllers. It's not always optimal, but beats the hell out of using a keyboard. ;-)

True Love Never Lies

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:44:49 -0800

Some new shirts has arrived; True Love Never Lies (Portal <3), Fredator and The Shortcut. I'm not sure about The Shortcut, but the other two are fricken' awesome.

Saikano

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:59:35 -0700

Saisho Heiki Kanojo or Saikano for short, is a story about love and disaster. The story revolves around Shuji and Chise, classmates and boyfriend and girlfriend.

One day when shuji is out shopping with his friends, unknown bombers attack the city. They all run for cover, but Shuji gets separated from the others. He spots a glowing object in the sky that shoot down the enemy bombers. As he wanders through the wrecked city, he notices Chise standing in the rubble with metal wings and a weapon seemingly grated on to her arm -- was she the one fighting of the enemies?!... She tells him that she has become the Ultimate Weapon, Japans last resort to defending against invasion by the unknown enemy forces. The weapon side is however taking over her body more and more, over time her heart stops beating and her body goes cold, the senses of taste and touch are dulled.

There were a couple of things that annoyed me to no end, especially the fact that everyone has red lines across their cheeks (as seen in this image). At first I thought "hey, they're blushing" but it later turned out that that's just the way everyone looks.....what the hell..?

While Saikano don't come with the greatest story and (in my opinion) a rather limited character development, apart from maybe Chise, I still enjoyed it. I thought it was really sad, not so much from the aspect of Shuji and Chise's relationship (even though that was pretty sad in itself), but rather because of the fate Japan (and the rest of the world) stand up against. The last couple of episodes were really touching and brought me to tears (and again, I'm a real softie, I cry pretty easy :'-] ).

If you're into weird romance with a "hint" of destruction, Saikano would probably be a good friend for a few hours. :-]

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:28:41 -0700

Sakura Kusakabe is a second year junior high school student, living an ordinary life. Well, right up until Dokuro Mitsukai shows up. She appears to be an angelic assassin from the future, sent back to kill Sakura for having offended God by discovering immortality.

Dokuro-chan decides that instead of killing Sakura, she tries to keep him occupied so that he won't have time to discover immortality. Due to her impulsive nature and superhuman strength she frequently beat him to death with her spiked club, Excalibolg, though he's promptly brought back to life again with her angelic magic. Because of Dokuro-chan's reluctance to kill Sakura, Sabato Mihashigo - another angelic assassin - was dispatched to finish the job.

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan is hysterical, to say the least. It's bloody, gory and hillarious. I laughed my way through all the episodes, all jokes and obscene occurences make up for a great time.

Find it, watch it, love it. :-]

Ergo Proxy

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:40:08 -0700

Sometime in the distant future, Humanity has managed to survive, but only in isolated cities and through the use of cloning and robotic servants called AutoReivs. Life in the cities are strictly controlled by management dedicated to preserving their 'utopian' way of life.

But something is causing the AutoReivs to become independent and is driving them to seek to escape the city. Re-l Mayer, an inspector from the Citizen Information Bureau, learns that the awakenings of the ‘autoraves’ is caused by an encounter with something called a Proxy. In seeking to learn more, Re-l stumbles into a secret that management is desperately trying to hide and will go to any lengths to keep suppressed...

This show is awesome in almost every way possible. Beautiful animations blended with a deep story and strong, interresting and growing characters. I wanted to see more and more and often found myself watching 5-6 episodes in a row, until reluctantly, earlier today, I finished the serie, effectively leaving me with a void -- partially so because all questions aren't answered, but I always end up feeling a little empty once I've finished with a serie.

This is one I'll get back to eventually though. The philosophic nature of Ergo Proxy is on a level I haven't seen before, and it has been an interresting experience.

Agent Aika

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:03:00 -0700

After a massive land subsidence, most of the world are covered in water. Aika Sumeragi is a salvager working for a small company. Together with the company president's daughter, Rion, she embarks on a mission to retrieve an artifact called Lagu. They're not the only ones looking for the Lagu though, and before long they are captured.......by a guy who's housing an army of a harem, or something to that extent. The entire army is made up of girls in short skirts...

This serie was a lot of fun to watch, even though there were no heavy character developments. On the other hand, there's tons and tons of panties. Yes, panties! Short skirts means panties! There's a pantyshot about once every 20 seconds all throughout the serie. Boiiiing! :-]

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:51:00 -0700

The Melancholy is a story about the every day life of Haruhi Suzumiya, a young and very active high school girl. It's narrated from the point of view of one of her classmates, Kyon. It's clear from the first day that there's something odd about Miharu, when during her introduction she explains that she has no interrest in ordinary humans, but would rather like to meet with timetravelers, aliens or espers.

This was a crazy fun show to watch, even though I got to watch the episodes "out of order". The episodes were aired in a nonlinear order, and I decided to watch them as such (aligning them in their chronological order would require some thinking, and my head hurts, boo hoo).

If you're a fan of paranormal comedies, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will rock your socks. :-]

Tona-Gura!

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:31:23 -0700

Kazuki and Yuuji were childhood friends, but Yuuji had to leave for 10 years. When Kazuki finds out he is coming back, she is anticipating what kind of man he has become. Despite her illusions, he turns out to be a dirty pervert who is trying to win her love (or body?). In spite of her disappointment, she begins to realize that despite Yuuji's lewd ways, he values their long friendship and Kazuki's kind older sister, Hatsune, tries to help their relationship along. Meanwhile, Yuuji’s little sister, Marie, punishes his lustful outbursts by shooting him with a painful, but non-lethal, automatic air rifle.

It's not great, but it's absolutely not bad; Tona-Gura gets stuck somewhere in the middle. I liked it and it left me with a smile, wishing the serie had gone on for longer as it had potential. The story is pretty bland and never really kicks off, but still, I enjoyed watching it.

Tales from Earthsea

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:30:13 -0700

Tales from Earthsea is loosely based on a series of novels about the world Earthsea; hundreds of islands surrounded by a vast, uncharted ocean.

I can't think of a good way to sum up the plot of this movie, one'd almost have to know about the Earthsea universe to fully understand -- a few things that happen seems to be taken out of context. The story feels really short, almost to the point where I wonder why they even bothered making this movie.

The king is murdered. The killer - none other than the kings own son, prince Arren - flees the palace by horse, bringing his fathers sword along. Shortly thereafter Arren find himself surrounded by a pack of wolves. Trying to defend himself, Arren realise he can not unsheathe the sword, and thus prepares to die. Instead he's suddenly resqued by a magician; Sparrowhawk. Accompanying Sparrowhawk, they set of towards the city of Hort where Arren runs into Therru, a girl chased by slavers. Arren fends the slavers of, but Therru runs away without saying a word. Later that night, the slavers return in greater number and capture Arren.

Yeah, I'll stop with the plot there. I could tell more, but it'd basically be giving away the entire movie, the plot is pretty...thin, to say the least.

Animationwise however, Tales of Earthsea is really beautiful, everything seems to be alive and every movement is really smooth. I especially like the architecture of Hort, a magnificent looking city, even though it's really run down. The voice acting is also pretty good, no complaints there. There's a song somewhere halfway through, sung by Therru, that's pretty nice.

If you're a fan of Studio Ghibli movies, I suppose this one's a must see (not really), but if you're just looking for a movie to waste some time on, I'd suggest one that ain't so bland. I'm sorry. This movie was bland, and you'd really be -wasting- your time..

Elfen Lied

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:45:00 -0700

There's no easy way to describe this serie. It's an orgy of nudity, blood and gore, mixed together with horror, comedy, drama, romance, action, science-fiction, and suspense, just to name a few, the list goes on..

The first few minutes of the first episode is probably the bloodiest I have ever laid my eyes on, and contrary to what you may believe, it's not a bad thing. The story gradually takes a "more" serious tone (meaning less gore and/or nudity) and the viewer get more emotionally attached to the characters, and we slowly, slowly, crawl down under their skin and discover how they all connect.

It's been a long time since a show has moved me the way Elfen Lied did, and even though the ending was a bit "unsatisfactory" (seems like all shows I watch end in this manner) I have to praise it. Elfen Lied delivers big time. ^____^

Venus Versus Virus

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:46:00 -0700

What caught my eye was the eyepatch that Lucia is wearing (no pun intended), and I thought the show had something to do with pirates. I was wrong, but it turned out the eyepatch covered something more than just a wounded eye typical for pirate eyepatches..

Venus Versus Virus starts out pretty slowly, but it soon picks up and after two, three episodes you're caught up in the lives of Sumire and Lucia, the two girls facing the forces of evil; a demon breed simply called Virus.

While the ending was a bit of a disappointment, the overall experience is enjoyable - and you wish the serie would go on for longer than twelve episodes. Also, you wish there'd be some action between Sumire and Lucia; the tension is already present, go grab on to each other!

Venus Versus Virus delivers. ^_^

The Orchid Onryo

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:03:00 -0700

None of these t-shirts have arrived yet but I went ahead and posted a little snippet anyway. Because I could. :3

Game of Blades - Game of Thrones (the tv series) was pretty badass. Link is pretty badass. The Portal gun is just pretty, but overall, this shirt is badass.

Death Portal - SPAAAAAAAACE! Also, that's no moon!

The Orchid Onryo - A Japanese ghost, on my shirt? Why, I have never.... Which is why it's on the way, damnit. She's actually pretty cute for an 怨霊, what little you see of her.. It's just a shame the shirt is white. :|

True Love Never Dies - Never. Dies. Ever.

Sci-Fi Cussing - Honestly, I don't care that much about the cussing per say. I do however like the shading on this one a lot.

In other words, three out of five was Portal-related. You can't go wrong with Portal. :3

Hourou Musuko

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:04:00 -0700

It's been a while since I saw any anime and I wanted to pick up a slow paced show to easy my way back. I decided on Hourou Musuko, a story about a boy who wants to be a girl and a girl who wants to be a boy.

I think this is my first experience with these particular topics; gender identity and transsexuality. I'm not really sure why I picked it, but I'm glad I did. It's a really nice story, short but so very sweet.

The art style is really neat, and actually what I first fell for - I noticed the image before reading the synopsis.

I only wish the show would've lasted longer, but I guess I could, nay should read the manga. :3

The world through tauren eyes

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:44:00 -0700

So I activated my account for another month, partially to appease my brother and my friend and in a way myself as well because I've actually kind of missed playing..

I decided against playing my human priest, Moriam, instead focusing on the Horde side of the game (as I've done almost all quests for the Alliance).

I created a tauren paladin called Borkedhorn ('cus, like, he has a borked horn... get it?) and will focus on healing, something I haven't done (properly) for a long time. My goal is to try and get him up to level 85 before the month is over, but we'll see how that goes; I've never been a very fast leveler..

Edit June 24: Well it's moving forward; Borkedhorn dinged 30 yesterday. My friend (who also play a tauren paladin) and I started a guild called Need CafPow If Sleepy, a sort of homage to NCIS, and Abby in particular. We both love NCIS.

That one shelf and a good book

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:20:00 -0700

The top shelf of my bookcase is the only shelf harboring books and they are all yet to be read. There is currently 31 books on the shelf, some of which have been up there for years...

...I don't read nearly as much as I would like to...

A week or so ago I added 6 titles:

The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

Farlander by Col Buchanan

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak

And lastly The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which I'm currently reading. Best damn book I've read in a good long time.

WoW, RIFT and Star Wars: The Old Republic

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:10:15 -0700

I'm currently on a break from WoW. It's partially because I got a little tired of it; the content ran out faster in Cataclysm than in previous expansions, but also - more so - because my computer was shitsludge. Not limited to WoW either; I could hardly play any games at all that has decent graphics. WoW don't require that much but still looked pretty bad. To top it off, I had that little problem with my OS a little while back.

I decided enough was enough with the BS that was my computer and went ahead and upgraded a bit - Windows 7, new cpu, new gfx card, new everything. Made myself a little monster, I did. (Well, my brother assisted with the assembly).

I was looking at a few games to try out with this new "wonder-machine" of mine, and happened upon RIFT. I had glanced at it in the past, but thought little of trying it because my machine would hardly run it. (It probably would, but I'm sick and tired of always playing with lower graphic settings). Now though, I decided to download the 7-day trial to have a peek at it.

As soon as I got into Telara (the world in RIFT) I felt a sense of recognition; pretty much everything looks and feels like WoW, only enhanced (I'm comparing it to a low to medium-setting installation of WoW), which made it pretty easy to get into. On the one hand we have this beautiful world, open for exploration and adventure. On the other, while I knew a lot (or at least some) of the backstory to WoW (having played Warcraft 1-3) helping me get the feel of Azeroth, I don't know a whole lot about Telara or the races inhabiting the world, and I'm not sure I have the energy to fully take on a new world.

As tempting as it is to buy RIFT I have decided against doing so. I probably wouldn't hesitate if it didn't cost as much per month to play as WoW does (give or take). It's good fun to play it, and the world really is beautiful (more so than Azeroth! ;o) but since I don't know anyone else playing that could "mentor me" I don't know if I would enjoy it as much. We'll see though, I might change my mind in a week.

Moving forward through the mmo-swamp, a friend of mine is talking a lot about the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic, trying to get me onboard to play when it is released. I'm still uncertain to whether I actually will, but I've agreed to at least try it out. I'm not a HUGE fan of Star Wars, but there are sertain aspects of the game that looks promising and fun. Maybe...

That same friend is trying to get me back into WoW, and I might, if only to see what it looks like in all it's glory (haven't really seen it with every setting maxed out). My brother also wants me back in the game; I'm the guildleader of one of the "bank-guilds" we have and he's having troubles accessing stuff in my absence.. ;D

Game Over

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 01:58:00 -0700

"That's it man, game over man, game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?" - Pvt. Hudson, Aliens 1986

Game Over is a pretty sweet looking t-shirt - Aliens is one of my all-time favourite movies. And it sure looks like Game Over to me...

Eat your Wheatley's is the first of two Portal-themed shirts. I sure wouldn't mind a Handheld Portal Device being shipped with my breakfast, not one bit.

The Cheese is a Liederkranz, the much sought-after t-shirt that was posted on the release day of Portal 2. It sold out pretty fast.

Guardians of the Labyrinth An adventure with both loot and huge bosses? I'm in!

You've Got a New Follower! While it's nice to get more followers, it ain't something you wanna see in your rear-view mirror. Especially when you see the finish-line, just up ahead. Every god damned time...

Back to anime

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:22:40 -0700

Some years back I got into anime, nothing major but I watched a few series, some thanks to my brother and my cousin. Trigun was an awesome serie, so was Cowboy Bebop. I started watching Inuyasha, but only had access to about 14 episodes so I dropped it, even though I liked it. I later found out that Inuyasha turned out to be some 160+ episodes, which I think is way too long for a serie. I kind of like short series, and 10-20 episodes are an alright number.

I saw a few more series down the line, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, but eventually strayed away from animated series in favour of Prison Break (which I guess is one of the more recent) and such series.

Now recently I've picked up the interest for anime again. True fans claim you "have to watch animes in japanese, either proper or fan-subbed, but my mind goes numb listening to japanese voices and having to read the subs for too long (this might also be the reason why I prefer shorter series). I prefer english audio as I don't have to think as much and can just sit and enjoy the show. ;)

I watched AD Police Files, a three episodes long "prequel" to Bubbelgum Chrisis (a serie I haven't seen yet). Pretty nice, gore and nudity in a violent mixture. On the DVD I saw trailers for close to 20 series and movies, among them Ray Earth (or Rayearth, whichever) and Vampire Wars, both looking really cool. I'll try and put my hands on both in a near future. :)

Black Lagoon

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:45:00 -0700

A dangerous girl with guns in a city where you can trust no one - and that's not even half of it...

Revy, the girl that comes packing, is a smuggler together with Dutch and Benny, and they roam the Southeast Asian seas on the PT boat Black Lagoon. In one of their hits they end up with a hostage - Rock - who eventually joins the party. Time for fun!

Lots of wild gunfights, almost-non-stop action and a storyline that's really entertaining, interresting and fun. I'm wishing there was more material in the Manga though, to make a third season - the second season of the anime ends in a really nasty cliffhanger.. I want answers, damnit!

Black Lagoon delivers. ^__^

Popotan

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:12:00 -0700

The three sisters Ai, Mai and Mii, together with their ferret Unagi and the robotic maid Mea, live in a timetraveling mansion. They're hopping through time in search for "The One", someone who could tell them what they're really looking for.

The girls each have special powers, and Ai has the ability to speak with the Popotan (which is their nonsense way of saying dandelion, correctly called 'tanpopo'). Everywhere they stop, they find a patch of Popotan, or even a single flower (really, people put dandelions in pots? They're a weed where I come from... :-] ) that Ai sit down and have a little chat with, asking for information about where they can find The One.

The other special powers are Mii's healing "magic" and Mai's, well, atlethics. (Really, all she does is jump real high. A sucky power if you ask me)..

The anime is based on a hentai visual-novel game, and while there aren't any sexually explicit scenes in the series, there's still a lot of nudity. Mostly upper body shots and all portrayed in really good taste though, so no need to be alarmed. :-P

As the story progresses, and as the sisters travel through time, they encounter a lot of people and make many new friends. Regrettably, as there are many sad goodbye's. The second half of the twelve episode long series gets really sad, and by the time I got to episode ten I had a lump in my throat and I struggled to keep the tears back. (Really, I'm such a softie... :'-] )

Overall, this was great! I absolutely loved it and would recommend it. There's comedy, drama, fantasy (and for those who're into it, ecchi), so most everyone is sure to find something they'd like. :-]

Ecchi for the hentai

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:16:08 -0800

So I ran across a list of ecchi anime over at Wikipedia and I instantly thought - "I should try watch all of it"... o_o;

I've watched a few of them already (or at least a few episodes) - Agent Aika, Amaenaideyo!!, Colorful, Ebichu, Futari Ecchi, Girls Bravo, Golden Boy, Ichigo 100%, Koi Koi Seven, Love Love, Mouse, Please Twins, Popotan, Strike Witches and Tonagura....... -gasp- That was a quite a few. What a pervert! :o

Some of these were really good (not necessarily because of nudity) while others, not so much (again, not necessarily because of nudity)... I'll try and watch them all. \o/

Morning routines

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:51:52 -0700

My workday starts at 7am. On a good day I usually crawl out of bed around 6am, sometimes a little bit earlier, sometimes a little bit later (oops!). The last few weeks my days have started one hour later but I'm still trying to get up and get ready at about the same time as before.

To get me going I've started watching anime while preparing breakfast/lunch for work. I asked a friend for some suggestions on shows and he mentioned Kimi Ni Todoke and Eden of the East. Mornings are awesome again. :3

Watching Serial Experiments Lain

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:14:32 -0700

I tried watching SE:L a good while back, but it was dubbed in English so turned it off after 2 minutes. Anime dubs are shit..

I recently got a hold of a copy with Japanese speech and decided to give it a go. I've seen 6 episodes so far.

Honestly I don't really know what the hell is going on. @_@

Strangely enough, the story reminds me of the Otherland-serie by Tad Williams. I liked that one better though.

24 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:08:21 -0800

I'm slowly running out of anime to watch. Not so much in terms of selection, but what I have aquired so far. I recently finished watching Welcome to the NHK, loving every episode. It was a great show with a great story and great animation. Alas that story ended, and I'm now down to the following five shows:

Strawberry Panic - I've watched two episodes so far. The animation is beautiful and the story somewhat intriguing. With a setting of three all-girl schools, there's hints of yuri everywhere. Wohoop!

Strike Witches - Five episodes into this show, and there's still no pants in sight! Seriously. That's pretty rad.. I'm not sure whether I like it [the show as a whole] or not, as it's kind of childish. Concidered illegal in Sweden, because of the apparent loli.. Pft, lame.

Amaenaideyo!! - Seemingly the only one with the aspect ratio fitting our tv (the subs end up too low on the other shows) so every once in a while I sit on our comfy couch, rather than my poor excuse of a chair. But the show isn't all that good. It's pretty slow and boring. Here's hoping it gets better, I really enjoy watching from the couch. ;)

Chobits - Why someone would feel embarrased from looking at someone naked, especially if that someone was a robot, is beyond me.. Chobits is pretty slow, but sweet. And a supposed must-see for any anime enthusiast..

Koi Koi Seven - Again, a crazy school. (Can't get enough of those, I suppose). You wouldn't believe (but then again, maybe you would) how many anime series are centered around a school. This one's particularly crazy; "A series of strange events fall upon him [Tetsuro Tanaka]. Then, 6 girls who are called Koi Koi Seven appear as his guardians. Army combat helicopters and anti-tank guns attack Tetsuro for no particular reason as he tries to survive each day in the academy."

Funny how they're all concidered ecchi.. Hoomm! In case you're wondering about the title, this image might shed some light on the matter. Or not, either way. It feels like this is something I ought to hide away.. :)

New shows to watch

nospam@example.com (Magnus) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:03:47 -0800

After running a little low on my anime (I'm not, really - five shows last me a while these days, what with WoW going on and all) I decided to download a few more.

Lucky for me, BoxTorrents are running a Freeleech campaign over the holidays. Woop, that means grabbing a few extra shows while they're free!

Rosario + Vampire - Watched one episode so far. Aono Tsukune accidentaly enrolls in a monster High School, where they don't look too kindly on humans. The artwork and animation is very very nice, and the vampire he befriends is kawaii. ^^

They Are My Noble Masters - Watched one episode. Didn't make much sense at first, but I'm hoping it'll get better. Brother complex, hoooo! (That's out of whack)..

Clannad - ...Watched one episode (hey, I gotta try them!) Tomoya Okazaki is a third-year high school student who doesn't take his studies seriously. However, he meets a lonely-looking girl in the school courtyard, Nagisa Furukawa. Tomoya is rather indifferent at first, but decides that he has nothing better to do and spends increasingly more time helping Nagisa restore the school drama club. Great art (I'm a sucker for the visual) and an interresting story.

Labyrinth of Flames - A two-part OVA, and a strange one at that. A samurai-fan accepts an ancient Japanese sword, unknowing that gift is a betrothal heirloom. Made little sense, but was pretty funny. Gotta love the " O_O;; " expressions.

I also got a few that I haven't begun watching yet: Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk, Sekirei and H2O: Footprints in the Sand.