Everyone's Favourite Chemical Element

Originally, I had intended to write about a different thing, but I didn't really think it over, so this is sort of a filler post.

I remember browsing Amazon a little while ago and found something pretty interesting (actually, it was my brother who brought it to my attention). Feast your eyes on this item (open the image in a new tab, to see it in its full glory):


Yes, that's a real item on Amazon (search for it, you may still be able to find it). Yes, that's uranium ore. And it's for sale. And it's that cheap. Now, you might start saying that it's dangerous or illegal, but it's not enriched uranium, it's just a lump of uranium ore. You'd probably want to buy some in order to calibrate/test your radiation measurement tools.

The funny thing, in my opinion, is actually the lower part of the screen. Let's check it out.

Customers Who Bought Items Like This Also Bought:
- Basic bulb Anal Douche easy to use Rectal Syringe for anal Hygiene
- Anal Douche Rectal Syringe Easy to Use and Clean
- Vulcanite Anal Douche Rectal Syringe bulb type
- Enema Syringe Anal Douche Rectal Syringe
- The Simpsons Movie (Widescreen Edition) DVD

There is no Idiot's Guide to Home-made Bombs, however, this list is pretty unsettling in its own way. My only explanation is that a large group of enema fetishist Simpsons fans all decided to calibrate their radiation measurement tools at the same time, and decided to order some uranium ore off Amazon, and in the process came over some items they just had to buy. Next time someone wants to test their Geiger-Müller counter or wants to watch The Simpson Movie in widescreen, think again before buying stuff from Amazon, you might get associated with the wrong kind of people.

Ban(ne)ds with Other Red Creatures

I've overshot the deadline with a couple of days, but I couldn't write, since I was too busy (that's a lie, I was actually too lazy), however I'll make it up to you all and I promise to write another post by the end of this week.

No, this post is not referring to Magic: the Gathering, but if you made that association, you're on the safe side of this article. If you didn't, then before you go on, I advise you to take an ordinary IQ test and come back only if you scored above average.

(In case you did go and perform the IQ test, you might actually turn up on the wrong side of this article, though that's not necessarily true. It only proves that you're extremely gullible and you should be careful when talking with door-to-door salesmen.)

But why have I asked you to do this? Well, let's start at the very beginning. About a week ago (when I first had the intention of writing this post), Pali and I ended up in a state of nostalgia and wanted to watch old cartoons (or at least their openings), so we ended up browsing YouTube until about four o'clock in the morning. We found two nice series of videos.

The first one, entitled Top 100 Cartoons Series, has 10 parts, and shows 100 cartoon openings. If you look at it as a hierarchical list, it's pathetic, but it sure brings back memories.

The second one, entitled 100 Greatest Cartoons, has 21 parts, and is a 3-hour show made by UK's Channel 4 based on the viewer's votes. Though I haven't finished watching it yet, it is quite interesting.

There were a lot of comments on both series of videos, in which people demanded (and harshly offended the uploaders of the videos) that Dragon Ball Z be declared as the No. 1 Cartoon of all time (I didn't watch it all through, but from what I understand, it didn't even make it on the list). Now, I never was a fan of Tom & Jerry, and I'm bringing this into discussion because it placed 2nd on the second series of videos I've mentioned, but I've always recognised its value and cultural impact. Of course, not every one of us is objective in his criticism. In fact, none of us are. Also, some of us don't even try to be objective in their criticism. And more so, some don't just give a fuck about reality. What to do about these people?

Instead of all those annoying captcha (if you don't know what these are, click here, and remember, Wikipedia is your friend), they should put IQ tests whenever the danger of a fuck-minded person commenting or posting may arise. And if they fail the test, they should be band... from the whole Internet... for life...

Anyway, now that I've dealt with the turd-brained people, I'll return to the videos a bit. Though the first one can't even be considered a top something list, the second one is pretty good, however, something doesn't seem right to me. Though I suppose Dragon Ball Z didn't make the list, a very La Blue Girl-ish anime, called Legend of the Overfiend (know of it, Szilard?) did make it onto the list. Though I have no problem with the idea of arranging cartoons and ordering them by which is the 'best' (e.g. the best, less best, worse than best), I somehow can't come to compare Legend of the Overfiend with Tom & Jerry, or Akira with The Simpsons. It's just not right. On this account, check out my brother's top 6 anime by genre and my own Anime-Planet profile, where I've rated the anime I've watched so far.

Well, there's not much more to say. I can't think of a way of finishing this post with a bang. Wait a minute... It just hit me! How about 10 points going to the person who can guess why I used this post title (or 100 points the the one who can give the weirdest explanation). That's all folks! Bye-bii!

Death from Above!

Yesterday I spent an enjoyable time with Andras. Since I took the effort to bring the Monster PC home from Cluj (the damn thing is heavier than it's worth), we decided to fire up the LAN and play some of the games you can't on a single PC (actually you can, but they're not as enjoyable).

We initially intended to play Higurashi Daybreak, and after making use of the appropriate wiki, we found out how to start a LAN game... technically. Of course, as all things go, we didn't manage to start the game, so we swiftly abandoned the idea, and headed off to some of the games we knew would work.

Our second choice was Starcraft, playing the Bunker Command stage. I remember Adi telling me about it back when Starcraft was still 'the rad'. I must say, it was interesting. I believe back then, 'use map settings' stages were considered awesome and defying the laws of the game.

After hastefully dispatching me, Andras suggested a different game, so I cast my vote for DotA. In the same spirit of 'use map settings', DotA really popularised Warcraft 3. I don't even remember, I think we played about 5 games. It was most pleasant. The good thing is, I finally got Andras to like the game. If all goes well, I might have gotten myself a stable DotA partner.

Our final choice for the evening was Unreal Tournament 2004. I can never get enough of this game. It was actually Andras who suggest we play it, and I didn't know he was this good at it (or maybe I was just too sloppy that night). Anyway, we started talking during the match, and tried to find out what is so special in UT2k4. Besides the fact that nothing can compare with a good InstaGib match, both Halo and Quake 3 lack the atmosphere of this awesome game. Even if we're talking about the classic Unreal Tournament, the maps were so amazing. They each had their own style and they were so well designed, that you never had to turn back because of a dead end. There was always another turn you could take. I've realised that the levels are highly asymmetrical, and that makes then really awesome. Hell, even capture the flag stages are asymmetrical, how cool is that? Some of the stages are so intricate, we ended up not being able to frag each other the necessary amount of times and the match ended with a time out. Here is the last image of the game, Andras willing to descend upon me with the fury of his enhanced shock rifle, but too late, as the timer reaches 0 and I am declared the winner.

Built-in OS

A little while ago, I had a little accident with my PDA, which resulted in a cracked LCD display (poor little liquid crystals...).

So, I ended up ordering a new LCD display + digitizer (that's the thing which recognises the stylus touches) from eBay. For all those people who haven't used eBay before and are reluctant either because they are afraid they may get swindled or because they complain since no one ships to Romania, I have to encourage you to use it. I am very satisfied with the service, and I have been using it for some time now.

Anyway, I received the LCD display + digitizer, and found that I had a lot of problems opening the damn cover of the PDA since none of the screws used are standard ones. Don't you just hate that? It took me 10 days to open the cover, and when I plugged in the new display, I was shocked to find a built-in OS! That's right, can you believe it?! Here is the image, in case you doubt it:

Year 2

Happy Birthday, myBlog!

Today, myBlog is two years old. I have to admit, I didn't think it would last that much. And sadly, it really didn't... I have to admit that I've been slacking off, considering that now we're at the end of May and my last post was in February. But as we're coming into a new year, I plan to change all that. Encouraged by some of my friends who are fervent readers of myBlog (or more correctly, would be fervent readers, if I updated it on schedule), I feel compelled to make a vow:

As we're going into myBlog's third year, I plan to have a new post every week!!!

I hope this will keep the readers attracted. Also, to celebrate this, I've set up a hit counter and a stats counter on the page (they are right there on the right, under the World Domination Attempt heading). All this being said, tune in next week for a fresh new post.

PS: Everyone, don't forget to say Happy Birthday to Ioana!

Unspeakable Vault (of Doom)

As you may very well know, enjoy reading webcomics, and recently found a truly crazy one. For all of you who are into the Cthulhu mythos and for those who are only just a bit familliar with it (and even for those who have no idea what it's about), I hereby give you:


It is a webcomic full of that all powerful human something that gets us through life - laughter. I've added it to the webcomic roll on the right, but you can also click on the banner, or on this link here.

Enjoy! (Cthulhu fhtagn!)

42 Mark

No, I haven't misspelled the name of the torpedo.

I just noticed that my last post (you know, the one about that shitty korrean movie) was my 42nd post. What an embarrasing subject for the one and only 42nd post, right? Well, I would normally celebrate the 100th post or 10000 hits and such, but since I'm not aiming that high, 42 is just fine with me (though who knows, I might hit 100 posts by the time I finish university).

Anyway, since I hit 42 posts, I would like to give a big thank you to everyone who reads my blog or provides material for it or just knows me and has shapped me into the being that writes these lines.

THANK YOU!!!

WTF?!

I recently watched this movie:


That's a bit of a lie, since I only watched about 30 minutes of it, because I simply couldn't stand it any more. I thought it was one of those typically bullshitty movies with special effects and crappy plot lines. I came to realise it's one of those few movies with special effects and no plot lines whatsoever. Besides all too much Korean with no subtitles, it includes the wonderful following:
- flashback within a story within a flashback;
- clichés, but not from other movies, but what you've seen in this very same movie;
- dinosaurs equipped with missile launchers assaulting 16th century Korea;
- probably many other things I didn't have the nerves to watch...

I absolutely think this movie is a waste of time. In case you have spare time and want to do something just for the sake of doing it, I still wouldn't recommend it.

I'm pretty sure they shot this movie during the Writer's Guild strike, otherwise I can't explain the sheer non-sense of it all.

Overall Rating: Shit-filled

Match the Captions to the Appropriate Characters

A few days ago I was cleaning my room and came across a very peculiar thing. Remember those funny moments when they present a product, but you know very well that in fact what they are holding in their hands is a completely different product? Or when they talk about a certain scientific law, but in fact the formula is for a completely different law? Of course you do! And since you do, you deserve to see this wonderful poster I found (while cleaning my room, I might add) of Rambo.

Something wrong? Of course something's bloody wrong! Anyone who saw either movie (Either, what do you mean either?) knows very well that the person in the poster is not Rambo (Isn't he?). Of course he isn't! (But he's Sylvester Stallone!) Contrary to popular belief, he starred in more than just the Rambo Trilogy (I say 'trilogy' because I deny the existence of a fourth movie). This poster, in fact, depicts Sylvester Stallone (who also played Rocky, by the way) in his role in Cobra.

Why would someone put the wrong caption on such a famous role? Like I said before, those who saw either movie can tell the difference from Pluto (Planet Pluto, I might add). More than that, even people who haven't seen any of the movies can tell from, let's say, Mars (or maybe even the Asteroid Belt). For example, Rambo is a well-known Vietnam veteran who kicks the asses of Soviets and Americans (USians actually) who treat veterans badly, who are just as bad as Soviets. He is also a friend of the Afghani people, which is probably why they made this so called fourth movie, since they couldn't leave him in that light after 9/11. Cobra is part of a good cop, bad cop duo that's missing a member (I'm sure you can guess which one). He has nothing to do with Soviets, more with KKK-type idiots. Also, is Rambo Famous for his sunglasses and SMG? No, that's Cobra. Rambo is famous for his headband, his knife, his bow, his helicopter/tank maybe, but not sunglasses.

Anyway, here are the original posters of the two movies.

So, the question remains, why would someone put the wrong caption on that poster? My guess is, that the caption isn't incorrectly put out of mistake, but intentionally. The truth is, the captions were probably switched. I don't remember where I have that poster from, but probably there are more posters where that came from, all with mixed up characters and captions. The fun part is probably cutting out the captions and matching it with the right character, then sticking them into some album or something. I have to get my hands on the rest of them! (Gotta catch'em all!)

"The Undreaming is unchained."

Hello, everyone. Long time no see. I was busy, school and all. Besides, I bought myself a new graphics card (Leadtek WinFast A7600 GT TDH) and am now playing tonnes of new games. One of them is Dreamfall, about which I'm going to talk now (not that it requires a very powerful graphics card, but it uses Pixel Shader v1.0, which is not present on the GeForce 6 series).

Dreamfall is the sequel to the highly acclaimed adventure game The Longest Journey. I'm quite certain that playing this game will give little delight to those who haven't played the first game of the trilogy. Did I say trilogy? of course I did. These two games are part of a trilogy, the upcoming sequel, Dreamfall Chapters, being in production as we speak.

I'd like to talk about this a bit. Sadly, Dreamfall suffers from the "Jump to Trilogy Syndrome", also known as "Buy One Get One Free: Sequels" (NOTE: These names are purely fictional). Much like the dreaded "Dragonball Effect", this audio-visual item production trend is devastating to the content (and value) of the final product and consists in the following: The producers create a game/movie/whatever without any intention of making a sequel; when the game/movie/whatever becomes a great success, they decide to make not one, but instantly two sequels. Of course, the original material had a stand-alone ending, as no sequel was intended at that point. Because of this, the sequel features plot hooks that appear artificial, to override the ending of the first part. Also, the first sequel ends with a huge cliffhanger, to make room for the second sequel. You can observe this phenomenon at games such as God of War and movies such as the first Star Wars trilogy.

Having made this scarce general presentation, I'll proceed with the review through the comparison of Dreamfall toThe Longest Journey. First off, the game is no longer a point-and-click adventure game, instead it is an action adventure game. You now take control of your character from a third person point of view, make full use of the keyboard and also take part in scenes where talking isn't enough to get you past, but rather you require to employ force and go into combat mode or sneak past the guards that are simply just too tough to fight. This is the biggest change and can be felt throughout the game. As a downside, you can no longer experience the majestic sceneries you did in the first game. As a plus point, it creates a different approach to the game and the pacing of the three different elements (dialogue, stealth and combat) was just perfect for my taste. The controls are a bit difficult at the beginning, but you get used to them fast, however, due to a lack of a full explanation of the controls, you tend to get in situations where you know what to do, but you don't know how to do it (HINT: To throw things, you have to use the focus field, pressing the right mouse button, and then select what you want to throw from your inventory, pressing the middle mouse button).

The story of the game seems a bit far fetched at the beginning (due to the "Jump to Trilogy Syndrome"), but you get accustomed to it easily and it becomes really engaging, just like in the first game. However, if in the first game you saw the whole world through the eyes of April Ryan, the story being focused around her for most of its part, in the sequel you will alternatively control three characters, thus giving you a wider perspective of the world(s), and less focus on a single person. Also, the dialogues have changed, giving you the option of taking different attitudes towards the characters you interact with. For example, when you wish to board a ship, you may convince the captain by explaining, pleading, bribing or threatening him.

The overall feel of the game is a much more serious one. Humour and puns either come from characters of the first game, who retain they're jokes of old, or from funny reference to the original game. The sequel has few comical elements on it's own. I truly miss dialogues such as those with the guard at the crash site or the detective. Warning! This section contains spoilers. That having been said, I missed the cryptic remarks of Cortez, but were glad to see the comeback of characters such as Crow, Roper Klacks, Brian Westhouse, the Dark People, Gordon Halloway and the White of the Draic Kin. New comic faces include Theoretically Blind Bob and the Chinese Salesman. Spoilers end here.

The game seems a lot shorter than the first part. Also, I have to admit that I looked into a walkthrough at one point (in The Longest Journey I did that twice). Otherwise, the puzzles are not that difficult and quite self-explanatory. I think the highest number of items in my inventory at any given point was five.

Conclusion: for those who played the first game, this is certainly a must. You will definitely love it (and excitingly wait for the concluding part of the trilogy). To those who haven't played the first one, I recommend you skip this one and instead play that one beforehand.

From the Forest Where Cicadas Cry, There Is No Return

The title, of course, is a line from the opening of, you've guessed it, When Cicadas Cry (japanese title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). I've just finished watching this anime, and couldn't go without telling you all about it.

I came to find out about this anime from Szilard. He isked me if I had seen Elfen Lied and whether I had liked it. Since the answer for both questions was affirmative, he kindly recommended that I watch this particular anime. Thank you, Szilard.

The story takes place in June, 1983, in the little village of Hinamigawa, where Maebara Keiichi-kun just moved a month ago. He soon makes friends at school with Rena, Mion, Rika and Satoko. Life seems happy and carefree until the coming of the annual Watanagashi Festival, on the night of which, four years in a row, one person died and another went missing. The same is true for this year, and Keiichi gets involved in solving the mistery.

It doesn't seem like anything special, at first, but I have to say this, it's one freaky anime. This one is certainly not for the light-hearted. If Hello Kitty was your favourite anime, skip this one. This one should only be watched at night, in complete darkness and, hopefully, alone! Those who played Clive Barker's Undying under these conditions understand the feeling.

Simply put, it is shocking! Scenes of intense trepidation sometimes spring up unexpectedly, while at other times are forewarned and last an extended amount of time. I won't hide it, blood isn't spared at all during such scenes. The opening itself chills you to the bone. (For those interested, I've added the first scene of the first episode, followed by the opening, at the end of my post. No spoilers there.)

Warning: Some might consider the following paragraph to contain spoilers.
But the emotional roller-coaster is not everything. I was surprised to find the story end after the fourth episode, only to start from the beginning in the fifth. It immediately occurred to me that the anime had been adapted after a visual novel type game. I compared it with in my head to Critical Point, where, according to your actions, the villain turned out to be the captain of the ship, the enemy shapeshifting robot, the lesbian lieutenant and so on. Another way to look at it (though this only occurred to me after seeing the last episode) is in comparison to the PS2 game Grim Grimoire. For those who played it, think about playing throw that game, but from a perspective different than that of Lillet Blan (if you haven't played the game, I recommend it).
Eventual spoilers end here.

For those of you who liked Elfen Lied or enjoyed the first few Nightmare on Elm Street movies, I recommend this with a warm heart. I have to say, it's exactly as heartbreaking as Air... but in a completely different way. Enjoy!

PS: The story doesn't end in the first series. Be prepared for that.

The Missle Game 3D

Famous Logos

Have you noticed that famous logos sell well? It doesn't matter what the item is, if it has the famous logo on, it sells well. Furthermore, some fame-ridden logos also sell well, as long as they look cool. A third category would be the famous logo (or in our case, catchphrase) rip-offs. These it seems, also sell well, or at least the owner of this shoe store thought so...

Intel(R) had a huge impact on the IT market, but I think they'd never imagined they'd give tips for shoesalesmen... But if you steal the catchphrase, why not steal the logo as well? Wouldn't it have sold better that way?

Just imagine...

Minesweeper The Movie

D.M.C. - Dumb Mindless Crud

This morning I finished watching Devil May Cry. An anime based on the video game series with the same name. The story follows Dante, a half-demon half-human sword-wielding gunman who hunts devils for a living (talking about an original plot, ey?).

The video games received generally positive reviews, mostly due to their increased difficulty, which provided gamers with a challenge. Considering other aspects of the game, I think they were pretty shitty (though I played only Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition). I thought I would get something out of the highly praised action of the game, but quite frankly, it doesn't even reach the starting line in a race with God of War. I'd also rather not talk about the plot, I think they would have been better of completely without it, I'm surprised people were paid for that kind of stupid ideas. The only thing that surpasses the dumbness of the story is the voice-acting. Dante's personality, and the perfectly matching self-centred Hollywoodian macho voice, is so bad, that it passes the "humorously bad" barrier (unlike the voice-over in the movie 300), and it simply makes you want to cry.

So... what is the anime like? Exactly like the video game, just take away even that little interactivity which it had. Why would anyone want to watch it? Why did I watch it? Maybe I felt the need to warn people about it, but would have felt guilty to criticize without having seen it. Indeed, why would you want to see a guy fighting devils (and not even in a cool way) as if they were everyday hooligans and not breaking a sweat? And I mean not breaking a single sweat! Not even in the very last fight! Even Superman is vulnerable to kryptonite... What's the deal with this guy?

If you liked the games (other than the gameplay, that is, only the story, the attitude, the dialogues, and only if you really really liked them), you will probably like the anime too, though this might not necessarily be true. Otherwise, I advise you to stay away. If you have that much spare time, watch 300 instead, it will at least make you laugh.

17-09-2007 Post 3: It Is All Around Us...

Today, 17 September 2007, I decided to write 3 posts. The events within these posts are not chronological. But if they're not chronological, what do you call it? Of course, if the events are completely in the opposite order, you call it reversed chronological order. But what if they are simply jiggled around? Do you call it inchronological or unchronological? Or perhaps chronoillogical (that makes sense)? Anyway, they're just random.

"Nothing interesting ever happens to me," is a signature phrase of Mitsue Shijou (Kamichu!). Have you ever thought those same words? Well, you're wrong! ("Moses, you're lying!") All you have to do is open your eyes to the world around you. You are surrounded by weirdness and the supernatural. As an example, today, when I was coming home from the School Year Opening Ceremony, I saw this:


Apparently, it's just some graffiti in the park next to my apartment. However, I saw right through into the beyond. For most people, this is a simple spiral, while for the trained eye, this resembles two arcane symbols...

The Symbol of Bethrezen & The SOS Brigade Logo

Of course, some difference applies, but when dealing with mystic powers, you have to be flexible. When such grandeur surrounds us, how can anyone say "Nothing interesting ever happens to me"? The fact is, people blind themselves from the truth. After all "There are more things in heaven and earth,[...] Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." (Hamlet, from Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Act I, Scene V)

17-09-2007 Post 2: "Forward, GO!"

Today, 17 September 2007, I decided to write 3 posts. The events within these posts are not chronological. But if they're not chronological, what do you call it? Of course, if the events are completely in the opposite order, you call it reversed chronological order. But what if they are simply jiggled around? Do you call it inchronological or unchronological? Or perhaps chronoillogical (that makes sense)? Anyway, they're just random.

Yesterday, after doing some farming, err, I mean adventuring, in FFXII, I wanted to sit down and watch something nice. I wanted a light comedy that doesn't rely on slapstick or overboard weirdness humour. I decided to watch Manabi Straight! I hit the nail on the head.

Manabi Straight! (Japanese title: Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!) takes place in the near future (2035), where due to a severe drop in birth rate, very few people attend school, most of them taking a decision to become part of the basic (and essential) workforce of the nation. In this setting, Seioh (All Girls) High School has a one-member student board which doesn't really do anything, but has survived through time, mostly ignored by the students. Everything changes the day Amamiya Manami transfers to Seioh and decides to become Student Council President with the intentions of doing something "wonderful and exciting".

The anime has a warm atmosphere around it, implemented very well through animation, sound and music. Everything is a bit futuristic, but cosy in the same time. The characters, although in high-school, are drawn middle-school like (you'll see in teh wallpapers at the end of the post). The series is very well paced and makes you want to not let go of it till you finished watching (I realised that at 7 am this morning, when I finished it...).

The whole atmosphere is centered around 5 girls who make up the student council. And just to give you a taste of why it's so cool, I'll say some about each one of them:

Amamiya Manami, aka Manabi-chan (voice: Yui Horie) is the Student Council President. She is hyperactive and weird. "My brain doesn't work, if I sit in one place", she declares herself in the series. As energetic as Tomo-chan (Azumanga Daioh!) with a heart as big as Ai Tanabe (Planetes).

Inamori Mika, aka Mikan (voice: Ai Nonaka) is the original member of the student council and fills in the position of Secretary. When I watched the anime, I tried to think who she reminds me of, and Tokino Akiyama (Kujibiki Unbalance) came to mind. I was later surprised to find out that the seiyuu for the two characters is one and the same. She is timid and naive, also reminding of Akari Mizunashi (Aria the Animation).

Uehara Mutsuki, aka Mu-chi (voice: Marina Inoue) is the athlete of the team. She is very fit and fills in the role of Student Council Assistant. She highly reminds me of Kagura (Azuamga Daioh!), due to her athletic nature, interest in manly stuff, constant appetite, but also a kind and helping heart of gold.

Etoh Mei (voice: Aya Hirano) is an amalgam of characters. A composure like that of Sakaki-san (Azumanga Daioh!), an intellect like that of Chiyo-chan (Azumanga Daioh!) and determination (and "boss around"-iness) like that of Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). She is the Student Council Treasurer and is many times involved in administratively taking lead of the group. I guarantee, she's a character you'll love.

Momoha Odori, aka Momo (voice: Saki Fujita) will probably be my brother's favourite character from the series. She is strange and absent-minded, talks very little, but is highly sarcastic and scheming on the inside. She mostly reminded me of Mamimi Samejima (FLCL).

Imagine what these girls can do together? I recommend this anime to anyone who liked Azumanga Daioh! and the sort. I just can't get enough of it, so here are some wallpapers.

17-09-2007 Post 1: Decreased Natality or Increased Mortality?

Today, 17 September 2007, I decided to write 3 posts. The events within these posts are not chronological. But if they're not chronological, what do you call it? Of course, if the events are completely in the opposite order, you call it reversed chronological order. But what if they are simply jiggled around? Do you call it inchronological or unchronological? Or perhaps chronoillogical (that makes sense)? Anyway, they're just random.

Today, 17 September 2007, school started in Romania. Usually the school year starts on 15 September, but since that was a Saturday (and there is no school on Saturday), they moved it 2 days farther. People usually say that school starts on 15 September, but this is not a rule. In fact, by rule, it starts on the first working day after 14 September, but I guess that would be too long for people in today's fast-moving society to utter every time they refer to the beginning of the school year.

Anyway, our former class decided to visit some teachers with this occasion. I was really happy to meet some of them, since I didn't go last year (shame on me). It was quite a nostalgic moment (ah, those boring speeches... actually, we have those in university too...).

So what does the title have to do with it? It's a subtle hint to the second post I'm going to make about an anime that takes place in the near future, Japan facing a population problem due to decreased natality (or birth rate, if you will). Where's the connection? Well, out of the proud class of thirty (30) that graduated two (2) years ago, only seven (7) showed up (I'm putting the numbers in brackets to highlight the big changes). Our problem is not with natality, but mortality (or death rate, if you will). At this rate, how many people are going to show up at the 10-year anniversary? I think Romania is facing a crisis that it is not aware of...

Note: This post is supposed to be funny. I know that this event was quite meaningless compared to the 10-year anniversary, which will have a whole-class attendance (at least I hope). I do, however, feel a bit sad that this few people showed up. I apologize to those who could not make it due to serious circumstances, like being on a different continent (this means you, Anca, I hope you're still reading this blog...).

Evening of 12 September 2007

Shana Tova!

Ramadan Mubarak!

(sorry, I didn't have a photo to match the greeting)

Journey Photo Log, Interlude

I'll be leaving for a week to Borsec. This is a recreational camp (which means no Internet connection), so I'll have to leave the log a bit suspended. However, I leave you with two movies that we made in camp. Enjoy: