Wooden Animals, originally uploaded by Doherty_UK.

A typical kenyan stall selling Wooden Animals, Most of these cavings are made by the stall owners to sell to tourists. Taken at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club.

Starship (this is nice):

Avanti (this is boring and low quality):

Starship: First flight in february 1986. Powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67A turboprops 895 kW each, designed by by Burt Rutan and Scaled composites, the maker of planes that fly around the world nonstop, or rocket planes that go to space. Photos: 1 2 3

Avanti: First flight in September 1986 but development was protracted. Powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6A-66 turboprops 634 kW each, designed and built by Piaggio, an Italian scooter manufacturer. Photos: 1 2 3, more

How do they compare in performance?

The picture found on a French website speaks quite a lot (translation should be trivial):

Avanti and Starship top views and specifications comparison

The Starship is a bit bigger overall but still, it has a proportionally stupendous wing area and suffers high weight and high drag as a consequence, being slower despite more power. The three surface configuration of Avanti could also help to minimize trim drag in cruise.

The cabin space looks to actually be not that far off, since Avanti’s nose is shorter. The Avanti has thin straight laminar flow wings that give very little drag. Has someone been into both cabins who can comment on the internal room?

Landing speed is surprisingly similar, 150+-3 km/h for both. Even if Starship has half the wing loading. On the other hand, it probably can’t fly at a high angle of attack or use large high lift devices because the “stalling canard” control arrangement. The rear end of the large chord wing is so far behind that the nose down moment from bigger flaps could simply stall the canard.

Could these be the reasons why the Starship never became a commercial success, with only 53 having been operated commercially? A big aircraft compared to its capability? Avanti on the other hand at least has made and is making some sales, over 150 have been made. I’ve heard stories about how Scaled composites didn’t know how to make commercially operational craft back then, and maintenance folk actually had to cut holes in the skin to do some work. The french site claims Starship used over five times the research development budget, and the craft looks like an enlarged EZ, so nothing that novel aerodynamically. What went wrong? Is it the composites, a bridge too far?

I find comparisons interesting. They put matters into better context than just examining features of things alone. I feel it is done far too rarely – when reading about technical histories, they follow one project at a time and the reader can’t form a comprehensive picture of things or give meaning to the years and numbers thrown around. I was actually working on a free print-it-yourself trump card game with rocket engines some years back, to help familiarize oneself with their features, I still think I have the publisher files stashed somewhere. (Too bad it still is impossible to find even a semi decent page layout program for free.)

Aside from my unfortunate lack of inspiration with regards to amusing headers, this week was pretty much the same as last week. New car, Fiat 500, but this week, with less stalling.

Still not the greatest fan of it, but at least I’m getting its oversensitive accelerator and harsh clutch under something resembling control.

This week’s lesson was basically about driving around and getting a feel for the car out on the open roads. I was in a fairly quiet area most of the time, which is for the best when I occasionally stall at traffic lights, leaving a trail of fuming motorists trapped behind my little Fiat.

I’m fairly sure I mentioned it as one of the car’s few redeeming good features last week, but the awesomely smooth gearbox was very noticeable as I was shifting up and down gears while zooming(relatively) up and down country lanes.

One thing I definitely learnt is that driving is fun. Out on the country roads with the gentle drifting corners is great fun to drive, even if I’m going at the relatively low speed of 50ish MPH (I should note that the speed limit for said roads is 60, I have no intention of winding up with speeding tickets before I even have a full licence.)

That being said, I need to keep track of my speed in and about town. The Fiat doesn’t have the little heads-up on the centre of the dash giving the exact speed on a digital readout, and while this doesn’t matter too much, it was always nice to know exactly how slow I was going. The reason I bring this up is because yesterday I was driving up and then down a canal bridge, and because I was going downhill, the car gained speed and momentum. And who was on the other side of the bridge but your friendly neighbourhood traffic-camera police van. Cue instant panic because I just exceeded the speed limit by about 4mph.

Also on my travels up a dual carriage, I saw coming from the opposite direction, one of the World’s Fastest Cars. Specifically, it was the Jaguar XJ220. And wow, it’s a good looking car. Even in slightly metallic orangey yellow. Vroom.

Floggy Tips

2good2tip now has its own facebook fan page – join in and become a fan. Keep up to date with whats going on and join in the discussion groups – if you want to comment we would love to hear from you. If you have something on your stall that is particularly special, unusual, weird or whacky then let us know and we may feature it here!

Heh.  McDonald’s wrote back about my brief stop and UrbanSpoon.com review (posted with pictures) the other night.

Here’s the message below, that rides the “impersonally personal response” line quite well.

Someone got rid of the pictures at UrbanSpoon.com… perhaps they were flagged as inappropriate?  I can see that.  Oh well, no reason I can’t show them here.

Here’s my review…

“Sadly, had the best service there tonight in years…” by ERiC AiXeLsyD (98 reviews)
November 29, 2009 - Doesn’t like it – Small crew tonight, decent night-time crowd, stopped for a late dinner, was served relatively quickly… fries were a perfect golden color and hot… burgers were OK, super-greasy but it IS McDonald’s. We were out at an event earlier, on the way home… had to use the facilities… but they were trashed. Stall #1 had no TP dispenser, the roll was on the back of the commode, and the bowl was chock full of the stuff. Stall #2 had a broken doorknob/lock mechanism. One hand dryer was stuck on, the other didn’t work, and both urinals were full of urine. I know they can’t control flushing… but periodic checks/cleanings and some repairs might be in order.  Just when I thought this place had their stuff together for once… My advice? When stopping here, use the facilities somewhere else.

1 person likes this review Recommend

And here’s their response with my message submitted through the McWebform following below…

From: McDonalds.CustomerCare@us.mcd.com
To: eric_aixelsyd@yahoo.com
Sent: Tue, December 1, 2009 5:14:49 AM
Subject: Message from McDonald’s USA

Hello Eric:

Thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald’s Customer Service Center to bring your recent experience to our attention.First, I hope you will accept my sincere apology for your disappointment in McDonald’s. I can assure you that we want you to be completely satisfied every time you visit one of our restaurants.Because most McDonald’s restaurants are independently owned and operated, I have forwarded your comments to the franchise owner or local representative for follow up at the restaurant you visited. Please be assured that your comments will be investigated and, if appropriate, corrective action will be taken.

 

Secondly, although we did not completely meet your expectations, please know that our restaurant employees strive to maintain the highest standards of quality, service, cleanliness and value and it’s certainly nice to know that their efforts are appreciated. We want to recognize your complimentary comments and thank you for your kind words.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald’s and giving us the opportunity to address your concerns. Customer feedback is very important to us as it helps us improve. McDonald’s is number one because of customers like you.

Ashley
McDonald’s Customer Response Center

ref#:6502666

————————————————————————————————————–

Please do not “reply” to this email response. No “replies” can be received through this mailbox. If you wish to contact McDonald’s Customer Response Center again, please visit our website at www.mcdonalds.com

You wrote:

The crew in the place tonight seemed to be operating well, were friendly, and quickly as far as the food was concerned, but the parking lot was full of cars for the bar next door, and the men’s bathroom was disgusting.  Please see this link for a review & photos: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/1346713/restaurant/Far-South-South-Hills/McDonalds-Pittsburgh

Rarely is this kind of stuff ever followed up by the local chain. I don’t know if that’s indicative of stores nation-wide, or just in our area.  Then again… it gets me wondering…  I put my address in that webform… and my photo is up at UrbanSpoon.com.

Bad idea?

North Somerset

2good2tip are growing communities all over North Somerset and a very warm Christmas welcome to all new 2good2tip members !

Topping the list are Congrebury, Yatton, Clevedon, Wrington, Sandford and Nailsea.

New communities growing nicely are Churchill, Cheddar, Portishead plus many more …

I’ll be at the Coatesville Market on Sunday 6th December and 13th December selling my books. I’m hoping folks will want to buy  signed copies as Christmas presents for their friends. We’re going away for the weekend but I’ll be leaving the campsite at 6.00a.m. to get to my stall by 9.00. Hope the weather’s good but as Judy (thanks pal) arranged a stall indoors the books will stay dry even if it pours.

Well, its been several days since the Anime Festival Asia 2009 has ended. Many people have posted their various experiences and encounters at the event. Now it’s my turn. What took me so long you say? Well I’ve had a few commitments impede my progress such as completely reworking the image hosting for the site. Instead of my blog using the standard image hosting that wordpress provides (which is slow, sluggish and inconvenient), I now use photobucket which makes uploading images and posting them on the site a lot easier as well as the images happen to load significantly faster. I also have been working on the site’s gallery and videos section which have been significantly updated with images from the AFA 2009 event, feel free to check them out. Now without any further delay I shall report my findings at this years Anime Festival Asia!

Early Arrival

For those that thought arriving early to avoid the hassle of the crowds was that simple, well you were wrong. The 4th level of the Suntec City building was full by 10am (which was the opening time). Thank god I had pre-ordered my tickets and didn’t have to stand in line for one as the queue for tickets was endless. Cosplayers could be seen standing around amongst the crowds.

The crowds on the second day were much lesser compared to the first day. Good thing for me, less people to accidentally bump into.

Danny Choo / Tokyo Figure Show

When the gates finally opened. I went straight to the Danny Choo/ Tokyo Figure Show booth, where I was surprised to find Danny Choo himself to be standing by himself (for the rest of the day people would be crowding around him). I managed to take a quick picture of him, swap name cards and shake his hand. That itself had already made my day. Later on in the day I managed to get him to sign my copy of The Otaku Encyclopedia by Patrick W. Galbraith. Another joyful moment.

The booth itself was amazing as it contained many discontinued figurines of all sorts which I never have been able to lay my hands on. This was a chance for me to see them up close. It also gave me a sneak preview of things to come such as the Black Rock Shooter figure that everyone has their eye on, plus the limited edition Mirai Figma which hopefully will be released soon. The ita-bike made by Kodomut was fantastic. I’ll only show a few pictures here as the rest can be viewed in the gallery.

Cosplay

For those of you who wondered the festival grounds might have noticed the various cosplayers showing off their costumes. I was able to take a few shots throughout the event. A few of my personal favourites are listed below. Once again there are many more pictures in the gallery.

Bandai / Gundam

For those take came, I doubt you would have missed the Bandai and Gundam exhibition that was close to the entrance. Some of them were seen earlier in the month at the BAKUC Exhibition in Orchard Road. Many of the ones seen earlier were placed on display here at the AFA. Looking them up close again allowed me to see the hard work and effort put into these masterpieces. Looking at them makes me feel like purchasing a gunpla kit and start building one. Perhaps I’ll leave that for another day.

Artwork

One of the exhibitions that I feel was underrated and less touched on was the artists corner where it displayed all the talented works of aspiring artists. Some artworks simply blew me away as the detail and colours were astounding. We truly have some talent people in Singapore. If only I could draw as half as good as them, I’d be happy already.

I personally found myself favouring the Saber picture as my she is one of my favourite characters. The picture shows her elegance and beauty in her normal combat attire as well as capturing an emotionless face that could be hiding sorrow and sadness of her past. Another favourite from me would be the Naruto Hearts picture which is a cross series parody of the Naruto and Kingdom Hearts series. Interesting combination that could work in the future. I found it interesting to see artworks from the Warhammer 40,000 series on display, but to me I was glad to see other genres of works there. I personally used to collect, assemble and battle with the model figures a long time ago. Anyway the two pictures below used a different style of painting which successfully captured the chaotic nature of the Marines locked into battle with the xenos.

I found the last two pictures to be very creative and amusing. It seems we have some members of Anonymous lurking around heh. I wonder who drew that Harley Danny Choo picture? Nonetheless it was very amusing. Excellent work.

Assorted Booths:

Moe Moe Kyun Cafe

The day 1 queue was so long I couldn’t even find where the queue ended. It would have been nice if me and my mates had gone inside but once again the queues were too long and I figured it would have been expensive to purchase food inside. I had run out of money by the time the queues had shortened. The queues on the second day were significantly shorter as there was less people at the festival. From the outside it seemed like a good place and sit down though,

Kareshi Kanojyo no Mise (KKnM)

The KKnM stalls was one of the earlier booths I visited at day 1. I figured all the good stuff would be gone at the end of the day, I decided to have a peek to see what exclusives I could bag. With a touch of luck, I was about to bring home a Figma Saber Lily as well as a Good Smile Company 1/8 Saber. The stall was packed all the way from morning to late afternoon. All the good stuff was gone by afternoon. I had managed to catch a glimpse of a Figma Product 01 Konata in a Haruhi Cosplay (for $150) early morning, however I was beaten to it by someone else. Lucky guy, oh well easy come easy go.

There were other figurine stalls also like RoboRobo and La Tendo but were just as full. Each shop had their own different set prices plus exclusives. I saw a discontinued Fate from the Nanoha series going for $500 and above. Jeez I wonder who would buy that.

Tactical Weapons

A small front was setup for these guys. They had their weapons on display. Cool looking weapons, movable and life-like. Pistol chambers would move if fired, foldable handgrips and so on. Of course all their weapons were replicas. Lots of their advertisements were people in an army uniform carrying their weapons, many of them could be seen around the place.

Cospa

Yup, even Cospa is setting up shop in Singapore now. About 1 week before the AFA, they already had started up their website which can be found here. They had all sorts of anime t-shirts, towels, mugs and other accessories. They even had a Jan-Ken-Pon (scissors paper rock) competition give away. The finalist would play against Danny Choo. I was somewhere behind the crowd at that point of time. The lucky guy eventually won a Black Mirai T-shirt. Congrats!

Credit goes to Mike Abundo for the video.

Besides clothing, they had HUGE Litter Buster’s towels at a whopping $150. Tempting but insanely expensive even for me. Adorable designs though.

Did I mention they had a wall scroll for the upcoming Nanoha movie? Well if not here’s the poster for it.

Too bad I ran out of funds to purchase one. Oh well I can still pick one up at the store or hopefully Sunshine Plaza.

Summer Wars

An upcoming anime movie, Summer Wars, had their own booth. I decided to snoop around to see what I could found up this anime. Apparently it was created by Madhouse who also created Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) which is one of my favourite anime movies of all time. Much hype of this movie is to be expected as the studio itself has earned a name for themselves. through their previous masterpieces. As I saw the preview, the artwork and animation seems extremely details and beautiful (like its previous movie), I’ll definitely be watching this movie when it is released. Hopefully I will have time to do a review on the movie when it comes out later on in the year.

Collateral Damage Studios

Mainly the K-ON and Ayanami Rei artwork caught my eye as I walked past it. I few things I managed to spot was a familiar piece of artwork I saw on figure.fm about 1 week before the AFA. I asked if the artist was there, however he was busy looking around the place. Damn I wanted to ask him for his name card. I saw a massive Mio Akiyama wall scroll which I wouldn’t have mind getting, but once again I was out of funds. Their website can be found here.

Takashimaya Store

As expected, they had their own store which was fairly huge compared to the rest. They were selling all kinds of thing, dakimakuras/body pillows, pillow cases, mugs, bags, wall scrolls, pretty much anything with an anime design on it. The place was a bit price but I still managed to pick up a Shakugan no Shana wall scroll for a good $40. Not bad considering the size. The place was packed like a can of tuna from morning to god knows when. Regardless there were people inside throughout the whole day. Something that caught my eyes was the Domo kun plushies they had out front. I couldn’t resist to take a picture as well as giving it a great big hug. Oh just so you know the biggest size of Domo kun costed $300. Big Domo costs big bucks.

Storm Lion Booth

They were advertising for a new movie coming out soon. Didn’t have time to look around there though. I saw a fantastic artist who used photoshop and a drawing tablet to draw a masterpiece throughout the whole day. He just ignored everyone and kept drawing. Absolutely amazing.

Animax Live Dubbing

Near the back of the exhibition was the Animax area which were promoting special deals for Starhub Cable television. Not bad deals but the contract for cable television is too long since I’ll only be here for a few more months. What was unique about the place was the live recording studio they had at the back. You could input your own voice as one of the main characters in the anime of your choice. Quite embarrassing however humourous for those watching like me. I was too shy to give it a try for myself.

Cosplay Weapons Stall

A small stall was setup by a bunch of mainland Chinese guys which sold weapons (mainly swords) from various anime. What I spotted was Uchiha Sasuke’s sword, Saber Alter and normal Saber, some sort of Final Fantasy sword which I think sold out fast, wooden bokkens, various swords from Bleach and many other Katanas. Each were about $40 and were mainly made of wood. Not bad but I’d prefer to make my own. If I had to buy one it would probably be the normal Saber or Saber Alter sword. Quite tempting to buy one though.

Dolfies Stalls

I’m not a Dolfie person but when I came across the stall, I was shock to see how elegant and beautiful these things were when I saw them up close. They truly are a masterpiece. I didn’t bother asking for the price as I already knew it was out of my range. Extremely beautiful dolls.

Weiss Schwarz Booth

Had a quick peek into their booths. They had all kinds of starter decks to choose from. I would have picked up a Fate/Stay Night starter deck but they didn’t have it in stock. The Nanoha deck was also quite tempting. Hopefully when it is released in the retail shops, I’ll be able to pick one up. Seems easy enough to learn. Anyway there were people playing the card game throughout the whole day. There was even a competition from what I was told.

Region Cosplay Championships

Since it was my first time being apart of an audience for a cosplay competition I had assumed the crowds wouldn’t have been so big. I was completely wrong when I had to make my way through the amount of people gathering for the on stage event. Due to the large crowds, awkward position and constant obstruction of view by the media and AFA crew, I was unable to get decent shots the whole time.

Anyway the finalists and anime skit chosen were:

ST Revolutions (Singapore) – Unknown Anime

00 Emotions (Singapore) – Gundam 00

Sekai no Gumi (Malaysia) – Code Geass

Endless Illusion (Indonesia) – Lineage II

Houshin Enqi (Thailand) – Unknown Anime

Witchblade (Philippines) – Witchblade

The skits for each team can be seen below (credit goes to Hexlord for taking these wonderful videos and Zh3us for finding them for his blog!):

Each contestant won a participating prize as well as a big hug from Kaname who was cosplaying as Kamina from Gurren Lagenn. The hug between the Gundam and Kaname was priceless.

Personally, I thought 00 Emotions and Endless Illusions had the best costumes and assume they took the longest to create. The Gundam costume doesn’t need any words to describe their costume. One look will explain everything. The costumes made for the Lineage II skit was simply beautiful especially under the stage lights where the armour and weapons truly shine (literally) with brilliance.

With the skit and their performance Sekai no Gumi have points from me for almost complete originality St Revolutions did provide a very emotional scene with outstanding acting.

Nonetheless congrats to 00 Emotions and their Gundam 00 skit for an excellent performance as well as taking home the Grand Prize for Go Singapore!

Moe Moe Kyun Girls Karoke Performance

On the second day of the festival the Moe Moe Kyun girls did a karoke session. Enjoyable to watch. Video captured below is done by other than yours truly.

Joysound Karoke Booth

Located near the Animax area, near the back of the hall was a karoke machine where people could chose and sing their favourite Japanese songs (not just anime openings and closings). Lots of people gathered waiting for others to try the machine. As for me, I’m generally a crap singer, plus I don’t know fluent Japanese. The more of a reason for me to completely avoid touching the microphone. Anyway a few people were courageous enough and delivered a wonderful performance whether their singing was good or bad. Either way I think they had fun, because I know I enjoyed watching them sing (or attempt to). A few of the singers can be viewed below, sorry for the crap sound quality.

K-ON Experience

Now here comes the highlight for the second day of the AFA. The K-ON stage live dubbing took place a few minutes after the karoke performance by the Moe Moe Kyun maids. I promised myself I’d get a seat just for this so I took the effort to come extra early. I managed to grab a seat near the front which I was content with. They decided to prohibit video and photography taking for the remaining of the onstage events so I was unable to take any photos or videos. I saw a few people get their gear confiscated eek.

For those who are unfamiliar with K-ON, you can find out all you need to know here.

Before the girls came onto the stage, Reiko (one of the MC’s) asked Danny Choo (being the other MC) was asked “What do you like about K-ON?”. He responded with pretty much what 99% of the audience was thinking which was “That they are beautiful little girls” or something along the lines of that. Majority of the people there had a chuckle including myself as we understood what he meant.

As the girls were introduced on stage, a familiar opening song and video played as they came out one by one. Right on cue as their individual characters were displayed on-screen they walked onto the stage. I think I partially lost my hearing due to the crowd cheering.The crowd roars as each of the seiyu’s come on to the stage. They introduce themselves to the audience in English (which wasn’t too shabby).It seems that Mio’s seiyu didn’t show which was a downer however it was still good that the rest had made it to the festival. From what I could recollect, the group of girls were a happy, energetic and lively bunch.

After introducing themselves they proceeded with the live dubbing. They did 3 scenes in total each one being as humorous and well performed as the previous.

Thanks to SP LifeArts for saving me the trouble of going through each episode to find the specific scenes as well as the accurate pictures for each scene.

1st Scene – Episode 9:

Azusa still being new to the club as well as the K-ON scene, comes back to the club house to find the rest of the girls slacking. Yui successfully tempts her weakness, which happens to be cake.

 

Caaakeee!

2nd Scene – Episode 11:

Yui’s guitar (Gitah as Yui has named it) is being sent for a maintenance at their local instrument store. What Yui doesn’t realize is that this is not free, however the shopkeeper see Mugi and weavers off the fee since her family owns the store.

 

Gitah is being sent for repairs

3rd Scene – Episode 13:

The 4 girls as seen walking home in the snow as they discuss where to hold their next club training session.

Overall, it was a wonderful performance I was amazed at how they recited their own lines with utmost precision and timing to the corresponding episode. They did it while enjoy themselves as well as pulling funny faces and poses. It was truly brilliant.

Their Question & Answer session followed shortly after where Danny Choo would pick questions (submitted by fans on the AFA website).

Once again I thank SP LifeArt & j1m0ne, as I couldn’t remember the exact questions and answers from the day itself.

Question 1: How similar are you to your character you voice in K-ON?

Aki Toyosaki (Yui): She is air-headed and prone to daydreaming

Satomi Satō (Ritsu): Before she became a seiyu she mention that she was a shy and quiet girl. When she took the role of Ritsu she became more lively and energetic due to her character’s personality. Similiar to Ritsu she encourages her fellow friends and teammate.

Minako Kotobuki (Mugi): She enjoys bringing gifts of sweet things like cake for her friends and teammate to eat.

Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa): She is not as serious as her character but she does enjoy eating sweet things. Thanks to her role, she now likes taiyaki.

Question 2: What are the challenges you face when voicing your character?

Aki Toyosaki (Yui): Since Yui has a high-pitched voice, she tries to prevent straining her voice.

Satomi Satō (Ritsu): Ritsu is known for a tomboyish nature, she triess to balance her voice in sounding like a boy as well as being harsh for certain scenes.

Minako Kotobuki (Mugi): Mugi has a natural slow and peaceful speaking voice so when voicing her, she has to slow down when talking.

Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa): She often scolds her seniors, however she herself is still a junior in school, so she has to balance between how harsh she sounds.

Question 3: What is your favourite line from K-ON?

Aki Toyosaki (Yui): “Un-tan Un-tan Un-tan”. Basically she made this sound.

Satomi Satō (Ritsu): “Ano toki no yakusoku wa… uso datta no ka!?” – That promise we made…. was it all a lie!?

Minako Kotobuki (Mugi): “Mo-ichido Moe” seen here in the first few seconds. Amusing video.

Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa): “Nya” (Meow) When she puts on the Nekomimi cat ears seen here.

Question 4: What are the similarities of your own schooling life to your characters school life in K-ON?

Aki Toyosaki (Yui): Her clubs during her school days involved gathering and having fun rather than training or normal activities itself.

Satomi Satō (Ritsu): She had a childhood friend, also if her friend befriended someone else or gave her less attention she would become jealous.

Minako Kotobuki (Mugi): If one of her friend in her group are sick, she is the one saying this can or cannot be done with that person.

Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa): She was a member of the ‘going home’ club during her school life, similar to K-ON as the group of girls walk home together.

Question 5: If you were not a seiyu (voice actress), what would you be?

Aki Toyosaki (Yui): Someone who uses their voice like a singer.

Satomi Satō (Ritsu): Yet again, someone who uses their voice, a storyteller at the library or pet shop owner or childcare worker. She would probably keep changing jobs.

Minako Kotobuki (Mugi): Her dream was to use her voice and become a seiyu, but if she didn’t it would have been something creative like a stylist or make-up artist.

Ayana Taketatsu (Azusa): Someone that catches the bad guys, like a detective. Something like Detective Conan as she read the manga.

It was shortly after they announced that 4 lucky people would be walking away with signed boards of each of the seiyu’s autographs. 4 seats were called out. I-28, H-16, M-35, A-18 however no one was sitting there so C-31 was called again. When ‘H’ in H-16 was called I think I felt my heart stop beating for a few seconds. Sadly it was seat 16 in my row as I was sitting in seat 20. Close but no cigar.

After the Q & A, which proved to be very amusing as well as insightful, it ended off well with the seiyu’s saying their final words as they were all happy to be in Singapore and will be looking forward to coming back. They said their goodbyes and waved to the audience as they left the stage. Overall I found it to be very entertaining as I was very lucky to be there. I shall cherish this moment for the rest of my life.

I wish I knew Japanese so I could have done a better job of translation. I hopefully learn Japanese in the future.

Kaname Cosplay Panel Session – The Basics of Cosplay

The panel session was split into several parts consisting of introduction, character selection, costume selection, sewing and posing. He mainly gave his own tips and know-how on the topics at hand. His own personal life was included in some of the discussion, stuff like what he does when he is not cosplaying, what he does in his spare time, when did he start cosplaying and so on.

Conclusion

Overall, I had a fantastic time I had really enjoyed myself and di majority of the things I had wanted to do. There’s really much else to say other than I’ll be looking forward to next years Anime Festival Asia. There are still similar events remaining this year such as the Comic Fiesta in Sunway Pyramid, Malaysia (on the 19 to 20 December) as well as the End of Year 2009 (on the 26th December).

Now without further a due, I shall depart with none other than Danny Choo and his Tokyo Stormtrooper dance in Singapore to conclude this report. Enjoy.

Source:http://unlimitedotakuworks.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/late-anime-festival-asia-2009-report/

Denna vecka är temat i Fototriss bokstäver. Jag har valt alternativet “något som inte är en bokstav men som ser ut som en”. Här kommer således U, V och X!

U hittade jag vid min stalljour i dag, tveklöst ser det ut som ett U, eller hur? Lite rostig och sliten, men dock…

V hittade jag också i stallet. Den bokstaven dök upp när jag fodrade hästarna med hö minsann!

X är också den hämtad från stallmiljön och får symboliseras av spröjsarna i gavelfönstret på stallet. För visst är det ett X?

Fler bokstavstolkningar i fotoform hittar ni hos Fototriss.

Veckans fototriss handlar om bokstäver. Så nu ska kameran och jag ut på bokstavsjakt!

Jag tror vi börjar i stallet för det börjar dra ihop sig till lunchtid för hästarna, lite mockning får det också bli när jag ändå är där. Sen är min stalltjänstgöring över för denna helg! Skönt även om det inte är så himla betungande!

Här är en hästbild och samtidigt ett av mina bidrag från förra veckans fototriss!

Jo, det känns nästan så. Men det beror väl mest på att jag gjort en massa idag. Har hand om stallet och hästarna vilket är ganska tungt, rent fysiskt alltså. Att bära halm och hö och mocka och stå i är rätt fysiskt ansträngande. Dessutom är jag lite ovan med det nu känner jag.

En lång promenad och ett par korta har det blivit med mr Hund också. Ja ni såg ju vad de gjort med vår vackra skog som vi längtat så till, inte vacker alls längre. Nu får vi hitta nya skogar att gå i tror jag bestämt!

Lite julpyntande har jag också hunnit med och så massor med planering inför flytten. Ja, ja… kommer inte så långt med bara planering inte Mycket snack och lite verkstad vet ni! Men nu är jag förbaskat trött, så efter en sväng till i regnet med mr Hund kryper jag nog i säng tidigt skulle jag tro!

Sån ser skogen ut nu, inte kul alls!

Mr Hund är rastad, mr Hund och herr Katt har fått mat, hästarna har fått mat och har gått ut i hagen, stallkatterna har fått mat – och nu, nu är det min tur! Kaffet är upphällt och datorn är på, nu ska jag slappa lite innan allt annat tar vid!

Såg att det blev Mariette som fick lämna Idol igår, jag missade ju den biten. Ska man upp tidigt och fixa med alla djur så kan man inte sitta uppe och uggla hur länge som helst. Blev uppe för länge i alla fall. I dag ska det planeras för packning och sånt. Det börjar bli hög tid att göra upp en plan. Många turer till sopstationen kommer det att bli i alla fall!

Om Mariette i media i dag: DN, Aftonbladet, Expressen

Japp, nu är jag ägare av två hus för en stund. Köpekontraktet skrevs i eftermiddag/kväll, det tog en god stund minsann! Men nu är det gjort. Tillträde preliminärt den 15 januari så nu är det bara att börja packa. Vi har bott där vi bor i sisådär 20 år så ni kan ju tro att vi har samlat på oss en hel del “skit”! Det, förutom tvättstugan då, är nog det bästa med flytten. För jag har väl sagt att jag får en STOR tvättstuga nu – kan ni bara gissa hur glad jag är över den!

Sen blev det en trevlig stund hos syster minsann, värsta goda smörgåstårtan bjöd hon på så nu står magen i fyra hörn! Hon är kock min syster, så det serveras alltid delikata rätter när man kommer dit. Annat än här det Så klart fick jag se lite Idol även om det blir ganska splittrat när man pratar och dessutom växlar mellan Idol och Skavlan. Men det gick bra det med!

Kameran låg kvar hemma den… sånt är livet! Minnet blir ju inte precis bättre med åren. Nu ska jag nog överväga att krypa i säng, jag har nämligen hand om hästarna från och med i morgon bitti till söndag kväll, och dom är ju vana med tidiga mornar dom!

Om Idol i media i kväll: Aftonbladet, Expressen

I have an announcement and good news for you today.  God is for you!!  Wait a second before you nod and just fast forward to the next random thought….pause and REALLY think about that truth for a minute.  God is for YOU!! Not when you get to heaven, not when everything is perfect in how you live your life, not when you get yourself together…GOD is FOR YOU NOW!!

Psalm 84:11-12 says this:

¹¹For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹²O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]!

To everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior–Without reservation and hesitation, you ought to start the next minute of your life with a renewed and refreshed view of your present situation and circumstances. Not based on whether they have changed or not, but based on the truth of God’s word being part of what you BELIEVE (act like, talk like, walk like, and look like) is true.

There’s so much promise in these few words from God and yet it has enough power to sustain you through everything you’re dealing with right now–whether good or bad.  If you have been on the bad side or troubled side of things–there’s a cross-referenced promise that applies to God’s role as our “sun”. You know the sun provides life and its light activates the life producing systems that God so masterfully placed inside the world and all of us. Spiritually speaking–God does the same for us as our “sun” and beyond as He is our “shield” as well.

Malachi 4:2 says

“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”

This word is for you and its for someone you know.  Apply it and soak in it for yourself first so that you’re convinced that God is for you.  It will be impossible for the enemy to convince you that God is not faithful.  Accept God’s healing, favor, blessings, and run out of whatever  stall or holding area that has kept you from moving forward!! GOD is For YOU!!

Blessings,

Randy

I was telling my sister recently to just keep going.  She was sharing with me how she’s having a hard time landing a job and was ready to quit.

I had my share of those moments when things seem to not favors me no matter how hard I try.  Many times I kind of given up too.  Other times,  I just had kept on.. something  made me go on and I did.  And looking back, those were the times when I kept going that I was able to reap rewards.

I started reading Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich free ebook and I got pass the Three Feet From Gold story that reminded me of an experience about a wild trip to Baguio.

It was  ”…three feet from where the Darbys had stopped drilling that the gold is found.” by the ‘Junk’ man to whom Mr. Darby sold his machinery for mining ore for a few hundred dollars .

Indeed, one of life’s ironies is just when we feel so defeated and about to give up on something that the answer shows up all of a sudden.  And we later realize the lesson.

The Baguio Wild Trip

It was a chapter in my life when I decided to start over.  I talked my  friend Leo into accompanying me and since he’s never been to Baguio he was delighted. Not to mention that it’ll be an all-expense paid  for him which I shouldered. He was kind of broke at that time.  I didn’t have much either.  But it was the way to go for me.

Another buddy named Joey went along.  So it was three of us.  I told them my plan which is to look for a job and stay for good.  I kind of gave myself a one-week target to get settled.  It was a do-or-die situation.

We got very limited money and no definite place to go in an unfamiliar place. It was crazy.. and perfect.  Amidst the uncertainty is the incomparable freedom of a dare-devil adventure.

We got there late in the afternoon and set out to our first task of finding a place to stay for the night.  The boarding house hunting started the next day.

Our first stop at Joey’s church friend in Crystal Cave did not go well.  I remember how some of the house structures there with base posts on slopes kind of given me a scare and wonderment at the same time.  I was used to seeing and inhabiting level ground houses.

Come dark we were exhausted and so beat, we settled with the second immediate option we got.  They slept over at one of the church centers, I in one of the several market stalls owned by another of Joey’s church friends, walking distance from them, which I remember to be nearby the airport.

It was frightening for me to be separated from them on that first night in a cold place and to be sleeping at someone’s stall that has wood strips for a door.  I scolded them in the morning for making me sleep there alone.

We grab some quick food along the way as we search for a boarding house.  It started out exciting as we explore the roads and sites of Baguio until after several failed inquiries for a prospect pad.  The thought of sleeping again in that stall made me cringe, we have to find a house to crash in tonight, I told myself.

So, after several more road blocks covered and seen houses, still no success. It’s either beyond our budget, not so cool for our tastes (but we’re not that choosy alright.. ), no vacancy, or the owner or landlord simply doesn’t want to take us in.. maybe for some ethical reasons.

Imagine a girl with two bisexual-looking guys with baggages and a sleeping bag, that looks like stowaways without much, looking for a place to stay.  Hmmp.. maybe I would think twice too if I were in their shoes.

By late afternoon we were tired and desperate.  The guys were deciding to call it a day.  I feel them but wasn’t gonna give up yet and so beg for one more house.

We trudged wearily up the hill as the sun was setting down and knocked on one more door.  Finally, a sense of hope.. the owners seemed accommodating and empathic of our situation.  We know we’re not that appealing group of boarders.. we told them our story, of me staying for good…  They probably took pity and admitted us that night.  What a relief. Whew!

And thank goodness we decided to check one more house.

The days that followed were mixed feelings of ecstasy being in ‘paradise’ and the stress of job-hunt and getting by each day with mainly instant noodles or canned sardines, rice and bread.  It was a humbling and empowering experience all at the same time.  We had to call long-distance for some money support from close sources to survive that week. We weren’t let down.

Before the week ended, I scored a job as a graphic designer for a mall with a very minimal pay compared to my last in Manila.  I was culture-shocked.  Anyway, that will do for now I thought.  One day at a time.

On the seventh day, I move in to a new room-for-rent just a stone’s throw away from work.  We were evicted from the first boarding house by this time.

It was the last day of our adventure together, as planned.  So that same day Leo and Joey bid me goodbye and good luck as I escorted them to the bus terminal.

I welcomed my new life in ‘paradise’ and the new work the next day with a smile.  The end.

Just like the weather I seem to be non-stop at the moment. After a spell in bed with the dreaded lurgy it’s been full steam ahead for me.

The main reason for this is it’s the Dennistoun Craft Fair on Saturday 28 November http://www.dennistouncommunitytogether.org.uk and as always I’ve got a stall there.

I’ve a lot of new goodies on offer such as

As well as the above I’ll have an assortment of other sweet, knitted items (though I’m gutted I didn’t have enough time to finish some more scarves) and cards.

Dad’s also got his stall with beautiful pictures and cards made with pressed flowers from his garden. He’s even trying his hand at making necklaces with them. Here’s a sample.

I really like them and might even have to buy one for myself.

After the fair? Well I’m going to gt to grips with on-line selling and make more of my shops.

I’ll also be keeping an eye on Folksy’s Upcycle Christmas as I hope the auction which starts on 7th December goes well http://www.folksy.com/shops/frayedattheedges Talking of which I must remember to take the skirts I’ve entered to the DCF so you can have a look at them if you want.

Have fun and don’t forget you can also follow what I’m up to on  Twitter http://twitter.com/JuJuDollie and on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=90342957614 

Hope you’re all having fun.

Want to make some Christmas cash ? – check out our special Christmas offer – get 3 months free if you sign up for a 2good2tip stall before Christmas. Now is the perfect time to do some pre christmas decluttering and get ready for all those presents you didn’t want!  Now you have somewhere to put all that unwanted stuff and make some money extra cash. Your own personal advertising space to share with your friends.

According to ABC News, tapping your foot while on a public toilet is a signal for “gay cruising”. I, a gay male, have never heard of this term. But apparently, gay cruising refers to signaling in a public restroom to another male that you are “down for sex”.

What I do not understand is why gay cruising is attributed to the general gay population. I know this is done within male restrooms, between males. But, this is not the majority of the gay population. Such exploitation makes me upset, because I do not want this image to be associated with my own culture and values.

Anyway, the article on ABC talks about what gay cruising is, and an instance Idaho Senator Larry Craigs getting arrested for engaging in cruising in Minneapolis. It is an interesting concept, beyond the stereotypes that follow.

Dear world:

My Dell Lemon is malfunctioning and I need to determine if it’s even worth having a computer shop diagnose it. I got it, second-hand, from my gal’s sister for a song but have already paid more than $300 on repairs of stupid things (it’s out of warranty – I was told it was still under warranty when I got it from her, but that’s another story) and am having a difficult time justifying spending another cent, because the repairs alone are approaching half the cost of a new computer. BTW, it runs Vista.

Background: I’d been having problems with my computer being really slow a couple times before, getting stalled in the startup process and getting blue screens of death. Turned out to be fried RAM cards in both cases, and now the sub-par cards that came with the computer have been replaces with warranteed Kingston cards. This may or may not have anything to do with what’s happening now.

The problem now: the computer has continued to be slow starting, even since the last RAM card was replaced. I tried defragging the computer and got a blue screen of death; Memory Diagnostic, however, reveals no errors. I think I tried a Disk Check, but it got stalled.

Earlier this week, the computer will load Windows and open the desktop but, once the desktop is up, I can’t do anything. I can’t open any files or applications, or even the Start menu – the computer just freezes up when I try this. I can click on an icon to select it, but I can’t open it, if you get the distinction. After a few minutes, though, I can’t even select an icon. Ctrl+alt+delete doesn’t work either, and I have to do a hard reboot.

I can turn on the computer in Safe Mode and fuck around just fine. I’ve done this a few times to retrieve files. I’ve also tried uninstalling programmes and games; for the most part successful but three applications – iTunes, TrendMicro (my anti-virus) and Pirates (the game, not the porn) – can’t be uninstalled because the Windows Installer module doesn’t work in Safe Mode. I especially want to remove iTunes and TrendMicro in the off-chance recent updates to these applications have caused problems; TrendMicro popped up a bubble once after the computer froze, saying something along the lines of “a recent update to TrendMicro may have caused your computer to crash; however, it may have been something else entirely.”

In your opinion, how should I proceed from here? This is happening at a really awful time.

More of the same this week, lots of driving around, a bit of stalling, mostly just getting used to the roads.

We also tried some bay parking, which went rather well. By that I mean I didn’t crash into any walls, which is always a bonus. It felt like an easier attempt at a three-point-turn, in that I didn’t have to change from first to reverse and back again so many times.

We’ve still not had another go at that, now that I recall. I guess I’ll have to face it again soon enough…

Not really much to say this week, it’s just more driving around and building experience in the little Vauxhall Corsa.

Three Israeli men and a woman are to be deported after being caught working illegally in a Dorset shopping centre…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: television shopping. The blog is also related to: eco friendly shopping.

Siden vi fikk hest har jeg savnet en god arbeidsplass. Et sted å ta hestene hvor jeg kan stelle hover og annet. Et sted de trives, et sted som er trygt, et sted det er lyst og et sted hvor jeg har alt innenfor rekkevidde. Og ikke minst et sted hvor det er DET som skal skje. Stell. Et sted hvor rutiner kan få koblet hjernen deres inn på alenetid, kos og samarbeid.

Og i sommer har vi jobbet med saken. Vi har valgt et rom ved siden av utgangerstallen deres (jada, jeg vet det er et motstridende ord – men det er dekkende. De er utgangere og har ingen dører, men det er jo en stall likevel).

Vel, arbeidsrommet har vi stelt opp til en høy/halmdel og en arbeidsdel. Vi har åpnet inn til utgangerstallen og Robert har snekret en trivelig todelt stalldør (midt i bildet, bak i rommet). Det er to trinn ned i stallen, noe som fungerer fint siden denne døren skal være menneskedør og ikke hestedør. Vel, litt hestedør da: hesteinntitterdør. Utover det kan det brukes som nød-dør hvis det skjer noe uforutsett.

Hoveddøren inn til arbeidsrommet for hestene er imidlertid de doble låvedørene som vi bygget i sommer.

Her er en grov plantegning. Ikke helt riktig dimensjonert, men det viser hvordan det ligger i forhold til hverandre hvertfall.

Og slik så det ut da Carmen prøvde arbeidsplassen først. Hun ville stå med mulen mot utgangen, sa hun. Og det gikk helt greit.

Og i dag var det Pippo sin tur. Hun trivdes kjempegodt! Og hun fikk høynett som bestikkelse for at hun skulle være samarbeidsvillig. Og det var hun . Hun var en engel! Bilde nr en er tatt “inn i” arbeidsplassen før Pippo kom inn. Det andre er tatt fra høynettet og bakover etter at Pippo hadde stått der en stund.

Etter hovarbeid og stell gikk vi oss en deilig tur utpå jordene; Pippo, matpapsen og matmamsen. En herlig, herlig dag. En dag hvor ting fungerte som det skulle!