This is something that is rising up within my soul. The idea of purity is something that I see has been lost by many in America, even by me in many areas, and we need to start picking up our swords and our shields and begin fighting for this once more. And I guarantee to all readers of this post that if you begin seeking purity and holiness, the world will insult you, make fun of you, and even churches will call you a legalist. But this isn’t legalism, this is holiness. This is the set apart life that we, as Christians, are called to live.

We must be pure in all areas, physically and spiritually. This world is full of tempting things and it tries to pull us in to take part in its ways. I’m going to be bold in this post and I have already been called legalistic for simply questioning if things are right to do. But this subject must be tackled head on and I’m willing to stand for truth.

I want to first deal with the question of what purity is before I go into what I’m saying. Purity is the untainted lifestyle of a man or woman of God. It’s pure white paint without a single drop of any other color in it. It’s gold without impurities. It is a new born baby’s skin that has no scars or blemishes. It is holiness. Purity is being in the world, but not of the world (John 17:14-15).

Are we watching movies with sex scenes? “Oh, it’s just one sex scene, but the rest of the movie has a good message.”

Are we listening to music that says worldly things such as sex and drugs? I’m not talking about the style of music, I’m talking about what they’re saying.

Are we playing abominable video games?

Are we laughing at perverted jokes or racists jokes?

Are we entertaining ourselves with the things God hates?

Are we cursing and speaking unwholesomely with friends? “I’m hanging out with sinners just like Jesus did.” Jesus hung out with them, but He didn’t act like them. In fact, He preached repentance everywhere He went.

And what about in our relationships? Are we pure in what we’re doing? Sex isn’t the only thing that makes a man and a woman become one flesh. I have decided that I am not going to even kiss or cuddle with my future wife until we are married. I have a past of lustful sin and I am not going to tempt myself. I’m not going to name specifics and say that stuff like kissing is a sin, but I will say that if there is any hint of sexual immorality, that is a sin (Ephesians 5:3) and in our modern American culture, kissing isn’t usually something that’s friendly. Maybe occasionally, but I’m usually seeing kissing as something romantic. You make the choice and pray about it, but realize those things.

Now I’m not saying this to make you feel more comfortable, I’m saying it so that I am not accused of hypocrisy. I am not fully pure in all areas of my life. Until recently, I have not seen “a little bit of sinfulness” in the movies I watch or in anything I do as wrong. But let me ask you this: If your glass of water had just one drop of a dangerous poison in it, would you still drink it? It is just a little bit. What could be the harm? It will kill you. In the same way, our little impurities taint everything we do. We must stop doing these things.

We are Christians. We are called out from the rest of the world. As Peter says in 1 Peter 2:11, we are to be “strangers in the world” and “abstain from sinful desires, which war against” our souls. We have a different nature than we used to. We have been reborn and given a new heart. What God loves, we must love, and what God hates, we must hate. The Apostle John says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15-16)

Romans 12:1-2 -
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We take these words lightly, but why? We must begin taking these words to heart. We must be witnesses to the world. We must be lights in darkness (Ephesians 5:8). We’ve been given new knowledge and wisdom that we did not have before. Now we must let this transform our very lives. The word of God needs to take root in us. It is our bread. It is what we take in. It’s what sustains us. And if our food is God’s word, it’s going to be evident in our lives (John 6:48-50).

Christ is our King and we are His loyal people. Let us put on our armor, pick up our weapons and our shields and let us fight for His glory. We’re living in a world that is against our kingdom. This world is a threat to us and I’d rather die a martyr’s death for my King than give up my loyalty to save my own life. Let us bow down before our LORD’s throne, kiss His feet and declare that we will serve Him in every area of our lives because He is the sole reason we even live.

We want to have peace and happiness, but we’re not willing to fight for the One Who gives it to us. We always want to be encouraged and pitied in our sinful struggles instead of wrestling in prayer, fasting, and fighting with spiritual weapons so that we can have victory over them through the power of God, but that will be another post.

Let us show the whole world that we are servants of the God of all creation. Let us let them know that we are children of the Father. We are knights of a holy kingdom. We are men and women willing to die for the glory of our King. We are different, so let us express this ultimate difference in our purity.

May God be with those that read this. I hope these words convict people and they settle on the hearts and minds of my fellow family in Christ. Know that I love you and I say these things in love, to build others up with the wisdom God has given me. Sometimes it is better to be tough with one another so that we can grow.

Journey of the Sword

The Double Edged Sword

Masked with Laurel & Holly

I came upon the Totem, dark & foreboding

But I did not fear it – for I knew the loathing

seeping & creeping

was of my own.

You can not tell me to be in keeping,

With happy tripping of rhyming beating

When the loathing is of my own seeping

Do not tell me to show delighting;

when quirk-ed, carv-ed, slink-et arms pull out from the bodies lurched up forth from the

sky to the ground – the ground to the sky

directional haphazard cast before my meeket eye

Shimmer and glint of the double edged, shines on the calculating twitchery,

Tempting fatalist  to point the way. Hollow out the grounded apple

– taking a bite from the bodies it offered

Lick the drippings and shine again

Whurling boding, influx of banshee shatters the gravity drip

“its not mine to give”

Fear relinquish fruit to the place of grounded rest, captures the double lighted breath

The seeping and loathing self, forgets the old totem pole – though the flux still persists

And the double lighted breathe makes rest

And the totem moved on.

They say it’s been a very warm November here in Chicago, but I certainly can’t tell the difference. My feet are tingling, and I’m already wearing 2 layers indoors. With the heating on. I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s not working. But it’s cold, so I borrowed a down comforter (from my aunt) to snuggle with during the night.

It’s big, light green, and oh-so-very-soft and cosy. I can get lost in it, make a nest out of it, pretend that I’m not in Chicago…ah, the endless possibilities! Sure, it might poof out a feather or two, and it’s a little used, but it smells like home. It ‘comforts’ me. Which is funny, because the word originally meant “to strengthen much“, and it used to be a word used when centurions in Ancient Rome would march their soldiers on for hours for training, and if a soldier fell behind, the centurion would ‘comfort’ the soldier by poking him in the butt. With the sharp end of a spear or sword. Don’t look at me like that; I got this from a reliable source. But if that was what ‘comfort’ was, then I’m glad its meaning was changed sometime between then and now. Or else we might have to call it something boring, like ‘down blanket’, or something weird, like ‘down-stuffed covering that keeps one warm and cosy at night’.

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/

Come to the Feast!

I found it useful to compare at least three prior Biblical images with Revelation 19. The first, in Joshua 5:13-15, refers to the time when Joshua was about to lead the Israelites into battle to conquer the Promised land for the Israelites. He is met at his camp by a man with a drawn sword. When challenged about being either friend or foe, he responds that he is the captain of the armies of God (what we would now call a General), and that he is now standing on holy ground. The statement about standing on holy ground is the same as what God had told Moses from the burning bush. Joshua responds by worshipping and asking what he can do to serve Him. The drawn sword represents God’s intent to conquer on behalf of His chosen people as He had promised them centuries before.

The second and third Biblical images are related to each other and are found in Daniel 2:31-45 and Matthew 21:33-46. In Daniel, God has promised to destroy the idol representing Gentile world-dominating empires by crushing its last incarnation with a “stone not cut out by human hands.” This stone would crush the Gentile empires to a powder, then fill up the whole world with God’s Kingdom. In Matthew Jesus is essentially telling the Jewish religious and civil rulers that their rule would also come to a similar end by similar means. Each of these prophetic words suggest that only Jesus’ true followers, whether Israelite or Gentile, will have a place in the new order to come. Matthew 22 follows, beginning with the parable of the great wedding supper invitation.

Here is an irony. Nebuchadnezzar’s response is to worship the messenger. The response of the Jewish leaders is to try to kill the messenger. John ends up trying to do the same as Nebuchadnezzar in Rev. 19:10 after he hears a similar proclamation.

The sword of the rider of the white horse in Revelation 19:11-16, while seemingly coming out of his mouth, is certainly not in a sheath. It gives “an edge,” as it were, to the proclamations of the destruction of Babylon the Great in Revelation 18. As the Commander of the Armies of the Lord, Jesus has come to conquer on behalf of His saints to establish them in peace and security in a world He has reclaimed for His own proper abode. Not even the gates of hell are going to be able to stand up against this Conqueror!

The Beast and False Prophet are cast into the lake of fire, and all of their minions are killed by the sword of the rider of the white horse. Interestingly enough, He seems to do all the fighting, just like in the days of Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah in ancient Israel. His robe is dipped in blood, but His armies wear the “armour” of simple white linen.

Revelation 19 begins with two great responses by the heavenly armies to the announcements of the destruction of Babylon the Great. The first, 19:1-4 is about God’s justice in avenging His martyred saints. The second, 19:6-9 is a praise proclamation with a choral-like response of the multitude that becomes an invitation to join the great marriage supper of the Lamb to the Bride who has made herself ready (the saints as a whole body of believers). (The marriage imagery is straight out of prophetic commentary about Israel’s covenant-relationship with Yahweh, such as Jer. 31:32 and Is. 54:5) Like the parable in Matt. 22, those rejected by the world are the “guests of honour” (actually, the bride) at the wedding.

Meeting a far different fate, however, are Jesus’ adversaries – those who murder and persecute Jesus’ emissaries. John ironically invites the birds of the air to attend “the great supper of God.” (19:17-18) Those who worshipped the Beast and its image are “invited” for the main course.

So, for the original readers of this letter in the seven churches John once again offers the choice. The invitation to the Banquet is out. Who are you going to be? Bride or buffet?

What about us, today?

Mornin’ everyone! It’s Sunday and the temperature here is hot as hell. We need some rain here! Just got a news from my girl friend who I haven’t contacted for sometime that she was in an accident and she was bumped by a car. It takes a week for her to recover so I hope she gets well soon ;D. So anyway, here’s the Rainmeter skin for today and have a good weekend, guys.

Skin Name: Demon Girl Calendar Rainmeter

File Size: 261 KB

Color Theme: Dark Blue

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/htzym1my3t0/DemonGirlCalendar.rar

Note: A Rainmeter application can be downloaded in my previous post. Don’t forget to extract and move the folder to your Rainmeter skin directory. Happy downloading!

1. A golden key can open any…thing! Like that lock-box dad has in his room. You know, in the back of his closet. I saw it there. He hid it.

2. Absence makes the…teachers get nervous.

3. If you want a thing done well…get mom to do it.

4. He who lives by the sword…should move next door to something else.

5. Every cloud has…one or two friends they don’t like.

6. Scratch my back and I’ll…feel better.

7. It takes two to…keep mom from knowing who did it.

After asking Luke about the compassionate and sentimental side of the story would be like, he gave me a list of relationships that will be the main focus of the movie. And wow, quite frankly saying there will be a lot just doesn’t come close:

Oroku Saki & Oroku Nagi

Oroku Saki & Hamato Yoshi

Hamato Yoshi & Tang Shen

Turtles & Splinter

Turtles & Turtles

Baxter & Wife/Daughter

^ Yes this is good, very good, finally some interaction between ‘each other’ in this movie. Honestly I’ve felt things grow cold between the turtles, and even between Splinter. While not all these relationships feature love and growth as a family (such as the turtles will have in the movie), each will have a unique theme from the other. Take Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi for example, it will be of conflict and how things turned for the worse between them. With some detailed information about these relationships we can clear your thoughts of doubts and idea’s you may think will be relevant to the purpose of each relationship, but for now, I’m afraid you’ll just have to keep those doubts and idea’s till the time that I do have the information XD.

- – - – - – - -

Well changing the subject, let’s talk about the turtles weapons and how the turtles weapons greatly match their personalities:

So where did they get their weapons, was Splinter involved?

As the person who trained the turtles and understands their abilities and character better than anyone, Splinter would have also decided who shall use which weapon. Ensuring the right turtle receives the right weapon is a huge responsibility. The sword is suited for a different personality than the sai, and only the right personality will bring out the weapon’s true potential. This is something only a ninja master would know, like Splinter.

So why were the turtles chosen to use their weapons?

The first thing that must be done is to analyze each weapon to better understand how they would compliment the user. The weapons in our vision are their own character and possess their own personality. In a sense, this allows us to create a relationship between each turtle and their weapon. The more they understand each other, the more powerful they will become together.

CONTINUE READING.

Truly, now that I’ve viewed that article, I can see why each weapon was chosen for each turtle. Now, if only I can see a REAL ninja turtle action scene, far more played out and detailed (I even hope to see some matrix styled action 83) then even the latest CGI-Film released back in 2007.

Okay guys, that’s it for now, stay tuned for the next update =D.

A western fencers martial arts weapon

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=22&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=modern&s2=rapier&OS=modern+AND+rapier&RS=modern+AND+rapier

http://ow.ly/Gntu

It’s a slow Saturday and it’s god damn hot. I’m not in the mood getting out of my room and I’m watching Seinfeld all day. The only time I went out is for my breakfast and lunch. I hope this weather will get cooler at the evening so I can go play basketball at De Latinos. Anyway, I made another Rainmeter skin for you since I got this nice picture to go.

Skin Name: Death Scythe Girl Calendar Rainmeter

File Size: 265 KB

Color Theme: Magenta & Grey

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/wl5ywjjnlmn/DeathScytheGirl.rar

Note: A Rainmeter application can be downloaded in my previous post. Don’t forget to extract and move the folder to your Rainmeter skin directory. Happy downloading!

30

Absoloute Tw@t  They should amuptate his limbs !!!!

Uncle of meningitis amputee toddler stole £315,000 from her trust fund to pay for holidays… leaving just £239

Claims he didn’t know the £250,000 worth of cocaine capsules found in his stomach was drugs…..What a Di**head !!!

Love This Table

Drug smuggler who swallowed 67 packages of cocaine caught because of his bulging belly

A drug smuggler swallowed 67 packages of cocaine in an attempt to get through British customs. Student Fidelis Ozouli, 30, risked his life trying to hide the 1kg haul of the class A substance in his stomach. He later claimed he did not know the packets contained drugs. Officers at Manchester Airport became suspicious because Ozouli looked unnaturally bloated.  They carried out X-rays on his stomach and discovered a quantity of cocaine equivalent to two bags of sugar. It is one of the largest amounts ever found internally by UK customs officers. The drug, hidden inside scores of condoms, was 78 per cent pure and had a street value of £250,000. Ozouli left officials and a court baffled by claiming: ‘I didn’t know they were drugs.’ He added: ‘I just did not know what they were. I thought I was swallowing something else to take into Britain as a favour for a pal.’ At Manchester Crown Court, Ozouli, who is from Nigeria but lives and studies in London, pleaded guilty to importing class A drugs and was jailed for ten years – but continued to deny knowing what the haul was. Judge Thomas Gilbart QC told him: ‘I do not accept your evidence and do not believe it is credible. ‘The story is fantastical and I don’t believe a word of it. This was a calculated decision on your part to solve your money worries.’ Ozouli, of Kennington, South London, was stopped by UK Border Agency officers on his arrival at Manchester from Switzerland on September 5. He claimed he was on a business trip from Zurich on behalf of a pharmaceuticals company but inquiries revealed he had taken a lengthy and unusual route back to the UK from countries in Africa. He was arrested and the case was passed to customs officers who interviewed him. Later he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was X-rayed to ensure all the packages had been recovered.

Mike O’Grady, assistant director of criminal investigation for Revenue and Customs said yesterday: ‘Forensic tests showed that the purity of this cocaine is significantly above what we would normally find. ‘Swallowing any drugs puts the courier at risk, but with purity levels this high he was putting himself at considerable risk of death. ‘Criminals dealing in drugs with high purity levels are thinking solely of increased profits, to further fund their illegal activity.

Mr O’Grady added: ‘They show utter disregard for the damage drugs do to individuals and communities. ‘Customs is working closely with our partners in the UK Border Agency, police and other law enforcement agencies such as the Serious Organised Crime Agency to protect the public from the significant and damaging effect drugs have on our communities.’ The biggest ever recorded haul of cocaine found in a smuggler’s stomach in Britain was 1.5kg found inside 39 packages in 2003.

2 Lucky Guys

The independent Treasure Valuation Committee reached the figure after meeting at the museum.

The money will be split equally between the finder Terry Herbert and the landowner Fred Johnson, the museum said.The two men and the two museums which hope to acquire the hoard, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent, have all approved the valuation, a spokesman added.Professor Norman Palmer, chairman of the Government-appointed committee, said: “The task of valuing this hoard required the Treasure Valuation Committee to analyse a very large amount of information in order to arrive at a fair market price and I am personally indebted to my fellow members whose energy and expertise made this result possible in so short a time.”He added: “All finders of treasure can take encouragement that the most valuable treasure find ever made was dealt with so speedily and yet so scrupulously by all parties concerned, given that the hoard was discovered only in July.”It is of course immensely important that this extraordinary hoard is acquired for public benefit and I know that the two museums are anxious to raise the funding to keep the hoard in the West Midlands as soon as they can.”

A fundraising campaign is being launched to help the two museums buy the hoard, highlights of which are currently on display at the British Museum in London.British Museum Press has published a book about the find, called The Staffordshire Hoard, and £1 from every sale is going to the appeal fund.A selection of objects from the hoard will also go on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery from February 13 to March 7 next year.Mr Herbert, 55, from Burntwood, Staffs, a jobless council tenant on disability benefit, discovered the hoard while searching the field near the M6 toll road between Lichfield and Tamworth on July 5 using his 14 year old metal detector.He has described unearthing the treasure as “more fun than winning the lottery” and said he hopes to buy a bungalow with some of his windfall.Mr Johnson, 65, described the valuation as a “fair and reasonable figure”.He said: “The public have to raise that money and I don’t think we could have expected anything more.”The haul of over one thousand items – most of it gold and silver and thought to date back to between 675 and 725AD – has been hailed as a hugely important find.Experts believe it was buried at the site by its owners at a time of danger and then never recovered.

Horrendous

Ten students at North Naples Middle School were sent home for a day after a girl told the head teacher that she believed she had been kicked for being Jewish, prompting further instances to come to light. Florida passed strict anti-bullying laws last year and schools that do not do enough to stop it risk losing their state funding. Margaret Jackson, the school’s head teacher, has responded to the kicking incident by setting aside the first 20 minutes of each day to teaching students – aged 12 to 15 – about kindness, respect and ways of preventing bullying. David Barkey of the Florida Anti-Defamation League said the organisation had been consulted over the incident. “You are talking about an incident that has anti-Jewish bias if not anti-semitism. You have Jewish students being singled out, harassed and assaulted,” he said. Last year, four pupils were suspended from a middle school in St Louis over a “Hit a Jew Day” in which one Jewish student was slapped in the face. The “day” had been the culmination of a “Spirit Week” organised by pupils which included “Hug a Friend Day” and “Hit a Tall Person Day”.Some believe the idea for such behaviour originally came from the satirical cartoon show South Park which featured a “Kick a Ginger Day” in an episode.

Mad…But Very Sad

The 55-year-old man from a small town in the central province of Quang Nam opened up his wife’s grave in 2004, moulded clay around the remains to give the figure of a woman, put clothes on her and then placed her in his bed, Vietnamnet.vn said. The man, Le Van, told the website that after his wife died in 2003 he slept on top of her grave, but about 20 months later he worried about rain, wind and cold, so he decided to dig a tunnel into the grave “to sleep with her”. His children found out, though, and prevented him from going to the grave. So one night in November 2004 he dug up his wife’s remains and took them home, Vietnamnet reported. The father of seven said neighbours did not dare visit the house for several years.”I’m a person that does things differently. I’m not like normal people,” he was quoted as saying.

Princess of whales: A diver’s magical encounter with a smiling giant of the Arctic deep

Hitching a ride on a Beluga whale’s back, a daring diver glides through the icy waters of the Arctic.In an extraordinarily rare encounter between a human and this beautiful giant of the deep, the white whale is perfectly at ease with her new companion – and even appears to be smiling.Which is just as well – as no one really knew how the Beluga would react to human company before Julia Petrik made this dazzling dive.

For these muscular 16ft whales can get agitated if subjected to unwanted contact and aggressively defend themselves.Thankfully, this magnificent individual was only too happy to let Miss Petrik gently cling on to him and took her for a spin through the deep.The incredible pictures were shot beneath the pack ice in Russia’s White Sea, where a pod of the magnificent Belugas are being studied for a conservation programme.Miss Petrik is an expert free diver and is able to hold her breath for minutes at a time. This avoids the need to use bulky scuba tanks, which release bubbles that can disorientate the whales.

The lack of kit also gives her more freedom to move and synchronise her movements with the whale. The only downside is that free diving in icy cold water takes a heavy toll on the diver’s respiratory system.Julia Petrik had to saw through more than a foot of solid ice just to reach the freezing water below and wears a thick rubber suit to guard against the extreme conditions.Beluga whales – the name is Russian for ‘the white one’ – can survive here because they are able to use their powerful bulk to butt through the ice to breathe oxygen, before submerging once again into the abyss.Their domed foreheads contain a waxy substance, thought to be involved in their ability to communicate.They ‘chatter’ by whistling to each other – so much so that sailors and fishermen call them the ’sea canaries’.Divers can spend weeks searching for Belugas in the wild, but some of the whales are being kept in a large netted enclosure to be studied. Due to its high salinity, the water here freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water and can drop to a bone-chilling minus 2c. But Julia Petrik, given the ride of her life by this giant of the deep, soon forgot about the cold and was having a whale of time.

Sorry Britney…But You Look Crap!!!

And in In The Jungle…..

I’m A Celebrity: Is this the most vile trial ever as Kim and Joe drink pulped kangaroo anus and cockroach juice?

Kim Woodburn and Joe Bugner were seen last night taking part in one of the most vile and stomach-retching trials the campmates have ever seen.They had to drink pulped cockroaches, pureed kangaroo anus and pulped crocodile foreskin during the Jungle Arms task.

TV presenter Kim took offence at being voted to do yet another and said: ‘You are very mean, it’s my fourth one – it’s a test of my mettle.’

Down the hatch: Kim Woodburn downs a shot full of pulped witchetty grub… then retches…

…and is sick, leaving her with slime down her chin

The first drink was Castlemaine Four Legs, a combination of pulped cockroaches and mealworms with a couple of live cockroaches as a garnish.The pair toasted each other and attempted to drink the vile mixture. But while retired boxer Joe seemed to have no trouble downing the drinks, and even seemed to like them, Kim stuggled.The second round was ‘Foreskin and Tonic’.Host Ant McPartlin told them: ‘This is pulped crocodile foreskin, garnished with a crocodile penis stirrer, once again each one is worth one star. You only have to drink the drink.’

Joe swiftly drank his, but it took Kim several goes. She branded it ‘vile’ while Joe said it merely tasted like washing-up liquid and then pretended to use the penis stirrers as fangs.’You have to pull yourself together. You’re crackers,’ Kim snapped at him.Their third round was Bum and Cokes -  pulped kangaroo anus and water.But while Joe thought it tasted like popcorn, Kim admitted it was more like ‘very sour rotten water that had pee in it’.Their fourth round was Croc-Tail – pulped crocodile tail with a croc tail stirrer.

‘The smell is atrocious, it smells like poo. The smell is so bad you could die,’ said Kim as she gagged on the drink.For the fifth and final round, Joe downed an Eye-ball – a glass of crushed crocodile eyes.But Kim had to drink a Sam-Puka – pulped Witchetty grub. She managed to drink the shot glass-full but then gagged and threw up the slimy mixture to the delight and disgust of Ant and Dec.’I’ve sicked a little bit but not much,’ she confessed.

But Ant told her: ‘We can’t take that one, will you give it another go?’Joe offered to do it for her, but was not allowed and she finally downed it after telling Ant and Dec ‘Boys: Stand aside. This is repulsing me.’The pair won all nine stars for the campmates plus an extra treat of chocolate.Joe said afterward: ‘It was disgusting but if I had to live on it, I would.’But Kim added: ‘If I had to live on it, I’d hang myself from the nearest tree.’Meanwhile the campmates are determined that actor Stuart Manning and singer Sabrina Walsh begin a romance in the jungle.Gino D’Acampo has been the chief teaser and is convinced that they fancy each other.He joked to Stuart that he thought the actor had dreamt he’d bought a new car because he kept calling out ‘Sab, Sab!’

But the pair deny anything is going on.

The two sat together on the love seat and Stuart said to her: ‘We’re just good mates, I’d understand it if I was always trying to touch you or something but nothing has happened at all.’People are obsessed, two people have got to get together – why are they so intrigued? I’m not in it to have a relationship.’And while Sabrina smiled and coyly agreed, she did look a little disappointed… Until Stuart asked her: ‘Do you want to lie down?’

Night task: Sabrina and Gino had to stay awake all night after drinking beer and eating sausages in order to turn back the hands on a clock and win a chest

She laughed it off but the glances between them continued.Sabrina said in the bush telegraph: ‘I don’t know what they are trying to do but I think it’s hilarious and I get on with Stuart just like everyone else.’Gino, in an impish mood, then starting singing Let’s Get It On as Sabrina was pushed by the campmates to massage Stuart.The chef said in the bush telegraph: ‘I know that they fancy each other. They know they are being watched by everyone so they are probably not realising their love at the moment but I know it’s there!’

Gino and Sabrina also completed an overnight challenge to win a celebrity chest for the group.They had to trek through the jungle, walk along a tightrope across a ravine and then stay awake all night in order to win treats for camp.They were given sausages and beer for the evening and spent the time staying awake in shifts, trying to prevent the hands of a clock ticking for more than 30 minutes.Inside the chest were tins of food for the camp, including a can of Spam which Gino cooked up.

Justin said: ‘Who knew that a staple tin of spam could send the entire camp into such rhapsodies.’Meanwhile George Hamilton has been regaling the campmates with tales of his famous friends such as Frank Sinatra, Anthony Hopkins, former lover Sharon Stone, Marilyn Monroe and even Puff Daddy.He said: ‘Elizabeth Taylor, we went out together, we worked together.  Elizabeth is an extraordinary human being and she’s an amazing friend.’And he added: ‘[David] Niven said one of the best things about Errol Flynn ever.  He said you can always count on Errol Flynn to let you down.’

Jimmy White asked George about Marilyn Monroe. He said:  ‘You went on a date with her didn’t you George?’George said: ‘Yeah, she was forever getting ready.  She’d come out and she’d say does my hair look… and she’d go back fiddle with the hair some more.’He told Sabrina that he was a friend of Puff Daddy. He said: ‘Puffy’s a very good friend of mine.  Puffy’s a really good friend.  I like him a lot.  Do you want me to speak to him.  Would you like that?’And he said: ‘My first movie with Robert Mitchum, he said “You know they say I don’t know any lines.”  He says, “It’s not true.  I’m just too drunk to say ‘em.”‘Meanwhile, one of three celebrities will be voted off on tonight’s show.Sam Fox, Sabrina Washington and Jimmy White were told they were all up for the vote.

Justin Ryan sobs as he misses partner Colin McAllister, who was evicted on Tuesday

The Future Mrs Robbie Williams ?