majestic

Heh, I... uhm, was trying to make a joke about the tech unsavvy politicians asking Zuckerberg how Facebook makes mone if their service is free, but that works too. I suddenly got more interested in watching it, to be honest. I can deal with 25 added minutes per week even if it turns out to be another Lady Asuka. Humm...

If being a passenger on this spaceship is free, how do you make money?

A while back a friend of our family was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It is too large and located too close to the aorta to be operable, so he underwent a rather long and hefty chemo therapy to bring the size down. Or at least, that's what he told us. Turns out that wasn't the entire truth, not only is the tumor in its current state inoperable and the chemo did nothing to reduce its size, it had already metastasized and spread to his lungs. They're now changing the treatment approach to - again - try to reduce the size of the tumor to make it operable. The lung cancer is currently in remission, so that's at least something, I guess. It's not much though. The five year survival rate of cases like that is... zero, or near enough to make no real difference for anything but the faintest of hopes for a miracle, and between you and me guys, I haven't seen one of those ever since I stopped believing in Santa and the Tooth Fairy, and that was a long, long time ago.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Episode 7. Well, I'll say this for Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, you never know what you'll get out of an episode. The atmosphere and mood of the episodes swing so widely that schizophrenic doesn't even properly describe it, but still, to my dismay, I actually quite like the anime. It would be easier if it all was hot garbage so that episode at the hot springs wouldn't be such a detriment to it. I guess at this point I'm hoping that there'll be no more bathing scenes. Made the mistake of googling around to see if there's a made for TV version that drops the iffy parts, but apparently not only there isn't, but the internet is full of debates about Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha where people praise Nanoha and talk about what a good shounen protagonist she would make if she piloted EVA-01 instead of Shinji. Guys, have you missed the part where Nanoha has been trying to talk to Fate instead of punching her silly for the last, oh, I don't know, four episodes? Please go back to ogling Mari. Just go. Go. Away. Well, I might not be able to hate the anime, but I can hate the fandumb all right. That's at least something. Also, not very surpsingly, shippers. Ugh.

I'm really amused by the folder names we've used for rollouts. "Veryveryawesomesetupfiles" "Sadlynolongerveryawesomesetupfiles" "Stupidupdatefiles" "Exceptionallyawesomefonts" I guess we're exceptionally professional, huh?

Back in my crib, sippin' on the bubbles, chillin' in my pool, doin' time with my models Bitches in the tube in oil and lube, it's the D-51 with aluminum tubes Erm. Perhaps not. Currenty looks an awful lot like work, i.e. rolling out a new production server.

I recommend you guys try some Thomas Bernhard. The translation is probably not as much of an experience as the original language, but it should be pretty good.

That sounds like a fantastic way for @Bartimaeus' to take one more step on his journey to appreciate modern anime. Erica: The series. xD Disclaimer: Have not checked out anything about it yet. Just musing about, trying to be funny.

That's even from the same episode, if we're thinking about the same thing. The alien probe comes and wants to examine her... with its tentacle sensors.

Yes... I once thought this was embarrassingly bad... oh, joy. Happier times.

Yeah, really. Mods are all NAZIS, even the ones that aren't, because only NAZIS can be MODS. Or something. I'm bad at being Volo.

Well, that was terrible. Time to clear my mind with some of Love Life!'s wonderful J-POP!

It was weird watching the next episode of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha after last night's fiasco of an episode, but except for the presence of Aleph who bought herself a whole lot of dog food to w... wo... sorry, I have to, to wolf down, there wasn't much fanservicing. Except the transformation. The girls are having a fight at school because Nanoha is often lost in thought and troubled by something, and her friends are worried but can't get Nanoha to talk about anything. While Suzuka and Arisa are talking about how they met and only became friends through Nanoha, Nanoha is off wandering through the city to clear her head, before running into Fate to again fight over a Jewel Seed. Things to really wrong this time. Cue cliffhanger, end of episode. The series still moves within the traditional parameters of a Magical Girl series when it doesn't have an episode trying to be a friday late night softcore erotic film (or a ridiculous slightly more animated eroge visual novel). Nanoha is trying to talk to Fate and almost got through to her. This... was probably the best episode yet. It was legitimately good, except I feel bad for liking it now. Overall, and it seems ridiculous to complain about it in light of the other issues, it relies a bit too much on talking exposition, perhaps. No, I haven't read much of anything in terms of comics (web or otherwise) outside of Clay's depraved work. The Noob Comic and Order of the Stick are the only others, with the occasional xkcd strip in between. I might check it out though, so thanks.

I guess he's worried that if BLM succeeds it will give South Africans the wrong ideas and they'll come knocking at his door with pitchforks and torches, demanding their wealth back.

Heh. Either Gorth or Amentep really removed the link to the image. So guys, let that tell you how bad that got then. Just in case you didn't catch it before it went buh byesies. The Wolf Girl (her name is Alph, or ARUFU in Romaji ) I was prepared for, and it was the least offensive means of fanservice in the episode. She shows up in the intro for a brief moment with a crop top and hot pants. *shrug* However... I'd honestly rather continue Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha than go back to Lady Asuka. While that episode really threw me off and it's actually really offensive considering the characters, the anime outside of the fanservice is quite decent. Lady Asuka on the other hand is death by boredom. That's what makes this even more jarring. Love Live! was pretty bad right from the start, and when they made Nozomi assault every character on the show by rubbing their breasts that was "eh, okay, I hate this for making light of sexual assault, but seinen's gonna seinen..." but this is really a new dimension. That's what I get for trying anime based on a short story spin-off of an eroge visual novel. I played exactly one of these, Kana Imouto (Little sister Kana), which has a similar problem as Nanoha. It's really a nice, if sad, story about a girl with chronic renal failure, until it stops being that and goes full otaku nutjob. Yes, indeed. If Love Live! had a scene like that it would still be awkward and weird, but they're at least all old enough to not dip way too far into Pedosus territory. Funny how quickly one can start to aprpeciate the restraint shown by Love Live!. Like, really, I'm not expecting any seinen anime to pass up a chance at a bathhouse/beach scene for some fanservice, but please, for the love of god, leave the elementary school kids out of it. Your evil alter ego might enjoy K-On!'s second season, unless he already tried that and found it wanting without letting us know. Otherwise... it doesn't really look good, no. Samurai Champloo talk: It's a matter of convenience and cost reduction, so for me that was a no-brainer. I all but stopped buying Blu Rays. The best value is Amazon Prime Video, because I have Prime anyway for the free shipping. I don't need the free shipping, but I added my parent's account to the family sharing option and that saves more money than it costs. A lot more. Quality wise it's not nearly as good in terms of image and sound fidelity, but hey, you get what you pay for, in the end. Just as long as I watch a movie per month, it's money well spent, and I do watch a lot more. I get the least value out of Kindle Unlimited, so I'm really toying with the idea of just cancelling that subscription. Let me know what you think. If the first few strips aren't to your liking, at least work your way up to Shinji and the Suicide Girl. That one is REALLY offensive and twisted.

Well, that episode is over, and it contained all the fanservice the other four didn't and then some. The cat/fox girl is actually a wolf girl and Fate's (the antagonist that showed up last episode) familiar. She also gets copious amounts of fanservice for all teh furries... or, whoever else might be into girls with wolf ears. She went to bathe too, her boobs jiggled a bit, her wolf ears rose and she said: Woops they came out. Wow. This... has like five movies and as many spinoff series. At this point I can only hope that it'll get a little tamer in time, and this was a one time accident someone got fired for. Or perhaps jailed. Ideally both. Hm. So, today, I managed to watch one episode, complain about it copiously, I've also watched the first 5 minutes of episode 15 of Steins;Gate (guess I should have finished that episode and gone to bed), and I watched the first 20 minutes of the Violet Evergarden movie now that I can watch it with decent sound. Time to sleep. On the bright side, I guess I won't be complaining about Love Live! Sunshine!! as much as I would have once I get to that.

Ah, I see, so you haven't looked at Nanoha's transformation yet. See, silly me, I thought that transformation was as far as the show would go. @Amentep please don't ban me, just delete the link if you deem it too much (there's a fair warning attached, I think). It's the contrast that makes this even crasser than it really is. I mean, like I mentioned once or twice (or a hundred times before) I read Sexy Losers when it still came out regularily, and that was frequently really bad, often downright pornographic, but always really funny on top of being really offensive - and currently has 288 strips. See, that reminds me, @Gorth you said you like your humor dark and offensive, if you don't mind dark, offensive and blatantly sexual, then check out Sexy Losers. Just google it, not risking a real ban here by linking. I'm not bothered by content like that unless it is really just meant as masturbatory fantasy for otakus (or rather, more generally, any part of nerddom, i.e. exactly the people I wish wouldn't be associated with a group I otherwise feel a strong personal connection to) hiding in an otherwise normal and - while derivative - fun show. 10 minutes ago, if someone would have asked, I'd almost recommend Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, with the caveat that it's probably more worthwhile to spend time on Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura instead of a lesser knockoff. Framing matters. The content of Devilman Crybaby didn't bother me at all, and you've watched that too and know how graphic that got. Devilman Crybaby also wasn't about a magical nine year old. I just need to reiterate that. Nanoha is a third grader in elementary school. Description of the image, also spoilered, for anyone who doesn't want to click on the link: What the hell, Japan? The only saving grace is that Yuuno wants out and is highly embarrassed by everything. If Pedosus were here, he'd have a field day. I wouldn't go that far, and I googled around a bit, that scene isn't in any of the search results unless you dig really, really deep and deal with a whole lot of actual Nanoha porn (no, don't ask) while trying to find it. There's no way you could have noticed that without anyone posting about it online. Which I also didn't check. Anyway, the rest of the anime isn't bad by any means, really. Like I said, I was close to say "Check this out when you have time to kill, it's nice enough, all things considered." until a couple of minutes ago. Guess I always knew that a show like that wouldn't be seinen if it wasn't up to something, but I was hoping for some hardcore violence. Not that... am I glad my wife doesn't watch anime with me, at all. That would have taken some doing to explain. Not the nudity per se, but the nine year olds, given her personal... history. Yeah. edit: This is so schizophrenic. The scene seamlessly switches to Nanoha's parents taking a walk near a nice looking pond, sharing a tender moment of togetherness, peace and quiet that could come straight from a Cardcaptor Sakura flashback.

I just added a picture as proof. Delete it from your brain afterwards. The blonde girl is Nanoha's friend from school. There's also a boob grab, but I'm not uploading THAT. Nude boob grab, I need to add. Not Love Live! groping.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Episode 5. Actually, I did not intend to make a post for every episode, and just wanted to catch two or maybe three before going to bed. Alas, when the episode begins with Nanoha, her family and her friends going on vacation to some hot springs, I can't help but post. This begins like a combination between Cardcaptor Sakura's family holiday episode and Usagi's hot spring outing with her family. Well, there's only so much you can do with vacation stories, and otherwise there were 70 Cardcaptor Sakura episode, and 200 Sailor Moon episodes, but when a show borrows so liberally from what came before in style, then I can't help but mention it. At least Nanoha isn't going to fight with her brother in the back of the car. She only has an older brother and he's in the second car. I also doubt this will end with Nanoha summining a rainbow for a kindly old man she meets. edit: Yikes, that turned into a random collection of ecchi scenes really quickly. Not entirely unexpected, what else did they drag every last girl on the show to the hot springs for than to show them changing, but still, after four episodes of mostly harmless magical girling, that's really... like, yikes. Honestly. Yikes. That's... about as graphic as you can get with barbie doll anatomy. Here's some proof. Don't worry, link is NOT embedded. Also not safe for work, and probably not safe to be seen looking at with literally ANYONE else present. Really. Pity, I was close to recommending it... but uhm. Yeah. Woops.

I'm one of the people who liked the first one more. Not for any particularily objective reason. The second one plays better still than the first one, has more to do, arguably better designed levels and more gameplay elements with the animal companions more varied and interesting, and different gameplay mechanics between Dixie and Diddy. And yet... nothing in Donkey Kong Country 2 comes close to the atmosphere of Gorilla Glacier, or the jungle levels set at sunset. I also - not surprising, is it - like the art style of the first one more. I agree on the third one, I only noticed after I got my SNES mini not that long ago and installed a couple more games through hakchi2. I had fond memories of it, but the actual game wasn't nearly as good as the other two, and it also didn't do too well with the emulation, but that's not entirely the fault of the game itself. It's just a bit... uninspired.

I posted the video of Tomoyo's bodyguard entourage driving her costume van around, with that terrible, terrible dub that makes Sailor Moon's original dub sound great. I started watching certain series or films for similar, seemingly silly reasons. Maybe not for single frames, but I get the general idea.

You're about to run into one of my least endearing qualities (when used in this context) and I apologize in advance for bringing this up, but I just can't stop myself... Anyway, that was made under different circumstances, so I'm not sure that counts, but let it never be said that can't drag something up I read in passing six months ago. Actually that ability goes way further back than six months. Damn, that sort of makes me look like a creepy stalker that keeps notes, but really, I don't. My brain is just not really able to reject information it doesn't want and once in there it sticks around... for a long, long, very long while. Blood-C was pretty entertaining until it stopped and became a mess of plot holes and weirdness, so I'd not consider it a wrong prediction, no. I didn't hate watching Blood-C, and I really liked the first four or five episodes of it, but then it started to come apart a bit, until it went way overboard in the final two episodes and lost all coherence. @Gorth and @Amentep is there a particular reason you don't have any streaming service subscription?

I'm sort of curious what you think of it, so yeah, if that's no longer a viable project (and I was surprised it was one in the first place) then try it at some point. It does have some annoying elements, like Ahiru's ballet teacher, and I could have done without the anthropomorphic animals, but I liked it well enough. I still have no idea what to really make of it though. It was a nice fairly tale. Which has yet to show up, so, yeah. It's not the magical boy that turned into a ferret like I assumed at first. So yeah, so far you're two for two. Or three for three, actually, you did warn me to leave Magic User's Club be.

The great thing about Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2 is that they hold up, even today. Rare really did a fantastic job creating a perfectly fluid and smooth gameplay experience that was fun to play and looked really impressive for the time. Some of my most favorite Christmas memories. I got the games for Christmas, and was finished with them by New Year's, where we met at my grandmother's place for a family outing. My cousin and I would beat King K-Rool around. Good old times. The third one was a bit of a letdown though. Yeah, every now and then a bot makes it through, and even rarer still some posters feel like a spam bot but in reality aren't. I'm still not so sure SonicMage117 wasn't the result of an advanced posting bot / troll machine learning experiment.

if you mean because of Samurai Champloo, that's okay. Future Boy Conan is also something I'd like to watch at some point, mostly because we never got a release over here, and while following CLAMP around the block has been a mixed bag so far, Miyazaki always delivered something at the very least watchable. No, not really, but that's between me, my peculiar musical tastes and yours. I already surprised me by being quite decent, even if not very original. Overall my impression of the first four episodes is quite positive, but that might not shine through my posts that much.