majestic

I try to get an episode or two of JoJo's watched on a daily basis. I just... don't really have much to post about it, unless it comes up as a way to make a joke. I also watched most of Kill la Kill without commenting on it. Seems a bit strange, given how I can spin a twenty page essay on Madoka from a stray thought I had while not being able to fall asleep, but something about JoJo's defies that. Weird. Or rather: Bizarre, ey? I wonder how Araki keeps coming up with these ideas over such a massive stretch of time to boot. Assuming later issues/seasons don't get any less bizarre. Which they by your description(s) don't.

First, @Raithe I'm also very sorry to read this, and all the best to your father. That was pretty much my experience as well, however, I've never been at the point where I had to inject insulin. I'm still taking my medication, but I am fairly certain that I don't need it. I get the same blood sugar levels if I leave it out, however, as it's not designed to lower blood sugar but simply stabilize it by retarding my body's ability to store carbs for later use I still take it regularily. It works as potential buffer for the days where I don't really feel like sticking to my dietary regimen*. Which brings me to the next point. It does work really well, and it kicks off with this nice sense of euphoria that you're currently experiencing. I'm not trying to rain on your parade there, but that feeling levels out eventually. The need to just stuff everything in your face you run across just might come back. It did for me. However, chances are that it won't nearly be as problematic as before, but it's something you might want to take into consideration regardless (I deal with it mostly by physically seperating myself from food sources, which was a lot harder to do during the lockdonws). *By that I mostly mean watching calories for dinner, which is my second meal. I can't for the life of me eat anything after getting up, so it's lunch and dinner, with the occassional smallish snack in the form of berries, an apple or something like that in between. Although I try to avoid high sugar fruit when possible, so it's not a lot of apples or bananas. On a day I don't feel like it, I'm still sticking to the intermittant 8:16 fasting regimen, I'll just either exceed my set limit of not eating any more than 400 kcal for dinner mostly (or exclusively, at times) in the form of proteins or just drop the healthy snack thing in lieu of stuffing my face with ice cream or my usual go-to sugar source of gummibears. You cut out the source of your chronic inflammation of your small intestine which prevented the normal absorption of nutrients. Getting to a healthy weight and stabilizing blood sugar kind of comes with that, so nah, that's not a seemingly weird result of eating more healthy, but a perfectly normal and logical one. Eating healthy just means something entirely different for you than for most people, and that sucks. Rhetoric caveat: 's mostly hokum, as your stomach acid readily kills the bacteria present in any "probiotic" food, and you're left with what's mostly too expensive yoghurt and not enough bacteria that survive to make any real difference. There's one thing consuming yoghurt (or any other supplements containing the usual lactobacillus bacteria) can help you with, and that's preventing or easing side effects of having to take antibiotics - and for that eating your good old regular yoghurt usually does the trick too (and is cheaper). Seems sort of logical too, what little of the bacteria survive being broken apart in aggressive acid can make more of a difference if you kill large swathes of your gut flora along with whatever disease you have in your body. If you want to improve your gut flora, there's only one efficent way to do that, and that's getting a fecal microbiota transplant, and yes, that's exactly what it sounds like.

It's called Sailor Moon Eternal and is on Netflix. Actually... things that happen in JoJo's are less random than the Dream arc's plot. Artemis transforming into a bishounen character is about as weird as anything you can get in JoJo's, just a lot more stupid than cars shooting gasoline bullets, apes with giants boat stands and old JoJo yelling OH NOOOOH! once every five minutes.

Still better than all of Crystal.

Yes and no. All my overtime is in theory paid by a monthly lump sum. It's a net win for me if I don't exceed the amount of time this pays, obviously. It's usually somewhat spot on. Any overtime I can also use as comp time if needed, and we have flexible working hours. There are exceptions, like during heavy crunch time, which we do get special overtime payments for. Weekend work pays double per hour. It's a decent setup that gives the managers enough of an incentive to make sure there are no extended crunch times. They still happen, of course, and last year was particularily bad, but it could be a lot worse. It used to be different, but then many of the better employees started to leave for greener pastures.

That reminds me a lot of the divine predecessors... May his merciful Shadow fall upon you!

What to watch while waiting for a clogged up data import to finish a day's worth of data? Well, I guess I'll try the next Utena episode. Yay! edit: Wakaba has been hiding Saionji. Why do I get this feeling this will end with him returning to school and slapping her silly (or at least insulting) her for her trouble? Why is Utena doing gymnastics while talking to Mr. Screws-His-Sister? What? edit 2: I guess him asking about Anthy counts as insulting to Wakaba, even if it wasn't intentional. Yay! Or Anthy wearing her hair clip. How can this be so completely obtuse and predictable at the same time?

01:30, still working. Yep, it's been one of these days...

I totally approve! The 35 minutes OVA goes in between 4 and 5. edit: The 90 minute OVA goes after episode 13, and if you watch the movie, turn it off after Violet boards the ship near the end. The ending... I understand why it's there, but I thought the film kind of Miyazaki'ed out there. Too bad.

You just have cast "Summon Gromnir" and he's going to tell you that Lord of the Rings isn't fantasy, it's mythology, which is what Tolkien was aiming for. At any rate, I started watching Blacklist now that the 8th season's out on Netflix here. The plot has been getting ye olde Chris Carter kudzu treatment for several seasons now, but who cares. I could watch James Spader all day (somtimes I do! ).

That joke ain't half bad. Well done sir.

Thanks, I have a feeling you'll leave me permanently in the dust this time around. Heh. I'm not sure if I'll be getting much viewing in this week.

Look at that, episode 19 was decently constructed, and while completely mired in confusing dialogue, allegory and symbolism, it had a plot you could follow, decent foreshadowing and clear hints at what's going on. Even the shadowplay made "sense". edit: It seems that whenever there is an episode that's not constructed around the duels, and therefore about the main plot (whatever that is), the episodes might still be weird as hell, but they make a whole lot more sense. Hum.

I'm in half a mood to just read up what Revolutionary Girl Utena is about. It's not that the episodes are boring or uninteresting to watch (albeit a "bit" squicky recently), but it's not like I have any idea what the hell is happening. Knowing in advance would make zilch difference, would it? @Bartimaeus was right, episode 18 does have a little Shinji and Asuka in it, although Nanami makes a bad Misato, really. Misato was mostly nice, but had no idea how to deal with Shinji. Or Asuka. Or her own life, really. Wait, that doesn't make her all that different from Nanami. Except for being nice. See? Con-fu-sing. I might need to go off and donate blood.

Wouldn't be surprised, Utena's anime writer was part of the NGE team at Gainax after all. Currently still only at episode 17. Nanami focused episodes seem to take place in a different universe all together. Except for the one where she challenges Utena to a duel, that one is part of the regular narrative, but the others? Not so much. Moooo. Moooooooooooo. Mooooooooooooooo! Nozomi is the one doing the assaulting, Nico (whose name is actually Nicocchi) was the one who was assaulted. And no, nobody comments on that. It seems to be somewhat uncomfortable for them, but it's passed off as fun. Or something. It's meant as playful teasing or something like that, but it's totally... dunno. It's the worst thing in the show, by far, because she could just give others noogies or whatever else would not have a sexual assault connotation, really. That is really just there to have Nozomi fondle boobs because girls fondling breasts is hot. Or dunno. Really. The other fanservice I can deal with, but that thing regularily takes enjoyment out of the anime. Not that it would be great otherwise, but without that in particular it would be a fun experience. Most of the episodes are thankfully free of that.

I'm guessing that running gag will never end, right? Currently watching episode 4 of Love Live! season two, and it was already more interesting than most of Clear Card. I think I'll just stop comparing the two, because that's pointless. I never expected to really like Love Live!, then I kind of liked the first season and thought the second one would be bad, but no. It's been pretty good so far. Shocking, I know. Nozomi also stopped grabbing boobs. Could be she'll start again at some point, but for now that's fairly ok, all in all. It's also always good for a chuckle or two. It could look better, but hey, what couldn't in this day and age. edit: Guess what Nozomi is doing to Nico right now? The hell show, I was just thinking you put that behind you. Sigh. Moments like these prevent me from actually recommending this to anyone. Really. edit: The episode is otherwise a riot. Nico acts weird, and the other girls find her little sister who keeps referring to them as Nico's background dancers. This is really some goofy fun, or would be without the boob fondling. Yeah well. No use complaining... edit some moar: Yep, that was actually a really nice, even heartwarming episode about the goofy "mascot" of the group that otherwise never really gets to shine, or contribute anything of note. She has two little sisters and a little brother called Kokoro, Kokoa and Kotaru, and she currently needs to take care of them.

I didn't expect HORU HOSU to meet a dignified end after the way he ran away last time, but that was kinda bad, even for him. Good job creepy old woman.

Episode 17 dealt with Jury and her falling out with her best friend. I might have no idea what's going on most of the time, and the both implied and somewhat explicit incest themes are pretty squicky (ugh, Anthy, why?) but the way Revolutionary Girl Utena ties the duels to more information about the characters is really well done. Not sure why Saionji was expelled for an unsanctioned duel, but the brainwashed Black Rose zombies can challenge Utena nilly willy and not face any consequences. Granted, the show is certainly better off without Mr. Slaps-Anthy-For-Fun, but it could also do with less Toga, voiced by Dio or no. Hohumm. Utena keeps giving the shadowplay characters advice. It's... baffling and hilarious.

You got a Miki and Kozue focused episode coming up too. That also goes places... just not as far as the others. Yet? I really wonder if there's a point to this, or if either the writers or Ikuhara just had bad experiences with his own family.

You don't like Anthy's brother then?

Well, goodbye Clear Card, it was not very much fun knowing you. People weren't kidding when they said this just ends. It's not even a cliffhanger. It just... ends after some story reveals. Good job team. At least that's out of the way, and I can watch something more fun. Like paint dry, or Love Live!

Clear Card, final episode (for now, and finally). Kero and , who finally learned what is going on last episode (and the audience with them) decide, it's a good idea to start douchewaffling Sakura to. Nobody has the idea that maybe someone should tell her what's going on. What the hell, guys? The flimsy excuse the two come up with is beause MTS #2 decided not to tell her, there must be a good reason for it. Sure. Let's see just how much worse this can get. Sakura has an English lesson with a teacher that's actually not that bad at English. He calls out Sakura and she knows an answer just because she has a Hope card (or had, wherever they are now - still guessing Shaoran has them). The teacher enthusiastically replies with EXACTRY. Hahahaha. Well, at least Engrish is never not funny.

Kill la Kill came close by volume of sheer insanity at times. It's not quite the same, but Nonon and Nui wouldn't be that out of place in JoJo's, if they were a bit less bubbly and more dead serious. Anyway, Clear Card just decided to have a long conversation between Toya and Fujitaka. Whenever the show recalls its past strengths, it suddenly becomes good. Sakura's father reveals that he has an idea of what Sakura is up to, but knows he has no choice but to her that she'll do the right thing. Everything about this scene, except the god awful animation, is (almost?) as good as the original. Maybe there's hope yet for a second season, should there ever be one made. On episode 2 means you haven't finished it yet? Or has Violet found her, uhm, true calling yet (and messed it up as only she can)? edit: Great, now Sakura's great-grandfather has given her a key that once belonged to her mother. Really show, is this where you're going? Let's hope this is just a stupid key, not... a key key. God dammit Clear Card. edit 2: Look at MTS #2 confirming that the continuity errors are most likely related to Mr. Creepy Butler's magical time manipulation powers. Assuming he erased the seond movie entirely so that they can live in the house that's torn down right at the start of said film, that also explains a few things that were really weird between the characters and the way they interact(ed). That does reveal a level of care that went into planning this out. Misguided as that entire storyline is, it was planned out. Doesn't make it better. At least, not much.

There's a lot of things Violet Evergarden can make you do, but laugh is usually not amongst them. It's definitely the wrong material if you're in the mood for something funny. How far have you gotten, anyway? First episode? Because the first two are really slow, and the third one takes a long time to get anywhere, and then it suddenly... dunno. There's something about the ending of episode three that makes all the setup worthwhile. Although nobody's getting almost burned to death by a car that shoots gasoline like bullets. Heh.

I was close to posting "not even Clear Card can mess this up" because the episode was really coming together nicely until... it decided to spend the last five minutes or so of the episode on that ridiculous storyline of this arc. That might be, but Sakura's great-grandfather featured in two really great episodes of the first anime. @Bartimaeus called the first one a mini-Ghibli movie, and that's pretty much spot on. Got any futher with Violet Evergarden perhaps?