joy and shadows

Summary of today's meeting:

*NUCLEAR EXPLODINATION*

Someday, I will have a new job.

We've had a cute little Halloween here. Husband had candy for me when I came home (and I brought him some too.) He bought me a big pumpkin, and I carved it into the jolly fellow you see in the photo. We roasted some seeds, and now it's time for House.

No good scary movies on tonight, though. :P

Rabid anime fans, it's time to sit down and have a couple beers, and maybe relax a bit.

There have been three Bleach-related rants recently on the "Rant of the Week" section at Anime News Network. One of them was pro-dub. One of them was anti-dub. This week, there's some complaining about translating or not-translating honorifics, specific words to the anime, etc.

jaina and I were remarking that some terms in Bleach get English translations but not others (i.e. "zanpakuto" and "konpaku" are used as is, but "reiatsu" turns into "spirit force" and "shinigami" into "soul reaper.") The author of the rant is complaining that if all the Japanese terms aren't translated into English, then the meaning of the terms might be lost. And yet, I can bet you that next week, there's going to be another rant about how the dub isn't OMG PURE if you don't use the Japanese words, because the English translations are an approximation of the Japanese terms, anyway.

Well, guys, anyone who's done any translation at all understands that there's always a good bit of guesswork involved, and a balance between preserving the original meaning and getting the meaning across in the context of the new language. Let's take the ranter's complaint about "taicho" and "fukutaicho."

I don't know whether "taicho" is a rank in the Japanese military (the closest I found was Tai-sho, "general") or whether it's a political honorific. Taking the literal translation given in the rant of "division commander," then the proper rank translation is "major general," because major generals command divisions. The next rank below major general (properly) is brigadier general, and then colonel. So, should we start calling Byakuya-taicho Major General Byakuya instead? Colonel Abarai?

Let's consider the army definition of "division" - approximately fifteen thousand soldiers. That's a lot of people. So, should we translate ranks based on how many shinigami each captain commands? Is Byakuya's command more like an army captain's, so the meaning of his title is correct, and then Renji would be First Lieutenant Abarai? (Actually, I like First Lieutenant better than Vice-Captain.) But, captains only command 100 - 130 people.

And this is all just two words.

So. Which would you rather have, correct words or correct meaning? What is "correct," anyway? My feeling is that if you don't speak the language, you're not getting the full meaning anyway, and most decent translators are doing their best to take a nuanced language and make it understandable. But, the Japanese words do give the anime a little "flavor," since, after all, Our Heroes are speaking Japanese (as opposed to Trigun, where they're supposed to be speaking English.) So, everyone settle down, and enjoy the show.

Especially Urahara's English pothead voice. That makes me giggle all the time.

Hello thar congoing friends!

jaina and I are in search of some Good Friends to come and join us for the splendiferous experience that is Ohayocon (held in Columbus, Ohayo, of course) from Jan. 4th through 7th. This con is such a good time that we want to welcome you with open arms and it really helps to have a couple more people to share the hotel fee with.

Highlights include:

Steak'n'Shake adventures with Bible-quoting weirdoes at nearby tables

Mongolian BBQ

Drinks in the hotel bar with cosplayers streaming by (and the occasional guest-of-honor)

Writing porn for the enjoyment of passersby at about 2 AM

Post-holiday shopping in Easton

Friendly hotel staff and local merchants

Entertaining conflicts between Christian youth ministries and yaoi artists

This completely awesome hotel, where we have reserved a suite. Snackies and booze and breakfast and everything!

To qualify for this fabulous trip, you have to agree to the following:

1. Otaku of the female persuasion only. No offense to our XY friends, but it does make things more comfortable.
2. No smoking in the room. We just don't want to sleep in it.

Flights seem to be reasonably cheap to Columbus (er, at least from Newark) so think it over! Cosplaying is encouraged and welcomed! Hope to see more of you there, because at a con, the more the merrier.

Last night at 9 PM, the USA Network aired the Zombie Outbreak Training Film "Dawn of the Dead," which depicts a Class 3 outbreak that proceeded to Class 4. As those of you who have watched this training film may know, the outcome for these noninfected souls was not as fortunate as it could have been. Let's review what they did wrong.

1. Stayed within the city.

Urban areas are the worst protected from zombie outbreaks! Always try to find a sparsely populated, defensible area in which to make a stand.

2. Took shelter in a mall.

Malls are almost indefensible. An undead horde can easily push its way into a mall if alerted to the presence of fresh meat inside.

3. Investigated strange sounds.

When in doubt, RUN!

4. Inadequate armor.

Despite their visit to an ammunitions shop, none of the protagonists helped themselves to available body armor. Although an encumbrance, armor is invaluable as regards bite protection. Several of their number were lost to bites.

5. Attempted escape in a car/truck.

This one could be argued, since the type of zombie depicted in the training film was a Fast Zombie, capable of running. More typical Slow Zombies can easily be outpaced on a bicycle. However, the drawbacks to escape in a wheeled vehicle were accurately depicted, specifically that even a strong vehicle can be overpowered by an enormous crowd of hungry undead.

6. Escape on a boat.

The boat was a sailboat, so lack of fuel could be ameliorated, but our heroes ran out of water, and the food spoiled when the generator quit. Escape on a boat is only feasible when one of the party is an experienced sailor with knowledge of the surrounding water and ports. Get in, get what you need, and get out!

With Halloween approaching, it is more important than ever to be PREPARED for a zombie outbreak! For starters, I recommend a copy of the Zombie Survival Guide, a well-written and thorough introduction to survival during zombie outbreaks.

GET IT

LEARN IT

USE IT

or you're dinner.

Jury duty is boring! So, I'm doing a meme.

1. YOUR SPY NAME (middle name and current street name): Marie Lamington

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME (grandfather/mother on your dad's side and your favourite candy): Julia Baby Ruth

3. YOUR RAP NAME (first initial of first name and first three or four letters of your last name): S. Qui

4. YOUR GAMER TAG (a favourite colour, a favourite animal): Blue Cat

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, and city you were born in): Marie Monmouth

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (first three letters of your last name, last three letters of mother's maiden name, first three letters of your pet's name): Qui Hug Nat

7. JEDI NAME (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards): Eiram Sehguh

8. PORN STAR NAME (first pet's name, the street you grew up on): Max Whitehall

9. SUPERHERO NAME ("The", your favourite colour and the automobile your dad drives): The Blue Avalon

10. YOUR ACTION HERO NAME (first name of the main character in the last film you watched, last food you ate): Eisenheim Kix

Husband: What goes "ring ring ring?"

Me: Bananaphone?

(Fake) Bleach Love Sim

All you Bleach fans need to watch this, right now.

It's not too often I get very excited about the prospect of movies coming out, but some of the movies in production have got me bouncing in my chair.

1. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

I was very excited to see that this movie is in production after poking around IMDB thanks fo the upcoming movie "The Prestige." On the surface, the plot of the upcoming movie "The Prestige" sounds a lot like Susanna Clarke's groundbreaking (and very very long) novel - two Victorian-era magicians in a rivalry trying to best one another. However, in Clarke's book, the magicians use magic rather than legerdemain. Wonderful metaphors to work with (the gentleman with the thistle-down hair, the unnamed slave, the raven king, and all of it dripping with Victorian intrigue and cobwebs) and in fact this book will probably benefit in the same way as Two Towers from being shortened.

2. His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass

The only problem with this trilogy being made is that it's going to break my heart at the end, the same way the books did. I'm going to cop out here and say that the summary on IMDB says it all.

3. The Dark is Rising

No word on how far along this is, or whether it's being made, but these were probably my favorite books growing up along with Robin McKinley's Damar books. There's been some inevitable grumbling on the website that the movie would start with Will Stanton's story and wouldn't cover the Drews' discovery of the grail, but to be frank, I never read "Over Sea, Under Stone" and never felt I lost anything out of the series. Oddly, the thing I'm most hoping to see is that someone like the Noble Collection will license props like Will's belt of the Signs of Light, and if they release the crystal sword Eirias, I think I will die of joy.

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait. :D

Time for a drink.

Or several.