joy and shadows

Especially when you've had about the best excuse in the world to sit inside and watch TV.

Like about 50% of the folks on my flist, my area got dumped on this weekend, with maybe 13 - 15 inches falling all told. It was a good opportunity to test out some of the recipes from my Cooking Light magazine, since we definitely wouldn't be going out to dinner until we were dug out.

The snow started right on time at about noon on Saturday. Husband and I went out to the Borders for some reading material (hence "Romance of the Three Kingdoms Vol. 1) and by the time we were done it was flurrying. Afterwards, husband wanted to go to the mall, and on impulse we picked up some cheap sleds from Kaybee. Snow was starting to come down in a hurry on our way out, and from then on, we were housebound.

Not that it was a bad thing. I downloaded a buttload of stuff and watched a couple eps of various anime, and husband watched the two parts of "Band of Brothers" that he'd missed. That show's too intense for me, esp. the field triage scenes. (There's a reason I didn't go pre-med.) That night was the test run of the beef brisket in zinfandel, and it was pretty decent. If I had to do it again, I'd use a cabernet-merlot and would skip the sugar. Grade: B-.

Husband eventually conked out on the couch and I watched eps 10 and 11 of RahXephon before turning in myself. The plot thickens. Really want to know who/what Quon is, and Ayato continues to be an engaging hero, in no small part because the show is so reminiscent of Eva except with 1000% less whining.

By the time we went to bed, there were about eight inches of snow on the ground, and it looked like the storm was cranking down. It must have snowed like hell overnight, because when we woke up, it was like they hadn't even plowed. Husband and I went out sledding and met two very happy golden retrievers out for a walk - there aren't too many creatures happier than a dog in snow. Football kept us entertained for the rest of the day, and now we're considering a Boston vs. Philly Revolutionary War theme for our Super Bowl party.

Thankfully, the roads were clear this morning, as J&J only delays an opening in the case of nuclear war. (Though to be fair, husband didn't get a delay either.)

Back to work.

Wow, the snow is falling down and down outside. It started flurrying when husband and I went out this morning to make sure we had some adequate entertainment for the next day or so, and it's snowing like mad now. Good night for a pot roast!

We hit the Borders, and I bought Vol. 1 of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," which looked interesting. I figure that if DW is my new crack, might as well learn something. Husband was thrilled that I wanted to read OMG HISTORY even if it's from a video game. I have to wonder what the historical personages would think about a video game based on their lives. Husband thought they'd be mortified. I thought once they got past that, they'd be all "Look how much butt I can kick!"

Other than that, have finished up the first ep of Bleach (interesting enough to dl another ep) and have started in on Xenosaga: The Animation. So far, it's exactly like the game. This is just fine, since I got stuck on the fight with the DOMO carrier and lost interest, and now there's a pretty animated series to wrap that up.

Hopefully will squeeze in some RahXephon before the end of the weekend. Three eps on one disc - ADV, you cheap bunch of wankers. Although you get 10000000 Funny Points for selling a hentai called "Samurai XXX," as fadingembers pointed out.

Just back from Ohayocon.

It's cold in the house, I'm suffering from con sleep deprivation, and all I can think about is what con should be next?

It was great to see jaina, fadingembers, and sarcasticval again, and it was also great to have a new addition to our Con Bunch with scathachdhu and her sister.

Will be posting photos later with commentary on what happened at the con, but for now, I await husband's return with three days' worth of stored-up hugs.

Well. As threatened, I grabbed the first volume of Samurai Champloo on my way home last night, and since uiggu asked the question and it's a post I wanted to make anyway, here's my thoughts on the dub voices.

A lot of familiar voices here. The cast list has not been released, so all I know for sure is that Steven Jay Blum/David Lucas voices Mugen and Kirk Thornton voices Jin. Kari Wahlgren may be voicing Fuu, because Fuu sounds a lot like Lavie Head from Last Exile.

So.

Jin: Thornton is doing a nice job here so far. Jin's a very quiet character, and Thornton's kept most bombast out of his performance. Thornton also adds a slightly courtly note to his accent, which is in keeping with Jin's more formal speech.

Mugen: Certainly we all have high expectations of Mugen's VA, since Blum voiced Spike Spiegel and Mugen and Spike are so similar. Mugen's Japanese VA is terrific - gets that "obnoxious pain in the ass, but dangerous" note down perfectly. I'd give Blum a B from the two eps I've seen. The performance is a little too Young Knives (in style; Joshua Seth was Young Knives) at present and needs some more Spike Spiegel infused into it.

Fuu: Probably the hardest of the bunch to live up to in terms of Japanese to English VA. Fuu's Japanese VA is great, with the right mix of insecure, whiny, and annoying. Kari Wahlgren is sounding too much like Lavie for my taste - I keep expecting her to yell at Claus or say "Look! There's Nose Hair!" but her performance isn't grating or jarring. Wahlgren does need to inject some more personality into her voice as the series progresses.

There aren't any other recurring major characters, though Dave Wittenberg (Mullen Shetland) does show up as the baddie who gets his arm cut off by Mugen. Certainly we'll be playing Voice Actor Bingo with this series too, as it seems to be the same core of voices who do most anime these days. Kind of like how you'd find the same bunch (Jack Angel, Michael Bell, Peter Cullen, Chris Latta, Neil Ross, Tress MacNeil) doing voices in all the 80's cartoons. Dollars to doughnuts that Crispin Freeman materializes at some point, possibly as the monk during the ep where Mugen gets stoned.

Grade overall: B+

...than wibble about Samurai Warriors.

1. Shit, this game is much harder than Dynasty Warriors. Not because the officers are harder to beat or anything, but because you get these little missions and about a minute to complete them. If you don't do the little mission, your whole army loses morale and sits around and drinks sake instead of fighting.

2. And for crying out loud - these Sanada-associated armies need to go to boot camp with Liu Bei or Cao Cao, because I can't leave my commander alone for more than THIRTY SECONDS before Hanzo Hattori wipes the floor with him.

3. Dear Army Associated with Yukimura Sanada: YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF PUSSIES.

4. Kunoichi and Yukimura have definitely been spending a good deal of time in one another's tent, not that it has had any effect on dear Yukimura's sparkling personality. He's such a colossal grump. If he had a persona in the SW High School hierarchy, it would be Goth Boy for all the moping he likes to do.

5. Next up is the Longhaired Bishie guy, whatever his name is. Maybe his army knows how to fight.

Happy New Year, everyone.

As usual, we had a nice quiet New Year's spent getting tipsy with friends - good food, good company, and everyone hit the sack by 12:30 because we're all old farts. I did get a very cheerful voice mail from fadingembers and jaina from their party out in NYC. Yesterday we all nursed headaches while husband and his friend ran the 5-mile Hamilton Hangover. Afterwards, there was some getting lost on NJ back roads, discoveries that gas stations in boondock towns aren't open on New Year's, and finally a return home to catch up on sleep debt.

I've had a lazy day capped by snoozing on husband while he watched Le Mans. Will have to do some more sewing later, but because it's now 2005 and I feel justified recapping now, here's that "What did you do last year" meme that everyone else did three weeks ago.

( 2004 Recap Meme )

It's shit like this that makes me very, very ashamed of my country.

American diver underwater during catastrophe

Faye Wachs said she was impressed by the efforts of the Thai government and the International Committee for the Red Cross, but "she was appalled at the treatment they got" from the U.S. government, her mother said.

At the airport in Bangkok, other governments had set up booths to greet nationals who had been affected and to help repatriate them, she said.

That was not the case with the U.S. government, Wachs told her mother. It took the couple three hours, she said, to find the officials from the American consulate, who were in the VIP lounge.

Because they had lost all their possessions, including their documentation, they had to have new passports issued.

But the U.S. officials demanded payment to take the passport pictures, Helen Wachs said.

The couple had managed to hold on to their ATM card, so they paid for the photos and helped other Americans who did not have any money get their pictures taken and buy food, Helen Wachs said.

"She was really very surprised" that the government did so little to ease their ordeal, she said.

One more day, and then we can return home and play with our toys. *sigh* Don't get married, kids; it makes the holidays a hassle.

Husband and I had our own little Xmas on the 23rd and he surprised me big-time with a new little Sony digital camera that fits in my pocket. Our other digital does more stuff, but this one's much more convenient. He also got me a bunch of games, a pair of jammies, a heart necklace from Tiffany, and other good things.

We went down to my parents' that evening and had a super-fancy dinner out at The Fountains, which is ranked #2 in the country. My aunt came down from upstate NY for the gathering, and it was very pleasant to spend time with her. Our dinner was a very elegant meal. My only small gripe is that if you don't like seafood, which I don't, there's often little to eat at these super-fancy places, but I still went home stuffed on ginger profiterole with ginger ice cream.

Christmas Eve turned out well too, with a trip to Joann's early in the day for a red velvet suitable for Ayame from FB's red cassock. By the time the 50% discount and my 40% coupon had been applied, I got 5 yards of 60" velvet for $20. We went to 8 PM Mass - alleluia, no screaming babies! - and watched "March of the Wooden Soldiers."

My dad woke us all up with a toot on his boat horn and we finally got down to the present-opening business. My big present was a White serger and case (yay!) but my parents were most generous to both my husband and me with other gifts on top of that. Husband got his watch-winder, and my dad gave him/us a set of headsets to take to the next F1 race.

We went to the Q's around noon for presents and lunch. They don't match my parents for sheer materialism under the Christmas tree, but Mom and Dad Q gave me very thoughtful gifts, including books on kimono and a Japanese-themed quilting book.

Christmas night we spent with husband's brother and wife. They were having her extended family also, but despite my husband's profound irritation with that whole situation (long story) it turned out OK. We spent very little time with her stepfather, who had dressed for the occasion in his best cowboy boots and ponytail holder. Instead, we watched a good portion of the very exciting KC/Raiders game (and wow did that FG kicker get a Christmas present, poor guy!)

Tomorrow we visit husband's old friends and associated baby before logging some more Q time with his aunt and uncle. It's a good thing I'm taking next week off; I'll need it to recover.

Hope everyone else on my list had a very Merry Christmas (or whatever!)

But everyone else was doing it!

( Click for lyrics )

Wow. It is freezing in here today.

Aside from the water problem, it was a decent weekend. We got some Christmas stuff done, including buyign a present for my hard-to-shop-for dad (a couple half-bottles of wine.) Our trip to the liquor store to get the half-bottles was a portrait of how cranky my dad is getting in his old age, since we had to explain to the fellow who was helping us why we couldn't get half-bottles of French wine. (My father is still holding a grudge against the French and eating "freedom toast.")

I baked a bunch of cookies, as per the norm, with more to come next weekend. So far I've got cantuccini, pistachio-orange biscotti, lemon sugar cookies, brownies, lemon bars (if they came out right), orange-cardamom walnut crescents, Hershey kiss cookies, and Georgia pecan bars. Still have to do the usual trip-c's, as well as the jam jewels and macadamia-lime cookies husband likes, and maybe chocolate mint and chocolate vanilla chip if I get to it.

As for the water problem... when I got home on Friday, I was thirsty and took a big swig out of the faucet, only on the second mouthful noticing that the water tasted like clay and smelled bad. There has been some work going on outside our house on the water main, so it has to be related. It was annoying as crap all weekend, but I didn't get sick from drinking it, so I washed the baking stuff and didn't mind taking a shower. Husband refused to touch anything that hadn't been boiled and griped about washing the baking dishes. So far, I am still not sick.

Sometimes, you just can't be anal, or you'll never get anything done.

Off to lay down the smack on the water company.