DoodleDoodleDoodle...

Another day, another dollar...

Big update on my life time! It's been quite a while since I last doodled anything here... so let me start off with my plans to graduate. OH YEAHH! Edz here is finally getting his ba.. bac... *looks at Academic Services web site* baccalaureate degree! Can you dig it? Huh huh huh? *pumps right arm* Wooooooo...

btw, i discovered this series of animated shorts called "There she is!!" @ NewGrounds and now recommend all animation fans to the Korean artist(s)' - SamBakZa - site.

Much like Pucca (click on English on the top right-corner for the translated site), I've been seeing quite a lot of high-quality Korean animation show up... plus The Simpsons have long been more or less Korean-drawn... I am feeling that the Koreans deserve as much praise as the Japanese did for the industry, although animation, at heart, is still the brain-child of the artists themselves.

I personally love doodling, but never did find the patience or stamina to draw a fully animated short. Maybe someday... someday I can do it. *Procrastination mode*

Luna, you will be missed

After toughing it out with the Lim Family for over 2 years, our Ford Taurus (fondly known as Luna), has moved on to her next adventure... As we have gotten a minivan recently, we no longer need so many large vehicles in our hands, so we thought since she's still a mighty mover, someone might be able to give her the necessary TLC.

So away she went into the arms of her new owner... you will be missed! Thanks for memories, and the fish... [1996 Ford Taurus GL Wagon: 2002-2005]

Foggy mornin'

I was just browsing through my photos in my celly-fone, and I noticed these surreal pics of dense fog that I drove through one morning... relax... I used one hand to take the photos, my other hand was still on the wheel...

Anyway, it was crawwwwling on the freeway and this was 8:45 in the morning! Pretty humid day, it turned out. But the afternoon sun burned through all of that...

More photos of Girl-Girl!

Here they are folks, more pics of Baby girl Eleanor in her drooling and ultra-cutesy-ness glory! Click on her pretty little portrait for more (access her album @ Webshots)!

More fluffy clouds...

I just couldn't help taking in this breath-taking (IMHO) view of a summer's sunset amidst cotton candy cloud cover... wowie...

Edwin "Ah-chek" (uncle)

Ahhh!!! She's here! Eleanor has arrived!!!

Born at around 1909hrs, Sept 2nd 2005, the Lim Family's lovely 6lb 2oz baby Eleanor has made her long-overdue arrival! Mommy Karen and Daddy Gavin are both very happy and tired! Woohoo! As the cameras are still with my bro in the hospital, I've only got my camera phone pics to post now... here it is!

Super KAWAI'II!

Akan Datang: First Daughter of the Lim Family

While my niece is still happily cooing in the warmth of my sister-in-law's tummy, everyone else here in Columbus/Dublin OH are on full alert!!!

Heheh... we like to joke around that over the past week or so, everyone is more anxious than the Momma herself... haiyoh what to do!

I, for one, can't wait to see my niece - baby Eleanor - and tickle her toes for making all of us wait! This little princess is overdue, since Saturday! Hahahah... she is a DEFINITE true-blood Singaporean! Always Fashionably Late!

Javajavajavajavajavajava

Ahhh... there's nuthin' like a nice warm cuppa in the morning to pep me up!

And now, I've even more reason to do so... hee... Kopi-Oh Gao Gao!!! (Coffee Black Extra Strong!) That's right all you kopi-sians (coffee addicts/lovers) out there, coffee - in moderation - does help, just like red wine and cheese!

Remember - in MODERATION = No binging!

Fwd: 10 Worst BJ Mistakes

Hahah... normally I'd expect to see an article like this appearing on BoingBoing or Fleshbot, but lo and behold, it appears on Tomorrow.SG!

A fist-to-face article with a slightly cheeky tinge (and hopefully, educational for our fellow female counterparts ;) , but you just cannot deny the truth behind the words! Read it to believe it...

** WARNING : Not recommended for minors aged 18 and under **

There, I've said it (disclaimer), so go check it out: Direct Link

Have fun! :)

Initial D: The Live Action Movie (HK) Rant

After some consideration, I decided to give the "Initial D" live action movie - adapted from the much-revered Japanese manga/anime series by Shuuichi Shigeno - a try, and being a fan, my expectations were understandably quite high [for the movie to do the original series justice]. Let's just say I was not impressed with the movie although I must give some credit to the stunt drivers for some of the racing scenes... NOTE: I watched the Mandarin-dubbed version, so I did not experience the original Cantonese speech. Here's my quick rant of some actors' performances/directions, followed by general comments about the adaptation:

- Jay Chou, playing Fujiwara Takumi, our lead protagonist. Jay worked hard to capture that "bo-chup" (simply don't care) and "blur" look that made Takumi so famous while he negotiates the bends of Mt. Akina. BUT he sometimes just comes across as trying too hard, and he seems to be a little uncomfortable (which is understandable for the Taiwanese singer in his first leading role, and this movie is shot entirely in Cantonese dialogue!)... More to be said about his chemistry with actress Anne Suzuki later.

- Anthony Wong, playing Fujiwara Bunta, the supposed "God of Mt. Akina's curves". In the anime, Bunta was the strong and silent driving force behind Takumi's skill and abilities. He smokes, quietly makes his Tofu (their family's main source of income) and gives Takumi advice whenever he observes something new about driving or cars. Why... WHY did they decide to make Bunta's character a drunk/alcoholic and child beater?! I still wonder what went on in the minds of the two moronic directors (Alan and Andrew f--kin' something)... You... DO NOT... MESS with BUNTA! Once I saw Anthony passed out on the floor in the first Bunta scene, I was like, "Oh frickin' gawd... they did NOT do this!" The movie just started, and I was ALREADY pissed and disappointed. Movie gets major negative points for this totally uncalled for change of character dynamics.

- Anne Suzuki plays Natsuki Mogi, Takumi's love interest and part-time Enjo Kosai escort. Acting wise, she does the cute thing just fine. But there was little chemistry between Jay and Anne, aside from some indications of puppy love, I felt nothing deeper. Plus, in the anime/manga, it was never clearly stated how far (sexually) she went with her "Papa" (Mr Benz ;) ... the readers/viewers were expected to draw their own conclusions. But in the movie the directors decided to make the decision for us, and so -ba-da-bing- Mogi is a whore. Rrright. Let's see if there is (Gawd forbid) a sequel to this Live movie, how would they recover from this fiasco.

- Chapman To takes on the resident clown role, as Itsuki Takeuchi. This casting choice hit hard on several aspects. (1) Chapman is way too old to play the loud and goofy Itsuki... I mean, LOSE THE DAMN SHADES! Those things were in fashion during the 70s! He came across as smart-ass cocky and just irritating to watch. (2) They got rid of Iketani and threw the reins of the Akina Speedstars into Itsuki's hands, who thinks he's the "God of Driving"! What about our "Lonely Drivers?!" (3) WORST crime of all: They decided to cast the Itsuki character as the gas station manager Yuuichi Tachibana's (played by Kenny Bee, who wasn't too bad) SON. I kid you not. I have no other words for this type of shitty/lazy writing and casting.

There were quite a number of other issues I had, but I'll narrow down to a few major ones, including: the total exclusion of Keisuke Takahashi and his beautiful competition yellow FD RX-7. I mean, come on! The main reason behind Takumi's rise as a racer was the Takahashi bros' discovery of this mysterious AE86 running in the narrow Mt. Akina streets! WTF?

The painfully brief inclusion of the Emperor Team (Mitsu Evo drivers). If you have watched the entire anime or read the entire manga series to date, you will know that the Emperor Team had a far greater agenda! Jordan Chan played his role as the #1 Emperor driver (however briefly) as well as he could, but I can't blame him for the bad adaptation of his character.

So, in conclusion, I really wished the directors + producers planned ahead and signed up the cast for a trilogy or at least a sequel, so that they can stretch out the material a bit and allow more room for their characters to develop. Sure, this whole story line has been covered on print and on TV, but what about those who have heard about Initial D but have not had the pleasure of catching the original series? They would think that all that bullcrap plot alterations are the real deal! So I blame the failure (not commercial, just the interllectual and spiritual) of this movie to the writers, the directors and the producers for being so damn blind to the fact that this movie should have been MORE than JUST about the cars and driving. >:(

Final Pip: They should have left some of the AvexTrax Euro-beat/trance music (esp. those by Move) in the race sequences.

Blair gets sucker-punched. Bush sends condolences.

Issit not just a coincidence that U.K. gets hit with a systematic and coordinated attack not long before the G8 summit and right after the 2012 Olympics announcement? Tis a sad day...

Beauty at the eyes of the beholder

Just trying to look like I understand something in the canvas...

Back from D.C. ... Movin' in!

Ahhh... what a great Independance Day weekend! Drove down with my family to the nation's capital to say hello to ol' Prez Bush, and did managed to see him overhead... hee... check out his chopper landing at the White House:

Back to work today... w00t! The janitors' gotten my new office floor stripped and waxed and I'm ready to move in! Yaayyyy!

Web courses and Working!

Aaahhh... I've just started on my first day of distance learning/web-based/online courses at the local Community College, and let's just say that right now, I'm a little overwhelmed by the amount of information to take in... wooooo woo wooo...

PANIC ATTACK!!!
*grabs temples and shakes head violently side-to-side*
Huu ... huuu ... huuu ...
*Deep breaths*
Oooooohkay. Ground's stopped moving. Great.

Gotta remember to print out the TON of materials (Syllabus, Assignments, Readings etc etc) that are listed on the web site later today. *trying to convince /self* It's gonna be FUN FUN FUN! Hoo hoo hoo! Aren't we all glad?!

A BIG piece of good news is that I've been accepted to take a position as the System Specialist in the Elec. & Computer Engineering Dept! Yaayyyyy... It's been a good 2 years since i joined the team in the ECE department (then known as just EE), and I've loved every minute of it! Couldn't ask for a better bunch of people to work with... Oooo YEAH! *Egyptian head nod... and spin... and moonwalk!*

Better get some shuteye soon... I've got a pack of Oscar Meyer "Bun-size" Weiners to return to Meijer first thing tomorrow morning, coz they just got a "Buy 1 get 2 free" offer on their Ball Park franks. Yummy!

*Yawn* *stretch*
G'nite, mates!

Long, Hot Days

Whew! What a start of Summer it's been! We've been having, like, the LONGEST days here in Ohio... and lately temperatures have been skyrocketing up to the 90s (Fahrenheit)! Not only that, we've just had 11 days of continuous sunny days... not a single drop of rain. Some cities/towns have started imposing Watering Restrictions (where residents are told to only water their plants and stuff on certain days).

This week OSU is holding Orientation for students, bloody car parks are packed with visitors... sigh... my student parking pass holds no value. All the lots have been gobbled up by the time i get to work, and I'm too much of a lazy a$$ to get up earlier. So a little more exercise for me this week as i scrounge for space in the parking areas a couple of blocks further down.

Mighty hot. Sunset only comes at 9:30pm...
"Wah! Jin-Zua!" *fans self*

Nihon-Go: Enjo Kosai

Ever watched Initial D, the anime... esp the episodes with Takumi's girlfriend and her "Papa"? Or basically any Japanese TV series that involve teenage girl(s) who have no money to spend?

I'm pointing to "Compensated Dating" - or more blatantly, "Teenaged Whoring". I can't remember the first time i heard about this, but this has been a widely-discussed issue within the strict/face-saving Japanese Society. Basically every Tom, Dick and Harriet knows that this happens... A LOT. And what's even more fascinating, it's totally consensual. The girls know what they are doing. They know that guys want sex (esp in their sailor school outfits). They know they need the money to maintain their shopping habits (and need to fit in). And they know that these guys (salarymen, mostly in their 30s or older) can give'em the dough. So bam-bam-boom, a deal is sealed. Into the Love Hotel for a night of "service" (it doesn't always involve sex) for cash. Up till 1999, in Japan it's legal to have sex with a person who is 14 and up. Then a new law was erected to prevent sex until a person is 18.
Like that helps. Rrrrright.

Anyway, I'm not one to complain, it's just an interesting phenomenon that's afflicted a largely traditional society still struggling to find a balance between progressive economy and social morality. Just based on what the media's been reporting and what you can find off the web, you'll see that Japan is in no way behind the times when it comes to the sex industry. They've got pretty lewd stuff (aside from the usual obsession with young schoolgirls) that i believe even the adult entertainment industry in Europe and the US would find strange.

I can go on and on... there are tons of articles about how the sex industry is able to thrive and grow in this traditionally reserved country... For those of you still interested to read about this, check out my sources of this post:
Time Asia - She's only a little schoolgirl
Enjo Kosai - Adventures in a Love Hotel
A Written Record - Compass Online
Japan for the Uninvited: Enjo Kosai

My brother once visited Japan for a business trip, and he was told that as schoolgirls progressed from one academic level to the next, their skirts lengthen. Fascinating.

<Edit - some factual corrections... i made some assumptions that clearly showed my lack of research... Sumimasen, Thomas-san!>

2001 Civic For Sale

Btw, anyone who is within the vicinity of Columbus, OH and is looking for a ride, might wanna consider buying this Honda Civic Coupe from a friend of mine... it's a pretty sweet ride, and is well-cared for. Lady driver, first owner! :)

Check it out at my Forever For Sale site...

Here's a sneak peek:

Rant of the Day

Why doesn't anybody flush the damn toilets after they use them? Gawd damned them to hell... smells up the damn place. And what's worse, some of those fellas who don't wash their damn hands!
UGH! Pooey! Ptui! Ptui!

Excuses...

It's Finals Week. I'm already burnt out.

So I'm not expecting to post much until next week blows over.

I still have an interview and a doctor's appointment next Friday.

Argh.

Interlude

What a weekend!

Just attended a Gaming convention on Saturday held in Downtown Columbus with some friends. Saw some interesting Star Wars promotional "mascots" (pictures will be posted tomorrow - I'm too tired to do clean up now) ...

Drove up today to Utica to attend the Velvet's Ice Cream Festival/Carnival. There was a classic/muscle car show and an arts-n-crafts market... not too bad... saw some pretty mean wheels!

Well, tomorrow is rest/homework day... so better get some sleep and be up early... *yawn*

TBC (to be continued)...