Kou Aidou's Journal
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Kou Aidou's LiveJournal:
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| Sunday, May 18th, 2008 | | 8:15 am |
| | Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 | | 4:43 pm |
In my body's long search to find the most uncomfortable possible place to put a pimple (previous contenders: the edge of the lip, the edge of the nostril, the base of the earlobe), I think it's finally found it. I have a pimple on the inside of my ear, just on the rim of the ear canal. Since it's a hard cartilage area, this translates to an instant painful headache anytime I do anything to even vaguely stimulate that area or the musculature that affects it (including using earbuds, sleeping on my right side, or... uh... chewing).
Seriously, I would be annoyed about this if I weren't completely in awe of my body's ability to make something so simple and lame as a minor skin irritation this genuinely debilitating. | | Thursday, May 1st, 2008 | | 9:36 pm |
The weirdest thing I've ever seen on CSI?
A totally random cameo from Adam and Jamie of the Mythbusters.
(It almost made up for the comment "You're like a geeky guy trapped in a woman's body" earlier in the episode. 'cause y'know... girls are never just geeky on their own.) | | Friday, April 25th, 2008 | | 1:32 am |
A good day in entertainment news
Jimmy Fallon is tapped to take over Conan O'Brien's show, after the latter takes over for Jay Leno. It's weird 'cause I was just thinking about Jimmy Fallon (maybe because of Tina Fey's upcoming movie) and wishing his career had taken off better. I really liked him on SNL so I hope he makes a good late night host.
Plus, Guillermo Del Toro is now confirmed to direct the upcoming Hobbit movies. I think I've already talked about this in an earlier topic, but I'll state again for the record that this is in my opinion basically perfect. I think he's a better overall director than Peter Jackson, but Jackson will still be around to help out with the epic battle scenes and SFX that made the LotR movies what they were. | | Sunday, April 20th, 2008 | | 2:21 pm |
Robert Downey Jr. http://news.yahoo.com/page/parade-rdj/rdjMan it's pretty crazy how a guy can go from being that much of a dickwad to that much of a class act in such a short span of time. Good for him, you know? | | Saturday, April 19th, 2008 | | 7:05 pm |
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sircrowbar is the greatest person in the universe! He fixed both of my Stupid Computer Problems. Someone, give this guy a lot of money or possibly a job programming awesome things. I am now popup annoyance-free and back to using Firefox 2.X.X with all my bookmarks intact. Aww, spellchecker, I missed you too! | | Thursday, April 17th, 2008 | | 5:39 pm |
Tech Support About a week ago, I helped my parents to configure our network so that printer and file sharing would actually work again. This mostly involved me fucking around with network settings (dad's computer is Vista, ours were XP) until things started working, but they did finally start working. Shortly after this, two really annoying things started happening on this computer. First, Firefox 2.X.X started shitting itself and refused to run any page with an input box properly (I have since downgraded to 1.X.X, which works fine). Second, the following irritating dialogue box has started popping up relentlessly regardless of what I'm doing:  While this dialogue box is active, my internet will abruptly cease working, until I press the "Cancel" button to get it to vanish, at which time it starts working fine again, until the box pops up yet again anywhere from a minute to an hour after I last dismissed it. If I try to use "Connect" under any of the drop-down options, it informs me that it can't find the connection, and I lose internet. I have explored the 'Properties' option as well, and can find no explanation for what the fuck this box is or why it keeps butting in on my internet's business when it's clearly working fine. As such, I can also find nothing that will allow me to stop the box from popping up. I have reconfigured my network settings multiple times, but no setup I've tried seems to actually do the trick. Does anyone have any idea what I can do to get this to stop? It's not debilitating but it is extremely (and I mean extremely) annoying. I've never had this problem before, ever, and I have no idea why it's starting now. | | 3:52 pm |
Feeling blue and existential.
Is anybody there? Does anybody care? | | 9:01 am |
Dear Amazon.com,
We've been through this before, haven't we? When I select the box that says "group my order into as few shipments as possible" that means "please make every effort to send all of my items in one box." It does not mean "Please send my orders as two shipments a day apart so that you can preen over how quickly you're trying to serve me." If I wanted that, I would have, I don't know, checked the box that asked for that.
Seriously, Amazon. I do not need more cardboard boxes. Your shipping practices are both insulting to my intelligence and incredibly wasteful. Stop it. | | Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 | | 7:18 pm |
New Movie Idea! (with help from Sang)
In the tradition of Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Superhero Movie, et al, I present:
HISTORICALLY INACCURATE MOVIE
The story of white, English-speaking Jesus who travels the world, frees some Mammoth-driving slaves in Egypt, leads the Scots to independence, bangs a couple disco-dancing Geisha Girls, and becomes the Last Samurai.
What other misadventures would WESJ get into? That's for you to decide! | | Saturday, April 12th, 2008 | | 2:28 am |
Late night wackiness I've been asked recently why I don't put more art on my LJ. The answer is basically that I don't usually sketch for fun, so most of my drawings tend to be for stories that are still in progress. However, occasionally I get an inspiration to draw something fun and silly. As on this occasion, it usually results in something very strange, which will appeal only to the very small intersection of people on my FL who fall under both "Macross 7 fans" and "people who follow American politics". But for you five people... enjoy!!! (And yes, let me mention that I appreciate caricaturists way more now.) | | Thursday, April 10th, 2008 | | 4:51 pm |
Geh
Final disaster averted.
Application sent in.
Nerves shot.
Now I sleep for a million years. | | Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 | | 11:57 am |
Shit is epic
Epic frustration, that is.
Tomorrow, for the third day in a row, I will go out to the hospital, the bank, and the post office. I am assured that at this time I will have all the items I need to send in my application.
Apparently, my life now functions on fairy tale rules.
Good to know. | | Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 | | 9:32 pm |
More happy news! Roger Ebert's back! Hooray! Death to Jim Emerson and his reign of pretentious crap! Long live thoughtful, erudite reviews that actually inform you of what a movie's about! Mr. Ebert, I'm so happy to have you back that I will even forgive you your decision to feature the Ang Lee Hulk movie at your Film Festival. Now please stick around! | | 7:29 pm |
Success!
...almost!
I had my doctor's appointment today, which went very smoothly. They sent me to the building next door to get my chest X-Ray done, and all in all the whole process was just about $200 between appointment and X-Ray, which (as you know, if you've been reading my journal) is much much better than I was expecting.
Except... they didn't have my vaccination records on-hand. Apparently, they're "in storage" somewhere at another site, and were never converted to the computer. So my doctor told me to leave the medical form with her, and they'd give us a call when the records came in. "If you haven't heard from us in a week," she said, "call us."
Are you people trying to kill me??? | | Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 | | 4:50 pm |
Busy days Okay, I've been pretty meh on Hillary Clinton lately, but I have to admit that this is pretty good. Now hon, please, don't run it into the ground! It has been a busy bunch of days. I'm translating for two guides (for a while I was translating for three, but thankfully the other job finished), and meanwhile, trying to get my stuff together for Keio. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment to get the chest x-ray and all that jazz (note to self: BRING HEALTH FORM TO APPOINTMENT). After that, I think I'll have everything I need from other people (got the recc. letter from Ramsey, my transcript, dad signed my guarantor form). So I just have to fill out my application, finish my study plan, write a check and sent it all out. I also managed to finish the insane cross-stitch I've been working on for the past six months (fuck you, French Knots!), and do some "spring cleaning" cleaning which included giving a bunch of old stuff to goodwill and putting the little corner of the family room that serves as my office in better order. Part of the bonus of said cleaning: SURPRISE CHOCOLATE! Yes, my brother had given me a lot of chocolate for Christmas which had gotten packed up in a box when I went down to Virginia for New Year's and forgotten, and it just turned up again. At a time when I most desperately need chocolate, too! So that is happy. The stuff I bought on my crazy buying streak last week has also started coming in... a super-fancy electronic dictionary (which I'm slowly learning how to work), some DVDs, and some books about Japan that I may or may not ever actually get around to reading. I really need to get out of the store this week and buy a few other things -- some proper folders to sort out my tax stuff, and a new binder to hold my, uh, "historic" art works... I realized that the cloth-bound one that I have had for the last seven or so years is the source of the cat pee smell around here, and once it's soaked into cloth, well... Speaking of which... have I been drawing for almost nine years? Is that insane? I used to think I was a prodigy, now I'm just another damned dissatisfied artist who's not as good as she wants to be. Bah! | | Saturday, March 15th, 2008 | | 3:30 pm |
Crap Showtime's John Adams miniseries has both Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson? Well I guess I'm just going to have to watch that now, aren't I. In other random actor musings, I forgot that Christian Bale was in Newsies back when he was younger. So apparently that guy can also dance. I guess we know the answer to that one Shortpacked strip, then. | | Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 | | 3:17 pm |
| | Friday, February 22nd, 2008 | | 8:17 pm |
Short Films
Today I got out to the Landmark to see all of the Short Films (Animated + Live Action, no documentary) nominated for the Academy Award. This is the first time I've had the privilege to view all of the short films before the ceremony, so I can unabashedly offer my opinions, and make my recommendations as to each.
Animated Short Films
I Met the Walrus (Canada, Ink): An approximately 5 minute-long segment using B&W ink animation set to an impromptu interview that a 14-year-old student conducted with John Lennon back in the 70s. I admit, I didn't like this at all. Great concept, the inking and the Yellow Submarine-like imagery was cool, but the literalness of it distracted from what Lennon was actually saying. I had to wonder what the point was, it just felt sort of masturbatory.
Madame Tutli-Putli (Canada, Stop-Motion): A breathtakingly interesting use of puppet-animation. I think they even used the old Supermarionation technique of interposing real eyes on the characters and managed to make it look not-creepy. It's a very odd and abstract film, maybe not for everyone, but when it was all over, this is the one that left the most lasting impression on me. My pick for the win.
Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis [Even Pigeons Go to Heaven] (France, CGI): Complete and utter shit. Ugly, drab, hideous animation. The story was somehow random and predictable all at once. It reminded me of those horrible Ice Age shorts about the moron squirrel, except the animation was even worse. Ugh.
Moya Lyubov [My Love] (Russia, Paint-on-Glass): A close second to Madame Tutli-Putli for my money. The animation (done in the oil paint-on-glass technique which I'd never even heard of before, but must know more about right now) is absolutely spectacular. Its length and the way the story putters around in the middle keep it from taking the top spot for me, but it's absolutely worth seeing for the animation -- seriously, words don't do it justice, you must see it. Apparently this film was a five-year effort for the director, and I expect it to (deservedly) take home the award for that alone.
Peter & the Wolf (Poland, Stop-Motion): Another kind of meh entry. The film stalls at the beginning and comes alive once the famous score kicks in (a regrettable 5 minutes into the film. What the fuck, people?). But despite having an interesting aesthetic, the animation's kind of lousy, especially as a stop-motion entry having to follow the fabulous Mme. Tutli. The predictably cutesy-pie ending also had me rolling my eyes.
Live Action Short Film
At Night (Denmark): A scathing criticism of Denmark's health care system! I kid. It's actually a slow-moving (but, well, moving) story about three female cancer patients who meet and talk at night. Definitely "chick-flick" material, but the acting and writing is solid, and unlike some of the entries, it had a definite point at the end.
Il Supplente [The Substitute] (Italy): Hated it. Hated the jarring cinematography, hated the main character, couldn't even tell you what the fuck it was supposed to be about. A guy pretends to be a substitute teacher in a high school, and screams a lot. Oh, and there's lots of "hilarious" fat kid abuse. A completely pointless waste of film. Fuck you, Italy. Fuck you.
Le Mozart des Pickpockets [The Mozart of Pickpockets] (France): This was a cute film about two down-on-their-luck con men who take in a deaf kid. I liked it, but I felt like it should have either been longer or shorter -- less prologue, more epilogue, maybe. It's about what you'd expect from a movie with the premise. Still fun, though.
Tanghi Argentini (Belgium): A story about an office worker who wants to learn to Tango. This was the first film they showed in the block, and it remained my pick for the win throughout. "Charming" is the only word for it -- a movie that somehow manages to be funny, sweet, and feel complete, all within an impressively short running time. After it was over, I just wanted to watch it again and again. Everything about it was just perfect. If only it was on YouTube... or anywhere! Argh!
The Tonto Woman (UK): An impressively-shot western about a cattle rustler who tries to befriend/seduce a woman who lived with the Mojave Indians for 11 years. Very pretty, and sweet in its way, but like The Mozart of Pickpockets, I just felt it ambled a bit too much.
Well, there you go, my impressions of all the entries. I hope that if nothing else, it offers up some context to you Oscar-watchers out there. | | Monday, February 18th, 2008 | | 4:58 pm |
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