Midaregami

My counterpart’s iBook’s display has had a couple of ominous backlight flickers recently. Her backlight has failed before (just like my old iBook’s did—damn you, Apple) but that was when the machine was still covered by AppleCare, so she was able to get it repaired free of charge. It’s out of that coverage now, so there is some concern as to what the best course of action should be, in the event of another backlight failure.

At Herr Holz’s request, we visited the USS Missouri, which is anchored in Pearl Harbor. I’m sure that most young boys find large seagoing vessels fascinating at some point in their lives; I was not obsessed with them as I was obsessed with, for example, dinosaurs, but you have to admit, battleships are pretty cool. Owing especially to my background as a landlocked desert-dweller, big ships seem ineffably magical and romantic to me. That’s not really relevant to anything, but it explains why I get kind of quiet around them, as one would be quiet around a sleeping god.

Last night was the final night of Herr Holz’s stay with Herself and I here on O’ahu.

To celebrate—not his leaving, of course, but his presence—we went to Keo’s for dinner. Keo’s is a swanky Thai place in Waikiki. As per the 1974 Waikiki Chintziness Statute (3.5.11) it had the requisite five (5) gas-powered tiki torches out front. I am not sure if the tiki torch was, as the external decor suggested, an integral part of the artistic milieu of the ancient kingdom of Siam, but I have an inexplicable fondness for gas-powered tiki torches, so, you know, hooray for Keo’s.

The food was excellent. I feel it important to note that I had a dish called the “Evil Jungle Prince,” and I will be god-damned if the delicious basil-sauteed beef did not exude a certain palpable malice. “Eat me,” it suggested, “And I will rain such terror upon your digestive tract as men will speak of it for generations.” Or perhaps it whispered sibilant promises of riches and women if I would simply betray my truest friend to its sinister secret police, the ruthless green curry. I’m not entirely sure what its vile message was, as I am not fluent in the language of capsaicin. I did understand the overriding theme, though, which was: Hot.

Alright, I’m delinquent. There are a variety of topics I could be discussing here, now that the semester’s over and vacation’s started, but haven’t been very… proactive about it.

I have been proactive about other things. Tuneful things. For example, it has occurred to me that The Second Line Dances Even When Dead. You may or may not agree.

I have also heard things, things about Youth and Transience—but I have not finished transcribing the message. Rest assured that it will be here when it is ready.

Holy crap. Yoka Wao fell 2 meters from a stage wire.

That’s just weird. I sure hope she’s alright. What do you think is going to happen to the stage manager? Somebody’s going to get blamed for this, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.

Some of these would be hilarious. Some would just be awesome. Others would destroy you.

• Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Shinji with Feist’s “Secret Heart”

• Spike and Julia from Cowboy Bebop with MC Solaar’s “La Belle et le Bad Boy.”

• Golden Boy’s Kintaro with Momus’s “Born to be Adored By Women”

• Omoide Poroporo, just in general, with Spitz’s “Countryside Life”

• Arima from His and Her Circumstances with the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody,” especially around episodes 18 and 19

• Chii from Chobits with The Flaming Lips’ “One More Robot/Symphony 3000-21.”

• Miyu from Vampire Princess Miyu with Blonde Redhead’s “Melody.”

• I will be god-damned if I can think of a good Kimagure Orange Road music video. I just can’t think of the right combination.

• Finally, they need to do a Nana anime, and Shena Ringo needs to cover The Killers’ “Indie Rock & Roll,” so that somebody can do the video and make me weep openly, sobbing great sobs for a past that never was.

Okay, I think I got that out of my system. Also, comments are back on. Thanks, Fluffy.

I think a few people might be interested in these Katamari Damacy T-shirts, which are both actually official designs done by the game creators, and are being printed by Panic, a… a Macintosh software developer.

Given how weird the game is, I guess that makes sense.

So, I know Full Metal Alchemist is supposed to be great, but I saw a couple of episodes, and here were a couple of my thoughts.

“The older brother is a stoic-yet-idealistic fighter trying to atone for his wrongs?! NO SHIT REALLY?”

“And there’s a supportive girl who’s secretly in love with him? OKAY THAT’S JUST CRAZY TALK.”

Ah, anime. No wonder I don’t watch as much of you anymore.