The Long Road

Archives: August 2005

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

I still remember the very first episode of modern anime that I ever watched - it was a part of Escaflowne. The ending was what really struck me: as the girl is falling down a canyon, Prince Vann leaps off his dragon diving after her, and as feathers start flying all over the screen the camera zooms out to show that Vann has unfurled a huge pair of pure white wings; revealing for the first time to the girl and the audience what he truly is.

Last year, my brother told me “come watch the first episode of Gundam Seed, they really butcher the names in the dub”, sure enough it was pretty bad. But I watched the entire 20 minutes anyways, at the end of which our hero gets thrown into one of the giant Gundam robots. The last 30 seconds are in slow motion, as explosions detonate all around it, the Gundam begins to rise. All this happens as the ending credit song begins to fade in; it’s a slow yet upbeat Japanese pop song which really manages to elevate Gundam Seed’s endings. In episode two, the supporting characters manage to get to their new battleship, the Archangel. At the end, the Gundams are battling when they suddenly hear a loud explosion, they all look up, The Song begins and the gigantic and beautiful Archangel soars overhead free from its confines and ready to do battle.

It’s moments like these that make anime worth watching; when plot, character, music, and visuals come together in such a way that you feel nothing but awe and the insatiable need to see what happens next. “Awe” is the operative word here - anime is intensely proficient at creating moments of pure grandeur.

The only example of American TV that I can think of which comes close to approximating this feeling is in season 2 of 24. After spending the entire first episode looking like a bum, Jack Bauer is convinced to go back into action. At the end, the camera is looking at a bathroom sink, as it rises so does the music and we see a clean cut-and-shaven Jack looking intensely into the mirror/camera. It just gives you the feeling of “oh shit, ass is going to get kicked now.”

Posted by Rayne @ 12:16 PM EST [Link] [6 comments]

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

According to GAF, August 24 is a significant date since Nintendo has historically made several important announcements on this date. This year's will obviously be about the Nintendo Revolution.

All that Nintendo's revealed so far is the look of the console while MS has shown it's whole hand and sony gave a few teases. Someone's holding four of a kind while the other has a full house. Nintendo's either hiding a royal flush or doesn't even know what game they're playing.

What I would love to see is Nintendo presenting a controller that is as huge a step forward as the N64 controller was at the time (the only progress we've seen since have been a 2nd analog stick and analog triggers), an amazing Mario game that is as revolutionary as Mario 64 was, and, least probably, realtime, gameplay graphics that will blow away each and every one of sony's bullshit ps3 tech demos.

I want Nintendo to have a machine that'll do as many poligons per second as real life, Finding Nemo graphics, and the ability to launch a dozen ICBMs while sinking battleships.

I want them to go home and fuck the princess, instead of only trying their best. First Place or irrelevancy. Do or die. Go big or go home. Take a shit or get off the toilet. All or nothing. In short, this picture sumarizes my feelings on the matter.

Posted by Rayne @ 09:58 PM EST [Link] [6 comments]

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Unless you've been living under a house for the summer, you have probably noticed the ads for Virgin Mobile assaulting you everywhere you go. The ads are full of double entendres are obviously targetted towards the younger crowd. Some of their taglines say "Maximizes your pleasure", and "I like to do it all night long" (there're a bunch of others, but I can't think of them at the moment).

So the questions are: are we supposed to notice that they're aiming young? If we were their target demographic, would we just think the ads are cool and be tempted to check out Virgin phones? Does thinking about the ad's targeted audience mean that it is or isn't working on you? Does knowing that you're not who they're after make their product less appealing?

Personally, they don't really resonate with me and I think the phones are a bit expensive. I just want something cheap and nice looking to talk on, y'know? None of this hidef-wifi-gps-dvd-recorder stuff.

Posted by Rayne @ 03:59 PM EST [Link] [5 comments]

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Mysterieuses Cites D'Or was/is the most memorable show from my childhood. Look here for a synopsis. It's amazing to think that in the 80s amongst Transformers, Thundercats, and G.I. Joe we had a historical/sci-fi/fantasy show whose point was NOT to sell toys to kids but instead to tell a compelling story. Told in what is essentially a 39-part long-form narrative, MCO is miles ahead of most of today's ADD-driven children's shows.

The show derived a lot from the ancient civilizations which used to live in Central and South America. Little did I know back then that even the Olmec and Mu Empires were based on the real world. What really drove my imagination was the possibility that all these ancient empires had long-lost advanced technology. Obviously some things were impossible, but to this day we still aren't certain how the Incas built Machu Picchu. Ever since watching the show as a kid, I've wanted nothing more than to spend a few months wandering around South America exploring the ancient cities of the Mayan and Incan Empires.

Having recently discovered that MCO was available in Quebec, I was excited to be able to rewatch the series. We have copies we recorded onto VHS...but c'mon..VHS. Unfortunately, the producers did not remaster the video or audio and we're left with the same grainy broadcast quality that's been on the air for over 20 yrs. Fortunately, they include tons of extras and the show still holds up fairly well after all these years. The Transformers DVDs I have are sitting on my shelf unwatched because they are so hard to get through - logic and plot holes everywhere, continuity that doesn't even try to exist; MCO on the other hand is still as fun and amazing as when I was 7 yrs old, episode 9 can still manage to make me a little misty-eyed.

Posted by Rayne @ 06:23 PM EST [Link] [No Comments]

Tuesday, August 9, 2005

is Danone's entry into probiotic yogourts. The whole science of probiotics is mumbo-jumbo to me and seems more like a fad than anything. But! Activia has the best yogourt flavours out there. The brand has the rich creaminess and firm texture of Danone's La Creme line but with flabvours that are unique and delicious. Aside from the standard strawberry and vanilla, they've got Peach and Fibres, Pear (apparently...though I've never seen it), and best of all: Prune.

I was at a Loblaws last week buying some groceries and was very dismayed to find that all of the vanilla and strawberry containers of Activia were gone but the Prunes were completely untouched! It's sad to think that people are so reluctant to try something new and in the process are missing out on the greatest yogourt experience they could ever have! I think the shelf full of Prune yogourt containers left at Loblaws is a symbol of everything that's wrong with our society.

Or maybe it's because Loblaws Carlingwood caters to the very young and the dying.

Posted by Rayne @ 12:49 AM EST [Link] [12 comments]

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

(because Kim asked me)

• Smart. Always a priority, the smarter the better.


• Open Minded. Not just willing to try new things but always actively looking for new things to try.


• Sophisticated. Good taste in clothes, food, movies, etc.


• Fit. In good shape, athletic. Fat where there should be fat and none where there isn't supposed to be any.


• Feminine. But not girly. Hard to qualify but I know what I mean.


• Emotionally solid. I'm a rock, but I don't particularly enjoy being leaned on.


• Interests. Gotta have at least 1 non-work-related interest. Doesn't matter what it is. Interested = interesting.

Bonus Points:

• Green eyes.Drool...

Is that a generic list? I can't really picture someone listing things like

• Close-Minded: I don't like it when they try new things. Every dinner's gotta be like what we had at home growing up.

Although I think most people would list something really generic like "sense of humour", "good looking". Shouldn't those be givens? "yeah, I like 'em to be serious 100% of the time. And they gotta be ugly, I love it when I have to double bag that shit"

Posted by Rayne @ 12:30 PM EST [Link] [14 comments]

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