Scrapped Princess

Just spent 4 hours last night and another 5 hours today watching a new anime series called "Scrapped Princess".

Usually i like my anime with plenty of comedy and action. And i generally prefer fantasy to sci-fi when it comes to anime. The only sci-fi anime i have watched and enjoyed so far has been "Neo Genesis Evangelion".... which is actually a little too depressing and meta-physical for my tastes.

Anyway "Scrapped Princess" is a fantasy anime about this princess who was abandoned from birth because a prophesy has stated that she will destroy the world when she turns 16. Just when you have it pegged as a traditional fantasy show, then all the sci-fi trappings come into play, and they are well-integrated into the plot.

The relationship between the characters and the elements of comedy all fit really well together. I think this show belongs right up there with Slayers, which i like because of the heroine (Lina Inverse), the magic and the super-deformed characters (kawaii!)

So i would recommend "Scrapped Princess" and "Slayers" for anyone into fantasy anime. If you have any recommendations, do let me know as well...

signing off...

Bungee eegunB

Been meaning to blog, but too many community events to attend this week :) Is this what it's gonna be like when i transfer to my new job? But more about that later.

Went on a reverse bungee 2 weeks ago. Was doing a dry-run for an event, and got offered a chance to take a free trip on the reverse bungee at Clark Quay.

It was definitely more fun than i expected, although i definitely did not expect the bungee to spring us up that fast, or for my heart to take 15 seconds to catch up to the rest of my body.

That said, i'm glad I did it. I'm a scaredy-cat, always have been. So i'm glad i can look back someday and tell my kids that yes, I did go on a reverse-bungee once, even if it felt like my heart was somewhere in the lower part of my body during the ride.

And yes, i'm even more resolved to try and run a half marathon by the end of next year. Currently at 4.2 km in 20 min and counting!

2359

So i took part in a lindy hop competition this past Saturday. While i did feel "sabo-ed" for a bit, i'm glad that i did it. It was fun, and it was a great experience working with Swingling and realising we could come up with a halfway decent choreo in 2.5 hours. Definitely something i'll feel proud of, and be glad to bore my kids with someday when i'm a middle-aged geezer.

I wouldn't do it again, primarily because i feel that lindy hop for me is more about the music and the partner than the performance. But i definitely have much more respect now for my friends in the Lindy Hop Performance Company.

That got me thinking about another topic. A friend once talked to me about having a checklist of things that they would have liked to do in life. I kinda liked that concept. Doesn't have to be anything major : fly a kite, ride a dune buggy, etc etc.

So performing in the competition got me thinking.... what else would i like to do, that i've been putting off? Swing dance in Herrang (4-5 years down the road), go bungee jumping, learn how to ride bicycle.... After thinking about it, i realised that I really want to run a marathon, now, before I get too old to try again. I've always liked running, and now that my knees are not acting up, it's the perfect time to do it. Gonna start small, aim for either a 10km or half-marathon run next year.

So there you have it. Hopefully by this time next year, I can post here that I've either run a 10km or a half-marathon.

signing off.....

Chocolate therapy

Well today was a frustrating day.

When things don't go well, or when i end up in arguments with other departments or even other agencies, it always gets me annoyed. Partly because i'm a pseudo-perfectionist, and partly because i'm just a control-freak . Heh.

The problem is that I end up obsessing endlessly over something that I can't really do anything about. It's always been a failing of mine... this inability to walk away from something that I feel I must conquer. Thanks to friends, and thanks to a significant other, I've gotten better at taking a step back and taking a breath when I really need to. But it's still hard. At least now I can recognise when it happens. My vision narrows... and i literally feel my thoughts going in an endless loop.

Days like these make me wonder whether I can actually work for 40 more years till retirement. But that's too morbid and too self-involved a thought :)

Sleep, and a good comedy... and maybe some good chocolate. That's what I need.. i think i hear the Timeout bars calling me :)

Bush won. Whoop de doo. I've been avoiding writing about it just because the whole thing made me so heartsick.

Used to think i wanted to live in the States. Land of the free, home of the brave. A place where your aspirations will come true if you work hard enough. You know, that line from "An American Tail" where Fievel sings that America is the place "where the streets are paved with cheese".

Studied there, still thought America was an amazing place. But ran into a particular species of American called the born-again Christian. But deep down inside, I always thought that the US was still a benign place, where born-again Christians and religious conservatives were more of a blip on the radar screen.

Reading the headlines the day after the election kinda shattered that illusion. Equal turnout of democrats and republicans. 51-49. Largest victory margin for a president. That implies that the US is essentially a conservative country. Bleah.

I'll say it again. BLEAH.

Ok rant over.

Random amusing thought.

Friends who know me also know that i'm probably one of the most avid multi-taskers ever. In fact, i feel uncomfortable if i'm not multi-tasking in some form or another. That probably explains why I fidget so much, which also explains how i manage to stave off the pounds.... Studies have shown that fidgeters blow up to 300-500 calories a day by fidgeting.

Anyway, a friend of mine from the US pointed out that I have a brain like a computer. I can handle a lot of tasks very quickly at the same time... but when something unexpected/bad happens aka a bug, then everything comes to a crashing halt and i end up obsessing about it for way too long a time.

Kinda interesting.... to think of my brain as a computer :P hmmmm.....

God I hope Kerry wins, even though i'm not optimistic.

Republicans bug me big-time. The very idea that they want to post people in Ohio to challenge voters is an act of pure dis-enfranchisement and utter blasphemy. The very hypocrisy makes me want to scream and hurl something at them. But no, that would be too good for the Republicans, cos it would be acknowledging them as human beings.

Ok rant over.