Blather, rinse, repeat

Green Cloud Nakama :






The vital parts to a dysfunctional martial arts Nakama:

Well I'm in there as you can see, a kind of Team Mom . I'm also sort of The Medic as of late. People are always getting injured. I'm always there with the ice and the rubbing.

Empress Teiji is Heir To The Dojo but she's also Action Girl and Waif Fu.

Sifu's sort of like Big Brother Mentor .

The Gold Dragon is a Badass normal , who, in the seven or so years he's been training, took quite a few levels in badass. All the way to blackbelt actually, in record time.

CC could be Action Hero or possibly Boisterous Bruiser 'cause he's fun like that.

Tall Dark and Snarky is Snarklit to a T, but he is also sort of Badass Bookworm.

Te Ji Han, with the high-flying kicks, is Kid Samurai .

We have a Silent Boy, who is obviously The Quiet One . I mean really. He's really, really silent.

We also have The New Guy, who is a Rookie Red Ranger.

The Lady Chrysanthemum is Lady Of Adventure, SO MUCH.

The Red Assassin is pretty much Kendo Team Captain .

High School Homeslice is totally Made of Iron . (Unfortunately he doesn't appear in this video though. :( )

High School Homeslice's daughter, The Chibi Ninja is completely a Cute Bruiser. She is also Pintsized Powerhouse. She doesn't appear in this video either. :(

There are a few other folks in that video, but you get the basic idea. :)






"Those Who Fight" is the name of the song. ^_^

Haha, I'm such a dork. The song and the cut-scenes just seemed to go together and I couldn't help myself. So now you know, when I say "I'm killing zombies," this is the game I'm playing. RE4 is a great survival/horror game and Leon is a fun and quirky hero. Hope you like this silly AMV!

This also served to remind me why I fell in love with 30STM in the first place. They are such a fantastic band. Jared's voice is so beautiful when he just lets it fly like that. ^_^

Oh: Please let it load before watching it, please have the sound on (hello, it's an animated music video,) and please watch till the end because it's very funny. ^_^

A little fanpoodling I had to do when I saw the scenes from Crisis Core. I can't believe how far the animation has come over the years, and even though nothing compares to the original FFVII, this stuff is beautiful. I do hope they remake FFVII one day; it won't take away from the original, because we will always have the original. Square Enix can keep milking this particular cow for all I care. I love it. :D The music is Vanessa Mae's "Storm."




For those who aren't familiar with any of this, basically what I was doing in the video was juxtaposing the old stuff with the new. The first game was just a bunch of badly translated polygons, but with faceted characters and a twisty, turny story that took me three games to finally understand backwards and forwards. It seems that if you didn't play VII first, before all the cool graphics came out, then chances are you aren't going to want to and probably won't get the beauty of it anyway.

The new graphics come from follow-up games and one huge movie. Those games and the movie had flashback sequences that beautifully animated parts we'd only seen in block graphics, finally giving it the visual emotion and depth we always knew was there. Why, I'd sit there playing the game and say, "I wish they'd render this scene so we could all see the expressions."

And Cloud Strife wasn't a huge jerk or a loser: he was a kid who spent his formative years being tormented and experimented on in a lab, and for his troubles got to watch his best friend get murdered and therefore was mentally destroyed, emotionally dead and completely insane through the duration of the game. ♥

And the Turks were hot. :D

Wow, I feel so vindicated!

Questions about the games/movies? Just ask. ^_^

And because I don't really take it too seriously... ( Go on, click. It's funny, I promise. )

That is Jo-chan laughing along with me in the background and admonishing Cloud to leave Aerith alone. ^_^

And more fun with names. ( Clicketywhee. )

Lulzies.

Well shoots, while I'm here.

Okay, this is at a totally different end of the topic spectrum but I realized I never told about the Hula seminar that was out here on the island last week. Lucky me, it was with Auntie Kau'i, one of my favorite people in like the entire world. I made her a lei of Long Island flowers, and she taught four Hulas. The first three were easy (for me,) and the last one was a really fast 'uli'uli number that was all crazy. I did manage to get it though. Auntie only had to beat down two girls (she dos actually hit students when we get things wrong) and fortunately neither of them were me. In fact it was great: when we turned to the back and I was in the back row, she would say, "Just watch Jules!" That made me feel awesome. ^_^

Afterwards my Mom and Dad and Jo-chan came out to where the seminar was, and we took Auntie, her Alaka'i Kanani, and Olivia out to dinner. It was awesome.

Pictures!
( Clicketywhee. )

All in all it was so lovely.

Also random: NOTE TO SELF! Never, ever, ever again take up Dad on offer to bring weedwhacker into garden. 2/3 of beautiful, old, beloved and patiently tended wisteria tree is gone. Remember: Weedwhacker sometimes = "chainsaw."

For hyenarave, (and any other Echelon on my f-list ... or non-Echelon, who cares!) The 30 Seconds to Mars Bugs Bunny Square Dance video!



LOL BOYS!

Give it a few minutes to load. If you're reading this right after I post it, give it about 15 minutes, actually. You know how youtube can get.

So, two more days till the concert. A bit of stress!

In American Idol news, seriously: how much does Sanjaya suck? Yeah, pretty much.

And in other news, happy Ostara to my Pagan homies! And happy equinox to my non-Pagan homies. Now let's have some Springtime weather, pls??

ETA: Youtube is was being a schmuck. Try this later or tomorrow? now!

This is my valentine to all of you. And please watch it, because I spent about a week putting it together. :) It's a huge file, so do let it load before playing it. (If this is really taking too long, I can upload a smaller version, but lots of the effects are lost in that version so this one is much better.)

I apologize for the unauthorized use of the Leto brothers, especially Jared as one of the many ill-fated grooms. That's cheesy, I know, but it was mostly an accident. I had this idea of an escaped bride for about a year now, and it was my good luck that when I showed up on Halloween as the bride, Le Jared showed up looking like a bloody bridegroom and stood in my vicinity. The costumes and the setting were just too cool to neglect for this idea that's been with me since I heard this song.

Anyway, happy VD to all of you (*snick*) and remember the very last line of this song, from me to you. ;P





Alternately, you could download the small version, it's about 45 MB I think. Which would give me a big squee, but dialups should run the oppostie direction in all cases.

Oh and yes, I do rely on filters to disguise people and mistakes. That a problem? ;)

In other news, let's see. Saturday I went out with Brit and I found the most perfect gown. It was burgundy crushed velvet, halter neck with long, wide ties that went from the neck to around the waist to anywhere you wanted. Believe it or not, the extra small fit me. It was on sale, too, half off. I was this close to buying it when Brit pointed out the fur shrugs on the next shelf over, by the same company. Bah. >_> So I put it back. Still, we had fun going shopping.

Sunday was dolphin day and Ariel was a pleasure. It was cold as all get-out and I nabbed some hand-warmers to put in my boots, as I could not feel my toes after an hour. Then I found out that Ariel might be leaving this Sunday. I'll miss her, the darling, but it would be great to have Sundays back.

Monday I trained so hard I almost died on the spot. I'm missing Kung Fu tonight (the school might actually be closed tonight because of this rain / ice storm thingie; we don't know yet,) but I'm sick anyway and I doubt any of the moms there want the receptionist coughing all over their kids just before winter break. Also, training brothers and sisters probably don't want to catch it, either. I got it from Raq, or Sifu, or Tracy. >_> They were all sick last week. This sucks, because I wanted to go and do more of those kicks I was loving so much.

On Tuesday our hospital was inspected, and I was forbidden to speak. More, I made up rules for myself that I had to follow all day: Dont lick any of the pictures hung up in the kitchen; don't show anyone your underwear; don't touch anyone inappropriately; don't punch anyone in the vagina; don't kill or even threaten to kill any of the clients. It was difficult, but I think it went well. Tomorrow all bets are off, total Baccanalia. I might show up in a showgirl outfit and hire a band, you never know. Also, I brought home a little goldfinch who flew into a window.

And such is life in the dead of winter.

(Incidentally, I hate it when LJ hijacks my blog to put their own decorations up. If I wanted hearts and sparkles on the befrigged thing, I would have put them myself.)

I was talking to Rob today about the dolphin thing (THURSDAY) and he says he thinks there might be a chance for everyone. That's a huge "might" but the chance is there! So in a few weeks, it could be that I will be playing dolphin mommy. I can't even imagine what that will be like. I know it's the in thing to love dolphins and everything and to act like you're all "connected" with them, but I've always been queer for the dolphin since I was a little kid. They are fantastic; so strong, true athletes. And I love their faces. They're not the perfect species and they're not socially perfect (dolphins do rape and murder just like people,) but they are fascinating. I so totally hope that I get to know one. I know I keep saying it, but I can hardly imagine it, just swimming around for hours in a dry-suit with a 200 pound dolphin who just wants to be your company for a while.

Incidentally, I also love sharks. I would not want to run into one outside of a controlled environment, but I do find them fascinating and beautiful. The place where the dolphin program is also might, in the future, host a "swimming with sharks" kind of thing. I think I'd do that, too.

I also made another 30STM video, and this one's just got me in it. I mean, some scenes and stuff, and you catch a glimpse of a few of my training brothers, but mostly it's just me goofing around and acting as if I'm making some kind of important piece of art. ;) (Which I totally am not.) The video is for their song Praying for a Riot, which is a cleverly hidden track that sneaks in before the two other hidden tracks. It's only like 2 minutes long but it's a gorgeous song. (My favorite part is his voice right there at that very last second.)

Anyway, this video is just me having fun with my camera and with various filters and some good ole' fashioned computer animation.

Download. A measly 25 MB.

Or YouTube which is buggy lately. (Is this something to do with Google? Better not be!)

( Or just look at it here: )

It only took me a few hours, actually, once I got MovieMaker to behave a bit.

Well, now it's time to feed the Ninja Wizards and then myself. Tonight I have to re-set iTunes and my iPod all over again (stuffing all of my music back into iTunes! But hey, at least I have my music back.) Then I either work on my Halloween costume, which has to be the coolest thing ever for the concert, or work on my book. Which will it be? WHICH? :)

Today is historic. My white ginger bloomed for the first time since I got it, which was about three years ago. I started it as a bulb and now it's huge. Of course, now I have to cut it down and bring it inside! BLAST. Anyway, it smells lovely. Kind of like honeysuckle (which I have in abundance,) but just more gingery. ( Pretty, isn't it? )

Also, I unchecked all the codec compatability things in MovieMaker and it started working a little better. It's still sporadic and it still randomly shuts down, but I was finally able to finish my Dirge of Cerberus video. What a pain it was to make, because sometimes the music would shut down, and most of the time the program would shut down when I moved the cursor over the clips. No warning, no locking or freezing, just totally shutting down.

Download it off Yousendit.

Or, hey, ( watch it here: )

Either way, it was SUCH a pain in the butt to make. Please watch it!

And in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I give you Le Jared ...

and the things that attractive people can afford to do. :D

Saturday in Kung Fu: Forms, and then staff outside. Really loving staff lately. A few nights before, Lee cut down some of the bamboo in her front yard, stripped the leaves, and gave me one of them. So now I've got my own practice bamboo staff at home. And it looks really neat, too, like Kilik's bamboo staff in SCIII.

ETA: How could I forget this? Saturday night was Jenn J's birthday party at her house. Food, reckless dancing, mindless babbling, tasteless jokes, and Casse accidentally drunk-dialing someone. I didn't drink (I was driving) but it was loads of fun. I wore my short dress that I used to wear back in the 90's and it fits me the same way it did back then. And 4 inch, green wedge heels. Hurrah.

Yesterday: SCIII all day with Jeremy. I hadn't seen him in about a month. When he came over he was still shocked by the difference in Pendragon's room. It's really so disconcerting, even to those of us who are getting more used to the idea.

I've been talking lately with a friend of mine who goes way back. We only get in touch for real once every year or so, though we are always sending photos and memes and stuff. He's a wizard, and I don't mean in the gothy or D&D way. I mean, a real, working, functioning wizard and a psychic. In fact, he worked on the movie Dead Again as a past life consultant. Anyway, so Drew and I go way back, and we've been chatting on email because he was always so fascinated with Pendragon. His latest email really stuck with me. Here is a little bit of what he said, on the subject of Pendragon and on the subject of this guy I sort of crush on (some of you know who this is,) and who I guess kind of looks at me sometimes, too:


( In the Vampire hours... )

That's too awesome. I actually do remember the night I met Drew, in detail. It was, as he says, in the vampire hours, and he was telling me about bees, and the third eye. So weird.

Today, I have started massive, massive house-cleaning for the party Saturday. I did something I only do at home maybe once a year: I used a bleach-based product. Unfortunately I leaned over it while I was spraying it and got it all over my favorite T shirt, my Pele shirt. >_> Blast. Now I've got to get all the birds cleaned and fed before Kung Fu tonight.

A cute video I made ffor my favorite band.

An acoustic version of The Kill. Seriously, check it out. It's beautiful.

Oh, all right, so anyway I promised myself--well not promised, really, just sort of considered it--that I would not make any more music videos from Advent Children or FFVII, because really, how much more can you do? The same scenes get sort of old after a while. And after I did "It's Raining Men" I figured I'd just about out-done myself with AC and couldn't do anything more with it.

But then the perfect--PERFECT--song came along for Advent Children, and I couldn't not make the video.

I mean, really, the song is perfect. Every line goes. The song is a tear-jerker and you'll hear why. I'm not much for emotional manipulation, and I really try to avoid it, not to mention that I didn't want to trivialize the song (which is very likely about a real person) by using it in a video about fictional people, but then I said, you know, the song is art, and the movie is art. What's it going to hurt to stick them together?

If It Be Your Will, 22MB. Really kind of a small file, comparatively, and kind of a short song.

Oh, hell with it. It's Raining Men -- Advent Children. 24.5 MB.

Red Right Hand - Nick Cave, used for a Sephiroth tribute. 37 MB.


If you do download any of these to watch them, please don't hesitate to let me know if you liked them, or if not, where I could improve. I do know that the editing is jerky sometimes, most especially in Red Right Hand. It wasn't until It's Raining Men that I started to really get a grip on doing AMVs. (I just stopped myself from writing, "That meant something, damnit!") But if you download, lemme know! And feel more than free to pass them around. That's what AMVs are for, right?

If you only want to download one (understandable,) then do If It Be Your Will if you're in the mood for a melancholy, saccharine one. Do It's Raining Men if you want a giggle (I have to say, I really do amuse myself,) and do Red Right Hand for the campy badassity of Sephiroth. That one, by the way, was made before Advent Children was out.

And that's it for now.

/cheeseball