Anime Review: Initial D 4th Stage (1-24)

So the last episode of the Initial D 4th Stage has come and gone. I admit, I tore through the episodes about as fast as I could to get my dose of racing action and to a certain extent things felt a little hollow. Sadly I think the best parts of Initial D as an animated series were found in the first two seasons. The 3rd Stage movie was OK, and 4th, though certainly more race focused didn't seem to have a good balance that made it reachable.

*SPOILER WARNING*











Now I'll admit the ending leaves me to wonder if a 5th stage really will be in the works. I've read a few rumors that it is indeed going to happen but nothing official (press releases what not)

Since only the Sub was available that's what I watched, and it was refreshing to hear the real VA's. I do admit though it makes you realize how odd the Tokyopop dub is of the first two seasons. Bunta's voice does seem to make sense on both versions.

If you're a car buff, or a just like action, male oriented anime, I'd definitely look into the 4th stage (be it in subbed or hopefully in a few years dubbed)

Anime Review: Evangelion (Collectors Edition)

Now I'll admit this, there's always been part of me that has been a bit irked by the way Evangelion ended. While the plot is very adult for a series which is peppered considerably with fan service and action I still contend that the ending is abstracted to such a degree as to distance itself from most of the viewing public.

That out of the way, I do realize that after slightly more thoughtful viewing and reading up on the creators circumstances for creating Eva, that the series was extremely bold for its time and a departure from some of the more vanilla anime that was being doled out at the time.

With psychological images, concepts such as the id, ego and super ego playing prominent roles and a sense of sexuality and depression, Eva is much deeper than the early 20 episodes let on. Hideaki Anno, the troubled creator of Evangelion (Or Neon Genesis Evangelion if you'd rather) put a lot of his own experiences with psychoanalysis into the series. My first run through, not having been armed with this bit of knowledge I found a lot of the images oddly placed. With this second go-around I found it much easier to examine the parallels of the characters to aspect of psychology (wow, College Psych finally has a use).

Unfortunately my attempts to rent End of Evangelion have hit a roadblock, but I tend to think of that as an alternate, albeit wayyy more visual ending to the series. The introspective montages used in the last two episodes to me, made slightly more sense (assuming you understand the background of Anno). While this retake on my views of Evangelion afforded me more experience I still conclude that for most viewers the series will seem visually amazing but without the background data, the last two episodes will just be a gut-wrenching topsy turvey journey.

Content Updates Coming: I Hope

So I will admit I've been busy with work and the general stresses of life. I'm hoping to have more anime reviews, a few hardware blog entries and of course the usual blend of OSS notes and thoughts.

Among the Anime reviews I hope to have some quickie reviews for Area 88, Evangelion (revisited), a commentary on Yakitate (sub) and some thoughts on Initial D 4th Stage. As always, extended versions of my articles will be posted to the main site (http://www.vraxx.com)

With a bit of effort I may also include a few updates on Random-Review for my old friend Volcom.

Much Ado About Duos

So let's face it, you can barely browse 3 tech-oriented websites without encountering something about all the dual core goodness. I find it somewhat amusing that the technology has actually been around since the days of IBM's Power4 architecture, but as expected hasn't really become mainstream until recently.

I myself am looking to begin overhauling to a dual core solution some time this summer. Though part of me is Leery that I'll be switching to an all AMD shop. However my work laptop remains an Intel PC.

While the benefits of a dual core solution can be felt in applications that are optimized to work with multicores, overall the net gain isn't something that'll see immediately. Most mainstream users probably won't see much benefit unless they are using their PC's as an HTPC where decoding tasks and the like can be balanced between the two cores.

One of my key concerns though is heat. Packing two cores into a relatively small die is bound to cause some concerns with heat dispersion. I'll hopefully be able to speak more subjectively on the matter when I switch over to an AMD M2 solution in July.

Post-photo Assessment

So give me a camera and a nice museum and I can usually find something interesting to shoot. The macro shot of water was taken with my Canon 200mm USM lens at around 1/500 shutter with 5.6f. The angle was a bit awkward but I was at the very edge of a fountain. I've always enjoyed capturing fluid motion like that. Things like water spouts, lava, even glass being made all make for amazing subjects. Perhaps its the sense of motion really stopping that way.

The floral shots were simple enough, same lens Canon 200mm USM in an outdoor garden at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Unfortunately museum policy is to not allow photography in the galleries (which is understandable) but the outer areas are fare game.

The last shot is actually the water path leading to the fountain. I was hoping to get a little more parallel angle on it, but given the position I found it hard to maintain my camera grip and focus.

If you're ever bored or need a subject remember, it isn't always the flashy stuff that can create interesting images. Go out there and take risks, shoot stuff you normally wouldn't.

Capturing Water

Nothing like moving water in macro 

Nothing like floral photography to help you forget the gloom of work. This shot was taken at the Honolulu Academy Of Arts in a nice pond near the asian wing 

A wide angle shot of the same flowers 

Dunno why i just found this trail for the fountain to be very interesting in a zig-zaggy sort of way 

Blerg... the joys of being sick

Well let's see it's day 3 of my sick-fest. Not only was I hacking and coughing during Superbowl Sunday, but I was miserable all day Monday and am still fairly sick today (Tuesday).

Let's face it, being sick is the worst thing ever. Well that and maybe having to edit a huge document in edlin, I'm not really sure which is worse. I did get a chance to try out this Mucinex stuff, and I guess it works. I don't see much difference in my ability to get rid of phlegm though.

So here's to everybody, be well, be healthy.

Random Observation For the Day

Tylenol is fucking with the Matrix generation. Their Extra Strength Gel Caps are Blue AND RED...

Those bastards.