WOW

It's been a long, long time since I posted anything here!

A New Entry?

I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I would today. See ya!

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 6 of 6

Burst Angel volume six is somewhat of a let down. Sure there is action and all that but the story just leaves something missing. At the end you kind of get the feeling that, okay, we knew all this was going to happen, but what about...? Perhaps there was to be more to the story and it was cut short. I don't know. It was enjoyable (i.e. not unwatchable) and the artwork was good for the most part. The CGI is fairly obvious but to too obtrusive. The characters are well drawn (even if their measurements vary per episode) but, they have no real depth to them. I left the show not really caring too much who lived or died and why.

All in all not entirely a waste of time but still not what I was expecting.

3 out of 5.

Fletcher's Eye Surgery

Fletcher had eye surgery today in order to attempt to get his right eye open. He has a ptosis that keeps him from opening his eye very far and so he mostly keeps it closed. He's had this surgery once before with the final results being a scar and nothing more. Bright and early this morning we headed to Children's Hospital to try once again. This time, in the recovery room, we could see more of his eye as he awoke. It's hard to tell yet since there is some swelling and things need to settle a little whether or not this one will work but it is looking good so far.

I had to leave early to take care of some stolen check business but NeeNee said that everything went well on the trip back and that she left him at the Children's Center on the verge of lala land.

I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers.

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 5 of 6

Volume five of Burst Angel starts to pick up the overall pace of things and the story arc concerning the glowing brains. This DVD contains four episodes - episodes 17 through 20 and episode 17 has commentary on it with the English director, Monica Rial and Colleen Clinkenbeard.

The mystery of Jo deepens in Dueling Angels when she meets the pilot of another cybot face to face. The Immortal Classmate is a side step into a filler episode featuring Kyohei - who otherwise has no purpose in this anime so far. 24-Hour Strategy features the return of Takane Katsu from Osaka and deals with another mysterious brain that controls people through transmitted signals - including Takane. RAPT cruisers go wild in the episode Highway Genocide providing more clues to the glowing brains for the gang.

This DVD provides plenty of action and a lot less fan service that the previous volume. I am glad to see that a little is being done to further the story plot. I am a little leery as to whether or not there will be a satisfying ending to it since nothing much has been done to make me care about the characters so far. The mysterious super-girl (or other amnesiac plug-in) thing has been so many times it's getting old. Perhaps there will be big surprises in store - we'll see in the last volume.

Still a 3 out of 5.

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 4 of 6

Volume four of the Burst Angel series contains four episodes. The first episode is the finale of the three part Osaka ordeal. The second episode is a flashback episode which shows us to the first time that Jo and Meg meet. It is apparent that there is more to Jo than meets the eye but, since she has amnesia, who knows... The third episode is an excuse for fan service galore with the gang vacationing at a new swim retreat. The final episode on this DVD is the beginning of another story arc which sees Jo on the run. She winds up in an abandoned village ready to battle the metal demon...

Things are getting a little better story wise as we're seeing a building story arc here. The fan service, as mentioned above, is going a little over the top. I don't mind a little but the amount this shows is mostly embarrassing.

Still a 3 out of 5.

Foundation's Triumph

The third book in the Second Foundation series ends with a fizzle. I don't really know what I was thinking about how these books should end. I especially didn't think that we would get a sermon on how every one must be alike in order to survive as a species. Regardless of whether or not the author truly believes this, the fundamental idea behind this is bad. I have to walk away from this series with the idea that humanity has been manipulated so much by Daneel and the robots that they can no longer take care of themselves as a whole. If they were left alone in the beginning, and no brain fever or chaos plagues (which in itself is ridiculous) would have manifested and humans would have grown on their own and at a much better pace. This is a disappointing story which accomplishes nothing other than to show just how fragile psychohistory is (compared to the original concept) and how dependant it is on human ignorance and pliability. Perhaps this is what Isaac Asimov had intended with his original stories. I don't know - I haven't read them since Junior High (some 25+ years ago) and after reading these don't really want to go back and re-read them either. They were worth the read but just not what I expected. They didn't match the greatness I remember from the original Foundation trilogy.

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 3 of 6

Volume 3 of the Burst Angel series (East Meets West) contains episodes 9 through 12. The first two episodes are stand alone stories and the second two are the first two parts of a three part story arc taking place in Osaka.

Pretty much the same ol' for these episodes but we get to see a little bit more about Amy and Kyohei in Uncharted Cyberspace. The fan service kicks up a notch in these episodes.

I have to admit that I liked the episodes in Osaka where all of the characters talk in a "Texan" accent. As I understand it, the Osakan dialect in Japan is considered about the same as the Southern dialect in the US. I usually don't like this idea in dubs because not too many voice actors do a convincing Southern or Texan drawl. The inside joke these episode display (I assume that's what this can only be) is what I find funny - and yes, the accents are over-the-top and horrible.

Rating 3 out of 5.

Tooth Number Two

Maddie's lost her second tooth last night. It has been loose for a while and she kept asking me to pull it yesterday. Each time it was just a little too tight to come out. Finally I told her I'd try once more before she went to sleep. When we tried then, it popped right out. Of course pulling a tooth just before bedtime isn't the best idea if you want your kid to go to sleep right away. Maddie was pretty excited and Mommy had to take pictures of everything. Finally we settled down and Maddie put her tooth under her pillow and faded off to sleep. This morning Maddie found a "gold dollar" under her pillow and was excited that she now has two "one hundred cents" for her two teeth.

If you want to see pictures and learn more, visit my wife's blog.

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 2 of 6

Volume two of Burst Angel is entitled New Tokyo. This DVD contains episodes 5 through 8.

Things don't get a whole lot better here. There are two story arcs told in two episodes each. Apparently there is something to this glowing brain thing that the creature from the school and the flying bird both have in common. Apart from Jo noticing it, there isn't a whole lot more expanded upon in this area. I looks like these mysterious mutations will be the binding theme for the series but development is very slow at this point. It's still uncertain exactly what these girls are doing and why. I'm still a little unsure of what Kyohei's role is to be after such a fuss was made over him in the first episode.

The characters still are a little bland except for Meg who's ditsy-ness is shown more. I like the background music used in these episodes but I hate the opening theme.

Still a 3 out of 5 for now.

Burst Angel - DVD Vol 1 of 6

Volume 1 of Burst Angel (Death's Angel) introduces us to Kyohei Tachibana, a culinary student who wants to earn money so he can study in France to be a pastry chef. He responds to a flier for a job and discovers that there is more to his prospective employers that meets the eye. The four girls who hire him are Meg, Jo, Sei and Amy. They are freelance operatives who have taken on the task of righting wrongs in New Tokyo where everyone wields firearms. They will take on corruption both in the underground and within RAPT - the police force.

So far in this volume we see very little besides the a brief glimpse of each character's personality and a lot of somewhat mundane action. Kyohei is the typical weak and naive male character surrounded by several girls seen in a lot of harem anime (although there is no "romance" as of yet other than their love for his cooking). Sei seems to be the leader of the group since she drives the truck and gives orders. Amy is the brains of the outfit and can do almost anything with a computer. Jo is the brawn - she's quiet and tough and pilots the cybot. Meg is the ditsy one who always gets into trouble and has to be rescued.

At this point the stories are rather bland. I was hoping for a little more umph to start out the series but, as of now, I have little hope that it will be good. The artwork is okay and I do like the voice actors for the girls. I cannot stand the voice for Kyohei though. It sounds a lot like Spike Spencer but is done by Greg Ayers. It sounds completely different from his work on Spiral.

Rating for now is 2 out of 5. Hopefully this will improve...

Fletcher Won't Be Home Labor Day

It looks like Fletcher has C-Diff. He's been feeling bad for a few days now. One of the problems was solved by changing his ventilator settings back to what they previously were. This made him happier but he still has not been up to his standard "happy boy" attitude. My very insightful wife told me a few days ago that she thinks his stomach is hurting. I thought that it might be too but didn't think that it was the cause of anything since I think it usually hurts due to his hernia. Well, it appears that the labs came back and he has C-Diff which can cause stomach discomfort. My wife is right 98.7% of the time (which is better than Rush Limbaugh :). Because of this he's in quarantine for a while. That doesn't mean that we can't see him but it does mean that he cannot leave the unit and that we have to take extra precautions when around him.

We had planned on bringing him home for Labor Day and having the family over to cook hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. We'll have to scrap that plan now but we'll get to do it some other time...

Fletcher's Current Struggles

Yesterday Fletcher had a pretty rough time. When I got to the Children's Center he had been bagged three times and I had to bag him twice myself while there. He seemed to be in a good mood most of the time and yet, every so often and very quickly, he would start to high pressure and desat. I was under the impression that his trach was too loose which would cause it to move around and perhaps get blocked off. I could fit most of my hand between the ties and his neck. I asked the RT to tighten it and she did but I still noticed that whenever he turned his head to the left he got uncomfortable. I told this to Denise and when she was there he was having similar problems. The RT's didn't want to change out his trach saying that when they bagged him they felt no restriction. I may be weird here but, Fletcher had similar problems a while back - almost exactly the same symptoms. When they changed out his trach most of the problems went away. I don't really know why trying to solve this problem in the same way would not work. If nothing else, how could it hurt? Anyway, my wife had his trach changed out this morning after another bad episode. He had to have some poking and prodding done on him which didn't help matters with his mood. We've also asked that his Robinol be dicontinued since that can cause thicker secretions and also itchiness (he's scratching at his head like crazy now). Hopefully these steps will help him since he's mostly happy and doesn't act "sick". The tests that they did shows that he doesn't seem to have any bugs unless he has one of those "catchall" viruses that doctor say you have when nothing else fits.

Just a little info here about our weekend and a short rant about how well parents are listened to by "those who know things" in the medical field. If I am wrong about the problem then I'll admit it but, it still doesn't mean that every little thing we can do to make things right shouldn't be tried.

Love Hina - DVD Vol 6 of 6

The final volume of Love Hina contains the final four episodes (21-24). Extras include a character profile for Haruka and some anime previews. This is a wrap up (more or less) of the story. In the end, all questions are apparently answered in one way or another, or so it seems. Since there are two movies and an OVA series, there is obviously more to it.

As for this series, it was a fun light-hearted anime. It ended in a good way. I enjoyed the animation and character design very much. The dubbing was done well except for the voice of Mitsune which was just too "country" sounding. The opening and closing theme songs were good and really matched the tone of the show in their own ways. What I didn't like is the over-the-top violence. It's just gets irritating after a while when someone (usually Naru) smacks Keitaro into orbit or through several walls. I also thought it was funny how many times she hit Keitaro that everyone gasps when she raised her fist to her little sister. I guess you can only hit certain people and make it funny...

I still have to give this a 3 out of 5 though. I enjoyed watching it but this is not one that I will probably rewatch later.

Love Hina - DVD Vol 5 of 6

Volume five contains episodes 17 through 20. The extras include a character profile for Kaolla and some previews.

Things are wrapping up for the series. This disc contains stories about a haunted island that Keitaro's friends take the girls to in order to help him get with Naru - they also have some ulterior motives of their own. The Summer Festival arrives and, with Keitaro and Naru not speaking, Keitaro spends mostly with Shinobu. Kaolla's "big brother" comes to visit who looks just like Keitaro (but more suave and debonair). He must take a bride and wants Kaolla to be his wife. In the forth episode on this disc we finally get to see who Keitaro made his promise to so many years ago about Tokyo U (or so it seems)...

The story continues with the wacky antics and it feels as though we're getting to know the characters better. What will happen next? So far I have no clue and that's one of the things I like about this anime. Rating 3 out of 5.

Kayleigh

The wonders of the Internet... I've just been browsing through YouTube, something that I've known about for a while but have never really looked at. I just rented a DVD from one of my favorite bands called Marillion and so I decided to look for a video on You Tube that I could put here.

I first found out about Marillion in 1985, the summer after my first year of college. I had heard Lavender on the radio and my best friend Jon had Misplaced Childhood on tape. From that tape I thought that the name Kayleigh was really cool. So much so, in fact, that I named my first daughter Kayleigh - spelled the same way. Anyway, here is a video of that song from YouTube for your viewing pleasure...

Love Hina - DVD Vol 4 of 6

This DVD contains four episodes (episodes 13 through 16). The extras are a "Making of" video about the English version featuring Wendee Lee and character profiles for Mitsune and Sarah.

Volume four of Love Hina continues the story on a little bit. The crazy van driver from an earlier episode that almost ran Keitaro down is back and we find out that he is Naru's old high school crush. His adopted daughter Sarah McDougal is introduced also. Mitsume tries to save Naru's feelings by keeping her away from Seta but since Keitaro works for him that becomes more and more difficult to do. When Naru finally does meet up with him again, Keitaro thinks he's got everything figured out and tries to do the the "brave" thing and step aside. This is an enjoyable anime, funny and way over the top.

Oh well, the soap opera of Love Hina moves on at a bearable pace. I should have the last two DVD's this weekend to wrap up the series and then it's on to the two movies and Love Hina Again.

Rating 3 out of 4.

Love Hina - DVD Vol 3 of 6

Volume three contains four episodes (9 through 12) and the extras are an interview with the director and a character profile for Shinobu.

I don't know what I thought this show was going to be about. I guess maybe I had more in mind something like Azumanga Diaoh but this is not like that. We are taken out of reality on many occasions is a world that more resembles Ranma or something like that. Episode 9 was a mystery episode in where everyone was looking for the missing rent money. Episode 10 started in with the "magical girl" thing where Kaolla was somehow able to grow older by looking at the red moon (which stayed full for several nights in a row). In episode 11 Naru suddenly becomes an idol singer. In episode 12 Motoko has to dress like a girl which causes her to loose her kendo abilities - and just at the time when the dreaded mecha turtle attacks.

Half way through and I'm still not too sure where this is leading except in the endless cycle of mayhem and hijinks.

This is still a good anime but not what I was expecting. Rating 3 out of 5.

Love Hina - DVD Vol 2 of 6

The second volume of Love Hina gets zanier and funnier. I appears that Naru and Keitaro are getting closer as strange things happen when they take separate trips to Kyoto. The rest of the girls, thinking that they might be contemplating suicide due to their failure to get into Tokyo U, take off to find them before it's too late.

More strangeness ensues when Keitaro competes with Kentaro for a date with Naru to Never Land. Then a dream sequence episode with Motoko which has quite a few jabs at Japanese cliques with a magical girl sequence and a song similar to Mothra's summoning song among others.

Extras on this DVD include Keitaro's song book which include the lyrics and a clip from the "Legendary Hot Spring Turtle" song and a character profile for Motoko.

I don't usually give half ratings but, since this is creeping up to 4, I'll give it a 3 1/2 out of 5 (for now).

Love Hina - DVD Vol 1 of 6

Volume one of Love Hina contains the first four episodes. This anime is somewhat wacky and so far entertaining but not overly funny. The story revolves around a boy named Keitaro who, as a child, promised a girl that he would get into Tokyo University with her when they got older. She moved away and he cannot remember her name but plans on keeping the promise just the same. So far he's failed twice to pass the entrance exams. Down on his luck and needing a job, his grandmother comes to the rescue by deciding to retire and leaving the management of her apartment up to him. What he doesn't realize is that the apartment is an all-girl's dorm and his employment there is anything but welcomed by the tenants.

So far things are starting out like your standard harem anime - wacky but enjoyable. The artwork is pretty good and the character designs are nice. There is over-the-top violence as well with Keitarou getting the brunt of it. Not one character stands out yet except for the NeiA_7 look-a-like Kaolla who is pretty funny.

Extras on this DVD include Keitaro's sketchbook and character profiles for Keitaro and Naru.

So far I'll give this a 3 out of 5. Hopefully this will get better as I've read a few good reviews of this series.