The Journey Has Begun

Today my book order arrived from the UK.

Let's Learn Hiragana and Let's Learn katakana. So now my venture into learning japanese is at hand. I've begun to dabble with it already and has learned my first hiragana. And having a quick look at the hiragana alphabet as it were I might have worked out how I should write my own name. Though progressing through this I might be proven right or I'll find out I'm wrong. Time will tell.

So I'll be tri-lingual by the time this is completed. (or quad-lingual if you count swedish).

Decisions And Other News.

Been a while since my last entry. Been working, and the usual life stuff. 

I've made a decision last weekend. I am going to learn japanese! I'm just waiting on my paycheck so i can go ahead and buy the first two books on the japanese written language, Hiragana and Katakana. Later I'll study Kanji the third written type. I've gotten advice that starting to learn the written part first is a good place to start, and it does makes sense as if you can't read a language like japanese you will struggle in actually learning it properly. But I'll study it about an hour every day I think. (depending on energy level of course) and then get a hold of more study material as I progress.

I do have a goal of going to Japan (Tokyo) before I'm 40 (preferably 35) but that's not the main reason I want to learn the language. I have a love for anime and manga and as such I would like to not be depending on a)localized anime (you know with subtitles)/manga or b) fan translations. And if I know japanese I can just order straight form there anything I'd like to read/watch(or games I'd like to play but hate the english dub).

Hm.. Going to need a japanese keyboard soon don't I (that and the "font pack")? 

Plus japanese is to me a beautyful and awesome language! 

I've discovered a nice "new" anime via a music video on YouTube. Busou Renkin. I've seen a few episodes and I really like it and while it's a bit creepy in some areas it's a good anime. 

And this week I've seen Gedo Senki and Neko No Ongaeshi both movies from Studio Ghibli and both wonderful stories. 

I have started on Book 1 of Berserk. So far a rather brutal manga. still trying to get the story but I've just read two chapters so far. 

Yeah I'm rather immersed in this kind of thing right now. But it's all good! :-)

Other than this I'm playing a little and hanging out online. 

What's up? A little update on my life.

Right.. I've not been real active with the blog lately but I've been up to a few things.

Mainly I've been busy working. I've gotten promoted since my last life update, I've gone up to shift manager in rank and is now attending the business meetings and what come with the territory of being in the leader group at work. I've learned alot since I started but i still have tons to learn left. I have to say i do love the work as it presents a challenge and gives me a proper insight into what actually goes into running a shop.  And the people at work fits well with who I am and we have some good laughs. 

Games, yeah I have played some UFC 2009 Undisputed, Uncharted, Final Fantasy VII, and some other little stuff. Found a great way to keep a sort of diary about my gaming. GamerDNA. Where you add your game collection then either through direct updates via XBL or manually PSN or Steam and Xfire keep track of you play habits and how much you play. And you can find likeminded people there.  Contemplating getting the Tales of Monkey Island SE off XBLA or should I buy it on Steam? (though Steam in Europe has had a rather big jump in price since they did the typical idiot move of thinking 1$=1€ which is false. 1€=1,42$ . )

And I've read abit lately. Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis A really good book but for the 18+ crowd. NOT for teens/children.  and slowly making my way through Obama's bio. 

Other than that been helping my brother move.. Again. think this is the third time in a year. And doing my internet stuff and trying to keep a tidy flat. a little later today I'll be playing and reading some more. 

SL28

E3: My impressions

Alright. This past week there was E3. Or Electronic Entertainment Expo if you will. 

I've now caught up on the big 3's (that's Sony, MicroSoft and Nintendo) press conferences and various developer interviews and showcases and such. And I've formed some thoughts on the matter. 

Let's do this in one by one.

Microsoft:

Kicked off with Rock Band The Beatles. Now I like the beatles but I personally dont' care about Rock Band or Guitar Hero anymore. Sure it's fun for a bit but I'm not into it anymore. 

Then they had a string of XBLA stuff like Epic Games' new title and some other stuff like Facebook and Twitter being on the 360. And from the flags shown in the expantion of TV streaming bit it seems we're getting it here in Norway too.

Natal looks great but the Milo bit was fake as hell. Though you'd need a frikking huge livingroom to play using that thing ^_^

Modern Warfare 2 looks totally awesome (getting it on PC though) and Forza 3 did impress me.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising looks cool but is multiplatform so not a big deal per say but I love the concept nontheless.

Halo ODST and Halo Reach looks good too (but I've not really play Halo at all apart from a bit on a XBL DL of the original.) 

And I loved the look of Alan Wake.

As a whole I was impressed by Microsoft and as a 360 owner I do see it having a future and has some great stuff coming (though some boring stuff to)  Grade: A-

Nintendo:

The good stuff. Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, New DS Zelda and the general Motion + stuff.

The bad: Boring and too slow. The New Super Mario Bros Wii just an up-resed version of the DS iteration. Plus that Vitality thing... Yet another thing that needs to be plugged somewhere and I don't see the point of it really.

All in all decent, better that last year(and no stupid story from Cammy about breaking something) so a grade C+.

Sony:

They showed God of War 3 which looks brutal and it seems it's evolved quite abit from the other two. 

MAG, They actually had a live 256 player demo on stage on the HUGE screen on stage. I'm curious about how they plan to do the hosting of matches and skirmishes. and what resolution and framerate they're shooting for. My guess is 720p 30fps.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, I'm impressed by how far into the scenery you can see and the colours and everything. I should go and get Uncharted shouldn't I?

Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker looks great and a sort of sequel to MGS3. 

Gran Turisimo is just insane however you look at it and it is coming to PSP and PS3 and like 800 cars to collect! I am getting abit stoked I must admidt.

Rachet&Clank: A Crack in Time: Breif mention in the conf but I've seen gameplay and it looks great. 

The wands. I like but will I need it? Got the PS Eye already so perhaps.

Final Fantasy VII announced for PSN and two days later out on PSN. And promptly bought.

Final Fantasy XIV MMO console exclusive. for me I don't give a squirt of piss about it.. Done with MMOs for the time being.

PSP Go. Cool but way too expensive!

Oh I'm forgetting stuff.

Sony was great and stole the show by sheer amount of content and the fact they had an answer to everything the other two came with. Grade A.

Apart for the big 3 there is an impressive amount of stuff coming. :-)

UFC 2009 Undisputed

So today I decided to get this game, and man do I love it!

I've played for a bit and even gotten a trophy. Made a custom fighter and playing with him now.

This is him:

Photo taken off the tv with my W890i phone.

I'll be back later with a full review.

Towel Day

Know Where Your Towel is

On the 25th of may is towel day in honour of Douglas Adams.

The authour of the multimedia phenomenon "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" and other works. If you're a fan you'll know the significans of this day and will understand it.

I'll be marking the day. Will you?

Amanda Tapping

A Sanctuary Interview

GateWorld conducted it's 100th interview and the subject of it was Sanctuary. They talked with Amanda Tapping; executive producer and lead actress in the fantastic series Sanctuary. A show about the supernatural. The interview runs about 30 minutes. 

The interview:

I am so stoked it got renewed for a second season as I have it in my top 10 tv-series of all times. The series was born on the internet in the form of a web show and got picked up by The Sci-Fi Channel and got reworked abit and now is in pre-production (they are shooting it as I write) for season 2. I'm looking forward to it. 

Visit the official site here.

Important Special Comment

On the subject of the torture that has happen in the pursuit of justice for 9/11. I have been following this for quite a while but mostly silently. I have been disgusted by the Bush goverment for letting(or making) it happen. Now I'd like to see them be held responsible for it.

This sums it all up

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

President Barack Obama, You need to avoid this from happening ever again by holding the culprits accountable. And that I feel should include the men and women that followed the orders to torture. Following orders does not hold water as a defense for them. Remember so did german soldiers during WW2 and what happened? Remember the past and learn from it. Or history is doomed to repeat itself.
America should be better than this.

Stargate Universe

The First Teaser

The third series in the Stargate franchise is set to start airing this fall and here are the first few glimpses from it!

I'm psyched now!

I'm a die-hard Stargate fan and while I'm sad the other two has ended this third installment has me yet again excited for Stargate. And there are a third SG-1 movie in development and a SGA movie too. So the future is looking good for us the stargate fans :-)

And the MMO Stargate Worlds is also in development and while I'm kinda done with MMO's I might return to it if it's great (as it has to be to shell out for a monthly subscription to play)

Tonari No Totoro

A review

A.K.A My Neighbor Totoro.

Creator: Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli

Rated E for everyone , production year 1988, cinematic release in Norway 30th march 2007. Watched in japanese with Norwegian subtitles.

So I watched this for the first time ever this wednesday evening. I'd had a crappy prank pulled on me at the end of my work shift and was rather miffed and not really in the best of moods. So I needed something to take my mind off things. 

Oh my lord! Did it ever!

Okey short plot summary first.

It's about a four year old girl called Mei and her big sister Satsuki, they are moving to this old house in the forest with their father while their mother is in hospital for unknown reasons. And then little Mei meets the forest guarding/spirit Totoro and an adventure unfolds. I'm not going any further as I want everyone to watch this movie.

I was so taken with the art style and the artistic workmanship that had gone into the movie and the story is just great. A gem, a treasure really. I've watched quite a few movies out of Studio Ghibli and mr. Miyazaki has been involved in all of them in one way or the oher and that studio has become one of my favourite outlets for anime. Art and storytelling meeting in an animated medium. Quality.

I felt a level of happiness watching this that I rarely do. The movie simply was a joy to watch. I highly recommend it to anyone. I went to bed feeling all warm and fuzzy all over and inside.  Yes this all sound really corny and silly don't it? Well I don't care! I was made truly happy by this movie and it's like a bunch of puppies and kittens kind of good. You know? Oh and I want a cat bus too!! 

My highest recommendations.

Watch it, you will thank me later