Interesting Video: Kyoto Subway

The video above is the Tozai Line in Kyoto. Its regularly looking and sounding right?
Well, look what the inhabitants of Nico nico douga did. Results below.



I must say, I'm impressed, not just the creator/creation, but Japan as a whole. This isn't the first "remix" of anything done by nico nico douga. In fact they've done a whole lot. Here are some examples.











Most of their work involved replaying some lines over and over again with a specific background music. Accidentally it becomes quite addicting.

They even have a theme song. Its basically a whole bunch of songs linked together from many series (and games, ie Touhou). Oh its over 10 minutes long.

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Friend came over for weekend, tons of fun.

On the weekend of Aug 13-15, 2010, a friend came over to visit me from Toronto. For privacy issues, I will just call him Kev (yeah, sure, THAT Kev). I didn't exactly had any plans for the weekend. Heck, I had no idea he was coming !

He told me a few days ago prior to 13th, he was going to tell me if he was coming or not. Since I didn't get a response until 13th (I didn't ask for a response since it was a far ride, I'm not the person who would force people to spend lots of money), I thought he wasn't coming. Then all of a sudden, I got a text saying, "I'm on the bus". WHAT REALLY?! HOW?

Anyway, he took a cab to the place I was living at and he stayed over for the weekend. It was lucky that I didn't let my landlady know that he WASN'T coming, or that would have been hectic. I just left it in the air, was going to make up a story if he really didn't come, since I had told her that he was going to show up. Anyway, worked out fine nevertheless.

So basically now that he was here, what to do..?

Sitting at home and playing games would be boring, yes? YES ! We should all go out more, even though I'm not the person who should be saying this. (As I spend alot of time inside)

We dropped by the Ottawa Museum of Nature, the military parade "Fortissimo", and the light show "Mosaika".

Since my friend had the camera, and he took a ton, he couldn't send it all to me, even though I would like to have a collection for myself. He does have facebook, except I don't use facebook either than games and refuse to spend any of my (un)important time on it. PS. I don't play any facebook games anymore. The moral behind it is bad. The TLDR version is,

You play the game so you don't feel the shame.

I refuse to play something thats not about being fun anymore but preventing yourself to be embarrassed.

I am waiting for the collection of photos, if you are reading this, KEV !

Anyway, the museum of nature was pretty normal, the interior and exterior looked fantastic though. There were a few paranamic images but again, I don't have them. Parts of the structure was newly renovated, although some of the antiquity was lost, the new glass tower was magnificant. The interior had 9 show rooms, featuring mammals, dinosaurs, birds, amphibians, rocks, fishes, insects. Although it was completely understandable since it was a museum, I found them rather lacking in interactivity. Maybe I am just expecting too much or maybe I didn't really have much interest in animals.

As for the reason why I went to the museum of nature? I had heard from several people that it was a nice museum to visit. So I thought I would drop by with my friend. By the way, entrance fees were $10 for adults and $8 for students. Yes university student counts, as long as you have your student ID and it is before the expiry date.

Perhaps I should try a science museum...

Fortissimo... zzzzzZZZZZ...
I personally didn't enjoy it. For one, we were sitting on the grass, it wasn't very comfortable. Second, it was just a bunch of bands playing music. There were a few good songs here and there. But the majority wasn't to my taste. The cannon firing and gun firing was cool though. Admission was free for this one.

I loved their uniforms though, and when we asked around, some of them were volunteers for the summer. Cool !

Mosaika was probably the best event that day. It was the lightshow on the parliament building. It talked about the history and eventually got patriotic about being Canadian. Which I don't exactly believe in, I mean, patrioism is kind of like propaganda put into nicer words. If someone says its patriotic to kill someone, people are going to do it, be it jewish (Germany in WWII) or chinese (Japan in WWII). Anyway, I don't feel the Canadian pride in myself. I think people should just believe in themselves. They should think freely and act on their mature judgement. They should not be held back from doing what they should do because of what your country tells you. But should you comit a crime, you should be expected to pay the consequences. A crime is something which is hurtful to another, such as robbery, or killing, or whatnot.

...I was told by someone to shut up during the national anthem though, even though my friend and I were talking to communicate urgently how to navigate to meet up with us. That felt... strange.

Yes, a friend of a friend from the university of Kev came over also. She arrived at the end of Fortissimo which Mosaika was right after. Fortissimo was at 7:00pm and Mosaika was at 9:30pm. After watching Mosaika, we had a drink, and then we went home.

My finger will pierce the heaven!... wait.. what?

Gallery: Here

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Interesting Fanmade Video

Something I found while surfing the web. I thought I would post it. The fanmade video is above, the characters in there are from Touhou. After the jump is the original version.



The original is from an eroge called 魔界天使ジブリール4 or Makai Tenshi DJibril 4 in Romanji. The maker is FrontWing (NSFW). I never played it and probably never will. It doesn't really have a good story. The first and 2nd of the Jibril series were put into an anime (of course, its for 18+).

On another note, I thought the fan made video was very good and professional. So I thought I would help spread the word.

Video Explanation: I will try to explain as much of the details on the video so you can comprehend the effort put into this.
- All the background pictures were changed from the original to a more Gensokyo like theme, with old era buildings. PS Gensokyo is where the Touhou world exists.
- Character animations were changed, as were the still pictures.
- The weird pink logo at 0:27 is Youmu's ghost half, Myon
- The title got changed to Meikai Kenshi Yoyomu 4, and Myon is written on top of the "4"
- ZUN is the Touhou creator. He started it all.
- The characters in introduction order:
Konpaku Youmu (spelled Yomu in the video) (Gardener)
Hakurei Reimu (Shrine Maiden, and main character)
Kirisame Marisa (Ordinary Magician, 2nd main character)
Saigoyoji Yuyuko (Manipulator of Ghosts, is one herself)
Yakumo Yukari (Manipulator of boundaries, a Gap Youkai)
Cirno (spelled Chiruno which is how its spelt in Japanese, since they got no "r") (Ice fairy, the Strongest, she is labelled as 9 for "baka" or stupid because of this pic, legend at bottom says 9 is "baka")
- The tree at 1:00 is the Saigyou Ayakashi, it holds a significant important to Saigyouji Yuyuko, who happens to be Youmu's master (or mistress).
- Twin BBAs probably refers to Twin Baabaas, for twin old ladies. They're not twins, but they are expecially close, video here. Also, they're called old because the majority of the girls in Touhou look like children. But their ages are mostly all in the hundreds because they're considered Youkai (monsters, if you will)
- The picture of Reimu at 1:27 is her with a donation box. Fan works always make her seem poor and asking for money. There is alot of fanpics of her donation box with other people as well.

And there you have it. Those are all the things I can point out, but if you're a Touhou fan, you might find out more than what I have. I've only been a fan recently. I admire the music greatly, especially a few groups like Silver Forest and Liverne.

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Anime North 2010

Unfortunately, I was not at Anime North 2010 which took place during May 28-30, 2010. However, my friends went and took pictures in my place. I will post a link to the picasa gallery.
Updated August 19, 2010.

From what I could tell from asking them, it was pretty much the same as the previous years. Perhaps not as good. During Anime North 2008 and 2009, those same friends and I would go on all 3 days, but this time, they only went on Friday and Saturday. But they claimed to have been "sick" (flu-kind or bored-kind, I don't know). But its fine.

I personally don't know whats there to do at anime conventions anymore. As you all have already realized, I do my shopping online at one or more of the links on the side of the blog. Those sites provide much more recent figures with a good state of mind that you don't get fake products unlike here. Also, the prices are not that different after considering shipping and other fees. Though, at places like Anime North, there are a bunch of vendors (alot more than G-Anime), so the chances of discounts are higher (competition). And also, because you can bargain for lower prices. But generally, the prices don't vary say more then $20 CDN. Some stuff you can get dirt cheap at anime conventions though (like wallscrolls, wallpapers, and old figurines).

Mainly because I heard that most wallscrolls you buy which are cheap, are not "real". Or in otherwords, someone had a printer and took a high quality picture and printed it out. How I know this? I asked some vendors, also, I've been to danbooru often, I have a good idea on whether the wallscroll picture is real or not.

Here is something to help you with that (although not 100% correct, nothing ever is).
- Generally real wallscrolls would only use official art from a series. If the picture looks like a fan art, its most likely printed by someone else other than official manufacturer.

- The feel for scroll texture feels more paper-like for the fake wallscroll as opposed to fabric-like

However, that is not to say the least my friends didn't have fun. They went on a shopping spree, one of them spent around $150 CDN. They also took alot of pictures.

I heard there were Touhou goods (not just the games) at Anime North. Whether its true or not, when I asked my friends about the details, they couldn't give me much details about it. But thats fine, I already found a vendor for my Touhou needs.

Gallery: Here

Updated: Second Gallery: Here (Thanks Jonathan)
Ooooh, Remilia!! (wikia)

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[Osu] Few More Videos of Mastery Progress

Hello again, I don't plan to upload every and any song I play on Osu! But here are a few more good songs which really stood out.

The first one above was the Portal credit roll song from the makers Valve. The song was sang by Jonathan Coulton & GLaDOS. I had never finished Portal nor did I search for the song previously. But after I heard it, I was addicted nearly right away. It'll probably be another few weeks until I get off it.

Below is the original version.


Another osu map I decided to upload was the following song, Omae no XXX de Ten wo Tsuke by Iwasaki Tarou. It was a BGM from the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.


One of the best BGMs I've ever heard. If not THE best.

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Writing on the go: Watching Mosaika

Just like Fortissimo, this took place at Parliament Hill. It is a light show on the Parliament buildings. It took place at 9:30pm.

Great light show and sounds.

Definitely worth watching except it's quite late.

Should play throughout August.





- Written on the go from iPhone 3GS

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Writing on the go: Watching Fortissimo on Parliament Hill

Sitting on the grass, watching Fortissimo on Parliament Hill. It is a show about military musical groups performing music. It goes throughout August on nearly everyday at 7:30pm. It lasts 1.5 hours.

It's not too interesting for me, but it might be worth going to. Bring a chair, grass is uncomfortable.

Some good music for me. Some weirdly funny dancing.
Free.

- Written on the go from iPhone 3GS

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[Bandai] Gundam Exia MG Model Review

As previously mentioned, this Gundam Exia MG Model didn't belong to me, it was my brother's so this post had a fair share of his contribution to the construction and photographing process. The full review is below (For atleast as much as I could).

I did participate in part of the construction process even though most of it (head, torso, both arms, and 1 leg) was done by him. From what I could pick up from the construction, it seemed relatively complex and worthy of the title MG. I've always had a worry about the 1/100 models that didn't use the standard MG box. Though, I never built those Strike Freedoms and Destiny in their Full Burst Mode or what not.

Glad that wasn't the case. (Though it was kind of obvious as those didn't have MG on the box, but hey)

The blade was most likely the most appealing feature on the whole Exia suit. And the kit didn't slack in that department, it, along with the 2 swords attached to the waist (detachable, of course) had metallic coating as blades should.

Love the blades *_* !

Aside from the high level of detail in the suit, such as complicated knee joints and such, the joints were relatively strong, as the arms had to hold up that heavy blade. The joints I found were weaker than the joints on the Shinaju but stronger than the Unicorn. Which was acceptable. The leg joints were relatively weaker than the arms, surprisingly.

Some frustration went when posing the Gundam. One of the fold up beam saber/dagger holders on the shoulders was loose and difficult to keep it in the "up" state. Second, that large sword was difficult to put on. The hand's "stuck up part" was difficult to get to fit into the weapon handle's "slot". Although this is generally the case for most models since they don't want the "stuck up part" to take up too much space on the hand so its made rather short, so contact isn't deep. And the ones which can retract and frustrating in its own way.

I found Exia to be one of the best looking suits from 00, if not THE BEST from 00. I personally don't like how 00 Gundam looks. I know I might receive alot of flaming if word gets out. But this is afterall a personal blog. I see no reason why I can't state personal opinion.

The model kit was relatively expensive because of shipping, otherwise it was quite cheap, around 50 bucks, then like 30 for shipping. Boo.

Generally, the kit had no problems as far as I had experienced it. I didn't try to apply decals and my brother said that stickers were no problem.

The gallery was split into 2 because one of them was taken by my brother and the other was by me. Atleast he took most of the pictures from the Canon EOS 7D camera with some Tamron lens (I'm not a photographer, so don't ask photography questions). I was using some older Lumix DMC-FZ30 camera (his old camera that he discarded when he got the 7D).

You can probably tell for sure the 7D is much better at low light with much less noisy pictures. But other than that I think they're similar. Was it worth 1.6k (after discount) for camera and another 500 for the lens? I don't know.

Gallery: From Lumix / Canon.

Lastly, while taking pictures, I put together a fun photo clip of how Exia beat 00 ! YEAH !

Special thanks goes to Kev and King for their wonderful 00 Gundam HG. And yes, I know I'm using a Char Aznable Red Zaku base instead of the actual base from the 00 series. But there are some stuff I don't have with me.

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[Wacom] Bamboo Touch & Pen Tablet Review

I bought this on July 27, 2010 at CanadaComputers when there was a $5 discount, at $90. There were a few reasons for the purchase. Even though I can speak for myself that they weren't well justified. But since I bought it, I might as well give a review on the product. So future consumers will have an additional option for checking product reviews.

The main reason for me was because this version does not require batteries at all. AT ALL!
No more dying in the middle of a stage on osu because battery was low. I couldn't be happier. Also, the multitouch idea was great, since my parents aren't good at a mouse. Eventually, I'll be giving this to them when I either buy a new one or stop using them all together. So its better to plan ahead. I've never really used multitouch on a window 7 computer before, so I was kind of excited.

I will mention first that these photos were done on my iphone 3GS, in very bad lighting conditions (I tried my best with a ceiling light and desk lamp). The phone just has incredible amount of noise! Unforgivable !

Lets start with the box. Its very nice, as you would expect from a product of such a price tag.


The box came with a bunch of stuff.
- Tablet (USB cable attached)
- Stylus
- Installation CD
- Software package CD
- Replacement pen-tips

There were alot of packaging on each of the item. Paper wrap around the tablet, plastic wrap for the stylus, ziplock bag for replacement pen-tips, cardboard CD case for the CDs. Good thing I wasn't charged based on weight. Alot of dead weight in the box. Haha.

Now lets get onto the actual product. And what it looks like. The pen feels good and solid, nothing seems loose other than the pen tip and the eraser which are both loose so you can apply pressure without damaging anything. I would have liked it a bit more if the stylus was thicker, it would make it easier to hold onto. Also, I found it rather easy to press the buttons. Perhaps I'm just gripping too hard though. I often press the buttons when I play osu, which is bad.

New Wacom stylus on top, Old Genius stylus on bottom

The eraser tip works fine after installing the driver, needless to say, before that, nothing works, only your fingers are registered on the tablet (not stylus, not multitouch). I would have to say something I don't like about the stylus though. The pen-tips are relatively easy to use up. What I mean is, every time you use the pen, parts of the tip is "eaten". Until the length is no longer there and they give you replacements. Thank god they do give you some extras. Or perhaps, Im just a heavy user (with osu and all).

Replacement pen-tips (3x) and tool for taking out pen-tips (1x)

After installing the driver, you can setup your pen with the feel of the tip/eraser (ie how hard you need to press), the double clicking speed, the boundaries, the buttons, and some other options. Likewise, you can also calibrate your sensitivity for the finger control on the tablet, as well as which gestures (2 finger scrolling, dragging, etc) you can enable and disable. You can also set up the 4 buttons on the tablet for pretty much anything.

The tablet is somewhat more resistive than the genius one I had. Be it good or bad. Its generally more resistive than your standard laptop ones. About the same as those HP ones with the glossy finish. I'm used to using the touchpads on the Asus laptops and theirs were pretty smooth. This was definitely more resistive than that. The tablet generally work well, but takes time to get accustomed to. The 4 buttons are useful but I hardly use them. The multitouch gestures are all that I use, of course, I still need my keyboard (nothing is currently there to replace that, as typing is a must).

One special feature of the tablet is the light on the left (or can be right depending on whether you are left handed or right handed, you can set that up in the tablet options). Its off when its not plugged in (duh). White when its not in use but powered. Bright white when your finger is touching it (ie. touch recognition). Red when stylus is in close proximity or touching the tablet. It has a smart system where when the style is within range, all finger input becomes ignored. The idea is so you can rest your hand on the tablet when you draw. But I personally like to be able to use my left hand to navigate the painting canvas while my right hand draws. If I want to do that, I have to first remove my right hand, navigate, then put the pen back onto the tablet. Oh well, maybe next time.

This new tablet is smaller than my previous but I've gotten used to it now when I play osu. I didn't use the old tablet for anything other than photoshop work and osu, but atleast this new one, I use it to surf the web too.

Tablet size comparison, along with my current desk setup

The gestures on the tablet basically all work on window computer, with exception to the rotate on window picture viewer but thats not too much of a problem for me. Since I use the keyboard solely when I browse photos. The zooming and scrolling also isn't smooth as I would have liked. Although I don't like Apple, I must say that their touch pads are spectacular. Or it might be their OS. This tablet works on a mac too, but I just haven't tried it myself to give you an opinion. The scrolling feels the same with a mouse scrolling, it goes in chunks, not like the mac where its smooth. I assume this is an OS problem though.

Last topic, usage intergration.

I call it that because at the end of the day, what separates this (with the price tag and features) is ultimately the multitouch. You can easily find a Genius or even another company that features a tablet without multitouch for a fraction of the cost. Heck, even Wacom has a just pen version or just multitouch version.

So the question here is, was multitouch really worth it?

I will give you my honest opinion.

No, it wasn't. Why?

Its simple. For people like me, who has grown up in this world using a mouse since grade 3, I've completely familiarized myself with a mouse. There is nothing (almost nothing, I'll go over the things later) I can do with a tablet faster than with a mouse. One can complain my mouse isn't a crappy mouse, yes, thats true, but most mouse have the same features mine does.

So lets compare what you can do on a mouse vs tablet in a few of the most normal things you do on the computer.

Web browsing:
Neither really have any advantage in this area, except I am more precise with the mouse than I am at the multitouch interface. One may however argue, but 2 finger scrolling !

Yes, but my mouse has a wheel, which is pretty quick and easy to use. But you may then say, you can zoom in/out with pinching!

Yes, but zooming is done by holding control on keyboard then using the wheel. One may then ask, but 2 finger side scrolling goes back and forth pages!

Yes, but theres a button on my mouse for forward and one for backward.

Typing:
Keyboard is the main thing here, but in the cases of scrolling down to find something in the document, again, I find myself more efficient on the mouse than on the multitouch tablet.

Gaming:
I think its safe to say that no one games on a tablet, should it have multitouch or not.

Photoshopping:
I can see a good use of multitouch in this aspect, especially the panning left and right and up and down with 2 fingers scrolling in photoshop. Unless there are shortcuts which I'm not familiar with, I always have to use the navigator tab to pan around my image when I'm in photoshop. So the multitouch tablet definitely takes this round. Also, its near impossible to draw with a mouse.

As you can see, for people who are already proficient in the mouse, multitouch tablet isn't going to be much use. Even after you practice. But Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) might be pushing towards that kind of computing. So its not too bad of an idea to pick up one if you decide the price is just right. However, it does not replace your mouse anytime soon.

If you're a new computer user, by all means, you might as well pick one up. The reasons are simple. Mouse is only for desktops, and maybe laptops if you don't mind carrying an extra mice with you, but most people will have a laptop in their life at some point. So its not a bad idea to start familiarizing yourself with multitouch and the touch pad which is on almost all laptops (minus some Lenovo ones).

If you're into art, you're going to have a tablet for sure, so might as well make it a multitouch tablet, since you're the kind of people who likes to touch things anyway. Though I realize the expensive Wacom tablets don't offer multitouch.


Even though I said that it wasn't worth buying the tablet, I don't regret it. I've never really bought much for myself. I wanted to try something new. And now I have, so I'm happy. I'll continue to use it. Since its nice to surf with your fingers instead with a mouse from time to time. Makes you feel more in control.

Please be advised that although this is a review, this is still filled with alot of opinions. So if you do not feel convinced to buy, Engadget does provide a video review for your satisfaction.

Gallery: Here.

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Writing on the go: Akina Japanese Restaurant Review

I'll keep it short since I'm writing outside.

This restaurant is at Denison and Kennedy.

Pros:
- good sushis
- lots of selections
- waitresses has recommendations
- sirloin cube with garlic was quite good (not overcooked or rough)
- beef roll with baby mushroom also very good
- in general, cooked meat tastes pretty good, not too rough and quite plenty of flavor

Cons:
- slow service
- no mango pudding (editted: there is mango pudding, but its not on the menu)

I found it better than Nikada.

Pictures:



- Written on the go from iPhone 3GS

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