a history of me

...that's the real joy of going to University, discovering things you never knew about before (or simply never tried). For example, I'm now accustomed to putting Tabasco hot sauce on my eggs in the morning. But that's not big news. The big news is that I've been exposed to おるちゅばんエビちゅ, a.k.a. Oruchuban Ebichu, a.k.a. Ebichu the Housekeeping Hamster.

It's the funniest anime I've seen since Excel Saga as well as the most bluntly sexual, adult-oriented animation I've ever seen (aside from straight-up pornography, which Ebichu is not). This is the reason I was so eager to seek out anime clubs here at school; despite my waning interest in the over-saturated US anime market, I knew that someone would show me something that would leave an impression upon me. Something those chumps over at Cartoon Network would never, ever dream of importing.

If you have BitTorrent you can download fan-subtitled episodes here. That's the only way you'll never see it in the United States. You can thank me afterwards.

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I love Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, I really do. One thing that really bugs me about it is the fact that the long-running manga (comic) has never been translated into English, even though the anime and video games have. Sure, I bought a few copies while I was in Japan, but I can barely read them. Imagine my surprise when I found Ignition-One, a site featuring English translations of several manga series, including a good-sized chunk of Jojo! Hurrah!

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New month, new name. All the other "ock" names were taken.

Meeting Chuck is on-line now. Enjoy.


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I'm no fan of Iron Thursdays. It's a good thing there are only two more to go. But today was a real doozy, a regular Demon Hell Ride. It all went wrong around 10AM while I was in the library trying to read up for my classes today. I was totally unable to concentrate because of my leg. Specifically, my right thigh. It was a nagging, irksome pain, not a sharp pain like a cut or a soreness. It was like a painful fever, if that makes any sense. I tried some aspirin but it didn't seem to do any good. So for the next three hours I could do little but focus on my fucking leg. Somehow after lunch I felt a little better, but by then I was so tired I felt myself nodding off. I actually had to buy coffee, and those who know me know that I don't care for coffee.

Of course, I missed tonight's Anime Gamers Alliance meeting just like I missed last night's Albany Anime Club meeting. Maybe next week I can indulge myself.

P.S. The Yankees officially won their division tonight. Glad to see them close the door before October. Division series, coming up!

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With only one class today, I had plenty of time to catch up on work. Except, of course, for the excursion I made to the main campus this afternoon to visit the "Study Abroad Fair," featuring booths from various SUNY schools. Naturally, I was only interested in one destination: Japan. Only three SUNY schools offer a trip to Japan. One of them is, of course, Albany, while the other two are Buffalo and Oswego. I'm inclined to lean towards my own campus to ensure maximum applicable credits, but I must keep my options open.

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After several false forecasts, my roommate finally arrived tonight. It was pretty late too. Good thing I wasn't in a, *ahem* compromising position. That would have been real awkward. He's from Nepal. I impressed him immediately by knowing exactly where Nepal is in the world. Most of these kids don't have the first clue when he tells them where he's from. Of course, I'm getting that a lot lately. Just this afternoon, a whiny student walked out of her classroom and asked (rhetorically) "Who's gonna know where Saotome is?" I told her "Africa." She laughed and kept walking.

I'm always surprised by how much people don't know around here. Last night in East Asian Cinema class, the teacher asked if we knew what a eunuch was. I rolled my eyes, thinking that was a silly question. Then a girl behind me piped up and asked "Isn't that a homosexual?" Or a few weeks ago when a Goth-girl asked a librarian to help her find a movie for class. She couldn't remember the title..."Citizen....Cain? Like the bible?" I offered my humble assistance.

Speaking of mistakes, I got my history exam back from last week. 78! I'm a frigging genius. I took a whole lot of nothing and pulled a high C out of thin air. I rock. Hard.

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I was pleasantly surprised to learn this afternoon that Conan O'Brien will be replacing no-talent Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show. I swear, Jay Leno has never made me laugh in my entire life. Not even when I see old footage of his stand-up comedy from the 1970's. Meanwhile, Conan has been funny for years on his own show, not to mention his earlier contributions to The Simpsons. So, congratulations to Conan, and here's hoping NBC doesn't fuck you like they fucked David Letterman.

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After two failed attempts, I finally made it to the Kendô class today. It was something else. The meeting was held in a dance studio in Schenectady, which was appropriate because martial arts is kind of like a dance, except you also gain the ability to kick ass. Of course, I didn't hit anyone today, and that's a good thing because if we were fighting I would be dead now.

First off, I don't have any of the cool equipment the regulars had. Everything I used was borrowed from other people, mostly from Leo, the guy who brought me to class in the first place. Secondly, it wasn't just a Kendô class. The first order of the day was something called Iaidô (居合道), which is all about drawing the katana (刀) from the saya (鞘), killing your opponent, swiping the blood off of the blade and then replacing the katana. These routines are called kata (型), a word which many different martial arts use. I was instructed separately on the side by some of the senior students. I was safely using a bokken (木剣) but most of these guys were using actual swords. This freaked me out a little bit. I mean, if Schenectady hadn't gone to hell and the bank next door to the studio was open, we could have robbed it. We could have walked next door, cut the line, walked up to the teller and said "Hi. We have swords. Give us the money."

After a few hours of Iaidô we took a break and switched to Kendô. At first, we were doing more ritual-type stuff, only now I was going through a kata with another student in a mock battle. Don't worry, in Kendô nobody uses real swords. We did the kata a bunch of times before everyone put away the bokken and broke out the bamboo swords, known as shinai (竹刀). At this point I was swept aside and practiced something a little more basic while the regulars began smacking each other around. I had to learn the basic "shuffle" step that Kendô students use, which has its own Japanese name that I can't remember. Frankly, I learned so many Japanese words today that I've forgotten them already. Anyway, it was really exhausting, shuffling forwards and backwards on the floor, but it's a great workout and I certainly need that more than hitting people with sticks. It was hard to hear the instructor as everyone was shouting and the shinai make a lot of noise when they strike things. Iaidô class was calm and quiet but Kendô class was loud and chaotic.

Everything wrapped up around two o'clock as the people who had all that armor began really competing with it. Leo and I both had work to do anyway. On the way home we realized that we'd missed brunch at the cafeteria and we'd have to wait for dinner, a tall order since we were both hungry after all that work. So we stopped and bought lunch on the streets. I had Chinese food for the first time since August, and boy did I miss it. The food they give us here isn't that bad but it's always the same. Lots of pasta or cuts of meat, with the occasional sandwich or cooked chicken. Where's the General Tso's Chicken? How long must I go without Chicken Tikka Masala? And who do I have to blow to get some Takoyaki?

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