Vampires in the 21st Century

Vampires are all the craze now. The general public has bitten into them like a vampire bites into a young hot blooded human, with pure abandon. What started this craze? Some may say that Twilight kicked off the this sudden interest in vampires. If you mention vampires, especially to a female teen, the first thought will likely be Twilight. Twilight was released in November 2008. Now, if you are up to speed on the latest shows on the air right now you will know that there is a cable TV series called Tru Blood, which follows the southern belle named Sookie and her vampire lover Bill. Tru Blood started airing as part of the new Fall 2009 lineup, about two months before Twilight was released.

So Twilight theoretically did not start the vampire craze that has infected much of the general population now. Though, admittedly this new found interest in vampires did get a good push from Twilight.

Vampires have become the new cash cow in movies and television. In fact Twilight has grossed (according to BoxOfficeMojo) about $380 million to date. Tru Blood has started its second season and the CW network has released its own teen vampire series called Vampire Diaries.

Vampires are popular now, but the answer to 'why' has not been answered yet. Let us backtrack a little. Back in 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer was released. Immensely popular, Buffy staked vampires for seven seasons, with the series ending in 2003. In the Buffy series, a brooding bad-turned-good vampire named Angel was so popular that he received his own spinoff series named Angel, in 2000. Angel fought evil for five seasons, ending in 2004.

Because Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the first vampire TV show that I remember, and remember being popular, I will use Buffy as the baseline for modern vampires. So from the beginning of the series in 1997, vampire shows have been around for over a decade. But with the ending of Angel in 2004 there was a bit of a gap between vampires then and vampires now. If you slide over in to the movie realm to see what the big studios did with the popular vampires back then you will come across Underworld, led by the stunning Kate Beckinsale. Underworld was released in 2003, with a sequel (2006), and prequel (2009) in subsequent years. We can safely say that after the original Underworld and definitely the sequel that the vampires sort of limped along for a couple years.

Glide ahead a couple years and we land in the middle of today's vampire craze with Twilight and the upcoming New Moon release dominating the female teen age group and True Blood dominating the male 18-35 age group. An interesting fact is that Twilight and True Blood are based off of books. I would guess that the popularity of the Twilight book series got the attention of some movie producers who then bought the rights to turn it into a movie.

On the topic of books, I will say that I am immensely amused by this whole vampire craze. The general population have jumped onto the vampire bandwagon like it was something new. From a literary perspective they are sorely mistaken. I will borrow a term that is often used in vampire books; new bloods. New bloods are vampires who have just recently been turned into vampires, vampires that were once human. Everyone who suddenly became interested in vampires with the release of Twilight and Tru Blood are new bloods. New bloods are people who have not read any books are decided to read the books after seeing the movie or series. The real fans are the ones (like myself) who have read notable vampire authors such as Laurell K. Hamilton, J.R. Ward, Kim Harrison, and Anne Rice.

I am curious on how long this vampire craze will last. I hope it ends before all of the Twilight series are turned into movies.

Staying in Contact or the Lack Thereof

This is a rant, because it is nearly midnight, and the later it gets the less restraint I have when it comes to speaking my mind.

About a week ago I called a friend of mine, left a message to give me a call back. She has yet to return my call. This person has admitted to me on several occasions that she is bad at returning phone calls. That is, anyone outside of family or someone really important. She will eventually give me a call, often two or three weeks later, and usually lead off with the fact she is horrible at returning phone calls and apologize.

She is not the only one. I know a couple other people (girls in fact) that have also said the same line of "I am bad at returning phone calls." when I call them and they do not return calls for weeks on end. They know they are bad at it, I have been told they have had other people tell them the same.

Do they do anything about it? No. It is a bad habit that annoys and polarizes the people that try to keep in touch with them. What kind of message are these girls giving their friends? Basically: "You are not that important, and I will call you when I have nothing better to do or the guilt finally gets to me."

Honestly I do not know why I even bother talking to them anymore. I guess I really have already written off two of them, and the third and last is well on her way. Perhaps it is just me they do not want to talk to. That is fine, but taking the cowards way out and ignoring a person is simply uncouth and onerous. I hope that their other 'friends' also decide to stop calling, and then these girls will realize they have no friends outside the one 'best friend' and family. Not that it will fix their bad habit.

Just one more example why most girls are too bothersome to deal with.

The Value of Friends

As we go through this complicated dance, this dance of Life, we are bombarded with changes, continuous stream of different emotions, happiness, sadness; the ups and downs of our existence are forever in flux. But in this chaos we are enveloped in from birth to death there are a few things that we can count on the solidarity of. One of these things is friendship. Friendship is the pillar of strength that we all need, no matter how strong you are.

Friendship is talking about a good book or enjoying a sports game together. It's about being a good listener or blazing the trails on a bike. We need friendship as much as we need air to breathe. People may say they are strong, they do not need friendship or companionship, but they are wrong. Everyone needs a friend. Everyone.

Friendship is a broad term. Friendship is the base of the bond you have with your lover, your amour. Friendship is also what you have with your pets. Friendship is the connection you make with your... for lack of better terms... friends. You know you can rely on them, you know you can trust them, and you know they are there to set you right when you have gone astray. They are the lodestone to you finding yourself again when you have gotten turned around in this complicated world we live in. They are the proverbial lighthouse when you are lost in the stormy seas of life. It keeps us sane when everything else is driving us to insanity.

Having a friend or friends truly makes a positive difference in your life.

Revisit of Some Favorite Picture of the Day Submissions

Our diligent forum host is busy putting Fantasy Essentials onto a new server so that we may have speedy access to our favorite threads once again. This also means that people cannot submit any new pictures in the Picture of the Day thread. We must wait until the server goes live and our forums are returned to us again. While we wait, I have decided to go back and post a few pictures that I have enjoyed posting more than others.

I hope you enjoy seeing these favorites again as much as I do as I go back to my folder, from time to time, where I keep all my pictures that I have posted over the years and those that I have not posted yet.

Chances are most of you will not see this blog entry until the forums do go live again and I direct here, but a few of you may wander by here, perhaps while you wait for FE to come back to us. Click the pictures for the larger version. Enjoy!


MoonKey
Artist - Olivier Ponsonnet




The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath
Artist - Marta Dahlig




Hajieelkhe
Artist - Linda Bergkvist




Naga Dance
Artist - Camille Kuo




Peacock Woman
Artist - Jiri Adamec




Luna
Artist - Jang Seong-hwan

Food is Trendy?

Today I ate out with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings, BW3's. After ordering our meals, the server came back with our drinks. I had ordered a water. I took a sip of water from the straw only to discover that the water tasted brackish and hard, not sweet and refreshing like water should be. I stated this discovery to those around me and one tells me I should get a soda or iced tea. Water is what I drink mostly and I avoid soda / pop because it tends to makes you thirstier and it is not good for you. And the last time I had iced tea, I added more than five packs of sugar to it, before it was sweet enough to my liking and then it did not taste all that great after all.

This a paraphrased version of the conversation that went on after telling him my preferences:

Friend, "So you only drink water, and nothing else?"
Me, "I drink mostly water, but I also like - "
Friend, "Don't tell me it's Crystal Light... " (pause for response)
I opened my mouth to give a positive indication, and did not even get a word out before...
Friend,"... it is, isn't?! You are like my grandma, drinking crystal light."
And with sarcasm, "It only has 5 Calories per serving."

He proceeded to tease me of drinking it for a minute or two longer.

All this while, I am sitting there thinking "What's wrong with drinking Crystal Light???" I tried asking that question, but either I was not heard over the loud atmosphere or my friend chose not to answer. I did not need his answer though, because I knew that there is nothing wrong with drinking it, even if his grandma drank it.

Has food become trendy? Are certain foods limited to a specific generation, like Crystal Light? I did not think so until today. But it seems from my friend's comment, certain foods and drinks may have association with a certain age group and it is a social faux pas to consume it if not in that age group. Frankly, I think that is ridiculous. If a grocery store sells it, any age group should be able to consume it, whether prune juice or baby food. You may get odd looks if you crack open a jar of mashed pears, but you should not with something like Crystal Light.

My friend needs to get beyond such silly notions of avoiding food stuffs based on age groups.

Note: I'll probably avoid Crystal Light now, because it contains aspartame which is a somewhat controversial sweetener.

No Lights, Camera, Action! Round 2!

Digital cameras are great things. There are so many creative ways to use them. One of these ways is using them for long exposures. Long exposure means the shutter is kept open longer than what it would normally stay open as compared to taking a regular picture (e.g. of your pet). This weekend a friend and I did our second photo shoot utilizing long exposures. We went to my parent's house, where there is little to no ambient light at night and took long exposure pictures using various light-props.

I will let the pictures do the talking. Below are some pictures, with captions explaining how they were taken. I recommend clicking the pictures for the larger version, as these small thumbnails do not do the pictures justice.




My friend stood in place as I used a blue LED light to draw wings and horns around him. Ideally it would have been red, but blue was easier.



This picture came from the idea of 'holding' a ball of light or energy, the way sorcerers or other magical beings do. I 'created' the ball of energy with a few of the light props and then exposed him with a spot light, otherwise you would only see the ball of light.



We set a time delay and ran into the woods to run around with lights. My friend drew the word 'HELP' with a red LED light. Without any other ambient light it is difficult to see the trees.



The blue LED spells the word 'HAUNT' and the white is supposed to be a ghost. It is not an easy task to 'draw' words in the air. You have to have good spacial awareness of where you have 'written'.



After a few successes with 'writing' in the air, I could not pass the chance to 'write' 'REDRUM' in the air, from the Stephen King novel The Shining. It spells 'murder' backwards, in case you did not get it.



A smiley face, well, because I wanted to draw a smiley face.



I brought some LED Christmas lights with me and after hooking up a few extension cords we were able to use the string of lights in the view of the camera. The word is 'rainbow', because there are many different colored lights.



I like skittles, so I tried to write a little more. The 'writing' took a little longer, that is why the image looks a little different, the exposure time was about 45 - 50 seconds.



Spinning the LED Christmas lights and running around the field of view, crazy.



The string of lights were wrapped around my hand, so that they were in a kind of ball, and I was able to spin my arm around to get this effect.



This time the lights were spun in a couple different directions; lasso around my head, spinning around in a circle facing the camera, and then a kind of figure-eight type spin.



As I was preparing the props for the next round of pictures, my friend let the creativity cut loose and did a series of exposures of his face. He would turn a flashlight on, exposing his face, then turn it off again, moving to the next spot to repeat the process.


This is another one of the face-light pictures, I particularly enjoyed the expressions on his face.

The next set of pictures introduced our most favorite prop yet of these type of pictures; fire. Inspired by a picture from a slow-synchronized flash image of a guy spinning a torch, my friend and I decided that we needed to try a torch too. A stick was wrapped with strips of old cloth, tied down with wire, and doused with lamp oil. The torches stayed lit for five to seven minutes. A bucket of water was prepared in case something caught fire. As you scroll through the pictures I would urge you click the images for the larger version, the beauty of the flame trails can not be appreciated at such a small resolution.





This as the first picture of the lit torch, I did not know what to do, so I just waved it around.



The torch was saved around in pattern of circles, if you look close you can see faint shadows of my arm waving the torch.


Again, the torch was spun in circles, you can see how the fire light me up and I was expose to the camera in a series of blurred poses.



This picture is neat because of the way the fire paths go behind my friend and he appears to be in the middle of the flame path. He moved his arm around so that the torch reached behind him.


The torch was spun in wide circles before being brought back down to the ground. The patterns the fire makes is very neat.



In the spur of the moment, I drew a pentagram, which some people believe is a symbol of evil. The effect is even better by the partial exposure of my face. I have to admit, the picture is a bit sinister looking. I apologize to those who may take offense to such a picture, it was done for artistic purposes only.



This picture is reminiscent of the LED angel wings I drew on my friend earlier.



My friend and I were so enthralled by the first set of fire pictures, with one torch, that we needed more pictures, and this time we made two torches. Here I am holding both torches lit, which gives the appearance of my caught on fire.



Again, not knowing what to do with myself and two torches, I made some circles which made some neat flame trails.



Two torches, spinning circles across the field of view.



My friend had me stand in this pose while he used the torches. We were both impressed on how amazing the picture turned out, giving the appearance of me being on fire. My friend started on the right side of the picture, drawing the flame trails around me and then exiting on the left side of the picture.



I took the torches and spun around in a circle to make it look like I was in the middle of spinning flames. I got dizzy and stumbled off the field of view.



No! The torches are dying! Quick, wave them around frantically for one final shot!


After the last set of torch pictures were taken, it was getting too late to do any more shots and after experiencing the euphoria of the fire pictures and not wanting to go back to LED pictures, we called it a night, already planning the next photo shoot using long exposures, with even grander ideas. Of course there is fire involved.

I hope you enjoyed viewing the pictures. What you saw was not all the pictures that were taken. What you saw were some of the pictures that turned out better than others. With every one good shot, there were two or three not so good shots, but that is simply the nature of photography. Each picture had an average of 20 seconds of exposure, ranging from five seconds to 30 seconds, except the 45 - 50 second exposure picture.

Feel free to comment, either on the blog or by email, I would like to hear what you thought about the pictures.

-K

Rumors, Gossip, Hearsay, and You

We all grew up with it, rumors, gossip, and hearsay; people talking to people about other people. I can remember it back in elementary school, but I was not nearly as attuned to it as I am now, and by no means do I consider myself well versed in such methods, but I have certainly been exposed to a lot more of it through my high school and college years and even now. Let me start out with a few definitions:

Rumor (ru·mor) n. - 1. a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts 2. gossip; hearsay

Rumormonger (ru·mor·mon·ger) n. - One who spreads rumors

Gossip (gos·sip) n. - idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others

Hearsay (hear·say) n. - 1. unverified, unofficial information gained or acquired from another and not part of one's direct knowledge 2. an item of idle or unverified information or gossip; rumor

The definitions pretty much go full circle, with 'rumor' covering 'gossip' and 'hearsay' and then 'hearsay' leading back to 'rumor'. Combine the definitions, and gossip, hearsay, and rumors are defined as a story or statement in general circulation, about the personal or private affairs of others, often without confirmation of certainty of facts. That statement sounds pretty awful. People talk about other people's private lives, not concerned with the real facts, and the more 'juicy' the facts, the less people care if it is the truth or not.

Rumormongering, spreading rumors, is rude and bad mannered, and can cause rifts in friendships and relationships. But friends still gossip and listen to hearsay without considering the feelings of the person or group they are talking about. Rumors often come from one person who hears small detail about someone, thinks it is worth telling to friends and embellishes it, usually adding their own prejudice or feelings into this small detail. The most common rumors and gossip is about other people's relationships; who they are dating, relationship status, relationship problems, etc... The type of details that are none of their concern. Knowing the details about your friends' relationships is a privilege, not a right, and that privilege should be exercised accordingly (meaning, not telling everyone who have no need to know).

People who gossip and rumormonger about other peoples' relationships and lives have no business doing what they are doing. If a couple decides to discuss their private life with friends, they will tell them about it personally, you should not be discussing the private affairs of your friends behind their backs. I am not saying it is savvy to talk about their affairs when they are present, but at least they can stop conversation or verify details about their personal lives if they are present.

I will concede that gossip can be good, but more times than not, gossip and hearsay is hurtful to someones' feelings. I have read books where peoples' lives are destroyed by an errant rumor, I have witnessed, in real life, the havoc rumors and gossip can have on groups of friends. I admit, listening to gossip is thrilling, and certain gossip can be harmless; telling others about someone receiving an award or talking about someone's acceptance in a prestigious academy. Those examples are harmless gossip and are fine to talk about. The type of gossip and rumormongering that is not savvy, is talking about an argument you overheard between friends, who are dating, and then making gut judgments on their relationship, with no facts to back up the judgment. The next thing you know, that gossip you talked about has turned into a malicious rumor and people start getting hurt. In the first place, you had no business overhearing the conversation, and you have even less right to discuss it with friends and make conclusions.

In the intelligence community hearsay has little to no credibility, when it comes to intelligence gathering. And in personal lives; even if it is given little credence, it does not make it any less hurtful.

So, next time you overhear a choice tidbit of information about your friends, pause and think if it you have a right to tell others and if it can hurt the person whom you are talking about.

Ciao,
-K

Does Such Love Exist?

Reading many books and novels, I have come across a type of love that you may find hard to witness in our current time. It is that love that springs from sharing dangers and harrowing experiences together, a kind of love that is so wonderful that it is painful. I will give you an example of what I mean. I was recently reminded of the movie Stardust, based on a novel by Neil Gaiman. In the movie, there is a scene where the girl confesses her feelings to the boy she loves:

"Yes I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable, and strangely easy to mistake for loathing. What I am trying to say Tristan, is that I think I love you. My heart... it feels like my chest can barely contain it, like it doesn't belong to me anymore. It belongs to you, and if you wanted it I would wish for nothing else in exchange; no gifts, no goods, no demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you love me too. Just your heart in exchange for mine."

It has been a while since I had heard such a touching confession. And it is that type of love that I am talking about, the type of love that is fully given without pause, despite knowing the person for less than a week. Less than a week! A fairy tale love is what it sounds like, but it is that type of love that any romantic may hope for. Another example that comes to the forefront of my thoughts is from a book I am currently rereading. In the fantasy novel, after being rescued by an adopted kitchen boy, a princess of a duke, falls helplessly in love with the boy. A few excerpts:

"She took a long breath, then softly added, 'That's why I think I love you. You could never be false with anyone. Least of all with yourself.'

She came softly into his arms, holding him tightly her face resting on his shoulder. 'Never, Pug. I could never care for another.'"

Skip forward most of the book, where a close friend talks about her after she finds out Pug has been captured by enemy forces and presumed dead:

"Roland looked at the Princess, seventeen years old just this last Midsummer's Day. No longer a petulant little girl given to outbursts of temper, she was changing into a beautiful young woman of thoughtful introspection. Few in the castle were unaware of the many nights' sobbing that issued from Carline's suite after news of Pug had reached the castle. After nearly a week of solitude, Carline had emerged a changed person, more subdued, less willful. There was little outward to show how Carline felt, but Roland knew she carried a scar."

Two years was the rough time difference between the first excerpt and the second, two years she spent harboring her love, a love that still remains, because that love would turn her into the woman she will become.

It was that unconditional love, that seeded and budded during such harrowing times that you will be hard pressed to find in society anymore, where much of society's youth have many dalliances and trysts that are for the most part meaningless. Harsh words, but it's true. And if love develops, it is not the love that is created in such a pure fashion, a bond that is neigh unbreakable. Oh sure, love exists in many wondrous forms, and can rival the love that I talk about, but what kind is it? Is it a connection between two people that cannot be explained? Or is it because the couple has such mutual interests that love is formed from that? Maybe, but it is not the same. There are too many people who do not know true love and the evidence of this ever present in society, with divorces, cheating spouses, broken families, etc.

Another quote I think will help close out this entry:

"There are many ways to love someone. Sometimes we want love too much, we're not too choosy about who we love. Other times we make love such a pure and noble thing, no poor human can ever meet our vision. But for the most part, love is a recognition, an opportunity to say, "There is something about you I cherish.' It doesn't entail marriage, or even physical love. There's love of parents, love of city or nation, love of life, and love of people. All different, all love."

People need to read more fantasy novels and understand what love really is, or see what love can be, because the love I read about, is amazing.

A Weekend and an Observation

This entry starts with no title, in hopes that it will come to me as I compose this. I really have no solid topic. The inspiration probably comes from a few things I have seen in the last few days that made me giggle a little to myself. I do hope this does not sound rant-ish.

It is interesting, 'it' being defined as an event or a multitude of events with a singular or pairing of connections, that the amount of touch a person may desire is, whether it is for lust or simply to, for lack of subtlety, to mark their territory. I have read enough books, seen enough movies, television shows, and real life experiences , to be facetious enough, to be able to reflect on the interactions of two people with a degree of confidence, maybe.

What I saw recently, and made me giggle a little, has to do with what I wrote about in the previous paragraph. When someone owns something, and desires that ownership to known, they often indicate this by touch or holding, or something along those lines. For example, a child who happens upon some sort of sweet and discovered with it will often clutch it to themselves and declare 'Mine!', to indicate ownership. Of course when it comes to people, it does not quite work that way.

Someone won't go up to their amour or sweetheart and grab, declaring 'Mine!' (unless it is an over dramatized scuffle between two girls and one guy, whom they both like). It is less dramatized, but not necessarily subtle. When a guy, who is interested in a girl, sees another guy who he perceives to have a similar interest in that very girl, he will often show the other guy, by 'marking his territory'. No, he does not pee on the girl, that is disgusting. It is shown by touching.

The touching will often come in the forms of a playful shove on the shoulder, a hand on the small of the back to lead the girl in a certain direction, or simply standing close. The touching may even extend to an excuse to hold the girl, such as throwing over the shoulder, or simply picking up, to tease or chide. In small amounts, this is normal, but when done in rapid succession, it indicates his particular interest in the girl, it may even be considered flirting. Call it what you will, but it is also done to show the other guy (or guys) that this girl is his, exerting his dominance.

When sufficient attention of touching has been shown, and the girl has not completely shied away from this attention, he will feel like he has 'marked' his territory and will be confident to let her leave his presence, confident that nothing will happen. Of course this confidence is boosted when the other guy, the rival, does nothing and makes no move to touch, hold, or initiate any other physical contact with the girl.

I think I was considered the rival, perhaps, but whether that was true or not, I saw what I saw, and it amused me.

This sums up my short entry, and I have not come up with a title for this blog.

Update:

I was talking with a friend and she asked if guys really have that sort of mindset, being 'territorial' so to speak. I think it is (since I wrote about it), though I have seen it in a more confrontational mode and some would akin it to the jealousy mindset, but I do not think it is as severe as jealousy. If it were that bad, then you would have something as extreme as the Axe commercial, where one girl sprays a male mannequin and another girl walks up to it seductively and the first girl pushes her back shouting "Get away from my man!", except the genders would be reversed (think 'Get away from my woman' ... of course then you get into the whole problem women not wanting to be seen as objects to own... but that topic will be left for another day).

Ciao,
-K

Follow Up: Friends Who Will Remain Friends

Almost two years ago I wrote an entry in my blog that talked about friends who you made in college, that would remain your friend after you graduate. Now that I have graduated and it has been about four months since graduation, I thought I would follow up on that post I made somewhere in the middle of my college life.

In case you do not remember what the entry was, or you did not know about my blog at that point, the link below leads to the previous entry...

Friends Who Will Remain Friends

The part that I am referring to, is the tangent portion, and the part I would like to take a closer look at was somewhere in the middle where I stated:

"When you are in college or highschool, you meet a lot of people, and you get to know their names and maybe even learn a little about them as you progress through classes with them. But there are some people who you won't remain in contact with after you leave the institution you are at, whether high-school or college. Yes, you may have worked together, and laughed about the same jokes, and hung out, while at school, but beyond that, nothing. Then there are those friends who will still remain your friends after you leave. You may not see them all the time, but you'll stay in contact via phone, email, or what-have-you. Those are your friends, the difference between calling someone your classmate and your friend."

And then:

"... of the 30-40 odd acquaintances I had at high-school, my classmates, there are less then five I probably stay in regular contact with and call my friend. The same will happen in college ... "

About four months later, my prediction that I made two years ago, is more or less true. At the moment, there are less than a handful of classmates who I stay in regular contact with, and even some of those are a singular effort on my part. It is kind of scary, do you not think? I spent five years in college and only came away with a handful of real friends?

Now I would like to extend that to you. Can you name more than a handful of college classmates who you can call a friend; with whom you stay in regular contact with, whether it is real life, internet, or phone? Just out of indignation, you might say 'yes', but take a step back, I am not trying to be flip. How many classmates are your friends?

I found it was an interesting observation to make.

Ciao,
-K

Do You Really Have A Cellphone?

"I'm going out with some friends from school tonight."
"What are you doing?"
"Hanging out, maybe catch Independence Day at the Dansberry."
"Okay, be back by 10 this evening, or you'll be grounded."
"Yes mom."
"And take your jacket, it might rain."
"Yes mom."
"Oh my friends are here, they just pulled up, bye!"
"Remember, be back by--"
*door slams*
"-- ten."

Does that sound familiar? Okay, maybe you could not be caught being seen in theaters watching Independence Day, but hey, Will Smith was popular back in the 90's.

Fast forward a decade.

*your pocket vibrates and a catchy series of tunes plays*
"Hey."
"Hey."
"What's up?"
"Want to go catch the newest Pirates movie?"
"Sure, who's going?"
"The gang, the usual people."
"Cool, meet you down there at eight or so."
"Cool, later."
"Later."
*stuff phone back in pocket*

Does that sound familiar too? If you did not catch the difference, that was the difference between when we had cellphones and when we did not have them. Perhaps your conversations played out cooler than that, but probably not.

Many of us, where 'us' is defined as graduates from high school around 2002, got our first cell phones near the end of high school or the beginning of college. It was convenient and nice to be able to make phone calls anywhere, if you had signal. But, cell phones have morphed (think Power Rangers and when they fight the big monsters, except the opposite direction) into a device that does 100's of functions. But the underlying function still remains, calling people and receiving calls. We rely so much on cell phones, that landlines are becoming unnecessary, with in-calling, free nights and weekends, and enough anytime minutes where we do not need the extra fee of a telephone at home.

However, are cell phones really the convenience that we are lead to believe? No... no, no, no! But why 'no'? Well, let's start with the misnomer 'cellular phone', which to most people means a phone that is small enough to carry around on one's self. When someone tells you to call their cell, you immediately think that they will have it with them, and that you can reach them easily. That is a false image for most people anymore.

I know people that are nearly impossible to reach, even though they have a cell phone. Either they never pick-up, they never listen their voice mail, or they choose to screen the call. When I am not trying to reach those people, I often get to call a group of people that rarely pick up on the first call. They either have the phone on silent, on vibrate, or it is simply not on them. Then there are a few that actually pick up most of the time, those are rare of course. And no, I am not calling in the middle of the day. It is often evenings or weekends when they should have their cell phones with them or nearby.

What is the purpose of a cell phone when you do not pick up, you do not keep it on you, or just do not bother to care to answer calls? Sure, you can be in a movie, or otherwise busy, sometimes. But for those who rarely pick up, is your life truly busy that much that you cannot spare half a minute? I doubt it.

So my rant moves to advice. Your cell phone is there so people can reach you easily, keep it with you as much as possible, or have it on a loud ring if you leave it in the other room. If you ignore or think that you will call someone back later, then think what the other person feels, when they call time and time again, unable to reach you, without them knowing that the person sees their missed calls and listens to the voice mails? What if they have a good story to tell you, or some tragic news, or some funny incident to tell you that happened at work? When you call back three or four days later, that person will be like, "Oh yeah... never mind." and bam, you have inadvertently burned someone. Perhaps you can try answering and ask if they can call back later, it takes less than a minute, and if it is the night or weekend or in-calling it will be free. Or if you have a text plan, have a Quick Text of "Saw you called, will call back soon." and it takes less than 20 seconds.

Bottom line: You have a cell phone so that people can reach you, stay mindful of that.

A Day in Sweden

IKEA.

Still confused? I suspect half my friends know nothing of what that word means. It is the name of a Swedish furniture store that is raved about among homemakers. I will not go into the history of the store, because I do not know it, and it would prove of little interest to you. It has strong roots in a few cities around this country, and the heart of it, is Chicago. Chicago, Illinois is the home of not one, but two IKEA stores, and the one to the north is the second largest IKEA furniture store in the world; the largest being in Sweden, of course.

This weekend, I drove up to IKEA, for the first time, with my parents, who are veterans of the store. My mom is an IKEA fanatic, to put it lightly. Since the discovery of the store, my house has undergone a transformation. My mom is German, and for whatever reason, she is very particular about furniture here in the US, preferring European style furniture (which makes sense if you think about it). Before, our house could have been considered to be furnished as Euro-American, but that has changed to a dominance in European furnishing, with a slight hint of American styling.

Getting back on topic, I went to IKEA this weekend to find a bed and desk for my new place, and I brought my camera. I will post a few thumbnails that link to the photo album, click the link to get to the album. There is even a picture of me, attempting to look sinister.





This is the IKEA store, as you drive in from the main road.


The place is huge, three massive floors of furnishings. The second and third floor has all the furniture and furnishings on display. Each display item has a set of tags on it, describing the item, and more importantly a row and aisle number. If you want to purchase an item, such as a bed, you go to the first floor which is like a warehouse, containing the items that the second and third floor had on display. Most is self-service, you go down to the first floor, grab a cart, and with your shopping list, you find the items that are all neatly packed away in boxes, awaiting assembly.





A view of all three floors. You can see the boxes of furniture on the first floor. An island with walkways leads you to the lights / lamps section.


We spent four hours in the store and we really only spent time in the bed, bathroom, desk, and kitchen section of the store, sampling each section only. I could probably could have spent twice as much time there, especially in the kitchen and tableware section, looking at glasses, plates, pots and pans, and other useful kitchen and eating items. Yes, I enjoy that stuff, because I like cooking, and I like to make things look nice, especially if I have guests eating. You need the proper utensils, from start to finish, to make a proper meal.





This view shows about a third of area for kitchen stuffs, table ware, and furnishings. Glasses, mugs, plates, utensils, are all there.


A nice thing about the store is that you do not even have to leave the store, if you are hungry. The third floor has a restaurant with Swedish food, including Swedish Meatballs. The first floor has a quick meal place, such that you find at baseball stadiums, and even a small food area, where you can buy authentic Swedish food-stuffs. Bathrooms are on each floor. You can spend all day at the store, like the store owners intended.

When are finished shopping, and you have paid for your items, there are even convenient loading areas where you can pull up your car and load the big boxed items into your vehicle. Workers are available to help you jam your newly acquired furniture into your car.



Two guys loading an item onto their car, at the loading area, that is too big to fit in the car, as it was too full with the other boxes they had bought.


By the time we left, my feet were tired from all the walking around and looking. Content with our purchases, we left after a meal at the restaurant on the third floor, helping ourselves to the cookies that were marked "Free milk & cookies for kids." Next time I visit the place, I hope to see more of Chicago than the inside of IKEA. I would show you pictures of the new items I got, but they have not been assembled yet. :)

Ciao for now,
-K

Are You One of Those People?

At this risk of making people mad at me, I will post this...

Are you one of those people that reads jokes forwarded to you, and laugh to yourself, and then continue on with your day? Are you one of those people that gets a link in your email or you are told to visit it, and you do, and then do nothing except keep it to yourself. Do you never respond to links, jokes, or other non-personal e-things?

You just think to yourself, 'Oh, that was neat.', or you laugh to yourself, or you think 'Ugh, weird.', never to let those comments reach anyone else's ears except your own? Do you not think it is odd that you do not respond to the person who sent you the e-link/message/joke? Do you think they are all rhetorical, and that you should not bother to send something in return, that they'll somehow think that you are thinking what you are thinking, that you subconsciously think they have some kind of ESP that can understand what you are thinking without them actually knowing, and so your need to respond to them in the physical world is not needed?

In reality, they never ever actually receive your thoughts of amusement, disgust, or impassiveness. They have no knowledge that you even opened the email. Does everyone live such jaded lives that they cannot bother with a simple response, that you mind-numbingly go on to the next email and revolve around your own little world? Yes, harsh words, especially when I am somewhat of a hypocrite, since I can answer yes to most all of the questions I asked in the couple paragraphs before this. Are people's lives are oh-so-busy that they cannot seem to spare a moment to acknowledge the person who sent them something or link to something of interest?

Let us take a personal example for instance. I sent out an email about a comedic explanation concerning quantum physics. I sent the email to 12 friends. I do not get a single response... not one. Wait, I take that back, I got one auto-response telling the person was out. Did each one look at the email and skip it? Did they even bother to open it? Heck if I know. Should I have written in the email, 'tell me what you thought'? I thought that it was courteous to respond to someone who was nice enough to share a bit of something they enjoyed. I guess my internet manners are set too high and I should not expect such things from friends.

Another example, I had a link in my Gmail status message to some pictures I took. I am pretty sure that many people saw the link and might even have clicked it. At the risk of sounding high-minded (or is it too late?), I can say that those pictures were damn cool and that I am sure that others thought they were damn cool too. In the nearly five days it has been online (almost all day and night), only one single person has said anything. You know how happy it made me? You probably do. When someone acknowledges something you are proud of, something you spent considerable amount of effort on, that is the feeling I got when that person told me the pictures were damn cool. Of course, some people might have thought to themselves that the pictures were damn cool, but I do not have ESP, so I have no clue what they thought.

Perhaps those two examples were fuel for this blog, but they were mearly the catalyst for something that has occurred to me for quite some time, that people do not thing it is worth their time to respond to a friend.

No, it is not like I want everyone to be like; 'that was super cool' (super is said with a French accent, pronounced sue-pair), but a comment here and there is surely appreciated, and I am sure that when you send out something that is funny or weird or interesting, that you would like some kind of acknowledgment of appreciation too.

So next time you get an email from someone or a forward, perhaps you should try and respond with a comment that takes you less than ten seconds to compose and send out. You will make that person a little happier for actually responding to them, I mean, they are friends after all. If you remain impersonal to them, you will drift apart when you no longer see them after they have left for jobs not near you. That excuse for being too busy sure wears thin after the umpteenth time of hearing it. Where it may be true, you surely are not always too busy.

Respond to emails, you will be surprised on how far a response, that takes less than a minute to send out, will go.

I am sure to have raised the ire of my friends, but I am trying to say something that encompasses not only me, please remember that.

Ciao for now
-K

Watching the Clouds

As a kid, did you ever look up at the sky and let your imagination run wild as you looked at the clouds? I do, and I still do now, but not as often as when I was a kid. You saw anything and everything in those clouds, from creatures such as fish, deer, and ones you could not name to houses, cars, and other fantastical constructs. It did not matter what shape the cloud was in, your mind could always think of something that the cloud would be shaped like.

Now though, graduating from college soon, to start a new chapter of my life (scary, huh?), and you find you are too busy to really take the time to relax and do nothing. There is always something you should be doing, whether it's studying, doing work for your organizations, looking for a job, or practicing your Australian accent. You might find that you are not able to relax, you have been so busy for so long that when you really can relax you might not be able to relax properly. I know some people would deny that they do not know how to relax. Relaxing can be anything that you personally find relaxing; drinking a cup of tea, reading a magazine or book, hitting the trails with your mountain bike, or spending time with your friends or family. But what about watching the clouds like when you were a kid?

Imagine a rolling field of grass, as far as your eyes can see. The grass is green, lush, and soft to the feet. As you breath in you inhale the sweet fragrance of spring, a fresh smell of grass and flowers and clean air. A soft breeze sends ripples through the grass, making the vast field look like a green ocean, rocking gently underneath the touch of the of wind. Wild flowers such as foxglove, lupine, morning glory, and flox are scattered in patches among the grass. The only sounds you hear are the whispers of the wind as they pass through the blades grass and the occasional twirping of a bird. It is a warm day out, you are comfortable wearing shorts and a t-shirt, neither too hot nor too chill and the humidity is just enough to wrap you in its warm embrace. The sun shines down on you, warming you through and through. You look up to see clouds, white and fluffy, gracefully floating through the air, casting large shadows on the field as they pass by. The ground is soft and yiedling and when you lay down in the cushioning grass, you are comfortable as you stare up at the sky and clouds. You are relaxed.

That is the type of relaxing I can imagine. Unfortunately such a place would not be the easiest to find. I do not think I have had the experience to find such a place here in the states. I have come really close to such a field in Europe. I am sure such a place exists in reality, but not near any city. I would encourage anyone to find such a place and just sit back and stare at the sky, letting the rays of the sun warm you, and let your mind wander as the breeze carries your consciousness to the clouds. The clouds will be shaped to my imagination's desires and the sky will become my imagination's playground as it creates creatures and things that only I can see.

One day I will find that field and relax. But for now, I will let my imagination continue to do its work and dream up wonderlands in my mind.

The Night An Engineer Dressed Up

Last night was the culmination of Engineering Week, the banquet at Music Hall, downtown. It was only my second time attending, last year being the first year I attended the banquet. It was not a good night to be out and about, the weather was horrible; rain, sleet, and the onset of night was not a good combination of conditions to be driving in. But my resolve prevailed, (and the fact that I did not really care about the weather) I drove to Music Hall. I was there a little early to help Mike out with a few last minute things. When I arrived (on time) everything seemed to have been squared away already. After saying my hello's to Char & Mike, I took the chance to look around, admire the decorations, and take a few pictures before all the other guests (and my friends) started to arrive.

The DJ was still setting up, the tables were set, and the food was being laid out on the serving tables. I was relatively hungry, and all the food that was visible was not helping things out, so I moved away to quell the tempatation of acquiring some food. I did not have to wait long before the first bus from campus arrived dropping off people, including a large group of my friends. They were all fancied up too; the guys wearing sleek suits and the girls wearing alluring dresses, quite the change when compared to our usual wear around campus. Compliments were passed around, pleasantries were exchanged and coats were checked before making our way over to a table. There were too many of us to sit at one table, so we managed to split ourselves among two tables. I sat with Mike, Carley, Adam, Emily, Dusty, and two others that I do not know. Emily, Dave, Andy, and Stacie sat at a table next to us with some others that I do not know names of either.

After the dust settled in the scramble to getting seats, the mingling began. Casual chit chat was had, some went to get some of the appetizers that consisted of chips, veggies, and dip. I wandered around talking intermittently to friends. I went up to the entrance, where Roy and his wife and Janie were kind enough to check ID's and give out bracelets to those of us who were old enough to drink. Mike and Char were overseeing everything, answering questions as best as possible and not freaking out in the process. The buses were coming reguarly now and wave after wave of students came in, all fancied up as well. I think we were able to say that we were officially sold out of tickets, after all the final head counts were made, breaking last year's attendance record.

Soon it was 8 o'clock and it was time for dinner to be served. We wanted the the faculty, alumni, and sponsors to go first to get their food before the horde of students befell the spread like the ravenous beasts that we are. I am not sure how well it worked, I might have missed an announcement or three, because I was walking around only to see the people at my table in line and being informed that I could get food as well. Of course I did not hesitate to stake my place in line, because if this year's dishes were anything like last year's, I could not waste any more time. I mean, I had to get through the main course as quickly as possible to get dessert... What? Did you think that I was worried about getting the main entré? Please, the delictable desserts were not to be passed up. Though, the main entré is not to be pushed aside, because it was delicious. This year the entré consisted of two types of salads, one plain and one with a raspberry dressing, dinner rolls, steamed vegetables that consisted of brocoli, cauliflower, and carrots, a cheese sauce that was to die for, roasted chicken, cheese potatoes, roast beef and gravy, and of course one cannot forget about the buttered spiral noodles with 'Shake & Bake'. I might have missed a something, but that is what was on my plate and anything else must have not been appetizing enough for me to give it further thought.

Making my way back to the table, my plate properly laden with food, I sat down to dig in only to discover that if I wanted any more alcoholic drinks I should go now before the bar closes during dinner. Accompanying Emily to the bar, I asked for another glass of white wine (a Chardonnay) and a Screwdriver with a shot of Sprite, per request from Adam. We eventually made our way back to the table, after being waylaid a number of times, and I was finally able to eat. The cheese sauce was just as good as it looked, and it made everything on my plate taste much better. The chicken was a little dry, but with a little cheese sauce, all was well again. The salad was not the greatest, and so I did not focus on it too much, because I doubt that the cheese sauce could have improved it.

After a fascinating discussion about Mike's love of buttered noodles in highschool, we went and headed to the dessert table, which was hidden in the back corner of the hall. There was a lot to choose from, all which looked delicious; brownies, chocolate cookies, cream puffs, mini pies, fresh fruit (pineapple, grapes, strawberries, and cantalope), and lemon bars, with bowls of yogourt spread and a large bowl of warm melted chocolate. My choices were sadly halved due to giving up chocolate for Lent (yes, I'm crazy), but that did not stop me from enjoying all the non-chocolate dishes. Mike could not pass up the chance to tease me about the chocolate though. I enjoyed the fruit & yogourt and lemon bars the best. The creme puff was a little bland and I did not favor it too much.

Just as I was finishing up dessert, the more somber part of the evening began; the speeches and award recognitions. There were a couple of different awards, including the Herman Schneider Award and Professor of the Quarter Award. There was another, that even some friends were in, but I do not remember what it was. The best part of the award and speech ceremony was probably when the Electrical Engineering Coop advisor butchered the Herman Schneider Award's recipient's name that sounded very similar to the last two syllables of 'lasagna' minus the 's'. I'm sorry, but if you nominate the person and then mispronounce their last name, you have to see some humor in it. I almost forgot, the E-week competition winners were announced, but most of us already knew who placed in the top three. The team I was in placed 2nd, five points away from first place. If we had had perfect attendance or went just a little further in the food drive, we would have had clinched first place, but oh well, it was fun and I would do it again if I was not graduating this year. The winning team's captain gave a little victory speech, which was more of an announcement that they were going to blow their prize money on a kegger after the banquet. He really did sound the model partying drunk college student. A baritone voice that seemed to lack intelligence. I am probably being a little harsh, but it's my blog.

After Andrew, one of the three E-week co-chairs, finished stumbling through his little mini-speeches, the dancing was next. Before that there was a round of pictures before everyone threw off their shoes and loosened their ties for the dancing. There was a group picture of the Electrical Engineers attending the banquet, then one for the graduating class of Electrical Engineers, and finally a group picture of the Engineering Tribunal Executives. Nothing really happened during the picture taking, so I'll leave it at that, though I am sure Steve did something.

There is something that I forgot to mention earlier; Jeff was at the banquet. Jeff, the MSA racing fanatic, the one who refuses to do anything social unless it only involves drinking, the one who said he would come dressed in jeans and his most pit-stained shirt if he came at all, showed up at the banquet. He told those who did not know that he had bought his ticket on Wednesday and had atempted to keep it on the down-low, to surprise everyone. It was pretty cool that he came to the banquet. Of course he really did not dance... at all. Well, maybe he danced a little at the end with Char, but he must have been pretty inebriated at that point. Some of us later in the evening attempted to force Jeff to dance with us, but we were unsuccessful on multiple tries.

I am jumping ahead a little though. The dancing began shortly after everyone took pictures. Personally, I am not a big fan of dancing, especially that freestyle type of dancing, because I think I look pretty silly when I do eventually start dancing. It would be pretty boring to sit at the table all night long, not dancing. I had my camera and it was a good excuse to be on the dance floor and not dancing a lot. Janie danced a little at the beginning which was cool, I think I have a video clip of that. The DJ played songs that the majority of people seemed to recognize, which was a little passé, in my opinion. He played the usual songs, like Cotton Eyed Joe, Electric Slide, Electric Salsa, and other late 90's dance songs. Throw in some rap and a handful of slow songs and you have a pretty generic set that does not dissapoint the majority, nor does it make it very amazing. A couple of shining points in the DJ's set was when he played Kylie Minogue's Love at First Sight (per request from Adam in lieu of the DDR competition) and the one and only techno song of the evening, a remix of Darude vs. Robert Mile's Children of the Sandstorm (sample here). To me, that song generated the most energy in the crowd, but I favor that genre, so I might be a bit bias. You cannot blame the DJ too much for not straying from the safe confines of accepted music, but a little variation from last year's banquet would have been nice too.

You have to wonder though, would people dance like they would if they were not as intoxicated as they were? I probably had a glass of wine and few sips of drinks people offered me, the under-developed drinker, to sample, and even though it took me a little to warm up to dancing, I thought I swallowed my humility rather well without the need to be intoxicated. Of course my dancing style is probably an issue as well, but who is to judge someone's dancing when they look just as silly? And what do people really think when they see someone else dancing? Do they mentally judge the person's dancing capabilities? Perhaps some of my friends will enlighten me on that issue.

The dancing went on for about two and a half hours, a long time for dancing, but it seemed shorter, maybe because I was enjoying myself a lot. For someone who does not like the free style type dancing, club style dancing, I thought I covered my bases pretty well, I danced to the fast songs, to the line dances, some salsa, and even a couple of slow songs. Everyone else seemed to have managed too. Even Dave, who hovered at the edge of dance floor, and would do nothing besides mingle with people, danced a little too. I even dragged him through the dance floor once, so he could say that he was on the dance floor and not merely on the edge of it.

When the dancing ended, I was a little disappointed, because it meant that the night of fun was pretty much over and that reality would rush back in a very short time. As the buses started taking the partygoers back, people chatted among themselves, taking a few last pictures, before going their separate ways, either to get some rest or continue the party elsewhere. I was part of the former group, going back to get some rest. I said my goodbyes and left.

Overall, the evening was a blast, the food was delicious, especially the dessert, people had fun hanging out with friends, and enjoyed some dancing. I do hope that there will be more times like this before graduation and I think that others would agree with me.

Oh my!

What an exciting evening! Wow, simply, wow. Tonight was the Date Auction for E-week, at The Mad Frog. People get auctioned off for dates, and all the proceeds from the auction go to Children's Hospital as donations. I was there to see some friends auctioned off, as well as getting some pictures of all the fun. I was pretty close to the front, near the stage (and a speaker!) so I had a pretty good spot for taking pictures. One of my friends was the MC (Master of Ceremony) to auction off the girls, he read their bios and convinced people to continue bidding. People danced, guys took off their shirts, and more, just to get more money.

Another friend of mine was getting auctioned off and she was super nervous about getting auctioned off, whether it was because she was worried about having people bid for her, or if just general stage fright. She eventually gets on stage and the bidding starts. I started bidding, and soon the bidding became very heated, the amount continuing to go higher and higher. It was crazy and I won! Let's put it this way, the auction came down to two people this way and I had a great amount of support from my friends who were very encouraging. My heart was racing, and I definately was weak kneed, the bass made me dizzy everytime it beat. The girl who I won in the auction, is very well known (she probably had the loudest cheering when she was introduced), and so me winning put a lot of attention on me. People were looking at me and were probably wondering who I was, or if they did recognize me were wondering why I bid so much.

I'm a little concerned about what will happen. I hope I did not step on anyone's toes, I do not even know who I was bidding against. Was it someone setup earlier to be that person to bid so that the girl was not auctioned off to someone she did not want to get auctioned off to? (Actually I found out, and two words... oh dear.) Is she okay with me winning? I think her initial reaction was disbelief, as was the reaction of many others who know me and her. I was not sure how to react, and so I tried to be as casual as possible, but I doubt people really thought that. I hope everything works out okay. The rumor mill is surely working overtime.

Formality of Names

It has sure been a while since I have blogged anything. The days of inspiration from Psych 101 have long been past and I found that if I was not typing on my laptop it did not feel the same, perhaps my laptop is my 'journal' and without it, I cannot write. Enough of that, down to business. In this blog, I will refer to myself as Kevin Soulchaser, to maintain some semblance of anonymity.

In Japan there is great importance to names. Take the Japanese name Tsumura Tokiko, a girls name, in case you were not sure. You would introduce yourself and then she would introduce herself as Tsumara Tokiko, and since you are simply an acquintance, you refer to her as Tokiko. You may also use Tokiko-san, the san is a title of respect, similar to Mister or Missus. Until Tokiko-san gives you her permission to call her Tsumara, you may not call her that, unless you want to be considered rude and unmannerly.

'Wait a second, we do that here in America, do we not?' That is probably what you are thinking right now. Yes we do, but we do not hold as much importance on the use of our first name. You see it mostly in business or more formal meetings, where someone might say, "I'm Kevin Soulchaser, but please call me Kevin." In an informal setting, such as school or gathering, people introduce themselves by their first names to be amiable and because it is odd to address classmates as 'Mister' or 'Missus'. Even professors who wish to be more personal with students, will let their students know that they can refer to their teacher as 'First Nmae' or 'Professor'.

However in Japan, first names are reserved to kin, very close friends, or relationships. When a girl and guy start going out, often the girl will tell the guy to call her by her first name, or vice versa, and that is considered to be an act of intimacy, not so much in a sexual way, but in terms of being closer. Even in school, classmates call each other by their last names, unless otherwise asked.

I have observed something of this in school too, here in America. I know people who refer to others by their last names. I have had friends refer to me by my last name often, not by Mr. Soulchaser, but simply Soulchaser ("Hey, Soulchaser!"). I do not think that they are doing it the same way that Japan's culture uses names, I doubt they even know that aspect of Japanese culture. But at the same time it is a little true. In college I have a friend who calls a girl by her last name almost all the time. I have heard him call her by her first name on occasion, but not as often as the way he uses her last name. He does the same to a few others too. He works at a place where he is surrounded by a lot of Japanese co-workers, though they have probably adopted the Western style of addressing people and use first and last names like us, so I doubt (and he would vehemently deny) that he has picked up on their culture.

When I think about it, I have done the same, and not just to one person, to multiple people, whether I am talking to them directly or mention their name in passing. I have realized that these are people who I really have not had much interaction with over the last few years, due to the rotation of schedules, despite being in the same class. Did I automatically use the Japanese style of addressing people, and use their last names, because I did not know them well enough? Probably not, but at the same time I did anyways. I do it less now, because I realized what I was doing.

There could also be another reason behind the use of last names, to prevent any confusion on who someone actually is addressing. Last names are more unique and you usually will not find another person with the same last name in the same group of friends, but it is probable that there will be more than one person with the same first name. So that could also be a reason why some of my friends will refer to certain friends, using their last names.

In closing, I do think it is interesting the way we have developed another way to refer to friends, even if it does resemble the way people in Japan call each other. Work may also have picked up on some of this, but it mostly when the boss needs to call someone out, without a doubt on who they may be referring to. Perhaps in time, when people develop a better connection with those they address using last names, they will use their friend's first names more.

Picture of the Day - October 25th, 2006

The forum admin is being slow and is not putting the Image forum back up. He has not responded to my PM either.

Today's picture,

Click the picture for the full image.


Snow White and the Seven Days of Vacation
Artist - Vo Tran





Comments: I found this one interesting, it's been a while since I've seen a Disney themed drawing, maybe because of copyright reasons artists don't do anything like this. I think it's really neat. Can you name all the Seven Dwarves? (Without searching in the interweb?)

Picture of the Day - October 24th, 2006

Welcome to my Blog!

Because the Picture and Image forum is not up on Fantasy Essentials, the Picture of the Day posts will temporarily be going through my otherwise unused blog. Once the forum returns, I will move back and create a thread there, especially since picture posting is not setup correctly here, and I would rather change the code of the template. In the meantime, please enjoy the pictures.

Click the picture for the full image.


Legend of the Vampire I
Artist - Michelle Chuang

Love & Relationships in Anime vs. TV Dramas

As a viewer of both Japanese Anime and U.S. TV Drama, I've found that the mechanics of love and relationships aren't the same. Anime and TV shows typically have the same number of episodes per season, except anime is more consistent. TV dramas typically start their seasons beginning mid-late September/early October, have about a 1 month hiatus for the holidays and continue until May. Depending on the network and the writers you get around 26 episodes, but that can vary. Anime is more predictable in the number of episodes they have per show. You can get 13, 26, or 52 episode shows. That is your typical structure; some shows have 100+ episodes (aka never ending). The difference between TV dramas and anime is that anime shows are pretty much one time deals, once the show has run its course, there no more 'seasons' like in TV dramas, where a network can opt to renew the show for another season. Technically the 52+ episode shows are multiple seasons, except that it's not broken up, just played continuously (one per week). That way, anime watchers don't get stuck with boring filler TV shows as regular shows go into a summer hiatus while filming continues or there is just a break.

I will explain anime love and relationships first, as it's probably the tougher of the two. And I will be focusing on the anime that has more high school age kids, which is typical in teen TV drama. There are so many, many different kinds of anime you can watch. If you look at Netflix, anime has its own subgenres due to the variety. Sci-Fi, Romance, Horror, Drama, Fantasy, etc... so the types of romance also vary quite a bit. Most anime romance & relationships have fundamental rules that you can see through a variety of genres.

The girl typically does the confessing to the boy she likes. Asking the guy out is not very common. Love letters are normal, and a girl usually confesses her feelings to a guy in a letter, or in person via a meeting arranged through a note (letter). The delivery of the note can be done a variety of ways; in the shoe locker of the guy, having a friend deliver the letter to the guy, personally handing the letter to the guy (which usually ends up with the girl running away), or the girl handing him the letter and waiting nervously for a response. After the delivery of the letter, answers to the letter are usually received within a day or two, either on the roof of the school or behind the school, meaning, secluded locations. Of course a guy can confess his feelings too, but a guy writing a confession letter is pretty a-typical. Guys typically have face to face confrontations with the guy blurting out his feelings because he's so nervous and awkward. Face-to-face confrontations by a boy or a girl lack direct eye contact until an answer is given. In either case, the girl or guy receiving the confession usually is shocked, as if they were completely oblivious to anyone’s' feelings. Of course there are other types of confessions, but those are often during times of dire circumstances; such as a culmination of feelings and the girl gets in harm's way somehow and the guy bursts out telling his feelings to try to snap the girl back to reality. Or if the main character guy is on the verge of dating a minor character girl, the main character girl that has been hiding her feelings will blurt out her feelings in an desperate attempt to get the guy, because she had hoped the whole time that the guy would understand her undying love for him simply because the girl talked to him twice, alone.

In anime, physical contact, especially skin to skin contact, is a big deal, whether a girl and guy are dating or not. If a girl and guy's hand would happen to touch, both would flinch and be embarrassed. If a girl stood close to the guy he would appear nervous, especially if he liked the girl. Holding hands is a BIG step, hugging is an even bigger step. Usually a hug occurs only if the girl is emotionally upset and in a sign of affection the guy will hug her, and that hug will initially shock her and she'll freeze up, but only for a moment, then she will melt in his arms and have a real emotional breakdown. A girl and guy dating often will simply wave a good-bye to each other. Another sign that a guy and girl may be involved is if they are walking close to each other. Proximity is important. Then you get to the kiss. It's uncommon to see kissing in anime. But the times you do see kissing it's often very dramatic. It's almost always a first kiss too. You may only see one or two kisses in a series, and only if there is a dramatic romance.

You will not see a romance like you are used to in a TV drama. Romances in TV dramas can be a sub-plot that surfaces as a main plot time and time again, but that's not true with anime. You either have a romance in anime, or you don't. A romance in anime is still a romance if the guy or girl harbors their feelings until the end of the series where some circumstance will make them confess. Unrequited love is almost a given in anime. When a girl and guy start dating in anime, especially if it's a main character, the relationship is pretty solid. It may have it's rough spots, but break-ups are very circumstantial and not common. Romance I described for anime is a basic overview, and it does not cover all types of anime romance, just the typical ones.

In TV dramas, romance and relationships are much more, for lack of a better word, dramatic. Confessions are not like confessions in anime. It's more along the lines of your traditional 'boy likes girl' scenario. If a guy is interested, he will ask her out, either to dinner, to a movie, or something traditional like that. You will also get that 'instant attraction' type of relationships where the guy and girl would be talking or just be standing really close to each other and somehow their lips would have acquired a magnetic attraction for each other and their kissing. In TV dramas, unlike anime, it is not uncommon for the kissing to come before hand holding and hugging. TV producers know that that sort of thing will attract an audience and so kissing is very common in TV dramas. Another plot device that attracts an audience is unstable relationships and break-ups. TV Drama would not get its name if it did not have drama, and the most common way to drum up drama is for teens to have relationship problems and break-up. Whether it's because of another girl or guy, or because they don't feel the 'magic' anymore (aka the kissing is no longer good), a TV drama's relationships will go through many predictable hook-up and break-up stages.

A relationship in a TV drama may start relatively early in the season/series only for it to have a rocky path throughout the entire season. Or two of the main characters will become more and more attracted to each other throughout the season and have a magical episode where they act on their attraction at the end of the season only to start their rocky relationship path the next season. Of course hook-ups always have an episode or two of bliss and happiness, but the producers of the show have determined that that does not get TV ratings, so they always make the relationship become unstable.

Where a relationship/romance in anime tends to be a culmination of the series, in TV dramas it is almost the opposite where relationships/romances start at the beginning of the season/series. In anime, producers aren't typically worried about gathering ratings from a romance; rather, they prefer getting ratings for the uniqueness and quality of the series they created. In my opinion, I think the approach anime takes is better than the way TV dramas work. I prefer seeing a quality series, with good music, good animation, and a good story, rather than romantic ups and downs that are designed to hook the viewer emotionally through shallow plot devices. Seeing a romance/relationship work out in anime is much more satisfying because the characters will go through more normal motions of relationships, doubting their feelings, trying to discover their feelings, overcoming obstacles to approach the person, or simply accepting their feelings for someone. Anime is full of shallow characters, but shallowness hardly ever wins out in anime and the shallow characters are often made fun of for that. It's the personal growth of characters that makes anime romance and relationships better than TV Drama romance and relationships. Of course that's only true of the anime has that sort of aspect in their story line. Anime is able to do more, because they aren't limited by a young actor's abilities, rather they simply have to pull from a vast list of voice actors and the animators can do the acting of a young character that a young flesh and blood actor cannot.

Anime and TV relationships can both be enjoyable, but I find that I prefer anime ones because they seem more realistic, once it's compared to real life romance.