chibiforte

I've come across music videos of some of my favorite artists from the past, so I thought I'd post them up.  These are of the old bands, Petra and dc Talk.  Those are two bands that I listened to extensively when I was a young'n, and I still continue to listen to the songs I enjoyed.

dc Talk - "Colored People"


dc Talk - "The Hardway"


dc Talk - "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" [Live]


Petra - "Creed"


Petra - "The Coloring Song"


Petra - "No Doubt"

Been playin' a little o' Mario Kart Wii.  I'm doing pretty well, actually.  I've raced a few online matches against Ted and beat him a few times.  I'm actually getting fairly adept at playing with the Wii Wheel.  I'm still better with the Gamecube controller, but the Wheel helps make it feel more real, if you can call kart racing while throwing shells and dropping banana peels "real". :P

I received my Myself; Yourself OP CD Single, yesterday.  Along with the anime's opening theme, it also had the opening theme for the visual novel.  Both are actually really engaging songs, and I'm glad I made the purchase.  I still haven't received my H20 ~footprints in the sand~ OP CD single, but I expect to get it tomorrow.

I'm also thinking of purchasing the 2006 "LEGEND OF DRAGONWORLD" CD set, which contains a lot of songs from the Dragonball anime.  It seems to have a lot of songs, and when I was listening to the Daizenshuu EX Podcast, the hosts agreed that it was the CD set that you want to get if you're just looking for the main movie themes, OP and ED themes, insert songs, image songs, etc.

Speaking of Dragonball, I actually just finished reading the series last night.  42 volumes worth, as a matter of fact.  It was nice to just get through the entire series in a non-stressful, easy go.  Reading it was the best choice, since it would be extremely expensive to get all the DVDs right now.  I easily breezed through dozens of episodes worth of material in only a few hours each night.  Now, I have the entire series fresh in my mind, and that's nice to have.

Still don't have the pictures of little Matthew.  I'm hoping they'll send them sometime tonight.  I actually talked to my brother on the phone today, and he held the phone up to the baby while he was making noise.  It was so cute! <3

I received my true tears OP CD single, earlier today.  It's pretty good.  I enjoy "Reflectia" the most, obviously, but I didn't particularly care for "elekta".  Maybe I'll have to give it a few more listens.  The piano in the background was obviously nice to hear, but the vocals didn't really catch me.  Maybe because it's slow?

My nephew should be born on Monday, at the latest (since he was due last week, they are going to induce her on Monday if he isn't born till then).  His name will be Matthew Jr., after his Dad.  He better be cute as a button.  I wonder how Sarai will take not being the only baby anymore?

I'm picking up Mario Kart Wii, tomorrow.  I actually wasn't really planning on picking this game up until the summer, but my Dad ended up preordering it for me, so I don't really have an excuse.  I was wanting to pick up The World Ends with You for the DS, but eh, it can wait.  This is kart-racing with Mario, and I hear the online is fantastic, so I'm looking forward to it.

I just had an idea a little bit ago, while vacuuming the living room.  I think it'd be really neat to have a remix album of, what else, but Haruhi Suzumiya music.  Not just any remix album though, but a PIANO album.  Where all of the songs are done on the piano, without vocals or anything.  I think it'd be pretty easy to fill up an album with music from the series and games.  The OP and ED for the anime, obviously, but you could also branch off and do songs from the character albums, or use the BGM for the anime, or even do the OP/ED from the two games they have out.  Even Mikuru's Love Legend!  I could see it being done... maybe being distributed using Bittorrent... I'd need to buy the albums, though, just so I can hear all the music that can be done... and I'd need to find someone else who can play the piano with me... hmmm...

I just turned my head to the left and sneezed, but it caused me to jerk my head to that side even further and hurt my neck momentarily. Ouch. x_x

Anyway, it's feeling better now.

I found not only three of the Petra CDs that I wanted, but I also found two of the dc Talk CDs that I wanted. They were in the CD cases in my parent's room, amazingly. Unfortunately, the "Welcome to the Freak Show" CD is scratched up due to so much use in the past ten years, so it didn't rip properly. It didn't even rip "Time Is" or "It's the End of the World", and I can't find them to complete the album. The torrent's not working properly, seeing as it's stuck at 98.2%. Maybe I can find it for cheap on the internet someplace. Or maybe someone nearby has a CD cleaner I can use.

None of the Petra CDs had "No Doubt", though. That kind of frustrated me. I KNOW we had the CD before, but I have no clue where it's at or whether we stil have it or not. "Alas My Love" sounds like it might be a good song, though. I'll have to listen to that later tonight.

I read past the Saiyan arc last night, and now it's heading into the Namek arc. That'll be fun to read, since I don't remember that arc very well (aside from the endless amounts of Naruto-esque filler material). Should be good.

I started playing Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology earlier today. It seems fun, but it's definitely something I'm going to have to get used to. Maybe I'll set that aside and try my hand at Pokemon Pearl again. That reminds me, I need to sell my white DS Lite and purchase a new DS that actually has a touch screen that works. It's so annoying not being able to play my favorite games because my touch screen is terribly messed up.

One last thing: this is a video of somebody drawing a picture of what Kristin Kreuk ("Lana" from Smallville) will probably look like as Chun-Li in the newest Street Fighter movie (wearing the signature blue-and-gold qipao and odango hairstyle). It looks awesome seeing the whole time-lapse deal of somebody drawing the thing completely in some kind of paint program, and the final product doesn't look half-bad.  She BETTER look like this in the movie!  Check it out. :3

 

Don't you just hate it when your router gets completely fried, thus driving your internet use to a grinding halt for almost a week?

Yeah, that four-year-old router I bought when my first laptop was given to me finally burnt out last week, never to work again.  I'll miss the thing, since it did its job (never really worked properly with my DS, though).  Now we have a new installation set up and everything, but it took my brother several days to do it since he finally moved out and had to come back from his new place of residence in order to hook it up.

It wasn't really that terrible to be without the internet, but it was annoying that I couldn't get my podcasts daily.  I honestly didn't mind that much, since it gave me time to read the entire original Dragonball series in manga form.  That was cool, since I never saw most of the Red Ribbon arc, or the 22nd or 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, or the Piccolo-Daimao arc, or pretty much most of what happens after the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.  It was good to really get the whole story.  I'll start on the "Z" era next, since I'm not totally familiar with the Namek, Freeza, Android, or Cell arcs.

I found my Johnny Cash CD.  It's really neat, and I'm listening to it right now.  Of course I ripped it to my laptop, since I don't want to lose it again and be without the songs.  I should buy more of his albums, they're really neat.

I'm also really getting back into Petra and DC Talk, lately.  I really want to find our old "Free At Last" CD, and I want to find the CD that had Petra's "No Doubt" song on it.  I'm anxious to see if it really was as awesome as I remember it to be.

I received the two CD singles for my favorite Tokusatsu programs, today.  Yep, I got the CD single to Kamen Rider Kiva, which is called "Break the Chain", and the opening and ending theme single for Engine Sentai Go-onger.  I even got a neat poster and a single trading card for the "Break the Chain" CD, both of which feature Kiva in all his Fangire awesomeness.  I'm wondering as to whether or not I should hang the poster up now, or wait until I move so it's in pristine condition (and so my roommates can get a good laugh).

I also watched a new Toku last night, called Tomica Hero Rescue Force.  It's basically a Super Sentai-esque show, but it revolves more around actually saving people from natural disasters instead of fighting a rubber monster that can grow to gigantic sizes.  It was interesting, and while the budget for the show is obviously more than most Tokusatsu programs, something about it felt... strange.  I think it was the framerate that the show is broadcast in, as the camera seemed to look more like it was filmed by college students than professionals.  But that's just a minor gripe, because the special effects are fantastic.  I loved the police car's look, and I wouldn't mind having one, myself.

I think I understand my recent uncertainties about this whole novel deal.  I feel as if I need to know absolutely everything about the world in which these characters interact, and that I have to disclose so many unnecessary details about the characters and their families and school.  But I know that this isn't necessary, since even Haruhi Suzumiya didn't even name the teachers, or the main character's families, or even what they learn, really.  And look how great that series is doing in commercialization.  Surely nobody expects much from a random guy on the internet, right?

And yes, I still have writer's block, although the ideas are slowly coming together, piece by piece...

Also, does anybody have any ideas for new names?  I'm not sure if "Law/Grace" is going to cut it, given its source material... I mean, it's not copyrighted or anything, but I don't want the companies to be unknowingly affiliated with me because I use their terminology or anything.

I've been downloading sooo many Overclocked Remixes, lately.  I literally have about 1,139 remixes from their website, give or take.  I'm pretty sure this is legal, since they've become such a huge site and Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft would have shut them down a long time ago if this was illegal.  It's nice to hear all of those old songs I listened to in chiptune format as a child reimagined in ways I never thought possible.  It just gives me such a sense of nostalgia that's been unrivaled for years, now...

I've been playing Crisis Core, since I bought it the other day.  A very, very engaging game.  Makes me appreciate the FF7 series a bit more, since I didn't really care for it originally.  Hopefully I'll be able to actually finish it, given that I haven't been very dedicated to RPGs, as of late.

I'm not feeling very well, at the moment.  Kinda feeling... sickish...

 Still pondering that particular transition in the novels that I have to figure out.  Hopefully I'll be making some headway on that soon, since I want to finish up these summaries.

This upcoming Spring Anime Season doesn't look all that special.  Allison & Lillia looks really interesting, as well as Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, Nijuu Mensou no Musume, Itazura no Kiss, and especially kure-nai, but that's pretty much it.  I really doubt I'll even watch much else besides Allison & Lillia, but we'll see how it goes.

We forked Ben and Jay's yard, last week.  And just earlier tonight, my older brother and sister-in-law placed hundreds of post-it notes on both Gabe's and Jeremy's trucks.  It looked awesome.  This'll show everybody at the Youth Group that our family is not meant to be messed with. :3

I read today that the Ben Stein movie is going to definitely be airing at our local theater, which is a huge plus for me, seeing as how I didn't think the subject matter would be accepted by the theater's owner (seeing as how he aired the Al Gore movie thing), but it turns out that he's just in these things for the money, and if he can make money from a movie, it doesn't really matter what the subject matter is about.  And considering this is a small town, it'd probably be more accepted than all of these big cities.  I'm predicting that there will be at least one boycott of the movie in at least one state, probably here in California in certain cities.  It wouldn't surprise me in the least, considering the terribly hypocritical patrons of this state who think they're open-minded, but are far more bigoted than the things they fight against. xD

I haven't been playing as much Brawl, lately, but that's because there's not much more for me to do on it.  We've unlocked pretty much everything we can, except for the Boss Battle challenges, which are horrendously difficult and something that I don't want to partake in.  I want to try to get into some RPGs again, like Earthbound, but I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and play it.  If nothing else, then I'm certainly going to have a giant backlog of video games that will finally be completed once I'm in college with free time on my hands.  I predict weekend marathons will be taking place with my roommates.

Speaking of roommates, I'm really hoping that I get some cool ones.  I think the current allocationg per room is about four people, so I'll have three roommates.  I want at least one of them to be a chef of some sort, so they'll constantly make food and ask me to taste-test it.  I'm also hoping that another one of them is a computer genius who can help me with tech stuff.  And I hope the last one is an artist or musician of some sort, who can draw or help me with music stuff.  It'd be awesome if that happened.

I downloaded at least two gigabytes of OCRemixes, today.  I decided that it was time I go through what that website has and just enjoy what they put out.  So far, I'm impressed by these remixers.  They really know how to take chiptunes and rework them into a completely new creation.

I started my piano lessons last night.  It was only 30 minutes long, but I did learn some stuff.  I didn't actually play anything, of course.  I'm not ready for something like that.  But she did teach me some things, like finger placement, rests, the difference between the fortissimo and the pianissimo.  Good stuff.

I've been playing through both Earthbound and Mother 3, lately.  M3 is obviously more difficult, since I can't read the Kanji, but I have a no-spoilers guide that'll help me through it, so it's all good.  Earthbound is just so awesome, though.  I just beat the Sludge monster that was sending zombies to Threed, so now I'm at Fourside with no clue as to how I continue the game.  I seem to have missed a Soundstone tune, as well.  I need to backtrack a little bit, I guess.  I really need to start playing Chrono Trigger, though.  I don't want to have to sell it since it's such a rare game, but if I don't play it, that's exactly what my Dad plans to do.

Joined a new message board!  The Town of Odyssey, to be precise.  Sure, it will only make sense to an Odyssey fan, but if you can get past that, it's a great board.

Engine Sentai Go-Onger seems to be a really funny series, so far.  Sure, I haven't actually been able to watch any episodes with subtitles, but even watching it RAW is still good, and I can understand some basic things fairly easily.  It's essentially a parody, that's all I need to know.

CLANNAD was apparently cut to 22 episodes... Ugh.  But, well, I guess I shouldn't complain too much, considering that it's been a really good series, so far.  I just have no clue what they're going to do with the ending.  I'm not even going to hazard a guess, I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

I ordered some Gekiranger CDs a few days ago!  They should be here either next week, or the few days following the release of Brawl.  It's awesome, one of the CDs has all of the character songs and various insert songs on it.  The other CD has theme songs from Gekiranger, Boukenger, and Magiranger, so I'm psyched for that.  I also ordered the Digimon Adventure OP Theme CD Single, but that wasn't in-stock at the time I ordered it, so they'll ship it out at a later date.  No worries, I'm still going to enjoy it.

I've been doing some more work on my planned novel series.  I was able to plot out what happens in the first two novels, and I finished working on a major event in the third novel last night.  I'm hoping to get at least ten or so novels planned out before I start the actual writing process, just so I know where I'm taking the story.  I'm going to make sure that I have any loose ends tied up neatly before I even make it public, so there shouldn't be any worries about me abandoning the project.  I don't know how or where I'll host them, but I'll decide that when the time comes.  I'm still thinking of a title change, however.

I got my new CD in the mail today, the Dragonball one with the long title.  I'm enjoying it very much, and I am surprised it took me this long to buy it.  I guess I just didn't have a chance, before.  But it's good.  A few too many slow songs, but that's okay, they'll grow on me.  The last track is the best, though. <3

I'll post up an entry of the Kotomi route either later tonight, or sometime tomorrow (if it doesn't get lost in the shuffle).  If I tried to post it up now, I'd cry, because it was that sad, yet also very, very happy.  I love her story so much...

I need to make some new icons.  I'm not really sure what to make one of, though.  Maybe Harvest Moon?  Or perhaps one of Vegetto?  Or, maybe, a Forte related icon (considering what my journal name is...)?  I'm not sure, yet.  But I know I'm getting kind of tired of the normal ones.

I can't wait until my Brave Heart CD single gets here, but WHEN is it getting here?  I ordered it either last week or the week before, and I don't even know if they sent it out, yet.  I can't find anything in my Dad's e-mail...

I'm trying to do all this college financial aid stuff, but it's hard when my Mom can't find the time to help me.  I'm not a number person, so I can't say for sure what our income is, nor can I explain anything related to tax information.  This is getting dull.

I haven't been playing much besides Clannad, lately.  I don't know, I just can't find the time to delve into a game.  I'm going to waste all of my video game time once Smash Bros. Brawl comes out anyway, though.  That game is going to rock so hard.  I'm waiting for these people at a website to live stream it, tonight.  It's at 7:00PM, and I'm totally excited to see how the game works out.  The soundtrack is fantastic, I know that much.

It turns out that the theater here has some advanced screening privileges, seeing as how they invited their e-mail subscribers to a free advanced screening of a new movie I knew nothing about.  It's called "Inhuman", and it stars actors from 24 and Prison Break, so I'm excited to see it.  I can bring along four guests, as well, which will obviously be Steven, Ben, Jay, and probably Zach.  We get to have a Q&A session with the filmmakers after the movie, as well, and hopefully some actors will make an appearance.  I'd like to meet Tony from 24, seeing as how they cancelled the seventh season.

So, late last night, I was browsing around the MegaMan Network  website, when I noticed the posting about a rap variation of the MegaMan music from the NES games.  Obviously, this is something I jumped on as soon as possible, considering that I love the old MegaMan music, and I'm actually somewhat fond of rap music, in some respects.

Now, you see, most people don't know this about me, but I was rather heavily influenced by old rap music from the early 90s.  My oldest brother was actually the one into it more, obviously, so he would buy the CDs of artists he liked.  And from there, whenever I was in his room or he was driving me around, I would obviously hear the music.  I never cared for how loud he had it, nor did I care for the lyrics, but there was something about the beat and the rhyming that I enjoyed (which is probably why I really like 10:31 Sermon Jams and Relevant Revolution as much as I do).  So, you see, when I saw that post, I was actually intrigued.  And so I downloaded the album he had available, since the artist gave it to the website to allow them to post it (considering they had an interview with him and all).

And I couldn't be more disappointed.  It was, as I thought it might be, typical rap music.  It didn't have as much cursing as mainstream songs, but it was still there, and there were even sexual overtones to one of the songs I heard, which is really a shame, considering that he used the chiptunes from the NES games as background music.  I really wanted to overlook some of the things he said, but I can't.  I really wanted to like this, but it seems that it's not going to happen.  I'm hoping that I was just not listening correctly, but I don't know how I could mistake what they were saying, since my rap lyrics filter, while rusty, is pretty good at discerning lyrics that sound almost unintelligible.  So, that's sad to hear...

However, I also have good news concerning video game music.  It seems that some enterprising hackers were able to dump the game image of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and rip out all the music tracks in the game (which is, give or take, about 300 tracks, which is amazing!).  I torrented the file for a good bunch of hours, and while it took over a gigabyte in space, it was well worth it.  I'm enjoying the Mario music sooooo much... it takes me back to my younger days, when I would fake being sick just so I could go home and play video games on my SNES, NES, and Sega Genesis.  Not that I'm advocating doing such a thing, since I realize I was very wrong in doing so, but the nostalgia of hearing this redone music is just so nice and peaceful... even when the tracks have a heavy emphasis on the electric guitar.

And the best news is that this soundtrack will more-than-likely never be released, and since I'm going to be owning the game this March, there shouldn't be any moral, ethical, or legal issues pertaining to me downloading the soundtrack.  However, if they decide to release the soundtrack, I will buy it up for whatever price they deem worthy, even if it's over $50.  This music is just THAT good.  Don't think I'm pirating this simply so I have to get out of paying, because I would love to plop some money down at Play-Asia in order to have an official soundtrack.  It just seems that if they follow the past trends, they won't actually release a soundtrack, because as far as I know, they didn't release one for Melee, and while I believe they did release one for the original N64, it's completely unavailable and can't be found anywhere.  But if a legal alternative shows up, I'll pounce on it quicker than my little brother on a new military FPS.

And I forgot to mention this, but I ordered the Dragonball Z: Best New Remix 2006 1/2 Special CD off of eBay, the other night.  It contains redone versions of some classic Dragonball songs, like "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" and "We Gotta Power!", which is absolutely fantastic.  I'm looking forward to getting that CD and listening to it like there's no tomorrow. :3

I'm definitely taking a break from Clannad, tonight.  I've spent quite a few hours digging into that game, but it's kinda taking over all of my spare time to watch anime and play video games (which is, anytime after 8:00PM).  I need to catch up on my Digimon viewing, not to mention the various other shows I need to watch.  I can't help that I love the game so much, but moderation (at least, my definition of the word) is definitely something I need to practice.

I can't believe all this Super Smash Bros. Brawl news that's been coming out.  I mean, I expected it, considering that this is a blockbuster game that just came out in Japan and will be out in a month and a week here, but the amount of spoilers is overwhelming.  I'm kind of disappointed by the secret characters, but eh, it's not that big of a deal.  I'll get over it.

There's not much to say about the Vegas trip we took, last weekend.  We just stayed down for a single night, saw little Sarai and Kasandra, and left.  Nothing too big, but still enjoyable.  We're waiting for Kasandra to send the pictures she took of Sarai to our e-mail address, so maybe I'll post a few pictures up of her when I get them.  Can't wait until she has the little boy, because then I'll finally have a baby nephew to teach all sorts of cool stuff. :3

I'm just tired of all this school stuff.  I don't feel like all this applying and whatnot.  And financial aid and everything... it's just a pain...

I'm doing fairly well in Harvest Moon: Boy and Girl.  I decided to go after the Doctor's assistant, Elli.  She's one of the girls that I never married in the games based on Mineral Town, so I thought it'd be a change of pace.  I'm at the end of Spring in the first year, and I already have her at a light blue heart, so, go me.

You know what?  I think I'm just going to go legit.  I want to legally buy my music from now on.  I should have morals, I should have integrity.  Even though most of what I listen to is expensive Japanese music, I should still purchase it.  That's what I'm trying to do.  But now that I'm trying to do that, I can see quite clearly what all this excessive downloading has done to the import music market.

You see, I've been trying to find the Clannad anime CD single.  I really enjoy the music that's on it, so I thought it'd be good to import it.  But, you see, I've looked around about eight different websites, and only ONE store has it.  I mean, I can't even find the CD single from Play-Asia, and that's concerning, to me.  I can't even find it on eBay or Amazon Japan, and the CD was just released back in October!  I mean, Play-Asia and eBay still have the CD singles from Digimon Adventure!  Why is Clannad the only series that I can't find hardly anything for?  Or, for that matter, most of the Key Sounds albums in the first place?  The only place I could find the CD single at was HimeyaShop, and it costs $14, plus $19 to ship it to America, which equals $33 to buy the CD.  Now, I want to buy it legally, and I will probably end up buying it soon, but c'mon, $33 for seven songs?  I know that's the norm in Japan, but at least cut down the shipping a bit and don't get my hopes up with the base price, you know?  Play-Asia has cheap shipping, so why don't they have the CD at all?  It's just mind-blowing, to me.

I'm assuming this is all because the constant downloads that these songs have, that they're not even trying to sell them to America, which makes me sad because I would like to spend money, now.  I see quite clearly what I've been doing, and I'd like to atone for what I've done, but I guess I'm reaping what I sowed.  I just wish it didn't have to come at the cost of not being able to listen to songs that I really, really enjoy...

I just really want to listen to the "Dango Daikazoku" song in some way, shape, or form...

I ended up ordering the Digimon Adventure CD Single for "brave heart", in the meantime.  It was cheap, only $9.90, plus $3.60 for shipping.  That's pretty cheap, especially for Japanese CDs.  Hopefully they'll put up the Clannad CD Single soon, or else I'll be a Sad Wesley.

Lincoln said this in 1863:

"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven, we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity, we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.  But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."

Personal disavow; is there somebody like that this morning?  Where you have come to a point in your life, where sitting where you are, you say, "In the ruthless honesty of my heart, I really can't buy into this with my life.  Portions of it, maybe, but I cannot come to the point of deciding whether this God is really who he claimed to be."

The ministry has changed, today.  Centuries ago, when you think of people like Henry Martin, who was a Cambridge scholar, and went to India and Burma and Iran, died at the age of 31, but not before he translated the New Testament into Arabic, Persian, and Hindu, dragged across a desert in chains, gave up the girl he loved because she didn't want to go to the countries he was going to.  He gaved up the girl he loved in order to go.

I think of C.T. Studd, the cricketer who gave up that brilliant career in cricket, and was the captain of the Cambridge University team.  He was a very wealthy man.  C.T. Studd gave a part of his money to the starting of Moody Bible Institute.  He gave up all of that and went on to Africa.

But we've come a long way from that.  That's all I'm trying to say.  Today, when a young student graduates from seminary or Bible college, one of his first questions is the benefits he's going to get.  And it used to be in times gone by, where a minister would get in and demand first ask, "Do I have what it takes to make this kind of sacrifice?"

But things have changed.

I give you two thoughts, with which I end here:

King George VI inspired the nation of the common wealth with his famous Christmas Day address.  He closed his common wealth address to the nations that year not knowing himself that cancer had invaded his body and before long, he was going to die.  He didn't know it at that time.  But he made this comment looking at the dark landscape of history at that time and he said these words which inspired so many, with which he closed his address:

"I said to the man of the gate of the air, 'Give me a light, so that I may walk safely into the unknown'.  And he said to me, 'Put your hand into the hand of God, and it shall be to you better than the light, and safer than the known.'"

Charles Wesley wrote this, and it has become my own testimony of commitment in my life:

"O thou who camest from above
the fire celestial to impart,
kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart.

There let it for thy glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return
in humble prayer and fervent praise.

Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
to work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire
and still stir up the gift in me.

Still let me prove thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make the sacrifice complete."

-Ravi Zacharias, "Pride" (Relevant Revolution; Sermon Jams Vol. 5)

Wow... it's really strange how it's already Christmas Eve.  Seems like just yesterday that I bought the Wii, and that was over a year ago... this month just flew by like no other December before it.  But, now that I mentioned how it's already Christmas Eve, this day will go by really... really... slooooooow...

Okay, so, we're going to the Candlelight service tonight, and then we're going to head over to my Aunt's house for dinner.  She's baking my favorite kind of cake, too, so this will be a great dinner, let me tell ya! <3

And tomorrow... I don't know what we're doing tomorrow.   Probably just chilling around, using our new presents, all that good stuff.  I'm pretty sure that I'm getting that redesigned, limited edition Star Wars PSP, but I'm not completely sure, yet.  While I do not care for Star Wars that much, you gotta admit that having a white PSP with Darth Vader's head on the back is pretty neat.  Hopefully they get that new video output cord, since that's one of the main features of the redesigned PSP's (being able to play games and movies on an actual TV using an adaptor).

And... I'm still thinking with an Indian accent.  It's all that Ravi Zacharias I listen to, it seems.  He has such a great voice that it's hard not to get it stuck in your head. xD

I just realized something...

The R4 plays movies and music as well as games.

Hellloooo, portable videos! :D 

"Let's pray that the human race never escapes from Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere."

"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."

"The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not."

"There are two kinds of people in this world: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way."

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn."

-C.S. Lewis

Who doesn't love C.S. Lewis? <3

 Y'know... when you listen to the karaoke version of the ending theme to Kodomo no Jikan, it actually sounds completely different.  I never noticed those intruments, before.  And it doesn't actually make me feel less masculine, like I do when I listen to the regular version. xD

I forgot if I mentioned this in yesterday's update, but it appears that Clannad will not air any episodes during the Christmas season.  That means that I'll be without my weekly dose of Tomoya, Sunohara, Nagisa, Kyou, and Kotomi until January... ;_;

But haha, it's Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Kyou.  And the aftermath to Tomoya's fantasy. xD

Y'know, ever since I watched "Decisions, Decisions", I really haven't had a care in the world.  In fact, I'm now very calm about going to college and getting on with my life, when previously I've been a nervous wreck concerning those matters.  The fact that I did very well on those tests I took last Thursday surprised me, but it also emboldened me, making me actually look forward to tackling college.  I know it'll be difficult, but if I can get some kind of theology classes, then it will make it a fun-type of difficulty.  It'd be like all the personal studies I do right now, but I'd actually get credits for what I'd do.  Sure, general education comes before the fun stuff, but I can tough it out.  If I can get some scholarships as well, then I can move right out as soon as possible, which I'm not really desiring to do, but I feel it is necessary, or else I'll never leave home.  Throw me out into the world, and I will do my best to persevere.

I mean, I'm not that smart in the first place, but that could be because of the fact that my frontal lobe is not yet fully developed.  You see, the frontal lobe handles a lot of the brain work you use when you get older, and it really isn't fully developed until you're about 22 years old, so that would explain my inherent inability to properly think, memorize, etc.  And here I thought it was all a mental defficiency, but I could perhaps be incorrect in my assumption.  It would explain why adults can handle stuff far better than I can, even though my intellect may or may not be more superior to theirs, but I'm not implying that I'm some kind of super-brain or anything.  It's just that I seem to be able to understand certain things that many adults I know can't even grasp, that's it, all due respect.

And then, only then will I be able to actually actively look for a partner in life. <3

 

Goshūshō-sama Ninomiya-kun's story revolves around Shungo Ninomiya, a male high school student trained in difficult hand-to-hand combat who is living in a huge house with his older sister Ryōko, who is almost always gone on some dangerous mission. One day, his sister sends Mayu and Mikihiro Tsukimura, two siblings, to live with him to help Mayu overcome her fear of men. Unfortunately this is acomplished by making Mayu and Shungo share the same room, bed, and even baths together. Making things even worse, Reika Hōjō, the student-council chair, is blackmailed into becoming their maid due to a video that Ryoko recorded, in which she tries to seduce Shungo.

(Taken from the Wikipedia Article)


----------

Ahh, this is my little thought/review-type thing on the CD Single to this anime.  I thought it would be interesting to just put up the Wiki summary of the show rather than just make one up of my own (since I'm lazy, and it would be bound to have mistakes somewhere in there).

I'll just divide up my thoughts for each song in each's own respective section.

Opening Theme - "Yubikiri" (HQ Youtube Video)
It's an interesting opening theme.  Full of whimsy, happiness, and definitely some slow, but cheerful, bits.  It's obviously changed slightly from the TV-size version, but I think that's for the better.  It seems to be the general consensus that it's not as good as the TV version, but I'm going to have to disagree with that.  I actually enjoy it more now that the good parts are not condensed into a 1.5 minute bit, and since it's about 4.5 minutes long, I don't have to loop it and hear the same parts over and over again.  I've listened to both songs about 14 times each, and the full-length versions seem to grab me far more than just the short TV versions.  I also find the parts where they shout out random words in mangled English amusing.

Ending Theme - "Furefurepponpon!" (HQ Youtube Video)
Haha, this song is just so entertaining!  It's bouncy, happy-go-lucky, and, dare I say, just as good as any Hare Hare Yukai or Motekke! Sailor Fuku!  Or, should I say, it's another song of that particular genre, and it wouldn't suprise me if Youtube videos were made of it just like the previously mentioned songs.  And the full-size version only makes it better, in my opinion.  It's really hard to describe it in words, but just watch the video or go search another one out by yourself in order to understand what I mean.  Really, it's got everything you want in an ending theme (anime cheerleaders that should be in the next Ouendan game! :D), and the fact that it's not a slow counterpart to the opening theme is refreshing, considering how many shows produce a fast-and-happy opening and a slow-and-somber ending these days.

There is a single complaint I have with the songs as a whole, but even still, it's not enough to drive me crazy or anything.  The sheer fact is that both songs sound quite similiar, to the point where I've even gotten confused as to which one I was actually listening to.  I think the fact that both are sung by the main female characters contributes to that, as well as the fact that both songs have a very thumping Techno-sound to it.  If you get a chance to listen to them, take note of the background music, and even you'll be surprised by how similiar they sound.  It's a bit irritating that they sound so alike, at least to me, but that doesn't mean that the songs are bad or anything.  It's just my personal preference, and it doesn't really null my enjoyment of it at all.

My personal thoughts?  This is a quality album, and I think anybody can enjoy it.  Can't really say I enjoy the cover art, but eh, what're you going to do with items related to an anime about girls and fanservice? xD

And no, I'm not posting up the "alternative cover", thanks.

=Things I'll Do Once I Get A Podcast With My Future Girlfriend=

+Contests.  Lots and lots of contests.
Because, hey, everyone loves contests, right?

+Street fishin', as long as it's possible.
Just take a microphone with an audio-recording device out on the street, do the fishin', and document all these experiences.

+Review anything.  Video games, movies, TV shows, music, anime, manga, books, toys, anything.
Because everyone loves to hear people's opinions on anything.

+Special podcasts, meaning: podcasting during car trips, during vacations, it doesn't matter where or why.
Wouldn't doing a podcast while driving in a car be awesome?  Or when you're in a hotel room, or at a convention?

+Insert soundboards whenever possible, with audio clips from movies/games/anime/anything audio-based.
Sound effects can totally make a show sound so much better, as long as they are used properly.

+Special video bits, documenting video game segments, first play-throughs of video games, etc.
Especially if my future girlfriend has never played any of the old video games, and that would be hilarious.

+Make the website as awesome as possible, and cover any topic, no matter how absurd.
Good website layout = professional-sounding podcasters.  Somehow.  And a wide variety of topics means anyone can listen.

Yep, I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to totally start a podcast when I'm older, and out on my own, and when I have a beautiful co-host. :D

I bought an R4 earlier tonight, since I had just the right amount.  Sara's going to let me use her microSD card in the meantime until I buy my own.  I'm excited for this, really.  I get to back-up all my current (legally bought) games so I don't have to bring my entire case of 25ish games with me all the time, not to mention I get to try out some of those rhythm games I love so much (Ontamarama, Taiko no Tatsujin DS, Daigasso! Band Brothers, etc.). :3

Smallville was decent, tonight.  It almost felt like a finale, or what a finale SHOULD be like, at least.  Hopefully the new plot developments with Kara will last more than a few episodes, and that Clark gets pwned by Jor-El in some way, shape, or form.

GekiRanger is shaping up to be pretty awesome, and will probably have a decent ending.  I'm really wanting to see the team-up movie and the actual movie they made (they have a team-up special and a general movie special for each Sentai season).  I find it interesting that they set the movie in Hong Kong rather than Japan, as it usually is.  Of course, given what the theme of the season is, it shouldn't be too surprising.  It'll be cool to see the rangers out of their normal setting, and maybe the Kensei will make a cameo.  We're pretty sure that Sha Fu will at least be in it, but I'd like to see Elehan make an appearance and flirt with all the girls, as usual. xD

I got all A's this month, as per MY usual.  This'll be good for college, though, and if I do better on the SATs this December (if I take it so soon), it'll be great for my future.  I'd actually like to look into studying "Radio and Communications" type professions.  Maybe I'll be a future radio host, broadcasting my opinions over Sirius, XM, online streams, radio stations, and internet podcasts?  It'll be interesting to see where I head.

You know, I'm looking at various other users on LiveJournal, randomly clicking on people and reading whatever is there, and I'm thinking that I should maybe make a better bio on my profile.  Just so people can get to know me, obviously.  What I have right now is pretty short and not really telling of my actual "life". (notice the quotes)

I'll work on that little section tonight.  Maybe I'll make a new user icon, as well.  Kei Kusanagi fits perfectly for me, so it'd make sense to make an icon of him using the Visual Art scans I have sitting around...

Super Mario Galaxy is apparently out.  Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games seems to be out.  Ontamarama is out.  Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn has been released.  Even Contra IV is already out.

And where is all my money!?  Where is the $60 I lent to my Dad?  Currently MIA, it seems...

...well, yes, I also bought myself some books, but that's besides the point.