Sunday, February 4, 2007

Some of my favorite Anime

Originally posted on xanga.

I haven't been able to watch anime like I did in the 90s and early 2000s. But I can recall some of my favorite anime series.

Cowboy Beebop
Spike and gang were so cool when I first watched this around 2000 that I couldn't wait for the DVDs to be released. As I was into my late 20s at that point, I wanted anime that had adult leads and topics about life.

Initial D
I remember chain watching Stage One and Stage Two in a 2 week period. The internal thought process of driving was a new thing to me and got me locked in. I haven't got a chance to watch Stage Four.

Berserk
Guts is crazy. A mad man. So absurb but so good. Unfortunately, there are some plot points that are disturbing and senseless.

The Vision of Escaflowne
Fantasy and sci-fi combined. I think I was able to overlook that the main characters were high schoolers because the story and setting were unique.

There are many more, but these come to mind because I watched these series within a 6 month time frame and made me believe in the anime that was getting subtitled and brought to the US. There was a long period that I was watching a lot of crappy anime. Mainly because the subject and characters were aimmed at teenagers and not adults. Whereas in Japan, there's Anime for all age groups (at least that's what I remember reading).

Some anime I would like to watch in the future are: finish the last 6 episodes of Witch Hunter Robin, finish Samirai Camploo, Wolf's Rain and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Serenity

Originally posted on xanga.



I just watched the movie Serenity. It was a great movie. I love sci-fi films that entertain and have a message. I have to watch the cancelled TV show Firefly now. Sometime in the future. One of the things that kept popping up as I was watching is that it reminded me of how much I like the anime Cowboy Beebop.

Props to Joss and crew for getting this made. Too bad they couldn't have made this into a franchise.

Monday, January 8, 2007

Trance Songs

Originally posted on xanga.

Way Out West - The Gift
Having been a newbie to trance than, this song lead me through many hours of study time. Whenever I hear the voice, it takes me back to those college days.

Lost Tribe - Gamemaster
This is one of 2 songs that made "Tranceport" so good for me over the years. Being an avid pc gamer, this is a theme song of sorts.

System f - out of the blue
I haven't heard a mix I didn't like of this song yet, but the original stands as the best version. When Ferry played this at the Mayan a few years back, I went ballistic.

Sasha - Xpander
I heard this song while paying a video game (don't remember which one anymore). Upon finding out that it was a CD single, I promptly bought it and its been a regular in my Cd player ever since. I didn't even know who Sasha was back than.

Gus Gus - Purple (Sasha v. The Light)
Polydistortion was already a steady listen of mine, but when I heard this version on Tranceport, it set my mind ablaze.

Plant Phunk - Chase the Sun
I don't know what mix Dave Seamen dropped a few years back at Spundae, but that night, this was the song that made him one of my favorits DJs.

Olive - You're Not alone
I can't recall which mix it was, but it was on the CD single. Back when Egil was running GrooveRadio on the actual radio, this song was a staple. Although I've never heard the version that I love so much, I was always happy to hear the song.

Harmonix - Landslide
That U2 guitar link in the background always made me move. I always put this one on to remind of those early days of surfing the internet. I'd have this song on repeat as I built my first geocities web pages.

Binary Finary - 1998
Having heard it for the first time off Tranceport, I've enjoyed the other million mixes of this song just as much.

Depeche Mode - Free Love (Version Sasha plays)
I heard this on some of his mixes around the October 2001 time frame. Looks like it'd been moved off his rotation by November 2001 at the Mayan.

Opus III - It's A Fine Day
KROQ use to play this song on and off before it became the modern day version of KNAC. That voice rang in my head and I went out and bought the CD. Although its come back as a Miss Jane version. I still enjoy the Opus III version the best.

Libra present Taylor - Calling Your Name
This may be one of my all time favorite songs, not just trance. The haunting voice of Jan Johnston has made me go back repeatedly to her new songs. But this stands the test of time. Been featured on a GU009 and American Pie. When I hear one of the better mixes, it still makes my shiver.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Random thoughts before the year ends

Originally posted on xanga.

I am listening to "Into The Ocean" by Blue October and realized that it reminded me of one of my favorite songs, "Heart and Soul" by T'Pau. Take a listen and see if you agree with me. Which than reminded of a Pretty Poison song, "Catch Me, I'm Falling".

Gonna play some basketball tomorrow hopefully. Gotta get some exercise in.

My daughter is sick. Hope she gets better.

I luv my wife. =D

I am up to about 150 chinese characters now. I am thinking about learning the simplified versions, but am hestitant. I picked up a menu at a chinese restaurant and could make out 5% of the characters. Most the restaurants around here still use traditional. I need to get to 1500 to be ok. After that, learn the 1000 or so simiplified versions. Wish me luck.

I miss having an ipod, my 3rd gen broke, doesn't turn on anymore. I am too cheap to buy another one. Plus, I hate using iTunes. Guess I'll have to stick to my trusty sony walkman that plays cassettes, but has an FM tuner.

I had a good Christmas.

Hope all of you have an Happy New Years!

Friday, December 22, 2006

Ebay shipping

Originally posted on xanga.

So I have a few things I was looking at on ebay. Some CDs from the 90s and 80s that I think I wouldn't mind having for around $5. Who buys CDs these days anyways? Old skool guy like me. Anyways, I looked at some CDs around $1-$3, thinking shipping would be like Amazon's maketplace ($2.59). So the total would be around $5. I looked at around 10 CDs. The lowest shipping I saw was $5.80. What's going on?! The S&H cost more than 3 times the actual CD. Well, ebay's lost my biz, I've gone back to Amazon, even though the base price is higher, with the S&H, its the same. So, what's my point? Shipping is crazy on ebay!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!