Another Anime Post

This is from YouTube. It's HILARIOUS. But you'de have to be a ... well... an AnimeFreak to really get it...

Manga & Anime, OH MY!

The Japanese kind (graphic novels/comics), not the Indonesian kind (mangga = mango).

Anime and manga, oh my. See, this is what happens when you marry an Asian. They bring their insidious culture with them. First it was the Japanese RPGs for PlayStation (Final Fantasy, anyone?). Then it was "I want this [mecha/robot] action figure that I used to have as a kid". NOW it's Macross. And not the pansy-ass Robotech series that was butchered/hacked together from 3 DIFFERENT anime series. Noooooo. The ORIGINAL Macross. And then Macross 7.

For someone who was a real Hello Kitty fan "back in the day", this stuff is ADDICTIVE. Help me, but I'm hooked. And not just on anime. Now it's manga. I realized that all the funny cartoons I used to draw as a teenager were actually manga-ish. I can't draw myself out of a paper bag when it comes to "real" art. But give me some manga-themed something and somehow it's intuitive. Like THIS drawing done today while I sat in a parking lot:

I left it full size so you can really see the detail. This is my FIRST attempt at a manga figure in a decade. I'm not formally trained. Bonus points to the first person to comment correctly on the inspiration for this character.

I'm working on a manga (and hopefully an anime) series starring the Chen Sisters. We'll see what comes of it.

The Elder Princess Ella Speaks Out

This post is dedicated to my new YouTube series "The Elder Princess Ella Speaks Out". New TEPESOdes will air semi-regularly on whatever nugget of information the Elder Princess Ella desire to pontificate about. Be warned, she can be fairly random but also well-informed. This TEPESOde is about the "Mean Kitty", Sparta. Sparta is a YouTube sensation (as is smpfilms).

Here's the TEPSODE in it's entirety:

Thanks to Cory Williams/Mr Safety of smpfilms for letting us use the "Mean Kitty Song" as our underscore.

You Might As Well Face It...

You're addicted to YouTube. Go on, admit it. And while you fess up to that, let me tell you a little story...

I love me some YouTube, too. But one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE posters is this guy, Brian Garcia. Who is this guy, you may be asking. He was profiled here on CNN Asia.

What does this have to do with ME, you ask? I'll tell you. I think this is a brilliant way to keep the tribe of howler monkeys in line. Say goodbye to spankings, time out and other devious methods of torture punishment (duct tape, anyone?) Make them DANCE!!!!

As a dance teacher, I have to say this is brilliant and why didn't I think of it sooner???!!!

Without further ado, I'll just let the video speak for itself... [drumroll please]

12" Vinyl LIVES!!!

So I poster earlier about the new turntable, right? I have to say it is absolutely A-Mazing. I have ripped about 10 albums as WMA files and the quality is superb. I haven't done any digital clean-up of the files either. There's really no need. Most of the albums were in excellent to pristine condition so there was no popping or hissing to be dealt with. The one album that did pop and hiss a bit was "To Sir, With Love" (the original movie soundtrack released in the 60s).

My set-up uses the ion turntable as audio source, Windows Sound Recorder (yeah the basic thing that *comes* with Windows) to record & Roxio Sound Editor to make it all into separate tracks & remove beginning and end silence. Once an album is physically captured - done in real-time - it takes about 1 minute to convert a full side of a platter to separate tracks.

While I'm ripping in real-time, I scan the original album cover art in two pieces since I'm using a mulit-purpose print/scan/etc machine that has a legal size/a-4 size glass. I then take those two files into PhotoShop and edit them together for a pretty decent facsimile of the original cover. I tweak them a bit to get rid of any flaws from storage or what-have-you.

All in all, I'm extremely satisfied.

It's Just Like Christmas In July...

But it's October...

So yesterday was Dad's birthday. I *think* he turned 63. I lost count after 60. Anyhow, after getting the requisite Superman stuff from the grandkids, he got THIS nifty thing.

It's a turntable that is USB and regular old RCA line-out. It rocks. Now, you may be asking yourself "If dad got this, then WHY is she blogging about it?"

Gentle readers, THIS is why. I didn't just buy one for dad, I bought one for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Costco has them for $119.99 each. We saw them last weekend and I told the Prince Consort that I WANTED ONE NOW!!! He of course laughed and said "Maybe for Christmas". I whined a bit more and conceded that Christmas was OK but that I STILL WANTED ONE NOW!!!!!!

So when I went to Costco yesterday to pick up the one for dad and couldn't find them, I freaked out. WHERE were they? And would I get one for Christmas??? I asked a person who looked like they were in charge (and gracious me, they actually WERE in charge) and that person (Hank?) helped me locate them. He told me they had been flying off the shelves. And when we found them, there were quite a few less than there were the week before. So, I was all set to check out, got in line and then realized that I might not get mine if I didn't do it NOW. So back I went and got ANOTHER one.

Let me tell you that this thing is AMAZING. I love it. I'm capturing albums (those 12" vinyl platter thingies) into digital format and it is good. Some of the albums I have are rare, out-of-print stuff that has never been and never will be released digitally. But now I have them captured forever muahahahahahahahahahahahahah.

"Erstwhile Apple Pie"

Here's the recipe:

To get started, you need:

2 cups water
1/4 c. golden raisins/cherries
2 T unsalted butter
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 cup old-fashioned (5 minute) oats
1 sweet and crunchy apple

Bring water to a boil. Add raisin/cherry mixture, butter and PPS. Boil until raisins/cherries are plumped up. Dump in the oats and boil for 5 minutes. Stir frequently so it doesn't stick. After 5 minutes, remove from heat.

While oats are resting, slice the apple extremely thinly. Like so thin you could read through the slices. In a bowl, layer the apples and oatmeal (three layers of oatmeal should do it) and then arrange slices of apple on top.

Eat while still warm.

I haven't figured out how many WW points this is, but it's a nice alternative to pastry and it's actually GOOD for you. I suppose you could forego the butter if you really had to, but it makes it nice. I think that this recipe would actually serve two people, but I was HUNGRY. I hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours, so you can imagine.

Gallbladder Be Gone!

Yesterday was my gallbladder surgery. It was outpatient and painless. Considering I was knocked out, it better have been painless. Recovery was a pain in the tushy, though. The surgeon wouldn't let me go home unless I could pee on my own. And I couldn't. For HOURS. At least it felt that way. Anyhow, they cathed me and all was well and I could go home.

We stopped off at SuperTarget to grab my Hydrocone/Acetamenophin script and a nice BIG latte for me. Drugs good, coffee BAD. I should have known better. But I wanted it soooo badly. And I paid for it in spades later.

I made some "Erstwhile Apple Pie" for dinner (I'll post that recipe next) and got set up in bed to watch Macross 7 on the laptop.

2AM came and I couldn't sleep because of the pain. Now the pain isn't near my incisions. OH NO. It's in my abs. I feel/felt like I'd been beaten up by a gang of angry mutant midgets (think the Seven Dwarfs on crack). Took some more drugs around 730-ish and now I'm feeling mildly uncomfortable, but not like I want to hurt the frigging crack-head dwarfs who did this to me.

I REALLY want a shower and to wash my hair but that has to wait until tomorrow. UGH.