M Dash 27 - Blog by Hecko X » Post

So, Today is Apparently My Birthday ^^’

Hecko X — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:35:44 +0000

As four people reminded me in asking if I had any plans for my big day, to which I graciously responded “… Wtf are you talking about?“, it is apparently my birthday today. This of course DOES explain the giant, floating “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” thing I have floating over my head, but I’m a little dense when it comes to these kinds of subtle hints.

Anywho, it’s my birthday; that magical day of the year where people give me free stuff and I get to be a douche and get away with it 8D I’m turning 23, I think, so I’m supposed to be all mature and stuff, yet all I’ve been able to think about for the last 10-12 minutes is how badly I want to get my hands on a tongue depressor, so that I can make a giant ice pop for myself ♥

Anywho, if I get any cool presents, I’ll post about it later 8D Later, as in, a few days, since I’m spending my birthday on meetings with the Japanese embassy and Genki, the latter of which lasts the entire weekend… OTL

Vuvuzela Symphony

Hecko X — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:35:02 +0000

Do y’all remember the Asagohan video I posted that was a parody of Beethoven’s Fifth? If you don’t, SHAME ON YOU, go watch it now! If you do, hot diggety, here’s another one by Mr. Awesome Music Creativity himself, MysteryGuitarMan.

The video is about a month old and is an obvious reference to the World Cup. He’s been doing requests (hint hint, go there now) and is generally pretty awesome in how he makes his videos. So enjoy! 8D

GO GO EMO RANGERS!!

Hecko X — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:42:22 +0000

It actually has two episodes out + a Christmas special XD Either search on YouTube or visit their website, emorangers.com ;3

Personal Genki Business Card

Hecko X — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:26:28 +0000

I got the Genki business cards I made for myself; it’s totally kick-ass, ain’t it? 8D

Oh, and of course a very big thanks to Kaiki for advice and critical feedback! And also for helping me export the damn thing to the requirements made by the printing company OTL (I gave her a slush ice as thanks last time we hung out, hurr hurr ;P)

Add the business card design to your favourites on deviantART by clicking here

Copyright Killing Creativity?

Hecko X — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:01:30 +0000

The recent crackdown on scanlations by major US and Japanese publishers reminded me of a “TED Talk” I once saw on TED about how strict laws are killing creativity because (in a nutshell) if you aren’t allowed to use materials freely, there’s no incentive to create. The talk used AMVs, among other things, as a great example of how user-generated content is ‘hindered’ by copyright laws.

Now I’ll be honest, I do see the point to having copyright laws and I do support it to some extent, cause hey, I’d be pretty annoyed too if someone could just swipe my design and earn money on it while I did all the work and get nothing. On the other hand, I also think that the current rules are much too strict and fixated on saving the copyright holder from losing a buck instead of what it was supposed to be, as according to the US Constitution; something promoting “the Progress of Science and useful Arts“.

A great example of how strict and ‘redundant’ some of these laws are was given by Gever Tulley in another Talk I watched; he said that “you buy a song on iTunes, burn it to a CD, rip it to the same computer you used to buy the song, and you’ve just broken copyright law.” Crazy, eh? But enough of me ranting, please enjoy the video:

Real Life Update

Hecko X — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:06:35 +0000

Considering that this is a personal blog, it sure has been a while since anything about me has been written, huh? ;P My excuse is that I’ve been super busy with exams, Genki, and scanlating for OrionWave, so I just haven’t had much time for anything else. But anyway, to fill you guys in~

School has been going decently well; I’ve been passing my exams (so far), and while it hasn’t exactly been ‘with flying colours’, I’m satisfied with it. I still have one more exam to finish and then I’m done for the year. I’ve taken a leave of absence for the next two semesters since school has been frying my brain and drained me of motivation to study, so I’m gonna be working for a year and then do a bit of travelling, hopefully finally get to go to Japan and Australia! >:3

Genki has also been doing fairly well, but I seem to keep getting more work and responsibilities, so I’m probably gonna end up dead from overwork as soon as the con is over ;>.> I started out as just the information manager and webmaster + translator, kind of like last year, but ended up also becoming the cashier/accountant for the union behind Genki, the accountant for a one-man company, the make-shift event coordinator, and God knows what else (I can’t even remember) OTL

But for the time being, I’m trying to unwind a little. I’ve been way too stressed lately so haven’t been getting much sleep or even eaten, so I ended up losing like 5 kg in 1½ weeks ;>.> So now, I’m just chillaxing while studying for my last exam; Genki work is suspended for the time being (except for answering mails and managing the budget), OrionWave work is to an extent suspended (until I finish my exam), and I’m finally getting back to working on Grappler Baki. So all is good in the neighbourhood~!

DAN the MAN

Hecko X — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:28:49 +0000

The closest thing to real life a game has ever gotten. My buddy Heavy linked me to this one.

Candy from Japan~

Hecko X — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:51:05 +0000

Yes, the candy from Japan has finally arrived~! 8D Here’s a pic of what I bought

From the top left, I bought:

Cratz Smokey Cheese and Almond Crackers
Baby Star Ramen, chicken flavour
Guimauve Strawberry Marshmallow Gummy
Calorie Mate Apple Jelly Drink
KitKat Strawberry Chocolate Balls (Rilakkuma)
Umeboshi Hard Candies
Starburst Chewy Candy, Cola flavour
Ramune Candy, strawberry flavour
Pocky Candy Sticks, Cola and Soda flavour
Pocky Cracker Sticks (PRETZ), Roasted Corn flavour

And now for the reviews in no particular order:

Calorie Mate Apple Jelly Drink:
I’ve been curious about these jelly drinks for a while since I’ve sometimes seen them in J-Drama and manga, so I’ve been want to try them. Apparently, they are ‘replacement meals’, in the sense that in case you are too busy to make lunch for school, you can have one of these instead. Trying to live off them instead of having a balanced diet is probably a BAD idea though!

The taste itself is pretty good actually, kinda like freshly squeezed apple juice, and the aftertaste lingers for quite a while, which is pretty yummy. The consistency, however, is absolutely disgusting! I’d imagine sucking the snot out of a sick person’s nose would have a very similar feel to it x_x

Pocky Cracker Sticks (PRETZ), Roasted Corn flavour:
SO DELICIOUS!!! The first one I had admittedly tasted a bit weird, kinda like a bread stick dipped in sweet&sour sauce, but then the smoked corn aftertaste set in and I was hooked!! I’m so getting more of these and I can recommend them to everyone who loves corn on the cob, as the aftertaste really lingers!

KitKat Strawberry Chocolate Balls (Rilakkuma):
They were actually really good; kinda like raisinettes, but bigger and strawberry flavoured. I liked them a lot, but because of the kiddy packaging, I might be embarrassed to buy them in a store ;>.>

Cratz Smokey Cheese and Almond Crackers:
Not at all what I had hoped for. First off, they aren’t even crackers with flavours, but actual almonds and dried (or deep-fried or something) cheese. The almonds are pretty bad; they’ve been roasted for far too long, so they have no real taste anymore. The cheese-things are unfortunately seasoned too much for me (I don’t like spicy stuff), but apart from that, they’re pretty good.

Ramune Candy, strawberry flavour:
Waste of money. Doesn’t taste of strawberry Ramune, you can’t really suckle on them either, and it’s essentially just flavoured powder pressed into a shape; it almost immediately turns back into powder and then dissolves when you bite down on them. They might be good for keeping your blood sugar up during a four hour written exam, but as a regular candy treat, it sucks.

Baby Star Ramen, chicken flavour:
They are actually pretty good, but they taste nothing like chicken though. Rather, they taste like slightly seasoned, thinly-sliced, deep-fried potato sticks. I used to eat that a LOT when I was a pre-teen and the aftertaste of the Baby Star Ramen is exactly the same. It’s not a snack I’d recommend for eating in public though, since they’re pretty small/thin and easily dropped, so you look… less then charming when putting them in your mouth so you won’t drop any. For home-eating, they are awesome though <33

Pocky Candy Sticks, Cola and Soda flavour:
Pretty good, but rather acidic, so probably really bad for your teeth D8 I like that with each packet, you get 6 cola flavour sticks, 6 soda flavour stick, and 2 mystery flavoured sticks~. In my case, the mystery sticks tasted kinda like Fanta (the original orange one).

Guimauve Strawberry Marshmallow Gummy:
Lovely taste of strawberry~! I didn’t like the consistency much though; the inside crumbled very oddly, considering how squishy the outside was.

Starburst Chewy Candy, Cola flavour:
When they say chewy, they damn well MEAN it!! owo;; Super duper chewy, so much that I started thinking it was gum. It wasn’t bad though, just a bit odd. Great taste of cola.

Umeboshi Hard Candies
SO GROSS!! D8 It seriously tasted like tuna or some other kind of metallic tasting fish OTL A cool touch though was that all the hard candies were individually wrapped inside the bag, and each wrapper had a short poem on them. I thought that was SO awesome!

Job Interview

Hecko X — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:56:43 +0000

So, went to a job interview today, don’t think it went well. I hope I got it though since I really need the money to get my family out of debt and also because I really want to go to Japan and Australia next year.

So in preperation for the reply, I’m gonna by a buckload of Japanese candy on eBay. If I get the job, celebration food; if I don’t get the job, comfort food. Candy, so versatile~ <3 I'll of course review the candiez, just for the fun of it :3

Wonder Girls – Nobody (Dance Animation)

Hecko X — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:19:38 +0000

Found this adorable animation and I just had to share. It’s based on the video and dance for the Wonder Girls song, Nobody.

Candy from Japan! 8D

Hecko X — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:38:20 +0000

Oh yeaaaah, haven’t done one of these since Yuanchosaan sent me Chinese candy! 8D Anyway, about a week ago, the Twins (the ones I had the ice cream adventure with) returned from Japan and brough me back some candiez~!

The first ones I tried were the Mini-Rumando (ミニルマンド; left one on the pic). They reminded me a bit of the peanut waffer snacks Yuanchosaan bought me, but instead of a peanut waffer with dried filling, it was a regular waffer with a soft toffee filling. It was a bit weird at first since I don’t usually like waffer snacks, but the soft toffee really hit home with me so I thought this one was super awesome!!

Next, I tried the Sayaendou (さやえんどう; middle one) which means “peas”. It’s a healthy-ish snack by Calbee in a line of snacks called “Yasai snacks” (vegetable snacks), which are dried or baked (or whatever owo;; ) snacks made from veggies. This one was obviously made from peas, but they also have snacks made from maize, bell pepper, carrot, etc. The consistency is kinda ‘fluffy’, but crunchy, if that makes at all. The first few you try are gonna taste a bit odd, but as you get used to it, it’s actually quite good! I really wanna try the maize one now <33

The last one I tried was Nerunerunerune (ねるねるねるね) which I think is meant to be a pun. “Neruneru” (ねるねる) is the sound in Japan for stuff that is slimy (which it looks like), while “neru” (練る) means “to knead” which is essentially what you do to make the candy. Yes, I said “make the candy”, since it’s from a brand of a “do-it-yourself” candy. I’ve added a video to the left of a girl making it, since that’s easier than explaining it. But anyway, the one I got was with a taste of grape, but it was soooo friggin’ sour! I usually like sour candies, but in moderation, and this one was so sour that it was hurting my stomach for like two hours. And the consistency was bad too D8

Anyway, I plan on purchasing more Japanese candies and snacks soon! PREPARE FOR MORE CANDYLICIOUS REVIEWS!! >:3

New Router, Geeeet!

Hecko X — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:32:53 +0000

So, Internet for me has been more or less non-existant for a like a week or two now, since my router kept cutting the connection every 30-40 seconds (thank God for pre-written posts so this place didn’t die completely, huh? 8D).

Anyway, finally got a new router today. The connection still cuts every now and again, but not as frequently, and it’s a lot quicker to fix the connection than the old one was (20 seconds vs. 2-5 minutes).

In other news, I passed my retake exams and studied well for my assessment tests since my average was way too low, but now after 3 very high scores in a row, my average is good enough to pass the year. Now, if I could only pass the next 4-5 exams as well… =.=;

Damn You, Vulcanic Ash Cloud!

Hecko X — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:18:54 +0000

If you follow the news, you’ve undoubtably heard of the giant cloud of vulcanic ash from Iceland which is covering most of Europe and screwing over air traffic. Now, like most people, I could see how this could be annoying, but I didn’t really start caring until it started fucking with me personally! >:3

Because of the cloud, a special one-time feature of the film festival could not be flown in, which has me kind of raging since I actually had pretty good tickets to it. Instead, I get called up by the cinema during class to be informed that the event has been cancelled! /rages

Not only this, I applied for a job at the airport since I need to start saving up money to go traveling next year, but because of the vulcanic ash situation, the job drafting has been postponed indefinitely and the job offer might be taken down entirely if the situation doesn’t change.

WELL PLAYED, VULCANO!! WELL PLAYED!! D8<

A Hard Gay Hanami

Hecko X — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:40:53 +0000

Since tomorrow is when the hanami in Copenhagen takes place, I figured some hanami-related comedy would be in order 8D

Exams Are Annoying! >:3

Hecko X — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:32:22 +0000

Lulz! Long time no… errr… something! I’ve been busy the last few days with exams so I’ve had no time for that much else. I’m still kinda busy since I have a test tomorrow and then another one next monday, but at least I have a few hours to myself each day, AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON!! Btw, isn’t the drawing on the right just awesome!? I unfortunately don’t know who drew it T^T

Anyway, because of exams, I had to give up a few things. For one thing, I had to take a break from Genki, so I currently have no idea of what’s going on. I will have to get up to date during our short meeting during the hanami festival.

Also, I decided to quit Academy of Heroes on dA because when the assignments finally came, I just didn’t have the time or drive to finish them. I’ve decided to keep Blaze alive though, so he might still pop up every now and again.

But yeah~! Hopefully, the next two tests will go smoothly and I’ll be able to go to the end-of-the-year exams without too many problems!

Muki Rises from the Ashes!!

Hecko X — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:34:09 +0000

Yes, it is in deed the grand return of Murasaki-kun >:3 As you can see, I dyed my hair purple yet again, since my last awesomesauce dye-job was foiled by my mother forcing me to get a hair cut… =_=; Curses for not being able to cook myself! It’s a way too easily exploitable weakness >_<

Bleached	Purple

Also, sorry for the lack of posting. Between having to go fill out papers at the police station, city hall, transport services, student loan services, etc. since my wallet was stolen (all my personal IDs and creditcards were stolen as well) and school, not to mention QCing for OrionWave, I’ve been kinda busy ^^’

Asagohan

Hecko X — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:45:44 +0000

Rather old video, but still pretty funny parody of Beethoven’s Fifth. The title, Asagohan (朝ご飯), means “Breakfast” and is what they are singing about. Sorry for the poor quality, but it’s the only original one I could find with English subs.

Owerwork and Smiling Dogs

Hecko X — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:00:28 +0000

Long story short, I was right about pushing myself too heard in physical therapy, like I posted about a few days ago, as evident when I 20 minutes into the last session passed out from overwork.

So now, a few days later, I can’t even move my head or jaw because of the tears in the muscles between my shoulder and neck. I’m feeling all depressed and annoyed because of it, so I found these videos to cheer me up a bit. Maybe they’ll put smiles on your lips too~

Robert Sapolsky: The Uniqueness of Humans

Hecko X — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:37:11 +0000

So, I was watching TED (www.ted.com), as I sometimes do when I remember it exists >.> , and stumbled upon the talk (speach, lecture, whatever, they call them “Talks”) by Robert Sapolsky; a primatologist, neuroendocrinologist, and a lot of other -ologists.

He’s the kind of presenter I like because he has a way of slightly sidetracking, without -actually- sidetracking, by giving many diverse examples that normal people would not be able to figure out for them selves which in turn makes them interesting.

In his just under 40-minute talk, he speaks of the things that make humans different from animals, but at the same time emphasises the similarities in our “basic building blocks”, i.e. that we aren’t so different as some would like to believe. He has funny and easy-to-understand examples for all his points and the video is definitely worth a watch, so enjoy~

Happy Valentine’s Day~

Hecko X — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:45:58 +0000

Your love, I nom it~ <333