Dear Wankers,

Now, I know that road works are the creation of the Devil and that they're immensely annoying, but please, STOP FUCKING USING OUR ROAD AS A SHORT CUT! Yes, it may save you a precious few minutes on your no-doubt incredibly important journey, but stop being such selfish twats and consider that you are causing problems for the people who ACTUALLY live along here. With you bastards racing through here at such speed, it makes getting in and out of our driveways pretty bloody dangerous. Plus when you're trying to force your way out into the queue of traffic at the end of the road not only do you create a massive queue that builds further and further back, but you turn the people who have patiently waited into complete wankers as well. They then refuse to let you all out and in turn block the entire road, making it impossible for those of us that live there to enter our own fucking road!

So please, will someone somewhere make our road 'Access Only', or better still, will you stop being such arseholes and queue like everybody else!

Fuck you.

Cassie.

15 Years Ago, I:
1. Was eight years old.
2. Was in year 3 - Mrs Eljie's class (sp maybe)
3. Had set up a bizarre little town in my desk (it had one of those lifty-up lids) for the various animal stationery I had.
4. Had discussions and played with said little world with the boy who sat next to me.
5. Lived in my own little world.

10 Years Ago, I:
1. Was 13
2. Was in Year 8 - Mrs Martin's class
3. Had dressed up as a bumble bee for the mascot parade at sports day.
4. Had just been moved up to the top maths group.
5. Lived in my own little world.

5 Years Ago, I:
1. Was 18
2. Was waiting for A-Level results and preparing for Foundation.
3. Went to Chiquito's then the cinema with friends to celebrate the end of school, where I captured photographic proof of JoJo putting on make-up!
4. Had fond memories of pissing about at the sociology conference.
5. Lived in my own little world.

3 Years Ago, I:
1. Was 20
2. Was finishing my first year of uni.
3. Had made friends with Craig.
4. Had skipped out on a crit at uni to go see QI being filmed for the first time.
5. Lived in my own little world.

Last year, I:
1. Was 22. Shocking.
2. Graduated.
3. Got a job at the Theatre
4. Passed my driving test.
5. Lived in my own little world.

Yesterday, I:
1. Went to work.
2. Read volume 3 of D.Gray-Man at work.
3. Played Animal Crossing for the first time in weeks.
4. Got annoyed that the 4GB MiniSD card I'd bought didn't work.
5. Disappeared off into my own little world.

Today, I:
1. Cried at One Piece. Again.
2. Went to work.
3. Read volume 4 of D.Gray-Man at work.
4. Cooked Dinner - Mixed Barbeque and Firecracker Rice; it was yummy!
5. Disappeared off into my own little world.

Tomorrow, I:
1. Will go to work.
2. Will watch some more D.Gray-Man
3. Sort out the stuff for sending back the buggered MiniSD
4. Most likely consider doing something before discarding it in favour of anime, Animal Crossing or Okami.
5. Will disappear off into my own little world.

3 Bad Habits I Have:
1. Indecisiveness
2. Short Temper at times.
3. Farting.

Interests at the moment:
1. D.Gray-Man
2. Japanese Fairytales
3. Mushishi (again)
4. Firefox.
5. Disappearing into my own little world.

5 Places I've Lived:
1. My House
2. My head
3. Shin Makoku (in my head)
4. On the Going Merry/Thousand Sunny (in my head)
5. Soul Society (in my head)

My Top 5 Biggest Worries at the Moment:
1. That I'll never find love.
2. That I won't get all the DC stuff done in time.
3. That I'll never act on half the ideas I have.
4. That I'm truly a boring person.
5. That people know the above and secretly hate me.

My Top 5 Biggest Joys at the Moment:
1. Watching One Piece
2. Watching Ristorante Paradiso
3. Reading Manga
4. Looking at the DC stuff I've done so far and feeling accomplished.
5. Disappearing into my own little world.

• When people can't tell the difference between 'There', 'Their' and 'They're' - It's not that bloody difficult. There refers to a PLACE: "It is over THERE". Their refers to someone's possession: "It was THEIR ball". They're means they are: "THEY'RE tall".
  
• When people cannot tell the difference between 'Then' and 'Than'. SERIOUSLY! I just don't understand how people can get this wrong. I know it's only a one letter difference and the a and e one the keyboard aren't all THAT far apart but still... "The white wine was much sweeter then the red wine" - That doesn't even make sense!!!
  
• When people cannot tell the difference between 'Patience' and 'Patients'. "I'm running out of patients." - Oh I'm sorry to hear that doctor. Wait, you're not a doctor? Well go back to school then!!!
  
• When people cannot tell the difference between 'Lose' and 'Loose'. "Is that the one where they loose their memories?" No it isn't. It's the one where they LOSE their memories.
  
• When people cannot tell the difference between 'Your' and 'You're'. Again, not freaking difficult. Your = possession: Your ball, your brain, your stupid bloody mistake. You're = you are: You're a moron.
  

I should also add that a lack of the most basic spelling ability also pisses me off immensely.

1) Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2) Put it on shuffle
3) Press play
4) For every question, type the song that's playing
5) When you go to a new question, press the next button
6) Don't lie
7) Tag five friends.

I'm not gonna tag people because they won't do it lol.

( The Soundtrack of Cassie's Life )


And because I'm lame and want a decent soundtrack, I'm gonna hit shuffle and semi-select the tracks.

( Version 2 )

Ahh, it's that's time of year again. Time for crappy Eurovision and last place for us again (well I'm assuming). As usual I will be spamming here with my lousy commentary, I wonder what horrors lie in store this year...

Actually I should get my wine first.

Wow... opening performance, either the dubbing is out or he's miming! I vote for the second one. I think someone forgot to give him lessons on how to not look like an idiot in a badly dubbed spaghetti western. That woman presenter has a hideous dress on! Seriously, yuk! Anyway, onto the songs.


Lithuania: Ooo Piano, good start, oh, dodgy hat. Wow, so bland. But it's that kind of non-descript stuff that'll do well. What was with the fiery crap at the end?!

Israel: Aside from the dodgy costume decisions this is just... blah. Yes, there MUST be another less painful way for my brain to melt out of my ears.

France: If ever there was music to slit your wrists to... OH GOD!!! Don't attempt to do some deranged dance.

Graham Norton is doing a very good job at the moment. By far the most entertaining part of the show!

Sweden: *cries* For such an expensive dress it looks like someone attacked some poor unsuspecting swan. Actually I think they just exposed it to this song until it willingly gave up its feathers... or its life.

Croatia: Aaaaand there's a wind machine. Yes, because WIND will make this song even vaguely less crap.

Portugal: Well it's bouncy, more than can be said for the others so far. Not too horrific.

Iceland: Is this the year of hideous dresses or something? Not a bad song actually.

Greece: I bet Craig loves the Greek entry! Bring back the plate smashing music; it's better than this. I could really cry so much right now.

Armenia: This entry scares me.

Russia: Another awful dress, another awful song. I think I'D be crying if I had to sing that song...

Azerbaijan: Cheesy. Dammit, my wine glass is empty. Annoyingly catchy.

Bosnia Herzegovina: It'd be better if they didn't just prove those instruments were just for show. Another one falling into the pit of obscurity.

Moldova: Is she ever going to stop wailing and star singing? Oh she is... The dancing men in the background make me laugh! I actually don't mind this one. HOI HOI!

Malta: Oh dear, power ballad.

Estonia: Hmm OK, but not amazing.

Denmark: Hahaha, Graham Norton is right, Ronan Keating rip off! Well he looks happy... Oh God... don't drop to your knees. Ooo, Fireworks, they're going all out aren't they.

Germany: I haven't even seen the song yet but Germany Eurovision just instils fear into me. ... It's different. I quite like the 20's influence. Actually I actually really like this one!

Turkey: This is chav music.

Albania: OMG, it's like she has a really camp gimp on stage with her!

Norway: I like this! I have a favourite! Go Norway!

Ukraine: The insanity is back! This is what Eurovision is all about - camp weirdness! Oh yes shiny silver Trojans ;) Flashy lights, Fire, Wind Machine, every box is ticked lol.

Romania: Kinda crap.

United Kingdom: Awww we are so reserved. We have men in suits with violins, and Andrew Lloyd Webber on the piano. Shame she kind of warbles. Aww it is just like a show tune. I do like it, just don't like her screeching it.

Finland: Oh dear. At least the fire dancer guys in the background are interesting.

Spain: I can't even be bothered to think of something to say about this.

Well, I'm definitely rooting for Norway!

Results time. We're doing surprisingly well. though some of the presenters revealing the results are scary. OK the thing representing Bosnia Herzegovina is terrifying!!! Hurrah for Norway though, they basically have it in the bag - woot! Hahaha the Denmark announcer looks like a cross between Avid Merrion and Boris Johnson. Slovenian guy is an idiot.

Aww Yayness for Norway!

Well that's it for another year. I'm gonna sit and watch something else now lol.

Saturn in your sign this week is cause for concern, as Pisces has had a restraining order against the planet for years.

Title: Barefot Gen - Film, Madhouse, 1983
Overall Score: 5/10
Word Count: 759
Date Written: 16th February 2009

( Barefoot Gen Review )

Title: Howl's Moving Castle - Film, Studio Ghibli, 2004
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Word Count: 815
Date Written: 15th February 2009

( Howl’s Moving Castle Review )

So, a couple of years ago I went on a spree of having various film marathons, one of which was to watch all 13 of the Ghibli films (that's all that had been released at the time) and I succeeded. Anyway, I have decided to do the same again and watch all 15 of them, plus Cagliostro since I keep getting an urge to watch it. As a note, I will be watching all of them in Japanese (which will help achieve my nearly 2 year-old goal of watching all of them subbed rather than dubbed!).

Saturday:

Film #1: Laputa Castle in the Sky (125 minutes)
It's been a fairly long time since I saw this film (actually with the exception of Gedo Senki, it's been way over a year since I last watched any Ghibli. It felt almost like I'd forgotten just how much I love these films). Actually, while watching it I was thinking... Dude, this film is as old as me, and they didn't have CG back then, but it's still beautifully animated. I think I'm becoming more and more anti-CG as time goes on you know. Well, at least in animated films anyway. Much Dola love in this film. Seriously, she freaking rocks!

Film #2: Porco Rosso (93 minutes)
I forgot just how gorgeous the cloud prairie scene is; it really is well done and just a beautiful idea. In some ways it really is an understated film and I still love it. Weirdly enough I can still remember the first time I watched it. My parents were out for the evening, it was dark outside and I was happily sitting on my sofa eating a pizza thinking how good this film was. I'm not sure why but that memory just makes me smile.

Film #3: Lupin the 3rd - Castle of Cagliostro (100 minutes)
I know, I know - it's not technically Ghibli, but it's still a Miyazaki film and I really wanted to watch it in Japanese since I've watched the rest of the Lupin franchise in. Plus it was this film that got me interested in the rest of the Lupin III series. Now having seen 19 of the 20 TV specials, all 5 movies and the 3 OVAs as well as a fair chunk of the TV series, it's become a kind of guilty pleasure of mine - though Cagliostro is still my favourite. On another note... OH DEAR GOD EWW! After watching all other Lupin's in Japanese, I decided to flick over to the English dub of this and just... eww. *shudder* How did I ever watch this in English? Twice.

Film #4: Grave of the Fireflies (90 minutes)
I have now watched this film three times. I have cried within the first five minutes all three times, and again at the end. How the hell does this film do that to me?! It's truly a masterpiece, it's just so heartbreaking and devoid of hope that you must be a complete robot if you don't feel anything (and no, not a Laputa robot because they are too cool).

Film #5: Howl's Moving Castle (115 minutes)
After the weepy-fest that is Fireflies, I needed something happier and so I decided to put on Howl.I found myself falling in love with it all over again (and shed a small tear at the end out of sheer love for it - I blame Fireflies, it opened up the floodgates). But yeah, I'm now seriously questioning my Ghibli film list. Spirited Away has always topped it, with Howl second and Totoro third. Now I'm seriously thinking that maybe my number one and number two should be swapped round. I'll definitely have to watch Spirited Away tomorrow to decide.

Thinking about it, I should sort out what films I'm going to watch tomorrow. There are 15 films in the Studio Ghibli Collection and I've watched 4 of them today (as I said earlier, Cagliostro isn't part of the Ghibli collection) so there are 11 films left. Definitely Spirited Away is on the list, and Princess Mononoke as I want to watch it subbed. It'd be nice if I could have had all of Monday to add to the Ghiblithon but I'm working a double shift - bum. Though that doesn't stop me watching more when I get home and resuming on Tuesday. I definitely want to watch through all of them (that way I can definitely sort out my Ghibli order), but it may take a few more days. Having said that, it is only 10 to 1 so I could probably watch another one tonight - yeah, sod it, I will. On another note, I need more Ghibli Icons.

Film #6: The Cat Returns (74 minutes)
Aww, I forgot how much I love this one. Because it's lower down my list I think I just tend to almost overlook the fact that I really enjoy it. It's slightly more comical than the other Ghibli films, but I still found myself grinning with that 'Ghibli feeling' - you know the one I mean, Craig. Aww, I've missed the Ghibli feeling. Weirdly enough I've actually sat through the credits of each film I've watched today; the music is just so beautiful that I can't turn it off.

Right, that's it films wise for today unless I want to be up until like 5am, which I don't because I like my sleep. :)

Total Time spent on Ghiblithon for today: 597 minutes (9 hours 57 minutes)

Sunday

OK, so I had planned to start day 2 of Ghiblithon '09 when I got up, but since I spent a reasonable amount of time last night mentally writing a review for Howl's Moving Castle, I ended up doing that instead. Three hours and a shower later and I am beginning!

Film #7: Princess Mononoke (134 minutes)
Ahh, this seriously has the most beautiful soundtrack of all the Ghibli films. It's so pretty as well. I still really want a little kodama of my own hee hee, and a Yakul. Watching it in Japanese was nice as well, I prefer it to the dub, though Moro's voice is... odd. Sounds like a man but when I looked it up, it's the same woman who voiced the Witch of the Waste in Howl (who incidentally, also sounded like a bloke until she laughed). Also, I still stand by the fact that Mononoke is fun to type. Mononoke... Mononoke... Mononoke.

Film #8: Kiki's Delivery Service (103 minutes)
This always gives me much Jiji love, he's so sweet! Good little film this one. It feels a little more child-like than some of the other Ghibli films, and I definitely much prefer it in Japanese instead of the dubbed version. Kirsten Dunst is kind of annoying voicing Kiki. Oddly enough, I'm kind of Ghibli-ed out for today, so I'm gonna pop on some Clannad After Story for a bit.

Total Time spent on Ghiblithon for today 237 minutes (3 hours 57 minutes)


( The Ghibli List )

Well, I've finally decided to give in and have myself a nice little Ghibli marathon this weekend. I've not watched any of the Ghibli films for a while now (since I want to watch them all subbed, and those I have watched subbed I now won't watch dubbed), plus I keep getting real urges to watch some of them again. Mostly Laputa, Porco Rosso and Howl - I didn't watch them for my dissertation so it's been longer since I've seen them.

So, I'm going to watch to my heart's content this weekend - and I may write down any thoughts that come to mind as well. I figure that I have no other plans for Valentines, so I may as well spend it with something I love. :D

So, last night, I decided to console myself with new Emma manga to make up for running out of Mushishi, however, I probably should have restrained myself and only read one volume, instead of two, so now I'm out of that as well. But it's so good! Also Emma gained the status yesterday of 'the first and only manga to make Cassie cry'. Shush, I know, but I really get into that story, I love it so much.

Also, I've been pretty crap in the last few days with the Japanese and haven't touched it since Thursday. So I should stop being crap at that. I also need to get on with some concept images ready for next week - basically I've spent a large chunk of the last week pretty much being utterly lazy (and playing Ocarina of Time). Ahem.

Ah well, I'm gonna bugger off and watch Bleach in a sec. I somehow can't see me doing much for today, since I've got my first Stewards meeting later - eep.

Title: Black Jack 21 - 17 Episodes, Tezuka Productions, 2006
Overall Score: 6.5/10
Word Count: 753
Date Written: 8th February 2009

( Black Jack 21 Review )

Woo, so looking at what I did last week, I am not completely made of fail! OK so I didn't do the icons but the Japanese and the going to bed earlier so I could read seemed to work. I've decided to give myself Sunday's off from the Japanese, unless of course I'm really in the mood for it. I think I'm going to leave my to-do list for this week the same as last week (including the icons, they should be done at some point). I shall also add the following to the list:

1. Think up an idea for an animation and do at least 1 concept drawing before Craig comes round this week - can't have my tutor giving me any forfeits.
2. Actually re-arrange my room. Note I do NOT mean tidy, but I've been meaning to sort out my anime and manga shelf a bit. Plus I still need to put up the gorgeous Kuroshitsuji poster that Craig got me.
3. Make icons for the following:

• D.Gray-man


• Victorian Romance Emma


• Kuroshitsuji


• Haibane Renmei


• Azumanga Daioh


• xxxHolic


• Bleach


• Maybe another Mushishi one


• Naruto


• Cromartie


• Saiunkoku Monogatari


• Prince of Tennis


• One Piece

Oh, and despite managing to talk myself out of buying any more of the Emma manga, I ended up ordering the last three volumes earlier. Along with Nausicaa volume 2 (hey it was £3.99!). My excuse... well, there is no excuse other than I really love it and by the looks of things it'll a bit different to the anime. However, the reasoning I'm giving to my mum if she asks, is that volumes five, six and seven aren't available on Amazon or the Book Depository (true) so when I saw them on anime online I thought, get it while you can (also true). Of course there are going to be another three volumes of Emma coming out, though they're classed as a side-story. Luckily none of them have been released yet, so at least I can restrain myself that way (though the first is apparently released on my birthday). :D

In other sort of news, I filled in an application form for a job earlier. It's a media technician's post, and to be honest I doubt I'll even get an interview since I blatantly lack one of the "Essential" requirements of being able to identify and repair a fault with equipment at a component level. I still sent off an application since, hey I have the rest of the requirements and some desired ones, plus I've got nothing to lose. So, we'll see.

And one final note...

YAY SNOW!

Today I went over to Craig's to see him for the first time in over a month, and it was great. I managed to surprise him by turning up on his doorstep with not only food but a wok and bamboo steamer. Now, I normally take some grub with me - it's left over from the Craig doesn't feed me when I go to see him at halls days - but I don't normally turn up with cooking utensils! Anyway, the reasoning behind this was because the food I'd taken with me were my home made char-sui pork steamed buns (num num num) and I wasn't about to try and steam four of them in a colander. Anyway, Craig was pleasantly happy that I'd surprised him with buns (and made a couple of 'ooo I do like your buns' jokes), and when we ate them, they went. Quite quickly.

So, ignoring the food, it was great to just catch up with him and hear all about his trip. Plus I got to see all the photos. :D Craig, I'm definitely just gonna buy you a tank of water for your birthday hee hee (P.S. I still want to snag a copy of that Queen C photo XD). I also happily drooled over the descriptions of the various geeky anime shops he went in, and food he tried. Awww, and he was such a darling and he brought me back a couple of pressies. Some Gwendal stickers, three Keroro Gunsou badges (Giroro, Kururu and Dororo - my three favourites :D) and an absolutely LUSCIOUS Kuroshitsuji poster, which will be going up on my wall tomorrow.

Ahh, anyway, I'm gonna pootle off now and read some manga before bed. Nighty night all! xxx

I must sort out some of the recipes I have floating about. Type them up neatly, laminate them and put them in a folder. Then I can start building up my own collection of random recipes.

Also, I need a cooking icon.

Since I only decided late on Sunday to actually keep a record of what I've been doing resolution-wise, I didn't end up doing any Japanese stuff.
Note: Since I am generally reading manga before bed, it probably won't be updated until the following day (unless I actually did read during the day of course).
Note 2: Since I am starting off the studying with Hiragana, most of this is re-learning since I actually went through the Hiragana book a couple of years ago.
Note 3: I am also going to make note of what I actually did study wise. This is to not only keep track of what I did each day, but also to keep note of how long I spent on each thing.

Sunday 25th January:

• Read two volumes of Emma before bed (I'd meant to only read the first, but I got hooked).

Monday 26th January:

• 1 hour and 10 minutes of studying Hiragana. Made some basic notes on stroke order and stroke endings. Re-learnt the first group of ten basic Hiragana (a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko) and completed the 3 exercises. Wrote out study cards for said group of kana.


• Read the last volume of Eerie Queerie.

Tuesday 27th January:

• 50 minutes of studying Hiragana. Re-learnt the second ten basic Hiragana (sa, shi, su, se, so, ta, chi, tsu, te, to) and completed the 3 exercises. Wrote out study cards for said group of kana.


• Read Volume 2 of Bleach.

Wednesday 28th January:

• 1 hour 10 minutes of studying Hiragana. Re-learnt the third ten basic Hiragana (na, ni, nu, ne, no, ha, hi, fu, he, ho) and completed the 3 exercises. Wrote out study cards for said group of kana.


• Read Volume 1 of School Rumble.

Thursday 29th January

• 35 minutes of testing myself on Hiragana using online quizzes.
  ( Results )


• Read 4 chapters of School Rumble Volume 2

Friday 30th January

• 50 minutes of studying Hiragana. Re-learnt the fourth group of 8 Hiragana (ma, mi, mu, me, mo, ya, yu, yo) and completed the 3 exercises. Wrote out study cards for said group of kana.


• Finished reading School Rumble Volume 2.

Saturday 31st January

• 45 minutes of studying Hiragana. Re-learnt the fifth group of 8 basic Hiragana (ra, ri, ru, re, ro, wa, o/wo, n/m) and completed the 3 exercises. Wrote out study cards for said group of kana.


• Read Volume 3 of Emma. Had to seriously stop myself from buying the rest of the series. I only managed that because Vol. 4 is on it's way. :D

OK, so the whole resolution thing has been a little sucky in the last week or so. I have yet to start on the Japanese stuff, and I haven't read any manga in the last week. It's not that I haven't wanted to, I'd decided to read some manga before bed, but I've ended up getting distracted and ended up going to bed later than planned, and haven't felt like reading. So, in order to get back on track, I am going to make a to-do list of stuff to do this week:

1. Spend at least 30 minutes a day on learning Japanese (should start by going over Hiragana again and making the study cards for that).


2. Go to bed a bit earlier so that I actually read some manga instead of saying that I will.


3. Re-do some of the icons that I've been thinking about doing:
   
   • Yozak Whoops Icon
     
   • Yozak Drinking
     
   • Gwendal Perfectionist
     
   • Gunter Hug
     
   • Sootballs
4. Keep my progress updated on here. I'll do it as one post that will be updated daily (so I don't piss off everyone on my flist).

In other news, Craig will be back from holiday tomorrow - yayness! I've missed him more than I would probably care to mention this last month *embarrassed look*. I've just missed randomly chatting to him, sending him naff texts about whatever crap comes to mind and ringing him when I see something and think of him. </mush>
Anyway, I plan on harassing him asap, well as soon as he's not jet-lagged or dying (I bet he's thinking, 'Thank God! A whole month of freedom from that moron!'). Though, I already have a plan to make up for the fact that I'll piss him off with comments like:
- OMFG there are 3 bloody raccoons chasing me round the shop!
- YAAAAAY new Kuroshitsuji!
- AIEEEE Bleach was AMAZING!
- I miss the panto!
and my personal favourite...
- WAAAH! The new Doctor isn't pretty! *cries*
So hopefully he'll forgive me, and if he doesn't then he just smells :P

Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough, I'm gonna head off to bed in a bit and read :)

Night!

And the moron of the week award goes to...

Cassie!

For searching desperately for a bra and failing to notice that she was wearing it.



On a totally unrelated note I must STOP IGNORING the Japanese learning. It's over halfway through January and I still haven't touched it.

Title: Ping Pong Club - 26 Episodes, Kitty Films, 1995
Overall Score: 2.5/10
Word Count: 820
Date Written: 12th January 2009


( Ping Pong Club )