This episode was mainly exposition and harem building, and it isn't really worth talking about, so I'm not going to.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 07:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OreIda makes bags of Tater Tots, and I buy them. Half a bag makes a good dinner. You pour them onto a cookie sheet, put them into a preheated oven and bake for 19 minutes and then, according to the bag, "season to taste".

Which means put salt on them, but they can't say that. Potatoes without salt taste like library paste and everyone uses salt on them. Except certain bureaucrats in Washington who create dietary recommendations for the peasants, which recommendations I stopped paying attention to a long time ago. Because it became clear to me that it was food faddism, not science. And now everyone can tell, because in the last few years the official recommended diet has changed quite a lot.

Butter is back on the OK list. So are eggs. Studies have finally shown that cholesterol isn't a synonym for cyanide. And after decades of saying "Reduce dietary fat; eat carbs instead" because they thought all of us were too fat, now it's been revealed that it's carbs that do that, not fat.

But still it goes on. The NYC commission, who have nothing else important to work on since NYC is an ideal city with no problems, no crime, and no other issues, anyway the commission considered a city regulation forbidding anyone in the city from putting salt in their food before sale.

Among other problems, a bunch of bakers went to the commission to inform them that you cannot make bread without salt because the yeast won't rise. Details, details... (I don't think they passed that regulation, in the end. Anyway, all it would have done is force all those companies to move their factories and bakeries to Hoboken.)

My zoology prof in college talked to us about salt one time. This was about 1974, before things got crazy, but he mentioned that when our salt levels get low we really crave salt and our food won't taste right unless we put a lot more salt on than we usually would. (This is most common in hot weather when you've been sweating.) Different people have different desires for salt at different times, which is why restaurants put salt shakers on the tables. They tend to undersalt the food and rely on the customers to adjust "to taste".

But the food freaks think they know everything (despite proof from experience that they're idiots) and the latest fad is food with no salt in it, proudly blazed on the label. John Kovalic did a nice job on that with his comic "CTRL SALT DEL".

That happened to me one time. I wasn't paying attention to the labels and I bought a jar of peanut butter with no salt added. One taste and I knew my mistake. I ended up having to add a LOT of salt to it to get it to taste like anything. It took me three tries, adding more salt each time and then stirring the jar up, to get it to taste right.

It's one more aspect of the encroaching nanny state, and I say this: you will take my salt shaker away from me when you pry it out of my cold dead fingers.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Rants at 07:33 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Does there exist a small town in Wales whose name can be pronounced by outsiders? Sometimes I wonder.

The town of Eglwyswrw is in the news because it rains there a lot. Which ain't the worst thing to be known for; it's better than being the site of a toxic waste leak, for instance. I'm just wondering how the hell you pronounce the name of the place.

I think they're doing it on purpose to make English speakers took foolish when they try to say it.

UPDATE: I'm not even quite sure how to pronounce "Portmeirion".

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Weird World at 12:10 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This is a huge spoiler so it's below the fold.

(Lelei is still my favorite character, but Kuribayashi is a close second.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at 06:20 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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I just received a refer from Google for this search:

why+isn't+Lynette+Bishop+wearing+pants

Indeed. Very good question, my son...

UPDATE: And now for something completely different: My hovercraft is full of eels.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 09:46 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I'm having distinctly mixed feelings about this show.

First the bad: I've never been a fan of comedic violence, and this has a lot of it. Haruhiko abuses Ruru, and Mai abuses Haruhiko. It's supposed to be funny but I don't think it is. (Chuck Jones can do it and make me laugh, but these guys aren't that good.)

And "the team of losers who keep screwing up" doesn't really work for me. Of course it's intended as a low point out of which they climb, but I wouldn't mind if they do the climbing sooner rather than later.

In particular, I wish Haruhiko wasn't such a turkey. For instance, in this episode he revealed a new ability: he can summon phantoms to work for him. Well, sort of. This was what he wanted:

This was what he got:

The good: I have to admit it's a pleasure to spend time with Mai. We're due for a swimsuit episode and I'm looking forward to that, too. (I have simple tastes.) And in general the art in this series is excellent, and not just of the girls.

And there's an interesting story concept here which is pretty deep and complicated. The series description says that we're due for a plot whiplash before it's all over, and from what I'm seeing it could be a doozy. Whatever it is, I'm sure it involves the loli with the teddy bear.

They're laying out a lot of mysteries without shining spotlights on them, which is a sign of mature story telling. (Too many directors will put in a plot point and then point at it and shout HEY LOOK AT THAT THING I JUST DID.)

The biggest mystery for me is Ruru, because I have the distinct impression that there is more to her than she's letting on, and it's probably sinister. After they defeated the robot in this episode, she flew over and found that small gizmo and brought it back to Haruhiko, and she didn't really have to search. She knew it was there and knew she wanted him to have it. What is it? (We're probably going to learn more about it next episode.)

Why is she hanging around him, anyway? She plays the clown, but is that all there is to her? She doesn't stay in his home at night; she flies away and goes somewhere else. Where? Why? But she's back every morning (according to the first episode) and goes through his morning routine (teeth brushing etc.) with him. So what's her deal?

And, of course, there's a huge mystery about The Event ten years previously. Just what were they doing in that factory? Was it really a terrorist bomb that released the virus, or something else? Was it really a virus that caused all this, or something else? And is this really about teleology? How can things that humans imagine actually cause physical damage, and hurt people, and move things around?

Are we in full-scale Bishop Berkeley mode here? A tree falling in the forest when there's no one around doesn't make a sound and in fact doesn't even exist unless a human is looking at it? The opening of the first episode suggest that may be the case.

Now a grand edifice like this could collapse in an ill-conceived heap but it could also end up being really intriguing and thought provoking. And in the mean time we can ogle Mai.

So I think I'll stick with it for a while yet.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 04:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This is something completely different: XCOM The Board Game. What's new: you download an app for your phone (or other iOS or Android device) which runs the game for you. Yikes!

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Weird World at 03:47 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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So from the shows I wanted to sample, here's how it came out:

WATCH:
Gate (Friday)

CONTINUE:
Musaigen no Phantom World (Wednesday)
Luck and Logic (Saturday)

DUMP:
Dagashi Kashi
Oshiete! Galko-chan
Fairy Tail Zero
Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle
Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desu Kara
Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm

I considered watching another episode of Dagashi Kashi but it isn't aging well. I just can't see it going anywhere.

Even so, one solid hit and two good possibilities isn't a bad result. Damned sight better than the season that just ended, I'll say that.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 03:01 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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So let's wrap up all the other shows I wanted to sample.

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm -- aka "flying shoes". You'd think a show about people who can fly would be more interesting, wouldn't you? The big problem is the characterization. The main character is a girl named Asuka, and she's the uber-ditz. Thoroughly annoying and totally unsympathetic. We can't blame the seiyuu for this, either; she's very experienced (she was Yoshika in Strike Witches, for instance) and quite capable of doing strong, sympathetic, girl parts (Anzu in Girls und Panzer, Hime in Yozakura Quartet). And the art doesn't make up for it, and none of the other characters are interesting either. Fail.

Luck and Logic -- In the first minute I was ready to dump this as a heavily disguised mech show. And that's sort of what it is, kind of. But there are enough differences so as to not outright drive me away. It is, of course, a harem show. Our Hero is the only guy, and becomes part of a team with four girls and five "covenanters" all of whom are female. They didn't pack the episode with exposition, which was nice. There was actually quite a lot but they disguised it well -- "Show, don't Tell". There are rare teenagers called Logicalists who have the ability to form a covenant with a magical? being called a covenanter and exercise super powers. This power manifests at puberty and begins to fade at adulthood, so it's yet another "teenagers save the world" show, dusty as that is. But Our Hero isn't a klutz, though he also doesn't seem to be a Marty Stu. He was a logicalist earlier and was present at some sort of titanic battle two years ago in Hong Kong, where he did something called "Over Trance", and as a result of that battle he lost his power. However, today (in the show) he gets it back because a Covenanter named Athena has sought him out to be his partner. There's nothing radically innovative in the story, to say the least, but the pieces fit nicely and the animation was excellent. I'll give it another episode, at least.

Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara -- is a lolicon show in 4 minute episodes, with lots of closeups of the loli's panties. No thanks.

Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut -- is Infinite Stratos in magical drag. Our Hero is the only boy at a school for girls to become "Drag-knights", which means they fight using "Machine Dragons". It's all very familiar.

Fairy Tail Zero -- Unfortunately, it's taking the broadcast slot that was used by Fairy Tail, which is suspended for, I assume, 1 cour. The Fairy Tail anime has reached the end of chapter 416. Chapter 417 is filler. And there's a 1 year skip before chapter 418. Chapters 449-451 and a couple of others tell the back story of Mavis and Zeref, and it looks like they're telling that story, in a more extended form, in Fairy Tail Zero. Once it's done, we'll pick back up with chapter 418, presumably. But I'm not interested, so I probably won't watch it.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 02:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Dozens gather for Portland's annual 'No Pants Day'

MAX riders stripped down to their underwear Sunday for Portland's annual "No Pants Day."

Dozens showed up without their pants at the Skidmore Fountain MAX stop and rode for free on the MAX to Pioneer Courthouse Square.

And it wasn't just for show, but all for a good cause.The group is collecting winter gear to donate to homeless shelters.

Fox 12 went downtown to see how everyone was feeling about this year's event.

"I think that it's great," said a participant. "It's keeping Portland weird. You know,people can just be people and it's not obscene, nobody's out here being weird or causing any kind of crime or anything. I love it."

"I think it's a great reason to not wear pants," another participant told Fox 12. "There's always a good reason to not wear pants."

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Weird World at 11:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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