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I've mostly finished my report!!

It's been sent to my boss now for her to look over and tell me what's wrong with it.

Meaning: It's out of my hands for now!

*dance dance*

Also, classes start tomorrow, but I don't have any until Tuesday. Double woo!

Just dropping by quickly to let you know that I am still alive.

I returned to Bath on Saturday, and while it is nice to be back, I do have a lot of coursework to finish before the week is up.

And while I may not actually be getting much work done at all, I feel too guilty, about wasting my time, to post here.
Hopefully by next week I'll all be done, yes.

And I finished watching Gankutsuou yesterday. What a brilliant series it was, I got quite emotional.

*zooms away*

So my Dad comes up to my room and points a CD in my direction,

"Have you heard of this band?" he said.

I took the CD and turned it over. It was only a copy of the new Franz Ferdinand album that my Dad had downloaded wasn't it?

:D :D :D <3 <3 <3

Although in some ways I'm dissappointed. Not with the music though! Oh no! I was worried that maybe their second album wouldn't live up to the first, but after I've listened to it a couple of times I can say that that is not the case. I will, of course, have to listen to it further to decide how much I like it though.
What I mean is; I was quite enjoying the building excitement from waiting for the release of the album, and there weren't many days left. And then I had it suddenly thrust upon me. It almost feels like, if you will, looking in the wardrobe and finding the Christmas presents your Mum has bought you, in November. It feels kind of wrong and almost like the whole surprise has been spoiled a little, the magic has been ruined.

And so, with regret, I shall listen to the album now, but I shall leave it with my Dad and buy myself a spanking new copy when it comes out. Because I really like Franz Ferdinand and I want to have a proper version of their new album dammit (I always felt a little ashamed that I never got a proper copy of their first album).

That being said...

:D :D :D Woot!

lucky lucky you're so lucky

I'm not even going to pretend that this isn't a poor attempt at jaffing from my work. Ah well. Have a photo of Oslo for yourselves.

Not too much of note has happened. I finished watching the mighty boosh, it was good, although I'm a little sad that there wasn't so much banter between Vince and Howard, because that could throw out some real gems.

I finished reading Angels and Demons. It was a little exciting at the end I suppose, but it was not on a par with the da Vinci Code. There was just less interesting "facts" and more plot, which, to be honest, is not the best in the world. So no, I was no way near as gripped as I was with the da Vinci Code. If I ever do this book crossing thing, I think that this'll be a book I won't mind parting with, although I should really send off some better books instead.

I found out that the song 'Do you want to' by Franz Ferdinand is going to be the ending theme for the new anime of Paradise Kiss. I've never read Paradise Kiss, so I've no idea what it's like, but I think I can see myself watching the anime just because of the song. Not that I don't have too much to watch anyway and no time to do it.

I would also like to make a new layout for tinnedfruitconundrum.net, but that would mean drawing a new picture and then coding it all and I really don't have the time. *mope mope* Why do I always get so inspired when I have much more important work to do?

I'll be returning to Bath on Saturday if I don't see you before then.
Cheery-pip.

I meant to do it last Thursday, but I ran out of time: Clematis has been updated.

You see, I couldn't update it at the weekend, because I was in Oslo being cold.
James is currently studying in Oslo for a few months, and so Steve and I hopped on a plane and sped over the North Sea to see him. It was nice, both seeing James again and Oslo.

If there is any city that is the most different to New York, it would have to be Oslo. There's just no comparing the two and, believe me, I tried! Oslo is small and quiet and surrounded by countryside and expensive, but lets not dwell on that. It had a very nice atmosphere. Norwegians strike me as being calm, sensible and considerate people; it made me quite ashamed to see how environmentaly friendly they are. And they all speak English, nearly almost fautless too; which also makes me ashamed because I cannot speak any other languages at all.

So we walked around a little and saw the Olympic ski jump and ate sausages and walked in some hills and went on a boat and saw the King's house and stuff. While outside the Viking museum, which was closed so we couldn't go in, Steve found a BookCrossing book, which is cool. I'd never heard about this book crossing thing before, but I'm very taken with the idea, I may release some books of my own, but I don't really want to part with any, I may have to buy some for the purpose. *excited*

*mope* But now I have to go do more coursework.

Credit goes to Steve for pointing out this one to me:

We Are Scientists. The music is good, but not only that, their website happens to be the funniest thing since sliced bread. The music videos are darn funny too, especially 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt'.

Arctic Monkeys are not funny at all, but the music is great. You can listen to more of their stuff here.

Finally!
I've just finished downloading the last few episodes of Gankutsuou!

Now all I need is time to watch them.

*hopes for a happy ending*

So, I've just watched Tsubasa Chronicle episode 12 (I'm getting through them fast! I've nearly downloaded all 20 available so far) and I think this has been one of the best episodes I've seen.

I thought it would be really boring in a not much happening sort of a way, but that might be the key. It sounds crazy, but I think that the pacing was faster and more enjoyable because there was no action. In previous episodes, because they didn't want to animate much action, probably on account of it being too expensive or something, they resorted to close ups of peoples faces and exciting music and lots of people standing around. The timing just normally seems too slow.
Whereas, take out the action, and you take out the long pauses, and it makes for a better programme. Or something like that, maybe this episode was just animated better and it had nothing to do with the content.

Anyway, the reason I wanted to post, and it's just a little thing, but the episode reminded me. I want to know, how on Earth are Fujitaka and Clow standing next to each other, at the same time, and even holding a conversation? This is one of the biggest mysteries of the manga to me, and it makes me all kinds of confused when I try to work it out.
Seriously, it shouldn't be possible, for the sake of my sanity. I wonder if it confuses them too?
Unless of course *inspiration* one of them comes from a different world! It would probably be Clow, the cheeky devil.
And I'm not even going into how Clow could be the father of Fujitaka's children, because that confuses me even more. Maybe Fujitaka really is the father and Clow adopted the children for some unknown reason, or maybe Clow stole some of Fujitaka's gametes and did some strange kind of in vitro fertilisation thingy. And OMG what if Fei Wan Reed is the mother? *stupid*

And even in the anime, young Sakura is really cute. I can't help but find her utterly adorable. Awwwww.

Hello ^_^ *waves*

*bounds in* Hello!

*double take* Er, hi Moo. Hi *waves again*
Do you know what time it is?

Ummmm....

No? Can you guess? :)

Is it bath time? :D

No. Although bath time is lots of fun isn't it?
:D It's time to sing that song. Can you remember it?

I love that song!

Super! ^_^ It's time to sing the 'Janine hasn't done much work and feels quite bad about it, but still doesn't work any harder, when she realy should because she only has two weeks left and she's spending four of those days in Oslo' song.

:D Are you ready?

*nods nods*

Is everybody else ready? Should we all sing it together?
OK ^_^ I'll count to three and then we can sing. Ready? Good.

1...
2...
3...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!

Smashing :) What a lovely song. That was lots of fun wasn't it?
I don't know about you, but I'm quite tired now. I think it's time for us to go.

Awww. *looks at feet*

Goodbye *waves* ^_^
Say goodbye Moo.

Goodbye Moo.

Hahaha ^_^
Goodbye *wave wave*

*lower curtain and applause*

I am meant to be writing my 40 page report on the work I did in new york. Sadly, I currently seem to have the attention span of a tadpole, if said tadpole were trying to write a 40 page report about a genetically modified protein and it's future uses, which is particularly hard if the tadpole has broadband internet access and no hands with which to type.

I watched the first episode of the new series of Nighty Night yesterday. It makes me feel awful when I watch it, but it is funny. It's almost a morbid curiosity kind of thing. I wonder if everyone will die at the end of this series.

I've been watching more of Tsubasa Chronicle (I'm up to episode 6 now I think). This neither makes makes me feel awful nor makes me laugh. In fact, it does little. I think the problem is that it is so slow. Scenes which should be exciting seem to have huge pauses in the middle of them. But I shall continue to watch, it's almost a morbid curiosity kind of thing.

Also, I am ill. Not bad, just a cold. But it's annoying enough to be annoying.

Now to work! Proteins ho!
(You know, biochemistry would be so much more interesting if more people said "Proteins ho!", and maybe I could have a special sword too.)

Whew, it's been a little busy since I've been back in the U of K. Also, I couldn't access my hotmail account for a good few days, which was a rather frustrating business. Anyway, I'm back now (and procrastinating from writing my report), and I have lots of stuff to talk about.

Firstly, I've been watching the new series of the Mighty Boosh, which my Mum was so kind to record for me while I was away. It's good, but I'll wait to watch more than two episodes before I pass judgement. Mostly though, I think the moon is great <3

While waiting for my flight, I decided to buy a copy of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Seeing as I liked the Da Vinci code, I was hoping for some more of the same. Although, I have to say, I wasn't expecting it to be quite so similar! I am perhaps almost half-way through now, and the thing reads like an exact copy of the Da Vinci code, but just with a different love interest. Sadly though, it doesn't seem to be quite as interesting as the Da Vinci code, but some bits are interesting nonetheless.

As soon as I was in sight of a DVD player, I watched for myself my Tokyo Babylon OVA (I may have mentioned buying it, I forget). It was good, and I didn't have to worry after all, because it contained two stories, rather than just one. The second story, about the murders on the subway, was undoubtedly better than the first, and quite nerve-wracking in some places. I was worried that Hokuto was going to be annoying throughout the whole thing (that laugh!), but luckily she calmed down.
Seishiro was very good in this, in a 'kick-ass' sort of a way, which makes me warm to him a little more. Although this is all dispelled if I try to listen to the English dub; he sounds like an accountant!
The ending, especially of the second story, makes me sad in a pre-emptive kind of a way. I can't help it.

I also started watching some more anime. Now that I am not on a school network, I am quite happy to download all and sundry without fear of my internet connection being cut off. And so I am currently downloading the end of Gankutsuou (because I've been waiting for months to find out what happens).
I also decided to download: Tsubasa Chronicle! Yes, even though I heard it was awful, I wanted to try it out for myself. And, having watched 3 episodes so far, I can say that it is not so bad.
I was expecting the worst, so it doesn't strike me as horrendous. Admittedly some liberties have been taken with the storyline, and sometimes the characters are really ugly (Yuuko! My poor Yuuko!), and yes, there do seem to be a lot of scenes with exciting music, and nothing happening at all, but it's ok. Everyone knows that the book manga is always better than the film anime, so I don't mind it. Things I do like are, the music (yes I do!), the whole choral, tribal kind of sound is quite interesting, although it doesn't really suit Celes country that much, and I don't think too much of the comedy relief music. Touya and Yukito both looked good when they showed up, especially Touya. I don't mind the voices except Yuuko's Kurogane sounds like Kurogane should sound, as does Fay, which is a nice surprise, because I was really quite sure that he, if anyone, should be voiced by a woman. Fay's voice is soft, insincere and wishy-washy, so it suits him quite well, now if only he would open his eyes, I mean, I know he smiles a lot, but how on Earth does he see anything?! Mokona's voice is suitably annoying, and Mokona also makes a number of suitably annoying noises as well, but flying? Hmmmmm....
So yes, I shall continue to watch this, because it's not too bad, and I feel I should, as a fan of the manga.

Another thing that I have managed to get my grubby paws (lapa?) on since my return has been my X manga. I've been dying to pick this up again since I finished reading Tokyo Babylon, and so I read volume 8 in the space of, a very short space of time. I will now proceed to talk about it (click on read more for some mighty Volume 8, X spoilers, and spoilers for the whole of the Tokyo Babylon manga)

Read more »

I've been back for a few days now, and this is the first time that I turned on my computer since then.

I've hardly unpacked anything else though.

I need to go sleep and stuff, I'll check my emails and all that malarky tomorrow.

(note to self: change time on blog to GMT)

It's funny when you can fit your whole life into two suitcases.

Only 6 and a half hours until I fly. Eeep.

Deedledeedoo deedledeedeedoo ddeedledeedoo deedledeedeedoodoo....

No, before you start in horror, this is not a crass joke about the death of Richard Whitely. In fact, I choose the tune because it seems quite fitting, seeing as I only have *counts* roughly 24hrs left in the US before I fly back to the UK.
I am not quite sure what to make of this situation. I am currently fluctuating between excitement, depression and denial.

In less transitional news:
I updated Clematis

As I said on the page, updates are going to be slow-er from now on. All I can see ahead of me for the next few months is school work, so I don't think I'll have much time. But I'll see if I can try to squeeze some drawing in somewhere.

It turns out that the past weekend was a rather drawing-y one for me. Because I also drew a fanart for Clipped Wings (click for big)

Clipped Wings is kind of special for me, because I've been reading it for ages (read: over two years). It's, I think, the first good webcomic that I came across (I was delighted to find it, as I had some time to kill before an exam later that day, so I spent the whole morning reading it while playing 'Mad World' from Donnie Darko on loop, in fact I still find it hard to listen to the song without thinking of the webcomic and vice versa).
This picture is of Jonas, the main character, who is a rather unlucky soul. I wanted to try and keep the feel of the comic in the picture, hence the bird and the art deco (I wasn't sure whether to go for art deco or art nouveau, but I went for art deco because it feels more hotel-y to me (and you find loads of it around New York). I cannot realy explain the picture any further, except to say that I chose to draw a cockatoo because they always seem really aggressive to me and I wanted to add an unsettling feeling to the whole thing.

Now! To return to packing!
Deedledeedoo deedledeedeedoo...

No more work for me! (paid work that is)
I have now reverted back to the position of dirty slacker student. Sadly that means that I have no excuse not to do my coursework *shakes fist*

Moving swiftly on, a quiz:

You are Mokona Modoki.
Hyperactivity is your main trait; you constantly
annoy people, and they in turn annoy you.
But, in your circle of friends, you're admired for
your courage and loyalty.
You're quite friendly, always trying to make a
friend out of your enemy.

Which TSUBASA RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm quite happy to get Mokona. You see, Mokona amuses me no end, but also annoys me at the same time. Really though, Mokona is great, with being not only cheerful all the time, even in dire situations, but also for being the most lewd character in the whole manga. No really, both of Mokona=Modoki are filthy; I blame the parents.

So yesterday I met up with Mariya and we did some fun stuff. Firstly, I decided to throw some of my money away in Virgin Records. I bought Silent Alarm by Bloc Party; I really didn't mean to, but it was only $10! There's no way the CD would be that cheap in the UK. I also bought (I think) part of the Tokyo Babylon OVA (it seems there are two stories, and I only got one). I have heard that it's not very good, but I don't care because it's got Subaru in it I want to watch it.

And then we went for lunch at a sushi place (my second time eating sushi!), it must be a really popular place because there was still a queue to get in when there was only 10 minutes before the place shut for lunch. This was in the Village, which is a very nice place. We then followed a man in drag (as you do) for a while, and ended up in a festival. It was cool, there was a good band playing salsa and stuff and also a rubbish band, made up of drag queens, none of whom could sing.

Finally we went to a hookah (I said hookah!) bar. I can honestly say that I've never been to anything like that before. It was cool though, we drank mint tea from an ornate teapot and smoked Rose flavour tobacco. I was a bit worried, seeing as how I've never smoked before, that I might look like a loser and start coughing all over the place, but I didn't so it was all good. Hookahs (I don't know what the plural of hookah would be) are cool, and it's the closest to being Yuuko that I think I'll get, without doing all that opium business. So we took photos!

Tsk! Don't put your shoes on the furniture!

And today I went into Manhattan to do some fruitless clothes shopping. It's strange to think that it may have been my last trip into Manhattan before I go home. It's so soon now! I even dreamt about flying home last night, although for some silly reason due to local laws, we could only fly as far as New Jersey, the horror!

Edit: Added a link to Mariya's website on the links page. My FTP was playing up yesterday, so I couldn't add it before.