And also... the return of Luna Ray! posted by Kiron on December 31, 2009

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Goodbye to 2009, and goodbye to the smelly old version of the first Luna Ray album. Here, have a version that's 1000x better! It's over at the slightly-revamped website, along with a nifty digital booklet that actually has legible lyrics and credits. You'll notice that "Blue Wing Medley" and "Reach" weren't redone and included in this version. I had my reasons for this; Blue Wing Medley kind of messed with the flow, and most people wouldn't understand it anyway. Reach was just so horrible I couldn't make anything decent of it, so there it went. But hey, this version still kicks a ton of ass, and is a nice prelude to the new music I'm working on... Oh yeah--before I forget, I'll probably see you guys on the new server. Since nothing that happens here at this point will be copied there, there's not that much of a point in posting a lot and 2010-ifying everything. In fact, I'll probably have to redo this post after the move is done. Oh well--see ya!

Currently listening to: The Offspring - I'll Be Waiting · View Comments

Announcing: The Return of the Anthrology posted by Kiron on December 25, 2009

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Alright, so it took a little longer than expected. Who am I kidding? It took a fuckload of time longer than I anticipated. But what matters is that part 1 of my Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) present to you guys is now here: The Definitive Edition of the first Anthrology novel, The Anthro Revolution.

In the summer of 2008, I lost interest in writing the still-forthcoming The New Empire, simply because I disliked too much of the existing work to keep writing inside the frame it had made. Some time later, the SoniQuest was halted with the temporary closure of the 3xS forums. Eventually, I decided I owed it to readers to give the Anthrology a better conclusion. I relayed this idea to Jonny, who advised simply to "make it an epic ending."

But to do that, I'd have to make changes to what was already there. And so I got to work: the existing three Anthrology books would all be released in new Definitive Editions, which would improve and tighten up everything from the plot to the dialogue style to the amount of line breaks used.

And now, The Anthro Revolution is finished. The next two novels are currently being worked on and are scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2010. And after that... it's time for Battleship Six, baby.

Of course, that's not all. There's also a brand new site design; a little more minimalistic than previous incarnations, but a lot more efficient and speedy.

So what are you waiting for? Click here to visit the brand new Anthrology website.

(addendum to cover my ass: I reserve the right for there to be typos and other mistakes, laughably reducing the credibility of the "definitive" moniker)

Currently listening to: Luna Ray - In Fear · View Comments

'Sup posted by Kiron on November 30, 2009

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Today's Daily Cover will be uploaded tomorrow morning due to a little glitch beyond my control.

Better news: We're lookin' at two big projects coming out in December.

Currently listening to: Nine Inch Nails - Piggy · View Comments

DC: Kryptonite posted by Kiron on November 27, 2009

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'Sup guys? Here's today's cover. It has superhuman might.

Kryptonite

YEEEEAAAAAHHHH

Currently listening to: Kiron P. - Kryptonite (3 Doors Down cover) · View Comments

New project: Daily Covers posted by Kiron on November 26, 2009

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This wasn't planned for the December Extravaganza, but it's a pretty cool idea I'd like to share with you. It can be summed up in three points:

1) Every weekday I will learn a song, record it - all instruments and vocals, mix it and upload it for your enjoyment.
2) In the event that I miss a date due to my own stupidity, I have a buffer of five songs that were done in the same style before I definitively decided to do this project.
3) If the buffer runs out, I must cover Never Gonna Give You Up as punishment.

Of course, the recordings sound pretty rough and the amount of mistakes ranges from "some" to "WHYYYYYYY", but they're still generally a fun listen- so here's the first one, based on the first track off my favourite 2009 album, Little Boots' Hands:

New In Town

Enjoy!

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Why hello there posted by Kiron on October 27, 2009

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It felt fitting that I make my first (and probably only) October post on my birthday! The 'real' party isn't until Saturday, but all the family members came by today with most of this year's haul. I'll have a full list up later.

Lately I've been feeling pretty drained. I'm working on a ton of different stuff but most of it wasn't actually getting anywhere. Especially writing new lyrics. Then, just yesterday, I went on this huge rant to Jonny about how everything sucks, which he agreed on. After I was done I lamented to DoubleGJ (remember him? go download his band Two Games Joined's demo EP) that I just said a lot of stuff, and I wish I could've said it in lyrical form. Then I had a huge flow of words come to mind like a sudden attack of vomiting, except the vomit was words and they were awesome.
In news that might actually interests you, I will have at least one productive achievement ready for you to enjoy by the end of the year. I'd like to say December, since that's when the new JP is launching and all that. Then again, I'd also like for at least three of my projects to be ready for release by then, but knowing my luck that's never gonna happen.

Currently listening to: Weezer - (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To · View Comments

So posted by Kiron on September 18, 2009

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My new job is pretty lame but at least I'm making money and I don't need to invest a lot of time in it. Also working on a bunch of new songs; might release some stuff at the end of the month.

Currently listening to: Doe Maar - De Bom · View Comments

Tweetification posted by Kiron on September 11, 2009

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Told old people at a retirement home I'm Batman. Lifelong ambition fulfilled.

Currently listening to: Muse - United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage) · View Comments

New features! posted by Kiron on September 7, 2009

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First of all, something I've wanted to do for a while but never got around to implementing. I've already posted about this on the main page, so I'll just copy-paste it here:

"On /blog/, you will now see a shiny new orange button. Click it to get to the brand new RSS feed! So what can you do with this? In Firefox, you'll get a button that'll help you put the feed into your bookmarks, so you can easily see when the blog updates. I'm not sure about other browsers, but I guess something similar happens.

To go along with this, the Add button for Your List has been polished up and downsized to fit with its new friend.

RSS support will be added to other parts of the site as I go along. And I'm not just talking about /poetry/..."

Moreover, the side panel to your left now also has an easy way to track the newest posts. And if all goes to plan, you'll need it because Jonny ain't the only one who'll be shaking things up for the end of the year...

Currently listening to: The Beatles - Hello Goodbye · View Comments

Stretching my legs posted by Kiron on September 7, 2009

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Hey, what's up, you guys? I'm doing some writing warm-ups, but I'm wondering where my weak points in writing are. What do you guys think of my action scenes? Do they read well? I mean, I like 'em, but that's because I know exactly how I envision them. It's like forgetting to explain a plot point because you already know about it yourself (something I've most likely already done at least once.) But what do you guys think?

Currently listening to: Lemon Demon - White Bread Boyfriend · View Comments

Progressive rock: a self-indulgent analysis courtesy of your friendly neighbourhood time-waster posted by Kiron on September 5, 2009

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Opeth's "Windowpane" is a pretty incredible song. It's progressive rock, and appropriately clocks in at 7 minutes and 44 seconds, but unlike most songs of its genre, it seems entirely effortless. In fact, the rest of the Damnation album does likewise, but this is the longest track (the shortest being just over four minutes.)

With most progressive rock, it seems like the songs are either really long just for the sake of it, or over-complicated concept albums that only really make sense if you have an hour or more to waste to sit down and really pay attention- which, most of the time, isn't what I'm looking for in music.

As such, it has been one of my ongoing ambitions in songwriting to pen a song with such complicated beauty as "Windowpane" without losing the flow that carries the song in a way that barely makes you realise the length exceeds that of the average radio single.

To completely recap my progress on this front would undoubtedly result in a long-winded musical autobiography, so I'll boil it down to two major milestones. My longest released song (although that says nothing; I've barely released maybe a fifth of my work) is titled "In Fear", and has the duration of 5 minutes and 40 seconds. However, well over half of this is a long-winded intro, followed by two minutes of mindless shredding (which, to add insult to injury, isn't even performed with real guitars on the released version.) In other words, that isn't even remotely close to my goal.

The other milestone is a recent song called "Gridlock," which is five minutes long. Although its riffs are endlessly more sophisticated than the former, it still relies on a long build-up before getting to the meat of the song, after which a fairly conventional verse-chorus-verse-chorus takes place, followed by a short guitar solo, and then the end.

To return to my prime example, "Windowpane" surprisingly adheres to a standard pop structure itself for most of its run. Until the bridge section, the only irregularity is the guitar solo placed directly after the first verse; the instrumental intro riff acting as a chorus, it then goes into another verse, followed by the bridge. After that, we get an extended breakdown, followed by a repetition of the main riff, another verse, and then the end.

So what is it that makes this song so special? From the moment it starts, before anything particularly interesting even seems to happen on a technical level, the song grabs you by the arm and pulls you along. The real genius lies in the song's riffs, on top of which all the other odds and ends are built. There's no particular rhyme or reason to why these riffs are just so damn cool, and by extension, no true formula to writing a song this good.

Enfin, writing a good song is mostly luck.

Currently listening to: Kiron Pubben - Thursdays (Demo 2) (Mix C) · View Comments

September/October music releases posted by Kiron on August 17, 2009

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Just a personal list of stuff to check out in the coming two months. There's so much I honestly can't keep track. Also these are European dates, so if you're in the US, shift all these dates to the Tuesday after.

September 11: Muse - The Resistance
September 11: Megadeth - Endgame
September 18: Pearl Jam - Backspacer
September 25: AFI - Crash Love
September 25: Paramore - Brand New Eyes
October 23: Weezer - TBA

Currently listening to: Weezer - (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To · View Comments

Stuff is happening posted by Kiron on August 15, 2009

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Recording some new metal-influenced songs. I don't want to brag, but holy shit, this shit is fucking awesome.

BTW, might bring back the 3xS forums at JP after the Massive Update?.

Currently listening to: Synshine - Lullaby from the Inferno · View Comments

Poetry posted by Kiron on August 9, 2009

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I have a pretty big backlog of poetry to upload, even without the stuff I'm holding back because I'm using it soon. As such, I'll be doing semi-frequent uploads until I've gotten all of it up. This week, we have "What We Are," an old one I recently found in a notebook. It's not all that great, but I thought I'd get the bad out of the way first.

Currently listening to: Daizenshuu EX Podcast #185 · View Comments

Zur?ck posted by Kiron on August 3, 2009

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Just got back from Wacken Open Air. It was fucking awesome, but the bus ride home stunk because there was like a two-hour traffic jam. Basically, we watched Life of Brian and Monty Python and the Holy Grail before we got to the first stop, and I had to fucking piss. Seriously, I was about to explode, and the toilet in the fucking bus was fucking broken. Fuck.

So yeah, right now I'm recovering and trying to figure out what the bands I saw were actually called so I can get some of their stuff. They also had a huge "Metal Market" with a shitload of merch and CDs, the latter of which were often a lot cheaper than you can normally get them. I'm a bit pissed though, because my Vitalogy disc is scratched and it was still sealed when I bought it.

Currently listening to: Bad Religion - American Jesus · View Comments

Oh fuck! posted by Kiron on July 16, 2009

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http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1435

Is that right, Mr. Brownback... or should I say, Tolian Sauran?

Currently listening to: La Roux - Bulletproof · View Comments

I should get Twitter posted by Kiron on July 14, 2009

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Voice is sorta shot. Still got into a band though. Worried about demonstration tomorrow; Heart-Shaped Box is really hard to sing.

Currently listening to: DatA - One In A Million · View Comments

Setlist posted by Kiron on July 12, 2009

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Currently listening to: ambient tv noise · View Comments

Practice posted by Kiron on July 9, 2009

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Practiced with Dwight and Boris yesterday. Hammered out most of the songs in about four hours. Waiting for Dwight right now because he said he'd help us build stuff for the party

Currently listening to: · View Comments

I feel a little ill posted by Kiron on July 6, 2009

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In practising for this show, I've noticed that my stamina is absolutely shitty. Also the band I was supposed to audition for today (did I mention that before?) had to cancel, which makes this day considerably less awesome. I'm generally a bit down because of this damn heat and because I forgot about someone's birthday party yesterday. I was in one of my irrational moods so I didn't pick up the phone when she called either. I feel pretty crappy about that. Meh.

Currently listening to: a super secret new song I just wrote · View Comments

They ran out of envelopes and it did not compute posted by Kiron on July 2, 2009

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Coherent titles are for losers!

Anyway, Jonny says the BW demo was a "huge hit" and that my music was "awesome", so as far as that goes, I'm pretty satisfied. On the other hand, I spent hours trying to fix my corrupt registry only to have to reinstall XP anyway in the end.

I ordered a CD online, but apparently they ran out of normal envelopes because it came in this huge cardboard contraption that barely fit in the mailbox.

I'm working on a new live show. It was supposed to be solo, but my brother Boris and my friend Dwight (who were also members of my last "real" band) are practising to play with me on some of the songs. The show, which will take place on July 11 as part of mine and Dwight's graduation party, will consist of some old stuff, a whole slew of new, never before performed stuff and a few covers. I hope someone will make some recordings.

Currently listening to: Emilie Autumn - Chambermaid · View Comments

Whoo posted by Kiron on July 1, 2009

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The Blue Wing demo premieres at the portfolio show thing at Jonny's school today- as you may know, I did all the music and sound effects for the game. I'm pretty psyched.

Currently listening to: Little Boots - New In Town · View Comments

Graduated posted by Kiron on June 18, 2009

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Currently listening to: ??? · View Comments

So what's up? posted by Kiron on June 15, 2009

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The most annoying fucking week ever is what's up. Can't go five minutes without getting yelled at to do chores and/or fill in a job application. I don't want a fucking job yet. These are supposed to be the summer holidays goddammit.
I'm also quite sure that Jonny has gone insane. I think I'll avoid him for now.

Oh yeah, I find out whether or not I'll graduate on Thursday. Wish me luck!

Currently listening to: The Offspring - Smash · View Comments

Oh man posted by Kiron on May 27, 2009

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I'm up to something really cool here, and it ain't a new Luna Ray album. Let's just hope I don't lose interest before I'm done.

Currently listening to: some Final Fantasy song is stuck in my head but I don't know what it's called · View Comments

Show videos posted by Kiron on April 22, 2009

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http://www.youtube.com/user/TochMaarNetOpTijd

Currently listening to: Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds · View Comments

Oh shi- posted by Kiron on April 17, 2009

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Approximately twelve hours 'til soundcheck, plus another eight 'til the actual show.

One thing's for certain: we're on time.

Currently listening to: A Wilhelm Scream - I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz · View Comments

Holy shit posted by Kiron on April 11, 2009

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At first I thought the sky was clear, but then I remembered the sun was supposed to be up and it's just one gigantic solid mass of clouds!

Currently listening to: · View Comments

Pinkpop 2008: A long long long overdue review, part 1 posted by Kiron on April 10, 2009

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Just a month-and-a-half or so to go before Pinkpop 2009. Since I always promise to review these damn festivals but never actually do so, let's take the opportunity to look back at last year's Pinkpop.

The festival started on a Friday and ended on a Sunday, in contrast to the usual Saturday to Monday with Monday being part of the Pentecost weekend, etc. etc. This was because Pentecost was particularly early in 2008, and thus putting Pinkpop there would have put it outside of the festival season.

My brother was dropped off at the festival camping at about 4 AM so we'd get a decent spot. I skipped German class to get there in time, but my tent was still in a ditch which was annoying.
We weren't in a particular hurry to get there; traditionally, the band that wins the "Nu of Nooit"-contest ("Now or Never") opens the festival, and they're usually pretty generic and fall apart soon after. This year, there were two openers; the 3FM-stage and the tent-stage were used, the latter for what I perceived as a generic screamo-band. After watching the last two songs of the opening band, things were REALLY getting underway; time for Flogging Molly! I emerged from the pit 30 minutes later drenched in beer, but fuck if it wasn't awesome.
I was a bit disappointed that the video screens on the side of the stage weren't being used, but as the day progressed, it became obvious that Metallica were responsible for all these stupid little restrictions like not allowing other bands to use the screens.
Anyway, after Flogging Molly, we decided to just hang around for a bit; Jonathan Davis was playing on the tent-stage, but we didn't like him, so we walked over to the 3FM-stage to be confronted with a creepy clown in a suit. Apparently, this was a nu-metal band from Norway called Animal Alpha; as far as I know, nobody had any idea who the hell they were, and they were only there because Chris Cornell cancelled his tour. After being amused by the creepy clown for a while, my brother decided to go over to the tent stage and wait for Porcupine Tree. Meanwhile, my sister and I went over to the main stage for Incubus, who were goddamn awesome. There were these small fences some way around the main stage, but they were barely a restriction; we stood just outside of them so we wouldn't get annoyed by the camping Metallica fans, but it didn't feel like we were 'outside' at all. At any rate, I jumped along to the Incubus songs, most of which I knew, and afterwards we also had a new Incubus fan in the family. Awesome.
After this, we decided to grab a bite to eat. We could still catch a bit of Alter Bridge on the 3FM-stage from where we were standing- they were okay. By the time they were done, the sun was nearly down. Of course, Metallica took three centuries to actually get on stage. When they actually did, I was already too fed up with their annoying fans, so I sat on the stairs and watched from afar, since, y'know, they were the only ones who could use the damn video screens. I'll admit, I only like two Metallica albums; Master of Puppets and Metallica, informally known as "The Black Album." For most of the set, they bored the hell out of me with overly long songs that weren't very exciting, and even "Master of Puppets" didn't get much energy flowing. The only part that got to me was "Nothing Else Matters", since even the people who hated Metallica were singing along.
In the end, Metallica played an annoying, overly-long set and it seemed they didn't want to leave. As a result, it felt like a good portion of their show had James Hetfield saying "Okay, here's ONE MORE SONG!" In the end, we finally went back to the tents- despite the rather underwhelming finale, we'd had enough fun. Besides, the really cool stuff was on the other two days.
Oh yeah, I also ran into my German teacher. Oops!

(Review of Saturday and Sunday later...)

Currently listening to: · View Comments

We now continue with your regularly scheduled program already in progress posted by Kiron on April 2, 2009

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I apologise for not making April Fools such an epic grandiose acid trip as we've done in the past years, but you know... this damn economy!

Oh well, the blog post was funny anyway.

Currently listening to: In This Moment - The Great Divide · View Comments

I have an announcement to make posted by Kiron on April 1, 2009

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I've been waiting for the right time to announce this, but it's finally ready:

The new Anthrology book will be titled The Spiralling Clouds of Iocus, and will be released on May 3th to commemorate the beginning of the Anthrology. It will be the most radical Anthrology book yet! I'm in a hurry, so I can't give you all the details now, but all your favourite characters like Thunder, Jack and Dawn will return!

More info will follow later, but right now I have to finish this WoW raid.

Currently listening to: My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade · View Comments

Hmm posted by Kiron on March 25, 2009

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I'm having another one of my mood swings where it feels like my anger meter is empty after being a dick to everyone for two days.

And as such, what follows is a period of being productive (but not necessarily useful.) So now that the new version of RedDB works (remind me not to test anything for Jonny again) I'm screwing around with the sidebar a bit. Maybe I'll bring back my album top 5. I've also been thinking of adding some buttons to friends' pages there, but the animation might kill the whole "tranquility" thing on this blog. What do you guys think?

Currently listening to: theSTART - Like Days · View Comments

Al-fuckin-right posted by Kiron on March 20, 2009

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Gonna practise with friends for an acoustic little show in April tomorrow. I'm excited. I'll let you know how it goes.

I also wrote some cool new lyrics, which I'll upload later.

Currently listening to: Green Day - King for a Day · View Comments

Dragon Ball kicks ass posted by Kiron on March 6, 2009

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And when I say Dragon Ball kicks ass, I'm talking about the first show- you know, the one before Z. I wish it aired on TV here.

Actually, scratch that, because it'd be the UK dub and we'd have this intro. *shudders*

Currently listening to: the PROPER english DB theme · View Comments

Hmm posted by Kiron on March 4, 2009

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I'd planned a surprise for you guys, which was the scanning of some inane comics I did around eighth grade. Unfortunately, I can't find them, and you can't revel in their obnoxious randomness. So I'll go ahead and tell you guys what it really is I'm up to. I'm making a gigantic index of every character I have ever made, with cross-references and appendixes and whatnot. It's going to be huge, but it'll give me a nice ordered pile of characters so I don't keep losing track- I've already caught myself reusing names twice now, so yeah.

Speaking of comics and old stuff, I've been brushing up on my drawing skills, and holy shit some of my old character designs look pretty cool when drawn like this. It's still not quite right though, so I'm not going to scan anything just yet. But when that day comes (and it WILL come), prepare to be flooded by drawings.

P.S. Emilie Autumn is haaaawt.

Currently listening to: Emilie Autumn - Swallow · View Comments

Super-huge comeback post: School, Street Fighter, neighbourhood fires and VIZBIG posted by Kiron on February 25, 2009

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HI GUYS I'M BACK

Seriously though, it's about fucking time I posted here more. I still haven't found out what the hell is up with all those spambots though.

At any rate, most of my immediate troubles at school have been taken care of. Right now, all I need to do is wait for feedback on an assignment and wait until we get specified what we need to know for exams. I like that.

So... Street Fighter IV. Holy shit, this game is HARD. Capcom isn't fucking around here, they're going straight for the old-school difficulty. I'm having trouble beating it on the easiest level, and I'm not an entirely terrible SF player. Plus, Zangief's throw-spamming makes about as much sense as not being able to jump on stairs in a certain platforming series.
Seth is really the lamest excuse for a boss ever, though. Stealing other people's moves? GEE THAT SURE IS ORIGINAL. Oh well. Awesome game otherwise, and it even gave me a reason to learn to play as Bison (though admittedly, beating it as him unlocks Rose, who sucks ass.)

Apparently my neighbours' roof was on fire last night. I have no idea what, who, or why, but I expect I'll hear about it from my mother in-between rants about how I go to sleep way too late and how my room is so messy that it would supposedly be impossible to escape if our own house was on fire.
Which is fucking bullshit, unless you want me to get rid of the walls or something.

Last but not least, I found out that bol.com now stocks manga, so I ordered volume 1 of Rozen Maiden and No Need for Tenchi! (the latter better known as its anime counterpart which doesn't translate the name, Tenchi Muyo!)
Despite all the negative things I heard about Tokyopop, the translation of Rozen Maiden seemed pretty dead-on, judging from the anime. I haven't seen any obvious Americanization (although we don't get to the "onii" until volume 2, probably), the dialogue felt natural and the honorifics were still in place.
As for Tenchi, the fact that it was localised by Viz should say enough. They usually handle their IP pretty much perfectly, and this seems to be no exception. Although I can't say if the translation is accurate (the manga takes place after the first part of the anime, which I've only seen one episode of because the voices annoyed the fuck out of me), I haven't heard any complaints from the internets, so I guess that means it's good. The cover art is pretty ugly though... I mean, a gradient for the background? Ugh.

I also got the first volume of the "VIZBIG" edition of Dragon Ball Z, which combines three volumes from the original release into one. Contrary to what people tell me, it's not that heavy. (Wow, I'm really abusing the italics today.) I haven't read it properly yet, but the print quality looks very good; better than the other two manga I got. It also includes the colour pages from the original Japanese releases, whereas Viz usually prints them in greyscale.
As for the translation, I can't tell yet until I really read it. Some people complained about the dialogue in early Viz releases, but the back of the book claims it was revised, so we'll see.
The original Japanese manga had no seperation between "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z"; this first happened with the anime, and Viz decided to carry it into their manga translation, since a lot of people are more familiar with the Z portion. The beginning of the volume includes a quick cast of characters summary, which I think was added by Viz themselves. The only other monkeying they've done with the actual content is that the first volume included here (DBZ vol. 1, or DB vol. 17 in the original) includes the arrival of Raditz to keep the whole "Z" thing in order, even though it was originally part of DB vol. 16. I don't mind this especially; it makes more sense from a story perspective, and it means I get more content in one purchase for the same price! Yay.

So yeah, I think I'm actually gonna read it now. See ya!

Currently listening to: Nothing · View Comments