Ahh the 80s... I love most things about that era, being born in it for starters; the toys, the music, the TV, the food, and the movies, oh the movies! Last night, I was lucky enough to catch Channel 5's run of Michael J. Fox's Teen Wolf. Riding on the success of Back to the Future, it's about a high school kid named Scott Howard having to deal with things like school, girls, basketball, and being able to change into a werewolf at will. Full of cheese and everything else which made the 80s so great, I can't remember the last time I had so much fun watching something on Channel 5.
Well, I'm back in Birmingham now for Easter. Allow me to recap on my life's exploits since my last blog entry:
Friday, I forgot to set my alarm so I woke up at 8:30am instead of 7:30am. If I was quick, I'd have been able to get to my statistical maths lecture on time. But I didn't, so I stayed behind instead rehearsing my presentation for marketing. Despite my group's best efforts, we still ran over time by about one minute; my lecturer failed to tell us when we had one minute left, though doing so for other groups. Anybody that knows me well anough will know of my hatred for people with consistency problems. You either do it, or you don't; not when you feel like it or sometimes here and sometimes there. I'll spare you all the rant for now, expect to see it in a different entry soon. Anyway, getting back on track - I was the only person from all of the presentations who didn't read from a script or cue-cards. I'd managed to memorise my lines perfectly so I had free use of my hands during our slot. Suggestive body language and constant eye contact with your audience gets you big marks so take note of this if you ever have to present.
Saturday, I went back to work for the first time since Chrimbo. A busy day, and as always we were understaffed along with a new girl to show the ropes to. I also picked up the latest issue of Edge which once again, was a big disappointment. Why do I continue to buy this publication in the knowledge that it probably will be shit as usual? GamesTM is out fairly soon and offers a more rounded experience in my opinion. While not as articulately written as Edge, it gives off an aura that the staff behind the magazine actually enjoy what they're doing for a living compared to those at Edge who have simply become jaded over the years. Evidence? Resident Evil 4 deserved a 10/10 for changing the genre of survival horror and moving it forward yet they gave it a 9. I know its still early into 2005 yet but what other games can we expect to see worthy of a 10/10 getting a release before the year's end?
Sunday, back at work again. A hectic morning followed by a slow afternoon, my ideal working environment really. I also got a chance to demo the "Cup Man" costume as it has been affectionately named by the staff. I thought it would simply be a plush type of costume like one you'd see at Walt Disney World et al, but no, this was more akin to a giant bouncy castle. You see, it comes with it's own motor which I have to wear as well as a huge portable battery to power the damn thing. It then slowly inflates with me inside it offering very little in the way of maneuverability or sight. I don't know which is more embarassing really, me for having to wear the thing or Caroline for having to be the attendant who goes outside with me...
A slow weekend of anime releases, though all the important ones came out. Over the last few days, it's been an onslaught of Mai-HiME episodes which were backlogged for about a month. This series goes from strength to strength and with only two episodes left to go, I really don't know what to expect anymore since it's managed to pull a few tricks completely by surprise. Natsuki and Shizuru look set to have a final showdown against each other, and being each other's MIPs, this will end as a lose-lose situation for them both. Mai's experienced the loss of a second MIP with Tate yet she still seems to keep going. My theory is that each HiME is not limited to only having one MIP, or indeed changing them as they choose. It was quite clear that Takumi used to be her candidate, but since the feelings for Tate had welled up as of late, it was only natural that she moved on. This is my explanation for why she's still able to command Kagutsuchi. Now that she's lost Tate, I suspect her reconciliations with Mikoto will nominate her to be Mai's next MIP. All good stuff, it's no wonder this series is second highest in terms of TV ratings after Naruto.
Episode 11 of AIR also got a release and with one one more to go, this is another show which I'll be sad to see the ending of. A very emotional installment, this episode was all about Hakuro trying to become Misuzu's mother after realising she had nothing else to live for in her life. For most of the episode, it reeked of "too little, too late" and was really quite heart wrenching to watch. The last few minutes though suggests we may get a happy ending with the final episode titled "air". At times like these, I guess I can only say "gao"...
Fans of Yakitate Japan can rejoice with these two latest .gifs I've made:
