Argh, I've been promising myself I would be better about posting. Not doing so well too far.

Yesterday: went to see the new Star Trek, finally. (I cannot tell you how many geek cred points I have now lost by not going to see it sooner. Heck, I dropped several levels by not seeing it opening night.) It was full of wonderful; I had high expectations and it exceeded them all. Thumbs up.

Today: have hit the six-week point in the egg study, so it was time for the vampires to draw lots of blood. (Wait, six weeks of the summer gone already?) I go back for more bloodletting on Friday. Also more eggs.

Re: Japanese study:

I decided to resubscribe to JapanesePod101.com, premium  level this time. I first checked them out back in 2006, when they were just doing their first podcasts and they hadn't really hit prime time yet. Then I was a basic member for a long time, but never found time to listen to the podcasts, and finally I unsubscribed. The beginning lessons were PAIN-FUL-LY SLO-W; the Lower Intermediate were a little too fast (not that bad, really, but I frustrate easily). Plus, at the time, the Premium tools weren't that great. Well, I've been checking them out again, and discovered that the Beginner Lessons past about #30 aren't that bad, and the Lower Intermediate are at a good level for me now, plus the Premium tools have gotten a lot more useful, so I'm giving them another whirl for the summer. It's helping, I think. I'll probably unsubscribe again when school starts (no time), but it depends on how helpful it is in the meantime.

It was on their forum that I came across a reference to the book I linked in my last post, Shadowing. I've been trying it out for the last two or three days. It's a little early to tell, but I think it's incredibly helpful. I feel like my pronuniciation is already getting better. Plus I find myself repeating after other things as well, like the slower parts of the Jpod podcasts. Well, we'll see. Consistency is key, so I'd like to see if I can keep up with these lessons on a regular basis for the next several weeks.

In other Japanese study news, holy crap, Anki keeps getting better and better. The author is issuing new updates practically weekly, or even faster. It now tracks the cards you have an especially difficult time learning (ie you keep getting them wrong over and over again), which in poetic SRS (spaced repetition system) terminology are known as "leeches," because they suck all the energy and time out of your deck. I have many, many leeches. (Well, maybe 10% of my vocab cards are leech-like, but when you have 7000 to keep up with, that's a lot!)

I already took a nap today... can it possibly be bedtime already??

This is the first day I've had in quite a while to catch my breath. Mainly working on dishes, laundry, opening piled-up mail, and dealing with my overloaded inbox.

Yesterday the students at my university (the classics club) talked me into joining them in NY at the last minute. I didn't end up going to the Met with them (I am a BAD teacher) because we got to NYC late enough that I knew there wouldn't be enough time to hit the bookstores too, and they only wanted me to come along to be social anyway. I did get to show a few of them my favorite Japanese bookstore spots briefly after they were done at the Met, and that was fun, since several of them are interested in manga and/or Japanese. Anyway, I did my usual over-shopping and will have to post soon about my finds.

But, the main point of this post: a colleague in Comp Lit/Film Studies has asked for lists of films that we'd like the library to acquire for our courses. I'd like to teach a course on anime at some point, and when I asked him whether I should submit a list, he thought it was a great idea.

So, drawing on the collective wisdom of the list: if you were going to teach a course on Japanese animation/film studies/comp lit, what would you consider required "reading"? The tricky part is that it's hard to ask the library to acquire series, because of the investment involved. So standalone films should probably come at the top of the list.

( Follow me under the cut if you have thoughts/suggestions... )

Thoughts are welcome!

PS Before anyone suggests it, I would definitely think it would be interesting to include Avatar as an example of a western work that has been deeply influenced by a range of cultural models. But again, it runs into the series-acquisition problem.

I guess I ought to do more research on how courses on Japanese animation are taught elsewhere.

On a lighter note: if you've read the Aeneid, this is just about the funniest thing ever. (Click on the tiny image to make it readable.)

I never thought I'd be copying a link to a video I saw on Facebook... but this is effing brilliant.

The bowing! The hands-over-mouth feminine giggle! The karaoke!

I don't quite get how they made this thing for SNL, and I couldn't catch all the (painfully slowly enunciated) Japanese (what a surprise), but what I could catch sounded spot on. I suspect it would be even funnier if I had ever seen more than 1 1/2 episodes of the American version of the Office.

This meme is really easy if you've only posted like two entries each month.

2008: The Year in Review

January
... I'm home! Got in late last night. I want to do a full trip report, but I don't seem to have the brain cells tonight.
Wow, Japan Trip 2008 feels like a world away already. Can we go back tomorrow please?

February
For the record -- I KNEW it was a bad idea to get into video gaming. ^_~
The beginning of the Phoenix Wright obsession phase. Unfortunately I got bogged down somewhere along the way. I really need to get back and finish games two, three and four before Edgeworth: Prosecutor AWESOME comes out in Japan. *headdesk*

March
It's official: I have now memorized (on a good day, when the moon is in some favorable house or other) all of the elementary school level kanji.
It cannot have escaped anyone's attention that my journal this year was all about the Japanese.

April
Spring has been late coming in New England, but after a few false starts, it is porch weather again!
What, no cat pictures?

May
So I'm forging on through SGA (OK, so I didn't quite make it to season 4 by Sunday).
And then there was the SGA obsession. (Even my hobbies are backlogged right now. I have 8 unwatched SGA eps on my DVR, and the latest fan rumblings aren't exactly encouraging me to jump in and get caught up.)

June
Back from the beach, currently in DC for a few days before going off to grade Latin exams starting this weekend.
My life, she is so predictable.

July
Well, so far this summer is shaping up to be one my most unproductive *ever*. And I can't even blame poison ivy this time. >.<
See above comment.

August
It's been over a month since I posted, and I can't say I've had any real excuse. Moving on.
You know what's really sad? This, the first post of August, was posted on August 30 -- and consisted of a list of bullet points of things I wouldn't be getting around to blogging about.

September
I made a schedule of what I need to learn between now and December 7 to even have a prayer of covering all the stuff that's on JLPT 1.
The All JLPT, All The Time channel.

October
This post was originally written up two years ago (October 2006), but I ended up deciding that it was absurdly navel-gazing and never posted it. But it’s October again, and I’m feeling nostalgic and in a mood to share. So, what the heck.
The manga nostalgia post. I'm pretty sure it says something about my journal productivity this year that one of these meme spots is occupied by an unposted entry from TWO YEARS AGO.

November
After listening to media organizations (read: NPR) for days on end, I went to my polling place armed with Starbucks coffee and my laptop to stand in line for as long as it took.
At least the tanking economy didn't make it into the meme. Oops, there it is.

December
1kyuu is DONE! I felt like the kanji/vocab and grammar sections went pretty well, but the listening section was an utter disaster as expected, so it all boils down to whether I managed to do well enough on the other sections to balance out the 30% I probably got on listening.
In retrospect, this was probably my biggest personal life achievement over the past year. Will be kind of ironic if I end up FAILING it.

Hereby resolved: I resolve to be a better blogger in 2008.

I have a feeling that was one of my resolutions last year, too...

1kyuu is DONE! I felt like the kanji/vocab and grammar sections went pretty well, but the listening section was an utter disaster as expected, so it all boils down to whether I managed to do well enough on the other sections to balance out the 30% I probably got on listening. (Not an exaggeration. I was totally filling out bubbles at random, I had no idea what was going on with most of the dialogues.) We'll see. Anyway, DONE DONE DONE!

Apart from the test, I had a great weekend in NYC. I took the train down mid-day on Saturday, hit my usual bookstores (only found a few new manga, but now that I'm out of test-cramming mode, I can spend more time reading the manga I've already got), and then hooked up with gaminette, who was putting me up for the weekend. We went shopping for yarn for a hat and scarf, and then got more okonomiyaki, takoyaki and yakisoba than the human body can handle before settling down to watch Japanese movies. Sharkskin Man and Peach Pit Girl was so surreal that we both gave up on it after fifteen minutes, but The Taste of Tea was adorable and, bonus, somewhat easy to understand. (I don't know how I could do so poorly on the listening section of the JLPT when I know my listening skills have gotten at least moderately better this year... but let us not dwell.)

On the day of the test, we gorged ourselves on breakfast brunch (lots of eggs and potatoes for me), fortified ourselves with enormous coffees at Starbucks, and got to Columbia an hour before the test. We found a warm spot in the hallway to hang out just under a big and rather garish painting of Vergil, which I felt was a moderately promising omen. After the test (my test didn't finish until after 5 pm), we got together again for dinner at my favorite British pub, and then it was on the train home, so I could get up at 8 am this morning to give my students an exam.

Now the students' exam is over, and I came back home to cocoon and grade for the rest of the day. It is BITTER cold here. I'm under an electric blanket on the sofa, and after a brief period of suspicion, Ptolemy deigned to join me. (He is very aggrieved over all the travelling I've been doing.) Soon, there will be more coffee.

It is so good to be done with the exam so I can relax and study at my own pace. It was definitely worth all the studying, whether I passed or not, since the pressure forced me to cover a lot more material than last year when I blew the exam off. But it's even better to have it OVER with.

Maybe next year I can do my post-exam bulletin from the train with my iPhone like everyone else. =P For now -- back to grading!

After listening to media organizations (read: NPR) for days on end, I went to my polling place armed with Starbucks coffee and my laptop to stand in line for as long as it took. (Note: I have rarely ever seen more than three voters in my polling place at one time.) I was in and out so fast I didn't even have time to sip my coffee. I was sort of disappointed it didn't take longer.

Turnout was definitely on the high side for my sleepy little polling station. I live in what I would describe as a blue collar/middle class suburb with a lot of ethnic minorities (there are three Indian groceries within walking distance of my house). Usually I see a lot of stodgy-looking retirees at the polling place (retired Catholics are big in my area), but I saw a much more diverse crowd today.

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was this excited to vote. I vote with scrupulous civic duty in every election (well, I might have missed a school board vote or two), but I usually go in with a resigned sense of futility that (a) the old white guy I vote for will probably win [fill in my state of residence at the time], but lose the country and (b) even if by some miracle the old white guy I vote for gets in, he won't do much that I actually like -- he just won't do as much permanent damage as the other guy. Democrats these days seem inclined to talk about (Bill) Clinton with wistful tears in their eyes, but honestly, I never liked him that much (and I grew to despise his personal morals). He was smart as heck, did a decent-ish job and presided over a prosperous time; that's about the best I could say for him. I've been voting since the Reagan years, and that's the best I have to show for my representatives in politics.

This time I have just a little hope that my guy might win, and if he does, that I'll be proud and excited to have him in office. I was one of those wishing and hoping that Obama would run for years before he actually did. I know he probably won't be able to do half of what he promises (no politician could), but I'm impressed every time I hear him speak. Like every other Democrat in the country, I hope I'm not just setting myself up for the crushing political disappointment of a lifetime.

Cross your fingers, everyone. And get out there and VOTE.

I just spent the last four hours listening to bumping, crashing, clanking and swearing, while Ptolemy alternately clung to me and hid under the nearest large fixed object. I gave up getting much done on midterm grading after a while, and just tried to do Japanese flashcards.

( Home maintenance moaning cut to spare the innocent )

In other news: am off this weekend for a conference in Chicago. Am behind on work. Am behind on Japanese. Am not packed. *panic*

In other other news: life has been so hectic lately, I never got a chance to post on my Japanese anniversary! Better late than never. (The official anniversary is October 24; see the recent nostalgia-fest for the explanation of that date.)

I started studying Japanese five years ago, in October 2003 (see here and here for previous anniversary posts -- apparently I only got around to commemorating the first and third year).

Right then, statistics ahoy! (Numbers are as of last Saturday the 25th; since I'm keeping a record in excel at the moment, I can do the numbers without fudging.)

Kanji learned: 1947 (JOUYOU KANJI MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!)
Vocab learned: 6335 (only 1844 to go for 1kyuu, God help me...)
JLPT level: taking 1kyuu in (checks) 38 days (HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE)

I really need to get kicking on grammar points. I've technically "learned" all the 2kyuu points (and I think 95% are finally sticking, how many years did that take?), but I've only learned a dozen or so 1kyuu points. Fortunately, there are only about 100 1kyuu items, compared to 200 2kyuu items, and I seem to be learning grammar more easily these days.

I worked extra hard to finish the 常用 kanji in time for my anniversary. I still have a lot of work to do to really consolidate them, but it feels very weird to know that any truly unfamiliar kanji now is in the non-jouyou category. (For those who haven't been following along at home... the jouyou are the approximately 2000, actually 1945, characters designated as required for adult literacy in Japan. Other kanji are in regular use, but newspapers and such are supposed to gloss them, on the assumption that most people might not know how to read them. Of course, the ever-popular wacky place and people names don't count, but let's not discuss those.)

I started reading Asahi (the Japanese newspaper) online the other day, initially filtering it through Rikai.com (which helps gloss unfamiliar words) and weirdly, my reaction was "Huh? This can't be a real newspaper article. It's way too easy." But I went to the real Asahi.com site, and sure enough, it was the real thing. (Is Asahi an easy paper or something?) OK, I was reading the science and literature sections, not the politics and economics sections, but apart from stumbling over all the names, and needing a little help with "fluorescent reagent" and "infrared radiation" (but I knew the kanji!), seriously, the articles were really easy. Not to mention way cool. (Did you know they just discovered the oldest known manuscript of the Genji Monogatari?)

I still read horribly slowly, though. I have a feeling that's going to be a big problem on 1kyuu.

As one of my favorite posters on the Fool used to say at the end of each of her posts -- Onward!

The deed is done -- I signed up for JLPT 1kyuu.

Studying according to my little study schedule (I literally made an excel sheet of where I have to be every day between now and December 7, and update it daily) is going surprisingly well. Of course, it's only been a week. The amounts of kanji/vocab memorization I've set myself are time-consuming and tiring but, so far, manageable. I'll see how I feel in a few weeks.

I guess if I despair between now and Sept 26 (the deadline), I can drop down to 2kyuu and try to ace that level... but challenging myself to the higher level is more fun. (I'm a sick, sick person.)

My current book of choice is the Kanzen Master 1kyuu kanji/vocabulary book. The 2kyuu and kyuu grammar books are also excellent. Kanzen Master has pretty much replaced Unicom as my study guide of choice at this point, though I still consult the Unicom books as well.

Here goes nothing!

I made a schedule of what I need to learn between now and December 7 to even have a prayer of covering all the stuff that's on JLPT 1. The good news: day by day, it's not completely impossible. The bad news: my chances of learning 6 new kanji and 50 new vocab words on any given day, quite good. My chances of doing this every single day between now and December 7? FAIL.

I can but gambare.

I just noticed that they're advertising that there will be limited seating in New York this year (first time I've ever seen that). Uh. Maybe they'll run out of seats before I get my act together to register? (Notice me not running out to register immediately. Deadline is Sept. 26. Stay tuned.)

As always, I remain torn between feeling encouraged at the progress I'm making and in despair over the progress I'm not making.

Today in the car I listened to a CD for the 3kyuu listening test. I understood, er... MOST of it. Almost four years after I supposedly passed 3kyuu. Yay?

My icon doesn't haven enough tears for this post.

Positive achievements for the day: put in the long-delayed textbook order for the new course I'll be teaching in the fall. (I already ordered books for my other courses, but I had to spend more time pondering the new course.) I have a lot more work to do on developing the new course (on the Hellenistic World), but it's a start.

Above-mentioned disappointment: I was supposed to have Dish TV installed today. I was really looking forward to it, as it was going to allow me to have digital service comparable to what I have now from cable, on two TVs, with DVR service available on both, for less than I'm now paying for cable TV. Alas, it turns out that the honking big tree in my front yard is smack in the line of sight from every angle. Unless I get a tree service out to hack off about a third of the tree, I'm not going to be able to get a clear satellite signal. So, no satellite TV for me. I suppose I could try DirectTV and see if they're any better, but at this point I'm too frustrated to go through the whole process of changing services again with yet another company.

I tried calling Comcast to see if they might have a better offer than what I'm getting now. They were singularly unhelpful.

So, since I was most disappointed about the DVR part, I'm looking into Tivo, which involves more of an upfront cost, but would give me more DVR flexibility. Comcast's price for having DVR available in two rooms is just outrageous, and it doesn't have a good option for transferring recorded programming to a computer or ipod, which Tivo does.

Either way, it seems like I'm stuck paying too much for cable TV when my package deal expires next month. Meh. This calls for a drink.

So I was getting ready to post about the fact that I haven't accomplished jack lately, but at least I joined a gym again today, because they were running a cheap monthly membership deal. I desperately need to get back into a regular workout routine.

But now I just need to post in order to share this, which I found via a link on another website (randomly, the Motley Fool, given that the clip has nothing whatsoever to do with finance).

The Website is Down

It starts off slow, but by the end I was wheezing from laughter. Don't give up on it before you get to the Sales Guy's desktop. (Could be considered NSFW, I guess, which is kind of ironic and meta.)

*wipes streaming eyes*

Back from the beach, currently in DC for a few days before going off to grade Latin exams starting this weekend. Considering that this is supposed to be vacation time, I feel like I'm having a surprisingly hard time getting caught up on, well, anything.

Case in point: I just went through my user info page and realized that a whole bunch of people had friended me I-have-no-idea-how-long-ago, mostly through the BL/yaoi/scanlation connection, I think. I did a wholesale friendback thing, so if by any chance anyone's been out there wondering why I was snubbing you, uh, it wasn't on purpose. ^_^;;

I'm also vainly trying to get caught up on LJ, because on top of being at the beach, where I wasn't logging in often enough to keep up with comments, this past weekend was my 20th college reunion, so I had to leave the beach early and drive up to Pennsylvania for the weekend. I had a wonderful time (the reunion deserves a post of its own), but I just realized I missed the entire discussion about registering for Yaoicon. (More thoughts on that forthcoming.)

Meanwhile, having attended my college reunion, I'm trying to lure a bunch of old college friends onto LJ (which is why I was poking around updating my user info page). Does anyone else have those moments where you look back over your journal and wonder if it would make any sense to anyone but the people who are currently reading it? Or is that just me? I don't think I'm a very good blogger.

Projects, oh god, so many projects. I've whittled away at a few of them, hoping to get some more done today. Maybe I should go do that now, because this post seems to be getting less coherent by the moment.

I'm a little distressed by the workout this icon has been getting, lately.

Yikes... over a week at the beach already?

Weather has been absolutely gorgeous, which is why I haven't been online much. As with last year, we signed up for wireless access, but the signal is only decent in two rooms, both of which are on the shady land side -- not really where one wants to be on a beautiful sunny day at the beach. I've been trying to keep up with checking email and reading the flist, but haven't managed more than that.

I should have been updating more often, but every day would pretty much look the same:

Drink coffee.
Sit out in the sun.
Practice kanji.
Sit in the sun and practice kanji while drinking more coffee.
Nap when the sun gets too high.
Practice kanji and/or read a novel (being at the beach always makes me want to reread Michael Crichton thrillers).
Lounge in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. Take a walk if I'm feeling energetic.
Toward dinnertime, have a beer and practice more kanji.
After dinner, watch whatever people feel like watching on DVD. (I managed to get my parents semi-hooked on SGA. Score!)
Stay up too late reading SGA fanfic, if I can manage to hold an internet connection long enough.
Oversleep. Wake up next morning and repeat.

Went swimming yesterday. That'll probably be my one time in the water for this year (I do not come to the beach for the swimming).

I'm doing a lot of kanji practice because it's easy to use flashcards and/or the Nintendo DS outside, even in bright sun. The poor kanji had been neglected for a few weeks during the SGA marathon, so they need the practice. I'm determined to attempt 1kyuu this year, fail or no fail (at least it will be a less abysmal fail than last year would have been).

Until yesterday it was just me and my parents; my older sister and BIL arrived last night. BIL is still recovering from the cancer that was diagnosed last year around this time, but is doing well. Cancer is gone (so far so good), but there are lingering effects from the radiation treatment. My younger sister comes up this evening.

I've moved into the smaller bedroom, which gets better internet access, so perhaps I'll be online more (unless I'm too busy reading SGA fanfic).

Trying to think of other news to report... nope, I got nothing. It's almost time for my nap.

So I'm forging on through SGA (OK, so I didn't quite make it to season 4 by Sunday). I saw McKay and Mrs Miller, and it was awesome, and there was The Tao of Rodney and The Game, and that was even MORE awesome (how much do I love that they're gamers in their spare time!), and then I got to the last disk of season 3, and I'm just going to sit in the corner and bawl for a while. Jeez. You guys couldn't have WARNED me?

Am about to embark on season 4. This had better be really, really slashy to make up for *spoiler*, that's all I'm saying. *glares*

Spring has been late coming in New England, but after a few false starts, it is porch weather again! I've been able to sit out on the porch morning and evening for the last three days. (Porch gets morning sun, so the first stage of porch weather is being able to go out when there's full sun warming it up -- being warm enough in the afternoon/evening when the porch is in full shade is the next step. Right now it's 81 degrees. Woo hoo!

I seriously spend my entire winter waiting for this day to come, so I'm happy right now.

I last waxed lyrical about the porch in this space back in August 2006... post links to some pictures, for the curious.

(No way! The truck with the annoying ice cream music just came down the street. Now I know it's almost summer.)

I'm thinking of making a run to Boston later this afternoon to pick up my latest issue of BeBoy. I'd rather go to New York, but darn it, I don't really have enough on my shopping list to justify the extra expense.

Wow, has it really been almost a MONTH since I posted anything? Posting tonight not because I particularly have anything to say, but because I feel like I have to start somewhere.

Spring break has come and gone at school (I managed to get a little bit caught up on my to-do list, not nearly as much as I wanted), but there's no sign of spring here in New England. We've had a number of sunny days that look pretty from inside, but the temperatures have barely gotten above 40, let alone 50. Cold affects me almost as much as lack of sunlight does, so the ongoing effects of winter depression have made me practically narcoleptic. Seriously, the sleeping is out of control. I can routinely take naps of 3-5 hours every day that I'm not working, and that's on top of 7-10 hours of sleep a night. I lay down on the couch with a book after lunch today and woke up at 5 pm. It's hard to get much done when all my body wants to do is be unconscious.

On the upside, it appears I spend less money when I'm unconscious. The budget is limping along.

Hmm, what else? I've taken to practicing kanji with flashcards during commercials when I watch Law & Order, which has resulted in a major jump in kanji productivity. Up to over 1300 kanji now. (With my Greek flashcards, once upon a time, the TV program of choice was ST:TNG. My language learning moves by television cycles.)

I installed a gutter downspout diverter, and my basement hasn't flooded in nearly a week! Then again, it hasn't rained much this week. My joy may be premature.

I gave up reading BL for Lent. It was an interesting experiment. I found I devoted a bit more time to actual Japanese language study when I didn't have the excuse of just picking up a manga for "practice." I was glad when Easter came though. Maybe I can get back to doing some manga reports now.

Hmm, it's past seven pm... my body announces that this means it's time to wash up the dishes, change into pajamas, and crawl into bed to watch Law & Order (flashcard enhanced). Another productive weekend! /feeble yay.

Aren't you glad I haven't been posting more often?

It's official: I have now memorized (on a good day, when the moon is in some favorable house or other) all of the elementary school level kanji. I plugged the last sixth grade batch into Stackz and learned them over the last few days.

The last batch went startlingly fast, because I gathered up flashcards for all the last of the sixth grade kanji and spent an evening flipping through them while watching TV, and before I knew it, I had most of them down. Truthfully, most of these were kanji I'd been seeing in my reading for ages, and just never got around to officially learning. Still, I think it's the first time I've ever learned 40-odd kanji in one sitting.

Now begins the long, dreadful slog which is Kanji Marked Level 8 (i.e. general use beyond elementary). I've already started listing the next batch to learn... alas, these do not look nearly so familiar as that last sixth grade batch did.

Kanji currently known according to Stackz: 1223. Only 800-odd to go. Hoo boy.

(Let's not talk about how long it's taken me to learn the last 200 or so, OK?)

Hmm, I vowed I was going to be better about posting about things other than Phoenix Wright, but the days keep getting away from me. I really hate February. At least, I'm determined to blame February for the fact that I keep coming home from work and going to bed at seven, because any other explanation just boils down to me being pathetic.

Random thoughts on random topics:

( Boston, Be-Boy and Bukiyou na Silent )

( Phoenix Wright report )

( Kanji? What kanji? )

( I blame Flylady for this )

Now, do I practice kanji flashcards, or play some more Phoenix Wright? Hmmm...

Apparently, I'm on track to do these cases at the rate of one a WEEK instead of one a day. *sob*

Spoiler alert: I have SO MUCH LOVE for the osananajimi storyline of this chapter. Those who haven't played the game (yet), beware! Spoilers lurk within.

( Mitsurugiiiiiii... )

I'm not even sure when I'll get the next one done, because... arrgh. Those of you who have played, remember how annoying the lunch lady and the patrolman who thinks he's a cowboy are? (Well, they annoyed the living heck out of me, anyway.) In Japanese, they're a million times worse. I can't understand a word they're saying, and when I play through the same segment in English to try to figure it out, it's apparent to me from the little I do understand that the English translation is totally changing whatever it was they originally said. *sigh* I'm afraid I'm going to have to play through the whole game with dictionary in hand just to figure out what's going on. Stay tuned.

Day 3 was supposed to be Monday...? Uh, yeah. I finished it last night.

Between the samurai jokes and the fanboy jokes, doing this one in Japanese killed me, but I found a lot of interesting stuff (interesting to me, that is. And maybe, like, 1/2 other person in the universe). So, this is long.

Without further ado!

( PW 1.3: The Warrior of Little Edo )

7:41 PM: The exact moment at which I decide that two and a half straight hours of no one actually knowing who won the Super Tuesday primaries, but talking non-stop about it nevertheless, was ENOUGH. Even if they are moderately smart NPR commentators. (My heart sank when they came on at 7 and said "We'll be with you for the next nine (!!&!) hours.")

It's day 4 of the Phoenix Wright challenge, and already I'm hopelessly behind. I'm only maybe 1/3 of the way through chapter 3. Playing Japanese just takes way too much time. Oh well, I'll take wednesday_10_00's advice, and just work through it at my own pace. I have too many stressful items on my to-do list to be stressing out over a game.

PS THANK YOU to everyone who commented with suggestions for video games to play! I definitely intend to store those suggestions up for when I've played through what I have on hand.

This one took a LOT longer to play through. Trying to do this in Japanese and English is going to be a killer. Still, I will gambare!

( Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Chapter 2 )

In response to the challenge on gyakuten_saiban, I'm going to try to play all the games through in Japanese and English, blogging about the differences as I go. All entries will be public, so people can visit from the PW community if they want.

I'll quote a lot of things in Japanese, but I'll try to transliterate and explain for the benefit of my friends (and maybe outside readers) who don't speak Japanese. If you're a non-Japanese reader keeping up with this, comment once in a while and let me know... otherwise I might get lazy, since it seems silly to explain everything to my friends who are fluent in Japanese but have only played the game in English (or not at all).

I'll try to avoid or spoiler-tag protect significant spoilers, like things that give away the solution to the case or reveal major background spoilers on the characters, but eventually it'll be impossible to avoid talking in detail about spoilery stuff. If you haven't played the game yet, click on cut tags with caution.

To new readers: if you've played past the middle of PW2, do me a favor and protect me from major spoilers for the end of games 2 and 3? I know a lot of spoilers because I can't seem to stay away from fan groups and fan fiction, but I'd rather not know any more than I already do. I'm hoping to get closer to the end of PW3 in the next few weeks, but I play really slowly when I'm going through a game for the first time.

On with the blog!

Today's case is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Chapter 1. ( Er, were these questions supposed to be HARD? )

Well, playing through that one in an evening wasn't too hard... let's see how the next few chapters go!

For the record -- I KNEW it was a bad idea to get into video gaming. ^_~

I mentioned earlier that my obsession with Phoenix Wright (the first real "game," not counting kanji games, that I've enjoyed playing since... Myst? In 1995? And the last one before that was Rogue in 1988, and Zork in 1983...) finally prompted me to do what I've been thinking about doing for a long time, and buy a PS2. Since then I've been feeling the steady pull of all these games I've been ignoring for years because I didn't see any way to dip my foot in without committing more money than I was willing to spend.

So far I only own a Nintendo DS and a PS2, but I'm really tempted to get a GameCube so I can play Zelda. (I just don't see spending the money on a Wii, yet, and they're a pain to find anyway.) ( Is that a giant sucking sound I hear? )

So, gamers on my list, hit me. What games should I be playing (someday, maybe, when I finish Phoenix Wright and FFVII)? I want to play the Zelda games, especially Ocarina of Time. I'd like to give Super Mario Bros another shot (I gave up on it back when I had a Nintendo GBA and couldn't see the non-backlit screen for crap). I'll probably get some old arcade games at some point (ah, Ms. PacMan and Galaga). Generally speaking, I like adventure and puzzle-solving games and dislike first person shooter or fighting games, though I haven't played that many games overall, so who knows? I FEAR the life-sucking power of WoW, so I'm staying away from that for now. I don't think my manga backlog would ever recover if I went down that road.

Recommendations for Japanese-only games also welcome (I have SwapMagic for the PS2, and of course the DS is cross platform). Playing PW in Japanese is really helping my Japanese quite a lot.

Speaking of Phoenix Wright, I'm going to try to tackle the challenge posted on gyakuten_saiban: play through all three Phoenix Wright games between today and 2/19, when the English version of PW4 is due to ship. I don't know how long I can keep it up, but I'm going to try to play in Japanese and English and blog about the differences between the two.