Worry vs. Donuts

Before I get started: thanks to everyone who came and said hi on the ANN Blog. You people are truly fantastic. Now, on with our brief little show:

Nihongo Hausu Video 2008: The crowd living in UW-Madison’s Nihongo Hausu - the Japanese-speaking dorm floor where I have the privilege of helping out with language practice and other fun stuff - is quite different from last year’s group. This year’s video reflects that: less zombies, more… people fighting monsters. Highlights include Rebecca doing the best over-the-top “magical girl” impression I’ve ever witnessed, silly lens flare effects, and a song during the closing credits that is NOT safe for work (if you work with Japanese people). Enjoy!

Ms. Game and Watch Monster of the Week: I have no shortage of close friends who do writing for anime, video games, and other related geeky groups. Considering that many of them have started excellent blogs and content sites, I’m going to be featuring as many of those as possible here in the coming weeks (i.e. more after my finals are done). First off: Laura and Stef have launched a lovely site about all things “game” and “video” over here. Our featured article is from Laura, who waxes nostalgic about some kind of killing machine from Silent Hill 3 that looks like a reclined airplane seat made out of human flesh. Wow, aren’t games fun?

Dikembe Mutombo is Funny: This is a bit old, but it’s well worth dusting off again: the players (and coach) of the NBA’s Houston Rockets break out their best stories (and impressions) of one of Basketball’s most legendary international statesmen, Dikembe Mutombo. Remember to practice your finger wag, kids.

And finally, because I think everyone needs to see it: the unprecedented “final round“ of The Great Debate at Anime Detour 2008 between two of the finest debaters the event has ever seen. For those of you who don’t know what the debate is, read below the cut. Otherwise, I’ll see you all after finals are a thing of the past… (Read the article)

Comments(1)

Ah, the internet. That bastion of videos, blogs, and cat memes that enriches our lives in whatever way we see fit… right?

Whether you love or despise the various subcultures that thrive online, I find that sometimes it’s best to just accept a funny piece of content – a photo, a video, a meme – as it is, without worrying about whether someone will judge you by what you find funny online. Besides, if you are friends with people who are into that sort of thing, you probably have a few skeletons in your nerd closet anyway, right?

With that sentiment in mind, here is my very unofficial list of the best content featured (mainly) in the “Senseless” category on this site, as well as other various tidbits from around the web that were missed. (Read the article)

Comments(0)

Links. Oh yes, I know you like them. Unless you are one of the million people waiting for me to get back to you (LP, I’ll mail you soon, really!). Anyways:

Cats Yelling at Each Other - Normally I don’t post this sort of thing, but this video somehow helped me survive the end of the semester, so I have to give it the nod. Nothing erases one’s own woes like cats swearing!

It seems that when the average American sports fan needs a scapegoat, it’s the NBA. Frequent baseless complaints range from “Oh, they’re ruining the game of Basketball!” to “NBA players are all a bunch of violent, drug addicted bums!” While violent acts and drug addiction (the Mitchell Report, anyone?) don’t seem to wound the image of baseball, football and other sports, whenever it happens in the NBA, people love to complain about it. While I could aspire to define the underlying reasons for this image problem (hint: R word, rhymes with mace-ism), I shall instead offer an example of an NBA player with a fabulous weapon at his disposal: wit.

Too Much Rod Benson - Meet Rod Benson, a talented player who is currently working on his skills in the NBA’s Development League in the thrilling hamlet known as… Bismarck, North Dakota. Rod’s blog is not a rehash of over-cliched player lines like “we didn’t have enough intensity” or “we need to move the ball.” Rather, it’s a thoughtful, insightful, and usually hilarious look at the NBA and the life of a player trying to make his way up, peppered with humor related to the life of a player stuck in the middle of nowhere. In this installment, Rod includes a video of Bismarck’s most amazing dancer. Seriously, it’s awesome stuff. On that note, Rod certainly isn’t the only NBA player making a name for himself on the internet, because this is pretty damn funny as well.

Jisatsu no Kaizo Mario (thanks Josh) - Dubbed “Asshole Mario” by a bunch of YouTube dwellers (the actual title means “Suicide Re-creation Mario”), this is a hack of the classic SNES game Super Mario World that some Japanese fan designed to be almost impossible. Whether that is a good thing or not is a decision I leave up to you. Regardless, it’s fun to watch.

Comments(0)

SPECIAL EDITION!
Translated from the Chinese original by the very kawaii Yue, reformatted by me.

This is dedicated to all the hard working students out there. And bunnies. (Read the article)

Comments(75)

More distractions for you! You feel lucky, right? RIGHT? *ahem* Sorry, got a little carried away.

Moyashimon Bacteria Guide - For those of you out there who own one of those stuffed diseases or like a healthy dose of cute with anything scientific (shirozaru, this means you), I encourage you to check out the Bacteria Guide on the webpage for the anime series Moyashimon. The anime, which is apparently about a guy who can see and communicate with bacteria, features a bunch of bacteria that are unbelievably CUTE. The guide is in Japanese, but the pictures are still easy to appreciate. Regardless of how things turn out for the show, you have to love a program that advertises itself with a bunch of bacteria on the main site saying “We make your yogurt!” もやしもん万歳。

Air Man ga Taosenai (thanks Anthony) - Anyone who’s seen my video game collection knows that I’m a total Mega Man geek. Why? I’m not sure… my academic brain tells me that I like the creative stage designs and the challenging game play, but in all honesty, I think that fighting robots with really funny names (TORNADO TONION!) is just one of those odd methods by which I relax. Hell, I even enjoyed the almost universally panned Mega Man X6. ANYWAY, this video - courtesy of my MAS compadre Anthony - sort of sums up the silly part of each Mega Man video game: there’s always some robot that simply CANNOT be killed easily. Although I would argue that Quick Man (speaking of stupid names…) was harder to kill in MM2.

Ripping off M-flo? - That’s what one blogger and YouTube enthusiast is claiming. Since this link requires a lot of explanation, click the link to (Read the article)

Comments(6)

This post is especially directed towards my friends who used to work for a certain antivirus software company in the past.

Symantec Japan has announced its ad campaign for its new PC Security Suite Norton Internet Security 2008. Allow me to introduce you to… (Read the article)

Comments(4)

Because what better way to end a month long silence than some random distractions? Yeah, I thought so.

Natsumi Slash!! - No, not THAT kind of slash. Ladies, please. This is a cute little flash game that involves cute anime characters with swords. Doesn’t that just fill your heart with joy? The directions are all in Japanese, so here’s a primer for those that don’t speak the lingo: 1)Click start 2)When the opposing character says “DOOOON”, hit the space bar. If you don’t, they’ll kick your ass. That’s bad. 3) Don’t press it too soon, or the game will give you a strike. That’s bad too. For those of you who remember the 8-bit Kirby’s Adventure on the NES, this game might bring back memories of the “Quick Draw” mini game.

Korean DHL Commercial - Ah DHL, you have proven to me why Brown cannot “do” anything for me ever again.
Some of you out there still haven’t seen this. I suppose the best intro I can give for this clip is that it made me laugh out loud on a day that I was dealing with academic dread, which in the past I have only been able to cure through administration of ice cream treatments. Clazziquai Project did a parody of the commerical to promote their latest, Love Child of the Century. It’s worth checking out as well, if only for the person in the big blue…stuffed… whatever the hell it is.

Hamsters - You will either find this extremely sad or very hilarious. It’s kind of like the American polictical system represented by hamsters doing an interpretive dance… if you want to read that much into it at least. The rest of you get to watch hamsters in wheels. Life is good.

And finally, for our 日本語を分かっている readers, the best train station name in Japan EVER: (Read the article)

Comments(3)

FOR YOU, our valued customer. A few serious things followed by some silly ones.

Japan: LDP loses Upper House Majority: やった～！It’s about time.

Rant about Maxim: Some of my friends read Maxim magazine. I read it once, and I still wish that I had the 5 minutes of my life that I spent reading it back. This blog is run by Elliot, a guy I knew growing up in Richfield when I was younger/geekier than I am now. Basically, this article sums up all the stuff about Maxim that makes me weep for humanity. I don’t read the other magazines mentioned either, but it’s still a swell rant.

Anime Expo BLAH BLAH BLAH: Trust me, I’m as tired of the whole “OMG ANIME EXPO IS IN TEH GHETTO WE WILL ALL DIE IN A BALL OF FLAME” rants as you are (or should be). While a lot of people like to whine about AX as if there aren’t any other anime conventions in the world (hint: there are!), it makes me smile when someone actually takes the time to use modern technology and make a handy map of the area, complete with hotels, food, and reference points for mass transit. It doesn’t solve any of AX’s problems, but it does make an attempt to make the best of a bad situation while reminding us that anime fans are an intelligent bunch that will find a way to have a good time even if they scheduled AX at the bottom of the ocean.

And that leads us into the geeky stuff!

Rockman Hare Hare Yukai: Instead of the SOS concert, Anime Expo should have simply shown this thing. Haruhi and Megaman fans should watch this now. The rest of you should watch it… eventually.

8-bit Link: I have infinite respect for this person, since she not only did the masquerade, but participated in Anime Improv IN the Link outfit. Considering the small size of the halls at AI last year, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Comments(0)

Been a while since I posted a list of random links for your entertainment. SO HERE YOU GO. 久しぶりの変なリンクのポストです。エンッジョイしてね☆

フラッシュ猫： Put a cat on your webpage. Anywhere. Why the hell not?  ホームページ用のにゃんこです。面白いよ。

Lose the Game (thanks Ben): You just did.　日本語で遊ぼう。

マットのおかげさまで、これを見つけた。For those of you who are fans of the whole Blendtec series, you should enjoy this one. I’m ashamed to say that this made me want a smoothie.

Comments(0)

And now, a rant. I’d like to… hey, where are you going? WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Oh, you have something better to do than read my rant, eh? Yeah right. If you’re on my webpage you were trying to kill time anyway. You know that Fark and all the red vs. blue rants and flamewars within it will still be there when you finish reading this, so sit down and keep reading. See, I’ll even include some funny links at the end for you（日本語のリンクもあるよ！）. Trust me. Grab a cup of coffee/tea/whatever and read.

(Read the article)

Comments(2)