UPDATE!

Test 1: The Mythological God Test

Test 1: The Mythological God Test

Coyote Indeed, you are 83% erudite, 70% sensual, 54% martial, and 66% saturnine.

Coyote was an important being to several Native American tribes. He was one of those tricksters that are found in several world mythologies, in fact very close in temperament and deed to Loki of the Norse pantheon. Eternally scavenging for food, he represents the most basic instincts, but in other narratives, he is also the father of the Indian people and a potent conductor of spiritual forces in the form of sacred dreams. In the “Myth of the Stars and the Moon” he is shown as a wise counsellor even. There are more stories about him than stars in the sky. For example, did you hear the one about the “Spying Moon”? It seems that someone had pinched the moon, and Coyote offered to stand in as replacement. Everyone agreed that he made a fine moon, but from his elevated position Coyote could see everything that was going on. Being of an irritating disposition, he couldn't resist blowing the whistle on friends and enemies alike. "Hey, look what Badger is doing behind his tepee!" Pretty soon everyone was sick of his snooping and voted him out of the sky. But nothing can keep Coyote down for long. Being an old show-off, he loves to impress the girls by juggling his eyeballs. One day he threw one so high it got stuck in the sky and became the star Arcturus. So even now he's keeping an eye on us all.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 75% on erudite You scored higher than 34% on sensual You scored higher than 38% on martial You scored higher than 73% on saturnine

Link: The Mythological God Test written by Nitsuki on OkCupid Free Online Dating

I quite like that and I do act like a prankster. Like Coyote in several stories, I don't usually have anything in particular to teach, but I am quick to come up with an excuse-turned-lesson whenever I'm caught in my mischief. For those that might disagree with me being a prankster, I will point out that I am a little more sophisticated in my "pranks" than outright slapstick.

WWII Event update.

People

So, the event has FINALLY come to an end. To be honest, it was not as successful as it should have been. I'm telling you, say to students: "Hey! Free movies!" and they all go "Yay!" and then you tell them: "TWO WEEKS OF FREE MOVIES!" and they will all go "EVEN BETTER! WHEN?! WHAT TIME?!" and you say, "At 6:30! And guess what! Some lecturers are going to
say interesting stuff about those movies!"

Dead silence.

And they will mutter: "Oh, lecturers, eh? That's interesting. Yes. Sure I'll be there..." And they will not.

I cannot stress just what so many people that had promised to go and didn't actually missed. All the talks were extremely interesting, the movies were even MORE interesting due to that, the context was great and they missed it. Well, boo-hoo. It is their loss. Personally, and I think I speak for EVERYONE that did go, it was worth every minute of it. It was worth
losing sleep over it, working during Easter on it and going through the hardships and situations that we went through.

Organization

Unless you have organized an event like this you probably don't have an idea of what we went through or the fights we got into for several reasons. Running for four hours from office to office, finding out that this one office couldn't arrange the details for this other office, that we need signatures, organizing with campus security (one of the guards actually hates us! More on that later...) then making the posters, getting them stolen by certain individuals, putting more up, making and printing the handouts, giving them to lecturers all over campus, organizing timing and dates with the ones that were going to give a talk... well, the list carries on.

First Week

Wednesday: Hiroshima Mon Amour

We had a talk with Prof. Michael Wit. Sadly, due to the efforts of the Dreadful Three and their cohorts I ended up missing it, but I heard the talk was VERY interesting, which made me hate the pack of Hyenas even MORE. I really wanted to hear the talk and watch the film, but I guess
it was too much to ask to have people respect the obvious efforts of others. Sigh.

Thursday: Bridge over the River Kwai

This British film I missed for other reasons. On Thursday I ended up attending an MA (Master in Art) lecture about translation in children's books. It was a good lecture and I really enjoyed it, then I had my normal Writing for Children lecture, which finishes at 6 and THEN I went
to work with the Literature Department in their own event called "Writers at Roehampton." It is a very cool event, giving those interested a chance to talk with authors of several genres, from Poetry to Fiction.

I heard that the film was good though and I hope to watch it sometime soon.

Friday Party

Friday we had a mid-event party. It had a lot of little details; it had an exposition of memorabilia, articles and books from WWII, it had a Jazz Band playing 40s music, Posters from the war, some people dressed up 40s style, sushi (we ARE the Japan Culture Society) and drinks.

Of course, I dressed up... and somehow ended dancing with Erin! O_O

All in all it was a great night, here's a picture of JCS and the Jazz Band, followed by one of JCS plus an inconvenience.

Saturday we were supposed to show "Europa Europa" a German film, but, who can bother University Students with Culture? ¬_¬

Break! Another Test!

What Azumanga Daioh Character Are You?


Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

Second Week...

On Monday, I met with Dr. William Gallois, from the History Department.

After a month and a half of chatting by email with him to get a date, time and film, we managed to meet in person at last. He gave a talk about France during WWII and the facts and myths about "La Resistance". I had always kept the epic-romantic image of the freedom fighters in mind and was quite surprised when I learnt how different things had been. The film was "L'Armée des ombres" or "Army of Shadows" and dealt with the role of a group of members of the French Resistance. Truth to be told, I wouldn't have enjoyed this film as much as I did without the talk. I am glad I got to hear it.

Tuesday we were supposed to show "Saving Private Ryan" but lack of Student Participation weighed heavily in the film. ¬_¬

Wednesday we had another very interesting talk. This one on "The Harp of Burma" a Japanese film about a group of Japanese soldiers at the end of the war. The talk was given by a guy named Josh. Josh is from Burma and has been known to attend several JCS events in the past and I am very glad he talked about it. I was very impressed with what he said and what he wrote. I quote:


"In my opinion, it doesn't matter whether or not this small group of Japanese soldiers portrayed in the film, were the reflections of what the Japanese soldiers were like at the time. After all, things we hear about the past can be very stereo-typed and can undermine the good side of the individual human beings. The past is not that clear-cut, or people involved in the past could never be understood on the ground of innocent vs. guilty, good vs. evil, and friends vs. enemy, and humanity vs. brutality. Certainly, when it comes to war, all of us were the victims of the war -whether we se each other as guilty or innocent, inhumane or kind, powerful or powerless, and whether patriotic or unattached to certain ideologies."

If ANYONE, after hearing him talk, still thought that the event had been a waste of time I would just have laughed. This is what the event was all about. As long as I can sit back and listen to a fellow student say something so insightful I can say: Success! And I sincerely PITY those who missed both the film and the talk. Thanks, Josh!

Thursday, Stacy Abbot, a lecturer from the Film Department talked about Schindler's List. Such a movie! Her talk about the context gave some insight into some aspects I didn't know about, like the Holocaust Museum opening on the same month the movie was first shown. Obviously, I don't need to say much about this film or how good it is.

And finally, Friday!

We showed "Hotaru no Haka" and I still think Shun, you should've let me say something at the beginning, but, oh well. If you haven't seen "Graveyard of the Fireflies" do so. Now. One of the best films from studio Ghibli, a film by Isao Takahata based on a true story. You cannot get more anti-war than this.

And with that, this week ended... overall a success, even if we didn't get hundreds of interested people. But I guess it is too much to expect interested from a group that generally doesn't even have interest in their own careers. But for those that DID attend... THANK YOU!

-Nya!

The Dreadfull Three

TROLLS DO EXIST! THEY ARE AMONG US!

Some of you might remember that I was/am doing a World War II themed event with JCS. Well, we started it last Wednesday, and have had mixed results so far. Let me tell you the plan as it was before going on any further.

Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday last week; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, we are showing movies from different countries: Japan, Germany, Britain, US and France. On Four of those we have University Lecturers introducing the films: Hiroshima Mon Amour (France/Japan); The Harp of Burma (Japan); Schindler's List (US) and L'Armée des ombres (France). Then, on Friday, we were having a 40s style party with a few veterans, an exposition (arranged by us), the University's Jazz Band, a Big Band and a Costume Contest (Arranged by the owner of the bar and provided there were enough people dressed up).

We planned this thing for 9 months: We got money from the International Centre, money from RSU (Roehampton Student Union), two different posters (A4 size) and a shitload of handouts, we decided that due to expenses (entrance to the party was free) we would sell sake, plum wine and sushi, we got hold of Montefiore Hall (which required six signatures from different individuals of the university, daily checkups and running around campus for HOURS.

Everything started well enough, even if a little tight for such a thing, immediately after Easter, but hopes were high (in some cases). We got a LOT of help from ALL lecturers we met. Everyone thought it was a great idea and more than 30 lecturers were willing to and DID give out our handouts in their respective lectures, more than one commenting on the choice of movies and indicating interest in listening to what their fellow lecturers would have to
say about them. We put up the posters... and that's where the problems began.

Let me tell you about a certain group of individuals. I won't mention any names, because it's rude to point, but the name of their group starts with "International" and ends with "Society". This group of hooligans have a history with us. You see, in their rather colourful history they managed to get a debt of £200 with the RSU, loose the rest of their members and became a "Society" in name and a "Social Club" in practice. A Social Club consisting of at least three
of the MOST OBNOXIOUS, ANNOYING, SELF-CENTRED, PETTY LITTLE BITCHES I HAVE EVER MET. And those of you that have known me for a long time know that I have met my fair share of idiots. To be fair though, I know that there is a nice French girl that hangs with them (Goddess only knows why) that is not like them.

Pearls among swine, as they say.

But, I digress, let me return to the story.

This particular cattle had lost any credibility with the Bar manager for several reasons; among them trying to sell drinks without his permission and also (imagine) the same type of drinks that the bar sold. So, last semester we decided that it would be nice to help these obviously helpless pack of hyenas to get some money for their own society, which hadn't organized a single THING the whole year. (Yes, it includes the semester before the last.) So, we invited
them over and they were delighted to say "yes" to get money and "no" to earning it. We started organizing for that party 4 weeks in advance. They came on the fourth and ONLY because the president of OUR Society INSISTED.

The next day, we started giving out handouts and we received a very insulting, grammatically incorrect, text message basically saying: "HOW DARE YOU USE THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY'S NAME IN YOUR HANDOUT WITHOUT CONSULTING US... BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH..." Needless to say we were pissed. Our President went to them (their self-appointed president wouldn't face him alone) pointed out their situation, chewed them up and spit them. They remained quiet after that.

A few months later, rumours came of a darkness from the north; a shadow was
extending across the University.. and... they started to show movies on Thursdays. We had been showing movies on Wednesdays and I warned the others that this was their first step into trying to "compete" with us. "Compete" being an understatement of the massacre they would suffer in the attempt. I really wanted them to understand that there was a foul voice in the air.

But, in the end, we ignored their insignificant and frankly amateurish attempts as irrelevant to our own events thinking that -just perhaps- they had started to realize that being a Society was more than thinking yourself "cool" or "pretty" (which they are definitely NOT) and that it means doing things for others. You know, Societies being Voluntary and all.

When we put up the posters 3 disappeared. So we put up three more. They disappeared again. Casually, little black and white copies of their own film night (happening on Thursday) turned up either exactly where our posters were or next to them. So we put THREE MORE. Also, casually, two of those vultures live in the building where the posters disappeared from, imagine that.

By now, everyone knew that they had done it, but without the physical evidence of them taking the posters nothing can be done.

Now, were they Kindergarten students or even 6 year olds I could forgive that attitude. But, they are over 20 years old, and in University! What TYPE of attitude is that? And for what? For a miserable 1 night movie thingy that they didn't even plan?! WE didn't take their posters down. There was more than enough space to put up ours again without the need to fall to their level.

To be honest, they couldn't POSSIBLY EVER do anything like what we have achieved. They don't have the brains, they don't have the manpower, they don't have the attitude, they don't have the University's support. They KNEW we were doing this event and that we had started planning it since the last SEPTEMBER and worked on it on OUR time and at OUR expense in
many cases. If any one of them even hints that they could do better I would LAUGH in her face. And you know what? They deserve no better. This kind of petty attitude is not worthy of an uneducated thug, even less from University students who are about to graduate.

Make no mistake. I WILL find a way to prove they did it. And when I do I WILL destroy what remains of their society. This IS going to be something that they will remember with DREAD all their lives. I will make sure that if anyone EVER sees them they will know what type of petty carrion eaters this particular pack of smelly trolls are. This is going into their official papers. THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN TO THIS UNIVERSITY EVER. In fact, if they want to take a Masters Degree they'd better do it somewhere back in their countries because any information that comes from this Uni will have a small note saying that vandalism is a big thing for them aside from being annoying and perceiving themselves as popular.

Listen girls, you are not "Popular" you are NOT "Cool" You are NOT "Nice" and you are CERTAINLY not "Pretty"! Especially YOU Gaby!

These creatures NEED a change in attitude. Seldom have I found myself drawn to utterly destroying someone's life like this. If you have worked on a project for months only to have some group of clowns try and vandalize it you'll understand just how annoying something so stupid is.

Anyway, I was going to post a few things about our party and the dreadful-three's attitude in it, but it is getting late and thinking about them will make me have nightmares (the unpleasant ones) so I will post that either tomorrow or Monday.

I invite the readers that know what I'm talking about to vouch for this account, since some friends across the world might think that I am taking it too personally.

-Nya!

Otaku Test... and true name

So, I decided to take another test out of Elf's Blog.... the Otaku Test! ^_^

Almost There Congratulations! You scored 73!

You know quite a lot about Anime and Manga. You might even claim to be an Otaku. You probably spend a lot of money on manga or dvds, ans just might have a signifigant other who put up with your hobby, as long as it doesn't grow into obsession. However, because you aren't obsessed, or because you don't spend hours of your time somehow involving yourself with Japanese pop culture you are only a moderate Otaku, who probably doesn't miss the wonders that await you if only you would give up dating and sunlight to further your quest towards geekdom.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on anipoints

Link: The Ultimate Otaku Test written by Atomosk on Ok Cupid

I also did the "True Name" one...

Ceremony Completed! Your true name is worth 4452110 Gold Pieces, remove that much GP from your inventory.

Your True Name is Simo Ailill Mordred!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 77% on Goofiness You scored higher than 99% on Geekiness You scored higher than 80% on Godliness

Link: The What is your true name? Test written by Princess_Bob on OkCupid Free Online Dating

The world is becoming a worse place...

Yes it is.

Just think about it... Bush. That guy is a straight line to the communism he's so bent into fighting and people haven't noticed yet. Hell, he wants access to international banking accounts! Isn't that private and protected by LAW? Or is high-and-mighty Mr. President above it? So, religious intolerance + an exageratted war on terrorism + control and overseeing of thousands of international bank accounts because, I quote the New York Times "Senior officials throughout the administration have emphasized repeatedly that they want the financial sector to be a full partner in the stepped-up efforts to deter terrorist financing."

Isn't anyone else worried at this? Hey, I am AGAINST terrorism 24/7 and yes, I agree wholeheartedly that 9/11 was a horrible, I was scared shitless for someone I really care about because I just didn't know what was going on out there... but there ARE limits, you know? Just how much are you going to step on people's rights in your little holy war, Mr. I-believe-I'm-the-second-comming Bush? How much more paranoia are you going to feed? Not to mention Xenophobia?

Sigh...

Sakura for the restless soul...

On another note, today in Japan they aired the first episode of "Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles" hopefully the XXX-holic Movie won't take too long to come out!

-Nya!

Politics.

So, again I am ranting about Politics... specifically Mexican Politics.

Why do people in the New York Times defend Lopez Obrador is beyond me. Don't they realize that people in Mexico march for ANY reason? Not because they believe in whatever the reason for marching is; they just don't have ANYTHING better to do with their time!

It's not protest! It's BOREDOM!

Sigh...

-D

One of those days...

Today has been one of those ominous "Those days" when many things seem to go wrong. The upstairs toilet is not working (fortunately, it's CLEAN) the shower is NOT working either... it's an electric shower, and now, when I try to turn it on, a little light that reads "Low Pressure" comes up and no water comes down. And the webpage is useless, checking around forums and such has also shown no light on the situation... sigh.

Also, hot water ran out. I discovered one of the drawbacks of having long hair... no hot water + no shower = hell. I had to stoop down and use a bucket to rinse my hair... it was most educational. Now I know why people used to bathe in rivers. At least there is a continous flow of water!

¬_¬

^_^ On the other hand, I still have a bagful of "Fizzy Worms" aka Candy Worms. Yay! Sugar!

-Nya!

Pirates

Ok, so I'm taking yet another of the tests that Elf is always taking. This time it's my Pirate Name.

My pirate name is:

Captain Bartholomew Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Fire Bomber

In other news, I am beginning to really to really turn into a Fire Bomber fan with every time I watch anything from that series. I don't know how many times I've heard "Planet Dance" by now... probably less than Bauhaus, but hey, he's been at it longer than I. Heh.

I REALLY like "Heart and Soul" and that Emilia is Mylene's sister is just so damn funny. I was wondering what the hell the Family Picture from Max's family was doing in the wall, heh.

I have to ask Shaloom about the other sisters.

Fire!

-Nya

Downfall

So, yesterday night, with a friend of mine from Mexico, her brother and a couple of friends from here we went to watch this movie. "Downfall". I don't know what it is called in Germany, where it was made, but it did cause quite a stirrup from a lot of people claiming that it made Hitler seem more humane.

Humane is not the word. Human? Maybe. Obssessed? Yes. Freaky? Yes. Completely deluded? Yes. A nervous wreck, living a fantasy of a world dominated by a race that would not lose even if they were shooting shells at his doorstep? Definetly.

It is a powerful film, there is no doubt about it. I think it DID point out just what type of monsters delusions of race and fanatism create, not "humanize" them. I felt sorry for them, but not in the sense of feeling for them as touching. I felt sorry for them for allowing themselves to become such creatures -willing to sacrifice their families for a lost cause; killing their own kids with poison and then shooting themselves before letting their kids grow in a world that was not dominated by National Socialism; pretending those things that were happening were not affecting them...

I look at that and then think today, about the Fundalentalist Christians and all those other religious fanatics that think that they have the Absolute Truth and that everyone else will suffer because they are not like them.

Gods I just pity and hate those people. Take a regular Christian Cultist. (Note, I don't count estabilshed churches such as Protestant, Anglican or Catholic as Cults, just those that have around 20 to 50 people, pretending they are actually a church of some kind and claiming that all three above -not to mention Babtists and other unrelated religions are wrong. Deep down you know who you are, deluded bastards.)

Anyway, as I was saying, take the regular Christian Cult. According to them, the Dalai Lama and the Pope are going to Hell. Why? Because they do not believe as they do. It doesn't matter how much good they do or did, it doesn't matter what type of person you are... as long as you are not part of their little fanatic group of "God-flunkies" you are going to hell anyway.

Heck, think about all those idiots that were saying that the people that died because of the Tsunami DESERVED it because they were not Christian! Assholes.

And don't think I just have it against Christians, those are just the most annoying, but any Fanatical view of ANY religion is wrong. One thing is having faith, another is being a close-minded idiot.

And now, people like Hitler are again in high places in society. How long will it take for George Bush to start World War 3? I think it was Albert Einsten who said: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

And I can see it comming. And the worse thing is that I have to blame the LATIN immigrants which voted for him JUST BECAUSE HE WENT TO CHURCH! ARE YOU GUYS IDIOTS?! What am I saying, OF COURSE YOU ARE!

Tony Blair announced today that the voting would be held on the 05/05/05. I like Tony Blair. I think he is smart and charismatic and quick-witted. But he IS a Bush-licker. Only fault I find in him. To be honest, the Conservatives don't really deserve to get voted for, and the Democrats have a guy that seems so shifty I... Sigh...

Anyway, I hate politics, but Fanatism, Judeo/Christian Religions and Politics go hand in hand.

Go watch that movie. It's good.