GenesisDreams

Nihongo no benkyo o shimasu

Japan - University I had my first exam today. A 20 minute Japanese speaking exam worth 30% of my marks for the subject. It was more difficult that I expected, but I think I did well overall. So my exam period has officially started, and boy do I have a lot of work to do. I have slacked off this semester more than any other semester in my entire university career other than my very first semester in first year. For two of my subjects, both with 100% exams, I have barely been to any lectures. Perhaps two for one of them and three for the other. I have to catch up a whole semester's work over the next few days. I have five exams in the next two weeks, plus two pieces of coursework due. So my social life is effectively going to be dead for a while. That's ok though because all my housemates are in the same situation so there won’t be anyone going out and having fun. This is my last semester. No more exams after this. I think this fact is partly to blame for my apathy. I really just don’t care anymore about exams. I am over it. My marks won’t count here. All I have to do is pass. At the moment though I am struggling to find the enthusiasm to do the work just needed to pass, let alone doing extra work to do well. I just can't wait till the 21st, when it's all over, and I can party! ... And then start thinking about what I really want to do with the rest of my life.

Good Luck!

Japan - Television Good Luck! is a 10 episode Japanese mini-series about a Japanese pilot who has just got his wings. Nash recommended it to me, and truth be told, I loved it. I don't know what it is about J-Drama but it's addictive in a way that is completely different to western shows. The plot was interesting, the characters engaging, and the ending theme song was cool too. Also it was strange to see Shibasaki Kou as Ogawa Ayumi, last time I saw her she was killing people in Battle Royale! Anyway having actually almost mastered my katakana and hiragana now, I found I could pick up a lot more while watching the show, I could actually read sings, thing written on bits of paper, the karaoke lyrics at the end of the show to go along with the theme song. I also found my comprehension of what they were saying to be a lot better. My vocab is still pretty much nonexistent, but now that I have a greater understanding of Japanese grammar I could at least make more sense of the sentences and understand why things were said the way they were. I did mention I was studying Japanese as one of my subjects this year didn't I?

Education, Apparently.

Japan - University I have finalised my timetable for the semester, and it is woeful. I have ten contact hours a week, which is a fraction of what I did back home, and I have two full days off as well! It's crazy, I have more free time now that I know what to do with. If I was here to learn I would be annoyed, however I am here to have a good time, with learning as a secondary objective, so I don't really mind. I am sure I have ranted about this before, but looking at my final timetable it is all the more obvious. I am studying five subjects this semester, four that I need to do to finish my course, and one because I just wanted to do it. The funny this in that my "extra" subject gives me more contact hours (and will involve more work) than any of my other subjects. Oh well. The subjects I need to do include The Internetworked Organisation, Financial Management, Computer Security and Digital Business Communication. They are all pretty standard, easy subjects. I am using my free elective to do a subject in the Japanese language. This subject is actually a lot more hardcore than I expected. I am really enjoying it though, and am learning a lot. Overall this will be a fairly easy final semester of University. It’s about time too!

AmeCon to Edinburgh

Japan - Travel I went to AmeCon on the weekend. AmeCon is the UK's largest anime convention, with close to 1000 people attending. I am also heading up to Edinburgh tomorrow to catch the end of the Fringe Festival. I really should write more, but I haven't slept since Saturday night and so am very, very, very tired. I blame drunken cosplaying fangirls.

Century

Japan - Metaposts - Music - Personal This is my 100th GenesisDreams entry. It doesn't feel like that many at all. Sometimes I feel like I'm slipping away over here into a completely different world. It's hard to explain, and I'm not sure if I like it. My life here now is very different to how it was back home. I don't think I've illustrated that very well in the GenesisDreams entries I've made since coming here. I've accepted it, take it as the norm, and so on the surface, when I write about things occurring in my life, all of the superficial things probably seem very similar to how it is back home. I don't have a very objective perspective, so I can't say for sure, but that's the impression I get reading over what I've written. I don't think it appears like much has changed at all. Would anyone out there like to comment on this one way or another (Brendan, you're probably the most objective person who reads this blog, I'd appreciate hearing what you think). I feel like I've lived a century's worth of years these past couple of months. I have been challenged in ways I never imagined, I have seen things I previously only dreamed about and I have participated in “stuff” beyond my comprehension. I have communicated, interacted, drank, lost, kissed, fondled, jumped, watched, hid, hit, missed, wallowed, yelled, run, listened, played, bled, shuffled, kicked, washed, fucked, talked, driven, fallen, tickled, tripped, worried, screamed, nodded, waited, learnt, enjoyed, shrugged, slept, dealt, spewed, ate, laughed, thought, hugged, tasted, read, dreamt, wished and longed with a frequency and ferocity far outstripping anything before, and in more ways than I can describe. I am still very much myself, but I feel like a completely different person. I feel like nobody knows me now, least of all myself. In the past I would have hated that, I need to know; now I’m just not sure. I really don’t know whether I like it or not. the sun is casting shadows an afternoon is fading I ask, but no one knows the answer to the question my life is like an island where does this ocean go? From Where Does This Ocean Go? by Ilaria Graziano off the Ghost In the Shell - Stand Alone Complex OST.

The OC

Friends - Fun - Japan - Music - Television Over the last couple of days I've watched the entire first season (all 27 episodes) of The O.C. with Bruce. It started out as a form of procrastination. I didn't want to do any study, so watching inane American dramas seemed like a good way to pass the time. By the end though I was completely hooked, we binge-watched the final 9 episodes in one night. I was wallowing in a sea of self-indulgence and I loved it. The show is cheesy, badly acted and has only average writing, but it's got great music, some really funny/interesting characters, and is filled with fit women ^_^ It's also really addicted, and I found myself getting completely drawn into the story (as clichéd as it is). I must admit that I was actually emotionally moved by the ending, it was so sad. I'm normally detached from everything I watch, but this got to me for some reason. Now I have to wait the whole summer until the next season starts. I want to see it now! Just some general comments on the show. Seth is such a cool geek, he gives geeks around the world a good name. Ryan looks like a young Russell Crow. Anna is really cool, she makes a comment calling Marissa's "Princess Mononoke", that's awesome! ^_^ Marissa is beauty personified. Summer is just insanely cute. Sandy is possibly the best father ever. I loath Teresa. The theme song is really catchy; singing it with Bruce at the beginning of each episode has become a ritual. We actually got in trouble for it last night, we were singing it so loud (and so badly out of tune) that one of the hall tutors came and knocked on Bruce's door and told us to be quiet. If you get a chance, watch this show. It's not classic television, but it will keep you entertained. Written while listening to the Ryan Adam's cover of Wonderwall and Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, on repeat, looping forever.

Popcorn, Lord Jim, Extinction

Books - Japan - Quotes Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Haruki Murakami Wow. This mix of Jungian shadow worlds and cyber-punk-ish Tokyo has totally blown my mind. I generally don’t like making statements about my “favourite X”, because it usually depends on my mood. I don’t have a favourite movie, I don’t have a favourite TV show, I don’t have a favourite actor, or band, or song, everyone who knows me will know I have a favourite anime, but until now I didn’t have a favourite author or book. Well step up Murakami and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Sorry Neal Stephenson, sorry William Gibson, sorry George R. R. Martin, sorry to the rest of you. Murakami is king.

"I closed my eyes, I felt a ripple run through my mind. The wave went beyond sadness or solitude; it was a great, deep moan that resonated in my bones. It would not subside. I braced myself, elbows against the backrest of the park bench. No one could help me, no more than I could help anyone else." Haruki Murakami, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, pp:391 (Alfred Birnbaum translation).

And no, this is not a mood thing. Like Eva, I think I will love this book however I feel. Also interesting to note is that the anime Haibane Renmei seems to be influenced by Murakami’s work. The End of The World in this book refers to a village in the middle of land surrounded by a high wall (at least on the surface, I’m not going to delve into its deeper meaning here). A lot of the descriptions of the town and the wall seem to respond directly with what is depicted in the anime. Also the protagonist in the book is a newcomer to the town who is different from everyone else and who has no memory of his previous life (just like the Haibane). It’s also interesting to recall back to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as that book contains a scene where the protagonist has a revelation while trapped down a well. Calvin, if your still collecting anime DVDs, pick up Haibane Renmei, I think it’s just started being released in Australia. In short, I love this book.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Books - Japan - Quotes

"I saw myself as the wind-up bird, flying through the summer sky, lighting on the branch of a huge tree somewhere, winding the world's spring. If there really was no more wind-up bird, someone would have to take on its duties. Someone would have to wind the world's spring in its place. Otherwise, the spring would run down and the delicately functioning system would grind to a halt. The only one who seemed to have noticed that the wind-up bird was gone, however, was me."
--Haruki Murakami, "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle"

I finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Harukai Murakami last weekend, I've just been too busy until now (when the hall bar is closed on a Sunday night) to write about it. It was the second of Murakami's book's I had read (see my Midori entry for more details) and I like this one the best so far. It was incredibly dark in places, but I that was one of the things I liked the most about it. At some points it made me want to physically go out and find a well (read the book and you'll understand). I don't really know where I found the time to read this book. Most of it was devoured during the long train trips to and from Liverpool, or the bus trips to/from Milton Keynes. Between those points, as much as I wanted to read it, I didn't really find the time. I’ve gotten a hold of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but I think I’ll leave off reading that for a while. Murakami is fantastic, but I think I need a break from him.

Moving, Just Keep Moving...

Friends - Games - Japan - Personal - Travel It's been a busy last couple of days.

• Firday, Fragma and I did some running around, I did some banking, paid my accommodation for the first semester, bought some stuff I needed from the shops, did last minute chores.
• Friday night, Wulfen, Ads, Ruro, Skett, Nash and I went over to Fragma's to watch some Initial D.
• Saturday, I spent boxing up the rest of my stuff. It's almost all boxed away by this point.
• Saturday night, (from left to right) Scuzzy, Ads, Nash, Apollo, Wulfen, Dublex, Jimbo, Ruro and Fragma took me out to dinner.
• Sunday morning, Fragma and I went to see Littlewing off at the airport. She is going on a tour around Europe for three weeks and so I had to say a final goodbye to her earlier than everyone else.
• Sunday lunch, relatives and close friends of the family came over. We drank some beer, watched the cricket, and I was given more advice than I knew what to do with.
• Sunday night, Fragma and I went over to Nash's to see his new PS2 steering wheel setup, then we went to Wulfen's to pick up a copy of X-COM Aftermath, and then went back to my place to play it for about five hours.
• Monday, I started the long process of burning cds of all the important stuff on my computer and I went through all my clothes and got rid of four big garbage bags full of stuff I would never wear again.
• Monday night, Calvin came over (for the last time, our Monday night routine has come to an end), and then (multitasking again) we went to Ads's place to drop of some stuff, then to Wulfen's to drop off some more stuff (I've been giving away a lot of stuff I can't keep) and then to Chermside to play some DDR, Dance Freaks and Initial D for the last time.

And now I'm here writing this. I was going to go to bed, but I wanted to get this all out now while I have the time. It's been a really good last couple of days. I spent a great deal of time with my friends and family, and it emphasised just how much they all mean to me. There are a lot of thankyou's that need to be said, but I'll leave them for tomorrow night (^_^). I really should get some sleep now. I've got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow, there are still so many things left to organise, and I haven't even thought about starting to pack my backpack! Written while listening to Moving by Supergrass.

Midori

Books - Japan - Quotes Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami I just finished reading Norwegion Wood by Haruki Murakami. I'm becoming more addicted to Murakami's work with everything of his that I read. He is a great writer, and his stories are so refreshing. I also think it was the right time for me to read this book. It's about going away to University, about life and love and pain and loss. It reminded me a little of Catcher in the Rye in places. I think I'm going to have to re-read it before I go. I particularly liked the Midori character; she was intoxicating, perverted, spontaneous, cute and honest.

"So I made up my mind I was going to find someone who would love me unconditionally 365 days of the year. I was still in primary school at the time, but I made up my mind once and for all." "Wow", I said. "And did your search pay off?" "That's the hard part," said Midori. She watched the rising smoke for a while, thinking. "I guess I've been waiting so long I'm looking for perfection. That makes it tough." Waiting for the perfect love?" "No, even I know better than that. I'm looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortbread. And you stop everything you're doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on you knees and hold this strawberry shortbread out to me. And I say I don't want it anymore and throw it out the window. That's what I'm looking for." "I'm not sure that has anything to do with love," I said with some amazement. "It does," she said. "You just don't know it. There are times in a girl's life when things like that are incredibly important." "Things like throwing strawberry shortbread out the window?" "Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. 'Now I see, Midori. What a fool I've been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortbread. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I'll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate mousse? Cheesecake?" "So then what?" "So then I'd give him all the love he deserves for what he's done." "Sounds crazy to me." "Well, to me, that's what love is. Not that anyone can understand me, though." Midori gave her head a little shake against my shoulder. "For a certain kind of person, love begins from something tiny or silly. From something like that or it doesn't begin at all." Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood, pp:99-100 (Jay Rubin translation).

I like everything about this book, so much so that I'm going to take it with me. Sacrifice some of the scarce free room in my backpack, and bring it along. I might have to bring one less pair of socks! I'm listening to Norwegian Wood by the Beatles at the moment (of course!).

Ranma!

Friends - Japan Over the past two days Calvin and I watched the entire first season of Ranma ½. Ever since he first heard about it, Calvin's been obsessed with the idea of a "water-changing hermaphrodite" (his words). For those who don't know, Ramna is a martial artist who, after falling into the cursed spring of a drowned girl while training, turns into a girl whenever he is splashed with cold water. His father suffered a similar fate, except he turns into a giant panda when wet. Both can turn back to their normal forms when covered in hot water. The show is fairly old now, with the first season screening in 1989, but the animation quality is really good and the humour is still hilarious even after 15 years (and really, how can it possibly date ^_^). So Calvin came over Monday night, like he had been doing for the last couple of months, and after much messing around with codecs, we finally sat down for some Ranma goodness. We made it through 7 episodes before Calvin was overcome with fatigue (I couldn't work out whether it was from laughing, or some strange illness). So we crashed for the night, to resume our watching the next day. Once we had completed all of season one Calvin suggested we drive to Wulfen's place and pick up some more episodes, but by that point I was well and truly Ranma'ed out, so we called it a day. I don't know where the time has gone since then. I did a little more final packing, cleaned up some of the mess we had made over the last couple of days, and replied to a few (long) emails I had gotten. I've got an ever-growing list of things I'm yet to do, but hopefully I will start to reduce it over the next couple of days. I'm trying to get most of my goodbyes done over the next week or so, which will leave me with a week of relative calmness before I'm off. Of course I'll probably spend most of that time hanging out with my close friends instead of making sure I've packed anything, but I think I prefer it that way. Written while listening to Stray Radio.

Ride On Shooting Star

Japan - Metaposts - Music Ok for those who aren't familiar with Addict, I'm still listening to the FLCL OST, and the blog title is a reference to one of the tracks (and the ending theme to the anime). Recently I've been having trouble working up the enthusiasm to write blog entries. I still can't publish, so nobody can actually read this, or at least won't be able to read it until I fix the problem and start publishing again. If I wanted just to keep a journal then I wouldn't bother publishing anything online. Part of the reason I like this blog is becuase I can let all my friends know what's going on in my life (and occasionally get some feedback from them). So without this "online" aspect I'm finding it hard to write regular entries. I'll do my best to keep going during this offline period.

Hybrid Rainbow

Friends - Japan - Music - University A couple of days ago I was asked to briefly explain my thesis topic on one of the forums I frequent. I don't think I've gone into detail about my project here yet, so here is the description I gave on the forum. To steal a passage from my thesis abstract: "The fundamental purpose of this project is to develop a system by which music similarity can be measured based solely on the content of the music itself. This system will analyse the inherent characteristics of musical pieces and use that to compare songs, independently of any metadata that may exist. It will allow a database of music to be quickly and efficiently scanned to identify similar tracks." Basically there is a whole lot of digital signals processing stuff involved in producing signatures for pieces of music which not only uniquely identify the piece but also relate specific characteristics of the musical structure (tempo, beat, rhythm, etc...) Once you have those signatures then it's a fairly simpler matter to calculate the similarities and difference between them and then you can do all sorts of cool stuff. Genre grouping, instrument matching, identifying covers of a particular track, taking a seed song and producing a full DJ set, etc... etc... etc... All the DSP stuff is done, and I've almost finished coding up the base framework which utilises the DPS stuff (I'm not going to go into detail about that; to put simply it involves calculating the Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients, which is really just the coefficients of the Fourier transform representation of the log-magnitude spectrum of a signal, and then using K-Means clustering to group certain spectral traits together.) Now I just need to develop the final application that I'm going to demo at the innovation expo at the end of the year. Oh yeah, and write my thesis ^_^ In other news, I'm going to see a performance of a play written by my friend Calivn next week. It's called "Vodka and Condoms" and I know it's going to be great (I've read the script). Calvin's been coming around a lot recently, which is great. I've been slowing introducing him to the myriad forms of anime; we watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind on Monday, and I also showed him some Azumanga Diaoh. He is obsessed with Ranma, RANMA!, but wants to see more of Miyazaki's work after I took him to see Spirited Away earlier in the year. I'm going to play more Initial D tonight. Meeting up with Fragma and rurouni so we can throw away some more of our cash. Wednesday night is pretty deserted down at the arcade, so we shouldn't have a problem getting on the machines. I've run out of music to listen to in the car, so until I get around to burning off some new sets, I've gone back to my anime CDs. I've got FLCL Addict out now, and I think it will be my CD of choice tonight. I've got all The Pillow's albums, and most of them are great, but the tracks on this OST bring back memories of when I first saw the show, and the powerful feelings I associate with it. Can you feel that hybrid rainbow?

Right Now

Japan - Metaposts I can't publish my blog. I haven't been able to publish my blog for almost two weeks. I've written a couple of entires, but I've been too busy lately to actually sit down and work out what the problem is. I'll fix it soon, and then you will have a sudden hit of blog goodness. I've been spending way too much money playing Initial D - Project D recently. I bought a new card Friday, a new car, an AE86 this time, and started from scratch building up the upgrades. I'm about 10000 points away from getting the Group A Engine for it, which is really when it comes into its own (I can't drift like Takumi, I need the speed). So I pumped in close to $40 and played for about two hours. I've been practicing Akina downhill, but I don't come anywhere close to Fragma's best time on that track, which is around 3:07. I really need to start writing my thesis ^_^ Right now I'm listening to Van Halen's "Right Now".