GeekeryDo

Elementary School Lunch: 05/25 - sports day

2013-05-25T08:34:00.001-04:00

Today was my school's Sports Day! All the other elementary schools in my village celebrated their Sports Day today as well, and staff ordered bentou lunches. The students had to bring lunches prepared by their parents.

When I got to my desk, there was a ton of stuff waiting there... a few cans and bottles of green tea, some oolong tea, and a couple of sports drinks. The lunch box itself had hamburg steak, rice, a piece of kara-age (it's like a boneless chicken wing), omelette, salmon, some other unidentified fish or meat, salad, some fruits, pickles, deep-fried shrimp, and a dumpling. On the side, we had a fruit cup. It was some good stuff, and hardly anyone ate the entire tray from what I saw.

I have no idea what the calorie count was on this, but I'm sure it's high if you ate everything on the tray. On a day like today though, we could use all the calories we can get. The kiddos kept us on our toes! And in case you're wondering, I only paid about ¥500 (close to US$5) for everything you see here plus all the drinks and such.

Elementary School Lunch: 05/24 - garlic-rubbed

2013-05-24T08:10:00.000-04:00

Today's school lunch was kind of lackluster for me, partially because I wasn't actually too hungry by the time that cart rolled in. So, I just ate like, maybe half of this.

The main plate had an anchovy (or is that a sardine?) on it, seasoned and cooked in garlic sauce. The salad was tasty today, featuring some mixed veggies dressed in sesame. Finally, something a bit different from the usual mixed greens and Japanese dressing!

The side bowl is, you guessed it, another iteration of miso soup. This time around though, it heavily featured bamboo (besides the seaweed and tofu), which I love. No dessert or extra goodies today, besides some rice.

Calorie count: 670

Book Review: 'The Rose Throne' by Mette Ivie Harrison

2013-05-23T07:51:00.004-04:00

The Rose Throne follows the story of two kingdoms divided by different brands of magic. We read it in the perspectives of two rival princesses who seek the throne that may reunite their kingdoms, yet wish to marry for love. Though I don't generally go for romance, the fantasy aspects of The Rose Throne appealed to me enough that I decided to give this YA fantasy/romance a try.

Princess Ailsbet was born without magic, hates the court, and loves music more than anything else in life. Though she would love to have friends and marry someone she likes, she's been burned a few too many times by people who only pretend to like being around her to trust anyone easily. Marlissa, on the other hand, has plentiful magic and is loved by her people. She, too, dreams of marrying for love and eventually taking the throne, but it's a man's world, and she, like Ailsbet, must abide by the kings' wishes.

It isn't every day that I get to read books that are so strongly feminist (in a good way) it makes me want to smack someone, anyone, while reading. The world that the two princesses live in is one governed by men, where the queens and princesses hardly have a say in anything, and the people with no magic are merely used strategically for trade or diplomacy. And the girls knew what was going on and desired more for themselves (and their gender). I was frustrated for them!

Ailsbet, without any magic of her own, thought she was on her way to being an ambassador or similar for her kingdom. She had pretty much accepted that about her life, though she wanted to get out and just play music without having to worry about politics or kingdoms or anything else. Eventually, we learn that Ailsbet isn't all that she seems, and a few people around her can sense it, too.

Marlissa has the gift that allows her to be in touch with nature. She nurtures the greenery around her castle and teaches people how to use their own magic. She can grow plants in an instant and, if left unchecked, who knows what her limits are? But her life takes a complete turn when she's informed of her own betrothal with Ailsbet's younger brother, the prince of the rivaling kingdom.

Some of the things that stood out with this book:

a) The author isn't afraid to be gruesome while avoiding getting too gory. There is a lot of death in this book, and it's kind of tragic in a way. I don't think it's a bad thing, though. In the end, the often brutal killings made me hate the "bad guys" more, and got me really wound up with the princesses.

b) Though eventually I understood the concepts, in the beginning of the book I was very confused with the different kinds of magic that were introduced for the story. In The Rose Throne, the men generally have one brand of magic, and the women another (people who have the "wrong" kind of magic are generally cast aside). One kingdom embraces both, while the other favors the men's magic. The crux of the plot (beyond romance), is that some people wish the two magics to be reunited: that two people can produce an heir that would wield both.

c) The story wound up to the conclusion a little too quickly compared with the even pacing of the rest of the book, and the ending was abrupt. I almost thought that I'd gotten a corrupted file that cut off a few chapters early, but I saw the end script and knew I'd really come to the last page. It leaves me wanting to know what happens, but it didn't feel like a book ending. It's a good thing this book is part of a series!

d) On to another positive note: I liked that chapters were always in the perspective of either of the main girls. Most of the time, the chapters were in complete chronological order. Other times, we'd read something in the perspective of one princess that occurred in the past of the other. I like this sort of thing, because it gives me a timeline of what each was doing without reading the story from the "outside." Their inner dialogue was interesting to read, since perspectives were such a big theme in the story.

Overall, I recommend The Rose Throne, but it isn't for everyone. I can't imagine most teenage boys would be interested in the story, for one thing, and again - this isn't your normal "princess story." It's definitely a story about love and trying to do well, but it's also a story about women whose futures are generally decided for them by their fathers, though they have the ability to become powerful influences in the sway of politics in the background. I feel that Harrison got a good start with this story here, even if this book didn't meet the absolute, fullest potential the story had.

This book was released on May 14th, 2013 and I received a review copy for Kindle via Netgalley.

Elementary School Lunch: 05/23 - seconds

2013-05-23T06:54:00.001-04:00

I've had Japanese curry, and I've had udon, but today was the first time I've ever combined the two together. And it was good.

Besides the bowl of curry (pork and veggie), we had a plate with mashed potatoes and more veggies (carrots, corn, etc), and some yogurt. The yogurt had prune and iron, though the look and consistency of it was of plain yogurt (i.e.: no fruit chunks were in there). Also, for the first time this year, I totally over-ate because I got seconds, both of curry sauce and the potato plate.

I still had some noodles left over after finishing the first bowl I was served, so I, along with several other co-workers, got a sauce refill. Some of my male co-workers went back to the sauce pot a few times, actually. The mashed potato/salad plate was appealing because it wasn't cold. If it had been a cold potato salad, I wouldn't have cared for it. Especially if it had mayo and other gunky stuff in it. This was just plain mashed potato with the other boiled veggies added.

Calorie count: 690. Yep, I totally went over today. I guess it's a good thing I mostly went over on vegetables, since I didn't get udon noodle seconds. I also didn't drink the milk, despite showing it in the image. This was a co-worker's tray.

Elementary School Lunch: 05/22 - I eat you, killer tofu

2013-05-22T03:49:00.001-04:00

Internet cookies if you can guess the reference in my awful pun in the headline!

Today's main dish featured tofu quite heavily, and it was cooked with some pork and veggies in a bowl of delicious wonderful-ness that we've seen once before already. The difference is we had some shiitake in there instead of bamboo. The salad on the side featured mostly these long-ish clear beans with a little bit of ham and cucumber mixed in. The other side dish is, of course, a red box of rice. Shown in the picture is my cup of green tea (instead of milk).

Same as the last time we had a Chinese day with a tofu bowl, I pretty much ate everything except a portion of the rice. It's just way too tasty, and all those veggies can be filling. Even now, as I write this four hours later, I'm not starting to feel hungry like I might on most days already.

Calorie count: 669

Elementary School Lunch: 05/21 - double up fish

2013-05-21T04:36:00.000-04:00

I'm doing another double post today because I suck and forgot to post my lunch yesterday! Don't you worry... I didn't forget the picture. I just forgot to post.

Alright, so yesterday we had seafood stew, some salad, and raisin kuro-pan. The stew had plenty of veggies, along with shrimp and other bits of fishy things, but since it was all creamy and stuff, mine was drained before I ate it. The image that I took (above) is someone else's tray with the proper amount of broth in there for the benefit of you lovely readers.

The salad itself had something new (for me) in it, too. A kind of seaweed that looks clear and crispy like small pieces of plastic, except obviously not. A co-worker told me that while it's a zero-calorie food, it's quite fibrous and thus, good for you. I took an extra picture of it just because I love you. If it's too small, you can click on the image to get a good look.

If you've been keeping up, you might remember kuro-pan from a previous lunch. This is the same deal, except it was baked with some delicious raisins in it. I was tempted to claim one of the leftovers (there were two people missing that day), but while I deliberated someone else snatched it. That's what I get for hesitating!

Calorie count: 629

Today's lunch was quite tasty. The salad was more wild than usual with a little bit of corn added. It was dressed in standard Japanese, and accompanied by a piece of fried fish (I'll update again when someone can tell me what kind it was - I'm actually not sure!). The bowl had some steaming veggies and meat, which was a bit different from the usual steaming bowl - some string beans snuck in there! My usual cup of tea is in view, along with the red tray for rice, of which I left half because the veggies filled me up.

Calorie count: 698 (yikes! That's quite a lot for a meal that wasn't even saucy. I wonder what hiked it up - the fried fish?)

Adventures in Gunpla: SD Knight Gundam

2013-05-19T07:31:00.001-04:00

Now that I'm in Japan, I'm seeing gunpla at pretty much any store that also sells toys. Like, you go to a store that has some kids toys, and there'll be at least a corner of gunpla somewhere tucked away. Big store with lots of collectibles and more high-end toys? A boatload of gunpla!

So now I find myself trying (and failing) to avoid the "bug." I've bought two SD kits so far, and the first one was Knight Gundam. I picked this one up because I like the design, including the actual eyes and spiffy cape. This one also transforms, and I guess I'm not technically 100% finished since I didn't build the transforming parts, but the Gundam itself is built.

Knight Gundam was pretty easy to put together - possibly the easiest of the three I've made so far. I'm thinking that it's partially because I'm now more familiar with the pieces and I can look at the runners and start to identify where all the bits will eventually end up. That and, it's just an easy kit. But whatever - I'll take my small victories!

Anyway, I'm happy with the result, and my little Knight looks rad with his gear on. My next kit is SD Gundam AGE-FX , which is another one that I picked out specifically because I like the suit's design. I haven't actually watched AGE, so I'm not sure about the pilot (I've heard he's kind of lame?), but the green parts look neato and I am always down for an extra splash of color in my model kits.

Friday Things: 05/17 - speeches, music, and fancy shoes

2013-05-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

[Hey, it's Friday again! And this time around, my link dump isn't ridiculously long. I tried to keep things mostly to the point. Enjoy!]

On Books, Writing, Authors, etc.:

Some clown wrote an article on HuffPo titled, "What's a library?" and, though the title makes it seem like we might read something lovely and enlightening about an institution that is growing (not shrinking, against popular belief), it's actually an awful read. Here's a run-down of what sucked about it, and what you should read up on instead.

(via GeeksAreSexy) I like snazzy commencement speeches. Here's a good one by David Foster Wallace.

John Green talks about common grammar mistakes. It's always good to brush up.

On Japan:

Green tea beer has made my list of things I need to try at some point this year.

I recently reviewed a book for Japanator titled Kojiki. Give it a try if you're into Japanese myth, or anime!

On Music:

This week, Nick Pitera uploaded a video to spread some anti-bullying awareness. It's a cover of Live Like A Warrior.

Peter Hollens' latest video (feat. his wife Evynne) is a Les Miserables medley. Enjoy! It's 100% A Cappella.

The Piano Guys' latest video is a cover of Phillip Phillips' Home. No lyrics - just piano and cello.

Other:

Yay, Scurvy Scallywags is submitted to the App store! Here's a trailer.

Wear your love for Hawkguy on your sleeve. By the way, Matt Fraction's commissions on these tees go towards Futures Without Violence. The only problem is, no girly tees. Sometimes, I feel like the lack of girly tees in nerddom seriously helps perpetuate the whole, "boys-only club" thing, which is the farthest away from reality, but still an unwelcoming feeling. That doesn't mean ladies shouldn't buy the Hawkguy gear, it just means that I personally won't, because I like wearing clothing that's designed with my gender in mind.

It's too bad these are only ornaments... I'd totally wear these Disney character-, princess-, and villain-inspired shoes!

(via GeeksAreSexy) Shopping malls are designed to make you spend money, and here's why.

(via Jeff Green) Ever wonder what Tatooine looks like when not occupied by Star Wars characters?

Angelina Jolie, who was at high risk for ovarian and breast cancer, chose to have a preventative double mastectomy in order to reduce her chances and thus, stick around longer to raise her kids, among other things. Her article on the matter is wonderful.

[Have a beautiful weekend!]

Elementary School Lunch: 05/17 - tastes like fishy chicken

2013-05-17T04:50:00.000-04:00

Today I experienced another first. Alongside one of our usual mixed greens salads, rice, and another miso soup (potato and onions this time), we had these sesame-covered chunks of Bonita! It's a new kind of fish for me, though I have had it in flakey form over various treats like okonomiyaki. Before I tried it, one of my co-workers said that it's a lot like chicken.

Indeed, the texture and taste was basically like that, except for the part where I was actually eating fish, so it had a fishy taste. Today you finally get kind of a view of my office mug, too. It's a cute little bear saying "Have a nice day."

Calorie count: 654

Elementary School Lunch: 05/16 - mmmm, ramen

2013-05-16T03:54:00.000-04:00

Today's lunch was pretty fun, featuring some ramen, salad, and dumplings.

The shumai had shrimp inside, and are steamed. The salad was mostly wakame and cucumber, with plain Japanese dressing, which was pretty tasty all things considered (I'm not the biggest fan of seaweed in general, but this was alright!). The tonkotsu ramen itself was served much in the same way as the udon last week. The cooked noodles were in portioned bags on the side, and the bowl just had the broth, with onion, carrot, pork, and other things mixed in. Altogether a fun and tasty meal!

Calorie count: 612

Elementary School Lunch: 05/15 - Vegetarian

2013-05-15T05:11:00.000-04:00

Today we had the first fully vegetarian lunch at my elementary school! The tray featured a heaping salad plate and a steaming veggie bowl, along with the red rice box and the milk I didn't drink (this was someone else's lunch I photographed).

The salad was the usual mixed lettuce, carrot, and cucumber, and just had some regular Japanese dressing. The bowl had (mostly) potato, tofu, carrot, and shiitake - all cooked. Some of my female co-workers were asking the nutritionist about it as we ate, and she told them about how easy it is to make. She only seasoned it with a small amount of salt, too. Everything was delicious~

Calorie count: 635

Elementary School Lunch: 05/14 - for real this time

2013-05-14T06:06:00.002-04:00

Today I can finally, for real, say that I had salmon for the first time. The last time I posted that, it turned out that we had actually eaten trout. A co-worker was very sure of herself when telling me today's lunch featured salmon though, so hurray for me! And like I said last time, I suppose I'd do it again. I wasn't one way or the other about it, but it wasn't bad.

What's all that black stuff, you ask? Why, it's seaweed! Lots of seaweed, with some carrots, konjac (a kind of potato that tastes like nothing but feels like firm jelly), and fried tofu mixed in. This, together with the salmon, made for some funky breath after lunch. But thankfully the Japanese tend to brush after every meal, so we didn't have to deal with any repercussions. I'm not even kidding, though -- they'll brush their teeth at their desks and then get up to go rinse at a sink somewhere. And until their teeth are brushed, they cover their mouths to speak so as to not offend anyone with their food breath. I've also taken to brushing after lunch and keep a toothbrush and some toothpaste at work now.

The bowl there is another iteration of miso soup, featuring pork, potato, carrot, and onions today. The picture is a little weird-looking and there's a chunk missing out of the fish and rice because I forgot to take it before digging in! I was just curious about the fishy plate.

Calorie count: 642

Comic Thoughts: Marvel's 'Hawkeye' Issue #10

2013-05-13T06:38:00.001-04:00

It's a little late, but I finally got around to reading Issue #10! I was pretty excited about it, because I'm interested in getting some background for the new killer that showed up in the story.

This issue also incorporated artwork by Francesco Francavilla, which came out looking nice considering the circumstances. Lots of flashbacks, and one ballsy move by Kate rounded things up here before we started seeing more comic flashbacks modeled from panels from last issue. Sad ones, I might add. I'm still not over what happened the last time (still spoiler-free for now!).

I'm getting a real creeper vibe from this new character, since he was kind of just watching Kate towards the end of this issue, but then again - he is a hit man, and probably after Clint. I guess Kate won't have to worry about him for long.

Despite the different art style, the theme with the colors (this issue: Chris Eliopoulos and VC's Clayton Cowles) remained themed as usual. The flashbacks with the new villain were a bit more detailed than usual, but otherwise it's the same pleasant look that I've come to love with this comic.

Can't wait for next time!

Elementary School Lunch: 05/13 - that isn't mold, it's just green

2013-05-13T06:01:00.000-04:00

Today's lunch was another rousing success. Our main dish was a won ton soup, which had some pork and veggies in it. In this version, the meat wasn't wrapped in the skins, but all of the necessary ingredients were still there. On the side, we've got some greens (lettuce and cucumber), with tiny blocks of some kind of cheese, and Caesar dressing. Our dessert today was blueberry jelly.

The fourth item on there, inside the bag, is another kind of age-pan. If you remember, the first time we had kinako age-pan, which had some soy bean powder on it. Today it was matcha age-pan, which had matcha, or powdered green tea on it. The bread itself was the same deep-fried thing. It was absolutely delicious.

Calorie count: 636

Friday Things: 05/10 - vampires, wizards, and zombies

2013-05-10T11:29:00.000-04:00

[Woop, TGIF! Got any plans? I personally am ridiculously happy because I bought myself a spiffy new camera bag and I'm excited to wear it out. It's so pretty! Basically this bag, but a light blue color.]

On Books:

If you don't follow Maureen Johnson on Twitter, I suggest you start now. She's usually rather fun, and more importantly, she's recently brought up the issue of gender in the world of authors, and how some men don't bother reading books by women because the covers of their books are "too girly." The result of this is Cover Flip. Maureen challenged her followers to create covers of books written by men as if they were written by and for women. HuffPo has a collection of covers.

This week, the last Sookie book by Charlaine Harris was released. There'll still be some short stories and such in compilations, but in terms of the big stuff, it's over. She wrote a thing for TOR about ending it. Now, everything would be fine and dandy if her "fans" weren't so rabidly upset with her. Seriously, what's wrong with people?

(semi-related: True Blood Season 6 trailer!)

I've never backed a Kickstarter campaign before, but I think this is finally going to be the one. I missed vol. 1 of Start Here by Book Riot, but thankfully it was so popular that they're funding a second one. Basically, it's a guide to reading books by particular authors, for folks who don't know where to start. Consider being a part of it! Only $5 gets you a digital copy. $10 gets you a copy plus vol. 1 if you missed it.

On Games:

Plants vs Zombies 2! Ah!

(via Kotaku) awesome Pokémon art for charity! All 151 of the original monsters have been recreated by 151 different artists. At the time of writing, there are still five days left to bid on this artwork.

On Harry Potter:

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is already rather awesome, but perhaps in response to WDW's Fantasyland expansion (this is my personal hypothesis), it looks like Universal Studios plans another of their own. Diagon Alley will be added to the Wizarding World! It's going to be in the Universal Studios park, and you'll be able to go between parks/lands via the Hogwarts Express. Epic!

Lovely, simple, cheap, Harry Potter-themed bracelet. I'm sure it'll make a great gift! (wink, wink)

On Japan (shameless self-promotion):

Recently, I wrote about what happened at my elementary school's evacuation drill - what the procedures were, and what the kids learned that day. I wish that our fire drills in the US were half as enriching.

There's an ice cream called Pino, like my name! I ate it on video. It's ok, I don't really know why, either.

Other:

The argument for boob plate armor ends here - it has been proven that wearing that can kill you.

Do you like webcomics? There's an app for that.

If you're a big fan of all things Disney, or just a big fan of Disney music, you might be interested in The Lost Chords. The music that was shelved in favor of the classic tunes we know and love today.

(via The Mary Sue) Do you like bad jokes? I love bad jokes.

[Alright, that looks spiffy for today. Enjoy the weekend!]

Only the Best: 'Skyrim' covers

2013-05-10T05:29:00.001-04:00

I've been finding more and more talented geek musicians on YouTube lately, and figured I'd start compiling collections of some of my favorites, separated by category. The first one is Skyrim because just yesterday I was exposed to two different covers that I absolutely loved, so here ya go.

It was hard to choose a song I liked best out of Malukah's repository, because huzzah for vocal covers! Seriously, this woman has the voice of an angel, and I have a good friend to thank for bringing her to my attention. Also consider checking out her blog.

Bonus: File this under "cover-ception" - someone covered Malukah's cover! It's rather pleasant to listen to.

Peter Hollens will come up twice on my list, only because he was a guest on someone else's cover of the same song. Here's the video for his solo a cappella version. This version of the song is available for download directly from the artist, too.

Since we've got Peter in there, let's highlight Lindsey Stirling's cover featuring him. I love most of Lindsey's work, and her videos are outstanding since many people get involved in the production. Apart from being able to download the song (or any of her other music), you could also just get some sheet music.

Jason Yang is one of the artists that I discovered yesterday (way too late). All of the music on his channel is spectacular, but of course, this list is about Skyrim. Like Miss Stirling above, Jason plays violin. Like what you see? Hit that download link.

Piano is my favorite instrument, so there was no way I'd let any cover list go without at least one featuring the best stringed instrument. I'm also partial to the fact that this is a geek girl duo (Taylor Davis and Lara). They have released a cover album together that you could totally buy and enjoy with your ear holes.

Advait Nemlekar didn't stop at the piano arrangement. He added strings and a synthesized orchestra behind him. Don't mind the cheesiness of the video and just enjoy the music. You could also download this track.

Am I missing anything?

Elementary School Lunch: 05-10 - double feature

2013-05-10T04:25:00.001-04:00

Whoops, I forgot to share yesterday's lunch! So today I'll give you both that and today's.

Yesterday, our main dish was udon, with a side dish of boiled veggies and little fishies. Dessert was "pudding," which is more like a custard, or for my Spanish-speaking friends, flan de huevos, complete with a little caramel/sugar syrup at the bottom.

The way udon worked here was we dumped the warm noodles a little at a time into the broth, which contained pork and veggies, and then ate them together. As for the side plate - I wasn't feeling adventurous enough yesterday to eat fish that were staring back at me, so I didn't partake. Yeah, I know; I'm a wuss.

Calorie count: 675

Today's lunch featured another wonderful miso soup, and the side plate had some salad with sesame dressing and this boiled pork with onion and stuff on the side. The miso soup was more on the plain side - some green onion, tofu, seaweed and carrot. The red tray is rice, as usual.

Not much to comment here, though the pork was interesting today. It didn't taste like much of anything, but then again, that's just me, the person who is used to food being seasoned and salted, talking. The salad was uber tasty, though. I would have gone for seconds of that.

Calorie count: 644

Elementary School Lunch: 05/08 - curry day part 2: The Chickening

2013-05-08T06:10:00.001-04:00

The first curry day we had this year was pork-based, and absolutely delicious. For this second curry day, we got chicken-flavored. The curry had some veggies in there along with quail eggs, of all things. That was a first for me.

On the side, we've got some salad, featuring lettuce and asparagus, corn and other random greens. Today's dressing was a delicious Italian. That red box is the usual rice, and I brought an orange from home for dessert, which I shared with some of my co-workers. I pretty much cleaned my tray today, including the rice. As usual, I left the milk.

Calorie count: 687

Elementary School Lunch: 05/07 - veggie revenge

2013-05-07T08:53:00.004-04:00

Does the above tray look familiar?

Why yes, this is a reprise of a pork, veggie and seaweed bowl that I had towards the end of last month, except this time we didn't get any fruit for dessert, and the salad had plain sesame dressing rather than a creamy one. It was just as delicious the second time around, and I'm hoping this is one of the plates that'll get reused rather often.

Today, the principal ate two helpings of the veggie bowl. The reason behind that was because rather than just one huge pot, the folks in the kitchen had to make the same thing separated into two in order to prepare enough for the entire school. Since there were two different pots, the principal had to eat two heaping bowls of the stuff. Usually, I'd say I'm not jealous of him and this particular task, but considering how good this dish is, I would have definitely gone for seconds and given up my tray of rice (of which I still left a third, anyhow).

Calorie count: 652 (including milk carton, not pictured)

Friday Things: 05/03 - Saturday Edition

2013-05-04T08:55:00.000-04:00

[It's a little late because I was having some computer troubles! But all is well. It's also Golden Week in Japan right now, so hurrah for holidays! I'm off until Tuesday, which is awesome.]

On books:

Are you an author? That's cool, just don't be awful and, like, be a jerk to people who don't like your books; or worse, sic your fanbase on 'em.

Absolutely love geeky weddings! This shoot is based on Neil Gaiman's novel Stardust.

File this under awesome shelving ideas... these shelves look like paper blowing away.

Shakespearean Insult Bandages. Need I say more?

On Photography:

This is apparently kind of old, but fstoppers brought it back - Brad Pitt took some great photos of Angelina Jolie a while ago. Sometimes, it's not about your skills as a photographer, but rather the passion you have for the subject. And it shows.

Glow sticks + waterfalls + long exposure = I can't adequately describe how beautiful the results are.

RocketNews24 pretty much wrote the perfect, most descriptive title for this one: "Sunrise Over a Sea of Clouds at Nearly 10,000 Feet."

On Video Games:

I seriously need to play Guacamelee.

If you're clear for Skyward Sword spoilers, there's a good argument on TOR for a Zelda-as-the-hero Legend of Zelda game following the events that ended that one (or really, any title that had her taking a more active role in the story).

Other:

In case you've been following any of Disney Interactive's web series and shorts, here are some of their upcoming projects.

via my buddy Romney, check out ten words about love that don't exist in the English language.

A new momma attended a panel with Wil Wheaton and asked him why it's awesome being a nerd. His response (in video) is wonderful.

Tinkerbell goes steampunk!

via Geeks Are Sexy - this girl might be my new favorite YouTube geek musician. Like, she's giving Lindsey Stirling a run for her money in my personal rankings.

[To make up for this being a bit later than usual, I made it a bit longer than usual! Have a great weekend!]

Elementary School Lunch: 05/02 - funky combo

2013-05-03T10:30:00.001-04:00

It's a tad late, but here's a look at my lunch from Thursday!

The main plate consisted of pasta and fried fish, accompanied by kuropan, soup, and dango for dessert.

The pasta was penne with home-made (school kitchen-made?) tomato sauce, which tasted divine. The fish today was horse mackerel, which was rather tasty, too. On the side, there's a cabbage and bacon soup, with some sneaky carrots in there for good measure.

The kuropan (this literally translates to dark bread, or black bread) is a little darker because it contains brown sugar as a key ingredient. As a result, it was just a bit sweeter than typical white bread, and it went well with the rest of the meal.

The wrapped thing you see there is the dango. It's a kind of sweet, sort of like a dumpling. The outer bit is made of a rice flour dough, and the filling was anko, or sweet bean paste. These were all hand-made by the kitchen wizards as well, and they tasted amazing. Having them wrapped in leaves and appearing like an oversized candy was a nice touch and surely a lot of work, too. The leaves looked like they're from bamboo.

Calorie count: 678.

(note, I made an edit to my lunch post from a few days ago - I mistakenly called the fish dish salmon, but it was actually trout, I learned later.)

Elementary School Lunch: 05/01 - start fresh

2013-05-01T06:31:00.000-04:00

The first lunch of May featured a Chinese main dish, some soup on the side, and a heap of rice. It doesn't look like much, but as usual, it was more filling than anticipated.

I didn't catch the name of the main dish, but the key components were eggs and pork. The soup itself was the usual miso, but with tons of veggies in it. Nothing too special to report here today, though I'm happy to note that I had a chat with my principal and the nutritionist during lunch time. I asked if I could help plan a Cuban meal for the school sometime this year, and I got a "yes!" It'd be sometime after summer break, and I need to do the leg-work with the recipes, but I'm thrilled that they're willing to let me share my soul food with the students and staff in the form of our daily lunch. Now I just have to decide what'll be cheap and easy to make based on the availability of ingredients here.

Calorie count, including the milk I left for someone else: 657

Elementary School Lunch: 04/30 - End the month with a...

2013-04-30T10:28:00.000-04:00

It's the last day of April and I've enjoyed the last item of our menu for this month! When I got into work this morning, the new menu for May was there. A whole new month with a list of meals with slightly more calories than the ones we enjoyed in April. I wonder why that is? Maybe since it's getting a bit warmer, we're expected to need more energy? But at the very least, all of the meals still clock in under 700 calories.

Today's lunch featured trout (updated from last time - it looked like salmon, but wasn't!) as the main meat, with some salad, soup, rice, and a strawberry jell-o-type thing for dessert. This was a pretty huge meal, all things considered - I was definitely stuffed, even though I left half of the rice. By the way, we're in Golden Week right now, so yesterday was a holiday (no school!). This week, I'm only working Tuesday-Thursday, so unless I have some festival foods this weekend, I'll be taking a few days off from lunch posts until I'm back in the classroom next week.

Today was my first time eating trout. It was an alright experience - I'd do it again. It doesn't taste nearly as awful as the stuff smells.

The miso soup featured seaweed this time around, along with the tofu and other veggies. Our salad had this dressing that tasted a bit like peanut, but I was told by the nutritionist that it was actually sesame! It vaguely reminded me of tahini, and then I started craving hummus. Drat.

The dessert was basically a cross between strawberry preserves and strawberry jell-o. Both were part of it, and the thing was in the freezer at some point earlier in the day. By the time it got to us, it was easy to eat, but still quite frosty. Definitely a nice end to the meal.

Calorie count: 648.

Graphic Novel Review: 'Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Sleepy Hollow'

2013-04-29T10:59:00.001-04:00

The Grimm Fairy Tale comics are a series of classic stories with modern settings, twists, and expansions, which I've largely overlooked until recently. The first Grimm-titled book I picked up is a spin-off mini-series for the story of Sleepy Hollow. I read it digitally and it's in the form of a graphic novel, collecting all four parts of this story, which was just published on April 9th.

The general (original) story of Sleepy Hollow and the Headless Horseman has all of the elements we know from pop culture. A professor from out of town woos a pretty (and rich) lady that was the object of desire of that town's bully. The bully wants to get him out of the way, and presumably uses the old legend of a headless horseman to dress up and scare him away. He kills the professor, marries the girl, and the town is left to wonder about what happened. What this comic has done is take these basic elements and spit out an even more gruesome cautionary tale, made much more relatable to modern times by turning the professor into a teachers' aide college student, and fighting over grades rather than a girl.

In this version of the Sleep Hollow story, our main character is a college kid who lives with a jock room mate. He shows up to the gym one day and is told one of the basketball team's players needs to get his grades up. When he refuses to simply give up the answers to the test, our hero's fate is sealed. What started as a vicious prank to get him to talk turns into a horrible accident. And then, of course, their own Tarrytown (the very same one which originated the original story of Sleepy Hollow) gets to see just how real the old myth of the Headless Horseman is.

What I enjoyed about these comics is, of course, using something that's known and putting a spin on it. The imagery is dark and twisted, and I absolutely loved the attention to detail with some of the characters, who were given flashbacks just before revenge was exacted on them. There was some back-story as well, showing us the parallel between the original story and how history eventually repeated itself. There's a surprise twist at the end that kind of took me for a loop as well, and I wish that there had been an extra flashback to expand on it even more (no spoilers)!

One of the other great things about this book is you don't have to be familiar with the main series in order to enjoy it. It stands alone, though there's a character that comes up at the end that ties it in to the rest. Truthfully, it's gotten me interested in reading more of these comics. I'm really curious as to what direction has been taken for many of my favorite stories!

Finally, for being a horror story, it isn't actually that scary. It might be because the core myth has been a part of my life long enough that I don't find it scary anymore. But nonetheless, you shouldn't lose much sleep over it. You might lose a few hours when you decide to pick up more of these books, though. Give this one a read! (A note for parents: I recommend this for teens and up, but it's also kind of a "know your kid" situation.)

The main team involved with this book are:

Dan Wickline (writer, all four issues - lots of horror experience, including other titles in the Grimm collection)
Ralph Tedesco (writer, issue #1 - also lots of horror experience, and tons in the Grimm collection)
AC Osorio (penciller, all four issues)
Chandran Ponnusamy (colors, issue #1)
Erick Arciniega (colors, issues #2-4)

Several artists were showcased at the end where all of the individual issue covers were printed: Matt Triano, Stjepan Sejic, Marat Mychaels, Alé Garza, Eric Johnson, Simon Gough, and Sean Ellery. The story credit goes to Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, and Raven Gregory.

Transparency: I received Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Sleepy Hollow graphic novel as a digital review copy via Diamond Book Distributors on Netgalley.

Buy it at Amazon:

'Hope: The Other Side of Adventure' gives you the stolen Princess' version of events

2013-04-27T01:37:00.000-04:00

[Important Update: I've been informed by the developer that the "ending" I experienced (it was a black screen) was not the actual ending, but a bug! I'll update again when I've actually played the true end. Thanks, Mr Roboto!]

I've just finished "playing" a "game" on my iPad titled Hope: The Other Side of Adventure. I had read a little bit about it on TouchArcade and was curious enough to give it a download (it's free, so why not?) and see what this non-game was all about.

Hope takes place over the course of six real-life days, in which you get to take a look at what the Princess is doing after she's been stolen away from her Prince Charming. Usually, we take on the role of the Prince for these stories, and run through different zones, complete challenges, beat bosses, and eventually save her. Mr. Roboto, intended this to be more of a reading and listening experience in which we hear the Princess' inner dialogue while she paces around her gross tower chamber.

On the first day, she's nothing but hopeful. As the days go by and her situation gets worse and worse, her appearance and dialogue also deteriorate. Hope is a dramatic exploration of the kind of torment a kidnapped person might face in a situation like hers, and ~~I won't spoil the ending, but man. That one was a bit tough~~. (Please note the above update - I haven't experienced the true ending. I just saw a black screen and assumed the absolute worst!)

While you're listening to her speak, you could walk around the room, and either sigh or cry. The controls are that simple, and most days, I only used the walking controls since the sighing and crying buttons sometimes drowned out her speech. After your visit is over for the night, the screen would go black but the music would continue. The main theme song added a lot of atmosphere to the overall experience. It's a sad song with slow, even pacing, and one heck of an ear worm.

Each day, this game will only take up about five minutes of your time, or more if you stick around to listen to the whole song. Feel free to check out the trailer, which shows the game's intro, and it should be universally available for all iOS devices. Once again, Hope is free, and it only takes a short time, so if you're able to download it, it's worth it for you to at least listen to it for the first day.