http://magikarp46.com/words/ Blog posts from Rachel "TripleRach" Oliver about things and other things. Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:22:00 GMT en-us http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=590 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=590 Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:22:00 GMT Kamen Rider shows to help me fall asleep. (Not that they're boring, but I'll talk more about that another time.) And as I watched episode 33 of Ryuki, I was on the verge of dozing off until I got to the end of the episode.

Without ruining it for anyone who's never seen the show, the end of this episode has a deliciously over-dramatic slow motion sequence backed by an amazing instrumental song. Folding laundry has never been so hype. But I also knew I'd heard that song somewhere before, so I was suddenly wide awake and searching the web to figure out what it was.

Read more... ]]> anecdote television pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=551 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=551 Sat, 12 May 2012 14:10:00 GMT Terminator franchise, and in the Cell arc of Dragon Ball. But I believe the similarities between these two series go beyond mere coincidence.

In explaining these similarities, I'll obviously have to spoil major plot points from both series. So, be warned, if that's actually a concern to anyone. But note that I'll only be referencing the first two Terminator movies, since everything else was produced long after Dragon Ball ended.

Read more... ]]> dissection television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=539 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=539 Thu, 5 Apr 2012 19:11:00 GMT all the same interests as me.) Also, I hate spoilers, and I don't want to risk spoiling things for other people without the ability to warn first. And I rarely watch anything within 24 hours of its airing, so it's odd to try striking up conversations about things that aired days, weeks, or even months ago.

But anyway. My TV rambles have always been more talking than writing, so I've been wanting to try doing it in audio form for a while. But I couldn't really use my microphone until recently. And on a whim I decided to try it out in late February, rather than waiting until summer. So rather than typing up unordered lists for each episode, I recorded myself saying sentences. It's still just as disjointed, but with brief silence instead of bullet points for separation. And I ended up doing stuff for January, February, and March episodes, so I'm not gonna bother listing every show before the cut. Also, there are no text spoilers, but there are tons of them in the audio files.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=536 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=536 Fri, 6 Jan 2012 15:27:00 GMT
Read more... ]]> contemplation general http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=526 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=526 Thu, 5 Jan 2012 11:46:00 GMT
Anyway, many many sentences this time. There are thoughts on November/December episodes of Kaizoku Sentai Goukaiger, Kamen Rider Fourze, Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes, and Chuck; the mid-season finales of 90210, CSI: Cheers, Young Justice, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars; the season finale of South Park; the something finale of ThunderCats; and the series finale of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Everything is a spoiler for everything, and you can use the anchor links to hop around between shows.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=522 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=522 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:37:00 GMT not trying to sell you on anything or change your mind. I'm only trying to explain my own reasons and maybe clear up some misinformation. In other words, this is meant to be informative rather than persuasive. And I feel the need to give this little warning up front because the subject in question is one of the most polarizing forms of entertainment in existence. So much so that non-fans probably would have stopped reading by now, which would be unfortunate considering that's my target audience in writing this.

Read more... ]]> contemplation pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=515 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=515 Thu, 3 Nov 2011 19:21:00 GMT Chuck; the mid-season premiere of South Park; and October episodes of Kaizoku Sentai Goukaiger, Kamen Rider Fourze, 90210, CSI: Cheers, Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and ThunderCats. Lots of stuff and such, including thousands of spoilers, so watch out, and use the anchor links to help avoid stuff.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=504 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=504 Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:14:00 GMT 90210, CSI: Cheers, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars; the series premiere of Kamen Rider Fourze; and the September episodes of Kaizoku Sentai Goukaiger and Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes. So a mix of new and old subjects, and of course lots and lots of spoilers, so be careful.

This isn't exactly the new format I wanted to try, because computer problems ruined my plans. But I kind of like this one, so maybe I won't bother to try that anyway.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=499 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=499 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:37:00 GMT the official site. Then another month passed before I watched it again because... I don't know. But anyway, these were some South Park episodes, and below are my scattered, mixed-tense little thoughts on them. There are many spoilers, as usual.

There is a chance that this will be the last post of this type, but that depends on how well my experiment goes.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=495 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=495 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:11:00 GMT Season Eight so I could figure out what the story was with Season Nine. (IE, is Whedon involved, or is it gonna be bad fanfiction like Angel: Aftermath?)

And after the previous arc, I assumed I'd want to write some kind of ramble or review for issues #36-40. But I'm not going to do that. All I really have to say is, "Well, that was pretty good. They salvaged that craziness into something cool after all." Instead, I'm going to talk about all these new (to me) franchise comic developments. There will be a few spoilers, in case you're actually further behind than I am.

Read more... ]]> contemplation comics http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=489 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=489 Mon, 30 May 2011 14:07:00 GMT Batman: The Brave and the Bold, partly because I prioritized hour long shows first, and partly because Cartoon Network Video's release schedule stopped making any sense. But now I'm all caught up again, and I'm here to share with you some sentence fragments that also don't make much sense (even to me, when trying to decipher my own notes). I think there are spoilers in there, so be careful.

After this, there's only one other TV show I might post about like this in the near future. But I might experiment with an entirely new TV rambling format over the summer, and if that works out, I'll probably do that with everything in the fall. So, stay tuned, I guess.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=484 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=484 Tue, 24 May 2011 16:46:00 GMT 90210 has thankfully been renewed. Luckily I have many other projects and things to help pass the time. And to help you pass the time until I finish those other projects, you can read my thoughts on the end of this season, but of course there are spoilers.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=469 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=469 Sat, 21 May 2011 02:01:00 GMT fifth and final season. Which is great, because the finale to this season just begs for continuation. What an ending! Read on for my brief thoughts of the last few episodes, but note that there are tons of giant spoilers. But that's not an issue, because I'm sure you're going to marathon the show over the summer and then join me for the final season in the fall.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=472 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=472 Wed, 18 May 2011 10:04:00 GMT
And now the adventures end after all these years. Was it worth all the waiting? You can read my thoughts on it below, which are in a slightly different format than usual. I gave live thoughts on the finale on IRC, and I've pasted most of my quotes here. After that, I wrote a final analysis in more complete form. This is full of spoilers, of course, but you can watch the entire thing on the CW's site yourself (at least for now).

Read more... ]]> review television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=459 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=459 Mon, 9 May 2011 19:17:00 GMT Pokemon White before the Victini event ended. And I use the word "legible" loosely, because I pretty much just added capital letters and punctuation to my rambly notes, and that was it.

But enough with the facetious self-deprecation. There was a lot to do in Pokemon Black even after the credit scroll. Such as an irresistible sidequest, catching legendaries, and a third of the region I hadn't explored yet. Read on for my post-game adventures, full of many many spoilers. You have been warned.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=455 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=455 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:01:00 GMT Chuck because Monday nights have been extra loaded for me this spring. I've had to watch Dancing With The Stars for Chris Jericho, I've had to watch Tough Enough for Booker T, Stargate Universe moved to Mondays for its final episodes... All on top of my usual Monday shows (90210, Chuck, Raw, Daily Show/Colbert Report). And I end up watching Chuck last because it's the easiest to avoid spoilers for. I'm sure this is all the fault of Jon Kyl, because he's jealous that he isn't Scott Bakula's son (Not Intended To Be A Factual Statement).

So anyway, Chuck. It's currently on the bubble (again), so this could be the final season. But it's not over yet, so here are some words about recent episodes that I threw at a text editor like it was a dartboard. There are many spoilers, as usual. (Also, the Jon Kyl jokes are meant to be a double joke on how out-of-date I am on everything. I'll probably get bored of it very soon, if I'm not already.)

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=451 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=451 Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:40:00 GMT
Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=442 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=442 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:32:00 GMT Pokemon Black until I got to the ending. Although, it seems like this second half of the game was much longer than the first, because this log is approximately 32% longer than Part 1. Whatever the case may be, there are a million plot spoilers here, among other things. So don't read any further if that bothers you. Or even if it doesn't. I think the "writing" got even worse since last time, mainly because I really want to hurry up and start White.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=436 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=436 Sun, 13 Mar 2011 04:41:00 GMT Pokemon Black. And Pokemon White too, but I got Black first and haven't touched White yet. Anyway, my goal was to go into this game as fresh and blind as possible. No planning my team, no looking up catching details, no looking up the teams of gym leaders or rivals, etc. I don't know much about the new Pokemon either, so a lot of their types and evolutions are complete mysteries to me. I also did my best to avoid spoilers about the overall plot and other minor details, but I did read up on a lot of the new features before the games were released in Japan.

I took a lot of notes as I played, and I ended up including many plot spoilers that I didn't want to try editing around. So, be warned. There are many spoilers, and many words in general (in mostly disjointed sentences and paragraphs). I dread proofreading it all. Also, can you figure out the totally clever naming scheme I used?

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=430 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=430 Mon, 7 Mar 2011 16:05:00 GMT good episodes. More painfully long breaks between new episodes. More Claudia Black. More earring cliffhangers. More South Park references in my rambles. And more spoilers.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=422 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=422 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:37:00 GMT an old South Park episode while trying to fall asleep, and a few particular lines stuck out to me. Richard Dawkins started talking to Mrs. Garrison about flying spaghetti monsters. And I thought to myself, "Hey, wait a minute. Didn't Futurama have an actual flying spaghetti monster in their episode about the evolution debate? I remember it saying something like, 'I am a flying spaghetti monster. Do you mean to say that I evolved from some kind of manicotti?'" I thought it was too much of a coincidence that two shows with episodes about the evolution debate would feature something as particular as flying spaghetti monsters, so I started thinking that Futurama (the newer episode) had ripped off South Park.

I love both of those shows, so this was a startling realization for me. I started writing this big comparison between the two episodes in my head, until I then switched to the idea of making a YouTube video out of it. I've never uploaded a YouTube video before, so I was getting excited thinking about how I'd make it. I would use low quality screenshots and audio instead of full clips, to make it as fair use as possible, and I'd record some narration for it. Thinking about all of this greatly reduced my tiredness, so I decided I'd at least take some screenshots and make some notes while I was up and it was on my mind.

First I searched around the web to make notes about the two episodes, and to see if anyone else had already pointed this out. And in the process, I discovered that "flying spaghetti monster" wasn't just a throwaway term from South Park. It was around well before that episode, and is a pretty widespread argument in the evolution debate. In fact, while reading about it, I realized I had heard about all this before, but I guess it slipped my mind at some point.

So, obviously, Futurama didn't steal the concept from South Park. I would have felt pretty stupid if I'd made a whole big comparison project out of it and (re-)learned all this later. Crisis averted, I guess. But I am kind of disappointed that I no longer have an idea for my first YouTube video, and I won't get to talk to myself on a microphone. Maybe some other day I'll have my chance to be on YouTube. ]]> anecdote general http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=418 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=418 Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:19:00 GMT Chuck's fourth season has been a little weak compared to the previous ones, but I still enjoy the show, and hope it doesn't get canceled for real this time. Here I will say some things about the most recent episodes in barely complete sentences. I assume there are spoilers, but I am writing this paragraph after the below stuff and haven't proofread it yet, and I forget what I said. But just to be safe, you should also assume there are spoilers.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=407 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=407 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:42:00 GMT Dragon Ball manga. It's one of my most prized possessions. I love it so much that I summarized each chapter on my site years ago, as my way of sharing its contents with the world. Curtis Hoffmann's summaries were what inspired me to buy the manga in the first place, so I was sort of hoping to do the same for others. And I still love it enough that I'm gradually trying to clean up those summaries, along with a few other things that give me an excuse to re-read the series.

Over the years, I've also complained many times about the additions and alterations in its anime adaptations. Back in the day, people would get outright offended when I told them something was "filler" during in-universe arguments. But I still enjoy watching the anime, or at least most of it. Even if it isn't my ideal version of the story, it still has wonderful acting and music, along with lots of pretty colors. And the crappy anime-original material still had its charm, even if it's just ironic enjoyment in some cases. (Like seeing a lengthy flashback of Piccolo's life story as Gokuu and Freeza duke it out on an exploding planet. That's just amazing.)

Read more... ]]> contemplation television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=401 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=401 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:40:00 GMT
And this is the end of my sorry excuse for November sweeps coverage, so everything will go back to normal soon. Not that I know what "normal" actually is in this case.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=393 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=393 Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:56:00 GMT The CW's site at the moment, so you should go watch them, and then come back and read my thoughts, because I spoiled all the things.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=390 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=390 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:20:00 GMT Star Wars prequel trilogy. And it seems to be getting better all the time. Read on to see me babble about it, if you don't mind spoilers, and weren't scared away by the pilot movie.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=386 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=386 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:41:00 GMT Animated Series elitist who has no interest in ever seeing The Batman, I love this show so much. And we got a particularly awesome crop of episodes recently. I hope you've seen them yourself, because there are a ton of spoilers.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=384 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=384 Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:14:00 GMT Chuck continues to fill me with thoughts, and I continue to throw them at the internet. Everything is a spoiler, but you don't care, because you've been watching it too, right?

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=370 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=370 Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:19:00 GMT South Park still exists, for at least another year. Recent episodes have been pretty weak in comparison to the older stuff, so maybe they really should consider ending it after next season. But I still watch it regularly, and don't regret my continued viewership. So here are some words about the recent superhero trilogy and the season finale. Everything is a spoiler!

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=376 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=376 Wed, 8 Dec 2010 14:53:00 GMT NaNoWriMo, I was attempting to consistently work on a project throughout the month of November. Not a novel (maybe next year), but some things for the site. And I was pretty consistent about it, but not at the quantity I desired. Anyway, since I intended to focus my free time almost entirely on this project, it wouldn't leave much room for other activities, like watching television. But I came up with a great idea to counter that: November sweeps. I could justify watching TV by "covering" the November sweeps episodes of all the shows I keep up with by making more of my disjointed rambles about them. So I watched shows while I worked on my project, and made notes that I later turned into complete sentences (though some things are still only in note form, as of this writing).

Read more... ]]> anecdote meta http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=363 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=363 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:16:00 GMT COICA bill.

But I have also never been a fan of censorship. And this bill reeks of potential censorship. Claims of piracy have been used to target political activists in Russia, after all. I'd like to think the US government wouldn't do things like that, but if this bill gets passed, especially with such vague wording, what's to stop them? It has very unsettling implications, and I'm not the only one who thinks it could crap all over the First Amendment.

Read more... ]]> contemplation general http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=357 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=357 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:52:00 GMT Smallville. If you're wondering where my post about episode 1-3 are, you're not missing anything; I didn't have anything to say about those episodes. (Other than maybe, "Oh, Smallville.") So, obviously, I'm not going to be saying things about every show I watch. Everything is a spoiler, although there isn't much detail.

And if you're wondering where all the non-TV posts are, then they're just not done yet. I have some I've been writing in my head for a while, but actually typing them out has been difficult lately.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=351 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=351 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:52:00 GMT Chuck is now on its fourth season. Even better is that NBC just ordered more episodes for this season. The show hasn't lost its touch at all, and I have some scattered things to say about each episode thus far. Everything below is a spoiler, so beware.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=344 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=344 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:09:00 GMT 90210's delicious soap opera goodness. I like this show far too much, and it hurts my soul that there was no episode this week. But luckily for my warped perception of time, next week is only a few hours away. Anyway, everything is a spoiler, so you have been warned.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=337 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=337 Mon, 11 Oct 2010 23:43:00 GMT NXT Season 1. Season 2 was definitely a step down, but I was still pleased with it. And now we're in the all-female Season 3, which only had four episodes air on TV before becoming a web exclusive (at least in the US) last week. I think there are some positive aspects to it, and so far, I like most of these girls better than the current crop of WWE Divas. But I have a feeling this show will die soon, with Michael Cole ballroom dancing on its grave.

Read more... ]]> review pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=328 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=328 Sat, 25 Sep 2010 03:07:00 GMT 90210 Season 3. It's one of the reasons I started a blog in the first place; I have no one to talk to about this increasingly awesome show. There are many spoilers, but I haven't bothered to hide them this time, because I'd pretty much have to block out everything.

I don't plan on making single posts about multiple shows at once anymore, but I may group multiple episodes of the same show together like this sometimes. I've had a big backlog of TV episodes to watch lately, so I've fallen behind on everything.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=324 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=324 Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:51:00 GMT
I have sometimes complained about my hatred for all these wiki projects on IRC. So I thought perhaps I should articulate those thoughts on the web. It probably won't stop me from complaining about it on IRC, though.

Read more... ]]> contemplation general http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=319 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=319 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:32:00 GMT Summerslam, which is WWE's #2 annual pay-per-view after WrestleMania. If you stalk my personal Twitter (different from the new-ish site Twitter), you may have noticed I had a lot of issues with WWE's webcast of the show. But I persevered, and I enjoyed what I did get to see.

Read more... ]]> review pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=310 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=310 Sun, 8 Aug 2010 21:10:00 GMT Hardcore Justice, is of course going to be an ECW reunion show. I have many thoughts about this matter, such as, "Will anyone besides WWE's lawyers actually care enough to order it?"

Read more... ]]> contemplation pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=303 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=303 Fri, 6 Aug 2010 05:51:00 GMT Yoshi's Island DS a month or so ago (used, because it appears to be out of print). I thought it would spend a few years rotting in my large pile of games that are yet to be played or finished, but a power outage changed all that. I got through a good chunk of the game, and I have a lot of scattered thoughts about it. If for some reason you're actually concerned with the plot of a Yoshi platformer, then don't worry, because there are no spoilers.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=298 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=298 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:27:00 GMT began talking about some huge secret thing that would "change TNA on every level." Not that I'm calling her a liar, but I have a hard time believing that any one thing or person is capable of swooping in and saving TNA anymore. Except maybe Paul Heyman, but apparently it's bigger than him. What the hell could it be, then!?

(Also, I realize this is probably my worst headline yet, but that's exactly why I had to use it.)

Read more... ]]> contemplation pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=295 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=295 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:58:00 GMT Juuken Sentai Gekiranger for a while, partly because I'd heard good things about it, and partly because the martial arts theme intrigued me. A couple weeks' worth of insomnia and aches allowed me to finally watch the series very recently, from beginning to end. And I really liked it, mostly. No spoilers.

Read more... ]]> review television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=290 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=290 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:47:00 GMT Buffy Season Eight #32-35, and now I'm finally caught up again for the first time in many months. But I'm also not sure what just happened. Did I read a few issues of Buffy, or did I somehow ingest something hallucinogenic? Is today Wednesday or Thursday? Or is it Friday already? There are spoilers everywhere, but they are as cleverly disguised as Twilight's true identity.

Read more... ]]> ramble comics http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=285 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=285 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:58:00 GMT pseudo-reality show, NXT, apparently ended last week, and the second season already starts tonight. I have many things to say about both of those matters.

Read more... ]]> review pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=279 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=279 Fri, 28 May 2010 23:42:00 GMT Smallville, 90210, Lost, and Chuck. There are many spoilers, but I've blocked them out with color codes.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=269 http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=269 Thu, 27 May 2010 18:27:00 GMT Final Fantasy XIII. No plot spoilers.

Read more... ]]> review video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=267 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=267 Fri, 21 May 2010 03:26:00 GMT Things From Another World until I moved. But after I moved, the comic store here turned out to be 25 minutes away (which isn't much better), and rarely has what I'm looking for in stock, so I decided to just keep ordering comics from TFAW.

Fast forward to the present. They shipped my copy of Buffy #34 in early April, and come the middle of May, it never got here.

Read more... ]]> anecdote general http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=260 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=260 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:53:00 GMT Chuck, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Lost, Melrose Place, and South Park. No spoilers.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=251 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=251 Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:04:00 GMT Raw, Chuck, Inuyasha: Final Act, Melrose Place, and South Park. I don't think I know anyone besides myself that also enjoys all of those five things. Anyway, there are a few spoilers, but they're hidden.

Read more... ]]> ramble television pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=244 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=244 Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:17:00 GMT
Read more... ]]> review pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=233 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=233 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:07:00 GMT Impact!, so I figure this is the best time to discuss their new efforts. And if I didn't know any better, I'd swear they listened to my complaints, because I genuinely enjoyed these two shows.

And this is only going to be about Impact! and TNA, because it's a subject that deserves its own discussion without being compared to anything else, at least for now.

Read more... ]]> review pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=221 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=221 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:56:00 GMT Final Fantasy XIII this time. In fact, I'm past the end. But there are still no spoilers as I discuss my adventures in the final chunk of the game. So much for beating it before the English version came out, though.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=217 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=217 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:45:00 GMT Impact! to Mondays permanently, starting tonight. In the exact same 9-11 timeslot that WWE's Raw runs in, no less. This effectively marks the return of the "Monday Night Wars," or so the TNA side would have you believe. But I'm not sure it will be much of a battle for either side.

Read more... ]]> contemplation pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=207 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=207 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:36:00 GMT Final Fantasy XIII. Still no spoilers, unless you don't want to see an extremely vague reference to a plot point from Final Fantasy V.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=201 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=201 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:04:00 GMT Final Fantasy XIII coverage. I feel like I might be nearing the ending, but it's hard to tell exactly. No spoilers, as usual.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=190 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=190 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:51:00 GMT Raw, Lost, Chuck, and Inuyasha: Final Act. So close to having all one word name shows, but the last one had to go and add a subtitle. Spoilers are hidden.

Read more... ]]> ramble television pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=182 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=182 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:38:00 GMT Final Fantasy XIII, and got pretty far. I unlocked more abilities, and got to "Chapter 6." Still no spoilers.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=160 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=160 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:39:00 GMT no spoilers. I wanted to get a little further into the game before I did a second part, but since Sony broke my poor obese console, this is the best I can do for now. And if I waited until they fixed things, I'd probably forget all this stuff anyway.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=146 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=146 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:36:00 GMT NXT, their newest series, premiered this week. Of course I was going to watch it, but sometimes I have an opinion about things, and sometimes those opinions are made up of multiple words, so... Analysis ahoy.

Read more... ]]> review pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=123 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=123 Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:43:00 GMT no spoilers here, so fear not. I was going to try to do a live-ish collection of thoughts and notes, but it didn't take long for me to find myself too busy with it to keep stopping to type things. Instead, I'm just going to do a little summary of my experience thus far. I'm currently at a save point shortly after unlocking the "Crystarium" ability system.

Read more... ]]> log video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=81 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=81 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:39:00 GMT Final Fantasy XIII recently, and just received it the other day, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet. As an experiment, I'm going to try doing some sort of "coverage" here of my playthrough of it. Unlike most people interested in this game, however, I completely skipped the PS2 generation. Unless you count the PC version of Final Fantasy XI, which I bought when it first came out in the US, and it was horrible back then. Otherwise, I've only played I-IX, so this will be my first game with voice acting, and my first game without Uematsu's music. I don't really know or care what the deal is with the main song, either. I just don't like playing Final Fantasy games in English because I'm a bitter old lady.

But anyway, first, I'd like to talk about the version I got. I bought it because it was (and still is, as of this writing) on sale at PlayAsia for much less than its normal price. In fact, it's less than what the US version costs. And that's even with shipping factored in, if you pick a cheap option. But even though it's in Japanese, it's not exactly the version released in Japan. It's a Japanese language version of the game released in countries like Hong Kong and Taiwan. But it is NTSC (supporting 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p, according to the back cover), and everything from the manual to the game itself (I have checked that much) is Japanese only. There is one extra sheet that includes Chinese and English translations of the menus and controls, though. But otherwise, it's almost identical to the Japanese version, content-wise. It just doesn't have that code for Final Fantasy XIV, which I'm guessing one wouldn't be able to use unless they had a Japanese residence anyway. So if you are interested in importing the game, this version seems just as good as the one from Japan. Though, I honestly don't know which song is used, not having played it yet, aside from the opening video and options menu. But I'd assume it's the Japanese song, since all the other audio is in Japanese.

Anyway, I took some pictures of the case and manual and stuff, for those who might be curious about it. And before you think it, turning the flash off would have made these look even worse. My camera sucks. But click them for full-size. Read more... ]]> dissection video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=113 http://magikarp46.com/blog/?p=113 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:32:00 GMT come back to Rachel's Page. That is, it's on my own server now, so yay. And with purely my own layout that is (or will be, in most cases) used on the rest of the site. The parts of the site that do have this layout don't have the new banner yet, though. It's actually an update of an old "Use this to link here" banner I'd made partially as a joke back in 2001, which is why Chris Jericho has so much hair, and why it's so tacky. But the picture of me is recent (the previous one was from 1998), and had major lighting issues that I couldn't fix, which is why it's grayscale'd. That, and I guess it helps keep me stealthy compared to the rest.

Anyway, blog, new/old location. I think I still have a few kinks to work out, but for the most part, I guess it's finally ready for a public debut. I had a nice little run on Blogspot, but I'm a control freak, so it just wasn't sufficient for me. But on that note, if you're using the custom RSS feed I mentioned last month, you shouldn't have any problems with the transition. If not, then I guess this might be the last post you ever see, unless you take note of this and go to the new URL.

I haven't been able to do much thought spewing lately, partially because I was busy setting up all this, but I definitely do have plenty to spew. For one, I still have that Lunar Navy thing, as well as things to say about TaXatioN, Hulk vs Mindfreak, Esmeraude, and the 13th Warrior/Monk/Thief/Red Mage/White Mage/Black Mage. At least one of which you might see within the next few minutes, because I didn't want to come empty-handed. ]]> meta http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=22 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/02/attack-of-genetic-experiments.html Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:09:00 GMT Final Fantasy VII's main villain, Sephiroth, is extremely popular. But I recently came to the realization that his backstory closely resembles that of another very popular game character that came shortly before him: Mewtwo. From Pokemon Red and Green, of course.

Obviously, that's referring to the Japanese release dates, since both games did originate there, after all. And in the case of Pokemon, I'm only referring to the in-game story, because the anime didn't come until much later.

Oh, and obviously, there's a lot of spoilers here, assuming there's anyone left that doesn't know these things and might actually care about that.

Read more... ]]> dissection video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=21 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/02/so-much-drama-in-w3c.html Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:42:00 GMT
I only recently learned about a big problem with XHTML -- that it's really just HTML pretending to be XHTML in most cases, including mine. Even though XHTML1 is virtually identical to HTML4 anyway, there's no way I'm going backwards. It seems there isn't really any particular technical disadvantages to using my fake XHTML, either. It works, and the W3C told me to do it, so why change?

Maybe because now there's HTML5 to consider.

Read more... ]]> contemplation meta http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=20 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/02/tv-thoughts-finales-premieres-and-evil.html Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:50:00 GMT Dollhouse, the season premiere of Lost, this week's ECW, and last week's episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Many spoilers are thrown about, but I've hidden them with ugly color codes, as usual.

Read more... ]]> ramble television pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=19 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/02/dragon-ball-z-minus-z-plus-kai-plus-z.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:26:00 GMT Dragon Ball Kai is about as shocking as sitting in an underground rubber house during a lightning storm. But I don't think anyone expected them to change the name, and I'm almost glad they did.

Read more... ]]> contemplation television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=18 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/02/game-thoughts-wiiware-demos.html Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:55:00 GMT
Read more... ]]> review video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=17 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/02/royal-rumble-thoughts.html Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:39:00 GMT
Read more... ]]> ramble pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=16 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-pokemon-games.html Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:01:00 GMT Pokemon RPG for DS. People are speculating that it will be the start of the "fifth generation" of games, and with good reason. There's going to be new Pokemon in it, and they're calling it the first new game since Diamond and Pearl. Thus, it would exclude an upgrade style game like Platinum, as well as more remakes like HeartGold and SoulSilver. However, Pokemon XD for Gamecube was also a completely original RPG that had brand new Pokemon (Munchlax and Bonsly) in it, so it could be something as simple as that.

Read more... ]]> contemplation video games http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=15 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/tv-thoughts-christian-kane-and.html Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:56:00 GMT Batman: The Brave and the Bold and this week's ECW.

Read more... ]]> ramble television pro wrestling http://www.fanboyreview.net/2010/01/29/dragon-ball-z-dragon-box-1-review/ http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/dragon-ball-z-dragon-box-1-review.html Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:15:00 GMT Check it out, and then buy it yourself~ ]]> review television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=13 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-tweest_26.html Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:50:00 GMT Lost.

This is going to be a relatively casual collection of thoughts rather than a formal review, but I'll probably still use some big words anyway. There are some spoilers, but I've hidden them with color codes.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=12 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/tv-thoughts-i-still-hate-don-johnson.html Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:19:00 GMT Raw, Dollhouse, and Chuck. Some spoilers, but they're hidden.

Read more... ]]> ramble television pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=11 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/comic-and-tv-thoughts-last-aquaman-in.html Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:15:00 GMT Batman: The Brave and the Bold, as well as those slightly old Angel comics that I mentioned the other day. No spoilers.

Read more... ]]> ramble comics television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=10 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/about-subscription-feeds-important.html Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:48:00 GMT http://feeds.feedburner.com/magikarp46blog

Why? Because BlogSpot's default Atom feed is not functioning the way I need it to. It won't even update in my own reader, among other things, and from the looks of it, there's no reasonable way around these problems. So I looked up how to write a new feed from scratch. And, when/if I can move to a self-hosted blog, this will make the transition much easier. But I'll also be doing what I can to make this little transition as easy as possible, too. Editing URLs, attempting redirects, etc.

I love learning to do new things like this, though. But more than that, I love writing code from scratch in text editors. It makes me feel alive. If it wasn't freezing outside, and my ankles weren't in severe pain at the moment, I'd go out and run a few miles to express my joy. ]]> meta http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=9 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/tv-thoughts-echoes-lemons-and-jakens.html Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:24:00 GMT Dollhouse, Chuck, and Inuyasha: Final Act. One of those things is not like the others. Oh, and no spoilers today.

Read more... ]]> ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=8 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/monday-night-wars-part-no.html Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:34:00 GMT Raw ended up with a 3.6, which was identical to the week before. This means they gained as much for Bret Hart as they lost to TNA. Speaking of whom, Impact! did a 1.5, which was its highest rating ever. Just based on those numbers, it's difficult to say who "won," because Raw was obviously still much higher, but Impact! was the one who broke records.

But I'd say that neither of them really won anything.

Read more... ]]> review pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=7 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/comic-thoughts-buffy-willow-and-norman.html Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:55:00 GMT my review of Siege #1 on FBR. But the rest will be quick thoughts on older things that I've accidentally let pile up. Buffy Season Eight #30 from two months ago, and the Willow one-shot from three weeks ago. Nonetheless, I'll try to hide spoilers with color codes, which, as a warning, might not work properly in feed readers.

Read more... ]]> ramble review comics http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=6 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/monday-night-warspart-two.html Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:25:00 GMT Impact! going right up against tonight's Raw. For now, it's just a one-time thing to test the waters, but if TNA does well, they may permanently move Impact! to Monday nights.

Read more... ]]> contemplation pro wrestling http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=5 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2010/01/wormholes-and-future.html Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:58:00 GMT Stargate SG-1. I don't particularly intend to do a detailed review, at least not in the near future, but here are a few quick thoughts, with minimal spoilers. (Despite the fact that it's an "old" show by most standards, I'm still trying to trick some friends into getting into it.)

Read more... ]]> meta ramble television http://magikarp46.com/words/?p=4 http://triplerach.blogspot.com/2009/12/lets-blogging.html Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:02:00 GMT
I don't particularly plan to become a full on "blogger" or whatever, and I'm certainly not going to abandon my other web projects (well, maybe a couple of them). But sometimes I think in paragraphs, so it would probably be best for my sanity to type those paragraphs at other people, and potentially even have conversations about them.

But as a warning, I expect that the much-maligned subject of pro wrestling will be a popular topic, since I rarely have a good avenue to express my thoughts for it. My first few posts will probably be about it, in fact. But it will hardly be the only thing, so don't let your hatred for theatrical, muscly men scare you away from my other amazing insights about things like Futurama, Pokemon, and canned ravioli. ]]> meta