In case any of the old creative writing circle still checks this thing— here's my first new short story in awhile. Just some Vocaloid nonsense.

COFFEEEEEEEE

Anger management issues much?

In which a character voiced by Nakajima Megumi meets a character voiced by Nakajima Megumi.

DO NOT TAUNT HAPPY FUN YODEL KING

Two memes for the price of nuthin'.

And finally, Teto hates fire drills. Goodnight everybody!!

I believe I'm done with blogs in general and LJ in particular, at least for the time being. But I am still lurking here— and I got a new hobby for my 41st birthday.

No Geddan during business hours, kthx.

A touching moment between teacher and student.

WHAT IS THIS I DONT EVEN

That's some major psychological trauma right there.

Happy Kasane Teto Day!

Why was I not personally informed of these unreleased songs by Tom Lehrer? Decimal and That's The End Of The News from 1966, musical introductions in a politically incorrect promotional film for Dodge from 1967, and five songs from 1997 (four unreleased).

And also, The 8-bit Dark Side Of The Moon. The instrumentals "On The Run" and "Any Colour You Like" are particularly effective.

That was odd.

We haven't had a Grand Theft Auto video for awhile. Although, I still prefer my Vocaloid without explicit blood-splattered violence.

Oh, this is bad.

Nothing much happens, but Miku and Reimu fight about it anyway.

And also, The Melancholy Of Hakurei Reimu. The omake scares me.

She made kitty angry.

The Birthday Girl on a new-to-me stage.

No video, but another nice Gumi song.

The obligatory K-ON! Caramelldansen.

So they modeled some fairly realistic grass and trees (more realistic than the average MMD video, anyway)... and then, they used one of the least realistic Miku models.

And finally— stop it Kaito, you're confusing the chibi. Good night everybody!!

14000 GET. (I wasn't trying for exactly 14K, but a used copy of the Kaiser Chiefs' Employment got it.) Due to repeated "remastering" and FLAC upgrades (and the usual DRAMA), I haven't had a major GET in a long time. I'm trying to replace several hundred OGGs still remaining, but that goes slowly too. Oh well. The jukebox is one-eighth FLAC now, and at least that much should be good for life.

I am pleased with the new centerpiece of the collection— namely, 493 Beatles songs, all in delicious extra crispy FLAC. That's the stereo box set, all three Anthologies and the BBC set, plus the rest of the Braun-Kirchherr tapes, the Decca audition, the White Album demos, "Revolution 1 (take 20)," and a few others. Currently, only TMBG has more songs (522), and I cannot upgrade some of those from MP3 to FLAC. (XTC comes in at #3 with 440 songs.) And I still need to track down dozens of live Beatles tracks, some of the Get Back out-takes, and who knows what else. But that's enough for now.

True Beatles Story #1. The night after I hunted down and first listened to "Revolution 1 (take 20)," I had the most vivid dreams I could remember in weeks. I can't say more in public because they were, um, really vivid. True Beatles Story #2. Just yesterday morning, while flipping through radio stations during my morning drive, the local Quote Alternative Unquote station WLCE played the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." After the song, they repeated their tag line "Springfield's Music Alternative." They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means.

I'll try to get back to links next week. I avoided news blogs this past week (for hopefully understandable reasons), and the Vocaloid videos on YouTube dried up after MMD Cup IV. I did take another 100+ pictures at this year's U of I EOH, but they'll have to wait until I can find time to set up a proper gallery.

I haven't had time for YouTube links since last Thursday, and I'll be out of town this coming Thursday evening. Will write again when I can.

It could have been worse. (Very briefly Not Safe For Work.) Best YouTube comment of the week: "I'd turn her Japanese, if you know what I mean."

I still have a three-ring binder "fake book" of chords and lyrics that I worked out by ear, back at college. And I think I'll keep the binder, thank you.

Why The Internet Will Fail (from 1995). What no one else has pointed out (that I've seen) is how the Internet has even redefined the word "fail."

Peter Gabriel is finally releasing Scratch My Back (his first new album in eight years, but I vaguely remember reading that he'd been working on it for even longer). I was intrigued to learn that it has only orchestral arrangements, given that Justin Hayward also recorded an orchestral covers album back in 1989.

Triumph of the cyborg composer. If this were built into Vocaloid software, I wonder what kind of music Miku would compose for herself...

Marlin Perkins was the host of Wild Kingdom. I mention this only because I was recently asked to look up his name.

Battersea Power Station plans get government backing. You win an Internet if you knew why this was of interest to me before reading it.

And you've probably already seen this, but since I go to the U of I Engineering Open House every year, I have to link it: This Too Shall Pass.

I missed one of the best MMD Cup IV videos, two weeks ago. Slightly Not Safe For Work, but mostly silly.

No video, but here's the weekly token experimental electronic song.

Mighty Jack is calling. Not much action, but still an interesting watch, and the (original) soundtrack is nifty.

All-Meiko "Gekokujou" cover with matching Flash animation.

Miku races against herself, and herself, and herself, and...

GAKUPO HAVE MUSCLE BODY

"Nostalgic" live-action PV. The model is lovely, but half of the video doesn't have anything to do with Meiko.

Meg is Next To You.

You load 16 tons (see 0:57), and what do you get?

And finally, this is not going to end well. Goodnight everybody!!

In case you came in late— 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You're A Loser Or Old Or Something. I'm afraid that I had seen maybe 25% of these at most. However, they forgot Poland Hyakugojyuuichi!!!.

These people are crazy. Artistically Not Safe For Work.

Another abandoned Japanese buildings picture gallery.

How is he supposed to win without a marketable cute alien crewman?

An honorable mention for a mention of They Might Be Giants (#22). But the only other one I have is Pet Shop Boys (#16). Where's Pink Floyd's Relics? Where's XTC's Rag & Bone Buffet? Even the Moody Blues' Prelude had a few essential songs.

Best defender of Tokyo evar. (Also side-by-side with the "original" video.) (Also WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN)

So cute Kaito ORZed.

Miku's take on the concept is much more cute than Avril Lavigne's.

Today's forecast: Mostly cloudy, with a 50% chance of light chibi.

Kaito was too cool to Hare Hare Yukai (at 0:50).

Neko is not haxxor. I missed this one, three months ago. The sound effects are hilarious.

Vitalize. An excellent Meiko song, and in English, no less.

Yowane Haku vs Akita Neru: The Expresso Power.

And finally— yes, you are, Al. Yes You Are. Goodnight everybody!!

Hello Facebook. Since my hobby journal is public, I'm going to try out LiveJournal's Facebook Connect, at least for awhile. I usually post a weekly "link dump" on Thursday evenings.

My interests currently run to obscure Japanese animation and "Vocaloid" music, i.e. none of you have even heard of it. But you all "friended" me, and so You Asked For It...

EDIT: It isn't worth the trouble. The LiveJournal item disappeared from Facebook's news feed after two or three hours. Facebook and I simply aren't meant to mix.

Why was I not personally informed of this archive of 79 versions of "Popcorn"?

I'm afraid I read Cerebus long enough to appreciate this Valentine's Day satire.

And in other news, ARRGH!!

The MMD Cup IV videos flooded onto YouTube last week, and so I collected about ten times as many MMD links as usual. But here's my Top Fifteen:

First off is a superb traditional-animation Rosario & Vampire OP parody, imperfect only in its lack of Ruko (it has almost everybody else).

Fish Slapping MikuMikuDance. I eagerly await the inevitable "Dead Tako-Luka Sketch."

Meanwhile, the K-ON! girls are rocking out too. Well, Ritsu the drummer is rocking, anyway. (Also side-by-side with the original video.)

This Little Mermaid parody has several LOL sight-gags. EDIT: With subtitles.

Pretend Driving is Serious Business.

Kaito's sister pays a visit; hilarity ensues. Probably Not Safe For Work. EDIT: With subtitles.

MY BRAIN HURTS

Holy Carp, it's a Suigintou MMD model. I haven't even installed MMD myself (yet), but WANT!

Not sure what -cream taste- has to do with criminal assault with green onions, but the music is catchy.

Oups! Perhaps...!!! No video, but Luka gets some of the best experimental electronic pieces.

Teto, can't you let Defoko eat her breakfast?

When a video starts with "do not try this at home," we're in for a treat.

That was one seriously lazy afternoon.

Crazy Frog Vocaloids. (For comparison, the original video.)

And the top pick of the week is Nico Nico Heaven And Hell. And that's just what it is. Goodnight everybody!!

Very generally, the Vocaloid franchise is sickeningly cute and harmless, but it can still occasionally cause trouble. Likefer instance, just today at work, a woman near my desk was talking on her phone, and at one point, she loudly and abruptly said, "Google it."

It took some effort for me not to speak up and add, "You moron."

Hydrogen is so moé. (And a cat-fight between "pi" and "e" would be hawt.)

The cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was pretty good, but this one is better.

And I have my own problems, but at least I'm at peace with my pants.

Old memes never die.

Smexyness is a Magnet for Testicles (NSFW language, obviously). GAKUPO LOVES BEING PURPLE!!

My li'l angel ;_; (By the same producer, Miku's slideshow #1 and slideshow #2, and Teto's slideshow.)

Fruits Basket MMD models. I eagerly await full fan-animations of discontinued franchises. We Have The Technology.

This final Ted model was only just released, and suddenly, everybody's making a Ted.

No video, but la la la la la, la la la la.

Somebody left some chibi on the piano.

She even sang that song at her wedding. Very nice long-dress modeling, physics and animation.

Strawberry. Mostly sickeningly cute, but the bit at 2:23 is as out-of-place as Kaito's Geddan from the "magnet" parody.

Another ARToolKit desktop video.

Part 2a and Part 2b of Kaito's date? with Sheryl, with another MJ parody at 3:30 in the second part.

And finally, when one is a wacky Vocaloid who likes carrots, something like this is bound to happen. Goodnight everybody!!