Epic Win!

Today is a lovely, beautiful, fantastic day!
I won a battle!
Ok, that's a metaphor. Sort of. But I finally found volume 14 of Black Cat, and I'm really really really happy. I've been searching for this frodoing volume for a year and a half. Literally. Every time I went to a book store, I would practically sprint over to the manga section to see if they had it. I was disappointed every time, until today. I walked into Borders, took a deep breath, and said to myself, "Look for Black Cat 14 first. But prepare to be disappointed again." I walked calmly over to the manga section, and THERE IT WAS in all its green glory!!! I really felt like dancing (even though I'm horrible at it. Further down the page I'll tell an amusing related story), but there were a lot of people in the section and so I controlled myself. There was a buy 4 get 1 free deal going on, so I also got vols 1,2,4,5, and 6 of Death Note, vol 18 of Black Cat, and vols 4-6 of Scott Pilgrim. It was lovely. Superbly lovely and wonderful and amazing. I think I might be just a tad obsessed. : )
So yeah, it's supposed to be snowing out, but it's not really doing much. Mostly tiny droplets that you can feel but not see. Earlier, though, there were snowflakes that were literally the size of quarters. It was awesome.
ROAR I'M EXCITED
So I have this tradition when it comes to buying new manga. You know the little plastic bar with a barcode on it that's usually in the middle of your volume, and the sticker that's on the back? I always leave those in until I read the volume for the first time. Then, when I'm done with the volume, I peel them off with a flourish and go YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Well, maybe not in all caps. But I always smile.
Anyway, here's that awkward dancing story I promised. About two years ago, Skynugget and I were at a party with a DJ. It was actually a pretty awesome party, even though we weren't properly dressed for it (we didn't get the memo). The song "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf and Lil' Wayne came on, and at that time I LOVED that song. So I pulled Skynugget out to dance with me. Well, while we were dancing, I got a little too close to her, and she accidentally hit me in the face. My glasses went flying like five feet in the air, and I fell over. It was hilarious XD
I'm actually wearing that same pair of glasses right now. I guess that incident is just one of the reasons why they're so crooked...
So yeah, that was my wonderful day. Did you have a wonderful day, person who is reading this? Tell me about it. =D
~Pigeonmeister
Can't forget the RPOTD this time:

From tofuttibreak a while ago, I believe.

Review: Between God, the Devil, and a Winchester

Unlike "Apache Blood," this one is actually a Spaghetti Western. Yay.

At a Glance
"Between" (I really don't want to have to type all the rest out) came out in 1968 and was directed by Marino Girolami (who also directed a movie called "Flying Sex" which I think is a very amusing title for a movie). Anyway, it stars Gilbert Roland as a quasi-outlaw named Juan Chasquisdo, Richard Harrison as Father Pat Jordan, and some kid whose name I don't know as, well, some kid who causes trouble for everyone, basically. Here's a brief synopsis brought to you by IMDB: "A stranger being chased by bandits dies in an accident, but not before he has had a chance to hide a treasure map the bandits wanted. A boy witnesses where it was hidden, retrieves it and passes it on to the local preacher. The preacher recognizes that much of the treasure was likely that from a local mission. He sets out to get it before the bandits find it."

Story and Characters
This movie is less of a Spaghetti Western, and more of a treasure hunt adventure. The story is alright, but it lacks the certain flair that most Spaghettis have. I think one of the main flaws is the way Roland's character was written. For example, there are some great creepy scenes where he is being nice to the young boy, all the while plotting something sinister. Those parts gave his character an edge and made me wonder what he was going to do next. By the end of the movie though, he ends up being just your average drifter. Maybe if there weren't so many other outlaw characters, there could have been some intense scenes with just the preacher and Chasquido. Another problem this movie has is its plot. Well, not the plot as a whole, but more the plot devices that are used to move the story along. A lot of the time it seems like the characters could easily kill each other off and get everything over with. The characters also make very dumb decisions that honestly don't seem realistic. There's a difference between a character being written to make bad decisions, and characters making bad decisions so the movie can progress a certain way. Despite all this, the characters aren't too bad, and I actually really liked the preacher.

Filming and Locations
It's fairly clear that effort was put into filming "Between." There is a wide variety of indoor and outdoor locations, as well as inside a cave. That's pretty cool.

Music
The score isn't the most memorable, but it's still pretty good.

Overall
"Between God, the Devil, and a Winchester" is an average movie. It's paced and filmed well, but lacks that special something that keeps people intrigued. I personally enjoyed "Apache Blood" more because I could at least make fun of how bad it was. If anything, check it out just to see Gilbert Roland, one of the few real Mexicans who had large roles in Spaghetti Westerns.

Final Verdict: 3/5

Swim Swim Swim Swim Swim Swim YOU BIT MY FINGER

Today Naminesfriend (aka Skynugget) is over at my house. We're supposed to be doing this project about John donne, but once we started dancing to Powerpoint music it was too late. So now we're reviewing Japanese junk food. : )
First up is Pucca. The box says "Pucca: DOUBLE CHOCO PRETZEL"
Key: Naminesfriend- italicize Eagle- mrmrmr         

Hey folks! Let's talk about this Pucca product. So needless to say, the chocolate tastes like the chocolate from pocky. big shock, yeah? Not really lol. But you can barely taste the pretzel because of the chocolatey insides of the candy. It is rather decent, and it has different shapes to it sometimes. Most of the time it just looks like a fish, but sometimes you get an octopus in there too! However, there is something you all need to know before buying this product: THEY HALF-A**-ED THE FRODOING CHOCOLATE INSIDES. The first one Eagle bit into had no chocolate inside whatsoever. The second one i bit into had nothing in it either. Zip. Nada. Seriously candy company, WE'RE ONTO YOU!!!!
The end ;)


JK
This is Pigeonmeister, taking back control. Skynugget D<
So yeah, she pretty much said it all. This crap is so inconsistent. It's pretty good when there is actually chocolate cream inside LIKE THE BOX SAYS, but when there isn't it's just hollow and empty and gross like my heart. NO HEART, NO FRIENDS. (that last part was a collaborative effort XD)

Sometimes it's just SINGLE CHOCO PRETZEL. THE BOX IS A LIE

So yeah. Now we're going to talk about Pocky.
The internet is a strange place. (facepalm)
Pocky is awesome. It's little thin biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate. Apparently it contains sheanut. Wtfrodo is sheanut?
ANYWAY, it's pretty good. Of course, it's a staple of the otaku diet for no apparent reason. Whenever I run into someone who hasn't had it, I run and find some and force them to eat it. hehe

 Pocky is the main part of an Otaku diet because it is featured is so many anime. Mostly it's girls who eat it in anime, them lounging in their rooms doing homework or whatnot, without a bra etc etc, yknow, the stuff guys like haha. as a girl though, I like pocky cuz lol it's good. I first tried pocky oh so many years ago, I think it was either in middle school or freshman year. Anyhow, the moment i bit into the chocolatey goodness, things were never really the same. it's actually quite average for chocolate, but the meaning behind eating pocky is what makes it so delicious. Pocky is rather simple. All it is is a bread stick with chocolate on top of it. So simple, yet so good, you could leisure around with a Pocky in your mouth. Or, run to school and grab a Pocky on your way out. Sharing Pocky with your friends is the best part of this delicacy. Friendship can be started with Pocky yknow :) so in conclusion, Pocky is great, so you should eat it :D


Skynugget and I never finished this together post because we had to finish our project about John Donne. But now that we're done (Donne), I'll finish talking about the other Japanese candies I wanted to talk about. But not in bold print, because it's starting to irritate me.
Some of my favorite Japanese candies of all time are Kasugai gummies. They come in many flavors: kiwi, strawberry, muscat grape, orange, grape, litchi, pineapple, apple, etc. I have never found a flavor I dislike, but mt favorites have to be the kiwi and the muscat grape. All of the gummies are sweet, delicious, and appropriately chewy. They also usually have a nice aftertaste, and are fairly satisfying. Conclusion: get some. Such greatness!

Delish!

The last yummy treat I would like to discuss is the little jelly cup things. I was trying to explain them to Skynugget earlier, and she was like "Jello shots?" No, my dear bear. No. They're like Jello, but they don't need to be refrigerated, and they sometimes have chunks of fruit or things in them. They can be pretty hard to eat, but they're still pretty good. I've had apple, strawberry, and grape flavored jelly things. Woo
~Pigeonmeister

This was supposed to be about something else

I really, really hate iTunes.
Any time I do something accidental or stupid (like accidentally trying to move a playlist OUT OF ALPHABETICAL ORDER. OH NO), it freezes up, and I have to get out of it with the Task Manager.
Recently, it's also been trying to update itself. I have downloaded this update twice. Both times, it just screwed everything up. I had to reinstall iTunes each time. The most recent time this happened, I tried to uninstall it so i could reinstall it. The installing wizard tried to run it and told me that I couldn't run it and had to reinstall it, which is what I was trying to do. Sigh.
The iTunes store is sort of ridiculous. It takes forever to connect and get to where I want it to go. Each page takes a few agonizingly slow seconds to load, reminding me of the days when I sat in my grandmother's computer room and connected to her slow dialup internet with Netscape. Freaking Netscape, mang. iTunes is quite a recent product, thus it should logically be faster, sleeker, and easier to use than all the others. But it's not. It's slow, ridiculous, and irritating.
This infernal program seems to be obsessed with alphabetizing things. Once, I was syncing my iPod Touch with iTunes and it alphabetized my "Good Morning" playlist. Of course, that ruined my specific and carefully planned order. So I deleted "Good Morning" and created "Happiness". But the most recent time I synced my iPod, there was not only "Happiness" but "Happiness 1". I don't know what the difference is, but it's cluttering up my system, mang. It's annoying.
All of this said, though, it's nice to be able to buy music legally from my desk. Also, it's not too hard to create playlists and stuff.  I dunno. Blergh.
So basically, I'm avoiding going to sleep. Time to find a random picture o' the evenin'.
I searched for "Tidus unicorn" and this came up:

Result number 100. Seriously. I counted.

I'm not sure what this has to do with Tidus, but I like it. It's apparently a money-eating unicorn. I got it from capitolvalley.net.
So yeah, that's about all.
Good night.
~Caroline

We Go Hardcore

Today's post is brought to you by Computer Science.
So recently the bear-shaped Nugget (that's Naminesfriend. Just so's ya know) came over to my house, along with Daddy. We were going to watch Hot Fuzz (best movie ever; eventually I'll review it) but because Skynugget hates that movie, we decided to play a lovely PS2 game instead.
DOA: Hardcore!
This game is a pretty good fighting game. Though there are a limited set of characters (12 as opposed to Soul Calibur's 33 plus customs), those characters have a wide variety of moves.
This is not a pure button-mashing game. There is some serious strategy involved. Each character has some holds, which can only be performed under certain circumstances, cause a lot of damage, and are used often by the CPU. I will admit that I haven't really figured out the trick to getting the holds just right; it will take practice. Holds can be used on you when you are blocking, but not when you are attacking, unless the hold is targeting the limb that you are attacking with. I think.
But of course there are kicks and punches and directional attacks and such, which are mostly what I use. You can also block, which is useful when fighting the last boss in every story, who is a creepy guy with wings named Tengu. Everything is his delusion, mang. He never stops reminding you of that. Every time. WE GET IT.
One thing I don't like about this game is that all of the female characters are... too ho-ish. They're hanging out all over the place, their voices are mostly pretty whiny, and they're usually weaker than the male characters (especially the ones with whom they have a previous relationship. Lei Fang has so much trouble fighting Jann Lee, who is her lover or maybe her brother, that it's absolutely ridiculous).
The story of this game really doesn't make any sense. It might help if there were more cutscenes, or maybe if I had the manual. According to Skynugget, the story revolves around a big fighting tournament that everyone is trying to win. The game's Wikipedia page seems to agree with this.
Apparently DOA2 (not Hardcore) was released on the Sega Dreamcast. Interesting- it changed platforms with an update. I had thought that maybe the non-Hardcore version would make a little more sense, but apparently stuff was added, and not much was removed, between the versions.
Oh, and by the way, the girl characters' boobs bounce. Yeah. They made separate movement engines just to get the fanboys goin'. Maybe that's why the girls irritate me so much...
Anyway, here's the picture of the day. It actually made my day. It's from MEN^3, a site with pictures of hot modles and actors (usually Asian ones. Yum ;D ):

That's Won Bin (super cute actor!) carrying a chicken. I'm not really sure what happened here but I like it.
In conclusion: DOA2 Hardcore is a pretty darn good game, Asians and chickens are cute.
~Pigeonmeister

Resolutions, but first a word from my sponsor

I have a new deviantart account with the same name I have now, Naminesfriend. Check it out if you want. That Guy also has one, Johnheliomustdie.
so yeah.
Mine isn't as great as hers, because duh, she's a genius artist. and i'm not planning on making these fancy looking, though decent I'll try for. No, these are just comics of my life and drawins i've done and may do. Mostly comics mind you. And they're simple, funny, and a lil pathetic, but they're all true so enjoy them. I Shall update this with a link someday. lol that's the sponsor that isn't really sponsoring anything XD
Anyhow, my Winter Break was fun. I enjoyed time spent with friends and boyfriend and family. I helped out a lot and recieved plenty, and am looking forward to the new year.
This time, I plan on keeping my resolutions for 2011. No. I'm serious. Like, I plan on taking action to do these things. Seriously. I'm serious. I'm not gonna just have resolutions and then forget about them. I'M SERIOUS!
so, just to make sure I do do these things, I am going to write them all down so everybody knows what they are.
First of all, let me state that NONE OF MY RESOLUTIONS ARE TO LOSE WEIGHT. No. I'm done with that crap, I keep saying "I need to lose weight, I gained so much. mrmrmr." No. Instead, I've decided to eat healthy. Not diet, not no eating, I mean like grab an apple instead of a cookie yknow? I'm hopeful this shall give me more energy. I also plan on drinking more water or juice or anything, because I tend to get dehyrdated and need to drink 8 cups a day. Hopefully, this will help me become a better person by giving me a clear mind by having a clear body. yes. that's what i'm going with.
I also want to exercise. and by that, I mean tighten some flab. that's it. so some dancing in the middle of the night or crunches, whatever so long as it gets done. I heard doing exercise in the morning will keep you more awake, so i'll try that cuz i'm always sleepy lol. I can sleep forever if given the opportunity. Ask Eagle, she'll get angry and tell you hahaha
My next resolution is to floss. Because I never floss. And I should floss.
Yeah.
I will also keep my room and school things organuized, so I don't forget homework or not do things because my room or binder is too messy. I will keep time in mind and schedule parts of my life so I don't always have to rush and procrastinate. I WILL DO MY HOMEWORK ON TIME. I will get good grades, which will mean I will study. I won't be so terrified of tests anymore, because I will know the information. I will admit my flaws but also be confident in what I know I'm good at. I will not waiver and stand for what I believe in, even if it may hurt other people. I will be independent and not rely on people so much. I will care about my appearance, but not as much as I do now. I'll indulge in clothing and make-up in moderation, but I will also accept that I look how I look no matter what I do to my hair or face. Putting that aside, I'll like how I look because I look like me and I look great because of that.
I will love who I am because I know I'm pretty great, and shouldn't worry so much if people like me or not. I will however continue to care and worry for others, and help others whenever I can.
Most importantly, I will be happy this year. That is my resolution every year, but it is the goal I will always have, obtain, lose, and then feel I can get all over again. That's life, and I'm proud to say I'll forget about sadness and instead choose to be either "In Pursuit of Happiness" or "Happy". No inbetween. I wil go on happily now, with hope for the future!
THE END!!!!!! BRAND NEW DAYS, LET'S ALL COME TOGETHER AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER YES!

Rhapsody ~A Musical Adventure~

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Last week was Winter Break, and so of course I was rather busy. I got a scanner/printer for my comp, and I'm very excited about that. How were your holidays? Mine was wonderful. Along with that present, I recieved many others, but one of my favorites was a game called Rhapsody ~A musical Adventure~ for the DS. This is a review.
Here's some background info concerning this wonderous game:
Rhapsody ~A Musical Adventure~ is a DS game made by Nippon Ichi America, NIS for short. It was originally a playstation game sold around 1980 in japan and 1990 in America. In 2008 they chose to make a DS version of it for America, the date for Japan I dunno lol
Rhapsody is a musical RPG with english vocals on the playstation and japanese vocals for the DS. Don't be mistaken! Seriously, I beat the game this week, and the credits had english names for the vocals, and I was so angry because I wanted english vocals throughout this entire game lol The japanese was ok, it had subtitles of course, but I noticed while humming along that the english translations could be substituted. so. . .yeah. I sang haha
Main story kids!
This is a cute musical rpg about a main character Cornet and her adventure to save her Prince Ferdinand. Cornet is considered a normal orphan girl, but also odd because she can talk to puppets. The main puppet is Kururu, and she can also talk to people. Cornet always had a dream where she falls in love with a prince, and one day in the forest she is saved by such a prince. It was Ferdinand, who she had not seen before, and as she saw him she realized it was the prince in her dream. She then goes out to try and steal his heart through various means, such as cooking and entering the Miss Marl Competition. He is soon captured by a somewhat evil witch called Marjoly, and suddenly Cornet is on a quest to save the prince. That's the jist of it
My Review kids! and more details of course <3
Rhapsody is a pretty cool game by incoperating musical numbers within cutscenes. There are only around 5 to 8 songs though, so I wish there could have been more. There is fighting in this, with the party consisting of Cornet and the puppets that join along the way. She uses a horn, which her mother gave to her a logn time ago. It was said that when the horn is played, wishes can come true, and when she uses the horn she can have puppets join her party so as to help make their wishes come true. When a puppet has their wish come true, which is implied to be their true happiness, their souls can go to heaven. There's also a mini game in the middle of each city or village where Cornet can play the horn when the gamer blows on the DS microphone, and you can get money from it.
The game incorporates a lot of different ways of fighting. magic/special is pretty great, you can even use pancakes against enemies!!! Cornet uses her horn to give support, and that increases her power with music notes. It's really cute. However, the game is more story oriented rather than fight oriented, and is pretty easy to complete. it only took me a week. But as this is an RPG. and it is Nippon Ichi we're talkin about here, there are choices that can effect how parts of the story plays out. In order to help the prince you have to get these stones together so they can take you to Marjoly, so you have to go around and find them. But everybody wants these stones for some reason or another. Sometimes you meet people who want the stone and have to choose to help them or not, or if taking the stone is the right thing to do. It can really effect how people see you. I took the stone once when I really didn't want to, and it turned out the village didn't want me too either! Nobody would talk to me! I went back to my save file and did something different, and the people's reactions were so much better. I think it's really inventive to have actions effect the story.
In the game, you can touch different objects with the stylus, like desks and oranges, and sometimes items are there. This game is really humorous and adorable though, cuz sometimes there are sarcastic remarks! I touched this bookshelf with the stylus one time, and a text box came up saying "You found books in a bookshelf! go figure, I mean what were expecting in a bookshelf. . ." I laughed at this. I found it funny to see text like this. It kept happening too. "You found another bookshelf! This one was really hard to find!" "Look! it's the super-dee-duper-mega-ultra-cool-magnificent-strong horn! Just kidding!" It was really refreshing to see the gamers have fun like that haha
Rhapsody made me happy because it was sweet, innocent, but also gave a few life lessons. I also have sentimental attachment to it because it's in Marl Kingdom, where La Pucelle Tactics takes place as well. La Pucelle Tactics is a game I have for the PS2 that I loved, but the disc doesn't work anymore and I never finished the game. It's why I look for Nippon Ichi games whenever I can (I don't have Disgaea just so you know :P) But I looked Rhapsody up, and it turns out it has a vague connection to La Pucelle.
There is a sequel to this game that isn't out in America, and that game also has a sequel with some secret chapters from the two previous games and etc. The three games together make up the Marl Kingdom Series, all musical RPGs, and very much interwoven into each other and La Pucelle tactics a lil as well. I didn't know this before, but it made me happy to know that.
Overall, the game is cute and light, and I recommend picking it up whenever you have a chance. It's the the greatest fighting game, but the story will keep you going all the way, and the choices you get to make really give you interaction in the game. It's anime style, and wonderful, so yay for Rhapsody ~A Musical Adventure~ !!!