Between the mountains row by row,
The frosty winds of winter blow.
Crystals dance in cloudy skies,
Never known to any eyes.
Beneath the mountains high and steep,
A dragon snores in prolonged sleep.
Hidden in caves no man can find,
Dragon's just myth, in mortal mind.
Atop the mountains far abound,
None but wind let out a sound.
All is buried beneath painful white,
Shining bright in the dim moonlight.
Between the mountains proud and haughty,
Is an evergreen forest within a deep valley.
Where freezing winds cannot flow,
Where lighthearted is the snow.
There is much between the mountains,
Where men care not to go.
There is much between the mountains,
That we will never know.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Friday, August 18, 2017
Cars Should Go Before Pedestrians
Sometimes when I go jogging in my little suburban neighborhood, I cross paths with a car on the road. A lot of the times, the car decides to wait for me to cross the road before they go, and motion for me to cross first. I always refuse the offer and wait for them to go first, because that would be easier for the car. A car moves faster than a human who is just walking(or jogging), and so the time I would wait if the car went before me is less than the time the car would wait if I went first. Now if a car waits for me to cross, I just walk around the back of the car. Of course on bigger streets or maybe in a more urban area this would be different, but I think the car should always go before the pedestrian. I also don't know why I'm writing this. Have a good day!
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Thoughts About Time
Recently I read The Book of Time: The Secrets of Time, How It Works and How We Measure It by Adam Hart-Davis. It was an interesting non-fiction book about time, and was very thought provoking at times. In the beginning of the book, it talks about what time is, and explores many theories.
Some people thought that time was an absolute, constant and unending thing that would continue no matter what, while others believed that time was dependant on movement. For example, if time was absolute and unending, if every single thing in the world suddenly stopped moving for a hundred years, a hundred years would still pass. But if time was dependant on movement, if everything stopped moving, time would stop moving as well, and no time would pass. Nowadays, based on new information and studies, most of us believe that time is dependant on movement, and that time moves faster when you are in motion.
There were also other theories about time, especially what the meaning of 'Now' is. Is it a knife edge sliding along the unending line of time? Or maybe 'Now' is something that flows in and fades out? Or, the theory that interests me the most, maybe time doesn't exist at all and we're just imagining everything? You might be thinking, 'What do you mean, of course there's time! We see it happening right before our eyes!'.
But people who don't think time is a thing might tell you this: nothing ever happened in the past, because when the thing happened it was in the present. Since nothing happened in the past, the past technically doesn't exist. Same with the future; nothing happens in the future because when it happens it's no longer the future, but instead the present. The present technically doesn't exist because whenever something happens, it stops happening immediately as it starts, because everything is constantly changing and the present is something that's infinitely small, so small that it doesn't exist.
There were also a thought experiment proposed by a philosopher named Zeno that was against the existence of time, called the Paradox of the Arrow. This is what he proposed.
Some people thought that time was an absolute, constant and unending thing that would continue no matter what, while others believed that time was dependant on movement. For example, if time was absolute and unending, if every single thing in the world suddenly stopped moving for a hundred years, a hundred years would still pass. But if time was dependant on movement, if everything stopped moving, time would stop moving as well, and no time would pass. Nowadays, based on new information and studies, most of us believe that time is dependant on movement, and that time moves faster when you are in motion.
There were also other theories about time, especially what the meaning of 'Now' is. Is it a knife edge sliding along the unending line of time? Or maybe 'Now' is something that flows in and fades out? Or, the theory that interests me the most, maybe time doesn't exist at all and we're just imagining everything? You might be thinking, 'What do you mean, of course there's time! We see it happening right before our eyes!'.
But people who don't think time is a thing might tell you this: nothing ever happened in the past, because when the thing happened it was in the present. Since nothing happened in the past, the past technically doesn't exist. Same with the future; nothing happens in the future because when it happens it's no longer the future, but instead the present. The present technically doesn't exist because whenever something happens, it stops happening immediately as it starts, because everything is constantly changing and the present is something that's infinitely small, so small that it doesn't exist.
There were also a thought experiment proposed by a philosopher named Zeno that was against the existence of time, called the Paradox of the Arrow. This is what he proposed.
- Time is composed only of instants.
- At any single instant, an apparently moving arrow doesn't travel any distance, i.e. the arrow is at rest during every instant.
- That means that the arrow is at rest for the entire time period.
- Therefore, the arrow cannot be moving at all.
People have proposed solutions to this, but I won't talk about those right now. The point is, Zeno thought that the idea of time - and motion - were all illusions and not real. He also proposed another paradox, Achilles and the Tortoise, and you can go search that up if you want to.
Personally, I think that time is real and dependant on motion, like a lot of people. About the idea of the present, past and future, I like to think of all of them like one blob, and inside the blob are all the events that have happened, all the events that could've happened, and all the events that might happen. As for the present, I think that that is just the state of one little events turning from a possibility into history. There are an infinite amount of events inside the blob and an infinite events turn from possibility into history every second. I don't really get why I think about time like that but I just do. Time is overall a really cool thing, and nobody really even knows what it is. I'm not even sure why I wrote this. Anyways, there's a lot more stuff to be said about time, but I'm going to end my little blurb here. Have a good day!
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Poem: Wind
Honestly no idea why I wrote this, nor do I know what it means. Also not that good of an end to this poem.
Assuaged by the softest warmth of day.
Right here, right now, I'd love to stay,
But alas, we must be on our way.
We ride hard towards the waning light,
Then through darkness, no star in sight.
We're wide awake, but not in fright.
It's the rush of wind, as if in flight.
And when sky begins to colour dawn,
At last we break to stretch and yawn.
We seat ourselves on endless lawn,
Wondering, how far from home we've gone.
Again at night we travel long,
We slept and ate; again we're strong.
Upon my mare, where I belong,
The wind picks up and sings a song.
Seven nights, it went on like this,
Seven nights, traveled tireless.
And at last we'd reached a precipice,
The edge of the Earth, the Abyss.
And there we found serenity,
Bliss, nirvana, eternity.
And I could say with certainty,
It is a place for no-body.
I went home, hollow and alone,
And I found a great, big headstone,
For my friend in a place unknown.
It's been a while since wind has blown.
Wednesday, August 09, 2017
Clannad
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life, Romance
Summary:
Clannad follows high-school delinquent Tomoya Okazaki, who is always skipping class and has no goal in his life. He decides to help a girl named Nagisa Furukawa revive the drama club, a good way to kill time.
Review:
Personal Opinions(replacing 'Introductory Notes')
The anime ended up not meeting my expectations. It's a pretty popular anime, and I'd heard that it was sad. I didn't end up crying, or even coming close to, but I did laugh a few times. But mainly I'm upset about the girl the main character ended up with, although it was quite clear from the very beginning. However, I'll try my best not to let this interfere with the review, even though reviews are completely subjective things anyway.
Story: 5/10
The story started out weak, and ended in a somewhat okay way. I felt like the first episode was kind of boring, although I think that's mainly due to my biased opinion of the main 'heroine'. I ended up leaving the anime for a few weeks before picking it up again at the third episode. From there, the story became a lot better. The next two story arcs, Fuko and Kotomi's arcs, were very interesting and full of drama. The story arcs seemed to lead to a supernatural direction, and so I was dismayed when the rest of the anime never returned to any supernatural themes(besides stuff for comedic effect), much less answered my questions about the previous occurrences. Of course, the anime was still interesting after that, but I felt it became more light-hearted and less dramatic. But I did have more laughs. I was also upset because of the ending. They do a play at the end, and I'm unhappy because the anime didn't really answer what happened in the play, or at the end of it. Besides, the play was kind of trashy in my opinion. However, although I have numerous complaints, I did enjoy the story overall, mainly due to the characters.
Characters: 7/10
Most of the characters were pretty interesting. At first, some of them seemed a bit too similar to each other, but throughout the story you see that they are all actually different it most ways. I especially liked the easygoing and lazy but kind character of Okazaki. I also liked the characters of Kyou and Tomoyo(not Tomoya, which is Okazaki's first name). I didn't really like Nagisa or Ryou because both were absurdly child-like, despite being like sixteen/seventeen years old. Nagisa especially, she was very gullible and way too reserved. She was a big crybaby and had low self-esteem, and her personality just annoyed me a lot. But usually the characters were enjoyable, which was good.
Art: 8/10
The art wasn't top notch or anything, but instead very simple, which I think suited the series more than a more realistic artistic style would. The characters weren't ugly, which was good, and they looked normal enough.
Sound: 6/10
It was okay, I guess. I liked the Dango Daikazoku stuff, it was cute. But Nagisa's and all the other girls who were portrayed as kindergarteners had little girl voice acting, which was kind of annoying, but fitting.
Conclusion:
Final Notes:
Not that good of an anime in my opinion. It wasn't as sad as I was expecting it to be, and it didn't really tug on any heartstrings. Being a fan of Tomoyo and Kyou, I thoroughly enjoyed the OVAs where Okazaki ended up with the different girls, more so than I expected since they were more touching than the actual series itself. Although I didn't like Clannad, I still have high hopes for Clannad: After Story due to it's very high ratings.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Other Information:
Source: Visual Novel
Length: 24 min/episode
Rating: Pg-13
Summary:
Clannad follows high-school delinquent Tomoya Okazaki, who is always skipping class and has no goal in his life. He decides to help a girl named Nagisa Furukawa revive the drama club, a good way to kill time.
Review:
Personal Opinions(replacing 'Introductory Notes')
The anime ended up not meeting my expectations. It's a pretty popular anime, and I'd heard that it was sad. I didn't end up crying, or even coming close to, but I did laugh a few times. But mainly I'm upset about the girl the main character ended up with, although it was quite clear from the very beginning. However, I'll try my best not to let this interfere with the review, even though reviews are completely subjective things anyway.
Story: 5/10
The story started out weak, and ended in a somewhat okay way. I felt like the first episode was kind of boring, although I think that's mainly due to my biased opinion of the main 'heroine'. I ended up leaving the anime for a few weeks before picking it up again at the third episode. From there, the story became a lot better. The next two story arcs, Fuko and Kotomi's arcs, were very interesting and full of drama. The story arcs seemed to lead to a supernatural direction, and so I was dismayed when the rest of the anime never returned to any supernatural themes(besides stuff for comedic effect), much less answered my questions about the previous occurrences. Of course, the anime was still interesting after that, but I felt it became more light-hearted and less dramatic. But I did have more laughs. I was also upset because of the ending. They do a play at the end, and I'm unhappy because the anime didn't really answer what happened in the play, or at the end of it. Besides, the play was kind of trashy in my opinion. However, although I have numerous complaints, I did enjoy the story overall, mainly due to the characters.
Characters: 7/10
Most of the characters were pretty interesting. At first, some of them seemed a bit too similar to each other, but throughout the story you see that they are all actually different it most ways. I especially liked the easygoing and lazy but kind character of Okazaki. I also liked the characters of Kyou and Tomoyo(not Tomoya, which is Okazaki's first name). I didn't really like Nagisa or Ryou because both were absurdly child-like, despite being like sixteen/seventeen years old. Nagisa especially, she was very gullible and way too reserved. She was a big crybaby and had low self-esteem, and her personality just annoyed me a lot. But usually the characters were enjoyable, which was good.
Art: 8/10
The art wasn't top notch or anything, but instead very simple, which I think suited the series more than a more realistic artistic style would. The characters weren't ugly, which was good, and they looked normal enough.
Sound: 6/10
It was okay, I guess. I liked the Dango Daikazoku stuff, it was cute. But Nagisa's and all the other girls who were portrayed as kindergarteners had little girl voice acting, which was kind of annoying, but fitting.
Conclusion:
Final Notes:
Not that good of an anime in my opinion. It wasn't as sad as I was expecting it to be, and it didn't really tug on any heartstrings. Being a fan of Tomoyo and Kyou, I thoroughly enjoyed the OVAs where Okazaki ended up with the different girls, more so than I expected since they were more touching than the actual series itself. Although I didn't like Clannad, I still have high hopes for Clannad: After Story due to it's very high ratings.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Other Information:
Source: Visual Novel
Length: 24 min/episode
Rating: Pg-13
Sunday, August 06, 2017
Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name)
New review format. Also going to be slightly more generous with my positive ratings and also harsher with my negative ratings.
Genre: Romance, Supernatural
Summary:
Mitsuha is a girl living in the small village of Itomori. Although she is the daughter of the mayor and a shrine maiden, Mitsuha is bored with her life and longs to visit a big city, like Tokyo. Taki is a boy living in Tokyo. He works in an Italian restaurant and has a crush on one of his co-workers. Taki aspires to be an architect when he grows up.
One day, Mitsuha finds herself in a dream where she has swapped bodies with Taki. After leaving questions and notes in each other's phones, they dramatically impact their lives in search of an explanation to this mysterious phenomenon.
Review:
Introductory Notes:
Kimi No Na Wa, a.k.a Your Name, is the first anime movie I've watched that isn't part of a series(like the Naruto movies), and I'm happy to tell you that this movie was really great. I wouldn't say it was the best thing I've ever watched, but it definitely deserves all the hype it got. Yeah, I'm really late to this movie, the hype's already died. :(.
Story: 9/10
The story was excellent. It was entertaining watching them help each other with their lives, and the plot-twists were big and surprising. The story began simple, kind of like a 'slice of life' anime with a supernatural twist. But as the story progressed, it became deeper and more mysterious, and got slightly confusing at times. The story wasn't completely without plot-holes, but it was still very enjoyable. I would of liked it if the ending had a bit more content, but I think the movie ended perfectly anyway.
Characters: 8/10
The characters, at first, seemed a bit plain. Mitsuha was a girl who disliked living in a small, boring village and Taki was a generic high school guy. But you eventually realize that there's a lot more to the characters, especially when they switch bodies. Of course since this is a movie, you won't know the characters that well, but the characters are still enjoyable (even the side characters!).
Art: 10/10
The movie's animation was absurdly amazing. The scenes depicting the comet took my breath away, they were so beautiful. Amazing is like the only word I have to describe the animation, it was that good.
The story was set in two different locations, Tokyo and Itomori. Both were depicted beautifully, the sun reflecting off of Tokyo's buildings, and the beautiful 'underworld' place as well as nature in Itomori. The art was just really good.
Sound: 9/10
None of the music seemed out of place at all, and the voice acting seemed to suit the characters unexpectedly well. Although the english dubbed version of the movie sounds bad, then again, what anime actually has proper english dubbing XD.
Conclusion:
Final Notes:
Wonderful story and absurdly beautiful animations. There isn't really anything bad about this anime! The only reason why it isn't 10/10 is because the story didn't resonate strongly enough with me to make me cry or wasn't funny enough to make me laugh my stomach out. Many other viewers of this movie cried, but not me. Still one of the best anime I've watched, and it's not like a lot of anime make me cry anyway.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Other Information:
Source: Original
Story by: Makoto Shinkai
Length: 1 hr, 46 min
Rating: Pg-13
Info from MyAnimeList
Genre: Romance, Supernatural
Summary:
Mitsuha is a girl living in the small village of Itomori. Although she is the daughter of the mayor and a shrine maiden, Mitsuha is bored with her life and longs to visit a big city, like Tokyo. Taki is a boy living in Tokyo. He works in an Italian restaurant and has a crush on one of his co-workers. Taki aspires to be an architect when he grows up.
One day, Mitsuha finds herself in a dream where she has swapped bodies with Taki. After leaving questions and notes in each other's phones, they dramatically impact their lives in search of an explanation to this mysterious phenomenon.
Review:
Introductory Notes:
Kimi No Na Wa, a.k.a Your Name, is the first anime movie I've watched that isn't part of a series(like the Naruto movies), and I'm happy to tell you that this movie was really great. I wouldn't say it was the best thing I've ever watched, but it definitely deserves all the hype it got. Yeah, I'm really late to this movie, the hype's already died. :(.
Story: 9/10
The story was excellent. It was entertaining watching them help each other with their lives, and the plot-twists were big and surprising. The story began simple, kind of like a 'slice of life' anime with a supernatural twist. But as the story progressed, it became deeper and more mysterious, and got slightly confusing at times. The story wasn't completely without plot-holes, but it was still very enjoyable. I would of liked it if the ending had a bit more content, but I think the movie ended perfectly anyway.
Characters: 8/10
The characters, at first, seemed a bit plain. Mitsuha was a girl who disliked living in a small, boring village and Taki was a generic high school guy. But you eventually realize that there's a lot more to the characters, especially when they switch bodies. Of course since this is a movie, you won't know the characters that well, but the characters are still enjoyable (even the side characters!).
Art: 10/10
The movie's animation was absurdly amazing. The scenes depicting the comet took my breath away, they were so beautiful. Amazing is like the only word I have to describe the animation, it was that good.
The story was set in two different locations, Tokyo and Itomori. Both were depicted beautifully, the sun reflecting off of Tokyo's buildings, and the beautiful 'underworld' place as well as nature in Itomori. The art was just really good.
Sound: 9/10
None of the music seemed out of place at all, and the voice acting seemed to suit the characters unexpectedly well. Although the english dubbed version of the movie sounds bad, then again, what anime actually has proper english dubbing XD.
Conclusion:
Final Notes:
Wonderful story and absurdly beautiful animations. There isn't really anything bad about this anime! The only reason why it isn't 10/10 is because the story didn't resonate strongly enough with me to make me cry or wasn't funny enough to make me laugh my stomach out. Many other viewers of this movie cried, but not me. Still one of the best anime I've watched, and it's not like a lot of anime make me cry anyway.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Other Information:
Source: Original
Story by: Makoto Shinkai
Length: 1 hr, 46 min
Rating: Pg-13
Info from MyAnimeList
Thursday, August 03, 2017
Poem: The Path of a Star
Who would want to be a star,
A light in seas of darkness.
Seemingly with friends, from afar,
But really living in loneliness.
Burning bright for all of life,
Only to white the only black.
Feel only pain of red-hot knife,
Slowly burning, through your back.
And when the star longs for bliss,
It'll leave in brilliance -- if it can.
Or, it'll fall, into the abyss.
But after all, the dark rules again.
Who would want to be a star,
And live a life of lonely pain.
The best and bravest, bear the scar,
Walk through mud to chase away rain;
Only the greatest walk the path of the star.
A light in seas of darkness.
Seemingly with friends, from afar,
But really living in loneliness.
Burning bright for all of life,
Only to white the only black.
Feel only pain of red-hot knife,
Slowly burning, through your back.
And when the star longs for bliss,
It'll leave in brilliance -- if it can.
Or, it'll fall, into the abyss.
But after all, the dark rules again.
Who would want to be a star,
And live a life of lonely pain.
The best and bravest, bear the scar,
Walk through mud to chase away rain;
Only the greatest walk the path of the star.
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