• 10Apr 09

  The Hamsters will Take Over The World!

  who will save us?

  ...kitty?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

  • Posted Apr 10, 2009 4:13 pm PT
  • 9 Comments
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• 1Jul 08

  Scratching the Cornea in Your Left Eye is Not Fun!

  On Thursday, I entered Sick Kids Hospitla with enthusiasm, and cheer but by the time I left, I exited with pani, and a patch over my left eye. What I thought was going to be a normal eye check-up was actually an appointment for something called an ERG test. I'm not too sure what that stands for but all I know after the perliminary testing (very simple, look at the chart and recite what can be seen, and so forth). They decided to stick a contact lens in my left eye (my stronger eye), tape it up for some odd reason, making blinking quite painful, and went ahead with flashing bright lights similar to that of a camera using flash in my eye. The test was not fun at all, and if any of you ever have to do one, be weary. The beginning isn't bad, even when they put you into a dark room for around half an hour before the big test.

  However, while the test itself was unpleasent, there's an even more important warning I have. Do not rub your eyes afterwards. I guess the fact they basically drugged my eye with eye-drops made it tender to this, but upon finishing the test I rubbed my eye. It was very uncomfortable, and seeking relief in such a manner, made things worse. What happened? I scratched the cornea in my left eye. Thank goodness, they only did the test on that eye (realizing that it was the stronger probably lead to this). The scratch was relatively small, at least that's what they said, but it was very painful. I had to wear a heavily taped patch (that stretched across the left side of my face, from my forehead to my cheek). It had to be taped to reduce eye movement, because when your eye moves, the pain has a good chance of increasing as I found out several times.

  I only took the patch off a couple of times, and all of those moments of relief was met with more eye drops. For once, eye drops actually did something good, allowing me to sleep comfortably for a couple hours before getting up the next two mornings to visit the hospital again to check on the scratch's healing progress. Thankfully, by Friday night, I was able to keep my right eye open (which was kind of difficult with the tape, and such), and watch Ep. 35 of Death Note. Saturday morning, I was able to the patch off, the pain was mostly gone but my eye was quite blurry, and the light from outside was not welcomed right away. I continued to rest for the day as I did the previous days. It was only on Sunday I was finally able to briefly come on the computer. Text was still hard to read, so it was rather brief. Yesterday, my eye was finaly back to normal, still tender but I could see through it perfectly (or as perfect as I can see with my eye condition).

  Despite, all of this, it still wasn't the worst part - Friday morning, when I got home, the silver band I wear around my right wrist was missing. I have no idea where it is, and I fear I'll never see it again. I don't know how it could've dropped out of my hand, or perhaps I simply didn't notice that it was because of my eye pain, but I was pretty mad about that. I had bought it in Trinidad a few years ago, and it was something I really liked, not to mention it sort of symbolized my love for writing, I didn't wear it much for some time but when I started getting my poetry writing back, that very day I had it on. So, since then I always wore it. That said, it left me with one final gift, while resting my eyes, I put the computer on, and listened to the entire Deep River album by Utada Hikaru. And, wouldn't you know, I have an idea. I'm still working through it, and it's a large project - I'm thinking a novel would be the best written medium for it (a movie could also be possible the way I've pictured it in my mind). So, I'm very excited about pursuing this idea of mine, although it may require a visit to Japan, so I can really get in-depth in some of the aspects I've come up with.

  Anyways, that's where I've been for the past few days. An odd thing I noticed was that during this time, my glases made things worse, making the blurryness more potent, and irritating to my eye. But, it's definitely good to not have that pain throbbing anymore. So, remember if you ever have to do an ERG test, never rub your eyes. It just makes it a lot worse.

  Before I leave, I'd like to make note of my next upcoming blog, in which I will fill everyone in on everything that's happened since I briefly left GameSpot a couple of months ago, and what I have in-store for the future including the creation of The Japanese Music Union - looking for supporters at the moment, by the way. I'm sure someone will leave some kind words, so in advance, thanks to everyone. ^_^

  Oh, one more thing, feel free to show your support with this (I love Utada Hikaru):

  

  ~Edward Elric

  • Posted Jul 1, 2008 12:30 pm PT
  • Category: General
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• 13Mar 08

  Avoiding Accidents and Anime Awareness

  .::Avoiding Accidents and Anime Awareness::.

  I'm pretty sure many of you are familiar with some of the oddities in the world that relate to anime. The most notable of these have been notes being left beside severed body parts in Belgium, with the proclaimation of being Kira, the main character in the popular anime/manga series Death Note. Yes, it's quite an odd event. However, the police dubbed 'Manga Murder' case has met a dead end. There have also been numerous incidents in which a student has written names of their staff, and school mates in a Death Note replica. Other than this, there hasn't been a whole lot going on, but last week that all changed, and anime once again felt the harsh spotlight of potential criticisms.

  Last week Naruto headlined the anime news world, and this time it wasn't about successful manga sales. An 18 year-old had uploaded a video on YouTube in which he threatened students of his former school using a quote from the Naruto character, Gaara.

  "The Corpse's Crimson Bitter Tears Will Flow And Mingle Though The Endless Sand Feeding The Chaos In Me And Making Me Stonger."

  Her's the full article if you're interested. It's certainly a strange one, and makes you wonder about all the crazy anime fans out there. However, this wasn't the only news involving Naruto that surfaced. Now just to clarify, it'swell-known that Naruto is one of the most popular anime/manga series right now, very similar to the sucess of Dragon Ball Z. Additionally, it is also known that many younger viewers also watch Naruto, as we did with Dragon Ball Z. And, while most of us were able to keep things in perspective, that's not always the case., especially if you're only 10 years-old.

  Earlier this week, it was reported that a boy had been hospitalized after attempting to imitate a scene from Naruto. Shortly after though, a follow-up was reported.

  ---

  According to KOMO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Seattle, Washington, 10-year-old Codey Porter died at 3:35 p.m PST today. The boy was hospitalized on Saturday after suffering respiratory failure when he was buried, headfirst, in a sandbox. He had reportedly asked his playmates to bury him in order to recreate the attacks used by the fictional ninja from the Naruto anime's fictional Village Hidden in the Sand.

  Porter had been resuscitated with CPR and taken to an Everett hospital and later transferred to the Children's Hospital in Seattle where he died.

  A memorial fund has been set up for Porter on the Gold Creek Community Church's Web site.

  ---

  Of course this is incredibly sad. You can't blame the anime, nor could you blame the kid because he's simply to young to differientiate fiction from reality. So who do we blame, if anyone at all? Do we blame the parents for not stopping the kids from playing? That wouldn't b very logical if all they were doing was playing in a sandbox. So, who else is there? Do we blame the perception that anime is merely intended for children in North America? If you were to relate this to gaming, many would probably say that parents should be more aware of what their kids are watching in the same way they should pay attention to the games they buy their children.

  Is this even a viable argument to make, and what's the solution? Anime hasn't gotten to the same heights as gaming, so it may not get its own personal Jack Thompson or attention from the government but I think this perception of anime being intended for children is a problem. Animation in general has been mainly used to either entertain the young minds with show like Spongebob Squarepants, or Fairy Odd Parents or for humor with shows like The Simpsons, and Family Guy. Outside of that animation isn't used in the same way that we see with anime. Where we can see the struggles of two borthers who've lost everything but each other, and embark on a journey to correct their mistakes. You don't see animated shows that can provide that sense of emotion.

  I'm not saying that anime is the greatest medium, and is suited for everything but what I am protesting is that I think North America as a whole should open up more to animation, and watch movies like Grave of the Fireflies, and understand why it' a bad idea to create a live-action movie, or see the wonderful depth it can carry as a medium for truly deep, and entertaining stories with all of the potential to make someone laugh, cry, and flat out enjoy the ride. And, while there's nothing to say for someone who's just off the ball in regards to their fandom. I think if this happens, we can avoid cases like the ones I've mentioned because I'm quite sure that if this boy's parents knew the intended audience of Naruto, and its contnet. That little boy would still be alive today.

  ~Edward Elric

  • Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:25 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 17 Comments
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