Spacehamster’s Blog

I’ve never had much problem with getting up early in the morning. Although I do find that as I get older, it does take longer to get my brain into gear. Especially when it’s 6am and the sun has barely risen yet.

It was even harder when I was living in Melbourne. Ever tried taking a breath of fresh air in the morning, and getting a mouthful of smog instead? In Tasmania, the morning air still smells fresh - even in the city. And you can still see the sun rise over the mountains, because it’s not blocked by a layer of smog. It’s moments like those that make me happy that I’m living in Tasmania.

Up til’ about a year ago, my only exposureto anime had been via latenight showings on SBS. I thought Akira was the most pessimistic, dystopian and violent animated film I’d ever seen. And the glut of ultra-violent anime that flooded the Australian market afterwards (not to mention the sociopathic fan mindset that went with it) didn’t help matters any.

Evangelion was a huge improvement. And I liked Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex even better. GITS:SAC was the first anime series that I’d genuinely loved. It wasn’t as violent or dystopian as Akira, and didn’t have the “Darkfic” feel of Evangelion. But like the previous two, it did have some important observations about human existence, modern society and where technology would eventually lead us. But it was still rooted in the “grim and gritty” atmosphere that Western anime distributors thought that the fans would like. It certainly didn’t give me an incentive to explore other anime series - not if they were all as violent as Akira.

About a year ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the genre of anime. I asked him whether any anime had been produced that would appeal to my optimistically eclectic and odd tastes. Much to my shock and surprise, there were an awful lot of them. Here’s a list of what I’ve seen thus far -

• Azumanga Daioh: A slice-of-life High School series, with some charming but bizarre characters. The opening theme has the weirdest lyrics I’ve ever heard (ie. they make no sense at all). Nevertheless, a really enjoyable series.
• Macross Frontier: The far more mature and original Macross was the series on which the Saturday morning cartoon Robotech was based. Macross Frontier is a direct sequel to the original, but doesn’t require any knowledge of its predecessor in order to enjoy it. It started off promisingly enough, but the series is rapidly approaching its end and has still left many questions unresolved. They’ve also gone “a little emo” (as my friend has put it), and started killing off characters. A change in tone which I didn’t enjoy in Evangelion, and I’m not enjoying here either.
• Planetes: A very mature but entertaining series about Space Exploration, with some really charming characters and realistic storylines. Although it’s set in space, everything is based on real physics rather than rocketship fantasy. I’d strongly recommend this one if you enjoyed Apollo 13 or BSG.
• Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Hilarious! It’s a direct sequel to a far more serious anime series (Full Metal Panic). The situations are completely insane, but somehow this series manages to pull it off. It also has a very funny and daring ending, with a great closing line. If you want a laugh, this is definitely recommended.
• You’re Under Arrest: If I were to describe this to a Hollywood Studio Producer, it’d be “Cagney and Lacey done in Japan”. The show centres around two female police officers at the fictional Bokuto Police Station. Its greatest strength are its charming and likeable characters, and its slice-of-life perspective on policework. Please note that this is not a grim and gritty cop show like The Wire or The Shield. OTOH it’s got a combination of action and great comedy that charmed me within minutes of seeing it. I hope that ADV eventually releases series 2 eventually - it’s an absolute scandal that they can sit on a series for so long. Definitely my favourite of the ones I’ve watched thus far.
• Suzumiya Haruhi: This is easily the best of the bunch. I love You’re Under Arrest more, but in terms of animation, storyline and characterization it stands heads and shoulders above all of them. It also has a great End Credits dance sequence. As for the tone, it’s slice-of-life High School drama that also sends up a lot of anime cliches. I’m delighted to watch a series that isn’t afraid to poke a little fun at its more serious-minded contemporaries. I loved it so much, I’ve got it on order from Amazon.com!

So let me get this straight - four young men with probably way too much time on their hands and way too much testosterone, beat another young man senseless…and get off without jail time. Alright, so the newspaper states it was a race-based incident, but a violent assault is still an assault, regardless of the reasons stated.

But he also noted that the prosecution had not called for immediate prison terms and that each man was young and immature with drug or alcohol histories and disruptive childhoods and education.

Read a typical Aussie Current Affairs forum, and you can easily see the undercurrent of hostility and outright hatred for non-white migrants amongst Generation X and Y. So the actions of these young men comes as no surprise to me. To be honest, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often.

What’s dissapointing is that over the past 10 years, society has devolved to the point where these actions are seen as normal…even encouraged…amongst the younger generation that is coming through the current educational system. This kind of racist and hostile attitude on both sides of the race divide in this country does not bode well for the future. I genuinely fear for the future of this country, when I realise to my horror that the future lies in the hands of thugs such as these.

I read with interest about a briefing note that was accidentally given to the media.

Apparently prepared three years ago and intended only for private use inside the Australian government, the frank and unflattering portrait of Miss Clark labels her views “generally left wing, with foreign policy perspectives forged during the Vietnam War”.

The article title reads “Rudd redfaced”. But the note was written 3 years ago, when Alexander Downer was Foreign Minister and John Howard was still Prime Minister. So I can’t see how the current Prime Minister has anything to be embarassed about if such “unflattering” opinions were harboured by the previous Government. Not to mention, both sides of politics have done it -

It is not the first time sensitive official Australian biographies have reached the public realm. Then treasurer Peter Costello was similarly embarrassed in 1997 when staff misplaced stinging written briefings on South Pacific leaders.

I discovered last week that the radio signals from Remote Controls can interfere with the radio frequencies used by wireless mouses and keyboards. Which explains why my mouse would freeze up in the evenings, but never in the mornings - because of people watching the evening news.

I’ve replaced my much loved wireless mouse with a Logitech MX518. It’s not the latest/greatest gaming mouse, but it’ll do me just fine. And it’s no coincidence that the freezing mouse cursor problem has dissapeared as well.