Rare's Soapbox: Sinful Food for the Price of Sin

I am thou... thou art I... hold on, hold on... back up *record scratch* that comes after ok?

For the past few weeks I've been ignoring the recent controversy involving Chick-Fil-A and the company revealing it's fangs as an advocate for anti gay marriage. Now, it seems to be filling the Internet with both for and against Chick Fil A because of this subject.

To those who won't honestly pay attention to this (I had an excuse, Persona 4), COO of Chick-Fil-A Dan Cathy came out and revealed that he and his company have been donating some funds to oppose same-sex marriage. This has caused a lot of people in a tizzy starting up boycotts to Chick Fil A and telling people not to eat there.

Now, let me get this out of the way: Not only is same-sex marriage a touchy subject, but this is not the right time to do so. Besides, they violated Rule of Honor #216; First rule of mixing business with religious politics, DO NOT mix business with religious politics! I am not one of marriage in general. I'm not ready. Marriage shouldn't just be limited to just one of opposite sex, but also to choose who your own partner in life is. Denying that privilege to everyone to choose their own mate is dishonorable.

I admit I grew up in semi strict catholic views, which led me to escape from Sunday School when they got too preachy to the point that it started to scare me. Think about it from my perspective. If you live in a lifestyle of seeing things black, white, and narrow, you aren't seeing the whole picture. Since then I've considered myself half catholic because I didn't finish. What would my life been like if I continued on their path? I would have been a soulless, bigoted robot who would have been spoon fed everything that isn't part of their world. The ultimate fate of that path, would be me ending up like the poor people of Jonestown; soulless; following one false belief, with no character development, and becoming a Shadow of who I am now. I know that makes no sense, but pretty much I would have ended up as those people who are against same sex marriage.

What do I think of this? This isn't about marriage, it's about gender equality and gender segregation. Just because some one's marriage and love goes against what your values are doesn't mean you should oust them. And as a business, Dan Cathy, if you are reading this, should be treating customers equally regardless of orientation. I'm straight as an arrow, but if I acted the opposite, would you deny me service?

And those following the bandwagon for and against, have you thought about this? Chick Fil A is a business, an entity that serves great fast food. What a business believes in and does shouldn't reflect what you believe in. Besides, In n Out is pretty much a Christian corporation and they stayed out of this shit. Hell, there are bible verses on the bottom of your sodas! Didn't you notice?

Any case, you guys should give this a rest. Everyone wants to get married to prolong humanity and keep it from declining. To start a family and raise their own children is the whole point of marrying someone. Would you deny this to everyone regardless of who they are? Or are you that dense in your own belief that you label someone a demon just because some one's partner is the same gender? Heck I was labeled a demon and a sinner by christian protesters just because I was a gamer. What the hell is that about? There is a thing called bromance where two friends punch each other for kicks. Just ask Yosuke Hanamura. And there is a thing called Yaoi where women go nuts of a feminine male romance blossoming. Need I mention that men like to see Yuri or lilies?

Take off those narrow value glasses for once and see the big picture. And Chick Fil A, stop this anti gay marriage thing and just keep serving food to everybody, regardless of difference. You're no different than what Disney. Judge not lest ye be judged... or was it Cast in the name of God ye not guilty? Wait, that was Big O. my bad.

Rare Quickie Reviews: the Dark Knight Rises

Today's Review: the Dark Knight Rises. Warning, there will be spoilers.

"I'm here finally!" Date said. "Great, didn't miss much."

1st hour: zzz *explosion* what? *Bane Appears* Hey, Baraka called he wants his head back.

2nd hour: zzz *explosions* Spoiler Alert *necksnap* "I miss Paul Dini's Bane."

Later...

Date: "Christian Bale, I'd hit that."
Me: "Val Kilmer was the best Batman."
Date: "Bale!"
Me: "George Clooney!"
Date: "Aw hell naw!"

3rd hour: Jeez, they really are pusing for Lord of The Rings time aren't they? What the -? What a tweest! Gainax ending what?

Overall: Few scenes were missing that violent touch. I kinda wanted it to slide on the R Rating Scale. Bane just isn't menacing enough. Plus he kept reminding me of Dr. Henry Killinger, all he needed was his Magic Murder Bag. Few plot holes, not intimidating enough as the 2nd one, but it was pretty good. See it matinee or early bird.

Word of Advice: Don't get into the movie too much! Unless your date is clinching at the edge of her seat, then that's a good sign.

Rare's First Impressions: Jinrui Wa Suitai Shimashita

"Memories of the world before the fall remain... But the light of dawn doth never change, nor e'er the hearts of men..."- Cyan, Final Fantasy VI Advanced

The thought of a civilization found centuries later has not been a particular topic in my mind. Opening up a time capsule in the past to remember who one once was long ago is kind of a hard pill to swallow. In some cases discovering lost technology and preserving it would give you a healthy reminder that though we progress further and further into the future, not everyone has adapted to it.

Such is the case for this show I've started watching. Now according to the title and premise of the show, simply put Humanity has Declined. Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita or simply put Declining man is set in a post apocalyptic world where mankind is not doing so hot. The people of this world are too inept to hunt and gather and hate mass produced products. Thus is the fall of man.

Before I get into what this series is about this is a first impressions so rule is after 3 episodes, I will decide whether or not I will continue with the show.

The protagonist is a girl with really long hair only known in the village as the Mediator. Aptly named Watashi (female I), she is the person who is the voice of reason between the humans and what looks like genetically botoxed faeries with permanent grins on their faces. They are rather adorable if look past the casual talk and decree of "yay, mankind is in a decline. Soon the death of humans in imminent."

I'll be honest with you, to put in an understatement, this show is weird. Not in weird from a literary standpoint, not weird in a Robo Bear vs Cyber Gorilla but weird in a visual standpoint. If a stoner were to watch this, they would actually make sense of it. And that's saying something considering that getting high makes you see all kinds of strange shit.

From the episodes that I've seen, the villagers asked the Mediator to kill chickens for food since they are for lack of a better term retarded to hunt for themselves. The chickens run away, and so man has no food. No food for you! At night, the Mediator talks to the uncanny valley faeries and asked where she can find some food. Come morning and cans with the faeries on them appear. They come from a nearby factory called Fairyco. So the Mediator seeks to solve the mystery behind the goods.

Ok, first, I was expecting a Soylent Fairy reveal after first seeing the goods, but then things start getting a bit... off.

The Mediator is joined by her mute assistant who I immediately like because of his camera. When it flashes, it makes a bullet shot sound. Why can't all cameras have that function? They run into other humans who are also part of the factory as employees, but the factory is barren which all adds to the mystery even more.

They come across a robot loaf of bread and explains how the factory uses all kinds of "literal crap" to mass produce food for the villagers. Even the robot bread sees no point in living and immediately commits suicide by splitting it's head open with blood spurting out that will make a hemophiliac jealous and immediately dies... Ok he said he was made from carrot juice for kids who don't like eating them, but the effects are all the bloody same. "Please help yourself." "No thanks." "This show is so deadpan.", I might say if my pun quotient had allowed me one..

It's soon revealed that sentient skinless headless chickens are the culprits behind everything. And now here's where my acid laded frosted flakes run out. It seems that the chicken with the cigar in it's... wing? is the leader, and it's got quite a foul... uh... the hole where the head should be... you know, the hole head talky thing. Now the Mediator can't understand a "word" it's saying, so a fairy on her shoulder pulls out translator glasses. While the villain was explaining how the chickens will take over the world by shipping off the humans to an "educational place" (just roll with it) and curses her out, but she's still adjusting the subtitles to understand it.

Everybody got that?

Suddenly the Assistant comes out of nowhere, armed with his guncamera and frightens the chickens. Why Ave Maria is playing in the background while he is shooting the chickens in a GodFather style, I have no idea. Thus begins a short slapstick scene where the chickens become products. From chicken meat by products, chicken curry, chicken clothing?, to chicken toys, roasted chicken to chicken scales? A fry cook at an amusement park would say that's drawing the line.

As the chickens reach the end of a cliff outside of the factory, the Mediator and Assistant finally catch up with them only for the chickens to plunge off the cliff in slow motion from the flash of his camera, while Ave Maria is playing. Indeed it is Poultry in Motion (poetry).

Now from what I saw in the third episode, Y, the Mediator's "partner in crime" discovers Yaoi doujinshi and distributes it to the ladies of the village. Dear god! it's 50 Shades of Grey all over again! You might know how this will turn out.

So from what I explained, will I be watching this show? Yeah, I am. This is the kind of dark social comedy that I've never seen before that doesn't pull punches at how humanity is right now. Or it's taking a jab at Japan, I don't know. Plus, the art style reminds me of Threads of Fate on the Playstation for some reason or something. Would I recommend this show to people? It's already been hastagged on Twitter as #jinrui so yes. Also, the ED has this Shaft vibe as you look at it. Wait what? Masumi Ito? Oranges & Lemons? I got Raspberry Heaven flashbacks going on here.

It's on Crunchyroll so give it a shot. It's not everyday you see something that requires a thesis from stoners to make sense of what you just saw. Japan, whatever you are getting high on to make something like this, I want some.

Fanime 2012 - Condensed Version

If you want the long winded version of what I thought Fanime 2012 was, look below. For those lazy people who put tl;dr (too long;didn't read), here it is in a nutshell. Also note, protesters were there. They are the outside protest entertainment. Stupid christian protesters. Sometimes I worry about this country I live in.

Day 0: Met Bennett the Sage, started playing Line Simulator. Registration opened 5 instead of 4. Power went out, pain from back injury. 5 hours later, moved to another line. 3 hours later, shooed away. Angry, in pain, Sleep. Management is not organized.

Day 1: Started playing Line Simulator 13-2. Better and shorter than the first one. Sage's panel at 1. Walked for hours with more pain. See swap meet at fancy hotel, walk there as zombie. Rest at hotel, Sage's panel was a hit, crash again.

Day 2: Woke up, hotel room sausage fest, hungry, home to rest. Took Sage to BBQ place, fun. Saw candy shop, bought sweets and nasty soda. Soda sent to Cinema Snob. Coming soon, Brad Tries Bacon Soda. Yum.

Day 3: Went back, saw Jewario and the others back in town. Went to his panel, left, speed date but was kicked out. Saw them again, went to Mitsuwa with them and Sage for dinner. Had rice ball and energy drink with Mitsuya Cider. Delicious. Went to Black and White ball. No one to dance, music never kicked in. Too loud small place, too soft in place. Hugged shirtless cat boy, no con plague. Home.

Last Day: Scoped out last of con. Picture with Little Kuriboh. Got to know KG, energetic, but fun. Dropped off KG at con remains, back to friends place to eat, home.

Thoughts: Better organization, but fun. Screw Speed Dating, I'll find chicks my own way. Besides 15 guys and 5 girls. No good with odds. I'll go back next year.

Edit: Lazier version; Nothing happened, go again.

Fanime 2012

If there's one thing that brings people with similar interest together, it's conventions. There's a convention for everyone. From fitness, to music, to sports, to furries (yes even them), to game etc, big or small, there's something for everyone.  However, one type of convention that I actually belong to is anime conventions and the love of the culture. Fanime is the embodiment of that.

Over the past 5 days, I've been attending San Jose's only anime convention Fanimecon, by fans, for fans. I really hyped myself as well as others to go because of many things. For one Jewario was coming back along with Mark Fujita the former Psychotaku, Sam the Psykoneko and Jen. The other was Bennett the Sage who I briefly had as a client last year when he was looking for something for his show Anime Abandon. However, the biggest surprise was hearing that Little Kuriboh of Yugioh Abridged was coming. All this plus the potential chance to cosplay. Great.

Here's how it went down:

Day 0 - 120 hours remaining

Coming off of a nasty back injury with tight muscles or spine misplacement, I waited till the after noon to pick up my badge as well as meet Bennett for real. We joined up after meeting Robbie who is a big name in the convention scene. After brief hangover ice breaking we went to his hotel and went back to get our badges. There was the TVtuner and his gang including the Keet KG or Korean Guy. Tvtuner punches me in the back as I asked, but not in the right place so I writhed in the humorous pain and got in line... except it was across the hall near Peet's coffee.

Along the way in the line I come across a newcomer, Anthony who said that this year would be his first con. He was cool and Bennett and I just chummed a little until the plot began. Due to an error, the doors for badge pickup didn't open till 5, an hour later than expected. While we were waiting in line halfway through, the power went out and every pre reg person was stuck, even the press people. Somehow a blown transformer caused the outage so the people at registration had no way to access the database and people were getting irritable about it.

3 hours later, Bennett, Anthony and I reach the end of the giant winding line, only to be told to go to another line where it was still a long way to get inside. Circling around the Marriott this time, we ended up in another winding corridor of lines only to be told about 8 or so, just inches away from getting our badges were we shooed out of the convention center for unknown reason. Notably about the circumstances, I was pissed. Adding on the injury, it was just a matter of time where I just kept calling it Line Simulator 13. To who caused the outage, you have made a powerful enemy that day and you get nothing, but my greatest insult of "nice going genius."

Trekking back to Bennett's hotel a mile and a half away from the convention center did he start getting more into the casual speaking of random stuff, something I've accustomed to. After that, I went back home to rest.

Dawn of the First Day - 96 hours remaining

Normally someone like me who spent a "good" 8 hours in line to get a registration badge would go back in the early morning and bitch about the sequel rather than the original of Line Simulator 13, I had an appointment to get my back fixed. It went as well as it did with lots of aching. Soon as I got back home, I packed most of my tech stuff to help out Bennett with his panel at 1am. The only clothes I had were my bike clothes in the emergency that I ride at 3 am back to Milpitas to sleep. This was not the case as I went at 230 to see the honorable Sage himself 60% in the queue while I went all the way back that hugged the corner of the Marriott out in the streets. The only thing that kept me going in stride was the fact that 2 girls were dancing in front of me while I took residence on a nearby wall. The line made it so compressed that their asses were inches from me while they tangoed. Sometimes, the lucky ones get the breaks. Minutes later, I fall due to a rover cutting the line. Yeah, the lucky ones get the breaks.

After Line Simulator 13-2 came the mini line inside the registration booths. After 16 hours of standing with no food or hydration plus aches and pains, I acquired my badge. With pain and glee I ascended up stairs to the real deal and walked for the first time at Fanime.

I met up with Sage as we went to his hotel to grab his gear and traversed back. I ended up going through hidden staircases to find myself at a place where panelists check in and secretly stash their stuff underneath the chairs. Between the time of his panel and 9 or so, there was nothing but walking and walking. I did try to give speed dating a try, but I lost my way finding it only to find out it was full. To balance out between Sage, my physical being and TVtuner, I needed to meet up with TVtuner at the Fairmont where I was literally the Walking Dead. A bed or some crash type place was required to stay for a few hours while I recover my feet and body until Anime Abandon.

Bennett wasn't expecting an almost full house, but after a screw up on my end with some comedy from the unconscious comic relief, I end up finding a vga and audio cord not near the projector, but near the podium. The showing of his episode was a huge success and the Q and A was very close and surprisingly well informed and personal. Later, the two of us walk to his hotel talking about some more stuff and relationships. I didn't pay too much attention because I don't dwell in other's problems and their guilt that much. A short burst later I end up back at the hotel I stayed and lost consciousness.

Dawn of the Second Day - 72 hours remaining

Waken up semi refreshed from sleeping on the lounge chair, I eventually went home to recuperate after hauling more ass than I did for just one panel and went back to check out some more. I saw Bennett again as he was interested in getting a ride to grab a bite to eat. So Maveric, part of the friendoverse (word borrowed from Steve Here! And Larson!), and I picked up Bennett who was just looking for a place to sit and relax. We ended up driving to Famous Daves to eat snacks. That was a fun time as Mav never talked to Sage before. We circled around to Willow Glen for him to grab a nice drink for the evening. Just as were about to leave, at the corner of my eye was there a candy shop like Rocket Fizz in Campbell. The tres amigos went in and went to town finding novelty sodas and candy cigarettes for myself. Afterwards, we dropped off Sage at the hotel and went home and shut down till tomorrow.

Dawn of the Third Day- 48 hours remaining

The next day was when Jewario's panel was happening, and I stepped in but left because I didn't want to bother them in front of the audience. So I spent a good chunk of the hour between waiting to give speed dating another chance. The only reason why I wanted to try speed dating is to see what it was like to observe 15 or so men try to hit on one chick in 5 minutes. Alas, there was a misunderstanding in who can get in and not as I didn't not expect them to show me an email that I didn't get to confirm that I can get in. Soon as the line moved quickly, they closed their doors and left a good 20 or so in line upset. I asked why they couldn't just open up another banquet hall to which there was no legitimate answer. Dejected, I decided to scope out Bennett to see if he wanted to join Justin, Mark, Sam, and Jen to dinner. However, there wasn't enough room to fit 6 people, so I made a mad dash with the use of Demetori to make it down to Mitsuwa. Drenched in sweat, I got a rice ball and an energy drink to recover and sat down with the gang and some locals who know Mark. I noticed Bennett was nervous because he never ate Japanese food before and to some extent, it seemed to enjoy it. We all parted ways after the stores were closing so I decided to check out the Black and White ball.

From what I saw, the Black and White ball was very popular amongst the crowd and everyone was dancing. Something however threw me off a bit. One of the room was rather too small for one DJ to run eh music and the other room was too big to run good music. I wished I learned to dance, but I realized maybe it wasn't the music that clicked with me. I shook my knees to one song, but that was about enough. Uncourageous as I was, I tried asking or better yet find some girl to dance with, but my standards got the best of me. I did hug a shirtless cat boy who I initially didn't know wanted one. After the less than stellar dance I just went home.

Dawn of the Final Day - 24 hours remaining.

Today was the last day and I wanted to scope out Fanime one last time. This was also an unexpected detour as I wanted to say good bye to Little Kuriboh, which I got a shot with, and Bennett the Sage, who I didn't get a shot with. I did get to know more of KG and his relationship with the TVtuner was. After a brief retread back to the con one last time to drop off KG and back to Tuner's house I eventually said my farewell to the convention.

I learned a few things while at the convention and a few I'd like to share:

1. Go in a group. Whether it's just one person to make a duo or with a group of 5 close friends, always make sure to keep contact with them to at least drop by while they are busy.

2. Bring plenty of water and extra clothes. Going to a convention is tough and walking is part of it. You are going to get sweaty, so hide somewhere and change if you can.

3. Bring food for money or other things. If you don't feed yourself, you won't keep up.

4. Buyer Beware. If a deal is too good for what it is, it probably is. However, the rule of thumb is you don't pay con price for something that you can commonly find somewhere else. For example, Manga. The price of a copy of... let's say Toradora Voulume 4 is 11.99. At a con it's the exact same price, but there catch is you don't save much if at all buying it there. Most likely you can get it at another bookstore with your membership discount + coupon for more than the savings at the Dealer's Hall. Heck, online it's about 9 or so dollars. If I were to buy something at the Dealer's hall it would be the potential of a heavy discount on pre registraion for next year's convention and some other things like rare cds or material for costume making. Just don't pay con price for everything. Food is also a big no no at cons because most likely, there is a grocery store nearby. If not, then try to swallow your pride and wallet.

5. Shower! I can't stress this one enough. All that walking in heavy costumes and doing alot of exercise will have you start sweating. Either carry some body spray, some moist towelettes to wip yourself off, or go back to your hotel or nearest sink and wash your upper body. I know sweat attracts the ladies, but not if there's too much.

6. Know your way around and know a few people on the inside. Don't get lost looking for what you want and if you know someone, accept their offer of help if you need it. Don't overpush yourself to the point of exaustion. If you have the ability to break your limit, do it with caution.

Lastly, 7. Have fun. Try to find new people to share a similar interest with. That's how you break the ice. Just chat, enjoy a joke or two and you got yourself a potential friendo or female friendo.

Will I go back to Fanime? Yeah. Will it be better than this year? Depends on who is there. Will the speed date actually have more girls than men? You serious? Should the people in charge do better with management? Absolutely. So hope to see ya next year Fanime. It's been real.

Rare's Quickie Movie Reviews

Today's movie: Battleship.

Well what the hell did you expect for a movie based on a board game like Battleship? It's like smart people are trying too hard to act stupid. You're better than this damn it. This makes the Asylum mockbuster's look better in comparison, and that's not a good sign.

Bonus: Battleship (the movie, the game) FPS/RTS?! Are you freakin kidding me. $60 for 4 HOURS?!! Aliens? You ripped off the Covenant for cripsakes! This is shit, like the movie. Screw this noise!

Oh don't believe me? Ask Angry Joe

Rare's Quickie Movie Reviews

Today's movie: The Avengers.

Marvel's Avengers, a.k.a Tony Stark is a smart ass for 2 1/2 hours and the others bitch and kick ass. Didn't Black Widow have white hair? Needs more Hawkeye. Samuel "muthafkcuin" Jackson, the happiest man on earth. It was ok.