I have had this afro-dog strap on the zipper of my bag, but I moved it to my phone. I want to get a few different ones when we go to Los Angeles for the holidays.

I finished watching The Cat Returns last night. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a wonderful movie. My only complaint is that it is too short! Anyways, after watching that, I decided to watch the other half of the dvd, Ghiblis Episode II. Man, I was blown away! This is the coolest animation I have ever seen! Granted, I don’t watch hardly any anime, but the animation style is so much more innovative and imaginative than anything in the Miyazaki movies. Episode II consists of three short stories (and a really awesome dance sequence) that follows three main characters. Each of the stories is in a different style. The first one is about a lunchtime outing to a curry rice place. A very spicy curry rice place. *sigh* I can’t really do justice to Ghiblis II… so I am not going to even try to describe it any more. If you have access to this dvd and a region 2 or region-free dvd player (or can get the ayashii chinese vcd) I strongly recommend watching Ghiblis II!!!!!!

How cool is THAT!? I found these pictures of a fireworks show in Macau, I think. From mmh’s Xanga Site.

We received the latest Studio Ghibli movie to be released on DVD yesterday. The Cat Returns is fantastic! It is sort of tied to Baron the cat, who was in Whispers of the Heart. The animation of The Cat Returns is top-notch of course, but the style is a little different from most Studio Ghibli films. The standard face that we usually see has changed a bit. The faces are still quite simple, yet the expressions are much more varied, as well as body movements. The background art is great as well. I always enjoy seeing scenes of normal Japanese towns, and there is plenty of them at the beginning. I was not able to spot any Supercubs, though… 🙂

Early on, though, the story takes a turn out of reality and into fantasy. More specifically, into the world of cats. The transition that the main character, Haru, takes from the real world to the cat world is really neat. She follows a cat, and the scenery gradually changes while she walks down streets and alleys. Very nicely done! The dialogue is really funny too. I think I watched about 2/3 of the movie before Bay felt it was time to sleep. I can’t wait to see the rest tonight.

Click here for a synopsis of the movie at Nausicaa.net.
%%cat_350k.wmv” >Click here to watch the trailer.

Today is beautiful. The temperature right now (4:26pm) is reported to be 84°F (29°C). But at around 8pm a cold front is coming down from the north, and it will drop to 54°F (12°C). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Weather in Texas is nuts.

While recommending my hosting company, Dreamhost, to a friend here at work, we found out that the amount of disk space that one gets with the basic plan has been increased from 200MB to a whopping 500MB! All for only $9.99 per month. Dreamhost is awesome!

Downloading music (legally) is pretty cool. My first download via MusicMatch was “Planet Claire” by the B-52’s, and my second one was also a B-52’s tune, “Give Me Back My Man”. Love those two songs. Funny that my first concert I went to was the B-52’s. My brother Kevin took my other brother Rand and I to see them at the Hollywood Palladium in ’82, I think it was. It’s so nice that these old songs are available online. Yeah, with the old Napster it was cool too, but I feel better now that I am doing it legally. Plus, the sound quality is reliable.

It’s amazing the stuff you can do online these days. Music, ringtones, order movies, check bank accounts, etc. Ah the Internet! Now if only Segway would take off.

[via Chris via FARK>

Mariko and I switched cell phone service from AT&T Wireless to Virgin Mobile. The reason was money. We don’t use our cell phones that often (our average is about 50 minutes per month) so having a pre-paid phone is going to be much cheaper for us. AT&T Wireless was costing us $64 per month, while Virgin Mobile will cost us about $20 per month. I like the whole premise of Virgin Mobile. There are no contracts, no hidden fees, and no sales tax. You know exactly what you are paying for. You can even check your balance from the phone, or on the web. Plus, the phones we got are so cool. I downloaded four ringtones already. Three of them were free (promotion). So, if you need my new cell phone #, send me an email! My old service expires on the 13th.

I just bought this book of photography by Ben Simmons from the local Barnes and Noble bookstore. This collection of black and whites is really cool. Some great photos of a great city. I recommend picking it up. Surprisingly inexpensive too! Looking at these photos makes me want to load up my Minolta X-700 with some Tri-X and go shoot. But, I am so uninspired by Austin that I just have to sigh. Gotta leave this town!