Baman; the pronunciation.

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:09:49 -0700

Finally it is time to answer what many of you no doubt have wondered and pondered about during many a sleepless nights; how to pronounce Baman. The first mistake here is confusing the name with Batman, Banman, and similar. The most striking difference in the pronunciation of these and Baman is the A. Rather than uttering the As in bAmAn like "Æ", as you would in bAtmAn, the As are here pronounced like they would in Armour. That is, AA as opposed to Æ. Now let's try saying it out loud, B-AA-M-AA-N. Now repeat that ten times every time you chant the litany of Good Taste in front of your Baman shrines, and before long, you will have mastered the fine art of pronouncing my glorious name, and will be ready to hail and salute my coming as the emperor of the world.

Why Code Geass is terrible.

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:59:28 -0800

Since this topic comes up so often, I might as well post a little rant here so I don't have to explain it all every time it's being discussed. First of all, let's look at what CG tries to do and how well it does it. Code Geass basically have elements of several different genres mixed into it. Perhaps the most obvious is the apparent desire to reproduce Death Note's thriller/mystery aspect with some dude with a special power working in secrecy in pursuit of some goal. Death Note was all about the protagonist working out schemes and plans to kill people whit his power while avoiding to reveal his identity. Okay, so the skulduggery did get a bit convoluted and silly at times, but the main attraction was how Light managed to carry out his goals while under the several restrictions of the Death Note rules. In Code Geass, Lelouch's power is simply too powerful. It can only be used once per person, and can only be used if the target looks into one's eye, but how hard can that be? From there on, it can be used to make people carry out specific tasks at any time or even make them obedient slaves that carry out one's every command. And then, finally, when the Geass suddenly becomes uncontrollable, and we hope to finally see a weakness and some interesting developments, all it does is influence one event before being covered by a contact lens and conveniently forgotten. One begins to wonder why he could not simply use his Geass to infiltrate the Britannian Royal family and kill off Charles right off the bat, but no, he choose to start a long and dragged out rebellion as if in a childish attempt to gain the recognition of the father that ignored him. So no, I don't see how this is similar to Death Note, other than being a terribly failed attempt at copying it's premise. And then there is the war drama aspect. Is Geass a good war drama? The most obvious thing here is likely the old "friends on opposing sides" cliché. Another typical example of this is Gundam SEED. In SEED, Athrun and Kira were childhood friends, and ended up on opposite sides due to Athrun being having a family and for some reason being a soldier on the one side while Kira was swept up on the opposite sides in the old Gundam style. In Geass however, both Lelouch and Spinzaku share more or less the same ultimate goal, but for some reason, the latter inexplicably ends up becoming the test pilot for some advanced new supermecha. Why a random foreign auxiliary soldier with no actual mecha piloting experience would be chosen as the test pilot for such a important project in a empire where foreigners are discriminated upon is anyone's guess. However, despite the discrimination, Suzaku wants to change Britannia from the inside (Wouldn't being a politician perhaps have been a better idea?) rather than fight against it. More than likely, he could have been persuaded by his old friend Lelouch, had this friend been smart enough to reveal his identity to him, but of course, this does not happen, Sunrise NEEDS Lelouch and Suzaku to fight. Until they suddenly don't need to anymore, and despite having caused the death of Suzaku's love interest, Lelouch suddenly gets his old friend back on the team towards the end. Suzaku's convictions suddenly weren't so strong after all were they? Brilliant character writing there, oh yes. Then we have the case of the supposedly brilliant strategist Lelouch. Oh, so he is good at chess, well of course he must be a genius, right? For some reason, Lelouch keeps antagonizing everyone. He hardly even tries to get his old friend to join him, he decide to fight against the already existing terrorist and guerrilla groups instead of allying with them like any sane strategist would, and he even kidnaps the Chinese empress and end up mired in a completely unessecary battle rather than simply supporting the already dissident faction against the current regime. He ends up fighting the regime and allying the rebels either way, of course, so for some reason, he must have felt some burning need to waste time, troops and resources by fighting them both first. Still, he's a genius, right? He also show Zero (haha) aptitude for strategy by blowing up valuable strategic resources (as well as other guerrillas he should have allied himself with) just to take out a handful of measly enemy units. In the very beginning of the series, he also kills Clovis rather than turning him into a long term puppet like he does with countless other people later on, while failing to kill Suzaku on multiple occasions, even when he is clearly a threat. Some genius. And then of course, you have his inability to make backup plans in case a certain white Knightmare shows up to ruin his day. At some point, he even makes a point out of spending a buttload of time talking to his sister just so that Suzaku in said mecha can get a chance at ruining the masterful kidnapping plan. Honestly, we can see these plot twists from miles away, how about writing properly and make the plot flow like it should rather than lag like a broken record whenever some contrived twist has been thrown in to create drama? Then we have the mecha element. Okay, so the story takes place in a more or less present day earth setting with a little different backstory. And there's mecha. Everyone is using them. Why? Would it be that hard to at least try to explain? Oh, so there's some magical phlebotium here that somehow allows them to be constructed, but that still does not explain why they waste it on mecha rather than a actually useful weapon that isn't a several stories high machine that can be effortlessly raped by aircraft and a blind man can spot coming from miles away. And the mecha aren't the worst part, suddenly there are flying battleships and floating castles that fire antimatter weapons too. The technology progression is also quite ridiculous, as you see them go from using big cluncky mecha with Votoms-ish wheels to suddenly produce brokenly overpowered supermechas that assrape everything with beam spamming. And they can fly. Not that it is a big deal, as everything ends up flying in the end. Of course, how this abnormal technology progression occurs is never explained. And neither do we get any explanation why Lelouch does not simply wipe out all enemies with his antimatter beam of death when he clearly is able to do so. He could win the battle alone. If he didn't suddenly need to rescue his incompetent sister. And then you have the question of supplies. How can a small scale terrorist organization that starts out by stealing enemy machines suddenly have enough resources to be able to fight the world's only superpower while still leave room for their incompetent leader to waste pilots and mecha in meaningless side battles against people that should have been his allies? Finally, there is the school harem/romcom part. Thankfully, the most minor part, but for some reason, they insist on having more or less filler episodes with boobs, boobs, boobs and boobs. Now, I don't have anything against boobs, I like boobs in my anime, if there is a reason for it, like say, it is a hentai or a ecchi series whose whole point it fanservice. What I don't like is fanservice haphazardly thrown into a series that wasn't supposed to be about fanservice in the first place. And when we're on the topic of fanservice, I do believe the protagonist's ridiculous theatricals to go under this. And let's not forget his Yandere shota "brother" that suddenly appears. Oh and a certain green haired girl whose only role is to laze around uselessly with alluring clothes while knowing everything but saying nothing. And while Kallen occasionally do stuff, I would still question how on earth a kid (even if she has huge knockers) happens to be such a splendid mecha pilot, and how her underdog terrorist organization even got the training required to use mecha anyways. The same question arise when Britannia's elite pilots for some reason include a amnesiac girl that's 12 or something. One would think the world's greatest superpower wouldn't need to resort to child soldiers, especially when any older and more experienced soldier would do the job much better, and without the emoness and melodrama. But hey, they need some more loli girls in it, don't they? At least some series like NGE try to excuse the use of child pilots in some way, but apparently, that was too much work for Sunrise this time. Of course it doesn't help much that when you finally think the whole school farce is over, you get a almost unbearably idiotic repeat of the whole thing. And then you have all the obvious flaws, like Charles' ridiculous and completely unforeseen NGE Instrumentality project ripoff, miles of plot armour, "battles" consisting of mook and redshirt armies doing nothing until the main characters appear to resolve the situation, Spinzaku dodging bullets while no one else does and basically acting like a broken balanced martial arts god, Kallen leaving her leader to die at the hands of the enemy, Lelouch traveling impossible distances in no time at all, a bunch of characters inexplicably surviving what should have been instant death, a bunch of seemingly important characters that get about a minute of screen time before dying or disappearing completely, characters that just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time no matter how ridiculously unlikely in order to induce drama, and even amnesia that conveniently disappear the moment it is no longer needed by the plot. Really, the whole cast of characters are little more than plot devices in themselves. Now, I complain about the realism a lot. Lack of realism is not a problem in itself, not when we are talking about a fictional universe. What is a problem is when said fictional universe breaks it's own "realism", which Code Geass does time and again. All in all, Code Geass ends up being driven by it's own ridiculous plot devices and contrived twists. Rather than writing a story that flows naturally along with characters that act like biological components to the story and seem to interact with it realistically, CG runs like a jumbled rollercoaster ride over poorly constructed tracks full of holes, and only really keep going because the cart goes so fucking fast that one doesn't notice the massive gaps in the track or that the girders are glued together by chewing gum. You get vapid characters that display all sorts of ridiculous behavior including personality changes and making obviously retarded decisions simply to suit the plot in it's quest for shallow melodrama and flashy crap to throw at the viewers. And more Dei ex Machinis than you can shake a stick at. Then it all finally ends on a ridiculous note with the protagonist suddenly deciding to become an hero, which laughably enough appears to lead the world to peace and unity. Really, pretty much any other ending would have been more clever and thought out, even the "It was all a dream" ones. Without a doubt, the worst piece of animated pooh I have ever had the misfortune of watching (R2 most of all), worse than most other crappy series simply because Code Geass started out with a interesting concept and I actually had some hopes for it. Rant over. *Also, do note that due to the thoroughly pretentious and melodramatic air through the entire show, I had no choice but take the various failings as serious as the show tried to present them. This would naturally be different if it was a clearly less serious and pretentious work from the start, like, say, TTGL.

On the Nature of Blogs

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:12:01 -0800

In this day and age, the word "Blog" rings many bells (Though arguably most commonly medium sized brass ones) in people's heads, as opposed to previous days and ages, when it usually carried little meaning for anyone without a morbid fascination for Sauropod genitalia or sour milk. But what are these "Blogs", where do they come from, how are their grandmothers doing and where are they going out this afternoon? Join me in this riveting quest as I traverse wasted time and procrastination in search for the secret of the Blogs. Blogs are usually trite creatures, deadly boring as they slither through the virtual bogs and swamplands of the internets in drab and dull colours while waiting for unsuspecting prey, primarily humans, to stumble upon their links. Despite their ultimately mundane and unexciting nature, people are still drawn to them. The leading theory in the field states that this happens due to the Blogs abusing mental gaps in the human mind, leading them to assume that nothing that looks so boring can possible be that boring. Ensnaring and trapping it's hapless prey, the Blog mercilessly siphon away at their vitality, stealing precious seconds, minutes or even hours from the life of their unsuspecting catch. Devious as they are, Blogs can lurk anywhere (Though usually not in jars of strawberry jam. Other kinds of jam maybe, but not strawberry. We have yet to find the reason behind this.), and often trap bypassers with what appears to be alluring pictures, funny keywords or intriguing titles. Even if the prey feels enlightened or amused by the slithery creature, the result will be the same. It should be noted though, that Blogs have evolved especially to fit today's environment, where bored prey willing to waste their precious lifetime is in ample supply (As opposed to the old days when young people preferred to spend their time dying in muddy fields, making large circles of stones or taking dumps in forests). In a way, it can be said that the Blogs and their prey form a perfect symbiotic relationship, as some humans even keep Blogs as pets of sorts, saving their links and return to be entertained or enlightened, even at the expense of their own lifetime (Well, time at any rate). There is much yet we do not know about Blogs, and many mysteries that may be solved with future research. Why are some Blogs so radically different from each other, and how have various blogs so perfectly adapted to various human groups? How have some Blogs evolved specifically to cover topics like clothes, games (Another life stealing creature closely related the the Blog), mammaries and even people's breakfast habits? The mind boggles. I will continue to pursue the secrets of this mysterious creature, and I hope you will follow my journey into the mysterious world of the Blogs.

Law(l)

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:54:00 -0700

HR-2004-666-A - (Rt-2004-610)

INSTANS: Norges Høyesterett - Kjennelse. DATO: 2004-04-02 DOKNR/PUBLISERT: HR-2004-666-A - Rt-2004-610 STIKKORD: Strafferett. Likskjending. Straffutmåling. (1) Dommer Stabel: Saken gjelder straffutmåling ved likskjending - straffeloven § 143. (2) Statsadvokatene i Vestfold og Telemark tok 7. august 2003 ut tiltale mot A, C, B og D for grovt tyveri, skadeverk og likskjending. Tiltalen omfattet forhold knyttet til innbrudd i gravkapellet på Nordre Gravlund i Skien natt til lørdag 14. juni og natt til søndag 15. juni 2003. Ved Skien og Porsgrunn tingretts dom 16. august 2003 ble A idømt fengsel i to år, hvorav ett år ble gjort betinget. De øvrige fikk samfunnsstraff: C i 420 timer, B i 90 timer og D i 75 timer. Alle fire ble dømt til å betale erstatning til Skien kommune. (3) Tingrettens dom var avsagt under dissens, idet mindretallet - rettens formann - stemte for at A skulle idømmes fengsel i ett år, hvorav 120 dager ubetinget, C samfunnsstraff i 120 timer og B samfunnsstraff i 75 timer, mens D burde få 60 timer samfunnsstraff. (4) Påtalemyndigheten anket over straffutmålingen for samtlige domfelte. A, C og B anket over bevisbedømmelsen under skyldspørsmålet, de to førstnevnte anket subsidiært over straffutmålingen. B anket dessuten over erstatningsspørsmålet. Agder lagmannsrett nektet skyldankene fremmet, mens straffutmålingsankene ble fremmet. (5) Lagmannsretten satte straffen til fengsel i ett år og seks måneder for A, fengsel i ti måneder for C og fengsel i seks måneder for B. Påtalemyndighetens anke vedrørende D ble forkastet. Lagmannsrettens dom ( LA-2003-1485) hadde slik domsslutning: « Det gjøres disse endringene i tingrettens dom: 1. Straffen for A, født *.*.1976, settes til fengsel i 1 - ett - år og 6 - seks - måneder. 2. Straffen for C, født *.*.1984, settes til fengsel i 10 - ti - måneder. 3. Straffen for B, født *.*.1981, settes til fengsel i 6 - seks - måneder. 4. B dømmes under solidaransvar med A og C til å betale erstatning til Skien kommune med 10.000,- - titusen - kroner innen 2 - to - uker fra dommens forkynnelse. 5. Samtlige tilkommer varetektsfradrag som fastsatt av tingretten. » (6) De tre domfelte har anket til Høyesterett over lagmannsrettens straffutmåling, som de mener er for streng. De anfører at verken allmennpreventive eller individualpreventive hensyn gjør seg gjeldende i sak en. Lagmannsretten har lagt urimelig stor vekt på den sterke reaksjon saken har skapt i lokalmiljøet, og feilaktig lagt til grunn et slektskap med kirkebranner, velting av gravstøtter og lignende. Påtalemyndigheten har anket straffutmålingen for A, og gjort gjeldende at den er for mild. Det vises til at krenk ingen av kirkerommet burde vært tillagt større vekt, og til at A utførte en særdeles gruoppvekkende handling ved å skjære hodet av et av likene og ta det med seg. (7) Om innledningen til det som skjedde heter det i tingrettens dom: « ... Natt til lørdag 14. juni 2003 banet C og D seg adgang til gravkapellet/krematoriet på Nordre Gravlund i Skien. De kom seg inn ved å knuse glasset i et vindu. Fra et kontor tok C en sort bukse. C og D gikk også til kjølerommet i kjelleretasjen hvor det var plassert seks kister med døde personer. De åpnet fem av kistene ved å skru av de seks skruene som hvert lokk var festet med, for å se om det fantes smykker på likene. De fant imidlertid ikke noe å stjele her. C har erkjent straffeskyld for forholdet. D har ikke erkjent straffeskyld med den begrunnelse at han ikke var klar over at C hadde tatt med seg en bukse. Begge de nevnte har opplyst at de brøt seg inn i kapellet for å se om det var noe av interesse de kunne ta med seg. ... » (8) Tingretten fant det videre bevist at C, mens han så etter verdisaker på likene inne i kapellet, tråkket på i hvert fall ett lik, og at han også forsettlig trakk eller veltet liket av en av de andre døde ut av kisten slik at det ble liggende på gulvet. Etter å ha vært i kapellet brøt de seg inn i driftsbygningen på Nordre Gravlund, der de stjal en mobiltelefon og gjorde seg skyldige i skadeverk. (9) Kvelden etter befant disse to seg, sammen med A og et par andre kamerater, hjemme hos B, som er Cs bror. Det ble drukket alkohol, og i hvert fall A brukte narkotika - rohypnol, ecstasy og hasj. Samtlige var beruset. I løpet av festen ble det snakket om hva som var skjedd i gravkapellet kvelden før. A sa at han ønsket å oppsøke kjølerommet i kapellet for å skjære hodet av et lik og ta hodet med seg. B sa at A skulle få hasj av ham, dersom han fikk være med og se ham skjære av et hode. Han ga ham også en kniv til dette bruk. C sa at han var interessert i å dra tilbake til kapellet for å stjele et par høyttalere han hadde sett der natten før. Disse tre dro så til kapellet. (10) Inne i kjølerommet trakk A fram kniven og skar i halsen på et lik. Da kniven støtte mot nakkevirvlene, hjalp C til med å holde hodet fast. Etter at hodet var skilt fra kroppen, ble det lagt i en bærepose. Mens han var i kjølerommet, påførte A et annet lik to kutt i pannen og et dypt stikk i halsen. Han påførte også et tredje lik to dype stikk i venstre del av brystet og skar et stykke ut av pannen. På veien ut av kapellet tok A med seg to lysestaker, to kubbelys, et alterteppe, to kors og en urne. Han tok også med seg det avskårne hodet. (11) A er funnet skyldig i skjending av tre lik. C er dømt for ett tilfelle av likskjending natt til 14. juni og for det groveste tilfellet natt til 15. juni. B er dømt for medvirkning til det groveste tilfellet av likskjending natt til 15. juni. I tillegg er alle tre dømt for skadeverk og grovt tyveri. Det er likskjendingene som blir det dominerende ved straffutmålingen. (12) Straffeloven § 143 står i kapittel 13 om forbrytelser mot den alminnelige orden og fred. Det er lite rettspraksis når det gjelder hvilket straffenivå man skal legge seg på i denne type saker. Straffen må derfor utmåles ut fra de interesser bestemmelsen er ment å verne, i første rekke vår felles interesse i at døde personer behandles med verdighet og respekt. Dette må ses som en grunnleggende oppfatning i vår kultur. Selv om skjending av døde personer er forbundet med høye moralske barrierer og omfattes av sterk samfunnsmessig fordømmelse, tilsier hensynet til de avdødes minne, til de pårørende og til allmennheten generelt at det også reageres med straff. På denne bakgrunn er jeg enig med lagmannsretten i at det ikke vil være riktig å anvende samfunnsstraff i en sak som denne. Etter straffeloven § 28 a kan samfunnsstraff ikke idømmes der hensynet til straffens formål taler mot en reaksjon i frihet. I forarbeidene er det blant annet gitt uttrykk for at hensynet til den allmenne rettsfølelsen må veie tungt, jf. Innst.O.nr.60 (2000-2001) side 31 punkt 9.2. (13) Jeg mener derfor det må utmåles en ubetinget fengselsstraff for alle de tre domfelte. Ved straffutmålingen må det også legges vekt på at handlingene er forøvet i et gravkapell - som bør være et fredet sted. For alle brukere av dette rommet - og de ansatte som kom til stedet og oppdaget ugjerningene - må det ha vært en fryktelig opplevelse av grusomhet og ufred. (14) De domfelte har allerede møtt en massiv fordømmelse i sitt nærmiljø, og har alle gitt uttrykk for avstandstaken til handlingene, som de ikke kan forklare med annet enn ruspåvirkning. Ingen av dem har noe ideologisk forhold til likskjending eller til krenkelse av kirkerommet eller kristne grunnverdier. Jeg må derfor legge til grunn at straff ikke er nødvendig for å hindre at de på nytt skal foreta lignende handlinger. (15) As forhold er det mest alvorlige. Han var den som tok initiativet til å oppsøke kapellet natt til 15. juni, og da med det forehavende å skjære hodet av et lik. Dette gjennomførte han, og tok det avskårne hodet med seg i en plastpose. Det var også han som alene utførte skjendingen av de to andre likene. Han er en 27 år gammel mann, for tiden arbeidsledig og med et omfattende rusmisbruk bak seg. Jeg må legge til grunn at handlingene er begått under sterk rus, uten at det kan virke formildende i saken. Jeg mener at den straff lagmannsretten har utmålt - fengsel i ett år og seks måneder - bør bli stående. (16) C var med på det innledende innbruddet i kapellet den første natten, der formålet var å stjele fra de døde, og han er dømt for to tilfelle av likskjending. Han er bare 20 år gammel, og er for tiden inne i et rehabiliteringsopplegg for sin rusavhengighet. Ut fra det jeg har sagt tidligere, finner jeg likevel ikke grunn til å fravike den straff lagmannsretten har fastsatt - fengsel i ti måneder. (17) B er dømt for medvirkning til ett tilfelle av likskjending. Det var han som styrket A i hans forehavende om å skjære hodet av et lik, og som ga ham kniven med dette for øye. Han er 22 år gammel og er beskrevet som en sosialt isolert, men ellers velfungerende person uten rusproblemer. Jeg mener at straffen også for ham må bli som fastsatt av lagmannsretten - fengsel i seks måneder. (18) Både de domfeltes og påtalemyndighetens anker blir dermed å forkaste. (19) Jeg stemmer for denne kjennelse: Ankene forkastes. (20) Dommer Rieber-Mohn: Jeg er i det vesentlige og i resultatet enig med førstvoterende. (21) Dommer Gussgard: Likeså (22) Dommer Flock: Likeså. (23) Dommer Dolva: Likeså. (24) Etter stemmegivningen avsa Høyesterett denne kjennelse: Ankene forkastes.

I love reading things like this. The number only made it that much funnier. I don't see the reason for all the fuss though. The dead guy wasn't likely to be needing his head. Alas, ye moralists.

BLOG??!!

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:28:06 -0700

Hello there blog. I don't like you >:(

Blogthis, blogthat, well how about you just run onto some highway and play a nice little game of blog and go fuckyourself? eh? That's a rather good idea i'd say? EH? EH? EHHHHEHHHHH???

CURSE YOU BLOG!!!

I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME!!!

YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LAST OF ME!!!

Baman's Blog - MyAnimeList.net

Baman; the pronunciation.

Why Code Geass is terrible.

On the Nature of Blogs

Law(l)

BLOG??!!