Since posting my Great Anime Review, I have started on other series and made significant changes that affect my viewing. Firstly, I replaced my old FTP programme with Filezilla. I then set my Xbox FTP up properly, so as to gain access to my Xbox via my computer - this is incredibly important for file transfer. I downloaded the latest XBMC (Xbox Media Centre), thus bringing my Xbox up to date, enabling me to play every standard current video file format. This solves my .MKV problem. I can even play files that have been compressed, straight from the zip or rar file! And, now that it's been updated, I can do updates straight from my Xbox through the Scripts page (T3CH updater).
On another front, I unlocked the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone) in my router, allowing Torrents to flow as they should. Seirei no Moribito, Gundam 00 and Suteki Tantei Labyrinth have all downloaded. I watched Seirei (Sacred Spirit) and Gundam 00 and they are both pretty cool ^^ I intend to watch Suteki (Wonderful) before the week is out. I also have the latest Naruto, Bleach and the Bleach movie now, so tweaking my router has really made a difference to my downloading.
Update complete.
Timotheos
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Hontou desu ne - Document Authentication
Today, I had a Justice of the Peace sign some copies of identification and qualifications that I need to send in with my JET application. I first made copies of the documents:
My passport and birth certificate:
I put the two on one page for efficiency. My passport number has been blanked out for security reasons. This is the Internet after all...
My Diploma of Christian Ministry, which I earned from a year at Faith Bible College - 2002:
Bible College was one of the best years of my adult life. I just hope that everyone who went through with me is still going strong for the Lord. I'm including this because it is just further proof of my past studies.
Finally, my CELTA:
This proves I am an official teacher of English to foreign students. Level 4 is post-secondary school but pre-university level. It is a key qualification as a part of my application process and should give me a greater chance of being selected to go to Japan to teach. It proves that I already have a certain amount of experience teaching English to foreign students.
Once I had these documents copied, I went to the Whitepages and typed in JP, Alicetown, Wellington. I found a Justice of the Peace who lives just around the corner from me, so I put the documentation into my bag and walked around to have the copies stamped, signed and dated. Bit windy outside today :/
The last thing before I post off my application to the Japan Information and Cultural Centre is to propose two references who can vouch for me as a suitable candidate for the JET programme. I have chosen the senior pastor of Hope Centre, my church - Ps. Seth Fawcet - whom I have incredible respect for, and one of my tutors from this last trimester, Charles Ferrall, who took me for English 243, Contemporary Fiction. I am waiting to hear back from my tutor before inputting his details, but once that is finalised, this application is away and I can sit back and wait for them to contact me regarding the next step of the application process.
Now I just have to get through the two more exams before my study year is officially over and apply for next year's papers (and student loan and allowance) to finish my degree by June.
It's all happening.
-Timotheos
My passport and birth certificate:
I put the two on one page for efficiency. My passport number has been blanked out for security reasons. This is the Internet after all...My Diploma of Christian Ministry, which I earned from a year at Faith Bible College - 2002:
Bible College was one of the best years of my adult life. I just hope that everyone who went through with me is still going strong for the Lord. I'm including this because it is just further proof of my past studies.Finally, my CELTA:
This proves I am an official teacher of English to foreign students. Level 4 is post-secondary school but pre-university level. It is a key qualification as a part of my application process and should give me a greater chance of being selected to go to Japan to teach. It proves that I already have a certain amount of experience teaching English to foreign students.
Once I had these documents copied, I went to the Whitepages and typed in JP, Alicetown, Wellington. I found a Justice of the Peace who lives just around the corner from me, so I put the documentation into my bag and walked around to have the copies stamped, signed and dated. Bit windy outside today :/
The last thing before I post off my application to the Japan Information and Cultural Centre is to propose two references who can vouch for me as a suitable candidate for the JET programme. I have chosen the senior pastor of Hope Centre, my church - Ps. Seth Fawcet - whom I have incredible respect for, and one of my tutors from this last trimester, Charles Ferrall, who took me for English 243, Contemporary Fiction. I am waiting to hear back from my tutor before inputting his details, but once that is finalised, this application is away and I can sit back and wait for them to contact me regarding the next step of the application process.
Now I just have to get through the two more exams before my study year is officially over and apply for next year's papers (and student loan and allowance) to finish my degree by June.
It's all happening.
-Timotheos
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Animé - The Great Anime Review
One thing I do with my spare time is continue to watch animé. Whether what I watch delivers or not is, of course, up to my own personal preference (and mood) and whether I actually enjoy something enough to keep watching it through to the end. My preferred genres are sci-fi, action, martial arts, adventure and comedy, although some thriller, supernatural and detective stuff is good too. I'll mix my genres up if something looks good. In fact, I'll try just about anything because most animé could be considered mixed genre.
But give me guns and grenades, magic and mechas and I'm (usually) all over it.
A note on files
I avoid .mkv wherever possible for two simple reasons: firstly, my graphics card (GeForce 7600 GT) doesn't like them. It often decides to stop halfway and crash my system. Secondly, my Xbox can't read that file format, and so I can't watch them on my 29" TV, sitting comfortably in my armchair. I can convert .mkv files to .avi, but the programme I have been using keeps crashing, so this is turning out to be a bit of a mission for me as well.
Currently Watching
Here are the animé that are either currently running or that I am currently watching for whatever reasons.
Bleach - current
Shinigami waving their zanpakutous (soul slayers) around. Bleach is in to it's 140s but I'm not quite at episode 100 (episode 96). I've been struggling to catch up because I'll watch a burst of episodes and then get sick of it and have to take a break. It gets tedious and frustrating at times because of the way that battles and such drag out but it is still cool and I know that once I get through this story arc, things will pick up again.
Naruto Shippuuden
The carry on series from the popular ninja animé Naruto (that had ~220 episodes) that I heard is playing on Cartoon Network these days. I don't think I could bear to watch that in English. Shippuuden doesn't air again until next week, unfortunately, and the last episode was a double (Shippuuden special, 29-30). I'm still enjoying this, even though there is some of that frustration of things being drawn out and/or repeated too often.
D.Gray-Man
For some reason I keep leaving this for a while. I started watching it months ago but am only up to episode seven. It's just not doing it for me, but if I get sick of anything else I'll go back to it. I guess purely supernatural stuff just isn't as good as other action series.
Recently Finished
I try to keep up with some current animé but do go back to series that I just never got to watch, either because I was too preoccupied with other things to consistently watch it or because I just didn't have the opportunity to. The following are some series I have recently completed and that I recommend.
Death Note - recent
This finished a few weeks back. Randomly, it was 37 episodes. I was a bit disappointed with the ending but it was actually inevitable when I think about it. Still, I'd have liked to have seen Yagami Light become the ruling god that he was trying to become. Nice animation and the content just really interested me from the beginning. I enjoyed most episodes. I think it dragged a bit as it got into the 20s, but after he beat the first L it picked up for a while. Overall, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys thrillers and doesn't mind a bit of drama.
Claymore - recent
Another disappointing ending - for anyone, I'd say. There was so much left open that I really, really hope they release an OVA. Apparently it shied away from the manga and that was really its downfall. The kakusenshu (however you spell it - awakened beings) weren't explained well enough and the last battle between Clare and Priscilla was so meh. Way too much korosu (I'll kill you!) , although I must admit, Clare looked freaking awesome in her awakened state. The fighting throughout most of the series was great, however, and the story up until the end was actually quite good.
RahXephon - old
I only just finished watching RahXephon last night for the first time - and it was awesome. This series is getting quite dated; I think it aired in 2003. I really enjoyed it, despite being confused for most of it - even after reading the wikipedia entry, which actually helped to grasp things a lot more. I was even pleased with the ending, although I'd like to see the TV movie that was made because it will fill in a few more gaps - and just simply because it's over QQ and I want to see more.
The animation was consistent and the CG was pretty nice. The motif of music and concert that ran through the series was really cool, too, but kind of added to the confusion - I think too much was left unexplained until the end, and even then some things didn't make complete sense (the whole Quon / Maya / Ayato relationship is a little unclear to me). But the concept of tuning the world was truly original, and the red/blue motif in that last episode was so freaking classy it almost made me cry.
The amount of people that died was pretty sad, though (which also brought tears to my eyes), so it sure delivered emotionally. When main characters die at the end, it hurts. In fact, due to that, it was a bit of a tragedy, despite the happy ending - and to me, endings where he gets her are always depressing anyway, because they are a reminder that reality just isn't one big happy ending. Some of us are destined to be alone.
D.N.Angel - old
I actually finished watching this quite a while ago - a few months - but I'm mentioning it because it still stands out as a series I completed this year that was worth watching. I'm not sure what genre to slot it into (supernatural, cutesy romance, fantasy), but the pace, the story and the character development were all well done. The concept of a supernatural art thief and his supernatural nemesis was just cool. And the whole animé was really kawaii, too. It left me feeling happy at the end.
Currently Downloading
There are a few titles that I am trying to get currently because they piqued my interest. Please note that some of these are from last year or 2005, so not all are current animé. The biggest reason I struggle to download anything is because torrents hate me - or my router, or my ISP, or something. I might have a file that is showing 300 seeds and it sits there for weeks in utorrent, mocking me with its 0.00 kb/s. Go figure o.O
Seirei no Moribito - finished
This looks like a cool shounen (guy) series. I heard that it's a mixed genre, but it contains fighting and some fantasy elements. Should turn out to be one that I'll enjoy - if the torrents will go. The only problem for me is that I can only find .mkv files to download - but that's a problem I'll have to sort out once I get the first episode.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 - current
People say that they really are milking the Gundam franchise for all it's worth. One thing I'm a bit hesitant about is that the main characters seem to be teenagers. I'm thinking it could turn out to be like that latest Transformers; I didn't even watch a full episode and I had a bad impression of it. However, despite having never seen a Gundam episode (I have the full series of both SEED and Destiny but haven't watched any from either - yes Darrin, T.T) I am willing to give this one a shot - if the first episode will download.
Texhnolyze - finished
My brother recommended this. It sounds pretty aesthetic in nature with talk of having to really engage the story with all of your brain and admiring it for its artistic rather than thematic qualities. It sounds somewhat similar to Serial Experiments Lain, actually (which I found pretty out there, having watched just seven episodes a couple of years back). Here's hoping it decides to finish downloading because it does sound like a bit of an interesting watch.
Master of Epic - finished / short series
This just sounds really funny. It's an MMO parody animé, and as the World of Warcraft fan cum otaku that I am, I'm sure that I will enjoy this. It sounds almost as random as Excel Saga and I hope that it delivers just as much crazy humour :O
Suteki Tantei Labyrinth - current
Not sure what to say about this as I don't know that much as yet. It's a crime thriller but is a shojou animé. I don't tend to lean towards shojou (girl) series but this actually sounds like it could be good.
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihorito - finished
I just typed that without checking back ^.^ Aside from having a tricky title, I think this one sounds like my type of animé. It's a samurai one, set in the bakumatsu period.
To Be Seen
There are a number of titles that I want to see but they either don't have the torrents available or no one has translated them. Such titles as Noein, Law of Ueki and Astraea Testament all sound really good, but I may never get to actually watch them. The older an animé gets, the harder it is to track down. You just have to let them slide on by and hope you can grab some from the next wave.
-Timotheos
But give me guns and grenades, magic and mechas and I'm (usually) all over it.
A note on files
I avoid .mkv wherever possible for two simple reasons: firstly, my graphics card (GeForce 7600 GT) doesn't like them. It often decides to stop halfway and crash my system. Secondly, my Xbox can't read that file format, and so I can't watch them on my 29" TV, sitting comfortably in my armchair. I can convert .mkv files to .avi, but the programme I have been using keeps crashing, so this is turning out to be a bit of a mission for me as well.
Currently Watching
Here are the animé that are either currently running or that I am currently watching for whatever reasons.
Bleach - current
Shinigami waving their zanpakutous (soul slayers) around. Bleach is in to it's 140s but I'm not quite at episode 100 (episode 96). I've been struggling to catch up because I'll watch a burst of episodes and then get sick of it and have to take a break. It gets tedious and frustrating at times because of the way that battles and such drag out but it is still cool and I know that once I get through this story arc, things will pick up again.
Naruto Shippuuden
The carry on series from the popular ninja animé Naruto (that had ~220 episodes) that I heard is playing on Cartoon Network these days. I don't think I could bear to watch that in English. Shippuuden doesn't air again until next week, unfortunately, and the last episode was a double (Shippuuden special, 29-30). I'm still enjoying this, even though there is some of that frustration of things being drawn out and/or repeated too often.
D.Gray-Man
For some reason I keep leaving this for a while. I started watching it months ago but am only up to episode seven. It's just not doing it for me, but if I get sick of anything else I'll go back to it. I guess purely supernatural stuff just isn't as good as other action series.
Recently Finished
I try to keep up with some current animé but do go back to series that I just never got to watch, either because I was too preoccupied with other things to consistently watch it or because I just didn't have the opportunity to. The following are some series I have recently completed and that I recommend.
Death Note - recent
This finished a few weeks back. Randomly, it was 37 episodes. I was a bit disappointed with the ending but it was actually inevitable when I think about it. Still, I'd have liked to have seen Yagami Light become the ruling god that he was trying to become. Nice animation and the content just really interested me from the beginning. I enjoyed most episodes. I think it dragged a bit as it got into the 20s, but after he beat the first L it picked up for a while. Overall, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys thrillers and doesn't mind a bit of drama.
Claymore - recent
Another disappointing ending - for anyone, I'd say. There was so much left open that I really, really hope they release an OVA. Apparently it shied away from the manga and that was really its downfall. The kakusenshu (however you spell it - awakened beings) weren't explained well enough and the last battle between Clare and Priscilla was so meh. Way too much korosu (I'll kill you!) , although I must admit, Clare looked freaking awesome in her awakened state. The fighting throughout most of the series was great, however, and the story up until the end was actually quite good.
RahXephon - old
I only just finished watching RahXephon last night for the first time - and it was awesome. This series is getting quite dated; I think it aired in 2003. I really enjoyed it, despite being confused for most of it - even after reading the wikipedia entry, which actually helped to grasp things a lot more. I was even pleased with the ending, although I'd like to see the TV movie that was made because it will fill in a few more gaps - and just simply because it's over QQ and I want to see more.
The animation was consistent and the CG was pretty nice. The motif of music and concert that ran through the series was really cool, too, but kind of added to the confusion - I think too much was left unexplained until the end, and even then some things didn't make complete sense (the whole Quon / Maya / Ayato relationship is a little unclear to me). But the concept of tuning the world was truly original, and the red/blue motif in that last episode was so freaking classy it almost made me cry.
The amount of people that died was pretty sad, though (which also brought tears to my eyes), so it sure delivered emotionally. When main characters die at the end, it hurts. In fact, due to that, it was a bit of a tragedy, despite the happy ending - and to me, endings where he gets her are always depressing anyway, because they are a reminder that reality just isn't one big happy ending. Some of us are destined to be alone.
D.N.Angel - old
I actually finished watching this quite a while ago - a few months - but I'm mentioning it because it still stands out as a series I completed this year that was worth watching. I'm not sure what genre to slot it into (supernatural, cutesy romance, fantasy), but the pace, the story and the character development were all well done. The concept of a supernatural art thief and his supernatural nemesis was just cool. And the whole animé was really kawaii, too. It left me feeling happy at the end.
Currently Downloading
There are a few titles that I am trying to get currently because they piqued my interest. Please note that some of these are from last year or 2005, so not all are current animé. The biggest reason I struggle to download anything is because torrents hate me - or my router, or my ISP, or something. I might have a file that is showing 300 seeds and it sits there for weeks in utorrent, mocking me with its 0.00 kb/s. Go figure o.O
Seirei no Moribito - finished
This looks like a cool shounen (guy) series. I heard that it's a mixed genre, but it contains fighting and some fantasy elements. Should turn out to be one that I'll enjoy - if the torrents will go. The only problem for me is that I can only find .mkv files to download - but that's a problem I'll have to sort out once I get the first episode.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 - current
People say that they really are milking the Gundam franchise for all it's worth. One thing I'm a bit hesitant about is that the main characters seem to be teenagers. I'm thinking it could turn out to be like that latest Transformers; I didn't even watch a full episode and I had a bad impression of it. However, despite having never seen a Gundam episode (I have the full series of both SEED and Destiny but haven't watched any from either - yes Darrin, T.T) I am willing to give this one a shot - if the first episode will download.
Texhnolyze - finished
My brother recommended this. It sounds pretty aesthetic in nature with talk of having to really engage the story with all of your brain and admiring it for its artistic rather than thematic qualities. It sounds somewhat similar to Serial Experiments Lain, actually (which I found pretty out there, having watched just seven episodes a couple of years back). Here's hoping it decides to finish downloading because it does sound like a bit of an interesting watch.
Master of Epic - finished / short series
This just sounds really funny. It's an MMO parody animé, and as the World of Warcraft fan cum otaku that I am, I'm sure that I will enjoy this. It sounds almost as random as Excel Saga and I hope that it delivers just as much crazy humour :O
Suteki Tantei Labyrinth - current
Not sure what to say about this as I don't know that much as yet. It's a crime thriller but is a shojou animé. I don't tend to lean towards shojou (girl) series but this actually sounds like it could be good.
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihorito - finished
I just typed that without checking back ^.^ Aside from having a tricky title, I think this one sounds like my type of animé. It's a samurai one, set in the bakumatsu period.
To Be Seen
There are a number of titles that I want to see but they either don't have the torrents available or no one has translated them. Such titles as Noein, Law of Ueki and Astraea Testament all sound really good, but I may never get to actually watch them. The older an animé gets, the harder it is to track down. You just have to let them slide on by and hope you can grab some from the next wave.
-Timotheos
Monday, 15 October 2007
Taisetsu ni - The Important Things
Since I can't really do much with my application until I have my academic record, etc. I'll post up a pic. Because life is about the important things:
Until I have something else of importance.
Timotheos
Until I have something else of importance.
Timotheos
Friday, 12 October 2007
Tabi - The Journey Begins
Had I the Japanese proficiency I one day hope to possess, I'd have titled this first entry with all of the equivalent Japanese words. As I can't read Japanese writing as yet, Babelfish doesn't do me any good here, either, in making my own haX translation ^^ However, I'd like to make that a motif of these blogs as the ability becomes available to me.
The reason for this blog is to hopefully document the process by which I apply as an Assistant English Teacher in Japan, go through the application process and, if accepted and all goes well, actually get a position in a school over there and get to employ my 1337 language and teaching skills. I also intend to continue keeping a record of my experiences if all goes according to plan and I find myself at this time next year well established in a school somewhere in the islands of Nippon, teaching my heart out.
My desire to go to Japan is three-fold:
So now it's just a matter of sending in the application form together with all of the necessary documentation in order to apply for a position in next year's programme. So far, I have requested my academic record from the university as well as a letter that shows my expected date of graduation. I still need to sort out two references and an authenticated copy of my proof of nationality (passport photocopy signed by a Justice of the Peace), but this application is well on its way to completion. This is just the first step, but I intend to keep this blog apprised of the application process and any other steps that are taken in my journey to Japan.
Currently, I am in my third year of university and will graduate with a BA in English Literature in June next year - in time for being accepted into the 2008 JET intake. I already have a Diploma of Christian Ministry (DipMin) and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), as well as some teaching experience (during my CELTA training) and assistant teaching experience (when I was over in South Korea in 2003). The only thing necessary to apply for an English language teaching position in Japan is a bachelor degree from a recognised university. These academic and experiential extras that I have are a bonus and should help in securing me a part in the 2008 Jet programme. Having a real interest in Japan and Japanese language and culture - and a love of rice and fish - is also helpful.
Now I just have to do well in my end of year exams (over these next two weeks) and focus on finishing up my degree next trimester. Applying for a job in Japan is the "easy" part - it's proving my worth and following through with competent study to finish my degree that I will struggle with. Perhaps these blog entries and my intent to update this journey will provide me with the motivation needed to reach the end and continue on towards my goals.
Until I post again.
Timotheos
The reason for this blog is to hopefully document the process by which I apply as an Assistant English Teacher in Japan, go through the application process and, if accepted and all goes well, actually get a position in a school over there and get to employ my 1337 language and teaching skills. I also intend to continue keeping a record of my experiences if all goes according to plan and I find myself at this time next year well established in a school somewhere in the islands of Nippon, teaching my heart out.
My desire to go to Japan is three-fold:
- The otaku in me screams "animé paradise!" O.O Being the long-time fan of animé that I am, what better place than its land of origin. One of my dreams over the years has been to learn to speak Japanese and to better understand the culture. I will one day watch raw animé, unhindered by the language barrier. But it's not just animé that I'm looking forward to: I really enjoy Asian culture and cuisine - Japan presents me with the opportunity to experience more of both.
- As a Christian, going to a pagan country presents a real challenge. The missionary in me wants to see everyone in the world converted to Christianity, and going into a place as spiritually dark as Japan will not only be a real challenge to me, ministerially, but will test my spiritual resolve and provide me with many opportunities to share the gospel of truth.
- Japan is close to South Korea. It's just a small hop over to that peninsula where I once spent six months of my life. Catching up with friends won't be so much of a tremendous difficulty once I have settled and actually manage to sort something out. I miss my Korean friends ^^
So now it's just a matter of sending in the application form together with all of the necessary documentation in order to apply for a position in next year's programme. So far, I have requested my academic record from the university as well as a letter that shows my expected date of graduation. I still need to sort out two references and an authenticated copy of my proof of nationality (passport photocopy signed by a Justice of the Peace), but this application is well on its way to completion. This is just the first step, but I intend to keep this blog apprised of the application process and any other steps that are taken in my journey to Japan.
Currently, I am in my third year of university and will graduate with a BA in English Literature in June next year - in time for being accepted into the 2008 JET intake. I already have a Diploma of Christian Ministry (DipMin) and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), as well as some teaching experience (during my CELTA training) and assistant teaching experience (when I was over in South Korea in 2003). The only thing necessary to apply for an English language teaching position in Japan is a bachelor degree from a recognised university. These academic and experiential extras that I have are a bonus and should help in securing me a part in the 2008 Jet programme. Having a real interest in Japan and Japanese language and culture - and a love of rice and fish - is also helpful.
Now I just have to do well in my end of year exams (over these next two weeks) and focus on finishing up my degree next trimester. Applying for a job in Japan is the "easy" part - it's proving my worth and following through with competent study to finish my degree that I will struggle with. Perhaps these blog entries and my intent to update this journey will provide me with the motivation needed to reach the end and continue on towards my goals.
Until I post again.
Timotheos
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)