IF I HAVE SET THE TABLE WIDTH TO EXACTLY 182 MILLIMETERS AND THE TABLE CELL WIDTH TO EXACTLY 91 MILLIMETERS AND THE TABLE CELL HEIGHT TO EXACTLY 55 MILLIMETERS AND THE TABLE BORDER TO EXACTLY 0 MILLIMETERS AND THE LEFT AND RIGHT PAGE MARGINS TO EXACTLY 14 MILLIMETERS AND THE TOP AND BOTTOM PAGE MARGINS TO EXACTLY 11 MILLMETERS, DO YOU THINK THAT I MIGHT WANT THE “AUTOMATICALLY RESIZE TABLE TO FIT CONTENTS” OPTION DISABLED?? I THINK THAT IS VERY LIKELY, PERSONALLY!!

THANKS FOR HIDING THAT OPTION UNDER “ADVANCED LAYOUT OPTIONS” TOO. THAT WAY IT COULD OVERRIDE ALL OF MY SETTINGS WITHOUT ME KNOWING! THAT WAS VERY COOL.

I REALLY DIDN’T WANT TO GO OUT TO DINNER WITH MY FRIENDS FROM AMERICA TONIGHT ANYWAYS SO THE EXTRA HOUR I GOT TO SPEND IN MY APARTMENT WITH YOU AND MY PRINTER WERE MOST WELCOME.

THANKS FOR USING UP 90% OF MY BUSINESS CARD STOCK TOO BEFORE PRINTING PROPERLY, I REALLY ONLY NEEDED 10 BUSINESS CARDS FOR TGS ANYWAYS.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

POLL: Which of these lyrics off of Utada’s English-language album, Exodus, are the worst lyrics ever penned by man or beast?

1) all along / I was searching for / my Lenore / in the words of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe / now I’m sober and / nevermore / will the raven come to bother me / at home
2) I was talking with a born-again Christian / oh ooh oh uh / said, “so what’s it like to start life all over?” / he said / “oh, man / feel I’ve been / rediscovering the tomb of Tutankhamen”
2b) ALTERNATE ENDING: “rediscovering what two and two’ve in common”
3) you’re easy breezy / and I’m japanesey

Some of the music isn’t half-bad … but these lyrics. Oh, God, these lyrics.

I set up raketemensch.1up.com. Game-related posts will go there now. I’m trying to ge tthe URL changed; if it does, I’ll keep you posted.

Now that the follow up to Ico has been revealed (Wanda and the Colossus), I think we should all take a moment to reflect on E3 2001, when the GIA gave its Game-of-the-Show to dark horse candidate Ico … and GameSpot gave theirs to State of Emergency. History has vindicated one of these choices.

Also, we should enjoy this mockup I made of the inevitable U.S. packaging.

I hope that this new crème brulée pocky-esque candy isn’t limited edition, because it’s stupid good. It’s like a tasty icing stick.

If you’re not reading Spamusement, then you’re really missing out.

Also, The Perry Bible Fellowship is one of the most subversive comics out there – and does some great things with the comic medium, too.

Summer vacation is over, and classes have started once more. I need to do some final entries about my life as a Kiryu JET before it gets too ridiculously late to do so. I’ll start from the end, as it were, but the farewell speech I gave at closing ceremonies. I wrote it in Japanese, first, then translated it into English, but it should be clear enough. Andy Church and a student, Yayoi Ogawa, both helped me immensely with polishing the Japanese version. I think the speech really blew both teachers and students away, because … well, as we learned from Mr. Ed, the impressive thing is not that the horse can talk, but that he has something to say. It’s much the same with foreigners.

My box from CostCo (via The Flying Pig) arrived not moments ago. Mad with pleasure at the year’s supply of imported foodstuffs, I immediately tossed a cinnamon raisin bagel in the toaster oven¹ and a bag of kettle corn popcorn in the microwave².

Two minutes later, the main circuit breaker tripped, leaving my bagel half-toasted, my popcorn half-popped, and my Dragon Quest V game rather less-than-half saved.

Oh, well. Now I know the place’s upper limit.

1. 1000W
2. 700W

• kitchen
• sink
• washer
• bathroom
• shower
• main room
• couch
• tv
• desk
• shelves
• best shelf ever

Today your job is to download Cocco’s “Rainbow” from my latest mix CD, then listen to it while reading my translation, then cry.

Okay, you don’t have to cry. But I won’t tell if you do. Trying to explain the meaning a Cocco song is like scribbling your own measurements and annotations on a piece of fine art, so I’ll try not to jabber too much. Contextually, though, Rainbow was one of Cocco’s final songs, a non-album track off a very late single, after she had made the decision to stop singing and return to Okinawa. So the song’s not just about two people, but about her leaving what she’s known to begin something else.