Panda

The posting quality in this thread is scary! But I shall reply anyway. The very first time I heard of this series was a few months back when I was talking to one of my friends who is doing some voice work on the series. He was trying to explain it to me: "(Richard) Epcar plays the role of this superhero type guy who uses his nose hair to fight people"...I thought he had totally lost his mind! When CN starting playing this series I happen to catch the first episode when it was aired. The light went on in my mind as to this was the series my friend had mentioned to me. I guess he wasn't going crazy after all. I have to say I thought it was quite funny. The characters are crazy and over the top. The idea of Bobobo being the bo-nafied bo-tector of hair was so absolutely stupid it caught me as being funny. No "meaning of life" or introspective stuff in this series, just pure mind rot. Sometimes it is refreshing to have a break from the Evangeleon-esque, heavy duty make you think anime series. I see it like food. We all like having healthy well balanced meals, but sometimes getting something totally bad for you is a tasty treat. In this case I would have to say that Bobobo-bo-bo-bobo is it for me.

My very first and only experience with the Harry Potter jelly beans was when the son of my boss at the time had some and was doing the typical little boy thing where he was trying to trick the "grown up" with the nasty tasting jelly beans. I ate five beans and all the ones I had were the normal flavors. I didn't get any of the funky flavors! Totally lucked out. Each one I took I announced to him what flavor and I could see the excitement and disappointment after each one. The best part, he started to wonder if there were any of the weird flavors and ate one, it was vomit. He promptly spit it out and started to carry on like it was the end of the world. I played stupid, like I didn't know about the Harry Potter flavors, and comforted him and asked him what was wrong. He then fessed up and I let him know I knew about the nasty flavors so I avoided them to the best of my abilities. I then sent him to do the "test" again with one of my other co-workers which then gave him the desired response he was looking for. I believe my co-worker ate the booger flavored one. She said it was salty.

My first pet peeve would be [COLOR=Red]lists of pet peeves that don't explain why the listed peeve is annoying to them![/COLOR] The main reason this bothers me is because just listing random items with no explainations does not add to the conversation. Why do you hate what you hate? Why do these things bother you? I am sure people would like to know. I know I would. Let's say you hate grasshoppers. One of my friends is deathly afraid of them. Why? Because when she was little her older brothers put a bunch of grasshoppers in her sleeping bag and then zipped her up in the bag. It was one of those "mummy bags" so she felt them crawling/jumping all over her. It was like Fear Factor before there was such a thing. Explaining things helps the conversation value of a thread. Threads with random lists of items with no explanation will be locked unless people start to give more information. (Hint: This thread will be locked unless people start explaining their answers and not just give random lists of items.) The first runner up pet peeve would be people who feel animals are disposable. In the vet med world they are referred to as "Collectors". These people get a cute new pet and once the fun wears off they just get rid of it. They take pets to the pound or just "set them free". It really bothers me since I feel that pets are not disposable. Adopting a pet is adding a new member to the family. Good times and bad, they are your responsibility for life. Pet peeve the third: People who eat food while shopping before paying for it. I am sure you have all see it. The person who allows their child to eat grapes or cookies before paying for it. After eating a bunch of grapes I am sure what they are paying for it not actual amount they are paying for at the check out when the produce gets weighed. If you are so hungry go buy it, eat it, then go shopping! Box of cookies will be the same price regardless but something like grapes is sold by weight...they should weigh the kid at check out. :P Fourth place pet peeve goes to people who drive the wrong way in parking lots then look at you like you are doing something wrong. Those of you who drive know that look they give...the "WTF?! You are in my way!" look even though they are driving opposite of the angle of the parked cars and the painted arrows on the ground. Then you have to move out of their way just to get by. This annoys the heck out of me since they are the ones doing the stupid thing but now it is my problem. Next time I think I am just going to sit there until they back up. ::sing it with me:: Five Golden Pet Peeves! This would definitely be mean people on the internet. People who feel they can be mean/stupid/hurtful on the internet since they are in the safety of their home. They think that the internet is not "real life" and you can be a jerk to someone since they don't know them. We are all real people sitting at real computers...with real feelings. This is real life. Chalk it up to a sad life where they can't express themselves face to face so they have to assert themselves on the internet. Meh to all the meanies out there!

Now saying every wallpaper and greeting is a bit much. I do know there are people who are less than honest and steal fan art and use it to put in their work, this is not accepted. We have moderators to help monitor this but they can't be everywhere all at once. With thousands of submissions existing on the site with hundreds added each day this would be impossible. This is where the membership becomes very important. We have a "report" button there for the members to help monitor each other. We allow members to submit their own work and allow members to monitor this same work. When you see a piece that is stolen it is very important for you to report it so it can be dealt with promptly. Use of officially licensed work is fine to use in submissions that the members have made. These pieces cannot be just wallpapers taken from other wallpaper sites and submitted here. They need to be created by the person submitting them. They also cannot contain fan art not made by the person submitting the piece. As for the format in which submissions are allowed that is something either Adam, Justin or James might be able to answer. Sorry I can't help you there, that was in place when I joined the site. Now to give you a suggestion on your posting issues. We do have a very high level of posting quality here on the OtakuBoards. I suggest you do what I do when I am writing my posts. I open up my email account and use the built in spell check with the program. I write up my post in an email just like I would if I were to send it to a friend but instead copy/paste it into a post. My spell check takes care of my spelling and I do double check for grammar issues. It is not 100% perfect but it does help quite a bit. Please use the "report" button when you see a stolen piece of work. Our site is by the fans, for the fans. We need to all work together to maintain the high quality we all enjoy. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about wallpaper/greeting submissions. Edit: Oops, I meant to say "Saying almost every..." in my opening statement. :animeswea

Welcome to the OtakuBoards ANTIWORLD! As it stands now your thread has no direction for conversation. The only replies people can give are simple one word answers like "Yeah". Make sure when beginning a new thread you have somewhere the conversation can go, something people can discuss. What you have posted could have easily be posted in your signature since it is more of a statement than a lead in to a conversation. Also it is important to post in the correct forums. Since this is about skaters in anime it should have been posted in the Anime Lounge. Normally I would move this thread to the correct forum but due to the lack in quality it would only get locked in that forum. For those reasons I am going to lock this thread in this forum without moving it. If you would like to add some sort of conversation direction to your post I am more than happy to re-open your thread, just PM me and let me know. If you have any questions about posting quality, what forums to post in or anything dealing with the boards please feel free to PM myself or any of the other moderators. Have fun posting! -Panda

I love Halloween, always have and always will. In the past I use to dress up my dogs in costumes and take them to my friend's store in the downtown shopping district of town. The businesses would do Trick-or-Treating for the kids in a safe, well-lit environment. They close off the streets and everything. I would take the dogs to her store so the kids could see them. (I'll look for a picture to post and edit my response if I find it.) They are both big dogs (90-100 lbs) so most of the time the kids were much smaller than they were and they, both the kids and dogs, loved it. The dogs got attention and the kids got a kick out of seeing them in costumes. After that I would take them, the dogs, trick or treating to my co-workers house. All my co-workers...being vet med people...would have treats for the dogs. Boxes of dog biscuits. My boss was the odd man out and gave them doggie vitamins. I told him he was the house that gave out raisins, you know, the healthy treats to the kids. LOL Since my health is no longer that great I stay at home and answer the door for all the neighborhood...and out of neighborhood kids...who show up during the night. Pretty much I put on my panda hoodie and hand out candy. We always give double to anime character costumes. I also don't hand out those nasty cheap candies either. Now all the co-workers I use to visit with my dogs bring their kids to my house and I load them up with the good stuff. Hey, they aren't my kids who are going to be pumped up on sugar! So pretty much the new tradition in my household is handing out candy to all the kids and trying not to catch a cold while standing in an open doorway all night. In my neck of the woods it isn't unusual to have snow on Halloween. Brrrr!!

I don't really have any issues with the creepy crawlies, just being surprised by them...or heck...anything for that matter! Working in vet med I got to deal with lots of "exotic" pets like tarantulas, snakes, lizards and even hissing cockroaches. Once I was on the phone talking to a client and my boss came by and stuck a chameleon on my shoulder and it started to play with my hair with it's little funky three fingered hands. At first it surprised me but they are so cute with those wacky eyes it's hard to be scared of them. Once I was working in the flower garden in front of my house and I thought my hair was tickling my face. I reached up to brush it back and it grabbed my finger! It was a Praying Mantis sitting on my shoulder brushing my cheek with it's long forearms! I freaked out and grabbed it and threw it on the ground. Afterward I was pretty embarrassed since it was a bit over-dramatic reaction, but it surprised me! Shortly after that my hubby came around from the side of the house walking a bit strangely. He had a Praying Mantis on his calf who was happily eating a grasshopper. I swear, those PMs don't really have a fear of people. Apparently one thought it would just flirt with me while another one was having a bite to eat while catching a ride on my hubby's leg. Other than that spiders and mosquitoes have issues with me. They like to bite me. I must be tasty.

Way back in the day, back during my Junior year in High School my hometown put in place a curfew on everyone under the age of 18. It came about after much complaining from the community about the normal hang out for the high school kids which was the Burger King parking lot. People would meet up, show off cars and of course be loud teenagers. There were rumors of drug deals and that this "gang" was keeping regular BK customers from going to the restaurant. The curfew was no one was allowed in that parking lot after 9pm unless they were with their parents and going to the restaurant. You couldn't be out of your house after 11pm unless you were on your way home from work. And on the way home means no stops between work and home. I worked at a movie theater and as mentioned before, many of the late showings get out after 11pm. This always gave me a bit of stress since I didn't want to go through the hassle of dealing with the police if I got "caught" going home from work. I am sure my overwhelming smell of popcorn and the cheese-tastic uniform would get me off the hook, but still, just the thought of dealing with it was annoying. Even now as an adult I have mixed emotions. Many times I had study groups with friends late into the evening before finals and I think it would have been stupid to punish us for being honor students worring about our grades. There are far worse crimes happening and having the cops worry about 17 year olds out past 11pm seems a bit misplaced. I can see how they would see this law as being good but the ones they put this law in place for really don't care and will continue to do their bad behaviors. To me it seems like the only ones it punished was the good teenagers.

Please do not bring back long dead threads. The last time this was active was way back in 2003! If you feel a topic still has discussion value start a new thread instead of bring back a long inactive thread. If you have questions about this or anything else dealing with the boards PM myself or any of the other moderators. -Panda

I can't remember the reason why the limit was put into place on the intros but I am sure if you search through some of the older posts you can find an official answer about the intros. I can give you a suggestion on how to get around it. If you put your poems/lyrics into an image...like using the text in Photoshop, then upload it to an image hosting service (Photobucket and ImageShack are free ones if you need them) you can then just put the code in for those images and be under the character limit. Instead of counting each words characters you only have the characters of the one image. For an example look at my intro. The only characters used in the intro are the html for the one image versus typing in the text directly into my intro. Hopefully that makes sense. I have a cold and it's making my mind a bit cloudy. Keep in mind that having a huge intro with lots of images will result in longer page load times for those with slower connection speed. This in turn may keep people with slower connects from visiting your site. Perhaps that is the reason for the limit on intro characters?

As mentioned before Google would be your best bet. You already said you are going to check the wallpapers over on theO and I do know there is at least one wallpaper with a picture of Scar's right arm...I know this since I made it. Please remember when starting a new thread to make sure your post contains conversation value. Also it is important to make sure your post is easy to read. Using spaces and capitalizing the appropriate letters would help this issue. In the future little questions like this could be posted on the bottom of your signature and then people who do have a response can just PM or email you. For those reasons I am going to lock this thread. If someone wants to respond they can still email or PM you with their suggestions or images. -Panda

[quote name='sand dragon 19][COLOR=DarkSlateGray']However if there really is going to be a new server...Maby there can be even new and better things happening here. who knows?[/COLOR][/quote] I know for sure that the guys have a lot of new stuff lined up dealing with updates for the network. We just have to be patient and see what wonderful things they have been cooking up. :catgirl: Back on the subject of the lag monster that is attacking many of the members. I guess I have been very lucky. The only place I have noticed drag is for approving submissions for theOtaku. Other than that I have been blessed with regular page load times. Part could be dealing with what sand dragon 19 mentioned, I do find myself on the site during "odd" hours when the good little children have gone to bed. Less people thus less traffic on the servers during those wee hours. This could explain why some people just luck out and aren't having as many problems with lag monster.

[QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium] [b]A) Which aspect of OtakuBoards do you find to be the most negative/confusing?[/b][/font][/QUOTE] Trolling. It happens on every single message board you visit and it really does make the mods walk a fine line. Because of the nature of trolling the author can say...Oh you took that the wrong way, I meant it this way...when in truth they really did mean their statement to be taken in a negative way. Thus making it difficult to take action against the author. Some may see it for what it is, trolling, while other members may see it as abuse of moderator power. You are damned if you do, damned if you don't. [QUOTE=James][font=franklin gothic medium] [b]B) What is your favorite aspect of OtakuBoards?[/b][/font][/QUOTE] The real sense of community. The members are great on the site and even though we may be from different countries, religions, races, genders..etc..we can all come together and hang out. Good conversation with good people. It's really a wonderful community to be a part of.

I do have a bit of information to add to the discussion. [quote name='The man, the myth, the legend: Adam']We're going to add a new machine to our network very soon--hopefully this week. It'll rival our most powerful box in specs (Dual Xeon with 2 GB RAM).[/quote] This is going to be the [b]fourth[/b] dedicated server for the network! The site has grown so much we need another one now! With the addition of the new server the speed of load times around the network should pick up. :catgirl:

Welcome to the OtakuBoards FlamesFirebrand. Since this thread is more of a comment about the site it would be best suited for the Suggestions and Feedback forum. For that reason that I am moving this thread over to that forum. Be sure to make sure your posts are easy to read with care given to grammar and spelling. Your posts are borderline spam right now. As for the server being bad, I am not have any problems with visiting the site. All my pages load quickly. Perhaps you are having trouble with your internet service or have some sort of virus in your computer that is slowing you down. Hopefully someone will have some suggestions on what you can do to speed things up. -Panda

Currently I have been watching several different anime series. The first I will discuss is Samurai Gun. This is a series ADV is putting out and has their usual cast of dub voice actors. One of which is one of my favorites, Illich Guardiola. He could read the instuctions on how to program a VCR and I would listen to him read it 100 times over. Despite Illich voicing the lead the storyline and animation style is not one that I really like. It feels like this anime was trying to take a page from the Samurai Champloo book but came up very short. The story takes place in Japan about the same time as Peacemaker Kurogane (I am assuming). A group of assassins use guns to kill their marks. The group also wears skin tight silly outfits in the style of Gantz with weird samurai-esque helmets and masks. The storyline contains plenty of "adult" situations that don't add to the story. I have finished watching the first disk with 4 episodes and I doubt I will continue on with the rest of the series. Another series I am watching is Scrapped Princess. This is one I will definitely continue watching. I have seen 3 DVD's so far and I am really enjoying the story. It feels like a cross between science fiction and fantasy. Another one of my favorite dub voice actors, Crispin Freeman, plays a lead role of Shannon. He could read me the phone book and I would love it. The story follows the "Scrapped Princess" as she is trying to avoid being caught. She was suppose to be killed shortly after she was born since it was foretold that she would bring about the end of the world. Through a turn of events she did not die and is now being protected by her adoptive brother and sister. Great character development and the story line has a little of everything: comedy, romance, action, magic, drama and science fiction all in a medieval setting. Definitely an underapprectiated anime series in my opinion. Between the two series I have been watching I would definitely recommend Scrapped Princess over Samurai Gun.

If I understand your question correctly there are a couple of examples I can think of a couple of examples off the top of my head. I will be using [b]spoiler tags[/b] in my response as to not ruin the story for those who still might like to see it. To read the blacked out 'spoiler' area just hightlight the black and you can read what's underneath. When in doubt if something is a spoiler, opt to use the spoiler tags. Better safe than sorry! The first would be from Super Dimentional Fortress Macross. This is also the anime used in the first saga of Robotech. For conversations sake I will use the Robotech names since they are fairly well known. The invading aliens are called the Zentraedi and the commanding officer of the fleet incharge of regaining control of Zor's ship is named Breetai. [spoiler]As the story progresses Breetai and many of his soldiers switch sides and fight on the side of the Micronians (aka humans) against the leader of the Zentraedi forces, Dolza. Breetai and crew begin the story fighting a war against mankind, killing thousands of people, but in the end fight the greater evil along side the Micronians. [/spoiler] Going from killing to saving Micronian lives is a nice switch...speaking from a Micronian's point of view of course. The second would be Great Teacher Onizuka or GTO as it is better known. Onizuka's entire classroom of students are bad apples who had done and are doing terrible things to their teachers. [spoiler]A general distrust of adults and other emotional baggage each of the students carry make them lash out as a group towards the teacher of their class. One by one Onizuka wins over the trust of each of these students. They go from physically and mental abusing other students and destructive career ending pranks on their teachers to productive students who learn to heal from their internal demons.[/spoiler] When you see what the students do others you can't help but call them evil. Hope that is what you are looking for in responses. If it isn't exactly what you were aiming for in responses please elaborate a bit more.

What makes someone fearful differs from person to person. I am not afraid of heights and use to love rock climbing. I've gone along with a friend who is a trained mountain rescue climber as he teaches new students. Most students are there with a mixture of excitement and fear. Some just freak out when they are a few feet off the ground. I don't fear needles. I get injections of chemo every week and have my blood drawn all the time. I've been in the chair next to people screaming and crying over a little needle. Heck, I have seen them pass out. Seems silly to those of us who aren't afraid, but to those who are this is too much stimuli to handle. Some have had bad experiences with whatever it is that they are fearful of while others may fear the consequences of that thing they fear. Flying= plane crashing. Large dog= mauling. Speaking infront of a large group= making a fool out of yourself. Many different things can make someone fear something. Being careful and a bit fearful will keep you from getting hurt, but being overly fearful will keep you from experiencing anything in life, good or bad.

[COLOR=Red]Please remember to list why you are addicted to the items you list. I have posted several, I believe [b]seven[/b] times in this thread about the post quality. Make sure you add to the conversation by explaining your answers and not just giving us a list of different items. This will be my [u]last warning in this thread[/u]. If the post quality does not improve, I will have to lock it. Overall many of the responses have been excellent, but poor quality seems attracted to this thread. :animecry: [/COLOR] On topic: In addition to my other posts listing the items I am addicted too as well as why I am so attracted to said items... I would have to say I am addicted to the the Final Fantasy games. I have just been going through a run of playing all the old games again. Currently I am on disk 2 of FF9. I love that game, the characters are so cute! I guess anyone who is addicted to games can understand how it is when you get the bug to play something. It's hard to put down and before you know it hours have passed you by. Speaking of which, I think I better to fire up the ol' Playstation and get going again.

Messenger bags I feel are not specific to either gender. Like many have mentioned before I use mine to tote around my laptop and tons of other things. Yes they do get heavy but the convience of being able to swing the bag around to the front of my body easily to access stuff is much better than wearing a backpack which you would have to take off to get into. As for other things that could be considered "just for girls". Make-up (eye make-up, lipsticks and nail polishes) and earrings. I feel this is becoming more acceptable and is no longer the fringes of society. Well, at least ear piercings. Back when I was younger (I sound old now) it was quite unusual to see a guy who had nail polish on or his ears pierced. Now I doubt anyone bats an eye. Small dogs. For some people guys need to have a "manly" dog. Something big, something that could either help you hunt or protect your family. One of the clients I use to help at the vet clinic is a rancher who was a very big man. Over 6 feet tall and muscular. He has a tiny toy poodle he takes everywhere he goes. She even has a little jacket to wear when going out on the ranch to keep warm. He will just put her in a pocket and go to work. His wife on the other hand has a really big black lab. Needless to say many people assume the poodle belongs to the Mrs. and the lab belongs to the Mr.!

I am pretty easy going. Someone cuts me off or does something else driving that annoys me, I just hope a cop catches them. I just chalk up all those nasty people to bad karma. That is bad karma on either my side or theirs. Many things I realize that getting upset over isn't going to help the situation and I just roll with the punches. Now this is the case most of the time...but there are a few issues that would just make me vent my anger right away. Things like seeing someone abusing a child or animal would definitely make me voice my opinion right away.

[quote name='YoriChan']I'd choose love.[/quote] YoriChan, as it stands now your post is considered spam. On the OtakuBoards we have a high standard of posting quality. You need to explain why you would chose love over your dreams. Just saying love does not contribute to the conversation at hand. Please put more effort into your responses. Due to the lack of quality in your response I am deleting the above quoted post. If you have questions about posting quality please feel free to PM myself or any of the other moderators on the site. Thanks and have fun posting! -Panda

I must have been sleeping to miss a thread by DW! And one on fortune cookies no less, where the heck have I been?! I've always loved fortune cookies. I do have a little habit of hanging on to the ones that I find interesting. One cookie my hubby got when he lived in Florida (before we got married of course) said: "Love moves you in a new direction." This was true, he was moving back to Washington state where I live! Most of the time those cookies just tell you very general things like: "Your work will be appreciated." or like Manic said they seem to be more like Insightful Cookies versus Fortune Cookies. That entire "in bed" thing is pretty funny. I remember the first time I heard about doing that while out with my friends. We were cracking up so much I am suprised we didn't get kicked out of the restaurant!

My opinion on ghosts is pretty, well, wishy-washy. Let me explain. [b]Ghosts don't exist.[/b] As many people have already mentioned the human mind can play tricks on you. If you are someplace unfamiliar, in the dark and alone...any noise you hear could be a ghost or other form of unknown being. I think many people like to believe there are ghosts since it gives them something to believe in for what happens to us after death. If some people become ghosts after their mortal shell passes away then the spirit of someone can "live" on forever. Knowing your loved ones don't just stop being but move on to another realm, for instance, become a ghost/angel or move on to some sort of afterlife is comforting to some people. Ghosts can also work as a warning to be good in this life. I'm sure we have all heard about tormented souls wandering the earth, never resting because of some tragic or evil thing that caused their end. Jacob Marley anyone? We all want to be good so we don't end up like him! People also can use ghosts as a scapgoat for anything they can't explain. There was a funny noise, my keys are gone and now they have shown up some place I know I didn't put them...must have been a ghost! When you can't explain it, just blame it on a ghost. [b]Ghosts do exist.[/b] As I mentioned before there are just things we can't explain. Many times in our history there have been things that have been explained though science. There are also many things that have not. Ruling out the existence of ghosts, aliens or other forms of life on this planet or entire universe is a bit too closed minded for me. I have a "ghost" story I have not been able to find an explaination for. My dad had gone out to pick up dinner. His sister was visiting from California. While my dad was out my mom and aunt stayed at the house. At around 7:30pm there is three firm knocks at the front door. My parents house is a ways out of town in a very rural area. Visitors always call since it's a pain to drive out there and find out no one is home. It seemed a bit odd to have a visitor and my aunt made mention to make sure to check out the window before opening the door. My mom looked out front and no one was there. Thinking maybe it was their dog wagging his tail and hitting door she went looking for him. He was out the backyard napping on the back porch. He always barks when someone drives down the long drive way and he didn't even wake up which was strange. While my aunt and mom were trying to figure out what was going on they got a phone call. My mom's sister called and said their older brother died at about 7:30pm that night. My mom thinks it might have been her brother's spirit saying goodbye. If it were just my mom who heard the knocks I would have thought it was just her imagination, but my aunt heard it too. The timing was really bizarre between the knocking and my uncle's death. Who knows. It just seem really strange set of events all at the same time. [b]Ghost do/don't exist for sure![/b] I don't know. I like keeping an open mind to the idea of the supernatural. One day someone might be able to explain it, true or false, it is an interesting subject to think about.

Gas prices here in eastern Washington state is $2.95 which has gone down in the past week. I basically haven't driven anywhere since filling up my car, which is a Camry, gets to be a bit expensive. I am very lucky that my husband gets a company vehicle and they pay for all the gas. His office is about 1 block away from the grocery store so he picks up food on his way home from work. We are lucky. In my hometown there is a bus service for the handicapped but not one for just running around town. There is a bus service that runs from surrounding communities to my town and back but that is about it. If there was a "run-you-around-town" kind of bus service I am sure many people here would use it since this community has lots of lower income families. The only other option is to call a taxi, but that I am sure will cost an arm and a leg since they need to cover the cost of the mega expensive gas prices.