Gavin

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']Sometimes I wonder why I bother to read the news when I come across stuff like this: [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33080540/ns/us_news-education/"][U]College bans dorm sex with roommate around[/U][/URL] [I][SIZE="1"]*headdesk*[/SIZE][/I][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]How dare they try to prohibit people having sex in front of their roommates, what kind of sexually repressed world are we living in ? What's next the roommate won't be allowed record the act and sell copies of it for booze money ? God damn it this is a line and they've crossed it. [/SIZE]

[quote name='Indi'][FONT="Arial"][COLOR="Indigo"]I'm going to go against the trend coming up so far in this thread. Not because I feel sorry for sex offenders, but because of the impractical nature of just sending them to the woods and hoping they'll behave and stay put. I see several glaring problems with that 'solution'. Namely, you can't effectively track them or know if they're not crossing into areas they shouldn't if they're living in the woods. Sure you can't if they're in the city. But if you know where they're living and working and they're doing as told by sticking to the restrictions, then it's much easier to keep an eye on them than it would be if they were still running about in the woods. Oh and you could suggest we put GPS implants on them so you'd know if they left the woods and went into an area they shouldn't, but do we really want to move into something that's more of a big brother deal? I'd rather not move in that direction for law enforcement. Also, this article is talking about people who have served their time and are actually trying to follow the restrictions. Why miss out on the opportunity to direct them towards appropriate housing and thus more effectively keep an eye on them? Whether they shouldn't have done it in the first place, when they've served their time as society dictates, is a moot point really. [/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]This. I also just realised the preview from the main page of the boards regarding this thread is just hilarious.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Shinmaru']Agreed. Kind of sucks that the ending is screwed over because Madhouse was so faithful to the manga up to that point, but hey. At least they chose the lesser of two evils regarding the ending. The non-ending it has is much better than a potential [spoiler]Clare somehow defeats Priscilla and Isley[/spoiler] ending would have been.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Agreed. Although she did in reality [spoiler]defeat Priscilla[/spoiler], having her beat [spoiler]Isley too[/spoiler] would've been a bit much.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]On a whim decided to change over from Firefox to Google Chrome. After twenty or so minutes of getting used to the interface I've decided I like the more minimalistic look and will make it my default browser.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"][B]Gundam SEED[/B] - Cut the series down to a regular 26 episode season from the 5o episode crawl it was, give characters more realistic reactions and personalities and use a decent art style (I can't believe there was only 4 years between SEED and 00) and you have, without a doubt in my mind one of the best Gundam series ever produced. If and when they got around to redoing SEED Destiny, just start from scratch while keeping continuity from the previous season because there's nothing really worth saving. [b]Claymore[/b] - Nothing major here, the ending should be changed and the series should've kept going in sync with the manga. [b]Berserk[/b] - Same as Claymore. I'm absolutely sickened how much the anime leaves out because the manga is so, so excellent. [b]Gurren Lagann[/b] - OK not really. I really would love to see what the series would've been like if [spoiler]Kamina had survived episode 8 and beyond.[/spoiler][/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]About half way through a exercise on Hakodate for my next Japanese lecture, and absent-mindedly rubbing the psoriasis on my forehead as I always seem to do when I?m stressed I decided that OB needs a thread where we can complain about medical conditions we?re forced to deal with on a daily basis and how they affect our lives, and perhaps finding a way to deal with it we haven?t tried based on someone else?s experiences. So a quick questionnaire first, because we?re all used to filling them out. [QUOTE][SIZE="1"][B]Name of the condition: Symptoms: How long you?ve had the condition: Treatment you?re on : Results of said treatment: How the condition has affected your daily life: Any little tips you?ve found that help you cope: [/SIZE][/B][/QUOTE] Naturally I wouldn't expect anyone to answer something personal like this without going first. [INDENT][B]Name of the condition: [/B] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis]Psoriasis[/url] [B]Symptoms:[/B] Itchy, flaky, scaly, red patches of skin on covering quite a lot of my head and some of face caused by an overproduction of skin cells. [B]How long you?ve had the condition:[/B] Diagnosed just over 2 years now, although the dermatologist suspects it may have been much, much longer. Stress from my final high school exams caused it to get considerably worse. [B]Treatment you?re on :[/B] Currently I'm on daily and twice-daily topical treatments (lotions/liquids applied to the body surface) of Xamiol and Protopic, although apparently my psoriasis is rather severe and may eventually require tablet treatments if the topical fails to yield sufficient results. [B]Results of said treatment:[/B] Noticeable reduction in the level of severity of the condition, flakiness and itching almost absent, although the patches themselves are still somewhat visible due to the difference in skin tone. [B]How the condition has affected your daily life:[/B] I suppose this is one of those conditions you always think looks worse than it actually is. Having been overweight as a child I'm rather self-conscious about how I look, and try to hide the patches on my face as much as possible and keeping my hair long to cover the patches on my scalp. However if the psoriasis inflames worse than usual, or I forget to use the treatments at night I often find myself rubbing or scratching the patches with my fingers leading to quite a lot dead skin being shed which is very obvious on darker clothing and looks like a very bad case of dandruff. [B]Any little tips you?ve found that help you cope: [/B] Something I found out a couple of months back which seems to have been really successful in clearing out the psoriasis was simply sitting in a Turkish bath for about 30 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week. My skin felt even better than when on the topical treatments, although obviously I still kept them up to get the best results.[/SIZE][/INDENT]

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]It Made My Day is better.[/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]I prefer to laugh at other people's stupidity and misery.[/SIZE]

[quote name='chibi-master']I should probably tell myself not to mutilate my fingers so much just because I can't feel it for some reason. Yeah, it started with snipping a bit of my index finger in Pre-K, and then around my 5 years ago age, I sliced 'em with the thin, sharp lid of a dog food can. But that one was on accident.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Well 5 years would be just a tad too late in this regard but I'd tell my younger self to try to avoid that hand-stomp in that rugby game that means I now only have partial control over my right ring and small fingers. Of course telling him to avoid that neck injury at 16 which caused me to drop out of high school would also be a given.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]136 pages in I think I'm addicted to the website F- My Life. [/SIZE] [quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink]Ask everyone you meet if they know where Frasier lives.[/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"] Nerdsy beat me to it... :animesigh[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"][B]-How old were you five years ago?[/B] 17 and a half. [B]-What was your daily life like?[/B] Part-time work, of whatever variety I could get having dropped out of high school the previous year. [B]-Would you give a warning, or an encouragement?[/B] People are right when they tell you you're more capable than you give yourself credit for. Believe in yourself, because the only thing holding you back is your own self-doubt. Believe in you who believes in yourself. [B]-Would it be about your life then, or your life now?[/B] Between both. I'd try to avoid two years of my life that I wasted without anything to really show for it. On the other hand I'm acutely aware that I am the sum-total of my life's experiences and that changing any of those would change who I am today. Also I wouldn't have met the woman I love. [B]-Would your younger self take you seriously? (What kind of test might you employ to prove your identity?)[/B] I don't know. I wasn't the type of person to take advice back then, thinking I always knew best. Of course seeing as it would be advice coming from me to me, that might make a difference. [/SIZE]

[quote name='Nerdsy'][color=deeppink][i]Really[/i]? You think more highly of Square's artistic integrity than I do, it seems. Although I really don't understand why this hasn't been remade yet. I could care less about a remake, but this doesn't really jive with my understanding of Square Enix. Maybe they're trying to go up the line first? Get FF5 and FF6 some 3d remakes before tackling a game that's already in 3d?[/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]QFT.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]So apparently the last 50+ chapters involving the Espada and Karakura town has been for shits and giggles because Aizen has only been screwing around and the Top 3 have been woefully overestimated in their strength (which at least puts Hitsu back in his place as a second rate captain). Honestly I'm pissed because it's destroyed any character development outside of Kubo getting to show off a couple of new sword-releases and the Vizard's masks, all of which could've been accomplished equally with having made the Espada as powerful as they should've been. Really everything after the Soul Society arc in terms of pacing has been off with Bleach, too much stuff not making sense, too much stuff being retconned later, too many asspull power-ups to justify them. One wonders if Soul Society is so dedicated to the protection of the human world why they don't just purge Hueco Mundo every once in a while seeing as VLs can be killed with shikai by one of the high level captains. I'm expecting Halibel to actually survive, at least into the next chapter. She hasn't had her flashback yet and apparently they all have to have one of those before they die. God damn it I'm really pissed off with this series now.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Magus']Anyway, what exactly is the Mizukage's kekkei genkai? Looks like it can be some form of water type thing that's like acid/sludge.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Lava. Nice to see Sasuke can shrug off a fight with the Raikage that should've left him with several broken bones and blind from overuse of his MS. Equally nice to see the Mizukage is some form of paedophile, just not enough female varieties of those in manga nowaday. All kidding aside lameass chapter, Sauce's hax continue but I would have to admit Naruto marginally wins out over Bleach this week for me (if only because Bleach was dire). [/SIZE]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Calibri]Oh, I dunno, I feel he's got a right to [I]ask[/I].... Although I second your solution. Sorry, [COLOR="DarkRed"]munch[/COLOR], that's just the way we do things here.[/FONT][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"] Oh yeah, I wasn't trying to say he didn't have to right to ask why the thread was closed, just making a thread when a PM would've equally sufficed seems a bit public, at least to me. I suppose what I mean is that I don't think we want the idea out there that every decision a moderator makes should be subject to public inquiry that's all, if they feel they can't get a satisfactory answer from a moderator they're free to elevate the question to a senior moderator. Certainly Munchie has the right to know why the thread was closed though.[/SIZe]

[SIZE="1"]Munchie, Based on what you've said in your post it sounds like you were posted a thread dedicated to a game produced by your company. If this is the case it is in breach of OB's rules governing advertising as which prohibits members from creating threads specifically to advertise their own forums/products/services/etc. If you do wish to advertise the latter it is to be done through your signature. If this was not the case I suggest you PM Korey and attempt to recreate the thread in such a fashion as is not in breach of OB's rules. Also I would suggest you do not create threads specifically to question a decision made by a member of staff, if you feel you have been treated unfairly a PM to the moderator in question, or one of our Senior Moderators would have been more appropriate.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]From the Affable, to the Card-Carrying, to the Omnicidal there are always villains out there that we can't help but secretly (and not so secretly) root for as they go about their dastardly deeds. Whether it's down to the way their latest Xanatos Gambit leaves you in awe of their strategic acumen, or their combat prowess at having left the hero without a leg to stand on, or even just the way they've developed as characters there's always something about them that draws out our support when really we should be cheering for the protagonist. So, which villains make you smile when they waltz back onto the screen ? And more importantly, why ? Seeing as it's hardly fair for me to ask people a question without giving an opinion of my own first I'm going to nominated [B]Gundam 00[/B]'s [B]Ali Al-Saachez[/B]. An admitted utter monster with no regard for the lives of his fellow human beings, nor regret for the lives he's destroyed in the past Ali lives first and foremost to fight and cause as much mayhem as possible because, simply put, it's fun for him. So why do I cheer for Ali when he shows up, especially when [spoiler]he killed my favourite character Lockon Stratos[/spoiler] ? Because he's so unrepentantly badass in everything he does, he exudes charisma and in a series with far too many characters with sticks up their ***** (at least in series one) Ali is just in it for the lulz and the cash. Then of course there was this vid which just cemented my loyalty to the Cult of Ali. [CENTER][YOUTUBE="Prince Ali, Mighty is He."]dIj56Rssy-0[/YOUTUBE] [/SIZE][/CENTER]

[SIZE="1"]Just got through [B]Gundam SEED[/B] and my thoughts are pretty much identical to Shin's, well except for the fact I didn't hate Flay as much by the end as I did up until about episode 42 when her experiencing explosive decompression wouldn't have been severe enough. Only 7 episodes into [B]SEED Destiny[/B] now, but there are a couple of things irritating me already. The amount of scene recycling (which was pretty bad in SEED) has reached epic new levels of fail whereby the same scene will be slightly recoloured and used less than 2 minutes later, this isn't even taking Shinn's launches into account. When someone insults Cagalli she just stands there gaping and looks as if she's going to breakdown, Shinn is an ******* and where did Durandal come out of ? Lord knows I know things are only going to get worse but it's still pretty annoying. SEED would probably be my fairly close second favourite Gundam if they cut out the unnecessary extensions to the plot and had better quality art.[/SIZE]

[quote name='CaNz']haters gonna hate... i just realized there is 14 pages of guys bashing anime, me included...[/QUOTE] [CENTER][IMG]http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff69/Remedy10/joker-clap.gif[/IMG][/CENTER]

[quote name='Sangome'][SIZE="2"][FONT="Microsoft Sans Serif"][COLOR="Magenta"]Experimenting with some new post styles.[B] I've only had a meagre size 1 font for some time now...I need a change[/B]. Plus I use Microsoft Sans Serif where ever else I go [at least, sites that support different fonts], so...yeah. Also, when the heck did the "Favorite Anime" field pop up in the Edit Profile section? oO[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Size 1 = The original cool style. ;)[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"][B]FLCL[/B], Lord knows I must be just allergic to anything produced by Gainax that isn't Gurren Lagann but after two episodes of nonsensical plot and moronic characters, as well as an art style I didn't particularly care for I just couldn't go on watching this.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]I suppose what's bothered me most about the series as it's progressed, aside from the fact Kishi can't seem to keep his story, character motivations or just plain characterisations straight, is the way we're rapidly climbing the Dragonball Z power-level scale and losing any and all grip on realism which the manga held tentatively at the start. I suppose the best example for this is Kakashi, at the beginning of the manga this man was considered one of the most dangerous ninjas in the world while just wielding an ordinary matured Sharingan despite it lowering his chakra capacity from the drain of being constantly activated and his Raikiri technique a S-class assassination jutsu. Fast forward to his last fight and Kakashi couldn't even touch Pain, despite having a Mangekyou Sharingan and died of chakra depletion. Equally taking the Sandaime who was considered the strongest ninja in the world during his reign after the death of the Yondaime and his final battle with Orochimaru doesn't hold a candle to anything we've seen in the last hundred chapters. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing that the series is getting flashier, I just wish it wasn't so glaring obvious that everything is being retconned bit by bit in order to desperately try to justify it. [/SIZE]

[quote name='Magus']At first I was a bit iffy about Shunsui's ability.. (Someone at another forum made it sound like it's his bankai.) But having it be a double-edge sword made things really interesting. There was much going on than the typical fighting but, still the inclusion of a game made me more interested. I hope it's not over though... Top espada losing against a shikai don't sit well with me and makes the espada even more overhyped.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"]Personally I didn't like the idea back when I first read about it earlier in the week, and having read the chapter properly today I still don't like it. Sure super-powered, double-edged children's games seems to fit Kyouraki and his general attitude, in the same way redirecting attacks fits Ukitake but I don't know, as powers go I was expecting something a different. Maybe it's just down to the fact I don't like the idea/haven't seen enough of it. Agree with you though, Stark getting taken down by a shikai would be just lame.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]*Sighs* Where to even begin with this chapter... So Gaara shows up and gives the Raikage some cover as Sasuke is about to use his Amaterasu for the fifteenth time in this fight, despite still using Susanoo as his defence. It occurs to me that Itachi only used Amaterasu maybe three times throughout the whole manga and was pretty screwed up after each one, and then using Susanoo cost him his eyesight altogether. But hey, this is Sasuke so it's all about "Screw the rules, I have Kubo" The two Kage's trade words, Rai is a tad pissed that someone has interrupted his fight before he had a chance to use his Lightning Country People's Elbow or Hidden Village of Rock Bottom techniques and Gaara asks Sasuke if he's done being a little emo ***** and prepared to man the **** up. Sasuke replies negatively causing Gaara to shed a tear at having to kick the *** of a guy who nearly killed his brother, sister and himself not three years ago because of his connection to Naruto. Long story short, there's some absolutely awful dialogue between the characters. "My absolute defence is even more absolute than yours", "Power of the Double Mangekyou" (so you did take his eyes you douch) and in the end Sasuke is standing smugly in the middle of a black-boned Susanoo that appears to be forming more completely as time goes on. More h4x next week fans.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]I shouldn't have laughed at that as much as I did. Great punch-line.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Shinmaru']And yet friggin' [spoiler]Flay[/spoiler] of all people lives until the end of the series. WTF.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1][b][Edit][/b] Just got to the last episode and [spoiler]Flay's[/spoiler] death. Have to admit given how she matured over the course of the last 15/20 episodes I was actually a a bit sorry to see her die, with the speech afterwards. That said, after Kira blocked the first shot and then the second one struck [spoiler]the shuttle[/spoiler]. The first thing I thought was "FAIL!". ^_^;[/size]