03rd Dec2012

VHS Tapes

by ardith

I finally set up a system to import VHS to my Macbook.

I think there were a lot of reasons that I put it off.  One of them was that you have to watch the tapes in real time as they import. I’m so use to download now now now.

But the tapes represent my childhood. The vivid faces of my grandparents. Their voices…. I don’t remember their words clearly anymore. But these brief moments in time are captured on magnetic tape.

I was worried about how deteriorated the tapes may be.

I was worried about how long it would take me.

But those excuses are just…excuses.

Maybe it’s really because as I import these tapes, I cry a little. I dread the drain on my emotions.

My mother’s parents have both died. My father’s mother has also passed on. I cry because these people molded me as a child and they can’t see what I have grown to become (or not become).

My parents and grandparents immigrated to the US from the Philippines. I was born in a military base there as well. They believed the United States was the best place for their children and grandchildren to grow up.

Because of them, I studied hard. It was expected of me. Of all of us. Because of them, I graduated from college and have a career.

The tapes catch them in little moments at parties. Holding babies. Saying something softly – often not to the camera. I don’t think I understood enough Tagalog back then to understand. I can now.

The babies they are holding–my brother, sisters, and cousins– are all long grown. Many of them have children of their own.

I laugh at some of the antics. In the 80′s and 90′s, my cousins and I spent a lot of time unsupervised. Moments of madness, caught, but not forever. Magnetic tape is not amber.

That’s why I’m slowly importing the tapes. I’m making copies of the raw mov files for my cousins.

I wipe away the tears that sometimes leak from my eyes as I glimpse into the past with adult eyes.

I’m glad I’m doing this. – if only to see the warmth in their eyes once more.

Category : Life Life Life
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04th Sep2012

Election 2012 – Register to Vote!

by ardith

Hey guys (in the US)!
Register to vote! It’s super important.

 

Category : Civic Matters, Life Life Life
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21st Jul2012

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 Recap

by ardith

I survived Comic-Con 2012!!

I haven’t been in a few years due to, well, the crowds.  I did get to see several of my friends. It was nice to hang out and to wander the con.

I parked at Fashion Valley and took the San Diego Trolley in. It was nice not to have to worry about traffic & parking. The Trolley, however, was very crowded. It’s all good. Public transportation works!

Thursday, I attended the RaceBending panel. It was very interesting. As an Asian American, I feel like we are very under represented. It should not matter what race you are, but to some people it does. Racism is alive and well. It was a bit shocking to hear stories from these creators.

I also went to the Hotel Transylvania panel! It was nice to see new clips from the movie. The reaction was great. I’m very happy to have worked on this title.

I then ran off to the Stuff You Should Know panel. I love love love this podcast. The topic was Time Travel. It was epic.

On Friday, I really wanted to attend for the Legend of Korra panel, but I was not able to get in. That’s okay. I was able to follow on twitter and tumblr.

After Friday (Korra panel day), I just realized that I was not fan-girl enough to get up at 3am to try to get in line for Hall H or Ballroom 20. I like to sleep… I met up with my friends (who had babies in tow) and we went to the Children’s Museum to take in the Adventure Time set up. I really admire Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time take over. It was really great and worked well with the Children’s Museum. We also got to go around the museum for free. Thankfully, we had toddlers with us so it wasn’t creepy.

On Saturday, I went to the Gravity Falls (Disney) panel with my friend Stephanie.

I participated in The Fringe Podcast on Saturday Night. We reviewed some of my favorite episodes from Season 2. I’m not sure I would describe my commentary as spectacular. I’m afraid I sound a bit valley and giggle too much. But I can’t help laughing. It was super fun.

After all the stimulation and walking for about 6 miles a day each day, I was too tired to wake up super early and line up for the Fringe Panel. My friends attended though. I ended up heading home a bit early. Which was good. I avoided some traffic — and took a really long nap when I got home.

Also a plus, I DIDN’T GET SICK!  Wooooooh!!!

Category : Adventures, Conventions
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11th Jul2012

San Diego Comic-con 2012

by ardith

For the first time in a few years, I’m going to Comic-con!

Honestly, I haven’t been to Comic-con in so long because the lines for everything have been ridiculous. I feel like that most information that I get at SDCC will be online in a day or two anyhow.

I still feel that way, but this year, I’m going to relax about things and go to a few select panels and otherwise float free.

You can follow my progress on twitter @hanabatake or tumblr at hanabatake.tumblr.com.

Category : Conventions
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07th Jul2012

The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender

by ardith

How good was Legend of Korra? It was amazing. 12 episodes tightly filled with great writing, characters, and animation.

Now back on Tumbr, there was lots of debate about character motivations, arcs, and shipping. I totally enjoyed it the whole way through. But watching it really made me miss Aang and the original generation.

Which leads me back to Avatar: The Last Airbender. I did not get a chance to watch the series till last year. I was so busy with work and life. Also I had spent years watching anime and I didn’t want to commit to a new show.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is just brilliant. The influence of anime and manga is obvious. But also, it’s just full of great characters and writing.

If you haven’t taken the time to watch it, go doooo it. It’s on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Stream it. Now.

Category : Art, Animation, & Games, Sequential Art
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25th Jun2012

Fringe – Season 5 (& Series Finale) Starts September

by ardith

Blu-rays of Fringe are on sale right now. You can catch up! The final season is coming up.

Right now, the blu-rays are available – all (except the preorder for Season 4) are under $25!

Category : Generes, Reviews, Science Fiction
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11th Apr2012

DonorsChoose.org – Donate to Educational Projects

by ardith

My sister is an elementary school teacher. She’s trying to raise funds for a projector. With this technology, she can show documentaries, attach her computer and it as a giant monitor.

DonorsChoose.org is great because you can support teachers like her. Even if you don’t donate to her project, find one on there. There’s a lot of great ones.

I love teachers. I think they are underpaid and under appreciated. Great teachers celebrate curiosity and exploration.

Smart children build countries. That, people, is how we make our country better. Also, how we get things like replacement body parts.

The teachers I’ve had throughout my life have introduced me to science, fiction, and cultures from around the world. While teachers are strapped for budget, we can help a little by giving to them and supporting.

Category : Civic Matters, Life Life Life
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04th Jan2012

First injury of the year!

by ardith

20120104-213326.jpgI tripped spectacularly today! I was able to hobble around on it for a few hours, but now it’s slightly swollen and very tender. I’m going to see the doctor tomorrow to see if anything is really wrong. Hopefully, a night iced and elevated will help.

Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve fallen, but it’s been years since I’ve had a scraped knee and a sprained ankle.

Years ago, when I was a freshman at UCLA, I had a spill on the way to my musicology final. I broke my left foot.

I called my professor, explaining what had happened. He laughed a bit – as if to say, I know you’re telling the truth. No one would lie like this to get out of a musicology final.

Anyway, I’m icing and bandaging my ankle. Hopefully it looks good in the morning.

 

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Category : Health Matters, Life Life Life
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01st Jan2012

Happy New Year 2012

by ardith

It’s gonna be an awesome year! My cousin and her husband just had a baby at 3:45pm New Year’s Eve. What a great way to ring in the New Year.

Category : Life Life Life
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15th Sep2011

We Heart Performing For Japan

by ardith

We [HEART] Performing for Japan

We <3 Performing for Japan

We <3 Japan is having a live performance!

Mari Iijima will be there as well as some amazing US voice talent.

There will be a concert AND a live reading of an anime episode.

Tickets start at $40. Buy one now!

 

Category : Japanese, Life Life Life
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11th Sep2011

9-11 – Ten Years Later

by ardith

Sorry if this is a rambling post. I just want to get down my thoughts about today.

Before September 11, 2001, I was mostly worried about work. We were trying to get a store open in Los Angeles. It was very busy.

That morning, though, I was sleeping. My friend, Stephanie came in. She was my roommate and her brother lived in New York. He called her and told her to turn on the tv.

I remember we watched for a while in horror at what was happening.

The news was warning about threats against Los Angeles as well.

I went to work.

I tried to concentrate, but ended up reloading CNN over and over again. I cried a lot.

Horrors happen all over the world, I know. Deliberate murder and cruelties. A part of my doesn’t really understand why people do this. They can just as easily get along.

Humans can be selfish. Cruel. Aggressive.

But we can also be amazingly kind. Selfless. Protective.

The acts on that day were not because of any religion. People need hope. People need to be able to progress. I’m sure that’s very much part of the underlying resentment of certain groups.

The thousands who died on 9-11 have sent ripples, touching people around the world. I hope that all humanity can find that goodness within themselves to do what’s right.

Sound of Silence – Paul Simon

Category : Life Life Life, The World
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05th Sep2011

Happy Birthday Freddie Mercury!

by ardith

Google has a new doodle in honor of Freddie Mercury! .

(via the Daily What)

Category : Life Life Life
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05th Sep2011

Watching The Crow

by ardith

Brandon Lee as The Crow

The Crow came up during a lunch hour conversation.  It’s been years since I’ve watched it, but it popped on Hulu Plus. Of course, I took the recommendation as fate.

While I was watching it, I wondered just how many people my age got the soundtrack and thought sad teenage thoughts. I totally want to dig up mine (Um, yeah, I bought it back then) and listen to The Cure.

I think I blocked just how bloody it was. Of course, since it’s about vengeance and stuff, it should not have surprised me. Mostly, I felt really bad for Brandon Lee.

I still enjoyed the movie a lot.  You can watch it on Hulu Plus or Netflix Streaming. It’s dark, over the top, and bloody. Rated R for all the above and more.

Category : Movies
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13th Aug2011

Sometime in the future….

by ardith

It’s really hard for me to believe, but my parents are now in their 60′s. I’m sure in their post-World War 2 childhoods, 60-year-olds were considered ancient, but the Boomer generation is living longer and longer. I pray for my parents’ continued health. They certainly are not decrepit, but no one lives forever.

Or do they?

I was listening to the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast discussing how life-spands.

There are some people who say that we are reaching the point where science will let humans regenerate organs and sustain life for longer and longer. (Practical) Immortality is within reach!

Can your mind hold that many memories? Or will you have to decide to erase bits and pieces of it as time goes on?

Could you put your childhood into storage? Access it wirelessly in the cloud whenever you want to remember your childhood phone number?

My friends are settling down, having kids of their own. I wonder if, to keep your sanity, you would have to sacrifice memories of your child’s first steps to make more room in your mind when you have your great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren at your feet.

I’m not sure if I would like to stay on earth for that long. What would that mean for human evolution? If you still have older generations of people around (who can presumably still breed more people), will that put a halt on how your species grows and changes? I want telepathic great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren, dammit!

It’s something to think about.

Category : Life Life Life
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16th Jul2011

Harry Potter and the Teary-Eyed Fans

by ardith

Just got back from watching this. The Harry Potter novels & movies have been a part of pop culture for decades. I’m glad that I went opening weekend. It’s wonderful to experience the movie with fellow fans.

As moviegoers, we’ve spent dozens of hours in Hogwarts. We’ve spent over a decade reading the books and watching the movies. It’s kind of hard to say goodbye.

The last Harry Potter movie is spectacular. The dark parts of the books are all there. I think there were several scenes that they improved upon in the film! The crowd who went to the 10:30pm showing tonight were a mix of hard-core (Cosplaying) fans, regular fans, and other folk. I heard more than a few sniffles, gasps, and cheers at different points in the film.

And even though I knew what was coming, I wiped a few tears away myself.

Kudos to the film makers, cast, and crew of the Harry Potter saga. It’s wasn’t easy to breathe life into this world. You all did an amazing job.

The Harry Potter novels were just not about good and evil. It was a saga about love, sacrifice, and the power that all holds. I think JK Rowling has given the world a gift. Her story has opened a generation of children to the magic of reading, the power of words, love, and courage, and the knowledge that you have a choice to do what is right. Even if it’s not easy.

Category : Movies
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