So This Is The Hospital? Needs Better Urinals.
The ambulance backed into the ERs dropbox, dragged me out the rear... better than via the roof hatch. I actually asked why there was a roof hatch, but alas I was already being rolled into the lovely eggshell blue hallway to a room past the open bay where the high pressure world of traumatic wounds and spurting blood in a life or death conflict against Death itself.
Two doctors were eating pizza and chatting. But in a high intensity manner.
The EMTs had one last gift for me as they dragged me off the gurney to the bed-like object that would be my resting spot for the next five hours. They tried not to bump me around, but failed. Not really their fault... YOU try transferring a walrus from one table to another, see how it goes. The next hour is mostly a blur now. Medical people wandering in, poke and prod, then wandering right back out again. Somewhere in there they gave me a stylish gown in no specific color... a sartorial choice that I have become quite familiar with, alas.
Eventually I began recognizing people that made multiple stops in my space. One actually poked me with a needle to take blood... the first of many vampire visits I'd experience. Someone else hung a bag of whatever because that's what the do in hospitals, then plugged it in.
I'm reading the above stuff, and it's not really very funny. None of it really was, honestly. it's even past my admittedly tiny abilities to make funny. There was a lot of pain involved. Like when they took x-rays of my upper leg and they needed me to turn my leg this way or the other... that really was agony.
Then it was time for the device I'd become very familiar with... the Angry Growling Donut. Yes, others call it a CT Scanner, but I don't care. Sadly I had to do the leg trick again, except in a small confined space with no room to move. Fun was had by all. Then it was back up to the warm and inviting ER room and its remarkably comfortable table with great back support.
By now it'd been a couple of hours, and I'm sure this'll come as a shock to everybody, I needed to use the little ducky room. This caused a rather confused look to appear on the nurse's face: What do you do when a patient the size of a treaty battleship needs to pumpbilges take a leak when he can't sail walk? A handheld urinal was out; prior experience definitely rendered that a non-starter. Suddenly the expression of "brilliant idea!" appeared on the face of a second nurse that had been called in for consultation. Or moral support maybe? Was never quite clear on that, just the first time of many over the next couple of weeks. The decision was made: the collection container (two liters... I appreciated their optimism) from a suction machine (note: possible foreshadowing) and two diapers to catch possible overflows (really, it was quite flattering)...
...and everything held in place by two nurses.
Ah. Yes, of course. I should have realized beforehand. Suddenly the old adage passed through my mind: "You have no pride, you have no shame. You're in marketing!" Or, in this case, a hospital. Ah well, 25 years of retail burned all that down to a small, mewling thing huddled in the corner of my mind, and it's not like worse things didn't happen the last couple of years at the Duck U Bookstore. So once everything had been set up and the audience allowed to take their seats. I let fly. I tried very hard to keep the sigh of relief contained; no reason to make this any weirder than it already was.
Prize gathered (240ml... hey, it'd been a long time) a look of concern flitted across the nurse's face and she asked me a question that in other circumstances would have me laughing at the surrealness of it all: "How long has it smelled like this?" I could only shake my head: not too long at all, really, but not recently. With that answer received, she took the precious liquid away.
Then another torture device was brought in: the ultrasound machine. This was applied to my inner thigh after that odd gel stuff was gooped on, and Madame Torquemada began her work. To explain just how this felt, let me apply a comparison that can be easily understood.
Imagine you're in a terrible car accident on the highway. Everything is destroyed, the engine is in the back seat, the front passenger seat is ten yards behind the car, the works. You yourself are unharmed, and simply get out the normal way. As you do, you are counting your blessings.
Then you are attacked by a bengal tiger. Just as the massive teeth and claws approach your unprotected body, you are hit by an 18-wheeler at full trot. Then, as your broken body lies on the side of the road, someone runs up and presses an ultrasound scanner to your leg.
After being allowed some water... an entire Dixie cup, all to myself!... I was left alone for a bit. I think I texted Brickmuppet and Ben both at this point though to be honest that's kinda slipped my mind. A bit after that, three nurses, led by a woman that was obviously a doctor (if nothing else, her name badge and ID with the large word "DOCTOR" under it gave it away... mind like a steel trap, that's me) walked in. She explained that the Angry Growling Donut and the ultrasound both spotted a blood clot in my right leg. The good news was that was fairly early in the experience and should respond well to the usual brace of blood thinners and other meds. The bad news was that she could not admit to t.he hospital without a display of the physical situation. Or to put it simply, I had to try and stand up.
I goggled (back in grad school I would have helmeted. More protection while welding) at her. Seriously? Step one then... slide my legs to the edge of the table. My left leg moved fine, but the star of the evening was my right one... and I couldn't move it. My foot worked, but every pain receptor in my brain lit up with a nearly visible "TILT" light. After a few more attempts, each hurting more than the one before it, she said "That's enough. Would you agree?" That was directed to the nurses. A half hour later, I left the ER, bundled into an elevator and rolled to my new home for a while. It was 1030pm on the last day of February, 2021.
Next Time: More Zombies!
Also next time: Hospital pt2: Like A Cloud, only with squeezy boots.
1
I remember you txting me that you were at the hospital, or the ER, and then it was a day or two before I could get you again. I think. I do remember you telling me it was a blood clot before that, so I was a bit worried. I don't think I posted to The Pond until you said they thought it would respond well to treatment.
Posted by: Ben at January 08, 2022 02:02 AM (3npKf)
2
Holy cannoli. That sounds like a supremely unpleasant and disheartening experience, man.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 08, 2022 09:28 AM (rKFiU)
3
GD, not yet. Most of that comes later. This was just the sort of thing that happens when you end up in the hospital. The two liter collector was a bit out of the ordinary though.
Truth be told, I welcomed the admission. I knew this was potentially life-threatening... technically... but having a leg stop doing leg things really made it creepy.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 08, 2022 01:45 PM (bHHXR)
4
I just had both my hips replaced. I know about the squeezy boots, and the Robin Hood tights. I also got to give myself injections of blood thinner for the last 30 days. That was special.
Godspeed.
Posted by: John Peters at January 08, 2022 08:11 PM (do9LM)
5
John, thankfully they realized that things to manipulate my right leg could break the clot free, so no tights.
Two hips at once just sounds like torture.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 08, 2022 09:14 PM (bHHXR)
6
My sympathies, Wonderduck. The ER is not a pleasant place to be. I had a couple of trips to it in 2020. I'll save most of my stories for another time out of respect for our host's story, but I'll give one. Much like our nautical avian host, I'm built like a battleship. The beds they have in the local ERs are these heavy-duty roller beds that look more solid than your average car. Unfortunately, even when you're completely ambulatory, the nurses like to raise the side rails and there is no easy way to lower them yourself. For some reason, the room I was in didn't have a call button in reach and I hit the point where I needed to go to a nearby restroom or purge where I was. Since I couldn't get the rails on the sides down, I crawled to the foot of the bed (feet first). As I was starting to sit up on at the very end of the bed, it promptly decided to emulate a teeter-totter and plunged down over a foot. As visions of the bed flipping end over end on top of me flashed through my head, it then decided to return to balance and the wheels at the opposite end hit the floor with a crash that I'm certain was heard from over a block away. I then rolled off to my side and sat up on the side as close to the center as the rails would allow me and stood up. Moral of the story: do not try to sit at the very foot of those hospital beds.
John, sympathies on the hip replacements. I had both of my hip-joints re-aligned when I was a late teen to prevent needing replacements, but I had to do them a year apart so I could remain ambulatory. Most definitely not fun.
Posted by: StargazerA5 at January 09, 2022 10:13 AM (+kFls)
7
Nightmarish. And of course it is worse not to have a friend or family member sitting right there (and fully conscious/not in pain) to advocate for you and keep an eye on things (as well as send on errands or go looking for nurses).
Sigh. The automatic blood pressure cuffs are scary enough. I cannot even imagine what you went through.
But we are glad you got through it.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at January 09, 2022 11:37 AM (cHUaN)
8
So glad to see you posting again, Wonderduck. I cannot tell you how many patients I've transferred on and off the CT "examining table." I have never promised a patient that the transfer will be painless, but we're usually trying our best (honest!)
As for your self-assessed meagre comic abilities, I got a smile from the phrase "Angry Growling Donut."
Posted by: L. Beau Macaroni at January 09, 2022 04:20 PM (fieDC)
9
Me: Um, I broke my little toe just before Christmas.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 09, 2022 07:45 PM (PiXy!)
Pond Scum: Many Comments.
Me When I Saw Them: ?????... !
Seriously, I did not expect so many of you to have stuck around for so long. If I had not cried after typing "More Zombies" last night, I assuredly would be now.
tsundere
It's not like I wanted you guys to stick around or anything... baka Pond Scum-chan.
/tsundere
Part II of the story of my predicament vacation is coming; there's a lot of badthings fun things to cover though, and you guys know me... my writing style is not what you could call brief and succinct, even as a joke.
One thing that may surprise y'all is that I didn't discover a lot of new music. Yootoob on my smurtfon was and is clumsy and rife with ads, I don't have Spotify, and there isn't enough storage in it for more than a couple tunes anyway. There was some though, so of course I'm going to makethispostseemlonger share it with you folks!
1
Every now and then I think about dabbling in stop-motion, and Koopiskeva is both helping make me want to try it more and making sure I never bother because DANG, DUDE.
I missed the Lagtrain, er, train but dang that's a catchy little number.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 04, 2022 09:28 AM (rKFiU)
2
I think anybody who has owned a figma has at least imagined watching them move on their own. I know I certainly did, but there's two types of people in the world: people that take an hour to stand a figma straight up on its base... and Koopiskeva.
Lagtrain was an obsession of mine for at least a month. I probably watched 3/4 of the video covers, including the compilation one that synced up 60 versions all on one screen. Watching that one was a trip. But it's the song that makes it. There are actually vids analysing why it's so good, what is it that makes it so successful from a music theory-style place.
I haven't watched them. I don't need people to tell me it's got a great hook and that having that particular vocaloid sing with its fragile sound was a perfect choice.
But I can be something of an egotistical snob, too.
Posted by: Wonderduck at January 05, 2022 09:35 AM (bHHXR)
3
Reminds me, I've got an android game loaded called "Figure Fantasy" and the characters are apparently anime figures (generic but familiar, I'm guessing). I haven't tried it yet, though.
Posted by: Ben at January 05, 2022 01:39 PM (3npKf)
4
Ha, am I the resident idle-gacha-game expert? (WD is, of course, the FGO guru, no contest.)
Figure Fantasy is probably the most beautiful idler I've ever played. It's just staggeringly pretty. It's still, however, an idle game. You have to be okay with the fact that if you give them any money at all, what you're doing is paying to race toward the nearest available progression wall which you'll be able to surmount once enough time has elapsed to amass enough loot to "buy" your way past that hurdle and on to the next.
Did I mention it's pretty, though? So far I'm honestly quite happy with it. It's even being moderately generous, considering this is still early days on global mind you, as with all such games the drop rates will go to Helena Handbasket at some point.
Also, purely from an "I play too many idle games" perspective, I like the mild strategy positioning elements and that there are only three main factions (plus two kind of side factions that aren't in the main rock paper scissors structure) instead of four, and there's a lot of good QOL UI elements.
Which is to say: If you're okay with idle games at all, Figure Fantasy is about as good an option as I've seen, so go for it.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 05, 2022 06:11 PM (rKFiU)
5
Excellent! The positioning strategy is a fun aspect of a game called Valor Legends I'm playing. I've pretty much let idle gaming take over my gaming life, mainly because I can chat while the game is running.
One I have to be careful about with that because the story is so good and you never know when dialogue is going to pop up is Endless World. It's on Steam. As I told Wonderduck, the second the protaganist called me "
Ftumch" I was sold.
Posted by: Ben at January 08, 2022 02:06 AM (3npKf)
Boy, helluva nap, that. I was supposed to have dinner with the folks at 6pm, wonder what time it is?
Oh. Oh boy. That's gonna be hard to explain. Well, lets give it the old Duck U try, hey?
You members of the Pond Scum that have stuck around have been told a little bit thanks to Brickmuppet and Ben, both of whom deserve praise (or scorn, whichever) for keeping me sane for the past very long time.
Short ha ha ha version: blood clot in the leg, with added problems, like a previously unknown UTI and a kidneystone. And with some nutritional problems to boot because this all started with some leg pain like I have gotten for years. But it got worse, to the point where getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom was about the limit of what I could manage... so I stopped eating. For about 10 days, give or take, Then Feb 28th, as I tried to shower, my leg stopped doing leg things,
when I fell, I miraculously missed everything so it was about as good as you could hope for. Except now I was naked on the floor of the bathroom, unable to stand up, or really move at all without the leg exploding, So I called 911 and actually said "I've fallen and can't get up." It only took a few minutes for the EMTs and firemen to show up, and they then proceeded to drag me bodily into the living room, got me on a tarp, and got ready to take me out to the ambulance.
At which point, one of them asked about my collection of Haruhi Suzumiya figures. I was more than happy to chat about the 110 figure collection... I'm just a few obscure figs from having every scale, prize, trading, and posable figure listed on myfigurecollection, and the general consensus is that it's probably the largest collection of its type in the US. So I've got that going for me.
Which is nice.
That was the last fun I would have for about a month.
When they carried me to the ambulance, it was snowing. Also, the streets they took to the hospital need some SERIOUS roadwork, because every bump, pothole, or slight depression in it transmitted itself directly to my leg. i'm pretty sure I didn't scream at all. Much. The ER was waiting for me and thus ended any dignity and hope I've ever had in my life.
NEXT TIME: More Zombies. Oh my god, did that joke feel good.
ALSO NEXT TIME: Welcome To The Pleasuredome Hospital.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 02, 2022 09:27 PM (PiXy!)
5
Welcome back! Hopefully this means you've flown the hospital coup and can rejoin our flock more permanently!
Hopefully this link works and will be a bit of celebration of your flight to freedom Duck breaking free
Posted by: StargazerA5 at January 02, 2022 09:38 PM (YcvYE)
6
So glad you're back and posting, hopefully your various maladies have been properly taken care of and you can resume the continuing pursuit of rye bread and anime with rubber ducks in it.
Posted by: David at January 02, 2022 10:49 PM (t/97R)
Posted by: Don at January 03, 2022 07:53 AM (fvP4F)
11
So good to hear from you! As Will can attest, I've been about as worried as you ever get about an internet stranger (which, it turns out, is quite a lot). Welcome back!
Posted by: Kathryn at January 03, 2022 09:05 AM (8548M)
12
Oy. Who gave you so much leave?
Good to see you're on the mend.
Posted by: Will at January 03, 2022 09:09 AM (8548M)
13
Welcome back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clicked here every day for almost a year waiting for this. So good. I think I'll take a little walk and be happy for a while now.
Posted by: John Peters at January 03, 2022 10:41 AM (do9LM)
Posted by: mikeski at January 03, 2022 11:29 AM (P1f+c)
15
Hey, Duck! I'd seen some of your posts on Reddit, but it's good to have you back in the old stomping grounds too. Glad to hear things are looking up.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at January 03, 2022 12:07 PM (v29Tn)
Posted by: DougO at January 03, 2022 07:28 PM (Rau32)
17
So glad you're back. I may have saved a duck or two for you as well, but I wasn't sure how well received they would be, and I had no idea it would be this long....
Hopefully everything back at home is still okay.
Posted by: Mauser at January 03, 2022 07:32 PM (Ix1l6)
18
HOLY CROW, you're BACK!
Man alive, literally, it's good to hear from you again.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 03, 2022 11:20 PM (rKFiU)
19
Welcome back!!!! I hope you are feeling better, inside as well as out.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at January 04, 2022 11:48 AM (sF8WE)
20
I hadn't been checking in as frequently as anon, hence my late missive. Welcome back, and best wishes!
Posted by: jabrwok at January 10, 2022 03:04 PM (T4WaI)
Winter 2021: Don't Tell Me It's Awful!
There's always somebody out there. "There's nothing to watch," they'd moan and kvetch. "It was better before this." Any maybe those people are correct. But not this anime season, they aren't. Here's a look at what I think is a remarkable Winter!
1
My soul needed more Yuru Camp, and Horimiya is the show I didn't expect to love but damn do I love it a whole lot. I think what's surprises me most is the relationship between Miyamura and Toru, who are presented as rivals but immediately (also) become good friends (in an off-kilter way).
Vyx bought the first three manga just before the series started, so I knew most of what was going on up to the previous episode, but the latest ep is new material for me. I definitely want to read more because there's a lot of little text gags and inner thoughts stuff that the anime glosses over (though its presentation of emotional states is often rather clever; I like the "colored cut-out" motif) but I don't feel like the anime's lacking in any way. It's faithful (if a bit out-of-sequence, in ways that make sense for the adaptation) but on par with its source material at this point.
We're also sticking with Yashahime out of pure stubbornness (oh yeah, now I remember why I never fell in love with Inuyasha in the first place), and I'm catching up on Adachi & Shimamura (which is a firmly cute-but-not-spectacular little yuri-fest).
Posted by: GreyDuck at February 09, 2021 09:40 AM (rKFiU)
2Adachi & Shimamura is a wonderful little series, that I discovered via the light novels. Shame about the spacegirl though...
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 09, 2021 09:57 AM (Bkp4m)
3Mushoku Tensei is quite good. They used their massive budget well.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at February 09, 2021 11:36 AM (LZ7Bg)
4
Hey, fellow Pond Scum, I bring news from Wonderduck. He has been suffering from pain in his thigh, and it finally reached a point that he needed to get it checked out. He's in the hospital overnight; official diagnosis: Blood Clot. Scary as that is, his communication to me indicated the doctor saw it as imminently treatable and not necessitating any emergency procedures or concerns.
So, keep him in your thoughts; and he should be back with us soon.
MidniteTease
Posted by: Ben at February 28, 2021 09:36 PM (9Wcjc)
5
Wonderduck, good luck and prayers for a speedy and complete recovery.
Posted by: StargazerA5 at March 01, 2021 07:36 AM (lTtXP)
6
WD, good luck and hopes for a quick and easy recovery.
Posted by: Really Bored at March 01, 2021 11:45 AM (cp/J1)
7
Get well soon!
Pond Scum gets stagnant without a Duck to stir it up...
Posted by: mikeski at March 01, 2021 12:16 PM (P1f+c)
8
Just heard from Brickmuppet. Get well soon, Wonderduck!
Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 01, 2021 09:05 PM (MqQvv)
Posted by: Rick C at March 02, 2021 08:49 AM (eqaFC)
12
Get well soon, Wonderduck! It's cold again, so you're not missing anything at the moment. There's supposed to be another warm spell in the next few days, so hopefully you'll be out of the hospital in time to bask a little.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 02, 2021 10:06 AM (sF8WE)
13
It could be worse. They'll put him on blood thinners like my father and he'll be okay. Still, it's a bit too soon. Wonderduck and I are about the same age. Glad it wasn't a clot in a coronary.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at March 02, 2021 02:06 PM (LZ7Bg)
14
Get better soon, Wonderduck. The pond isn't the same without you.
Posted by: JT at March 02, 2021 07:43 PM (0EkmO)
15
I hope that you have a safe and speedy recovery, Wonderduck. I've enjoyed reading your blog over the years, and I hope that you'll continue with it again, once you have more fully recovered.
Posted by: Blue Crab at March 06, 2021 11:53 AM (fieDC)
He is still in hospital. He still has a blood clot, and the blood thinners are still working away. He has added "kidney stone" to his hospital experience, and will hopefully have it removed on Tuesday, the old-fashioned way. It can't be lasered because of the blood thinners.
So, keep him in your thoughts, and he expresses his appreciation for the messages he has received here and elsewhere.
I know he has family that have access to his apartment in an emergency, but I don't think anyone that could do such a thing locally, ATM. I will check on the feasibility. If the kidney stone is successfully removed, then he is already scheduled for a short stay with a live-in PT facility before returning home.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at March 09, 2021 04:39 PM (LZ7Bg)
20
Hi Wonderduck,
A little something that I think you might enjoy when you get released. It's a series of images following the adventures of a bunch of young nuns and the flock of ducks (and other animals) that live with them. They're released on Twitter, but this image site has collected them all into a Pool of images. This isn't the first image in the series as the ducks don't get introduced until a few images in. Link is to the SFW version of the site: Pool: Original - Little Nuns (Diva)
Posted by: StargazerA5 at March 17, 2021 10:01 AM (if4Ti)
After a handful of misadventures and paperwork snafus, Wonderduck is finally in the physical therapy facility. I gather it is not impressive, and may in fact be barely livable. But he is out of the hospital and will hopefully be back in hurdle-jumpingobserving condition in no time, or at least a week or two.
22
Thank you, Ben!
Get well soon, Wonderduck! Physical therapy is indeed a pain in the everything, but it's better than being flat on your back and stuck there.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at March 21, 2021 07:14 PM (sF8WE)
23
Thank you Ben! Good luck with the physical therapy Wonderduck! I doubt it will be fun be we want you back and healthy.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 21, 2021 09:29 PM (MqQvv)
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at March 22, 2021 03:59 AM (5iiQK)
25
A one-month anniversary get-well-soon message on April Fools' Day? I guess that's how it is. No fooling, though; get well soon, your Duckness!
Posted by: mikeski at April 01, 2021 01:35 PM (P1f+c)
26
Wonderduck! Get Well SOON! Another season is here, and I need my duckfix!
Posted by: skyhack at April 01, 2021 05:07 PM (KrC5e)
27
Best wishes for a thorough recovery, Wonderduck!
Posted by: Kathryn at April 01, 2021 07:34 PM (G6Lqs)
28
Any recent word on Wonderduck? It's been most of a month since the last update on his health.
Fingers crossed!
Posted by: jabrwok at April 26, 2021 06:39 AM (iyhH7)
29
Pond Scum,
Sorry for not keeping everyone updated. Wonderduck had to deal with a bout of illness in the hospital, which set back his recovery. He is indeed now in Physical Therapy; a live-in facility. He is working on rebuilding strength in his hip and leg, and it's been a slow processes. Brickmuppet and I have both talked to him a few times.
31
To a successful recovery and no more bad surprises!
Posted by: DougO at May 04, 2021 02:04 PM (kqK5x)
32
I finally was able to reach Wonderduck again today. He is having issues interfacing with his blog via his phone, but is still alive. He is still in the re-hab center but is making progress. He's now tackling that transition between sitting and standing without using the hands. Those of us who have been in re-hab know what an unpleasant surprise the existence of that hurdle is, but it's among the last.
His spirits are good and the prognosis is encouraging.
33
Hooray! Prayers for a speedy final stretch of your recovery, Mr. Duck!
Posted by: mikeski at May 26, 2021 02:11 PM (P1f+c)
34
Good to hear. I am healthy and yet I'm having some issues standing up. No surprise Wonderduck has to work for it, considering what he's been through. Laying in a hospital and a rehab house will drain one's strength.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at May 26, 2021 08:20 PM (LZ7Bg)
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at June 02, 2021 09:46 PM (sF8WE)
37
Wonder if we can slip him a body debit card so he can get back home....
Posted by: Mauser at June 11, 2021 09:37 PM (Ix1l6)
38
I have not been able to contact Wonderduck by phone for
several days, but he did reply to a text and indicated that he had made much progress in therapy and can now do bendy and move-y things he could not do before. However, the rehab facility will not release him until he clears one final hurdle.
This is probably good news.
SOON!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at June 16, 2021 10:47 AM (5iiQK)
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at June 17, 2021 04:43 PM (sF8WE)
40
Thinking of you, Wonderduck. Hope you can get home soon!
Posted by: Kathryn at June 22, 2021 09:57 AM (8548M)
41
Fellow Wonderduck readers -- he posted over on Brickmuppet. Unfortunately Brickmuppet is feeling poorly and is in the hospital for something serious, but Wonderduck sounds better. So go check in over there if you haven't already.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at August 07, 2021 11:55 AM (sF8WE)
42
Wonderduck, you've got to get back soon. I forgot Tuesday was the beginning of "Endless 8"! I need the reminder every year!
Posted by: Ed Hering at August 18, 2021 10:32 PM (/cXdK)
43
So I know it's not anime, but the trailer for The Matrix 4 has a brief shot of Keanu Reeves in a bathtub with a rubber ducky on his head.
Posted by: Rick C at September 10, 2021 11:07 AM (eqaFC)
Random Anime Pictures #150: Because I'm Too Tired To Do A Real Post.
-Fate Grand Carnival New Year's Eve Special
Remember Fate Carnival Phantasm from about a decade ago? There's a new OVA series coming based on Fate Grand Order, the game. This time, I might get all the jokes!
1
That's one of the problems with the now-sprawling Fate properties: If you don't keep up with (nearly) all of them, you miss too many references/jokes/etc. I'm sure I missed all sorts of contextual bits from the Emiya Cooking Show, and that's just a light fluffy hangout-time miniseries.
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 26, 2021 09:37 AM (rKFiU)
1
I can't imagine why that look never caught on...
Posted by: GreyDuck at January 16, 2021 09:26 AM (rKFiU)
2
Back in 2019 when we were allowed to go places - and there were places to go to - I visited the Austro-Hungarian military museum on a trip to Vienna. Profoundly depressing place, combining all the common-or-garden horrors of WW I with the added horror of a general staff even more incompetent than all the others.
Posted by: AlanL at January 20, 2021 02:07 AM (r6GJg)
This Is Formula 1 And Stuff
Okay, it's not exactly news that I'm pretty torqued off at Formula 1 these days. I didn't even watch a race this season, though I still more-or-less paid attention. No surprises, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes dominated (again). Hamilton got his record-breaking 95th win on the way to his record-tying seventh driver's championship. Mercedes got their seventh consecutive constructor's championship. Along the way, Hammy did all his usual whining, complaining, and moaning during the races.
Nothing has changed, in other words. I'm hardly the first person to notice this of course. Which explains how this video came about.
New Year's Eve, 2020
I got nuthin'. I don't even have the annual fireworks picture, thanks to losing it in the failure of my external storage drive. So here's an old one instead.
I just saw what I typed last year on this date:
"2019 was not a good year. May 2020 be better for all the Pond Scum. Thank you for sticking with me."
Wow. Good to see the future listens to me, huh? Happy New Year, everybody.
"Your Train Looks Like..."
Over in some other part of the internet, a discussion of the KiHA 281 DMU was occurring. Used by JR Hokkaido on their Super Hokuto routes, they've been around since 1994. Someone described them as looking like something the baddies in HalfLife2 would use, and it's hard to disagree. A comment was made saying that they looked like the trains used on the Narita Express.
I knew it was the other way around, the E259 N'EX EMU didn't take to the rails until 2010, but I was wondering if there was any link between them... the same designer, that sort of thing. Certainly there had to be something, that's hardly a look that immediately pops to mind when you think "train". Much to my chagrin and annoyance, an hour or so of looking turned up nothing at all... except for one fascinating little factoid. The man who designed the N'EX? He also designed the Kikkoman's bottle!
Posted by: bouff at December 26, 2020 01:11 AM (pJ2Io)
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I spent most of the day playing games on my tablet and PC, including another big round of Satisfactory, a game I'm absolutely hooked on now (as evidenced by my dusting off the rarely-used blog-type-thing for a monster post on the subject).
Posted by: GreyDuck at December 26, 2020 09:21 AM (rKFiU)
No, No Thanks, That's Okay...
As found in one of those ridiculous Sharper Image-style catalogues:
Was the marketing department totally unaware, or was this intentional? Could they really not have known? If you'd be able to own one of these without saying things like "Pass the smegpot" or "could you make a fresh pot of smeg" all the time, you're a better person than me.
I'm uneasy about the butter on the toast now. Does that look like... um... butter... to you?
When You Consider The Future...
Late Night Final released their third track just a couple of hours ago... and it's very much a banger. I mean, as far as ambient-ish music can ever be described as "a banger."
Is The World Ready For This?
I've never played a Pokemon game. The only console I've ever owned was the Sears version of what later became known as the Atari 2600... nothing since. I've never bought a pack of Pokemon cards, either. I've only seen a couple episodes here or there of the animated series on Cartoon Network or somesuch. All of which is to say, I've got no background to speak of in the games or lore of one of the most successful entertainment franchises in history. I know a little bit, sure, but... well.
Which made it surprising that I actually watched most of this video:
Special surprise guest appearance by my hands-down favorite pokemon of all time to boot.
Surprise! Music!
I had very few hopes when I clicked on a link about "science rock."
I was wrong. Very wrong.
Now that is a kickarse track, and apparently the "red string" is/was an actual thing created by Japan's National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences where a red silk containing oxytocin was really created. Wild!
It would be trite to say that this is many dozens of times better than any of the new Star Wars movies. Not incorrect, but trite.
Many years ago... over a decade... there was a free game called TrackMania Nations Forever that occupied much of my spare time. I got pretty good at it, too... I mean, not true World Record good, but on some of the tracks I could at least see the top of the leaderboard from where I was. But even though it no longer works on modern computers without a metric farkton of work... it's XP-based, for heaven's sake... I still remember the music. Fondly.
Okay. It's now time for the apparently government-mandated excursion into HoloLive. Pixy has been on a roll of late covering their antics. I've watched some streams... I'll be honest. The HoloLiveEN Vtubers don't do much for me, and I don't know anywhere near enough Japanese to get the original crew's videos. But the music is... something.
That was my first exposure in any way to HoloLive, and it's cute. Nice beat. But some of those voices are eardrum-shredding, dear god. I have to assume that having Pekora and "Miko Sakura", with their nasal, cutesy, falsetto-y, awful singing back to back was due to heavy bribery from the singer that came next... Towa Tokoyami.
Who sounds NOTHING like any of the other HoloLive crew. After hearing her in that whole-crew viddy, I went looking to see if she had anything solo. Oh yes. Yes she does.
Sold. That she can do justice to God Knows..., both live and "in-studio", is just the icing on the cake.
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I spent some time browsing through Towa Tokoyami's YouTube channel last night after watching these, and her singing quality is consistent. At a minimum it makes a pleasant playlist, although you have to sort out her music from her gaming livestreams.
It surprised me it was a livestream channel, until I remembered that this group of idols is called "hololive". I guess that makes perfect sense.
Posted by: Ben at December 03, 2020 08:14 AM (VtwaX)
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That "Red Silk of Fate" track does kick ass, and in a weird sort of way the video's a mirror image of Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science"...
Posted by: GreyDuck at December 03, 2020 10:22 AM (rKFiU)
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Totally agreed on Towa Tokoyami, such a pleasant voice after all the vocal posturing (And gah, the stuff right after her!)
Posted by: Mauser at December 04, 2020 11:47 PM (Ix1l6)
I wrote about this sketch years ago, and it is still way up there as one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Something about Tim Conway's fnorky sound effect, but I always lose it at the monkey. I mention this because I stumbled upon something fascinating... to me, at least. An interview with Vicki Lawrence... Mama... about that sketch from her point of view.
Knowing the backstory makes it all the better to me.
In this time of plague, humor can go a long long way.
I'm not convinced that J Wilgoose's Late Night Final persona isn't actually one of the guys from Daft Punk or Kraftwerk "slumming", as it were. Song picks up around the four-minute mark. Again, ambient isn't my cup of fish, but this isn't so bad at all.
I think I've seen the actual video before, running on an Amiga back in the day.
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Given how ambient-adjacent the last PSB project (the Titanic one) is, I get the feeling this stuff is really where his heart is, and the more catchy pop-y stuff is there to pay the bills.
I mean, I'll probably still pick this up. As you say, it isn't so bad at all.
Posted by: GreyDuck at November 21, 2020 09:29 AM (rKFiU)
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That one was right up my alley and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for posting it!
Posted by: Ed Hering at November 22, 2020 04:06 PM (/cXdK)
-Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, Ep02
I know I mentioned this in passing, but the third anime installment of the Love Live! franchise is currently airing. It feels like this one is going for something different, though... the "team" aspect of the previous two series seems to be missing somewhat. Also missing is any of the dramatic tension of the "save our school" storyline from the first two: there's no way Nijigasaki High is going to close, not with the obvious funding it has. I mean, it doesn't have holographic monitors at each desk... actually, I'm not sure it even has classrooms... but the United Center in Chicago, home of the Bulls, is smaller than the school's Club Wing.
Hell, there are entire towns smaller than the Club Wing. So when you remove the whole reason behind the first two Love Live! series to occur, what do you do now? To be completely honest about it, sell merchandise to anime fans. Best way to sell merchandise to anime fans? Cute girls.
Except this time, we have TEN instead of nine. I probably shouldn't be surprised that my favorite of the bunch, Yu... the one being leaned on... is the one member of the club that doesn't want to perform, choosing instead to be the manager. All of the girls have a color associated with them; Yu's is black. I gather she's taken the role of us, the player of the video game.
I'm not going to try and talk you into watching this show. By now, you know if you're a fan of Love Live!. If you are, you're probably already watching and you don't need me to tell you about it. If you aren't, there's nothing different here from the first two and you're not likely to suddenly become a fan. But it's got a rubber duckie in it, so that's okay with me.
What, you thought I'd leave it with just that arrow in the top picture?
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Having recently finished a watch-through of Ouran Host Club, I saw that arrow and started to worry something tragi-comic was going to happen to the poor ducky...
Posted by: GreyDuck at November 13, 2020 09:14 AM (rKFiU)
Posted by: Wonderduck at November 13, 2020 08:27 PM (vNkOW)
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I've been playing Hitman lately... and it has rubber ducks!
Unfortunately the rubber ducks are either a) explosives, placed by you, or b) environmental things that you are rewarded for hunting down and shooting. So that's not so great.
There are also ducks in Genshin Impact. I hear they can be hunted (like pretty much all the wildlife in that game) but I just let 'em do their thing. Hunting cranes and boars is more fun.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at November 14, 2020 04:55 PM (v29Tn)
