I was in Egypt last week for work — the first time I’d been offered a chance to travel somewhere for business purposes. The cynical side of me says it’s a buy-off to keep me from jumping ship anytime soon, and if so who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Photos can be found on my Flickr page.

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I belatedly caught up with the final episode of Skins season 2 this week and really enjoyed it, although it felt a little weird abandoning the one-character-focus of most episodes.

(SPOILER WARNING!)

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Just watched the first episode of Geass’s second season. It’s pretty awesome — suddenly I’m excited about Geass all over again. It pretty much plays out like the first episode of the first season, and reminded me a lot of Buffy season 5, what with the sudden appearance of a new sibling like nothing had happened, the mystery behind all the characters nonchalance and Lelouch’s memory loss. But all seems back on track now that Lulu has regained his memory. I thought maybe they would have strung out that mystery a bit longer, but this is Geass after all, where plot moves at a ridiculous pace in incomprehensible directions. And I guess we still don’t know exactly what happened in the Lulu-Suzaku shoot out.

I also really love the OP!

The buzz in the anime community is over Gonzo’s decision to put a subbed version of its latest anime on YouTube and Crunchyroll. I tend to find Gonzo anime a bit hit and miss, but you’ve got to applaud them for entering the 21st Century and doing what so many international fans have been yearning for. Is this the future? I hope so. Good on you Gonzo!

The anime itself is pretty entertaining, though I’m a little confused as to what it’s about. It seems like a fantasy RPG-type anime (which I’m usually not a fan of), but the first ep is a really funny parody of said genre. The OP sequence also features a typical Japanese high-school type scenario, hinting that this is all in an RPG. Or is it? I’m intrigued enough to keep watching, particularly if Gonzo continue to put it out there for free.

Unrequited Love: Agony and Rapture

Let’s take some time out to talk about unrequited love. Unrequited love, quite frankly, sucks. It is, however, the type of love with which I am most familiar.

Thankfully, I’ve managed to stay clear of the “living hell” that is unrequited love these last couple of years. Six weeks ago I ended up somehow back in it. It’s like an innocent citizen, wandering with his headphones on and eyes to the ground, suddenly finding himself in the bad part of town — but a part he’s pretty familiar with. Or something less dramatic.

The difference this time was, I recognised it right away. And it was weird, kind of nostalgic. A realisation with an “Oh! Hmmm. Oh dear”. And I’ve recognised all the stages, signs and behaviours since (unfortunately, I have no control over my actions, which are totally at the mercy of my emotions). It’s almost been like an out of body experience — watching someone else go through familiar motions again after a long absence.

Anyway, it’s not fun. It’s far from fun. But on a whimsical attempt to find some new solution to cut the pain short, I stumbled across this site, which I adore.

As the author says, not everyone gets it. But I think the vast majority of people who have suffered unrequited love do. You’ve got to poke fun at it, and yourself, because the whole situation is so goddam painful and ridiculous it has to be laughable. And bless him for defining it in a neat little package, and for making those of us familiar feel less alone. Communal misery, it’s the future I tell you!

Unrequited love is a personal hell, and if it’s the majority of your experience with love, then that’s pretty much what you think love is. Unfortunately, that can lead to a cycle of non-relationships, self-doubt and unbelievable depths of loneliness. I’ve come to realise that this cycle is pretty much responsible for unhappiness over a large chunk of my life. Perpetual unreturned feelings are amongst the most destructive emotional tortures, particularly for a fragile soul. So if you’re feeling unrequited love, for God’s sake get out of it! Do whatever you can to stop it destroying your life.

Asobi Seksu are a band I tried on a whim after reading a Guardian review of one of their recent gigs. I’ve had this song repeating in my head ever since - it matches my current state of mind, and its in Japanese, so totally right up my street.

Unfortunately, the only thing I could find is this YouTube video set to the 2006 Gamera movie. Weird, but kinda cool.

Ano kumo wo miteru
Kotori ga tounderu
Ureshii kedo
kimi wa watashi ga kirai

Futari de koi shite
Tanoshii tokoro e
ikitai kedo
Kimi wa dokonimo inai

Naze kietai no
Kimi wa nigeteru no
Naze naze
doshite
Kimi ga daisuki, daisuki, daisuki
sukinano ni

Gallery

I spent a lot of time doing this one properly and thankfully it paid off. This is a really beautiful kit, and probably the best one I’ve put together. (more…)

Put down your remotes, this is the show of the fall season. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s another Josh Schwartz/Stephanie Savage effort.

Gossip Girl is The OC for the East coast. From here on its New York not Newport that’s in. The similarities are there of course: cast of impossibly rich pretty people, troubled social queen, spoilt best friend, kid from the wrong side of town, cool parents with a lot of shared history…. multiply that by six and that’s Gossip Girl. Move over Carrie Bradshaw, it’s the Upper East side teens who make us heart NY now. Move over Julie Cooper, we’ve got Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass, and all the mom’s and dad’s of the Upper East Side to hate now. Dan is a smarter, more adorable Ryan and Seth , Serena is a more interesting Marissa. Nate is everything Luke should have been.

Gossip Girl is breathtaking with a Manhattenite’s pace. It’s everything I fell for in The OC for back in the day, but on crack. Schwartz and Savage have taken the melodrama of a teen novel series and molded it to fit their winning formula. Great music, grand locations. There are character twists all over the place; evil one minute, vulnerable the next; shallow one episode, complicated in another. Keep the audience guessing, that’s sort of The OC way, but done better. Is it the cold snap of the east coast that gives it an edge? The harsh light of a chilly day, away from the warm Californian sunshine? But in true OC tradition, the thanksgiving episode was awesome.

The question is, is Gossip Girl going to do an OC and burn through all it’s bright ideas in one lightspeed season? The inconvenient writer’s strike will hold them back a bit at the least. Have Schwartz and co learned their lesson? That’s one secret they’ll never tell. You know you’ll love it. XOXO