It would depend on the exact circumstances. I don't really have a 'home of my dreams', so that wouldn't really be a factor. The house's history would be a factor since I'm a bit superstitious, but again, how much of an issue it was would depend on how nasty the murder was and how recent it was. If it had happened donkey years ago and the people who've lived there since didn't have any problems then maybe. If the murder occured a few months ago or something, then probably not, it'd just be too creepy. Ghost's would only be a problem if they were troublesome, I'm not going to risk living with something that throws the furniture at me or something. As for the rent free thing, it'd be tempting but I'd have to ask why they're making the offer since that sort of thing is a fair bit suspicious.

Tags: haunted house, possessed, spirits, writer's block

Specifically, the world seems to be creeping towards something that may possibly end up resembling the world of  Ghost in the Shell. There's a rather strong possibility that I'm imagining things (again), but consider the evidence:

www.gizmag.com/honda-asimo-brain-machine-interface-mind-control/11379/

www.spectrum.ieee.org/computing/embedded-systems/new-math-for-artificial-neurons

web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2000/monkeys-1206.html

www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/science/29brain.html

And on a somewhat lighter note:

www.8bitkid.com/2008/09/03/a-real-life-tachikoma-surfaces-in-the-uk/

www.japanator.com/real-life-tachikoma-gives-me-a-damn-good-reason-to-start-slimming-down-10884.phtml

I finally got around to watching the last disc in my boxset, on my own this time, so no real peanut gallery comments, just a certain amount of talking at the TV screen during the bit with Togasa's daughter (said talking was equal parts encouragement aimed at Togasa and threats/anger towards the Puppeteer who proved himself to be an A-grade SOB with that little stunt). Also, they're back, yay (anyone familar with the series will know what i'm talking about). Ended up slightly confused at the end, as usual, but since I'm pretty sure that that's intentional, as not even the characters really know or understand everything that happens,  I don't really mind.

~Weaver

I watched the second part of Ghost in the Shell:SAC (Individual Eleven) yesterday. As with the previous one, my brother watched it with me, although there were fewer wittisms this time.

Me:"Okay, the Matrix just plain nicked that bit."

My Bro: "Where did the apples come from?"
Me: "Well they are somewhere full of cargo containers. Plus it's probably symbolic."

My Bro: "The apples are multiplying."

*when the Tachikomas are telling someone to surrender*
My Bro: *laughing a bit* "You just can't take them seriously."
Me: "I know,  it's kinda like hearing someone being threatened by a three year old. "

Me: "Symbolism ahoy."

My brother going off on a rather rambling tagent that likened Ishikawa to Chuck Norris (I can't remember the wording since I was paying more attention to the film).

There was also some ponderings.

How Kuze managed to talk without moving his lips (we never managed to figure out that one).

My Bro: "Y'know, sport competitions would be a bit pointless in that world. It'd just be a case of who's got the best technology."

And of course, given the ending:

Me: "Why do I feel like I want to cry over a bunch of blue robots?"
My Bro: "I know!"

(Seriously, if you can watch that bit without feeling at least a little emotional then you've got less heart then the Tinman).

Last week I found myself in close proximity to a shop that sold anime with a gift voucher burning a hole in my pocket. Predictably, anime was bought, Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex (compilation movies, not the episodes) to be precise. Anyway, I was watching the first disc (The Laughing Man) and my brother joined me about a third of the way though. My brother being my brother, he had a few comments (I can't remember the exact wording, but it's close enough). Highlights include:

"What's going on with his hair? Is it a case of he's losing it so he's making the most of what he's got left?"

"What kind of anime is this? First the adorable robots and now this! Is this show designed to make you hate humanity?!"

"Oww oww owwowwoww." (The scene with the creepy evil nurse, specifically when she's literally messing with the Major's head.)

My Bro: "Ah, my big gun."
Me: "Eh?"
My Bro: *pointing at TV* "That was definitly an 'ah my big gun' smile."

"It's a weapon?! I thought it was a nursemaid!"  (It made sense in context).

Repeatedly accusing the Major of being a show off.

"Don't try to understand it, just accept it and enjoy the awesomeness." (After we both got thoroughly confused by the plot).

I suspect that anime watching is more fun as a team event.

~Weaver

Tags: anime

Your Soul Is Connected to the Winter

You approach life with a zen-like calm that other people envy. Nothing rattles you. You are smart, thoughtful, and very serious. You don't stress out, but you don't take much lightly. You like to keep to yourself, and you've been called shy - even if you don't consider yourself that way. You prefer a cozy, quiet life filled with ideas, books, and maybe a few friends.

You Are a Carrot Cake Cupcake

You are a complex person. You have many interesting layers to your personality, though others might not know it. You are drawn to a cross section of people. You friends play different roles in your life. You are like a cupcake because you are are deceptively simple. There's actually a lot to you! There are many ingredients in your life, and you only want them in proper amounts. Being you is a delicate art.

Association Meme: Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

Here are the topics from: mlady_anonymous 

1. Doctor Who
I'm a Brit, so there's pretty much no getting away from this one. A sizable chunk of the population has spent their formative years being terrified of Cybermen and Daleks and that includes me. When I was a kid they used to have reruns of the old episodes every week, although I was young enough for my memory of them to be a little fuzzy and in no particular order.  Being a geek as well as a Brit, when the series was rebooted I watched it and discovered that even though I'm older, there's still plenty of nightmare fuel potential, especially in the Moffet episodes.

2. Trinity Blood
I read a few comments about it on various forums  and although it didn't sound like much (the usual "Hellsing meets Trigun" description doesn't do it justice) I watched the first episode online out of curiousity and got hooked. It was also the second series that I've watched to the end.

3. Halloween
The one time of year when I can be as weird as I like and not only get away with it but get free sweets out of it, although it's stopped being as much fun in recent years. Being the eldest of four I got an extention on the trick-or-treating age limit since I was supervising my younger siblings. A teenager going trick-or-treating on their own gets funny looks and a lot of "you're too old for that" comments, but a teenager doing the same with a sibling or two in tow is a different thing altogether. But then I went to uni which put a stop to things since I was on the other side of the country and when I finished my youngest sister had outgrown the need for a chaperone so now I generally end up on door duty.

4. (un)employment
I finished uni in 2007 and despite a fair amount of effort and a lot of interviews I'm still sans job. The most employment that I've had was a brief stint as an hourly paid Learning Resource Center assistant but I didn't get many hours and eventually they took me off the books altogether. Due to my extended period of joblessness I've had to go on a couple of courses that supposedly are to help you get a job but turned out to be bloody useless, not least because they seem to be geared towards those who left school at 16 and are only good for manual jobs, so none of the staff seemed to know what to do with an articulate university graduate who had a highly developed BS detector (and believe me, over half of the 'advice' they gave was total BS. I won't go into details as that will lead to ranting). The second course wasn't as bad as the first though since at least the staff weren't patronizing and I got my volunteering jobs out of it.

5. Anime
I'm an anime fan, although something of an erratic one. I started out watching it at the unoffical video club as sixth form (it was unoffical since  they hadn't really asked anyone or filled in any forms, they'd just found an out of the way classroom with a TV and video player and moved in during lunch). I think the first one I saw was Cowboy Bebop. Afterwards there was an anime free period until I found a couple of cheap boxsets in a discount  shop. Said boxsets had episodes from a variety of series (sort of a taster pack). Then I found out that the library had manga and things when from there. Being a tightwad however, I only buy stuff when it's cheap or I have vouchers, otherwise I use the library or online sites (I don't download though, streaming video only). I did go to an anime club for a while (the town I went to uni in had two universities. I was at one, the anime club was at the other. They didn't mind me showing up though) ,which was fun and pretty much the only bit of socializing that I've managed to pull off, but that came to an end when I graduated (dammit). Attempts at finding a substitute haven't got very far.

One of the sites I hang around on is tvtropes.org, a wiki dedicated to catologuing tropes, that is, things which crop up a lot in media. Anyway, there's a section called 'You Know That Thing Where..?' (YKTTW)  which allows people to suggest tropes. Now, yours truly had recently been on another site, namely the Doctor Who section of the SFX forums, and noticed that there was a lot of people voting for Ace in a 'favorite companions poll, all of whom cited the same reason; she once beat the crap out of a Dalek with a baseball bat. I was inspired and came up with the idea that moments which characters become remembered and admired for might qualify as a trope. I posted it on YKTTW and after checking on the responses a few times, pretty much forgot about it. Unbeknown to me, someone lauched it and it quickly grew to the point where it had to be divided into subcatagories, which was a bit of a suprise for me when I found out. It is now the biggest page on the site (eek), and when, in a moment of bordom, I googled the trope name, I got a suprisingly large number of hits. I forget what the original tally was but the current hit count (with the words in quote marks) is at about  4,210, including an actual LJ meme. It's like I threw a snowball and ended up causing an avalanche.  I'm torn between being shocked and being entirely too pleased with myself (hey, I am a geek after all).

The trope's name? Crowning Moment Of Awesome.

I once ended up on a train that was completly packed, with a lot of people having to stand up and about an hour between stations. I was one of the people stuck standing up in a sort of boarding area outside the main passenger compartment and was suprised to note that instead of the expected aura of agrevation, everyone was acting  polite, helpful and friendly. A couple of girls were chatting like best friends but I later found out that they had met on the train, and when a guy a little way away from me got badly travel sick, no one had a go at him for being gross, instead people were asking him if he was okay and offering tissues and bottles of water. There was a general sense of "yes, things suck, but we're all in it together so we may as well make the best of it", something which I did not expect to find in a group of strangers packed together on a train.

Tags: bus, subway, train, transit, writer's block