Densha, Suberiochiru, Headphone

Dear Followers,


Spring Break feels really good right now. I have done nearly nothing so far except for hang out with friends and go from shop to shop in Plymouth (well, I guess I finished my project webpage). Oh, and screw you Borders for not telling me that you were closing down so that when I arrived at your entrance all I found was a barren wasteland filled with garbage Bleach volumes. Where is my Hemingway?

Robotics was a blast. Even though we didn't do very well once again (come on Partha, no need to be ashamed), watching other Minnesota teams dominate was fun. And I even saw Yuen-Yi at Tea Garden (mango shake with lychee jellies just isn't my thing Evan). Here's a shout-out to our professional marketing team who helped us win the 2011 Image Award. What now Swathi?

This year I had the honor of not being one of the 4 people cut from the tennis team. I suck at tennis. I know that Oliver (preempt to you being a troll). Why do I do tennis? I need something to keep me in shape and I enjoy the company of the tennis team. Those were the only two reasons I could come up with. Watching Prondzinski rag on Herscher is fun as well.

My mom came back from India on Thursday. After a long two weeks of eating out everyday and gaining 15 pounds of love-handle, I am looking forward to my mother's make-do cooking. I am not making fun of my mom. With a full schedule like my mom's, I would like to see some of you make what she can. I should learn how to cook sometime though. Now I have to wear this religious necklace she got me and I am ready to counter Bradley's cross (supereffective!).

Star Driver and Fractale ended this weekend. In the words of Ivan, Fractale was great, Star Driver was good. That sums everything up nicely. If you get your anime the real way and happen to pass by gg, you should check out Koda's version of "Friday." All I have to say about Star Driver is that Wako is a punk for loving two men simultaneously. Fractale was supremely satisfying. Everybody died who needed to die, Dias didn't piss me off, and there was a satisfying plot twist. Well done Azuma.

Speaking of Azuma, I am reading "Otaku: Japan's Database Animals" as we speak. Azuma's mixture of post-Derridean philosophy and otaku-centric subcultures fascinates me beyond bound. I mean, having Lacan, Baudrillard, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Zizek, Kojeve, Freud, Nietzche, and Ayanami Rei in the same paragraph is something I could only dream about. Here's a passage I particularly liked:

"With the continuing trend toward animalization in mind, there is a much more simple explanation of the same reality. Just as animal needs and human desires differ, so do genital needs and subjective "sexuality" differ. Many of the otaku today who consume adult comics and "girl games" separate these two; and their genitals simply and animalistically grew accustomed to being stimulated by perverted images. Since they were teenagers, they had been exposed to innumerable otaku sexual expressions...illustrations of girls, cat ears, and maid outfits...However...In most cases, the sexual awareness of the otaku does not reach that level in any way. Precisely because of this, otaku have a strange Janus-faced quality...on the one hand, the consumer numerous perverse images, while on the other hand, they are surprisingly conservative toward actual perversion."

Take that haters. The videos sprinkled throughout this post are various songs by the Japanese band School Food Punishment. I discovered them when I started watching Eden of the East in the fall. They have a unique sound and I love every minute of their songs. JZ would approve as well (I can't dig this Mr. Children fellow though, sorry JZ). Who's ready for some Lotte's Toy this Spring 2011?


Sea-Through Communication,
Noel