Ani-Pock Weblog

We've moved!

2007-06-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Please find the new location of this blog, as well as our new "AP Community" Blog as well!

Jump to the new location >>
( http://Ani-Pock.net )

Polysics: I MY ME MINE

2007-05-06T11:48:00.007-07:00

Lucy sent me this music last week, and I really like it! I found the music video on YouTube, so enjoy! I especially like the piano part (around 1:24)

I must say... strange music video though >_>

Hot rice from cold water

2007-05-06T11:48:00.005-07:00

A group of researchers in Japan has developed a new type of non-perishable food pack, called “Hotto! Raisu” (Hot Rice), that is capable of producing hot rice with the addition of cold water.

By subjecting rice to 4,000 times normal atmospheric pressure, the developers were able to preserve rice for long periods in a soft form that holds moisture. When water is poured over an exothermic agent in the pack, steam warms the rice contained within, and after about 15 minutes, the dish is piping hot.

More here.

~For Meyume: Happy Birthday~

2007-05-06T11:48:00.003-07:00

Hey Meyume,
I heard from a little birdy that it was your day and I just wanted to say Happy Birthday. I also heard from another source that you liked ants so enjoy the pic. In any event, from all of us on ani-pock may your special days be filled with surprises. Hope you get everything ask for.

Happy 17th, from the ani-pock community!

Remix this wolfie!!

2007-05-06T11:48:00.001-07:00

Wolfie (Emms), has drawn this amazingly you-must-hug-it wolfie!! For all those digital artists out there, remix this wolfie into something! Say a shirt, cup, new cereal, pokemon card, or photoshop it into a magestic landscape! (I'm thinking of putting it somewhere in a Bambi or Lion King screen shot). Or make a new coca cola bottle! (Wolfi-ola?) Be creatve and post your result in the comments section!! Thanks wolfieee!

Click image to get original size (higher quality).

Here is an example of an old Wolfie remix I made:
Update #1: Here is my submission!! (Pocky)

Lovely Complex Anime

2007-05-06T11:47:00.009-07:00

THIS ANIME ROCKS xDD

<33 Mitsuke

Japanese TV: Water commercial

2007-05-06T11:47:00.007-07:00

So apparently this "diet" (@_@) water is so good that a sloth would even workout for one:

Awesome Japanese Gameshows: Haneru no Tobira

2007-05-06T11:47:00.005-07:00

Via JapanProbe:
"Contestants must write the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, West) on the wheel with a marker. If they are able to complete this task, they must then jump to the safety platform."

More clips of that game: here.

PunkChick's Poll

2007-05-06T11:47:00.003-07:00

PunkChick asks...

Human Pocky

2007-05-06T11:47:00.001-07:00

There where rumors at Kawaii-kon about a box of Pocky walking about. I cough a glance the of the box the day before, with hopes of seeing it again the next day I brought my camera and took this photo.

(note this is not me)

Fastest Secretary In The World

2007-05-06T11:46:00.009-07:00

Fastest Secretary In The World - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Cosplay Headache Cap~!

2007-05-06T11:46:00.007-07:00

Haaaai~! Purly here!

Sorry to have kept you all waiting~ I finally got started on the prototype of my new ubercute cap with ears on top! <3

...

I have to have it ready by tomorrow, when I'll be sewing the real deal on my granny's sewing machine, so I gotta hurry~~~~

Here's a picture of the cutout I thought up and pinned together:

The measurements of the hat are based on my own head. Mine is bigger then most girls my age... Ah anyway, I measured my head over the top from ear to ear and a circle around where I want it to sit, and devided both in two, ya know, cuz it's made out of two halves XD

I'm making it out of two layers of pink fleece, and the buttons will be covered with navy felt. Always liked that color combination <3

Feel free to use the template to make your own hat. Don't forget to take a picture when you do, I'ld totally LOVE to see what you guys look like <3

Love ya, and now I gotta get to work~!

May 2nd for Music Fans.

2007-05-06T11:46:00.005-07:00

As HappY as this day is for some, it also is a day of mourning for others.
For some reason, people STILL seem to mix up "hide" (pronounced "he" as in "HE DID IT", "de" as in "day") with "Hyde" (pronounced "Hai" as in "HI!", "do" as in "dough". The English pronunciation is also used since it's supposed to be an English name.) from L'Arc~en~Ciel.
So for the second year in a row, I'm writing this, again (with a few changes) in hopes further confusion can be avoided.

May 2nd...
Anniversary of Hideto Matsumoto's (hide) death :(
Heavily influenced by KISS during junior high, hide's love of music started.
1981 -1986 hide led the indie band Saver Tiger (later, Yokosuka Saver Tiger) .
1983 he started "cosmetology and fashion school", graduated with an award in 1984 and soon received his beautician license.
1987 Yoshiki of X , asked hide to join in which hide became lead guitarist and song writer including "Scars", "Love Replica", and "Sadistic Desire".
During his time with "X", he hired a band and worked on solo albums "Hide your Face" in 1994 and with his popularity he recorded his second album "Psyence" in 1996.

After X (then, X-Japan) broke up in 1997, he even went as far as working with Zilch (an American band) in hopes of doing what "X" couldn't and break into the American Market.
After his time there he went back to the back up band that helped him with his first solo album and thus "hide with Spread Beaver" was born.
Unfortunately during the making of Ja, Zoo their first album, and talking with Yoshiki on reuniting X-Japan... hide was found dead, hung to a doorknob on May 2nd 1998.

"Pink Spider" was awarded the Japanese International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards.
The remainder of the album and performances were made by voice samples and help from his brother, Hiroshi Matsumoto.
50,000+ people came to hide's funeral where the former members of X-Japan tributed him by singing "Forever Love".
The hide museum in Yokosuka was made in his honour but went down in Sept25th, 2005 due to the lack of funds...

Several tribute albums have been released including "hide Tribute: Spirits" released in 1999 which has the likes of GLAY, Siam Shade, Buck-Tick, Luna Sea, and old band mates I.N.A, Pata, heath, and Yoshiki (to name a few) re-doing hide's notable songs. 2000 "Psychommunity", and 2004 "King of Psyborg Rock Star" which includes live performances, re-mixes, and hide only, X songs.
I can only have the "Spirits" CD. :(
To this day, the "hide" section in many music stores are still sold out.

Even though this day marks the end of an era... in March of this year, Toshi (of X) announced that he a Yoshiki (of X) have started working together and hope to reform the band later this year.

Happy Birthday, Princess Rose!

2007-05-06T11:46:00.003-07:00

From Japan and from Canada, and all other nations,
We all wish you merry from our round-the-world stations.
May your cake be delicious and your presents be grand,
And to make your day special, let us give you a hand.
Know that none of us Pockers would wish you sorrow,
Not today, nor Tuesday, or three days from tomorrow.
May this occasion be so happy it would blow you away,
And from all us at Ani-Pock, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

May of '07

2007-05-06T11:46:00.001-07:00

The May Members List is up, and guess what you should all do the second after you read this?

ZOOM OFF and clickclicktypetypetypeclick, and post!

Wouldn't you just feel dandy knowing you voiced your thoughts today? n_n

Click on the Member page and go for it! If your a member, leave a comment, if your not a member, leave a comment anyway!

(Do remember that anything can be a quote, yes?)

~Rin's Amv Pick of the Week~

2007-05-06T11:45:00.007-07:00

Warning: This AMV contains demonic themes and some blood, so if you're against such things, don't watch okies? ^.^

My thoughts on this AMV:
Oh em gee! I'm in total aweness!! *.*
I mean c'mon techno "Phantom of the Opera"!
Also, there is a point to posting all these amvs
it's to broaden everyone's interest in anime,
like myself. And for Kami's sake, please everyone do not
be so ignornant to draw all your views on japanese culture
from anime. It's a rough sketch of Japanese culture if anything.
Ref. "Bottle Fairy", this actually is more culture oriented.
SO, ON TO THE AMV!

Happy birthday Confere

2007-05-06T11:45:00.005-07:00

All of us here at ani-pock want to wish you a happy birthday! Hope your 18th birthday is awesome! ^-^

Rose: Consider this another part of your birthday present! Oh yea, welcome to the one eight aka adulthood. That means you can now register vote which is pretty kewl. It also means a lot more responsibility too!

Chikyuu: Welcome to the big ONE-EIGHT Bryan! I hope you have an awesome time with your new slight-adulthood. Just three more years and you shall be freeeee! Freeee!

Stunning Nighttime Shots

2007-05-06T11:45:00.003-07:00

Man, there has to be a bajillion hi-def photos of Japan at that site.
These make great desktops.

Speaking of photos, the Mainichi News, provider of the Japan news feed at the bottom of the page, just wrapped up its caption contest with some of their news photos.

Some of the captions people give are funny, most aren't.

Take a look at this one.

^Do click this picture for the full-size.
Edit:I guess the link changes, I'm pretty sure this is the one I wanted you to see, but who knows what it might change to next.

The Forums! Game Time! Get it on!

2007-05-06T11:45:00.001-07:00

Just a reminder, the forum posting game starts in under 24 hours (I moved the time to 7:00 PM PST, because I really didn't want to be up at 3:00 AM EST waiting for the game to start!).

To review the rules again, click here.

To play the Ani-Pock Reveal game, featuring this week's contestant, £Nightmare£, click here.

To go to the forums, click "Forums" in the yellow nav-bar at the top of the page.

Remember...
You could win POCKY!

Yes, even the highly coveted black sesame Pocky!!! Mmm.

If Air were a game... Oh, yeah! It was! ...Gao~.

2007-05-06T11:44:00.010-07:00

This game is very tranquilizing after a long, hectic day.

Gather the clouds. Make them your friends. Go at your own pace.

It's a very peaceful game. Your only real enemy is dark, gray clouds. And even then one can play Cloud any number of ways: whether just floating for a while and making cloud friends or collecting them and making shapes from contrails.

The website says the game only runs on Windows 2000 & XP, but it ran on my Vista fine (it must be downloaded to play).

Give Cloud the Game a try.

~W~ (Double U)

2007-05-06T11:44:00.009-07:00

Hi hi everyone! ^_^ Today I am bringing you music and Lucy actually turned me onto W who is part of Morning Musume and used to be part of Mini Moni. It is made up of leader Nozomi Tsuji and sub-leader Ai Kago. Anyway, I reeeeally like their voices and they're so cute! Apparently, Lucy was saying they've been together in the stage/music business since they were little kids. However Ai Kago's contract was just recently cancelled in March, so we'll see what happens to this dynamic duo and to our cute Tsuji!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W_(Double_You) Read more about W!

<3!~ Rin

Musics .O.

2007-05-06T11:44:00.007-07:00

All right, all right.
I have to say that I do not listen to the 'to-be' mentioned Band. My freaky friends do, and enjoy it quite a lot, next to their J-Pop and Visual Kei. n_n
Quite the odd mix, I have to say.
But the baaaaaaaaand, which I have seen comercials, is becoming popular in America and not just back in Japan.
I invite you to Dir En Grey, listen, and say what you think!

Umm... Here's what trusty trusty Wikipedia has to offer:
"Dir en grey is a Japanese band formed in 1997. As of 2007, it has released six full-length records and is among the handful of Japanese bands to have enjoyed notable success in Europe and North America. While the group's lineup has remained consistent since its inception, numerous stylistic changes have made its music's genre difficult to determine (though it's generally considered to be a form of rock music). Originally part of Japan's visual kei movement, Dir en grey has opted for less flamboyant attire in recent years."

Sources: Dir En Grey Info. and Videoone and Videotwo

~My First Anime Ever!~

2007-05-06T11:44:00.005-07:00

Hiii everyone and today I want to share with you the anime that started it all for me, Sailormoon. I was 11 years old and when I saw this cartoon I was completely amazed and awed and therefore was hooked for ever!!! I sold my soul to Sailormoon! (I actually cried when they took it off the air -_-;) Anyway, paired with one of my favorite bands ever "Moondance" by Nightwish, this makes a really cool AMV. Enjoy everyone! :3

Hare Hare Yukai Part 1

2007-05-06T11:44:00.003-07:00

Hey Everyone!
While surfing youtube I found these really awesome versions of the song Hare Hare Yukai. Thought I'd share them with you

Hare Hare Yukai (9 Voice Mix):

Hare Hare Yukai (9 Voice Mix Ver. 2):

Hare Hare Yukai (Idol Ver.):

Hare Hare Yukai (7 Voice Mix):

Tomy Transformer Earphone

2007-05-06T11:44:00.001-07:00