Hi I'm Hank Yarbo, and no one reads my blog.

Poor Hank.

A great man once started a blog in his small town and no one read it. Even though he told everyone about it. Same thing here. How am I supposed to get people to read this? Oh well. At least I get to express myself (same with youtube) even if no one actually receives the expression besides myself. (Hank Yarbo is from this show.)

bye
-J-Duff

Halloween...

Happy Halloween everyone! I'm not really doing anything but sitting here alone like a loser because I have no friends at college. I guess I'll get in the spirit here by posting some halloween-themed anime girls I found...

"I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It"

Today I bought a book by Charles Barkley called "I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It".

But that's not the point of this post.

I have a part time job at the library and we have an ongoing book sale on the first floor. All books are $1. Only I bought 2 books for the price of 5! I debated whether I wanted to buy Charlton Heston's "version" of the bible. Eventually I decided to buy the book. But before I did I found a lost cell phone that I thought was mine because it was the same exact kind. But it was newer and I figured out it wasn't mine. I proceeded to the circulation desk to pay for the book. Some tall skinny dude was working there and he seemed to have no idea what planet he was on. I went up to the desk with 2 books and he had an expression which asked "what the hell is this?". So I explained to him that I wanted to buy the books, which I knew were $1 each. Since I didn't have 2 $1 bills, I payed with a $5. He even handed me a receipt that said $2.00. He just said there as I stood, obviously waiting for my change. He then proceeded to ask me, "are you all set?"

...

Being the kind of person I am, I responded to this by standing dumbfounded for about 5 seconds and then mumbling "Uh, yeah, I guess so." And then I left without saying anything else to this guy. I thought to myself "What the hell was this guy thinking? What the FUCK is wrong with him? Can't you just figure out that I want my change? Maybe you shouldn't have this job. You obviously have no tact whatsoever." I also partially blamed myself and wondered why I didn't just SAY that. If I had any balls whatsoever, I would've told him "Uh, no, I want my fuckin change, dumbass." But since I don't like to cause a scene, or be any sort of public spectacle, I said nothing. After all I work there (albeit on another floor) and I wouldn't want anyone to think any worse of me than they already do. I don't know. The whole thing pissed me off for a while.

But, anyway...

I read the first few pages of the book. Charles Barkley always speaks his mind and doesn't care what people think of him. I really can admire him for that. I wish I could be more like him. He also struggled with weight during his career and continues to struggle now, despite his amazing all-star performances which entailed a hall-of-fame career. I have problems like this but I'm not Charles Barkley. I also like Sir Charles's message that "athletes should not be role models." He says that people should "listen to their parents and have them as role models." So obviously I'm not like Michael Jordan because "most kids are not like Michael Jordan", as Chuck says. Charles Barkley is far more moral than people believe, ever a controversial figure. I think I will enjoy reading the book. Maybe you should read it too.

Peace
-J-Duff

Boston Sports Rant

You guessed it. I am also very much into sports. I am from the Boston area so naturally my hometown teams are the Red Sox (baseball), the Celtics (basketball), the Bruins (hockey), and the New England Patriots (football). Of course I would have to say my favorite sports are baseball and basketball, which I played back in the day and have been around the longest.

Uh...this rant is not mad enough yet. But it will be. I got 2 hours of sleep last night aka this morning so I don't have the power to wield anger.

So...the FUCKIN Red Sox lost to the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, who are fortunately getting destroyed by the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. God I hate the Rays. Who the hell do they think they are? Ever since they came into the league back in, what, 1997, '98, they've finished in last place every year (with maybe a few exceptions) and they've never had a winning record! So of course THIS year, they finish first in the division and consider "getting the devil out of the name" to be responsible. Bullshiiiiit. Superstitions piss me off sometimes. Anyway, they have all these promising starters UNDER THE AGE OF 25, in fact they have SIX starters, one of whom is a young left hander by the name of David Price who has thusfar not been used in a starting role. And they're saying he could be the best of them all.
...
Well, tonight the Phillies host game 5 and hopefully they will kick the Rays ass. GO PHIGHTIN PHILLS!

Oh, and theres another thing which to this day pisses me off.

Manny Ramirez played for the Red Sox until late this summer, when he started complaining about some imaginary injury. Now, if you're not familiar with Manny, you don't know that THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME HE'S PULLED THIS SHIT. Of course, Manny is exempt from punishment because he's such a great hitter, so coaches just have to shrug off his antics. Well, anyway, the coaches decided Manny was a "distraction" and he needed to be dealt for another player. When we first traded him for Jason Bay, I, and a lot of other Red Sox fans were saying, "Aw, come on Red Sox wheelers and dealers, what were you thinking? Manny is the best ever waaah how could you do this?" Manny hit his 500th home run this year, becoming the 20-somethingth player to do so. EVER. But over time you realize that things like that don't really matter. Because Manny proved he just didn't want to be here AFTER HE LEFT. After not playing for several days, Manny gladly put on the Los Angeles Dodgers gay-ass #99 and ran out a close infield play which he NEVER does. He also proceeded to hit something like .500 for the rest of the year and they were saying he should be the NL MVP. ... And I just thought to myself, "Wow Manny, you're an asshole." Because his actions were, as much maligned broadcaster Tim McCarver put it, "despicable". Manny acted like he was hurt because he didn't want to play in Boston anymore, even though we payed him a RIDICULOUS amount of money (160 million over 8 years) and he has stated in the past that "this is the place to be". And then he goes over to LA and plays like he's never played his entire career. Are you KIDDING ME? Kiss my ass, Manny, and the asses of all those loyal Red Sox fans who stood up for you/put up with you through the years. Jason Bay is a good player. He may not have the presence Manny does, but that is not that important, it turns out. What IS important is that you know you will be able to rely on him to play the game correctly because he is a good person and a hard-nosed player. He is not a selfish bastard like Manny. And whatever that looks like in the lineup, I don't care. It looks to me like a BETTER TEAM.

Also, there's been a lot of talk about Tom Brady and his injury. And it SUCKS that he got hurt. And we're probably not going to the Superbowl this year. Well, we might...but we definitely won't win. Sorry that's just the way I see it. Because Matt Cassel is not Tom Brady. Matt Cassel is a good quarterback. But Tom Brady is a GREAT quarterback, and he makes his team so much better than it should be. I am not looking forward to next season, with reports of an infection in Brady's knee pushing back his rehabilitation. But it will be nice to see him back, because hopefully, some time next season, Tom Brady will be on the field for the Patriots.

I won't get into the Celtics or Bruins because those seasons haven't really gone too far yet (NBA season hasn't started)...Plus I wrote too much shit anyway..It's amazing how much I can write once I start getting into it. Emotionally. But even without that one-word non-sentence, you probably know what I'm talking about, if you're a slacking procrastinator like me.


PZ
-J-Duff

Anime 1: Lucky Star

From left to right: Miyuki, Kagami, Konata, Tsukasa

Yeah so first of all I've been watching this anime lately called Lucky Star. It's basically about this group of high school girls who talk about nothing and just do various activities and have quirky personalities. It's pretty funny and you should check it out if that's your kind of thing. I didn't used to watch animes like this but ever since Fullmetal Alchemist I haven't really watched any like serious animes or at least action-y (hard to explain..).

Uh IN CASE YOUR WONDERING an anime is a Japanese animated cartoon. But it's not really a cartoon. Cuz cartoons can be for little kids but anime is usually a step above that with its content and intended audience. Nothing against SpongeBob lol which I watch cuz I'm weird like that.

But ANYWAY as i was saying...Lucky Star is pretty good, though the characters all look really cutesy and way younger than they actually are. Ergo, they're all 17/18 but they look like they're 12/13...the main characters anyway. No one looks as old as they are.

The show features a Greek Chorus (I didn't know what it was either..check out tvtropes.org its a pretty damn interesting site for someone who likes to waste time...such as me) at the end of the show called "Lucky Channel." Lucky Channel pretty much exists outside the main show. It features two reporter-like people. The "navigator", Akira, an apparently jaded idol who is only 14 but has been in "the biz" since age 3 and feels she is "over the hump" or "hill" or wutever. The other is Akira's assistant, Shiraishi, who Akira verbally and physically abuses on a regular basis, especially at first. Then Akira thinks Shiraishi is becoming more popular than her and becomes extremely bitter about it. The funny thing is Akira (usually) starts off really energetic and happy but soon reveals her "true personality". I find the whole scenario quite hilarious. It's almost like a reward for watching the whole episode...Not that there's anything wrong with the main show! But the two are very different in comedic nature.

Speaking of which I should probably talk about the actual show in a discussion about the show, huh? Psch. Well there are 4 major characters and several other supporting characters but I'll just focus on the main ones for now. Konata Izumi is probably the main "main" character...She is short, has blue hair (anime...does that) and is obsessed with new manga and online games. She doesn't try very hard in school and often suffers the consequences...though her teacher Nanako often plays games online with her. LOL wut kind of teacher does that! But Nanako always sends Konata messages online saying along the lines of "you should be studying instead". She's pretty weird. Two of the characters are actually fraternal twin sisters named Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi. Though they are "twins" the two are almost polar opposites. They both have purple hair but Kagami has it in ponytails and Tsukasa has shorter hair with a bow at the top. Kagami is a square cuz shes always serious about schoolwork and she has to constantly remind Konata and Tsukasa to stop playing games and screwing around all the time. Tsukasa is an airheaded goofball (goofy airhead?) but..she means well. Rounding out the group is Miyuki Takara. Miyuki is very smart and knows many interesting facts. She wears glasses and is kind of clumsy and spaces out at times. Konata, being the weirdass that she is, always pokes fun at Miyuki for being more curvacious and having various other "turn-ons". -.-

Well it's a weird show that definitely takes some getting used to. But after watching 18 of the 24 episodes, I guess you can say its grown on me.

Also, finding the episodes was a real pain in the rear. Oh sure, it was EASY to find episodes with ITALIAN SUBTITLES on veoh, but...I don't speak Italian. And you probably don't either. Well, I found the first five (and 7,8) with English subs (subtitles), but I couldn't really find anymore on veoh after that. So I watched the English dubs (English speakers) from episodes 6-12, ignoring the 7-8 subs cuz I didn't want to switch back. That's always weird, and I could do a whole blog on just sub vs dub and all that crap which I really don't care that much about but no one ever shuts up about it. Anyway, after Episode 12, I couldn't really find anything, cuz there were no subs, and the English dubs I guess haven't released the second season or some sh!t. So I did a Google search and actually found some more English subs! ...On a Russian site called rutube. But there were actually ENGLISH subs there which was good, because those Russian letters frankly scare me. It's not too hard to navigate, there's a search button at the top right of the page.

Anyway, there you go! Given the information I've told you about Lucky Star, you probably already know whether or not it's something you want to check out. The paragraph before this tells you where to find all the episodes, so if you want to, go watch it. Or don't. I don't really care. I'm just a messenger after all.

PEACE,
-J-Duff

I coulda bought anotha beat for MY INTRO but...but...

Yo wutzup. I'm the Duffman and I'm here to talk about my favorite things. I guess that would include anime, sports, and rap music. It also includes ranting about pretty much nothing when I'm feeling pissed off, insightful, or just plain bored. I'll try to get some kind of schedule going here or something. Maybe for now inbetween my first and second classes on Mondays. Yeah I'm in college, woopdeedoo. This is just an intro so it doesn't count. I'm gonna try to do a real blog..thing in a second. Enjoy! (or at lzt try to..)

-J-Duff