Had to post it.

Funny. I wonder who did it?

When Geocites has you... they won't let go!

I have been working on trying to re-direct people from my old geocities cite to the new one... but wow. Geocities must love me or something!

The script I use starts to transfer you in 15 seconds... but it keeps the annoying bar at the side! GAH! That sucks! Any ideas?

Almost there... stay on target...

If you get the above joke, then I applaud you.

Well I am, as the title states, almost there. I have put up all the character background stories, edited the FAQ to fit my page, uploaded a $h!+-load of pictures... now I just have to 'tweak'. My tweaks include (but are not limited to):

* making the stone images on the front page go down when they are rolled over
* getting scans of paper for the character areas
* moving some of the videogame information and images to the FAQ
...and whatever else people find.

Wish to help out? No knowledge of Jojo is necessary. Go to the following link and email me your thoughts both good and bad. Tell me how simple it is to navigate and how I can do things better. Is there anything you would like to see? Is there something that is very cool? Is there something you would like to help with that I just haven't thought of? Gimme it all.

http://www.freepgs.com/noriaki_kakyouin/index2005.htm

Thanks a lot.

Wow. Just... just wow.

Late night post to let you all know the good news. But to tell you the good news I have to back-up a bit and give you some background.

Ok. Before my Jojo website was up, there was another website that had the best information for Jojo. It was pretty up-to-date and well visited. It was called, quite simply, the "Jojo FAQ". It was featured in a magazine or two. Very cool. Ok.

Come to find out that the guy who ran it (Jason) got a job with VIZ Comics. VIZ is the company that is translating Jojo's Bizarre Adventure into English. Well, tonight I got an email from none other than Jason:

Hello Noriaki,

I was thinking about your new website and I have a weird question for
you... would you be interested in taking over my JoJo FAQ for me? ;)

It's not that I'm tired of doing the FAQ... actually, the problem is that I am now working on the JoJo manga for Viz, and I'm worried that some Viz person might realize that I do the FAQ and get pissed off that I'm giving away semi-secret information. Also, I'm worried that I will be unable to objectively talk about the English version of the manga, since I work on it.

So, if you would like to take over the hosting of the FAQ, that'd be fine
by me. Feel free to modify it, although of course I'd prefer if you kept
my old version somewhere and credited me. ;)

Alternately, if you don't want to take over the FAQ, that's fine too. I
don't want to hit you with a big burden. Like I said, I'd be happy to keep
maintaining it (as much as I *do* maintain it... :/ ), but I'm just a
little anxious that it might be a conflict-of-interest now that I'm
actually working on the manga.

Let me know what you think!

Sincerely,
Jason

I think my heart stopped. I immediately sent a reply back saying yes. I'm going to keep the site the way he made it, link to the site directly from my new front page and... be the webmaster of two of the three largest Jojo FAQ sites in North America.

With my finishing the front page, spending some great quality time with my wife, finishing the new Harry Potter book, and doing well in computer Go... this has been a great weekend.

Phrickin' Phriday Photoblog

Derek does it. Heather does it. Collin sometimes does it. So I think i'll do it to. What is it? Falling in love? NO!

IT'S PHREAKIN' PHOTOBLOG PHRIDAY!

This week's theme? My beautiful wife. If you click on the images it will get bigger for you.


My friend Max and I made an entry for a Go contest sponsored by the AGA. We didn't win (I have NO clue why) but Jen posed for us.


This is Jen holding a monkey at a safari in Arkansas.


Heh... I said monkey.


This is my favorite. This is our 'first anniversary' tea at the 'Cat Bird Seat' in downtown Colorado Springs. We shared it with our best man and maid of honor Forrest and Nancy Oates. Jen and I dressed up as Alice and the Mad Hatter. I bought that tea pot for her anniversary gift.



This was her under the archway at the Cat Bird Seat.


She got her hands henna-ed at the Ren Faire last weekend, and they came out wonderfully. I took these so I could do it next time. She asked if they would take anything off since she only has 9 fingers. He laughed and took $5 off. WOO HOO!


A close-up version.


And this is what she wore to the Ren faire. She was a pixie! A very cute pixie... a very VERY cute pixie.

Style-sheet ah! It's a good thing. Style-sheets ah! What's a good thing?

HTML Note:
font size=6 is the same as point size 24
font size=2 is the same as point size 10

I was informed by my good friend Brad that what looked good on Firefox looked bad on Opera and IE. So I changed font and stuff.

And 'stylesheets'? They are a good thing. It saved me tons of scripting and with just a few lines of stylesheeting code on my html, I saved easilly 36 lines of html code. WOW!

Just and old fashioned webpage playing on my radio...

I have no clue why I keep titling my latest entries after 60's and 70's songs... maybe i'm just re-living my youth...

Anyways, I put some tables on the Jojo 7 website and slapped a temporary background over it. I wanted that page to not only be the nexus for the Steel Ball Run character descriptions but to keep people up to date as to the happenings, placements and other stuff. So I think a racing schedule would be appropriate. What do you all think?

I put the same background temporarilly on the Gyro Zepelli page too... just to see how it would look.

I'll be meeting with my friend Brad tonight to get the front page's white space gone-zo.

Tonight i'm gonna be playing Go to relax. We're going to be at the Pikes Perk on Vickers & Academy from 6:30-8:30 or so playing Go and working on the website... come on by if you like.

Link, link everywhere a link. Blockin' out the webpages, breaking my mind. Go here, don't go there, can't you see the link.

Well I was working hard on linkage for the front page and I learned SO much. Like the fact that even though you may put several images in a row... they won't necessarilly be flush side-by-side.

Took me 45 minutes to find out why I kept on getting 4 pixels in between each image. Wow. HTML is a tricky sister! But I got it and all the links beautiful and good. My friend Brad is gonna help me get the white space gone-gone and that'll mean it'll be all done for the NEW front page!

Try out the links. There's 10. Can you find them all? Go ahead... try them out! It is supposed to look like stone being pushed into the wall.

Next, i'm gonna work on the second page I need to do SOMETHING with. JOJO-7. This link sends people to the Steel Ball Run pages and shows how much race has been run. What I have so far... I hate. So now it's off to thinking what would look good.

To everything - scan scan scan - there is a season - scan scan scan

Well, I gotta make the August 1st deadline... I think I will, but there might be some skimping on some things... I have so many ideas and not the skill to implement them. I don't mean that I can't do it because I lack in art skills... not that but I lack in COMPUTER art skills. I have Adobe Photoshoppe 6 and I am teaching myself how to use it. It's not fun. I struggled for 45 minutes to put the lines in the new front page last night... wow. Hated that.

But, except for the links at the bottom, the front page is pretty much how I want it to look. And the better thing is that all the people who know about egyptology love it too.

Now I need to work on making the links (the bottom row images) look like they're going into the stone. That'll be Thursday's work. Tonight, I scan like a mad-man to get images from Steel Ball Run into the 'system'.

I got an icon I kinda' like. Been working the majority of the morning on putting it on the pages I have up already... in between work, that is.

Front page madness...

The new front page to the website is taking shape.

Favorite Icons: Favicon

Well, here's how to make them small itty bitty pictures that appear to the left of some URL sites.

1) Make an image that is 16x16. Make sure it is in 16 colors or this won't work.

2) Save it as a normal name (short if possible) and save it as a bitmap selection called an icon (.ico). For example: "favicon.ico"

3) Upload it to your main site.

4) Underneath the <head> brackets, add a new line and add: <LINK REL="SHORTCUT ICON" HREF="http://www.mydomain.com/myicon.ico">

5) Reload yer page. Unfortunately I cannot make a decent 16x16 icon for my site yet. All the ones I have made look crappy... so if anyone wants to help...

One page is getting there

For the next few weeks until August i'm going to be terribly busy with the rush at work and my work on the newly fabricated Jojopedia.com. So the majority of stuff I will be a quick diary post and/or Jojo stuff. Sorry. I know i'm terribly un-original...

Here's what I have so far for the Steel Ball Run character pages. The name of the newspaper will not be the Gazette Telegraph... that was just for placement of the banner.

Now as soon as I can figure out the html for putting the words to the top of the columns and to justify the text... i'll be sound as a pound. I'd also like to know how they put images to the left of the urls on certain websites. Like how this website (Blogger) has that orange box with the white 'B' inside of it.

Ebay Surprise

Bag full of UNCUT Lucky Charms Marshmallows!

New Web Browser

Well, I have been suggested by a few friends recently that if I am to surf safely on an IBM that I should NOT NEVER NO-HOW EVER EVER EVER use Internet Explorer.

Why? Well it seems that the nasties that people get are made specifically for people who use that browser. I asked some computer people in our building and they stated that they too use alternate browsers.

The one most highly suggested was FireFox. It's free, has lots of automatic stuff, and will transfer your links, history, and cache over so you don't lose anything in the transfer. So I downloaded it and am using it right now.

It's a bit strange to get used to, but I think I can handle it. And, you know me, the fewer buggies that get into my computer the better!

Another choice that was highly suggested from my friend Brad and another computer guy was Opera, but I think i'll work with Firefox.

Go cat, Go

Ok. Bad pun. But I have a lot of friends who are getting into the wonderful 4000 year old game of Go and I want to send them to some groovy sites.

*Interactive Go: This is the first site I send anyone who wants to learn how to play Go. This site teaches the rules and basic smart moves.

*Dragon Go Server: A play-by-email Go site. Great for playing from work or from home. I'm on as 'noriaki_kakyouin'. Let me know when you have signed up.

*Springs Go Club: The Colorado Springs Go Club. We meet Wednesdays and Thursdays.

*AGA: The American Go Association.

*CGoban 2: This can not only read SGF Go files that you can download but you can also play live online games.

*Gobase: This is one of the epicenters of the Go community. You can download many games here to review and replay. Also find out what's going on in the Go world as a whole.

*The Magic of Go: A weekly article written to help teach some essentials of Go. It can be confusing, but it is informative.

and lastly
*Hikaru no Go games: Hikaru no Go is a great Japanese manga that has gotten many new people to enjoy Go. It is currently being translated by VIZ comics into English and is available for $7.95 in good bookstores around town. The artist used actual games from history as the games Hikaru and the group would play. This site has found most of the games as SGF files and has them available for download.

I have the entire series as .jpg scanlations if you want a copy.

A LETTER FROM PENN JILLETTE

There's a movie coming out this month called The Aristocrats. The movie has such strong content - in language only - that it's being released unrated. And of course some of the usual right wing pundits have had to get their say in about how filthy it all is. So Penn Jillette, who made the film along with Paul Provenza, has penned this open letter:

The Aristocrats: Everyone Who Sees this Movie, Will Love It

By filmmaker, Penn Jillette

That’s my goal. I want everyone who sees our movie, “The Aristocrats” to enjoy it. I really do. So far we’ve done a really good job. We’ve had only a few people walk out, and most everyone else seemed to have a great time. Certainly a higher percentage of people who’ve seen our movie liked it than the percentage of people who liked “Lord of the Rings.” One reason is that “Lord of the Rings” sucks and our movie is good. But more importantly, everyone is supposed to like “Lord of the Rings.” They made it for everyone, because everyone has all the money. We didn’t make “The Aristocrats” for everyone; we made it for our friends.

You can tell right away our flick ain’t for everyone. Our movie uses that four letter word that begins with “C.” Our movie uses that word a lot. A way lot. You know the word; it’s the word you say and everyone is automatically sexually harassed. A hostile work environment in one word. It’s the word that adults call “The C word” in front of other adults. Adults who say every other dirty word as every part of speech won’t say that goddamn C word. When Aristocrats say the C word in the movie, it’s worse than just using the C word. We don’t use it in anger or as a mere ejaculation. We don’t even use it as synecdoche. The Aristocrats mean it as the real thing. We’re not just using dirty words; we’re using dirty images, and dirty ideas. And even worse, we’re doing it just for fun. Just for a laugh. The movie’s not for everyone.

“Don’t say shit in front of a C. H. I. L. D.” - Kinky Friedman

Think of the most disgusting images you can. Think of the worst scatological and non-consensual sex you can. Imagine children. Imagine young children. Imagine children that are related to each other. Children who are related to you. Imagine animals. Young endangered animals who are related to each other. Young endangered animals who are related to you. Nope, you’re not even close. The movie has over 100 professionals. They are much more disgusting than you can ever be, that’s because they’re professionals.

The movie is a lot more than dirty words and disgusting images. The taboo language is not even the main thrust; the main thrust is a movie with no nudity, no violence, and no conflict. It’s a movie about laughing with your friends. It’s very political because it’s not political at all. The Aristocrats just take for granted they can say anything they want. Fighting for freedom is a losing battle. Taking liberty is what real Americans do. It’s a love story, it’s political, it’s patriotic, it’s funny, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny. But, you shouldn’t see it if you’ve ever been offended by any word ever ever.

If you’re going to be offended don’t bother coming. It was a cheap movie to make. We don’t need everyone’s money. We have other jobs. Our asses aren’t on the line. If you think you’re going to like this movie, please, you’re invited. If you’re in Vegas and you meet me, I’ll show it to you for free over my house. My wife and I will serve popcorn. But, if you you’ve EVER been offended by any joke, read a book, I suggest “Moby Dick.”

Michael Moore and Mel Gibson are the same person, except for a few sit-ups. Moore thought his cheesy political blooper reel was going to tell people how to vote. Mel thought that his little gay SM movie about his imaginary friend was going to help him get to heaven. George W. Bush is president and there’s still no god. You failed boys. Someone should have told Mike that the bad guys are smarter than him and someone should have told Mel that the Three Stooges were Jewish.

Both those filthy rich losers wanted EVERYONE to see their movies. Moore wanted the Republicans to be shocked by how wrong they were and see the light shining out of his fat ass. Mel went for straight off the rack proselytizing. They both just got even richer.

I’m already richer than I should be. I don’t want to shock or offend anyone who doesn’t enjoy being shocked and offended. I want to make people laugh and love life and love watching all my friends making each other laugh.

So, IF YOU HAVE EVER EVER EVER BEEN OFFENDED BY ANY JOKE – DO NOT SEE THE ARISTOCRATS! If you think you might be offended by our movie, why don’t you go see “Lord of the Rings?” (in other words: go to hell.)

And then -- everyone who sees our movie will love it.

We all hold something in...

I just read what Collin posted on his blog and felt the need to post here as well. His experience is far worse than I have felt... but when I did hate... I hated well.

To begin with, may I say that I believe, in part, of the ancient Egyptian idea that if you wipe a person's name from history they will cease to exist. Names have some sort of power. So I don't mention his name. I called him my 'nemesis' at one time because he really was the Moriarty to my Holmes. We were SO similar it was just wrong. We liked the same things, did similar acts, and had similar thoughts. He just went down a path I could have... but didn't.

I had a nemesis.

I'm a firm believer in freudenschade. I love it. I, sometimes, never feel better than when someone who deserves to feel pain... does. And I got to thinking: maybe that's why I pity my "ex-nemesis". I have used the help and support given to me without spitting it back into the faces of my family and friends. I am on my feet debt free. I have a great wife. I have a house. I have a great job. And he?

He's really having a bad time in his life right now: can't hold a job down, lives from place to place, is poorer than shite, people that once trusted him now dis-PISE him, his cleptomania is getting the better of him and he's falling down and down... and his lies no longer work to protect him. Very bad things.

A nemesis is someone who just keeps on hurting you. Now, he can't even take care of himself enough to pay his collecting bills and mounting debts.

Heh. Good.

I'm not angry anymore, though. I just feel pity. Freudenschade and pity.

She got me!

Long story short, I told my wife how I saw a skunk and her two babies down on Colorado and 14th. I thought they were so cute and she said that she wanted one. I told her it's be ok if their stink gland was removed. She said 'really?' and I said, "Yeah, why not? But where are you gonna find one?"

"EBAY!" she exclaimed.

'Yeah, right...' I thought.

So today she sends me a screenshot from ebay...

HERE

It was hard to believe because of the image having so many problems (my trained artistic eye): lines cut off, black patches near the title, out-of-sync words and letters... but it was the text description got me thinking that maybe it was real and the weird distortions is her computer or something (me being nieve). But why would ebay allow this? You're not supposed to sell live creatures on ebay. I sent her an email asking her if she really wanted to drive to Arkansas I was all for getting it (wow... am I a sucker!).

I called a co-worker over to my computer and showed her the image. She asked if there was more about it, so I went to ebay and typed in the ebay item number...

ZING! ARGH!!! She got me!

Funny thing is that she did this joke all by herself, art and all. She never ceases to amaze me. I really am lucky to have such a cool wife.

Now I plot my revenge (laughs)

JOJO IS HERE!!!

Well, in the latest edition (August 2005/#32) of Shonen Jump, at least.

The manga translation offers the first chapter of the book (that comes out next month) in this edition. So far I was worried about the translation and editing, but I must say that they have done a very decent job at translating and making it SOUND like it hasn't been translated while keeping true to the text. They shortened a bit of the dialogue, but it flows nicely and gets the point across well. For an English translation I was expecting something different, but this... this is ok.

In the book that will come out next month... Noriaki Kakyouin makes his appearance. This is my favorite character from the series and you'll be able to see why I use 'his' name.

I am SO excited about this, you cannot even imagine. Some people have been following rock stars and get absolutely giddy when they see them, even from far away. Other people feel that way about places and animals. For me, it's this manga. I have been patiently waiting since 1989 (the first time I read it in the Japanese Shonen Jump Weekly) for this time. It's just a book, I know... but it's MY book! JOJOOOOOO!

Another weekend runied because of my inability to read instructions.

Well, the party I was going to go to this 4th was actually taking place on the 3rd... so I missed it. I read the email wrong. So I'm staying at home working on the website. I feel really bad about letting everyone down... especially my wife. We were both really excited to go... but I fu&%ed up... dammit.

I'm really beginning to wonder if I have some sort of reading disability as this happens all the time. No kidding. I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I really wonder if I have an inability to read some things correctly.

On the upsides,

I had a marvellous time playing poker and singing karaoke with Derek and the gang on Saturday and the hunt for the 'Coyote Treasure' is starting today (7/4/2005).

Grand Opening: August 1st 2005

So in anticipation of the new Jojo website i'm making, for those of you who visit me, I am going to show you bits of what I have planned for www.jojopedia.com!

I will have hidden links to interviews and downloads complete with 'stone-grinding' sounds when you depress a link. I will also have the 'Steel Ball Run' (the newest comic) site as a newspaper from 1890 written as though a reporter was following the race... complete with authentic ads from the 1800's.

These pages will change and merge as I get closer to the August 1st deadline so please feel free to leave your comments and visit the areas every week to see what has changed. I will be adding these links to the sidebar on Monday.

Link #1: Index-2003 (this is what I was thinking of in August of 2003 when I knew I wanted to change the front page)

Link #2: Wall 8 (this is what I mocked up last year with 'egyptian images' of Noriaki Kakyouin and Jonathan Joestar holding Dio's head)

Link #3: Jojo 7 (This is the main link to the current story of 'Steel Ball Run')

Link #4: Gyro Zepelli (This is a mock-up of the character pages. This will change greatly in the next few weeks)

Another quiz because I have nothing else for all you happy people on a busy Friday afternoon

Stolen from Heather (thank you Heather)
*********
A - Age you lost your virginity? - 15

B - Band listening to right now? - Billy Corgan

C - Dream car? - one that works...

D - Dad's name? - by birth: Craig Vincent Patrick, from raising/loving me: Dale Wheeler Carmical.

Dale ('Papa' as I called him) is really my grandfather, but he raised me when I lived with them from 1983-2000. He was like a father to me and we did all the dad-son sorts of things we could. Scouts, fighting, fishing, fighting, woodworking, fist-fighting (well, almost), metalsmithing, fighting... He was my biggest fan: he would go into my room when I was out, get my drawings and sketches, and show them to his neighbor friends to 'show-off'... THAT'S how cool he was.

Late in 2000 I wrote a letter to him, told him how much I missed him and 'Mamie' (Elsie: my grandmother)... told him how I felt and asked him if I could call him 'Dad' from now on since he is really more like a father to me than like a grandfather. I was afraid he would say no.

When I talked to them later that week. I said 'hello'... and he replied 'Hello, son' (he never called me that or anything similar before). And ever since then I called him 'Dad' and he called me 'Son'. It bothers my mom (she's nervous about the 'incestuous' undertones it 'might' have), but I don't care.

He's my 'Dad' by choice not by birth, everyone knows it, and I'm damn lucky to have known him. He was an awesome guy. I miss him an awful lot.

E - Easiest person to make me laugh? - Forrest Oates

F - Food you miss most? - Simply because Heather mentioned it: Chick-Fil-A

G - Any encounters with ghosts? - In Florida I encountered LOTS of encounters. The one that most comes to mind was when I woke up and heard a family come into the house. I heard a dog running around and ran into the door (as excited dogs will do). So I decided to get up. I put on my pants and opened the door... the house was empty. Nobody was in since the previous night!

H - Person most hated at the moment? - Nobody. I used to hate a guy (called him my 'nemesis' because he so much like me if I had been... well... evil) but now I just pity him. I NEED A NEW NEMESIS!

I - Interesting unknown fact about yourself? - I masturbate more than anyone else in the universe.

J - The first letter of the last person who broke your heart? - "L"

L - Last time you did LSD? - Never did LSD. Smoked my last weed in 2002, though.

M - Most memorable moment you can think of in a minute? - My 33rd Birthday. Being with all my friends and family that evening was one of the best nights of my entire life.

N - Nicknames? - 'J-Man', 'J', Prof. Noriaki Kakyouin (someone dubbed me that in an email), and 'rabbi'

O - What's the most valued possession? - My wife and then my friendships. Physically: my Jojo manga collection, but physical items can be replaced. Thank you ebay!

P - Poison of choice? - Collin introduced me to this on my 21st birthday and it's been my staple ever since: Vodka Collins.

Q - The last quote you heard: "TGIF." - Last Friday on ABC

R - What are you allergic to? - Poultry (eaten), fish (eaten), animal dander (breathed). I take Benedril for the eaten stuff and Claritin and Sudafed for the dander.

S - Song you sang last? - "The Impression That I Get" at karaoke.

T - Time you woke up? - 6:55am

U - Fav. pair of underwear? - Whatever my wife is wearing right now. (wink). OH ON ME?!?! Oh... I don't have a pair. I just started wearing them again recently.

V - Vegetable you hate most? - Pickled beets.

W - What are you the most afraid of? - Spiders

X - X-rated love life? - Well, let me just say that I got a 33% on the last purity test I took (lower % is worse).

Y - Year you were born? 1971

Z - Zodiac sign? Aries