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Post by Ambrienne on May 18, 2009 23:16:17 GMT -5
From what I remember, I think Mardel's is mainly western Midwest to Southwestern in locations. I think the closest one to where I am is in Joplin, MO, and I've only been there a couple of times. Maybe the large fan is not an easy size to dance with, but it might be ideal for a certain Naruto character's ninjutsu moves. I'm speaking of Temari, of course. Psst... if you could master this size, I'm sure you could knock the block off of any irritating fanboys that encroach on your territory. You might even invoke a full fledged Butterfly Effect and cause an avalanche on the other side of the world that takes out the entrance to whatever cave a certain no. 1 wanted terrorist may be hiding in at this very moment. Okay, the fan... The wood on the frame is kind of a medium brown. Slightly reddish, but not cherry wood. The background of the picture is gold. It has long grasses, something that looks like palm trees scattered throughout, and cranes, two flying together on one side, and three more on the other side. I've got a few other fans, too. One's just simple straw, but it's kind of uchiwa shaped and very good at keeping the heat off, as I had reason to find out one time when it was way too warm and the power went out. Another has a silk screen printing on it. I'm kind of afraid to wave that one around as I might end up putting a hole in it. It seems so fragile. ^^; The third one is a wooden fan, the foldable kind. It has a burned in printing of the Great Wall on it. I didn't get it because I cared particularly about the edifice itself. It was more because the style of art reminded me of something I call (because I don't know the proper term) the Asian version of 'Where's Waldo.' Have you ever seen that type of art? It's so entrancing, even when there's little to no color to it as there are so many little details and figures you find that you overlooked the longer that you stare at it. The ending credits of Romance of the Three Kingdoms X has a prime example of what I'm talking about. One of the scenes depicts the 'brothers' looking for the strategist, Zhuge Liang, and failing to find him. But then, if you're quick enough, you'll see that the strategist is sitting up in a tree nearby. So close, but totally undetected. I wish I knew where I could get some of that art. For real. I kind of have a piece of it, but... Well, get this... You know those free calendars that some Chinese restaurants will hand out around the New Year? The box the calendar came in was covered in the art. And the calendar itself? Nothing that classy. Drat. The question is, if I had something like it suitable for putting up on a wall, would it really fuel my imagination (probably) or make me sit unmoving for hours in a daze (also highly probable)? Would it help the cause of writing or hurt it? ...I'm voting for helping it, but then my vote is hardly unprejudiced. Hm... Do you think that there's anything that could stop the enemy cold like that? Totally entrance them? ...Scratch that. It would probably end up being gladitorial combat with an 'only one survivor' rule featuring all of us against each other. And whoever won would still lose, because the reward would be, you guessed it, becoming the main course for their next meal. It would be enough to make a person fake their own death and take a trip to the place where all discards go, Forfeit Island. (Featured in many games, the place where all the old equipment in Lufia ends up and can be bought back)
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Post by Solana on May 19, 2009 8:29:48 GMT -5
Wow, trying to dance with Temari's fan.... you'd probably need two people to lift it properly. I'd imagine when trying a Banner turn, (which is when a fan veil is held up sideways so that the veil looks like a banner floating on the breeze,) it would end up causing a Whirlwind.
They all sound really pretty! Silk can be stronger than it looks- the fans we used in class were made of silk, and I have a silk veil that holds up for different spins and arm techniques, but it would probably depend on how thin or thick it was. Maybe start with really tiny waves and see how it goes from there.
I also have a few. My mom bought a huge folding fan in Chinatown that has a diamater of at least five feet, and is painted with ducks. (Unfortunately, she bought it fairly early and had to cart it around all day.) She also picked me up a fabric one embroidered with a peacock. There's a purple-embroidered Asian one, a straw one from Jamaica, ("Jamican air-conditioning"), and a few straw fans that used to hang in our bathroom in the trailer house. I tied some silk orchids and greenery to those and hung them on my wall, since sadly I have trouble growing my very favorite flower.
Yes, I've seen those beautiful Chinese paintings in art history class. They're so delicate and look so simple at first, until you take a closer look and discover that each tiny brushmark is deliberate. Maybe looking at it would serve as a kind of meditation, since answers seem to come more easily to problems when we're not consciously thinking of them. Especially one of those scroll ones, which are unrolled to show a sweeping image that slowly changes.
I suppose we'd have to save dances and beautiful Chinese artwork for keeping up the morale of the troops.
(Village in Suikoden II, attack in Pokemon.)
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Post by DarkKnight on May 19, 2009 19:55:23 GMT -5
Man, I really need to get back into this - I've been MIA for so long (work-related exhaustion and personal stuff).
I can't even keep track of what puns have already been used. I hope there won't be any unpleasant Fallout if I accidentally repeat one.
And were we actually getting political at one point? I'm just glad to see it didn't cast a Cloud over our pun war and lead to any undue Strife.
(FF7, Fallout series - I hope they weren't already used. Is there a search function on these boards?)
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Post by Solana on May 19, 2009 21:00:47 GMT -5
Those haven't been used yet, never fear. But it's not as big a deal this time around with a bigger selection, I think, and there's already been at least one repeat. What's more important is to make sure that the Aeris thick with them. As many as we came up with last time, I am NOT doing another list of "already been used!" We've been covering a number of topics, from bringing back our time-traveling bathroom from the last one to alternative battle techniques involving affronting language itself to food and now fans and Chinese art. I'm still so euphoric from making it through a dance workshop that it feels like I have the Heart of the Giant, and may bring up the topic a few more times. Glad to see you back in action! (Character in FFVII, soundtrack listing from Ecco: Songs of Time.)
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Post by Ambrienne on May 19, 2009 21:55:03 GMT -5
If there were any politics, they were entirely unintentional... or at least so unimportant in substance that I completely forgot about it. Or did I... Oh, yeah. I recommended feeding all the polticians to the Zeirites while we were contemplating ways of making them self destruct (the Zeirites, not the politicians). I can't remember if I said anything else. Oh, well. Certainly, it's nothing to interrupt Serious Fun. Let's just keep it going and Turn Another pun into the path of our Journey to the West. And if you don't like going west, well... any direction is fine with me. (Tagline to the company, Natsume, Gundam model, and I probably mangled this one, because I can't remember what they actually called the game based on that novel. ^^
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Post by Solana on May 20, 2009 17:52:28 GMT -5
Okay, okay, we can let the image of feeding politicians we disagree with to mutating nasties be merely a Pipe Dream. Especially if we want to be deemed as Peacemakers and start to reconnect and build bridges. Say, Ambrienne, maybe we could get wallpaper that has Chinese painting on it to paper the motel here. It could help keep the peace in a smaller stage and offer a Zen-like state of mind for those of us fighting with writer's block. And if we really wanted to take it a step farther, try papering our gaming table here and see what happens. (Snowboarding level in SSX, one of Vincent's weapons in FFVII.)
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Post by Ambrienne on May 20, 2009 21:37:40 GMT -5
It sounds like a plan to me. But if the wallpaper starts saying things like, 'don't put that chess piece on my face,' we could have a problem.
Of course, I don't think our surroundings have yet accumulated enough mana to Magichange our belongings to such a degree. But it's only a matter of time. Then, we'll truly have a Strange Atmosphere.
(Battle mechanic in Disgaea 3, track from the Persona 1 soundtrack)
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Post by Solana on May 20, 2009 23:13:02 GMT -5
Then, we'll truly have a Strange Atmosphere. Oh, I think we're well and truly Abel to claim that now, don't you think? Depending on what kind of changes could result on the truly unusual items to be found under our roof already, (the time-traveling bathroom not the only one), that would be pure insanity. It'd probably be wise to get an OK from all around before redecorating. At least no one like the interior decorator from Esther Friesner's short story 'Deathswatch'. If you've never read it, an evil Grim Lord must grant the Royal Elfin Virgin he wants to marry one Gift, of her own asking, before the wedding can take place. Although she can't ask the impossible, she may ask the unpleasant. > Her request is to redecorate the Grim Lord's castle. "Have you seen what he's done? Pleated blinds! Floral wallpaper! Ferns! He even got rid of the orcs. And do you know why?" (His servant indicates that he does not.) "Because they don't go with the drapes in the Main Hall!" "Begging your lord's pardon, but there are no drapes in the Main Hall." "There are now. He says the color's something called Shire Sunset, but I know pink when I see it and those drapes are damned well pink!" This was a story in the anthology Castle Fantastic, and is the unquestionably the funniest short story I've ever read. Pure Esther Friesner goodness. I even spotted the first of her Chicks in Chainmail series stuck in our clearance section a few days ago and snagged it. (NPC in Lufia 2.)
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Post by Ambrienne on May 21, 2009 0:03:13 GMT -5
Well, if it's just in our rooms, they won't see it, will they? But certainly, it would be a good thing to make all common room designs pass a majority vote before being introduced on a larger scale. Then again, the vote might have to be unanimous or risk being subject to a variety of midnight, stealth redecorations like the constant color changing of Sleeping Beauty's gown while the fairy godmothers were having disagreements about which looked better. We could go the high tech route instead. Embed wall wide monitors on each side (and possibly the ceiling and floors) that would include themes to suit each person's tastes. Or even if it was just normal painting sized monitors that you could change back and forth. That would still look pretty nice. Both varieties are subject to battles for the remote control, though. That could involve plenty of Chaos, Destruction, and Terror. ...But, hopefully, no Death. (The four types of Sinistrals in Lufia.)
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Post by Solana on May 21, 2009 8:50:12 GMT -5
Ooh, nice metaphor with the gown. That's a good idea. Instead of having to repaint and repaper, we could just reprogram new decor into the monitors for a change. We could even put in images from different locations to make it look like a slice of somewhere else, from different videogames to locations in RL. As for the decisions, we could draw straws or it could be whoever fixes dinner that night. Speaking of remote... maybe we could even have the walls or floor be able to be TV screens. It would be pretty frickin' awesome to play something like the first arrival to the Gold Saucer or Soul Calibur 4 or the glories of Ecco on a screen THAT big, or watch things like basketball or hockey for the boys. We'll just have to take very good Kirof it, so that no remotes or controllers go flying into it when something unforeseen happens. (City from Lufia- Fortress of Doom.)
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Post by Ambrienne on May 21, 2009 22:56:58 GMT -5
I hope it's not a, 'the short straw gets it' thing. I can see people sneak cutting their straws smaller and smaller until you had a barely visible speck in your hand that could be the smallest straw... or a bit of powdered sugar from a donut.
So, you think we could get so excited that we'd accidentally go 'Wii!' and fling the remote? Maybe we could put a rubberized, transparent finish onto the front of the screens to protect from any wild throws. Although a rubberized room would be just a tad bit too close to a padded cell. Maybe.
Either that or create decoy remotes that are actually candy dispensers (and yes, that does continue the Wii joke; I saw some of said 'remotes' today). Then, even if you think you succeeded at finding the remote and didn't, the sugary contents will make a nice consolation prize.
Or we could just get a wrist strap, but that's not nearly as fun.
(f you don't know Wii, I'd say you'd been safely insulated from TV, magazines, and the internet for the past few years.)
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Post by Solana on May 22, 2009 6:50:54 GMT -5
I think even if we'd be on Saturn they'd still find some way to let us know about it. Good plan, but I think we'd want to cherry pick where the "real" versus "candy" remotes are for something like that, depending on the day. (Ex. playoffs, someone just got a new game, someone just REALLY needs to toss in a certain game because of a bad day, etc.) We could also try making giant bungee cords for the remotes, but those can go wild and there's no guarantee that they won't rebound and hit a screen on a roof or floor after trying to protect a certain wall. (Less well known, but still a known system.)
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Post by skylark on May 22, 2009 12:15:54 GMT -5
Ah yes, the 4th Wall. So flimsy, even a Spring Breeze Dancin' can make it crumble.
(Main villain of Legend of the Mystical Ninja for N64. Does anybody remember that game?)
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Post by Ambrienne on May 22, 2009 22:24:43 GMT -5
Well, since we exist on both sides of that wall, it wouldn't make sense to make it out of too expensive a material. It would only be wasted cash the next time we Punch-Out to the other side. Of course, if we just put a door in the wall, we wouldn't have to break it so often.
...What happens if we're all having a bad day at the same time remote-wise? Do we just put in a game with some kind of multiplayer mode and make a tournament out of it?
Or do we go out to the parking lot (since we don't have a full fledged arena, 'per se') and try a Battle Royale?
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Post by Solana on May 23, 2009 6:33:56 GMT -5
Good point. Depending on what the situation is, maybe the walls in our rooms could be fixed up as well, or every big screen could be individually hooked up to different systems/channels. Or, barring that, maybe Techno could .hack into a few systems and slap them together, and we could have an all-Shrine game of Super Smash Brothers and just Brawl our frustrations away. (Series of games from the anime, latest in the Smash Brothers family.)
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