HouseKeeping: More Apologies

First, apologies for not getting any new updates up at Casa del House. It's been a crazy few weeks, and I haven't had the free time I thought I would, and the podcast blah, blah, blah, no one's missing me, anyway.

But, seriously, I am working on some things. In fact, if I don't get them done soon, they become irrelevant. So I need to get on those.

And also, I'm watching Gundam 00, one of several shows capable of saving any bad to mediocre day and making it into an awesome one.

My Spoiler-Free, Heavily Censored, Gundam 00 Rant of the Week

Oh, ****. Oh, ****. Aw... oh, ****! This is not good. This is not.... what? Aw, yeah. It's on now! That's what you get! That's what you get! Haro! Oh! Oh! Kill that mother******! Kill him to death!

Ah, sweet catharsis. Whew. Hmm. Well, that makes... what the...?! Kill that mother******! Oh, please kill that mother******.

My Spoiler-Free, Incredibly Censored Gundam 00 Rant of the Week

(based from last week's episode, and even containing current events from this week)


Aw, **** it. **** it. It's gonna... wait... it's gonna be... oh, no! Yes! That was.... but... oh. Aww. Aww. Aww. Oh! Mmmph! You son of a... Stupid __________ and their stupid ____ _______ and ****ing up everything good and wonderful. I knew it was going to be ****ed up, but... agggh! **** it! So ______ and ____ can't be together, but Chris Brown can get back together with Rhianna? Yeah, I said it.

So, **** you guys. I was totally okay with stuff and then they got the J-Pop and the ending with Engrish and she's all singing, "I LOVE YOU... I TRUST YOU..." and you broke my ****ing heart. It's in pieces. That's it. I'm done with you for good this time. You have hurt me, and I cannot recover and what did that preview say will happen next week? Aw, I gotta find out what happens now. In the meantime, I better watch this episode again. Oh, Gundam is a cold mistress...

What is Gundam 00 Like?

(Note: While the event I'm describing has never happened to me... like, not even close to happening to me... I have to imagine that this is what said event is like, and as such, it's how I'm describing it.)

If someone were to ask me what Gundam 00 is like, I'd have to say that it's like making love to a secret naughty girl. Let me explain.

See, it's like if you met someone, and you really like them and they like you and you end up... you know, "Doing the Dew" as it were. And at first it's all nice and sweet and tender, but them somewhere along the way, something changes.

And it's not that she isn't innocent or that she's a whore or anything, but she has a dark side you never even thought about. And it's coming out right here, right now of all places. And part of you is mad, because you thought this was going to be a nice, tender moment making sweet love down by the fire and now it's gone all Cinemax at 2AM on you. And you're thinking, "I can't believe it. I never knew you had all of this going on, and frankly I'm a little shocked." You want to stop and say, "Wait a minute, this isn't what I signed up for..."

But you can't. Because as mad as you are about your sweet, gentle princess being a tigress, there is one fact that you simply cannot deny. You're loving it. You're hating yourself on the inside, but you're loving it. You know there'll be regret and bad feelings later, but the heck with it. This is the good good, and you're going to see this out. Besides, it's not like you were really going to stop in the middle anyway, right?

So that's all I have to say about it. Gundam 00, you naughty, dirty, whore of an anime. I love you. I hate you. Don't stop, baby.

Oh, yeah. And **** you for ****ing _________ over right after everyone had ________________________ and the _______ was kind of _______ but also ________. And right in front of ________ you do that, and I know that because of this **** that you plan to **** ______ over before the whole thing is through. Maybe _______ won't get completely ____ed, and I won't need a hug or something afterward. As it is, I feel like I need some chocolate milk or something just to deal with episode __. I mean, ****. Seriously. ****.

Stupid Rassafrassin' DVR...

Here's what's irking me about the dumb DVR. It's bad enough that half the time it won't properly set up a series recording to begin with. Due to the way the listings are designed, half the time when you want to record just the new airings of a series you get new airings and repeats. But no big deal, since I rarely want to set a series recording, anyway. But tonight... tonight was just a foobar of epic proportions.

See, I do have a handful of series recordings, and one of them is Mobile Suit Gundam 00. As it turns out it's not that big of a risk, since the show only airs the one time during the week. And since I had already missed a pair of episodes earlier in the run, I figured that way I wouldn't have to worry about it again, right? Right?

So of course, since I thought I had everything worked out, and since in a rush to head to work this afternoon it didn't occur to me once to check the recording settings, you can imagine my surprise when I came home expecting my DVR to be recording and found it to be doing nothing.

Here's what happened. See, the wonderful people somewhere (I'm uncertain whether I should blame Comcast or Sci-Fi Channel for this one) had the show listed in the channel guide as "Mobile Suit Gundam". The astute would note that that's an entirely different series. But I don't care, since I know what the show is (and honestly, it wouldn't exactly be a crime if someone aired the original MSG somewhere either). But note the usage of the word 'had" in the first sentence. Because someone, somewhere decided that this week would be the perfect time to change the title in the listings to the correct "Mobile Suit Gundam 00".

That shouldn't be a big deal, except for one problem. A different title means that my DVR treats it like a different show. Which completely negates my series recording and that means that I've now missed two episodes of the show again. So big ups to whoever it was that made that shift mid-series. If I hadn't seen the series already, I'd be legitimately miffed over it. As it is, I'm just slightly annoyed. Stupid DVR.

HouseTV: Giant Robot Advisory

I am a lover of many things. I love comics. I love TV in general, and specifically I love quirky shows and sci-fi. It should come as no surprise, then, that I am a fan of many an anime series. yes, that's "Japanese toons" for those who don't know or who don't want to be snooty about it.

Needless to say, I am more than thrilled anytime a new anime series not only appears but when said series comes stateside complete with english dubbing. I don't mind a well subbed series, but there is still something to a show you can watch without the burden of reading the dialogue. Not to mention since I don't actually speak Japanese, it's interesting to see what nuances an English script will bring to the table (for better or worse).

Which brings me to my current series du jour, a little ditty known as Mobile Suit Gundam: 00 (that's "double oh", just like the start of the James Bond numbering). The astute among you will note that the series is a Gundam series, but fear not. While it features the titular giant robot suits known as Gundam, it is not connected to the main series' continuity. Hence, any of you nervous about not being able to follow the series should rest easy.

That doesn't mean, however, that there isn't a lot going on. Truthfully, you almost need a scorecard to keep up with some of the lesser characters, especially when they pop in and out at will and may take several episodes off before appearing again. But that, to a certain degree, is part of the joy of the series. I've already seen all of season one myself, and what I can say about it is that for all of the many different secondary characters running around, not a single one is a waste of time. Whether you want to believe it or not, they are all connected or will eventually be connected in ways that you cannot possibly imagine. And Lockon Stratos will own your soul.

So if you happen to have the TV time free this Monday night, go ahead and check out Gundam 00. It begins airing as part of Sci-Fi Channel's Ani-Monday block (which has actually had its moments the past few months) at 11PM. I'll warn you that the series starts a bit slow, and there is a lot to keep up with. But since they're showing two episodes a week, that should help offset the learning curve. At the very least check out the intro, and God help them if they did something to the intro! It's one of the cooler themes I've seen in the past few years.