Summer Memories: World Cup 2010

I must shamelessly admit; I watched every single FIFA World Cup match from start to end, voted for every man of the match, and adapted to the buzzing sound of the mighty  vuvuzela. 

Bzzzzz! Behold the Mighty Vuvuzela!

Yes, I was, and still am a complete Football Fanatic. World Cup 2010 started with the opening match with Mexico vs. South Africa on June 17th and ever since then I was glued to ESPN. The teams I supported throughout the games were, Brazil, Argentina, United Kingdom, Japan, and of course my beloved Spain. I was devastated when I saw Spain lose to Switzerland in their opening match, with a lucky shot by the Swiss against a flustered Casillas.  However, I never lost hope in them, I ardently supported them when they came against Chile in their next match, and I was impressed by the talent of their star player who I dont even recall seeing in Euro Cup 2008: David Villa. 

David Villa's elation after scoring against the Portuguese

Okay, well I must admit, I was a bit ruthless in my shameless fangirling for Villa , like the  Cristiano Ronaldo fangirls (ick!). But unlike Ronaldo, David Villa plays with finesse and power AND has good looks.  I'm ending it there, before my cute Portuguese boyfriend whacks me in the head for more fangirling, even though he hates Ronaldo as well. =P 

Anyways, I was surprised with the powerhouse Spain had as a team; Casillas, Villa, Iniesta, Ramos etc. For the final match against the Netherlands, I was filled with great anxiety. Will my Spain win? Will Netherlands win to penalty kicks? For the entirety of the match, I was spewing vulgarities at the TV screen in English and Spanish for every foul the Dutch made against the Spanish. I was seething with anger at the disgusting nature of their game.

Yet in the end, the Queen proved to be victorious. Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal against the Dutch at roughly 115 mins into the match. I shrieked with happiness and delight, that my beloved Spain has won the FIFA World Cup for the very first time.

Los Ganadores de la Copa del Mundo 2010!

Though, the happiness was mixed with sadness that day. Although I saw David Villa's face light up the screen in elation and joy, I felt empty. What will I do tomorrow? No more matches to watch, no more buzzing vuvuzelas, no point in waking up at 7AM to catch any matches... just nothing to do but wait until FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil. 

Summer 2010

Alas, summer is drawing towards a grand finale.  This summer has been one of the best summers in my entire life. From watching every single World Cup match, to a 15hr  trip to Chicago, to battling with 5 year olds, to delving into dreams in Inception, and to just chatting with close friends, this summer has been "Haruhi Approved". Therefore, for the next two days, before I begin my college journey, I will dedicate my postings to the most prominent events of my summer!

Cosplay Ideas

Though I have never gone to an Anime Convention, I do like to think up of plausible cosplays I could use in the future  for whenever I decide to go. Haruhi Suzumiya is obviously one of my top choices. Simple and extremely doable, not to mention quite comfy, white shirt with red ribbon and blue skirt, brigade patch, yellow headband, obnoxious personality and WHAM! You have Suzumiya Haruhi.

Simple and ready for action: Haruhi Suzumiya

Tifa Lockhart is my favorite female Final Fantasy character ever. Beautiful and kicks major ass, Tifa is what you call an empowered woman. There are three options for Tifa: the original FFVII design used in the game ( white tank top, mini skirt, suspenders) , the Advent Children design (black tank top, black shorts, black skirt thingy behind her), and the Crisis Core design (cowgirl outfit). For me, I prefer the original Tifa sketch, other than the gloves, its really easy to emulate without denting my wallet. 

Original FFVII Tifa 

Because I'm of Indian descent , I do like to try to find anime characters that I could resemble. ( Another reason why I tend to choose dark haired characters).  The perfect character for such need is Oerba Yun Fang from Final Fantasy XIII. I mean honestly, she's wearing a damn sari, how Indian can you get?! Tousled dark hair with a mysterious personality, Fang is truly an awesome character to cosplay,and for me, I actually own a blue sari similar to hers! Of course there are a few alterations to come into play; not to mention how the hell to make her giant spear. 

Oerba Yun Fang: the savior for female Indian Otaku

Obviously, these are only a few of the characters I wish to cosplay as; the possibilities are endless and nameless. However, for Comic Con (whenever I decide to go), I have only one character in mind to cosplay as: Wonder Woman. As a child, my dream was to be as cool and beautiful as Wonder Woman when I grew up. While, I still have my doubts whether or not I managed to fulfill that dream, I would love to cosplay as my heroine. Though her outfit may seem a bit... scandalous or seductive in many people's eyes, Wonder Woman still is the essence of female power... and I would still want to cosplay as her, knowing the risks that will come with it. Besides, why else would she bring her Lasso of Truth with her all the time? 

Move over Superman, Wonder Woman has it happening.

Another Loss in the Anime World: RIP Shojuro Yamauchi

As I am still fighting the horrid Blue Screen of Death, I checked Twitter and saw that Shojuro Yamauchi  has passed away. Although he is not a famous director , he was a key animator in popular and memorable  movies like Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies,  Future Boy Conan,  and Lupin III , just  to name a few of his works. These are not just some ordinary anime films; these are classics which carry a great clout with excellent animation under Yamauchi.  May he rest in peace  and may his work in films continue to be acknowledged. However , with the death of Kon yesterday, I'm starting to wonder if this is death by three kind of thing or a deeper kind of conspiracy... 

Montage of scenes from Spirited Away ,  one of Yamauchi's crowning achievements.

The Battle Against the Blue Screen of Death

As of 10 PM last night, I am being forced to use my sluggish PC in order to get any sort of work done. The reason being? My laptop showed me the horrid blue screen of death. I have been tirelessly trying to fix this problem; rebooting in different modes, scanning the hard drive, installing Windows XP and trying to use  CHKDSK/R  to fix the problem. Yet my efforts were in vain; after each try I continue to see this horrid blue screen:

The damn BSoD only I didn't have the last message underneath

Bah. I spent all night reading different ways how to fix the BSoD. I'm tired, frustrated, and depressed. Yet, the battle has just begun; I am determined to defeat it and rescue my files. It's a chivalrous effort, but I will not rest until my files are safe... even if I must resort to calling... Dell. >.<

Basic Info about BSoD

Happy Rakhsha Bandham 2010!

Okay so I totally forgot that today is Rakhsha Bandham or Rakhi! It is a Hindu festival celebrated in India ,which celebrates the bond of brother and sister. Rakhsha Bandham (रक्षाबंधन) means in Hindi "the bond of protection". The festival is marked by a sister tying the rakhi or holy thread  on her brother's wrist. In turn, the brother vows to protect his sister while she gives him sweets. Then the siblings feed each other the sweets.

Sister tying the rakhi on her brother's wrist

Some of the sweets include laddoo, and burfi. However currently, special rakhi chocolates are becoming popular.The sweets are arranged in a mithai thali which looks something like this:

Yummy sweets for Raksha Bandham! *w*

What's great about this festival is that if you  could always 'adopt' a brother if you don't have one. By tying the rakhi on his wrist,  you have adopted yourself your own brother to protect you! So... to all my fellow Indian brothers : Happy Rakhsha Bandham! 

The Death of an Anime Genius

As I returned from fighting with the financial aid office of Rutgers University for my scholarships, I noticed that twitter was all a buzz. I soon found out that the great Satoshi Kon was dead.  For those of you who do not know who he was, he was the director of many anime movies, namely Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprika. Though I haven't seen all of his films, I was able to experience his directing and animating genius through Tokyo Godfathers. 

Tokyo Godfathers Movie Poster

Dead at the young age of 47, Satoshi Kon was working on the production of another movie: The Dream Machine which is scheduled to be released in 2011. Nevertheless, Kon's masterpieces shall be cherished for years to come. 

" Dreams do come true. I always dreamed of being the mother of a little girl. A nice, warm house, a pretty daughter. Even if my husband was no good... I would accept dire poverty as long as I had my child. "- Hana from Tokyo Godfathers

The Adventure Begins...

I must admit, the Queen of Iberia has resorted to blogging. I feel that there is so much more to my life that it needs far more than 140 characters or random poking  in order to be chronicled. Thus , I have begun my journey as a young neophyte blogger ready to make her mark in the digital world. Let's see where this will take me...