A Dog of Flanders

Who still remembers the story "A Dog of Flanders", about an artistic orphaned boy Nello and his dog Patrasche? I can't remember what the Afrikaans title was when it aired in South Africa in the 80s. In any case, it turns out that while the story is rather unknown around the world -- even in the native Belgium that is its setting -- it is actually quite popular in Japan and here in Korea where it is considered a great children's literature classic.

Spoiler Alert: In the original book by English author Marie Louise de la Ramée (aka Ouida), Nello and Patrasche freeze to death, but not before succeeding in their journey to see the great paintings of Rubens. (The animated version has a less tragic ending.) I think because I was a rather lonely and artistically inclined child who spend much of my free time drawing, I especially associated with Nello. How different is this story, and others like it such as Heidi and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (Holgerssons) from today's children's animations! I really believe that these tails of realistic loss and suffering endured by children better prepared me for my future life. These stories taught me that good doesn't always win over evil, that the innocent are not free from suffering. Maybe that is why it is also popular in Korea.

It is a bit bothersome and you can only receive it from someone else.

A dialogue in Naruto Shippuuden, episode 296 "A Father's Hope; A Mother's Love", between Gaara and his uncle Yashamaru:

Yashamaru: Physical wounds will definitely bleed and may look painful. But over time they heal by themselves. And if you apply medicine, they will heal faster. What's troublesome are wounds of the heart. Nothing is harder to heal. 

Gaara: Wounds of the heart?

Yashamaru: They are a bit different from physical injuries. You can't apply medicine, for one thing. And sometimes they never heal. There is only one cure for a wounded heart. It is a bit bothersome and you can only receive it from someone else.

Gaara: What is it?

Yashamaru: It's love.

Gaara: Love?

Yashamaru: Yes.

Gaara: How do I get it?!



--- No wonder I'm in tears with practically every episode.

A Video for Halloween: Allison Schulnik's "Mound"

Mound by Allison Schulnik from garaco taco on Vimeo.

Kakashi and Giraffe Sex Still Skryfblok's Top Posts

A statue by Belle Brooks, inspired by the search
for "giraffe sex" on Google that has gone
viral. (Image Source)

A year ago (to the day) I wrote a post on giraffe sex. It was basically an experiment to see if it would increase page views to my blog. It actually worked. The search term “giraffe sex” is the second most popular search term that bring viewers to my blog, that is according to Blogger's statistics. Google Analytics describes it slightly differently, saying that the actual keywords “giraffe sex” is the tenth in traffic ranking and “giraffe” fifth. Be that as it may, it is obvious that people with interest in giraffes (and giraffe procreation) quite frequently land on my blog. According to Google Analytics the keyword “Kakashi” is still by far the most frequent entrance to my blog and Blogger's statistics concur that “Kakashi Hatake” is the top search term for people to land at Skryfblok.

To all the Kakashi Hatake fans, here's a naked picture of Kakashi in the shower! (Lol, this is bound to shoot up visits! Nothing like sex to boost traffic, as the giraffe post experiment proved.)

Image Source

Other favourites are “Andy Lau”, “do mermaids exist”, and “body painting.” Other posts that is a gateway to my blog are the one I did on the physical differences between Koreans and Caucasians and the post in which I announced my new (Afrikaans) blog Ingelegde Lywe that focusses on poetry, particularly “liefdesgedigte” (love poems) and “erotiese verse” (erotic verses).

Japan earthquake and tsunamie, March 2011
Image Source

There were two distinct spikes on my blog, one in March 2011 and the other in May 2011. The first spike was because of the earth quake and resultant tsunami in Japan in March. The pageviews jumped with nearly 2000 from January and February. I wrote two posts on the earthquake. The first an Afrikaans post in which I announced the earthquake's occurrence on the day (11 March 2011). The second a few days later in which I explained why Korea was spared from the tsunami that followed the earthquake.

Image Source

Traffic went down with about a 1000 views in April but went up again with another thousand in May. I'm not too certain about the reason for the May spike. I wrote a couple of controversial posts that month. For instance I wrote about how Google tailors our search results; I wrote (favourably and sympathetically) about Lady Gaga's song “Judas” and her struggle with sin; I wrote with disgust about the pleasure people derived from Osama bin Laden's death; I announced that Armageddon would not happen on Saturday, May 21st; I laughed at the release of Obama's Birth Certificate; and I gave a link and feedback about the talk I gave about Christianity and Romantic Poetry. Any, or maybe a combination of these posts could have caused the increase in page views.

While Blogger's statistics show a slow but steady decline in traffic since May, Google Analytics tells a different story. According to Analytics visits have nearly double from May to August. There has been a slight recession of late, but of course the month is not yet at an end so the statistics are a little fuzzy for October. In July and August I went on holiday so I posted some photos of my trip in Laos, Thailand and China. I can't think why such photos should increase views to my blog, however. There are hardly anything else I think noteworthy, apart from, maybe, my “Kukkiwon Gangster” photo, which is slightly controversial, but only to those privy to the dark secrets of Taekwon-Do history.

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The bounce rate for my blog is pretty high, around 80%. People land here hoping for a website on Kakashi or giraffe sex or mermaids, and instead find a blog with over a thousand posts on very random topics. Disappointed they leave soon afterwards. Most of these people don't stay longer than 30 seconds. For a blog with no specific purpose other than logging my life and thoughts, this is not an issue. Were I trying to sell something (a product, or myself), a high bounce rate would have been a bad thing.

Image Source

Most visitors to Skryfblok are American. The second highest geography that visit my blog is South Africa. This is heartening as one reason I started this blog was to keep my friends and family who mostly live in South Africa up to date with my life here in Korea. It seems to be working. Of all the visitors from around the world most do not return; however just under 10% return to the blog; i.e. they are likely followers of the blog. Interestingly, most of these returning visitors are from South Korea and the second highest grouping of returning visitors are from South Africa. Does that mean that my social network in South Korea has surpassed my social network in South Africa? It would be a surprising finding if it's true, for I am still under the impression that I have far more friends in my country of birth than here in my host country.

Are you a fan?
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If you have read this whole post, give yourself a pat on the back, for you must definitely be either a real friend or a true Skryfblok follower to have read through all this boring and somewhat useless statistics about a rather purposeless blog. Lots of love to you!

"Those who inherit the Will of Fire" by Toshio Masuda

Toshio Masuda's "Those who inherit the Will of Fire", which he composed for the Naruto anime-series, is one of my favourites. I can still remember the goosebumps I got the first time I heard it. It is a beautiful fanfare mixing classical instruments with Japanese traditional instruments. Listen to it with your volume up high.

Colour Associations

Next semester I'm teaching a class on Presentation & Public Speaking again. I think this will be the fourth time teaching it. In any case, in one of the classes we discuss the symbolic associations with different colours. I plan to show my students this animation. Notice the associations with the different colours; red, for instance, indicates pain (inflammation) or anger. The animation will be a great introduction to the lesson.

35 Movies in 2 Minutes

Do recognise them all?


35mm from Pascal Monaco on Vimeo.

See other people's lists here.

Mouse vs. Cat

I like cats.



A friend, after seeing this video here, linked to it on her Facebook page with the following comment: "You can learn so much from cats. Ignore it or do something about it. Don't waste emotional energy."

"Fallen"

Fallen from Sascha Geddert on Vimeo.

Enlightenment often comes during moments of crisis. A really beautiful little movie.

Ag, ek hou darem maar van katte II

Ag, ek hou darem maar van katte

Recently Watched Series

With suddenly so much time on my hands, I’ve recently finished watching three series.

Merlin (Season 2)

The story of the “early years” of Merlin and Arthur continues. This season really increased in suspense towards the end.Nice fantasy, but I did get frustrated with the low level of intelligence it requires.

Doctor Who (Series 5 – 2010)

This season features the eleventh Doctor played by the amiable Matt Smith. From the very first episode the audience is made aware of cracks in the universe and how it is all related to a little red-headed Scottish lass named Amy Pond – the first crack is seen in her bedroom.

An excellent Doctor Who season, with lots of continued suspense and typical Doctor Who humour.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

This is an animated series in three seasons (or "Three Books") about a young monk that finds out that he is the Avatar who is destined to save the world from the ferocious Fire Lord. However, before he can do so, he firsts need to master the four elements and escape being captures by an exiled prince. The series is heavily influenced by Oriental concepts, with interesting use of Chinese martial arts which include Tai Chi, Hung Gar, Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, and Ba Gua. The characters are endearing. The plot style is more typical of Asian anime, however the self-mockery more resembles Western cartoons. I really enjoyed this anime series and was quite disappointed when it came to a finish after only three seasons.

Kakashi Hatake

Image Source: Unknown

Over the weekend I watched an episode of the Naruto Shippuden anime and witnessed the death of Kakashi Hatake.

Hopefully I did not spoil it for anybody. The manga in which Kakashi’s death occurred was published in 2008 already and the anime episode in which it occurs showed a number of weeks back already, so at least all avid Naruto fans would probably known about Kakashi's death by now. It is I that am late at finding out the terrible news. His death in battle against the villain Pain came as a shock to me. What I find more shocking is my reaction to the death of a fictional character. It truly felt like someone I have known had died. I woke up Sunday morning and the first thought that came to mind is "Kakashi is dead!" I felt a sense of loss—that terrible inexplicable hollowness one feels when someone you care for has been ripped away by death.

 In trying to figure out why Kakashi’s death was so intense for me, I realized that I identified with this character the most. Kakashi (“Scarecrow”) is a protective martial art teacher, has a laidback personality, likes reading (albeit erotic literature). All qualities I can use to describe myself. Furthermore, Kakashi has a mysterious charm about him; something I doubt I have, but wish I did. (Not to mention that he has the coolest hairstyle of all the characters.) Is the reason his death disturbed me so because he reminds me a little of myself and thus his untimely death is especially disconcerting? Or is it just the simple fact that fictional characters, especially ones well crafted, becomes more than fiction . . . they become “real.” I have been following the Naruto anime since, maybe, 2004, which  means that I’ve “known” these characters for approximately five or six tumultuous years. (I've written in an Afrikaans post before how much I enjoy Naruto and the fact that one really start to love these characters.)

There’s a rumour that Kakashi will somehow be revived. I don’t know if that is true or not. In the meantime, I’m terribly sad about his passing.

"When we hate each other, we are taking valuable time away from hating white people"

This hillarious video by Margaret Cho considers the issue of racism by Koreans and blacks (African-Americans).



For an interesting discussion on this topic, and specically how race is depicted in Korean animation, read this post at Dokebi Club.

Some Movie, Anime, Series, and Pilot Reviews

I’m appallingly behind with my movie reviews and the number of days in 2009 is running out at an alarming pace. In an attempt to start next year afresh, here then, is a short run down of films, anime, and series I’ve watched over the last couple of months. I'm probably missing a couple that I cannot think of just now.

Star Trek: The Future Begins (2009)

The new Start Trek movie is a blast. Full of action that keeps you on the tip of your seat for most of the movie. Don’t expect great acting or scientifically sensible plots. Great acting? Sensible plots? Who am I kidding? This is Star Trek!

Trivia: Young Spock is Sylar from Heroes.

Vicky, Christina, Barcelona (2009)

A delightful Woody Allen film, containing a short smooch scene between Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson, which made it a hit with many a dude with lesbian fantasies. Not Woody Allen’s best work, but delightful nonetheless. Cruz plays a convincing crazy artist.

State of Play (2008)

Russel Crow and Ben Affleck play the leading roles in this espionage journalist-detective drama. A very good thriller story well worth seeing!

Trivia: Brad Pitt and Edward Norton were originally casted as the leads.

Der Untergang (2004)

A chilling portrayal of the last few days of the life of Adolf Hitler and those closest to him. Undoubtedly one of the best (albeit depressing) films I watched this year. The acting is splendid. The viewer is flung between moments of empathy and disgust with Hitler. The movie does not allow stereotypes to linger too long. If you have the emotional reservoir, do watch it. It’s in German.

G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

A typical Hollywood teenage action movie with big guns and women in tight clothing. This film requires little intelligence and is good if you are in the mood for brain-dead entertainment. It’s by the same director of the Mummy and Scorpion King films.

Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008)

Another film rendition of an Astérix and Obélix adventure with Gérard Depardieu as Obélix and Clovis Cornillac playing Astérix. A far fetched comedy that will be enjoyed by Astérix and Obélix fans – good, clean fun. I went to see it with an American friend who had never heard of Astérix and Obélix; nonetheless, she found it enjoyable entertainment.

Were the World Mine (2008)

A gay boy gets his hands on a magical love potion and turns his whole town homosexual all in sync with the school play – a rendition of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Imagine a gay Princess Diaries mixed with Shakespear in Love. It won a number of Gay & Lesbian Film awards, which unfortunately does not say much about the quality of Gay & Lesbian films. But then again, maybe my knowledge of gay culture is too limited to appreciate this film. Probably the best recent Gay & Lesbian film I saw was the Korean movie, No Regret (2006), which I mentioned before.

Constantine (2005)

Based on the “Hellblazer” comic book, Constantine stars Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, the detective who hunts demons in a hope to get in God’s good books. The tagline basically sums up the plot: “Hell wants him. Heaven won’t take him. Earth needs him.” Honestly, I cannot remember how I felt about this movie, so probably it wasn’t that great. It’s a horror film, but I didn’t think that scary. If I remember correctly, the cinematography was quite good.

2012 (2009)

The long awaited natural disaster / apocalyptic movie that was much hyped, but left me disappointed through most of the film. True, it is a grand scale end of the world film, but it is far from the best in apocalyptic films. Personally I think the movie’s intention was to prepare the way for the recent Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.

Ninja Assassin (2009)

I long waited to see Korea’s Rain in the movie Ninja Assassin. The story was blasé, but I didn’t expect much, seeing as it is a martial arts action movie. I wanted to see good martial arts, and in that regard the film didn’t disappoint. Neither did it have me in awe. It was good, but not spectacular. It is very much a bloody movie. I’ve never seen people spew so much blood before. It is a very graphic and bloody film, so only watch it if you have the stomach for over the top blood and gore. Rain carried his part quite well and the months of (body) preparation he put into the film paid off. Rain’s English ability also improved a lot, although this film didn’t require that much dialogue.

Good morning, President (2009)

A Korean movie that follows the lives of three different presidents. All three presidents are faced with serious political and personal decisions. It is a beautiful (albeit slow) drama, that reveals a lot about modern Korean politics and culture, for instance South Korea’s continual balancing act between foreign forces (North Korea, Japan, America) and gender issues. A pleasant Korean film, with not too much crying.

Moon (2009)

An astronaut works on a mining station on the moon. However, just before the end of his three year contract he meets himself in what becomes a strange epistemological discovery of his own questionable existence. The film asks some serious ethical questions. Unfortunately I cannot say about what, without giving away too much of the plot. Moon is one of the best films I saw this year.

Sam Rockwell almost single-handedly carries the film (for all practical reasons, he is the only character) and does so superbly, keeping the audience engaged regardless of the fairly slow pace in which the mysterious events unfold. I haven’t heard of the director / co-writer Duncan Jones before, but I think he is someone to keep an eye on.

District 9 (2009)

This sci-fi social commentary on Xenophobia is probably one of the greatest films to come out of South Africa and one of the best films of 2009. An excellent film, and not because I’m South African. You have to watch it.

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Law Abiding Citizen starts off with so much potential but it just weakens towards the end, until it finally comes to a silly finale that has too many loopholes to make it satisfactory for any intelligent viewer. Rather watch director F. Gary Gray’s The Italian Job (2003) again.

Avatar (2009)

It took little effort for me to become engrossed in the alternative reality presented in the science fiction film Avatar. Regardless of the extreme “otherness” of the world, the audience is quickly sucked into the wonderful and colourful world of Pandora, with its blue natives. The film made me wish that I was a pantheist.

It is well worth the see on the big screen. I did not see it in 3D, but I’m sure it must be fabulous. Maybe I’ll go watch it again, just for the 3D experience.

The director is James Cameron: Titanic (1997), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), Aliens (1986), The Terminator (1984). While not a Titanic fan, Judgement Day is one of may favourite movies.

Anime:

Up (2009)

Disney and Pixar’s adventure Up is one of those rare movies that make you walk out of the cinema thinking: Life is worth it. Watch it and smile.

Tales of the Black Freighter (2009)

This is the animated version of the “Tales of the Black Freighter” that makes part of the Watchmen graphic novel. This short story functions well on its own, although it brings a deeper (and much more depressing) subtext to the main Watchmen plot. If you did not read the book, but saw the Watchmen film, then you missed out on “Tales of the Black Freighter,” which did not feature in the film.

9 (2009)

Based on the original 2005 short film, 9 is one of the best CGI animated films I’ve seen in years. Yes, the computer graphics is superb, but that is not what makes this film so great. It is the suspenseful story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The suspense is so intense, I think children will get nightmares from this “children”-movie. The feature film 9 was nominated for three Oscars, but did not win any. The original short film, however, won an Oscar for best short film in 2005.

Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (2005)

This is the third arc in the series and kicks off where the first arc ended. The second arc, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, was merely a filler. The Second Raid ran for 13 episodes. If you liked Robotech you may find Full Metal Panic! likable. Much of the story, however, occurs with the main character Sousuke Sagara having to protect Kaname Chidori in high school and focuses on this young soldier’s inability to cope with normal high school life.

Trivia: Rumours of a live action film adaptation, with Zax Efron in the lead, are doing the rounds.

Series and Pilots:

Kung Fu (1972)

After the death of famed martial art actor David Carradine, I decided I have to watch the film length pilot of “Kungfu” (the TV-series). I never saw it as it came out a few years before I was born. This series presented Oriental philosophy within the Western (as in Wild West) backdrop. Compared to current martial art movies, Kung Fu has terrible choreography. Nonetheless, it is actually a fairly good story and the research done on Zen philosophy seems to be fairly accurate. I do find the pace to be a little too slow. I’m still, slowly, working my way through the series.

Knight Rider (Pilot) 2008

The pilot for the new Knight Rider series brought back many memories of my family and I watching Michael Knight and his sentient car KITT fighting off the bad guys. The 2008 film is really not that much different from the 80s version – it is merely revved up for a new generation with new car designs and a sexier (by today’s standards) cast. The movie did not make we want to follow the new series, though.

True Blood (Season 1 and 2)

After that dreadful excuse of a vampire movie New Moon, I hoped to redeem all that is loved about the vampire genre, and upon suggestion of a fellow blogger I got myself season one and two of the True Blood TV series.

Vampires in the South of the USA feeding on rednecks have potential, but will it stand the test of time? To be honest, I don’t know. What is certain, though, is that True Blood is much better than Twilight saga. For one thing, the vampires are actually vampires – not anaemic models that glitter in the sun. Personally I thought that season one was just an excuse for soft porn on late night TV. Season two toned down on the sex, and beefed up on the gore.

While True Blood is not the best in the vampire canon, it is watchable. Vampire fans are happy that there is something with fangs to watch; and it contains sex and violence for the men, and love stories for the women.

I’m still waiting for truly seductive vampires, like in Interview with a Vampire.

Pandore

Fantasmagorie: The Origins of Animation

It is no secret that I'm an anime-fan; especially Japanese-anime. I recently stumbled upon--what many consider to be--the first full film animation ever made. "Fantasmagorie" was created by the Frenchman Emile Cohl in 1908. Cohl is considered the "father of motion picture animation" and is credited as the person to have made the first puppet animation film, the first animation film in colour, the first animation based on comic strips and the first to make an animated commercial.

Movie Reviews

Following are some movies I’ve seen over the last couple of months but did not have time to write proper reviews for. I hope this will suffice:

Sweeny Todd (2007)

A great creepy horror-musical in Tim Burton’s trademark gothic style, starring, Jonny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter . A must-see for any Tim Burton or Jonny Depp fan.

Yes Man (2008)

Jim Carrey plays in this cheerful movie about a man that has to say “yes” to everything. Not the best movie ever, but it is a charming feel good movie with just enough magic to lift the spirits.

The Legend of Ip Man (2009)

An excellent kung-fu movie and a must see for anyone that likes the genre. Although I saw it in Chinese with Korean subtitles and might have missed a little of the plot, it is undoubtedly one of the better martial art films I’ve seen in a long time. It is a semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the Wing Chun instructor of Bruce Lee. Donnie Yen, acting as the legendary Yip Man, does not disappoint. Over all a exceptionally crafted film.

13th District: Ultimatum (2009)

The sequel to 13th District, this French movie is an action packed movie, tailor-made to my adrenaline sensibilities, featuring extraordinary parkour and martial arts. Any parkour or martial art enthusiast will enjoy this movie, as well as anyone that likes the action movie genre.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (2006)

An action packed Japanese anime. This is a classic movie in the genre with a good plot, with the Little Red Riding Hood story weaved into it.

No Regret (후회하지 않아) (2006)

Another movie exploring homosexuality in Korea. A sad tale with some surprising twists in the plot. The film did not go the stereotypical route when portraying homosexuality. One theme in the movie is the fate of male and female orphans in Korea that are released from orphanages at the age of 18; with no money to continue further studies in the highly competitive Korean society, many of them turn to prostitution to earn a living. A sad reality.

200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워) (2006)

A parody of the extreme plastic surgery culture in Korea. As part of the recent cultural subconscious, I think it is a must-see for anyone living in Korea.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

One of the best films I have seen. A great story, great acting, great cinematography, great musical score and eight Oscars wins! I definitely recommend this movie. I will forgive it for pushing Dark Knight aside a bit, the latter still being my favourite movie from 2008.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Much awaited, starring Hugh Jackman and Korean-American Daniel Henney of whom I blogged about a couple of days ago. Honestly I was disappointed. There are too many plot faults and the computer graphics and special effects were not on par with the other X-Men movies. Of course, all X-Men fans will see it; it's just a pity that it did not live up to expectations. If you are not a fan of X-Men, or of action movies, I suggest you give this one a skip.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Season 1

In preparation of the fourth Terminator movie coming out later this year, I started to watch the Sarah Connor Chronicles series. I didn’t expect much, which was a good thing since it left room to be surprised. Not the greatest series ever, but not bad either. Lena Headey is not Linda Hamilton, but she’s quite a tough lady nonetheless (remember the queen in 3oo?). An enjoyable series, especially for fans of the Terminator meme.

Movie Review: Aachi & Ssipak

Aachi & Ssipak (2006) is officially the weirdest anime-movie I have ever seen. This Korean movie, by director Jo Beom-jin, is a dystopian sci-fi where human feces have become I major energy source and in order to encourage defecation people are awarded a “juicy bar” in turn for every dump they take. To keep the system going, all babies are implanted with an ID-ring in their anuses upon birth. For every passing of bowl movement the ID-ring send an electronic message to the governmental headquarters who duly award the defecator with his or her juicy bar.

The addictive juicy bars also spawn an underground drug syndicate, with various groups fighting for control over the juicy bar trade.

Enters the two main characters, Aachi and Ssipak… two lowlife gangsters that hijack people’s juicy bars shortly after they go to the toilet. And then there is the girl, Beautiful, who is violated by the leader of the Diper Gang, and inserted with a hacked anus ID-ring. The result is that every time Beautiful defecates her hacked ID-ring causes the main frame to pay out hundreds of juicy bars. Now everyone is after Beautiful and her lucrative dumps!

For a more detailed review read this one by Adam Hartzell.

As I said, this is probably the weirdest anime I’ve seen. The plot is strange, the characters are creepy and the style is peculiar, not ugly but, odd. It is definitely for an adult audience with lots of foul language, blood and sexual innuendo. Genitalia are blurred, which I thought an interesting technique to use for anime. (With anime the animators can easily censor things by merely not drawing it. Blurring the genetalia is therefor done on purpose as a stylistic motif.)

Would I recommend this movie? Only to die-heart anime fans that want to stay abreast with the weird and wonderful world of anime. I think that Aachi & Ssipak has created a unique Korean flavour to the anime scene, clearly different from Japanese idealism. If Aachi & Ssipak was made in Hollywood as a real movie, instead of an anime movie, I think it would be in league with such cult movies as Pulp Fiction.

Where do I get the time to watch so many movies?

The answer is easy. I don't watch TV. In fact, I don't own a TV.

So while most people spend hours watching soap operas and the like, I'm much more stingy on the visual media I consume. I very specifically search for movies I want to see. I don't just watch any movie, and I don't invest time in just any TV-series. For instance, I recently started to watch the first season of Rome, but after it turned into nothing more than a sexed up soap opera I quit watching it. A slow storyline interspersed with soft porn is not enough to have me, even with my perverted sensibilities, invest that many hours in it.

Also, it just seems like I'm watching an awful lot of movies. I don't really; usually one movie a week (i.e. approximately 2 hours). Compare that to the amount of hours most people spend a week watching TV (approximately 10+ hours)!

The next movie I plan to see is a Korean animation, Aachi & Ssipak (2006), and since I have a cold and won't be going to Hapkido and Taekwon-Do training tonight I might even watch it tonight.