Important Note


Chopsbloggy will be ending so that the new era of HappinessBunny.com can begin. I may even post more than once every three months!

The original Happiness Bunny.

A Different type of bunny.

On a sad note, NH now has a statewide smoking ban, just like in MN. The one exception is that private clubs can still have smoking. It's a victory for the people of NH!! If you encounter one or more of these ...no term fits...blow smoke in their faces, then ask them why Secondhand Smoke didn't cause massive amounts of lung cancer in nonsmokers back in the 50's and 60's when everyone and their grandmother smoked everywhere.
I suspect it wasn't politically advantageous back then.

Stupid is...


You may have seen this already, but here it is again. I laughed, then I cried. Then I remembered that these complete wastes of oxygen are going to be lining up for the 'Happy Place Camps" when the end comes, leaving their possessions behind for me to scavenge from.

Da Video

The best part is when the guy labels Australia as North Korea, then goes : "Damn, I didn't know North Korea was so big!" Second Best: How many sides does a triangle have? A: It has no sides. That's a fucking Zen triangle!

LOVE and PEACE


"Shoot a gun, and people die. But then, if you don't pick one up... You can't protect yourself against one. I wanted to hold a gun and never kill anyone. In order to do that, I was prepared to do anything. And so, I did everything. Everything I possibly could do. That was how I lived."

After more than ten years and 102 chapters, the manga series Trigun has come to a close.

Easily my favorite manga (yes, that does mean comic, Jeremy), the series, written and drawn by Yasuhiro Nightow, details the trials of Vash the Stampede.

Unlike the other gunslingers on desolate planet Gunsmoke, Vash sees human life as sacred, and refuses to kill even the most viscous opponents. Utilizing his alien speed and endurance, he gets by with wounding his opponents.

Vash's partner through most of the series is the chain smoking Wolfwood, who has no problem killing when needed. Despite their differences, both are guided by a strong sense of honor, and the need to protect the innocent. Obviously, their different viewpoints generate a good deal of conflict.

Outside of the characters, what drew me into the book are the strong pro-freedom aspects of the story. Both Vash has a massive bounty on his head and operates outside the law, both he and Wolfwood generally ignore what passes for police. Both of them enjoy whiskey and hang out in bars quite often, actually getting hammered. Individual action-and responsibility for those actions- are always foremost.

But the big thing was the firearms aspect. While there are numerous depictions of criminal acts using guns, the solution is positively shown to be guns in the hands of the good guys.

Meryl, one of Vash's pals, thinks back to her training days: "...Y'know, a little girl as powerless as you has to carry one. One bullet can even the odds between you and the strongest man. It may be small. But it's power is sufficient."

Thankfully, Trigun does not contain the 'fan service' found in most other series. I heavily recommend the manga over the anime version, as the anime over-emphasizes the comedic aspects of the original manga to the detriment of the story, and is rather poorly drawn as well.

Probably a disappointing post, no mention of evil govt or cops, and probably horrible grammar. Jeremy won't cream himself, that's for sure.

Updates..

Well, my car has not broken down yet. It seems to be waiting for my warranty to expire. On Monday I got the paycheck that I was supposed to get the past Thursday. You see, I have to ASK for my check, even though I get paid the same days as everyone else, the 1st and 15th. I couldn't get it before lunch, as the boss was busy with a client the whole morning. I finally got it after waiting for 30 min after work. "You've got to speak up if you want to get paid." There is the boss and six employees, counting me.

My gas tank was near empty, so I rushed to my nearest bank(TD Banknorth), which is 8 miles from work near Portsmouth. Of course it was closed, and the 'gas' icon was lit up. I went to a supermarket that had a bank branch open, but they couldn't cash my check as I didn't have an account.

With no cash on me, I could walk back to work and at least spend the night indoors, or call my roommates for an embarrassing pick up. Ron had shut off his phone. Jeremy was too far away to bother, and I didn't want to call Carl as I owe him too much already. My last chance was to call Morey, who lives close by in Dover. Thankfully, he drove over and loaned me $20 to fill my tank at a nearby gas station.

While driving home I thought about all the people who have helped me out in life, even though I'm kind off a jerk sometimes(check my comment to Jeremy's last post) and generally sloppy about most things. When I was in high school, I wanted to be as self-sufficent and closed off as possible, to avoid having to depend on people or on a job.

Of course, I goofed off in my senior year(after nailing a 3.4 my junior year) and in junior college, not picking a career plan and just taking courses that I thought would be cool. Lets not even discuss me dropping out of the University of Minnesota twice. Ack. Someone should have smacked some sense into me.

So, in general, my impulsive behavior combined with my procrastination is still my downfall. Before I get too carried away with self criticism...

THANKS TO:
My mother for staying with me during my cancer treatments that took away my Sophomore year of high school. (15 years in remission) Even though at the time I found it kind of annoying.
My Father for working himself to the bone to support us. Not that he had a job that he hated, but that he shouldered it because the benefits were the best he could hope to get.
My Aunt for buying my brother and I school clothes and shoes when my parents couldn't. And for paying my 2004 MI tax bill..still haven't paid that back...
My paternal grandmother for baking lots and lots of treats for me and never scolding me when I ate more than my fair share. Also, for using the line"It's my body and my choice what to do with it" when everyone tried to get her to stop smoking.
Mr. Lewinski, my high school sociology teacher/basketball coach. Whenever I started feeling sorry for myself, he'd confront me "You're not stupid, you just don't stop and think things out. Here's how to do it the correct way."
Mr. Bowman, my JC English teacher, for pointing me to a novel called Atlas Shrugged. "You're a smart kid. You should love this." Yep, I still love it.
Mr. Ludwig, for paying for most of our trip to PorcFest 2005 and other trips in the name of Liberty. Possibly the smartest person I know. Now, Where's our movie?!!!
Mr. Helwig, current landlord, for allowing me to be a little behind on rent in order to get set up in NH. Also, for buying nearly all the groceries in the house while Mike and I are broke.
Carl, for not kicking my ass when I wrecked his car. I'll be repaying you starting in March.
Jeremy, for driving me home from the liberty Center all those times. Not to mention taking care of me when I was hammered. An all round class act and wise person whom I am lucky to have met.

Yeah, there are lots of others, and lots of other things I could have added about the people I've named. It's good to have people in your life that care for you, but I still worry about being a leech on people's good nature.

I'm going to regret posting this..

Deeper into debt..

As Jeremy has probably already told everyone, I have bought a car. I won't mention the price I'll be paying for my 2002 Ford Focus, but it will be extended over four years. Currently, I am about 41K in debt, mostly my Federal student loan. Damn lot of good college did me, though I really fucked my life royally, so I can't blame higher education.

Back to my auto purchase, I grimly await the day that something goes wrong. While the car is in very good shape down to the new looking tires, some disaster is imminent due to the fact that I own it. Sigh.

My newest roommate Mike has just started at his new job in Concord at the sweet starting wage of $11/hr. Amazingly, the job is an entry level job with no skill prerequisites. Apparently, they are still hiring, so hopefully I'll get a real job. Then perhaps I'll take Jeremy up on his offer. Once a two bedroom opens up, of course.

I've been hearing some awful news about MN lately, a state wide smoking ban, Pawlenty joining the other anti-gun Govs, "Excess" military weapons going to MN police...Sounds like there needs to be a opposition group out there or something...

Ending my post today, this great Achewood comic : Is this the day your speed kills a child?
Jeremy and Luke should love it.

Ringing in the New Year with a Bang

Literally. On Friday I went to Concord to cash my check and get groceries and chainsaw oil, plus the latest Trigun manga and other goodies. I had received a $200 Christmas bonus in addition to my normal check, and was ready to fulfill my role in keeping the economy going.

Unfortunatly, my employer pays with business checks that have his name on them and look like personal checks. My bank requires a one day wait to receive money from checks(something the regular tellers at the branch near my work waive), and instead of taking the checks to the chain they are drawn on, I decided I could wait a day.

Saturday was a nice day, and the morning was spent splitting logs. Snow began to fall, a dusting where you can see individual snowflakes on the ground. I got the grocery list and asked Ron which vehicle I should take, his SUV or Carl's Mercury. "Take Carl's car-it's insured!" Another joke about my driving. I mentioned that I drive Defensively. Carl: "Well, accidents can happen to anyone."

With this, I left the compound, stopping to pick up the mail and at the local convenience store to check that my cash was finally available. As I left the store's lot, the Mercury slid a bit out into the road. As the snow was getting worse, I slowed down to about 25MPH. Now the road to Concord is downhill most of the way, with plenty of turns.

I was driving down a steep hill that ended in a curve, riding the brakes most of the way. Near the bottom, the wheel suddenly wrenched to the right. Not following the road curving to the left, not hard enough to go down the empty road that was off to the right, but just enough to put me in line with some young trees and the remnants of an old stone wall right between the two.

As you probably guessed by the title, The brakes didn't stop me from nailing the trees and driving onto the stones. Actually, when I saw that I was going to crash, I froze up and don't know if I hit the brakes or tried to steer. I didn't hit head-on, the right side took all the damage. I was lifted up in the air and introduced to the steering wheel-with my nose.

A Deerfield volunteer fireman was just ahead of me and came back to check on me. No injuries, thankfully. I called Ron and Carl, and then made the first 911 call of my life to report the accident. The fireman called the Fire Rescue. We had some fun watching other people driving much faster than I was sliding along that corner. The Rescue guys wanted me to go to the ER to check for head trauma, but I 'refused medical treatment'. A bit later more amazement as a SUV came flying down the hill and noticed the commotion a bit too late-he ended up sliding past the rescue truck, the cop car, and cars waiting in the opposite lane like a giant slalom. His passenger had her hands over her eyes. Then he regained control and lit off at the same speed.

Now I'm about $3000 to $5000 in the hole to Carl, depending on how bad it is. That's a lot of overtime. Hopefully better news will come soon.

The now very humble Chopsy

Today, I am an Old man..

This past weekend we had Korean TV filming at our house. Despite the fact that they made us play-act "working together" and "making dinner together", they were very intelligent and upbeat guys. They filmed everyone but Jeremy, who was passed out downstairs. The interviewer was asking us about things we didn't like about NH, and mentioned that he hadn't been able to buy hard alcohol because the state run stores close early in the afternoon. "Is there anyone in the house who is a heavy drinker?" Big laughs all around. It should be noted that this was around noontime.

After they left on Saturday, Ron let me shoot his AK. We shot Carl's .22 pistol for the camera, didn't want to look too outrageous with the 'evil' AK. I shot about 250 rounds under Carl's paitient teaching. I did better than I thought I would, though I still flinch waaay too much. After that, Carl showed me how to break down and clean the AK. A good day of learning a valuable skill.

Tying in to our latest 15 minutes of fame, these past few days I watched some great movies for the first time. A short review:

Hotel Rwanda
Obviously, I'd heard of this movie, but hadn't watched it untill now. A great, solid movie that has some heartwrenching scenes, but I'm too jaded and bitter to really be affected by the scores of dead bodies in the movie. One thing is for sure, Paul Rusesabagina has huge balls.

Joyeux Noel
This new movie(2005) is about the Christmas Truce of 1914. The film is in three languages, English, German, and French. The opening scenes are of young school children reciting patriotic poems full of wonderful imagiry, like kill all the Germans, even the women and children, so we don't have to fight them later. The war scenes are short yet realistic, and the Christmas mass attended by almost all the troops in the sector and presided over by the Scottish priest is amazing. Of course, the soldiers learn that they all hate the war and their commanders, and just want to go home. The brass find out, and all troops who took part are punished, even the priest who gets a dishonorable discharge for preaching to evil inhuman Germans. It is God's will that the British win and the Germans die, of course. A fantastic film with great acting.

Patlabor 2
This anime film from 1993 is directed by famed director Mamoru Oshii, and has the spectacular animation and detail that has made him famous. Set in the early part of the 21st century, where large maufacturing exoskeletons called Labors are busy working on creating artifical islands to allow Tokyo to expand. Of course, when you have 60-odd foot tall robots, you have 60 foot tall robots being used in crime, or simply breaking down and running amok. Therefore, the Patrol Labors(Patlabor) are created to give the police a equal chance.
Japan's peaceful existence is rocked when a fighter jet fires a missile at a main Tokyo bridge, causing part of it to collapse. The nation is shocked to find out that it is a Japanese fighter that is responsible for the attack. The police forces quickly see their oppertunity, and arrest many military commanders and set up a near police state. Further terrorist actions take place, and the police are forced to call in military units to help the set up martial law, hoping that they are loyal. Tanks now patrol the streets, and heavily armed troops set up checkpoints.
The movie is very light on action but raises many great questions on our global society and our role in faraway wars. Can we really be 'at peace' when our economy thrives because of wars elsewhere? How should a free society protect itself from terrorism? I'll give away a big part of the ending: The terrorists are backed by members of the US govt who want to see Japan take a more military approach to the problems in SE Asia. We must stop these Turrists!

Ikiru

This 1952 film is directed by one of the greatest directors of all time, the prolific Akira Kurosawa. Ikiru(To Live) is about one Kaji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat who suffers from increasingly worse abdominal pain, which turns out to be stomach cancer. He has only weeks to live, and the knowledge of his impending doom causes him to re-examine his life. His wife died years ago, and since that time his relationship with their only child, a son, has declined steadily. Watanabe belives his son hates him, but flashbacks show that Watanabe was an emotionally distant father. Now his son longs for the day his father will retire, so he can get the large inheritance while his father lives on a pension.
Even though he has worked for nearly thirty years, he has nothing to show for it, other than an increasing pile of papers on his desk. After spending a good deal of money on nights out on the town getting drunk, a cheerful young coworker helps him find a way to leave his mark on the world. This ends part one.
Part two details what happens to his legacy after he dies. Rather predictably, his fellow bureaucrats mock his attempt to push his legacy project through the city offices. The Vice-mayor even takes public credit for it, refusing to even consider that one man could accomplish it, when all the various bureaus had to be consulted. Therefore, the city did it.
Even as his co-workers drink themselves silly at his wake, the people whose lives he touched come to weep openly. Humbled, the bureaucrats decide to fight the system like Watanabe did. The next day on the job, however, they quickly return to old form: "This isn't the right form, and this isn't the right office for your complaint-go see so-and-so."
Takashi Shimura is excellent as the emaciated and crumbling Watanabe. His moaning, croaking voice and pleading eyes are perfect for the part, although he does get a little creepy. The ending of this movie is very affirming and triumphant.

God, I'm winded... no more long posts...

Look Mom, No Copypasta!


It's a special post for Luke. Just another day in the good old US..

Here
The heartwarming story of three plainclothes cops who raid an apartment on a 'tip'. But they don't know that the 92-year old occupant is armed! Heroic granny shoots each one, but is then gunned down by the nefarious forces of evil. No word yet on how many shots they fired to kill her. Neat Jackboot twist: They don't bother informing the victim's family, who find out when the cops stage a press conference in front of her apartment building and name her. Yaaahh!!!

Don't accidentally dial 911
A Canadian woman dials 911 instead of 411. when 911 answers, she hangs up. Cops respond to see if she's in trouble. She informs them that it's a mistake, and refuses to let them in. THAT was her mistake. Cops call buddies and storm the house, threating the occupants and hauling them off to protective custody. Whheeee!!!