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Yikes…hello! It’s been a while. I promise I’m not dead–just very busy. Retaking the GRE, occasionally studying for level 2 of the JLPT, and working on grad school applications and my visual portfolio…plus playing catch-up at work this week because I was sick and out of the office for two days…I haven’t had a lot of time to myself lately.
I did begin some work on reorganizing some aspects of the site, and my Designy Sense (meant to sound like Spidey-Sense…pardon me, it’s been a long week) is really tingling. One thing that’s been bugging me for months is that the Mac and PC versions of the same fonts behave differently, so because of the differences in Verdana between the Mac and PC, the navigation is totally wrong on the Mac.
I’m almost tempted to attempt another redesign and try to stick it in my portfolio, though there’s the whole constraint of “pretty portfolio site” =/= “caters to all users.” Eh, we’ll see. I really wish I were a better web developer, so I could generate the content dynamically and not have to change over 50 separate HTML pages individually (did you notice that the copyright statement still says 2007? yeah…). I like to do it all myself and not rely on some generic CMS that dictates the site’s layout, too.
And I am seriously behind on my e-mails. I’m really sorry about that.
Okay, something related to the show: I was rewatching episode 1 (I created my own DVDs of the show thanks to iDVD on the Mac, which rocks) and picked up on something during the rhyme-in-runes that Alomar shows Ren.
Thirteen Treasures of Ancient Time
Thirteen Lessons of Rule in Rhyme
“Lessons of Rule.” Once that phrase registered for me, it immediately brought to mind this article, and specifically, this quote:
“Sailing in a vessel called the Wraith, Ren tries to locate “the Thirteen Treasures of Rule,” which are qualities such as perseverance, strength, grace, generosity, kindness. They are, said Kirschner, the qualities that will make Ren more qualified to take over his father’s position as king of Octopon.
Kirschner sees the story as a mirror of life and the search for the power that lies within a person.
“It’s an action-adventure that’s certainly a swashbuckler,” said Kirschner. “The story is about a boy who’s thrown into a situation beyond his control: He has to bring back the Thirteen Treasures of Rule. At the end of the story, Northern Wind touches him - and it’s his father’s voice - saying, `Come home.’ This amazing journey was not to collect these treasures, but it was what they signified. He moves that much closer to being a true ruler with the qualities it takes to preside over a people.”
I’m not sure how many of you ever did happen to see that article, but it’s a rather telling one–that quote in particular.
Hopefully I’ll post again this year, and I hope you all have a great weekend!
Very short notice, but while I (probably) won’t be at the convention, I will be at the parade this morning with my friends, wearing a b&w PoDW shirt I had made in college years ago and brown capris. (I’m Indian, too.) Come look for me!
(I’ve now broken my tradition of posting something on my birthday every year, which was yesterday. 27 years old…wow. This site’s been with me for a very, very long time.)
For anyone who was wondering, I will not be attending DragonCon this year. I’m done with DragonCon–it was too huge and badly managed last year, and I can’t deal with such massive crowds packed into such small spaces (the convention’s grown far too large for its host hotels)…and I think I’ve mellowed out in my geekiness much more so than the standard convention-goer. DragonCon always ends up leaving me stressed and worn out.
However, a friend and I will be checking out the parade on Saturday. That should at least be interesting–I really admire people who have a talent for crafting such intricate costumes.
Ioanna, a fellow North Georgia PoDW fan, proposed a suggestion this week: would any Atlantan/north Georgian PoDW fans be interested in an in-person group meetup? Over the years I’ve met a few other fans–friends I made through the site, fellow Georgia Tech students, or people I talked with who happened to live in cities I visited. But in all these years, a group meetup never crossed my mind. One of the goals I had for this site was to attempt to connect PoDW fans, and I haven’t done a great job of that (though granted, it’s tough with a slightly obscure show that’s been “dead” for this long), but this is a more tangible way of going about it.
If you’re interested, drop me a line or comment here! Be sure to leave your e-mail address or something so I have some way of reaching you.
Many thanks to Konway for the link! The original Dark Water miniseries opening is up on YouTube. (Apparently it was used in France as well, since the title graphic in this clip simply reads, “Le Tourbillon Noir.”)
It’s quite different from what we know as the “standard” opening, with the Ioz/Hector Elizondo voiceover, and that really beautiful intro sequence with the various natural scenes of Mer. But it’s pretty awesome in its own right! I saw it a few years back when I acquired VHS tapes of the original miniseries, but still haven’t been able to digitize them…luckily, someone else has been more industrious than I have!
That map sequence in particular, with the first seven Treasures lighting in various spots, intrigues me–I think they recreated it in at least one of the video games, if I remember correctly. If anyone wants to try to break this down, please be my guest–I have a headache tonight, and it’s honestly been long enough since I’ve seen the episodes that I’m having trouble trying to figure out if the Treasures’ locations fit with the locations on this map! At the very least I can see The Dragon’s Maw (center) and Mobo Mountain (right). I’m unable to make out the others, though.
It’s hard to say if one’s better than the other, since many of us are so used to the second one I linked to. The music’s different and there’s a bit more original animation in the original…I feel like the one we know works better as an opener, the scenes are arranged more logically, and the music and voiceover serve it well and serve as a better opening for the show. But that’s not at all to discount the original one, which has a kind of jaunty and adventurous feel to it.
Woohoo! Seeing this–and in surprisingly high quality for YouTube–made my evening. Check it out!
There now is a Facebook fan page for the show (not created by me). Check it out and pass it on!
The series finale to Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the finest pieces of animation, emotional storytelling, and closure I’ve seen in years.
My only regret…that I don’t know other people here in Atlanta who watch the show. I had a few friends in Japan who also kept up with the show (hey, Kiet/Julie/Brian/Kam!), so we had a viewing party for the hourlong Book 2 finale, but this was a solo event for me today.
Well, actually, there are several other regrets I have that relate specifically to the show (finding one character very hard to understand, being turned off by a bit of necessary kid-friendly silliness at the beginning, and wondering why half of season 3 has now ended up becoming fluff and filler episodes with occasional character development)…the ToonZone.net review sums them up exquisitely and delivers a stellar review.
To people complaining it was predictable–well, to a degree, yes. It’s still a kids’ show, which guarantees several differences from adult-oriented fare right there. But it was quite dark and quite deep, definitely catering to its older audiences and painting a very real and human struggle that’s far removed from the standard cliche-riddled “you shall pay for this!”-esque cartoon duels.
American TV hasn’t seen animation like this in many years.
And was the music–DONE WITH LIVE MUSICIANS FOR ONCE–amazing or what? There’s one duel in particular that wouldn’t have quite succeeded without such a strong score behind it. This violinist and music-worshiper very strongly approved! I read an interview The Track Team (the composers) had done a couple of months ago and they mentioned how excited they were to have real musicians to work with on this. It totally paid off! They’ve done a great job with this entire show, giving it a very different, organic, and worldly feel with their instrumentations and melodies.
I’ll confess: I cried. I seriously wept. I’ve become fairly emotionally invested in these characters. The journey Zuko and Iroh have taken has been particularly wonderful to watch, and I just rewatched episode 1 this week, and Aang and Katara and Sokka have grown up and matured so noticeably since then. And though people write Aang off as being boring, I really identify strongly with his struggle–like him, I also try to live a life of nonviolence and respect towards all living beings. (I’ve been a strict vegetarian for 15 years, and as an Indian, my belief structure is based in Hindu and Buddhist spiritual ideals.) The struggle he went through to reconcile his task was one that resonated with me–I truly understood how hard it was for him, being shouldered with an assignment that went against his very core. I really liked the way they resolved it.
This has a PoDW tie-in, too, because a complaint I’ve seen about Ren is that he’s too weak and wimpy (in part) because in The Game Players of Undaar, he didn’t kill Bloth off–or, through inaction, let him die–when he had the chance. To me, that isn’t cowardice, but courage and strength of character.
And speaking of resolution, I love how…final and not final the ending was. It instilled a great sense of closure, certainly, but the way they left several untied threads hanging there was done so gracefully.
Okay, this is long enough. I can’t say enough good things about it. Did any of you see it? Feel free to weigh in here–and spoilers are okay in the comments.
All right…as part of my move to bill myself as a web professional, I’m striving to present a (marginally) less geeky facade online, and to associate all online content with my real name. As a result, I’m moving away from using the name “Andorus” as an alias wherever possible–and that includes renaming my websites. “Andorus’s Hideaway” is (for now) simply ecomancer.net, but will eventually be changed to something else.
“Andorus’s Pirates of Dark Water Page,” though…I have no clue.
So, I’d like you all to tell me! What do you think would be a good new name for the site? I’d like something kind of classy, obviously related to the show, but not too over-the-top or contrived. I suck at naming stuff on my own, so any and all input would be appreciated! This site also wouldn’t exist in its current state if not for the contributions (and words of moral support) from several thousand of you all over the years, so it’s only fair to include you in the decision-making process.
Please comment here, or send me an e-mail. Thank you so much in advance!
Thanks to Nathan for alerting me to this, and sorry I didn’t post it earlier (I was out of town and fell pretty sick while I was traveling, so I’ve been out of commission for over a week).
A guy by the name of Soetermans took it upon himself to make some major edits to PoDW Wikipedia site, deleting a lot of stuff he (and he alone) claimed doesn’t belong on Wikipedia. I think the admins intervened in the favor of the regular maintainers, but a lot of content that was once there is gone. If you have the inclination and time and aren’t averse to editing Wikipedia (some people think that’s the height of geekiness, but I think it embodies the original intent and ideals of the World Wide Web in many ways), please take a few moments to head over and add in whatever info you’re willing.
Oh, and a note to the guy who insisted in the Discussion tab (sorry, I’m not a frequent contributer and am not up on my Wiki-jargon) that Frank Welker is the only voice actor for Niddler: actually, he isn’t. I have VHS copies to prove that Roddy McDowall did do the original voice, and I swear I’ll digitize them soon so everyone can see! (Not that I’m complaining about having a social life…it just makes my online presence more incidental and less regular.)
Maybe I’ll ride this wave of guilt over letting this website just sit here and rot, and go back to my parents’ place, pick up my copies of the VHS tapes, and go to our local Indian grocery and see about having them converted. I’ve been eyeing DVD-burner/VHS decks, too, so I can just do it myself. And TVs, because those are also kind of important. ;P It’s been really nice living a TV-free existence, though I’d only be using it for movies and basic channels (reloading weather.com and searching for streaming webcasts of local weather when under a tornado warning is not ideal! But for Atlantans, 11alive.com does have one). I’ll figure something out soon. And maybe I’ll spend a weekend just catching up on website updates…it’s so hard when the weather’s so beautiful, though.
God, I need to update this site so badly. I have something like a year’s worth of stuff to put up, but I guess the fact that I have an active social life is a good thing, though not so good for any of my websites. ;P And I’m trying to go easy on my hand and wrist, which have been aching lately from overuse, since I spend 40 hours/week on a computer already. I’m getting back into playing the violin seriously again, so I definitely don’t want to strain my hand as I prepare to audition for community orchestras.
Anyway, this is just to say that I’m finally loosening up a bit, raising the floodgates, what-have-you. If you’re on Facebook and you want to add me as a friend, feel free! Thank you to everyone who has tried to friend me already, and I’m truly sorry for having to turn you away before! Facebook’s customizable privacy settings have made this possible now, so I’m not broadcasting my personal contact info to every single person I add. ;P Just be sure to mention that you found my name through the site–I want to add people with whom I share some connection/commonality, and not just random folks.
(And there seem to be about 27 Facebook groups that relate to PoDW these days–besides the standard “Pirates of Dark Water” groups, there are other ones like “Replace the F-word with Noy Jitat” (ha! I love it), and a few “Classic Cartoons” groups. Take your pick!)
Yet again ripping off Cartoon Brew, but this was too fantastic not to post. A whole site devoted to (mainly tongue-in-cheek) dissertations on various animated series and movies! There’s nothing there on PoDW (yet? anyone?). But it’s a pretty hilarious read, with some real gems featured, and, on occasion, some interesting and insightful points. Check it out.