h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've been back at Durham (for my third term) almost a week now; with exams approaching, it's the lull before the storm. It's a pity that after two terms I've yet to meet anyone there who's really on my wavelength -- but then, mine is a little-used wavelength, and meeting people (in real life) is far from being my strong point. I have now discovered the perils of subscribing to Entries; I returned to h2g2 -- I don't have an Internet connection at home -- to find a conversation called 'Sex With Animals' prominently displayed on my Personal Space.

I currently have an essay on Kierkegaard's 'Fear & Trembling' to finish; I'm making good progress, but I can't shake off the feeling that what Kierkegaard was saying ultimately defies analysis (which may end up being something I argue in the essay). After all, he has Johannes repeatedly refer to the incomprehensibility of the Knight of Faith -- which is rather a requirement of, or at least need not invalidate, Kierkegaard's demonstration of the incompatibility of identification of 'the ethical' with 'the universal' and approval of Abraham.

I've finally got around to updating my Personal Space, although there's certainly a lot more that could be done to it -- and only Brunel users get the full effects of the colour scheme.

It seems to be missing from online release schedules, but as far as I know the final volume of the anime Noir is still due to be released on May the 17th. I hope to have a Guide Entry ready for Peer Review soon afterwards; hopefully some Scout will take pity on that one. After that -- I was recently shocked to find that we have no Edited Entry on Eva. Three or four unedited ones, but nothing in the Edited Guide. Something will have to be done. I've now done most of what I presently can with the Exel Saga Entry; I haven't read much of the manga yet, but in any case I believe only the first six volumes (and hence none containing Elgala) are currently available in English. So I'll have to wait a while to find out about Elgala -- and for the U.K. release of Puni Puni Poemy.

I'm getting worried about the amount of background information I'm having to cram into the Excel Saga Entry; I'm thinking of writing a separate Entry on doujinshi to link to. Planning to write about Poemy and Eva, I'm toying with the idea of writing an Entry on fan service, so as to be able to have a nice, mature discussion of it to link anime-related Entries to -- to be followed, presumably, by an Entry called 'Coming Out As a Sukebe'. (Joking!) Actually, I am rather nervous about what such an Entry would do to my reputation. ' 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus' -- but the information we get judged by is based on what we do. (Actually, that's if we're _lucky_.) Then again, in real life I think I tend to give an impression of frigidity; but while it's not true that I have no libido, it's also not the case that I'm wildly keen on fan service. I've tried looking for discussions of fan service online, and actually found it quite hard -- presumably because it's Something We Don't Talk About.

I was intending to write an Entry on Boogiepop Phantom, but that may have to be pushed aside for the moment. It's an interesting show, although having it on DVD and being able to rewatch it is certainly helpful; the plot is wildly convoluted. The intro I regard as one of the best I've ever seen. Not one for the depressed, though.

Oh, and I downloaded the latest Advent Children ( http://www.adventchildren.net ) trailer, and was pleased to discover that one of the great Final Fantasy VII debates is over; with the authority of Square-Enix, 'Jenova' is pronounced 'je'no-va'. (The alternative possibility 'je-no'va', with a long 'o', tended to be favoured by adherents of the theory that the name was derived from 'Jehova' -- possibly a combination of it with 'nova' to give the sense 'new god', which would fit Sephiroth's aspirations.) So that just leaves the 'Did Meteor Hit?' question, the Aeris deification theory, and of course the J=L Theory. Whether Advent Children resolves those questions or not, it's certainly looking spectacular. The voice acting also seems, from what little we have to go on so far, to be of a high standard.