Great Wall Of China

Today I will help you discover some facts about the Great Wall of China. I will include information of the Great Wall Controversy, some interesting facts and when and why it was built.

It took four dynasties and 2000 years to build the Great Wall of China. The Qin erected the first major structure around 214BC and this was continued by the Han, the Jin and finally the Ming who ruled until the mid-17th century. The purpose of the wall was to protect the Middle Kingdom from northern invaders.




Great Wall of China: Length and the Space Controversy


The Great Wall of China stretches 8,800 km along the southern border of Mongolia. Sections are long buried by sandstorms were discovered in 2009, adding a further 290km. It’s the world’s largest military structure but with no clear photographic record, and so whether it can be seen from space continues to be unknown. Even the first Chinese astronaut in 2003 failed to identify the wall!

The highest point of the Wall is at Heita Mountain (1534 metres), the lowest is sea level at Laolongtou. The largest tower is the Zhenbeitai in the Shaanxi province.




So... Why was the Great Wall built?

The Great Wall of China is a Chinese construction, built from 3rd century BC until the beginning of the 17th century, in order to protect the various dynasties from raids by Mongol, Turkic, and other nomad tribes coming from areas in Mongolia and Manchuria.

The Wall was specifically to protect China from the invasion of the Xiongnu people from Mongolia. The Xiongnu tribe was China's main enemy at that time, and so the chinese built the Great Wall to prevent them from entering- and least favorably to the Chinese- conquering China.

Also, the Wall was erected to attack the Xiongnu people by shooting arrows and firing cannonballs at them from atop the Wall, which was cleverly designed with small holes in the walls for both defense and attack at the same time. Although the building of the architectural wonder demanded that many lives be sacrificed, it was still worth it in the end, as the Mongolians might have killed many more Chinese while inside China.

The Great Wall has also contributed in tourism in the later years too, although that was not the main reason for building it.

Funimation Adds Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji TV Anime

Great news!! FUNimation Entertainment has licensed my favourite anime (ever) and it will soon be available in ENGLSIH!!

The North American anime distributor Funimation has announced during its online FuniCon 3.0 panel on Monday that it has licensed the television anime adaptation of Yana Toboso's Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) manga. The story follows Sebastian Michaelis, an impeccable butler who can carry out practically any task his master requires of him — partly because he is a demon. His current master is Ciel, the Phantomhive family head who is smart, business-savvy, and all of 12 years old.

Director Toshiya Shinohara and Aniplex's A-1 Pictures Inc. animated the first 24-episode Kuroshitsuji anime from 2008 to 2009. A second season, Kuroshitsuji II, has since been announced for a July 2010 premiere, although it will feature a new butler and master.

Yen Press published the original manga in its Yen Plus magazine in North America, and the first volume debuted at #1 on The New York Times' manga bestseller list in January — the first book from Yen Press to achieve that feat. The manga has been running in Square Enix's Monthly G Fantasy magazine in Japan since 2006, and eight volumes have been compiled and published.

Hee hee! This is the best day ever!!

Time Hollow (Blog Post #8)

Hi there!
Last night I picked up an awesome game called Time Hollow, and I'm here today to let you know just a little bit about it, to get you interested.




Plot

Time Hollow follows the story of Ethan Kairos, whose parents mysteriously disappear on his 17th birthday. Ethan realizes that the entire world has changed to a world where his parents had disappeared 12 years ago.

Ethan then finds a note tied to his cat's collar telling him to look in a dumpster behind his school, where he finds a Hollow Pen, an object with the unique power to open portals to the past, as well as a note from his parents. Ethan uses the pen to solve problems that suddenly and mysteriously occur, and so starts changing the present, though he himself is able to remember these past parallel universes.

He also meets a girl, Kori Twelves, who seems to share Ethan's sight of time.

Now I'll stop here before I reveal anything major to the plot line. As Kori Twelves is not exactly what I would call my most favored character in the game (sorry to say I dislike her quite a bit), I have to stop talking about the plot as she is a part of it (regrattably).


Ethan Keiros



Ethan Kairos (時尾 歩郎, Tokio Horō)


The main character of Time Hollow. On the morning of his seventeenth birthday, he discovered that the world had changed into one where his parents went missing 12 years ago. In order to solve this mystery, he takes up the Hollow Pen, which has the power to change history.

About his name:

"Tokio Horō" is a pun on the Japanese pronunciation of the word "hollow" as well as on "time corridor" (toki no horou). His English last name is Latin for "the fullness of time." Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word.



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The opening theme song and clip used for Time Hollow really blew me away. The clips used where amazing to me- as this is an anime game- however the song used was really quite interesting. To be completley honest, I went to youtube.com to try and find the song right after I heard it, and I found it!!

Here is a link to Time Hollow's full opening theme. Time Hollow!!

Nintendo to launch 3D Game Systems (Blog Post #7)

It's three-dimensional everything as Nintendo plans to launch a new model of its DS handheld game system, that allows users to play three-dimensional (3D) games without using those special glasses.

The Japanese company said the new system will be able to play titles created for previous DS models and will be launched soon in the year. This means that my beloved Assassin's Creed is going to be in 3D!!

Nintendo, which competes with Sony and Microsoft in video games, refused to give details such as price and launch dates, but said more information will be announced at the E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles, come June.

Sony also plans to release 3D titles, but for its PlayStation 3 game console, in time for the planned release of its 3D TVs in June. That game console can be upgraded to become 3D-capable using a software update.

This is truly going to soon be the age of 3D technology.

Implants Anyone? (Blog Post #6)

Apparently, the word 'implants' nowadays don't necessarily refer to breast implants anymore.

Fascinating isn't it? I'm sure 75% of you would think of bouncing, jiggling mammary glands the minute you hear the word 'implants'.

But it's not. The latest street fashion fad has nothing much to do with breast enhancement.

Indeed, pass the word, peeps. It seems tattoos are now considered too tame and passe. The latest 'In' thing to hit street fashion? Well, fashion IMPLANTS. Literally.

Here's a relatively normal implant job done on the back of the hands



It's not too bad isn't it? Heck, I actually find it morbidly fascinating. I'll probably be running my hand over it and poking it to see if it hurts and how they inserted it.

Take it a step further, and implant bulbous knobs on arms though, and it's an entirely new story for me. Personally, I think this dude looks like he belongs on a mutant movie set.

Then again, it might be funny if you're on a jam packed subway train and you feel a hard, bulbous thing kinda poking you...hmmm....might lead to lots of misunderstandings you know?



Yet, for the life of me, I cannot fathom this.

It's like octopus suckers on the arms, or some gigantic ringworm epidemic on humans. O_o Oh, and psst...I think the spacing between two of the rings aren't exactly even.



Even women are jumping on the implants bandwagon.

Tell me though, all you manly dudes out there. If a female specimen with this on her chest comes on to you, would you find it SEXY? Tell me, alight? Cause I REALLY want to know.



Behold, Hellboy's kin.

By now, I'm not exactly surprised already.



Hands, arm, chest, now head. Presumably there's some sort of order to this 'implant' business.

Still, I wonder how long this fad is gonna last.

Consider how advantageous it might be. Just like how some brave souls have tattooed their male reproductive organ, maybe some can even consider inserting implants and uhh... enhancing it. Better stimulation, better performance etc etc, the idea just popped into my head.

Hmmm...

What do you say? Implants, anyone?

Kizer Dabbles (Blog Post #5)

Not sure what or who exactly is "Kizer Dabbles"? Some may know him as Kizer180, kizerilla or Kizer Stone- but he's the same person with the same awesome artistic talent.

I was on the same art website I'm always on- DeviantART- and stumbled across one of the most recent posts of art. It was a very well-drawn picture of an older version of Logan from X-Men, with two children versions of Cyclops and Jean.
This photo brought me to the Gallery of Kizer180, where the images I saw inspired me to attempt my own of his style.



Now back to Kizer Dabbles. Earlier today I was procrastinating on an Essay and was poking around Blogspot for art websites; and guess who I came across!
KIZER'S DABBLES popped up onto my screen, and with a hoot of joy I started scanning the page.

One thing that I really enjoyed seeing was that of a "Make A Face" image that you yourself could make. Kizer provided a blank face and an example of what you could do with the blank face. A link to the page is provided at the end of this post.



My favourite peice done by Kizer is titled "Kizer Star". I'm not sure why really, but I know that I'm really drawn to the clothing and how your eye really moves around the picture.

"I was drawing in photoshop with the pen tool >mainly screwing around< and then I started drawing this dude...... I guess he's supposed be some kind of rock star swordsman... I dunno."

~Kizer


Kizer Star^

And so, this Rock Star Swordsman has captured a place in my artsy heart along with all of Kizer's other arts.

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Here Is a link to Kizer's Blogger

Here is a link to Kizer's DeviantART

HERE Is the "Make A Face" link for you- go make a face :D

I hope you take some time to look through the Galleries and make your own face- have fun and get artsy!!

Final Fantasy 13 (Blog Post #4)

To Visit The Official site, Cick Here

Last Teusday March 9th, a long awaited video game by the name of Final Fantasy XIII (or Final Fantasy Thirteen) came out for the Playstation 3 and Xbox Live game Consoles.

What I find a bit annoying about Battle-play is that it is similar to the Battle-Play of Final Fantasy III on the Nintendo DS. In Final Fantasy III, you choose which character in your party attacks which enemy with whatever attack, and then watch them fight. There's no fun in it at all, the game is mostly strategy. In Final Fantasy VII and other games of the Final Fantasy series (or more well known, Kingdom Hearts), you can guide your character, spam the "A" or "X" button to attack and joyfully beat your opponent to a pulp. If the game it rated 16 and up, we want some form of beating up the "Pantheron" on the enemy's side.



Now, for most video game fans this would mean just another game to wrap your head around for something to do while you "suffer" at school or work, however for fans of other Final Fantasy games, this is a huge excitment. There are a total of four gaes for the XIII series, and I will let you know about those after a neet little tidbit about the characters.



One thing that I find very cool about the Final Fantasy XIII cast of characters, they are all molded after a character from Final Fantasy VII (or Final Fantasy Seven).
The protagonist, strawberry-blonde, beautiful, cold-hearted Lightning Farron is actually modeled from a man in Final Fantasy VII, the protagonist named Cloud Strife.
(One thing before I continue, Lighting's last name was found out from her younger sister Serah, don't shoot me down for making up a false name, oh FFXIII fan.)
Cloud Strife and Lightning Farron look very, very similar in both face, and some personality traights show as well.

Other characters are modeled after other characters such as Barrett from VII was used as a model for Sazh, the man in XIII with the baby bird in his afro. One of the women, Fang, is modeled after Zack Fair from VII.

Rumors said Noctis Lucis Caelum was modeled after Lightning who was modeled after Cloud... But I'll stop being a nerd and get on with my post.


Cloud Strife, Lightning Farron and Noctis- featured above


Lightning Farron- shown above

There are four actual games for Final Fantasy XIII that are all going to be released. The first which was released March 9, 2010 was titled very simply; "Final Fantasy XIII". This game was very simply just the start of the adventures of XIII.



Noctis Lucis Caelum, shown above

The next to come out is called "Final Fantasy Versus XIII", which will reportedly introduce a new character, Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum. Now if this Prince thing is new to you, you're not the only one. "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" has no solid release date, but development is well underway and gameplay has been shown briefly in scans which are sadly not of the best quality.



Agito's Logo- shown above

The third game, "Final Fantasy Agito XIII". Previously announced for Mobile Cell, but now exclusively for PSP, Final Fantasy Agito XIII is the third instalment of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. Little is known about the story, other than multiple large armies seem to be attacking a magical institution which holds a crystal.


Haeresis's Logo is shown above, however the name is also being debated weather to remain as "Haeresis" or change to "Melody"

And finally, "Final Fantasy Haeresis XIII". Final Fantasy Haeresis XIII is not fully confirmed by Square Enix but is rumored to be an Online RPG, part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation, for the Playstation 3. We know nothing official about this game, however Square Enix have published a wordmark. There is no verification that this is true and is rumor until confirmed.

Thanks for reading my hopefully interesting and yet super long post about Final Fantasy XIII, I hope you take time to play the games because, honestly, I don't do as great a job of describing the games as I should.

For next time,
Tomo <3

Air Canada learns that hockey trumps flying

I thought this was a neet little thing to show you on a cloudy Wednesday morning :)
Although I dislike hockey, I watched the winning game and it turns out, these people did as well...




"Canada's largest airline has learned that it sometimes has to take a back seat against the country's biggest sporting passion, ice hockey", the head of Air Canada said on Tuesday.


The airline was forced to delay a flight from Vancouver during the last day of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games because passengers watching the end of the gold-medal-game on airport televisions ignored repeated calls to board.

"We incurred a flight delay for a reason Air Canada had not yet encountered in over 72 years of existence," chief executive Calin Rovinescu told a business gathering.

The Canadian fans were rewarded for their delay, as the nail-biting end to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics saw Canada beat arch-rival United States 3-2 in overtime.

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant)

Photo Manipulation (Blog Post #3 Wild Card)

I found an Artist on a website who goes by the name of MattTheSaumrai. At first, I was amazed at how he worked with Fire, but once I looked deeper into the wonderful works, I found some Photo Manipulations that I fell in love with.



My Favourite work is called The Alchemist (Above). I really enjoy this because of where your eyes follow, and just because of the amazing qualities to the photo. Qualities such as Magic, or Alchemy, and the person manipulating the Alchemy is wearing a hood and mask, making him mysterious.
The Alchemist in the picture seems to be located in a church, doing his magics there. I like the mystery in the photo but also the amount of colour in it. I can't really express why I love the photo so much, but I do!



The second photo is titled The Reaper II. I enjoy this work because, as the Alchemist does, the photo holds an air of mystery to it, as the man holding the Scythe is hooded and you can not see his face. The moon in the background is beautiful, making your eyes trail towards it after studying the human.
Why do I like this piece? Well mostly because of the mysterious man, but also because of the background. The background has almost rips and tears in it, leaf-less trees and looks eerie.

Click HERE to visit Mathieu's DeviantART Profile! Definitely worth looking at!

Click HERE to visit FireDusk- Mathieu's works using FIRE! It's worth checking out over and over again!!

Disclaimer: All Photos have been used under Authorized permission from MattTheSamurai

Typography

In class, we're learning how to make Kinetic Typography videos.
Videos such as words only, and Audio.

Here are some links that have helped inspired the video I am trying to make.

Blink 182

V For Vendetta

Who's On First?