http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:ProfRasah&section=today deviantART RSS for by:ProfRasah en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:45:49 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/28008351/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/28008351/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:30:11 PDT [Sorry if I haven't replied to your comments/replies yet, school has made my life rather busy lately.]

Researching the Boston Tea Party recently, since our cosplay group is planning on attending the reenactment at the Old South Meeting House on Sunday, December 13th.

We'll most probably be going as Revolutionary America, Revolutionary England, and Revolutionary France and Native America possibly will be joining us. Hopefully.

I've written a small, short poem about this subject during class today. I might expand and edit it later on, then post it here. Look forward for that!

Otherwise, I'm very busy and won't be around much.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27976065/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27976065/ Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:32:29 PDT
I've been trying to finish some homework in the meantime and catch up on information about the mayor election that's coming up.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27356961/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27356961/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:37:05 PDT


The first 10 people who comment on this journal will get a sketch or dedication to any photograph I post in the future, free. However, in return, you must offer 10 free sketches in your own journal. If you've already done 10 Free Sketches, simply link the journal entry in your comment... You still qualify.



01 - I will NOT draw your request or photograph until I see this in your journal.
02 - In your comment, include a link to a reference picture of the character you want me to draw or tell me what you want me to photograph. Or write me a description. FOR PHOTO: Make it generic enough so that, even if we're on opposite sides of the world, I can still find what you're asking for.
03 - Only one character or photograph per person- Remember, this is FREE.
Have fun with this, it's a great way to pass your talents to your fans.



1. Siefl's OC, Lan...
2. Fig5's OC, Jinx...
3.
4. Zel's OC, Val...
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.



Don't know how I'm going to pull this off with school and all, but I'll try.

However, Halloween is coming up and I'll be attending the festivaties in Salem, so if you want me to take a photograph of something there, let me know!

I try doing photographs because I suck at drawing. I mean, REALLY SUCK!




EDIT: 09/29/09
I made a rough sketch of what I'm going to try to do for these commissions. I'll be posting it in my scraps gallery.
[link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27094765/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27094765/ Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:22:18 PDT that is....

Anyways, found many of them here, on this journal: [link]

And BigBen's here: [link]

Alfred's here: [link]

Arthur's here: [link]

Peter's here: [link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27084594/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/27084594/ Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:22:37 PDT + =

Check this out!
[link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26648917/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26648917/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:55:06 PDT
On Friday afternoon, some of them came to Lynn to get our flags, but the store's computer had crashed and had cancelled our orders. We had to drive to Beverly to get them.

While we waited, we walked down the Lynn Commons towards the Old Western Burial Ground, which I've never been in before. It was excellent! I was even able to find Samual Whiting's grave!

But I was pissed when some lady came in with her dog and sat on one of the headstones, which I could tell was that of a Civil War veteran. I told her off, and she got off. But she kept an eye on us as we were leaving. I might file a complaint to keep the disrespectfuls out of such a sacred place!

After getting our flags at the Beverly store, we went and had McDonalds. Then we all went home.


The next day was the Hetalia Olympics !!!!

I was surprised at the vast numbers of homeless people scattered around Harvard Square. I felt bad for these people. When I saw one who was taking care of his cat and dog while begging for any spare change we could come up with for food, I went and gave him several dollars (around seven to nine bucks).

(((I'll finish this journal entry later.)))

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26440129/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26440129/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:44:15 PDT Size 2 x 3' would cost $23.90
Size 3 x 5' would cost $37.00

Canadian Flag:
Size 2 x 3' would cost $23.90
Size 3 x 5' would cost $37.00

People's Republic of China Flag:
Size 2 x 3' would cost $30.90
Size 3 x 5' would cost $43.80

Lithuanian Flag:
Size 2 x 3' would cost $23.90
Size 3 x 5' would cost $37.00

Italian Flag:
Size 2 x 3' would cost $18.00
Size 3 x 5' would cost $25.80

Norwegian Flag:
Size 2 x 3' would cost $23.90
Size 3 x 5' would cost $37.00

Latvian Flag:
Size 2 x 3' would cost $23.90
Size 3 x 5' would cost $37.00

Danish Flag:
Size 2 x 3' would cost $23.90
Size 3 x 5' would cost $37.00

French Flag
Size 2 x 3' would cost $18.00
Size 3 x 5' would cost $25.80


Current Ordering List:
1 (3x5) Union Jack
1 (2x3) Union Jack
1 (3x5) Italian
1 (2x3) Lithuanian
1 (2x3) Chinese
1 (2x3) French


Desired List of Flags:
5 Union Jacks
1 Canadian
1 Lithuanian
1 Chinese
1 Danish
1 Norwegian (spelling?)
1 Latvian
1 Italian
1 French


Please message me IMMEDIATELY if you're coming on this trip and you are interested in ordering a flag.

Please CORRECT ME if your order is wrong!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26268627/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26268627/ Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:45:44 PDT
Yeah, working at the Treasury Department can be pretty boring, so lately I've been downloading new stuff onto there like mad.

For instance.... Remember when sang at our last picnic as France? Well, I found a youtube converter and now I have her singing on my iPod!

I'll probably try downloading more audios from the picnics, in order to escape the vast boredom I sometimes suffer.

And it's good to listen to tunes while you're working, too.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26001541/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/26001541/ Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:00:03 PDT [link]

Like everyone else whom I know from the picnics/AnimeBoston09, I'm getting ready for the Hetalia Olympics, which will be hosted in Boston, Massachusetts this August.



Date: August 15th.

Time: The Meet-up's around 11 to 12 in the morning. Games start at 1.

Location: Undecided as of yet.

Bring:
"WATER!!!
A dish to share
Towel (sweat and all)
A flag, at the very least a small flag
Bandanas (We will tell you what colors)"

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25926407/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25926407/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:45:27 PDT I'm so happy!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25920504/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25920504/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:55:26 PDT I'm tired.
My brain's not entirely thinking straight.
Can't wait to go home.



]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25800138/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25800138/ Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:54:06 PDT [link]
[link]iK-T4v2tOE&feature=channel_page
[link]

Includes a SINGING FRANCE!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25779342/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25779342/ Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:02:00 PDT was able to post several videos from the Axis Powers Hetalia picnic yesterday.

Here they are:
[link]
[link]
[link]
With more to come!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25767869/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25767869/ Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:17:09 PDT I have to go and order a new one.
Wish me luck.

I'm currently at work, answering phones and greeting people at the door of the Lynn City Department of the Treasurery. To my friends (the ones I know personally), if you have the time and are in the area, come visit me sometime!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25661295/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25661295/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:28:49 PDT
]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25373614/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25373614/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:20:33 PDT
Apparently there will be another Hetalia cosplay picnic on July 5th, same place, same time. Hope to see you all there!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25241094/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25241094/ Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:53:07 PDT Does anyone know when the Battle of Bunker Hill reenactment will take place or if they are going? I believe it's next Wed., June 17th, but I can't be sure.

Posted a video from the cosplay picnic!
[link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25059370/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/25059370/ Sun, 31 May 2009 20:39:40 PDT
Watched Deadliest Warrior. Yay, my second favorite show!!!
And you can check out my Spike account here: [link]

Please doing buisness with ya'll.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24812397/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24812397/ Sun, 17 May 2009 20:09:15 PDT
Hopefully luck will be on my side.

In the first episode, England finds his union jack flag on the ground outside, and thinks Ireland did it. He demands an apology from her. However, Ireland believes this is a ploy to humilate her and refuses. How will this conflict resolve itself?

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24691576/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24691576/ Sun, 10 May 2009 17:55:02 PDT [link]

"Anime Boston 2009 will go on scheduled!
May 04, 2009 - Tuan


Anime Boston 2009 and its organizers are aware of laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu in Massachusetts and the surrounding area. Anime Boston staff highly suggests all attendees to follow these basic hygienic rules while attending the convention:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. If you do not have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your sleeve and not your hands.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
Stay home if you get sick.
Hand washing, fluid and trash stations are available throughout the Hynes Convention Center and the Sheraton Boston Hotel. We suggest that all attendees make use of these facilities to remain healthy and hygienic during this year’s convention.

As of this time, Anime Boston 2009 is still scheduled May 22-24th, 2009 and all guests have been confirmed to attend.

For more information about the H1N1 strain of flu, please visit [link] or call 1-800-CDC-INFO."

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24634858/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24634858/ Thu, 07 May 2009 12:51:14 PDT DRAW EACH OF THE FIFTY STATES AS IF THEY WERE PERSONIFIED IN AXIS POWERS HETALIA!

1) Delaware
2) Pennsylvania
3) New Jersey
4) Georgia
5) Connecticut
6) Massachusetts
7) Maryland
8) South Carolina
9) New Hampshire
10) Virginia
11) New York
12) North Carolina
13) Rhode Island
14) Vermount
15) Kentucky
16) Tennessee
17) Ohio
18) Louisiana
19) Indiana
20) Mississippi
21) Illinois
22) Alabama
23) Maine
24) Missouri
25) Arkansas
26) Michigan
27) Florida
28) Texas
29) Iowa
30) Wisconsin
31) California
32) Minnesota
33) Oregon
34) Kansas
35) West Virginia
36) Nevada
37) Nebraska
38) Colorado
39) North Dakota
40) South Dakota
41) Montana
42) Washington
43) Idaho
44) Wyoming
45) Utah
46) Oklahoma
47) New Mexico
48) Arizona
49) Alaska
50) Hawaii

Post a link here when you're done!!!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24596548/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24596548/ Tue, 05 May 2009 06:24:15 PDT Today, I wanted to include the prayer of St. Lawrence, who was martyred on my birthday, August 10th. Join me, please, as I pray.


Father,

you called Saint Lawrence to serve you by love

and crowned his life with glorious martyrdom.

Help us to be like him

in loving you and doing your work.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


**********************************************************************************************

Thank you.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24565095/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24565095/ Sun, 03 May 2009 11:56:12 PDT
]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24407341/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24407341/ Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:35:36 PDT Nana is hysterical.
Going to have to call my relatives and let them know the bad news.
Will probably go over to my grandmother's house later today, after my classes, and console her.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24384664/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24384664/ Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:04:24 PDT Except I finally joined Twitter.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24356035/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24356035/ Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:17:58 PDT But why would a question like that be put into such a competition?

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24355885/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24355885/ Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:01:57 PDT [link]
Is Racism Against White People Possible?
Written by Shari
Published December 06, 2006
There’s a growing fad among Japanese novelty shops and variety television shows. This is dressing up like a “gaijin” (foreigner) and acting like one by donning a large fake nose, bushy wigs (and sometimes beards) then speaking in loud, broken and poor English. A few examples of the types of items can be seen here and here.

The gaijin community that takes notice of such things is uncertain whether or not this is offensive to foreigners or simply amusing.

The fact that white people, who are typified as big-nosed and hairy by the Japanese, even question whether or not this is offensive raises the question of whether or not anything which portrays white folks in a negative light by non-caucasians can ever be considered racist.

After all, if you change the costume to one which would allow a white person to dress up as a stereotypical Japanese person – geeky glasses, buck teeth, yellowish skin, and “slanted eyes” - it can be recognized immediately as an offensive negative stereotype.

Since black comedians can say nearly anything they want about white people as part of their comedy routines while white comedians are forbidden from using any stereotypes about minorities of any stripe in their routines for fear of being seen as racist, one has to ponder whether or not racism against white folks is considered impossible.

On more than one occasion, the argument has been made that it’s not racist to make wholesale negative remarks about white people because they are in the majority and therefore “in power”. The idea is that you can only be a racist if you are in a position to oppress someone.

This argument confuses “discrimination” with “racism”. For behavior to be racist, it is only required to be based on stereotypical (and usually negative) thinking. Most racist commentary is meant to belittle those who are different in appearance from oneself as a means of elevating oneself.

There is little risk that white people will eventually find themselves oppressed or in a situation where they are discriminated against wholesale as a result of spreading racist sentiment. However, that is not the point. Racism of any kind serves to separate people and breeds resentment and hostility based on superficial differences. Even if white adults can laugh at themselves as they are stereotyped by others, this type of humor subtly teaches children who grow up exposed to such humor that it’s okay to make fun of others because they are different. It also increases the likelihood that they will apply such humor to their contemporaries with potentially disastrous results.

While it may sound far-fetched and alarmist, a comment on one of the many blogs about Japan regarding the “gaijin” costumes illustrates just how potentially dangerous racial humor can be when children are exposed to it. According to this comment, a Japanese child grabbed at his teacher’s crotch because he had heard jokes about “big gaijin” penis sizes.


]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24280708/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24280708/ Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:42:41 PDT ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24280100/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24280100/ Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:06:07 PDT And I need to get it off my computer because it takes up so much room. Should I post it on youtube?

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24234013/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24234013/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:13:41 PDT Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday, dear keyblader1111,
Happy birthday to YOU!!!!

Recently, I've taken up the noble sport of archery at college. At first, I was horrible, I couldn't hit the target nor get the arrows in a cluster. Then, after a few practice sessions, the professor talked to the class about "eye dominence." (Basically, take your hands and make a large circle with them. Aim for the target and peak through. Close one eye. Try the other. Which eye makes the target jump from the viewing area? That's eye dominence.) We discovered that I am some sort of abnomily (sp?), I use my right hand for shooting and yet need to close my left eye to get accurate aim. It's very strange.

Now I am able to get all my arrows on the target. Currently, my highest score, so far for this class, is 42 points with five arrows. I plan to improve upon this.
A fascinating occurence was when I hit the target accurately, sometimes my fellow students will clap. Is it because I had been notoriously bad and am still very clumsey, so finally I am able to move ahead with these studies? Or perphas, maybe, however unlikely, that I am actually a rather good archer? I'll have to see more to find out.

One of my goals in life is to be able to learn and perform yabusame. I pray that this wish comes true.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24215302/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24215302/ Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:04:56 PDT HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!

I'll update this later.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24147337/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24147337/ Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:23:08 PDT

From the Boston Globe, April 8th, 2009.
Outlaws no more, breastfeeding mothers get legal protection
By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff
[link]


They won't be outlaws anymore. Mothers who want to breastfeed their children in public are getting legal protection under a new state law that goes into effect Thursday.

The law, "An Act to Promote Breastfeeding," was passed last year and signed earlier this year by Governor Deval Patrick.

Up till now, women who breastfed their babies in public could have been prosecuted for indecent exposure or lewd conduct. If convicted, they could even have been forced to register as sex offenders, proponents of the bill said.

The new law authorizes breastfeeding in public places and makes it clear it is not illegal.

"This law is a long time in coming. The idea behind this law is to make sure that women who want to breastfeed their children aren't prevented from doing that. And the message should go out that security guards and storekeepers and even police officers don't have the right to prevent a woman from breastfeeding her child," said Representative David Linsky, a Natick Democrat who backed the bill.

State Senator Susan Fargo, a Lincoln Democrat, said she was pleased to finally see passage of a bill that she first filed nine years ago.

"First of all, there are significant health benefits for mother and child," she said, emphasizing that improvements in people's health would lead to lower healthcare costs.

"There also are [legal] protections for mothers. I think that's the thing we've been fighting for for a long time," she said.



]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24100236/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24100236/ Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:52:34 PDT Later.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24083948/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24083948/ Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:05:09 PDT
I'm publishing a helpful guide, "ProfRasah's Guide to How to Counterprotest The Westboro Baptist Church." Please check it out when it's published.

WBC WATCH
From: [link]
Westboro Baptist Church met with silence in Lexington
By Meghan B. Kelly/Staff Writer
Mon Mar 16, 2009, 11:47 AM EDT

"Lexington - Just before the dismissal bell rang at Lexington High School Friday afternoon, a blue minivan pulled up and parked across the street on Worthen Road. Six people bearing signs — three adult women, a teenage boy, a younger girl and a small boy — clambered out and set up behind a set of barricades.

They held up their signs; one read “Antichrist Obama” and featured a picture of President Barack Obama with ram’s horns. Another read, in bright rainbow colors, “God Hates You.”

Then Margie Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church stood on an American flag and began shouting. “This is a cursed generation of doomed America,” she said.

Her words fell on a silent crowd that simply stared back. At least 400 people stood side-by-side, on the other side of the street, almost completely blocking the protesting group from view of the high school.

As Phelps shouted louder and more fervently, one by one the 400 counter-protesters held hands and turned around, revealing stickers on their backs that read, “The Power of Silence.”

This was the scene for the next 40 minutes, as the Lexington community showed a group known for its virulent anti-gay views that its message was not welcome.

The Westboro Baptist Church, which routinely protests military funerals and communities that are known to be accepting and tolerant of gays and lesbians, came to Lexington on a mini-tour of protests in Massachusetts. The group had been at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and Hanscom Air Base before coming to Lexington, and had plans to later move on to Reading in the evening.

The group is headquartered in Kansas. It made the trip to Massachusetts to protest a showing of “The Laramie Project” at Reading High School, said spokesman Shirley Phelps-Roper. But while it was here, the group decided to make stops in Cambridge, Hanscom and Lexington as well.

“We’re trying to go as far and fast as we can, because the time is short,” she said in a previous interview.

In response, Lexington organized a counter-protest, one that would show the Westboro Baptist Church its message was not acceptable to the town and the students within it.

Diane Teichert, who joined in the counter-protest, said she was motivated to join to show Lexington High School students and faculty that residents do not support the views of the church.

“I wanted to show the community cares about them and supports what they do to promote acceptance,” she said.

The counter-protest was led by Dennis Brown of Follen Church. Groups met in the previous weeks to train in effective counter-protesting. The Westboro group has incited physical violence in other communities, a situation nobody wanted here, Brown said Friday.

High school senior Lydia Ding said the church’s message does not resonate within the walls of the high school.

“It’s really horrible what they’re doing,” she said.
As members of the church shouted and sang familiar songs like “Jingle Bells” with alternate lyrics laced with anti-gay sentiments and expletives, about 200 high school students joined in the counter-protest, lining up on a large snowbank. They, too, held hands and turned their backs to the protestors.

One student’s T-shirt read, “Love Unites. Hate Divides.”
Except for a few intermittent shouts, the counter-protest was quiet. There were no altercations and no conflict between the two sides.

At about 3 p.m., the shouting abruptly stopped and the six church members packed up their signs and headed back to their minivan. Escorted by a police officer, they reached the end of the street and turned onto Waltham Street.

The crowd burst into applause.
“I’m very proud of this community. They came out in strength,” said Brown.

Lt. Joe O’Leary, in cha... ]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24074986/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24074986/ Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:09:15 PDT Personal News

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures inside the Yin Yu Tang House, because it's not allowed, apparently. But I did get some pictures in the regular part of the building in. Will post them up later.

I hate writer's block. Damn it!!!
I'm trying to get a paper done for English class by tonight.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24007332/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/24007332/ Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:48:48 PDT
`
`
`
`
`

That's right, folks, I'm visiting the reknown Yin Yu Tang Chinese House at the Peabody Essex Museum either this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
And hopefully, I'll be allowed to take lots of pictures.
For those friends who know me personally, and it is to those individuals ONLY, contact me if you want to come along. I'll probably go sometime in the late morning or early afternoon.

Don't know what the Yin Yu Tang house is? It's this building here: [link]

I've been to this House plenty of times before, but now I have to write a research paper on it as a History project. Wish me luck on this!

I'll be sure to describe all the details of my trip as soon as I return.



]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23999789/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23999789/ Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:24:45 PDT
President Obama meets with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the eve of the G-20 Summit. How do you feel about this?
http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23998870/ Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:40:07 PDT {Well, I'll try to make it daily.}
Pull yourself up a chair and enjoy.

Be weary online today. THERE'S A NEW, VICIOUS VIRUS COMING OUT!
Apparently, it's all over the news.



In other news....


I forgot about Earth Hour. I didn't remember until it was too late, and I was hearing about it on the morning news. Oops.


I posted a whole new load of deviantions, so if you want to check them out, go right ahead.


I have tons of work to do, as always.
Sometimes, I really do hate writers' block with an absolute passion.


Yes, as you can probably tell, I'm practicing using deviantart's Emoticons, since I forget how to use many of them.


]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23981257/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23981257/ Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:19:06 PDT
From the Boston Globe; March 31st, 2009.
Missing Indian tombstone recovered: Tip leads police to Lakeville home
[link]

The century-old tombstone vanished sometime last fall, and seemed lost forever, until police got a call resurrecting the issue last week.

An official from the Lakeville Cemetery Commission told Police Chief Mark Sorel that he had received an anonymous tip about the whereabouts of the tombstone, which once marked the grave of Thomas N. Smith, who died in 1872 at age 62, the last known member of the Wampanoag tribe to live in Lakeville.

Sorel asked an officer to investigate the tip. On Friday, the officer knocked on the door of a man living in Lakeville. The man, whose name police have withheld, admitted that he had the tombstone and handed it over.

"The tombstone has a lot of sentimental meaning to the Wampanoag, and our main goal was to recover it," Sorel said. "This was a crime against morality, and robbing a gravestone is a felony."

Members of the Wampanoag did not return calls. Officials are expected to return the headstone to the tribe.

The tombstone was one of four from the tribe that had been found about a decade ago leaning against a tree beside a swamp off Indian Shore Road at Betty's Neck in Lakeville.

Kenneth Upham, chairman of the Cemetery Commission, said town officials were happy to leave the tombstones - the earliest examples in town of Native Americans borrowing from the European tradition - in the woods. "It was the safest place for them," Upham said.

The actual graves are likely beneath the Nachaomet Road housing development, he said. Town officials know the burial site is elsewhere, because the Wampanoag never bury their dead in an area shrouded by trees, Upham said.

"The stones were facing totally incorrectly," Upham said. "They have to see the sun rise in the east and set in the west. They have to see the earth and the sky. They believe the Milky Way is the road to their portal for everlasting life."

Smith's stone disappeared between October and December, Sorel said.

The chief was reluctant to provide details about the investigation, as he had yet to find the thief. "The actual taking of it wasn't a mistake, and I don't think the person who had it took it," Sorel said. "I don't think he had any malicious intent. We're not sure yet if anyone else will be charged."

Sorel said he hoped to conclude the investigation this week.
http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23981089/ Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:02:31 PDT
From the Boston Globe; March 31st, 2009.
Suspected IRA dissidents block roads in Catholic Belfast
[link]

DUBLIN - Suspected IRA dissidents and their supporters hijacked cars yesterday in working-class Catholic areas of Northern Ireland in a coordinated effort to block roads and threaten police stations, police said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it was receiving a wave of reports of vehicles being hijacked by masked gunmen in several parts of Belfast and in the Kilwilkie district of Lurgan, a power base for Irish Republican Army dissidents southwest of Belfast.

Some vehicles were being set afire in roads to disrupt traffic at rush hour, while others were abandoned near four Belfast police stations and on Northern Ireland's major highway, near Lurgan.

Police said they were treating all the abandoned vehicles as potential car bombs, although they cautioned this was unlikely. They urged motorists to avoid Kilwilkie and parts of Catholic west Belfast entirely.

Yesterday's upheaval came at the end of a month in which IRA dissidents shot to death two soldiers and a policeman - the first killings of British security forces since 1998, the year of Northern Ireland's peace accord.

Police said at least two cars were hijacked in Lurgan's Kilwilkie district, the power base of suspected IRA dissident Colin Duffy. Duffy, 41, was charged last week with murder in the slayings of the two soldiers.

One of the hijacked cars was abandoned on the M1 motorway, which connects Belfast and Dublin, 100 miles to the south. Authorities shut part of the roadway as a precaution.



Your opinion is extremely welcomed, but please keep it clean.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23980831/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23980831/ Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:31:03 PDT
From the Boston Globe; March 31st, 2009.
Homeless book peddler confronts tangled epilogue in Harvard Square
(Please look here for the actual article and video taken. [link])

Larry Millman was browsing at one of his favorite places in Cambridge and ended up with a handful of used books, including "Lingua ex Machina: Reconciling Darwin and Chomsky with the Human Brain."

"A little light reading for the bathroom," he quipped as he forked over $5 for the book and a couple of others. Millman, an author, is a steady customer at Almost Banned in Harvard Square Booksellers, a sidewalk bookstall run by a homeless man.

But the Massachusetts Avenue stand is closing today, and with it goes one more quirky piece of Harvard Square. Ken O'Brien, who has sold or given away tens of thousands of books since opening nearly three years ago, is giving away the last of his stash.

O'Brien, the first and only homeless person to belong to the Harvard Square Business Association, said he is tired of fighting City Hall.

His story is a long, involved one that includes getting arrested twice, obtaining various permits, and being moved onto subway grates by the Cambridge superintendent of streets, only to have the MBTA say he couldn't set up on its property. When he tried to open a book business in a nearby church, he found he couldn't get liability insurance. When he tried to get a tax identification number, he said, "they wanted all sorts of paperwork" that he couldn't provide, especially since he had a half-dozen other homeless people working for him on commission. Now his peddler's permit has lapsed, and he said he has grown weary of filling out forms.

"It's the paperwork that killed me," O'Brien said. Decades of living on the streets have weathered his face beyond his 55 years. He says he ran a similar business in New York and was never hassled.

The city of Cambridge says it has been working with O'Brien and that the only problem now is that he hasn't applied for a new permit.

O'Brien, who grew up a few blocks away from his bookstall, stuck his thumb out at age 17 and spent the next 35 years riding the roads and rails around the country. "I came home to retire," he said, "and the books would have been my retirement."

His books came from several sources, most notably a place in Rhode Island that would deliver 1,000-pound boxes of books to him for free. O'Brien sold the books for $2 each, putting the excess in a storage unit he rented. But each winter, when it became too cold to work outside, he started giving the books away - "hoping that people would remember me in the spring." In the winter, he'd get by on what he'd saved, with occasional panhandling.

As he speaks, a woman in an sport utility vehicle pulls up to the curb and asks if he would like several bags of books. He thanks her and begins putting them on the shelves.

His family, as he calls it, consists of "Frenchie," or Earlene French, his longtime girlfriend; along with Charlie, an 11-year-old black and white cat; and Penny, a 6-year-old German short-haired pointer he rescued from a puppy mill. The animals, which sit or lie patiently atop the "mobile home" O'Brien fashioned for them, attract as much attention from passersby as the books. At night he drapes... ]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23964116/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23964116/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:41:48 PDT Show the Soldiers You Care
[link]

I'm thinking about adopting this program. What do you guys think?
It was created by MountainDreamer, but because of various reasons, it died. Help me revive it, maybe?

The Description by MountainDreamer:
"This project will be a book (like a scrap book or albumn) I will put together myself for the soldiers overseas. I have heard through a family friend who supports the troops weekly by sending them packages, that the soldiers dont get letters often, Or appreciation barely at all. I know on DA there are plenty of patriotic people. This albumn will contain respectful art from deviants who wish to DONATE their art. It is to show appreciate and gratitude for the troops, so they know they we support and love them. Alot of soldiers dont have family or friends to write them and it has to get a bit lonely so I say we show them that we can be there friends and family. Just imagine yourself, stuck after hard training, turning you into machines made to protect. Your stuck out in a war where soldiesr die every single day, by the handful. You have to think everyday wheather its gonna be your last or not. I say, Id want that Soldiers last thought to be that he knew he was doing this for the right thing, that we appreciated what he was doing and we love him for it (He or she of course no im not favoring genders)."


EDIT:
My Ideas for Changes In the Program
1. Contact the U.S.O. and get them to officially recognize and support our efforts. [link] {With permission, use the U.S.O.'s Care Package Operation [link] }
2. Contact the administration of deviantart.com and see if they'll officially support the creation of such a book.
3. Create a core collection of art that we can mass produce, so that our troops have at least something sent from home. 10 core art-pieces to every 1, 2, or 3 optional art-pieces.
4. Have the flexibility to have optional art-pieces, stuff that our troops could request, like a theme or a topic. (For instance, fanart of someone's favorite game.)
5. Gather a list of troops, who will sign up for getting an artbook, so we know what to send and how many.
6. Use photos and art of all qualities.

How do these ideas sound so far?
Make your constructive criticism known.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23907761/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23907761/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:28:39 PDT Just need to post it.
EDIT: Here's the link. [link]

Also made an Axis Powers Hetalia meme, the first meme I have ever made. So be kind. [link]

Yeah, I'm getting a little Hetalia obsessed. It's just that I haven't posted some of the original stuff I've been working on lately.

Had my haircut today. And before you start, keyblader1111....The hairdresser said only cut a small bit off the back because it's so much longer than the front end. She cut it so that both the back and the front grows out evenly, and I don't look like a stray dog. I'm this growing my hair out long, this is just one of those ways one needs to take care of it.

Good Night!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23877747/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23877747/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:22:04 PDT
Instead, I'm focusing more on my other original characters in Hetaliaverse, the Confederacy and Liberia.

I've started calling the Confederacy "Connie" for short, haha. XD

I've also read a lot up on Liberia's history yesterday. WOW, that basically all I can say right now.

Not to mention I've changed Liberia's personification gender and a bit more of her actual personality. My new version seems to fit better within the scope of my storytelling.

Most likely, the medium which I will be using to tell their stories will be in the fanfiction form, as my actual art sucks!

But FEAR NOT! Some people have told me that I'm a good storyteller in that forum.

And for those of you who aren't so interested in Hetalia OCs, don't worry either, because there is going to be plenty of United States of America and the United Kingdom to go around!

{Edit: I'm retiring my previous signature. Here it is, for the final time!
-"No, really, NaruSasu/SasuNaru shippers eat babies."
--> Yes. They are very nutritious.
[link] IF YOU'RE AN AMERICAN, CHECK THIS OUT!}


THEN AGAIN, it's not like anybody reads my journal entries.... XP
Comment and let me know you're ALIVE!!!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23865876/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23865876/ Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:53:07 PDT I was able to complete a successful design of my OC, Northern Ireland. However, I am at school at the moment, and without either a scanner or my camera to post it.

See the first picture here: [link]

Yay, now all I need to draw now is Wales. XD

I also created another Axis Powers Hetalia OC while doddling in American Foreign Policy class, listening to the professor's lecture about the related topic. Thinking about these events, I began sketching short comics about him (my OC) and a few others. May I present-!

SURPRISE!!! Liberia!

I was inspired by this interesting excerpt from James Lee Ray's coursebook, "American Foreign Policy and Political Ambition":
The CREATION Of LIBERIA
Most of the relationship between the United States and Africa in the nineteenth century was bound up with the importing of slaves. But the United States did also become involved in a project to establish a new state in sub-Saharan Africa. (Admittedly, the inspiration for this project was also related to the slave trade.) Probably, the idea for Liberia originated in an organization known as the American Colonization Society, founded in 1816 by Bushrod Washington, who was a nephew of George Washington (Beyan 1991). Including such influential leaders as James Monroe and Henry Clay, the organization's members were the classic "strange bedfellows" that politics produces with regularity. Some of its members wanted to encourage free blacks to emigrate to Africa because they felt that these people threatened the institution of slavery. Others were motivated instead by moral objections to slavery; many in this latter group were also hopeful that emigrating blacks might help spread Christianity to Africa (Lowenkopf 1976, 14).
With the support of the U.S. government, the American Colonization Society sent the ship Elizabeth to Africa with the first group of eighty-six colonists in 1820. The first settlement was established at Cape Montserado, which was sold to the settlers in 1821 by the African King Peter, who reportedly agreed to the sale only with "a pistol at his head" (Library of Congress 2004). Over the remainder of the nineteenth century, about 22,000 black Americans then emigrated to Liberia (Lowenkopf 1976, 14-15).
Liberia declared its independence in 1847, but the United States did not recognize it for some time. According to Katherine Harris (1985, 69): "Throughout the 1850s, Presidents Millard Fillmore (Whig), Franklin Pierce (Democrat), and James Buchanan (Democrat)... withheld recognition from Liberia...because recognition of a republic of free blacks, many of them former slaves, could worsen the slavery-emancipation controversy." Finally, President Abraham Lincoln engineered a change in the U.S.-Liberian relationship, moving in 1862 to conclude a treaty of commerce and navigation with Liberia, which in 1860 exported more to the United States than any other state. Harris (71) notes: "Ratification of the U.S.-Liberia treaty marked the completion of Liberia's evolution as a sovereign state, and the end of the kind of informal colonial control that had begun in 1819."
In the years immediately after declaring its sovereignty, Liberia itself, as well as U.S.-Liberian relations, were caught up in Europe's new imperialismin Africa. In 1880 only about 10 percent of Africa was controlled, at least formally, by Europeans, but four years later, the great powers met at a conference in Berlin and, in effect, partitioned Africa amongst themselves. A vast tract in the heart of Africa was ceded to King Leopold of Belgium, becoming known as the Belgian Congo. Great Britain and France led the way in claiming territory for themselves, while Germany came in third in this "scramble for Africa" (Pakenham 1991). By 1900, the whole of Africa, allocated as shown on map 11.1, was entirely under European control, with the exceptions of Liberia and Ethiopia.
If they had had their way, the European imperial powers would have swallowed up Liberia, too, says Harris (1985, 73): "The French and the British seized territory from Liberia and threatened to absorb it into their respective colonial empires." When Liberia appealed for help against the European imperialists, the United States did attempt to provide some political protection for its erstwhile "colony." These efforts were later solidified during the administration of Republican President William H. Taft, who paid off Liberian debts and reestablished some formal contracts between the United States and Liberia.

See Liberia's character design here: [link]

See "APH- Crisis with Liberia" comic at: [link]
~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23832873/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23832873/ Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:55:55 PDT [link]

Been working hard on a new design for my OC in Hetalia, Northern Ireland, but his isn't really working for me. I have to wait for some new inky (fountain?) pens before I attempt to create him again, however it'll suck!

Been finishing up a piece I started on St. Patrick's Day, which I posted up a preview of: [link]

And there's much much more ahead!
Stay tuned. XD



PS. This video I find really creepy, but cool. [link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23788389/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23788389/ Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:23:09 PDT http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23631260/ Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:00:07 PDT [link]


!!!NAZI ZOMBIES TAKE SALEM!!!!

Also, I'm reading this story from the RED SKIES homepage, called, "Nazi Zombies Take Salem." GO READ IT!

Here's the summary: "When Hitler’s plan for immortality goes terribly wrong, and a professor at Salem State brings home a research project, Salem, Massachusetts, is in far more danger than it ever was from mere witchcraft."

[link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23552975/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23552975/ Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:28:31 PST
Around sometime last year, I searching for something in manga or anime, or amatuer version of either, that dealt in at least some small part with American history. (Because I'm a history geek, remember?) My best bet was either the War for American Independence or the American Civil War, or something that dealt with the issue of their colonies outside the main fifty states.

Nothing came up.
So I was hoping, sometime in the future, that there would be enough interest garnered (oops, gathered, I mean) that one of these events would make its presence known, because I prefer the story-telling style seen in manga rather than what you see in regular, American comicbooks.

Then Axis Powers Hetalia showed up.
And now you're seeing fanart and fanvids and cosplay about that era everywhere. It's really awesome, it's a granted wish!

Thank you, Hidekaz Himaruya!



NOW FOR FUTURE NARUTO PREDICTIONS!
warning: *spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler*
....Oh wait! *looks at the clock* Sorry, I have to get ready for class now, I'll have to fill this last part in when I get back this afternoon. See you then!

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23536096/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23536096/ Thu, 05 Mar 2009 06:49:08 PST What I mean is, if they made a series in this genre, depicting the life and struggles of someone or persons of whom you cherish and admire, so that the rest of the world would understand who these people were...
Be open.

Yeah, I'm probably not making any sense. Just thought I'd add my thoughts here.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23328195/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23328195/ Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:46:16 PST Cosplay Ideas!
1) Sage-mode Naruto
2) (Something Unknown Version of) Yondaime
3) APH's America, or Alfred F. Jones
*******************************************

AXIS POWERS HETALIA
The latest anime and manga scans that I'm into.
Please check here to find out more: [link]
And also here, for profiles: [link]
Check out for America's profile! [link]
Check here for England's! [link]
And check here for everyone else's!!! [link]

Haven't found episode one of the anime yet. D: I watched it before, but now it seems that it was removed. Stay tuned for it.

My sister says that I'm as obnoxious as America, so I'd be best cosplaying as America. My boyfriend will most probably be England, and my sister, Silver-Rei, will most likely to be either Hungary or Russia. XD

********************
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!!!!!!!
********************

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23248793/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23248793/ Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:18:07 PST Taisho!
The shop owner who won't refuse press interviews.
A cat makes the ramen."

Watch the anime of this four-panel comic by Kenji Sonishi on crunchyroll!
[link]

And check out the live-action movie trailer!
[link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23224343/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23224343/ Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:55:47 PST People like agleploostu, whose account has been deleted, send you scetchy messages or notes to click on a link. DON'T.

Harry-potter-club, from whom I am thankful to have received the message from, says it best: "If you receive messages telling you to click a link - DO NOT CLICK THE LINK! If you do, your account will be hacked to spread the same spam to everyone in your watch list. Change your password IMMEDIATELY! Then please hide all spam-messages to prevent others from falling into the trap."

I got one that read, "Hey, you seemed interested in my art, could you click on the link for my gallery off deviantart?" Or something like that, I forget, because I deleted the message. So I clicked, and it just so happens to go on a site asking for my private information. I was like, "HELL no."

Didn't think much of it, until a few minutes ago when I was reading Harry-potter-club's journal, which the quote above is from.
I immediately changed my password. Sadly, this previous one had been with me since I started my account on deviantart. Sadness.....

In other news:
I normally would've watched that "Andrew Jackson" documentary that I've been interested to see, but I'm wondering if I should stay up that late to watch it. ???
Hopefully, someone will have the sense to post it online sometime in the future.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23024748/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23024748/ Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:01:33 PST
1) Bram Stoker's Dracula
Background
(Current) Story
Powers A) Skilled as a necromancer, allowing him to commune with the dead. B) Powerful hynotic and mind control abilities. C) Can command the loyalty of nocturnal animals, like wolves and rats. D) Can shapeshift on his will alone: wolf, bat, dust, and fog. E) Needs only fresh blood as sustenance (nurishment). F) Consuming fresh blood has the effect of rejuvenation. G) Enormous physical strength which is equivalent to 20 men. H) Can defy gravity to some extent, able to climb down vertical surfaces in a reptilian manner. I) Has the gift of immortality and protection against most conventional means of attack. J) Ability to transfer his disease onto another and create them as a another vampire. K) Weather manipulation.
Vulnerabilities A) The only way to kill him is to decapitate him, followed by impalement through the heart. B) However, it's been suggested that a sacred bullet could suffice. C) Not immune to sunlight, pushes him into a weakened state which he can only shift at dawn, noon, and dust (while he can do so freely [only] at night). However, unlike the later adaptions, sunlight is not fatal to him. D) Repulsed by garlic, crucifixes, sacremental bread. E) Can only cross running water at low or high tide. F) Unable to enter a place unless invited to do so; once invited, however, he can approach and leave the premises at will. (Info found at wikipedia.)
Votes
How & Why they would win??

2) Saya, version from Blood: The Last Vampire
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes 1
How & Why they would win??

3) Saya, version from Blood+
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes 1
How & Why they would win??

4) Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla
Background Real name is {the} Countess Karnstein, who originally lived around the year 1698. Before she had died and became one of the undead, she was romantically involved with the ancestor of Baron Vordenburg, who was a hero in the local area for having removed all the vampires around there long ago. This hero had relocated the tomb elsewhere before the events of the present story.
(Current) Story Tries to seduce Laura, a girl with whom Carmilla boards with for some time who is infatuiated with her. Uses both the aliases "Carmilla" and "Millarca," which are both anagrams of her full true name.
Powers Is able to drain the life out of young women, killing one (who is at least mentioned in the story).
Vulnerabilities Cannot stand listening to Christian songs and hymes.
Votes
How & Why they would win??

5) James Malcolm Rymer's Varney the Vampire
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes
How & Why they would win??

6) Edward Cullen, from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes
How & Why they would win??

7) Selene, from the Underworld series
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities Cannot stand sunlight.
Votes
How & Why they would win??

8) Michel, from the Underworld series
Background Originally a human, a descendant of Alexander Corvinus, the first true immortal.
(Current) Story Becomes the first true hybrid between vampires and Lycans (werewolves).
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes
How & Why they would win??

9) Viktor, from the Underworld series
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes
How & Why they would win??

10) Marcus, from the Underworld series
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes
How & Why they would win??

11) Sonja, from the Underworld series
Background
(Current) Story
Powers
Vulnerabilities
Votes
How & Why they would win??

12) Alucard, from the Hellsing series
Background See Dracula for all details. He was Dracula till Van Helsing captured him and enslaved him. His grandaughter now runs the organiztion.
~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23019099/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23019099/ Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:51:08 PST [link]
[link]

It reads:
"The surprise and confusion these ships inspired are described in this famous kyoka (a humorous poem similar to the 5-line waka):
泰平の
眠りを覚ます
上喜撰
たった四杯で
夜も眠れず

Taihei no
Nemuri o samasu
Jōkisen
Tatta shihai de
Yoru mo nemurezu

(Translation: )
Awoken from sleep
of a peaceful quiet world
by Jokisen tea;
with only four cups of it
one can't sleep even at night.

(Hidden Translation: )
The steam-powered ships
break the halcyon slumber
of the Pacific;
a mere four boats are enough
to make us lose sleep at night.

"This poem is a complex set of puns (in Japanese, kakekotoba or "pivot words"). Taihei (æ³°平 means "tranquil"; Jōkisen (上喜撰 is the name of a costly brand of green tea containing large amounts of caffeine; and shihai (四杯 means "four cups", so a literal translation of the poem is:" ...
"However, there is an alternate translation, based on the pivot words. Taihei can refer to the "Pacific Ocean" (太平; jōkisen also means "steam-powered ships" (蒸気船; and shihai also means "four vessels". The poem, therefore, has a hidden meaning:"...

It's very interesting!

Also:
"WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery Thursday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the court said." [link]
And
"WASHINGTON — The Army is investigating a stunning number of suicides in January — a count that could surpass all combat deaths on America's two warfronts last month." [link]
Check these other news articles out!!!

And tell me what you think, if you have the time, please???
Thank You.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23006485/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23006485/ Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:33:26 PST Yes! Yes!!!
Thank you, Mr. King!
[link]
" Smackdown of the Week: Stephen King vs. Twilight's Stephenie Meyer

Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer
Gina Serpe, eonline
Wed Feb 4, 9:32 PM EST
Count Stephen King among those not swooning over Edward Cullen.

In what should have been a controversy-free interview with USA Weekend to promote his latest book, the horror master has slammed Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer's writing prowess...by flat-out saying she has none.

What started with an innocent question on the recent juggernaut success of fellow mainstream writers Meyer and J.K. Rowling quickly devolved into a full-scale denouncement of the former's skills.

"The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephanie Meyer can't write worth a darn," he said. "She's not very good."

Leave it to an author not to mince his words.

Possibly sensing the worldwide fallout from inflaming millions of Twilight loyalists, King went on to say that while Meyere's writing may bite the big one, her storytelling is compelling...at least to a certain, less experienced segment of the population.

"People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's very exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they're not overtly sexual.

"A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that's a shorthand for all the feelings that they're not ready to deal with yet."

While King seemed to reserve his choicest words for Meyer, she wasn't the only best-selling author eviscerated by him. On the contrary, King declared Perry Mason author Erle Stanley Gardner "terrible," Dean Koontz "sometimes?just awful," and James Patterson "a terrible writer" who is nonetheless "very very successful."

You know, the opposite of what King now is with Meyer fans.

null

© 2009 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All rights reserved., [link]"

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23006081/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23006081/ Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:13:04 PST
~ I bought the first book many years ago, and stayed up (on) nights to finish reading the story I was on. Really creepy, really well-done, so I looked and looked forever to discover more of the series. To no avail.

~ Even though this is originally intended to younger readers, I've been looking for more since I was that age and so I think I can get away with buying them now. I mean, considering that they are the best interpretations that I've read of these.....

[link]
On Amazon:
Short and Shivery (1st Book) [link] pd_sim_b_3 (which I already have)
More Short and Shivery (2nd Book) [link]
Even More Short and Shivery: Thirty Spine-Tingling Tales (3rd Book) [link]
A Terrifying Taste of Short and Shivery: Thirty Creepy Tales (4th and Final Book) [link] pd_sim_b_1

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23003501/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/23003501/ Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:05:40 PST
RHYMESTER - HEAT ISLAND (feat. FIRE BALL)

Lyrics: Sasaki Shiro, Sakama Daisuke, Fire Ball
Music: Sakama Daisuke, Fire Ball

The islands of Japan are scalding hot
Like water hitting the boiling point
Is this a festival? Or some omen?
Japan’s become a red, red, red zone
So it’s time to make a quick decision
We need to make a vow here
To clean up Zipang1 once and for all
And bring it back here once again

East Asia’s in a critical situtation
Males and girls sweatin’ in crowded conditions
Yo, ya’ll might as well throw off all your clothes
Keep dancing like you’re going crazy
“I can’t control myself”
What’d you expect? This here’s Utamaru comin’ at ya
The message you just got is steaming hot
So watch out, danger, danger!

Look! The sky! The sky!
A good luck charm fell down
So let’s take a look around
It’s the last dinner show of the year
Spin your tables, towels and mirror balls
Go ahead and lose control
Like a dancehall freak in Jamaica
If you wanna learn how it goes now’s the time
Japanese people, raise your lighters!

*Open invite, fan this country’s flames with a loud sound
Just like that, heat it up some more
The fire’s swelling, this is a lucky omen
Sing out and shake this era with a loud voice
Ease up, we’re still heatin’ up
The islands are uprising, keep burning

It’s he-he-heating up
This skinny country’s hot with friction
These are turbulent times like in Macbeth
Everyone’s shook and stuck in a dumb arms race
It’d be easier if they all just walked with their cocks hanging out
My freaky flow cooks the lower ranks
Man, forget those countries and their plans
What you need is a hard head like this

I’m a rollin’ rollin’ down-and-out ronin
Part-time lecturer in Heisei era Japan
I’m in charge and well versed in hip hop logic
Gonna make more Japanese say ho! (Ho!)
Males and females, your asses are on fire like Mt. Kachi-kachi2
Will you get higher or turn into ash?
Think I care? I’m adding fuel to the fire! Fwoosh!

(Who’s bad?) Blood’s simmering at a boil
Everyone here’s outta control
The fires are still smoking, it’s not over
You can say everyone’s cheering in unison
Like the Sou brothers3 are crossing the finish line
Seems like a good time to fully combust
Let’s blaze it up some more, Fire Ball

(Repeat*)

This is where a new age beings
Anticipation’s building for what’s coming
We’re tuff pirates ready for a change
Carrying the treasure of a high sense flow
Let’s not lose our humanity
Population explodes in our faces
The time’s coming when we’ll pay
For the environment we’ve created, come on
Civilization bloomed with a shock
Progress continued on at its own pace
This is what happens with indifference
You ready? We’re at war with the earth
The world’s in chaos and all bystanders will get caught up
It’s a show down
From east to west, these islands need peace
Hey hey hey hey Japan

(Repeat*)

**Ugh! These islands are an inferno
Building up immense heat
Danger! It’s gonna get hotter, come on!
Zipang’s about to burst at any moment

(Repeat**)

***Temperature keeps risin’, fire burnin’
Flames blazin’ in a rollin’ fire ball
Boom shaka rock, sound of thunder rollin’
Feel the sound, who you callin’?
Temperature keeps risin’, fire burnin’
Flames blazin’ in a rollin’ fire ball
Kings of the stage, sound of thunder rollin’
Feel the sound, call in Rhymester

(Repeat***)

1 - Mummy-D quotes famous historical figure, Ryoma Sakamoto, here. The word Zipang is the old Portuguese word for Japan.
2 - A reference to “Kachi-kachi yama,” a Japanese folk tale where a tanuki literally gets burned by a rabbit.
3 - The Sou brothers were Shigeru & Takeshi Sou, popular marathon running twin athletes who competed in the late 70’s/early 80’s.

(Information taken from here: [link])

You can listen to it here: [link]

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/22839604/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/22839604/ Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:58:08 PST [link]
Will they cut Dumbledore's death scene and/or funeral??!
I hope not. I remember, late one night while sitting on the bathroom floor and finishing up Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, that the funeral scene reminded me so much of my Grandfather's own funeral that it made me weep! It was just so moving, and so, so sad.

]]> ~ProfRasah http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/22761504/ http://ProfRasah.deviantart.com/journal/22761504/ Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:18:34 PST
" A society of Free Masons was constituted on the 10th of June, by the name of Mount Carmel Lodge. [For further notices of this institution, see under the dates 1834 and 1845.] "
From year: 1805
Page: 367

" The festival of St. John, June 24, was celebrated at Lynn, by Mount Carmel Lodge, and five other lodges of free masons. The address was delivered by Hon. Caleb Cushing, of Newburyport."
From year: 1826
Page: 390

" Great excitement was occasioned this year in Lynn, as it had been in many other towns and cities for some years previous, on the subject of Freemasonry. On the 1st of April, Mr. Jacob Allen, of Braintree, gave an exhibition of some of the alleged mysteries of that institution, at Liberty Hall, corner of Essex and Market streets; and on the 6th, the inhabitants, in town meeting, voted, that they regarded Freemasonry "as a great moral evil," and its existence "as being dangerous to all free governments," and gave Mr. Allen the use of the Town Hall to continue his exhibitions. [The nature and tendency of the oaths taken on admission to the different masonic degrees werer soon vehemently discussed in the community at large, and the principles of the institution and its value freely canvassed, it being generally conceded that the veil had been rent from its privacy. Anti-masonry presently formed an active element in politics, and its influence began seriously to be felt. We had here an anti-masonic newspaper-the Lynn Record-and in other places similar journals, conducted with zeal and ability, sprang up. In Lynn, for several years, the anti-masonic party were in complete ascendancy, and managed things as they thought best. The battle against the institution continued to rage till in some states extra-judicial oaths were prohibited under severe penalties. Many lodges surrendered their charters, and then the excitement began to decline. Soon after, however, other secret societies-the Odd Fellows' for instance-claiming to be free from the objectionable features of Freemasonry, were established. And, finally, after a disturbed sleep of about twenty years, the ancient institution began to arouse and assert itself with renewed vigor.]"
From year: 1829
Page: 394

May I take the time out of this journal to say that the conspiracy theories about the Freemasons' association is total BS. Don't spread the hate, these are actually good people.

" [The anti-masonic sentiment, growing out of the alleged revelations regarding the evil tendency of freemasonry prevailed so extensively that in December the meetings of Mount Carmel Lodge were discontinued. But they were resumed in 1845.]"
From year: 1834
page: 401

" Mount Carmel Lodge of Freemasons, instituted in 1805, and discontinued in 1834, under the anti-masonic pressure, was this year reorganized and regular meetings resumed."
From the Year: 1845
Page: 414



Extra in Update:
" The publication of the second newspaper, entitled the Lynn Record, was begun, January 23, by Alonzo Lewis. [Mr. Lewis's connection with this paper ceased with the sixth number. It then became the organ of the anti-masonic party, which soon attained supremacy in municipal affairs, and held it for several years. The Record was discontinued in 1841."
" [During January, not a single death occurred in the whole population of 8.000 in Lynn, Lynnfield, and Saugus.]"
From year: 1830
Page: 395

]]> ~ProfRasah