Some updates

My next foray into anime hasn't been quite as rewarding as Mushishi, but has been enjoyable nonetheless.

I'm nearly finished with Planetes, a 26-ep series about the life trajectories of a team of "orbital debris" collectors. The episodes start unevenly, focussing on "wacky" interpersonal situations but eventually get to the pith around the middle of the series, where some interesting collisions occur between Hachimaki's personal ambitions to achieve escape velocity from his old world, and the ethical/political ramifications of the space race that is giving him this very opportunity.

It's unfortunate that they had to waste a few episodes on what I consider to be fluff... albeit they do flesh out some of the characters a bit more and give a fuller sense of the bureaucratic posturing that permeates their work environment.

Edit (7/6/08): After viewing the final 5 episodes of the series, my opinion of the story arc is much more favorable. The focus changed from political strife and intrigue to something more deeply personal, revolving around Hachimaki's increasing estrangement from humanity, or rather his perception of humanity. His "epiphany" is a bit corny, but Tanabe's rather gritty self-discovery and encounter with hard realism defuses what could have become an Evangelionesque farce. All in all, the series picks up the pace furiously in the end and really conveys a moving message to ponder after the viewing is done. I'd rate this as a "worth owning." The slim pack is nicely priced, too, so I might pick this one up.

So... beer. As of last night, I've set my first batch of homebrew to fermentation. I did the whole thing solo while the family slept, and I learned a few things in the process. It takes a ridiculously long time to get 5 gallons of water to boil, even using 2 burners, on high. It takes an even longer time to get these 5 gallons to cool down to a decent 75 degree temp for the yeast pitch at the end of the process. And carrying a 5 gallon pot of boiling wort to the bathtub is not something I would really care to repeat.

So... when using malt extracts, I think I'm going to simply boil a couple of gallons of water and go through the normal process, then add chilled distilled water at the end to drop the temp. I also made a mental note to aerate the wort a bit more vigorously, since I think I killed my first yeast pitch with a combination of high temperature and bad aeration. In any case, the second "emergency" yeast pitch this morning set the fermentation process underway nicely. It's still bubbling and emitting a pleasant odor of hoppy goodness.

In case you can't guess from the color, it's a stout.

On the gaming front I've finally let my Xbox 360 RROD permanently (no more towel tricking) and filed a repair order with Microsoft. In the meantime, I'm dragging out older titles such as the Shin Megami Tensei games I never opened, and some old dusty consoles, including my Dreamcast and Sega Saturn. Hunter's been getting a real kick out of Samba De Amigo, which I hear is getting a remake on the Wii. I don't know about using those nunchuks as... maracas >.> Why suspend disbelief when you can play the real deal? Now if only I could get "La Vida Loca" out of my head again ...

We've also been raising a Seaman, but had to start over when a certain someone shut down the machine during the save process. Doh! RIP Seaman #1. Scout is very enthusiastic about raising Seaman #2.