Watashi DanekJovax (a bit long, but a good read, I hope ;2)

[DanekJovax]

This is a post I made a while back in another anime forum, but since it encapsulates so much of who and what I am about, I'll repost it here, with some timely editing. Without further ado, here we go:

[...hits the paste key...]

Oi, Minna! ("Hey, everyone!"),

This is the time where I thought I'd let all of you know who I am; more for those who haven't met/read me yet, and a refresher for those who have.

I am Ethan Wilson, a.k.a. Danek (or DanekJovax), Great "Ojiisan" Ethan (Ojiisan = "Old man") or G.o.E., and I'm 34 years old, and yes, I am an avid animé otaku ("fanatic").

Anyways, I'm also a computer analyst/programmer/consultant currently looking for new work. If you know any hot leads, let me know! ;2)

I live in a house in the Richmond, KY area and am married (sorry, gals ;2) with one child on the way. I'm also Christian, and love my Lord Jesus. My life verses are John 3:3 and Phillipians 1:6.

That being said, let me tell you a little tidbit about one of my big passions; Animé!

"In the Beginning..."

I have enjoyed animé ever since I was a small child, even though much of that time I wasn't even aware it was a specific demographic of the animation artform. Although I can't say I've enjoyed animé that much more until I saw Star Blazers, I will say that was the case after I went to college. But there's that question,

"What makes you like animé so much?"

Well, basically, the answer is a simple one. Three words: Storylines, Characters, and Art.

I don't want to be on record for saying that I hate any US-based animation. Quite the contrary. There is a lot to like with domestic animation titles (old titles and new ones), but in most cases, US cartoons are basically geared to a young audience (3-12 years). Also, domestic cartoon storyline formats rarely tend to be long storyline 'arcs',

but instead are 'self-contained' stories. Lastly, an overwhelming majority of characters in american animated features have very simplified personalities, that may be good for little kids, but for an old fart like me, makes me rather bored.

On the other hand, animé is treated with much more sophistication, much like the top blockbuster movies that we see in our own theaters. If you can imagine a favorite Stephen Spielberg cinema masterpiece (Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Indiana Jones, etc.), then I can show you any number of animé titles that easily equivalate to that level of character detail, catchy storyline, and beautiful cinematics.

To top it off, there is a fun and humorous quality that has been expressed in animé that isn't as easy to reproduce in live-action. Such qualities add even a higher level of enjoyment for me when watching a good animé title.

Does that help answer your question? :2)


Another Question, "What did you watch that got you into animé?"

The earliest times that I can remember watching something we'd consider "animé" was when I was a wee 'lil 4 or 5 years old, and during the times I was in daycare the daycare worker would put on the afternoon cartoons on TV (mind you, this is WAY BEFORE anything like Cartoon Network, Nicklodeon, or Fox Kids). One of those titles I remember seeing featured some hot-shot race car driver sporting a fancy white race helmet with a big "M" emblazoned on it, driving a way-cool White racecar with a big black "M" on the front hood.

Later I learned that the show was called Speed Racer (When I could read on my own). I also watched cartoons "Kimba the White Lion" and "Marine Boy". I also remember watching some old dubs of Ultraman... I really liked that show too... just wished my own capsule would ever work, dang it! ;2)

Mind you, I also watched a lot of Looney Toons and Flintstones, and Disney cartoons too; I watched just about anything that was put before me back then.

Let's see, I also remember seeing Thundercats, Voltron (Both versions), and even a few episodes of Robotech and the original Dirty Pair. All of these were during the times they were originally released to broadcast TV back in the late '70's and and early-mid '80's.

Finally, when I graduated from HS and went to VA Tech as a freshman in 1987, I realized the name of all of this animation. I met with an upper-classman in a dorm one day (that's a whole other story) and after chatting with him for a while, he realized my modest interest (at the time, at least) in animated entertainment, and invited me to

watch some titles that he had acquired with him. I had a friend who was also interested in seeing it, and offered his dorm room where he had a VCR and TV.

That day was to be a big strike against my eternal soul... (I thank Jesus for His Immeasurable Forgiveness!) when I got addicted to animé.

Dang, I can't even remember how long that day went... at least 10 hours... we saw a lot of stuff... from "Warriors of the Wind" (The hacked english dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) to Akira to Dirty Pair: Nolandia Incident to Project A-Ko. It all kind of blurred together after a while.

I realized that my upperclassmen friend was an officer to a group devoted to the art and expression of animé, and invited me at that point to come to some of their meetings if I'd like to see more... well, I was like a new drug addict going to the drugstore for another hit.

Since leaving college in '90, I moved up to Ohio, and after nearly 3 years of animé withdrawal (I'd love to see anyone tell me they've put up with more without going insane), finally found a couple people in my area who also loved animé, and with their help set up what is now known as the Akron Animation Association (Tri-A for short). I was the President of that club for the 1st year, and had to step down once they went official as a student club because I wasn't an Akron U. student.

One high-point I'll mention was holding a special Animé Festival in the Akron University Student Center movie theatre, and (with official permission!) showed Akira to a crowd of over 350 people... I am glad the fire marshall didn't show up. ;2)

Since then, I've moved to KY, and after suffering a milder bout with AWS (animé withdrawal syndrome) since at that time I had a small animé collection to tide me over, I found a UK-based student group, A.M.U.K. (http://www.uky.edu/~amuk/). I started to hang out with them during the summer, and then in the fall, I heard from one guy that some people were starting a club at EKU, closer to my home!! Yatta!! Well, I found out that the meetings were on Friday evenings, and after my first visit, the rest is history.

Now, I'm officially the Advisor to AnimEKU (http://studentweb.eku.edu/Jacob_Williams154/AnimEKU/Website/), assiting the officers on various things as they have questions, or with whatever the club needs help on. Occasionally, I also like to hold my own "AnimeFests" at my house, inviting whomever is interested (in the area) in watching some animé with me in a more cozy environment (not to mention with Dolby Surround Sound and a 70-inch projection theater system! >;2).

Insofar as what animé I like to watch, I really have no real preference except that I like animé that effectively executes at least two of the following qualities:
- Character Development
- Art Quality/Animation Cinematics
- Storyline
- Musical Score (Themes/BGM "Background Music")

Any animé that gets three of those items down, I really like it.
Any animé that nails all four, then it's an easy favorite of mine. :2)

I prefer to avoid any animé that shows gratuitous Hentai/Yaoi/Yumi/Pornographic scenes. Note my use of the word "gratuitous". If the scene 'fits the story', I may give it a pass; I'm adult enough to realize these things happen in real life, but there *is* a limit. If the animé storyline is basically about sex (read: porn-imé), then I'll simply avoid it, like Ebichu (for those of you who happened across it, bleh).

Gosh, I can't even *start* to tell you all the titles I have watched in the time since '87, but I'll tell you that I've seen quite a few. But, here are some of my favorite animé titles, that stick above the rest of the drivel:
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä)
- My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari na Totoro)
- Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Tankyuubin)
- Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting
- Last Exile
- Great Teacher Onizuka "GTO"
- Initial D
- Kimagure Orange Road "KOR"
- Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
- Bubblegum Crisis (OAV series) {note: OAV/OVA = Original Animated Video}
- Trigun
- Yawara: A Fashionable Judo Girl
- Cowboy Bebop
- Dragon Half
- Slayers
- anything .Hack
- Azumanga Daioh

Also, I've been recently dabbling in the art of cos-play, and am currently in the making of a Bear costume (from .hack//SIGN). It's more work than I first thought, but I plan on finishing it by this November's Anime convention in Cincinnati, Ohio - SugoiCon 2004. If you're planning on going there too, let me know!

Lastly, I consider myself a classic 'fansub' distributor, which is someone who promotes the spread of the anime medium in the 'States until the particular title is licensed/released for US/North American distribution.

I also carry a somewhat sizeable collection of such 'fansub' material, and if asked nicely, may opt to do some trading with anime titles still not licensed.

Well, that's all about me for now... Ja!

--- DanekJovax

[shooraijin]

Programmer/analyst, eh? What type of work did you do?

(former sysadmin/DBA, now an MD ... funny how that works)

[MillyFan]

Hey, nice to meet you! Welcome to CAA.

[Mithrandir]

There are a few of us geeks floating around the boards. Fell free to contribute to the general wakkiness.

[Gypsy]

Hey there! I'm really glad you found us. Looks like you'll have a lot in commom with a bunch of people around here. See you on the boards!

[true_noir_chloe]

You're an oldy like me. I used to love Speed Racer and Kimba, I think I used to watch Robotech - but I never remember the names. I'm kind of a "born-again" anime fan. LOL I love my Lord Jesus as well.

Welcome to CAA.

[DanekJovax]

Wow, thanks for the response!

Let's see, to shooraijin: I'm mostly a SQL database designer as well as an MS Access/VBA programmer, and add report writing on top of that. I also dabble in C programming, and have those far-off aspirations of being the next 'John Carmack' with some big hit game release.

Other than that, I work with just about any PC issue you can think of, short of soldering and replacing IC's.

to true_noir_chloe: Yep, I'm an old-schooler. I also remember Robotech, though at that time I was more into messing around with my Commodore Vic-20 & 64 and playing Archon with my friends than watching the exploits of Rick Hunter and listening to Minmei. :2)

Lastly, yes, I'm a 110% bonified retro-geek, with a wierder humor to match.

As soon as I figure out where I can find the right 'pic to go with my forum ID, I'll put one in. I think I have a good one in mind already... ;2)

Well, see you all around!

--- DanekJovax

[EireWolf]

... at that time I was more into messing around with my Commodore Vic-20 & 64 ... Lastly, yes, I'm a 110% bonified retro-geek, with a wierder humor to match.

You and shooraijin should get along just fine.

[DanekJovax]

That almost sounds scary. :2)

[shooraijin]

Aye. I'll even overlook the Access programmer part. ;-) I keep a Commodore 128D next to my dual G4 on my desk.

Most of my former employ was application development and database administration of Informix and (occasionally) MySQL databases on enterprise Unix servers, mostly HP/UX and AIX with a smattering of smaller Linux installs, with some unwilling NT system administration thrown in, and a wee little bit of Solaris.

[Technomancer]

Happy to meet you! And glad to meet another tech geek too. 'Fraid I'm not too much into the IT side of things though...

[DanekJovax]

Thanks for the greeting, Technomancer! :2) I'll try to not bore you with techospeak, but I did run across this article from slashdot:

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/16/1712236

It's so exiting to see kids come up with things like this, just to prove that it just takes a little imagination and an inner drive to explore our world to discover new things. The Lord needs no credentials to prove His creation... needs no certificates to show His great works... needs no titles to reveal the great beauty... and power... of His nature.

[Technomancer]

I'm used to technospeak, just a different kind (I'm a lot more conversant with the kind in the article than I am on discussions about say, UNIX) . I'm actually an electrical engineer after all.

[DanekJovax]

Ah, so you know the significance of rm -rf'ing and the greatness that is BOFH, I'll bet. Heh. Been there done that.

:2)

[Technomancer]

I know BOFH, but not the other one. I'm not really a UNIX person: I'll stick to DSP I think.

[DanekJovax]

Wow... it's already been almost a month since I've joined here, and frankly, I've loved it!

Thanks to all the admins, and all the great company here, that makes this a really special place on the 'net!

Being someone who's been an online persona since about 1988 (back in the "golden TELNET days"), this place ranks in my personal top 5 favorite sites.

Keep it up, and Jesus Bless!

Ganbare!!

[Mithrandir]

My favorite BOFH was the guy who found a (L)user with 20+ megs of pics in his home dir. (Back in the day, that was a LOT of pics). He set the users's password to 'id10t'. He then proceeded to tell the user that he had reset the password to:
'id10t<return>rm -rf *'

He and I got along just fine.

PS: Out of curiosity, what SQL tool do you use. I use MySQL and interface it to the web via perl and apache. I'm a perl geek, I guess... But I did take enought DBA classes to get by. At any rate, my current gig is migrating a Filemaker setup to MySQL. I'm liking it. In my spare time, I wrote a hiragana parser that interfaces to a DB of japanese words with english translations (for the purpose of a flash card program). C-Ya 'round!

[DanekJovax]

My favorite BOFH was the guy who found a (L)user with 20+ megs of pics in his home dir. (Back in the day, that was a LOT of pics). He set the users's password to 'id10t'. He then proceeded to tell the user that he had reset the password to:
'id10t<return>rm -rf *' He and I got along just fine.

Haha! I think I remember reading that one too! There was quite the affinity to the "rm -rf *" manoever, especially when he was called away from his MUDding to take a support call. ]Out of curiosity, what SQL tool do you use?[/QUOTE]

In my last few jobs, I've primarily worked with MS Transact SQL, but I've also got about 3 years of MS Access under my belt, for whatever that's worth. I'm not too familiar with the MySQL maintenance/administration workings, but I'm sure I can handle the SQL programming well enough.

In my spare time, I wrote a hiragana parser that interfaces to a DB of japanese words with english translations (for the purpose of a flash card program). C-Ya 'round!

I'll have to take a look at that! Where's a link (if you've made one)?

Ja matta ne!

[Mithrandir]

IS there still a URL out there that has a good portion of the BOFH?

The last time I saw it was a link off /. but it may not be archived anymore.

I'm not too familiar with the MySQL maintenance/administration workings, but I'm sure I can handle the SQL programming well enough.

As long as you don't have any trouble with the unix i/f it's a lot of fun. Access? *shudder* I did some access work, but I can't really handle the GUI way of thinkin'. I guess I was born to early for that. In a previous job I did some fairly extensive oracle migration work (on NT boxes) and I got to use perl for a lot of that. It was so much fun, I went out and d/ld mysql and taught myself in my spare time.

I'll have to take a look at that! Where's a link (if you've made one)?

The link's in another forum (somewhere) but I'm to lazy to find it, so here it is again:
http://dlc.deanza.fhda.edu/
You can ignore the copyright stuff for now. If you're interested, I can show you the perl code, too. I'm waiting until I know I have all the bugs worked out, then I'll slam it onto sourceforge. (That and of course I'll have to go back and clean it up/comment all the really bizarre code snippets.

Incidentally, as far as 'online personas' go, I have you beat by 3 years. *VBG*

[shooraijin]

In my last few jobs, I've primarily worked with MS Transact SQL, but I've also got about 3 years of MS Access under my belt, for whatever that's worth.

Aaaah! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~~~!!

The pain, stop the pain, make it go away!

*runs to the safety of Informix Online and mySQL, both of which I've maintained, and are real! database engines *

I also hate Sybase, too. It's not all Microsoft bashing.

Ja matta ne!

ITYM 'mata'? (matta = past tense 'matsu' to wait, doesn't it?)

[Mithrandir]

Well wait, OK?

Or more colloquial: Hang on, OK?

(That might work, but it's probably not what was intended...)

[DanekJovax]

Yeah, I think I mistyped... I'll remember to use 'mata' next time.

And you're the first online 'persona' that I've met in over a decade that's been online longer than me, oldphilosopher! :2) Now I don't feel so old.

[Mithrandir]

lol. Glad I can still be of use...

:G:

[Ashley]

Wow, you guys make my head hurt.

[Mithrandir]

Here, Ash, take two of these... Little, yellow, different...

Rats. I just came up with this one:
On the subject of the proper use of the word, it really doesn't mata.
Duh dum dum, teee!

[shooraijin]

*stuffs oldphil in a closet*

[Mithrandir]

In a closet? That's fine. You didn't clothes the door.

[DanekJovax]

Man, all this talk is hampering my ability to stay stain and tumbling my poor lil' brain over the line!

[Mithrandir]

(I take it shooby is wonder why we are pun-ishing him.

[DanekJovax]

Wet dew ewe mean? Eye sink he nose all redeye.