Ima arukidasou nanika ga hajimaru!

What is it with anime and underage teenage schoolgirls? Why this incessantly perplexing trend of having the protagonist either being an underage teenage schoolgirl or being involved in a relationship with an underage teenage schoolgirl? Hmmm.

In case you're wondering the pic is a promotional ad for "Full Metal Panic?", an anime series that I recently snagged off a friend. The story is basically the life of a 16 year old special ops soldier (the logical choice) who masquerades as a high school student in order to protect a high value asset (aka a 16 year old girl) in a school where all the other 16 year old girls apparently wear C-cup bras, mini-skirts, and sport bright lustrous hair in about every color you can find in a box of Froot Loops. The stoic and somewhat frigid demeanor of the hero creates awkward situations between the bad-tempered heroine and other girls to comedic effect. That along with the funny yet vulgar off-color sexual jokes and the somewhat crude occasional shots of cartoon breasts, legs, buttocks, and groins make this yet another amusing run of the mill anime cartoon. 

What makes this all the more disturbing and creepy is that the animators of these cartoons are all middle-age 30 or 40 year old men. I wonder whats going through their minds when they're drawing semi-naked teenage schoolgirls being stalked at night by a strange man wearing a horse mask whose only desire, is not to molest them, or rape them, but to use a hairbrush and some glue and wire in order to tie their beautiful hair into long pretty ponytails? Who are these people? 

Theres only one answer. Hentaaaaaaaiiiiiii.

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Back in the day (aka a couple of months ago) I would make the regular rounds to the gym and the running track to keep fit and trim. I would sweat it out like Stallone preparing himself for another lame sleep-inducing installment of the Rocky series. So what went wrong, you ask? Where did this lumpy belly come from, you ask? How did I get chubby all of a sudden, you ask?

How? I'll tell you how. By snacking on cakes, muffins, pasta, lasagne, and a whole plethora of other rich tasty yet artery clogging treats and goodies baked and cooked by none other than my little sister. You see when family becomes involved, it becomes almost near impossible to refuse. Especially when they look like this.

   

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies hot out of the oven. May the Lord have mercy on my greedy gluttonous soul.

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Now on a serious note I wanted to commemorate the passing away of Howard Zinn last month on the 27th. Zinn was an american historian, writer, and political activist who was involved in the anti-war movements and the fight for civil rights in america during the 60s. He along with Noam Chomsky were both against the invasion of Iraq and the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine. His death along with the death of Edward Said in 2003 is slowly bringing to close the chapter of the prominent voices speaking out amidst the increasingly loud war chants emanating from the american right wing. The only person left from the old-school is Noam Chomsky who himself is over 80 years old. Does it mean the future is dark and bleak? Not necessarily. I have yet to make my appearance in the academic and political arena of my home country. So I guess only time will tell.

"We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed in our consciousness-embedded there by years of family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of newspapers, radio, and television. This would seem to lead to a simple conclusion: that we all have an enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of others information they do not have, which has the potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas."— Howard Zinn, 2005