WELCOME to the personal home page/blog of Matthew La France. Please enjoy your stay.
8/31/2003
My computer is up and running again. ^_^ I just couldn't get my internet connection back properly and it was overdue for an overhaul. I took the opportunity to install Win98se dual-boot with WinXP. I can't wait to try running some DOS games again. ^_^ 0 comments
8/28/2003
I feel like I have been asleep for the past 4 days. :P I think I am finally over the jet lag. We will see when 4:30 comes up today. ^_^; I am going to go pick up my pre oreder copy of Soul Calubur 2 for the X-Box. Hopefully they keep it and don't decide to put it on the shelf anyway. Apparently they did not get very many copies in. 0 comments
8/25/2003
Well, I am back in the states. ^_^ I am sad to have had to leave Japan so soon but hopefully I can visit again before too long. The trip back was somewhat eventful when I lost my passport on the plane from Japan to Chicago. They finally let me through customs with about 10 min to catch my connecting flight, but when I got the ther gate they had my passport waiting! ^_^ Since we couldn't re-check our baggage until we got through customs, it didn't make our plane, so we had to come back to the airport to get it on the next flight (aobut 2 1/2 hours later). All in all, it was not a bad flight though. I slept for about 20 hours when I got back so hopefully I am rested enough to be back on a US schedual. ^_^;
It was nice to see my friend and hang around Comiket. I did not get to spend this much time in Tokyo the last time I was in Japan so it was neat to see more things there. I still did not have any ramen. :P I did have some Okonomiyaki at this back alley restaraunt with a monster movie theme (Godzilla, Ultraman, etc...). It was really good. ^_^ I got to eat Unagi-don and Ten-don, and lots of strange good things from the convenience store. I didn't get any good cream melon-pan; the custard melon-pan I found was just not the same. :P I liked Bottle-rock though, it is a good alternative to Ice box. 0 comments
8/21/2003
The trip is almost over. :( We went to a temple in Asakusa yesterday. I got a fortune that was "best luck". My friend got "worst luck". :) Then I offered 100 yen and washed my hands in water at the fountain. I also got some souveniers for my friends and family. It looks like all the stuff I bought will fit in my suitcase. I made out really well in Akihabara and the surrounding area. I was able to find a PC-FX for about 4800 yen at the Sofmap in Yourakusho. I also got an FM Towns Marty in Akihabara for about 16000 yen. I got a bunch of games for the PCE, PC-FX, Saturn, and a few Marty. Most of them were half-price at the Sofmaps. ^_^ My best finds were Dragon Half for the PCE, and Welcome to Pia Carrot for the PC-FX. Also notable is 3x3 Eyes, Ranma 1/2 and Sailormoon for the PCE, Princess Maker 2 for the 3DO and a Roomate, Christmas Nights and a couple of Sakura Wars for the Saturn. 0 comments
8/18/2003
I spent yesterday in Akihabara. There is a lot of cool stuff there. So much, that it is hard to find something in particular if you are looking for it...like a bathroom. ^_^; I did get some really great deals on games though. One of the Softmaps had 50% off used PC-FX and PCE CD games so I got quite a few. ^_^ I also got several Saturn games without cases for really cheap. There are a lot of funky shops in Akihabara but they all kind of have the same things. The most unusual places so far have probably been this shop that sells used capsule toys and other figures, and this place that seems to be exclusively garage-shop dirty CD-ROM video games.
Today we are trying to recuperate before we attempt to hit Akihabara again. I may head down to Book-off a little later today. I am looking forward to checking out a little of Shibuya and maybe doing a little sight seeing before we leave. 0 comments
8/17/2003
Comiket is over. ^_^ I got to meet the artist that I was most intersted in meeting. We went to the booth where it said he was supposed to be but he was not there! >_< I was very disappointed. We asked at the information booth but they didn't know either. We went to look for another group that was supposed to be there (incidentally they had moved also), and there he was! I had to talk to one of the girls at the counter and try to explain to her that I was hoping to give my card to the artsit that drew it but she pointed out that he was right there at the table! ^_^ I introduced myself to him and told him that I liked his work and asked him if he would accept my meiishi and some artwork. He asked me where I was from and said that he liked America. We sort of formally concluded our introductions and as I was leaving the table he came out from behind it and gave me a fan (note: it is extremely hot at Comiket, though it was actually much cooler that it could have been because of the rain, I was visibly suffering ^_^;). I got 6 of his works, which are the jewels of my collection. I also got some other cool stuff, almost 20 comics in all. I can see why people will come in groups, because there are really long lines for the popular things, and there is no way you could get it all yourself if you wanted a lot of popular comics. I only had a few priorities and a limited budget, but I still did a little browsing and impulse shopping. All in all it was a tiring but productive 3 days and we had a good time. Now for Akihabara! ^_^ 0 comments
8/15/2003
Hello from Japan! It is about 8:30am on Saturday morning. I am getting ready for day 2 of Comiket! Day one was a learning experience. ^_^; We didn't get there until about 11:00-11:30. They finish up around 4:00, so by the time we looked around a bit and had lunch it was pretty much over. I got some cool stuff though, and a program so I was able to look up where all of the people I am looking for are and what day they will be there. I did not realize, but different people have booths on different days and most (all?) people are only there for one day. We know exactly where we want to go today and we know not to have lunch ^_^, so we should pull today off with style. Tomorrow is the big day however. ALL of the big people are there on the third day, and I am very much looking forward to buying some of thier stuff and giving out my card. ^_^ 0 comments
8/10/2003
Well, I am getting ready for my trip on Wednesday. I have been doing laundry, sorting out my meiishi, passport, and other carry-on items. I got some paper to print out artwork. I still need to do that, burn some cds and make a trip to the bank. Other than that it's simply getting through another two days of work and waking up on time for the plane. ^_^
I played some Silent Hill 3. *shivers* I love those games but I hate them! They are really scary. The second one was a bit dissapointing, compared to the first, but this one is really scary right from the start. I played it at a friends house so I don't really know when or if I will sit down and play the whole thing, but I know I won't sleep well when I do. :P
I played a short game of Mage Knight (300pts) against two friends. It was a TIE between me and my friend and we broke it with a dice roll. It was my second win, but I think I may have inadvertenly cheated by forgetting about a rule. ^_^; Still, my friends didn't care and it was fun. 0 comments
8/08/2003
I am so BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORED! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHGH! I think that made me feel better. ^_^
I have nothing to do for the next 2 1/2 hours and I am not dealing with it very well. >_< I just want something to happend to occupy my attention until I can go home. Instead I think that time will drag on at a slow crawl, as I watch each second go by with excrutiating awarness.
I am going to try to share this pain with you, dear blog reader, by encouraging you to count along with me....ready? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, etc.....
Hmmm. Ok now.....HEX! 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, 3F, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 5A, 5B< 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F....damn, this sucks. :P 0 comments
8/07/2003
Hello world. It's ironic that one would write a program to say "hello world", when you are the only one seeing it. :P
I have been watching Narutaru as it has been coming out on animesuki.com. It is damn cool. I have been a fan of it for the past 5 years, since I read some of it in Afternoon. The anime does not disappoint so far (though I thought Shiina's hair was a different color :P). I am trying to wind down as I gear up for going to Japan. As exciting as it should be I'd like to have as relaxing a time as possible. Any second that I am not thoroughly enjoying myself I will immediately take action to remedy. I intend to keep stress to a minimum. ^_^;
To that end, I have been trying to start early and do as much loafing around as I can. I managed to dump a fairly decent script from the Maison Ikkoku game on the PC engine, that I have been playing around with. I also did a bunch of game scans for the video game museum, which is a very cool site that I think doesn�t get nearly enough contributions. I also took some time to set up my video capture device to grab some of my old VHS stuff to VCD/CD. My first new cap is an old favorite, Combustible Campus Guardress. I just realized that Kazushi Hagiwara did the designs/story for it. No wonder it looked so familiar. ^_^ 0 comments
8/04/2003
I haven't posted in a while. I am getting ready to make some updates to my gallery page (http://www.mechanicomics.com). I am starting to get psyched about Comiket. I had some business cards (meishi) printed up with some of my artwork on them. They look nice (I may post a picture, but I am lazy ^_^;). I need to get some nice paper to print up a little portfolio to share. I am not really sure how I intend to go about it since it isn't like I am promoting myself to publishers, I just want to let some people see my work.
I saw Pirates over the weekend. It was ok. I liked Johnny Depp's character a lot, but the girl and "orlando"'s characters just weren't very likable. It's worth seeing is you like pirates. ^_^ 0 comments
My computer is up and running again. ^_^ I just couldn't get my internet connection back properly and it was overdue for an overhaul. I took the opportunity to install Win98se dual-boot with WinXP. I can't wait to try running some DOS games again. ^_^ 0 comments
8/28/2003
I feel like I have been asleep for the past 4 days. :P I think I am finally over the jet lag. We will see when 4:30 comes up today. ^_^; I am going to go pick up my pre oreder copy of Soul Calubur 2 for the X-Box. Hopefully they keep it and don't decide to put it on the shelf anyway. Apparently they did not get very many copies in. 0 comments
8/25/2003
Well, I am back in the states. ^_^ I am sad to have had to leave Japan so soon but hopefully I can visit again before too long. The trip back was somewhat eventful when I lost my passport on the plane from Japan to Chicago. They finally let me through customs with about 10 min to catch my connecting flight, but when I got the ther gate they had my passport waiting! ^_^ Since we couldn't re-check our baggage until we got through customs, it didn't make our plane, so we had to come back to the airport to get it on the next flight (aobut 2 1/2 hours later). All in all, it was not a bad flight though. I slept for about 20 hours when I got back so hopefully I am rested enough to be back on a US schedual. ^_^;
It was nice to see my friend and hang around Comiket. I did not get to spend this much time in Tokyo the last time I was in Japan so it was neat to see more things there. I still did not have any ramen. :P I did have some Okonomiyaki at this back alley restaraunt with a monster movie theme (Godzilla, Ultraman, etc...). It was really good. ^_^ I got to eat Unagi-don and Ten-don, and lots of strange good things from the convenience store. I didn't get any good cream melon-pan; the custard melon-pan I found was just not the same. :P I liked Bottle-rock though, it is a good alternative to Ice box. 0 comments
8/21/2003
The trip is almost over. :( We went to a temple in Asakusa yesterday. I got a fortune that was "best luck". My friend got "worst luck". :) Then I offered 100 yen and washed my hands in water at the fountain. I also got some souveniers for my friends and family. It looks like all the stuff I bought will fit in my suitcase. I made out really well in Akihabara and the surrounding area. I was able to find a PC-FX for about 4800 yen at the Sofmap in Yourakusho. I also got an FM Towns Marty in Akihabara for about 16000 yen. I got a bunch of games for the PCE, PC-FX, Saturn, and a few Marty. Most of them were half-price at the Sofmaps. ^_^ My best finds were Dragon Half for the PCE, and Welcome to Pia Carrot for the PC-FX. Also notable is 3x3 Eyes, Ranma 1/2 and Sailormoon for the PCE, Princess Maker 2 for the 3DO and a Roomate, Christmas Nights and a couple of Sakura Wars for the Saturn. 0 comments
8/18/2003
I spent yesterday in Akihabara. There is a lot of cool stuff there. So much, that it is hard to find something in particular if you are looking for it...like a bathroom. ^_^; I did get some really great deals on games though. One of the Softmaps had 50% off used PC-FX and PCE CD games so I got quite a few. ^_^ I also got several Saturn games without cases for really cheap. There are a lot of funky shops in Akihabara but they all kind of have the same things. The most unusual places so far have probably been this shop that sells used capsule toys and other figures, and this place that seems to be exclusively garage-shop dirty CD-ROM video games.
Today we are trying to recuperate before we attempt to hit Akihabara again. I may head down to Book-off a little later today. I am looking forward to checking out a little of Shibuya and maybe doing a little sight seeing before we leave. 0 comments
8/17/2003
Comiket is over. ^_^ I got to meet the artist that I was most intersted in meeting. We went to the booth where it said he was supposed to be but he was not there! >_< I was very disappointed. We asked at the information booth but they didn't know either. We went to look for another group that was supposed to be there (incidentally they had moved also), and there he was! I had to talk to one of the girls at the counter and try to explain to her that I was hoping to give my card to the artsit that drew it but she pointed out that he was right there at the table! ^_^ I introduced myself to him and told him that I liked his work and asked him if he would accept my meiishi and some artwork. He asked me where I was from and said that he liked America. We sort of formally concluded our introductions and as I was leaving the table he came out from behind it and gave me a fan (note: it is extremely hot at Comiket, though it was actually much cooler that it could have been because of the rain, I was visibly suffering ^_^;). I got 6 of his works, which are the jewels of my collection. I also got some other cool stuff, almost 20 comics in all. I can see why people will come in groups, because there are really long lines for the popular things, and there is no way you could get it all yourself if you wanted a lot of popular comics. I only had a few priorities and a limited budget, but I still did a little browsing and impulse shopping. All in all it was a tiring but productive 3 days and we had a good time. Now for Akihabara! ^_^ 0 comments
8/15/2003
Hello from Japan! It is about 8:30am on Saturday morning. I am getting ready for day 2 of Comiket! Day one was a learning experience. ^_^; We didn't get there until about 11:00-11:30. They finish up around 4:00, so by the time we looked around a bit and had lunch it was pretty much over. I got some cool stuff though, and a program so I was able to look up where all of the people I am looking for are and what day they will be there. I did not realize, but different people have booths on different days and most (all?) people are only there for one day. We know exactly where we want to go today and we know not to have lunch ^_^, so we should pull today off with style. Tomorrow is the big day however. ALL of the big people are there on the third day, and I am very much looking forward to buying some of thier stuff and giving out my card. ^_^ 0 comments
8/10/2003
Well, I am getting ready for my trip on Wednesday. I have been doing laundry, sorting out my meiishi, passport, and other carry-on items. I got some paper to print out artwork. I still need to do that, burn some cds and make a trip to the bank. Other than that it's simply getting through another two days of work and waking up on time for the plane. ^_^
I played some Silent Hill 3. *shivers* I love those games but I hate them! They are really scary. The second one was a bit dissapointing, compared to the first, but this one is really scary right from the start. I played it at a friends house so I don't really know when or if I will sit down and play the whole thing, but I know I won't sleep well when I do. :P
I played a short game of Mage Knight (300pts) against two friends. It was a TIE between me and my friend and we broke it with a dice roll. It was my second win, but I think I may have inadvertenly cheated by forgetting about a rule. ^_^; Still, my friends didn't care and it was fun. 0 comments
8/08/2003
I am so BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORED! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHGH! I think that made me feel better. ^_^
I have nothing to do for the next 2 1/2 hours and I am not dealing with it very well. >_< I just want something to happend to occupy my attention until I can go home. Instead I think that time will drag on at a slow crawl, as I watch each second go by with excrutiating awarness.
I am going to try to share this pain with you, dear blog reader, by encouraging you to count along with me....ready? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, etc.....
Hmmm. Ok now.....HEX! 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, 3F, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 5A, 5B< 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F....damn, this sucks. :P 0 comments
8/07/2003
Hello world. It's ironic that one would write a program to say "hello world", when you are the only one seeing it. :P
I have been watching Narutaru as it has been coming out on animesuki.com. It is damn cool. I have been a fan of it for the past 5 years, since I read some of it in Afternoon. The anime does not disappoint so far (though I thought Shiina's hair was a different color :P). I am trying to wind down as I gear up for going to Japan. As exciting as it should be I'd like to have as relaxing a time as possible. Any second that I am not thoroughly enjoying myself I will immediately take action to remedy. I intend to keep stress to a minimum. ^_^;
To that end, I have been trying to start early and do as much loafing around as I can. I managed to dump a fairly decent script from the Maison Ikkoku game on the PC engine, that I have been playing around with. I also did a bunch of game scans for the video game museum, which is a very cool site that I think doesn�t get nearly enough contributions. I also took some time to set up my video capture device to grab some of my old VHS stuff to VCD/CD. My first new cap is an old favorite, Combustible Campus Guardress. I just realized that Kazushi Hagiwara did the designs/story for it. No wonder it looked so familiar. ^_^ 0 comments
8/04/2003
I haven't posted in a while. I am getting ready to make some updates to my gallery page (http://www.mechanicomics.com). I am starting to get psyched about Comiket. I had some business cards (meishi) printed up with some of my artwork on them. They look nice (I may post a picture, but I am lazy ^_^;). I need to get some nice paper to print up a little portfolio to share. I am not really sure how I intend to go about it since it isn't like I am promoting myself to publishers, I just want to let some people see my work.
I saw Pirates over the weekend. It was ok. I liked Johnny Depp's character a lot, but the girl and "orlando"'s characters just weren't very likable. It's worth seeing is you like pirates. ^_^ 0 comments
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