Sophomore.

Gnarls Barkley - Reckoner.

2010-09-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

Now, I generally hate when other bands/musicians cover Radiohead but Gnarls Barkley has a magical voice, the only voice aside from Thom Yorkes that could ever carry a song this big.

Sufjan Stevens - I want to be well.

2010-09-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

With Sufjans new album just around the corner [12 october 2010] there were a few leaks as expected. One of those is this incredible giant of a tune - I Want to Be Well. Enjoy.

Spectrum comment of the day ! Vol1.

2010-09-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

So I've deciding on including some lols. Here is the first "Comment of the Day" from Spectrum Nexus.

Lecram86 said:

"In fary tail, where it says that Panther Lily likes kiwi, what its refearing to the bird or the fruit? Because Panther is a cat after all. "

You can check out the actual comment by clicking on the username.

Where to read your favourite manga? Well right this way please...

2010-09-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, due to the recent manga website bust, it's become really quite hard to find your favourite manga online. Only a handful of small manga websites remain, and these are especially hard to locate.

In my honest opinion, the best place to read your manga is Spectrum Nexus, a small, one-man operated website with a great reader and a fantastic selection of popular titles ranging from Naruto to Berserk and even many Yuri/Yaoi manga, which are usually virtually non-existent within the more popular websites. The best thing about The Spectrum is it's community and disqus comment boards which are full of people ready to recommend a new title to read.

If you want your manga fix really early on, then I suggest following Mangastream on twitter. The website itself, only hosts Binktopia [very high quality, fantastic translation] releases.

A good alternative to Binktopias scans comes from SleepyFans. Sadly SleepyFans does not have a dedicated reader online so their scans have to be downloaded zipped up from their website.

Anyway, here are the links, enjoy !
Spectrum Nexus - Many titles with a thriving community.
MangaStream Twitter - Up to date news regarding Binktopia releases.
MangaStream - Binktopias dedicated manga reader.
SleepyFans Blogspot - Download SleepyFans scanlations.[ Currently the only group scanlating Bakuman]

Dj Shadow - Shadowsphere Tour Footage.

2010-09-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

This amazing new footage was taken at the Bucharest gig this year.

Visuals by Ben Stokes.

Summer Wars = Summer Victories.

2010-09-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

Remember last year when I talked about "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" by Mamoru Hosoda? Well, Mr Hosoda returns with another anime creation you simply can't afford to miss. Also coming back with Hosoda is the entire Madhouse studio to help him create truly visionary work. What am I talking about? Hosodas second full feature anime film - Summer Wars.

The story of Summer Wars is built around the fusion of two worlds. A Facebook-like social network called OZ, which not only allows people to communicate but also controls most electronic devices hooked up to the web, and the normal world in which humans lead their typical lives. That is, until one day everything goes horribly wrong and OZ gets hacked by a virus. A virus that brings chaos to both worlds.

The main character of Summer Wars, Kenji Koiso, is a mathematical genius who unwillingly gets pulled right into the middle of the entire situation. One day he recieves an Email containing a mathematical equation that only a wiz like him could solve. It turns out the equation was in fact the activation code for the virus. Now, being wanted by police worldwide, him and the upper-class family of his love interest, Natsuki Shinohara, must solve the problem and get rid of the virus before all is lost.

One thing to point out about Summer Wars is the animation, which is simply put, top-notch. I was already in love with what Madhouse Studios work on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but with this production they really take it to another plane. The amount of on-screen detail is beyond belief. Some of the end-film shots of the virus are breathtakingly beautiful. Even though the graphics are computer generated for most part of the feature, it still retains the classic anime feel we all know and love. It is truly the best combination of CGI and hand drawn art.

In my humble opinion, Mamoru Hosoda is the man who will take Hayao Miyazakis place atop the throne of japanese animation once Hayao is no longer with us. It is extremely reassuring that this kind of magnificent work still surfaces.

Mamoru Hosoda, I salute thee.

Read Summer Wars manga here.

It seems blogs are like zombies.

2010-09-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Not that there is anyone here. I've come back. I'm planning on picking sophomore up again. It has been a very long time since I've last written anything on here and this situation demands an explanation. There has been an awful lot of drama in both our lives [a refresher - this blog was run by Jash and Kilimanziaro, two geeks on a mission] and running a blog was basically impossible.

Things seem to have quietened down for now and I'm planning on slowly but surely picking up the blog again.

Yours truly, Kilimanziaro.

it has all come to a halt.

2009-11-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

So I see the blog has come to a halt again. That's never fun so I wanted to do a quick round-up of what has been happening. Basically both me and Jash have a lot of work at uni right now [yes we are both in the second year of our studies, hence sophomore], and as well all know, uni work always comes first *chuckles* . In the meantime:

-chrome OS is full of fail, we installed an early version.
-Moby released a good album.
-we both got google wave and we have invites, wanna be friends? for invites?
-John Mayer released an incredible album.
-I decided that reading books is going to make me cool again.
-John Mayer released a really good fucking album.
-Law Abiding Citizen is launching at the movies tonight.

If you want a google wave invite, we might have to humiliate you for it. Ask if you want one.

And I'm going to leave you guys for this piece of awesomeness:

" It seemed clear to the Pythagoreans that the distance between the planets would have the same ratios as produced harmonious sounds in a plucked string. To them, the solar system consisted of ten spheres revolving in circles about a central fire, each sphere giving off a sound the way a projectile makes a sound as it swished through the air; the closer spheres gave lower tones while the farther moved faster and gave higher pitched sounds. All combined into a beautiful harmony - the music of spheres. "

<333

2009-11-22T12:15:00.000-08:00

Sophomore's obviously interested in finding more and more interesting things for it's readers, even if they're low in numbers at the moment. Another obvious thing is that we're interested in manga and anime stuff. This Sunday We'd like to introduce to you a title that's probably going to be[if not already] one of the best seinen titles.

In my constant search for more interesting manga series I stumble upon many different positions. What brought the attention of this blog's mod this time is a very interesting manga with the mysterious title Übel Blatt. What we deal with here is a traditional epic story set in a medieval world simialr to that of the Scandinavian mythology. High elves, knights, dragoons, mystic creatures and hi-tech magic hopping in here and there. Sound's familair? That's probably because the manga's issued in Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine which in my opinion is a gold mine for RPG games scripts.

The manga features a feminine boy by the name of Koinzell as the protagonist, with a scar over his left eye, two long white braids and red eyes, wandering around the outskirts of the empire that's son to be the main scene for the events of the story and killing of the leaders of a revolutionary army. Nothing interesting really until the boy reveals his identity to one of the said leaders. From there the story's plot starts to spice up.

On his way Koinzell meets more and more people, that although reluctant at first eventualy end up aiding him in his journey. Soon enough he's known in the entire empire as the 'hero of the borders', but in the background of this story we have a fable and an ominous prophecy which both prove to be rather twisted and ironic as the plot progresses. A lot of dark themes to deal with here.

As far as the art is concerned, it's just splendid. Awesomely planned panels and battle scenes with pretty female chars. As a seinen, the manga incorporates a lot of blood, sex and nudity as well as obviously violence everywhere. Monsters chop of people's heads and limbs while people do things worse than monsters, and all that served as a series of amazing pictures.

Cut cut cut lil' boy.

The frequency of the heroes getting outnumbered by weird enemies in a battle is beyond everything here.

As mentioned before the medieval character of the world is contrasted with hi-tech science and technology pretty often here, so seeing a flying fortress hovering over a typical 14th cenury town sin't something weird in this manga. But as these are somehow generic things in contemporary manga, after all the Vampire Hunter Ds and all, I'd like to focus on the PLOT. Certainly not that generic anymore, if you're a fan of Count Monte Cristo, V for Vendetta and all that vengeance stuff , you're gonna love Blatt. With it's variety of main and sub-characters. Saying all this I reccomend Übel Blatt to everyone that's looking for some fresh story with interesting characters, plot and certainly suspense that makes you anticipate the next chapter like a little fangirl.

Übel Blatt by [Spectrum Nexus]

The man who made a girl leap through time.

2009-11-22T11:18:00.000-08:00

I believe that all the people who read the manga and anime related parts of the blog, know how much we love Hayao Miyazaki. Hayao has been said to be the Walt Disney of japanese animation and I could never agree more. There is only one problem. Hayao is now over 80 years old, and even though he still makes movies, we have to face the fact that he won't be around for that much longer. He is human, like all of us, and even though I tend to put him on a pedestal, he might soon leave us.

For that sole reason I began my search for the man who could take his place. I read around a lot and that led me to Mamoru Hosoda, and ofcourse, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, his first truly ambitious project. The movie came out in 2006 in japan, but only just now did it make it's way to europe.

One night I sat down with a bunch of my friends to watch the film. Our initial reaction was 'meh, the drawings aren't that great, kind of generic', but as the film progressed, we fell completely silent. The moment we were introduced to the concept of time travel in the film, we understood that this is not going to be your typical anime-love-story-with-cute-girls. Oh no, the movie became a tight gripping sci-fi thriller where the protagonist races against time [and space] to save her friends from mortal danger. The love story in this movie [because that's what this movie essentialy is meant to be, a love story] is so perfectly connected with the sci-fi aspects, that I don't think anyone has done a better job on that. I'd love to say more about the plot, but believe me, if you're going to watch this, you'll love the way it all unfolds. I'm annoyed with the way new movies are, where the plot is so simple that you can anticipate each move of the characters. This is definitely not one of them, you will realise the things that you're meant to realise, exactly at the point where the director wants you to realise them. I don't think I have seen a better anime movie since Totoro by Miyazaki.

Mamoru Hosoda recieved numerous awards for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and went on to make another movie, Summer Wars. The movie is not yet available in Europe *sad panda eyes*, and the only screening of it in United Kingdom is actually tonight at 12 at night in Leeds.

[sorry for being so extremely biased, but I am just in love with Hosoda now]

Happles - the webcomic.

2009-11-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

So I have been playing around with these little dudes for sooo long [like whole two days woot]. And I just find them irresistible. I know my drawings suck real bad, but I always wanted a webcomic and now there is an occasion to start one. Nothing big, nothing that would divert my attention away from the blog. I've already got an idea where I'd like to go with these, but I wanted to ask you guys if it's something you'd be interested in seeing more on the blog, because that's where these little guys are going to be showing up for now. At least until I get Wiktor [our webmaster and code guru] to make me a quick website. More happles after the jump.

Happles <3

2009-11-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

[Click on the image to download the wallpaper]

Hey guys just a quick post. I promised a new wallpaper on monday and so I delivered. I know, it's not my typical kinda thing but damn it just makes me instantly happy. Just the way happles are supposed to. Enjoy you guys ^^

Oh and I just wanted to say, thanks for all the comments and the support. ^^

Quality apps on Facebook

2009-11-15T08:57:00.001-08:00

Ok so it's time for some new cool stuff in here. Everyone knows Facebook, the monstrous entity that's taking over the internet and it's army of apps that flood us everyday now. Among those Sophomore has found something pretty interesting. Manga LYGHT a rather sucessful attempt to get to those who limit their browsing activities to Facebook while at the same time enjoy reading manga.

LYGHT's main page on Facebook, nice and clean.

Brought to you by the man responsible for Spectrum Nexus, Fusion, while still in beta, Manga LYGHT offers most of the things it’s ancestor does. That is, browsing recently updated manga chapters, most popular manga out there as well as commenting and reccomending.

A series list and sub page views.(featuring Berserk)

Each manga listed in the rather vast database has a short synopsis and a rating system, so even someone new to the app can get his way around especially if he’s familiar with Fusion’s previous project.

As a Facebook app, Lyght takes the advantage of that in the best of ways. You can share with friends, look for fellow fans, reccomend series and all that networking stuff you love in Facebook, and combines that with the awesomenes of online reading.

Networking, networking, networking. Facebook loves LYGHT.

Sophomore obviously roots for LYGHT to grow strong and healthy, spreading the love for manga throughout the internet and dark corners of Facebook. We’ll be keeping an eye on the app’s development and keep you guys updated.

Keep up the good work with bringing the ‘books’ to Facebook.

Manga LYGHT[via Facebook]

Mister Jash says herrouz.

2009-11-14T07:12:00.000-08:00

Yup, so let me introduce myself. In short 'm Jash and I'm a cool person. I have been invited to be the co-mod of this hopefully succesful blog and will do so with pleasure. What 'll be dealing with is as of now unknown but I assure you it'll be probably geeky in nature.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll post more/edit this post later on.

EDIT: Well to follow up my firend mister Kilimanziaro I'm going to post a pic of my desktop too. Just for lulz.

The idea is that the wallpapers swap every 10 minutes. And yes, I am a geek.

desktop.

2009-11-13T15:26:00.001-08:00

As a computing student [a blogger and a proud 'geek'], I spend a lot of time on my computer so I suppose it's important that my workspace is well thought out. I'm using a sony vaio laptop V series with the X-black screen providing me with perfect blacks. It really helps when working on manga cleaning as for HQ scans the blacks *have to* be 100% black, it's possibly the most important part of the manga cleaning process.

For doodling I'm using an A4 Trust Tablet with a pressure sensitive pen, Adobe photoshop CS3 Version 10 and IrfanView for quick image browsing and conversion. Possibly the most important piece of software I have is dropbox. It's incredibly useful for image sharing and hosting [all the images you see here are actually hosted on dropbox, but shhh, tell nobody] . Obviously my OS of choice [and of use] is Windows7 Professional.

[that little thing in the top right corner tells me how much ram I have left. The desktop wallpaper I made myself and I will upload it soon.]

I'm using Firefox as my main web browser with chrome as a back-up but honestly, there is something seriously wrong with the recent [3.5.5] version of firefox and I'm slowly beginning to think of switching to chrome full time. Pidgin is my only IM since it integrates all the possible networks i could ever use.

I guess thats all for now, at least thats all I can remember . Gnight y'all.

Music Friday #1

2009-11-13T08:47:00.001-08:00

Right I'm trying to make all of this a little more regular so from now on, each friday is going to be fully dedicated to music, and as you know I'm a seriously big music geek. So each friday I'm going to write about new music, music I love and some music that trully pisses me off. Also I'm going to post my last.fm [link at the crossroads] stats for the given week. So here we go. My charts for this week:

On the way back home to Perth today I was listening to the radio and a song 'Whatcha Say' came on. Now when it first started playing I thought " hey i know this song, it's imogen heap, awesome", but then a fat beat came in and some Idiot started rapping over it. You see I'm not against sampling because let's face it I love electronic music but when someone butchers one of my favourite songs as much as Kanye West and his gay little buddies butchered 'Hide and seek' I just really want to shoot them. Kanye West has been on my hate radar ever since the Tailor Swift incident and I must admit that with each song he releases I hate him more and more. Get over yourself Kanye, you suck. I'm posting the song just so you can tell for yourself how atrocious this monster really is.

One of the things I really wanted to talk about today is the insane new mix from Deadstarr. I've listened to a few mixes she did before and they were all great but this one is special. It's special because the artist actually played the mix live on Erol Alkans [yes, that Erol Alkan] Ustream page. It is also one of the featured mixes on mixcloud.com . You can listen to the mix itself below and you can check out more of her mixes here.

Erol Alkan Forum Online Radio Xii.Xi by Deadstarr on Mixcloud

I guess that would be all for today. I'm off for the weekend. Expect a new wallpaper on monday. Oh and I'm doing a lot of changes to the overall design of the blog so let me know what you think. Time to go and dance to some deadstarr. Gnight all.

monsters are among us. i guess.

2009-11-12T04:45:00.000-08:00

As I said. The finished wallpaper(s).
They're not finished like i'd like them to be but uni work calls.

Have a lovely day, citizen.

Missing the Unknown.

2009-11-12T02:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't done much in the past few months. In fact the past few months I did nothing. I don't quite understand why but today feels like a new beginning of sorts. I guess it calls for a celebration. I'll upload a new wallpaper later on when it's finished, when it's actually concieved i supposed. Here is the last wallpaper i finished in a while. [Sadly the wallpapers just now come in just one resolution 1280x800. sorry]

I've started working on manga cleaning recently and damn it's so much fun. The competitiveness of the scanlation scene is insane. Different groups killing themselves over getting the scanlations out as quickly as possible and in quality way beyond something that could be done from the terrible terrible scans we're given. I guess it's kind of like having a job. You're given the hours, the deadlines, there is the stress, the happiness of having someone host the work you did and the enjoyment of having a community that cares.

I'll definitely be on here a lot more often from now on and I do promise at least one wallpaper a week. I might throw in some of the better cleans [manga cleans] that I worked on.

Now in love with:
- Portishead
- Andrew Bird
<3

Oh and just a small disclaimer - all the coments from now on will be using disqus as the provider. You can log-in with your facebook/OpenID/Twitter/Disqus to comment.

the volcano is alive.

2009-08-20T13:48:00.001-07:00

found it today. and i love it. love it.

These are my twisted words.

2009-08-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

When I heard the Harry Patch (in memory of) song my ears cried and my soul threw up a little. I was very sceptical about this song but once again radiohead killed.
Thank you radiohead.
Thank you for being perfect.

i want to be blue too.

2009-08-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Avatar. When you can't walk, they turn you into blue. <3

Fills my head up and gets louder.

2009-08-05T08:21:00.001-07:00

Florence + The Machine - Drumming Song

Florence and the machine is incredible and deserves far more praise and love than she gets. I've waited for this vid a really long time. I'm not sure what it's trying to picture but I do know that Florence looks pretty darn good in that black outfit. Yum.
love <3

Hanker.

2009-08-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's a little dated but I still totaly love it. Californication along with house are easily my favourite tv shows and David duchovny just wins all the way as the character of Hank Moody. Love love love <3

Complete Me - Artwork.

2009-08-03T17:17:00.001-07:00

Vincent Frank - Frankmusik released his incredible new record "Complete Me".
It's easily my favourite record of the year so far and the artwork it HAD was just astonishing and yet at some point, someone [probably vincent himself] decided that his [not so] ugly mug will be better for the album cover. Bad move Vince, old artwork was so much better.
Old cover:

Inside artwork:

And the new cover, a lot worse design wise in my opinion:

.

I guess this profanity was done in order to attract more customers with Vincents cute face. I still think the cute, falling apart girl was better...

Baidir

2009-08-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Baidir is a new animated tv-series project that looks and sounds incredible. The only problem is the lack of funding. It would be nice to see Baidir on big screens. Lemme keep on dreamin...