Kassadin.moe
中文 ZH English EN 日本語 JA

Monthly Log: 2024-08

Published on

Original language: Chinese . AI translations: English , Japanese .

August is over, and the 2024 progress bar has already passed the two-thirds mark.

Post Structure

  1. Input
    Learning: books, novels, essays, videos, podcasts. Any format is fine as long as it feels worthwhile after finishing
    Anime: new shows, older shows, TV anime, movies, just a record of what I’ve been watching
    Others: films, dramas, and everything else that doesn’t fit into the first two sections

  2. Random Thoughts
    Maybe I’ll write down whatever has been on my mind

  3. Output
    Maybe a blog post, though at my current level it is still very possible to spend an entire month producing nothing at all (

  4. Travel
    If I went somewhere, I’ll write it down. If not, then there is nothing to report

  5. Misc
    Small leftover things that don’t fit anywhere else

Input

Learning

Eloquent JavaScript

I slacked off a bit this month and only made it through about another 20%, so at the moment I’m only up to chapter 14, The Document Object Model.

And even then, part of the reason I read so little is simple: I do not fully understand large chunks of it yet (
Chapter 9, on regular expressions, felt so abstract that I learned it, forgot it, relearned it, and forgot it again. At that point, asking AI directly almost starts feeling faster.
Chapter 11, on asynchronous programming, left me equally foggy: callback, Promise, async/await, all of it still feels slippery.
Chapter 12 goes even further and starts building a tiny programming language in JavaScript, which is honestly beyond where I need to be right now. At this stage, I would be satisfied just understanding the rough shape of what it is trying to do.
Fortunately, things ease up a little once the book moves into Part 2, the browser section. Lately I’ve been reading the DOM chapter mentioned above.

I had originally wanted to publish my JavaScript notes this month, but never mind. I barely understand them myself.

Anime

  • Watching

  • Paused for now

    • 恶魔的破坏 (DEAD DEAD DEMON’S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION)
      Usually shortened to デデデデ. The TV version is CR-exclusive, started airing back in May, and I almost forgot it existed.
      I’ve already watched the movies, so I don’t really want to follow the TV version, even if it has quite a bit of new content (
      I’ll catch up after the TV plot surpasses the movies (catch-up list +1

      I saw comments on bgm saying the ending of the movie’s second part is original, and the TV version might follow the original manga plot.
      No wonder I felt the movie’s ending was so warm… If I’m not satisfied with the TV ending, I’ll just treat the movies as the true ending

    • 义妹生活
      An art film. It seems to be getting better reviews.

    • 魔法少女与恶曾是敌人
      Not good to consume too much. Getting a bit tired of it.

  • Dropped

    • 鹿乃子大摇大摆虎视眈眈
      No motivation to continue.

    • 靠废柴技能【状态异常】成为最强的我将蹂躏一切
      I’ve read the novel. Not that interested in the anime.

    • 這是妳與我的最後戰場，或是開創世界的聖戰 第二季
      production-collapse special。

    • 學姊是男孩
      Watched two or three episodes. The freshness is gone (

    • 杖与剑的魔剑谭
      The plot is too dumb. Is this really by the same author as Danmachi?

    • 我要【招架】一切～反误解的世界最强想成为冒险家
      Not interesting.

  • Added to catch-up list, maybe I’ll watch later (copium

    • 物语系列
      Too many previous works.

    • 小市民系列
      Same author as Hyouka. Heard it’s pretty quiet.

    • 擅長逃跑的殿下
      Heard Umehara team production is strong.

  • Dropped after 1 episode

    • 疑似后宫
      No plot. Boring.

    • 不时用俄语说真心话的邻桌艾莉同学
      Well-made industrial sugar. The OP visuals are carefully produced, the ED is half-assed, and the plot is too boring. Can’t keep watching.

      Turns out the ED isn’t half-assed: it changes each episode. Still boring though, not watching.

    • 异世界自杀小队​​
      Cheesy. Dropped after 1 episode.

By this calculation, the only show I’m watching weekly is 败犬女主 (am I quitting otaku life?

Others

Recent TV/movies. I try not to spoil.

ツイスターズ (Twisters)

Live-action film, and the heroine is unbelievably cool.
At the end she charges off to face the final boss alone, while the two men can do nothing but cling to the door and watch. That “pitiful and helpless” framing was so funny.
She’s smart, brave, and just a little sly. She toys with the male lead a few times, and by the final stretch the entire group can only stand there praying she pulls it off. Even the absence of the father figure in her family feels like part of a larger pattern. There are a lot of interesting threads there.

Also, her camera strap looked fantastic. Very cool. No idea whether it would actually be practical.

Digimon 25th Anniversary

They combined デジモンアドベンチャー ぼくらのウォーゲーム！ and デジモンアドベンチャー０２ 前編 デジモンハリケーン上陸！！／後編 超絶進化！！黄金のデジメンタル into one. A stitched movie to cash in.
The first one is more interesting. I didn’t understand the second one at all.

They played the opening of デジモンアドベンチャー ぼくらのウォーゲーム！ at the end. When 監督　細田守 showed up, I was surprised.
Because last month I had just watched Summer Wars (and even praised it in Monthly Log: 2024-07), and it turned out to be Hosoda again here in Digimon. What a coincidence.
While watching, I noticed many similarities between the two movies, for example:

  • The antagonist is bad Digimon / bad AI. Exactly the same.
  • The final crisis is ICBM / satellite weapon. Almost identical.
  • In the final battle, the protagonists are at a disadvantage, then they gather the power of strangers around the world to defeat the boss.
  • The art style of the virtual world is also similar. The virtual world in Summer Wars already had a prototype 10 years ago.

劇場版カードキャプターさくら

Consider it paying the ticket after the fact: childhood memories (though I didn’t watch much back then either).
I stayed up late the previous day. I was sleepy during the movie (
One-sentence plot summary: if you won’t marry, don’t flirt

化け猫あんずちゃん

Very Japanese vibe (positive). Calm and warm, facing life and death frankly.
The ghost cat has the personality of a greasy uncle. The heroine is cute and completely controls the village brats.
Overall very interesting. A recent movie surprise. Recommended.

きみの色

Watched it because it’s directed by Naoko Yamada, a famous director from Kyoto Animation. But the animation production is Science SARU.
After watching, the story feels headless and tailless. Just feel it.
The heroine being able to see people’s colors is an interesting setting.
Overall good. Recommendable.

Random Thoughts

Time

Recently I’ve felt a small shift in my mindset, especially in the way I think about time. I’ve become more “selfish” about it, in the sense that I want to protect time that belongs to me.
I wandered around in that thought for a while, wrestled with it for a while, and eventually squeezed out a few embarrassingly cliché sentences. I had originally planned to write them here, but unfortunately the space was too small and could not contain them.
So instead I opened a new draft, tentatively titled What kind of life do I want to live (at 2024), riffing on the title of Miyazaki’s film.

Output

Proud to report a glorious blank-output month.

Travel

Shinobazu Pond, Ueno

I didn’t go see the sea this summer, so a pond full of lotus flowers will have to substitute (


This one is suitable to be made into an old people meme (


Carrying a camera to shoot lotus flowers: entered old-age life early.


Nice weather.


A whole pond of lotus.


The lotus are growing vigorously, almost as tall as a person.


Caught the Skytree in the distance.


A wild group friend taking off

Sanno Festival

It’s the annual Sanno Festival again.


This is the official promo poster.

Last year was my first time there, and it felt fresh and exciting. The only problem was that my phone camera was completely outmatched at night, and everything I shot came out as a blur.
Back then I kept thinking: if only I had a real camera. Then the Sony A7C2 came out, and after some painful wallet-based self-persuasion, I bought one.

Didn’t expect that in August this year, Sony raised prices across the board. TVs, cameras, game consoles, all +10%.
After using the camera for a year, it actually got more expensive and out of stock. Speechless…

This year I showed up with an actual camera and took full advantage of it.


Friday afternoon. The festival hadn’t started yet, so I walked around casually.


A plain torii gate. The food stalls weren’t open yet.


At night the festival officially starts. Food stalls line the street. Even more lively than anime.


People people people. So many.


Festival browsing requires some stamina. With this crowd, it’s easy to get separated from friends.


Last year I was shocked seeing this charcoal-grilled fish stall for the first time. This year, same spot, same charcoal-grilled fish.


A huge lantern for 山王祭.


The last program on Sunday is carrying mikoshi. Huge spectacle.
I got tired just standing beside them watching.

The second visit didn’t have that same first-time freshness anymore.
And for some reason, the program this year also felt slightly thinner than last year’s. The unicycle team performance from last year was so flashy that it left a much stronger impression.

Still, I had a great time, because this year I was meeting a few internet friends in person 😆

Meeting Internet Friends

Before coming to Japan last year, when packing, I searched online for what to bring, and found 元吉’s article: 赴日的准备工作 | Yuanji’s Blog. I browsed his blog and felt he was an interesting person.
After coming to Japan, when I took the Fundamental Information Technology Engineer exam, I also bought the reference book Yuanji recommended in 日本软考之基本情报技术者 | Yuanji’s Blog.

As a shy lurker, I’m normally the type who only reads blogs and never comments or sends DMs.
Yuanji mentioned on his blog that he moved to Kawasaki. This festival was also in Kawasaki.
The timing felt too good not to try, so I invited Yuanji to go to the festival together. I honestly didn’t expect it to work out that easily.
We also invited another friend who had only just arrived in Japan, and somehow ended up with a five-person group wandering the festival together. It was a lot of fun.

Afterward we went out to eat as usual, and then all five people pulled out five Pixel phones, spanning generations 6, 7, and 8. Quite a sight. In Japan, where iPhones are everywhere, it felt even rarer.

We had a traitor who dual-wields Pixel and iPhone

And after talking for a bit, it turned out everyone was a day-to-day Linux user too. As a humble Manjaro amateur, I don’t dare shake hands with true Arch believers.
Absolutely mystical.

Jingu Gaien Fireworks Festival

Those without tickets are not allowed in 🐶
Absolutely ruthless. You weren’t allowed to stop on the roads, all the open spaces were blocked off with tape, and after circling that huge park I still couldn’t find a single place where the fireworks were actually visible. The moral order of the world is collapsing
There are also too many tall buildings in the city center, so two intersections later all you can do is listen to the sound.

Just when I was about to give up, the road in the middle suddenly opened.

The organizer still left a way for poor people to live.


At meals, the phone eats first. When watching fireworks, the phone watches first too (

Too many people, I couldn’t take out a tripod.
Tried handheld long exposure a few shots; all trash, so I won’t post them.
I’ll wait for the Kawasaki fireworks in October.

Misc

Dentist

Saw an image online:

Too real. I had just finished a dental appointment recently: the dentist took an X-ray, did a bunch of checks, and then told me I had 歯槽膿漏.
I had no idea what that even meant, so I looked it up: 歯槽膿漏とは. Apparently it’s basically advanced periodontitis, where the gums have already been damaged and won’t really come back.
The dentist said there isn’t a way to restore them, only to preserve the current state and try not to let things get worse.
Deep regret. I really should have paid attention earlier.

Telegram

At the end of August, a piece of news suddenly came out:

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested on the evening of the 24th at Le Bourget Airport in the suburbs of Paris, France.

Durov wasn’t arrested by Russia, but by France instead. Something about that felt both shocking and strangely sad.

Telegram’s history

Telegram is a piece of software I like a lot, especially after reading 霍炬’s article and learning more about Telegram’s anti-authoritarian origin story, and about the idealistic founder behind it.
If you’re also somewhat interested in this topic, here are two versions:

Why I like using Telegram

For a lot of people, Telegram immediately brings to mind gray-market users, black-market users, criminals, that whole cluster of associations.
But at the end of the day it’s just a tool: a comparatively secure chat app. It is not as if only criminals are allowed to use it, and the fact that criminals also like it mostly proves that its security is real.

I started using Telegram because I valued its security: the big brother can’t know what I chat with others.
Even if I’m just chatting about new anime, not talking politics, not publishing so-called “dangerous speech”.
I just don’t like being monitored.

In mainland China, using Telegram involves a lot of friction: you need a stable VPN, the people around you only use WeChat, and often there simply isn’t anyone nearby to talk to on tg.
But if you stick with it long enough, it starts to feel better and better: it’s light, fast, feature-rich, syncs chat history across platforms, supports great custom stickers, and strikes a very good balance between security and convenience. Compared with that, WeChat feels like garbage.
After years, Telegram has become my main IM app and an important information channel.
Although Telegram is blocked in mainland China, tg’s Chinese content is still very rich: news, tech, anime, memes, etc.

Beyond the big channels, what I love most are the small weird ones.
They feel a little like personal Twitter feeds: snippets of daily life, technical notes, unfamiliar but interesting perspectives.
Watching what other people are thinking about and how other people are living, glimpsing all those different lives, is one of the real pleasures of scrolling through Telegram.

Maybe I should keep a backup option

This arrest made me realize that even if the Telegram team keeps its original ideals intact, outside pressure of all kinds could still force it to downgrade or even stop the service.
Of course I’ll continue supporting Telegram (by subscribing to tg premium), but I also can’t rely too much on a single platform.
I don’t have a concrete plan for how to do that yet. Just a reminder to myself.

Closing

Lately I’ve been feeling more and more often that time is passing too quickly. Is this what aging feels like?

My JavaScript learning progress fell behind this month. I’ll try to finish Eloquent JavaScript next month.

Comments