Sifting through Bins and Shelves at Z

Z being a certain Canadian retailer going down and being taken over by the American T. Sounds like the making of a zombie game or movie.

Today was one of the few ending days for these stores, so of course there's a chance to find some buried treasure for a somewhat cheap price.

The only things I got were this one animated movie that flopped in sales, but was absolutely glorious in terms of graphics. You know the one.

The next one is a sequel to a video game that I was gifted a long while ago. Takes place in this underwater dystopia filled with crazies, little girls, and big lunks of metal. Hooray for philosophy and super powers!

These stores are closing quite soon, so I might visit again in a week to pick up some more goodies. Who knows what could be left on these barren shelves.

Spatial Urban Study Week 8 - 1 day left

It's crunch time, though it's also a bit relaxed since we started at 2pm.

Finishing up those slides, Finalizing everything. Getting random last minute critiques that actually helped. And doing a really haphazard rehearsal that left us wondering "How do we finish this in 10 minutes? It's too long!" Graphics are ok, but it could be better.


Also had a chance to visit the library book sale's final day. Picked up an incredibly cheap player guidebook to a certain dice rolling game. Using a d20, which I don't have. Not the full set sadly, but it looks almost mint except for the writing inside. Super cheap.

2012 Library Sale Loot 1

Hopefully this is the 1 out of 4, since the sale lasts four days.

Anyways, I actually bought some more books today! I was able to pick up a very good condition copy of Buddha vol 1 by Osamu Tezuka. A brilliant work by a brilliant mind. I didn't notice that it was the UK/European copy until I got home though. Still, it was an incredible chance that I could not leave.

Next up was something I completely picked up as soon as I saw it. The "Train Man"/Densha Otoka novel translated into English. I was completely unaware that it was ever translated, so I had to pick it up. Even though it was in pretty bad shape, it was cheap and I really wanted to read it. Not bad for less than a dollar.

Lastly was something I was almost going to leave! Though I consider myself a pretty avid anime watcher, I haven't seen a lot of "must-watches" like the adaptation of this novel. The novel is "The Tatami Galaxy" or "四畳半神話大系" as I saw it because it was the original Japanese novel. I knew I recognized the cover somewhere, but I didn't know it until I searched it up at home. This is one where I trusted my instincts and got something good! No regrets here. I won't be able to read through it anytime soon, but it's still a nice addition to my "To-Read" Japanese collection.

All in all it was a bit hectic in there, but not as bad as the crazy closing sale that happened this summer. I even saw a 10 volume set of Claymore from that sale being sold at this sale, but alas, I'm thinking of saving my money for something a bit more special.

I ended up borrowing 7 more volumes of manga from the library as well, so that made my bag a bit heavy.

I'll be back tomorrow hopefully.

One Microcontroller has arrived!

Labeled as "buy" because it's a tiny bit pricy, but not too bad.

I got a little Arduino Uno today for use in a class. It should be fun to tinker around with this thing.

A cool mousepad has arrived!

No pictures cause privacy, but I just got a cool and a little bit spicy with a tiny bit of fat (Sorry Letty!) mousepad from that one mousepad promotion that was happening.

Still haven't taken it out the plastic, but boy does it look nice.

Tiny Japanese Book Loot

So today I got a chance to get even more Japanese books. This time at a not-so-local Kinokuniya.

My loot was small.

Only got one thing and it was cheap. At least it was some Negima. The rest were at the usual marked up prices. Though not too bad, but I can probably get them somewhere else. I did see some good selection of popular light novels though. Almost always the hardest thing for me to find in a bookstore, but it was easier here.

In other book-related news, I had a chance to check out the Haruhi hardcover novel and the Spice & Wolf novels. The hardcover Haruhi was pretty much what I expected and the cover looks quite nice. The Spice & Wolf novels include that not so great original English cover, but this time you can just slip them off for some good old Japanese cover underneath.

I also found the first of the Book Girl series: Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime. Too bad most of the copies I saw were in pretty bad shape. Maybe I'll just look online for it, as the quality will probably be better.

Japanese Book Loot Part 3+4 of 4

And that's it for now. BookOff Vancouver is closing down tomorrow and there's nothing to be done other than scavenging off their crazy deals right now.

So the loot for #3 shopping trip was:
-Some guy wants to go to a university to fulfill a childhood promise. Volumes 8 and 9.
-A fight to be the lord of ghost handlers : Random guidebook.
-The first of many fights that this guy does using red gloves. First volume.

And the loot for #4 (today) was:
-Magical teacher teaches a huge class of girls. Volumes 1 to 10!
-Some rain goddess story that's completely obscure and way too short. Volumes 1 & 2 (complete)
-Some short story by the same artist as above. One volume only.
-A crazy seinen story that looks almost shounen has crazy fighting and should have a great trap. First volume.
-A girl is depressed and goes to live with some other stranger girl. Volumes 1 & 2.
-More of the university childhood promise stuff. Volumes 5 & 6. Sad that I couldn't get the complete set.
-Three girls and their three vehicles: A tank, a plane, and a submarine. Volume 1.
-A gritty saga of war and one man. Volume 1.
-A great big guide book for a fighting game of an anime that does not exist. Volume Re-Act.
-Wacky stories about love triangles in a school, that supposedly ended with a train wreck. Volumes 1 to 15!

And that's all. Next time I got to a BookOff or whatever, I'm finishing the whole set for the childhood university promise story.

Japanese Book Loot Part 2 of ?

Went again today, although I just went and picked up something I overlooked yesterday. Not a big deal at all, though I did spend at least an hour browsing the whole manga section again.

Loot for today is simple:
-Completed series with garbage in SPACE. Had a pretty well received anime.

Also, today I had the shocking realization that School Rumble was NOT wrapped up very well. Sad to hear, since I've been on hold for that series since volume 8. Oh well, looks like I won't be getting that huge set anymore.

Japanese Book Loot Part 1 of ?

Well, today I just came back from Japanese book shopping. There's this local place that has a pretty great selection, though sadly I couldn't find half the things I wanted. However, there were a few gems that are now going to be the cornerstone of my (small) collection.

Pictures later maybe.


Stuff includes:
- That one depressing story about a small bird guy.
- A story about some that loves books, and fights crime.
- A story related to the above, but with sisters instead.
- Something that is related to a wooden stick sport.