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11 Nov 2008 mellow_bunny

himegimi | Grabbing my list NAO before the new site launches.

That’s right dawgs. Go ahead and post your himegimi list on your website NOW with the post title “himegimi|yourname” and then link it in a comment on this post. IF YOU ARE FIRST IN THE COMMENT LIST WITH AN UNCLAIMED HIMEGIMI YOU WILL THUSLY BE GIVEN “FIRST DIBS” ON THAT HIMEGIMI UPON LAUNCH. <– READ AGAIN FOR GREAT JUSTICE. NOW GOGOGOGOGOGO AND POST THEN COMMENT! DOOO EEEEET. Oh yeah if you don’t have a blog then just chuck your list in a comment.

Remember the same rules apply as before, your list must contain your top ten himegimis. If you don’t know what a himegimi is then pshaw. You can find out from someone who does know.. they will become apparent when the posts start appearing.

mellow_bunny’s list

1. Aoba Tsugumi (Kannagi)
2. Isurugi Noe (True Tears)
3. Kushieda Minori (I am leaving first dibs open on Minori) (Toradora)

As you can see my list is smaller then most of you will probably have. There will be many who will have great difficulty in choosing their list. ANYWAY FOR FIRST DIBS GOGOGOGOGOOGO!

I leave you with the below image of suspicious cheese.

03 Oct 2008 mellow_bunny

Bloglomerates | They are forming, are clouds of war approaching?

“Bloglomerates”  As told to me by RyanA (his thoughts here). The following are my own thoughts on the word and what it means.

I may have mentioned this before but I have a very active imagination. I treat it as a special gift. The title of this post is somewhat misleading as to what I actually think of bloglomerates but it painted a cool picture in my mind.

Imagine a world where writers control mankind. Not through magical words but in great literary battles that are fought between the great corporate writing bloglomerates. Their clashes shaping and moulding the world around them and changing the opinions and thoughts of those who read their words. I keep imagining some sort of anime done by BONES on the subject. Bloglomerates would rise and fall, new alliances and friendships and new enemies would be found in each clash. Those destroyed by the power of other’s words or the lack of any will to fight themselves, would disappear off into.. wherever.. obscurity would be good. I think that would make an awesome show.. or at least some sort of narrated art book ;D!

Anywho my actual opinion on bloglomerates isn’t that of fear or as seeing them as fighting and squabbling groups. I actually think they are a sign of the progress and friendship that is formed in our greater community. We have a few bloglomerates of late and there is two types from what I can see. The first type of bloglomerate could be defined as “self-contained”. They are self-contained in the sense that they have a single focal point to represent themselves. The writers for these bloglomerates may have their own blogs but they choose to post either in parallel or dedicate more to the bloglomerate headquarters. Below is a list of some of the bloglomerates that I know of and follow…

Are-are

Heterochromia

Oi, Hayaku!

THAT Animeblog

The Scrumptious Anime Blog

Yukan Blog!

㊥出し

These bloglomerates are great places to get regular written food for the mind. They are composed of multiple authors who usually post on different topics thus allowing you to enjoy a wide range of topics. These are the first type of bloglomerates and probably the more obvious. Because of the amount of content that the bloglomerate sites generate a lot of people will follow the bloglomerates in herds. HERDS I TELL YOU. Followers of a bloglomerate may end up joining the group or even forming their own bloglomerate.

There is however a second type of bloglomerate. This type may be composed of different multi-author or single author blogs that work in harmony to reach certain goals. They could be involved in projects together that are for the community or they could be friends who regularly work together to create posts or events.

This second type of bloglomerate could be classed as more creative or innovative. They are more likely to make things that aren’t in the norm or that are new and exciting. They are not confined to writing to a particular schedule or to particular guidelines and are more likely to develop ideas that they come up with.

I would like to think that mellowSPACE is part of a bloglomerate that combines with one or two other bloggers. We work together behind the scenes trying to bring new things to the community and in that sense we have more then just a common purpose or goal. We actively work together to make these things happen. I guess the one thing we lack is perhaps an outward unity which is visible through writing collaborations or similar.

What is your take on bloglomerates? Do you agree with how I have portrayed them? Would you place yourself in a bloglomerate? Could you envisage a more formal arrangement for bloglomerates such as an index?

Edit: I for some reason was not aware that Random Curiosity is multi-author. I’d say that RandomC is deifintely a self-contained bloglomerate that has quite far-reaching influence.

01 Oct 2008 mellow_bunny

Planning | It is not for the foolish.

In preparation for projects be they big or small, it is necessary to plan ahead. Why? Quite simply because it helps you to avoid problems which can either slow down your work pace or completely nullify the work you have done. With any project you should first lay out your goals and objectives. Then once you know what you want to achieve you can begin the process of planning how you are going to get to that point. <– THIS ALL I KNOW ABOUT PLANNING.

Planning has left me in EMO ANGST.

I have a serious problem when it comes to planning. I am a complete impulse creative. I all of a sudden think of an idea and WOOOOOOOOOSH I need to make it. I do not know of a good formula for actually writing a plan out. A structure that is easy to understand and which covers everything I need to think of. I think I really should just sit down and sort that out before I continue on any of the work I am doing. If anyone can suggest a good way of doing it please let me know.

Some of the things I would like to implement in mellowSPACE 09 are user accessibility related. An optional minimal theme that will display for both IE6 users and those who choose to view the site in that manner is a necessity as I will not support IE6 with some of the more modern code I will use on the main theme. I also want to implement a mobile ready version of the website. Now, I know these things can be done and relatively simply. My problem is that I haven’t written down ANYWHERE all the things I want to put in. So I now find myself not knowing what to place where in my design because I haven’t defined what I need.

In fact I think I work in reverse when it comes to making new websites. I start with a design and then work out how i’m going to use it. It’s a bad way to go. Here’s a small look at the coming new mellowSPACE design.

This is just a draft by the way, this shows a post preview.

My launch date is set at the 1st of January 2009. Once mellowSPACE is up and running all new-like then I will be working hard on getting the Bloggers Anthology 2009 going. That project is going to be awesome by the way. The end result will be a 200-300 page magazine that you can read and enjoy.

I think I should probably change the title of this post to something like Not Planning | Is the fools way because seriously .. it is so much harder to do things without thinking them through.

Anyway congratulations to Yukan Blog! on their new design and new authors. It’s good to see blogs with nice layouts and easy to read posts. As a collective whole if we present ourselves in a classier manner we are more likely to get more attention.

Anywho I should do some work, my boss is looking at me like ( ~_~)!

15 Sep 2008 mellow_bunny

Graphite 08 | Manga Art Competition

So anywho I received all this info on a manga art competion going down in what I believe is Singapore. Seriously it didn’t say Singapore anywhere on it. Anywho you can check out their website here. The press release is in a PDF format which you can find here. I have put in the poster below go check it out!

08 Aug 2008 mellow_bunny

Kyouki: It’s going to be madness.

It’s about time I make a proper announcement and get this project well on it’s way. After a few months of intense workload I now have time to complete and launch one of three projects I have in development. If you hadn’t guessed already I have a personal goal in improving our blogosphere and creating new experiences for us all to enjoy.

So in line with trying to achieve this goal I have created a competition that aims at trying to get you out of your writing comfort zone. Not only is it meant to stretch your capabilities but it is meant to help you grow as a writer and to have fun with it. We shouldn’t be afraid of trying new things, we can only improve from what we learn.

Why is it called Kyouki?

Pretty simply it comes down to me playing with a Japanese -> English dictionary. I was looking for something that represented ‘crazy’ or ‘extreme’. I came across kyouki which much like kichigai, kyouran and hakkyou can have the meaning of ‘madness’. I kinda grabbed onto the ‘madness’ and ran with it. Kyouki can also mean ‘dangerous weapon’, which I think kind of suits this competition. When you think about it, words can be more powerful (sometimes more treacherous) then a physical weapon.

So although it was somewhat of a whim I think the naming of this project actually suits. Why is it Japanese? Well why not? I do have a fascination with the culture bordering on weeabooness. It only makes sense. Plus it means I can use sweet characters in the banner.

What’s in it for me?

Quite simply, prizes and prestige (aka e-pen0r). Not to mention that although your article will appear on the e-zine site, your blog or website will be linked to. Nothing beats easy web traffic. A mini profile of yourself will be on the site and we will have information about you placed on the right hand side of your article.

You will also experience a lovely warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you are one of the chosen few who get the chance to show their stuff off to an eager public. You will also feel a warm glow from knowing you have made a little bunny called mellow very happy :D!

You got me at prizes! How’s it gonna work?

As I stated before this is a project of mine. I have received valuable advice and input from a few bloggers such as yourself. Those who helped me out with forming a plan have first dibs on helping to  run it too. Because this is just a project, I am unable to fund prizes for all 12 months that i’d like it to run. Hence the first month that we run this competition will be a sort of pilot month. Based on what happens with the first month I will go to potential sponsors asking for some support.

When it comes to participants we are looking to have twelve different writers each month create feature articles. The idea is that instead of just writing something up and submitting it to us, we will work with you to create an article that reaches a certain level so to speak. This project is about creating something real, something of excellent quality and something that will bring our blogosphere to the fore.

Each of the first eleven months will feature a different topic. The topic will be quite broad to allow as many views as possible to be expressed. What will the topics be? This has yet to be decided and most likely we will put our feelers out to the chosen twelve authors of that month to give us ideas.

How do you get to be a writer? Once our staff has been assembled we will launch an application page. All that will be required on the entry form is your name, email address and a link to an example of your writing. It will basically work in a first in first served basis. Writers will be given a few weeks before their deadline is due. I don’t as of yet have a timetable for this but our staff will work with you to ensure your article is ready on time. We do not have plans to allow extensions for writers who are late. We have to stick to a firm schedule to make this work.

Writers will have a set of guidelines for the content that they write. This is to not only protect themselves and all those involved when it comes to legalities but will help keep a certain level of writing. I will explain more on this when we launch the Kyouki site.

So how does a writer win the prizes on offer for the month? Well the main purpose of this competition is to exhibit the writings. So the whole choosing who wins it is a simple process and almost a by product. Basically anyone can sign up with the site and vote on each article. They can vote on some or just one article, it’s entirely up to them. The voting is done on a star scale and whomever gets the highest votes wins.

You said staff, what are they for… and can I be one?

The staff are there to help run this event over the (hopefully) year. They do not have to commit to the whole year but it would be nice =x! Positions that are currently available include the following.

Moderators

These guys will be in charge of looking after comments on the articles and filtering out the spam and trolls. Their duties will also include proof-reading the articles and the odd other duty.

Editors

I am looking for a team of Editors, these peeps will be the support for the writers and will oversee them. Each Editor will look after a given number of writers for the month. They will work with their writers to ensure a level of quality and make sure that they are within the writing guidelines.

There will be more positions i’m sure but at the moment the Editing is the big one. I know i’m asking a lot because at this point I cannot offer anything but e-pen0r. Please contact me on “mellow at mellowspace dot com” if you would like to apply for these positions.

You called this a project.. how does it end?

At this point the project is planned to run a total of twelve months. The first eleven months will consist of different writers making their individual entries with our Editors. The twelfth and final month will be a chance for all the articles written over the year to be re-featured and re-voted for. The prize pool will be extended for this month and will feature prizes from all of the year’s sponsors. There will be a collection of slightly smaller prizes distributed to an as of yet undetermined amount of winners.

The end of the final month will signal the end of this project. At that point we will look at the possibility of re-running the event for another year under perhaps revised guidelines. We will not make a firm decision on this until the end of this year though.

This is when the REALLY exciting stuff will happen. The editors and management staff will then work through the 132 articles and ready them for printing. That’s right printing. Unless we are unable to use the article because of legal reasons we will publish your article along with the others in a high quality glossy magazine format publication. This will be available to all the writers in a PDF format. There will be a limited run of the magazine for those who want to pay the cost.

It is my true hope that we can come away from this event with high regard for the written word and the topic we so passionately blog about.

mellow

06 Aug 2008 mellow_bunny

Status Update: New shows and fresh ideas.

So after delving into Extrange’s posts on Xam’d: Lost Memories I decided I should watch it. I was definitely not disapointed. The show has it all and yes it did remind me strongly of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Eureka 7. The characters were fun, the animation was most enjoyable and the story was full even in the first few episodes.

I also got a hold of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu and watched the first four episodes. The story is lighthearted and fun and the characters are good. Also.. has anybody noticed strange animation speeds in this show? I liked Mika she was hilarious.

The interview with Extrange that I did went well. I’ll be doing a few more interviews with other bloggers. The interview netted 300 unique visits, 250 in one day. That’s quite a spike for mellowSPACE. We average around 40 unique visits a day normally.

In the interview I asked Extrange if there was something that he thought could be done to help improve our anime blogging community. His idea was brilliant and something i’d be keen to push for actually. RyanA thought so too and as a result i’m going to set something up so we can get a few more people to provide input on how they think the idea could come to fruition.

On the thought of new ideas, I know I have said a few times now that i’d announce something about Kyouki (blissmo this is what I was talking about) and I won’t disappoint. I will be making a proper full fledged announcement that most likely will be XBOX HUEG. I hope you all take the time to read it though as it could net you prizes if you get involved.

There is also a new project (started it today) coming which will hopefully be used by a lot of us bloggers and will be trialed on AB.net blogs. It’s going to be a hoot and i’ll let you know more once we have it a little further along. I’ll give you a hint it’s somewhat similar to spasm+traits :D.

For now I have to complete some real work and finish off a blog design. Thanks for dropping by!

mellow

04 Aug 2008 Pablo-kun

The status report

That's how it's really played

The Quick Word

In my constant battle against procrastination, I’ve been able to bring myself to finish this post which as a matter of fact, was scheduled for publishing 2 days ago but alas my laziness got the better of me. I’m also to blame my continuous meddling with Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and Final Fantasy IV DS. For those of you who haven’t heard of/played these titles and own a DS handheld (or emulator) you might wanna take a quick look at them.

In regards to anime, While I’ve been watching some current season series such as World Destruction, Code Geass R2 and so on, I’ve also made efforts to watch some old series that for some unfortunate reason I didn’t watch when they were airing, I though I’d write about them. These are Mushishi and Inukami!

Read more…

03 Aug 2008 mellow_bunny

Interview: Extrange - Lolicon, Metrosexual, Manga Lord

I decided it’s high time we all learn a little more about the bloggers around us. All to often we dismiss the bloggers around us as nothing more then “entities” that exist only in our computers. So that we can all become acqauinted with one another i’ve decided to do a few interviews with fellow anime bloggers.

Today we hear from Extrange, I did my first blog post on Extrange’s old haunt XD! I’ve seen this dude progress in his writing and have been awed by his Manga knowledge and dedication. So here we go! Read more…

26 Jul 2008 mellow_bunny

himeGIMI: Upgrade coming very soon.

In preparation for the new version of himeGIMI the current version will be replaced with a splash page. Thanks to everybody for participating in the Alpha. In the new Beta version all those who have been in the Alpha will have their data transferred over. They will also be able to participate in the new Beta from day 1.

The new Beta version should be up by the end of August. Once the basic systems are in place the Beta will open to a total of 50 users. This may expand over time. As a heads up once the new version launches it will be hosted at http://himegimi.com.

21 Jul 2008 mellow_bunny

Ohayo gozaimasu! Toshiyuki desu.

In true weeaboo tradition the title of this post is all of the Japanese I can muster. Ok ok.. I used my phrase book. BUT! I am trying to learn Japanese by taking classes (BOOO WEEABOO .. wait classes? Nice). I’m new to both the anime/manga scene as well as blogging. I’m mainly here because of the Kyouki Project [site here] that mellow is starting up.

I hope to meet more of you soon, i’ve already met Pablo-kun and Extrange on the IRC channel for AnimeBlogger!  Till next time~!

Sayonara!