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Well, it's been a loooooooooooooong time. I've finally decided to come out of hybernation because Wendi kept nagging and nagging me ... she's good at that Anyways, I made a home page for both Wendi and I sometime last year, but I never posted them. Recently, I decided to make some changes to Wendi's, and I'm ready to post it for her I'll post mine when it's ready.

Wendi's Trading Cards

ENJOY

Just wanted to let everyone know that Bregent has updated their Wizard of Oz webpage to include more example sketches from Darren Auck and maybe a couple other artists.

So far, this set looks great. The sample sketches look wonderful. I love Brent Engstrom flying monkey sketch. I will definitely be searching for one similar to it down the road. I hope the other sketches that they didn't show also retain this quality 

I've never bought a Breygent product so perhaps someone who did could help. Since the sell sheet says one auto and one sketch card per box, how are the costumes and props inserted? Are they can extra insert besides the auto and sketch?

Right, I have got rid of a whole host of baddies and think I am on the final stretch but I want to build up my strength before I got to the final world.  Just a couple of question please:

Oh, your getting by rather well Good luck on the final world

Halloween Town - is there anything worth doing here?  I have killed the giant potato sack (or whatever he was) and Jack keeps asking me if I want to go for a walk with him, which I do (just to be polite  ) but I don't find anything 

Besides killing Oogie Boogie (a potato sack filled with bugs), I can't think of anything too important to do there. You'll have the basic trinities and puppies and what not, though. If you sealed the keyhole, you should be all set with Halloween Town

The Gadget Shop - the clock is stuck at 6.54.  Is this significant?

There's something that you have to do with this. It involves getting some boxes filled with something that I can't remember If I can think of it, I'll get back to you!

In the lastest PS 2 magazine there is a little cheat book.  Now when I have used coded cheats on the PC they have stayed there for good ie even when I don't need the cheat anymore I can't get rid of it.  Is this the same on PS2?  I don't want to load on a cheat that I can't get rid of.  How sad is this - I need help to cheat on my cheats 

I've never used the cheats so I can't help you with this one. I think a more experienced gamer could help you with this one ... this is the only game that I played continually

Thank you 

Your welcome I hope I was able to help

The second one will be a far distance treat the speed I am playing this one, but it is not for lack of hours played    I was quite horrified when I noticed it keeps a running tally and I have now played this game for 31 hours    But I am still loving it 

I should load my game up to see how long I played that game

I know I've played the game for a long, long, too (in the beginner version mode). I've been playing with the Expert version mode, but I haven't completed it. It's pretty much the same, though

I was swallowed by the whale on Wednesday

I was waiting for you to get there. By that point in playing the game, I actually dreamt that I was inside that crazy colorful Whale

LOL, You were swallowed by a whale on Wednesday, so what's next I wasn't the biggest fan of this world. When I left, it was a pain to find him again. I had to go back and get trinities and boxes that I couldn't reach at the time.

I am seriously struggling on finding the Pooh pages and the Trinity marks but I have set lots of little puppies free - how cute is that to see them all running around the house 

I know I didn't free all the puppies :'(

You should go back and free all the puppies. It's really worth it. Also, make sure that you "lock" all of the worlds and finish the Hades Cup at the Coleseum. Doing those will onlock the secret movie at the end. It was made before Kingdom Hearts II and Chain of Memories (for GBA). It was a short preview if the series would continue.

Just one question this time - how good was you at building Gummy Ships?  I am absolutely useless!  My first two attempts had guns that just sort of floated in front and had very little shielding.  Is it essential that I build my own ship?

I couldn't make sense of that thing , but my husband seemed to understand it and built up my ship . It helps you a bit in between worlds.

As for your HP, I seem to remember one of my characters having more than me too. Its just been so long since I played.

I didn't really like building Gummy Ships. On my first game, I did minimal to my ship. I just added a Shield Gummy to the default ship ... I forget it's name This time around, I went through changing each Gummy to make it stronger. It changes the color, but it's a little better.

To me, only minor tweeks to the ship you are currently using it essential in finishing the game. The last couple flights to worlds get harder and longer. After I visited the world, I just warp to it. It takes less time

Good luck and keep us updated

I never heard of Pancake Day until now Is this only celebrated in the UK and Australia?

In Pennsyvlania (I'm not sure about other states), we celebrated Fastnacht Day, yesterday. Fastnachts are pretty much a donut, but there is a certain recipe for it.

This doesn't really have anything to do with the show, but I think it's worthy news. In America, this show is on the WB. Recently, there has been an announcement that the WB and the UPS networks will merge into a network called the CW or something like that. Here's the official press release. So far, Supernatural is on the schedule for the merged channed CW, but some other WB and UPN shows will be getting scrapped. I hope this one stays around for everyone here 

It's nice to hear someone else enjoying it. I honestly couldn't tell you how many hours I wasted away playing it.

Me too   It was one of those games that once you started, it was hard to stop playing.

Uh huh! I'm sure KH II will be the same for me. I'm sure my family will think I've gone missing ...

Wait until you get to all the other places

It gets even better when you get to other places. There's a lot more good times to be had

Helppppppppp

I am off the island and have seen what Donald and Goofy have to say.  I am now running between the three sectors.  Just two questions, well for now that is 

I hope this helps you ... By the way, I remember the feeling when I got off the island, too. I was very happy, indeed.

1.  In the shop with the bloke who wants to help there is a ladder leading to the upper floors where I can make crystals - should I be able to reach this yet?

You won't be able to reach the ladder, quite yet. This is one of those things that you'll have to return to Traverse Town and do later ...

2.  At the moment I am just nipping into sector two, fighting a few baddies then running back to sector one.  Should I be looking for Donald now?  If the answer is yes , is he in sector three?

At this point, I'm sure you saw some scenes of Donald and Goofy, right? You can keep fighting the baddies to get Sora to a higher level, or you could search for Donald and Goofy. In that case, you want to go to Sector Three

BTW thanks for the recommendation - this is a great game 

It's nice to hear someone else enjoying it. I honestly couldn't tell you how many hours I wasted away playing it.

bump (added more information about the game to the first post)

This story is, indeed, crazy. The Leaky Cauldrons article (which can be found here) has three updates to it. I didn't think this would be a problem since he was in two other Potter films (albeit shortly in GoF), but I'm not worried quite, yet.

In similar news, The Leaky Cauldron also has more casting announcements and people returning in this article. There's a whole load of people like Amelia Bones, Zacharias Smith, the Auror Dawlish, Malcolm, and a young Peter Pettigrew. It also notes that the Dursleys shall be returning.

I just found out yesterday that if it is your year, that you are supposed to wear red every single day within that year in order to have a successfull year! Is that true ZERO? ( I am guessing so because my husband is a Rooster and didn't wear red and he had a horrible year!!!  )

I'm not sure about wearing red to have a successfull year. I've never heard of it, but there are lots of traditions to learn in regards to Japan. For the Japanese, the new year is very complex and is full of many, many traditions. It's hard to completely understand I wouldn't be surprised if it was one, but it could also be something that the Chinese believe

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

With a new year, we also have a new Chinese Zodiac. Although it's not time for the Chinese to celebrate the New Year, the Japanese are now celebrating the new year for the entire first week of January. It's no longer the year of the Rooster ... We are now in the year of the Dog. Those born on these years 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994 also have the animal sign of the Dog.

Another Thank you from my Secret Santa. I'm not sure if they could've sent anything better

Since I haven't been online for most of the holidays. I hope the holidays were wondeful for everyone. Also, I hope all MIA Secret Santa gifts have found there respective owners

As I am having real trouble getting into the X3 site, can someone tell me what the story line is.  Is it the Dark Phoenix Saga?

Vaugely.
In one shot Jean Grey is standing next to Magneto as he gives a speech and another shows them marching in to battle together at the head of his army

From what I heard about the ending of X2 (I didn't see it, yet ), I was hoping for a third movie about the Phoenix Saga. Well, I guess the story will be there, but it will be intertwined with another one. I didn't read the comics so I'm not too familiar with the stories, but I used to watch the cartoon on Saturday Mornings. Was there a Phoenix Saga and a Dark Phoenix Saga in the comics like in the cartoon?

It's been ages, but, somehow, I missed your reply, Roz

Until then you can watch the trailer over and over I downloaded it from apple trailers and have been doing so because the music is so great... I've bought the soundtrack but of course it will take a while to ship from Japan... until then - the trailer it is Ooh and you could buy the book too, but the story is fairly loosely used.

I have the soundtrack, too. I got one from the prerelease of the film while I was there. Then, I got another. I didn't read the book, yet. I'de love to sit and read it sometime. I do have the Japanese translation, but that would take me ages to finish. I have trouble enough getting through other translations

Because she was a fan of Miyasaki before he approached her about her book she said - "the minute he said he wanted to make my book into a film I KNEW he was going to put flying machines into it" - and then it became a running joke in the rest of the Q&A session about his obsession with flying machines

He does love flying machines! The Ghibli Museum had a room dedicated to his obsession until the Pixar Exhibit took it's place. I'm sure it would be back by now, though

Look on the bright side, because you didn't see it on American release you get to see the subbed and not "disney dubbed" - ooh how annoying is that "Disney DVD" lark? *very*

Yeah, the "Disney DVD" sorta does put a damper on the American release, but I have to say they have gotten better. There releases have both Japanese and English (and probably other languages) with tons of extra features. I don't have any of the "Disney DVD" because I got the Japanese releases (jiburi ga ippai collection). If I'm not mistaken, I think Disney has full rights for the distribution of Ghibli DVDs in Japan, as well. Except they get a lot more money for them. I think a VHS would cost 5,000 Yen and a DVD 6,000 Yen (more if you get a special limited set ... DVD with some other things).

Which brings me to this ... I finally got to see it! Fusae sent me a DVD set from Loppi (ordered from the Lawson Convenience Store in Japan) that included a poster, Trumps, and a cell in a Crystal thing. I got it about two weeks ago. On Saturday, I finally found the time to watch it amidst the holiday hustle and bustle (cleaning and shopping ).

I really, really, really liked it. It reminded me of a Miyazaki film and the other Ghibli films. As the plot devoloped, I had no idea where it would go next. Or, how everything would be resolved. I knew the basic story, but that's about it. In my opinion, the resolution was a bit hard to understand. I wish I could have devotted all my attention to the entire film. I missed a couple parts because my niece and nephew were watching it, too. My nephew spilled his water and popcorn during different parts so I was too intent on getting it cleaned up rather than seeing what was happening and missed something. When I find the time, I'de like to watch it again. Plus, I'de like to see it in Japanese. I had to watch the English Dub, which was okay, but nothing could be the Japanese.

The editing reminded me of other Japanese films that I've seen. At times, it's slow with no music. My niece would tell me it's boring at those times, but I tried to keep her as entertained with it as possible I don't think I need to talk about the animation very much. Miyazaki was by far up to par, in my opinion.

I see it as a film that utilized the Switzerland countryside (according to Fusae) and somewhat used the novel by Diana Wynne Jones (born in the UK) that comes from a Japanese perspective. For some reason, that intrigues me greatly.

I got my gift on Thursday, but was too busy (our niece was coming over on Friday and I preparing for a day trip to NYC with some of the family) that I didn't have time to post that my package arrived safe and soundly Thank you Secret Santa ... I can't wait to open it

Is it against ebay rules to misspell the item or use a title  that won't be found easily at all? Then, you could just email the auction link to that person, and they can BIN. But, you are always at risk that someone else will find it first ... this is an interesting question

I did this with Anna when she bought my April Joke card (maybe somebody remembers).

Yep, I remember the April Joke card that Anna got. It was quite funny!

The Leaky Cauldron has pictures from an exhibit in Japan.  One of the pictures shows Fleur's second task costume, and the design woven into the fabric might match the swatches on the costume card.

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album05

The Leaky Cauldron reports that this was from the Matsudo Isetan Event (this is in Chiba Prefecture ... almost directly to the East of Tokyo). Anyways, the pictures are similar to the props/costumes in the Shinjuku Isetan Event (in inner-city Tokyo). My host-mum had sent a video of everything, but I had no way of sharing it with everyone I'm glad to see these pictures surfaced

And, the memories begin to flood back This is the time of the year that I would love to be in Japan ... not just because of HP, though . Hopefully, I'll be able to go back and visit everything soon!

John, I love your Victor Krum costume with the emblem. I was hoping there would be variants like that. Now, I just wonder how many are out there Your Yule Ball Program is also a nice one ... you've been getting some fantastic pulls! Could these all from the same case?