Outdoors Club!

Non-Tech Hobbies
147

Mount Hollywood Trail
Time at Start: 9:15 AM
Time at Destination: 10:45 AM
Time at Return: 12:30 PM

AllTrails Route: Mount Hollywood Trail

Total Distance: 7.0 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Went hiking with friendos today! :pepesaber:
Weather was generally decent for hiking. Docking some points off due to heavy sunlight and pesky bugs, but temps in the shaded areas and occasional strong wind breeze were very pleasant. :grin:

Generic Scenery Photos



Lookit all that lovely, persistent air pollution. :joy:
Left: Glendale. | Mid: Hollywood Sign from Mt. Hollywood Peak. | Right: Hollywood Sign from Trail.

Normie Activities

  • Poke Lunch!
  • Glendale Galleria / Glendale Area Shopping
  • Cake + Boba Break!
  • Griffith Observatory
  • Pho Dinner!
  • Ralphs Grocery Shopping, lol.


Poké Lunch!
I’ve
 had way better pokĂ©, and for waaay cheaper.
Thaaat’s Glendale for you. Damn bougie areas. :weary:


SHORK
IT NOM MY ARM.
Not a DAISO shork this time, we found it at a Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle store and GIVE ME YOUR ENTIRE STOCK of plushies.
They had beanbag-sized plushies and I WAAAAAAAAAANT.


Regent Coffee Bourbon Barrel Aged Cold Brew Coffee (Variety Pack) + Cakes / Pastries
Box of coffee is an early birbday present for friendo! :grin:
She likes coffee and has a healthy interest / curiosity in alcohol, sooo

No idea whether it’s to her preferences, tho, and I don’t drink coffee, so I have no reference.
I told her if it’s not up to her tastes, toss it to her plants and let 'em drink it.

Griffith Observatory
The Observatory is pretty cool! It’s got a massive museum space! Fair warning, tho – I wasn’t aware, but apparently it’s a popular tourist spot. Expect unruly children, haphazard strollers, and clueless tourists if you plan to visit. :weary:

Had my mask on, but I am sooo getting COVID from such close proximity to these uncivilized masses. Ugh.









If you squint hard enough, you can prooobably make out the Hollywood Sign in Pic #3. It was barely visible IRL, and might look indiscernible in a shoddy phone pic. Hooray, Los Angeles air pollution!


Model of the Moon
Samsung upscaled my moon pic!!!
Sent from a Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus.


Celestial
 Cosmic
 Something-or-Other-I-Forgot
Normies: Oooh, pretty!
'Chew: 
So which indigenous tribes did they appropriate these from?
Don’t bring me on your touring trips, I will be the most cynical killjoy. :joy:
Unless you have an equally cynical sense of humor, like my friendos. :laughing:


Planets!
This floorspace was biiiiiiiiiig. Reminded me of an airport. :laughing:
Plenty of interactive thingymajigs too! One of 'em was a weight / scale thingy, which would approximate your weight on Uranus.
I think there’s an inappropriate joke in there somewhere.


Minature Model of Griffith Observatory!
:blobooo:
Neat!
I think it’s the Observatory, but could be wrong. Doesn’t resemble the current Observatory, though it could be a historical snapshot?
Yes, there was a plaque. No, I did not read the plaque. :dedbodi:

I spent 14 hours being a riajƫ and doing normie things.
Extremely fun! Especially with the company. :grin:
But both my physical energy and social energy are spent.
Now to resume my natural state, being a hikikomori.

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PLEASE keep me up to date on this one lol.

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Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:05 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:10 AM

AllTrials Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.7 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Was reading about controversial stories and other media last week. With the exception of Unit 731 (real), most are fiction, though some are based on real experiences.

  • 1984
    • Tags: Anti-Government, Anti-Totalitarianism, Big Brother, Dystopia, Police State, Romance, Slice of Life (Urban), Subterfuge, Surveillance
    • Controversial Tags: Indoctrination, Psychological Torture
  • Dollanganger Series: Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday
    • Tags: Domestic Life, Family Bonding, Romance, Slice of Life
    • Controversial Tags: Child Abuse, Child Death, Domestic Abuse, Incest, Parental Neglect, Promiscuity, Underage Sexual Content, Suicide
  • Gattaca
    • Tags: Eugenics, Genes, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Subterfuge
  • Kino’s Journey
    • Tags: Action, Adventure, Blades, Fictional Cultures / Societies, Guns, Introspective, Outsider’s Perspective, Slice of Life
    • Controversial Tags: Cannibalism, Cultish Fanaticism, Groupthink, Slavery
  • Lord of the Flies
    • Tags: Adventure, British Children, Survival Island, Teenage Protagonists, Tyranny
    • Controversial Tags: Bullying, Gang Violence, Gore
  • Now and Then, Here and There
    • Tags: Action, Aesop’s Fable, Dystopian Fantasy, Isekai, Tyranny
    • Controversial Tags: Attempted Suicide, Child Exploitation, Child Pregnancy, Child Rape, Child Soldiers, Gore, Slavery, Terrorism, Torture
  • Room
    • Tags: Family, Growing Up
    • Controversial Tags: Child Death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Parental Neglect, Rape, Sexual Predator
  • Serial Experiments Lain
    • Tags: Alternate / Parallel Reality, Cyberpunk, Sci-Fi, Surveillance
    • Controversial Tags: Public Shaming, Suicide
  • Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
    • Tags: Insomniac Protagonist, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Supernatural, Visual Novel
    • Controversial Tags: Body Horror, Child Predators, Human Experimentation, Kidnapping, Suicide, Rape
  • Spirit Hunter: NG
    • Tags: Bureaucratic Corruption, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Supernatural, Visual Novel
    • Controversial Tags: Animal Abuse, Body Horror, Childbirth, Child Predators, Gore, Kidnapping, Rape, Torture
  • The Stepford Wives
    • Tags: Anytown USA, Gaslighting, Robots
    • Controversial Tags: Gender Stereotyping
  • Unit 731 (Wikipedia Article)
    • Tags: Biological Warfare, Imperial Japanese Army, Manchuko, Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II
    • Controversial Tags: Forced Gassing, Forced Poisoning, Forced Pregnancy, Human Experimentation, Prisoners, Torture, Rape, Vivisection, Weapons Testing (Live Humans)

I’m aware that some of the listed material is actually standard U.S. school study material (e.g. 1984, Gattaca, Lord of the Flies), but I’d never encountered it under the British secondary school curriculum. It’s a lowkey suspicion of mine that whatever program or ministry that controls the British / Commonwealth standard education (e.g. GCSE, A Levels) intentionally avoids using media that tarnishes the image of the British Empire / monarchy.

Anywho, conspiracy theories aside


The listed thought materials run a bit dark, but I’d still recommend reading them for the awareness / exposure, and the ability to sympathize with (real life) victims of those controverisal themes. Living life in a sheltered bubble with an idealistic vision / concept of humanity is unhealthy, methinks.

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This is not the type of outdoor activities I was expecting to read about.

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This actually unsettled my stomach a bit, I’m kinda glad to see I’m not completely desensitized to humanity’s bullshit.

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Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:05 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:05 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.7 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Had a great week, and a great weekend! :grin:
Read here for weekend shenanigans, read below for Saturday shenanigans.

Been hiking with one of the Henninger Flats Trail regulars these two weeks. I’ve been acquainted with her for a long while now, maybe since last year? Anywho, she’s a friendly and wholesome sort, likes to talk about her family. Strikes me as very religious – likes to invoke “Thank God” – but is not overly zealous type and she always means well.

Also, she’s decently acquainted with most of the other Henninger Flats Trail regulars. Maybe that shouldn’t be surprising, she’s hiked this trail for over a decade, and lived in the U.S. for waaay longer. Knows a lot of them by first-name basis, or knows a bit of background info (gossip?) about where they’re from and what they do.

Has a very refreshing, hope-inspiring personality, a bit of a foil to mine and my introverted cynicism, lol.

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Based

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This got me thinking about if she’s (or in general) actually thanking God or taking the Lord’s name in vain.

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Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:10 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:05 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.7 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Oops, forgot to post this.
Uhhh
 If you like J-Pop / J-Rock, pleeeaaase give Afterglow × 96猫’s cover ofă€Œăƒ•ă‚©ăƒ‹ă‚€ă€a listen.

Personally, not a fan of heavily synthesized or auto-tuned voices (so VOCALOID is out), but I do enjoy it when actual people sing and cover those songs.

Ayaneru and 96猫’s vocals are soooooooooo good. And female duets are just .

Tangent:
Was listening to a few BanG Dream songs the other day, and IMHO Ayaneru is
 simply better? :joy: As in, she’s able to sing and manipulate her vocals in-character as Ran, and doesn’t sound awkwardly nasally, monotonous, or otherwise odd.

Although, I haven’t listened to RAISE A SUILEN (I’m under the impression that Raychell is a decent vocalist), or any of the newer bands.

Non Sequitur:
Some other BanG Dream song / cover recommendations:


High School Part-Timers Band「ăČべりじゃăȘいんだから」


Afterglow × æˆžć±±éŠ™æŸ„ă€Œăƒ‰ăƒ©ăƒžăƒ„ăƒ«ă‚źăƒŒă€


Afterglow × æˆžć±±éŠ™æŸ„ă€Œă‚°ăƒƒăƒă‚€ćźŁèš€ă€

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156

Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:55 AM
Time at Destination: 7:00 AM
Time at Return: 7:55 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.7 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Gotta burn all these birthday party calories.

Interesting Reads (Wikipedia Articles):

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Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:00 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:10 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.6 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft


Would like to see Afterglow cover a ç”æŸăƒăƒłăƒ‰ song.
Tho, Kita / Hasegawa’s vocals are kinda high and Bandori might hand it off to Poppin’Party or Pastel*Palettes instead


They already passed 狂äč± Hey Kids!! to RAISE A SUILEN, 矀青 to Morfonica × Yukina, and 螊 to RAISE A SUILEN × Yukina. All of which don’t agree with.

ぶ぀ぶ぀ぶ぀ぶ぀ 

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Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:00 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Finish: 8:00 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.6 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Hm.
Last weekend was not great.

Granted, I did ask a friend for a favor, and it did work out in the end.
But:

  1. Pinged me at 12:45 PM to ask whether I was available at 1:00 PM.
    • Sure, it takes about 5 min to get to the location, but a 15 min notice is a bit impolite, IMO.
    • It’s fine, whatever, at least I’m finally getting that favor after waiting for a week.
  2. Pings me a little later to change the time to 1:30 PM.
    • 
Excuse me?

This person’s known me for years.
If you don’t know 'Chew IRL, 'Chew IRL has a habit of being early or punctual.
By the time I saw the message, I was already waiting at the location.

What the fuck.

It’s been four days and I’m still mildly pissed (and PMS’ing, lol).
“Wasting my time” is extremely high up on the list of shit I can’t stand.

This isn’t even “late to the meeting point,” which I’ve been more flexible and less annoyed about.
This is straight-up, “I arranged a meeting on short notice, but didn’t check whether it was feasible on my end, and need to change the meeting time. Also, time is of the essence, but also you have an extremely short window of time to respond to this change.”


It’s fine. Probably won’t affect our relationship in the long-term, but I’m still feeling hormonal right now.

Also extremely disappointed.

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Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:05 AM
Time at Destination: 7:10 AM
Time at Return: 8:00 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.6 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

A short 20 min motivational video:

  • Timestamp: 4:30 - 6:15 for the most important part – making your bed everyday.

Thank you for listening to my TED Talk the University of Texas 2014 Commencement Address.

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Henninger Flats Trail
Time at Start: 6:05 AM
Time at Destination: 7:05 AM
Time at Return: 8:00 AM

AllTrails Route: Henninger Flats Trail

Total Distance: 5.6 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft

Still can’t shake off that Afterglow bug.

  • Playlist is still playing Afterglow songs, with the occasional ç”æŸăƒăƒłăƒ‰. I love these fictional characters so much, guh.
  • I’ve stopped watching the Afterglow concerts / anime episodes every day. I’m only watching them every other day now. It’s not a problem I’m not developing a problem I have it under control, shush.
  • Yuri folder has grown by 100+ pics. Most of those additions are Afterglow / BanG Dream!, but not all of it is actual yuri ('tis just a collection of artwork I admire and / or get warm fuzzy feels from).
  • Dreamt a disturbing dream last night, involving at least two Afterglow characters and very graphic black-and-white torture scenes. No vocals or screaming (probably because I usually mute any sounds of women in agony / distress IRL), but I recall the abrupt sound of ribs breaking / bones cracking. This is why I don’t watch horror. :roll_eyes:
    1. Active scene of someone being strung up by razor-thin wires and their limbs being stretched – probably my brain’s interpretation of the Screaming Author case from Spirit Hunter: NG.
    2. Aftermath still scene of someone being strung up and blinded – I believe this was a separate person from the first instance. They might have had a blindfold on, but they definitely had dark marks under their eyes reminiscent of dried blood.
    3. Active scene of someone being strung up, then having their ribs and spinal cord spontaneously ripped out. Oddly, the bones are solid black (blood?), and monstrously jagged.
    • I’m refraining from naming these characters, because I don’t want to vividly remember this in the future, no thank you.
    • Wouldn’t call it a nightmare, but I definitely did not enjoy this part of the dream. Give me back my yuri dreams, damn brain.

On a happier note:

IDK if this is common with other school life / idol franchises (I only have Love Live to compare it with), but BanG Dream!'s has time progression. As in, these characters age up, go up a school grade, and / or graduate, and the franchise continues to write their lives.

Afterglow’s members were first introduced as high school first-years, and are now third-years:
(Well, in the JP servers, at least. EN servers are still stuck on 2022 content, and I estimate it’ll be Dec 2023 before EN catches up to this timeframe I’m talking about. :roll_eyes:)


ANYWAY, HEY LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH 4-KOMA.

4-Koma
æ„ăŸă‚Œæ–°ć…„ç”ŸïŒ		 Translation (Rough, Unofficial)
Arrival of New Students!
[Afterglow became third-years.]

Tomoe [New Dance Club President]: The dance club doesn't have anything prepared for the new student entrance ceremony!!

Himari [New Tennis Club Vice President]: The tennis club (furigana: my club) isn't ready either~

Moca: Good luck, you two~
Ran: Isn't the student council busy with preparations as well?

Tsugumi [New Student Council President]: Each club's introductory time has already been allotted.

Until the content of their presentations have been decided, I think we should be okay for a while.

Tomoe: That's it!
Tomoe: The dance club and tennis club should join forces.

[Dancing Tennis Performance!]

Tomoe: That way, we'll have double the allotted time and the impact!

Himari: That's it, Tomoe!
Moca: Kinda like a musical~

Ran: That last part seems to channel the drama club...

Tomoe: It's hopeless!!

Tsugumi: We still have some time left to prepare. 😅

Key Takeaways:

  • Tomoe is now the Dance Club President / Leader. Previously, she was just a member.
  • Himari is now the Tennis Club Vice Manager / Vice Leader. Previously, she was just a member.
  • Tsugumi is now the Student Council President!!! Previously, she was the Student Council Vice President.
  • Not sure whether Ran and Moca are doing any school clubs / activities now, though I noticed Ran in the student council meeting room, sitting next to Tsugumi, in one of her card pics and am wondering whether she’s now part of the student council
?
    • Ran’s already taking on her family’s flower arranging classes and writing the lyrics to Afterglow’s songs, and not to mention is Afterglow’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist, I can’t imagine her taking additional responsibilities
 Though that would be incredibly admirable and I would absolutely adore her all the more for it.
    • Moca is part of the “Go Home Club” (i.e. no school club), but she does work part-time at a convenience store. I doubt she’s changed her afterschool schedule much, just doesn’t seem like the type, kek. I’ll stop rambling now.

I’M SO PROUD OF MY FICTIONAL BAND’S FICTIONAL CHARACTERS.
ESPECIALLY TSUGUMI, BLESS. :sob:

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Do you ever think you’re too attached to fictional characters?

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No, why, whatever would give you that idea? :laughing:
(/s)

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Never google weeb.

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Just a feeling I guess.

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That, Wasn’t in the plan.

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looks closer at the .gif
Wait, if that’s just one folder for one character, how many such folders do you have?

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