Whatever happens, happens

Just as promised the rally has provided yet more excitement. Latvala and Pons are added to the list of victims as they both take small yet deadly offs on the blind and slippery corners of day two, but more dramatically than their misfortune is the absolutely shocking end of Sébastien Loeb's run due to an extremely rare mistake by his co-driver. Japan really does take no prisoners as the point scoring positions are filled with what would usually be drivers at the bottom of the table, and with Loeb's retirement this year's title of World Rally Champion is completely open for the taking, the next two stages in Ireland and Wales are anyone's game, and this madness is simply off the chain.

I finished watching Cowboy Bebop again today, and it easily reaffirmed its place as one of my favorite anime titles of all time, with Ghost in the Shell and Samurai Champloo making the top three. The art is fantastic, the direction is brilliant, the characters awesome, the stories outstanding, and just like GitS and SamChamp the soundtrack is simply amazing. I definitely have to buy the collections of both of them to go with my Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex box set.

In trying out something new I've taken a look at Texhnolyze and Planetes.
The former has turned out to be a mind numbingly boring series, trying too hard to be dark and mysterious with uninteresting characters, cheap art and animation, and so far a dire story, BALEETED.
The latter, on the other hand, is quite good. It provides a satisfying cast of characters, excellent animation and from what I have seen an interesting story, all with incredible attention to detail, realism and accuracy. I have also acquired the series at DVD quality, quite a rare occurrence which nicely adds to the enjoyment.

Five of the seven books I ordered have arrived, the previously mentioned Double Eagle among them, and the other novel in the pack being Count Zero, William Gibson's cyberpunk sequel to Neuromancer.
Three of the five manga titles I've been expecting also made it, volume 5 of Initial D thankfully included, as that's the first book I've been intending to read, while volume 6 is absent along with volume 3 of Genshiken. Volume 2 of Rozen Maiden and volume 5 of Lament of the Lamb completing the order.