Random Thoughts: Do You Understand the Words Coming Out of My Mouth?

Debates that annoy me to no end: Spinosaurus vs. Tyrannosaurus rex, Death Star vs. Unicron, sentai vs. Power Rangers, dubbed vs. subbed anime.

And the winner of American Idol is...David! Whether he was the right one is up to you.

Just out of curiosity, do you ignore Randy and Paula's comments and just care about what Simon says?

Like him or not, you have to admit Michael Moore makes you think.

I'm amazed at how many The Land Before Time movies there are. I thought the original one ended the story nicely, but someone had to say, "Hey, kids love dinosaurs, so let's make sequels." To be honest, I'm surprised the adults haven't locked up Littlefoot and his friends to keep them out of danger.

My answer to the dub vs. sub debate: Learn Japanese if you want to fully understand what's being said.

Words and phrases that make me wince whenever I see them in print: Family values, traditional values, religious fundamentalism, creationism, intelligent design, Japanese anime (in a Western publication), Japanese manga (in a Western publication), 4Kids.

A while back, I came across the word "hentai" in Entertainment Weekly being used to describe a faux Juno video game premise. To be more accurate, "hentai-style." I hope the writer meant "anime-style." Well, unless she was using it to mean "metamorphosis" or "abnormality." Heck, maybe she meant to use "hentai-style." Still, hentai?

I don't mind a Spanish dub track on an anime DVD as long as there's the original Japanese language track as well.

Am I the only one who wishes that the movie adaptation of The Golden Compass did better at the box office? Sure, it took out all the grimness of the source material and ended at a different point than the book, but I thought it was all right, and the girl playing Lyra did a good job. Plus, Sir Ian McKellan was a bear.

To everyone who thinks Islam is a violent religion: Ever heard of the Crusades and the Inquisition?

When I think about it, religion isn't the problem. It's the nuts with the holier-than-thou attitude.

An impossible dream of mine: Seeing sentai DVD boxsets made for the Western market being sold here.

When I grow up, I'll be stable. When I grow up, I'll turn the tables.

Feel free to express yourself. Just don't harm yourself or others in the process.

Dumbest idea I've ever heard of: backyard wrestling. Let's see, guys with no training on how to take a fall and what not are going to wrestle in their backyards instead of a properly padded ring. Yeah, that works. I'm sure the health insurance companies love it.

I still blame society's puritans for most of our problems.

From the desk of H.A. Senidal, 5/23/2008