Nanami Kamimura's Blog (Kakuro Princess, Purple Edition)

Still alive, but not blogging (regularly).
(Posted on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 11:29 a.m.)

If you're worried about me. I'm still alive, but I'm currently on other things that I have no time to blog or even find a new secondary site to house the entry files and pictures. But I made decide to do that. Also, I'm out of a job (officially), so it may take a while to reorganize my time on the sites.

Also, since I don't have time to maintain and update my websites, I might decide to "capsulate" them, i. e. still maintain the sites, but not update them too much until I got the interest to update them again.

Until I find time to regularly post again, please wait for a while.

Entry ends here.

My Disney On Ice experience
(Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 11:06 a.m.)

Boy, it is a while since I've blogged anything. And related to this, it's been a while since I've watched a Disney on Ice show. I've been watching Disney on Ice six out of the eight times it is seen here in the Philippines. I was almost eight years old when I watched my first show, which was back in the first quarter of 1990. I've watched four more shows in 1992, 1993, 1995, and 2001. What's more worth than my last outing in 2001 was that this time, the ticket that I bought for this year's show was with my own money and the my seat was closest to the action. I used to seat far from the rink-stage because they were cheaper.

Basically, this year's Disney on Ice show was entitled "Mickey and Minnie's Amazing Journey" which sees Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy going around four places and explore the stories behind them. We are shown condensed versions of (in the order of presentation) Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, and Lilo and Stitch. And I can tell that it is good. Actually, I've like all six shows that I have watched. But now as an adult, I appreciated it more because of the moves the skaters did in the entire presentation. I've tried skating once, but because I rarely put myself in inline-skates, I don't do very well with ice-skates. It was a long time ago and I haven't stepped back on the ice since.

Of course, cellphones with noisy ringtones are not allowed, so I set it on "Silent" so no one would hear. Since digital cameras were allowed, provided they do not flash or with this feature off, I tried to click just one shot of the show, but I couldn't because of my angle because of my seating. So what I can show you below are my souvenirs from experience. At the left is the actual ticket; the half-tear just signifies my admission. The right picture is the program brochure and the lei that came with it. There were lots of other souvenirs, but for me, this is the must-have.

For more details on Disney on Ice, you can visit this URL: www.disneyonice-asia.com.

Entry ends here.

On hiatus
(Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 08:40 p.m.)
Well, I'm sorry I haven't blogged anything for a while. MyFileHut's been down for who knows how long and I'm more preoccupied with Wikipedia and using the abacus more.

So while I will make updates from time to time, I may be able to make entries on this blog. Maybe sometime I will in the future.

Entry ends here.

My abacus set.
(Posted on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 09:30 a.m.)

Relating to my last entry about my soroban below, I've made another discovery when I bought the Chinese version of it called the suanpan at the same second-hand store where I bought it. It is small compared to my soroban (7 3/8" x 3 3/8"), small enough to carry in my bag. It is flimsily but well made, because although it is not level and the beads are small for my fingers, I can use it as well as my two soroban. In fact, using the suanpan is basically the same as using the soroban, only I have extra useless beads to use. (I just fumble at lot it manipulating beads).
Did I say "two" soroban?Yes!

After I bought the suanpan, I bought another soroban (a bookstore nearest my home has these) mainly as both as a secondary one, as well as an extension if the calculation is to big to be done in one soroban alone. BTW, I'm now getting the hang of using the abacus, but I admit I am still not fast enough to beat calculator.

I have still problems uploading to MyFilehut lately. So all pics for this point until the problem is fixed, all pictures are posted in myFilestash. That goes with the finale videos for Survivor: Fiji.

Entry ends here.

A new abacus and a new playing card deck
(Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 at 12:08 p.m.)

Above is a toy "soroban" or Japanese abacus. I bought this yesterday on a second-hand store. And in a wish to learn to used one of these (I can't just buy these in any store), I actually have to download this PDF file which enables me to learn this properly. As you can see, on each rod, there is only one bead valued at five and four beads valued at one. Using this abacus will take some skill on more than just adding and subtracting. Multiplication and division can be done in this kind of abacus and this is the reason I bought such, to learn those two operations. As of now, I'm still getting to grasp on addition and subtraction techniques. I hoping to master my new abacus in the future.

Also, I've created a new deck of playing cards last weekend. This time, it is from the anime Negima!?. Actually, haven't seen this anime myself, but I got enamored by it. I've seen the first anime (Mahou Sensei Negima!) until last weekend, and although the story is not all that bad, the animation quality is. I feel that Negima!?, though just an alternate comedic retelling, is superior to the first anime.
The idea of these playing cards came to me two weeks ago and forwarded it to some members of the Aquastar Anime/Manga forums, and some of the other members gave me posted that gave me subtle ideas on forming the deck. In just one week, the framework on the cards and selection of characters was completed and work on the cards began. Again in one week, with some thought and the addition of some references that you yourselves should find out, again the cards have been completed. As all of the card decks I made, I've printed them out as tangible playing cards, which you can see in the pictures below.
As you can see, this is the first deck in my playing card collection (composed both those bought from other sources and those made by myself) with indices on all four corners of each card. I've seen some Dutch cards years ago with very odd letters on the Jacks, Queens, and Kings, and indices on all four corners on each card. But I haven't seen or held them since; I've seen them in books. This is why I made such a design that can even make left-handed card players very happy.
Below are the cards, before and after they were cut.

Guess who's in the final three of The Amazing Race All-Stars?

Go, go go, Charla and Mirna! Go beat Eric and win the million!

I have problems uploading to MyFilehut lately. So all pics in this entry, in the meantime, are being hosted by MyFilestash.

Entry ends here.

O FORTUNA!
More Mini-Reality Bites.
(Posted on Monday, April 9, 2007 at 03:58 p.m.)
It's Easter once again, and while I haven't contributed anything the past week, I have finally found the classical piece which I've heard hundreds of times, but I've just found it last Monday, because I found out the Undertaker used it as entrance music back in Wrestlemania 23. Just link to the O Fortuna pic at the right side of the blog. Yep, "O Fortuna" is very familiar, being used in a lot of movies, as well as to introduce the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards and the Michael Jackson His-tory World Tour. You can download the song at the fanlisting site.

On other things, the Love-Love Tribe (Ravu) is still a loser by name because of the tribal switch. But Yau-Mann is now part of the Motorola tribe (Moto), which is still solid after the tribal switch. To top it all off, the first two members of the Jury are both Ravu (although Lisi was originally Moto). But this Friday, their switching to purple, but have to face some cannabilism ahead. Meanwhile, the Guidos and Teri and Ian are now eliminated from the Race, leaving Charla and Mirna left to cheer on. But now that Uchenna and Joyce get the boot, having an all-female team in the final Three is now possibility. I just hope Charla and Mirna win the Race.

Entry ends here.

More Mini-Reality Bites
+ Assorted Anime Playing Cards 3?
(Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 08:01 p.m.)
It's been another two weeks of the Amazing Race All-Stars. And now, I'm elated that Rob and Amber are now out of the Race. Just blame it on two things: karma (because they lied to Charla and Mirna) and wrong decisions. He can't spell Philippines right! What's wrong with you, Rob? Too much pressure that you can't think right. Lucky Susan & Patrick decided to chide them, while giving raves to Uchenna and Joyce. (Charla and Mirna got a worse letter—from Marshall and Lance, who once called Mirna a "bitch").

As for Survivor:Fiji, the Love-Love Tribe (Ravu) hit another brick wall, giving more wins for the Motorola tribe (Moto). But with the impending switch coming up, that will shake everything. Luckily, there is no episode last Friday.

Once again, I'm building the concept of Assorted Anime Playing Cards 3. In this new deck, I finally have men being in the aces (Pikachu from AAPC1 does not count because its gender is ambigiuous). But characters are still few, so I might finish selecting the characters by about next year. Well, I can wait. I just hope my work doesn't get in the way.

Entry ends here.

Mini-Reality Bites.
(Posted on Saturday, March 3, 2007 at 07:17 p.m.)
It's been two weeks of the Amazing Race All-Stars and John Vito and Jill and Kevin and Drew have been eliminated. But what I am stunned so far is Mirna whined again to everyone's boiling point. This even cause in the next episode for Teri and Ian to be antagonistic against them. And I am reminded that "with friends like these, who needs enemies?" Surely, Mary gained an enemy on her team's idols Charla and Mirna. But the article on Reality News Online is right. David and Mary should step up because the Chos and Lyn and Karlyn won't be there to tail them.

As for Survivor: Fiji, where I bet Yau-Man to win, his tribe the Love-Love (Ravu) tribe have been losing out to the Motorola tribe (Moto) in five straight times. But when Moto was asked to keep either immunity or comfort, they chose comfort. So after five episodes of seeing someone from Rave leaving, two left Moto, one from bug bites.

Entry ends here.

Yeah, busy.
(Posted on Friday, March 2, 2007 at 08:10 p.m.)
Sorry again for all if I haven't posted anything. Real life seemed to keep me from blogging. But I'm glad that summer vacation is coming up and there would be less work for me to do after a very hectic two weeks. And once again I can work in peace because my annoying brother has left my room. And I hope it will be for a long time. I'll post something little bits in one or two days. See you then!

Entry ends here.

About the Kakuro puzzle in the blog background....
(Posted on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 11:44 p.m.)
If you're asking about the Kakuro puzzle featured in this blog, here is the puzzle, complete with solution. I don't have much to talk about right now because I have lots of things to do for the next two weeks. See you then!

Entry ends here.

Welcome to Kakuro Princess
+ The Amazing Race All-Stars!
(Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 at 11:08 p.m.)
It's been a long time since I've posted anything.

Well, a new year (though 19 days late) and a new layout. This new purple layout is called "Kakuro Princess" which is a spin-off of the last edition, Sudoku Princess. How I came up with the name is exactly the same as Sudoku Princess, except it has been replaced with a Kakuro puzzle. The Sister Princess picture I used in this page is from an image in AnimePaper. I used Adobe Photoshop for the first time, since my little brother wanted it installed. How it came out here is not what I expected, but at least, there is a "halo" effect surrounding the girls.

If you also noticed, I've removed the banners. It is not because I stopped advertising my sites. I made the width of the entries block so narrow that the banner are too wide for it. So I decided to just resort to just text links, which serve the very same purpose.

The kakuro puzzle you see is based on one of the puzzles I've transcribed from this site to be used on Platinum Kakuro. I don't remember if it is a very hard one or a super hard one, but I know it is 8x8. Finally, I've resized the blog so it can be viewed again in a 800x600 screen without scrolling, even though I'm using a 1280x800 one. But again, I've sacrificed the banners because I put the notes section too narrow.

That's all I can tell you about the new layout. I hope you like it.

The Amazing Race is about to begin again on the day after my birthday (February 19, due to the time zone difference between the Eastern United States and the Philippines), and this time, it is an All-Star Edition. Here is the rundown of the last 10 seasons, who will represent in this edition, and the teams that I think should be in the All-Star edition, too:

The Amazing Race (1):

Kevin & Drew (the bald guys who knock my socks off; had a cameo in season 8)
Joe & Bill (Team Guido, one of favorites to win back then, but the last I saw them, they are way far behind. I hope that won't happen this time.)

The Amazing Race 2:

Oswald & Danny (I don't remember them; I do remember Tara & Wil's post-divorce spats and Blake & Paige's sibling revelry)
Teams I want to see compete in this edition: Blake & Paige, for the reason I already gave

The Amazing Race 3:

John Vito & Jill (No longer a couple, but they're still out to prove each other)
Teri & Ian (one of my favorite teams at the time because they were the resident old couple who defied the odds)

The Amazing Race 4:

none
Teams I want to see compete in this edition: John & Al, for the fact that they are clowns, and also the Tangerine Team (Tian & Jaree)

The Amazing Race 5:

Charla & Mirna (Many may not like Mirna, but I, like many a fan of the show, love Charla because she's tough despite being little. I hope this trip won't be "short" one. Get it? "Short"?)
Teams I want to see compete in this edition: Chip & Kim (because they're fun to watch) and Colin & Christie (because Colin's fun to watch when he snaps). Not to mention the Bowling Moms, Linda & Karen.

The Amazing Race 6:

none, strangely
Teams I want to see compete in this edition: Kris & Jon, because they acted like how model Americans should act in a foreign land: willfully accepting foreign culture, not like Freddy & Kendra and the ever bickering Jonathan & Victoria (though I also wanted Lori & Bolo to be there).

The Amazing Race 7:

Uchenna & Joyce (They're winners in their season, so I'm sure they have big targets on their backs)
Rob & Amber (They have bigger targets on their backs, too! To their credit, they have been Survivors, ran in the Race with everybody wanting to take them down, and had they had their wedding, headaches and all, aired on international television! And another one is coming up!)
Teams I want to see compete in this edition: Ron should have found another partner, maybe one of his fellow POWs.

The Amazing Race Family Edition (8):

None, because that is another story.

The Amazing Race 9:

Eric &... Danielle?!! (Looks like they ditched Jeremy and Dani to be with each other. But them together is still untested, so who knows?)
Teams I want to see compete in this edition: BJ & Tyler, because they seem to be the right persons an anime fan would hang out with

The Amazing Race 10:

David & Mary (One of the Back Pack marked with elimination twice. Now that the Chos and Lyn & Karlyn won't be with them in this trip, how now, brown cow?)
Dustin & Kandice (Out once again to prove blondes aren't dumb. Too bad Tyler & James will be on the sidelines.)
Teams I want to see compete in this edition: Lyn & Karlyn

I'm looking forward for this new race!

Entry ends here.

Visit my sites Sailormoon and the Roving Sailorettes
and Assorted Anime Tarot.