General Action Discussion

[Top_Gun]

My God, those horns were fucking annoying. Someone needs to teach South Africa how to clap along to goddamn stadium music or something.

[mgangel1124]

Nah, he didn't really look much like Aizen to me. He was hot though.

Kekkaishi!

I hated that chick right away. I'm glad she's evil just so someone has an excuse to kick her ass.

D= No! Not the fabulous ghost dogs! Leave them alone!

This show has hot dads.

I still enjoy that random "I didn't see anything!" girl.

Well from the promo that seems to have taken most of its footage from next week's episode, I'm guessing that they get out alive and defeat her.

Oh god, that big demon thing. I feel kinda bad laughing at something that's so retarded.

Brotherhood!

Roy, I love you, you sneaky bastard. Plus, I like that we get to see that Roy knows how to do other alchemy. He really did a nice job with that pig carcass, the Mythbusters would be proud.

Aww Ross. I'm glad you're alive. You're a nice lady.

*Snerk* Elizabeth. I love the flirty talk.

I really like how we get to see more of Roy's group doing something besides being a pack of bumbling idiots.

Oh Ling, I enjoy you and your hot ninja friend.

Barry's still just so much fun.

Alright, so these random Ishvalens knew Winry's parents and know the guy that killed them and just happen to be talking to her childhood best friend. It's a small world afterall...

DDDDDDDDD= GLUTTONY, PLEASE DON'T EAT MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. Envy already off'd Roy's best friend, don't take his woman too!

Eyecatch 1

Eyecatch 2

See you next time!

[SesshomaruBebop87]

---

mgangel1124 wrote:

Nah, he didn't really look much like Aizen to me. He was hot though.

Oh god, that big demon thing. I feel kinda bad laughing at something that's so retarded.

---

Well, the "kind" Aizen, not the bad**snarf**-looking one we have now.  But ok.

And Yoki is the best demon ever.  "I'LL GET STRONGERER?  AND I'LL GET FASTERER?" 

Message Edited by SesshomaruBebop87 on 06-13-2010 03:36 AM

[Metatronda]

My experience is that the easiest way to get into soccer is to watch with others, especially with at least some people who know the sport decently well. It's sort of an immersion thing. A game like US-England is amazingly entertaining once you've been emotionally invested in the game/sport, but if you're just flipping by it casually on TV, a 1-1 draw where both goals came in the first half is going to be pretty dull most of the time (even though the pace of the play and the general excitement and energy level was significantly higher in the second half).

In this regard, I'd consider it rather similar to baseball in that it appears terribly boring to watch the vast majority of the time unless you've really been suitably familiarized with the sport and understand the meaning of what is really happening at any given moment (literally nothing at all is physically happening for at least 80% of the time in which a game is actually being played in baseball...the majority of the action and suspense is entirely mental).

Anyway, time for schedules and stuff...




GROUP B

South Korea - 1-0-0 - GF: 2 - GA: 0 - GD: +2 - 3 pts
Argentina - 1-0-0 - GF: 1 - GA: 0 - GD: +1 - 3 pts
Nigeria - 0-0-1 - GF: 0 - GA: 1 - GD: -1 - 0 pt
Greece - 0-0-1 - GF: 0 - GA: 2 - GD: -2 - 0 pt



GROUP C

England - 0-1-0 - GF: 1 - GA: 1 - GD: 0 - 1 pt
United States - 0-1-0 - GF: 1 - GA: 1 - GD: 0 - 1 pt
Algeria - 0-0-0 - GF: 0 - GA: 0 - GD: 0 - 0 pt
Slovenia - 0-0-0 - GF: 0 - GA: 0 - GD: 0 - 0 pt





It's a busy busy week! Group play is in full force, and meanwhile, it's time for the video game world's biggest event of the year as well. It's E3 week! Monday brings us Microsoft's Xbox Press Conference, while Nintendo and Sony go to bat on Tuesday.

Plus there's all the usual stuff going on.




For now, let's deal with Sunday, with some interesting matchups. Leading off, the presumed "lesser" teams of Group C face off in the contest between Algeria and Slovenia, but neither team should be written out by any means. A win by either, after all, would vault them into first place in the group over both England and USA. Up second is upstart Serbia facing off against another rising African power in the form of Ghana. Ghana made their World Cup debut in 2006 and came into this year with high hopes, but an injury to star Michael Essien has put a damper on their World Cup aspirations. Can the Black Stars overcome adversity and still rise to glory on African soil? And the day winds up with football superpower Germany taking on the always plucky Socceroos of Australia. Germany too has been bitten by the injury bug, losing their captain Michael Ballack, a man who has ensured victory for his national team in every single game he has scored in since 2005. However, Germany has no shortage of talent and is still considered amongst the odds on favorites to win the Cup. Today they get a chance to prove that to the world.




The Weekly Preview




SUNDAY

7:30 am - Algeria 0 - 0 Slovenia

10:00 am - Serbia 0 - 0 Ghana

2:30 pm - Germany 0 - 0 Australia



ADULT SWIM VIDEO

Big O - Season 2

Cowboy Bebop - 5 - Ballad of Fallen Angels

Cowboy Bebop - 6 - Sympathy for the Devil

Fullmetal Alchemist - 21 - The Red Glow

Fullmetal Alchemist - 22 - Created Human

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 15 - Envoy from the East

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 16 - Footprints of a Comrade-in-Arms

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG - 1 - REEMBODY

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG - 2 - NIGHT CRUISE

Kekkaishi - 1 - Scars



MONDAY

7:30 am - Netherlands 0 - 0 Denmark

10:00 am - Japan 0 - 0 Cameroon

2:30 pm - Italy 0 - 0 Paraguay



SYFY ANI-MONDAYS

X



TUESDAY

7:30 am - New Zealand 0 - 0 Slovakia

10:00 am - Ivory Coast 0 - 0 Portugal

2:30 pm - Brazil 0 - 0 North Korea



WEDNESDAY

7:30 am - Honduras 0 - 0 Chile

10:00 am - Spain 0 - 0 Switzerland

2:30 pm - South Africa 0 - 0 Uruguay



WEDNESDAY VIDEO UPDATE

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 17 - Cold Flame

Kekkaishi - 2 - Yoshimori and Tokine

Cowboy Bebop - 7 - Heavy Metal Queen

Cowboy Bebop - 8 - Waltz for Venus



THURSDAY

7:30 am - Argentina 0 - 0 South Korea

10:00 am - Greece 0 - 0 Nigeria

2:30 pm - France 0 - 0 Mexico



THURSDAY ONLINE SIMULCAST

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 61 - He Who Would Swallow God

Bow before him, humans, if he is who you call a god. But if you do not acknowledge him so, fight! Stake thy pride. God is the creation of those with nowhere to turn.



FRIDAY

7:30 am - Germany 0 - 0 Serbia

10:00 am - Slovenia 0 - 0 United States

2:30 pm - England 0 - 0 Algeria















This week on Fullmetal Alchemist, it's all out action! Hawkeye is in a world of trouble with Gluttony upon her while the rest of Team Mustang is engaged in battle, and the Flame Alchemist is forced to take the stage. Is Roy too late, though? And when faced with the deadliest of conceivable foes, is even Roy Mustang capable of protecting his closest of comrades? Pain and death awaits.


SATURDAY

June 19, 2010:


7:30 am - Netherlands 0 - 0 Japan

10:00 am - Ghana 0 - 0 Australia

2:30 pm - Cameroon 0 - 0 Denmark


10:00 - King of the Hill - 176 - Dale to the Chief
10:30 - King of the Hill - 179 - Mutual of Omabwah
11:00 - The Boondocks - 19 - Stinkmeaner Strikes Back
11:30 - The Boondocks - 37 - The Fundraiser
12:00 - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 19 - Death of the Undying
12:30 - Kekkaishi - 4 - Her Treasure
1:00 - Bleach - 22 - The Man Who Hates Soul Reapers
1:30 - Bleach - 23 - Rukia's Sentence, 14 Days To Go
2:00 - Cowboy Bebop - 11 - Toys in the Attic
2:30 - Cowboy Bebop - 12 - Jupiter Jazz (Part 1)
3:00 - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG - 14 - POKER FACE
3:30 - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG - 15 - PAT
4:00 - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 19 - Death of the Undying
4:30 - Kekkaishi - 4 - Her Treasure
5:00 - Inuyasha - 149 - Single Arrow of Chaos
5:30 - Inuyasha - 150 - The Mysterious Light That Guides the Saint



*10:00p - One Piece - 456 - Nakama-tachi no Yukue: Kyodai no Hakajirushi to Pantsu no On (Funimation Simulcast)
*4:00a - Hagane no Renkinjutsushi FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST - 62 - Seizetsunaru Hangeki (TBS/MBS Japan)





Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 19 - Death of the Undying

She is a strong, proud woman. A beautiful woman, loved by her comrades. But her weapon which shoots down enemies has lost its power, and the flame of her life has flickered out. She becomes anguished. Her memories bring about her suffering.

[Cille]

Yeah, it occurred to me that watching soccer would probably be infinitely more entertaining in a group of excitable fans, and probably better in person than in a chat. But I still don't think I care enough to go looking for soccer fans to sit around with.


Let's see, random show thoughts... haven't done one of these in a while...

Brotherhood:

I enjoy Jerry Jewell as Barry, and I'm glad he gets to do more this time around. It's also interesting that human!Barry wasn't an effeminate pansyboy in this series. Or if he was, he was one big butch-looking effeminate pansyboy.

So Roy isn't as gullible and blinded by revenge as it first appeared. I'm not terribly surprised, although it certainly would have given his character an interesting dimension if he really were the sort of person who would murder a woman in cold (hot?) blood to avenge his friend. Good on him, though, and yay for his crew being awesome and badass. And Havoc needs to dress in black commando gear more often.

Poor Hawkeye. That preview makes me feel bad for her.

Ling is fun. And has interesting ways of asking people for things he wants.

So someone with a tattooed arm and a scarred face offed Winry's parents this time? Well that's different. And absolves Roy of a bit of that guilt and angst from last time.


Kekkaishi:

Poor hot dad. He tried so hard.

Yoshi should have taken the antidote before drinking wine with a Sicilian. Or something.

Yuri is a much more likeable spaz than what's her face. Like mgangel said, it's a good thing what's her face is actually evil so we don't have to put up with her being a comic relief staple for long.

Also evil bitch is evil and a bitch. Hopefully she'll get her much deserved smackdown in the next episode.

And the spirit dogs having physical remains somewhere reminds me of the homunculi's weakness in the first FMA series. Presumably we'll get some drama later on with them actually being in danger.

Silly guitars at the end made me think we were going into a musical montage a la that one window scene in Trinity Blood.


And my new computer shipped yesterday! Yay!

Message Edited by Cille on 06-13-2010 09:58 AM

[Weird_Fishes]

---

Metatronda wrote:
It's a busy busy week! Group play is in full force, and meanwhile, it's time for the video game world's biggest event of the year as well. It's E3 week! Monday brings us Microsoft's Xbox Press Conference, while Nintendo and Sony go to bat on Tuesday.

Plus there's all the usual stuff going on.

---

The next two days for folks like us is going to be absolutely insane. I'm not even sure what to watch tomorrow morning 

 Especially with the Group of Death games and both Nintendo and Sony conferences on Tuesday morning. Oh god!

Message Edited by Weird_Fishes on 06-13-2010 12:24 PM

[Foley_is_Good_149]

---

SesshomaruBebop87 wrote:
Well, the "kind" Aizen, not the bad**snarf**-looking one we have now.

---

Yeah, I guess I can see it.

Oh, I forgot to mention, but given the coldness of Yoshimori's mother when returning Tokine's dead father, the earlier hostility we saw from Tokine's grandmother toward Yoshimori after he brought the injured Tokine back makes a lot more sense.

Trunks: What were those? Bees? Sounded like bees.

[Weird_Fishes]

Vuvuzelas, sound the same though

[Jingai]

When are we going to get together and do bad things... The Weekend in Review ™

  Kekkaishi -

 Pay attention to the flashbacks in this series, they tend to show up on the test as my 

Folklore Professor was fond of saying. In many ways this series seems to focus on 

Yoshimura and Tokine struggling to not allow history to repeat itself. Yomi and Yoki 

are pretty funny, when they aren't trying to kill or capture people. Even though the real

meat of the story doesn't quite start for a few episodes, you can see details which are given

now and show up later as themes. Anyone else think Tokine's father looked like Boy Scout Aizen?

  Bleach -

Capt : Rukia you are going to be executed.

Gin : Are you alright with this, not that I actually care or anything, but it gives me a chance to be a jerk.

Kenny : I could always cut her head off.

Capt : No thanks.

Kenny : Hey, you wanna fight?

Gin : Alright, lets save it for the Arrancar Arc...

Urahara : Ichigo, you'd better run, for srs, or else I'll kill you.

Ichigo : I'm such a loser with my teeny tiny stump of a sword in my hand.

Zangetsu : Quite being a betch and call out my name.

Ichigo : Zangetsu! *gets sword and knocks off Urahara's hat*

Orihime : I like this place Tatsuki, cause my brother used to catch dragonflies here before he became a gross worm monster.

Tatsuki : Yeah, that's nice Orihime. Listen are you going with Ichigo?

Orihime : Yeah, but I'll come back, I promise.

Urahara : Ok, the gang is all here. You only have 4 minutes to run through the gate, or else the giant black slime will swallow you.

*group runs from slime and gets shot out into Rukon district.*

Jidango : Hey, I'm the first real big encounter you guys are going to have. 

Ichigo : Fine, I'll pick a fight with you.

Jidango : *mega chop with giant axes*

Ichigo : *chops axes*

Jidango : You beat me. Ok, I'll open the gate. *opens gate* It is Gin Ichimaru...

Gin :

  Cowboy Bebop -

  Session 9 : Jammin with Edward.

• Edward's name. Best part of course, is that Ed gave it to herself.
  
• I love how it describes itself as the central processing unit, so Ed names it Empu.
• Empu's reason for creating the drawings is pretty funny as well. It missed them.
• Marshmallow Peeps from Earth.
  
• Spike's line about the things he hates : Kids, animals, and women with attitudes.
• The giant smiley face on South America is the kind of astro-vandalism I would perpetrate...

 Session 10 : Ganymede Elegy.

• Seems like all lovers in this series are star crossed. Seems rather bleak huh.
• The music in this episode once again is such an integral part of the episode's atmosphere.
• I liked the comment about all women not being like Faye. Faye is very certain of her own strengths I think.
• Elisa it seems left Jet to find her own strengths, at least that is the impression I got from her.
• I do think Jet carries a torch for Elisa still, but he probably knows it is a lost cause. That is what the watch seemed to mean to me.

  Gits -

 I wonder, if Togusa's boyscout nature gets him into trouble unnecessarily, could the same be said of Pazu's rules

about women? It seems like he has a certain reputation, and it isn't exactly a savory one, though I can understand

why he doesn't break his rules very often, given what happened when he did. The real question is, do you think

he slept with the Major? From the completely unrelated files, it sure seems as though Togusa knows a rather

diverse group of people who seem to collect obscure information. It seems odd for a beat cop to have those

kinds of contacts. It is pretty clever to have a virus triggered by having to read a complete selection of essays,

not to mention a good way to control the infection rate, by confiscating or stealing most of the original copies of the

essays from the general public.

 The Weekend in Review ™ is brought to you by the Adult Swim Have it your way sellout to Burger King Contest.

Vote for Andy, I think that's the one with almost all anime. Maybe it isn't. Oh well, the point is to get young people to

buy crappy food at Burger King.

  FMA B : 

Stickbowl : They should have called by now.

Ling : Don't worry, they'll be fine. I'll explain everything.

Winry and Stickbowl :

Shortypants : So, this is the lost city of Xerxes, supposedly alchemy was discovered here and brought to the west.

Fu : Well supposedly it was also brought to Xing from here as well.

Ross : Hey guys.

Armstrong : Lt. Ross! *chases*

Breeda : Yeah, funny story about that. See, Mustang had this planned out, cause Barry called him and told him about

Ross not being the one to shoot Hughes. So, Mustang cooked up this plan, get it , yeah and anyways he had me get

a couple dead pigs, some carbon and windex, and he made a fake burnt up Lt. Ross. I escorted her out here, and now

she is gonna go to Xing with Fu. Pretty clever isn't it?

Shortypants : Yeah fine, he tricked me.

Breeda : Good, well now he is trying to catch the real puppet masters pulling the strings. Barry went on a rampage,

and he is hoping that will draw them out. So, what about you Shortypants?

Shortypants : I gotta move forward, if I don't then Roy will take over the show, and it will probably be much better off honestly.

Well, I'm an arrogant little man child, and this is the arrogant little man child episode, so I'm going to push forwards anyways.

Zombeh Barry : *rawrz*

Gray : What the hell?

Barry : Chopping time.

Havok : Stay out of the way Gray.

Gray : Havok?

Havok : Dude, I'm wearing a mask for a reason.

Gray : Sorry.

Riza : *wings zombeh Barry*

Barry : I recognize that body, it's mine. I get to chop it up, seriously how cool is that, how many people can say they chopped up their

own body.

Havok : Dude, you're strange.

Tubsy Wubsy : *drools*

Riza : *shoots Tubsy in the shoulder*

Tubsy Wubsy : *heals and gets up*

Riza : *makes oh crap face*

Shortypants : Hey aren't you guys all Ishbalans.

Grandma Grumpypants : Yes, we are. We were hurt in the war, and a pair of doctors helped us.

Shortypants : You mean the Rockbells?

Grandma Grumpypants : Yes the Rockbells helped us.

Shortypants : What happened to them?

Grandma Grumpypants : Scar killed them.

Message Edited by Jingai on 06-13-2010 10:50 PM

[Metatronda]

SUNDAY

FINAL - Algeria 0 - 1 Slovenia

FINAL - Serbia 0 - 1 Ghana

FINAL - Germany 4 - 0 Australia



GROUP C

Slovenia - 1-0-0 - GF: 1 - GA: 0 - GD: +1 - 3 pts
United States - 0-1-0 - GF: 1 - GA: 1 - GD: 0 - 1 pt
England - 0-1-0 - GF: 1 - GA: 1 - GD: 0 - 1 pt
Algeria - 0-0-1 - GF: 0 - GA: 1 - GD: -1 - 0 pt



GROUP D

Germany - 1-0-0 - GF: 4 - GA: 0 - GD: +4 - 3 pts
Ghana - 1-0-0 - GF: 1 - GA: 0 - GD: +1 - 3 pts
Serbia - 0-0-1 - GF: 0 - GA: 1 - GD: -1 - 0 pt
Australia - 0-0-1 - GF: 0 - GA: 4 - GD: -4 - 0 pt








The wave of orange that is the Netherlands takes to the pitch today against a Danish squad making their fourth World Cup appearance. As usual, the talented Dutch are expected to go a long way, but they historically have had difficulty meeting expectations. Is this the year the Cup finally goes to the Oranje? Football in Japan has been on the rise over the past decade thanks to their 2002 co-hosting duties with South Korea, and the Samurai Blue make their 2010 World Cup debut against Africa's most historically successful side, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. And finally, the Azzurri take the pitch to begin the defence of their status as champions of the world, and the first adversary they face is a South American team ready to prove they belong amongst the world elite. It's Italy vs. Paraguay to bring day 4 to a close!



MONDAY

FINAL - Netherlands 2 - 0 Denmark

FINAL - Japan 1 - 0 Cameroon

FINAL - Italy 1 - 1 Paraguay



SYFY ANI-MONDAYS

X

Message Edited by Metatronda on 06-15-2010 08:20 AM

[Foley_is_Good_149]

---

Jingai wrote:
Marshmallow Peeps from Earth.

---

Peeps are awesome. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and deserves a kick to a shin.

This trip to the Xerxes ruins made me realize that at some point I would like to know approximately the scale of Amestris in measurement units that have a meaning for me (i.e. not some word made up by Arakawa). Sure, we briefly got to see a map showing it and some of the surrounding countries and territories, but knowing the size of this all would be nice.

[Metatronda]

---

Foley_is_Good_149 wrote:

---

Jingai wrote:
Marshmallow Peeps from Earth.

---

Peeps are awesome. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and deserves a kick to a shin.

This trip to the Xerxes ruins made me realize that at some point I would like to know approximately the scale of Amestris in measurement units that have a meaning for me (i.e. not some word made up by Arakawa). Sure, we briefly got to see a map showing it and some of the surrounding countries and territories, but knowing the size of this all would be nice.

---

Amestris seems to be relatively small. I would think one of the smaller scale European nations would be a good measure. Not like Andorra or Luxembourg small, but maybe something like Switzerland or Czech Republic or Austria. Central is MUCH larger in relation to the country as a whole than you would think, and you can see Central headquarters even from locales that are within the borders of East. So figure that that is maybe 15 miles away or so (maybe a bit more, depending on topography), and I would guess you have a country that is probably somewhere around 100-200 miles in width (well, more like diameter, since it is roughly circular in its shape, aside from a few slight turns in its borders).


EDIT: Just did a quick check on Switzerland's dimensions:

# Largest extension north-south: 220 km (137 miles)
# Largest extension west-east: 348 km (216 miles)

That seems like it's right around the right ballpark in terms of size.

Message Edited by Metatronda on 06-14-2010 01:46 AM

[mgangel1124]

I'm still looking for anything that gives a relative size, but I do know that Amestris has a population of roughly 50 million people if it helps any.

Also, fun fact. Amestris is named after the wife of Persian emperor Xerxes.

[Metatronda]

That puts it more on the size of Spain or France (Spain about 45 million, France about 60 million). I would say England, which is right around 50 million in population, but that's too densely populated compared to Amestris.

That doesn't really fit with some of the few references to scale we've seen in the series, though it does make sense in terms of the country's diversity of geography and its apparently sprawling countrysides. I'm going to chalk this up to "the scale of the country is whatever is convenient at the time."

At the very least, it is no smaller than the size of a Switzerland and definitely no larger than a France.

[Weird_Fishes]

Excited about this Dutch squad, love Robben and Van Persie.

[Metatronda]

---

Weird_Fishes wrote:
Excited about this Dutch squad, love Robben and Van Persie.

---

I was disappointed with the Dutch performance (and Danish performance for that matter), though they did start to come on later in the game. Maybe they just needed to get going.

Japan on the other hand is looking better than I expected, and Cameroon too is disappointing me. Probably the weakest African performance we've seen thus far. Maybe they'll start to click in the second half.

Right now, Netherlands vs. Japan on Saturday is looking like an interesting match.






Something about the horrific X movie on Ani-Monday tonight. Fullmetal is still awesome, Kekkaishi still kinda blows.

[Weird_Fishes]

---

Metatronda wrote:

---

Weird_Fishes wrote:
Excited about this Dutch squad, love Robben and Van Persie.

---

I was disappointed with the Dutch performance (and Danish performance for that matter), though they did start to come on later in the game. Maybe they just needed to get going.

Japan on the other hand is looking better than I expected, and Cameroon too is disappointing me. Probably the weakest African performance we've seen thus far. Maybe they'll start to click in the second half.

Right now, Netherlands vs. Japan on Saturday is looking like an interesting match.

---

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed after the match, though maybe Robben coming on and Sneijer in position may change things, we'll see I guess. Also a massive upset for Japan, and the last 10 minutes were huge....and with Paraguay currently up by 1 over Italy we may have another upset coming.

[Top_Gun]

I have to say, this little thing almost makes the entire World Cup worth it.

[SesshomaruBebop87]

Best game ever.

[Foley_is_Good_149]

Yeah, it's the diversity of biomes that's throwing me here. We know that at the northern border with Drachma is this Briggs Range which sees some cold winters as evidenced by Izumi's relation of her survival training, but most of the rest of the country seems comfortably warm, even semi-arid in the south at Rush Valley. From what we've seen of the East, it's mostly lush, green countryside. Then farther to the east of Amestris, there's this vast desert. We haven't had any indication of a semi-arid region between the East and this desert, with the exception of Ishval, but if I'm remembering correctly, that's to the southwest of Central at a near latitude to the region around Rush Valley, kind of in a border region between the South and the East. While I suppose that the lushness of the East could be due to irrigation practices, the level of sophistication there seems out of place with the approximate time setting for the show in that we don't really see much in the way of irrigation ditches and/or noticeable aqueducts around, which would imply that local rainfall is sufficient. I guess that if Amestris were some very large country, as in sprawling across much of Europe and into the near East of Asia, then we could have this diversity, but for a country as small as you suggest, those are some mighty radical changes in the regional biomes.

Of course, I suppose that since this is set in an alternate reality, the environmental conditions there could be substantially different from those on our Earth due to any number or combination of factors.

[Weird_Fishes]

That is way too awesome

[Jingai]

  Xerxes used to be a highly advanced city, and presumably seat of a kingdom of some

sort before it was wiped out by alchemy. It could well be that the desert is not a naturally

occurring phenomenon, but rather the byproduct of whatever alchemy destroyed Xerxes in the first place.

If that is the case, then trying to reconcile it with the other regional biomes is going to be difficult at best.

 It could be that the prevailing jet streams run from southwest to northeast, which would

create a semi arid region to the south near Rush Valley, fertile farmland in the East,

and the larger forests bordering the mountains in Drachma.The desert then around

Xerxes would probably be slowly shrinking to a more arid scrub land, but that would take

hundreds of years to fully return to something probably akin to the great plains.

[Foley_is_Good_149]

Desert as a byproduct of the Xerxes destruction. Possible. It's about as good an explanation as we've had so far. I doubt the series will address this, but I'll hold out the feeble hope that it will just in case.

[Metatronda]

I don't know if the whole of the desert is the result of Xerxes' destruction (it's a VERY large desert, substantially larger than Amestris is itself), but certainly the idea that some of it is the result of the ruin of Xerxes is plausible and interesting. And it's definitely possible that the desert is at least harsher than it used to be in Xerxes' prime, much the way the Sahara and lower Nile is far more arid and barren than it was at the height of ancient Egypt.






Today in the World Cup, it's a most anticipated day as the Group of Death makes its entrance. Before that, the Kiwis of New Zealand get an opportunity to prove they deserve to play with the world's best as they take on a solid Slovakian squad. Then it's what surely must be considered today's main event, as African powerhouse and hope of the continent Ivory Coast takes the pitch to take on one of the great European powers in the form of Portugal. Just a week and a half after breaking his arm and being considered out of the World Cup, Ivory Coast superstar Didier Drogba has been approved by FIFA to play today, albeit with a cast. Literally risking life and limb for his national team, can Drogba's presence give the African nation the edge they need to take down Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese? Finally, one of the most interesting and potentially entertaining matchups of the tourney, as top ranked Brazil takes on the enigmatic lowest ranked North Korea. Just what we're going to see there, nobody really knows, but you can be sure that Kaka and friends are salivating over the prospect of a bonanza of goals.


TUESDAY

45' - New Zealand 0 - 0 Slovakia

10:00 am - Ivory Coast 0 - 0 Portugal

2:30 pm - Brazil 0 - 0 North Korea




Also today, E3 rolls on as Nintendo and Sony both take the stage. Nintendo has their new 3DS system to detail, as well as information on Zelda Wii, still being slated to release in 2010 as of right now. Sony, meanwhile, has their Playstation Move to talk about, as well as word on "new hardware." Expectations and rumors abound about a PSP2 reveal. Is it going to happen this year? We'll find out this afternoon.

[theSLiKbandit]

RahXephon tonight!