News: "Hunger Games: Catching Fire devours US box office"

By clicking here you sign up a petition to fight against famine in Third World. Or in other words, you'll prevent the continent full of people from District 11 from having to organise their own real Hunger Games.

Having said that, I should warn you of possible inside jokes during this blog post. Oops, a little late I guess. A little hint: the gag in the hyperlink text is true "black" humour...

Have you read The Hunger Games? No? But you've seen the movie, haven't you? Neither? Ok, seriously, you must a be a robot from the NASA constructed for Mars missions because only someone running around on another planet could have missed that one. I mean, please, even I have seen the film! And I even read the first book. And it's rather difficult to get me to read a book, to be honest...

Okay, so the second installment of the saga of The Hunger Games launched last week in cinemas around the world. Catching Fire is the title of the sequel all the fans have been waiting for anxiously. Wait, why anxiously? Basically because, even though it definitely was a decent piece of cinematic work, the ones who had already read the book (and had consequently become really, like really hysteric about the movie... I'm speaking from experience) were disappointed because of the abundant discrepancies between the first film and the novel.

This girl is on fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiireeeeeeeeeee! This girl is on fiiiiiiireeeeeeeeee!

But this time they spared neither trouble nor expense (the latter being reflected in the more lavish budget in comparison to the predecessor) so Catching Fire would outperform the first movie. And hell they did a good job. According to the source of this news item, Catching Fire has had the 4th best opening in the United States of all time. Only The Avengers, Iron Man 3 and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part II surpass the $158 millions of Catching Fire during the opening period.

I went to see the film myself last Saturday, more or less voluntarily. I guess I should explain myself. I was actually going to watch another movie but as I arrived in the cinema I realised two crucial facts:

1. A lot of people live there. More than I thought. I've never seen that much people in that cinema before.

2. The consequence of point 1 is that they spontanously decided to occupy another hall for Catching Fire without informing about that on their website. Guess which film was kicked out of the programme. Exactly, the one I was going to watch. So finally I had no other choice but to... well, catch fire.

The problem is, I planned to read the book first this time (something I never accomplished in my lifetime). I have it at home. Virgin. I mean, I haven't read it yet. No time, other interests, etc. *Sigh*... I'll read it this Christmas I suppose.

But I promise, I'm going to read part 3, Mockingjay, before the films come out! Especially because they'll divide the third movie into 2 parts *giggle*.

My humble opinion about the movie? It was great, way better than the first one. And my trustworthy sources told me that Catching Fire is much closer to the book it's based on. If you haven't seen it yet, it's really worth it, give it a try! Catching Fire really skews the former opinion of the fans on the cinematic realization of novels!

And no, as you've already noticed, I'm not really part of the THG fandom... Though I really appreciate the saga. Anyway, it's part of those fandoms basically teenage girls belong to. And I'm saying that without any trace of sexism, it's just my observation. There's that Internet phenomena of teenage girls addicted to several book sagas with great fandoms, for example about Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Chronicles of Narnia... It's quite interesting in fact! 

And here's what you all have been waiting for... The 3 magical words:

lavish

skew

outperform








Oh, and I forgot to mention something very important. I love Jennifer Lawrence, the actress playing the role of the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. She really crushes Hollywood's stereotypes. She is no anorexic Barbie puppet, but a well-built nimble-witted young woman with a great sense of humour. If I hadn't known about her personality I'd probably have said she's not my type, but her attitude makes her too sexy to ignore her. So girls, THAT is what we men seek. Or at least many of us.

News: "Higgs boson book scoops Royal Society Winton Prize"

YOU'RE THE 999999th VISITOR! CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE YOUR PRIZE!

And now, to set the final tick on the predictable Crazy German topics (we've already had animes and games... which one is missing?); today we talk about:

I can almost taste the salty essence of your tears of joy after hearing about this.

Okay, so there's this certain award called the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. Basically, they honor the best science-related book written for a non-specialist audience, that is to say, popular science. Or in other words, you and I will understand those books perfectly without having any degree in the subject in question. Assumed you and I can read. But since we're communicating through this... well, written blog post, I guess we can skip that part... can we? Yes, we can.

The book that scooped the award this time is "The Particle at the End of the Universe" by Sean Carroll. Among the five nominated authors, he was the only physicist. And yet, he won. Personally, I'm very glad that they chose a book that talks about particle physics. I'd love to see that topic getting more popular between the commonality. After all, if explained in a tangible way, it can be easily comprehended without getting too much into the details just as any other science (we all read articles about medicine, biology, etc.; why not physics as well?). But what probably makes this specific issue that interesting is that it could give us answers to the huge questions. And we all like huge things. You know what I mean ;) A huge cake will always be better than a small cake. Just some simple maths ;) 

So what is all that stuff about the Higgs boson? I'll give you my own reduced, amateurish and simplified version. No guarantee on the validity of the following statements.

Ok, so you know that, according to quantum mechanics, all the matter and energy in the universe is made of particles. We always only speak of atoms which consist of protons, neutrons and electrons, though there are other kinds of particles. You also know that all the particles have mass, don't you? It's pure logic, isn't it? Isn't it?

Well, it is not. Because not all of the particles have mass. For example, photons, which are the particles of light, don't have mass. But why? Almost all the other particles do actually have mass, like the infamous neutrinos, so why are photons the strange ones? Well, I guess it's because they watch animes and stuff like that... Sorry, inside joke.

And here the theoretical physicists come into play. Sometimes they overdo it and invent some crazy theories which probably couldn't be analized experimentally in hundred years. But sometimes some of them do their job well and they find some kind of reasonable explanation. They predict a future discovery. They postulate a certain physical reality or law. Well, there was that physics nerd answering to the name of Peter Higgs. He claimed that there had to be some kind of physical field, afterwards called the Higgs field in honor of his work, that "gives" the particles their mass. This field is also made up of particles, the Higgs bosons (bosons form a certain class of particles, this is of no major importance now). These particles are omnipresent and so is the field (note that they sometimes refer to the Higgs boson as the "God particle"). 

We can explain the phenomenon of mass thanks to the Higgs field. Some particles, due to their characteristics, interact with the Higgs field, some don't. Thus, some particles have mass and some don't. How do particles gain mass from the Higgs field? Well, since Einstein's famous formula E=mc² we know that energy and mass are the same thing when we refer to the world of particles. When a particle is accelerated, part of its mass transforms into kinetic energy. When we baffle the particle, part of its energy transforms back into mass. 

The upmost limit of speed is the speed of light. Therefore, the upmost limit of energy is the energy of a particle travelling at the speed of light. And that means, if the particle has the maximum of energy, it has the minimum of mass, which is 0. That's why photons, the particles of light, have no mass. Now imagine there's that Higgs field full of Higgs bosons. Most particles will interact with the Higgs bosons as they move around. As they do, the Higgs bosons act like brakes. Brakes that are everywhere. Since they are everywhere, they lower the possible maximum of speed (that is to say, energy) of a particle. So, if the energy can't reach the maximum, there will always be some residue: the particle's mass.

But now think about this. How do you detect something as fundamental in our universe, something as elusive as the Higgs bosons? It's like trying to show a fish what water is. Well, that's the reason why the story behind the science in relation to the Higgs boson is so interesting. It's seems that scientists at the CERN identified the Higgs boson last year. But they still have to confirm their discovery.

The three new words I've learnt are the following.

scoop

elusive

tangible

Now you go and tell me about three physics concepts you've learnt. Come on!

*Knock knock* Who's there?

It's me, the oral presentation self-evaluation!

Okay, let's hold on for a moment. Could we all pronounce that together? 

O-ral pre-sen-ta-tion self-e-va-lu-a-tion.

Achievement unlocked: Dumbest introduction for a blog post ever.

Leeeeeeet's get ready to ruuuuuumbleeeeee.

Wow, Youtube's a good bro for once. Look at that thumbnail. It's AWESOME!

Oh, since I didn't take note of the updated evaluation chart before handing the paper in, I'll be using the good ol' classic chart from the official 2batspace © website.

Body language & eye contact (10%):

Yeah. I used my body to sell this topic. Literally. I was doubting until the very last moment if the Knock-Knock-Knock Penny demonstration was a good idea... I'm not sure, but at least I made a huge sacrifice. Really. At the beginning my eyes seek the paper a bit too much for my taste, but I think that part's quite solid. 9 out of 10

Presentation & structure (10%):

Yeah, there was a little error (und~and) and two videos that didn't work :/ It's strange because I tried to open the videos from the offline-version prezi and it worked at home. I guess they were linked to some kind of intermediate shortcut within my laptop's memory. Next time I'll try to check the videos using an another PC before the presentation. Also, because of that my presentation was a little too long :( 4 out of 10

Content (40%):

Okay, by all modesty, the content was LEGEN- wait for it -DARY. Oh yeah, by the way, precisely, the "Legendary" gag. It didn't work as expected. I should have foreseen this. A part from that, it's interesting because I tend to decide spontanously during the presentation to skip some boring or unnecessary parts or dumb gags (they seem perfectly funny the night before, I swear!).

This makes me reflect about these stand-up comedians who sometimes act in programmes of more than 2 hours constantly telling their prepared stories and jokes. How do they memorize all these things? How don't they mix up or forget their script? The maximal amount of time I could imagine to be speaking in front of people about a prepared topic is 30 minutes. But I doubt I'd be able to fill that time with good gags. I remark: good ones. 37,5 out of 40

Vocabulary and grammar (20%):

I always do my best to include more than basic vocabulary but without making the comprehension harder than necessary. After all, an oral presentation should include, in my opinion, a dynamic and witty language. But, if it gets overly sophisticated, I would be bored by myself while exposing the topic. If there's no one listening, they can't appreciate the dynamics.  20 out of 20

Pronunciation & intonation (20%):

I checked all the words I could potentially pronounce wrong. I think I was talking a little too fast at some points though, it sounded like I was muttering a bit. 17,5 out of 20

Final mark (100%): 9+4+37,5+20+17,5 = 88 -> That's an 8,8 then

What to improve... What to improve you ask? Really? I mean, really? If you had actually read all the text above, you'd know by now that I already commented about the things I could improve. >:(

Ok, just for you, because you're really special: look less at my notes and more into the beautiful eyes of the wonderful people of my class, triple-check videos and possible misspellings in my presentation, analyse better the functionality of my gags and, finally, speak a little clearer.4

And eventually, here's my initial script including some errors and lots of stuff I didn't talk about in the final presentation. Either because it was getting too long or because I noticed that some things better remain unsaid. Especially if they're dull and don't contribute positively to the content. 

Modern American Sitcoms

Introduction

Good morning everybody! Today I’d like to begin my presentation with some questions. Don’t worry, they are easy ones.

Do you know these series? (pointing to prezi)

Ok, now one by one, how many of you watch Two and a Half Men, more or less regularly? Please raise your hand. Good and now EXTRA POINTS for everybody who watches Two And A Half Men. Ok, now let’s be serious, ok, this is a very serious topic.

And How I Met Your Mother? Yeees, Barney would give you all a high five and tell you you’re awesome.

And finally, The Big Bang Theory? Yeeah, I know it’s a lot of exercise to raise the hand all the time… Okay, so it seems we nerds are quite popular now.

Well, as you’ve just seen, most of you watch at least one of these series. They are all really successful and they have one thing in common: They are all modern American sitcoms. But what exactly is a sitcom? Or rather, which are the typical characteristics that a sitcom features? What makes a sitcom funny or entertaining?

------

Traits and features

The word „sitcom“ is in fact an abbreviation for „situation comedy“ and that name speaks for itself. A sitcom is a genre („johnra“), a type of comedy where the characters share the same environment, such as their home or their workplace. The humorous part, the funny part usually derives from the dialogues between the characters which are a result of their current situation. In other words, there is one character and something good or something bad happens to them. While that character is experiencing that situation, they talk to other characters and the intention is to create funny dialogues between them.

That is like the definition of sitcom, but now let’s have a more detailed look at the specific features and traits of a sitcom.

Episode Structure

First of all, maybe some of how have already noticed that at some point after watching many episodes of different sitcoms: The episodes of sitcoms practically always have the same structure:

- Teaser: The teaser is usually a short scene which is finished by a gag. And most times, the teaser already introduces the main story of that episode.

- Opening/Intro: The intro often remains unchanged throughout the series so you can recognize it easier. It’s the part where the main theme, the main song of the series is played. In some special cases, for example when one of the actors is very young and they grow as the series goes on, the intro is modified to fit the new looks of the actor. A good example would the opening of Two And A Half Men:

I think Jake was so cute when he was a little boy, now he’s… uuurgh. Well anyway

- Plot (Story): This the main part of the episode where the problem is presented, the characters take some actions and at the end the problem is solved or not. The majority of episodes follow the pattern of a circular dramaturgy (DRA-maturgy). That means, the events in that take place in the episode normally have no major impact on the big storyline of the whole series. The episode starts, something happens, they solve it, the end. And the secondary characters or guest characters never appear again, they have no important influence on the big story.

Depending on the type of sitcom the plot is more or less important. So, for example, How I Met Your Mother focuses a lot more on the main story than Two And a Half Men. We all want to know who the **** mother is and the series explains the story of how he met her. But in Two And a Half Men, sometimes there are bigger events like when Charlie is in a serious relationship or when Jake’s mother marries the other man, the doctor, but you don’t watch the series because of the story, you simply watch it because it’s funny. But you watch How I Met your Mother because you also want to know who the mother is.

Also, many times the episode features a side plot, which is like a secondary plot that takes place parallel to the main plot. Here, the characteristic scene changes are used. Often the two plots, the main plot and the side plot end up converging into each other.

- Closing credits: You know this from the movies, this is where we see the names of the actors, of the producers and usually the opening theme is being played here once again. Depending on the programme on TV sometimes they cut this part off.

- Tag: Some series have a final scene after the credits which is even shorter than the teaser and it offers a final gag which is of no importance to the episode’s plot.

Key characters

If we have a close look at the characters themselves from the sitcoms, often there’s at least one key character in the series. With „key character“ I mean a character who has a very special attitude, often exaggerated  und strongly underlined and so that character is the subject of most gags, very recognizable and we could say that character is the showmaker. The series wouldn’t be the same without that specific person.

Examples: What would the Big Bang Theory be without Sheldon? His disdainful smartass or wise guy manner and his lack of social competence, social skills makes him unique and indispensable fort he show. But, the key character is not necessarily the protagonist of the sitcom. st heBarney in How I Met your Mother is a clear example. While the plot is about Ted and how he mets his future wife, how funny could HIMYM be without Barney’s „legendary“ lines or his ingenious flirt tactics?

Running gags

Another reason why sitcoms become so popular are running gags. I’m not sure but I think one day we talked about running gags in class, didn’t we? Anyway, running gags basically are gags which are repeated over and over in many different episodes. With the runnings gags, the writers of the series play with our expectations. Sometimes they are funny beacuse we already expected them to come, soemtimes it’s the opposite case and they’re funny because they surprised us. Sometimes they slightly change the running gag adapting it to different situations. Doing that, it seems like a fresh idea to us and then we laugh at it once again. One example of a running gag? toctoctoc Penny? toctoctoc Penny? toctoctoc Penny? You know that one? Now I have a another video for you showing how they change that running gag to make it funny over all that time:

By the way, have you noticed the laugh tracks? The laughter that are included in the scenes? Usually, these sitcoms are recorded in front of a real audience and their laughters are heard in the actual scenes. When the series gets dubbed and the original sound is lost, they use prerecorded laughters to complete these scenes. Personally I think it’s quite funny because sometimes I have the feeling we wouldn’t know what’s funny and what’s not if there weren’t these laugh tracks.

Influence in the popculture

Especially these two factors, the key characters and the running gags ensure that sitcoms become very popular. There are many Internet memes based on sitcom characters and gags and you can find tons of references on the web. For example, this one, the „True Story“ meme which is a typical line of Barney.

And something I found during my research, very interesting: In 2010 there was a raise of 17% of physics students in the UK and many people actually believe that this is thanks to The Big Bang Theory, becuase they made „nerds“ or „physics nerds“ more seem „cooler“. I also want to study physics but it’s definitely not because I want to become like Sheldon.

So, this is the end of my presentation, I hoped you liked it. Any questions?

 

PD: I wonder if I can actually apply the things I've learnt after all these English presentations on my TDR oral defense... Any hints? I'd appreciate your suggestions.

News: "Model pupil,15, robbed bank with gun as if he was in a real-life video game"

Beware: I'm a 17-year-old "model pupil" who plays video games, among which you can find violent examples like Resident Evil. Additionally, I'm a fan of manga and anime. According to the world view of the rather experienced (mesured exclusively in time) fraction of our society, especially the ones participating in the politic sector, I'm a highly antisocial potential spree killer with pedophilic traits.

Have you put your stereotype glasses on? Are you ready to read this post with a completely straight tunnel vision? Alright, let's begin.

Source of this masterpiece of journalistic genius

Let's get over this quickly. There was that 15-year-old boy in Liverpool who robbed a bank with a fake gun. His actions were discovered by his mother when she found £2.200 in his room that were surprisingly not part of his pocket money. She informed the police and they brought him to court where he was eventually granted conditional bail. 

The case is crystal meth clear, we have to blame the video games.

The two statements in this piece of news that could create controversal opinions because they glorify video games are:

The judge made no mention of any specific video games.

Nicolas Robinson, associate professor in politics and video games research at the University of Leeds, said: [...] ‘Kids should be protected from certain content. I believe Grand Theft Auto is a very sophisticated satirical piece of work – and most kids under 18 just won’t get the satire. And if you don’t get the satire, it’s actually much more problematic than if you do.’

If I've discovered something playing Resident Evil, it's not my inner aggression, but my predilection for red oriental dresses.

And now seriously. At least it seems that the judge was smart enough to stay focused on the actual topic of the crime which was the robbery rather than any possible background that isn't related to the case at all.

And I completely agree with the statement of the university professor. Of course there is some content kids should be protected from. The day I am a father I won't make my little children play violent games, show them porn videos nor make them read satirical critics.

Why? Because they don't understand this kind of content. They still need to form a sane opinion about certain realities before they are exposed critical topics. And as a father it's my duty to educate them ensuring that they can learn with an objective point of view about these issues. My children will probably one day play violent games, watch porn videos and read satirical critics. But that's not something bad in itself. It would be bad if they weren't able to reflect with a clear mind about their consumption. 

And that is what fails. Either the school environment is not favourable for their growth or the parents don't their job as they should do. Or they suffer brom being bullied by some yobs. Or something else happens. There are thousand different reasons that could cause a young mind to end up breaking bad. 

The reasoning the politicians use is that, since they imitate video games with their crimes, the video games must be the origins of their actions. But what about films? They feature murders, robbery, sex, rapes, drugs... And many children see movies that are not suited their age. Of course, it's easier to attack something that I, as a 60-year-old bald head wearing important-looking suits, don't know. For example video games. Because I'm not in touch with that medium. Because it's too distant. And thus, it must be bad. The perfect scapegoat.

Memo to myself; potential blog posts:

- Codeword: Itoi

- Codeword: Meckern

- Codeword: RE

- Codeword: Bad
- Codeword: Aftermath

And finally, three nice words/terms I've learnt (the last link doesn't direct you to a dictionary but it's a decent and simple definition):

yob

scape goat (in the news' comments)

conditional bail

New is always better

One of Barney's golden rules. New is always better. 

Always? Probably not always.

But changes are refreshing. 

The irony about this is, since I'm going to show you a German song, I'm sort of going back to the roots. After all, this blog started with a way too German Crazy German. Yeah, I know, mindblowing.

Ok, ladies and gentleman, meine Damen und Herren, the one and only Peter Fox with Alles Neu (Everything anew):

Ich verbrenn' mein Studio, schnupfe die Asche wie Koks / I burn my studio, snort the ash like coke

Ich erschlag' meinen Goldfisch, vergrab' ihn im Hof / I slay my goldfish, bury him in the yard
Ich jag' meine Bude hoch, alles was ich hab' lass' ich los / I blow up my gaff, everything I've got I let go

  Mein altes Leben schmeckt wie labbriger Toast / My old life tastes like sloppy toast

Brat' mir ein Prachtsteak, Peter kocht jetzt feinstes Fleisch / I roast a splendid steak, Peter now prepares the finest meat

Bin das Update, Peter Fox 1.1 / I'm the update, Peter Fox 1.1 
Ich will abshaken (when anglicisms are the most difficult words to translate into English...), feiern, doch mein Teich ist zu klein / I want to shake off worry, celebrate, but my pond is too small

Mir wächst 'ne neue Reihe Beißer wie bei 'nem weißen Hai / I grow a new row of choppers like a white shark


Gewachst, gedopt, poliert, nagelneue Zähne / Waxed, doped, polished, brand-new teeth

Ich bin euphorisiert und habe teure Pläne / I'm euphorisized and have expensive plans

Ich kaufe mir Baumaschinen, Bagger und Walzen und Kräne / I buy construction machines, excavators, rollers and cranes

  Stürze mich auf Berlin, drück auf die Sirene / I dart at Berlin, push the siren
Ich baue schöne Boxentürme, Bässe massieren eure Seele / I build nice speaker towers, basses massage your soul
Ich bin die Abrissbirne für die d-d-d-deustche Szene! / I'm the demolition ball for the G-g-g-german scene

 Hey! Alles glänzt! So schön neu! / Hey! Everything shines! So nice and new!

Hey! Wenn's dir nicht gefällt: Mach neu! / Hey! If you don't like it: Make it anew!
Die Welt mit Staub bedeckt doch ich will sehen wo's hingeht... / The world covered in dust but I want to see where it goes...

Steig' auf den Berg aus Dreck weil oben frischer Wind weht / I climb the mountain of crap because at the top fresh wind blows
 Hey! Alles glänzt! So schön neu! / Hey! Everything shines! So nice and new!

 

Ich hab' meine alten Sachen satt und lass' sie in 'nem Sack verrotten / I'm sick of my old stuff and let it rot in a sack

Motte die Klamotten ein und dann geh' ich nackt shoppen / I mothball my clothes and then I go shopping nude
Ich bin komplett renoviert, Bräute haben was zu glotzen / I'm completely renovated, the chicks have something to gape at

Kerngesund, durchtrainiert, Weltmeister im Schach und Boxen / Sound at the core, thoroughly fit, world champion in chess and boxing


 

Nur noch konkret reden, gib mir ein ja oder nein / Now just concrete talk, give me a yes or no

 Schluss mit Larifari, ich lass all die alten Faxen sein / No more airy-fairy, I drop all the old shenanigans

Sollt' ich jeder je wieder kiffen, hau ich mir 'ne Axt ins Bein / Should I ever toke again, I'll strike an axe into my leg 
 Ich will nie mehr lügen, ich will jeden Satz auch so meinen / I never want to lie again, I want to mean every sentence

Mir platzt der Kopf, alles muss sich verändern / My head bursts, everything must change

  Ich such' den Knopf, treffe die mächtigen Männer / I look for the button, meet the mighty men

Zwing' das Land zum Glück, kaufe Banken und Sender / I press the country to its luck, buy banks and broadcasters

Alles spielt verrückt, zitternde Schafe und Lämmer / Everything goes haywire, trembling sheep and lambs

Ich seh' besser aus als Bono und bin 'n Mann des Volkes / I look better than Bono and I'm a man of the people (Who Bono is? Good question, I don't know either... Probably a German eighties' singer. Before my time, sorry)

  Bereit die Welt zu retten auch wenn das vielleicht zu viel gewollt ist / Ready to save the world even if it's too much of an ambition


Hey! Alles glänzt! So schön neu! / Hey! Everything shines! So nice and new!

Hey! Wenn's dir nicht gefällt: Mach neu! / Hey! If you don't like it: Make it anew!

Hier ist die Luft verbraucht, das Atmen fällt mir schwer / Here the air is exhausted, breathing is difficult for me

Bye bye, ich muss hier raus, die Wände kommen näher / Bye bye, I need to get out, the walls are coming closer

   Die Welt mit Staub bedeckt doch ich will sehen wo's hingeht... / The world covered in dust but I want to see where it goes...

Steig' auf den Berg aus Dreck weil oben frischer Wind weht / I climb the mountain of crap because at the top fresh wind blows
 Hey! Alles glänzt! So schön neu! / Hey! Everything shines! So nice and new!

Oh yes, that's German art ;)

 

Talk about real thrill... (SnK Part 2)

Previously on A Crazy German's Blog: "Yahooo! I broke the record for the most teenage life lesson statements in one single blog post! #yolo #instasomething #hashtag"

And now, the real sh...ow begins!

OK, so we have that super cool anime which is called Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack On Titan. "What's it about?" is probably the first question I should answer. But in my opinion, SnK doesn't gain that much from its background story or its setting. It's rather the way they direct, the way they enact the plot and the setting which converts this series into one of the best animes I've ever seen.

So today my preview is going to be a little different. I'll trying reproducing in a narrative style the events of the beginning of the series. I hope that I'm able to transmit you the feelings I had while watching these scenes. I'll be focusing on the impressions and I'll spare you the details. Alright then:

Tension. At least constant 500 teravolts. The first episodes begins by throwing you into the most critical moment. A Titan has managed to break the outmost wall that protects the remaining human civilization. Titans are enormous living beings with a human-like apperance. And they eat humans. What's "best", they don't need to eat humans in order to survive. It's unknown if they actually have any survival needs. Which means that they devour humans just for their own cruel entertainment. Or another disturbing reason. Eren Jaeger and his sister Mikasa aren't at home when the stream of Titans flows in. Worried about their mother they hurry back to their house. They discover her lying helplessly under a big pile of rubble that used to be their home. She is alive but she can't move. While Eren and Mikasa are trying to remove the huge pieces of wood and stone, the worst case scenario initiates its development. A Titan is coming. Closer and closer. Its face draws a horrific grin, expressing its pure lust for human flesh. It almost seems amused.

Their mother tells them to run away. She doesn't want to risk the lives of her children. They don't listen and keep pushing and shoving. Her desperation is becoming more and more evident. Her voice gains intensity. The emotions in her screams freeze the blood in her children's veins. Suddenly a little ray of hope shines its way through the scenario. One of the village's guardians appears. They are trained to fight the Titans in the unlikely case of an invasion.

Eren and Mikasa beseech him to kill the approaching menace. The guardian is determined to implement his duty. Yes, he is ready. After all, the hard preparation he had gone through was meant for dealing this kind of situations. Yes, he is ready. He must protect those civilians giving everything he's got. Yes... He was ready. He was ready until the very moment that big grimace penetrates his body and sheer terror fills his mind. Without a second thought he graps the two youngsters and starts running. Eren's head is turned back to the place they were fleeing from. He continues observing with his eyes widely opened as the Titan eventually stands next to his mother. The Titan stretches its arm, longing for the weak body of the injured woman. The monstrous fingers enclose her leg. Slowly the Titan lifts her, bringing her closer and closer to his mouth. Eren's look is locked on his mother. The woman who always cared for him. The woman who gave him life. And in a single instant, her own life vanishes as the brute force of the gigantic teeth crashes her torso. The blood splatters spread in all directions. The utterly strong impact originated in the Titan's mouth allow some drops to find their way to Eren's face. 

His will to destroy the Titans has become as enormous as the Titans themselves. 

He doesn't want to eliminate them. 

He wants to slaughter them.

Every single Titan.

Okay, so I don't know if I did well (allow me to remind you: I'm not "de lletres"), but I gave my best to create a similar effect with words to what the anime does with images and music and camera angles and sound effects and...

They really make the best use of their resources to show us a spectacle of emotions. To make us go through a roller coaster of emotions. This series is more than gripping. It literally rips you apart as you watch and you can't help but discovering your masochistic side.

Bonus Points:

+ A few but very well placed humor parts. And they're hilarious. That shows that the directors are able to show more than only one facet of their creation. Amazing.

+ German pronounced by Japanese voice actors. It seems that the place where the remaining human civilization is concentrated now used to be a German-speaking country. Expect names like: 

Eren Jaeger, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, Jean Kirstein, Connie Springer, Krista Lenz, Thomas Wagner, Franz (the surname is unknown but I'm sure is sounds ultra German) and FREAKING Mikasa Ackerman. Yes, Mikasa as in Japanese and Ackerman as in German. That is the most awesome combination of names ever. I definitely need to marry a Japanese woman.

+ Great plot twists (don't you dare looking for information about that anime before watching it... major spoilers are practically unavoidable) and intriguing mysteries about the Titans.

In conclusion... Bah, blow the conclusion. Just go and watch it right now!

Seid Ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind die Jäger! (SnK Part 1)

Hello, welcome and konnichi-wa! We've begun the final blog year and these last 3 seasons of "A Crazy German's Blog" follow the motto: "Choose not a life of imitation!" And that's exactly what I intend to apply from now on. On the blog posts, on my decisions, on my life. Nothing more, nothing less. Quality instead of quantity. Someone with their own unique style is better than the greatest mime. I don't care what people think or say about me, as long as they talk about me. Because trying to be an attention whore and trying to be remembered is not the same ;) But actions speak louder than words, so let's start with these brand new blog posts! Wait... These blog posts basically consist of words, therefore...

CUT!

Okay, I know what you're thinking right now. Well, actually I don't. But I know what you were thinking the very moment you read this post's title: "What... the...  farfalle is that supposed to mean?" In case you don't dominate the most musical and tender language of the world called "German", I should inform you about the meaning of these poetic verses:

~ Are you the food? ~

 ~No. We are the hunters!~

Yeah, you really have to be studying Batxillerat de lletres to grasp this literary perfection (there is no need to translate that, honestly, this is already too much of an inside joke/running gag to be translated; nooooo, I didn't just say that Batxillerat de lletres is a joke... although)

In case you're one of those ignorant cretins studying sciences (those idiots aren't even capable of expressing themselves) or even worse, you aren't studying at all, then I shall enlighten you with this little piece of audiovisual enjoyment:

Still no clue? What? You're angry or disappointed that it's an anime once again? You think this is becoming some kind of cliché? You can't take me seriously anymore because of my nerdy attitude? 

DEAL WITH IT.

Oopsy, now that I carefully consider, if you're still reading this blog it means you actually like that side of my humble person. Well, the second option is you're the one in charge of correcting this blog and thus you're obliged to read all that stuff.

But back to the topic, you have no idea what the title's supposed to mean even after watching the video? Let me give you a little hint. Listen again to the first 3 seconds of the song. Is the bell ringing now?

This is the opening theme of the first season of one the best animes I've seen in a long time. If you liked Death Note, this one could be of your interest as well. What I'm going to do in the next post is translate the lyrics of this song and... Gotcha! You almost believed it, didn't you? Though, frankly, I'd love to be able to translate the lyrics of this song by myself. Let's make a promise, the day I speak Japanese (because this day certainly will arrive), I will write a post on this very blog translating the lyrics of this song into English. Or maybe another song I'll be liking by that time. And if this blog still exists by then. Because, you know, Google is doing crazy things lately... Like that Google Smell April's Fool stuff. I wish the Google+ Youtube update was an April's Fool hoax as well...

Aaaaaaanyway, what I'm really going to do in the next post is talk to you about Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack On Titan, the anime that features this great song.

So this post is finishing here. Right, it is finishing here. What? You think this is the end because my mind is like a mental puree and that's the reason why I end up talking about a million of things in this post EXCEPT the actual topic, the anime? Naaaaaaaaaaah.
You know, there was that nice comment on the official 2BATSPACE© website:

 No, I wasn't talking about our teachers "BEING ON FB!" I meant that one:

Minimum 100 words. And you know that wise Spanish proverb "Todo lo que sube baja."? Well, if there's a minimum, there must be a maximum. Using a complex algorithm I was able to calculate that the maximum of words is exactly... HERE!?
Sorry, I have to go!

You know I like to write satiric posts, but please always read my post along with your sense of humour right by your side. That friend of yours will help you to enjoy my posts without being too serious. But if you think my criticism is good, feel free to take it seriously. Hehe.