Okay... originally, I hated The Wanderers (the first TV series related to El Hazard, basically a re-telling of the OAVs) because they turned Ifurita into a black-haired blond bimbo and de-aged Princess Rune Venus by about 10 years. And for the longest time, I was happy with that.

Then, I decided to start buying the DVDs of The Wanderers, to see if my hatred was justified. It started off okay, and I actually started liking it for a while. But that last 10 episodes or so were useless. I don't remember being so disappointed in the ending of an anime series in a long time - it was worthless! Gyah, I'm so disgusted by the series again...

And now I'm off to get some sleep soon, I think. I just feel drained...

Went to The Taste today with Jen and Chris. My sole intention was to see a marimba ensemble, which we did see. They weren't quite was I was expecting, being a Mexican church group who specialized in Mexican folk songs and polkas (no, I can't explain it... no, I don't want to think about it), but it was still a nice performance. I had minimal complaints I could make about their technique (although their 2-mallet techniques were just *weird*), because it was rather impressive given that they're all pretty much self-taught. I think the most serious complaint I had was their choice of mallets for the low end of the marimba - they were too hard for it, so the notes got over-articulated. In my opinion, the low notes should flow out of the bars, and not be struck out of them like a Sammy Sosa home run (corked bat or not).

But, on the whole, it rekindled my interest in the marimba, hearing one live like that. Such a gorgeous instrument with a gorgeous tone...

Anyway, I did a little unhealthy research this evening. And I present... [drum roll]... my new dream purchase! An Adams MAHV50 5-octave rosewood marimba.


Unfortunately, at $15,400 dollars, I don't think I'll be able to afford one anytime soon. Or the climate-controlled room I'd want to keep it in, for that matter.

This Ross 3-octave scholastic marimba is another matter entirely. It's only $1695, although it lacks the low range which is a good part of why I'm so in love with the instrument. There's a couple other ones in between that would be nice in the 4- to 4.5-octave range, which range in price from about $2,500 to $6,000. I need to win the lottery. And man, I couldn't imagine sharing a studio apartment with any of them, although the 3-octave one wouldn't be too bad. ^_^;;;

And now I'm looking into pricing on tubas and contrabass clarinets. I am a sick, sick person....