Must…study...nrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

@Havoc:

Today I had the greatest day because my little daughter was born into the world at 9.03 AM just came from the hospital unfortunately I have still work to do so I couldn't stay.

But yes, best day ever.

Aww, kudos to you!

@captain:

if you think this is dumb, no need to be here and ruin it for the people who do. and there was a korean character. it was in the manga, till korea got it's panties in a knot over being offended by the stereo type.

I've liked the little bits I've seen. the characters are cute. the cosplay fanism is another story. i stay the hell away from all that.

Thanks, captain usopp.

The fans are both good and bad; the bad ones are typical fangirls, but the good ones are great to be around; I've even seen history teachers on the LJ community that use Hetalia as a teaching tool for kids who struggle in history.There are plenty of fans of the series, including myself, who are history enthusiasts and truly enjoy the series for all that it offers.

It seems to me that most people commenting here are cooking the series based on their own feelings and perceptions of stereotypes, and even bits of what they've seen/heard of the series instead of the series as a whole…

Why, even in the context of an obnoxious bishonen show, would you ever depict Russia as anything other then a massive hairy bearded man.

…without bothering to read up on the back round of the series or the characters. Might I also point out that it is an aim of the series to stereotype without offending anyone.

Hetalia does not only deal with stereotypes. Each character, while personifying a country, also reflects the citizens and ideals of that country, while being stereotyped to an extent (obviously the stereotypes will differ according to the stereotypes of the creator). While what the series covers can be limited, I've never know it to be completely inaccurate when covering a historical event.

As and example, lets look at America (if anyone wants to know about other characters, I'd be happy to educate you).

The United States is represented by:

Alfred F. Jones.

Also the US should be incredibly obnoxious, but incredibly infectiously fun.

While this is essentially true of the character, there is more to him than that. He's friendly, and while he has good intentions, he messes things up by accident sometimes. He considers himself nothing less than the ultimate leader of the world and when he makes fun of you, he tends to smile while he does so. England is like his father, or an older brother, whom he is friends with and can sometime be sentimental over:

http://community.livejournal.com/hetalia/531.html

His soft-spoken, often forgotten brother is Canada, who he has always had a good relationship with. He doesn't seem to know it, but he overshadows his brother a lot. Cuba really hates him.
While he is nosy, he also wants to help people, and has expressed this trait from a young age; when England an France were attempting to win his favor, France offered him delicious food and England, who had nothing to offer than could compare, wallowed. Instead of taking the food, young America approached England and ask him, "Are you all right?" He was more concerned about England's happiness than France's gifts.

Does this seem at all and accurate portrayal of the United States to you? If so, I think it would be nice to discuss what the series is about and could be, not what the series should be.
Kind of like what we do with One Piece.

(P.S. I noticed some people have been asking, "Where is/ why isn't there _______?" Himaruya personifies nations as he needs them in his strips, so naturally not every single nation has been personified yet.)

@HiroVoid:

Wait. There's a Little Mermaid 3?

Yeah, Ariel's Beginning. It's on YouTube.
I thought it was pretty good, for a threequel. Loads better than Return To The Sea at least.

I've got a 4th generation iPod nano, and the Apple online guide tells me that I can turn the cover flow off by going to Settings > General > Rotate > Off. However, when I make it to General, there's no 'Rotate' option listed (and it doesn't literally mean rotate the iPod, I tried that). Any ideas on what to do?

Referencing Hetalia now, are we?

(blue-fox)

I'm really sorry to hear that. May he rest in peace, and may you and your family find solace. My condolences.

15 minutes in.
I resolve to look at this year in the most positive light possible, and instead of feeling bitter in assuming that this year can't possibly be as good as the last, I resolve to do everything in my power to make it better, and look back on 2010 and it's fond memories warmly, not bitterly.

Best of luck to everyone!

Happy New Years, all. Here's to another successful year for One Piece and all it's fans.

I actually found that sort of relaxing. It's the kind of thing I could picture hearing in a smoky cafe on a rainy evening. There wasn't too much noise, but all the spaces were filled; I loved the call and response between the singer and the guitar and sax.

Have fun in India.

X61BVv6pLtw

@Mugiwara_no_Ice:

I've been wanting to read the russian masters (Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky,..) for quite some time now. So I started reading Solzjenitsyn's "The goelag archipel", and haven't read anything like it untill now, it's great.

From what I've read of Tolstoy (pretty much just The Death Of Ivan Ilyich) he's not bad. I've also read Crime And Punishment by Dostoyevsky, it's quite good if a bit lengthy. It's a hard one to read in big chunks.

Nearly done with Chronicle Of A Death Foretold (which I was surprised to find out that I enjoyed) and recently started Frankenstein. Since I got my extended essay topic on Harry Potter approved, I'm continuing my rereading and marking of the first book.