Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo

Hello inkophiles! Because of your bad influences, my supply of inks have steadily grown.  Initially, my current interest in Blue and Blue Black inks started off as a search for that perfect ink to be used with my Visconti Homo Sapien. I wanted a Dark Blue with good shading characteristics because the Homo Sapien is a fire hose, especially with the 1.3mm stub, and the ink must be one that can take full advantage of the nib. Hence, I settled on the Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo, Pilot's version of Blue Black. This is the first Iroshizuku I bought, and in my excitement, I wanted to give this ink some TLC before I wrote a review. 

The Tsuku-yo is a decently saturated ink with enough depth to satisfy most inkophiles' lusts as well as being a highly functional and suitable ink for every application from personal writings to professional correspondence. On the aesthetics side, Tsuki-yo has a very rich and dark Blue Black color with minimal gray undertones that shades like mad, especially in a wet nib. On the more technical side, Tsuki-yo exhibits good lubricity, so it should work well even in the driest of nibs. One caveat, the drier the nib, the lighter the shade. Tsuki-yo dries relatively quickly even on the Rhodia pad paper in the scans. It even has a relatively high degree of water-resistance. It's not archival quality, but your writing will still be legible. 

I hope the following scans will give you a good idea of what to expect with this ink. The scans attempt to show how versatile the ink can be in different nibs.



(1) Pilot VP, Medium - wetness about 5-6/10, (2) Stipula 22, Ti-flex (F) - very wet, (3) Lamy 2K, Medium - wetness about 5-6/10, (4) Parker Duofold, Italic Medium - decent wetness, (5) TWSBI 530, Medium - decent wetness. The writing samples with the above pens are comparisons of various Blues and Blue-Black inks - note the difference between Tsuki-yo and Noodler's Legal Lapis.

A close up of the comparison writing sample.




The following calligraphy samples show variations in Calligraphy applications. The Copperplate was written with a vintage Pilot desk pen equipped with a Fine flexible nib. The Italics were written with an edged dip pen. I hope the comparison with Noodler's Legal Lapis shows that there is a difference in color. The last line of text was written with my Homo Sapien just to show what normal writing may look like with the 1.3mm stub. As the previous scan shows, the stub is capable of rendering a passable version of italics.

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Tsuyoku Naritai! (I Want To Become Stronger)

In Orthodox Judaism there is a saying: "The previous generation is to the next one as angels are to men; the next generation is to the previous one as donkeys are to men." This follows from the Orthodox Jewish belief that all Judaic law was given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai. After all, it's not as if you could do an experiment to gain new halachic knowledge; the only way you can know is if someone tells you (who heard it from someone else, who heard it from God). Since there is no new source of information, it can only be degraded in transmission from generation to generation.

Thus, modern rabbis are not allowed to overrule ancient rabbis. Crawly things are ordinarily unkosher, but it is permissible to eat a worm found in an apple—the ancient rabbis believed the worm was spontaneously generated inside the apple, and therefore was part of the apple. A modern rabbi cannot say, "Yeah, well, the ancient rabbis knew diddly-squat about biology. Overruled!" A modern rabbi cannot possibly know a halachic principle the ancient rabbis did not, because how could the ancient rabbis have passed down the answer from Mount Sinai to him? Knowledge derives from authority, and therefore is only ever lost, not gained, as time passes.

When I was first exposed to the angels-and-donkeys proverb in (religious) elementary school, I was not old enough to be a full-blown atheist, but I still thought to myself: "Torah loses knowledge in every generation. Science gains knowledge with every generation. No matter where they started out, sooner or later science must surpass Torah."

The most important thing is that there should be progress. So long as you keep moving forward you will reach your destination; but if you stop moving you will never reach it.

Tsuyoku naritai is Japanese. Tsuyoku is "strong"; naru is "becoming" and the form naritai is "want to become". Together it means "I want to become stronger" and it expresses a sentiment embodied more intensely in Japanese works than in any Western literature I've read. You might say it when expressing your determination to become a professional Go player—or after you lose an important match, but you haven't given up—or after you win an important match, but you're not a ninth-dan player yet—or after you've become the greatest Go player of all time, but you still think you can do better. That is tsuyoku naritai, the will to transcendence.

Tsuyoku naritai is the driving force behind my essay The Proper Use of Humility, in which I contrast the student who humbly double-checks his math test, and the student who modestly says "But how can we ever really know? No matter how many times I check, I can never be absolutely certain." The student who double-checks his answers wants to become stronger; he reacts to a possible inner flaw by doing what he can to repair the flaw, not with resignation.

Each year on Yom Kippur, an Orthodox Jew recites a litany which begins Ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu, dibarnu dofi, and goes on through the entire Hebrew alphabet: We have acted shamefully, we have betrayed, we have stolen, we have slandered...

As you pronounce each word, you strike yourself over the heart in penitence. There's no exemption whereby, if you manage to go without stealing all year long, you can skip the word gazalnu and strike yourself one less time. That would violate the community spirit of Yom Kippur, which is about confessing sins—not avoiding sins so that you have less to confess.

By the same token, the Ashamnu does not end, "But that was this year, and next year I will do better."

The Ashamnu bears a remarkable resemblance to the notion that the way of rationality is to beat your fist against your heart and say, "We are all biased, we are all irrational, we are not fully informed, we are overconfident, we are poorly calibrated..."

Fine. Now tell me how you plan to become less biased, less irrational, more informed, less overconfident, bettercalibrated.

There is an old Jewish joke: During Yom Kippur, the rabbi is seized by a sudden wave of guilt, and prostrates himself and cries, "God, I am nothing before you!" The cantor is likewise seized by guilt, and cries, "God, I am nothing before you!" Seeing this, the janitor at the back of the synagogue prostrates himself and cries, "God, I am nothing before you!" And the rabbi nudges the cantor and whispers, "Look who thinks he's nothing."

Take no pride in your confession that you too are biased; do not glory in your self-awareness of your flaws. This is akin to the principle of not taking pride in confessing your ignorance; for if your ignorance is a source of pride to you, you may become loathe to relinquish your ignorance when evidence comes knocking. Likewise with our flaws—we should not gloat over how self-aware we are for confessing them; the occasion for rejoicing is when we have a little less to confess.

Otherwise, when the one comes to us with a plan for correcting the bias, we will snarl, "Do you think to set yourself above us?" We will shake our heads sadly and say, "You must not be very self-aware."

Never confess to me that you are just as flawed as I am unless you can tell me what you plan to do about it. Afterward you will still have plenty of flaws left, but that's not the point; the important thing is to do better, to keep moving ahead, to take one more step forward. Tsuyoku naritai!

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Cosplayers Around the World Feature : Liz Biella from Italy

This issue of Cosplayers Around the World goes back to Italy and interviews Italian cosplayer Liz Nemesi, who uses face and body painting to enhance the characters which she cosplays as.

“Hi guys! 
My name is Liz, but everyone here around the web knows me as Nemesi. I’m 20 and I’m from Italy. I spend my life studying at the Architecture university here in Rome, and being a photo model just to earn some money , doing cosplay and having fun, lots of fun with people I love.”

Biography

Full Name : Liz Biella
Age : 20
Country / state you are born in : Italy
Citizenship : Italian
Date of Birth : 04/12/1990
Zodiac Sign : Sagittarius
Height : 172 cm

Coffee or Tea? : Tea! (Go with Redbull if you need caffeine! ahah)

More about Liz
1. At what age did you start cosplaying and how long have you been cosplaying?

I’m just a newbie in this world. I’ve been cosplaying since 2010 (and we’re in 2011, so I’m a real noob! ahah), but I immediatly found great friends that makes me love conventions more than any other cosplayers

2. What inspired you to start cosplaying?

I don’t have a single person or just a moment that let me start doing cosplay. I just found it magic, and it has inside lot of aspects that I like, as being in a great group of friends, having fun with other people you may meet just at the conventions, being in a world different from the real one. On technical aspects, I noticed that the Cosplay world lets me express my love for photography (I started being the photographer during conventions), for theater and for handmade objects. So I melted all of these and I started thinking it would have been a different and funny experience!




3. Which is your most difficult cosplay / most memorable cosplay and why?

I think it was my Night Elf one, as I didn’t do alot of I just adore play World of Warcraft (I have to admit that i’m detoxified now!) and, in my opinion, the Night Elf is the most elegant and beautiful race in that mmorpg. I started playing with a Draenei (My original project was doing the Cosplay of my character, but than i changed my mind and i choose the Night Elf one – just love elves!).
It was the most difficult as it was the first time I made an armor, and I did it with the help of my friends. Anyway, it was really funny, even if it was difficult and full of problems.

4. What is your next cosplay project?

I have lot of projects, but I think the most binding one will be the Queen of Blades, from Starcraft, with a friend that will do Zeratul

5. Tell us about some memorable experiences in your costume making.

Ahaha I actually can talk about my metal skin doing the night elf! My bodypainter friend Fiorella help me with the colour, and she was painting me in the 501st dressing room (501st is an italian association with lot of Star wars fans), but the paint had glitter that flown everywhere in the room. We had to wash all the floor after the painting job :((

6. What are some advice you would like to give to cosplay newbies?

I think the most basic but real advice is to have always lot of fun on being for just a day as another person; the hero or someone else other than yourself. And to be friends with everyone, never critic hardly other cosplayers (try with costructive critics if you want), because it is born as a funny moment, not a war.

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Cosplay Interview with Kipi and Jacky Dosai at STGCC

The secret is revealed! Towels and clam chowder are Kipi’s secret weapons to her Diva-esque cosplay. The 1 hour cosplay interview titled ” Cosplay : From Japan with Love” with Japanese Celebrity Cosplayer Kipi and Cosmode editor Tadaaki Jacky Dosai at Singapore Toy Games and Comics Convention (STGCC) 2011 on 20 August was short of nothing but relaxed laughter.

Kipi STGCC

Audiences could text questions to the 2 cosplayers on stage. An they were an interesting match. A married man and a young girl cosplaying as Shana of Shakugan no Shana, speaking of their passion on cosplay. While Kipi exuded innocent girly excitement at being at the event, even literally jumping in joy on stage; Jacky Dosai was… busy twittering, and taking pictures of the audiences. At one point, he even got Kipi to take a picture with him on his cellphone on stage in the middle of the dialogue to upload onto his twitter. A fun quirky man, he is.

Some highlights of the Cosplay Interview with Kipi and Jacky Dosai :

Why they started cosplaying

Jacky did a school paper on cosplay and although the paper is good and done with, he never seemed to finish up on his cosplay project. That and a pretty maiden kept him going. No it’s not his wife.

Kipi was inspired by ‘kawaii’ cosplayers she found on the net, where she thought they were both and neither 2D nor 3D. Mesmerized, she embarked on this cosplaying journey. And it’s been 5 years since.

Differences between Cosplaying in Japan and in other Countries

Both Jacky and Kipi remarks that cosplaying in Japan is somewhat more ‘subdued’ compared to overseas. While overseas (here, overseas means out of Japan) cosplayers engage in ‘cosplay fashion shows’ and ‘cosplay performances’, Kipi noted the absence of this. Jacky, who is more veteran cosplayer, further shared that once upon a time, maybe 20 years ago, Japanese cosplayers did performances as well, until some people started taking sleazy photos of the cosplayers and the public started to frown upon the activity, labeling it as ‘unhealthy’.

But well, all bad times will come to an end, and things are starting to improve, with some Japanese cosplayers porting over to the online world to display their performing skills. Kipi looks forward to sharing her performing skills as well, and is working hard at her dance number. Look forward to it!

Their Most Memorable Cosplaying Experience

Kipi shares her preparation for her Black Rock Shooter cosplay as one of her most memorable experiences. To attain the svelte figure of the bikini clothed BRS, Kipi lived on fluid diet; specifically clam chowder for a period of time until she lost 8kg!! She says it was such a horrendous experience that she never wants to do it again.

But hey, isn’t she known for her slim physique? Kipi also shares that she isn’t slim all the time, and her weight tends to yoyo up and down, so she diets pretty often. Talk about endurance and perseverance!

But while her flabs come and go, her chest never grew much though. And she found herself stuffing towels… there…. to enhance those boobies during cosplaying. “Yes, towels, so please don’t be fooled everybody” says Kipi matter-of-factly. Don’t you just love her forthcoming-ness.

We found a photo of Kipi in her Black Rock Shooter cosplay to ogle at the fruits of her dieting labor. Photo belongs to Kipi.

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