What Happens To Bad Games When They Die

Everyone knows that good games are eternal, and will live on in the hearts of gamers forever. But what about bad games? For instance, take the 1982 Atari game E.T., the earliest example of taking a box office smash and porting it into a terrible video game.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: When E.T. the movie started doing good, Atari bought the licence for $20 million, and promised a Christmas release of the game. This ended up giving them a scant 6 weeks to make the game. That they actually completed the game is in itself a miracle. However, it was no surprise that the game was EXTREMELY TERRIBLE. Nearly all the copies made were returned, and became unusable goods.

So, what happened to these 5,000,000 (yes, that's Five Million) E.T. games? Apparently this.

Blind Watchmaker

Check this out. You click on the child of each generation you want to survive, and end up guiding its offspring. It's like evolution you can control. OH MY GOD IT'S INTELLIGENT DESIGN!

No Special Audio Effects Were Used To Alter Kevin Grevioux's Voice.

Grevioux's voice is naturally that deep.

And other interesting facts about the big black Werewolf from the first Underworld.

iRaq The Vote

So I was watching the Daily Show tonight, as I try to often, along with the Colbert Report. Which reminds me, I found this video discussing the Taint in DC., but I can't get it to load right now. Maybe you'll have better luck?

But my main point is this: When Jon has a guest on who's conservative and seems to be an "insider," he always asks the question, "Who are we invading next?" It gets a good laugh, and it's funny. But I think it's time to ask the outsiders the same question. Who should we invade next? Now, since you are, as I said, Washington outsiders (except for my friends from the Seattle Area), I'll make it multiple choice, as well as some explaination of the options.

Iran, Syria, and North Korea - They are the current favorites in the war on terror targets. Booooring. Let someone else talk about them.

Afghanistan - 'But wait,' you're saying. 'Didn't we just leave there?' That's the beauty of it. They'd never see it coming. Just when they thought we were gone we come back for more. There's still a lot to be done in the region. This is like RISK. We can't pull out of a country there. Look where it is: just North of the Middle East Proper, and a gateway into Europe from Asia. It's got borders with China and Russia, who have always been suspect as well...

South Korea - First off, it puts us in striking distance of North Korea, which could come in quite hand, but also, well... The South Koreans continue to show up America in the field of RTS video games. They wanna see who's best at war games? Let's show them. "SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?"

Canada - Look at that. Just sitting up there smugly. Yeah, it's a little cold, but they've got all the good swag. Free national healthcare, mounties, Alaska. Heck, the age of consent up there is only 14. That's gotta be worth something. I say America takes it. By force.

Hawaii - They've grown distant and aloof. We need to remind them who's Papa Fed around here.

Transylvania - I saw both Underworld movies this weekend. They were good, but it only served to drive home an important point: Vampires are dangerous. Werewolves too, but I'm not sure where they come from. Besides, if these movies are any indication, sooner or later they're gonna start mating, and we don't wanna be around for that. Well, unless it's mating with this girl. That would be alright, I guess.

Chuck Norris - In case you hadn't heard about all of Chuck's amazing feats, you should educate yourself. Now. Before it's too late! "Chuck Norris is his own father." "In a fight between Batman and Superman, the winner would be Chuck Norris." "Chuck Norris does not have to mow his lawn. He simply stares at the grass and dares it to grow." With facts like these, he is growing to be a grave threat to the world. Watch this film if you still doubt his power. True, he's not really a nation, but he still needs invading.

So there you have it. Go forth and vote (Probably by leaving a comment to this post, if you please.)

Also, here's a video of the Apple Computers "1984 Ad". I need to go read that book now.

The History of Cartriges

So I was reading this, and just felt the urge to respond. Here's what I wrote for him.

Seriously, I think a chill pill is in order here. Calling your readers Neaderthals? That's not cool. Sometimes, especially at 4 in the morning, it's not a bad idea to close your eyes, count to ten, and relax, rather than think about every possible detail of the world that could cause you stress at some point in the future. Like worrying about what format different devices are going to be in when they come out half a year from now. Geez.

Speaking of, this struck me as odd:

"Oh and the only thing stupider than backing Blu-Ray is probably
when Nintendo backed Cartridges. We all know how that ended."

Maybe it's just me, but here's how I see it. In the 80's there was only the cartridge, and that was good. There was Atari, there was Sega, and there was Nintendo, and for a time they all used only cartriges. Then Sega released the Sega CD add-on for it's Genesis. The device sold poorly, as did the 32-X expansion. But Nintendo just kept using Cartridges. Then Atari released the Jaguar, the "First 64-bit game machine", which used the new CD's. And that tanked, too. And Nintendo, she just kept using cartridges. And then came the true 32-bit games generation. Sega released it's ill-fated Saturn which managed to somehow place third in a field of only 2 32bit machines, and Sony entered the fray with its PlayStation, which also used CD's. Nintendo laughed, because it had seen all this before, and went ahead and put out the Nintendo 64. Despite being in cartrige format, Nintendo was still able to be successful, with titles like Super Smash Bros., Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, and the first 3D platformer in Super Mario 64. And Nintendo did laugh as it saw Sega struggle to stay afloat with the Saturn, and then the Dramcast after that, sealing the fate of Mario's long time nemesis. Nintendo was gracious in victory, though, and offered asylum for the Sonic games on its next platform. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. For though Nintendo and it's cartridges had won the long haul over Sega, on the other side of the court, a new challenger was emerging. Sony's new system, using CD's, managed to attract a market that would have previously called itself "non-gamers", by virtue of prettier graphics and a higher quality of media. Nintendo saw this success and knew the day of its cartridges was over. The market had spoken. While innovative games and technology had won the battle over Sega, that alone would not be enough. And so, when Sony went to unleash its next expansion, the ever-so-creatively named PlayStation 2, and even the software giant Microsoft decided to enter the fray with it's own disk-loading game system, Nintendo relented and embraced the new technology. The game cube was born.

The story isn't over for cartriges, though. While they have all but vanished from the home (memory cards are simply highly evolved cartridges), cartridges still reign supreme in the handheld market. The Game Boy, since its inseption in the late 80's, has remained on top of other, more technologically advanced competitors, and to this day has yet to switch to a disk media. Meanwhile, Sony's PSP, finds itself paling in comparison to not only the innovative yet technically inferior DS, but also to the relatively ancient juggernaut of the Game Boy. The load times caused by the spinning of its Universal Media Disks, which are fairly far from being truely UNIVERSAL, along with a lackluster selection of games which are mostly ports of home console titles, are proving once again that disks are not always the answer.

Wow, that was fun to write.

It really was. It's all basically true, too. You can look it up if you want. ^_^ I DARE YOU!!!!

Well, know you know.
And knowing is half the battle.

G.I. JOE!!!!!

Stagnation

I need a webcam. I've redone my computer setup, and come to this determination after a long and thoughtful experience. I need a webcam on my computer. Something I can turn on so I can show everyone else what I'm up to. I want to make the real time Greg experience as entertaining online as it is in real life. The secret that all you people don't know yet is that neither is very entertaining to begin with. But a live video feed to my room would still be cool, right?

It's another in a long list of things I plan on doing once I get a semi-steady paycheck. By my calculations, despite getting a lower hourly wage, I'll still be bringing in more than my mother is (except for the money she gets from her dad for the amazing oil fields that will not die... I'll tell you 'bout that later), since she only works two days of the week. So I'll have, by all calculations, more money than ever before. I think I'll use this time to list out the fun things I may or may not buy when I get the money.

Webcam - Something simple. I don't need a whole digital camera or anything sophisticated, just something that can show a live feed of me to peoples out there.

Computer - I guess if I get enough money, I want another laptop, cuz let's face it, this one is falling apart. Sure, it does it's job NOW, but its getting slower and slower. I'll prolly restart it after I post this.

PSP Games - It's a given, I need a few more of them. Maybe by the time I'm ready to spend money on them, they'll have something worth buying. x_x

Nintendo DS - I really did kinda want one for Xmas. I might be willing to buy it if it drops down to about $100, plus a few games (Animal Crossing, Advance Wars, etc)

Gas - Having a job means I can't go to Mom and ask for money to fill up the tank anymore, duh. I'm responsibible!

MMORPG - Having this computer setup means I'll be better able to play games. Combine that with the fact that I'll have a paycheck and a supposedly disposable income means I'll be able to afford an account for a MMORPG of some type. I'll probably discuss this later when I've done some more research on the topic, but if anyone has some suggestions about ones that are actually entertaining to play (for instance, I was considering joining one of the clans on the WOW Dark Iron server and getting into the Webcomic Wars or whatever they're called. But I'm still new to the genre, and open to suggestions.

FPS - As an alternative to, or along with, playing MMORPGs, I've been thinking about getting into a first person shooter, maybe, but I'm not sure.

And that's just as they popped into my head. I'll prolly go into more detail as I feel like it, but the main problem at this point is... TARGET HASN'T CALLED ME BACK YET! I took the drug test. That was all they said they needed from me, until they did the background check. So either they miss read my number, in which case I'll go in monday morning to be like "What gives!?", OR.... I don't think there would be anything that would turn up on my background check without me knowing about it, right? I've never heard anything like this. I'm kinda paranoid, but I'll bet it's just my handwriting or something. I'll go get it straightened out Monday.

So lets see... I saw Underworld: Evolution today! It was a pretty awesome movie. I won't say that it was outrageously awesome or anything like that, but it was still very good. If you liked the first, you gotta see the second. And they KINDA set it up for a third, but I don't have any high hopes for it, really. But yeah, go see Evolution, after seeing the first Underworld. It's a good solid 3 and a half hours of entertainment.

Cinderella Is A Horrible, Horrible Movie.

For those of you who may not know, I occasionally have to baby sit my cousin Clara. I'm mildly ashamed that I usually end up just watching movies with her, instead of playing with her or reading a book for her. This morning was no different. When I got there, she was watching Winnie The Pooh's "A Very Merry Pooh Year," which is the holiday DVD thing for the 100 Acre Woods. It was mildly entertaining, but mostly just regular Disney silliness wrapped loosely around a moral.

When that was finished, I asked if she wanted to play outside. It was overcast though, so it was no surprise to me when she said, "No. Cinderelli." She's in love with the movie Cinderella. I tried to change her mind. First I pulled Shrek out of my pocket. She hadn't seen that one before and I wanted to try to expand her movie horizons, so to speak, but she was scared of the big green ogre on the cover. ._. Next I tried to trick her a little. Aladdin was sitting right on top of the Cinderella DVD, and since the boxes were the same color, I thought maybe she wouldn't notice it was a different movie until it was too late. (Muwahahaha.) Turns out she liked that one, anyway, which was good. I think Aladdin is a much better movie than the other Disney Princess movies (namely, Cinderella and Snow White). Those are BOORING.

Take the take of young Cinderella. She's got a rough life. Her mother dies when she was just a baby, and then her father dies later on, leaving her in the care of her wicked step-mother and step-sisters. And she takes it in stride, like a true trooper. She does all the chores while Anastasia and Pricilla reap all the rewards, and doesn't speak up. Even the cat, Lucifer, taunts the poor girl. (Who in their right mind names a kitten after Satan!?) She just takes it. Like a pussy. And then she gets invited to the ball. She's excited. She could meet the prince. IF she gets her chores done, plus some extra things thrown to make it harder for her, AND she can find an elegant dress to wear. She DOES manage to finish her chores, but its up to the mice to make her a pretty dress, which is promptly ripped by her step-sisters anyway. So what does she do? Does this girl shout and scream and tell them she's mad as hell, and she's not gonna take it any more? No. She just runs off and cries. Again, like a pussy. And guess what. Because she cries, because she gives up so totally and falls into the dispair, her fairy godmother appears to make it all right as rain. The squeaky wheel gets her grease, and then she can go to the ball and have her happily ever after. You all know the rest: She stays late, and loses her slipper in a mad dash to leave the palace on time. When the king's men arrive at her house to try the shoe on all the ladies, Cinderella ends up locked in her tower, and once again, the mice have to save her, so she can go have her happily ever after.

What a bunch of rubbish, am I right? She doesn't do anything in that movie, things just happen to her. The first half of it is almost like that one part in Spiderman 2 where they're trying to show you how pathetic Peter Parker's life is. And you just go, oh, give me a break, that's just REDICULOUSLY awful. Same thing here. Cept Cinderelli isn't swinging through the kingdom fighting crime. That would be cool. But no, this poor girl just drifts through life, and accepts whatever it gives her. When her father dies and she ends up doing chores, oh well, that's cool. Then she goes out crying, and THAT's when she gets the dress. She isn't rewarded for being a good girl and being nice to everyone who was mean to her. She's rewarded for giving up and sobbing. And That's Terrible.

Look at Snow White, too. (I've done too much thinking about this.) She goes off to pick flowers and finds out that her step-mother tried to kill her off. (BTW, did Walt Disney have some issues with step-mothers? Did his dad marry a real bitch or something?) She goes off and hides with the Dwarves, and then is stupid enough to eat the apple. But really, she doesn't do anything. Things happen to her, and she just runs away, or falls unconcious. Lame.

Now, here's how I would have done it, knowing what I do of feudal societies (my mommy helped me! :) Snow White is the princess, and the true blood heir to the throne. Her assassination was an attempt by the Evil Queen to get the power for herself. So Snow White goes into hiding, but not in a cabin in the woods. She seeks the protection of a nearby nobel, probably the father of the prince she sees earlier on. The nobelman has 7 knights (the 7 dwarves, and yes, they're still silly and probably short), who will aid Snow White in overthrowing her Stepmother. There's amazing action and adventure, and at the end of it all, the step-mother, instead of turning into an old hag, turns into a ferocious beast which must be slain. Now, Malificent turned into a dragon in Sleeping Beauty, so that SHOULD be out, but who knows? I'll get more done on that later. Looks interesting.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I applied for a job at Target. The managers are gonna interview me later today, it looks, and I'm gonna start working ASAP. ^_^ YAY EMPLOYMENT!!! I'm also looking into an internship with a gaming company, but that may take a back seat to actual employment. Wish me luck peoples!

Boobs Could Bring Peace To The Middle East

So yeah, I was searching around /b/ and found a couple of cool things worth noting. Yeah, that's right, I'm back to my amazing history of linking. First this little love story by John384:

Ok well i've had this crush on this guy for nearly 4 years... (me= 17 he=15)

I've kinda suspected he was gay or bi. When we were younger he'd play on my computer and i'd just sit on my bed behind him and watch... and occasionally he's just get up and tackle me and start wrestling without saying anything. Then he'd just sit on me and look into my eyes. sometimes he'd be sitting at the computer and just reach behind himself and just touch my arm or face... kinda wierd.

Or i'd be on the computer and he'd walk in and just put his legs on mine and there they'd stay for over an hour...

He calls and text messages me alot... i do almost anything for him. Once he called me while i was working and said he had computer trouble ( i'm a geek ) and i said id go right to his house after i finished work... when i went he was half naked ( only wearing boxers ). I went under his desk to pull out his computer and when i turned around his crotch was in my face and he had a semi boner...

I do alot of things for him... one day i skipped school and he messaged me telling me what he was eating for lunch and i told him i was skipping. He asked if i could pick him up... i said sure...He goes to a private school in a different state... i drove nearly an hour to pick him up

---

This is something i always thought was weird... one night last summer me, him and bunch of other guys walked to a fast food place and on the way back it rained really hard. He was soaked so i let him borrow some clothes (shirt, shorts, and boxers) He insisted on borrowing my clothes and not my brothers for some reason... and the next day he gave my shirt and shorts back but never returned my boxers everytime i'd bring them up he'd just say he'd lost them.... for some reason i always thought he made a shrine or something out of them lol.

Even though he's my little brothers friend he hangs out with me more than my little brother...

whenever he sleeps over (which is pretty much every weekend) he on occasion sleeps in my room and even in my bed.... with me in it. We did this sunday night. He and I were playing battlefield 2 till 6am and he said he was tired and jumped on my bed. I said the same and jumped into the bed with him. We talked for 10 minutes and slowly fell asleep... All night i could feel him kinda slowly inching his way towards me. Then finally he just rolled on top of me and there he stayed for at least 2 hours. I just sat there thinking should i do something? make a move? finally i had to take a piss and i got up and he rolled off of me, but all this could have been unintentional... i brought it up the next morning and just sounded suprised and said he didn't remember that... but we were with our friends so he could have just been acting.

---

His parents are reallllly strict. He left in the morning and the whole day we hung out. We went to circuit city to pick up a computer and when we were at the secluded pick up booth i put my hand on the counter and he put his ontop of mine... i for some reason was little suprised so i quickly moved my hand.

I'm fairly convinced he's gay or bi.. i mean he's never had a gf ever apart from a few dates here and there. Last month he went to some girls house a few times hung out with her during halloween and whatnot. The whole time i felt like crap like i've lost a battle. I went into depression i quit my job and just sat in my room and did nothing for nearly a month. Then i started to talk to this girl she said that he seemed weird and distant .... i thought that was a bit odd and a few days later they stopped seeing each other. Technically they were never going out according to the both of them. I don't know that whole relationship could have meant nothing. I mean i've gone out with a few girls and even got laid a few times. So i try not to think about it too much.

But he seems to lose all inhibition when he's drunk. We're both light weights so we get drunk fast. I can jump on him ,hold him, and touch him all i like and he won't say anything about it.

---

Time is ticking... In a year i'm gonna be off to college and probably never see him again. He wants to join the military and constantly bugs me to join with him, but its not my thing.

I just cant find the strength to just say something or make a move... I feel if he rejects it he'll stop hanging out with me and i'd lose a good friend also. But if i don't say anything ill always feel like there could have been something there. I go through cycles of denial and acceptance. Sometimes i have a rude awakening and i realise theres no way he can be gay and i just try to move on. Then he might sleep over say something or do something that'll make me think that there just may be a slight possibliity he's gay.

Anyone have any advice on what i should do?

The general consensus reched by the /b/tards (the ones who were serious) was that he should get while the getting was good. Like John himself said, he shouldn't wait too long and let the thing slip away. I also had to agree, it was one of the sweetest things I've ever read, especially for the 4chan boards. I hope they turn out okay. ^_^

The OTHER thing I found in my searches of the forums was a link to this article, which prompted me to do a little extra searching of my own. For those of you who don't wanna click the links, lemme relate the story.

Back in May 2005, when the relations between China and Japan were shakey to say the least, the picture to the left was posted on some Chinese anti-Japanese web forums. They were accompanied by this plea for help.

"Please stop these anti-Japanese hijinks. If you don't, I won't like you anymore."

The girl's name is Saaya Irie. She is in a Japanese Pop band called "Sweet Kiss", which just started up last February. She has an F-cup bra-size in Japan, which state-side is about a D. Every guys dream girl, eh?

Oh yeah, one more thing you should know: She was 11 when that picture was taken. Now she's 12.

So yeah, that's a pretty weird turn of events, eh? I mean, first off, I doubt that this was a really official use of the girl. More like some prankster using the picture to try and troll the nation of China. And it worked. The girl is now an Internet sensation (despite the fact that her band has yet to release any musical works), and the tensions between China and Japan dropped off a lot. I dunno, she's definitely a cute girl, and the age thing is a bit disturbing, but remember that we're dealing with a different culture than here. The age of legal concent in Japan is only 14, for instance. I'm not saying the girl wasn't exploited for her image here, but she WAS in a pop band for that very reason anyway.

I wonder if a picture of Lindsay Lohan couldn't ease tensions in the Middle East. It's worth a shot, right?

"Please stop these anti-American hijinks. If you don't, I won't like you anymore."

A Hint Of PSP

I know I said I'd have a special blog for my PSP stuff, but I wanted to show off my new wallpaper for it, and I don't think that a professional-ish site was a good place to put this:


Meanwhile, here's my laptop wallpaper:


I'm a dirty dirty man. ^_^

What I Did At Borders...

I know, you half-expected that title to read "What I Did On My Winter Break." I'll write about my vacationing tomorrow or something. But for now, I just wanted to brag about my new swag. When I went to get Danny to and from his bass lesson, I ended up with like 45 minutes in a near-by Borders. I went straight to the manga section because I'm a nerd. Well, first was actually a bathroom break, and then I had to check for mis-priced Magic Booster Boxes like that one time (long story that, for whatever reason, I didn't blog about; I'll fix that later.) Anyway, I made my way to the manga section, and found Mahoromatic vol 8, the last in the series, so YAY ME for finishing what I started there.

Next, I started looking around for other books, like the political ones publisized on the Daily Show. I always feel bad because 1) I can never remember the titles; and 2) even when I do, they're always more expensive than I'm really willing to pay. *Shrugs* At the request of Jackie, I looked up I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, by Tucker Max. They didn't have that, either, which is a shame, but I DID find this - Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper, by Aaron McGruder. I'm reading it now, and it's great. I'm addicted to comics, apparently. X_X

Okay, enough of this, I need to get some real work done.

Back From Lands Afar

Okay, so I guess this officially ends my month of traveling. Time to settle in and get some work done. And I'm off to a great start... I'm sick. X_X It really sucks, because I was just getting pumped to doing what I need to get started on. For starters, I need to enroll at ACC for classes this semester. Then I needa get some sort of job, either (hopefully) one working as an intern for a gaming company, or, failing that, just a regular job as a clerk or something. Anyone wanna hire me? Please? You know I'm awesome at stuff like that.

I got a book on games programming, something I should really put more time into, but the one bit I read was a little hint about how to get into E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo: start an online review site. I think I'll do that, if only for the fun of it. I've got something in mind, a PSP blog, aimed at the more casual user, or something. I think it'll be fun to do, even if I don't make it to E3. *Shrugs*

I've got SO much to do I don't even know where to begin. It's really frustrating. Hopefully I'll be able to get into a good rhythm so I can get online more again. Sorry about not taking my laptop to NJ, though it WAS easier to travel without it. I'll be sure to fill you all in about what exactly happened while I was out there. Nifty as the PSP is, I wasn't able to use it very well for blogging. Now that I have a real keyboard, I should be able to get more in depth stuff done here. Gotta go now. Older brother ferry service rides again!

PSP Fun: part 2

The title's a lie. I've just gotten the hang of typing on this, but other issues are limiting my browsing. I'll tell you about it when I get to a real PC. Just wanted to check in. Later folks!

PSP Fun

Ok, I made it in to Philly in one piece, so yay me. I was actually a little worried for a bit. When I checked in at the airport, I managed to switch my seats, which were pretty terrible to begin with, for a couble of window seats in the emergency exit row. It was a little scary, sitting there with a little lever that would launch the door away,most-likely with me right behind. If that wasn't enough, I think Sunday was the closest I'd ever flown to a thunderstorm. It was pretty, but I kept a close eye on it.

Who Does This?

MALE VIRGIN, TAKE MY VIRGINITY

This was just weird. I'm gonna see how this goes. In two days at like midnight, do you think there'll be a buyer?

I wonder if I could sell myself for sex. So far this guy hasn't even gotten a single bid, even at just under a Pound for a starting bid. Of course, he's only been up there for less than a day so far, but still... I don't think it'd be that profitable. I wonder what he'll do for shipping? I'd prolly charge round trip air-fare, I think, plus room and board for the time I was there.

Yet another pipe dream. Ah well... A guy can dream, right?

Updating

Okay, it's been a while since I updated. Sorry about that. It's New Years eve and I've been up to my elbows in stuff to do practically since I got back from school. One of my biggest responcibilities, as it turns out, is being "big cousin" for little Clara. She adores me, as I'm sure you know. It's nice to be loved like that, but there are just sometimes when I'd like a break, to be able to have time to myself. Of course, I'm getting off easy. Some people actually have to do "WORK" for a living.

Oh wait, I'm one of them. Here's the story quick. I got a 1.88 or so GPA. I needed a 2.0 to stay at Tech. So I'm kicked out until next Fall. Whee... Until then, I'll be staying in Austin. I've been looking for a job, but not nearly hard enough. I'll prolly just end up working at McDonalds again or something. *Sigh.* Actually, my mom suggested that I get a job in the child care profession. Not the computer science gig I was hoping for, definitely not the video gaming career, but I do like kids, and I'm good with them, and above all else, it IS a paying job.

Yesterday we went to the store BookPeople, and Mom got me a book on how to program video games. It's a huge thick technical nonsense, but it'll be cool if I can actually make a game work. It won't be my dream game, though, just a fun little ditty. My dream game is something that, realistically, I can't do on my own. It's a 100+ hour quest that is almost more story than anything. It'll be somewhat like Final Fantasy and such, in terms of the epic-ness, but I'll have a more open ended game play. Not open ended in the GTA sense of "Do whatever you want, but you still have to do our quests." More open ended as in, "Do what you want, and that in turn will affect your path."

A year or so ago, mom enrolled me with her in an ACC course on 2D Game Design. Part of the exercise was a chance to come up with a game idea. My pitch was something really ambitious, but still technically doable on a 2-D level. The proffessor said that games today are often pitched to producers as being a mix of things (BMX games are Tony Hawk + Bikes, for instance). So my suggestion was GTA + Star Trek. I'm talking the origial GTA, not the 3D ones on the PS2. Your character would be a lone character in space, and he could ally himself with one or more of the factions in space, each with their own unique differences, and their own fleets of Starships, something like the different races in Starcraft. Your character would be able to commandeer any of a number of vessels, and use them to complete quests and missions. There will be some story line stuff, as well as a few bonus missions to get you specific items and stuff. Think of it as a 1 player MMORPG in terms of play and politics. You can upset a faction and thereby lose their support, or get shot at when you go near them. You can gain favor with a faction and earn better ships in their ranks or what not. You can help change the map by wiping one faction out. Fun stuff like that. Maybe I'll have a demo of it up or something.

Okay, I need to do work. I gotta pack for my trip to NJ tomorrow. Happy New Year everyone. I'll prolly write out a blog on the plane tomorrow, and post it as soon as I get online.

Christmas Hauls

I spent a good deal of Christmas day feeling bad. I showed you all my list. It was spiffy, and I tried not to be too overly greedy about things. I didn't expect to get EVERYTHING there.... But to only find 2 things, between both Christmas and my birthday. Sigh. I tried not to complain, but I did feel a little bad that I got a few gifts that I don't really want... after giving a pretty detailed list. *Shrugs.* I tried to keep it quiet and not tell anyone like "OMG WHY WOULD YOU GET ME THAT!?" I seriously have a sprinkler shaped like Darth Vader now. What's up with that?

I got some cool stuff though. I got the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes. And I got a T-Shirt with the Matrix on it. I have the touch. And the power. And all those other things. And I got money. A lot of money. Over 50 dollars from Grandma Katie, and $100 from Poppop and Granny, and then even more money from other random people, plus a gift certificate to Best Buy. So what did I do with this newfound wealth?

*Drumroll.....*

A SONY PSP!!! W00T! It's so fucking cool oh my god... And I got Lumines for it, too, which is a great game. The wireless browsing is cool too, I have to say. Sorry, I'm busy spazzling, so I dunno, I gotta go.

First though, check this thing out. It's a web search (Google, mostly) that lets you win prizes if you're lucky. Sign up and start searching. It'll be fun. ^_^

http://www.blingo.com/friends?ref=MloGEYxz_vWte_G6GtQyArDHKwg

Okay, so long.

Merry Happy Crismahanukwanzikamas

Yay Holidays!!! It's officially my birthday in my birth state, so I'm gonna go ahead and say it: I'm 21. In fact, by the time I get this published, it'll probably be 21 in the Central Zone too, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that I've gone into the Mountain or Pacific zones if I'm on a roll. Probably not though. I wanna keep this kinda short....

So I made it to Tennessee. I rode in the car with my cousin, Clara, my Aunt Susie, and their live-in exchange student Xiao (it's pronounced Jah-ow, because the Chinese people can't spell I guess), and managed to split my time between driving and entertaining her while Susie drove. It was fun. We went to the Zoo in Memphis, saw Clara's aunt and grandmother. And on Thursday morning, in Hot Springs, AK, Aunt Susie found, I kid you not, a rock quarrey that we could pay to go dig around in. It was redicuous. We found some egg shaped thing in there. Aunt Susie says it may be a Geode, but I'm thinking for a Velociraptor. *Hides.*

Please excuse any little shoddyness that is lacking from this post, since I haven't got my entire set up, just the power supply and the laptop on it. So yeah, I'm bare-backing it.

So we got here, though. I managed to get on for a second last night, and check out all the awesome things that have been put online. I downloaded and watched RvB episode 70, which was fun, and then, yeah, the big news.....

KINGDOM HEARTS 2 IS OUT IN JAPAN!!! And yeah, there's videos of it. I've downloaded them. The opening intro is pretty, and the ending one, well, I cheated and got it, but I don't understand it, so I don't know what's going on. It still LOOKS better than the "Sorry, Sora, but your princess is in another castle" ending that happened last time." I still wanna see both videos up on the big screen in my den. Yay 6' widescreen. I'll get there for them, no fret. I'm getting this video game when it comes out stateside, oh yes....

Okay, I'm becoming repetitive and stupid... later.

OMG KONG!!!!!

I just saw King Kong. I spent like half the movie with my jaw literaly dropped in awe. It was SO FUCKING AMAZING. I refuse to spoil it for you, beyond the obvious, so I won't blather on about how awesome it was. When you've seen it though... I'm dying ot talk to someone about the awesomeness.

Oh, and wallpapers, too. It was such a pretty movie. I'm gonna get as many wallpapers from the film as possible. So very beautiful. *Stares into space*

"I know that Monkey! His name is Donkey!"
"Monkeys can't be donkeys! Stop trying to confuse me!"

The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers

The wonderful thing about tiggers
Is tiggers are wonderful things!
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs!
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!
But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is
I'm the only one
I-I-I'm... the only one!

I stayed up until 2AM yesterday to watch the Boondocks because I missed the 10PM showing. It was stupid, because I TiVo'd it, but what's done is done, eh? Anyway, I knew I had to get up at 8 this morning to drive Danny to school. But after that, the plan was that I would drive PJ and Mom to my Aunt's house, and while they went shopping, I'd go get some sleep.

Didn't happen that way. I woke up and well, PJ had stayed up later than me. So he wasn't going. I took Dan to school, then when I dropped mom off Aunt Susie's house, I got "Oh yeah, stay here and watch Clara while we go out all morning. X_X. But I did. I'm a good trooper. I played some Uno and some Dominoes with her (she's pretty smart). Then I went and watched Cinderella with her, which was okay. I got to sleep sorta, except when Clara poked me and giggled at the screen. Then I watched the Tigger Movie, and... I started crying. I blame it on lack of sleep, but it was a really sad and sweet movie. If Tigger is the only one, then he's all alone as the only Tigger there is, and that's not something he wants to hear. So he goes off to find his family of tiggers, only to find that really, his family was with him all along. It was sweet, and I really shouldn't have been taking it so personally, but I did, so yeah... I needed to sleep.

Never did though. I spend ALL my time on "vacation" running around with family, or with friends. No time to relax, really. Sigh..... Tonight, when I finish packing, sorta, I'm gonna go and see King Kong with Jackie. Watch me cry at that one too. "OMG ITS SO SAD HE'S THE ONLY ONE...." ._.

I'm such a woman.

And They Say There Are No Heroes

Did Spiderman ever do this? I don't think so. Suck it, Peter Parker.

Going Nuts

How many lights do you see?


THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!!!

*Ahem.*

I made it back to Austin in one piece. I was a little nervous when Matt got on his cell phone while driving, especially after he got us lost a few hours earlier WITHOUT any distraction. Ah well, though, no harm done. When I left Lubbock, I made a plan to see King Kong with Jackie and a few friends. Sounded like fun, and I was really looking forward to it.

(I'm confused. I had a cursor when I started typing. It's gone now. ._. AH! Got it back!)

Anyway, I got back, and heard from my mom that I was grounded since I failed Computer Science. I felt so bad... And then I put off telling Jackie, because I was sure I could change Mom's mind about it. I couldn't. And I feel really crummy. She's right, I deserve to be punished for failing CS. It was a completely passable class. Not hard in the least. A lot of grunt effort required, yes, but that's it. I should know better than to let things like that make me wanna procrastinate. It's what happened to me the last two years, and I thought I'd learned my lesson. I almost had. I passed all my other classes (I hope; I'm still waiting for official confirmation on two of them... *Crosses fingers*). But yeah, I need to learn my lesson... So I'm grounded, at least until the rest of my grades get in, and I sign up for classes next semester. Fun.

Lesse... I have my computer hooked up here as a desktop style thing. I may leave it here when I go to Tennessee for Xmas. It really is a hassle. I'll still take it to NJ, no matter what.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go entertain a kitty cat. ^_^

How Do They Know That?

Seriously! How did they figure that out? Isn't she supposed to be the world's greatest criminal mind? Able to hop the globe without notice?

OH MY GOD! DOES GOOGLE HAVE HER BUGGED? Who else do they have tabs on? Not me, I'm sure, but I mean... Who knows? It's a trap! *Hides.*

I'm A Fan Of Live Text

Some people don't like the idea of links in text. I'm not one of them. I think that being able transmit ideas beyond the words you are using is what makes the Internet such a great place. I've been surfing the random forum of 4chan (WARNING, NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART), and I like the way they combine links, pictures, and complete randomness into a great package. So HAH. Take THAT, Maddox.

Moving on. I have a hectic schedule ahead of me. I need to pack tonight, since I'm going home at 10AM tomorrow. Then I spend a week in Austin, hanging with friends and Christmas shopping. Then on the 21st, I drive off to Tennessee. That'll be fun. I'm spending Christmas and my Birthday there, so that'll be fun. I've got 10 days until I turn 21. Go me!!! Anyway, after Christmas, I'm heading back with my Aunt Susan, Uncle Jim, Cousin Clara, and the live in Chinese Exchange Student Xiao, on a meandering tour of the American South East. Yay!!! Then I'm up to NJ for the first week of January - the 1st through the 8th. Classes resume on January 11th. I have a VERY packed vacation.

Not to worry, I'll still find time to get online. Laptops are fun that way. Plus I've got my cell phone. So you'll never be too far away from me. And in those times when you are, I've got books that need reading, Game Boy games that need playing, and, of course, the sweet release of a good little bit of shut eye. Speaking of... its midnight... NINE DAYS TILL BIRTHDAY!!!!

And I Thought I Was Done With Tests...

It decided to format itself like a retard, but still, it works!

Bi/Slightly Straight
You scored 5 (-52 being completely gay, 0 being bisexual, and 52 being completely straight)

For the most part, you are bisexual. You have a slight preference for the opposite gender, but either gender would suit you. If you are sexually inexperienced, it is possible that this will change after you do some experimenting.


My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 25% on Orientation

Link: The Sexuality Spectrum Test written by tall_man_54 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

For Kelly

In my travels online, I met a girl named Kelly. I didn't know her for more than a week, but I still considered her a friend. So it shocked me to from her mother that she had died. I don't have much to say, but I felt a memorial was appropriate for her, here. You will be missed.

A Rose By Other Names

I've talked about how girls get the names of all the cool months, right? I think October would be a good name for a boy. Maybe December. We would call him Deci for short. Anyway, Virginia is the only name from a state. Here are a few others for consideration. Wyoming. Oklahoma. Montana. Michigan. Hell, pretty much all of them. Maybe not the "New" ones, but other than that...

It is my pleasure to introduce you to my new son, Alabama Pennsylvannia LeVine. ^_^

A Jesus By Any Other Name

I was surfing the AIM chat rooms again. This time I popped into the Christian singles. Nothing gets my brain juices pumping like a good conversation with the Jesus-freaks. By that I mean not just any Christians. I know a lot of cool Christians, who just don't rub it in your face all the time, and live a good life, the way they think Jesus would have wanted. I have nothing against them. I DO have something against the people who feel driven to convert people to seeing it their way, because they're afraid that if someone else is right, then they may be wrong. They're fun to talk to, simply to see where they go with my questions. While I won't show exactly what the conversation was, because it's just a long IM session that really doesn't get anywhere, I'll describe the highlights.

To start, here's what I believe. I believe that most major religions agree on basic principals. Life is important, be a good person, help those who need helping, etc. Those are all good things to live a life by, as I try to myself. Where they differ is in some forms of semantics. They all proclaim that their God is the one true God, or, if they have a pantheon of gods, that theirs is the correct pantheon. As I said, this is all just semantics. I used the following analogy to try and describe this:

Suppose there was a secluded tribe of islanders, with no contact to the outside world. One day, a man gets stranded on the island, after being presumed lost in a wreck. He integrates into the natives tribe, learns their language and customs. He begins to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, he cannot find an appropriate way to translate Jesus for them, and ends up with something random like "Tomato Sause." So the natives continue to worship the being known as Tomato Sause. Now the question: Does that count? Does Jesus care what name you use for him.

The answer, as I see it, is that it does count, Jesus is just a name, and it's really the person that name represents that you are worshiping. So if Jesus is God, then you can worship God and you will be fine, right? Along those terms, if you worship Allah, or Jehovah, or Krishnu, you are still worshiping the same God they all stand for. So really, the name of a religion you worship doesn't matter, as long as you believe the truth in your heart.

As to what the truth is... I spent a good deal of time talking about how Jesus' death on the cross matters. I kept hearing from the guy "Jesus died so your sins could be forgiven, but your sins are only forgiven if you believe He died for them." That seems rather twisted. And really, I don't see a connection between His dying and my redemption. The connection is simply "That's what the book says!" I mean, its like me saying "Hey! I broke a concrete slab with my pinky so you could have toast! But if you want the toast, you have to believe that you're getting it because I broke the slab! Get it?" Do you? Cuz I don't.

The bible is true because it is the word of God. And it is the word of God because it says so, and it is true, so it can't be wrong about being the word of god. That's another thing that got me. It's cyclical logic. The guy I was talking to said that I shouldn't question things like that, and just accept them on faith, but I really think that questioning is good. Without questioning, authority becomes tyranny. Now I'm not saying God is a tyrant. But Churches and other religious leaders could. The Bible was presented by man, published, written, and analyzed by men. It may have been divinely inspired, but that doesn't mean it's perfect by any means. I need more than the book itself to tell me that a book is true.

Okay, my head is starting to hurt. I'm gonna go lie down now. Love you all. ^_^

I'm The Worst Attack Dog Ever

No anniversary yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Lesse... I've been surfing the AIM chat rooms lately. It started with a quest for bordom relief - fast paced games of "Whack-A-Bot". Eventually I made nice with the locals, cuz you know, I'm just that awesome, and managed to pull a few new aim friends outta it. Yay me! I also managed to get hit on by this guy. That was funny:

HoT28yroldman4u: hello
me: hi there
HoT28yroldman4u: age
me: 20
HoT28yroldman4u: what u up 2
me: not much
me: just got done with my final
me: you?
HoT28yroldman4u: just got out of the shower
me: oh fun
HoT28yroldman4u: yeah its cold out
me: well put on a sweater or something
HoT28yroldman4u: yeah your right,lol
HoT28yroldman4u: so tell me about u
me: oh not much
me: i'm basically ur average college nerd
HoT28yroldman4u: what do u look like miss
me: random hobbies that'd bore you to tears
me: umm
me: im not a miss
HoT28yroldman4u: o wow sorry
me: yeah
me: i thought something was amiss there
HoT28yroldman4u: yeah ok have a great day
me: you too
me: check out profile links before you assume stuff

Anyway, part of the problem with making friends online is that you often fall into the tangled webs of politics that would confuse the cast of Friends. I've had more than one person tell me that I should go tell another person off for upsetting her. Being the doting friend, I get the screen name and start up a conversation, and ask what the problem is. Then I get into trouble, because, after the realize that I'm NOT going to yell at them like whoever told me I should, they figure out what a nice guy I am, and I've made a new friend. So now I'm stuck between two people who both think I'm on their side. Today's case, at least, has a happy story. Two girls were fighting because they both thought they were the same guy's girlfriend. It turns out that NEITHER of them were (I actually know girl number 3; she's my friend, and so was the guy, too. I'm too popular x_x), so I ended up telling them something like this:

"Hey, you guys shouldn't be fighting. XXXX played you both, you should be mad at him. You're both perfectly nice girls, and shouldn't be mad at each other."

A couple of minutes later I got the following back:

(Girl 2): wow (Girl 1) and (guy) are fighting but me and (girl 1) r cool now

So you see, I'm a miracle worker. You should let me negotiate peace in the Middle East. I'd tell them that the real enemy was the terrorists, or something. It'd be cool.

Btw, names have been hidden to protect the innocent. ^_^

Speaking of holiday cheer... These lights are awesome.

English Mother Fucker Do You Speak It?!

This just happened. You meet the randomest people from chat rooms. Especially when you have an androgenous / feminine Screen name.

mikeslikes34dds (2:06:50 PM): are you female
Effervescence 34 (2:06:53 PM): nope
mikeslikes34dds (2:07:03 PM): are you female
Effervescence 34 (2:07:07 PM): but i share your love of DDs
mikeslikes34dds (2:07:40 PM): are you female
Effervescence 34 (2:07:44 PM): yes i am
mikeslikes34dds (2:07:54 PM): hi im mike an you are
Effervescence 34 (2:08:09 PM): I'm not female, but at least I got your attention
Effervescence 34 (2:08:18 PM): i told you i wasnt female twice already
Effervescence 34 (2:08:59 PM): pay attention

Wow... He was persistant.

Stupid Ad...

A lot of you have AIM, so you'll know where I'm coming from. Everyone who uses the legitimate client for AIM, and not some 3rd party thing like Trillian or something, knows about the ads that come with it. Just above your buddy list is a little advertisement box. I've been able to ignore most of them, but lately they've been getting more and more annoying. It started last Spring with the Classmates.com ad. A list of the 50 US States scrolled at a high speed each time the ad started up, which would eventually end at California unless you moused over it to stop it. This one really only pissed me off because at the time I was using an older computer that would slow to a crawl each time that came up. Or just whenever, but still, the ad didn't help. And I still have found it vaguely annoying.

Flash forward to now: Dec 2005, holiday season adds have started to pop up. The first was this red thing for the Gap. Whenever you'd mouse over it for whatever reason, it would jump out and expand to twice its normal size. X_X And NOW we've got this Ford advertisement that plays a video for no apparent reason whenever it feels like it. I just wanna make it go away!!! ;_;

I just realized that my blogs a little over 2 years old. I missed the 2 year anniversary. Sorry guys. Maybe I'll have something for you to celebrate with in a few days. Not like you care. Heh.

Eat time is now.

Dodging Bullets Like Neo

They've been showing the Matrix on TNT lately. I know too many people who haven't seen the Matrix yet. For reference, too many in this instance is "any number greater than zero." So yes, I'm looking at you. See this awesome instance of badassery quickly before your chance subsides.

Moving on, though. Last night I went to sleep around 3. I had my next morning all planned out. I set my alarm for 11, which would be a good time to wake up, get some breakfast, take a shower, and study a little before my 1:30 Calculus final. I slept really well. Going to sleep after 2am tends to make me a little sleepy, who knew? I've even got a special bedtime mix of supposedly quieter, gentler music, stuff that'll help me go to sleep without having to listen to silence, the squeaking of whatever mechanical components are malfunctioning at the moment, and the insessant ringing in my ears. So yeah, music helps. I don't listen to it when Matt's in, because despite being able to sleep through anything, he can't actually GET to sleep with music going. *Shrugs.*

Anyway, like I said, I had it all planned out. I woke up at 11 and started to check my e-mail, as usual. Then I noticed the little Rainlendar pop-up: "Calculus Final - Due in -32 minutes." Yup, that's a NEGATIVE 32. The test started at 10:30, not 1:30. I was a fucking half hour late just from sleeping. I didn't eat. I didn't study. I didn't write out a little 5x3 note card to help me remember things. No time. I ran (well, fast walked; I was still a little sleepy) to the physics building, and rushed into the test. 45 minutes late, but better late then never. I managed to get the answer to every question I knew, and a few I didn't. I'm fairly confident with my results, don't worry. Despite having half time. Really, no one ever uses the whole time anyway. But yeah, I was partially worried that I would be flat out refused for being so late. Luckily this wasn't true, but...

The other day Matt revealed that he has the Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy DVD. We were watching the beginning a few days ago, and that's why, as I walked towards my uncertain test, the following words were running through my head:

In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitch Hiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.

First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words Don't Panic inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

This is what I was thinking to myself as I walked there. "Don't Panic." Panicking never helped anyone with anything. So I didn't, and I feel that I'm a fairly better person for it. ^_^

Found Something To Entertain Myself

I got both the X-Men movies. I think I may watch at least one of them today, I haven't seen X2 since it was in theaters. I was testing them out, though, and I hadda install a new audio codec, so I'll need to restart my computer I think. First though, this:

Da Rules:

1. Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I'll reply and give you five questions to answer.
3. You'll update your LJ (or whatever) with the five questions answered.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed. And it just keeps going, and going, and going....

So, here are my five questions, courtousy of Umimi herself:

1) Who would win a pie eating contest out of your robot and mine?
I'd have to giveit to your robot. Mine may be able to level a city faster, but yours just looks hungrier.

2) What was the best thing that happened in China? xD
Okay, so I was at this toy store type place in Beijing, and my mom had given me 100 Yuan (about $20 USD) to spend on something. I was looking through the booths, and didn't find anything very interesting, when all of a sudden, I saw it. A box set of Landfill, the four bot set of construction trucks from the Robots In Disguise line. Each one went for about $15 each when they sold seperately, and even after being put into a box set, and marked down considerably due to being from an older, less popular set, state-side the box would still go for about $40. Twice what I had. Just to be sure, I asked the nice lady at the counter how much she was asking. "250 Yuan."

"Ah," I replied, "I was afraid of that. No thanks." And I turned to walk away.

Now, in most Western shops, that would be the end of it. Retailers have set their prices, and buyers either pay it or don't. In China, though, they are much more open to haggling. "What, you no like?" called the shopkeeper. "250 is good price."

She was right, it was. I tried to make it as clear as I could through the language barrier. "Yes, I know it's a good price, but I just don't have that much." She didn't buy it, I guess. She lowered her price for me, but kept it still above my 100 yuan mark, so I had to keep saying no, "I only have 100 yuan." I eventually started laughing while talking it got so rediculous. Eventually, I was getting impatient at being stuck in this one spot, with so many other booths out there. I reached into my pocket and fished out the 100 yuan bill. Verbal language wasn't working, so I went for a visual representation. "This is all I have with me." I tried to say it slowly and carefully so she would understand.

She looked at the bill and sighed. "Okay, one hundred yuan." At this point I was really weirded out. I had been trying to leave, not trying to bargain. Never the less, I had ended up with a toy for less than half the marked price. And THAT's the best thing that happened to me in China.

3) Avez-vous un violet poisson? o_O
No, but I have a Red one and a Blue one, like in the book. I'm trying to get them to mate.

4) What's the worse christmas present you ever got and why?
Some weird bike lights. Like, you were supposed to put them on your spokes or something, and I never wanted to. They just looked silly.

5) What was the last dream you remember having and did it involve chickens?
I had some weird dream last night. I was with my entire family, both Mom's side and Dad's, everyone there, including one kid I didn't know who was Dad's "other" step son. *Shrugs.* It made no sense, nothing really happened. I ran around in circles, and at one point I was Aeon Flux for some reason. In the end, we decided to rent a movie, and have it delivered, and it couldn't get here because there was a road block or something. When the delivery boy got to our house to tell us he couldn't get to our house, I looked out the door and noticed that there was a Blockbuster Video across the street for some reason, and it had a built in movie theater, for $6 a seat. Score. I was dissapointed to wake up and realize that it wasn't there.

"And THAT's why they call me Bender the Magnificent!" - Bender, the Magnificent.

Setting Things Straight

First of all, you all need to see how I fixed my AIM icon, cuz it's spiffy like that. ---->

Done with that? Good, now click here and tell me what you think. Come on, you know I'm sexy, right? *Sexy butt dance.*

And then, on a more serious note, if you're reading this, it's probably because you came looking for me and hit my away message. I've decided to devote a significant portion of today (Sunday) to reading, and maybe writing somewhere that's not here at my desk. I've spent a scary amount of time here lately, and over break I'm sure I will again. I wanna spend at least PART of a day actively avoiding this thing.

On that note, I'm sure I'll get around to writing a post about what's been going on lately, but now I just need to keel over on my bed. Sleep well, all, I'll see you later.

Disturbing Developments

Tomorrow I plan on possibly going to the PTQ at Hatter's. Either that or, since I have no deck worth playing, going with the idea of just staying home and chilling. Maybe I'll tell you about my exciting adventures on the AIM chat rooms. MAYBE. If you're good. In the mean time, I found a rather interestingw website for you guys to peruse if you'd like. Night

Fuck It

I've been playing this.

Apparently that was a mistake. How dare I try to do something on my own for a few minutes. Rawr.

From Aeon To Zero

I saw Aeon Flux last night. It was good. Lots of random violence and stuff, and something about the worst cloning plan ever... it's confusing, I'll let you see it to work it out for yourselves, rather than spoil it, but I found it rather entertaining. It's not quite in synch with the old cartoon, but it's good on it's own.

However, as we watched the movie, Matt kept telling me that he recognized the guy playing Oren Goodchild. I didn't recognize him, but my actor recognition skills have been off lately. During the coming attractions, I mistook James Franco from the Spiderman movies for the guy who played Anakin. I mean, they do look KINDA similar, and I recognized that I had seen him somewhere as an angsty youth. But Oren Goodchild... I really couldn't place him.

Well, I looked him up. He was Zero Fucking Cool! From Hackers. How did I miss that? I mean, I STILL can't see it. Can you?

3, 2, 1, Toss!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

O_o....

Oh, ehh....

o_0

Ask me again in the morning, kay? Gnight.

I'm Burning

I'm Burning I'm Burning I'm Burning For You!...

I've had that song stuck in my head. Wanna know why? A couple of reasons. Actually, it's one of those chain reasons. You know, thing A leads to thing B which leads to things C D and E, and before you know it I'm waist deep in artichokes because someone said they didn't like Final Fantasy.

That never happened to you? Must just be me.

Anyway, so I was browsing all the forums, and they've all been pointing out the X-Men 3 trailer, and it was this thread on the Megatokyo forums that got me hooked, or at least re-piqued my interest in the X-Men. I went over to my bookshelf and decided that I finally had time to read Pheonix: Endsong.

So there's that. I'm not interested in pheonixes in general. Not neccessarily the X-Men's Jean Grey, just the creatures. You may find some sort of story on here in the coming days as the massive bordom of not having anything to do gets to me. ^_^

And finally, I've got a open casting call. I need a harem. ^_^

IT WAS ME!!!!

I WAS THE TURKEY ALL ALONG

That's Gir, from Invader Zim, incase you missed the reference. I just had the quote in my head and wanted to get it down.

I had a couple of other thoughts that needed to go here. I would have written them in Jackie's journal thing, but I didn't have it on me in Chemistry, and when I was about to write here before my nap (which was heavenly, I might add), Mike showed up and wanted to take a nap, too, so that was kinda out. So these will just be lightly fragmented thoughts. Snack sized, one might say.

Firstly, I've been reading Eragon, just like I promised Jackie. It really is starting off kinda slowly, but she promised me it was good, and I believe her. And even though it's a little slow, it's not really boring. It's managed to keep my interest, and I sorta stopped at a cliffhanger cuz we're reading the book at a set pace kinda thing, even though I'm way behind and feel bad. But so far, it seems a LOT like a kind of fantasy version of A New Hope. It's like Lord of the Rings crossed with Star Wars. So yeah, if you're looking for a book, something to read over the semi-boring holidays, go grab Eragon, why not?

Secondly, I've come to realize why I'm doing so poorly here in college. I hate facts. I don't like memorizing random bits of data. That's why I don't like History, which is a series of "X did Y in the year ZZZZ." I can't stand that. And I can't stand a lot of the things that are taught in Chemistry as just immutable facts, like the idea that a mol of something is something like 6.426 x 10^23 or something random like that. It's just.... agh! I can get concepts down. I have no problem with that. But I'm not good at memorizing things. I really just have to struggle through, though, and make it work. Eventually I will get to the fun stuff.

Okay, I'm sure I had more, but I've lost it. I'll be on later, don't worry.

Even a hippie needs a gun

So I read this article in the school newspaper during lunch today. In it this chick, who claims she usually considered herself an anti-gun hippie, which is something that sticks out in the middle of Texas, describes how someone broke into her house, and so now she's gotta get a gun. She never once says that the guy actually had a gun or not, just that he was there. But no, now she's gotta get a gun. *Sigh.*

Even after writing about how anti-violence I am in real-life (see below), I feel the need to again state that I'm a pacifist. To a great extreme. I truely believe that life is a wonderful gift. Scientists can describe how a baby grows in the stomach, but there are any number of seemingly random connections that need to be made, and that ARE made 99.9% of the time, for a life to form. They can identify how this happens, but they can't tell you WHY something that is practically impossible happens every time a child is born. And they can't tell us where the driving spirit, be it soul, personality, whatever, comes from. So to me, every life is a precious gift, and no one has the right to end life prematurely. That's why I'm against the death penalty. And why I'm against guns in general.

Guns are one of many steps in a long ladder of tools man has developed to help him kill things quickly and efficiently. This is helpful with regard to hunting, back when men had to go out and find something to kill before they could eat it. Nowadays, hunting is an archaic practice, and too many people who hunt have no respect for that which they kill, and that sickens me. It is only worse when those weapons are turned on human beings. I have never believed that violence is the solution to anything. If someone believes something you don't, hitting / shooting them isn't going to make them think you're right, just that you're totally wacko about what you believe, and entirely unopen to suggestion.

Personally, if someone came into my house with a gun, and he was willing to kill me for my stuff, he's fucked up to begin with. I would defend myself, totally, but I wouldn't kill someone. I truely believe that being alive and living with guilt is the greatest punishment you can give to a criminal. Right away after 9/11 people were talking about how they would kill Osama bin Ladin, given the chance. What they all missed was that to kill someone, aside from making him a martyr, well, he dies believing that he's going to heaven to be met by 70 virgins for having done Allah's work. That's not fair. I vote we keep him around as long as we can, reminding him of what his act of cowardice caused, all the death and pain and agony he caused for innocent lives, in the name of "justice." Sigh... If you kill him it just strengthens his belief that he is right, that we are scared of what he did, and that we are as evil as he makes us out to be. I don't want us to do that.

So my personal self defence plans? A camera. I wonder what would happen if I swallowed a polaroid picture. I'll bet the CSI guys could recover the picture and use it to ID the purp, if I was killed. Or I could just set up a few security cameras to catch whoever tried to bust in. That would probably be ideal. Above all, I wouldn't kill him. Even in self defence. If he manages to kill me, that's on his head. I've got no regrets. I do want to keep living for as long as possible, I DO value my life, but I won't take his so that I can life. I would trade one life for two, if that's what it came down to, but I won't trade his life for my own.

Of course, this is all just me. I have nothing wrong with other people doing their jobs as police men or soldiers or whatever. But I'm not gonna be one of those people myself.

That is all. Something else crossed my mind, but it was (A) completely irrelevant compared to what I was talking about, and (B) gone now anyway, so whatever. Later folks.

Violence In Video Games

Last Tuesday I wrote an essay for English class. The stated problem was "How can video game companies react to the outcries against video game violence", or some gibberish like that. It really wasn't a good paper, so I'm not gonna bother putting it up there, but there were a few thoughts that I wanted to add, which weren't really in the scope of my paper's topic.

First, I want to say that I am a fan of violent video games. Not completely excessively, superfluously violent games, but I've been known to go through Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Goldeneye, Metroid, and the Grand Theft Auto games. All violent in their own right. You'll note that despite this violent history, I haven't gone out and shot someone yet. In fact, I'm so much a pacifist, I declared myself as one to a group of gun-toting NRA members in a dream I had last night. But I'm a casual gamer. I play games when it suits me, not so much as a hobby, more of a diversion, like watching a movie or a TV show. When I go out to buy games, I'm generally looking for a few needs to be satisfied. For instance, take my Game Boy games. One, I want something with a story I have to put a lot of hours into, like, say, FFTA. Not violent, but more of an intellectual challenge. Then I want something I can go through and mindlessly kill things, like, say, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Metroid Zero Mission or something along those lines. Something where I can bring misery to those who would thwart me. Oh, and I've always gotta have my Tetris with me. ^_^

I wrote in the essay a little bit about the time I felt an overwhelming urge to play Goldeneye. I didn't really want to kill any person, I just wanted to charge through one of the earlier levels, gun blazing, and bring death to the pologonal Russians. It's sort of scary to think about what was going through my head. I would never want to do something like that in real life, but I really wanted to simulate the mass murder of 100 Dr. Doak skins. I will go on claiming that video gaming is cathartic, but that little bit is still a little creepy.

I've got not much time left, so in closing I'd like to reiterate my stance on the current issues of video game legislation. Everyone and their dog seems to think that video games need special notice, but I feel that they should be treated the same way books and movies are. Movies are industry regulated and controlled in the same way that video games are. They have an independant ratings system, and cannot be sold, rented, or given tickets to anyone under the listed ages.

And above all, I REALLY wish parents would take some time to watch the games their kids are playing. It really is important. What's good enough for the 10 year old down the street may not be good enough for your son, so please use your own best judgement, and don't rely on the government. We've all seen how many times those bozo's have screwed up.

I just found this. How frigging sweet is that? (BTW, I found the source file, so W00T!!!)

And what do you guys think? If I put a paypal donate button, would I get anything out of it? Or would it just be rude since I don't contribute anything as is? I'm so hungry!!!

Okay, off to class.

Weird Typing

I've been typing oddly lately, soo please don't mind my typose if you're talking to me. For osmeto reason, I blame the mouse. It's sucking, and making me typle badely elsewhere. RAWRWQEr!!!!

I'm Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today!

I dunno why I'm writing this in bed instead of on my computer. I suppose it's cause I'm on the phone with Jackie. Plus I just watched Clerks, and now Batman's on. I'm sure Jackie'll love that I'm writing this while talking to her. She's about to go to sleep, or else I'd tell her that I'm writing in the journal she gave me.

A couple of scheduling notes before I forget. Tonight at 8, the History Channel is gonna do a special on Leonardo Da Vinci. And the original King Kong is on TCM Tuesday the 13th at 8pm. Not sure if those are Eastern or Central times. I'll have to look it up.

Okay, I got nothing to add now. Below this you'll find thoughts I added while typing this, on either Clerks or Batman. See you then.

~~~~~~

Okay, back to the present time. I'm gonna write about Batman, Clerks I don't have anything to say about (it is awesome by fiat, and if you haven't watched it yet, you must now), and then I've got a few personal issues. First, Batman. In the original movie, the one I watched last night, they had Billy Dee Williams, aka Lando Calrissian, as DA Harvey Dent. If you've seen Batman Forever, then you know that Harvey Dent, in that movie played by Tommy Lee Jones (who's name I suppose follows the same pattern as Billy's), is the alter ego of the villian Two-Face. I just wanna know why they couldn't get Billy Dee to play Two-Face in Forever. That woulda kicked ass.

Speaking of kicking ass, I feel like life has kicked the ass outta me lately. Firstly, I'm enroled in a sort of unofficial Magic league online, over MSN. I'm sucking so bad at it. I haven't won a single game. I really should just drop out of it, but I do like the challenge. And really, it's something I need to keep my ego in check. So anyway, I lost a 3 player game of that today, and then I lost a contest of "naming robots" against my friend Derek. It wasn't a fair fight, so I'm not really mad. I said ahead of time that I don't know much about Japanese robots, since I don't watch really any mecha series. I know all about the ones in Western Media, but the land of the rising sun is a mystery to me. And then, half the "robots" listed were anything but. The next person who tells me that a Gundam is a robot is getting hit over the head with my Soundwave figure.

So I'm frustrated right now. I'm beginning to see the allure of the dominant / submissive sexual fetishes. I really wanna be a dom right now. I wanna have a chick beg me for sex, I wanna bite her, I wanna make her scream with ecstatic pain, I want her to be mine and live only for me, and when I don't want her any more, I wanna throw her away like a used tissue. I'm so fucking evil it hurts.

Hunger

As usual, I have a song to describe the way I'm feeling right now.

When I see what I want
I'm going to take it
If it's against some law
You can bet I'll break it
My need to feed
Gives me the will to survive
I gotta find it fast
To keep me alive

I can't believe my hunger
Hunger
I want it so bad I can taste it
It drives me mad to see it wasted
When I need it so bad that it's burnin' me
I'm hungry

I'd do anything to get it and feel no regret
Time is running out and I ain't found it yet

I can't believe my hunger
Hunger
I want it so bad I can taste it
It drives me mad to see it wasted
When I need it so bad that it's burnin' me
I'm hungry

I gotta find it fast to keep me alive
Time is running out and I ain't found it yet
Time is running out and I ain't found it yet
And it's burnin' me
And it's burnin' me

There's a rumbly in my tumbly, and I've gotta make sure I'll have enough money to eat. I've got just over $50 to last me the next 10 days. That's $5 a day, maybe I could... Nope, I need at least $10, I think.

I don't think I'm being unreasonable, do you? I've given up breakfast already, and I'm fairly certain my stomach has shrunk. I'm lucky I eat healthy in the meals I do get, or else I'd get sick... I don't think I should have to ration myself. Especially now, during the run up to finals. I need fooooood..... ._.

So hungry.

How To Fly

I was watching Peter Pan, or rather, the Return To Neverland, on TV, and I decided that flying would be fun. Short on pixie dust, though, I have The next best thing right here.

Who's The Beatdown?

A while back there was a Magic strategy article written called Who's The Beatdown. Don't worry, this isn't an entirely Magic post, but it does relate to that topic. The article describes a concept that is today concidered almost basic, but at the time it was written it was revolutionary. In every game of Magic, one player is always in a control role and one player in "the beatdown". The winnner is going to be the player who correctly identifies his role and performs it best. While some decks are only fit to play one role, which is kind of limiting, but the best decks are the ones that can adapt to either role well.

So, I promised that this wouldn't be about Magic. What the hell am I talking about. I've found that I've spent a lot of time engaged in conversations comforting friends. For the purposes of my analogy, the person with some problem is the Beadown, and the person doing the consoling is the Control. Usually I find myself in a control role, trying my best to take people feel better. I guess I do well, but I can't help feeling guilty about how I do about it. I mostly go with the Socratic Method, asking them questions until I've gotten to the root of the problem, then when I can't dig any more, I start with a lengthy repitition of stuff like "It's okay," and telling them al how much I care about them (which I do, I'm not ever lying to them). I did that today while glancing back and forth at the end of Sports Night. I feel kinda guilty. I mean, I'm trying to help too... I dunno, should I feel guilty about multitasking?

And then, for all those friends worried about burdoning me too many problems, don't bother. I've been the Beatdown my own fair share of times, too. So I'm fine, thank you. ^_^ And to all my Control players out there, well... Thank you.

Happy Endings

Over the past week I may have told you that I've been watching Sports Night on my computer. It's a really good show. I just finished the last episode, and it made me feel so great, cuz in the series, at least, they finished with the threat that the show may get pulled off the air. I was a little sad when I got to the end of the series. I wanted to find out what would happen with Dana, and Casey, and Dan, and Natalie, and Jeremy, and everyone I'd fallen in love with over the course of the series.

I'm totally buying this on DVD.

Random Quote From Last Night

"The last time I got you a beard, you just played with the box."

Edit: I found this in a recent IGN preview of KHII:

"In the Lion King world, Sora appears in lion cub form. He attacks with a key blade and can use magic, but because he's without clothing in this form, he cannot use drive moves.

I'm telling you all, this is just more propoganda from the clothing-centric clothocracy. They're trying to keep the nudists down!

Why I Can't Get Any Work Done

A case study:

I'm sitting here, trying to finish my paper due at midnight. I'm a little over 2/3's done with it, still have a ways to go, but I'm confident I'll get it. Here's a few of the things keeping me from doing the work, though:

TriFrog77: Hello there! How are yoooou?!! XP
Effervescence 34: I ASKD YOU FIRST!
Effervescence 34: o_o
Effervescence 34: but i'm doing fine, thanks
TriFrog77: I'm doing fine =P
Effervescence 34: is there an echo in here?
TriFrog77: nah, its a library, shhh
Effervescence 34: oh my
TriFrog77: oh my
Effervescence 34: no, oh MY
Effervescence 34: not oh yours
Effervescence 34: no one ever says "oh yours"
Effervescence 34: and if they do they are stupid
Effervescence 34: and you'll note that I just said it twice
Effervescence 34: so what does that tell you?
Effervescence 34: o_0
TriFrog77: that you're stupid
TriFrog77: lmao
Effervescence 34: seems as if

TriFrog77: *melts*
Effervescence 34: o_o
Effervescence 34: FROSTY NO!!!
Effervescence 34: o_o
Effervescence 34: *puts you in the ice box
TriFrog77: MY HAT
Effervescence 34: *gives you your hat
Effervescence 34: there you go
TriFrog77: Oh my magic servives
Effervescence 34: it had better
Effervescence 34: we've got a lot more specials to make starring you
TriFrog77: yeas
Effervescence 34: Frosty meets The Easter Bunny
Effervescence 34: Frosty and the Magic of Haunuckah
Effervescence 34: Frosty learns about Kwanzah, then forgets it again.
Effervescence 34: Frosty vs Godzilla
TriFrog77: LOL
Effervescence 34: Frosty vs King Kong
Effervescence 34: and my favorite
Effervescence 34: Frosty vs King Kong vs Mecha Godzilla: Throw Down in the Land Down Under

Lennon says:
do you have an ipod?
Effervescence says:
no
Effervescence says:
u_u
Effervescence says:
i want one
Effervescence says:
my brother got one
Lennon says:
everyone has one
Effervescence says:
i don't
Lennon says:
like, literally
Effervescence says:
I have a minidisk player
Lennon says:
a year ago, 10 million ipods were sold
Effervescence says:
woot ghetto alternatives
Effervescence says:
wait, all at once?
Lennon says:
no
Lennon says:
like 7 million of them were
Lennon says:
now, it's going up and up
Lennon says:
apple is driving everyone out of the music player market
Lennon says:
by 2010, 95% of PC users will own ipods
Effervescence says:
what about mac users?
Lennon says:
well, right now 95% of mac users have ipods
Effervescence says:
ah
Lennon says:
so, by then, it'll probably stay the same
Effervescence says:
so how long until i can implant the ipod directly into my body?
Lennon says:
you'll be dead
Lennon says:
by then
Effervescence says:
i don't care
Effervescence says:
i need tunes in the afterlife
Effervescence says:
they don't play jpop in heaven
Lennon says:
there is no heaven
Effervescence says:
there is no hell, either
Lennon says:
I know
Effervescence says:
i learned that little tidbit from sports night

I love being an Internet clown.

Also, I wish I had a camera. A few weeks ago I saw my reflection in the mirror, and I now know where the image of the spikey haired youth protagonist from Japanese video games and anime comes from.

I Think I'm Doing It Wrong

I rinse, then I repeat, then I lather.

Yay showering. I like being in there. I get to think about random stupid things. Things like, how did Doctor Drakken's brainwashing shampoo "Lather, Rinse, Obey" make it past the FDA? o_0

I'm just sitting here in my undies, and I'm sure you all loved that image. ^_^

Something To Cheer You Up

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!

Urban Legends And Also The Regular Kind

I was looking through the Megatokyo forums and found this, and I'm ashamed to say I legitimately believed at least this claim:

"For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle.
The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace."

That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran.

I'm such a tool, cuz then I found this: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (Quran). Oh well.

Also, someone needs to check this out for me, too:

Open Microsoft Word and do the following:

1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.

2. Highlight the Q33 NY.

3. Change the font size to 48.

4. Change the actual font to WINGDINGS

It's supposed to do something, but I don't have Word, so I dunno.

In other news, you all should totally check out Jackie's and my new book club thingy. It's awesome. Go there. Now!

Isn't This Chick Hot?

If I'd never told you before, I have a wallpaper changer. I have it set to keep the current wallpaper until I tell it to switch, but if I wanted I could have it switch every hour, or half hour, or whenever. Here's the one it's set at right now:



Whenever this wallpaper pops up, I always keep it up for a while. I set my windows transparent and make sure I can see her through there. I've never seen her anywhere aside from this picture, and I can't even remember where I got this picture from and how it got into my main collection instead of the idols or regular hot chicks folders. I've just now added it to my "favorites" folder on the Changer program, which currently consists of 5 pictures. I think when I get it up to 10 I'll consider actually making that an automatically scrolling rotation, and switch out again when I'm bored of it.

I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I just really liked that picture. I guess I'm feeling kinda hazy about it. Here's the picture again, though, just cuz I like it that much.



Aint it pretty?

An Apple A Day

I had lunch today, and along with my usual selection of entree, 2 sides (at least one of which is green) and a glass of milk, I decided to end off with an apple for dessert. I can't really see myself as getting enough fruit in my diet. I get plenty of wheats, dairy, meat, and veggies, but not nearly enoguh fruits that I can tell. So I grabbed this apple, because that's really the only fruit I care for. Lemme tell you, this was the most delicious apple I felt like I'd ever eaten.

Then I remembered something I'd heard a while back. Babies, if they are allowed to pick their own foods over the course of a week, will balance their diets automatically. This is because you're tongue will naturally find foods containing nutrients you need tastier. As I was eating this apple, I felt as if it couldn't get any better unless my father had sliced it for me himself. Now, my father has many flaws, and I'm not going to go into them now because I have neither the time nor disposition, but I do have to give him at least this - whenever he would slice apples for my brothers and me, they were always just wonderful, and I loved them. (Possibly because even then I wasn't getting enough fruits in my diet.

Anyway, so this apple was really spectacular, and that leads me to believe that I need to be eating more of them. I'm getting an apple at dinner tonight.

I've still got that paper I told you about due. It's over violence in video gaming. The great thing about English 1301 is that each paper in a cycle really builds on the last. My first paper was 400 words describing a problem. The second was 800 words describing the problem and presenting a possible solution. Paper three in the "Problem solving" cycle is 1200 words describing a problem, presenting several solutions, evaluating them and eventually coming to a conclusion. If you were paying attention, you'll notice that really each of those papers is really the last paper, plus 400 new words about something. So, theoretically, I have 800 words written out, and I only need to slog in 400 more about another problem, or something. Unfortunately, I also need (it's not REQUIRED, but its one of those things they strongly reccomend, so it might as well be required) five sources cited in my paper. Do you think they'd mind if I took four of them from random gaming web sites? Anyway, I've really gotta rewrite the whole she-bang, so wish me luck.

Today is December 1st. I love this month, for many reasons. I like the weather. Snow is really fun, and I'm mildly disappointed that I don't get to play in it much more. I was, of course, born in this month (23 shopping days left till my birthday, people!), and there's Christmas. Part of that is simply me being greedy. There are two days right next to each other where I get a shit load of gifts, which is always nice. And the run up before it involves going out shopping for other people, and activity I also enjoy because I get to hint very un-subtly about what people should get me. But also, I really like being with family. I am very, very blessed to have a strong and loving family (on my mothers side at least), and sometimes I feel almost guilty that I know people who don't have the same blessings as me. I really wish I could share the way I felt with them. I guess the best I can do is wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Haunnukah, or whatever. Season's Greetings, everyone. This year I'll try to keep my good happy feeling going throughout the whole of 2006, too. ^_^

Also, today marks the two week mark until winter break for me. Two weeks from now, I will be back in Austin, relaxing with friends and family, or more likely scrambling to get everyone Christmas gifts before we depart to Murphresboro, Tennessee on the 22nd or so. One week until finals season, and despite me taking five classes this semester, I'm blessed with only having 3 exams that week, so I've got a pretty relaxing schedule ahead of me. Wish me luck anyway, though. I also, currently, have 67 dollars in my food account for school. I think that means that if I don't buy anything other than lunch and dinner at the university for the next few weeks, I'll squeak on by, and only starve on the weekends. X_X Again, wish me luck.

Okay, I'm gonna go read, I think. It's all part of my 12 step "Make Greg Better" program.

Step 1: Be happy.
Step 2: Eat right.
Step 3: Read more.
Step 4: Be with people you like.
Step 5: Finish steps 6-12

x_x

So long!