Thursday, December 07, 2006

December Post

This month:

  • Food! Roasted Chicken & Tilapia Dish
  • FFXII: The good and the bad
  • Updated links: Welcome to Blogger P-chan!
  • Babylon 5, Day of the Dead ep by Neil Gaiman
  • Webcomics: Elf-chan.
  • Cromartie! The Movie
  • MA stuff. Presentations and essay titles. First half will be over soon.

-*-

First I will apologize for staying out of contact for a while; Firefox 2 has not been working properly on Stacey's computer, which is the one I use to update, and well... Talk Talk (Internet company) hasn't been great anyway.

Food! Roasted Chicken & Tilapia Dish

Some people have asked me what the hell I eat here in England... well, for you curious people, I've taken a couple of pictures from a couple of dishes I cook over here...

The first dish has become a favourite of mine and Stacey and any guests that happen to be there when I make it (and for those who haven't, it will.)


Simple Roast Chicken with some herbs ;)

The second dish I have for you today is Tilapia in Lemon-butter sauce. I cooked this a couple of times for my family back home...




FFXII: The good and the bad

Final Fantasy XII is an amazing and damnably addictive game. I won't repeat what P-chan has already said about the game but here's my own rant:

The story itself is really well thought and developed. There is some resonance with Star Wars (Besides Biggs and Wedge who ALSO appear in this game as Imperialists in Nalbina fortress) The huge amount of references to all previous FF games make it a really enjoyable experience for those of us that have played them all or at least most of them, but again, it doesn't rely to heavily on them for the appeal. I will not mention the similarities it has with FFXI since I haven't played that one and any claims would be stuff I heard from third parties.

My main complain would be the Quickenings, which are overpowered attacks to the nth power... to put it bluntly, a level 13 character can blast into pieces a lvl 30 monster with one of those... heck Summons are not that powerful.

On the Summon note, their new take on their personalities is also a good reason to play this game...

Updated links: Welcome to Blogger P-chan!

So you've had your blog for a while... :P sorry, just updated the link!

Babylon 5, Day of the Dead ep by Neil Gaiman

Watching B5 again I finally noticed (rather belatedly) that Neil Gaiman wrote the script for "Day of the Dead" episode of said series. No wonder it was one of my favourites. It also proves that I should pay more attention. ¬_¬

Webcomics: Elf-chan

So, Elf is going to start her own webcomic and I'm doing some promotion for it.. :p Check it. The link is on the sidebar.

Cromartie! The Movie...

And speaking of comics (or Manga) and Anime, Cromartie the Movie is an amazing piece of work, I should have told JCS that I had it before they showed Uzumaki (Which is CRAP as a film. The Manga is so amazingly good that you want to cry when you see what they did to it in the Live Action version.... it is not Horror it is a crappy comedy.)



MA stuff. Presentations and essay titles. First half will be over soon.

On the MA side, next week will be the last week of the first half of the Degree. I have to think essay titles and start writing for delivery on January, since I haven't got a steady job yet it is going to be an interesting Christmas....

On that note, I will do another post before the end of the year, on Christmas. See you then!


Test stolen from Hikari's blog...







Thursday, November 02, 2006

November Post

This month:

Rant: State of Affairs
Books: Science Fiction
Friends: Communication
Drinks: Absinthe

The Current State of Affairs

So this is the first post on the actual "Monthly" post proposition. I hope this makes it better and easier, knowing that the actual posts will come on the first week of each month, rather than having to check to see if there's anything new.

Just to have everyone know what's going on I will cover it now.

I am still in England. I am doing an MA in Children's Literature that means, it is a Literature course, which requires Literary Essays, it is not a "Write for Children Course" which you would still fail, Mandi, given your writing skills and just how little you actually understand of what writing implies and how bad you take constructive critisism. But, I digress.

This MA will finish in June, after which I still have to decide what to do exactly. There are general plans, but as common sense dictates it is not advisable to leave it hanging in the air until the last moment.

I am enjoying my lectures and course very much, studying the history of Children's Literature, the various Literary theories of analysis (that don't really exist as such in the American Continent) and learning about the intricancies of Childen's Literature in Translation.

Ross, Stacey, Becky, Sam and I have started RAGS (Roehampton Adventurer's Guild) which is the RPG Society for all intents and purposes. Currently I am DMing a Dungeons And Dragons 3.5 adventure, and waiting for my players for a Vampire: The Masquerade session that I will also Story-tell. I am also playing a character in a Legend of the Five Rings campaign. I am in no hurry about the Roleplaying though, which is good as it doesn't interfere at all with my actual work.

I am planning to enter a couple of contests for writers in January, so I will keep you posted on that.

We (Stacey and I) have had some trouble with our flatmate, Miranda. In my opinion it boils down to two main issues:

a) the bad care she has for her Rats.

and b) That she never compromises or is willing to talk about what the problem is, and the worst thing is, she complains about what a bad week she's had if we bring it up.

Now she has said that she wants to leave, leaving us with a 1 year contract. But then, she doesn't want to leave now. We don't know what the hell she intends to do or not. And it is very annoying.

I'm not saying that we are the perfect flatmates. I am not implying that we are the cleanest beings in the world. I am not pretending that we don't leave plates in the kitchen for probably longer than advisable without cleaning them... but we DO clean them.

She thinks we bully her or that we are not her friends. But the fact is that I am dissapointed by her and the reason I am is because I considered her my friend. Otherwise I would not give a flying fuck.

Anyway, Miranda, if you read this and wonder why I actually said it here, let me point it out for you. I don't say things about people that I wouldn't say to their faces. All of my friends know this; Ripton, Ross, Sam, Stacey, Elf, Luis, Omar, etc... if I have a problem with them I will tell them and face the music. However, you Miranda, are NEVER AROUND for me to say any of this to you, so there it is. If you insist I will remove this, but bear this in mind: We HAVE tried to amend things, we HAVE shown interest in coming to a resolution, and the only thing we got in return was your contempt.

Anyway, as you can see, not all is going perfect, but thankfully there are enough good things floating around to make up for the misery some people insist on perpetrating on others.

Books

Fabulous Riverboat by Phillip Jose Farmer, Amazon.co.uk; Amazon.com

This book is amazingly well written and it is a cornerstone of Science Fiction. With more than a bit of Fantasy into it, it is kind of similar to the classic SF rather than the more modern, more technical approach that we find today.

In this book, interesting historical characters meet, such as Odysseus, Mark Twain, King John and Mozart. This is the second book of the Riverworld Trilogy. Highly recomended.

Ender's Shadow Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com; Shadow of the Hegemon Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com; Shadow Puppets Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com; Shadow of the Giant Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com By Orson Scott Card

For those fortunate enough to have read Ender'sGame, Xenoside and so on, Orson Scott Card has wrote a new compelling series in the Enderverse. Starting with Ender's Shadow, this is the story of Bean and several of the other characters from Battle School that joined Ender in the last battle with the Formics. I know at least one of my friends has read Ender's Game, and when we talked about it we found just how diverse the interests in it can be; from the political to the technological, to the philosophical, Ender's Game is a gem, and this sequel series is completely enjoyable even on it's own.

I still have to read "Shadow of the Giant" but can otherwise vouch for the other three.

Brothers Grimm

Not the destroyers of Folktales as some people think...

It has come to my attention that the Brothers Grimm are not the ones that "adapted" fairy tales to be more children-friendly, rather all they did was gather stories from around Europe, and compile them.

It was actually the translators of such texts (notably the French) that adapted them, not for children, but for the court, changing small details, adding things and adding Christian references to stories that didn't need them.

Sadly, most of these Fairy tales would have dissappeared if they hadn't been "sanctified" by adding the word "God", as the very pagan and magical nature of fairy tales would be offensive to the sensitivities of God-fearing, Church-going fundamentalists.

The original Grimm records include all the blood, gore and sexual innuendo that you can hope for in the original stories.

Friends

Getting in Contact with friends can be sometimes more complicated than expected... MSN, Skype, Emails... what to use? And what if you're not using your computer for a couple of reasons? Is it fair to randomly install programs to do so? I know some friends don't use MSN Messenger for their own reasons, and I respect that even if it is annoying not to be able to contact them otherwise.

To be honest, I miss my friends. I've always thought they are the best influence in my life. They sometimes inspire me, sometimes challenge me to be better, sometimes annoy me and sometimes make me realize some truth about life or myself that I hadn't even considered. It is hard to be away from so many of them and only be able to see them a couple of times in the few months I've been back, and even then, not being able to see all of them.

I'm trying, along with reviving this blog with the monthly updates to somehow keep in touch with everyone. And I am glad to have heard from some of them lately.




Drinks: Absinthe

Tastes like crap when mixed with water... who's idea was that anyway? It is simply stupid.

Blame it on the French again!

Absinthe tastes better when you put the spoon with the sugar-cube, pour Absinthe on it to mix it with the sugar and fill your glass (well, not FILL to capacity, just a shot or so) and then set it on fire. THAT is good. Especially when the sugar starts melting and falls into the glass, setting the absinthe inside on fire too. Yummy.

While the Wikipidea article about it is informative, it is heavilly censored into what and how it was originally drank, which is the method I mentioned above... although it is said that Lord Byron had his absinthe like that while "Chasing the Dragon" there is only so much I will do in pursue of fun.

***

Anyway, this is it for now, see you soon!

-Nya

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Alive

As of today I have decided to post ONCE A MONTH until further notice. I am in the process of writing the actual post for this month, but it might not come until the end of the week. I well then proceed to write on the first week of the month. I'm not up to daily or even weekly updates yet and I don't expect to be for some time. Maybe until I finish my MA. However, I think it would be a shame for this method of comunication with my friends and interested people to go under due to negligence.

Please forgive me for taking so long, it has been my loss to shy away from it and miss your possible coments, reassurances or word-edge slaps in the face for saying something stupid, so, if you're still out there, I hope to see you around.

And just for the heck of it I stole another Test from Elf's Blog...

-D














Spellsword

51% Combativeness, 40% Sneakiness, 82% Intellect, 41% Spirituality

Aggressive, but with the brains to back it up: You are a Spellsword!


Score! You have a prestige class. A prestige class can only be taken after you’ve fulfilled certain requirements. This may mean that you're an exceptionally talented person, but it probably doesn't.


Spellswords combine arcane might with combat know-how. They're much tougher than mages, like to wear armor, and can cast spells through their weapons. They're very, very, good at doing lots of damage to a single target very quickly, and while not quite as tough as most fighters, are still pretty hard to kill.


You're both smart and aggressive, which means that you're probably pretty dangerous when pissed off. You also tend to be somewhat straightforward, which is nice, and don’t have much use for spirituality or mysticism.

















My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Combativeness
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Sneakiness
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Intellect
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Spirituality




Link: The RPG Class Test written by MFlowers on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Mexico!

Yes I'm here. In Mexico.

I came to find that one of the most beautiful avenues in the World, once compared to the Champs-Élysées in France, the Paseo de la Reforma has been overwhelmed by a group of idiots numbering in the thousands if not millions, who are being actually PAID to be there with the money from the city. And why, you might ask? Well, simple. Their "Leader" didn't get elected as president, and now he's throwing a fit.
He's now trying to pick a fight with the army. I think he wants bloodshed so that people will start another revolution. What an asshole. Their only objective so far has been to destroy things, avoid direct confrontation, insult people's sense of smell and everything they percieve as better than themselves (which it normally is, including blades of grass.) One of my favorite fantasies is hail the size of golf balls raining down on all those idiots for a couple of hours. It's not even about democracy, it's about the ego of Lopez Obrador may he go to hell to be ass-rapped by imps.

Anyway, the image above was taken without permission from http://www.stormgasm.com they have some cool videos and pictures there, be sure to visit.

***

On other news, I had a great time in Bilbao and Santander, and I have to thank one of my friends, Jose Luis, for helping us get an amazing tour of the city, with history and anecdotes included. Not to mention the food! Oh Gods, the FOOD! Amazing stuff. If anytime, anyone wants to go to Santander with me we're going to eat there.

And here in Mexico I have been able to get in touch with my friends!

Nya!

Monday, July 31, 2006

Graduated!

Well, yes...

I admit! I was the one commenting on how other people didn't update! Of course, I HAD internet at my disposition back then, so it was easier to say that! :P

Anyway, so, several things have happened, but most importantly I feel, is the fact that I have graduated from my University Course and now I hold a BA in Creative Writing! Bwahahahahaha!

I will post more about this eventually when I can upload images. At this moment I am in a hotel in Bilbao (Spain) so I can't really do it, but as soon as I can I will.



-Nya!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Eurovision


Heh. For the last three years I have avoided willing contact with the Eurovision contest, mainly because it is normally nothing more than light pop songs and crappy singing... but this year...

Well, I took a look at the news the day before and it turns out that the Finnish Hard Rock Band, LORDI (really cool website, btw. More INFO HERE.) was going to participate. Now, I won't lie. I didn't know who they were, or that they existed, but I was up for them the moment I saw them. :) I was also slightly biased towards them when I heard some people couldn't believe that they were allowed to participate when they were clearly Demon-worshipers...

Which of course they are not and they have made an effort to point out, but were ignored, as is always the case with controversy, organized religion leaders -who have a reputation for being thick-headed simpletons- that see anything as an affront and danger to their groups and make extremely obvious and miserably usless attempts to stop it. (Which, much to my amusement ends up having the opposite effect and makes many more people take interest. For example the Da Vinci Cra- Code wouldn't have gotten ANYWHERE on its own without the constant nagging of the Catholic Church. It's a wonder that being banned from the world of books it wasn't sponsored by Pepsi...)

There was even this Greek group called "The Hellenes" who wrote to the President of Finland to stop Lordi from going.

Anyway, Finland WON :) and by FAR with 294 points. As for Lordi... I'm buying their records. Their music is actually quite good, they deserved to win.


Hard Rock Hallelujah
original English lyrics

music & lyrics: Mr Lordi
arrangement: Lordi
performer: Lordi

Hard Rock Hallelujah!
Hard Rock Hallelujah!

The saints are crippled
On this sinners’ night
Lost are the lambs with no guiding light

The walls come down like thunder
The rocks about to roll
It’s the Arockalypse
Now bare your soul

All we need is lightning
With power and might
Striking down the prophets of false
As the moon is rising
Give us the sign
Now let us rise up in awe

Rock ’n roll angels bring thyn hard rock hallelujah
Demons and angels all in one have arrived
Rock ’n roll angels bring thyn hard rock hallelujah
In God’s creation supernatural high

The true believers
Thou shall be saved
Brothers and sisters keep strong in the faith
On the day of Rockoning
It’s who dares, wins
You will see the jokers soon’ll be the new kings

All we need is lightning
With power and might
Striking down the prophets of false
As the moon is rising
Give us the sign
Now let us rise up in awe

Rock ’n roll angels bring thyn hard rock hallelujah
Demons and angels all in one have arrived
Rock ’n roll angels bring thyn hard rock hallelujah
In God’s creation supernatural high

Wings on my back
I got horns on my head
My fangs are sharp
And my eyes are red
Not quite an angel
Or the one that fell
Now choose to join us or go straight to Hell

Hard Rock Hallelujah!
Hard Rock Hallelujah!
Hard Rock Hallelujah!
Hard Rock Hallelujah!

Rock ’n roll angels bring thyn hard rock hallelujah
Demons and angels all in one have arrived
Rock ’n roll angels bring thyn hard rock hallelujah
In God’s creation supernatural high

Hard Rock Hallelujah!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Da Vinci Code... a failure.

A good way to wake up in the morning is to check the news and find out THIS. (I will save the article to put it up later if they take it off.)

My favourite quote "Thus book's detractors will no doubt be comforted to hear that when Hanks reveals who is supposedly the last surviving descendant of Jesus, the Cannes audience couldn't hold back their laughter."

There is also THIS article, which is funnier, and was pointed out to me by Stacey.

It opens up like this: "CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - For those who hate Dan Brown's best-selling symbology thriller "The Da Vinci Code," the eagerly awaited and much-hyped movie version beautifully exposes all its flaws and nightmares of logic."

In the words of old Stan Lee... 'Nuff said.

I mean, I will NOT go into just how much the book sucks. I have to say though, people that thought is was "revealing", "deep" or "polemic" ought to start reading real books.

Oh, yeah. And Dan Brown knows SHIT about religious symbolism. And for those that think he does, again, read more. And also take into account, for the few bits that he got right... he got them 1/3 right.

-Nya!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Been a while...

So I took my sweet time to update. However, these are the last three weeks of Uni, and I have to give in a shit-load of work by the end of the month! But then, I graduate! :)

Monday, April 24, 2006

Catherine Willows is a Bitch

Catherine Willows is a Bitch. :p

She hates almost anything Mexican, and through 6 Seasons of CSI she remains being self-absorbed and using her daughter as a trading card for simpathy. I know flaws make characters interesting, but this woman has no redeeming feature.

Opinions?

St. George's Day

So, Saint George's Day. I find St. George's legend somewhat interesting. Here's the LEGEND bit from Wikipedia (you can find the whole thing, including historical facts, by clicking HERE):

The tale found its place in the folk religion of several regions of Europe and Asia Minor, and accounts may vary based on local tradition.

The tale begins with a dragon making its nest at the spring which provides a city-state with water. Consequently, the citizens had to temporarily remove the dragon from its nest in order to collect water. To do so, they offered the dragon a daily human sacrifice. The victim of the day was chosen by drawing lots. Eventually the "winner" of this lottery happened to be the local princess. The local Monarch is occasionally depicted begging for her life with no result. She is offered to the dragon but at this point a travelling George arrives. He faces the dragon, slays it and saves the princess. The grateful citizens then abandon their ancestral Paganism and convert to Christianity.

The account used to be considered factual but this belief has been progressively abandoned. On the other hand few doubt it contains religious symbolism but various interpretations have been suggested. George can be seen as representing Christianity. In both the Christianized Physiologus and the bestiaries of the 9th through 13th centuries, the dragon is a consistent symbol of Satan. Similarly, in traditional Judaic and early Christian allegory and exegesis, both the serpent (with the vast serpent being a dragon) and leviathan represent Satan. George's victory over the dragon, therefore, has been read allegorically as the victory of Christianity (riding the white horse of the Church Universal) over Satan. Indeed, as late as the 17th century, Edmund Spenser would use the story of George in that manner.

However, secular historians consider the roots of the story to be older than Christianity itself. They note that the origin of the saint is said to be partly from Cappadocia in Asia Minor, and that Asia Minor was among the earliest regions to adopt the popular veneration of the saint. The region had long venerated other religious figures. These historians deem it likely that certain elements of their ancient worship could have passed to their Christian successors. Notable among these ancient deities was Sabazios, the Sky Father of the Phrygians and known as Sabazius to the Romans. This god was traditionally depicted riding on horseback. The iconic image of St. George on horseback trampling the serpent-dragon beneath him is considered to be similar to these pre-Christian representations of Sabazios[1]. So a number of secular historians have suggested that St. George has served as a christianised version of the older deity.

On the other hand, the tale of George and the Dragon is widely considered among secular historians to share a common theme with the ancient Greek myth of Ethiopian princess Andromeda and her saviour and later husband Perseus, slayer of the gorgon Medusa. According to this myth, Perseus beheaded Medusa and George his Dragon in a shared theme of decapitation. Perseus' meeting with Andromeda was placed in her native Ethiopia. In several versions, George meets his Dragon in Libya (North Africa west of Egypt). Both locales can be interpreted to represent distant chthonic kingdoms of magic. The saving of the king's daughter is another shared theme as is the reward-bargain exacted by the respective hero of the stories: Possession of the princess for Perseus and the mass baptism of the king's subjects for George.

Another idea is that Saint George is an alternative manifestation of St Michael, the archangel and captain of the heavenly host.

Saint George's history could be considered an example of Princess and dragon Fairy tales.

Coincidentally, a dragon is an ancient symbol of Wales, conquered by England (King Edward I).

A comic book, Aliens vs. Predator Annual #1, retold the story with the "dragon" of the legend revealed to be a Yautja, or Predator.

Aside those observations, Brian Bates, author of "The Real Middle Earth" also notes that the Christian version of the legend was also a convinient way of converting pagans to Christianity by converging all the "evil" aspects they were trying to erradicate into a "slayable" monster. That the deeper meaning of the Dragon in the ancient Celtic traditions was lost on them is also mentioned.

Another interesting thing to observe (as pointed out to me) is George's legend as compared to that of the Minotaur, and its many resemblances.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

So the Easter Holidays are concluding with some more examples of certain people’s stupidity.

Before I carry on, let me state that I do not believe every single Christian out there to be an idiot. In fact, one of the most intelligent people I know happens to be a Christian, and I consider him not only a reasonable individual, but a very good friend. The people I criticize happen to be either a bit too Fundamentalist, downright fanatical, and/or stupid. Sadly they move in packs and give the sensible Christians a bad name.

The Roehampton Christian Union (RCU- what is it with “Union” instead of “Society”? United for a common Goal? Or against a common Enemy?) plagued the whole University with posters asking “Who moved the Stone?” they put posters wherever they desired (regardless of the fact that some places were prohibited, or that they shouldn’t use TACKS on TREES) and chased people around asking the question again and again not taking “I don’t care” as an answer. I wasn’t interviewed or asked, so I couldn’t give any witty response such as “Roman Grave Robbers?” oh, yeah, and they also “hosted” a meeting for “anyone” interested in the “Differences between Muslim and Christian Religion” which translated into: “We are right, they are terrorists and completely wrong and while we cannot prove this fact we will pretend that we know what we are talking about and rant about it and not let anyone else talk.”

While on their own, the events themselves might prove to be not only interesting, but provide opportunity for discussion and cooperative understanding, the fact that the RCU is composed mainly of people that declare everyone that doesn’t agree with them heathens and unworthy and servants of the devil makes the whole thing nothing but an escape-hole for people who are unsure of their own values, religion, faith and knowledge of their own roots to bash on other religions and people with the knowledge that everyone else in the room is as lost and just as pig-headed as they are.

These events should have been held by the Hindu Society; or the Asian Society; or the Philosophy Society, or the Human Rights Society... why? Well simply because they would have rather tried to understand the truth about both groups rather than dispense their version of it.

And speaking of Societies, we’re starting the Role Playing Society, which should be interesting. Again, everyone will be invited to join. It will also prove an interesting experience.

Anyway, here’s some good examples to make extremists think...

"AIDS CURES SODOMY"

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Posts

Besides Erin, Hikari and Jenny, sometimes I feel like I'm the only one posting kinda regularly, and that is not saying much. ^_^'
Elf, who is also a regular blog-updater is having a good time in some beach, so no news from her.

But what about everyone else? Shun has began updating. In fact, he has some really interesting posts, including one of a conference with Stephen Hawkings :) Although I had to explain a few bits and pieces to him when he talked about it.

Quasi's is priceless, cause I KNOW he has internet. And the last post, made on the 14th of January, says:

My blog has been dead recently.

WELL NO MORE
Which I find very amusing.

Come on, Quasi! Lots of things have happened to you lately!

And where is Kaput? I know your lady demands time and she deserves it man, but a few news? Come on!

And I haven't heard anything from Joy.

FURS

Today Stacey and I went to the Londonfurs Meeting for the first time ever. It was a new experience and we met some interesting people. We ended up having dinner and talking with a couple of them; Spike and Jazz. Pretty cool furs. Ate lots of sushi. Niiiice.

We also had a chance to talk to a lot of others, more than ten, whose names I really can't remember, other than Graff and Shep, basically, and there was this guy who had a gettup that screamed BAT, without being an actuall fur-suit. Really cool. He and I talked about the novel "Silverwing" and its sequels for a bit.



-Nya!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

RENT

I just went to watch the Movie/Musical with Stacey. I seriously recommend it. It's probably not as enjoyable for those whose English understanding is helped by subtitles, but otherwise it is amazing. I haven't seen the original Broadway Production yet, but I will definetly go whenever I get the chance.

Anyway, go watch it! NOW.

Updated Blog Links

Well, I updated the links. Added Nullrand's, Stacey's, P-chan's and Hikari-chan's blogs! Who else out there has a blog?

Friday, April 07, 2006

Updated

Well, I've updated the links... (about f'n time too).

Don't have much to say or rant about. My only complaint so far is to the Christians that just will not admit that Easter originated from something OTHER than Christianism; like many other parts of their religion, it was there before Christ. I'm sorry. Understand, just because something doesn't originate from where you want it to doesn't mean it should be less important. It means what it means to YOU, that should be enough regardless of where it came from, so, please, stop the nonsense of telling me it's a 100% Christian originated practice and that I am not allowed to celebrate it in my own Pagan ways.

On that note, the Easter hollidays have begun over here, and Jenny and I are planning to visit Shun in Cambridge. Yay to us! It's just a one day thing, but I think it will be pretty fun.

As for Digimon Savers and Digimon Next... so far so cool! First episode was niiiice. Haven't had a chance to see ".hack root" even in RAW, but I'm sure it's going to prove interesting.

Animes I'm watching at the moment:
Blood+
Digimon Savers
Zipang


As soon as they come out I get my hands on them :p

Reading from monday this week:

Cell by Steven King - Finished
The Summons (Return of the Archwizards Book 1) by Troy Denning - Finished
The Siege (Return of the Archwizards Book 2) by Troy Denning - Finished (Sunday 09 April)

Thursday, March 30, 2006

DIGIMON!

So, starting next month, "Digimon Savers" will start airing in Japan, and the US guys will not buy the license until 2007! THANK THE GODS.
Larios, if you EVER read this blog, or in fact, Damian or Santo, if you guys see him... ask him for my Digimon VHS! He has them all!
It has been a while since the last Digimon anime, the games keep on comming, but the anime seemed stagnant after the "Digimon X" CGI movie, which wasn't that bad but could have been better, I think.
Now Wolfpack has valiantly strode forth along with SD Project to subtitle the series. Now, I don't know much about SD, but Wolfpack has a tendency to start and not finish their projects, which is very annoying. Hopefully, but unlikely, this time will be different. Another ray of hope comes in the form of the THIRD group of subbers to subtitle the trailer and with a promising calling card by the name of "With the Will". I hope they do have the will as it is, since Digimon series normally range on the 50+ eps.

The main characters (besides the humans, who for once are now Highschool students) are: Agumon, Gaomon and Lalamon. This gives us a Triunvirate of characters much like Digimon Tamers, most likely a few more "Trainers/Savers/Digidestined" or whatever they will be called in this one will appear much deeper into the series. That's good. They learnt the error of their ways with Digimon 02 and too many characters. The 5+ formula only worked once well... in "Digimon Adventure" that's it.
Anyway, we all know Agumon (although this Agumon in particular seems to be much more of a brawler than previous incarnations) and he is the lead character's Digimon. But so far as character design I particularly like Gaomon. This mutt looks like someone took V-mon, an SD version of Renamon, a red bandana and some boxing gloves and threw them into a blender, activated the thing and poured the resulting puree into a mold, let it simmer and take shape and out came Gaomon. Ok, that was rather gross, but seriously, this guy looks cool. Heck, his partner looks like a 16 year old Matt.

On other news, there's also the next release in the .Hack series. Following the first series, the videogames, the OVAs, the manga and the second series comes ".Hack Roots" it looks... well. Pretentious. At least in the Trailer. That won't stop me from watching it though. :p

-Nya!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Finally!

I was finally able to transform the Mini-DV films of the Stand Up Comedy night at the Laughing Horse into a DVD! Now I only need to contact the other comedians to get some money back from them! :P

Monday, March 13, 2006

On the day, that I was born...

So, I was born today... most people think it was actually on the 15th, but truth is, that was just an easier date to celebrate my Birthdays. I was born on March the 13th, 1980. And here in Britain it is already the 13th. In any case, here I am, 26 now.

I wouldn't be here though, if it wasn't for many people, my family, for example, but there were several people that affected my life... and that includes every single one of my friends, even the ones that I have lost contact with or become distanced from, some who might not even remember me, some I haven't seen for about 20 years already. For good, and bad, for a little while, or a long time, you guys were there. There's so many of you to thank individually and in as much detail as I would like, and thank you properly, for everything, I can't, but I remember you:

Armando, Amilcar, Aca, Alejandra, Alfredo Salim, Arturo (Chino), Arturo (Intertrack), Betty, Becky, Bau, Damian, David, David Stone, Derek, Diana, Emma, Eduardo Callejas, Ed, Elfie, Erick & Iaquimi Kobayashi, Erick Hernandes, Erin, Fernando, Guillermo, Gustavo, Gerry, Hector Haro, Hector Garzidueñas, Hector (Antybody), Humberto, Hikari-chan, Hugo & Daniel Camou, Helena, Itzel, Ivan, Iker, Jose Luis Genel, Jose Luis (Ikki), Juan (El Juez), Juan Pablo, Jose, Jesus Zurita, Jenny, Joy, Julio (Kroup), Jorge Pratt, Jose Manuel, Jessie, Karla, Kat, Kuko, Kaori, Kiana, Luis (Kaput), Lawrence Dickens, Larios, Miguel Puente, Mizuki, Michael, Omar (Shalom), Omar Sosol, Pako Puente, Pepe Puente, Pablo (si, tu), Rafael Tello, Rolando, Ross, Ripton, Stacey, Shun Kobayashi, Sam, Salvador (El Santo), Santiago Montoya, Sandy, Tuli, Tere, Toño, Vyaney, Yukina...

Guys, you have had an influence in my life, helped me discover things about myself that I liked, and some that I didn't like. I owe much to you. So, even those of you that are not here right now, I do have all of you in mind and I do remember you. Thanks for everything.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Predictions...

Since it came up that a lot of people actually believe despite evidence that the frase: "Something Wicked This Way Comes" originates from Harry Potter, I have decided to have another rant about HP.

But this time, rather than pointing out my dislikes or likes about the HP series, the HP Hardcore Fanatics that call people Muggles, or the intelligence and actual writing ability of J.K. Rowling, I have decided to just... predict the points of the next book and several issues that were left behind.

Please note that, unlike MOST HP Fans that criticise other people's work (like Pratchet's) without ever reading a word he's written, I HAVE read all of the HP books so far, so don't give me shit about "not knowing" what I'm talking about.

So here are my 8 predictions for Book Seven of the Harry Potter series.

  1. Hoggwarts will be the house of the Resistance, possibly a gathering place for Harry's lot to get together and plan to possibly: a) go look for the missing Harry. b) Plan an attack on Voldemort without telling Harry. c) Gather with him to plan the attack.
  2. During Bill and Fleur's wedding there IS going to be an attack by the baddies.
  3. The NEWTs will be as pathetic a test as the OWLS.
  4. There will be the final, climactic confrontation between Harry and Voldemort. In which both will die and most likely will be revealed that Dumbledore didn't even die in the first place. (Rowling did say that she wouldn't write more fantasy books after the HP series, so, in her ever so astounding array of unexpected twists.. he'll die.
  5. The character Rowling was talking about when she said that "A non-magical character will perform magic in 'desperate circumstances.'" will be one of the Dursely's. Rowling says that Petunia will NEVER perform magic. We shall see.
  6. Sirius Black will pull a Mufasa/Simba moment.
  7. Wormtail will pull a Wormtongue/Saruman moment.
  8. Harry will learn why Snape is as he is and that he is trully not bad and that he saved Dumbledore's life by shooting him.
So, that's it. We'll see what happens when the book comes out, but like with all previous six, I can predict one thing for sure: it will not impress me either.

Something I found...
Why I hate Harry Potter

-Nya!

Friday, February 24, 2006

Update

Work, work, work.

Not that I have too much work, mind. I have lots of free time. I have to make something of that time though! I don't mind a routine too much, but I also don't cherish the thought of doing the exact same thing at the exact same time every day until the end of the semester. So, I have decided to look up some courses (extracurricular) or maybe go to the gym a couple of days a week. I still remember that a Doctor told me that my back pains would be eased by proper excercise, so I guess I won't lose anything if I give it a try. :p

Right now I'm working on a Detective story, I won't be able to post it here, but, when I finish it, I'll send it to those interested.

Anyway, hopefully I will update again soon.

-Nya!

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Well, about a week or so ago we roleplayed D&D again. I had one of THOSE days when you always seem to rol a 1 despite just how absurd it is for it to happen more than 2 times in less than an hour. While it was the subject of much amusement from the others it was annoying. Heh.

Anyway, I have talked about Role Playing here, but I have never really delved deeper into the meaning of Good roleplaying vs Bad Roleplaying and what Roleplaying actually is. As instruction material I would reccomend Commissioned Comic. Most important, besides the comic itself, are O's comments and blog.

Anyway, here's some hints. Wikipedia defines roleplaying as:


A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. Gameplay progresses according to a predetermined system of rules and guidelines, within which players may improvise freely. Player choices shape the direction and outcome of role-playing games.

Role-playing games are typically more collaborative and social than competitive. A typical role-playing game unites its participants into a single team that adventures as a group. A role-playing game rarely has winners or losers. This makes role-playing games fundamentally different from board games, card games, sports and most other types of games. Like novels or films, role-playing games appeal because they engage the imagination.

Computer games incorporating gameplay mechanics from role-playing games are referred to as computer role-playing games, or CRPGs. Due to the popularity of CRPGs, the terms "role-playing game" and "RPG" have both to some degree been co-opted by the computer gaming industry; as a result, traditional non-digital pastimes of this sort are increasingly being referred to as pen and paper role-playing games (PnP RPG or PPRPG) or tabletop role-playing games (TTRPG).

Now. The basic concept of Role Playing is explained above. Online RPGs (such as forums, choose your own adventure-types, online chats) are much more different than the Pen and Paper RPGs which is the one I play and I will be reffering to through this post, and again, it works differently from LARPS (Live Action Role Playing Games).

The books. Well, I have heard several people tell me that they don't really role-play because whenever they see the books, such as the "Player's Handbook" they grow discouraged by the amount of pages it contains. Let me put it this way.
There are several ways to understand RPGs. Here are a few...
You can sit down and read the books.
You can sit down and play and learn the rules through practice.
You can sit down, have a coffee, and talk it over with someone that has actually played before.
You can sit down and observe a gaming session.

To be honest my opinion is that all of them are important. I have been told I am a pretty good roleplayer (ok, so I am a great role-player) but I have NEVER in more than 12 years of roleplaying read ANY core book from cover to cover in one sit. I learnt by playing with more experienced people, by observation, by talking. I borrowed the books, and looked into them.

Some people complain when a player or Dungeon Master (DM), or Storyteller gets into the books to check a detail. Why complain? It's not about sticking to the rules, it's about having fun. More often than not the DM will just do what advances the story more efficiently or help the players have more fun.

That has to do with the Dinamic of the game. If you have all agreed to play Vampire: The Masquerade in a serious, dark context, fall into character and play like so. Keep aside jokes to the minimum. But, if it is a relaxed, let's have fun game, 70% of the time might be spent making snide remarks to other players and get answered, "Well, who rolled the 1 and dropped the scimitar on his foot?" It's all in good humor.

Another thing that I have seen, sadly lots of times and even recently, in some players that claim to have a certain experience, is that they role-play ALL and I mean ALL their characters EXACTLY the same way. Hint: Remember, everyone might be hearing your normal voice, but in their minds, and to their characters eyes, it is SOMEONE ELSE that is doing the actions or saying the things.

Your character is another, completely different person. What you know, even what you consider common sense, might be something completely usless or unknown to your character. No two characters should be exactly the same. Particularly if you are playing more than one setting and more importantly if the settings are completely different, you are playing a different species and/or sex.

Anyway, I'll leave you with a couple of tests and some links you can check to find more about Role Playing.

-Nya!

This first test I answered with Akasha Sunhorn in mind, since the type of answer would depend completely on the character.




Find your Role-Playing
Stereotype
at mutedfaith.com.


This other, for example is the result with my character "Ryan" from a Final Fantasy VI RPG I played a few years ago. It completely fits her! :p




Find your Role-Playing
Stereotype
at mutedfaith.com.




Your
Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
CategoryYour ScoreAverage
Hacklust50%
Will kill for XP
53.5%
Sensitive Roleplaying20.25%
All the game's your stage
54.6%
GM Experience68.84%
Ran a module once or twice
69.5%
Systems Knowledge86.86%
Played in a couple of campaigns
90.4%
Livin' La Vida Dorka60.92%
Goes nuts on the weekends
63.3%
You are 61.86% pure
Average Score: 68.8%


LINKS:

Wikipedia (You know what Wikipedia is.)
White Wolf (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, etc.)
Wizards of the Coast (Dungeons and Dragons, Forgotten Realms, Alternity, etc.)

Monday, February 06, 2006

Saint Seiya!

Is it already 16 years since we saw this TV series in Mexico? Seems like a long time, but yet, the memories of the series that brought so many people into Anime, and accompanied many of my generation's younger years and taught us so many things, among them the "never give up your dreams and hopes" lesson -for those that chose to listen- remains clear in my mind.
True, it was recently butchered by American dubbing and worse; editing, when taken to the USA, and sadly it was too late for many people that got exposed to that sad imitiation of its former self to trully understand what this series was about.

Anyway, few years ago the last part of the Saint Seiya Manga, the Hades, was brought into anime. The Sanctuary Chapters were incredibly well done, and most importantly, fast paced. While we eagerly awaited the rest of it someone fished out "Starway to Heaven" which is an OVA series that was supposed to follow AFTER all of Hades was finished.

But now, after having to wait a couple more years, Saint Seiya: Inferno is finally out! Apparently 6 episodes long for the first part of Hell and already blood is boiling (and splashing) as Seiya and the gang follow Athena's and Shaka's lead. I am extremely happy that the series is again on its way!

Way to go, Kurumada!

-Nya!

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

American Dubbing Sucks

Sigh... Blood+ was licensed. Again, despite the fact that the rest of the world is NOT America -regardless of what some people might think- we have to wait for them to butcher a perfectly good series with not only bad translations, but worse voice acting.

Trust me, I KNOW voice acting first hand and American Dubbing SUCKS. Especially in Anime. Big time. Worst ever. Just ask Rick Hunter. Or Alucard (from Hellsing). How long will it take for them to make lame puns or change plots or undermine perfectly good villains by ::gasp:: monologuing (Remember Digimon 02?) how long will it take to get brilliant lines like:

Harlock: "Geronimo!" (Harlock jumps and lands in front of corrupt polititian.)
Corrupt Politician: "How did you get here?!"
Harlock: "I jumped."


Am I the only one that thinks that american dubbing sucks? I think not. And why does it? They have most of the world's best actors living in L.A. they have Mark Hamil, who is a decent enough voice actor. Okay, he's good. But he's basically the only one. Have him train other actors! Reminds me of AX2005 Voice acting contest. Never have I seen such a parade of hypocresy and advice given by people that don't use it.

Well, as for the work of the esteemed Mamoru Oshii, I do hope they get real actors to do it and not make "funny" voices just because "they are cartoons".

Friday, January 13, 2006

I leave at 10:10 AM and arrive at 6:50 AM...

So I'm going back to the UK now. Mexico was fun- got to see my friends!
Some of them got married. I didn't really go into Koba's wedding after all, but I will say something: both, Koba and Jaquimi ('m always confused with the proper spelling, please forgive) looked so happy with each other when they got married that it was worth arriving before hand to witness. I wish them the best and that they can be as happy as they were then as much as possible in the future.
Others I didn't see much off, Ghost, Vilrandir, Callejas and JP- at least I managed to talk Ghost into going for dinner tonight and a quick chat. (He insists that I do the impossible to vote in the comming elections.)
I went to a bar with Amilkar and Armando. I met Kaput's girlfriend and saw his sister and parents after 12 and a half years of not seeing each other (I ended up drunk, great impression after all that time, eh?)
I did travel a lot. Managed to send in my work despite the odds. And now, I'm going away, probably until July when I'll come visit again.
I'm going back to Stacey, my girlfriend. I can't wait! ^_^

Anyway, here's a couple of tests I took. I like the results, but obviously they're pretty much left to opinions. What do you guys think?



Your Blogging Type Is Clever and Witty

Of all blogging types, you're the best with words.
Almost every blog post you write has legendary quality.
You have a perverse sense of humor and often play devil's advocate.
Impatient and picky, you tend to go off on funny rants from time to time.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Disappointment

I did the wrong thing by posting this on the internet rather than finding another way of getting the message through. For that I am sorry.

But to those involved, you DO have to stop and think on what happened that day and what you did and said. I may have been wrong here, but you were wrong then and there. It wasn't the first time that attitude showed through. You may or not forgive me, that is your choice. But I was disappointed by your actions too.