Introduction (aka about this journal)
Hello and welcome. This is, fairly obviously, my online journal / blog / whathaveyou. Come, put up your metaphorical webtravelling shoes; won't you have a read for a while?

As of about mid-May I've been tagging all my entries in various categories; I have links to these just below.

Categories
anime books consumerism conventions cosplay dnd drawing dreams evolution exercise games general_woes grit impenetrable_writing intelligent_design links lj_meta_stuff manga martial_arts memes movies pc_woes polls politics reviews science star_trek star_wars work writing
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Jun. 19th, 2008 @ 01:25 pm (no subject)
Very amusing: If all stories were written like science fiction stories
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Jun. 16th, 2008 @ 01:20 pm Ninjas, Simpsons, and the daily grindstone
Yes, I am alive. Here are some quick notes from the past couple of weeks.


  • Ninja Gaiden 2 is great fun, but also very very hard. I think it's even harder than the first game. Right from the outset, enemies throw you and throw projectiles, and there are lots more of them harassing you too. That didn't happen in the first game.
  • The Simpsons Game is exactly as the reviews described it - very average when it comes to the gameplay, but very funny and well written.
  • Work has been hectic. It looks like it will be hectic this week also.
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Jun. 5th, 2008 @ 01:27 pm Answer to the writing meme
I'm afraid that in response to the writing meme, I will have to give up and throw my hands in the air in desperation.

Just joking.

( It's LJ cut for your convenience, as it's long. )
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May. 28th, 2008 @ 08:57 am Indiana Jones and the Incredibly Long Subtitle
Indiana Jones and the Incredibly Long Subtitle is my official name for the latest Indy flick. Except, "and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" is just as long and unwieldy as "and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." So the usefulness of "and the Incredibly Long Subtitle" is very limited, but it's stuck now.

The movie itself was Big Dumb Fun, but also a bit meh. It seemed to do everything right (except perhaps the mythos they were working with) but still... meh. It doesn't quite have the magic of the earlier films.

Harrison Ford was cringe-worthy wooden at times.

I only spotted one shout out to Raiders of the Lost Ark, apart from the two obvious ones.

Overall - good fun, better than most, but because this is an Indy movie it wasn't as good as it should have been.
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May. 27th, 2008 @ 09:37 am Big huge post of the random collection of points
No, I have not forgotten the writing meme from a couple of weeks back. I just haven't had much inspiration lately. Inspiration is slowly starting to build up, and I should have some results soon. I hope.

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For the past nine days, I have been mostly good when it comes to Coca-Cola. Not once did I let a single drop of regular Coke pass my lips. It was Coke Zero for me all the way... at least, until yesterday. Yesterday, due to being dog-tired, I went back to plain old regular Coca Cola, for both the caffeine and the sugar boost.

After a while I just couldn't drink it anymore. It just tasted too damn strange and acidic.

Progress!

Still, I shudder to think of what yesterday's indiscretions will do to my efforts to get (Wii) fit.

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Rhythm Boxing in Wii Fit is very fun. The snowboard slalom challenge, unfortunately, is not as fun as I thought it would be. I guess I still need to get used to it.

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After thinking about it for something like three months, I finally went and got an XBox 360. Back when it first came out, I thought that I might get one, but that I should put it off for a while, until there were enough games I wanted for it.

On the weekend I finally stopped putting it off and got an XBox 360 Pro and a bunch of games I've been wanting to get. For a $550 console and games that usually cost around $100, I managed to snag the whole bundle for a shade under $800.

I do have GTA4, but only because the GTA4 + XBox360 pack was $530. In effect, they were *giving* me money to get GTA4. I can't say no to that, even if I'm not interested in GTA4. I'll try it sometime when I can be bothered. And then, most likely, be sucked in horribly.

Thanks to being XBox 360-enabled, I have finally played Portal. It is just as awesome as everyone has been saying, and I finally have context for all the Portal quotes I keep on hearing.
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May. 23rd, 2008 @ 07:44 am Silly meme time
Current Mood: amused
Tags:
LiveJournal Username
Your Primary Super Power
Cape?
Identitiy
Origin
Location of Head Quarters
Primary Costume/Uniform Colors
Why are you a Superhero?
Your Superheroic Codename
The veteran grim member of the teamlirazel
The sexist and crass but annoyingly effective oneloopychew
The bright-eyed novice or sidekickvidstudent
The teammate that will eventually go evil or insancardcaptorlana
The inept yet determined/reoccurring supervillainastupidloser
The sinister Arch-Villain and team's greatest foejuchan
The perky civilian that keeps getting kidnappedzinegeek
How often does your team actually 'save the day'?
91%
This Fun Quiz created by Shannon at BlogQuiz.Net
Weight Loss Tips at WeightLossTips.TV

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May. 22nd, 2008 @ 08:53 am Get your fit on
While I'm in a posting sort of mood I thought I'd mention:

I now have Wii Fit.

The presence of Wii Fit, and the use of it for 15-30 min every day, has inspired better habits. I haven't had a Coca Cola at all since I got the Wii Fit, nor any other form of sugary soda. (I have however been having Coke Zeroes.) I have not had junk food.

Previously, when I've managed to cut way back on the soda and junk food, I have dropped a lot of weight in a relatively short time. Let's see if I can manage it this time.
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May. 22nd, 2008 @ 08:39 am Once again, lack of internet
Current Mood: aggravated
The lack of updates recently is due to my home internet connection, or rather, the selective lack of it. The Wii, as ever, can connect wirelessly to the internet just fine, so I know that part of the modem and the actual internet connection is working. The desktop PC? The modem doesn't even recognise that it's wired directly to the PC. At all. The 'cable connected' light hasn't flickered on ONCE in the past few days.

Last night I borrowed a wireless USB adaptor from my brother and tried it on my PC. The PC seemed to install the driver just fine, then said that the device was not working because it couldn't load the driver for it.

I remembered why I absolutely hate hardware and absolutely hate trying to get it to work.

So anyway, this is my long and roundabout way of saying, "sorry, I cannot post to LJ regularly at this time."
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May. 12th, 2008 @ 04:23 pm Writing meme
It's been a while since I wrote anything.

So I've decided to hop onto the writing meme, borrowed from [info]markpoa and [info]eslington:

Give me a line, paragraph or idea and I will expand it into a scene.

(Or, of course, I will decide that I can't write anything anymore, throw my hands in the air theatrically, and give up in sheer exasperation.)
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May. 6th, 2008 @ 04:26 pm Quick update from the weekend
Iron Man:
A good fun superhero movie, with many Moments of Awesome (the first flight definitely being one of them). And, even though I'm not that familiar with the comic, I noticed a few fun shout outs to the comic, such as the Mark 1 armor and Tony's constant tinkering with the armor.
There are some absolute howlers when it comes to the physics and technobabble, with "three gigajoules per second" being one of the more egregious.

Jade Empire:
It took me awhile but I finally started on Bioware's martial arts RPG. The combat gets a bit samey after a while, and the staff (the weapon I chose) seems pretty pathetic. And, just as I remember the reviews stating, the path of the Closed Fist is just generally "I am evil" comments in conversation. Overall, it's OK, but it gets annoying after long sessions of play.

Super Metroid:
The possibility of eventually being able to download and emulate a legal version of Super Metroid is one of the reasons I got a Wii in the first place. I finally actually downloaded it this weekend and started playing through.
I'm having the typical reaction I have when I play a retro game - it just feels so *old* and old-fashioned. Despite that, it is still awesome.

EDIT: AUGH I did not stick around to the end of Iron Man and it seems I really should have. Augh augh augh.
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Apr. 28th, 2008 @ 04:35 pm HAI GUYZ; and, more anime blogging
Hey guys!

Here's a rather useful essay, if you haven't seen it yet: How not to be That Guy. You know, *that* guy.

POINT SIX ESPECIALLY.

Found via [info]kphoebe.

-

Continuing on in my efforts to catch up on old anime I should have watched ages ago, I have watched all of Mai-Hime.

( Spoilers for a 4 year old show. )
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Apr. 25th, 2008 @ 09:25 pm Haruhi Suzumiya blogging, part 3
( Spoiler cut, even though it's a 2-year old show. )
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Apr. 25th, 2008 @ 09:23 pm Haruhi Suzumiya blogging, part 2
( Spoiler cut, even though it's a 2-year old show. )
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Apr. 23rd, 2008 @ 09:42 am The Open Source (insert word here) Project(s)
Initially found via The Whatever:

I understand that at a couple of recent SF cons there was the The Open Source Boob Project. In very brief: A small social interaction between a small group of friends (four women, three men) led to them trying out a small-scale OSBP amongst themselves. Interested in the results, and encouraged by them, they thought to upscale the project to the rest of the con. Key to it is that women could wear either "Yes you may ask if you can touch my boobs and I could very well say no" buttons, or "Don't even think about asking, buddy" buttons.

The OBSP has, not surprisingly, made a lot of people upset and annoyed and angry.

One such commentator came up with the idea of The Open Source Knuckle Sandwich Project. You can wear "Yes, you may ask if you can punch me in the face and I might say no" buttons, or "Not in the face! Not in the face!" buttons.

Here's an excellent summary of the whole mess.

The OSKSP is an interesting answer, to be sure, though I am more interested in an Open Source Arse Project, because it would be all about equal opportunity. Both men and women could wear the "Yes you may ask if you can grab my arse" buttons.

(Rhetorical question) I wonder how many men would wear "Yes you may ask if you can grab my arse" buttons? (/Rhetorical question)

---

EDIT:
A comment to the Whatever entry points out that an Open Source Arse Grabbing Project would not be *that* equal opportunity. The problem is is that men generally don't get all that scared when women stare at their arses; turn the tables though and women can get scared when men stare at theirs.

While an Open Source Arse Grabbing Project would be interesting - *in theory* - it has its problems. I'm not sure how to salvage it. Or if it should even be salvaged in the first place.
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Apr. 22nd, 2008 @ 11:56 pm (no subject)
This Penny Arcade strip reminds me of the days when I, too, could eat all sorts of crap - not to mention sheer volumes of junk food - and stay thin.

Then I reached my late twenties. Oy. It's like a million (or maybe just nine thousand) Value Meals suddenly roared out in triumphant vengeance as their delayed effect hit - or perhaps their multi-year plan finally came into fruition.
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Apr. 22nd, 2008 @ 11:38 pm Anime blogging: Haruhi Suzumiya
I'm finally catching up on The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, one of the hottest shows of 2006. Too bad it's currently 2008. Yes, I know I'm far, far behind the times.

Sadly, due to a couple of accidents with what *should* have been spoilers, and catching a scene of it at a Gamers store in Sendai in June 2007, I already know, roughly, what the deal with Haruhi is. So unfortunately, it will not be a big surprise when the series spells it out. It's an interesting twist, though! And at least I get to find out the details. I don't know the exact natures of Itsuki, Mikuru, and Yuki, for example, though I can guess. I don't know if there's anything up with Kyon. I'll post more musings about Kyon once I've finished watching the series.

The official DVD release we have available here in Australia has the episodes in chronological order, except for 'The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina', which comes before everything else. I am however watching the episodes in the original broadcast order.

Having watched the first four episodes (Adventures of Mikuru, Melancholy 1, Melancholy 2, Boredom), it seems obvious what the deal is already. There's just been so many clues, with Itsuki all but saying what the deal is in 'Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya'. It's hard to say if it really is obvious, though, because I know how to interpret the clues.

( Specific thoughts on the episodes, behind a spoiler cut even though it's a two year old show. )
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Apr. 21st, 2008 @ 11:12 pm Stupid, *stupid* radio
While driving to and from the pizza place tonight (I was lazy and couldn't be bothered cooking) I turned on the radio to pass the few minutes I was on the road. The subject of the discussion started on some advertising billboards people are finding offensive. (Apparently it's sex-related. What offensive material isn't, these days?) In just those few minutes I heard the usual wallbangers: It hurts men too, aren't there more important things to be concerned with, and isn't it nice that we have a gender-balanced panel tonight.

AUGH.
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Apr. 21st, 2008 @ 04:29 pm Rock Bands, melancholic Haruhis, and electoral things
I *finally* saw a demo of Rock Band yesterday. (It's not due out here in Australia for a while yet.) In short: The drums are interesting but difficult, the guitar feels strange, and nobody could work out how to bring the microphone into play.

Drums: Eesh. Once I figured out that the orange line meant the bass drum, I just got *worse*. It's like my left hand and foot were hardwired together and I couldn't separate them out. Drum I need to hit with my left hand? Hello, bass drum! Mind you, I never tried the drums on Easy. Perhaps I should have done that.

Guitar: I've heard about the strum bar being different, weird, and rubbery. It *still* didn't prepare me for just how different, weird, and rubbery it was. Maybe it emulates the feel of a guitar more realistically, but the GH3 controller just seems to handle much better.

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As everyone knows, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was originally aired in non-chronological order. I'm gearing up to finally watch it, encouraged by an episode I saw of it at Supanova. Naturally, I assumed that the episode they showed was either the first episode chronologically, or the first episode of the original broadcast order.

(Man this gets confusing.)

However when I investigated the order of the episodes, I discovered that Supanova had showed "Live Alive", which is late in the order, either way.

Argh.

NOBODY SPOIL ANYTHING. I've been trying to avoid spoilers for this show for the past two years, not entirely successfully.

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A theory on the US election later this year: There is evidence that the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections were victim to election fraud, and eventually stolen. So why will 2008 be any different?

Facing the practical inevitability that 2008's election will be screwed around with and eventually stolen by the Republicans, perhaps the Democrats have fielded candidates that would never win anyway.

I hope I'm wrong.
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Apr. 19th, 2008 @ 11:52 pm Quick spontaneous update
Ouendan 2: Woot! I finally finished Sekai wa sore wo ai to yobunda ze on Hard! (With a full combo of all 457 notes/slides/spinners, no less!) Now the cheer girls are unlocked, and oy, the game is so hard I've actually given myself a headache. Ow.

Sekai wa sore wo ai to yobunda ze: The music video for this song is very funny.

Home internet connection: Seems to be getting worse. Also, the Wii is suddenly having trouble detecting the wireless network, yet the modem says its wireless settings are the same as ever. Looks like the modem is the culprit. Well, bugger. At least it wasn't the PC.
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Apr. 15th, 2008 @ 09:28 am Just some quick updates
Appleseed Ex Machina: It looks amazing and starts out promising, but then it turns into a Typical Action Movie. The Big Action Movie Finish, in particular, really lets it down.

Resident Evil 4: Just about done with this. Have played the main game through twice, Assignment Ada and Separate Ways once, and The Mercenaries a lot. I've experimented with the Chicago Typewriter - it's a powerful gun alright, and fun for a few minutes, but it's too powerful, really. The Handcannon is probably worse. I'm shelving this for now.

Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii (Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2): Have picked this back up after a long hiatus, am powering through on hard mode, and getting close to the end. The "middle-aged fangirls" stage is kicking my ass though.
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