Rant 084 / Also Sprach Senor Hybrido

I'm listening to the Amélie OST while typing this. I found one of the tracks in a Flash animation in www.newgrounds.com( more specifically, I later found out the track was La Valse d'Amélie, or The Waltz of Amélie). Somehow I was enchanted by the tune, and I had to listen to it again and again.

I find that I'm listening to the less popular genres these days, not pop, not rap, not rock, but instrumental(?) or classical. I got a copy of a compilation of Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, after I found out about its existence while reading on Xenosaga Episode III on Wikipedia, which is also titled Also Sprach Zarathustra. The English translation of this German title is "Thus Spoke Zarasthustra". There is a book of the same name too, written by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It is best known by its declaration of "God is dead!"

It was when I listened to the first piece in Also Sprach Zarathustra that I found that extremely familiar tune they play in some old movies, a tune I don't know how to describe, is the Introduction piece.

Another compilation of such music I listen to is the game music of Europa Universalis III, composed by Andreas Waldetoft. I like most of the war music, and pieces like The Road to Jerusalem.

What all these music have in common is that the climax starts later than most of the popular music people listen to these days. The climax in those composed by Andreas Waldetoft usually starts in the later half of the whole piece. Slow music.





My first try as the Table Topics Master was a success. I actually got praises instead of mere thanks for my helping out. Whoa! I didn't expect to get any of that with the little effort I put in. Even the topics were not original - I just arranged the 7 Deadly Sins in random order. My efforts were put into finding 7 interesting pictures, one for each, and putting them together into a Powerpoint show.

That wasn't hard either, since I keep a collection of weird pictures from when I surf the Internet, where there is an infinite supply of them. I just scan through my collection while keeping the 7 sins in mind and pick those that relate to them.

It was hilarious to me though, the reactions of the speakers to a few of the pictures. For example, in Gluttony I picked...


The speaker was stunned. She tried to speak on Gluttony, but kept thinking about the picture. In the end she said, "What a horrible picture! Animals have rights, you know?" It took some effort to keep myself from exploding. ROFLMAOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! As a result of this, she almost could not hit the 1-minute mark. I'm not sorry; if she hates me for that, the hilarity was worth it. :D

But they said it was refreshing, my usage of the 7 Deadly Sins, compared to the usual topics like "If you can destroy one thing in the world right now, what would it be?"

And some liked my having the pictures explain the topics, since most Table Topics Masters pick pictures that don't link with the topics, which can be good for the speaker as it gives them a choice of 2 topics whatever they choose. Mine give some hints, not variety.

But the slides were not flashy, nor fancy. There were the pictures, and the titles( topics), and these were all there was in the slides.

In the end, no one cared about the quality of the slides.






Man, playing Europa Universalis III really changed my view of the world. Reading the changes of country borders and country names is different from seeing these changes! As I scrolled through the years while choosing which year I wanted to start the game in, between the years just before Christopher Columbus set sail for the Americas, to the year the French Revolution began.

In short, it was a revelation.

It was a stunning sight. An example is the Ming Dynasty. It was all Ming, Ming, Ming, Ming and then, poof, Manchuria. The giant patch of orange symbolizing the Ming for so many years suddenly just turned brown, which is the ingame colour of Manchuria. It made me realize how fluid borders can be. Or one can watch Europe during this period, and see how countries change like the spouses of Hollywood stars. One moment, Venice existed as an independent state, the next moment it was a province of one country or another.

Together with my meagle knowledge of Belgian politics, I find Singapore's future a dim one. In Belgium, about half its population believe their country will not remain sovereign within the next 50 years. It is a relatively new country, like Singapore, and was created by its bordering nations as a buffer state. The people feels that a national identity is lacking, and I don't blame them - all the countries around them have been existing for a long, long time, especially France, which has been around since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which was before the rise of the Holy Roman Empire.

I'd say that Singapore is luckier, since everyone around us haven't really been sovereign states till recently. Most of them were, once upon a time, but in recent history, few have been. Penang was a prosperous sultanate once upon a time. Java had its own kingdoms before. There were so many tiny kingdoms all around us, yet none survived the onslaught of European colonization.

As the watched the little patches swallowed up by the bigger kingdoms in the Indian sub-continent, I tried to imagine how the people in those tiny bits of land felt. One day they were a people of one kingdom, the next day there were ruled by a foreign king, for the rest of their lives. Then I imagine the same with Singapore. According to world history, this is very possible. It doesn't matter whether a nation is big or small; none is permanent. A sad fact, but a fact nonetheless.

Just think about the Ottoman Empire. It fought in WWI. It vanished in the years between WWI and WWII, yet few people of my generation knows about it. It has only been a mere century, and such a great nation is not even remembered! What would Singapore become?

And since we're surround by huge countries, this may seem inevitable. I can compare it with France 600 years ago. France, back then, was not a whole patch of land as it is now, but a loop surrounding several nations. Eventually, they were annexed into France. How long before Belgium is annexed, with the need for a buffer state becoming less important these days? How long before Singapore is annexed into another country? Perhaps not so long as we remain prosperous, richer than our neighbours. But once this stops becoming true, our sovereignty will be at the mercy of the wealthier neighbours. I believe the wealth of Singapore is the only thing that keeps the nation independent, instead of a mere province, therefore running Singapore like a giant corporation is not wrong.

Of course, an alternative would be to conquer other lands, but this is basically a diplomatic suicide, and culminates to an economic suicide.

Europe is on its way to becoming one whole nation now. Citizens in many European countries do not need their passports when travelling to most of the other European countries. Visitors need only one Visa for visiting anywhere within this zone. This is so convenient, but will it set a trend for the rest of the world? It's not hard to see, since the UAE seems like quite a success. And so is Malaysia. Maybe someday Singapore will willingly form an union with its neighbours to form a whole nation of SE Asia.






The recent issue of National Geographic magazine is somewhat disturbing. The article on Bethlehem paints a very tragic picture on what is one of the holiest spots of this world. Bethlehem, the birthplace of Yeshua, should be the holiest place of Christianity, yet it is being gradually abandoned by them. Right now, Christians are a minority in that city, with Muslims being the majority. It is a very chaotic city, in a very chaotic region of the world. Jews and Muslims fight each other for a place in their beloved land. Jews believe that God gave them this land. Muslims have been living there for many generations, and see this as their home, and the Jews are the invaders. Christians are the punching bag for both sides, even though some have been there since the time of Christ. One family interviewed by the journalist has roots that lead all the way back to the time before Jesus was crucified, and their ancestors were even mentioned in Old Testament! Yet now they are considering leaving this land for good, the first time this is happening in 2000 years.

How incredibly tragic this is! Yet no one gives a damn. They continue fighting, turning what could have been a beautiful place, a holy land, into a blood-soaked no man's land. The Church of the Nativity, instead of looking as grand as it should be as the first church of Christianity, appears more like fortress than a church, and seems to be designed with durability in mind, not beauty. I had always expected it too look... epic, I guess, but the picture of it in the magazine ruined my impression of it.









Xenosaga Episode III provided answers to most of the questions of the previous 2 episodes, but its ending is not satisfying at all. It contains so many references to Christianity too! Spoilers incoming! chaos is really Yeshua, or Jesus as known by most people. The soul within KOSMOS is really Mary Magdelene! UDO is God, and Wilhelm has been trying to stop God's influence in the Universe through his one giant plot that spanned millennias. Another sad fact. It had such a great concept but such poor execution. Did they think all gamers wanted was graphics? If they had spent more time on gameplay in the first two episodes, and hired good voice actors, the series wouldn't have failed as badly as it did. What was supposed to be at least 4 episodes long is now a trilogy, with a really open end.

But the scene after defeating Virgil was really touching. As touching as some parts of Eureka Seven.









Yuuri Morishita may be the closest thing to perfect feminine beauty. She's so gorgeous, she's probably a fake, as in she's probably had quite a few cosmetic surgeries. Only 2 things mar her almost perfection - her eye bags and the shape of her head. She needs to use her hair to cover the both sides of her face to look good, and even makeup cannot cover completely her eye bags. Other than that, she's as close to a goddess as I believe possible. And because she's drop-dead gorgeous, she doesn't do nudes! That gives her some class. I've watched several of her gravure videos, and her smile is so sweet she can give men diabetes. And she's my age too! Holy shit!

Arisa Oda is the goddess of beauty. Or at least as gorgeous as one. She's probably not human. LOL! By the way, they don't do porn - they're gravure idols, or in a way, poster girls.
















Also Sprach Senor Hybrido

Rant 083 / Sex Is Just Like Respect - It Is Earned, Not Demanded

Whoever thought someone would be concerned that this blog might die? This, together with Windows Messenger, is my personal entertainment when I'm not gaming. Gaming is to me as TV is to most other people my age, I think. And blogging is just something to fill the time slot between gaming and sleeping. I type better when I'm a little tired.

Some say that speaking in a poetic way in normal conversations is a symptom of some kind of mental illness, or basically something is wrong in the head. Speaking in such a way indicates that the person's unable to use or remember words they normally use, thus this person has to find alternatives. Beware, poets! And old people!

I see a link between the two paragraphs above. When I'm tired, I'm unable to find the words to say. At times, I stutter, which, basically, is the same thing. Therefore, fatigue screws my brain up temporarily( I hope), and I type in a more poetic way, utilising words of considerable lengths to create this effect of making my lines appear dramatically more impressive.

It's either this, or I don't care what I type when I'm shagged.









After learning to make perfect crispy bacons and sunny-side ups, I decided not to neglect my Chinese heritage and went on to find Dim Sum recipes.

Subject/Link to recipe: 鲜竹牛肉
Grade: Fail
Comments: GG, nub


This is the first one I tried, and the results are as described. What was supposed to be perfectly steamed beef balls with a smooth texture turned out to be minced beef in oyster sauce sitting in fragile balls. I followed the recipe dutifully, even frying the beancurd skin, which doesn't seem necessary since it doesn't make much difference in the taste of the beef!

Well, I did change the recipe lol! I didn't have tangerine skins at home, and I didn't want to buy a whole packet just for one piece of it, so I skipped that. I didn't have water chestnut powder at home, nor cornstarch, so I substituted with potato starch. I think this last change made all the difference.

But I still don't understand how the oyster sauce's flavour can be so obvious! I'm not supposed to taste anything but the beef, as I remember it! And all 6 websites I checked display almost the same list of ingredients. I don't see why oyster sauce should be used at all, since I don't remember tasting oyster sauce when I last ate it in Hong Kong. Does the water chestnut powder make such a huge difference in flavour too?

Anyway 鲜竹牛肉 is not sold in Singaporean restaurants, which made me want to try it first.







Right now I'm folding boxes for Christmas gifts. These will be given out when I go to CZY's tomorrow. I'm estimating 9 people, but some may not come, like Ivan and XL who are undecided. Too bad for them. I prepared one even for CZY's sister. Btw, I won't be surprised if I find out that her favourite brand is Prada. Frigging she-devil who throws stones at my groin! But still, I'm a nice person. At times.

I have no experience in wrapping gifts, so I decided to fold boxes with magazine paper for all of them. These boxes are in different shapes and sizes, regardless of what they're containing. I can almost see their surprise when they realize what each of them is getting.








The Witcher is a pretty nice game. It's like NWN, an DnD style RPG in which you can pause at any time. But it's only for single player, allows only one playable character - the Witcher, and only 1 style - WITCHER STYLE!

This game is a horror-themed RPG focusing on the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a warrior who has undergone special training and a mutation through alchemy, and lives to kill monsters that roam the nameless medieval world in the game. Such people, or, as some call them, mutants are known as Witchers. The game starts with a stunning CG clip of a fight between him and a striga, a monster which is really a woman under a curse. I'm amazed that they would put so much effort in a mere trailer that plays when you start the game.

The trailer is really a prologue that happened some years before the game's story. In the game, Geralt lost his memory prior to the game's plot, and was found by fellow Witchers. They brought him to a ruined fortress where some of the last Witchers in the world still lived. One day soon after he recovered, they were attacked by a mob accompanied by an unknown sorcerer, a notorious serial killer and a summoned monster.

Eventually the sorcerer and his hired killer got what they wanted in their alchemist lab and left, but not before killing their one and only apprentice Witcher. Of course they were pissed, and thus they split up in the four directions to gather information of the powerful sorcerer, and kill him.

Thus begins a game of seriously creepy music, monsters that pop out suddenly, gorgeous women who want to get laid, and an intriguing plot.

Bad points:

The isometric camera, similar to the one used in NWN2, pisses me off sometimes, since it works horribly when there are tall buildings to trees. Instead of making the trees translucent when they block the camera, the camera is raised to a higher level on the tree while maintaining the distance between the character and the camera. So if you're standing next to a tall tree while rotating your camera, one moment your looking from his back, the next moment you're getting a bird's eye view of the scene. WTF!

The loading is slow. It can take half a minute to exit a building into town. The saving is slow. It takes 10s to save.


Good:

The monsters are not scary since they always look so small when I use isometric camera instead of the other 2 camera choices. But the music and environmental sound effects makes all the difference. A headphone really helps.

There is no sex scene but you can get a nude portrait of each of the ladies you manage to have sex with. There are always a few in every chapter. All the pictures are more tastefully done, not lewd like most porn, and look nice except for the one with the vampiress. Vampiress is how they say it in the game. So far I've seen only one lady appearing nude in the game, but she's a dryad and is all green from head to toe, with leaves and vines around her body.

You can fool around with alchemical recipes to make new potions, blade coatings and bombs. Keeps it interesting.

The graphics are nice, but my laptop can only handle the low settings. When I first tried the highest setting, the graphics appear quite screwed up. Parts of everything appear bright teal, probably because my video card is unable to produce the textures for these surfaces.






This game has a Mature rating in Europe, and is partially censored in the US. Cited reasons include nudity, language and violence( there's a move in which Geralt slices his opponent's head off, and since you can zoom in with the right camera choice, it makes for quite a fascinating sight).






And when I mention "tastefully done" in regards to the nude pictures, I hope I'm not misunderstood. An example of a very lewd picture can be a young woman posing nude, sitting down on the floor and her legs wide apart. One hand is between her legs and speading her labia. And not to mention with that slutty facial expression. I can see how some people describe porn as disgusting.

On the other end of the scale, we have tasteful pictures, which are of a more "teasing" nature, in which "not all goods are displayed", and hints at beauty that is unseen. One example can be a silhouette of a young woman in nude, facing away from the camera, and maybe with one of her arms stretched out while holding a translucent sash that is barely covering her body. The body can be facing the side, making the outline of a full breast visible.

Both are nude pictures, but the former is gross and cheap, while the latter has more class. There is a big difference. In one you can see everything, in the other you need imagination.





Anyway back to the Witcher, it is a nice game, but not as addictive as NWN2, probably because of the long loading times. Really ruins the momentum.

I'm playing this because my PS2's TV has finally shown signs of aging. More specifically, the green tube no longer works and the TV cannot display the colour green. Now everything appears red, so I stopped playing. If I get a new TV, fine. If not, I get less distractions in the future. I'm not planning to ask for a new one.

When I stopped playing my PS2, I was planning to play NWN2, now that I have the expansion set, but one of the files in the CD turns out to be corrupted, so I cannot play it until I get a new copy. Meanwhile I had nothing to play, and when withdrawal symptoms started to become obvious, my bro told me about the Witcher, which he tried but didn't like. He's a MMORPG addict, so this is not his type. I tried, and now I cannot make myself play NWN2 until I give up or finish Witcher.

And I cannot install NWN2 because my laptop is 3/4 full. The freaking Supreme Commander with expansion takes up 15GB!! Holy shit!

And about Supreme Commander's expansion, Forged Alliance, the campaign for the 3 races is really the same story in which you can choose to play as any of the 3 races. Since all 3 races are allies now, the story doesn't change whichever race you choose to be.

The new units are nice, but in the campaign, all I really use is heavy artilleries plus nukes - my omnipotent strategy against AI. First I create walls of shielded defenses at the correct choke points, then I tech up and build some heavy artilleries. If they have anti-nuke defenses, I have specific targets for the big guns. If not, I let my guns go free. Most likely they won't die from mere artilleries unless I build 20 of them, but this gets boring, so I get nukes.

If this shitty strategy is unsuitable, like for example they start out with Experimental Units that rush at you right away, I spam a mix of Air Superiority fighters and Strategic Bombers. Simple ideas for simple people like me.

The game's battles are so huge, I always zoom as far away as possible to reduce the load on the computer. I zoom in only when I pause to give orders. In the campaigns I can have up to 500 units, and even though this includes buildings and builders, 350 bombers and fighters is a FREAKING HUGE SWARM. I really built that many in one of the battles. I had about 50 structures and 100 builders all helping my 3 air factories spam planes. LOL! I remember I had about 50 builders on one, the rest split between the other 2.

Later in the game I realized that instead of building with these drones, I can get a hundred ACUs when I have the tech, so I spent 4 hours on that round, spamming upgraded ACUs and then sacrifice all the drones on planes. I never expected the building speed to go up as much as it did. It was insane. And so was the lag when I was done.

After that I tried building about a hundred Colossus ( I was Aeon), this time with only 30 ACUs, and using 30 on each of the 3 enemy bases. It was like using a towel to wipe the screen clean.

Hmm, should I use Colossii instead, as the plural of Colossus?







My mum has been bugging me about getting a girfriend. It is simply annoying. What did she expect? Not everyone can find a suitable girl in half a year like Ivan did. Not that she knows about him, but he's a good example of a lucky person.

Now she's telling one of her sisters about it, and one of my cousins too. Hong Kong and New York are no longer on my list of good vacation destinations anymore. I don't need blind dates nor arranged marriage; I need silence and peace in my life.

But this nagging will never end, I think. I am beginning to see the need for a girlfriend, if only for some peace at home, but I'm not aware of anyone suitable at all. In fact, I don't see myself as having any similar interest with any girl. I don't watch TV, I don't listen to music regularly, I read voraciously, I need games, I don't visit the cinemas often or even spend money outside much. I don't shop, except for groceries. I don't talk on the phone, and when I do talk at all, it usually evolves into a monologue. I'm not humorous.

This is a rather tricky problem for me.