Those First-Year Punks...(_¬¬)

So I mentioned in the last post that I don't like first-years and here's why: Most of them don't know what they want to do yet. That is to say they join a whole bunch of clubs at the start of the year and then, when they actually get homework, they drop out because they didn't realize the commitment it takes to learn a martial art.

Oh, woops. Did I mention my whole dislike of their ilk stems from my experiences in martial arts clubs?

Most of them have never done any martial arts before. I don't hold this against them. I encourage everyone to take one up. It really goes beyond just making you physically fit, although I will make no arguments about enhancing your ability to defend yourself in a dangerous situation. That really isn't something that a person has to deal with on a day-to-day basis in our society now. (It's true.) It pushes your body further than a regular sport. Your entire body becomes a single tool. There's nothing like it, I tell you. But then, I might just be naturally inclined to feel this way due to my heritage.
╮(╯ヮ ╰)╭

Anyway, quite the tangent there, I don't hold that against them. What I do not tolerate is the lack of dedication. This isn't intramural kickball or soccer. You can't just learn the rules and work out and go at it. It takes technique. Form. That's where they falter. A good portion of the initial interested newcomers will drop off when they winnow their club commitments down to a select few. That's inevitable. But then the ones who stay find out that they have to learn fundamentals before they can do all the cool shit they saw in the movies and on TV. And they bail. Bloody wankers indeed....

D-girl

O-boy was truly the best 'friend' a socially-stunted, camaraderie-starved, anti-religious Asian boy attending a predominantly-White, private Christian elementary school could have wished for. While I have no desire to try and recapture our friendship after all these years, and I make no assumptions about the person he has become today, I will always remember him for what he was to me at that time: a good friend.

Conversely, the friends I've made over these more recent past few years, they are people I would never want to just watch as they walked away outside a BB&T. Er... yeah.

D-girl. She wasn't the very first friend, that is to say, she wasn't the very first of those "awesome people" that I met. In fact, I must confess that I didn't pay her much mind for quite a while after we'd initially met. Damn... yeah, I'm stupid sometimes...

By the way have I mentioned that I have a low view of first-years? Even when I was one I had a pretty dismissive attitude for those punks. I'll get into that some other time.


My first distinct memory of her? Some time after Halloween had passed we were gathered around someone's camera, reviewing some pictures and there was one of her and a friend. If I recall correctly D-girl was a pale-faced ghost. The friend was in some other outfit. The important thing is that this caused me to remark, "Hey, one cute, one scary; just like in real life!", after which I scooted away.
(( O◡O)~~...(⌐ ⌐_)(^.^ )

Our friendship didn't immediately blossom after that though. I can't imagine why. ╮(╯_╰)╭

I did start talking to her more after that though and we hung out at various parties. That year I was in almost every club that was in any semblance Asian-related so my social life picked up a lot. The point when I really thought of her as one of my favorite people came after one of those shindigs.

She had too much *tsk tsk* and we were outside the house. We were sitting on the curb since she wasn't feeling well enough to walk. (I wonder if she'll mind me saying all this... ah wellz) She texted a friend to come and pick her up but I think she was busy or some such. She threw up at some point and I got her a cup of water. She had a precarious hold on her phone and I told her to hand it over before she dropped it in the puddle. She wouldn't. And she did. Ugh. I cleaned it off for her and that's when I knew I must consider her a good friend hahahaha. \(>ワ<)/

I took this photo then and every time I switched to a new phone I took a new one with the same template.

New Balance is the best btw.

My Crooked Smile

It wasn't always this way. My smile, when I smiled at any rate, used to be perfectly normally balanced.

Non-crooked. A rare sighting.

You might have already gathered that I didn't often have occasion to smile in public for a long time and so I didn't give it much thought.

This changed in high school. The library had the odd copy of Dragons of Winter Night, the second book in the Dragonlance Chronicles series. The second book but they didn't have the first. Man, I hate when that happens. I have to pick up the story halfway in, you know? Anyway, one character- fans of the series should probably know where I'm going with this already- is described as having a crooked smile. Kitiara uth Matar, human, dark hair, evil. But none of that other stuff is important. I thought to myself, "Hmmm, a crooked smile huh?" And I tried it on in front of the mirror. "Nice. I like it." And that was that. Now it's my default smile, I don't smile any other way, really.

On the minus side, the crooked smile gives me a smirky look, which amplifies my air of arrogance a bit too far sometimes. And I smile a lot these days. Ah wellz, can't have it all.

On the plus side, it gives me an almost perfect troll face.

The First 'Friend'

I stand by my earlier statements, I didn't really make true friends until after entering uni. Sure, I had shared the companionship of my fellow classmates and hung out and such but, as I said before, we lacked the mutual sharing of anything deeper than just that: companionship. Still, at the time I didn't know any better and I called these 'friends'. This isn't a slight on any of them, though. They are really cool people too but I wasn't ready to open up yet. Shame. Nonetheless, this step outwards into socialization won't be dismissed as insignificant and certainly not inconsequential as it laid the foundations for the changes to come.

Of particular importance is the first 'friend' I ever made, O-boy. Attendance at a private Christian elementary school had the unfortunate (in my eyes) and unavoidable consequence of assuring my classmates largely consisted of the piano keys of ethnicities. There was a single other Asian in fourth grade but she was a banana and, as such, does not count. I pegged her in the face with a beanbag during gym class once. Hahaha. That's the most vivid memory I have of her. (/>____<)/

Then O-boy showed up in 7th or 8th grade. I don't recall which. He was Filipino but I couldn't really be picky hehe. What made us really good friends, oddly enough, was our shared disdain for the religion espoused by the school we attended. Yeah, our flippant attitudes towards "the lord almighty" didn't endear us to the school's priest but fortunately, and tellingly, none of the teachers were so devout as to care since we were well behaved students, which is what a teacher appreciates most at the end of the day, lack of proper Christian devotion notwithstanding.

It sounds bad to say this, and not a little insulting to him if he ever read this, but it really speaks to how low my standards were back then to have thought of him as a best friend. Or perhaps it was just natural child-like hyperbole.

There was no Facebook in those days, internet itself had only just taken off after all, and we lost touch after graduating. The last time I saw him was at a distance outside a BB&T two or three years later. I didn't catch his attention or anything. I just let him go on his way. We'd had fun times but I would have had nothing to say to him by then.

That's all.

The Impression I Give

Continuing this streak of more personal postage.

This is me now. (From Buttersafe. One of the best.)

I used to be a lot different even just 3 years ago. That might actually be kind of hard to believe for people who've gotten to know me within this more recent period. Going back in time even one year further, when I was in high school, almost unrecognizable personality-wise. I actually had restraint back in those days. Too much in point of fact.

At a certain point though, it just came time to take that trite piece of advice: Be yourself. You know what 'trite' means?

Trite - adj. Lacking in effectiveness due to constant use or excessive repetition.

We've heard it in every feel-good movie, every romantic comedy, most coming-of-age films. But that doesn't mean I took it to heart. Didn't give it much thought because it was easier to just go on the way I'd been going up to that point.

Up until 3rd year of high school I didn't have any one who you could really call a friend. I had people who enjoyed my company or were at least a slight bit more positive than indifferent to it. But to call them friends would cheapen the word. Beyond the superficial traits, e.g. quiet, smart, Asian, they didn't really know much about me and I did nothing to change this.

It took me two years of high school, half way through, before I decided to change. I remember exactly when. It was during Spanish period. Nothing significant happened on that particular day during that particular class, but I spontaneously determined to participate in some casual conversation going on whilst we waited for the bell. I remember feeling perfectly natural doing so. There wasn't any moment of awkward "Whoa did he just talk?!". A few days later one of my classmates did remark that I was talking more. And that was that.

Nevertheless, that was still a transitional period at best. I remained fairly taciturn and reserved. I don't know what it is with me. I went half-way through uni before taking the final turn. That means another two years in. By then I'd met a lot of people I truly thought were 'awesome'. People I thought I'd really like to know better and whom I'd like to get to know me better. While I must admit I didn't immediately throw off all the fetters of social conventions (I still wore shirts indoors! Imagine that.) I finally, at long last, settled into my own body.

I remember the day I knew I'd succeeded, as it were, truly revealed my 'True Form', though it was only in retrospect. It was one of our Japan Club food events, Curry Night. I got there early and sat with a friend folding origami. She had a sketchbook with her and some of her friends were looking through it. Another guy came in at some point. I didn't know it at the time but he'd go on to become one of my favorite people and possibly the one for whom I have the most admiration. He shall henceforth be known as A-boy.

Fast-forward one year. We'd gotten to know each other better over the course of that year through a varied batch of encounters through different social circles. One day I asked him what his first impression of me was. He said something along the lines of "Someone who presented himself as who he was, without pretense." Not his exact words I think but something like that. From this I knew that I'd done it right.

This is one of the reasons I harbor such disdain for P-boy. (Yeah, there's no 'u' in that 'harbor'. I dunno why, k?) He isn't comfortable with himself and it shows. He's kind of a wimp but he tries to put up a manly man front sometimes. This doesn't work because he shows his true self too often. It's different from the change that I went through. To use a metaphor, he isn't rearranging the furniture, he's just putting up different curtains. The irony, as I see it, is that the ability to fly would be perfectly suited to his true personality. The ability to take off and go somewhere whenever he had the desire, that fits fine on him. But it doesn't suit the person he wants to be. He doesn't want to go alone. He wants to be surrounded by friends.

You'd know I had an arrogant streak pretty soon after you met me. I don't hide it. And that's also where that arrogance comes from. I like myself so much hahaha. I won't apologize for that.

"I'm 100x More Humble Than You'll Ever Be!!" \(^o^)/

I've posted many times about movies and music and such but these past few posts have been more personal stuff. With these I hope you guys get a better idea of the type of person I am.

I'm kind of arrogant. I'll put that out there as a statement of fact. And if you ever meet me you'd figure it out pretty quickly anyway. Not quite cocksure I'd say, but arrogant.

And I like it. <(￣◡￣)>

I wouldn't say I'm overly prideful either. I don't think I'm better than you and you. Is this confusing? I'm trying to think of how to put it into words...

Basically, it's like, I'm one of my own favorite people.
Yeah, I suppose that's the best way to describe it. The feeling has an inward focus. I think to myself, "Man, who wouldn't want to be my friend?" but not a "Hah, why would you want to be his friend? You should want to be mine instead. *sneer*". Not like that. Mine is not the arrogance of someone who belittles everyone around him. I prefer to surround myself with friends and that's really not a good way to make nor to keep them.

A friend once told me this is how she thinks I see myself. It's utterly true.

I'm an awesome person and I have awesome friends. Like calls to like, does it not?
d-(^_______^)-b
And I don't hesitate to tell them this. (Both that I'm awesome and that they are too.) The feeling is rather circular, I'll admit. I'm awesome so, of course, I'd make friends with awesome people. These awesome people want to be my friends so, of course, I must be awesome, too."

I guess you could say I possess an over-abundance of self-esteem.
From whence does this fountain of positive energy spring? After all, I haven't done anything awe-inspiring in nor with my life yet. I've never saved a mother and child from a burning fire. I've never held a dying man in my arms and comforted him as he breathed his last. I'm neither the fastest nor the strongest. I have friends who are better looking, haha! Where then? Why?

Ironically, perhaps even perversely, it's because I've been told many things to the contrary many times in my life. I've had a lot of people tell me I'm not this, not that, not good enough, not cool enough. And I took it, considered it, and now I believe them wrong. My entire life, I'll encounter a lot of people who are going to try and bring me down with scorn and derision.
People who can't do it will laugh and jeer when I fail.
People who can do it better will taunt and mock when I attempt.
There will always be people who will try to knock me down, to erode away my sense of self-worth.

I prefer to lean into the wind.

A Motivating Dream

That is to say 'twas not motivational for 'twas I that did the motivating.

I was back at Uni hanging out with some friends. Interestingly, I actually know the memory from which this dream got its setting.

The memory:
A batch of us went to the combination Baskin-Robbins/Dunkin Donuts just off-grounds. We'd just seen Thor [2011] (it was a'ight) and, as usual, we still wanted to hang out so ice cream became the order of the night. When we got there we all went in, save one. I shall call him P-boy.

Oh, I should mention that the group of us are all in the same club together, which explains why he was there even though I wouldn't call him a friend of mine.

Anyhoo, P-Boy. He's kind of a sad sack. His attitude is often melancholy (you should see his FB statuses, which he insists on updating frequently. I swear it's almost a plea for attention). He lacks self-esteem and he's an introvert but he tries to put himself out there as a confident out-going man.

To put it succinctly, he's the opposite of me in almost every way. Haha. No make that every way. If you only knew... But if you did I would have to wonder how.... (Ô.o)

Oh, going off on a tangent there. Another post will come later with the rest of that. LOOK FORWARD TO IT SUCKAS!! (Ò_____Ó)-b

Anyway, when everyone went into the BR/DD P-boy turned and left without a word. In reality I said, "Meh." In the dream, though, I went after him and we talked.

---------------------------------------------------

Why are you so sad all the time?
Why should I be happy?
Life. Life is awesome.
Of course you're always chipper, you can fly.
*Note: Regular readers will know by now that I can fly in my dreams.
So? I'd still be happy even if I couldn't fly. (It's true. I am even though I can't. (O_<)-b)
Oh really? I wouldn't be sad ever if I could fly.
I doubt that. You'd still be your sad self even if you could do this. *hover hover* What would you do if you could fly? 
I'd just take off whenever I wanted.
Yeah, you could go anywhere, but you'd go alone. You'd watch the sunsets, admire the landscapes? Then what? Take pictures of yourself? Probably make you even more depressed when you start to feel isolated and alone.
I'd be special though, different. I could do something most people can't.
That last one isn't the key to happiness. Why is it important whether other people can do a thing or not? Is there some kind of inflation of value going on here? You can run and jump, taste and smell. Not everyone can do all of these things, you know?
Yeah, but most people can.
So you're actively taking them for granted? As in, you're making a conscious effort to do so? In that case, I really can't help you. That applies to all those places you would have gone with a flight ability too. All those exotic places you might have gone, thousands have been there before. O how will you enjoy them now, hmm? This isn't some Pokémon world dammit. You don't have to be the very best. You just have to be all you can be. And every one is special. They just have to realize that.

At this point the dream changed and I was talking to a friend along similar lines. But that's a separate story.

Favorite Word #3: Vicissitudes

Vicissitudes - n. the alternating changes in circumstance and fortune in life; the ups and downs.

Although the word applies to both the rising and falling of fortune it's most often used when the fortune falls. For example, you find a $20 bill on your way to your car but find a parking ticket under the wiper when you get there. Some (that is to say, I) would lament "the vicissitudes of life". Loudly. And with much arm waving.

\(T.T\) (/T.T)/

Idiosyncrasy #4: No Worries (Mate)

I say 'No worries' in lieu of "You're welcome" or "No problem". Unlike 'wanker' I know exactly where I picked this one up!

You ever read the children's book series Animorphs? One of my favorites while growing up; however, I don't think it ever received as much popularity as it deserves. There is still a good section of it at my local public library though.

Specifically it was book #44, The Unexpected. One of the characters ends up stranded in Australia and meets up with a local boy who said "No worries".

I thought this was an awesome turn of phrase and started using it. 'No worries' has so much more to offer than 'No problem' or 'You're welcome'. The latter two concern only the immediate situation and the action which prompted the response. 'No worries' is a sort of well-wishing for the rest of this other person's day.

<(º_________º)>

Favorite Word #2: Wanker

Another one of my favorite words for your pleasure:

Wanker - n. 

1. A contemptible person; jerk.

2. A male masturbator. 

Ha-HAA!! There's multiculturalism for yah! I dunno when I picked that up, exactly. Probably around the same time I got 'colour' and 'honour'. 

 Ah wellz, I been saying 'wanker' for years and I'm not gonna stop wanking now!

.

.

. 

Wait, that didn't come out right.....

Ninja Warrior for Amurr'cans

Note the twist in participant demographic there.

"Olympic Athletes, K-Fighters, Pro-Wrestlers..."

In other words, people who aren't you, living your regular lives. (- -_____)

You wanna know the spread in the original?

A sample:
Pub Owner
Sports Instructor
Teacher
Newspaper delivery man
Tokyo University Student
Classical Ballet Dancer
Postal Worker

I'm not saying all of them did well, but I want you to note that the spirit of the show is that anyone can compete. Not just professional athletes of one kind or another.

I wish it wasn't the case but COME ON.
Y U ALWAYS REMAKE THINGS TO SUCK AMERICA?  (سಥ益ಥ)س

On the plus side, when it came to actual participants that wasn't entirely the case. The top contenders were a couple of free-runners. That's basically parkour with an emphasis on acrobatics and tricking.
I do realize though that since the competition takes place in Japan it IS easier for the average person living there to try-out and attend compared to someone living in the U.S. without some kind of financial sponsor.

Sasuke a.k.a. Ninja Warrior

So today's find comes by way of one of tracirz's posts. I clicked on the link to Joel's list and then clicked the link next to Learn Parkour which lead me to this blog here.

The guy seems like just my type of person, going out and doing awesome stuff cuz he wants to. But that's beside the point. Looking through his posts I found this one. Man, Ninja Warrior (aka Sasuke) sounds awesome! But I already have K-ON!, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones on my watch list.... (><__)

Video Game - E3 2012

Love of the game right there.

In other news, I have to say, I don't think anyone takes their hobbies more seriously than the Japanese. If you read any manga or watch any anime in which the characters are still in school (there are plenty of them) you've probably noticed how dedicated extracurricular club members are to what they do. For example, if a character is the captain of the team or some such, it will be a big part of their character. That's not just an exaggerated characterization used in the fiction. It's how it is in real life, too.

Fight Club

No, not the movie. I'm talking about the book, written by Chuck Palahniuk. It was good stuff and as always I'd recommend everyone read the book even if, no especially if, you've watched the movie.

This isn't a review of any kind, by the way.

Today I happened to be thinking about the first time I read the book. I got stuck on the first page for a good 15 minutes. Thinking about how the gun modification would work. Dunno what I mean? If you don't happen to have a copy of the book lying around, even I don't, you can actually read the first page on Amazon.

I'm no kind of gun expert but the mechanics of that mod seem a little off to me. Any one know if it would actually work?

HALP MEH!! I Can't Swim!! *glug glug*

So I was just watching The Green Hornet [2011] and I got to the scene where Seth Rogen and Jay Chou fight.

Seems like the inability to swim is an easy weakness to give to otherwise super bad-ass characters. They can do almost anything and everything requiring athletic ability with ease except swim. And that's when the "main" character can jump in and save them, showing that they really can do something this other person can't. Otherwise, you'd think to yourself, how come this one isn't the main character? I'd rather watch him in his day-to-day life, not this wimpy hack. Or, in this case, I still think that. I wanna see The Kato Show, not The Green Hornet. *tsk tsk*


Exhibit A: The Green Hornet [2011]
Kato is a genius with martial arts, mechanics and latte art but never in all his years did he learn how to swim on a planet that's 71% covered by water? Nawww....

Exhibit B: Pendragon Series by D.J. Machale

Two separate bad-ass characters, Loor and Kasha, both prove physically superior to the main protagonist, Bobby, in every respect except swimming. Bobby saved them each at least once with his special ability.

Exhibit C: Deltora Series by Emily Rodda

Jasmine, again a female who is much more physically capable than the male lead, needs saving whenever the adventurous gang falls into some body of water.

That last one was from a children's book series you might not have encountered. Nevertheless, this trope exists and I find it annoying to say the least. But then maybe that's just me. I say make 'em some kind of ~phobic if you must. At least that's more believable, but no less cheap, than simply never learning to swim. Unless that character came from a desert or something. Then it's believable.

P.S. The title of this post is a lie. I'm an awesome swimmer. (And most humble, too) (O_O)-b

Why You Bloggin'?

So Mark just put up a sort of commemorative post for his third month of blogging (congratulations are in order for his excellent work so far).

In which he addressed his reasons for blogging. If you don't already know of him then rest assured that those reasons are noble and good.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for many bloggers and blogs out there. I'm pretty sure all of you know of at least one blog that had their Adsense account banned around one month ago, when Google went out and winnowed a good portion of the Blogger population for having "fake blogs". The more telling result was that most of those blogs stopped after that point. For that, I say good riddance.
The money part of Blogger is just a bonus for me. As for me, if my Adsense got banned the only change you'd notice was the sudden absence of ads on my blog.

I'm not here to get thousands of Followers and thousands of dollars, I'm here to get readers. The difference being not so subtle after all. There's a sort of unspoken rule around here where someone will come to your blog and post a comment and end it with something like "+Followed" and you're supposed to follow back. Not to be a jackass but I don't really do that. If your blog isn't something I'm interested in, that is to say, I would have nothing to comment other than "Nice post!", I don't follow just for the sake of it. So, for those of you whom I follow, know that I really enjoy all of your posts. (O_<)-b

The Departed vs Infernal Affairs - A Preface

As I alluded to in the 100th post!, this blog writing thing is really important to me. Case in point, all week I've been thinking about how to write this. Every night I think about why people like The Departed better. Why people like Infernal Affairs better. Reading their opinions, their reasons, their comparisons. Considering their positions and my thoughts on those positions, whether I was too biased. Above all, I made an effort to resist the tendency to take anything personally.

You've undoubtedly seen flame wars, if no where else you've seen them in the comments sections of YouTube videos. You know where all that emotion comes from? People tend to perceive slights against what they like as insults directed at themselves. What do you mean hockey sucks?! I like hockey, that means you think I suck! *rage rage* Conversely, the reward centers of the brain light up when someone agrees with us. That is to say, when you read an article praising a show you happen to love you feel good, you bask in the reflected glory.

These feelings come to me, too. When I read some reviews saying The Departed had better pacing, I felt anger. When I read someone's comment saying The Departed was a mess, I felt that wave of pleasure. I'm not special because I'm immune to those tendencies, I am special because I am aware of them and act accordingly.

As I said, I read a lot of reviews going both ways about both films and I've come to believe that a lot of viewers just missed a lot when they saw Infernal Affairs, even the ones who prefer it to The Departed! I think it's safe to say most aren't Cantonese speakers, native or otherwise. It isn't something they have to apologize for, not at all, but it is something to factor into consideration.

As a native Chinese (Cantonese even!) speaker and a native English speaker I am in a particular position to be able to judge both films equally. You might immediately think this arrogant of me but I urge you to think about it. Do you really think that you experienced the film as smoothly as I did if you utilized the subtitles while I didn't? I don't say this with a high-brow attitude, sincerely. I don't believe it impossible for non-Chinese speakers to enjoy this film, to understand the film, as you can clearly see from the worldwide fan-base Infernal Affairs has cultivated. But I think it arrogant of a person to believe that subtitled viewing is every bit equal to that of native listeners. Arrogant to believe that those translations fully captured the intricacies of meaning that, at times, would have required annotations in a footer. By the way, some fan-subbed anime do this and I think it really helps but it really is too obtrusive to utilize in a cinematic production.

I showed Infernal Affairs to a non-Chinese speaking friend of mine and she noted that without my commentary on what was actually said she would not have gotten as much out of the film as she did. "Lost in translation" describes the situation perfectly. The subtitles just didn't don't properly convey what was said. Unavoidable? Yes, it is a lamentable fact that translating the dialogue into natural sounding and natural looking English sentences requires certain twists in wording and omissions of content. Yes, you cannot avoid encountering these lapses in translation. Unless you understand the original language you will run into one eventually whilst watching foreign cinema. Does this mean give up? Stick to your own country's cinema? Of course not. Hell, I don't do that in either sense. I possess some piddling Japanese skills and I watch anime. I don't speak any French but that doesn't stop me from watching their movies. And so on.

I'm expecting a stranger who happens to stumble on this blog whilst looking for an article about "The Departed compared to Infernal Affairs" to either cheer or think me a jackass due to those natural psychological factors I pointed out at the beginning. I'm hoping those of you who have followed me for a while will know me better than that.

What do you guys think of me doing a sort of watch-along for Infernal Affairs? I would basically do what I did for my friend: expound on the intricacies of what they actually said or didn't say, cover the gaps between subtitle and translation. Sadly, those two are not always one and the same. I'll be using the DVD edition and it's subtitles so I'll be able to provide reliable timestamps and you can vicariously watch it with me, where-ever you are! Watcha think?

Stop Making Sequels

Just put the old ones in theatres again. Enough time has passed so that there is a generation of kids that haven't even seen The Lion King has been born. Yes, it's true, there are children that haven't seen The Lion King now. They grew up right on the gap of transition between DVD's and VHS's. The parents have a copy of The Lion King but it's on old VHS tape and the VCR got stashed in the garage or attic years ago. Fortunately, there is hope for them!

Furthermore, the experience of watching a movie on the big screen in a theatre full of other people is something else, just as concerts are different from listening to CDs at home. The collective gasps when Mufasa falls to his death, the laughter of the audience when Timon and Pumba do their hula dance, these are things that kids will never experience again. I feel like this is a shame. Movies are different when it is a shared experience, and I don't just mean watching it with 5 friends or some such small number. Sadly, this is something that a lot of foreign movie cinephiles miss out on. I got lucky once. The Chinese Student Association at uni managed to arrange a showing of Infernal Affairs in the theatre on grounds. Most exquisite, it was.
And I'm not just saying that about the movie itself. (O_<)-b

Which leads to my point: Why not just re-release the old classics again from time to time? Without having to pay millions for production of a new movie, hiring actors, sinking loads of money into what is always a calculated gamble, etc. I am pretty sure a profit could be made in there somewhere. Some one look into this.

For now we have Ghostbusters and apparently Top Gun in 3D. Not bad, not bad. I mean, it doesn't have to be in 3D but hey, I'll take what I can get. It's your investment money.

P.S. Yeah, that IS how I spell 'theater', ok? º\(︵≧≦)/º

100th post!

Ho ho, in other words it's been about 100 days since I started this blog!

I really have to thank all you guys, even you who haven't started following my blog yet. I started this blog in order to share my thoughts on things with people and maybe to introduce you to some really awesome stuff you might not have found otherwise. However, in writing these posts I've had to ponder how to present my thoughts in the best manner to an audience, much different from thinking them to oneself, and in the process I've had to inspect those thoughts. Reading your comments in response to my posts and reading your blog posts on things that I have opinions on, at times I've spotted the faults in my own arguments and had to re-analyze why I came to think a certain way and not another, determine whether I oughtn't to change my opinions. This introspection helps me to grow and I think it's something people neglect to do on a regular basis. Sure, you shouldn't bend and twist in the winds of outside pressures on what to think, what to believe, what to feel, but never reconsidering something after accepting it the first time, or even the second time, is no way to live.

Being sure and being right are not the same. Don't forget that.

I like to say that I view the world in a manner "neither wide-eyed nor narrow-minded" and I think this is a good and balanced path to walk.

I wouldn't be who I am right now, this very moment, without mentally jousting with myself and with you guys, though you might not have realized this at the time haha.

Thank you. (^____^)

This pun is just for you guys.

P.S. Also, I altered the blog layout a little bit.

Idiosyncrasy #3: Diluted

I like to dilute fruit juice. At first it was only with orange juice but the dilution has spread to other juices. I feel it gives the drinks a more refreshing and cool quality.

SLIGHT TANGENT
Costco used to sell Tropicana Orange-Tangerine juice and it was the best ever. I guess I'm the odd one because it wasn't very popular and I haven't seen it on store shelves anywhere for years.
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Anyhoo, diluted orange juice tastes slightly closer to how orange-tangerine tasted though, but that's only a small factor. After a while I started to feel that most juices were just a bit too sweet for my liking so I dilute those too. Most especially red grape juice. Definitely too sweet for me unadulterated，though white grape is fine.

Creepypasta #1: Enlarge to Read

Creepypasta - creepy stuff that gets copied and pasted on forums and such, hence the name: creepypasta. You can usually find a thread about it any given day on the /x/ board on 4chan but just so's you don't have to go slogging through the crap that's usually up there here's on of my favorites.

Click on it to bring it up to full, legible size. Enjoy. (O_<)-b

The Departed vs Infernal Affairs - A Precursor

I could will post a longer (winded hehe) review post concerning all the areas where The Departed [2006] fell flat as a remake of the Hong Kong film, Infernal Affairs [2002], or even as a stand-alone film but for now I will only concern myself and you with one scene: the elevator scene.
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Despite what I just said I still almost posted a rant here....
(- -___)
Infernal Affairs is such a great movie that I get especially rant-prone about it.

Go YouTube 'the departed elevator scene' or something. Watch it.

In a word: messy. Just so messy. Bang! Bang bang! Bang! Are you serious? How the hell are these three deaths not going to get back to him? That's two (three but technically Costigan's file got deleted) dead cops and the body of a guy who some one at the station will remember seeing come in a few days before. And those blood splatters are going to paint an odd picture for the forensics team when they notice that these three didn't neatly off one another, not to mention seeming to wipe their guns clean after.

Not to mention the other little bang at the end when Wahlberg's pointless, and pointlessly foul-mouthed, character offs Damon. (- -___) Plenty of paralipsis in this argument...

Then the final cutaway even shows a large rat crawling across the rooftop. What amazing subtlety.
Hmmm. "Pointlessly foul-mouthed." Wow, that kinda applies to the whole movie doesn't it? By golly.

And from Infernal Affairs. That's the original there. And I think to myself, what the hell did William Monahan think to himself when he adapted that scene? Monahan wrote the screenplay for The Departed, by the way.

Ah, hell. Even if Americans needed their movies dumb-ed down, dirtied up, splashed with violence and spoken in English to appreciate them *I* would appreciate if they knew where they were getting their stuff. Anyone remember the Academy Awards for the year The Departed won? The presenter described The Departed as being based on a Japanese film. *Sigh* I did not need another reason to think that it's a bunch of fools running things over there at the Academy but they gave me another.

And there's still a good amount of rant in this post. Maybe I need counseling....

Oh oh! One last note. I found this comment on one of the YouTube vids of The Departed's elevator scene.

Damn, this guy... he doesn't know how right he is. Nor how much more right he could be. I really don't know who is to blame for messing up the ending, Monahan or Scorcese. That shock you got from that death in the original movie gets muddled and lost when the antagonist in The Departed, Sullivan (Matt Damon), didn't walk away clean. He got cleanly shot by Wahlberg's character. I sighed soooo hard just now I inhaled. It's like a sign that reads, "Remember kids, crime doesn't pay."

Rihanna Music

Despite the level of fame she possesses I don't really care for any of her songs in their entirety. Only bits and pieces of some, one of which I pointed out in this post from way back. Ah wells, from all that music I never listen to this came about so I won't complain.



Another of my favorite YouTube subscribed channels: Kurt Hugo Schneider. Check out his stuff, yeah?

Oh and that piano melody from "Take A Bow" is great but I don't care about any of the rest of that song.

A Scary Zombie Dream

She actually really kinda looks like this.

So I had a nice scary dream Sunday. We were in a massive dimly lit room and zombies were hiding around the place. As always, I could fly. And surprise surprise, wonder of wonders, joy of joys! One of my friends was there, too. (My wonder and joy would fade as the events unfolded but the surprise stayed. You'll see...) We had to look for a place to make our stand or hide. The zombies weren't "allowed" to attack us until after a certain period of time had passed, though I can't explain how I knew that. At one point I flew up to the top of a tree but a zombie perched in the branches hissed at me and shooed me away to find my own hiding spot. Perhaps most oddly, a quilted blanket covered the entire floor. Some zombies weren't very good at hiding, the lump of their bodies could clearly be seen. We couldn't find a hiding spot and time was running out. I ended up near the wall where I could see a zombie sitting under the edge of the quilt. The truce period ended and I preemptively punched it in the head but it didn't 'die' like it was 'supposed' to. Head-shots are one-hit kills damn it. What a cheat.

Anyway, we scramble back and take off but my friend here, she doesn't feel like flying. Instead she sort of drifted into the air and floated along. Her momentum didn't disappear though. Might I say, she was being a real... drag? nyuk nyuk nyuk (≥ヮ≤) I had to tugboat her along when a zombie comes at us from the opposite direction. Still didn't feel like flying though and she drifted steadily towards it. You ever play that game Asteroids? Sort of like that. Impending collision. Sadly (for me), she wouldn't let go either, though. It bit her leg and then, being the awwwwesome buuuuddy that she is, she tries to bite me, too. AND SHE WASN'T EVEN TURNED YET!! What a wanker, I tell you what.

"Sharing is caring!!!" (fOmo)f...~~~(____ ¬ ¬)
No, wait, it looked more like: (Fºuº)F...~~~(____ ¬ ¬)

 And then, her hesitance to fly just disappears, o joy, eh? And some cool flying ensues before I get caught. Damn it. What a good friend I made her, subconsciously, eh? (^____^;;)7

Ain't no passin' craze

Woke up this morning and said, "Hakuna matata...what a wonderful phrase...." Nice day.
(^____________^)

Enjoy two spots from my treasured image folder.

And then some time later, this one popped up.

Whoa A Liebster Blog Award!! \(⊙⊙◡)/

Ho ho! So I got a Liebster Blog award from Mai Yang over at Most Awesome Blog Title Ever!
\(^ヮ^\) (/^ヮ^)/ <(O___O<) ^(O___O)^ (>O__O)>

Good to know someone out there appreciates my awesomeness. kekeke <(º◡º)> *hubris*
What's a Liebster Award you ask? 

 -Liebster - German word meaning 'favorite'
-spread to five bloggers who have less than 200 followers
-thank and link back to sender

Seems like an excellent way to spread some love to some blogs that deserve it.
So then, five fav blogs with <200 followers, eh?
(I couldn't find the number of followers for some of these so it might have broken the rules hehe)

Mount Aenos
Stuff That Rocks
Beast in Human Skin

There are other blogs but too many other people liked them too! For shame, eh? hahaha

An odd action hero movie post

The final scene of Rambo: First Blood is a classic bit of cinema. Unfortunately, all the good versions of the clip I could find on YouTube had Embedding disabled so I'll have to settle with a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qIgVrOy9vM

I really like to see actors who are normally dismissed as action movie stars show off some real acting. It's easy to forget that Stallone can do more with his characters than jump out of a helicopter with guns blazing and such. Same deal with Bruce Willis of Die Hard fame. Again, YouTube is letting me down today; I couldn't find a clip of the scene but if you've seen Unbreakable [2000] or have it lying around on DVD maybe you can check it out. I am referring to the scene in the kitchen/dining room when their son points a gun at Willis' character and both parents have to talk him down.

My Excellent Password (￣︿￣)7 *salute*

Today I completely retired my first password.

It's a fact that most people use very simplistic passwords for fear they themselves will forget them. Despite all the advice NOT to use birthdays, names of relatives/children/pets, and what-not a lot of people still use them as passwords. Or perhaps they rationalize that if a skilled hacker really wanted to get at their data they'd get in, no matter how good their password was. That's not really good logic there but whatever. Another problem: People tend to use the same log-in name AND password for a lot of different accounts (I myself was guilty of this for a long time). Personally, I made up an awesome password and I used it for everything cuz it was so secure, so I believed. Then I realized: if someone wanted to take advantage of that tendency, they would only need to make a website, attract loads of people to register accounts and they'd basically have people handing them the virtual keys to their virtual houses. When I realized this I started to make specialized passwords for individual log-ins. Actually they would more aptly be called 'passcodes'. Sure, it's a little more complicated but it means that if people break into one room they still won't have free run of the entire house, so to speak. Think about it. If you register on some forum dedicated to, for example, discussing the TV show Game of Thrones with the same log-in and password you use for your online bank account there will be serious trouble if someone decides not to deal with the security features of the bank site and instead come through an unsuspecting fan forum, yeah?

People's faces when they see me type it in.

So any ways, I followed another piece of oft ignored advice: Change your passwords periodically. If you still use that password you came up with when you first signed up for Hotmail, you might be ok. Then again you might not. I for one, prefer peace of mind. So anyway, I completely retired the first passcode I came up with back in 10th grade. And it's pretty awesome. While my brother and sister still used, get this, they still used actual words as passwords I was using this:

yg-9f/v4rfls-g37

Yeah, super cool right?

Game of Thrones

So after I watched that YouTube cover of Train's "Soul Sister" with those AA's I subscribed to some of their channels, leading me to this guy, Jason Yang, and his current featured video:



Owing to the fact that I don't watch much television I hadn't heard about this show. But damn! I've only seen the first episode but it's pretty awesome. Now I understand where all these "Winter is coming" images of the guy I only knew as Boromir come from. His name is Sean Bean by the way. Also there's the guy who played Roland from A Knight's Tale [2001]. He's a king now! A great leap from squire to a knight I say!

An odd Loki anime music post

There's an anime I never watched called Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok (a.k.a. Matantei Loki Ragnarok/ 魔探偵ロキRagnarok). Despite this handicap at one point I downloaded a RealMedia file of the opening solely to listen to the opening theme song.

That was about 10 years ago, back when RealPlayer was little better than malware. Remember how it would put that icon in the taskbar even if you unticked the checkbox under Performance to disable it? And how about how it urged you to buy the Pro version every time you launched the application?

Well, ten years later, I still haven't watched that anime but yesterday the theme song popped into my head and I felt the need to listen to it again.

If I was inclined to watch it I could do so more easily than ever now: The entire series is available on YouTube's animenetwork channel. Unfortunately, a high quality video of the opening doesn't exist and I had to go to animenetwork's upload of the 1st episode to watch the OP. In the end I watched the whole episode. It's not as good as I had hoped. Good thing I didn't spend these loooong years anticipating this series hahAHAha!! It's rather childish and not nearly as good as the OP itself, in my opinion. Ah wells.


It's worth checking out. The OP song, I mean.

Adrenaline music

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite tracks to get the action started, as it were.

That one from the amazing chase/battle scene near the end of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I used to listen to it on the way to high school every morning back in 11th grade. On an old Sony MiniDisc player. Don't know what that is? I'm not surprised. MiniDisc players are to portable music devices what Zip discs were to removable media storage. The thing is MiniDiscs really took off in Japan and you see them a lot in anime and Japanese dramas. I'm not ashamed to admit that I liked this semi-obscure music device because of this association. (^___^)7



Yeah, Rammstein. Not unexpected right? Of particular note is the call and response @2:10.