Tea With Milk

So, we Asians like tea. But it turns out the British like tea as well. Hooray for healthy choices, eh?

But then what do they do? They put milk in it...

(= =__)


Antioxidant properties destroyed. Nice going.

I guess they weren't thinking about health at all... too bad.

Dream - Fairy Box Ice Cream

I enter a room and find Mark attending an Ice Cream Literature class. What is an Ice Cream Literature class, you ask? Well, apparently it's a class that discusses literature corresponding to certain flavors of ice cream. There's a different flavor and work every day of the week. Mark tells me the Fairy Box flavor attracts goth/emo types. The literature, I mean. Not the ice cream. I dunno what the literature was about. It had nothing to do with ice cream.

It looked like this.

Dream - A Crumbling Empire

See, it says dream right in the title there!

There's a flurry of activity throughout the castle-grounds. Documents are being burned, heirlooms are being packed and more than a few people are making their own escape.
The rebels have won. The royal guard smashed. The conquering heroes approach the gates even now. They demand the queen's abdication.
I head down and find the black servants disappearing into a hidden trapdoor. The heroes will not be gentle. No one ever is. Not to them. I decline to follow. I close the trapdoor behind them, slide a barrel over it and kick up some dust to cover their tracks. I hope they make it far away before anyone thinks these levels are too dead for a place that hasn't seen any killing yet.

Names

Well, this one doesn't really have to do with racism really, but I can't think of any more apt label. And I don't wanna make a new one.
=========================

Most white people don't even know what their names mean, nor do they care beyond a trivial level. How many Davids, Richards, Michaels, and Roberts do you know? And the Matts. They love 'Matt'. And don't even start on the Williams and Johns.

My name? My real name, I mean. You'll never have to ask, "Which one?" when talking to someone about me.
=========================

I've never cared for middle names. But then, when your surname is something common like 'Davis' or 'Johnson' and your parents are unoriginal, I suppose it's best to give your child an extra operator, just in case.  

John Davis? I know seven of those! Oh, John ANTHONY Davis? Only two. Much better.
=========================

I've never cared for double first names either. Especially if the names are both common. John-Davis? Mary-Beth?  I'm like, "Make up your damn mind, gee." I know one person with a double first name. Everyone just calls him the first half. Whadja expect? It's like calling your kid Bertrand these days. Ya gotta know everyone is just going to call him 'Bert'. (A fate I, myself, narrowly avoided.)

Too Much PC Is Bad For Your Health

I think it's stupid to use 'African American' as a substitute for 'black'. Why? Because not all Africans are black. Yeah. Surprising, isn't it? Welcome to the present.

Also, it's really long to type every time. I first noticed that when writing a paper in high school at some point. I started shortening it to 'AA' but I use those initials for something else these days.

Unlike, say, Asians, blacks in the U.S. don't have deep cultural connections to their motherlands. For example, Chinese immigrants, they and their children and grandchildren will know they're from Chinese stock.
I hope. ABC's these days.... I dunno...
Same for Japanese, Korean, Filipino, etc. But black people whose ancestors were slaves? They don't know where. Sadly, that kind of thing didn't get passed down to the current generation. It's ironically parallel to how most white Americans are just 'white' even in their own minds. They feel little to no connection at all to wherever their ancestors came from. Polish, Greek, Irish, British? Nope, just American. Hell, they definitely don't speak anything but, that's for sure.

The Inside of the Transportation Rings

I just spent the last hour looking through Stargate episodes to find a specific scene. There was one moment in the entire series in which we got to see what the inside of the transportation rings look like during their operation. It was amazing and I still remembered it and I just had to see it again just now.

So, after a little searching, I found it. 'Season 5, Episode 1: Enemies', @14:44. Still sweet. Totally worth it.

Bling Bling Sparkle Sparkle

I'm looking at a guy wearing white shoes. It's almost grotesque and definitely absurd how carefully he walks through puddles, taking care not to sully his pristine kicks. Lift foot, gently place, no splashing, lift foot, repeat.

And I think, "What a faggot."

He is intent on maintaining the appearance of never walking anywhere in those shoes.
That inconveniently white footwear, his ironed clothes, his fading artificial tan, all of it blaring the message that he doesn't do shit with his body. It's just for show.

Fucker probably had manicured nails, too.

This Time I Leave Her

Z-girl, my brother, and I had taken shelter in a half-constructed house. Not all the doors had been installed yet and some of the walls were still just struts. We sat to rest and put down our backpacks. Bro went off to use the bathroom and we sat to wait for him. After some time Z-girl looks up and says, "This is the first time we've let someone go off alone... we shouldn't have done that." We get up and I think, Shit. Bro comes running back down the hall with some '28 Days Later' pseudo-zombies tearing after him. If you'll recall, I loved that movie. And those were the best/fastest p-zombies, too. But I'm sure you'll understand why I wasn't thrilled to see them right that second. We take off up the stairs toward the unfinished attic. One of them grabs Bro's arm just as he clears the stairs and they bite his arm. You all know that's a death sentence, yes?

Now for a sidenote: My brother used to play a lot of CounterStrike. There was one play mode that made one team "zombies". They had movement speed bonuses, everything had a green tinge and they could only use melee attacks, i.e. the knife. It was a one-hit kill on the 'humans' side and that player would then immediately become a zombie, i.e. switch teams. I'd watch some of his matches. The prevailing strategy was for the humans to find a corner room in a map and barricade up the entrance. Eventually the zombies would always break through and turn someone, at which point that guy would immediately turn around and attack his teammates. What struck me was how everyone would take the team-change in stride so easily and turn on their former team-mates with such gusto.

So anyway, that bit of information drifted across my sub-conscience and it rapidly implemented it into the dream fabric.

Bro gets bitten and he turns around and starts running at me immediately. I'm halfway up the attic stairs and I see this transpire. I got angry and yelled indignantly, "HEY, YOU DON'T GET TURNED THAT FAST! HOLD THEM OFF FOR A LITTLE ANYWAY, THEN COME AFTER US, JACKASS." I threw my heavy backpack into the p-zombie that bit him and turn up into the attic. Bro stood still for a more suitably acceptable period of time before following. Z-girl and I run up to the edge and see that the house we chose is inconveniently taller than its neighbors. Jumping is not an option. Guess we have to fly. Z-girl has reservations once again. (⌐ ⌐_) Having learned my lesson last time I take off into the sky. Alone.

Are Humans Sapient?

I've heard some witty banter casting doubt on even human beings being able to lay claim to sapience. If you've ever worked in Retail I'm sure you have some anecdotal evidence of your own that some humans actually don't seem to have the ability to use logic and judgement. (>ワ<)

Nevertheless, all jokes aside, I believe the judgement doesn't lie on the very best or the very worst example from a species. You look at the mid-section of the bell curve, if you will. There might exist an aberrant horse or turtle that exhibits signs of sapience. Somewhere in the wilderness... But that doesn't mean the entire species gets the Sapience check-mark, you know? Conversely, dumb fuck humans don't strip humanity, as a species, of sapient status.

Sentient vs. Sapient

Ok, so these two words are used pretty interchangeably in sci-fi material.

That don't make it right. There's a difference.

If I had to cut it quick and dirty:

Sentient = ability to feel and perceive.

Sapient = ability to use logic and judgement.

Hey, Look Over There!

When I was a kid, we made a trip to Disney World. Or was it Disney Land? World. Pretty sure it was World. (The one in Florida, right?) My sister, my mom, and I got on one of the 'haunted house'-type rail-cart rides. The ones that take people through rooms with holograms. We got to one section where there was banquet hall off to the right with the holographic ghosts flying everywhere, wreaking havoc and such, as they do. From my angle I could see further up the train and noticed a point where a banshee head on a stick would pop up alongside the cart, right in the face of whoever took the "window seat". In our cart? That was my sister. Being the clever mean guy I am was, I timed my action and said, "Hey, 家姐, look out there!" so she turned and leaned out just as the banshee popped up and screamed at her, almost nose to nose.

The aftermath.

NOPE

Shame. Out of the big three East Asian groups, I happen to be least familiar with Korean. Guess which one brought me this fine work?

I can't figure out how to embed or archive anything from this page so the best I have is a link for you.

Check it out. Your horror webtoon of the day.

NOPE

Enjoy. (^__________^)-b*

SCP-173

HOLY CRAP

So that's where this thing is from! Hell, all this time it's been sitting in my Creepypasta folder with the filename 'Creepypasta - Large Doll'. Haha, what a faux pas... (^___^;;;)7

Annoyance #3: Ignorant Grammar

Incorrectly using 'of' as in "shouldn't of done that" or "I would of done that if I'd remembered".

I know why people think that's how it's written. Because that's what it sounds like. Granted, 'shouldn't've' is a double contraction, which is considered non-standard. But that's no excuse. That just means you shouldn't use it when writing in the first place. 'Would've' has no such excuse. The person who gets that wrong didn't pay attention in English class or they never learned it in the first place.

When I see this I really feel like there just isn't enough attention given to education in the U.S. And I'm not even just talking about money. I'm talking about respect. Lack of funding is just a symptom, not the disease itself. The disease is how little Americans care of learning. They like to keep it real instead. There's this attitude here of "Too much book learning will make you lose sight of how the real world works."

To Secure, Contain, and Protect

A year ago I found some creepypasta (Creepy shit. I love it.) on the internet, as I do. It's called The Holders Series. It's shitty. Well, ok, the first one I read tickled my fancy, what with the esoteric rituals and such. But, well, repetitive and stale succinctly describe all the rest. The parodies perfectly capture the wackiness of it all. I'll say no more.

Then, two days from now (huehuehue time travel is cool), I learned about SCP - Containment Breach and that shit is good. Some of it isn't even really creepy, per se, but it's so fascinating. Playing the alpha version of the game now. Yeah! Alpha. Not even beta stage yet. This thing has promise. A blink gauge? Hell, I never even thought of that.

AHAHAHA Man, FOX News.

FOX News never fails to provide me with my daily dose of laughter. Even if it is just one of their local affiliates. Dumb fucks. (>ワ<)

My Thirst Has Been Sated

Many people can't appreciate subtlety. If you're one of them then move along. This ain't for you.

If you have time and patience, check this out. This is one something that you really have to respect in order to get the most out of it. It's like a mystery novel. Flipping to the end to find out what happens immediately is like spitting in the author's face. It ruins the suspense. Spoils the mystery, hmm?

If you get bored halfway through this and want to fast forward, just close the tab. Don't even finish it, just close the tab and leave.

Otherwise, fullscreen it, close the curtains, turn off the lights and put on some headphones.

Don't eat chips. This is me. Watching you watch this.

Pearl of Wisdom #1

I had a hard time coming up with a title for this post series that didn't sound trite or cliché. Whatev's.
╮(╯ヮ╰)╭
==========================

Here's something everyone should be taught at a young age. On the other hand, some people are never taught this, they come to realize it on their own after cultivating some hard-earned wisdom. In fact, some people still haven't grasped this concept. And, even worse, some other people refuse to acknowledge the truth. Nevertheless, I believe everyone should learn this concept at some point in their lives:

Things aren't that simple.

That's it. Right there. ( ╹_╹)/ Things.... just aren't that simple. We live in a multi-dimensional world. It only makes sense that the abstract parts of it are in the same mold, yes?

Statute of Limitations

How long after a work comes out should people wait before speaking freely about it in the open? As a lover of stories I have great respect for narrative and a proper hatred of spoilers. As such, when dissecting the latest yarn I do my best to ward spoiler-averse people away.

But there has to be a certain point in time when there should no longer be an expectation of warning at all, when everyone who planned to watch/read it has had ample opportunity. When do you guys think that time should be?
For example, it's ridiculous to say "Spoilers Ahead": Jesus dies. Rosebud was his sled. Bruce Willis was dead the whole time. Etc.

I usually give a book series 2-3 months after completion. A TV series with several seasons gets longer, at least long enough for a person to marathon it at a decent pace.

I Need Some Horror

You guys ever heard of Metro 2033? The game came out about 2 years ago. Post-apocalyptic setting. What is it about post-apocalyptic that is so interesting? Is it the idea of our massive population and the bloated society it maintains coming down all around? The 'picking up the pieces' among the ruins simpler existence?

I wanna play this game. ~( O___O)

I'm feeling the craving for some good fear.

The background track will probably sound familiar to you. I like to call it the '28 Days Later theme'.

I'm Not Sure About This Either

I've always thought poorly of people who support other people based solely on their familiarity with each other. In other words, I disliked people who took the sides of their friends in any conflict, just because they were friends.

This is actually just an extension of my general dislike for any decisions made without thought.

"Just because you are his friend doesn't mean he must be right in all cases."
I always thought I'd serve the side of justice if put in that situation. I wouldn't be that jackass who backs up his buddy no matter what she did.
"Uh, yeah, that guy totally swerved into us. It's his fault!"
Loyalty? If she's the kind of person who deserves mine then she will admit when wrong and wouldn't expect me to back her when she's truly at fault.

Hmmm.... Now I'm Not Sure

BTW, this week's been pretty hectic so I've fallen behind on these posts. Instead of putting a little "Posting for #/##" blurb at the top like I used to I'm just going to use the handy scheduler to go back in time.
====================

I've previously mentioned my preference for short girls here. Remember how I said it wasn't because I wanted a meek and helpless damsel? That's still true but now I have to admit that the appearance does actually appeal to me. Damn! I don't like it when they actually are timid but that 'mousy girl' look draws me in.

I met a nicely short girl a while back who made me think about this topic again. I wasn't entirely convinced that time and I set it down. That is, until I met another girl today. Let's call her 814-girl. She is also that nice short I like so much. It prompted my thoughts again and such consistency is enough proof for me to edit my 'personal mental file', as it were. No sense lying to you guys and myself, eh?

I Understand A Little Better Now

Still haven't formulated my thoughts on ME3 into a satisfactory state. I'm working on it, with the imaginary discussions and such.

Meanwhile, I've gotten a better picture of why all this backlash against BioWare exists.

Personally, I hadn't paid any attention to Mass Effect 3 before actually getting around to playing it. I hadn't watched any commercials, read or listened to any rumors, read any company responses to those rumors, or caught any of the pre-launch hype. I simply played ME3 without any of that outside knowledge. It was just me and the game. As such, I finished it and had my opinion on the ending and so forth. None of the out-right anger felt by other gamers. I was confused and a little annoyed by how indignant many of them seemed to be. I felt they had no right to be angry the game didn't end the way they wanted it to. Since then, I've made the effort to understand.

Strangely My Only Mass Effect Image

Now that I think about it, it is odd that I don't have any wallpapers for this game.

Another Cool Clip

Do you like physics?



Man, science. Cool stuff.

In other news, I think I'll use this teaching style from now on.  
"I dare to assume you ignorant jackasses know that space is empty." That has to be one of my favorite lines ever said by anyone anywhere for any reason.

Spoilers To Come

Well, I've given it some thought and I want to talk about my ME3 experience. And, unavoidably, there will be spoilers. As such I want to give you guys fair warning, those of you who plan to play the game at some point. I'm not going to review the game exclusively, there are some topics the game brought to my mind is all. So if you don't plan to play the game or don't mind spoilers feel free to come and read.

Meanwhile, I'm giving the game another playthrough. ~~~(__^^)

Mass Effect 3: Thoughts

Finished the game. Not going to spoil, it's worth playing and I don't want to ruin it for you guys.

But I will give out some of my thoughts.

I liked it. The ending is a little weak but I didn't feel like I wasted my time at all and I'm going to play it again.

Yep. That's that.
========================
You may have heard that Bioware's fanbase has been drinking a lot of the haterade for years. There's a large and rabid band of people who have been heaping the scorn and internet rage on all kinds of things Bioware for a long time, and not just on Mass Effect 3 but other games developed by the company, and even singling out specific writers for the company. It's gotten out of hand.

Spent All My Time Playing Mass Effect 3, So Here You Go

I'm going to elaborate on this later, but I know something has quality when it can make me feel.

 No spoilers, just check out this opening for the game.

Well Damn, I Missed That One

Woops, guess what guys? That last post was #300. Was I supposed to do something to commemorate the occasion?

Anyway, last night- what should I call these segments? It's getting repetitive to have to tell you guys, "I had a dream..." every time.
.
.
.

(~_￣￣)~*DREAM*~(￣￣_~)

I ended up in a small town somewhere in the French countryside. A castle stood up on a hill against a dark blue sky. It was late at night and the streetlamps made little circles of light dotting the streets but deepened the shadows in the alleys. I had on a paratrooper backpack as I ran toward the castle. Then these two girls pulled up and cornered me in one of the alleys. They tossed me in the back and took off. We pulled up to the docks at the edge of the moat and I hopped out and ran around the corner of the guardhouse. I'm not sure if they were allies or enemies because I felt the urge to get away from them quickly. I took a running jump and cat leapt across the water. In real life that probably wouldn't have worked because the sides of a moat are usually naturally defended with slick algae growth from the stagnant water. Once inside I met up with my contact, a guy named Oslo Sederis, but he looked like my high school history teacher.

That's all I remember.

More Nice Music From A Mediocre Gundam Series

In the typical way of the world, Gundam Wing is one of the more mediocre series in the franchise and yet it is probably the most commonly watched Gundam series among newbies in the U.S. because it aired on mainstream TV. (= =____)

Nevertheless, it, too, had a great score and the story was no where near as shitty as Destiny's, so we have something, don't we?



The first top YouTube comment is true. The second is false.