Man...this is a large pile of dust! I could practically swim through it! o.O
Anyway...I don't think I'll recap my holiday; t'was long long ago and I've forgotted most of the details. I suck.
I *might* pick this thing up again...but I have prior commitments :)
For now, I leave you with this thought: Purple is considered a "feminine" colour.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Memories of Orlando - Day: 1 | 16/12/2006
27 days ago I posted, announcing my return and promising that I would share my memories of Orlando. The time has come.
My day began at 8am on Friday 16th December 2006. I had spent the whole of the night before until 4am finishing off my final piece of coursework, only to be stopped in my tracks by being unable to send it off. Thus upon waking up, the first thing I do is send my coursework off and then freshen up and get ready to leave.
By around 10am we're all ready and are joined some time later by our family friend, Peter, who will be travelling with us. He and my mum work together, and it's the company that's paying for the holiday. Around 11am-ish we set out and make our way to the nearby bus stop to catch the bus to Heathrow, where our flight will be leaving from Terminal 4 at around 3pm. Upon arrival, it's a long wait and so we pass the time by eating a somewhat hearty meal, and then just before boarding, my mum, Peter and I sample some new brands of Baileys. I quite liked both mint and orange, and the original.
We had a good flight and landed in New York at around 6pm local, UK is about 5 hours ahead of NY, so it'd be 11pm UK time. We stood in the queue for customs and waited...and waited...and so on. My mum asked a nearby assistant if we could make it in time for our connecting flight, which was around 7.30pm, the assistant's reply was positive. So we waited. Then came our turn and we went through the procedures we encountered almost 2 years ago in Los Angeles:
1) Print the Right Index Finger
2) Print the Left Index Finger
3) Look at the mini-cam and have your picture taken
For some reason the customs officer was taking her time, and her supervisor walked past and informed her that after doing us she should go on her break. She completed my mum and I, and then led us to their main Customs office, I think it was Homeland Security. Here, she handed my brothers' passports to a guy behind the desk and told us to take a seat and wait. We waited. He talked on the phone. We waited. He gossipped with his colleague. We waited. He talked on the phone some more while gossipping. We waited. He slowly got to work. By now it was nearing 7.15pm.
No-one had informed us as to why we were brought here. Peter came to check in on us, since he had to go to another officer. He tried to find out what was going on, since we still had to check-in, but the guy told him to go back outside and wait. Just how long did we have to wait?! After a while, the officer called my mum up and started asking her questions about our purpose and whether we had been here before. Honestly.
Since we weren't given any information and they pretty much refused to tell us, we can only assume that they held us back just because my youngest brother's name is 'Mohammed'. Oh My God! Terrorist Alert! Good grief. I felt like yelling out "Bomb!" just to drive them a bit more crazy. It certainly would have made my time a little bit better.
In the end we managed to get across to the right terminal in about 10 minutes, leaving us just 5 minutes to check-in and board. Unfortunately, no go. The gates had been closed and we were screwed/stuck in NY, since the next flight wasn't until early tomorrow or same time that evening. Ducking Shastards.
While trying to decide what to do, Peter took us aside and held a group meeting. He swayed us to the idea of making the best of our situation and to take advantage of it, i.e. spend the night and the next day in NY, catching the flight to Orlando same time that evening. We agreed to this idea, plus we could use some sleep, and so the tickets were booked with a 50% discount. They still made us pay for tickets they made us waste ¬.¬
We then contacted a hotel and spent the night there, ordering delivered take-out. While there, I remembered that America has better Anime than we do, and so I made my brothers surf for Adult Swim, which comes on later, after Cartoon Network. We caught the end of ZatchBell!, which doesn't seem my type of Anime, though the PS2 game looked fun to play. We then surfed around a bit and tuned in again at around 11pm and caught Trinity Blood and Bleach! I squealed in silent excitement at Bleach, since I love the series and have seen the first dubbed episode via downloaded means, and now watched episode 15. The dubbing was superb! But I really shouldn't gush so much, or it'll get jinxed o.O Heaven forbid!
After this, we went to sleep.
My day began at 8am on Friday 16th December 2006. I had spent the whole of the night before until 4am finishing off my final piece of coursework, only to be stopped in my tracks by being unable to send it off. Thus upon waking up, the first thing I do is send my coursework off and then freshen up and get ready to leave.
By around 10am we're all ready and are joined some time later by our family friend, Peter, who will be travelling with us. He and my mum work together, and it's the company that's paying for the holiday. Around 11am-ish we set out and make our way to the nearby bus stop to catch the bus to Heathrow, where our flight will be leaving from Terminal 4 at around 3pm. Upon arrival, it's a long wait and so we pass the time by eating a somewhat hearty meal, and then just before boarding, my mum, Peter and I sample some new brands of Baileys. I quite liked both mint and orange, and the original.
We had a good flight and landed in New York at around 6pm local, UK is about 5 hours ahead of NY, so it'd be 11pm UK time. We stood in the queue for customs and waited...and waited...and so on. My mum asked a nearby assistant if we could make it in time for our connecting flight, which was around 7.30pm, the assistant's reply was positive. So we waited. Then came our turn and we went through the procedures we encountered almost 2 years ago in Los Angeles:
1) Print the Right Index Finger
2) Print the Left Index Finger
3) Look at the mini-cam and have your picture taken
For some reason the customs officer was taking her time, and her supervisor walked past and informed her that after doing us she should go on her break. She completed my mum and I, and then led us to their main Customs office, I think it was Homeland Security. Here, she handed my brothers' passports to a guy behind the desk and told us to take a seat and wait. We waited. He talked on the phone. We waited. He gossipped with his colleague. We waited. He talked on the phone some more while gossipping. We waited. He slowly got to work. By now it was nearing 7.15pm.
No-one had informed us as to why we were brought here. Peter came to check in on us, since he had to go to another officer. He tried to find out what was going on, since we still had to check-in, but the guy told him to go back outside and wait. Just how long did we have to wait?! After a while, the officer called my mum up and started asking her questions about our purpose and whether we had been here before. Honestly.
Since we weren't given any information and they pretty much refused to tell us, we can only assume that they held us back just because my youngest brother's name is 'Mohammed'. Oh My God! Terrorist Alert! Good grief. I felt like yelling out "Bomb!" just to drive them a bit more crazy. It certainly would have made my time a little bit better.
In the end we managed to get across to the right terminal in about 10 minutes, leaving us just 5 minutes to check-in and board. Unfortunately, no go. The gates had been closed and we were screwed/stuck in NY, since the next flight wasn't until early tomorrow or same time that evening. Ducking Shastards.
While trying to decide what to do, Peter took us aside and held a group meeting. He swayed us to the idea of making the best of our situation and to take advantage of it, i.e. spend the night and the next day in NY, catching the flight to Orlando same time that evening. We agreed to this idea, plus we could use some sleep, and so the tickets were booked with a 50% discount. They still made us pay for tickets they made us waste ¬.¬
We then contacted a hotel and spent the night there, ordering delivered take-out. While there, I remembered that America has better Anime than we do, and so I made my brothers surf for Adult Swim, which comes on later, after Cartoon Network. We caught the end of ZatchBell!, which doesn't seem my type of Anime, though the PS2 game looked fun to play. We then surfed around a bit and tuned in again at around 11pm and caught Trinity Blood and Bleach! I squealed in silent excitement at Bleach, since I love the series and have seen the first dubbed episode via downloaded means, and now watched episode 15. The dubbing was superb! But I really shouldn't gush so much, or it'll get jinxed o.O Heaven forbid!
After this, we went to sleep.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
A thought
Sometimes...I feel like ripping my shirt off. You know, Hulk-Style.
It looks to promise wonders with anger/frustration/stress relief.
It looks to promise wonders with anger/frustration/stress relief.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Gaming and New Additions
Hey all,
Been taking time out for playing games. As of sometime early last week, I completed Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and have started playing Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. Allow me to discuss the former at some length, and highlight some news regarding the latter for you fellow Europeans.
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Hmm...it was somewhat so-so at best. That's me being nice about it, because I feel that it should be owed something for the effort. The story was generally good, but there were points where it was incredibly iffy and left me wondering "What the hell?". Examples of such situations include the scene between Vincent and Reeve, and the one between Shalua and Shelke. Oh and quite a few scenes with Lucrecia; I gather that this game deals with Vincent and revolves around Vincent, much like Advent Children was for Cloud, but these scenes seemed to exhude a strong amount of attraction between the two...something that most fans have been rooting for since Final Fantasy VII. I was personally disappointed with Hojo's voice; they did what I feared, and gave him the cliche "crazy-scientist-bastard" voice. They also pushed him a bit further off his rocker, and his appearance was far from what I had assumed; I mean Sephiroth has to get his looks from somewhere, right? I don't see very many Lucrecia features in him, and I see quite a lot of no Hojo.
It also felt like Vincent was given the role of Cloud, and one of the lines I found annoying was when Cait Sith exclaimed that Vincent did care for the rest of the gang...well DUH! I never would have picked up on that! Really, you'd think he'd get some feeling for the people he took up arms with, after traversing the world with them to take part in a battle he could have walked away from as soon as he settled his score. By the end of FF:VII the guy was comfortable enough to crack a joke!
I feel that a lot more could have been done with this game, or maybe a bit more care could have been taken. I guess this could be the price paid for a company that wants to finally milk it's cash cow.
I admit, when getting this game, I had hoped that I would get to see more of the other characters, that everyone would have a decent part and not just be random cameos thrown in at the end. Looks like I was asking for a tad too much there. However, the night before I completed the game, a thought occurred to me: No other title based in the world of FF:VII would ever tie the characters in, except for the sole reason of helping their comrade protect the world from the evil they encountered.
You see, in FF:VII everyone had a reason to fight. Their own personal reason that gave them depth and purpose. A purpose that came first and foremost, with the smaller reward of saving the world, which soon became a secondary reason to fight. Now, however, with the story complete, the characters have nothing to do in the spin-off's except for running around with pom-pom's and leaving the big-bad to be dealt with by whoever encountered them first. Nothing will ever tie them to the story apart from that.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
About a third of the way through the game and I'm loving it. I need to order the second part, and aim to complete all the little bits so I get all the bonuses in the second game. Oh oh, speaking of which, I aim to get the Collector's Edition, which comes with some kick-ass stuff.
Original Programming
That last header was not necessary, but the following had to be differentiated some how. Yup, I've added two new web-comics the list. Go check'em out.
Been taking time out for playing games. As of sometime early last week, I completed Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and have started playing Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. Allow me to discuss the former at some length, and highlight some news regarding the latter for you fellow Europeans.
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Hmm...it was somewhat so-so at best. That's me being nice about it, because I feel that it should be owed something for the effort. The story was generally good, but there were points where it was incredibly iffy and left me wondering "What the hell?". Examples of such situations include the scene between Vincent and Reeve, and the one between Shalua and Shelke. Oh and quite a few scenes with Lucrecia; I gather that this game deals with Vincent and revolves around Vincent, much like Advent Children was for Cloud, but these scenes seemed to exhude a strong amount of attraction between the two...something that most fans have been rooting for since Final Fantasy VII. I was personally disappointed with Hojo's voice; they did what I feared, and gave him the cliche "crazy-scientist-bastard" voice. They also pushed him a bit further off his rocker, and his appearance was far from what I had assumed; I mean Sephiroth has to get his looks from somewhere, right? I don't see very many Lucrecia features in him, and I see quite a lot of no Hojo.
It also felt like Vincent was given the role of Cloud, and one of the lines I found annoying was when Cait Sith exclaimed that Vincent did care for the rest of the gang...well DUH! I never would have picked up on that! Really, you'd think he'd get some feeling for the people he took up arms with, after traversing the world with them to take part in a battle he could have walked away from as soon as he settled his score. By the end of FF:VII the guy was comfortable enough to crack a joke!
I feel that a lot more could have been done with this game, or maybe a bit more care could have been taken. I guess this could be the price paid for a company that wants to finally milk it's cash cow.
I admit, when getting this game, I had hoped that I would get to see more of the other characters, that everyone would have a decent part and not just be random cameos thrown in at the end. Looks like I was asking for a tad too much there. However, the night before I completed the game, a thought occurred to me: No other title based in the world of FF:VII would ever tie the characters in, except for the sole reason of helping their comrade protect the world from the evil they encountered.
You see, in FF:VII everyone had a reason to fight. Their own personal reason that gave them depth and purpose. A purpose that came first and foremost, with the smaller reward of saving the world, which soon became a secondary reason to fight. Now, however, with the story complete, the characters have nothing to do in the spin-off's except for running around with pom-pom's and leaving the big-bad to be dealt with by whoever encountered them first. Nothing will ever tie them to the story apart from that.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
About a third of the way through the game and I'm loving it. I need to order the second part, and aim to complete all the little bits so I get all the bonuses in the second game. Oh oh, speaking of which, I aim to get the Collector's Edition, which comes with some kick-ass stuff.
Original Programming
That last header was not necessary, but the following had to be differentiated some how. Yup, I've added two new web-comics the list. Go check'em out.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Whoop-de-FREAKING-Wii!
Pun intended!
I finally got a Nintendo Wii! Like OhmiGod! A Wii! I've been searching for one since I came back from holiday, and I know it's most likely sold out and I wasn't in that big of a rush anyway because of the demand, but the opportunity presented itself and I grasped it by the balls with both hands!
Let's see, allow me to recount my tale...
T'was nearing one mark past the noon, when my family and I quested unto Game, situated in the quaint town of Staines. Okay, I'm going to ditch this gig, I suck and it uses up to much words.
Well yeah, we went to Staines on Saturday for my youngest brother's driving simulator top-up, the new law states that he has to do two hours extra. We were early, so we decided to hang about the town and I wanted to pop into Game so that I could exchange my brand new copy of Tales of Eternia for another new copy, because the cover was damaged during delivery. Yep, I ordered the game from their website, because it was the only place I found that had it at a decent price, and wasn't sold out.
So I asked the sales assistant if I could exchange the cover of my game, and he was nice enough to oblige. While he was doing that, my youngest brother hovered around me and asked if I knew that they had Harvest Moon for the PS2. Of course I knew, but I wasn't sure which version of HM: A Wonderful Life it was, so I sent him back. He reported that it was the special edition, and since I couldn't leave the counter and check it out, I thought I'd check it out later. Unfortunately I never got around to it, I then asked if I should ask about the Wii, and my youngest brother replied that of course I should...like that was the whole reason we had come here, which wasn't. The following is what took place, once the assistant had completed my request:
Me: Thanks for that...um, do you have the Nintendo Wii?
Sales Assistant: We've got plenty *smile*
Me *eyes bug out*: Plenty?!
Sales Assistant: Well not "plenty", but we've only sold 6 of the 28 we received...
At this point my brain temporarily shut down and then rebooted to confer with my family on whether I should get one or not. My mum said it was up to me, and naturally I would have gone for it. My youngest brother, however, was saying 'Yes' like I was buying it for him.
Me: I'd like to buy one please.
Sales Assistant: Will you be purchasing more than one?
I temporarily consider the prospect of buying two, but my current funds would not allow it.
Me: No, just the one, please.
Sales Assistant *smiles*: Alright *calls to the other assistant to get him a Wii* Would you like anything else with it? Like a game or another controller?
Me: A game, Zelda: Twilight Princess, please.
The assistant gets the game and his colleague returns with the Wii.
Random Kid next to me: Oh my God! Look! A Wii! *motions to whoever's with him* Look! Look!
I feel like I've just created a scene, and while the assistant is sealing up the box, my mum asks if we can see the product. This is to make sure that everything's in there and that we weren't short-changed in any way. The kid next to me continues to make a fuss, and once everything's done, I pay for it and my brother and I head back to the van to tuck it away, to prevent further fuss, while my mum and youngest brother go back to BSM.
We came back to the shop afterwards to get Red Steel for my youngest brother, and by this time there's a huge queue, where everyone was either buying a game or a Wii.
True Story.
Sad thing? I forgot to ask if they took NUS, which they do...I could have saved £20!
I finally got a Nintendo Wii! Like OhmiGod! A Wii! I've been searching for one since I came back from holiday, and I know it's most likely sold out and I wasn't in that big of a rush anyway because of the demand, but the opportunity presented itself and I grasped it by the balls with both hands!
Let's see, allow me to recount my tale...
T'was nearing one mark past the noon, when my family and I quested unto Game, situated in the quaint town of Staines. Okay, I'm going to ditch this gig, I suck and it uses up to much words.
Well yeah, we went to Staines on Saturday for my youngest brother's driving simulator top-up, the new law states that he has to do two hours extra. We were early, so we decided to hang about the town and I wanted to pop into Game so that I could exchange my brand new copy of Tales of Eternia for another new copy, because the cover was damaged during delivery. Yep, I ordered the game from their website, because it was the only place I found that had it at a decent price, and wasn't sold out.
So I asked the sales assistant if I could exchange the cover of my game, and he was nice enough to oblige. While he was doing that, my youngest brother hovered around me and asked if I knew that they had Harvest Moon for the PS2. Of course I knew, but I wasn't sure which version of HM: A Wonderful Life it was, so I sent him back. He reported that it was the special edition, and since I couldn't leave the counter and check it out, I thought I'd check it out later. Unfortunately I never got around to it, I then asked if I should ask about the Wii, and my youngest brother replied that of course I should...like that was the whole reason we had come here, which wasn't. The following is what took place, once the assistant had completed my request:
Me: Thanks for that...um, do you have the Nintendo Wii?
Sales Assistant: We've got plenty *smile*
Me *eyes bug out*: Plenty?!
Sales Assistant: Well not "plenty", but we've only sold 6 of the 28 we received...
At this point my brain temporarily shut down and then rebooted to confer with my family on whether I should get one or not. My mum said it was up to me, and naturally I would have gone for it. My youngest brother, however, was saying 'Yes' like I was buying it for him.
Me: I'd like to buy one please.
Sales Assistant: Will you be purchasing more than one?
I temporarily consider the prospect of buying two, but my current funds would not allow it.
Me: No, just the one, please.
Sales Assistant *smiles*: Alright *calls to the other assistant to get him a Wii* Would you like anything else with it? Like a game or another controller?
Me: A game, Zelda: Twilight Princess, please.
The assistant gets the game and his colleague returns with the Wii.
Random Kid next to me: Oh my God! Look! A Wii! *motions to whoever's with him* Look! Look!
I feel like I've just created a scene, and while the assistant is sealing up the box, my mum asks if we can see the product. This is to make sure that everything's in there and that we weren't short-changed in any way. The kid next to me continues to make a fuss, and once everything's done, I pay for it and my brother and I head back to the van to tuck it away, to prevent further fuss, while my mum and youngest brother go back to BSM.
We came back to the shop afterwards to get Red Steel for my youngest brother, and by this time there's a huge queue, where everyone was either buying a game or a Wii.
True Story.
Sad thing? I forgot to ask if they took NUS, which they do...I could have saved £20!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
It's a me...Shahnaz-e
For some reason I had that sounding better in my head. Anywhatnots, I'm back from my holiday and have been back for the past week now. I just needed to take out some 'me' time before I went back to my "responsibilities".
Well, it's not like anyone out there even reads this blog, but for those who do "Hi!". I wish all a very belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope it goes well for you. Just three more years and it's the big 20-10! By then I'll be out of the finiancial security I've grown to depend upon, no thanks to unlucky job-hunting, and I'll have the carpet pulled out from under my feet as I'll have to carve out a new path in life. One that doesn't include education.
I could continue on to fill up this post with a retelling of my holiday, but that'd take a long time and a lot of space. So what I've decided to do is create a series of posts title "Memories of Orlando" or "MOO" for short. Come to think of it, I still have to post my remaining past blog posts. Meh.
Well, it's not like anyone out there even reads this blog, but for those who do "Hi!". I wish all a very belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope it goes well for you. Just three more years and it's the big 20-10! By then I'll be out of the finiancial security I've grown to depend upon, no thanks to unlucky job-hunting, and I'll have the carpet pulled out from under my feet as I'll have to carve out a new path in life. One that doesn't include education.
I could continue on to fill up this post with a retelling of my holiday, but that'd take a long time and a lot of space. So what I've decided to do is create a series of posts title "Memories of Orlando" or "MOO" for short. Come to think of it, I still have to post my remaining past blog posts. Meh.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
A total of 6 hours sleep in 48 hours
This cannot be good for my complexion. Not that I'm into all that girly mak-up, skin care stuff. Okay...I lie, I am into the skin care stuff, but only because I eat healthy and still get friggin; spots!
Anywho, yes, my internal battery is charged with 6 hours sleep in 48 hours. It's actually a hazard because I almost fell asleep while driving home yesterday. I have no-one to blame but myself. Why? Because I stayed up until 6am yesterday doing my Development Project coursework, and it's still technically not finished, since I skimped out on a lot of the design sheets. I also stayed up until 4am today finishing off my 3D Animation coursework. I had to render, animate and write a report all at the same time! It's a good thing my mum bought me a computer, and opted for the one with the better specs, despite my regression into childish behaviour when we went computer shopping. I have no idea what possessed me to act like a stupid kid. I behaved like I did when I was like 8 years old and really wanted the Lion King boardgame!
Actually, I have some idea. I was overwhelmed with emotions and didn't know how deal with it. I felt very pissed off and upset about the night before, when I animated and rendered the first part of my animation, only to get told off for spending too much time on the computer. It's not exactly my fault that it took almost 2 hours to render what I had animated. That, and it was my first time making a character walk so it took a while to get to grips with that.
Anywho, I have my own PC and I'm in love with it, though I still feel ashamed at my behaviour. It was like there were two people inside, and I didn't know what to do. One was the immature, childish side that kicked a fuss over a tiny thing and completely forgot the skills I had learned to fix whatever bugged me, and the other was the mature and understanding one, chastising the immature one about their behaviour and telling them that they should be thankful that my mum was even buying me a computer. I think I shut down for a while, as the two ended up duking it out, and the mature side came out the winner.
Well, my if you remember, the family PC, having 1.25Gb RAM and something like a 256 Graphics Card, rendered a 240+ frame in almost 2 hours. My new PC, with specs of 1GB RAM and a 512 Graphics Card rendered the same thing in 20 minutes. 20 FREAKING MINUTES! That's like 3/4 of the time shaved off! So yeah, the rest of the animation that I did this morning took between 5 and 20 minutes to render, so it's all good stuff.
I think I busted my right wrist. It aches like anything, and it's been doing that since yesterday. The pain became apparent after I researched Carpal Tunnel, which sounds really nasty by the way, and so I think my body is tricking me into spending less time on the computer by faking Carpal Tunnel. It's what it does you see. Like for example, I always get a stomach ache when I'm nervous, or really stressed out. The pain is like no other pain and it feels like my gut is eating itself, like an ulcer. I know, because I am a psychologist (well...studied the subject anyway), that ulcers are a common result of stress. However, in my case, as soon as I get over what was causing me worry and stress, the pain goes away like it never even existed. It's like my body is conditioning/threatening me that if I get stressed, I'll get an ulcer and die. I only found out last night from my brother that ulcers don't get better, they have to be surgically removed *shudders*
Well two of my three courseworks are finished, all that's left is XML. Only a few more days before I fly away, only to return two weeks later.
Here's something for you Firefly/Serenity fans. They're making a Multi-Member Online Role Playing Game based on the series, or set in the series world. Something like that.
Anywho, yes, my internal battery is charged with 6 hours sleep in 48 hours. It's actually a hazard because I almost fell asleep while driving home yesterday. I have no-one to blame but myself. Why? Because I stayed up until 6am yesterday doing my Development Project coursework, and it's still technically not finished, since I skimped out on a lot of the design sheets. I also stayed up until 4am today finishing off my 3D Animation coursework. I had to render, animate and write a report all at the same time! It's a good thing my mum bought me a computer, and opted for the one with the better specs, despite my regression into childish behaviour when we went computer shopping. I have no idea what possessed me to act like a stupid kid. I behaved like I did when I was like 8 years old and really wanted the Lion King boardgame!
Actually, I have some idea. I was overwhelmed with emotions and didn't know how deal with it. I felt very pissed off and upset about the night before, when I animated and rendered the first part of my animation, only to get told off for spending too much time on the computer. It's not exactly my fault that it took almost 2 hours to render what I had animated. That, and it was my first time making a character walk so it took a while to get to grips with that.
Anywho, I have my own PC and I'm in love with it, though I still feel ashamed at my behaviour. It was like there were two people inside, and I didn't know what to do. One was the immature, childish side that kicked a fuss over a tiny thing and completely forgot the skills I had learned to fix whatever bugged me, and the other was the mature and understanding one, chastising the immature one about their behaviour and telling them that they should be thankful that my mum was even buying me a computer. I think I shut down for a while, as the two ended up duking it out, and the mature side came out the winner.
Well, my if you remember, the family PC, having 1.25Gb RAM and something like a 256 Graphics Card, rendered a 240+ frame in almost 2 hours. My new PC, with specs of 1GB RAM and a 512 Graphics Card rendered the same thing in 20 minutes. 20 FREAKING MINUTES! That's like 3/4 of the time shaved off! So yeah, the rest of the animation that I did this morning took between 5 and 20 minutes to render, so it's all good stuff.
I think I busted my right wrist. It aches like anything, and it's been doing that since yesterday. The pain became apparent after I researched Carpal Tunnel, which sounds really nasty by the way, and so I think my body is tricking me into spending less time on the computer by faking Carpal Tunnel. It's what it does you see. Like for example, I always get a stomach ache when I'm nervous, or really stressed out. The pain is like no other pain and it feels like my gut is eating itself, like an ulcer. I know, because I am a psychologist (well...studied the subject anyway), that ulcers are a common result of stress. However, in my case, as soon as I get over what was causing me worry and stress, the pain goes away like it never even existed. It's like my body is conditioning/threatening me that if I get stressed, I'll get an ulcer and die. I only found out last night from my brother that ulcers don't get better, they have to be surgically removed *shudders*
Well two of my three courseworks are finished, all that's left is XML. Only a few more days before I fly away, only to return two weeks later.
Here's something for you Firefly/Serenity fans. They're making a Multi-Member Online Role Playing Game based on the series, or set in the series world. Something like that.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Going HD
Two posts in a the space of a few minutes! Why? Because I didn't feel that lumping this post with the other would work, so I made a second post.
We've gone HD! Whoo! I am full of so much anticipation with playing all my games on this TV, and watching Advent Children! It should be extremely mind blowing :) Well I hope it is, I don't really expect much do I?
Scanning for the channels takes a long time to set up. I was doing it last night, and got fed-up and used the AutoScan feature. I hate AutoScan. It just searches for the channels and doesn't even bother ordering them, so I had the following:
Channel 1 = ITV
Channel 2 = BBC1
Channel 3 = CH4
Channel 4 = BBC2
Channel 5 = Video
Channel 6 = CH5
Channel 15 = Sky
I fixed the channel set-up today and that took like an hour at most ¬.¬ AutoScan took 5 minutes. Another thinn that bites is that the Sky remote won't control all those TV functions I've gotten so used to controlling. Why? Because Sky doesn't have the make of our TV listed, so no codes were available. I also noticed that I couldn't spot some of the well known HDTV brands either...so, maybe they haven't gotten around to accommodating all of them yet, or maybe it's because our brand is not known.
Watching live-action stuff on HD is weird. You can see the motion movements and it bothers me. I'm so used to the sharpness provided by...Low-Definition(?)/Older TV's that this new HD gadget is just weird. Guess it takes a while to get used to, unless there's a way to fix the lack of sharp-ness. Mind you, cartoons and stuff look very sexy on the screen.
We've gone HD! Whoo! I am full of so much anticipation with playing all my games on this TV, and watching Advent Children! It should be extremely mind blowing :) Well I hope it is, I don't really expect much do I?
Scanning for the channels takes a long time to set up. I was doing it last night, and got fed-up and used the AutoScan feature. I hate AutoScan. It just searches for the channels and doesn't even bother ordering them, so I had the following:
Channel 1 = ITV
Channel 2 = BBC1
Channel 3 = CH4
Channel 4 = BBC2
Channel 5 = Video
Channel 6 = CH5
Channel 15 = Sky
I fixed the channel set-up today and that took like an hour at most ¬.¬ AutoScan took 5 minutes. Another thinn that bites is that the Sky remote won't control all those TV functions I've gotten so used to controlling. Why? Because Sky doesn't have the make of our TV listed, so no codes were available. I also noticed that I couldn't spot some of the well known HDTV brands either...so, maybe they haven't gotten around to accommodating all of them yet, or maybe it's because our brand is not known.
Watching live-action stuff on HD is weird. You can see the motion movements and it bothers me. I'm so used to the sharpness provided by...Low-Definition(?)/Older TV's that this new HD gadget is just weird. Guess it takes a while to get used to, unless there's a way to fix the lack of sharp-ness. Mind you, cartoons and stuff look very sexy on the screen.
Grarr! *insert angry incoherent babble here*
Grarr! I am pretty peeved right now. I bought the entire anime series of Fruits Basket late last year, convinced that we would never get the Boxset released over here. Looks like I was wrong. I browsed Play.com a few days back, with the intent of checking out the availability of the Limited Edition Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 6, which comes with a metal tin case/box thinger that you can house your DVD's up to this point in. What do I find? The pre-order to the Boxset of Fruits Basket, which is available sometime next January. I am peeved. Very peeved. I don't know who at, probably me, but I really wanted the snazzy box to house my DVD's in! Fruits Basket has been available here for like 2 or 3 years now, and I was prepared to buy the Boxset in New Zealand when I went last Summer, but couldn't because the order would come in the day after I left for Fiji.
Well, I guess I'm on the hunt for the box cover of the series, 'cause since I already have the series, all I really want is the box. I wonder if I can even purchase just the box, minus the DVD's. Guess that's something I'll have to look out for when I fly away to America. I really need this holiday/break. I didn't get one last year because I spent it completing my Java Program, and that's purely my fault. I need a break, because I have noticed that I've gotten a bit more pissy and a pain-in-the-ass. Although I don't think it'll do much good, but you never know. I have also made a lot of typo's during the writing of this post, and I have been doing that a lot. I don't even know what's the cause of the whole thing, but I really hope this holiday does something to fix me a little. I just need a break and relax. That's something a lot of us need; I know I'm not the only passenger on this boat :p
Well, I guess I'm on the hunt for the box cover of the series, 'cause since I already have the series, all I really want is the box. I wonder if I can even purchase just the box, minus the DVD's. Guess that's something I'll have to look out for when I fly away to America. I really need this holiday/break. I didn't get one last year because I spent it completing my Java Program, and that's purely my fault. I need a break, because I have noticed that I've gotten a bit more pissy and a pain-in-the-ass. Although I don't think it'll do much good, but you never know. I have also made a lot of typo's during the writing of this post, and I have been doing that a lot. I don't even know what's the cause of the whole thing, but I really hope this holiday does something to fix me a little. I just need a break and relax. That's something a lot of us need; I know I'm not the only passenger on this boat :p
Monday, November 27, 2006
Minor updates and a notable congrats!
First and foremost, I would like to point out that my bud Bhavna over at Original Dory has just hit 100 blog posts as of yesterday. This is quite an achievement and I never really realised just how much she'd blogged. I just passed the halfway point...3 posts ago! Ah well, it's not like I have much to blog about anyway...maybe I'll start a "Random Fact" weekly, I mean there's all kinds of things that some/most people don't know. Then again, what's the point with a "Random Fact" gig anyhow? At the end of the day it's just random and nobody has use for random things, although they make for good entertainment for a little while.
Enough of my musings, let's focus on what's really important...my blog. For those with a keen eye, I've updated with four new webcomics added to the list; Ctrl+Alt+Del, Gone with the Blastwave, Penny Arcade and Pixel Parables. Actually, I've been meaning to have these up for like a month or so now, just never really could bring myself to get around to it. Now, go and enjoy them along with the rest of the collection ^_^
*sigh* I'm getting pretty tired of this bland layout, and I know I said I'd be working on a new one, but stuff happened and came up and now I'm busy with coursework and a bird pooped some toxic poop onto my car door that just refuses to wash off and it's cold and my brain is refusing to cooperate with me and I have regressed to expressing the attention span of a goldfish and I've just done what I hate most and that is to write an incredibly long run-on sentence just to peeve people off. Anyhow, the main point of the matter is *ding ding* I'll be definately working on a new layout after the holidays, provided that I can get this truck-breaking load of comic/gag comic ideas out of my head and into physical form.
I also watched War of the Worlds and I have three problems with it:
1) How come cameras and camcorders can work fine when practically every other electrical device within radius of the blast shut down?
2) What killed the aliens? Ray and his plan? Or did they all catch a cold?
3) How on Earth did Robbie survive?!
Enough of my musings, let's focus on what's really important...my blog. For those with a keen eye, I've updated with four new webcomics added to the list; Ctrl+Alt+Del, Gone with the Blastwave, Penny Arcade and Pixel Parables. Actually, I've been meaning to have these up for like a month or so now, just never really could bring myself to get around to it. Now, go and enjoy them along with the rest of the collection ^_^
*sigh* I'm getting pretty tired of this bland layout, and I know I said I'd be working on a new one, but stuff happened and came up and now I'm busy with coursework and a bird pooped some toxic poop onto my car door that just refuses to wash off and it's cold and my brain is refusing to cooperate with me and I have regressed to expressing the attention span of a goldfish and I've just done what I hate most and that is to write an incredibly long run-on sentence just to peeve people off. Anyhow, the main point of the matter is *ding ding* I'll be definately working on a new layout after the holidays, provided that I can get this truck-breaking load of comic/gag comic ideas out of my head and into physical form.
I also watched War of the Worlds and I have three problems with it:
1) How come cameras and camcorders can work fine when practically every other electrical device within radius of the blast shut down?
2) What killed the aliens? Ray and his plan? Or did they all catch a cold?
3) How on Earth did Robbie survive?!
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Fifteen minutes past 1am
E-yup. I spent the last three hours joining and updating my Facebook. I've been meaning to join this community back since the Summer holidays and that's a really long time ago -_- Well I've joined now and I'm tired. I've got to be up early tomorrow, so I'm off for a shower and while my hair dries I'll be attempting to make some headway with my Development Project, I was like supposed to start this two weeks ago *rolls eyes* 3D Animation is just so much more fun.
I just remembered, I had some funny vids to share with everyone...back last month. Yes, I forget the less important things in life, so here they are:
Street Fighter: The Later Years
Street Fighter Salsa
Go,Go, Parody Rangers!
Those links were pretty much taken from VGCats. Oh another thing before I go, those of you who are looking to buy the PS3 for one reason or another and are curious as to what games it will be able to play from the PSX and PS2, you can check them at this link.
About the PS3, I know a lot of people gripe about it but I bet that most of those people who have a bad word against the system will go out and buy one, either around the release date or when the price gets knocked.
I just remembered, I had some funny vids to share with everyone...back last month. Yes, I forget the less important things in life, so here they are:
Street Fighter: The Later Years
Street Fighter Salsa
Go,Go, Parody Rangers!
Those links were pretty much taken from VGCats. Oh another thing before I go, those of you who are looking to buy the PS3 for one reason or another and are curious as to what games it will be able to play from the PSX and PS2, you can check them at this link.
About the PS3, I know a lot of people gripe about it but I bet that most of those people who have a bad word against the system will go out and buy one, either around the release date or when the price gets knocked.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Finally
As of around 12.30am today (yes, after midnight), I have completed Kingdom Hearts 2. I am extremely happy about this, I mean I stopped playing because I wanted to focus on coursework and since I'm going on a 2 week holiday from 16th December, I decided to try and complete it. I had been stumped by the Hades Paradox Cup, and after a month of not playing my skills had gotten rusty. I died the first time and then pumped up Sora with Stat-Enhancing items (something I've been adamant about not using, but I was in a rush to complete the game) and made an extra save game so that my non-Steroid-pumped Sora was still available for when I attempt the challenge again. I won and my Jiminy Journal has never looked more sexy; all Mickey Stamps on each part ^_^ I defeated Xemnas (had to go through the final battle twice because I failed to rescue Sora), and totally enjoyed the ending. I'm really happy about how they keep you entertained during the credits this time as opposed to the first half.
I must say that the combination of Advent Children and KH2 has spawned a legion of Cloud gag-comics, totalling 5 stories! Well really 5 gag-pages, with the first being at least 2 pages in length. So Look out for it!
Last Friday (17th November) I got Dirge of Cerberus and haven't even unwrapped the game, mainly to fight off the temptation of playing it when I have deadlines coming up. Rather than spending my free time playing games, I should/will be focusing on coursework. So the faster I complete my coursework, the sooner I can play this oh so seductive baby! This has also spawned a comic that deals with my addiction to gaming. Look out for it too :)
I must say that the combination of Advent Children and KH2 has spawned a legion of Cloud gag-comics, totalling 5 stories! Well really 5 gag-pages, with the first being at least 2 pages in length. So Look out for it!
Last Friday (17th November) I got Dirge of Cerberus and haven't even unwrapped the game, mainly to fight off the temptation of playing it when I have deadlines coming up. Rather than spending my free time playing games, I should/will be focusing on coursework. So the faster I complete my coursework, the sooner I can play this oh so seductive baby! This has also spawned a comic that deals with my addiction to gaming. Look out for it too :)
Monday, November 06, 2006
Extreeemely Delayed x2
No excuses, let's cut to the chase, I've got coursework due for hand-in in 13 hours and 30 minutes, and I've only done 200/2000 words. I'm listening to music from various countries and am stuck with severe writer's block, so I'm updating my blog.
First on the agenda, I had almost forgotten that I'd joined an online RPG, DragonFable. Granted I hadn't signed into it for a couple of weeks, but hey, I've neglected almost everything else in my life. I signed into my e-mail account yesterday and found two interesting e-mails. The first was an advertisement from DragonFable regarding their pretty cool and successful 3 minute long animation, the first of a possible series. Hey, it's not confirmed, but it's something to look forward to. To check it out click here and follow the links to GoogleVideo or YouTube. If you don't like it, just download the clip from the site; they have a range of downloading methods.
My verdict: 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5, only because I enjoyed it and I didn't like how it left me hanging at the end, otherwise a full-blown 5 stars!
Second, I'm a huge fan of Avatar: The Legend of Aang and am totally frickin' overjoyed that the series has FINALLY picked up from that horrible year gap since Book: 1, Chapter: 15. I have been going stark raving mad, and have eagerly awaited the new series. Coupled with this, I am finally getting my illegal dosages of Sokka and Prince Zuko sweetness. The unhealthy fangirl in me usually mourns the fact that they're 2D, imaginary characters who live outside my life and world. Much like how she mourns almost everything else, including that piece of smokin', white-furred, leather-clad ass, who goes by the name of Vinnie from the Biker Mice from Mars - I'm talking about the original series, not the new one. Heck, I won't touch that yet.
So yeah, why is it so important to mention Avatar? Well, I decided to do some reading on Wikipedia, and just discovered that Mako, voice actor of the loveable Uncle Iroh, passed away in July of this year. Just how delayed can I be?! Like oh my God! My condolences, may you rest in peace, you brought me joy as Aku from Samurai Jack, and yet more as Uncle Iroh. I will honour your memory!
Before I end this, that second e-mail I received? Yeah, Bhavna, we have guestbook entries for Bubblegum and Sparkles.
First on the agenda, I had almost forgotten that I'd joined an online RPG, DragonFable. Granted I hadn't signed into it for a couple of weeks, but hey, I've neglected almost everything else in my life. I signed into my e-mail account yesterday and found two interesting e-mails. The first was an advertisement from DragonFable regarding their pretty cool and successful 3 minute long animation, the first of a possible series. Hey, it's not confirmed, but it's something to look forward to. To check it out click here and follow the links to GoogleVideo or YouTube. If you don't like it, just download the clip from the site; they have a range of downloading methods.
My verdict: 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5, only because I enjoyed it and I didn't like how it left me hanging at the end, otherwise a full-blown 5 stars!
Second, I'm a huge fan of Avatar: The Legend of Aang and am totally frickin' overjoyed that the series has FINALLY picked up from that horrible year gap since Book: 1, Chapter: 15. I have been going stark raving mad, and have eagerly awaited the new series. Coupled with this, I am finally getting my illegal dosages of Sokka and Prince Zuko sweetness. The unhealthy fangirl in me usually mourns the fact that they're 2D, imaginary characters who live outside my life and world. Much like how she mourns almost everything else, including that piece of smokin', white-furred, leather-clad ass, who goes by the name of Vinnie from the Biker Mice from Mars - I'm talking about the original series, not the new one. Heck, I won't touch that yet.
So yeah, why is it so important to mention Avatar? Well, I decided to do some reading on Wikipedia, and just discovered that Mako, voice actor of the loveable Uncle Iroh, passed away in July of this year. Just how delayed can I be?! Like oh my God! My condolences, may you rest in peace, you brought me joy as Aku from Samurai Jack, and yet more as Uncle Iroh. I will honour your memory!
Before I end this, that second e-mail I received? Yeah, Bhavna, we have guestbook entries for Bubblegum and Sparkles.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Don - The Chase Begins Again
"Don is wanted by the police forces of eleven nations, but understand one thing, catching Don is not just difficult, it's impossible."
This is the introductory line to Bollywood's, Don. I'm gonna get my hands on the 1978 original and watch it, just to poke out any differences between the original and the current version. This movie has been remade 8 times in Tamil and Telugu as well as others, with the current release being the 9th incarnation and the first Hindi remake since the first.
I watched this movie with my family yesterday and loved it, sure it's high action and there's more adrenaline than you can shake a stick at, but it still rocked my world. The end even had a twist that pulled the carpet right from under me, but I did have a passing thought about it earlier...just didn't really dwell on it long enough to be a real suspicion.
So yeah, good movie, not saying much due to spoilers and it being a recent movie, but if you do watch it, hope you enjoy it! Man what a rant.
In other news, I'm sure everyone's seen the trailer to that CG Movie Barnyard. Does anyone have a problem with that movie or is it just me? I mean come on, all the cows are...well Cows! Not a single Bull in sight, not even the Cows with male voices are Bulls! They all have short horns and udders. I know when depicting a Bull you can't really draw their...um...balls, but there are other ways to show it's a Bull, such as giving them a larger upper body and big horns. Kids can tell the difference between Bulls and Cows, and this movie just makes them stupid. I mean what is it? A barnyard full of lesbian Cows that have kids? How does that work out? I'm not a Homophobe, but I don't think Cattle are like Humans. If you try to tell me otherwise, I won't believe you unless you have solid proof.
Oh I also just saw the PS3 in action on The Gadget Show and I'm almost convinced to get one. The graphics looked awesome, and I was thinking of getting one anyway because of Final Fantasy. Besides, I think almost all those people who slag the system off are gonna get one anyway, maybe not now...but someday. Gaming is a love-hate relationship, and it's something I have zero chance at winning in.
This is the introductory line to Bollywood's, Don. I'm gonna get my hands on the 1978 original and watch it, just to poke out any differences between the original and the current version. This movie has been remade 8 times in Tamil and Telugu as well as others, with the current release being the 9th incarnation and the first Hindi remake since the first.
I watched this movie with my family yesterday and loved it, sure it's high action and there's more adrenaline than you can shake a stick at, but it still rocked my world. The end even had a twist that pulled the carpet right from under me, but I did have a passing thought about it earlier...just didn't really dwell on it long enough to be a real suspicion.
So yeah, good movie, not saying much due to spoilers and it being a recent movie, but if you do watch it, hope you enjoy it! Man what a rant.
In other news, I'm sure everyone's seen the trailer to that CG Movie Barnyard. Does anyone have a problem with that movie or is it just me? I mean come on, all the cows are...well Cows! Not a single Bull in sight, not even the Cows with male voices are Bulls! They all have short horns and udders. I know when depicting a Bull you can't really draw their...um...balls, but there are other ways to show it's a Bull, such as giving them a larger upper body and big horns. Kids can tell the difference between Bulls and Cows, and this movie just makes them stupid. I mean what is it? A barnyard full of lesbian Cows that have kids? How does that work out? I'm not a Homophobe, but I don't think Cattle are like Humans. If you try to tell me otherwise, I won't believe you unless you have solid proof.
Oh I also just saw the PS3 in action on The Gadget Show and I'm almost convinced to get one. The graphics looked awesome, and I was thinking of getting one anyway because of Final Fantasy. Besides, I think almost all those people who slag the system off are gonna get one anyway, maybe not now...but someday. Gaming is a love-hate relationship, and it's something I have zero chance at winning in.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Something for all to enjoy...well those of understanding age and decent humour
This here is a comic I did with a lot of help from Bhavna. I did the art and the original script and she fixed the positions and cleaned up the dialogue. We came up with the idea after reading a fanfic, the details of which you can find below.
It's just the lineart and I'm currently working on colouring it and putting together nice backgrounds for the panels. Enjoy it! Oh yeah, I do know that I forgot to complete Superman's cape in the last panel, but that'll be fixed in the complete version. The image is too big so I resized it into a thumbnail, so click on it and you'll get a new window with the image. Choose to "Full View" to appreciate its monochrome glory.
Fanfic that started it: Courting Ain't Easy
Prequel to the fanfic: Porn (G Rated)
It's just the lineart and I'm currently working on colouring it and putting together nice backgrounds for the panels. Enjoy it! Oh yeah, I do know that I forgot to complete Superman's cape in the last panel, but that'll be fixed in the complete version. The image is too big so I resized it into a thumbnail, so click on it and you'll get a new window with the image. Choose to "Full View" to appreciate its monochrome glory.
Fanfic that started it: Courting Ain't Easy
Prequel to the fanfic: Porn (G Rated)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Sigh of Relief
Ahh...My coursework is handed in, whoop! I have a cold, boo! Well my next deadline is in a couple of weeks, and I think it's an essay. No wait, that's the deadline after...the next deadline is for Graduate Enterprise and I have no idea what it is, so I'll have to check that later.
Anywho, my cold, I've had it since Sunday night and it really hit me on Monday, but Tuesday it was starting to get better but the morning was really bad. I sneezed and blood came out with the mucus, I coughed and blood came up as well. It was not my morning, so I didn't go into Uni, I just went in to hand in my 3D Animation coursework. Today I'm feeling much better, but it's still hard to breathe through my nose and I'm still coughing, but no more blood. Funny thing about that, I forgot to mention this the last time. After I finished taking my Iron tablets, I had to have another blood test to see if there was any change. The nurse was looking for my vein in my left arm, but couldn't find it so she asked if she could use my right arm because she see a vein there very clearly, I said go ahead. She put the needle in my arm, in the vein, and no blood was coming. She adjusted the position of the needle, tilting it a bit, and managed to get a decent flow but it was shortlived. I smiled, but really I wanted to laugh because it was pretty funny. Since my right arm wasn't giving blood, she went back to the left arm and managed to get her sample, and the flow was nice and steady. Mind you though, my right arm developed a bruise that stuck around for a few days.
I'm still playing Kingdom Hearts 2 and just got Enchanted Arms yesterday, boy do I wanna play it! Anyway, I'm almost finished with KH 2 so all's cool and well, though I know I'm gonna get horribly murdered by Sephiroth and the Hades Paradox Cup. However, with perseverance and pacing I know that I can defeat them and reign victorious!
One more tidbit before I go, because I'm typing this from Uni during my XML workshop, yesterday my mum and I went shopping and bought some Tetley's Green Tea. Only thing, it's actually Tetley's Not-Green Green Tea. The tea's not green and it just tastes like regular tea without sugar - I say this because I drank it without sugar. I had green tea in Japan and it was green and tasted slightly better than tea-without-sugar. I am outraged because I have another 19 teabags of the stuff to go.
Earlier in the week, my mum came home with some nifty Ginger Tea, which is just delightful. We ran out so yesterday I was looking for a shop that sold this lovely Gold Kili Instant Ginger Tea, and came across an online store by the name of Wing Yip. However, their shipping prices are pretty high, £4.50 for sales under £45.00! Fortunately, they have a store in Croydon so one of these days, my mum and I are gonna make a trip and buy some, total schway-ness.
Anywho, my cold, I've had it since Sunday night and it really hit me on Monday, but Tuesday it was starting to get better but the morning was really bad. I sneezed and blood came out with the mucus, I coughed and blood came up as well. It was not my morning, so I didn't go into Uni, I just went in to hand in my 3D Animation coursework. Today I'm feeling much better, but it's still hard to breathe through my nose and I'm still coughing, but no more blood. Funny thing about that, I forgot to mention this the last time. After I finished taking my Iron tablets, I had to have another blood test to see if there was any change. The nurse was looking for my vein in my left arm, but couldn't find it so she asked if she could use my right arm because she see a vein there very clearly, I said go ahead. She put the needle in my arm, in the vein, and no blood was coming. She adjusted the position of the needle, tilting it a bit, and managed to get a decent flow but it was shortlived. I smiled, but really I wanted to laugh because it was pretty funny. Since my right arm wasn't giving blood, she went back to the left arm and managed to get her sample, and the flow was nice and steady. Mind you though, my right arm developed a bruise that stuck around for a few days.
I'm still playing Kingdom Hearts 2 and just got Enchanted Arms yesterday, boy do I wanna play it! Anyway, I'm almost finished with KH 2 so all's cool and well, though I know I'm gonna get horribly murdered by Sephiroth and the Hades Paradox Cup. However, with perseverance and pacing I know that I can defeat them and reign victorious!
One more tidbit before I go, because I'm typing this from Uni during my XML workshop, yesterday my mum and I went shopping and bought some Tetley's Green Tea. Only thing, it's actually Tetley's Not-Green Green Tea. The tea's not green and it just tastes like regular tea without sugar - I say this because I drank it without sugar. I had green tea in Japan and it was green and tasted slightly better than tea-without-sugar. I am outraged because I have another 19 teabags of the stuff to go.
Earlier in the week, my mum came home with some nifty Ginger Tea, which is just delightful. We ran out so yesterday I was looking for a shop that sold this lovely Gold Kili Instant Ginger Tea, and came across an online store by the name of Wing Yip. However, their shipping prices are pretty high, £4.50 for sales under £45.00! Fortunately, they have a store in Croydon so one of these days, my mum and I are gonna make a trip and buy some, total schway-ness.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Woes of the Coursework Kind
Damn it...the deadline for the first part of Development Project: Analysis and Design, the Project Proposal, is due in on Monday 16th and that's literally 2 days away! I have no-one to blame but myself, for letting the due date sneak up on me like this.
Not only that, but I also have to hand in my Storyboard for 3D Animation on Tuesday 17th, which is 3 days away. I guess to actually keep up, I have to pull an all-nighter for the Project Proposal and aim to have it finished by tonight. Then I can spend tomorrow night and the rest of Monday working on my Storyboard, and this should give me the necessary kick up the butt I need.
Not only that, but I also have to hand in my Storyboard for 3D Animation on Tuesday 17th, which is 3 days away. I guess to actually keep up, I have to pull an all-nighter for the Project Proposal and aim to have it finished by tonight. Then I can spend tomorrow night and the rest of Monday working on my Storyboard, and this should give me the necessary kick up the butt I need.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Cruel Addictions
Okay, so like, I know I've been playing way too much Kingdom Hearts II. I can't even sleep without hallucinating about it, like the other night when I went to sleep, as soon as I closed my eyes a Reaction Command started to blink, prompting me to set my alarm clock. Now let me explain this, a Reaction Command is a command where when you press a button, in this case the Triangle Button, at the right time results in a special tailor-made attack/ability for specific bosses and Heartless/Nobodies. It comes up, flashing green with the Triangle Button Symbol appearing beside it.
So yeah, humouring my hallucination, and I am still conscious at this point, I "press" the button and set the time for 8.00am, the same time I set my actual alarm clock. Shortly after that, I'm guessing that I conked off to sleep.
Graduate Enterprise is proving to be a double-edged sword. I'm keen on gaining experience, but two members of my group are right pain-in-the-royal-behinds. You give them an idea they discuss it to death, you ask them to give you an idea they look at you blankly...men!
So yeah, humouring my hallucination, and I am still conscious at this point, I "press" the button and set the time for 8.00am, the same time I set my actual alarm clock. Shortly after that, I'm guessing that I conked off to sleep.
Graduate Enterprise is proving to be a double-edged sword. I'm keen on gaining experience, but two members of my group are right pain-in-the-royal-behinds. You give them an idea they discuss it to death, you ask them to give you an idea they look at you blankly...men!
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Promise Fulfilled...only one gajillion to go! Huzzah!
Yep yep, I'm here posting on ye olde blogge. Why? Because my youngest brother happens to be hogging and playing my game that is Kingdom Hearts II. It's not like I have anything against that, but it's my game and I get to play on it. Granted I haven't asked him yet, because I feel he should get a bit more time, so I'm giving him until I finish this post.
Anyways, yes, Shadow of Memories, what can I say about this ancient PS2 game? I loved it. I have been wanting to play this game ever since it came out back a couple of years ago, and I finally play it. I had a little problem with the pronounciation of the main character's, Eike Kusch, name. In my experience, since I'm guessing it's of German origin, it should be pronounced "I-kuh Koosh" not "Ike Kush". But anyway, the voice-acting more than made up for it, sure the minor characters sounded kinda daft and surfer-dude-ish, but the main characters were done well.
Lessee...Ah yes, what the game's about? Well, it's about Eike Kusch's quest to prevent his death. He has no memory of his early life, nor of his parents, and doesn't seem all that bothered about it. One day he's killed, and next he wakes up in a strange place, with a dejected voice explaining to him what happened and that it's going to be generous and give him the means to ensure his survival. The game is comprised of 8 chapters, and at the beginning of each one the poor guy dies in various fashions, thus the goal is to prevent his death. Actually, he only dies at the beginning of the first 7 chapters, the 8th is the climax where you discover who is out to get Eike.
The graphics are really good for their time, and the music is done so well that I never played this game at night. Yes, it creeped me out that much. Then again, I'm soft that way, but still, good music. There are around 6 endings to this game, and I only unlocked Ending A, because as you know, I'm playing KH II. There also so many different scenes to open up in this game, no two choices will yield the same result...unless you did it on purpose, then yeah. Otherwise to get 100% on each chapter, you'll have to goe through the game a few times and try out different responses.
All in all, as you also know, I really enjoyed this game. It's a really good mystery game, no fighting or boss battles involved!
Anyways, yes, Shadow of Memories, what can I say about this ancient PS2 game? I loved it. I have been wanting to play this game ever since it came out back a couple of years ago, and I finally play it. I had a little problem with the pronounciation of the main character's, Eike Kusch, name. In my experience, since I'm guessing it's of German origin, it should be pronounced "I-kuh Koosh" not "Ike Kush". But anyway, the voice-acting more than made up for it, sure the minor characters sounded kinda daft and surfer-dude-ish, but the main characters were done well.
Lessee...Ah yes, what the game's about? Well, it's about Eike Kusch's quest to prevent his death. He has no memory of his early life, nor of his parents, and doesn't seem all that bothered about it. One day he's killed, and next he wakes up in a strange place, with a dejected voice explaining to him what happened and that it's going to be generous and give him the means to ensure his survival. The game is comprised of 8 chapters, and at the beginning of each one the poor guy dies in various fashions, thus the goal is to prevent his death. Actually, he only dies at the beginning of the first 7 chapters, the 8th is the climax where you discover who is out to get Eike.
The graphics are really good for their time, and the music is done so well that I never played this game at night. Yes, it creeped me out that much. Then again, I'm soft that way, but still, good music. There are around 6 endings to this game, and I only unlocked Ending A, because as you know, I'm playing KH II. There also so many different scenes to open up in this game, no two choices will yield the same result...unless you did it on purpose, then yeah. Otherwise to get 100% on each chapter, you'll have to goe through the game a few times and try out different responses.
All in all, as you also know, I really enjoyed this game. It's a really good mystery game, no fighting or boss battles involved!
Saturday, October 07, 2006
New Glasses...Kinda
Man, I keep putting posts off...well here's my promise, tomorrow I'll post about Shadow of Memories, which I completed last Friday, though not completely. I have another 4 playthroughs left before I really complete it, but it'll have to wait because I'm playing Kingdom Hearts II right now. Man, I love the game, there's a lot to do and a lot of worlds to visit...but I have two issues.
1)Cloud is not so aloof. I don't remember him being so aloof and petty, blaming Sephiroth for this and that. Well okay, he did have problems with ol' Sephy, that's true. It is really all Sephiroth's fault, but Cloud blames himself too and wants to make up for his past weakness. It's weird, because I agree and disagree with his portrayal. At points, I think and feel that Square-Enix is portraying him the way the fans expect him, or rather believe him, to be portrayed. Also, I don't remember Cloud trying to keep his thoughts hidden from his comrades...he always offered his thoughts, but never wanted to appear weak.
2) Yuna and Rikku made their first appearance in Final Fantasy X, not X-2. If it's to do with their costume changes, then how come the other FF characters kept their original appearances? I swear, they were pretty stupid there, whoever wrote the character bios.
Anyways, yes. I have new-ish glasses. My other pair broke on Thursday morning, while I was cleaning them and so I had to wear my old pair to Uni. Thing is though, my old pair's like 4 or so years old, the pair between them also broke. They hurt my eyes and head, since they made me partially blind. When I came home, I popped in some contacts, good thing I've got like a lot of pairs of them handy. Friday, I went with my mum and we dropped the broken frames off at the Optician's, ordering the lenses to be placed in a new pair of the current frames, so they're new frames, but not. We were told they'd be ready by Monday.
Coming home, I popped in contacts again and wore them for most of the day, until they started bugging me and put on my old glasses again. Sure enough they began to cause me pain again, and my mum asked me to try on her glasses. They made me blind, I then tried my youngest brother's glasses, they too made me blind. I then tried on my younger brother's glasses and I was blessed with sight! Utilising this revelation, my mum asked him to get his other pair and I tried them on, oh sweet Heaven...they were wonderful! I could see everything in clear, sharp detail. I almost wept with joy.
We received a call today, informing us that my glasses were ready. Boy was that quick, and so I went and collected them and am now wearing them as I type. I'm keeping my brother's glasses as my spare pair, well we're sharing it.
1)Cloud is not so aloof. I don't remember him being so aloof and petty, blaming Sephiroth for this and that. Well okay, he did have problems with ol' Sephy, that's true. It is really all Sephiroth's fault, but Cloud blames himself too and wants to make up for his past weakness. It's weird, because I agree and disagree with his portrayal. At points, I think and feel that Square-Enix is portraying him the way the fans expect him, or rather believe him, to be portrayed. Also, I don't remember Cloud trying to keep his thoughts hidden from his comrades...he always offered his thoughts, but never wanted to appear weak.
2) Yuna and Rikku made their first appearance in Final Fantasy X, not X-2. If it's to do with their costume changes, then how come the other FF characters kept their original appearances? I swear, they were pretty stupid there, whoever wrote the character bios.
Anyways, yes. I have new-ish glasses. My other pair broke on Thursday morning, while I was cleaning them and so I had to wear my old pair to Uni. Thing is though, my old pair's like 4 or so years old, the pair between them also broke. They hurt my eyes and head, since they made me partially blind. When I came home, I popped in some contacts, good thing I've got like a lot of pairs of them handy. Friday, I went with my mum and we dropped the broken frames off at the Optician's, ordering the lenses to be placed in a new pair of the current frames, so they're new frames, but not. We were told they'd be ready by Monday.
Coming home, I popped in contacts again and wore them for most of the day, until they started bugging me and put on my old glasses again. Sure enough they began to cause me pain again, and my mum asked me to try on her glasses. They made me blind, I then tried my youngest brother's glasses, they too made me blind. I then tried on my younger brother's glasses and I was blessed with sight! Utilising this revelation, my mum asked him to get his other pair and I tried them on, oh sweet Heaven...they were wonderful! I could see everything in clear, sharp detail. I almost wept with joy.
We received a call today, informing us that my glasses were ready. Boy was that quick, and so I went and collected them and am now wearing them as I type. I'm keeping my brother's glasses as my spare pair, well we're sharing it.
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