Rebels With Causes

When one rebels, someone should feel good about it, and someone should feel bad about exactly the same thing. Well, that, or at least find it somewhat disagreeable. That may include damaging someone else's property, of course. Now, what happens when that very same act becomes sanctioned within a certain framework. We'd have...say...walls that can be "vandalized", for example (we shan't debate over how it can be vandalism when it's actually allowed). And of course, we'd have the big rock concerts some people call wars.

On a side note, my experiment with windowsill appears to be starting up again...it failed initially because I was on holiday and everything dried out. I tried again with some proper agricultural potting mix and peat moss. Strangely enough, what wouldn't sprout for 2 weeks in organic fertilizer appears to be merrily sprouting in another sort...within 3 days. Is that a seedling or are you just happy to have new soil... Anyway, I'm currently using metal mini-pots from IKEA. Dang are these things cute.

Aspie?

Perhaps being aspie is more a propensity than an affliction. Some people cannot understand why anyone would prefer to live in a world of words, living in books and peering at computer screens. They cannot understand how one can do without the intricacies of human expression and emotion, the sights and sounds and feel of being in physical proximity to other human beings. It never seems to occur to them that someone may actually like life that way, and it’s not out of a fear of social rejection or otherwise ineptness. Sometimes there is more to see than just humans and interact with them. There are perfectly good environments to explore, and nice stories to visualize in your mind.

888: Seek And Ye Shall Find

Yes. Seek. I was at the library seeking a book I’ve been tracking for a few days already. While browsing, I couldn’t find it, and wound up leaving my umbrella behind at the library. After shopping in the area for a time, I had to visit the toilet, but there were massive queues in the building. This meant I had to go through the rain. It was then that I realized that something was missing… After backtracking to the library, I thought it worthwhile to check whether the book was there. Amazingly enough, it was shelved and ready for me to pick up. I then went off to the nearby art supplies shop, and found inkjet fixative! Now that’s something I had been looking for for the longest time. I also saw willow charcoal, which I figured would be interesting to fiddle with. Not a bad shopping day =p

This would be unremarkable except that I was on the verge of leaving the umbrella behind because I was having cramps and I wasn’t entirely sure that it’d be still there even if I remembered where I left it. I hate making mistakes, and something this fundamental was quite unacceptable. Anyway, I spotted the inkjet fixative at the store, but it was the matte variety. I asked the worker whether they stocked gloss, but he said that they didn’t. After some in-depth reading of labels, I found the gloss fixative, albeit under a different brand. Understandably, the staff was a bit embarrassed when I waggled it before him, and he said that he didn’t know that fixatives came in gloss. Well…I didn’t expect him to know everything the store stocked, so I guess it’s pardonable.

The lesson of the day: With sufficient determination, seek and ye shalt find. An interesting thing to note, though: My transport pass had $8.88 on it at the time.

Silver Surfer Vs Pirates Of The Caribbean

In the battle of pirates against ninjas, it’s inevitable that the pirates win…if Jack Sparrow were anywhere near the battle. Silver Surfer? Not a chance. Now, I would say that the animation of the Surfer was rather nice. That’s probably the best part of the show. Apart from it not being true to the source material (which is acceptable to an extent in movies), the story was not terribly dramatic in a superhero battle sort of way. Typically, superhero flicks have a unique selling point: The climatic battle at the end. The final scene just lacked the sort of dramatic tension that should involve global devastation or the death of our superheroes…preferably both. It seemed lacking in that aspect.

And usually, that battle has to at least be partly fought by the superheroes. It’s all a part of what it means to be superheroic.

Besides, the title is “Rise” of the Silver Surfer. Watch the movie and tell me where the “rise” comes in. I mean, we don’t see the origins of the Surfer and how he became the herald of Galactus, after all. We didn’t even get to see how Galactus was personally putting the world in peril. The ending just didn’t feel triumphant enough either.

Of course, since there was such a glaring blooper, I just had to talk about it: Why was the tail rotor of Doom’s chopper not spinning? Anyway, C+ for this flick. If I don’t remember most of it, it wasn’t terribly good.

Now on to Pirates 3. What can I say? It was a barrel of laughs, though a tad less cheesy than Pirates 2. It gets an A- from me. Why? Because it is dramatic in the right places, lessens the tension a little with some mistimed humor, and it has Depp on the cast. The – came from Orlando Bloom. Blame him. Oh, and they killed a big character I liked. Guess whom…hint: Many tentacles, and isn’t Davey Jones.

There’s just a charm to watching the Flying Dutchman in action, Jack Sparrow wisecracking while fighting and having a wedding aboard a pirate ship. It’s just so much more appealing when it all happens at once.

Nothing much I can say about the movie that isn’t known, and isn’t a major spoiler. All I can say is that I laughed. A lot. And that’s a very good thing. Pirates win =p

That's Gross

The concept of grossness is a product of one's perceptions, learning and experiences, and is often perfectly illogical. For example, chewing your food, spitting it on the plate, then taking the chewed up muck back in your mouth would be gross to many people. Logically...that came from your own mouth, and a short time out of the mouth would not make the mush any more bacteria-infested. There are other times when the assessment of a situation is judged more by its "grossness" than by its real disadvantages.

Still, some things are still nasty, no matter how much scientific fact one has to the contrary. For example, the 5-second rule. Sure, you could pick up and eat candies that fell to the ground and laid there for a couple seconds. Most probably wouldn't, because it'd be nasty. Same with escargot. I wouldn't eat snail by any name...simply because it's gross!

On Fallen Angels

Have you ever felt like a fallen angel? I know I have. No, not demonic horned things with leathery wings. That's probably what they look like in Hollywood. No, it's more of a feeling. The feeling of having touched something so infinite, seeing so many things and then suddenly being unable to do that anymore. The feeling of being able to reach out and do whatever the imagination permits, and then reaching out with the will and finding it gone. There are times when I feel this inexplicable hatred against all of creation, and how it should be utterly destroyed in a slow manner that would please me. Yet during others it is like touching a tree, feeling its lifeblood slowly rising to the leaves and thinking about how beautiful creation really is. You can touch something and know more about it than should be possible through a simple touch. You can perceive things that the simple, crude senses should not be able to perceive. All in all, it is the nagging knowledge that there are so many things to perceive and so much knowledge already had, but it's all stuffed away somewhere. I guess that's how fallen angels feel.

If We Can Hate Communism, So Can You!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070614/ap_on_re_as/china_bush_memorial

Someone professes to hate communism, and someone's upset about it. Of course, "communist" regimes and victims of the same are bound to take issue whether the memorial is set up or no. I suppose it would be normal to take issue with a regime that "allows no political dissent", but then again, which one does? I don't think it's really an issue with "allowing" political dissent so much as openly not disallowing it. When it comes to national security, it's pretty common to implicitly disallow dissent. They won't say it out loud: They'd just drag people off to interrogations.

A Laser To Hate

Adults hate lasers. I'm not talking about pilots or other vehicle drivers. I mean people peacefully watching TV in their living rooms. I learned that when I first got my laser and had fun shining it into other peoples' living rooms. Some guy dropped by to tell my parents to prevent it from happening again. Just now, the same thing happened. Except it was some other kids having fun with their new laser pointers.

Sometimes I wonder why kids can't be allowed to have a spot of fun. It's not as if a split-second flash from a low-yield laser would do any real damage to the retina. Besides, they'd either tire of it or run out of batteries eventually. I guess people take things way too seriously sometimes. I mean, if nobody looks up when you're zapping their area with a laser, they'd not find it terribly exciting.

The Potential Of D'oh

Sometimes there are recipes. Sort of like simple instructions to prepare the perfect item. An item, such as a cookie. Now, cookies are usually baked from cookie dough. That's really interesting. Dough is potential. It could just stay as dough. It could also become that wonderfully crisp and perfectly browned cookie. All you have to do is follow that perfect recipe. Of course, everyone believes that the "perfect" recipe really isn't, and wind up preparing all sorts of half-baked and burnt cookies. There's something worse than not using your potential. It's using your potential and turning out half baked. How could a cookie possibly go so wrong...

Stingy Guys

I hate to generalize, really. But empirical evidence seems to support it. Most guys I know (who regard themselves as guys) are unwilling to part with their money under any circumstances except to procure hardware, get a gal or to make more money. Apparently, spending a bit more on a printer is undesirable (it's not ego hardware). Taking a short trip on a taxi is a waste of money. And yes, if you can walk the distance with a heavy pack, there's no need to take the bus. But if it's a health product they're obesessed about, or a hi-fi system, price is never an issue. I hear that it's coz their priorities differ, though. Perhaps there's some weight to that theory. Still, I'll go with the stingy hypothesis till I can find something conclusive.

On Fundamental Attribution Error

Sure, it’s a biatch. And it’s never more obvious than when one deals with parents. I can stand there to yawn and stretch, and suddenly I’m conveying that I am too free. I obviously am slacking, have nothing better to do and certainly don’t intend to do anything worthwhile. Interesting how one can be doing stuff, tell someone to wait when there’s a request to do something inconvenient, then be perceived as being selfish or lazy. Oh come on, I am *not* going to cross a room to make a phone call for someone else when I’m snacking. I mean, you’re the one next to the phone and it’s not in my job description to make that call. Maybe it’d be bad if I’m a phone operator, which I’m not. Anyhoo, this is in the context of moms, dads and hotel rooms.

Gripe time about dad: He wants everything done 5 minutes ago, and with curt and unintelligible instructions. Guess what? Not happening. Besides, parents never seem to see when kids do things right. Slip up once and oops…someone’s being lazy and all again.

Anyway, ‘nuff of the bitchin’. I’m back and all that.

Freedom?

There is never any true freedom no matter how one tries to feel free. Machines are programmed to do their tasks. Animals are programmed to survive, reproduce and so on. Even though some humans may try to feel liberated by not obeying the rules set by their (likely retarded) brethren, they are unlikely to be free from the urges of their humanity and limitations of their minds and bodies.

So you think you're a conservative because they appeal to your logic...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227124,00.html

Back From Vacation

Right, back from vacation and I guess I'll be putting some backdated posts up when I finally go thro0ugh the gazillion pics I've taken there. Anyhoo, just finished Company of Heroes. Just another of those WWII games, set in RTS for a change. Frankly, I wonder why people just wana relive that horrible stretch over and over again.

Selfishness And Selflessness

There is a tension between selfishness and selflessness. The very act of following rules is a selfless act, submitting to the will (presumably) of the people around you. It can get irritating when you do have to follow those rules, yet it is also irritating when someone does not and winds up offending or adversely affecting you. I suppose it's the self-centred thinking that gets people this way. Someone else just has to be selfless so I can be selfish.

Then again, why must selfishness be taken as a bad thing. There should not be anything wrong with caring only for oneself, when most people do that. After all, pure collectivism is regarded with quite some hostility. I guess humans will just never be satisfied.

The Nose Knows

Melons do not typically foam and ooze fluids. This one does. While I was visiting the kitchen, I wondered why the air smelled especially foul. The sweaty scent of decay, really. I thought it was some leftover food, but it didn't seem to come from the dining table. Anyway, I followed my nose, and then I heard a weird wet-sounding hiss. By the gods, the melon was quietly and merrily decaying in my kitchen! Anyway, here's a pic as a keepsake, and a reminder to mind your melons.

Strange Warrior

I am a strange warrior. There are times when I live in blood and chaos, demanding to be bombarded with endless complications, trials and tribulations to vanquish. And indeed I do, when they come. Yet there are times when I wonder and long for peace and a straight road. Still, what bugs me most is that the outcome of even the victories are never perfect enough. Even the best laid plans fall apart on the field, and yet I persist on insisting on perfection. These can only be the desires of a strange warrior, or a mad one.

The Chalice

A chalice lies empty,
A hole at its base.
Never to be filled,
Hollow, unrealized grace.

Though gatekeeper permit,
No keymaster may pass.
The sealed dawn's lips,
A shadowed, sealed lass.

No fresh blood of spring,
Nor vibrancy of summer.
Only a lingering autumn,
To an eternal winter.

Potting In Plastic

I'm doing what they learned in high school: Potting things in waste plastic. Yeah, so I cut off some of my candy containers and filled them with sterilized organic fertilizer, put a bit of water in them and all that. They're currently sitting on my window sill, which is the sunniest place I've got around here anyway. The initial experiment was successful, and I had a very healthy strand of wheat grass growing in my sill pot whilst an entire crop perished from lack of sunlight in a larger pot.

Currently experimenting with mint and chives. Hope those things like my window!

Spidey...3!

I watched Spiderman 3 on the big screen yesterday. What can I say? It's Spidey! Then again, I think the pacing of the movie was rather bad. I do agree with my friend that the show seemed draggy. However, that was probably due to the contrast between the fast early action scenes, the long lull in-between and then another build up to another burst of action leading to the climax. I guess it just doesn't flow well. Moreover, there were some plot holes that depended on the audience's knowledge of the backstory, some of the characters were well...out of charater. My major gripe would be that they dwelt way too much on the sordid details of the breakup with MJ.

However, for an average movie that has the usual bit of eye candy and lots of action, I suppose it's fulfilled its purpose. There's the lingering feeling of the movie trying to do too much in too little time. I mean, it's a number of issues (in comic terms) to cover Goblin, Sandman, Venom AND the MJ breakup. I suppose it's understandable that the film feels like a bit too much of a jack of all trades.

Guys And Love

Right, this might be a generalization, but I figure I just had to get it off my back sometime. Tweener would understand. While I was watching Spiderman 3, the guys in the cinema were laughing out loud at the death scenes. Then when we got down to the scene where Osborne's butler said something like "I loved your father", the guys laughed out loud again, my guy friend included.

It's sorta funny to observe, how guys react to the word "love". When a guy says it to another guy, it's automagically a gay thing. But gals are immune to that, thank goodness. Makes one think just how crappy it'd be to be a guy, whot, with love being such a distant thing.