There Goes Another

I sent my friend off yesterday. He's going overseas to study and I hope he'd have a great time over there. By the gods! I'm running out of friends over here! But I am quite happy for him since he's got a shot at living someplace else. It was that same old scene at the airport again. It seemed like it was yesterday that I sent another chap off. And then I would recall how much I miss him too. But hey...life goes on. Besides, there's a rather screwy arrangement going on with my schooling, and I don't think I'd like the situation in the next semester. Blame my indecision, as usual. I'm probably the most indecisive individual for about 1 meter all around.

The Passover

Well, looks like the storm passed with remarkably few casualties and it seems that the anti-war protesters are out again. Guess it takes a national calamity to bring people to their senses.

Anwyay, I'm wondering what's chewing at my time. There are times when I feel that I'd not been doing anything in particular but still wind up spending lots of time. And they're not games, in case some people are thinking it.

The Storm of the Millennium

Two cat 4 hurricanes hitting roughly the same area. What chance is there? One would think it was divine retribution. Some think that the city of New Orleans was sinful and thus punished for its occult practices and gambling. I don't. I think this is all a result of the chaos spawned from the actions of humanity. That butterfly sure flaps its wings hard. These things are too unpredictable for people to point fingers about, but I think the Kyoto agreement would have helped some, and perhaps should be looked at a little more closely. I'm not some rabid environmentalist but I think something should really be done about the environment. The environmental changes are happening too rapidly and all sorts of terrible natural disasters are happening as a result. Maybe the droughts and starvation in Africa aren't a result of pollution. Maybe the storms are unrelated to global warming. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry. For one, I'm still roasting my butt off in the heat. I know for a fact that it is warmer now than it was a few years back. Got my temperature charts to prove it. Still, I pray that those in the hurricane-hit regions would be as well as they can be in the face of such a monstrous storm, and that the world leaders would find a way to handle such crises, if not work on reversing the damage to this earth.

An old friend

I'd just finished a very old game. I'm pleased to announce that it is really really old. Published: 1996. Title: Dust: A Tale of the Wired West. Actually, it was buried deep in some pile of random stuff in a dusty corner of my room. Now this is what I would call "Closure". It really is a nice way to finish another incomplete chapter in my life. Heh. I recall that my friend was convinced that I was unwilling to lend the game to him 'coz I kept saying that I couldn't find it. The irony (though expected) was that he didn't want to borrow it anymore now that I found it. Well, that's that. Another job well done, Fenrir.

Hamsters!

Someone did come up with a manual for the Hamster Fighting Machine! No...it isn't a machine that fights hamsters, but it really looks useful. I hope I don't end up doing Something Very Wrong, though. hee~~ So anyway, just refrain from stabbing people with your Hamster Fighting Machine(tm)

Think Different (In roughly the same way)

I would say that Apple is for conformists. No? I *know* that their designs are infernally cool (that's why I've an iBook and iPod =p). However, they're unique only because they have a minority share in the techno-market. Everywhere I go, that oh so darned pretty iBook exterior would be propped up somewhere. What if they were more common? Would the world be flooded with identical white (and undoubtedly pretty) casings? *shudder* Just a thought. It does sound like uniformity to me. *wink* I was just wondering where all the modded Apple items are hiding out. (And no...pasting stuff on your iPod shuffle does not really constitute modding)

Apple's really trying to stretch that iPod concept. With that new iPod Nano, I seriously wonder if the iFlea would actually become a reality. It really is rather weird to have equipment that happens to be rather small and have such large accessories to support its function. For example, I'd suspect that the Nano's charger and earphones would weigh more and be bulkier than the original item. Freaky.

No Foam!

It's official: iPod earphones feel better without their crummy foam covers. They look better, too! Anyway, I'd decided to just clean them more often and use antiseptics from time to time. Sure beats getting near earmuffs and getting my poor ears sore from sticking foam-covered stuff in 'em all day.

That Numb Ear

My iPod loves me and my handphone hates me. Proof? Here it is: My reflection in the ipod's shiny mirrored backplate is a whole lot cuter than the crappy photos my camera phone takes. Apparently, my camera phone is intent on emphasizing each and every ugly contour of my face. Bad, bad phone!

Oh and my ears are certainly numb. I was looking at my ipod earphone, wondering where one of the foam covers had gone. That foam cover always slips off. Thinking a bit, I'd figured that it wasn't likely that the foam cover simply fell off onto the floor. I'd instinctively checked my ear and found it lodged there. Ack!

A New Hazard on the Roads

Yeap. Fenrir's now a new road hazard. Beware the car that staggers about like a drunk on New Year's eve. One shot, one kill, says I. I'm pleased to announce that I'd managed to pass the practical driving test at the first sitting. Whew. And dangerously close to the failure mark, too. Ack.

Anyway, the day started with an early morning rousing. That was terrible, by the way. I was so sleepy and felt quite incapable of giving my best. I linked up with my instructor and drove myself to the test circuit, and did a trial round. The trial round went poorly and it seemed as if I had pretty much lost what little skill I originally had. Not to mention the fact that I'd wound up waiting like around 40 minutes for my tester to arrive (he was late.)

The circuit part of the test went pretty much without a hitch. I think it was probably cut a little short since the tester was late and we were under a time constraint. Understandably, I didn't point that out to him *grin*. I'm proud to declare that I had not so much as knocked a pole since day 1 of parking training till the actual test date! Fenrir banzai!

I would say that on-road was harrowing at best. Being overly nervous, I had forgotten my highway rules and didn't move out even when I had the right of way. Ouch. My instructor was stressing that I should re-enter the testing grounds by a certain lane after the on-road portion, and I did manage to do the exact opposite of that. Oops again. Well, anyway, I'm very grateful that the tester was kind and understanding, and passed me in the end. I guess he did feel a little bad about being so late and perhaps understood that I was rather nervous.

Now, back to Fenrisian Death-Sense, I did have some good vibes from him. I guess it was a touch of the "potential success" kind of a feeling when he got into the car with me. I don't believe in luck, but I do know when things are going right and that a sufficient exercise of skill and discretion would push things through. Well, anyway, here's to my new license! *huge grin* Candies all around!

Damnable Scales!

I woke in the morning, stepped on the scale and was unpleasantly surprised to have gained an entire kilo overnight! I then realized that I had forgotten to pee. Oh well.

I got my iPod yesterday! It was horrible, waiting for it. I was holding off visiting the com center for like a month, only to have them tell me that they had tried calling me but were unable to get through. And I was really really waiting for their call! Anyway, it was great. I like it a lot since the sound quality is Pretty Darned Good, and that it has this huge capacity for music (yeah, so you guys probably know this already). My main gripe is with that nifty mirrored backplate of the iPod 20gb. My prints are all over it. Augh.

Forgetfulness

It's horrible when you really want to write something in the blog and just forget about it before you can log it down. I'm having that sort of a problem right now, since I seem to forget stuff all the time. So much for being a scatterbrain.

Anyway, I was thinking of quitting Kendo. It's not so much of being unable to cope as being unable to bear the heat. *gah!* The armor is seriously warm and given how much I sweat even in light clothing, I probably wouldn't manage well. It is a pity, given the fact that I think I'm managing fine, and that my skills are improving. Perhaps I should just move to a cooler place and take it up there. *laughs*

Drivin' on 12 hours

I was well rested today, given my wonderful 12 hours of sleep. I really wonder how I'd managed to do that, in the first place. Feeling well rested, I'd managed to breeze through the driving lesson. It was one of the very few times I'd actually managed to handle things without grumbled at for doing things at the wrong time (normally because I'm feeling a little woozy and not really taking stock of happenings). So, here's to a successful driving test attempt. I really hope to make it on the first shot. It just means so much to me. Gambatte!

Nature Vs Nurture

Just when one would think that war and terrorism would be the worst things to hit humanity, nature decides to up the ante by inflicting another great kill count upon mankind. Nature vs the nurture of our greatest killers? No contest.

Anyway, it's rather ironic that the USA is so able to handle international incidents while having one hell of a time handling this terrible tragedy back home. I'd always felt that the defense of the homeland is far more important than pre-emptive strikes, especially when the action may lead to overextension of limited military assets. The military has always managed to step in and assist in such crises, but they happened to be away when they were needed most. Anyway, my prayers go out to the survivors of this calamity and I hope they have all the help they can get. New Orleans was a truly vibrant, beautiful city and I hope that it will be rebuilt better than it originally was.

Think Different

I was looking at the other laptops in the stores, and examined the catches on the laptop displays. I noted how most of them had hooks that stuck out. Others had no visible hooks as the displays were spring-loaded to stay closed when shut. I went home and had a good look at my ibook and wondered how the cover stayed shut. I had noticed the catch on it but never really bothered to figure out how it worked. So I closed it and heard the familiar click as the catch engaged. I looked into the gap and saw the hook switch down just when the lid was nearly shut. Very subtle. Moreover, as the catch wasn't exposed most of the time, it had a reduced chance of being knocked and thus broken off. Think Different! *laughs*

Heaven's a Lie

Yes. I still do like Lacuna Coil. A lot.

I was reading The Last Legion by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. It's quite a relief after finishing Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. Seriously, I do feel that the Dan Brown novel was even worse than the Da Vinci Code. To me, Angels and Demons was like the Da Vinci Code, only with hardly any veiling for trivia snippets and a rather less compelling storyline. The Last Legion, on the other hand, is more of a cinematic production stuffed into a book. The scenarios presented are vivid (as would be expected from the historian/archaeologist) and have depth to them. Even the period trivia pertaining to the story are well-woven into the storyline rather than sticking out like an appendix snippet within the prose. The story is set around 476CE, the time of Romulus Augustus and the fall of the western Roman empire. While I am not well-read when it comes to the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, I dare say that I did manage to form a rather clear picture of each scene as it plays out and that lends an authenticity to the story which is absent in Angels and Demons. I really did enjoy reading this text.


Peace

There is no anger,
only the peaceful, still leaves.
Change comes as change goes.

Klaatu verata nikto!

Klaatu*mumblekoffkoff* Yes. That word is haunting me again! Argh! I'll never escape it's evil clutches and the dead will rise again and lope around for no good reason at all! It's so very supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (and for no good reason at all). Yes, indeed, Evil Dead was perhaps one of the most senseless of all the zombie flicks I had ever watched. Worst of all, what's stuck in my head is not "groovy" but KLAATU VERATA NIKTO! I'll have to find an opportunity to use that word around an arcane tome when the zombies are about. Yes...I am talking about my maths textbook. Why dost thou torment me so?

The Chocolate Factory

I had just watched Charlie and The Chocolate Factory today. I'll never look at chocolate the same way ever again. I still feel that Jim Carrey would probably have done a better job at being a zany Willy Wonka. I think he did a great job at portraying Wonka as a rather disturbed character. He did lend a rather sinister overtone to the character, however. Why oh why was Saruman bringing Willy Wonka up? No wonder he grew up all weird. I do not think that this was Johnny Depp's best performance though I can't really think of him as a Michael Jackson analogue of sorts. All that richness and desire to be a father figure. Not to mention that wonderful complexion. Anyway, I'd really appreciated the Edward Scissorhands moment with those large scissors. I'm still wondering why Deep Roy seemed to have far more air time than Johnny Depp! Unfair!
Anyway, the show left me with a craving for Oompa Loompas and whipped cream. I'd been enjoying Willy Wonka candies before the reading book and watching the film. I'm happy to say that the film was Actually Good(tm). While it was actually a dark rendition of Roald Dahl's story, it wasn't overtly violent or grotesque. Violet's transformation was nowhere near as gross as those in Gremlins and the like. I feel that it was rather faithful to the original story and having the Oompa Loompas dancing to their satirical songs was a rather nice touch. So I'm gona give this movie the thumbs up. Two thumbs. One's for Depp.

Off the Radar

It's sad how websites actually go out of business from lack of funding. I had heard that one webmaster was going broke only after the site dropped clean off the radar. It was disconcerting, given the fact that I was accessing the blogs hosted on the site and realized that it was gone only when the plug was pulled. After assuming that the site had probably moved, I'd yahoo'ed it and came up with this rather sad site. I'd know, since I always seem to encounter Webmaster declaring that they need funding and everything, but never really saw any drop off just like that.

So, I guess the selfish me would have assumed that they were just interested in getting more money above and beyond what they'd get from advertising. This may be the case for some, but others may be in real trouble. Well, there goes Amberspace. Just another dose of reality, Fenrir.

Decisiveness

If ever there was a regret in my life, I would say that it was a lack of decisiveness. I am too indecisive, so much so that I had actually let outside forces hold the reins when I should have pulled them myself. I have learned a new thing, but the problem would be that too many things had been done that are irreversible. Too many discourses are going on inside my head, full of "What-ifs" and their insidious ilk. Very bad for mental stability. I feel that there is no point trying to tell this to anyone else, since one who is content to "go with the flow" would likely be disinclined to heed the words. Besides, there is always a possibility that going with the flow would turn out swimmingly without personal intervention. I guess the lyric "You don't know what you've got till it's gone" would be rather apt in this context. At this moment, one cannot conceivably turn the clock back and so one can only go forward in time. It's much better to not have to look back with regret though it may be part and parcel of life. Wise words and reality are hard to reconcile. Yeah sure. Someone could go like accept the facts of life and bla bla. How many can accept that at an intellectual level at least? And would believing in something like that for the sake of happiness constitute being true to oneself?

A Fenrisian question: If you had been given a choice to be reborn without the pet peeve, would you take that chance? And if you did, did you just choose to sacrifice what you are now? Self and choice. If a problem were made to have never existed at all, one would never have thought of this in the first place. Ignorance would probably be bliss, but consciously choosing ignorance for the sake of bliss would be a form of self-betrayal. Or would being "happy" be the greatest thing one can bestow upon oneself, whether the happiness is born of ignorance or closure...

A Shallow View

I am amused by how marketing and politics are so similar. Politicans make their sales pitch and then claim credit for their kills. It's probably the underlings or engineers (in a Dilbertean context) who'd be slogging to make stuff for the figureheads to dump on others. And when things get rough, people always wind up going after the politicians. So it all flows down, pushed to the engineers/researchers and whatnot. It is only the high level screw-ups that shake things up enough to cause the brass to take a beating.