Guessing game of rage.

People of today's day and age undoubtedly enjoy technological progress that is unprecedented in previous generations. Unfortunately, similar progression in human behavior doesn't necessarily follow.

Back then, reaching out to people and introducing one's self is a highly encouraged act, even if it was done in roundabout, peculiar ways when between adolescents and young adults of opposite sex. There's the employment of mediators, the sending of humiliatingly cheesy love letters, and of course, the subtle throwing of rocks into windows.

Now that the current level of technological progress has enabled communication to ride on zeroes and ones that deliver information on mere fractions of a second, you'd think that human behavior would also become just as practical. But no.

This SMS log is a shining example. Please excuse the vernacular, much of the retardation will be lost in translation, and I can't be bothered to figure out how to encode the following in English txtspk:

[number redacted]: ,h! Uztah kna?
Me: Who's this?
[number redacted]: ,wh0's dis k jan?
Me: Kilala ba kita? Sabihin mo na kasi medyo busy ako.
[number redacted]: ,yup it's me airine?
Me: Nope, don't know you. kthxbai.
[number redacted]: ,gnun ok!! Babusss din
Me: *goes back to browsing awesome items in Saizen, Robinsons Galleria, fitting my boyfriend with fake boobies*


I really don't know if it's the in thing nowadays to prefix each and every SMS with a comma, but one thing's for sure, trying to hook someone into an untimely guessing game, for 1 buck a pop isn't just downright inconsiderate, it's also goddamn retarded and is a discredit to human intelligence.

Jesus Christ, it's about time.

Dragonball: Evolution movie impressions

This nation reeks of a sad inferiority complex.

This nation reeks of a sad inferiority complex, and it's happily displaying it for all the world to see.

The most recent example, being that of the brouhaha over the (misunderstood?) troll post of Chip Tsao, shows how embarrassingly obvious this inferiority complex - under the guise of demand for respect and dignity - really is, and how this nation has no problems flaunting it. That this nation has to make a point of acting offended, and with such fanfare complete with public blacklisting and empty, senseless threats of boycotting, for every jest poorly done or otherwise.

Can't we just shrug off trollbait articles, or silly stereotypes that show poor knowledge of our identity as a nation? Last time I checked, those should reflect poorly on the authors or makers of said stupid articles or shows, not the referred country or group of people.

Now, if you're a fellow countryman and netizen you're probably familiar with the RRRAAAAGE reaction that Tsao's article elicited from bloggers both inside and outside the country.

However, I wouldn't go into that. I wouldn't be a hypocrite and say that these bloggers are stupid for doing such a knee-jerk reaction and they should think, just think, and realize that worldwide mass media has a bad, tasteless stereotype prepared for people of every race and profession.

I wouldn't expound on the well-known fact that we as a nation have a poorly done generalized stereotype for every Joe the trailer trash American, Gupta the five-six Indian, Ching the booger-eating Chinese, etc, etc. That just because Filipinos have self-branded themselves as the world's hardworking underdog doesn't mean they're supposed to be off-limits when it comes to crass insults and gross stereotyping. All of us are supposed to know those things; anything short of acknowledging those is nothing short of undeserved arrogance.

However, forget about bloggers. The nature of blogs and the convenience that they provide encourage the posting of spur-of-the-moment rageposts that authors would most probably regret posting after the haze of anger clears. That makes them a tad forgivable, provided that the authors wise up within 24 hours after posting their shit.

No, I'm more disappointed at our politicians.

Unlike bloggers, politicians should have minutes--nay, hours--of mulling things over before deciding to call reporters from all newspapers and TV networks and whine, over national and international airwaves, that this or that foreign national trolled the Filipinos and demand for public apology. By all rights, they should have had more time to think before broadcasting for all the world to see the flag of Inferiority Complex.

Our politicians and activist leaders surely have the penchant for making knee-jerk reactions towards Filipino stereotypes lurking in international mass media. Chip Tsao's facepalm-inducing article (which elicited the ire of government officials such as Senator Pia Cayetano) isn't the only case where politicians - who may or may not be merely seeking for easy PR stunts - have gone apeshit and made a universe out of a molehill over an offhandedly-delivered jest or comment.

There was much ado against Teri Hatcher delivering a racist line from her script in Desperate Housewives, which apparently implied that Filipino doctors are incompetent. Of course, that implication isn't true at all - so why react in such a manner towards a work of fiction? Knowing that Filipinos all over the world even lambasted the wrong person (Hatcher, for saying what was in her script that was written by somebody else) is already embarrassing in itself.

And yes, who can still remember Claire Danes' persona non grata status handed down by the government for saying the obvious, which is the fact that parts of Manila smelled of cockroaches, had rats all over, and that the sewage system is malfunctioning or non-existent?

All of the above cases involve high-ranking politicians carelessly call for public apologies and "boycotts", not even thinking that acknowledging the truth and actually acting on them is way better than calling forth even more attention on the facts that they are trying to deny. Okay, so one visiting foreigner said that Manila reeks of cockroaches? Fine, let's shout to the rest of the world how one famous personality remarked that our city smells like vermin! And that we're demanding Apology! For something that is fucking true!

Good job. Keep it up, politicians. Keep it up with our tax money and wasted airtime.

Saturday Morning Watchmen

Him: I don't know if this is real or a master troll D:

Me: thats a troll

Me: ...I hope. Lol Bubastis is even there.

Him: Yeah. So I'm not too sure D:

Me: nah I don't believe it. Unless...unless the reasoning behind the existence of the cartoon is that it's one of Ozymandia's marketing ploys. You know, like the figures his toy department comes up with.

Me: ...

Me: that's scary.

Him: That's...pretty plausible. And scary.

Me: I just gave the perfect reason why the watchmen will have a shitty cartoon.

...and as it turns out, a Saturday Morning Watchmen cartoon did exist .

To my beloved dog, Orange:

Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop Hollywood adaptation

I'll put this here before I comment any further:

No, I'm not dissing on Keanu himself, and I think that he's a decent actor. Keanu was great as The Matrix' Neo; he was good enough as Klaatu in the rather bland remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Should they give Spike Spiegel's role to a guy who can only do one facial expression? Particularly, the :| face? I'm all for giving Keanu a chance (can't do anything otherwise), but I got sorely burned with his portrayal of John Constantine, who was still his signature poker-faced man - only with shades of emo and a little dash of snark.

Anyway...sure, let Hollywood do its thing. They already spat and stepped on Dragonball; after a decent Street Fighter movie adaptation with Van Damme and Raul Julia in the early '90s Hollywood decided to shit on the well-known IP properly by making Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. They really can't do any worse than that.

Before you breathe a sigh of relief, check this out:

Tobey Maguire in Robotech film; gets Smallville writers

I'll keep my tongue (fingertips) in check until I see any trailers/screenshots. Oh yes, Hollywood is also planning on doing live action Akira (CUH-NEY-DUUUUUUH!!!) and Ninja Scroll. All's good.

I'll just stare at this gif to give me a little bit of happiness for a change:

Staring at tree frogs, for some reason, make me feel that all's right in the world.

...I think Squirtle would have to say "Hello!" to a froggy neighbor sometime soon.

Why reading Cosmo is a bad idea, Part 1

Me: jesus. The things written in the Cosmo datebook
Him: Myah? What's written innit? D:
Me: there's a page dedicated on how to "get nooky-naughty"
Me: basically its tells the owner of the datebook to get screwed in the following places:

1. The Wild Outdoors
2. On a Hilltop at Sunset
3. The Beach
4. The Sauna
5. Behind the Waterfall
6. The Library

Him: Okay. D:
Me: not sure if want :[
Him: Obviously the writers never made love in those locations D:

1. Wild Outdoors = wild animals. Do not want.
2. Hilltop at sunset = danger of falling. Do not want.
3. The beach = sand. horrible sand. Do not want.
4. The Sauna = too darn hot. Do not want.
5. Behind the waterfall = bugs, dirt, infections, dirty water, the unknown. Do not want.
6. The Library = high chance of being caught and getting banned from it. Do not want.

Me: and we don't want to get banned from the library. There's still stuff I want to read.
Him: Sauna would be like having sex in HELL
Him: The author does not know how fucking hot a sauna can get
Him: And "fucking hot" is used in a way to convey temperature.
Him: Oh, and also, there's the risk of naked old men coming in.
Him: NAKED OLD MEN
Him: Yeah it'd be fucking romantic if you were trying to get the action going in a hellish sauna, and with wrinkly old dudes walking in and talking about their prostates.

Good riddance. Not a well-deserved good riddance, but still good riddance.

Taken from Associated Press :

Toy giant Mattel Inc., after a four-year legal dispute with MGA Entertainment Inc., touted its win in the case Wednesday after a federal judge banned MGA from making and selling its pouty-lipped and hugely popular Bratz dolls...The ruling, issued in federal court in Riverside, followed a jury's finding that Bratz designer Carter Bryant developed the concept for the dolls while working for Mattel.

While I've already taken to rolling my eyes whenever I hear of the usual ridiculous lawsuit spawned yet again in the US (being pretty common in the gaming industry), I couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief now that the infernal pouty-lipped dolls may most probably be taken off toy shelves and away from impressionable kids.

I wouldn't launch into a longwinded rant against the Bratz line-up, and instead I'll just tell you to look at Baby Bratz to see why I rage at it, so much:

I'm not so sure why the Baby Bratz dolls portray babies as total skanks, but there they are. I have nothing against babies who crawl or waddle about in spaghetti-strapped baby doll dresses or even butt-naked, but I sure am appalled at how Baby Bratz are made to look like hos with the impossibly adult pouty lips and eye liner that shouldn't even touch a toddler's pristine skin.

Don't get me wrong; merely owning a Bratz won't turn a young girl into a wanton prostitute, but there's the fact that the doll's target market are the mostly young, impressionable girls who'd most likely want to emulate the lifestyle that their favorite doll exhibits.

Okay, so playing around with lipsticks and eyeliner pencils are fine (don't let your kid poke her eye out), but I don't want my child acting out the characteristics that the Bratz dolls uphold: vapid, shallow...and yes, practically a Brat.

At the very least, I can rest easy knowing that I wouldn't have my daughter-to-be throwing a tantrum over one of those creepy disembodied Bratz heads . If Mattel doesn't decide to cash in on the IP, of course.

Castlevania: Arcade, and some comment MST3King.

[15:19] gespenstschatten: just reading the comments on gametrailers
[15:20] gespenstschatten: "Well it looks like once again Konami doesn't get what the Castlevania fans want. We just want 2D not 3D, 2 D castlevania games just like SOTN. This game looks like crap, first off it looks like they wanted to make a Wii game for the arcade but couldn't figure out how to make the controller work properly. Second it isn't even a Castlevania game, it looks like House of the Dead with a broken controller."
[15:20] gespenstschatten: well he sure isn't speaking for me. Unlike some people I'd want some variety with my vampire whippan thank you very much.
[15:21] Him: Myah D:
[15:22] gespenstschatten: I mean, really. The 2D games are good and all, that's what Castlevania is best at, but common D:
[15:22] Him: Yeah.
[15:23] gespenstschatten: and I hate how he throws around "Castlevania fans" like it's some kind of a hiveminded elite group. Though admittedly a lot of people have been saying the same thing over and over. 2D CASTLEVANIA PL0X.
[15:23] Him: But think about it. A Castlevania game the size of a console game.
[15:23] Him: That'd be huge. And epic.
[15:23] gespenstschatten: what do you mean?
[15:25] Him: It's like...hmm. Like a Castlevania for the DS, except on a console level. It's still 2D, but it fills an entire DVD. That means boatloads of content and dungeons and awesomeness.
[15:25] gespenstschatten: yeah, I'd want that too. I also know that fans have been asking for a current gen 2D Castlevania game for some time now.
[15:25] gespenstschatten: that'll be epic, but realistically speaking you won't see that happening - pure 2D action - unless the game is hosted on PSN/XBLA/WiiWare.
[15:26] gespenstschatten: I'd like something that's fuck huge, too.
[15:26] gespenstschatten: though I'm not sure why they diss every castlevania game that isn't 2D.
[15:27] Him: Blind fanboy rage.
[15:28] gespenstschatten: figures. HATEWAGON ALL ABOARD much?

Irritating little things.

1. Finding out that I couldn't install programs on my new office laptop, not even Adobe Flash on my Firefox/Chrome (but IE's fine).
2. Having to lug said laptop to and from work until they finally get me my own pedestal/mobile cabinet. Have to follow it up on Monday.
3. Having to shell out some cash to get myself a laptop bag that doesn't scream HAY GUISE I GOTS A LAPTOP HERE.
4. Finding out that my once exclusive online name is now being used by another guy in the nets. But hey, I don't have a patent on it, so I'll just let it go. It's just that I have a thing for names. Names are important to me. Feh.
5. Waiting for someone for a good two hours only to be given some fare money and a slap on the fanny, then sent home.
6. Trying to check the stagnating Friendster account only to find out that Friendster is, for some reason, blocked. In my home internets. 
7. Having to write this list in the first place.
   

Three simple steps to do in order to enjoy Castlevania: Judgment

If you care even just a smidgen about the Wii's upcoming Castlevania: Judgment, then you've probably already heard the hatewagon making a racket from the far corners of the intarwebs, its frenzied passengers probably driven to jump in by the horrible sight of a ripped Simon Belmont in shorts, courtesy of Death Note artist Obata.

Let's forget, at least for the moment, about the fact that the game allows for full 3D movement (read: much of the time in-game will be spent running around playing tag), or the fact that the game still leaves much to be desired at this point - only mere days away from its November 18 release. I normally don't wish for a delayed release, but I'll do it only for this game. Only a pushed-back release date and a frantic redesign - both art and gameplay-wise - could save Judgment.

Instead, let's talk about how you, in a great, determined effort to stay loyal to the franchise, can try to genuinely like the game. As in *like* like, enough to even anticipate the game's release with a joyful glee in your face. That's not even forced. At all.

Three simple steps to do in order to enjoy Castlevania: Judgment

1. You must become a fan of the Death Note series.

For steps 2 and 3 to actually work, you have to at least know about the crazed phenomena that Obata is best known for: Death Note. Chances are that you already do, but you have to work up such enthusiasm until you start setting up fansites and shrines for any of your favorite DN characters. Once you find yourself trawling fanfiction.net for DN smut or the dredges of Information Highway for Rule 34, then you're good to go.

2. Pretend that the characters are from Death Note.

This one's actually easy. Thanks to Obata, the character renditions in Castlevania: Judgment look like they're based on the Death Note cast, in what could be an ingenious attempt to shamelessly promote whore out his series.Taking into account the weird fashion sense prevalent in the game, just pretend that the Death Note cast got sucked into an alternate universe or plane of existence...like the Shinigami World (make sure you already accomplished number 1 so you know what I'm talking about), for instance, thus the weird duds.

For the sake of creating a convincing backstory, let's say all of the playable characters are fighting for a chance to become the Shinigami King. Or something to that effect. Feel free to come up with your own storyline for each character, the character backgrounds I've written below are just examples of what bullshit you can come up with from the top of your head. The more desperate you are, the better.

 Simon Belmont as Light Yagami

This one's a no-brainer for everybody who've seen Death Note. Just trim Simon's hair a bit...voila, instant Light Yagami. He's even got the very same smoldering rapist's look, too. Of course, there's the problem with the Death Notebook not being in the scene, but you can pretend that Light/Simon's motive in joining the brawlfest is to recover the ownership of the notebook from the Shinigami King. And to get a decent replacement for his...shorts.

Maria Renard as Misa Amane 

Look at the sight of Obata's gothloli take of the pure, innocent Maria (circa Rondo of Blood) - Obata did not even bother to use the right kind of gothloli that fits Maria's timeline. What the hell, Maria already came from the gothic era but the artist still found a way to mess with her design...that's a lot of creativity there, indeed. What's up with the silly suspenders on her stockings, and the loose garters around her thighs?

Judgment's Maria looks like a ditsy cosplayer who couldn't even do basic garment coordination (and since we're talking about gothloli here, this is saying much) and is clearly confused about animal rights - look at the poor owl she crammed into the end of her staff. She's just perfect for Misa Amane: model, cosplayer and ditz extraordinaire.

We know that Maria has to keep an owl with her at all times, but she didn't have to use the owl as a living, breathing decoration for her staff. Good grief, imagine the amount poo the owl "accidentally" drops on her from time to time in protest. Yeah, he looks pretty pissed.

Death as some random Shinigami

Saying that Death would be a shoo-in for a Shinigami will make me game for grammar Nazis with a penchant for spotting redundancies. However, this is worth a mention as Obata's Death is one of the very few good things going for the game. A Death who gets down and dirty, takes off his cowl and cape to deliver some otherworldly asswhupping? I'm pretty much sold here.

Alucard as adult!Near 

Okay, this took a bit of stretching, but think of doing this as part of a sincere effort of making this game a little palatable.Cosmetic similarities aside, both Alucard and Near are socially inept to some extent, and both speak in a somewhat cryptic, clipped manner. Near's awful fond of his toys; you can just think of Alucard (as adult Near) roleplaying as a vampire bastard by swinging his toy sword around, wearing his vampire bastard costume.

That aside, I can't believe that Obata deigned to remove Alucard's trademark ruffly cravat from his costume, something that was retained even in the anime redesign of Dawn of Sorrow. For shame, Obata; a non-fabulous Alucard is not an Alucard at all.

Aeon as Teru Mikami

Aeon is a new character exclusive to Judgment - and I hope it stays that way. I wouldn't want some batshit-insane character who lugs around a large watch like it's nobody's business. Obviously the pair of glasses that he wears isn't enough to let him read the time off a standard-sized pocket watch, and he's cuckoo enough not to resolve the issue by getting proper corrective lenses, but opts to upsize his clock instead.

Batshit-insane is the operative phrase here, and no one fits Aeon's role better than the deranged obssesive-compulsive fanatic, Teru Mikami (he'd probably pull off the same "heck, I'll just get a bigger watch instead" stunt too, come to think of it). Just look at how they both look and - perhaps - act alike, save for the hair color.

Shanoa as Naomi Misora

Ah, sweet sexy Shanoa. She, and her game Order of Ecclesia, is probably the best thing to happen in Castlevania since pot roast. But of course, Obata still found a way to botch her almost fail-proof design by turning her into some sort of a MILF nun with babymaking hips (according to Ryan). I don't have a problem with it, though. She's still awful sexy, but is the headdress/wimple really necessary?

Her closest counterpart in Death Note is Naomi Misora, as both have the same temperament and have similar motives in their respective stories. Order of Ecclesia agent Shanoa, bereft of her memories, searches for her ex-colleague in order to safeguard the fate of the world; while NBI agent Naomi, bereft of her husband, searches for her husband's killer in order do safeguard the fate of the world.

Grant DaNasty as Rem

Now this, this, is what I'm all up in arms about. See, in case you haven't played Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Grant DaNasty is supposed to be a pirate - NOT a mummified humanoid. Last time I heard, pirates were all about yo-ho-ho and a bottle o' rum, kitschy bandannas, waving rapiers around or manufacturing deebeedees.

I'm not even sure if Obata even took into account Grant being a pirate while coming up with this design; he probably only thought of a way of slipping a reference to Shinigami Rem into the game.

Even an 8-bit game portrayed a pirate better than Obata:

See that small hunched figure at the bottom of the screen? That looks more like a pirate than Grant in Judgment.

3. Cover the first half of the title screen using a piece of paper with "Death Note" written on it.

You still there? Good. Of course, all of your efforts will be for naught if you're greeted with a title screen that says "Castlevania: Judgment," sending you into another bout of depression as you realize that you're playing a Castlevania game with characters that don't even remotely look like they came from the franchise.

The easiest way to deal with the problem is to have someone hold a piece of paper and cover the upper half of the title screen with it to replace "Castlevania" with "Death Note," like so:

Have it covered as such until you exit the title screen. It's not too shabby; after all, "Death Note: Judgment" rings better than "Castlevania: Judgment." You know, the usual judgment upon death, the final reckoning, etc. etc.

--

Or you can just...you know, forget that the game even exists.

Why I don't write more personal posts, passive-aggressiveness, etc.

Someone asked me, in passing, why I don't write more personal posts. Why write only about animu and gaems?

I actually do, in fact there are some of them just lurking about in my past entries. It is true, though, that I don't use this particular blog as a repository of private thoughts that much. Unlike most other bloggers, I don't consider a public blog as a good medium for a personal diary, not even my "friends-only" (sorta) Multiply account.

I prefer to keep my private thoughts private in every sense of the word. I use handwritten diaries as personal journals - and I do mean it when I say personal. I had to throw away one of my diaries after someone managed to read it.

Also, a blog for me isn't a medium for passive aggression. It's not my thing to write highly-opinionated posts - unless they're about current events, of course - while riding my moral high horse and wish that the person I'm writing about would read it and rub into his face my utter disdain and disapproval. And oh, how much of a better person I am, too.

(Sometimes, I do write raging rants about certain individuals if I feel the need for release, but I make sure that they don't know about this blog's existence - if there's no way that they or persons closely affiliated with them would come across my written aggression, then its not passive-aggressive.)

Which reminds me. Those who make YM status messages out of PA notes? Bleh. How hard is it to send off a YM private message saying, upfront, "I disapprove. You suck. I hate you"? Sending that doesn't take more than a few clicks and typing a few words. It shouldn't be that difficult.

Not unless, of course, you don't have enough balls to tell them directly in person, so to sate your need to feel self-righteous you just have to create a YM/MSN status message out of a hostile PA note - directed at someone who's conveniently included in your YM/MSN list.

To the people in my YM list who plan on doing that, do yourselves a favor: kindly remove me or others who don't tolerate any of that PA nonsense from your YM/MSN, or just set your handles to appear permanently offline on our end. You don't want to show people just how wimpy you are, I'm sure.

Tl;dr before I go too off-tangent: I don't write too much about my personal affairs because I don't feel the need to whore them out am a private person.

Yes, I'm being horribly passive-aggressive in this post. Irony is delicious, etc. etc.

;-;

My invadurrs, in my Kit Kats.

Why am I not in Japan while Taito is going full force with the Space Invaders 30th Anniversary?

*sob*

On the leaked official Dragonball movie trailers...

See the leaked trailers here.

Him: Oh, Mai-Mai!
Him: Did you see the trailer for Dragon Ball?
Me: noap
Me: not yet. Good?
Him: http://www.thedragonballmovies.com/dragonball-movie/dragonball-movie-trailer/
Him: It's pretty interesting
Me: in a good or bad way? D:
Him: Good way XD
Me: I'm mixed up
Me: it looks like a good action flick, but its not...Dragonball D:
Him: Dragonball is like...myah.
Me: I feel like I'm watching Forbidden Kingdom 2
Him: People throwing other people through mountains
Me: and off color jokes
Him: Or punching people through buildings
Me: and Goku is supposed to be a single-minded character who fights because its fun
Me: I'm seeing the Forbidden Kingdom protagonist slapped with Goku's name on him
Me: "I don't want to fight"
Me: ... D:
Him: D:
Him: yeah, that was a bit facepalmy there.
Me: maybe they shouldn't have named this Dragonball :/
Me: but Bulma is cute
Me: X3
Him: Yeah, a bit.
Him: Master Roshi, though...
Him: he doesn't look like a perverted old man
Me: maybe if we judge the movie without taking into context the "source" material (which they obviously didn't take much from, except the names and the collect-em-all premise), this movie will turn out to be good
Me: but its supposed to be a Dragonball movie, dammit.
Him: Yeah.
Him: Well, you have to also consider that Speed Racer is almost the same way.
Me: you have to take into account that the directors of Speed Racer the movie at least made an EFFORT to reflect its source material. I don't see any of it in here
Him: Although yeah, DB movie pretty much shits on the source material
Him: There's also the deal about them insisting that the uniforms and the hairstyles remain
Him: Which is really unnecessary
Me: for DBZ?
Him: Somebody obviously didn't figure out the appeal of Dragon Ball
Him: Yeah, for DBZ
Me: er no. The hairstyles will translate really poorly XD
Him: I mean really, who walks around with spiked hair
Him: I know! XD
Him: It's like  "We NEED to make our movie identifiable to the main source. What should we make visible?"
Him: "The hairstyles and karate uniforms?"
Him: "FUND IT"
Him: What happened to the overblown fights and ki beam battles and off-color panty jokes?
Me: they were counting on the hairstyles and clothing to make the movie identifiable as a LOL DRAGONBALL MOVIE
Me: because they know they can't do squat about capturing what the anime/manga series was all about.
Him: Yeah.
Him: Blargh. Still, it's a must-watch. XD
Me: *sad face*
Him: You don't wanna watch it?
Me: well of course I'll watch it. its like not being able to turn away from a scene of a car crash
Me: ...and you'll pay for my tickets anyway yes? X3 so no loss of mine. Fuu fuu.
Him: Yeah, yeah, I'll pay for 'em tickets XD
Me: hahahaha
Him: You pay for the popcorn though. XD
Me: D:< you sucketh. No plain flavored popcorn, plz.

A bouquet of facepalms for QualiBet and BFAD. *updated*

We all know about the melamine scare by now; in fact, we're getting force-fed about that bit of news even if we don't make an effort to watch news programs on TV, read newspapers or idly listen to radio. It's everywhere; even if you hide yourself in the closet you can half-expect the melamine brouhaha to greet you with a nice surprise buttsecks trick the moment you leave the safety of your moth-infested closet to pee.

The scare is, to some extent, justifiable. Most of the folks who frequent 7-11, Mini-stop, and other convenience stores nearest their school or office have probably consumed Chinese-branded foodstuffs, where most of them are being sold. 

However, there's no reason to blow the whole thing out of proportion...for now. From what I've seen so far, only infants were badly affected by the adulteration of melanine on infant formulas, and we know how susceptible those ickle bundles of joy and poop are.

On the other hand, us adults can just opt to check product labels, ditch them if they're marked as Made in China (or Made in PRC), and we can conduct our business as usual. No fire and brimstone or raining sulfur drama is needed if you ever find out you've been eating/drinking the same Chinese-manufactured goop for the past few years. Just avoid any further consumption, and you're good to go.

Which brings us to the point of this post. A few days ago several TV primetime news programs have announced that QualiBet, a food testing lab, was conducting tests to see which Chinese-manufactured foodstuffs contain melamine. This announcement brought about the same effect over the people as a visit to the dentist for a tooth extraction.

People were anxious to know whether their favorite Chinese brands are included in the list, yet at the same time are relieved that they'll soon know which brands to avoid. But alas, that is not to be the case.

QualiBet just released their findings a few minutes earlier in tonight's airing of primetime news over local TV. They stated what is already known as fact: some of the brands are indeed tagged as melamine positive.

The facepalming moment? They didn't reveal the brands of food products that contain melamine, saying that only BFAD has the right to reveal such information. BFAD, in turn, is unwilling to divulge such facts, saying that they won't release the list to the public for the reason that they didn't ask QualiBet to conduct the test in the first place.

Then, pray tell, what the FUCK was the whole testing fanfare for?

The only hard fact that the public gleaned from the stupid testing is that yes, indeed, several Chinese brands contain melamine. But we all knew that from the start, right? At the risk of sounding like an activist: was I perhaps too naive in assuming that BFAD's duty is to protect the consumers, and not the manufacturers? Or was this just an effort for Qualibet to get free advertising for their independent laboratory? I'm guessing its more of the latter.

Waste of money, waste of resources, waste of airtime, dammit, and I would have made use of that airtime to see more of Rustom in drag. She's so pretty now, a far cry from the faux white trash we saw in Pinoy Big Brother.

Update: ...aand BFAD is going to provide a partial list of safe milk products, to be released on Friday. Somehow, the whole debacle is turned into a free (?) government-sanctioned product endorsement. Pity the good brands that don't make the list. Maybe they should shell out a bit more... *wink wink*?

Console-sharing, and Rhythm Heaven

1. If anyone tried to borrow any of my electronics years ago, I would have said no and given that person a nice, sound bitchslap. That's how protective I am of my gadgets, especially my cellphone and my gaming consoles, handheld or otherwise.

Back in college, I was baffled to see classmates lending their boyfriends their cellphones. I guess they were rich enough to buy a second handset, but it was tantamount to sacrilege for me: personal electronics are expensive, and to me they are virtual/physical extensions of myself that enabled me to do stuff that I genuinely care about.

(A digression: No, I didn't care about texting that much. Years ago I preferred talking with my peers, though I guess it can't be helped nowadays. People now couldn't even rendezvous without having to text each other messages like "Wer u?" or "san k na?" every five minutes or so. It's retarded, given that hooking up with people used to require only a watch that told the correct time, and being punctual.)

There's also the issue of liability. If your trusted friend accidentally broke or lost your toy, will they be able to replace it? That particular question is certainly something to ponder on, especially if you're still in that stage when your parents bought most of your stuff. If that happens, who's to blame? Not your friend, surely, since he probably didn't want that to happen anyway. You're to blame, of course, who else? You're the one who lent it away.

In any case, I'm still perplexed with the idea of people sharing game consoles or cellular phones with other people, mostly between couples. Game consoles, especially the Microsoft Xbox 360, are sensitive and god knows what may happen during transport. Lol red ring of death.

My things are mine, and they're under my responsibility. Shoo. It's not as if I own anything that's worth borrowing anyway.

2. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (or Rhythm Heaven in its imminent English language release) for the DS is da shiznit. That's all there is to say about it, but here's a brief definition: it's a collection of mini-games and virtual toys that all revolve around one basic element, which is rhythm. For more information how to play it, check out redkinoko's Rhythm Tengoku Gold walkthrough.

Most of the minigames can even be completed with your eyes closed and feeling the beat, but where's the fun in that? Trust me, you don't want to miss out on the kooky eyecandy:

Eh, seeing the doughboy choir makes me want to play through the game again. Oh wait. Dammit. My Nintendo DS is with my beloved.

...Myah. X3

Self-inflicted pain: online games.

There are times when you hurt yourself intentionally, and you love it. Yeah, some of us have those dayss. There's the time when you bang your head on the wall, idly, wondering why it feels so odd but you still keep doing it, all the same. Then there are times when you stay in a relationship that brings you nothing but pain, thinking that behind the cloud of angst and sorrow belies a sliver of promise.

Then there are times when you just idly sit by and do nothing but click away in an MMORPG that sucks so much...SO MUCH, you don't know why the hell you chose to use precious bandwidth to download the crap that would probably needlessly send you to carpal tunnel hell. You could have just streamed the latest top gay videos from Nico Nico Douga, but nooo. You just love having to mindlessly click away in a crap game that's going to give you physical ailments in the long run (backaches, headaches, heartaches, toothaches, what have you).

I picked up Cabal Online a few weeks ago, enticed by my officemates and the promise of having our own guild where we can have our jolly good time bashing ourselves to death and no one would bat an eyelash when we meet at work the next day.

...I knew that something's very, very wrong when the official site of the online game you're trying out uses Megaupload and Rapidshare to host the game client download file. This game, Cabal Philippines, was going to cause me pain - I knew it, but I went ahead and installed it anyway.

My suspicions were correct. Aside from the usual shitty atmosphere where thirty minutes wouldn't pass without hearing lametarded bot(witch)hunters harassing their quarry through global messages, there's the issue of having to wait for a few minutes, to half an hour, or more just to get into the game.

But I was being a sport about it. Hey, people still go for Cabal, I told myself. It must be good at some point, right?

Right?

After several mindless fetch quests and needless indirect harassment, or just plain annoyance, I eventually decided to drop the game.

Then my partner recommended some obscure game called Mabinogi.

My character, currently level 16

I thought that it was an anime series - I couldn't be bothered enough to actually do some research about it when I first saw Mabinogi in a questionable image board - but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was actually an online game that employs unorthodox online game mechanics, such as being able to develop your character with your choice of skills (no character classes here), as well as engage in other activities such as weaving, tailoring, and even music composition. Mabinogi sounded like a charm. More like the Sims (which I don't touch, not even with a ten-foot pole), but still a bit of a charm.

After I downloaded the client, though, I almost slammed the keyboard when I found out, too late, that the Global Mabinogi is actually North American Mabinogi. All IPs except Amerikka were blocked. America as the new definition of "global" nao? Whodathunk? Thanks to good Google-fu, I managed to circumvent the block by assigning an American IP to my PC (no, Hotspot Shield does not work), and try out the game for myself.

Granted, the game was fun. Until you get thrown into battles.

Suffice it to say that the character is mainly unresponsive while you ferociously click your way into carpal tunnel syndrome. It could be the lag, or it could be the silly charging time for attacks (both regular and special), or it could just be your utter helplessness of waiting whether or not your character will strike first before it gets raped by a mere puppy.

I don't know.

At least, I get to shear sheep.

The Dark Knight movie impressions, and WHAR IS SQUIRTLE

1. The Dark Knight movie impressions

To set the record straight: I never liked superhero flicks. No, really. Not because I badly want to "go against the grain" or however you want to call it, I just don't. My days with superheroes ended when my brother's stash of comicbooks - comicbooks that I surreptitiously sneak out of his room whenever he's out - suddenly disappeared along with my childhood and my then-fascination with spandex-clad people.

With that said, I was surprised when I found myself clamoring for more superhero movies - of the same caliber, of course - after watching the Dark Knight. The question is IF I can see more superhero movies that can even be compared to Christian Bale's (*swoon swoon*) reprisal of the Caped Crusader. Everytime I remember The Fantastic Four movie, though, my faith in Hollywood wanes.

Back to the movie. The Dark Knight, first and foremost, transcends being just a good superhero movie into a feature that focuses on the psyche of the people of Gotham City as a collective whole, including its heroes and villains. In fact, it is the people who pushes Batman's hand when he decides to pass on his mantle as the pallbearer of justice to the "White Knight," Harvey Dent.

But of course, not even the thousands of citizens of Gotham City can take the limelight out of Heath Ledger's Joker. You know that he's certainly something after seeing him perform the "Disappearing Pencil" trick.

This is one Joker that many people will no doubt use as a benchmark against the future portrayals of Joker. You won't find a clean-cut or a theatrical Joker in THIS movie. No, what you get is a brilliant criminal whose cold logic is the complete parallel of Batman's own. Ledger's Joker is not insane - he's just a highly efficient criminal with a Glasgow smile who wouldn't let trivial things such as loyalty get in the way of his goals, and you can see that in the genius applied in the bank heist at the beginning of the movie.

And we go to Harvey Dent. Ah, Harvey. In the first half of the movie I sat back in my seat, relaxed at the thought that there's at least one predictable character in the movie, aside from the fact that he's going to be transformed as Two-face in the end.

I was glad to be proven wrong. What I didn't expect was for me to actually like Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent - a powerful district attorney who's as straight as a rod in many ways than one. One his shoulders lay what could be one of the biggest responsibilities for a city of Gotham City: bring hope to the people that yes, there is law. And yes, crime DOES pay, and there's someone incorruptible at the helm, always watching out for them.

Dent is supposed that person, and who better to champion him than Batman himself?

Unfortunately, Dent's portrayal becomes a bit forced in the later parts of the movie, starting at the cause of his transformation as Two-face. Not sudden or unexplained, of course, but just a tad forced.

But in the end, what impressed me the most in the movie aren't the main characters, but the supporting ones. Yes, I'm looking at Alfred the Butler, Lucius Fox, and even Rachel - Rachel, who didn't seem to change despite being portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and not Katie Holmes. They're not the usual supporting home team who hands Batman his utility belt, pats his fanny and lets him go on his way. No - they're people with actual needs, opinions, and reasons why they help Batman. Fox is the best example - he still feels compelled to help Batman even if doing so goes against his morals.

Speaking of morals, I somehow feel that Joker's social experiment between the Gotham citizens and the prisoners, though impressive in its own right, was a bit stilted. Not trite, but it's as cheesy and as out of place as a heartwarming Hallmark scene in a movie that's all about mindfuckery and shooting people's brains out because they don't serve their purpose anymore.

Despite being an exceptional film, it's just a bit sad that the tagline of The Dark Knight movie poster, "Welcome to a world without rules," does not give the movie justice. It sounds awfully like something that should be pasted onto another poster with a random muscled, topless guy holding a machine gun in one hand and a chainsaw in the other. It's taken from the Joker, that one person in the movie who is criminal simply because he is not bound to any rules, literally, but that doesn't capture one of the greater thesis of the film, which is summed up nicely by Dent (in words and in action): that those who wield power either die as heroes or live long enough to become villains.

I'm not going to expound even further about the plot of the movie - I wouldn't take the pleasure away from you - but yeah. Go see the movie. The Dark Knight is so brilliant, I have already forgiven Bale's horrible raspy voice as the Batman. It's that good.

I read that The Dark Knight was optimized for IMAX, so if you have the dough (which I and my partner didn't when we watched yesterday), splurge on those IMAX tickets and wear those stupid glasses. It's way better than watching a girl hallucinate after smelling dino egg fart.

2. WHERE THE HELL IS SQUIRTLE?

I'm not talking about my pet, Squirtle (apologies to those who thought I was referring to my pet - some contacted me in YM when I had "WHERE THE HELL IS SQUIRTLE?" as my status message). My pet is happily swimman in his container, and chillin on his platform everyday under the sun to dry his shell and get his tan. I'm talking about his namesake, the Pokemon.

I really don't watch Pokemon. I don't have anything to do with Pokemon. I only watched a few episodes when it was first aired in GMA 7 (heralded with Billy Joe Crawford's GAR opening theme), I couldn't be bothered with the card games and even the DS games (no, Rio, please don't hurt me. I didn't say the game was bad! D: )

But when I saw Squirtle waddle about as one of Red's Pokemon in Super Smash Brothers Brawl, I was in love. No, it wasn't because Squirtle was a half-tartol, half...squirrel (?), but because of how Squirt was portrayed in the game: look at him wag his tail! Look at him do cartwheels in the air! Look at him surf....BLARGH. THE EPITOME OF CUTENESSSBLARGHAHGAHAHGAH

D:

Anyway, ever since I saw him in Brawl I started looking for anything Squirtle. So far, I found...nothing. No posters, no figures, no plushies, no NOTHING.

Was Squirtle retconned? His fellow starting Pokemon Charmander and Bulba/Venus/Whateversaur are still around. SO WHAR?

T_____T

HELP ME FIND SQUIRTLE. PL0X.

1. Yes, the storm is definitely my friend. It's been known to give me some needed days off from during my less-than-favorable work stints in the past, and last night it temporarily yielded for the fireworks display.

The storm also caused him to stay over for the meantime, which led to him downloading Space Invaders Extreme, a game that could become another rare mainstay in my DS/PSP gaming roster. Gaaah. Can't get enough of the pew-pew-pew action. I'm loving Space Invaders so much right now, I immediately pre-ordered a Space Invaders shirt and headset from Play-Asia.

Pew-pew-pew-pew. My Space Invaders Extreme Friend Code: 004441-860116 (without dashes)

2. I just recently found out about what really happened with the "Help Needed" episode this blog experienced not too long ago (refer to the cbox). Since the whole shebang has already ended with me not knowing what it was all about until now, I'm going to refrain from saying anything - not too much, at least - concerning the incident.

I'm just a bit appalled that some people live to make other people's lives a living hell just to feel alive. Sure, I'm not a saint myself, but I'm not making a career out of it. Some people apparently do, however. For shame, girl. For sweet fucking shame.

3. Currently downloading Hakaba Kitaro, the latest anime based on the Ge Ge Ge Kitaro classic Japanese anime series. It shares the same visual style as Mononoke, and I might as well check it out and see if it's going to give me the same level of satisfaction as Kusuriuri-san's exploits. I tried picking up the second season of xxxHolic, only to be terribly disappointed. Maybe it was because I already own ten volumes of the manga, but I doubt it. I think I got fed up with Watanuki's tendency to be a whining idiot in the anime.