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Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
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It's me again, almost done with high school, and looking at Oberlin or Ohio State as my college options. Something tells me my dreams of being the next Kurosawa are not going to be realized. :p
Also, Common Sense - Resurrection. Get that album by any means necessary.
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Wednesday, January 18th, 2006
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New home, new school. I live in Oakwood Village, Ohio now, and there's not much more to say about things than that. If I had something to vent I suppose this'd be an appropriate place, but I don't think I do. It seems like I'm just holding my breath waiting for something to happen that'll change my day to day experiences, for better or worse. Obviously I'm hoping the former, and I know there is something around the corner, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
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Thursday, November 11th, 2004
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First, my LONG overdue impressions on the last two Dark Towers.
Unfortunately, I remember the last book more than the second to last, so I'll share my thoughts on the ending, as it's stuck in my head more than the rest of the story. Be forewarned that there are huge spoilers for the entire Dark Tower series below, and as I wholeheartedly recommend the books to everyone, only read this if you know you'll never bother to read the series, or if you've already finished it.
***********SPOILERS****************************
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The first thing that struck me was how often I'd heard the ending before I read it. On the theDarkTower.net forums it's always been stated by those anticipating the last book that they'd hate to see it end in a loop. At that time, it seemed like some strange rumor sparked from a ending prediction thread of some sort, and it was often referenced, I supposed, only because of the infamy of the rumor. It turned out the be true, of course, and when Roland finally reached the top of his Tower, he was sent back to the start of his quest, although this time gifted with the horn he'd originally forgotten to pick up from Cuthbert's body after the battle on Jericho Hill. I suppose this means that he can only reach the top of this Tower if he completes his quest perfectly, and the horn is simply there to remind him to be concious of his decisions on this "cycle," which perhaps could be the thousandth time he's climbed to the top of the Dark Tower, as it's not stated. This vaguely reminds me of the concept of reincarnation, and repeating life as a sort of "test," one that can only be passed with a perfect score. The concept that you have to learn from your mistakes in some way or another and realize that you have to make the best of your situation and genuinely make moral progress. Much like with reincarnation Roland remembers nothing of his past quests, yet this time he's given the horn to remind him that things may yet change. I suppose it's like remember your past life.
In any case, it makes the Tower seem more symnbolic than it has before. Perhaps it is Roland's own personaly version of Heaven, which explains why he knows no one else can go with him, and also why he has to make his path to the Tower errorless. Or perhaps it is a symbol of temptation, as he's repeatedly told he shouldn't go in there, and has no reason to. After, this temptation has tainted his entire quest, which was never to save the beams in the first place. It was to fulfill a selfish dream that would ultimately lead to a lifetime of torture, depending on how you look at it. This is why I find the theory that Roland should walk away from the Tower after saving the Crimson King extremely plausible. After all, if the Tower is what makes him repeat the cycle, not entering it (And thus resisting temptation) is the obvious way to break it. Needless to say I found the ending interesting, and probably better than any attempt King could have made to describe something such as the room at the top of the Tower. I've never had any idea what was up there, and I suppose it's best if it stayed that way.
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**********************END SPOILERS*********************************
So yeah, I liked DTVII a lot. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you decide you want to read the series, though it's a bit depressing that there'll be no more Dark Tower for me. I wonder what book I'll look forward to now? Heh. Honestly, though, it's been a good journey, one that lasted 2 years for me, and around 20 years for others. Not to mention that I made it with a few good friends. Sad to see it end. I will try to get the Concordances, though.
Oh, and I'm looking into buying Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, and I've started playing the first a little, as well.
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Wednesday, June 30th, 2004
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Recently got a hold of Dark Tower VI. I'll post my thoughts on it as soon as I'm finished.
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Tuesday, April 20th, 2004
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Nearing the end of the school year now. I have to choose whether to remain at this school for high school, or to go some place else. The problem, however, is that I don't know a whole lot about the other high schools around here. I've only been to JFK, and I doubt I want to go there. Eh, I may end up staying at Whitney Young in the end.
I'm reading volume 8 of Love Hina now. Turns out he passed. Surprising, but at least I can expect less repetition. This series was not very good in retrospect.
Kill Bill vol. 2 was decent. It was satisfying, but its main fault was pretty bad editing. The pace tended to drag at the beginning and end, but in between the film moved at an acceptable speed. Very different movie from the original, but a good ending to the movie(s). Tarantino also said on TV he'd like to revisit the Bride's character in 15 years or so, so he's filming some stuff now that he wouldn't be able to then. Needless to say that's pretty far in the future, though, so I'm not really looking forward to it at moment.
And finally, I managed to get my hands on a copy of the Yojimbo DVD! Now I just have to burn it, or tape it over onto a blank VHS cassette.
Lots of jumping around, but I didn't feel like making any kind of transitions. Take it for what it is.
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Saturday, March 27th, 2004
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(Happy birthday, Eric, if you're still around.)
Recently, I've gotten a little more interested in Bhangra and Chatney, especially Sundar Popo and Panjabi MC's work. I've only before been interested in whatever comes out of Bollywood movies, but lately my interests have been expanding. If you've got a good file-sharing client on hand, or know where you can get some foreign music, I recommend Mundian to Bach Ke and whatever Sundar songs you can find. I think PMC has released one or two albums in the US, as well, The Albume and Legalized. I've heard songs from both of them, and they're not bad. I can't give exact song names for Sundar Popo, but a search on Google should net you some. Hope you enjoy them.
And it's only a matter of time before Kill Bill vol. 2 gets here. I'm looking forward to it.
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Tuesday, January 6th, 2004
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There seems to be a lot of things I've neglected to mention. For one thing, yes, I did get Viewtiful Joe and beat it, and yes it was good. I also got a Flame GBA SP for Christmas along with Fire Emblem, FFTA, and the Zelda Collector's Disc. I got sweaters and things like that, but I expected them anyway. How spoiled I am. Anyway, the trip to Trinidad went smoothly, and thanks to Dark Tower V it wasn't as monotonous as I though it'd be. I never did get the chance to attempt to get into the Screamers bar, though, but when I go back in 3 years at least I'll be old enough to get in legally. As for that certain person, things seem to be going well. A bit of my anxiety towards the end of the year is clearing up, but I still have some doubts. Those may leave me soon, however. Time will tell. Anyway, I suppose I should comment on my loot from Christmas.
Flame GBA SP - Veerryy nice. I don't feel guilty at all for buying it as I never bought a GBA, and damn am I glad to have waited. The paint job is well done, the system is very comfortable to hold, and a combination of the light and size makes it the most portable portable I have. And the games weren't bad either.
Fire Emblem - I've been awaiting an english Fire Emblem for a long time, and I'm not disappointed. The presentation is excellent. The graphics on the field aren't so great, but in battles and cutscenes is where they really shine. Characters blink and their mouths move when they talk, and the in battle animations are fluid and pretty fun to watch. The interface is clean, too. Many people don't seem to like the omission of a way to revive characters, but having played through a lot of missions and restarting because of a useful character dying I can say that the game would be horribly easy had it been included. The added realism and suspense added with this makes the game that much more fun to play.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - I shouldn't have to say that the game's been dumbed down from FFT, as it's on the GBA, but it's still overall a SRPG. The new job system is to me inferior to that of FFT, but I feel this kind was necessary. Many who played FFT know how to milk a battle for all the JP it's worth, so in a way I'm thankful it goes with a fixed AP rate for the wohle battle this time around, so as not to make gaining abilities too easy. Now, the gameplay was the focus of FFT, true, but it's unfair to say that the story wasn't good, too, as it's easily my favorite Final Fantasy storyline. FFTA's is horribly dumbed down for children. Now, I can understand that Square wanted the game to appeal to younger children, too, but things have just gone a bit too far. All of the generic humans and moogles are children. The Bangaas, Vieras, and Nu Mous thankfully don't suffer from this. I suppose all of the adults were turned into one of those races. The story is pretty shallow to me, though it manages to at least keep you interested in what's going to happen next (Although that interest is mainly in whether you'll get some kind of new item or unit). The law system is at times annoying, but that's forgiven since I can create my own laws, which makes for some laughably one-sided boss fights and normal battles. It's overall a good game, though I like Fire Emblem a little more, short as it is.
Viewtiful Joe - Another excellent game, and the best action I've played a long time. There isn't a lot to say about the game as it's pretty simple in concept, other than the challenge is just about perfect. I've played a bit of V-Rated, but I probably won't go back to finish it for a while. Although I don't have a lot to say about it, it's one of the best GC games I own.
Dark Tower V - A good addition to the series. The pacing wasn't as slow as IV, around II's level. I loved the fact big Seven Samurai (Or perhaps Magnificent Seven would be more fitting in this case) tribute, and I was pretty glad to see I was right about where the Wolves got their design from. It also poses few interesting questions. Roland's already proven the rheumatism hasn't gotten so bad that he can't fight, but then he may have simply had a lucky day when the Wolves finally attacked. I'm also interested in Susannah's fate, but I'll stop there as I'm sure everyone who's read the book has the exact same questions I do. Instead, I'll comment on the actual contents of the book. The writing was right on par here, it must have been, as King managed to make maybe 50% of the book consisting of a few weeks of "checking around the town." Of course, those were pretty eventful days. The actual fight wasn't bad, either. I was honestly a bit surprised to see the traitor still alive while his son died, but I suppose I should have expected it. I'm a bit curious as to what actually happened on Jericho Hill, though. I can't seem to remember when that happened. I should probably re-read the other books. The first has had revisions done to it, so now should probably be a good time to reread it.
That's pretty much all I need to tell you. Now I'll leave you to wonder how long the next update will take.
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Saturday, November 1st, 2003
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Finished the Resident Evil Remake. It was pretty enjoyable, and less confusing since I had someone who had played the original with me. Fortunately it had been a long time for him, so there were still some surprises. Overall the game took me about 15-16 hours and I saved 22 times, half of which I didn't even need. Of course, that's partially because I was playing on Easy and was using the Grenade Launcher glitch. Yeah, I realize I should be able to play it easily on Normal, but I had a few bad experiences in my first hour or so during the first few playthroughs I attempted, so I opted for easy instead. When I found out about the Grenade Launcher glitch, though, it didn't seem so neccessary. It sucks that it took me 3 start overs but by this time I had the zombie locations down quite nicely, and the first half of the game (Hell, the whole game) went quite smoothly, especially since I became a bit more conservative with my ammo. All in all a good game, worth the $15 I spent on it.
Oh, and forgive me for that pathetic last entry. *ahem*
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Thursday, October 23rd, 2003
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Been playing Disgaea a lot, and still awaiting some means of getting the money to purchase Viewtiful Joe. I'm also waiting for the new Dark Tower book, seeing as how I'd have nothing whatsoever to do in Trinidad when we go for Christmas without it. As for that person I've mentioned before, well... I have been getting a lot chances to talk to her, but other than that, nothing's changed. It's also a shame that I haven't updated in...what? 4 months?
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I haven't updated this in a long time, though I doubt anyone cares. If it helps, a lot of thought is being focused on a certain individual. It's driving me crazy. What's even worse is that school is ending soon, and I can't see this person again for a length of time that's too long to wait. Then I have to hope to be in the same homeroom and thus share classes...I hate this. I planned to make things go slow and steady, but I've run out of time. She could leave my life abruptly with the way things are going. I just have to get lucky. There has to be something more to link us together. I don't wish for my ties with her to be severed so soon.
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Just went to the International Buffet. Fried rice and shrimp! Yummy.
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Saturday, March 8th, 2003
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Here's Neil. Thought you might want to see. Sorry for the quality. (Click on comment to see it)
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I find myself no longer awaiting weekends, or anything for that matter. Life is just going on, and focusing on something I'm not quite sure of. All I know is that I'm not waiting for anything, yet I am at the same time. It's a strange feeling.
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Tuesday, February 11th, 2003
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Damn, I haven't updated this thing all year. Sorry, I know how much you guys miss hearing about my extremely intriguing and exciting life! Anyway, I just recently finished Suikoden III, and while I must say I was disappointed in a few areas, it's still a good game. Other than that, there's not much to say, except that I managed to make it through the first half of the year with nothing lower than a C (And only one at that). Wee! </meaninglesspost>
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Friday, December 20th, 2002
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Wow, I didn't think other people I knew watched Indian movies. Especially ones I actually heard of or liked. That just shows that I have a diverse group of friends =D I'm trying to play Suikoden III a bit more often. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that to me it's the kind of game you don't really, really want to play until you start it up. Then it just sucks you in. I'm having a lot of fun with it, actually. I can't wait to get a theater so I can start casting my party members into plays, though. I don't know if I'll update again before Christmas, but if not, I hope you all enjoy your holidays. I can't say how I will, as I have a history day project to work on..
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Sunday, November 17th, 2002
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Hey, I don't think I ever said so, but I managed to beat Suikoden 2 with all the stars a while ago. It really was a great experience, and the best part is walking around my castle afterwards and just watching the large community I've created. It really is a wonderful experience, and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried the Suikoden series. Before 3, even. I've been playing 3, but going at a really slow pace. I'm oging to try and finish it before the year is over, though. It looks like a great game so far.
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Friday, November 15th, 2002
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My baby brother was just born yesterday! =D
The problem is, he didn't get enough food while in the womb for some reason and so he's a bit smaller than normal. He's healthy though, so it shouldn't be a problem. Now, they had to do an operation on my mother to get the baby out otherwise they would have risked the child's life. So my mother's going to be in the hospital a little longer than expected. Things are turning out fine though. Can't wait 'til Neil comes home.
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Sunday, September 1st, 2002
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Argh, It's back to school with me, it is. Started on Thursday. Right now I have:
Spanish
Science
General Music
Lunch
English
Orientation to Technology (Mechanical Drawing -_-)
Social Studies
Journalism
Accelerated Math
in that order. So far only 2 look all that bad, and that's English and Orientation Tech. Neither teacher is really all that mean, but they teach in...how should I put this...agonizingly monotonous manners. It's like they've gotten so old they have no life in them, and I mean that o.O Mechanical Drawing to a lesser extent, but making soap box derby cars isn't really my cup of tea. Well, when I really get into the actual work, I'll let you know how it's going.
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*Sigh* Such a boring day...such a boring summer, in fact, except for a trip to Trinidad to see my aunt's wedding. That's probably the reason I haven't been updating, that and there was nothign to update ABOUT...
I've been playing Suikoden II, btw, and it's really good and has a nice atmosphere and story. Plus it's in 2D..bless it's electronic soul. I also plan on getting a GameCube near the beginning of '03. Look for some more updates when school starts again.
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