linterry's blogger
オイ、何を見てるんだ？踊れ、早く。
金曜日, 1月 27, 2006
The other day I was watching Spiderman 2 and I realized that the director must be consciously using a subtle trick to keep viewers hooked - and that's to abuse the Zero to Hero phenomenon. I mean, Peter Parker starts off as a loser.... again? Didn't we see this already in number one? But then I thought, there's really no other choice but to employ the same pattern. If Peter Parker started off kicking ass from the get-go, and stayed that way throughout the whole movie, I probably would have stopped watching after twenty minutes.
There's so many examples of this addicting Zero to Hero phenemonon, off the top of my head from stuff I've seen recently:
- Peter Parker getting his superpowers and shedding his loser geek image-
- Peter Parker losing his superpowers, returning to his geek image, and then getting them back again
- Neo first learning how to bend the rules of The Matrix
- Tom Cruise learning how to fight like a samurai and earning their respect in The Lost Samurai
- the Swing Girls finally learning how to play jazz in Swing Girls
- the Waterboys learning how to synchro swim in Waterboy
Zero to Hero is like MSG for the movies, much like how leveling up is MSG for video games. I'm sounding like a broken record here, but it's the change that matters. Whether it's from a nobody to a millionaire, a nobody to a superhero, a nobody to a jazz player, a nobody to a factory worker - as long as the person goes somewhere in life, it all feels great. The grandeur of the destination is totally irrelevant.
I'm sure there must be a psychological study on this or something. The Fundmental Human Need for Progression. The Unrelenting Desire for Positive Change. Relatives over Absolutes.
Have you ever seen this playing pattern in World of Warcraft
- Playing your first WoW character from 1 to 30+
- ... then suddenly feeling bored, so you play another one from 1 to 20
- ... then another from 1 to 15
- ... then another from 1 to 12
- ... then another from 1 to 14
It happens all the time. Call it short-character-attention-span if you will. People just can't stop creating new characters and leveling them to a few levels past 10. Why is that? You might think that people do this because they find out how much their characters stink at higher levels and they want a fresh start. That's a possible reason, but perhaps it has more to do with what happens from lvl 1-10: you level up faster. Much faster. You can do levels 1-10 in a few hours, and during those 10 levels your characters changes extremely fast. You start off with practically no armor and a lousy weapon, but within half a hour you can find enough gear to deck yourself out. And wow, is that stuff ever like crack! Gaining new skills every ten minutes, finding better gear every three minutes - compare that to never getting any new skills at 60, and only finding better gear every goddamn week (and that's only if you raid intensively).
It would seem that certain people are so hopelessly hooked on the feeling of progress that it doesn't matter if they start over again - so long as they can experience a feeling of positive change, that's good enough.
There's so many examples of this addicting Zero to Hero phenemonon, off the top of my head from stuff I've seen recently:
- Peter Parker getting his superpowers and shedding his loser geek image-
- Peter Parker losing his superpowers, returning to his geek image, and then getting them back again
- Neo first learning how to bend the rules of The Matrix
- Tom Cruise learning how to fight like a samurai and earning their respect in The Lost Samurai
- the Swing Girls finally learning how to play jazz in Swing Girls
- the Waterboys learning how to synchro swim in Waterboy
Zero to Hero is like MSG for the movies, much like how leveling up is MSG for video games. I'm sounding like a broken record here, but it's the change that matters. Whether it's from a nobody to a millionaire, a nobody to a superhero, a nobody to a jazz player, a nobody to a factory worker - as long as the person goes somewhere in life, it all feels great. The grandeur of the destination is totally irrelevant.
I'm sure there must be a psychological study on this or something. The Fundmental Human Need for Progression. The Unrelenting Desire for Positive Change. Relatives over Absolutes.
Have you ever seen this playing pattern in World of Warcraft
- Playing your first WoW character from 1 to 30+
- ... then suddenly feeling bored, so you play another one from 1 to 20
- ... then another from 1 to 15
- ... then another from 1 to 12
- ... then another from 1 to 14
It happens all the time. Call it short-character-attention-span if you will. People just can't stop creating new characters and leveling them to a few levels past 10. Why is that? You might think that people do this because they find out how much their characters stink at higher levels and they want a fresh start. That's a possible reason, but perhaps it has more to do with what happens from lvl 1-10: you level up faster. Much faster. You can do levels 1-10 in a few hours, and during those 10 levels your characters changes extremely fast. You start off with practically no armor and a lousy weapon, but within half a hour you can find enough gear to deck yourself out. And wow, is that stuff ever like crack! Gaining new skills every ten minutes, finding better gear every three minutes - compare that to never getting any new skills at 60, and only finding better gear every goddamn week (and that's only if you raid intensively).
It would seem that certain people are so hopelessly hooked on the feeling of progress that it doesn't matter if they start over again - so long as they can experience a feeling of positive change, that's good enough.
linterry, 12:42:00 午前
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水曜日, 1月 25, 2006
linterry, 2:42:00 午後
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水曜日, 1月 18, 2006
I had a bunch of laughs on this site:
http://www.engrish.com/
Can you believe there's even an "Engrish Store"?
A English to Engrish translator?
...and even a wikipedia entry for Engrish!
Never knew "Engrish" became a solitary entity of itself. Now I know what to call those ridiuclously stupid English phrases Japanese companies put on their products.
http://www.engrish.com/
Can you believe there's even an "Engrish Store"?
A English to Engrish translator?
...and even a wikipedia entry for Engrish!
Never knew "Engrish" became a solitary entity of itself. Now I know what to call those ridiuclously stupid English phrases Japanese companies put on their products.
linterry, 2:39:00 午後
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火曜日, 1月 17, 2006
Your skill in Right-handed Forward Crossovers has reached 200
Today, for the first time in my life, I was complimented by a stranger for my skating ability.
I got my skates sharpened today. I was so pumped about trying freshly sharpened skates that I actually went to Flemingdon Arena, since that was the only indoor rink that had public skating on Mondays. Usually I have apprehensions about arenas that are in located in areas that I don't know about, because I have no idea what the ethnic breakup will be. If you're asking why should that even matter, imagine being the only asian skating in a rink full of black dudes. It wouldn't feel very comfortable.
Today though, I didn't care. I just had to skate. And as I had feared, there were quite a few black guys at Flemingdon - more kids than adults though. Flemingdon is located near the DVP and Don Mills, which is a pretty ghetto area. In fact it got my girlfriend apprehensive enough that she didn't even want to skate at all. It's a bit quaint to a see a black guy skate, usually you imagine them playing bball or rapping or breakdancing or doing generic black shit. It's kinda like seeing a white guy rap, except I guess that's not so weird anymore thanks to Enimem.
But for my mood today, Flemingdon was perfect. There were relatively few people on the ice, giving me lots of room to skate my own lines at my own pace. And I skated - hard. The new sharpened edges felt great, they really gripped the ice and I found myself infused with a great feeling of balance while crossing over.
Before I continue, let me explain my passion for crossing over. I once saw, at Don Mills Civitan Area, this old skinny geezer who wore ski goggles and a bright red and yellow jacket. This guy was a goddamn pro. Not just becuase he was fast. But becuase he was fast and looked good. He was more than just footwork and blading skills. His whole body was so beautifully postured from head to toe. Until that day, I didn't give a rats ass about the cross-over. I probably saw it done fifty times before but it just didn't register in my head. But when I saw the old geezer cross over like a goddamn fairy, as if he were walking on air, I automatically told myself "fuck, I must learn how to do that". In any rink, there are probably at least twenty people who can crossover well. But to see someone cross over as beautifully as the old geezer - that only happens once in a blue moon.
It's difficult to describe what made that crossover so special. The key thing is that while most people tend to lean their entire body into a crossover, the old geezer only leans his legs into the turn, while keeping his upper body relatively erect. He also continues to use his arms in a very natural manner, like he was "walking" normally. Also, while some people exaggerate the crossover, bringing it to attention, the old man just did it like it was a matter of fact. It didn't look like he was crossing over, it looked like he was floating on air. It was, pretty much, the Perfect Crossover. It was so beautiful I still have a vivid photographic memory of it today. It was pornographic, really.
A bit later, I also saw that exact same crossover replicated by a young asian dude at York Mills Arena. It shared the same attributes, erect upper body, slanted legs, floating like a fairy while speeding into the turn. I couldn't help but admire how wonderful it looked. And then it hit me, could it be possible for me to do that? The Perfect Crossover?
I still can't skate backwards, and I still can't even stop on a dime. But those are much, much, much farther down the priority list. They look good, yes, but to me, they don't even have half the aesthetic appeal of a Perfect Crossover. The only reason I still continue skating today, is to perfect one single move: the forward crossover. Since right-handed people cross over much more easily to the left (don't ask me why, it's a complete mystery, but it's absolutely true), that's all I practiced. I kept trying to cross over to the left and it took me a goddamn eternity to even pull something respectable off.
After about a month of getting myself back into shape and building up some leg muscles, today, at Flemingdon Arena, surrounded by black kids, I hit a new peak. After surprising myself at how much grip I had from the newly sharpened skates, I just envisioned the old geezer. Relatively erect upper body, heavily slanted lower body, arms continually moving as if I was walking on the street, and torso rotating towards where I am going. After a few intial turns, I was on fucking fire. I was crossing over like the crossover didn't even exist. In other words, I no longer thought about the crossover as an individual move per se, and let it naturally blend in with the normal skating motions. And holy shit, I was going fast. For the first time, I felt like I could accelereate at will the middle of a turn. That is, I can go into the turn slowly, and come out of the turn at full speed.
At about 5 minutes before closing, when there was practically nobody but a few kids left, that's when it happened. My girlfriend, who was spectating the whole time, overhead a Chinese mainlander say to her friend "wah, hao piao liang". That was about the time when I was crossing over endlessly around in a wide circle at full speed. Of course, "hao piao liang" could have referred to the kids, but since they were donig nothing but screaming and goofing around, I seriously doubt it.
When my girlfriend told me this I was so over the fucking moon. While I really felt that I had hit a new level in crossing over, nobody but my girlfriend was there to affirm my progress. But having a stranger compliment my form, that just felt so wonderful. I really wish I took a video of the session today, but I keep forgetting the camera and even if I did bring one, the supervisors are so goddamn anal about them and usually warn you very quickly. My girlfriend tried to use the cell phone to take some pictures but she only managed one blurry shot before the supervisor came over and warned her. But since I'm just a goddamn arrogant narcist, I'm sure to get a video soon at an outdoor rink and post it online.
Today, for the first time in my life, I was complimented by a stranger for my skating ability.
I got my skates sharpened today. I was so pumped about trying freshly sharpened skates that I actually went to Flemingdon Arena, since that was the only indoor rink that had public skating on Mondays. Usually I have apprehensions about arenas that are in located in areas that I don't know about, because I have no idea what the ethnic breakup will be. If you're asking why should that even matter, imagine being the only asian skating in a rink full of black dudes. It wouldn't feel very comfortable.
Today though, I didn't care. I just had to skate. And as I had feared, there were quite a few black guys at Flemingdon - more kids than adults though. Flemingdon is located near the DVP and Don Mills, which is a pretty ghetto area. In fact it got my girlfriend apprehensive enough that she didn't even want to skate at all. It's a bit quaint to a see a black guy skate, usually you imagine them playing bball or rapping or breakdancing or doing generic black shit. It's kinda like seeing a white guy rap, except I guess that's not so weird anymore thanks to Enimem.
But for my mood today, Flemingdon was perfect. There were relatively few people on the ice, giving me lots of room to skate my own lines at my own pace. And I skated - hard. The new sharpened edges felt great, they really gripped the ice and I found myself infused with a great feeling of balance while crossing over.
Before I continue, let me explain my passion for crossing over. I once saw, at Don Mills Civitan Area, this old skinny geezer who wore ski goggles and a bright red and yellow jacket. This guy was a goddamn pro. Not just becuase he was fast. But becuase he was fast and looked good. He was more than just footwork and blading skills. His whole body was so beautifully postured from head to toe. Until that day, I didn't give a rats ass about the cross-over. I probably saw it done fifty times before but it just didn't register in my head. But when I saw the old geezer cross over like a goddamn fairy, as if he were walking on air, I automatically told myself "fuck, I must learn how to do that". In any rink, there are probably at least twenty people who can crossover well. But to see someone cross over as beautifully as the old geezer - that only happens once in a blue moon.
It's difficult to describe what made that crossover so special. The key thing is that while most people tend to lean their entire body into a crossover, the old geezer only leans his legs into the turn, while keeping his upper body relatively erect. He also continues to use his arms in a very natural manner, like he was "walking" normally. Also, while some people exaggerate the crossover, bringing it to attention, the old man just did it like it was a matter of fact. It didn't look like he was crossing over, it looked like he was floating on air. It was, pretty much, the Perfect Crossover. It was so beautiful I still have a vivid photographic memory of it today. It was pornographic, really.
A bit later, I also saw that exact same crossover replicated by a young asian dude at York Mills Arena. It shared the same attributes, erect upper body, slanted legs, floating like a fairy while speeding into the turn. I couldn't help but admire how wonderful it looked. And then it hit me, could it be possible for me to do that? The Perfect Crossover?
I still can't skate backwards, and I still can't even stop on a dime. But those are much, much, much farther down the priority list. They look good, yes, but to me, they don't even have half the aesthetic appeal of a Perfect Crossover. The only reason I still continue skating today, is to perfect one single move: the forward crossover. Since right-handed people cross over much more easily to the left (don't ask me why, it's a complete mystery, but it's absolutely true), that's all I practiced. I kept trying to cross over to the left and it took me a goddamn eternity to even pull something respectable off.
After about a month of getting myself back into shape and building up some leg muscles, today, at Flemingdon Arena, surrounded by black kids, I hit a new peak. After surprising myself at how much grip I had from the newly sharpened skates, I just envisioned the old geezer. Relatively erect upper body, heavily slanted lower body, arms continually moving as if I was walking on the street, and torso rotating towards where I am going. After a few intial turns, I was on fucking fire. I was crossing over like the crossover didn't even exist. In other words, I no longer thought about the crossover as an individual move per se, and let it naturally blend in with the normal skating motions. And holy shit, I was going fast. For the first time, I felt like I could accelereate at will the middle of a turn. That is, I can go into the turn slowly, and come out of the turn at full speed.
At about 5 minutes before closing, when there was practically nobody but a few kids left, that's when it happened. My girlfriend, who was spectating the whole time, overhead a Chinese mainlander say to her friend "wah, hao piao liang". That was about the time when I was crossing over endlessly around in a wide circle at full speed. Of course, "hao piao liang" could have referred to the kids, but since they were donig nothing but screaming and goofing around, I seriously doubt it.
When my girlfriend told me this I was so over the fucking moon. While I really felt that I had hit a new level in crossing over, nobody but my girlfriend was there to affirm my progress. But having a stranger compliment my form, that just felt so wonderful. I really wish I took a video of the session today, but I keep forgetting the camera and even if I did bring one, the supervisors are so goddamn anal about them and usually warn you very quickly. My girlfriend tried to use the cell phone to take some pictures but she only managed one blurry shot before the supervisor came over and warned her. But since I'm just a goddamn arrogant narcist, I'm sure to get a video soon at an outdoor rink and post it online.
linterry, 7:49:00 午前
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月曜日, 1月 16, 2006
Shiny LCD Screens
I was going through the laptop/notebook section at Future Shop the other day and I noticed that "shiny LCD screens" are proliferating like crazy. These screens are so reflective that they're practically mirrors - you can see your own reflection very clearly through them. The upside is that the screen looks very "shiny" and "clear". The downside is, of course, the glare itself. It seems shiny screens are the latest marketing fad, since Sony, Toshiba, and Dell all have their own retarded $100,000 focus group names for this technology - Xbrite, TruBrite, TrueLife, whatever. Which means, people are supposed to think: shiny screens = new, better, improved, latest technology.
Wait. Hold on a sec. Wasn't glare supposed to be a bad thing?? Funny, it seems we've gone back to 1989 or something.
Let me tell you a long OC-ridden geek story, if you care. One of the very first monitors I purchased back in 1989 was a 15" NEC Multisync 3FGe. It cost a whopping CDN$800. Despite only having a maximum resolution of 800x600 @ 72Hz, it totally blew me away. The screen was so unbelievably clear compared to any other monitor I ever saw. Why? Probably because instead of a anti-glare coating, NEC decided to put a glossy coating. This was before the anti-glare coating fad took over. After the NEC Multisync XV17, I never saw another glossy monitor ever again. The truth was, glossy monitors were considered evil. Your monitor was either anti-glare or it sucked. I mean, who could sell a "glare monitor" back in those days? Thanks to all the FUD and marketing, you'd be laughed at. Hard.
Personally, after getting used to a glossy monitor like the 3FGe, I just couldn't stand anti-glare coatings. They kind of just "fuzzed up" the image. I gleefully used the NEC for many years, and despite wanting to buy a 17" monitor when practically everyone else had one, I just couldn't give up the shiny screen. You just couldn't find one anywhere else. But when the d-sub cable on the NEC busted, I had to replace it, which triggered one hell of an obsessive-compulsive nightmare. In less than a month, I bought three different monitors, a Samsung Syncmaster, a Viewsonic G773, and finally a super-expensive Sony Multisync that cost over CDN$1000 - and I still wasn't satisfied. I just couldn't stand the anti-glare coatings, especially after using a glossy screen for like five years. (It's funny how I'm often caught in situations where I'm willing to spend a lot of money on something, but nobody sells it. Glossy monitors. 6500K displays)
Despite being able to successfully return the Samsung Syncmaster, I had to beg my mom to write off the Viewsonic G773 as a UofT expense so that I could try yet another monitor, the Sony MultiSync. Yep. A little bit of your tuition fees at UofT went towards satsifying my ridiuclous OC tendencies. In the end, I had to "compromise". It took a few months for my eyes to adjust to the anti-glare coatings, during the adjustment I honestly had a difficult time reading web pages. But it's often surprising how easily a human can adapt to changing conditions, given enough time. Homeostasis FTW.
Now, sometime in 2003 I believe, some notebooks with shiny screens started popping around in Japan, and apparently they were an instant sucess. People were naturally drawn to the shininess and clarity. Everyone in the printing business knows glossy paper makes for a more attractive printout. So the fact that people like shiny screens is no surprise. But, I just have one goddamn question.
WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING GLARE!?!!?!?
What happened to the whole goddamn 10 years of anti-glare marketing?!?!? Thanks to that, I couldn't find anything that could replace my beloved Multisync 3FGe. Now it seems nobody gives a shit about the glare, but they all just adore the shiny screens. It seems the average consumer will use extremely positive adjectives like "bright, clear, and crisp" to describe a TruBrite/XBrite/TrueLife display, when in fact, it is nothing more than a GLARE COATING. It's technology from the fucking 80's. If you just stand for like 20 minutes watching the consumers at any Future Shop, you'll notice that the shiny screens get all the attention, where as the poor matte anti-glare screens are completely ignored. Fuck, it took everybody that goddamn long to catch on to the fact that shiny things are more appealing to the human eye?
The most abusrd thing about this whole "shiny LCD screen" fad is that you'll find the majority of them installed on laptop computers. This makes it double as ridiculous, since a shiny glare screen is best used in a dark environment where you have complete control over the ambient light (like say, your own goddamn house). But on a laptop, a portable device which is meant to be used in all sorts of places where you have no control over the lighting, that's just about the last place on earth that you should put a glossy coating.
So let's, put this all into perspective. We've had 15 years of anti-glare marketing fads, in which practically millions of people have been using their monitors in environments dark enough that a glossy screen would have been more beneficial. But because of the anti-glare fad, nobody made a glossy screen, so we all had anti-glare monitors when we didn't need them.
Now it's 2006. Notebooks are selling like crazy. Stores are getting brighter and brighter to attract attention. Halogen lighting is used like crazy all over the place to create mood. So what do the notebook display manufacturers do? They say "screw anti-glare, let's just make them as shiny as possible, because humans like shiny things better!".
Wrong place. Wrong time.
Sigh. This is exactly why I will probably never buy another LCD or notebook unless I necessarily have to. Thanks to the random tendencies and retarded fads, it will only serve to flare up my OC tendencies until I die of my own obsessions.
Wait. Hold on a sec. Wasn't glare supposed to be a bad thing?? Funny, it seems we've gone back to 1989 or something.
Let me tell you a long OC-ridden geek story, if you care. One of the very first monitors I purchased back in 1989 was a 15" NEC Multisync 3FGe. It cost a whopping CDN$800. Despite only having a maximum resolution of 800x600 @ 72Hz, it totally blew me away. The screen was so unbelievably clear compared to any other monitor I ever saw. Why? Probably because instead of a anti-glare coating, NEC decided to put a glossy coating. This was before the anti-glare coating fad took over. After the NEC Multisync XV17, I never saw another glossy monitor ever again. The truth was, glossy monitors were considered evil. Your monitor was either anti-glare or it sucked. I mean, who could sell a "glare monitor" back in those days? Thanks to all the FUD and marketing, you'd be laughed at. Hard.
Personally, after getting used to a glossy monitor like the 3FGe, I just couldn't stand anti-glare coatings. They kind of just "fuzzed up" the image. I gleefully used the NEC for many years, and despite wanting to buy a 17" monitor when practically everyone else had one, I just couldn't give up the shiny screen. You just couldn't find one anywhere else. But when the d-sub cable on the NEC busted, I had to replace it, which triggered one hell of an obsessive-compulsive nightmare. In less than a month, I bought three different monitors, a Samsung Syncmaster, a Viewsonic G773, and finally a super-expensive Sony Multisync that cost over CDN$1000 - and I still wasn't satisfied. I just couldn't stand the anti-glare coatings, especially after using a glossy screen for like five years. (It's funny how I'm often caught in situations where I'm willing to spend a lot of money on something, but nobody sells it. Glossy monitors. 6500K displays)
Despite being able to successfully return the Samsung Syncmaster, I had to beg my mom to write off the Viewsonic G773 as a UofT expense so that I could try yet another monitor, the Sony MultiSync. Yep. A little bit of your tuition fees at UofT went towards satsifying my ridiuclous OC tendencies. In the end, I had to "compromise". It took a few months for my eyes to adjust to the anti-glare coatings, during the adjustment I honestly had a difficult time reading web pages. But it's often surprising how easily a human can adapt to changing conditions, given enough time. Homeostasis FTW.
Now, sometime in 2003 I believe, some notebooks with shiny screens started popping around in Japan, and apparently they were an instant sucess. People were naturally drawn to the shininess and clarity. Everyone in the printing business knows glossy paper makes for a more attractive printout. So the fact that people like shiny screens is no surprise. But, I just have one goddamn question.
WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING GLARE!?!!?!?
What happened to the whole goddamn 10 years of anti-glare marketing?!?!? Thanks to that, I couldn't find anything that could replace my beloved Multisync 3FGe. Now it seems nobody gives a shit about the glare, but they all just adore the shiny screens. It seems the average consumer will use extremely positive adjectives like "bright, clear, and crisp" to describe a TruBrite/XBrite/TrueLife display, when in fact, it is nothing more than a GLARE COATING. It's technology from the fucking 80's. If you just stand for like 20 minutes watching the consumers at any Future Shop, you'll notice that the shiny screens get all the attention, where as the poor matte anti-glare screens are completely ignored. Fuck, it took everybody that goddamn long to catch on to the fact that shiny things are more appealing to the human eye?
The most abusrd thing about this whole "shiny LCD screen" fad is that you'll find the majority of them installed on laptop computers. This makes it double as ridiculous, since a shiny glare screen is best used in a dark environment where you have complete control over the ambient light (like say, your own goddamn house). But on a laptop, a portable device which is meant to be used in all sorts of places where you have no control over the lighting, that's just about the last place on earth that you should put a glossy coating.
So let's, put this all into perspective. We've had 15 years of anti-glare marketing fads, in which practically millions of people have been using their monitors in environments dark enough that a glossy screen would have been more beneficial. But because of the anti-glare fad, nobody made a glossy screen, so we all had anti-glare monitors when we didn't need them.
Now it's 2006. Notebooks are selling like crazy. Stores are getting brighter and brighter to attract attention. Halogen lighting is used like crazy all over the place to create mood. So what do the notebook display manufacturers do? They say "screw anti-glare, let's just make them as shiny as possible, because humans like shiny things better!".
Wrong place. Wrong time.
Sigh. This is exactly why I will probably never buy another LCD or notebook unless I necessarily have to. Thanks to the random tendencies and retarded fads, it will only serve to flare up my OC tendencies until I die of my own obsessions.
linterry, 8:14:00 午前
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木曜日, 1月 12, 2006
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6493722340610946105
For those of you who've played Mario 64, this will absolutely shock the shit out of you. Some guy with unbelievably skills beats the entire game in 16 minutes. It's just unbelievable. I'm led to believe that he's using some kind of automated script or AI because some of the stuff he does seems so impossible!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=841651212169523424
I still cant' believe this is real, almost made me want to puke
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8843261912155900933
Pretty scary, helicopter crash
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5393904704265757054
Overclocking a Duron to 4Ghz...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6605730767077503480
Smart CAR Crash Test
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4892359928197805795
lol.. skinny asian fags...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5854686068870249151
Watch until about halfway. America is really fucked up.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4396320105181734243&q=warcraft
For some reason I just found this to be so sad...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4511700021036249808
Totally gay
For those of you who've played Mario 64, this will absolutely shock the shit out of you. Some guy with unbelievably skills beats the entire game in 16 minutes. It's just unbelievable. I'm led to believe that he's using some kind of automated script or AI because some of the stuff he does seems so impossible!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=841651212169523424
I still cant' believe this is real, almost made me want to puke
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8843261912155900933
Pretty scary, helicopter crash
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5393904704265757054
Overclocking a Duron to 4Ghz...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6605730767077503480
Smart CAR Crash Test
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4892359928197805795
lol.. skinny asian fags...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5854686068870249151
Watch until about halfway. America is really fucked up.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4396320105181734243&q=warcraft
For some reason I just found this to be so sad...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4511700021036249808
Totally gay
linterry, 1:41:00 午後
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月曜日, 1月 09, 2006
The other day I was playing around with Google Suggest Japanese (Beta), and for some totally random reason I decided to key in "satsujin". When my girlfriend saw the first link, she was sort of taken aback. She said "... hold on, let me read this".
10 minutes later, she was crying.
What did she read? This link.
It's an extremely famous 1989 Japanese murder case: four boys rape and torture a high school girl. They beat her constantly, put all kinds of things in her vagina and stuffed firecrackers in her anus and lit them to boot. Eventually, after being beaten so badly and immolated, she dies of shock. They bury her in concrete, which became the trademark signature of this murder. This all happened over a timespan of several weeks. Initially I couldn't find any English resources on the internet, but thanks to wikipedia and a few cross-references, I finally came across a very comprehensive page about this case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junko_Furuta
What's even more incredible is that there is not only one, but two movies based on this case. Oh, and who could forget, of course, an obligatory manga series as well.
Coming straight off watching the extremely disturbing Audition from Miike Takashi, I guess I couldn't help but think that Japanese people can be quite... sick... at times. I've also seen some extremely hardcore hentai anime (downloaded by mistake.. of course) that sometimes remind me of the hardcore Nine Inch Nails videos of yore. I don't quite understand who could possibly get off from scenes as extreme as this. The ideas are simply nauseating... like for instance, a girl gets a tube directly connected to a toilet upstairs stuffed into her mouth, so she is basically force fed a lovely mixture of toilet water, feces, and urine all day long (Pinion?) Their vaginas are burnt, cut, and generally heavily mangled before sex. It's just revolting. When I try to imagine the work environment at the studio which produced it, it's even scarier. There are people who come up with these sick ideas, there are others draw these scenes meticulously, and there are yet others who have to watch it a thousand times while editing. Not to mention the voice actors and actresses who have to read the script and act it out.
10 minutes later, she was crying.
What did she read? This link.
It's an extremely famous 1989 Japanese murder case: four boys rape and torture a high school girl. They beat her constantly, put all kinds of things in her vagina and stuffed firecrackers in her anus and lit them to boot. Eventually, after being beaten so badly and immolated, she dies of shock. They bury her in concrete, which became the trademark signature of this murder. This all happened over a timespan of several weeks. Initially I couldn't find any English resources on the internet, but thanks to wikipedia and a few cross-references, I finally came across a very comprehensive page about this case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junko_Furuta
What's even more incredible is that there is not only one, but two movies based on this case. Oh, and who could forget, of course, an obligatory manga series as well.
Coming straight off watching the extremely disturbing Audition from Miike Takashi, I guess I couldn't help but think that Japanese people can be quite... sick... at times. I've also seen some extremely hardcore hentai anime (downloaded by mistake.. of course) that sometimes remind me of the hardcore Nine Inch Nails videos of yore. I don't quite understand who could possibly get off from scenes as extreme as this. The ideas are simply nauseating... like for instance, a girl gets a tube directly connected to a toilet upstairs stuffed into her mouth, so she is basically force fed a lovely mixture of toilet water, feces, and urine all day long (Pinion?) Their vaginas are burnt, cut, and generally heavily mangled before sex. It's just revolting. When I try to imagine the work environment at the studio which produced it, it's even scarier. There are people who come up with these sick ideas, there are others draw these scenes meticulously, and there are yet others who have to watch it a thousand times while editing. Not to mention the voice actors and actresses who have to read the script and act it out.
linterry, 2:11:00 午前
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木曜日, 1月 05, 2006
Swing girls!
This is definitely one of the most charming and heartwarming movies I have seen in the last few years. I mean, who could say no to high school jap girls? Especially when they're spunky and sassy like these, mmmm....
....
wow, it's just sad how stereotypically perverted I've become.
Gangbang fantasizing aside, it's really a wonderful movie. It's all about how a group of high school girls who start off as aimless nobodies, finding an interest in jazz, and then going from being absolutely clueless musicians to "hey, that's not bad!" intermediate jazz players. What's even more incredible is that the Swing Girls actually did learn how to play jazz, in real life. In the Making Of video extra, you'll see the whole cast practicing ever so diligently day after day at a music camp, to the point when some of them end up in tears. None of the cast initially had any experience with music (aside from the drummer), which is hard to believe since they had less than half a year to train before filming. At first, I really thought some of the performances were dubbed, especially the final performance, but apparently everything you hear in the movie is the actual cast.
linterry, 3:17:00 午後
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火曜日, 1月 03, 2006
I don't believe in ghosts at all, but this video is kinda creepy. There's some weird fucked up mist next to the car after it passes the last set of trees... I missed it completely at first, but if you pay attention, you'll definitely see it. The camera man also mutters something when the mist appears but you have to turn up the volume way up to hear it.
I went to High Park today on a very cloudy Toronto afternoon. Ever since I bought a new pair of skates I've been on the prowl for skating locations and I knew there was an artifical rink of sorts at High Park. After getting warmed up for 10 minutes, I started practicing the crossover again. It felt okay but something just didn't seem right. I wans't even sure if I looked good or not.
So I asked my girlfriend how I looked when crossing over, and she wasn't really impressed. Humph. Well I guess it's no surprise, since I never received formal training, it would be one hell of a coincidence if I already had a nice looking crossover by fluke. So I kept asking her what was wrong, and she said she didn't know, obviously, because she wasn't a skater herself. But I showed her another five crossovers and then she said, "hrm, it might be because you're not bending your knees enough. it might look better if you stayed down"
Wow, did that ever work! The next few passes, I made a conscientious effort to bend my knees and stay down, and the crossover felt so much better! At one point I was totally on fire and even my arms instinctively stayed in the proper position! Usually I have to flail them like a idiot to keep my balance, but if I stay down and keep my center of gravity low, then everything seems to "click" - my upper body rotates and my inside arm stays put behind my body. After the adjustment, my girlfriend said it looked much better. I felt so goddamn happy at that point. I don't know why I have such an obsession with the crossover, except that it really does feel awesome pulling it off. The sensation of leaning into a turn while accelerating is just exhilirating - not to mention that it looks so sweet when it's done properly.
I went to High Park today on a very cloudy Toronto afternoon. Ever since I bought a new pair of skates I've been on the prowl for skating locations and I knew there was an artifical rink of sorts at High Park. After getting warmed up for 10 minutes, I started practicing the crossover again. It felt okay but something just didn't seem right. I wans't even sure if I looked good or not.
So I asked my girlfriend how I looked when crossing over, and she wasn't really impressed. Humph. Well I guess it's no surprise, since I never received formal training, it would be one hell of a coincidence if I already had a nice looking crossover by fluke. So I kept asking her what was wrong, and she said she didn't know, obviously, because she wasn't a skater herself. But I showed her another five crossovers and then she said, "hrm, it might be because you're not bending your knees enough. it might look better if you stayed down"
Wow, did that ever work! The next few passes, I made a conscientious effort to bend my knees and stay down, and the crossover felt so much better! At one point I was totally on fire and even my arms instinctively stayed in the proper position! Usually I have to flail them like a idiot to keep my balance, but if I stay down and keep my center of gravity low, then everything seems to "click" - my upper body rotates and my inside arm stays put behind my body. After the adjustment, my girlfriend said it looked much better. I felt so goddamn happy at that point. I don't know why I have such an obsession with the crossover, except that it really does feel awesome pulling it off. The sensation of leaning into a turn while accelerating is just exhilirating - not to mention that it looks so sweet when it's done properly.
linterry, 9:03:00 午前
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月曜日, 1月 02, 2006
Goodbye 2005
2005 was probably one of the shittiest years of my life. Looking back, I find it hard to believe that it all really happened. Did I really have panic attacks? Did I really have insomnia? Did I really have agrophobia? Was I really on Paxil? Did I really take four different kinds of benzopiadines? Was I really banging my head against the wall at NTU with a crowd staring at me? There's sort of a lingering doubt, but if I just try to remember, it all comes flooding back. Yeah, it all happened, and I goddamn hope it will never happen again.
It's strange because now back in Canada, I seem to have pretty much fully recovered from whatever the hell it was. Funny, I can't even seem to give it a name. Panic attacks + insomnia + agrophobia + manic depressive epsiodes = ????? No doctor ever gave it a name, if anything, I was just totally fucked up. I mean, the symptom list was huge. After the initial insomnia, they just started piling up, symptom after symptom. It was unbelievably stressful for my girlfriend, no doubt. Contrary to some of my relatives' expectations, she didn't leave or break up. She was always there beside me. And eventually she quit her job and came all the way to Canada just for me. I know I'm supposed to give some kind of a huge Oscar-esque "thank you", but I know people hate reading that. I guess all I can say is, thanks for her, 2005 only became one of the shittiest years ever, not the absolute shittiest year ever.
I also gained 8kg. Yeah, in less than two months of being back in Canada, my waist went from a size 29 to size 32, which means I had to buy some new pants for the first time in like five years. I also completely quit coffee simply by drinking decaf all the time. It's funny how easily an addiction tapers when you substitute something similar that lacks the key narcotic ingredient. The brain no longer associates the smell and taste of coffee with a buzzing high, and the cravings naturally subside over time. Unfortunately, instead of coffee, I must have a can of Coke at lunch now. LOL. It's so fucking hilarious how my brain predictably targets the next best thing.
The only leftover symptom from being utterly messed up: I have to take a piss every three hours or so, even if there's nothing much to piss. It's pretty damn annoying to have to wake up every three hours after I fall asleep. You know how sometimes, you fall asleep and the next thing you know it's morning? Hasn't happened to me in ages. But after what I've been through, just being able to fall asleep has got me counting my blessings.
I guess it's unfortunate that I lost my job and the entire life I built for myself in Taiwan. But quite frankly, where I am now, I don't really regret much. I wasn't very happy in the few months prior to going berserk, especially with my OC tendencies going out of control over a pair of Yamaha speakers. This is where writing a blog is kind of useful, I can quickly get a barometer reading of my emotional state during any point of the year.
So where do I go from here? Who the hell knows. I guess I'm still not completely over the shock of what happened, even though the symptoms themselves are gone. Even now, I usually take a few moments in the morning to tell myself "Yeah baby, I was able to fall alseep again! Awesome!" I guess when my brain adapts to the being healthy again, I will gain expansionist tendencies and start to want more things like a real career and stuff. For now, I'm just happy to be able to sleep.
It's strange because now back in Canada, I seem to have pretty much fully recovered from whatever the hell it was. Funny, I can't even seem to give it a name. Panic attacks + insomnia + agrophobia + manic depressive epsiodes = ????? No doctor ever gave it a name, if anything, I was just totally fucked up. I mean, the symptom list was huge. After the initial insomnia, they just started piling up, symptom after symptom. It was unbelievably stressful for my girlfriend, no doubt. Contrary to some of my relatives' expectations, she didn't leave or break up. She was always there beside me. And eventually she quit her job and came all the way to Canada just for me. I know I'm supposed to give some kind of a huge Oscar-esque "thank you", but I know people hate reading that. I guess all I can say is, thanks for her, 2005 only became one of the shittiest years ever, not the absolute shittiest year ever.
I also gained 8kg. Yeah, in less than two months of being back in Canada, my waist went from a size 29 to size 32, which means I had to buy some new pants for the first time in like five years. I also completely quit coffee simply by drinking decaf all the time. It's funny how easily an addiction tapers when you substitute something similar that lacks the key narcotic ingredient. The brain no longer associates the smell and taste of coffee with a buzzing high, and the cravings naturally subside over time. Unfortunately, instead of coffee, I must have a can of Coke at lunch now. LOL. It's so fucking hilarious how my brain predictably targets the next best thing.
The only leftover symptom from being utterly messed up: I have to take a piss every three hours or so, even if there's nothing much to piss. It's pretty damn annoying to have to wake up every three hours after I fall asleep. You know how sometimes, you fall asleep and the next thing you know it's morning? Hasn't happened to me in ages. But after what I've been through, just being able to fall asleep has got me counting my blessings.
I guess it's unfortunate that I lost my job and the entire life I built for myself in Taiwan. But quite frankly, where I am now, I don't really regret much. I wasn't very happy in the few months prior to going berserk, especially with my OC tendencies going out of control over a pair of Yamaha speakers. This is where writing a blog is kind of useful, I can quickly get a barometer reading of my emotional state during any point of the year.
So where do I go from here? Who the hell knows. I guess I'm still not completely over the shock of what happened, even though the symptoms themselves are gone. Even now, I usually take a few moments in the morning to tell myself "Yeah baby, I was able to fall alseep again! Awesome!" I guess when my brain adapts to the being healthy again, I will gain expansionist tendencies and start to want more things like a real career and stuff. For now, I'm just happy to be able to sleep.
linterry, 2:02:00 午前
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