Rambles from the Chaotic Realms

Quotes for posterity, part 1

2011-04-22T17:50:00.004+08:00

Tragedy: Not realising that today is a Public Holiday.....
Comedy: ....because every day is a Public Holiday for the unemployed.

And now for stuff that wasn't by me:

"Engineering is the art of doing that well with one dollar which any bungler can do with two" -- Arthur M. Wellington

"How is it even remotely possible to make things explode by punching them??"
"You're just jealous that you can't punch something hard enough that it would rather die in a fire than get hit again."

Do not be sad because of people. They will all die.

Well, if you got it, flaunt it, as I always say.....

2011-01-27T02:29:00.006+08:00

Therefore, this space shall henceforth be my dumping ground for random snippets of conversation (imaginary or otherwise) and other miscellaneous scraps of writing that I wish to commit to posterity for whatever reason.

So how is this different from the last few times I ressurrected this old blog? I now officially do not care if the post has two line of an imaginary conversation! Imagine the possibilities! I now no longer have to devote precious clock cycles thinking of ways to pad out the post into something long enough to bother posting!

.....Now as long as I don't end up posting everything on Facebook instead......

Feeelthy Pirates!

2007-08-18T03:15:00.000+08:00

In light of the recent fiasco currently causing shock waves across the local anime community, a song from a recent movie springs to my mind as being rather apt:

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho,
thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed
and bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
and by the powers
where we will we'll roam.

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

Some men have died
and some are alive
and others sail on the sea
– with the keys to the cage...
and the Devil to pay
we lay to Fiddler's Green!

The bell has been raised
from it's watery grave...
Do you hear it's sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
pay head the squall
and turn your sail toward home!

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

Misadventures in the early morn

2007-04-25T03:29:00.000+08:00

Wow, has it really been 3 months already? Oh well, better late than never, eh? And it's not like this blog has never been resurrected before XD

So anyway. I was typing a really long rant about the silly Americans opposing stricter gun control laws even in the wake of yet another high school shootout, but it was hardly amusing, barely coherent and I forgot the point I originally wanted to make with it in the first place. Isn't it fun trying to do anything that requires more than two brain cells at 4 am in the morning? There's probably a lesson to be learned in this somewhere, but in the meantime, I'll settle for figuring out how in the nine hells I'm supposed to make things like clothes all nice and shiny in photoshop....

SOS-団 redux

2007-01-18T05:21:00.000+08:00

If you're going "Wow, another post already?", then do what I'm doing and blame it on my having my brains scrambled by taking in the Idolm@ster previews and those damned Touhou flash music videos in quick sucession with no recovery period (gee, thanks a lot, K!). Between the sheer 萌え-moe-pawaa of the former and the mind-flaying addictiveness of the latter, it's a wonder I retain enough sanity to understand what's going on while I read the online translations of the Suzumiya Haruhi novels.

Speaking of the novels, I must say that my appreciation of Tsuruya (aka LOLfang-tan the LOLita....well, she's not really much of a loli, actually) has gone way up....along with gaining a certain suspicion of the character. Speculation aside, though, reading the English translations of the novels revealed that there's plenty of material available for a second season already, sequence-breaking and all, so I'm surprised that there hasn't been any word of the commencement of production of new episodes so far. Maybe the director is thinking of how to mess up the episode order even more than (s)he did in the first season (which in turn already messed up the sequence of events that were revealed in the novels), or maybe they just can't decide on what to call the new series XD

Thought for the day: What in the nine hells is UP with the cheap animation budget on the Super Robot Wars Original Generation: Divine Wars series? Here's hoping they take a leaf from Transformers: Galaxy Force and improve the quality of the CG as the series goes on....

Further Misadventures in YouTube Land

2007-01-12T21:43:00.000+08:00

Since the 'night of a thousand WTFs' last month, I've been doing more of my television watching on youtube (which doesn't say much since I don't really watch TV anymore). However, during the course of my viewership I have come across a startling fact: The Animaniacs actually speak JAPANESE. Really badly American-accented Japanese, but Japanese all the same.

Let that sink in for a bit.

Now then. I'm betting the cynics out there are going "Oh come now, you cannot POSSIBLY mean to tell me that an old 1995 American cartoon series with American voice actors acknowledged the existence of any other language besides English" or something along those lines. Well, if you search for "The Taming of the Screwy" part 3 and/or "Space-Probed" part 1 on youtube, you'll be able to hear the lines in question as long as you have your speakers turned up high enough for you to hear what they're saying....even if you can't actually understand what they're saying. Unless of course you speak Japanese, but that's a different topic of conversation altogether =P

Of course, if you happen to be one of those narrow-minded people who are going "Aren't you a little too old to be watching cartoons?", you can bugger off and leave me alone while I enjoy a classic series that has infinitely better writing than some of the drivel I see on TV nowadays, so THERE. Lousy closed-minded fools who can't appreciate a good thing even if it comes up and smacks them in the face in a dark alley at night....BAH!...

SMOOOOOOOOKE on da wOOOOOOTTAAAAA!!

2007-01-07T22:08:00.000+08:00

Fire in the sky! Channel Newsasia reports that a meteor or fireball of some sort was seen streaking across the sky today. Naturally, the similarity to the "expositionary news clip" cliche seen in many anime did not go by unnoticed, and I'll be looking out for a sudden rise in property damage or reports of kaiju roaming the streets over the next few days. Remember, it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you! XD

WISE FWOM YO GWAVE

2006-11-27T23:35:00.000+08:00

The owner of this blog is currently incapacitated following an aborted bid to achieve full lichdom. While approaching the full skeletal decay stage preceding the manufacture of a phylactery to store the spirit, he found himself unemployed and removed from the premises of his former workplace. Thus lacking a conducive environment, the epidermal layer soon began to regenerate and revoked the owner's undead status. The subsequent system shock proved to be too much for his constitution and the owner has since been smote by a malevelont entity only known as the micro-organism "Influenza".

Steps are being taken to repel the invasion of this insidious agent, so the citizenry is urged to remain calm and continue to monitor the situation. Contingency plans and various countermeasures have already been prepared in the unlikely event that the situation should worsen, and a full recovery is expected to be achievable in a matter of days. Should you encounter any individuals proclaiming the death of this blog or its owner, please report their identity and location to the authorities to facilitate extermination.

SOS-団, 万歳！！

2006-07-04T12:48:00.000+08:00

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, a.k.a. The Melencholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, is pretty much the first anime where I had no idea what in the nine hells was going on....mostly because the director of the series decided to play around with the episode order. As such, the first aired episode is actually episode 11, the second one was actually the first episode going by the chronological order of events, etc. Naturally, this made no sense whatsoever until I actually saw the whole series (which I managed to do in a three-day marathon of obtain->watch->burn).

Of course, watching episode 14/6 was a lot like getting the last piece of the puzzle, only to find that you've had the jigsaw upside down the whole time -_-"

Nonetheless, I highly recommend the show to anyone who likes sci-fi stories (don't be fooled by the first 3 episodes; the show is really sci-fi with romance/comedy elements)...Plus, Haruhi herself is pretty darn cute, especially for someone who's totally insane ^_^ Even if you don't intend to watch the series, at least check out the super-happy-cotton-candy ending song (with dance steps included!) on youtube or something; you can't go wrong with cute dancing anime girls, now, can you? XD

More random madness

2006-06-17T20:19:00.000+08:00

Apparently, I'm not the only madman out on the internet with strange, ethereal ramblings issuing forth from the space between his ears. Who knew?

"In my personal opinion, Viagra is more of a curse than a blessing. Finally, FINALLY, you are no longer being controlled entirely by the motivation for sex in your old age; that's like the prime stressor in life just POOF! Gone! And you want it back? Are people NUTS?"
-The Yuka Takeuchi Fan, http://yukatakeuchifan.kiwibonga.com/

Forum thread contest from Alien Loves Predator (another oddball webcomic which you should go check out), where the winner would be the one with the best transcript of his/her conversation with a really old conversation program named Eliza, with this being the winning entry:

" >> Hello.
How do you do. Please state your problem.
>> I'm not the one with the problem, you are.
Is it because you are not the one with the problem that you came to me ?
>> yes remember I've been councilling you because you believe you are a therapist
You seem to be quite positive.
>> Well we've made excellent progress
I'm not sure I understand you fully.
>> that would be the haldol
Please go on.
>> it is stopping your delusions temporarily
Why are you concerned over my delusions temporarily ?
>> because you are mentally ill
Is that the real reason ?
>> You are a danger to others. Remember the scalpel incident?
What makes you think I am a danger to others ?
>> The occasion you drove a scalpel three inches into my leg and beat an orderly to death with his own shoes.
Your leg and beat an orderly to death with his own shoes ?
>> It was a dark day
Lets discuss further why your leg and beat an orderly to death with his own shoes .
>> no you are NOT the analyst. I am.
Are you saying no just to be negative?
>> Calm down or we will have to sedate you again
We were discussing you -- not me.
>> I am not the patient
How long have you been not the patient ?
>> I have always been the doctor
Can you think of a specific example ?
>> Right now I am the the doctor and you are the patient
Do you believe it is normal to be the the doctor and I are the patient ?
>> It is how it has been for months
Why do you ask ?
>> I'm not asking I'm telling
Do you enjoy being not asking you are telling ?
>> you really are trapped in your delusions aren't you?
Oh, I really are trapped in my delusions aren't I ?
>> Now don't get agitated
What does that suggest to you ?
>> that you should put down the table!
You're not really talking about me -- are you ?
>> NOOOOO
Do you feel strongly about discussing such things ?
>> HAVE MERCY
I'm not sure I understand you fully.
>> MY BACK
Why do you say your back ?
>> Because you broke it
Don't any other reasons come to mind ?
>> I can't feel my legs
Does that suggest anything else which belongs to you ?
>> HELP ME
Earlier you said your back .
>> (Pounding noises)
But your legs .
>> (sound of door being kicked in)
Please go on.
>> Put it DOWN
What does that suggest to you ?
>> MY EYES
Is it important that your eyes ?
>> WHY IS MY ARM BENDING LIKE THAT
In what way ?
>> NOT MY BALLS
Your balls ?
>> (moaning and the sound of wet footsteps)
But your eyes .
>> (breaking glass)
Lets discuss further why your balls .
>> (sirens)
Do you feel strongly about discussing such things?"
- http://alienlovespredator.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=981

In other news, I don't really want to know the results of the jap test I had because I've been hibernating and have no intention of stopping until the summer is over. Which, admittedly, will probably not happen until the polar ice caps melt and drown us all, but that's a minor technicality ^_^

What's a 7-letter word for "total screwball"?

2006-05-01T00:53:00.000+08:00

If, for some reason you've never seen one before in your life, webcomics are basically comics that are hosted on the internet instead of being published in print (ie newspapers, comics, etc). Like published comics, webcomics have a broad spectrum of content and artwork (and thus, appeal). Over time I've picked up a rather large collection of webcomics that I've bookmarked but haven't found the time to actually read on a regular basis (Sinfest is one such casualty; Tatsuya's artwork/inking is impeccable, but I haven't read it in ages). As such, I'd assumed I'd become pretty jaded, since I've seen webcomics about everything from stick figure D&D spoofs (Order of the Stick) to mad scientists in a steampunk setting (Girl Genius).

Today, I discovered Dr McNinja.

The idea is mind-numbingly random. If you haven't already guessed what it's about, then imagine, if you will, a Ninja who moonlights as a Doctor complete with stethescope and white lab coat. And if that wasn't enough, on his very first adventure he takes on Ronald Mcdonald for copyright infringement, the name in question being the Ninja Fart Burger. Digest that for a while.

The really odd thing, though, is that the author actually manages to pull it off, segueing between various pop-and-geek-culture spoofs to chop-socky action culled from 1980's action movies. Then again, maybe I just like the B-movie/spoof appeal....Regardless, it's been...interesting so far despite the not-so-appealing artwork. Just don't read it after something like one of Bleedman's webcomics, or the quality of the art may sear your eyeballs ^_^

In other news, I've started to clear leave! W00tz! Finally, a loooong vacation....I might upload some stuff I've done for class to the gallery over the next few days, depending on whether or not I feel like it, so watch this space for updates~

My favourite colour is....blue! No, yelloooooooow.....

2006-04-24T00:30:00.000+08:00

Funny how I know that Monty Python joke without having watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail....I should go get it sometime. Aaaaanyway, I thought the results of this quiz I took was worth the quick copy/paste before I start the last 4 working days of my NS life (yahoo!!!):

Red

Your color is red, the color of racy sportscars, blushing cheeks, and luscious roses. Red symbolizes passion, romance, and love. So, since you're ruled by red, you probably trust your feelings more than your brain and tend to act spontaneously. If you see something you want, you go for it without thinking twice — impulsive is your middle name. You don't wait around for people to make decisions, either; you dive right in. Quite the romantic, you pay close attention to your emotions. In fact, if your heart isn't in what you're doing, you won't be satisfied. Of course, even when you do pour all your energy into the projects you tackle, your impetuous nature means your passions can shift as frequently as the wind. That's why some reds have trouble with commitment. Our advice? Next time you're feeling fickle, think before you act, if possible. You might be surprised at the results. Overall, though, it's great to be red. No one lives life more completely than you do.

Hmmm.

GAH! Damn cliffhangers!!

2006-02-19T23:36:00.000+08:00

Transcript of the events of about 10 minutes ago:

Me: "Awright! Time to finish watching Densha!"
*watches Densha Otoko on the camp computers"
Me: "Hmm, that's running kinda late into the show for a conclusion, ainnit?"
*credits roll*
M: " What the.... 'Preview for finale'??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

*goes to his source to see if he missed the last episode or something*
M: " Lessee......'Densha Otoko 9 + Another Ending'? Hmm-1.6GB?? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHARGHARGHACKCOUGH
OHGEEZARRRRNOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooarharnbkkblonpqoinath.......

Aiyoiyoi....

2006-01-23T19:05:00.000+08:00

Woe, is me.
Me, is woe.
Hi woe!

俺わちょっと変な人ですね。。。

I can see cleeeeaaaarly now...

2006-01-15T20:19:00.000+08:00

...the rain is gone! Too bad the entire chinese population of Singapore (well, almost) has decided to catch up on shopping for the up coming Chinese New Year, so the Bugis area has been super crowded for the last 3 days.....Which normally wouldn't be a problem except that I've just spent my weekend in Bugis for class and to attend a series of talks on NTU's courses -_-"

On a slightly unrelated note, I want my weekend back! My first full weekend at home in ages, and it just flew by like nobody's business >_< With all the stuff I have on my backlog, I'm gonna be busy all the way until I leave the army for good; it may only be about 90 working days away, but DAYAMN man!

In other news, new updates on the gallery, with one more incoming as soon as I finish my inking homework....I'm pretty happy with the gallery as it is (especially considering all that time fiddling with the CSS code so I could change the colours), so I'll probably end up using it over the (slow) friendster version; now to make it GROOOOOOWWW!!....Ahaha..ha...ha....meh.

It's raining......

2006-01-12T21:32:00.000+08:00

...and it's been pouring for at least a week -_-" For those of you living under a rock or in seclusion, our once-sunny island has been experiencing a downpour the likes of which I have never seen. For the last couple of weeks it hasn't stopped raining at all; the only respite we've had is when the rain digs in to fortify it's forces and sends out a few stray raindrops as advance scouts. It's as if we've moved to friggin' England, and apparently NUS had a minor landslide in the campus.....Meh. At least my gore-tex rain-jacket is getting a good workout ^_^

Anyway, the more observant among you will have noticed that I've fiddled with the html long enough to include a links section and put up a new gallery/blog thingy; I noticed that looking for pictures in this blog is quite a hassle, so I've decided that from now on I'll post my pics in the gallery instead of here in the main blog. Aren't I thoughtful? ^_^ I'll probably get around to putting up some more stuff there when I got a bit more time, so check back every so often, willya? Spread the love, people~

Chriiiistmaaaas....isn't Chriiiiistmaaaaas...

2005-12-26T11:51:00.000+08:00

....'til you haaaave it....whiiiile in caaaaaamp......bleah. Well, I managed to land myself with duty on Christmas, and I survived by browsing wikipedia and surfing in general for more or less the whole day (yes, yes, I'm cementing my geek status by admitting that I was reading an encyclopedia just for kicks, but then again I've done the same with a dictionary before, waaaaay back when I had lots of free time ^_^") Oh well.....Think I'll leave my hand-crafted SMS greeting up for posterity:

From the fringes of civilisation.......

in a secret military installation......

comes a greeting.......

it says....

Merry X'mas from the suay guy on duty today! Season's greetings, and happy holidays~

maia-HEEEE!! maia-HAAA!! oh maia gott....

2005-12-18T13:56:00.000+08:00

So I went with my mum to help carry the groceries today, and what should I hear but Guo Mei Mei's horrendous rendition of O-zone's Dragostea Din Tei -_-" Now, normally I don't mind people (especially local singers) who try and make a career in the pop scene, and it's good that the locals are more willing to support homegrown talent nowadays, but I'm gonna go on the record here and say that Miss Guo should reeeeeaally reconsider her artistic direction. From what I've seen so far, the woman's (I'm gonna refer to her as GMM to save on typing) shtick is basically to take other people's songs, translate them into Chinese, slap a techno beat on them and pass 'em off on the young-kids-who-don't-know-any-better crowd.

Now, I don't know about you, but I actually liked Dragostea back when the fat guy video clip was making the rounds on the net a while back (google it, or go look on newsgrounds if you don't know what I'm talking about), and even when Disney decided to revive it for Chicken Little's publicity campaign. Thing is, GMM chose a key for this song that is obviously waaaaay to high for her to be singing, and she goes HORRIBLY off-key on the high notes in the chorus. The CHORUS!! If you can't friggin' hit the notes in the chorus, CHANGE THE BLOODY KEY, WOMAN! Common sense that even the most green-horned karaoke enthusiast possesses, and they can blithely ignore it for a commercially released song that gets so much airtime on television advertisements and playtime on radio! For me, hearing her sing her (very flat) "maia-HAHA" is the rough equivalent of nails on a chalkboard; it's excruciating! At least she got her pitching right for "Lao Shu Ai Da Mi" (another song that I actually liked and she went ahead and butchered anyway), so it wasn't as bad when her record company drilled it into the collective consciousness of society, but this is.... Mein gott >_<

Missy Guo, if for some reason you happen to be reading this, for the love of the gods PLEASE get your own material, or get someone to write you something original, or at least get your record company to stop trying to brainwash the little kiddies by force-feeding your songs to anyone with a television! Frankly speaking, I don't really care if I'm coming off as a jaded choirboy; this is starting to get ridiculous >_<"

I'm meeeeelttiiiiiiiiiiinggggg........

2005-12-12T19:26:00.000+08:00

Meh. In recent news, my eczema has started acting up for no apparent reason, which means that I'm literally flaking away as I walk around. I'm a friggin snowman in freezing weather, and I'm disintegrating like it's a summer heatwave. How cool is that? -_-"

At least it doesn't hurt.....meh. Ah nidda vaekayshun....

Whatever happened to plain old "Please leave your name and number after the beep"?

2005-12-05T23:19:00.000+08:00

So I was calling some NSman at work the other day, and the call gets connected:

Me: "Hello?"
Him: "Hello?"
M: "Umm, hello, XXX?"
H: "Hello, hello? Who's this?"
M: "Uh, hi, this is J-"
H: "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YO' NAME IS!! *beep*"

...WTF dude!?

Zzzzz-SNRKKKTTT AAARGH!!

2005-12-05T21:13:00.000+08:00

One of the perks of becoming a clerk in the army is doing Ops duty instead of the regular guard duty. What this means (at least in my case) is that instead of staring blankly into the night sky at 3 am in the morning with a rifle slung over your shoulder, I get to sit in the air-conditioned office, play Xbox games all day and go to bed (and wake up) at hours that vaguely resemble the sleep cycles of civilised humans. Of course, it's a pretty sweet deal.....until you realise that for some strange reason, every single Duty Officer that I've ended up doing duty with SNORES like he's got a built-in Dolby 5.1 setup in his nasal cavity >_<"

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a notoriously light sleeper. Unless I'm falling-asleep-on-my-feet tired, I have a hard time falling asleep and staying in dreamland because even moderately loud noises can pull me back into semi-consciousness, which means that I can be kept awake by the sound of the TV downstairs or the way-too-loud music of some idiot sitting on the opposite side of the train blasting his tunes through his earphones as if they were disco speakers (but that one's a rant for another time). It also means that once the DO starts snoring, I'm going to get very, very annoyed as I try to slip into unconsciousness -_-" It seems to me that there's something very wrong with our officer selection criteria and medical benefits when we have these (supposedly) capable men who are in charge of the smooth running of millions of dollars worth of military equipment, and we can't be bothered to get them a cure for sounding like they've got miniature rock concerts in their throats at night T_T"

Oh, and before you put it down to bad luck on my part, I checked with one of my colleaugues who's been a clerk for a lot longer than I have, and he assures me that he's got the same problem too. Which, of course, means that my unit's either awash in snoring officers, or the country's experiencing a nasty first taste of the flaws of having a limited gene pool...

As for me, I've started using the same solution that my colleaugue came up with on his own: upon hearing the first tortured syllables that indicate that the DO's a snorer, we pick up the mattress, move the whole lot (pillow and all) to the far side of the office and sleep on the floor. Of course, in my case I usually end up having to pile the blanket on my head and hope that the ringing of my tinnitus is enough to drown out the background sound effects, but it's a helluva lot better than trying to control my irritation at being kept awake, and since neither of us are willing to wake up the DO to tell him "Sir, please stop snoring so I can sleep", it'll have to do for the next 5 1/2 months until I leave the army for good -_-"

Do I look old in this?

2005-11-29T16:58:00.000+08:00

Okay, so here's the deal: Over the years, some people have remarked to me that I look and/or act older than I actually am, which of course makes absolutely no logical sense whatsoever considering that there are people older than me who act like teenagers, and people who are my age or younger who have half a head full of white hair (the other half being grey hairs of varying shades). Nevertheless, this hasn't stopped people from being surprised when I tell them my real age, which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you look at it. Of course, since I'm a guy, it's not so bad since (as some have pointed out to me) a guy who looks mature is generally seen in a better light than a woman who looks old ^_^"

That being said, however, I gotta say that it's still kinda disturbing to be having dinner with my family the other day, only to have my sister suddenly grab my head and start staring at my hair while telling me not to move. I mean, I was like "WHAT THE HELL, WOMAN????" until I got my answer a few minutes later, when she announced to the table "HE'S GOT WHITE HAIR!!" and pointed at the offending strand of hair (yes, just ONE strand) before twisting my head around to illustrate her point ("Look, look!").

Normally, I'd put this down as yet another item on my list of "10564 (and counting) reasons why I hate the army", but until today I've yet to see any evidence of this singular ivory strand so I'm going to assume it was the lighting of the eatery we happened to be in at the time. Frankly speaking, I'm more surprised at the fact that I didn't just reach over and smack her upside of the head for that little stunt; still, I've got plenty of other ways of annoying the hell out of her, so it's all just as well I guess ^_^

I KEEL YOU!!

2005-11-16T21:03:00.000+08:00

So here I am, about to sit down and do another late update on my blog when my wonderful li'l sister rolls the chair away from me when my back is turned. Thanks to my superior reflexes, however, I get away with it with a slightly sore ankle (which stepped on one of the rollers) and managed to plant myself on the chair anyway, but Jac, if you're reading this: I KEEL YOU!!
*pokeypokeypokepokepoke*

Speaking of poking, the other Followers of the Chua and I did a 4-man tag-team simultaneous SMS poke the other day, which was pretty fun ^_^ We'll probably do it again before class this Sat; it'll probably be worth the smiting we'll get just to see the Chua's reaction ^_^" Although it's probably not a good idea to do it too often; I am simply LOVING what the Chua did for that pinup I did, so much so that I now have a brand new avatar pic *ogles his new avatar* Preeeeciousssssss.....

Lessee, what else happened this week....Other than my being involved in the SATS dinner and dance thingamajig yesterday, nothing much interesting happened... Which is odd, considering I've been busy as heck -_-" Between preparing for the In-Camp Training that's gonna end on the 17th, joking about Umbrella-and-Twig-dual-wielding classmates and trying to catch up on sleep, just keeping track of what day it is is giving me trouble -_-" Oh well......at least I won't have to deal with the mahna-mahna-numa-numa combo until Saturday, which is in.....less than 3 days already?? Ye gods! My homework! *frets*

Pencils! Rarrh!!

2005-11-03T20:51:00.000+08:00

By borrowing liberally from the stack of graphic novels I obtained from the library, I have overcome my creative rut! Fear my pencils of DOOM!! Rarrh! *drawdrawdraw*

Now where's that muse when you need her.....

2005-11-02T19:44:00.001+08:00

I am very annoyed.

Because of that stupid incident that happened on Sunday I now have 2 extra duties for reasons that I am not entirely responsible for, I missed an update on this 'ere bloggy(which I've only gotten around to doing now), then I proceed to have a really sucky day capped off with me discovering that the creativity well dried up about 4-6 hours ago, which would've been helpful if I hadn't already started hacking away on my picture composition homework before coming to that particular realisation -_-" So now I have a pencilled piece that I don't know what to do with, with something about it that I'm not quite happy about but am not entirely sure where the problem lies, and I STILL haven't even gotten started on my *other* art homework (which I don't have any inclination to start on, seeing as how my muse has decided to take a vacation without informing me first). I would say I'm just having a bad art day, but it's more of a really bad week overall so far; hell, it's only Wednesday and already this qualifies for the semi-finals of the "second-worst week of my life" award. It's almost enough to make me wish that that "I can have his head chopped off if I decide that his haircut is offensive!" line applied to me so that I can vent my frustrations by dooming some random passers-by to a splattery death (with extra gibs, of course). Of course, the logical thing to do in this case would be to boot up Unreal Tournament and start putting bullets in people's heads, but I lost the "play" disc for my UT 2004, so that's not really an option.

I am so very annoyed.

Densho Otoko! GANBAREEEEH!!!!

2005-10-23T15:29:00.000+08:00

Gwahahar! Finally got around to watching the first ep of Densha Otoko, and I must say it deserves all the praise that's been heaped on it. For those who don't know, Densha Otoko is based on a real life series of events that took place on a japanese forum some time ago. Apparently some guy started posting asking for advice on dating women on a forum, and eventually (after the thread grew to enormous length) someone took the whole thread, compiled the contents and turned it into a novel. This novel became popular enough that it eventually spawned a movie and a TV series. (too condensed for you? head over to http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Densha_Otoko)

What's surprising is that while this series is really popular in Japan (and I think Hong Kong), most Singaporeans have no idea what this series is (or what it's about), which is really sad considering it's actually pretty good (even though it's a romantic comedy). Normally I can't sit through romantic comedies without making fun of a few (totally ludicrous) scenes/cliches, but this is the first series I've watched that had me rooting for the lead by the end of the first episode (and coming from a jaded cynic like me, that's no mean feat ^_^) Seriously, just watch the first episode of the TV series (which I'm told is better than the movie) even if you think you're too 'manly' or 'macho' to be watching shows of this genre =P

Wai mai shohldaz hurrt?

2005-10-17T00:05:00.000+08:00

My life is pain.

For some strange reason my left shoulder's been aching since yesterday, and I dunno why. Ouch. Can't even do the 'neck-crick' thingy, so I'm guessing the muscle has seized up and refuses to relax. Bleargh. On the other hand, The Chua likes the old old piccy, so yay me! Ahaha...Oh, and this weird show on Star Movies, "America's Sweethearts"? I've been watching it for the last 20+ minutes, and I *still* dunno what's going on. It makes less sense than the Milkman level from Pyschonauts, and is nowhere near as charming/cool as the Milkman level was. Then again, Pyschonauts is a damn good game by itself anyway, so maybe that's not a fair comparison.

....

I'm hungry. My shoulder hurts. I am tempted to start quoting from the Milkman level. Ow.

It's all about the packaging, baby!

2005-10-11T18:59:00.000+08:00

Yes, yes, I know, late entry.... Wassamatter, bonus piccies not good enough for ya? ;P Heh.... Well, to make up for the lateness, I'll spare you the sorta-serious post I had in mind (yeah, I know..."me?? serious?? O_O" heheh ^_^) to do a fanboy write-up about the bane of Transfans (fans of Transformers, such as yours truly) and toy collectors everywhere: Twist Ties!

Yes, twist ties, those little horrors of translucent plastic threads that tie the toy pieces to their plastic confines in their little cardboard boxes. In theory, they're a pretty neat idea: you can shake up and drop a mid-to-large size cardboard box, and the contents will stay in more or less the same position so you don't have to worry about having to rip open the boxes to fix your lovely hand-made display that those pesky little kids and snobbish collectors just messed up. In practice, these things are horrendous little buggers that take forever to untwist and leave you with lots of "spare parts" lying around after you've opened the box. For the collector (or at least, one who doesn't give a damn about keeping his stuff in Mint In Sealed Box condition), it usually means you end up spending more time unpacking your latest acquisition than actually playing with the damn thing -_-" It's not really an issue for somewhat smaller toys like the Binaltech line of Transformers (thank the gods), but the larger Galaxy Force figures like (the very cool) Galaxy Convoy are packed with so many of the little buggers that one wonders if the guys who design the boxes aren't playing out some twisted bondage fantasy (which might not be too far off the mark, knowing these mad japs -_-")

And it's not just the Japs that are doing it: Packaging in general seems to be getting harder to get through. It's like manufacturers everywhere simultaneously thought "Hey, I know! Let's make our packaging really flashy and eye-catching to disguise the fact that they're really anti-consumer coverings! With any luck those morons will break the product while trying to open it up and then they'll have to buy another one! Cha-ching! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" I mean, come ON! I've already paid for the damn thing; why do I have to go through 6 layers of scotch tape just to open the cover of my new CD?! And I haven't even started talking about the inclusion of those little business mail/advertisements that are standard issue with magazines and original games (as oppsed to the "ahem" versions) nowadays. I'm pretty sure most of you out there have had this experience: "Ooh, new issue of , let's buy it. Hmm, I think I'll read my new issue on the bus *open magazine* Oops! It's raining paper!"

Now, to take the bad taste out of my mouth, I'll leave you with some linkies so non-mecha fans out there will know what I'm referring to. Yep, it's shameless pimping time! ^_^

www.bwtf.com
www.tformers.com

2005-10-02T23:42:00.000+08:00

The inked, photoshop-cleaned version of something I did late last year.... For some reason, the eyes became shinier than they used to, and I never did get around to doing the background, but whaaaatever man =P

2005-10-02T23:30:00.000+08:00

From me first character design lesson (with help from The Chua, of course).... Although dressed in slightly less revealing clothes now (emphasis on slightly), I still like 'er...Now to think of a *name* for her...

All hail the Chua!

2005-10-02T18:13:00.000+08:00

Well, well, well.....The first weekend that I'm spending by *not* attending my Manga drawing class; surprisingly, I managed to finally get around to scanning/photoshopping those random sketches I had lying around (that one little SD sketchy was starting to get lonely..), although I haven't gotten around to putting those mecha ideas down on paper yet....What can I say? Inking and cleaning stuff up with photoshop is demanding business, and spending the whole afternoon (1300 to 1800, in fact) has more or less tapped the creativity well; I'll probably get around to it next week (I hope -_-").... It's too bad creativity ain't like a tap you can just switch on; it's more like a raincloud that comes by every so often, and the best you can do is work on your rain dance and hope that you don't get a freak dry spell when sit down at your creative outlet of choice (or worse, a thunderstorm when you're nowhere near it...now THAT is bloody irritating, since Murphy's Law tends to kick in, resulting in you being unable to remember some/most/all of the ideas you've come up with)....

Hmm. Surveying the results of today's handiwork, I realise one thing: I *still* need more practice inking. Bah. -_-" Still, cleaning up an inked work is a helluva lot easier than doing the same thing with a pencilled drawing (note to self: quit using translucent paper with printing on the back for drawing paper.....stupid cheapskate SAF recycled paper >_<) Maybe after a few more months (or maybe years -_-") with Sensei Chua, I'll look back at this and laugh.....Or cringe as I conitnue to do the same thing ^_^" Speaking of the Chua, I would take this opportunity to shamelessly plug the word of Chua, except that only my classmates would have any idea what in the nine circles and/or 10 levels of hell I'm talking about. Yay for in-jokes, eh? ^_^ Still, the Goddess Chua's artwork is exceedingly jealousy-inducing, but that's why she's the 'cher, I guess....All hail the word of The Meanie! Ahaha.....(Relishes the fact that nobody knows what blasphemous rubbish he's been spouting for the last paragraph....and the fact that he's referring to himself in the 3rd person, evil genius style)

Right. Anyway, I supppose I should go upload those piccies to me blog as well as me friendster...All criticism, comments, cease-and-desist orders and death threats to the usual places, please ^_^ Oh, and feel free to save-as if you want; just don't go around passing it off as your own, yeah?

Censorship and You!

2005-09-25T18:38:00.000+08:00

Hmm. It seems that recent news headlines here in the sunny little red dot include the sueing of two bloggers who posted supposedly racist comments on their blogs. Not having read the actual posts in question, I'm hardly in a position to comment, but at the risk of sharing their fate, I gotta say that this smacks of hypocrisy to me. You want people to be more spontaneous, take more risks and be more open, yet you sue two guys for stuff they wrote on their blogs? Whatever happened to the whole "freedom of speech" thing, hmm? Yeesh... Bureaucracy at it's finest, ladies and gentlemen~

Moving right along, I FINALLY got Ninja Gaiden, which of course means it's time to finally finish the #$%^& thing (from scratch, no less.....blargh)...Starting all over again is gonna be a pain inthe ass, but it's better than just leaving it -_-" Along with Psychonauts, the number of quality Xbox titles that I have is growing nicely, I must say ^_^

Alright, I'll keep it short this time....I'm off to get me some ice cream with FUDGE! FUDGE-Y!!! Mwahahahaha!!!

The trouble with softsubs...

2005-09-18T12:00:00.000+08:00

..is that it's frikkin' irritating to watch anything when you have to keep scrolling down to read the subtitles. That said, it says a lot about how much I like FF7:Advent Children when even this major irritant isn't enough to stop me from loving it...It's so beautiful, it makes we wanna cry...*sniff*

Oh, in case you haven't noticed; FF7: Advent Children, BEEYOTCHES!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! Go watch it NOW if you have even the slightest interest in FF7. Seriously. Go. Now. NOW!! Stop reading this and go GET IT NOW!! Squenix have outdone themselves this time; even the end credits sequence is so beautifully rendered that you'd swear it's live tape overlaid with CG! Can't wait 'til I get the hardsub...

PS: If anyone from the gah-men is reading this, I'm a law-abiding citizen who will buy it when it's out, and have obtained this release through entirely legal means. Yup. Totally above board. No potential legal issues here. Stop looking at me like that.

"I simply have a penchant for intelligent conversation. Yesssss.."

2005-09-15T19:00:00.000+08:00

For those of you who've never watched Beast Wars, or simply can't remember which episode that line is from, it was a response to the question "Why do you keep talking to yourself?" I bring this up because it's one of my three standard answers when people ask me that question, the other two being 1)to shut up and stop doing it and 2)tell the truth, ie that I'm simply thinking out loud. Y' see, I happen to have a mind that races around from one subject to another really quickly, and getting it to focus on something isn't always easy. To counter that, I usually talk it out, going through the thought processes verbally so I can focus on what I want to be doing, which gives people the impression that I'm talking to myself (which, in this case, I am).

Of course, sometimes I'm simply just making a snide comment to no-one in particular with the invitation for someone else to comment on my comment, and it doesn't help that I usually end up talking while looking at whatever it is I happen to be doing at the time (multi-tasking at it's finest).

Talking to myself, of course, tends to freak people out since they can't handle someone who just won't shut up if he doesn't feel like it. These are the people who would *really* be in trouble if they knew what goes on in between my ears, because I tend to hold conferences in there as opposed to simple conversations. Here's a little taste of what I mean, which happened a while back when I was thinking about this subject:

Me: Is it *really* such a bad thing to keep talking to yourself? I mean, people keep asking me why I keep talking to myself, but it's not like I'm crazy or anything, right?
Me2: Why are you still so sensitive about what people think about you? It's not like you do that all the time anyway...
Me: But it freaks people out lah dey..
Me2: You freak people out anyway -_-"
Me3: Stop doing it lor
Me: Well, yeah, but it's almost a reflex now-
Me4: Is anyone else wondering why exactly we're talking to ourselves like this?
Me3: Well yeah, but I don't think you can be crazy if you know you're crazy or doing "abnormal" stuff.
Me: But what if we *are* crazy, but just don't know it? Are there like, different kinds of crazy?
Me2: Well, if there weren't I'd say we wouldn't need to have therapists and mental institutions, would we?
Me3: This conversation's getting mighty crowded, don't you guys think..?
Me4: At this rate we might as well start giving us names -_-"
Me2: Oo, oo! I wanna be Me2-D2!
Me3: Then I call Me-3PO!
Me4: What about me?
Me: Which me?
Me2D2: That me.
Me4: Me me! It's not exactly fair that those two get to ripoff names like that when there aren't many names with numbers in them..
Me-3PO: We're arguing about fair use of names when we're all the same person?
Me2-D2: If we're all the same person but have different opinions, are we still the same person?
Me4: We're all living in the same head, right?
Me-3PO: So do schizos and people with split personalities.
Me5: You guys are *all* crazy!
Me-3PO: This, coming from the guy arguing with himself in his own head?
Me: Okay, this is SO going in the blog...

For the record, I/we am/are of the opinion that everyone's a little crazy, in our own little way, which is why "normal" is such an oxymoron when you think about it.

Are we an "I", or "we"? If I argue with myself, are we arguing or am I arguing? Blargh...K, shutting up now..

Anyway, tune in next time, for more forays into the Chaotic Realm! matte mitte neh, minna-san~

2005-09-14T17:41:00.000+08:00

The first scanned piccy I've done. Been a while since I've done this one

The first of many

2005-09-14T17:30:00.000+08:00

Hmm....Once again, I jump on the bandwagon late; still, believe it or not, I've wanted to do something like this for a while (have a little webbie, post stuff, pictures and bits of random trivia that I've collected over the years), and since I've got a bit of time I thought "ah what the hell" and set this 'ere bloggie up... 'Course, now that it's up, I've got somewhere to post the random stuff that I think of, eh? If you know me personally, you should have a rough idea what to expect: random stuff, lame comments, long questions and assorted stray thoughts that I fish out of the chaos that are the realms of my thoughts ^_^ I make no promises on the quality of the writing nor the well-being of your sanity (save for the standard of English, and for the millionth time it's "I COULDN'T care less!!"....stupid Americans...), but those who know me should already be aware of this ^_^

On a side note, I'm not anti-american, I'm just of the view that humanity in general are idiots until proven otherwise. Americans simply happen to be very obvious targets who keep proving me right. Remember kiddies, it's not racism if you hate everyone! ^_^