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Thursday, January 1, 2004 6:39:26a: *
Well, Happy New Year, everyone. I spent the Big Anticlimax with my parents and sib, and we had a wonderful time. Once we became conscious, that is.
My family has this thing about sleep, I don't know if yours does or not-- we practice Newtonian sleep. That is, a body sleeping will tend to remain asleep unless acted on by an external force-- like, say, an alarm clock, a bulldozer outside the bedroom window, a tornado ripping apart the house... you know, major stuff. Even then, the odds of us actually waking up permanently are pretty damn slim. On the other hand, if we're awake, we're AWAKE, and there's not a damn thing you can do to put us back to sleep.
Also, every action affecting sleep has an equal and vociferous reaction-- for example, if we're woken up by, say, someone calling on the phone, they will hear about it. The level of politeness will vary depending on who the caller is and what the situation is. This warning usually extends throughout the morning (where "morning" is defined as "the seven hours after getting out of bed for the last time").
Anyway.
Still working on a few projects this morning-- specifically, the kanji name, the DDR page, and the Gunslinger Girl site. I want to flesh out the GG site a little more before the end of the week... it's been live since mid-December (via Anipike) and I haven't updated it since. Also, I'll probably be adding a few new things to the site in January-- maybe another small minorly multiplayer game, in the same vein as First and Last.
Lastly, I may wind up dropping out of sight for a week to concentrate on finishing a few of the games I picked up in 2003. Right now I have 4 open, completable PC games in varying stages of completion; 2 open GBA games; one open PS2 game; a DDR schedule I want to stick to (or at least try to stick to); FFXI; and work. Add to that an open anime series (Noir-- I just picked up vol. 3 this past week and haven't yet put it in the DVD player), movies (I didn't get to see Paycheck, but my sis did and she loved it), and music (must... find... Jam & Marmalade...), and I've got my work cut out for me. As always, we shall see. Getting rid of the Xbox was a good idea, though-- now I'm not worried about never having finished Halo. Or any other XB game, for that matter, largely because none of them really excited me. Except KOTOR, and that's on PC now anyway.
So, I hope your new year's celebrations were pleasant and plentiful, and I'll probably update again after a very looooooooooong nap.Friday, January 2, 2004 1:10:06p: * Proof that I Must Be Doing Something Right: In December, I had well over 300 hits from Slashdot. I transferred 659 MB of data-- 1/3rd of that was the Weapon of CX video. I had 1500 hits from Japan (versus 40,000 from the US-- this is across all my pages, and not just the main page). The Gunslinger Girl site was very popular-- 252 hits. And I received my first permanent link, from United Package Smashers. Google Japan is the second-highest external referrer to the site; the first is Google USA (ranked 31st and 42nd respectively). Finally, 181 people mistyped something and got to the 404 page (or they clicked the links page in the GG site).
Whew, December was a tiring month. I'm sleepy now. Talk to you folks tonight.Friday, January 2, 2004 10:09:10p: *
Back. Just a few brief notes before we kick into the night.
For the forum-gumi, I'm aware the links to the Gunbound installers are fouled. Unfortunately there's little I can do about it right now. I'll re-download and re-upload in the morning, during DDR perhaps.
Tonight's menu includes a healthy update to the Gunslinger Girl site-- or it would have, if I had remembered to bring the manga with me.... scratch that, then. I'll get to it tomorrow night; I really need to spend some time reading fics. So after I read what I have I'll probably be playing WC3-- or Gunbound, if the proxy will let me. Oh, and Andrew-- yes, I did watch over that replay. I have learned much, but I still have a long way to go.
Finally, I should probably do those link letters I said I would. But later-- work beckons. See you folks later.Saturday, January 3, 2004 4:38:10a: * The Way of the Gun is open for business. Bet you never thought I'd get around to linking to it from here, huh? I realized that basically the parts I had left to do weren't really too intrinsically tied to the manga, so I finished them up. Graphically the site's pretty sparse, but that's to be expected as I still don't have a scanner.
For some reason I can't delete any files on my site thanks to the religious eyes of the proxy. The delete routine is unfortunately named "trashit", and of course the proxy sees the four-letter-word and nothing else. Ah well.
OK, so nothing else of import to impart. We'll discuss stuff further in the morning. Maybe.Saturday, January 3, 2004 7:25:31a: *
Hey all. Managed to get AA on a fourth song-- "Lovin' You (Rob Searle Mix)". It was actually the easiest song in the game-- no jumps, only one freeze, and very slow paced. That said it's a cool song nonetheless and it was almost instantly added to my nonstop list. The AA tally now stands as follows: "Twilight Zone", "Long Train Runnin'", "Jam & Marmalade", and "Lovin' You". The mix also has "Burnin' Heat (3 Option Mix)" and "Get Down Tonight", though in all honesty I probably ought to add "Put Your Faith In Me" to it tomorrow.
I also managed to get radio streams working through iTunes here at work. Woo hoo!
Now I just need to find a good, free, happy hardcore stream... the one iTunes references just doesn't want to work. We shall see...
EDIT: 5 minutes later, I figure out the answer. The same wonderful proxy that has issues with URLs with "trashit" also apparently doesn't like the word "hardcore". I can type it just fine in here, but if the URL contains it-- like, say, in a Google search, or a stream redirect-- it'll get blocked.
It likes "Hard House", though. Fortunately, so do I. ^_^Tuesday, January 6, 2004 7:25:57p: * 10K updated, completing Fourth Stage. There aren't really going to be any big plot twists in there until the last couple chapters, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. I've seen much smaller projects fail; Agent K should be proud she's kicking so much ass. EDIT: I fixed the link. You know the mantra, folks-- I am a dumbass.
I haven't been giving a blow-by-blow of my DDR progress here, but the Diaries page (also accessible by clicking the Mandala on the bottom of the navbar) shows a little of my skill. I took some time the other day and coded the colors into it; I might spend some more time and actually make it as easy to update as the poll or the links page. I have been informed that Afronova is a much harder song than MAXX UNLIMITED. I concur.
Oh, and speaking of games, I'm much, much closer to my subjob than I was yesterday-- I'm now 1000 xp into Level 17, which means in about 3000 more (or roughly an hour or so of IT snippers north of Selbina with a full and balanced group) I'll be able to head back to Windurst and start leveling for my support job, which I think is going to be White Mage until lv15. Either that, or probably Warrior, just something to help me get Red Mage to thirty. Once there I'm definitely going with Summoner.
I've got my iTunes Happy Hardcore on, and I'm thrilled. Apple seems intent on luring me over to the Dark Side, what with the announcement of the mini-iPod; more than that, though, is the Pepsi promotion. Feel free to check out Internal Sever Error's Slashdot's story and neighing/braying here. The one thing I really like-but-hate is GarageBand, the music-creation tool. I've dabbled with Windows tools like FruityLoops, ACID DJ, and eJay-- even going so far as to create an entire album with eJay, which I might have available later-- but GarageBand looks to be really cool because it combines the customizability of FruityLoops with the ease-of-use of eJay, without having to futz around with conversion rates and speed and such. The part I hate? Well, duh. It's by Apple. The chances of a Windows version are slim, none, and "holy crap they did it, then the purple elephants started flying by, and I woke up when Scott Baio frenched Hitler on stage". Oh yeah, but the Pepsi thing kicks so much ass it gets measured in gigarectums.
I like me some happy hardcore, but I wish that I hadn't tuned in right in the middle of a live set.... I prefer the genre a lot more when it's continually mixed, and not broken up by a very exhausted-sounding-- if enthusiastic-- DJ. Actually, for a second there I wondered just how you would do a "live" set of largely electronically-generated music, until I stopped to think... come on, they don't call 'em "DJs" for no reason.
A quick Google search returns that I am the only website to ever use the word "gigarectums". I likes me when me creates new words of wordiness and language of mine gets all supiditified.Thursday, January 8, 2004 1:37:17a: *
Sonic Heroes for GC was released already, but that's not why I'm mad.
Sonic Battle for GBA is out now. Why was I not informed of this?
Anyway, I know what I'm going to be picking up on Friday...Thursday, January 8, 2004 10:11:48p: *
CSI was extra good. Grissom moves in mysterious ways, indeed. Though I have to say one thing about this season's episodes-- the writers seem to be concentrating WAY too much on the characters and interaction between them. CSI is one of the greatest crime dramas of the decade-- or actually of any of the decades I've been alive-- and to turn it into a great big soap opera with SCIENCE!! would just be wrong.
Before I continue, I have to mention this. Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life" has NO FREAKING PLACE on "Without A Trace". As a matter of fact, while I absolutely adore Amy Lee's singing voice, you just hear it too often on just about everything. I ripped a few tracks to my Xbox when I still had it, and had to check myself when Enter the Matrix started playing "Going Under" during the end credits...
But I digress. I'm also turning on the Happy Hardcore. ...much better.
I'm largely a crackhead when it comes to my finances, but everything appears to be cool. I just have to remember that my rent is not 0 more than it really is, and then I'm fine. To be honest, I'm a crackhead when it comes to a lot of things, finances being merely the tip of the iceberg. As it turns out, I'll be heading into town tomorrow to do grocery shopping, and also to pick up Sonic Battle. But that's still a few hours off.
I got up way earlier today than I really should have, for an important reason. And that sacrifice was not without its merit... I finally have my bloody subjob in FFXI. So I've got to level up monk or warrior, now. Probably both, I don't know... well, all right, I'll level monk first because it's cheaper, and I can get some quick cash from crystals.
So I think I'll go do that now, for a while... at least just 'till I get tired...Thursday, January 8, 2004 10:25:55p: * GameSpot's story about the Phantom really doesn't do much to prove to me that the Phantom actually exists. Two quotes: "...the console will support regular PC gaming on monitors or televisions, as well as a proposed online game rental service via an "always on" broadband device." and "Although the presenters never actually turned the machine on..."
Let me get this straight. They showed you a gray plastic box and told you what they hoped it would do.
Of course, I guess that means that Monolith is going to re-do Chrono Trigger as a seven-part PS4 epic with 2 months of cutscenes per HDVD.
More than that, it means that Monolith has a monopoly on Yasunori Mitsuda's work... SWEET.Saturday, January 10, 2004 10:35:11p: *
Oh, and I am aware that the site has decided to take a drunk-driving view to its lane of existence. It keeps weaving in and out. I'm going to call tech support in the morning and discuss this. Till then, please bear with the strangeness in the horizontal and the digital.Monday, January 12, 2004 8:11:56a: *
This needs to be asked, I think.
In Final Fantasy X, according to the game lore, the Final Summoning permanently fuses the summoner and his chosen Guardian to the enemy that they had just destroyed, thus ensuring that no Calm would last in Spira-- none, that is, until Yuna and Tidus.
OK, great. But for most of the game, Yuna and Tidus' respective fathers were missing, presumed dead but actually part of the final enemy.
My question is this: does that mean Braska and Jecht were living in Sin?
Please don't throw tomatos at the webmaster. Thank you.Monday, January 12, 2004 11:39:33p: *
Yes, I am aware of the database problems. For the time being, I'm afraid large chunks of my site will be down. This includes the forums. I'm DEFINITELY going to call tech support this time.Tuesday, January 13, 2004 8:14:06a: *
I just added this rant regarding gamers, and the morons among them. Read it, I think it's worth a look. Off to DDR now.Tuesday, January 13, 2004 9:18:52a: * Check it out, yo. I've managed to finish my first song in Standard mode. Acing and AAing it will come later. But it's a crack in the armor of Standard. I also added another song to the AA list-- Forever Sunshine. I can ace 2 and 3 foot songs... the 4 footers seem to be a weakness so far. But I unlocked Kakumei, which I think is a great piece. I had a run through it with the controller to get a feel for it... pretty nifty. Looks doable, even if it's listed in red as a "rite of passage" type song (right next to MAXX Unlimited, I might add). I'm getting MUCH better at reading the arrows at higher speeds, too. Maybe I'll actually be competitive when I get to Erie... wouldn't that be cool?
By the way, much love to Rina... she's got to be pretty good to post pics of her playing Para Para Paradise. Wish I was that brave...Tuesday, January 13, 2004 12:28:18p: *
OK, it's back. Sort of.
Some guy on the GameFAQs FFXI borad is complaining that he was asked by a GM to change his name.
Syphilis (as immortalized in the classic ballet Syphilis Lake) Crabs (after Dickens' timeless favorite David Crabsterfield)
...I'm nauseating even myself, here. Bottom Line: Do Not Name Fantasy Characters After Virulent Diseases.Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:51:55a: *
Couple things to add, if you haven't seen them already. First, Haunted House, by NekoMachi author Ewen Cluney, has updated with a couple new chapters. In an odd twist of fate, I was reading over the other chapters just last night, and wondering when we'd get another peek into The Grey House. Good job, Ewen, and I eagerly look forward to the next set. Also, 10K added a new interlude, three "team profiles" (for cameo teams), and a quiz detailing which of the main Commotion characters you are. I got Dynamite, for some reason. Likewise, Agent K, damn good work as always. Been thinking a little bit about my DDR habits, especially since there's little I can do here at work and the promise of a weekend-- the last weekend that is not a weekend-- is really getting me a edgy. Like I said in the forums, my ability to read the arrows quickly and respond is getting better, but it's one of those things that's easier to do the less I think about it. Concentrating on the arrows, trying to plan a routine ahead of time, or even just being marginally distracted by a stray thought always seems to screw up my timing and blow what could have been a AA performance. Then again, the more I just flow with the music and move around the pad, the more I hit Great and Perfect-- even eighth notes, which I previously thought impossible to master. One wrong step, however, almost always fouls the entire sequence. I've been trying some trick moves on a few Light songs... knee-drops, slides and double-slides (I find the double-slide to be much easier)... just something to spice up the run a little. I haven't had much success implementing them into a real run, one that I at least ace, but I figure it's just another move to learn. Besides, in competition, I'd much rather finish the song than look cool as I go down in flames. Not that I'll ever really be competitive. But it's nice to have a goal. Anyway, the game rant has been well-received. Nobody I know personally has anything to be worried about-- you're not who I'm talking about. But the sentiment stands for the remainder of the "community". I'm going to work this weekend in FFXI, and maybe do a little more messing around with Sword of Mana (which, it should be noted, is much more fun now that I've beat the Mind Flayer, aka Devius, aka Holy Crap He Has More HP Than Some Of The Later Bosses). Sonic Battle is very, very good-- the overall impression isn't so much Sonic The Fighters as it is Super Smash Furries Melee. One hangup, though-- Emerl is practically useless in the first few story episodes. Scratch that, VERY useless. Lastly, I haven't been doing too much in WC3-- but I remember my lessons, Andrew, and I hope to be on sometime when I can learn more. ^_^ Slipgate probably won't see this 'till he's back, but I wish him a safe trip home. O Wise Otaku-Sensei, I sincerely thank you for your wisdom of... uh... wise. Wiseness wisdom of wisenheimered wisey-wise. Yeah. Something like that. Wise. Yeah.Thursday, January 15, 2004 10:11:46p: *
The most bizarre thing is happening to my computer. This evening, the clock has randomly been resetting itself backwards by ten minutes. More than that, I reset it to the proper time at 9:00, and when CSI was over-- at 10:00, or at least I thought it was at 10:00-- my computer's clock read 9:30. Weird.
Anyway, off to Vana'diel.Friday, January 16, 2004 10:44:59p: * Updates to the site are on hold until further notice.It all returns to nothing...Saturday, January 17, 2004 11:44:21a: *
I lied. I'm adding plenty of stuff to the site, what with all my newfound free time. In case you didn't notice, I no longer have a job with Adelphia. Don't worry, don't be upset-- what's done is done. Muchas gracias, actually. I have to give much love (in a non-sexual context) to Pez, who may have saved me from being totally 0wnz0r3d by this strange twist. I have many surprises for you folks coming up, but here's a brief taste.
More info as it comes available.Monday, January 19, 2004 9:23:17p: *
You know, sometimes the smallest things can cause the biggest differences. And sometimes a major upheaval can be turned into only a minor speed bump. I suppose that's my gift in life-- being able to reverse fate, to turn fortune to my whim. A lot of people call me lucky for that. I'm not so sure luck has anything to do with it.
I got an e-mail from the lead Pez sent me. Apparently the position had been filled. Not to worry, of course; time flows, and I'm sure that that lead will remain fruitful. But what surprised me this evening was a call from Pez himself. We exchanged a few laughs, talked a bit about our plans, and I may have chosen the wrong set of words with which to end the conversation. But I do hope that he'll forgive a minor lapse of grace. Your help is always welcome and appreciated, friend.
I've still got a few other leads to hunt down-- two in particular, but others in addition-- and tomorrow is going to be a very long day in terms of all the running I have to do. I'm probably going to be in and out of Coudersport many times this week, and who knows when I'll finally lay my head in the same place twice. Who knows if I'll even be able to get eight consecutive hours of sleep. I couldn't ask for more, though-- this time will probably serve to my most favorable outcome.
That's just the thing. No matter how bad things get, there's always a light at the end. Once we give up hope-- once we believe that the future is set before us-- then there's no point in living another moment. If all your choices are made for you, then where's the fun in life? If all your life is dictated by circumstance, are you really living? I'm certainly in no position to be celebrating the freedom to make choices-- in fact, my choices are pretty slim right now-- but I still have choices. I still have options. I can still choose for myself.
It is this affirmation which has kept me going. Not bitterness over being let go, not hatred towards the conspiracy that caused it, but the knowledge that if I let this crush me, as it's threatening to do, then I have been truly, completely, and hopelessly defeated. Defiance and rebellion keep me going. The desire to show those who have wronged me that I will not lay down and die. I will choose. I must choose.
I thank all of my friends for helping me realize this fact. Kathy, Andrew, Ismail, James, Mike, and Leareth. You have stuck by me through it all-- through times of doubt, worry, pain, and hardship. Each in your own way has helped me to resolve some issue in myself. I have taken so much from all of you and not given anything back. Ask it, and I'll do what I can. All I ask of you now is that you remain with me. In thought and in spirit.
Tonight I don't feel as bad as I did 48 hours ago. I don't think I ever will feel as bad as I did Saturday night. I don't ever want to. I wrote in the Inner Circle that, for a while here in Coudersport, I was happy, and that I wanted that happiness back. And you know what?
I really have it now. And now it's time to make it more real.
Goodnight, folks. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.Tuesday, January 20, 2004 8:16:40a: *
Good morning, class. I trust you all enjoyed the long weekend? Excellent.
Yesterday I picked up the latest Newtype, and was very leery of the included preview disc. Checking it out now, I have to say that Happy Lesson doesn't seem to be your typical "harem anime"... well, not yet anyway. It's worth a look, I guess-- I'll know more after I see it again.
But what struck me most about this month's issue is, of course, the cover story-- Evangelion is finally coming to a true and final end. The story's been around since 1993, and with the release of the PS2 game "Neon Genesis Evangelion 2" last month in Japan (and believe me, if I had heard anything about a U.S. release, this is where it would be said), Anno has claimed that the real answer-- the truth-- is in the game. It's going to be hard to believe that anime's most endearing enigma, Evangelion, is almost done with. Given the runaway success that the series had-- exceeding even the original creators' wildest expectations-- I wouldn't doubt a U.S. localization, but then again-- we never got the first game (which, if memory serves me correctly, was on the N64, wasn't it?). GameFAQs, sadly, doesn't have any listings for any other Eva games save the N64 version. Which is really kind of funny, considering that Sega was one of the primary sponsors of the series. But taking a look at the success of the somewhat risky .hack series (also wrapping up these next few weeks), Disgaea, and anime-based games in general, I think that seeing NGE2 over here is semi-likely.
As I said before, lots to do today. I'll be in touch.Tuesday, January 20, 2004 3:54:24p: *
Happy Lesson is turning out to be one of those series that really grows on you as time goes on. Initially it looks like total garbage, but there's just something about the English voice cast that makes the whole thing very worthwhile. One thing, though-- who is Lee Eddy (voice of Satsuki, the gym teacher) and what else has she done? 'Cause her portrayal of the somewhat unfeminine "mom" is spot-on. We're talking hella good here. Casting Larissa Wolcott as the hyperkinetic Uzuki (the art teacher and cosplay nut) was also a very smart move. (Ms. Wolcott, in case you didn't know, was Jessica Calvello's replacement for the second half of Excel Saga after Ms. Calvello had some trouble with her vocal cords. All those puns as Excel must have been murder...)
So yeah, that's probably my next series. Assuming I get hired somewhere and can pay for it... Oh well, I'll have to console myself with Scrapped Princess 'till then. More info on that one later on, once I've actually seen some of it. Thursday, January 22, 2004 6:16:14p: *
Ahem.
Scrapped Princess kicks ass. That is all. There will be much more to say about it once I've seen beyond the first episode.Friday, January 23, 2004 10:20:38a: *
Much to my dismay, fansub watchage will have to wait until I'm moved. I did manage to see the first six episodes... OK, so when exactly did "the world is really an artificial construct created by high technology some zillions of years ago and everybody conveniently forgot" become a genre in and of itself? With Trigun, it blew your mind. With Wild ARMs, it was kinda cheesy, but it fit with series canon. And here, well, it just plain doesn't work. If Pacifica turns out to be the reincarnation of some goddess, or someone who was loved by the person who is now reincarnated as Leo, I'll... I'll....
All right, I'll keep watching. But I won't be happy about it.
By the way, if anyone is fandubbing this, please let me know. I so want to voice Shannon or Chris...Tuesday, January 27, 2004 6:46:01a: *
Is anyone else getting bombarded with that stupid MyDoom virus? I swear, for twelve months I only got hit once by all the crap that was being spewed out-- and that was just that Qhosts garbage-- but now, in the last two weeks, I've been getting at least one infected file a day... Not to mention all the returned mail messages for virus mails that I didn't send... This is irking me. I do not like being irked.
Oh, and for what it's worth, I've been really enjoying Unreal 2: The Awakening. Even though my genre of choice is still RPGs, I have to say that blowing the hell out of anything that moves on the screen sure feels good once in a while. Anyway, back to the hunt. Maybe-- I might spend a little time doing a few upgrades to the page.Wednesday, January 28, 2004 9:36:27p: *
IRC frightens me.
I mean, really frightens me. Seriously. I have no social grace to speak of in person, and can barely string together a few words on the spot in AIM... so what made me think I ought to try wandering into my editor's IRC room this evening?
Right. The fact that I haven't heard from her in three weeks and I was seriously wondering if she still existed. That'd do it every time.Saturday, January 31, 2004 8:03:19a: *
To the brazilian anime fan who liked Love Hina enough to direct link an image off my server: Cut it out. Either copy it to a site yourself or don't use mine. I'm going to be nice this time. And this is the only warning I'll deliver. Next time I make this a federal case. I hope you learn your lesson.
Ao ventilador brazilian do anime que gostou do Love Hina bastante de dirigir a liga??o uma imagem fora de meu usu?rio: Corte-o para fora. Cop?e-o a um local voc? mesmo ou n?o o use meus. Eu estou indo ser agrad?vel esta vez. E este ? o ?nico aviso que eu entregarei. Vez seguinte eu fa?o a isto um caso federal. Eu espero que voc? aprenda sua li??o.Saturday, January 31, 2004 8:10:02a: *
And before you ask, no, I have no idea what the Portugese underneath my warning says. Babelfish is either drunk right now or it's mocking me, because I'm sure "ventilador" is not the "fan" I was looking for...Saturday, January 31, 2004 7:32:40p: * Justice is a dish best served at 1000x1000 resolution. I went back to the forum that had this image linked and saw that one of the moderators translated my... shall we say, creative solution to the problem from English into Portugese. And also added an order to remove the image. Hopefully I won't have to be a dick and change it again... hopefully the guy learned his lesson. Now to do something about the fourteen other blogs that have stolen "ultimatespoiler.png"... I'm going to be nicer to them, because they speak English, but.... Really, people ought to know better.