June Journal Entries

Well, I have finished the game. Watched the ending three times and saw the "Special Secret" containing a clip for Kingdom Hearts 2. It seems that this time around Riku would be the protagonist and I hope that Mickey Mouse would be one of his companions as he only had a brief appearance in the game.

The game is simply amazing. That's what you'd expect from a collaboration between Squaresoft and Disney. Was surprised to see the list of voice actors, they had Halley Joel Osmond, David Boreanz, Mandy Moore, and Lance Bass among others. Aerith and Cloud as they rightfully should be, together. And of course, Sephiroth, probably the coolest villain ever, makes an appearance as a special boss, along with his "One-Winged Angel" theme from FF7. I just loved the game.

Haven't bought any new games yet, and since my brother is home, I'm wasting my life on the PC. Still tweaking stuff and thinking if am worthy of applying for hosting at Neopages. After seeing a site like this, am thinking twice about the application.

Weekends are not a good time to play RO if you have a shitty connection. Last night, the servers had 1000+ players even at 4 in the morning. Hardly did anything except level up twice and learning how to appraise items. Let's see how tonight turns out.

Tweaking [Saturday, June 28, 2003 @ 6:36 pm]

Been tweaking this webpage for more than an hour now. Hardly tweaked anything, though. Figures. Am always like this. sic.

Had a new idea for an additional page for this site, Alternate Realities, which answers questions what if this and what if that. It's like a vision of how my life/the world would be different if this thing happened or didn't happened. At present, I have yet to add anything to that page. Damn. I was full of ideas about stuff I'd put in it when I was commuting the other day, now that am in front of the computer, I just can't type anything. Am too lazy to think right now. Yup, that's how lazy I am.

I need to finish tweaking this site and updating pages such as geek stuff and what if... since I am thinking of trying to apply for hosting at Neopages. Browsing through sites who as of the moment are applying for hosting. makes me feel mediocre about my site. Most of them are graphically elegant, and real artistic. I worked hard for my layout, but the artistic comparison against them leaves my work in the trash. Well, I hope I'd get a lot of points for content and eventually get hosted. This could be the start of something good for me. I hope.

So I have two or three days to fully tweak this site, optimizing every second.

And with the status of Ragnarok Online during the weekends, I'd probably have a lot of time to do it.

Mentioned Ragnarok Online during weekends, right? Well, with a real slow connection (31.2 Mbps) and a thousand and up number of players, the game lags so painfully slow. Despite being a weekend, some people still go to sleep, so around 3-4 am, the game is "playable" and enjoyable.

Oh, forgot to say that am a thief now, and as I said, the game got a lot more exciting and interesting now.

Ragnarok Online [Thursday, June 26, 2003 @ 2:56 pm]

In reality, I got my first taste of a MMORPG with Nexus: Kingdom of the Winds, but played it only for a few minutes because I knew that there was a brief 10-hour trial period before you had to subscribe to the purchase, and 10-hours is too short a time to try anything out. It isn't based in the Philippines, meaning I had to bear with tremendous lag playing it, surely ruining the experience.

I found out about Ragnarok Online in other gaming sites and webcomics. Ctrl+Alt+Del's creator has been playing it for sometime, so has the writer for Machall, even providing logs of his quest. It is also the highest ranked PC game at GameFaqs, second only to GTA: Vice City. So I ended up checking their official site, reading some info about it and writing it off as another MMORPG that I would never get to play.

As I was strolling through Greenhills weeks ago, I came across a poster of it. Ragnarok Online, the first MMORPG in the Philippines brought to you by Level-Up-Games. I couldn't believe my eyes. Checked out the site, and saw that it was true. Sadly, I only got a copy of the game yesterday, considering that the free beta play is started in June.

After spending some time chatting up with friends, checking emails, and reading my daily webcomics, I tried out the game, and enjoyed it, playing till 5:30 am (started around 2). The first few minutes were boring to say the least, the reason is your levels being to low and following the in-game tutorials. Reading through gaming sites revealed this annoying but necessary reality of MMORPGs, leveling up like crazy. But once you reach the town of your choice class and a fairly comfortable level, it gets fun. I choose to be a Thief thought the in-game personality test revealed my character to be more inclined as a Swordsman. I still require a few more levels before switching from Novice to Thief is possible. Am excited already to become a thief, as things would get more exciting at that point.

Graphic-wise, the game uses 2D sprites akin to Secret of Mana games, but in a 3D environment. The graphics are hardly comparable to other MMORPGs such as Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot, etc. which have full 3D graphics. With the recent release of Starwars Galaxies, the bar has been increased higher, in the graphics department. The simple sprite graphics leads into an easier localization of the game, as not all PC users in the country are Radeon 9800 equipped and being a country where dial-up is the number 1 connection to the Internet, having simple graphics for a MMORPG tremendously reduces lag from the clients as well as the server.

I used a Pacific Internet's prepaid card to play the game last night. At a connection speed of 31.2 Mbps, the game encountered some lag time, but overall the game was bearable. Except for my first encounter with enemies, the game lagged, and jumped right in the middle of the group, and my character died instantly. The game is still in beta test, so certain issues are still being addressed. And hell, I was using a 31.2 Mbps connection and from any angle, that is mediocre. Maybe next time I'd try one that has a higher connection speed. Just using up my free hours, which shouldn't go to waste just because of a few minor problems.

Barely scratching the surface of the game, I am already enjoying it. Sure, MMORPGs are meant to develop a certain interaction between gamers, instigate friendship, etc. and I have yet to encounter that and make new friends. Well, what's new with that? Am still at the process of developing my character and maybe when I reach a higher level I could start interacting with other gamers, joining guilds, clans, etc.

A load of baloney, I didn't understand a hint of that. In short, I just love the game and can't wait to play it again. (Am waiting for off-peak hours to begin.)

Adaptation [Wednesday, June 25, 2003 @ 10:35 pm]

After such a long tiring day, spanning 3 malls, and walking back and forth, I finally saw Adaptation. And I must say, it was worth the trouble.

I usually watch my movies at Robinson's Place Metro East as the cinemas are the best for so many reason, the crowd, the seats, the leg room, and the cleanliness. Knowing Adaptation is showing today, I checked the mall. Lo and behold, no Adaptation. They had three Hulk's and a crappy movie entitled Darkness Falls, but no Adaptation. I was shocked and dumbfounded, with no idea on what to do next. Skipped back to Sta. Lucia to check if they have Adaptation, but same situation here, none. Seems like a movie like that got a limited release. Went back to RP Metro East to check on PS2 games, mumbling to myself that if I'd see a game I like (Suikoden III or Arc the Lad), am gonna buy it and go back home. No such luck either. Decided to travel all the way to Megamall in Ortigas. Luckily, they had Adaptation and I was right in time for the next screening. Lucky me.

**Review**

The movie is great. The Kaufman brothers (Charles and Donald) are really remarkable screenwriters, they are of course the same guys that brought us Being John Malkovich. As with the said film, Adaptation presents a style that is simply unorthodox, bending the traditional rules and principles in script writing and movie making. No wonder it got a Oscar Nomination in several categories. Imagine a movie about a screenwriter doing a script for a movie based on a book by an author who is fascinated about a man who hunts for orchids. The film is some sort of bio-pic, the characters being real life ones, Nicholas Cage as Charles and Donald Kaufman (twin screenwriters), Meryl Streep as Susan Oceans (author of the book), and Dennis Cooper as hmmm, the orchid guy (sorry, I forgot his name), but he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this.

As good as a movie can get, there are always certain drawbacks. Charles was finding a way to end his script, but he had no idea on how to do it. He even consulted professional help who advised him not to lie/fake it. I didn't like how the ending was portrayed and how they got all tangled up. I just didn't buy it. Prior to this, the movie was really like a bio-pic and was believable to be based on truth, then the scenes leading to the climax and denouement came, and ruined that sense of reality. For me, it was too much out of the ordinary. Maybe this was meant by the professional (again I forgot the name), not to lie or fake the ending. The movie shows Charles Kaufman as a writer who does not adhere to set rules and principles such as voiceovers portraying the writers thoughts.

Nonetheless, the ending worked for the film. It was just a surprising twist from non-fiction to fiction. The movie as a whole is spectacular, with great acting from all the leads. With Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle coming out on Friday, and with such a limited release, you may not get to catch this if you wait till next week, it would probably be gone by then, buried under all the Hollywood summer blockbusters. Go see it now! Am definitely recommending it.

**End of Review**

There was a huge crowd outside as there was an advance screening of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, not just in one cinema, but two. More of a premier night than an advance screening. Premier tickets cost around 400 php while advance screenings show a week before the opening day at the same rates (that's the way I see it). Why would anyone pay quadruple the normal price to see a movie that is going to be released in a day or two? Sure, before, it made more sense, as piracy wasn't so rampant back then, distributors could opt to delay the Philippine release of blockbuster movies by months. So seeing a movie two months before anyone else in the country hands over bragging rights. And on rare occasions wherein a huge Hollywood blockbuster movie gets delayed because of some Film Fest, watching a premier is definitely worth the money. Such is the case with LOTR:TT. Released in the US on December 19, but a month from that for us in the Philippines. I wasn't gonna sit around waiting while reading stuff about people all over the world who have seen it.

But with two days left till the international release, why pay that much? Why even bother? (Unless of course you scored free invites). In fact, due to the difference in timezones, we actually see these movies almost a day before Americans do. In some cases, like X2: Xmen United, an opening here of April 30, compared to an international (American) release of May 2.

I guess these people have lotsa money to spent and don't know how to. Plus, it puts them in a class apart from the rest of us pitiful humans.

Oh, and I scored a copy of Ragnarok Online, the Philippines first MMORPG (Massive Multi-Online Role Playing Game) hosted by Level-Up Games, the same people who released the first MMOG (Massive Multi-Online Game) in the country, Oz World. Am so excited. Currently, they are still on beta test which means play for free until August. F-R-E-E. Awesome right. Never mind that I had to buy a prepaid card worth 100 to get the free CD. More on this game and MMORPGs next time.

C4/\/ |_| |_|/\/|)3|2574/\/|) 7|-|!5? [Monday, June 23, 2003 @ 3:15 pm]

Speaking in code? Nah, If you can read that, try this for size. It's a definition of leet.

1337 -- 4 5u8 14/\/9|_|493 0ph 743 !/\/73|2/\/37 \/\/|-|!c|-| !5 /\/0 /\/\0|23 7|-|4/\/ 50/\/\3 |-|4|2/\/\1355 ph|_|/\/. 1) p30p!3 \/\/|-|0 |_|53 7|-|!/\/95 7|-|47 4|23 /\/\34/\/7 70 83 ph|_|/\/ |-|4v3 /\/0 /\/\0|2 0ph 4 1!ph3 7|-|4/\/ 7|2|_|3 13375.

Ain't that amusing? For those who can't understand or don't have the patience to decode it, here's what it means.

leet -- A sub language of the internet which is no more than some harmless fun. The people who use things that are meant to be fun have no more of a live than true leets.

The most common definition says it came from the word elite, and evolved into leet/133t. Just check out Urban Dictionary for the meaning and then some.

These days are turning out to be totally lame. This is by far the longest vacation/break I've ever had. Encountered a similar one back in 2000 after I got kicked out of DLSU, but only lasted until June. With no definite plans in the horizon, this would drag on further. If it was productive enough, that would be saying enough. But no, all I do is make a bum out of myself.

And am so bored, thinking if I'd still go applying for a job at some callcenter or opt to study instead. Sure, there are tons of videogames I still have on my list of games to play, but everytime I am near the end of a game, I gradually lose interest in the game. I could start playing other games, but a chip in my body prevents me from doing so. Am quite picky too, opting not to play certain games until the nice 27" television set is fixed, which doesn't look like anytime soon. The 14" set is just too straining to the eyes, heck, my PC's monitor is bigger than that. Yes, am really this picky.

For those you were mildly entertained by my previous monologue would be surprised that I have a new one up. Eat your hearts out!

Stuck In A Rut [Sunday, June 22, 2003 @ 9:49 pm]

Let's hope he won't be counting the ballots next year.

Been a while since I posted something on this journal of mine, not that anyone would be outraged by it. Don't even think anyone would care.

Except for yesterday, have slept like a "normal" person for three consecutive nights, normal meaning before 12 mn. Wish I could always sleep like that since it felt good to wake up early in the morning and be up and play videogames the whole day. Of course, as with all things in life, there is a downside which is not being able to go online. Am usually an "off-peak" person, logging in during ... off-peak hours. For the past days, as I said, am asleep before these "off-peak" hours and it really isn't in my system to go online during the day. This leads to me staying up late again, and all it takes is one night to ruin what those good three nights have done. Well, not entirely, for some odd reason, I am felling sleepy right now.

So I saw the Hulk last Thursday and it was good. I like it. The CG (computer generated) Hulk isn't as horrible as what some people said and expected it to be. Ang Lee (of Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon) directed this movie, and he also acted out the CG Hulk during motion capture, giving the CG Hulk more character which is the way Ang Lee wanted it, mentioning it would be hard to direct an actor to act out in the way he envisioned it. Trust Ang Lee to do the best work possible. The human element missing in most CG heavy films was well portrayed in this movie. Sure, it can hardly be compared to the phenomenal success of Spiderman, but it is certainly better than Daredevil was, by leaps and bounds.

Bit by bit, am regretting not being a comic book fanatic in my younger years. That way, I'd be more appreciative of these movies, like Hellboy and LXG. Yeah. Yeah. More regrets.

There were no new trailers to talk about, which was quite surprising since Hulk is a fairly big movie and there had to be some upcoming movie with a trailer or teaser attached to it. No other new movies too. Anyways, this week seems to be a promising week for movies. Adaptation is finally opening on the 25th and on Friday, the 27th, there's of course Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

Adaptation, as anyone recalls, was nominated for several Oscar awards this year, including Best Picture. Thinking of Oscar nominated films, all except The Pianist have been released in the country. Have seen Gangs of New York and Chicago, missing out on The Hours since I barely have the chance to go out. Then there's Bowling for Columbine, which won Best Documentary at the Oscars and will unlikely be ever released here. Almost forgot Spirited Away, an animé film that won Best Animated Movie. Wondering on when I'd get to see them.

Hulk [Thursday, June 19, 2003 @ 11:03 am]

I am ready to let it all out.

Hulk is opening in theaters in Manila, again one day before the international release, or should I say US release of June 20. Adding the difference in time due to the time zone, it's like seeing the movie almost two days before. We have rampant piracy to thank for this. Cheers.

Still having problems looking for a suitable host for this site, plus it has to come with PHP, CGI, ASP, etc. support so I can try out some new things. Not realizing that these "new things" that I want to turn out are things I haven't learned yet. Pathetic.

No. Sorry. Fuck off and don't ever bother me again. A few words that I have gotten so used to lately, to the point that when I ask, I know I'd get the same reply, over and over again. Bah! Atleast interviewers put it in a more subtle way by saying things like, "we regret to inform you..." or "we will call you...". Well, this is life, more so for me.

I feel really bad right now. A feeling wherein I need to prove myself, because as of now, I haven't. Graduating from CSB hasn't helped either, proved nothing at all. I wish we had the money right now, then I'd go back and study law or do a masters. Anything, I could take them on, I am a fucking genius. Ah, still can't get over from getting kicked out of engineering at DLSU. What the bloody hell was I thinking and doing back then?!

It's a good thing that am easily amused. A movie later and a new PS2 game would do wonders one could hardly imagine possible.

And Kingdom Hearts is still the best fucking game out there. The Nightmare Before Christmas level totally rules, the darkness, the humor, everything.

"To make a heart, first take a container with a lock.

The ingredients for a heart: pulse, emotion, terror, fear, hope, and despair.

Mix them all together. And we have a heart." -- Jack Skellington

Transformers [Tuesday, June 17, 2003 @ 2:35 pm]

Wow. They are planning to make a full-length live-action Transformers movie. Repeat after me. Live-action movie. Live-action movie. Just like this. Ubercoolness. The producers being the same people who brought us the X-men movies.

What a dull rainy day. The good thing is being at home during such a day. But then again, I have nothing to do here. Am just waiting for my fix of animé, which comes on by 4pm. GMA 7 is squeezing three shows into an hour which leads to cuts and awfully short episodes. Have seen the baby saga of Dragonball GT before and I have to say that they cut/deleted a lot of sequences just to make it short and squeeze into the one hour time frame. Heck, you hardly even know that a show has ended since the opening and ending scenes have been removed too. According to their time table, each show has a full 30 minutes for itself, but due to GMA 7's obvious lack of sense in time management, these shows get cut short. It would be nice to know if their time table after these shows gets fixed, but no, shows still finish after at irregular time slots. Notice how they say that so-so program starts after another so-so program instead of saying that so-so program starts at a definite time such as 7 pm. And since ABS-CBN is neck to neck in competition with GMA, they have a similar lack of time management, but 7 is far worse than 2, far worse.

Since I have finished reading the archives of my favorite webcomics, I have to wait for the next comic everyday, which is kind of slow. With the archives you simply keep reading, one comic after another, continuously without any delay. And after 30 minutes of being online, I have read these webcomics that I frequent everyday. So I looked for new comics, and started reading from the beginning. There is D-pad, a videogame store comic from Canada and Life of Riley, which deals with demons, vampires, succubi, and the like. I have read D-pad before, but it vanished before, and now they are back again. Then there's The Misc, which hosts two comics, Who's Yo Deity?!, a cool comic dealing with religion and faith, and Of Geeks and Nerds, which is another videogaming comic. There are still a lot of comics that I wish I could start reading, but I'd probably start after I finish D-pad and Life of Riley, some of which are Snafu, Force Monkeys, Mega Tokyo, and Mall Monkeys, and these are relatively old comics with huge archives. Ah, am addicted to webcomics, and when online, cannot concentrate on anything else.

So I've heard over the radio that the sequel to Meteor Garden is Meteor Rain. I laughed when I heard it, because it reminded me of Cloud's limit break in Final Fantasy VII. Speaking of Final Fantasy, the website for Final Fantasy XI is up.

I mentioned something relating Ghost in the Shell with an Animatrix episode, turned out my theory was wrong (it's never right to start with anyway). Thanks to the free magazine I got from Tower, I've read about stuff regarding the Animatrix without searching the Internet.

Here's a list of people who worked/contributed for the Animatrix.

Yoshiaki Kawajiri -- writer/director of Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D.
Shinchiro Watanabe -- writer/director of Cowboy Bebop.
Koji Morimoto -- animation supervisor for Akira.
Mahiro Maeda -- director of Blue Submarine No. 6.
Takeshi Koike -- lead animator of Wicked City.
Peter Chung -- creator and director of Aeon Flux.
Andy Jones -- animation director for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Quite the overdose of information. Of course, all episodes are made from the concepts of the Wachowski brother'sAmong those mentioned, I have seen Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D, Aeon Flux, and of course, Final Fantasy. I'd make a wild guess again that the creators of Aeon Flux produced the Animatrix short entitled, World Record, the human renditions are a dead give-away. Man, I need to get my hands on the other animés mentioned, especially Cowboy Bebop, heard of only good things about it from Mitch and Brian, people who are not fans of animé.

This is quite a long entry, I wonder who reads this stuff, if there is any, that is.

Professional Job Applicant III [Tuesday, June 17, 2003 @ 12:29 am]

"The throng of a thousand thirty-three thin and thick thermometers."

Here we are on Part III already. Check this and this for the first two parts of an interesting saga.

On the list (as if there was a list) today I had, C-cube services, another call center. Well, I felt better about this application than the previous ones. Somehow, I felt more comfortable and relaxed, which is definitely a good thing being a shy and quiet person who seldom speaks his mind, out loud that is. The lady who called me, said the opening was for a financial client, and asked if I still wanted to try applying. Having nothing else better to do, I said yes. The actual interview ironed out pretty smooth, as I said, I felt more comfortable this time. Being a call center, they test you for your speech and pronunciation of words especially the "th" sound. I think I did reasonably on that too. But through the interview, the interviewer identified me as a "techie" person, which I am. So after the interview, he said that currently there is no opening for a technical position and my application would be put on hold and they'd just call me if ever there was an opening. Due to the peculiar happy mood I was in, I took that with a dose of optimism.

On a rather pessimistic note, it was a nice way of saying, "Sorry, but your application has been rejected. Thank you for wasting your valuable time with us."

By 11 am, I was finished, so I thought of dropping by Megamall and do some window shopping. Note to self: As much as possible, abstain from window shopping. Just buy what you want (or can afford) and get the hell out. Saw a lot of cool stuff, stuff I would buy when I have the money. Started imagining the possibilities of having my own hard-earned money and spending it on stuff that would make me happy. A digital camera, a new cellphone, RAM, Home Entertainment System, etc. This made me wish I was working already. Hopefully, that time will come.

Picked up a copy of the new Deftones album as soon as I saw it. Hmmm. Another Deftones album after a potentially failed application. Interesting. Copies of The Ataris' So Long Astoria and The Used were available but I had my hands on the Deftones album. Now, I am officially broke, the only money I have left is loose change that would barely sum up to 20 pesos. I really need a job right now. But I wish we had money, then I'd go back to school and study and specialize in something. This crappy course will get me no where. And the schools name, doesn't help at all. For me that is, I bet it makes the screeners job easier, "Oh, CSB. Next please."

The CD came with a free magazine, Press. Nothing particularly interesting about it, except for it's catch phrase, "More Music. More Life."

Checked out the movies to see if there was anything interesting. Only Manila Film Fest entries and a few old ones. Thought about watching How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days but opted not to, saying to myself that watching The Matrix Reloaded again would be much more worthwhile. Then hunger hit me, and for the first time I decided to satisfy my hunger over entertainment. I think am sick. Anyways, the Hulk is coming out on Thursday, and believe I can survive 2 more days without a cinematic experience.

MTV Movie Awards [Saturday, June 14, 2003 @ 11:18 pm]

MTV Movie Awards, an awards show that gives more credit to the blockbuster (top grossing) movies, rather than the critically acclaimed films that are nominated for the Oscars. Caters more on the demographic who watches MTV, particularly the teens and young adults, meaning the nominees are in a different league as that of Oscar nominees.

What's nice about award shows is not who wins or doesn't. For me, it's all about the presentation, the main show, the gimmicks, jokes, one-liners, etc. And this is more blatant in the MTV Movie Awards which add tons of "special sequences". Loved the feature about the "Ass Coordinator" in movies, specifically, for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Yoda appeared on his floatation device used in Starwars: AOTC while accepting his award for Best Fight Sequence. The first ever Digital Character Award went to Gollum who had a very fantastic acceptance speech, snatching the award from Andy Serkins, the guy who acted out Gollum, mentioning references to Dobby the house elf of Harry Potter fame. Gollum's monologue in the Two Towers inspired my very own Monologue section on the site, which I haven't updated recently.

As for the musical performances, what can I say. You had 50 cents, Pink and Tatu.

The show burned up my otherwise blank afternoon as my brother was hogging the PS2 and for some reason, I was too depressed to do anything on the PC.

I feel better now, thanks to someone.

I really don't get female vanity. As much as male vanity is continually rising, female vanity seems to increase threefold. Then there is the fact about weight. I guess these are one of the questions best left unanswered, so as to avoid PMS-induced attitude.

Speaking about weight, I have noticed that mine hasn't changed for a long time. Whatever I do, eat or not, my weight doesn't change at all. Not even by a fraction of a pound. Have been underweight ever since I could remember. At least am significantly taller than I was back in highschool, which is definitely a good thing.

For those who want a few laughs or read something interesting, check these out. Pirate Ships. Ill Mitch.

Sex0r McL33t [Friday, June 13, 2003 @11:52 pm]

Sex0r McL33t, this is supposed to be my Haxor handle based on a haxor generator.

H4xor (haxor) -- hacker

133t (or l33t/leet) -- elite

N00b -- newbie

New words I fully understand now, thanks to UrbanDictionary. Have come across it on most of the web comics I have read, specifically the ones that revolve around videogaming. Geek speak or technobabble, words that have defined this new culture and generation.

What the hell am I saying?! Am just amused by these words. Snoogins! Just check out the site for weird, absurd, but informative definitions of words, be it new or old ones that have taken a new meaning in today's culture.

Due to irregular sleeping patterns, I wasn't able to go to Broken Middle Finger at Kafe tonight. Shucks! Missed out on a pretty awesome gig due to the great lineup.

Adding some fits of depression, this day was bland and boring, to say the least. My brother's home so I don't have the house all for myself anymore, well it's only for a few days. Atleast it would force me to use the PC and do something different for a change.

Kingdom Hearts rules! It is an awesome game. Just seeing Aerith again brings tears of joys to my eyes. The game itself brings out a lot of "oohhhh's" and "ahhhh's" from me as more characters are introduced and make appearances. I mean, what could go wrong with a crossover between Disney™ and Squaresoft™.

Grabbed some new games yesterday, namely Enter the Matrix and Legend of Legaia 2. The Legaia 2 copy that I got isn't cooperating well with my PS2, hanging in the most unexpected places. I knew I should have grabbed Suikoden 3 instead. Oh well, atleast am forced to play Kingdom Hearts even though am using the teeny-weeny television set.

Ack. It's been ages since my last movie, which was Bruce Almighty almost two weeks ago. With another Manila Film Fest happening, am forced to take a sabbatical from movies. Filipino movies hardly ever interest me at all, to the point that I'd rather watch a crappy English (American) movie than a good Filipino one. They just don't. So am counting the days till June 19, the day The Hulk debuts in cinemas everywhere.

Till then am wrapped up in my own videogaming world. Speaking of videogaming world's, I saw a poster that Level-up games, which brought the OZWorld, will be releasing Ragnarok Online, a MMORPG, here in the country. Must check out on that. My eyes could have been playing with me that time, like they always do.

ID12 [Thursday, June 12, 2003 @ 9:07 am]

Another early morning for me. Slept at around 5:30 in the morning, but my mom woke me up before 7 just to watch over my grandpa, and after that I can't sleep again. It's a wonder how an hour's sleep can recharge my body and keep me going the whole day. Just like the Energizer™ Bunny. To think that am so freaking thin, anyone can push me over and I'd just keep rolling and rolling. And rolling.

Wow, seems like am in high spirits today. Nice.

Today we celebrate our Independence Day. Yup, 105th anniversary of Philippine Independence from the Spaniards. Until now there is still so much debate about Philippine independence. Some claim that it wasn't until July 4, 1946, that we formally gained independence, since we were under American power the whole time. Well, an independence day of June 12, 1898 means we've been celebrating it longer than some countries who were once colonies themselves. Enough of that, I suck at History.

GMA 7 is finally showing Ghost in a Shell. Back when they had their we are animé! website, I noticed they had it posted there that they were about to show it on TV. That was years ago. But am happy that it's on now. It is a movie so it isn't that long unlike others, they showed the first part (I think) yesterday. Caught me by surprised, they never advertised it. All I can say is that it's great, the art, the story, everything. Also, it eerily looks like one of the Animatrix episodes, don't know which one exactly but I'd have to check that out. The Animatrix being a collaboration of the Wachowski brothers with the biggest names in the animé industry, the creators of Ghost in a Shell could be possibly one of them.

Speaking of the Matrix, I read Scott's review (of PVPonline) of The Matrix Reloaded. He clearly didn't like the film at all, even saying it was the worst sci-fi film ever, and paled in comparison with The Matrix. I agree with some of the points he brought up, but I still enjoy the movie as much as before.

I wasn't able to visit Greenhills yesterday since I slept around noon, and wasn't in the mood to move at all. So I guess, I'd be going later. The earlier the better, hoping that I'd be home before Ghost in a Shell. I just finished Wild Arms 3 and am about to engage into another hard decision, which game should I play next. Most probably, it will be another RPG, since these take hours to finish and I have nothing to do yet, and have no clear plans when I would start working. That narrows down the selection, but still there are a ton of new RPGs that I want to play, like, Suikoden 3, Legend of Legaia 2, and Grandia: Xtreme. I'll play the shorter adventure-action games when I have work already, in between day-offs. See, I have it all laid out. All I need is a job.

Been talking about the demise of Nothing Nice to Say, which is a big loss being a good punk comic. Two days left. On the bright side, Mitch is teaming up with Zach of No Pants Tuesday for an entirely new webcomic. Mitch would be doing the art/drawing and the storylines handled by Zach. So it was Mitch all along that was involved in Zach's top secret project and not Tycho. Mitch is a more logical choice since they are both from Minnesota. Now that's something to look forward to.

More bad news. The Independence Day Sessions this year requires invites, which means it is quite unlikely that I'd be going now. Sad, but there is still the Broken Middle Finger production tomorrow. Too bad I'd have to sacrifice an interesting episode of Angel to see the gig.

Sleeping Awake [Wednesday, June 11, 2003 @ 10:34 am]

Am on the edge again today. Hardly had any sleep yet. I tried sleeping early, around 2:30 am, didn't want to go online simply because I felt I was sleepy. Boy, was I so wrong. I didn't fall asleep at all. Just kept rolling over and over on the bed, till I noticed the sun rising and the morning sunlight creeping into my room. Got up and played Playstation instead.

Stupid mind and body, can't even agree on sleeping.

Now am dazed, I want to go out, prolly to Greenhills since I have to buy some CD's, but it seems I don't have enough energy. Bah, am just lazy as usual.

Looks like Nothing Nice to Say is biting the dust for sure, online that is. Mitch is still going to continue Nothing Nice 2 say, but through a publication, of sorts. Sad. It is still one of my most favorite webcomics. On to happier news, Zach of No Pants Tuesday is back, continuing the existing storyline, but now with a new art style. Cool.

Notice any change in the way I blog? It's getting shorter, which is a good thing. Am thinking of having a separate thing for things that I really want to talk about such as reviews (gigs, music, movies, videogames) and absurd life experiences.

Seems like people were entertained by that piece of crap I did for the monologues. Have tons of ideas for pieces there, but can't find the time to write (type) it down. Then, there's the Geek Mode page, which I have never updated yet. Must do something about that soon. Geocities sucks, I badly need to get hosted now. Anyone?

Got a busy weekend coming up. Broken Middle Finger production on Friday at Kafe Katipunan, then NU107's Independence Day Sessions at St. Francis Square on the 14th. LOL. 14th!

Hmmm...I wonder how I'd have enough money for these gigs. Am totally broke now. Should start applying for jobs now, which am going to continue next week.

Zero Credits [Monday, June 9, 2003 @ 11:36 pm]

Just like that and I have no more credits left. Globe system is unbelievably fast these days. Send an SMS and if you'd check your balance, you'll notice the deduction. Meaning, you can no longer text-like-a-madman, if your almost our of credits. Unlike before where you could send a hundred messages before the "Check Operator Services" shows up. Well, we had our fun.

Life. The nice big TV is still busted, the repairman didn't come yesterday. So am stuck playing videogames on the small 14" TV. Now, don't look at me like that. It's a real big issue. And I was thinking of starting Kingdom Hearts this week. Major bummer. Again.

The last journal entry I did seemed more like a mixed gig, CD, and band review. I sent it to Altercation as soon as I finished it yesterday, which was right when I got home, and still sleepless, so I wasn't thinking clearly that time. Later on that day, I wish I didn't. Checked my mail this morning and noticed no reply from them, which is a good thing, considering the sloppy work I did. What the hell was I thinking?

Some people have everything, and I mean everything, the beauty, great body, personality (?), education, etc. but still need more. I have nothing at all, except for an excellent family, but the only thing I desire for is her. Oh boy, that sounded pathetic.

Oh well, people are never satisfied. Wanting the things we don't have, sadly, at the same time ignoring the things that we do.

Admit One: Back to School [Sunday, June 8, 2003 @ 8:25 am]

Attended another Admit One Production, at Freedom Bar, Anonas Q.C. With school starting already for some schools, the gig was aptly entitled, "Back to School", with some people wearing student uniforms, cross-dressing included, which was quite cool. It was my first gig this June, and exactly one month since the Baguio gig which was my last.

Anyway, what made me really interested in this month's Admit One Production was their guest band, none other than the fast-rising Cebu-based band, Urbandub. Was lucky enough to buy their album last January (or December) when it was released at Tower Makati. Saw several copies of Urbandub's Birth, their first album, picked it up, and said "Wow!" to myself, and then placed it back on the rack. Back then, I was looking specifically for one album, forgot which one exactly, but that album wasn't available yet or was out of stock. Remembering how I loved Come, their first single, I picked up a copy again, and said "What the heck!" and bought the CD. And man, it wasn't disappointing at all, the whole album was simply astounding and am now thanking that odd twist of fate which led to an excellent and satisfying purchase.

So, one could only imagine how excited I was when I knew that they were playing in Manila. Before Admit One, they performed at NU107's R&R at the Marikina Riverbanks, but I've had a bad vibe about the place since Rakrakan sa Riverbanks. Instead, I opted to go and see them at Admit One.

More on the Urbandub experience later, let's get back to the gig first.

Silent Sanctuary opened up the night and I arrived just in time to see them. Haven't had the opportunity of seeing them perform before, so when I heard that they were up, I immediately bought a ticket, and found a nice comfy seat to watch the show, not bothering to wait for my friends. These guys are great, saw their episode on In the Raw on UNTv and thought they were marvelous, but to hear them live was a truly different experience, both breathtaking and nostalgic and then some. The violins and cello mixed harmoniously with the normal rock instruments, generating a truly unique sound, audible and soothing. The added classical string instruments reminded me of all the awesome orchestral soundtracks of favorite RPG's.

Next up was Boy Elroy, which am not particularly mad about, as I haven't really had the chance to listen to them with no distractions whatsoever. They had a good set nonetheless. Then the Admit One regulars. Dicta License were terrific as usual, never failing to keep my head banging. Fatal Posporos performed with Aia of Imago which added more female power to the already fantastic trio. Loved Kris' costume and the messages of the songs plus added stuff about propaganda and critical thinking. And then there was Twisted Halo, performing with the same level of raw energy that they always have.

Now it was time for the "main event", Urbandub, the band everyone has been waiting for. If one would take a quick sweep of the crowd, one would recognize faces from other bands who are doing good right now. Just shows how Urbandub's music has affected everyone. Their set was magnificent and very energetic to say the least, playing songs from their first album, Birth, and their upcoming album which would be released later this year. At 8 to 9 songs though, they left the crowd hanging and begging for more, to which they willing fully answered with a cover of No Beautiful Morning, which wrapped things up. Copies of their album, Birth, were being sold outside, which sold like pancakes. Since, they only brought so many copies to Manila, not expecting that they'd be widely accepted here, the CD's were sold out in a matter of minutes.

The CD was packaged differently from the ones sold at Tower, which were in jewel cases. These new ones were packed in a cardboard sleeve with cover, having the same images that the jewel case version had. According to a friend, the CD's were enhanced, meaning special features are available if inserted into a PC. I violently reacted against it, since my CD wasn't enhanced, having earlier used it on the PC. He then stated the possibility of the first batch not being enhanced. Felt bad right there. Paid 65 pesos more for my copy, which isn't enhanced. Bummer. But then again, I've been enjoying this superb album for quite sometime now. Fair enough. Upon arriving home, I tried exploring the CD, and was surprised to find the video of Come (normally, autoplay brings up Windows Media Player at once). So, if this is the special feature they are talking about then good for me.

Zipping back to the gig. Wow, that was one fun night, and am speaking of the bands alone, would be double or triple if I considered the company I had. Surely, worth the money and time, and the rare chances that I actually go out and decide to watch a gig. Cool.

One more amusing thing, the whole Baguio team was complete, each and everyone of us.

Finrod Anwarünya [Saturday, June 7, 2003 @ 5:09 pm]

Weird elf name. But definitely better than my hobbit name, which turned out to be Mungo Grubb or Bungo Grubb (if I used Simon Ariam). Yes, am a black elf.

Speaking of changing clothes, these two girls have again, new layouts. Again. Don't you people have anything better to do, like, uhmm, videogames.

I wonder when I'd be inspired to make a new layout for this site. Am real lazy, as long as it ain't broke, why fix it. The old site I did for Slapshock Listers hasn't been changed since the day it was uploaded. Almost forgot about the site, visited it last year and found close to 8000 hits, thanks to the message board, which some people still frequent. As for this site, a few additions to the guestbook. Nice words.

As for a new layout for this site, that won't come until I have a good idea. Am a guy with a insanely short attention span. As of now, my daily routines are messed up and am unable to accomplish the things that I want to do, which includes, videogames, TV, Internet, chat, graphic designing and webpage updates. Hectic indeed.

Did a few enhancement with the site, the screen now is a bit better. Planning to make it liquid, but am to lazy.

Gonna catch Urbandub later at Freedom Bar. Found out that the Baguio Team is going to be present. Kind of like a reunion of sorts.

Arrgghh. Have got so much to say, but don't know where to start. Later.

Failure Redux [Friday, June 6, 2003 @ 7:29 pm]

"It is not failure that is hard to bear, it is the feeling of being a failure."

This quote is the story of my life. Failure is not something new too me, and by now, I should be used to it. And each and everytime, it holds true. It was the quote our highschool valedictorian put in our yearbook.

Yesterday was Part II of the now "interesting" saga of my life as a Professional Job Applicant.

Was referred to E-telecare International by Marvin (Thanks, dude!), and the position I was applying for was Technical Support Resource (TSR, not sure if it was resource). The company was undergoing mass hiring so there were a lot of applicants. The interview was ok, the IQ test was fine, but the IT exam was hell. It was downright hard, stuff that I've never heard of. Most of which involved troubleshooting PC's, hardware, BIOS, and Windows 2000. Don't know any thing about Windows 2000. Sure, I could assemble a PC with little problem, but ask me what this cable is called, how many volts this input/output requires, and I'd be dumbfounded. Am wondering how the other applicants were able to answer these questions and still pass that test, since when we got the results, it seemed that I was the only one who didn't pass.

Bah! I felt pretty bad about it, was quite shocked when I was leaving the place heading to Megamall to calm my senses a bit. If I don't know those stuff, I don't know anything at all. Really busted my ego, again, for the nth time. To think that the company was mass hiring and everything, asking every applicant if they knew people who they could refer for jobs, I must have surely failed totally, miserably and outrageously. Thinking that if I couldn't get into a job like this, that doesn't require a specific degree, how the hell can I get any other job, even if it is computer related.

Pathetic. It sucks to be me. I seem to know everything, which is a good thing. The sad part is that I know a little about something, little as in too insignificant to get me anywhere. Always fall short somewhere. Heck, someone told me before that I was the only guy that made her feel so special. And what did she do about it, she ripped it out and painted the whole room (house) with it. Two coats! Sure, it could have been a lie, or simply the nature of the female species deceitfulness, but nonetheless, something was lacking. Was good, but never good enough. Never.

Dropped by Music One to check out CD's. Got Deftones' Adrenaline, a CD I've been looking for quite sometime now. There were also copies of Greyhoundz' and Cheese' first albums, but I no more money, felt that I should save what little money I have. This made me feel a bit better. When I got home, I then noticed that the bag they used to wrap that Deftones CD was yellow and read "TOWER Records Megamall". Nothing that special, it just surprised me. Still thought it was M1.

Was so ashamed of myself that night. How ashamed? Let's just say I couldn't even move myself to buy a PS2 game. I just wanted to be home and sulk the whole night. Fortunately, when I got home, I felt better, maybe because, with my cousin staying over and my brother home, I had no place to just be alone. A good thing indeed. Just played PS2 all night long.

That's one thing that never disappoints, though I still fail. Videogames.

Where are you people?! [Thursday, June 5, 2003 @ 3:31 am]

Now this is what I call sweet and romantic. =)

Pathetic.

Two months roll by since I've started this site and have only got 9 guestbook entries and 304 hits for all 17 pages. Well, what did I expect. Really, who would be interested with a strangers life. Just shows what kind of friends I have. Least you could do is sign the freaking guestbook, now and again just so I'd know that people actually read this stuff. Joke. Seriously, there isn't anything on this site that is that interesting to keep people coming back.

Great. This is just me. Getting all worked up and depressed by the number of hits my site gets. Like it really matters. Such a fuss over a small thing. Let's forget about the hits and gb entries, and go back to what we do best, pretending that there is an actual audience. Hmmm, I guess I should make my presence felt over the different webcomic forums. Yeah, might as well do that, when I have the time that is.

Webcomics take pretty much of my online time. They are fun to read and provide some laughs. Oh, and we should not forget about their blogs. Reading them makes you feel like a part of something. Sadly, some of these webcomics end abruptly. Nothing Nice 2 Say started this webcomic fever in me, and I loved it ever since. Online punk comic, that gave quite a view of the status of punk in the US. Created by Mitch Clem, who basically introduced me to übercool punk bands such as Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil, Discount, Weakerthans, the list goes on and on, is going to end his webcomic soon due to some personal issues. There is actually an Armageddon countdown on his site. Another webcomic I frequent, No Pants Tuesday, seems to have lost it's way. I guess Satan devoured Zach Miller or maybe he is trapped on a deserted island, two storylines which he used. The site hasn't been updated in ages. Hope he comes back from his slumber soon.

Been too busy checking out girl's sites. Young highschool - college girls who excel at creating websites and changing their layouts as often as they change their clothes. Man, back in highschool, all I ever thought about was videogames and studying (I said back in highschool). Well, computers weren't really the thing before. Had my PC when I was in fourth year highschool (1997). And all I ever used it for was uhmmm, videogames. Didn't have internet till 1998, when phone lines finally reached the plains of Rizal. Damn lucky kids. Am speaking like am that old already. Bah! Am just lazy. And unorganized.

Speaking of unorganized, my desktop is disgusting and a mess. Due to the lack of online time I have (yeah, right...4 hours aint enough for you?), I just save the websites on my desktop for some offline reading. Unfortunately, some of them never gets read. No wonder there is such a thing as Desktop Clean up Wizard. Haven't used it though. They are all valuable to me.

I'd probably use the weekend to clean the mess I did, and while am at it, write some stuff for the other pages of this site.

NIce. It's 4:30 already, and I've got a job interview later. Cool. Wouldn't matter if I slept or not, not much difference there.

Rated R-13 [Wednesday, June 4, 2003 @ 2:21 am]

Rated R-13. Restricted to ages 13 and above.

This is kind of a new rating that I have seen lately in cinemas. Before, we only had GP (General Patronage), PG-7 (Parental Guidance 7 below), PG-13 (Parental Guidance for 13 below), and R-18 (Restricted for 18 and above). GP is self-explanatory. Haven't seen PG-7 in a long time, and is rarely used. But there is some confusion between PG-7/13 and R-13, since R-13 is quite new. Prior to this, the only films that had a restricted viewership was R-18. PG isn't really restricted, if you'd read the ratings posted a little closer, it says, that parental guidance is required for children under 7/13, which means they could still watch the film, if they were accompanied by an adult (preferably, a parent). With R-13, under no circumstance can anyone under 13 get into the cinema, hence restricted.

Question. Why have this new rating (R-13)? Are movies nowadays too violent and sexually explicit to merit an ordinary PG rating? But on the other hand, lacking violence and sexuality to become R-18? It's like a halfway point. If you rated it with R-18, fewer people would be able to watch the film. Alternatively, if they gave a PG rating, more people would be able to watch the film, but would allow younger audiences to view something that, as rated, are not yet ready for. I don't believe that this rating even exists in the U.S.

An unusual topic for someone like me. I brought this up because of a particular encounter while buying tickets for Bruce Almighty. There was this guy buying tickets for The Matrix Reloaded who was with a young girl, and the ticket vendor said that she could not watch the film. Then the guy asked if she was with her father, would she then be able to watch. The ticket vendor explained that it was restricted to viewers above 13 only. So the guy just gave up.

Well, it reminded me of a familiar incident that my family encountered with Batman Forever. At that time it was rated PG-13, and we weren't able to get in due to my brother being 9 at that time. According to what I know now about ratings, we should have been able to watch that movie years back. Oh, well.

The Animatrix [Tuesday, June 3, 2003 @ 11:31 pm]

I finally got hold of a copy of The Animatrix and the June issue of FHM. That pretty much made up my day. Along with Bruce Almighty.

Unfortunately, I was only able to get a VCD copy of the Animatrix, since the DVD version was out of stock. I should have reserved my copy. Damn! I wonder what special features were in it, might as well check it out later.

Since, I didn't want to go home empty handed, I just picked up the VCD copy. Along with the June issue of FHM, witch pretty much makes the VCD purchase okay. I wanted the DVD for the special features, and since it would have been my first DVD purchase, first crack at using the DVD player that the Playstation 2 comes with.

Well, I guess it was a sign that I am still not ready to buy DVD's because they are much more expensive, and besides, I don't have a job yet, so I have to save the little money that I currently have. Fate decided for me that time. Yeah, fate.

And in this case, fate sucks. The VCD copy was subpar (not that I have compared it to anything), the quality wasn't that good, especially for Final Flight of the Osiris, since that was in CG-animation and it looked a bit pixelated. But the thing that annoyed me the most was that all episodes were under one track! I had imagined that since the Animatrix had 9 episodes, there would be different tracks for each, so that it would be easier this episode or that episode. But no! They had to put it under one track, meaning, you had to watch everything before getting to that episode you want to repeat. Obviously, a rushed job. Well, VCD isn't a preferred format outside the Philippines, due to copyright issues, so i shouldn't really complain.

The Animatrix episodes where just great. And there are 9 of them. Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance I & II, Kid's Story, Program, World Record, Beyond, A Detective Story, and Matriculated. Noteworthy are the first four episodes because it tied in with the Matrix as we know it, based on the two movies. Final Flight of the Osiris set the stage for The Matrix Reloaded. The Second Renaissance depicted the war with the machines and humanity's ultimate downfall. Kid's Story amused me alot since it tied in with a character for The Matrix Reloaded, showing how he met Neo. Matriculated, is set in the real world, where humans are making the machines decide to join their side, and it also stars a cute little tarsier that also gets plugged into the Matrix. The rest of the episodes are side stories to the world inside the Matrix. World Record presented how people accidentally stumble upon the existence of the Matrix. One of the more colorful ones is Beyond, where kids are playing in a place where there is an anomaly or a glitch in the program of the Matrix.

Endless Roadtrip [Sunday, June 1, 2003 @ 7:22 pm]

What was supposed to be a one-day trip to Batangas, literally turned out to be one whole day. 24 hours from the time we left home (4 am, May 31) till the time we got home (4 am, June 1). Spent 13 hours going home, which is almost like traveling all the way up north of Luzon. I never want to experience something like that ever again.

As you have already heard on the news, there was this accident involving a trailer along the South Luzon Expressway. It wouldn't be a problem as it was clearly out of the way, as it fell in one of the ditches, sadly crushing one poor soul. The problem was it was carrying some chemical which might catch fire and explode if moved. So they just closed the expressway, with out saying anything.

Sure, they would be saying those stuff over the radio and news but what about those people who were already there who had no idea what the fuck was going on. You couldn't even see a single traffic enforcer re-routing traffic and warning people that the expressway was closed from this point to that. But no, there wasn't any of them around. It's quite ironic that if you'd commit some traffic violation (or commit nothing at all) they'd be sure to catch you faster that you could say "bummer". Not even the toll gate people said anything about the expressway being closed. It's part of their job to do so, it's just common sense. Ack, welcome to the Philippines.

As a result, all traffic was diverted into the neighboring towns which had roads that could hardly accommodate anything especially when the big trailer trucks used the same roads to get around. Add to that the Flores de Mayo procession, which didn't help at all.

Ah, well. It's just karma. I used to laugh and annoy my friends in school each time it pours, by saying things like, "I wonder what time I'd get home." or "Damn, it's gonna take forever before I'd get home." You know, staying at a room just across school is really something convenient.

But it was still fun since the whole family went out, including my dad. We were supposed to release his ashes in the sea, but decided that it should be on a separate trip for that purpose alone. My grandfather had a lot of fun, and because of him, so did we.

Well, am sure glad that it's finally over. Real nice to be home again.

So it's June now. I should be starting to seriously look for a job now.

JUNE JOURNAL ENTRIES

Job Hunting gone hopeless

ID12 [Thursday, June 12, 2003]

Sleeping Awake [Wednesday, June 11, 2003]

Zero Credits [Monday, June 9, 2003]

Admit One: Back to School [Sunday, June 8, 2003]

Finrod Anwarünya [Saturday, June 7, 2003]

Failure Redux [Friday, June 6, 2003]

Where are YOU people?! [Thursday, June 5, 2003]

Rated R-13 [Wednesday, June 4, 2003]

The Animatrix [Tuesday, June 3, 2003]

Endless Roadtrip [Sunday, June 1, 2003]

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