Last night my future housemate's parents were in town. He invited a number of people to dine together with his family. Me being me, I'd be hard pressed not to pass up a free meal. So I went. Despite off-schedule assignments and all.
The meal itself was alright, chinese food in western countries is just that. It's never better than the real stuff. But yeah. Halfway through the meal they started chatting, and it was about many things, but mainly about papa and mama's trip in Europe. they talked about various, nothing particularly exciting, as my tone would imply, but then they got to Spain. Short rambling about siestas, cos in spain, there's a period of time in the afternoon, for about 2 hours, where nobody opens shop. I'd never seen it, but I'd expect Barcelona at that time to be quiet, desolate, with the sound of winds singing their painfully tone deaf serenade, citing loneliness. The 2 hour lunchbreak where everyone sleeps is called a siesta.
They likened the Spanish to Malays, and citing the horrible stereotype that all Malays are lazy.
Now I can't fucking stand racism and Bigotry, so I tried to defend the Spaniards by saying that it's hot blah blah blah, but imagine my surprise, when it was the son's turn to speak, well technically he never fucking shuts up, but it was his turn, he went on about how his flatmates(coincidentally were all of south African descent) were nasty, unclean, unhygienic etc etc.
I was surprised but I realized I shouldn't be. Why?
Cos fucking 80% of the Malaysian population is racist. This skin color labelling is really, really getting on my nerves. Would it make any difference if the unclean flatmates are chinese? Or if we saw chinese teenagers loitering a bout the roadside would we fucking call them names? I'm citing the chinese as an example because I'm one, and those whom I speak about are as well.
It's been what? About 50 years since May 13. Too me it's gone on for long enough. I cringe at racist and bigotry statements. These people think it's alright, and unknowingly, they pass it on from generation to generation. It doesn't help either that the kids are too stupid to think for themselves.
I remember years ago, when I was sitting in the car with my mom. She'd come across some malay guy in a car and would say things like "malay pig!" In fact. I don't know if the malays know this or not. but in the chinese community "pig" has come to mean "malay". God knows the other races call each other in secret.
Yes hell I know the wounds of May 13 runs deep. But things going on the way they are the wound is not healing. I'd even go as far to say that the wound is splitting itself, into 3 distinct parts. Each one having a different interpretation of it. Time heals they say, but that doesn't hold true here.
You can go on and talk about how the government policies are all ethnocentric, and that Mahathir's "The Malay Dilemma" has been compared to Hitler's "Mein Kampf". Or you can be like my parents last I spoke to them "If you want to live in Malaysia, you got to accept that it has race problems"
But Accepting doesn't mean we can't change it. I believe everything starts at the individual level. We must believe, and have faith. But at times it's hard, when everyone turns their back to you. It feels like we're all backstabbing each other. But it doesn't have to be this way. Start by saying hi to your next door neighbour, help one another, be polite. Engage in friendly conversations, talk about our differences, understand each other.
Love can still foster if we let it. I almost think I'm mad for saying this, but it's been in my mind for far too long. Cowering, pupating itself, waiting for the right time, to erupt. I don't know how many people will read this. But if reading this spurs you to think, then I think I've done an adequate job. I've ranted on long enough. My blood still boils, but I think I'd stop here.
If you play games and fail to see how effing MASSIVE this is you fail. Seriously. The thing's practically a national sport in korea. nuff said. link here. http://www.starcraft2.com/.
**** Yesterday I was cruising around the web when I stumbled onto this little thingy here on Kenny Sia.com
Let me just say once again, as I have in my email to kenny that I don't think he's done anything wrong. The internets is full of jokers and assholes who have WAY too much free time on their hands. I find the whole debacle rather stupid, insensitive, inane, silly, childish and stupid. Not your average kind of stupid either. The kind of stupid you can only get in the United States white house.
Not that I'm making any sort of compelling argument either, I don't see the point in debating this and I just wanted to vent some of my frustration.
In all fairness though..... wait, there is no fairnss here. It's just plain fucking stupid. I won't even try to argue it.
I sent an email to kenny and was surprised I got a reply. Nice guy he is. Sigh.
****
In other news. I got this book today. It was going for cheap, evidenced by the "half price" tag. I don't have a great track record of finishing non-fiction books, but I'll give this one my best shot :D. DO you believe in GOD?
I believe this is the first English review of 燃えろ！熱血リズム魂 押忍！闘え！応援団2. or Ouendan 2 for short. First in the world that is.
It's long awaited, it's anticipated, and it encourages touching envigorated male japanese cheerleaders to pump up losers who don't believe in their own ability.
It's quite riveting really.
Anyway if you don't know what I'm talking about then you probably don't care, don't own a nintendo DS and won't continue reading.
But if you do know, or are interested, I invite you into the weird world of Ouendan, where people are constantly confronted with seemingly insurmountable challenges, have a constant lack of faith in their own ability, and are often very dependent on the encouragement of others.
Kinda like real life once you think about it.
The concept is based on real life male cheerleaders active in japanese high schools. Yes seriously. In Japan there are male cheer squads, known as 応援団 or Ouendan. Their function, I'm lead to believe is to encourage(and by encourage I mean scream and shout with violent hand gestures) people into doing things that they thnk they can't but actually can. How noble. And how awesome it is as a concept for a game!
ANYWAY. Bear with me here, I'm no expert on videogame reviews, but every review I've ever read has spent at least one paragraph describing mechanics and systems of said games. SO here we go. You might want to skip this part if you know what to expect.
Ouendan 2's game mechanics differ very slightly from it's predecessor. Hell, they're exactly the same. Every level will feature a certain citizen of bad luck, that is confronted with said insurmountable challenge and said lack of faith. Your job, as cheer squads, or ouendan, will be to cheer for these individuals, and through your constant screaming and dancing to the often charming J-pop soundtrack, our challenged individual will either fail or succeed in his task.
Case in point. The first level features a certain uni fresh grad from the previous game. This time preparing for an interview the next morning. But alas, his mom, dad and little brother all seem to be obstructing his preparations, folding paper planes with his resume, using his certificates as notepad paper for example. In a final fit of frustration he screams for OUENDANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahem. So as I was saying. It's up to you, the magical cheer squad who manages to always be in the right place at the right time, to save this here kid. right place.... right time..... right place........... ....ok thats enough.
You do this by making your cheer men dance in rhythm to the soundtrack, by hitting numbered markers that appear on the DS touchscreen. Sliding and spinning as needed. Each song is divided into several sections, and each section is representative of a certain stage, depending on how well you did in that stage, the guy you're cheering for will respond accordingly.
Here's a video to better illustrate what I'm talking about.
So there, now on with the review!
Since it's virtually identical in play style to it's predecessors, Ouendan 1 and Elite Beat Agents, the only thing that sets it apart is the song selection. So in a nutshell, it is better or worse than the first game? I'd put them on the same level, but this time around there less rock-ish tracks, which detracts from the experience if you asked me, but also less bad music compared to the other games. Though it offers nothing new, it's still a very enjoyable experience.
As you play through the game, all the songs are of a pumping up nature, that is to say they make you feel good, and this really goes well with the whole theme of the game, which is "with determination you can do anything". It's quite uplifting, and considering the story of Inis the developer behind this little masterpiece of a music game, it's very fitting.
It's almost always inspiring to see your character jump for joy at winning the national choir competition, or receiving a letter that tells him he's hired, and for a brief moment you really feel you can do anything as long as you persevere. To me personally thats a very important trait to have in life, maybe that's why I'm so enamored with this game.
Extra cheer squads to play as and extra scenes between them provides extra chances to look at the finely drawn art and the excellently designed characters. Which is always a plus. Each of the character's struggle is conveyed through manga panels, which proves to be very effective, even if they are mostly static images with minimal animation. The stories are mostly highly improbable daily challenges, although some tend to stretch the boundaries of craziness and whacked out logic, yet they all seem to tug at your heart strings in a weird, japanese humour kind of way. It's hard not to laugh at a guy that transforms into a werewolf every time he sees a round object on a date. Or at the trio of entrepreneurs that are loking to set up a corporation but have to fight off a giant catzilla. :D
Seriously. I swear I'm not making this up.
The Final Level is an absolute blast, and I won't spoil it here. But suffice to say that like the original, you're filled with this immense feeling of energy and confidence once you finally complete it. And that brings us to the next point, difficulty.
Make no mistake, this is a hard game, like a music games should be, but the payoff is also much more substantial than a normal rhythm game. Coz here, you get to see someone else succeed at something else. It's doesn't sounds as good on paper, but trust me when I say it's an immensely gratifying feeling. If you're new to this each song will take you several tries just complete, and the difficulty ramps up pretty fast. It's not as hardcore as some shmups I play, but it provides a fair amount of challenge not found in many recently released games. Several different difficulty modes provide adequate replay value, and the multiplayer will help keep this one in your DS for quite some time, assuming you've got people to play it with. :D
I don't, and that's why the multiplayer is the only mode I couldn't test out.But enough of that.
I could go on, but I think now it's quite apparent that I love this game, and will defend it with a passion if the need so arises. I don't consider it superior to the first game, but in this case more of the same is not a bad thing.
So if you're reading this, and you happen to own a DS, yes I know the odds are incredibly stacked against me, do yourself a favour and go play this. You'll feel better than if you haven't.
Today afternoon I booted up firefox, and discovered that my gmail notifier had a number 2 next to it.
Wow, it thought. 2 emails? it's been ages since my last one.
So the page loaded, and a minute later I was transported to my inbox. Sure enough, there were 2 messages. One was from a online adult webcam service that I playfully signed up for, and the other one was titled "TFL Lost property service".
Hot Shit.
Could this be? That I might actually get my passport back intact?
Hot Shit.
My mind went bonkers. It's like being zapped with electricity, you're thinking so fast, and yet you're not thinking at all. I swear I could feel the blood pumping in my veins.
Here is the email in it's entirety.
Dear Mr Wong
Thank you for your enquiry about Lost Property.
We are sorry to inform you that we have been unable to locate the property that was lost.
Yours sincerely
Lost Property Office Transport for London 200 Baker Street London NW1 5RZ Tel: 0845 330 9882 (UK) +44 (20) 7486 5772 (Non UK) Fax: 020 7918 1028
Data protection: The data we hold now or in the future will be processed by Transport for London for the purpose of Lost Property administration. It may be passed to law enforcement authorities if it is considered necessary for the prevention and detection of crime, and when otherwise legally required.
Fraud: To avoid any doubt, a fraudulent lost property claim is theft.
As part of our continuing efforts to improve our services to our customers, TfL undertakes, from time to time, research aimed at identifying strengths and opportunities. We may contact you in the next few weeks via our appointed research agency, GFK NOP, in connection with your recent communication with us. If you are contacted, we would greatly appreciate your contribution to the research survey. Any information that you give would be totally confidential and you would not be identified personally. If you do not wish to be contacted for research purposes, please could you let us know.
This email has been generated by our Lost Property computer system using template “No Trace.dot”.
*********************************************************************************** The contents of the e-mail and any transmitted files are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Transport for London hereby exclude any warranty and any liability as to the quality or accuracy of the contents of this email and any attached transmitted files. If you are not the intended recipient be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email is strictly prohibited.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses. ***********************************************************************************
Sure, you who are reading this aren't onr of the email's intended recipients, but who the hell cares? Sigh. Well I'll still get home somehow, or heads will roll.
Suddenly I am reminded how hard it is to believe in something when everything around you seems to be erecting a barrier, discouraging and preventing you from believing in it. But nevertheless I must succeed.
House sure don't cure his patients by thinking he was wrong, after all.
Being judgemental is apparently what I do best nowadays. I don't know why. It seemes I assign everyone a label once I get to know them lon enough, and suppose that label bears negative connotations it prevents me from associating with them.
I sometimes feel that this sort of makes me an ass. But how can we go on living life with people without judging them?
We turn a blind to glaring characteristics that define individuals? I don't know. I suppose it's true that I can't like everybody.
Perhaps it's about seeing the good in people, no matter how hard it is I suppose, or rather, how hard they make it seem.
I've gotten in trouble and in fights many times because of this, and because of opinions I suppose.
It's all very confusing, in my pursuit to search for what is "right" or "appropriate" I've tread over many, many toes.
Sigh. I'm so lost. Where's the light goddamnit?
How do I become not-judgemental?
or do I say fuckit and be judgemental and shut the fuck up about my opinions?
