JetFable’s Gamer Writer’s Block

I played a bilingual version of Pictionary last weekend, it was fun, mostly easier than the regular version of Pictionary.
It was pretty interesting that we would determine which language is easier right at the start based on each card, and we don’t stick to one language because some terms are more common than others in this language and not the other. I remember getting stumped at this term, Polka Dots, and I had no freaking idea what it was, well I knew neither the English nor the Chinese. I am pretty sure I’ve never heard it or read it before, well now that I have developed this near photographic memory (since I started writing — my core memory dump operation), well it could be before I had better memory, or I just heard it and not register, but if I said I haven’t heard it, most likely that is true. Either way, most of the girls thought of it as a really common word and looked at me weird that I didn’t know it, yeah it happened that all my teamates were girls so I am not sure if all the guys agreed, I decided to use the word on the flip side for that round. It bugs me that I don’t know something (because I know everything). I don’t disagree that its probably a pretty common word, but I think about when do I ever have to use it? I think I call them dots on a shirt, or on whatever, in either language, I never had to discuss the pattern with someone, hay I am not a girl. Yeah, I write but when did I have to describe the pattern on a shirt? And hay I am not gay, I wear stripes or plain, not polka dots. I think some writers do write a lot about what each character is wearing, I guess that term is nice to know, I am not that kinda writer, I am the kind that writes: “sword clashes, blood splashes”, and the only dots I have to discribe is when the female character wears flimsy clothing and they are cold (or excited), and the male protagonist notices, and one thing leads to another (insert clips of your own imagination right here). I do not write about the what color boxers my protagonist wears, I have not even thought about that . I am more likely to use both “Apotheosis” (ascension to godhood) and “Apoptosis” (programmed cell death) in the same sentence before I use polka dots, in fact, I think i might have. I always remember this word apotheosis favorably, in the “Gap” series, Stephen Donaldson used that word, as one of the two password, to seal an android’s limit break godmode ability. So if he heard that word, in combination with the other one that escapes me at the moment, he will go berserk. Perhaps I’ll use Polka Dots as a password to seal myself. In any case, just some interesting facts about daily life.

When I was a child, my mom used to say that I can’t sing, and my cousin who did graduate study on music said that I have perfect pitch, which is the ability to to mentally categorize sounds into predefined pitch areas, and she turned out to be right. Well I was told that it’s a rare genetic trait and only 1 out of 10000 persons had it in the US, it says perfect pitch is more frequent among people who speak a tonal language (ala Cantonese / Vietnamese). I am not exactly sure how perfect pitch may hamper singing ability (as opposed to enhancing it), and was trying to find evidence of that on the net for a while, without any success. I did find a lot of interesting posts talking about having this trait. A person said that people with this ability experience sound as an entirely different world than a person without, sort of like being Neo in the Matrix and seeing everything in code, sometimes that’s not always a good thing, because you’d be extremely annoyed at a note played at a nonstandard pitch. So far I still believe that it affects my singing ability somewhat, and I have yet to track down my cousin and ask her, but that is totally my own understanding. I believe that my mind follows the absolute pitch of a certain note but my voice cannot match it, therefore I become off key and I sound even more horrible in my own ears. In any case, since having perfect pitch doesn’t help me, I always thought if I could trade it with something else, maybe more charisma, intelligence, heightened vision.., anything, I seem to foget I live in the real world and not in an RPG. I keep on thinking about this scenario in my mind, I am in the last dungeon, the world is coming to an end, my companions are fighting hard, but I can’t do anything to help them, I can’t fight, I can’t cast spells, I can’t even disarm that trap in front of me. And there’s this final puzzle, the notes are played, and I have to replay them, exactly, on this harp, before the door to the end opens, and I finally know why I am here, I am needed, afterall ……

I was recently introduced to 9 types which is a pretty cool study of the 9 personalty types that makes up the human psyche, or so they say. You answer a series of questions and then pick the highest scores out of the 9 category, and that’s you. I did the test, and well, its pretty accurate, it tells me nothing new really, but what I already know of myself. I guess if you didn’t know yourself you could take the test to find out more, but if you didn’t know yourself and are at least 25 years old, you better shoot yourself now, because you are an idiot and the world is better off without you, on second though, don’t, you’ll just make me look cooler, hah hah (the downside of that is, idiots clogging up the freeway everyday, the traffic I have to deal with, sigh). Anyway, sarcastic me got out of hand again. The most interesting thing about the test is, really, for you to step into another’s shoe, someone you care about, someone you know well, someone you don’t know if you know well, and try to answer the question like they would, and see what you get, as opposed to them doing the real test (provided they are going to verify your answer later on). It is interesting. I tried that twice, once as someone well I really care about, and once as someone I know well and for a longer period of time than the former. I am very close on the former, with about + or - 1 margin of error, I guess I do know her well after all, but I already know that. I am still close to the latter, somewhat off on some things, but still within a very small margin of error. I really think people who plan to live with another for the rest of their lives (ahem… ), should take this test, as the other person. Just how well do you know each other? If anything, it is interesting to see how observant you are, or simply how another person is perceived, versus the reality. 

Today I changed the title to my blog, because it’s not really about being a nostalgic Otaku anymore, I want to write more about writing, and life, and everything else. Yes, I still do love anything Japanese. Girls who speak Japanese get an automatic +4 pts (in a 5 pt scale), just kidding. Seriously, how many times have I heard that “all Japanese girls are hot” comment? If I had a quarter every time I heard that, well I’d be able to buy you, and your mama, two cheeseburgers. If you said that in your life, you are either A) a moron, B) You watch Japanese porn all day, C) All of the above. Seriously its all about the makeup and clothes. If you walked in the streets of Tokyo, and saw a pretty girl. You will see that same girl over and over again, in every corner, I swear, they all look the same. Its actually a glitch in the Matrix, you know, to let your mind convince you that there are a lot of hot girls in Japan, but in fact, there’s only one. The Matrix clones that one girl over and over again at different places. Yes, that is the truth, and now you know. But really, the Japanese makes the worst porn, and have the hottest porn stars. I might have said that before, how a country makes porn refects the ideals of that society. Think on that, find me the 10 major differences between Japanese and US porn, and then go find a Korean one, and then parallel that with the differences in culture. I think I can teach a class in college. Enough said, I don’t want to talk about porn. Not today, not any day. And just to clarify, porn is bad for you, and I don’t watch it.

Its about the writing. Yes, I realized, last year I was unproductive. And unproductive means I went to work and make money but didn’t do much of anything else. I swear, work is the bane of creative productivity. Meetings make people stupid. Last year I wrote less than 10 blogs for the whole year, and not even one page of my next great American novel. This year I want to defeat my writer’s block and write more. Yes and there goes the new name. But seriously, there’s no such thing as a writer’s block. Writers invented that to be lazy so they don’t have to work. I swear, writers are the laziest people on earth. Next to that, nerds. But all writers are essentially nerds. Why? You ask. Because I know, first hand, for I am one, and I actually have to go to work, because I haven’t produced any profit from writing. But I swear, if I make money selling my books, I will never go to work again, not that I can’t, I just won’t. You either are a writer, or you aren’t. You have the genes or you don’t. Its like, you are either gay or you are straight. You just can’t work at it if you ain’t the material. A writer can get better, by writing more, but mostly by reading more (and that’s fun, thats entertainment), even writing is just to pass the time, it takes no effort. I write when I am driving, when I am doing other things, well not really typing, but directing the plot. The actual typing is just making it concrete, putting the pieces together. And I swear again, it does not take 1 year to write 1 book, and it certainly does not take 3 years, or 10. Any writers that tell you that they write 8 hours a day and then take the whole year to publish 1 book is lying. Sure it takes a long time to go through the publishing process, and a writer may write his next and next next book while his last last book still hasn’t been published, but that’s no excuse. And 1 book a year, those are the hardworking ones. Most write a hit and don’t write anything for the next 5 years. Yes, Dan Brown, you, the finest example. And Mr. Brown can’t even write. OK, Angels and Demons was a decent book. Da Vinci Code, come on, Jane Janson already did it in Gabriel Knight 3. Yes nobody knows Jane Janson because your Dad told you video games are a waste of time and very bad for kids (and that’s exactly why I played everyday every chance I get as a kid, if not to just piss him off). Mr. Brown copied other people’s nonfiction and put in characters, he should get sued (in fact there was an actual lawsuit). Have you read the Digital Fortress, may have been his first book, please, avoid it at all costs, but it maybe a good text book for how a guy who cannot write, have no clue about what he writes, did no research, can make more money than you will ever make. Seriously, he has no clue about how the Internet works, how information flows. William Gibson (who wrote Neuromancer) knew more than him in the 80s before the actual Internet existed. In any case, its really all about luck. If you want to make money writing, you don’t have to be a good writer, you don’t have to work hard. You have to be a lucky bastard. And either you are, or you aren’t.

I did say any writers could work minimally to produce 1 book a year (that’s about 2 hours of working a day at max). Yes I can personally attest to this. In the year 2000 to 2001, I lost my job, I got laid off, I got laid off again (yes if we take the “off” away from that and suddenly the world becomes perfect), and the cycle repeated. Yes, life sucked, and actually looking back, it wasn’t bad. Yes, my bank account diminished, but I was productive. I wrote 3 novels and they were all pretty long. It was so long the publisher said it was too long. Too long, yes that’s what she said (insert sexual joke here). And what I did when I didn’t have work. Here’s a run down of my schedule. I probably wrote on average 2 hours a day. Yes sometimes I write for 5 hours straight and sometimes I don’t write anything for weeks, therefore I put “on average”. I played video games for 3 hours, maybe watch movies for 3 hours, and also read other people’s inferior writings for 3 hours, thats 11 hours. The remaining hours, I looked for jobs, I went to interviews, I wrote agents and looked for publishers, I go through my pile of rejection letters. I even eat, sleep, and go hang out with my friends. And yes, I repeat, I did write three manuscripts. The quality of them don’t matter at this point but at least one of them was good, said that publisher, who claimed that they could not market my book. That’s like a girl saying, I think you’re hot but I won’t sleep with you. I prefer: this is crappy writing but with some work I think we can find a market for it (they probably said that to Mr.Brown). And that translates to: I think you are butt ugly but I’ll sleep with you anyway.

I say this again and again, writers write to pass the time and they write because they don’t have a choice. I did say that a professional writer can produce at least 1 book a year minimal, but I didn’t say that he should. I am just trying to prove a point how lazy writers are. In fact, I do believe that ideas go to writers, and not the other way around. Yes ideas are like phantoms that float in the air, and they possess the person, and the person writes them. That’s true creativity. So by saying that, I also do believe that a writer can only possibly write a maximum of 5 good books in his life, out of the 30 other ones that are either decent or they will suck. Yes, the more you write, the better your writing is, but not necessarily the story. A good example is Dean Koontz, who used to be one of my favorites, and regular reads. He used to write remarkable stories, with simple writing, and easy read. Now he takes 200 pages to describe a 2 page scene, stories don’t go anywhere, he has better prose and uses bigger words and the sentences flow better, but the stories suck. But he still makes money because he already hooked his fans from the beginning (and that excludes myself). I never become a fan for an author (I am only the fan of myself, the greatest writer on earth). If its good I’ll read it, if it’s not, I will stop at page 10 and never buy his books again. But the moral of the story is: writers don’t work hard, and should not work hard. The more you write, the better your writing is (it helps if you are a journalist), but the worst your stories will get, because the ideas have gone somewhere else. There’s no such thing as a writer’s block, its our excuse to not work. When ideas run out, go do something else, go have a family, have kids, have concubines, get a job. Don’t waste other people’s money and time with your crappy writing.

It’s very possible to keep you daytime job, write professionally, and still have a life (but you have to be smart like me). Seriously, let me give you a run down on my first 2 hours of my work day yesterday. I started the movie Blood Diamond, on my right LCD screen (Yes I have a split screen, yes I have my own office, and yes I make more money than you, who said life is fair?), which I downloaded, if I had to pay for it I would shoot myself. It sucked, just like any other new movies. I swear, movies are going downhill and TV dramas are definitely getting much better (Heroes? 24? Prison Break? Medium?). Come on, Departed won how many Oscars? Departed is originally a crappy Hong Kong movie (which is not crappy), but Hong Kong people are the king of “No Original Ideas” and Plagiarism and Piracy, yes and Hollywood is worse, because they actually had to pay money to remake it, put worse-looking white people in it. In any case, I gone off topic again. Blood Diamond flashing on the right of my screen, actual work on the left. Also looking at stock charts, reading crappy articles, financial news, technology news, chicks bugging me on MSN (But yes I love chicks so all chicks should bug me at work), me bugging other people about how work sucks, me writing the short story “The Fat Cat tale” on my last blog (below). My boss comes in, and ask me about the database, yes I told him to come in and stare at my right screen, which the SQL Server Manager Studio which I use as a camouflage of me actually working comes up and cover the windows media screen, the movie still playing, one side of my headphone still on, and Jennifer Conelly speaking, and I thought, damn it, she’s hot and i want to stare at her, left screen MSN flashing, hot chicks are messenging me, and I still have to finish writing that blog. My boss ask me to pull something from the database, I swear, I usually pull out data way faster than anyone because I already use it to cover up my movie so usually I already have it opened up and ready to go right away (which probably impresses my boss who thinks I am working on it already), as opposed to other people who is doing actual work and have to start it up. He asks me about another issue which I have not worked on, I look deep in thought (thinking about girls, and writing, and writing about girls), and said, I couldn’t find a solution yet, but I have so many other things to work on and I will put that on my list, my boss leaves, the crappy movie continue, and I continue to finish my “Fat Cat Tale”. Why I wrote that? I wanted to, I can. It’s that simple. Well I wanted to write something short and dark and twisty, and reflects something about life (especially about mine). In any case, my point is, its not that hard to have a job and make money so you can buy dinner for hot chicks, and write and keep yourself entertained. But well you have to be the authority of multitasking, which I am (again I can start a class), and you have to learn, grasshopper. But seriously, on a bad day, I really have to work, and i have work piling upon me that I wish I would die. I have one advice for every worker out there, work smart, but don’t work hard, unless you run your own startup. Don’t go crazy about making money for other people, and paying for other people’s prostitutes and concubines. In any case, if you can write crap and make millions, like Mr.Brown, and not work for the next 100 years, more power to you, and I will worship you, instead of the other way around.

When am I going to end this piece of art writing? Soon. But really, I swear, traffic just gets worse and worse every single day. Now I wake up earlier, and I get to work later. I leave work earlier and get home later. There’s a traffic accident 3 days out of 5, even without accident it is slow as hell. I swear, more people are going to their crappy jobs, more people are waking up earlier, and there are just too many immigrants coming in thinking that you can find gold in America (they think all the hot chicks are here, but there are only leftovers here. Please, go to Japan, at least you can find clones, if you missed the reference at this point, you can scroll all the way back to the top and read this article again, the cycle forever continues) . I used to listen to audio book, sip on my ice coffee, write all my blogs and my next great American novel, think about hot girls, think about life, the universe, and everything, while I drive. Now I can do all that in addition to playing my PSP in traffic, without getting into an accident and die (people who gets into accident that actually clogs up traffic or kill you, can’t drive). Next I will be doing all of the above in addition to receiving fellatio, and I can get on the carpool lane. Damn, I need to hire a carpooler, with extra toppings. I think, if I invent a machine that can translate brainwave into words, then I can actually write real sentences in my car, yes I know, I can record it and have software to translate that to data, but I hate talking to myself, out loud. But I know, it is all in my head, I mean the phenomenon of worsening traffic. You know what brilliant people (for example, me) say about time, the past and presents don’t exist, but it is what our mind make up to rationale our existence. In other words, this page don’t exist until you click on it. You don’t exist until I beat you up. I am the center of the universe, and nothing else is real. I am not saying because I am an egomaniac, maybe I am, but everyone is their own center of the universe. We are consciousness floating in space (and space meaning nothingness, not where the moon is, you moron). And we dream up the world. Did they not teach you anything in Matrix, no, not dodging bullet in slow motion (which they copy from John Woo), not looking stupid and saying “Woh” when you see someone fly (Yes that is the highlight of Keanu Reeves career — and he was not acting, but being himself, clueless of what movie he was in), its all about the spoon, is it there, is it not there? If what we see are just lights reflecting from the object’s surface, and then signals reaching into our brain, nothing is necessarily real, not the keyboard I am typing on, the words you are reading, the fellatio you are not receiving. Just signals, the past and future, illusions, the present, fleeing signals hijacked into our consciousness. Writing makes us smarter, but it makes us lazy, and laziness is a great thing. There goes another day, another year, and I shall, continue to be lazy… I plan, to not be obsessed about an object (which includes women), and be an object of obsession. I will be productive, I will start thinking about looking for my own place, I shall make more money, maybe I will quit my job (hopefully does not contradict the former), I will look for hot chicks (and will let them look for me), and I will write the next great American novel, and forever change the world (the world that my mind creates).

 

 

The village girl Jade brought the children to the compound where they gathered around the campfire and waited for the arrival for the famous bard, Fuzzy Fat Cat, to tell them the twisted tales well known throughout the land, for their shocking twists and surprise endings. When the cat arrived, the children swarmed the feline and Jade could hardly see him. He was unlike anything she had seen, giant, rotund and well, covered with golden fur. Though like a giant stuffed toy came alive, his eyes behind the thin slits were like sapphires and when Jade met his gaze, she shudder at the intensity of it, like she felt a flame burning inside her.

It was a long time before the children settled, and the fat cat began the tale with his deep voice.

Many generations ago, many worlds ago, the world was at war. General Fable was ordered by his king to lay siege to the impregnable castle Ice that stood in the way of the path of conquest. General Fable was famous throughout the land for his skill of laying waste to the strongest of fortresses. There was nothing that could stand in his path, well, nothing except the impenetrable castle Ice, which walls were thicker than diamonds. Every morning he would draft up a plan and lead his team of soldiers, balistas, catapults, mages to assault the fortress, and at sunset he would retreat back to his camp, not being able to even put a dent on the outer walls. He almost lost hope of ever winning the war, until he saw the queen of the castle that morning under the dawning light. She was most fair, with procelain skin and long raven black hair, and the Ice Queen stole his heart instantly. Every morning she stood at the balcony and watched him trying to destroy her home, and he watched her shadow, and his heart fluttered. There came a morning she stood atop the gate with her archers, and demanded his audience.

“For one year, you have lay siege to my home, and in vain,” she said. “Why have you persist so?”

“Because my king demanded of me, for he wish to conquer and unite the lands,” He answered instantly, but he knew that was not true. “Tis a lie, my lady. You have stolen my heart the first time I laid eyes on you, and I wish to court you.”

“By trying to destroy my home?” She raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t there simpler ways to impress a woman?”

“I know of the legend,” he answered, truthfully this time. “The Ice Queen cannot leave her home, or calamities will befall this land.”

“Not only can she not leave her home, the Ice Queen cannot love,” she corrected him.

“This land is already in turmoil,” he told her.

“You know not what you ask.” Then she left him, and the siege resumed.

For ten years the general lay siege to the castle, and every morning the two met before the gate. Though they were never within arm’s length of each other, they talked about everything, about themselves, about the world, and came to understand each other.

On the 10th morning of the 10th year, since General Fable had come before the gates of Ice, finally the gate opened, and the Ice Queen came before her nemesis. “Your liege chose you not because of your skill, but patience, which had moved me. I can no longer stand this folly. Come in, and cease this foolish pretense that you want to destroy my home.”

“There is only one thing that I want, my lady,” he took her in his arms and felt the Ice Queen shudder in his arm. But she did not fight him, and he felt her melt in his arm.

“If you kiss me, you will unleash the worst evil in this land sealed inside my wombs,” she told him.

“I do not care, for this land needed cleansing. I tire of war.” He did not care, for he held the most beautiful woman in his arms, and the feelings surged inside him like a erupting volcano. The two had talked for ten years and now they had nothing to say, for they knew each other’s thoughts like they were one. He carried her to her bedchamber.

“How does he know where it is?” One of the children interrupted.

“The first rule to listening to Fuzzy’s stories are,” the fat cat growled. “You do not question the storyteller about the plot. And the second rule is, you do not interrupt, unless you raise your hand, and is addressed. Of course the queen directed him there, but I do not need to address the infinitesimally tinniest of details. I do not need to tell you where the bathrooms are and when the main characters relief themselves. Now let’s get back to the tale.”

The next part of the story was so vividly described that it made Jade blushed, and she covered the little boy’s ears who sat next to her. She would have covered everyone’s, but she only had two hands. But she had to admit that she was fascinated, that the love story sparked a longing inside her heart.

At midnight, true darkness enveloped the castle. The face of the Ice Queen shattered like the broken shell of an egg, and emerged from it a giant serpent with eight ominous heads. “You have broken the seal of the Orochi, the god that made this land. Now you will be devoured, and I will take on your shell and remake the world that you have always longed for.”

The general put up no fight, for he had accepted his fate. He had loved, and now he could even take the war and suffering from the world. The evil god devoured him with just one of its head, and it wore his face and began weaving the threads to unmake the world.

When the fat cat paused, the children applauded. Jade shuddered, for the story had somehow awakened something ominous, like there were phantoms staring at her back.

“The story does not end here,” the feline said, grinning. “Many years, no, generations, worlds later. A hero went to challenge Orochi, hoping to slay it and end the destruction of his world. He was a cat who had gained the knowledge of sentience, and had the power of tales and songs, along with his skill of the sword. He didn’t put up much of a fight, but the encounter lasted 3 days, for the evil god went easy on him, seeing as how fat and furry he was. Before the serpent devoured the feline, he pleaded to be granted a boon. Orochi accepted. The cat requested that Orochi must resume his form as a bard and tell exactly 1 million children a delighted fable before remaking the next world. The god nodded its serpentine head and swallowed the giant cat whole.”

Silence befell the crowd when the fat cat finished his story. Jade’s heart pounded, but her legs had gone cold and she could not even find the strength to tremble.

The cat counted its furry claws. “It seems I have gone over the quota. Oh well, I was never good at math.” Then suddenly his head jerked sideways. Where his shoulder blade was, blood gushed out and a serpent head emerged, and seven others followed. Until the once rotund storytelling cat was now but a pile of skin and entrails on the ground.

The children did not have time to run, nor even scream. Each of them were swallowed, in front of Jade’s eyes. When she finally summoned the courage to blink, the serpent head was but inches away from her. Its eyes gazed into her, reading her soul.

“I shall grant you one boon,” It addressed her, its voice a combination of divinity and evil. “As I had granted the feline hero. What wish would you like, before I take on your skin, and cleanse this tainted world?”

“I… I want to be deflowered.”

The serpent head moved back a few inches, as if taken aback. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. She knew what she wanted. She could not die without knowing what it was like.

“Very well. I shall grant you this wish. Know that I carry within me the knowledge of all men and women, born before you, after you. I know the desires of mankind. And I shall pleasure you before I devour you. What form would you like me to take? I can change into the village heartthrob, or any form I feel pleasing to the eye, I could even take the form of the feline cat again, I know how women are with giant furry creatures.”

“I want you to take the form of my father.” She had always longed for him in ways that surpassed a normal relationship of father and daughter.

The serpent swallowed, and took in a long breath before speaking. “If that is your desire, take me to him and let me devour him, for I do not know his form.”

Jade could not forget that night, a night of pain and pleasure, and then the world was remade. Perhaps a much better place, perhaps a even darker place, she did not know. For it no longer matters, she walked the next world, and someone would rise to her challenge, the cycle continued…

(Don’t you just love a story with a happy ending? I know I do.)

I read this interesting article Darwin’s God about an interesting theory that human maybe genetically hardwired to worship spiritual deity. The article was really long, some of it insightful, but most of it uninteresting. But the conclusion to the article is especially well written, especially this part:

What can be made of atheists, then? If the evolutionary view of religion is true, they have to work hard at being atheists, to resist slipping into intrinsic habits of mind that make it easier to believe than not to believe. Atran says he faces an emotional and intellectual struggle to live without God in a nonatheist world, and he suspects that is where his little superstitions come from, his passing thought about crossing his fingers during turbulence or knocking on wood just in case. It is like an atavistic theism erupting when his guard is down. The comforts and consolations of belief are alluring even to him, he says, and probably will become more so as he gets closer to the end of his life. He fights it because he is a scientist and holds the values of rationalism higher than the values of spiritualism.

I had to read it twice to understand what he meant by having an “atavistic theism” erupting (no sexual jokes here please), well for a normal person of an normal intellect, you should read it 5 times at least. That was good writing, and I love reading masterful writing by other elegant wordsmiths. In any case, I have felt that, and I agree with what he said. It is harder to be atheist, to question everything, then to take in something, as blind faith. Belief in religion, God, whatever you call it, the answer to everything, does fill up that void, that emptiness that sometimes well up between us. It is much harder, to willingly face that void everyday, and to challenge why you are here, and what you can accomplish, and to face oblivion, when your life ends.

I disagree with most of the article that suggests spiritual belief is genetic. I believe that religion is an inevitable evolution of all cultures of sentient beings. To be able to think freely, is to question the existence of oneself, and to fear death. Religion grants us immortality, and it is the most basic function of all living things to find a way to live on. If human beings did not evolve from more primitive lifeforms, and let’s say if an alien civilization genetically engineered us, and are still monitoring us from the shadows, then perhaps the seeds of religion were planted in our societies, to keep us in check. For if religion answered everything, we would not have to seek the answer, and the world would be flat for all we know and Earth was the center of the universe, we would be lambs for those who reign above us (again, Xenogears referece). Religion keeps a civilization tamed, religion teaches us to be good, which isn’t a bad thing. To be good with reward in mind (like a better reincarnated life, like Heaven) is easy, to be good and still face oblivion is courage. It takes a lot more courage to be atheist. The truth does not always liberate us. I am not saying there’s no suprime being out there, but I am keeping an open mind, perhaps the gene to question everything is what’s really hardwired inside me.

I used to write about this a lot, every year passes, and my best friend and I (or should I say ex-best friend) would write about the best games ever, every year we would update our own list. I haven’t done this in a while, because my best friend has vanished, he has pulled that before, and magically appeared again, sometimes I wonder if he’s just my imaginary friend, but I think I got him on photo somewhere. This came about after I started emulating PSX games on my PSP, like my above post has mentioned, I can’t believe some games are just so classic that they are so timeless, and some new games just plain suck. I originally only wanted to write about 10, I just couldn’t fit in in there, after all, the game industry has been around for more than 30 years, and I’ve played for more than 20 years of my life. I could write 100, but that’d just be overkill, you could go to IGN.com for that, but I think they list sucks, my list is the best (because u know it, I am the authority), even though it’s biased as hell, for one thing there are no sports game in there, damn those people who dig sports games, just go out there and play some real sports. Forget about playing tennis on the wii, real tennis is much much more fun (and well wii bowling and golf is just as boring as the real thing, and thats a good thing). OK, all you honkies (HK people) who play Winning Eleven, go play GTA instead. I am just kidding really, I dig those nightclub chicks who actually sit with people and play Winning Eleven, and they are good at it too (but seriously, would you be playing a damn video game when you could be playing her? After all you already paid for it). But in any case, I have digressed, here is the list:

30) Prince of Persia (Broderbund 89′)

I was tempted to put Mario Brothers here, just for kicks, but this Persian kicks that fat Italian wanabe ass everyday. What do you get this game, traps, traps traps, platform jumping, and the most fluid and realistic swordplay action you will ever get. Can they really do this with old CPUs? While the 3-D version is great, I’d like to go back in time just to feel the force of nostalgia, via the sands of time.

29) System Shock 2 (Looking Glass 99′)

Before Deus Ex, and after Stygian Abyss, there was System Shock. And this game shocked the world, and that’s all I can say. That damn turrets is firing at me and I can’t pass the corridor, what can you do, you don’t have to fire back like the million clones of shooters out there today, go find that terminal, hack it, and disable the turrets. I swear, kids today, they will never have brains again, because they don’t get games like this. (I was told you can’t finish the game as a pure hacker, well, I never tested this, for I always built my strength to bash the crack out of those muther fockers with a metal pipe)

28) Metroid: Prime (Nintendo/Retro 02′)

The sole reason to get a Gamecube. When this game was first announced and said to be first-person, I had my doubts. But after I played it, I was awed. The Metroid formula had finally achieved perfection, and now in full 3-D. Seen the pinball sequence? Again be awed by it. If people don’t know this game, you should be ashamed of yourself. What other game requires you to turn your protagonist into a ball to solve pinball like puzzles (also involve laying bombs to bounce yourself from the explosions). This is not a first-person shooter, and I make that my first priority to not include any on my list, even though I was tempted to add Castle Wolfenstein, for hooking me the first time and giving me a distinct headache. This is an exploration game, and reminds me of System Shock, for the scanning and logs mechanics to tell a story are similar.

27) Cobra Mission (Megatech 92′)

What can I say about this game, except its utter heaven, bliss, the adolescent dream comes true. If this was out today, this game would be banned. Forget hot coffee, thats nothing. In this game, when each chapters end, you go on a date, and the puzzle is to hit the sweet spots. Nudity is the least of your problem, I think this game will make a porn star blush (oh well, maybe not). My mission: to recreate this game on the Wii. Imagine what you can do with the wii-mote.

26) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami 04′)

It’s hard to simply rate this one game and not the entire series, as well, this game is the prequel to all others, and the pinnacle to the whole stealth action genre. Better yet, it plays like a Hollywood movie, and the script is actually better than a lot of movies out there. And there’s some funky game elements built in, like Psycho Mantis scanning your memory slots and see what games you like, and try beating him with the controller on the 2nd player side (this is from MGS 1 by the way). Can’t beat that old sniper, have you tried simply turning off your PS2, and not touching your game for 1 week? (Or better yet, change the system time). Do you need a better reason to get a PS3? If not to see the fate of Snake and the Patriots.

25) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Konami 97′)

I can never get sick of playing this game, and the countless clones that come after it. Took the formula right out of Metroid, and put that in Castlevania, and what you get is coolness, and fun, times infinity.

24) Planescape: Torment (Interplay / Black Isle 99′)

There’re a lot of contender for this spot, like Fallout, Baldur’s Gate, Knights of the Old Republic. But Planescape kicked everyone’s ass. It’s memorable, and very easy to get into and play. You are someone who’s already dead, and gets incarnated over and over again, what’s the point? That is the whole point of the game, and it’s all about choices, give money to that poor bastard? Better yet, kill him. You can’t die in this game, because you are going to get resurrected right away, because you already died 1000 times before it. Have you heard of this phrase? Keep your friends close, your enemies even closer. The hot bitch thief companion that heeds your command and fight behind your back, hay, she maybe the one that murdered you. After all, you lose all your memories after each reincarnation.

23) Lode Runner (Broderbund 83′)

What can I say about this game? It’s one of those games I saw before I ever owned a computer, and then I wanted to own one. It’s like Pac Man, except much smarter. Its like a puzzler, and you can still play it and have fun with it today, its one of the smartest games ever created. And it inspired a lot other things, like Lemmings, Exit, Chu Chu Rocket. Pikmin, the list goes on forever.

22) Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (Nintendo / Silicon Knights 02′)

Lovecraft, Lovecraft, Lovecraft. If you don’t know who that is, you should die. If Stephen King is compared to Resident Evil (its really more about the popularity), Dean Koontz is Silent Hill, and Lovecraft is definitely Eternal Darkness, and Legacy of Kain, that’s Edgar Ellen Pole. But this is the team that brought you the first Legacy of Kain, and Eternal Darkness is perfection of an horror game. It kicks ass, literally, it kicks your ass, look at the sanity meter, it goes down, and you will have bugs crawling on your screen. The storyline and voice acting is awesome, the writing is even better, and the games span over generations of main characters trying to well, defend humanity, and to tell you more, its spoiling it all. Another reason to get a Gamecube (see above), better yet, get a Wii and forget about getting that extra wii-mote and use that money to buy a Gamecube controller and a copy of Eternal Darkness (good luck finding this game though).

21) King of Fighters 2002 (SNK 02′)

It’s hard to not rate this as my number 1 arcade game of all time. Ever go to an arcade in Hong Kong and you will know what I mean. Five years later, people are still playing this game, and there are still tournaments going on around the world (well anywhere except the US, US people are idiots, like we are only ones that call soccer football, call Saint Seiya the Zodiac Knights, and that’s after 20 years it’s out). Just see a max combo performed on you and be amazed, and see some Angel infinity shit.

20) The Bully (Rockstar 06′)

Do you know what is the worst institution ever created in the history of mankind? The American Highshcool. Ever been there? No, you damn immigrants. Have you been bullied, tortured, raped (well at least mentally), have you fought back? Now that’s Bully. And this is a much much better game than GTA will ever be, this is literally the shit. Everything makes sense in this game, ditching class, even going to class, you sneak into the girl’s dorm room aka metal gear style, you give them gifts via Forever With You style, you fight like you do in Final Fight, and you even get sniper missions (played with a sling shot), and everything make sense here unlike the gangster crap you get in all the GTA clones, and this game is filled with witty humor and heartfelt moments. This is the shit, play it, or forever be damned, and live the rest of your pathetic existence like the high school days.

19) Shadow of Colossus (SCEI 05′)

An artistic vision. I disliked this game when I first started it, but then it never ceased to amaze me. If you get the pointless traveling across the desolate land out of the way (which is supposed to invoke a special feeling), the game is all about the boss fights, huge ass colossus that are bigger than emprie state building, and defeating each of them is a puzzle of its own. The inverted zelda dungeon, a prequel/sequel to the take-care-of-that-useless-girlfriend puzzler Ico. Just why are you killing the colossus, ask yourself that question, when you play the game.

18) Okami (Capcom / Clover 06′)

Who needs a next generation system? Cel-shading has never been done better. Its a world of art in Okami, and awesome zelda-ish gameplay, that comes with a really really good story, where science fiction meets one of the oldest legend of all time. And there’s the drawing, which could have been done on a wii-mote, but they did it perfectly on the dual shock controller of the PS2. Just where do people come up with these ideas? Fight against the nine-tail fox, and you’ll know what I mean, enter a contest of drawing, bombs galore!

17) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 98′)

This was called the perfect game. Well until Okami came along. An awesome awesome game, worth buying an N64 just for this game. A classic, a perfectly 3-D-fied of a timeless classic. Dungeons, dungeons, dungeons, they are never again the same thing after zelda. If the first 2-D zelda influenced many games that came after it, Ocarina of Time, even more (just see above).

16) Diablo (Blizzard 96′)

Another college fond memory. Its amazing something so simple, and so not innovative (took the gameplay right out of gauntlet), became so popular and so many games followed its footsteps. Co-op gameplay online made this game special. I remember playing with my best friend in New Zealand, and I had not seen him in 10 years. Ah, the camaraderie.

15) Syndicate (EA / Bullfrog 93′)

Part Sim game, part RTS, part squad-based action. This game is intense. Get to the last level and you will know what I mean, literally you are swamed, and if you didnt research some good weapons? You are, well, screwed. Till this day there’s nothing like it. What a shame.

14) Quest For Glory: So You Want To Be A Hero (Sierra 89′ / 90′)

Used to be called Hero’s Quest, until copyright got in the way. A companion quest series to King’s Quest, but nothing like it. It’s the only adventure game that is also a RPG, and still there’s nothing like that today. So you want to be a hero? Be a mage, a fighter, thief, multiple solutions to each problem. The game is damn ingenous, and the combat is fun. It was always damn hard to save my paladin file from 1 game to another, so I end up having a hero marathon whenever the next game come out, too bad there isn’t anymore.

13) Age of Empires (Microsoft/Ensemble 97′)

An RTS that has the roots in civilization. I have nothing but fond memories of this game. Right on the advent of internet, I was in college, and we played this, incessantly. It’s a reverse of Starcraft, which features much faster gameplay, this one is more about the exploration, and less about the fighting, unless well, you got rushed by a bunch of scouts. Getting food is more important than anything, and damn fun it is. Fish, hunt, or grab the barries, beware that elephant! To the next age we advance.

12) Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (Origin 91′)

Dogfight has never been more fun before this game, and well you get a space opera story to go with it, with really really good storyline. A shame that 3 and 4 of the series went with real actors, which actually featured even better story, but the gameplay remained unchanged, Yes, Mark Hamil and Tracy Lords were in 3, and Malcolm Mcdowell played the awesome villian in 4. Dont know who Mark is, Luke will cut your entrails out with the light saber. Dont know who Tracy Lords is? Summon giant dildo and bludgeon you to death, with it. The series creator went to make movies, and suprisingly the movie was worse than wing commander 3. Years back an online version of Privateer was going to surface, except the evil EA cancelled it. Hear they are remaking it on Xbox Live, probably without the cool storyline. Well, Wing Commander will never be the same without the cinematics. We’ll see.

11) The Secret of Monkey Island (LucasArts 90′)

Way before Pirates of the Carribean, and One Piece, Pirates were already cool. Grog, Grog, ever drink grog at the bar? Insult sword fighting? One of the most humorous games you will ever play. Too bad adventure games are dead. Did I mention insult sword fighting? I believed the sequel was actually a better game, but part 1 stuck with me forever. Did I mention insult sword fighting…

10) Ultima 7: The Black Gate / Part 2: The Serpent Isle (Origin 92′ / 93′)

I was awed by this game the first time I watched the guardian speaks on my screen (I still remember, Michael Dorn voiced him, if u didnt know who it is, thats Worf on Next Generaion, still dont know who it is, go die). I think I had to upgrade my computer to play this game, well I think I had to upgrade my computer to play every Origin game, until it was bought by EA and games went forever downhill from there. Funny is that Ultima 7 actually pokes fun of EA being the evil empire, talk about the false prophet. There’s one thing about this game, which is that it utterly consumes your life. I was in high school, or on break, or something, I remember I woke up to this game and then I slept thinking it, and then a month had passed, I don’t think I had finished it yet. Any objects can be manipulated in this game, from the piece of cheese on the plate on the dinning table, to the broadsword sitting idlely across the room (I remember I needed a whole day to manipulate items in the backpack). You are no longer penalized for stealing, now the guardian taunts you, thou shall not steal. A dark and hungry god arises — an awesome begining to a dark triology (the next two games, not suprisingly, were disappointments)

9) Xenogears (Squaresoft 98′)

The best story ever written for a video game, period. If games can be better than books and movies, this is the only game ever that can pull it off, and no other games will ever do it again, in your life time, I guarantee it, nobody else will ever have the talent, the budget, or simply the drive. It is the evangelion for anime, Hyperion for books, star wars for movies. Except Star Wars sucks ass when put next to Xenogears. Yes Xenogears is also Episode 5, in a long saga, but unfortunately, Xenosaga is only the spiritual prelude to Xenogears (Don’t you hate copyrights). Go get the Xenogears Perfect Works (also known as the bible), which I hear, sells for 200 bucks on Ebay, and you can begin to happen to understand what happens in Xenogears. It literally ridicules the church, and outlines the galactic destiny of men, the secret of the universe, the answer to everything. Play it, and be forever baffled, and awed by it. Yes, the graphics may look like ass (your grandma’s) on a 50-inch plama TV now, but its perfect on the PSP, its the most beautiful game made on the PSP. Why does Final Fantasy 7 outsell this game by a hundred to one? Same reason why people watch American Idol over 24 by a factor of 3 to 1. This world is a disgusting place. And games like this will never be made again. This game deserved to be worship.

Valkyrie Proifle: Lenneth (Enix/Tri-Ace 99′ / 06′)

By far the best game on anyone’s playstation, and you have it on the PSP, even better, you get extra scenes, which doesn’t really enhance the game whatsoever. This is an awesome game, and after I played it, I became Tri-Ace’s forever loyal follower. I already blogged about this game before, Norse Mythology, and ass-kicking combat system, combat never gets old, and you get platforming dungeons to go with it. Good story, awesome plot twist, and choices. Did I mention choices, damn you can finish the game under 5 minutes (just pass the time and let ragnarok come), and you can uncover the secrets of Lenneth Valkyrie. The sequel Silmeria just didn’t quite cut it. The extra 3rd dimention to the combat complicated matters in a ingenous way, but the difficulty just killed it. You own a playstaion and never tried this game? Have lenneth perform Niebuli Valesti on you. In other words, shame on you, and go die. But before you die, get a PSP and play this game.

7) CastleVania 3 (Konami 89′)

There’s not much to say about this game except its probably the most perfect action game ever created, I used to play this everyday and I could finish the game blindfolded. Not overly difficult, not as hard as Castlevania 1, plus you have companions and multiple paths. Yes your companions make it easier for you by far. Alucard (his first appearance before he got a make-over) can fly you over the cliffs and Sofia’s magic weapons just kick ass big time. The game is not as beautifuly crafted as the 2nd one, which almost made my list, but just not as action-packed, and overly easy. There is something about whipping dracula that just never gets old, till this day we’re waiting for the next installment. This series features the best music created ever on any game. Gothic, beautiful, and awesome.

6) Leisure Suit Larry I: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards (Sierra 87′ / 91′)

 

It’s hard to not think of this game favorably. How old was I when I played it? 12? 13? The original version was classic, but the VGA point and click version was just perfect. I couldn’t possibly get most of the jokes then, its like watching married with children, where life goes downhill from there, but the adventure just starts there for Larry. I think i remember every single details of the game I can apprecaite the jokes even more as I get older. The catchy tune, yeah, thats up there, and even better, than Monkey’s Island’s tune. Its hard to not put the other adventures games on this list, like the artsy Conquest of the Longbow, and the romance-filled King’s Quest 6, even the ludicrously funny Day of the Tentacle and the musical Loom. But Larry is forever my favorite. I remember learning the word prophylactic, yes, condoms, had to buy one from the convenient store (those who played this game will remember the embarassement), don’t use a condom and then the whore would poison you, well you can always reload, if only real life was that simple.

5) Gradius 2 (Konami 88′)

The Shooter of all Shooters, forget about Galaga, R-type, anything that came before it, or anything that came after it. This is the smartest shooter ever created, and it is still damn fun today. It gives the word “Options” a whole new meaning, and it takes skills. But if you have the brain to learn the skills, and know how to manage your upgrade energy, you won’t die in this game (at least not in the first 3 levels), and at later levels, if you die, you probably need to reset the game, and you will want to. Ever have 4 options and stick it in your enemy’s face inside their shields, and have the spread bombs implode inside them, you cant do it in any other game. If you know the strategy of this game, you will always have the energy sitting at the shield option ready, and you may die trying to avoid contacting upgrades. It is fun, and the graphics was gorgeous, years ago, the famicom outputting graphics like the firewaves and the huge phoenix that took up the whole screen. If you haven’t played this, owe it to yourself to get the Gradius Galaxies pack for the PSP (or download it, you damn pirates). The newer versions are pretty much the same game with better graphics. Remember, auto upgrade is for wuss, and its not how this game should be played. And you should always choose the ship equip with lasers (never use ripples) and spread bombs, you will know what I mean when you have 4 options and stick it inside the enemy. Lasers penetrate, and spread bombs… spread. What can I say, spread and penetrate, that works well in marketing, well it works even better in dating, especially dating. (If you thought this blog was overly long, it was all worth it to read this line, how do I even come up with such stuff, I amaze myself, enough said, on to the next game)

4) Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (Origin 85′)

The mother of all RPGs. It’s my first RPG but after I played this I couldn’t get into any game for the next five years (well there was Ultima 5). It is that good. Any RPG player owe it to themselves to play this game, and the trilogy, known as the Avatar Trilogy. The word Avatar may mean a lot of things nowadays but forever it will mean something to me like what it means in the Ultima world (its like messiah, like Jesus, in this world). What other RPGs punish you for looting the chest in the villager’s house? (Do you ever wonder why you are still able to do that now?) This game makes so much damn sense that it scares you. Virtues, it teaches you virtues, never to run from combat, give blood, don’t lie, don’t harm innocent people (you can actually kill villagers), don’t steal, you can attack Lord British, but he will kick your ass with his super super blue magical fireball. This game has conversation trees. You can ask every single NPC to join you. It’s idea was ahead of its time, it is still ahead of its time. What game has no boss fight at the end, you are asked a series of questions, and woh, you become the avatar. It’s that cool. If this game was remade, it will be like, god of all games (I think someone is actually doing that). Can you believe this game is not even 1 meg? (or is it?) This game haunted my childhood.., I dreamed about finding companions in a distant land, I remembered it better than I remembered elementary school, I think it taught me a lot of english, maybe I even write because of it. (Interesting Note: Two of my friends and I finished the abyss together, my first experience of true camaraderie, with real life companions, the final dungeon of the game, which took about 5 hours and no saving in between, we would have been stumped at the end, if not for the “pirated” menu which we purchased from the store, which happened to have the answers to all things, yes if you type in the wrong answer at the series of questions at the end, and its all over, the game was not forgiving at all — we also hex edited our characters, which prevented us from dying)

3) StarCraft / Broodwar (Blizzard 98′)

The RTS that defines the genre. Perfect balance, three entirely different races, an awesome story and background to go with it. Just play a match online and you will know what I mean. A quick match can be over in 3 minutes. This is the game that defines rush tactics. There will never be another better RTS, enough said.

2) Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior (Capcom 91′)

The mother of all fighting games. This is the game that made me go to the arcade. Figured out how to do an uppercut? Combos… Combos… Combos…, before even the word was invented, and changed the world forever (no thats not what you get in McDonalds)

1) Tetris (The Russians — way before your time)

Why is this game #1? You ask, because it withstood the test of time. 100 years in the future, people will still be playing this game, on their holographic display, palm device, virtual reality internet, whatever, this game will never change, no flashy graphics needed, call it whatever you want, Lumines, whatever, its Tetris, people will play it until the human race goes extinct, and then the roaches will play it. Greatest inventions the Russians ever had.

That was long. Well looking at the data, it says my favorite developer/publisher is Konami, which scored 4 games out of 30, Origin has 3, although I distinctly remembered System Shock 2 to be published by Origin, but the Internet says otherwise (you know whatever you read on the Internet is true, right?), that would have put them at a tiebreaker. My favorite protagonist: me (well I mean, the Avatar), and Alucard. Which both appeared 2 times in a list of 30, though I seriously didn’t like Alucard the first time around.  

Someone hit my car the other day, it was a Mexican guy, who could hardly speak English. He didn’t even understand me when I asked him for his license, and he didn’t have insurance. Gosh I had a few drink before driving, and the guy who was stone sober (because he just got off his shift from being a security guard) still hit me, how did that happen? And you know what else? A 2nd car crashed into him, further dented my car (yes it wasn’t serious), but he pulled a hit and run, yes, it was another Mexican guy, for I remember his face and copied his license. I think i sound racist but this country breed me to be racist. I go to the burger joint and those girls there can hardly speak English. Hay back in Hong Kong and I can actually ask the chick who works at McDonald’s for her phone number, here we can’t even communicate. Is English that hard to learn if you already speak Spanish? I think Insurance almost sounds the same. In any case, why do people drive without insurance? You are waiting to be persecuted. At least the guy who hit me had the decency to stay around, not like the other guy, he asked his co-worker / employer to come, whose English skill was 4 / 10 (10 being understandable, not perfect), it was better than nothing. He begged me to not call the cops, but I already did, he begged me to let his friend go. Hay I want to be nice too, but seriously, you should pay for the consequences of your action (go get insurance), I really don’t want to let the 2nd guy off that easy. The police took 2 hours to come (I hope they actually took the time to catch some real criminals, if my life was in danger I would have been dead), and I stood in the rain to wait for them (and for the 10th million time, for all the Chinese moms out there, you can’t get sick from getting wet, you cant get a cold from getting cold, its called a virus, I froze my drenched ass off, but hay I was still as healthy as a beast). I didn’t get any money to repair my dent, because I have a thousand dollar deductable, well, sometimes life sucks, and you learn to live with it. It sucks more for him, his car was in the middle, and it was crushed, thats much worse than my dent. And he probably got a thousand dollar ticket. I don’t know when the police would get around to catching the hit and run guy, but I didn’t really care anymore. Sometimes I hate driving, actually most of the time I do, especially when going to work. More about that later. But talking about racist, why are so many girls dating / marrying white guys now? I am not against interracial marriage, but seriously, those people out there, learn some foreign culture. I had dinner that day, with one of my friends, who’s dating a white guy, at a Chinese Cafe, and he ordered Pork Cutlet, and when it came he complained that it came fried. I don’t know about that, if you look up cutlet in the dictionary its just a piece of meat (but usually prepared for boiling or frying). And they fought about that for a while. I don’t know, I can’t quite picture myself marrying (dating I could accept) someone who didn’t know what I am talking about when I say I used to love Dr.IQ when I was a child, damn it I am a FOB, and proud to be one. To all the Asian girls out there who digs white guys, they just want to get into your pants. Seriously, have you seen those foreigners in China who speak perfect mandarin. I think they just learn it so they have a easier time picking up whores. Come on, a guy serious enough about you to marry you, he should learn enough Chinese to communicate with your mom, let alone don’t even know what a pork cutlet is in a Chinese restaurant, and that’s English. I swear that I will speak perfect Japanese if I date a Japanese girl, and not just the two words I know (Kimochi being one of them), though that’s all she will ever say to me.

This blog is getting a little too long for its own good, again, and I only covered one thing in the title. Market Crash, meaning the stock market. Well I have been following stocks lately, a little too closely, maybe I just don’t want to work. But its addictive. I even became a day trader for a few days and I shorted stocks before the crash. Well I was mostly long on a lot of stocks as well so I didn’t make much money. The lesson is, well trading is hard, a lot harder than investing. My advice is, just pick your stocks and leave it alone. Trade too much and you burn yourself, unless you have guts and foresight and you are actually a good trader. After a good crash, its good to buy stuff. My pick is Goog and Divx. Google is mankind’s overmind and I have said it in my blog last year before, it will own the world. Never heard of Divx? Go download movies off the net and you will know what I mean. Why go to blockbuster and NetFlix, or even pay your cable company, or Tivo, while you can download compressed movie (yes illegally). Thats not how Divx make money though. I am not going to go too much into it, well this isn’t a financial blog and I rather write about being a racist bastard.

There’s some similarity about racisim and Xenophobia, but its an entirely different thing I guess. I really want to talk about Xenogears, the game, I recently picked it up again. Well its because I hacked my PSP (anyone who owns one should do it because that’s all it is good for), and well it now emulates PSX games perfectly. After finishing Xenosaga months ago, which is the spiritual prequel to the forever perfect RPG Xenogears, I booted it up on my PSP, the former 2 disc game on PlayStation its now only occupies 1.2 G sitting in my memory stick (in other words, Infinitesimally small). Who knew that 9 years later I could play this game while driving my car. Yes, that I did, during taffic jams. Can you believe it, I had to sit through traffic 3 out of 5 mornings going to work, it really discourages me from working, people who can’t drive should be shot. Xenogears is perfect for driving, I wont get into it too much, which I will on the next blog (or actually the previous one, which I will set as an earlier date), because it sometimes contain cut scenes (all in game sequence, none of that final fantasy CG bullshit) thats 1 hr long, its perfect for going through traffic (and note that if you hacked your PSP perfectly, you can turn it off in the middle of anything, and resume, provided you don’t have to boot up a new game and run out of battery for 10 hours entirely, hay no more I now have to eat and I can’t save in between cut scenes bull shit), and battles are turn-based, so you can do that during traffic too. Is it dangerous playing games while driving, maybe? But I am still alive. I actually fall asleep less, and I am less mad (gives me better judgement), more alert (darn how am i going to beat that monster while avoid crashing to the car in front), and well, I just cut lanes less than I normally do, because I have to play the damn game. And no, I would not recommend to you kids out there. First train yourself to multi-task, can you actually talk on the phone, IM, work, watch a foreign movie with subtitles, if you can do that simultaneously, then think about playing games while driving, if not, nevermind, because I can. I still think about making the perfect game to be played in the car, even during non-traffic hours, if all it does is accept verbal commands, it can be done, and it will be perfect.