• 13Jul 09

  Schism

  Wutsup-wutsup people? How ya guys been doing? I just wanted to say that I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them fall away. Mildewed and smoldering, fundamental differing.

  Well, I had my first tests for each of my subjects, Management & Marketing and Math. I spent almost the entire week studying for the two tests because I actually have to put some effort in this semester, unlike last.
  I've been quite consistent with my Math, so the test went extremely well. I finished it with 10 to 15 minutes left, so I just went back through and corrected any mistakes I had made. I was more worried about Management though, because I hadn't even bothered going through all of my notes properly until the morning of the test. While reading through the notes though, I realised that the subject is quite straightforward and it was only the teacher making it seem difficult with the way she taught it. Hell, I was only afraid of the test because I spent most of my time in ****trying to keep myself from falling into a deep sleep.
  The tests went really well though. I'm not too worried about my mark for Management because it was just a multiple choice test. The teacher did try to prevent cheating by making two test papers though, but there was no real difference between the two besides the fact that the questions in the other paper were six ahead of the other. Shrek didn't end up studying properly again, so he relied on me. Shrek and my other friends made up a little code for the test. If someone asked for help on a question, you would either scratch or tap your forehead for A, nose for B, upper lip for C, chin for D, and just in case, neck for E. Shrek copied the entire test off of me. At one point, he asked me the answer to a question, and I tapped my forehead, saying the answer was A, but the teacher saw me and was staring at me with an odd expression on her face. I must have looked a tad mentally challenged, which may have explained her expression.

  I spent almost the entire week waking up early in the morning in order to study for those two tests, so I decided to rent out a couple of DVDs on Friday as a reward for myself. I got There Will be Blood and Apocalypse Now: Redux. I had wanted to watch There Will be Blood ever since I heard about Daniel Day Lewis' performance in that film. I enjoyed the film a lot in the end especially because of Lewis' performance, but more so the conflict between the two lead characters, Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday. The ending to the film was quite comical and awesome, even though I felt really sorry for Plainview's son.

  

  
  I didn't end up watching Apocalypse Now on the weekend though. I tried to watch it on Saturday, but I was too tired in the end. I watched the first 15 minutes or so and felt too sleepy to last the 3 hours and 15 minutes that the film was. I hope to watch it some other time this week though, if I do find the time to sit down for that long.

  Instead of watching Apocalypse Now, I spent a good hour or two playing Skirmish mode on Killzone 2. Oh yeah, I also finished Killzone 2's campaign on Friday. After attempting the last boss for what felt like too long for a game that I was playing on the normal difficulty setting, I finally finished off Radec. What I didn't realise was that I spent nearly half an hour on Radec himself. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back and finish that boss on easy in order to get that trophy.
  I've also spent a fair amount of time on Uncharted in the past week, and I'm in the 18th Chapter at the moment. I don't really like the turn that the game took in the 17th Chapter because I was really enjoying the whole thing to do with Eddy Raja.

  I was going to do a blog on this last week, but I decided to spend more time on my studies than anything else, but I finally watched The Shawshank Redemption. I watched it hoping for what is deemed as one of the greatest films ever made, and it delivered just that. I loved every bit of that film, from Morgan Freeman's narration to the brilliant acting by both of the actors. I wanted to watch the film a second time. Scratch that; I wanted to watch it a few more times before I returned the film, but I couldn't.

  

  Screech, Rob and I went out to watch Bruno yesterday, and Hemi eventually joined us at the cinema. The film was good, but it just wasn't as good as Borat. The film was fun to watch, but some of the scenes were just off and weren't very funny. It made up for these scenes with some very vulgar but hilarious imagery that left me quite scarred. Never as scarred as the naked fight from Borat, but almost as bad though.

  

  I'm going to see if I can watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince this weekend. It is one of my favourite books and probably my most anticipated film of the year, just ahead of Moon by a little bit.

  I'm sorry for not being online for the past week or so. I did go on the forums from time to time, just to show that I am a little bit active now. My dad's presence is still a pain to put up with, but he should be leaving soon. Actually, come to think of it, he told me that he would leave around the 15th of this month. Damn.

  Anyway, I hope you guys have been doing well. I hope to be more active in the next few days, but I have to think some things over first.

  • Posted Jul 13, 2009 5:27 pm PT
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• 30Jun 09

  No Wonder I Hate Math...

  It dun make sense!

  

  How have you guys been?

  Well, I rented out The Shawshank Redemption on Saturday, but I didn't get a chance to watch it because I was busy with Math all weekend. I had a chance on Saturday night, but as soon as I go to grab the DVD, the lights went out. They didn't come on until about ten minutes after I went to bed and I was already comfortable in the warmth of my sheets, so I didn't bother getting up and watching the film.

  I watched Requiem for a Dream a second time. I think that film has already become one of my favourites, but I have a heap of other films to watch.

  I haven't gamed that much in the past week. Whenever I can, I try to sneak in a bit of Uncharted into my day, but it's difficult to do so when I have to go to bed early in order to get up early the next morning for university. Management & Marketing is still boring, but the stuff is starting to make sense. I haven't bothered reading through my notes or anything, but whatever.

  Has anybody finished Uncharted 100%? How difficult is it to finish it on Hard and Crushing difficulties? The same with Killzone 2? I've had a bit of trouble picking up trophies in that game, besides the level completion trophies and a few others.

  I mucked around with Photoshop a bit more during the week and came up with the following:

  

  A Dexter avatar for Tv.com

  

  A banner for Tv.com (Click here for the proper scale)

  

  

  

  

  A few sigs and a banner (Click here for the proper scale of the banner)

  They're all simple, but I like them that way. I would love to do more complex things using Photoshop, but none of the tutorials on YouTube are worth watching.

  A question for anybody who uses Photoshop here: how much do you normally reduce the quality of a banner or blog header in order to fit it on GameSpot? Oh yeah, and is there a way to put a speech/thought bubble into an image using Photoshop?

  Um, I guess that's it for now. I haven't got much to blog about these days. There's nothing interesting happening in my life. Well, that which I would blog about.

  But yeah, I hope you guys are doing well and have a fun week.

  • Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:40 pm PT
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• 22Jun 09

  Boredom Ensues

  I am sitting in the library listening to "Prison Sex" by Tool, all the while, annoyed by the presence of random people around me as I continue to think of a reason for why I shouldn't gnaw on my left fist for amusement. But I realised that doing so would just make this blog more difficult to type and force me to wash my hand in the cold, cold water running from the rusty taps of the washroom, which I do wish was just the slightest bit immaculate.

  I just started my new semester at university last week, and it has been so dull and monotonous. I have to take up two new subjects this time, the subjects being Management & Marketing and Mathematics & Statistics. Math is alright because I've done all of the work in high school, but Management & Marketing is killing me. I don't think there is any way I could show interest in that subject. Like, the teacher is unbelievably boring and slow. Every lesson, she stands at the front of the class room and reads out stuff. She doesn't even get the class involved by changing her tone a little bit or passing a lame management or marketing joke. Luckily, Shrek's in this class too, but he plans on skipping every Friday because he dislikes the subject that much. I'm starting to take a little bit of interest by reading the notes at home, but going to class is like mental suicide. According to the teacher, she's been teaching the subject for about twenty years and she isn't even bored with doing so. If this is her being interested, I really don't want to imagine what the subject would be like if she were to lose interest in it.

  With university on its way, you'd think that my dad would've taken back the PS3. Well, he hasn't, and I'm so glad. I've been playing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for about half an hour per day since last Tuesday, but I play about one to one and a half hours on the weekends. The game is just brilliant. I'm already in Chapter 10 and it hasn't let me down yet. The pacing of it is just perfect, and the graphics, music and gameplay just add to it. The story is surprisingly interesting too, and quite comical at times. I haven't picked up Killzone 2 to beat Radec yet, but I plan on doing so as soon as I finish Uncharted.

  I finally got around to watching The Silence of the Lambs on the Monday of last week and I loved it. The film was thrilling and an absolute masterpiece in its own respect. I wish I could have watched it once more, but I had to return it because another DVD I had reserved at the library came in. The DVD was Requiem for a Dream, a film I had talked to LD about a few months ago. Seeing that The Wrestler became my favourite film of last year, I was instantly interested in the previous works of Darren Aronofsky. In all honesty, Requiem for a Dream just blew me away. It's such a powerful and amazing film, dirty but with a sterile feel to it at times. I'm just amazed at how Aronofsky took a novel and turned it into a piece of urban artwork. The film's soundtrack was quite astonishing too. I've been repeatedly listening to "Summer Overture" off the soundtrack and it never seems to tire me. Well, not yet. I'll try and watch it once more on Friday, if I can.

  

  Did anybody here watch the ICC Twenty 20 World Cup a couple of days ago? I was so annoyed that Sri Lanka lost that game. They hell deserved to win, especially against Pakistan. Also, Dilshan got out for a Duck! The team relies too heavily on him, but that doesn't surprise me considering he got the player of the tournament award for being the most consistent batsman out.

  I've also been screwing around with Photoshop a bit because my older brother got a Mac a couple of weeks ago. Actually, Pretzel got a Mac too, but we haven't fixed up his one yet. Anyway, I made this sig from said screwing around:

  

  Anyway, I'm sorry for wasting your time with this shotty attempt at an interesting blog. I've been annoyed with stuff in the past week or so, and I'm just tired, to tell you the truth. It doesn't help that I had Management & Marketing at 8:30 in the morning today, when it was ****ing freezing outside and I could barely breathe because I caught a cold on Thursday.

  Hope you guys have a fun week.

  • Posted Jun 22, 2009 9:41 pm PT
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