Writing for the Sake of Writing

Wow, I am a little surprised (OK, maybe not so much) to see that this month has been the most I've written so far this year. I was so into writing before moving and now it just feels like I never allow myself as much time to do it as often as I once did.

Still, considering that I've written more in the month of May then the rest of the year so far, I figured one more for the road can't hurt.

So here we go.

I picked up Linkin Park's new CD (Minutes to Midnight) and while the sound has changed, I still enjoy listening to their music.

I've read how some people hate this change in sound from LP, but really folks. People can't expect a band to stay the same forever. I mean, evolution is just a part of natural progression right?

That is more then I can say about some other old favorites (Disturbed), whose sound is just so unlike their first CD. While it might sound like I am preparing to contradict myself, yes I do understand that they've changed. But still, I miss their harder tones, rather then hearing them trying to sing. Wow, that came off a little more awkward then I would have liked.

Then again though, some bands that I enjoy listening to have disappeared completely (Drowning Pool), while others just broke up completely (Creed).

Jumping subjects, onto a little bit of wrestling talk. Yeah, I know it is fake... but can't a guy be at least a little intrigued? I mean what's life without a little bit of drama (that isn't ones' own)?

I am a little surprised to read about the battle that is nearing between the Steiner Brothers and Team 3D. Too bad the Legion of Doom is no more, a Steiners vs. Team 3D vs. LOD would be an awesome match for any promotion I'd think.

On the topic of tag teams, I just might pick up this year's WWE One Night Stand DVD for the sole reason of the Team eXtreme vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team for the World Tag Team Titles in a ladder match. I think it is fairly safe to say that that match could be a show stealer?

Good to hear that CM Punk has finally gotten himself into a feud. I can't wait to see this guy move up the rankings and get into the title hunt some day. Speaking of which, I wonder where the New Breed is heading? I think a team of Marcus Cor Von and Elijah Burke would be an awesome team...

I think it will be interesting to see what becomes of Rob Van Dam, since it seems Randy Orton is the guy that is helping other wrestlers off the road. Will he jump to TNA...?

Considering the amount of booing, I am surprised that John Cena remains unturned. I'd think they would do like they did with The Rock and make Cena a bad guy. I mean, at least he wouldn't really need to do much for people to boo him!

OK, changing topics one more time.

I admit that it is getting a little scary here in Hawaii these days. I mean a Japanese exchange student disappears and is suspected to have been killed (never heard what became of that), drive by shootings and murders. What is becoming of the "Aloha State"? And to think that we began the year having to read, almost daily, about people being struck by vehicles and often times, killed in crosswalks. Imagine how yours truly felt having to cross streets thereafter!

Sounds like everyday life? Maybe for other places, but in Hawaii? Believe me, I don't think I've heard about so many bad things in the local news as I have lately in all of my short years in this life. 2007 has not been a very pleasant year as far as news is concerned.

Another topic I'd like to semi-touch on is the issue of Kamehameha Schools. I find it great that they take such pride in their race, they being the Hawaiian people. Don't get me wrong, it is good that they embrace and never forget their roots.

But to only wish the advancement of their own race, rather then working together with those around them? I suppose the betterment of the children of Hawaii as a whole is no issue to them. I mean after all, who knows who is amongst them? Our future Governor? Mayor? Maybe even President? I never really understood what it was meant by how kids were truly the future until I left High School and began to see life in a broader sense.

I'd like to believe I understand that a little better now, which saddens me to see and read and hear about how Hawaiians wish only to better their own and not the whole. Is Hawaii's future doomed? I really hope it is not.

Well, that is as far as I go with this for now. Maybe I will write more about it in the future, maybe on more subjects then just things of local interest.

Half Way Through 2007...

I am amazed how quickly time is moving, I mean at one moment it was 2006 and now here we are, midway through '07. Where does all that time go? I still cannot imagine what the feeling would be like to one day look back at these times.

What would I think? How would I feel? Happy? Sad? Regretful? Fulfilled?

I do at least hope to be in a better situation, as far as a job and hopefully even education, is concerned. While I enjoy (in a sick, sick way I suppose) the job that I have now (stock clerk... yay...), I do not want to be like some and still be doing the same thing years and years from now.

My hope is that these days are necessary in order to reach something greater. I'd like to think that there is more in life meant for me then just being at the bottom. Then again, I do know that it takes a deal of work and effort to attain more and that is a commitment that I have not truly embraced.

So yes, I do understand that any real complaints that I may make about my "situation" is more or less of my own making. I am not ignorant to that fact, I suppose maybe I truly am as lazy as I think I can be.

But this issue, while entirely vital, will have to wait in the shadows. In time I may gain the will to seek it out and embrace it. If not, then I suppose the one and only person I can blame for any further hardships would definately be myself.

Jumping subjects now, because this life stuff really bugs me if I sit and think about for too long, is to music. Rather, J-Pop I guess...

I am happy to say that I finally found Sowelu's music video for her (pictured above) song "I Will." It is the same one that was used as ending music to the anime series "Fullmetal Alchemist." Good song, great video.

Random thought: Always a very disturbing thing to notice someone pissing outside of your window. I swear, the "class" that some human beings are blessed with is utterly amazing. That, ladies and gents, is as best as I can put it without having to break out into a rant.

Random Thought 2: Diet Coke Plus is good! I don't know what it is, but is addictive!

So anyway, I am considering on making one final go at Final Fantasy XI. Yes, I do believe I said that last time would be it, but it was a fluke. Or was it? Still, I think I might have one last go in me and I would like to leave that game behind with better memories then I have now. At this point though, only time will tell.

And I am clear out of thoughts, so I will bid this entry adieu. Is it even possible for a person to run out of thoughts...?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Yeah, I know by now that everyone that sees the latest (and final?) Pirates of the Caribbean movie will have hit their blogs with their opinions. Will I be any different? Probably not, no. I feel the urge and the desire to share with the world, two cents of my very own.

First and final warning though, there be spoilers ahead as I explain this bugger out as best as I can. So consider yourself warned here and now, if you are indeed against reading such things.

OK and so the point behind the theory of this post is to air out my wonder as to what and how people have found this movie to be 'confusing' and 'too long.' I mean, I have read such searing comments such as "the girl seeing her dad in the boat was stupid!" or other favorites like "the part where the lady gets big and explodes into crabs was stupid!."

Need I say more? Needless to say, I was at a lost for words upon reading how much people were bashing this movie and in my own opinion, quite unnecessarily.

For starters, the girl seeing her father in the boat comment... stupid? Elizabeth Swann seeing her dead father entering Davey Jones' Locker was stupid? Oh yes, what a pointless matter to add into the movie. It really adds absolutely NO feeling at all to the overall tone of the film... *Ends Sarcaism*

And like I posted on MSN, 3 hours seems like a lot, but I don't remember hearing anyone bitching with Lord of the Rings. Seriously, I heard NO ONE saying anything bad about the movie when my girlfriend and I left the theater.

Truth be told, I would rather see this movie at 3 hours long, then say a little over 1 hour as it was done to Eragon, which hurt it so very much.

It being as long as it was was needed, though it seems people wanted more depth to the characters. What, do people want even more backstory in the THIRD film? Come on folks, the time for explaining came and past in the previous 2 movies. Now was the time for the story to come to an end! (if this was truly the end that is)

This time around, the betrayals are plentiful and really, everyone fit their roles perfectly in my own opinion. I will even admit Orlando Bloom seemed much more natural to his character (finally) and I think he would have made a very convincing villain (if his character had gone that path that is).

The exchanges between Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa and Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow are near show stealers. Having the two Captains trying to co-exist on one ship is entertaining, their verbal exchanges alone made it worth seeing the movie in my opinion. And while I always read how great Johnny Depp is as Sparrow, I will add that Geoffrey Rush does an awesome job as Barbossa as well.

The biggest twist in the movie is the love affair between Davey Jones and Tia Dalma, the one who brought Barbossa back from the dead. That couple had more then a betrayal amongst them.

Or maybe the biggest deal was the fact that Will Turner would have been as good as dead, had Sparrow not use him at the very end to stab the heart of Jones and ends up taking his place as Captain of the Flying Dutchman!

Or maybe...

Or maybe I could be here a whole lot longer, dragging out every bit and piece that I can to try and see what ranks up there. Or maybe I won't. Regardless of what I say, I know people will or will not see the movie. If you happen upon my humble little blog though, take it from me if you are in need of an opinion to sway your mind.

Give it a shot. Forget the reviews on this one and just give it a chance. I'd recommend this movie over Spider-Man 3 anyday!

Thoughts of Various Degrees, Shapes and Colors!

I would have wrote sooner, but my internet browser decided it was the right and proper time to crash. Needless to say, the entire post went bye-bye and I needed a day or two to regroup my thoughts and refocus.

So here we go again.

I did get to finish off .hack//G.U. Volume 2 and now begins the waiting period until the third and final part of this trilogy is released here in the States.

What was so torturous was having to see the case for the Japanese version sitting at a local game store. How I wish I could read and understand Japanese!

Pictured to the left here is Haseo's final (and apparently unique) form. Looks fairly awesome to me and it certainly is a change from seeing the character always in black clothes, armor.

Another thing that has me hyped for Volume 3 is the return of Shino and Tabby (Shino was put into a coma during the .hack//Roots series and I believe Tabby left during that show too. Both of whom were guild mates with Haseo and Ovan, the reason why Shino was comatose.) to the game, plus the ability to make use of Kite, Orca and the third guy whose name eludes me at the moment.

Oh and joyous of joys, I finally was able to download the music video for Sowelu's "I Will" which was used as one of the ending theme songs for Fullmetal Alchemist. I am a dork yes, but we established that a while ago huh?

Jumping subjects again, I am glad I rented Wrestlemania 23 and did not buy the DVD. I don't know, maybe it is me just 'outgrowing' it, but the matches seemed pretty dull to me. I think the show stealer of the night was the Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena match, which was fairly well paced and it was a back and forth battle up until the bitter end.

Life is the same, can't complain about it although the weather here in Hawaii has been hotter then usual (humid... yuck) and now it rains. Still waiting for that snow storm! >.>

Anyway, that is it and that is all for today. Kind of short and sweet huh? The way it should always be! Well, depending on the situation and what not... but still...

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, this weekend! Can't wait!

Oh and Shrek The Third: Not as funny as the previous two. No joke! No, it isn't my tender old age showing... I will not be bound to a walker! I will run and skip if need be, even if it breaks both hips and leaves me hunched over! I will never be old!!

Dorking out.

.hack//G.U. Vol. 2 CONTINUED!!

So the point of this entry today is partly because I am not thinking, therefore I haven't anything else to write about. Yes, lacking in the creative department...

Secondly, I am still playing through .hack//G.U. Volume 2 and I am actually surprised that I have spent more time playing this volume then I had the previous.

Now it is no secret that I have been enjoying the story thus far, but there is one gripe that I just have to air!

Ok, I thought Piros the 3rd and Gaspard were bad. Maybe bad isn't the proper word to describe it, now that I think about it a little further. But anyway, they might be bad/weird/whatever, but come on... what is up with Endurance!? Too many weirdos in this games' party...

Really though, I can't wait until next (and final) volume is released just for the fact that I'd like to see how a few of the old members of the Twilight Brigade return to the mix (Shino and Tabby). I'd also like to know what's the deal with Ovan and how Haseo plans to exact some overdue revenge/beatings that he needs to dish out to said character.

But I don't think the wait for Volume 3 will be that bad (though I have already seen the game's Japanese version already out in stores... ugh!) because I got sick of renting and bought Rogue Galaxy.

More about that game eventually, at a later date no doubt.

On back to watching .hack//Roots. What? Me? Addicted? No, no, no...

Just soaking up the backstory, just purely to 'enhance' my gaming experience. I am in no way, shape, form, manner, etc., enjoying any of this. Really. I swear it! (Lie)

So I'm a sucker for a good story... more about the anime series later too!

Dot Hack//G.U. Vol. 2...!

So I just got the second game in the trilogy known as .hack//G.U. and I have to say... I think I am in love...!

Well, to a certain degree anyway. I did manage to throw 9+ hours into it on my second day of playing. That isn't to say it is a lot, as I am sure people have probably sat their asses down and finished the game on their first day.

Anyway... first off, my own personal little gripes...

I thought when it was said that you could change weapons on the fly, I believed you could have done it without having to trigger a skill to have it done. Or maybe I just haven't figured it out yet?

Piros the 3rd. Still lame.

Gaspard. Scary.

I wish characters other then Atoli could pull off healing duties without having to spam cast healing spells until they blow all of their SP.

Deep down, I kind of hoped that this would turn out like the Suikoden series in that you can recruit more and more people into your guild rather then just having the same four people all of the time.

I was also a little disappointed with the Crimson VS side game. Just make a deck and leave? Fun what? Where? And here I thought I would become addicted like I did to the numerous card games in the Final Fantasy series...

Ok and now onto the up side, hard to believe there could be after bitching through all that space huh? Really though, there are some thing I really did like out of this thing.

Haseo's 3rd form and the unlocking of the scythe: It really is a great weapon for crowd control... er... well, when one of three (or more) monsters come after you, it makes life easier when it comes to letting them all know who the boss is.

Alkaid (pictured above) is a weird, yet fun character... I was kind of surprised with how quickly she turns over to Haseo's side.

Glad to see a bit more variety in environments to run around in.

I loved the ability to upgrade the Steam Bike. Ok, so it isn't the greatest and deepest customization out there, but still... get the hell out of my way!

And still remaining as the major reason I even bothered continuing this series, the story. I am a sucker for an interesting story and to me, this is one of 'em. Sakaki is going down! And then Ovan! And then back to Tri-Edge!

Yes, I am still a dork too...

Oh well.

On an unrelated-to-this-game note, this is the first time in ages that I have actually posted twice in one week! (note: dork mode still active)

Maybe I will grow out of it some day and become a mature adult who hates to have fun, loves to work and just sees life as work, work, work.

I don't wanna be old...

Mixed Bag of Various Thoughts

So the second game in the .hack//G.U. trilogy will be released today (though everyone else apparently got it yesterday) and I still can't help but be hyped.

I mean I have read a few reviews about it and as always, it is a mixed bag at best. Some say it is great, while others say it is pure crap.

My verdict? The jury is still out and will remain so until I get my hands on it myself.

I have to admit that it is rare for me to pick up a game, an rpg for that matter, of a series I've never played before and actually like it.

Take for example, Rogue Galaxy.

I saw the ads for it in game mags and I seen the case sitting on the shelf at local game shops. Did it interest me? Some what. But a few years prior, every RPG I picked up ended up with my laughing at how foolish I was to waste my money on buying a piece of crap called a game.

Flash forward to now.

Learning from past mistakes, I take a chance and rent it just to see how it goes. Needless to say, I actually like it! But with my glorious luck, I happened upon a copy of the game that was defective or just plain crap because it generally just stopped working.

Yes, that was crushing to say the least.

So now I wait for .hack//G.U. Volume 2, plus Rogue Galaxy. Here's hoping neither of which are busted.

Topic change, just saw Spider-Man 3 this past Saturday and I walked out of there with mixed feelings. See? The mixed business is a running theme today...! Anyway, if by chance some one reads this and has not seen the movie... turn away, I might give some things up...

Moving along...

The story of it felt choppy to me, like it was rushed some how or not given enough thought. I don't know how to explain it, but just the feeling to me was it wasn't as polished as the previous 2 filmes were. It was rough and I just thought there would be more action to it, considering that there is the black Spider-Man and all that.

Another aspect that I was looking forward to was the black Spider-Man and also Venom finally appearing in the movies. I thought it was funny how the story generally followed the same path as it was done in the animated series.

So how do I feel after seeing the movie? Eh. I couldn't take Venom seriously, I mean it was that guy from That 70's Show. I don't even know the guy's name! And the black Spider-Man? Whoa, alien goo makes Spider-Man wanna... dance!? What? Yes he becomes more aggressive, but really... it looked more like a joke then anything to me.

Personally, it makes me worry about how good Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End will be. Only time will tell now!

'Nuff said.

.hack//G.U. Volume 2//Reminisce

There are two games I either can't wait to play, or simply cannot due to outdated stuff. One of which being .hack//G.U. Volume 2//Reminisce (PS2) and the other is Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for PC and XBox 360.

But CC3 is one I can't play due to my computer being unable to handle the graphics (and me being cheap and not wanting to buy an expensive graphics card and god knows what else to make it work) and I haven't gotten around to getting a Xbox 360. Yet.

Moving on!

To be honest, I had absolutely zero interest in the previous four games in the .hack series. To me, they looked pretty dull and generally uninteresting. Right or wrong, I don't know but even while I do enjoy this second set of games, I still really don't have any interest in playing the previous story.

So why then am I playing the G.U. series? Good question, one which even I cannot actually answer at this point. Then again, maybe I will try...

Dungeons and monsters are horrible to me, I mean they (being the monsters) follow each other in a circle and don't roam at all. I think it would make for a better challenge to try and sneak attack a roaming monster, rather then one that is slumping around behind it's buddies in a circle all day.

What I thought was a interesting concept was the ability to be able to put together words that would generate dungeons. It has so much potential to keep game play interesting and could seriously boost replayability. But ultimately, it lacked in variety and before you know it, you've already seen and played through all that the game can throw at you.

Another area I wanted to get further involved, but could not, was the arena battles. I don't know why, but I wanted to jump up in the rankings and become number 1. But you can't. You can only take part in 1 tournament and a few fights and that is it. To move on, you have to play part 2.

Lame.

So far, nothing good to really say huh? Such a terrible game, why play it? Well in all honesty, it isn't a terrible game. For me personally, I think this game's saving grace is it's story, game play was secondary. Now I know for a fact that that is the reason behind my enjoyment, because I am actually hyped up about Volume 2 which will be out in a matter of days!

And after Volume 1's cliffhanger ending, I can't wait to see how the story continues. What happened to Atoil? Is Tri-Edge gone? What about G.U.? And for the sake of my sanity, what is that bastard Sakaki planning!??

Besides that, there will be more party members (Piros and Gaspard are 2 of the most useless characters in the game! Or at least that is my own opinion anyway.), upgradeable steam bike, Haseo's third form (pictured above) and hopefully better dungeons (yeah right). Still, I am hyped! Ok, maybe not hyped like a kid in a candy store, but damn near close!