Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
Date: Jun 21st, 2008 7:29:22 pm - Subscribe
Mood: Pleased
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Playing Pokemon Diamond
Ever since the first two Pokemon games version Red and version Blue came out for the Gameboy Color I've adored the series. TV show not so much, but I thought that the games were really very fun for how simple the concept of them was and it provided me with hours of replayable entertainment. Even if the story never changed there were thousands of different things you could do to make the game more easy or difficult and ways to keep the battling fresh with all the different options for teams that you had with your Pokemon.
When the next versions came out along with a hundred new Pokemon and small tweaks to their features ( like the addition of being a guy or a girl and the running shoes and pokenavs/watches as well as double team battling and others ) things got even better. As far as I was concerned they were a solid games series and while they may not have the same depth and strong story that others did with a few minor annoyances such as knowing the bare bones of every story line from playing just one game they were still able to stand up on their own two feet and deserved the wide spread recognition that they got for their 15 minutes of fame. Not revolutionary, but defiantly something worth picking up.
Of course even now playing the Pokemon Diamond version for Nintendo's DS system I'm fairly happy though I'm not going to give this game any sort of outstanding rating nor the same praise as its successors. If nothing else Diamond is nothing more then a more polished and perfected version of the older games with a few new yet uninspired Pokemon and some systems added that don't even work in the way they're intended.
To start off with as I mentioned earlier the story line is basically just a rehash of the same story they've been using over and over and over again with a few minor tweaks and changes to dialogs and characters. You have the same opening speech, the same format or characters that you encounter, the same speeches, and the same badly dressed and oddly named villains only this time instead of signature stupid hats they have bad bowl cuts.
Next is the Pokemon. While old favorites from the previous games have been kept on they attempted to add something new and fresh with a hundred or so more Pokemon to hunt down and capture. The only difference is compared to the innovative and interesting designs of previously added Pokemon these appear very uninspired. It's one thing to recognize creatures like the Mightyena as a dog looking Pokemon, but another to come across an almost exact beaver replica like Bidoof. It would have been nice if they could have tried just a little bit harder in creating a Pokemon that maybe resembled a beaver, but didn't remind you of the exact animal itself. A common theme for a great deal of the new Pokemon it seems though there are some rather interesting and intriguing ones thrown in there such as the Finneon. Of course so far the only new ones that seem rather developed are either uncommon or there are only one in the game that you can ever capture.
Finally I would speak of the new features, but I have to admit I haven't used them enough to speak about them properly. Most new features are online connections where you can trade and battle with other trainers all over the world. Again features that I haven't used, but have heard that they leave a great deal to be desired in the way that they're utilized by most people especially the trading system that they developed where you can 'post' an ad for a wanted trade and wait for someone to respond. Sort of like the Pokemon version of eBay. And just like eBay it's apparently bogged down with so many ignorant and one sided offers it's hard to find anything worth considering. A novel idea, but perhaps a little policing would put things straight and make it worth checking out.
All in all I would say if you were a big fan of the Pokemon series from the begging Diamond and Peal would be a worthwhile game to look into purchasing. However if you were only ever mildly interested in the series then I wouldn't recommend it. If there wasn't enough material in the older games to get you interested then there defiantly won't be anything here that will make you change your mind about the money you wasted buying it.
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Law of Anime
Date: Jun 15th, 2008 3:34:38 am - Subscribe
Mood: entertained
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Watching Death Note
If there's one thing I love in this world more then anime it's making fun of it. Lets face it no matter how serious or well put together an anime is it's still so far out there that you can't help, but find a way to mock it in some way shape or form. Here's a pretty good list of common rules that all anime reguardless of genre and seriousness seem to follow.
1. Law of Metaphysical Irregularity
The normal laws of physics do not apply.
2. Law of Differentiated Gravitation
Whenever someone or something jumps, is thrown, or otherwise is rendered airborne, gravity is reduced by a factor of 4.
3. Law of Sonic Amplification, First Law of Anime Acoustics
In space, loud sounds, like explosions, are even louder because there is no air to get in the way.
4. Law of Constant Thrust, First Law of Anime Motion
In space, constant thrust equals constant velocity.
5. Law of Mechanical Mobility, Second Law of Anime Motion
The larger a mechanical device is, the faster it moves. Armored Mecha are the fastest objects known to human science.
6. Law of Temporal Variability
Time is not a constant. Time stops for the hero whenever he does something 'cool' or 'impressive'. Time slows down when friends and lovers are being killed and speeds up whenever there is a fight.
7. First Law of Temporal Mortality
"Good Guys' and 'Bad Guys' both die in one of two ways. Either so quick they don't even see it coming, OR it's a long drawn out affair where the character gains much insight to the workings of society, human existence or why the toast always lands butter side down.
8. Second Law of Temporal Mortality
It takes some time for bad guys to die... regardless of physical damage. Even when the 'Bad guys' are killed so quickly they didn't even see it coming, it takes them a while to realize they are dead. This is attributed to the belief that being evil damages the Reality Lobe of the brain.
9. Law of Dramatic Emphasis
Scenes involving extreme amounts of action are depicted with either still-frames or black screens with a slash of bright color ( usually red or white ).
10. Law of Dramatic Multiplicity
Scenes that only happen once, for instance, a 'Good Guy' kicks the 'Bad Guy' in the face, are seen at least 3 times from 3 different angles.
11. Law of Inherent Combustibility
Everything explodes. Everything.
~ First Corollary - Anything that explodes bulges first.
~ Second Corollary - Large cities are the most explosive substances known to human science. Tokyo in particular seems to be the most unstable of these cities, sometimes referred to as "The Matchstick City".
12. Law of Phlogistatic Emission
Nearly all things emit light from fatal wounds.
13. Law of Energetic Emission
There is always an energy build up ( commonly referred to as an energy 'bulge' ) before Mecha or space craft weapons fire. Because of the explosive qualities of weapons, it is believed that this is related to the Law of Inherent Combustibility.
14. Law of Inverse Lethal Magnitude
The destructive potential of a weapon is inversely proportional to its size.
~ First Corollary - Small and cute will always overcome big and ugly. Also known as the A-Ko phenomenon.
15. Law of Inexhaustability
No one *EVER* runs out of ammunition. That is of course unless they are cornered, out-numbered, out-classed, and unconscious.
16. Law of Inverse Accuracy
The accuracy of a 'Good Guy' when operating any form of fire-arm increases as the difficulty of the shot increases. The accuracy of the 'Bad Guys' when operating fire-arms decreases when the difficulty of the shot decreases. ( Also known as the Stormtrooper Effect )
Example: A 'Good Guy' in a drunken stupor being held upside down from a moving vehicle will always hit, and several battalions of 'Bad Guys' firing on a 'Good Guy' standing alone in the middle of an open field will always miss.
~ First Corollary - The more "Bad Guys' there are, the less likely they will hit anyone or do any real damage.
~ Second Corollary - Whenever a 'Good Guy' is faced with insurmountable odds, the 'Bad Guys' line up in neat rows, allowing the hero to take them all out with a single burst of automatic fire and then escape.
~ Their Corollary - Whenever a 'Good Guy' is actually hit by enemy fire, it is in a designated 'Good Guy Area', usually a flesh wound in the shoulder or arm, which restricts the 'Good Guy' from doing anything more strenuous then driving, firing weaponry, using melee weapons, operating heavy machinery, or doing complex martial arts maneuverers.
17. Law of Transient Romantic Unreliability
Minmei is a bimbo
18. Law of Hemoglobin Capacity
The human body contains over 12 gallons of blood, sometimes more, under high pressure.
19. Law of Demonic Consistency
Demons and other supernatural creatures have at least three eyes, loads of fangs, tend to be yellow-green or brown ( but black is not unknown ), and can only be hurt by bladed weapons.
20. Law of Militaristic Unreliability
Huge galaxy-wide armadas, entire armies, and large war-machines full of cruel, heartless, bloodthirsty warriors can be stopped and defeated with a single insignificant example of a caring/loving emotion or a song.
21. Law of Tactical Unreliability
Tactical geniuses aren't...
22. Law of Inconsequential Undetectability
People never notice the little things... Like missing body parts, or wounds the size of Seattle.
23. Law of Juvenile Intellectuality
Children are smarter then adults. And almost always twice as annoying.
24. Law of Americanthropomorphism
Americans in Anime appear in one of two roles, either as a really nasty skinny 'Bad Guy' or a big stupid 'Good Guy'.
~ First Corollary - The only people who are more stupid then the big dumb Americans are the American translators. ( Sometimes referred to as the Green Line Effect )
~ Second Corollary - The only people who are more stupid than the American translators are the American editors and censors.
25. Law of Mandibular Proportionality
The size of a person's mouth is directly proportional to the volume at which they are speaking or eating.
26. Law of Feline Mutation
Any half-cat/half-human mutation will invariably:
1. Be female
2. Will possess ears and sometimes a tail as a genetic mutation
3. And wear as little clothing as possible, if any
27. Law of Conservation of Firepower
Any powerful weapon capable of destroying/defeating an opponent in a single shot will invariably be reserved and used only as a last resort.
28. Law of Technological User-Benevolence
The formal training required to operate a spaceship or mecha is inversely proportional to its complexity.
29. Law of Melee Luminescence
Any being displaying extremely high levels of martial arts prowess and/or violent emotions emits light in the form of a glowing aura. This aura is usually blue for 'Good Guys' and red for 'Bad Guys'. This is attributed to Good being higher in the electromagnetic spectrum then Evil.
30. Law of Non-anthropomorphic Antagonism
All ugly, non-humanoid alien races are hostile, and usually hell-bent on destroying humanity for some obscure reason.
31. Law of Follicular Chroma Variability
Any color in the visible spectrum is considered a natural hair color. This color can change without warning or explanation.
32. Law of Follicular Permanence
Hair in anime is pretty much indestructible, and can resist any amount of meteorological conditions, energy emissions, physical abuse, or explosive effects and still look perfect. The only way to hurt someone's hair is the same way you deal with demons... with bladed weapons!
33. law of Topological Aerodynamics, First Law of Anime Aero-Dynamics
*ANY* shape, no matter how convoluted or odd-looking, is automatically aerodynamic.
34. Law of Probable Attire
Clothing in anime follows certain predictable guidlines.
Female characters wear as little clothing as possible, regardless of whether it is socially or meteorologically appropriate. Any female with an excessive amount of clothing will invariably have her clothes ripped to shreds or torn off somehow. If there is no opportunity to tear off the afore-mentioned female's clothes, then she will inexplicably take a shower for no apparent reason ( also known as the Gratuitous Shower Scene ).
Whenever there is a headwind, a Male character will invariably wear a long cloak which doesn't hamper movement and billows out dramatically behind him.
~ First Corollary ( Cryo-Adaptability ) - All anime characters are resistant to extremely cold temperatures, and do not need to wear heavy or warm clothing in snow.
~ Second Corollary ( Indecent Invulnerability ) - Bikinis render the wearer invulnerable to any form of damage.
35. Law of Musical Omnipotence
Any character capable of musical talent ( singing, playing an instrument, etc. ) is automatically capable of doing much more "simple" things like piloting mecha, fighting crime, stopping an intergalactic war, and so on... especially if they have never attempted these things before.
36. Law of Quitupular Aggultination
Also called "The Five-man Rule," when 'Good Guys' group together, it tends to be in groups of five. There are five basic positions, which are:
1. The Hero/Leader
2. His girlfriend
3. His Best Friend/Rival
4. A Hulking Brute
5. A Dwarf/Kid
Between these basic positions are distributed several attributes, which include:
1. Extreme Coolness
2. Amazing Intelligence
3. Incredible Irritation
37. Law of Extradimensional Capacitance
All anime females have an extra dimensional storage space of variable volume somewhere on their person from which they can instantly retrieve any object at a moment's notice.
~ First Corollary ( The Hammer Rule ) - The most common item stored is a heavy mallet, which can be used with unerring accuracy on any male who deserves it. Other common items include costumes/uniforms, power suits/armor, and large bazookas.
38. Law of Hydrostatic Emission
Eyes tend to be rather large in Anime. This is because they contain several gallons of water, which may be instantaneously released at high pressure through large tear ducts. The actual volume of water contained in the eyes is unknown, as there is no evidence to suggest that these reservoirs are actually capable of running out. The reason water tends to collect in the eyes is because Anime characters only have one large sweat gland, which is located at the back of the head. When extremely stressed, embarrassed, or worried, this sweat gland exudes a single but very large drop of sebaceous fluid.
39. Law of Inverse Attraction
success at finding suitable mates is inversely proportionate to how deserpatly you want to be successful. The more you want, the less you get.
~ First Corollary - Unfortunately, this law seems to apply to Otaku in the real world.
40. Law of Nasal Sanguination
When sexually aroused, males in Anime don't get erections, they get nosebleeds. No one's sure why this is, though... the current theory suggests that larger eyes means smaller sinuses and thinner sinus tissue ( see Law #38 above ). Females don't get nosebleeds, but invariably get one heck of a blush along the cheeks and across the nose, suggesting a lot of blood flow to that region.
41. Law of Xylolaceration
Wooden or bamboo swords are just as sharp as metal swords, if not sharper.
42. Law of Juvenile Omnipotence
always send a boy to do a man's job. He'll get it done in half the time and twice the angst.
43. Law of Quadrotriscadecophobia
There is no Law #43
44. Law of Nominative Clamovocation
The likelihood of success and damage done by a martial arts attack is directly proportional to the volume at which the full name of the attack is announced.
45. Law of Uninteruptable Metamorphosis
Regardless of how long or involved the transformation sequence of how many times they've seen it before, any 'Bad Guys' witnessing a mecha/hero/heroine transforming are to stunned to do anything to interrupt it.
46. Law of Flimsy Incognition
Simply changing into a costume or wearing a teensy mask can make you utterly unrecognizable to even your closest friends and relatives.
- Thanks to these guys for the funny. Oh and is it just me or did they do away with the mood list completely this time? I find said fact humorous, but smart. I think a person should be able to identify their own emotions without a list though some of the ones they had listed was fairly entertaining. -
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Wasted Time
Date: Jun 14th, 2008 2:11:45 am - Subscribe
Mood: tired
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Taking Pictures
There are very few excuses that I accept for people being late to appointments or in some cases just never showing up. My time is valuable. My time is money. And the only person in the world who should be allowed to waste it is me. When I get up at 8:30 in the morning and go into work I'm not doing it for my own health and enjoyment.
There are countless other clients that I could be seeing at that moment. There are other people who could be offering me their money in return for my services and I could have accepted any one of them. Yet I didn't. I accepted one person and put all others aside so if that one person doesn't show for their scheduled appointment that means that I'm out for the income of that slot. It means that I got up when I didn't have to, wasted gas when I didn't have to, and sat around twiddling my thumbs while waiting when I could have been doing a thousand other more productive things.
Being late is also an inexcusable act. If one is late it can set me back and give me undo stress and aggravation, again wastes my time, and the chances I could have used on a more reliable client or doing more productive things.
Of course life throws lemons your way. There are some things that can not be helped, but most of the excuses that I have been thrown have been deplorable.
~ There was heavy traffic / I was stopped by every light on the way / There was an accident / Insert other traffic related gripe here
I'm sorry, but I do not accept this as a valid excuse. When I make an appointment I am sure to give myself plenty of time to get out of the door and drive to where I'm going. Traffic problems are very common and one thing that you should always account for. Even if you end up having to wait a little longer for getting there earlier it's better then putting back the person who was kind enough to offer you their services and a chunk of their life when they could have been sleeping in that day or seeing other clients.
~ My alarm didn't sound this morning
I don't care. I've had the power go out in my house and my alarm fail me in the past yet I still manage to wake up and you know why? Because it's another simple problem that one should account for. Set two alarms, arrange for a friend or relative to call you and wake you up, set the alarm on your cell phone if you know you have an appointment the next day that you need to keep. How in the world do these people survive in the working world anyway? I can't imagine that your boss would forgive you if you tried to pull that excuse for being late why do you think it should work for me?
~ I forgot
Get a calender or even a piece of paper and a pen and stop whining. It's not that hard to remember a date and time. And if you forget before you can get home and write it down don't guess. Call the place. I don't know about other places, but I'm more then happy to remind clients of the appointments they hold for me. I'll even call people the day before their appointment to remind them assuming they didn't make it that previous day.
Or in my case if you're really bad about remembering times wake up early and call them to remind you. I know that tomorrow I have a vet appointment, but I can't remember if it's 8 or 9 so I plan to wake up at 7:40 ( the vets is only five minutes away ) to ask them which it is. If it's 8 I'm up and ready on time and if it's 9 I got back to sleep for an hour.
~ I couldn't find my cat/dog this morning ( in case of animal related appointments )
Again I don't care. I've never had this problem. If I know that I have a vet appointment the next day I make sure to find the animal that's going and put them somewhere where I can easily get to them the next morning. It won't hurt your cat or dog to be locked up in a room for one night. And it's not as if their litter box, food dish, or water dish are nailed to the floor and can't be moved.
Of course there are valid excuses for being late or not arriving. Emergences are one. No one plans to have an unexpected emergency and I would never fault someone for being late or missing an engagement due to one nor would I fault them for not thinking to call. If a loved one has a heart attack or breaks their leg the last thing on your mind is going to be to cancel all your previous appointments.
Unbreakable engagements are another. There are some situations that we simply can't get out of even if we had prior ones. However in this instance I have trouble forgiving people who forget to call. If someone you know needs you to pick them up from the air port when you're supposed to be getting your hair done you can't exactly leave them there, but you should at least have the basic human decency to call your stylist and cancel your other engagement. Don't just not show up.
Car troubles I guess fall into emergencies though in this instance, assuming it isn't an accident, it's always polite to call the place and inform them of what's going on and that you're either going to be late or not arrive at all. I've actually had this happen to me. Someone made an appointment, but called me thirty minutes before informing me that she couldn't get her car to start. While I might have already gotten up and headed into work for her appointment I was able to go home and get more things done that day rather then wait around for an hour ( hour and thirty if you count the fact that I arrive at least thirty minutes early ) for someone that wouldn't show. She gave me all the notice she could and that's all I ask of people.
I'm a generally lazy person. I like doing things on my own time taking however long I please. Unless I feel that something is important enough to merit immediate attention or I truly enjoy what I'm working on I won't put much effort into its completion. However while I have no problem wasting my own time when I see fit I would never waste that of another persons. It's not in my place to do so and it's incredibly rude and callous of me. I make sure that I don't do it very often, but being human I do slip and when that happens I don't try and make excuses for my actions. If I'm late or don't show up it's of my own fault and there's no reason for it. I just wish that others took the same consideration for me. I wish that I didn't have to threaten to block clients because they miss so many appointments without informing me thy're not going to show.
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Little Dahlia
Date: Jun 11th, 2008 7:46:16 pm - Subscribe
Mood: affectionate
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Chasing her kitten
Recently I once again braved the waters of motherhood and in celebration of an apartment that doesn't require a deposit to own animals I bought a kitten from my local vets office that I had, had my eye on for some time. A beautiful little medium haired, tabby colored kitten that I have lovingly named Dahlia.
Her mother came to our little clinic as a stray undernourished and uncared for with a litter of kittens ready to be born. One of those kittens was my precious little Dahlia and from the moment they put her in the front cage for adoption I knew that I had to have her. She was spritey and playful, a very kind cat that loved people and purred whenever you so much as looked at her. Immediately we started to bond and every day before and after work I would go to her cage, retrieve her from her brothers and sisters, and spend what little time I could playing and loving on her.
However it was a bitter sweet connection as I knew that eventually the poor little dear would be adopted out to some family that wouldn't love her half as much as I did already and there were no other kittens in the bunch that interested me. Even if there were I had no place to take them as my parents were not to into a full time commitment of having a kitten in the house and I was sure that any apartment I would find would have a strict no pets policy or it would be expensive to keep one.
I can't tell you how excited I felt when I realized that the apartment I had finally chosen had a landlord that didn't care if you kept cats in the rooms and didn't require an expensive deposit for the animal so long as you agreed to pay for any damages that they caused. Immediately I scooped her up, dubbed her Dahlia ( a tribute to one of my favorite unsolved murders the case of The Black Dahlia though not to be confused with the movie that I haven't seen ) and took her home to acclimate her to her new surroundings. She took to our home like a fish to water and with my parents good graces since they knew that she would be leaving the same time that I did.
I have to say that there is no greater feeling in the world then having something so small and precious to love and care for. To have something depend on you and need you so fully to love it and keep it safe. To tend to its every need and make sure that it wants for nothing. I never want my precious little Dahlia to feel unloved or unwanted nor do I wish to ever see her suffer the same neglect that her poor mother did ( who thankfully now has a good home with one of our techs ). I have every intention of giving her everything that she could want and have the thrill of knowing that in return I'll have her love and acceptance and the knowledge that she's happy and healthy. It's such a strange and wonderful feeling to want to keep something safe. To keep something loved.
Now I just have to find the energy to keep up with the little bundle of fuzz.
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Getting Bitten
Date: Jun 10th, 2008 11:59:02 pm - Subscribe
Mood: excited
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Watching Without a Trace
You think that working with dogs the way I do I would be more appreciative when my animals were gentle and good natured rather then mean spirited and vicious. The truth is though that I'm more nervous around the 'good' dogs then I am the 'bad' ones.
When I see the bright orange sticker on an animals file that says May Bite is a small source of comfort. That one little sticker tells me all I need to know about the animal. I'm aware that if I touch it or look at it wrong then it will try and hurt me. I'm aware that it's mean and will defiantly turn on me if I don't watch myself and take precautions to protect myself. Without that sticker I'm flying blind.
Even the most good natured dog has a weak point. They have a tick that sets them off and changes their behavior. For some it's their feet, for others their face, still others their stomach or back or tail. Some dogs don't like being brushed others don't like being shaved, but reguardless of which it is there is always something that a good natured dog doesn't like and each of them deal with it different. That's where the problems come in. I can always trust a mean dog to bite me when it doesn't like something, but I can't always trust that a good dog won't. There's the issue of predictability that can make a situation more nerve racking. Over time I've learned to ignore that risk and take it as it comes, but there are other aspects of life where the same principals apply, but are much more difficult to ignore.
I don't trust the police, and I take the same attitude with them as I do with dogs. When it comes to criminals I know that they're out there to hurt me. I know they wish to cause me pain and take what isn't theirs be it something as simple as money or objects or something more severe like my life. I can trust their actions and intentions to be about the same, but what about the police?
They start us out little telling us that the police are our friends. That we should trust and honor them and that as long as we don't break the rules ourselves we have nothing to fear from them, but as we grow up we learn that isn't completely true. We learn that police like the rest of us are human and there are good ones and bad ones. There are ones that fulfill their jobs and obligations with respect and integrity and there are those that allow the power and control they gain to get to their heads. There are those that become police because they wish to help people and put away the bad guys and there are those that want to wear the badge because they want legal power over other human beings.
Of course I don't wish to be taken the wrong way. I don't view all police as bad. I don't see them as unnecessary and I don't wish for them to be disbanded. I'm not raging against the machine and other then one police who was a jerk while giving me a speeding ticket ( which I will fully admit was my own fault and no one else's ) I've never had a bad experience with an officer of the law. Rather it's the exact opposite just about every cop I've had a run in with has been very kind and helpful towards me. However I take the same stance with officers, and really anybody with more power then me, as I do with my dogs. I trust that for the most part they will be good and helpful towards me, but I'm aware that they're not perfect and not gods and eventually I will encounter one that will try and bite me. I should never give them my full and unconditional trust and should never let my guard down around them no matter how kind they seem unless they have proven themselves to me. I think there are only two police officers that I know that have done this to my satisfaction both of whom have helped me and my family since we first moved here from giving us a hand when our heater broke in the middle of winter to aiding me during my first car accident.
Just remember that the thought should not be complete distrust, but trust with caution and awareness.
And on a last note excited is another word that they probably should have listed, but for some reason don't.
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