Ramblings of a Crowe

Screw Zelda

I don't think a game has pissed me off more since playing the first Devil May Cry. I'm all for things being difficult, but there's a limit to difficulty when trying to make things 'fun'. Sure, it's cool to have bomb dropping birds, archers on cliffsides, ogres on warthogs shooting flaming arrows, a dumbass woman who can't drive a carriage worth shit and all the while poor Link is trying to ride a completely retarded horse around, shoot things out of the sky, put out fires, and make ogre-warthog steak.

Fuck that.

I spent an hour on this part of the game and finally said, screw this. I'm done. I doubt I'll be playing it anymore, it made me that angry. I'm actually pissed I spent money on it. I'm pissed that I'm this pissed over a stupid video game. I'm pissed because it was actually pretty fun and I liked the story, but I'm too pissed off to play it anymore because I know I'll have to get through that part to go on and just going through that again will piss me off all over again.

Piss on that.

PISS!

>:(

I'm going to go play a Tales game to calm my nerves.

EDIT

I tried it again and finally threw the disk behind my TV in a five year old style temper tantrum. This game seriously pisses me the hell off.

I Love You Guys!

I have the most awesome friends and family. A big thanks to everyone who send me b-day wishes today. I think this is one of the best b-days I've ever had.

To all the people from TG who emailed me and left messages on my phone, you nearly made me cry. I might not talk to you every day anymore, but we still think about each other. I'll never forget any of you.

To J, thanks for the gift and for everything you do for me. You're the best friend a person can have.

My son, who makes me friggen laugh, you kill me! I want my chicken pot pie! God, I love you to pieces.

To my family--you guys are awesome. Especially my mom. I love you. Thanks for thinking about me and making me laugh. I don't know what I'd do without you.

And to the people at my new work (who probably won't read this): Just wow. I have never been more surprised. I've known you all a week and in one day your kindness washed away all my fear and apprehension. I can't wait to get to know everyone better.

Thank you everyone! Today was the best day ever!

Stupid Americans Taking Things Too Far--Again

Ok.

It's time to round up the morality police. They've had their fair share of mucking up the country with their petty opinions and delicate sensibilities. Time to put our foot down and start telling each other to sack it up. We've become a nation of pussies, and I think it sucks.

The final straw was this new article over on MSN.com. A Virgina middle school has outlawed touching of any kind amongst students. No fighting, to high fives, no hugging, nada.

WTC kind of rule is this and what the hell purpose does it serve? I can see "Don't punch your buddy in the face" or "No giving Maynard wedgies" or "Stop sucking face in the hallway", but no high fives or hugs? Jesus.

Whoever thought this rule was a good idea needs a beating with a thorny clue stick. Upside the head. And who are the people who just went along with this rule, saying nothing, allowing it to pass?

I hate reading the news. World news, meh. News about stuff in my country? I want to scratch my eyes out at the number of dumbasses popping up. They're like sea monkies. Just add water and there's a billion of them.

Arghhhh!

Evil Flower Goes to a Garden Show

So, since I'm no longer employed (at least until Monday), I decided to waste my time running around that virtual world known as, "Second Life". Needless to say, it is a vast place that sums up the weirdness of the internet with no words--just shocking visuals everywhere you turn. I don't think I've ever seen so many furries. * shudders * And if you ever need to buy a virtual dong, there are about a thousand shops selling them in every shape and size imaginable.

Second Life is a big chat room with customizable avatars and landscapes. You can build just about anything if you know how to write scripts and manipulate a 3D creation engine. Though joining SL is free, money can be exchanged if you are so inclined. Hell, you can even build stuff and sell it, exchaning the "Linden Dollars" for real US dollars. Just don't expect to get rich.

The game is insanely boring alone. If you don't belong to a group or get to know people right away, or can't build squat, it's pretty much pointless to waste your time there. Granted, if you dress up as a sexy avatar, about 100 people will IM you right away with. I even had one guy ask me, "Can I kiss you?" And when I said hell no, he dropped a pile of steaming poo on my head. Of course, I asked him right away if I could have a copy of his Poo prim. I think he was pretty shocked I didn't start freaking out and crying, "griefer".

See, griefing in SL isn't really defined. We all know there are griefers all over MMORPGs everywhere. These are the folks who go around causing trouble, crashing sims, robbing people, etc. In SL, just dressing up as something creative or different can get you banned from a Sim and labeled a griefer. Pretty sad for a place that is supposed to thrive on the creativity of its residents. However, there are quite a few people who ignore the whining and create amazing avatars that aren't scantily clad (or even some that are) and build SIMS not related to beach houses or clubs. Many of us find a certain joy in visiting places like any other resident and recording the reactions of those around us.

Today I went to a flower show:

This is where I realized I should've made myself a sign that read, "Free My People." Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose.

All my flower friends, enslaved! How humiliating!

The flower show was a bust, so I decided to visit some gardens to see what sort of horrible persecution my chlylorophillic brothers were suffering through. Needless to say, I got a bit lost.

I ended up in a lover's garden complete with ballroom dancing. Of course, no one likes giant flowers, so I wasn't allowed to dance. Instead I found myself a sexy little lounge and waited around for someone to join me.

When that didn't bear fruit (har, har, har), I sucked it up and went to play in the pool.

Not to be out done by the mermaid, I flaunted my own beauty at the lavish lovers grotto.

Bumper cars aren't much fun by yourself.

The highlight of my trip: a picture with a famous picture.

Next week, I'll continue my quest to liberate flowers everywhere and bring equal rights to plants all over SL!

***yes, I made that horrible avatar all by myself***

Well, what do you know! Jail isn't fun!

So after 4 days in jail, Paris Hilton gets to go home due to "medical reasons." Though no one can say for sure what these medical reasons are (perhaps lack of a brain), speculation revolves around a staph infection that is running through the prison inmates. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't detention centers have medical wards? And don't they make antibiotics for staph infections? Not only that, if I remember from my microbiology days, staph is spread through contact with other people and things they've touched. Last I recalled, Hilton was in isolation from the rest of the detention community for 'her own saftey'.

Oh, don't worry everyone. She's still being punished. For the next 45 days, she is under house arrest (or should that be mansion arrest?) with an tracker strapped to her ankle. According to a spokesman for the LA Sheriff's Department, Paris has, "fulfilled her oblgation and paid her debt back to society."

OREALY?

The judge who sentenced Hilton doesn't seem to think so. Nor do several politicians or the prosecuting attorney who put her there or the hundreds of people emailing or calling the AP about this mess. Hilton was ordered back to the courts today to attend another hearing. Of course, this was inconvenient and Hilton requested a conference call from her home instead. The judge said, "Hell no. Get your ass in here now" and sent a police car to pick her up. (LOL)

But the lulz really come from the Sheriff who made the decision to set Hilton free. One of his more stellar comments:

"My message to those who don't like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice," Baca said.

Indeed, Sheriff Lee Baca (what an appropriate name. Baka in Japanese means stupid or idiot). Because every day, thousands of not rich, non famous, non cooter flashing Americans are set set free from jail for 'minor' infractions such as drunk driving. They shed a few tears, claim they have the vapors, say they're sorry, and some understanding, compassionate police man such as yourself lets them go home with an ankle bracelet.

Someone fire this guy. And while their doing that, throw Hilton back into the clink. Preferably with the other prisoners.

EDIT!

Paris goes back to jail. After watching the news and this entire circus unfold, I'm just disgusted that this is even an issue. She. Commited. A. Crime. Not once, not twice, but three times. And this was a crime that put the lives of innocent people in danger. I have no sympathy for Hilton.

Baca's referral to Hilton's "medical condition" just makes me ill. How many people are in our prison system suffer from illness? Illnesses like AIDS, cancer, diabetes, etc? And how many of people in our prison system suffer from severe psychiatric illness--and no one gives a shit about them? The only illness Hilton suffers from is "Spoiled little girl not getting her way". That's it. All this ominous talk about suicide watch and crap, give me a break. If she chooses to string herself up over a 45 day jail sentence that SHE brought on herself, I won't shed any tears. Maybe that will keep her off streets the next time she gets behind the wheel after drinking herself silly. This could've been much worse. She could've killed someone. Do the crime, pay the time.

So, STFU Paris.

This is funny:

wtf is THAT?

When it rains, it pours.

Today my mom came and woke me up around 6am. My son had broken out into the weirdest rash all over his legs, stomach, and arms. It looks like chicken pox, but he's already had them. Not only that, they don't itch like crazy and they showed up over a period of about 24-48 hours. Oddly, my mom was much more calm about by son looking like he'd been tied to an ant hill and draped in honey. She wanted to send him to school, since he showed no other signs other than just weird bumps all over.

Me, on the other hand, freaked out. "OMFG! They're small pox!" Which wasn't as funny then as it is now. Actually, I knew they weren't small pox, but my mind is wired to jump to the worst possible conclusion just to avoid surprise and disappointment. Ebola was up there on my list too, but since he wasn't running a fever of a billion degrees or bleeding from any orifices, I figured that one was a long shot.

I took him to the doctor. I planned on going anyway, since my sinus infection has returned and I feel like crap again. So we took a happy family outing to the clinic--at 7:30 in the morning.

I couldn't believe how many people were there. At least 3 in front of us and another three or four behind us. Strangely, I ran into one of my ex-coworkers. He was one of the new guys, hired on right before I left, so I didn't notice him right away. He said my name and told me everyone was sad I gone--then asked me if I knew the address for the company. LOL irony.

Anyway, the doctor gave me a severe scolding about my high blood pressure, but told me it had come down quite a bit since my last visit a month ago. Again, irony. I told my son it was probably because I no longer worked for 'that place' anymore. I wasn't joking.

The doc looked at the kiddo and was baffled. He had no clue what the hell was going on. The bumps aren't poison oak or ivy. Nor are they chicken pox, though he said they sort of resemble them. But since the kid isn't itching excessivly or running a fever, he really wasn't sure what to make of them. In my head, I'm thinking "Check for Anthrax!" The only thing he could think of was it could be from my son swimming in the lake when he and my family went camping last weekend. Sometimes rivers and lakes have 'bugs' (bacteria, fungus, parasites) that can cause this sort of thing. There really isn't any treatment for it. Basically he said, just keep an eye on them. If he gets more and they start festering, then bring him in so we can culture them.

Great.

Just looking at him makes me itch. He has none on his face--for now--which I find wierd. I'm wondering if he is allergic to something? But they really don't look like one of those, "My detergent doesn't agree with me" rashes. They look like chicken pox. I guess for now, we just wait and see...

UPDATE!

The kiddo's bumps are worse. Not in the fact he's gotten more of them, but they look like they're about to pop. GROSS! I told him he had worms in his body--dead worms. That grossed him out pretty good. * evil smile *

Gackt Craziness

J, I found the follow up video for the "hidden meat". I am posting this in your honor:

Gackt on Utaban

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And here's another one, just for fun:

Entitled--Crotchsplitter

Gackt on Utaban

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Firsts

Last night is the first night I actually slept well. I didn't have any dreams, I didn't wake up in the middle of the night worried about losing my job, I didn't go to bed with a sick feeling in my stomach. I even woke up at 8am. Every other morning before this one, I would wake up at like 3 or 4am--blaming it on going to bed too early, but in reality it was my nerves. I'd wake up, just wanting to get the day started so I could get it over with.

For the first time in years, I woke up feeling relieved.

I gleefully told my mom, "Hey! I don't have to go to Hell today!" I had long since nicknamed my former place of employment, "hell"--though in some respects, I think Hell would be more pleasant.

Do I regret working for that company for seven years? The angry part of me whispers, "Yeah, I do," but the rational part of me says, "Nope." I walk away from that place with a wealth of knowledge about customer service and office politics, and the privilege of having met some of the coolest people ever. Granted, I've also met some of the shadiest, slimiest, most unethical, and dumbest people on the face of this earth there too--but even they are interesting study material, if not great for comedic value.

So I'm not angry about losing my job. Hell, even I thought my lay off was a great idea. I am angry about all the lying and bullshit that has gone on over the past year, specifically the last few months. Instead of being dragged along like a battered carcass behind a truck for the last couple weeks, I would have preferred certain managers (not my direct supervisor) have been upfront with me from the beginning and canned my ass earlier. Honestly, I hate nothing more than people who are sneaky liars. I can only hope that someday they each get what the deserve. Karma can be a bitch.

At least I got my Employee of the Month award before I got kicked to the curb. Go me.

Anyhoo, to recant my parting words, "Please don't ever call me to work for this company again." Indeed. And if anyone ever asks me if it is a good place to work, I'll calmly reply, "Don't go there." Take that as you will.

In other news, I got a job today. I start the 18th. For the first time in years, I'm actually excited to go to work. I had so much fun in the interview today! The people I talked with were great! It was like chatting with old friends. I was immediately offered a position. I'm so excited! I can't say this enough, but thanks J, for helping me out. I probably would've never given it another shot if you hadn't encouraged me.

—ˆ�T�A“ú–{Œê‚̃eƒXƒg‚ª‚ ‚è‚Ü‚·�B‚â‚×�[�@Next week I take my Japanese final. I think I'll do ok on it. Now that I am free of all the stress I've been under, I'm finally enjoying class again. Too bad it's the last week...there is a rumor of Japanese 201 being offered next year...I'll have to see what the job situation is like then, but I'd really like to take a second year. I've learned so much already.

Well, that's enough for today. I've got a pile of books to read and I'm seriously thinking of getting back to writing again. I haven't had the heart to do so in a long time, but now I'm feeling better. We shall see.

There and Back Again

So as of today, I'm unemployed--again.

I hate summer.

You know it's friggen hot when the gum sitting next to my bed is half melted.

It's 90 degrees inside my house right now. The new air conditioner is apparently broken. But that doesn't explain why ma insists all the doors and windows remain closed...

I really hate fucking summer time...

Transformers: The Movie

Even if the plot and dialogue suck, there is nothing cooler than giant robots kicking the shit out of each other. The only way this could possibly be more cool is if the film involved zombies and pirates.

For better quality, check out the clips on Yahoo Movies.

Jesus!

‚È‚ñ‚Å‚»‚ê

Why is MT being such a bastard about writing in Japanese? I've never had this problem before...Maybe I should just change the native language to Japanese...LOL.

Bleach and Naruto

I love Grimmjow. He is so honest, it makes me laugh. Ully looks a little pissed off. I'm really curious to see how they all get out of this mess now...

And all I can say about the next picture is:

I knew he wasn't dead.

WTF went down at LiveJournal the other day? Holy Strikethroughgate, Batman!

Read this (I*heart*youFirefox). No, just read it. Done blinking yet? No? Ok, I'll give you a second to swallow the absurdity.

So SixApart bends to the will of an internet vigilante group, on a mission to rid the internet of pedophiles and everyone else they deem morally corrupt (LOL interwebs justice!), by deleting hundreds or journals with questionable interests and pissing off thousands of members. Including literature discussion groups (specifically the Spanish book, Lolita), and support groups for survivors of rape, incest, child molestation. Brilliant 6A, brilliant.

WfI (Refer to the Firefox clip for the name of this group. I won't link nutters like these back here), a group of Christian Dominists, might have good intentions, but those intentions are quickly muddied by their self-righteous, knee-jerk, high handed moralistic actions (This is how disgusting these people are. One has since made their Blogger invisible *lol*) It only takes a person a minute or two to skim through the exchanges between WfI and Fandom to realize that this group's agenda isn't just search and destroy pedophiles, it's search and destroy anyone they find questionable--no questions asked. Thats fucking scary.

That said, I hear by decree the Bible be banned, because no book has more rape, murder, child molestation, or incest than it does. People might read it and start getting ideas, right? Oh wait! That's been happening for thousands of years now! Silly me!

Recap!

WfI humped the hornets nest when they tangled with Fandom. When Strikethoughgate began to happen, Fandom raised its ugly head and shifted predatory eyes on the Ones Who Ruined Their Lives. WfI, having no idea what they'd gotten themselves into, began denying any involvment (despite the fact they admitted it AND posted a list of pedo journals--some of which were actually Fandom journals) while making snarky remarks and deleting comments left on their website (which, by the way, uses stolen images from a video game called Vampire: The Masquerade:Redemption). Suddenly, 6A is under attack from thousands, and I don't mean a couple thousand, I mean THOUSANDS of pissed off users. At last count, there were +31000 journals all related to, or interested, in Fandom.

The Internet begins to catch wind of the debacle, news groups and large sites such as Fark, Something Awful, 4chan, etc., raise their brows and start talking--the rest of the internet holds their breath (Thankfully there were no casualties. All websites and people related to them are still standing. Though I do admit, seeing WiF try to tackle SA would be something I'd pay money for. Comedy Gold, indeed.)

6A finally makes a reply to the outcry, only to stick their foot so far down their throats it comes out their ass. More internet attention is gathered, thousands more angry posts are made on the LJ news page. People start threatening to abandon LJ all together. The members of JournalFen (home of FandomWank) hold their breath, waiting for the exodus to come their way. FandomWank sits back and eats popcorn, while muttering about the Robustness of the server.

6A starts to backpedal. CEO posts. People jump all over him like stink on shit. Some journals are reinstated. Members still pissed off. Today, most journals have been reinstated. Members still pissed off. WiF is displeased with this turn of events:

Unfortunately, LJ also deleted hundreds of unrelated journals, much to the dismay of many authors. In an effort to quell the huge backlash that they were receiving from their broad blanket of suspenses, they apologized, agreed to review each journal, and reinstate those that were mistakenly suspended. In their zeal to grease the squeaky wheel, they have also seen fit to reinstate many of the very journals that started this entire issue: those of admitted pedophiles. Nifty.

And the question I have to ask is "Who do they consider admitted pedophiles? People actually posting nekkid pics of kids or Fandom members writing incest, rape fantasy fics, or dare I bring the Furries into this? As squicky as the latter is, there's a big difference between pedos and Fandom's many faces. Considering several Fandom Journals were on their 'list' of tracked pedo sites to be deleted (some of which were RPG Journals and Fanfiction sites), I really don't think they're too interested in discerning the difference, despite their claim otherwise. A read through their group's maintainer blogs, as well as a quick glance at the comments of those advocating Wif's mission is telling of the character of people this particular group leads.

A quote from someone who misses the point:

WfI has recently struck a nerve with a segment of the population that does not appreciate what they stand for, or against rather. WfI is against childporn on the internet. Through their endeavors LiveJournal, owned by Six Apart Incorporated, deleted over 500 of its sites or journals that it deemed as portals for pedophilia, child sex, child abuse, and other illegal activities. They hope that other Journal and blog providers will soon follow suit.

Go to this posting on WfI and get the first hand story about what happened and be sure to read the comments wherein some of the people in this wonderful world show they are not happy with the results Warriors is achieving.

No, go here for the story.

So who is at fault? 6A, no doubt, for giving into the threats of a radical fundie group and taking action without any investigation. The stupid is blinding. Also, WfI is responsible too. Their cause is a good one, but muddied by their self-righteous fundie minds. And any group that thinks its ok to take out a few thousand innocent people to get a dozen evil bastards is just as nefarious as the ones they hunt. Disgusting, actually.

Leave crime fighting up to the professionals. Contact the FBI or police. Don't use underhanded threats such as, "I've taken screen caps of such and such on your site and if you don't do anything about it, I'm going to report you to your sponsors" or hijacking websites just because you believe them to morally unsound. I noticed a list of hijacked sites on one of WfI blogs. They'd all been redirected to a web page that says, "Boycott Amazon.com". I wondered how many of these sites were innocent sites--people who are into rape fantasy, BSDM, Furry crap, etc. Sure, its squicky, but they aren't out molesting sprogs.

What we have here is an internet Witch Hunt, led by people who can't believe that there are other people out there that don't share their beliefs on what morality is and therefore everyone who has a fetish is a sicko and a molester. Sadly for them, Fandom has a long memory and is a vindictive bitch. I'm sure this isn't over yet.

For now, I'm going to go buy stuff at Amazon.com! Yay!