23rd March 1.41 AM

I watched 15 a coupla hours ago. Second time. But this time it was the edited version; not nearly as much impact; as is to be expected i guess. Depressing in some way nonetheless. Just got me thinking, i'll be 20 soon, not a teenager anymore. What have I done that is noteworthy in twenty years? Not a pleasing answer there. Ok.. 61C hw submitted, off to CSUA office.. hopefully its open.. put in an hour of Burnout

Ahh... Childhood.. that beautiful time

Im watching tv with andrew... VH1 top 20 videos just ended.. anyway... a few golden words from the tele.. " Childhood flies away like cookies from a plate, " haha... OMG.. that was a horrible line.. the lot of us in this house have a thing for adds, and god.. that one was up there.. haa.. maybe i should post oon our favourite and most hated adds...

Remember Remember

Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent to blow up the King and the Parliament. Three score barrels of powder below, Poor old England to overthrow: By God's providence he was catch'd With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! Hip hip hoorah! A penny loaf to feed the Pope. A farthing o' cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down. A faggot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar. Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head. Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead. Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah!

Full rhyme from which first two lines are quoted by V. I watched the opening matinee on friday. It was wonderful. I read the comic last night. I somehow find the movie more nuanced than the comic in many ways. Ah.. Hugo Weaving was amazing.. I suppose a lot of credit must go to the screen writer too.. all the characters were so... umm ... lush. V had so much depth as a character. And then you come to the issues the movie deals with; Censorship, biological weapons, state controlled media, hypocrissy in organised religion, terrorism, its glorification, Islamophobia, homophobia. Im the autocratic, fascist, neo-con in the house, in stark contrast to Jaime and Andrew's generally more socialist ideas, and oft at odds with Ernest's quasi-bougie doctrine. We've gone over most of that so the movie offered no new fodder really, except we wondered what reaction if any, the Muslim world will have to the Islamophobia depicted in the movie. Will they blindly condemn the movie for it; will they recognise that it chastises that Islamophobia; will it recieve much viewership in the Dar al-Islam. I dont now. We shall see.

I watched Highlander on saturday morning. Queen was good, better than i thought they were. I guess they were that big for a reason. But then there are others who seem to be big for no reason; Bon Jovi, excellent case in point. He seems to have cemented his superstar standing despite the fact that most of his music sounds much the same, though ill admit I liked one or two of his earlier songs. Oddly, though one might level the same accusation upon Coldplay, I feel no such antagonism toward them. Maybe in 5 years.

Anyway, I got scolded by this guy yesterday for voicing my opinion that the Ali G Show is funny. He felt it was racist against black people. This was while playing ultimate last night. Later I made some comment about Katamari being a gay game and generally expressed the opinion that it was shitty. He looked at me all weird. I guess he mighta been black. Possibly gay. But come on.. whos seen the game. Katamari Daimasu is gay. So shoot me for saying that. Ideas are bulletproof.

Sigh.. of relief now..

I watched Jet Li kick some ass, save Chinese women from foreign prostitution and earn the love of Aunt 13 last night. Ah.. the wonders of a Wong Fei Hung movie. Feels good to be unburdened, if only for a few days. Went shopping last night, sweet onion chips, ice-cream, apple pie, strawberries, milk - i think i need some calcium; i just realised i havent had any substantial dairy products for like 2 weeks - tofu, riceroni, coco puffs. Im eating some ice-cream now, watching History of Violence. Ok. It just ended. Hmm... I dont know yet what to think of it. Parts of the movie seem irrelevant to the rest of it. Connecting unseen dots in my head, lets go to something Leng said in a conversation he had with Matthew, Susan, and myself. Since I havent updated everyone on stuff in my recent life..

Characters

Matthew : Phd student under whom im working on a research project; immensely interesting to talk to, wealth of knowledge and opinions.

Susan : My research partner, known her for a while, was Rika's suitmate

Leng : Matthew's long time acquaintance, and main man at SEALNET (more about that later)

Topic of Conversation : Problems with using video games / games in general to teach various concepts

So Matthew is explaining to Leng the issues we faced in designing games to teach english in an immersive manner. Leng mentions hurdles in using games to demonstrate ideas to people that SEALNET projects work with. He says games tend to press toward a win-lose conclusion and finds it very hard to embedd the notion of win-win closure in a game. It occured to me then, that the reason we were using games was their enomous advantage in appeal to young people over traditional means of communicating these ideas. Why do games hold so much greater appeal? It is not just because someone can win. It is because for someone to win, somone else must lose. Think back on all those gay (Im not big on PC) games that they made you play at various orientations and whatnot in which 'everyone wins' . Those were the silliest games ever. I believe people enjoy games not just because they can win, and they like this, but because they can win, while others can lose, and the winner dominates the loser. I feel every human being feels some gratuity from dominating another. This is why u get bored of stupid pinball games after a while (except for those idiots who compare high scores), but you can play a versus fighter against someone everyday. Sad as it may seem, we derive some pleasure (some derive great pleasure), from having someone grovel beneath you. Win-win games, are quite simply, ungamely.

Beauty

I just watched Hero again. I teared a little at the end. I dont understand why my housemates cannot see the beauty of this movie. An emperor who braves the burden and blame that history will cause him to bear to realise his vision of greatness for his country. Two who stand up to him and put their lives in the hands of another to realise their quest to kill him. A servant who would die for her master. A swordsman who would hear his true calling when the fruit of ten years labour was in the palm of his hands, and let it go. A warrior who sees another's vision and past his percieved tyranny, extinguishing his desire for revenge with a dream for his country. And the same warrior laying down his blade to die on his beloved's, to win her heart again. I feel the pain and sorrow and hope that these people feel. The movie somehow feels static, like it could be painted in its entirety into a single picture. What I would give to die like that..

Aaah.. and people say growing up in Singapore makes you a cynic. Welcome to America. Or maybe its just me. I'm such a sensitive child. haha.

Next coupla weeks should be a little less hectic, especially once i turn in the next 61C project on wednesday; can focus on my Mayan Calendrics paper. That sould put me through some interesting reads. Hopefully I can fill in the past two months stuff here in this time. There was so much to say, I just somehow never got past thinking about it.

Somebody recommend me a tagboard. Its just not working with me and boards.. they randomly delete stuff, disappear, expire.... generally just being a struggle.