Walking in a garden, waking from a... oh wait

"It is unlikely that the financial meltdown of 2008 will function as a blessing in disguise, the awakening from a dream, the sobering reminder that we live in the reality of global capitalism. It all depends on how it will be symbolised, on what ideological interpretation or story will impose itself and determine the general perception of the crisis. When the normal run of things is traumatically interrupted, the field is open for a ‘discursive’ ideological competition. In Germany in the late 1920s, Hitler won the competition to determine which narrative would explain the reasons for the crisis of the Weimar Republic and the way out of it; in France in 1940 Maréchal Pétain’s narrative won in the contest to find the reasons for the French defeat. Consequently, to put it in old-fashioned Marxist terms, the main task of the ruling ideology in the present crisis is to impose a narrative that will not put the blame for the meltdown on the global capitalist system as such, but on its deviations – lax regulation, the corruption of big financial institutions etc."

Slavoj Žižek - Use Your Illusions

A little more than 3 years ago I sat down to reread George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (which is now being piloted as a HBO series in Nove. 2008) and came across this familiar passage: He dreamt an old dream, of three knights in white cloaks, and a tower long fallen, and Lyanna in her bed of blood.

In the dream his friends rode with him, as they had in life....

With the reread came the rehabilitation of this blog, separated from the first iteration by more of a motivation to catalog the better things I read. I was, and am content to a degree, to let the blog become a giant bookmark of sorts. As long as I am reading, this blog will not run out of content.

Lilium

Blast from the past, circa 2006

http://wbc889.blogspot.com/2006/04/elfen-lied-and-gustav-klimt-elfen-lied.html

I don't want to set the world on fire

Disappointing game, this is the only good song out of the minuscule, and ultimately mediocre soundtrack.

Things wrong with the game
1) bland palette
2) slow level progression makes the player feel a lack of progress
3) 3rd person view not playable (therefore you never see your armor)
4) you can't drive fusion cars

Was there any doubt?

So where was I last night and and what was I doing when it happened?

I was talking with a Brit, a Canadian, and a Dutch on ventrillo just before the victory speech. Managed to catch it live online. The speech has everything covered, I wonder what would he say for the inaugural address? Although he was right to cover everything since the symbolic value of this victory cannot be understated.

Children

Old trance songs, memorable after all these years.

Winter is Coming

It feels like winter already. Got up in the morning, walked outside, and it was freezing.

Openings

Reading people's blogs

I must say I am confused, but no more than usual.

You seem very upset. One might even call you angry. Did you accidentally the cherry?

Carry on.

Syndicate, the ****space of New Eden

Syndicate, a NPC nullsec region of EVE, politically chaotic and infested with pirates. Rewards from bounties off NPCs are below average, and with various political power blocs unable to claim sovereignty, it is known to many as the armpit of EVE.

Gundam 00 Season 2: Where Originality Ends, and the Mask Wearing Begins

R.I.P season 1, one of the more creative fictions in the Gundam universe. Now it is time to trot out the pastiches and the stock cryptic self seriousness.

Openings and Closings

Re:

The sheer amount of lipstick feminism really depresses me. Since when did a wink ever replace a genuine smile?

Something Ends, Something Begins

Finished watching the finales of Macross Frontier and Code Geass season 2, the former sucked, the latter was fairly good.

Also went back and finished off Eureka Seven, god I knew there was a reason I stopped watching it. A few redeeming qualities can't compensate for the amount of cheese.

Few of the better episodes in the series is centered around this (awesome!) song.



Enjoy.

Fake edit: Yes the title of the entry does come from the Witcher. Speaking of which it is one of the only few games I go back and play once in a while. The music in that game is on its' own plane. Yes, the ambient music is really that good.

AC: FA

The Fall and Fall of the Turks

From the Mediterranean to the Chinese Sea...

The slogan of the "East Turkestan" separatist movement, a proponent of pan-Turkic ethnic superiority.

National liberation based on emancipation and empowerment of the people? Nope. Try demographic warfare.

How can nations with any global ambitions these days cling on to such crippling ideology?

Aftermath

Slept through most of the hurricane. From the looks of the aftermath the apartment can handle up to a category 3. Category 4 will rip the third floor off.

Got power back, then water, and now internet. But just across the street electricity is still of an unknown quantity.

During the last few days I've gained a new perspective on TV dinners. They are good for breakfast.

Not Evacuating

Hurricane cut classes in the Woodlands short. Bought plenty of water, hoping that the internet and power doesn't go out in the next few days. The sun is still shining and so we live on for now.

Persona 4

Lyrics:

We are living our lives.
Abound with so much information.
Come on, let go of the remote.
Don't you know you're letting all the junk flood in?
I try to stop the flow, double clicking on the go
But it's no use; hey, I'm being consumed
Loading... Loading... Loading...
Quickly reaching maximum capacity
Warning... Warning... Warning!
Gonna short-circuit my identity.

Get up on your feet, tear down the walls.
Catch a glimpse of the hollow world.
Snooping 'round will get you nowhere.
You're locked up in your mind...
We are all trapped in a maze of relationships that goes on with or without you.
I swim in the sea of the unconscious.
I'll search for your heart, pursue my true self.


/Lyrics

Due in December

The voice talent for the English version of Persona 3 FES is quite good, to the extend that I have no preference over either language version of the voice acting. Hopefully they'll repeat the same feat in 4.

Red Cliff

What a horrible movie. It just goes against those of us who read the book(s), the comics and watched the TV series countless times since we were young. Zhao Zilong looks 20 years too old, Guan Yu sounds like he is 20 years too young, and Zhang Fei is more suitable as a Hello Kitty decoration with puppy eyes on the eve of battle. And where the fuck is Zhao Yun's sword Green Destiny, grabbed from the scabbard of his enemies even as he cuts them down on horseback? Where is the dignity when Guan Yu is sent in on foot like some foot soldier, without utilizing the reach of his Green Dragon Halberd?

Frankly, I prefer my classical Chinese literature archetypes served cold. All of this overwrought humanizing pastiches such as Guan Yu teaching kids to read classical poetry and Liu Bei making shoes is just an insult to the intelligence of an average reader. Reading The Three Kingdoms is not meant to be an exercise in getting your daily feel good about how people are perfect.

Part of reading an epic is to hold up an mirror and discover the flaws and hubris in the alter egos of our past. To that extend the best performance in the movie is the believably maniacal Cao Cao. What is so disappointing about the movie is that it reflects more of the taste of an uncultivated mass audience rather than convey with any authenticity a great story.

Think I will go back and watch a few episodes of the TV series again, maybe then I'll calm down a little and stop cursing this mentally challenged movie.

9/29/2008 The sheer amount of lipstick feminism really depresses me. If they are looking for strong female protagonists they really need to read George R. R. Martin. One of the greatest stories never told, as in hinted at, is the tourney at Harrenhal where Rhaegar crowned Lyanna the Queen of Beauty.

If a woman like Lyanna exists in this world, I would give her my heart and soul.