What? Posts are evolving!

Congratulations!
Posts evolved into PostsWithUpdates!

So I've written a fair few posts already, but I realise that a few of the things I've always changed have not been mentioned.

WARNING: EXCESSIVE BLABBING ALERT

Starting from now, I'm gonna include current and recent stuff that I was interested in. (see bottom of post)
I figure that'll be at the bottom of my posts from now on?
This might not feature on ALL my posts, but I'll see what happens.
Seems like a plan.

Otherwise, work has been pretty busy recently. (Not today, obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this post.)
Verushka's been really busy recently, hope she's alright. (She's in Richard's Bay at the moment.)
Her dogs have warmed up to me quite nicely recently and I've become quite fond of them.
Verushka and I managed to see Cavie, Sean and Adrian recently. I was happy about that.

My PSP broke a couple weeks ago because I dropped it during a software update :(
Unfortunately, it's bricked so I can't do much with it, but when possible, I'll need a friend's PSP to help me fix mine. I actually initially wanted to update the software because I had a PSP version of Cave Story (see Games section below)

I recently started using an internet browser called Torch. It's a modified version of Chrome, but peaked my interest with some helpful features like ripping media from webpages, a torrent manager, a built-in Internet Accelerator and more.
I know Cavie is sighing in disapproval here, but I haven't thrown away Firefox. In fact, I've felt uncomfortable with little things that I'm used to. Mostly the fact that it renames images to "download" when saving them. That's been bugging me quite a bit since I love saving pictures from Memebase. #FirstWorldProblems #IDontHaveOCD

-----

"Current and recent" section:

Games:
I'm currently addicted to Plants vs Zombies again and I already finished the Adventure mode. I'm incredibly glad I have a USB mouse to plug in or I'd never be comfortable playing it.

I've played a lot of Indie games recently. Most of them were creepy and/or dark and/or disgusting (forgive me). I'm not gonna warn or explain anything since some of them are very arty or abstract concepts until you realise what's going on. Play them and check for yourself. Some of them can be finished within a minute but will make you think a bit. Some of them will not be fun for you if you're easily offended or squeamish. Then again, half this blog might offend you too. So deal with it.
A few Indie titles I enjoyed recently were:
- Cave Story
- Ib
- The Binding of Isaac
- An Untitled Story (Check out the whole page. There's some cool little games there.)
- Eversion
- Knytt Stories
- Chalk
- Kaipuu
- Jumpman
- The "Karoshi" series
- Tower of Heaven
- Inquisitive Dave
- Prior
- Depict1
Honorable mention:
- Corrypt
- Lightmare
- Coma
- Loved
- Silver Stitch's "Colour My ..." series *
- Meat Boy *
- Terraria

* (Hope I put the correct links there. The network at the office restricted access to Newgrounds)

I'll probably add to this list since I enjoy retro games as well as thought-provoking ones.

Incidentally... I've also been working on my own game for a while. It's called Blue (title may be subject to change). I'll release a Beta demo in a post when I'm satisfied with it.
Watch this space. → [ ]
... Okay, you may stop watching that space now.

Music:
I've been happy listening to two new albums recently:
- Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
To be honest, I much preferred Daft Punk's music before this album. But I liked it anyway.
- Shortstraw - Good Morning, Sunshine
Shortstraw is a South African band that I recently came across when I heard their title song "Good Morning, Sunshine"
I quite like them. Somehow most of their guitar work sounds very local. I'm not sure how to explain it.

Series:
Game of Thrones
Okay, so I FINALLY got around to watching this... after being egged on so much that it felt like I was being pushed out of a window.
I know I joined the party a little late, but at least I'm not as late as Ned Stark.
Incidentally, I'm now finished with Seasons 1, 2 and 3.
"Hodor" - Hodor

Movies:
Man of Steel (Yes, that Superman movie)
DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW MY OPINION AND POSSIBLY SPOIL THE MOVIE
I personally thought the acting and character design were carried out well. I thought the cast was decent. I thought that the special effects were pretty damn fine... And THEN I felt like the director, producers, etc took all that and stuffed it in a box without any planning and put it on the big screen. Really, guys? Honestly, I think that if they went down this road, they should have made a Superman Origins, and then this movie. But it felt very segmented and didn't flow and that ruined it for me.

Miscellaneous:
Virtual DJ
I started using this again after ages. I haven't really messed around enough to enjoy it properly but I will do so soon

Game Maker
In the middle of making my RPG, I noticed a few games made with this software so I checked it out and I think it looks awesome. When I have time, I might make a couple simple games with this as well.

So um... yeah. Will chat more soon.
KAY, BYE.

It's been a busy period

For those of you who instantly thought of a hard-working menstrual cycle after reading the title, shame on you.
But I high five you for your punny and filthy thoughts.

But really, these last couple months have been pretty damn busy.
I did lots of work and got a lot more responsibility in my job.
I didn't get to say a few things here.
Had an awesome birthday. Verushka spoilt me. :)
Met the guys at The Pavilion ON THE BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR or something. Took forever to find a parking. We had some lunch and stuff. It was good. I miss those guys on a daily basis.

I had some interesting training in Johannesburg.
All about Audio/Visual equipment and the science behind it. WENT INTO OHM'S LAW AND EVERYTHING.
WUT.

I started The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time again. In my opinion, still one of the best games ever made.
I'm a fan of the Legend of Zelda franchise and I played most of the games... unfortunately I haven't gotten to play the Gamecube, Wii and 3DS games...
Anyway, Ocarina of Time. Yeah, I've been trying to 100% it (That's right. It's a verb now.) but there's so many sidequests that take patience, many attempts or just searching so hard for things that it becomes quite a mission.
My favourite boss from the game is Bongo Bongo. (Thought I'd mention that.)

I've also finally watched some of Game of Thrones after being harrassed for years (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE). I do like it. I think it's a cool concept and that the slight supernatural mix with the relatively realistic take on that time period seems pretty awesome. However, I do admit that it lost its novelty very quickly with me. I've been hooked on series before. Scrubs and Friends are two long-running series that I've watched completely from start to finish in a month (or less) each. I've even more-or-less done this with Heroes and one or two other series (so yeah, not just comedy). But I don't think I could do this with Game of Thrones for some reason.
[Winces apologetically as Cavie falls to his knees, letting out a resounding "NOOOOOO!"]
^ Wouldn't be the first time I've brought Cavie to his knees though.

I'm sorry, Bloggy. I didn't forget about you. I've just been really busy and stuff.

Blog:
It's okay, babe <3 I love you

What??

Blog:
... Nothing. BYE. [click]

... Okay... Anyway.
Well, yeah. So, I'm still alive. Verushka's been really busy recently so it's been a little difficult. But she's been awesome and she's tried to make sure I'm not neglected etc.
Right now she's in Swaziland (since last Monday. She'll be back next Friday) and I miss her. Thankfully she's had some communication privileges. So I've been able to chat and occasionally phone.
She'll be back soon and I'll be happy to see her. Naturally, she ran into some trouble, but here's hoping it gets sorted out. [Raises coffee mug and promptly drinks from it]. The coffee was ice cold. GODDAMMIT.

Anyway, hope everyone's doing well. Good luck with exams to those who are writing. Good luck with results to those who are waiting for results.

See you in issue 48! Until next time, warriors!

Completely OFF Topic

It's been a while since I wanted to write about this game, so I figured: better late than never.

OFF is an Indie RPG with lots of surreal characters, enemies and environments.
The game was initially created in French by Mortis Ghost and Unproductive Fun Time and was translated after being well-received by the French gaming community.
You as the player are acknowledged as a puppeteer controlling the main character, "The Batter" and the characters often break the fourth wall by talking to you or referring to other aspects of the game itself.

The Batter

A random path in one of the Zones

Basically, your job is to help The Batter with carrying out his self-proclaimed task. What is his task? Purifying the world.

The Judge

"The Judge" (an intelligent and interesting cat) gives you advice and introduces you to a few new concepts.

A battle with a spectre

Throughout the game, you battle spectres and traverse through different zones, seeing the "Elsens" that live there and learning about the guardians of each zone.

It's difficult to talk about the game without spoiling it, so I won't say much about the storyline. I definitely recommend this game to any RPG lover and anyone that likes a good game that leaves you mind-blown.

My favourite character? Without a doubt:

Zacharie.
Creepy? Yes.
Amusing? A little.
He introduces himself as the random sales merchant that often occurs in practically every RPG.

The  music by "Alias Conrad Coldwood" also made the game for me. The battle theme is actually my current ringtone.

Did I turn into a screaming little fangirl after playing this game? Of course I did.
I thought it was awesome. I already played it twice properly.
I actually hope that if I ever manage to finish any of my RPG ideas, they will be as good as this game or at least near the benchmark.

Anyway, just a random dedicated blog post from a fan of the game.
If anyone is interested in downloading it, make sure you find v2.0 (or newer, in case it's been updated since this post)
I think this is the link I used: http://www.2shared.com/file/q5LfIihi/Off_translation_V_20.html
If that doesn't work, I'm sure download links are easy to find as it's a free game.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my rambling. Hope this little post makes the game even more popular.
Enjoy!
Thanks to all the people who worked on the game. I'm really glad I found it.

A Hundred and Ten Percent

There exists a girl who smiled at me;
A girl who caught my eye;
A girl who gave me butterflies
The instant she said "Hi."

There exists a girl who met me;
A girl who made me see;
A girl who taught me lessons
On how to be happy.

There exists a girl who charmed me;
A girl who's from my dreams;
A girl who looks so magical,
That Hedwig's is her theme.

There exists a girl who knows me;
A girl who calls my name;
A girl who doesn't wait around
On money, gifts and fame.

There exists a girl who relates to me;
A girl who turns my cogs;
A girl who plays my video games,
Eats steak with me, loves dogs.

There exists a girl who cares for me;
A girl who makes me smile;
A girl who understands me.
She goes the extra mile.

There exists a girl who trapped me;
A girl who has such power;
A girl who knows she turns me
Into a humble little flower.

There exists a girl who loves me;
A girl who's heaven-sent;
A girl who I can guarantee
Gives a hundred and ten percent.

Two Years and a Bit

Well, hello again!

Yes, I'm aware that it has been a while since I wrote something here.

It has been a busy period of time. Lots of work. Lots of OVERTIME work, lots of Verushka visits. Lots of tiring days and evenings where I just wanted to come home and sleep.

Verushka and I have been enjoying a Harry Potter Marathon recently.
Not one movie after the other, but one movie each time we meet :)
It's been good fun, with an awesome girl.

Speaking of an awesome girl, it's been two years.
Two years with her, that is (as of March 15th 2013).

I would like to formally thank her for the best two years I've ever had, the most important lessons and the most love that I've ever received and the opportunities I've had to better myself, help her, and help US to be as awesome as we are now.
I know I'm happy and I do my best to transfer that feeling to her too.
I'm comfy with her. I'm Poop-Happy. (If you don't know, don't ask.)
I appreciate everything she does for me :)
She knows all this. I've told her recently :)

I love you, babe <3

Just thought that since I haven't blabbed here in a while, I'd add this short post to mention someone special.

And now the informal section:

AAAH! MY EYE! (o_-)

"Uh huh? And then what?" - Dog Tease voice

[Zoidbergs Verushka]

WANTS CUGGLES.

mmmiksbujhdfgsyhdfsidyfbv

You should stay with me... forEVER.

LOL what God??

So the average atheist has been scientifically proven to be smarter than the average religious fanatic (in terms of measuring IQ).

Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to the post that will probably spark anger or frustration from ignorant people.

Do I believe in God?
I choose not to really question it. Maybe there is a higher power up there. Maybe it's just a simple scientific equation that makes "miracles" and stuff. Whatevz. Either way, chances are, me believing in it or not will not change it.
Why do I say this? I believe in science and in facts.
Don't get me wrong.
I think it's amazing and very interesting that different religions constructed beliefs and frameworks to explain life and to ensure a better way of living, etc.
However, religion is something that improves your life, adds something to your beliefs and values and makes you a better person. That's what I look at when I think of religion.

So, I'm a Hindu in this case. I follow the Tamil denomination.
Do I think it is a fantastic religion? Yes.
Do I think it teaches many different values and lessons that humans should understand? Yes.
Do I believe everything that is written in the scriptures and religious stories? Of course not.
Why? Because they are NOT MEANT to be perceived as fact. They are meant to be exactly what they appear to be. Stories that explain a concept to humans in a simple way that we can relate to.

The thing is, I agree wholeheartedly that the beliefs and way of life are great ways to improve human beings.
In fact, this applies to pretty much all religions.

Christianity is the religion seen most often in the English-speaking world, so I'll use that as an example for this next segment.
Even here, I think the Bible is awesome. I think some of the lessons and guidelines are brilliantly thought-out.
I believe that Christians should be happy to follow that way of life.
However, this all falls apart when people insist that their religion is correct, yours is wrong and that everything in their scriptures is fact.
This is where the problem lies.
Not many religious people say "I believe in this."
They'd rather say "This is how the world is."
(Note that, I say this quite generally and I don't point at Christians for this. It was just an opening example. People in every religion do this.)
I have friends who think "I believe in these values and I live my life knowing how to be a better person."
And then I have friends who think "YOU DON'T GO TO CHURCH/TEMPLE/[other religious house of prayer]?? YOU'RE A HORRIBLE PERSON. Now excuse me while I talk about God and then go get drunk, get pregnant, take drugs and indulge in other ironic activities."

Why force others to believe in what you think if you can't even be consistent with your beliefs?
What might be an even worse question is: Why force yourself to attend religious events, pray for half your day, talk about your religion with everyone, and miss out on living?

Yes, I am an imperfect person. I've made mistakes and I still will. Is this going to change if I go to temple as I'm apparently supposed to?

According to the Bible, a woman was being stoned to death by a crowd after sinning (no weed jokes, please) until Jesus arrived and said something along the lines of "May he who is without sin cast the first stone."
In the story, this obviously caused them to re-think their actions and eventually everyone stopped and let her go.
Yet, it's pretty obvious that half the world would happily condone violence, and even join in, if someone dares to do wrong to them or to insult their beliefs.

I guess, at the end of the day, it's not about which religion you follow or how often you praise it, but rather: what's the point of following it if it makes you ignorant and frustrated about everything else?

^ This point was proven recently when I was told that I was going to hell for swearing. I was then asked why I don't go to church. (Yes, he knew I was not a Christian.) The person in question? Not very well liked by most because of his habit of borrowing money (and not returning it) and the even more frustrating habit of thinking everyone and everything was less important than himself.
Can you call this person a good Christian? I would think not. I know plenty of people that benefit from going to church and are actually amazing people, but the people that become ignorant and annoying are the ones that ruin it for everyone.

Just so we're clear, I'm not saying anything is wrong with religion.
Here are the problems:
-Convincing others that your religion is fact (all religions are based on fiction. Sorry to break it to you.)
-Convincing others that your religion is correct and theirs is incorrect
-Being ignorant. LEARN about other religions before you say something.

If you're happy with the religion you follow, then that's awesome. Follow it, let it help you become a better person. But the bottom line is don't be a dick about it.

Thought for the Day?

Good afternoon!

I actually felt awkward using that title for this post since it's so overused, so I decided to add a question mark.

I've been relatively busy this year so far and the thought that I haven't blogged in a while dragged me back here to complete a post. My dear Verushka has been in Johannesburg these past couple weeks, I've also been a bit sick and finally I re-played a lot of Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past this past weekend.

I've been reading lots of Cavie's posts today and I commented on one of his posts with a story that I came across. Just a random one I read recently, but it made me nod and think a little. Figured I'd copy and post it here (Heh. Copy and post... get it?? It's like a play on words and stuff.). It's not exactly as it was when I read it. I just wrote it on his last post from understanding and memory.

Anyway, here:

"I saw quite an interesting story recently (on the internet, obviously) where a man met God after his inevitable death.
God told him that the world was a non-linear version of the man himself.
Every time he died, he was sent back as a new being (male or female) but each of these forms could exist simultaneously and yet he was sent back each for each life at a completely random time.
He could be a child that is born today or a Pharoah from way back when.
The fact that was important was obvious.
Everyone was, is and will be him.
Every time he harmed someone, he harmed himself.
Every time he loved someone, he loved himself.
Everything he did, he did for himself.
And then he was sent back with no memory whatsoever of his previous life and death.

Not forcing anything religious or philosophical here. Just thought it was an interesting take on life."

 And yeah... That's like a thought for the day or something.
Cool.