No more Toradora? OH SHI...

Hold on, before I go any further...

(*insert rant on why school is causing blog not to be updated frequently + several lame excuses*)

...Now then, on to the real content.

Toradora has given my previously mundane Thursdays a new meaning, ever since I started on it around 4 months ago. It was the show that kept me refreshing YouTube on my browser every 30 seconds up to 4am in the morning. It was the show that gave me new insight as to how people really work, how they aren't transparent all the time. It was THE show. I never regretted watching anime by starting off with this epic series.

Sad to say, all good things always come to an end, and Toradora concluded with it's final Episode 25 a week ago. Now I would have loved to blog about it the split-second I finished it, but (*insert rant on why school is causing blog not to be updated frequently + several lame excuses*) so, yeah.

I'm no anime veteran, nor will I pretend to be one, so I won't be giving a full-fledged review on Toradora. Instead, let me personify my opinion about this series as a whole with just one word: 'Magical'. It wasn't the animation, nor the sound track, no, not even the storyline. What was magical was a mixture of the three, blended in with many, many well-connected symbolisms to create an experience I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Kiss scene of the year

Thank you, JCstaff, you've made a happy camper's Thursdays a tad more tolerable, even if it was only for 4 months.

That said, I earnestly hope for a season 2, or at the very least, an OVA. The thought of a season 2 was initially out of the question since any continuation would be original, and lets just say JCstaff aren't the best when it comes to original productions. But there's an emptiness inside me which came after finishing EP25, and it can only be remedied by more Toradora, as much as it won't happen. Or, I could just mop about for another month or so until this emptiness goes away, but the former would be SO much more welcome.

So now the empty time slot for anime on my Thursdays has been given to "K-ON!", a spanking new series by Kyoani, the good people who also produced "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". This anime is about four girls who come together to revive their school's light music (keiongaku) club, which is in the process of being disbanded. So far the first episode seems pretty much in order. The animation was great, sounds were nice, character designs are adorable and I think I'm addicted to the OP. My biggest worry would be the character development, or lack thereof. I was hoping for more depth in the characters, not glass panel people. This could be the after effects of watching Toradora, but I'm uncomfortable with shallow characters and K-ON! is showing signs. Oh well, it's the first episode, I'll see where it goes.


Till next time.

Duty calls, and college too.

What's this?

I haven't updated in like, half a month? Impossible!

But with junior college breathing down my back, I find it hard to even have time for schoolwork.

Ain't that a bitch?


Well, on to some REAL content.

The number 1 game I'm looking forward to right now is Empire: Total War, which has already appeared on torrents. Yes, TORRENTS. They are not on the shelves yet, but they are already on the TORRENTS. I fight a small battle of restraint every time I go online.

This IS the game to get for the month, if not for the rest of the year. It's something I've been waiting for since MTW. Going by that logic, it's be safe to assume that I would have jumped at the opportunity to get my hands on it.

2 things put me off:

1) Disk space required: 11Gb for downloading, another 10 or so for installing. I currently have 25Gb.

2) Game system requirements. My rig barely meets the recommended specs.

Drat, looks like I'll have to go for the retail, and get a new comp...


Now if you'll excuse this pathetic attempt at a blog post, I have an Economics assignment to do...

A new headset, and a new dilemma

Woohoo! I just bought a logitech headset from Challenger, at 29 greenbacks. Now I can scream at my useless L4D teammates instead of suffering my keyboard typing my curses.

Great stuff.

At the same time, I encountered a problem while battling the restless undead.

Here's an example. At the end of "No Mercy" part1, right before you head into the metro, four of you are strolling your way to the end, when Louis decides in would be fun to shoot the flashing car before you guys scram. While this would usually be slightly annoying but harmless, a boomer lands a lucky shot and blinds all of you. Blurred and confused, you're easy prey for the rest of the infected. 10 seconds pass before two of your friends are on the ground and another is engaged with walking corpses.

Here are two options:

1) "Leave no man behind"
This is the heroic approach, where you try to save your teammates' asses. If you succeed, you get a lot more points if all of you make it through. Risk is that some hunter or smoker just spawned and decided you would make a tasty meal. In this case, you stand to lose big, or win big.

2) "I'm a fucking coward"
Apologize to your teamies (or not) and make a run for the saferoom. Succeeding would give a confirmed win for your team, at the expense of quite some points. It still carries a risk, since you you might get bagged along the way even if it's a short distance. You stand to lose small, win small.

I've tried both approaches, but insticnt always tells me to save my own ass. For several occasions, I found it very hard to go back and fetch my teammates. Either way, you could potentially get verbally fucked by them. If you save yourself, they will be screaming at you. If you try to save them and get raped yourself, well... they will still be screaming at you.

I found 2 to be the best in pub games, since no one really cares about the points. Even if your team wins but only get a few measly points, the opposition will RAGE.

Well then, there's your problem. If you see "Wangmaster" on Garena L4D, make sure he doesn't abandon you at the last minute...

UR GONNA GET RAEPED

I FUCKING hate cliques

Don't you?

Going to a new school means new beginnings right? So how come I'm seeing the same old clumps of social activity instead of a nice mixture?!? Yes, that's right, it's because of the FUCKING CLIQUES.

Before I go on ranting, here's the situation: I'm currently in my new junior college, Meridian JC. Apparently I was mistaken into thinking that in JC, your whole class becomes familiar (reasonably) with each other. Using the analogy of a cake mixture, instead of getting a nice, soft texture, I'm seeing uneven clumps. Basically, my class has fallen victim to the dreaded cliques.

I hate it. I FUCKING hate it.

I apologize for the profanity, but it's ridiculous that my class can be so divided. The "cool guys" come into one clique, the girls are in one separate clique, and the "not so hot" guys are in another clique.

The class beside ours was like a seasoned orchestra, prepared within less than 5 days of meeting each other for the first time. They do stuff as a whole class. They joke around as a class, work as a class, and cheer as a class.

Teamwork, camaraderie and openness; you'll find none of that bullshit in mine. Yes folks, instead you'll discover that we lovely caste system in place over here. Not so talkative or sociable? Sorry, no exclusive membership for you to the "cool guy" clique. I've made a futile effort to go "clique hopping", socializing from social group to social group. Every group has their own business, nothing to do with other cliques, no need to interact with them either. Let the situation grow for 4 days, and voila, you now have a class reduced to 3 factions. I hope for a well-bonded class, but that's beyond impossible for mine.

I remember mentioning this to one of my friends. His reply didn't surprise me: "Welcome to the club." It's practically the same everywhere you look. Cliques are everywhere, in every (save for previously mentioned example) class.

There's a social discrimination going on, and I'm not liking it.

Toradora! EP17. The beginning of the end.

I haven't been posting much about Toradora (if at all) during the past month. Don't get me wrong, its not because I dislike the show, quite the opposite. I just simply don't have the energy to post comments for every single episode, since most of the time people don't care, or have their own opinions. Rather, a forum would be the perfect place to talk about this.

The latest episode, EP17 is the beginning of an arc which will eventually end the series. Taiga starts to like Ryuji, Minori is getting confused who she really wants happiness to go to and becomes all yandere in the process, and Ami has gone back to becoming the insulting witch she was. Makes you wonder how a situation so FUBAR can be fixed. While the previous episodes have incorporated a good deal of humor and laughs, from EP17 onwards, the series will shift to a more serious note, as can be observed from their new OP and ED...






Great group photo I could get from the new OP (Thank goodness for photoshop)... Feel free to use this image, but please give kudos to Thehappycamper when you do...



A lot of viewers have complained that the new opening and ending is inferior to the previous ones, but that could not be further from the truth. People just don't like drama in their comedy. When you add a bit of spice and take away some laughs, people start ranting on how serious the series has become. Face it people, its not everyday that comedy dominates the scene.

I myself think all four OPs and EDs have been equally magnificent, but since a change of mood requires a change of scene, a more emotionally-charged opening and ending is required. I must admit, i will miss the upbeat tunes of the old opening, but I'm sure the new one will grow on me just as well.

There is a nagging problem I have with the series, and that is, there will likely be no second season for Toradora. Lord knows how I will survive after march, which is when the final 25th episode will air. But that may be a good thing, since a good finale to wrap up everything may be better than a continuation to make things so much more confusing and draggy. As far as the anime is concerned, a sound conclusion will be in its best interests. Oh well, I guess there's still the forums to dwell in after all is over...

On a completely unrelated note, the Camper's Hideout has reach a milestone of more than 50 readers in a single day! Hooray! Thank you for viewing this relatively insignificant blog, and rest assured, more interesting articles will be coming your way very soon!

Again, thanks for your viewership!

The real "I am Legend"

If you watched the movie "I am Legend" (If you didn't, don't bother with the DVD, the movie is shit), you might be interested to know it was an adaptation of a 1954 modern horror novel of the same name.

The book is about a man in Los Angeles who is the only immune person in a world where everyone has been turned by a strain of bacteria into "zombies", or more accurately, mutated humans who exhibit vampire-like characteristics, such as vulnerability to light. While he fights for his own survival and the hope that he can one day find a cure for the disease, he is oblivious to the fact that the so-called "zombies" are still inherently human. As the story progresses, he realizes that he is the final being of an old and obsolete species of human civilization in a world where everyone has changed, and finally ends himself to allow the new society of new "humans" to go ahead. Being like the olden day vampires who were feared and outcasted, he has become one of them, a legend.

I really recommend this book to any avid reader out there. Apart from the fantastic meaning of the book, the setting and tone of writing really gives the reader a sense of dread as he/she reads on. It's been a real joy to finish the novel, from the first attention-absorbing page all the way to the last.

Not sure if the bookstores still stock this classic, but if not the internet contains everything, repeat, EVERYTHING.

Sorry for the lack of updates

Been busy with a few things lately, namely:

1) Starting on preliminary planning for a second story. This time, it's a "light novel", a novel for teenagers and young adults. I was heavily inspired by the light novel and anime adaptation of "Toradora!", and it's ability to portray the mixed emotions of teenagers in a sincere and refreshing way. Originality is a problem, and I need to change my story so it will not be complete copypasta from the source material. Rest assured, work on my original post-apocalyptic story would not be on hiatus. Effort will be divided equally between the two.

2) Trying out Audiosurf. This little baby has probably taken up a quarter of the time I spend on the computer. Find it and buy it, you're spending only $15 or so for a hell load of fun.

3) Sorting out my life. It's been four years since I stepped into TKSS (the school I recently graduated from), and now, I step out from it, with a brain juiced up with knowlege, but without direction. I don't want to be sitting in front of a desk with paperwork piled up in front of me 20 years down the road and asking myself, "Is this really what I wanted to do?" Sure, it's nice to have an iron rice bowl, but I also want to enjoy what I do, not just working for the sake of working. So, I spend quite some time actually sitting down and brainstorming at what i'm good at and what I like to do. Trust me, the two don't always intersect.

Will try to get some REAL content out soon. Wish me luck.

GTA + Scifi Mutants = Prototype

Prototype is a new action title from Radical Entertainment, a studio with a history for making sandbox-styled games. Prototype focuses on Alex Mercer, a man with no recollection of his past, waking up in a morgue in the NYC. He discovers that he has certain powers, which enable him to take the form of anyone, consume others to gain their knowledge, and augment his body to withstand the most brutal of attacks, run at fast speeds or to receive incredible strength. Using these powers, he sets out to discover his history, only to find the city slowly being infected by a virus, and the military trying to contain the situation.



The gameplay allows for free-roaming the city, all the while completing objectives necessary to advance the plot. As you down foes, you can consume them, giving you their memories and knowledge, allowing you to unlock more deadly skills and techniques for chaos. For example, you can absorb an army tank crew, giving you the ability to wreck havoc with tanks.



Prototype can only be described by one word: Brutal. Watch as Alex calls forth spikes from the ground, impaling those around him. Gasp in awe as he leaps onto an attack helicopter in mid-air and proceeds to finish off both pilots and take control. Stare in shock when he throws a car into a tank, obliterating it. I won't be surprised if Prototype gets the Mature rating from ESRB.



Seems like a very promising title, good thing it comes out for the PC too. Seems like a great sandbox game, where you basically play god and annihilate anything between you and your goal. The graphics are nothing to shout about, though. They look seriously outdated, like a title created two years ago. Hopefully its because the pictures are from the 360 or PS3. The PC owns both of them flat in the graphics department.

Prototype comes out somewhere around june 2009 or so. Just in time for my birthday.

Excerpt from the Apocalypse

Okay... I'm a bit depressed with what I received as my O'level results. I won't go into details, but lets just say I didn't perform up to my own expectations. Hopefully, just very, very hopefully, I will be able to get into the college of my choice. If not, I might as well go play the violin, if you get my point.

Troubles aside, I've managed to get some good progress on my first novel, so enjoy a small excerpt from it...


******************************

Even in her little corner of the world, Fiona could tell the vehicle was stopping. The deceleration became more noticeable, until a quick jerk made her shoot forward. Before she could orientate herself to the situation, she heard the cries of a woman loud enough to permeate through the car walls to her.

Her vision steadied a bit after she had bruised herself in her collision with the front seat. She could just barely see the silhouette a man frantically waving and limping towards them. He was heavily bearded, but that did not mask the desperation chiseled into his face, as well as those feral eyes he possessed. He was clearly in a position to do something very drastic.

A haggard woman lay a few meters in front of the now stationary minivan, pleading for rescue.

Clement’s face now expressed extreme nervousness. Fiona was terrified of what might happen, but at the same time, felt slightly worried for him, especially since the hysterical maniac was almost right outside his car window. It was at that moment that she noticed a metallic glint beside his leg. It slowly moved, as Clement pulled it out and placed it discretely beside his lap. That glint came from the barrel of a shotgun.





He didn’t have time for this. What is it this time, another life to save? Hell, one was enough. Rehearsing through this procedure in his head, he gave a heavy breath before the crazed man came collapsing onto his window pane. He reeled it down, hoping the following conversation will be a short one.

“Please, give us a lift,” he pointed with shaky hands at the slumped woman in front.

Clement gulped, and firmly gave his rehearsed answer, “Sorry, it’s every man for himself.”

This exchange of pleads and refusals went on for four rounds before Clement finally snapped, and was about to reel the window back up and speed off when a meek voice sounded from behind, “Clement, he has a gun.”

He spun around to give a quick look at Fiona, whose pupils had already dilated, and quickly turned back to see the man, stunned by her words. He just managed to see a revolver tucked into his belt, and his hand shooting forward to grab it.

Acting almost instinctively, Clement gripped tightly onto his Remington and brought it to bear on the man’s face. He reeled back, and at the same time his gun was flung a safe distance away. Although the man was now on the ground and no longer a threat, Clement’s brain now fired into a state of caution and anxiety, and he took aim. He could see the fear and dread of a condemned man in his eyes.

The first round tore clean through his left shoulder, shredding the flesh off like so much paper confetti. This was followed immediately by agonized and blood-curdling screams.

That was not enough; he was still alive, still a threat to his survival. This thought flashed maliciously through his mind, and he pumped out the spent shell, ready for another shot. This time the pellets impacted him square in the face, ending his misery in a crescendo of red mist.

Giving no further warning, Clement slammed down on the pedal. He made no intention to steer away from the appalled woman. Her eyes widened almost to the size of golf balls as she saw the minivan come straight for her after whomever inside cold-bloodedly slew her companion.





The resulting thud was amplified ten-fold in Fiona’s perspective; a small earthquake was now rocking her thoughts. She witnessed everything: the murders, the violence, the viciousness. Curling back up in the seat, the tears were now no longer damned up.

She stole a peek at Clement, whose shirt was soaked in perspiration, and whose eyes betrayed how vicious his survivor instinct must be. He was hardly recognizable from five minutes ago. How little she knew of her savior was now shattered by her new insight into his twisted mind. And yet, this was the person who had saved her from almost certain death. What compelled him to show such acts of compassion to her, but not to the random straggler?

The murder weapon, the shotgun, was now placed in the side seat, its barrel still smoking slightly. Its owner looked just as incensed. She had a lot to be thankful for, put perhaps being in this car at this moment was not one of them.

****************************

There, I hope you liked this piece. Notice the transitioning of perspective between Fiona and Clement from the former, then to the latter and the former again. I was hoping to concentrate on the POV of one of the characters only, but it would leave inadequate character development. So my solution was to alternate the perspectives so readers can understand how both of them think and feel throughout their adventures.

If you found it enjoyable, please leave a comment and cookies! If not, I would appreciate it if you could give some constructive criticism as to how it isn't good, and how it can be improved. I'm having a case of writer's block recently, and can't think of any decent ways to continue and finally conclude this story. Any ideas would be especially welcome!

I'll be busy with my admission exercise, so it will be a while before I blog again. For now, adios, amigos!

Purity or Advancement?

That was the question which me and a couple of friends discussed on our way back from polytechnic hunting two days back. It would seem there would be nothing better to do on an hour-long night bus ride. I was half-asleep, while my three other companions were chattering away about something or another. Then suddenly one of them talked about how humans were so-called "messing with life" by doing stuff like cloning and bio-engineering.

That was when I woke up, sober as ever (not really, I felt like I just chugged three bottles of vodka), and when the real discussion started.

One of my christian friends immediately answered by claiming that such practices should be frowned upon, or even out-right banned. He believed humans should stay human, as God had intended; anything which changes us genetically as a species should not be allowed at all. That modifying what we are, even when it's necessary, would be blasphemy.

That had me thinking, what defines us as humans? Is it what we call ourselves to separate us from other beings? Does it mean we have the same and unique pure strand of genetic material always? Or does calling ourselves "human" imply that we have the ability to adapt better than any other species, and can change and save ourselves from anything?

I gave a reply, stating that there is nothing wrong with changing ourselves, for it is the way to adapt to hostile environments. Giving the analogy that future humans who will colonize other planets in the wide reaches of space ultimately will undergo change to get comfy with their new surroundings, I asked, will that make us any less human? If, in the distant future all "humans" grow a third arm, are we still humans? Are we not just humans as a name, but humans as a species that has gone through millennia of changes?

With that, the other three fell silent. Deep thoughts abound.

It really sets you thinking, will there be a day when we are indistinguishable from the present day man, but are still called humans? It seems improbable, but as the saying goes, it's not the fastest or strongest species that is most successful, but rather the one which is most adaptable to change. We may be the ones in the future which will evolve, and ultimately, survive.

After that bit of brainstorming, here's a little something which doesn't require a brain to appreciate...

Empire: Total War. A step in the Modern direction.

Damn, it's 2 in the morning, and my nerves are shot, fried and burnt-out. All this from the earlier game of L4D with a couple friends; it's almost become a regular indulgence among us. Mix intense survivor vs. infected fighting with a smattering of playable special infected. Sprinkle a bit of freezing air-conditioning, and put to bake in a room full of panicked players. What do you get? Voila, an experience that gives you a better high than cocaine, without the side effects (but with the addiction). I can remember suddenly snapping at one of my friends after he asked me to give him the LAN money. That's WAY out of my character.



Back on topic, Creative Assembly, the developers behind the venerable Total War series of games are working on their addition to the franchise. First came Shogun: Total War, then Medieval, and following that, Rome. Now, it all changes to something closer to our time: Empire. This RTS pits your skill at managing an empire in the 17th to 18th century, the post-modern to modern era, when colonization and exploration are all the rage. For those who have been playing one or more games within the series, you should have no trouble at all adapting to it.

Several key differences from the previous titles are present:

-More emphasis will be placed on naval combat. Instead of following the past games where ship-to-ship combat was never fought in real time or never existed at all, Empire Total War will allow naval battles to be player-controlled. You can board, capture, and sink ships, as well as target certain parts of an opponent's ship for a desired effect.

-The battlefield will pretty much be dominated by gunpowder units, instead of the backseat role gunpowder has had in the previous titles. Cannons and musketmen rule the field. Sweet.

The title is coming out somewhere around March 2009. Can't wait.

Blog makeover, finished!

Well well, touched up my blog header a bit. Okay, that's a HUGE understatement; I spent close to 6 hours trying to complete this damned thing. Took an hour to find the perfect image editor (photoshop trial version, anyone?), another to search for decent pictures, and three to go through the hellish process of trial-and-error, changing the design again and again. Then, my blog insults me by placing my picture all the way to the right when I posted it. It took me 20 minutes to find a fix.

The effort apparently has paid off, and I now have an original header to call my very own. It looks more amateurish and less newbie-like, if I say so myself.

I want my two months back.

Ah, the new year has arrived. It's starting to feel a little weird, considering this is the first time in 4 years I don't have to go to school on the 1st and 2nd of January. Hell, I'm starting to become twitchy and restless already.

I probably won't stay like this. In slightly more than a week I will be heading back to school to receive my GCE O'level results. I'm starting to have recurring nightmares of my Physics teacher pouncing on me with my result sheet in hand and screaming, "BANZAI!!!!". Those who know me should get the gist of what I'm saying, but for those who don't, you get the basic idea. I swear, when I look into my previous yearbooks, all I see are pictures of the gleaming, radiant faces of students with their result sheets filled with A's to the brim. Fuck that propaganda, I'll bet the photographers didn't catch the few poor bastards crying their eyes blind in some lonely corner of the school. That's the unfortunate reality folks, deal with it.

I can't be sure I did exceptionally well, but I can be certain that I'll at least do a nary decent job. Very sorry to my non-Singaporean readers, but you should understand this equation:

Decent in Singaporean context =/= Decent in World context

A "decent" job on your GCE over here means that you roughly get an aggregate of below 10 points, while an exceptional job would be something within the range of <6. That means you must get at least 3 A1's on your results out of 6 subjects. Sounds easy right? Wait till you offer Humanities as a subject, then you'll realize you require much more than just 3...

Our education system is a bit screwed up. the system expects you to be a jack-of-all-trades, and if you can't keep up, you fall flat on your face. Why do we have to do exceptionally at general education, when we can be doing much better at what we're good at? The teary-eyed parents are not any better. Their wish is for their children to get into one of these "future career" categories: Law, Medicine and Finance. What if you want to be a Physicist? Sorry, no market for that over here. A video game developer? What a senseless job. A chef? You're killing me.

It ticks me off, period.

Away from that, I thought I'd share this piece of advice:

"If you make a shot in basketball, it happens in a second. If you fire an arrow at a target, it takes a second. Living your life takes years. You can screw up in a second, but there are so many seconds in a year, and so many years in a life."

So, while you may fail at things, you've got your whole life to make it right, so go on and try again. Hope you will remember this and follow it throughout 2009!