Ok so I had another lame excercise were I was forced to use rhyming words within a poem that I had generated at random, before I knew I was going to use the words for a poem. We were given a list of words and told to come up with another word for the association, not a bad idea for a short excercise but to have us be forced into using the sounds within a serious piece I think is ridiculous, I get the sense this lady feels we have no basis to begin with so she gives us these excercise to get us started, but binding us to them, especially those of us who do have experience using sound within a poem, anyways, I decided to stay faithful to the assignment, Im big on school integrity these days. My sounds were , never stop/every drop, whispering/history, lightning bolt/try and sulk, hurt/Earth. The rest of the play on sound was generated by myself. Its very difficult to create a coherent theme within a piece when forced to use random words just because they rhyme, but fuck it, here is what I came up with.
Angels
A lightning bolt will cry and sulk
before it leaves the sky behind to
join us on Earth. Why
do you think it hurts?
And angels weep when witnessing
another baby born. They mourn
because they know that (half the time)
we forget our promises to return home.
Awake from sleep and listening
to silence, hear them whispering
the history of the soul, “you know”
they say “you know”.
Their love for us will
never stop like every drop of
rain forms just one ocean;
they need us to be whole.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Dora the Pundit?
This was part of a larger segment discussing a pseudo feud between John Stewart and NBC pundits, particularly Jim Cramer. There's been some back and forth across multiple different shows, but I think Dora the Explorer's analysis is the best thing to come out of this. Also, hearing Dora teach children "pendejo" is priceless. The full clip can be seen at Crooks and Liars.
Good and Bad news
I have some good and bad news.
First, the good news.
I now have a J-O-B. As a Web Developer with MPR Associates, Inc. I'll wear a lot of hats. Updating websites, verifying data, some python coding, content management system stuff, etc...
Where is MPR? You guys know the Shattuck BART station? Right by Washington Mutual? You know that big corporate looking grid like black building? Well, the 8th floor of that bad boy. Kind of odd, I've passed by that thing sooo many times. Hell, it's right around the corner from the YMCA! Right in Downtown Berkeley...which trips me out. I always thought I would steadily move farther and farther away from Downtown Berkeley, but now I'll be working there!
The bad but not so bad:
What does this mean for Project Kiln? Obviously, I won't be able to dedicate as much time to it. But at the same time I would have had to divide my attention both to looking for work while developing the game. I plan on making this project my hobby. I'll post more on this at the Project Kiln blog.
Phew! I can now breath a sigh of relief! Evelyn and I can stay in the Bay and she can continue making progress on thesis. That was my biggest worry.
More to come...
First, the good news.
I now have a J-O-B. As a Web Developer with MPR Associates, Inc. I'll wear a lot of hats. Updating websites, verifying data, some python coding, content management system stuff, etc...
Where is MPR? You guys know the Shattuck BART station? Right by Washington Mutual? You know that big corporate looking grid like black building? Well, the 8th floor of that bad boy. Kind of odd, I've passed by that thing sooo many times. Hell, it's right around the corner from the YMCA! Right in Downtown Berkeley...which trips me out. I always thought I would steadily move farther and farther away from Downtown Berkeley, but now I'll be working there!
The bad but not so bad:
What does this mean for Project Kiln? Obviously, I won't be able to dedicate as much time to it. But at the same time I would have had to divide my attention both to looking for work while developing the game. I plan on making this project my hobby. I'll post more on this at the Project Kiln blog.
Phew! I can now breath a sigh of relief! Evelyn and I can stay in the Bay and she can continue making progress on thesis. That was my biggest worry.
More to come...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
it is at moments after I have dreamed by ee cummings
it is at moments after i have dreamed
of the rare entertainment of your eyes,
when(being fool to fancy)i have deemed
with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise;
at moments when the glassy darkness holds
the genuine apparition of your smile
(it was through tears always)and silence moulds
such strangeness as was mine a little while;
moments when my once more illustrious arms
are filled with fascination,when my breast
wears the intolerant brightness of your charms:
one pierced moment whiter than the rest
-turning from the tremendous lie of sleep
i watch the roses of the day grow deep.
of the rare entertainment of your eyes,
when(being fool to fancy)i have deemed
with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise;
at moments when the glassy darkness holds
the genuine apparition of your smile
(it was through tears always)and silence moulds
such strangeness as was mine a little while;
moments when my once more illustrious arms
are filled with fascination,when my breast
wears the intolerant brightness of your charms:
one pierced moment whiter than the rest
-turning from the tremendous lie of sleep
i watch the roses of the day grow deep.
Multi-Post Tuesday
Now it's time for another multi-post! Cool things have been going down lately. Here's a couple of the more prominent ones:Yesterday, President Obama lifted the limits on federal funding for stem-cell research. More info and a video at C&L.
TF2 has a big new update as of 2 weeks ago. Some new maps and the Scout weapons and achievements are now available. Get updating if you haven't yet. More info at the Scout Update page.
A new season of Full Metal Alchemist is in the works and should begin airing in Japan in April. More info at Anime News Network.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Updates for the cup
Ok, this must be brief, yet I need to post something for all cuppers to know whats going down.
1. I am still very busy with mid-terms
2. I am very much behind on my spiritual studies
3. I will as a result be invisible for a couple of more weeks.
Still I had a few things to share.
Nine Inch Nails is going to Vegas on May 18th!!! I plan on attending for sure, itd be nice if others joined in. Considering that everyone is in a couple these days Id be assuming that significant others will be joining as well. That would be awesome! The more the merrier as far as IM concerned, they are playing at the Palms but I doubt very much that I will stay there, too much money to be too far away from the strip, Ill have to check the rates because if its cheap maybe I will just stay there, who knows. For me its all about the best rate and the closest proximity to the strip. It would be much more if you guys went, I think my L.A. crew will be mostly absent on this trip considering that those of us who really cared just went to Vegas in December to see Nails, of course for me, there is never enough Nails in any given year.
In other news. XBOX 360 rocks, here is a short review list. I grant my scores on what each game is trying to achieve in their individual genre, and what they bring to the current video gaming experience in general.
1. Mirror's Edge 9.0
A fantastic and innovative game that will challenge you to rethink what you consider a game is. Along the lines of portal but even more challenging, and of course, its much longer to complete to from start to finish. I believe it took me a little over 12 hours to complete the game on normal.
Great graphics and great sound help to round out this game and bring it into the arena of such classics as Halo 3 or Gears of War II, but the constant trial and error with jumping off of difficult jumps hurts the game a bit because at times it got to be so tedious the average gamer would likely give up rather than continue. I of course continued to try again and again and again until I figured out each grab, jump, hold, dive, jump, pattern necessary to complete each chapter. Overall its a great game maybe they could have thought a little more extensively about making certain aspects of the game a bit more conducive, than again thats the whole point, its a strategy game.
2. Gears of War II 8.9
Flawless in many ways but the game play is linear, just cant justify giving this game 9.0 or above when it didnt bring much more to the system than its predecessor offered years ago. Of course many gaming magazines gave the game near 10.0 for its amazing graphics and sound/movie like gameplay that puts you in the center of some of the most amazing scenarios ever thought of by any shooter, or any game period, but I just cant get over how straightforward these games are, point and shoot. As far as these types of games are concerned its one of the best.
3. Bioshock 9.5
I love this game! It helps to reinvent first person shooters by creating a more dynamic experience with tons of upgradable abilities (freeze, fire, electricity, telekinesis, etc, etc) upgradable weapons (more ammo capacity, stronger fire power, faster reload), and this really fun hacking challenge that allows you to hack any machine in the game so that the machine will become friendly to the player with the risk that if they fail in their hacking attempt they will loose massive amounts of health or set off alarms that bring unwanted foes. Its just straight up fun. The graphics and sound are superb. The soundtrack is the best Ive heard on the xbox as of yet. Its set in the 1950s so lots of golden oldies come pouring through loud speakers connected to old record players, it has this vintage tone that can not be funnier as I slashed my way through hordes of freaky ass mutants. The only reason this game does not get a 10 is because IT HAS TOO MANY OPTIONS! After a while all the upgrades can become combersome as the player asks him/her-self, which way is best? There is no real best way, any option was viable, meaning I could run around killing people with the wrench they gave me in the first level, or splatting them with grenade launcher, and the result was the same, there was no advantage as long as I was skilled enough to get by without the stronger fire power. I wish the game would have had more oppurtunties to use specific weapons for specific enemies, there is a way to conduct research so that you know which enemy is weak to which attack, but if every method is more less as effective as any other, who cares to do the research? Still a wonderful game!
Street Fighter 4 9.0
Graphics, flawless, sound, superb, game play, intuitive and innovative, but this game looses mass amounts of points for fucking up Chun Li. hehe, they changed her super combo so its much more difficult to pull off, I have no idea why, she WAS my favorite character, but everyone else seems more less intact, why Zangief was sooo pumped up is beyond me, perhaps he just always sucked in the old versions, but now he can kill anyone in 3 moves, I suppose his slow speed makes this ok.....I just dont like playing against anyone who uses him. Aside for a few character imbalances
this game offers everything a street fighter fan could hope for.
GTA 4 10.0
Perfectly perfect in every way. I have still yet to beat it, Ive been all the other titles mentioned, but this game is sooo looong I have yet to be able to conquer it considering how little time I can spend on games per week (a few hours here and there). Still, I wont let that detract from its score considering how much fun Ive been having while trying to beat it. This game will get re-scored after I beat the game.
Well thats it for me and all my random updates, I hope everyone is having a great day or morning or night or whatever it is when you read this. Back to the belly of the beast, or some would say, studying. Peace
1. I am still very busy with mid-terms
2. I am very much behind on my spiritual studies
3. I will as a result be invisible for a couple of more weeks.
Still I had a few things to share.
Nine Inch Nails is going to Vegas on May 18th!!! I plan on attending for sure, itd be nice if others joined in. Considering that everyone is in a couple these days Id be assuming that significant others will be joining as well. That would be awesome! The more the merrier as far as IM concerned, they are playing at the Palms but I doubt very much that I will stay there, too much money to be too far away from the strip, Ill have to check the rates because if its cheap maybe I will just stay there, who knows. For me its all about the best rate and the closest proximity to the strip. It would be much more if you guys went, I think my L.A. crew will be mostly absent on this trip considering that those of us who really cared just went to Vegas in December to see Nails, of course for me, there is never enough Nails in any given year.
In other news. XBOX 360 rocks, here is a short review list. I grant my scores on what each game is trying to achieve in their individual genre, and what they bring to the current video gaming experience in general.
1. Mirror's Edge 9.0
A fantastic and innovative game that will challenge you to rethink what you consider a game is. Along the lines of portal but even more challenging, and of course, its much longer to complete to from start to finish. I believe it took me a little over 12 hours to complete the game on normal.
Great graphics and great sound help to round out this game and bring it into the arena of such classics as Halo 3 or Gears of War II, but the constant trial and error with jumping off of difficult jumps hurts the game a bit because at times it got to be so tedious the average gamer would likely give up rather than continue. I of course continued to try again and again and again until I figured out each grab, jump, hold, dive, jump, pattern necessary to complete each chapter. Overall its a great game maybe they could have thought a little more extensively about making certain aspects of the game a bit more conducive, than again thats the whole point, its a strategy game.
2. Gears of War II 8.9
Flawless in many ways but the game play is linear, just cant justify giving this game 9.0 or above when it didnt bring much more to the system than its predecessor offered years ago. Of course many gaming magazines gave the game near 10.0 for its amazing graphics and sound/movie like gameplay that puts you in the center of some of the most amazing scenarios ever thought of by any shooter, or any game period, but I just cant get over how straightforward these games are, point and shoot. As far as these types of games are concerned its one of the best.
3. Bioshock 9.5
I love this game! It helps to reinvent first person shooters by creating a more dynamic experience with tons of upgradable abilities (freeze, fire, electricity, telekinesis, etc, etc) upgradable weapons (more ammo capacity, stronger fire power, faster reload), and this really fun hacking challenge that allows you to hack any machine in the game so that the machine will become friendly to the player with the risk that if they fail in their hacking attempt they will loose massive amounts of health or set off alarms that bring unwanted foes. Its just straight up fun. The graphics and sound are superb. The soundtrack is the best Ive heard on the xbox as of yet. Its set in the 1950s so lots of golden oldies come pouring through loud speakers connected to old record players, it has this vintage tone that can not be funnier as I slashed my way through hordes of freaky ass mutants. The only reason this game does not get a 10 is because IT HAS TOO MANY OPTIONS! After a while all the upgrades can become combersome as the player asks him/her-self, which way is best? There is no real best way, any option was viable, meaning I could run around killing people with the wrench they gave me in the first level, or splatting them with grenade launcher, and the result was the same, there was no advantage as long as I was skilled enough to get by without the stronger fire power. I wish the game would have had more oppurtunties to use specific weapons for specific enemies, there is a way to conduct research so that you know which enemy is weak to which attack, but if every method is more less as effective as any other, who cares to do the research? Still a wonderful game!
Street Fighter 4 9.0
Graphics, flawless, sound, superb, game play, intuitive and innovative, but this game looses mass amounts of points for fucking up Chun Li. hehe, they changed her super combo so its much more difficult to pull off, I have no idea why, she WAS my favorite character, but everyone else seems more less intact, why Zangief was sooo pumped up is beyond me, perhaps he just always sucked in the old versions, but now he can kill anyone in 3 moves, I suppose his slow speed makes this ok.....I just dont like playing against anyone who uses him. Aside for a few character imbalances
this game offers everything a street fighter fan could hope for.
GTA 4 10.0
Perfectly perfect in every way. I have still yet to beat it, Ive been all the other titles mentioned, but this game is sooo looong I have yet to be able to conquer it considering how little time I can spend on games per week (a few hours here and there). Still, I wont let that detract from its score considering how much fun Ive been having while trying to beat it. This game will get re-scored after I beat the game.
Well thats it for me and all my random updates, I hope everyone is having a great day or morning or night or whatever it is when you read this. Back to the belly of the beast, or some would say, studying. Peace
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Is no (a break from midterms)
is no beginning or end.
We are from nowhere.
Nothing is
nonsense (in our minds).
Zeros and ones
fly through the sky
in a never ending
cascade of patterns
that human eyes translate
into blue. It is true
that one day the
code will be rewritten.
But there is no
beginning or
We are from nowhere.
Nothing is
nonsense (in our minds).
Zeros and ones
fly through the sky
in a never ending
cascade of patterns
that human eyes translate
into blue. It is true
that one day the
code will be rewritten.
But there is no
beginning or
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