Tests, tests, and HEY more tests.

So all week I have been increasingly busy with school work along with getting sick which completely sucks. I had a test on Thursday over random Geology related stuffs which I really didn't study for, at least not as much as I should have. I have another test next week in Calc 1 and then another test the week after next in Economics. Fun times!

Anyways, I'll try to do something a little more substantial in the coming weeks depending on school and stuff.

I will however leave you all with something I find very emotional. For those of you who have been keeping up with Doctor Who you should know this episode. For everyone else, basically the plot of this episode was about Vincent Van Gogh and how the Doctor and Amy went and met up with him. There was also this other thing with a monster which only Vincent could see since he perceived the world differently or something. ANYWAYS, for those of you who don't know, Vincent Van Gogh committed suicide because of the massive amounts of depression he had throughout his life. In the episode, Amy was trying her hardest to make Vincent want to live on and not take his own life. At the end of the episode, after taking care of the monster, the Doctor and Amy took Vincent with them to the future to an art gallery of his works. He is literally shocked at the fact that his works have survived this long. They then get the guide to tell them about how he feels about Vincent's work and essentially says that he believes that Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most talented artist to have ever lived. If some of you don't know, during Vincent's life his art was not appreciated at all and he barely got by.

I hope you enjoy this video, just as much as I did.

"WHAT YEAR IS IT?!?!" aka Thoughts on TERA: The Exiled Realm of Arborea

So after not posting an update all weekend I decided that I should let you all know what happened. So on Friday I got into playing Tera's beta test and that ended up taking away my entire night. I had a ton of fun playing since I went into it with little to no expectations of what it would be like and left entirely satisfied. The lower levels are definitely grindy, but it's a Korean MMO so what would you expect? The devs are doing something about the lack-luster lower content by revamping the 1-40 leveling content which is going to be released in Korea later this month and onto the beta test when it hits the Open Beta phase. 

Just look at him and the amount of fucks he does not give.

Initially when I started hearing about the game I was thinking about a human or Aman character, but then the other day when I finally started to really look into the game I found myself thinking how much of a badass the Popori are. So I made my character, a Popori Slayer named "Katz" and went off to do whatever it is you do in MMO's. The newbie island wasn't that bad, it introduced many of quest types and had many different tutorials which helped new players gain their barrings. It did seem to be kind of dragged out in a way, but that might just be the whole grind-aspect of the game. At level 10 I finally got off the island as a badass furball who does flips and shit and doesn't afraid of anything, along with swinging around a sword taller than my character. Needless to say, I was entertained. The flipping animation for when you want to dodge an attack is essentially the Popori pole-vaulting over the other guy and landing right behind him. Much fun was had doing this.

"City of Wheels", Velika is pretty damn pretty if you ask me.

So after traveling around the main city of Velika, I was tasked to help lumber guys which had some fey problems. So, as you always do in these kinds of games, I slaughtered hundreds of fairies who where getting mad about something (can't remember exactly what it was now, but I think it had to do with the forest or some other kind of hippy thing). After this I was sent to another place where I did more killing and gathering and then when I was done there I was sent to one more place where I did even more killing and gathering. I eventually got to the point where I was level 22 and a furry ball of death with a big sword that needed more things to kill. I then was sent to a place which I had been to previously, but not that exact area and was tasked to kill 5 Basilisks for their eyes. I'm thinking, "This is gonna be soooo easy!!!". 

I was wrong...

Sooo wrong...

"You thought you could kill me like any of the other mobs you faced before? HAHAHAHA"

Basilisks are one of the first BAM's that you can fight in game. BAM stands for Big Ass Monster and the title fits it well. This is where I really started to have a ton of fun in game since it was the first time there was a challenge that I could no longer beat with a full bar of health left after the fight was over. The first time I fought one I ended up having to run away because my body was not ready for that fight. I regrouped and healed myself and then went back out to fight it once again. This time I was ready; emergency potions in the hotbar, new skills that I forgot to purchase, and my instincts which I honed in Monter Hunter. I was ready for the bastard. I charged and fought very bravely, and in the end won after almost dying twice. It was incredibly satisfying and really reminded me of my days of playing Monster Hunter over and over again. 

This would be the time to move the hell out of the way...

I then healed up and tried again to kill another, but this time it was ready for me and I ended up dying for the first time in those 22 levels. I eventually did kill it a couple of more times before the beta went down and had a blast doing it. My fuzzball of death will be ready in two weeks when the beta reopens, till then I shall wait...

In other news I no longer have access to my kitchen since I'm getting the floors redone and have no food to eat in my room except for peanuts and vodka. I think I may need to start on some homework as well... Meh... 

The Majestic Bread

So this morning while I was in my Geological Resources class I started writing a random opinion piece about the whole situation in Syria right now and thought it was amazing. Now, after having the rest of the day to think about it and let it sit in, not to mention type it up, I come to realize I hate it. Well... "hate" is not the correct word, but whatever feelings of pride I had in it this morning disappeared as the day wore on. I am about half way done typing it up so I may end up finishing it and posting it if I feel like it isn't actually that bad, but I don't know right now if I will. OH! In other news, my life will be completely consumed by playing the "Tera" closed beta this weekend after impulse buying it just to get into the beta. I'm not regretting it though since I had a lot of extra money laying around that needed to be spent. I am really interested in this game and with what it's promising it sounds like it will be amazingly fun.

Also I got a recipe to bake bread from this one girl I know. I may end up trying to do that tomorrow because why the hell not.

Finally, here is a little video which I really enjoy... I think it's "enjoyment" I get out of it... meh. Decide for yourselves.

Enjoy...

Spoiler-infused review of the movie "Chronicle"

Spoilers ahead, just to let you all know...

Because blowing shit up with your mind is awesome.

So the other day I found myself watching a movie which I had really heard next to nothing about. What I do remember about the movie before actually watching it is that the characters in the movie could move objects with their minds and... that was about it. I did hear good things about it so I decided to sit down and watch it and was left pleasantly surprised. The title of the movie "Chronicle" relates to how the movie is shown, in a series of captured videos from the main character's camera and other random recording devices strewn about where they were. They use these devices to "chronicle" the beginnings of their powers and how they develop and train them over time. What makes it different from other "Blair Witch Project"-like movies is how the characters manipulate the cameras to float around, catching many different angles which makes for a very interesting take on the whole "found footage" style of story telling. The cameras also play another role in the movie as a way for the main character "Andrew" to put something between him and the world since he feels already like an outcast. The cameras are used throughout the story and I believe there is only one shot where they were not used.

From the left: Matt (Alex Russell), Steve (Michael B. Jordan), Andrew (Dane DeHaan)

The movie starts out when "Andrew", a socially awkward teenager who's life is kinda the worst, gets a camera and starts filming whatever he sees just for the hell of it. In the first scene we see Andrew setting up his camera for the first time and playing around with it when his father comes bashing on the door, most likely drunk, yelling at him for whatever reason. The relationship between Andrew and his father is developed as the story progresses but right now all you need to know is that is dad is really abusive. We also see his mother, lying in bed sick from what I gathered was cancer and was really close to death. Andrew loves his mother and hates the fact that she is so weak and how he has to put up with the drinking habits of his father.

Andrew says good bye to his mother and leaves the house and jumps into his friend/cousin's car. The cousin's name is Matt and they have an okay relationship, not the best of buds but at least they don't hate each other. I do believe that Matt was Andrew's only friend at the beginning of the movie and Matt really wanted to help Andrew which he does try to throughout the movie. They go to school and while here we see how Andrew is treated daily, with bullies torturing him and people avoiding him, he just is miserable. We also see the other main character Steve in a flyer for his election to student council president. We also see that Steve is freaking popular in school and most everyone loves him.

Anyways, we fast forward to a rave Matt invites Andrew to. We see Andrew be really awkward most of the time while there, ending with a random guy splashing a drink on him and his camera, possibly even punching him(?). We then see Steve running up to the camera as Andrew dries it off while sobbing a bit and we see the first interaction between Andrew and Steve. Andrew doesn't believe Steve when he says that he should follow him because he and Matt found something awesome. After a little more persuasion, Andrew follows Steve to where Matt is and sees a big hole in the ground leading to an underground passage of some sort with a strange sounds emitting it. Feeling adventurous, Steve and Matt want to go down into it and peer pressure Andrew to follow as well because they needed the light. They travel through the tunnel a bit till they find what looks like a meteorite which is glowing blue and making a really weird noise. They walk up to it, having no idea what it is and think it's the coolest thing ever.

I should also mention that Steve and Matt were kinda... really high at this time so they were just enjoying the adventure.

"Mmmm, I love me some Pringles!!!"

After almost touching the meteor, it begins to emit louder and louder noises and then turns red. Last shot before the video cuts out is of Steve getting a nose bleed and then all of them running and yelling till the video dies. The next scene apparently happens after Andrew gets a new camera since his old one got caught in the cave-in as they were running out. This is where we see them using their newly found telekinetic powers by throwing baseballs at each other and making them stop in mid-air. Wondering how they got their powers, they went back to the hole in the ground to find that it had collapsed in. The next few scenes have them testing and playing around with their powers like by building a lego tower and eating Prinlges with no hands (look ma'! No hands!). Then after Andrew pushes a car off road by accident, the three friends decide to set some rules on the use of their powers since they were getting stronger. Then in a very awesome scene, the three friends discover that they can use their abilities to fly and have an amazing time with it. After this we see them in a library eating some food and talking about where they should go with their new found flight. Andrew suggests Tibet because of how peaceful it sounds, which Matt agrees would be a good idea.

Hell yes flying!!!

As the three friends get closer, both Matt and Steve want to help get Andrew out of his shell and Steve asks him to join the talent show and use their abilities to make it look like they are doing magic. The crowd goes wild and suddenly Andrew is much more popular than he was before. He even gets a girl up into a room to do the horizontal mambo (if ya know what I mean?), but kinda throws up on her. Humiliated, Andrew becomes increasingly withdrawn and hostile which makes his friends worry about him. Then after being almost beaten by his father again, and using his powers to show who is stronger, Andrew is shown crying in a thunder storm on top of a building. Steve, who is concerned about him, tries to talk to him but is only met with hostility, and then the scene ends with a lightning flash and the video cutting out.

The next scene shows a funeral (which is then revealed to be Steve's who apparently died in that storm) and Matt getting angry at Andrew because he knew he had something to do with Steve's death. Andrew denies this, but is then seen later lamenting over the fact that he was to blame for Steve's death. At school Andrew is once-again made unpopular with the death of his friend and the now public knowledge of what happened with that one girl from the party.

Andrew begins to abuse his powers by killing a spider with them and ripping out a bullies teeth. He also becomes increasingly concerned with his mother's condition and the lack of money to pay for her medication so he turns to crime. His first hit was on the neighborhood thugs and kicks their asses and takes their money. Seeing as it wasn't enough, he then goes and robs a gas station and almost escapes, but when the owner runs out with a shotgun he sets off the whole station in a massive explosion when he knocks away the gun. He is next seen in a hospital bed under police guard for the impending investigation into what had happened. His father appears and sits at his bedside and tells the supposedly unconscious Andrew that his mother had passed away and that it was all his fault. His father then grabs Andrew and just before he hits him, he wakes up and causes an explosion.

Andrew crushing a car... WITH HIS MIND!!!

We then see Matt at a birthday party with his new(?) girlfriend and sees the explosion on TV and gets a massive nose bleed. From this, Matt knows that something terrible has happened to Andrew and takes his girlfriend's car to the scene. He gets there just as Andrew appears out of the smoke and drops his father, hoping to kill him. Matt uses his powers to catch him and bring him down which then leads to a whole series of scenes showing Andrew and Matt's fight as Matt tries to calm Andrew down. Eventually after realizing he had failed he uses a spear and throws it through Andrew, killing him instantly. Just before the police can grab him too, he flies away and escapes.

"Sup bro, I heard you like taking BUSES TO THE FACE!!!"

The last scene is of Matt flying over various landscapes, eventually stopping at a snow covered mountain peak. Matt steps out in front of the camera and begins to speak as if talking to Andrew, telling him how sorry he was, but it was the only thing he could have done at that point. He then says that he (Andrew) finally made it to Tibet (meaning that's where he was filming this part) and that he was going to find out where his powers came from and use them for good. Matt then flies off leaving the camera trained on the peaceful and calm scenery of Tibet.

"Chronicle" is a movie which not only brings together the awesome makings of a scifi/superhero flick, but also touches on some of the various social issues many teenagers have to deal with these days. It also shows how much fun it would be to get powers like telekinesis and use it randomly throughout our daily lives. Finally, it shows the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" moral thing which we all must know very well by now. All together it was a fun movie which I highly suggest anyone who wants something to watch and enjoy the hell out of.Oh, and also if you wonder what it would be like if when you were a teenager you got powers like the ones in the movie.

Oh the things I would do with those powers....

All pictures stolen from Google.

Interlude of Dreams...

Random, yet amazing picture I found on the internet which might be something I see in a dream.

So since some time in January I have been keeping a journal of whatever dreams I can remember from the night before and reading back through some of them I find myself very, very confused. I suppose dreams do that, take random bits of the waking world and mash them together to get some strange land of possibilities. The whole reason why I started the dream journal is because I wanted to attempt lucid dreaming since it sounds freaking amazing to actually succeed at it. In fact, "The Dream City" was based on the concept of lucid dreaming and what might happen when it works, both the amazing parts and the horrifying ones. Just the unlimited amount of possibilities stemming from lucid dreams makes me water at the mouth.

World-building inside your head while you sleeps.

In one of the first dreams I become lucid in I hope to just test out everything I can do, like how physics affects the dream world or if it doesn't, how I can create things out of nothing in the dream, and if I can summon random people to be there with me in this dream. Then I would see how much intelligence these constructs have, if they know anything I don't or if they are just playing off the many random scenarios which get created in my head all the time. I also want to explore the dream lands, take in all the sights which my sub-conscious creates and experience everything that world has to offer.

Honestly, I just thought this looked cool.

I suppose all I'm trying to do is test my limits when it comes to creating worlds, how "alive" I can make them and experience them and the people of those worlds before I write them down on paper. All in all, it just sounds like too much fun to not try, so I will. I mean, it's not like I'm doing anything else while I'm sleeping. Might as well try and become lucid in my dreams and have amazing adventures with the random folks my mind thinks up.

Another update before I start posting some actual stuff!!!

So over the last... week and a half(?) I have been writing out the outline for the next story I'm gonna post up here. I finally finished it this morning and now all I have to do is write the bastard and do all the editing it needs before I post it up here. I also started working on a review for "How I Met Your Mother" since I freaking love that show. That will probably be posted after I finish the short story and work on it a lot more. I have a long list of things I'm gonna review ranging from books to movies, games to VN's, anime to manga. I want each one to actually be a decent review so I'm going to put the work into each and everyone of them. Along with the short story I'm writing now, I'm gonna start on another one once I get to a point where I'm satisfied with this one. I'm thinking it's going to a short, yet sweet story about a man and his liquid silver... oh! And the silver is sentient and wants to take over the world! (s)He's also really... um... "dickish"? Yeah, that'll have to do when describing him. If not this story then I'll look through my list of ideas and come up with something interesting yet short.

As much as I want to rush all of these things out to here, I do have school to worry about and other matters to attend to so it might take some time. I do want to have the short story I'm working on now out by next week, at least I hope so. Along with writing all of these things I'm still reading random books. I picked up "The Hunger Games" a week or so ago and have read half way through it casually. It's pretty interesting and I like the scenario (Battle Royale anyone?) and the mythos for the setting is pretty sweet. Meh... I'll probably write a review once I finish it. I do hear the sequels are not that good at all though, but that's just what I've heard.

Now, not to leave you all without a little something, here is a song by Yoko Kanno which is a different version of the song "Genesis of Aquarion". It's really amazing and I suggest you all check it out!