The Hangout....where sanity is overrated.

[Chibi Koji]

BUAH!
Everyone's been going to see Pan's Labyrinth. I haven't been able to go yet, and next weekend will prolly be my last chance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. x.x


AD~ Mindless entertainment looks like Epic Movie's department. >>; Im hoping to see that one, too. xD

Roffle, I can only imagine. xd "...I'm just peppy. :'D" *Dies.*


Iyou~ Blech, we had to learn our Katakana on our own. D: And the only points I missed were on the Kanji section, since we'd started cramming it into ourselves a week before finals. We don't get much rest. But I guess better this way, or else I'd slack off. 8T (I needa start studying on my own, I can never remember anything off the top of my head. D: And unfortunately torrenting anime isn't helping me any. xD)





RAHHH. I'm so close to beating Silent Hill 3! Me and a friend play it together (On account of we're both too chicken to play it by ourselves.) and it just keeps getting better and better. I'm gonna turn into a survival horror junkie, I know it. D8  

[Abandoned Dreams]

Iyou - I don't know what it is about Grendel that makes me love it so... Whatever it was, the book was required reading for an English class in high school and shortly after reading it, my friend and I stole a "Vote for Grendell" sign from someone's lawn and presented it to our English teacher. She thought we were quite insane. That was a good year.

Yeah, that's what I decided about Pan's Labyrinth. Anyone looking for hope will find hope. Anyone looking for despair will certainly find that. I, having been irrevocably damaged by my background in psychology, saw more schizophrenia than fantasy. It was really sealed for me when the faun appeared after a certain unpleasant plot point (spoilerific, you know) to give her a second chance. Seemed more like a necessary reaction from her than a change of heart on the faun's part. Bah, I bore myself with my adult bitterness.


Koji - Go for it! Come join the ranks of People Who Have Seen the Movie and Can Now Talk About It Like Snobs!

Last I checked, Epic Movie had a 0% approval rating at RottenTomatoes.com. That's a whole 14% less than Eragon, so I'm not too eager to see it.

I had a friend in college who was too chicken to play...oh, what was it? Some nightmarish GameCube game... It involved insanity and zombies and exploding heads. At any rate, he was too scared to play it alone ("he" being a 20-year-old college student at this point) and had to bring it to the commuter lounge to have an audience of a dozen people. It was sad.  

[Iyou]

AD - Well, even if it was all her imagination, does it really matter? (Not that I'm belitting the debate between whether it was real or fantasy - I really that that aspect of the movie and the thought process it evoked.) She believed that she had a happy ending, so she did. The fact that she was able to escape from such horrible surroundings - even if it was only mental escape - is what really cemented it in as a good movie for me. whee

But then against, that's me. Ever the optimist. xd

And a big xd at the "Vote for Grendell" sign. Your teacher obviously wasn't cool enough, otherwise she would have given you bonus points for that.

Koji - Geh! You had to learn katakana by yourself?! That seems like a really big gamble on the teacher's part, because if students aren't able to make themselves remember something as fundamental as katakana, they're royally screwed when it comes to building on top of that.

But whatever works for you, I guess.

You also may want to check out JFC if you plan on taking further levels of Japanese. It's basically a Japanese flash card program that you can run on your computer - no messy index cards to keep track of. Writing the flashcard files is pretty easy too, so it's pretty quick to learn. It's positively saved me (and several trees) for the past few semesters. x_x  

[Abandoned Dreams]

Iyou - As I said: those looking for despair will find it. In my mind, it was her imagination, and it really does make all the difference. (Others: Do not continue reading if you have not seen the movie - you will regret it and I shall forever be a spoiler-spewing troll...thing.) The fact that she was able to escape in such a remarkable way was inspiring, but in the end it cost her everything. If she hadn't been told to fetch her brother, she would not have been followed by the captain. Her brother would have remained in the compound, where the guerrillas would have found him (I remember there being fire, but I think Mercedes was smart enough to keep them from burning the children). I don't see the rest of the outcome being much different. The troops were overwhelmed because of Mercedes' intervention, not because of Ofelia's magic. Right up until the end, her imagination merely passed the time and allowed her to deal with the horrors of her situation. And at the end, where she was speaking to the faun but the Captain saw her talking to herself, it's obvious that there really is no magic. And she died because of it.

So does it matter? Yes. Guillermo del Toro is no optimist. He's quoted somewhere as saying that children's fantasy/movies are irresponsible. He mentioned Free Willy (not by name), saying that no one should teach a child that a killer whale would befriend them, as it would probably be more interested in eating the child instead.

The only silver lining I was able to find in the movie was that Ofelia managed to escape what little life was left for her. Other than that, I never again want to see a child shot in the stomach and left to die.

...whew. That was dangerously long for a work post.  

[Iyou]

I have to admit that I honestly hadn't thought of it that way before. This is why discussing movies is so cool! whee Most of my friends don't think about stuff like this that deeply, so I never get to talk about movies and books normally.

Even if she had been saved by the guerillas, the quality of her life probably wouldn't have improved that much. I mean, that older man with the injured leg had to wait quite a while for medical treatment, and when it did come his injury was so bad that his leg had to be amputated. Probably not the best environment to be in, especially for a little girl. Even if the captain was killed, there would probably be another regiment to replace his own soon enough and the threat would be the same as before.

Not that I'm saying that being shot in the stomach and left to die is better than living a life among guerillas - at least she would have had love if nothing else if she had lived.

But given the circumstance that she was shot, I'm glad she was able to imagine herself in a nice, loving place before she died.  

[Abandoned Dreams]

Well, score one for movie and book thinkers!

In the end, we have to wonder what the message was. Did her imagination save her from a harsh life with the guerrillas (the same one that her brother will now have)? Or did it result from her inability to deal with reality and serve no other purpose? There were a lot of things in the movie that made me question the creator's intentions, and I'm not sure I'll ever reach any conclusions. It wasn't real fantasy, or real horror, or real philosophy. Maybe I'd feel different if I saw the movie again, but at the moment, I don't know what to make of it. Meh.  

[T H I N N]

AD>> *is horrible with names* xd I sometimes feel guilty when I can't remember many of my students' names, but then I remember that I only see them once a week.

Oh yes! You mentioned that you used to work at a library. I worked at my college's library, but I doubt I did even 1% of the work that is done there. Anyway, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do once I finish teaching my next (and last at this college) semester and library work came to mind. What kind of work did you do at the library and what were you classified as?

(I know one library I looked into required that applicants had a BA, but I don't remember it being a specific BA)

Silent Hill - Finally watched this movie and ... well, they definately captured the atmosphere and the look of the games. The story left much to be desired, but not a bad movie.

Resident Evil 4 - Good god this is an excellent game! It has a harsh learning curve, but once you mess around with it and suffer a few gruesome deaths (decapitation by leatherhead!! xd ) ... it's a very fun and even funny game. (ad. twisted sense of humor) Just watch out for those head sprouters ... freakin' things won't DIE after getting shot at POINT BLANK RANGE with a SHOTGUN.

Valkyire Profile 2 - Another game I'm finding great fun. A different kind of RPG with a pretty creative battle system and a pretty good story so far.  

[Abandoned Dreams]

Ashram - I have trouble with Japanese names. The first few episodes of any anime are a problem for me as I usually refer to characters by hair color.

You give me far too much credit. College libraries are much different from public libraries as they'll hire students for a number of jobs. In public libraries, actual librarians need a BA in library sciences. I was - and still am, when they need me - a page. I'm in charge of shelving books and basically maintaining order. I still love it, as I make my own rules and frequently wander around like an idiot. The library is the only place I can hear myself think sometimes; it's a wonder I make them pay me at all. whee  

[Xalome]

Oh dear but I've been gone for a long time. I need a less busy life. XD

I still haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth yet. sad I want to so very much. it's a question of time and finding people to come see it with me, as most of my friends have seen it.  

[Chibi Koji]

I BEAT IT. I FINALLY DID IT.
The whole game was just a test of nerve. xDD I won't say anything (Thanks for the cencored Pan's Labyrinth posts, btw.) just in case anyone ever gets around to playing 3. But yeah. I had fun scaring the crap outta myself. rofl



AD~ YES. This weekend shows promise. A roll-in-the-city for this child~ 8]

I'm pretty sure Epic Movie is gonna wreak, but seeing a bad movie always makes you appreciate the good ones that much more. That and just seeing one of the actresses makes me feel like peeing myself. D:

Me and my friends have an excuse. We all have the bravery of 6 year old girls. And we have fun yelling and grabbing at each other. Now that I think about it...maybe that's all we did play for. I feel filthy. o_o;



Iyou~ I barely remember the first line. And how to spell "television". D: But Ive gottn by so far...she's been pouring sentence structures left and right.

YESS! Thats exactly what I've needed. o_o I've never once made flashcard and actually USED them in school. They'd always end up as cruedly-drawn card suits. 8x


Ash~ Yah, the Silent Hill movie was really neat, but unless you've played the games a bit then most of it doesnt make sense. Like, now that I beat 3, it's all a little clearer. o.o MUST BEAT THE REST.




EDIT: Okayokayokayokayokay

This went and made my night:
http://www.comcast.net/entertainment/index.jsp?cat=ENTERTAINMENT&fn=/2007/01/31/575611.html&cvqh=itn_harrypotter

I don't have much to add. My laugh has gotten so...insane-looking lately. xD  

[axel]

koji: SH3 rocks ~
2 was my favorite, but 4 really ******** with your head.
oh, what am i saying, they all do. 8D

i lol'ed at your article- i saw that on my news page xDDD
i think his girlfriend looks old enough to be his mom, yarg. gonk


here's a counter lol moment for anyone who watches Cartoon Network:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_re_us/suspicious_devices  

[Iyou]

Koji - Glad I could help. whee I love that program, so if you need any help figuring out how to write the flashcard files or anything, just ask.

axel - Oh god... I read a different article about that, but this one definitely takes the cake. Can we say slanted media, anyone?

Some quotes I found particularly amusing:

Quote:

"It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme," Mayor Thomas Menino said Wednesday. "I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents."

Quote:

Authorities vowed to hold Turner accountable for what Menino said was "corporate greed," that led to at least $750,000 in police costs.

Quote:

"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of a block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network.

I particularly like this last one - it makes it sound like ATHF is some sort of animated porno that brainwashes people.

This does raise some interesting issues, though. I'll definitely be following this.

Edit: YES. Have I mentioned how much I love the media? Joo so funny, media. xd

I like how people are making such a big deal about how this (below) is an "obscene gesture." Now this may be just me, but... does the fact that the "hand" itself is made up of less than ten 2-bit pixels make it less offensive to anyone else? I mean, honestly. They're pixels.

 

[Abandoned Dreams]

Laitue - It's been very quiet around GASOC lately...it's not just you. xd

Koji - Which article do you mean? The Equus one? My friend sent me that link yesterday and caused all kind of mental scarring. Poor horse.

And congrats on your game pwnage.


axel - I've been following that story for the past two days and laughing my a** off. ANYONE under the age of 25 would have known they weren't bombs...

I hate the fact that they actually ARRESTED two guys over it, but they seem to be taking it in stride: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/01/boston.bombscare/index.html
Actual response to a reporter: "That's not a hair question. I'm sorry." xd  

[axel]

IT LOOKS LIKE A LITE BRITE FOR PETES SAKE.

i understand the mayor being a little irked at someone causing a "problem" but this guy is taking it way too seriously. D:
i mean damn, look at the men they arrested. they can't stop smiling xd

it will be interesting to see how time warner handles it.  

[Abandoned Dreams]

ZOMG SO SUSPICIOUS!!1!1roffle!!coptur!


The MA Attorney General said it was "sinister." I'll admit it's ugly, but..."sinister"?! Friggin' idiotic.