Method acting

I like to think that nobody is truly evil or malevolent; some people might place less emphasis on morality in their decision-making processes than others, but I believe that it is always a factor that is duly considered and only acted against in light of the most prudent of their judgement. Rather, it is the circumstances in which people find themselves that compel them to make choices that seem justified to them, but perhaps not others. What outsiders might perceive as errors of judgement or even direct antagonisation might just be the best or only viable course of action for someone, all things considered.

The problem is that other people might not think the same way I do, and in the end people get despised not for who they are, but for the characters they have to play as; blamed for the decisions that are hard to follow through with but have to be made in the face of the situation.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players

Monster

My anger is something that I try to mitigate, because I have seen in my youth that I'm not very good at controlling it once it breaks loose. I thought I've been doing a pretty good job at it, and I honestly thought that I wouldn't again succumb to the mindless lashing out that accompanies a pure, blind rage. Two weeks ago, it nearly happened. I was trying to maintain my composure, but I could feel myself losing grip on the monster within. It felt like my skin was a porcelain shell cracking, and pure molten rage was spewing out from the fissures. I managed to keep my anger from reaching explosive levels, but the damage has already been done.

The weird and the wonderful

For those of you who have forgotten (and if so, shame on you), Art By Numbers released their debut album, Reticence: The Musical, on 29th May. It's a really catchy album which would be a great gateway for people trying to get into prog metal and even metal in general, but still manages to stand tall in terms of technical skills and writing. They decided to mostly drop the screamo from their Reyes and Minotaur days (those songs make a comeback in non-screamo versions, by the way), which is not necessarily bad, but just different. I've listened through the album about 4 times already and I'm still trying to decide on my favourite song of the album, so instead of giving any recommendations I'll just link directly to their full album stream and you can decide on your own.

Now that we're done with the wonderful, it's time to talk about that other thing. And if you think that I'm being judgmental by calling out a whole other genre of music as "weird", then I assure that what you're about to see and hear is objectionably weird. Say hello to BabyMetal:





It's kawaii-style J-pop... With death metal... I'm not sure if I need to say anything else. But all things said and done, "weird" does not necessarily exclude "good", and I can't say that I outright don't like this music; the metal parts are decent enough, and the J-pop parts are bearable. But then you get to actually watching the music videos, with the 3 girls acting sickeningly cute enough to give anyone diabetes against a backdrop of blast beats and guitar riffs, and I find myself getting goosebumps every time I force myself to sit through them. I'd hate to jump on the "WTF Japan" bandwagon, but seriously can you blame me in this case?

Reigniting an old flame

If you know me, you'll know that up until quite recently I was still moderately active in playing Pokemon. I challenged D/P Battle Tower like there was no tomorrow (and finally managed to get a >100 streak using Togekiss/Garchomp/Milotic :D ) and dabbled in ShoddyBattle. I was pretty interested in the competitive Pokemon scene, and clearing the main story was simply something I had to do to unlock the Battle Tower and grab all the essential items and TMs. Then B/W came out. I was very impressed by the effort put in to develop plot and character development that was miles ahead of any Pokemon game before it. It really recaptured the feeling of wanting to be a Pokemon master and wanting to save the world from evil. I was actually engaged in the Unova lore.

Time came and went, and I eventually lost interest in competitive Pokemon (because the metagame is now saturated with weather -.- ), and for a while now I thought that with that I had lost interest in Pokemon as a whole. This video changed that:



After being jaded towards Pokemon for so long, this animated trailer for the upcoming Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 reminded me that I love the series for more than simply Pokemon Online and competitive battling. It reminded me that every playthrough represents a new adventure against great odds, every character a friend or foe whose presence will still be felt after the final credits roll, and every battle an epic clash of power and wit. This video puts into visual form every childhood fantasy of anybody who has ever played Pokemon as a child.

Now I remember what it feels like to be excited for a new Pokemon release not because of that new Pokemon with awesome stats or that broken ability or that revolutionary move, but because it's yet another road into a fantastical land that I yearn to immerse myself in.

Carpe Diem

An accident in the news is just a noteworthy piece of information at best. An accident that happens close to heart is suddenly so much more.

This morning, there was yet another accident involving NSFs: a jeep carrying four NSFs overturned. Of the four, two made it out relatively unscathed, one suffered lacerations, and the last passenger unfortunately passed away in hospital.

This is not the first time an NSF has died during army training, but this one strikes especially close to home. Not only am I now an NSF as well and the same age as the victim, but he was also from the same Catholic High School batch as I. I did not really know him personally, but the idea that someone so similar to myself suddenly had his life snatched away from him, like a carpet pulled away from under his feet, is disconcerting to say the least. Suddenly, I am reminded that fate is blind and the reaper harvests from young and old alike. Ironically, I find myself going back to a philosophy that was frequently championed back in Cat High: Carpe Diem.

BUTTERSAFE

Alright, after all that jazz, the SAT is finally over. Some things went quite well, some things could have gone better, but overall I don't really want to dwell on the past anymore. Instead, I have focused my attention on hilariously retarded webcomics. And here is where I present my bountiful find of the night: http://buttersafe.com/. I actually wanted to post some of the funnier comics here, but then I realised it would be pointless because it's all funny. So instead, I will post the URL again with an extra-large font.

http://buttersafe.com/

There you go. Now get off this blog. Buttersafe is waiting.

How do I academics again?

The HQ Armour off week (AKA my pre-SAT off week) has come to a close, and tomorrow is the actual SAT. Regardless of how much (or how little) preparation I've managed to squeeze in, now is the time to let it all show. Truth be told though, I'm still having trouble plotting my course of action after this. University choices are still nothing but whispers in the fog for me right now, even as the deadline draws closer for me to make my decision. And that's not even considering other less urgent but still present matters to deal with, namely whether and when I'm going to get my driver's license. Oh well, at this juncture all I can do is do my best for tomorrow's test and see where it goes from there.

Here's to my first major exam in one and a half years. Wish me good luck. Do it now. I DEMAND IT. WISH ME.