Infinite Realms of Imagination Part 1: Video Games

Foreword: I just don't get the Chinese government. The idea of not responding seriously to the situation in Myanmar/Burma is almost apathetically airheaded. I mean, frankly I do have some Chinese blood, and it makes me question if us Chinese people just don't really care less about the things around us, or if we're really use our "friendship" for something that only benefits us. I'm not negatively stereotyping here, but it makes me think, and this thinking is like a slandering toxic (scratching my head at the same time).

Well, I do believe I'm sort of beyond schedule of my posting time, which is Wednesday, roundabout 3 days ago, and in that timespan I've been collecting heart to write my blog entry for this week as soon as I can, but I am just too unwilling to do so. In which it is a bad habit for IB. Go ahead, Miss J. Hate me. Kill me.
Anyways. Back to the topic.

I just can't help it--I was born to love video games. I'm not really who I am now if it hadn't influenced me since I first got my hands on a laptop-toy-of-sorts when I was around 1st grade that taught me this English I use to write my blog now. I am not an fourth-generation gamer or below, but I live around the end of that era: say, SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System,), Sega Saturn, Super Famicom, Neo Geo, to name a few. Ah, yes, how I remember vividly the glorious olden days of 16 to 32-bits of moving graphics that paved the prestige of video gaming to what we now call as the seventh generation of video game consoles, our time; the time of the over-expensive and slightly over-futuristic Playstation 3, in which I first heard of 5 years ago talking about it in Chapel time, the time of Nintendo Wii in which reality gaming is just taking another baby-step and we say adieu to Virtual Boy and its monochromatic spectrum that now bores me to death in just a matter of seconds, and of course the time of XBox 360 which is undoubtedly far more attractive and cheaper (Amen to that, Gary?) than its over-futuristic competitor who apparently set the wrong marketing strategy despite its torture to the R&D department.
Right now, I possess in my vicinity consoles of only as far as the sixth generation , which are Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gameboy Advance, as well as the tip of the seventh, namely the Nintendo DS, and a Wii is expected to storm my house sometime near. The irony of being a well-bred, experienced gamer having a slow progress in generation upgrading is so thick you can cut it with a knife. But nevertheless, I do admit that I played most of the games, seen what they look like, played what they offer, and heard what they sing. I know my first PlayStation 2 game, and now I compare to a game that was just released a month ago as a closing goodbye to the sixth generation, and I have seen much improvement, and such an improvement it was.
I look back to my early years. I have an SNES at my disposal. I played the titles that made Nintendo one mega-gaming company of its own today--Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Mario, Street Fighter, to name among a few--my power adapter once got burned because of playing too much (evidence for constantly wearing my glasses all these years). And then I think of Gameboy, which was in the form of a purple, semi-transparent Game Boy Color I got from my uncle at the end of 1999 in France where I also celebrated the eve of 2000 near the Eiffel Towel. I played Super Mario Bros. and Mario Golf like there was no other console more advanced than that. And now, when I look at my ebony black Nintendo DS, I realized that my journey of gaming has gone so far into this. And those flashbacks stir around your brain and you remember the good days of playing various games, how you missed some, how you wish it would never exist again, how you would die to have one more chance playing it again for the sake of nostalgia, I began to value and cherish some of those moments.
It is absolutely surprising. Within a timespan of less than 30 years , the video gaming industry has rapidly evolved like bacteria, from the monochromatic Pong to the groundbreaking Mario Bros. (originally Jumpman) and finally to the ethereal Final Fantasy series, you may as well guess what's next in the next 5 years. Perhaps there may be a PS4 coming up in just three years. perhaps the long-sought prophecy of holographic gaming may just come true when I'm Head of Department somewhere, someday.

The world of video gaming is constantly changing and improving as humans continue to solve the unsolvable and think the unthinkable. It may improve for the greater and latter good, but it may as well destroy. As long as it will continue, so will I constantly grip my hand firm on the progress of this outspoken phenomena bordering unholy in its presence to the world. On a more cynical side, more of my precious time which may be used for (seemingly and pretentiously) valuable academic and scholastic activities will be wasted as an opportunity cost (taking into account that I'm not an Economics student) of my eternal interests, this among one of them. But as someone once said, grades are of no eternal value.


......Hey, what about the mystery of permanent records then?

Song of the Day - "La Mer" by Coba

Literally translated as "the sea", and is an opening song for a video came called Suikoden IV, I fell in love with this song as soon as my eardrums finished hearing this amazing song. Although video game music experts say it is a first-class effort in trying to live up to its predecessor song, "Transcending Love" in Suikoden III, by all means was this song worth hearing. What makes the song have its own "wow" factor was the accordion, which greatly enhanced the feeling of the vastness of the open ocean, backed up by good acoustics that had great harmony with the accordion.
This is yet another instrumental, so perhaps I'll do a song with lyrics on my next post, just for the sake of being more lengthy.

The frog agrees.
Cheerio.

Regards from the schizophrenically psychotic retard,
Yoga Pradana A.K.A DrVoltsPerSecond

Friends.....

If I think of friends, I become so happy and excited...

When I was in the state, my friends were almost all Korean, so even if I log into my Msn Messenger, all I can meet are the korean friends, but I have one thai friend who is really kind.

The problem that I had with my friend is that when I get a new friend, I just wants to be closer too fast. So many of my other friends adviced me not to hurried on the people.

Best friend...

In our life, anyone must have best friend. The best friend is the person who cares for you and hangout almost everytime. I once had a best friend who is living in Jakarta right now. He lived in the same apartment when I was in the elementary school, and we used to hangout almost everyday for playing soccer in the tennis court. But now, he is living far away from my house, so that we cannot meet even once in a week. Would the friendship last forever? or would it be ended so easily if there's a big problem between two person?

haha

Ok, this may sound kind of corny to some of you, but I don't really care! :)... some math equations anyone?

Donut + the= Do The Nut

Jefferey + Nickname + Pak Purba= Jeremy (haha, for those of you in math sl would probably get it!)

Yoga + sports= Yoga (hahahahha, get it? it's like the same name all over again!)

WOW= and no, it's not World of Warcraft, it's just WOW.

TOKx2= anyone there?

Circle K= it's not the American based grocery shop, but circle potassium..wahhaha just kidding.

Your + Wasting + Your + Life + Reading + This= YourWastingYourLifeReadingThis

Hey just updated my jokes again ^ ^:

Reflex: no it's not that instantaneous reaction from that body, it's just re- flex( get it? like you ask someone to flex their muscles...haha)

WarIII= it's not the third war, it's just WarIII the file. (warcraft players might perceive this joke well, or not...hahaha)

Quoted from Gamma (or someone else):
What do you call a person who is able to speak two languages?- bilingual
What do you call a person who is able to speak three languages?- trilingual
What do you call a person who is able to speak only ONE language?- American

Comment= haha sorry if the joke is kind of offensive, it is a joke by the way. Nothing more nothing less.

Ever wondered how the hair gel line "Gatsby" go it's name?
Answer: First ask the company, Second if that doesn't work, read the book "The Great Gatsby" and Thirdly if that doesn't work, go and as Fitzgerald once your dead..haha just kidding.

Question: How do you find the meaning of life?
Answer: meaning of life= chemical element called "IdK"?
To find the complete element, you need to add the equation "on'tNOW"
IdK + on'tNOW -> Idon'tKNOW
meaning of life= Idon'tKNOW
(haha, just kidding for chemistry students, out there o_O)

Thanks for reading this! All Jokes are customized and copyrighted from the author.

Car FREE day?

If you heard the news, Saturday 22 Sept was initialled to be a car free day in Sudirman and Thamrin. The protocol roads in Jakarta. Jakarta's governor office planned to have this "car free day" because the air that we breathe in Jakarta is dangerously polluted by cars who emitted Carbon Dioxide into the air. Governor Sutiyoso was said to have this "idea" of having car free day. But several sources analyzed that this act was to save the name of a person who is going to be ex-governor soon.
The attempt to make Sudirman a car free day turned into a farce Saturday where some areas nearby got the effect of traffic jam, caused by the reduced amount of road spaces for the cars. I was stuck in the car for almost two hours with friends behind Plaza Indonesia. The average speed was 1 milimeter per hour!!! I was frustrated and kind of depressed of how the government's solution to a problem is bigger than the problem itself. I blamed the Roadway policeman of course their incompetence to solve traffic due to the poor coordination as said by Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The traffic ruined the plan for the day. We could not catch the movie and we wasted lots and lots of time sitting down in the car while watching the car move by inches in hours. While the traffic got worse, we planned to just walk to Plaza Indonesia because we were only 50 meters away and it took a century to cover that distance!
Jakarta is already packed with cars and motorcycles. The "Car Free Day" did not help anything except contributing to the use of more gasoline which can cause the price float and citizens suffer more. Imagine how many business deal were canceled and contributed to the decreasing amount of investation in Jakarta. Zillions of money was wasted just for that "Car Free Day". The government must realize that they have to solve internal economic crisis first. With all the money that came in from business deal and less subsidy for fuels, capitals that the government have could be used to solve the air problem in Jakarta.

Time makes you crazy!!!

When you think the life is easy, then something bad happens.

When you think the life is hard, then everything will become better, because if you think that way, you will try harder to live an easy life.

I think in order to live peaceful life is that you manage the time correctly.

This week, my management of time was terrible. Monday and Tuesday, I was sick, so that I couldn't go to school and stayed home, doing nothing. The problem came from the time that I wasted during my illness time.

Tuesday, I missed the math class, and when I go to the math class on friday, we had test. The test was horrible and I just don't want to think about the score that will result.

That was not all...

On the weekend Saturday, I went to church and planned to pick my friends up at Lippo Karawaci, because we had to go watch Rock n Dance Festival in JIKS(Jakarta International Korean School).

My planned time was two thirty leaving the church and arriving in Lippo Karawaci at three 'o clock, but the traffic jam made me almost out of mind making my friends angry at me.

I think managing your time is really important in your life...

"Guys, take your time wisely and carefully~"

Oh, by the way, I started off to JIKS at four 'o clock from my church in Senayan. It took two hours going to Taman Mini from Senayan!

That's not all, being late thirty minutes made me to use 80 thousand rupiah for make my friends to forget my time managing mistake.

A Medley of Ideas and Thoughts

Since so many things had happened in just a short time, I think it'd be better if I elaborate the ideas and thoughts that linger still in my brain in here.

The first thing that came to my mind is my Nintendo DS (Double Screen). It's tar black, it's shaped like a wide rectangular prism with chamfered edges similar that of an iPod or a Macbook, and it plays games on two screens with a touch screen on the bottom, in which I can do innumerable actions using a stylus, depending on what type of game I'm playing. Currently I have a game where you operate people as a surgeon, a modern Nintendo version of Tetris, a game with a wide collection of silly mini-games incorporated in to it, and a dog-adopting simulation game, called Nintendogs. well, I wouldn't talk much about this so I'll keep it laconic. Earlier at 5 am I finally have permission from my brother to bring it to school because I haven't played it since Monday due to work that keeps on stacking and ostensibly ceaseless. I played it in the car, and I also played it before homeroom time. It's the newest array of gaming gear I have in my shortly decaying arsenal of game gadgets, being the ever-striving video game addict I always was.

The second thing that happened today was a university fair. This time they have representatives of universities across the Land of Uncle Sam, America. They didn't have representatives from prestigious and sought-after universities along the lines of Berkeley and Stanford and Harved and Yale, perhaps universities that are slightly inferior to them. Well I wouldn't mind because personally I have a rather thin academic financial pocket, and on top of that, my uncle highly recommended me to do my undergraduate studies in UI, University of Indonesia, and then I may then study abroad, with the exception if I successfully obtain a scholarship, so I may as well be a wee bit more focused and serious as I strive through the academic "Cave of Trials" that is the International Baccalaureate. There were some pretty fancy brochures that was as informative as it is aesthetically appealing. I am to do a major on business because I have an interest specifically in the gaming business. Rather, my passion, but not really my vocation yet.

Another idea I came across today in Biblical Studies was the idea that if all the universal constants of the scientific world were deviated by just an infinitesimal fraction of a decimal, it would be impossible for planets to form and universes expand. It has been discovered that all those constants and numbers are somewhat 'fine-tuned', as if they all combine together to create a perfect orchestra of life as we see it now. Astrophysicists and other scientific thinkers have mostly come to the same conclusion that there must be divine intervention in which the universe was created, one that made the Big Bang happen, although most of them are still either atheists or agnostics.

The third thing I came across was of feeling and emotion, which I studied in TOK. We delved into the topic by experimenting on how would it be if people were emotionless. It seems that all people do have emotion, it's just that occasionally they don't want to show it because of a fair number of reasons. There are words for different types of feelings; but then, there are feelings that you just can't put into words. Exhibit A: in a golf course, say, hole 5, you strike the ball with your wood and the divot is detached. Somewhere along the motion of the projectile, that is, the golf ball, ignoring almost all rules of projectile motion, A bird, say, a crow, happens to get it in its mouth in midair. Now the first thing you do is to shout and chase after that bird, but then it lowers down and drops the ball; and so the ball rolls inside the green and the bird just helped you to score a hole in one. Now try to figure out what kind of emotion/feeling would result at an aftermath.

The last idea I wish to dilate is of the different religions of this world. For example, take the more common ones; Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Shintoism or even Scientology. I once had a thought that resurfaced just today: the what-ifs of the awaited and so-called "Last Day." What if the Islam version was true? What if the Christian version was come true (hence the very offensive phrase of "Judgement Day is coming, look busy")? What if the Hindu or Buddhit version was true and really going to happen? People could debate on this single topic that can be expanded and narrowed infinite times in an uncountable number of years, but the always simple solution is to stick to what we truly believe and have faith in.


I am very sorry for the fact that I cannot review on anything for this week; I have a rather big physics lab report and it's due tomorrow (*snorts on my never-receding procrastinating habit) so enjoy some more pictures while you're at it.



....aaaaand I'm all finished for this week, I do hope that I'll get to talk more, if there is less work next week.

Cheerio.

Regards from the schizophrenically psychotic retard,
Yoga Pradana A.K.A. DrVoltsPerSecond

What a girl wants from a boy?

What a girl wants from a boy?
This is only my assumption and analysis from books and people’s characteristics. This could be true but it also could be wrong.
There are 5 things that girls want from boys, which are security, praise, to be given protection and understanding. But we need to be less excessive from these 5 factors.
Girls/woman want:
They want to have security from their loved ones since every girl/woman/wife needs to feel safe materially and mentally. And there are 2 different types of girls, the 1st type of girl is the girl that looks for and obtain security from themselves. The second type of girl is the one that who gains security from their boyfriend. But beware, to never say to a girl that she is materialistic. Everyone knows that it is hard to refuse an offer from a rich person. The presents and nice surprises, that cannot be imagined, this will make girls feel spoiled and cared from their boyfriends. But you must not only rely on material to give girls security, but you also need to gain her trust by not flirting with other girls.
They also want attention and care but still needs privacy. Give your girl attention, discover small things that she likes and dislikes. By taking an initiative when she is thirsty give her water, when she is cold give her your jacket, and when she is feeling down you are there for her. For boys that have never date a girl before, you need to be careful since too much attention can make people think that you are a stalker. (It’s nice to take care of your girl friend but not her whole life, its not like you are going to marry her)
They also want to be praised but do not want to be fooled. Since girls wants to be acknowledged by their boyfriends they also desire attention from their boyfriends, but you must know, a girl does not want too much attention, this could cause her to feel that they don't have any privacy and space. Also, girls tend to like to be praise of her talent, smartness, and personality.
They want protection from their loved ones. Even though that girl is the toughest Thai boxer, she still needs a man to protect her and give her comfort. Things like going home alone or alone in the streets; they want to be accompanied by men. But beware not to be overprotective since girls don’t like to be overprotected. They want to be understood, so we need to understand how girls think and feel about things. Why woman tend to overreact to a problem? It is because girls are not like us (man) who rather finish the problem than to forget. And ETC ETC I have lots of homework so I end it here


~Initial R~

Busiest Friday

WoW.~ This friday was a busy day...

First, I want to say I'm really sorry that I couldn't make a blog on my day, which is friday. This friday, afterschool I straightly went to home for taking shower and getting ready for my church. I couldn't even join the basketball team practice which finishes at 5 pm. After getting changed and picking up the people, I arrived at church on dinner time. Before I eat dinner, Our chapel band practiced for one and a half hour.

The church ended at 9pm and arrived at my house at 10pm. If that was all for the day, I could have been much happier because after writing my blog, I can sleep and get rest. But I had to go out to meet someone about the problem that my friend had. After everything had finished, my friday was all gone, and it was saturday. (soooo sad)

Saturday morning I woke up at 10am with my aching body. My body was full of pain and sore(I don't know why...). After having a breakfast with an instand korean noodle, I have thought about the week I had...

Ibu Vio's Economic's test, Business test and the worst, MATH TEST RESULT!!!...

For a while, I was daydreaming, and my brother shook me off when he wants me to bring some drinks. Bringing cup of juice to my brother, I figured out that my tests made me feel so pressured and having not enough sleep during the weekdays gave me a really painful morning on Saturday with aching body, including bad flu.

Good thing that I got better with flu medicine that I had after the lunch. When my mom came back from the church, she told me to be careful from the flu, because I usually sleep with A.C on in my bedroom. I usually thought that flu is the most common and weakiest illness, but now I think flu is also strong and hard to get rid off. "Guys~ don't ever underestimate the power of flu! just don't be too close with the A.C~!"

The Holy Month of Ramadhan, or Lunch Time = Study Period

I'm terribly sorry I didn't had the chance to write a blog entry yesterday, it's just that the internet was painfully slow at less than a horrid 1kbps connection, which deranged my literary vigor. It's blatantly improved now, but I still can't download much, which is still a pain for a person who relies mostly on Internet downloads. Usually I can go up to 50 kbps on downloading, which was namely my 'old golden days'. Nevertheless, here's today's unnecessary ramblings.

Well, strangely, in the Islamic month of Ramadhan, I feel strangely less cynical and objective about things. Of course, the sounds of my rumbling stomach continue to growl as these buttons on the keyboard are transferred as ASCII letters on the computer screen in the usual split second speed. I am also slowly adapting to the way how the 24 hours of my day is spent during this month. For example, I now have to get up and 3 o'clock and eat before the fasting time begins, which is at 4 past a couple of minutes. And then if I have no academic chores, I sleep until 5 o'clock, where I would then take a shower and wait for my driver to pick me up.

"Nawaitu samaghodin 'anandhaii fardushahri ramadhanna hadi'its hanatis himanan wa hisaban lilahita'ala"

I would say that the most challenging hours in my fasting periods are the school hours. (Boy, I wish they'd set aside a day or two on the first days of fasting, that would be really helpful, but who gives, it can't be helped, it's a Christian school) This is obvious because everywhere between break time or lunch time or after school people always had something to eat or drink. It's not of a huge problem for me because I have mastered the art of resisting gastronomic as well as quenching temptations in the course of my school life here in SPH as the years go by. Of course there are other daily temptations that continue to bother me frequently than usual, such as a man's daily temptation from the opposite sex (yes, guys, we all experience it), or the temptation to get emotionally unstable with all sorts of vexation whether it was deliberately conducted or not.
However, there is an immeasurable benefit in these fasting periods. One of them is that break times and lunch times are automatically metamorphosed into study periods. Although the opportunity cost is that there are people surrounding you who are currently aiming to fill their stomach, I find no difficulty to avoid such distractions.
But then, the most aggravating times are P.E. periods. Even though I already have permission for activity dispensations throughout the fasting period, it will still be a bit laborious and tiring. and the day gets even more challenging if there are tests to be done (I have business and math test tomorrow...whoop-dee-doo.) and lab experiments to be conducted. I wouldn't complain on them, but it's a 'nice' addition to all the stuff I have to overcome daily. You ultimately have a differentiating feeling between working with your stomach satisfied and working with your stomach playing a hunger dirge ceaselessly.
Even so, the sound of the end of school bell ringing doesn't make a huge difference. Of course I rejoice because school's over, but it also means that I have to do my homework straight away, because I have to go to sleep earlier than usual in order to be prepared for the next day. And then when most of it is done, or when it is all done, I go internet surfing or play games to patiently wait for the sound of the 6 o'clock prayer call to bespeak through the loudspeakers of mosques everywhere around Jakarta.

"Allahuma lakasumtu wabika amantu wa'alaa ridzika aftortu birohmatika yaa arhaman rohimin"

Usually I drink a warm glass of tea along with 3 dates along with 'kolak', a popular fasting dessert consisting of palm sugar, coconut milk and pandanus leaves as well as 'kolang-kaling', a delicacy made from the seeds of sugar palm trees. My mother usually adds bananas to the mix to enhance the unique sweetness. After that, I proceed to my evening prayers, and after that, our family sometimes recite a portion of the Koran together. After that, either I picked up where I left off and then eat, or vice versa. I usually sleep at 8 or half past 8, depending on how much academic burden I have.

Going out of the personal, subjective context of Ramadhan, it is basically a time for Muslims to reflect on their relationship to God, and how much of their godly character have they implemented into their daily lives, and most importantly, to reflect that they are all servants of the Almighty.

Song of the Day: 'Amber' by 311

Whoa, amber is the color of your energy
whoa, shades of gold displayed naturally
you ought to know what brings me here
you glide through my head blind to fear
and I know why

This is the kind of song that is best heard when you need to take a break, or to chill and cool down, or simply when you have nothing better to do. The whole song goes at a relaxing but not a slow pace and is lead by an acoustic guitar throughout the whole duration. Occasionally it takes time to understand the meaning behind most of 311's lyrics, since their alternative rock genre tends to lean to a fusion of rap and mainstream rock. Even so, they're not leaning into hardcore or metal either, so it wouldn't make you dizzy hearing it. Overall, this song relaxes most of the tension of the day, and you don't get bored of hearing multiple times.

So then, this is my first post in the month of Ramadhan. Nothing outstanding about that, though, I go through it just like a normal day, although I have violated the posting schedule due to technical difficulties, but setting it aside, I hope I can survive till the Idul Fitri holiday....

Cheerio.

Regards from the schizophrenically psychotic retard,
Yoga Pradana A.K.A. DrVoltsPerSecond

Miscellaneous Jokes

Hey, hope you enjoyed some of theese jokes as much as I do!~

Blogtarded- a retarded self absorbed brat that does nothing but spend hours and hours blogging(we're not naming any names, Yoga! ^^)

whatareyoutalkingabout?idontunderstand- huh?

Bromo- Baru homo!

IngLish- Indonesian English (get it?, like SingLish)

DOTA- .A (hahaha, .A get it?)

Social Hypocrite- a sociable person that does the opposite of what they say (third fingered anyone lately Bush?)