Monday, May 3, 2004

   How does this make sense?
It doesn't.

Apparently, running the pictures of what American soldiers put Iraqi prisoners through is a threat to American lives.

"The end zone here is that the American media have to be very careful about what we give our enemies. Lives are at stake." What? 'Give our enemies'? Give me a break! The American people (along with everyone else in the world) has a right to know exactly what happened. Word-of-mouth simply isn't enough in a situation like this, as exaggeration (or downplaying the severity of the incident) is bound to occur. Concrete proof is needed. (Although, some people are hinting that the photographs could have been staged, are fakes, etc.) Some people also say that the photographs needed to be taken, but should have remained in government custody as classified... stuff. That's a surefire way to gain the trust of a nation.

And then there are those who say that, since the Iraqis (under Saddam's regime) tortured people, then they deserve it, and we are justified in doing so. If you follow this line of "thought" (I use the term loosely), then tear your unused brain from your skull- your spinal cord should suffice. As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Oh, and where does Bill come up with this being a threat to American lives? I mean, yes, some terrorists could be angered because of the photos, but it would be just one more excuse. Hell, I'm sure there's at least one terrorist who joined up because he got a bad cup of mojo in a Starbuck's! O'Reilly seems to be grabbing at nothing here. That, and subtly pimping himself.

"I would run the story but not the pictures. I'd describe them using vivid words. But I could not put my fellow countrymen, I should say, in even more danger than they are now by running the photographs."

Come on, Bill. Get off your soapbox, open it, and put a bar in your mouth. And another random orifice.
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Saturday, May 1, 2004

   General Tso is the greatest military leader of all time.
And he also made some damn good chicken, too.

Yesterday, my grandmother, brother, uncle, and I (grandfather didn't want to go, had stuff to do) all went to East Dynasty Buffet. Obviously, it's a Chinese restaurant. But OMFG WOW.

I knew that Chinese food was good. But I had no idea it was that good. I also had no idea that I would like fried squid, but I do. It's quite funny, though, when you're putting it right up to your face and notice that each little bit is actually an individual midget squid (squidget?).

Another dish I liked was hot-and-sour soup. Not too hot, but just spicy enough to make it interesting. And it wasn't "lips shrivel into the back of your head" sour, either. I could be wrong, but I think that there was Tofu in it... Oh, and rice noodles are good, too.

I've got just one question, though. If you go to a Chinese restaurant, are you going to go straight for the pizza!? My brother did, for some reason. He had squid and the like as well, but he had three slices of pizza. And he called General Tso's Chicken "crap"! Such an insult will not be tolerated! The ghost of the General (possibly with assistance from Colonel Sanders) shall haunt him and reclaim whatever honor one can have while storming onto the battlefield with an apron on!
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Thursday, April 29, 2004

   I think I just set a record...
As I said a few posts ago, I made an account at FearBush.com. It was a long, long time ago, almost a month, I believe. And only just today did I receive account confirmation! (X)_(X)

It's no joke. Hey, come back here! I'm not sh!tting you!
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004

MyOtaku Gets a Face Lift- And Josh Spoos Himself Over Some Swords... Again.
Firstly, I'd like to give props to the Otaku crew for the MyO face lift. It looks great.

Secondly, I'd like to say OMFG LOOK AT THESE!!!

Anyone who's familiar with Japanese swords has heard of the nodachi, also known as the Masamune sword. The closest I am to owning a nodachi is a stick shaped almost exactly like one, which was a very fortunate find. My grandfather cut the branch off of a tree, and he just happened to cut it so it curved like a nodachi. So, there you go.

Another thing I absolutely must have is something I've never really heard of before (at least by their real name), the Nekode Claw. I know what you're thinking: They look too large for effective use. but if you scroll down the page, you'll see them when compared to a human hand. Thus, a must-have. Unfortunately, I'm unable to order anything from the internet, and am also short on funds. I guess I'll have to wait...

Oh, and as I stated in a previous post, one of these.

Seeing as how WeaponMasters is just oh-so-cool, I figure I'll post these two beauties as well.

First comes the sword every Square fan should recognize, a faux-model of Cloud's Buster Sword. A must-have, because it looks friggin' awesome. And it's also pseudo-sharp!

Next up? Well, being a Rurouni Kenshin fan, it would be shameful to not include a link to a reverse-blade katana. Me likey.

Oh, and lastly, being a Final Fantasy afficionado, I have to provide a link to some Final Fantasy... Tidus' Necklace from FFX.

All in all, I'm about this close (read: VERY) to crawling into the corner and wimpering as I rock back and forth, trying to console myself with the lie that I still have a chance of owning such stuff.
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Monday, April 26, 2004

   Okay, I've got a good half hour before I pass out from exhaustion.
It's Monday, who can blame me for my fatigue?

Oh snap! Apparently, Al Qaeda is starting to toy with the results of pouring random liquids together in a test tube... Which, hopefully, will get Bush to send some more forces after Al Qaeda, and focus a little bit less on Iraq. Now, I do realize that we need to focus on Iraq. But it's just that we've kind of dropped the Afghanistan issue, which was the cause for 9/11. Bush's frequent statements that Saddam was somehow tied to Al Qaeda may be true, but that doesn't mean we should branch off and go on a tangent, instead of staying on-task. As Hattori Hanzo (from Kill Bill: Volume 1) said...

Ah, forget it. I can't find the exact quote on the web. Something about revenge being a forest, and like a forest, it's easy to get lost. Then he said something about not getting lost... I'll have to find that quote. Mainly because I LOVE THAT MOVIE.




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Sunday, April 25, 2004

John Donohue is a very, very cool guy.
Why? Because of his book, Sensei. If you're a fan of suspense thrillers, or martial arts stories, then you'll love this. Here's what it says on the back of the book.

"The roninof old were masterless samurai, renegades fallen from grace. Now, a modern-day ronin is traveling across the country, systematically killing martial arts masters in ritualized combat.

After a similar murder in New York, martial artist Connor Burke's detective brother suspects Yamashita Sensei--Connor's mentor--of withholding vital information. Caught in the tension between his volatile sibling and his revered sensei, Connor enters a shadowy, closed-off world where the ways of the East and West are lethally at odds--and an assassin of exceptional skill and cunning is about to strike again."

A little melodramatic? Maybe so. But, so far, this book has done nothing but please. Donohue has a great sense of humor and timing, along with one hell of a track record: black belts in both karatedo and kendo, and he has studied aikido, iaido, judo, and taiji! So, he's got some experience with martial arts.

If you're a hugemongous fan of martial arts, suspense/mystery stories, or you're just looking for a really good read, go out and buy Sensei (by John Donohue, in case you haven't caught on yet).
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Friday, April 23, 2004

   You decide.

My grandmother rented a movie called Samourais. Let me be blunt. This movie should be banned. Why? Because it sucks.

The movie starts out in a bamboo grove, with a red-armored samurai chasing down a pregnant woman circa feudal Japan. A bunch of guys interfere, woman gives birth to demon of war, who proceeds to kill both of them. The random guys are actually the demon's cronies.

Fastforward 5 centuries. Same bamboo grove. Some guys dressed very similarly to the aforementioned flunkies are chasing down a guy with far too many piercings. In short, he shoots himself rather than let him kill them, the demon guy shows up again, they burn the guy's body.

And the movie continues to be this random. The plot? It's simple. This demon was summoned long ago by the aforementioned red-armored samurai (who happens to be a Shogun) to help him win a decisive war. But, the demon couldn't be controlled, went AWOL. Fastforwards 500 years, some Tokyo homicide officer is investigating the death-by-gun/burning, it's connected to this apparently rich, corrupt tycoon who sells videogames. Turns out it's the demon. Demon-boy goes insane, kills a few people, almost kills the cop.

Cue the randomosity.

In a vision, the Shogun shows up and gives the story of the demon. To make things worse, the demon's body is wearing out, and he needs a new one. Which he just happens to implant inside the cop's daughter. To prevent it's birth, he's gotta kill his own kid, who's currently in France working as a fashion designer.

Fastforward to Paris. Cop shows up, girl befriends some French cutie-boy with a very annoying foul-mouthed friend. The demon's flunkies appear, looking for the girl. Cop fights a few, gains a free katana, goes to the cutie-boy's apartment, finds his daughter, and tries to kill her. Thwarted by Frenchie, tied to chair, the cop divulges the demon's story, which is apparently completely believable.

So, how do the videogames come in? Well, the man from before who ended up extra crispy happens to be some sort of computer whiz. He creates this microprocessor, which becomes a flying ninja star when it comes in contact with a game called Dark Bushido 2, for an unknown reason.

To make a long, idiotic story short, girl gives birth to demon, who grows up in minutes. Cop dad fights through small horde of flunkies, gets shuriken in the throat. Cutie-boy starts fighting demon, while his little brother pops DB² into the PS2, which triggers the processor ninja star to plug itself into the guy's neck. So, what does this do?

IT ALLOWS THE KID TO CONTROL CUTIE-BOY'S FIGHT WITH THE DEMON (unwittingly). Basically, he wins, with a cheesy moment where he gets paused in midair. >_< Girl lives, demon blows up in flaming spider-signal thing, cutie boy regains control of his body. Best of all? The cop-dad, who got a ninja star straight into a vital vein, not only pulls it out with minimal bleeding, but has the strength to stand and survives. End with corny, overdone hero+heroine=long passionate kiss in Japanese temple.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET THE FRENCH DO A MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE!!! No, I kid you not. This is a French martial arts movie. Say it slowly. French. Martial arts movie. They even added some wire-fu, for crying out loud. I just wanna sit down and cry. Again.
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Oh, by the way...
http://www.reallifecomics.com/index.php?do_command=show_strip&strip_id=1180&auth=00000

I concur!
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Doesn't this violate the basic tenets of the faith?
Whoo boy.

http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=040423&cat=news&st=newsd824m99o0&src=ap

Apparently, Catholic politicians whose views oppose that of the church are "not fit" for Communion. What the snap!? So much for the whole 'love thy neighbor' stuff. /me waits for the comments stating STFU, HEATHEN! THOU SHALT NOT KILL! BURN IN HELL I WILL KILL YOU, ETC. (By the way, I've actually received a few random messages like that over AIM.)

This just isn't right. I find the situation hilariously ironic. Nowadays, people listen more to the opinions of priests and such than the actual tenets of the specific faith! One of the reasons why I'm 50% Buddhist.

Anyways, I still have a severe dislike for Bill O'Reilly. Why?

Quote: "..."Talking Points" believes the elite print press with a few exceptions, like "The Washington Post" and "The New York Daily News" will still step up the negative coverage of Iraq in an attempt to drive Bush out of office.

Now we deplore that kind of strategy..."

No, Bill. You've never used the Iraq situation to demean a political candidate!

Another stupid quote: "Our billoreilly.com poll question asked you, do you think Tenet and Rumsfeld should be fired? And so far, the voting is very telling. We're leaving the poll open for a few more days."

Of course you'd get results agreeing with you! You're relying on a site whose only visitors are people who agree with you! >_< How can this man be so dense!?

And then there's this: "Also a week from this Sunday, May 2, your humble correspondent, that is me, will be down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the Office Depot Center. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster and info on billoreilly.com. It's going to be a very fun time. If it isn't, it'd be ridiculous. See you Lauderdale a week from Sunday."

Pimping your latest book signing/public appearance... Very humble, Bill.

Finally, I've got a famous friend. According to his younger brother, my friend Webby is going to appear in TIME Magazine. Something where he talks about his college being "liberally biased". It's hilarious how we're such good friends, and yet politically, we could be mortal enemies. Ironic, no? I'll be sure to try and post a transcript of the article.

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Wednesday, April 21, 2004

   A nice day overall.
Oh, happy day. I've managed to borrow .hack//Infection for the PS2 from a friend, so as soon as I'm done, I'll have a review.

So, more complaints against O'Reilly...

As I said, I watched his show, The O'Reilly Factor last night, and I almost wanted to shoot myself. Yet again, Bill proved his overall hypocrisy. When "debating" whether or not the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay deserve the same judicial rights as you and I. So, what does Bill do? He starts yelling "No! You're wrong! You're WRONG!" at John Flannery, the hilarious-looking man whose views opposed O'Reilly's. So much for unbiased, neutral reporting...

But, in truth, Mr. O'Reilly (who almost had an aneurysm) brings up an interesting subject: Should the Guantanamo prisoners receive the same judicial rights that regular citizens receive? Bill says no, that a military tribunal would suffice, and that they "don't deserve the same rights as me". He also said that he'd just convict them anyways. Thankfully, Bill's not also a judge...

Regarding the military tribunal, Mr. Flannery brought up a good point: The prisoners wouldn't stand a chance. The tribunal would be hand-picked by the President (or other ranking members of the administration), basically ensuring that the terrorists wouldn't receive any opportunity.

My opinion? I think O'Reilly is being his typical jingoistic, hypocritical self. Just because they're terrorists doesn't mean that they don't deserve the same basic rights. I concede that, yes, they deserve to be convicted. But, for the love of a random deity, we don't have to lower and degrade ourselves just to exact vengeance on them!

But hey, that's just my opinion. An opinion that is apparently un-American, as being even remotely liberal automatically brands me as a "queer commie socialist tree-hugger". At least, that's what the hatemail says at O'Reilly-Sucks.com. I'd post more, but I've got a lot of stuff to do. Aloha, and whatnot.
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