At the office, we decided to scare ourselves silly today.

I decided to show the folks from work the flash game “Exmortis” after a short discussion about Resident Evil and other survival horror games. This is a pretty old flash game that scared the willies out of me way back.

It still does, apparently. A friend pointed out that it was more surprising than scary, and he was probably correct. Of course, that didn’t stop me (or this other friend who wouldn’t play the game, but decided to watch me) from yelping out or cringing in anticipation.

I don’t think SanrioTown’ll let me post direct links to these games here on the blog. But! you guys can search for Exmortis on the Internet via Google. So if you’re after a campy horror game to play with some buddies - or if you’re a person who likes to freak himself out - give it (and its sequel) a spin. It won’t disappoint. I promise.

Yes I am, but I don’t care. This was already posted over in Nanao’s blog way back, but that was in black and white, and I think something this crazy needs a second posting.

I’ve recently (yes, I suck I know) become a fan of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi thanks to a very convoluted turn of events. Of course, anybody who’s seen at least a couple of episodes of the series is sure to know of the Hare Hare Yukai dance at the end, right?

Well, these guys from Cebu - that’s here in the Philippines, btw - did the Hare Hare Yukai dance. What’s so odd about that? Well, these guys are convicted felons incarcerated in one of the high-security jails down south. That’s right, these’re the same guys who did the video of "Thriller" that went viral. I swear, the warden of this prison is eating something he shouldn’t be during breakfast.

When my grandmother was born, at least according to her, she could hear the bells ringing over at the local church.

The exact moment she passed away was at around six in the morning, wherein the local bells were also ringing, waking the people up for the early morning Angelus.

It’s six in the morning as I type this entry. Whenever I’m fully functional and awake at this time of the day, I can’t help but remember my grandmother, and the dreams I had of her months, then weeks before, and the days after she died. I miss her candidness sometimes, her laid-back attitude and ready, winsome smile that everybody loved. But most of all, what I do miss is her piano playing - not that I’d want to hear her playing now, because that’d be freaky as hell, but she once told me that it used to be part of her morning exercise, to stretch out on the piano and noodle a bit with the keys. She was inseparable from the piano. It was her opinion that she didn’t need a house; all she needed was a baby grand piano that she could sleep on.

My grandmother’s ideal house

Don’t you ever wish that you lived at a simpler time? I remember back in my childhood, whenever the rainy season came about and the storms started visiting Manila for a week or so, I’d be so excited that I wouldn’t mind waking up in the morning since I knew that I’d wake up to the beautiful sensation of freezing sheets (a rarity in Manila), hot chocolate, awesome winds, and flooded streets that, if you didn’t need to go out - and what kid did, during a storm? - were the greatest toys you could ever hope to find at your doorstep, literally. I’d pester one of my siblings into making a paper boat for me, and I’d sit at the porch, watching the said boat swim around in the water until the novelty wore off. And then I’d just go find something else to do, like draw (at which I sucked rather badly) or read.

Today, there’s a storm raging outside. I told off one of the housekeepers (the dumber one) just a couple of minutes ago since the daft woman opened the windows, letting the storm wreak havoc and pandemonium on anything that wasn’t at least five pounds heavy. Then I went up to my computer and started typing this entry. Maybe later, I’ll play some PSP. Then I’ll work out. Go to mass. Spend time with the folks, and maybe watch a movie with them. Maybe talk to some friends. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to write a bit. And once evening comes, I’ll have to start preparing for the next day, since work becomes such a big part of your life once you’re older.

Someday, I’ll have kids who will do everything that I used to do as a kid, and I will watch them, and be content. No matter how many things I may have to do on that day. And when that day comes, I know I can die happy.

I was going to post about martial arts and ninjitsu today, but while I was doing my Youtube research, I stumbled upon this video I’m about to post here. I don’t really understand it, all I know is that it has a great audio score and some really good animation - which is usually all it takes to grab my attention.

If anybody can tell me what the video is, who it was that created said video, or who did the soundtrack, please let me know. I’d like to research further about this impressive work.

I’m a huge guy, but I’ve been working out pretty much daily for a year now. I’ve shed over sixty pounds from my original 280 lbs weight when I started - pretty good, considering that the weight loss was pretty much gradual. I do 3 sets each of push-ups (fifteen reps), sit-ups (sixteen reps), weighted Indian squats (fifteen reps), weighted tiptoes and lunges, and back raises. Not a bad workout, if you pair it up with thirty minutes of jogging.

But this guy has a really heavy workout that’s sure to run any couch potato to the ground. He calls it the Commando Workout, beginner’s version. He talks about the requirements for joining the Canadian army at the start, and discusses the workout near the end.

Beginner’s version huh.

If this is just for newbies, then I don’t want to see what the advanced workout is like.

I finally finished Wild ARMs XF the other day, and while I can’t say that I was completely satisfied with the ending, it was a pretty good game overall. I didn’t go for completion - there were way too many things that I’d need to do just to complete the game - but thanks to the EX game option, I could probably hack it on the second try, which I’m planning to work on.

Just like Chrono Trigger, like I said before. The game makes you want to play it more and more.

But now that I’m actually done with the story, I can’t help but ask myself what I’d be doing next. That’s the big problem with long, drawn-out games. Once you’re done with ‘em, you feel like you just lost an arm or your next of kin, and you can’t help but look for the next best thing (not that you can replace an arm or a leg, but hey).

So now I’m at a loss: what should I play next?

That’s the motto of one of the people from The Buried Life. And I really really like it.

And I like the whole concept behind The Buried Life, too. It’s just a bunch of guys out on a mission: do the one hundred things on the list of things that they’d like to achieve before they die, helping people achieve their dreams along the way. And they’re doing all this even before they’ve reached their mid-life crises. Which, admittedly, is a pretty interesting concept, because I’d like to ride an elephant and go to space too.

I mean, who doesn’t want to ride an elephant?

I have my own list of things that I’d want to achieve before I die. Not all of them are as cool or as honorable as the list these guys have, but that’s beside the point, I think. I know that while they’re helping out other folks achieve what it is they want to do while they’re out to complete their list, there’s also an extreme factor that’s in the work here. These people are, in a sense, living on the edge, just like those folks you see hang-gliding and participating in competitive skydiving competitions. There is no doubt that what ultimately makes The Buried Life awesome is the fact that they’re actually out there and doing what they want to do.

If you’re interested in learning more about The Buried Life, click on this link. I doubt that it’ll disappoint.

It’s only fitting that there is a humongous explosion right after the defeat of Ragu o Ragla.  Any boss that’d take the majority of three hours to defeat with a wash-rinse-repeat solution needs to go down convincingly.

I got the technique from one of the gaming forums I turn to when all else fails. I will outline it here now for everybody who might know / play Wild Arms XF.

(more…)

That’s the name of this boss in Wild Arms XF, for your info.

See, I was just wasting some time before tackling the next part of the story. So I went around, visiting towns and such. I was just talking to this old woman at this town called Richala Rose, but right after that, when I leave the town, a new area opens up - which I of course assume was connected to what the old woman was talking about.

So I did what any true-blooded role-playing fanatic would do, and checked it out. Little did I know that I was in for the fight of my life.

Upon entering the area, I was faced by a cutscene where I pretty much learn that I’m about to face a pretty tough battle. So yeah, okay. All in a day’s work for any role-playing game, right? I check the enemy’s stats when I go into the pre-battle preparation sequence and was greeted by the following data:

Ragu o Ragla
LV 99 CLV 7
HP 9998 MP 997 VP 997 MOV/CLM 4/3
ATP 997 DEF 592 SOR 997 MGR 997
AIM 997 PRY 592 RES 997 WGT 0
Earth res +9%
Water Res -49%
Fire RES +99%
Wind Res +19%
AND 21 Other PASSIVE SKILLS EQUIPPED!!!!!!!!!!

*i copied the info from the Gamespot forums*

I was like "What the - ?!" There was no way I could beat that guy in the current state of my party (hint: my strongest character can only hit for a thousand hitpoints, max). So I am currently looking for a way to make this fight easier for me. Because otherwise, I’m never going to get rid of this guy unless I supercharge each and every one of my characters.

I’m not really a fan of Superman, and I’ve always pretty much liked Batman, or even The Flash, better than big blue. But I do respect the man; what he stands for may be very Republican and authoritarian, but he does try to help, and he represents the hopes and dreams of a lot of kids.

So this should never even happen, because I just can’t imagine a world where Superman becomes less super and more of a jerk (although I found it hilarious, haha):

Sorry Jimmy m’boy, looks like you’ve been shut out of the privileged circle. I don’t even know if this even ever saw the light of day. Image is taken from this site, one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever stumbled upon in the past few months.