The outcast's haven

Situational Awareness

Mood: Indifferent, machine-like
Attitude: Slight optimism
Relationship Status: 'One Republic ft. Timbaland- Apologize'
Financial Status: Still greedy, xP
Academic Status: Screwed in Japanese, otherwise above average


Hey everyone that reads my blog... I guess I haven't been updating my blog recently, but a lot has happened since I last updated... I lost people I know in the devestating bushfires on the 7th of Febuary. Incidentally, it was my birthday when it happened. From this day forth, my birthday is to be commemerated by mourning one of the most devestating disasters that have affected Victoria. I guess I'll be updating a bit more frequently, but it'll be focusing a lot more on my personal life now, I guess...

From around the beginning of the new year, my whole world has been turned upside down. There's a lot more complicated stuff in my life. So much more politics, money, and risks. I guess I would have been semi appreciative of this, but of course, there's always going to be a tradeoff. Somehow, I think that my almost completely pessimistic attitude has been changed into an almost optimistic attitude, despite the new challenges that have been presented towards me.

A lot of these new challenges involve things that are completely out of my control. I never knew that death would seem like a viable option at times, I never knew that perhaps, a broken heart could hurt more than a white hot needle. Obviously, there have been people before me. But the best teacher will always be experience. Nothing can teach a person better than experience, and I'm about to get a helluva lot more lessons.

What will these lessons encompass... I'm not too sure exactly. I just know that I'm beginning to fuse my many identities into one. It won't be pretty, but I can feel the walls closing between realities, and images that I've presented. The smoke is fading, and the mirrors are disappearing one by one. Soon... Soon, I'll know who I am.

Oh yeah, so well, I think I've stopped having my interesting Korean romance. Basically, I can't be fucked anymore, so it's back to my cruel and evil money making schemes. If there's someone that'll ever be able to change me, I wonder... But for now, my stance on romance is basically like the song above 'Apologize'. Frankly, it'll take a lot to change my mind, and that's even if there's ever something to make me even glance back.

Oh, I'll always think about what would've been, but it's basically over now. Maybe there'll be a touch of life in this machine, but I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

Approximately at 2200 hours today, the United States of America launched a massive offensive against the Chinese nation, specifically targeting population centers in an attempt to lower the nations morale. After a prolonged battle, it seemed that the offensive was beaten back by a temporary alliance, with additional defensive support provided from North Korea. At the heart of it all lies a mysterious organization, known only as 'The Patriots', more will be reported as the conflict continues

In my twisted world, the passage above is actually a coded message simply stating that one of my cousins plushies was attacked by my little brother. He was then stopped by her, and her younger sister that also intervened. 'The Patriots' is also a reference to Metal Gear Solid, and that would be me, pulling the strings to put this conflict into motion.

However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as me and my cousins, often rub each other off in the wrong ways. What's worse is if they summon 'Aliens' or people over the age of 20. Generally, they have huge amounts of power, and they can easily circumvent the laws that bind the nations of my world from descending into total mayhem. In another scenario, more chaos unfolds, as it seems that 'The Patriots' has once again intervened.

In what would be seen as being a completely unprecedented, and almost sadistic attack against the Australian nation, somehow, the Israeli army has launched nuclear missiles at major army bases. However, when the Australians attempted to retaliate, they were stopped as aliens intervened, with condemnation from the United States. Again, it seems that 'The Patriots' were at the heart of all of this mayhem, as transaction reports indicate that Israel was given a financial incentive to destroy Australia.

In the real world, this would simply equate to as being a conflict between two of my younger cousins. Simply, the younger cousin attacked his brother using a baseball bat, and was stopped by his parents before he could do any damage. My brother looked on in shock, and I slipped the kid a lolly. (It's alright, the kid was 3 years old ;)

Finally, if that wasn't complicated enough, there are two factions that strive for dominance, or to make everyone else... 'Suck it'. Firstly, is what I like to call, 'The coalition of the willing, and the stupid' lead by my brother, the United States of America. On the other hand, is the 'Axis of evil and clueless' lead by my older cousin, or China. There are a lot of mindless pawns, and a few mavericks, but generally, it's pretty much tit for tat, in the World War Cousin Conflict. Sometimes, the nations can have high technology, such as nuclear weapons, or telekinetic attacks. These reference when my cousins or brothers either pull out things like dart guns, or make withering sets of insults targeted at a person.

To finish it off, I'll talk about each of the nations involved in the war, and what allegiance they belong to.

Disclaimer: I'm not being racist or anything... but these countries do seem to fit my cousins personalities quite well...

The United States of America

Leader of 'The Coalition of the Willing, and the stupid'
'Why you little %#%(3) #*%(# #$#^ 7#%'

Being one of the most powerful nations in the world, America will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives, even if it means dishonorably calling Alien support with a cascade of tears. He has a huge amount of mindless pawns under his disposal, ready to serve his every command. However, countries like North Korea and China are beginning to prove more than a match for his foolhardy aggressiveness.

The Chinese Federation

Supposed leader of 'The Axis of evil and the clueless'
'Don't mess with me! OR MY TURTLE! OMFG!'

Newly arriving in the global conflict, China has established a major foothold, in what seemed to be American strongholds. Her devastating access to propaganda technology, and subterfuge seems to have severely affected America at times. Sometimes known to be quite stubborn, and would be one of the few people objecting about being featured on my blog. She practically doesn't have any mindless pawns unlike America, due to the fact that she hasn't really spread her influence as of yet. However, unlike the majority of her alliance, she isn't clueless, nor stupid. Her shrewdness has won many glorious victories, and the application of brute force has shown North Korea her place at times.

The Sovereign Nation of North Korea

Member of 'The Axis of Evil and the clueless'
Has 'The Monkey Dance' as a national sport

Serving as another new nation that has recently arrived on scene, she has become one of the most deadly opponents to face, not because of nuclear weapons, but because she can send propaganda, and severely irritate a nation, before fleeing, and activating defensive measures, as an Alien arrives and defends her. Known as being a small, but deadly nation, she hasn't been that well established in the Global conflict, but she has been able to already turn some of the Coalition forces against America. Interestingly enough, she is practically unable to use brute force to achieve her objectives, much to the humor of America, and 'The Patriots'

The Commonwealth of Australia

Member of 'The Coalition of the willing and the stupid'
Spiderman Fanboy

Unfortunately been seen as being a mindless pawn of the Coalition, he has served his purpose well, attacking nations like the West Bank, and Iran fairly effectively. He is also quick to summon alien intervention, but due to his distance from the other nations, he is not often seen in active combat. However, he is very much a fan of nuclear weapons, rather than propaganda.

The Gaza Strip

Unfortunate Victim of both alliances
'Heyyy! Stop that!'

Unfortunately, the Gaza Strip has recently come under fire from a lot of nations, basically using him as target practice. His short temper and sometimes humorous accent has made him an almost priority target of both alliances, who will seek to devastate him. He unfortunately doesn't have much in the way of any form of weaponry, but will utilize militia in order to fight a lot of condemnation, and other attacks leveled against him.


The nation of Israel

Mercenary nation, mostly serving 'The Patriots' or 'The Coalition of the willing, and the stupid'
'I wan candy!'

Being practically, the youngest nation to see action in the global conflict, Israel has become notorious by accepting bribes, usually in the form of candy, to attack other nations. Because of the countries young age, it is practically unable to use anything but brute force. He is deadly though, especially if underestimated. Secondly, one cry from him will certainly bring a leigion of aliens, ready to destroy anyone that irritated him from watching his 'Kung Fu Panda'

Switzerland and Belgium

Completely Neutral
Primary exporters of cheese, chocolate, and tennis players

These nations are either too young, or too nice to take part in the global conflict, yet leaders of certain alliances have taken interest in them.

Iran

Maverick, somewhat allied with 'The Axis of evil and the clueless'
'Less action, more beating people'

Has only seen limited action, but has caused massive damage through Alien summonings, the application of Brute Force, the deadly usage of subterfuge, and causing general mayhem. If this nation is paired up with the Gaza Strip, they make a devestating combination, with most nations unable to stop them.

Cuba

Member of 'The Axis of evil and the clueless'
Sharp tongue, followed by sharp conflict

Known for being excessively irritating, Cuba has also seen limited action, but is devestating, as she can easily summon aliens, with the click of her fingers. Has not forgiven America or Germany for a 'Watergate'-like scandal.

Germany

Member of 'The Coalition of the willing, and the stupid'
Resident Addict

Has seen limited action, but is the third oldest nation. Has previously been an enemy of 'The Patriots' but has converted, and is now a member of the Coalition. He has access to deadly measures, such as nuclear strikes, and deadly comebacks, but an addiction to a certain something leaves him quite vulnerable to certain attacks, also, he has a strong aversion to Aliens, much to his enemies advantage.

'The Patriots'

Shadowy organization laughing in the shadows

Being the second oldest nation, or rather, a corporation, The Patriots has sometimes been likened as being a magician, serving up devestating swarms of propaganda, followed by attacks with extremely high voltage weaponry, and deadly usage of Alien intervention. He is possibly the most powerful nation currently, but hasn't seen too much action, due to spending a lot of his time talking to aliens, and forming new alliances to bribe or backstab. He has sometimes been called the true leader of 'The Coalition of the willing and the stupid' as it is sometimes seen that the United States is a mere puppet of his.

Brief Overview

Mood: Good to indifferent
Emotions: Happy, Muted, Isolated
Mental Stability: Extremely Low
Relationship Status: Single
Energy: Tired as hell

Current Songs on repeat

1. That's what you get- Paramore
2. Bleed it Out- Linkin Park
3. I write sins, not tragedies- Panic at the Disco
4. The Carpal Tunnel of Love- Fall Out Boy
5. Breath- Breaking Benjamin
6. Faint- Linkin Park
7. In The End- Linkin Park

Summary of the day: I basically painted a house, drank coke, and went to my uncles' Birthday party.

Dear Human,

By now you know what it's like to be a Zombie. To be hunted. To be hated. You fought to survive in a world that didn't make any sense.

But now you're getting used to it. Your senses have sharpened. You finally begin to understand. Why be the prey...

...When you can be the predator?

Well, sorry for the recent lack of updates/rants, but I've been playing a lot of games recently. Games like, I dunno, Counter Strike Source, Metal Gear Solid 4, and of course, Sonny 2. What makes Sonny 2 different from all of the games I'm currently playing, is that it's a flash game. That's right, it's played on one's web browser, and it's around 20 megs in size. But, even with lower production values, heck, it's around a millionth the size of MGS4 (MGS4 is 40 gigs all up) Sonny 2 is an amazing game that's held my attention for at least 20 hours. Not many games hold my attention for that long, but then again, this is one special flash game ;)

Sonny 2 is an RPG, based on the good ol' Final Fantasy System. But, there's a massive twist to it, there's no potions, or uber cheap attacks that devastate the screen in one shot. The game requires a fairly devious mind to play, with the most insidious class giving the opponent an advantage, such as an increase in damage, at the cost of a few thousand damage. You can even attack yourself to receive those benefits, except you'd damage yourself in the process. Without spoiling too much, I acquired an ability where one could switch damage with healing, and well, I healed a few thousand damage, and got the benefits of the attack, not bad hey? If you don't like this idea, don't fret too much, there are three classes, each with a unique experience, with different tactics to utilize throughout the game.

Also, like most turn based RPGs, there's a cooldown on each of the abilities, but unfortunately, one can only equip a limited amount of skills at any one time, I think it's up to 9 at once. The interesting thing is that you can equip an ability multiple times, in order to avoid excessive cooldown times. The problem is that, you might have to sacrifice another ability, such as healing, or another attack. Fortunately, whilst juggling all of these things in combat, your AI teammates are fairly intelligent, they actually HEAL when they need to, and they attack with the appropriate attacks. Even more importantly, they have stances so that you can make sure that they only heal you in a Boss Battle, or they attack relentlessly, until the enemy is defeated. Equipment also plays an extremely important role, with the 'piercing' system. This system allows a character to focus their elemental attacks, and increase the damage of that attack, possibly at the cost of damage for the other attacks that a character can wield. Also, the skill tree is quite unusual, sometimes, one has to get a detrimental abillity to gain access to a powerful skill. Again, I'll say that deviousness is an important part of enjoying this game.

The enemy AI is fairly intelligent as well, one can expect a massive challenge if you crank up the difficulty levels, they use their abilities, heal, and help their teammates. Couple that with abilities that the player doesn't have, and almost every battle requires deep thought, and a well planned, devious strategy. And even after all of that, there's even a localized PvP system, so you can see which of your characters really is the ultimate character ;)

Sonny 2 looks great, and I mean that, well, it looks good for a Flash Game. However, because of this, I'd suggest playing it on low settings on a bad computer, and I mean, anything lower than 2.0 dual core and less than 1GB of RAM. The music and the attack sounds, are not bad, the music is environmental, and it's great to be honest. But the attacks and the groans can get irritating after a while.

And if that's not enough, there's a fairly good story behind it all, it doesn't really require knowledge from the prequel, apart from the fact that the main character, Sonny, is a zombie. There's a sense of black comedy, and obscure drama throughout the game, inevitably resulting in an 'Ultimate Showdown' of sorts in the end.

To conclude, I'd suggest just playing Sonny 2, and seeing how great it is for yourself ;P

(Clockwise from Left; An icecream of the Earth, mmm... A colloquial sea of red, and a GPS for kids, that can track them to an accuracy of 5m)

(Warning, the following blog post may be offensive to anyone above the age of 27.)
(Appropriate listening whilst reading this post would be 'What I've Done' by Linkin Park)

Generation Y. The Generation with 'Hover Parents' an 'Obesity Epidemic' 'Terrorism' and untold horrors, like 'Kidnapping'. The Generation with high expectations, with obsessive grooming. The Generation born with a disinfected silver spoon in their mouth, with a chain on their wrist. This isn't just a tale about the failures of society, or the damage that it has caused to our children. This is about MY generation.

Well, let's look at our world before I start making racial/stereotypical generalizations full of abrupt idiocy, and whatnot. Firstly, we're living with a generation that's facing the realities, caused by the sins of our fathers. I'm talking about Global Warming, and the scarcity of natural resources. Also, I can include on this list, lets say... Terrorism, and perhaps, the prevalence of media in our society. It's not a pretty future I'm painting right now, and it's perhaps getting worse with each passing day. A recent Financial Crisis, worsening relations between countries, more acts of terrorism... Perhaps, in our world- our generation do have a right to be scared, and after all, we will soon be the leaders of our dying Earth.

This isn't something that'll just disappear in an instant, even if the current generation in power- the Baby Boomers, take immediate, and unwavering action- there'll always be a problem lingering behind. And this will never happen, thanks to our good ol' friend Capitalism, and his friend Greed. I'm no communist, but Capitalism is flawed, flawed in such a way, that it doesn't take the environment, nor sustainability into account. Perhaps we are sending our world to hell because of it, but at least some measures have been put into play to increase stability- such as the Kyoto Protocol, and of course- the Carbon Trading Emissions scheme. There are also more, smaller ventures, such as the movement Greenpeace, and even Sea Shepperd, an anti whaling piracy organization.

But... the problem is, with every environmentalist that is in our world, they are surrounded and flanked by at least four more environmental destroying capitalists (No source, imagined facts or whatever). Will our generation adapt and grow to save our environment? Or will we be the first generation to live in domes, because our atmosphere has deteriorated to that level. Only time will tell... My guess would be that, well- with our generation being almost completely dependent on technology- we would be the ones that really do devastate the world- especially with our cravings for iPods, and computers... etc.

Second problem to deal with today, is well, the upbringing of Generation Z, and the upbringing of our generation, by the Baby Boomers. Trophy kids, ever heard of that term? It's a disease, with almost epidemic proportions, this disease has almost completely infected asian circles, and is starting to spread to Australians, and other races... The notion is simple, make sure that your kids have the ultimate privileges, and educations, then compare them to everyone else's kids. Whoever has the best kid, wins. You know what the saying is though- winning isn't everything, it's the ONLY thing. And of course, parents will certainly want to protect their investments, there's a lot of money in Private Schooling, and even Kindergarten. Here comes the onset of Hover Parenting, or what I like to call 'Clinical Paranoia'. It's true that there are atrocities committed towards Children, but in a lot of kidnapping cases, the perpetrators generally know the kids in person (ie. Babysitters, etc.) This fear is practically unjustified, I mean... some parents will practically buy a GPS system, in order to track their kids movements with each PASSING SECOND... It's insanity, it's madness, and we can't even do anything about it. You do know this is actually a breach of privacy, perhaps even a breach of Human Rights, am I right? We are brought up with paranoia in one hand, and a focus on achieving in the other. And, of course, the iron fist that is wielded by parents, to allow them to have this control...

Generation X, imagine the way that they will parent their children. I've already seen some early examples, an almost exact repeat of the Baby Boomer parenting scheme, except with twice the vigour, and twice as inclusive. I've actually been asked to teach a kid poker at two years of age... Why you might ask? His parents want him to be an economist, and it's to help him learn probabilities. Like seriously, that's not good, trust me... I've seen a world that's being eaten from the inside, by the poisoning of our children, and I can't do anything about it all, one day, we'll all bear the consequences, every last one of us. Can generation A survive parenting by Generation Y? Only time will tell. We are supposedly one of the most indulgent, and anti-social generations, and that's probably true. I wonder if we will buck the trend, and not have these parenting methods, otherwise, who knows what will be the resultant product? Or will we be a generation of change? Enough to warrant starting the alphabet system again?

The media is also one of the biggest reasons our Generation has been portrayed as one of the worst in history. It's wormed it's greedy, ugly hands into every part of our lives, from advertising, to the news that controls the world. Even the economy is based on speculation, based on confidence. It's almost safe to say, that whoever controls the media, controls the world. And well, look at our problems of Anorexia, of Bulimia... Did these problems happen in previous generations? Yes they did, but not on such an epic scale. And whose fault are these problems? Of course, greedy old Baby Boomers. Good on you, the people running Fashion magazines, and whatever, (*Claps hands*). The entire economy is basically controlled by the media- after all, shares are based on confidence. If the media turns against a company, regardless of their response- the companies share price and value will CRASH. Why? Because the smart investors will realise that the public will sell their shares, feeling that it's their moral obligation, or duty to make that company suffer. What else does the media control? It's almost horrifying to think about it really, Social Control is a reality, it's just that our world is too blind to see it. There is no such thing as a Utopia, we live in a Dystopian world, right here, right now.

What will happen at the turn of the century? No-one will be able to predict that. All I can do, is hope that we will leave a world for our children, that isn't doomed, nor a generation that will not be nothing but machines, fooled by the lights and tricks of the media.

Well, on my practically, daily Internet trawls, after eating a burger, and whatnot, I stumbled upon an interesting concept that is a bit like my Asian parents, in that it gives money to the impoverished students (not an insult, I'm one myself), after they accomplish good grades.

So, the idea is that you can sponsor a person, with say, as little as 5 bucks, which is given to them if they accomplish a certain grade in a certain subject. For example, let's say I get an A, then well, the 5 bucks would go towards my school fees, or given to me to buy academic crap with it =) I like the program, because it really does encourage people to study, especially someone like myself. Unfortunately, this program isn't avaliable where I live, so I guess I'll have to make do for now.

Please, let's be generous here, and open our wallets for this, academic, enobling cause, ;P And so, I've decided to track one student, known as Eric P. Martin. Hopefully, he'll get some support, because well... I don't have a credit card, and my Paypal is exhausted.

Email him if you're interested at theblognovice@yahoo.com

And, if you want to read his infinitely better writing, visit his page, at http://theblognovice.com/2008/12/16/gradefund-sponsers-needed/

Thanks for your time people... ;D