Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Chris Johnson's LiveJournal:

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Monday, June 30th, 2008
6:45 pm	If you get carried away, I'll really kick the hell outta you... The days, my friends, march on. Still looking for work, applying for everything that even vaguely suits me. I've even taking to throwing my hand into APS 2 positions. The problem, as I see it, is that I too inexperienced for the jobs that match my educational background but far too qualified (from an educational standpoint) for any job that would give me the experience necessary to apply for the former category, as anyone looking to hire for those lower echelon positions would take a single look at my resume and surmise that I'm only applying so as to get my foot in the door and jump up the ladder ASAP, so in hiring me they only fill the position for however long it takes me to, as they say, get the hell out of dodge. To be fair, that's exactly why I'm applying for tose jobs but, eh, what can a chap do but remain optimistic? "The Incredible Hulk" was, like most men are, a flawed creation with some redeeming features. It was, in any ways, a better film than Bana's 'Hulk' but, at the same time, I think Eric Bana did a better portrayal of the Hulk, albeit with a significantly worse script. I'ma big fan of Edward Norton but this film did him no justice and, I'm told that he is partially responsible for the script, so he has no-one to blame but himself. Highlights include the homage to the television series with the iconic tune played in the background of, at least, one scene, as well as the villian who later becomes Abomination. Low points include, basically, the entire plot, such as the abandoned 'alternate female love interest' sideplot. Also, while I appreciate the attempt to tie the franchise in with every other gosh-darned Marvel film-franchise, I am yet to be convinced the effort will be justified in the end. I'm not a big comic-book fan, but I can tell you that cross-overs are the death of not one, but at least two (if not more) franchises. Down that path, madness lies. I give Hulk 6 genetically modified maize crops out of a possible 10. It entertained me, but only the reptile core of my brain (the part that loves explosions and corn chips), my intellect nor cinema ascetic were not amused. Recent art, drawn and CG'ed by mine own hand: http://master-chris.deviantart.com/art/Solar-Zenith-01-89812141 I'm really quite proud of this piece. Great times (assuming you have some affection for the complex interplay of the Koopa-Mario-Peach relationship): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO26RQkfID8 (Dun Wurry, it's all SFW, but watch the sound, it's a loud, vibrant song) If you liked that, the following is an animated rendition of the song (I think it's a little bit better, so if you're only going to watch one, make it this one): http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/443020 For reference, "Tsundere" (I pronounce it 'Soon-Deh-Reh' but I could be wrong) is a uniquely Japanese term that refers to a state of affairs in which (typically) a woman acts upon her romantic intentions/feelings in a violent/aggressive or absolute-denialist fashion. It may, also, refer to a rejection or otherwise violent reaction to the unwanted romantic intentions expressed by others towards her. A mainstream exemplar of this phenomenon would be the Asuka-Shinji relationship from Neon Genesis. Apparently, Chidori from Full Metal Panic expresses Tsundere for Sasuke (they are the female and male protagonists, respectively). Checking the wikipedia entry on this, I notice that while the proverb states that Eskimos have a hundred different words for snow, I observe that the Japanese have a hundred different words for 'romantic fetish', ranging from the well known 'hentai tentacles' to 'girls with glasses'. Wacky, wacky people. As my friend, Graham, says "we either dropped two too many or two too few atomic bombs on the land of the Rising Sun". (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 30th, 2008
9:32 am	Long time no see, doncha wish it hadn't been me? Every week I delay posting on mah El-jay, citing the reason: 'Just wait a little longer, something worth posting is coming up soon'. At least 22 weeks (that's almost half a year for those you keeping score at home) have gone by and the following is all that has happened: I graduated from ANU, two degrees. As in, I now have two diplomas sitting in my room. Looming over me at night, silent and unmoving monoliths. Terrifying stuff. Quit my job ages ago. We're talking early March. Have been unemployed since but not through want of effort. Have applied for several jobs, including signing up for the DIGO graduate program. They accepted my initial test, so I went to the testing day, where I met a few friends from ANU. Jason and Matty. The testing day was split into two sections, the academic tests and the psychological one. I'll not go into details regarding their content but I passed the academic test (or, at least, made the cut) before wandering down to civic for lunch. Came back and did the Psychological exam. Good times. Got a letter a week or two later detailing how the 'applications this year were of an exceptionally high standard and, sadly, you were not successful.'. Ah well, can't win them all. Guess that means I didn't pass the psych exam. Does that make me crazy? I figure as much. Also interviewed for DIAC, seriously hoping I get that position. A $52,000 entry level position in Belconnen is pretty much the *perfect* job for me. Haven't heard back yet, but I'm pretty confident. Saw Iron Man recently. Good times. I'm not big on the comics, so when people talk about the faithful rendition of Tony Stark all I hear is a high pitched whine. That said, the film rocked out. I felt the Peter Pan-esque 'I can fly, you can fly' scene to be a bit ham-fisted. Sure, everyone dreams of being able to fly (I know I do) but the scene, I felt, stretched on towards the horizon, with no end in sight (pun intended). Criticisms aside, I enjoyed the film about as much as I did 'Spid-reh-Mahn Deuce' (which is a lot). I give Eye-Ron-Mawn eight Lactinides out of a possible Periodic Table. If you haven't seen it already. Drop everything and see it tonight. Indiana Jones is the latest film to tempt me to crawl from my nest. There are, basically, two problems with this film. The first is the premise, as explained about halfway through the film. It's stupid but, more importantly, it's not 'Indiana Jones'. The premise (I'll not spoil it for you) *betrays* the franchise. The second problem is that the film reaches apogee about 75% through the screening. After a particular scene, again no spoilers, the viewer simply *cannot* believe that the film can 'get any better than this', and it's true. The film briefly soars the stratosphere, fingers brushing against the sky, before slowly sinking back down to Earth. What I'm trying to say is that the film gets so good before the true climax, that it becomes a little bit of a let down. That said, Indiana Jones versus the Crystal Skull has been awarded eight Zygomatic bones out of a possible Maxilla. In other news: My Xbox 360 has 'Red-Ring-of-Death'ed' on me. Thankfully, it's still under warranty. (12 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 27th, 2007
5:36 pm	Christmas was decent. I got one of the two things I asked for, and a whole lot of stuff that, while not specifically requested, rocked out. Got the Aliens and Predator boxed set of DVDs, which includes all of the Aliens films, both Predator films, and AVP. I sat down and watched AVP. Wow. It was about the worst film I've ever actually watched from start to finish. It was full of what I can only describe as 'stupid shit'. Some people think that Alien 3 was the worst of the Alien films, I've always disagreed with that, but honestly, at this point in time, how can anyone suggest that AVP hasn't succeeded in being the most abysmal film in the franchise? On the Chris scale of 'films in which the Earth is a transitory battlefield in a war between aliens' I give AVP a skull-trophy-collecting, face hugging, and chest bursting 5 out of a possible H. R. Giger. I was extremely amused, however, at the man that showed a picture of his wife and daughter to the protagonist. You know, for a freakin' fact, that particular flesh-bag is going to be hanging upside down, eviscerated like a pig in an abbatoir, before the film was over. I was not disappointed. The reason I watched AVP 1 on Christmas day was so that I could walk into AVP: Requiem the next day with a full understanding of the background behind it. Allow me, best beloved, to assure you that Requiem is a much better film than its predecessor. As is typical for these sorts of films, it's all about the humans as they attempt to survive a war between the two namesake alien races (see also: Transformers), this isn't a bad thing but most people come to these films expecting a serious smackdown, with blood and gore, and heavy firepower weilded with no regard for collatoral damage. Still, the 'human' element is approached with more finesse than I had expected. This film, like many others in the Alien franchise, takes the notion of a heroine beyond the Tomb Raider/Resident Evil inspired standard of 'Guns, cleavage, and as little clothing as possible'. The second she steps onto the screen you *know* this particular heroine is going to survive the impending splatterfest. That's what I like about Ripley and *whatever her name was* from the original AVP, they weren't sexualised. They were women *and* hardcore at the same time without having to strut around in skimpy clothes. I know! C'est impossible! It was, perhaps, a little ham-fisted but the film succeeded in inducing a degree of terror by introducing the Aliens (note the capitalisation) to human children. Now, it's quite alright to portray the vivid and gory decapitation of a human adult. To some, this may even be highly amusing. However, when a child is depicted as suffering from the prelimenary effects of a chest-burster, the audience is somewhat cowed by such *verboten* imagery. The same could be said about the Alien prowling about the maternity ward. I could see that the director was tugging at emotions, and he was certainly succeeding. It took an act of volition on my part to ensure that I did not look away as a child died, an alien abomination birthed from his ribcage. On the 'Chris scale of films portraying the Earth as a transitory battlefield for a war between aliens' I give Requiem an acid-bleeding, magazine-emptying, 7.62 millimeters out of a possible Smartgun. Cowboy Gunfighter Predator was stupid. Predalien was more stupid. (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 16th, 2007
10:34 pm	Hit a bee, man. Or not. Hitman the movie was decent. Not great. Not terrible. The main problem with the film was that it tried to reconcile the differences between a stoic, cold-hearted assassin protagonist and the demands of modern Hollywood action films. One simply cannot demonstrate a balance between these two extremes, and the film tried to do this (and, obviously, failed). Still, I got a massive erection watching this film (and it wasn't *just* because of the titties flashed every 10 or so minutes). Watching people as they are murdered gets me super hard. Oh yes, indeed! Retching in disgust yet? Anyways, on the Chris scale of 'films that depict the act of murder with style and class', I give Hitman a civilian garroting, skull-popping, costume changing 7.5 out of a possible 10. Bee movie was pretty standard fare. I can't really say much about this film. If you've ingested an exotic and fatal poison that can only be cured by watching an animated film within 30 minutes of initial exposure and Bee movie is the only film playing at your local cinema, you might as well see it. If only to cure to the poison. I give Bee movie a honey-craving, hexagonal, and hive-minded 5 out of a possible 14 (but that's in base-6, I think). Mother won $65,000 on the lottery on Friday. Can't say I'm impressed with that. I've always seen such things as, essentially, voluntary tax and with this boon, I imagine I will never hear the end of it. She wants to buy herself, my sister, and I our own cars. I don't want to be a hypocrit and profit from that which I have criticised so often, so I imagine I may refuse the offer. If only because from that day onwards every request will be followed by: 'remember, I bought you a car' and I could not stand such base manipulation (as valid as it may be). Finally on holiday from work, but I'm going in for a half day Monday to polish off some unfinished business. Sounds sinister, doesn't it? Sadly, my business, at the moment, is printers and not murder (were it so easy). Pirates of Penzance was on free-to-air this afternoon, good times. I was, however, very unimpressed that the 'Pirate King' was, for all intents and purposes, ripping off Jack Sparrow. From the red headband, manky dreadlocks, to the *ahem* flamboyant mannerisms, it was an exercise in the greatest form of compliment. Still, very enjoyable. "I am the very model of a modern major general..." (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 9th, 2007
5:49 pm	My gift to you: Schadenfreude. I ache. All over. Paintball is an interesting sport. I took my licks, and wandered around Civic Centre with an open wound upon my throat, blood everywhere. It looked *so* cool, and didn't hurt (except for the bit when the paintballs (yes, plural) hit me. I, totally, won a game for my team all on my own when I rushed a flank all by myself, after capping two guys, and then pretty much started to shoot the enemy team as they faced forwards (not suspecting that I was pretty much 'in their base, killing their mans'). Was most distressed halfway through this simulated killing-spree when my ammunition hopper ran out of paintballs. So, there I was: empty hopper, behind enemy lines. Still, I took a fair few of the opponents out before I got caught by some friendly fire! Good times. My bank card has worn its magnetic strip away, so I'm left with multiple hundreds of dollars in my bank account and no way to buy Birthday/Christmas presents for my family until a replacement card comes in (my sister and mother both have birthdays in early december, the 1st and 2nd respectively). Bugger. More Chris-flavoured arts, all are works in progress (no furries!): http://master-chris.deviantart.com/art/Fun-in-the-Sun-71597310 http://master-chris.deviantart.com/art/A-little-less-Bloom-please-71595048 http://master-chris.deviantart.com/art/Avalynn-Early-Progress-71594511 Been watching Full Metal Alchemist recently, good times. Downloaded the OST and have been listening to the songs of groups like 'Porno Grafitti' and 'Asian Kung-Fu Generation'. L'Arc-en-Ciel's "Ready Steady Go" is, perhaps, my favorite. Spent something like 600 dollars on Warmachine miniatures recently. I figure, if I splurge on this ultra-cheap order, I can avoid buying anything else for the next 6 months. *cough* Well, cheerio my Spanish Galleons! Current Mood: Sore Current Music: "Crawlin' in my robes!' (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
2:09 pm	Peter Hamilton writes Bukakke pornography! Also, Chris is a GMF. Ahh, Peter Hamilton. As you, best beloved, may know, I have a sweet spot for Mr. Hamilton and his works of literature. Space opera is a genre that needs more love. Or less, as you shall read anon: So, one day when I was very late for work, I wandered past Dymocks in Belconnen and discovered that my friend, Peter, had released the first in a supposed trilogy that continued the 'Pandora's Star' storyline. Chris, as he is wont to do, immediately purchases this novel (also got 'Ghosts of Onyx, if only for the sake of completing my 'Halo' novel series). Chris, as he is wont to do, immediately begins to *read* the novel. I will give Mr. Hamilton this much, while some writers assume that science fiction may be defined as those works that include things like Spaceships (capital 'S'), robots, lightsabres, and other such high-technology wonders, Mr. Hamilton understands that technology alone does not a science fiction novel make. Science fiction, as I have been taught, requires a discourse (not necessarily a blatant one) on the effects such technologies would have on society. Science fiction, my friends, is *about* society and its interactions with high-technology. However, while the P-bot understands this, he does take the notion a little far in some cases. I refer to the title of this entry: Bukakke pornography. In this setting, it is possible for a single human mind to exist in parallel in multiple vessels. This is all well and good, until a character in his latest novel is seduced by such a being(s). The reader is then subjected to multiple (geddit?) scenes in which a single woman engages in erotic acts with a single man who *just happens* to occupy several bodies at once. Bu-freakin'-kakke. Still, the book was a good read. I found myself captivated by a sideline-story and found myself wishing at times that H-to-the-N would drop the science fiction story and just develop the fantasy one. That said, I eagerly await the next installment in the series. On the Official-Chris-scale of 'Novels In Which One Woman Gets Banged By, Like, Twenty Dudes At Once', I give 'The Dreaming Void' a Knee-jerking, Polyamorous, Menage-7 out of a possible Ewww. Checked my grades on Monday, seems I got credits in both of my classes. Although I am disappointed that I didn't get a distinction in a Science Communications class, I am verily pleased that I didn't fail Advanced Research Methods. With these successes under my belt, I imagine that I am to graduate by the end of this year. Go me! This allows me to declare myself a GMF: Graduating Mother-Fucker. I'm going to let my boss know that I guaruntee my continued service up until February 28, 2008. Once that milestone has been reached, he is to operate under the assumption that at any moment I may no longer be an employee of his. Problem is, he's a slack old man and even though he has about 3 months to find my replacement(s) and have me train them, I can foresee that come Feb 28, we will have no new employees and he will beg me to stick around. Matt, a previous employee, gave the boss-man several months notice but when he finally got around to leaving, the boss-man was still completely unprepared for it. Purchased about 500 dollars worth of Warmachine miniatures through an Ebay store recently. I can only hope that this splurge dissuades me from any further major purchases in the coming months (ha!). Bought Final Fantasy XII a week or so ago. I've already put something like 28 hours into it. It's very grood (great and good). The combat system is, cosmetically, far different from previous installments, with 'combat' and 'field' interfaces being, essentially, one and the same. Characters may move about in real time, but there doesn't appear to be any tactical advantage to this. The Gambit system runs a lot like a logic-priority path. For example: Ally < 50% HP...Cure. Closest visible Enemy...Attack. What this means is that a character assigned the aforementioned 'Gambits' will attack the closest visible enemy *unless* there is an ally with less than half of their normal hitpoints. The character will, instead of attacking the enemy, heal their ally. This is a good thing, as it saves the player the effort of having to do it themselves. However, the problem is that sometimes your party can get muddled up, as a single character drops below 50% HP, so the rest of the group drops everything and tries to heal them. While previous installments of the FF franchise have featured super-naturally pretty characters, this one goes for a much more realistic approach. Sure, everyone is still pretty, but they look somewhat more believable than some of the Adoniss (or is it Adonii?) featured in other games. What really sells me on this game are the following features: Flying Battleships (I cannot stress how 'hard' I get thinking about these glorious floating dreadnoughts), Sky-Pirates (If you've got flying ships, you need flying pirates), and (of course) a colony of super-hot lesbian bunny-girls. I kid you not: Hot Lesbian Bunny-Girls. Note the plural: More. Than. One. Let me put this into terms you can understand: Number of Playstation 2's owned = 1 or more...Buy Final Fantasy 12. Number of Playstation 2's owned < 1...Buy a Playstation 2. On the Official-Chris-scale of 'Video Games Including Lesbian Bunny-Girls As Well As Flying Battleships' I give Final Fantasy 12 a Moogle-stabbing, and Chocobo-roasting 9 out of a possible Hyrule. There. That should make up for 2 months of not updating. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
4:58 pm	Chapter Two: In which the protagonist is well pleased with himself. Also, raspberries are eaten. If life is so fair, why do roses have thorns? -Shut up Emo-swine! There are, amongst those lucky enough to bask in my brilliant radiance, persons predisposed towards whining about how hard life is. I say: Fuck off and die, don't inflict your misery on other people. Life is great. If, perchance, you were a starving African lad forced into guerilla warfare for a cause you cannot and certainly do not believe in, then maybe I'll listen to your piteous howls of self-loathing. If you do not happen to be the aforementioned person, then I don't have any time for you. With that rant out of the way, I can proceed with the rest of this update. How much respect do you have for Chris? Is it some small amount or, perhaps, none at all? Well, I'm about to make life easier for you, soon everybody will find themselves in the latter category. For you see, dearest reader, that I am about to reveal yet another terrible, dark secret about myself that will stain my character in the eyes of others so badly that no amount of scrubbing under a cold shower while curled up in the foetal position will ever remove! If you thought that my admitting to having read a large percentage of 'The Babysitter's Club' books was bad, then you are in for a quaint surprise. If you were horrified by my obsession with 'My Little Pony' as a child, then prepare your sanity for emergency ejection! People, set your faces to 'Stunned'... "Sonic the Hedgehog, he runs like a dead dog!" There has been, within my psyche, a sudden resurgence of affection for the little blue guy. Not only have I gone and re-read all of the old Sonic Comics I've collected over the years but I went and downloaded a 2.5 gigabyte torrent of  the entire collection (on the work 'net connection, with permission, of course). Yum yum. Terrified yet? If not, there's more! Through my many and varied 'connections' (namely <lj user="Jaggedtoothgrin"> I paid 40 human Earth dollars to have the complete SatAM (Saturday A.M.) Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series shipped over from the US. Admittedly, nostalgia is best kept within the confines of one's memories, as it is there that such recollections are pure and unsullied by notions like 'poor scripting' and 'derivative plots'. Still, I regret nothing. How fares your sanity? Allow me to continue. I recently got around to buying an Xbox 360 (more on that later), and the most expensive game I bought was the 5th generation Sonic game. Purchased entirely upon the recommendation of my fond memories, I realised, too late, that www.gamerankings.com can be trusted. 47%, I believe was the average ranking. Ouch. Still,  the game putters along nicely, fueled entirely by my determination to pay my respects to the franchise. For those of you not yet reduced to a state of madness, I submit one final obstacle between you and success. Fairly warned be ye, in a typically dramatic fashion, this last test shall prove the most difficult to overcome. I beseech you, read on only if you are truly willing to risk it all. No, seriously, the following paragraph is not for consumption by the following people: The elderly, pregnant women, children under the age of 12, people with heart conditions, and anybody who values their mind. <lj-cut text="Insanity Begins Here."> I've been doing a lot of Sonic fan-art recently and posting most of it on Deviant Art. The pick of the crop includes: http://master-chris.deviantart.com/art/Bunnie-Rabbot-Teaser-02-64784478 http://master-chris.deviantart.com/art/Sally-Acorn-WIP-65347756 There's more coming, and I might even finish those already posted but not yet complete. They have been described to me as 'Yifftastic'. Worst part of the matter, however, is that I've been 'favorited' by  persons (or fursons if you will) whose interests revolve around furries. This has triggered an interest in the phenomenon. As an undergraduate psychologist, I've always had an interest in the ways a person's mind can stray from 'normalised' behaviours and attitudes (normal is boring, better to be interesting than the same as everyone else). Wikipedia tells me that a survey showed that something like only 32% of 'furry-identifying' individuals consider themselves heteronormative. From a statistics point of view, we would call this relationship as 'co-occuring'. When you see one of these things, you might see the other. There is not *necessarily* a causal relationship between the two variables but the layman might make such an assumption. What is it that links these two variables? I have a couple of still-gestating notions, but they are not ready for discussion as I fear that to approach the matter without thinking matters through may result in a misarticulation with dire consequences. Insanity ends here. </lj-cut> Still sane? Good on you! More news: Xbox 360. Good times, although I've had barely any time to sit down and really make the most of it. Saw Stardust Monday evening as I waited for Halo 3 to be released. It was *pretty* good. Although, I spent the entire film wondering 'If this is a Neil Gaiman film, where is the twist?' The twist, friends, will surprise you. Which is to say, the lack of a twist is surprising. Spoilers much? Suck it up, if you haven't seen the film by now, you don't deserve my consideration. Michelle Pfieffer was able to , once again, demonstrate why she deserves mad respect. What. A. Babe. The Sky Pirates (note capitalisation) were everything I had hoped for and more. On the Chris scale of "Films involving Flying-Ships, Super-hot witch-ladies, and Swashbuckling in general", I give Stardust an electricity-conducting, goat-charming, chandellier-swinging 8 out of a possible Julian Rhind-Tutt. Halo 3 started off pretty bland. Don't believe me? Consider this: After attending the midnight launch, being second in line, I took it home and only played for 2 hours. A day later, I came back to it and found that after the initial parts, the game actually gets very enjoyable. Finished it around 1:00AM Tuesday evening. The ending is pretty good and I've already started to play the game on Legendary from start to finish. Problems I have with it: The music volume compared to the sound is far too soft. Dramatic music isn't dramatic if it can't be heard over the screams of dying aliens and gunfire. At the start, every character is bland (despite being previously well-developed) and there is little to no dramatic tension. The Earth, the final bastion of the human race, is under siege and yet the player feels no particular desperation or dread. Too many weapons *feel* weak. I don't care how powerful it is or isn't, I want my Assault Rifle to *sound* like the Apocalypse. Things I like: The feel of a 'combined arms strategy' is well presented. It's not 'Master Chief vs. the entire Covenant' it's 'Master Chief plays an important role in the defeat of the Covenant'. The player feels like they are a part of something bigger than themselves, this is good. Gravity Hammers. As a counterpart to the Plasma Sword, there is the G.Hammer which feels great and causes mass destruction. Good times. The ending justified any suffering incurred throughout the game. Wow pretty much sums it up. They should have sent a poet. I reserve judging the game on any 'Chris-scales' until I have had time to get over the initial disappointment and subsequent enrapture. Went out clubbing in Civic on Saturday. Shooters (at least, downstairs), is less shit than I remember. Sultans clearly demonstrates where the asian youth of Canberra go on weekends. Not that this is a bad thing, the eye candy was worth the price of admission. Cube was the best club of the evening, with mad props for the music volume being tolerable. I look forward to your jibes regarding  my patronage and subsequent endorsement of this gay bar. I, also, look forward to stabbing mother-fuckers in the eye. I've got more to say but, honestly, this update has gone long enough. /End Transmission. Current Music: Passion, by Utada Hikaru. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
9:02 pm	Anything that existed before me doesn't matter, anything that exists after me is lucky. Life is thoroughly OK these days. Terence's B-day party at the Rucci was pretty decent, although I'm not eating there again. 30 bucks for a meal that was neither tasty nor plentiful enough to warrant the price is outrageous. Bowling was good, I came last but only by, like, 5 pins and I could have impressed everyone with my DDR skillz (the 'z' makes them 1337, which is elite in stupid-talk). Later, Butterfly Effect which, honestly, wasn't bad at all. I thought my version of the plot (inferred about 20 minutes into the film) was better than the actual storyline but, hey, I guess that's Hollywood's loss. I give Butterfly Effect 7 retroactively awarded points out of a possible snarf-burger. Got home from work to hear that Novacorp (sounds so evil, doesn't it?) has accepted my application to teach in Japan. Therefore, all I need to do is get my passport ready in time and I'm pretty much set to spend a year in Japan. Go me. Going to buy an Xbox 360 soon. Until then, I've got Kingdom Hearts I and II to keep me company. Hell yeah. Those games are great. Still really looking forward to Stardust. Warmachine Tournament this Saturday. Wish me luck! Or, as the Japanese might say: Gambatte. (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 6th, 2007
8:07 pm	The Real World: When people stop being polite and start to get infectious... Trip to Sydney wasn't too bad. Notable highlights follow: Bought the 'Alphabet of Manliness' just before I caught the bus up. It's the definitive guide on everything a man needs to know. How do you housetrain a woman into the perfect housewife? What is the correct technique for the 'Crotch Punch'? Where did Lumberjacks come from? All these questions, and more, are answered within the hallowed pages of Maddox's first (and hopefully only) contribution to modern literature. Saw 'The Simpsons Movie', I walked in with low expectations and found them exceeded by quite a degree. I'm not saying this is a masterpiece of cinema but if you like the Simpsons, this is film you might as well see if you've got $15 and about 90 minutes to kill. On the Chris scale of 'Films about Yellow people, barring the obvious racist slurs', I give 'The Simpson Movie' 6 Spider-Pigs out of a possible 10. I invaded the Sydney University of Technology during my evening in Sydney. I walked amongst the drooling crowd undetected. Apparently, the tales of university students being able to track students from rival universities via their scent alone are untrue. That, or UTS isn't a rival for ANU. Ha! Eat that! Man, sometimes I wish Australia had adopted the traditions of American colleges. Imagine how great life would be in a Fraternity, with all the panty raids and punking of your contemporaries. Good times. Imagine the following and tell me that you've come to same conclusion I did. You're a strapping young man with a pony tail wearing a business suit, walking to a job interview at 9:00AM in Central Sydney. As your eyes sweep the crowd in that paranoid manner to which you are accustomed, your gaze meets that of a young woman, if only for the briefest of moments. She sidles up to you as you walk past and mutters something while she hugs herself in the cold, looking most uncomfortable. Your hearing not perfect, you ask her to repeat what she said. She obliges: "Want to get together?" Hooker, right? I thought as much, myself. Fear not, dearest reader, I politely declined. However, I found myself cogitating upon the matter later on. Isn't it awful that people can be reduced to resorting to such degrading acts? So young, yet surrendering her dignity to strangers so that she can feed that drug addiction that got her into this predicament in the first place. I think a person (woman or man, or other) has the right to sell their 'time' to others if there is a demand for it. If people want a certain commodity and there are people willing to provide it, who is to stop them from making such transactions? It is, afterall, *their* body to do with as they please. Personally, I don't think I'll ever pay for 'it' but as a Libertarian, I believe people should have the right to buy and sell 'it' as they please. However. I take umbrance with the notion of a person being forced into prostitution by circumstances instead of making a free, rationalised, and balanced decision. I don't think I'll ever pay for 'it' (I think that's pathetic), but I think people should have the right to buy and sell 'it' as they please as long as it's entirely their decision and not the product of circumstance. Sometimes I forget how awful life can be and then I am reminded by something as awful as the above. Enough of that. I think the interview went OK, although I got a quick lecture at the end about how 'if I were to work for Novacorp, I'd need to cut my hair short and wear a tie (as I had neglected to wear one to the interview, more because I can't affix a tie than forgetting to put it on). I don't think I'll get it but, at least, I can say that I tried. Arrival home was delayed due to Sydney traffic (on a Friday? Who'd have thunk it?). 4 hours spent on a bus with 50 other people, I think, resulted in my current state of affairs. Massive headcold, had it since Saturday evening. Sucks to be me. Dinner at John's was most enjoyable, as was the walk home. Warmachine Tournament was on Sunday. I had fun, won 2 out of 5 games. Don't think my plans were bad, just failed to accomodate for the opponents capabilities. Still sick. Bleh. Also, how great is that Vanessa Carlton song 'A Thousand Miles'? Who knew my sister had good taste in music? Current Mood: Sick Current Music: Vanessa Carlton, A Thousand Miles (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007
2:00 pm	Getting busy. Busy like a hyperactive nyphomaniac fox! Don't you hate it when you're talking to a girl and thinking to yourself: "Yeah, she's about on my level. Not too pretty or smart for me nor overly lacking in either departments. Maybe I will pursue the matter further..." When, out of the blue, she says: "-my boyfriend thinks so, too...." Or: "My partner hates it when that happens..." I mean. Come on! Where's the love? So, this is my week. Check it. Monday: Work all day. Training the new guys. Tuesday: Lectures, assigned into a group for some of my Science Communication course work (see above for lamentations regarding interactions with the other sex). Wednesday: Work in the morning. Lecture. Start and finish an essay due Friday. Buy tickets for bus ride to Sydney. Possibly a haircut. Oh, and I might go to the cinema later. Probably Dendy. Thursday: Lecture. Bus to Sydney. Find a hotel. Sleep. Friday: Job Interview. Come back to Canberra. Dinner at a friend's place. Sleep. Saturday: Sleep in! Then, in the evening. Off to another friend's for some gaming. Get home around midnight and sleep! Sunday: 9:00am Warmachine tournament down in Tuggeranong. Wednesday is my most busy day and yet I can find the time to post in mah El Jay. Funny that. The final Harry Potter book wasn't too bad. I had nothing but contempt for the ending but I thought the lead up to it wasn't shabby. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as a film, did little to excite me. It wasn't a bad film but I must side with many of the critics and submit that it is hard to fit all of the important parts of the book into a film and have it all fit seamlessly and cogently. I found myself extremely enthused about the trailer they played before the feature. Wizard of Earthsea. Oh yeah! As far as Dendy goes, it's certainly better than Hoyts but I imagine I would find the 'elite' cinema option to be most annoying. I'm not at the cinema for a good feed and champagne delivered to my reclining form. No sir, I'm there to sit down, shut up, and watch the film. Eat before, eat afterwards but fuckers better not get their grub on while I'm enjoying a film. Been reading alot of Ian M. Banks's novels lately. Stuff like 'Player of Games', 'Use of Weapons'. All sorts of wanky 'Utopian residents try to understand their Culture when compared to the other cultures (note the use of capitals just now) in the universe.' It's not bad,  'Player of Games' was verging on brilliant but the other books in the series were somewhat less outstanding. Wish me luck in Sydney, as I interview for that job teaching English in Japan. I don't imagine I'll get it but I'm not going to not go and then regret it for the rest of my life (Also, I'm not not licking toads). Carpe Diem, what what? Fun fact for the day: As an expletive, 'Zounds is a contraction of 'God's Wounds'. How quaint. Current Music: None, my Mp3 player is dead. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
7:40 pm	Damn you, Terri. Damn you... Your Score: Ceiling Cat 34 % Affection, 24 % Excitability , 48 % Hunger You are a master of stealth. They never see you coming. But you always see them coming. HEY-O! Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test It's all your fault...^_^ (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 17th, 2007
2:28 pm	Back to uni for my final semester today. Science Communications looks to be an interesting bludge. My friends, I've discovered the answer to a very important question. If you are ever in a situation that requires you to make a certain difficult decision, take my advice: If, at gunpoint, you are required to choose between watching 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' and eating a pound of dog shit, I suggest you go for the second option. That way, the bad taste in your mouth only lasts a couple of minutes instead of one and a half hours. Terrible film. 'Starship Troopers', the Heinlein novel that is, was a fantastic read. I was a little dismayed that the author dismiss Plato's 'Republic' so quickly. The politics are, perhaps, a little extreme but a lot of valid points are made throughout the novel. ffrinch, as I read the book and compared it to the film, I must agree that the film seemed to parody the true intent of the author. Got home today to find out my younger cousin, Morgan, is going to open-heart surgery in the next day or two. Seems the university he was recently accepted into requires a physical examination of all new students. They caught a developing heart murmur (what an odd word), which was apparently emptying blood into his lung cavity and one of the arteries simply was not working at all. So, they fast tracked him into surgery and they'll be fixing the problem fairly soon. I only remember Morgan as the little tacker I met 7 years ago during my trip overseas. Hard to imagine he's of university age *and* going under the knife. Still, I hope all goes well. Thinking about buying a dumbell set from Rebel Sport, 75 bucks for a couple of adjustable weights. Should help with stacking some meat onto my arms. Bought the coolest sunglasses today. Mirror lens aviators. Oh yeah! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007
9:06 pm	It's because I hate you, Alex Trebek! Long time no see. I'm fine, and you? Good to hear! Anyway, got my grades for the semester back. I was expecting a Fail, Pass, and Distinction in Japanese, Genocide Studies, and Science Communications respectively, but it appears the gods have smiled upon me and delivered a Pass, and two distinctions (with Japanese being my pass grade). Very happy. This does confirm, however, my theory concerning my performance in any given educational institution. At first, my grades are awful but for the final sprint, I suddenly start getting awesome. True story. I continue to prepare in anticipation of teaching English in Japan. I'll be going for the interview in Sydney in the coming weeks and I hope I do well. Although, I intend to blame any failure upon my hulking figure triggering in my interviewers the deep-seated fear every Japanese person has for anything that resembles a giant walking lizard. To be fair, if a giant, radioactive iguana destroyed Canberra once every century, I'd be pretty cautious around reptiles and their ilk. Too racist? Not racist enough? You decide! Call or SMS: 1800 'CHRIS IS A DICK' and register your vote today. Speaking of monsters, I should now like to reveal something terrible about myself. Following the poor example of Mr. jaggedtoothgrin, I have become, albeit temporarily, infatuated with the so-called 'Pocket Monsters'. Pokemon, if you will. My sudden affection for the franchise may be traced back to my juvenile sense of humour. My starting Pokemon was named 'Fat Fuck', my first avian type was named 'Bird Fuck', and it just went downhill from there. Favorites include, naming the Pokemon with the 'self destruct' ability 'Achmed', naming the Diglett 'Rimjob' (which, let's face it, looks suspiciously like some sort of perverted inverse penetration snapshot, while the Dugtrio, which is three of the aforementioned Diglett, was named 'Gangbang'. I'm a horrible person. Transformers was a fun film, but by no means a good one. I enjoyed it but I don't think it will win any Emmies or other such awards. Megatron was extremely well realised, while most of the other characters felt flat and stereotyped. Still, it was a film about giant fighting robots. 'Nuff said. On the 'Chris scale of films about giant robots using Earth as a transitory battlefield in a war spanning entire galaxies' I give Transformers 8 puny meat-sack stomping, robots out of a possible 10. Admittedly, the film had earned about 3 of those points just by being a Transformers film. Now, Stardust, a trailer I saw prior to watching Transformers, looks to be FREAKIN' AWESOME! Holy swashbuckling air pirates, Batman! I *need* to see this film. Halo 3 is still something like 2 months away, so I'm yet to revert into my 'fanboy' behaviour set but, dear audience, be prepared for the worst. I *will* go crazy, people will get hurt, economies ruined, and other such portents of disaster shall accompany me where ever I go in the coming weeks. You have been warned. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
12:23 pm	Chris makes posting on LJ for great victory. It's been something like 2 and a half months since last I've graced LJ with my glorious personage. Nothing much to say, really. That, and I've been busy with the worst semester I've had so far. Just got back from a three day Warmachine tournament in Sydney. I got best-in-faction for Mercenaries (more because I was the only Merc player there than through actual skill, but I did win *some* games.). Also got best-in-faction for Circle (the Druid types) and overall second in the Hordes tournament. So, I think I did pretty well out of that. Met some nice people, had fun, ate unhealthily, and loved it. Pictures incoming: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/57387070/?qo=4&q=by%3Amaster-chris+in%3Ascraps&qh=sort%3Atime http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/57389226/ http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/57388497/?qo=1&q=by%3Amaster-chris+in%3Ascraps&qh=sort%3Atime http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/57387616/?qo=3&q=by%3Amaster-chris+in%3Ascraps&qh=sort%3Atime http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/57390200/ On a sad note, I hear that just recently, a girl was raped near Hancock library. This is a bit frightening for me, to know that such a horrible thing has happened at a location I am intimately familiar with. I hope they catch the bastard and kill him. Slowly. I've sent my initial application to NOVA this year. They 'reviewed it favourably', so they E-mailed me an application form to fill out and send to them, as well as the dates for the personal interviews. I'm hoping this semester, filled with Japanese, will help my cause. If all goes well, I could be teaching English in Japan next year. Of course, I imagine that a man of my imposing stature would terrify the average Japanese person, so I might get rejected on those grounds. /me sets himself up for failure. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, March 30th, 2007
8:34 pm	Apparently, it was a day of old acquaintences... You know how it is? Work work. Study study. Go nuts, kill a neighbours pet and bury it in the woodlands... Spoken Japanese is draining my reserves of 'cool'. I got 9.5/15 for the mini-oral test, which isn't bad, but with the course now forsaking the use of english (AKA Romanji) during lectures and tutorials, I find myself constantly stumped despite the fact I study more for this class than just about any other university course I have taken thus far. I'll stick with it (as the deadline to drop out expired today), but it's going to be a long haul. Went to work today and, during lunch at Belconnen Mall, I saw Andrew Johnston. Mr. Johnston is a gentle soul whom I shared both my High School and College years with. He's doing OK for himself, dropping out of uni to study Network Engineering at CIT. In this meeting, I was able to finally put to rest something that had been nagging me for ages. Those of you who watch free-to-air Television in Canberra, can you recall those advertisements for Rubee's/Goodberry's? Where the guy is preparing frozen yoghurt for himself and his workmate declares that there's no time for that before gesturing towards the front door where a crowd is beating upon the glass demanding service? Yes? Well, it turns out I had correctly recognised Andrew's younger brother, David, as the young man whose face is squashed against the window and, later in the ad, is seen tucking into his frozen yoghurt. So, good times. Later today, I went to Civic to see if EB was selling Chrome Hounds for $25 (as Belconnen was out of stock), as I am getting to the point where I might actually buy this vaunted Xbox 360 I've been threatening to. They were out, so I left, the very picture of disappointment. As I was leaving, I was waved down by a familiar face. Adam Young. A truly delightful bloke I went to College with. I daresay he is possessed of a great charisma. Anyways, we got to chatting and I was soon informed that last year he had gotten married! Well played, sir! That said, it's pretty frightening to reflect upon the fact that people I used to knew, people my age, are off getting married and having children (Adam isn't having kids yet, but Shane Donohue from highschool has gotten hitched and is a father, as rumour has it). In other news: Been going to the gym, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I really need ot work on my upper body strength. For example, most exercise machines have 20 weight counters for the user to adjust. On the leg machines, I can go to level 15 or so and really push myself for a while but on anything that works my arms, chest, and back I need to go with levels less than 5 and I've got no stamina. I suck. Also, using those orbital-ellipse running machines, I've clocked myself as being able to run for about 3 minutes, covering a pitiful distance. Although I think I ruined the computers calculations by stepping off the bike during the run, as well as loosing my rhythm and stacking it (at least, as far as you can stack a piece of equipment that gathers no velocity or acceleration, and thereby force). I'm awesome in a sort of pathetic way. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 17th, 2007
8:20 pm	Chris fights the ANUSA President to the death. I like to start my updates with blatant lies, as they are always far more interesting than the truth. What really happened was that it turns out that Aparna Rao, the ex-ANUSA president, is in my SCOM3002 class. We had a chat during a tutorial, she's nice. It turns out she is not an imposing figure whose very presence radiates power. No no, she is very human. Maybe I am too heavily programmed by media but I imagine that a person famous enough to grace a publication with a readership greater than mine own (so, like, anyone who gets more than 3 hits a month) would be 7 feet tall with the ability to shoot radiation from their eyes. I do not know whether I am disappointed or relieved that these supposed 'uber-menschen' are a fiction propagated by the press. Saw 'Hot Fuzz' last night. Freaking brilliant. A tad long, so the average brilliance per scene is somewhat diluted but I steadfastly assure you, dearest reader, that this is a film worth watching. On the "Chris scale of films that parody that scene from Point Break where Keanu Reeves wants to shoot the villian but finds himself unable to do so and, instead, empties his clip into the air while screaming in frustration" I give Hot Fuzz an 'old woman getting kicked in the face' 8/10. IMDB gives it an 8.2. Apparently, some people didn't inherit the stupid gene which seems to be so prolific these days. I do hope it's a dominant gene...Also, Bill Bailey plays at least 2 roles in the film. Do you *need* another reason to go see it? Today, my sister and I went to the mall with the objective of inducting me into a very special cult. Now, normally, I'm not the type of person who signs up for the chanting, togas, and head-shaving normally associated with cults. However, this is a very special cult. I speak, of course, of Dance Dance Revolution. Oh yes! We spent something like 10-15 bucks on that particular past-time. I am addicted. Later today, I went and saw 'Happily N'ever After', another CGI fractured fairy-tale film. Oh joy (Do your sarcasm senses tingle? They should be.). Still, it wasn't bad. Signorney Weaver *stole* the show. SMG and FP Jnr. simply do not have the character to trump the woman who played Ripley in the Alien films. I didn't hate the film, but it wasn't fantastic. I'll be generous, on the "Chris scale of films that try to be Shrek but aren't" I give this film a parasitic, double jawed, and freaky 6/10. IMDB seems to think it only warranted a 2.1 out of 10. Interesting. I look forward to Shrek the Third. I was amused to note that at the bottom of the IMDB page, it said that if I enjoyed this film I might enjoy 'Gay Propaganda'. What does this mean? No, really, I'm confused. I mean, ugh, confused confused but *not* confused *confused*, if you get what I'm saying. You don't, do you? I finally got my Daft Punk DVD. Watched it, and then lent it to a friend without realising I had left the disc in my DVD-drive, thereby handing over an empty CD case to my friend. I wonder when he'll notice... Joined the gym two weeks ago. Only been twice so far. I'm planning to go Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (or Saturdays). I went Monday and Wednesday but neglected to go Friday. Was going to make it up today but decided that Dance Dance Revolution represents exercise enough for a single day. Go me. ( Boring ) (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
9:58 pm	Exciting Developments for Chris (and not the 'tumour' type of developments!)! Chris the film critic: On the Wednesday ANU was closed, I rocked up to campus to find out about all this hail business. Rather than go home or go to work, I chose to spend the day at the cinema. First, Ghost Rider. Not bad, not great. Some awful lines ( "Your Penitent Stare won't work on me!") in conjunction with Eva Mendes flashing her cleavage in *every* scene detracted from the awesome parts of the film, such as the villians (who were pretty awesome), Nicholas Cage (who is pretty awesome), and, oh I dunno, a protagonist with a flaming skull for a head. I give Ghost Rider a rip snorting, rubber burning, chain whipping, car jumping 6/10 on "The Chris scale of the representation of Burning Skulls in modern cinema". IMDB gave it 5.5 out of 10. Fair call. I guess they missed the bit with the Cowboy, that's got to be worth another 0.5 points. Later that day, I go home for a while, bus back into Belconnen for Smokin' Aces. Pretty bloody good. It's very 'Lock Stock', with the individual stories of grimy and colourful anti-heroes woven into a single magnificent tapestry. Mad props for the Baret sniper rifle scene, the crazy skinhead brothers, and the gripping plot. The film loses points for lacking substance in parts. When a film allows me a respite in which I may puzzle out some of the major plot-twists, something is being done wrong. Still, fantastic film. Highly reccomended. On the Chris scale of "The accurate representation of the 0.50 cal Sniper Rifle in modern cinema", I give Smokin' Aces a massive-exit-wound inflicting, corpse rending, blood bathing 8 out of 10. IMDB gave it 6.6/10. I guess some people don't like *good films*. Yesterday, I saw Norbit for the sole reason of needing something to do between 3 'oclock and 5pm. Hey, eight bucks for a couple of hours entertainment isn't a bad deal. Right? ....Right? Pretty average film. Let's get that fact straight before we go any further. Watching this film, one is only convinced that it was Eddie Murphy trying to relive some of his earlier (and better) films in which he played mutliple roles (Coming to America...comes to mind, 'scuse the pun). There's not much I can say about this film. It's a stock standard 'jokes in poor taste' film. You *need* to be in the right mood to enjoy this film. By 'right mood', I mean having recently been lobotomised and currently sedated. Any higher degree of consciousness experienced during the film may evoke feelings of disgust and nausea. This film, I can only surmise, is an intelligence test. If you laugh outloud, you fail.  On "The Chris scale of films that have may be used to inspire people to hurt themselves" I give it a pity-induced, gag-reflex-triggering, eye-gounging 4 out of 10. IMDB says 2.8. Clearly, I am a very generous person. Chris the awesome, totally not procrastinating person: Joined the Gym today. Now, to justify that 200 dollar expenditure... (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
9:18 pm	The One where Chris reprises the joke about his journal entry titles starting with "The One..." Life isn't bad nowadays. It's not super-awesome, but it certainly doesn't suck as much as it could. I'm thinking Space-Ninja descending from the skies, enslaving mankind, and getting my favorite television programs cancelled. Oh, and if Halo 3 was never released, that would be pretty suck-tacular, too. University schedule is pretty messy, now that my tutorials have been worked out. Wednesdays are a suck-fest from 10:00AM to 5pm. Any day I finish early (or start really late), I'm going in to work to earn some cash-monies. So, I'm pretty much busy-busy all the time. It's pretty bad when you've got something like 5 computer games lined up to play and you just don't have the time to devote to your shiny disc children. Those who know me well, know that this is a great tragedy and quite thoroughly indicative of my predicament. Japanese is going well. I went out and bought some "Idiot's First Japanese Translation" books. Interesting stuff, but I think I'm going to have to work hard to keep up with the coursework. C'est La Vie. Borrowed an interesting book from the ANU library system, "Understanding the Japanese Mind". It demonstrates the great differences between Oriental and Occidental society. One is tempted to brand these people barbarians but, upon further reflection, one imagines that the West probably appears just as uncultured in their eyes. It comes back to the notion of fearing the alien, the unknown. I felt terribly cosmopolitan today. After a hard day of doing very little, I went and had lunch over at the Civic subway (the one that is actually a store, rather than a glorified ATM). So, there I was, eating my expensive sandwich (Al Fresco, of course) while reading the ANu student magazine, Woroni. All I needed as a cup of coffee, an identity card necklace, and I could pass for one of *them*. I can be such a wanker sometimes. Rarely do I willingly venture out into public without my MP3-player and Aviator style sunglasses. The transformation is almost complete! Very proud of myself, was wondering whether I could actually do push-ups, seeing as back in college I couldn't. Apparently, the heavy printer lifting in conjunction with my reduced carbohydrates diet has granted me this boon. My sister was there, I have a witness to this feat! Just to be sure, I did it again. Still awesome? Check. My efforts have paid dividends, I am filled with an even greater conviction to partake of the ANU gym and get my fitness on. "Operation: Get Sex...ier" remains in play! Come to think of it, life is pretty good these days... Current Music: Utada Hikaru: "Simple and Clean" (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
8:12 pm	The Audience is Baking. Saw Pick of Destiny last night. Wasn't absolutely fantastic, but I enjoyed it. Other persons may not have enjoyed it and are, no doubt, thankful they politely refused to accompany me. There were some great lines in it, as well as the introduction of a novel concept: The cock push-up. Back to uni tomorrow. A little annoyed that my 4 year degree has been stretched to 5 full years. Partly due to my few failings as a student but, also, due to the luck of the draw, with courses I need to graduate being held in later semesters. Still, another year of slacking off is not unwelcome. Every day I delay my inevitable and irreversible transformation into one of *them* is a blessing. By *them*, I refer to the mindless drones in business suits that toil day in and out in order to pay off their latest 4WD, HD TV, and other such popular acronyms. Another great thing about university being back on, is that I'm actually going to get *more* free time than I had when I was on holidays! Damn you summer job! I'll be working the occasional shift here and there, to keep my cash reserves up. I plan to join the gym sometime soon (maybe even tomorrow!). Been keeping pretty well with my new 'little to no carbs' diet. Saturday saw me eat, like, a chiko roll (1,200 kj out of my 8,000 allowance), a megalitre of diet softdrink, and that's about it. Wasn't that hungry. Also, ran across the red bridge to catch the bus after the movie last night. I was 15 minutes early, so I turned and jogged to the interchange. I like how far I can jog in a single stretch nowadays. It's nothing compared to you *fit* people out there, but I'm making progress. Also, I'm the strongest dude at work. Some guys are all, like, we need 2 people to carry this printer and then I rock up, scoop up the behemoth and cart it away. Nearly did my back in once of twice, but that doesn't count! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
8:28 am	Chapter the Eighth: In which Chris bemoans his luck, to the amusement of the reader. It's been about a month since last I graced this humble journal with the advances I have made in my various endeavours. Not much has happened, you see. I continue my drone-like existance, toiling away in exchange for the precious human Earth dollars I desire. Every couple of weeks the boss has a bad day and his inability to cope with stress strains my own reserves of patience and I find myself edging towards confrontation, with disasterous results. I've been putting in the Saturday shifts when necessary, as well as helping after hours with deliveries and what not, as I'm keen for a good reference. Not at work today due to a nasty cold I was given on Saturday. When I find out who gave it to me...Wham! Right in the kisser. Went to CanCon, played a little Warmachine. My Mercenary army was the 'Best-in-Faction'. Of course, I was the *only*-in-faction but with 0 wins (due, in part, to my massive cojones and the taking of utterly crippling vows), the two sweetest words in the english language come to mind: De Fault. Second tournament, my cheesy Protectorate army got 3/5 wins, and 2 close losses. I'm happy with how that went. Also, spent hundreds of dollars. My wallet cried that day. Birthday went well, I asked that I didn't get much aside from a family dinner at a Turkish restaurant. Got that and a bit more. A cute T-shirt, as well as the South Park movie, and the Beavis and Butthead movie. Good times. Also, Kimlich scored me a Warmachine miniature: Epic Kreoss. More good times. Do you remember Daft Punk? In particular, the film clips to songs like 'One More Time', and 'Better, Stronger, Faster'? It turns out that the album with the anime film clips actually tells a story. Because I hate my wallet, I went to EzyDVD and ordered the DVD that features all of the film clips from that album. Should be delivered soon! Look forward to it! I'm annoyed that my plans for graduating this semester have been foiled. All I need is a single later-year Arts subject and 3 C-level Science courses. The former is easy, the latter? Not so. It seems that the Psychology department isn't running many C-level courses this semester, and I'm not eligible to register for the few that are, having stuidiously avoiding their prerequisite courses (such as: Neurobiology and Cognition). This way, at least, I get to remain on a light-weight schedule instead of a final, rushed semester. That, and I actually get to do all of the available Science Communication courses. Yay. I might just apply for Honours. In conjunction with my ambition to spend a year in Japan teaching English, I might just enroll for the Introduction to Japanese course this semester. After checking, it turns out there are 2 first year courses, spoken and written Japanese respectively. I can, however, choose Spoken Japanese and not Written, which works for me. OK, I need lecturer's permission, due to the course being 'outside' my study focus or somesuch nonsense. E-mail away! Looking at the timetable, methinks my semester shall start thusly: Monday 10am-2pm (Japanese followed by Genocide Studies) Tuesday 10am-11am (SCOM, followed by nada) Wednesday 10am-4pm (Japanese followed by SCOM tutorials) Thursday/Friday: Nothing yet, but probably going to have a Japanese Tutorial somewhere. Dunno where my Genocide studies tutorial is going to be, we'll find out though. Won't we? Bought a tonne of games second hand from EB lately, using the 'Edge' card which makes such purchases 10% less dear than otherwise. Titles include: Voodoo Vince (cute, good times), Psi-Ops (I like the psychic shenanigans), Ninja Gaiden (fantastic game), Fable: Lost Chapters (I liked vanilla so much I bought it again..but with sprinkles!), Hitman 2, and Hitman: Contracts. I know that, I for one, am now scared shitless by the mere sight of bald men in suits with red ties... (7 Comments |Comment on this)