"Isaac, Make Us Whole Again..."

After reading Dead Space: Martyr, I felt compelled to re-immerse myself back into the series' beginnings, namely the 'Ishimura Incident' that started the whole nightmare for Isaac Clarke in the first place. After playing my way through the first entry in the main series, I was surprised to see how little the Church of Unitology was mentioned. It was briefly introduced at the beginning of chapter 10, but it wasn't until Dead Space 2 when there was more backstory in regards to the massive fictional religion. Reading Martyr and then playing the first game (as well as watching Dead Space: Downfall) really helped put some pieces together. I hope to play Dead Space 2 again soon, and piece more of the story together, as well as refresh my memory with some of the more obscure plot points I may have missed the first time through. 

"Give Me the Winning Ticket!!!"

God knows how many times I've heard that trite comment these past two days...

For those wondering, I'm referring to the PowerBall lottery and its massive jackpot of $600 million dollars (written out, it's $600,000,000) that were up for grabs today (right now, it's Saturday at 11:30 at night as of this writing though). Because the PowerBall is still pretty recently new here in California and with the jackpot of the said game meteorically rising quickly from time to time, it's a hot item. However, there are three things that have repeatedly frustrated me:

1. People don't know the rules to the game.
2. People humorously command that I give them the winning ticket (again, a trite comment).
3. PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THE RULES TO THE GAME!!! 

The rules are simple:

1. It's two dollars ($2) for one game of six numbers (random or selected).
2. The objective of the game is to match all six numbers to the winning jackpot combination (although matching any numbers still yields a smaller prize).
3. The game plays every Wednesday and Saturday, with the drawings ending at 7PM and game beginning at 8PM.

Pretty simple. right? I hope I explained it right. Anyhow, people don't know these rules and yet, they're playing the game. It really grinds my gears, because the logical side of me thinks, "Why would I play a game that I'm not familiar with? I'd hate to be cheated or get myself involved in something I don't know." That's what keeps running through my mind when I come across people who are constantly astonished that a game costs $2 or it's over at 7PM. So yeah, a constant source of personal frustration of having to explain the rules repeatedly and seeing people play a game they don't entirely understand.

As for the comment "Make sure it's the winning ticket" or some variation of such mundane statements, it became a bit of a staple after the PowerBall had surpassed $300 million dollars. People who buy the tickets of course mean it as a joke, but I take it differently. I always think to myself, "If I could give out the winning ticket, do you think I'd still be here, working the register?" or "What makes you think I'd give it to you?" It's a bit pessimistic, I know, but it's the honest truth. And people fail to see that logic that I could very well betray their request, and hand them a false ticket and I would keep the winning ticket to myself (but this is assuming that I can hand out winning tickets). 

So yeah, I don't know if this me venting out to the Internet or just a rant, but nonetheless, the PowerBall jackpot deflated down to $40 million (meaning somebody struck it rich). Hopefully, this'll mean no more stupid comments/people for some time. Thank you reading this post and don't worry - I'll talk about something cool next time. Honestly, to me, talking about the lottery is like talking about the weather: it's all a bunch of pointless #!@*%& small talk.

CRL Update Again

Man, it's been a while since I've had an update for my list. In short, in a matter of a few days, I had finished reading Dead Space:Martyr. This book is the 36th book crossed off in my CRL or Comprehensive Reading List. It is a list that I have started years ago, but wasn't until the beginning of last year that I have been quite serious in accomplishing the feat of reading all of the books on that list. For the most part, they are books that I own and if I don't own them, I plan on buying them over the course of time.  After my frustrating rut in March, I have been working (or rather reading) relentlessly trying to catch up on my reading. For this year, the goal is to read at least 75% of the books on my list - this makes it a total of 51 books this year. Since I'm only at 36, this means I have 15 more books to go. It's a little frustrating know that I'm only at approximately at 53.7% (36/67), especially since were halfway in to May now. If I could have avoided the rut, I may very well be ahead than where I'm at right now, perhaps another 5 books or so (that is, if I pace myself properly). On a somewhat related note, this book, Martyr, is the first E-Book that I've bought for my Kindle Fire HD. It's still a surreal knowing that I'm slowing heading more towards the digital side of my collections. I'll still collect physical copies of books, movies, games, and the like, but now, a more digital collection will begin to be more prominent in my life from now on.

The "Friendzone"

As embarrassing as it is to admit, it seems that I can't win when it comes to women. It seems that I'm always "that guy" - you know, that they can talk to without any implications that the given relationship will become deeper or more emotionally invested. I suppose, at first, this was vexing to say the least. After all, it seems that all pretty girls tend to be taken and they almost always pick a guy that sends them down a downward spiral of hurt and misery. And I know I can be a better partner, if I can be given that chance. Of course, I'm always denied that opportunity and hence, I'm stuck in the "Friendzone." Though, as I'm now starting to understand, being in the "Friendzone" has its interesting perks. For instance, I see my girl friends in a different perspective when I cease to pursue them. I learn more about them: their victories, their defeats; their struggles; their highest hopes and deepest despairs. It's quite sobering at times, for I can see how strong, weak, humble, prideful, selfish and compassionate a friend can be that perhaps would have gone unappreciated if the nature of our relationship had been different. At the end of the day, I'm left with their stories that are touching, revolting, grandeur, quaint, and so much more. These stories revolve around a heart so brittle, so strong, that I, as their sole witness to it all, am left in further frustration...If I had been given that one opportunity, perhaps these hearts may have been spared much unnecessary heartbreaks and one-night stands, but instead be given further victories and much needed reassurance to it all...

Sing For Absolution

As of this writing, I'm in the middle of Apocalypse Now, from the Muse album Absolution. I impulsively bought this album last night for only nine dollars. This album has been on my radar, but whenever I have found it, I always though it has been unreasonably priced at roughly 13-16 dollars, which in my humble opinion is a tad too much considering how digital our collections have become and the rising presence of the Internet. Now, Time is Running Out is starting to play. That clever bass line is unique and memorable, simply unforgettable. 

As I was saying, this album has been on my radar for quite some time, and now that I have it, I don't know what to expect. With the exception of Time, I haven't really listened to the album, nor have I made an effort to stream online, surprisingly. I'm the type of person who wants to experience everything first-hand, not through trailers or previews (as much as they build anticipation). Sing for Absolution...it sounds so...sad. So yeah, I'm looking forward to the whole album, so I'll stop here for now. That way, I can enjoy the music without any distractions :D have a great one, fellow readers!

New Vlog!

I'm really terrible at uploading a vlog on a consistent schedule. Take, for example, this vlog. I had recorded and edited it last week, but it isn't until now that I've now uploaded it to my YouTube channel (have you been there?). So yeah, I'm terrible at that :P

...I have to wonder if these are watched or not :p

"Who Watches the Watchmen?"

Just so you know, there will be SPOILERS! :p

In between work, sleep, and my social life, I have found enough time to read all twelve chapters of Alan Moore's famous Watchmen comic. Set in the mid-80's in an alternate timeline (for example, the US wins the Vietnam War, the Arms Race escalates much more rapidly with the existence of Dr. Manhattan, and even Richard Nixon is President of the United States for a third term!), the main plot of the comic revolves around defunct superheroes investigating a murder of one their own brethren.

After spending the past several days reading the comic, I almost immediately watched the movie adaptation of the comic afterward (I say almost since I debated going to sleep for a minute, but then I realized that I didn't have any serious engagements the following day - so I could afford to have a late Sunday night :p). I've got to say that I was thoroughly impressed with the movie, although in all fairness, the movie was an already an immediate favorite of mine when it was first released years ago. The movie pretty much offers a stripped-down version of the comic book (for example, Rorschach's interactions with Dr. Malcolm Young in the maximum security prison are brief in the movie, as opposed to the exploration of Young's increasing instability with his life, both private and public. Another example is the removal of Tales of the Black Freighter in the film (which I'll get to later), but still (obviously) taking much from the movie such as the dialogue in the comic and even elaborating on some scenes (like The Comedian's final moments alive, the attempted assassination of Ozmandias, and rescuing Rorschach at the prison). Of course an adaptation is an adaptation, so certain things here and there would be altered or even removed. This is really apparent with the lack of back story in the movie, in which the comic series has fleshed out through documents, excerpts from books, and even newspaper clippings. The back story in the comics was necessary to understand the machinations of the mind of our costumed heroes. Instead, the film removes these elements and hopes to create a movie with as little confusion/plot holes as possible. The elaborate back story elements do appear in the movie, but more of a nod to the fans of the comic. However, at this point, I'm digressing.

Tales of the Black Freighter...where to begin with that? A pirate comic that Bernie was reading since the third chapter of the comic series, Tales revolves around the story of a shipwrecked mariner desperately trying go to his home town of Davidstown before the Black Freighter (the ship that shipwrecked the same mariner) can devastate the unsuspecting town. At first, I didn't know that this was a story-within-a-story ordeal because it had happened so suddenly, since some scenes in Watchmen don't involve any of the main characters. Though Tales would often coincide with much of the character development of certain people. For example, the mariner's exile and separation from humanity and his crew reflected Dr. Manhattan's exile and emotion attachment to the human condition. As the mariner became more savage on his journey home, whether it was eating live gulls or murdering sharks, Rorschach was becoming the vicious, uncompromising vigilante that he is now known for. Finally, when the mariner became the scourge he tried to hard to fight against for his beloved town, Ozmandias' loss of humanity by tricking the world of a false alien invasion seemed to reflect that. So perhaps that's the main purpose of Tales, to highlight key moments of the story, though sometimes I wonder if there is more to this story that just that.

Finally, I was quite surprised just how radically different the story ends in Watchmen. I had first seen the movie, before I ever touched the comic, so I presumed that the comic would follow in the same steps, more or less. Instead, I was shocked to realize that it wasn't a reactor that Dr. Manhattan designed that brought the world together, but in fact an alien invasion upon New York City. Or at least, it was made to look like one. In my humble opinion, the whole alien bit seemed a bit of stretch to me. I will admit that it was an interesting way to bring two conflicting countries to work together, but the way the film adaptation attacked this conundrum seemed more realistic, or least plausible, especially considering the fact that Dr. Manhattan was becoming more and more disconnected with humanity as a whole. "Sacrificing millions!..To save billions!" 

At the end of the day, I just enjoy a good comic that is thoroughly engaging, unique, and thought-provoking. I'm off to read more books now! :P