This is very much delayed considering the fact that the schoolyear ended a few weeks ago. But since I was busy writing up that long post is looooooooooooong about my crusade at the LTO, I didn't get the chance to, so here it is.

I'll be writing about my grades from lowest to highest. XD

POLIGOV (Politics and Governance)
Professor: Jet Olfato
Final Grade: 2.5

To be freaking honest, we didn't do much is this subject, and this lead me to having 4 absences here. But, not to be bragging or anything, but I'm one of his more 'involved' students here. Well, aside from a bitch in front of asking obvious questions. Though I have to admit his class was pretty boring, one of the few fuels being that this subject is a pre-requisite to my majors. I honesly expected a higher grade, but he did say at the start of the term that those with fewer absences will be given more consideration when it comes to the giving of grades. As was the case here, as my seatmate and Netopian comrade Errol, got a 3.0, as he had no absences. This was the last course card that I got for the day and I was not pleased, after finding out how good of a day I had had.

INSTUDI (Introduction to International Studies)
Professor: Renato de Castro
Final Grade: 3.0

Now this subject I definitely had to get a high grade on, especially if your professor is a former chair of the Int'l Studies Dept. and regularly attends lunches with ambassadors. Somehow his class class was sometimes invigorating and sometimes boring, since it was all lecture, which I am thankful for, you can't help that sometimes, especially at a 1120-1250 timeslot, that you'd wander off to LaLaLand. But most of the term I had to fight that feeling, just to make a good impression.

FILIPI3 (Wika at Kultura)
Professor: Fanny Garcia
Final Grade: 3.5

Now, THIS was a boring subject. What was originally indicated on my flow chart as Retorika, meaning another speech class, and of course that would've been a snap for me considering my oratorical past, became another struggle throughout the term, as this class was just made of lose and suck. Nothing against the professor, don't get me wrong, but the way that this was implemented, all of a sudden we were in a frosh class. And curiously enough there were no froshn00bs in our class.

A redeeming factor of this class is that there was one girl who would always catch my eye just because of her stark resemblance someone I loved/hated in high school. But this one is superior IMHO.

LITERA1 (Phiippine Literature)
Professor: Grace Alfon
Final Grade: 3.5 (4.0 dapat yan SHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET)

Now THIS is one class I really liked this term, who knew Philippine Literature would be so interesting, and also the class in itself was made of win, with our professor being the occasional commedienne. Also the group activities here were very much interesting, and met a lot of new friends here. And also the girl who currently holds my heart (corny I know), aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, that's for another entry. My only regret was that my group was unable to avail the +.5 in our final grade if we had a grade in our poetry festival of 93+. We missed out by 6 points. T_T

SHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

CRITHIN (Critical Thinking)
Professor: Dante Leoncini
Final Grade: 4.0

Another class made of win and awesome! This would've been just like my INTPHIL class if it weren't for the technicalities of the lessons. Here I learned about logical thinking, and the fallacies of reasoning, that struck me the most as we use this almost everyday, and that I can also use these very fallacies to my advantage. Sir Dante = OVER 9000. Period. I thought I would've gotten a 3.0 at best, considering some of the scores of my tests, but lo and behold, a shiny 4.0 glaring back at me, ironically at the room where I had my INTPHIL class, one of the best classes I have taken up so far.

ARTAPRE (Art Appreciation)
Professor: Anne Frances Sangil
Final Grade: 4.0

Yet another class made of win. I know that most of you are passing off ARTAPRE as a sure-pass subject, but what was so awesome about it how this subject was implemented, again props to my professor here, who is hot, not in the classic sense but her eloquence and intellect just make her hot. And besides, who wouldn't love a class where most of the time you'd just be watching movies? And also I learned another interesting aspect of Philippine culture. We have it, boys and girls, culture I mean. It's just buried beneath the trash of pop culture that dominates the airwaves and boobtubes of today. It just takes some digging.

Term GPA: 3.417
CGPA before term: 2.569
CGPA now: 2.756

I know most of you are saying that I got high grades because they are all floating subjects, and you are entitled to your own opinion, but I all I know is I worked, maybe not worked hard, but I still worked for these grades. And I deserve them.

Quote for the day: "In an Imperium of a million worlds, what is the death of one world in the cause of purity?" ~ Inquisition credo

Currently feeling: SHIEEEEEEEEEEEEET

Another ambahan was supposed to be my next entry, but I forgot to make it before I went to my suking Intarweb shop, so that's for another time.

While cruising along the many dimensions of the Internet, well, actually I limited myself to Tabulas and some other essential sites, since I was DL'ing some Grover Washington Jr. (God rest his soul) music that I'll be giving to Gene on her birthday and the net speed wasn't really impressive (gusto ko na mag-neto uli SHIEEEEEEEEEEEEET_T).

As I was saying, I was cruising the Internet and I decided to visit the blog of one person. Now I hesitate to tell you about this person since, I've been hiding my frustrations about this person for quite some time now. In my frustration I decided to leave a forum and never come back, so it's been a few weeks and I decided to visit her blog, to check up on this person. Lo and behold, this person is still having the same problems and then some, and is still acting in a way that annoyed me in the first place. I cursed beneath my breath and hit the Almighty Alt+F4 (napipilitan akong mag-IE dito sorry).

I begin to reflect on why a person would act such a way, like an emofag crying out for attention, like what good emofags are supposed to do. I guess some people do not have the ability to compartmentalize their problems, and add to the fact that many people still hold in a saddening high regard what people think and say about them.

Especially what people say about them, and as such I begin to reflect on one of man's most dangerous and potent weapons. The promise. Not the fucking movie, for the love of pizza, promise as in  pangako. Even a mind that closes itself from all the heinous effects of pop culture cannot resist the power of media.

A promise, from what I could observe, is more powerful if said from the tongue of someone influential, someone important, someone you trust. An interesting notion about a promise is, that how people see you or judge you will weigh heavily on how your promise will be taken. This relies heavily on the concept of trust and mutual understanding, and this is where a promise becomes dangerous.

From what I can see early on is one of the most powerful yet dangerous promises are from those people whom we are especially attached to. Hmmmm.. I'm looking for a certain word, maybe this attachment ranges from an attachment of infatuation to romantic attachment, with increasing degrees of danger. Add to the fire if the person you are 'attached' to making this promise makes starts talking about your future together (emo shit leaking like hell). The prospect of being wanted, while at the same time giving a sense of security, is very much appealing to most of us.

I dare to expound on my thoughts by giving examples. But somehow I feel that I am going to strike a nerve if that person comes by this blog. And besides, I admit that the organization of my thoughts in this entry are fucked up.

In a nutshell, promises are shit. Never expect, in turn never be disappointed.

Quote for the day: "Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by the removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. This disease, like caries and many other ailments, is prevalent only among civilized races living under artificial conditions; barbarous nations breathing pure air and eating simple food enjoy immunity from its ravages. It is sometimes fatal, but more frequently to the physician than to the patient." ~ Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Currently feeling: pota, SHIEEEEEEEEEEEET

So I decided to start a little series of posts. My Top 5 of anything under the sun. And for the opening post in this series, I present to you...

My Top 5 Favorite PlayStation 2 Games of All Time

Again I must reiterate that this is my personal top 5 PS2 games. As a gamer, I usually herald gameplay and replay value over everything else, including story.

So let's get started shall we?

-o0o-

5 - God of War II

I originally did not like the GoW series, as people coming from the IGN game boards of my top game of all time did not like the series as they felt that GoW1 was overrated and had nothing, in terms of gameplay, to this game, which I will tell about later. When I heard about the supposed improvements of GoW2, I decided to check it out for myself, and I would not be disappointed.

What really struck me about this game was the scenery throughout the game, especially when you reach the Island of Creation. The Steeds of Time, the Auditoriums of Lakhesis and Atropos overlooking the sisters' eagle-like temple are just some of the great scenery around. There's nothing better the eviscerating enemies while on a sight-seeing tour while beeing attended to by a Sister of Fate with one breast hanging. XD

Gameplay-wise, it was OK. I loved the Spear of Destiny my first time through. And I was forced to play smart and not bulldoze my way through, which I really like. And of course the puzzles throughout game and the button-press grapples really kept me on my toes.

Though I did have some gripes. Juggling enemies are somewhat difficult, with the lack of a targeting reticle. Also the on-the-fly weapon switching wasn't really fleshed out, as the moves of the weapons are so slow to execute it won't really matter. With this in mind air combos and linking in the air are somewhat difficult to do. You're better off sticking to one weapon. I prefer the imba Blade of Olympus and it's imba 'imma firin mah lazars' skill. Though experts have gotten through the insanely difficult Titan mode using the Barbarian Hammer and nothing but. (KRATOS SMAAAAAAAASH)

-o0o-

4 - Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

One of my first and favorite games of all time, Oni 3 takes the term 'Time Paradox' and takes it to a whole new level. Here you play a hero from the past (Samanosuke) and the present (Jacques Blanc, his model being Jean Reno) as they interact across centuries to save the world from the power of then Genma leader Nobunaga Oda.

This is one of my first games where a player was given different weapons to play with and I was just ecstatic then, and each has its use, something that many action games fail to do, my personal favorite being Samanosuke's Dual-Light Swords Tenso. And also to the end of the game you unlock Samanosuke's weapons from the original Onimusha: Raizan, Enryuu, and Shippuu, which you can use in your next playthrough.

One defining feature of the game is that time travelling you will have to do to save the world. This is done through a magical mirror where a little fairy helper named Ako can go through, bringing with her an item that your other character needs to unlock an area. In a nutshell both protagonist can be at the same place but NOT at the same time. Time paradox = win LULZ.

My fondest memory of this game is when I was in the Dark Realm with Samanosuke, I was being surrounded by 10 or so of those enemies who had armor and clubs as their weapons, I charged Kuga to level 3, and when one of the monsters swung at me, I accidentaly perfomed a True Critical, and not the Deflect Critical which I usually do, and all of a sudden I chained the bastards to hell. After the carnage Sam made a pose, and the enemies fell all at the same time, giving a plethora of souls. Good times, good times.

On a side note, Michelle Aubert, Jacques' hot fiancee, has always been my model for Sophie Neveu of The Da Vinci Code.

-o0o-

3 - Soul Calibur III

If i just didn't have an awesome time playing this game Onimusha 3 would be definitely taking the 3rd spot. Throughout the maelstrom of criticisms of how inferior SC3 was to SC2, especially how the Chronicles of the Sword mode wasn't fleshed out, and how hardcore SC players thought that Namco had sold out to the mighty dollar, being evident with the female characters bouncy bosoms, and of course that dangerous save glitch, which lead to my memory card having corrupt data which I am unable to delete, I still say that SC3 is a game worth playing.

One thing I really liked is that Siegfried has returned, and though I initially didn't like Nightmare's makeover it grew on me. And of course I had to change my tactics with Nightmare, which was a welcome change, with his Grim Stride being at the core of my technique, along with the Almighty Rook Splitter.

SC3 overtook Oni 3 because of how much fun I had with the game. When there were still PS2 stalls at MicroSmith1, me and Hal Avisado aka w00t would go there and play SC3 for hours on end, at times we would laugh so hard that we were wasted going home with a migraine. The pic there is fitting, as our frequent playing developed into a rivalry between our main characters, Nightmare and Mitsurugi. But he has the better of that rivalry, when he won the SC3 tourney held at Gox a year ago, he had a perfect 6-0 record, the bastard, while I was left at 4-2, with both losses coming from Mitsurugi users.

-o0o-

2 - Jak 3

I say that the Jak series is one of the, if not, the best platform series of all time, though its fourth installment leaves a lot to be desired. The gameplay is absolutely beautiful, its no load feature allows you to explore the huge game world without interruptions. My feature on this game will be short, just because words cannot do justice to the sheer fun I had playing this game. Killing innocent people with 12 guns and the powers of light and dark is always good, good fun.

-o0o-

So as one might notice in all of the previous 4 games, that most of them are action games, has high replay value (except maybe GoW2). So one might take these into consideration if you're thnking about what my number 1 PS2 game of all time might be. So without further adieu, (click here to see my number 1 favorite PS2 game of all time. Wanna know the name?)

Quote for the day: "There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt." ~ Brother-Librarian Isador Akios 

Unbeknownst to most of you, I make ambigrams. Yes, those like those in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which is an excellent read IMHO, although that's for another entry. I've already created ambigrams mostly of names of people, a select few, most of which you can view in an album somewhere in my Friendster account. Since I rarely update that account anymore, all the more the ambigram album, there are some of my works that aren't there and are lost to time, most notably my ambigram of the word Christ, I can't remember if my ambigram for Erin Bare is there.

With that in mind I decided to make my hardest ambigram to date. An ambigram of my famous monicker, DodongScarface. I was fortunate enough to pull through, and I would like to share them with you. Oh yeah, I'm a total n00b at this, I have no knowledge of the real techniques when doing calligraphy, so you could call it freestyle.

After around a day of planning and plotting how the letters will spread out, this is the first sample that I was actually OK with, but I still don't like it as it has some glaring mistakes. Also, I had a problem with spacing. I use lines on paper as a child would use when he tries to learn how to write. I use the lines as a guide as to how large the letters would be and also to keep them uniform. But the 'DodongScarface' is too damn large, I have a tough time fitting it even on yellow paper. Soooooooo...

I like this one much, much better. I tried to go at it without the lines and in a much smaller scale, and it turned out pretty good, but not good enough. Making an ambigram is one thing, but perfecting it is another matter altogether.

Oh yeah, I use an Artline Calligraphy Pen with a 4.0 tip. I do have a real calligraphy set, but it's like a collector's item and I hesitate to use it. XD

Quote for the day: "Damn rookies..." ~ Ehlen, Valkyrie Profile 2 Einherjar 

The typical vacation of the home boy is wrought with boredom and whatnot, and sometimes finding something to pass the time gets a little hard. With this in mind I've resorted to reading the books at home, from F.H. Batacan's Smaller and Smaller Circles, to Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia, and finally to Dan Brown's Angels and Demons.

Angels and Demons. A very good read I must say, removing the fact that it revolves around a very controversial topic, even though I've read it many times the twists and turns of the story are so devilishly brilliant, its crazy. Then I think to myself, I wonder how it would look like if it was turned into a movie.

At first I thought that it would look so awesome. Almost immediately I regretted having thought that, as I was quite hopeful of the Da Vinci Code as well (A&D >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> tDVC in terms of everything). There seems to be a problem when making a book into a film, not sometimes, but almost everytime. So many parts were cut from the original novel, and added some that did not fit in quite well, IMO. But in essence, the movie did not turn out as I expected it to be, from what I conjured up from my imagination.

The made me think, and which I will ask you, my dear reader. 

Which is the greater power? Everything that Hollywood can throw at their audiences, with its CG effects and its plethora of overpayed and spoiled actors and directors and what not, or our own individual imaginations?

Quote for the day: "That which does not grow falls into decay." ~ Lezard Valeth, Valkyrie Profile 2

Currently feeling: SHIEEEEEEEEEEEET

Since many of the people I know here in Tabulas have posted their own emo posts, I decided to have one of my own. Well, I do already have an earlier emo post, but it primarily surrounds on my opinions about another's experiences.

So one will come to wonder how I must have thought such. It all stems from experiences that I fear I will never be able to recover from. It is by no means debilitating, but whenever I remember, a kind of bitterness resurfaces in all of its diabolical glory. Old wounds reopen, fresh like it happened yesterday.

This is one of the curses of a good memory, you never forget. In the end, nobody ever does, the only difference is that for other people, they learn from the experience and 'move-on', for me, I do learn, but I will never forget that this person did this to me once.

I forgive, but I rarely forget. But can there be forgiveness without 'forgetting'?

To be continued.. Tinatamad akong ituloy ito, lalo na ngayong pasukan na. ^_^

Quote for the day: "Search you feelings! You know it to be true!" ~ Darth Vader

Currently feeling: SHIEEEEEEEEEEEEET