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Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning – The First Eight Hours

February 11th, 2012 by Wilfrid
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“My name is Cara.  I was dead and am resurrected at the Well of Souls.  I am reborn with no destiny, thanks to the gnomes.  I am the fateless one.  And I choose my destiny.  I cannot remember my past, nor do I know what my future will bring.  Where is the Well of Souls?  Destroyed, perhaps.  I could be the last mortal in Amalur who has cheated death.  You may say all things happen for a reason.  Why does this happen to me?  I honestly do not know.”

Finally, Kingdoms of Amalar (KoA) is out.  I have started playing the minute the game is live and have clocked in eight hours of play time so far.  I reckon the first eight hours into a game gives us a good feel as in whether or not we shall continue investing our time into playing it.  Hence, I am starting a new First Eight Hours series in my website.  If time permits, I shall write a first forty hours follow-up and post it here.

I doubt KoA would satisfy all the role playing gamers out there.  Even Skyrim - recently awarded Game of the Year by AIAS – may have drawn a fair share of criticism that may or may not work for some.  Below are my observations.  Does KoA work for you?  Only you can decide.

Engaging Combat System

My take after playing the demo is still valid.  I have not seen a combat system quite like KoA in any role playing game.  Using a gamepad for the PC platform is highly recommended.  Because of the flexible character development, you can possibly find a balance that suits your play style.  Special moves can be unlocked.  With the dodging and blocking, charging and slashing, very soon, you may find that you are playing an arcade game.  Yes, all combats happen in real time.  There is no pausing and re-positioning.  You roll, you hack, you slash, and you loot.

Open World, Vast but not that Vast

Some say KoA is an open world.  Some say it is merely zones connected by narrow tunnels.  However you see it, KoA does require a fair bit of walking and exploration.  If you feel that walking is too inefficient, you could sprint.  If you feel that sprinting is not good enough, you could open up the world map and perform a fast travel.

The zones are not that vast.  You do not need to comb through a huge area to look for that something.  It is less likely that you will get lost.  It does not feel too empty like some other open world role playing games I have played.  There are always packs of enemies lurking somewhere, guarding some treasure chests.  Some enemies may spawn from nowhere and charge onto you.  There are herbs to collect, and other mini-games to play such as lock picking and dispel.  Enemies seem to respawn at a regular interval.   So there is no shortage of loots and gold, experience points and action.

“Ah, the great outdoor!”

Artwork has a Cartonish Feel

Some despise gaming environment that is too cartoonish, say it is too dated.  Some dig it.  I happen to love how the fantasy world is painted in KoA, as I am a big fan of World of Warcraft.  Since I have only played the game for eight hours, there are two towns I have seen.  One is colorful and shiny like the picture above.  The other is gloomy and dark, full of spider webs.  I can understand why some may prefer artwork to have more realism.  While I am on the topic of graphics, the retail version has a much higher quality than the demo version.

A Game for the Casuals?

Should games be hard?  As hard as, say, Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls?  Some enjoy dying a million times before seeing the ending.  A true test of skill and concentration.  Some prefer playing a game to relax.  The normal mode of KoA is accessible.  My character has yet to die once.  There were some hair rising moments, including a curse that indefinitely zapped my mana and rendered my character incapable of casting any spell until she visited a healer.  But with a bit of dodging and a bit of potion drinking, my character seems to do fine.  Some gamers find the normal mode too easy.  And they find the hard mode too easy too.  If you are one of those, there are always ways to make such a game very challenging.  Inspiration can be drawn from here.

Questing and Questing, Wait, Where is the Main Story?

Coming from the background of a massively multiplayer online game, I find the questing structure of KoA perfectly acceptable.  Each town is a questing hub.  You get to talk to the town folks, learn the town history from different perspectives.  Some may need help from you.  You may ignore and continue pursuing your main quest.  Or you should spend time doing some side quests.  Of the eight hours I have poured in, ignoring the beginning bit that is more like a tutorial, the time I get to experience the main story is very minimal.  There seems to be so much to do.  It take a quality assurance game tester 200 hours to test out all the quests on easy mode, skipping all the dialogues.  It would probably take more than 300 hours to complete everything, if I so choose to.

I have not completed many quests so far, just a handful because it does take time even to tackle one.  Some do have memorable stories provided that you have the patience to listen through the scripts.  I do.  Because I want to know what I am doing, why I am doing things.  For those who prefer to skip through the audio dialogue, these quests would likely be reduced to the common tpes of kill and collect, collect and kill, FedEx, and escort.

Also, because this game encourages open questing, the main story may not seem as tight as those that are scripted linearly.  Pros and cons, for either approach.  I enjoy both extreme.

“OK then, let’s talk.”

PC Version or Console?

I don’t really have a choice.  Because KoA and FF13-2 are released in the same time period, I play FF13-2 on PS3 when Cynthia is not watching TV and I play KoA on PC when she is.  PC provides a higher resolution but requires you to be seated quite near to the monitor, unlike playing console games on a large flat panel TV.  I play KoA through Origin and my progress is saved onto the cloud online.  You can also take screenshot on a PC.  For trophy lovers, you can more easily brag about your achievements on a console platform, or if you play via Steam.  On PC, the switch between keyboard + mouse and gamepad is seamless.  I don’t think playing KoA using only keyboard + mouse is a wise decision.

I am inclined to say that for some, the console version may be slightly better.  Field of View and Level of Detail – both are hot topics on the forum, a concern for the PC gamers.  KoA may be more tuned to console gaming, from the graphics point of view.  Playing KoA on a PC may cause motion sickness.  I would strongly advised you to play as far from the screen as you can.  And yes, a gamepad would help.  KoA is not a first-person-shooter.  You don’t need to spin your view that fast.

Fancy a Re-spec?

I have not tried the re-spec function yet.  But I read that it is possible to reset all your point allocation and potentially play the game in a completely different way.  If stealth is not your cup of tea, no problem, try out a magic caster, or a strong melee.  If you don’t like your skill specialization, reset it!  If you don’t like a hybrid class and want to try out a pure class, pay some gold and get it done!

For my first play through, I have picked a three-way hybrid class.  She is certainly not the most powerful being in Amalur.  What to wear has always been a struggle (armors are itemized to the pure classes).  But I enjoy a bit of flexibility.  Because I cannot decide.

Did I Mention Player’s Housing?

Without giving away too much spoiler, yes, you can have a house of your own.  You can even pay someone to upgrade your home by stages.  There is a stash that store your hard earned loots.  A mirror that allows you to change your appearance.  Your home is going to be very functional too.  You will see.

“Welcome to my home in Amalur!  There is a bedroom upstairs and a basement below too.”

Categories: For the Geeks
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Snippet Of My Life Episode 34 – Love And Obsession

February 7th, 2012 by Wilfrid
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It is time of the year, when love is in the air.  Valentine’s Day is round the corner, and I have a little something for you towards the end of this entry.  I hope though, you have the patience to read through this.

1. Friendship Matrix

Some say no man is an island.  We are social species that feed on relationship.  We require constant interaction with one another in order to survive and thrive.  Is that so?  Here is a little exercise for you.  First, take out a piece of paper and draw a table of four columns.  Then, go through the following steps.

  1. On the first column, list out your friends, love ones, and the significant few whom you have met in the last one to three years.  You may extend to five.  My memory does not seem to go that far.  Yours may.
  2. On the second column, put a tick to those who would go out of their ways to catch up with you or proactively set up an appointment with you.  For example, I have friends who would drive all the way to where I live and meet me.  Or overseas friends who would make a detour in their traveling plan to order to catch up with me.  Or we would meet somewhere midway, away from our work places or default habitats.
  3. On the third column, put a tick to those whom you would go out of your way to meet them or proactively set up appointments with them.
  4. On the fourth column, put a cross to those whom you have not met in the last six months.

It is a good self reflection exercise.  It should come as no surprise that friends who would go out of their way to meet you and you to them are the precious ones, even though you two may not have met in recent days.  What happens to those crossed entries with one tick?  In my opinion, reciprocation sustains relationship.  There is only that many times someone would go out of his or her way to meet you, to bug you for a catch up session.

Or it could be a sign whereby you are not that hot on their matrix, or they not in yours.

Who knows?

2. Free Time

Last week, I lunched with my friend who works in the same area as I do, who brought along two of his colleagues.  Jolly good.  I love meeting new people.  One looks so young and she is a mother of two.  Woah.  I did not ask but she told me that her first child was born when she was 25.  I envy her for starting young.  She envies me for having so much free time.  It is true.  Almost every young parent I have met pours his or her entire life essence and every breathing moment onto his or her children.  One friend of mine has indefinitely retired from the computer gaming scene.  Every time when I hear someone telling me that having a child is a joyful experience and that I should have one.  Inevitably, at the back of my head, I keep wondering if it is a conspiracy theory among parents who want to get more onto the same boat like they do.

One friend recently asked how my free time is allocated.  I don’t have a kid.  So my free time besides eat, pee, and sheep is basically spent on video gamming, blogging, reading, watching TV (because Cynthia loves it), playing music, and studying Spanish – in that order.  I consider my free time utilization pretty much balanced between active and passive activities.  I suppose in another time dimension, of a different me, I might have traded these for raising a kid.  Perhaps, looking from ten thousand meter above ground, it does not matter how we spend our free time.  So long as we are not killing each other, it is OK.

3. Escapism

I seldom meet her these days.  Maybe she is busy, maybe I am busy, or maybe our friendship matrix has fallen apart (which I hope not).  One day, she told me that in her opinion, gamers who indulge in video gaming are not happy with their work, their life, or with both.  Playing video games is a form of escapism, to hide away from real life, she said.

She is not wrong.  Recently, there is a study showing that among all the gaming genres, first-person-shoot and role-playing-game – especially online type – are the most addictive ones.  I can’t shoot for my life.  But I enjoy role playing.  Role playing is a form of escapism.  What about reading a fantasy book?  Or watching a fantasy TV series or a movie?  We want to be taken to that magical place once in a while.  We want to be that Viking who rides on a Night Fury and defeats the most fearsome dragon that terrorizes the land.  We want to know … how to train our dragon.

Unlike a TV program or a movie, video gaming is an active entertainment.  You don’t sit back and watch the story unfolds.  You participate as the story is being told making tons of little tiny decisions along the way.  In as much as there are studies against it, there are studies for it.  It is a hobby with a divided view.  A taboo in most work environment.

4. “No Makeup” Makeup

When we are not playing an online game together, Cynthia spends time on YouTube and on TV.  I don’t get it.  Almost every episode of Dog Whisperer we see Cesar Millan, his well mannered dogs including Daddy, one or more problematic dogs, and their respective human victims.  Almost every makeup video in YouTube starts with a stunning end result, a shockingly plain looking girl applying makeup, and after what appears as an eternity, she arrives at the end result as foretold.  Deep inside, I don’t mind peeping onto those YouTube videos playing in Cynthia’s computer occasionally – like I peep onto Dog Whisperer.  Because some of these girls are quite pretty.  I often say to Cynthia, to master the application of makeup, one must start with the very fundamental – learn to paint and learn to work with colors.  If you cannot paint on paper, how then can you paint your face?

Cynthia and I recently have two hot debate topics.  One is “no makeup” makeup.  Another one is those-are-natural those-are-not.  Let’s start with “no makeup” makeup.

Cynthia insists that there is such a thing called “no makeup” makeup.  It may take hours to achieve such end result that starts from no makeup and finishes with “no makeup”.  You can even Google “no makeup” makeup.  To me, it is a myth.  But it seems to exist.  “No makeup” makeup baffles me.  When I watched YUI’s concert recording or alan’s music video – both are young Japanese – I swear I cannot see any makeup.  I would scream “See, there is no makeup!”  Cynthia would reply “Look, that is ‘no makeup’ makeup!  The makeup is so thick!”  She would ask me to pay attention to the eyelashes, the contour, the light and shadow around here and there, the concealer, the eye shadow, and that there is not a single drop of sweat on YUI’s face under bright flood light.

Nope.  I still don’t get it.  I say it is good genes with good skin.  Like those naturally gifted ones who possess visually pleasing physical profiles, from head to toe.  She would say, “Those are fake!”.  And I would say, “Those are not!”

I am a man.  I know what is fake and what is not.

I think.

5. Love and Obsession

Remember those who drove you crazily in love?  Remember those moments that seemed so magical back then, moments that were not orchestrated but happened out of the blue?  Remember those days when you felt so hopelessly obsessed, your poor mind was kneaded like a dough?  What is love and obsession?  Where does it come from and where has it gone?  Are you missing that little sparkle in your relationship?  Well my friends, little do you know that you could gain some insights by playing an online video game.  Fortunately you do not need to play one to gain some.  Here is my observation for sharing.

In that game, there are routines that a group of random people meet regularly to achieve a common objective.  The routines have become such a chore that most would go through the journey in silence, do their job for the hope of a reward.  Within the community, it is joked that we are like married couples having sex.  Why then are people so obsessed with the routines?

For this aspect of the game, two kinds of rewards are given.  Three if you count the “no reward” reward.  One is like a paid wages.  You do a lot, you earn a little every time you do it.  There is no surprise as in how much you will get.  If you are the persistence type, over time, you will be rewarded accordingly.  Not handsomely, but accordingly.  The second type of reward is a surprise payout.  You know what you are after.  But there is no guarantee that you are getting it, or when you are getting it.  Think of your first kiss, or the first time you hold that someone’s hand.  You go through the journey in hope for a non-guaranteed reward that you know exactly what it is that you want.  It is constantly bouncing in your mind and your hope over time is high.  When you are rewarded with that something you have been dreaming for so long, you experience an emotional spike (and I hope that you partner does too).  Then you ask, what’s next?  Such obsession only terminates when there is nothing more to hope for or when you lose that hunger of that yearning inner desire.

If you stop and think about it, this is similar to being in a relationship.  Are you creating those moments of impromptu rewards of significance for your partner?  Do you still have that hunger to desire that loving feeling from your partner?  Have you played a part in putting back the sparkle in your relationship?  Have you played a part in creating the opportunity for such to happen?  Even though life may seem like a chore at times, aplenty [manmade] rewards are just round the corners ready to be unlocked.  That is how I see it anyway.

Now, before I forget, I shall drop a note to my friend’s wife telling her that my buddy is secretly hoping to receive a boxer shorts gift from her.

Categories: Snippet of My Life
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Final Fantasy XIII-2: The First Eight Hours

February 5th, 2012 by Wilfrid
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In the opening scene of Final Fantasy XIII-2, when protagonist of the previous episode Lightning rode in her new divine outfit carrying a silver shiny shield, I was in tears.  I could not breath and my emotion ran high.  This is the pinnacle of video gaming when audience are fully immersed into the story, or rather, a series of stories.  International fans have played through part one.  We were moved and we want more.  For a moment, perhaps a brief moment, we could forgive and forget how the game developer Square Enix destroys the franchise by releasing the disastrous Final Fantasy XIV Online.  So, time for a rewind.  We move forward from episode thirteen to episode fourteen and now back to thirteen part two.

I sincerely hope that the genre Japanese Role Playing Game remains as it is.  Trying to please the West too much may lose this genre’s unique flavor – beautiful animation, deep dialogues, and wild imagination in all possible dimensions.  Not to say that I do not enjoy Western RPG.  I do.  But the two should have distinct flavors.

In some ways though, the inevitable influence is there.  This new installment has been improved upon based on international fans’ feedback.  The story is less linear.  Many cut scenes you could choose not to trigger if you prefer action to sit back and enjoy a good anime clip.  Even the cinematic clips now demand your full attention.  Some of these moments play like action games such as God of War III.  The English version of Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) is a new game released last week and I have spent eight hours so far with it.  Two chapters I have completed.  Barely scratching the surface, for sure.  If you have played or heard of the previous installment and wish to know what improvements or changes have been made, look no further.  Here is a breakdown for you.  I will write another post once I arrive at the next milestone.

Does Time Travel Make the Game Less Linear?

What a coincident that the two games – FF13-2 and WoW - use the same concept of time traveling in roughly the same development period.  Both looks upon end time on how the future may have been and both stories send ripples to the worlds by allowing the heroes to change the events in the past.  In FF13-2, Lightning the new Goddess of Warrior reined over a mystery world called Valhalla, which seems to be constantly under siege by evil forces.  Noel, the last of the humanity, goes through the time portal hoping to change the past, meets Lightning.  Lightning sends him back to the past to find her sister Serah.  In Serah‘s reality, Lightning has disappeared after the fall of Cocoon.  In the previous episode, it was Lightning who searches for her sister.  In this episode, it is the other way round

In FF13, we pretty much follow a linear story that is filled with lengthy cut scenes.  In between the thirteen chapters, there is an open world called Gran Pulse for us to quest and grind.  In FF13-2, each chapter is separated in time and place.  There is a main story that we can go back and forth.  And there are branches to other side stories too.  It may appear that there are choices to be made.  We get to decide how the story is consumed.

Another point to note is that unlike FF13, FF13-2′s map has more options for exploration.  You could of course head from one story trigger to another.  Or you could spend some time to explore and be rewarded with extra items and more side quests.

Where are the Quests?

It seems to me that in FF13-2, we are encouraged to talk to people who are wandering around the area.  It gives you a good sense of where the story is heading.  More importantly, some are quest givers who you would not have known had you not talked to them.  This is old school.  We are so used to newer role playing games that feed us with the question marks on top of the quest givers.  In a strange way, I enjoy this aspect of exploration.

Where are the Monsters?

Vanished.  You hear right.  Unlike FF13 and other role playing games, the monsters in FF13-2 are invisible.  They ambush you instead.  As you walk, all of a sudden, the monsters may appear.  You then have a few second to turn around, move to the monsters, and attempt to hit them before they sense you.  That is the new Preemptive Strike mechanism.  If you remember FF13, this mechanic requires you to go behind a moving monster, which can be a bit frustrating.  I quite like this new mechanism in FF13-2.  Also, it seems more interesting not to see a world populated with groups of monsters that pace around a fix location.

Thank God there are breadcrumbs on the mini map.  I would have been disoriented by the change in direction, all the time.

Where are the Other Members?

Gone.  That’s correct.  Gone are the days when we get to pick which main characters we wish to bring along for a party of three.  In FF13-2, we have Serah.  And we have Noel.  In FF13, from the role playing perspective, if we do not like certain characters, no problem.  We can swap them out.  Not so for this new episode.  We better love Serah and Noel because we are stuck with these two.

I do not think Serah has the well loved character of Lightning.  She does not have the ever so positive personality of Vanille either. As for Noel, he is not as demanding as Hope (phew).  But he does not have the strong personality as Serah‘s now disappeared boyfriend Snow.  Maybe it is still early in the game.  I am hoping to see more from the duo.

Now, to compensate for the lack of playable main characters, we can tame monsters.  Almost every monster out there can be tamed and can join the party.  Each monster is preassigned with one role.  They can be leveled up with raw materials, very much like how weapons in FF13 can be upgraded.  The whole monster management business is in fact pretty complex.  You will need a good guidebook to take you through.  I happen to use one (see the advertisement below).

What the Mog?

Mog is a stuffed toy that flies.  A creature sent by Lightning to Serah through Noel.  And Mog is now Serah‘s companion.  Its job (so far) is to hunt for near invisible items.  Yes, keep your eyes wide opened when playing FF13-2 and look out for those near invisible objects.

How cute is the Mog?  Check out the trailer below.

Action Cinematic and Dialogue Choices

Cinematic clips now require us to pay attention on the screen and press a combination of control buttons.  Very much like Heavy Rain.  Failing to execute the combo will lose extra rewards.  However, you will be rewarded with an alternative clip.  The end result is the same (I think).

This same action feature also becomes a must during battle, when your party’s controlled monster charges up a full bar of Feral Link.

Some dialogues now have four options.  I am unsure if it matters which option I pick.  It plays a different clip though.  Long time ago, I debated on why a linear game may not be bad because we get to see all the contents in one run.  Now, we may need to play it multiple times to see the different dialogue clips.  If you are a completionist, that is.

Paradigms, Roles, and Crystarium

The concept of paradigms and roles do not change much, although FF13-2 seems to reward us for shifting paradigms often during battle (ATB fully charged every other turn when shifted to another paradigm).  Crystarium has undergone a revamp.  Instead of the three dimensional “talent tree” that gives you options of which non-mandatory point to pick, FF13-2 flattens the entire Crystarium into one linear scale.  We now pick which role we level.  Crystarium expands once we reach a certain cumulative level and allows us to pick a bonus (such as ATB+1 or a new role).  It does not affect me too much.  Perhaps simplification is good, much like what WoW is going to do with the talent tree in Mists of Pandaria.

Optimization of Serah and Noel‘s Crystarium is not easy.  I use a guidebook that comes with tables and charts.  I do not think I have time to play a second run in near future.  So I prefer to do it right on first try.

Do We Need to Grind?

I don’t mind grinding.  But I know some do.  If you don’t read the guidebook and play the game as you like, you would probably grind less.  I follow the guidebook’s recommendation to tame certain monsters.  And taming takes time because not every battle yields a crystal.  I ended up going back and forth trying to encounter a particular type of monster and hope to tame one.

This takes time.  But I am not complaining (yet) because I am rewarded with in-game currency and raw materials that can be used to level up the tamed monster.

A Guidebook, Recommended?

I bought the official FF13 guidebook after I have finished the game.  I wish I had one during my initial play through.  This time, I invested on the official FF13-2 guidebook upfront.  I have the Collector’s Edition.  It is beautifully bound and contains tons of useful information presented in eye pleasing colored format.  To get the best out of the game, I would strongly recommend you to get the official guidebook.

Strongly recommended.

Too Long Didn’t Read

Are you a fan?  If you are, buy FF13-2 and play.  You won’t regret it.  The changes are mostly good.  It still plays like the game you have adored a year ago.  Be ready to commit time if you wish to see every aspect of it.

Categories: For the Geeks
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Lord Of The Flies By William Golding – A Hard Look At Who We Are

February 3rd, 2012 by Wilfrid
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Let’s not dissect Lord of the Flies in an academic style.  I am sure that has been done professionally over and over for decades.  Some studied this book in school.  As for me, when I first saw the title many years ago, I mistook it to be related to Lord of the Ring.  Soon I found out that it is not.  I may have bought this 50th anniversary edition eight years ago.  But I did not have the courage to read it, until recently, when I have this crazy for old classic books.

This story prompts me to ponder upon our very own humanity, when society may one day break down, a return to the prehistorical era.  Can democracy, human rights, respect to all things and more survive when we plunge into a setting similar to the reality TV series Survivor?  Like the famous Chinese proverbs, are we born as good or are we born as evil?  How do we as a human race build our society to what we have today and what is keeping it from falling apart?  We have seen, as history has told us, the rise and fall of civilization.  What if …

Tons of questions in my head after reading Lord of the Flies.

It is a simple story.  A group of British boys not older than 13 years of age have crash landed onto an island.  It is the era of nuclear warfare.  What happens outside the island, no one can speculate.  One of the main characters Ralph – a natural born leader with charisma, good intention, and a logical mind – finds a conch by chance.  Upon blowing it, he unintentionally gathers the boys who are scattered around the incident scene.  Ralph then calls upon a meeting.  His first agenda is to determine if they are indeed on an island.  An impromptu agenda, it seems.  Like any politician who is gifted to think on his feet, he delivers a rather fluent speech.  Piggy – an overweight boy with bad eyesight and asthma – encapsulates the concept of the intellect group that is important to a society, but can be physically vulnerable.  He is a trusted adviser to Ralph, although Ralph often bullies him like everyone else.  He holds one of the most important tools in the island – a pair of glasses that can be used to make fire.

The way I see it, in this remote island, Ralph and Piggy represents the last defender of civilization trying their best to uphold democracy and to assign work to others in order to ensure their basic survivability.  The boys are tasked to create a fire big enough to signal any ship that may pass by as well.  While all are motivated by a rescue plan, most do not like to work.  Without reward and enforcement, the boys soon are doing their own things ignoring the assigned duties.  In this island where there is no such thing as law – what does law mean to the young boys anyway – how can a community get organized?

Here come the hunters.  Led by Jack, another leader in his own right, a bunch of choir boys go about hunting pigs for food.  Jack has lost the leadership position because he does not gather enough votes in the first assembly.  Back then, a sound rescue plan seemed more superior to chasing pigs in a foreign island.  But as time goes by, eating meat appears to be more satisfying than eating fruits.  Killing seems to be more superior to waiting for a rescue.  The very first kill Jack and his hunters made marks a major turning point of the story – boys losing their innocent.  The consequence is immense.  With new found confidence and the will to kill, Jack stands up against Ralph.  It is like the military against the council.  If pigs can be killed as food, why can’t humans be killed?  Especially the ones that stand against those who wield the wooden spike?

I am ahead of myself here.  There is no taking of human lives until the arrival of Lord of the Flies.  Simon is a peaceful boy.  Someone who is positive and loves the nature.  While Ralph motivates the boys with a rescue plan, Ralph terrifies with the boys with the presence of a beast – a terror born out of the nightmares of the younger ones.  Where does the beast come from?  Nobody knows.  Some say it comes from within the island.  Some say it comes from the sea.  In fact, the so-called beast is none other than the corpse of a pilot who parachuted into the island and died.  Only Simon has seen the corpse.  He is assigned by Jack to carry the pig’s head as an offering to the beast.  A head that is dripped in blood and swarmed with flies.  All of a sudden, Simon has a vision.  A terrible one.  He sees Lord of the Flies, consumed by it, and become it.  To me, Lord of the Flies personifies the Devil.  It has a message for Simon and the boys.  It is they who create the beast.  And it is they who have the beast within.

This is where the beauty of symbolism comes alive in this book.  The pig is initially described as a swine peacefully feeding her children.  Nothing ugly or foul in that sense.  Once brutally killed, its decapitated head looks gross, covered with flies.  The pig’s head is offered to the beast created by the boys that in reality is a corpse that does nothing.  The pig is transformed into Lord of the Flies that engulfed Simon.  Later that day, Simon was murdered by the boys in an animalistic ritual.  Such act then corrupts the boys into further murdering and torturing of their kind.  It is as though an element of devil that originates from the boys has spread and now lives in each of the boy.  Upon reading this, I cannot help but to ponder on the old debate on God and Devil.  If God creates all things in life, what about evilness?  What makes this story realistic is the demonstration of free will.  Unfortunately, this also makes it depressing to read.  Is there hope in humanity?  Is it an inevitable fate that we shall degenerate into such terrible stage in end time?

From the social standpoint, it is interesting to observe how Ralph and Jack split into two camps due to their differences in beliefs.  They think that it is happier that way.  Initially yes.  But sadly, separation has its issues.  It fosters hostility and insecurity, much like today’s world.  That eventually leads to violence and bloodshed.

In the end, when all hope is lost, a naval vessel has found the island.  The boys are saved, all crying for the loss of innocence.  But is this true salvation?  When the naval vessel is heading to another war – the war of the adults?  The ending is truly depressing, yet truly awakening.  Can we ever break away from this cycle of endless killing and evil deeds?  Or is this the only mean of survival?

As an afterthought, I think there is much imbalance in this novel. I cannot help but to imagine what if these are girls instead of boys.  Would it be any difference?  What if we have a mixed group of boys and girls?  Would that make the story too distractive due to an extra layer of social complexity?  This book briefly touches onto the topic of the need for a religion but stops there.  Why is there no balancing act against the presence of the Devil?  It is as though the author is screaming: Give up, there is no good, no evil, there is no God, only Devil.  My heart weeps thinking about it.

To me, this story is devoid of love.  And we know that in the absence of love and light lies hatred and evilness.  Perhaps, that is the main message.

Categories: Book Reviews · Fiction
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Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning – A Demo Play

January 31st, 2012 by Wilfrid
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Update Feb 7, 2012: I have pre-ordered the game and have started playing since last evening at eleven.  The graphics display is so much better than the demo version.  I use a game pad (Xbox Controller) on a PC version.  All the clumsiness of the keyboard and mouse control has gone!  Yes, use a game pad to play this game.  And if you are put off buy the demo quality, I am happy to say that the full game version is so much better.

I have not heard of Reckoning until recently, when the media starts to pick up on this upcoming western role playing game.  Some label this as one of the most anticipated games in 2012.  Wow, really?  So I gave the demo a try.  Now, before I get into that, here is a little background for you.  Lead designer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Ken Rolston is the executive designer of Reckoning.  Fantasy author R.A. Salvatore writes the lore and Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn, creates the artwork.  In 2009, THQ sold Big Huge Game – the then developer of this game – to 38 Studios, which is owned by former baseball pitcher Curt Schilling.  And EA Game is the publisher for Reckoning.  I think so far so good except the last bit.  I am not a fan of EA Game (recently broke the $1 billion mark in 2011 by the way).  While I am pretty sure EA Game will destroy any sequel Kingdoms of Amalur may have – as how they destroy the Dragon Age franchise and more – let’s enjoy Reckoning while it lasts.

Reckoning is a vast open world western role playing game with an engaging combat system.  It plays almost like a hybrid of Oblivion and God of War.  Because the executive designer comes from The Elder Scrolls, Reckoning has a distinct Oblivion feel.  I have not played Skyrim.  Reckoning appears to have fixed a lot of annoyance I found in Oblivion.  I don’t need to keep jumping or walking in stealth in order to gain level.  Lock picking seems less frustrating.  Spell casting and melee fight appears to be more seamless.  It is so much easier to target, execute the moves in arcade style, dodge out of the danger, and continue to hack and slash, mixing magic with brutal melee attacks.  And the dialogues?  They have brought in the experts from Dragon Age team to help.  Hence the strong resemblance.  Although I must say, try not to expect the same level of cause-and-effect as it is in the Mass Effect universe.

There are four playable races.  Two look like human race while the other two look like elves.  You don’t get to pick a class, but rather you may specialize into might, finesse, and sorcery abilities.  That roughly maps to a warrior class, a rogue class, and a wizard class.  You can also have a hybrid of two, or even three.  According to the interviews I have read so far, hybrid classes are totally viable.  And you get to reset your choices in-game, if you so wish to.  In another word, you don’t have to get stuck with a character development that you may have regretted.

Specializing into finesse can be very satisfying.  As a rogue like class, you can eliminate your enemy with one-shot (that comes with decent animation).  I  have also tried a wizard like class.  For these sort of games, I often find it hard to survive as a magic player.  Reckoning‘s combat system makes it somewhat easier.  But I still prefer a strong melee warrior type of character.  I am just not too good at button mashing.

This game will be available on Feb 7 for the three gaming platforms.  I feel that the game play may flavor the use of a controller, rather than keyboard and mouse.  I have tried the PC demo.  It does require my fingers to be quite acrobatically agile.  To sprint, I need to toggle the left control key while performing the traditional WAD mashing.  To execute the reckoning nuke move, I need to press and hold the X key while moving around and mashing both the keyboard and the mouse.  There is no jumping in Reckoning (boo?).  Pressing space bar enables your character to dodge at a direction you desire (yes, more button mashing).  Some dislike the menu system.  It does require quite a few clicks to get to where I want and quite a few ESC buttons to get back to the game.  Because of the traditional inventory management system like any good old role player game has, I tend to visit the menu quite often to equip items during game play.  I wish they could streamline how items can be equipped rather than the need to click through different categories in order to equip them.

I have played the demo twice.  The game is certainly growing on me.  The lore seems interesting and the encounters are refreshing.  According to the developers, if you are to play Reckoning on easy mode skipping all the dialogues, it will take you 200 hours to complete all the quests.  This is one very lengthy game, be warned!

  • Click here to view in-game images (with captions).

If you find the demo unplayable, you are not the only one.  EA Game has sent the 3 months old code (prior to reaching gold standard) to a third party to package into a demo version.  The result is a disaster.  This is so typical of EA Game of course.  On one end of the spectrum, we have games like Diablo III whereby the demo or beta is almost flawless.  The game takes forever to be released.  On the other end of the spectrum, we have Reckoning whereby the demo is so broken that it leaves many on the fence.  Shall I pre-order or shall I not?  Ken Rolston is right about one thing though.  EA Game does generate the buzz as promise.  I hope it is a good buzz.  If you have time, you may wish to read Curt Schilling’s sincere apology.  That post moves me.  According to one official game reviewer, the game in its released form plays smoothly, with no issue.  So it could well be the demo’s poor quality and not the full game.  Back to the PC demo, if you have a black screen problem (like I did), go to video setting and disable the post-processing option.  If you are unable to connect to EA server and claim your bonus items should you buy a full game, open the personal.ini file located in your document directory, wipe away the “blaze_email” entry, and restart the demo.  This should solve your problem.

PS. Reckoning is the title of the last episode of Legend of the Seeker season one.  In that episode, the Seeker’s eyes send out beams of light, just like in this game.  And in this game, the destiny card for a character that generalizes into three abilities is coincidentally called the “Seeker”.

Categories: For the Geeks
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Chinese New Year TV Marathon – Seeker, Confessor, Shu Qi, Ayumi, Alice, And More

January 25th, 2012 by Wilfrid
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Contrary to everyone’s belief, Cynthia and I did not spend 4 days in front of our computers playing our favorite online game.  We have hardly touched that game during this holiday.  Ha!  It is for the love of Chinese tradition (hard to explain so we shall leave it there).  It is a rare opportunity to take a break from the game.  And the main reason is because Cynthia has envisaged this holiday to be a TV marathon.  She has magically transformed me into a coach potato for four full days.  Water and snacks were within an arm’s length.  We ate at our sofa every day.  And the only time we moved out of the coach was to answer the call of nature.  She hypnotized me using modern technology.  Some of what we consumed was junks, as in most things that come out from that box.  Others though are worth mentioning.

Legend of the Seeker (Season One)

To be totally honest, what initially attracted me to this TV series was the rather, erm shall I say, revealing medieval clothing that accentuates the beauty of a female body.  Some of the slow motion scenes can really pop my eyes, my heart, and what not.  How fortunate are the men in the old days.  I also find the costume and backdrop pretty authentic, especially since I am a huge fan of fantasy computer games.  When I paid better attention to the story and tried not to be distracted by the eye candies and on-screen chemistry, it is pretty faithful to the genre of fantasy.  Love, friendship, betrayal, sacrifice, good and evil, heroes and cowards, battles, sorcery, quests and more quests, difficult decisions and more love – all checked.  There are some unique hooks that I don’t often find in other fantasy titles.  Sharing more here you may find me insane, as though I am talking to myself.  So I shall leave it here.  We have consumed 5 discs worth of entertainment – the entire season one – in 4 days.  Monsters, we are!

Now, why on earth would they drop the franchise after a merely two seasons of broadcast?  Save the Seeker.  Please.

A Beautiful Life (不再讓你孤單)

At home, we have a rather good collection of DVD or Blu-ray, most are not opened.  I always have this urge to buy and collect.  But I seldom have the time to watch them.  During this holiday, I tried to look for a happy movie suitable for the occasion.  My eyes stopped at Shu Qi.  It is a Chinese movie.  Both titles – English and Chinese – sound positive.  So I jammed the disc into our player, sat back, and clicked play.  Cynthia has started crying way before the movie ended.  I would say “A Beautiful Life” is an art house type of movie, an emotional one.  During the interview, Shu Qi mentioned that making this movie was harder than a martial art one.  Some clips can last as long as 10 minutes, continuously.  Imagine having to do several retakes.  I pity the cameraman who carried that ninety pounds monster.

It is a rather beautiful movie.  A movie about love in difficult circumstances.  What some may see as handicap, in the eyes of the loved ones, they are unique.  It is a movie about finding happiness.  Quite an inspiring one I must say.  Good acting.  Two thumbs up.

Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2010-2011 A: Do It Again

After a while, I begin to lose track of how many Ayumi concerts I have watched on TV.  Each year, she releases one tour recording and one countdown recording.  I can tell each tour recording by theme.  But I am often confused by the countdown releases.  At the end of each year, Ayumi hosts a concert for the fans.  Usually the song set is pretty mellow in the start.  Then there is a buildup to the countdown and thereafter, you can almost guess what songs she is going to play.  Upbeat, rather happy.  Unlike the tour performance, the song choice for the countdown concert often gears towards her older classic – which is good because it is different from the tour recording.  But that also means that all the countdown recordings are somewhat the same – hence the confusion.  If not for the beautiful duet “Dream On”, I would not have known if I have already watched it some time in the past.  How come “Dream On” has not been released in any album?  How come there is no duet in any of Ayumi’s album?  I have no idea.  One thing for sure though.  Ayumi is single, and available again.

The stage is pretty unique for this countdown concert.  There are a few concentric pieces that rotate and elevate.  And Ayumi has put the stage right in the middle of the stadium.  I thought it is a pretty good design.

Alice: Madness Returns

“Alice” is neither a movie nor a TV series.  It glued me in front of the TV nonetheless.  I am a big fan of Alice in Wonderland.  This is a game adaptation.  A second one indeed.  I bought the PS3 version, at a discount.

Recently, I read an article on how game developers dread the review scene.  If a game is poorly reviewed, or even at lukewarm, that turns gamers away from buying it.  Thousands and millions of dollar of investment go into the drain.  Years of development go along with that.  It is a brutal scene.  This game “Alice: Madness Returns” has not been kindly reviewed.  I hesitated during its release, have forgotten about it for a long time, then I saw the rather attractive price tag a few days ago.  I have always enjoyed playing a game as a heroine.  This version of Alice wields a Vorpal sword (you have to ask Lewis Carroll what that is) and lives in a real dark and twisted world.  Despite the lukewarm review, I have decided to give it a try.  This game is not perfect.  I will probably write a more detail account of my adventure with Alice in the future.  However, from what I have experienced so far, I like it.

Categories: Blu-ray / DVD Review · For the Geeks
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This Is Pulau Ubin

January 22nd, 2012 by Wilfrid
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I have always been curious about Pulau Ubin – an island off our mainland.  For more than a decade, Cynthia and I and some of our friends have been talking about visiting Pulau Ubin.  To cycle, or to observe the wildlife.  For some reasons, all that talk does not seem to go anywhere.  Earlier last year, I have joined a corporate volunteering event to weed at Pulau Ubin.  The island is charming.  Rural, unlike any place I have seen in Singapore.  During my mother’s visit, I brought there her for a day trip.  My sister also wanted to join us.  So we have five adults and a toddler, eager to explore the very last defender of Singapore’s village living.

Pulau Ubin is a 1020-hectare island.  It is not as tiny as I thought.  It does look like a mini Singapore.  The town center is on the south by the shore (just like our mainland!).  West side of the island is reserved for Outward Bound.  To the east, there is Chek Jawa Wetlands.  I laughed when we saw the posters saying that there are wild pigs in the island.  Ya right.  This is Singapore.  Lo and behold, there are wild pigs in Singapore!  They were dashing around near the Wetlands looking for, I suppose, food.  Cynthia said that the wild pigs are smelly.  To be frank, I smell nothing of that sort.  I smell only the smell of nature.

It was a nice walk from the town center to the wetlands.  Armed with the printed guide by our National Park, we could more or less figure out the landmarks and the points of attraction.  Cynthia was our de facto map reader.  I was hopelessly reading our location off my GPS phone.  Fortunately, we have Benny, our real map reader.

Would you bring a 2-year old toddler to Pulau Ubin?  To be honest, it was quite nerve wrecking to get my niece Bethany in and out of the boat.  Because in Singapore, these small boats are not secured to the pier during boarding time.  They reverse, press against the pier with the engine on, and the passengers then gingerly jump in and out of the boat.  As for the walk, majority of the roads are paved.  But there are some unpaved roads.  So, my sister has to turn back while my mother, Cynthia and I pressed on.  Do bring insect repellent.  And lots of sunblock.

Pictures speak a thousand words.  And I have prepared a photo album, just for you.

  • Click here to view the photo album.

To get to Pulau Ubin, you can take a boat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal.  Once you are in the island, you can go on foot (expect hours of walking), take a taxi, or rent a bicycle.  Next time I visit the island, I would cycle for sure.

Categories: Diary · Photography
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Dinner & Lunch

January 17th, 2012 by Wilfrid
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Part One – Dinner

Perhaps I shall hand out a feedback form to my mother to fill in at the end of her each visit to Singapore, at the airport, before flying back to Hong Kong.  The questions, I would imagine, go something like …

  1. Have you seen enough of your son in your visit?  [ ]
  2. Have you spent enough quality time with your daughter and your granddaughter?  [ ]
  3. Is your son’s home comfortable to live in?  Do you feel at home?  [ ]
  4. Do you feel overworked with the cooking and dish cleaning?  [ ]
  5. Have you been taken out often enough for sightseeing and dinning?  Sushi perhaps?  [ ]
  6. Do you enjoy your stay in Singapore?  [ ]
  7. Will you be back in the next 6 to 12 months?  [ ]

I honestly do not know how well or badly I do.  Maybe I could have done more, a lot more.  Maybe I am not so used to having people around me all the time, besides Cynthia.

Last Saturday evening – the evening before my mother headed back the next day – Cynthia and I were scratching our heads pondering where to bring my mother for dinner.  We discussed on the way to Church, we discussed while waiting for the Mass to begin, and we discussed on the way home.  We picked up my mother and we were still deliberating.  Where to eat?  Where?  To eat?  Such a profound question.  So fundamental.

Out of nowhere, I remember a radio advertisement.  Botak Jones’s new fully air-con restaurant opened somewhere in Balestier Road.  Inside the car, we quickly took out our wireless phones raced to search for the address.  We turned on Google Map.  In no time, we located the restaurant.

We seldom visit Balestier area, except that one time when I was hunting to buy a toilet seat, in board daylight.  Cynthia said the area reminded her of Jakarta.  As for my mother, Malaysia.  Botak Jones, to my best knowledge, started as a stall inside a hawker center serving authentic American food at a price comparable to other outdoor eatery stalls.  The tagline as I have later found out is: damn good food at damn good price.  That explains the T-shirts the staffs are wearing with the big logo “Damn Good” at the back.  The food is indeed pretty decent.  For burgers, I reckon the price is pretty good as well.  Around S$10.  My mother has ordered lamb chop and I, steak.  Ours were about S$20 each.  With two portions of mushroom soup (which was really good, or we were really hungry) and chargeable warm water, the bill came up to just over S$60.  I would say, Botak Jones serves pretty good food at a OK price, albeit the rather long wait for our food to be served.

Part Two – Lunch

In my current job role, I am not so used to having people lunching with me.  Hence, I often have my lunch alone.  It was seldom the case when I was working in town.  I always called upon friends from beyond my organization.  Since the office relocation, I have grown to enjoy the serenity of man-made lake and greenery, to treasure the time of my own.  I get to read books in a quiet space.  Or drive out and visit a library nearby.  Even lunch by the beach.  Recently, one friend of mine who works a few blocks away introduced me to a mall called Changi City Point.  You cannot imagine my excitement that day.

It is hard to describe the sheer pleasure in me when I first stepped inside.  A mall about ten minutes’ walk away from my office.  A mall that I did not even know exists.  It is quite a sizable mall.  Brand new, with garden (or rather oasis) concept.  Plenty of restaurants and cafes, outlets and there is even a music school.  Perhaps I shall take some drumming lessons during my lunch hours.  The food court in the mall offers cheaper and better food compares to my office’s canteen.  Pretty good food at a OK price.  My choice is obvious.  Better still, I get to have my healthy dosage of fresh air and sun and a good amount of walking every working day.

P.S.

The maps you see in this post are generated from Streetdirectory.com.  If you are from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, or Philippines, you may use their widget to spice up your webpage.  Right now, they are running a treasure hunt campaign.  Click here for more information.  If you do win an iPad and you – like every other people in Singapore – have already got one, please send it over.  Thanks!

Categories: Diary
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Memories of My Melancholy Whores By Gabriel García Márquez

January 12th, 2012 by Wilfrid
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This book, I have read twice.  After “My Cousin Rachel“, I wanted to keep up with the soul nourishing reading spree.  I ransacked my book collection, even scanned through the book list according to Harold Bloom’s Western Canon for inspiration.  I have read “Memories of My Melancholy Whores” once, possibly in the year of 2004.  I wish I had started writing book summary or introduction since the day I have started reading.  It is without a doubt one of the top-10-things-to-do-if-I-could-turn-back-time.

Gabriel García Márquez is a Colombian writer who has awarded with Nobel Price in Literature in 1982.  I have always wanted to read his books.  Both “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and “Love in the Time of Cholera” look mightily heavy.  Perhaps one day I will consume them.  For now, I am happy to have read his modern novella, especially since I enjoy reading short story format.

The topic of humanity has a wide reaching coverage.  To that extend, I shall not read this book purely from the angle of morality.  Any mature individual should be able to tackle the material with an open mind.  Those things that you may not approve of in life do not mean that they do not exist.  Nor should they be conveniently ignored.  I do not believe that the writer uses the book to endorse certain objectionable behaviors.  Rather, he uses it to bring out a facet of life that some of us rather not look at.

Because of its mature content, I would not recommend this book to the young adults (nor should you continue reading this post if you are one).  Also, this post may contains spoilers.  In case if you plan to read the book, you may wish to come back later instead.

The narrator of the story is turning ninety.  And he has an idea on what to get for his birthday.

The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin.

This one simple, yet genuine statement kick starts the story, sets the tone of what is to come, and basically tells the book in one line.  Slowly, the author introduces the main character: his near-century long career of being a mediocre columnist, his wedding that he failed to turn up, his stumbling into the scene of prostitution when he was merely twelve, and decades of paid sex without love, without friends.  Why does not he get married?  Why frequent the prostitutes?  To that, his reply is:

Sex is the consolation you have when you can’t have love.

No, that does not justify his action of sleeping with more than five hundreds women by the age of fifty.  Nor it was his intend to boost his conquest.  It is a consolation.  For someone who has lived for decades without someone to love, it sounds melancholy to me.  As a reader, I do not despise the main character.  I sympathy him.

I do not know the era the story sets in.  There is a hint that it may be in the ’60s.  I suppose the era does not matter.  Even in today’s world, underage girls are sold into prostitution (more can be read in CNN’s The Freedom Project).  When this ‘adolescent virgin’ turns out to be a 14 years old girl, part of me frown upon the main character’s moral standard, even though he did not specify his requirement for the virgin’s age.  Part of me, however, is aware that this is a slice of reality.

I woke in the small hours, not remembering where I was.  The girl still slept in a fetal position, her back to me.  I had a vague feeling that I had sensed her getting up in the dark and had heard water running in the bathroom, but it might have been a dream.  This was something new for me.  I was ignorant of the arts of seduction and had always chosen my brides for a night a random, more for their price than their charms, and we had made love without love, half-dressed most of the time and always in the dark so we could imagine ourselves as better than we were.  That night I discovered the improbable pleasure of contemplating the body of a sleeping woman without the urgencies of desire or the obstacles of modesty.

The beauty of Márquez’s work is that he can tell something plain in such a ordinary and neutral way that when read, it is uplifting.  That honesty and so directly to the point, I can’t help but to feel for the main character.  Making love without love and hiding the true forms in the dark.  No, there is no sex between the ninety years old man and the fourteen years old girl.  In fact, for a year, they spend time with him watching her sleeps.  He names the girl Delgadina, in accordance to a Mexican folk song.  I did some research in the Internet.  The folk song tells a story of a young girl whose father proposed a marriage with her.  She refused, was locked up as punishment, and died of thirst.  The song ends with the girl going to Heaven while her father to Hell.  It is in some way fitting to this novella.  The girl is young and her client could be as old as her great grandfather.  It kept me thinking how the story would resolve itself to be.

I cannot find words to describe the relationship between this girl and the old man.  After the first night (of he watching her sleeps), the old man has fallen in love.  Most interactions between these two throughout the book are one directional.  Some are highly imaginary.  Others, I am not too sure.  It is as though this platonic love from him to her is mostly his virtual creation.  Is it how love is born?  Because of this, the old man has changed, starting with the way he writes his columns.  All of a sudden, he is happy.  His new work has gained popularity.  From then on, a twin plot surfaces.  It is a story of celebrating being ninety.  That ‘age isn’t how old you are but how old you feel’.  The main character’s transformation can be best illustrated below.

Thanks to her I confronted my inner self for the first time as my ninetieth year went by.  I discovered that my obsession for having each thing in the right place, each subject at the right time, each word in the right style, was not the well-deserved reward of an ordered mind but just the opposite: a complete system of pretense invented by me to hide the disorder of my nature.  I discovered that I am not disciplined out of virtue but as a reaction to my negligence, that I appear generous in order to conceal my meanness, that I pass myself off as prudent because I am evil-minded, that I am conciliatory in order not to succumb to my repressed rage, that I am punctual only to hide how little I care about other people’s time.  I learned, in short, that love is not a condition of the spirit but a sign of the zodiac.

Another plot is the main character’s recollection of some of the women he encountered in his life.  Each encounter is memorable.  One of them retired from prostitution and was married.  She said to him: Today I look back, I see the line of thousands of men who passed through my beds, and I’d give my soul to have stayed with even the worst of them.

Melancholy.  Isn’t it so?

I found there are quite a few take home messages upon reading “Memories of My Melancholy Whores”.  It is never to late too transform ourselves in a positive manner, as what we always envisage ourselves to be.  Celebrate the present, regardless the physical state we are in.  Love, or rather loving others is the path to happiness.

Categories: Book Reviews · Fiction
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Taylor Swift · World Tour Live · Speak Now – A Must Have!

January 11th, 2012 by Wilfrid
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Everybody loves Taylor Swift.  Even those who have not heard of her before instantly fall in love when I play her concert recording at my home.  Including my 2 years old niece who clapped and danced and looked merry and gay.  The most amazing thing is that Taylor Swift was only 21 when she performed the Speak Now World Tour.  She looks very young on camera.  But she has the maturity and musical ability to pull through 18 songs.  A rather lengthy performance if you take into account of the choreography on various stage settings as well.

The bottom line is, by now, with three solid albums, she has more than enough songs to entertain.  Taylor has won awards, broken records and her success factors beside being very pleasant to look at: she writes good songs and sings them well.  She writes songs that are personal and yet, to her surprise, fans can relate.  She writes songs that are meaningful to the youth without an element of angst that may displease the parents.  She has a clean outlook, unlike some of her peer pop musicians.  Her root, I would say, is country.  That is what I gathered when I heard her first album.  I guess in time, all [popular] things transform into pop.  How powerful it is to sing country songs (that in general are more meaningful) in a pop fashion.

There are so-so artists who stand on the same spot throughout the show performing as though they are recording an album.  And there are artists like Taylor Swift who covers the entire stage and beyond, played different instruments in different arrangements.  She incorporated some cover songs into hers as well.  The performance is stellar.  As for the bonus materials, there is a rehearsal recording and there is also a heartwarming home movie.  My only tiny complain is that unlike the US version, this local version is purely a Blu-ray disc without the CD.  The DVD version though comes with a CD.  But who buys DVD these days when there is a better format out there?

There are not many live recordings I would want to have a repeated watch.  This one, I have already watched twice.

Categories: Blu-ray / DVD Review
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