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Twilight should be on the banned books list
22 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
About two years ago, a good friend of mine and former roommate from college (a very attractive girl) invited me to go see “Twilight: New Moon.” She’d read all the books and seen the first movie, and this was her second viewing of the second movie. I figured, “Whatever.” I should’ve figured, “SHOOT ME NOW!”
I’d heard how bad the first movie was, so I thought I was sufficiently prepared. Sparkling vampires? OK, stupid.. but OK. A stupid girl who spends probably half the movie screaming and crying obsessively about Edward the vampire leaving her? Unforgivable. Poor acting from both her and Edward? Even more unforgivable.
The only redeeming part of the movie was the character of Alice. The actress acted well for the crap dialog and script handed to her.
Now, now, before you hate (though I doubt anyone who enjoys the movies reads this), I have heard that the books are much better. Hell, books of pretty much any movie are better than the movie versions. But let’s look at the plot that persists even into the books.
The character of Bella is a poor role model for anyone in the world. She’s a whiny girl who can’t function without some guy to protect her. I know not the plot of the movies, but I’ve heard that when Bella and Edward have sex, she’s left with marks. So the story condones beating and violence of a woman just because he’s a bit stronger and can’t hold back?
Then she becomes pregnant with a freak baby that’s growing abnormally fast and is going to kill her from the inside. She insists on keeping it?
I hear that the appeal of the story of Twilight is that of love. Tell me if this is love. A 55-year-old guy starts hanging around with a girl, acting all cool and gets the girl to fall for him. Only problem is she’s 17. Now imagine the guy is 100+ years old and she’s still 17. That’s Twilight! It’s about pedophilia.
Edward is a vampire born in 1901 (Wikipedia) who retains the body of a 17-year-old. HE’S A PEDOPHILE. It’s not about love, but about an older man preying on a young girl.
The Twilight series should be on the banned books list.
Christmas, it approaches; Thanksgiving, it’s going away
12 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
Ho ho ho!
Thanksgiving is coming soon, but Christmas is what I’m writing about today. Oh, and the picture is something I drew Dec. 25, 2004.
So, yes, Christmas. It’s wonderful, because my name is in it. It’s also wonderful because people have commercialized it over the years which means free stuff. That now that I’m an adult, I’m supposed to buy things for others, and frankly, I have no clue what I’ll do for people.
I think my gift to people should be this: I don’t buy you anything because the money you would’ve spent on me is basically negated. Neither one of us gets gifts! OK, I’m not that singy. (more…)
Give Japanese dramas a chance
03 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Japan
Densha Otoko
There’s a Japanese website well-known in Japan called 2channel. It’s an anonymous message board home to the heartwarming story of Densha Otoko (電車男, Train Man). The original Japanese story can be found here. It’s about a socially inept nerd, or otaku, who saves a woman on a train one night. Their relationship develops while the man relays his adventures in dating to the message board.
It’s been made into a book, manga and TV series. I first came to know the story around 2006. In fact, I think it’s the first Japanese drama I ever watched. (more…)
Birthday, Christmas in November approaches
03 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
My birthday occurs the first week of November each year. And every now and then, I’m gifted with a night of election results. Those are the worst gifts to give anyone, by the way.
This year, that’s not the case, as it’s not most years. This gives cause for joyous celebration. Last year, I can’t recall doing anything for the occasion. I think it’s because I was in a bit of a funk having only been back from Japan for about a month at that point. I told myself I would not sit at home this year… but look, it’s almost time and I still don’t have anything planned!
I do have some ideas stirring in my head, with hopefully at least one coming to fruition.
The Japanese regimen
03 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
Since my return from Japan last year, mayn people have what I do in order to keep up and imrpove my Japanese language ability. Honestly, not as much as I should. Most of my practice these days is reading and writing, with very little aural practice.
One of the most frustrating things when I started to learn Japanese was the speed, or lack thereof, at which I could read hiragana and katakana. Back around 2007, it would take me a good 30 seconds to read ありがとうございます (arigatou gozaimasu, or thank you). Now I can read it at what is probably close to a normal speed. This made my Japanese class rather painful for me when I’d be called on. Having a sentence like こんにちは!私の名前は田中です。にじゅうななさいです was almost unbearable. (Hello! My name is Tanaka. I’m 27 years old.) (more…)
RIP old cell phone
23 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
Motorola V180
Most people who know me understand that I love technology. From computers to games, I’ve always had an interest in these things. It comes then as a surprise to all that my cell phone is six years old and can only do voice and text. (And it can only store a maximum of about 30 text messages.) Why did I stick with it for so long? It worked… if you ignore the fact it didn’t auto-update the time and date correctly from the day I got it, the volume buttons wouldn’t work when the lid was closed, vibrator in it broke about two or three years ago. But it made great voice calls. It was also the first phone where I could have custom ring tones. (more…)
Review: Xenoblade Chronicles
03 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Gaming
Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade is one of the most amazing games I’ve played in the past 10 years that I can remember, and it’s a shame most people in North America won’t have the chance to play it. Even though it’s been fully localized into British English.
I must admit the game was something I dismissed when I first heard the name of it a year ago, but it wasn’t until a few months ago it piqued my interest. See, Nintendo of America announced it would not release the game, even though Nintendo of Europe had the localization just about finished, and a group of people got together and started a letter-writing campaign to NoA begging for its release. Well, Xenoblade and two other games–The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower. This was called Operation Rainfall.
Well, I picked up Xenoblade Chronicles from an online store (Amazon UK doesn’t ship games outside of Europe, ugh) and fell in love with the game. 70+ hrs in and I’m not finished with the game. There’s just so much to do. (more…)
Know why the site was started?
14 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
I’d say most people don’t know or even remember this, but Rain-Man.org was started as a place for both Rainman and I to host programming projects we’d come up with. That never really came to fruition, and instead it became an outlet for me to write rants and random things I’d think of. It also became a place for us to do random testing of web scripts and the such.
As you may have noticed, posting by myself has become infrequent as of late. It’s not for lack of want, but I’m not sure what it is I should write that I think would be worth sharing. Sure, I could write and possibly complain about temp job, or tell you what I had for lunch (a small Greek-inspired salad), but I find that material to be rather dull.
I do want to write again, and I do hope to post more often, but I can’t promise any cohesiveness to it.
Beach time
05 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
My temp contract has been extended four or five times now. It’s nice to have the income, but it’d be nicer to know when my end date would truly be. In the meantime, I continue to look for work on my own, but due to a crap economy, it’s tough.
This past weekend I went to Surfside Beach south of Houston. Hanging out with friends from Houston was a blast. We spent lots of time on the beach (which led to an unpleasant sunburn on my shoulders and collarbone), played some games and ate some amazing steaks. Really, the steaks were some of the best I’ve ever eaten. Our friend went to the store, talked to the butcher and had some custom cut for us. Ribeyes, of course. I mean, is there any other steak that tastes as good? (Well, maybe a hangar steak, but that’s beside the point.)
Each was at least an inch thick and probably 20 – 22 ounces each. I ate mine, half of someone else’s and about one-fourth of another. Needless to say, I was in a food coma for a while, but was incredibly happy.
Hanging out with everyone actually made me miss being in Houston. If anyone can find me a good job out there, I’ll consider moving back. =)
In a month, I’ll be back at a beach, but this time in Panama. Hopefully I’ll put more sunscreen on and won’t end up a rock lobster.
Reunion
16 months ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
This past weekend was my 10-year high school reunion. Over the years, I’ve asked many people I’ve met in life whether or not they enjoyed high school. Myself, I really enjoyed my time there. I don’t recall really being made fun of for my height (though I’m sure it happened a few times). Overall, my memories of those four years are happy and pleasant. It’s unfortunate not everyone can have the same experience, but I digress.
I’ve kept up with many people since then, but there were many people whom I had forgotten about. We met up at a well-known park in town, and hung out for many hours. Food was had, as were many glances at the attractive women who showed up. As luck would have it, most all of them I saw were in relationships. (more…)