Long Ass Post

Its been a long time since I wrote with reckless abandon, the kind of thing that would have made any web page recognizable as my handiwork. Careful, measured prose is all fine and nice, but writing like I treat my vocabulary as a wherewithal to form a bulwark against the withering sanity that people around me thrust down my throats, thats what I miss. A fight for my sanity, is what it is. This is going to bore you if you're reading this, and you'll want to stab your brain if and after you finish. Fair warning, this.
I'll be in trouble when my noesis will be taken over by my inert state of being. That it should happen is my worst fear, and that it WILL happen is a reality I have form a defence against. Its not about whos to blame, its about protecting my creativity against the immense geek hubris that threatens to take over my art of the cosmos.

GIVE IT TO THEM YOU MONSTERS!

After having had time to savor LoTR:RoTK, and after seeing my heart leap with joy (not literally, of course, I haven't seen anybody's heart leap with joy or anything else for that matter, its just that feeling my heart leap with joy would have been kind of an oxymoron, and don't even ask me why) when they actually GAVE the Golden Globes to Peter Jackson and friends, I think they have a shot at the Oscars. And I want to them to win, not because these awards are some meaningful representation of cinema, in fact they're quite the opposite, I mean the movies make unhealthy amounts of money, the actors take home inhuman number of them rupees, and you still have to watch them gloat in front television once a year over a gilded statuette, which half of the people sitting watching the whole gala feel they did not deserve. I want them to win, because for once, the fat, evil people behind the whole charade have a chance of recognizing good work, regardless of its non-pseudo-intelligent-arthouse-cinema roots. Its a good piece of cinema, and finally someone has a fighting chance to get back at those maniacs for all the unfair praise that they have handed out in the past.

WHEN IN ROME, PLAY COUNTER-STRIKE

I don't like CS. Not anymore at any rate, especially since it has been played, replayed, hacked, cheated, and done to fucking death by all the world and their cousins. It is a fine game, but time has come for it to move over and create room for more worthy successors like Desert Combat(BF1942) or Natural Selection, hell even Day of Defeat. I'd like to play these mods, make a map or two, you know stir some shit up. But noooo, the only mod people in my office are willing to play is fucking counter strike. And that is where it irks me the most. I have a lot of fun. I forgot how much fun a non cheating server of CS, incidentally in the same geographical location as all the players, essentially what has come to be known in common gaming parlance as a LAN party, can be. I still crave for some NS, and they do, in all fairness indulge me in some UT2003, CoD, and NFSU from time to time, but CS remains the official game of the office, and my only complain is I have nothing to complain about(CS! Man, how can I not diss CS?).
Plus my bi-weekly bouts of Halo show a sign they might continue, which is a cool thing. I'd also like to mention that the most you can make of your online time is by playing some Enemy Territory, but since there aren't enough takers, play what you can get your hands on. And if your machine sucks ass, there is always Gunbound. I guarantee, regardless of the time of the day, you'll find a Korean to kick your ass to kingdom come. Its free, fair, cheat-less, and oh so detailed. I'll even be nice to you and add you to my buddy list if you come on a Sunday. :)

FIGHTS OF THE OLD RPG

While on games, I finally played through KoTOR, and I'm going to play through it again, this time as a good guy. So is it better than Deus Ex 2? Yes, most definitely. My thing is, if you are making a sequel, by all means improve on the original, but always, always, respect the source on which you base your present work. Look at Thief II, Fallout 2, System Shock 2, even Tribes 2, the veritable titans of modern gaming culture, and no I don't care if you were born before their originals came. Invisible War(And thusly is DX2 known), is scrumptious to say the least, but it disrespects the source material, which as we all know was something that deserves to be put in a time capsule alongwith other stalwarts for the future generations to marvel at, much like how you gape open mouthed at renaissance artwork. Part two is a game well deserving of your time and attention, and you will be richer for the experience, trust me its an excellent RPG, but it is not deserving of the words preceding the '2' on the box. Anyhoo, KoTOR. It is exhilarating the first time you play it, and the finer plot intricacies (which are really not that fine as intricacies at all, but you do tend not to notice some points since you're playing through at a blistering pace), are much more pronounced when you start sipping the smooth, sweet honeydew that is the story that illuminates the solid gameplay, one more time, this time promising not to give in to the trappings of the dark side. I'll let you know how it goes, but my money is on another road well traveled.

SAND-WITCH, UMMM... SANDWICH

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time has also merited a sequel at Ubisoft, and I am elated. PoP: SoT is a game you need to put inside the coke coaster of whatever machine you get your game on, and bask in the ethereal light it emanates. I shit you not, my PC is positively glowy after having installed it. The levels, the artwork, the puzzles, and the graphics are all top notch, and much like Max Payne, there is a cool thing that will elevate the already solid gameplay above all things that are simply solid and awesome. Apart from freezing enemies, going into slo-mo much like bullet time(only not, since bullets are conspicuous by their absence in a game set in some B.C. shit), and doing awesome cool combo tricks on combat, you can turn back time. Verily so, you can abuse your boss or mother-in-law and then just turn back time, only remember not to run out of sand.
I am yet not decided on whether these games that we have talked about can still, with all their light sabers and daggers of time intact, surpass the sheer experience of having played Call of Duty (twice!). People say it was not a good year for PC gaming. I say if all I get to play is classy entertainment like this, albeit a little less times a year, I think I can make my peace with it.

MEDIOCRITY THOU HADST FUELED AND FOOLED ME

Yes, indeed. EVERY single book I have picked up very recently has had all the trappings of a good mistress, only to reveal a cheap whore at corners, and you wonder what to do with a book which is not really polished turd, but also not really a gem. What has my taste in books come to? Or have all writers come to the conclusion that one listless, mediocre title will slip past unnoticed? Surely you remember Frank Herbert? His son is actually shitting on his begetter's work. Da Vinci Code was an excellent read. But behind that piece of prose is a stumbling, struggling work by Dan Brown called Digital Fortress. I have had the (mis?)fortune of finding out. Simoqin Prophecies could have been a great book, worthy of timeless appreciation, but inspiration and pilfering have a thin line between them, and dancing on that line is not a good idea. Siege of Mithila is trying to lengthen a pretty straightforward epic,and has no even pace, but a trot reminiscent of a camel. So I ask you, must I always look at reviews and the ridiculous star ratings at Amazon and the like to pick up my books? Can't all these people just write something cogent and good, (I also picked up Lirael and Sabriel) and just be done with it? Nevertheless, I can't complain that I was bored, since they are pretty entertaining on their own right. Ok, The Butlerian Jihad sucked, but the rest were actually good. I guess I have just been waiting for a book to overwhelm me like other mediums I have shown interests in.

JASSI JAISA KOI NAHIN

I have always refrained from commenting on anything remotely smelling of political undercurrents, since such commentary should be limited to people who know what they are talking about. But this has spurred my interest like no other. This means someone has a clear chance of starting a game development studio, or an application software development house, and probably succeed. The only resources required, apart from tangibles like a solid revenue model, are acumen, spirit and diligence. But this also smells of a government sponsored sop that will attract voters by the drove, as well as be abused by the very same people. A clear cut opportunity will be turned into an exploitative and exploited venture, and I will hate everyone with all of my angst and misanthropy, and the latter I have in liters.

GRAND THEFT OTTer

There are many reason why you should ostracize me, but being a gamer is the least of them. I am sure you are even vaguely aware of this. Then why must I wear my 'Fuck You' shirt and start defending my hobby like a crazed maniac when someone irresponsible and deranged decides to do something about his not liking the smell of his school bathroom by pumping a few bullets into his teachers head? You have heard so many defenses and allegations that

whatever I might have to say will sound jaded to you. But really, all people like Leiberman need to understand is that those people are MAD. Off their rockers. Or just plain evil. More people play games than you'd know, and even more watch Jerry Bruckheimer movies. If I have to listen to one more person telling me games will make me into a blood-lusting monster, so help me, I will take my hand, put it through his eyes, into his brains, swirl it around, and take the grey matter out of his nose till he is brain dead. And I'll claim I did this because I saw it on fucking FRIENDS, and Lisa Kudrow showed me how to do that. What? I told you I hate people.

THE BASTARD CHILD OF THE HERO

And while on the general waters of misanthropy, I also dislike militant open source evangelism, so quit waving your yellow flags already. I am all for the 'OSS revolution'. But newly converted fucktards just have to make it their business to tell me how much good their shit is, and how I am Bill Gates bitch because I use Windows 2000 to play my games, which he doesn't yet have an answer for, not yet anyways.
I have a friend. He installs Linux, runs stuff on it, experiments with it, and generally tells people how good that makes him feel. That is a good thing. He is not sitting on forum boards replacing MS with M$ and telling everyone why they have to use ONLY firebird.
On the other hand are people you meet once in a while who just thrust their fucked up browsers or email clients on my face, and tell me its good because its open source. Fucking hippies. They don't even know the first thing about the open source movement. There are people wasting their sweat and blood for no monetary gains just so you have a choice, and these hippies just give them a bad name. Its not about sticking it to Bill Gates. Its about everyone having a choice, of having the power to switch to something more stable, and feature rich, if they want to. I use Opera and Eudora. They are by no means open source, or even free. But they are way better than all the options I have tried, including open source stuff, and more importantly demonstrate my exercise of choice. As long as you know and respect that, I'll hear your case. But if all you want to do is smoke pot and make sex noises insiniuating how M$ is screwing the world, I suggest you move your sorry ass out of my face. Because I have a Sushubh and I'm not afraid to use it.