Randomness

It's a Kerotan. Cool, isn't he? Staring at you with big eyes and a goofy grin on his face. He makes me happy. 'Tis a dark and dreary day. Rain clouds loom overhead, threatening to unleash a storm upon the mere mortals below. Yet... Kerotan remains smiling. How can you not see one and feel the urge to make the same goofy grin. How can it not make your day so much better?

Thank you, Kerotan. Thank you for brightening my day.

Konichiwa!

Bright and gloomy!

This is a bush in my backyard. I angled the camera to capture the beautiful blue sky behind it and kind of show the picture as being a bright and happy capture. I think I did fairly well. This picture was taken yesterday.

This picture was taken today. Oh, how quickly the weather changes. Such a gloomy day. Raining and dark. Florida is, if nothing more, a bright and gloomy place. Half of the time, bright and sunshiny, the other half, dark and cloudy. What a weird place to live.

The weirdest thing is that even when it's in doom and gloom mode, it's still 100 degrees outside! Give me a break! The rain feels good, sure, because it's usually cool rain, but the temperature is still 100 degrees and the humidity goes up to 400%! Even worse is when it stops raining. The air outside is so humid that when you step out your front door, you are instantly soaked in sweat. It's a massive sauna. You no longer have the rain to help cool you down.

Boo, Florida!

I'm taking a trip to Maryland in October. I hope it will be cooler there than it is here.

Russians! Chinese! Oh, my!

Yeah, so, it's been a few days since I last wrote something. So sue me! I have a life, you know! Okay, that was a lie. I don't, but I get sidetracked easily and forget to do things... like write. Besides, there is far too little that is interesting around here to bother writing about. Ergo, I shall write about foreign affairs. In particular: China and Russia.

Russia's been a bit testy this year, first making a ruckus about the US's plan to install missile defense systems in western Europe. Mr. Putin made it quite clear that the plan would "force" Russia to aim their missiles at these defensive systems. Since then, and much more recently, Russia tested their latest and greatest weapon, a non-nuclear bomb four times the power of our (the US's) "Mother of All Bombs." Some people are skeptical. I am not. I do believe this warhead exists. I'm sure there are others out there that people are simply being tight-lipped about. Rightfully so.

I have a friend who currently lives in Serbia that said Russia and (former?) enemy China have recently signed some big agreement. What exactly the agreement was, I don't exactly remember, but it may have been a peace agreement. The two nations have been bitter against each other for quite some time now. What is the purpose for this sudden friendly gesture?

Aside from the millions of toys that they had to recall from the US (and I'd assume elsewhere) due to lead paint, China has been pretty quiet lately. This is a bad thing. They have been quietly building up their military for a number of years now and estimate around 7 million troops in their army. The interesting part, 6 million of those troops lie on the Chinese/Taiwan border. Hm. Whatchya doin', China? Taiwan is in independent nation (well, not if you ask the Chinese). They are no longer under the control of China. Besides, they are a little island that can't harm anyone. Why does China need more troops stationed on the border than Taiwan has in total population? (Granted, I don't know what the population of Taiwan is, but I would assume it's not terribly large.)

The recent military leaps by both Russia and China have me worried. Russia is trying to re-establish themselves as a superpower. They once were, but political destabilization has wrecked the country's infrastructure. I can understand them wanting to get back "in the game," as it were. However, the ranting against Allied missile defense systems and this new deal with China makes you think something more is in the works.

It has been speculated for quite some time that it would be indeed China that started the third World War. As is, China could launch a military attack against Taiwan with little real effort or resistance. They would suffer trade sanctions from the hands of the UN, but if Russia is in the mix and aiding the Chinese, trade sanctions would be nothing more than throwing a small pebble at the hide of a raging elephant. Or perhaps more suiting for Chinese history, a raging dragon.

What will be the US's response? By the time this happens, or rather IF this happens, it would be long past the rule of the Bush administration. Can't blame this one on him. Will the United States once again play it's role as a self-anointed protector of all that is good and right in the world? Or will the American people, sick of fighting in Iraq, demand we keep our people home? Yeah, good luck with that. US troops are deployed to Taiwan to help the weak resistance battle against the largest army in the world.

Goodbye, national security. The US would spread their forces thin by waging war on two fronts: in Iraq and in Taiwan. Two different wars on two different sides of the world on two different continents.

I wonder if North Korea plays some part in this. They might take this opportunity of being temporarily forgotten about and invade South Korea. They've always wanted to reclaim South Korea and with the world's eye on the bigger players to the north, why not go for it? The North Korean army is the third largest in the world, behind China and the United States. Does South Korea even have an army? One capable of doing anything more than slowing down the advancing masses crossing over the DMZ into South Korean territory? I think no.

What does the US do then? After a while, someone is going to notice that all of the South Korean flags have turned blue, white, and red and sport a very northern look. Does the US jump to their aid, too? Do they abandon their allies in a time of need? Do they call upon help from other nations like Britain and Australia? Or better yet, do we finally lift the military restrictions placed on Japan after World War II and allow them back on the Asian mainland to help with the struggle?

To be honest, it wouldn't matter. To be blunt, the US would lose even with the support of other nations. We have spread ourselves too thin. Taiwan, South Korea, Iraq... supply lines can only run so far and can only run for so long. Time wears on. Sending supplies overseas to to the other side of the world takes its toll.

In Iraq, we are doing nothing more than babysitting an Iraqi population that doesn't want us there. Our troops are not "protecting our freedom." They are protecting the Iraqi people's. I grow so sick and tired of people claiming that fight tooth and nail claming that our troops are being productive over there and protecting the United States. How? How are they? Iraq is nothing more than a smoldering crater. The result of American invasion and Islamic terrorism. The terrorist cannot launch an attack on the US from the Middle East. It cannot be done. They do not have the means.

That's bullcrap! What about 9/11?! Wasn't launched from the Middle East. Planned there, but not launched there. The biggest threat the United States (aside from a now ticked off Chinese and North Korean army) are the terrorists and enemies of the nation that are already here. If you want to claim that troops are protecting our country, fine, but you had better be talking about the ones that are here at home. They are the only ones doing that job.

I support the US troops. I love the US troops. More power to them. Whether they are here or deployed somewhere, they have my support. BUT... troops are pawns (no offense to them). They go to and do what they are told to do. They have to. They have no say what they can and cannot do in the Iraq or at home. I feel bad for them. They are overseas, dying to protect a people that hate them. It's all in vain.

This is/was all speculation. It's all fiction, except my opinions on US troops. I felt like taking a subject I honestly knew nothing about and spinning into an unlikely (but I suppose possible in the grand scheme of things) situation. Don't take anything I said as being real and true. Don't spam my comments with "u suck, american hater!" or "ur wrong and r teh suck!"

That's all. Pure ficiton. A story.

No title

Janne and I may be friends, but we are in different groups when it comes to playing games. He is part of the The Enclave; a team of friendly people that play Battlefield 2 together. I am a member of Lock and Load. We are a small clan. A clan is a group of people that share the same interests and do things together when possible. The difference between our two groups is that his is a team that plays a single game. We are a clan that spans many games.

I kind of feel bad for doing this, but Lock and Load {LaL} is indeed looking for more members! It is unfortunate, but we aren't nearly what we used to be. There was a time when we dominated Vietcong Fist Alpha and Battlefield: Vietnam, but we have since dwindled in number. People go about their lives and their interests change. It's unfortunate, but inevitable. It's a shame for the rest of us. A few of us play Battlefield 2 these days, but not many. Only a handful play Battlefield 2142. We are a dying breed.

If any of you that might stumble upon this blog and play games like Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Vietcong Fist Alpha, Vietcong 2, Battlefield: Vietnam, or Counter Strike: Source, please venture over to http://z4.invisionfree.com/Lock_and_Load/index.php We are a clan based structure, meaning if you join us, you will begin your life as a {LaL}Pvt. (name). Our generals run the show and the forum.

You can find me in the forum as {LaL}Lt. Medic or in-game as [LaL]MedicByChoice (BF2) and [LaL]Patch_1-3 (BF2142). (The latter name was a joke about patch 1.3 for Battlefied 2 that many claimed ruined their machines due to bugs.)

Anyway, that's all there is about that. It would be great to get some more people in the clan to get some action going in games. I believe you must be 18 or older to apply. That's a rule in place to weed out the immature and make sure no little kiddies stumble upon something questionable in the forum and cry to mommy about it. We're a good group, but get rowdy sometimes.

Moving on. As you can see up top, I got myself a new header. My brother made me that picture and I do say it blends in quite well. I like the red, so I gave him the exact RGB (red-green-blue) number for it and had him incorporate it in the picture he was making. I turned out quite well, I think! Thank you to my brother.

I cleaned up my room yesterday and it actually looks quite presentable. I have a floor! And carpet! I had forgotten the color of my carpet. It turns out it's gray. Maybe if I vacuum, I'll find it's actually white. Nah.

I washed my car today. Bad mistake as it is horribly hot outside, but the end result is a pretty car. I guess that 's a good deal, right? Sunburn for a clean car?

Here she is!

I may or may not go swimming now. I haven't decided. It might be nice since I'm so hot right now. We shall see!

I shall write again soon. Today? Tomorrow? Next week? Who knows?

Gaming again

I've recently gotten back into Gran Turismo 4 for the PlayStation 2. I used to play it a lot and had some very awesome cars. I was quite good, too, with a very high winning percentage (above 95%). I had completed 3/4 of the game, but then I kind of got bored with it and put it away. After a while, I sold it back to the game store in favor of some other games. I wasn't planning on playing it again, so I deleted all of my saved games from my memory card.

Well, I borrowed it from my brother a couple days ago and have been playing a lot. The beginning is rough because you have very little money and no cars. First things first, I grabbed the first three licenses just to save me the trouble of having to get them later. I won a few races, earned some money, and bought myself a Camaro to start racing some of the bigger races. It's not the best car, but it's necessary to win some high money races so I can get back to the Corvette I had when I owned the game a while back. I had every modification on that car. I manually tuned the gears and had it running faster and better than almost every other car in the game. It was beautiful. I had nitrous, too.

Anyway, that's all about that.

Battlefield 2 Rules

Okay, I've wanted to do this forever. After hundreds and hundreds of hours of playing Battlefield 2 (and 2142 for that matter), many things have come to my attention that need to be addressed. Hopefully people who read this blog will actually pay attention.

The single most important rule of BF2 and 2142 is that it's a TEAM game. You are part of an army. Not an army of one. You are not Solid Snake trying to infiltrate a stronghold and stop the terrorists from using their nukes. You are one soldier out of many in an army with a single goal. Keep that in mind. If you decide you don't want to join a squad, that's fine, but you are still part of a team and need to do something productive, rather than run around and teamkill your own guys.

Rule 1: Join a squad. It makes life so much easier. You can coordinate attacks and make unified strikes against opposing flags. It's much better to take on a flag with 6 guys than trying to do it alone. The same holds true for BF2142. You might have better weapons, but so does your enemy.

Rule 2: If you are a loner and don't want to join a squad, that's okay, AS LONG AS YOU ARE PRODUCTIVE! If you want to play as a sniper, fine, but don't sit in one spot where no one else is. Be productive. Set claymore traps. Capture a flag via stealthy movement. In BF2142, the same rule applies. If you are the recon class and have the Camo Upgrade, use it! Capture a bloody flag while the rest of your team is engaging the bulk of the enemy.

Rule 3: If you join a squad, follow your orders. Don't sit there and spam "Negative!", "No way, man!", and "No can do!" every time your squad leader gives out an order. If you are going to do that, leave the squad. We don't want you in the squad. Don't be an idiot.

Rule 4: Revive your teammates. I grow sick and tired of getting critically wounded, calling for the medic that's standing a foot away, and then having him run off and ignore me. That is a gross neglect of your duties and just bad teamwork. Revive and heal your teammates! If a medic dies nearby, grab his kit and revive him! I experienced that a lot a couple nights ago when I played with Janne. He, too, is guilty of this. When I died, no one would revive me. Ever. And there quite a few medics on the team. Now, granted, there is a little more leeway on 2142 in this matter. Because the Assault and Medic classes are combined into one, not all assault soldiers are carrying the defibrillator on their person. Since you can select and customize your own kit in 2142, a lot of people go mostly assault or mostly medic.

Rule 5: Don't be a smacktard about vehicles. They are there for EVERYONE on your team to use. If someone beats you in a race to the tank, let him have it. Don't whine about it on team chat. Don't teamkill the guy. Wait for the tank to respawn or take another vehicle. Often times there are more than one tank in the general vicinity, especially in your main base. For people that get the tank or vehicle, don't be an idiot and just gun your engine and leave your teammates behind. Pick people up. And for the love of all that is good in this world, watch where you're going! Don't run over people! (Unless they are purposely trying to stop you because you beat them to the tank. In that case, have at it.) In BF2142, mechs are the vehicle of choice. Don't be an idiot about it. Don't teamkill people to get it. That just encourages people to teamkill YOU. The more we kill each other, the more the enemy doesn't have to.

Rule 6: Pilots, watch your bloody map. If you see an area you want to hit and it's full of blue dots, DON'T ATTACK IT! I grow very weary of getting teamkilled by my own jets. Pay attention or get out of the jet! For new pilots, learn to fly in single player before you decide to try your hand with a fully loaded blackhawk helicopter. People get mad when you crash mere seconds after takeoff. Another thing, let people know if you are going to bail. Press Q and select the "Bail Out!" option. People get very mad if the pilot jumps ship over the water and the chopper goes plunging down into the sea. Not cool. 2142: Don't fly transports if you can't fly.

Rule 7: Probably one of the most important rules of both games (or all BF games for that matter), don't punish your teammates for teamkills that aren't their fault! I'm sorry, but 95% of all teamkills come because the person that got killed is an idiot. If you run out in the middle of the street and get run over by a tank. That's your own fault. You have a map. You know where the tanks are and if they are moving. Don't punish the tank driver because you're a noob.

If you see a support class laying down cover fire, don't run in front of him! If you HAVE to get by him, bloody jump over him. Don't get cut down and then punish him for the teamkill. It's your own fault, idiot. If you get crushed by a helicopter that's trying to land and pick people up, it's your own fault. It's not a matter of they can't fly, it's a matter of your an idiot and didn't get out of the way or didn't press and hold the E button to enter the helicopter before it landed on you.

There are so many instances of idiots punishing people for teamkills that were purely accident on the part of the killer. Accident for them, idiocy by you. Don't be a smacktard. Forgive tk's unless someone comes up to you, points his gun, and pulls the trigger. Then it's okay to punish for the teamkill.

Rule 8: This one kind of ties into the last rule. If you see someone set down C4 (or RDX in 2142) packs to set a trap for the enemy. MOVE! Don't just stand there and try to hold down the area. All you are doing is effectively ruining the whole point of setting the explosives in the first place! That's just being selfish and a noob. I've come to the point where if I set C4/RDX and you stand there, I WILL blow you up if the enemy comes. Punish if you want, but it's your own fault.

Rule 9: Rank means nothing. It doesn't give you the right to call people noobs. In fact, most times those of much lower ranks are less noobs than those with higher ranks. It's probably 98% of Lieutenants and higher that are the biggest noobs in the game. They have this superiority complex. They are the ones that TK for vehicles, punish for accidental tk's that were their own fault, and spawn rape the enemy. They are the ones that ignore your orders and generally cause havoc and doom for your team. Don't be a noob. And don't call other's noobs. Chances are, they are better than you are.

Those are just a few rules I think people need to read and pay attention to. It makes gaming so much more fun for everyone when people pay attention and don't act like retards.

Battlefield greatness!

Last night was quite fun. I finally got a chance to play with Janne for the first time in over a year. He sent me an email yesterday asking me if I wanted to join him and his group of friends for a few games of Battlefield 2. I accepted the offer as soon as I got the email, of course! What better way to spend a lazy afternoon than crushing your foes and teaching them who's boss?

For those that don't know what Battlefield 2 is, it's a capture the flag style video game. Two armies (in this case, the US and the MEC - Mid Eastern Coalition) fight each other to gain and keep control of flags spread out across the battlefield. It's a really fun game because you can pick from 7 classes. Support, Engineer, Sniper, Medic, Assault, Recon, and Anti-Tank. I normally play as a medic. It's pretty fun and you can usually rack up a ton of points. They have a great machine gun and can heal themselves if they aren't cut down in the initial firefight.

Anyway, I did quite well last night, posting scores of 203, 78, and 158 in three rounds respectively. Those are very good for BF2. It's pretty amazing for me, too, since I hadn't played the game in quite some time and thought I would be a lot rustier than I was. Of course, having a good team helped, even though most of them didn't understand the concept of reviving wounded teammates. Oh well. Some people are like that. Run and gun, leave every man behind. I normally run out into the middle of a street to revive a teammate even if it means I get killed in the process. It's an easy 2 points and there's always the chance you and the man you saved can escape.

I love the game. Nothing better than modern combat between the US and those heathen terrorists. Of course, half the time you're playing as the terrorists. Or communists. I like the maps where you play against the Chinese army. More color in the maps. Everything isn't just brown and yellow.

Anyway, that was last night. It was a blast and I hope to do it again quite soon. I took a screenshot of the game last night, but I lost it as I forgot to paste it immediately into MS Paint. I made the mistake of forgetting I took the shot, then copying and pasting something else, then remembering the screenshot. Poor me. Poor you! Now you can't enjoy my greatness!

Bye for now. And remember, always lead running terrorists.

HP Blackbird 002

Now that's what I'm talking about.

This is the HP Blackbird 002. It is the ultimate gaming PC. It is a collaboration between HP gaming and VoodooPC. It is a beast. A powerhouse. The tower itself weighs 72 pounds. The specs on the system can be customized into any number of mind blowing options.

The price: It starts at $2,500 USD (or for our Swedish fellows, 16,975.00 SEK).

Look at it for yourself! http://h20435.www2.hp.com/#/home/

Meh.

Meh.

It says it all, doesn't it? It's one of those words that fits any situation. It's one of those "whatever" words. "I don't care." "It's not worth my time." It has any number of meanings. It's an international word, too. It is not English nor Swedish nor any other language.

It is a word I have used a LOT. I encourage you to use it, too. It really has no requirements. Use it anywhere at anytime. Just "meh."

Currently listening to...

Kent. Big surprise, eh? Tonight's feature: Frank

Han fångade sparken med huvudet
han hade tänkt alla tankar ändå
Han stod inte upp när han fick den
för full för att ens kunna gå
Långsamt glömmer man bort allt
också pojkar i manchestertyg
men jag minns vår skrika i stolar i köket
och virveln på min kula av porslin
Min vän hade kritvita tänder
Hans kläder luktade rök
så levande att det ibland känns
som om det jag som är död

En blank dank
låg så tungt i min hand
En dank Frank
Jag kommer aldrig närmare en så
En blank förmiddag i handen på Frank

Han fångade sparken med huvudet
Som att nicka en fotboll i mål
Som att kasta en sten högt över taken
och klättra dit ingen kan nå
Långsamt glömmer man bort allt
också träskor och gul blend i smyg
men inte saker han sa som gjorde mig större
inte så blygPå hans jacka satt fyra märken
Hjältar i glittrande tyg
Slade Kiss Bowie & Sweet, året när Pinups var ny

En blank dank
låg så tungt i min hand
En dank Frank
Jag kommer aldrig närmare en så
En blank förmiddag i handen på Frank

Nu är jag större, nu är jag äldre än du
Nu är jag större, större än du...

Crossword puzzles

I hate crossword puzzles. I really do. They are the bane of my existence. They mock me relentlessly. Yet... I'm always drawn back to them. Why? I cannot truly say. I don't know. They beckon me to return and attempt to finish them and then snatch away my hopes and dreams of actually finishing one without cheating. Alas, I am doomed to failure.

Until now.

My mother bought me a big book of crossword puzzles and I have, in a short time, become its master! I am finishing puzzles left and right. And no, they aren't kid editions! (I will admit I have trouble even on those ones!) I still don't know a lot of the clues because a lot of them are names from people way before my time, but I can get 90% of it done before giving it to my dad to fix and finish.

Hoorah for me! You may all bow before my greatness!

Hm... a three letter word for a departing comment...

Labor Day

Today is Labor Day. I can't really post a picture of a day, now can I? Ergo, you get no picture.

My brother and his family came over to my house for a day of swimming. Afterwards we all went to McDonald's for lunch. We came back home, loitered about, then they left.

That is all.

The stump falls!

Well, this is the stump that I wrote about the earlier. The one that has given me so much trouble over the last several months. The one that would not yield to any manner of pushing, pulling, smashing, exploding, or burning.

Well, it succumbed today. Finally. I have won this war. It fell to the swing of an axe. A freshly sharpened axe. (Sharpened by me! If nothing else, I know how to sharpen axes.) WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! I tore through it. Wood flying everywhere. Neighbor kids crying. It was beautiful. After cutting through the remaining root, who did prove quite resilient still, I simply pulled up the rest of the stump by hand. It came out quite easily.

Finally! Death to the stump! I win! I win! I win!

Now on the other stump.....