Thursday 27 March 2003

Pic of the day: The fun and easy way to learn Go. You can actually pick up the basics of the board game by watching the anime Hikaru no Go, but to avoid boredom the facts are mixed with lots of action and humor. Right after this screenshot, for instance, Hikaru makes a comment that was relevant 200 years ago. His girl friend laughs at him and everybody stares.

Carpeted hallway

Well, the CD player in my main computer is still dead; and for good measure it has one of my favorite music CDs in its belly. But luckily I have the CD writer, which is also a CD reader, so it is not too bad. (Of course, this whole problem only started after I connected a CD writer, so ...)

Some days ago I discovered an icon in the "tray" on my screen, along with all the small programs that run in the background. It said "sound effect", so I checked it out. I don't know if this is something that comes with new installations of XP, probably it is from the sound card makers. Anyway, it lets me add the sound environment. For instance, there is "bathroom" where you get more echo and a stronger sound (not much louder, really, but still somehow it sounds stronger...) and there is "living room" which is rather flat and echo-less, as if there's lots of furniture absorbing the sound. And other more spectacular, like hangar (metallic echo that really goes on for a while) and "concert hall" with a more balanced wide space effect. It is very impressive, like all you play is placed in a whole new environment.

I found that I have a special liking for "carpeted hallway". It gives a sense of room, an echo, but not so much as to smear out the sound. Of course it can be fun to have other environments for special purposes, like playing DAoC or some anime. But so far, "carpeted hallway" is my overall favorite. I suppose that says something about me, at least if you have this program too so you understand what I'm saying.

(It also has a "karaoke" function that filters away the frequencies most used by the human voice. It is more effective on some songs than others. Also you can transpose it all up or down by 4 keys, almost certainly meant for karaoke too. It doesn't help me, since I cannot sing along no matter what key it is in. But it is great fun.)

***

I just wanted to play one of the songs from the anime Hikaru no Go, and then I kinda just happened to play the 3 first episodes all in a row. What can I say? I don't usually watch movies again, at least not for some years. My memory for stories is very good indeed, so I can kind of replay it in my head faster. Mostly, I only watch again movies with a kind of spiritual content. I realized that Hikaru no Go is that, in a way. And I am not speaking of the plot device with the 1000 year old ghost, although that was certainly original and refreshing.

From the very first episode, the series conveys the spirit of Go. The dedication, even devotion. The mental excellence and exertion. The fierce rivalry that is tempered with a shared love for the impartial mistress that is the game of Go. A love that takes people to the very edge of madness, as loves sometimes do. Or so I've heard...

I think I've mentioned that one of my online friends has gone down the path of Go after seeing Hikaru no Go. It would have been kind of nice to be able to keep him company; he is a good guy. But the sheer amount of dedication – or even obsession – is more than I can afford. So I restrict myself to losing one game each day to my computer, and occasionally watching other people play Go on the International Go Server. And occasionally watching Hikaru no Go on my computer. Walking the hallways of the Go Institute in my mind only.