Tuesday 16 September 2003

Pic of the day: Screenshot from The Sims. If you get excited by the thought of children bathing, you should probably not play this game. Or watch Popotan or Da Capo, two of my favorite anime series. Oh well. You could still play Master of Magic till way past bedtime. Good ideas abound at the Chaos Node ...

Another sleepy day

I'd like to write something deep and meaningful, but I was so sleepy I even fell asleep while reading Through the Darkness, the third book about the magic World War at the continent of Derlavai. I think this is the first time I have ever fallen asleep while reading a book by Harry Turtledove. It says something, I believe. Oh, and that was on the bus.

At home I manage to stay awake by playing Master of Magic. I am still playing the same game of all white magic with Stream of Life. I thoroughly enjoy this particular game, because I have one continent and all of the second world to myself while the others squabble on the other large continent. So I am free to do all the building I want, plopping settlers down in ideal places and connecting them with roads. Using the Awareness spell I have been able to see the opponents' cities without them seeing me. Poor Jafar, he's got two rivals with black magic. Black magic is a bitch, but the good thing is they cannot even stay on good terms with each other. And white magic is superior in the later part of the game. I like to think that's realistic, in its way ...

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Oh, and there were new episodes of several of my favorite new anime series: Naruto (the insanely exaggerated Ninja series), E's Otherwise (don't blame me for the weird title, the Japanese made it that way ... they seem to use English the way an otaku uses Japanese), Da Capo and Popotan.

This time I watched a "Triad" translation of Popotan instead of the usual "We Suck" translation. And, well, the lyrics made more sense in the Triad translation. Whether that means they have understood it better or just that they've taken liberties ... I don't understand enough Japanese to say for sure. But it was basically the same lyrics only in much better English. (You have the same dilemma when translating the Bible ... at least Popotan is not required for anyone's salvation. Damnation, maybe ... if you get excited by girls bathing, you should probably swear off Popotan. The Japanese have a different relationship with the bathroom than we ... they are less shy about bathing than most westerners, but elimination of bodily wastes is an absolute taboo.)

Anyway, having watched anime for an hour and a half, I played Master of Magic till 2AM. I think it is the only strategy game right now that doesn't make me sleepy. Of course, it would probably have been a better idea to be sleepy... Work tomorrow.