Back to the Present

It's been a while. While, a few weeks, but it seems longer. What's to say? A lot, apparently.

I went home for a week to attend my sister's wedding. It was nice returning to the area. I was glad to see some faces, while I wouldn't have minded to have passed by some others. I got everything done that I wanted to do, including hitting two bakeries and a pizzaria. I brought back a fair amount of swaggage. I was hoping to bring back my bike, but that didn't turn out how I was hoping. Oh well. I got books, DVDs, some clothes, blades, and some misc odds and ends.

I installed C&C First Decade on the WinXP partition, and low and behold it ran when I booted to 2K. I just ran the .exe and it plays fine. Now how retarded is THAT? EA, you guys are lame. Jeez.

Speaking of games and lamness... Sony. Lol. Coincidence that they've incorporated some aspects the Nintendo Wii control setup? I doubt it. The stole the rumble pack and analog stick from Nintendo, it's logical that they'd keep up with the competition by continuing to use their ideas. Ugh. What a bunch of idiots. Who's gunna pay $500 for a console that doesn't control as well as a $200 version? Not me, that's who.

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo isn't all perfect in my eyes. 'Wii' says it all. *Rolls eyes* I have to admit though, I find their games to be funner and more creative than the average competition, and they seem to be the only company out there pushing the envelope not in graphics and performance, but in the overall gaming experience. The controller is freakin' awesome. I've never followed a console like this before. Heck, I've never even bought a console within the first two years of its debut. But I'll tell you this right now: I will be one of the first ones to purchase a Wii.

Anyways, I need to get off my butt and:
-Draw something regularly
-Change my course selections & dropp Photoshop
-Get the book for motorcycle licencing
-Clean up my room and UNPACK
-Purchase HL2 Aftermath

And the list goes on, but those are the major ones. I'm really dreading taking that drawing course. I haven't been to school in a year, this is a strange town, and I *totally* don't know my way around or how I'll be getting to/from. I wish I could just get a scooter and not have to worry about borrowing a car or figuring out buses. Darn Alberta vehicle classifications...

I've been reading 'Flyboys' by James Bradley. I'm almost half-way through, and so far it's about the general air combat in the Pacific during WWII. I found the background history to both the US and Japan to be fairly interesting. I didn't know how close and apart they were. How the US used and abused Japan before the war. How retarded the US armed forces were for not listening to Billy Mitchell (If anyone deserves a bomber named after him, it's Mr. Mitchell). How the Japanese were trained to destroy whatever human instics they had. How the Japenese didn't treat their soldiers as valuable resources. How racist and white-supremist many of the American Presidents were, included Roosevelt.

The book is quite graphic in its descriptions of the Japanese in China, with their Three Alls (Burn All, Kill All, Loot All). What really got me, though, was how the US in the Phillipines was just as bad as the Japanese. I didn't know that, and it blew me away. I also didn't know how bad the Americans were in destroying the indians of their country, to make room for white settlers. It made me sick. Here's the self-proclaimed 'Defender of Freedom' with a past so bloody... It makes you wonder how they did it and how they slept at night. I remember being very disgusted when I found out that the Japanese don't teach their students about the Japanese rape of China during WWII. Now I found out the US is just as bad: Not through a history class or assignment, but through a book my mom just happen to give to me because the libaray already had a copy. It scares me in two ways: It's not so bad with Japan, because they're somewhat peaceful. The US is joyriding around the Middle East under the name of freedom, starting wars and causing deaths (Innocent and otherwise). If they don't teach about their past, what's to keep things from going far south of where they currently are? We're 'more civilized'? I hope so. And the other thing that scares me... I didn't know about the US slaughter of Filipinos, and I'm not even from the 'States. I understand why they should hide it, but why the Canadian Educational System? It makes me wonder: If we don't even know about the gruesome American past, what are we hiding? We like to thing Canada is a peacekeeper. But the US is the Defender of Peace, and look how blood-soaked its history is. Who have we killed? What blood is on our hands?

Do I even want to know? No.
But every self-respecting Canadian should.
-Cril

There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

Beatles - In My Life