Zelda

For those of you out there who are members of the desert-generation, and therefore found yourself fortunate enough to be blessed with a NS64 as a 12 year old, can maybe remember a couple of games that stuck to your memory from this green meadow of your life.
One of these games for me was Zelda... or rather the Ocarina of Time.

Hello. We are the same person.

I´m not talking about the whole game series though. Only the two games developed to Nintendo 64: Ocarina of time and Majoras Mask.

Simple game description:
Ocarina of Time was the greatest game of its kind in its glory days. Game play vise its a brilliant combination between sandbox and story mode gaming. It has puzzles, riddles, quests, alternate story lines which borders on the insane and focuses it all down into a fantastic tale. It challenges your control skills as well as your IQ, as much of the game is located in "temples" where you have to solve a series of obstacles in order to get through. 
As all good stories begin, this also has a princess... who naturally is named Zelda. Your character is a kid called Link (or Dick, or Bjollfrid, or whatever you want him to be called) and its your job to save her.
I realize now that my description of the game does it no justice, so mu suggestion to you is for you to try it out yourself. There are plenty of NS64 simulators for PC, though I´ve yet to find one usable for mac. 
My main focus ever since I discovered Baldurs Gate and Zelda has been story though. And this game has it all.

Om nom nom nom

 
When it comes to the other games:
I´m not saying the previous games are bad, its just that they were to... old, when I started playing. Its been years since I played now, but I still haven't found a game that tops the NS series.
The newer games are brilliantly random on the awesome-scale though. For those of you who know what I´m talking about, I´m certain you would agree when I say that Wind Walker was boorish compared to its predecessors. And I´ve quickly played through the Twilight Princess but that was even worse... without going into too much detail.
It may be simply because its the same game as the two pioneers... and I hate reruns.
Lets face it. Thats Nintendo´s greatest flaw. They lack imagination so they just run the same old games over and over. They have done it to Mario and they´ve done it to Zelda. The new releases are just the old games with slightly altered story lines and new Navi-rippoff´s. God... the new Zelda game coming out to DS is Link with trains. nuff said.

Majoras Mask

I have a moon and I´m not afraid to use it.

Is as Ocarina of Time, equally awesome. It plays on the same lines as the first but lacked the boring parts of the later reruns. In this game though you get to play with time and the other races a lot more, as every mask you pick up have special powers which turns you into other people with certain special attributes. This makes the riddles of the games both harder and more exiting as you have to swap between the different races in quick succession in order to solve them.
The story is slightly different from the other games, as this drops out the "save the princess or die"-bit totally. Zelda herself isn't part of the game... and that´s awesome.

So. Lets have a minute silence as we will never see their like again. At least not from Nintendo.
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What would you do if you met this guy in the woods?

Next post pending when I feel like it. Likely to be about the Middle East.

Spades

Electronica is a genre directly come out of jazz. Its harmonious traits blends with the chaos of the different rhythm's and makes a divergence from order to balance, better than any other genre.
Other types of music has tried and failed to capture the perfect balance it has mastered. Music types like dubstep have recently become better at mimicking its awesomeness, yet because of its youth as been unable to do so, so far.
It is perfection in its blend between the knowing and unwanted.

Note: Ignore the dude at the end.

Now stfu, give me a smoke, and have a win-filled day.

Nomash

Whenever I can´t think its mainly because of an idea of some sort. My ideas usually involves fiction so sometimes I write them down. It never gets beyond the first couple of pages though. The longest so far is on about 21-22 pages, but thats not for a blog... with the format all thin and irritating. 

Here is one I wrote down after I heard a lecture from Elif Safak. Its more of a description... or a very short story about a place... if you will.

Enjoy.

-B

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The thing about the city that made it vibrant was not the constant rain. The thing that made it vibrant was, as some people would put it, its colors.

With a population raging far above 15 million people from various countries and cultures, its inhabitants could, oddly enough, be seen disregarding their differences at every street-corner.

As large cities goes, this was one of the greatest. The human mind is one of both chaos and rationality, which was clear in the architecture, style and calm of the city. It was said that it began as a small ghetto outside a small castle. Then it grew, swallowed the castle and made the land its own. Now the people, the city and the land had merged as one.

The people inhabiting its proper was of the proud kind. Not the arrogant kind, but the kind that is aware of its priorities, its values and heritage. Since the population was as diverse as populations come, the values tended to split at some points, but the core of the mass-mentality was unanimous. Their power as a city dwelling population was their trust in one another. This is what made them different from any other city. It was as if this huge city had taken care to keep the village alive throughout its development. Newcomers were welcomed and integrated into its magical streets and seen as old friends by their new neighbors. 

The metropolis was placed up, around and upon two narrow mountains. Bridges was spread out between them, joining the two city proper´s at various altitudes. Narrow streets made of cobble-stone could be seen from the sea, snaking their way up the two mountains between thin and tall buildings. Shops of all sorts, from baker to fruit stall, were hard at work selling their products from first light, and music could be heard everywhere as night fell upon it, as the restaurant´s, clubs and cafes opened their business with the sinking sun.

Tapestries hung between houses, street after street, their many colors lighting up the mood of those below, and the smell of roasted fish, fresh baked bread and music was in the air making a walk down the twisting roads a new experience even for the eldest of its inhabitants.

Its name was Nomash, and it was a masterpiece of human ingenuity and culture. But the rain had been pouring for two months now, and seemed endless...

The Future

What would the future look like if you could choose the outcome?
Maybe it would have flying cars (god think of the pollution problem), or maybe it would have cities in the sky. Maybe the human race would take to space and roam around, nomads ones more, from planet to planet, in huge domed space-ships. Maybe we would encounter planets hospitable enough for settlement, only with weaker gravity and huge bird-like creatures we could mount and travle around cazms inhabited by other races.
Maybe it would be something like this...

Maybe you are creative and think up what people would look like...

Or maybe you come up with whole societies, their dangers, their complexity and their beautuy...

And maybe we would encounter intelligence, the friendly kind and not the chaotic kind we see in movies. Maybe humans evolve further and become something more, something more... calm...

For the record: I have not painted or drawn any of these. All the pictures shown here are either from the gallery of Jason Chan or Coolvibe.
I simply love how fantasy art and sci-fi has been merging over the last couple of years. People are really outdoing themselves and I relish in the beauty they create for us, their audience.
As I neither have the talent or the skill to ever acomplish anything close to this, all I can to is prais their work.
I can write though... Thats something, but pale compared to this, as these pictures tell stories about worlds in themselves, without ever scribling down a word of it. They leave it up to the viewer to fanatsize... and thats why I love it.

Nice monday everyone.

A walk for the drunk

Have you ever walked down a street... wait, let me re-fraze that. Have you ever been walking in the middle of the night down a street that is so cold that your gloved hands are stiff?
Well... Imagine that this street is packed with drunk, horny people, all broke and screaming at each other over the sound of the booming music from the club they are standing in front of.
Now imagine that all but the most inexperienced ones of them wear the same dull, drawn expression after years of toiling and doing the same thing over and over. Sad, right? Well... you are probably one of them, or have been at some point in time, or wish you could have been. Hell... I´m one of them.
Everyone wants a rutine, right? Thats mine. Only, I never get drunk enough not to notice the sullen sadness of it all.
The thing that bugs me though isn´t the drunkards running around in minus 20 degrees calling out their mating-call like a moose in autom, nonono, its all the people wearing BF´s, or BP(translated to english: Bear Pussys). Its a kind of hat you would normally wear when its so cold that its the only logical thing to wear. The reason for the name Bear Pussy, originates from the military who thought it a natural, and proper, name for a hat that you wrap around your head, and which makes you sweat like an atheist in church, with fur all over.

Got to love it. I´ve used it plenty of times... in order to save my life from the biting cold. Its REALLY comfortable and makes you remember the time you spent in your mothers womb.
Anyway. Its "in" now.
Imagine a guy coming onto the tram and seeing every second girl around him sporting one of these. Then thinking: "Wow, its gotta be cold". then noticing that every one of them lack the pleasure of pants... Yup. Sporting nothing more than a thin jacket and this hat, they prowl around the streets, seeking pray to bump on the head and drag home.
I almost laughed in a random girls face when I noticed her awesome insecureness... almost. Didn´t though. What I did was standing there and enjoy the view. Because, believe it or not, its hot.

Poor girl. I was packed in wool from head to ass and was still freezing it off, and there was she; so eager to please the drunkards of the nigh-life, at the cost of her health.

As a member of the morons of the night-life, I have one message to all of you: Your services is no longer required, please get dressed... and drop the stupid-ass hat.

I IZ AWESOME!

Appeal for getting through

After lots of speculation and discussion with my alter ego; too-much-information-man, I have reached the conclusion that spotify increases the life quality of anyone using, it with 3 points.
When using the spectrum of 1-10 where 1 is: very bad, and 10 is GOD-LIKE, I will venture forth and say that spotify will increase your scale with 3, no matter where you put yourself in the ranking.
In other words... its pretty awesome.
It just shows what the future will look like. Innovation everyone! The music business has understood that for it to survive it has to go online.
And I´m not talking i-Tunes or Pandora. Spotify (and most likely other programs similar to it) has taken it a step further.

For those of you who do not know what it is I´ll explain as shortly as I can.
Its a music program that you download, where all (almost all... The Beatles and a few other artists are in legal disputes at the moment so what you find instead are tribute bands at the moment) artists, bands and songs are available at any time through streaming, only that you get them instantly and are able to personalize everything around them, through making lists and sharing them with your face-friends.
It makes it both easy to share music with others and makes it easyer finding new artists that are similar to those you already like.

There are, however, a few snags that I find irritating. One: in order to get better quality on the tracs than i-Tunes and pandora, you have to pay a monthly fee. The fee increases in regards to quality and mobility (there is a spotify app, etc)... Most people don´t bother with paying, but they get (in addition to the poorer quality) commercials every 20-30 min or so.
I´m one of the suckers who pays the lowest possible price in order to get a little better quality and be rid of the commercials, and I´m eagerly awaiting the day when it will be free.
Which leads me over to what I wanted to talk about.

The music bussiness has to adapt or go under. Several music stores has already stopped selling CD´s, or are downsizing their repartuar because they understand that by upping their sales they have to go online.
People are downloading anyway. It bodes bad for the music regime in America. The artists themselves are adapting as it seems. Probably not all, but the new ones are. They are starting publishing themselves, through youtube or other medias that are free and spread the word quicker than any record-company ever would.

So here is my take on it:
The music business is loosing money. The artists are making money (through online purchases and tours). The programs that are delivering music online delivers mostly bad quality, but they are getting better, and they are earning money on it... legaly.
America does not allow spotify or other programs similar to it because it goes against maybe 1000 of their 2 million copyright laws.
So if you are unlucky enough to find yourself in the US, you probably won´t get spotify (they have closed the servers there... I tried... you have to use a proxy and then find a friend in Europe who can log onto your account for you ever 14th day)
Here are the countries where spotify work so far!

Anyway. I hope this wasnt to much of a hype of the program. I did this out of my own interest in it... since I´ve used something between 50 and 100 hours of my life on it.
Right now I´m listening to Bugge Wesseltoft and enjoying life. Hope you are too! - Enjoying life that is.

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Removed adsense after seeing a Church of Scientology add here. Damn, Google! Don´t be greedy!

Is everyone a narcissist?

Unlike most people in the western hemisphere of the world, I have come to the conclusion that, no, not all people are totally self-centered.
It has become close to a rule to think that we, as individuals, think first of ourselves, then if we are extremely generous, others. But do not confuse our sense of self preservation with narcissism. Its not the same. In some ways we can even say that our societies are built on people acting out of their own interest, bettering their own living standards. But at the same time narcissism, which is a breath away from being the same as the need of self preservation, has not brought any fruits innovation-vise as far as I know.

To be fair I have to look at narcissism as two concepts in the same expression.

1. One can be seen as "positive"; in the sense that we understand ourselves as acting out of our persona rather than the environment that surrounds us. When we act to change our surroundings and it is because something is "wrong" in the sense that the norms(or morals) we have been brought up with does not apply/occur to/in a specific situation, we are actually acting to preserve our surroundings rather than ourselves. The "self" in this scenario is the motivator, but not the object of individuals attention.
2. The other way to see narcissism is in the "negative" sense. I would say this occurs when the individual sees himself out of the environment that surrounds it, and by doing so makes the environment a part of oneself. When we look at it like this, the persona "becomes" the environment and makes everything else "less important".

Note: I did no research into the term "narcissism" before writing this. If something is "wrong" with my understanding of the term, please make a mental note, and have a nice day.


So is everyone a narcissist? No, and yes. In some ways the ego fills our very existence, but I would venture out on a limb and say that the ego becomes obliterated when faced with certain situations.
I remember seeing an episode of Friends when I was little, where the sub plot of one of the episodes were Joey´s thesis; "that there was no selfless deed", and Phoebe´s attempt to prove him wrong. The moral of the episode was that "no there isn´t a selfless deed". I remember thinking already then: whatthefwhat? and went on to liberate my pet mouse out of spite. And yes, any pet is both important and furiously loved by any young boy.
I see now that I may have set loose a horde of rodents on our neighbor, because i think it was pregnant... but the mouse was free anyway, to roam the back yard of our neighbor, and possibly his kitchen.

The point is that there are cases (this was a poor example) when people do things to preserve other things than their self, at the cost of and not at the boon of the ego.

No. I´m not thinking of love. Or rather... I´m not thinking of relationships.
I´ve recently been flooded with friends problems where they moan about their predicament. Most of their problems are based on the most basic of all problems: that they are focusing on them selves, and not listening to their partner. "Why can´t he see that I need him to listen?" "Why isn´t he calling me?" "Why am I the only one who cares in this relationship?" bladiblabla. I´ve heard it all. Twice.
Some guys would disagree with me (but those guys don´t know sh*t) when I say that its all about compromise, giving and getting, where as they think its either all about him, or if he´s a slipper; all about her. If the other part isn´t returning the efforts of the other partner it´s because of one out of two things: Either he/she doen´t care enough, in which case the relationship is doomed, or he/she doesn´t get the concept of giving and getting... in which case the relationship is doomed. Mystery solved.
I promise you, there are no other situation with more ego, than a relationship. But that isn´t love... not really. If they had really loved each other, they would have seen the pleasure of making each other happy, and stopped thinking about their own needs. Their needs would have become the other ones needs... and so on.

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Society applauds people who do selfless deeds. It honors them and makes them examples for others to follow in their footsteps. But isn´t that a little sad in itself? Should we really need to applaud actions that should have been mundain and common?

End of rant.

Double Morals

Here is a fun fact. The military in my country is as effective as a marooned cat on an island. When he eventually wakes from his nap (because cats don´t wake simply because their boat is going down), he looks around, and realizes that there is nothing for him to kill. So he does what every sensible cat does, and naps again.
Anyway. The military is a money drain. We could have used our money on donkey research and gotten better results. Its not that its "bad" at what it does, its just that it doesn´t matter what they do. Its NATO who both makes the decisions and poops out gun-heads anyway, so what does our contribution matter? Nada.
The reason for my ripping on the military is because I got my "we have finally realized how awesome you are and therefore cannot let you waste a year of your life on us"- letter. Muh. It took them three years, but they finally realized that my "definition of pacifist" was legit. You see... all you have to do to skip the military service in this country is to tell them that you are a pacifist, or that you have some sort of illness... like "I´m sorry, my p3niz is just to large for running in the mud".

Yeah. I don´t really like the military, or violence for that matter. Which makes this even more ironic.
What you do not know is that most people in this cold, cold north have been in fights, mostly drunkenly and blind, but nonetheless fights. We do not like to be dominated you see... like all other people in the world I guess.
The thing is that me and a buddy were walking home after some beers last night, laughing after a good time out. Then out of nowhere came a drunk dude (he had to be because you don´t simply walk up to strangers in this town), he had a grin that said "IWANNAFIGHT" all over, and so he started abusing us verbally. At this point his two friends (a blond girl and a fat guy) were ignoring him out of shame, and well... we were almost equally drunk, so naturally we stopped to hear him out. It had to be some sort of mistake, right? is he actually stupid enough to spew crap at two guys who just happen to walk by? "naaaah" I thought, but yes, it appeared that he was. For some reason he started threaten my friend that he would kiss him because he claimed that we were gay. The logic at this point was beyond my comprehension, so out of shock and mock curiosity, I just stood there and stared at his ugly face. At this point my friend had summoned enough intellect to respond to the randomness that confronted us. So he said: "OK then, I dear you to kiss me. If you have the balls to do so, you would! Go on, I dear you."
Normally a dude would have just been to shocked to even respond anything, so I have to give my friend some credit for his fast thinking, even though the prospect of the drunk ugly-dude giving him a smooch repulsed me.
Now it was the dude who didn´t know what to say, so he did what every drunkard does when he is at a loss for new thoughts and insults; he tackles. That's what happened next anyway. Next thing I see is a drunken dude flying through the air and face-palming my friend.
And what did I do when this happened? I reacted without thinking, that's what. And this is where the irony of my little tale comes into view. Being one of the tards that have said "nnno, go away" to the military out of principles, I have to say that what I did does not compute. But I think that most of you would agree that me coming to the aid of a friend, even if it is in a violent manner, is acceptable. Without putting too much detail into the picture, I threw my fist into the back of his head, possibly his neck and wrenched him off. The fat guy had also come to help out, though he was more interested in splitting us up than joining in, so luckily my hazy mind didn´t pursue when he towed the drunk guy away from us.

What we learned and moral of the tale:
- Drunken people fight
- Being a pacifist does not make you a saint
- Beer can lead to singing
- The "eye for an eye"- rule is outdated and should be forgotten

As compensation that this story is very human, and not really special I have some pictures for you to laugh at.

Perspectives, Japan, Development, Day-Dreaming = People?

As a student of human geography I read a lot about development theory. While I read I usually drift of on a thought somewhere. Following the thought it becomes more and more complex so I begin to day-dream. The day-dream becomes so interesting that I simply have to finish it. It may take hours or just minutes, but in either case I just sit there, staring at the textbook in front of me, thinking about something far, far away.
They all begin with a paradox, or a problem, that becomes stories over time, as I explore them. Most of them are forgotten after I reach the end of the dream, but some stick with me for a while. Those are the ones I write down, because I know that they are products of my imagination as well as my creativity, that someday might become something that I can share with others.


Often times the thoughts are in some manner related to what I`m reading. Such as; "The Japanese state is largely responsible for the development of the Japanese economy, because of its early protectionism of its infant industries." ... leads me to think of Japan and what its like to live with so many people around you at any given moment... Or what its like to live in the Japanese culture... which makes me think of the Shogunate, and what a shock the first Europeans got when they were confronted with seppuku.

The line of thought is usually never ending, and might lead anywhere, though it has a tendency to lead back to fundamental philosophical questions. Such as; If there are alternate universes, like string theory suggests, and I am dead in one of them, could I take over for myself in that universe, and would it make me an impostor? If yes; Am I taking my own place, or someone else's? Does that make me another person within myself or two persons in separate places? Is it then me I`m taking over for? hum...


That's not a fundamental philosophical question, though an interesting one. Yet, what is more interesting is our capacity to think in abstract ways. Humanity is a race that is both practically and abstractly oriented, which in my opinion is what makes us able to adapt to any given environment with such vigor and success... like having tons of people around one self at any given moment makes us develop personal spaces within our minds, where we are alone, where we have privacy.
We are a truly fascinating race, which is why I have chosen to study ... us... first practically, then later, if I`m still interested enough; abstractly.

If you have the basic knowledge needed to explore the internet, try checking out some of the forums that are spread around. The internet is becoming a infinitely large pool of understanding we can use to study human behavior in new ways. The way we talk here is different. The way we refer to others here is different. The way we share information and ideas is a virtue and not a vice. The largest protests online is about TV- series, and not about politics. We organize in a different manner here, and more efficiently than anywhere else, unbound to place and time.... and people are able to form bonds and friendships without ever seeing each other.
What it proves is that humans are able to create culture and society without physical boundaries. That the only tool needed to develop new social rules and structure, is a way to communicate.


People = Communication = Innovation = Aphabeth = Books = Academia = Innovation = Internet = People?


hmm. The day-dreaming seldom has something to do with practical issues, like whatever the hell I´m reading... Which is a shame because I would realy like to remember it, and eventually stop reading the same sentence 67 times...

Numerical value in the social system

Economics is a area within the social science that we never could have done without. One might say that it is from economics that we draw any if not all relevant data we later use in our different studies. This is mostly true within all the different schools of social science. Except maybe the anthropological one... Though the funny thing about social science, is the fact that it does not require us to KNOW economics... just understand its basic function, history and its relevance in the other stuff that we are interested in. Like development; which of the three European economic schools is best equipped to further the understanding of development?
Like I said. I do not have to understand the math, just the theoretical point of view. Which pisses me somewhat off.
My studies does not require math, so the fact that I lack the training, the skill and the interest does not influence my studies in the slightest, in any way, but I would still say that the fundamental skills necessary to work with economics should be required of any student of social science.
We do get some introduction to statistics though, the fundamental tool we use to make something similar to conclusions.
Its not that I want math or economics in my studies, its just that I feel that they are necessary anyway. Its like a professor who does know how to teach. All students know what its like to have a professor who is more interested in their work than in teaching their students anything, thus giving extremely bad lectures. And if there exists students out there who does not have this experience, they are either fools or just lucky beyond measure. In my opinion everyone who wants to obtain a Doctrate should meet some teaching standards. Just like every student of social science should know basic economics.

There are many wrong things in this world, but the major challenge of any state (in my opinion) is the educational system. It can always become better. Even in Finland where the teachers are actually revered in the social scale.

Today is monday! This was the rant! Have a nice day, and I like your face!