Sorry... I just feel the need to vent a little right now. Feel free to completely ignore this.

( Feel like reading? )

Woo. Got pomegranates that weren't completely bruised/rotten/cracked open/unripe. Bought 4 of them, so they should last me a little while. Or at least until next week. But they're so tiny...! And expensive.

Anyways... Started studying for a little bit, but I still really want to finish TLR's 2nd run. I still don't quite understand all the hate it got, but I guess it's mostly because I like SaGa games? Eh, doesn't matter. I like it and it's taking time away from playing Bayonetta, so... I guess I'll be playing it at night, as usual, while studying while the sun's up. Still no snow, which is a little disappointing. A few friends want to go skiing and snowboarding over the winter break, while also having a potluck party after some skating (chicken withdrawal? it's been years since then!). And probably subjecting me to some sort of torture. Like playing RE4 while half-asleep at 4am. Admittedly, that was pretty fun.

And another year until the next orthodontist appointment at 9.30am. When he asked what was new, I mentioned the new computer... And he asked why I built one instead of just buying one. The simple explanation was that, yes, it's easier to just buy the machine with the CPU and RAM you want, but the video card was one of the most important parts for mine. Oh, and power supply. I needed 600W (just in case) for all the components. I said that I wanted the GTX series card (or the ATI equivalent), which is not possible with pre-assembled machines in your typical shop like Best Buy. Well, you could ask, but it's not likely they'll have a machine just sitting there with the specs you want. And the computers that float around my specs? About 1500~1600, with a monitor at 5ms (maybe) and inferior vid card. I have a 2ms LCD monitor. So... yeah. Actually, me and one friend don't quite understand why another decided to build a new computer right now. It just doesn't make any sense since there's going to new stuff coming out next year that can outperform this year's offerings. And all he really cares about is playing Star Craft 2, which isn't going to be out for another long while. Oh, and he got a 360, and is planning to get a PS3. Yeesh... It's not like I can recommend anything to him since I have NO IDEA what he likes to play. Amongst all my friends, I think I'm the oddball when it comes to what I like to play... No one likes SaGa, they like FPSes, I like to play games in more than one way, constantly on the lookout for anything interesting... I think about half the time, they have no idea what game I'm talking about, even if I mention the title. You know, just for the hell of it, I'm going to recommend The Last Remnant just to see his reaction to the game. Harley's head already spins when I talk about formations and force triggering stuff.

Oh, and it turns out, FRAPS did record my sound. Just really quietly. It's either that, or Last Remnant is just really loud. And I'm adding that OST to the FFXIII order soon. Been listening to it again, I really like it... Not to mention that the packaging is pretty nice. Not as nice as Bayo's, but still pretty nice.

Time to cut veggies and fold clothes.

... I still can't figure out why my sound from DMC4 isn't working. I already screwed up a little bit by compressing the drives, but that was easily fixed by grabbing the files off the disc. Well, critical system files. There's probably something up with the drivers and configurations. Ah... I'll look into it during the winter break, provided that I'm not exhausted from other activities. Or you know, when not playing FFXIII on my new monitor~ Although since a certain someone is interested in the story, does that mean I need to use the bigger and not so sharp TV? Sure, I have the S-video cable, but that might not be enough for all the shinies.

Another thing... Can't seem to get the sound to record on FRAPS. Going to look into that a little later as well. Exams are coming up after all.

On the RL front... STUPID TTC AND THEIR FARE HIKES. Because of that, I'm actually running low on tokens at the moment because they're rationing them. It's also a little unsettling that many of the workers earn more than $100K a year. That's more that most professors and teachers when they're starting out, and they won't get anywhere near that for a long time. Ah... what am I going to do about the fares?! I don't have enough quarters to always pay $2.75, and a token actually costs $2.25.

EDIT: OK, they've outright stopped selling them. Stuck buying tickets for now... but need to make sure that I don't buy too many since they expire at the end of the year. Come January, you can still use them but have to include an extra $0.25 until the end of the month. Then, it's only the new fare price. It's, what? The 2nd fare hike in 2 years now? Ridiculous.


Exams: ANA300 18.Dec.09 DEPT 9-12, BCH422 14.Dec.09 SS1069 2-5, NFS484 10.Dec.09 BR200 9-12. Nice and spread out. Only complaint? I finish on the last day of exams, and will probably end up starting work the next day. No time for celebrations, huh?

So after a few too many hours of fiddling around, got everything to work! INCLUDING THAT STUPID AUDIO PROBLEM THAT ACCOMPANIES XP SP3. Honestly, what an annoying problem... Anyways, started fiddling around with various demos and benchmarks. For some reason, I'm not getting the crazy 100+fps for DMC4 after reintstalling. I'll look into it later today. Getting pretty tired after playing a little Last Remnant. Didn't expect to lose one union already, and it's DEFINITELY a SaGa in disguise. Need to extensive test the system in case I accidentally shocked any components. Shouldn't take more than 30 days to make them fail if they were damaged in any way. Also time to install that vid capture card, and FRAPS. Almost got my PS3 controller configured, but I can't seem to figure out what's stopping me from mapping the right analog stick. I kinda need my camera movement here!

So... final stats: i5-750 @ 2.73GHz (OC'ed from 2.66GHz), MSI GTX275 (not overclocking this considering how hot it runs), 4GB RAM (1600MHz), XP SP3 (32-bit), 1.5TB HDD.

Yeah, I'm still over budget for my computer. Still don't have a new monitor with HDMI-in ports. No 2.1 speakers. No black keyboard and mouse. I'm really lacking in the accessory department at the moment. Too bad I have a white PS3... The controller's not going to match the comp any time soon~

Currently waiting for a USB key so I can save my O.C. profile. Turns out that I had to overclock a bit anyways to see the 1600MHz RAM I installed. Sure, I could underclock, but then it would have been pointless to even BUY the 1600MHz. Pretty sure that the motherboard can handle it. It's only an extra 0.05V... System's not running that hot right now, so that's good. Wonder what it'll be like once I get the vid card going. First things first though... Need to complete that CMOS/BIOS profile, then install XP. Might need to buy a wireless adapter to connect to the net. And maybe I shouldn't have hurt myself while carrying everything to the car. My biceps and butt muscles currently hurt. The back of my left hand's a little sore from carrying the video card a certain way. Knees are sore from all the kneeling while putting the thing together. Yay for assembly being hard work. And I think I might want to OC the CPU properly... Not much though, to only 2.73GHz from 2.66GHz. Speed change should be negligible, but it should help with the compatibility with the other components.

EDIT: Aaaaaaaaaand it won't boot up. Turns out that I need those SATA drivers that AREN'T present on the XP disc I have. Suits me right for using a disc from about 8 years ago on new tech.

March 9, 2010. NA/EU release date. Pretty surprising, given S-E's track record for release dates in both territories. Not to mention the theme song. I asked my aunt about it and she said that her voice is supposedly really good. Haven't listened to it yet, so I have no comment. Already have the JP version pre-ordered so I may just skip out on this release, especially if Bayonetta's PS3 port has been polished up for its NA release. I'm more than willing to go through hell again in Bayo with a much better framerate. I guess they want to get it out the door before the fiscal year's finished.

Anyways, couldn't go downtown today because of a TTC protest. Doesn't matter, since I still need to finish up my slides and to finalize what I want to ask for for my computer parts. Still a little worried about the voltages, but I also want low latency. Also need to look for waterproof shoes. Think I'll skip on the haircut for now. Going to try to secure the car for tomorrow since we'll be going to more than one place and I need something to carry the parts I'm buy, including the case. Don't think I can use the older case, but we'll see.

Damn it Square, don't remind me that I still need to finish Demon's Souls. This entry's picture just looks like something out of DS, ESPECIALLY that suit of armor. Sorta reminds me of the Fluted Armor set, even though it's completely off in terms of the model. Damn heavy stuff for someone with my playstyle (read: insanely reckless, loves high speed and mobility, SNIPER). Actually, the background looks WAY TOO HAPPY for something out of DS. It's not creepy or filled with stuff that's just plain out to kill you.

Anyways... my package finally came in. Yay for the Bayonetta OST. Sure, it set me back about $60 (stupid exchange...), but I think it was worth getting. After all, it means that I can play it and listen while using the surround sound system :3. Now... if only I can get that with my games... Yeah, never going to happen at this rate. For some reason though, the players refuses to play my Sigma Harmonics CD. Everything else seems to play fine though. I'll figure it out at a later date.

Want to get moving on Bayonetta some more. Complete the game in under 3 hours... Just to unlock an accessory? Sure, if I'll do it since it's a throwback to the original DMC. The Bangle of Time. I think I'm going to end up using a lot of items... Now... Which chapters can I trim the time off of easily...? I know that I've chopped off at least 30 minutes already while getting Golds and Platinums. Probably the middle chapters. Let's see if I can get the Epilogue to under 10 minutes.

Gotta get that presentation done. Got all the info I need, but I really hate making slides.

Still waiting for my package to arrive even though I have lossless rips now. Still trying to figure out and fine tune the components for the computer... If I let the store put it together with the parts I want, it'll cost me $1200+tax. I want to put it together myself to save some money, even if my dad's against it. Besides, this is just really an experiment right now. I can deal with a crap monitor for the time being though, since i had no problems staring at it while doing my recordings. I'll wait until there's a decent sale on monitors before snatching one up. I also could have saved some money on the CPU if a certain someone would have just LET ME GET IT. Getting it at $210 is obviously better than the usual asking price of about $240, although it seems to have dropped to $220.

Anyways... Grabbing the motherboard (~138) and HDD (~126) tomorrow. With tax, that'll set me back about $300. Hopefully I can get the costs down somehow.

HOLY CRAP HOPE GETS ALEXANDER AS HIS SUMMON.

I haven't seen him as a proper summon since VIII. I'm excited~

So... I got my S-Video cable today which was great. Too bad I already lent out Demon's Souls to a friend, so I couldn't see if I could read the numbers. However, I DID play some Bayonetta with the new cables.


IT WAS AWESOME. I DON'T HAVE TO SQUINT TO SEE THE TEXT ANYMORE! It was kind of fuzzy before because of the way the font is used, not to mention the colours. I think I'm missing a few bits from Antonio's notes, and definitely a lot of stuff from Normal mode and beyond because I got a little impatient with getting to the end. Yep, I switched to Easy to get to the end. Doesn't make the battles any less epic though. It's nice to have something clearer to work with instead of that blurry mess of composite cables. Honestly, I don't even know how I managed with that for 200+ hours for Disgaea 3. Thought I would have driven myself insane from that. Although... It could have just been the age of the cables. Been using them since 1998-ish or so? They're the ones that came with the PS1, but I doubt that would have an impact since I also used the ones that came with the PS3 at one point. Didn't see a difference.

Anyways, the other blog will have the details of what went down in Bayo if anyone was interested in reading. Honestly, the game could have been a lot better, but what it set out to accomplish, it was almost perfect. Except for all those "Press X not to die" moments. Seriously, I hate QTEs. I'm not paying that much attention half the time anyways. Oh, and the camera. The game has really weird camera issues, especially the final battle. And it's not the final battle most people are thinking of.

Anyways, aunt and uncle will be here in 2 days. Got the H1N1 shot (even though I'm not in a priority group...) in case of screening procedures at the hospital this coming Saturday. It's still a little sore, but it wasn't as bad as a few hours after getting the shot and yesterday. They weren't kidding when they said that it was going to hurt... Most of the time shots don't do anything to me, but this one did. Ow.

Whee... Studying the brain right now for a mid-term on Monday. Then moving onto epithelial tissues. Even more fun... Then it's onto membrane proteins and finishing up that assignment. Hopefully I won't go over 2000 words. By the looks of it, I don't think the topic I chose has sufficient evidence to be passed as a health claim.

Also decided to get an S-video cable because right now, I'm just insanely annoyed with not being able to read the numbers clearly while changing my equipment in Demon's Souls. It's also because I can't play on the HDTV unless my parents/mom are/is out for an extended period of time. Nothing in the house, other than the HDTV (I think) supports component output, so that's not an option (and not having said cables). Everything else is just too old to go for better outputs. I really don't want to go blind trying to read numbers on a screen....! Which reminds me, I'll be lending Demon's Souls to a friend for an undetermined amount of time, and I'm nowhere near end-game. Not to mention that I accidentally shifted the Shrine of Storms into Pure Black World Tendency. Yay for having that jerkass Satsuki hounding me for a duel.

Also, the Leafs STILL haven't won a game. I don't know if this is either depressing or embarrassing. Seven games in a row? We either need better players or something to help them play better.

Final remainder: Figure out the bus route to the JCCC soon! Don't want to be late/get lost for the event.

EDIT: DAMN IT. STOP TEMPTING ME 3D DOT GAME HEROES. I DON'T HAVE ANY SPARE MONEY TO SPEND ON YOU. ATLUS, PLEASE LOCALIZE THIS.

Well, today's bus ride back uptown was particularly annoying... Some random guy kept bursting into song (quite badly too) about how Jesus loved him (and everyone, though that part sounded like an afterthought), along with a VERY bad rendition of "Amazing Grace." Then he invited everyone on the bus to get off at Minford for something or other. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn if some biblical zombie loved me. /rant /annoyed




And no, I don't really care about offending people either. I was actually very close to declaring that I'm an atheist on the bus or telling him to shut up, whichever button was pressed first. It was crowded. I probably would've gotten a lot of dirty looks by the elders. I still look like a kid.

I'm not dead either. Just... working on assignments and getting through mid-term hell right now. Oh, and playing lots of Demon's Souls. Strangely addicting, despite dying almost 100 times in the game so far. Yes, almost 100 times.

Also NTS: Stalk CDJapan for FFXIII's LE OST and Bayonetta's OST. Never mind. Ordered anyways, even though they'll be shipping separately.

Hm. No wonder why I slept through the afternoon after getting home from class. Currently sick, and it only somewhat fully manifested today. Freezing, sneezing and blood in mucous. Also sleeping in a little more than usual this morning. At least I don't have a runny nose or a fever... I think. But it's still annoying because it feels like I'm not getting enough air at times. ... I'M USING MY OWN KEYBOARD/LAPTOP TO KEEP ME WARM, ALONGSIDE THE BLANKET AND CUP OF TEA.

*ahem* Anyways... Just bored. Looking over assignments right now, with one due next week. Also waiting for the Bayonetta demo to be posted, but it seems like the JP PSN is down for the time being? I'll check again at about 10 since Japan's about 13 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone. Finally finished SaGa2DS, and lagging behind pretty badly in SaGa2 by still not killing off Odin (he's actually nice guy, if you think about it). Not sure if I want to go through the Nasty Dungeon right now.

I think I might be able to start building my computer within the next few weeks. Got a quote on the specs I want, and it's not as bad as I thought. About $1100, which was what I had in mind anyways. Closer to $900 if I don't bother with the monitor for now, back up to about $1100 if I want to get WIndows 7. But yeah, almost ready~ Going to shop around for a few more prices before settling on stuff. I think I'll just go with the i5-750 core since I doubt I need hyper-threading anytime soon.

EDIT: OK... CAD-USD is at 0.95 according to Yahoo. Not sure if that's a good thing.

Whee. Didn't get rained on today! Directly anyways. Started to really pour while driving home, which wasn't as bad as that one time where visibility was reduced to almost white and car blobs. Today was really just an excuse to go out driving since I haven't driven extensively on heavier traffic roads in a while. There weren't that many people at PMall or the STC, and I only say that because I was able to find a parking spot with ease.

So... I was checking out some computer shops for parts prices, just in case they differed from online sources (and also not having to pay shipping because I'm cheap like that). There were A LOT of people checking out parts today. What's up with that?! Anyways, some parts were cheaper at Canada Computers (namely the motherboards), but everything else was cheaper at TigerDirect. Looks like I might be mixing and matching. Also poked around for a new PSP battery since the one I bought last year decided that now would be a good time to only retain less than 25% of its charge and have really stupid readings (-23462347276354234C or something like that?). Why is it $5 more expensive at Sony Style? It's the same thing that's being sold at EB, Best Buy and Future Shop. Oh well, held off from buying until someone comes home. There's no doubt that she will want to go shopping, so I'll get it then. Maybe also grab a video card or something. Still, kinda broke because of pre-ordering Bayonetta. Looking forward to the demo on Thursday!

It also seems like something borked the cable connection. Only TVO seems to work at the moment, and when I first turned it on today, that was the channel it was set to and the volume at the halfway mark. As in, freakin' loud. Which is weird because it was working just fine last night and much earlier this morning. Maybe some of the moving around ran over a cable? Only the couch was moved back its proper place. The table is still beside the computer (which I hope to replace soon-ish). The room's not so cold anymore either...

Windows are done, almost got rained on, had to get something for dinner, now there's a thunderstorm. What's with having really bad luck with rain lately?! Got rained on last Wednesday while getting a snack. Got rained on on Tuesday since class was cancelled. Got rained on yesterday when it was pretty clear that it WASN'T going to rain (and I really got soaked...). Almost got rained on today while walking to the bank (I took the umbrella, for once). At least I'm indoors now, with no threat of being doused from head to toe with water.

I'm still freezing though.

... At least there's something to look forward to next week. Bayonetta demo on the JP PSN on Thursday. Yay, but I already pre-ordered. Well, more like I need to wait until Monday to pre-order because account is updating. Oh hell, I pre-ordered anyways because everything is transferring anyways.