Football, a critique

Today was a football game here at USC. It was a big one too. Us versus Ole Miss. I always hate the time from 4-6 on game days. All the frat guys are worked up, but none of them have left for the game. I don't get Football. Not football itself, I enjoy watching a good game a football with a group of friends. I enjoy school spirit. Feeling united together with people who live and work with you is a good thing. I just don't get why everyone goes crazy. I think there's something more to it, something more sinister.

I think there's a bloodlust to it. A craving for violence that can't be fulfilled in today's modern controlled society. The closest thing they have is violent sports like football. It's not even a craving for athletics, I know a lot of these fanatics that don't look like they've played football in years. I'm speculating of course, I don't have any data or anything.

I think most of it isn't even each person's individual violent nature, but rather a mob mentality that lets people drop there mental guards and go with crowd. They feel like it's okay to be ultra-violent because everyone else is too. I would not want to tick off one of these crowds. They could tear you apart and they'd all blame it on each other.

It's possible I'm overreacting, but let me tell you, if anything ever does happen with football crowd hysteria, something bad, I'll be right there with a big sign, "I told you so."

I actually do wish I went to this game though. One of my friends came down to watch the game. He might not even be able to stop in though, he had to go to the game straight from work and if he has to work tomorrow then he'll have to head straight home afterword. Like I said, I enjoy a good game of football, now and then, with some friends.

But tonight I simply play "Lufia and the Fortress of Doom." Hey, how about a microreview, there's not much to this game.

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom

Presentation - Very 90's RPG. Good for it's time, and still catchy today. Fun but repetitive music and colorful, simple graphics. Full Points

Literary Value - Four warriors battle the evil Sinistrals. I like how cheesy it is, but it's no work of art. (Just an expression)
Half-Credit

Entertainment - Old school JRPG, riddled with Step, Step, Battle syndrome. It does you the service of sending you back to town when you die with all your earnings, but items don't have descriptions and monsters are more of a chore than a challenge.
No-Credit

Respect - Lufia and the Fortress of Doom? My friend had played a remake, but I had to dig to find this game. Sorry Lufia, you get No Respect.

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom gets:
1.5 DragonEggs out of 4 - Below Average

If you're craving some nostalgia like I am, go for it, but this game is old school Dragon Quest style.


And then...

"Well Jack, it's time for..."

A kunai flew from his fingertips and stabbed me right in the leg.

"Not wasting any time I see."

"It's an anti-warp device."

"Say wha?"

"If you warp anywhere, I'll be drug with you."

He didn't want me to run away. That was actually one of my most likely options. This wasn't good.

"You got the nanobots?" I tried to pull the kunai out, no good, stuck in tight.

"There location is stored in my hard-drive. But you won't survive to access it."

"I wouldn't count on that."

One, two...

I leapt forward, he leapt forward, our blades clashed in the collision. I had one saber in each hand, he had only one katana that he two-handed. I dropped a blade and pulled my pistol.

Three, four...

He blocked both shots with his blade. I hate it when they do that. He rushed forward with blinding speed. I picked up my second sword.

I declare war.

It was all I could do just to keep up with the flurry of blows. He leapt backwards and stood at ready.

"This is all? Without your precious warping you are nothing. Why don't you warp? I would follow, but would I not be disoriented by the trip?"

I wouldn't count on that.

Ten, nine...

He began his barrage again. He was holding back. He could've killed me by now. I decided to try his theory out.

Eight, seven...

In the refractory, our battle continued. He did seem to pause for a moment to take in his new surroundings. I took an initiative.

Six, five...

Blocked, both strikes. Not enough, might as well keep it on the rooftop. Warping back he flew at me, familiar with this terrain.

Four, three...

"Two, you only have two places you can warp to? I underestimated you. I should've killed you back on Reeva."

He was right.

Two, one...

"But now you will die here."

I saw his blade readying into posistion. I saw the killing blow look in his eye. I knew I'd never see the actual strike, but I had no idea it would be because I wouldn't let it happen.

Blast-Off

Spinning, the planet was spinning. Swinging around its sun. Spinning like a top. The sun was spinning. The galaxy was spinning. The whole universe was spinning and I could feel it.

Everything was spinning.

But most importantly, something inside me was spinning. My head felt like it was splitting open. Mostly because it was. A blast of force had sent Jack spiraling backwards. Spiraling like the universe. My hair began to glow red, magma with a hint of yellow, red. I felt like crumpling to my knees, but I stood, no, I began to rise. I floated two feet above the rooftop with mighty gales torrenting around me and nearly pushing Jack back farther.

N.O. the force that I use to warp. Unlocked by accessing both halves of your brain. All of it, and then some. I reached into my hair. It melted around my hands like syrup. I reached deeper feeling for something, anything inside that might help. I found it.

A Gilmour Signature Stratocaster, black, six-stringed, electric guitar with a whammy bar and a pirate decal right above the bridge. I decided to call it, Davie.

With N.O. coursing through my veins and my musical instrument of death now gripped in both hands, we resumed our fight. He was still faster, but not by much. More importantly I was defying gravity. I was defying physics. My blows came and didn't stop coming. I couldn't feel the resistance of his sword against my guitar, all I could feel was...

Spinning.

I lifted my guitar for one final blow. I think I actually saw fear in Jack's eyes. His robot eyes actually quivered for a moment. He brought his blade up to block my blow. Perfect. I brought down the hammah, and smashed his sword in two. Jack dropped to his knees.

I pretended to obey gravity for a moment and stood over him.

"Where are the nanobots?"

"Kill me, just kill me and find out for yourself."

"Here." I tossed the refractor crystal from my jacket.

"What is this?"

A refractor crystal moron.

"Trade, give me the location of the nanobots and you can return to guarding this crystal on Reeva."

"They're on Reeva. Near the entrance to my facility."

"Remove the anti-warp device."

"It is deactivated. You can remove it later."

"Good luck."

I shoved the robot off the building with my foot. He jumped off the side and landed on another roof. My N.O. cooled and Davie evaporated in my hands. Jack wouldn't make it two days in that stale old power station. Something inside him, something small, had begun to spin. Life was awakening within his code. He'd drop the crystal off and move on, searching for answers to questions he didn't know.

"Quite a display, but you should hand over the crystal now."

Sayoko and three armed guards had me at gunpoint.

Until next time fellow pirates.

Two Parts Gin

I've got this idea for a short story series and I'm going to go over the basic concept here.

"Two Parts Gin"

In a club downtown, they like to play a game. It's a game of trust, honesty, deception, and manipulation. You play it how you want, but in the end, there are only two winners. They lock up the club, you can leave but nobody gets in. Ten men dressed in uniform work their way through the crowd, talk to people, and then choose someone. They give this person a crystal vial. Two of these vials are filled with gin and the rest are filled with water.

The object is to find the person who holds the gin.

The rules are this:

You can't win with the gin you are given, you must find someone else's gin.

You only get one guess. If you're wrong, you get kicked out.

If you find the gin, you win and the person with the gin is kicked out. If the two people with the gin find each other, they win.


Beyond that, there are no rules. Anything goes; you can pretend you have the gin, you can bribe someone to find the gin, or you can seduce someone to find the gin. Hundreds of possibilities and everyone plays the game differently. The prize is your name on the wall, a commerative shotglass, and a toast from everyone left in the club.


I plan to use the setup to write about certain interpersonal dynamics between both strangers and people who know each other well. It might make a fun video game too. I may have to look into doing it that way.

I like the title. I love making titles. I watched a horror movie the other weekend called, The Dark. It was a decent horror movie with a strong background in Welsh legends, but the movie was poorly named. It could've gone with The Sheperd or The Flock. It even could have been titled Annwn and that would've made it more appealing than just calling it, "The Dark"

I think the title should reflect a main theme in a piece of literature or at least name something significant to the plot. Farenheit 451, very good title, it doesn't say everything about the book, but it doesn't have to. It catches a main theme and leads you into it. A Sound of Thunder, horrible title. The story's about time-travel and dinosaurs, and not weather. It's supposed to signify the sound of the gunshot, but why not call it, The Last Thing You Hear or something more fitting like End of the Trail.

I had a hard time focusing today. Not sure why. I was spacing out like crazy. I ordered some Lobster Bisque from the Soup Man and it didn't settle well with my stomach, that might have been part of the problem. I'll snap out of it for tomorrow. Today I'll just finish what I've got to do.

And then...

I warped back to Reeva. Stealing the Refractor Crystal was a snap. With all the amazing things out here in deep space, there are still few people who can teleport. Even less who use the power of N.O.

I took a bus back to Kattox. It was the day of the solar eclipse and the event itself was only an hour away. Climbing the Fraction Buildiing was going to be hard with Sayoko on the lookout for me. I staked out the front entrance.

A blonde secretary with her hair pulled back in a bun walked out of the building. She pushed up her glasses on her nose as she looked both ways to cross the street. She cradled a notebook in her arms like a child. I had found my key in.

"Hey there."

"Hello?"

"Looks like you've had a hard day of work."

"Yea, the paperwork really stacks... Do I know you?"

"You could if you wanted to. Can I buy you a drink?"

"No, I don't really have the time..."

"What if I bought you a car to go along with that drink?"

"A c-car?"

"A nice sports car with leather interior."

A couple of drinks and a Galaxus GT later...

"You know what we should do? We should sneak up to the roof of the Fraction Building."

"I could get in trouble."

"Yea, doesn't that sound fun."

*giggle* "Okay, okay, sshhh follow me."

As we ascended the back staircase of the building, swiping a few security doors with her card. I kept thinking about how this might be my last few minutes before I'm sushi on the roof of this building.

"Alright beautiful, I've got business to take care of, I advise you get out of here."

"But the roof..."

"Is a dangerous place for a girl like you, don't take this the wrong way, but I think we should just be friends."

I grabbed her key card and slammed a security door in her face. Heh, that's always hilarious.

I stared across the roof of the building. The shadowy figure of Jack Haley stared back at me. The wind blew gently across the building and both my brown leather jacket and his black headband billowed gently in the breeze. I walked toward the battleground and then stopped. Deciding another trip to Earth was in order.

Until next time fellow pirates.

Bibliofaction

Today I'm going to write about writing. well, actually I did that the other day too, but this time I'm writing about what I'm going to write. I went looking for a writing community and I found one that looks good. It's called Bibliofaction. I'm going to read stories from there and write some myself. Later I'll review the site here on my blog.

I spent most of the night doing homework and I'm bushed, so I'm not going to write much. In class today we learned about different colors of communicators. There are Blue, Orange, Gold, and Green communicators. I can't remember what they all are, but I'm sure you can look it up if you're curious. In physics, we studied about electrical resistance and stuff. Don't worry, I'll remember it when I need it.

And then...

I arrived on the bustling planet of Kattox. Yesterday, I challenged Jack Haley the ninja-robot to a rematch. I wagered a new Refractor Crystal that I was going to steal, and he wagered some nanobots, worth quite a bit more, that would be able to repair and maintain a wooden spaceship.

The capital city was full of people, and skyscrapers lined the roads. The tallest of all stood like a tower over all the other towers, the Fraction Corporation Headquarters. It was shaped like a pac-man from overhead and rose straight up without getting narrower. The idea was it was supposed to look like a fraction of a building, but it just looked like pac-man to me.

I would be heading there soon, but for now I needed to find a Refractory. It's a factory. For refractors. Anyway, it didn't take me long to find one. It was smaller and low-key, but it still had armed soldiers pacing the place. I waited until night.

I climbed up to a window. Locked. Not a problem, I pulled out my telewrench. It's a device that operates like a wrench but across a short distance using low intensity tele-kinesis. Very handy. I unlocked the window by fiddling with the lock on the inside through the window. I opened it just enough to squeeze through.

The factory was really just a large warehouse with a device that looked like a trash can with lights in the center. Security cameras all pointed towards the container. Panels on the floor told me that the building was installed with automatic turrets. As I was planning how to extract my prize I was distracted by a light coming from an overhead office.

I climbed around the side of the room and peered through the indoor window. A woman in a gray business suit stood talking to a hologram. I couldn't make out the tiny hologram, but the woman had flowing blue hair and looked extremely well groomed. She was rather terrifying. Her plump red lips were drawn into a cold smile and her eyes were black pools of malicious intent hidden under a shroud of lies. She had a nice figure, but she held herself stiff and kept her arms crossed in an unfriendly gesture while she was talking. I tried to listen closely to what she said.

"Police...my business...someone to blame...our business. So let me keep this simple. Find Lee before the police do or we will have problems."

"And Ash?"

"Her sister cares for her, but doesn't have anything to back it up. She lost her chance at power when she turned her daddy down. Ignore her. Lee is our priority now."

"Yes President Sayoko."

"Ah HA!" (that was me)

Yep, that was me. Why did I do that? I dunno. I guess I was really getting in to finding out her name. She looked right over at me, if she had brought a pistol I'm sure she would've shot me right there. I just waved. Then I made a mad dash for the crystal container. I yanked the thing open as the automatic turrets began rising out of the floor. They took aim and I heard the alarm system.

"DO NOT MOVE. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO FLEE YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON."

Then the woman slowly descended the staircase.

"Was this your plan? You were going to walk into one of my factories, easedrop on me, and try and run off with one of my crystals?"

"Who died and made you queen of Fraction Corps?"

"The late Mr. Edwards."

"Father of Ash and Lee Edwards?"

"The same. Although, Ash took her husband's last name of Citsrk."

Shoot. I had plans to tap that.

"Good to know. I'm supposing you're the reason that Lee didn't take over."

"No, the reason Lee didn't take over was because she was charged with the murder of an entire planet."

"Which she didn't commit."

"What makes you so sure? I assure you, their blood is on her hands."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Lee was head of Fraction Corps at the time. Tensions between the company and the people of Reeva were growing. Many on the board of directors had a vested interest in the people of Reeva. Many of the political requests of the people of Reeva would place allocated funds of the company into the Reevans' hands with no compensation for Fraction Corps. Fearing violent retalliation from Reeva. Lee herself did some covert research. She found a weapon of mass destruction in a Reevan government facility. She was found, but rather than let the Reevans use the bomb on Kattox she decided to detonate it on Reeva with herself."

"A tragic story, but can you back it up?"

"Ask anyone on the board of directors, but on the other hand you won't be able to, because you'll be behind bars."

"Oh yeah, about that."

I warped back to Earth.

Until next time fellow pirates.