Under the sea, under the sea!

Fourty Second Post.

As promised, I took the time to watch Ponyo: On the Cliff by the Sea. Let me first say that I had high expectations before watching this movie. After all, Hayao Miyazaki was the creator of classics like Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and Kiki's Delivery Service. I was pleasantly surprised by Ponyo. It was simply one of the most adorable anime ever created. Ponyo is a very special fish - she's a mermaid. Judging from the poster, she's obviously no Ariel. But a mermaid nonetheless. Daughter of a Magician (?) and a sea Goddess, Ponyo is a fiery one- a dreamer. One day, as she's floating away on a gellyfish (see how cute it is already?) she gets stranded on a cliff and rescued by a little boy named Sosuke (poor Ponyo, that must have been one uncomfortable position to be in!). The two become very good friends, and the adventure begins! I'm sure that if you had enjoyed Miyazaki's work previously, this one will not fail to impress. It's light hearted, filled with sentiments of love and comfort, all from childrens' perspective. That's what's always amazing about Miyazaki: He captures those raw and truly innocent feelings very well. Not to mention that the music, drawings and animation were all beautifully executed. The characters were all loveable; even the ones we did not get much development on. The focus was really on Ponyo and Sosuke <3

And while we're on the topic of movie reviews, the following is THE best FF7:AC Complete Movie Summary - Ever. Read along, it'll only take about 10 minutes and make you smile. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie, but reading this review I had tears in my eyes. It's filled with sarcasm and mockery - but I'm sure you can live with that! Have a nice time reading!

Speaking of reading, I'm considering buying this. If you've got any suggestions to make (aka good idea! Or good lord what were you thinking?!) please share them in the comments!

Things that claimed my soul today: Ponyo.

<3 the sun

Fourty First Post.

Yesterday I went into almost complete seclusion. Except for that 1 hour I spent eating pasta with Mr.T (which was awesome by the way). I needed to go back to studies after lunch so i bought two cans of those Starbucks Coffee Espresso Shots. Expensive but awesome for the taste buds if you ask me (and no, I'm not a *$ fanatic). Remember back in the days when Bill 101 was implemented in Quebec, making it mandatory for all signs to be both in English and French? Yes, the single biggest cause why we cannot enter contests, win prizes, go on trips, import products etc...

Try to find the error on this picture :) Teehee.

Hehe, that's a good way to get around it. Randomly selecting product with English/French, and others that do not. Is that even legal? I like *$ more and more...

Oh, and if you're a Resident Evil fan, and you're a little bored? I would recommend watching the A World Turning Series. It's hilarious...poor Chris. There's 4 chapters so far! Go!

Things that claimed my soul today: Omg, more sun please!

Headache...ouchies.

Fourtieth Post.

I woke up with the mother of all headaches today. My eyes are hurting, my neck is killing me, the side of my head feels like a truck passed on it, urgh. And it's raining...

Good news is, Assassins Creed 2 is set in Venice. VENICE! We all have to spread some major lovin' for Ubi. If you haven't checked out the gameplay yet, I would urge you to do so. If you liked the first Assassin's Creed, you would most likely fall in love with the second one. I'm more hyped about the whole Venice environment more than anything else, but that's just me.

In other news, Shun Oguri - known to most of you as the infamous bad*** Takaya Genji from Crows Zero - will be starring in an upcoming movie called Tajomaru. I just can't wait! Looks like he won't be parting with the great ROAR anytime soon. Battlecries make you stronger: Fact.

I came accross this cute anime called "Ponyo: On the Cliff by the Sea" produced by none other than the father of greatness, Hayao Miyazaki. It's on the computer but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Looks like it would be one good trippy mess <3

I have a finance quiz Thursday, and an assignment due Friday in Organized Crime. Life's great though.

Things that claimed my soul today: Baby Chocobo. Humm, finger lickin' good...I mean...come here cutie cutie cutie!

Live to Eat

Thirty ninth post.

Let me start by saying how yums Chu Chai was. I would recommend this place to both vegetarians and non. We started with a Tom Yum soup which was delectable. Spicey and sour soup broth with basil and lemongrass, tomatoes, coriander and some magic that the wonderful cook put in it. The shrimps were made of tofu? I'm not sure, but it was fantastic. The main courses...to die for! Curry with squash, potatoe and carrots; fried tofu with peanut sauce and spinach (sweet and crispy I may add); and stir fried vegetables with tofu "chicken" accompanied by traditional Thai sticky rice. Everything was worth trying; my taste buds almost exploded! What about dessert? Well, fried banana with ice cream...duh! Chu Chai is a gem in the city of Montreal. I'm definitely going back, and so should you.

After diner we coincidently bumped into an old friend of mine. When I worked at the restaurant, I happened to be very close with him and his family. Unfortunately when I was no longer there, we lost contact. Montreal is such a city: wherever you go, the probabilities of you bumping into someone you know are quite high! And who knew, he opened a sushi place right in the heart of St-Denis, called Rose Sushi. If you happen in the area this summer (or anytime for that matter), don't forget to pass by and say hi! Jer and I just ate so we regrettably couldn't try his food. What a nice man, he even gave Jer and I two boxes of sushi to go.../sigh (asians...). Oh, and they also do delivery to nearby places.

Rose Sushi
4118, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal, QC H2W 2M5
514-287-6568

E3 is wrapping up. Some of you can now take showers and get back to reality. Yesterday I learnt on kotaku.com that Hideo Kojima was going to help direct/produce (?) Castlevania. Wow, I'm loving the idea! This got me thinking: wouldn't it be fun to see what concepts other game producers can bring to the table to existing titles? I'm sure Kojima will do an amazing job. He's MGS's father afterall. Right...?

Things that got my soul today: The sun...humm, warm.

Swollen what now?

Thirty Eighth Post.

Going to Chu Chai tonight for Jer's birthday. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

I've been listenning to a wide range of music lately. I don't know what this world would be without music. It feeds my mind when I need to write essays/assignments. I don't know how you guys get your daily music feed. First there was Napster, then there was Pandora (I loved you, but you rejected me because of my Canadianess), and finally Last.fm. Rich just told me about Jango. I shall try it tonight. I don't know any more Internet radio stations but if you do, message me!

All that to say that in the end I'll stick with Shoutcast radio from Winamp. It's just amazing, and free. I usually circle around music from the 40s (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin...Gods), and epic soundtrack music (don't judge me). Just like any other human being I decided to try other stations and suddenly, I learned to rediscover a group I used to listen to in College - Swollen Members. I remember listening to Breathe (SM & Nelly Furtad0) and I thought the lyrics were dark and beautiful. It sounds so much better when rappers are not singing about bling and p****. Right away I searched for their newest songs. Blackout...wow. I got so pumped listening to this...

On the same trail of thought, if you are looking for epic soundtracks, try E.S. Posthumous. Here's Nara; don't tell me this is not one of the most beautiful songs you've yet to listen to.
It's m-a-g-e-s-t-i-c.

Things that claimed my soul today: Timmy's Ice Cap! It's summer (almost) baby!

E3 bits, and Pauline's Wallpaper Project Announcement!

Thirty seventh post.

Pauline's Wall Project Leaked!

No, not really. But I am working on a wallpaper project during my spare time (I got spare time? Answer: No, but instead of sleeping, I guess that could be considered spare right? Sleep is for the weak). The less time you have, the more you want to do...I'll keep you posted :) No release date yet.

Speaking of wallpapers, here's one that took 5 minutes to complete. It's just a familiar face ;). It's got nothing to do with the project, but I thought I'd share anyways.

And now, back to the important things. Somehow last year I wasn't as excited about E3 as I am this year.

Assassin's Creed 2

A title developed by our very own Ubisoft, based in Montreal. I'm so proud of them! I remember in college doing a whole project about these guys, and comparing them to EA. Besides getting an incredibly good mark, I find that my analysis about Ubisoft was correct! I think it's incredibly rewarding to know that what you've learnt in the classroom applies to the real world. I was 100% certain that Ubisoft's initiative, innovation and imagination would bring them to the top one day. Sure, I was 100% biased as well (but hey, not like anyone truly cared). Since Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Ubi got me heart. They've become much more than a videogame company, expanding into the whole world of entertainment. Oh wait...I was talking about Assassin's Creed 2 wasn't I? I'm a little perplexed by the fact that I get excited about games that I don't even play. Marketing, what have you done to me! The trailer looks gorgeous...but this Assassin...it's not Altair - who could it be? (suspense). Go check it out if you haven't already! On a side note: Jer, I totally agree. "You know there's gonna be trouble when the bad guy starts monologuing".

Star Wars: Old Republic

When I showed this clip to Rich, his mouth started foaming. So did mine. So after we took a couple of minutes to wipe our mouths and the floor and got ourselves together...I realised I'd most certainly need to upgrade me olde computer. I've never been a fan of SW until recently. Actually I'm not really a fan either, but Rich made me watch the whole series a few months ago so I had no choice but to get drawn into the story. Yes, I'm a sucker for romance so I was looking for all the Lea x Solo, Padme x Anakin and R2D2 x C-3PO (not really) innuendos. Anyways, I like the infamous good vs evil theories of Star Wars so I started following the Clone Wars episodes (saw that episode where Yoda qwns a**?) I don't know how Star Wars:Old Republic differs from KOTOR (I hear lots of flames), but I've come to have an appreciation for the lightsaber, and Lucasart as well.

Monkey Island

Speaking of Lucasart, Monkey Island gets its own news!It was a real pleasure to play...filled with witty piratey insults. Guybrush's hair is awesome as well. I liked how 2D it looked in the past, and frankly MI must have been one of the greatest games in history. I guess at some point ye olde pirate crew wanted to go 3D as well.

Source: Kotaku.com

Dante's Inferno

Someone finally decided to make a game out of this poem. EA's the creator of this one; and you know what kids? It looks promising. I don't know why Dante's a warrior carrying a big weapon though, did I miss something? I like these types of games though, jump around, slash things, save the missus, epic moosik and cutscenes now and then. Please EA, don't screw this one up!

FF14

Uh, yeah. I'm a little bit leary about the fact that it's going to be another online game. Not too sure if it's going to be an MMO, but I guess with quotes like "bring up your swords" and "unite once again"...The clip showed off a bit fo the gameplay, and heroes in armor with perfect hair do's. Meanwhile, FF13 got a new trailer (1) as well. I like how the presenter says "Here's one that hasn't been leaked". LMAO, true that bro.

(1) Source: Kotaku.com

I didn't have a chance to follow any of the press conferences live. If you're an avid fan and want to know more, you can spam our own Klonoa-kun or google it I guess. I'm sure he could tell you what Nintendo's president was wearing during that press conference.

Things that claimed my soul today: Irony.

Thirty sixth post.

It's quite intriguing to me how in this day in time, we (and in we, I mean the world) still do not possess enough technology to locate a plane that has disappeared. Unfortunately, technology always seems to fail when we need it the most. I cannot begin to imagine the family and friends of those who were aboard that plane...A real world tragedy. My condolensces go out to all of the victims' families.

I've been repeated many times that the chances of a plane crash are smaller than the chances of anyone winning the lottery. I agree. Yes, statistically speaking, all is explainable. However, although it does not happen often, a person sitting in a plane is 100% vulnerable and helpless in sight of such an eventual disaster. It always seemed to me that if I was to face death on a train, in a car or on a boat, at is not ultimately lost (or at least I would try to find a way to survive). On a plane, there's just nothing you can do...leave it up to faith...and hope that you've lived with no regrets...

Things that claimed my soul today: Unfortunately, a sad week as it would seem...