What Happen?
Jun 15th, 2009 by Chris
I’m a huge sucker for old school video game music, especially when they involve the Mario or Mega Man franchises. Thanks to these guys and their string-instrument skills, I now have a new appreciation of the Super Mario Land (GameBoy) theme.
Good music never gets old. From Kotaku.
Mar 27th, 2009 by Chris
For the past week or so, I’ve been unable to access YouTube from here in China. YouTube has been rendered inaccessible by the Great Firewall of China before, and as it turns out, China has banned YouTube once again, which is where the irony comes in…
In the image, a screenshot of my Facebook page, there’s a sponsored ad to become a fan of the Internet-famous “Back Dorm Boys“. The boys, who are from China, are themselves products of the YouTube generation, where videos of them lip syncing to famous Backstreet Boys songs were watched millions of times by people all over the world. Though their videos had already spread virally before being on YouTube, I still find it slightly ironic that the symbol of the very platform helping propel them to instant Internet celebrities and meme is often banned in the country where they are from.
Mar 8th, 2009 by Chris
Untouchable is a new male KPop duo (Out of a long list) and their new MV features race queen Kim Ha Yul, who proceeds to prove that it ain’t the cars that make her look good. In the video she shows off a wide repetoire of looks from the over-sized-sweater to the sexy librarian (Complete with glasses). But those who know me will know immediately that the only that matters to me is when she is wearing a hat… =D
Untouchable (Feat. Song Ji Eun) – Give You Everything
Lost in the KHY hype is that Song Ji Eun (Who’s new to me) did a really good job on the song, and, as reallycuteasians points out, KHY is just lip syncing to her in the MV.
New song to put on infinite loop!
From reallycuteasians.net via Pouet
Feb 3rd, 2009 by Chris
Meg – Precious
Khoi: dancing cats omg dancing
Khoi: the dancing cats
Me: lol
Me: it looks like animal abuse to me
Khoi: totally
Khoi: but they’re dancing, so it’s too awesome to complain
Me: hahahha
Me: they’re forced!
Khoi: they’re not forced
Khoi: they’re assisted
I don’t really think anything else needs to be said.
Dec 11th, 2008 by Chris
In WoW, everyone wants to punt-a-gnome. Personally, I think gnome tanks are best. Now I have proof.
Dec 11th, 2008 by Chris
The insert song from the JDrama Celeb To Binbo Taro starring Aya Ueto. I’m currently hooked on this song. Definitely a buy!
Nov 3rd, 2008 by Chris
The China Beat has an interview up with Professor Bonnie Nardi, a researcher who conducted a comparative study into WoW players in China and the US. In the interview, Professor Nardi talks about the social differences (both virtual and real) caused by US gamers playing mostly in the privacy of their own homes, vs Chinese gamers who play mainly in the more social environment of an Internet Cafe.
Some of the most interesting insights are the common reasons for playing between both Chinese and US gamers (Visually stimulating, very polished, attention to small details, teamwork, challenge and sense of mastery), and how male players who choose to play as the opposite sex virtually in China are referred to as something similar to transvestites, while research shows that 23 percent of male gamers in the US play as females.
Lastly, it’s interesting to note that while the US players consists of a vast array of age groups and backgrounds, in China, “responsible adults” don’t play games.
I guess I better not tell people here in China that I brought all three of my gaming consoles and still play WoW.
Nov 1st, 2008 by Chris
What’s the most absentminded thing you’ve ever done? The thing that you yourself did that make you want to /facepalm your own damn self? I can’t really recall such an instance… until just now.
You see, I was hungry, and as always, the only food I had handy was some instant ramen. After opening and dropping in the packages of probably-really-bad-for-your-health-but-it-tastes-so-good prepackaged flavor bags, I proceeded to do the most “zomg what was I thinking” thing of my life by placing the ramen in the microwave and set it to cook for 3 minutes.
When I went to go retrieve it, I started to notice a weird smell. Then, when I opened the microwave, I noticed that it was smoking a lot. As noodles do “steam”, I still failed to recognize both of these otherwise obvious “signs” until I looked in the bowl.
Yeop. That’s right. I had forgotten to add water.
I had stuck the bowl in the microwave, completely skipping over a step, taking the “instant” in instant ramen almost too literally. Needless to say, the noodles were completely fried, except it was fried in a completely inedible way.
For further amusement, I then decided that, “Hey, maybe if I add water, I can save it!”
So I added water.
It was actually kind of cool. The noodles were so hot that, for awhile, the water that was being added instantly vaporized into steam, nearly burning my fingers. After the water was added, I stuck it back in the microwave and cooked it. Again.
Needless to say, it didn’t help. The noodles didn’t “unfry” itself (Basically they melted and got stuck together, along with burning burnt to a crisp), and the god-awful smell didn’t go away. Fortunately, I wasn’t hungry enough to decide to eat it anyways (Believe me, I would have!), and I dumped the noodles.
I’m still hungry, because that was my last bowl of ramen.
Mar 26th, 2008 by Chris
I’ve never been to a Video Games Live concert, and actually I’m not really a huge fan of video game music (I don’t have any on my playlist). However, I do have a few favorites that I love listening to occasionally. One is the themes from Mega Man 2, especially the Bubble Man stage, and the other is Mario. Everyone knows Mario. Mario that has appeared in over 200 video games that have sold a total of 193 million copies (Mario 3 alone grossed over $500 million for Nintendo in the US).
I’ve watched and heard various renditions of the Mario theme songs, from acappella groups to school marchig bands. However, I think I’ve just heard the best rendition ever. I was actually moved when I watched and listened to this. Don’t ask why, I just was.
Mar 26th, 2008 by Chris
I’m kinda in a phase of my life right now where I wish I was living in Hawaii. I keep talking about it all the time, especially in the context of, “Hey, let’s start a company. Let’s base it in Hawaii!” I don’t know why, I just want to live there. It just doesn’t seem like the kind of place where you can ever be down or depressed at all. Not even when it rains.
Turns out my intuition is partially right. As if it wasn’t enough for Hawaii to be the paradise it already is, Honolulu is #67 on the 100 best places to live and launch (A company) according to CNN Money.
Oh well, at least San Jose (California) is right in front at #66.