The Meme Initiative

PSP GAMES (ISO/CSO/PSX/INTERACTIVE/MOVIES/EMULATORS)

2009-05-21T00:01:00.002+08:00

Latest updates 21st May 2009:

Rock Band: Unplugged is here!!!

PSP《真三国无双MR》中文版发布！

游戏名称：真·三国无双：联合突袭 / 真·三国无双：连袂出击
英文名称：Shin Sangoku Musou : Multi Raid（Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce）
制作厂商：Omega Force（ω-Force）
代理发行：TAIWAN KOEI Entertainment Software Inc.
游戏类型：ACT - Action Game（动作游戏）
载体容量：UMD×1
对应主机：Play Station Portable（PSP）
语言版本：繁体中文（亚洲版）
发行日期：2009年04月23日
参考价格：1,380元新台湾省币
官方网站：
http://www.gamecity.com.tw/musoumr/preorder/

Attached below is a Master List of a variety of multimedia entertainment formats for usage on the Playstation Portable (PSP), including PSP Games (ISO/CSO, etc); PSX (files for PSX Games); Interactive Games; Movies (PMP format, etc) and emulators of various sorts (GBA, Sega systems, Neo-Geo, etc).

For any inquiries on these products and services, please feel free to email us at memeinitiative@gmail.com or alternatively, you can leave a comment here.

Men At Work

2009-05-01T06:28:00.001+08:00

In the spirit of Labour Day (AKA May Day AKA International Workers' Day), I bring to you the merry men of the Dragon Tiger Gate Comic World...at work, with their name card, courtesy of tuku.cc....

Yeah, right, Evil Punch Dojo...There's almost some kind of a timeless resonance in that name...

"Let's Put A Smile On That Face!"

2009-04-09T06:06:00.000+08:00

It's Wrestlemania Week, after all.

WWE Superstar, Rey Mysterio, Jr., famous for his highflying Lucha Libre style of wrestling, must be grinning all the way before stepping on aisle of the (very incorrectly titled) 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania (Technically, it's 24th) before his match.

The week before the Wrestlemania Sunday, Marvel.com had an entry on how Mysterio has been putting on his wrestling garb with a Marvel Comics twist, a'la Ironman, Spider-man, etc.

Then they wondered what Marvel Hero he will be emulating this Wrestlemania.

Will the Master of the 619 bear the colors of yet another 616 super hero this Sunday at "The Biggest Spectacle of Them All," WrestleMania – the arguable birthplace of the Superstar's Marvel influenced garb?

Well...Guess what.

In case you'are still wondering, t's not fucking Doink The Clown.

陳綺貞太陽音樂會 Cheer Chen's Immortality Concert 2009, April 4th

2009-04-05T07:20:00.003+08:00

Pictures taken on Cheer Chen's Immortality Concert 2009, AKA "陳綺貞太陽音樂會 ", held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on the 4th of April 2009.

The Storm Warriors 風雲II

2009-04-04T00:44:00.000+08:00

The Storm Warriors (風雲II), sequel to the 1998 film The Storm Riders (風雲), AKA the semi-disastrous comic-to-movie adaptation that helped to usher in even more freakish HK comic-to-movie adaptations like "A Man Called Hero (中華英雄)" and the one that finally dropped the ball on the genre, "Dragon Tiger Gate (龍虎門)". The above sentiment might prove to be debatable to many, as common consensus dictates that sacrifices to the source material are somewhat mandatory while conducting the transition, with examples like Peter Parker developing his webshooter as another manifestation of the radioactive spider effect or Wolverine having his claw laced to his knuckle in a distinctly different manner. On both accounts, I agreed and thought of it as stylistic indifference. However, in the case for these Chinese Manhua adaptations, the alteration seemed to fit no one but probably the Costume Designers (to justify his existence) , the Writers (for exercising his forte by running wild with their creativity on the source materials) and the Directors (for banking on the source material's existing fanbase to cash out the cheque).

It's 2009, and we have seen "Sin City", "The Dark Knight", "Ironman" and "Watchmen".

With the Pang Brothers at helm (right after their abysmal Hollywood outings) and a seemingly sound plot line to follow, can HK's adaptation of their proud culture relic, Manhua, keep up?

Judging from the snippets, I'm afraid to say that keeping fingers crossed seemed to be an optimistic way of looking at it. The trailer seemed okay notwithstanding the fact that it 's not really showing much, but the snippets are indeed worrying, to say the least. A cheap knock-off of 300 if you ask me.

Nevertheless, with stroke of genius like the casting of the Nameless Wu Ming 無名 (何家勁 Kenny Ho, who successfully portrayed Hero Hua in the 1990 TV Drama adaptation of "A Man Called Hero (中華英雄)" and its 1991 sequel) and one of the best storyline in Hong Kong's Manhua history, Let's keep that finger crossed.

Behold...The Coblah Commander!

2009-03-27T01:03:00.000+08:00

And yes, it is ugly.

As usual, many thanks to toy industries' seemingly magical top hat where they legitimately spoil all conceivable spoilers (in terms of character's design, Que The Dark Knight's Joker, etc)...The Cobra Commander, from the upcoming “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.”, courtesy of MTV Movies Blog.

三国第一武将竟然是“他”

2009-03-22T03:22:00.000+08:00

A ludicrous piece which is, obviously for those understanding Mandarin and particularly those with a reasonably sound knowledge of my favorite historical era, The Three Kingdoms period in Ancient China.

"吕布说：“我是当仁不让的三国武将第一，却还有那么多人来闲言闲语，真不爽！”

张飞不服：“老子跟你吕布单挑从来没落过下风，你看到老子醉酒都还不敢来碰老子，老子才是天下第一！”

马超不服：“哼，你张飞和我锦马超单挑时不是你大耳哥鸣金鸣得快，我早挑你于马下了，你还是轻装上阵，明显我要强于你，我是三国第一！”

许褚不服：“马超算个球，上次看到我家主公后面站了个我，就不敢来碰我主公了，还老是说要报什么杀父之仇，明显就是怕我，我才是三国第一！”

徐晃不服：“若说你许褚敢称三国第一，我徐晃和你挑了两次，又哪里输了你来？我不服！”

颜良不服：“哈哈，你徐晃也敢在这里插一脚？手下败将！”

文丑不服：“颜良，你挑过徐晃，我还挑过徐晃和张辽两人呢，我明显比你强，敢称三国第一的舍我其谁？”

关羽不服：“你们两个无头之鬼，你看到我站在这里了吗？，鬼叫什么？”

庞德不服：“老关，我庞德可是射中你一箭的啊，打架也不在你之下，我才是三国第一。”

黄忠不服：“射中关羽有什么稀奇，他出了名的靶子王，老子可是做到想射他那里就射他哪里。”

赵云不服：“你要真的厉害在汉水上就不要我来救了撒。被困了自己跑出来撒，我在长坂坡可是一个人跑出来的哦。这种程度谁能做到？”

姜维不服：“你还不是怕我？嚣张什么？”

邓艾不服：“你打我儿子都打不过，呵呵，我儿子只有我七成战斗力。”

邓忠不服：“老爸放屁，我二十一岁时就超过你了。
......................................................

Check out the original post from 三国志online中文网论坛 for the startling ending where one will be crowned the titular "Number One Warriors of The Three Kingdoms".

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

2009-03-21T02:57:00.000+08:00

Tatsunoko?

Like myself, I'm pretty sure many a regular gamer will find themselves stumped by the name but however, if you happened to also be a longtime hardcore Anime freak (and when I mean "longtime hardcore", I meant being one ever since the 80s), then you probably stands a good chance knowing what it is.

Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. (株式会社竜の子プロダクション or 株式会社タツノコプロダクション ,Kabushiki gaisha Tatsunoko Purodakushon?), often shortened to Tatsunoko Pro. (竜の子プロ or タツノコプロ ,Tatsunoko Puro?), is a Japanese animation company founded in 1962 by acclaimed anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida along with his brothers Kenji and Toyoharu (Toyoharu adopted the pen name Ippei Kuri to distinguish himself from his brothers).

Enough rambling. A look at its portfolio of Anime series speaks best. Okay, Gatchaman anyone? Problem connecting that name? How about Battle of the Planets?

For those not so nostalgic, you might be aware of the recent Anime series, "Casshern Sins", a remake of 1973's Neo-Human Casshern (新造人間キャシャーン ,Shinzō Ningen Kyashān?), which incidentally was adapted into a movie in 2004.

But either way, you must have heard of Karas, a brilliant groundbreaking sixth part animation produced to commemorate the company's 40th anniversary of anime production. (The titular character's dark origin kicks the collective asses of all the billionaire orphan's clones out there)

Well, it seems that Capcom are indeed getting a little carried away with their "Versus" series of crossover games as the latest title in their long-running crossover series, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes, turned out to be a genuine genre crossover. Available at Arcades and Wii exclusive, platform-wise, this can be quite a monster to market given its source material's longstanding (albeit diverse)credentials. Apparently, Capcom USA is working to resolve Tatsunoko's licensing issues outside of Japan in order for an international release.

小流氓 & Sigmund Freud

2009-03-09T01:52:00.000+08:00

In the very same weird fuck absurd vein as my earlier post featuring excerpts containing the hidden connections between Doraemon and Socialism, North Korean style, apparently, now we have theories about the connection between Freud and...小流氓, better known to all as the 龙虎门 (or even better known in the West as the failed movie adaptation Dragon Tiger Gate.).

Do check out the full article. Here's an excerpt...
政治動盪與社會不安的七十年代，香港正在繼承著根深蒂固的傳統文化的同時，並在享受著西方文化帶來的衝擊與快感。那時候，西方文化對性和思想的解放猶如脫韁野馬，令香港掀起一陣春潮泛濫的電影文化，激流洶湧下，色情電影紛紛湧現。

當時社會充斥著這種不良風氣，令風化案上升。色魔橫行，單身女子不敢夜歸的社會現實，被黃玉郎借題發揮，改篇作飛天豹一段（即『小流氓』第六期『大戰飛天豹』）。在黃玉郎的設定下，飛天豹所用的武器是一柄削鐵如泥的寶劍。淫賊……寶劍……筆者似乎看見黃玉郎向佛洛依德微笑。對了，廣東人喜以劍比喻男性性器官，男性間以陽具互作比較俗稱「格劍」，所以黃玉郎在這種俗文化下潛移默化，就將劍設定為善於以性征服女性的飛天豹的武器。也許，當時黃玉郎並未看過佛洛伊德的著作，但這一段正好切合了佛洛伊德的「夢之解析」(Interpretation of Dreams)。

有說漫畫工業是漫畫家的夢工場，並盛載著每位作者的願望。佛洛依德：「夢是一種在現實中實現不了和受壓抑的願望的滿足。」他更大膽地認為這些實現不了和受壓抑的願望多半是和性有關的。比方說，他認為夢裏出現呈棒狀或凸出的東西都象徵男性性器官，凹陷的地方則象徵女性性器官，騎馬、攀山、開門等象徵性行為。所以，劍，對飛天豹來說，是一種性徵﹔削鐵如泥的寶劍，更是一種無堅不摧的性崇拜。這是飛天豹的慾望，亦是作者自我意識反射的彰顯。

自飛天豹陣亡後，寶劍落入王小虎手中。到了「龍虎門」時代，王小虎與金詩詩相戀，在一次決戰前夕，王小虎出征前將寶劍交給金詩詩傍身，可惜不幸地，金詩詩被玄難所擒，並將她污辱﹔事後，金詩詩悄悄地取出寶劍，向胸口自刺而亡。這一段，作者顯然是想帶出女性貞潔不二的聖願，同樣亦是作者渴望伴侶對感情忠貞的嚮往。引用佛洛依德的說法，劍是象徵男性性器官，凹陷的胸膛傷口是象徵女性性器官，自盡則代表性行為，這是反映她對被性侵犯後內心充滿懊悔及自責，亦暗喻她有盼望將初夜獻給最愛男人的遺願。

作者對女性有忠貞的要求，同樣認為她們應該崇拜男性性器官。王小虎母親媚娘，徐娘半老，風韻猶存。她在舊著「龍虎門」中有不少男伴，早有王伏虎，後有東方無懼、大羅仙，自她與王小虎重逢後，開始加入「龍虎門」與黑幫對抗，雖多次被歹角非禮、冒犯，但她終覓真愛，先後與劍痴及劍魔共墮愛河。為何媚娘總是喜歡用劍的男人？在黃玉郎的漫畫世界裡，劍和男性性器官是有間接掛勾。根據佛洛依德的說法，潛意識的活動中的主要內容被壓抑的願望並非是直接表達於夢中，而是通過扭曲變作為象徵的形式出現。劍是性器象徵物，讓媚娘先後戀上劍痴和劍魔，完全是作者壓抑渴望女性對男性性器官有一種莫名崇拜的心理反射。

Happy Learn From Lei Feng Day

2009-03-05T06:04:00.000+08:00

Today, 5th of March, is...
"Learn from Lei Feng Day"(学雷锋日), since 1963."

Interested in the intrigue art of propaganda?

Meet the grandfather of political propaganda mascot, Lei Feng (雷鋒).

While Captain America will always be remembered as the outright propaganda mascot(they called it "Patriot") who don't just literally wear his ideals to his sleeves but his whole freaking costume, Lei Feng is the Out-And-Out real freaking deal, a living, kicking personification of Maoism and Communist Socialism. Or is he? Talks of Lei Feng being an utter creation to promote Mao's Cult of Personality had been around since way back.

Born in Wangcheng, Hunan (near the Town of Leifeng, Changsha, Hunan, named in his honour), Lei was orphaned at an early age and raised under the wings of the Communist Party. He became a member in the Communist youth corps when he was young and joined a transportation unit of the People's Liberation Army at the age of twenty. Lei died in 1962 at the age of 21, when a telephone pole, struck by an army truck, hit him while he was directing the truck in backing up. After Lei's death, his diary was published, and Lei was built up as a good example to the Chinese people to be cheerfully selfless and noble in thought.

That is, on the basis on the strength of this particular propanganda, which in short, equals to most probably make-believes. Even if this figure did existed, the background must had been heavily edited.

While fanfare had most definitely diminished in this time and age, there are still many serious following, judging from my earlier entry where an online game was actually created.

By the by, check the man out in his favourite past-time activity. Damn this is a Wacko who seemingly gets a kick out of wiping a car bonnets.

High Kick Girl

2009-03-04T21:55:00.001+08:00

You seriously just can't get more literal than this. Presenting to you what Warren Ellis called, THE GREATEST FILM TRAILER EVER.

Apocalypse. Wow.

2009-03-03T01:31:00.000+08:00

The first premonition of the ever-impending Apocalypse?

You decide.
"SINGAPORE'S iconic Merlion statue, a popular tourist attraction, was damaged by lightning on Saturday afternoon during a thunderstorm, according to reports.

No one was hurt.

The Merlion was struck by lightning between 4 and 5 pm local time, causing parts of the statue to fall near a group of startled visitors."

Who Wants to Be Filthy F#&%ing Rich

2009-03-01T23:57:00.000+08:00

In light of the real life's all-consuming "Final Crisis" and the heavily acclaimed film, "Slumdog Millionaire" that is all the rage these days, one can't help but brings to mind Rage Against The Machine's iconic music video in 2000, Sleep Now In The Fire.

Directed by then relatively-unknown (pre-Bowling For Columbine) Michael Moore, the video interweaves scenes from a caricature of the then-popular TV game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", aptly named, "Who Wants to Be Filthy F#&%ing Rich", with footage taken when the band played right in front of the New Year Stock Exchange with Michael Moore and cinematographer Welles Hackett in helm. The infamous performance resulted in the detainment of Moore (for an hour and slapped with threat for arrest) and the unprecedented impromptu lockdown of the NYSC's Doors for fear of crowd gathering.

Oh, and there's a real cute quote by Gary Bauer (a Republican Politician doing their routine shit-stirring) at the end of the video,

"a band called 'The Machine Rages On' - er - 'Rage Against the Machine', that band is anti-family and it's pro-terrorist"

The Dead: Kingdom Of Flies

2009-02-27T18:46:00.001+08:00

From the team that brought you tons of Judge Dredd's classic tales and revitalized the DC Comic's Oddball, Lobo, the self-made "Last Czarnarian".
"THE DEAD ARE ON THE MOVE!
Most of Britain has fallen to an invasion of zombies. There is no
escape from their insatiable appetite for living flesh.
But in Oxford, city of the dreaming spires, an unlikely alliance
between a crew of firefighters and a pair of misfit soldiers has
allowed them to survive.
Now, with the city virtually overrun, it's time to strike back!!"

A perfectly straightlaced title with an apparently conventional zombie tale to tell judging from the synopses, but with Alan Grant and Simon Bisley at helm, it would be only right to expect the unexpected. And all the more so as this is the launch title of Alan Grant's very own comic publishing line, Berserker Comics. Which explains this charitable spirit of giving at their Official Site where they are giving away free download of the first issue.

The Original Cover Art to Issue 1 that can be found on the Official Site is notably less sanguine... (Incidentally, this version is available as a Jetpack Comics Exclusive Cover...Damn this age of Variant Covers)

Pandamen VS The Super Infra-Man

2009-02-19T00:40:00.002+08:00

Jay Chou just unveiled what according to him, the "first Chinese Superhero ever".
"為什麼有《熊貓人》這個想法？首先以愛為出發點，這個熊貓超人的爸爸之前是一個慈善家，做了很多公益活動，也是帶著熊貓的，你知道就像那些玩偶在發糖，在遊樂園給這些小朋友吃。因為也是一樣樂於助人，所以有一天有一個綁匪挾持了這個兒童，熊貓爸爸跑去救他，犧牲了自己的生命。於是這個小孩用他爸爸的頭，以熊貓的姿態，當他未來的精神。所以之後他穿熊貓裝，在社會上打抱不平。

另外一個角色是在動物園打工的這個，在動物園做清潔工，其實我真的講太多了。"

With unquestionably annoying naivete displayed from his interview (rant on and on about how he managed to strike first by launching a media premiere and how that meant he is the winner), I'm sure he know nuts about the real deal.

I'm sure there had been a handful, but for starters...

Hell, I know. The "S"logo. Anyway, the Super Inframan movie, released in 1975, featuring the titular character, a Tokusatsu-style superhero that managed to rip off not one but two Tokusatsu Icon, Ultraman and Kamen Rider. But that was then, and all things considered, it was rightfully deemed as a bold move in what were still a relatively new movie industry back then. Hell, even the great Roger Ebert gave three stars out of a possible four for it.
"Mighty Peking Man is very funny, although a shade off the high mark of Infra-Man, which was made a year earlier, and is my favorite Hong Kong monster film. Both were produced by the legendary Runme Shaw, who, having tasted greatness, obviously hoped to repeat. I find to my astonishment that I gave Infra-Man only two and a half stars when I reviewed it. That was 22 years ago, but a fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that film. I am awarding Mighty Peking Man three stars, for general goofiness and a certain level of insane genius, but I cannot in good conscience rate it higher than Infra-Man. So, in answer to those correspondents who ask if I have ever changed a rating on a movie: Yes, Infra-Man moves up to three stars."

Which makes my point: Ripping off Kamen Rider back in 1975 was an understandable shame. But ripping off the same source in this time and age and having the cheek to boast about creativity?

射鵰英雄傳EAGLET

2009-02-18T06:02:00.002+08:00

Another comic adaptation of Jin Yong's classic, The Legend of Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳) , and this time round, it's from the hometown of all Manga, Japan.

Interesting makeover for Guo Jing, though.

The Uncler - A Parody Of "The Wrestler"

2009-02-17T05:21:00.000+08:00

Were just talking about how MTV Movies Awards and etc are gonna poke fun at "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" and "The Wrestler". And true enough, and soon enough, along came this. Well, at least you get Alyssa Milano as "Cassidy".

The Uncler w/ Uncle Sam and Alyssa Milano from Alyssa Milano

Death By Dethronement

2009-02-16T03:14:00.005+08:00

Talk about pain in the ass.

Basically, another case of unethical product from, yet again, China, strikes again.

This time round, it's furniture. Several Office Chair made and sold in China literally exploded and had caused at least one death when a 14-year-old teenager died of severe loss of blood due to the "grenade effect" of the explosion as many parts of the metal chairs had blasted many blood vessel of his organs, while the condition of an elderly man at sixty-eight-year-old are still unknown after many of the metal pieces and screws injected into his organ from the anal. Authorities are on the case right now. As always.

For more gruesome pictures, check on the link on the pictures but if you understand Mandarin, much elaborate details are here.

This Friday The Thirteen...

2009-02-13T23:27:00.005+08:00

... A news, with rhyming numbers.

By the way, the tiny head at the right bottom corner happens to be the 15-year-old mother of the child.

And for all the interested inspiring parents out there, feel free to check out the link to The Sun's (probably subconsciously cynical though) unintentionally humorous follow-up piece to the headline.

Surely we can't count British's Prime Minister Gordon Brown as one of the inspiring, but boy is he interested already.
"I think all of us would want to avoid teenage pregnancies."

Mickey Mouse Transformed And Roll Out

2009-02-03T23:48:00.004+08:00

More bizarre crossover ensues. Coming soon to Singapore, the "Optimickey Prime", complete with transformation features and stuffs.

Capcom VS Jin Yong

2009-01-30T01:28:00.003+08:00

Ryu versus Linghu Chong(令狐沖 Reikochū)?

Vega versus He Tieshou(何鐵手 Teiran)??

Ken versus Hu Fei (胡斐 Hiko)???

Eat yer heart out, Jin Yong just got "Capcomed" in the upcoming Online game that feature one bold step away from the Fighting Game Genre. Mouse. The action will be purely controlled via mouse, thus the namesake, Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation.

Talk about bizarre crossover. The preview ain't too warm, though.

Check out more of the character design with all the close-up shots here.

R.I.P. 梁羽生 Liang Yusheng 5th April 1926 – 22nd January 2009

2009-01-27T11:49:00.001+08:00

Liang Yusheng, a pioneer in Chinese martial arts novels, has died, news reports said. He was 85.

Liang died at his home in Sydney, Australia on Jan. 22, the Australian edition of the Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao Daily reported Monday.

Luo Fu, the former editor of the now-defunct Sin Wan Bao newspaper, which hired Liang to write his first kung fu series, was quoted by Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News on Tuesday as saying that Liang had died.

Liang, whose real name was Chen Wuntong, has been in poor health in recent years, diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2004 and suffering a stroke when he visited Hong Kong in 2007, Ming Pao said.

The Veteran Scribe who bought to us "Romance of the White Haired Maiden (白髮魔女傳)", "Seven Swords of Mount Heaven (七劍下天山)" (both being adapted into considerably respectable film adaptations, respectively) etc, who is though relatively lesser-known as compared to Jin Yong in their respective iconic role in Chinese literacy, but nonetheless helped shaped the Wuxia Genre into its highly regarded status as a literature form has left the Building.

Who Watches The Watchmen? We Now Know The Japanese Will.

2009-01-23T00:02:00.001+08:00

A truly interestingly alternate (in every sense of the word) take on the trailer for the upcoming "Watchmen", courtesy ofTrailerAddict, featuring many sequence that is unseen on the official trailers and teasers like, for starters, the death of Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl, if I guessed/remembered correctly.

Doraemon VS Resident Evil

2008-11-05T01:17:00.001+08:00

You had to see it to believe it, and hell, it sure seems like a kick-ass 2D game... if it's an actual game, that is.

R.I.P. Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam 1926 - 2008

2008-10-01T01:24:00.000+08:00

"I get my strength from somewhere else, if you know what I mean," Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam said in an interview with AFP in 2006. "I refuse to conform to the world."

Veteran Singapore opposition leader J.B. Jeyaretnam, who died Tuesday, waged a long and lonely campaign for greater political freedom in the tightly governed city-state.

He was attempting a fresh political comeback when he succumbed to heart failure.

The 82-year-old British-trained lawyer and former MP was the nemesis of Singapore's iron-fisted founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, 85, whose People's Action Party (PAP) will celebrate 50 uninterrupted years in power in 2009.

"I haven't got very many more years," Jeyaretnam said in July at the launch of the new Reform Party, which was to be his vehicle for a comeback after years in the political wilderness.

Will you miss the old man, who is always at your favourite neighbourhood MRT Station, selling books and touting "the truth"?

It's the end of an era.

Fuck Rain

2008-09-28T03:24:00.001+08:00

Many thanks to Art.Lebedev for acting out my little personal note to Rain.

And no, I don't mean the liquid precipitation of natural cause.

But that pretentiously named Korean grunt.

Thinks this gonna be a real hit with Anti-Rain Clubs...Pretty sure there's lotsa them.

Source: About Colon Bank

The Fuwa's Rejects

2008-09-27T02:45:00.000+08:00

A peek into into Fuwa's creator, Han Meilin's sketchbook with all the rejects that failed to make the ranks of the Fuwas...

Thank God (if there is one), there's only five, no, six of these creatures...

The Sixth Fuwa (Represented Crisis Not Sold Separately)

2008-09-23T02:54:00.000+08:00

Just when you thought the highly touted Beijing 2008 had moved on, and that the Fuwas (mind you, i do like them very much), together with all its much-talked-about secret identity being the foreboder of crisis, will be behind us now....

Along came another crisis.

For those unknown to the theories...a little refresher, courtesy of wikipedia.
In the months leading up to the Olympics, coincidental similarities between the characters and several events became were noted on the internet blogs under titles such as "Curse of the fuwa". Some Chinese have taken to calling the characters "Wuwa" (witch dolls). Online criticism of the dolls has frequently been censored.

1) Beibei, a Chinese sturgeon of water/sea element, for the 2008 South China floods.

2) Jingjing, a panda, for the Sichuan earthquake. Sichuan is well known for its pandas.

3) Huanhuan, representing the Olympic flame, for the Summer Olympics torch relay protests.

4) Yingying, a Tibetan antelope, for the 2008 Tibetan unrest.

5) Nini, a swallow thought to be a kite, was blamed for the "kite city" of Weifang T195 train accident. Nini was also believed to be a locust, and associated with a locust plague that infested Inner Mongolia in June 2008.

Done the math already?

Five crisis, five Fuwas. The up side of this theory is, if it is indeed true, that means no more crisis for China anymore (well, at least till next year), the down side is, there's no down side, it's just a intentionally mean joke at best.

Then came the 2008 Chinese milk scandal. Almost like some freak of nature's way to ensure that 2008 won't just be engraved on the general consciousness with just the Beijing Olympic.

But we have run out of our ever-so-lovely Fuwas to pin the curse on, isn't it?

Well, not quite so, I'm afraid.

2008 Summer Paralympics.

I'm sure you remembered Fu Niu Lele (roughly meaning "Lucky Ox 'Happy'")?

The association game is elementary from this point on.

Monkey: Journey To The West

2008-09-14T23:20:00.001+08:00

Remember the previously post on Gorillaz Meets Monkey God? There is now a full-fledged website for the musical as the original soundtrack was out last week. Do check out the galleries page for some interesting take on the Chinese Folklore.

The album cover.

The End Begins...

2008-08-16T00:04:00.003+08:00

With the divergent continuity explores itself in all its glory (in TV's Sarah Connors Chronicles), will it still interests you on whatever happened to our good ol' original suppposed messiah, John Connors in the story proper?

Probably, you should, with the TV series dropping subtle nods to the movie's ongoing continuity and that reportedly, the latest sequel gonna drop some not-that-subtle nods back.

It's That Time Of The Year Again, Jackass!!!

2008-08-03T17:18:00.002+08:00

Wobbly wriggling while withering in the ever-as-efficient-as-it-is-goddamn-overloaded morning train to whore myself yet again, I find myself incapable of wiping that silly smirk off my face when I saw this ad.

Wondering what time of the year had delighted this merry family of three generations gathering in front of the X-Box 360?

Wonder no more.

Ahhh, the delights of drunk driving, are just one of the many vices that you can indulge in Grand Theft Auto IV, a fact made famous
by a stark-raving organization with a strangely appropriately named acronym, MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Watchmen's Trailer

2008-07-30T00:20:00.002+08:00

In this post-Dark Knight era, is everything else remotely "okay"?

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Fake Crystal Skulls

2008-07-10T23:13:00.001+08:00

Less than three months after the Quai Branly Museum in Paris discovered that a crystal skull once proclaimed as a mystical Aztec masterpiece was a fake, it is now the turn of the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution to find they were victims of skull-duggery.

Scientists from those two prestigious institutions on Wednesday said their crystal skulls were cut, honed and polished by tools of the industrial age, not by Mesoamerican craftsmen of yore.

"The skulls under consideration are not pre-Columbian. They must surely be regarded as of relatively modern manufacture," they say.

"Each skull was probably worked not more than a decade before it was first offered for sale."

The skulls became star exhibits in all three museums long before the Indiana Jones movie, "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," hit the movie screens this year.

The superstitious deemed them part of a collection of 12 skulls, endowed with healing or mystical powers, that dated back to the ancient culture of Central America.

Reuniting all 12 skulls, together with a putative 13th, would conjure up a massive power that would prevent the Earth from tipping over on December 21 2012, the "doomsday" in the Mayan calendar, according to one fable.

Legend-lovers had a bad day on April 18 when the Quai Branly said it had found grooves and perforations in its 11-centimetre-high quartz skull revealing the use of "jewellery burrs and other modern tools."

Super Cop-Killer

2008-07-02T23:49:00.002+08:00

Gaze into the eyes of the Super Cop-Killer!!!

Another officer stabbed in a knife attack at a police station in Shanghai has died, raising the death toll to six.

The Shanghai Public Security Bureau says the officer died in hospital late Tuesday, several hours after the attack.

Police say an unemployed 28-year-old man stormed the police station and started attacking officers with a knife.

Five officers died at the scene and four others, along with a guard, were injured in the attack.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that the attacker, only identified by his surname Yang, was carrying a knife, a hammer, a mask, aerosol spray and homemade explosives.

Police are still investigating his motive.

Yang, who is from Beijing, initially told police he was seeking revenge after officers at the station in Shanghai's Zhabei district investigated him last year for allegedly stealing bicycles.

When he reached the gate of the police station, he lobbed eight Molotov cocktails at the entrance, injuring a security guard who tried to stop him.

Yang made his way into the building, stabbing four officers he caught by surprise in the guard room.

He then forced his way through to the 10th, 11th, and 21st floors of the building, wounding another five officers. He was finally captured by a team of special police on the 21st floor.

Spain The Pain

2008-07-01T00:45:00.000+08:00

"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."

- one of England's most profilic striker in history, Gary Lineker.

Eat yer heart out, Germany.

2008-06-19T23:42:00.004+08:00

"Ever have a bully pick on you in school?
I knocked the bully out. That's what it feels like."

- Boston Celtics'Kevin Garnett, right after humiliating the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in the second-most lopsided blowout in NBA Finals history, capturing their first National Basketball Association title since 1986 in record-shattering fashion.

A Monk In Akihabara

2008-06-16T23:56:00.001+08:00

A Japanese monk making prayers at a makeshift altar in the midst of downtown Akihabara one week after the Akihabara massacre 秋葉原通り魔事件, Akihabara Tōrima Jiken.

Codename: Roadrunner

2008-06-09T22:44:00.008+08:00

An American military supercomputer, assembled from components originally designed for video game machines, has reached a long-sought-after computing milestone by processing more than 1.026 quadrillion calculations per second.

The new machine is more than twice as fast as the previous fastest supercomputer, the I.B.M. BlueGene/L, which is based at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

The new $133 million supercomputer, called Roadrunner in a reference to the state bird of New Mexico, was devised and built by engineers and scientists at I.B.M. and Los Alamos National Laboratory, based in Los Alamos, N.M. It will be used principally to solve classified military problems to ensure that the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons will continue to work correctly as they age. The Roadrunner will simulate the behavior of the weapons in the first fraction of a second during an explosion.

To put the performance of the machine in perspective, Thomas P. D’Agostino, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said that,

"If all six billion people on earth used hand calculators and performed calculations 24 hours a day and seven days a week, it would take them 46 years to do what the Roadrunner can in one day."

風雲決 AKA Storm Rider Clash of the Evils Trailer

2008-06-07T17:22:00.005+08:00

Some crappy pseudo-anime trailer.

Memes.

2008-06-05T01:10:00.005+08:00

"Next question might be, does the information have to be molecular at all? Memes. This is not something that I’ve ever wanted to push as a theory of human culture, but I originally proposed it as a kind of... almost an anti-gene, to make the point that Darwinism requires accurate replicators with phenotypic power, but they don’t necessarily have to be genes. What if they were computer viruses? They hadn’t been invented when I wrote The Selfish Gene so I went straight for memes, units of cultural inheritance."
- Richard Dawkins, Atheist Extraodinaire, who popularised the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term meme.

My kinda hero.

H Is For Hypocrite/Hypocritical

2008-06-05T01:07:00.001+08:00

Some excerpt from 林奕华's article on the leading Hong Kong paper, Ming Pao. Thought-provoking commentaries on the increasingly notorious tabloid news of the year, with pointers listed in an alphabetical order.
H is for Hypocrite/Hypocritical

「虛偽」兩隻字在報章頭條上被放大，首先使人深思的，倒不是被它們指控的當事人（阿嬌）有幾表裏不一、言不由衷，而是兩隻字被看到的背景，以及從中引伸出來的定義。

如果我們都能明白，及實事求是地接受一份報章可以在新聞版道貌岸然，在風月版卻是「大滾友」，那麼，要求一個廿六七歲的女藝人徹頭徹尾是童話中的仙子或公主，便是選擇性地提出指控。因為，藝人明顯是娛樂工業一部份，「童話」的存在是補償現實中不能達成的美夢，只有兒童（天真）或思想不成熟的人（幼稚）才會相信看似童話人物的藝人是活在現實世界中的卡通人物。

為什麼有些人可以一邊如此世故，同時又如此無知？抑或，無知不過是一種偽裝，為的是開脫自己的鋤弱扶強？以譴責阿嬌「虛偽」為例，只要認識問題的本質，任何人都知道她的「虛偽」只是服膺虛偽的娛樂制度，甚至是媒體制度——「她」的「純情」，難道不是由這些制度按照市場需求而塑造？大眾渴望她永遠保持貞潔，但在渴望背後又隱藏着對她的性幻想——何嘗不是出於充滿吊詭和抑壓的慾望？

不去反思自己的矛盾，偏去怪罪一個平日盡量替大眾「圓夢」，卻因一次意外而打碎集體幻想的藝人「虛偽」，請問是誰的不誠實和說一套做一套對社會造成更大的誤導和影響？

即便阿嬌真是「虛偽」，她「口不對心」的理由已是人所共知，但在這時候還以道德之名搖旗吶喊要她「全盤交代」者，目的卻是希望消費過程中更多細節（甚至謀利），那就更是典型賊喊捉賊，真的很虛偽。

2008-06-04T21:42:00.003+08:00

meme (plural memes)

(philosophy) Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity.
(philosophy) A self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics).

initiative (plural initiatives)

A beginning; a first move.
A new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem.
The ability to act first or on one's own.