Turkish Delight

3 minutes in heaven.

I decided to start the mp3 links off with something relatively mainstream. If you own a TV you're bound to have heard this before in any sort of context. Once you listen to it you're bound to fall in love with the playful energy, the articulate craftsmanship and ultimately the fact that it sounds so fucking good.

Father Wind, fill my wings!

If the picture with this doesn't get you jacked up for mortal kombat, I don't know what will!

The picture is from the cartoon show "Conan the Adventurer" which was developed by Jean Chalopin in the early 90s. It followed Conan on his quest to restore his family from an evil 'curse of living stone', which had been cast on them by the wizard Wrath-Amon. As the possesor of the Black Ring, taken by force and cunning from his predecessor, his simple serpent-like form was transformed by the god Set, and he became the ruler of Stygia and master of all serpentmen in the world. He wanted StarMetal, which is needed to free Set from the abyss to which he has been banished, and punished Conans father (along with his mother and grandfather) when he didn't deliver it to him. Conan himself through a test of strength was able to pick up the one sword his father made of the enchanted Metal, and went on his way to achieve victory over Wrath-Amon, Set and Serpentmen throughout all the lands.

One word: awesome. I know the show attracted alot of flack for not having Conan chopping off limbs of his mortal enemies (the StarMetal sends serpentmen back to the abyss through a clever portal lovingly entitled "Plot Device Numero Uno") but once you get past that, it stays very true to the legend of the cimmerian warrior. As he goes about his way, he teams up with a wide array of fellow warriors, all neatly appealing to different demographics. He becomes Blood Brothers with an african prince named Zula, who has the ability to communicate with animals through the sign of Jebbal Saqh. He meets a female circus artist who is deadly accurate with her shurikens, even when doing backflips. The wizard Greywolf elects to aid Conan, and has motivations of his own when his brother and sister gets turned into werewolves by the evil sorceress, Mesmira. A while longer into the show we meet Falconer, an asian man from the city of Kusan who has the power to govern the Mantle of Wind. When he dons this magical cape and utters the words "Father Wind, fill my wings!" he becomes airborne. However, the most awesome character on the show is Snagg, the redbearded Vanirman (I guess the show takes place before Vikings). Him and Conan have a tribal dispute that goes on throughout the show, and is the course of many a great scene, and even a pretty awesome episode. Vanirmen and Cimmerians do not take lightly to one another, arguing over which race is superior. While the Vanirmen have made inventions such as boats, bows etc. Cimmerians still cling onto their older traditions of warpaint and they, of course, serve the man himself -Arnold! Just kidding, it's Crom.

The thing that I like the most about the show, is that it feels like a continuing quest. While there is a overlying theme and plot throughout the series, it never becomes stale and repetitive. The problem I have with alot of the 80s cartoons, is that every episode is basically the same hero vs. the same villain. Or same heroes vs. the same villains. With Conan, we are exposed to countless different worlds, characters and scenarios. Obviously many of them tend to involve Wrath-Amon and his minions in some way, but there really are alot of offshoot episodes with various encounters of beings, be they malicious or not. The first 20 episodes or so, I grew up watching and as such they will hold a special place in my mind wether I want them to or not. I'm sure all of you can relate to things like the way a line is delivered sticking in your mind since childhood. But as I watch further and get into more and more episodes, I come to appreciate the show as not only being awesome for kids, but being awesome for an adult who knows it is for kids as well. Let this be a lesson to all of you, if you have not yet watched episodes of Conan: The Adventurer, get off your mats and do it! It's available on DVD.

NOTE: The image I am using at the top of this blog is of one of the villains on the show (well, lets call him a tortured soul. Oh the depth...) Namely Windfang. Definitely one of the coolest looking villains I have seen in a cartoon show, right up there with Skeletor himself.

Football Manager obsession

I expected to go at it and post my guts out on the first day that I had this blog. I was counting on putting up several posts after I got home from work. However, one thing came in the way... Football Manager 2007!

I've been hooked on FM since 2005. The more you play it the more possibilities open up to you, and the deeper you delve into the game, the more satisfaction you get from it. The database is immense, and you can never hope to completely master every step of it. Even if you play several games with the same club, chances are you won't have the same experience. Obviously there is an element of luck to it (what game doesn't have an element of luck?) but if you are meticulous enough, you can almost sidestep luck completely.

Particularly when me and my cousin find time to play together the game becomes extremely addictive. We used to grind out countless hours back with FM2006, but in the last 6 months or so, we have hardly found anytime to power up a skypecall and kick back with the incredibly frustrating experience that Football Manager inherently becomes... It is sports afterall. The game we started yesterday and had the chance to continue today is in the spanish Primera Division, I'm playing as Barcelona and he is playing as Atletico Madrid. Now, for people who know about football, this may seem a pretty unfair matchup, but it is a known fact that Barcelona is one of the harder teams to actually get to perform in the game. They just have so many players playing the same positions, and they have a really slim squad in the beginning. So even though it's packed with megastars, getting it to work is alot harder than you might believe.

Anyway, getting to play FM07 in multiplayer again is awesome. I wouldn't miss it for the world, even if it does tend to take over everything else (I have very clear memories of my senior year of business school suffering tremendously because of the hours I spent on FM...) It has the quality of "just one more game..." like no other game I have ever played. I would say the gameplay of FM rivals the likes of Diablo in terms of addiction, but at the same time it has a multiplayer experience comparable to Heroes of Might & Magic, in that it doesn't lend itself to direct confrontation as much as simple healthy competition, banter and of course most importantly, bragging rights! The only drawback I can think of is that you have to like football, but hey... who doesn't?!?

(The picture is of a Man Utd team of mine, made in Single Player. I can't be bothered with relevant screenshots!)

Blogger.com

So this is what it looks like. I have major issues with the star thing up there, and the color scheme of the header is a little happy for my taste, but that stuff seems to be un-customizable. Then again, I get this stuff for free so I shouldn't complain really.

I'm trying to get the thing readable and somewhat aesthetically pleasing. I think the system at blogger.com is pretty useful, even if your blog still looks generic, it's a good balance with at least some ways to personalize the stuff.

As I ponder wether or not this is really lame or awesome, I'm just going to stick with this format. Somewhere down the line I may upgrade to something more, but for now this is it. Hopefully you will enjoy reading whatever pretentious points of view I will try and force upon you, but even if you don't, keep coming back. The only thing I would like to ask is, if that you do choose to dignify me with a response, please be intelligible, maybe even intelligent, but this is the internet so I won't get my hopes up.

Welcome to a world of adultery

There is no reason not to grow up. This is going to be a pretty pretentious place for me to vent both my frustrations and delightful experiences in the world. Hopefully I will be able to keep up a somewhat consistent production on this little somewhat generic blog, and hopefully you will enjoy everything (EVERYTHING) that I have to say.