School Rumble Federation

I got reminded recently of a true to life story that happened not too long ago.

It was the time when I was downloading School Rumble Ni-gakki. I was getting the latest episode (at that time) of School Rumble Ni-gakki fansubbed by Wannabe Fansubs. When the file was queued on utorrent, it kinda looked like this (there was a CRC stub but I can't exactly remember what it was):

[WF]School Rumble 2nd Term - 08.mp4

And so while it was currently on queue, somebody got a peek at the monitor and saw that it was downloading. The person then asked me this question: "Ano yan? Wrestling? (What's that? Wrestling?)".

...

I honestly didn't know how to react.

Of Space, Time and Oyashiro-sama

A dream about Time and Space travel and that it is somehow more common than usual.

There was a certain "Time Server" that time travellers connect to before, during and after the jump.

Time and space travel came in three distinct methods, or "flavors" and is available for use by different kinds of people. These methods were: Wired, Unwired (Wireless), and Instant (Blinkers).

For the first method, there are wires that emanate from the body and wrap around certain body parts like arms, legs and torso when its time to jump. This method uses a direct connection to the time server.

For the Unwired, No wires are used when jumping. However, this method was less accurate. This method uses a roundabout, indirect connection to the time server.

Both wired and unwired travel can traverse long expanses, in space and time.

For the Instant method, time and space jumps are done instantly without connecting to the time server provided that they are qualified and capable of the jumps. However, this method is limited to very short time and space jumps, often to just meters (in terms of space) and just hours or minutes (in terms of time).

The dream was basically about a certain kind of battle between travellers where they travel back and forth in time and space.

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Oyashiro-sama is back! A new season of Higurashi no naku koro ni is now running on japanese TV. The first episode is set in the ruins of the village almost 30 years after the events in hinamizawa where *spoiler alert* everyone dies but Rena mysteriously survives. This new season is supposed to explain the mystery behind the hinamizawa curse and there's a new character to be introduced (voiced by Yui Horie).

Well, it could have ended with the first season but since this season is supposed to explain the reason behind the curse, I guess it's all well.

Curse of the Archivers

Oh yeah, I forgot to include in my previous post to add to the series of unfortunate events that happened is the fact that my 200gb hdd finally died on me. The motor isn't spinning anymore which means, the disks aren't spinning as well.

*Sigh* goodbye my ~70gb archive... all gone...

My dear friend Ais the archiver said that this could be the "curse of the archivers" (dudumdumdum...). First was Fernie losing his 160gb external, then my 200gb hdd. He could be the next one to go. Nyahahahaha~~~ well... hopefully not.

On the lighter side, I'm planiing to get a new hdd sometime maybe soon, a SATA hard drive maybe. And I found a hard disk repair and recovery service in the country... probably the only one available. I hope they don't charge a lot just in case.

Series of Unfortunate Events

Here I am with the first new post in QUITE a long time.

One of the main reasons why I haven't written in here for quite some time was simply because... I simply forget to. Yes, I know that sounds stupid but that's the truth.

But another reason why is because of a series of unfortunate events so they say.

First of all, around February, 2007, I suddenly lost the ability to connect to the internet using my computer. Man, I was annoyed... but at least the computer is still running, so it's fine in a way.

Then came mid March.

I was finally able to fix the problem of why I can't connect. Turns out to be worms (1, 2, 3, Rider Kick! Hell Yeah!). And so I thought all's well.

But then...

The next day, THE NEXT FREAKING DAY, the computer died on me. All my diagnostic abilities told me that it was probably due to either a processor or motherboard screw-up, maybe even both. The processor probably melted due to long exposure with no fan un-attended.

So... goodbye my computer...

But at least the hard drives were safe.

It took almost three months, THREE months before I finally got to get a "new" computer (processor+motherboard+casing+power+ram). It was a Pentium D 915+ 2.8ghz (x2) with a motherboard on an intel chipset (945G, with GMA950 graphics onboard configurable to up to 224mb) with 1gb ddr2 533mhz ram. It's a fairly nice system I might say... the old one was an AMD athlon xp 1800+ 1.6ghz 256 ddr ram.

And so the computer was alive again. Yay! And better, I finally got dsl, but it was just 384kbps... but it was STILL dsl. And I thought I was finally happy...

But then when the time came to setup a home network using a router (for the office laptop), I just can't set it up properly. Sigh. At least I can exchange it for another item. Maybe a new SATA hard disk...

The chatterbox on the right side is gone and I'm not sure if I'll get a new one.

And so I'll probably post here again regarding random thoughts, insights, rants, etc.

... I guess I have a lot of updating to do... sheesh.

Rainy days and Mondays

Monday. It was raining heavilly.

Went to elbi again for the sp demo.

Brownout sa ICS. Good thing I was able to borrow a laptop (yay! I hope I can borrow it again for the panel presentation) and I migrated the necessary files to run the program to it. All-in-all the demo went well. That laptop was a big, no, HUGE convenience.

It was still raining. Text message. "Punta muna kami DTRI". I decided to pay apt6 a visit.

I only stayed for a brief moment. Jaimee was there though. I hope I can go to the planned photoshoot.

Then the van came. Time for the trip back home. It was still raining. HARD.

Wacthed some stuff on the lappy while travelling. I watched To Heart episode 7 and SHaruhi episode 2(1). Damn... I watched SHaruhi AGAIN. It was still raining.

We bought some siopao on the way home. We said Special siopao (bola+asado) but the stupid vendor gave us PLAIN asado. At least it still tastes good.

Then, home.

It was still raining. And it was still a monday.

Canon in LB

I went to LB (Los Banos) this morning to meet with my adviser to talk about my sp presentation. Got there pretty early (around 10:15am). I decided to go to apartment 6. I knocked. No response. They probably have classes. I decided to spend some time in Abode then.

Then I met up with Crala. In Abode. While I was watching Chokotto Sister episode 1 on YouTube. Then we went to SU. We then met Ais. We stayed there for a while, discussing about stuff like fansubbing and my sp and such.

Then we went our separate ways (Blurry Ais and Crala the goldfish had classes at 1pm). I went to ICS. My Adviser wasn't there. Even though he wasn't there, I was informed of some important things about sp presentation scheduling.

After that, Ate Ides called me because she said she has something to ask. It turned out to be an endorsement for the next CAS dean. I chose via coin-toss (not really an elegant way to choose). After that, she mentioned to me that there's an ongoing on-site recruitment exam held by Canon and she recommended me to try taking it. I asked if they already started and she said that they aren't yet.

So I decided to try.

I thought it would be a short exam (it was just a one-sheet answer sheet, all multiple choice, around 30 items I think)...

Oh I was soooo wrong.

It took me more than three hours to finish the test. And boy was I sooooo sleepy, I can feel my pen floating in the air while "trying to write".

Basically most of the exam were problem-solving questions. Most of it were about program tracing and program analysis. There were base-arithmetic too. Kuri, I can feel your pain. Converting decimal to binary took most of my time. After converting to binary though, converting to octal and hex was a cinch.

After that, they distributed free snacks. McDonald's Cheeseburger Meal (Cheeseburger + reg. fries + reg. Coke). Not bad at all for "free snacks".

After that, I took some pictures of LB scenery.

The Scenery all BSCS students witness as they tread
the journey to go home


The "secret path"


OMG! It's done! Never thought I would see this... EVER


Once upon a time... I always took this path... to sanctuary


All hail the Almighty Kwekwek Tower

Then I met Crala again (omg! huwatta coincidence! fate? probably not). She then dragged me along to get her thesis.

Thar she is... Crala the goldfish.
Camera shy?

After the journey, we decided to head to apartment 6 again, once known as the mushroom. Good thing Cyen and Sesu were still there, I already thought they went home. We stayed there until around 6pm and we were able to hear Cyen sing (nyahahahaha~~~). She was singing "Inner Universe" by Origa by the way. Congratulations on the Chorale.

Then we left. And then I went on a bus ride home.

The bus stopped just before the exit to SLEX. My nice sleep was disrupted. We transferred buses. After that, it was smooth riding.

When I unboarded the bus, I went to the nearest Mini Stop (which was just on the opposite side of the intersection) to grab a bite. Boy was I thirsty. One small C2 (the new lychee flavored) and a big One tea(strawberry flavored). I then left after the meal and walked home.

On the way home, I saw this shop that my mom was talking about. It has all sorts of things from hangers to arrows (not real though, too bad) to electronics to fans to kitchenware. Most if not all of it are surplus from japan. The items in the shop were interesting but that's going to be the subject of another post...

After window-shopping, I continued my walk to my homebase.

At the corner of the street where my home is, a new grocery/eatery/carinderia/pizzeria with matching Zagu stall just newly opened. I decided to stop for a while and check on the newly-opened block. Now I know where to go if we're lazy to cook for the day.

And then, home was just a few blocks away.

And that ends my journey to and back from LB.

... and that was a long post.

Kalungkutan I

A proposed sequence:
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Ang pagtatanong sa mga tao kung gano katagal silang naniwala kay santa claus e isang wala talagang kwentang usapang walang katuturan.

Pero kung matanong mo ako kung gano kagatal akong naniwala sa isang gurang na nagsusuot ng pula e masasabi ko ng may kayabangan na hindi talaga ako naniwa sa kanya sa simula't-sapul pa lang.

Alam ko na yung santa nung christmas party namin nung kindergarten e peke at hindi ko na kelangang makita pang hinahalikan ni santa ang nanay ko sa gabi ng pasko. Pero siguro isa lang ako sa mga bata non na nagdududang may isang matandang nagtatrabaho lang tuwing araw ng pasko.

At kung sa anu't ano pa man, maging ang mga alien, mga manlalakbay sa panahon, multo, aswang, mga psychic o kaya'y mga koponan o grupong may masasamang balak at ang mga superhero na kumakalaban sa kanila na makikita mo lang sa mga anime at mga komiks e sa kalaunan ko pa malalaman na may mga ganon pala sa totoong buhay.

Pero hindi siguro.

Siguro alam ko na ang buong katotohanan matagal na. Pero hindi ko lang siguro gustong aminin.

Sa loob-loob ko siguro hiniling ko na may mga alien, mga manlalakbay sa panahon, multo, aswang, mga psychic o kaya'y mga
koponan o grupong may masasamang balak na biglang sumulpot sa harap ko...

Ngunit sadyang malupit ang tadhana!

Kahanga-hanga ang pagkakagawa sa mga batas ng physika. May panahon nga na hindi na ako nanonood ng mga programang tungkol sa mga UFO at mga psychic sa TV.

Mga alien, manlalakbay sa panahon, psychic...

Hindi maaaring magkaroon ng mga ganon.

Pero parang sana meron ano...

Siguro ang kakayahan kong magkaroon ng ganitong paniniwala habang tinatanggap ang katotohanan e hudyat na ako'y nagkaroon na ng tamang-isip.

Nung ako'y nag-graduate ng middle-school, nag-graduate na din ako sa isip batang mga pangarap at nakasanayan ko na ang pangkaraniwang takbo ng buhay dito sa mundo.

*"Sana maging mabuti ang taon ko kasama kayong lahat~~~"*

At akoy' naging isang estudyante ng high-school na walang talagang kung ano pang ninanais at doon, akin syang nakilala...

"Galing sa East High School, Haruhi Suzumiya. Wala akong pakialam sa mga pangkaraniwang mga nilalang. Kung mayroon ditong alien, mga nanggaling sa kinabukasan, mga galing sa ibang dimensyon, mga psychic, magtungo lang kayo sa aking kinaroroonan. Yun lang."

Ano, tatawa na ba dapat don?

At doo'y nakatayo ang isang nakabibighaning dilag.

*"O yung sunod na..."*

*"Galing sa East High School, Ako si Taniguchi."*

Aakalain siguro ng mga tao e nagbibiro lang siya. Pero ngayong tinitignan ko na yon, hindi yon biro o bagay na dapat pagtawanan.
Laging seryoso yang si Haruhi.

At doon, kami'y nagkita.

Haaaay hinihiling ko lang na sana biro lang ng pagkakataon ang lahat...

Kotae wa itsumo watashi no mune ni...
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Hey, it COULD happen. We joked about Karekano once and then five years later we saw Yukino Miyazawa on local TV. We joked about Fruits Basket and 2 years later we saw people transforming into animals when hugged on local TV.