darkness falls to bring defeat
shall we turn back, shall we proceed
the children cry, the women weep
forward goes my dauntless fleet
in this battle die a thousand warriors
to the holy one shall i implore
sacrosanct and genuine cross
shall we win or shall we lose
we surrender and live or fight and die
war is death, it does imply
we sure shall perish but not in vain
our dignity we shall soon regain
for when everything is over
the world will remember our battle

*Ojramoj 02/13/2006

Click on the image for a larger view.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is one of the best musicals I have ever seen.  It is a good, old-fashioned revenge, gore-filled flick that turns irony into amusement and tragedy at the same time.  Thematically, Sweeney Todd is reminiscent of The Count of Monte Cristo due to the obsessive revenge motive of a man who has been punished for solely having a highly coveted woman.  This unjustness at the hands of a higher authority places both titular characters in prison for many years, destined for the day of reckoning with those who are responsible.

Sweeney Todd largely differs from The Count of Monte Cristo in two separate ways.  First of all, it is a musical; and secondly, the Demon Barber wants to punish all of London for his castigation from society and his wife.  He does this with the help of Mrs. Lovett, who uses the victims of Sweeney's scissors to make the most desired meat pies in all of London.

The film itself is a dark portrayal of London, taking place in the 19th century.  Tim Burton has mastered the art of presenting grungy looking sets with a good balance of night in almost every shot.  Sweeney Todd is beautifully acted and sung as well, with the always excellent Johnny Depp in the nominal role, Alan Rickman as the "evil" judge, and Helena Bonham Carter as the lonely Mrs. Lovett.

The only thing that puzzles me about this movie is which demographic it appeals to.  Stereotypically, most theater enthusiasts don't like horror/gory movies, and most horror/gore aficionados don't appreciate or like musical numbers.  I guess that doesn't matter, the movie did well at the box office, and was nominated for a few awards.  Like the movie indicates, "desperate times call for desperate measures".

My Reel Review:  4 out of 5 Reels

When you die, you might have unfinished job. In that case you'll be sent to a transit point. There will be guidance by the guard for you at that place. That's right. It's the place for those who can't go to heaven yet. The guard will then decides what happen to those lost souls.

This is a series about mystery of death, why people choose to die or why they're willing to keep living.

This manga is available for download on doki-doki

My Rating:

You'll have to click through to see how this episode ends.

Yes, I know... I'm a sick twisted young man.I'll make myself feel better by linking to the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

Save me from the dark before I come undone. . . .

Images tell the story....

Tras su lanzamiento en PC, PlayStation 2, Wii y Xbox 360, Atari sigue trabajando en la versión para PlayStation 3 de su más que notable Alone in the Dark. Según podemos leer en TotalVideogamer, esta versión de Alone in the Dark para la nueva consola de Sony no llegará a las tiendas hasta el último trimestre del año, es decir, entre los meses de octubre y diciembre.

Bueno, volvemos a la carga con el tema de la semana. Esta vez seguimos con los temas oscuros (les había dicho que me agradan...); este es muy bueno, y se llama:

Slickness black

Este tema tiene buenos bordes; lo que no me gusta es su combinación con todo lo que sea transparente, ya que te deja igual un espacio de negro; si se fijan en la esquina inferior derecha, entenderán lo que les estoy diciendo.

Como ven, no se ve mal a la vista. Sin embargo, este tiene un error al momento de integrarse con OpenOffice.org, que es que el tema que tienes seleccionado para ver los iconos no se ve normalmente. En esta imagen se darán cuenta a qué me refiero:

Si no entiendes cúal es el problema, revisa la anterior bitácora y compáralas. ¿Te fijas que el tema que tienen los iconos es diferente? El tema en cuestión se llama High contrast, y por una razón que desconozco, se configura así cuando lo instalas.

Pero no desesperes, ya que en la misma página donde vas a descargar el tema podrán descargar la solución. Recuerden, no se desesperen si no les resulta, busquen la forma de solucionarlo, y lograrán el éxito...

El tema lo descargas aquí (sigue las instrucciones).

El famoso parche lo bajas acá.

P.D. Es importante que sigas las instrucciones tal cual, ya que si no el parche no es efectivo. Por respeto a los creadores de este parche, decidí no subirlo a la página blog.

Bueno, eso ha sido todo. En unos días más (siendo más específico el sábado) salgo de vacaciones, así que a partir de esa fecha subiré la frecuencia de reportajes, comentarios y demases. Agradecer a todos los que visitan esta página blog!! (¿qué es lo tan complejo?), dan más ganas de seguir escribiendo (aunque igual escribiría si sólo una persona visitara la página blog ¬¬*...). Cuídense, nos veremos.

Photograph by flimseflo

I hear your sounds tonight
in this deep dark night
the little little dancing
the loud loud noise

I see your sights tonight
in this deep dark night
the bright bright flashing
the hard hard strike

“angry night”
they say tonight
but I know you’re about…
dancing and flashing
loud and bright
snickering and smiling
all in pure delight

and I know you
    I feel you
for I was just so not long before
so will this night away
thunder and lightning
will it your way
swing it to your beat
sing it to your tune
it’s your night tonight
do with it as you choose

- Raatkiranii (K.F.S.)

Viper Night Bowie

[view full size]

Now you may notice, if you go to the site I found this sweet looking sword on, (link at the bottom of the page) that it is called a "Black Ronin Full Tang Ninja Sword". I chose to use the Viper Bowie because frankly there are too many Black Ronin weapons floating about, and also because this swords design, beyond anything more than being fairly straight, actually has more in common with a bowie than it does a ninjato.

However, as swords go, this one combines a rather unusual number of bowie-like design elements, such as a false edge on the spine that seems to run into a long clip-like point, opposite a blade with an almost imperceptible belly. Definitely Bowie inspired. Beyond that you have a serrated section below the straight edge that runs into thee short cut our ricasso, and into the small finger guard.

Behind the false rear edge on the spine of the blade we see a set of cut outs, much like those on the survival knives I blogged about a while ago, that runs into a small raised section that looks almost like a thumb rest with a grip slots cut into the surface. The blade itself has been rather heinously violated by a set of three slots set between the serrated section of the blade and just below the cut outs in the spine.

If you look at the profile of the blade, you can see that it is actually at it's narrowest just above the slot area, and gets wider before and after, which, to me, makes the placement, and even the existence of those slots all the more mind boggling.

Why remove more material so close to one of the weakest parts of the blade? Maybe they like seeing swords bend/snap in half at inopportune moments, impaling the users big toe with a wayward slab of sharp black steel? Looking at some of these designs, I can help but ask...

Yet another interesting design cue was the black cord wrapped grip, which, in addition to having a nice gradual swell towards the open pommel, is actually biased forward a little, kinda like how a kukri is designed. I can imagine this providing a great grip for the weapon. This weapon seems to have been designed for more for heavy duty chopping, rough cutting and thrusting duty than anything else. Definitely not a Ninjato inspired sword.

But Ninjato or Bowie, between the flat black finish, and it's wicked, no nonsense design, this sword by any other name is still freakin' sweet...

Viper Night Bowie - [Swords 24]

Canon EOS 350D, 30s exp. 1600 iso, f.18mm, apt. 5.6 - Sprewell Bluff, just outside of Thomaston, GA USA

The North American Nebula can be seen as a reddish smudge in the lower left corner of the constellation

shadowed flight of mindless laughter
whirling hooks of time
hollow screams, "does it matter?"
move from sign to sign

emerald strands of cold thin wire
twisting flesh and soul
subtle cries, "where's god's power?"
break pieces from the whole

obscure falls of broken water
jagged rocks of faith
angry whispers, “help me father!”
rip sanity away

azure threads of hateful love
slashing waves of prescience
vacant echoes, “don’t give up!”
mark waypoints in the essence

crimson chords of silent song
flashing razors in the dark
empty words, “i don’t belong”
mark the truly tortured heart

Talk about a no-brainer.

Not only is Rafael Nadal the Mr. Olympia of tennis, but he also just outlasted the greatest tennis player of all time in the longest Wimbledon final of all-time. Nadal, in four hours and 48 minutes, effectively displayed to Roger Federer how the guns will, in fact, get you.

What a week for Spain. First Euro 2008, now this? I'm telling you now, watch out for the Gasol brothers leading Spain to Olylmpic basketball gold in a couple months.

We all have ESPN, so I don't need to tell you what all the analysts have been saying. This is the greatest Wimbledon final, and possibly the greatest tennis match of all time. I'd like to argue that the epic three-setter that my brother and I played two years ago on the Taft High School hard courts (finished on a whopping 74 mph ace that I called out and he called in) was better, but we'll leave that for another time.

The greatness of this match almost made me miss my flight. I was in Buffalo (on my way back from Canada) and Rafa and Roger were on the plasma in the bar, about 4 gates down from mine. It was 6-5 in the fifth set when it was time for me to board, so I walked down to the gate. Since I saw no plane I asked the lady at the desk what time we were scheduled to board.

"You want to watch the tennis game don't you?" she said with a smile. "Just be back in 15 minutes."

Despite the unusually friendly suggestion by a flight-related worker, I still was forced to board when it was 7-7.  My new best friend in 7A (he had a blackberry) informed me that it was 8-7 just before the flight attendant called the "writ of no electronics." It immediately occured to me that Federer had served that 15th game, so Nadal must have broken him and was now serving for the championship.

Fifteen minutes on a prop plane later, we landed in Rochester and as soon as 7A got the all-clear signal from the flight attendant he turned around and shouted "Nine Seven!" On one hand I was disappointed I didn't get to see the conclusion, but from what I hear the last two games were played in near darkness, so it's not like I missed anything, right? Right?

Anyway, by beating Federer on a surface that you can't make pots out of, Nadal has now turned this into an official rivalry. It's great for both of them and, more importantly, it's great for men's tennis.

Rafa, with your flowing locks, bulging biceps, and propensity to teasingly wipe yourself down with a towel after every single point, you have unanimously (one vote to zero) won the coveted MCOW Award.

This post however, is about xx. What is xx? Those of you that know, know. Good enough for me. And to make it more interesting, I'll do it in songs. Whee.

:sO tEcHnIcAlLy tHeSe aRe "sOnGs fOr xX"?

:you are so not funny.

As it stands, the current situation is: Muse - Time Is Running Out

I think I'm drowning
Asphyxiated
I wanna break this spell
That you've created
You're something beautiful
A contradiction
I wanna play the game
I want the friction
You will be the death of me
You will be the death of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
I wanted freedom
Bound and restricted
I tried to give you up
But I'm addicted
Now that you know I'm trapped
Sense of elation
You'd never dream of
Breaking this fixation
You will squeeze the life out of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
You will suck the life out of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it
Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?

Half of me wants to say: Midnight Hour - Running Away

:dOn'T lIe aNd sAy tHaT iT's oKaY
iT's aLrIgHt iF tHeRe'S nOtHiNg mOrE tO sAy
sO i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
i'M lEaViNg tHiS pLaCe
yEaH, i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
dOn'T tElL mE i'M tHe oNe tO bLaMe
iT's tOo lAtE fOr yOu tO mAkE mE sTaY
nO, i wOn't sTaY
sO i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
i'M lEaViNg tHiS pLaCe
yEaH, i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
aNd fAsTeR tHaN yOu cAn fOlLoW mE fRoM tHiS lOnElY pLaCe
aNd fArThEr tHaN yOu cAn fInD mE, i'M lEaViNg
yEaH i'M lEaViNg tOdAy
aNd i, i'Ll nEvEr lEt yOu fInD mE
i'M lEaViNg yOu bEhInD wItH tHe pAsT
nO, i wOn'T lOoK bAcK
aNd i dOn'T wAnT tO hEaR yOuR rEaSoNs
dOn'T wAnT tO hEaR yOu tElL mE wHy i sHoUlD sTaY
aNd tRy, aNd tRy tO uNdErStAnD mE
aNd tRy tO uNdErStAnD wHaT i sAy wHeN i sAy i cAn'T sTaY
i, i'M mOvInG oN fRoM tHiS pLaCe
i'M lEaViNg aNd i wOn'T qUiT rUnNiNg aWaY
i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
i'M lEaViNg tHiS pLaCe
yEaH, i'M rUnNiNg aWaY
i'M rUnNiNg aWaY

But the other half wonders if I should: Relient K - Give Until There's Nothing Left.

:no one told me
the right way
the right way to go about this
so i'll figure it out for myself
'cause how much
is too much
to give you
well i may never know
so i'll just give until there's nothing else
yeah i'll give give give (until there's nothing else)
give my all (until it all runs out)
give give (and i'll have no regrets)
i'll give until there's nothing left, i'll give
no one told me
how bad i need you (need you)
but i somehow arrived
at that conclusion all by myself (all by myself)
and i want
all you have to offer (to offer)
so i offer myself and i'll just give until there's nothing else
and i'll i'll give give give (until there's nothing else)
give my all (until it all runs out)
give give (and i'll have no regrets)
i'll give until there's nothing left
i'll give give give (until there's nothing else)
give my all (until it all runs out)
give give (and i'll have no regrets)
i'll give until there's nothing left
sometimes I think
like all I ever do
is ask for things
until i ask too much of you
but that's not the way (that's not the way)
i wanna live (I wanna live)
i need to change (i need to change)
but something's got to give
yeah something's got to
i'll give give give (until there's nothing else)
give my all (until it all runs out)
give give (and i'll have no regrets)
i'll give until there's nothing left to give
give give give (until there's nothing else)
give my all (until it all runs out)
give give
i'll give until there's nothing left, i'll give

Conclusion? I still haven't made up my mind. Of course, the clock's still ticking.

So I'm singing these songs for xx in my head... as Time Is Running Out...