WorldOfIllusion

Well today I want to introduce you all to a game called Cortex Command. Despite the fact it’s not even nearly complete you can download some good community made mods that make up for the lack of ‘official’ content. Also you can make your own - or simply tamper with pre-existing units.

You can download a trial version for free which you can use to try it out and you can then buy it (and all future updates) for a pretty decent price.

Cortex Command is set a few hundred years into the future, where the now cybernetic human race is able to travel between stars and has already met several alien civilisations.

Interstellar trade and prosperity reigns, but there is always an ever-expanding frontier to explore and exploit for precious resources. In this gold rush of galactic proportions, fantastic adventure and brutal competition awaits.

An extract of the story from the games website.

Anyhow - I suggest you have a look.

And this has been another very easy thursday… enjoy. Also click the comic to see it full size.

So much of the time we say we wish that we could spend some time doing nothing, time to ourselves. We complain we’re too busy, too much is happening. We want a break - were we don’t have to do anything but what we want.

You know what I’ve realised? I can’t handle it after too long. Having this time to ‘do what I want’. See I do some stuff, then I get bored.  I need things to do (things with other people, new things, something to engage the mind), otherwise I get into this continuous cycle moving from my computer to the TV. I need something semi-productive - whether it’s going out or working or something else. Otherwise I get bored, I lose interest. As much as I enjoy my own company and as good as solitude can be, after a while it leaves me down. I need to be around other people.

The problem for me is this: I don’t always have people to be around. My family can be out and about, my friends are working, going to university et cetera. Also as much as my generation is meant to be the computer generation it just doesn’t quite cut it for me. Yes you can interact with other people using the internet but only to a certain point.

To roughly quote ‘Brave New World’:

Stability isn’t nearly as spectacular as instability.

Where I’m going with this quote is that for me its the human interaction, the instability, the drama and the scandal that keeps my life interesting. I can only self suffice for so long before I need an outside stimulus. If I don’t I tend to slip into a… subdued state. I’ll start pondering life and encounter my fear of death and what comes afterwards. Yes, I fear ‘heaven’ or whatever you will call it, despite my faith.

If I start thinking about death too seriously and what comes after, an eternity. I just feel terrible. It’s hard to describe it, if anything I’d have to call it anxiety. It gets to the point I physically have to stop myself, I have to get up, do something else. If I’m trying to sleep I turn on a light and stand up. One day I should probably deal with it rather than putting it under the bed - so to say.

Eh, problems for another day. Also for those of you in the know, I’m not blogging from work - this is all pre-written and then scheduled.

Once upon a time there lived someone. Who did something. Then all of a sudden there was a complication. Then the complication was resolved and a moral lesson usually taught. Then the story concluded in a nice and tight way drawing together the storyline.

The End.

Now all of you know how to write a narrative. The NSW school system seems to place a heavy emphasis on the narrative structure - you write narratives all through your English learning days. Seriously. In my HSC (for those who aren’t from around here the HSC is the final exams for an entire school life) I had the choice to write a creative piece on one of three different ‘lines’ in one of three different text types. Guess what one of those text types was?

That’s right.

A narrative.

So I thought back to my pre-written piece that I had been refining for the last period of time (like all the ’smart’ kids). Then I adapted it slightly, chucked it onto the page trying to make it as long as possible (but not too long). Then when all of that was done… I had finished a third of one of my English exams (there are two for most people, each one two hours long). One day I may put that story in a series of blogs… but then you’d all see how corny it is. Also I don’t like my longer writings too much. When it comes to things like that I prefer my poetry.

See with poetry being vague can be a ’skill’. It makes it a more ‘figurative’ piece. Plus you can chuck a couple of lines that really don’t make sense and it can make a poem ‘complicated’. So here goes…

Dark eddies,

Drifting through a silent darkness.

Ghosts on the wind…

Death in the air-

Sinister whispers

And suggestions of another time.

Death from life-

As the beginning becomes the end…

That was written in the space of three minutes or so. ‘Impromptu’ poetry… the lack of pre-defined thought adds to its mystery.

Now I challenege YOU, think of it like Uncle Sam except I don’t want you to go to war and risk your life (and it also has nothing to do with America). Try to write some ‘impromptu’ poetry, you could have some fun.

A little while back now one of my friends told me that he looked up to me and my guile. Not meaning that I deceived people but rather in my perceptiveness of being able to notice the deception. How I wouldn’t easily get duped in certain scenarios. I think he was wrong. If I appear to have guile I think it must be a side effect of the cynical sarcastic face I can put on things sometimes.

That said I have wisened up over the past year or so. Have any of you ever been stood up? Well let me just say it’s probably good for building up your guile. Not that it’s some thing you ‘build up’ so to say. Rather when a tough situation like being stood up happens you can go a couple of ways. One of them is that in the future you wont trust so freely - this is what comes off as guile. See due to the lack of trust you will already be suspecting when someone tries to deceive you.

Still this can be a double edged blade as you can suspect even when there is no reason to. Still sometimes you’ve just have to think, there really isn’t smoke without fire… and when something smells fishy the chances are that it is indeed fishy.

So that leaves us if with an important (yet mostly unrealted question), do we continue believeing in the inherent good of people or not? Also anyone here know the song ‘Hands Held High’ yes I know its Linkin Park… still I like the song. Good lyrics.

Either this kid’s got a light bulb up his butt, or his colon has a great idea.

Dr. Cox - Scrubs

Well recently I have been getting some traffic from search engines. You know a strange thing though… most of this traffic is due to the post I did about the watchmen movie.

See, people are searching for ’silk spectre and nite owl’, ’silk spectre and dr. manhattan’, ‘watchmen nudity’ and many more. See the nudity part comes up frequently in the searches as does ’sex scene’. Yes the movie does have nudity (mostly male) and it does have a couple of sex scenes. But seriously. You people need to get your heads out of the gutter- and if you want to see more full frontal blue man nudity interlaced with a few sex scenes… just go watch the movie again.

Oh and have a good Easter.

How do you know?

A simple question… and it can have a simple answer. At the same time it can be a very complicated question with a very complicated answer. You can be asking yourself, wondering, asking someone else, be asked by someone else. Then depending on your specific context you can give a possibly painful yet possibly painless answer. You can give a complex or a simple answer.

It all depends on your context and in some ways, your knowledge. See some people are more discerning, in my case I’m not one of those people. Think of it this way, if your level of insight was seen as walking down a dark path… I’d be the guy wearing a blindfold. Not really, but kind of. Enough that it’s not a complete lie but not enough that it’s a complete truth either. Or is it?

Strangely enough… I could be talking about anything. From conspiracies, to politics. From religion, to food. Oh so many possibilities - yet if you think you know. I have just one question.

You should all know what that question is. I was actually going to write it again but it was much too corny (I do have to stop at some level don’t I?). Still if you are in this case that metaphorical blindfolded man then just look at the top of this post. Then all will be revealed unto you.

In other news since I started working I have started to show signs of writers block again. Not just due to time constraints though, my inspiration has waned temporarily I do believe. Still I will persevere. Willing my inspirastion, the enjoyment I get from writing this blog, to return. Until it does I’ll just keep hoping. Not just for my inspiration but for something else as well dun dun dunnnnn.

Hurrah for the long weekend! In the past public holidays didn’t really mean all that much to me. Things have changed now. A public holiday means I get a day off work. It can also mean a long weekend, I’m lucky in that this Easter I’m getting a five day weekend. All starting off with an outing with some friends.

As usual we went to the local ’shopping centre’, ate and watched a movie. The movie being ‘The Boat That Rocked’. As the title would suggest it didn’t just rock - it also tried to sail, got a hole and sank. So it’s not just a rocking boat it’s also a sinking, hole getting, sailing boat. Did I mention it also broadcasts a radio station that endangers the lives of fisherman?

Oh I almost forgot to mention. For all you desperate guys, the movie does instruct you… well I’ll let you find that bit out when you watch the movie.

Well, since my last post a fair amount has happened. I have gotten a job, subsequently started working and from that earning money. I’ve also had another city outing which will eventually lead to me writing a post a lot like this (that is when I have time and the relevant pictures).

So far I’ve only had two days of work (it’s a full time job mind you). From what I can tell its a bit of a different office to normal, a lot more relaxed. Also it’s not in a really big business which is good as well - makes it more personal. For those of you who are wondering where I actually work, I’ve decided not to mention it - it adds to my mystique. Still some of you should know, I mean one of the people I work with has read this blog before.

In other news its a different experience for me to have money, sure I don’t earn heaps but its more than I’ve had before. Unfortunately I’m trying to save money at the moment so no mass spending for me. Now I’m getting to the bit where I try and involve all of you. What’s it like? Do you have money and spend it on everything and anything? Are you like me before the job, no money? Leave a comment and let me know.

As always only the cool people will click here and vote for all my posts.

Do you ever take the time to think; what is it you really want? I think a lot of the time we chase after something without understanding why.

See I’m not entirely sure what I want in the long run. I don’t know what I want to do as a career. I just wish things were different or that I knew what I wanted to do. See I need to find something enjoyable which pays well enough for me to do what I want. Basically I want a perfect job that lets me do what I want. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen very often, see you can hope to get some really amazing career or life. Yet the reality is that only happens for a very select few. Unfortunately chances are that your not one of them.

I think the only other real option is to start your own business - that’s where real money is. You see you don’t get rich working a job unless you are one of the lucky few. Still business isn’t easy and not everyone can succeed so then again I’m stuck. Still I can dream of what could be if I was one of the lucky few.

So what is it you want? What do you dream of?

Oh on a side note, I would do an April Fools… but I don’t want to.