三国从演Setting 2The region to the south of the Empire is known as the Festering Lands (南烂地).Otherwise known as the Festering, it is land inhabited by strange beasts, demons, devils and a great manner of evil spirits. A feeling of malevolence hangs in the very air around it. Those who were presumed lost in it later re-emerge, as undead with a fire in their eyes, and attempt to slay the living. This and evil place encompasses the entire southern range of the Empire.The Empire is mostly sheltered from the Festering Lands by mountainous ranges covered with thick foliage and often impassible terrain. The few passes that exist are heavily guarded and fortified. In any case, most of the time, the demons and monsters known to inhabit those lands do not seem interested in invading the Empire en masse. The natives of the Southern Ranges (南端山峦) are a hardy folk used to the mountainous terrain, harsh weather (where torrential storms sometimes sweep down without warning triggering off flash-floods and landslides. They are often join the ranks of the military to garrison the forts that guard the passes. Their defences are often tested by small bands of monsters, undead and demons that harry the humans in the territory. Each time their defences are breached, the monsters go on to wreak great havoc in the Empire. However, these are usually quickly resolved with the local lord quickly sending troops to destroy the invaders utterly.So far, the last full scale assault which overcame their stalwart defence was about a thousand years ago, when the Shang Dynasty marshaled a host from throughout the Empire to drive the horde back. This was the only time in history when each of the dozen forts fell to the Festering Horde, their defenders valiantly fighting to the last man and proudly refused to abandon their posts. Many lives were lost before the passes were retaken and the forts rebuilt and strengthened. The attack was believed to have been led by the White Bone Spirit (白骨精), which was believed to have fled when its minions died. The Horde wreaked havoc till the tide was stemmed north of Jingzhou. Till today some of the lands where they bivouacked remain barren and uninhabited, with the stench of evil lingering. However, there have been many other concerted drives led by terrifying devils and demons, each having been repelled at the cost of lives.Little is known about the south by most of the common folk, save legends and rumours that grow more ludicrous with each re-telling. Most scare little children by telling them that is where their spirits will end up should they be naughty children. However, there are those who do study the and the strange power it exudes, known as the Taint.The Taint has been known to drive men and beasts mad, provoking even the most honourable man to commit vile acts and the most docile animal to extreme savagery. It also gifts those affected with inhuman strength, yet cursing them with a hideous visage. The Taint has even been known to reanimate the dead, and so those who perish near the Festering have their corpses burnt. The many effects of the Taint are still not known and will be left to later discussion. Those with an interest in the Taint and the Festering Lands will have to be careful and aware of its many subtle dangers. In fact, there have been not a few who had been seduced by the mystery and power of the Festering, and they have all come to bad ends.The natives of the South had long since learnt to combat the effects of the Taint by wearing jade on their persons. But the protection is only for the finite amount of time, for the jade piece, while absorbing the Taint on the wearer's behalf will slowly turn black and cease to offer any protection. That is scouting and exploration missions are usually brief sojourns with a few elite members.The people of the Empire commonly refer to the natives disparagingly as the "Southern Barbarians" (南曼人), for they are often surly, if not outright rude, to outsiders. Their boorish behaviour is often seen the result of being too close to the Taint and too far from the civilised lands of central China. The terms used to address them is no doubt a play on the Chinese words for the Festering lands and is seen as an insult by most of the natives who prefer to call themselves the Southern Mountain Sky Tribe 南山天族.Tha natives themselves do not care much for the culture and social niceties of the northern folk, as these do not aid them in their harsh lifestyles. They are often dark-skinned and built like bears. Used to hardship and battle, they are often recruited by the Shu and Wu kingdoms as crack shock troops. Many of them serve in the garrisons of the 12 forts, and patrol the environs, believing that they were placed there by the Celestial Jade Emperor 玉皇大帝 to protect the realm of humanity. They see this onerous duty as a sacrifice for the blessings which makes their tribesmen strong in mind, spirit and body.It is often rumoured that there is a Festering Pit deep within the Festering Land that spawns the vile creatures and evil spirits from the depths of Hell itself. This Pit is supposedly located within the bowels of Black Mountain whose summit itself is rarely glimpsed, since the sky over the Festering Land is often heavily overcast, rendering the mountains and its foothills as shadows cloaked in darkness. The land of the Festering is usually covered in an unnatural greenish fog. Legend has it that the Pit is guarded by an evil tree spirit of immense power (黑山老妖). Intrepid scouts sent out over the ages have as yet been unable to verify these claims.No Emperor has thus far risked trying to invade the Festering Lands, as it is inhospitable and there seeming little gain in such an exertion, which would probably cost so much that it would severely weaken the state. And so the Festering remains a lingering and ominous threat to the existence of China. 三国从演Gameplay.The rules will be most the same as L5R 3rd Ed. Please note that for simplicity's sake I will not be admitting any of the other supplementary books. Please keep things strictly within one book. However, I am not inflexible and am open to letting in others or even some modification of the core skills if your character can have so much more flavour with it. Please note "so much more". Don't give me some crap like how this is really good for the character because he can then gain this power and have synergy with his other skills.Techniques shall remain as they are described and house and clan techniques will not change in effect, but only in name to reflect the flavour of the campaign. So the different school ranks will reflect advancement in the chosen school of Kungfu.Examples of name changes would be:Hida Bushi school - Shaolin Ironman School - 少林大金刚.I chose this as it applied very much to the brute force and eat damage ability of the schoolKakita Duelist School - Wudang Xingyi Jian - 武当形意.The goal of the xingyiquan exponent is to reach the opponent quickly and drive powerfully through them in a single burst — the analogy with spear fighting is useful here. This is achieved by coordinating one's body as a single unit and the intense focusing of one's qi. Efficiency and economy of movement are the qualities of a xingyiquan stylist and its direct fighting philosophy advocates simultaneous attack and defence. There are few kicks except for extremely low foot kicks (which avoids the hazards of balance involved with higher kicks) and some mid-level kicks, and techniques are prized for their deadliness rather than aesthetic value. Xingyiquan favours a high stance called Sāntǐshì (三體式 / 三体式), literally "three bodies power," referring to how the stance holds the head, torso and feet along the same vertical plane. A common saying of xingyiquan is that "the hands do not leave the heart and the elbows do not leave the ribs."Sohei techniques could originate from Shaolin of the Beggars Sect. In fact, I was thinking of renaming the Daidoji school Beggar's Sect.I will add on the others when I have found suitable things, am open to suggestions on renaming as well.Kihos will also be renamed. For example certain kihos could be name to have come from the Nine Yang Manual or Nine Ying Manual.Because of these changes players are no longer beholden to any one clan or group. However, the schools still guard their secrets jealously and will not easily impart it's techniques to those of other schools.Honor and Glory are still important as players are judged on their 侠义 (xia2 yi4) and 正义 (zhen4 yi4). Face is of course, very important in Chinese society and culture.Castes systems are still retained in feudal China as per L5R, including most social more, superstitions and etiquette. The equivalent of the samurai caste will now be known as the 君子 "Gentlemen" or gentry caste, with enough in family or personal wealth to bear a personal weapon of superior make to peasant arms. Peasants will still respect and fear those bearing such obviously unique arms. Such arms may be hereditary with their position in society also passed along to descendants. There is obviously scope for drama if the father falling on hard times has only one such sword to pass on to his 10 children; who may then plot to gain possession of the weapon and thus retain their place in loftier circles.The priest is still the one class of people who stand outside of conventional caste rankings.The daisho set will now be replaced by a personal weapon which players cannot lose or risk dishonour.Skill sets remain unchanged. 象棋 Qi now replaces Go as the common game played.Religion will change to reflect the Taoist pantheon.Daikoku, the Fortune of wealth - 财神 Cai2 Shen2I will add on to these later as I come up with more stuff to flesh out the world. I hope you guys are as excited as I am to be trying to bring this world to life and fun! 三国从演Setting:It was a time of troubles and wars. The Han Dynasty was well past its nadir and declining rapidly. In actual fact, the Emperor wielded little power, instead, merely serving as a symbol and excuse under which the various warlords waged war and sought to further their own ambitions.The suffering of the people were furthered by a group of blood magic practitioners. They formed an army and named themselves the Yellow Turbans. They summoned demons from the Festering Lands of the south and enlisted barbarians from the steppes of the north. Working covertly to undermine many of the Imperial institutions, they declared a rebellion to end the Dynasty. The Yellow Turbans secretly identified a section of the Great Wall which was poorly manned; assassinated the guard commander, disabled the retinue posted there and opened a gate to let in the barbarians of the Liao tribes through the Great Wall.The Yellow Turban Rebellion began in 180 and heroes from all across the land answered the call of the Emperor Ling and strove to put down the forces of the Yellow Turbans.One by one, the warlords were eliminated until three remained.Cao Cao boasts the largest armies and had many able lieutenants. He commands the kingdom of Wei. Currently, he has appointed himself the regent of the Empire and holds the Emperor Xian hostage in Xu Chang. He is known to be a man of many talents, who ruthless streak has earned much enmity, and yet treats the generals and officials under him as family. A brilliant tactician and opportunist, he has risen from a low ranking official to hold sway over the north of the Empire, defeating warlords with greater resources at their disposal.Liu Bei claims to have imperial blood relations with the current Emperor and works to restore the Han Dynasty, failing which he would declare himself the rightful Emperor in order that the Dynasty may continue. His mountainous base is easily defensible. His strength is the result of some of the most valiant warriors in the Empire serving under him, as well the advice of the brilliant strategist Zhuge Liang (Kong Ming). The kingdom of Shu owes much to the man.Wu is in rich and fertile lands with a thriving commercial sector. As well as capable generals and officials, Sun Quan possesses the love and respect of his subjects. Ruling over the land of Wu for three generations, Sun Quan has nominally declared his loyalty to the Empire. He possess the Royal Jade Seal which is the token of Imperial Authority. With his powerful navy, Sun Quan keeps his territories safe from the incursions of powerful Wei and has entered into a tentative alliance with Shu to oppose Wei.In AD208, Cao Cao amassed an army and invaded Jingzhou. After swiftly gaining victory, he proceeded south without respite in order to press Wu.(From Wikipedia)When Jing fell, Liu Bei quickly fled south, accompanied by a refugee population of civilians and soldiers. This disorganised exodus was pursued by Cao Cao's elite cavalry, and was surrounded and decisively beaten at the Battle of Changban (near the modern-day city of Dangyang in Hubei). Liu Bei escaped, however, and fled further east to Xiakou, where he liaised with Sun Quan's emissary Lu Su. At this point historical accounts are inconsistent; Lu Su may have successfully encouraged Liu Bei to move even further east, to Fankou (樊口).[2] In either case, Liu Bei was later joined by Liu Qi and levies from Jiangxia. Liu Bei's main advisor, Zhuge Liang, was sent to Chaisang (柴桑) to negotiate forming a mutual front against Cao Cao with the state of Wu.By the time Zhuge Liang arrived, Cao Cao had already sent Sun Quan a letter boasting of commanding 800,000 men and demanding Sun Quan's surrender. The faction led by Sun Quan's Chief Clerk, Zhang Zhao, advocated surrender, citing Cao Cao's overwhelming numerical advantage. However, on separate occasions, Lu Su, Zhuge Liang, and Wu's chief commander, Zhou Yu, all presented arguments to persuade Sun Quan to agree to the alliance against the northerners. Sun Quan finally decided upon war, chopping off a corner of his desk during an assembly and stating: "Anyone who still dares argue for surrender will be [treated] the same as this desk." He then assigned Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, and Lu Su with 30,000 men to aid Liu Bei against Cao Cao.Through strategy, superior naval skill, and bravery. Zhou Yu's well rested and trained marines bested Wei's fleet and they were forced into a rout with Cao Cao only narrowly escaping capture.The story for players begin in the Spring of 209 AD, when Jing Province is occupied by Liu Bei's troops and garrisoned by the General Guan Yu. Wu had agreed to loan Jing Province but now see that Shu has no intention of surrendering this rich and strategic point. Tensions flare between the two fromer allies but are kept in check due to the realisation that the threat of Cao Cao has only been kept in abeyance temporarily. And neither sides wishes to over exert their resources to squabble over Jing Province.Remnants of the Yellow Turbans still persist in small numbers causing demonic disturbances throughout China. Bandits take advantage of the chaos to form bands that strike at targets of opportunity. Swordsmen and puglists roam the lands, lending aid to those in need. The gentry take up arms or employ their guiles for their lords.For it is in times of chaos that heroes emerge aplenty.You are one of them. There is a certain symmetry that is beautiful.As Yesterday moves lower, the Truth climbs higher. UNCLE (CRACKED)Sometimes, when I sit down and think about how much fun the journey of my life has been, like this morning, I cannot help but be somewhat startled at how I've changed from a callow youth into this Uncle who will take his niece out to the driving range (hopefully, my kids can join me there) and who brings his baby to various parks so that she can run about.Even though business is tough, and does cause me some worry, we can get by and seeing Truth with that cheeky grin just validates everything we do for the family.Soon Lion will add to the household joy, and no doubt, will wreak more havoc on the cats.So here's to another year older and hopefully wiser. Till I next celebrate with the Apple of my eye again. Sometimes, I can't help but feel that you and me were meant for each other. We fit like Apples and Fruit Seller Uncles. Yes, one has been most lazy indeed.To lazy to get myself to do a bit of free form writing.Well, where do I start?I suppose one could safely begin with the mundane things.We have made some batches of our own chocolates, as well as Apple's penchant for baking nice things. I love her madelaines and lamingtons.The Truth is growing ever bigger and becoming more capable by the day. She is such a joy and I can only anticipate the coming of Lion. I do hope they get along, although I don't see a good reason why they shouldn't. Yes, I do expect a bit of sibling rivalry, but they will hopefully have the good sense to keep it under control.Well, I have taken up trap shooting with a few friends and boy, is it fun.Well, I suppose one of the reasons this space has been a little neglected is that I know save my discourses for face to face meetings, where I can get feedback, and see how others think. It is far more interesting to try and understand the thoughts of others than to just go on and on about what I think.Most of the fluffy stuff function is now fulfilled by Facebook, so I only wanted to put substantial stuff in here. However, as you can probably surmise, I have either a lack of substantial thought or am too lazy to type it down.Oh what else can I tell you? Bioware's Dragon Age : Origins ROCK! To remind myself to read every once in a while.http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/Points I especially like.Before, after, and around the elite college classroom, a constellation of values is ceaselessly inculcated. As globalization sharpens economic insecurity, we are increasingly committing ourselves—as students, as parents, as a society—to a vast apparatus of educational advantage. With so many resources devoted to the business of elite academics and so many people scrambling for the limited space at the top of the ladder, it is worth asking what exactly it is you get in the end—what it is we all get, because the elite students of today, as their institutions never tire of reminding them, are the leaders of tomorrow.My education taught me to believe that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League or equivalent school weren’t worth talking to, regardless of their class. I was given the unmistakable message that such people were beneath me. We were “the best and the brightest,” as these places love to say, and everyone else was, well, something else: less good, less bright. I learned to give that little nod of understanding, that slightly sympathetic “Oh,” when people told me they went to a less prestigious college.I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to elite colleges, often precisely for reasons of class. I never learned that there are smart people who don’t go to college at all.The existence of multiple forms of intelligence has become a commonplace, but however much elite universities like to sprinkle their incoming classes with a few actors or violinists, they select for and develop one form of intelligence: the analytic. While this is broadly true of all universities, elite schools, precisely because their students (and faculty, and administrators) possess this one form of intelligence to such a high degree, are more apt to ignore the value of others.But social intelligence and emotional intelligence and creative ability, to name just three other forms, are not distributed preferentially among the educational elite. The “best” are the brightest only in one narrow sense. One needs to wander away from the educational elite to begin to discover this.One of the great errors of an elite education, then, is that it teaches you to think that measures of intelligence and academic achievement are measures of value in some moral or metaphysical sense. But they’re not. Graduates of elite schools are not more valuable than stupid people, or talentless people, or even lazy people. Their pain does not hurt more. Their souls do not weigh more. If I were religious, I would say, God does not love them more. The political implications should be clear. As John Ruskin told an older elite, grabbing what you can get isn’t any less wicked when you grab it with the power of your brains than with the power of your fists. “Work must always be,” Ruskin says, “and captains of work must always be….[But] there is a wide difference between being captains…of work, and taking the profits of it.”Elite schools nurture excellence, but they also nurture what a former Yale graduate student I know calls “entitled mediocrity.” A is the mark of excellence; A- is the mark of entitled mediocrity. It’s another one of those metaphors, not so much a grade as a promise. It means, don’t worry, we’ll take care of you. You may not be all that good, but you’re good enough.When parents explain why they work so hard to give their children the best possible education, they invariably say it is because of the opportunities it opens up. But what of the opportunities it shuts down? An elite education gives you the chance to be rich—which is, after all, what we’re talking about—but it takes away the chance not to be. You can live comfortably in the United States as a schoolteacher, or a community organizer, or a civil rights lawyer, or an artist—that is, by any reasonable definition of comfort. You have to live in an ordinary house instead of an apartment in Manhattan or a mansion in L.A.; you have to drive a Honda instead of a BMW or a Hummer; you have to vacation in Florida instead of Barbados or Paris, but what are such losses when set against the opportunity to do work you believe in, work you’re suited for, work you love, every day of your life?You can live comfortably in the United States as a schoolteacher, or a community organizer, or a civil rights lawyer, or an artist—that is, by any reasonable definition of comfort. You have to live in an ordinary house instead of an apartment in Manhattan or a mansion in L.A.; you have to drive a Honda instead of a BMW or a Hummer; you have to vacation in Florida instead of Barbados or Paris, but what are such losses when set against the opportunity to do work you believe in, work you’re suited for, work you love, every day of your life?Because students from elite schools expect success, and expect it now. They have, by definition, never experienced anything else, and their sense of self has been built around their ability to succeed. The idea of not being successful terrifies them, disorients them, defeats them. They’ve been driven their whole lives by a fear of failure—often, in the first instance, by their parents’ fear of failure. The first time I blew a test, I walked out of the room feeling like I no longer knew who I was. The second time, it was easier; I had started to learn that failure isn’t the end of the world.But being an intellectual is not the same as being smart. Being an intellectual means more than doing your homework.If so few kids come to college understanding this, it is no wonder. They are products of a system that rarely asked them to think about something bigger than the next assignment. The system forgot to teach them, along the way to the prestige admissions and the lucrative jobs, that the most important achievements can’t be measured by a letter or a number or a name. It forgot that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.Being an intellectual means, first of all, being passionate about ideas—and not just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for getting a good grade. A friend who teaches at the University of Connecticut once complained to me that his students don’t think for themselves. Well, I said, Yale students think for themselves, but only because they know we want them to. I’ve had many wonderful students at Yale and Columbia, bright, thoughtful, creative kids whom it’s been a pleasure to talk with and learn from. But most of them have seemed content to color within the lines that their education had marked out for them. Only a small minority have seen their education as part of a larger intellectual journey, have approached the work of the mind with a pilgrim soul.When elite universities boast that they teach their students how to think, they mean that they teach them the analytic and rhetorical skills necessary for success in law or medicine or science or business. But a humanistic education is supposed to mean something more than that, as universities still dimly feel. So when students get to college, they hear a couple of speeches telling them to ask the big questions, and when they graduate, they hear a couple more speeches telling them to ask the big questions. And in between, they spend four years taking courses that train them to ask the little questions—specialized courses, taught by specialized professors, aimed at specialized students. Indeed, that seems to be exactly what those schools want. There’s a reason elite schools speak of training leaders, not thinkers—holders of power, not its critics. It’s no wonder that the few students who are passionate about ideas find themselves feeling isolated and confused. I was talking with one of them last year about his interest in the German Romantic idea of bildung, the upbuilding of the soul. But, he said—he was a senior at the time—it’s hard to build your soul when everyone around you is trying to sell theirs.Yet there is a dimension of the intellectual life that lies above the passion for ideas, though so thoroughly has our culture been sanitized of it that it is hardly surprising if it was beyond the reach of even my most alert students. Since the idea of the intellectual emerged in the 18th century, it has had, at its core, a commitment to social transformation. Being an intellectual means thinking your way toward a vision of the good society and then trying to realize that vision by speaking truth to power. It means going into spiritual exile. It means foreswearing your allegiance, in lonely freedom, to God, to country, and to Yale. It takes more than just intellect; it takes imagination and courage. “I am not afraid to make a mistake,” Stephen Dedalus says, “even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake, and perhaps as long as eternity, too.”Long before they got to college, they turned themselves into world-class hoop-jumpers and teacher-pleasers, getting A’s in every class no matter how boring they found the teacher or how pointless the subject, racking up eight or 10 extracurricular activities no matter what else they wanted to do with their time. Some students end up at second-tier schools because they’re exactly like students at Harvard or Yale, only less gifted or driven. But others end up there because they have a more independent spirit. They didn’t get straight A’s because they couldn’t be bothered to give everything in every class. They concentrated on the ones that meant the most to them or on a single strong extracurricular passion or on projects that had nothing to do with school or even with looking good on a college application. Maybe they just sat in their room, reading a lot and writing in their journal. These are the kinds of kids who are likely, once they get to college, to be more interested in the human spirit than in school spirit, and to think about leaving college bearing questions, not resumés.The most elite schools have become places of a narrow and suffocating normalcy. Everyone feels pressure to maintain the kind of appearance—and affect—that go with achievement. (Dress for success, medicate for success.) I know from long experience as an adviser that not every Yale student is appropriate and well-adjusted, which is exactly why it worries me that so many of them act that way. The tyranny of the normal must be very heavy in their lives. One consequence is that those who can’t get with the program (and they tend to be students from poorer backgrounds) often polarize in the opposite direction, flying off into extremes of disaffection and self-destruction.There’s been much talk of late about the loss of privacy, but equally calamitous is its corollary, the loss of solitude. It used to be that you couldn’t always get together with your friends even when you wanted to. Now that students are in constant electronic contact, they never have trouble finding each other. But it’s not as if their compulsive sociability is enabling them to develop deep friendships. “To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?”: my student was in her friend’s room writing a paper, not having a heart-to-heart. She probably didn’t have the time; indeed, other students told me they found their peers too busy for intimacy.What happens when busyness and sociability leave no room for solitude? The ability to engage in introspection, I put it to my students that day, is the essential precondition for living an intellectual life, and the essential precondition for introspection is solitude. They took this in for a second, and then one of them said, with a dawning sense of self-awareness, “So are you saying that we’re all just, like, really excellent sheep?” Well, I don’t know. But I do know that the life of the mind is lived one mind at a time: one solitary, skeptical, resistant mind at a time. The best place to cultivate it is not within an educational system whose real purpose is to reproduce the class system.The last paragraph is so Kierkegaard.I shall hope to bear this article in mind. To teach my children that the world is much more than what the system will alow and that they can only be bounded by their minds. The school will teach them subjects, I will educate their minds, and hopefully they will then be equipped to best choose how it is moulded. So that financial success is not the only thing they pursue. Happiness in life cannot be merely a matter of dollars and cents.The only sense I want them to have plenty of is uncommon sense.Then I can consider my work done, and Mel and me can go off to live our lives solely as a couple with some relieved responsibilties. Curiouser and curiouser.http://miyagi.sg/2006/07/as-regards-today/http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/05/22/why-botak-siews-decision-to-get-the-police-involved-throws-back-internet-freedom-by-a-good-10-to-15-years-a-study-in-stupidity/http://intelligentsingaporean.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/it%e2%80%99s-official-the-singapore-government-has-blasted-off-to-space/#more-900Just for curiousity's sake, but who are these dudes that comprise the "Brotherhood"?And what's the game? Places and property were mentioned so that must a playing field.Hackers, real traders, a mix most probably.Oh well, they're not mainstream and won't affect me much, but it does get my curiousity going with their Dune terminologies, sci-fi stuff, and Freemason hierachies. I wonder if any of them read CJ Cherryh. Heh.To pursue at another time. It's really random.I finally got off my lazy arse to put something down here as someone's stoked my ego. (See last post with one comment.)Instead of blogging about anything substantive and important to me, like politics, philosophy and my family and friends, I shall instead entertain myself with some of my random thoughts which will at least make me smile when I read them again, years on.Because sometimes, when I try to engage people in serious topics, it just riles me up. So I'd rather not have to deal with that today. Anecdotes are funnier.I was walking towards Millenia Walk from Bras Basah when it started to drizzle. I was then faced with picking up my pace and trying to get to the shelter of Suntec City before it really poured or getting myself a cup of coffee and wait out the rain. I decided on the latter.Barely a minute after I had sat down, the heavens really opened up and the drizzle rapidly progressed into a torrential downpour. And so I congratulated myself.Ogre A: That was a choice. I would've caught dead in that rain.Ogre B: A wise decision indeed, does that make me a wise man?Ogre A: Not really, but I am known as a wise guy.It cracked me up and I started giggling. Then I noted a guy next to me peering at me.On the way to work today, I thought about the phrase "a hail-mary pass." (I know Liverpool really suck right now.) The Brits have actually no right to use that phrase since they have the Church of England, and presumably do not recite the Hail Mary or use the rosary. It's a Catholic thing. Probably this started when the Protestants started trying to kill all the Catholics in their homes, who would have to fling their rosaries out of the window and hope no one finds it. And so no one can say definitively, "He's Catholic! Get him!"Sans rosary, one could easily pass off as an Anglican. Just proclaim loudly that the pope is a pretender and has no mandate from God. See? Easy peasy.And in other news, we found last week that my wife is expecting a boy. It's nice, like having a complete set of dining cutlery. It isn't essential, but nice to have nonetheless.Last but not least, I was humming Sinead O' Connors "Nothing compares to you" this morning, and it struck how it would equally apply to me. I would be devestated if my wife ever packed up and left, because nothing in this world really compares to what she means to me in my life. She is so much a part of it that it would be like losing a limb. Sometimes, it still strikes me as slight bizzare why some would contemplate divorce. Are they so patently unhappy with someone that they've married of their own choice?I could be just prudish, or really lucky. Maybe both.But really, I wouldn't trade my family for the world. Because it wouldn't be the same life without them, and I want my life as it is now. Heh, I feel herioc when my daughter comes crying to me and stops when I pick her up. When I hit the sheet each night with my wife knowing I've spent the day working so that we can me comfortable about our materials needs, and that I've spent thought and time thinking about how to satisfy their emotional and intellectual needs. I sometimes think about rushing out and making grand, bold gestures to show the world my ideals and how i really believe they'll make the world a better place. But then I don't trust the world enough to sacrfice that much mana.And so I just want to make things better for the little circle about me. All I want is stop that speeding bullet for the few that I care about. The rest of humanity can go and find their own shields.... See MoreAll I really want to is learn from the past, and try to make my family a happier family. Save the world? Do they want to be saved?I don't want my kids singing Tina Turner's "We don't need another hero"; with good reason to.So yes, I feel like a hero when I think of my family. :P I really haven't been able to spend as much time as I would liked to have spent with you neh.The family and all takes up time. So does your rushing about. Doesn't really leave all that much time to catch up and simply hang about. I don't really hanker for more time, but rather I'd like to just treasure, remember and enjoy what time we do spend.It's really good to see you again. And I'm really pleased to be able to show you how happy I am, especially with my family and kid(s).Well, I do sincerely wish you all the best and to quote Tim Gunn "Make it work!" I'm stuck at a coffeeshop while it's pouring cats and dogs. Times like these really start that smoky feeling. Thus far I am resisting it. Have toyed with the idea of buying a pack and then tossing it after two sticks, but that's stupid.Will this rain end soon? When people ask, "How's life?".They don't want to hear about how sedate life has been. About how things have taken on a comforting routine. About how one now snacks and then feels guilty about it but snacks anyway. Or thinks about smoking, but then eats a sweet or find something distracting to think about so that the preceding thought can be quickly brushed away, but then feels guilty for having thought about it and how one still keeps on thinking about it.How can one just stop thoughts? They form regardless of what you want. Just popping into existence. It's a question on whether you act on them. And therefore I consider the PSP and 3G phones to be boon of existence. Because, they are so effective at distracting me. So i stop thinking about how hungry I am and how I'd like to smoke. Because these thoughts occur to me while travelling. Once I've reached my destination, it's fine. I have people to talk to, stuff to do, lists to refer to and things going on about me.The stuff that bothers me ceases, because I have new stuff to bother myself with. Like "Why is this item's packaging torn? NABEI, which dumbfuck did this?!"Ah, life's like that. But generally, I'm really happy. And when one is happy, it's easier to let things slide.Tra la la. We have gotten back into the groove of cooking at home. In the weeks before this, we had chicken parmesan, attempted unleavened bread, and even as we speak, the wife is cooking spaghetti with tomato sauce and I will add some pork patties to it later.I hope to impress on the Nut that home cooked food is good and yummy. And that she will pick it up and learn how to cook as well. I have no worries about her loving food, since she will try anything at least once. And she will eat something that she likes on principle alone.The Nut now babbles alot and like to talk and interact with others. Her social skills are pretty impressive when she's in the mood.Now she's able to stand without support for a few seconds at a time. She has figured out how to climb the stairs, but not quite the proper way to descend them. I suppose it's different from how she is ably getting off sofas and beds by pushing herself off legs first.And it is funny to try and imagine what she could be saying when she is looking at you earnestly and saying " Bah Ba, Ga Gah, Ta!"She has also learnt how to growl and make noises right out of the The Exorcist. I can't decide whether she picked that up from the purring cats, Cookie Monster or Hugga Wugga. Maybe it's all three. Still In Love With My Wife.Marriage is an alliance between two kingdoms and not a merger. The fallacy that two can become one, I believe, has lead to the downfall and breakup of more than a few unions.And I am glad that I am in happy alliance so I try to remember that she is not me, so I should be more tolerant. She will do things and think things through in her own way, and thus far, it has served her well. There will be the occasional lapse, but then I too, make mistakes.So live and let live, since we still have a lot of living to do together.I look back at my past, and would not trade what I have now for all the promise that the past had whispered, not when I am really happy with the reality now. What of the happiness is fantasies? Just smoke blown away when I think of my family. I'm glad I'm not your friend...I know it's unkind, but I'm glad I'm not John Doe's friend, because John Doe has really ugly friends. I'm really sorry, but I have to tell the truth. What's worse is that they all seem so uninteresting. Doesn't make me better. All it does is show up what an arsehole I am, so too de loo!I'm still glad I'm not your friend. CRYPTIC JUICE...- The GPs made us take the Truth to see a GP about a GP that has no specific Dx and no Rx that is mandatory. And she can still wave bye bye when leaving for the clinic. She makes me laugh even when I'm annoyed.- OH is currently pissed at me for being unconcious. Oh, sighs.- Day 2 seems harder than Day 1. And there'll be no one to sponge off later since I'm not meeting anyone. Will go on a sugar binge and bounce off the walls of HF later, and make FT of HF buy me an expresso double; Indonesian beans of course. Will persist in feeling sleepy and irritable. - Sent out nasty email to aggrieved man who demanded, demanded that I sell him something for which I have already advised is sold out. Have resisted the urge to tell him that I will give birth to said item after a nine month gestation period. - And why are the roads so full of fucking idiots? The eternal question... From Starfish to Clamfish.I watched the Peanut flip over from her all encompassing Starfish position, in which she monopolises the space on her bed, to the Clamfish position, much like that adopted by a supplicant to the ancient Chinese Emperors, all without waking up.The fact that I have a daughter, who in doing all the things she does, brings us so much joy, worry, amusement and frustration, still never ceases to amaze me. How she has not just taken up space in our room but, has taken up so much space in our hearts and lives. She has just learnt the virtue of circumspection. Where in the past, she might hurl herself, without thought or regard, off a bed, sofa or the stairs, she now pauses at the edge and moves very gingerly, trying to get down. In fact, she has on a few occasions refused to try and get down, instead she would sit there and cry for attention, to get Daddy to carry her down. It used to be a little vexing and worrying about how she might end up with some injury should she persists in her kamikaze tactics for getting off higher ground. Now, I wonder if it is any good to have her lose that fearlessness. For with it, there comes a certain feeling that life is full of infinite possibilities. yes, even crawling off a 3 foot drop and getting away without a scratch. Now that she has learnt fear, I want to try to not let her be crippled by it. That one should be considerate and not let fear rule her life. That she will try and fail is a given. That she will try and try again to attain her own dreams in something I will try to inculcate.In all things, balance.We have been thinking about getting our own place for some time already. The recent exuberance in the property markets has now pushed back that plan. The optimistic sentiment is not really rational considering how may risk factors are still unresolved, and that the people talking up the market do have a vested interest in the climbing prices. However, i will not be rushing into deals that I believe to be over-valued.The masses never seem to learn their lessons. They still sway to the winds blown from the mouths of the few. That, I think is something that will never change. Because, quite frankly, I think that most of them would not agree or even think about the phrase "An unexamined life is not worth living."I know it's really condescending. It is. There is no denying that. I would shrug and tell you that's just the way the wafer crumbles. My opinion seem to make me look high and mighty when I am anything but. Nonetheless, it doesn't change my opinion nor your feeling towards them. I'll not let it upset me. So I'll still rudely, bluntly say what I feel here, because I can't say these things my pretend life playing other roles.It is ironic that so many miss the proverbial boat precisely because they fear missing that one boat. When other boats might've very well taken them to a sun drenched tropical coral island. Or it might not. You'll never know will you? That's not important. What is important is will you ever learn?I have to say that that I do admire the Peanut's stubborn nature. She is not one to give in or cower easily. She'd fight you, harass you and generally try every trick in her lttle book to get her way. I like that. And then prepare myself to counter her moves. It is, at the very least, engaging.I have to say that it's all quite brilliant how my life has turned out, and we'll hold hands and walk towards the shining future. Because I have hope, cats, love and am now armed with the Truth! The Next Generation.I have been accused of being condescending, cowardly, arrogant, selfish and intellectually masturbating by some. While I do not care to defend myself from these labels, since it is quite reasonable and conceivable that at some point in time, I would have been involved in actions that would merit those labels.What I would instead prefer to focus on, is what I want to do about the future. I still believe that you can make society better one person at a time. That is why my focus will be instead on bring up my own kids right, with a good value system. I can't save the world, but I can make it better for those who matter. So, I prefer to keep things to what is achievable. Keep the big dreams alive by growing the small successes. I was telling my better half this morning that Tweeter and Facebook updates would see less people posting on their blogspots.All those pithy one liners, clever remarks and quirky thoughts that can be abbreviated will now no longer be up on blogs. Blog entries will now be more substantial and be left for the indepth and wordier expressions. Which doesn't happen very often for me. I mean I still have these trains of thought but I do not commit them to word. I am guilty of using my blog less and updating my facebook status on a more frequent basis.Still, a blog is nice when I ahve something more to say than "TA DA!"Until next time. Tada! Sometimes, I find it hard to generate sympathy for the underdogs, because they don't actually strive to be anything other than underdogs.Whether due to culture, circumstance or plain bad luck, they seem to lack the drive to elevate themselves. And there are so many of them, it sometimes almost drives me to despair. This "we are mere peasants" complex. Bah.It's always easier when there is some hero in shining armour or some wuxia cool dude with long hair to fight your battles for you. I wouldn't mind it if everytime I become damn poor thing, some "hero" sticks up for me.Yes, you are a peasant. But you're alive. Either do something about it or continue being a peasant.Bad luck? Aye, the rich and famous have bad luck too. You gloat and laugh and have no sympathy for them either. Why do paparazzis work so hard?Then, I think that they all get what they deserve. Maybe that is why my characters are hard boiled. "You want to die? Fine. I'll send you along."If being alive is all about how you are more or less peasant and how much you suffer, you'd make for the perfect:a) Stoicb) Buddhistc) Nihilistd) Better off deadWhen there are so many of the weak, who does one protect?I could be politically correct and say and do all the PC things. Save the whales! Save the Democratic Republic of Congo! Save the world! My heart just is not in it.All I can honestly say is that I am so grateful how all that my life is because of how much worse it could have been.The peasants have their blessings and so do the nobles. As also, with misfortune. And so each is different, why make one side more deserving than the other?In the revolution, I actually felt sorry for Marie Antoinette. I don't think she deserved what she got. She had manners. Which is more what I can say for the masses.I can understand all the sympathy, feelings and good will generated for the "peasants". I have nothing personal against them. Though you have to really ask yourself. Truly, if you were born a samurai, a blue blood, a noble. Well trained and brought up in their world and their culture into a well bred example of your class, would you behave any differently?I believe that one feels for and supports the side that one belongs to. Why did the peasant aspire to be samurai if he thinks that they are all shitty little bastards. Be truly noble and stupid then, don't betray your principles. Be a peasant and let them oppress you. I think yes, the elites should be more compassionate, understanding, empathetic. That does not absolve the peasants from resolving their "victim" complex. Actually, I forgot to mention also that Catholics are big fans of suffering too. Yay for our insufferable lives. With "Thank yous" please. I have gotten sick of people asking me about the why cars are named differently. The Honda Jazz is known as the Fit in Japan. Oh, mental boh-liao-ness. I have been wanting to get some things off my chest for a while.Like how I saw a van belonging to Trinity Caskets. The slogan was "The Right Choice" and how I couldn't help myself but blurt out, "you're dead right about that!" in a most chippy fashion. Fortunately, no one was on hand to witness my callous remark. Although I most probably said it because no one was around.Thought about the serious matter of war and how those silly peace beatniks should go shoot themselves. War is not something to be taken lightly. Especially seeing how those who start the wars and send men out to die on their behalf, very seldom have to face the dangers that their own actions precipitated. Still, war can be inevitable and maybe even beneficial. Loss of life. Yes. It is a serious and saddening business. It is grim and should be generally avoided. But to avoid war at all costs? Sometimes, you value life, that of your loved ones and all. You can call it selfishness, but I'd much rather slash the fucker threatening my wife than watch him end my reason to live. Life without a reason is not very much. Enough reason for me to kill others and to die myself. War is a very serious matter, make no mistake, I understand that.Though to say that one has to avoid conflict and politics totally is bullshit. War is political. Humanity is political. Your so called humaneness is not my way. I can't stop you. Life is not so black and white. I could be wrong. I could be very wrong. The blood of wars writ our histories and long will it continue. I'm no warmonger, but neither do I choose to deceive myself that there is a better way. More expedient perhaps, not necessarily better. Diplomacy should be the first option, but failing that, one should never rule out war as a political tool. The lives of soldiers and civilians to be mere numbers on the desks of newscasters and politicians. That is the reality.Nothing great and glory, other than to survive and protect your loved ones. That's all. Grim? Yes. Become a peace beatnik? No. Life is never a cakewalk, not even if you're Paris Hilton. She has her problems too. Is she happier than I am? I don't think so. I do believe I am happier and much more blessed than she is, with her millions and the glamour.And on that note, I wonder why Foxcrime has stopped showing Dexter. I want to watch Season 3, you goons.Oh yes, I've got Sims 3 and it rocks! The preparation time for a DM is spent more on planning. The game mechanics don't really factor in so much unless the Dm has to plan for spell casting and magic. Other than that, I didn't see how the simplification of rules would shorten my planning time dramatically. I still have to match ECLs, set the random encounter level, do my faction ratings, pick appropriate monsters and copy their stats onto my notes for the session. 4th ed game mechanics also allow for special abilities which the DM has to take note of.Also, if the thief can rock at killing things, why should he travel with a party? What happens to the specialist enchanter who feebleminds all the oh-so-tough barbarians? 4th ed just caused pen and paper games to lose the flavour. Might as well just play WoW. That's why we're sticking to 3.5 which is a vast improvment on 2nd ed rules. I think 4th ed is a step in the wrong direction.As for the image of 3rd ed being super complicated, I have had players, eg my wife, who have not read a single page of the rulebook playing it happily. There's me, Ian and Siew who pore over sourcebooks and errata rules posted on the official sites. It is actually as complicated as you want it to be. Nobody is going to stop you from playing a pure barbarian where all you need to keep track of are HP, rage left and damage dealt. Very easy to play.4th ed loses the things where wizards can do a lot more than just becoming a wand with two legs.4th ed does not have skills which flesh out the character and add to the role playing aspect. A ranger with tumble ranks for example, like Drizzt Do'Urden.My quibble with 4th ed is that people seem to travel in a party just so they can kill more things together, not because the fighter would become paralysed from a trap, the wizard killed by ogres and the rogue running away from orcs. They need each other because the they have a skillset that is so different and work very differently in combat.Anyway, it is good to know that you're playing PnP games and enjoying yourself. That is the most important thing to all these games, that you have fun.Cheerio. Just a while back, the psycho ex decided to snipe on me using the Facebook page of a friend.She went:you sound like someone i used to date. some brainless chap who likes to spell his name in odd ways.So being the pacifistic and peace loving beatnik that I am, I decided not to reply.But then I couldn't help myself and I cam back with what I think is a really clever reply.So I went:One should always forgive the brainless for their transgressions. As the good book says, "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." Luke 23:34And we all must most fervently believe in the good book or be cast into the ever burning fires of eternal torment. Believe and you shall be saved!...Whee!That day I was quite on form with other witticisms as well.Just one of those good days to savour when you grow old. :P The Good LifeI like to spoil and indulge myself every once in a while. It need not necessarily be fine dining, satisfying my fetish for branded goods or anything over the top. It can just a modanyaki even when I'm not really hungry, or a cup of tea at some coffeeshop while I read.The point is that one should enjoy life. I know I can't speak for those below the poverty line. I cannot begin to comprehend how their life must be like. Frankly it horrifies and scares me how it can be just a struggle to live day by day, and not even have a whiff of the finer things in life. It would be hypocritical to say that I can understand them when I very honestly cannot.I reckon it would be hard to enjoy and be happy when one cannot even make ends meet to cover basic needs. Maslow's hierarchy of needs still apply.Still, the majority of Singaporeans do have the financial capability to enjoy the finer things in life once in a while, albeit a long while, but one should still appreciate a well brewed cup of coffee, or some fine hand made chocolate from Laurent Bernard. Pay a little bit more for that nice pan seared chicken thigh as opposed to the usual breast meat dropped in dirty oil.Reward the service staff with a tip if the service has been up to scratch, take your time to savour the experience. I've only had one fantastic meal in front of the Coliseum but that memory will stay with me for the rest of my life. And it will never stop cheering me up. Me, my wife, great service, and much fun and love. Her birthday celebrated in a place whose history I have always celebrated in my secret worship of Hellenistic culture, in a city whose growth is based very much on Hellenic culture. Two loves sharing time and space.Which brings me to another point, enjoyment should be shared and spread to achieve maximum happiness. I feel pleased when I bring friends and family to yet another great makan place. I feel happy when a box of good chocolate is given to someone else. In fact, if I like them enough, I'd even foot the bill, since I won't be doing it all the time. Why, because happiness is best shared out. It's less fun to have a pot of Italian expresso all by yourself, but much nicer to share that pot with a like minded companion.There is the misperception that one should be rich or atas in order to enjoy the finer things in life. Not so. A meal at a good French restaurant might cost you $400.00 for two. Don't buy that Toto or 4D, smoke less, don't take cabs, and you might have enough to do this once every two years, but what a kick you will get.So be nice, to yourself and those around you. Remember that accumulating wealth, and then not spending it, isn't very fun.And then share that happinesss, don't be a teaspoon. A sensible exhortation. Although how many of us listen to sense?http://wayangparty.com/?p=8616 We went to Laurent Bernard at Wessex Village and had a great time. And I have nothing more to say. Happiness and contentment leaves one with few words. Anger and melancholy does seem more inspiring to prose.Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I am glad we decided to have a baby.You know, one should forget all that crap from MCYS (that's the acronym for Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports. Oh, how Singaporeans love acronyms.). Ignore the goverment's exhortations on how it'll make you happy. One hsould blithely pretend that the Government did not say all that crap about how we need more human fuel for our economy's growth.Because one should have a baby when one is good and ready. There should be an awareness that it can bring joy and happiness, but it can also bring grief and quarrels. If your baby has come in situations where you are not ready, my personal inclination is to keep it and work around it, but I am no one to tell others what to do.I am grateful for any financial or otherwise help from the Ministry, but I do object to seeing a child as another cog in the wheel in the juggernaut that is Singapore Inc. For that matter, I also diagree with bringing this overload of foreign youngster to grease our economic machine but that's another matter.The baby has brought joy to us and to our families. They delight in her expressions of glee, her loud yakking, and her inchorent gurgles. It astounds me to see how she cannot seem to basic stuff and how quickly she starts learning. I do hope she picks up on Mummy and Daddy's linguistic capabilities. Presently, she seems to have more PR skills than the both of us combined.I am really glad that the Truth has come into our lives.I know it's corny, but what Whitney Houston sang about reminds me that the children are our future. And I will try to teach them well. Bizzaro...In Stuttgart, Germany, a court judge must decide on a case of honorable intentions in a situation where a man hired his neighbor to get his wife pregnant.It seems that Demetrius Soupolos, 29, and his former beauty queen wife, Traute, wanted a child badly, but Demetrius was told by a doctor that he was sterile.So, Soupolos, after calming his wife’s protests, hired his neighbor, Frank Maus, 34, to impregnate her. Since Maus was already married and the father of two children, plus looked very much like Soupolos to boot, the plan seemed good.Soupolos paid Maus $2,500 for the job and for three evenings a week for the next six months, Maus tried desperately, a total of 72 different times, to impregnate Traute.When his own wife objected, he explained, "I don’t like this any more than you. I’m simply doing it for the money. Try and understand."When Traute failed to get pregnant after six months, however, Soupolos was not understanding and insisted that Maus have a medical examination, which he did.The doctor’s announcement that Maus was also sterile shocked everyone except his wife, who was forced to confess that Maus was not the real father of their two children.Now Soupolos is suing Maus for breach of contract in an effort to get his money back, but Maus refuses to give it up because he said he did not guarantee conception, but only that he would give an honest effort.