More Eigenharp Tunes

I didn’t really manage to enjoy this song before as I haven’t watched any Bourne movies yet that time. But then, I straight away got hooked up with this video after accidentally watching the first movie at one of my friends’ house. It’s also done by the similar guys who did the James Bond theme, only that this time they got help from one more eigenharp player in order to create one great music. The beats are nice, the riffs are awesome; it has everything in short. Hope you enjoy the video (and probably start saving some cash to get one of those things).

The Other (Well-Mannered) Keane Has Arrived

To be very honest, the best deal from the latest Premier League transfer window is definitely Robbie Keane’s transformation from a Yid to a Bhoy, although it’s only a loan deal until the end of the season. Other deals however just did not move or excite me enough as they mostly involve relatively unknown players as well as those who are already past the prime that they’ve once graced such as Patrick Vieira.  Even Wenger’s decision to re-recruit Sol Campbell did not sound all that spectacular since he has already been training with Arsenal for a while anyway his first reserve team action.

Few might disagree with me on this, but I just feel that this particular transfer ranks second after last season’s Eto’o – Ibrahimovic in my “Best Transfer Deals Which Benefit Everyone” list.  I mean, for a start, he gets to play in an Irish-based club, and who wouldn’t be proud of playing in a football club based from your hometown (ask Gerrard and Carragher). He on the other hand  gets to play regularly again without going abroad to some random country, which also means no hassle of dragging his wife and kids. The best thing of all however is that both Tottenham and Celtic now live happily ever after in which the earlier won’t have to sort out a striker selection crisis anymore whereas the latter now have acquired a more proven and natural goalscorer compared to the ones they had already sold to Gordon Strachan’s Boro i.e. the so-called antipodean strike force of Scott McDonald and Chris Killen.

In short, I’m very glad with Keane’s move to Celtic since at least he still has something to be happy about after his country’s brutal exit from the World Cup Qualifiers.

The Last Sting

An AP article, found on ABCNews.com, reported that the Scorpions have decided to call it a day to their amazing 40 years of rocking the life out of people. The best thing is that I only realized Klaus Meine is already 61 after stumbling upon this news. First thing first, he didn’t really look like someone who’s 61, and then how in the world did he and the rest of the band manage to stage superb concerts for a long 40 years without letting us down.

I mean, I’m no hardcore fan of the Scorpions, and I don’t even think I am worthy enough to be a fan as I only heard of them for the first time after browsing through my dad’s vintage well-kept collection of cassette tapes inside an old shoebox. I could only confirm that Still Loving You is easily the best song, especially for those who are in some mood for love but at the same time wants to rock out old-school, the Scorpions’ way.

So, many thanks Germany’s best export aside from Audis, Mercs and Porsches (sorry, no BMWs here, hehe ).

How I Summed Up A Screenshot From Red Alert 3 Within Half A Thousand Words

I thought it would be great to share my recent 500-word summary on a Red Alert 3 screenshot. It was done for a visual analysis assignment in my gaming class (undeniably the most awesome class in Ann Arbor). Since I didn’t know how to upload files in WordPress, I just decide to copy and paste everything here.

Analyzing the “Command & Conquer Red Alert 3” Screenshot

This screenshot from a real-time strategy (RTS) game titled “Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3” implies its viewers about the high intensity battles, which they could expect when playing this videogame, by displaying five red battleships from one team shooting missiles and electric volts towards the opposing side’s buildings on both land and sea. The image furthermore suggests that this game targets an audience consisting mostly of people who are really interested in an action-packed video game packed with spectacular battle scenes.

Anyone, including myself, would most probably look first at the exploding buildings that were hit by the warships’ torpedoes from the red army. Even without playing the game itself or being familiar with the “Command & Conquer” franchise at all, any viewer would be convinced that the war atmosphere in this game is going to be very intense and explosive judging by the explosions on two blue power plants on land after being hit by the oncoming missiles from two of the three red ships on sea.

Electronic Arts (EA), which develops this game, made the image taken from an aerial shot in order to emphasize to its viewers that this is an RTS game, where the player controls his or her every unit and building of his or her respective army instead of fighting in the frontline. The video game’s title “Command & Conquer” in addition supports the previous notion by subtly telling us that we first have to “command” our army before we could “conquer” the opposing side. This combination of both screenshot and the game’s title therefore successfully stresses the game’s genre through displaying the battle from an aerial view since that is the most suitable way for one to monitor his or her army’s overall progress so that he or she would be able to issue different orders to different infantries and vehicles in his or her disposal.

As mentioned from the first paragraph, the image also shows the red-themed destroyer ships attacking the blue-themed structures on land and sea. The use of colors red and blue on units and buildings to identify different teams in the image does a good job in convincing its audience that this game in essence involves a battle between two conflicting sides which the gamer will be able choose during the start of the video game. EA furthermore attempts to expand this portrayal of two battling sides by suggesting that the red team, which possesses deadlier firepower than the blue team, started the war since they are the ones who are attacking the structures belonged to the blue side. This point is supported by the fact that the audience is able to see the bigger red battleships launching multiple missiles towards the blue power plants on land while the smaller red ships fires electric jolts towards the blue army’s naval yard on sea.

This screenshot in general did a good job in mentioning the video game’s main features such as its RTS genre and overall intense game play as well as providing expectations for the image’s viewers before they decide whether to play the game or not.

I know my paper isn’t necessarily what you would call brilliant writing, which is why I took this class as a pass/fail course…

You, Can’t Touch These… Players…

Forgive my bad attempt at using MC Hammer’s tune for my title.

Anyway, I was reading yesterday on Digg about an article called “The World Cup ‘Untouchables’” found on SI.com, written by Andrea Canales, chief editor of Goal.com North America. Long story short, she listed seven footballers who are deemed to be very integral towards their representative national teams. Without them, those countries would struggle to find any sort of rhythm and fluency while playing their football as these men act as the focal points and sources of creativity and most importantly, goals. Without wasting time, here are the seven ‘untouchables’ not according to Mr. Mourinho:

1. Michael Essien (Ghana)
2. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
4. Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
5. Landon Donovan (USA)
6. Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand)
7. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Mexico)

Since the writer didn’t say anything about these teams having to be successful when these players are fit and available to play, I totally agree with the list after assessing each team and how they would fare when their main man is out injured.

Although as usual, I just can’t seem to let anything get past me that easily. So, these are my opinions:

• Even though both these countries have a lot of talented players to choose from, I still think that England minus Rooney and Argentina minus Messi would not be as effective as when those two players are around. Seems to me like Rooney is the only one who has a 100% chance of getting a goal once he shoots, which he is judging by the number of goals he scored during the Three Lions’ Road to South Africa journey. Whereas I don’t think I even need to explain just how important Messi is for Argentina; Maradona chose Messi to succeed him, he just won the Ballon D’ Or. In addition, bear in mind that Argentina isn’t pronounced as Barcelona FC.

• I don’t want to sound like a Ronaldo hater (although part of me says that I am), but lately Portugal’s overall performance had been somewhat unpredictable. When they click, they really do with devastating effect. But when they don’t, they look pretty lethargic, especially with Ricardo Carvalho doing all the defending while everyone (mercifully not including the goalkeeper) decides to attack and just stay there for a few minutes. I however think they could do well in South Africa this summer, provided that they constantly run Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea ragged until full time because when they run, I don’t think anyone would be able to keep up.

• USA would also probably struggle with Dempsey. I mean, come on, he’s like our own Ronaldo made in Texas. Plus, can he rap like Dempsey?…

That reminds me, I still haven’t bought my USA ‘soccer’ team jersey.

BRUTAL Stockholm Syndrome

I laughed every time looking at the title, lol.

However, what he said turned out to be very, very true, no doubt about that. The crowd, the lighting effects, the sheer number of knobs on Matt’s guitar, the different, heavier riff compared to other Stockholm Syndrome gigs; it is indeed brutal in many ways. Oh, and be sure to watch it until the end. Some who are already familiar with them would probably know what to expect, but for the rest, you’ll never know what you might miss if you decide not to stay put for 8 minutes or so.

On a side note, they are actually coming to Michigan (YEAHH!!!) this March at the Palace of Auburn Hills. But the possibility of me seeing them live looks a bit bleak at the moment I’m afraid…

Nevertheless, they ROCK!!!

Players of the Decade According to the Premier League

So, Barclays Premier League had come up with their list of the best players that have graced the game in England over the last decade. They listed:

• Shay Given
• Rio Ferdinand
• John Terry
• Ryan Giggs
• Roy Keane
• Frank Lampard
• Robert Pires
• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Paul Scholes
• Patrick Vieira
• Dennis Bergkamp
• Paolo Di Canio
• Didier Drogba
• Michael Owen
• Wayne Rooney
• Alan Shearer
• Ruud van Nistelrooy
• Steven Gerrard

What I think:

• Not surprising there isn’t a fullback in the list, because most managers usually don’t allow fullbacks to drift inside the 6-yard box.  But that’s fine though because this means “we” usually cross better than wingers, hehe.
• I still have no idea how to properly execute this, what I think, Bergkamp’s most sublime goal.
• This goal by Di Canio is still the most unique as no one up until this day had actually attempted it yet.

So, there you go, 18 footballers whom I could made a new World XI in my FIFA 10, even though without a recognized fullback…

FA Cup: Stoke 3 – Arsenal 1

The scoreline when I woke up this morning was Stoke 2 – Arsenal 1.  So, I did not bother to look for live streaming of the football afterward because it is already too late to do anything for Arsenal. Well, at least it’s a good way to re-introduce Sol Campbell to Premier League oppositions after not seeing them for a long time (sort of).

Will put up the match report as well as the highlight later on.

I’m Gettin’ One, No Doubt

This is by far the most awesome variation of a guitar in my opinion. Saw it on Digg.com as I was browsing through website, a good way to keep my head off academic matters…

Anyway, this thing is apparently some kind of a prototype by a company called Misadigital (their website is shown at the video’s top right corner). I was quite disappointed when I realize that they are still developing the guitar after clicking the “Purchase” link. But nevertheless, would be one to look for (and probably buy) in the future.

Behold, the Eigenharp

Bumped into it on Youtube by random. I did actually watched another one earlier, in which they played the theme song for the “Bourne Ultimatum” movie by Moby. But I just could not appreciate it as it is too unfamiliar for me, lol. Only then I realized that they actually did one for the theme for James Bond too (which is one of my favorite theme songs apart from the one for Mortal Kombat). The result? Spectacular.

I do really want to play one of these if I get the chance. But after scrolling down the Youtube comments, they did mention that  a decent eigenharp could set you up until about $3000 or so. So, there you go, a fraction of my tuition fee just for this wonderful piece of instrument…