chibiforte

I just thought I'd make a non-post post that lists out the podcasts that I'm subscribed to and listen to, most of which I actually listen to on a regulard basis (some only sporadically).  This is alphabetical order.

Daizenshuu EX Podcast [Anime]
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History [History]
Dave and Joel's Fast Karate for the Gentleman [Gaming/Anime]
Desiring God (Host: John Piper) [Sermons/Christian]
Focus on the Family (Host: James Dobson) [Christian/Family]
Grace to You (Host: John MacArthur) [Sermons/Christian]
HeartCry Missionary Society [Christian]
IGN Game Scoop! [Gaming]
IGN Nintendo Voice Chat [Gaming]
Jesus Geek [Christian/Technology]
Just Thinking (Host: Ravi Zacharias) [Christian/Philosophy]
Let My People Think (Host: Ravi Zacharias) [Christian/Philosophy]
Nuclearity [Christian/Family]
Renewing Your Mind [Christian/Apologetics]
Stand to Reason [Christian/Philosophy/Psychology/Apologetics/Talk Show]
The Albert Mohler Program [Christian/Talk Show]
The Christian Worldview [Christian/Talk Show]
The Narrow Mind [Christian/Apologetics/Theology]
The Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast [Christian]
The Unofficial Adventures in Odyssey Podcast [Christian]
Truth for Life (Host: Alistair Begg) [Sermons/Christian]
Way of the Master Radio [Christian/Talk Show]
White Horse Inn [Christian/Theology]
WiiSpot.com Podcast [Gaming]

That's 24 podcasts... and probably why I don't listen to music very often, anymore. o_o;

I've come across music videos of some of my favorite artists from the past, so I thought I'd post them up.  These are of the old bands, Petra and dc Talk.  Those are two bands that I listened to extensively when I was a young'n, and I still continue to listen to the songs I enjoyed.

dc Talk - "Colored People"


dc Talk - "The Hardway"


dc Talk - "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" [Live]


Petra - "Creed"


Petra - "The Coloring Song"


Petra - "No Doubt"

Staring into that pitch black mirror
obviously not seeing a reflection.
I can feel the pressure pushing down
blacking out both sight and mind.
Dangling on this dangerous precipice
one step from feeling oblivion.

Can this burden get any worse?

Desiring the peripheral
while hating the essential.
Every action in that direction
yet another stick for the soul's torture.
Knowing what should be done
but continuing to deny it.

Will this ever change?

Can't accept the consequence
but unwilling to change ways.
Trying to clean up without help
like covering death with silk.
Feeling the sword penetrate
but won't break through a stony heart.

Am I capable of repentance?

No tears shed for the velvet thread
no feelings of remorse over ugly deeds.
Making excuses for evil
and rejecting a miracle.
Living out a life that causes pain
and ending the existance with terrible wrath.

Will I ever feel how this can heal me?

Little Baby Matt... We received a single picture of him from my brother's cell phone.  He is positively adorable. <3333


(click to make it bigger)

So cute.  For some reason, everybody thinks he looks like me.  I don't see it, because I specifically said he was CUTE, not stupid. xD

Been playin' a little o' Mario Kart Wii.  I'm doing pretty well, actually.  I've raced a few online matches against Ted and beat him a few times.  I'm actually getting fairly adept at playing with the Wii Wheel.  I'm still better with the Gamecube controller, but the Wheel helps make it feel more real, if you can call kart racing while throwing shells and dropping banana peels "real". :P

I received my Myself; Yourself OP CD Single, yesterday.  Along with the anime's opening theme, it also had the opening theme for the visual novel.  Both are actually really engaging songs, and I'm glad I made the purchase.  I still haven't received my H20 ~footprints in the sand~ OP CD single, but I expect to get it tomorrow.

I'm also thinking of purchasing the 2006 "LEGEND OF DRAGONWORLD" CD set, which contains a lot of songs from the Dragonball anime.  It seems to have a lot of songs, and when I was listening to the Daizenshuu EX Podcast, the hosts agreed that it was the CD set that you want to get if you're just looking for the main movie themes, OP and ED themes, insert songs, image songs, etc.

Speaking of Dragonball, I actually just finished reading the series last night.  42 volumes worth, as a matter of fact.  It was nice to just get through the entire series in a non-stressful, easy go.  Reading it was the best choice, since it would be extremely expensive to get all the DVDs right now.  I easily breezed through dozens of episodes worth of material in only a few hours each night.  Now, I have the entire series fresh in my mind, and that's nice to have.

Still don't have the pictures of little Matthew.  I'm hoping they'll send them sometime tonight.  I actually talked to my brother on the phone today, and he held the phone up to the baby while he was making noise.  It was so cute! <3

Matthew Scott Rea Jr. was born today at 8:30PM.

He is a boy.  He has all his limbs, ten fingers and ten toes.  He is 22" long, and weighed in at 8 pounds, 15 ounces.

And I'm going to be seeing this little bundle of miraculous joy this weekend.

Babies are just utterly fantastic, aren't they?  I mean, sure, they are screaming, evil demons at heart, but they just look so cute, don't they? <3

This little boy... he's going to be the most like me out of all of them.  I couldn't brainwash teach Sarai to be like me, but this kid will have an Uncle Wes like no other.  If I end up living near them, I'll be the favorite uncle who sends him toys all the time, takes him out for ice cream, plays with him, etc.

Oh, and he's getting all of my Power Ranger videos.  That's how much I love him. :3

(I wanna see pictures of him...)

Ghosts?  Like, disembodied souls of people who used to be living, but died in a tragic manner and are left to traverse the earth?  Why would I believe something as outlandish and childish as that?

 Can't wait!  Hopefully it all goes smoothly... I just have a nervous feeling for some reason...

I picked up my copy of Mario Kart Wii, yesterday.  It's actually a lot more fun than I thought it'd be.  The online mode is pretty awesome and flawless, and you actually get to see the Miis and names of the people you go against.  While I don't particularly care for a few of the Miis I saw, overall, the experience was great.  I'll probably start all the different rank-mode things sometime either later today or tomorrow.  Maybe I should just bypass 50cc and just go for 100cc for the time being?  That'd help me get better, since it's tough for me to adjust to the Wii Wheel.

I also laid down a preorder for Wii Fit.  That stupid game's going to be $90, but it's going to be so much fun!  And to think, all it does is help you exercise...

I need to get those recommendation letters sent out...

I received my true tears OP CD single, earlier today.  It's pretty good.  I enjoy "Reflectia" the most, obviously, but I didn't particularly care for "elekta".  Maybe I'll have to give it a few more listens.  The piano in the background was obviously nice to hear, but the vocals didn't really catch me.  Maybe because it's slow?

My nephew should be born on Monday, at the latest (since he was due last week, they are going to induce her on Monday if he isn't born till then).  His name will be Matthew Jr., after his Dad.  He better be cute as a button.  I wonder how Sarai will take not being the only baby anymore?

I'm picking up Mario Kart Wii, tomorrow.  I actually wasn't really planning on picking this game up until the summer, but my Dad ended up preordering it for me, so I don't really have an excuse.  I was wanting to pick up The World Ends with You for the DS, but eh, it can wait.  This is kart-racing with Mario, and I hear the online is fantastic, so I'm looking forward to it.

I just had an idea a little bit ago, while vacuuming the living room.  I think it'd be really neat to have a remix album of, what else, but Haruhi Suzumiya music.  Not just any remix album though, but a PIANO album.  Where all of the songs are done on the piano, without vocals or anything.  I think it'd be pretty easy to fill up an album with music from the series and games.  The OP and ED for the anime, obviously, but you could also branch off and do songs from the character albums, or use the BGM for the anime, or even do the OP/ED from the two games they have out.  Even Mikuru's Love Legend!  I could see it being done... maybe being distributed using Bittorrent... I'd need to buy the albums, though, just so I can hear all the music that can be done... and I'd need to find someone else who can play the piano with me... hmmm...

I just turned my head to the left and sneezed, but it caused me to jerk my head to that side even further and hurt my neck momentarily. Ouch. x_x

Anyway, it's feeling better now.

I found not only three of the Petra CDs that I wanted, but I also found two of the dc Talk CDs that I wanted. They were in the CD cases in my parent's room, amazingly. Unfortunately, the "Welcome to the Freak Show" CD is scratched up due to so much use in the past ten years, so it didn't rip properly. It didn't even rip "Time Is" or "It's the End of the World", and I can't find them to complete the album. The torrent's not working properly, seeing as it's stuck at 98.2%. Maybe I can find it for cheap on the internet someplace. Or maybe someone nearby has a CD cleaner I can use.

None of the Petra CDs had "No Doubt", though. That kind of frustrated me. I KNOW we had the CD before, but I have no clue where it's at or whether we stil have it or not. "Alas My Love" sounds like it might be a good song, though. I'll have to listen to that later tonight.

I read past the Saiyan arc last night, and now it's heading into the Namek arc. That'll be fun to read, since I don't remember that arc very well (aside from the endless amounts of Naruto-esque filler material). Should be good.

I started playing Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology earlier today. It seems fun, but it's definitely something I'm going to have to get used to. Maybe I'll set that aside and try my hand at Pokemon Pearl again. That reminds me, I need to sell my white DS Lite and purchase a new DS that actually has a touch screen that works. It's so annoying not being able to play my favorite games because my touch screen is terribly messed up.

One last thing: this is a video of somebody drawing a picture of what Kristin Kreuk ("Lana" from Smallville) will probably look like as Chun-Li in the newest Street Fighter movie (wearing the signature blue-and-gold qipao and odango hairstyle). It looks awesome seeing the whole time-lapse deal of somebody drawing the thing completely in some kind of paint program, and the final product doesn't look half-bad.  She BETTER look like this in the movie!  Check it out. :3

 

This is, quite possibly, the most adorable thing I've ever seen. ;_;

 I miss my niece... T_T

I finally finished Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII earlier today.  I put about... 30 hours into it?  Almost there, at least.  I think I finished it at about 29 hours and 45 minutes or so.  And this is only the FIRST time I have to beat it.  I have to go through it again and unlock all of the crazy missions and the DMW stuff and whatnot.

Let me tell you, this game was absolutely fantastic.  Sure, there were some flaws in it, like the loading times and the somewhat tiring missions you have to finish, but all in all, it was a solid game that was made even better because of the Final Fantasy VII label.  This really helped reinvigorate my interest in the FF7 series.  I actually feel like going back to beat the original PS1 game now, just so I can relive the original story.  I didn't really care for the game the first time I played it, but I actually really like the series now that I can see how all the entries relate to each other.

This game, in and of itself, is a great game.  The graphics are top-notch for a PSP game... the gameplay, while being repetitive at times, is engaging... the story is original on its own but still connects nicely with the main FF7 story... the main character, Zack, is such a funny and well-rounded and well-developed main character... man, I just can't say enough good things about this game.  Anybody with a PSP does themself a disservice if they don't pick this game up, even if they don't know the FF7 story.

I'm hoping that they remake FF7, now.  If they can fix the glaring graphical flaws and glitches that the original had (and the horrendous translation), I could see myself dedicating dozens of hours into it.  And even buying a PS3 just so I can play it.

I'm thinking of starting Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, now.  Or maybe I'll go back and play Final Fantasy VII as soon as possible.  Or Final Fantasy VIII.  Or Chrono Cross.  Or Chrono Trigger.  Or Xenogears.  Or Breath of Fire III.  Or Brave Fencer Musashi.  Or Yu-Gi-Oh Forbidden Memories.

...Wow, I really am going to have to bring that Playstation with me to college...

Why would I want to be famous?  All fame breeds is arrogance, pride, and greed.  I don't want to deal with that, since I don't know how I'd handle that sort of temptation.
 

Don't you just hate it when your router gets completely fried, thus driving your internet use to a grinding halt for almost a week?

Yeah, that four-year-old router I bought when my first laptop was given to me finally burnt out last week, never to work again.  I'll miss the thing, since it did its job (never really worked properly with my DS, though).  Now we have a new installation set up and everything, but it took my brother several days to do it since he finally moved out and had to come back from his new place of residence in order to hook it up.

It wasn't really that terrible to be without the internet, but it was annoying that I couldn't get my podcasts daily.  I honestly didn't mind that much, since it gave me time to read the entire original Dragonball series in manga form.  That was cool, since I never saw most of the Red Ribbon arc, or the 22nd or 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, or the Piccolo-Daimao arc, or pretty much most of what happens after the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.  It was good to really get the whole story.  I'll start on the "Z" era next, since I'm not totally familiar with the Namek, Freeza, Android, or Cell arcs.

I found my Johnny Cash CD.  It's really neat, and I'm listening to it right now.  Of course I ripped it to my laptop, since I don't want to lose it again and be without the songs.  I should buy more of his albums, they're really neat.

I'm also really getting back into Petra and DC Talk, lately.  I really want to find our old "Free At Last" CD, and I want to find the CD that had Petra's "No Doubt" song on it.  I'm anxious to see if it really was as awesome as I remember it to be.

You gotta be kidding me... I was concerned about this for awhile, but they actually did it, the cowards.  The local movie theater has completely PULLED the listing and ticket purchase information for Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed from their website.

I can't believe it, I was so looking forward to seeing this movie without going out of town.  Now it looks like I have no choice.  I mean, I'm definitely willing to do so, and it seems like I have to now, but I'd prefer not to have to do so.  This is a movie-documentary that I HAVE to see, no question about it, and the stupid local theater pulled it from their listings.

This is just so ridiculous to me.  I remember perfectly that they showed that ridiculous Inconvenient Truth documentary, so what would be the problem with showing a documentary about evolution's failings expressed by even the most ardent evolutionist's mouths, hm?  Especially with Ben Stein as the narrator!  Who doesn't like that guy, reguardless of his viewpoint?  Such a cowardly move...

Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology was purchased, today.  I have never played through a Tales game in my life, I just heard that they were fantastic.  Hopefully I'll enjoy it, seeing as how you have to put in... 60+ hours just to finish it once through?  Somewhere around that amount.  This will help me decide if I really want to get into this series.  I'll need something to do in the off-hours at college.  And I just wanted to find what is considered a really good PSP RPG.

Man, I've been buying games left and right for that system... I have, what, six games for it, now?  Crisis Core, Harvest Moon, Patapon, MegaMan Powered Up, Maverick Hunter X, Jeanne d'Arc... yep, that's six.  My poor DS has been neglected, but if the touch screen wasn't so terribly calibrated and messed up, I might actually put some time into some games, but alas, I need to buy a new one if I plan on playing regularly.  I still need to finish Phoenix Wright 3...

And... I can't think of anything else to say.

Oh yeah, the first Eyeshine album came out just the other day.  I bought that, as well.  I have to support the awesomeness of Johnny Yong Bosch and his cohorts, obviously.  Indie-music isn't really my thing (if it can be called that), but I've enjoyed the few songs I've heard of theirs.  If I had iTunes, I'd buy their EP, but it doesn't seem to want to install on this computer (plus, I don't have an iPod to put it on).  Oh well.

 All of them.

I received the two CD singles for my favorite Tokusatsu programs, today.  Yep, I got the CD single to Kamen Rider Kiva, which is called "Break the Chain", and the opening and ending theme single for Engine Sentai Go-onger.  I even got a neat poster and a single trading card for the "Break the Chain" CD, both of which feature Kiva in all his Fangire awesomeness.  I'm wondering as to whether or not I should hang the poster up now, or wait until I move so it's in pristine condition (and so my roommates can get a good laugh).

I also watched a new Toku last night, called Tomica Hero Rescue Force.  It's basically a Super Sentai-esque show, but it revolves more around actually saving people from natural disasters instead of fighting a rubber monster that can grow to gigantic sizes.  It was interesting, and while the budget for the show is obviously more than most Tokusatsu programs, something about it felt... strange.  I think it was the framerate that the show is broadcast in, as the camera seemed to look more like it was filmed by college students than professionals.  But that's just a minor gripe, because the special effects are fantastic.  I loved the police car's look, and I wouldn't mind having one, myself.

I think I understand my recent uncertainties about this whole novel deal.  I feel as if I need to know absolutely everything about the world in which these characters interact, and that I have to disclose so many unnecessary details about the characters and their families and school.  But I know that this isn't necessary, since even Haruhi Suzumiya didn't even name the teachers, or the main character's families, or even what they learn, really.  And look how great that series is doing in commercialization.  Surely nobody expects much from a random guy on the internet, right?

And yes, I still have writer's block, although the ideas are slowly coming together, piece by piece...

Also, does anybody have any ideas for new names?  I'm not sure if "Law/Grace" is going to cut it, given its source material... I mean, it's not copyrighted or anything, but I don't want the companies to be unknowingly affiliated with me because I use their terminology or anything.

I've been downloading sooo many Overclocked Remixes, lately.  I literally have about 1,139 remixes from their website, give or take.  I'm pretty sure this is legal, since they've become such a huge site and Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft would have shut them down a long time ago if this was illegal.  It's nice to hear all of those old songs I listened to in chiptune format as a child reimagined in ways I never thought possible.  It just gives me such a sense of nostalgia that's been unrivaled for years, now...

I've been playing Crisis Core, since I bought it the other day.  A very, very engaging game.  Makes me appreciate the FF7 series a bit more, since I didn't really care for it originally.  Hopefully I'll be able to actually finish it, given that I haven't been very dedicated to RPGs, as of late.

I'm not feeling very well, at the moment.  Kinda feeling... sickish...

 I've never gotten away with anything.

I may be the most evil of any of you, but I'm certainly never going to get away with anything.  Ever.

"When The Times invited several eminent authors to write essays on the theme 'What's Wrong with the World?' Chesterton's contribution took the form of a letter:

Dear Sirs,

I am.

Sincerely yours, 
G. K. Chesterton"

Hahaha!  That G.K. Chesterton was a riot.

However, with all due respect to the man... I am.

Seriously.