And so Selphie cast her ultimate magic spell on my game and it ended. After seven years of investing the the Final Fantasy VIII game, I finally defeated all five forms of Ultemecia and got to the happy ending.
It's a funny story actually. I first played it seven years back when my cousin lent us her Playstation for the December holidays. I played through Disc 1 I think, until I had to return it when school started.
In Sec 2, I then managed to borrow the PC version of the game from Jun Yi. It was old and badly scratched, and the game hung occasionally, but I somehow managed to get to Ultemecia's castle on Disc 4. (By the way, I love the theme song for her castle. The pipe organs are the best.)
Earlier this year, I managed to procure a PS emulator. I played through Disc 3 (The Salt Flats) until my computer crashed. Fortunately, I had saved games. Unfortunately, they were all the way back in Disc 1.
So I fixed the problem and continued from the save game and fought through all the monsters and got all the GFs and smacked Ultima Weapon (he was quite pathetic) and I finished the game. I feel a mixture of accomplishment and disappointment, because now that it's over I feel like I'm going to lose six friends who I followed through seven years, four discs and hundreds of hours of gameplay.
It took me seven years to see that kiss, and it only lasted half a second.
The Edna Man
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wonder Girls Transcend Race, Nationality and Gender with Latest Audition
SINGAPORE -- The Ministry of Education (MOE) will lauding the Korean pop girl group Wonder Girls as the latest example of meritocracy. Today, its label JYP Entertainment announced its plans to hold a regional talent audition for the ASEAN region.
The audition is the first of its kind to allow applicants from outside the stereotypes of Korean pop (K-pop) group members.
"Anyone may participate, regardless of nationality or gender," said JYPE spokesperson Mr. Suu Kim Yi in Korean yesterday, at a press conference which was also translated into English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Tagalog, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Lao, Burmese, Khmer, and Vietnamese.
"It doesn't matter where you are from or what sex you are. If you have the talent, you can still make it big as a Korean girl group star," he said.
When asked about the reasons for this new international casting call, Mr. Suu replied, "We believe that music and art transcends things like gender, race and nationality. That is why we are doing this."
Local fans are delighted at the latest opportunity to become a famous K-pop star. Said Mr. Thavitharsan Sarmamugan, 22: "I love the Wonder Girls and I can do all the dance moves to their song 'Nobody'. It has always been my dream to be in a K-pop group and I will be so excited to be there for the auditions."
JYPE has also announced that they will not be changing the iconic names of their K-pop group. "The name is now synonymous with successful K-pop, and changing it now will just cause fans to become detached from their favourite artistes," said Mr. Suu. "We also wanted to give the fans and aspiring artists the opportunity to actually be a part of Wonder Girls."
"We want to give everyone a chance to be a Wonder Girl."
Singaporean auditions will be held at Republic Polytechnic on the 9th and 11th of December.
-----
Okay, no offence to Korean pop groups and their fans, or to the Ministry of Education. I just thought that it would be funny if the Wonder Girls actually did host an audition to get new talent from anywhere, and still be labeled as a Korean-pop girl group. Also, no offence to any Indians or any real Mr Thavitharsan Sarmamugan out there, but just imagine photoshopping a typical Indian guy into any pic of the Wonder Girls or SNSD and the juxtaposition would be completely hilarious.
That thing about music transcending race and gender by the way, is true. I believe it anyway.
The Edna Man
The audition is the first of its kind to allow applicants from outside the stereotypes of Korean pop (K-pop) group members.
"Anyone may participate, regardless of nationality or gender," said JYPE spokesperson Mr. Suu Kim Yi in Korean yesterday, at a press conference which was also translated into English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Tagalog, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Lao, Burmese, Khmer, and Vietnamese.
"It doesn't matter where you are from or what sex you are. If you have the talent, you can still make it big as a Korean girl group star," he said.
When asked about the reasons for this new international casting call, Mr. Suu replied, "We believe that music and art transcends things like gender, race and nationality. That is why we are doing this."
Local fans are delighted at the latest opportunity to become a famous K-pop star. Said Mr. Thavitharsan Sarmamugan, 22: "I love the Wonder Girls and I can do all the dance moves to their song 'Nobody'. It has always been my dream to be in a K-pop group and I will be so excited to be there for the auditions."
JYPE has also announced that they will not be changing the iconic names of their K-pop group. "The name is now synonymous with successful K-pop, and changing it now will just cause fans to become detached from their favourite artistes," said Mr. Suu. "We also wanted to give the fans and aspiring artists the opportunity to actually be a part of Wonder Girls."
"We want to give everyone a chance to be a Wonder Girl."
Singaporean auditions will be held at Republic Polytechnic on the 9th and 11th of December.
-----
Okay, no offence to Korean pop groups and their fans, or to the Ministry of Education. I just thought that it would be funny if the Wonder Girls actually did host an audition to get new talent from anywhere, and still be labeled as a Korean-pop girl group. Also, no offence to any Indians or any real Mr Thavitharsan Sarmamugan out there, but just imagine photoshopping a typical Indian guy into any pic of the Wonder Girls or SNSD and the juxtaposition would be completely hilarious.
That thing about music transcending race and gender by the way, is true. I believe it anyway.
- JYPE Auditions, if you're interested.
- Lao is the official language of Laos. Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. Tagalog is the official language of the Philippines. You should be able to guess the rest.
The Edna Man
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Scientists Pinpoint Exact Cause of Hearing Loss in Teens
SINGAPORE -- A study conducted by researchers at the National University Hospital (NUH) has pinpointed the exact cause of hearing loss in youths today. Currently, experts believe it is because teens spend much of their time listening to music at dangerously high levels, but head researcher Dr. Stephanie Tay says that this is not the root cause.
"There is a reason youths are turning the volume up," said Dr. Tay, an otologist at NUH. "It's because everything else is too loud."
"Bus engines are too loud. The trains are too loud. And even if you're just walking from place to place, the drilling and pounding from construction sites are too loud," said Dr. Tay.
"It's either turn up the volume or not hear the music at all."
A survey of youths suffering from hearing loss also complemented the findings. "I take the public transport a lot," shouted Jeffery Lim, a student. "I keep turning up the volume on my iPod because the roar of the bus engines always drowns out the music." When asked if he experienced the same difficulties on trains, Mr. Lim only responded loudly, "What? I can't hear you! Speak up!"
Ms Chan Yan Sing, a student at NUH, tells us this story: "I was on the bus one day. I saw this lady not even bother to use headphones at all, and just blasted her music into the air."
"That's just how bad it is," she commented.
Up to one in five youths suffer from hearing loss in America, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. It showed that 19.5 percent of children aged 12 to 19 displayed slight and mild hearing loss, an increase from 14.9 percent in an earlier study.
Dr. Tay advises the public to take care of their ears, because hearing loss can be a life-long condition. "Wear noise-cancelling headphones, so you can listen to your music at a safe volume. Alternatively, don't take public transport. Drive."
"And if you are male and enlisting into the army, stay away from guns and the artillery officer vocation," she added.
-----
Seriously, I think that it's kinda ironic that I bought my iPod Touch to listen to music on the go, but whenever I travel I can't hear anything over the industrial noise.
I wanted to add a couple of paragraphs about how public transport operators were angry with the accusations, but I couldn't see hwo to work it in without insulting public transport companies. Go, freedom of speech!
And lastly, some links. Aren't I so fun-ducational?
BOOM BOOM POW,
The Edna Man
"There is a reason youths are turning the volume up," said Dr. Tay, an otologist at NUH. "It's because everything else is too loud."
"Bus engines are too loud. The trains are too loud. And even if you're just walking from place to place, the drilling and pounding from construction sites are too loud," said Dr. Tay.
"It's either turn up the volume or not hear the music at all."
A survey of youths suffering from hearing loss also complemented the findings. "I take the public transport a lot," shouted Jeffery Lim, a student. "I keep turning up the volume on my iPod because the roar of the bus engines always drowns out the music." When asked if he experienced the same difficulties on trains, Mr. Lim only responded loudly, "What? I can't hear you! Speak up!"
Ms Chan Yan Sing, a student at NUH, tells us this story: "I was on the bus one day. I saw this lady not even bother to use headphones at all, and just blasted her music into the air."
"That's just how bad it is," she commented.
Up to one in five youths suffer from hearing loss in America, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. It showed that 19.5 percent of children aged 12 to 19 displayed slight and mild hearing loss, an increase from 14.9 percent in an earlier study.
Dr. Tay advises the public to take care of their ears, because hearing loss can be a life-long condition. "Wear noise-cancelling headphones, so you can listen to your music at a safe volume. Alternatively, don't take public transport. Drive."
"And if you are male and enlisting into the army, stay away from guns and the artillery officer vocation," she added.
-----
Seriously, I think that it's kinda ironic that I bought my iPod Touch to listen to music on the go, but whenever I travel I can't hear anything over the industrial noise.
I wanted to add a couple of paragraphs about how public transport operators were angry with the accusations, but I couldn't see hwo to work it in without insulting public transport companies. Go, freedom of speech!
And lastly, some links. Aren't I so fun-ducational?
- Study on Hearing Loss
- Otology, if you don't know what it means
BOOM BOOM POW,
The Edna Man
Thursday, November 11, 2010
It's Beginning to Look too Much Like Christmas
It's Beginning to Look too Much Like Christmas, parody of It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas as popularized by Johnny Mathis
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas
Everywhere you go
Once the Halloween profit fails,
Run out the year-end sales,
And line all the shop windows with fake snow!
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas
Toys in every store
When you go on your shopping spree
Must buy two, get one free!
And discounts galore.
They start to hang up the stars and give away cars
For advertising campaigns
Put up the tree as a guarantee
To increase their capital gain
Salesgirls in their santa hats: "Thank you, please come again!"
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas
Everywhere you turn
But the last that I remember,
It only turned November,
And I don't have that kind of cash to burn
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas:
Two more months to go.
This commercialized holiday
Must have started back in May
But I missed the memo.
-----
In other news, a black kitten crossed my path when I was coming home today. It was ADORABLE. I stopped walking and it came up and sniffed my boot before sitting down in front of me. When I started to move, it gave me that upward glance by bending over backwards (you know the one) and mewed! Then it stretched itself and wandered off.
I guess this uniform does make you look like a tree.
The Edna Man
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas
Everywhere you go
Once the Halloween profit fails,
Run out the year-end sales,
And line all the shop windows with fake snow!
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas
Toys in every store
When you go on your shopping spree
Must buy two, get one free!
And discounts galore.
They start to hang up the stars and give away cars
For advertising campaigns
Put up the tree as a guarantee
To increase their capital gain
Salesgirls in their santa hats: "Thank you, please come again!"
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas
Everywhere you turn
But the last that I remember,
It only turned November,
And I don't have that kind of cash to burn
It's beginning to look too much like Christmas:
Two more months to go.
This commercialized holiday
Must have started back in May
But I missed the memo.
-----
In other news, a black kitten crossed my path when I was coming home today. It was ADORABLE. I stopped walking and it came up and sniffed my boot before sitting down in front of me. When I started to move, it gave me that upward glance by bending over backwards (you know the one) and mewed! Then it stretched itself and wandered off.
I guess this uniform does make you look like a tree.
The Edna Man
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