Now I am sure that I was not the only one that feels like I have written in my last post.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A Problematic Mind (?)
Sometimes I have the feeling that there is something wrong with me. I am not being able to focus on my work, even knowing that I have a lot of work to be done before going back to Brazil, and I am feeling remorseful because of that. The problem is that I have been like that for a long and long time, and I don't even remember when that started, but it was before I started college, and maybe I was always like that. While things interest me I can focus and pay attention to them perfectly, but my interest seems to fade with time, when that happens my mind just goes astray, and I lose myself in the middle of wonderland. That seems to happens with everything.
Everyday I see my colleagues, here in the US and also in Brazil, working and being able to focus on their work for hours and hours until the point they reach high levels of stress, and seeing that makes me feel bad for not being able to focus not even for 15 minutes straight on my own work most of the time. I start to work, and it goes fine in the first few minutes, but after a while my mind got distracted and when I realize I am thinking about a tree in the other side of the street and how would be so good to be a kid again and climb that tree, and think that it was a spaceship. (I used to pretend that the trees in my house's backyard where spaceships when I was a kid.) And then I remember that I have to start to think again in my work. Sometimes I have this boost in interest in my work, and when that happens I can make some progress, but then that interest just fades away again, and it is like a herculean effort to focus my mind again, sometimes I don't make any kind of progress for weeks or even months.
I really wonder about how in the Nine Hells of Baator I was able to be almost getting my Ph.D. degree in Astrophysics/Physics being the way I am. I don't know how did I finish college, nor how did I get my master degree, and be where I am right now... Do I really deserve to be where I am right now? I feel bad and guilty, actually, because I know a lot of people who worked so much harder than me in their lives and did not have the same chances I had, and if they had they would be doing so much more. And NO, I am not a genius, far from that actually, and I feel frustrated with myself, but I don't know if there is anything I can do to change.
Have I chosen the right thing for me? I have thought to much about that already, and I know that I chose right. Astrophysics is a fascinating subject. And I am pretty sure that I would still be the same if I had chosen differently in the past.
It is more than 2AM, and instead of sleeping or doing something more useful I am wasting my time with this blog. Before that I was reading a lot of useless stuff, wasting my time on Facebook playing an useless game. I want to do so many worthless stuff that I am not even able to sleep earlier. That is not right!
I have read something about ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). I don't know if my problem is really something like that, or if I am just looking for an excuse to be a procrastinator like I am.
Anyhow, I am not right!
Everyday I see my colleagues, here in the US and also in Brazil, working and being able to focus on their work for hours and hours until the point they reach high levels of stress, and seeing that makes me feel bad for not being able to focus not even for 15 minutes straight on my own work most of the time. I start to work, and it goes fine in the first few minutes, but after a while my mind got distracted and when I realize I am thinking about a tree in the other side of the street and how would be so good to be a kid again and climb that tree, and think that it was a spaceship. (I used to pretend that the trees in my house's backyard where spaceships when I was a kid.) And then I remember that I have to start to think again in my work. Sometimes I have this boost in interest in my work, and when that happens I can make some progress, but then that interest just fades away again, and it is like a herculean effort to focus my mind again, sometimes I don't make any kind of progress for weeks or even months.
I really wonder about how in the Nine Hells of Baator I was able to be almost getting my Ph.D. degree in Astrophysics/Physics being the way I am. I don't know how did I finish college, nor how did I get my master degree, and be where I am right now... Do I really deserve to be where I am right now? I feel bad and guilty, actually, because I know a lot of people who worked so much harder than me in their lives and did not have the same chances I had, and if they had they would be doing so much more. And NO, I am not a genius, far from that actually, and I feel frustrated with myself, but I don't know if there is anything I can do to change.
Have I chosen the right thing for me? I have thought to much about that already, and I know that I chose right. Astrophysics is a fascinating subject. And I am pretty sure that I would still be the same if I had chosen differently in the past.
It is more than 2AM, and instead of sleeping or doing something more useful I am wasting my time with this blog. Before that I was reading a lot of useless stuff, wasting my time on Facebook playing an useless game. I want to do so many worthless stuff that I am not even able to sleep earlier. That is not right!
I have read something about ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). I don't know if my problem is really something like that, or if I am just looking for an excuse to be a procrastinator like I am.
Anyhow, I am not right!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Bad Role Players
I started to play real role playing games in 1994, and since then it is one of my favorite hobbies. In these almost 14 years, I have played it in some different groups. Each group has it is own characteristics of playing. I am sure that my first group, in the ancient times of the 90s was not a good group of players. Everyone was just starting playing, and even the Game Master was just beginning, but I had a lot of fun playing that first adventure, so much fun that I have never stopped playing since that time. Since I started to play, I have played with a lot of different people, and in different groups, and I have always been lucky and it has always been funny, but once!
My RPG companions have not change too much in the last seven years. Some of them have moved to other cities, but there is still a core that remains, and the people who had moved, eventually, come back for a game session or two. I am already accustumed to my group, and the fact that all the players have a lot of experience in RPG, some of them even started to play before me, makes the game to flow with a good pace and they know how to play without being stupid. The amount of game we usually have is enough to feed my addiction, and I never had the need to look for another group since we started to play together. But...
Two years ago, I had a girlfriend who also played RPG, and I met her when she asked to play a D&D adventure I was, and I am still, running. So she started to play with us, and, well... Lets say that she had done a lot of stupid thing during the game sessions, and most of my players got really annoyed with some of her actions sometimes... One day, I was with her in her house, and her other RPG fellows were going there for a RPG game session. Then she asked me if I would not like to join and play with them... I was planning just to stay there with her, watching their game, but as it is much better to play than watch, I decided to make a character to play with them... WHAT A MISTAKE!!!
First of all, they were a bunch of "kids", there were two under 20 years old, but most of them were in their early 20's. But while playing they all seemed to be a bunch of 15 years old. Then, there is the fact that they still play AD&D (2nd Edition)! If they were old schoolers I would accept that without any prejudice, but no, I am sure most of them started to play after the D&D 3rd Edition was released. And in my official group we were already playing D&D 3.5 Edition for 2 years already by that time, so I had to remember a lot of old and outdated stuff from the time when I played AD&D (2n Edition) in the late-90s. Another thing is that in my official group we played with the official English rulebooks, so we use the English terminology while playing, but these kids used all the Portuguese books, and everything was translated. I had to translate to myself a lot of the terms that they used during gameplay. Albeit (new word) Portuguese is my native language, it is weird, for me, to hear the Portuguese terms while playing RPG. Anyway... So I had to re-adapt myself not only to the "young" group, as also to the old system and the language.
The re-adaptation was not the problem, actually it was the easiest part. The greatest problem was in their game style. When you are playing in a group, the point of the game, most of the time, is for each of the characters of the group to join and to cooperate among themselves, but that was not the case there. Each of the players wanted to be more powerful than the others, wanted to have more attention from the DM than the others, wanted all the treasure to his or her character, and things like that. And every time they had to create a new character they looked for the most obscure and exotic race and/or class to play to be the most powerful inside the group. Here is the list of the bizarre characters in that group:
When it was time to share the treasure found, it was like a war. The treasure was not divided in a roleplaying way, it had to be divided outside the game with some rules, if not they would start to fight and kill each other just for a +1 ring of protection. The group was a bunch a lame and inexperienced characters, that did not know how to interpret properly their roles in the game, and just wanted to show the other PCs how powerful was his or her character. The DM was also a lame DM who did not know, and I don't think he has learned so far, how to give a real challenge to their PCs, and lacked knowledge about rules and balancing issues inside the game. And that was the most improbable, mixed and bizarre group ever, I would not be surprised if there was a lawful good paladin fighting side-by-side with chaotic evil assassin, and they were best friends in that group. My ex-girlfriend was the one who role played best among these guys, and after playing with them for a while I found out why she made so many stupid mistakes in my game. She was just roleplaying in my game the way she would do in her official group.
I did not play with them a long time, it was just too much torment for myself. I played because of my ex-girlfriend, but after a while not even that was enough to make me go to their game willingly. The worst RPG experience ever in my life!
My RPG companions have not change too much in the last seven years. Some of them have moved to other cities, but there is still a core that remains, and the people who had moved, eventually, come back for a game session or two. I am already accustumed to my group, and the fact that all the players have a lot of experience in RPG, some of them even started to play before me, makes the game to flow with a good pace and they know how to play without being stupid. The amount of game we usually have is enough to feed my addiction, and I never had the need to look for another group since we started to play together. But...
Two years ago, I had a girlfriend who also played RPG, and I met her when she asked to play a D&D adventure I was, and I am still, running. So she started to play with us, and, well... Lets say that she had done a lot of stupid thing during the game sessions, and most of my players got really annoyed with some of her actions sometimes... One day, I was with her in her house, and her other RPG fellows were going there for a RPG game session. Then she asked me if I would not like to join and play with them... I was planning just to stay there with her, watching their game, but as it is much better to play than watch, I decided to make a character to play with them... WHAT A MISTAKE!!!
First of all, they were a bunch of "kids", there were two under 20 years old, but most of them were in their early 20's. But while playing they all seemed to be a bunch of 15 years old. Then, there is the fact that they still play AD&D (2nd Edition)! If they were old schoolers I would accept that without any prejudice, but no, I am sure most of them started to play after the D&D 3rd Edition was released. And in my official group we were already playing D&D 3.5 Edition for 2 years already by that time, so I had to remember a lot of old and outdated stuff from the time when I played AD&D (2n Edition) in the late-90s. Another thing is that in my official group we played with the official English rulebooks, so we use the English terminology while playing, but these kids used all the Portuguese books, and everything was translated. I had to translate to myself a lot of the terms that they used during gameplay. Albeit (new word) Portuguese is my native language, it is weird, for me, to hear the Portuguese terms while playing RPG. Anyway... So I had to re-adapt myself not only to the "young" group, as also to the old system and the language.
The re-adaptation was not the problem, actually it was the easiest part. The greatest problem was in their game style. When you are playing in a group, the point of the game, most of the time, is for each of the characters of the group to join and to cooperate among themselves, but that was not the case there. Each of the players wanted to be more powerful than the others, wanted to have more attention from the DM than the others, wanted all the treasure to his or her character, and things like that. And every time they had to create a new character they looked for the most obscure and exotic race and/or class to play to be the most powerful inside the group. Here is the list of the bizarre characters in that group:
- The Knight of the Zodiac: There was this guy, the second or third most annoying in the group, totally addicted to anime/manga, that decided to create a Knight of the Zodiac character (remember that this is an AD&D game?). He found that in one of the worst Role-Playing Games magazine ever to be edited anywhere else in the world, called "Dragão Brasil". It was a totally unbalanced class, full of loopholes, which can make a 3rd level character more powerful than a 10th level one. Ridiculous to say the least! But the guy was already playing with that for sometime, and when I started to play he was already somewhere around 3rd or 4th level. But that is not all... The player decided to create a kid Knight of the Zodiac, his character was a 12 year old boy, but in all the sessions I participated he never interpreted a kid. He interpreted a kid, only when that would be advantageous to him. Every other time he was just a plain and raw character with the main interest to fight and show every other players how powerful he was. I have no problems with someone wanting to play a 12 years old boy in a game, since some of the rules for children in the game apply. For example, when you are 12 years old and human, your body is not fully grown yet, nor your mind is fully developed, so the PC should have some noticeable penalties in its attributes and skills. Regarding that class, I would NEVER allow such an unbalanced class to any of my players. The player was a guy in his early 20's, called Kelson, and wow... It was almost unbearable to play with him. He just paid attention to the game when he was playing, at all other times he was disrupting the other people's gameplay, making fun of everyone else, or just messing up with things and people around him.
- The Dinosaur Man: This was the character of a player that I do not remember the name anymore. But he was as annoying as Kelson, but sometimes he was able to be the most annoying in the group. He found a dinosaur manlike race in that same magazine that should be burned for the good sake of all serious role players in Brazil, showed that to the DM and then decided to use that in the game. Nobody was able to hit him, even when he was a first level character, due to its huge natural armor, and that made him the most reckless PC in the group, always looking for trouble anywhere he went knowing that almost no one would be able to hit him. During treasure sharing, sometimes he was the character that simply got everything he want just to see if someone else in the group would try to fight him. The weirdest part is that he did not knew how to communicate with anyone else in the group, he was the most annoying and troublesome character in the group, no one else liked him, and still one day he just joined the group for no reason at all, and people just let him there for no reason either. (You can see how those players interpreted their characters roles so well.) He was a dinosaur man cleric of Chaos, another class he found in that same magazine, also a totally unbalanced class. That race was surely not a race for a first level character, and the reasons why the PCs allowed him to remain on the group still eludes me.
- The Half-Illithid Half-Drow Elf: That for itself is just enough to make everyone wonder in what kind of AD&D Zoo I had placed myself. That was old 2nd edition, with all those drow and illithid almost invincible magic resistance, and also those powerful psionic powers (mind blast) and all that. The guy who was playing this character could be the most powerful character I have ever seen, wasn't him so lame and inexperienced - he was 16 and a first-time gamer. I have no idea why a DM would let a 1st level character of an inexperienced player, play as this powerful aberration. This guy died in the first or second game session after I started to play. I can not recall exactly how that happened, but it was a lame death anyway. The only think worth of notice he ever done, was the most weird, disgusting, and unexpected thing I have ever seen in a game so far. Instead of using its inate powerful psionic powers to attack some pirate, he decided to stop in the middle of the combat to make some of its physiological necessities inside a bucket and then throw it over the poor pirates. Maybe in that bizarre reality drow elves and illithids can mate and even love each other. I don't know, but I am sure that the story behind this PC was raw and totally faulty too. That is so lame that it gives me the creeps every time I think about that.
- The "Angel": There was also this guy, who had an angel as a character, but I only played with him in the table once, before he quit. I wonder why! HAUhAUhAUhUAhuAHa... What a zoo!!
- The Highlander: This was the character of my ex-girlfriend. In the middle of all that mess she was one of the most normal characters. She was a highlander, someone that can only die if he or she is beheaded. During the time that I played, she has not died nor even once, so her PC did not know that she herself was a highlander, and could not die. She played most of the time as a normal female fighter character, making her stupid mistakes sometimes, but being the wisest and the best role player amongst their fellow friends most of the time.
- The Bladesinger/Mage/Thief: This one was the epitome of the power player. He at least have not used that magazine while looking for race or character classes, he knew the system so thoroughly that he was able to create a master combo with all the official rules. Actually, that was not an unknown combo, but at least he used the official rules in his favor. He created a 10-page background story for his character, and all that. He was a good role player, eccentric, but a good player. The greatest problem was that this guy was totally full of himself, and acted like he was the best in the game table. (Actually, playing with a group like that, it is not difficult to think in this way, when you know the rules, and is a more experienced player that most of those pesky players.)
- The normal players: My character was the most usual one, just a plain human mage, with normal attribute scores, that was afraid of rabbits. There were two other players, a female druid, played by the DM's girlfriend, and a female necromancer, played by another female player, both of them first-timers.
When it was time to share the treasure found, it was like a war. The treasure was not divided in a roleplaying way, it had to be divided outside the game with some rules, if not they would start to fight and kill each other just for a +1 ring of protection. The group was a bunch a lame and inexperienced characters, that did not know how to interpret properly their roles in the game, and just wanted to show the other PCs how powerful was his or her character. The DM was also a lame DM who did not know, and I don't think he has learned so far, how to give a real challenge to their PCs, and lacked knowledge about rules and balancing issues inside the game. And that was the most improbable, mixed and bizarre group ever, I would not be surprised if there was a lawful good paladin fighting side-by-side with chaotic evil assassin, and they were best friends in that group. My ex-girlfriend was the one who role played best among these guys, and after playing with them for a while I found out why she made so many stupid mistakes in my game. She was just roleplaying in my game the way she would do in her official group.
I did not play with them a long time, it was just too much torment for myself. I played because of my ex-girlfriend, but after a while not even that was enough to make me go to their game willingly. The worst RPG experience ever in my life!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Hell's Bells
Vocals: Brian Johnson
Lead Guitar: Angus Young
Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals: Malcolm Young
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals: Cliff Williams
Drums: Phil Rudd
From the album "Back in Black", this is "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC. I have nothing else to say, just listen!
I'm the rolling thunder; the pouring rain.
I'm comin' on like a hurricane.
White lightning's flashing across the sky!
You're only young but you're gonna die!
I won't take no prisoners - won't spare no lives!
Nobody's putting up a fight!
I got my fill; I'm gonna take you to hell;
I'm gonna get you - Satan get you...
CHORUS:
Hell's Bells!
Yeah, Hell's Bells!
You got me ringing Hell's Bells!
My temperature's high! Hell's Bells!
I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine.
If you're into evil, you're a friend of mine.
See my white light flashing as I split the night,
'Cause if good's on the left, then I'm stickin' to the right!
I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives;
Nobody's puttin' up a fight.
I got my fill; I'm gonna take you to hell;
I'm gonna get you - Satan get you...
CHORUS
Yeow!
Hell's Bells, Satan's comin' to you!
Hell's Bells, he's ringing them now!
Hell's Bells, the temperature's high!
Hell's Bells, across the sky...
Hell's Bells, they're takin' you down.
Hell's Bells, they're draggin' you around.
Hell's Bells, gonna split the night!
Hell's Bells, there's no way to fight! Yeah!
Ow, ow, ow, ow!
Hell's Bells!
That is freakin' Rock'n'Roll in its purest and hardest form, babe!! Rock'n'Roll!! \m/,
Lead Guitar: Angus Young
Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals: Malcolm Young
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals: Cliff Williams
Drums: Phil Rudd
From the album "Back in Black", this is "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC. I have nothing else to say, just listen!
I'm the rolling thunder; the pouring rain.
I'm comin' on like a hurricane.
White lightning's flashing across the sky!
You're only young but you're gonna die!
I won't take no prisoners - won't spare no lives!
Nobody's putting up a fight!
I got my fill; I'm gonna take you to hell;
I'm gonna get you - Satan get you...
CHORUS:
Hell's Bells!
Yeah, Hell's Bells!
You got me ringing Hell's Bells!
My temperature's high! Hell's Bells!
I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine.
If you're into evil, you're a friend of mine.
See my white light flashing as I split the night,
'Cause if good's on the left, then I'm stickin' to the right!
I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives;
Nobody's puttin' up a fight.
I got my fill; I'm gonna take you to hell;
I'm gonna get you - Satan get you...
CHORUS
Yeow!
Hell's Bells, Satan's comin' to you!
Hell's Bells, he's ringing them now!
Hell's Bells, the temperature's high!
Hell's Bells, across the sky...
Hell's Bells, they're takin' you down.
Hell's Bells, they're draggin' you around.
Hell's Bells, gonna split the night!
Hell's Bells, there's no way to fight! Yeah!
Ow, ow, ow, ow!
Hell's Bells!
That is freakin' Rock'n'Roll in its purest and hardest form, babe!! Rock'n'Roll!! \m/,
Monday, January 21, 2008
Summer Night City
This will be a fast post. After writing a post about my RPG Campaign, one thing that I am sure, no one cares but my players, I decided to write something to my few other readers, to compensate that. So, here it goes: two versions of the same music...
So, which one do you prefer?
I liked both versions, but my favorite one, in this case, is the cover version... Therion!! It's Heavy Metal, babe! \m/,
Summer Night City
by Abba
Summer night city...
Summer night city...
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
In the sun I feel like sleeping
I can't take it for too long
My impatience slowly creeping
Up my spine and growing strong
I know what's waiting there for me
Tonight I'm loose and fancy-free
Aa-ahhh
When the night comes with the action
I just know it's time to go
Can't resist the strange attraction
From that giant dynamo
Lots to take and lots to give
Time to breathe and time to live
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
It's elusive call it glitter
Somehow something turns me on
Some folks only see the litter
We don't miss them when they're gone
I love the feeling in the air
My kind of people everywhere
When the night comes with the action
I just know it's time to go
Can't resist the strange attraction
From that giant dynamo
And tomorrow, when it's dawning
And the first birds start to sing
In the pale light of the morning
Nothing's worth remembering
It's a dream, it's out of reach
Scattered driftwood on the beach
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
(repeat 2x and fade)
Original version by Abba
Cover version by Therion
So, which one do you prefer?
I liked both versions, but my favorite one, in this case, is the cover version... Therion!! It's Heavy Metal, babe! \m/,
Summer Night City
by Abba
Summer night city...
Summer night city...
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
In the sun I feel like sleeping
I can't take it for too long
My impatience slowly creeping
Up my spine and growing strong
I know what's waiting there for me
Tonight I'm loose and fancy-free
Aa-ahhh
When the night comes with the action
I just know it's time to go
Can't resist the strange attraction
From that giant dynamo
Lots to take and lots to give
Time to breathe and time to live
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
It's elusive call it glitter
Somehow something turns me on
Some folks only see the litter
We don't miss them when they're gone
I love the feeling in the air
My kind of people everywhere
When the night comes with the action
I just know it's time to go
Can't resist the strange attraction
From that giant dynamo
And tomorrow, when it's dawning
And the first birds start to sing
In the pale light of the morning
Nothing's worth remembering
It's a dream, it's out of reach
Scattered driftwood on the beach
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
(repeat 2x and fade)
Campanha de RPG - O Complexo
Este texto é direcionado principalmente aos jogadores da minha aventura de RPG, mas fiquem à vontade para lê-lo, se assim desejarem. =D
Como já tem MUITO tempo que eu escrevi a última atualização, e eu não me recordo detalhadamente dos acontecimentos das últimas sessões do jogo (que ocorreram em abril e maio), e que não foram relatadas aqui, resolvi falar sobre a situação atual do local, e sobre as descobertas do grupo. Espero que até o jogo recomeçar, todos os detalhes mais importantes sejam esclarecidos, e correções serão feitas caso haja alguma contradição com o que foi escrito aqui neste período pré jogo e as lembraças de cada um dos jogadores. Portanto, meus prezados jogadores, manifestem-se caso algum fato tenha ficado nebuloso ou contraditório com as lembranças de cada um.
Eu não me lembro exatamente da contagem dos dias, mas isto eu tenho certeza que está anotado, e quando eu chegar em casa, eu terei certeza do dia em o jogo parou. A última atualização do jogo foi sobre o dia 67, e se eu me lembro bem, no máximo, se passaram mais 7 dias (tempo do jogo) até o dia da última sessão. Vocês estão, no máximo, no dia 74.
Não devo escrever tudo neste texto. Pretendo começar falando sobre as ruínas, onde os personagens se encontram, depois escrever mais detalhademente sobre o primeiro nível como um todo, e sobre cada uma das comunidades locais, e finalmente sobre onde o jogo parou. Tudo isto, descrevendo somente o que já foi descoberto pelos personagens sobre o local. Espero não falar demais, e contar sobre coisas que eles - os personagens de cada um de vocês - ainda não sabem, ou, no caso de se lembrarem de algo que eu não contei, me avisem que eu atualizo aqui.
As Ruínas do Complexo Subterrâneo:
O complexo subterrâneo, num passado já esquecido, era uma base avançada de uma raça de criaturas reptilianas. Ainda não se tem pistas sobre os objetivos destes seres, se são criaturas nativas do mundo ou se vieram de algum outro lugar, e nem sobre o destino final delas. Apesar dos vários "hieróglifos" encontrados em vários pontos do local, e depois de várias tentativas frustradas, a escrita e a língua das criaturas ainda se mostra indecifrável, mesmo com a ajuda de métodos mágicos. Sabe-se apenas que esta raça de criaturas tinha um alto grau do conhecimento mágico, e conseguiu desenvolver uma sociedade tecno-mágica muito desenvolvida, e alguns indícios parecem indicar que elas possuiam atributos mentais muito elevados. Observando as estátuas espalhadas pelo primeiro nível das ruínas, é possível distinguir dois tipos de criaturas, um grupo de criaturas com apenas um par de braços, e outro grupo com dois pares de braços, sendo que as estátuas com um par de braço são sempre menores que as estátuas com 2 pares de braço. E ambos os grupos ultrapassam em muito o tamanho médio dos humanóides atuais, o grupo mais baixo com altura mínima de 3m, e o grupo mais alto chegando a 4,5m de altura.
O complexo possui 8 níveis ou andares. Esse é um fato que a grande maioria dos habitantes do primeiro nível desconhece, e quando resolvem falar sobre os outros níveis, falam sempre como uma se fosse uma lenda, ou algo inalcansável, mesmo havendo indícios da existência dos outros andares.
Pelas lembraças fragmentadas do grupo, a entrada do Complexo é no topo de uma montanha, que se encontra numa ilha desolada, totalmente desabitada e coberta por névoas e árvores mortas. Não se sabe exatamente o que acontece depois de se passar pelo enorme portal de entrada no topo da montanha, mas após atravessá-lo se chega ao "Lago do Oblívio", que drena todas as memórias de qualquer pessoa que apenas toque em suas águas. Como todas as pessoas encontradas, que não nasceram dentro das Ruínas, não se lembram de nada do mundo exterior, imagina-se que todos que atravessam o portal, caem no lago, perdendo assim todas as memórias de sua vida anterior. Um grande corredor de quilômetros e quilômetros de extensão, totalmente escuro não fossem algumas pequenas salas luminosas em alguns pontos, leva até uma grande escadaria, onde no topo se encontra outra porta gigantesca, a porta de entrada para o primeiro nível.
Segundo Koka, e Dalamar, existem comunidades humanóides espalhadas por cada um dos 6 primeiros níveis. O esconderijo secreto de Koka, onde Dalamar passou um tempo, se encontra no 7o. nível, mas nada se sabe sobre o 8o. nível, apenas que ele existe, de acordo com informações de Koka e do Avatar.
Segundo Kurnfallud (o Grande "Demônio" Negro que apareceu no primeiro nível a poucos dias), os quatro primeiros níveis do complexo fazem parte de seu território. Sabe-se que no 2o. nível existe uma comunidade de anãos, e também uma grande comunidade de kobolds. Existe um certo tratado de não-agressão entre kobolds e anões, apesar dos dois grupos se odiarem. Aparentemente, Kurnfallud garante a paz dos anões, caso eles deixem os seus kobolds em paz, e paguem tributos períodicos a ele. Os anões controlam uma grande mina no segundo nível, e que é a fonte de toda a sua riqueza. Eventualmente, aparecem relatos de homens-lagarto no segundo nível, e sabe-se que eles tem grandes comunidades no terceiro nível, e todos eles prestam tributo ao "demônio". Os homens-lagarto do terceiro nível estão divididos em quatro grupos, de acordo com a cor das escamas: pretos, cinzas, verdes e vermelhos. E existe uma certa cooperação entre os grupos, e se sabe que Kurnfallud é mais influente entre os de escamas negras. Anões e homens-lagarto mantêm contatos ao mínimo, mas geralmente não há hostilidades, e o contato é geralmente comercial. Os anões, de modo geral, sabem da existência do primeiro e terceiro níveis, mas ou não sabem nada dos níveis a partir do quarto, ou realmente não comentam nada sobre isto. Os anões de forma geral, demonstram um certo desprezo pelos habitantes humanos do primeiro nível, mas sempre mantêm agentes infiltrados neste nível. Da mesma forma, os homens-lagarto do terceiro nível também mantém agentes infiltrados entre os humanos do primeiro nível. Os homens-lagarto apesar de saberem da existência do quarto nível, não comentam de forma alguma sobre este fato, e é praticamente tabu dentro de sua sociedade comentar sobre a existência dos níveis a partir do quinto.
Segundo informações de Koka para Dalamar, no quarto nível existe uma comunidade de humanos, uma comunidade de ogros, e o nível é um grande campo de batalhas. Informações sobre quem batalha contra quem não foram fornecidas. No quinto nível existe um grande cemitério, e no sexto nível existe um grupo de estudiosos e usuários de magia mais poderosos. No sétimo como já foi dito, é onde se encontra a base secreto de Koka, que segundo Dalamar, desapareceu, sem deixar vestígios. O sétimo nível foi descrito como apenas muito perigoso por Koka, e é um local extremamente quente, diferente do frio atual no primeiro nível. Dalamar notou uma certa estranheza na passagem de tempo, durante período em que ficou no 7o. nível.
Todas estas informações foram obtidas com o Avatar, Koka, com o "Lore Book" encontrado no corpo da halfling channeler, e com Kurnfallud. Nenhuma das fontes menciona nenhum Nexus de Magia, nenhum local mágico, e nenhuma das passagens que leva de um nível para o outro.
Continua...
Como já tem MUITO tempo que eu escrevi a última atualização, e eu não me recordo detalhadamente dos acontecimentos das últimas sessões do jogo (que ocorreram em abril e maio), e que não foram relatadas aqui, resolvi falar sobre a situação atual do local, e sobre as descobertas do grupo. Espero que até o jogo recomeçar, todos os detalhes mais importantes sejam esclarecidos, e correções serão feitas caso haja alguma contradição com o que foi escrito aqui neste período pré jogo e as lembraças de cada um dos jogadores. Portanto, meus prezados jogadores, manifestem-se caso algum fato tenha ficado nebuloso ou contraditório com as lembranças de cada um.
Eu não me lembro exatamente da contagem dos dias, mas isto eu tenho certeza que está anotado, e quando eu chegar em casa, eu terei certeza do dia em o jogo parou. A última atualização do jogo foi sobre o dia 67, e se eu me lembro bem, no máximo, se passaram mais 7 dias (tempo do jogo) até o dia da última sessão. Vocês estão, no máximo, no dia 74.
Não devo escrever tudo neste texto. Pretendo começar falando sobre as ruínas, onde os personagens se encontram, depois escrever mais detalhademente sobre o primeiro nível como um todo, e sobre cada uma das comunidades locais, e finalmente sobre onde o jogo parou. Tudo isto, descrevendo somente o que já foi descoberto pelos personagens sobre o local. Espero não falar demais, e contar sobre coisas que eles - os personagens de cada um de vocês - ainda não sabem, ou, no caso de se lembrarem de algo que eu não contei, me avisem que eu atualizo aqui.
As Ruínas do Complexo Subterrâneo:
O complexo subterrâneo, num passado já esquecido, era uma base avançada de uma raça de criaturas reptilianas. Ainda não se tem pistas sobre os objetivos destes seres, se são criaturas nativas do mundo ou se vieram de algum outro lugar, e nem sobre o destino final delas. Apesar dos vários "hieróglifos" encontrados em vários pontos do local, e depois de várias tentativas frustradas, a escrita e a língua das criaturas ainda se mostra indecifrável, mesmo com a ajuda de métodos mágicos. Sabe-se apenas que esta raça de criaturas tinha um alto grau do conhecimento mágico, e conseguiu desenvolver uma sociedade tecno-mágica muito desenvolvida, e alguns indícios parecem indicar que elas possuiam atributos mentais muito elevados. Observando as estátuas espalhadas pelo primeiro nível das ruínas, é possível distinguir dois tipos de criaturas, um grupo de criaturas com apenas um par de braços, e outro grupo com dois pares de braços, sendo que as estátuas com um par de braço são sempre menores que as estátuas com 2 pares de braço. E ambos os grupos ultrapassam em muito o tamanho médio dos humanóides atuais, o grupo mais baixo com altura mínima de 3m, e o grupo mais alto chegando a 4,5m de altura.
O complexo possui 8 níveis ou andares. Esse é um fato que a grande maioria dos habitantes do primeiro nível desconhece, e quando resolvem falar sobre os outros níveis, falam sempre como uma se fosse uma lenda, ou algo inalcansável, mesmo havendo indícios da existência dos outros andares.
Pelas lembraças fragmentadas do grupo, a entrada do Complexo é no topo de uma montanha, que se encontra numa ilha desolada, totalmente desabitada e coberta por névoas e árvores mortas. Não se sabe exatamente o que acontece depois de se passar pelo enorme portal de entrada no topo da montanha, mas após atravessá-lo se chega ao "Lago do Oblívio", que drena todas as memórias de qualquer pessoa que apenas toque em suas águas. Como todas as pessoas encontradas, que não nasceram dentro das Ruínas, não se lembram de nada do mundo exterior, imagina-se que todos que atravessam o portal, caem no lago, perdendo assim todas as memórias de sua vida anterior. Um grande corredor de quilômetros e quilômetros de extensão, totalmente escuro não fossem algumas pequenas salas luminosas em alguns pontos, leva até uma grande escadaria, onde no topo se encontra outra porta gigantesca, a porta de entrada para o primeiro nível.
Segundo Koka, e Dalamar, existem comunidades humanóides espalhadas por cada um dos 6 primeiros níveis. O esconderijo secreto de Koka, onde Dalamar passou um tempo, se encontra no 7o. nível, mas nada se sabe sobre o 8o. nível, apenas que ele existe, de acordo com informações de Koka e do Avatar.
Segundo Kurnfallud (o Grande "Demônio" Negro que apareceu no primeiro nível a poucos dias), os quatro primeiros níveis do complexo fazem parte de seu território. Sabe-se que no 2o. nível existe uma comunidade de anãos, e também uma grande comunidade de kobolds. Existe um certo tratado de não-agressão entre kobolds e anões, apesar dos dois grupos se odiarem. Aparentemente, Kurnfallud garante a paz dos anões, caso eles deixem os seus kobolds em paz, e paguem tributos períodicos a ele. Os anões controlam uma grande mina no segundo nível, e que é a fonte de toda a sua riqueza. Eventualmente, aparecem relatos de homens-lagarto no segundo nível, e sabe-se que eles tem grandes comunidades no terceiro nível, e todos eles prestam tributo ao "demônio". Os homens-lagarto do terceiro nível estão divididos em quatro grupos, de acordo com a cor das escamas: pretos, cinzas, verdes e vermelhos. E existe uma certa cooperação entre os grupos, e se sabe que Kurnfallud é mais influente entre os de escamas negras. Anões e homens-lagarto mantêm contatos ao mínimo, mas geralmente não há hostilidades, e o contato é geralmente comercial. Os anões, de modo geral, sabem da existência do primeiro e terceiro níveis, mas ou não sabem nada dos níveis a partir do quarto, ou realmente não comentam nada sobre isto. Os anões de forma geral, demonstram um certo desprezo pelos habitantes humanos do primeiro nível, mas sempre mantêm agentes infiltrados neste nível. Da mesma forma, os homens-lagarto do terceiro nível também mantém agentes infiltrados entre os humanos do primeiro nível. Os homens-lagarto apesar de saberem da existência do quarto nível, não comentam de forma alguma sobre este fato, e é praticamente tabu dentro de sua sociedade comentar sobre a existência dos níveis a partir do quinto.
Segundo informações de Koka para Dalamar, no quarto nível existe uma comunidade de humanos, uma comunidade de ogros, e o nível é um grande campo de batalhas. Informações sobre quem batalha contra quem não foram fornecidas. No quinto nível existe um grande cemitério, e no sexto nível existe um grupo de estudiosos e usuários de magia mais poderosos. No sétimo como já foi dito, é onde se encontra a base secreto de Koka, que segundo Dalamar, desapareceu, sem deixar vestígios. O sétimo nível foi descrito como apenas muito perigoso por Koka, e é um local extremamente quente, diferente do frio atual no primeiro nível. Dalamar notou uma certa estranheza na passagem de tempo, durante período em que ficou no 7o. nível.
Todas estas informações foram obtidas com o Avatar, Koka, com o "Lore Book" encontrado no corpo da halfling channeler, e com Kurnfallud. Nenhuma das fontes menciona nenhum Nexus de Magia, nenhum local mágico, e nenhuma das passagens que leva de um nível para o outro.
Continua...
Saturday, January 19, 2008
...of Eyelids, Classes, Blogs and House Invaders...
It is been a little while since I wrote here. I have been working a lot in these last two weeks, and when I got home my mind is so tired that I can barely think about something to write. And I realize today that I am really stressed. My eyelids are twitching non-stop since Tuesday, and the reason is probably related to stress. All my work is done in front of a computer, and sometimes I just focus my eyes at the screen, and I look at that intensely for hours and hours without realizing it. I also have been sleeping very little in these past days. My eyes must be really stressed.
At last, it is weekend and I guess I will rest my eyes a little bit for the next two days, or at least I will try it. Problem is: I have to work during the weekend too... Damn!!
My adviser is teaching "Stellar Astrophysics" in this term. I asked her if I could watch it, and she told me that I was welcome to go to the classes. It is weird, but after two years without having to worry about watching classes, and studying for exams, I was missing it. That was one of the main reasons that made me take this decision, the other reason is that I love this subject and I wanted to remember those things again. The only problem was that the classes were at 9:30AM, and to wake up around 7AM in this winter is an herculean effort. It is very cold, and it is still dark outside, so it is almost impossible to get out of bed. After watching her first class, last week, I was totally amazed. Her class is just PERFECT. After 10 years of Physics and Astrophysics, I am still to see someone teaching better than her. She is able to express everything with such clarity that it is almost impossible to have any lingering questions about it later. (Maybe I am exaggerating a little about it, but I am not writing it just because she is my adviser... So far her classes have been excellent.) The duration of the class is 1h30min, but after that time I am still very interested and eager to watch more and more... I don't even care anymore to wake up at 7AM two days a week to go to that class. Unfortunately for me, I won't be able to watch her class until the end, as I will return to Brazil just in the middle of the winter term here. She gave us some homework to do for next week, but she told me that I don't need to make the homeworks, after all I am not officially enrolled to her class and she also told me that I already have lots of work to do, but I am still thinking about solving some of the problems in the homework just for keep the mind sharp about the subject, and to try to remember things that should be somewhere lost in my head. (It is too nerdy to think like that...)
I had a lot of good teachers in Brazil, and very good ones by the way, but I can remember only one or two teachers that were able to be as clear as she is, but I still think she is the best. Maybe the reason for that is that I really love "Stellar Astrophysics", and now I am just in the class to remember things, and not really to learn any new thing. Maybe that counts to the fact that everything seems so clear to me... But none of the other students have any complain so far, actually they are really loving her class too.
I have already written here about my work blog, called "Stellar Xaos". I was really excited with that when I created it, but I have barely written anything there. There are two problems with that. The first is that I don't want to simply write about the things that I have done in one day, if I had made any progress in that day or not. I want to write when I really have something good to write, when I make some kind of breakthrough in my work, and things like that, and eventually write about the theory behind the work I am doing right now. So far, I am not having the time to write about any theory, and nothing excited happened. The work is progressing, but nothing worth to mention, yet... That is one of the reason I have not written anything new there for almost two weeks. The other thing is that the blog is hosted by Wordpress, and to be sincere, I don't like the limitations of that site. If I want to edit my template, for example, I have to pay a small fee, and that is not cool. They have a lot of interesting templates, but I would love to customize it. There are also other limitations regarding what features you can add to your blog.
So, it is very probable that I will change hosts, and as soon as I have something more excited to report, I will create another blog hosted by blogger.
In this very moment there are a lot of unknown people in my house, friends of my roommates. But I am very tired and lacking the patience for social rituals in this moment, so I am going to remain enclosed in my room. I just want peace and rest for my eyes right now...
At last, it is weekend and I guess I will rest my eyes a little bit for the next two days, or at least I will try it. Problem is: I have to work during the weekend too... Damn!!
My adviser is teaching "Stellar Astrophysics" in this term. I asked her if I could watch it, and she told me that I was welcome to go to the classes. It is weird, but after two years without having to worry about watching classes, and studying for exams, I was missing it. That was one of the main reasons that made me take this decision, the other reason is that I love this subject and I wanted to remember those things again. The only problem was that the classes were at 9:30AM, and to wake up around 7AM in this winter is an herculean effort. It is very cold, and it is still dark outside, so it is almost impossible to get out of bed. After watching her first class, last week, I was totally amazed. Her class is just PERFECT. After 10 years of Physics and Astrophysics, I am still to see someone teaching better than her. She is able to express everything with such clarity that it is almost impossible to have any lingering questions about it later. (Maybe I am exaggerating a little about it, but I am not writing it just because she is my adviser... So far her classes have been excellent.) The duration of the class is 1h30min, but after that time I am still very interested and eager to watch more and more... I don't even care anymore to wake up at 7AM two days a week to go to that class. Unfortunately for me, I won't be able to watch her class until the end, as I will return to Brazil just in the middle of the winter term here. She gave us some homework to do for next week, but she told me that I don't need to make the homeworks, after all I am not officially enrolled to her class and she also told me that I already have lots of work to do, but I am still thinking about solving some of the problems in the homework just for keep the mind sharp about the subject, and to try to remember things that should be somewhere lost in my head. (It is too nerdy to think like that...)
I had a lot of good teachers in Brazil, and very good ones by the way, but I can remember only one or two teachers that were able to be as clear as she is, but I still think she is the best. Maybe the reason for that is that I really love "Stellar Astrophysics", and now I am just in the class to remember things, and not really to learn any new thing. Maybe that counts to the fact that everything seems so clear to me... But none of the other students have any complain so far, actually they are really loving her class too.
I have already written here about my work blog, called "Stellar Xaos". I was really excited with that when I created it, but I have barely written anything there. There are two problems with that. The first is that I don't want to simply write about the things that I have done in one day, if I had made any progress in that day or not. I want to write when I really have something good to write, when I make some kind of breakthrough in my work, and things like that, and eventually write about the theory behind the work I am doing right now. So far, I am not having the time to write about any theory, and nothing excited happened. The work is progressing, but nothing worth to mention, yet... That is one of the reason I have not written anything new there for almost two weeks. The other thing is that the blog is hosted by Wordpress, and to be sincere, I don't like the limitations of that site. If I want to edit my template, for example, I have to pay a small fee, and that is not cool. They have a lot of interesting templates, but I would love to customize it. There are also other limitations regarding what features you can add to your blog.
So, it is very probable that I will change hosts, and as soon as I have something more excited to report, I will create another blog hosted by blogger.
In this very moment there are a lot of unknown people in my house, friends of my roommates. But I am very tired and lacking the patience for social rituals in this moment, so I am going to remain enclosed in my room. I just want peace and rest for my eyes right now...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Xaos Sob Controle
Cidadãos de Xaos, o Caos que se instalou sobre nossa cidade foi finalmente controlado. A cidade volta a ser o paraíso perdido novamente. Agradeço a quem quer que seja que tenha ajudado a controlar o desenvolvimento da cidade. Espero que ela continue assim, e que a onda de imigrantes descontrolados tenha sido apenas passageira, e provavelmente está ligada ao fato da cidade ser reconhecida em todos os cantos do Multiverso por suas plantações de cogumelos.
(Eu não entendo muito bem o fato de eu querer um crescimento tão harmônico numa cidade chamada Xaos, talvez seja apenas uma das várias nuances do Caos. Eu realmente prefiro que seja assim, por enquanto. :P)
(Eu não entendo muito bem o fato de eu querer um crescimento tão harmônico numa cidade chamada Xaos, talvez seja apenas uma das várias nuances do Caos. Eu realmente prefiro que seja assim, por enquanto. :P)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My thought about Fortran 77
Fortran 77 is an ancient, outdated, confusing, damned computer programming language, that should be banned from science once and for all. And, yes, I hate it!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Caos em Xaos
Senhores cidadãos de Xaos, é meu dever como prefeito comunicá-los de um grave problema que está assolando nossa bela cidade. Está ocorrendo uma imigração em massa para Xaos, ainda não sabemos de onde vieram tantos habitantes, mas de dois dias para cá o número de habitantes de Xaos, cresceu de maneira explosiva, e devido a este fato a economia da cidade começou a se desestabilizar. O número de desempregados assumiu proporções alarmantes, e a infra-estrutura das redes de transporte da cidade está sobrecarregada. Algumas pessoas, infelizmente, resolveram sair de Xaos devido à falta de controle da situação.
Devido a severidade da situação, como prefeito, tomarei medidas sérias para a resolução dos problemas:
[1] Slaads como criaturas totalmente caóticas, não têm necessidade de agir de acordo com a legislação municipal, estatal, federal, ou mesmo extra-planar, vigentes, e portanto podem se alimentar de qualquer criatura, independente do status de empregado, desempregado, portador de licença ou não. Portanto cidadão, a não ser que você seja mais poderoso que um deles, tenha cautela ao se aproximar destas amáveis criaturas. A prefeitura não se responsabiliza por nenhum ataque de Slaad que você ou sua família venha a sofrer, dentro ou fora dos limites da cidade;
Slaads, criaturas adoráveis.
Devido a severidade da situação, como prefeito, tomarei medidas sérias para a resolução dos problemas:
- A taxa de impostos das empresas que resolverem se instalar na cidade, gerando empregos para a população local, será diminuída em 2%. Empresas bioquímicas, que utilizarem a matéria prima local (cogumelos alucinógenos) em seus produtos, terão a taxação reduzida de 4%;
- Slaads terão todo o direito de se alimentar de desempregados, vadiando pelas ruas durante os horários de expediente normal. Portanto, qualquer pessoa que tenha um emprego deve adquirir uma permissão com sua empresa para poder andar livre pela cidade durante o expediente, sem perigo de ser devorado por sapos gigantes multicoloridos vindos de outro plano de existência[1];
- Não será tolerado de forma alguma, pessoas que não tenham pelo menos 5 dedos no pé esquerdo, e não mais que 7 dedos no pé direito! O descumprimento de tais exigências mínimas será punido com penas severas, tais como: assistir Teletubbies durante uma semana seguida; servir de cobaia em pesquisas bionucleares; cavar túneis sem propósito algum; servir como hospedeiro para ovos de Slaads; etc. A única excessão a regra é caso a pessoa comprove que seja verde, e consiga fazer fotossítese;
- Modrons, ou qualquer entidade originária de Mechanus, que não tenham o formato de um D37,23 (dado com 37,23 lados regulares), não serão aceitos de forma alguma dentro dos limites físicos da cidade, e serão atacados e destruídos pela milícia local ao primeiro contato visual.
[1] Slaads como criaturas totalmente caóticas, não têm necessidade de agir de acordo com a legislação municipal, estatal, federal, ou mesmo extra-planar, vigentes, e portanto podem se alimentar de qualquer criatura, independente do status de empregado, desempregado, portador de licença ou não. Portanto cidadão, a não ser que você seja mais poderoso que um deles, tenha cautela ao se aproximar destas amáveis criaturas. A prefeitura não se responsabiliza por nenhum ataque de Slaad que você ou sua família venha a sofrer, dentro ou fora dos limites da cidade;
Slaads, criaturas adoráveis.Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Future "Zombie"
When you start to think about not sleeping for a few days to work all night long, it means that you REALLY love what you do, or that you are REALLY late with your work... I REALLY love to sleep at night, so...
I will need a huge amount of cafeine in the next few days...
I will need a huge amount of cafeine in the next few days...
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Be quick or...
Sometimes I have the feeling that I am spending too much of my time writing in this blog... Is that a waste of time? I really don't know... I just know that most of the time, I have fun writing these senseless things that no one cares about! :P
By the way, I did not write about it, but I beat "Doom 3" around a week ago. I also watched "Silent Hill", and I loved this movie... That is a movie I can call psychedelic terror! And sometime in the future I am going to write a medicine-astrophysics paper, but first I have to meet a friend in Brazil, and then we will get drunk, and while drunk we will start to discuss about the ideas for this article. (And I'm quite sure she was not kidding when she told me that... That will be fun! HAuHAuHAuHAuHAuHAuHAUha... )
By the way, I did not write about it, but I beat "Doom 3" around a week ago. I also watched "Silent Hill", and I loved this movie... That is a movie I can call psychedelic terror! And sometime in the future I am going to write a medicine-astrophysics paper, but first I have to meet a friend in Brazil, and then we will get drunk, and while drunk we will start to discuss about the ideas for this article. (And I'm quite sure she was not kidding when she told me that... That will be fun! HAuHAuHAuHAuHAuHAuHAUha... )
Friday, January 4, 2008
Vegetarians - The Finished Previously Unfinished Post
Do you remember the "Senseless Post About an Unfinished Post"? I decided to finish the unfinished post, at last... Actually, I decided to rewrite it. So, here it comes...
For some time now, I have noticed that the number of vegetarian people is rising. I don't know why that is happening. Some years ago, I knew no vegetarian people. But today, every once in a while I meet someone who does not eat meat. This fact is quite disturbing in my opinion. One of the greatest characteristics that defines a human being is the fact the we are on the very top of the food chain (actually we share the top with other species, but that is no demerit when we realize that the other species are the greatest hunters in nature, and we have the intellect to even supersede them in their game). Most of these people do not eat meat due to some environmental concern, or spiritual ones, or due to the fact that animals must be harmed if we want to eat them. Very few, just do not like to eat meat, or do not feel good after eating flesh and blood.
Nature is the greatest example to be followed in the Universe. Nature is the very embodiment of Wisdom in all the Multiverse, and is something that must be respected above all else. And for the environment to work properly, some species must simply use others as a source of nourishment, and I am sure these species higher in the food chain do not feel any remorse after being satiated by the flesh and blood of the weaker ones. That is simply Nature, and that is the way Nature uses to control the Entropy levels of the whole ecosystem. Unfortunately for some species, the meaning of their existence is simply to serve as food for others, and I am not the one who have the right to change that.
People usually think that due to the fact that humans have a much more developed brain than other beings, imply that we must respect all other animals as equals, and not treat them as simply food. They think that with our current technology we can very well create some other sources of nourishment that could substitute and then free some animals of their ultimate demise of being sliced and crushed by our teeth. What would be of cattle if we simply stop eating them. Probably they all will die, because they do not know how to live in the wilderness, all by themselves anymore, and if they do not have any purpose to us, I am sure we will not take care of them as a simply act of kindness to compensate them for the unfortunate fate of their ancestors. Actually, we have a kind of symbiotic relation with all these animals that serve as a source of food for us. We feed them, we let them reproduce, we take care of them and their offspring, we kept them alive until they reach the stage when it is time for them to help with our survival (unfortunately for them, their main fate is as a source of nutrients for our body). It does not matter how they are treated by their cattle raisers, that is the only way they know how to live, and they would not be able to survive in any other way (something similar to what happened in "Brave New World"). They can survive alone for a while without anyone to take care of them, but that would not last too long. They would be easy prey for some other predators. And they would need a very long time to re-adapt themselves in the wilderness again. To let them loose, is the same as to bring species to extinction. Nature would need some time (maybe many thousands of years or more) to re-adapt itself after being provided with another set of conditions to being obeyed. So, now we have to keep using them as nourishment if we want to keep the balance in the ecosystem.
We also eat meat since the dawn of our species, and that is the main reason that differentiate us from other animals. Our species never had any special physical characteristic that would highlight us in the middle of the predatory class. To compensate our lack of strength, somewhere in the forgotten past, as a mean to obtain meat, the primitive humans (if they can really be called humans by that time) started to develop other skills to hunt their prey, like tactics, better hunting strategies, and finally started to use tools to help in the task... All our civilization was constructed over our predatory instinct, and our brain is developed as it is today due to the fact that we based most of our dietary habits on meat. Our body needs meat, and so far there is not other kind of aliment that can be used to substitute animal meat and blood in our diet. Of course, today we do not need to hunt to keep our minds sharp, but during millions of years our body evolved around the basic need of eating flesh, and it would take another million of years for it to evolve into a body that would not need to use that as a primary source of energy and nutrients (unless we use some genetic way to accelerate this process, of course). So if you simply stop to eat anything that came from a animal source, I am sure, your body will be less apt to resist and survive all the ailments it certainly will suffer over the span of your lifetime. Human body is very adaptable to survive in harsh conditions, but without meat, fat, blood, it won't survive for long in any kind of critical condition.
If the human race wants to stop eating meat (something that I am totally against), it should do that in steps, and not simply halting these kinds of aliments from entering their bodies. That would create problems to all the ecosystem as also for our own species.
So, continue to follow our rightful omnivorous way, to help human evolution, and to keep Nature's balance! And be proud of your place in the top of the Food Chain! Yeah...
Just to finish, as Troy McLure said: "If a cow had the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about." (Think about it! :P)
Obs: If you are part of the few who can't eat meat simply because your body is unable to digest it properly anymore, and when you do, it disrupts all your internal processes, well...I am sorry for you. You are part of the human evolutionary branch that will turn into a different and weaker specie that will be used as slaves for our stronger breed at some point in the future. Be careful, weakling, or your offspring will be easy prey for ours! Or that, or you can force your body to re-adapt itself again, eating flesh, and feeling the pleasures that only fresh blood can provide you. ]-]
P.S.: For some strange reason I would love to have larger and stronger canines! I don't know why! :P
For some time now, I have noticed that the number of vegetarian people is rising. I don't know why that is happening. Some years ago, I knew no vegetarian people. But today, every once in a while I meet someone who does not eat meat. This fact is quite disturbing in my opinion. One of the greatest characteristics that defines a human being is the fact the we are on the very top of the food chain (actually we share the top with other species, but that is no demerit when we realize that the other species are the greatest hunters in nature, and we have the intellect to even supersede them in their game). Most of these people do not eat meat due to some environmental concern, or spiritual ones, or due to the fact that animals must be harmed if we want to eat them. Very few, just do not like to eat meat, or do not feel good after eating flesh and blood.
Nature is the greatest example to be followed in the Universe. Nature is the very embodiment of Wisdom in all the Multiverse, and is something that must be respected above all else. And for the environment to work properly, some species must simply use others as a source of nourishment, and I am sure these species higher in the food chain do not feel any remorse after being satiated by the flesh and blood of the weaker ones. That is simply Nature, and that is the way Nature uses to control the Entropy levels of the whole ecosystem. Unfortunately for some species, the meaning of their existence is simply to serve as food for others, and I am not the one who have the right to change that.
People usually think that due to the fact that humans have a much more developed brain than other beings, imply that we must respect all other animals as equals, and not treat them as simply food. They think that with our current technology we can very well create some other sources of nourishment that could substitute and then free some animals of their ultimate demise of being sliced and crushed by our teeth. What would be of cattle if we simply stop eating them. Probably they all will die, because they do not know how to live in the wilderness, all by themselves anymore, and if they do not have any purpose to us, I am sure we will not take care of them as a simply act of kindness to compensate them for the unfortunate fate of their ancestors. Actually, we have a kind of symbiotic relation with all these animals that serve as a source of food for us. We feed them, we let them reproduce, we take care of them and their offspring, we kept them alive until they reach the stage when it is time for them to help with our survival (unfortunately for them, their main fate is as a source of nutrients for our body). It does not matter how they are treated by their cattle raisers, that is the only way they know how to live, and they would not be able to survive in any other way (something similar to what happened in "Brave New World"). They can survive alone for a while without anyone to take care of them, but that would not last too long. They would be easy prey for some other predators. And they would need a very long time to re-adapt themselves in the wilderness again. To let them loose, is the same as to bring species to extinction. Nature would need some time (maybe many thousands of years or more) to re-adapt itself after being provided with another set of conditions to being obeyed. So, now we have to keep using them as nourishment if we want to keep the balance in the ecosystem.
We also eat meat since the dawn of our species, and that is the main reason that differentiate us from other animals. Our species never had any special physical characteristic that would highlight us in the middle of the predatory class. To compensate our lack of strength, somewhere in the forgotten past, as a mean to obtain meat, the primitive humans (if they can really be called humans by that time) started to develop other skills to hunt their prey, like tactics, better hunting strategies, and finally started to use tools to help in the task... All our civilization was constructed over our predatory instinct, and our brain is developed as it is today due to the fact that we based most of our dietary habits on meat. Our body needs meat, and so far there is not other kind of aliment that can be used to substitute animal meat and blood in our diet. Of course, today we do not need to hunt to keep our minds sharp, but during millions of years our body evolved around the basic need of eating flesh, and it would take another million of years for it to evolve into a body that would not need to use that as a primary source of energy and nutrients (unless we use some genetic way to accelerate this process, of course). So if you simply stop to eat anything that came from a animal source, I am sure, your body will be less apt to resist and survive all the ailments it certainly will suffer over the span of your lifetime. Human body is very adaptable to survive in harsh conditions, but without meat, fat, blood, it won't survive for long in any kind of critical condition.
If the human race wants to stop eating meat (something that I am totally against), it should do that in steps, and not simply halting these kinds of aliments from entering their bodies. That would create problems to all the ecosystem as also for our own species.
So, continue to follow our rightful omnivorous way, to help human evolution, and to keep Nature's balance! And be proud of your place in the top of the Food Chain! Yeah...
Just to finish, as Troy McLure said: "If a cow had the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about." (Think about it! :P)
Obs: If you are part of the few who can't eat meat simply because your body is unable to digest it properly anymore, and when you do, it disrupts all your internal processes, well...I am sorry for you. You are part of the human evolutionary branch that will turn into a different and weaker specie that will be used as slaves for our stronger breed at some point in the future. Be careful, weakling, or your offspring will be easy prey for ours! Or that, or you can force your body to re-adapt itself again, eating flesh, and feeling the pleasures that only fresh blood can provide you. ]-]
P.S.: For some strange reason I would love to have larger and stronger canines! I don't know why! :P
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
So 2008 started...
First post of the year! I was thinking about writing about the New Year's Party, yesterday, but I decided that I am going to write about it later, but I will publish it only one year from now. Well... if I remember about it by that time. But I can tell you that the party was okay, far from the best, but it was not the worst, either. It was very different, though. And by the end of the night I was sure about one thing... I shall never be dependent on the goodwill of others again! That was also something I learned last year. That does not mean I will not trust anyone anymore, it just means that I will never expect any favor or any kindness from anyone, anymore... It does not mean I did not meet nice people here, far from that, but I have met a few people who disappointed me. I will write about it sometime in the future... It simply is not time for that yet...
Changing subject totally, today, in the first day of this still new year, Xaos received its 100th habitant, and it turned into a hamlet. It is still a very small place, but it is getting larger. So far, Xaos has 100 habitants, and 17 industries, no unemployment, no pollution, no crimes, and everybody has access to transportation. As the Mayor of Xaos, I am very proud of the city development, and I welcome everyone who wants to come to Xaos, to live or to set up some industries. With this rising number of habitants, I am also looking for people interested in help to develop the transport networks of our beloved Xaos, if you are such person, feel free to come to Xaos, and talk to me about it.
When I woke up today, I turned on the TV, and there was a show about the future first human mission to Mars. We still have to overcome so many problems, some of them very difficult ones, but I am sure I am going to see that happen. There are a lot of people in the world that are totally against such crazy and extremely expensive projects, and think that this colossal project is a tremendous waste of resources, while there are so many problems to be solved on Earth, like famine, poverty, environmental problems, etc... I really do not think that as a waste of resources, actually, I see that as one of the biggest hopes for humankind... I am not thinking about the end of life on Earth due to our lack of success in reverse all the environmental damage already done to our planet... I am, actually, thinking about hope for humankind, thinking about untapped human potential, and technological advancements. I am sure that when that happens all humanity will stop everything to see that happening, as happened when humans first set foot on the Moon. That kind of thing is something that for a very brief moment of time makes you proud of being part of the human race. That moment will be the most exciting event of this century, when that happens... Only to think about the technological advancements necessary for that trip makes me excited.
After I have watched that show about the Mars trip, I decided to start shoveling the snow outside the house. Damn... That was tiresome! I am broken right now... Enough exercise for one week. I love when it snows, as it was snowing when the New Year started, but shovel snow is not fun! :P
Changing subject totally, today, in the first day of this still new year, Xaos received its 100th habitant, and it turned into a hamlet. It is still a very small place, but it is getting larger. So far, Xaos has 100 habitants, and 17 industries, no unemployment, no pollution, no crimes, and everybody has access to transportation. As the Mayor of Xaos, I am very proud of the city development, and I welcome everyone who wants to come to Xaos, to live or to set up some industries. With this rising number of habitants, I am also looking for people interested in help to develop the transport networks of our beloved Xaos, if you are such person, feel free to come to Xaos, and talk to me about it.
When I woke up today, I turned on the TV, and there was a show about the future first human mission to Mars. We still have to overcome so many problems, some of them very difficult ones, but I am sure I am going to see that happen. There are a lot of people in the world that are totally against such crazy and extremely expensive projects, and think that this colossal project is a tremendous waste of resources, while there are so many problems to be solved on Earth, like famine, poverty, environmental problems, etc... I really do not think that as a waste of resources, actually, I see that as one of the biggest hopes for humankind... I am not thinking about the end of life on Earth due to our lack of success in reverse all the environmental damage already done to our planet... I am, actually, thinking about hope for humankind, thinking about untapped human potential, and technological advancements. I am sure that when that happens all humanity will stop everything to see that happening, as happened when humans first set foot on the Moon. That kind of thing is something that for a very brief moment of time makes you proud of being part of the human race. That moment will be the most exciting event of this century, when that happens... Only to think about the technological advancements necessary for that trip makes me excited.
After I have watched that show about the Mars trip, I decided to start shoveling the snow outside the house. Damn... That was tiresome! I am broken right now... Enough exercise for one week. I love when it snows, as it was snowing when the New Year started, but shovel snow is not fun! :P
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