Natieus_Maximus's Xanga

Birthday

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:18:57 GMT

Oops, my birthday was yesterday.

Happy birthday to me.

Also, I got a job at the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. Yay!

Apparently it is an early-morning job, so I better learn how to like coffee.

-Swiftblade

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:23:26 GMT

I'm not dead. I just kinda shifted my focus to facebook, since all my pals are forced to read whatever I write.

"There is no IRL, just AFK."

深夜オレがテレビを見てい

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:27:01 GMT

"Hey, this is terrific!" shouted Zaphod. "Someone down there is trying to kill us!"

Did I mention that I don't like my house? My parents constantly remind me that they are the reason I live, breathe, and die. I'm appreciative, but they don't notice I am appreciative.

I just want to finish college and forget that I owe anyone anything. I can't really help it, it's the atmosphere I was raised in. I hate owing people things(one of the reasons I will never get a credit card) and as such I have an incredible record of paying back debts on time. My good reputation with returning borrowed money will probably pay off sooner or later.

-Nate

Lol wut

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:30:27 GMT

"We are Anonymous. None of us is just as powerful as all of us; and we are never, never, never your personal army." -Anonymous

"Dear Swiftblade, how do I nazo nazo?"

Swiftblade is back to write about Japan.

Japan is an incredible place despite the fact that it is not too different from America in terms of how it is run. It is hard to describe Tokyo in itself. Tokyo and Japan are two different entities, yet Tokyo is so large, so famous, and contains such a large portion of the population that the two are often though of as one. For the rest of this Note, Swiftblade will refer to Tokyo as Japan and vice versa.

There's something that makes Japan such a nice place; the first being TRANSITION. Remember that word. The Japanese are masters of the art of transition. Every single thing they build, organize, and make, are made for transition. Little things like the doors, the products, the trains, everything is just so transitory it feels weird. I'm used to have to kicking things to make them work, to step over that giant crack in the sidewalk, but nothing.

Vending machines every 100 feet is pure brilliance. I am never thirsty. Trains go everywhere. There's walking space for every pedestrian. There are millions of businesses all stacked upon each other that make customer service their primary goal. For all I know, they could absolutely despise their job but never show it. That is why I always try to be sincerely polite and helpful, because for all I know they could be cursing the very air I breathe behind my back. This worries me.

I don't like forcing the Japanese to speak English to converse with me because it reminds me of back home where my government is forcing all my teachers to speak Spanish. Absolute bullcrap, so I use Japanese whenever I can, and request for them to speak it as well. No culture should ever have to bend over backwards for tourists. It works rather well for learning. Asking for directions is easy, and words I don't know I simply request the meanings to. Come to America, learn English. Go to Japan, learn Japanese. China, France, etc.

Japan is fun in unique ways. For starters, no space is wasted. Tokyo is a tight place. So a 12-story office building will have 12 different businesses in it, not just one. The really big (REALLY big) businesses like Yodabashi Camera will have entire buildings for themselves, and each floor will have different services for customers. Not only that, basement floors are heavily used. A manga(comic) store I visited today was 5 floors underground and had more manga than a Barnes and Noble had books. That is frightening. Not to mention I nearly wandered into the yaoi doujinshi section... yeah.

I stayed in what is known as a Capsule Hotel in my first day because I couldn't get to the offices of my place before their closing time. For those of you who don't know what a capsule hotel is, go here.
For those who want to see my room, my photo albums are on facebook anyway.

I don't know why the people often assume the Japanese are mechanical and uncreative. I've seen more fashion statements and uniqueness in Harajuku and Shinjuku in three days than ill probably ever see anywhere else; kinda weird fashions, but they are there. Also, people in Japan do have senses of humor, believe it or not. Even the old business dudes laugh around. I think the rules for Japan are the same rules for America. As long as people have something to be happy about, they'll be happy. All there is to it. I can't tell if they are thinking something horrible, but if they are simply doing good things, that is good enough for me.

(Don't come to Japan without learning Japanese first. It's rude, as though you are not even making an effort to communicate properly even though you have the means to.)

~Swiftblade

Wandering Samurai

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:51:43 GMT

"Space Invaders proved so addictive that it not only inaugurated an entire video game paradigm, it caused a nationwide coin shortage in Japan." -Chris Green

I am going to Japan this Friday; Leaving on a flight to Seattle which then branches into Tokyo. Then I stay in a capsule hotel overnight, sign in at Sakura House and head to my particular room, which is in the Ikebukuro District. It's called "Shimura 3 chome." No idea what that stands for. 7-minute walk from the Mita line which leads to the Yamanote (which goes to pretty much anywhere in Tokyo, God bless them).

A picture of the place:

My room:

Floor plan (I am in 203):

And the roof (It always ticked me off that I could never go to the roofs of buildings in Philadelphia to relax).

I'll be sharing my room with another guy (lowers the price) and the great part is the most of the rooms are women-only, which means... that there will be women in the building. Yes.

Okay, perhaps not green-haired girls with fangs who enjoy jogging.

But in any case, it looks to be a fun trip. 7 weeks is a long time to be gone. I am attending school 3 hours a day from 月曜日ー金曜日 at Sendagaya Japanese Institute. As with usual Japanese addresses (there is no such thing) it looks I will have to find my way using pictures and local advice.

Will add more later.

Nippon Knockout

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 19:38:35 GMT

"There's an incredible amount of energy in Japan and increasingly in China." -Vinton Cerf

Unfortunately TeamServe rejected my application saying that all their spots were full for the Japan missions. Then, I attempted to contact WLE (World Link Exchange) for their 8-week trip to Japan whose deadline I had missed. I called and they said the most depressing thing; that they were accepting late applications but all their spots were full. So finally after scouring the net I found a rolling-admissions Center for Study Abroad. If all goes well (which it should) I should be leaving on July 6.

By the way, I think THIS MACHINE is the smartest idea in the world.

The only problem is housing. My parents do not want to pay 250$ a week to stay with a host family. I don't mind staying in a guest room at Sakura House for 400$ a month, but I don't know how reliable it is or how far away it is from the school(they didn't give me the address yet).

It will take place in Tokyo, so it shouldn't be boring, despite the 3-hour Japanese class every morning. I'm just worried that i'll get lost on the subway.

So, uh, wish me luck.

~Swiftblade

Transparency

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:51:01 GMT

"Are you sure you don't want to try any other places?" -Teamserve

Hello, everyone. In this entry, I am going to try a variety of different text colors to test it against the background.

In reality, I want my weblog to have a semi-transparent glass-like background so that you can see the background picture much better.

This is a green color. Sour apple, if you will.

I called TS about my Japan application and there is a possibility(A POSSIBILITY) that all slots to Japan are full. If that is the case, I will have to attempt a study abroad session where I audit classes at Hofstra University. It won't be very strenuous and I will be able to see Tokyo for two weeks, then Hiroshima and others. Andrew, if you want to meet up and talk, that's fine, but Tokyo's a pretty big place and you're probably a really busy guy.

I wouldn't mind meeting mr. panda but I think he is stuck at his job with the worst luck imaginable (boobs + Macintosh unfamiliarity, etc.).

I know this sounds superficial but I would like to see Comiket or the Tokyo Game Show (since they killed E3). I know, nerdship never dies, but going to Japan without noting their animation or comic industry is like going to Italy without eating pizza.

I have to go study for my final exam (Physics) so i'll leave you now.

JAPANESE TERM OF THE DAY: "sakujou" ::: eliminate

~Swiftblade

Xanga Themes

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:21:23 GMT

"Nothing risked, nothing gained; or lost."

So I flipped over a new leaf today and decided to try out the xanga themes application. I think I like it... we will see what happens. I hate conformity, though. I've always prided myself that I never relied on code to build my page.

So I want to extend a question to you guys. Do you see a really annoying light blue ad every time you visit my page? That ugly retirement home blue? If you do, I will change it back.

One of my biggest beef with xanga is that it must have ads on every person's blog; it's nasty, it interferes with the color, etc. And this stupid Premium service is the only way to get rid of it. That's retarded.

So comment.

-Nate

Quit with the "War on Terrorism" Already

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 05:57:34 GMT

This is a damn good point and I am almost ashamed that I never thought about that. It just goes to show how brainwashed we all are about the things we already know.

1) It is not a war in the default definition of war—

a) There are no nations clearly attached to it. One minute it's Afghanistan, the next minute it's Iraq, then maybe it's also North Korea, or perhaps it may include Iran, or it may be aimed at Syria and Lebanon too, etc.

b) Congress never declared this war.

c) We are fighting an ideal.

2) As such, the President is insulting the American people when he justifies wiretapping and torture with the phrase "This is necessary in the war on terrorism."

3) It is a 'war' that can never be won. No matter how much you restrict and monitor the citizens of any country, there will still be terrorist acts from time to time. Period.

4) It has been an effective tactic itself—giving the more impressionable public a sound byte to use when faced with an imposing law or regulation. "I don't like having my luggage searched, and my internet traffic monitored, and detention camps built on US soil, and my finances scrutinized . . . but hey we're fighting a war on terrorism so I guess it's OK."

5) It has been repeated over and over again so that it now sounds true to many people, but it can be translated to say that in order to prevent violent acts (terrorism) we are going to commit an even greater amount of violent acts (wars). Simply stated, it justifies fighting violence with more violence.

One man's terrorist is another man's hero.

This "War on Terror" is just a way for the government to make people feel affraid, make us feel like endless war is justified... I really hope people are smart enough to wake up and stop this bullshit.

A war on terror is just as bad as a war on drugs... both will never end if you keep trying... Terrorists will never go away, because the ideal they fight for is the right thing to do in their mind.

V for Vendetta shows, in a way that 'We' can see and support how terrorists can be heroes to those they fight for.

They aren't necessarily fighting against us because they hate our freedom... They hate us and fight against us, because we stuck our noses where they didn't belong, and bullied them around for their resources... They fight us because we continue to bully and occupy their world and refuse to leave them the fuck alone to live and make the choices they want with their lives and with their resources.

As l long as we fight them... they will always fight back, they are no more terrorists than we are. And the idea of that thing we call terrorist doesn't really exist... You're only a terrorist to your enemy...

On that note, please take note of my candidate, Ron Paul, the last remaining Republican who understands the true conservatism and wants to re-instate American's former non-interventionist foreign policy (As Ronald Reagan intended). Voted against the Iraq War, wants issues such as abortion and homosexual marriage left up to the STATE, and not the federal courts, cut WAY BACK on government spending, restore damaged reputation overseas.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=peBGJwE9NXo

I know that Barack Obama is a very tempting choice, but his ideals have been tried tirelessly over and over again (free healthcare for all, we all know how that works, especially with the whole raised taxes thing). God forbid that you throw another Clinton clone into office, too.

If you must vote Democrat at all costs and would rather slit your wrists than press a button in favor of the Republican Party, at least vote for Richardson.

JAPANESE TERM OF THE DAY: "otaku" ::: weeaboo

~Swiftblade

You don't need a credit card to ride this train

Thu, 24 May 2007 05:54:01 GMT

QUOTE: "Republicans have a history of being anti-war." -Ron Paul

I've been watching some news lately, which I don't usually do anymore because I can finally see current media for the thing that it is; completely manipulated by government and celebrities. Terrible, when America must turn to Comedy Central to find the real version of their news. I'm not criticizing The Daily Show or the Colbert Report (I love these shows) I just wish I could trust my current media enough so that those shows wouldn't be my sole source of news receiving (well, that, and Digg)

After a little while, though, I began to notice a particular candidate, Ron Paul, who seemed to stand out from the rest of the candidates as an honest speaker. A lot of what he said ran true; he quoted specific sources such as the 9/11 Commission Report and the CIA and didn't use simple rhetoric to sway the crowd, unlike the rest of the candidates (Mitt Romney: Double Guantanamo, uh huh. And the Jack Bauer guy. Sheesh)

I'll be watching Ron Paul, but here's the interesting thing. Paul is up at the top of every YouTube's list, he is winning every online poll that FOX doesn't fix, and he is gaining a lot of attention despite CNN's Obama card and FOX's Giuliani card. That being said, this may be the first candidate that could win through the internet alone.

I know that a lot of people say that America is beyond saving, and that we have already lost so much that to fix all of the nasty mistakes that our government has made, such as the removal of habeas corpus, the ability for the President to overcome the Legislative and Judicial branches of government in times of "emergency," our lost respect from every international view, etc.

Less power to the central government, more to the states.

Powerful security, but maintaining freedom.

Go get them, Paul.

JAPANESE TERM OF THE DAY: "neko & inu" ::: cats and dogs

~Swiftblade