The Finest Hour

Meanwhile, in City 17...

2011-08-25T09:04:00.000-03:00

While Valve keeps hating everyone that lives (by not releasing Half-Life 2: Episode 3, or even Half-Life 3), we can suppress our needs with some of the awesome fan movies that come out every now and then. These two parts of "Escape from City 17" are among the best:

This one is also spectacular, and it's a video I'd pay good money to help make a sequel:

Yeah. Now let's go back to crying.

Gran Turismo 5

2010-11-30T12:44:00.000-02:00

It's finally here (metaphorically speaking; mine hasn't arrived yet). It's crazy to think that GT4 came out almost 6 years ago. The wait was long, but it looks to have been worth it. 1032 cars, dozens of tracks and track configurations, track creation, kart racing... It seems to have it all. I can't wait to get mine and start being angry at the simulation and how hard it will be to complete the S licenses.

I'm even considering getting a Logitech G27 wheel + support to play it. Sure, I will use it with other games, like NFS: Shift, F1 2010 and so on, but GT5 will be the main reason for purchasing it.

While waiting for the game, here are some excellent (as always) articles from Digital Foundry:

The last one in particular shows how much the series evolved since its first iteration. The models, the lightning, it's all evolved so much.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

2010-11-09T09:54:00.000-02:00

The new NFS, this one coming from Criterion Games of Burnout fame, is a week from release and the reviews are starting to pop. IGN gave it a 9.0 and praised most of the game. Game Informer gave it an 8.75. Good scores, definitely. But why have I lost interest in the game?

Burnout Paradise is my favourite racing game, ever. I played it more than I played any other game of the genre, and it's so good I could play it right now, years after it first came out. The game was excellent in every aspect, and that got even better with the amazing free DLC that came out after launch, giving us more cars, more events, event restarts (a major game-changing option that corrected its biggest flaw) and bikes. Bikes! Driving a motorcycle in Paradise City was simply amazing. The game had everything I could possibily want: great graphics (which are still great today), an awesome soundtrack and a very fun gameplay. Let's not forget that it was just great to simply drive around Paradise City, discovering new events to try, finding out new parking garages and beating road times. There were dozens of billboards to destroy and hundreds of special gates to run over. And at any time you could start Showdown and cinematically crash at anything you could see. At any time you could press a few buttons and almost immediately join an online lobby and try one of hundreds of great challenges with friends or randoms. I can't praise the game enough. If you haven't tried it, you're missing out, big time. Please get the game and all the DLCs.

All that seems to be absent from Hot Pursuit. There's a new location, Seacrest County, but it looks really bland. Paradise City had a personality, with great, remarkable locations everywhere, from the beaches to the long bridge and the Quarry. Seacrest, from what I have seen, has some great-looking scenery, but that's it. There's no personality in the locations, it's just a bunch of road put together with different background. There's no reason to roam freely around it: you have to choose the events from the main menu in a world map. The events seem to include only racing as a cop, or racing away from them. There are no secrets to be discovered (shortcuts don't count). The new Autolog feature is definitely great, but it doesn't seem to compensate the other faults.

You may be saying "this is a Need for Speed, not a Burnout" and you'd be right. This isn't a Burnout, and that's why I think I'm disappointed. Criterion has so much potential to make a new, awesome Burnout, but their talent was somewhat wasted with a new NFS that looks good, but not great, and not nearly as exciting as a Burnout. Sure, they're probably working on a new one now that NFS is done with, but how long will it take to finish that? A year? Two? That's too much. The world needs a new Burnout, and it needs it now.

Kung Pow

2010-11-02T09:16:00.001-02:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Pow

One of my favourite comedies from all time. I just rewatched it, after many years, and it's still hilarious. The sequel is supposed to come out in 2010 according to IMDB, but I doubt it will.

In the meanwhile, watch one of the best scenes in the movie:

The box 2

2010-09-21T08:28:00.000-03:00

Tablet

2010-09-20T01:37:00.000-03:00

This post should have come before the previous one, but whatever. I bought a Wacom Bamboo Fun and it's awesome. It's great to work and I'll slowly try to learn drawing with it.

And it's not a Jack.

The box

2010-09-19T17:11:00.000-03:00

Review: Joe Danger [PSN]

2010-07-13T09:08:00.001-03:00

I just posted a new review in PS3Brasil:

Joe Danger - Playstation 3 (available through the Playstation Network)

Here's the link for the Google-translated English review, and this is the link for the original version, in Brazilian Portuguese.

2010 FIFA World Cup

2010-06-29T07:27:00.000-03:00

So, the World Cup is well on its way and Brazil has managed to get to the quarter finals. Besides some disappointments with the squad, the team has advanced on its own merits and is closer to the finals. If things go well, we could have the most antecipated game of History in mid-July: Brazil x Argentina in a World Cup final. I hope we get there, and I hope we win. Losing to Argentina in a final would be humiliating, to say the least.

Meanwhile, I think I'm buying EA's 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa for the PS3. I wanted to get Fifa 10, but apparently this is even better. EA has managed to make a football game that interests me, something Konami and its Winning Eleven / Pro Evolution Soccer could never do.

Millennium Trilogy - Part 1

2010-06-08T08:48:00.000-03:00

I just finished reading the first book in Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (the original is called Män som hatar kvinnor – "Men Who Hate Women" and it's a much better title, but anyway, I digress). I was really looking forward to it, and thankfully it reached my expectations. I enjoyed it thoroughly, from the story to the setting and the characters. The ending, particularly the epilogue, was great, and now I can't wait to read the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire. I'm also going to watch the first movie in the theatre this week, if plans go accordingly. Nothing like a good movie spoken in swedish to make the week a little bit stranger.

Three songs for Europe

2010-05-04T09:02:00.003-03:00

Last July I went to Europe (I can't remember if I've said this here before, and I'm too lazy to bother looking). I took my iPod, but I only had a USB charger and no computer to connect it to, so I had to rely on my cellphone (it has an AC adapter) to listen to music. There weren't many songs in it, so I had to constantly liten to the same ones over and over again. At least most of them were pretty good.

Out of the hundred or so songs, three of those marked me most. Every time I listen to any of them it reminds me of my trip, and the great moments I had. So it's a very special and immaterial souvenir I brought back.

These are the songs:

Gorrillaz - M1A1

A relatively unknown song from them, it's probably my favourite. The intro is just excellent, with the sample from Day of the Dead.

Mew - She Spider

I like how the song changes its pace throughout.

The Decemberists - A Bower Scene

The CD where this song is from is a concept album, telling the story of a girl. Most of the songs are great, but this one is the best in my opinion.

MGMT - Kids

2010-04-09T07:29:00.003-03:00

I had heard about the band many times, but never had any interest in listening to them. I accidentally did, when I watched the video below, which has Weezer singing their song "Kids", as well as Lady GaGa's "Poker Face".

The great thing about the Kids video is that it's not official, or at least wasn't at the time of conception. It was made by a fan for a school assignment, and he made it in just one night. It turned out amazing, and really fits the song. The two people with make-up that appear on the video are two of the fan's friends, and not the duo from MGMT. It was a relief to find that out, because one of the people really looked like a girl, and I was afraid that it was actually one of the guys from the band.

This link explains the story behind the video, and it's really interesting to see how a small project managed to get over 28 million views on YouTube

How to be awesome in Modern Warfare 2

2009-11-14T14:17:00.001-02:00

That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

Dead Space, post-mortem

2009-10-18T21:49:00.003-02:00

Dead Space was an excellent game. Much more than I expected it to be before I played. Now, many months after I finished it for the third time, in the Impossible difficulty setting, I still feel like playing it. Too bad I have so many other games to play more thoroughly before I can get back to DS.

This week I thought about how they could improve the game for the sequel, which I hope to God is being made as I write this, hopefully to be released in 2010. I thought of three things, basically. The first would be the shadows, that were somewhat pixelated in the original game. That definitely needs improvement. Another graphical issue is the aliasing, which can get pretty evident in some parts. They could increase the anti-aliasing if that didn't sacrifice the frame rate, and we would be thankful for that.

The last improvement in my view would be with the Plasma Cutter. It's the first weapon you get in the game, and frankly it's the best one overall. Even when I had many other powerful ones, I always went back to the Cutter. After properly upgraded it packs quite a punch, ammo can be found easily and it's great fun to use. I thought they could integrate it more to Isaac's armour in the sequel. Since he's an engineer, he could be shown making what I'm about to explain himself.

The Cutter would be integrated to his right arm/wrist/hand, staying above these parts, unassembled when not in use. When the player chose to use it, it would unfold around his hand, expanding parts that were collapsed, and it would instantly be ready to use. It would be visually nice, and gameplay-wise it would make the Cutter something similar to the pistols in Left 4 Dead or the revolver in Killzone, for instance. Definitely not powerful weapons, but ready to use in case of emergency.

Borderlands is for Real Gamers

2009-10-17T08:03:00.002-03:00

Link: IGN Video: IGN Originals Video - Borderlands is for Real Gamers

I'm not really sure this is a good approach. I mean, it's a nice ad, funny and all, but it may be a little over-the-top. Seems like a desperate move to promote your game.

I hope it doesn't "fucking suck".

Vettel did it again

2009-06-21T10:56:00.002-03:00

This boy (and I say boy because he's younger than me) is truly a genius, and apparently the only one capable of stopping Button this year. Button won 6 of the 8 races so far this year, the other 2 victories belonging to Vettel. He's combining his superb skills with an excellent car and is on the road to fight for the championship.

Also, Button didn't have a great car today, but still he proved that he can't drive behind other racers. If he has a good car and is in first place, there's no competition. But if he has a little worse car and is behind other racers, he isn't very competitive.

Video on drugs

2009-06-12T09:31:00.000-03:00

Amazing.

Headaches with Playstation 3

2009-06-11T16:12:00.003-03:00

This is a post that hopefully will help other people who had the same issue I had this week.

I was downloading the game Trash Panic from the american Playstation Store. Left it downloading for an hour or so and went do something else. When I came back to check the download, it was at 42% and wouldn't download any more. It tried for a few seconds, displayed "Pending" instead of "Downloading" for half a second and then tried downloading again. So I realized something was wrong. I tried cancelling the download, and that's when everything started...

The PS3 froze up. Nothing would move in the screen, I couldn't go back to the XMB from the download item. Holding the PS button on the controller, though, worked, so I tried turning it off. The screen went black, the green light in the PS3 started flashing and wouldn't turn off. I left it flashing for a long time, and nothing. So I had to turn the power off manually in the back of the PS3.

When I turned it on again, it greeted me with the lovely message "the hard disk's file system is corrupted and will be restored". My hand started shaking. I have many games from the PSN in the HDD, as well as a ton of saves from many games I haven't yet finished properly. I was in the final mission of my last run in Dead Space, in Impossible Difficulty, and to lose that save would really piss me off. The system didn't give me any other options besides "restoring", so I went to Google and searched for this issue.

Many people said that the system formatted all your HDD when that message appeared. I only found two, if I recall correctly, saying that they didn't lose all their data. So, with my heart in my hand, I accepted the restoration. It took about a minute, and then the console rebooted. Thankfully, everything was still there, including the problematic download. I managed to cancel and delete it, and then immediately backed up all of my game saves to my pen drive. I was lucky this download didn't corrupt much in the file system, it was probably just a few blocks.

So I decided to try downloading the same game again. And, with a smile on my face, I saw that when it got at 42% again it stopped the same way, and the system wouldn't turn off once more. So I turned it off manually, turned it on again and there it was again, the message about the file system. This time restoration was even faster and again I didn't lose anything.

So my message is: if you see that notification ("the hard disk's file system is corrupted and will be restored"), don't panic. It doesn't mean you lost everything. Keep your hopes up and let the PS3 do his thing. You may not be that unlucky in the end.

And one more thing: screw that game, I'm not downloading it ever again. Trash Panic, alright. The name suits it.

Nostalgia

2009-05-28T20:00:00.002-03:00

As a complement to the previous post, I've started playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 again, this time the PC version. Finally made the PS3 controller, DualShock 3, work as a gamepad for my XP. This game is still absolutely excellent and I intend to get 100% of everything, with time, once more.

The Legend

2009-05-26T15:31:00.005-03:00

I have a Wii. And a Playstation 3. In this day and age, with the latest technology available and with a console more powerful than gods, what have I been playing? The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, in the Nintendo 64.

A little background: when it first came out I rented it, played it thoroughly, got everything and returned it to never touch it again. I didn't really like the game. It wasn't "an Ocarina of Time", and having to go back in time every couple of hours annoyed me deeply. So I never played it twice, and the memories of it faded away with the years.

For whatever reason, two weeks ago I started playing it again. And I'm really into the game this time. It's very fun to play, and the way they arranged the game is nothing but brilliant, now that I'm seeing it with better eyes. There's so much going on in the 3 days that the game has, and everything is happening at the same time. It's a sense of real time that you usually don't have in a videogame. The people and places are much more plausible than what we're used to, and it deserves much praise for trying to be different.

I'm currently heading for the third temple, in the ocean. I'm using my free time to play it, instead of not having free time and studying more, and I'm definitely enjoying it a lot. It's still not an OoT, but it has its own (great) merits.

After I finish this, I'm going to start Wind Waker all over again. Can't wait for the time to come. I loved sailing those pretty waters.

Season finales

2009-05-26T10:16:00.002-03:00

So every series I'm watching have ended their seasons.

- House was very cool and surprising, but nothing GREAT. Ending of S4 was infinite times better.

- 24 was, uh, weird? It didn't really end, it just "cut" at some point.

- Lost was the best of the three, with something major happening at the last seconds. Now we're left to wonder how the hell can they explain what happened.

Eurovision from hell

2009-05-14T08:35:00.002-03:00

Eurovision already has some pretty screwed-up performers, but THIS:

I'm speechless. He/she reminded instantly of Desire from Sandman:

Freaky.

Star Trek

2009-05-12T15:37:00.003-03:00

So I watched the new movie last Sunday. I'm not a fan of the series, have watched very few episodes from the classic ones and two movies of the new generation. I went to the theatre expecting a cool Sci-Fi movie. But I didn't get that.

I got an absolutely awesome movie that's so exciting that I almost went to see it again right after it finished. The plot is great, the characters are very well represented, from Kirk through Spock to McCoy, and especially Scotty, played by the best comedy actor in my opinion, Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame. The visuals are nothing but stunning, the sound design is excellent (hint: vacuum) and at one point in the movie it plays Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.

What more could I ask for? J. J. Abrams is really in fine touch with what audiences want, and the movie being a huge success among everyone is the proof of that.

THE REAL SHAQ

2009-05-05T11:52:00.002-03:00

http://twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ

THE_REAL_SHAQ: Just got dat underwater ipod adaption device jammy so I can hear music unda water, I b aqua jammin, Waaaa Waaa Shaq-mu The quilla ...

He's too cool to be true...

And yes, that's his REAL profile, he posts pics of him all the time.

The Sandman

2009-05-01T12:14:00.009-03:00

Have you ever cried after waking from a dream?

Or have you ever waken up crying?

I most certainly have, particularly when I was a child. There are a few reasons for that to happen: you could have been in a nightmare and you just wanted to get out of there; you didn't know it was a dream and you just wanted to get back to a familiar place; or you realized you were in a very good dream, and you didn't want to wake up from it...

My time with Sandman has been one of the most well spent of my life. I began reading it when the brazilian hardcover edition was released by Conrad in 2005, if I recall correctly. I hadn't even heard of the series by that time, and bought the first volume after a very intense recommendation from my friend Jefferson. I enjoyed Preludes and Nocturnes, but didn't become a fan. After a while, I bought The Doll's House and Dream Country in a bargain, but for some reason never read them. Until February, 2009.

-- Notice: there might be a little spoiler or two of the stories ahead. Nothing major is said, but some things might lead to some conclusions. Read at your own risk. --

In February I read P&N again and liked it even more, noticing some subtleties and beginning to see how marvelous this universe created by Neil Gaiman was. I then read Doll's House, which was brilliant, and Dream Country, which wasn't as good as the previous but still excellent. At that point I was becoming a fan, and bought the next four volumes all at once.

Volume 4, Season of Mists, was the turning point that made me admit I was in love with this series. The story, scenario and characters of this arch are just beyond words. I couldn't believe someone had created such a rich mythology by bringing together several others from all different cultures, from the Japanese deities to the Norse gods. They were all there, together, and it felt so real, so amazing, that it really must have been a vivid dream, in which I was so lucky to be.

After Season of Mists, I was just addicted to this story. I dreamt of it. And even though the next four volumes, A Game of You, Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives and Worlds' End weren't as epic as Season of Mists, they each still managed to have their particular characteristics that never stopped entertaining me for a second.

Volume 9, The Kindly Ones, begins and ends with similar scenes. The journey through the book is one of suffering, yet of redemption. You know what's going to happen, and you can't do anything about it. It really saddened me, but as I kept reading I came to see that what would happen was not only necessary, but innevitable. All our actions have consequences, and even when we know what they are, sometimes we just can't turn our backs and walk away.

The Kindly Ones is the longest arch in The Sandman series and in it, Gaiman managed to bring all the loose ends from the previous archs into a knot, a perfect knot that ties the whole series for its wonderful end, that begins in this volume and ends in the next one, The Wake.

The Wake was so wonderful and so magnificent, and so very sad, that it made me cry. It was a perfect conclusion to a perfect series, and I don't see how different it could have been. This was the end of the dream, the end of a Dream, and I didn't want it to end. I wanted to get back to it, and have it with me forever. But that would not be possible. And that made me shed a few tears.

The story in Sandman could only be so good with great characters. Gaiman created one of the best comic characters of all time, starting of course with the superb Morpheus, the anthropomorphic representation of Dream. He starts the series with an arrogant persona, but throughout the series he grows to be a more caring and likeable character. At some points he even shows compassion, affection and friendship towards others.

His kingdom, The Dreaming, is where everyone goes when they're dreaming. It's a place that reflects one aspect of Morpheus, and therefore changes with him. The castle in the "heart" of The Dreaming is where his throne is, and where we can find some other excellent characters, like Lucien the librarian, who catalogs all the books ever dreamt of, Mervyn the pumpkin, an employee who's the greatest comic relief of the series, and Matthew, a raven who's usually by Morpheus side and is the closest thing to a friend Dream ever had.

Dream is one of the Seven Endless, brothers and sisters who are older than men and gods. His two older brothers are Destiny, the eldest, and Death, the best of the Endless. After Dream came Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delight, who became Delirium.

Death is by far the best of the Endless. She's always beautiful and always cheerful, providing aid to her brother Dream whenever she can. She's probably my favourite character of the series, and it was wonderful every time she showed up. Death is said to be present twice in one's lifetime: when one is born, and when one passes away. This also happens in the story archs, for she is there in Preludes and Nocturnes, helping Morpheus when he is "reborn" and at The Wake, when it is time for things to move on.

Of the others, Delirium is the one I enjoyed the most following, She's so naïve and lost in her own thoughts, and it's a delight to see her talking to others or doing what she likes best, turning things into cute little flying fish that she can admire. She has a main role in Brief Lives and Gaiman lets us bond with her, even for a short while, and it's a great experience.

There is so much more I could say about Sandman and how it has become my favourite comic series of all times, surpassing Watchmen, but I'll keep it at this for now. It's such a rich world, with so much to explore and show. Gaiman is a true master of storytelling, and justice was made every time he received a literary award, especially those that didn't involve only comics. Sandman is a novel, a book told not only with words, but with beautiful images, and it deserves every praise ever said about it.

Twitterrific

2009-04-12T20:42:00.001-03:00

http://twitter.com/brunofmachado this shit is fun after all.

F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne

2009-03-29T12:16:00.002-03:00

Now that's a way to start a championship! BrawnGP proved that it wasn't just fast at the tests and qualifyings, it's a really good team with an excellent car. Ferrari disappointed everyonw, with neither Massa nor Kimi finishing the race. Williams was a major flop as well, especially Rosberg, in whom I had hopes to be at the podium or maybe even win the race.

But that doesn't matter, because it was one of the rare cases where Barrichello got lucky and, against all odds and problems, finished second, behind his team partner Button.

Go, Rubens!

Shaq Fu

2009-03-27T10:49:00.003-03:00

This is probably one of the worst games ever made, but that doesn't mean it can't be AWESOME to have Shaq throwing deadly laser shurikens at ancient egyptian gods and crazy, freaky swamp monster.

I bought it for a dirt cheap price last month and it was worth every cent. It's the brazilian version, which has awful literal translations for the texts in the box. They're so bad they're funny.

Kick-ass cover: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/brun0/DSC02826.jpg

Back: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/brun0/DSC02825.jpg

Cartridge: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/brun0/DSC02827.jpg

Just look at his pose. His fingers. He's going to crush your soul with his mighty claws of doom.

What's in the box?

2009-03-19T15:12:00.002-03:00

This video shows a first-person perspective of some nameless, faceless guy running from a HAZMAT unit of some kind after acquiring a strange cube. It is amazing on its own, but if, as Kotaku says, it is a viral campaign for Half-Life, then it's even more worth watching. It sure has a lot of relations with HL, but I don't really think Valve is behind this. I hope I'm wrong.

Random band of the day

2009-03-16T20:25:00.003-03:00

I think I'll start a new series of posts, with bands I like and think that are not that well-known.

Uh Huh Her is an electropop duo that released their first CD last year. I have no idea how I found out about them, but I'm happy I did. Their sound is great, a very simple yet catchy electro that really grows on you the more you listen. Three recommendations follow:

Common Reaction

Say So

Not A Love Song

Classic music videos take 1

2009-03-13T09:08:00.002-03:00

MTV still has salvation. While eating breakfast and skipping channels, I saw that "MTV Labs - Classics" was on and gave it a chance, and I saw two great ("great" by the definition of the 80s: it's cheesy and bizarre, yet amusing and funny) videos that need to mentioned:

Take That - How Deep is your love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuRVFMkf0I

The video was quite surprising for this one. I liked the "plot" and its contrast with the romance of the song.

-----

New Kids on the Block - Step by Step: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ5eZSa7URA

This is just awesome. Color changes, crazy dances and MEGAHAIR flopping around while the members dance. A true classic.

Living in the name of...

2009-02-25T21:04:00.003-03:00

I've been thinking about personal sacrifice lately, perhaps influenced by this House episode. How far can a person go in benefit of others, in spite of her own? How fair is it for someone to not live his life, so he can improve or save the lives of others? And how can we judge such a thing?

Some researchers live entirely for their research. They abdicate completely from their social life, and many times from family life and even family duties to work, work and work. The problem is that this way might be a necessary evil for mankind. The most useful breakthroughs in science usually come with a huge effort, with a lot of sacrifice from cientists.

So how can we know which side to take? If we're doing something that might be useful to people, or even paramount for some, one may need to live for that work, instead of work for a living. But some are just not meant to do that.

I realized that I don't want that for my life. Of course, this cannot be confused with laziness. I know I must work, and work hard, to be successful. But that doesn't mean I must jeopardize every other aspect of my life for it.

I have spent very little time with my family since I entered college. I've distanced myself from them, always due to the immense amount of work and assignments I always had to do. Even when I had free time, I was always so tired that I just sat in my room away from them. Not to mention cousins and aunts whom I like very much but hardly ever see or spend time with. The same applies to my friends.

My hobbies were also left a bit aside, namely playing videogames, riding my bike around town and learning new languages. I tried getting back to those three after I graduated from college and started working on my masters, but that proved difficult, since now I seem to have even more work and research to do. But it's better than it used to be, at least.

So my decision is to enjoy my life as much as I can. I will try to enjoy things more, to go out more with my friends and to be happier than I think I currently am. I need this, otherwise I'd crack and then things would get really ugly. And my advice is: think about your life, about what you're doing and if you think that's what you want. Don't be afraid to judge yourself and, mainly, to change if you see fit. Life's too short, and we must be sure that what we're doing is fulfilling or not.

Found it

2009-02-23T11:44:00.002-03:00

I finally found a reason to not forget (completely) my Nintendo Wii: Metroid Prime. The first one.

Walking around the Internets I stumbled upon this IGN article about the "wiimake" of the first Metroid Prime that was just released in Japan. I had completely forgotten they're goind to release Prime 1 and 2 with updated Wii controls. And that made me quite happy, for both games are my favourites of all I've played to date. I even consider them as one single "entity" to place it at my #1 spot.

Can't wait for this to be released in the US. I'll buy it as soon as available.

The dinosaurs

2009-02-20T15:01:00.003-03:00

Bernie Ecclestone on the left, Frank Williams on the right. Respectively, the man who made Formula 1 one of the biggest sports in the world, and the man who is the most admirable Formula 1 owner/manager, who even in these days where big manufacturers own the teams, still has some breath left to run his team without outside interference.

Cruel Intentions

2009-02-19T23:06:00.004-03:00

This one.

I watched this back when it was in theatres. Didn't really strike me, besides the lesbian kiss, Sarah Michelle Gellar herself and Bittersweet Symphony at the end. Today it was on TV and I watched.

That movie is great. Besides the three factors mentioned above, the acting is really good, the plot is interesting and the cruelty and dissimulation of the characters are impressive. It really got me hooked up till the end and it's now in my list of favourite movies.

Now let me look at that Sarah x Selma kiss just one more time...

God of War III

2009-02-13T15:33:00.001-02:00

http://kotaku.com/5152887/god-of-war-iii-the-extended-trailer

DO

WANT

NOW

Slasher

2009-02-01T09:39:00.002-02:00

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-site-may-harm-your-computer-on.html

Guess everyone's subject to stupid mistakes. Only ours doesn't affect hundreds of millions of people.

Please, drive safely

2009-01-30T16:13:00.002-02:00

http://bilgalleri.dk/html/vid_vis.asp?VideoID=22034

Watch this video and please, PLEASE be careful when driving.

The things you learn...

2009-01-27T22:38:00.002-02:00

So Kirsten Dunst was the girl in Jumanji. I never knew until today. And she was as cute as it gets, a prelude to how beautiful she is today.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

2009-01-26T21:56:00.003-02:00

I got the F.E.A.R. 2 (hate those dots; at least it's not S.TA.L.K........ you know which game) demo the other day and played it for a while. I never played the first one, but I always wanted to. Back in "the days", it looked great from the videos, and that whole atmosphere was awesome to my innocent eyes. So, when I saw this demo in the PSN I instantly grabbed it and tried it out. I loved it, it's brilliant and highly surpassed my expectations.

This is Alma. She will scare the shit out of you.

Ok, I lied. I hated every single second of that demo. The graphics are average, not to say ugly, especially compared to how sexy Killzone 2's are. The controls were awful, not nearly as smooth as an fps should be. And it's too God-damn dark with a flashlight that can't even light up your feet. I played the demo until some bus dropped from the sky and killed me. At that point I quit the demo, deleted it and tried to bring back the good memories from 1 that I had. I'm still working hard on that.

Ferrari F-60 2009

2009-01-12T08:23:00.004-02:00

They have just unveiled the new Ferrari at http://www.ferrariworld.com/. As expected in a year with many changes in the category, the car ir a whole lot different from last year's. The front wing is a lot larger than before, the rear spoiler is narrower and taller and the exhaust is quite noticeable at the rear-top of the car. Overall, it's a lot uglier and less classy than before, but what can I do. Let's just hope the team doesn't screw Felipe Massa again so he can win this year with ease.

Healthy diets

2008-12-29T17:41:00.001-02:00

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/29/healthiest.diets/index.html

I may look into one of these in the near future, when I join a gym. Next week, hopefully.

Recipe to burn down your house

2008-12-28T21:03:00.002-02:00

1 - Gather a lot of papers in your room over some months and then, one day, decide to get rid of them.

2 - Realize that some contain sensitive information, like your name, address, bank account and others, and that you need to make sure no one finds these out.

3 - Have the great idea (or just assume it's great) to put fire on those papers, instead of simply tearing them. You'll need a safe place to burn it all, like on an iron bowl on top of your stove.

4 - Put fire on the papers and see as the flames rise higher than you expected and how a shitload of smoke is produced, covering all of the kitchen and the rest of the house.

5 - Cut the fire by throwing water on the flames, and then you'll have even more poisonous smoke to your delight.

6 - ? ? ?

7 - PROFIT! You now have a smoked house and a hot bowl full of burned papers. You idiot.

Best baby ever

2008-12-26T13:43:00.001-02:00

This little girl knows the name of many, many videogame characters, like Megaman, Sonic, Dante, Kratos, Goomba and many more. On top of it all, she's 1 year old and absolutely, adorably cute. When she imitates Pikachu and Sackboy, it just kills you.

Tokyo Police Club

2008-12-25T21:09:00.004-02:00

Tokyo Police Club is an excellent indie/alternative band from Canada, with a still small discography (around 20 tracks), all worth anyone's time. The songs are mostly cheerful and great to make one at least smile while enjoying them.

One of my favourites, especially because of the riff at around 1:45+.

How Bruce Willis turned into Tony Hawk

2008-12-22T20:27:00.002-02:00

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000628a/fristrom_01.htm

Great article discussing how the engine created for Apocalypse, a kind of obscure game for the Playstation (I myself don't remember it, and I remember a lot of useless things) starring Bruce Willis turned into the engine for one of the best games ever, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. It even mentions physics algorithms being written in Assembly, which makes me cry a little every time I read it.

Switch Stance

2008-12-22T20:11:00.001-02:00

I'll start writing in English from now on. Portuguese is too restrict. No, I'm not an attention whore. Yes, I want at least someone to read this.

You have to burn the rope

2008-12-14T20:16:00.002-02:00

http://www.mazapan.se/games/BurnTheRope.php

Jogo sensacional com créditos à altura dos de Portal. Quem não conseguir terminar pode procurar ajuda no Youtube.

Heima

2008-11-16T20:33:00.003-02:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heima

Documentário/show do Sigur Rós, é um dos filmes mais bonitos que já vi. A fotografia é espetacular, dá uma vontade absurda de conhecer a Islândia. O áudio é previsivelmente excelente. A seleção de músicas podia ter trazido algumas das minhas favoritas, mas isso é só egoísmo. O encerramento com a Untitled #8 é épico.

Layout novo

2008-10-27T21:34:00.001-02:00

Todo preto e com o Jehuty ali no banner. Agora sim.

Arcade Fire

2008-10-15T08:22:00.002-03:00

A banda é (discutivelmente) a melhor dos anos 2000. O primeiro CD, Funeral, já era espetacular, com pérolas como Neighborhood #2 e Haiti. Mas o Neon Bible realmente é uma obra de arte, com Black Mirror, Intervention e a própria música-título.

Esse (longo) vídeo explica o tanto que eu gosto da banda:

Absolutamente sensacional.

Eu vou escrever um livro

2008-10-06T08:42:00.001-03:00

A história já tá toda na minha cabeça, só falta começar. Acho que até o final do ano eu escrevo o primeiro capítulo.

Editoras, tremei.

Gerenciador de Dados RFID

2008-09-29T08:57:00.001-03:00

Finalmente achei um tema específico para trabalhar no mestrado.

Há muito o que explorar na área, felizmente.

F1 - GP de Cingapura - Marina Bay - afterthoughts

2008-09-29T08:36:00.001-03:00

Duas imagens resumem tudo:

O gênio ganhou, com sorte, mas ganhou.

A Ferrari continua tirando o título do Felipe.

F1 - GP de Cingapura - Marina Bay

2008-09-26T15:59:00.002-03:00

Pista legal até, pena que muito lenta, parece mais devagar que Mônaco. O visual é sensacional, muito bonito ver a cidade toda escura pontuada por luzes, e a pista totalmente clara, com uma iluminação bem digna. Até agora, Fórmula 1 de noite está aprovada.

Hamilton foi o melhor no primeiro treino livro, e o Alonso foi o melhor no segundo. Amanhã a disputa promete ser acirrada, pois quem largar na frente deve ganhar a corrida.

Só fico triste pelo Rubinho, que foi mal pra caramba.

Procurando músicas/filmes/etc no Google

2008-09-22T11:10:00.003-03:00

Só precisa colocar isso na busca:

intitle:index.of + tipo_de_arquivo + nome_do_arquivo -html -htm -php -asp -txt -pls

tipo_de_arquivo pode ser mp3, avi, mkv, qualquer coisa.

nome_do_arquivo é... adivinha só.

Dor

2008-09-14T23:25:00.002-03:00

Uma televisão de 29" de tubo acabou de cair em cima do meu pé direito. É uma dor que eu recomendo pra poucos.

E a TV estragou. =/

Metallica - Death Magnetic

2008-09-12T22:17:00.002-03:00

Álbum sensacional, traz o bom Metallica de volta, sem as frescuras do St. Anger.

Análise faixa a faixa:

1. That Was Just Your Life - foda
2. The End of the Line - foda
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred - foda
4. The Day That Never Comes - foda
5. All Nightmare Long - foda
6. Cyanide - muito foda
7. The Unforgiven III - foda
8. The Judas Kiss - muito foda
9. Suicide & Redemption - foda
10. My Apocalypse - foda

Basicamente é isso.

House

2008-08-20T21:15:00.002-03:00

: "He has acute scrotum."
: "Adorable, at least. Ah, come on, how was I not going to go for that joke?"

Melhor série dos últimos anos.

Oi Medvedev

2008-08-12T21:35:00.002-03:00

Tá certo que o Dmitry Medvedev só é presidente de fachada, pra enganar turista na Rússia, mas com esse conflito na Geórgia tá muito explícito que o Putin manda e desmanda no Império Russo. As tropas russas continuaram massacrando a Geórgia, mesmo depois do cessar-fogo unilateral desse último, e só pararam porque começou a parecer feio para a comunidade internacional um exército monstruoso massacrando um país do tamanho de um alfinete.

Lembrando que por trás disso tem-se o desejo da Rússia voltar a ser importante e temida pelos outros países e, claro, rotas de tráfego de petróleo e gás natural que passam pela região.

Satisfação

2008-08-12T21:31:00.001-03:00

Quão bom é ir à biblioteca procurar um livro, juntamente com outras pessoas procurando o mesmo livro, e encontrá-lo antes de todas elas. O último exemplar disponível, agora seu enquanto você quiser.

Chupa, Vasco.

Antes tarde...

2008-07-09T09:29:00.000-03:00

BOA RUBINHO! Rumo ao campeonato 2009.

Code Geass e suas surpresas

2008-06-28T21:44:00.000-03:00

Números exatos e precisos. Estão começando a exagerar...

Origens da Break Dance

2008-06-02T12:24:00.000-03:00

Simplesmente sensacional.

Cruzando as vistas

2008-05-31T17:26:00.002-03:00

Inspirado nisso, estava eu passeando pelo Orkut quando vejo um cara chamado "Marcos F". Na hora eu fiquei espantado, achando que alguém tinha colocado o nome como Macross F. Um segundo depois, eu percebi o erro. Mas esse foi um segundo sensacional.

Falando de Macross, essa série nova Frontier estava muito boa, até o episódio 8, que foi bobo e enfadonho. Estou torcendo pra voltarem ao estilo dos outros 7 episódios.

Engraçado

2008-05-15T22:24:00.003-03:00

Eu não lembro de tudo que deveria lembrar pra uma prova, por exemplo, mas lembro que dentre milhares e milhares de músicas, uma que eu estava procurando estava em um determinado diretório. Fui nele e lá estava ela, toda serelepe.

Memória seletiva é sensacional. Se pelo menos servisse pra algo útil...

I gotta have more cowbell!

2008-04-28T08:39:00.003-03:00

Simplesmente genial. O Will Ferrell barrigudo e dançando como uma galinha no segundo take são dois pontos a serem notados. O Christopher Walken como sempre rouba acena, e alguém que solta uma frase como "Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription... is more cowbell!" merece roubar qualquer cena mesmo.

Aos 03:50 do vídeo, mais ou menos, o cara da banda não pára de rir, é bem engraçado. E quando ele fala que o Gene é egoísta eu sempre penso no livro do Dawkins.

EDIT: parece que deletaram o vídeo. Filhos da mãe. Mas nada que uma nova busca não ache.

Boas bandas que demoraram a entrar na minha coleção

2008-04-27T21:13:00.002-03:00

Nirvana - boa banda, gostei demais do CD Nevermind. A música In Bloom chega a ser emocionante. E sempre que eu ouço o Kurt cantar eu penso na banda como um marco do "fim de uma geração". As letras são muito melancólicas.

Sonic Youth - banda fenomenal de barulho. Eu gosto das distorções e das furadeiras nas guitarras. As favoritas até agora são Purr, Pattern Recognition e Little Troubled Girl.

Silverchair - acho que das três é a que eu mais conhecia. Ótimo rock australiano e com músicas sensacionais como Freak e Anthem for the Year 2000.

Três links que eu já tinha em mãos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY3oEvaq71A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4TJTbkXqxU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmanYE7QY5A

Fun with microwaves!

2008-04-07T21:10:00.002-03:00

O primeiro é o mais interessante, o metal da lâmpada dissolve e depois volta ao normal. É o poder da física, amigos.

Falando em física, as Supercordas são muito interessantes.

Combat Sheep

2008-04-04T21:16:00.003-03:00

A BBC sempre fazendo os melhores programas do mundo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRwBnXiAKLI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaLGsTytwL8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWkliHC0GVg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pea0p0BfC4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5WDLI5tLs4

O primeiro é meu favorito, mas todos são sensacionais.

Perfeição

2008-03-19T21:12:00.003-03:00

http://kotaku.com/368988/formula-1-comes-to-gran-turismo

Só isso mesmo.

Half-Life²

2008-03-07T15:02:00.003-03:00

O melhor jogo de computador já feito (só perde, pra mim, pra algumas franquias de consoles de videogame). Uma história riquíssima, fenomenal, personagens fantásticos, jogabilidade sem igual (a Gravity Gun só se iguala à Portal Gun de Portal em matéria de genialidade) e um "ar" de grandiosidade me fazem querer começar o jogo e suas duas continuações (Episode 1 e Episode 2) de novo e de novo.

Comprem a Orange Box, o melhor pacote já lançado em todos os tempos, com 5 jogos mais que extraordinários pelo preço de um. Leiam tudo sobre o jogo e a série. Leiam Concerned, a webcomic mais fenomenal da Internet, na minha opinião.

Garanto que suas vidas serão muito mais felizes.

Aproveito e colo aqui os capítulos de Half-Life², cujos nomes são legais demais para serem verdade e eu nunca consigo lembrar de todos de cabeça:

Chapter 1 - Point Insertion
Chapter 2 - A Red Letter Day
Chapter 3 - Route Kanal
Chapter 4 - Water Hazard
Chapter 5 - Black Mesa East
Chapter 6 - "We don't go to Ravenholm..."
Chapter 7 - Highway 17
Chapter 8 - Sandtraps
Chapter 9 - Nova Prospekt
Chapter 9a - Entanglement
Chapter 10 - Anticitizen One
Chapter 11 - "Follow Freeman!"
Chapter 12 - Our Benefactors
Chapter 13 - Dark Energy

Trip-hop, o meu novo amigo

2008-03-02T17:01:00.003-03:00

Passaram para mim, acho que em 2006, uma música do Massive Attack. Gostei muito mas ficou por isso mesmo. No fim do ano passado peguei a coletânea Collected deles e virei fã, as músicas são todas excelentes e do meu agrado.

Há umas duas semanas vi uma banda chamada Portishead, que me interessou pelo nome. Vi um vídeo e descobri que também era um grupo de Trip-Hop ou Bristol Acid Rap, como também é chamado o gênero. Ultimamente só tenho escutado Portishead e a cada vez que uma música repete eu gosto mais dela, acho que encontrei uma nova fonte de músicas. Falta conhecer mais artistas do gênero.

Portishead - Seven Months:

Puta merda...

2008-02-14T17:52:00.001-02:00

Eu me formei! 21 anos e com curso superior. Que estranho...

Que curioso...

2008-02-06T18:01:00.000-02:00

Brasil, meio do verão, e está frio. FRIO. Aqui não faz frio nem no inverno, quem diria agora.

O mundo está chegando no fim.

Minesweeper: The Movie

2008-01-01T11:17:00.000-02:00

A criatividade desses caras é impressionante.

Motherfucking Moonwalk

2007-12-16T21:29:00.001-02:00

Haha.

Minha lista de Natal

2007-12-14T22:50:00.000-02:00

No momento estou interessado nisso, nisso, nisso, nisso e nisso. Fico satisfeito com qualquer combinação deles.

Ou só um Jehuty.

Preocupado

2007-12-07T22:53:00.000-02:00

Concerned - a melhor webcomic que já li.

http://www.hlcomic.com/

Muito boa, bem feita e engraçada. O pior é que é uma "realidade" plausível, as situações até que se encaixam bem nos eventos paralelos de Half-Life².

Primeira edição:

<3

A Queda: As Últimas Horas de...

2007-12-02T23:19:00.000-02:00

... Primeira Divisão! O Corinthians caiu!! Todos os presídios de São Paulo já estão tendo rebeliões e já noticiaram até na UOL que os jogadores estão todos ameaçados de morte. Isso que é gente boa!

Goiás, timaço! Elenco péssimo, sem jogar NADA, dá uma sorte do cão e consegue ficar na Série A. Agora é tomar vergonha na cara e arrumar a casa.

Perguntas e respostas

2007-12-01T15:45:00.000-02:00

P: Como criar uma música excelente, memorável e de imenso sucesso com apenas um verso distinto em toda a sua extensão?

R: Com um ritmo viciante e, principalmente, assim:

Daft Punk - Around The World.

Tem uma versão nova tão boa quanto, em que eles mesclam Around the World, Technologic e Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. QUALIDADE.

Bônus: engraçado alguém ter o trabalho de fazer isso.

Retrato de um gênio

2007-11-28T17:28:00.000-02:00

Hideaki Anno. Criador de Evangelion. Diretor de Gunbuster. Lenda urbana.

Como seria se ele fosse entrevistado por crianças em uma escola? Seria assim: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2007-05-03

Evangelion é a minha obra de arte favorita, e sempre é interessante ver como o criador de algo tão fantástico pra mim é. Perturbado, depressivo e solitário descrevem esse que é um dos artistas mais importantes de todo o Japão.

Bônus: Em contra-partida, passaram pra mim o vídeo de uma pessoa estupidamente burra. É engraçadinho:

Portal

2007-11-28T14:33:00.000-02:00

Que jogo maravilhoso! Além de um dos melhores jogos que já joguei e de uma das experiências mais legais de duas horas de duração que já tive, foi algo que me fez rir muito. Muito. A GLaDOS é engraçadíssima, e toda a premissa do jogo é muito engraçada. Você enfrenta desafios e arrisca a sua vida para ganhar bolo! Não vou estragar o final do jogo, mas acredite, esse bolo parece suspeito...

Tudo no jogo é muito legal e bem feito. Os gráficos são ótimos, os desafios são divertidos e te obrigam a pensar ("pensar com portais", o lema do jogo) e o humor, como já disse, é constante. Outro feito de Portal é ter o melhor encerramento e a melhor música de encerramento na minha opinião - a música é do Jonathan Coulton e se chama Still Alive. Não lembro de alguma dupla dessas ter me deixado tão alegre quanto a de Portal. Para quem não se importa com spoilers, ou se já viu e quer rever, o encerramento completo pode ser visto aqui, e a letra da música pode ser melhor lida nesse vídeo.

Força de vontade

2007-11-09T16:13:00.000-02:00

Valeu, Jefferson!

http://paginas.fotolog.ig.com.br/ig/35/41/1018089/fotolog/2007/11/07/227547.html

"GP da Alemanha (Hockenheim) de 1986, Alan Prost vinha em 3º quando, na última volta na reta da chegada, seu McLaren teve uma pane seca. O francês não se fez de rogado, saiu do carro e cruzou a linha de final EMPURRANDO seu McLaren, chegou em 6º lugar. Até parecia que Prost sabia que o campeonato seria decidido no 'aperto', ele foi o campeão com apenas dois pontos (72x70) a mais sobre Nigel Mansell. Realmente era um professor."

Emocionante.
Fico pensando que hoje não iam dar os pontos pro piloto, que iam desclassificá-lo da corrida e não sei mais o que. Seria muito sem graça.

Dinheiro não compra felicidade...

2007-11-01T19:49:00.000-02:00

... mas 68 mil dólares compram um Nissan GT-R pra mim.

Que carro lindo! Tanto por fora quanto por dentro. O painel digital acima do câmbio foi projetado pela Polyphony Digital, a empresa responsável pela única série de jogos de corrida realista que já me agradou, Gran Turismo. Deve ser bom demais dirigir um carro desses e sentir o gosto de ter DINHEIRO. Quem sabe um dia...

Como se só o carro não fosse bom o suficiente, ainda fizeram um Time Attack nO Anel, Nürburgring Nordschleife, a pista onde um dia irei dirigir:

Só não devo ser tão rápido assim.

Much against everyone's advice...

2007-10-31T20:41:00.000-02:00

Seguindo uma idéia que o curioso que está escrevendo encontrou, fui na página 161 do "No bunker de Hitler" do Joachim Fest e a quinta frase completa é:

"A primeira obra publicada, já no verão de 1946, com o título Os Últimos Dias de Hitler, foi escrita pelo historiador britânico Hugh R. Trevor-Roper."

Hitler foi o pior líder militar do mundo. Culpa do bigodinho.

Bônus:

Dodgeball time, bitch!

2007-10-14T22:58:00.000-02:00

Hoje revi um dos melhores filmes do mundo: Dodgeball ("Com a Bola Toda" em português). É uma das melhores comédias que eu já vi, totalmente humor pastelão. Tem sacadas muito boas e piadas excelentes, como alguém jogando chaves inglesas na cara de outras pessoas. Não é algo que você veja todo dia. Os personagens são muito bons, Ben Stiller como um idiota e o Vince Vaughn como o protagonista malandrão. Menção honrosa ao personagem Steve the Pirate. É um pirata. Num filme sobre queimada. E não há explicação para o porquê dele ser pirata. GENIAL. O final do filme é fascinante e vai lhe agradar (sim, você mesmo).

Bônus:

A partir de 06:45 esse vídeo começa a fazer sentido aqui.

In Rainbows

2007-10-10T10:58:00.000-03:00

Quatro anos depois de Hail to the Thief, o Radiohead finalmente lança seu novo disco, In Rainbows. Como não pode deixar de ser, o Radiohead está sempre na vanguarda das novas tendências: o disco foi disponibilizado para download no site oficial de duas maneiras: você pode simplesmente se cadastrar no site e baixá-lo, sem pagar nada por isso, não dando nem o número do cartão de crédito, ou pode escolher quanto quer pagar pelo disco. O valor é em libras esterlinas, e há uma pequena taxa sobre o valor que se quer pagar (0.45 £, eu acho). Eu baixei sem pagar nada, mas pretendo baixar novamente no futuro, dando uma contribuição, ou posso também comprar a edição tradicional, em CD, quando sair. Radiohead merece todo o dinheiro gasto em ambos os casos.

Hora da biópsia:

1. "15 Step" - batidas fortes e por vezes parecendo aleatórias, que me lembraram o Kid A, além do Amnesiac, é claro. Guitarrinhas distorcidas pra completar.

2. "Bodysnatchers" - Gillian Seed ficaria intrigado se fosse vivo. Baixo bem forte no começo, seguido de um ritmo rápido e animado.

3. "Nude" - bem lenta e triste, levada pela voz forte do Thom.

4. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" - batida eletrônica rápida ao fundo, é bem animada, contrastando com Nude. O segundo nome da música deve vir do uso de "Arpeggios" na música, uma técnica sobre a qual não tenho competência alguma pra falar.

5. "All I Need" - música bem normal, não me chamou muito a atenção.

6. "Faust Arp" - acústica com violão e voz, com violinos ao fundo. Bem bonita e calma.

7. "Reckoner" - começo totalmente metal, com batidas fortes e uma guitarra dedilhada de leve ao fundo. Depois, a batida dá lugar à voz do Thom com backing vocals, pra depois retomar a batida novamente.

8. "House of Cards" - música falando do amor, das relações que sempre são uma guerra diária, sustentando a paixão como uma casa de cartas mesmo. Um sopro e tudo desaba. Bem bonita.

9. "Jigsaw Falling into Place" - bem animadinha, música "tradicional", quase não parece Radiohead. Parece... Sei lá, Queens of the Stone Age mais "leve".

10. "Videotape" - pianinho; final bem melancólico de disco. Essa aqui tem um toque bem Amnesiac, com sons estranhos acompanhando o piano ao fundo em determinados momentos da música.

No final, o disco é muito bom. Pouco experimental, o que não tem nenhum problema. Pena que tenha poucas músicas (a versão especial em CD que sai em dezembro terá outro disco com mais músicas), mas as que tem valem a pena.

Nota: Thom Yorke continua cantando com uma batata na boca.

Hotlaps - Suzuka East

2007-10-08T10:51:00.000-03:00

O vídeo ficou legal, tirando a minha tremedeira.
Pretendo melhorar logo esse tempo.

Quem apagou a luz?

2007-10-07T21:30:00.000-03:00

Filme: The Dark

Você deveria ver? Sim, se tiver que escolher entre ele e Eragon, notadamente o pior filme já feito na história da humanidade.

Resumindo, temos uma família na Inglaterra, casa na colina, história macabra, meninas mortas, ovelhas, água, mortes e sustos esporádicos. É bem trash mesmo, praticamente um O Chamado com um oceano ao invés de um poço, fora que a parte final do filme é totalmente confusa e estranha. O final em si até que surpreendeu um pouco, mas no fritar dos ovos, o filme é bem "B-zão" mesmo. O protagonista do filme, Boromir, mais conhecido por ser o terrorista de Jogos Patrióticos ou um tal de Sean Bean na "vida real", é até bonzinho.

Um gênio e seu discurso

2007-10-04T18:10:00.000-03:00

Eu rio demais desse cara. Ele fala muito rápido e muito bem, e as ceninhas que acompanham são excelentes! Os outros vídeos são tão bons quanto esse.

Intrigâncias

2007-10-04T16:03:00.000-03:00

Post como esse último sempre me deixam intrigado, depois que eu os escrevo. São tão bobos... Porém reais.

Estou quase terminando o livro do Churchill. Ele era uma ótima pessoa, mesmo sendo um imperialista doido da cabeça. Pena que morreu cedo.

A minha ansiedade pelas coisas ainda há de me matar. Mas espero que daqui a algumas boas décadas. O tédio, contudo, acho que gostou de mim. Anda sempre do meu lado.

Passarela?

2007-09-29T10:30:00.000-03:00

Eu queria saber porque "desfiladeiros" têm esse nome. Alguém desfila neles? São feitos para empurrar modelos anoréxico-bulímicas lá de cima? Faria muito mais sentido eles serem chamados de "despencadeiros", mostrando o que acontece quando você, seu curioso, chega muito perto da borda deles.

Scanners

2007-09-27T21:55:00.000-03:00

Resolução alta demais -> inútil!

Sempre que eu pensava em comprar um scanner eu procurara aqueles com resoluções enormes, com a maior multiplicação que havia, pensando em aproveitar ao máximo a compra e tal. Há um tempo a gente comprou uma multifuncional com um scanner, obviamente. Fui testá-lo e quando coloquei em uma resolução pequena, que era uma das menores que havia lá, o tamanho da imagem já dava mais de 10 MB, acho que 14 ou perto disso. Fui ver as mais altas e o tamanho pulava pra centenas de MB, chegando até a GB.

Que coisa inútil! Ninguém normal usaria isso tudo pra copiar uma foto. Só doidos ou algum designer gráfico e/ou publicitário, ou seja, só doidos mesmo. Isso só prova que todo mundo é levado pelo marketing e nem percebe. A gente não precisa de 200 terapixels na câmera digital, da mesma forma.

Se arrependimento matasse...

2007-09-24T21:14:00.000-03:00

... eu matava todos os seus vizinhos. Eu odeio quando faço papel de bobo e não presto atenção no que eu estou fazendo! Pior ainda é deixar alguém esperando, alguém importante pra mim. Que bom que Murphy já está morto, senão ele ia se juntar aos seus vizinhos.

Eu procurei uma "kill.gif" no Google Imagens e achei a banana do Peanut Butter Jelly Time. Fui obrigado a colocar ela aqui em homenagem.

Eu sou um INFJ!

2007-09-18T21:21:00.000-03:00

Imagem tosca (que também é um link):

Sou introvertido, intuitivo, sentimental e julgador/crítico/algum sinônimo disso. Não sou fã desses testes, mas o resultado desse combinou muito com o que eu penso de mim (fica aqui a nota pra um artigo futuro, sobre o que e penso de mim e a teoria dos três "eus").

Menção especial:

"Você é uma pessoa gentil, carinhosa, complexa e altamente intuitiva. Artístico e criativo, você vive num mundo de significados e de possibilidades ocultas. Apenas 1% da população mundial tem características de personalidade como a sua, fazendo desse o tipo mais raro de todos."

Eu sou raro! Vou me prender numa Master Ball e me vender no eBay.

Perdendo de vista

2007-09-08T10:29:00.001-03:00

A vida inteira, ou pelo menos a vida passada aqui nesse prédio, sempre foi agraciada com uma bela vista de parte da cidade, especialmente do Jardim Zoológico e do Horto Florestal (que pra mim são a mesma coisa, não sei o que é o segundo direito). Agora, algum imbecil resolveu construir um prédio bem no meio da minha vista! Clique nas fotos para ampliá-las.

Vista da sacada

Construção no detalhe

Construção ampliada em todo o seu (não-) esplendor

Deviam proibir isso, ou demolir assim que ficar pronto, pra ser bem sacana (sem matar ninguém, claro).

Fotografias

2007-09-04T16:40:00.000-03:00

Domingo sempre é um bom dia pra sair de casa. Estava cansado de fazer relatórios, escrever textos e fazer trabalhos, então resolvi sair de bicicleta para tirar fotos da "cidade". O problema é que a cidade tem poucos lugares bons de se fotografar, e que além de bons sejam seguros. Fui para o Jaó (aproveitar e levar um livro pra Mônica) e no caminho pra lá tinham muitos sujeitos "desconfiáveis", se é que entendem. Só mesmo dentro do Jaó (o setor, não o clube), nas praças, parques e em frente à Igreja eu consegui parar e tirar fotos.

Não dá pra parar em qualquer lugar e sacar a câmera, não tem segurança alguma. Você fica sempre desconfiado que tem algum malandrão perto esperando pra te pegar (sem duplos sentidos). Muito chato isso. Cadê a segurança!

Semana que vem vou pro outro lado da cidade ver se consigo alguma coisa boa. Bons tempos eu que eu tinha a companhia do Carlos pra andar de bicicleta comigo. Agora ele está muito melhor acompanhado, é fato.

-> Primeiro post com leiaute justificado

Banalidades

2007-08-29T21:52:00.000-03:00

"Não tão quente quanto o incêndio onde eu vou te jogar. E nunca mais converse comigo."

O traço tá muito horrendo; preciso de um tablet. E de dotes artísticos.

Custo/benefício?

2007-08-27T22:08:00.000-03:00

Essa expressão não faz sentido. Quando se diz que algo tem um bom "custo/benefício", quer se dizer que algo é vantajoso de se ter, usar, etc. Porém, há uma contradição na própria definição dessa expressão. Ilustrando:

Vantagem = Custo/Benefício

Mantendo-se o benefício estável, ao aumentar-se o custo, aumenta-se a vantagem! Ou seja, entre duas coisas que trazem o mesmo benefício, a que tem mais vantagem é a que tem maior custo, que nessa "fórmula" é diretamente proporcional à vantagem obtida. Paralelamente, mantendo-se o custo fixo, ao aumentar o benefício, a vantagem diminui. Absurdo!

Isso não vai mudar o mundo, nem ninguém irá começar a dizer "Benefício/Custo", nem mesmo eu, mas não custa pensar que isso não está certo!

P.S.: Abraços pra todos que têm "Internet" em casa.