whoamg its valentines day. In far more relevant news, February has been a craaazy month. I made teh Xanga too for easy updates, but this site will still get all the articles and big fat long updates that don't suck.

Chem
Chemistry is Fun! Or not! Especially when the midyear is so misleading. Wednesday's portion was a veritable joke; 73 multiple choice questions out of 75. Finished in 30 minutes. Adrenaline seeping out after class: a job well done. Then Thursday. Fourteen word problems. Seemed conquerable after the joke that was Wednesday. How wrong I was.

The first word problems seemed like some BS. Typical of Chem - surely no more than a point lost or so on each. And yet as I pushed forth, the infamous Chem chart appeared. "Draw the Lewis Dot Structures", blah blah. Bond angles?... I shrugged off the BS. Some pretty big word problems. Whatever. And yet, it now seemed that all problems had many, many parts. Up to around question #10, the ten minute warning ran. BS'ing skills to the max... five minutes... incomplete! With at least fifteen points' worth of BS among the last questions.

87...

And other academic stuff that doesn't matter
After the chem fiasco, the Asians had their say. A long, tedious "say", but I shrugged it off as idealism. This Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia?... I can dream as well as they, but I choose to accept reality. Shoot for the moon. Massive arguments. You can't change the past... at least, from what I've seen, you can't.

Continuing through my school day, a week without lab is a week in heaven, though the Chem midyears did dampen those spirits. Jerry is... Jerry. After finishing the truly pathetic Outlaw Josey Wales, we were slated for another BS-test on Friday... and what does Jerry do!? As usual, Jerry skips school on the day of the Decisive Battle. Peter Colby fills in... and on Monday, Peter Colby again! At least we get the test, filled with classic Jerry BS multiple choice. Aah, life.

Grucela... nothing to note whatsoever... French... time wasted... classes shortening. Our teacher has now decided to further waste class time by rearranging the desks into a little kindergarten circle. Considering that we effectively utilized less than thirty minutes of class per day, this can only detract. Not that I care. French class can go to hell for all I care.

MATH is life! Super duper test Friday; I'm currently resting with a 96 and a few joke quizzes under my belt. Easily cruising, we meet AE Bio. A bump in the road. A pathetic midyear, and indeed a pathetic class. Not my pick of the day, but I'll take an easy A, even if it is an AE class.

All My Soul Are Belong To Konami
For indeed, what is there left to say about games? I beat Metal Gear Solid on Friday afternoon... and here are some of my thoughts.

The graphics are good. The cutscenes could use some work, but very strong. Details abound: footprints in the snow, heavily armored guards, beautiful backgrounds and details. Sounds are obviously top notch. Surprising voice acting prowess with high quality sound effects. An excellent "alert" music track. Very, very convincing audio/visual aspects.

Obviously, Metal Gear Solid is highly appraised for its story. And indeed, it does have a powerful story, filled with a combination of sublimal and obvious messages. While it may seem a little over-the-top in terms of presentation, it's all good, good stuff, with a surprising number of plot twists. Keep your head to the screen, your ears attentive, and your fingers glued to the controller, because you won't want to miss the story. It goes by very fast.

Regarding the speed of the game, it's not very long. Metal Gear Solid won't take you more than 15 hours on your first playthrough on Easy Mode. People have supposedly completed the game in an hour and a half. Skipping the cutscenes, which comprise rougly 30% of playtime, I find that very believable. What's there is all high quality, though.

Graphics are beautiful. Sound is high-caliber. Story and characters are convincing and lovable. Short and sweet. Ironically enough, the only things keeping Metal Gear Solid from getting a perfect score are, to me, the two most important things: Gameplay and Style. I know that this is a game from 1998, so I don't expect the greatest localization. Thus, I let slip the overdone voice acting and slight Engrish issues. But, the game often feels rushed or drawn out. Backtracking is fun, but the game feels too short to use up half an hour going back to what seems like pointless places.

Gameplay itself feels a bit dated and flawed. Despite all the skills and features included, Metal Gear Solid feels somewhat gimmick-based. There is an excellent, nostalgic feel as you creep along, and when you are caught, you pretty much die, enforcing the stealth factor. But your radar helps you out there. Pretty well-balanced. And yet... after you've played half-way, you start to realize that you can simply outrun the guards. Despite their beastly power, if you're fifteen feet in front of them, they will not shoot. Later in the game, many weapons feel useless, only noted for their one-time shots. There are many one-time events that you wish would have some deeper meaning (Ocelot's torture?)... and yet the game's length only encompasses what it can.

Not to say the game is bad. The game is revolutionary in its own right for its integration of gameplay and cinematic story advancement. Everything feels well-done, and the boss fights rock something fierce. Very, very creative executions. Many props to Konami. Rock on!

Sons of Bit--er, Liberty! You're next!