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Ghardo, Nov 12 2008
Hey
I also wanted to do a big write-up but as mnm more or less crushed any competition this will be more of a personal appreciation thread from my point of view 
First comes of course my "all-event-buddy" ret aka Jos who was just really cool company the whole of WCG and I could also sleep in his room from friday-saturday.
We had a nice taxi ride to his hostel together with Tasteless and Draco and ret was so drunk he told the taxi driver all about the "famous superstar Tasteless - in your taxi!! Can you even imagine the awesomeness of this?!?!" - was so funny how Nick just shrank back into his seat, haha.
Yeah, so was a great time with you Jos. Gonna meet again sometime and smoke some of the weed you told me about Mr. Amsterdam
WGT-Baal (though he doesn't post here very often) has also been a great companion. He told me all about his many travels and I got jealous when he said there is hardly any country in Europe he hasn't visited plus he has been to the States and China as well.
We spent sunday night together with the referees and as we both needed to get a train at like.. too early.. we stayed awake the whole of the night drinking, playing poker and then walked to the station in streaming rain. Doh.
French accent is sexy man ... and Fire)Templar is just so nice (insider)
Michelle (mnm) was one of the first persons I met and it was funny to see her surprise that I didn't look like Tom Cruise in "Interview with the Vampire" + Show Spoiler +
That's only at night, baby 
I enjoyed her company pretty much as well and I'm still disappointed I missed her awesome guitar hero performance  - which song did you play btw?
It was really nice I could borrow her camera to make some photos (that was originally because the incident was so funny that Mondi was filming for the mym interview and at the same time messaging his GF [-I guess]).. lots of trust going on between teamliquid people
I'm still so glad you couldn't find your camera :D Now it's only a myth! This never did happen! ^^
Another really interesting person I met was snowbird. He was there as a translator for Harry from FOMOS and as far as I can tell did a pretty fucking good job at it. They talked to the seemingly very strict and unfriendly Jaedong coach and afterwards he said he's actually a pretty nice guy once you get to talk to him. Jaedong even stayed till late at the meetup though at first it said he couldn't come at all. Maybe you build a little bridge there, Marc
Apart from that I also enjoyed our conversations and what you told me about life in Korea which was extremely interesting because I got to ask questions first hand and you seemed really knowledgeable about the culture and people.
Hope we meet again sometime, maybe if I'll come to Munich someday and you're still there and not in the land of (hopefully) everlasting starcraft
The whole bunch of referees was an absolutely awesome bunch. We had so much fun together on sunday night. Playing poker (Ok, I refrained, but Dknight would have bashed me anyway - I mean, he bashed Legendary 2:0), drinking and generally having a fucking good time together. Here again it was really great to hang out with the chinese people (who are absolutely crazy about poker.. game after game) and come closer despite all cultural and language barriers. Phoenix and Legendary stayed at our room and luckily Phoenix could speak some English so we could also communicate a bit with Legendary. Frank (Erkenbrand) later got really close with Phoenix talking about stuff, lying on the bed together - almost looked romantic And when they were leaving, Phoenix was so enthusiastic that he said something along the lines of "Next year at WCG you definitely need to come and I will ask my government to pay for all of your trips" Which was of course only a kind of compliment, but a very sweet one.
When they left there was finally time to torment Kevin aka Choblar... man this guy is so funny. He desperately wanted to sleep and they were poking him, carrying him around the room, stealing his blanket and he was like "man, why you do this to me, I want to sleep, please guys, please" with the most miserable face ever :D Loads of fun. We went to McDonalds at like 4 or 5 am (half hour walk still) and even convinced him to come.
If I had the grasp for starcraft they have, I would also apply for referee - it's really a pleasure to hang out with these guys.
=> Special thanks to Armin and Scott for being my brains and eyes in times of darkness
Another really.. illuminating.. acquaintance was Nony. Some time ago I didn't really like him much from a few passages I read in interviews and so on, thought he would be arrogant, but that was purely due to my lack of information or let's say due to my ignorance.
When I met him in person he was a really smart and friendly fellow who was comfortable to talk to. Of course he seemed tense when I met him on friday and saturday and when he was out of the tourney he was obviously disappointed but when we started drinking at the tl-meetup and got to talk it was really interesting and - at least from my point of view - it was a lot of fun. Tasteless also sat at our table and it was quite entertaining to have his gossip from Korea and all the stuff you normally only imagine about life there. Quite a lot of insights I gained there.. like 80% confirmed of what I only dared suspect
And Nick, it was really refreshing to know that you are the person you always seem to be: An open and easy going person who approaches anyone, making friends, and no hint of arrogance or condescendence on your part. I think, in fact, you're the one who talked to most people at our meeting ^^
Meat, who came along with Nazgul and Pooruser, has also been someone I really got to like. We talked a bit on friday and had a fairly long - like "deep" - conversation at the meetup which made me go up to Nazgul and tell him "I want to steal your roomate"
Yay man, was cool to chat with you, anytime again : )
Yeah and Nazgul: Thanks for the beer - you're the man
Wow, this is actually getting long. I guess I'll stick to shorter shoutouts from now on.
On saturday I spent some time with Midian and we watched a horrible singing performance which was only lightened up by the first participant: Susie. She really sang beautifully, no doubt, but what came after that made me bleed from the ears. Brrrr. Still can't properly sleep at night.
Midian was cool. Didn't know he was also this succesful at Poker (I could always get jealous, Pooruser told me at the meetup he lost 400k in one week and was smiling :D -_-;; ) and we talked a bit about the hardships of becoming a poker pro.
Cheers man, you got a golden grin *cough*  .
I already replied to Twisted in his own blog, would have wished to (like with many other people) one could have hung out together a bit more but there were just so many cool and sympathetic guys around you had no chance of meeting everyone properly.
Draco is awesome as well. We were drinking together with ret (though Draco takes it better than him - yay Poland) and he is a really cool guy irl though he keeps to himself a bit more, but that's just his way I guess. He showed me a picture of his girlfriend and yes, I can confirm, she is indeed pretty. Tasteless and Nony know as well
Warm wishes of course fly out to THE Puertorican I really envy you for your jacket
And warm wishes fly out to Petra aka Ilvy who just came to my mind and definitely deserves a spot here
There were also some teamliquid users from Germany I talked to and who were really cool. Unfortunately they catched me at my attempt to pretend I came from some English-speaking country: "Why? You just said "Entschuldigung", so.." "I did? Noo I didn't- you imagined this.". Yeah, I liked you guys as well though I didn't get your nicknames apart from Prof. Protoss :D But I don't think anyone recognized my nickname, so it's evened out.
Nyovne and I only had brief conversation - we were sitting right next to Susie and Jaedong when they did the interview and were talking at like full volume until zatic hushed us - still can hear a bit of it in the i-view But Nyovne is definitely cool. I think he didn't drink anything the whole weekend because he was driver and he still always seemed cheerful and sociable. Thumbs up!
I didn't really want to include any photos because I didn't take any (at least not with my own camera) but this was very funny:
![[image loading]](http://calbearmnm.smugmug.com/photos/414180320_U3pUo-S-1.jpg)
You can see zatic standing there and doing the live-reporting for teamliquid and Naruto and I stood exactly where the photo was taken and couldn't see the screens. So Naruto took out his iPhone and we read the "live-live" reports on tl zatic was typing into his keyboard like 5 meters away from us
Ok, that's it more or less, I guess. I may have forgotten someone but if so it may come to my mind later. So many people there. So much beyond the game going on there
One thing I want to say at the end is that there was seemingly nobodoy I really disliked. That was a really cool experience, all these different types of people together and still so much fun and sympathy. In fact, I prolly could be (real life) friends with almost anyone I met
 
Ghardo, Sep 14 2008
History repeats itself - or let's rather say: Reality repeats itself.
Since the Big Bang the universe has expanded, numerous galaxies occured and also species evolved in solar systems. Such species as the human race - just a tiny spot in a vast sea - but we will make all the difference.
We always thought of technologically highly advanced alien races visiting or at least observing us and since the time we knew how small we really are in this huge universe we also felt a little anxious.
But in fact we are the most advanced species out there which will soon be validated when we recreate the universe.
The reality we see is not an enumeration of probabilities, it always runs after the same pattern which will ultimatively repeat itself. Every time a universe is created it runs towards its inevitable end when a race is advanced enough to build a machine - for the purpose of making tests - and will start the process anew.
It is just like Domino Day - we always asked: If there was a Big Bang, who was there to trigger it? But now the question is: Who triggered it the first time?
We are one huge automat and the chain runs towards its end before it is resetted by its creator. Us.
LHC is here.
Domino Day is near.
=)
just a little fun writing. you can leave a comment if you want.
Ghardo, Sep 12 2008
hi
some time ago i wrote a short story on starcraft which is unfortunately only available in german (i'm too lazy to translate it). so sorry to exclude all the english speaking users but from the german ones i'd like to know: what do you think of it?
Kerrigan hatte Visionen. Die Brutmutter warf sich hin und her in ihrem organischen Schlafkokon; immer noch wurde sie heimgesucht von Gesichtern die längst ihrer menschlichen, widerwärtigen Vergangenheit angehören sollten. Sie öffnete schlagartig die Augen und riss ihre Arme los, was einen Regen von Gewebestücken auf den Boden niedergehen ließ. Ihre Augen verwandelten sich sofort wieder in die eines Raubtieres und ihr ganzer Körper vibrierte vor unbändigem Zorn aufgrund ihres menschlichen Makels. Als sie ihre Schlafstätte verließ, sackten hinter ihr die leblosen Körper ihrer Schwarmwachen in sich zusammen; einer der Köpfe rollte noch kurze Zeit im Schritttempo neben ihr her. Doch das alles nahm sie kaum wahr – ihre ganzen Sinne waren ausgerichtet auf ein bestimmtes Ziel: Sie musste ihre Vergangenheit ausradieren und das konnte sie nur, indem sie sich der mörderischen Lust des Schwarms hingab.
Die Gruppe von gefangenen Marines war auf dem Boden schon fest miteinander verwachsen als ein wirrer Haufen aus verkrümmten und entstellten Körperteilen. Sie würden sich schon bald im natürlichen Assimilationsprozess zu einem neuen Organismus weiterentwickeln, der dem Schwarm dienlich sein würde. Doch das interessierte Kerrigan herzlich wenig. Sie wusste aus eigener Erfahrung, dass diese Marines noch nicht vollständig in das Schwarmbewusstsein übergegangen waren, dass ihre Gedanken noch ihnen gehörten, dass sie noch menschlich waren. Ihr stöhnen und ächzen bestätigte das. Sie trat an einen der Marines heran, dessen Oberkörper horizontal aus dem Haufen herausragte und fixierte ihn mit einer Mischung aus angewidertem und mordlüsternem Blick. „Willst du mir nicht dein Herz schenken, kleines Menschlein?“ hallte ihre entmenschlichte Stimme. Die Augen des Mannes weiteten sich vor Entsetzen und sein leicht geöffneter Mund gab Aufschluss darüber, wie weit die Verseuchung schon vorangeschritten war. „Es wird eine kurze, intensive Vereinigung… glaube mir, dein Schmerz wird ohnehin unendlich sein.“ Und mit diesen Worten setzte sie einen ihrer rasiermesserscharfen Auswüchse auf sein Brustbein und schnitt langsam Richtung Bauchnabel. Die Schreie des Marines, der nur hilflos mitansehen konnte wie seine Eingeweide hervorgeholt wurden, hallten dumpf wider von den organischen Wänden der Zelle. „Ihr seid eine nutzlose Spezies. Emsig baut ihr eure kleinen Hütten, erfindet Dinge, die euch zu den Planeten fliegen und versteckt euch hinter metallenen Schutzwällen. Und doch seid ihr zu schwach, um euch selbst zu helfen.“ Das Schreien hatte sich mittlerweile in ein Röcheln verwandelt, aber der Marine schaffte es doch ein paar Worte heraus zu pressen: „Kerrigan… du warst mal eine von uns… wie kannst du so etwas nur tun?“ Ihre Augen sprachen von purem Abscheu. „Aus einem ganz einfachen Grund: Um keine mehr von euch zu sein.“ Und mit einer flüssigen Bewegung schnitt sie sein Herz heraus, das noch kurz in ihrer Hand pulsierte bis es still wurde. Erleichterung.
Ghardo, Jul 18 2008
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967
narrated by Joaquin Phoenix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethic_of_reciprocity
Ghardo, May 23 2008
philosophical/physics blog?
is it chance or do we only know too little? -> planck constant, h, heisenberg
love/evolutionary blog?
is the human love something "higher", a kind of love that makes a qualitative difference (romantic idea) or is it just a modification, an illusion of animals too proud of themselves? -> culture, evolution, consequence, questionable consciousness
theoretical/psychological blog?
does everything strive for balance? / extended consciousness without penalty? -> yin and yang
drugs blog?
coffee, cigarettes, alcohol STOP? coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, weed STOP? straight edge? -> self-indulgence
veganism/principle blog?
veganism or ONLY FRUITS FALLEN FROM A TREE? -> morality, worthy life, assumptions (plants->emotions?), golden rule
random blog?
Chelsea you morons. -> football, pens, ![[image loading]](http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/6937/1180318496871dz9em7.jpg)
musing blog?
"Don't take life too seriously; you'll never get out of it alive." -> blogs that take themselves too seriously, dogmatic structure, end of story
Ghardo, Oct 27 2007
Taken from "Favorite Books" thread. Just want to pass that on.
On October 27 2007 20:51 Ghardo wrote:This post is purely about fantasy literature. It is as much a hitlist as a recommendation - especially to the ones who also cherish "A Song of Ice and Fire" by G.R.R. Martin. (of whom there are quite a lot here at TL.net) I present two book series that can also be categorized under dark, merciless, "authentic" fantasy (not of such epic proportions and complexity as the Song, but different in a way that does not contradict their awesomeness) with an outstanding writing style such as displayed in George Martin's masterpiece. I skimmed through countless amazon user hitlists in search for books that could give me an equally worthwhile reading experience as "A Song of Ice and Fire" and found two which also got that certain "sense of star", to say it with the words of Kim Dong-Soo. A Song of Ice and Fire, by G.R.R. Martin (this is our starting point) ![[image loading]](http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/9981/055357340301lzzzzzzzne1.jpg) >>>>The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day 1), by Patrick Rothfuss (watch out - highly addictive!) ![[image loading]](http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6095/coveruksf0.jpg) >>>>The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One), by Joe Abercrombie ![[image loading]](http://img456.imageshack.us/img456/3334/thebladeitselfhv8.jpg)
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Return of the King
