I'm sure that at one point or another in your life, you've felt like the fucking boss, whether it'd be at doing something or whatever the hell you can think of. Is in these moments that a certain type of songs will pump me up to the point where you feel like you're immortal.
So long story short, so I plan on making this blog a compilation of songs that psyche up to the point of wanting to go get in a swordfight against a fucking samurai or that will make things like this seem like girly tea time.
An example of what I'm talking about would be something like this:
This blog doesn't take into consideration the pro-scene, at all.
We are all foreigners, we have our own styles of play and learn from those who are top SC players outside of Korea. Sure, we can always watch pro-replays and analyze how those monsters play, but then again, this blog doesn't take into consideration the pro SC scene.
The best example of our beautiful organization is the Liquipedia and those guides made by very good foreign players. We have BOs up to the 70th supply count and have countless variations and branchings of those BOs to fit our opponents'.
But something that I have noticed is that us as foreigners have the tendency of playing full-width macro games. Not counting those who cheese to ladder up or because they're just plain noobs, if you look at most of the good foreigners' builds, they tend to be of very high macro orientation.
12 hat, 1 rax fe, etc. are a couple of the builds that all of us have memorized extremely well and know how to execute to a certain degree of preciseness. Also, those are the builds that we are encouraged to learn so that we can "improve and be straight up non-newbie players".
However, there is a little difference between us and the (non-pro) korean players. I will leave some other examples up to you guys since I don't have much time right now to elaborate but if you take a look at how Korean zergs tend to play their zvt, you will see that 90% of the times they will be opting for a really aggressive 2 hat mutas build and follow it up with defilers off of 2 bases.
Why is this the case? Is it because they earn more respect the faster they beat the shit out of their opponents? Or is it because they just have enormous confidence in their APM? Or is it because they just don't like long games?
There is this guy in his mid 30s, totally random, unknown, but that has managed his way up to the pastor rankings. How?
I've been attending this church for about five years already, and it's been a good place to go, or it was until about a couple months ago, when this ugly creep arrived and since then has been telling the church exactly what they want to hear.
"This is a good church, the best church, god is going to give you favor and this and that and such and fill in the blank here bitches _________".
Well the pastors, for some reason, love it. They simply love it. This guy HAS to come up to the pulpit at least twice during a sermon to preach some random prophecy that favors the church somehow and people clap and clap.
Guess what the pastors did not long ago homies: They requested an EXTRA offering "to help our new prophet" on top of the one they normally request. He made a shitload of money you know, because we usually have two sermons per sunday. In other words, he got two offerings all for himself.
I really don't know whether to say that this dude is legit or not or just a scam trying to make money out of a stupid church that can't think for themselves; abusing their stupidity for his own good. Like literally, people in there agree with everything the pastors say; in the five years that I've attended, I've yet to see someone stand up and question a pastor or anyone.
EVER
Since that moment on the pastors have been requesting two offerings per sermon (totaling 4 offerings a Sunday) after they found out they could leech more money out of their congregation "for good purposes".
They even changed the church's carpet to make them think their money is being put to good use and the people are all happy with their shiny little faces :D
There are some really smart people in this world, trying to find the slightest chance they can get to abuse a weakness in a system for their own good.
This is something that is creeping me out really bad larely.
I haven't played on iccup for about 6 months already, at all. However, I've been playing random 1v1 games with people ranging from extremely bad skill to really good, BUT, like one game a week or something.
Furthermore, I've been watching a shitload, A SHITLOAD, of VODs and replays. I've been studying how progamers play and stuff, not really deep or anything, just grasping the whole and abstract flow of their game.
Now the really creepy thing is, I'm much better than what I used to be when I was a hardcore iccup massgamer.
Is it because I've been taking the time to actually study my game, or is it because of something else? In total, I've played like, at max, 20 1v1 games since I left iccup.
Since I was very little, I've always been fascinated by the way the Japanese people live their lives.
Their culture is simply fascinating; like the way they greet each other based on hierarchy, the conciseness and flexibility of their language, their strong connection to spiritual and natural life, their marvelous calligraphy and really mysterious ancient history, that is just to name a few.
They tend to live in small homes since Japan is constantly growing and the fact that it is an island, thus you will always see these huge buildings (specially in Tokyo) called danji which are like a big complex of crammed up apartments. This increases the coziness of one's home (which may or may not be a good thing for some people) but that I've always found to be very comforting! (call me weird).
Then comes their food! OMG, there's nothing better in this world than seafood, I love seafood, hell I could live on seafood for the rest of my life (which I think would prove to be a tough challenge though) I mean, who doesn't like their little wiggly - tailed underwater friends on their plate? x3 (ok, that was gay).
Then it comes their art; simple water paintings and badass deep - dark - ink calligraphy. I could fill my entire home with those you know, there's something about their simplicity that simply draws my attention in so much!
Then comes their manga of course (and some anime), Japanese cartoons are so unique you can see the difference between Ed, Edd & Eddy and Bleach lol (but most manga tend to be all quite the same tho, that's the only downer).
To keep this short, I will stop here, but there are still many more other things that have caught my love for the country and the people in it. That's why I will be moving there once I graduate!
Beautiful architecture
HOW?
I'm an independent Japanese - language student as my university doesn't offer any other foreign language courses other than Spanish (which is my native tongue) and I don't want to spend the money on some other place I would have to go to so I can learn it.
I'm currently viewing a TV series on YouTube that was made like two years ago called Let's Learn Japanese! which features some dude called Yan whom traveled to Japan to learn about it's business (the skits are very entertaining though they can get a bit repetitive). I think there are a total of 28 episodes, each in which they teach you various ways of using Japanese sentences and words to help you survive in the country (I don't think it gets truly specific, but they mostly teach you stuff you would want to memorize to help you if you happen to travel there someday).
Google is my Japanese teacher. It has a lot of pros, but there's nothing like actually speaking and hearing the language with truly fluent people to help you get a good grasp on how it works. This, of course, has to be done pretty much everyday, which is something that simply won't happen here, in the U.S.
But something is better than nothing isn't it?
He can kick your ass
WHEN AND WHERE?
I use any free time I get, anywhere I am, to further my Japanese horizons the best I can. This includes doing it at the university (which is good since I don't have a printer and can print out a good deal of material such as hiragana tables or kanji). I don't have any set scedules or topics, but rather I do a lot of research and find whatever I can and learn as much as I can from it (the internet is a very powerful tool my friends!)
We don't need to train at the Eiffel tower to kick this much ass
INTRODUCTION
The Japanese language is really tough! Mostly, though, when it comes to figuring out the meaning of kanji, using the correct sentence structure, and knowing the correct use of the damn particles.
The pronunciation was very easy to learn, though, I think this was due to the fact that I can speak both English and Spanish fluently, and our Spanish vowels are extremely close, if not 100% to those the Japanese pronunciation.
Also, the hiragana alphabet was somewhat tricky to memorize, but it could be done, and now I'm at the point where I can read and write it with no problem (unless I happen to stumble upon some weird kanji out of the 20 or so that I already know. Yes, sad). I don't know katakana yet and I'm still confused on how the hell to use kanji; they have like 10 meanings each, some which are totally unrelated, as well as different pronunciations for it depending on context. Also, I never know whether they are verbs, adjectives or nouns though I'm sure you have a lot of those for each.
HIRAGANA TABLE
Hiragana is the most common writing system the Japanese employ. Here's the hiragana table for future reference:
あ - a い - i え - u う - e お - o か - ka き - ki く - ku け - ke こ - ko さ - sa し - shi す - su せ - se そ - so た - ta ち - chi つ - tsu て - te と - to な - na に - ni ぬ - nu ね - ne の - no は - ha ひ - hi ふ - fu へ - he ほ - ho ま - ma み - mi む - mu め - me も - mo や - ya ゆ - yu よ - yo ら - ra り - ri る - ru れ - re ろ - ro わ - wa を - wo ん - n が - ga ぎ - gi ぐ - gu げ - ge ご - go ざ - za じ - ji ず - zu ぜ - ze ぞ - zo だ - da ぢ - dji づ - du で - de ど - do ば - ba び - bi ぶ - bu べ - be ぼ - bo ぱ - pa ぴ - pi ぷ - pu ぺ - pe ぽ - po きゃ - kya きゅ - kyu きょ - kyo しゃ - sha しゅ - shu しょ - sho ちゃ - cha ちゅ - chu ちょ - cho にゃ - nya にゅ - nyu にょ - nyo ひゃ - hya ひゅ - hyu ひょ - hyo みゃ - mya みゅ - myu みょ - myo りゃ - rya りゅ - ryu りょ - ryo ぎゃ - gya ぎゅ - gyu ぎょ - gyo じゃ - ja じゅ - ju じょ - jo ぢゃ - dja ぢゅ - dju ぢょ - djo びゃ - bya びゅ - byu びょ - byo ぴゃ - pya ぴゅ - pyu ぴょ - pyo
KATAKANA TABLE
Katakana is used by the japanese to accentuate words of foreign descent. Here's the katakana table for future reference:
Strokes: 7 Meaning: see, look, view, examine, show
PARTICLES
I know the particles are like the cement of the japanese - word bricks, without them, you wouldn't be able to express a single Japanese thought at all! I learned that there are some rules for the use of each which apply in many cases but not necessarily in some other cases (T.T). I also learned that all of them are postfix (meaning that they always go after the word they emphasize). Here's a list of the particles (Warning, they may not be 100% correct):
WA - Written HA - Indicates subject but places emphasis of what you're going to say (as for the flowers, I love them!)
GA - Indicates subject but places emphasis on the subject itself (I was the one who killed him)
NO - It shows possession (this is my car)
O - Written WO - Shows us what the direct object is (shall we get a pizza?)
NI - Shows us what the indirect object is, who or what an action is directed to. Also used to show destination, places, dates and times. (the children play in the park)
DE - Shows us where an action takes place, is used to mean "among", indicate a method, say something is good or sufficient as it is, and sometimes combined with WA to show something is done within the subject.
MO - "Includer" plays the same role as and or too (that's a car too!)
E - Similar to NI but not as used and empasizes destination.
KA - Equivalent to a question mark; put at the end of a sentence. (What the hell are you?)
YA - Works like "and" when listing relevant things while leaving others out (here are the spoons, forks, etc)
TO - Works like "and" as well but this time you use it to mention everything on the list (here are the pencils, sharpeners, erasers, crayons and pens). Also used for quotes (Mario said this and that).
YO - Used at the end of a sentence to call someone's attention forcefully, (Alex, look at this!!!)
NE - Used at the end of a sentence to mean "right?" or "isn't it?" or something along those lines (overused)
This is a bit straightforward, but you can always go here and check the whole thing out.
WHAT AM I WATCHING?
I'm currently watching this program (the one I mentioned up there in the HOW section) about this dude called Yan and his adventures in Japan. They're very entertaining but are somewhat scratching the surface of the language. However, like I said again, something is better than nothing at all, and these videos besides providing for some good entertainment, they also let me hear people talking normal Japanese using the sentences I'm learning during each lesson.
Here's lesson 1 for those who are interested:
Enjoy their little heart catching music!
UPDATES
I will be adding more stuff to this as I learn the language, please feel free to post whatever you find useful or send me a PM. Thanks! Arigato Gozaimasu!
so there is a little 13 year old kid taking a high level course (junior/senior) with me, at the university. i just asked him.
i have to admit i've never felt this stupid in my entire life. it makes me uncomfortable knowing i will see him almost everyday learning from the same professor.
i will kill myself if i fail this course and he passes it.
yes, the kid is asian.
any thoughts on how to handle this o,o?
edit: i put him on my SE team, seems like a cool kid and has a shitload of manners, let's see how he does ^^
I don't know if we've discussed this but, in your opinion, what's the most touching SC unit to YOU? It doesn't have to be because of its stats or anything, just because of it's presence, voice, looks, experiences, etc.
To me, it's always been the marine.
Probably because that's the sound I grew most fond of when I was little (~7 years old) and I was starting to play the game; I knew nothing, I didn't know you could build, or get new units, hell I didn't even know what the game was about. I just knew that I started on this level with a couple little soldiers and two little robots who liked grabbing this blue thing.
I liked exploring the map and killing these weird creatures that for some reason kept on picking off my little soldiers with no problem. They were really fast and had a cool looking face. I WANTED TO PLAY THEM! (I somehow knew you could, but not how, so I kept on trying to pass the missions) And I grew fond of the organic aliens that I always esteemed as mighty, mysterious, and powerful.
So all I heard during this time was the familiar "gogogo", "standing by", "lock and load", "checked up and good to go", "we gotta move", "are you gonna get me orders?", "oh my god it's wet", "a... [couldn't catch this] ...friend is commander", "and i don't know how to get out of this... [couldn't catch this either] ...outfit", "you wanna piece of me boy?", "in a world for this damn... [couldn't catch this >.<] ... career by now".
I grew fond of the little guy that liked trash talking me honestly, and everytime I saw one (specially in the installation levels) I just wanted him to walk with me and do something together, and when I saw the dead-marine scenery you always see there, my heart felt sad for him.
I bet this sounds gay but it's the truth haha, I know SC has touched you somehow not because of the gameplay, or friends you've made, or any sort of shit like that, but just because of it's pure being or simplicity.
A friend of mine also started working out. He says he just wants a bit of everything (strength, muscle, toning), and uploaded a video on YouTube recently. Can you please judge his training? Please keep the bashing, laughing to death and flaming to a minimum, he's just starting out! lol
Here's the vid:
I'm currently following StrongLifts 5x5 program in our uni's gym (Thank you AoN.DimSum!) but I'm not quite sure if that would suit him much (equipment-wise), he apparently has only some sort of bar and plates.
![[image loading]](http://i47.tinypic.com/2mdmkwy.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i33.tinypic.com/24x3wk0.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/graphics/flags/large/ja-lgflag.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.capilanou.ca/Assets/continuing-education/North+Van/Languages+Home-Japan.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i37.tinypic.com/168zqix.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i36.tinypic.com/258o0mt.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/1.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/65.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/25.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/28.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/21.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/80.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/32.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/70.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/13.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/35.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/71.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/49.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/3.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/11.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/2.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/4.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/5.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/6.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/7.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/8.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/9.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/10.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/12.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/14.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/15.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/16.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/17.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/18.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/19.gif)
![[image loading]](http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/graphics/20.gif)
![[image loading]](http://www.amazingavatars.com/albums/StarCraft/thumb_starcraft_terran_marine.gif)
