Why can't we be friends?

'Ahem', 'Ahem' Welcome to another session of Doctor Wolf's ramblings on Love, Life, Sex, and Bananas (ok the last one was a bit strange.....). A friend of mine sought my counsel a few days back where some of his classmates were giving him the cold shoulder and being overly critical of him, shooting down any, and every comment he makes. Now the funny thing is that they were getting along reasonably well at the start of the semester, and all of the sudden we have this strange change in attitude. As usual these problems baffle me as I'm no Mr.Personality myself, the kind of person who could effortlessly attract the masses to them. I'm quite the opposite in fact, I don't as much draw people in as I push them away, being an overtly guarded, hostile and paranoid person. The friend's which I have made have been pure luck and chance, where effort played the least role (which might explain my very much dead and buried private life, but I'll cry over that some other time). I remember the first day I arrived at the hostel back in 2006, my mood was as foul as someone who got diarrhea for a whole damn week (mind you it happened to me once before). I was first ambushed by two kids while I was coming out of the toilet (you can already guess who those two are) and they promptly introduced themselves to me. The first thought which came across my mind was "Who the hell are these weird fellows?". Then I stalked off to the cafeteria for dinner where I heard a particularly loud mouthed buffoon making too much bloody noise at a row of tables next to the window. I closely surveyed the people in the cafeteria as I would the sole of my shoe after stepping on something, and thought to myself "Oh my God, what kind of shit have I got myself into". Then this weird fellow in his tucked-in checked shirt walked past and I thought "Bloody uncle so old already then want to start studying ah". You can imagine my first impression of student life in Melbourne was not good. But then these people turned out to be rather good friends of mine as we had many things in common, the kids loved anime and one of them was almost as schooled as me on military matters, the uncle was a damned car fanatic and the loud fella, well we were both loud anyway. So back to the main point, in all honesty I couldn't answer his question and have practically no idea why I went on and on about this story, I just hope that it serves some purpose. Personally I would say that looks can and will be deceiving, don't judge others too fast and think before you talk. Friendship and Relationships are a two way street, there will always be giving and taking. From this point on in your life it doesn't help to make enemies, besides everyone should be matured enough to think past that stage already. If anyone gives you shit, ask them why they are doing so and try to think back as to how you may have offended them. And at the end of the day if they're still being pricks (most likely due to the lack of a proper one if they are males) come back to me and I'll teach you some very illuminating words and phrases. Most importantly it's no use trying to fit in, just be yourself, you only live for one person, which is you alone.

UNITED WIN!

UNITED WIN! UNITED WIN! UNITED WIN! YEAAAAAHHHHHH! WOOOOOOOO! ONE UNITED!

MANCHESTER UNITED

SIMPLY RED

CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND AND EUROPE

Streak

It never rains nor does it pour when a farkin' typhoon can blow it's way in and make a right mess of your life which will be God's own work to clean up. Which is what exactly happened to me a few weeks ago. First, my veteran four year old Zen Neeon MP3 player disappeared mysteriously while I was commuting to the city a few Saturdays ago. Sure I bitched about how old and messed-up it was but I never expected it to go this way. And along with it went my trusty Sony headphones which my Dad got for me way back in 2002. Not to mention the countless songs which I forgot to back up and will again be God's own work in finding all of them. And on to the second case, scarcely had a week passed when my much vaunted laptop took a dive into the deep end, YET AGAIN! This is the third bloody time it's crashed and the best part is this time around it seems that it crashed for no apparent reason at all. So much for high tech gadgets. So now my trusty N76 has to fill in for my missing Zen Neeon until I can get home and buy a new one. Then I've also got to send in my laptop for a major overhaul, probably swap out the hard disk for a new one and increase the RAM. Well depending on the price of the servicing I could probably land myself a new laptop and I'm currently eyeing the Sony VAIO (in red) or the Dell XPS PRODUCT RED laptop. So there you have it, two major problems which can only be solved when I get home, which is on the 19th of June. In the meantime I've got three more assignments left outstanding and two of them need to be handed in next week, add to that the dangerously close end of semester exams and my feeling ill yet again, I'm sure you can all see what a wonderful time I'm having, much akin to getting a paper cut on your bum if I'm any judge.

Looking into the shrouded distance

I never used to think about the future a lot, being too caught up with the events of the present, but recently I've been giving it much thought. Back when I was still rolling with the crazy characters from St.Pat's we never actually thought much about what was going to happened in the future, the only thing that was important to us was having fun. But in the blink of an eye three years have passed since we donned the uniform for the last time. Did any of us really have the slightest inkling of where we'd be now? Well I for one didn't expect to be here, so how many of us are where we truly want to be? Well what we want isn't usually what we get. Back then life was so much simpler, we only lived for the next school holiday, we quite simply only lived to have fun. True, three years might have not been such a long time but it feels like I've aged a lot since then. I've had to start thinking about the path that I'm going to take in order to fulfill my dreams. But what are my dreams exactly? What am I working towards? Does anyone now have a clear picture of what they want? I sure as hell don't, and I'm making it up as I go along, like one of the many impromptu speeches I have made in the past. Well you could say that finding a dream is sort of a dream in itself. There are many question but few answers. The year is 2008, and soon enough it'll be 2009. Time used to travel so very slow, but now it seems that it's in a bit of a hurry. Where will each one of us be in another three years time? Will we still be able recognise each other if we met on a busy street? Will each of us be that much closer to what we seek? A clouded thought, for a rather cloudy day.

Redundencies

A minor post deviation on the LAN game which seems to take up a good portion of our leisure time these days, Call of Duty 4. As FPS games come it's right up there with FEAR and Ghost Recon. Good game play with a nice spread of weapons to choose from, not to mention a measure of accuracy and realism as to the characteristics of each weapon in question, aside from the jamming part which is almost impossible to replicate in a game. Especially like the part of the game where you gain access to better weaponry and perks as your rank increases. So here's my take on which weapon is the best of it's class.

Assault Rifle: AK-47. Sure it might not be the most accurate or prettiest gun around but 7.62 Russian and full automatic? Nothing gets better than that. Great for short to mid-ranged engagements.

Sub-Machinegun: MP-5. Good looking and accurate as hell the MP-5 is the obvious choice, the 9mm round might be a mere pistol round but at close ranges it does it's job quite well. Great for short range engagements, especially house-to-house fighting but useless at ranges over that.

Shotgun: M1014. Three words, 'Semi-Automatic' and 'Shotgun', close quarters battle doesn't get any better than that. The only problem is it's four round capacity and since it's a shotgun that means it's an ultra-short ranged weapon, with an effective range less than that of a pistol or sub-machine gun.

Sniper Rifle: Barrett M82A1. 12.7 and semi-automatic, what more could a sniper want? Literally means one shot one kill with this weapon, not to mention re-arranging your anatomy in the process.

Light Machinegun: M60E4. 7.62 NATO and a nice 56cm barrel, can be used as both a support weapon and a sniper rifle. Great for mid to long range engagements.

Pistol: H&K MK23 Mod 0. .45 ACp with a 12 round magazine, good stopping power and adequate magazine capacity. True it might have a much smaller round than the much vaunted Desert Eagle with it's big .50 AE round but more than makes up for it with it's 12 round magazine when compared with the Desert Eagle's seven round one. And the victor in combat is usually the one with the most bullets. As with pistols and sub-machineguns it is a short range weapon.

And here's my take on perk combinations one should use in various combat situations.

Assault: Perk 1: x3 frag grenades. Perk 2: Sonic boom. Perk 3: Extreme Conditioning. In usual cases a player who frequents the assault tactic will frequently opt for the under slung grenade launcher as an attachment for his assault rifle so the Sonic boom perk which increases the damage of high explosive weapons is extremely useful and add to that x3 frag grenades and you now have the ability to be a one man army. Extreme conditioning enables you to sprint for longer distances which means you have the ability to quickly reposition yourself before the enemy even knew you were there.

Close-Quarter Battle: Really depends on what weapon you opt for, if it's a sub-machinegun go for x3 frag grenades, stopping power and martyrdom. If you're going for the shotgun x3 frag grenades, juggernaut and steady aim. Stopping power for a sub-machinegun increases the potency for that measly pistol round while juggernaut for the shotgun enables you to stay alive while you charge in to take your shot. Steady aim increases the accuracy for hip-firing which is ideal for close-quarter battle situations, especially so for the shotgun. And of course martyrdom is there to simply irritate the enemy and as a back-up plan.

Long-Range Interdiction/Sniper: Claymores, UAV jammer and iron lungs. Claymores can be used to guard your flanks from an ambush and the UAV jammer enables you to stay hidden when the enemy does a UAV scan. Iron lungs help you to make your first shot all the more accurate. Don't forget to put a suppressor on your pistol too.

Support/Squad Automatic Weapon: RPG, stopping power and deep impact. Stopping power gives your already formidable bullet more bang for it's buck while deep impact makes sure that whatever cover your enemy has is as good as rice paper. The RPG is just there to make a bigger mess out of things.

The Garden of Everything

The last song I heard before my much troubled laptop went off the deep end again. Chanced upon it by sheer luck when I was searching for songs from a Japanese singer, Maaya Sakamoto. Don't know why but as soon as I heard this song I really liked it. So without much further ado I present to you, The Garden of Everything by Steve Conte and Maaya Sakamoto, from the anime Rahxephon: The Movie.



The Garden of Everything

Here you are
Daylight's star
Made out of miracles
Perfection Of your own
You Alone
O so incredible
Each atom
Sings to me
"Set me free
From chains of the physical"
O free me, O free me

The mirror melts
I'm somewhere else
Inside eternity
Where you on Outstretched wings
Sing within
The Garden of Everything
Where memories
Call to me
Backward dreams?
Or phantom reality?
Call to me, they call to me

And so here we are
Lovers of Lost Dimensions
Burning supernovas of all sound and sight
Every touch, a temptation
And for every sense, a sensation

Eyes of pure
Deep azure
Quite unbelievable
The sun's daughter You've been made
Not to fade
Quite inconceivable

Each atom sings to me
"Set me free
From chains of the physical"
O free me O free me

A love like ours A starry flower
Through seasons and centuries
As rivers reach the sea
You'll reach me
With songs of your symmetry

A small boat That will float
To far off coasts
The Isle of Infinity
Come with me. O come with me

Here we'll see Love's lost tree
Made out of miracles
Emotions, crystal leaves
To cover me
And you in eternity

Each atom sings to us
Through the blood
"Love is a miracle"
Sings softly, it sings softly

And so here we are
Lovers of Lost Dimensions
Burning supernovas of all sound and sight
Every touch, a temptation
And for every sense, a sensation

And so here we are
Twin stars of brilliant brightness
Lanterns lit by life for all the depths of night
And every day will return us
To arms of the ever eternal

And so here we are
So far from earthly orbits
Burning supernovas of all sound and sight
Where every day will return us
To arms of the ever eternal