A Pointless War

Finally. I've overcome my addiction to Rock Legends on Facebook. I've reached the point where I could no longer move forward. Recruiting more powerful band members have become too expensive... and after seeing my credit card bill last month, there's no way I'm buying more "street cred" just so I can have some instant virtual cash. I still tinker with the game every now and then, just to increase my "fame" and therefore allowing me to still level up, but at a snail's pace. But I no longer have the urge to keep playing the game all day. I just play the game when I'm really bored. That's certainly a good thing.

Speaking of Facebook games, if you have a Facebook account, I'm sure you've noticed this game called "Mafia Wars". It seems to be the most popular game on Facebook, and with all the non stop invites I keep getting from friends every day, I finally installed it, just to see what all the fuss was about.

Whoa!

...

What an incredibly boring, totally pointless game.

In a nutshell--- It's a text based role playing game. Wherein you build your own Mafia. It reminds me of those text based PC games from the late 80s to early 90s, back when computers didn't have enough power to wow us with their graphical capabilities. You do some jobs to earn money, and you fight with other people--- with the outcome being shown in plain text. I just don't understand why a lot of people are addicted to this game.Yeah, I know, graphics and animation can't make a bad game good, but they do add to the overall appeal. And personally, if i want to see some text just to entertain myself, I'd rather read a good book than to play a text based game. Honestly, the only way I can see myself getting addicted to Mafia Wars is if I had nothing better to do in my life... and I'd have to be such a big loser if I had nothing better to do than to spend many hours each day playing this stupid game. What's the purpose exactly? You just keep leveling up, with no specific endpoint. The developer (Zynga) has other games based on the same template. That's right, EXACTLY the same template, just differing in theme. Vampire wars--- I guess that would attract the goths and the nauseating Twilight crowd... that would explain why that game is relatively popular. I can also understand how the Pirates game has earned some following. Street Racing---I find that more interesting because I like fast cars, so I don't mind playing through the boring interface. but Mafia Wars? What's the big deal? Why is it the most popular? Does this mean that a lot of people have a secret desire to build Mafias and disobey the law, and they can only fulfill that dream in a virtual world, hence the extreme popularity of this game? I know that a lot of my friends who have been playing this game aren't even remotely interested in Mobs or Mafias... so why the heck is it so damn popular?

And you know what's pathetic? How a lot of people have been adding people they don't know just so they can increase the size of their Mafias. The bigger your Mafia, the greater chance you'll have in winning fights. You can't add people who aren't in your friends list, so a lot of groups have been made where people basically put their urls and their email addresses, asking other people to add them as friends so that they can increase their Mafia. WTF?! You don't just give away pertinent information about yourself to random strangers on the street... how come some people think it's okay to do that in a virtual world? It's basically the same thing! It's okay if you have nothing in your profile, but a lot of people have contact informations, several not so public photos, plus a lot of private stuff in their profiles. I just can't understand the stupidity of these people, how they are voluntarily exposing themselves to possible predators just so they can have an edge in this stupid game. One of my friends even added more than a thousand strangers to his friends list, just so he can increase the size of his Mafia. One of my female friends was ranting the other day that one of the guys that she added in her Mafia kept on harassing her via email, even when she already deleted him in her friends list. I can't say I pity her. After all, it's all her fault.

Also----! All those stupid updates are cluttering up the news feed! People asking for loot every now and then, making them seem like beggars. People proclaiming that they've gotten some award, that they've found a rare item, that they've beaten the shit out of someone, that they've won a fight with your help, that they played the lottery... Jesus Christ... who the fuck cares?! Along with the results from those stupid quizzes, they have been flooding the news feed with useless information, making us miss posts from friends that we actually care about. (those quizzes deserve a post of their own. Which philosopher are you... When will you die... what color are you... which greek god are you... what is the first letter of the name of the person you'll fall in love with... seriously?! people waste their time for such crap?! Those quizzes are so stupid! It would be okay if they were at least even a wee bit amusing as well as stupid... but most of those quizzes are just plain stupid.)

I'm currently at level 50, and honestly... I find that embarrassing. I'm not even really playing the game, I'm just tinkering with it every now and then... but how would that look for someone who just checked out the game? They'd mistake me for someone who's addicted to something so pathetic. I don't have much work these days, but if I had a lot to do, I definitely won't have time for this. I'd rather use the free time I have for something more productive... or at least more enjoyable. People actually derive pleasure from this game?! I can't possibly imagine the lives that those people above level 100 are living. I even saw one of my friends at level 355. Yeesh. I can't believe that the developers have made tons of money from this crap. Before others associate me with these Mafia addicts, I guess it's time to finally use the hide feature and be rid of this stupid game for good.

I should have done that ages ago.

Men of Dishonor

I'm so fuckin' pissed.

There I was, on the way to my med school to get some required documents for residency application. i was stuck in a traffic jam for about two hours, and i was in a hurry because the office would be closing in a few minutes. Just when i was within the vicinity of the university, some cop made some hand gestures, signaling me to stop the car.

What the fuck?!

I was completely aware that I did not commit any traffic violation, so I had no idea why he was asking me to stop. When he approached my car, I immediately asked him what was the problem.

He said I made a right turn while the traffic light was red, and there's a sign by the intersection that clearly said "no right turn on red signal". Was he blind?! The light turned yellow as I was making that turn, and it only turned red after he asked me to stop. I argued with him that I did not commit any traffic violation, and i refuse to hand him my license, and I refuse to accept any ticket stating a violation that i did not commit.

Then he said I also violated traffic rules by "swerving". That was another what the fuck moment. I transferred to the lane beside the rightmost lane as I overtook the public transport in front of me because it was still waiting for passengers. That was barely a few seconds. When i passed it, I immediately returned to the rightmost lane. Since when did that constitute swerving?!

This is a typical scenario when times are hard. These vultures masquerading as cops wait for unsuspecting drivers that they can milk for cash. No wonder most people don't trust the police---- because a huge number of them are corrupt, a lot of them are opportunists, many of them use their power to fuel their selfish needs. Majority of drivers would offer cash even when paying the actual fines are cheaper, just to avoid the hassle of going to the police headquarters or lining up at the city hall where queues usually stretch for several miles. I'm wise to their game, and I refused to offer any cash. Screw him.

Using the excuse of a "doctor responding to an emergency" did occur to me, but I did not want to make up excuses for a violation I did not commit. Police officers exercise leniency when it comes to traffic violations committed by physicians as long as they are responding to emergencies, but i did not commit ANY violation, so why the heck would I ask for their leniency? It was evident that i would not give in. He then asked me for my driver's license. He said he would just like to see it because driving without a license is another violation. Stupid me. He got my license, then proceeded to give me a ticket. That asshole! He then told me that i could pick up my license at the city hall the next day, as soon as I pay the fine.

Fuck him! There's no way in hell I'm paying for the penalties that he accused me of. There's no way I'm paying for a violation that I did not commit! I'd rather make a scene at the city hall when I get my license than to let these assholes take advantage of me! There's no way I'm backing down!

Man, I'm so fuckin' pissed!!!!

In this state of mind--- If i had a gun, would've shot him in the head! Opportunists like him do not deserve to live.

Yo, Joe!

Man, I feel guilty for liking this movie so much. I usually nitpick when I watch movies, yet even with all the flaws I've seen with this movie, I still managed to like it--- a lot.

I wasn't expecting much. The trailers didn't make the movie appealing. All that CG made the movie look like a video game. Clearly, it wouldn't be faithful to the cartoon series that I loved. And all that bad press lowered my expectations even more. I only wanted to watch the movie because I was a fan of the cartoon, and I was curious to see how a live action G.I. Joe movie would be like.

The plot is preposterous. Some of the scenarios presented are downright ridiculous. The whole movie seems silly, and on paper, it's something only a person below the age of ten would appreciate. Also, as a fan of the television series, i found it hard to accept some of the changes made--- most especially those accelerator suits. Yeah, those suits are cool, and they were fun to watch... but that's just not G.I. Joe. I felt like I was watching Power Rangers or something.

But all that eye candy got the better of me. Explosions galore, fast paced action, dizzying special effects--- the whole movie moves at such a brisk pace, one action sequence quickly moves in to another, there just isn't enough room for boredom. Come to think of it, the movie IS faithful to the cartoon series, at least in spirit. It's deliberately ridiculous, just like the cartoon series. Not taking things too seriously seemed like a wrong move at first, seeing the trend for darker and serious superhero and action movies these days--- but for G.I. Joe, it works. One doesn't need to think like a child in order to appreciate this movie. One just needs to accept this movie for what it is, and just go on for the ride. it's not aiming for an oscar after all, it just wants to entertain. As far as mindless popcorn movies go, so far G.I. Joe is the best one that Hollywood has churned out this year.

I can hardly wait for the sequel. :)