˙uɐɔ I ʍouʞ I ¿sıɥʇ op I uɐƆ

It is worth mentioning that for those not aware of where that quote comes from, this is not a plea for help for a potentially suicidal individual. By rights it is the admission of a dying person. Although that is something that does not describe me either. Now, we shouldn't rule out the possibility of me dying within the next few days - because that's silly. But this whole paragraph was sort of silly to begin with.

I haven't posted in this blog for a while, mostly because I was admittedly in a state of recovery. This Christmas season was literally the first time I've been free to relax at home since last Christmas, and since I'm now more of a casual observer on these forums now than a majorly active participant, updating this blog wasn't much of a priority. In truth, I've spent a lot of my free time gaming - which is a good thing too, since an actor should watch films, and an author should read books. The inspiration I've gathered during my time off will one day be used productively assuming I remember ideas generated, and I'm sure my body is grateful for the break.

Unfortunately, I've still got a major research project to undertake, and while I'm sure I'll enjoy doing it - it is a lot of bother. I have been granted my ethical approval from the university to involve human test subjects, and have been granted disclosure from the government (£25 for a stupid piece of paper that says I have no convictions or cautions - a crime in itself). At this point I just have to recruit the test subjects and execute the main point of the project. But I have to balance this with job-hunting, report writing, and general living. This could be the end of me -_-.

In the next section, I talk at length about Pokémon, omit this section from your reading if you so choose.

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I recently purchased a pre-owned copy of Pokémon White 2, to compliment "Naomi"'s copy of Black 2, and have suddenly rekindled my childhood obsession with the franchise. Truthfully, we're not very good at it yet, but we plan on beginning to compete professionally, and in understanding that I've quickly mastered the RNG system (in about 2 days, no less ). RNG abuse is seen by many as being an illegitimate method of playing and competing, but the problem is that it is not technically a form of cheating, since there is no external save or game-editing involved within the process, and the professionals all do it - making it a necessity in order to even have a chance.

For those of you not in the know, RNG abuse is the process of forcing the game's random elements to conform to your will by understanding game logic. Computers as we know them are not able to generate a completely random number, and in truth psychologists will probably tell you that humans are the same, and so will statisticians. Truly random numbers don't seem to exist, and for those in the know this can be manipulated. The statistic of only 1/9000 Pokémon being shiny is true in layman's terms, but everything with Pokémon games is pre-determined (albeit 'randomly'), and triggering an action on a precise date and time will always result in the same reaction. With this knowledge you can manipulate the reaction.

Using these methods has yet to garner me a perfect Pokémon - because in truth this requires generations of precise breeding coupled with RNG abuse. But it has got me a shiny Feebas and shiny Eevee.

The day my copy of White 2 arrived, was also the day that, at 11am, Pikachu appeared on top of the Eiffel Tower (although I kept thinking it was Tokyo Tower, and jokingly Blackpool Tower, even after it zoomed out of Europe). I was disappointed that the announcement concerned the launch of a Generation VI on the 3DS, as I was really opening for an Emerald remake for the DS. Hoenn was without a doubt the most beautiful and memorable region of the Pokémon world.

Kanto has a map that I can draw on demand (not showing Digglet cave...):

Indigo	Pewter	-	(Mt Moon)	-	Cerulean	-	(Rock Tunnel)
|	|				|		|
(Victory Rd.)	|		Celadon	-	Saffron	-	Lavender
|	|		|		|		|
L	Viridian		|		Vermilion	-	J|
	|		|		|		|
	Pallet		L	-	Fuchsia	-	J
	|				|
	Cinnabar	-	(Seafoam)	-	J

Well it's easier with paper...

But anyway, from Kanto the most memorable landmarks are really only Lavender Tower and Silph Co.. Kanto in itself was not all that interesting in retrospect despite at least two cities representing Tokyo.

Johto had a few more memorable landmarks, and the chance to connect with Kanto. Generation II was a good generation for Pokémon.

But Hoenn... It had a volcano, a beach resort, ship-wrecks, contests, a space association, and a city which had to be dived to. Hoenn was beautiful and would have been even more so on the DS. Perhaps a 3DS remake will result in the most beautiful Pokémon game created.

In terms of Sinnoh and Unova... Sinnoh didn't really feel like it had much to offer, and in fact I'm struggling to think of any memorable architectual features. Unova has Castelia City, which actually feels like a city. So points go to Unova.

A lot of people are probably right in assuming that PokémonX and PokémonY will take place in a region based on France, or possibly more specifically Île-de-France (the region around Paris with a population of >10million). An unreasonable number of people are proposing it should be based around the entire continent of Europe. I would not be happy about this if it were to mean a region the same size or slightly larger than normal. Considering the last region was practically based on a single city, and the others on relatively small areas of Japan. A whole continent for a region? Insulting.

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Last night, I went to see Les Misérables in the cinema, opening night in the UK. I was quite thoroughly impressed with how they managed to both adapt the musical to the big screen and throw in some continuity references with the original novel that will have gone over the heads of casual viewers and even those only familiar with the musical (such as the escape to the Parisian convent, and the Thénardiers sneakily giving away their son, Gavroche). Anne Hathaway's performance was actually all it was cracked up-to-be. She was pretty spectacular.

What I loved most about the film is the balance between the orchestral music and the singing. Every production of Les Mis I've ever seen has slipped up in that regard unfortunately. This is actually the first time I've been able to understand all of the lyrics, 'specially since 'Master of the House' normally sounds like 'Moster of thee howse' in the fake Cockney accents, Baron Cohen's "'Allo 'Allo" accent was a nice touch. The whole scene was fantastic, the Thénardiers put every thief that ever lived to shame, they were truly amazing pickpockets in this film.