Flaight

I think both sides share responsibility, but in my view one thing that seems to be damaging Liverpool is the apologists who make excuses in the media. On sky etc, I keep hearing supporters say how they could wave a green cigarrette packet or rugby ticket to walk into the stadium and how they blame the UEFA and police for allowing that. Somehow that doesn't sounds right to me. My point is, there are some distinct problematic behaviour on our english side and I think there is an element of it which has to be faced head on. That has to be done with clarity while also pointing out what UEFA did wrong. Otherwise it'll sound like Liverpool are excusing themselves based on "2 wrongs make 1 right". I'm well aware that the problem makers are in the minority, but for outsiders that is an internal matter. At the moment there is too much of "one side is completely to blame" going on for my liking.

What a day it was. So, that's the season over. Tevez's contract issue still confuses me a little, but I guess we'll just have to wait to see what emerges in the future.

I'm one of those sentimental type who try hard to put my feelings across to my gf with a great deal of passion. Most relationships I've been in have been honest, within about a year. But I'm like that, and I also seem to attract similarly mellow personality. I think you are right that lies creep in one time or another, but what I was trying to say earlier is that sooner or later we open up. It's usually ok. Those I've been with have appreciated the honesty first, foremost and the bond of trust would strengthen as a result. I'm hoping this horrible episode mike-zim has had have changed the meaning of trust for the 2 of them. I think it may have done as he suggests. I seriously hate being in a relationship where I'm having to maintain a constant lie. I just can't stomach it.

Touch a monster and you enter a turn based battle. Much like DQ Monsters on DS then! I like it, it works well. DQ spinoff could be an action RPG, but I had hoped the main one would not. It seems there were enough voices like that and they now reverted it back to the good old turn-based. I think it's going in the right direction as far as the franchise goes. I understand some of you aren't happy, but this isn't a whole new series. It's one of the greatest, deep rooted franchises out there alongside Mario. DQ series made FF series. In truth, turning this into an action RPG felt like a bastardization. I was a bit worried.

That is true Hero-of-Time. Old school RPG's problem is precisely that trial-and-error tendency. I played the original NES FF3 like a madman (madboy rather) and I recall that the end game works well enough with any combo so long as there is sufficient healing and the party isn't too one sided. Some sections of the plot is meant to be played with certain class (like vs Garuda), but I found that to be the only diversion. I don't now if that remains to be the same in DS version. I haven't got that far yet.

In my case, telling the whole truth has been the real test of relationship. If your relationship is not strong enough for that, then lie :awesome: but that can get you into a vicious cycle where you can never be honest. I've been in both types of relationship, and believe me, it is possible to have 100% honesty. It's just damn hard to develop it to that point first.

I started playing FF3 few days ago and it's brilliantly old skool. I must say some element of this must be nostalgia, but it's more than that. It has made me acknowledge how accomplished it was. FF3 is what started the whole FF thing. Without FF3, there wouldn't be FF now. I think that doesn't sink into some people and that's a shame.

Good to hear everything worked out. To me, it sounds like the spell of love is forcing you to self-blame. To me, she didn't do her duty in a fair one-to-one relationship, leaving you in a limbo. What you did is a natural effect of the cause she made, so it's her fault for not fulfilling her part of the bargain. I love & hate falling in love. It's nice, but it also makes me think everything backward. My thinking begins to revolve around saving the relationship, then work everything backward from there. That usually leads to self-blame. It sounds like you did that too.

I got a copy of Uzumaki ("Spiral") which is apparently a well known Manga horror series in Japan. It IS scary and bizarre... Not sure if I can recommend it to everyone but if you are into that sort it is good. Personally I'm a bit shaken in some parts (then again that's the point of horror).

I see war gaming is an extension to little kids running around with toy guns (or their hands as guns) making noises and shooting at each other from behind trees in a park. I don't see it as much of a problem generally. But, one thing I worry sometimes is whether war games glamourize a war. It's horrible, painful and cause indiscriminate suffering to all. That's the truth of war. War games don't put that across so they can be misleading?

The only thing I'd worry about is the accommodation cost in Tokyo (since Ollie said he's going to Tokyo). Outside, it's like in the UK. As for the "maintenance" cost like food, don't worry about it. It's stupidly cheap there. Then again, UK has gone through a major inflation in recent years on top of being rip off Britain... so I guess anywhere would feel cheaper than the UK. In absolute terms, if you spend £2.00 you would get a good meal. If you want to go overboard, you'd spend 500 to 1000 yen, which is about £2.50 to £5 (pound is strong atm so it'd work out to be less). Personally, on average I spent about 600-700 yen last summer but thats because I try all sorts If you are a more exotic sort, like a sushi fan, expect to spend around 1000 yen (£5) per meal if you want to stuff yourself with it. It is a more expensive part of their food industry, but if you go for generic stuff it's so cheap, you'd feel the pain once you're back in the UK.

lol Anyway. I'm surprised to see Miyamoto in there. For me, he deserves it. But to see him actually listed is a pleasant surprise.

I know selling of a modded console is prosecutable, but didn't know mod chip itself was illegal in the UK... I tried to install a mod chip in PS1 while back and soldering didnt go well. I'm just so crap at it, I never got it to work. The connectors are SO tiny, how the hell are you meant to solder them accurately!

Just accept your misjudgement. I've pointed out why it is so and it's going in full circle. You should realise something has gone wrong in your judgement when you start making remarks like "most people in the world don't like Japan itself"; an average intellect would be able to see how absurd it is to pluck such a generalized statement out of thin air. There are many people out there, myself included, who have researched Japan for years. I have come to love, hate, fancy, loathe, despair, admire then hate Japan again, at various occasions. But, going through that process, I have gained understanding of their culture. Understanding another culture requires you to put aside what you know, and take in a completely new mindset. I've found it to be a deep, complex and long process, but extremely rewarding. You grow as a person doing this because you realise that a wide vision and perspectives are precious and hard to come by. You are nowhere near matching it. I can tell from your posts. By the sound of it, I'm beginning to suspect even your sources lack understanding. You're just digging your own grave by trying to debate with such an obvious display of incompetence.

Hm? You may have misread. It is by YOUR logic that concludes that everyone is shit. I only demonstrated the consequence of your mindset. EDIT: Ah, yes I see what you mean. I think my sentence was confusing so my apologies. What I had meant in #64 was that if you see things the way you do, it derives that everything/everyone is shit. I concede that the paragraph can be read in 2 ways and I should have articulated it better.

I don't wear rose tinted glasses, ZeldaFreak. I'm pretty sure I've researched the subject deeper than you ever have as well. Yet, I agree more with darkcloud. I see bad side to Japan as much as you do, just as much as I see bad side to any country. The difference between you and me is that I don't pick on particular negatives to stereotype a country. Every country is shit if you see it your way. And every person too. Yourself included. You might just as well call yourself shit, working by that logic. EDIT: edited for clarity

Making a mind numbing post is my speciality here. But I must say, the chain of mind numbingness in this thread is remarkable. Reminds me of Killer Instinct combos. Well deserved 10/10 from me.

I tend to try amazon traders first, then just do a google search to compare prices. Best prices seem to vary from what I see. Highstreet prices bewilders me. Not SD cards, but I was looking at some microSD cards the other day, they cost like 20 quid for 1GB online. And highstreet stores sell 512MB one for 80... Taking the piss surely. The difference is astronomical.

I was wondering, since some of you are Americans or have a good understanding of their culture, realistically do you think the National Rifle Association can be defeated politically? My gut feeling is that so long as they are a powerful body, it wouldn't be possible to harden gun laws in the US, but I may be mistaken (?) In other words, theories aside, I think practically it's not possible to toughen up gun law in the US?

I find it sad that there is a distinct negative interpretations of what you see/hear in some posts. A negative overtone is cast over a perfectly reasonable piece of news article or hear-say, as if you were determined to make everything sound bad. A lot of what has been discussed is a generally neutral subject which has a deep origin. Stop putting a negative spin on them when your souces are limited, else you'll end up with a premature and wrong interpretation. I can go on to nail every and each individual points raised, but I won't since it'll become too long for some of you to bother reading.

But what about if I said I think school shootings would NOT be avoided, BUT guns should still be illegal for other reasons

I saw some of you list Eternal Darkness here. I'm playing it right now, so far really great! It might end up in my top 3 too, but too early to tell.

Guns must have made it easier to kill that many people with relative ease. But, I think you are right, this incident in itself isn't really about gun but about mindset. In general terms, there are many ways to kill people. But most require something of an effort, which means emotions and mind will play a bigger part, making it considerably harder to actually kill people. On the other hand, guns are comparatively effortless. I think guns is the easiest way to kill people in that sense. Making guns spread in society will statistically become a problem when you consider human nature, which is often temperamental. I'm against guns being legalized anywhere because of that. The Virginia Massacre reignited the debate about guns in general, but I don't think banning guns would have been the ultimate solution. The ultimate solution is the mind.

As some of you may recall from my rumblings in old posts from some years ago, my brother got married to a japanese and lives there atm. I go there from time to time, but strangely enough I never really paid much attention on where to go. I guess I take it for granted (I shouldn't really). Since you say you're visiting Tokyo in particular - in my case my Tokyo trips are rather bog standard and limited. When and if I arrive at Narita International Airport (which you would if you are going to Tokyo), I usually take an express called Skyliner to Ueno or Nippori station (circled pink in the map). That circular track is pretty much bang in the middle of Tokyo (think Circle Line in London). Mostly I visit Akihabara (blue circle on the right) a few times. It's the busiest district for modern pop culture (like gadgets and all things weird). Bizarre french maid culture going on there atm which seems to characterize Akihabara. Mostly in a maid cafe you get welcomed as a landlord by japanese chicks dressed in french maid costumes. lol!! When I went there I didn't know what to say or think. Just, "Why!?" as Chris Tarrant would say. That pic I took in front of Akihabara station, which kind of highlight the stereotype there (for better or worse). Another place I sometimes visit is Korakuen theme park, it's just off Suidobashi (blue circle in the middle). I must say it's not totally overwhelming, but it's funny how something like that sits right in the middle of a busy city centre. There is no special emphasis on theme parks there. You can visit one like visiting Starbucks for a cup of tea. I circled Shinjuku and Harajuku to the left of the map, as I go there sometimes. Roppongi (not shown on the map) may be another interesting place to stop at. There was another interesting place where street musicians gather, but can't remember the name for now. TBH I think you would do good to just pick a few places in a guide book. Japan is a big place (paradoxically). Rural areas may be weary of foreigners (for the reasons I will explain later) but touristy areas are obviously more used to welcoming foreigners. As for ZeldaFreak, he seems to be a typical example of someone who doesn't actually know much about the country, but built up in his mind a stereotype that tarnishes the image, intentionally or not. And that stereotype is cluttered with hear-says and misinterpretations. Japanese can come across racist for 2 reasons. Firstly, accumulated fear that foreigners do things which are too different due to massive cultural difference. Secondly, implicit Japanese culture means that those of us raised in explicit cultures fail to see most of their culture and thus fail to observe it, leading to more misunderstanding. These lead to alienation of our kind in a long run. That comes across as racism to us at first sight, but that would be a very shallow observation. It's not really in the same sense as it is in the UK/US where it is much more camouflaged and ill-intended. I used to be treated badly too, but one thing I've been finding lately is that when people there realize I'm observing their culture and behaviour, they suddenly become comforted and friendly towards me; becoming Japanese seems to be more about embracing their culture than anything else. So, it's more to do with "cultural" discrimination rather than "racial" discrimination. Not the same thing at all. As for Kelly Osbourne's "becoming Japanese" series, frankly that programme was mostly laughable. Kelly was made to do things most Japanese themselves would never come across. It was more about having a laugh than being accurate. Raising it as an example is in itself a display of ignorance.

Somethings I don't even know why I do: When I smoke a ciggy at home, I smoke under the kitchen fan, while feeling the sharp edge of a kitchen knife. When it feels dull, I sharpen it so that I can enjoy it in the next ciggy session. Till a few years ago, my belly button was apparently "loose" (lacking better term). I would get a small discharge from it when I had diarrhea. Somehow it doesn't happen now. Lately I've been having an academic debate with myself on various ethical/technical issues. Divorce, war, incest, internet, freedom, immigration, at what point a physical football stops being football etc...