Woohoo! Videogames do not increase violence in children.

Score one for the gamers...

The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games - Game Revolution

This quiz means I'm still alive.

My japanese name is 藤原 Fujiwara (wisteria fields) 聖人 Masato (sacred person).
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Some people need to believe in something... anything.

Talk about strange. Apparently Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia seems to be in dire need of spirituality as Malaysian Authorities arrest 58 followers of a cult that worships a giant teapot.

Interestingly, this happened after 30-35 people, armed with machetes and Molotov cocktails attacked the cult's headquarters.

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This mildly amusing, and somewhat disturbing news brings up the question as to why cults show up. I think there are people out there which are out to capitalize on other people's needs for spirituality, their desire to seek out meaning gets sidetracked by people professing to know the "true" way.

But what drives them to join a cult? Are these people so conceited that they don't think normal religions will do to help their own needs? Let's not even go to certain credit card run religons that employ celebrities to advertise and promote ideals started by an insane Science Fiction Authors.

Sometimes, what people need are a reason to exist. They feel lost and helpless, and we can't really blame them. Whether this is because they can't cope with the problems in their lives, or if they have deep seated psychological issues.

Sometimes I wish I could go ahead and say something, but in the end it's a matter of people fixing their own lives. The best thing we can do is to offer to listen to them if they want to be heard.

Careful Planning

One of the things that I'm just learning to do well in GMing is planning. In my ongoing L5R tabletop campaign, things are going smoothly, and I'm happy to see that most of my players are pretty excited about what's going on.

My only problem now is coming up with situations to keep the excitement high and the pace quick. The setting for Legend of the Five Rings is pretty complicated in terms of social interaction. Samurai characters are pretty much stuck with loyalty to their Daimyo and superiors, Bushido, and their own personal feelings for a situation. Alex likened it to Fading Suns, and Vampire: the Masquerade two games who are also notorious for their rigid social structures.

So I find myself spending my idle time thinking, and plotting and planning. Admittedly, I'm a quick thinker, but I suck at planning. Insufficient attention to detail always comes back to bite me in the ass. Maybe this is my chance to curtail my habit of jumping into games half-prepared and throwing caution to the wind...

Shoutbox Courtesy

I'd like to direct all of you readers to my shoutbox, where the more regular readers may have noticed a certain Perrin Sy, aka "Piggy" (an appropriate name as any) has decided to make a nuisance of himself.

Last week had been a particularly annoying one, due to many misfortunes that befell me in my three day attempt to recover my last paycheck from the Call Center I worked in previously. Rather than be able to de-stress over the week, I find myself having to deal with a nuisance flooding my Shoutbox with immature, and annoying statements directed at me and my girlfriend.

I've attempted to inform him to stop from making such comments by telling him more than once to quit doing so. The current contents of my shoutbox are a testimony to his inability to process these requests, and failure to respect a person's blog.

While I understand that Perrin believes that this is all a "joke", I feel that it wasn't funny the first time, and it is definitely not funny now. I am very tempted to write some unflattering words regarding him right now, but I will not.

Perrin, in whatever news I've heard of you, I've held you in quiet respect. I read your Piaoling e-mails with interest, and never have I stepped out of the line to harass you regarding the contents of such. I expect you to extend me the same respect and courtesy, and leave my shoutbox alone.

I would have asked for a sincere apology, but I do not wish to set my expectations too high for you to meet.

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With regards to this, I present to everyone the following observation from the webcomic: Penny-Arcade regarding Perrin's behavior.

And no, Perrin, I will no longer recall your name from my posts, even if you ask nicely.

Drug Addicted Kung Fu Bunny Fighters are Go! Film at 11...

I'm proud to say that my 24 Hour RPG effort has been a success!

The 1000 Monkeys, 1000 Typewriters Site has it up alongside the other submissions for the 24 hour RPG Challenge.

For more information on the 24 Hour RPG check out their website:



And now time for some self-congratulating dance, as done by this anime schoolgirl:



I might try this 24 Hour RPG thing again next week, over the weekend. :D

Crack Kung Fu Fighting Bunnies... Go!

For lack of a better excuse than to challenge myself, I tried to make a functioning RPG in the shortest possible time. Because of that, I end up with Crack Kung-Fu Fighting Bunnies... Go! a game of stimulant-fueled martial arts fighting rodents.

Check it out if you're curious. ;)

Go to my RPG Page and scroll down to the very bottom. Click on the link there to download the PDF. I'd give you guys a direct link, but Geocities hates those.

Enjoy!