Decidí publicar la entrada anterior en inglés porque la escribí así y me dio flojera traducirla, pero hoy en la mañana (es decir hace unos minutos) me dijeron que sería bueno si posteo también una versión en español, como hice con mi despedida a los Knights of Sparta. Así que una versión en español estará lista en un par de horas, proque antes tengo que desayunar y ver la repetición de The Big Bang Theory.
'Nuff said.
For a long time I have wanted to learn to play electric guitar. The idea first came to my mind when I was still in high school, and buying a guitar was a matter of not only having the money to pay for it, but also the time to make a day's trip to find one 90km north --which is more or less the same as today, just that I can afford it on my own now and I am already traveling those 90km back and forth everyday. Back then, it was a near epic adventure. So the idea sat at the back of my mind for some twelve years, making casual appearances from time to time (specially when I was near a guitar or a guitar store), and air guitar became a part of my daily life. Then Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Frets on Fire came out to help me quench that guitar playing thirst. Then I read a Rolling Stone interview with Kirk Hammett where he mentioned he was playing blues for himself at home because "What would I do when I'm 80 years old? Play Master of Puppets?", and that got me thinking about my own future (yes, we rockers tend to have moments of insight and find illumination in the weirdest moments and things). In the future I could play Dungeons and Dragons with my children, and maybe a couple console or online games (WoW will probably still be around), but I think that teaching them to play guitar and maybe even jamming with them at some point could be a more perdurable thing. When I finally made the decision to learn to play guitar, I started asking my guitar-playing friends for a beginner's guitar.
Gerardo said I could easily find Yamaha, Squire, Epihone, Ibanez and Fender guitars in Lima, and it was also possible to find Roland, Fender and Vox amps, and that I could possibly get a good discount if I purchased all my gear in the same store. That weekend I checked a couple websites looking for the one axe that could make my blues-rock playing dreams come true, just to have vague idea of the price range. Being a heavy metal, blues, brit pop and hard rock fan I have always admired Gibson (Jimmy Page, Slash, Angus Young, Noel Gallagher) and Fender (Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Joe Strummer) guitars and Marshall amps, and I knew beforehand I could not afford any of those. Gerardo said he could sell me his used-but-well-cared-for blue Yamaha Pacifica 012, but we had to check prices first. Therefore, we went shopping one fine midwinter afternoon.
We started by checking out the cool Fender guitars at a big store, and then moved on to the more affordable Epiphones, Squires and Yamahas. After a few minutes, we noticed I no longer wanted the Pacifica 012 (and he was not ready to let it go), so we turned the price comparing afternoon into a quest for an affordable good guitar and a decent small amp. I was eyeballing a vintage sunburst Epiphone Les Paul (wich was quickly discarded because I would have ended up broke and hitchhiking my way home), a black Squire Stratocaster and a nice Fender Frontman 15G amp (the one with overdrive controls) that was on sale, but the price tags were a little high. Outside, the sun was already setting and the midwinter sky had a beautiful burnt orange hue.
We then walked to the small stores in the area and asked for the Squire Strats (black please, because red, beige, white and burgundy just do not cut it). The first one we found looked fine, and it came at a discount with a cute little yellow unknown-brand amp, but the guitar jack was acting funky and they did not have another black Strat. So we went to the store next door. They only had it in burgundy, but they carried blackfaced Fender amps (skirted knobs, silver grilled cloth), and had a lot of Ibanez guitars on display (including a beautiful red Artcore with a vintage tremolo I immediately fell in love with and plan on buy it once I learn how to play decently and can afford it), a few Epiphone SGs, and a Dean Razorback with lime green lines.
We continued our quest for a black Squire Strat and a small Fender amp. After walking around and finding only one other black Strat with an expensive price tag (and many red and burgundy ones with cheaper tags... makes me wonder), we decided it was time to go back to the small store with the red Artcore and give the Ibanez axes a shot. We requested to try the guitars with the same amp that was on sale at the big store. Over the next half hour we checked an expensive RG (it was on sale though), a couple others and finally a GRX20. We both liked it, so given I was about to start learning and he was an already somewhat seasoned player, that was a good sign. It turned better when the lady at the counter said it had a lower price tag than all the Strats we saw that afternoon. After some bargaining we ended up leaving the store with a black Ibanez GRX20, a blackfaced Fender Frontman 15G, gigbag, strap, cable, a Korg tuner (I sincerely can not tune the guitar by ear for my life) a Dunlop Nylon .88mm pick and an Alice .71mm pick. Then I just had to try to fit everything in the seat next to me in the bus and ride home. Above us, the midwinter sky was already black as my first guitar.
Over the next few days I noticed that even though I played at low volume, my learning sessions could still be a little bothersome for the other occupants of the house (mom, dad and my older brother... more on him on a future post). Looking for a solution that would still let me overdrive the amp and crank the volume up, I had my broken Genius headphones fixed and used them for about a week, when they broke again. After that I started using my sturdy Targus headphones (the same ones I use with my CD player and my PC), because they work better at loud volumes and are more durable. A couple weeks later I noticed I actually had to unpack and set my guitar (get it out of the gigbag, attach the strap and tremolo arm --just for the looks and because I like playing with it- and plug to the amp), and then unset and pack it two times a day because I was practicing an hour every night and half an hour every morning. It was time to get a stand. I found a nice stand at the same small store for a reasonable price, and since I was already a returning customer and was also purchasing some more Dunlop picks, I got a nice discount and went back home after eyeballing some Boss distortion and chorus pedals. It was early afternoon three weeks after purchasing my axe, and the sun shined lazily behind the clouds of a grey midwinter sky.
The latest addition is a small plastic toolbox I purchased at a plastics store near my house. Its primary use is to keep the tuner, picks and cables in one place. It will be even more useful once I learn to play decently and purchase the Line 6 Floor POD and the Fender Vintage Voltage cables I plan to get myself for Christmas or maybe for my birthday next year.
Now my axe sits in my room, right next to the amp and the toolbox, ready for some practice day or night... even if I do not practice as much as I should. Now, if I could only get Ibanez and Fender shirts and a jacket that reads Dunlop on the back.
'Nuff said.
I was talking to a woman who isn't there anymore, but her shadow was looking at me.
I hear her voice from somewhere around, and I react to it as I always did. It echoes in the air, coming to my ears from a place beyond this plane of existence.
Me enteré hace un par de días pero no había tenido tiempo de postear un pequeño tributo a LeRoi Moore, el saxofonista de la Dave Matthews Band.
LeRoi deja una larga lista de buenas canciones, sobre todo (al menos en mi opinión personal) Rapunzel y Stay (Wasting Time), ambas en el álbum Before These Crowded Streets. Sin mencionar el espectacular concierto en Central Park.
(It will never be) 'Nuff said.
Ups, puse la imagen equivocada, en el posteo anterior. En esa no se ve el contador de pestañas, pero en esta sí, aunque ya habían sólo 27 abiertas (no me di cuenta de que en la otra imagen no se veía el contador y seguí leyendo y cerrando pestañas).
'Nuff said.
Mientras leía el blog de Claus y pensaba en dejarle un comentario, noté algo extraño en mi ventana de Firefox. Al observar el contador de pestañas, noté qe tenía 29 pestañas abiertas a la vez, y recién entonces me di cuenta de que había cerrado ya las pestañas en las que había estado leyendo alrededor de una docena de webcomics, además de las páginas de Amazon y otras tiendas, varias páginas de Tumblr... en algún momento de las últimas seis horas he tenido más de 50 pestañas abiertas en Firefox. Y todo eso con el Winamp (con un skin de Rammstein), Last.fm, Thundebird, Google Desktop y otras aplicaciones en segundo plano, además de los antivirus/antispyware. Y en ningún momento Alexiel III mostró señal alguna de que faltasen recursos o algo parecido. Wow.
'Nuff said.
Con un poco de retraso posteo este link a los posters de Watchmen. Los vi en SuperHeroHype el viernes por la noche, y simplemente no he dejado de pensar en lo mucho que estoy esperando esta película.
Al ver la noticia en SuperHeroHype noté que el poster de Ozymandias era similar a una imagen promocional en blanco y negro que DC había publicado en los 80s, y tras buscar un poco, encontré este sitio y este otro que nos permiten comparar los posters originales con los nuevos.
Ojo al Doomsday Clock en los nuevos posters: si los ponen en el orden correcto, las manecillas se van acercando a la medianoche.
'Nuff said.
Y bueno, aquí está la versión en español de mi despedida a los Knights of Sparta.
A todos los espartanos:
He estado con ustedes por un largo tiempo, casi desde que empecé a jugar este juego. He peleado a su lado en muchas guerras, y me he hecho más fuerte. Estuve en la orden cuando fuimos traicionados, e hice lo poco que pude para enfrentar al traidor y sus secuaces (y toda la carne de cañón e inocentes que trajo al campo de batalla). En mi tiempo con ustedes he sido vencido muchas veces y he vencido a muchos otros. Y lo he disfrutado todo.
Aunque nunca he sido muy activo en los foros, alguno de ustedes habrán notado que he estado cada vez menos activo en el juego en las últimas semanas. Es porque voy a dejar de jugar Battleknight. La razón es muy simple: este juego ya no es divertido. Ahora por favor déjenme explicarles.
No aguanto los cambios que ha sufrido el juego. Específicamente, no aguanto el ascenso de los Premium Characters. Para empezar, no había Premium Characters antes de la actualización masiva del servidor. Usábamos nuestros stats para ganar batallas, no daño elemental y equipo por encima de nuestros niveles. Y podíamos vivir y pelear efectivamente sin comprar rubíes. Eventualmente encontrábamos un jugador que había comprado rubíes y tenía uno o dos objetos mágicos, pero nada que no pudiésemos superar con stats decentes. Luego vino la actualización, y todo fue cuesta abajo. Los buenos stats ya no significan nada, todo el daño normal ha sido reducido y los objetos de daño elemental se volvieron la forma más fácil de ganar batallas, a menos que empieces a atacar personajes con varios niveles menos y stats bajos (y reza para que no tengan daño elemental o te pegarán incluso si están más de 18 niveles por debajo). Y para rematar, gastar dinero real se ha vuelto la única forma de conseguir rubíes. Y necesitas rubíes para tener objetos de daño elemental. Y necesitas daño elemental para ganar batallas. Fácilmente pueden ver la tendencia. Y luego vinieron los Premium Characters, que básicamente son jugadores que han gastado mucho dinero en sus personajes para patear culos. Así que decidí seguirles el juego y compré algunos rubíes y conseguí algunas cosas de daño elemental, y los disfruté por un tiempo, hasta que me di cuenta que los únicos que realmente lo estaban disfrutando eran los desarrolladores. Sé que los desarrolladores tienen que comer y alimentar a sus familias, pero para eso no tienen por qué arruinar un juego de browser que estaba perfectamente bien. Este juego ya no es divertido, al menos para mí. Ya no voy a jugar Battleknight, al menos hasta que los desarrolladores recuerden que los juegos deben ser divertidos.
No voy a eliminar a Ravenwing del juego, solo estaré inactivo hasta que las cosas mejoren (si es que llegan a mejorar). Dejaré que nuestro rey Lucifer Ambros decida si me permite permanecer en la orden para tener más hitpoints en caso de un ataque, o si me bota por inactividad. Estoy donando los únicos dos rubíes que obtuve en los últimos dos meses.
Para terminar: Por la misma cantidad de dinero que gasté para comprar unos pocos rubíes y obtener cinco objetos en Battleknight (un caso, un anillo y tres runas de daño elemental), podría haber jugado WoW por un mes completo en un servidor regular… o City of Heroes por un mes, o Dungeon Runners por aproximadamente tres meses, o pude haber comprado un paquetón de objetos en Exteel, sin mencionar un montón de juegos gratuitos.
Adiós mis camaradas espartanos. Buen encuentro.
'Nuff said.
Hoy día dejé oficialmente Battleknight. Pasé un buen rato con ese juego, hasta que dejó de ser divertido. A continuación posteo mi despedida a los Knights of Sparta, la orden de la que fui miembro casi desde que empecé a jugar Battleknight. Más tarde pondré la versión en español.
To all Spartans:
I have been with you for a long time, almost since I started playing this game. I have fought alongside most of you in many wars, and I have grown stronger. I was with the order when we were betrayed and I did what little I could do to fight the betrayer and his minions (and all the cannon fodder and bystanders he brought to the battlefield). I my time with you I have been capped many times and I have capped many others. And I enjoyed it all.
Though I was never much active in the forums, some of you may have noticed that I have been less and less active in the game in the last couple of weeks. That is because I will stop playing Battleknight. The reason is very simple: This game is not fun anymore. Now please let me elaborate.
I cannot stand the changes the game has gone through. Specifically, I cannot stand the rise of the Premium Characters. For starters, there were no Premium Characters before the massive server update. We used our stats to win battles, not elemental damage and equipment above our levels. And we could live and fight effectively without buying any rubies. We would eventually meet a player who purchased rubies and got one or two magic items, but nothing we could not overcome with decent stats. Then the update came, and everything went downhill. Good stats do not mean much anymore, all normal damage was nerfed and elemental damage items became the easiest way to win battles, unless you started hitting characters several levels lower with poor stats (and pray they are not packing elemental damage or they will beat you even they are 18+ levels lower). And to top that, spending real life money became the only way to get rubies. And you need rubies to get elemental damage items. And you need elemental damage to win battles. You can easily see the trend there. And then there came the Premium Characters, who basically are players who have spent a lot of money in their characters to make them kickass. So I decided to play along and purchased some rubies and got some elemental damage stuff and enjoyed it for a time, until I realized the only ones who are really enjoying this are the developers. I know developers have to eat and feed their families, but they do not have to ruin a perfectly fine browser game to do that. This game is not fun anymore, at least not for me. I will not be playing Battleknight anymore, at least until the developers remember that games are meant to be fun.
I am not going to delete Ravenwing from the game; I will just be inactive until things get better (if they ever get better). I will let our king Lucifer Ambros decide if he keeps me in the order to have more hitpoints in case of a raid, or if he kicks me out for inactivity. I am donating the only two rubies I have gotten in the last two months.
One final thought: For the same amount of money I spent to purchase a few rubies and get five items in Battleknight (one helmet, one ring and three elemental damage runes), I could have played WoW for a whole month in a regular server… or City of Heroes for a month, or Dungeon Runners for about three months, or purchased a motherload of items in Exteel, not to mention a bunch of free games.
Farewell my fellow Spartans. Well met.
'Nuff said.
Siguiendo con el hype, Capcom puso en linea un nuevo video de Street Fighter IV, y ahora podemos ver al casting completo (al menos es lo que se sabe hasta ahora) y los nuevos finisher moves que están realmente alucinantes.
También está el video de Chun-Li vs. Viper, donde nuestra china-power favorita demuestra por qué es nuestra favorita. No he podido insertarlo aquí, pero dejo el link a la página oficial.
'Nuff said.
