So, as you may have noticed if you’re a regular around these parts that some things have changed.

The banner over there —>

Now has yellowy orange writing.. instead of the pale color it once was.

The comment box should look more refined, and colorful and match the over all look of the site now.

I spent an hour going through the CSS and PHP and trying to find what the colors were that were messing up the site’s sense of “continuity”, and fixed every single color that I thought needed to be fixed.

If something slipped by, let me know, but I’m highly doubting I missed anything because all the older color colors (the reddish orange, and browns) have been done away with and replaced with new colors (orangish yellows and yellows) to match the “date” tab over on the left hand side of the site.

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As far as what else is new, I’m back streaming on UStream again, and yes, you can take this as a sign that I am back, and will be updating this site regularly as well. Not much has been going on in the time I’ve been ‘off’, other than I’ve been working my arse off on a deviantArt chatroom and group. That, and WoW* still keep me busy.

*Yes, you can take this as a sign that I will be streaming Cataclysm. If I got a beta key I’d be streaming that right now!

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Finally tonight…

I got into the Open Beta of Final Fantasy 14.

It’s .. beautiful. The game is fun, but, I’m not sure I’m going to pick it up or not yet.. it’s 12.95$ per month that I probably don’t have with the way I pay for WoW and other stuff.

I’ll be streaming that a whole lot until the release probably.

What has everyone else been up to in the time I’ve been gone?

Mini.

Malcom X once said “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

This certainly proved true today, http://tinyurl.com/2b4gak7 .

Rest in peace Ahmed Sharif.

You’re likely to be the match that may have just started a wild fire that didn’t need to be started.

—-

Did it really, really need to come to this?

I don’t think so.

This whole “Ground Zero Mosque” thing is being blown completely out of proportion and is so sad.

Whatever happened to the inscription on the Statue of Liberty?

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

At least sixty-two victims of the 9/11 attacks were Muslim according to our records (source: http://islam.about.com/blvictims.htm ), but many, many more remain unknown.

Why can’t we let this rest?

Are we really, really becoming that fearful? If so, it makes me sad.

Mini

If you haven’t seen it, don’t read this!

I saw it last night and I loved it to bits… however it got me thinking.

Check this out:

Real world -> dream -> dream -> dream -> dream.

If we assign a number to each the real world and the dreams Cobb is in EG:

0 -> 1 -> 1 -> 1

So, technically speaking IF we ever see Cobb in the real world, we can designate that as ZERO.

The moment he enters a dream, 0 + 1 that equals 1. So he’s in ONE level/dream.

The moment he goes in further, 0+1+1 equals 2. He’s two levels deep.

If you get a kick, you go back a previous level.
Let’s say for example Cobb and his crew are 4 levels/dreams deep. If he and the team get kicked back you wind up in the previous dream. 4-1=3. You’re in the third deeper dream.
So you need to ground your base in a “reality” in this movie.

I need to go back and watch it again during the Mombasa scene to see if there are any ‘quick jumps’ in the scene, because I’m starting to think that Mombosa = Floor, Level, Dream 0.

If you add a number to each sequence where you think a dream is occurring because of a notable jump, you can track back to where your reality is planted, eg: Your totem dream.

Cobb’s children are his totem, the spinning top is just something he does to calm his nerves and remind him of his wife… he told Ariadne that “in his dreams, we are together”, and he also called the copy of his wife “the best I can do.” He’s trying to recreate Ariadne as his wife in his dreams, but he can’t because he can’t remember her because he’s using her totem (the top!), remember what he said? Don’t use other people’s totems because otherwise you will get lost and never find your way out? He was so reliant on his wife’s totem, he lost focus of what his real totem was, his children.

Keep subtracting numbers from any fixed point in the film after you establish a “Dream 0″, and you’ll come up with some interesting results.

Another side note: His children don’t age in what we the audience see as the “real world” in the final scene when he “wakes up”. Did you take note of how long the guard stared at him before welcoming him “home”?

There’s a reason for it. Cobb isn’t home. He’s lost in limbo. His wife was trying to save him but she can’t anymore because he has “killed” her in his mind.

Thoughts?

Goal: 136-138.

Actual weight at the current moment: 196-197 (depending on the scale).

Weight in September: 215.

That’s a grand total of 19 pounds lost so far.

Just three days ago, my father made good on his promise that if I lost near 20 LBS, he’d get me a Wii Fit+.

Three days ago.. I started using it.

My calves feel like they’re on fire, my back is straighter than it’s ever been (or at least it feels that’s straighter), and I’m sleeping better than I ever have in years.

I walked into my dad’s office the other day for the first time in months and his staff immediately told me “You’ve lost some weight haven’t you..”

Isn’t it amazing to know what 19 lbs off the gut can do to a person?

Your encouragement is greatly encouraged folks!

No more candy bars, 7-11 Slurpees, or overly fat hamburgers and meals from fast food. I’m watching what I eat and trying to shoot for 59.. yes.. 59 (a small child’s worth of weight) more pounds to go.

Excuse me now while I go pass out.

Mini.

06/01/10.

I have officially made my mind up to lose 37 pounds (2.64 stone for our European minded friends!).

That would put me at a respectable 163 pounds (11.64 stone) instead of the weight I’m currently at.. 200 pounds (14.28 stone).

I’ve said before that I feel like I’m a bloated whale, and I’m tired of it.. but this month, I’ve decided that I’m actually going to put a fair bit of effort into losing weight.

How?

One of my dad’s friends gave my father 2 months of Nutrisystem® food, that weight loss program stuff?

It came with a manual in each box, and my dad said he’d do it (sure, and the waters of Hell will rise).. but he wanted to know if I wanted one of the one month boxes.

I openly said “Sure” because I wasn’t sure how much work would go into the program.

Well..

Today’s the first day:

Today’s breakfast:

1 packet Nutrisystem® cereal. 120 Calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 170 milligrams of Sodium, 8 grams of Protein.
1 cup Silk Vanilla flavored Soy-milk. 80 Calories, 1.5 grams of fat. 96 mg of Sodium, 300 grams of Potassium, 10 grams of Carbohydrates.
-Note: In the “sample week day” packet manual, it says to use fat-free milk, I may have screwed up here, but, I don’t think too badly.-
½ of an Orange.

And that’s it.

Yeah, that’s .. it for my “breakfast”.

It says later I can have a breakfast snack if I’m hungry, a dairy item or a protein.. (like 1 oz. of cheese or 1 oz of turkey).. but we’ll see how hungry I get.

Lunch is another Nutrisystem® item, a vegetable (of my choice, and if I so choose, 2 tablespoons of fat free dressing), and a protein.

Then comes an “afternoon snack”, again, if I’m hungry. (As you may have already guessed, dairy or protein.)

Dinner is a Nutrisystem® dinner entrée, another vegetable or fruit (and again, of my choice, and if I so choose again, 2 tablespoons of fat free dressing) and a “fat” of some sort. It recommends things like Figs and what not as they’re high in fat, but they’re also vegetables (still good for you!).

Finally, after the hard days work of eating all that (read: starving myself), I get a Nutrisystem® dessert entrée.

Did I mention it recommends at least six to eight glasses of water per day while I’m on this diet?

It’s a good thing all I drink is water when I don’t have anything else to drink..

Oh and another thing?

It recommends working out for 25-30 minutes during the day/night too.

This should be a very, very interesting time.. especially as I’ve got vacation coming up soonish and I’ll have to be careful to what I eat during the trip.

What do you guys/gals think?

Am I nuts?

A.

If you read tonight’s twitter update before The Little Shop of Horrors started; “At a local play..New site entry will be typed up tonight after I get home. Prolly about my pet peeves and little things that annoy me. -Mini”

So, as promised tonight’s entry should be a fun one for you all to read…

My pet peeves and things that annoy the ever living bajebus out of me.

People who wear their pants like this.

They’re nicknamed “Ghetto Pants”, or as I like to call them, “Easy access”, yes, I’m saying if you wear your pants like this, you’re asking for your bum hole to be probed until your hole no longer looks like this: o , and instead looks similar to this: O.

Next up?

Movie theaters who put lights next to entry and exit doors. Especially when you’re sitting in back rows next to those exit doors.

People go in and out of those doors people. Every single damn time you open the door, you’re like a deer in the headlights. I mean damn.

While we’re on the subject of movie theaters and things like it (theatres, plays, concerts, etc).

Serial coughers. Yes. I’m talking the people who cough like they’ve got the whooping cough or the bubonic plague and simply refuse to get up and do something about it. No one will kill you if you get up and grab a drink of water. Hell, if I ever run my own theatre, play house or whatever, I might even stop the show so that you can grab that damn glass of water.

Speaking of running my own play house/theatre.. here’s something else that’ll never ever happen.

Kids that are under the age of the movie’s required age limit to be in the movie.

The ratings I’m talking about?

G. Anyone can go in. I don’t care who you are.
PG. 8 and Below.
PG-13. If you’re 13, you can get in. Below that. You ain’t steppin’ foot in my theatre. EVER.
R. Guess what 17 year olds? You’re no longer welcome here. Sorry! You’ve gotta be 21.
NC-17. 21+. If you can buy a drink at my theatre, you can now see this movie.

If you’ve got any questions think about it this way..

If you’re a 17 year old trying to get into an R movie, I will throw you out.

Yes, I am aware this would restrict 17 year olds and all to seeing movies that are PG-13 and below, but here’s the thing. If they’re going to act like they’re young, they should see movies that are geared around that age group. I’m sick and tired of people talking on cell phones, talking, and doing general tom-foolery in theatres while I’m trying to watch a movie. I don’t care if I pay 75¢ for said movie or 7$. I paid for it, I don’t want to be disturbed. Why pay for a movie if you’re not even going to watch it?

This goes for people bringing kids into theatres as well. Why in hell would you bring a baby in to an R rated movie? When they cry or get upset because it gets too loud and you’re too upset to take your kid out.. ? Is it really that damn hard to call 1-800-Babysitters, or call a friend? Jeez people. Granted, I’m nice enough to not reach out and smack you, but, I’m sure if I wasn’t a morally north and correct guy, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

Ok. On to the next one.

People who were watching the UStream last night can follow this one:

People who think they’re “hot stuff” and know everything or something that other people do not when they’re just pulling a load of bull pucky out of their yin-yang and it’s completely totally apparent they are.

I have no idea how to describe how much this infuriates me.

So and so who is related to so and so who said so and so said so and so’s cousin who said this is happening! — I mean .. how credible is that?!

This next one I’ve been catching a lot of UStreamers on lately.

“Wat” “Wut” “U” etc.

If you are on a keyboard. Please. For the love of whatever deity you choose to believe in, before I smack you and make you believe in one, SPELL YOUR WORDS OUT.

I understand if you’re charged per character on your cell/mobile phones, but if you’re on your keyboard, spell your words out. Now that I think about it, I don’t know very many cell/mobile carriers anymore who charge per character anymore. What do I mean by character? I mean if I type out each word out like this: T H I S I S A C O M P L E T E S E N T E N C E . Even that makes me sick to do.

The next?

People who believe total lies before researching things in their full ability. Though, for some people that may be a stretch.

What do I mean by that?

.. Well, check this image, from my Facebook in a new window.

Does that explain it? I hope so.

Under that same tree, is a different acorn (pardon the political joke people), ignorant and racist (they’re one in the same..usually(?) aren’t they?) people.

Oh boy, I have no idea how idea how to describe how much this irks me off.

What do I mean here?

Well.. People who hate gays/lesbians or bisexuals just because of the people they decide to love. (This is the big one.) In this same vein, people who hate people because they have a different color skin or because they’re disabled, or Hell, because they have *gasp* a different religion.

Atisha of the Buddhist religion had the greatest saying about how we should live our lives.

The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

I have lived my entire life this way, 29 years so far, and Deity willing, several more..

Under this same tree, falls the Shallow People Acorn.

The shallow people acorn really hits home for me as it hits me quite a bit.

Confession time: Yes, I’m a straight guy, but I’ve got several quirks.

I’m Autistic. I think with both brain sides. Left and right, which means, not only am I an analytical thinker, but I’m an artistic thinker.

I actually prefer to think with my right side of the brain, instead of the left.

What does this mean? They say that the left brain side is better for Logical and sequential thinking, rational thought, analytical and objective thinking and looks at the parts instead of the whole. Meanwhile the right side of the brain does the exact opposite; random thoughts, it’s supposed to be intuitive, it’s supposed to holistic synthesize things, is very subjective and looks at the whole thing.

I sadly, or awesomely, my whole life have thought in both ways even when on my medication. That’s why my life is so difficult for me.

I’ve gotten to used to it but it’s still kind of crazy.

Along with these quirks, I’ve got a ton of hobbies, and a great great love of all things. One of these things is music, of all kinds. I’ve been seeing loads of musicals and plays lately.. and one of the biggest things I’ve always wanted to do is work in stage work with plays and musicals. I’m crossing my fingers because I’ve been putting my name in local theaters and hoping that they’ll call me in for an internship.

If the internship works out.. things may go further. However, where does this fall under the shallow acorn? I’ve been called gay because of my love of musicals and plays, among other things. This has actually made it so that I can’t get dates, or, in one case, have been abandoned by a date because I didn’t have the gumption to ask her if she’d like to sleep with me. Deity knows why the heck that would mean I’m gay, I assumed that sleeping with someone is something you do after you’ve been with them for a while.. not after two or three dates.

Ah well.

That’s a pretty good list to start off.. perhaps, if you like this entry, and tell me you do, I’ll continue it sometime down the road.

This has been the longest entry yet.. 1,445 words not counting this sentence..

Let me know what you think.

Mini.

So, the site has a subtle change to it tonight.

We’re no longer

Minifig’s Monologue on Gaming.

We’re now just:

Minifig’s Monologue.

What does this mean for you readers?

Quite simply.. more to read.

Yes, that’s right, more to read.

Why? Because this gives me a place to write about whatever comes to my mind. This means you’ll hear everything from my random rants on movie theaters to my random rants and complaints about life to .. pretty much everything. As you all have gotten to know me pretty well on the UStream, I’m a fairly open minded individual and I frankly don’t really care what you guys read, see, hear about my personal life. There will be things that I’ll keep quiet of course, but over all, if I want to write about something, it’ll probably turn up here.

Yes, that means you might have to check this site more often, but, hey, who said anything about me doing this just for gaming entries? I sure as heck didn’t .. and if you even began to think that it was just for entries about gaming and my life, you were sadly mistaken. Sorry!

So, do you like this new development?

Let me know.

Mini.