Are you a FF7 fan?

Well, I am.

*sob*

Gotta get me a gold chocobo.

Want to catch League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Based on Alan Moore's graphic novel of the same name, it should be good.

We've been playing a lot of AD&D lately.

Not 3rd Ed, mind you. I have WAY TOO MUCH 2nd ED to run a 3rd ED game. Call us cheapos.

(: *cough* anyway, last month I tortured the gang with :

Cleric's Challenge II - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. For one cleric player character, level 4 - 6.

The game started with one cleric and one mage. Then joined by 2 warriors. Erm, solo adventure module, guys? No big deal, I thought. Lets just increase the level of the mobs! (:

They are now about level 8.

The last few weeks, I tortured the gang with :

Temple, Tower and Tomb - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. For characters of level 7 - 12.

This module is made out of three parts, of a Temple, a Tower and a Tomb. On the first page, a warning states: "Be warned: These adventures are deadly. Players will need considerable skill to guide their characters safely through the teaps and horrors waiting for them, and they should be aware that PCs will die in these adventures unless they are very careful or very lucky."

The first module was enough easy enough, what with a paladin joining the group. And with most of the monsters in there being undead and/or evil, the paladin and priest had a field day.

By the end of the second module, the whole group was a mass of quivering jello, armed with 10 foot poles and tied to each other with ropes all the time. Thanks to the number of traps and a certain lurker. I sated the gangs' murderous thoughts towards me with wild abandon rolling on the Treasure Lair chart. The Lord of Eternal Night, a Lich, was destroyed. But his phylactery was not found. (THE THRONE!) This Lich will be back, oh yes, he will be back.

The final straw was the last part of the third module. I could foresee the gang strangling me in my sleep. Heroically, the group overcame the The Faceless one, a mind flayer. GET IT OVER AND DONE WITH ALREADY.

They are now about level 9.

Now, as the group moves towards the beautiful desert of Zahkara, in Al-Qadim, they will slowly move through:

Forgotten Realms : Book of Lairs - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Usable by all levels.

So far, they have stomped over the lairs of a group of Clidabrins, a Harrla, a bunch of Morins, and a handful of Frosts.

They should be level 10.

As they complete the module, they will be closer and closer to:

Al-Qadim - A Dozen and One Adventures : Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Muluk, City of Kings.

They should be level 11.

After which, they should have immersed themselves enough to be at home with:

Al-Qadim - Secrets of the Lamp : Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Genie Lore.

They should be level 12.

Being totally sick of the desert, the group will find themselves on the way to:

Forgotten Realms - The Ruins of Undermountain : Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

They should be level 13.

Moving through the Undermountains, the group will end up in:

Forgotten Realms - Myth Drannor Adventures : Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

They should be level 14.

The next destination the group will reach:

Forgotten Realms - Ruins of Zhentil Keep : Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Now they are level 15.

The group is now ready for:

Labyrinth of Madness : Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. For characters of level 15 and above.

If they survive this, they should be level 17.

The group will be just in time for:

The Dancing Hit of Baba Yaga : Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. For characters of level 7 - 20.

After that, there is still The Lands of Thay, Ravenloft, etc.

The brave group will be level 20.

Can this happen?

This site is interesting, lots of cows and chickens. If only I knew what language its in. Or even understand it.

Yet another site that scares me.

(If you're at work, Alex, turn down the speakers before clicking the link.)

Sugar Moon

All you ever wanted to learn about Maple Syrup and more!

Aieeeeee!

Pirates of the Caribbean is OUT!

I want to catch it.
I need to catch it.

Orlando Bloom! Orlando Bloom!

And oh, remember to stay till after the credits for the final scene.

Learn a new programming language!

Whitespace

Yes, this language uses only whitespace. No numbers, no letters, no funny #!?: stuff. Just space. Tabs, spacebar, newlines. A whole lot of Whitespace.

Don't take my word for it, check it out!

Play the latest MMPORG!
Billions have signed up.
Subscription limited.
Hundreds of classes.
Dozens of races.
No level limits!

Read the full review from gaming site of choice, Gamespot : Real Life.

M.C. Escher

What rating is your journal?
brought to you by Quizilla

You excel at Defense Against the Dark Arts. Which
is really good because who knows when you'll
run into that disgruntle troll or banshee going
through menopause.


Which Class at Hogwarts Would You Excel at?
brought to you by Quizilla

Everything you ever wanted to know about sushi.

Chinese Dynasties

The Origins of Chinese Civilization: c. 2200 - 221 BC
Xia: c. 2200 - c. 1750 BC
Shang: c. 1750 - c. 1040 BC
Western Zhou: c. 1100 - 771 BC
Eastern Zhou, The Spring & Autumn Period, and the Warring States: 771 - 221 BC

The Early Empire: 221 BC - AD 589
Qin: 221 - 206 BC
Earlier Han, the Wang Man Interregnum, and the Later Han
The Three Kingdoms and the Dynasties of the North and South

The Second Empire: 589 - 1644
Sui: 589 - 618
Tang: 618 - 907
Northern and Southern Song: 960 - 1279
Yuan (Mongol): 1279 - 1368
Ming: 1368 - 1644

The Birth of Modern China: 1644 - present
Qing (Manchu): 1644 - 1911
Republican China: 1911 - 1949
The People's Republic of China: 1949 - present

Something Terance needs to pack for the road trip!!

K

I'm off on another ROAD TRIP!!!

KI

To lounge on the white sands of Terenganu!

KIB

Touch the distinctive red buildings of Dutch Colonial Melaka!

KIBJ

Dance around 'The Pearl of the Orient' - the tropical island of Penang!

KIBJC

See the bright city lights of Kuala Lumpur - the federal capital of Malaysia!

KIBJCM

Get lost in the huge limestone caves of Batu Caves - 272 steps to Cathedral Caves!

KIBJCMI

Run around and frolic by the beach of Mersing - Pulau Tioman!

KIBJCMIM

Rub shoulders with the high rollers on Genting - City of Entertainment!

And all this in ONE week!
Did I mention I live in Malaysia? (:

PEACE

Ancient recipes, most of which come from Apicius, a Roman chef who lived about 2,000 years ago.

Libum

Libum was a sacrificial cake sometimes offered to household spirits during Rome's early history. The recipe below comes from the Roman consul Cato's agricultural writings, which included simple recipes for farmers. Libum, sometimes served hot, is a cheesecake he included.

Ancient Roman Libum Recipe
Libum to be made as follows: 2 pounds cheese well crushed in a mortar; when it is well crushed, add in 1 pound bread-wheat flour or, if you want it to be lighter, just 1/2 a pound, to be mixed with the cheese. Add one egg and mix all together well. Make a loaf of this, with the leaves under it, and cook slowly in a hot fire under a brick.
- from Cato's On Agriculture, reprinted in The Classical Cookbook

Modern Roman Libum Recipe (serves 4)
1 cup plain, all purpose flour
8 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
bay leaves
1/2 cup clear honey

Sift the flour into a bowl. Beat the cheese until it's soft and stir it into the flour along with the egg. Form a soft dough and divide into 4. Mold each one into a bun and place them on a greased baking tray with a fresh bay leaf underneath. Heat the oven to 425° F. Cover the cakes with your brick* and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden-brown. Warm the honey and place the warm cakes in it so that they absorb it. Allow to stand 30 minutes before serving.
*The Romans often covered their food while it was cooking with a domed earthenware cover called a testo. You can use an overturned, shallow clay pot, a metal bowl, or casserole dish as a brick.

Boiled Eggs with Pine Nut Sauce

Perhaps the most popular of all the Roman appetizers was the egg. In fact, the ancient Latin saying ab ovo usque ad malum literally means "from the egg to the fruit," which translates loosely as "the beginning of the meal to the end." In this recipe, the egg is adorned with lovely pine nut sauce.

Ancient Roman Egg Recipe
For medium-boiled eggs: Pepper, lovage, and soaked pine nuts. Pour on honey and vinegar; mix with garum
- Apicius, reprinted from A Taste of Ancient Rome

Modern Egg Recipe
4 medium-boiled eggs
2 ounces pine nuts
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
Pinch each of pepper and lovage (or celery leaf)

Soak the pine nuts 3-4 hours beforehand in the vinegar.
Mix all the sauce ingredients thoroughly in a blender. This exquisite sauce should be presented in a sauce boat so that each person can serve himself or herself, since the eggs cannot be sliced and placed on a dish in advance.
- reprinted from A Taste of Ancient Rome

Seven Wonders of the World

The Great Pyramid
- built between 2500-2560
- said to be the tomb of Khufu
- located in Giza, Egypt
- 756 feet long on each side and 450 feet high
- made up of 2,300,000 blocks, that each weigh two and a half tons
- took 20 years for 100,000 slaves to build it
- contrary to popular belief, only the Pyramid of Khufu is a Wonder, not all the pyramids

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- located on the east bank of the River Euphrates, about 50 km south of Baghdad, Iraq.
- built by Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC)
- In 450 B.C., a historian named Herodotus wrote, "In addition to it's size, Babylon surpasses any city in the known world."
- Herodotus said the outer walls were 80 feet thick, 320 feet high, and 56 miles in length
- "The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns... Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels... These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches... This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators".

The Temple of Zeus
- statue of the god in whose honor the Ancient Olympic games were held
- at the time of the games, wars stopped, and athletes came from Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Sicily to celebrate the Olympics and to worship their king of gods: Zeus.
- located at the ancient town of Olympia, on the west coast of modern Greece, about 150 km west of Athens.
- designed by the architect Libon and was built around 450 BC
- nothing remains at the site of the old temple except rocks and debris, the foundation of the buildings, and fallen columns
- Athenian sculptor Pheidias sculpted the statue
- base of the statue was about 6.5 m (20 ft) wide and 1.0 meter (3 ft) high
- height of the statue itself was 13 m (40 ft), equivalent to a modern 4-story building

The Colossus of Rhodes
- located at the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece
- to celebrate their unity, the Rhodians erected an enormous statue of their sun god, Helios
- construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC.
- the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC
- the Colossus was broken at its weakest point -- the knee.
- an immediate offer from Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument was declined when an oracle was consulted and forbade the re-erection
- for almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins
- in AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes
- they disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria on 900 camels
- recent studies suggest that it was erected either on the eastern promontory of the Mandraki harbor, or even further inland
- it did never straddle the harbor entrance
- the project was commissioned by the Rhodian sculptor Chares of Lindos
- when the colossus was finished, it stood about 33 m (110 ft) high
- when it fell, "few people can make their arms meet round the thumb", wrote Pliny.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria
- located on the ancient island of Pharos, now a promontory within the city of Alexandria in Egypt
- conceived and initiated by Ptolemy Soter around 290 BC, but was completed after his death, during the reign of his son Ptolemy Philadelphus
- Sostratus, a contemporary of Euclid, was the architect, but detailed calculations for the structure and its accessories were carried out at the Alexandria Library/Mouseion
- the monument was dedicated to the Savior Gods: Ptolemy Soter (lit. savior) and his wife Berenice
- for centuries, the Lighthouse of Alexandria (occasionally referred to as the Pharos Lighthouse) was used to mark the harbor, using fire at night and reflecting sun rays during the day
- it was even shown on Roman coins, just as famous monuments are depicted on currency today.
- the total height of the building including the foundation base was about 117 m (384 ft), equivalent to a 40-story modern building
- in ancient times, a statue of Poseidon adorned the summit of the building.

The Temple of Artemis
- built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and fertility
- located at the ancient city of Ephesus near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey
- built around 550 BC
- referred to as the great marble temple
- sponsored by the Lydian king Croesus
- designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron
- decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon.
- temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution
- recent archeological excavations at the site revealed gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of Artemis made of gold and ivory... earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... artifacts from as far as Persia and India
- on the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name
- Alexander the Great was born the same night
- the historian Plutarch later wrote that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple"
- when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he helped rebuild the destroyed temple.
- when St Paul visited Ephesus to preach Christianity in the first century AD, he was confronted by the Artemis' cult who had no plans to abandon their goddess
- the temple was again destroyed by the Goths in AD 262, the Ephesians vowed to rebuild
- by the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted to Christianity and the temple lost its religious glamor
- in AD 401 the Temple of Artemis was torn down by St John Chrysostom
- the foundation of the temple was rectangular in form, similar to most temples at the time
- unlike other sanctuaries, however, the building was made of marble, with a decorated façade overlooking a spacious courtyard
- marble steps surrounding the building platform led to the high terrace which was approximately 80 m (260 ft) by 130 m (430 ft) in plan
- the columns were 20 m (60 ft) high with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides
- there were 127 columns in total, aligned orthogonally over the whole platform area, except for the central cella or house of the goddess
- the temple housed many works of art, including four ancient bronze statues of Amazons sculpted by the finest artists at the time

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
- located in the city of Bodrum (f.k.a. Halicarnassus) on the Aegean Sea, in south-west Turkey
- The Mausoleum was completed around 350 BC, three years after Maussollos death, and one year after Artemisia's.
- for 16 centuries, the Mausoleum remained in good condition until an earthquake caused some damage to the roof and colonnade
- in the early fifteenth century, the Knights of St John of Malta invaded the region and built a massive crusader castle
- they decided to fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the Mausoleum
- by 1522, almost every block of the Mausoleum had been disassembled and used for construction
- only the foundation remains of the once magnificent Wonder.
- the structure was rectangular in plan, with base dimensions of about 40 m (120 ft) by 30 m (100 ft)
- a 6 m (20ft) statue of a chariot pulled by four horses adorned the top of the tomb.
- total height of the Mausoleum was 45 m (140 ft)
- there were tens of life-size as well as under and over life-size free-standing statues of people, lions, horses, and other animals
- the statues were carved by four Greek sculptors: Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus, each responsible for one side

Forgotten Wonders of the World
Abu Simbel Temple in Egypt
Angkor Wat in Cambodia - Dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu by King Suryavarman II, who reigned between AD 1131 and 1150.
The Aztec Temple in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), Mexico
The Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines - The great rice terraces climb a thousand meters from the valley bottom. The oldest terraces are 6000 years old.
Borobudur Temple in Indonesia
The Colosseum in Rome, Italy
The Great Wall of China
The Inca city of Machu Picchu, Peru
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
The Mayan Temples of Tikal in Northern Guatemala
The Moai Statues in Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile
Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France
The Throne Hall of Persepolis in Iran
The Parthenon in Athens, Greece
Petra, the rock-carved city in Jordan
The Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar
Stonehenge in England
Taj Mahal in Agra, India
The Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque, Mexico

Modern Wonders of the World
The Channel Tunnel
The Clock Tower (Big Ben) in London, England
The CN Tower in Toronto, Canada
Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
The Empire State Building in New York City, USA
The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, USA
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA
The High Dam in Aswan, Egypt
Hoover Dam in Arizona/Nevada, USA
Itaipú Dam in Brazil/Paraguay
Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, USA
The Panama Canal
The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Statue of Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Statue of Liberty in New York City, USA
The Suez Canal in Egypt
The Sydney Opera House in Australia

Natural Wonders of the World
Angel Falls in Venezuela
The Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada
The Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Iguassu Falls in Brazil/Argentina
Krakatoa Island in Indonesia
Mount Everest in Nepal
Mount Fuji in Japan
Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
Niagara Falls in Ontario (Canada) and New York State (USA)
Paricutin Volcano in Mexico
Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe

This website scares me.

Learn "defenestration", and other fun words.

Luciferous Logolepsy
Dragging obscure words into the light of day.

Real life CSR.

Autopsy Report

Internet killed the video star

Why Octodogs?

The hotdog is among the top ten items found in many lists concerning choking occurrences in young children. Pediatricians recommend slicing a hotdog linearly. The method of slicing a hotdog linearly can reduce the chances of choking during consumption. A sliced hotdog is a safer way to serve hotdogs to children. Octodogs are not only fun, but may be a safer way to serve hotdogs.

SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!

*swoon*

Sorry Legolas, till the end of the year.....

SPIKE! SPIKE! SPIKE!

As of 10:28pm July 14 2003

Cumulative hours waited for internet to download this year : 16,219,231,907

Millions of Calories consumed this year : 3,320,022,117

Current Population : 6,321,649,435

Bicycles produced this year : 58,276,058

Automobile Accidental Fatalities this year : 145,017

Solar Energy striking Earth this year : 1463,640,262,384

Worldmeters. Yep, they are keeping count.

Thanks to Robin, now I know what they are signalling.

You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown,
I have a world apart that is not among men.

Li Bai

The Ultimate picnic.

Hehe, its strange to see Stefan Chow get crude in English. Shaolin Soccer.

As Seen on TV

When can we get McGriddles here?

Sausage Art. (:

(insert dramatic music)

You must choose!

Matrix : The Musical

Matrix : Japan