Music to the Moon

In response to the content of Tales of Mu, I'll agree with Phuong that it's adults-only and only then some people will get weirded out. That said, the characterisation and plot development is excellent. It really is that good. That's why I read it. And that will probably why I'll continue to read it.

As for the Xbox 360, I'm well aware of the hardware issues that the console has. And while I'm very much a PC person, I can see the beauty of the consoles. You don't have to worry about whether the game is going to run or not, you pop it in and play. That said, right now, the Xbox 360 in my opinion, has the better software. Sure the Wii is very fun, but there isn't a game that screams to me to buy it. There is a lot of reasons to buy one, but not one that burns me to get a Wii. And while the PS3 will have some killer software, namely Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, it's really expensive and out of my price range. Games that I want to play are on the Xbox 360: Halo 3, Mass Effect, Too Human, Warhound and probably a few more to come. But I'll keep your advice in mind Jimmy.

A few days of rain have made driving a little more pissy than usual. It's raining hard, I have the wipers burning at full speed, headlights on, going slow-ish at 50 and I have some jerk tailgating me. But this person was right behind me, maybe a meter or so. If I had to brake suddenly then no doubt the car would have been rear ended. Leave a freaking gap, so you damage our cars and I don't have to worry.

Anyway, my mother was working overtime and I had to go to pick up my brother from school. So I'm standing there, drinking some Coke and listening (or eavesdropping) on a bunch of Viet parents discussing how to praise their children. One of the mothers was wondering whether she should praise her child is they got a test score of 98, knowing another student managed 100%. In my mind, I was like "Well of course you praise them!", but the other parents were like confused and didn't know what to do. One father actually flat out said that there should be no praise. I actually got kinda pissed at that. 98% in any subject is a pretty good mark, no, an excellent mark. What, are you actually going to say to your child when they come home with a 98% mark "What the..? Where's the other 2%?".

I actually jumped in at that point and made my disagreement known. 100% is an excellent mark and all, but it's more important that you tried your best. Not everyone is equal, and there will be students who only get average marks. I was never that good at maths. 4U would kill me. But I did my best at 3U. I think my point got across to most of the parents. They were nodding and going "well that makes sense". Except the aforementioned father who started dissing me and saying that its 100% or nothing and asking "how would I know about praise?". I politely told him that I used to be Sefton student and used to have the 100% or nothing shit leveled at me. Then I told him, very politely, that he knew shit about the education system and raising kids. That was a conversation stopper, and before he mounted a counterattack it started to rain and everyone retreated to their cars.

Back in the car, I had a little reflection time. Most of the parents were stunned probably not due the insults, but more that I could talk and phrase coherent sentences in Viet. I'm not going to say that I have excellent Viet, but I can hold a lengthy conversation. And eavesdrop on conversations. That said I felt rather lucky that my own father started to recognise that 100% or nothing can have a negative affect and switched to a more "do your best and look after your future" praise.

I don't know if those Viet parents will change, but I hope they do.

And yes I've played and finished Elite Beat Agents on the DS. It's wild.