this is the class that had the most of activities ever. we learnt how to face problems and started with the straw game: all members in a group must use one finger each to bring a straw down and then raise it up. the game ended quite fast after Tom thought about the "crossing finger method" (that's how I call it) and ask people t oget their fingers touch others' which would make the straw laid stably and then we could low it down and raised it up very easily.
then we came to the puzzle game. the striking point was even when we finished the puzzle, Mrs Suma still said we didn't complete it yet. we tried many times until we figured out that all groups still have to put their parts together in order to make a square. think outside of the box it was!
blending work with other, even in other groups, is hard enough to create problem, isnt it?
we firstly made a quiz or better call it a list of questions about ourselves, about what we agree, our point of views about a firm's different tasks, work and progress. despite almost all of questions are about theoretic thinking, there were some funny questions indeed. one of them is about what I would want to write on my grave stone and i chose "My life for Aiur, i long for combat". it was VERY hard to explain to other about what it really means to me, even Mrs Suma didn't get the idea. well it was taken from the game i like the most and it was the sentence when an unit in that game prepared to go for battles. the sentence meant his life was dedicated to Aiur (his hometown - a peaceful planet) but he will sacrifice himself in combat and he can fight non-stop for that place.
to do a harsh thing for a peaceful place, to do a cruel thing for the belief, to do the wrong thing for the right thing.
that's how I always behave at least. sound kind of zealotic i know but I dont feel anything wrong with that, everybody also lives up for what they believe, so do I.
then we were given a subject to write about and it is also a very special topic: sexual harassment. Lisa - the girl we have to write the script about had faced some cases of sexual harassment before in her life. we have to put ourself in her play and write about her reactions, her words, etc.
I personally like this kind of homework, especially when this time it's about a sexual problem. I have been irritated by sexism and hopefully via the script I can somewhat point the right for women, even if it's only in words.
we focused on individual's role this lesson. firstly we were asked to chose a role (or a motto?) that is the most right for us. 4 papers were laid on the tables, each of them pointed out 1 important thing: relationship/ strategy / right thing / artistic
without hesitate i chose strategy , a real strategy is already a masterpiece of all, maintain relationship, stick to the right step and make the whole concept smooth, or at least that's what i have thought, so i chose strategy. we were asked again to write down some words, points to describe a strategist.
then we went to the lab and started to do a quiz to see whether the role we chose was actually the right we are. the result came to me was kind of surprising. i was actually an Idealist . personally i have never thought about myself as a good strategic but at least that was what I had always aimed for, so the role I got indeed was out of my imagination somewhat. it's true that I have always want to be good in strategies, but what I always admire is usually what I am not.
i got the result for my negotiation test and scored 15. i guess it was part of Ardra's effort also, since she did support me during the test. though Mrs Suma said we settled the problem a bit too fast, I still feel that it was an improvement of mine when i did try to manage to not mess my own words up again.
then we came to the emotional "test". we paired a group 2 people and one would have to tell the other one secret that may shock the other. I tried very hard to think about what i should have tell Jessica (it was not a big secret by the way, but it's offensive to some people so I don't feel like telling it). and when she reacted as she was shocked and asked me why, I started to regret that I chose it to tell.
though later it came out that her reaction was somewhat an act, I still could not get rid of the worry feeling. as for Mrs Suma said, the reaction towards your words will many times make you scared/regret/worried/upset/down. to me, that was a double sides lesson, that every words I say may hurt others and that the truth I tell may get another reaction if I can learn how to make it sound acceptable.
out of the studying a bit, but I guess now I can understand why people say the cold of English was an effect of the Rose Wars long ago. they tend to not talk much, since even a very small wrong word can lead to an awful consequence.
it was the first lecture that we took in Dhouby Ghaut and we welcomed Linda, our ECU lecturer. a bit out side of studying, but i was actually impressed by Linda's blonde hair and wonder whether if it was her true hair colour or not. well simply I'm just interested in light thing, and right when she stepped to the classroom, her appearance caught me. although the most important thing is not about how a person looks, it is still true that the appearance will give the first impression about you to people.
Linda explained to us more about negotiation and asked us to separate to different groups to explain different methods in negotiation to other groups. we already read and were lectured about it, but it was kind of new to know what other classmates think and understand about it, hence I found out that different people don't have the same opinions, neither got to think about one definition in the same way.
Various perceptions' issue appeared clearer when we came to play the birthday game. we had to line up in order due to our birth days but we were not allowed to open our mouths but use body languages to make people understand it. we indeed finished pretty fast, not to mention some small tricks, but it had much fun to know how it would happen when you lose your easiest way to communication (i wondered how deaf and mute people could deal with it though). surprisingly to know Ayyub was born in October too, so we were teamed up together with Singil.
we came to train more in negotiation skills, started with being a problem between employee and employer. i was the employer and i had to ask Singil to change his attitude while he didnt't want to. my biggest weakness appeared clearly in that, especially when i had to do it with Singil - the calm type of person. when it comes to serious things, I'm always too straightforward, hence make the communication unfriendly. therefore, the longer I negotiated, the messier my words became. just as the same time when i tried to negotiate with Ayyub and Sya, things ended up as I was the one nearly lost
Isn't it hard, to be able to keep yourself calm and cool always?
The manner of Botticelli is easy to recognise because of the hair styles among others. And he used to paint "a tempera" (a mix of pigments, water and egg), it was not oil-painted. At this time, oil wasn't discovered (it was by Van Eyck in the first half of the 15th century). The paintings a tempera have a special look, quite thin, quite delicate but less luminous than oil. Botticelli has a very recognisable style so if you see strong resemblances between the two pictures, it should be Botticelli. There may be an other possibility though, Botticelli had a student, Filippino Lippi, that took a lot of his specially soft style.
We can also say Botticelli is recognizable by his really precise line, as he is part of the Florentine school that was very based on the line (in comparison to the Venetian school that was more into colour for example). We could say much more on the subject I guess but the goal is not to make everyone sleep, so... Take what you want...
----taken from Maxence Raffi
since the day i knew him, i started to believe that there are people who live for art
Self awareness is the first component of emotional intelligence which all leaders have. People with it are able to work with a demanding client and understand the client’s impact on her moods and the deeper reasons for their frustration and will be recognized by their self-confidence.
People with self-regulation are in control of their feelings and impulses, therefore will create an environment of trust and fairness. People who have mastered their emotions are able to roll with the changes and deal with change and news. However, people like that are sometimes seen as lack of passion.
As for Motivation, people with leadership potential are motivated by a deeply embedded desire to achieve for the sake of achievement. Those with high motivation also remain optimistic even when the score is against them and they can overcome failure with the combination of self-regulation. They also often feel committed to the organizations.
Although seems unbusinesslike, empathy is understood as thoughtfully considering employees’ feelings – along with other factors – in the process of making intelligent decisions. It is particularly important today as a component of leadership for at least three reasons: the increasing use of teams, the rapid pace of globalization and the growing need to retain talent.
Social skill is friendliness with a purpose: moving people in the direction you desire. It is the culmination of the other dimensions of emotional intelligence. Socially skilled people are adept at managing teams. Therefore social skill is considered a key leadership capability, no leader is an island.
Mười tám lộ quân chư hầu không giết nổi Đổng Trác, mà một thiếu nữ đào tơ liễu yếu như Điêu Thuyền lại giết nổi Trác. Ba anh em Lưu, Quan, Trương hùng liệt không thắng nổi Lữ Bố, mà chỉ một nàng Điêu Thuyền lại thắng nổi. Ôi, lấy chăn chiếu làm chiến trường, lấy son phấn làm khôi giáp, lấy sóng mắt nụ cười làm gươm sắc giáo nhọn, lấy mày ngài làm cung nỏ, lấy nước mắt nũng nịu làm tên đạn, lấy lời tình tứ ngọt ngào làm chiến lược mưu cơ. Xem thế thì cái bản lĩnh của "Nữ tướng quân" quả là tuyệt cao cường, đáng sợ lắm thay!
my crappy translation, please take in mind it's just the main ideas, not exact words of the author:
million soldiers could not kill Dong Zhuo but a fragile girl like Diao Chan could. the three grand brothers Liu, Guan, Zheng could not beat Lu Bu but only one lady Diao Chan could. Alas, the chamber was her own battle field, cosmetics was her own shield and armour, took the look the smile as the sword and spear, took eyebrows as her own bow, and tears as arrows and bullets, as for strategies and tactics were actually sweet words with flirting. how superior the talent of such Lady General, so frightening!
... go to wikipedia, search for Diao Chao if you dont know her
well what i can say about this game? I'm even not sure whether it is listed as "game" or not, but for me i justify it as a game. It's kind of text game I think, the system is like a normal sims dating game, you have some choices to choose in a certain situation, and they will lead to different endings.
But the kind of game Im talking about is not for dating, it is mostly about complex stories that by choosing your own choice, you will find an end, or a piece of the whole big story. i recommend you the 2 games Hallucinate and Fianca, their main category mostly is "angst".
Hallucinate is a sad ballad which you find your own way. In the game, "You" used to be a killer, until you got into an accident and was sent to hospital. You lost your memories and got no idea about you being a murderer until a girl in the same hospital came and asked you to die, for her sake as revenge. how you react will be the end of this game. none of the ending is truly happy, and also none of them is truly sad. but in each of them, you will find something, even very slight, what you are lack of.
Fianca is more about filling up the story which means each ending gives you another piece of the "You" in game. that's also why Fianca is much longer than Hallucinate. there is no opening neither ending, since i cannot spoil anything. you will have to find out yourself
the 2 games can be download here. mediafire link and only 2.6mb
please contact me if the link is unavailable
PS: this is the first ending that I got when i first time played Hallucinate:
the girl hates You, since you killed her family. but You fell in love with her visiting You everyday in the hospital. You would die for her sake, but You dont want to die alone, and both of you ended up together.
The ending is: "happy"
a nice poem taken from a tale by Thai Ba Tan
Wish the Prince just once..
Slim but yet at young
Wearing a modest crimson dress
And one day, what a coincidence
She fell on such a rough wall
and the burning came-
She brought her heart's flame
And gave the first one she saw
Just so slim, and young
With the crimson dress
Now, alas, left only ash
Her corpse was threw away
Just like other matches like her,
Being used, and being left
Wish the Prince just once
Could see her
Slim and yet so young
within the pretty crimson dress...
He uses lighter.
Vietnamese source
----
Note: my translation is used for non-profit purpose and with respect for the author
----
Thai Ba Tan is my favourite author though his main career is translating rather than writing. but i wonder what could make his writing so much formal yet still informal. different from lots of authors at his ages and even younger ones, his words are just so young and modern.
they dont carry hard thing, dont express any agony or cruelty. just simply they are words, like a normal diary of a guy who actually was written all by him.his work contents light sadness, strong feeling and passionate, and and the end is always a surprised ending that even can make you laugh.
but that ending, after a few times reading will make some somewhat sad, when you can see the meaning within it
miracle ^^ i love his work!
one of the most usual questions i have gotten is about the programme i used to make my amv's and several questions about each 
Windows Movie Maker
(click to see the real size)
no need to explain more, since this is the basic of basic programme you must have if your comp uses Windows, except for some special cases 
Plus points:
-automatically cut scenes for you when uploading file from certain videos (especially handy for making videoclip and amv, since you can keep track in the important or needed scenes. it allows you to delete unneeded parts which makes things even better 
-separated audio and video
-easy to use, friendly control
-has almost of everything that you need to make a video, for both audio and video
-can save/zoom while watching your work
-save directly to .wmv
-allows you to size your own work
Minus points:
-Fixed video size and scenes
-unstable run
-does not support overlay
-limited manage for titles/subtitles
Ulead Video Studio (Plus)
(click to see real size)
after WMM, i changed to Ulead 11. personally it is ok for me
Plus points:
-quite friendly control
-active in managing transition's time
-more effects to use
-overlay is available (but with limited amount)
-Video filters are available, "Chroma Key" supports the bluescreens and greenscreens effect
-crop and resize video scenes
-the "Save current image" option is very helpful unexpectedly
-really helpful to speed up or slow down your vid. totally free control
-much better titles choices
Minus points:
-doesnt help you splitting the uploaded videos (it may sound ok with some fmv's, but with the whole movie that is a few hours long, you will understand the pain
-fixed video's audio file: forget it if you want to put a scream or an impressive sound in fmv to your work. audio file is fixed! it only can be faded and thats all.
-totally inactive in saving your work. the available choices for .wmv files are at terrible quality, and the choices for .avi and .mpeg are all at terribly big size.
-takes loads of your comp's memory for nothing 
Sony Vegas
(click to see full size)
when you use Sony Vegas well, you are already close to a pro and if you master it then you are absolutely a PRO!
Note: if you actually just use SV's video effects well, then you are even worse than me
Plus points:
-huge storage of effects and filters, you can even expand it by updating
-you can control EVERYTHING in a video, as I said, everything
-Video paint is available, make it a new Photoshop on your own mind
Minus points:
-surprisingly (I dont know whether in the later versions they have fixed it yet or not), it doesnt have preview for you to see o.0" most likely you start with a filter or editing work, then delete, then try another one
-not so helpful in saving file as well. usually you will have a really huge file for a few mins of vid, but it's worth the quality at least. just when you need to upload then it will be the pain
---------------------------
as a conclusion, i still vote for WMM the highest. firstly because im not into the way of a professional editor so Im not much into editing a vid, i focus more on expressing things and blending them with music
but well the rest depends on people. there are also many n00bs "which" depend on SV's effects only and there are also many masterpieces that made using WMM.
so yea, i hope this post finally helped you guys to decide on your own, so please stop spamming my message box lol
--------------------------
PS: all of the above softwares only can be used in Windows. Im planning to try with Ulead Studio Pro which is between Ulead Plus and Sony Vegas, but it will be some later time, when im not busy anymore
as we all know about one of the greatest songs by My Dying Bride: For My Fallen Angel
lyric:
As I draw up my breath
And silver fills my eyes
I kiss her still
For she will never rise
On my weak body
Lays her dying hand
Through those meadows of Heaven
Where we ran
Like a thief in the night
The wind blows so light
It wars with my tears
They won't dry for many years
"Loves golden arrow
At her should have fled
And not Death ebon dart
To strike her dead"
no matter how many times i listened to it, it still touched my mind and shake even the bottom of my heart... 
and i used to think that there could be nothing that can replace that touching and painful violin, but i got surprised to know that you actually can play such wonderful melody on guitar, as for many people have asked, here is the guitar tab for For My Fallen Angel
Transcribed By: Darrell Sturbysource: http://www.guitartips.com.au/
Email: trex@spl.at
Standard Tuning:
E A D G B E
Well... I'm sure you all know this song has no guitar in it, but since the
violin part is so beautiful I decided I'd transcribe it for guitar.
Some types of effects you can use are slow attack, echo, and slight
distortion... perhaps tremelo as well.
This is only a guide to the notes, I use alot of slides, hammer on's,
and vibrato that I don't really feel like typing out.
The entire melody can be played using only the second string, since there
really is no need to use any others and it gives alot of oppurtunities to
use slides.
0:13 -> 0:52
e|-------------------------------------------|
B|-14----14-16---12---12-9--10--10-12--5-----|
G|-------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------|
B|-14----14-16---12---12-9--10--10-12--12----|
G|-------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------|
B|-14----14-16---12---12-9--10--17--17-19-17-|
G|-------------------------------------------|
1:09 -> 2:03
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-9---12-5-9---12-5-7-----2-5----4----|
G|-------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-9---12-5-9---12-5-7-----2-5----4----|
G|-------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-9---12-5-9---12-5-14--14-16-17--16--|
G|-------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-14--14-5-9---12-5-7-----2-5----4--2-|
G|-------------------------------------|
2:48 -> 3:25
e|--------------------------------------|
B|-17--17-19-17h19p17-16-12-16----16-17-|
G|--------------------------------------|
e|--------------------------------------|
B|-14---14-16-17--14-14------12-12------|
G|--------------------------------------|
e|--------------------------------------|
B|-17--17-19-17h19p17-16-17--21---------|
G|--------------------------------------|
e|--------------------------------------|
B|-19-19-------17----17-19-17-----------|
G|--------------------------------------|
e|--------------------------------------|
B|-17--17-19-17h19p17-16-12-16----16-17-|
G|--------------------------------------|
e|--------------------------------------|
B|-14---14-16-17----19-17---------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
3:44 -> 4:39
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-9---12-5-9---12-5-7-----2-5----4----|
G|-------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-9---12-5-9---12-5-7-----2-5----4----|
G|-------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-9---12-5-9---12-5-14--14-16-17--16--|
G|-------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------|
B|-14--14-5-9---12-5-7-----2-5----4----|
G|-------------------------------------|
please note that the transript is NOT provided by My Dying Bride themselves, this is for practice purpose only
here is a rare example of this awesome song in guitar, though the band did add some more in lyric, still it was a great cover, worth to listen and worth to try it on guitar
im really looking forward to see a better cover of this song with guitar
if you are interest, click the title of each part to watch the whole "story"
i will just analyse (or better say "summary"?) the whole story, since im so fond of the whole story [Story of Evil] but we will first start with my very own opinion that i really like concept albums, especially albums that can make it the whole story like this, i hope someday i can see a metal album with this concept
Daughter of Evil (click):
the princess of Yellow, who did not care about anyone else but herself. she let her people starve while satisfying her want. she fell in love with the Prince of Blue. but the Prince of Blue already loved Lady of Green. Princess of Yellow ended up starting the war and murdering the Lady of Green. the country's people got angry and started a revolution. they caught her and executed her at 3pm. when the last moment came, the Princess of Yellow smiled and said: "oh, it's time for snack!"
Servant of Evil (click):
the twin brother of Princess of Yellow. for fate they were separated, one became princess, one became servant. he sworn that he would protect his sister whatever it costs "to protect you i will become the devil". he also fell in love with Lady of Green, but since his sister asked, he came to kill Lady of Green with his tears pouring. when the army attacked the castle, he switched clothes to his sister and help her flee while he was captured by the army. at the time being executed, he recognised his sister was among people watching around, so he smiled and joked: "oh, it's time for snack" and he made the wish "if i could reborn, i hope you would play with me again"
Daughter of Vengeance (click):
the Lady of Red. her family was starved under Princess of Yellow's rule. she stood up and started the war - the revolution. she came up with the help of Prince of Blue. when the army got into castle, Lady of Red realised it was the servant, not the right princess who was caught. but she knew they were siblings, so she pretended like nothing wrong. at the execution, she realised the real Princess of Yellow got to come, and Lady of Red was satisfised with the truth that Princess of Yellow will have to see her own brother died in front of her eyes. the pain Princess of Yellow got was the revenge of Lady of Red - Daughter of Vengeance.
Lady of Green (click):
a beautiful lady who lives up for her own fun - making conflict between people. she likes to make men around jealous of each other and fought for her love. when she knew the Prince of Blue came, she deceived him and made him fall in love with her. however, at the same time she met the Servant of Yellow Princess, and she did fall in love with that servant. the war was started by the Princess of Yellow, and the servant caught her. looking at the knife in his tremble hands, she knew he was going to kill her. Lady of Green held his hands and thrust the knife to her chest, smiling that she died with the man she truly loved.
Prince of Blue (click):
the charming prince who would get all girls as he wanted. but he fell in love with Lady of Green, though he already engaged with Princess of Yellow. people object the relationship since the 2 of them belong to different classes. One day he got to know she was killed and he was late to warn her. obviously it was Princess of Yellow who did it. Prince of Blue joined Lady of red's army and attacked the Yellow kingdom. at the execution, he got to know it was not the Princess but the servant who was going to be killed. but he did nothing. It was for the purpose of his revenge, too.
Ending:
Regret Message (click):
after the Servant's death, the Princess of Evil got to read a wish of her brother that said "if i could reborn, i hope you would play with me again". she went to the beach, looking at the wish within the bottle floating away, and wished for that would happen.
King of Blue over the sea: (click)
After the war, being tired and in pain of Lady of Green's death, Prince of Blue (now is the King) went to the harbor, and saw Princess of Yellow there, with the wish letter in a small bottle. he recognised her but settled that everything was over, both of them lost the ones they loved the most. King of Blue also wished for the future, for Princess of Yellow's fate, and hope she will not repeat her mistake again.
Re_Birth (click):
the Servant traveled within an empty space, the Green handcuffs pulled him, the Blue tears pulled him, and Red blood wrapped over his body. but then he saw the light, heard the voice of his sister, as he wanted to get back to her so much. after that the Green handcuffs, Blue tears and Red blood unchained him
when he opened his eyes, he saw a new life when he was reborn, being with people in a musical band, and that was his new birthday.
---
now abit about music, firstly all vocals in this song series are not real, Im not sure which one will be the exact word for it, "digital voice" or "virtual voice". all music was composed using a programme called VOCALOID, you can download the demo version of this programme to try make some music if you want, though the vocabularies library is very limited with only 5 words "I", "love", "you", "my", "baby"
the background music, or should i call "genre" and "material" is mostly pop-dance, a bit ballad and well many other things also mixed there (just to remind you again, the main theme music is already electrical music which can contents within itself many other kinds, except for the instrumental version)
back to vocals, in my opinion, I don't really consider them as good products. everything that was made again under human hands can never sounds natural. The feeling within the song was lost a lot because of that 
further more, the "anime" kind female vocals actually did irritate me somewhat. It's not I don't like high voices, as the truth that I have liked a certain number of sopranos, but the voice made by VOCALOID indeed hurt my ears
but as for the concept and story, well i can say this is an awesome thing that you should not miss and still I cannot find any metal album that has this kind of great and neat story. the closest ones are The Black Halo and Epica by Kamelot, but the story is still not as deep as what I really look for.
Here you have something that is among the best in its genre; doom metal.
I first stumbled across this band when I was browsing through the vids of a friend of mine on YouTube. I liked what I heard and decided to check out the band more because it was so spectacular.
The title of this record is "Journey through Lands Unknown" and it does sound very cheesy and cliché for a doom metal record. But here it does actually fit very well because it does very much take you on a journey through some unique landscapes where you have not been before.
Indeed this is doom metal but it is very varied and unusual. It takes the atmospheric and somewhat progressive style of My Dying Bride, adds lots of the epic style of Candlemass even some of the powerful pounding of Nile to name a few things.
Opening up very strangely with the sampling of an arriving locomotive from the 19th century along with a train whistle, this doesn’t set the mood or anything but it gives you the feeling that you are about to travel into the album. After this some atmospheric keyboard enters with some narrative and after 3 minutes the journey has truly began.
Many of the tracks opening up softly and then plunges deeper into the majestic but gloomy realms where life has vanished for some reason. Except for the interlude every track is longer than 5 minutes, which gives them lots of space to fill out every weird idea Pantheist has to offer us.
As we all know there is quite many bands with lots of creativity but end up doing an album that doesn’t go anywhere, however here the band manages to not to fail into that pit-fall and creates a very coherent album even though it goes up and down like a rollercoaster. (To be read as progressive).
For such a diverse album the vocals need to special also, right? Here that is really the case with very much variety. But with three vocalists I don't really expect anything else, but I am not sure who does what. Anyhow, the dominant vocal style is growling which is very powerful and intangible, it does not show emotion still it is a needed part to make this album complete.
Very often a clean voice occurs and it is a very diverse one going from high to low well. Whoever it is who performs it, it does sound similar to Vintersorg of the band with the same name when he sings in the lower register. This is really great because I am big fan of Vintersorg and his voice.
It is very short but at one of the songs some vocals similar to Tom Warrior's Nordic warrior style singing is to be found. It does not add much, but it is a quite interesting to hear something unexpected. The croaking shrieks that found their way unto this is somewhat unexpected, but they add lot of the emotion this album provokes.
Guitars being down tuned very much and lots of sweeping makes it quite standard for a good doom metal act still they manages to add something to the norm. What I mean is that the strumming is much more powerful than most doom metal bands out there. This resembles Morbid Angel and Nile when they are in their slower moments, which is nothing but really awesome.
Another thing that deserves some attention is the keyboards which take up lots in the mix, never overwhelming though. The melodies from the keyboard do sound so natural I do often believe it is not a keyboard, but a little orchestra recruited for the album.
Mostly it is grandiose and just breathtaking sounds with very much variety. Sometimes the variety becomes too much even, some sounds does not even fit to the overall concept of this album. On at least two of the songs a sound which would fit on a funk song appear and it ruins much of the feeling in that very moment and I almost cringe. A Swedish rock band from the 90's called The Creeps had a very similar effect on many of their songs, there it did fit with the party image the band had, but here it is just out of place.
The bass follows the riffs played on the guitars and have quite much prominence, but it does not add so much to the sound in general. Drums are majestic and have some heavy pounding without sounding like they have a shitload of triggers inserted. I think this is unusual but it does sound very good for this album.
Now for a conclusion: this album is a very atypical one for the genre of doom metal, but it fits into the doom metal frame after all. Many odd ideas are merged into one album, many succeed but there is some that fail. To anyone who is fan of quality metal I do recommend this album but also a fan of progressive rock like Rush.------------------------------------------------
written by Alex
posted by darknovaGW with direct permission
------------------------------------------------
-- Negotiation day --
finally it came. Out of my imagination, it was more complicated than the meaning of it sounds : negotiation. I first thought it was just simply persuading but the truth is it has more than just that, with certain number of ways to do.
we started with the "$2 game" to see who in a group (with 2 people) can get as much as possible of that amount of money.
I was first grouped with Ayub and have to say he did "pressed" me really much. In any case, he did so well that I always felt that I had nothing and no way to reject his words. and obviously he reacted much faster than me. the best I could try was actually like adapting his way. Hard to explain exactly what was the real thing that made us difference, but i believe the major part is life experience. the more you communicate, the better your skill in using words is, also the faster you can react to a situation without being confused by other's words or even your own words. Ayub started with his mother's emergent situation in hospital and well, no need to explain how much hard it was to refuse, especially when he always pointed about "friendship", "dignity", etc. oh well
the second time I paired with Sya, thing also didnt go better for me. Have to admit narrow English is a problem to me. therefore I also do not have enough confidence in my own words and didn't think clearly for every possible ways in negotiating. It was not just only going straightly to your goal, indeed it was sometimes even a disadvantage to start so fast, since you can give the other one the chance to make your reasons became useless.
although after 4 rounds, we all ended up "cannot settle things" but I know if it was in real life then it would be me who would lose.
just a bit odd that we were not allowed to "pay back" for the money which made things much harder to handle, but well it was good experience, even it showed how much I'm lack of communication skills.
(click the pic to play)
nothing much to describe. just a normal flash game, click and drag, that's it! but with impressing OST and meaningful words.
how you play this game will make you realise yourself many things. i was really touched when i played this first time.
It's not there are not many great things in the world, it's just you cannot see them with your own eyes and miss them
this game, is an example.
Finally i finished translating the poem "The Lady of Shalott" by Tennyson into Vietnamese. people may wonder, but to me this poem is easier to translate than many songs and of course much easier than Shakespeare's. obviously, this poem is easy to read and easy to understand.
however there is 1 thing i still cannot get after reading the poem. 
also, the poem opened in such an... irritating(?) way: the Lady of Shalott who had not been presented as a sinner actually had to suffer from a curse that chained her from everything, even the smallest happiness. and people' smallest consideration was her biggest sickness
" "I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott."
i dont know if there is anyone thinks she got scared of her own shadow. but to me, it was actually she was scared and sick of her loneliness, when she saw people passed by freely.
i especially got hard time with the 2 last paragraphs in the poem
"Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and Burgher, Lord and Dame,
And around the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."
yes she died, singing her last song, seeing the world the first and also last time. be free the only time in her life.
Alas, brutally that even her lover's face, she couldn't see though she paid her own life for it.
sad poem. some people compare the Lady of Shalott to Shakespeare's Ophelia. maybe they both had the same ending, but I still think Lady of Shallot was much more into agony than Ophelia.
today is the first day of BES 2100......
old lecturer, old friends, and one old work (blogging which is similar to journal that we already did in BES 1100) but the rest is new.
Generally it seems BES2100 tends to make us practice more in some certain situations than in BES 1100 which we focused more on the way of writing and managing collected information. i may be wrong, but at least that was the first impression that i got about BES 2100, after Mrs Suma's introduction.
the class has the largest amount of students i have ever attempted. although there are some of them never had BES 1100 before, still I think they will do well. Maybe it is one of advantages of having a big class, that you can find help and support easier?
there are 2 things that surprised me the most: knowing that we will have to learn and practice negotiation; and that instead of typing journals and then hand out the hard copy, we suppose to blog it. this is the first time i have tried it.
though I did practice normal conversation and talking in front of lectures when I was taking English courses, practicing negotiation seriously feels just like a eloquence competition to me.
the second one: blogging. Hard to explain exactly how I find it surprising but maybe the closest way is that I never thought that in a business course, people will actually give a chance for blog - a very social "tool" nowadays. some one said blog is for gays and girls only, I would like to strongly object that. Since a few years back, blog has become the fastest and the most appreciated kind of information distribution among people. Bloggers also got promoted and developed themselves. Blog is not only the diary but also the way you keep contact to the Net world, share your information and get feedback. As i have known so many books were published that actually taken from blogs, so many talents were found in blogs, so many news were distributed in blogs, faster and hotter than any magazine or TV shows. it even becomes a real tool in politics when many presidents and government in the world have had their own blogs, to erase the gaps between government and people.
that's why it shocked me much that a business course will actually give a way for blogs. although it's just not more than sending emails, still it is really a new thing, at least to me.
we started doing survey about our major part that we can take in a group as a group member. I got PLANT after all. to be honest I feel a bit odd because the description about PLANT is such egoist, i myself prefer to be a TEAM BUILDER though, better be the helpful one than the "good for only 1 time". I don't know if I made any wrong choice or actually I didn't realise myself an egotist? well anyway what pointed out already did, I just wonder how the group will be set.
end of the day, and I'm not blog-addicted, but I can say one of quite rare times, I actually do enjoy taking time to type so many words for studying
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!!Note!!
meanwhile i will post other things that I'm currently attempting, not just only for schools but also my reviews for manga, music , games, some literature practice and of course some translation that maybe helpfulPS: any request for translation in my youtube channel will be posted here from now on