So I believe I witnessed a pair of shoplifters in action a few days ago. Pretty amateur but the shop lacked even basic deterrents like curved mirrors placed in the corners of the ceiling that no one bothers to look at.
When I entered the comic shop, they were probably already talking about doing it. From the little snippets I heard, one of them seemed to be persuading the other to help him with something. This other guy was surprised and spoke rather loudly for a moment. A few minutes later, one of them left the store. Less than a minute after that, the one in the store passed something that looked like one of those large, thin comics they sell in the store wrapped in a white plastic bag to the one outside, who quickly left. The one staying loitered in the store for a few more minutes before leaving.
All the while the store owner (or maybe just a cashier, I don't know) was talking with his friend right there next to the only entrance to the comic shop.
This seemed almost like one of those tricks taught at totse.com's Bad Ideas section, except without most of the complexities. It almost felt like they were trying to get caught.
Perfect hindsight ftw.
After about a week of playing Persona 4, one of the pieces of music, Aria of the Soul, has stuck in my mind. Like a parasite in my brain, I cannot stop replaying it from my memory, and listening to it doesn't help. Even now I'm playing it on my laptop as I type.
Tried to upload to my Google Page Creator but something is giving me problems. It cannot finish uploading even though I left my computer alone for hours. How long can it take to directly upload 57MB of data anyway??
So I am unable to put it on my blog right now. However, there are uploaded copies on Youtube.
Anyway it appears they use use the exact same copy of it for the Velvet Rooms of Persona 3 and 4. Listened to both on Youtube just now and couldn't find any difference.
I'm sure there must be some sort of significance to the repeating of the same music, thus doubling the length of the track. I just don't know enough to understand what it is.
Stopped reading Red Mars after reading about 3/4 of it. As good a book as it is, it does not have what I'm most interested in. Its problems are primarily derived from social issues, like whether or not the pioneers should terraform the planet. Destroy its natural state to provide a safe environment for further colonization or preserve the original beauty that is Mars.
On one hand, they need the space because Earth (in the story) is suffering from serious overpopulation. People on Earth also covet the many rare metals that Mars has.
On the other hand, many colonists on Mars see the planets as a chance to have a new beginning. They want to start a new world without the interference from Earth. A possible Utopia could be created using this blank slate and the knowledge that they have.
People on Earth knows about this and have resorted to twisting the laws to send more people to Mars as workers with no specific tasks. They are suspected by the Martians, as the pioneers have come to called themselves, as agents of the Earth governments sent to watch the Martians and protect the interests of the governments.
Lots of social and psychological issues in the book. But just not interesting enough.
So I abandoned it and went on to The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever.
Went through half the book in an afternoon. I was going to read for a short while before taking a nap but did not expect to stay awake because the book was so good.
It began with a man who was inflicted with a horrible disease. A leper living in our modern world where leprosy is still not well-understood, he was shunned by everyone. Even his wife left him and the people in his community would rather pay all his bills than to see him get out of his house. In short, he became a very cynical and bitter person.
Then all of a sudden he was teleported to another world. But he does not believe in the authenticity of this world where magic is the norm and mud can heal wounds on a leper. Throughout the half of the first book I've gone though, he believes he is dreaming and that everything isn't real. Thus the name "Unbeliever".
However, he is seen as a prophecised hero (or possibly, destroyer) in this new world. Everyone seems to be depending on him to save them for a great evil, everyone whom he believes is a figment of his imagination. He is cynical about everything and yet his blatant bitterness does nothing to stop everyone from seeing him as their only hope in the dark days to come.
The most ironic thing was his wedding ring, a symbol he kept to remind himself of everything he lost, which was the one object that made everyone believe he was the person described in the prophecies.
Though I've only bought the first trilogy of this series, I have a feeling I will be ordering the rest next time.
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