More School

My brother sent me this fine piece of news article today:

"It was surprising that past commercial video game play was such a strong predictor of advanced surgical skills," said Iowa State University psychology professor Douglas Gentile, one of the study's authors.

It supports previous research that video games can improve "fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, visual attention, depth perception and computer competency," the study said.

I guess all those hours of hand dexterity that comes by making platform jumps and shooting zombies while running to cover is actually worthwhile ;D The disclaimer at the end of the article that says 9+ hours of gaming is detrimental to getting in medical school, though, was pretty sad--I mean really, does the media need to dumb down research information to that level? It's like the microwave warnings about not drying cats in them.

Anyway, I've been starting to get serious on veterinary school and GRE preparation. GRE has so much similar content to SAT that I'm hoping the two tests also have correlative test scores.

I wrote about my first Saturday at the shelter clinic, but I haven't told my real dreams and fears about veterinary school. A few weeks ago I woke up in the pale fish belly light of early morning, shaken. I had dreamt that I euthanized all my cats, cuddling them and apologizing all the while. Man, that was scary. My mother, though, thought it was outrageously funny, and for a couple of days told the cats they'd better watch out before I kill them.

Well, of course, laughter chases fears away, but last week I then dreamt that I killed my dog through food neglect. My brother, currently in medical school, diagnosed subconscious feelings of inadequacy. Thanks, Dr. Feel Better. But it's true that I've never felt the same way about any other occupation--and I think this means that this is really want I'd like to do. So although it's sad that I will graduate later than my younger brother, at least I tried to apply to veterinary school ;D


The five targets for elimination in question:

Jomjom


Coco


Dudu


Mimi


Nicky

I Scream Ice Cream

More than escolar sushi, breaded ground lamb wrapped in corn tortillas with a squeeze of lime, cheese and olives, and chocolate, I love ice cream.

When I was little, we ate red bean popsicles and frozen colored ices in those long plastic containers. Ice cream meant tiny paper containers of vanilla Haagen-Dazs. I remember lifting up the top covering from its little tab, and eat tiny slivers of ice cream with a small wooden slab of a spoon. They were a treat, just like sodas, and I'd look forward to special days of the year to taste them.

Then US introduced me to brightly colored snow cones, creamsicles, layered push-ups, Dreyer's, pineapple sorbets, and Starbucks Mocha. I visited the Ben & Jerry's plant in Vermont during college, and vowed to eat the Vermonster one day. At ice cream parlors and carnivals I'd eat ice cream in a waffle cone and fudge sauce, and the best bite was always the last bite--when the softened ice cream seeped into the tip of the cone, and the sugared crisp and the creamy drizzle of ice cream combined into a treasured end.

So it's only natural that this birthday I asked for an ice cream maker. And since its arrival, I've made ice cream every week. The kiwi ice cream was good, and as the days went on, its flavor mellowed to wonderful. Cherry Garcia is decently good with maraschino cherries, although we'll have to wait for cherry season for a real batch. And the ice cream maker is running right now on chocolate chip cookie dough.

The Rules according to Ben and Jerry in their book:
Rule #1. You don't have to be a pro to make incredibly delicious ice cream.
Rule #2. There's no such thing as an unredeemingly bad batch of homemade ice cream.

Random Recommendations

Yesterday I read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Rereading will have to come after improvements in literature sophistication. Despite its short length, it has a long grasp. (Or is it because of it? just like The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway and The Pearl by Steinbeck, although the books are vastly different.) But my impression of Dorian's most unforgivable crime wasn't his delight in indulgences or his impassiveness of tragedies from his influence, but his belief that he was beyond repentance and grace.

Last weekend I started volunteering as an assistant in the Humane Society clinic to its vet techs. It was amazing and gross at the same time to play orderly for cats with upper respiratory disease. My cat care experience elevated to a whole new level as I dumped diarrhea litter and wiped snot off cage ceilings. So exciting. The vet techs told me about the PetSmart Charities website with its webinars. Perhaps I'd finally be motivated to seek a second degree.

Through a chance email I heard about PhD comics. Quite interesting, and #808 is my favorite so far. But Achewood still takes first place webcomic in my heart for its brilliant original storylines and wit. And it's about cats and teddy bears and and a baby otter.

I'd also like to recommend Hikaru no Go, but it should merit its own post.

Movies

Reviews of films watched this month. Bonus picture from Pan's Labyrinth:


Stranger than Fiction
As unlikely was I to fall for Will Ferrell after his last movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the play on literature and narrative in Stranger than Fiction was great. Emma Thompson's acting as a stereotypical psychotic author made the tragedy clearer. And of course, I love any movie about food.

Lonesome Jim
This seems to be modeled after the realistically mundane ideal in modern fiction, and one of the most depressing movies ever until the last 10 minutes of the film. The characters are all full of personal problems. Jim is this sensitive, depressing man without real aims in life; his brother is a failure; his father is unyielding and obtuse to feelings; and his mother is unrelentingly optimistic and breathlessly supportive--and somehow all these characters all fit together into a fulfilling ending (still within realism limits). Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler made that small town portrayal believable.

The Departed
This had a very different feeling from the Chinese original, Internal Affairs (also II and III). It was Americanized for more action, slightly different themes, and to Hollywood standards and tastes. Although there was more than enough drama and tension, I was disappointed at the rush ending. I preferred IA's conclusion, to have room to show character development, but TD was still a great film, and DiCaprio's best film yet.

The Good Shepherd
I had a lot of anticipation for The Good Shepherd, and though the film would improve with more Angelina Jolie involvement, the amount of thinking required past the movie viewing time made up for any disappointment in her role. There was so much uncertainty, intrigue, and history for discussion and further thought.

Pan's Labyrinth
This had been called the fairytale for adults, and the adult impact carried all the way through to the very end. It was mystical and alluring, and yet the story brought forth themes of death and sacrifice and life, much in the vein of magic realism. And the girl Ivana Baquero who played Ofelia--showing vulnerability and courage, the paradoxical nature of the innocent heroine, the plot's culmination of tragedy and bravery--so clearly at only 12!

Games

Okami (PS2)


I'm finally ready to play the end stage of Okami, after 50 hours of playing already. This is IGN's and my best of 2006 game. Its graphics are beautiful, the playstyle is original (combination of keypad and awesome brush mode), the storyline is actually touching (I almost cried at the Ark of Yamato), and the characters are intriguing (Issun is a little annoying at times, but nothing like the letdown in ff12's Vaan).

I'm already planning to play it again in +mode after I beat it. I seriously never play any game to completion, but Okami is really that good. Also I'm thinking about getting its soundtrack because I'm a nerd.

But if you decide to get Okami, just brave through the aggravating voice effects and the hold my hand start for the first few hours. Trust me, it's worth playing.


On to the other console games I actually play:

Katamari Damacy & We Love Katamari (PS2)

Best game for relaxing. And yes, those are buildings in the second picture.

Pikmin & Pikmin 2 (GameCube)

Strategy game for people who prefer to order turnip sprites around instead of medieval armies or futuristic tanks (and by people, I mean me).

Zoo Keeper (Nintendo DS)

The DS version of the free Flash game. Although not free, it was nice to have different game modes like 5 min competition, quest, etc. Nice for long lines, bus rides, and realization that 1 hour goes by pretty fast.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Nintendo DS)

If you enjoyed the game Operation as a little kid, this is similar--excitement, heart pumping stress, and little medical basis.

Ose! Tatakae! Ouendan! (Nintendo DS)

I don't think there's an English version released yet, but you might consider importing this. Yakuza-like punks cheer people on with dancing and high spirits. The DS version of DDR and other music games.