Thursday, January 31, 2008

Can't sleep, can't wake up

The title says it all.

I can't seem to go to bed early. That's one big problem.
I can't wake up early either. That's another big problem.
In-between, I sleep quite a lot and really well though.

Even if I'm really tired (I am now and still can't sleep at least not right away) it will take at least 20 mins to fall asleep.
When I wake up early due to horrible circumstances (aka something woke me up and I'm not in a good mood), I still can't go to bed early on that night.

I've built up this habit over the years and it probably won't be fixed anytime soon.
The only time when I am sleeping/waking up like a normal person is after a travel, when I suffer from jetlag and thus, wake up at 6am and go to bed at 9pm.
Unfortunately, it doesn't last long since I'm recovering slowly, day after day, up to the point when I'm back on my own cycle.

This morning, woke up at 9.30. It was a living hell getting out of bed.
Right now, 3am, still up though I'm pretty tired so I'm going to bed soon.
Tomorrow, nothing special to do in the morning, will probably sleep until 12pm.

じゃあ、おやすみなさい~

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Avatars from work

At work, like most companies, we have an intranet.
It includes the most commonly used features in a company, such as news, calendar to keep track of your meetings/appointments, room booking (if you need a particular room for a meeting for example), a wiki (for various uses, both technical and management), the list of people present etc.

We also have a page where we have to write our tasks for the day, things to do and done. It helps other people know what you're doing and also helps you keep track of your tasks over the days/weeks.
This page lists each person with an avatar of their choice.
It's kinda funny what people come up with (artists sometimes make their own avatar, I use gaijin pictures, those likely no one will ever have a clue about here yet so famous back in Europe).
Here are a few picks:

Mine (until next change)


The one from a co-worker (animator and hardware admin)


A slimey stuff from the chief animator, I think she did it herself


An artist wishing us Happy New Year


A freaky one (the one above is freaky too, I know...)


A picture from a programmer playing eroge (Japanese erotic games)


A lead programmer who loves cats


Look at that for a few mins...


Typical Japanese style


There are also many screenshots and pictures of what planners/game designers/artists do with the current projects, like the main characters wearing strange outfits and saying weird things, sometimes in strange positions (yea, you read that well, tolerance is rather flexible).
I won't post those of course, in case someone actually reads this blog and start spreading rumours in gaming forums.
Well, at least you have an idea what it's like around here :)

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

My dream last night

I had a weird dream last night.
Thing is, I get weird dreams all the time, completely nonsense without any meaning yet they seem so natural when you're in it (I bet that everyone gets those kind of dreams from time to time, if not all the time...).

I was back in Paris and wanted to go to the beach (already a nonsense, Paris has no beach). I wonder why but I had to take my car so I headed for the garage in my swimming trunks and a towel.
Upon arriving at the garage, there were people already gathered chatting. I went in to get my car when I realized I forgot my keys.
Bummer, heading for home to get my keys. That's when one of the people gathered chatting with the others called out for me. He was actually the son of the caretaker (a guy I once "knew" back in elementary school, like...20 years ago, never been friends with him though).
He asked me what happened. I guess I was looking suspicious, coming at the garage in swimming trunks and leaving soon after.
I explained my situation (the beach and the keys) and said that I'd be back soon with my keys to get my car.
I already left when he called out my name again. I came back and I saw him turn around and wave his hand looking far up behind him, in direction of a window in a building. He shouted "WAIT ! DON'T SHOOT ! DON'T SHOOT !" and turned back to me to ask if I could give him a drive when I came back. He had few things to bring to the beach, something about equipments for a concert if I recall correctly.

The dream more or less ends here.
Now if I analyze the few facts present in this dream, some could be explained while others I have no clue about.
I'll start with the ones that could be explained:
- being in Paris: makes sense since I lived there for like 24 years
- going the beach, wearing swimming trunks with a towel over my shoulder: for many years, I've been going to Spain during summer holidays. My parents own a flat near the beach, like 20 meters away (or 65 feet if you prefer)
- my car in a garage: actually, not really my car - my mother is the main driver of that car (the former car of my father) although I can take it whenever I need it. It is indeed parked in that very same garage.
- forgetting my keys: I don't recall ever forgetting my keys though each time, I'm afraid of it so I make double sure I always have them with me.
- the son of the caretaker was indeed a guy I knew back in school and he was indeed the son of the garage caretaker
- something about a concert: a friend blogged few days ago about a concert he attended
- the presence of a sharpshooter in that building: playing too much CoD4 I guess...

Apart from the few specific facts like the keys or the concert, I guess that the background seems rather accurate (because I've already had dreams when the background definitely made no sense at all, with places I've never seen and people I've never met and speaking languages I don't even understand)

Now, for the unexplainable facts:
- why didn't it strike me plain the face that Paris has no beach ?
- why didn't I feel weird about wandering in swimming trunks and a towel in the middle of Paris ?
- why does a guy I've never seen in 20 years just pops into my dream like this ?
- why was there a sharpshooter in that building ? And more importantly, why didn't I say anything about having a guy aiming at me through his sniper rifle ?

Which brings me to the more general question: is there a way to tell I'm in a dream ? If in my dream I could say, "Ok this isn't right, things like that don't usually happen, you're in a dream so wake up !", well I guess I could wake up.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Some news

I'm still alive for those who didn't know, I'm still in Japan though I went back to France last month for two weeks. Anyone needs a rest from time to time.

Recently, I've been playing a lot of Call Of Duty 4 (on PC) and it's just great.
If you can, be sure to check it out as it's really worth 50 bucks.
Also, been playing a lot on Nintendo DS Lite.
Regarding that, I bought one not so long ago, after I ran into the Zelda: Phantom Hourglass limited edition in a shop at Akiba. Imported version from the US of course, I paid 25000 yens for it (the price of a Wii).
Many will say it's expensive but honestly, all other models never really appealed to me. Since I had DS games but not system (I left my original NDS in France), that was a great opportunity.

Next games on the list: Final Fantasy III and IV when it's released in English (though I MAY try it in Japanese, not sure yet...), Children of Mana and still have to beat Yoshi's Island 2. Since I play mostly on the train when I go to work (read by small chunks everyday), they will last for quite a while. Perfect since at this period of the year, not so many games are released.

Regarding my work, I'm still working on Way of the Samurai 3 (though some rumors began to surface saying the project was cancelled, well as far as I know, it's not) and some other projects (not yet announced) will probably require me to work on them too. I'll post about those whenever I can but for the time being... :)