Saturday, February 28, 2009

Californication

Dear Karen...
If you're reading this, it means I actually worked up the courage to mail it. So, good for me.
You don't know me very well but you get me started, I have a tendency to go on and on about how hard the writing is for me. But this... this is the hardest thing I've ever had to write. There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it. I met someone. It was an accident. I wasn't looking for it. I wasn't on the make. It was a perfect storm. She said one thing. I said another. Next thing I knew, I wanted to spend the rest of my life in the middle of that conversation. now there's this feeling in my gut.She might be the one. She's completely nuts...in a way that makes me smile -- highly neurotic. A great deal of maintenance required. She is you, Karen. That's the good news. The bad is that I don't know how to be with you right now. And it scares the shit out of me. Because if I'm not with you right now, I have this feeling we'll get lost out there. It's a big, bad world full of twists and turns, and people have a way of blinking and missing the moment...the moment that could've changed everything. I don't know what's going on with us, and I can't tell you why you should waste a leap of faith on the likes of me...but, damn, you smell good -- like home. And you make excellent coffee. That's got to count for something, right? Call me.

Unfaithfully Yours, Hank Moody.


Just finished Californication, quote something nice here as a momento.

Friday, February 13, 2009

WITCHCRAFT:BLIZZARD

If you ask me to name one advantage of living in China, the answer would definitely be: You can always have enough fun. And just when I had a exhausting schedule that almost squeezed out all joy in my February, SAIC decided to make a difference, by turning down the trademark registration application for the upcoming blockbuster STARCRAFT:GHOST by Blizzard, because it "advocate superstition".
Here is a rough and abbreviated translation from 中国法院网
Blizzard Entertainment, the famous American game company, applied to SAIC for registering its yet-to-be-born work STARCRAFT:GHOST as a Trademark of Cyber Athlete Service, which was then rejected by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of SAIC for it was suspected of advocating superstition. Soon, blizzard lodged a complaint at the First Intermediate People's Court of Beijing, requesting the decision dismissed. This morning, your correspondent learned from the court that Blizzard's request was not supported.
About the rejection, SAIC gave us a reason that "STARCRAFT:GHOST comes under the kind of words that tend to produce negative influence, for containing the meaning of astrology and spirit, which are overtly against socialist moral standards.
The Review and Adjudication Board also believed that trademark, saving for its function of expressing commodity source, plays a role of cultural publication and guidance, therefore nothing that may brings negative impact can be let pass. And the "astrology and ghost" is in violation of socialist moral standards under any circumstances, which if not stopped, may lead to a flood of trademarks of similar vicious nature.
Following the overrule, Blizzard submitted various explanations and evidences to prove its innocence. But, still ...
It was learned that Blizzard appealed to the higher court.