Something from a lecture on Mozart, paraphrased as well as possible with my memory:

“All beauty is strange. Not wholly strange, as a freakish repulsion, but unusual enough to spark the mind and to show how beauty can really be.”

This was posed in contrast to prettiness, a quality all too common and ultimately unfulfilling. I think I’ll combine this with a quote from Aristotle, via my aesthetics teacher:

“Instantaneity is not art.”

That is to say, that which is immediately comprehended and processed is not of particular value. It is the complexity of the whole, further understood with each exposure, that tends to show true merit. The obvious might be pretty, and might provide instant gratification, but in no way does it have particular value.

While looking at the art gallery in Last Blade 2, I realized — well, someone had been whining about how icky a name “The Last Blade” was in comparison to its original title. But it appears that its European title was The Last Soldier. Huh? Where did that come from? Evidentially from the same mindset which turns Mitsurugi into “Arthur” and creates the “Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles”. Hmm. Also, in the US release of the game, the Hanafuda card game from the Japanese version was removed. Why do they always keep stripping these things away entirely? Does it take that much effort to translate them, really? Perhaps to describe briefly how the game is played, in the instruction booklet? Urgh. Aside from that issue, I’m really liking this game (LB2) a lot. I’ve remapped the buttons to what seems a more logical arrangement (X = weak slash; Y = hard slash; B = kick; A = parry), and have begun practicing a lot with Hibiki and Setsuna. I am unexpectedly annoyed with Akari, both in terms of control and personification. Although the voices in this game are largely beyond excellent, I quickly found Akari to be a rake on my ears and my nerves.

I apparently skipped Saturday almost altogether. I went to sleep late in the morning, after having stayed up all Friday night playing Bangai-O (not a moment there regretted), and didn’t wake up until very late Saturday night. I hadn’t been getting much sleep and had been feeling very sick this past week, so I suppose my body was merely correcting the situation — as was its right.