Vlado talks about life

A Vlado topic created on October of 2007.

Introduction
Since I am one of the most well-known users here, and I'd like to make my day at work more interesting, I've decided to share my views on various aspects of life with you. Feel free to ask me anything about life in general (not my personal life, as you'd likely not receive a response), and, if I see fit, I'll grant you with an answer.

Uhh...pirates? What are your thoughts on them?
A pretty risky way to get rich and live a life of adventure in the past, but, then again, if you wanted both of those, the alternatives haven't been that much better in a world torn by wars and oppression. Pirates brought chaos to the seas - which were already dangerous enough simply due to nature, and every country had to take serious precautions against them. If pirates had somehow united under a common cause and formed their own country, I'm sure that they would have achieved a military power greater than that of each of the imperialistic powers at their time.

Although they were basically criminals, I find pirates' way of life exciting. The fact they killed people for money isn't all that bad when put in the time-frame - countries have done way bigger atrocities in conquering foreign lands, let's just remember what the Spanish did to the Incan Empire - total destruction of the land, people and the unique, incredible culture, and for what? For a bit more gold...

In historical aspect, although he's not technically a pirate (but used strategies damn near piracy), I have always been impressed by Sir Francis Drake. If you're into piracy or seafaring in general, I'd recommend the game Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons to you.

Inmigration.
People decide to leave their country in search for a better life... For some, it seems like the only choice left, but I don't think that's always the case. People tend to give up more easily than they should, it's always better to fight for a change than just run away from reality. A whole lot of young people have left my country in the past 20 years, going to pretty much all parts of the world, simply because they thought they had no future here. In general, yes, they will make more money abroad, but is it worth it? They (usually) left their friends and families here, going to a foreign country, all by themselves. They had to start from scratch, more or less, adapt to a new society that would never accept you to the extent your own country's would. It is a difficult life, and I think that often you gain less than what you lose by leaving your country.

Money isn't everything... And, in Bulgaria, specifically, if you're truly talented, you now do have the chance to work for a salary at least comparable to the one you'd receive in a major EU country. Some people who left in the past are coming back now. I hope that we achieve economical growth enough to draw more people back to where they belong. It is very important to always remember who you are and where you came from. One of the things that saddens me most is immigrants in America who, in a generation time at most, choose to forget about their true origins, as if they were something to be ashamed of, and proclaim themselves American. I think one must stay loyal and proud of one's home country, no matter where one lives at the moment.

Tombs Got Something to Say!
Well said, that's a great post. Remember that America was more or less born from immigration though, but obviously it doesn't really work like that anymore, the gates are closed so to say.

In London, we've got an absolute gigantic immigrant population right now, rising at a rate of 100,000 a year. I've worked with many Eastern Europeans, mainly Slovakians, Lithuanians and Hungarians (surprisingly not much Poles), and boy do they work hard, but they usually lead very basic, solitary lives that consist of: wake up, work, work work, sleep, wake up, work, etc... It's incredible, I honestly don't know how they do it. I talked with one guy recently who said at one point he was working 18 to 20 hour shifts and sleeping on park benches because by the time he got home to get some rest, it was time to go back to work again. Most of them send a lot of the money they earn back to their families in their home countries, which must convert into quite a lot given the strength of the pound right now.

What irks me though, is Middle England's knee-jerk reaction to immigrants. It's ironic that in towns and villages where there are no immigrants, everyone's all "IMMIGRANTS ARE TAKING OUR JOBS!", whereas people in cities where there are big immigrant populations don't seem to really mind. People also overlook the huge favour a lot of them are doing for our economy, or appreciate just how hard some of them are willing to work in order to earn their place. The problems that come with immigration don't come directly from the immigrants themselves, but moreso how the government actually deals with it, in terms of housing, welfare and who they let in.

Like America, Britain too was founded on immigration and multiculturalism a long long time ago, but people forget this. For British people that think we should just close our borders and remain "white and Anglo-Saxon", I ask them, what could possibly be more multicultural than the very term "Anglo-Saxon" itself! Think about it.

Vlado's Response
Awesome post about immigration, Tombs. I agree with pretty much everything... Yeah, there are a lot of people who support their families through working abroad, what a heavy price to pay just to provide your loved ones with a better life... And Eastern Europeans do tend to work harder on average, I guess. Though it's always mostly up to the individual. I, for one, am quite lazy. I completely agree that the problems with immigration come mostly from the way the state deals with it. I believe immigrants should be able to become citizens and have the same rights as a native person, as long as they learn the language and prove that they can integrate themselves in the society.

What is the meaning of life? Where did we come from? Why are we here?
To me, the meaning of life is, in short, to be happy and bring happiness to the people you care about. You have to live your life according to your beliefs, following your moral standards, and never underestimating yourself one bit.

Where we came from? I am an Orthodox Christian and I accept my religion's stance on this, but I can understand people who disagree, and I wouldn't judge them for that. I am also convinced that you don't need to be a Christian to "go to Heaven". As long as you are a good person, always do what's right and help people (at least those close to you) who need your help, your life will have been worthy.

Third question is pretty much the same as the first.

Tifa
I've said what I've had to say about her countless times. In short - a great character, with one of the most realistic, human-like personalities I've ever seen in a video game. She's shy, caring and compassionate, she'd do everything for her friends, and even more for the one she loves. Her personality represents some of the most important qualities I look for in a woman. There are definitely some similarities between her and my girlfriend, of course, keeping in mind that Tifa is still a video game character, and, thus, much more limited than a worthy human being. Tifa is also beautiful, but, while that helps, contrary to popular belief, it isn't that important of an aspect when it comes to my liking of her.

e-popularity
Pretty much worthless. It's infinitely more important to simply enjoy yourself on the internet. When posting on message boards, one must focus on what's truly important - HAVING FUN! Ask Swift and ExTha about it! It doesn't really matter HOW you have fun, it's that you do that counts. The end justifies the means. If you can't get enjoyment without being e-popular, however, then I feel sorry for you. You need to re-evaluate your "internet life".

Many of the e-popular people here have various "real life" issues. What did the fact that he's won "User of the Year" mean to Ed Bellis while he was in a mental hospital? Absolutely nothing. So yeah. Don't be silly, e-popularity doesn't matter. At all. Just enjoy yourselves.

Is it better to speak your mind and cause offence, or to keep your thoughts to yourselves to spare the feelings of others?
Depends entirely on the circumstances. Give an example, if you want, and I'll answer you what's better in that case.

What can you say about trolling?
By "trolling", I'm guessing you mean posting things you don't truly mean in order to annoy people? If you have fun by doing it, more power to you. If people fall for it, less power to them. As long as something brings you more enjoyment, it's good. You shouldn't feel guilty for pissing someone off. They should've known better and not fallen for it.

I often get accused of "trolling", but I'd say that's never the case. I mean the stuff I say, although I might exaggerate a little bit at times. Only when it's more interesting that way.

What is life like in Bulgaria? Culture, politics, day to day business, etc.
Still rather difficult, although things are better than, say, 10 years ago. I regretfully have to admit that we're yet to reach the standard we had during the totalitarian times, though... Which is truly sad. The pace of our economical growth is much too slow, but at least there is some. I hope that pace increases, and Bulgaria reaches the level of at least the likes of Portugal in some 20-30 years. Unfortunately, I can't say that the people in charge are capable of achieving that. We are suffering from an extreme lack of capable politicians, and lack of popularity of the few decent ones. Things aren't looking bright at all, but I know that we'll at the very least remain at the current level in the near future. That's not very good, but at least it's some stability, which allows you to make middle-term plans.

As for the culture, I'd say it's slowly recovering. Some 5-6 years ago things were at their lowest, barely anyone would go to see plays and such. But now, a lot more people do. Unfortunately, our culture is too heavily influenced by our neighbouring countries like Serbia, Greece and Turkey, and the music genre that's most popular (though, admittedly, not among the intelligent people), called "chalga", is pretty much a mix of those three countries' most popular genres, and many of the songs are basically the same as songs that exist in Greece or Serbia, they keep the music and just replace the text with a Bulgarian one. That's pretty damn sad, and disappoints me to no end, as our country has wonderful folklore, recognised in pretty much the whole world, and we have some really talented pop and rock musicians. And those get little attention in comparison to "chalga" stars, which are mostly fake, silicon women.

But I'd say things are getting better little by little. "Chalga" seems to not be as popular as it once was (though still too popular for my liking), some local artists and bands are getting bigger, and more and more world-famous rock and pop stars have concerts here. In June, I went to Iron Maiden's concert, and it was just amazing. Manowar were also here a couple months ago, 50 Cent came here last year, Deep Purple are coming soon. All in all, the cultural life is more lively lately.

Although I am concerned the recent popularity of stuff like "Big Brother" and "Survivor" (though it's not as bad). They are advertised like crazy and a lot of people buy into it. Such meaningless, mind-numbing shows really shouldn't get nearly as much attention. I really think that, with stupid stuff like that (I just named individual examples, there's more among those lines), people's attention is deliberately taken away from serious issues, and they become easier to control. That makes me angry. THOSE are the issues that truly concern me, not ridiculously trivial stuff like e-popularity that some here crave so much about.

What are relations currently like with Turkey, Greece and Russia?
Pretty good, with all of them. Although I'd say our politicians are being way too soft, especially against Turkey, who owes us a 10-billion-dollar or so compensation for the Bulgarians they killed and chased out of their homelands in the beginning of the 20th century. A contract was signed, but they never paid up. And there's no-one to hold them responsible for that. That's just so damn pathetic of our government.

====Do Bulgarians consider themselves Eastern European or more Mediterranean/Southern European? I ask this because a Romanian person I spoke to recently said that Romanians consider themselves more affiliated with Mediterranean/Southern European culture rather than Eastern European, which surprised me a bit.====

Hmm, good question. Both could apply, as we're the Southeastern-most part of Europe. I'd say our way of thinking is more Eastern European, but our temperament is definitely Mediterranean. Of course, that's a generalisation. We're usually hot-tempered, a lot like Italians. I personally consider myself more of a Mediterranean type of person (think Italian, Greek), than Eastern European (think Polish, Ukrainian, Russian). Although I am very calm most of the time. But, when it comes to stuff I'm really passionate about, like football, I give my all.

*topic about "fake, silicon women*
I didn't say they didn't look good. A lot of them do. I should've clarified - (fake) looks are pretty much their only merit. Electronics take care of the rest, so, even if they are average at singing, they can still become "stars" on looks alone.

What do you think of Americans?
''What are you views on the United States? From what I've seen, it seems like you tend to look down on the country. What makes you feel that way?''

Americans? I really can't have an opinion on a whole group of people, especially one that big. It all comes down to the individual. I know some Americans who are truly great people. I also know some who make me shake my head in disappointment at how blind, hateful and ignorant they can be. But I'm sure both kinds exist in every single country. So I can't give an opinion on them as a whole.

I don't look down on the United States, but I do look down on your government. It's done the world a lot of harm, and I consider G. W. Bush a war criminal, although I am aware that he's little more than a puppet in the hands of his government and the ones behind it. The war on Iraq was completely unjustified, and has caused the deaths of countless innocent Iraqi people. I can't forgive the invasion of an independent country for no legitimate reason whatsoever. Acts like this make the USA look more and more like an empire of evil, and, as we all know from history, all empires eventually crumble. Make no mistake, if you let things go on as they currently are, yours will soon crumble as well. Maybe much sooner than you'd think.

I know that there are millions of bright, intelligent, good people in the USA. People who don't approve of what their government is doing, and who don't like the role of an oppressor that invades independent countries at will. I KNOW that those people want the US government to look after its own people and live in peace with the rest of the world. I KNOW that they would rather help people come together, than tear them apart. So those people must acquire the power. And lead the USA to a bright future, instead of the inevitable fate of all empires.

Explain the pure awesomeness of Bret "The Hitman" Hart. I KNOW he's awesome and all, but just want to hear it from a second perspective
The best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. The excellence of execution. Those two really describe Bret so well. I became a really huge Bret fan during his time in WCW (I watched much more of that than WWF back in the day). Up until the times when WCW was already on the downward spiral, he'd never even get a chance to fight for the World title. He was allies with my favourite nWo and Hogan in particular, and, since the latter held the belt most of the time, there'd be no place for Bret among the contenders for it. Instead, he'd hold the US title, where he had many epic matches with the likes of Lex Luger, El Dandi and DDP. But he was still awesome and I loved him. WCW made a huge mistake by not using him as a main eventer, and instead using washed up talent or a certain worthless wrestler. Of course, eventually, he did get the main belt, but it was too little, too late. Few cared about WCW by then, and they only got fewer, due to its incredibly poor management.

Bret is the greatest technical wrestler I've ever seen, and has an incredibly entertaining and diverse style. It's just pure enjoyment for the viewer. Everything Bret does just reeks of professionalism and incredible athletic ability. A chill would go down my spine whenever he'd apply the Sharpshooter on his woeful prey. Recently, I had the chance to see Bret Hart vs. Undertaker at SummerSlam 1997. If you're a wrestling fan and haven't seen that one yet, SEE IT! Damn, it was one of the best wrestling matches I've ever seen, and the current WWE will never be able to produce anything even remotely near it. That reminds me, Bret is also excellent on the mic. Sure, he's no Jericho, but he was much better than people give him credit for. If Bret were still able to wrestler and were in the WWE, the company's quality would be WAY above its current state. Bret has talents and charisma like no other. Awesome face, an even better heel (admittedly, I tend to prefer heels anyway), Bret will always be remembered as one of the best ever. For many, me included, THE best ever.

I've always been curious about this, and I've asked you quite a few times but you never gave me an answer: Why do you hate Spanish football so much?
Heh, first, I love tactical, defensive football. I love rushes and lightning-fast counter-attacks. They are a lethal weapon, if applied well. Spanish football is so damn slow, compared to English, it's barely watchable. And they also lack the tactical excellence of the Serie A. The Spanish league has recently been well below the aforementioned two in terms of quality (maybe barring last year, when Juve were out of the Serie A and Milan didn't bother much). I still support Barcelona in Spain, although not so much in Europe. Barcelona is where Hristo Stoichkov became one of the best in the world - a team that has a special meaning for all Bulgarian football fans.

Anyway, another important reason why I root against Spanish teams is that their journalists are so damn ridiculous. If they happen to win, they always act as if they're the best in the world, way above all others. They ridicule their opponents, they lack basic sportsmanship. Every World or European Cup, they proclaim Spain as a huge favourite, even though they are well aware that the Spanish never manage to make it past the quarterfinals. And, if they lose (happens eventually), there are whine-fests like no other! I remember when the brilliant Guus Hiddink's Korea owned them in 2002... They cried for years (though, admittedly, Italians weren't much better... <_< But, at least, it was a single occurrence for Italians, while it's a habit in Spain). All in all, Spanish football is average and lacks the two important aspects that I love in this game.

La Liga... slow? o_O Don't you like the Serie A.
Yes. It's also slower than the Premiership, but it provides me with tactical excellence that I love.

And average? It's only the top league in the world, nut I'll make a post on that later. =p
Hm, I really can't see how it could be called top in the world... There ARE some brilliant players there, like Messi and Ronaldinho, but the other two top leagues also have players from their caliber, if not better. And that's about the best you can say about it. In other aspects, it's behind England or Italy.

How important are friends on the internet to you?
Depends on how close I'm with them. I have a few internet friends that I consider very close, and that I'd love to meet one day. They are pretty much on the same level as my "real life" friends, as I know I could rely on them if I needed help about something important. They have, in fact, helped me a good deal during more difficult periods of my life. Sadly, lately I haven't had nearly as much time to spend on the internet than I used to before I started working and got together with my girlfriend. So, I talk to them much less often than I used to. Some of them are positive enough to not even care about that, they're just happy to see me when I sign on. I can feel that a few are a little disappointed that we talk much less than we used to, but there's not much I can do about that. Still, we're happy to talk to each other whenever we get the chance.

All in all, I support the opinion that someone you only know on the internet can be a true friend. The internet brings the world together, just because I live in Europe doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to be friends with someone in Asia or America. Of course, sadly, on the internet one must be more careful, as some people would pretend to be friendly just to take advantage of you. That's the biggest drawback when comparing internet to "real life" friendship. Sure, that's possible in "real life", too, but it's much easier to lie to someone on the internet. But, you shouldn't go to the extreme of trusting no-one, either. Make a good judgement and you'll know which people deserve to be trusted.

Where does the anti-Nintendo gimmick come from? Bitter Sega kid growing up or something?
There's no gimmick, as I said, I speak my mind, merely exaggerating for the sake of making a conversation more interesting occasionally. Naturally, I was a huge fan of SEGA in my younger days, since the Mega Drive was sheer brilliance. But that's not really a big reason as to why I sometimes speak against Nintendo fans. It is mostly their ignorance and complete bias that gets to me. If I've spoken against Nintendo games or company decisions, it's simply because I don't like them.

Why do you obsessively post on a board that you clearly hate when no one wants you here?
3 errors in such a short sentence? Disappointing... Let's point them out, instead of undertaking the impossible task of responding to such a flawed question.

One, "obsessively"? I have like 240 active posts, about 180-190 of which are in "permanent" topics around GameFAQs. I don't think that would qualify me as an "obsessive poster".

Two, "clearly hate"? First, how can one hate a message board? Second, while there are some people here whose opinions I heavily disagree with, that doesn't mean I hate them. Naturally, it takes much more than text on a message board to make me hate someone. As should be with any mentally stable human being.

Three, "no one wants" me here? lol... Even if there are a very limited number of people who think they would rather not have me post on this particular message board, there are a lot who would be disappointed if I ceased doing so, and the vast majority doesn't really care. Clearly, those who "don't want me here" are a small minority (not that I would care any more than this if they weren't).

Why do have a tendency to let everyone down?
Who have I let down, and when?

If you had admin rights and could delete any 5 users from the board forever. Who would you pick and why?
None. I live and let live. I may consider one's opinion ridiculous, but I wouldn't wanna take away one's right to express it.

Hey Vlado, out of curiosity, what is the meaning of your signature?
Its hard being a wolf when ur surrounded by a herd of sheep. - Mozzezz Love.

Damn, how many times must I explain it? Even the strong one could have a hard time when he's surrounded by a whole lot of weak ones, who outmatch him in sheer numbers. However, even a lone wolf is still a wolf, and even a sheep that's part of a big herd is still a sheep.

The "Love." part is simply a message towards everyone.

Do you have a job/part-time job? If yes, what kind of job?
I'm a full-time programmer at a local software company. It's a lot of fun, although a bit tiring at times. It's really crucial to get a job that you like doing. My life would've been considerably unhappier if I had been working something I dislike.

If a McDonalds in Dublin offered to double your current salary to mop floors would you take it?
No, why would I? I already said money isn't everything, and I'd rather do creative stuff like I do now, than useless stuff away from my friends and family.

why do you have that side part hairstyle
I just have regular short hair.