It took a surf and turf and three beers at the AB Hotel to get up the courage, but it finally happened.
I bought a second-hand softcover trade of Watchmen.
With the film coming out and everyone reiterating how it's one of the greatest books of all time, I figure I need to have a better opinion than "I got it from the library and disliked it so much I skipped to the end, then returned it early."
So now I have it.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Has this happened to anyone else?
Fact: I read the Narnia books in the correct order, but was told it was the WRONG order by everyone I knew. I knew it was:
1 The Magician's Nephew
2 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3 The Horse and His Boy
4 Prince Caspian
5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6 The Silver Chair
7 The Last Battle
This was the order they were in when I found them in the tiny elementary school library of McAdam Avenue Elementary School. All my friend and even some teachers told me that LW&W was first, and I would agree, but know in my heart they were wrong. Of, course, I know now that there is dispute over publication order versus chronological order (see the Wiki). When the film came out, with all of its CGI "glory", I had the urge to reread the series, as it had completely lost me in the end, with its chucking the story in favor of ham-fisted religious metaphor (the ape, the donkey, and the doorway). Also, I read the Neil Gaiman short story "The Problem of Susan" which disturbed the hell out of me.
Fact: When I read the Dark Is Rising series, I skipped the second book, The Dark Is Rising, which introduced the hero character of Will Stanton. In fact, one of my friends had only read that book, and so when he was explaining it to me, we suddenly caught on that it was the same series. As I skipped the intro of Our Hero, when he shows up, I though "Who's this jumped-up kid and why should I care?" I bring it up because I've rented-and-iPodded the Adaptation Decay that is The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (which tries too hard to be Harry Potter and my GOD must they have gotten a sponsorship from a flat-screen TV company because there is one in nearly every scene).
Fact: Now that I've gone from my 80 gig iPod Video to my 32 gig iPod touch, the video quality and sound are leaps and bounds better, but the music playback doesn't have the volume, depth or oomph that it does on the Video. Strange.
1 The Magician's Nephew
2 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3 The Horse and His Boy
4 Prince Caspian
5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6 The Silver Chair
7 The Last Battle
This was the order they were in when I found them in the tiny elementary school library of McAdam Avenue Elementary School. All my friend and even some teachers told me that LW&W was first, and I would agree, but know in my heart they were wrong. Of, course, I know now that there is dispute over publication order versus chronological order (see the Wiki). When the film came out, with all of its CGI "glory", I had the urge to reread the series, as it had completely lost me in the end, with its chucking the story in favor of ham-fisted religious metaphor (the ape, the donkey, and the doorway). Also, I read the Neil Gaiman short story "The Problem of Susan" which disturbed the hell out of me.
Fact: When I read the Dark Is Rising series, I skipped the second book, The Dark Is Rising, which introduced the hero character of Will Stanton. In fact, one of my friends had only read that book, and so when he was explaining it to me, we suddenly caught on that it was the same series. As I skipped the intro of Our Hero, when he shows up, I though "Who's this jumped-up kid and why should I care?" I bring it up because I've rented-and-iPodded the Adaptation Decay that is The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (which tries too hard to be Harry Potter and my GOD must they have gotten a sponsorship from a flat-screen TV company because there is one in nearly every scene).
Fact: Now that I've gone from my 80 gig iPod Video to my 32 gig iPod touch, the video quality and sound are leaps and bounds better, but the music playback doesn't have the volume, depth or oomph that it does on the Video. Strange.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Haiku Saturday
Cert Four Assignments
With their endless navel-gaze
Make me want to cry.
Tanja posts way more
On her blog than I do on
Mine in the last month
Think you’re good at the
Warhawk Demo? Buy the game.
Blown to smithereens.
It's 12:30 and
Apart from one done before
I've finished no work.
With their endless navel-gaze
Make me want to cry.
Tanja posts way more
On her blog than I do on
Mine in the last month
Think you’re good at the
Warhawk Demo? Buy the game.
Blown to smithereens.
It's 12:30 and
Apart from one done before
I've finished no work.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Demos and Trials
Last night we had some people over for one of our dinner/movie marathon nights. The theme this time was Hellboy and tacos. I made beef tacos, chipotle roast pork tacos, and chicken fajitas. Booze flowed freely. We warmed up with the Predator Rifftrax and then rolled on to both Hellboy movies, the second in Blu-ray (whose audio we had trouble controlling; the dialogue was quiet, but the music and effects were loud enough to shake the walls!). We all got very sleepy as the night moved on. I totally blame the food. Fun was had by all.
So this morning, Tanja goes up to the mountains to see her ma, and I get a bit of a lie-in (and checking of my Twitter feed from bed, hee). I decided after a morning of updating album art on iTunes (yes, I'm that kind of user) I'll check out the demos I downloaded for my PS3. So, my thoughts, in my patented bullet-point-style:
[-]Bioshock: Adored the story and the look and the steam-punk feel of the game, but hated, HATED the game play. I ended up using all my special weapon energy just trying to stun someone or all my bullets trying to get a headshot with the revolver to the point where I fall back on the basic wrench weapon 9 times out of 10. It does however, make a satisfying *thwack* when you wallop someone. And like I twittered, wrench don't run out. I might see if Tommy or someone has this for me to borrow.
[-]Kane & Lynch: Dead Men: third-person shooters have never been my forte, but this one lost my interest immediately by not letting me invert the y-axis, so i couldn't FIND the enemies, let alone hit them. Oh, and the squad AI? Boneheaded. NEXT!
[-]Soul Caliber 4: Very pretty! However, as I explained to Ted yesterday, I haven't enjoyed buying a fighting game since Mortal Kombat 2. Possibly because I don't play much versus, so it's just me bashing my head against the single-player mode. This was the problem I had when I (briefly) owned Virtua Fighter 4. Might rent this (along with DC vs MK) but would never buy.
[-]Lemmings: 2-d Lemmings! But it's so hard to play without a mouse and I'm not buying one just for this.
[-]Timeshift: ZOMG did I love this. It's a shooter, but you have the ability to stop, slow, and reverse time. Think Prince of Persia with guns. You can take the gun out of someone's have, move behind him, and see him realise what's happened before you cap him. Also, the guns are great, in particular, the sniper-crossbow, which fires glowing arrows that explode after a 1-second delay. So you get to see the guy react before he explodes into a pinkish mist. All the explosions look shiny in the slow-mo as well. I was shocked Gamespot gave it so low a rating (6.5!) when it's one of those rare shooter that I actually have fun playing. Definietly looking for the full version.
[-]Warhawk: See previous entry. I've got the full version winging its way to me now, but I could have happily played the demo forever.
[-]Wipeout HD: Gorgeous-looking and smooth-as, and I was a HUGe fan of Wipeout on the Saturn, but I just can't seem to get into this. Also, Ted is better than me at this/all video games ever.
[-]Dead Space: Creepy, scary look, caused a funny aneurysm moment when I "killed" something, only to have it cut me in half as I walked past its "corpse". Ted response: "Yeah, those'll do that." Not sure I could stand a whole game of it, though.
[-]Lego Batman: Cute, funny, like the look of it, but ugh, jump puzzles. Freakin' jump puzzles. Never mind. And only 1 punch and 1 throw button? That's it for combat?
[-]Pixeljunk: Eden: Very wierd, and seemingly simple game. Not sure if it's hooked me.
[-]Killzone 2: Blah. Boring shooter.Guns are so "accurate" that YOU have to be a staggeringly good shot to hit ANYTHING. Although Brammall at work just thinks I don't like it because I suck at it.
Oh, and without warning, Firefox has gone back to have the "open background tab" option, and opening a new tab when I click a link and write in an address. Thank Moby.
So this morning, Tanja goes up to the mountains to see her ma, and I get a bit of a lie-in (and checking of my Twitter feed from bed, hee). I decided after a morning of updating album art on iTunes (yes, I'm that kind of user) I'll check out the demos I downloaded for my PS3. So, my thoughts, in my patented bullet-point-style:
[-]Bioshock: Adored the story and the look and the steam-punk feel of the game, but hated, HATED the game play. I ended up using all my special weapon energy just trying to stun someone or all my bullets trying to get a headshot with the revolver to the point where I fall back on the basic wrench weapon 9 times out of 10. It does however, make a satisfying *thwack* when you wallop someone. And like I twittered, wrench don't run out. I might see if Tommy or someone has this for me to borrow.
[-]Kane & Lynch: Dead Men: third-person shooters have never been my forte, but this one lost my interest immediately by not letting me invert the y-axis, so i couldn't FIND the enemies, let alone hit them. Oh, and the squad AI? Boneheaded. NEXT!
[-]Soul Caliber 4: Very pretty! However, as I explained to Ted yesterday, I haven't enjoyed buying a fighting game since Mortal Kombat 2. Possibly because I don't play much versus, so it's just me bashing my head against the single-player mode. This was the problem I had when I (briefly) owned Virtua Fighter 4. Might rent this (along with DC vs MK) but would never buy.
[-]Lemmings: 2-d Lemmings! But it's so hard to play without a mouse and I'm not buying one just for this.
[-]Timeshift: ZOMG did I love this. It's a shooter, but you have the ability to stop, slow, and reverse time. Think Prince of Persia with guns. You can take the gun out of someone's have, move behind him, and see him realise what's happened before you cap him. Also, the guns are great, in particular, the sniper-crossbow, which fires glowing arrows that explode after a 1-second delay. So you get to see the guy react before he explodes into a pinkish mist. All the explosions look shiny in the slow-mo as well. I was shocked Gamespot gave it so low a rating (6.5!) when it's one of those rare shooter that I actually have fun playing. Definietly looking for the full version.
[-]Warhawk: See previous entry. I've got the full version winging its way to me now, but I could have happily played the demo forever.
[-]Wipeout HD: Gorgeous-looking and smooth-as, and I was a HUGe fan of Wipeout on the Saturn, but I just can't seem to get into this. Also, Ted is better than me at this/all video games ever.
[-]Dead Space: Creepy, scary look, caused a funny aneurysm moment when I "killed" something, only to have it cut me in half as I walked past its "corpse". Ted response: "Yeah, those'll do that." Not sure I could stand a whole game of it, though.
[-]Lego Batman: Cute, funny, like the look of it, but ugh, jump puzzles. Freakin' jump puzzles. Never mind. And only 1 punch and 1 throw button? That's it for combat?
[-]Pixeljunk: Eden: Very wierd, and seemingly simple game. Not sure if it's hooked me.
[-]Killzone 2: Blah. Boring shooter.Guns are so "accurate" that YOU have to be a staggeringly good shot to hit ANYTHING. Although Brammall at work just thinks I don't like it because I suck at it.
Oh, and without warning, Firefox has gone back to have the "open background tab" option, and opening a new tab when I click a link and write in an address. Thank Moby.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Falling behind
Ack! I've been meaning to update this thing for the last week. First I wanted to blog about the terrible morning I had, then about how I tend to subconsciously boobytrap myself when I'm stressed, causing me to try to grab things, misjudge, and knock other things over, stressing me more. Then after a few days I still wanted to blog about the morning from hell and was starting to wonder why I wanted to blog about that so much. Then I thought about blogging about how I tend to hang onto bad experiences, turning them over and over in my head. But I didn't.
So now I'm blogging about how I didn't blog about all that.
The fires in Victoria are terrible beyond belief, and watching the newscasters hovering like vultures waiting for someone to step out of the wreckage to say how it feels to have all your belongings burnt to a crisp makes me a bit sick. On the plus side, I found a bottle of Gold Wasser which tastes lovely and will allow me to make Duck and Covers.
So now I'm blogging about how I didn't blog about all that.
The fires in Victoria are terrible beyond belief, and watching the newscasters hovering like vultures waiting for someone to step out of the wreckage to say how it feels to have all your belongings burnt to a crisp makes me a bit sick. On the plus side, I found a bottle of Gold Wasser which tastes lovely and will allow me to make Duck and Covers.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Warhawkin'
So I've been playing a lot of the Warhawk demo for my brand spankin' new PS3. I've never played any Halo-type games before, let alone on multiplayer. This is that sort of game: you spawn into a camp with a bunch of other guys to protect your flag using guns, turrets, and vehicles, including tanks, jeeps, and the titular Warhawks, plans that can switch from VTOL hover mode to jet mode (no complain). Even though I only have the one demo level, I've been having a lot of fun. The fact that every other sprite I see is another human player makes things really interesting as a human is unpredictable.
I can recall watching an episode of the Totally Rad Show where Alex Albrecht was talking about Star Wars: Galaxies. He said multiplayer online games of that sort are made up of moments that you can talk about for days afterwards. Warhawk is no different. In the one day I've played the demo, I've had no loess than three such moments:
- [-] I spawn into the camp, along with a few other guys. I get into a jeep, manning the machine gun turret. Another player hops into the driver's seat and starts motoring towards the enemy base. I spend most of the ride firing to the sides and rear of the jeep, giving him cover. So I'm strafing behind us into a group of infantry when the jeep fishtails to a stop. Then I see my driver running away from the jeep in a big old hurry. "What the fuck does he know that I don't?" So I rotate the turret to the front...
...to see a tank ten yards directly in front of me, and a shell leaving its cannon. Kaboom. - [-] I spawn, but there's no vehicles around, just a few people mining the place and a few on turrets. So I climb the sentry tower to look around. I also grab the sniper rifle that's up there. No sooner have I stood up from the ladder when the tower is strafed by machine gun fire. I hide in the little shack on top of the tower and peek out the window to see an enemy Warhawk hovering in the middle on the camp, laying waste to the turrets and my teammates. I aim through the window of the shack, fire two sniper rounds into the undercarriage...
... and the Warhawk disintegrates into a chrysanthemum of flame. Awesome. - [-] I actually get ahold of a Warhawk that's not instant destroyed by flak fire and streak towards the enemy base. I see one of them get into their Warhawk, and try to take off. I know he's not used to it, because he bounces off a few buildings getting off the ground. I lock on with a homing missile and blow him to bits. I then see another enemy Warhawk flying off in the distance. I give chase. He immediately goes evasive, zipping through canyons and around mountains. I'm right on him, trying for a missile lock. Out of nowhere, he darts around a corner. I follow...
...only to see him nipping around a weather-balloon/obstacle in the way. I have time to realise I can't avoid it, and think "Clever girl." before crashing and burning.
And that's only after one day! Amazing.
You've been swindled by...
Lucas Brown
Team Leader/Tiki Bartender/Big Boss Man
Got your nose. Got your wallet.
Lucas Brown
Team Leader/Tiki Bartender/Big Boss Man
Got your nose. Got your wallet.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Hell of a Day
Today might have been one of the greatest days ever. Like for serious.
Wake up, don't have to be at work. Good start.
Have two cups of coffee and peanut butter of morpeth sourdough bread.
Head out with Tanja to Powerhouse Museum to see the Star Wars exhibit. Awesome. Got tons of pictures of the ship models.
Afterwards, walking in the 39.5-42 degree day to the Heritage Belgian Bier Cafe. Have a porterhouse steak, medium-rare, chips and salad with a Hoegaarden & a Kwak.
Head out from there, and go to Myer to look at outdoor furniture (we've been planing to use some of our wedding present money to get an outdoor lounge). Found one we like. It's $300 cheaper than usual. Buy it.
Meanwhile, I start explaining to Tanja how I've been thinking of trading in my PS2 and all my games for a discount towards a PS3. She inquires if I've done the research. I have, saying JB Hifi has the best deal because you get an HDMI cable with it. We go to JB Hifi. I show her.
"Well," says she, "you should probably get it now. You've got some good PS2 games, I'd hate to see you get rid of them."
So I bought a PS3. With Little Big Planet (it's so cute!) and GTA4 (when you hit something high speed, you fly out the windshield like in Tom & Jerry).
On the way home, walking back in a now-cool evening (lovely breeze) we bought a six-pack of Stella. Tanja made pasta and we watched the first bit of our new season of the Wire.
In the running for best day ever. Hell, it's in the top 3.
Wake up, don't have to be at work. Good start.
Have two cups of coffee and peanut butter of morpeth sourdough bread.
Head out with Tanja to Powerhouse Museum to see the Star Wars exhibit. Awesome. Got tons of pictures of the ship models.
Afterwards, walking in the 39.5-42 degree day to the Heritage Belgian Bier Cafe. Have a porterhouse steak, medium-rare, chips and salad with a Hoegaarden & a Kwak.
Head out from there, and go to Myer to look at outdoor furniture (we've been planing to use some of our wedding present money to get an outdoor lounge). Found one we like. It's $300 cheaper than usual. Buy it.
Meanwhile, I start explaining to Tanja how I've been thinking of trading in my PS2 and all my games for a discount towards a PS3. She inquires if I've done the research. I have, saying JB Hifi has the best deal because you get an HDMI cable with it. We go to JB Hifi. I show her.
"Well," says she, "you should probably get it now. You've got some good PS2 games, I'd hate to see you get rid of them."
So I bought a PS3. With Little Big Planet (it's so cute!) and GTA4 (when you hit something high speed, you fly out the windshield like in Tom & Jerry).
On the way home, walking back in a now-cool evening (lovely breeze) we bought a six-pack of Stella. Tanja made pasta and we watched the first bit of our new season of the Wire.
In the running for best day ever. Hell, it's in the top 3.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Nightmare Fuel and Over My Head (reposted from The Lucas Letters)
"Dear all and Sundry:
Ok, been a while since I updated The Lucas Letters. Seems to be one of those things I keep meaning to do.
Work has been busy as of late, with my team merging with another team to create a super-team (no Blind Faith or Plastic Ono Band jokes, please) so there's lots to be done.
The name for this post comes from my recent viewings of the Muppet Show Season 2. In the first episode (with special Guest Star Don Knotts, who looked like he wandered into the wrong studio) something happened which triggered a powerful memory. In the skit, Knotts is playing a scientist, studying a little baby Muppet puffball, which inexplicable starts trying to attack him. It's funny seeing a Muppet the size of a coffee cup trying to eat someone. Then he knocks it away into next week, and the thing's mother comes along. Which is one of the huge Sweetums-sized Muppets, all eyes and teeth. The mother eats Don Knotts, and the last we see of him is his feet disappearing down the creatures gullet.
This scene transported me back to Victoria street, when I must have been 5 or 6 (I recall it being a school night), watching a similar skit from a later season where, instead of a little monster, the scientist was trying to feed 5 or 6 giant monsters in cages, and it goes worse and worse, this one biting his fingers, another grabbing his leg, until one finally grabs and eats him.
This shocked the ever-loving crap out of my little 6-year-old brain.
I actually couldn't sleep that night. I was scared to close my eyes. I remember Dad coming in and talking to me about it, and (in a move I was told about years later in my psych classes) got me to draw a picture of the monster. He then held up the sheet and I punched straight through it.
End of scared. Slept just fine.
I've also been reading lots of the Ex Machina series by Brian K. Vaughan (writer of Y: The Last Man and some of the Buffy Season 8 comics) and I love it, but it tends to give me the feeling that certain later episodes of the Wire, The Sopranos, and the last half of certain Discworld books give me: it goes over my head.
It's kind of like I'm following the storyline like someone following a helium balloon. It's at waist-level, I can see it, and can reach it if I want, then it's at shoulder height, whoa little dicey now, can still reach it, then at head height, but I can still see what's going on and I'm still walking at the same pace as the balloon. Then it goes up and I can't see it anymore. I keep walking, though, as I know the balloon is travelling at the same pace, and hope that eventually, it'll come down low enough from me to see it, and maybe, if I'm lucky, grasp the string again before the end of the episode/trade paperback/book.
It tends to be when the plot (or more so, the ideas in the heads of the characters) gets so twisty that I can't follow, but I hope it'll come back and I'll get the gist before it's over. It's like a magic trick. You're following along, thinking "ooh, nice overhand shuffle, into a card force, well layed there, nice patter and how the hell did he do that, and where is that dove coming from!"
I don't know if that makes me shallow or stupid, but I'm still reading/watching, so I'm game to fine out.
Sincerely,
Lucas"
Ok, been a while since I updated The Lucas Letters. Seems to be one of those things I keep meaning to do.
Work has been busy as of late, with my team merging with another team to create a super-team (no Blind Faith or Plastic Ono Band jokes, please) so there's lots to be done.
The name for this post comes from my recent viewings of the Muppet Show Season 2. In the first episode (with special Guest Star Don Knotts, who looked like he wandered into the wrong studio) something happened which triggered a powerful memory. In the skit, Knotts is playing a scientist, studying a little baby Muppet puffball, which inexplicable starts trying to attack him. It's funny seeing a Muppet the size of a coffee cup trying to eat someone. Then he knocks it away into next week, and the thing's mother comes along. Which is one of the huge Sweetums-sized Muppets, all eyes and teeth. The mother eats Don Knotts, and the last we see of him is his feet disappearing down the creatures gullet.
This scene transported me back to Victoria street, when I must have been 5 or 6 (I recall it being a school night), watching a similar skit from a later season where, instead of a little monster, the scientist was trying to feed 5 or 6 giant monsters in cages, and it goes worse and worse, this one biting his fingers, another grabbing his leg, until one finally grabs and eats him.
This shocked the ever-loving crap out of my little 6-year-old brain.
I actually couldn't sleep that night. I was scared to close my eyes. I remember Dad coming in and talking to me about it, and (in a move I was told about years later in my psych classes) got me to draw a picture of the monster. He then held up the sheet and I punched straight through it.
End of scared. Slept just fine.
I've also been reading lots of the Ex Machina series by Brian K. Vaughan (writer of Y: The Last Man and some of the Buffy Season 8 comics) and I love it, but it tends to give me the feeling that certain later episodes of the Wire, The Sopranos, and the last half of certain Discworld books give me: it goes over my head.
It's kind of like I'm following the storyline like someone following a helium balloon. It's at waist-level, I can see it, and can reach it if I want, then it's at shoulder height, whoa little dicey now, can still reach it, then at head height, but I can still see what's going on and I'm still walking at the same pace as the balloon. Then it goes up and I can't see it anymore. I keep walking, though, as I know the balloon is travelling at the same pace, and hope that eventually, it'll come down low enough from me to see it, and maybe, if I'm lucky, grasp the string again before the end of the episode/trade paperback/book.
It tends to be when the plot (or more so, the ideas in the heads of the characters) gets so twisty that I can't follow, but I hope it'll come back and I'll get the gist before it's over. It's like a magic trick. You're following along, thinking "ooh, nice overhand shuffle, into a card force, well layed there, nice patter and how the hell did he do that, and where is that dove coming from!"
I don't know if that makes me shallow or stupid, but I'm still reading/watching, so I'm game to fine out.
Sincerely,
Lucas"
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