Long time no blog
Nov. 24th, 2007 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thermalsatsumaForgive me internet, for I have been lazy. It has been six days since my last post, even though I've had lots of things to write about. Oh well, this might be bitty, so apologies in advance.
Actually, part of the reason for my quietness is the weather. It's been so grey, with hardly a glimpse of sun apart from a brief respite on Friday. Perhaps it's just a case of seasonally something or other disorder, but all I want to do is curl up somewhere and go to sleep. Dormeeces have the right idea I think.
It's a good job I treated myself to a new game to lift my mood then. Yes, it's true - Super Mario Galaxy - GETT0RIZ3D!!! It's fabulous - proper blue sky gaming with a glorious disregard for the laws of physics. There is something supremely cheering about bouncing from planetoid to planetoid, flipping around space at the whim of gravity, booting coconuts at flying pirate ships, playing the theme music by collecting bits of stars, dressing up as a giant bee and jumping over flowers. Bonkers, but just so much fun. The co-op mode is inspired as well. A second player can pick up a spare wiimote and help out by hoovering up star bits, zapping enemies, holding back boulders and even boosting Mario's jumps. I'm only on the the second galaxy, and it's already a strong contender for game of the year which in a field of Zelda, Phoenix Wright 2, Bioshock and Halo 3 is really saying something.
Wednesday was Jamie's parents evening at school. No surprises, but it's good to know the young chap is doing well and is easily in the top 25% of his year group. It always feels strange going into schools after dark, and Jamie's school is a strange cross between Hogwarts and a strange futuristic moonbase with colour coded corridors. Hmm, I'm rambling. Move on.
I read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami a few weeks ago, so I followed it up with the shorter but no less strange After Dark this week. Like the earlier book, it wears its pop culture references very much on its sleeve and it has the bleak and dislocated atmosphere of Edward Hopper's famous painting 'Nighthawks'. This is the late night Tokyo of empty cafes, jazz bars, seedy love hotels, salarymen, schoolgirls and gangsters. Oddly enough it reminded me in some ways of a very dark version of the world of Phoenix Wright. Secrets, lies and characters who are not exactly what they seem at first glance. Less hair gel though, and more parallel worlds behind the tv screen.
The first season of The Sopranos that we've just watched has also lived up to expectations. Dark, complex and funny, and heavy with symbolism to match the on going psycho analysis theme running through the season. Cunnilingus and psychiatry indeed. Season 2 next.
Right, time for a game of something, and maybe fish and chips for lunch? We shall see.
Actually, part of the reason for my quietness is the weather. It's been so grey, with hardly a glimpse of sun apart from a brief respite on Friday. Perhaps it's just a case of seasonally something or other disorder, but all I want to do is curl up somewhere and go to sleep. Dormeeces have the right idea I think.
It's a good job I treated myself to a new game to lift my mood then. Yes, it's true - Super Mario Galaxy - GETT0RIZ3D!!! It's fabulous - proper blue sky gaming with a glorious disregard for the laws of physics. There is something supremely cheering about bouncing from planetoid to planetoid, flipping around space at the whim of gravity, booting coconuts at flying pirate ships, playing the theme music by collecting bits of stars, dressing up as a giant bee and jumping over flowers. Bonkers, but just so much fun. The co-op mode is inspired as well. A second player can pick up a spare wiimote and help out by hoovering up star bits, zapping enemies, holding back boulders and even boosting Mario's jumps. I'm only on the the second galaxy, and it's already a strong contender for game of the year which in a field of Zelda, Phoenix Wright 2, Bioshock and Halo 3 is really saying something.
Wednesday was Jamie's parents evening at school. No surprises, but it's good to know the young chap is doing well and is easily in the top 25% of his year group. It always feels strange going into schools after dark, and Jamie's school is a strange cross between Hogwarts and a strange futuristic moonbase with colour coded corridors. Hmm, I'm rambling. Move on.
I read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami a few weeks ago, so I followed it up with the shorter but no less strange After Dark this week. Like the earlier book, it wears its pop culture references very much on its sleeve and it has the bleak and dislocated atmosphere of Edward Hopper's famous painting 'Nighthawks'. This is the late night Tokyo of empty cafes, jazz bars, seedy love hotels, salarymen, schoolgirls and gangsters. Oddly enough it reminded me in some ways of a very dark version of the world of Phoenix Wright. Secrets, lies and characters who are not exactly what they seem at first glance. Less hair gel though, and more parallel worlds behind the tv screen.
The first season of The Sopranos that we've just watched has also lived up to expectations. Dark, complex and funny, and heavy with symbolism to match the on going psycho analysis theme running through the season. Cunnilingus and psychiatry indeed. Season 2 next.
Right, time for a game of something, and maybe fish and chips for lunch? We shall see.
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 04:35 pm (UTC)Forgive me too!
Date: 2007-11-24 05:49 pm (UTC)Sums up my week!
Would quite like a Wii, my flist seems to love theirs, msybe there might even be some in the shops come New Year? We've just dusted down our PS2, started playing games again (nothing more demanding than Crash Bandicoot kind of level, which is why I'm envious of your Mario!).
Never watched any Sopranos, I'm always reluctant to commit to these long running American dramas, though obviously it's had great reviews, I'm just a commitment phobe! Maybe now I can "series link" I'll be more likely to :-)
Being in schools "out of hours" is just freaky. Similarly, I was in the Botanics in the mist on Thursday morning, the only person in there (on my walk to work), it just felt "wrong" to be there, with nobody else.
Re: Forgive me too!
Date: 2007-11-24 09:13 pm (UTC)We only started watching The Sopranos with the repeats on More 4. The Topfield is perfect for this sort of thing - just set it to record and then you've got a new episode every day to watch when you want.
I think it's something to do with it being dark and being in the school buildings. Parents evenings and school concerts were always weird experiences when I was a child.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 07:00 pm (UTC)Children's schools at night... I quite agree!