Saturday, August 09, 2008
I'm Home Moment #4856
It was very weird today to be sitting in our favorite diner, munching on a burger and hearing the radio go off about the Olympics and the first day of the event. Mostly because the Wife's eyes kind of bugged out upon hearing the results and realized that her new home country is one that actually stands a legitimate chance of bringing home an Olympic medal, something that is essentially an impossibility for Singapore due to its tinier population and almost total apathy towards athleticism.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens when she becomes a citizen and realizes that during elections she can actually vote for more than one party.
It was very weird today to be sitting in our favorite diner, munching on a burger and hearing the radio go off about the Olympics and the first day of the event. Mostly because the Wife's eyes kind of bugged out upon hearing the results and realized that her new home country is one that actually stands a legitimate chance of bringing home an Olympic medal, something that is essentially an impossibility for Singapore due to its tinier population and almost total apathy towards athleticism.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens when she becomes a citizen and realizes that during elections she can actually vote for more than one party.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Icky Couple Stuff
Friday, August 08, 2008
Awards & Networking
Today we went down to the Toronto Reference Library to take in the 4th annual Doug Wright Awards, which is basically a new award given out to Canadian artists and cartoonists. The inductee into the "Giants of the North" hall o' fame was Lynn Johnston, better known for her enduring news strip For Better or For Worse. It's nice to be living in a country again where people have extraordinary talent and actually get recognized for it.
We also bought a new router for our home. I love this thing. It was actually cheaper than our old router, but is specifically built for wired internet connections. It seemed like our previous router was dying on us, as we were experiencing sporadic internet connections, and when we asked our service provider about it, according to their logs, the connection to our home was stable the entire time. When we got the new router up and running, it was like a revelation. The PS3, which previously kicked off every PC in the house off the internet anytime it tried to connect, suddenly did so without bullying the other computers. Moreover, it did not mysteriously disconnect every time I put in a new game, nor did it crap out on us just because we happened to move to new menu for selecting songs while playing online for games like Rock Band. In other words, it looks like most of our minor nitpicks with the PS3 and its voracious yet finicky appetite for the internet can be blamed on our router, which was actually a wireless router and seemed to object strongly to not being used in such a fashion.
I love our new router. It's the Bees Knees.
Today we went down to the Toronto Reference Library to take in the 4th annual Doug Wright Awards, which is basically a new award given out to Canadian artists and cartoonists. The inductee into the "Giants of the North" hall o' fame was Lynn Johnston, better known for her enduring news strip For Better or For Worse. It's nice to be living in a country again where people have extraordinary talent and actually get recognized for it.
We also bought a new router for our home. I love this thing. It was actually cheaper than our old router, but is specifically built for wired internet connections. It seemed like our previous router was dying on us, as we were experiencing sporadic internet connections, and when we asked our service provider about it, according to their logs, the connection to our home was stable the entire time. When we got the new router up and running, it was like a revelation. The PS3, which previously kicked off every PC in the house off the internet anytime it tried to connect, suddenly did so without bullying the other computers. Moreover, it did not mysteriously disconnect every time I put in a new game, nor did it crap out on us just because we happened to move to new menu for selecting songs while playing online for games like Rock Band. In other words, it looks like most of our minor nitpicks with the PS3 and its voracious yet finicky appetite for the internet can be blamed on our router, which was actually a wireless router and seemed to object strongly to not being used in such a fashion.
I love our new router. It's the Bees Knees.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Back To Articles
That time of the month again to start cranking out more GameAxis articles.
Also, we have now seen an early preview of the ad for the Liquid City comic anthology which lists all the big names that will be appearing in the comic. We, apparently, fall under the category "And others."
That time of the month again to start cranking out more GameAxis articles.
Also, we have now seen an early preview of the ad for the Liquid City comic anthology which lists all the big names that will be appearing in the comic. We, apparently, fall under the category "And others."
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Journalism, Writing
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Trippness & Curtains
I'm firmly convinced that Sony now realizes a certain portion of their gaming demographic is affluent and eccentric enough to enjoy "recreational pharmaceuticals" as part of their 21st century, hip, trendy lifestyle. That's the only possible explanation for the fact that they keep releasing interesting titles that just scream for being under the influence of some kind of drug. PixelJunk Eden, their latest addition to downloadable games on the Playstation Store is another example of this.
There's really no way to adequately describe the game. I could say "You control a little spider thing that jumps around a day-glo garden, ramming into pollen-esque creatures and then swinging with its web in circles to send the pollen streaming into the nearest seed, so as to make it bloom into a plant with which to further explore the garden," but that really doesn't do justice to ambient techno beat, gradually shifting colors, or strangely addictive yet relaxing gameplay the title offers. On the other hand if I were to simply hand you a tab of LSD, wait 20 minutes and then put a PS3 controller in your hand, you'd "get it" immediately.
Other than that, we did the incredibly domesticated thing of finally going out and buying a curtain rod and curtains for the living room. It's official. We're settled down.
I'm firmly convinced that Sony now realizes a certain portion of their gaming demographic is affluent and eccentric enough to enjoy "recreational pharmaceuticals" as part of their 21st century, hip, trendy lifestyle. That's the only possible explanation for the fact that they keep releasing interesting titles that just scream for being under the influence of some kind of drug. PixelJunk Eden, their latest addition to downloadable games on the Playstation Store is another example of this. There's really no way to adequately describe the game. I could say "You control a little spider thing that jumps around a day-glo garden, ramming into pollen-esque creatures and then swinging with its web in circles to send the pollen streaming into the nearest seed, so as to make it bloom into a plant with which to further explore the garden," but that really doesn't do justice to ambient techno beat, gradually shifting colors, or strangely addictive yet relaxing gameplay the title offers. On the other hand if I were to simply hand you a tab of LSD, wait 20 minutes and then put a PS3 controller in your hand, you'd "get it" immediately.
Other than that, we did the incredibly domesticated thing of finally going out and buying a curtain rod and curtains for the living room. It's official. We're settled down.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Another Slow Day
Some errands in the neighborhood, a little bit o' writing, a little bit o' gaming. That's it.
Some errands in the neighborhood, a little bit o' writing, a little bit o' gaming. That's it.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Monday, July 28, 2008
Ho Hum
Just another one of those days. A little bit of work, a little bit of gaming.
Just another one of those days. A little bit of work, a little bit of gaming.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Errands On Saturday
Just another weekend in Toronto. Galleries were visited, art supplies purchased, Chinese food consumed and sore feet all 'round by the time the visits to Queen Street West, Kensington and Chinatown were all done.
Just another weekend in Toronto. Galleries were visited, art supplies purchased, Chinese food consumed and sore feet all 'round by the time the visits to Queen Street West, Kensington and Chinatown were all done.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Keeping It Quiet
Aside from some writing of the comic and messing around Portal in the Orange Box collection, not much else of note.
Aside from some writing of the comic and messing around Portal in the Orange Box collection, not much else of note.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Summer Cleaning
Tidied up the house with sweepings and moppings. Too tired to do anything after that except play Rock Band and Civilization: Revolution.
Tidied up the house with sweepings and moppings. Too tired to do anything after that except play Rock Band and Civilization: Revolution.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Slow Saturday
Aside from writing some comic, I tore up more Civilization: Revolution but mostly watched the Wife do it even better.
Aside from writing some comic, I tore up more Civilization: Revolution but mostly watched the Wife do it even better.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Games, Writing
Friday, July 18, 2008
Back To Normal
Wrote some comic and got utterly trashed trying to play "Deity" level on Civilization: Revolution. This... is going to take some smarts...
Wrote some comic and got utterly trashed trying to play "Deity" level on Civilization: Revolution. This... is going to take some smarts...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Games
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Whoo Hoo
My first gold trophy under the new Playsation trophies system. That was HARD. And ultimately futile.
At least the Wife comes back tomorrow and normality will resume. It's not the same without her around.
My first gold trophy under the new Playsation trophies system. That was HARD. And ultimately futile.
At least the Wife comes back tomorrow and normality will resume. It's not the same without her around.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Temporarly A Bachelor
And this is what geeks do when they're left to their own devices; they continue to play games, watch movies, and feed cats.
And this is what geeks do when they're left to their own devices; they continue to play games, watch movies, and feed cats.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Just Another Thursday
Another quiet day in the Annex. We walked down to the nearby gallery to check out the Wife's contribution, had some food at one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, and played some videogames.
Another quiet day in the Annex. We walked down to the nearby gallery to check out the Wife's contribution, had some food at one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, and played some videogames.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Slow Wednesday
Only two things to do, play more Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and start on another IGN article.
Only two things to do, play more Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and start on another IGN article.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Nothing But The Gear
Aside from errands in the neighborhood, it was back to collecting "emblems", the MGS 4 equivalent of achievements, that involves doing bizarre stuff like stabbing 50 people with a syringe, doing 50 hold ups and body searches for goodies, and hiding in a box for an hour...
Aside from errands in the neighborhood, it was back to collecting "emblems", the MGS 4 equivalent of achievements, that involves doing bizarre stuff like stabbing 50 people with a syringe, doing 50 hold ups and body searches for goodies, and hiding in a box for an hour...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Monday, June 23, 2008
Monday Of No Real Note
Did laundry, played games. Condemned 2: Bloodshot was finished, and it was a bit disappointing. A perfectly fine game was ruined by a bizarre tangent in the plot that suddenly had you doing incredibly dumb things that bore no consistency with the earlier part of the game. Or the first game for that matter. If you work that hard to try and have a dark, gritty, 7-ish or Silence of the Lambs-y style serial killer investigation game with some supernatural elements, then why suddenly take a left turn into comics-ville and turn your hero into Black Canary?
It's too bad, the game itself is fine, and quite a bit of fun, but that story... man, it really dragged things down.
Did laundry, played games. Condemned 2: Bloodshot was finished, and it was a bit disappointing. A perfectly fine game was ruined by a bizarre tangent in the plot that suddenly had you doing incredibly dumb things that bore no consistency with the earlier part of the game. Or the first game for that matter. If you work that hard to try and have a dark, gritty, 7-ish or Silence of the Lambs-y style serial killer investigation game with some supernatural elements, then why suddenly take a left turn into comics-ville and turn your hero into Black Canary?
It's too bad, the game itself is fine, and quite a bit of fun, but that story... man, it really dragged things down.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Those Quiet Sundays
Another quick trip to Bloor for some last minute art supplies. Aside from that, basically just playing games and writing another High-Def Digest article.
Another quick trip to Bloor for some last minute art supplies. Aside from that, basically just playing games and writing another High-Def Digest article.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
I Got My Days Wrong
For some reason, I thought today was Tuesday and not Wednesday. Oh well, more writing continues, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 is now being dutifully played through.
For some reason, I thought today was Tuesday and not Wednesday. Oh well, more writing continues, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 is now being dutifully played through.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Writing
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Pizza & Apocalypse
A surprise invite to have home made pizza with the neighbors left us so stuffed to the gills with food that it was pretty much impossible to do anything else except sit back and watch our Blu-Ray version of The Road Warrior. I think that perhaps I am starting to rebel against CG in movies, which is saddening to me since CGI made so happy the first time I saw Jurassic Park. Now, however, watching The Road Warrior and seeing real guys jumping from real cars to real trucks with a real lack of safety harnesses that haven't been digitally erased, the movie looks far more impressive to me precisely BECAUSE of its primitiveness compared to CG. Every single shot is real. Even the super impressive panoramic shot of cars circling the refinery over a gorgeous Australian sunset, the whole thing actually happened, not a single digital effect thrown in to make it look epic, it really was just that epic.
Damn, I think I'm turning into an authenticity snob.
A surprise invite to have home made pizza with the neighbors left us so stuffed to the gills with food that it was pretty much impossible to do anything else except sit back and watch our Blu-Ray version of The Road Warrior. I think that perhaps I am starting to rebel against CG in movies, which is saddening to me since CGI made so happy the first time I saw Jurassic Park. Now, however, watching The Road Warrior and seeing real guys jumping from real cars to real trucks with a real lack of safety harnesses that haven't been digitally erased, the movie looks far more impressive to me precisely BECAUSE of its primitiveness compared to CG. Every single shot is real. Even the super impressive panoramic shot of cars circling the refinery over a gorgeous Australian sunset, the whole thing actually happened, not a single digital effect thrown in to make it look epic, it really was just that epic. Damn, I think I'm turning into an authenticity snob.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Movies
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Hot Sundays
Aside from writing up the article and swapping turns of the Civilization: Revolution demo (yes, we are playing a demo over and over again. We are pathetic), the only thing of note is that this year we can actually sleep comfortably at night thanks to the new portable air conditioner sitting in the bedroom. Little did I realize when we arrived in Toronto that the heat and humidity here during summer were only a few degrees less intolerable than Singapore throughout the year, so as stupid as it may seem to someone from the ol' hometown, in Toronto, I definitely see the advantage in having an air conditioner in the house.
Aside from writing up the article and swapping turns of the Civilization: Revolution demo (yes, we are playing a demo over and over again. We are pathetic), the only thing of note is that this year we can actually sleep comfortably at night thanks to the new portable air conditioner sitting in the bedroom. Little did I realize when we arrived in Toronto that the heat and humidity here during summer were only a few degrees less intolerable than Singapore throughout the year, so as stupid as it may seem to someone from the ol' hometown, in Toronto, I definitely see the advantage in having an air conditioner in the house.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Writing
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Just Another Day
The temperatures rise, articles get written and money is accumulated by racing around the Daytona loop over and over and over again. Man, that F1 Ferrari racer better be worth it...
The temperatures rise, articles get written and money is accumulated by racing around the Daytona loop over and over and over again. Man, that F1 Ferrari racer better be worth it...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Back To Articles
Started up on the next round of GameAxis articles, played some games, and have to gear up for more IGN stuff next week.
Started up on the next round of GameAxis articles, played some games, and have to gear up for more IGN stuff next week.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Journalism, Writing
Friday, May 30, 2008
Another Quiet Day
Did laundry, played games, scored The Road Warrior on Blu-Ray on eBay...
Did laundry, played games, scored The Road Warrior on Blu-Ray on eBay...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Usual
Did a bit of writing, played a bit of Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer.
Did a bit of writing, played a bit of Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Usual Friday
Wrote some novel, some comic and played a lot of Grand Theft Auto IV...
Wrote some novel, some comic and played a lot of Grand Theft Auto IV...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Blogger Is Working Again
Was having some trouble with getting posts up the last couple of days, but everything seems fine now. Aside from that... Yup, more Grand Theft Auto IV. Manhattan and Brooklyn/Queens/The Bronx are now devoid of pigeons and Insane Stunt Jumps to do. Time to work on random friend quests and then open up Jersey for the home stretch.
Was having some trouble with getting posts up the last couple of days, but everything seems fine now. Aside from that... Yup, more Grand Theft Auto IV. Manhattan and Brooklyn/Queens/The Bronx are now devoid of pigeons and Insane Stunt Jumps to do. Time to work on random friend quests and then open up Jersey for the home stretch.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Post Birthday Settling
An Amazon gift certificate from the in-laws was followed up by some screwing around with GTA IV for most of the day and running errands for the Wife mailing stuff out on her behalf while she nurses her stomach flu.
An Amazon gift certificate from the in-laws was followed up by some screwing around with GTA IV for most of the day and running errands for the Wife mailing stuff out on her behalf while she nurses her stomach flu.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Monday, May 12, 2008
Just Another Day
Wrote a bit of comic, wrote a bit of children's novel, played some GTA IV.
Wrote a bit of comic, wrote a bit of children's novel, played some GTA IV.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Games, Lost In Loveless, Novel Writing, Writing
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Semi-Productive Sunday
Sent off the last of the GameAxis articles for the month. Other than that, it's more time spent in the stinking, chaotic bowels of Liberty City.
Sent off the last of the GameAxis articles for the month. Other than that, it's more time spent in the stinking, chaotic bowels of Liberty City.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Writing
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Saturday In The Neighborhood
Aside from the Wife feeling a teensy bit under the weather, it was an otherwise quiet, day with great weather. I meandered down to my favorite game store to pick up the title to the left, which is technically a game I already have, sort of. Persona 3: FES is actually the original Persona 3 RPG with some minor additions to the existing game and an all new additional adventure tacked on that provides the "true ending" of the game, since the original game ended somewhat ambiguously. Aside from that, I started up on the last GameAxis article for the month and slowly crept up a few percentage points in completion for Grand Theft Auto IV. I've now stolen a bunch of exotic cars for a 'roid enhanced maniac and struck down the 10 most wanted criminals in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. The moral of the story; cops pay crap for outsourcing.
Aside from the Wife feeling a teensy bit under the weather, it was an otherwise quiet, day with great weather. I meandered down to my favorite game store to pick up the title to the left, which is technically a game I already have, sort of. Persona 3: FES is actually the original Persona 3 RPG with some minor additions to the existing game and an all new additional adventure tacked on that provides the "true ending" of the game, since the original game ended somewhat ambiguously. Aside from that, I started up on the last GameAxis article for the month and slowly crept up a few percentage points in completion for Grand Theft Auto IV. I've now stolen a bunch of exotic cars for a 'roid enhanced maniac and struck down the 10 most wanted criminals in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. The moral of the story; cops pay crap for outsourcing.Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Mean Streets Of Toronto, RPGs, Writing
Friday, May 09, 2008
Kill Me! Do It! Do It NOOOOOOW!
Not much of note. We went down to the Ontario College of Art & Design to check out the grad show, did some shopping in Eaton Center, and came back with Predator in Blu-Ray in tow.
I had forgotten how well put together this movie is. For a simple action film about guys being hunted by an alien in the jungle, it's a lean, efficient piece of popcorn entertainment with not a wasted moment. Also, the Wife went nuts over the helicopter footage that used real choppers instead of CG ones. They just don't make 'em like this anymore...
Not much of note. We went down to the Ontario College of Art & Design to check out the grad show, did some shopping in Eaton Center, and came back with Predator in Blu-Ray in tow.I had forgotten how well put together this movie is. For a simple action film about guys being hunted by an alien in the jungle, it's a lean, efficient piece of popcorn entertainment with not a wasted moment. Also, the Wife went nuts over the helicopter footage that used real choppers instead of CG ones. They just don't make 'em like this anymore...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Mean Streets Of Toronto, Movies
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Still Boring
Finished the High Def Digest article, messed around with some of the new content in the Playstation store, and, of course, went back to Grand Theft Auto IV. Also the Wife surprised the hell out of me by going out of her way to track down an Atlus RPG all on her own on eBay, just because she's that big a fangirl of the company now.
Finished the High Def Digest article, messed around with some of the new content in the Playstation store, and, of course, went back to Grand Theft Auto IV. Also the Wife surprised the hell out of me by going out of her way to track down an Atlus RPG all on her own on eBay, just because she's that big a fangirl of the company now.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Writing
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Being Boring
Writing articles, hunting down pigeons. That's about it.
Writing articles, hunting down pigeons. That's about it.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Writing
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
No Major Post
And no guesses for why not, either. Running jobs and running from the cops in Liberty City.
And no guesses for why not, either. Running jobs and running from the cops in Liberty City.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Friday, April 25, 2008
Relaxed Friday
The Wife got invited to a student art show from the seniors at the Sheridan art program. We tottered over to Queen Street West to check it out, then went home and finished up watching the last few episodes of the Blue Planet: Seas of Life documentary. I'm now nursing some minor guilt over eating sushi after watching their "LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT! HUMANS ARE BAD! BADBADBAD!" episode, but I'm sure this will pass. If Neil-O can eat sushi, it CAN'T be wrong, right?
The Wife got invited to a student art show from the seniors at the Sheridan art program. We tottered over to Queen Street West to check it out, then went home and finished up watching the last few episodes of the Blue Planet: Seas of Life documentary. I'm now nursing some minor guilt over eating sushi after watching their "LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT! HUMANS ARE BAD! BADBADBAD!" episode, but I'm sure this will pass. If Neil-O can eat sushi, it CAN'T be wrong, right?
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Unpleasantness At Restaurants
A fairly routine day tweaking and sending off an article ended on a weird downer when we went down to Bloor to dine at a Sushi restaurant we'd visited twice before. The food is decent though not spectacular, and on this particular day, between the noise, the rushed service and the fact that the Wife found a hair in her food, by the end of it we decided to just leave and not tip. We actually got stopped by the waiter as we left and he explained that he'd have to answer to his manager if he didn't get a tip, and wanted to know why we weren't leaving one. We tried being diplomatic and explained that it was nothing personal, but he kept bringing up stuff like how he poured out tea and gave complimentary soup so just to shut him we threw a few dollars his way with the intention of never eating in the restaurant again. It would just be waaaay too paranoia inducing to go in there again with the knowledge that we could potentially get harassed and not allowed to leave until we'd treated the staff with the gratuity they felt they deserved, and it makes the whole experience not as pleasant as it should be.
Oh well, there's still like a million, buzillion other sushi restaurants on that stretch of Bloor alone, so it's no great loss...
A fairly routine day tweaking and sending off an article ended on a weird downer when we went down to Bloor to dine at a Sushi restaurant we'd visited twice before. The food is decent though not spectacular, and on this particular day, between the noise, the rushed service and the fact that the Wife found a hair in her food, by the end of it we decided to just leave and not tip. We actually got stopped by the waiter as we left and he explained that he'd have to answer to his manager if he didn't get a tip, and wanted to know why we weren't leaving one. We tried being diplomatic and explained that it was nothing personal, but he kept bringing up stuff like how he poured out tea and gave complimentary soup so just to shut him we threw a few dollars his way with the intention of never eating in the restaurant again. It would just be waaaay too paranoia inducing to go in there again with the knowledge that we could potentially get harassed and not allowed to leave until we'd treated the staff with the gratuity they felt they deserved, and it makes the whole experience not as pleasant as it should be.
Oh well, there's still like a million, buzillion other sushi restaurants on that stretch of Bloor alone, so it's no great loss...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A Dull Day
In which groceries were bought, some Gran Turismo 5: Prologue was played and we finally got around to creating a new singer for Rock Band to assess the damage. Man, it's tough starting over...
In which groceries were bought, some Gran Turismo 5: Prologue was played and we finally got around to creating a new singer for Rock Band to assess the damage. Man, it's tough starting over...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday Of Writing
Aside from churning out another GameAxis article, the rest of the day consisted of a) getting my ass kicked in Baroque and b) slogging through another ass kicking in Devil May Cry 4. Man these games are HARD...
Aside from churning out another GameAxis article, the rest of the day consisted of a) getting my ass kicked in Baroque and b) slogging through another ass kicking in Devil May Cry 4. Man these games are HARD...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Writing
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Quiet Sunday
Finished up an article for GameAxis (it's that time of the month again, after all) and finally got around to eating in a restaurant we'd walked by a million, buzillion times. Called The Indian Rice Factory, we only just found out it's rated as one of the best Indian restaurants in the city. It certainly compared favorably with my Singapore experiences, but then I never ate Indian food at a really decent restaurant in Singapore, all my sampling was always done in hawker centers and food courts.
Finished up an article for GameAxis (it's that time of the month again, after all) and finally got around to eating in a restaurant we'd walked by a million, buzillion times. Called The Indian Rice Factory, we only just found out it's rated as one of the best Indian restaurants in the city. It certainly compared favorably with my Singapore experiences, but then I never ate Indian food at a really decent restaurant in Singapore, all my sampling was always done in hawker centers and food courts.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Journalism, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Friday, April 11, 2008
Quiet Friday
Little bit of writing the comic and novel, a little bit of shopping and gallery visiting on Bloor, and I finally watched Sunshine on Blu-Ray. A little weird towards the end, but pretty enjoyable. Felt like real literary science fiction as opposed to the normal fare for movies.
Little bit of writing the comic and novel, a little bit of shopping and gallery visiting on Bloor, and I finally watched Sunshine on Blu-Ray. A little weird towards the end, but pretty enjoyable. Felt like real literary science fiction as opposed to the normal fare for movies.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Lost In Loveless, Movies, Novel Writing, Writing
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Wednesday Is Manageable
Wrote some comic and some novel, shopped around Bloor and, just for kicks, messed around with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for a bit. I think I'm getting impatient for GTAIV, but it was nice to hop in that crazy VTOL jet and scream around San Andreas, parachuting into streets and stealing cars. GTA is still a good game for popping in and messing around even after you've played the hell out of it...
Wrote some comic and some novel, shopped around Bloor and, just for kicks, messed around with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for a bit. I think I'm getting impatient for GTAIV, but it was nice to hop in that crazy VTOL jet and scream around San Andreas, parachuting into streets and stealing cars. GTA is still a good game for popping in and messing around even after you've played the hell out of it...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Games, Lost In Loveless, Mean Streets Of Toronto, Novel Writing, Writing
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Just Another Tuesday
A bit of shopping, a bit of writing the comic, the children's novel, and getting approval for the next High Def Digest article. Oh and playing more Dirge of Cerberus.
A bit of shopping, a bit of writing the comic, the children's novel, and getting approval for the next High Def Digest article. Oh and playing more Dirge of Cerberus.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Games, Journalism, Lost In Loveless, Novel Writing, Writing
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Gallery Stuff
The Wife attended a couple of talks being held at the local gallery where her bear is being shown. I went down with her, and it was an interesting couple of talks on a) the publishing of art books because it's fun and b) designer toys and how the market is slowly growing. After that it was back home to start cranking out this month's GameAxis articles, and mess around with Obscure: Aftermath and Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus some more.
The Wife attended a couple of talks being held at the local gallery where her bear is being shown. I went down with her, and it was an interesting couple of talks on a) the publishing of art books because it's fun and b) designer toys and how the market is slowly growing. After that it was back home to start cranking out this month's GameAxis articles, and mess around with Obscure: Aftermath and Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus some more.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Mean Streets Of Toronto, Writing
Friday, April 04, 2008
Friday Is All Over The Place
Kind of doddled with a bunch of different things today, including continuing my masochistic march through Devil May Cry 4's "Dante Must Die" mode (it hates gamers. It really, really hates them...) and in a fit of gamer nostalgia, firing up the old PS1 game Vagrant Story by Squenix, back when they were still Squaresoft. Man, what a difference 8 years makes... I look at these PS1 year 2000 graphics--remember how blown away I was at the time--and all I can do is shake my head. Also continued to crank out some pages of the comic for the Wife, and gave some thought to the next High Def Digest article. I think I have it nailed down and will get in touch with the editor about it soon.
Kind of doddled with a bunch of different things today, including continuing my masochistic march through Devil May Cry 4's "Dante Must Die" mode (it hates gamers. It really, really hates them...) and in a fit of gamer nostalgia, firing up the old PS1 game Vagrant Story by Squenix, back when they were still Squaresoft. Man, what a difference 8 years makes... I look at these PS1 year 2000 graphics--remember how blown away I was at the time--and all I can do is shake my head. Also continued to crank out some pages of the comic for the Wife, and gave some thought to the next High Def Digest article. I think I have it nailed down and will get in touch with the editor about it soon.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Games, Journalism, Writing
Thursday, April 03, 2008
More Writing
Sent off the High-Def Digest article and it was accepted with very minor tweaks. Other than that, wrote more of the comic, wrote some of the children's novel and once again got annihilated by Green Grass & High Tides on Rock Band...
Sent off the High-Def Digest article and it was accepted with very minor tweaks. Other than that, wrote more of the comic, wrote some of the children's novel and once again got annihilated by Green Grass & High Tides on Rock Band...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Games, Journalism, Lost In Loveless, Rock Band, Writing
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Scariest Hour Of My Life
In retrospect it was actually not that big a deal, but today I had the worst period of time in the entire period since I've returned to Canada. While doing the laundry, my wedding ring slipped off and ended up in the machine. I didn't know this at the time of course; all I knew is that while we were walking down the street to our favorite diner, I suddenly noticed that as I was unconsciously rubbing my pinky against my 4th finger, it felt different, and realized to my horror that my wedding ring was gone. We theorized that perhaps it was indeed in the washing machine, but we ate first, waiting for the machine to finish and I was absolutely miserable. Suddenly losing that little piece of metal was weighing very heavily on my shoulders and I have a difficult time explaining why.
In the end, the ring did indeed end up in the machine and I found it once more, as well as an enormous sense of relief that likes of which I don't recall having experienced this strongly.
In retrospect it was actually not that big a deal, but today I had the worst period of time in the entire period since I've returned to Canada. While doing the laundry, my wedding ring slipped off and ended up in the machine. I didn't know this at the time of course; all I knew is that while we were walking down the street to our favorite diner, I suddenly noticed that as I was unconsciously rubbing my pinky against my 4th finger, it felt different, and realized to my horror that my wedding ring was gone. We theorized that perhaps it was indeed in the washing machine, but we ate first, waiting for the machine to finish and I was absolutely miserable. Suddenly losing that little piece of metal was weighing very heavily on my shoulders and I have a difficult time explaining why.
In the end, the ring did indeed end up in the machine and I found it once more, as well as an enormous sense of relief that likes of which I don't recall having experienced this strongly.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Icky Couple Stuff
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Marathon Midpoint
So I just finished watching episode 12 of the third season of Battlestar Galactica.
Holy crap. I will never see a TV series this good again in my life time.
So I just finished watching episode 12 of the third season of Battlestar Galactica.Holy crap. I will never see a TV series this good again in my life time.
Labels: Battlestar Galactica, Boring And Insipid Posts
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Idle Sunday
Not much of note. Some Devil May Cry 4, some writing of the children's novel, and some re-watching of Planet Earth.
Not much of note. Some Devil May Cry 4, some writing of the children's novel, and some re-watching of Planet Earth.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Lost In Loveless, Writing
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Errand Day
In which laundry was done, minor groceries were purchased, a cat was force fed a pill, some Devil May Cry 4 was played (because the new PS3 refuses to recognize my game save as belonging to me and denies me access. Bleah, I hate re-starting...) and I finally saw the new Hulk trailer, only to be amazed to find that apparently New York bears a striking resemblance to Yonge Street, right down the Sam The Record Man store and Zanzibar club. I finished up my first article for the High Def Digest and sent that off, I expect it'll probably go up next week. I learned quite a few interesting things about the history of High Definition gaming in the process, so I'm quite glad I got to write it. I also put down some deposits at the local game store for the Atlus RPGs Baroque, Persona 3: FES and Grand Theft Auto IV.
April is gonna' be a brutal month for games...
In which laundry was done, minor groceries were purchased, a cat was force fed a pill, some Devil May Cry 4 was played (because the new PS3 refuses to recognize my game save as belonging to me and denies me access. Bleah, I hate re-starting...) and I finally saw the new Hulk trailer, only to be amazed to find that apparently New York bears a striking resemblance to Yonge Street, right down the Sam The Record Man store and Zanzibar club. I finished up my first article for the High Def Digest and sent that off, I expect it'll probably go up next week. I learned quite a few interesting things about the history of High Definition gaming in the process, so I'm quite glad I got to write it. I also put down some deposits at the local game store for the Atlus RPGs Baroque, Persona 3: FES and Grand Theft Auto IV.
April is gonna' be a brutal month for games...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Whole Day Inside
Toronto pretty much looked like the picture to the left for the entire day. This wasn't that big a deal to me, having grown up in Edmonton where 30 degrees below zero is pretty much a given at some point during the winter. It was also not a big deal to the Wife, surprisingly, because all the movies and my horror stories of walking to school in deep snow had led her to expect that all of Canada was one continental sized, never-ending episode of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. This weather merely confirmed her expectations.
However, for most of our friends and neighbors here in Ontario (Best Friend, Tactician and Math Genius excepting who also hail from Edmonton) this was pretty severe and much chaos ensued from drivers totally unprepared for winter driving conditions, despite the fact that they are Canadian and have lived here all their lives. Apparently to the life-long residents of Toronto, the current weather is quite a big deal, and despite the fact that the snow still hasn't reached--at least for me--alarming levels, they are pretty much in awe of the weather this year. Oh these Eastern Canadians and their delicate sensibilities... how quaint.
Aside from that, a day spent gleefully cooped up at home resulted in the completion of grinding for all Final Fantasy IX characters, who are all now level 99. The only thing left to do now is finish off a couple an optional boss, and the game will be done. After sitting in my collection for 8 years, it will finally be done.
Also the biggest blog site about videogames, Kotaku, has made it known that they are looking for a Weekend Editor. I figured, "What the hell," and let them know I was available. Guess we'll see whether or not they can use me...
Toronto pretty much looked like the picture to the left for the entire day. This wasn't that big a deal to me, having grown up in Edmonton where 30 degrees below zero is pretty much a given at some point during the winter. It was also not a big deal to the Wife, surprisingly, because all the movies and my horror stories of walking to school in deep snow had led her to expect that all of Canada was one continental sized, never-ending episode of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. This weather merely confirmed her expectations.However, for most of our friends and neighbors here in Ontario (Best Friend, Tactician and Math Genius excepting who also hail from Edmonton) this was pretty severe and much chaos ensued from drivers totally unprepared for winter driving conditions, despite the fact that they are Canadian and have lived here all their lives. Apparently to the life-long residents of Toronto, the current weather is quite a big deal, and despite the fact that the snow still hasn't reached--at least for me--alarming levels, they are pretty much in awe of the weather this year. Oh these Eastern Canadians and their delicate sensibilities... how quaint.
Aside from that, a day spent gleefully cooped up at home resulted in the completion of grinding for all Final Fantasy IX characters, who are all now level 99. The only thing left to do now is finish off a couple an optional boss, and the game will be done. After sitting in my collection for 8 years, it will finally be done.
Also the biggest blog site about videogames, Kotaku, has made it known that they are looking for a Weekend Editor. I figured, "What the hell," and let them know I was available. Guess we'll see whether or not they can use me...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Journalism, Mean Streets Of Toronto, RPGs
Thursday, March 06, 2008
More Work
Aside from still playing Final Fantasy IX and writing GameAxis stuff, I also finally solidified an agreement to be a new contributor. I'll be writing articles for a website called The High-Def Digest, which I've been frequenting for a while now. They have the best reviews of Blu-Ray discs, and unlike other websites during the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray format war, they played a mean games of Swiss Neutrality and refused to endorse one format over the other. As as a result, it was a refreshing island of rationalism in a sea of frothing, boiling format fanboy hate. I'm looking forward to writing for them since I've enjoyed their content so much over the last year.
Aside from still playing Final Fantasy IX and writing GameAxis stuff, I also finally solidified an agreement to be a new contributor. I'll be writing articles for a website called The High-Def Digest, which I've been frequenting for a while now. They have the best reviews of Blu-Ray discs, and unlike other websites during the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray format war, they played a mean games of Swiss Neutrality and refused to endorse one format over the other. As as a result, it was a refreshing island of rationalism in a sea of frothing, boiling format fanboy hate. I'm looking forward to writing for them since I've enjoyed their content so much over the last year.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, RPGs, Writing
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Routine Continues
Ran errands around the neighborhood, tried a new restaurant, wrote GameAxis article, wrote children's novel, played Final Fantasy IX, and that's about it...
Ran errands around the neighborhood, tried a new restaurant, wrote GameAxis article, wrote children's novel, played Final Fantasy IX, and that's about it...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Journalism, Lost In Loveless, Novel Writing, RPGs, Writing
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Sunday O' Dullness
Wrote GameAxis articles, wrote the children's novel, played Final Fantasy IX and got some promising news about something I can't talk about.
Wrote GameAxis articles, wrote the children's novel, played Final Fantasy IX and got some promising news about something I can't talk about.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Lost In Loveless, Mystery Job, RPGs, Writing
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Saturday Of Dullness
Some groceries and Final Fantasy IX. That's about it, folks...
Some groceries and Final Fantasy IX. That's about it, folks...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, RPGs
Friday, February 29, 2008
More Quiet Work
Just another day in which a snow fall was avoided by hiding indoors, a GameAxis article was started and finished, more writing to the children's novel was eked out and some Final Fantasy IX was played.
This, apparently, is what happens you're "settled down."
Just another day in which a snow fall was avoided by hiding indoors, a GameAxis article was started and finished, more writing to the children's novel was eked out and some Final Fantasy IX was played.
This, apparently, is what happens you're "settled down."
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Journalism, Lost In Loveless, RPGs, Writing
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Goofing Around
Mostly just playing Final Fantasy IX and running a few errands around the neighborhood.
Mostly just playing Final Fantasy IX and running a few errands around the neighborhood.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, RPGs
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Just Another Boring Day
Aside from some Final Fantasy IX and some writing of the children's novel, not much else...
Aside from some Final Fantasy IX and some writing of the children's novel, not much else...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Lost In Loveless, RPGs
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Day Of Errands
Aside from running around the neighborhood eating at favorite restaurants, sending off mail, doing some grocery shopping and discovering a new gallery, not much of note... I love living in the Annex.
Aside from running around the neighborhood eating at favorite restaurants, sending off mail, doing some grocery shopping and discovering a new gallery, not much of note... I love living in the Annex.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Monday, February 25, 2008
Oh Yeah...
I was writing a novel, wasn't I?
I actually went back to it and worked on it some today.
I was writing a novel, wasn't I?
I actually went back to it and worked on it some today.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Lost In Loveless, Novel Writing, Writing
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Coffin Has Arrived
A term that is borrowed from the leagues of Xbox 360 owners that have had to go through this procedure before. In this case, coffin refers to the box couriered over by the console manufacturer in which you are expected to place your console, and then send back to them. When they receive it, they will send back a new console.
We're not sending it back just yet. I'd been needing an external hard drive anyway to save data on (since hard drives seem to have a 100% failure rate with me and I've actually lost two novels in progress that way) so we're going to buy tomorrow, use that to unload the PS3 hard drive data, then wipe the PS3 hard drive as recommended before packing it in. That way when the new PS3 arrives all the saved games (and more importantly, the precious downloaded songs for Rock Band) will be intact and still ready to go.
We're not sending it back just yet. I'd been needing an external hard drive anyway to save data on (since hard drives seem to have a 100% failure rate with me and I've actually lost two novels in progress that way) so we're going to buy tomorrow, use that to unload the PS3 hard drive data, then wipe the PS3 hard drive as recommended before packing it in. That way when the new PS3 arrives all the saved games (and more importantly, the precious downloaded songs for Rock Band) will be intact and still ready to go.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
It's Here
And it's freakin' HARD.
You can click on the picture to enlarge the Obscenely Hot Chick that is kicking demon ass willy nilly. She's part of the balletic insanity that gamers just take for granted when it comes to playing a Devil May Cry game, and she continues the proud tradition of being Oh So Naughty in a way that seriously pushes the "Mature" rating of the game. Sadly, you don't get to control Dante right off the bat, which is a shame, since he's really what the game is all about...
And it's freakin' HARD.You can click on the picture to enlarge the Obscenely Hot Chick that is kicking demon ass willy nilly. She's part of the balletic insanity that gamers just take for granted when it comes to playing a Devil May Cry game, and she continues the proud tradition of being Oh So Naughty in a way that seriously pushes the "Mature" rating of the game. Sadly, you don't get to control Dante right off the bat, which is a shame, since he's really what the game is all about...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Damn
That was some good science fiction TV. I heart Kendra Shaw...
That was some good science fiction TV. I heart Kendra Shaw...Labels: Battlestar Galactica, Boring And Insipid Posts
Saturday, February 02, 2008
The Refresher
Day 2 of playing Final Fantasy XII has brought back one thing I had forgotten in the year plus since I've touched the game.
It's freakin' HUGE.
Even though all I have to do now is fight the final boss to end the game, I am, of course, being a completist and going through all the additional side-quests, getting the best weapons and good stuff like that. This is a gargantuan task, and even over half the game's content has been experienced, there is still a TON of stuff left to do. Man. This game is gigantic...
Day 2 of playing Final Fantasy XII has brought back one thing I had forgotten in the year plus since I've touched the game.
It's freakin' HUGE.
Even though all I have to do now is fight the final boss to end the game, I am, of course, being a completist and going through all the additional side-quests, getting the best weapons and good stuff like that. This is a gargantuan task, and even over half the game's content has been experienced, there is still a TON of stuff left to do. Man. This game is gigantic...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, RPGs
Friday, February 01, 2008
Back To The PS2
Or at least, the backwards compatibility function of the PS3. I don't know why, but suddenly today, I realized "Hey, we haven't finished Final Fantasy XII yet."
So I'm getting back to that.
Or at least, the backwards compatibility function of the PS3. I don't know why, but suddenly today, I realized "Hey, we haven't finished Final Fantasy XII yet."
So I'm getting back to that.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, RPGs
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Whoo Hoo More Rush
Working Man was one of the new songs available for purchase today. We also recently found out that--in a situation I never could have imagined when I was living in Edmonton--Rush will be giving a "hometown" concert here in Toronto in a few months.
Wow. Seeing Rush as a "local act." Never thought I'd be able to do that. Life is weird...
Working Man was one of the new songs available for purchase today. We also recently found out that--in a situation I never could have imagined when I was living in Edmonton--Rush will be giving a "hometown" concert here in Toronto in a few months.
Wow. Seeing Rush as a "local act." Never thought I'd be able to do that. Life is weird...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Music, Rock Band
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Another Boring Wednesday
Some gaming, some reading, some writing. That's it.
Some gaming, some reading, some writing. That's it.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
And Now I Weep
96% on Green Grass & High Tides before the crazy triplet sequence at the end annihilated me. So... damn... close...
I probably won't hit that percentage again for another two months...
96% on Green Grass & High Tides before the crazy triplet sequence at the end annihilated me. So... damn... close...
I probably won't hit that percentage again for another two months...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Evil Cute Games
I THOUGHT this game was going to be a nice, relaxing, stress free experience that would make a slow-paced, change of gaming styles when I bought it and downloaded it off the Playstation Store. That assumption couldn't be further from the truth than a belief in weapons of mass destruction cached away in Iraq. Pixel Junk Monsters belies its cute exterior with one of the most rapid and pulse pounding kinds of gameplay, the likes of which I haven't experienced since my younger arcade years, frantically trying to avoid being eaten by Sinistar. The simple premise of protect your cute little house from advancing waves of monsters by creating towers to kill them goes all out in testing your reflexes, timing, strategic and tactical thinking all at a pace that can only be described as "As quickly as the human brain will allow." In minutes I went from "Aw, what a cute looking game," to, "I'm going to have a stroke." HOLY HELL, IS THIS GAME HARD...
I THOUGHT this game was going to be a nice, relaxing, stress free experience that would make a slow-paced, change of gaming styles when I bought it and downloaded it off the Playstation Store. That assumption couldn't be further from the truth than a belief in weapons of mass destruction cached away in Iraq. Pixel Junk Monsters belies its cute exterior with one of the most rapid and pulse pounding kinds of gameplay, the likes of which I haven't experienced since my younger arcade years, frantically trying to avoid being eaten by Sinistar. The simple premise of protect your cute little house from advancing waves of monsters by creating towers to kill them goes all out in testing your reflexes, timing, strategic and tactical thinking all at a pace that can only be described as "As quickly as the human brain will allow." In minutes I went from "Aw, what a cute looking game," to, "I'm going to have a stroke." HOLY HELL, IS THIS GAME HARD...Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Another Quiet Saturday
In which the Wife continued to ensure that she maintained the #1 spot on the leaderboards for all the Oasis songs.
In which the Wife continued to ensure that she maintained the #1 spot on the leaderboards for all the Oasis songs.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Thursday, January 24, 2008
How Many Times Can One Person Sing Oasis Songs?
If that person is The Wife and has been waiting a good chunk of her life for this moment?
About eleventy billion times roughly in the span of a day.
Today was the day the Britpop bomb dropped on Rock Band and, as to be expected, the Wife was bouncing around the apartment like a kid at Christmas, with each minute becoming an excruciating hour as she waited for evening to arrive, when the Playstation Online store normally updates with new content. So eager to make time pass faster, she was willing to even indulge in a shopping trip wherein a new, decent winter jacket was purchased at an amazingly low sale price, various kitchen implements were bought (we now have new a new vegetable peeler and ice cream scoop) and even the purchase of season 2 of Robot Chicken was allowed, as long as these things took up more time while the painful wait for Oasis dragged on. Alas, my attempt to locate the Blade-Runner Blu-Ray 5 disc set was utterly thwarted during the shopping spree, not because The Wife didn't approve, but simply because the damn thing is still sold out. Oh well, there's always Amazon...
Suffice to say that when the momentous update arrived, the downloadable content (or DLC in the parlance of gamers) was hastily bought, downloaded, installed, and for the next few hours, she sang her heart out and it was pretty much a given that no other kind of "rock band-ing" would be done for the day. She was in a such good mood that she didn't even care when I snuck in an additional DLC game I'd been eying for a bit.
If that person is The Wife and has been waiting a good chunk of her life for this moment?About eleventy billion times roughly in the span of a day.
Today was the day the Britpop bomb dropped on Rock Band and, as to be expected, the Wife was bouncing around the apartment like a kid at Christmas, with each minute becoming an excruciating hour as she waited for evening to arrive, when the Playstation Online store normally updates with new content. So eager to make time pass faster, she was willing to even indulge in a shopping trip wherein a new, decent winter jacket was purchased at an amazingly low sale price, various kitchen implements were bought (we now have new a new vegetable peeler and ice cream scoop) and even the purchase of season 2 of Robot Chicken was allowed, as long as these things took up more time while the painful wait for Oasis dragged on. Alas, my attempt to locate the Blade-Runner Blu-Ray 5 disc set was utterly thwarted during the shopping spree, not because The Wife didn't approve, but simply because the damn thing is still sold out. Oh well, there's always Amazon...
Suffice to say that when the momentous update arrived, the downloadable content (or DLC in the parlance of gamers) was hastily bought, downloaded, installed, and for the next few hours, she sang her heart out and it was pretty much a given that no other kind of "rock band-ing" would be done for the day. She was in a such good mood that she didn't even care when I snuck in an additional DLC game I'd been eying for a bit.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Rock Band
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Nearly Done With The Ratchet
It sometimes occurs to me that being such a completist when it comes to games is probably not very healthy, but then I remember that I still need to get a few skill points or an Ultimate Weapon or pass a particularly difficult song and the moment of insanity passes.
It sometimes occurs to me that being such a completist when it comes to games is probably not very healthy, but then I remember that I still need to get a few skill points or an Ultimate Weapon or pass a particularly difficult song and the moment of insanity passes.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Post Office
The only thing of note was that the kid's comic was wrapped up, and we went down the post office to affix stamps to a seemingly endless line of envelopes destined for the offices of art directors, magazine editors and anyone else that might need an illustrator.
The only thing of note was that the kid's comic was wrapped up, and we went down the post office to affix stamps to a seemingly endless line of envelopes destined for the offices of art directors, magazine editors and anyone else that might need an illustrator.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Monday, January 21, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Stamps & Envelopes
In addition to the usual Rock Banding and Ratcheting, there was a bit of helping the Wife put post cards into envelopes for sending off to potential clients. This, apparently, is what professionals do.
In addition to the usual Rock Banding and Ratcheting, there was a bit of helping the Wife put post cards into envelopes for sending off to potential clients. This, apparently, is what professionals do.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Icky Couple Stuff
Friday, January 18, 2008
More Fun With Ratchet
It may be a kid's game, but since I'm emotionally immature anyway, that suits me just fine...
It may be a kid's game, but since I'm emotionally immature anyway, that suits me just fine...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Another Quiet Sunday
Uncharted is slowly being finished on Crushing Mode. Maaaaaaaan is this game hard. Rock Band continues to push the PS3 to its limits with near constant use. This game is EVIL...
Uncharted is slowly being finished on Crushing Mode. Maaaaaaaan is this game hard. Rock Band continues to push the PS3 to its limits with near constant use. This game is EVIL...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Rock Band
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The Miracle Of Rock Band And The Internet
Today we actually played Rock Band with some friends in Singapore. With zero lag. This is one of those times when I'm truly amazed at how far games have come. Unfortunately there's no voice chat on the PS3, so we had to use an instant messenger system on nearby computers to communicate, but wow... actually playing with folks exactly on the other side of the planet with instant response.
Also, our sleeping hours are starting to creep up again, so it looks like the next few weeks will be one of those weird ones where we're waking up at 9 in the evening and not being able to actually go shopping until half-way through the "day" when the sun finally comes up and stores open...
Today we actually played Rock Band with some friends in Singapore. With zero lag. This is one of those times when I'm truly amazed at how far games have come. Unfortunately there's no voice chat on the PS3, so we had to use an instant messenger system on nearby computers to communicate, but wow... actually playing with folks exactly on the other side of the planet with instant response.
Also, our sleeping hours are starting to creep up again, so it looks like the next few weeks will be one of those weird ones where we're waking up at 9 in the evening and not being able to actually go shopping until half-way through the "day" when the sun finally comes up and stores open...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Friday, January 11, 2008
Still Writing
And of course, I've finished up Uncharted on Hard and am now working through it at the hardest difficulty level, Crushing, which is... Really, DAMN Hard... Also, in a total surprise move, the whammy bar on my Fender Strat Rock Band controller has died. Time to put in that order for a replacement. Good thing it's still under warranty...
And of course, I've finished up Uncharted on Hard and am now working through it at the hardest difficulty level, Crushing, which is... Really, DAMN Hard... Also, in a total surprise move, the whammy bar on my Fender Strat Rock Band controller has died. Time to put in that order for a replacement. Good thing it's still under warranty...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Rock Band, Writing
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
More Gaming
Just a bit of Uncharted and Rock Band...
Just a bit of Uncharted and Rock Band...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Rock Band
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Another Quiet Day
Did some shopping, played some Band World Tour in Rock Band and watched with amusement as the Wife sang with a group that had been very politely asking her if the #1 singer would deign to interact with the plebes and grace them with her voice. She did pretty much the way I expected, which is to say that her scores averaged between 98%-100%, and she got a bunch of message afterwards expressing amazement.
Did some shopping, played some Band World Tour in Rock Band and watched with amusement as the Wife sang with a group that had been very politely asking her if the #1 singer would deign to interact with the plebes and grace them with her voice. She did pretty much the way I expected, which is to say that her scores averaged between 98%-100%, and she got a bunch of message afterwards expressing amazement.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Monday, December 31, 2007
Goodbye 2007
Around this same time last year, I was just about smack dab on the equator, sitting in a hot apartment, cataloging DVDs and games and putting them into boxes for an imminent move to the other side of the planet. Out of all the months in 2007, only January was a low point and that's only because it was still spent in Singapore.
I don't foresee the same problem this year.
Happy New Year, all. Hopefully the rest of 2008 will be as good as 2007 was from February onwards.
Around this same time last year, I was just about smack dab on the equator, sitting in a hot apartment, cataloging DVDs and games and putting them into boxes for an imminent move to the other side of the planet. Out of all the months in 2007, only January was a low point and that's only because it was still spent in Singapore.
I don't foresee the same problem this year.
Happy New Year, all. Hopefully the rest of 2008 will be as good as 2007 was from February onwards.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Musing, My Life
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Sunday Of Drumming
This is going a LOT slower than it did with the guitar. Either that or else I'm simply too used to being familiar with the more rapid progression of guitar playing. Regardless, current progress has ground to a halt on drums on Hard. I've resorted to going back and 5-starring everything I missed on Easy and Medium, and finding that 5-starring things on Medium is Incredibly Difficult when your foot and hand still refuse to operate independently of each other.
This is going a LOT slower than it did with the guitar. Either that or else I'm simply too used to being familiar with the more rapid progression of guitar playing. Regardless, current progress has ground to a halt on drums on Hard. I've resorted to going back and 5-starring everything I missed on Easy and Medium, and finding that 5-starring things on Medium is Incredibly Difficult when your foot and hand still refuse to operate independently of each other.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Holiday Slowness Continues
I expect that at some point once the New Year arrives I'll finally do something other than play Rock Band...
I expect that at some point once the New Year arrives I'll finally do something other than play Rock Band...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Friday, December 28, 2007
Friday Is Errand Day
Aside from a few of the usual tasks around the neighborhood, not much goin' on outside the world of playing in a Plastic Band.
Aside from a few of the usual tasks around the neighborhood, not much goin' on outside the world of playing in a Plastic Band.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas Tally
It was a much quieter more laid back Christmas in terms of loot since, for obvious the reasons, the one thing I really, really, REALLY wanted this year was already picked up during American Thanksgiving and has been played religiously since then. However, some other stuff has been picked up along the way. The Wife is now the proud recipient of a piece of her childhood in the form of this:
Since she'd grown up as a kid watching this, it's a precious piece of her childhood, and now she can watch it in the comfort of her own home, commercial free and enjoying the Deep Dark Shame where no one can see.
I have to admit I was quite surprised when, upon viewing some of the episodes I saw the name Paul Dini (he created Batman: The Animated Series amongst other Warner Brothers modern animation classics). I had no idea he had actually been involved in the series, but upon watching the episodes he wrote, it was pretty obvious that even at that early stage, he was already showing a flair for half-hour animated episodes since his episodes, in some incredible way that I still can't believe, actually evince something of plot and characterization. That's not to say that he wrote Emmy worthy episodes of He-Man, but compared to the quality of the more usual staple in the series, he did actually manage to create genuine moments of story here and there in the episodes he wrote. I guess when you've got it, it'll always shine through in some way, shape or form, regardless of limitations.
This is the other thing, and man are we ever happy with it. I'd been hearing for ages and yonks about this "totally freakin' amazing nature documentary with the British guy" that was supposed to have had some of the most startling footage ever put to film. After watching this, I can totally believe it. When you hear some of the stories that the camera crew went through (like waiting around on a Norwegian polar reserve for four months just waiting for ONE shot of a Polar Bear coming out of hibernation and crawling out of its hole) you immediately begin to appreciate just how much work went into this series. Despite the fact that nearly every shot looks like a high budget CG rendering from Lord of the Rings or Walking with Dinosaurs, aside from some tricks with time lapse photography, every shot is the real thing. Which I find somewhat disturbing because even when I know it's real, I still sometimes find myself thinking "That shot of the shark looked more realistic in Chased By Dinosaurs."
It was a much quieter more laid back Christmas in terms of loot since, for obvious the reasons, the one thing I really, really, REALLY wanted this year was already picked up during American Thanksgiving and has been played religiously since then. However, some other stuff has been picked up along the way. The Wife is now the proud recipient of a piece of her childhood in the form of this:
Since she'd grown up as a kid watching this, it's a precious piece of her childhood, and now she can watch it in the comfort of her own home, commercial free and enjoying the Deep Dark Shame where no one can see.I have to admit I was quite surprised when, upon viewing some of the episodes I saw the name Paul Dini (he created Batman: The Animated Series amongst other Warner Brothers modern animation classics). I had no idea he had actually been involved in the series, but upon watching the episodes he wrote, it was pretty obvious that even at that early stage, he was already showing a flair for half-hour animated episodes since his episodes, in some incredible way that I still can't believe, actually evince something of plot and characterization. That's not to say that he wrote Emmy worthy episodes of He-Man, but compared to the quality of the more usual staple in the series, he did actually manage to create genuine moments of story here and there in the episodes he wrote. I guess when you've got it, it'll always shine through in some way, shape or form, regardless of limitations.
This is the other thing, and man are we ever happy with it. I'd been hearing for ages and yonks about this "totally freakin' amazing nature documentary with the British guy" that was supposed to have had some of the most startling footage ever put to film. After watching this, I can totally believe it. When you hear some of the stories that the camera crew went through (like waiting around on a Norwegian polar reserve for four months just waiting for ONE shot of a Polar Bear coming out of hibernation and crawling out of its hole) you immediately begin to appreciate just how much work went into this series. Despite the fact that nearly every shot looks like a high budget CG rendering from Lord of the Rings or Walking with Dinosaurs, aside from some tricks with time lapse photography, every shot is the real thing. Which I find somewhat disturbing because even when I know it's real, I still sometimes find myself thinking "That shot of the shark looked more realistic in Chased By Dinosaurs."
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Boxing Day At Home
Yup, we totally avoided the sales on Boxing Day and instead spent the time doing... more of the same. Rock Band has become the new vortex of suckage for all spare time.
Yup, we totally avoided the sales on Boxing Day and instead spent the time doing... more of the same. Rock Band has become the new vortex of suckage for all spare time.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas
First Christmas in Canada for the Wife, meaning that it is the first White Christmas of her entire life. And how do we spend it? Spending time together doing the Endless Setlist AGAIN on Rock Band. Why? Because we can.
Yup. Life is officially good. Merry Christmas to the rest of you.
First Christmas in Canada for the Wife, meaning that it is the first White Christmas of her entire life. And how do we spend it? Spending time together doing the Endless Setlist AGAIN on Rock Band. Why? Because we can.
Yup. Life is officially good. Merry Christmas to the rest of you.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Icky Couple Stuff, Rock Band
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Sunday For Singing
The Wife continues to mess with singing and consequently upping her career score.
The Wife continues to mess with singing and consequently upping her career score.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Weekend Of Rock
Yup, getting pretty predictable, ain't it?
Yup, getting pretty predictable, ain't it?
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Friday, December 14, 2007
Busy Friday
Shopping, laundry and the Neighbor came in for a while to thrash out on the drums in Rock Band. A good time was had by all, and he suddenly turned from being kind of "blah" towards Jet's Are You Gonna' Be My Girl, with its over saturation as in iPod commercial tune to "DAMN this song is fun to play on drums!"
Shopping, laundry and the Neighbor came in for a while to thrash out on the drums in Rock Band. A good time was had by all, and he suddenly turned from being kind of "blah" towards Jet's Are You Gonna' Be My Girl, with its over saturation as in iPod commercial tune to "DAMN this song is fun to play on drums!"
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Another Quiet Sunday
Not much except for a visit from the Best Friend who messed around with Rock Band and surprised me by totally nailing the vocals for Radiohead's Creep. It would seem that all that singing along in the car for years can actually pay off...
Not much except for a visit from the Best Friend who messed around with Rock Band and surprised me by totally nailing the vocals for Radiohead's Creep. It would seem that all that singing along in the car for years can actually pay off...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Friends, Rock Band
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Taking It Easy
Mostly just finishing up an article and then cutting down on guitar theatrics in Rock Band as my shoulder continues to ache from constant abuse. I shifted it down a gear to playing Bass and made the horrifying discovery that I'm actually quite good at it. Oh well...
Mostly just finishing up an article and then cutting down on guitar theatrics in Rock Band as my shoulder continues to ache from constant abuse. I shifted it down a gear to playing Bass and made the horrifying discovery that I'm actually quite good at it. Oh well...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Monday, December 03, 2007
Rocking Through The Pain
Did a bit more work, did some shopping at Eaton Centre, and nursed a shoulder that is protesting mightily about yesterday's abuse, hoping that I would have the good sense to not put the tortured limb through more senseless abuse.
I never was one to listen to common sense though. At the very least, I've made more progress in the Hard mode for drums and just barely squeaked through Black Sabbath's Paranoid. The next tier, however, is a dead end until I get that limb independence thing licked.
Did a bit more work, did some shopping at Eaton Centre, and nursed a shoulder that is protesting mightily about yesterday's abuse, hoping that I would have the good sense to not put the tortured limb through more senseless abuse.
I never was one to listen to common sense though. At the very least, I've made more progress in the Hard mode for drums and just barely squeaked through Black Sabbath's Paranoid. The next tier, however, is a dead end until I get that limb independence thing licked.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Strange Days
Having just woken up before midnight, there's barely anything to talk about at all. Before bed, coffee was purchased at a local shop in the neighborhood, some of the children's novel was written, that's about it, really.
And, to keep the Rock Band fever going, here's a quick video of some of the venues that players will find themselves performing in...
Having just woken up before midnight, there's barely anything to talk about at all. Before bed, coffee was purchased at a local shop in the neighborhood, some of the children's novel was written, that's about it, really.
And, to keep the Rock Band fever going, here's a quick video of some of the venues that players will find themselves performing in...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Lost In Loveless, Novel Writing, Rock Band, Writing
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Quiet. Occupied
Finished off the GameAxis articles for the month, and started on some stuff for the kid's comic. In an effort to keep the momentum going (just a little over two weeks now!) here is a video of songs that appear in Rock Band. It's not quite up to date, but it still covers the majority.
Finished off the GameAxis articles for the month, and started on some stuff for the kid's comic. In an effort to keep the momentum going (just a little over two weeks now!) here is a video of songs that appear in Rock Band. It's not quite up to date, but it still covers the majority.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Journalism, Rock Band, Writing
Saturday, November 03, 2007
80's Weekend
The only event of note was finally ending Daylight Savings Time. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day, with a visit with all the neighbors, and an 80's movie marathon consisting of Monster Squad, The Goonies and Beetlejuice. Ah, the memories. Sometimes I think that the 80's were the last decade where it was possible to make innocent movies like these for a pre-teen age group.
Or maybe they still do and I just don't pay attention anymore...
The only event of note was finally ending Daylight Savings Time. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day, with a visit with all the neighbors, and an 80's movie marathon consisting of Monster Squad, The Goonies and Beetlejuice. Ah, the memories. Sometimes I think that the 80's were the last decade where it was possible to make innocent movies like these for a pre-teen age group.
Or maybe they still do and I just don't pay attention anymore...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Movies
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Another Boring Day
Wrote articles. Did some shopping in the neighborhood. Downloaded new stuff off the Playstation Store. Oh, and I forgot to mention the Wife bought this for herself yesterday:
For people that don't know their Final Fantasy-lore, the creature on the left is known as a "Tonberry." It is a cute little lizard thing that wields a tiny butcher's knife. This seemingly harmless creature is the bane of any encounter in a FF game simply because it has an obscene number of hit points (think 9999) and slowly advances towards you with each turn as you try in panicked fashion to pummel it. If it should manage to get within striking distance of your character, it pokes you with that little knife which means instant death. It is the Wife's favorite FF monster. She could not resist when she saw this, and bought it a funky vintage gaming store on Bloor and Spadina. I think she scored major points for a) being a girl and b) being a girl that actually KNEW what this was...
Wrote articles. Did some shopping in the neighborhood. Downloaded new stuff off the Playstation Store. Oh, and I forgot to mention the Wife bought this for herself yesterday:
For people that don't know their Final Fantasy-lore, the creature on the left is known as a "Tonberry." It is a cute little lizard thing that wields a tiny butcher's knife. This seemingly harmless creature is the bane of any encounter in a FF game simply because it has an obscene number of hit points (think 9999) and slowly advances towards you with each turn as you try in panicked fashion to pummel it. If it should manage to get within striking distance of your character, it pokes you with that little knife which means instant death. It is the Wife's favorite FF monster. She could not resist when she saw this, and bought it a funky vintage gaming store on Bloor and Spadina. I think she scored major points for a) being a girl and b) being a girl that actually KNEW what this was...Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Gaming Industry, Journalism, RPGs, Writing
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Another Low Grade Work Day
Finished up a comic script, started on another article for GameAxis. That's about it...
Finished up a comic script, started on another article for GameAxis. That's about it...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Comics, Journalism, Writing
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