Coast of Araska

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Crazy British Man Rambles About Mario Galaxy



So I've heard this guy ramble on games before, and he is if nothing funny, and somewhat accurate. He is generally cruel to the subjects of his review, not withstanding portal, so here he goes on Mario, and well he is right, I guess, but his most hilarious incite came about Mario Sunshine, because that game did suck, even in comparison to Gobbles head on transplanted on to a praying mantis.

Having finished the game I will say I liked it, and its terrible formulaic star gather way, but I couldn't help chuckle, so enjoy the review

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Monday, October 22, 2007

Various things

Well well well, what a whirlwind couple of days last week, life has been extra busy of late, and I haven't posted a thing at all. On the upside most of the people who read this were involved in many of the things so no one is out of date.

To start with, I guess a week and a half ago I got a second piercing, this time in my ear. It is certainly a non-standard piercing, and after the fact I found out that many regard it as one of the more painful piercings. So to say I'm suffering my own foolishness is fair, but I think it looks pretty good. I don't have a picture yet (because my camera is having smashed screen issues...) But here is the Wikipedia link on it, it is formally known as a rook piercing.

Next up on my busy schedule was the David Usher concert on Thursday night. The opener was good, I'm not as hyped for her as I was for NLX, but Pascale Picard was still really good. Her drummer was sweaty as sin in his awesome tweed jacket, and her guitarist nearly rocked himself off his chair while one handed playing from the frets while doing some freaky shit on a mini mixer board. We also couldn't help but tease the base guitarist. I know the old adage of the base player doesn't get the girls, but this one could have tried a little harder. He actually reminded me of me when I was heavier, and if I had slightly longer shaggy hair. It was the golf shirt that was his end, if he had just opened a button or two, and rocked the neck of his guitar in beat with the music he was playing he would have had a chance...

The middle band was that girl who didn't win on Rockstar, and with good reason, she came off as 100% poser. I don't think she was really a fit for the crowd, but when someone has to come out and announce your imminent arrival and demand that the audience throw up the devil horns for you, you really are struggling. Besides the 'horns' (which is how real people refer to them) are only thrown for merit, not on demand. But it was okay, because she seemed to have her hand locked in some sort of death grip horns position on the microphone, when she wasn't touching herself sexually (seriously...) I also think her parents were in the front row...

Finally David Usher came at the end. They had a broken opera singer (The macbook kept crashing and it had the samples) but they still did a fair rendition of Black Black Heart, and otherwise he was his usual awesome self. They had a good mix his stuff and some Moist, as well as some new stuff that isn't out yet, and a great cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy. I realize I've said more about the non-headliners, but David Usher is a really great performer live, and he put on a great show, I guess you had to be there. :) On a side note he has returned like the prodigal son to Toronto from New York, so that's good to hear that we've repatriated a Canuck.

Friday, For some reason I can't recall anything of note on Friday, and I don't think that nothing happened, but I can't, something minor did happen, but it fits into a Sunday story, so I will save that for further in this post.

Saturday was fabulous, so it started with the Enbridge CN Tower Stair Climb. As usual for this endeavor I got up before the crack of stupid. The reason being two fold, the first is that all the registration and waiting area's get crowded, and I like to get in and out quickly. The other is that the tower itself gets grosser and grosser as the day progresses. So I just don't like being there too late, as the various slimes and smells are disgusting. So around 5:00 AM I rolled out of the house, and by 6:49, I was driven, parked, registered, waivered and at the foot of the tower.

Now in the past I've done this climb typically in about 50 minutes. The best time I've ever had was about 46, and the worst about 52. So I knew I was in better shape now then I've ever been, so I knew I could do better then 46. I was hoping for about 30-39 minute, I thought that was fair. I couldn't have been more wrong.

My new best (and probably last for a while) time for conquering the CN Tower is... 20 minutes and 41 seconds!!! (Yes that deserves 3 '!')

If anyone feels inspired, The United Way will still take donations for a couple more weeks, and you can post-sponsor my climb here.

I also made two personal firsts on this trek, it was my first time up the tower without stopping for a rest, and my first time I could actually fit in the free t-shirt at the end. I kept telling myself I'd take a break at some future milestone, but then I'd get there and say, wait a second, I feel fantastic.

I returned home pretty jazzed before Erin was out of bed (around 8ish) and I'm afraid overwhelmed her with my energy level. She caught up later in the day, but I did try to get her going from 0-60 in 30 seconds, and she was (and rightly so) still half asleep.

Once Erin got her day in hand, including a nice lunch and breakfast, and a trip to the gym. We gallivanted about shopping, we actually left the house to look for two specific things, and ended up not getting either of them, one of them was new glasses frames for me, and we didn't even get to the store :)

Erin did get some nice clothes though :) and we went shopping for leather jackets, and found them to be rather favourably priced, but Erin wasn't perfectly satisfied with the fit, and the jacket I wanted to try won't be in stock in my size until later this week. After that we had a great night at my grandparents, we even drove my parents, it was a funny trading of places. That night I pretty much wrapped up design on the website for the Voice Lab, I still need some content, but the keys are there.

After a long Saturday, Sunday was more relaxed. We slept in, ate late, and relaxed. Around 11:00 we headed out for a few more errands, the big one being Half Life 2: Orange Box. This was really the extended story of Friday, it isn't so much a good story but a story of me being stupid. On Friday I went to EB on the way home to pick this up, and they were sold out, so I went to a Walmart, and with game nearly in my grasp I balked. The "Orange Box" was hardly an entire box made of orange, but a marketing nightmare of graphics barfed on to a case. So I didn't buy it, talk about books and their covers, but I didn't. So Saturday, after rewatching the trailers, specifically for Portal I smacked myself upside the head, and went out in search of it. The Orange Box being the other thing that we didn't get while shopping Saturday, and it wasn't without trying, I turned Mississauga upside down trying to get it, and failed.

So Sunday, I returned to the same Walmart in Oakville that I had my brain failure on Friday, and I got it. In that moment of weakness I also bought the prequel to River Tam Beats up Everyone also known as Serenity in HD. God I love that show!

We also got new shoes for Erin (I tried and failed, but I know what I want now.)

We also went to Chudleigh's (the orchard not our MPP's) to pick apples, it is probably the last time we go this year, the trees are pretty much done, and the apples that remain weren't the nicest, but it was nice to walk the orchard in such beautiful weather.

We returned home where I gorged myself on Portal (WHICH WAS FREAKING AMAZING) and also mowed the lawn for the first time in three months. (not that I'm a lazy gardener but it didn't grow at all in August or September.

I also made/made up a kick ass new soup. I call it lamb soup, I had some lamb bones from the organic quarter lamb I bought last year for making lamb stock from, and I also had some stewing meat. So I said, lets do something with this...

Starting with this recipe for stock, I cooked that for a good number of hours until it was lambalicious. Then I strained it, added back the meat bits (that was fiddly as I had to pick them off the bones.) Then I added a cup of white wine, and some carrots and parsnips cut into rounds. Cooked it for about another 20 minutes, and presto! It was probably a little fatty for a diet, but it tasted great! We had it with our tomato-basil trout, spinach, and some yam. Other then the soup all light, and including the soup all delicious.

We ended the weekend with a little King Kong on the HD-DVD. All and all a great couple of days, and I'm pooped!

I will try and write more, and in smaller bits as I go.

ps Yes Mom, I will be your friend on facebook :)

pps no I didn't really proof read this...

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Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Is it bed time yet?

This really falls under the category of it is funny, because it's true :)

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Monday, August 27, 2007

Sales Copy worthy of Strong Bad

I was cruising Future Shop's site when I saw Lair, a Dragon combat game for the PS3. Anyways the sales copy caught my eyes, and for those who are fans of Strong Bad, and Trogdar, enjoy:

Saddle up your wyverns for some serious Dragon on Dragon combat. It's up to you to burninate your enemies. Loop, circle, drop, dash, chomp and inspire the fear worthy of your consummate V's. Prove you're more than a wing-a-ling dragon in Lair!

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Save the Princess Save the World


So on a spur of the moment decision, I saw this great shirt on Aaron Williams (Nodwick's) site. Its a nerdgasm of Heroes and classic Mario all smashed into one. For those who aren't familiar with Heroes, it's a great new show about the emergence of people with super powers into our current society, think less spandex, and less archetypes then the comics, but really great character development.

Anyways the moniker of the first season was very much "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." The eclipsed moon on the O is also pretty emblematic of the show. Erin and I became pretty big fans, I even blogged about it here. So when I saw this amalgamation of Mario and Heroes, I nearly peed myself laughing, and new I had to have it.

I wore it yesterday for the first day, and it almost let me down, when the day was saved by a chuckle from the Blockbuster clerk who knew exactly what it said, and we share a nerdy moment.

The 8-4 for those aficionado's of Mario who missed this pinnacle of the shirt (like I did at first,) is of coarse the final stage of Mario 1, where you do in fact save the princess, I am uncertain if that in fact saves the world.

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Thursday, January 18, 2007

Letter to the Editor: "Too Graphic for Kids?"

I sent the following to the editor of the Toronto Star, and I figured 1) I read the Star online so I may never know if it is printed or not, 2) It sounded like something I should put in my blog. I did fact check myself, and it is a pretty short letter (although longer then there requested 300 words,) so while not my largest, nor my best reasoned, post, but its a post, and you haven't got one for a while.

A friend of mine often reminds me of a sign he once saw posted on a beach, the sign read “Parents you are responsible for your children.” In its context it meant that there was no life guard on duty, but neither is there in life.

In this age it seems that we try and place blame and responsibility for our actions, and the actions of our youth, anywhere but where they belong. We see US attorney Jack Thompson sermonizing on the immorality of video games and the violence they sometimes contain. Hilary Clinton beseeching law makers to punish game studio’s for content that they never released (in the case of the Grand Theft Auto ‘Hot Coffee’ modification.) All of this with in the assumption that these games are affecting our youth, all though Statistics Canada (presumably an authoritative source) has reported a drop in both property crime and violent crime every year since 1991 (except 2004.)

As a life long gamer, and a life long non-violent person I have become angry and frustrated (as many of my colleagues and friends) with the brush we are often painted with in the media. Our games have not made us murders, criminal or antisocial; they are just a different form of entertainment, one I personally think to be more engaging and stimulating then passively watching television. I strongly agree that the content in games should be fairly assessed and rated, but only to serve as a tool for parents.

I ask for parents to do for your children what mind did for me, take an active interest in your children’s interest, and you be the judge of what content you feel your children are mature enough to handle. The ratings should act as a guide line for what is in the game, and its up to you to decide if it is appropriate. If you are a parent and you’re just not sure, check online, or ask the staff at a specialty retail store (EB, Microplay etc) they more often then not are passionate gamers who can give you more information, or even show you what the game contains.

In closing to combat all the negative press, two gamers started a charity in 2003 for gamers to give back. They initial goal was to gather toy and cash donations for their local children’s hospital, so that children going through a very difficult time would have something to play with. The response from gamers was so overwhelming that the charity grew each year to more and more Hospitals. This year gamers raise over a million dollars in donations for over 25 children’s hospitals world wide, including our own Sick Kids. For more information about the charity you can look them up at childsplaychairty.org.

Sincerely

Geoffrey Peart

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