No Business Naming Things

What’s better than art class?  Art class with free wine.  Ooooh yeah.

I managed to beat the game this morning.  Overall, it lived up to my expectations entirely.  It was very funny, the story was great, and the gameplay was pretty good.  My main issue with games like this (ie: “turn” based games with some timing element) is that the difficulty curve is unnatural.  They start out easy, get wicked hard (once they introduce the timing concepts) and then they become very easy (once you’ve mastered the timing).  Every game of this nature I’ve played (Paper Mario, Mario and Lugi Superstar Saga/Partners in Time, etc) has had the exact same difficulty curve so perhaps it’s intrinsic to the style.

At any rate I look forward to the next episode.  The first one was definitely worth $20.

I am excited for this game to a degree I’m not entirely comfortable with.  The game itself isn’t really my bag - turn based combat has always been a chore for me (with the exception of Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced, which I managed to put 120+ hours into).  However, I adore Penny Arcade and I can’t wait for hours of interaction with some of my favorite comic characters.  Although I was miffed that it wouldn’t be available for the PS3 (at least initially) I have changed my mind on that front somewhat.  Having it on my laptop will ultimately allow me to play it more - the PS3 is often the nexus for awkward resource contentions these days.

So, Lexy and I finished our five week watercolor class this weekend.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had any kind of art instruction and although I was apprehensive at first I found that I really enjoyed it.  Our teacher (Jane Findley) has a teaching style that really resonates with me and I feel really comfortable with learning from her.  Learning is inevitably controlled failing, and failing in front of strangers is never easy.  :)  We’re taking the next five week session which I believe covers wet on wet techniques.  Hopefully it will be as enjoyable as the first!

Is CNN outsourcing their story writing to high school newspapers these days?

We had some folks over today to play video games and near the end of the day I put on Team Fortress 2 for some reason. This game held 0 interest for me - absolutely none.  I had never even considered giving it a try. And yet, here we are, 5 hours later, still playing. Boy is it ever a special kind of stupid fun. In fact, dare I say, it’s everything I secretly dream Halo MP would be.

What’s even more interesting is that Lexy is for some reason loving it. This girl does not like the shooters - in fact, she’s never touched one before. All the same, here she is swearing at this thing and laughing.

I wish I had given this thing a try sooner!

Yeah, I sometimes do it too. Not under normal circumstances but some situations make me hypersensitive to those who are around me. Late at night at a bus stop, or walking in the dark, or when surrounded by inebriated guys, for instance. If they seem to be the sort that might give us grief my tendency is to be very conservative. We’ve had some of that grief in the past - drive by with expletives, having kids off in the distance yelling “lesbians”, or even having camera phones pointed at us.  I rationalize it by saying “it wasn’t THAT bad” but there’s no reason to think it couldn’t be some day…

Some random comments about Iron Man, both the film and the movie experience.  First, the experience.

We started with a preview for the new Mark Walhburg film “The Happening.”  The preview was going fine until they a credit appears attributing it to M. Night Shyamalan at which point the entire theater groans.  I am not exaggerating, the noise was audible over the trailer!  After we all did it we all started to laugh as well.  That man really needs to stop making films.  I’ve read spoilers for this one and boy does he take “weak” to a whole new level.

Anyhoo, Iron Man in point form:

• the origin story was pretty  dumb.  Suspending disbelief so that a man can build an iron exoskeleton in three months?  Okay.  Suspending disbelief that his captors don’t notice him doing it?  I have my limits!
• it was surprisingly funny at points
• Robert Downey Jr. was an excellent choice for Stark
• Robert Downey Jr. was incredibly attractive (for a boy)
• Lebowski as a villain
• sticking around for the end credits was WELL worth it