Playing Catch-up
Apologies to my faithful readers (zero and counting) for being silent this last week. It's been a deceptively busy week for me. Here's what I've been up to of late.
Watching Firefly episodes
When the series first aired back in '02, I didn't watch it because I didn't watch Buffy and dismissed it out of hand. Then, this summer, I watched Serenity and found myself thoroughly enjoying myself, even though I was kind of lost. Last week, I decided to rectify that watching the entire 15-episode run of Firefly. It was absolutely crantastic. Featuring a cast of nobodies, including the least-known Baldwin brother, Adam, this show simply drops you into a universe 500 years into the future. In this scenario, there has been no signs of extraterrestrial life, but an overpopulated Earth has forced the terraforming of several new planets around the 'verse. Many of these central planets are run by an all-powerful governing force, known as the Alliance (as all-powerful governing forces have to called Alliance). Meanwhile, on the outer planets, societies have evolved like Old West communities, and therein lies the premise: Space Western! The story centres around the crew of the Serenity, a Firefly-class smuggler ship. The crew is comprised of Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), a former soldier who firmly believes in honour among thieves, as long as he gets paid; no-nonsense first mate Zoe Washburne (Nina Torres) and her wacky husband, pilot "Wash" (Alan Tudyk); chief mechanic and widdle cutie pie Kaylee (Jewel Staite); munitions expert/a-hole Jayne (Adam Baldwin); registered companion–or high-class whore–Inara (Morena Baccarin); man of faith Shepherd Book (Ron Glass); and Dr. Simon Tan (Sean Maher) and his troubled sister River (Summer Glau). The good doctor and his sister are on the run from the Alliance, and find sanctuary on Serenity. The captain and co. spend most of the fifteen eps going from one scrape to another. It would have been nice to get another season of story development, but that was not to be. Thank goodness they were able to tie things up with the movie, but I'll miss it all the same.
Last Friday, I went to a tiny art gallery called the Blanket Gallery. They were showing some new works by some guy who draws like my ten year-old sister. The reason I was there was because that gallery will, in a couple months time, be home to the first exhibition of my roommate Lorenzo's artwork. Soon, I will post some pictures of his work so that all none of you can see it. After the show, we decided, since we were already downtown on a Friday, that we should get shit-faced at the Roxy. Problem was, it was 9:30, and the place was full. So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. We saw some Gregorian monks handing out Axe body lotion. We saw a man shilling the opportunity to kick him in the bangers and mash for 10 bucks (no takers). We saw a ton of people walk up to the bouncers and go right in. We silently fumed for 2 hours and 15 minutes, before they finally let us in. But I'm glad we waited. There was a competant bar band playing some good songs, from Billie Jean to Santoria to Sweet Child of Mine. We danced. I made eyes at the singer, who on more than one occasion returned my gaze. Greg danced with a pair of ladies, who then bought him a drink. And no offense, but Greg is not the most Casa of Nova's. So, he had a blast and we all left at 3 in shock.
Peeped Some Rides
The next day (Saturday if you're keeping track), we bussed it on down to the Auto Show. We went about five years ago to see if we'd won a contest, which we did, and thought it was time to visit again. We come for the cars but stay for the free bags. We checked out Tuner Alley and saw some pimp-ed out rides. We saw beautiful Porsches, Lambos, Lotuses (Loti?) and Ferraris. Then we cruised on down to check out the main floor. The only problem is that this isn't Detroit, and we don't get to see all the concept cars that are out there. 
We did see a few, specifically the Jeep Rescue (pictured left) and this van thing from Suzuki (pictured right). We grabbed some bags from most of the booths, but I guess the luxury cars think they're too good for bags, huh? And what's this? Toyota and Volkwagen think so too? That does it, no Camry or Jetta will ever grace these buttcheeks. All in all, a fine time, and I finally got to sit in a Hummer that wasn't reeking of pit sweat or weed smoke. Is it just me, or is that just too much truck? I did like the Dodge Magnum, but I suppose I have a soft spot for Dodge, since I drive a Neon. Smart Pedestrians, Dodge Trucks. The funniest part about the day, was wandering around the vendor section and having people try to hand me invitations to race my car at some track. My only response to these guys is, "No thanks, I drive a Neon."
Making a Difference
A good friend of mine, Andrew K., was recently diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. The first time I found out was on a camping trip. He was staggering around the campsite at 10 in the morning, and I accused him (jokingly) of being drunk way too early. Of course, when I found out, I was horrifed at my own insensitivity. Since then, he has been steadily regressing and now walks with great difficulty or uses a wheelchair. His parents told me of a charity walk, and I immediately agreed. I raised $115 and with the rest of my family, we raised over $500. Our entire group, Team Andrew, made up of families, friends and members of our softball team, the Hamburgers (more on that later), raised over $6500 for MS, we came in second at the Surrey event, great numbers for a non-corporate team. I did a 6.5 km walk in an hour with my 10 year-old sister, Tenniele. This was after getting 4 hours of sleep. I was bushed, but I felt great. I know that contribution was small, but just being there gave me a warm feeling. I'm not somebody who would usually put myself through something like that, but I'd do it again, and probably will next year. P.S. I got to hold a Paralympic Gold medal (won by wheelchair curler Gary Cormack), so that was cool.
Time to Split!
This game review is many months late, and as such, probably totally irrelevant, but we have all been playing Timesplitters 3: Future Perfect for the PS2, and believe it to be awesome. Now, granted we don't play enough games to be experts (the last game we got was GTA: San Andreas, and that was already a year old, AND I haven't even finished it yet, but I plan to), but I love the fact that the game is a viloent first person shooter, but it doesn't take itself seriously. How can you, when you have unlockable characters like a snowman on a flying carpet, or a floating school of fish, running around shooting at you with RPG's and shotguns. The mini challenges sometimes border on the ludicrous, like curling a monkey across a Siberian ice lake (two curling references in one post? Whatup wi'dat?). The story mode, although entertaining, is much too short to really get into, and leaves you scratching your head. The good thing is that unlike most FPS story modes, this one boasts a two-player cooperative, so you and a friend can fight the good fight together. Or, in the other 13 play modes, you can blast him apart or steal his bases. The attention to detail is astounding, which makes me afraid to play the Xbox 360, as I fear my brain would melt out my ears and slink into a corner. So, all in all, great gameplay, but not enough of it.
∆∆∆∆ of 5
Reading Fan-Fics
I am a Harry Potter fan. There I said it. I am a grown man, albeit newly so, and I read Harry Potter. I am not ashamed of it, although I am hiding it here at the bottom of my post. I have all the books downloaded on my computer (but for legality's sake, I also have "purchased" them from "retailers"), but that is not enough to slake my thirst for adventure at Hogwarts. I have found a few good fan-fic authors that keep my imagination entranced. I have a few rules. They have to be novel-length. Anything worth doing is worth doing completely. I'd preder it if there were more than one by the author, so that the story continues along a few books. And I read the Mature books, since it's just more fun. The best ones I have read come from Barb who has written a novel for each year after GoF, plus a prequel detailing the years of the Marauders and a followup book about the decade following the graduation. I have also read the two books by Abraxan, with less aplomb, but with plenty of adventuring. The problem is the disconnect I find between these and the JKR canon, but if I wasn't prepared for that, then I shouldn't read them, should I? I have certain preconceptions about certain characters, and don't much like it when Draco and Snape become sympathetic figures who all of a sudden change their ways and become allies. I don't like it when authors invent new spells that work in inconceivable ways and are named with flimsy Latinesque words (Loveabundius? Come on!). Oh well. There you have it, my secret shame. I like it when Harry and Ginny get it on, is that so wrong? Maybe it is, but I didn't write it, nor could I probably.
Well, that's what I've been doing this past week. What about you? Somebody give me a comment, damnit! I've worked so hard on this, I deserve a wassup, don't I? Until next time, you got Sblounskched!
Watching Firefly episodes
When the series first aired back in '02, I didn't watch it because I didn't watch Buffy and dismissed it out of hand. Then, this summer, I watched Serenity and found myself thoroughly enjoying myself, even though I was kind of lost. Last week, I decided to rectify that watching the entire 15-episode run of Firefly. It was absolutely crantastic. Featuring a cast of nobodies, including the least-known Baldwin brother, Adam, this show simply drops you into a universe 500 years into the future. In this scenario, there has been no signs of extraterrestrial life, but an overpopulated Earth has forced the terraforming of several new planets around the 'verse. Many of these central planets are run by an all-powerful governing force, known as the Alliance (as all-powerful governing forces have to called Alliance). Meanwhile, on the outer planets, societies have evolved like Old West communities, and therein lies the premise: Space Western! The story centres around the crew of the Serenity, a Firefly-class smuggler ship. The crew is comprised of Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), a former soldier who firmly believes in honour among thieves, as long as he gets paid; no-nonsense first mate Zoe Washburne (Nina Torres) and her wacky husband, pilot "Wash" (Alan Tudyk); chief mechanic and widdle cutie pie Kaylee (Jewel Staite); munitions expert/a-hole Jayne (Adam Baldwin); registered companion–or high-class whore–Inara (Morena Baccarin); man of faith Shepherd Book (Ron Glass); and Dr. Simon Tan (Sean Maher) and his troubled sister River (Summer Glau). The good doctor and his sister are on the run from the Alliance, and find sanctuary on Serenity. The captain and co. spend most of the fifteen eps going from one scrape to another. It would have been nice to get another season of story development, but that was not to be. Thank goodness they were able to tie things up with the movie, but I'll miss it all the same.
Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot standPartying Downtown
I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me.
Take me out to the black, tell 'em I ain't coming back
Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.
There's no place I can be, since I've found serenity
You can't take the sky from me.
Last Friday, I went to a tiny art gallery called the Blanket Gallery. They were showing some new works by some guy who draws like my ten year-old sister. The reason I was there was because that gallery will, in a couple months time, be home to the first exhibition of my roommate Lorenzo's artwork. Soon, I will post some pictures of his work so that all none of you can see it. After the show, we decided, since we were already downtown on a Friday, that we should get shit-faced at the Roxy. Problem was, it was 9:30, and the place was full. So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. We saw some Gregorian monks handing out Axe body lotion. We saw a man shilling the opportunity to kick him in the bangers and mash for 10 bucks (no takers). We saw a ton of people walk up to the bouncers and go right in. We silently fumed for 2 hours and 15 minutes, before they finally let us in. But I'm glad we waited. There was a competant bar band playing some good songs, from Billie Jean to Santoria to Sweet Child of Mine. We danced. I made eyes at the singer, who on more than one occasion returned my gaze. Greg danced with a pair of ladies, who then bought him a drink. And no offense, but Greg is not the most Casa of Nova's. So, he had a blast and we all left at 3 in shock.
Peeped Some Rides
The next day (Saturday if you're keeping track), we bussed it on down to the Auto Show. We went about five years ago to see if we'd won a contest, which we did, and thought it was time to visit again. We come for the cars but stay for the free bags. We checked out Tuner Alley and saw some pimp-ed out rides. We saw beautiful Porsches, Lambos, Lotuses (Loti?) and Ferraris. Then we cruised on down to check out the main floor. The only problem is that this isn't Detroit, and we don't get to see all the concept cars that are out there. 
We did see a few, specifically the Jeep Rescue (pictured left) and this van thing from Suzuki (pictured right). We grabbed some bags from most of the booths, but I guess the luxury cars think they're too good for bags, huh? And what's this? Toyota and Volkwagen think so too? That does it, no Camry or Jetta will ever grace these buttcheeks. All in all, a fine time, and I finally got to sit in a Hummer that wasn't reeking of pit sweat or weed smoke. Is it just me, or is that just too much truck? I did like the Dodge Magnum, but I suppose I have a soft spot for Dodge, since I drive a Neon. Smart Pedestrians, Dodge Trucks. The funniest part about the day, was wandering around the vendor section and having people try to hand me invitations to race my car at some track. My only response to these guys is, "No thanks, I drive a Neon."Making a Difference
A good friend of mine, Andrew K., was recently diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. The first time I found out was on a camping trip. He was staggering around the campsite at 10 in the morning, and I accused him (jokingly) of being drunk way too early. Of course, when I found out, I was horrifed at my own insensitivity. Since then, he has been steadily regressing and now walks with great difficulty or uses a wheelchair. His parents told me of a charity walk, and I immediately agreed. I raised $115 and with the rest of my family, we raised over $500. Our entire group, Team Andrew, made up of families, friends and members of our softball team, the Hamburgers (more on that later), raised over $6500 for MS, we came in second at the Surrey event, great numbers for a non-corporate team. I did a 6.5 km walk in an hour with my 10 year-old sister, Tenniele. This was after getting 4 hours of sleep. I was bushed, but I felt great. I know that contribution was small, but just being there gave me a warm feeling. I'm not somebody who would usually put myself through something like that, but I'd do it again, and probably will next year. P.S. I got to hold a Paralympic Gold medal (won by wheelchair curler Gary Cormack), so that was cool.
Time to Split!
This game review is many months late, and as such, probably totally irrelevant, but we have all been playing Timesplitters 3: Future Perfect for the PS2, and believe it to be awesome. Now, granted we don't play enough games to be experts (the last game we got was GTA: San Andreas, and that was already a year old, AND I haven't even finished it yet, but I plan to), but I love the fact that the game is a viloent first person shooter, but it doesn't take itself seriously. How can you, when you have unlockable characters like a snowman on a flying carpet, or a floating school of fish, running around shooting at you with RPG's and shotguns. The mini challenges sometimes border on the ludicrous, like curling a monkey across a Siberian ice lake (two curling references in one post? Whatup wi'dat?). The story mode, although entertaining, is much too short to really get into, and leaves you scratching your head. The good thing is that unlike most FPS story modes, this one boasts a two-player cooperative, so you and a friend can fight the good fight together. Or, in the other 13 play modes, you can blast him apart or steal his bases. The attention to detail is astounding, which makes me afraid to play the Xbox 360, as I fear my brain would melt out my ears and slink into a corner. So, all in all, great gameplay, but not enough of it.
∆∆∆∆ of 5
Reading Fan-Fics
I am a Harry Potter fan. There I said it. I am a grown man, albeit newly so, and I read Harry Potter. I am not ashamed of it, although I am hiding it here at the bottom of my post. I have all the books downloaded on my computer (but for legality's sake, I also have "purchased" them from "retailers"), but that is not enough to slake my thirst for adventure at Hogwarts. I have found a few good fan-fic authors that keep my imagination entranced. I have a few rules. They have to be novel-length. Anything worth doing is worth doing completely. I'd preder it if there were more than one by the author, so that the story continues along a few books. And I read the Mature books, since it's just more fun. The best ones I have read come from Barb who has written a novel for each year after GoF, plus a prequel detailing the years of the Marauders and a followup book about the decade following the graduation. I have also read the two books by Abraxan, with less aplomb, but with plenty of adventuring. The problem is the disconnect I find between these and the JKR canon, but if I wasn't prepared for that, then I shouldn't read them, should I? I have certain preconceptions about certain characters, and don't much like it when Draco and Snape become sympathetic figures who all of a sudden change their ways and become allies. I don't like it when authors invent new spells that work in inconceivable ways and are named with flimsy Latinesque words (Loveabundius? Come on!). Oh well. There you have it, my secret shame. I like it when Harry and Ginny get it on, is that so wrong? Maybe it is, but I didn't write it, nor could I probably.
Well, that's what I've been doing this past week. What about you? Somebody give me a comment, damnit! I've worked so hard on this, I deserve a wassup, don't I? Until next time, you got Sblounskched!
posted by The Man in Charge at
3:28 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home