City Council

My city council are engaging in certain activities at the moment that have raised my ire! They’ve downright angered me!

We’re heading onto the end of the financial year pretty soon. That’s the time of year where we traditionally see pretty awesome sales, but the other thing you’ll notice is that there are all of a sudden far more council work projects going on. Notice how roads won’t be patched, nearly at all, for the entire year save for the two months leading up to end of the financial year? Yeah, that’s because the councils all sit on their damn budgets until they know they’re not going to need them for anything major, and then spend the entire thing right before they have to submit their damn budget reports and show that they really do need the same amount of money next year, or even maybe a bit more!

Now, if this just meant that local infrastructure was being repaired, I wouldn’t have a problem, but what this also tends to signify is that a whole bunch of trees are about to be cut down. Sounds ridiculous, but you watch, you’ll start to notice it too and then the same thing this time next year and so on. I drove to the supermarket last weekend to pick some stuff up for a nice breakfast for my SO, and as I approached the entrance to the little car park attached to my local supermarket, I noticed that five trees had already been cut down – this was fairly early in the morning – and more had been marked with that bright pink spray paint that lets the council workers know which trees to cut.

Now, I slowed down and took a real good look. There was nothing wrong with these trees. They were all well established – though not ancient – native trees with no signs in the trunk cross sections of any rot or issue which would make the trees a danger. To see these harmless, unobtrusive, nice trees cut down to serve as a means of spending surplus city budget really makes me angry. They were feeding these poor trees into a big old wood chipper, too, so no, the timer itself wasn’t to be put to any use save being poured under play equipment at play grounds and serving as mulch for city council gardens. Goodness, that makes me very angry.

One of those days

I am so damn surly today. I just want to go sit on the couch and watch TV. I want to veg out, I want to be a couch potato… where the hell did that term come from anyway!? Okay I just checked, it came from some dude who just made it up, then wrote a whole handbook, and trade marked the phrase. Huh. That was less exciting than I thought it would be.

Anyway, so I’m bored, lethargic, irritable, and the one person who can make that better isn’t here. My SO had to drag herself off to fulfil an annoying obligation she had forced upon her, by her mother, of course, to take the dear little annoyance to the bank to open yet another savings account… seriously, how many do they need!? Get a damn finance broker, get one online! Then my SO doesn’t have to take you places! Even the fact that WordPress doesn’t have an angry enough emoticon is irritating me right now. Gah! I hate when I get like this, but that doesn’t help, oh no, of course not.

I think the only thing to do is to go take a nice bath, and then chill out for a while, otherwise I think I’m going to blow a gasket. Chuck my ‘nana if you will. As in, banana, not grandmother. I don’t know, that’s just something my SO’s dad says.

It’s times like these when I am really damn thankful for a weekend. I am going to have a sleep in, then shuffle around in my pyjamas and bathrobe all day, refusing to do anything at all useful, and generally be pampered by my SO who will bring me good foods and sit with me whilst I watch movies all day. That’s how a Sunday should be spent! Unproductive and psychologically uplifting.

Quiet surprise

When watching some silly video on IGN, I happened to see a link to a video of a game called A Boy and His Blob. At first it was the amusing title that caught my eye. I don’t know, blobs are funny. Then I actually watched the video. For those two minutes, I was totally captivated. This is a beautiful game, it looks like a cross between a Miyazaki film and Braid. The Blob actually reminds me of the Kodamas from Princess Mononoke.

I am actually going to embed that first video that I watched, because I think this game looks like a lot of fun. I really enjoy enchanting games, games that have a sense of surrealism. Braid really had this, it was a compelling game, even if annoyingly difficult.

A Boy and His Blob is a follow on from the original NES title, which was released back in 1989. Up until a few hours ago, I had never heard of either iteration of this game. The story centers around a little boy helping an alien blob he meets after it crashes to Earth. Together, they are trying to save Blob’s people back on Blobolonia from an evil emperor who took over. Sounds alright, I can live with that. Off we go.

It’s a platform game, where you progress by having Blob aid the little boy, which happens by the boy feeding Blob different jelly beans which cause Blob to turn into different helpful items. For example, Licorice jelly beans turns Blob into a ladder, Tangerine jelly beans to a trampoline, Bubble Gum jelly beans into a bubble, and Caramel jelly beans turns Blob into a cannon.

The game is due out late September this year, so shortly thereafter for the rest of the world, hopefully. Here’s a link to a video, and if you have the time, it’s worth dropping checking out more.

Getting motivated

At the beginning of this week, I felt really, really, really, lazy. Extreme lethargy plagued my every waking moment. I just couldn’t be stuffed. But I think that’s one of those things you need to be pushed through, and I was pushed by that extra task at work this week. So finally, I am getting motivated.

So now that I am not intolerably lazy, I think I will take a look at IGN’s Top Ten games of E3 2009.

10: New Super Mario Bros. Wii It’s always exciting to see this title pop up, on any console. I believe in Nintendo’s ability to create wonderful Mario games. This one you can actually have up to four players playing at once. This is a pretty exciting feature, even though it would be a two-player deal at my house. I really look forward to playing this game!

9: Just Cause II I wasn’t overly impressed with the first iteration of this game, and in spite of good graphics, this game doesn’t really appeal either.

8: Modern Warfare 2 I never played Modern Warfare in the first place, so again, little interest in the sequel.

7: Homefront This could be interesting, or maybe not. That’s the problem with trailers, it’s often very difficult to get a grip on what kind of game will be delivered in the end. If it lives up to expectations (a remote chance, really) it could be very good.

6: Alan Wake It’s hard to get excited about this game right now, because I was excited about it when it was announced about two or three years ago. I look forward to getting my hands on it, but it’s a removed feeling until I know it’s actually close to release. Good idea though, and I love the integral use of the light and shadow game mechanic.

5: Brütal Legend I hadn’t heard of this at all. I watched the trailer and it looks so very, very, stupid. It’s like Meatloaf’s version of heaven. No thanks.

4: Mass Effect 2 I think I would be a lot more excited about this one if I had finished the fist game. I can’t do that, however, because it hasn’t ever allowed me to play it since I upgraded computers.

3: Scribblenauts I can’t wait to play this game, it looks fantastic. It’s like the next generation of puzzle game after Crayon Physics Delux. Really wonderful looking game.

2: Splinter Cell: Conviction Huh. I managed to hear nothing about this game for the entirety of E3. I like playing the Splinter Cell games (dammit Fisher!) so this should be fun.

1: Uncharted: Among Thieves I don’t really know why this one is at the top. It looks pretty, sure, but the trailer isn’t particularly interesting. I am not a PS3 player, so I don’t really care.

My personal Top Three: Alan Wake, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Scribblenauts As I said, Alan Wake features some interesting game mechanics that, whilst they don’t have the kick they did when the game was first introduced, still look like a lot of fun to play with. I can’t believe that Mario Bros. was that far down in the list, but I look forward to kicking some Bowser ass on the Wii. Scribblenauts just looks like an amazing implementation of an amazing idea. I can’t wait to try and figure out things that the game hasn’t included… My mind refuses to believe I can type in any word and have that object appear!

Getting through that ‘To Do’ list

I got through the entirety of my ‘To Do’ list after I got home last night, all of it neatly crossed off my list. There were even extra things that went on the list and I got those done too! I was very productive after getting home, I think it was having to do those projects at work that put me in that frame of mind where you want everything done and out of the way before you sit down to do anything relaxing or fun.

I saw that the new OS for the iPhone was officially released on theSmart Phones page at Mobilewire , so I set that to downloading whilst I took a look over my list. I saw that I had written on there that I needed to call my mother. I love my mother, but she is a little chatty, so when you call her, you need to put aside about an hour where you can just chat with her. I don’t mind, but it does make it difficult to call her back when she’s left a message on my answering machine, because you can’t use a little spare time, it’s more of something you have to schedule in. You have to wait until you know you won’t be bothered for at least an hour, and be sure to take a trip to the bathroom first!

My experience with calling her guides me to be prepared. I use our home phone on speaker phone when I talk to my mother, so I can still sit at my computer and use the net or get those little annoying tasks done, like downloading software updates. Last night, whilst talking to her I upgraded the OS on my iPhone to version 3.0, packaged my old phone to send those mobile phone buyers that I have been meaning to do for a week, update three of my favorite PC games that I don’t get enough time to play regularly, and ensure all my drivers are up to date. WOOT!

Then the only things left on my list at that point was some grocery shopping my SO had asked me to do, and to pick up some nice wine for a grand dinner she has planned for us for tonight. As it was about 10pm at this point, so I drove out to the supermarket and the liquor store quick as a flash – I love being at the supermarket when only about three other people are there! It’s quiet and eerie, but so much less stressful. Everything is off my ‘To Do’ list, and I am looking forward to a super relaxing weekend after a great dinner with my SO tonight!

What a reward

Remember my last post? Where I got an annoying little project at work to do that I actually completed very fast? What would be a good reward for that? I’ll tell you what isn’t… I found out a few hours later that I hadn’t been informed of all the components to the task, and that I had to do the same for the small office our company has in Scotland.

Because I had already done the same thing for our own office, I found Highland Telecom and organised what would be needed with them and then moved on to buy the phones the Scotland office would need, this time I went with Panasonic cordless phones. With all that out of the way, I actually got a small amount of work done, and then it was time to finally head home.

Being all eco-conscious, I took the bus. On the bus, I played some more Starfy, mainly because when I opened my DS, I realised I had left the game running whilst I charged it last night. The game is growing on me, I must say. It does still feel a little too easy, but I am wondering if it is just a slow intro into harder parts of the game.

I really enjoy the parts of the game where you are spin-attacking boulders into fish and so forth, that is quite fun, actually. Some of the foes are quite interesting too, there seems to be legless flying cats in some levels, something that my SO would absolutely go insane for – she loves the idea of flying cats. Anyway, so whilst I am not as impressed as IGN was, it is still fun for killing time every now and then.

Oh and I am totally working from home tomorrow, that way they can’t try to give me any extra projects. Heh.

I have become a lazy gamer

I first noticed Knights in the Nightmare when I was puddling around looking at the Editor’s Choice list over on IGN.com. It looked interesting, I don’t mind a turn-based RPG, so I read on. After a few minutes, I figured the game looked alright, but I had to scoot off to do something so I just closed it down and forgot about it.

Now when I was on Penny Arcade earlier, I happened to notice Tycho had written about this very same game. What he said confirmed what I had suspected in those few minutes of looking at the review. Here is what he said.

…I am trying to fashion my mind into something capable of perceiving Knights in the Nightmare. Another psychotic import with an incredible translation from Atlus, the shit that goes on in this game will overwhelm your frontal lobe, leaving you in a state which is neither dead nor alive. Imagine that a man is juggling while standing on a pile of conscious, scowling heads. Only he’s not juggling balls, he’s juggling concepts, like poverty and flavor. As you watch him, you are shaken by the unprovable yet unnerving sensation that there is, somewhere, a secret third hand, juggling a perverse cadre of unballs.

You know what this says to me? This says to me, ‘don’t bother’. Why? Because I am too lazy for the kind of mental obstacle course that this game appears to be. Oh don’t get me wrong, it sounds like a great game, but if I wanted to bust my brain to the point of not having any fun, I’d do my taxes.

And so it is with games for me at the moment. If it is an overly complex game where I have to learn a lot about the game mechanics to get anywhere… chances are I will just opt out and choose to play something a little less in depth and play Starfy. ) I know, I know, I am missing out on the games with the great story-lines when I do that! I will get out of my lazy gaming funk, I know I will, that’s why I don’t push it now.

Superheroes who don’t stay dead

I have noticed a trend in the comic world, and I thought I might spew out my reactions to this trend. Keep in mind, please, that I don’t actually read these comics, I just for some reason seem to know a tiny little bit about them. In multiple comic series in recent times, heroes of great renown have been killed off, and a short while later brought back to life. Even the BBC is doing news articles about this… I just find that… odd.

If you’re going to kill off a main character, then I think you should leave it at that. And here’s a tip, if you don’t want them to be dead… don’t kill them off! The following is a brief list of those I know to have been killed and brought back;

Superman: He is killed by some giant bad-ass villain creature thing, really stupid if you ask me. Doomsday is the name of the creature that killed Superman. Doomsday is one of those characters that you see in movies and books sometimes, everything you do to him only makes him stronger in the end. Blah blah blah, think Super Sayan levels that just keep rising and you will know what I mean. Doomsday was a clone, and as an infant, was subjected to pretty much every nasty event that could possibly happen, which killed him repeatedly. I know, really damn morbid and horrible, eh? Every time he is killed by something, he grows immune to that which killed him along will all his other previously accumulated immunities. I personally see this as ridiculous writing, and extremely over the top. Here is the stupidly long list of how uber Doomsday is. You see the problem that arises with these characters? Inevitably they have to toss away the character’s bio and conveniently do away with them. Blegh!

Captain America: CA was assassinated on the order of Red Skull, who uses Crossbones to snipe him, only after he has been shot by a fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Sharon Carter, who had the mission hypnotically implanted in her brain by Dr Faustus who was posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychiatrist. That’s a bit odd, now isn’t it. Anyway, he’s on his way back too.

Spiderman: Spidey has been killed no fewer than eight times… EIGHT TIMES!? That’s ridiculous! He has been killed by Thanos, Clone Degeneration Syndrome, Norman Osborn (though this was Spiderman II, Bill Reilly), The Owl, The Other, Kulan Gath, Dr Doom, and Terraxia. In all these cases, he dies, and then sort of, just gets over that.

Professor X: This guy has been pretend killed by Cable, who actually just put him somewhere else in time, and really killed by Magneto, which just makes me angry.

The list goes on, too, but those are just the ones that spring to mind. I really don’t think you ought to kill off the main character in your comic series if you are just going to cave and bring them back. It all just seems like grand-standing to me.

You’re no Kirby!

That’s right Starfy, I’m talking to you, Prince of Pufftop indeed! Yeah, you know you have no right to that title, you’re a starfish! You’re not puffy! You know who’s puffy, Starfy? Kirby! Yeah, that’s who. Don’t give me that look, Starfy, you know I’m telling the truth. You don’t even inflate! No matter how cutely you swim, or how many cute outfits you put on, you can’t replace Kirby!

On a more serious note, that’s what this game feels like. Knowing that Nintendo have plans for Starfy to be the next big mascot, aspects of the game-play started to stand out as being rather Kirby-like. The games play very similarly, they both have this almost super-speed feel to them, even though there are numerous foes, none are particularly challenging, so you just speed right past them. Also Starfy, like Kirby, is altered throughout the game. He joins up with Bunston at points during the game, which makes for a much more tough Starfy. He also has a sort of tag-team mode with his sister Starly.

So I feel a few things about this game. On the one hand, it is fun to zoom around in the water, much less arduous than Mario water levels. And Starfy is undeniably cute, I mean, the Kitty Outfit is adorable! However, I do feel that there are a few draw backs to the game. For one, it is too easy. Granted I have only gone through the first two worlds in the game, but yeah, so far too easy. I am also left a little underwhelmed with the graphics in the game. They are alright, and I know they were going for a certain style, but I know what the DS is capable of, and I think Starfy could have pushed for more.

As for those questioning whether Starfy is ‘too Japanese’, I don’t think so. I know what is being referenced here, the story-line and sound effects mostly, but it really isn’t too much. This is a pick-up-and-play title, so the story-line really isn’t the focus, so if it is a little wacky, it doesn’t matter. As for the sound effects, Starfy’s noises are clearly Japanese, but they are cute and appropriate. I mean a creature with no central nervous system (a brain) probably won’t be capable of speech.

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