Fable III done!

If you don't count all the quests that unlock once you finish the main story I guess. This is by no means a comprehensive review of the game at all, mainly because it's twenty to two in the morning, but more of an excuse to post these screenshots I took.

Don't be a drag, just be a Queen.

It was good fun, I'll give you that much, with a couple of moments in it that were surprisingly emotional, and a definite contrast to the whole tone of the game. Sure, Fable has always been about morals and making decisions, but mostly the tone is lighthearted and self depreciating. I mean, one of the real "moral" quests is to decide the fate of a flock of chickens.

I also can't remember a lot of the specifics of the reviews that I read were, but I do remember listening to a podcast where someone pointed out the endgame and how it's a serious drag. Yes, I guess I did find it slightly dragging as well, and perhaps even an extremely artificial way to extend the length of the game, but once again, it was optional.

Balverines. God, I killed SO MANY BALVERINES.

Also, I have to admit that everything was extremely streamlined. There's no life bar, instead you get a Call of Duty-ish border when you take too much damage, and you can either gulp a potion or wait to heal. There's a lot of handholding in Fable, (literally, because sometimes you have to take people by the hand to get them places) but I don't think that it suffers for it.

The combat mechanics are simple, but I found them deep enough to be enjoyable. The only thing I wish I had was some sort of way to switch weapons faster, because if you want to switch weapons you have to go to the sanctuary, which replaces the traditional menu screen with a 3D environment. Sure, it's different, but here I feel that Lionhead was just being different for the sake of it, and at times it's extremely clunky.

Just like Red Bull, finishing the main quest gives you wings.

And I think I'll leave it at that, more sleep is required before I even attempt to form an opinion and write it down :P

Brain Overloaded

I've been having difficulty getting to sleep for the past few days. It's not that I'm not tired, it's just that I have these...ideas in my head. Lately, one idea in particular seems to be bugging me, so perhaps I'll try and work on making that idea a reality...you know, so I'll stop thinking about the thing.

Very vague...okay, I have an idea for a project to help kids develop art portfolios. I remember back in high school, Art was...not a taught or serious subject ( in forms 3 and 4 we had "Art and Crafts" in which I learned absoloutely nothing. Well, alright, I learned how to make an ornamental toilet roll holder, but I don't like flaunting this skill). This didn't used to bother me, until my sister started going to a new school ,where they do teach Art. Then it struck me, that there are kids in her class that might not even want the opportunity to learn Art, but take it because the freaking class is available to them (and perhaps, for easy grades).

I am pretty sure that out there are kids who have the potential to be great artists, who might even doodle regularly, or sketch things. But they probably wouldn't even consider applying for an art college after high school, because hey, Art's not a real subject they teach you in school. Granted, I know that if someone really wanted to, they'd find a way to get into an art school. But for every one of those, I'm sure there are at least a couple more who just didn't have the time or opportunity to develop a skill set. Who, if they knew how, could put together an impressive portfolio.

It just ticks me off a bit, when I think about kids who go on to become mediocre lawyers or accountants when they could be fucking fantastic designers, concept artists or illustrators.

I guess personally, I just want somehow to provide a chance to someone that I would have taken if it were available to me. I never really learned art, you know as a subject. I just kind of learned as I went along, and sometimes I don't even know if the stuff I do can even be classified as art.

This is turning into a TLDR post, isn't it? I guess I'll leave it there, and try and go to sleep.

Anyone have any thoughts on the subject though?

Theres a mutated strain in our DNA helix.

And you three are the ones who can heal it.

I have a couple of links to share with you. Because I am kind like that. But first, here is a comic what I been make.
I've been wasting a lot of time over at TV tropes. It's kinda like Wikipedia. Except it shows the connection between different idioms that are found in television and movies. It bills itself as a depository of fiction writing concepts. It has articles like, The Five Man Band and such. Is also pretty funny. In my opinion, its more educational than Encyclopedia Dramatica >_< Also, I found this picture there.

And I'm incredibly sleepy this morning because I spent most of last night watching the Legend of Neil. It's a parody webseries based on the Legend of Zelda. The basic plot is that Neil somehow ends up in the game after getting copiously drunk and masturbating to the fairy in the game while strangling himself with the Nintendo controller. This is basically the type of humor you will find in the series.

Oh, and did I mention that it's written, directed and created by Sandeep Parikh from The Guild? (His title on the website is "Title Whore"). Yeah, and Felicia Day plays a nymphomaniac fairy. That alone is worth about 2000 awesome points.

That nagging pain at the Back of your Head

i'm so tired right now it's not funny. work has been... busy lately. three of our presenters are sick or away on leave and its left to the rest of us to fill in the blank spaces on the roster. i was talking to noodle last night, and i told her about work and the current situation (or sitch as we call it in the bizz, by bizz i mean business) and she asked me why i'm always the one to rush in and volunteer when stuff like this happens. i think i made a silly joke or something after that, but it got me to thinking.

why do i help out so much?

i like to think that people appreciate it, the little extras that you put in, taking the time out of your life, what little you have of it, to help out in a time of need. but the truth is, that rarely happens. i mean sure, people are greatful, but i don't know, eventually they just take it for granted that you're always going to be there to do things.

i love my job, it's what i wake up in the morning to do, but i know the limitations that come from it, and the danger it carries. the truth is, when i comes to presenting, burning yourself out is a big risk, and lately i've been wondering if i've burnt out. i just feel so tired lately...it could be the three hours of sleep i got last night, in between shifts, but i could really use some z's at the moment.

this post is really more of a rant than an attempt to make some kind of sense or coherance. please bear this in mind.

Full Metal Friday

i think i just had what must have been the longest friday of my life ever. it was alright, i must say, a lot of things happened. some of which i'll share with you, because i am inebriated at the moment.

like most days, my day started at 3AM. i work as a presenter for a breakfast show, so i have to be up extra early to catch the van that takes me to work. so i was up at 3, ready by half past and in the van by quarter to four. and then off to work i went. nothing to much to report about that. except that i had to pull an extra shift, so i was in that little box of a studio for about nine hours.

blinking at the light of the early afternoon, i stepped out of the building at two, and got lunch with Lawrence. lunch time conversation involved erections and teacher/student fantasies. if further information is needed, feel free to send me an email.

after lunch, i decided to go home and get ready for the planned evening of fun and frolicking. which meant getting emails and stuff out of the way at home ( i received a nice one from my monkey ninja lady, which put a smile on my face for the rest of the day).

while i was in the bathroom, i was faced with a conundrum.

to shave or not to shave, truly that is the question.

now, when we go out to the clubs, i like to think that the way you carry yourself is everything, and if you're lucky, they won't ask you for ID. my friend wilson on the other hand, is older than i am, and gets stopped a lot for his ID, and he's much older than i am. whereas i can pretty much count the number of times i've been stopped by bouncers. twice.

at the moment though, i'm trying to increase the volume of facial hair that i possess. don't ask me, why, so i shaved. because my good friend told me that is the way to increase you facial hair potential quotient ( or the FHPQ as it's known in some circles).

the old crew got together, and we were set for our night of planned debauchery.

first up was drinks at bad dog, which was fun. i like bad dog, its kinda like the closest thing we have to a proper pub in Suva, except that the food is bloody expensive.

after that, we went and had dinner. mistake number one of the evening, as this sobered up our little drinking crew. so much so that we decided to go and watch Resident Evil : Apocalypse.

the movie was, meh, i guess. it was alright, Milla Jovovich is very hot, but her character Alice, is very overpowered. they need to nerf her. really, in one scene she takes out most of a container full of zombies. with Gurkha knives.

after the movie, we lost one of our crew, not to zombies, but to tiredness. he had had a long day, and decided to bow out early for the evening. leaving just four brave men to venture out into the rainy suva night.

karaoke was the name of the game now, and many songs we did sing. i would elaborate further, but i won't. karaoke is like fight club. the first rule of karaoke, is that you don't talk about karaoke.

then we decided to go to O'Reillys. where the bouncer stopped me and asked for my ID. see, what i did earlier in the post was foreshadow this event with the whole shaving question thing. that's some professional writing right there.

i could tell though that my mates really wanted to check out O'Reillys, and even though i got into Traps i decided that i'd take my leave and head on home. i mean, it was turning midnight and i'd been up since three. i badly needed some Z's.

and yeah, that was my day, long and hard. just like...a marathon.

Counting Chickens

so you remember how i was worried and junk about thursday? well, it turns out i needn't (a real word!) have bothered, as ms. Betty (is anyone else reminded of kung pow?) has decided to go to pacific harbor. and i wouldn't have found out if i hadn't have called her to re-confirm.

a lesson we can all learn from this innocent (yet ruggedly handsome) blogger, is one that many have often been forced to learn. don't count your chickens before they hatch into dinosaurs. (also, i love brackets)