Never bring that game up

Some names have been changed to protect identities.

LAN Session this weekend (is the plan). I need to get me a new PC >_>

He's a Superstar

Finished Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga yesterday after playing the crap out of it this weekend. Was very, very win.

His name is Bob. Bob Omb.

The dotted lines because Mike shared this today. And the Bobomb because of Scott Pilgrim last night reminding me of how much I like Super Mario. Yes, I know they use Zelda tunes a lot, but I played Mario a hell of a lot more than I played Zelda.

Speaking on the subject of Scott Pilgrim...I can't remember being so disappointed in a movie. I guess I just expected too much to be honest. Yes, the fight scenes were awesome, the special effects were amazing and they were very well integrated into the live action but...there was something missing.

As I write this I realize I didn't touch on the music which is a big part of the movie I guess. I'm not the biggest fan of garage/grunge but according to a couple of the guys I watched the flick with, the music was pretty well done. As both of them are competing for the title of worlds biggest Nirvana fan, I trust their opinion on the subject.

The thing about the movie that is frustrating is that when it's good, it's fucking awesome, but when it's bad, it is mind numbingly terrible. I'm going to do something I never usually do, and that's list the pros and cons, only because of the range that this movie has, swinging wildly from "wow" to "ew". Like a child flailing around after being tossed off the swings.

Pros

-The Fight Scenes

Flaming Sword: +1 to Awesome

The fight scenes are straight out of a comic book or anime. With the speed line-like effects, letterboxing and shots. This makes for a visually striking movie at its best times, which brings me to:

-The Special Effects

Top notch. I did spot one really wonky piece of effects (watch Brandon Rouths hair after he loses his powers) but apart from that I couldn't fault them. They suit the film perfectly, and the integration of the sound effects and captions work very well. Sometimes you might miss them, as there are no obvious visual cues for them, but apart from that very win.

-Videogame referances

The Seven Bosses (not counting the super secret hidden boss)

What I like about the videogame references is that they don't make a big deal out of them. They're never directly pointed out, but if you've ever played anything on a super nintendo you will catch most of them. There are a lot of Zelda references, but also Mario and Final Fantasy ones. And of course, the whole movie is almost a lovenote to videogames, with the seven bosses, levelling up and extra lives.

Cons
-Pacing

At times the pacing is really bad. I know that Mr Wright (who directed Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead) has a certain style. He likes to mix really slow bits with segments of very fast cuts. And those worked in both of the movies he worked with Simon Pegg in. It just didn't work here. Mainly because of the:

-Acting

Act? Me?

Look, I know that the characters are supposed to be the loser/slacker type, but come on. The Actress who plays Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) just makes no effort whatsoever to...act. And speaking of acting...

-Michael Cera

Firstly, I like Michael Cera. I like that he's the kinda awkward, quiet guy who has the potential to freak out hysterically. I think it's kinda sad that I've never seen him play any other role apart from Michael Cera. And the worst part was that he was not a good Scott Pilgrim.

So, draw from these points what you will, as always this is just my opinion. There are people who absoloutely went batshit for this movie, and good on them. As a fan I was heartbroken.

Origins

A Contender

For one my favorite games, I think. Just finished off the last boss in Mother 3 and...damn it was pretty emotional. (Oh, spoilers!)

At some point I'll play through it again (probably this weekend, to get some screenshots and such with default names, I named all the characters after my friends and family :P) because it's that good. The battle system is an interesting take on the traditional RPG system, with its "rolling health meter" and it's used to full effect in the final battle, where you don't so much fight the boss, but fight the tide of your health slowly ticking away.

You can't even attack in the last battle, doing so will get you the message " can't bring himself to attack" while the emotionless thing that used to be your twin brother wails away with every skill available to him. Yes, it is all timed, so that eventually Claus (the main characters brother) regains some of his humanity, and...then came the bit that made me cry.

Someone once told me that an ending can make or break a game, it can be the most fun game in the world, but if it has an unsatisfying ending, that is what you will take away from the whole thing. Look at Halo 2, which in gameplay terms was much better than Halo, but had a really fucking slack cliffhanger of an ending.

Was the ending of Mother 3 disappointing? I don't think so, personally. It was like the end of a rollercoaster, with the highs and lows and loop-de-loops, and when the car finally slows down, you can't really believe it's over.

The entire story of Mother 3, is at times bizarre, at times hilarious and at times touching. I mean, this is a game where one of the main party members is the family dog. Where for an entire chapter you play a monkey who is forced to take orders from a bizarre Arab man with a banana addiction. It's also the game where and ancient power is protected by guardians who resemble transvestites.

I also can't pin down what the main story is, because there are several going on at the same time. You've got the loss of happiness in simplicity, where the village where you grow up becomes a part of suburbia, and eventually everyone leaves to go to the big city. You've got this time travelling Archnemesis, who creates the monsters in the game because, as he says, "The creatures aren't cool enough, mix them together and make something awesome." And then you have the story of a family torn apart by death, and a son who tries to put it all back together again. While at the same time, saving the world.

Yeah, I like this game.

Look at the Stars...

A little video Lawrence put together of our weekend over at Tubakula. Never fails to put a smile on my face when I watch it, good times, good friends :)

Road RAAAAAAGE

These events take place on Saturday the 21st of August.

So I caught a cab down to town to meet the guys before heading down to Sigatoka. The cab driver, one of the chatty ones named Jay, picked me up and as he weaved his way through the streets of Suva, we got to talking about Hibiscus. Good fun.

As we passed MHCC, a Honda CRV suddenly pulled out in front of us, without indicating I might add. Immediately, Jay hits the brakes and horn. A resounding "magaichinana" was heard and the CRV took off.

"Man, look at this fullah, swearing like that." Jay muttered.
"Yeah, some people aye?" I agreed.

A full thirty seconds later, Jay was pulling up to the traffic lights when he spotted the CRV. Stupidly, he begins to pull up next to the truck.

"Look at him, I wanna see his face."

The driver,a huge Fijian guy was in the front, a lady (probably his wife) was next to him and there were a couple of kids in the back.

As soon as he sees Jay pull up next to him, the guy loses it, and immediately begins swearing at the top of his lungs.

An artists impression.

"Magaichinana!"
"Don't swear at me! You were in the wrong, bro!"

Even from where I was sitting, I could see that this was not a good thing to say.

"What? Fuck you!"

The guy gets out of his car in the middle of the street, walks over to Jays window (swearing the whole time) and spits right into Jay's face.

"What the? What the hell man?" Jay says.
"Tell me not to swear, eh?"

Suddenly the guy reaches in through the window, grabs the back of Jays head and slams it into the steering wheel twice. Bam! Fuck! Bam! You! Spits once more on the back of his head for good measure, and hops into his car with a parting "motherfucker!"

This whole time I'm sitting in the backseat, wondering what the hell I'm supposed to do. This guy is huge, angry, and would probably make mincemeat out of me. I did manage to squeak out a "Please sir, don't do that" at some point through.

After it's all over, we sit there. Jay gripping the back of his head and me in stunned silence.

Then we went to the police station.

And that is story of Albert going to the police station on saturday morning.

Also, at some point I pressed publish instead of save while typing this. Mainly because this is angry typing, and my fingers tend to fly everywhere when I do that.

The thing is, that guy was in the car, with his family. What the fuck was going though his head at the time? On a scale of one to ten he must have been about a thousand on the Bad Day scale. Regardless violence, when not in self defense, is never justified.

Hey Al, Whatcha Playing?

Been watching a lot of HAWP lately. For no reason...no reason at all.

Anyway, I finally took the plunge (and by that I mean remembered to get while in the vicinity of my computer) the fan translation for Mother 3.


The weird thing is, there's no actual english translation for the game, which was released for the Gameboy Advance back in 2006, but the lovely people over at starmen.net worked hard and have a patch that translates the game into a language I can understand, and quite well at that!

I'm not actually up to this part yet, OMG SPOILERS.

So far, I've been digging this game more than a fat kid digs cake, the sprites are amazingly well animated, the perspective is fresh (mainly because it's different from every other RPG I've played and finished) and the battle system is pretty rad. I can say this because I was up until one in the morning playing this game even when I knew I had work the next day.

At some point in the first chapter, the main character recieves some awful news about his wife, and loses it. Lashing out at his friends around him and smashing a bonfire with his bare fists. All of this is animated in tiny little sprites but you empathize with the guy.

I'm looking forward to playing through this game so much I've pretty much been watching the clock ever since I got the office. But for now, I'll work, watch some HAWP and psyche myself for my return to the Nowhere Isles.

Also! Coming soon we have stories from last weekend, where Albert went to the police station, the beach and stood up in the aisle of the Lautoka Express.

Carnival!

It's that time of the year again. That time that is comparable to Christmas and The Feast of the Shadow Spinner. In some ways it's even better than Christmas, because candyfloss and ferris wheels are in abundance. You don't see people setting up candyfloss stalls during Christmas, oh no, instead they have horribly commercialized advertising and so called "sales".

Yes, it's Hibiscus Time! I love Hibiscus because it makes for great stories.

Sadly (hopefully) I won't be in town for the opening weekend of Hibiscus because of a super awesome trip that has been planned. Yes, there will be photographs.

Regardless, you should go out and enjoy the carnival. There will be the aforementioned candyfloss, there will be varied food for sale and my oh my there will be Royalty on the streets of Suva. Also, fucking FERRIS WHEELS.

Remember to stay safe though! Never go to Hibiscus alone (or anywhere with huge crowds) because let's be honest, it's a better experience to go with friends and family. Also, Hibiscus does tend to bring out the crazies.

Gun Shooter Man

Alright, I'm bringing the Wacom tomorrow

I took this stock picture here:

And then played with the mixer brush and got this:

Yes...I know it's a lame abstract bird, but I was using the mouse, so sue me.

Trying out New Things

Recently, I switched computers at work. The one that I'm using now is like...eleventy times better than the one I used to work on, mainly because it has CS5 on it. Now I know, I'm not usually swayed by fancy new features and stuff. I still use CS3 at home because it works fine, and my pc can handle it.

Anyway, today I did a little experiment with the mixer brushes, which is a brand spanking new feature. (Along with many many other things)Don't get excited, this is the base layer. I picked it because it's got a whole bunch of different colors and I wanted to see how they would mix together (and whether Adobe would impress me)
Here's what it looked like after going at it with the mixer brush. Bear in mind that I left my wacom tablet at home, so this was done with the mouse.


And then I kinda lost the plot and made some swirly lines. I really like how the colors blended though (the purple and gray as well as the orange and yellow). Now I just need to find an excuse to use the mixer brush more.

Super Busy Times

I've been thinking about it, whether or not I prefer being starved for work with lots of free time, or loaded with work and no free time. There really is no comparison. I like earning money too much.

However, all this busy-ness has taught me the value of time management and scheduling. I've had to break out the diary to plan appointments, write down pending work and record work that I've completed. It really does save a lot of hair-pulling when it comes to it.

Also, it allows me to schedule free time for myself. I have blocked out the next four fridays as "Party Drink" time. Even then, they are in pencil, because I also have a whole bunch of recipes I now want to work on.

This post is short, and lacking in content. But it makes up for it with a picture of Psyduck (he wants your bad romance).

Delicious Food and Advice for the Ladies

This Friday was pretty rad. I spent the last week in a whirlwind of work and extracurricular activities that quite frankly has left me a little drained. In a purely mental sense though. Unfortunately.

Anyway, I thought that I would share a recipe that was handed down to me a long time ago. I call it:

The Awesome BC Sub

Serves: 4 normal people, or 2 MANLY MEN

You will need:
1 long loaf
some bacon (I used about 300 grams, which was A LOT of bacon)
an onion or two
likewise, a tomato or two
cheese. lots of cheese.

Fry your onions first, until browned slightly, and then throw in your bacon. I had bacon bits, so they didn't get too crunchy, but with rashers you have to wait until the edges are nice and crunchy.

When your bacon is done, place it on the bottom slice of your long loaf (You did butter your long loaf right?) and then create your layers. It's always fun to experiment a little bit with the layers, but remember that the foundation of bacon (or meat) is the most important part. In this occasion, the layers were bacon, cheese, tomato, some more cheese, a light layer of bacon and then some more cheese and the a light smattering of tomato.

Heat up the ol' oven and pop it in there. To gauge the time I usually throw the other slice of long loaf in there and wait until it's toasted. By then, the cheese should be nice and melted. It should end up looking something like this:

Here's a shot which shows off some of the layers.

Once the food has been chopped up into manageable bits (Although real men simply devour it whole) pour yourself a drink, sit down and prepare for gastronomical delight.

Some advice for Ladies: If you prepare this sandwich for a man, he will probably instantly fall in love with you. And if you prepare this for another man...

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Working on a new layout for the Blog. Which means a new header, to go with the color scheme. Bear with me, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Everyone likes a Good Riot

Well, this one was a lot of fun to draw. Had a request for a riot, and I wanted to try something with a different kind of coloring than I usually do. Since there was so much crosshatching in the pencils and inks. What I ended up doing was using the pen tool in photoshop underneath a layer of the inks. Experimentation, that's the name of the game, people.

I got my totem right here.

Here's a piece of work I've done that's slightly work related. In that it relates to a system to help you organize your work, while at the same time, it has unicorns and mermaids. Also elves (elfs?).

Last week thursday there was a short at my house, which resulted in me not having any electricity for the weekend. It was awful. I couldn't watch television! Or check my email! From the comfort of my house!

It was like living in the dark ages (ha HA).

I did manage to catch up on a lot of sleep though. The slack thing is, that the power came back on on Sunday night, and I kind of freaked out and decided to stay up until two in the morning doing things. Which resulted in all that sleep I had accumulated being wasted.

Also, finally got to see Inception! I was amazed that the comic I drew about it was actually pretty relevant. I liked it, the film I mean, but then again I'm a sucker for sci fi. Mr. Nolan did an amazing job shooting that thing, and everyone is raving about it for a reason. I will admit that I was slightly proud that I didn't get lost along the way when it came to the plot.

Other cool things that happened over the weekend include the Handover event for Rotaract which I attended. I kinda had to, seeing as how they made me Secretary. I even got a shiny new badge. Also, Kania Na Yalo Bula made it to the papers! How badass is that?

Unfortunately, the Online article doesn't have the fan-tastic photo of Wilson in it.