I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
I'll be going to see my sister in the Moartz play Dimboola, and I'll be using the opportunity to catch up with my mural painting friends as well (assuming we all make it on time). I've been so busy with work of late, it will be good to get together with people and actually have some fun for a change!
Ah, things look like they're clearing up a bit now. Hopefully I get a few weeks of peace before the horror of eXcemas hits us all with its tinsel-trimmed poison! Oh, dear, I promised I wouldn't get all like this...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
House of Leaves
Another book that I'd been searching for (and found at the library) was House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski. I'd seen it mentioned somewhere, and I thought it would be exactly the kind of book I'd like.
I read through it a couple of nights ago, and all I can say is
¹You want a synopsis? Try this: it concerns a documentary film called The Navidson Record², a video archive of a series of bizarre events occurring within a suburban house. By bizarre, I mean that a new hallway appears where no such hallway could possibly exist (where, logically, a doorway would lead outside of the house). Even spookier, the new hallway is dark grey, featureless, and nightmarishly labyrinthine. Seriously, people get lost inside the house for days on end.
²I should also point out that said documentary may not even exist. The only reference to this film is contained within an essay written by a blind man³, and which was discovered by our narrator (Johnny) who found it in the man's apartment after he died. Johnny has presented the essay as he has found it, but, incidentally, there's
good reason to suspect he's not telling the true story.
³The essay also included plenty of visual artifactsº, such as photographs, sketches and supplementary materials. These are shown in the Appendices, however, a lot of the said items Do Not Exist. A lot of the interviews included never actually happened. A lot of the references included in the footnotes refer to nonexistent publications. In fact, a lot of the story Does Not Exist either, for reasons which become all too - no, wait, you can never really understand what's going on.ⁿ
ºI haven't even covered the interesting typographical layout yet. The book abounds with plenty of footnotes and cross-references (and plenty of ramblings from our friendly narrator Johnny, who incidentally has some interesting tales of his own). Soon, the footnotes themselves threaten to overwhelm the main copy itself, and the layouts change dramatically over the course of the book. And then, once the characters start to investigate this dark hallway, the very fabric of the book changes -
ⁿThe way I feel after reading this book is the same way I felt after I watched this. Nonetheless, I liked House of Leaves very muchly.
I read through it a couple of nights ago, and all I can say is
Wow.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Wow.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Wow. Wow.
Wow.
Wow. Wow.
Wow.
Wow.¹
___________¹You want a synopsis? Try this: it concerns a documentary film called The Navidson Record², a video archive of a series of bizarre events occurring within a suburban house. By bizarre, I mean that a new hallway appears where no such hallway could possibly exist (where, logically, a doorway would lead outside of the house). Even spookier, the new hallway is dark grey, featureless, and nightmarishly labyrinthine. Seriously, people get lost inside the house for days on end.
²I should also point out that said documentary may not even exist. The only reference to this film is contained within an essay written by a blind man³, and which was discovered by our narrator (Johnny) who found it in the man's apartment after he died. Johnny has presented the essay as he has found it, but, incidentally, there's
good reason to suspect he's not telling the true story.
³The essay also included plenty of visual artifactsº, such as photographs, sketches and supplementary materials. These are shown in the Appendices, however, a lot of the said items Do Not Exist. A lot of the interviews included never actually happened. A lot of the references included in the footnotes refer to nonexistent publications. In fact, a lot of the story Does Not Exist either, for reasons which become all too - no, wait, you can never really understand what's going on.ⁿ
ºI haven't even covered the interesting typographical layout yet. The book abounds with plenty of footnotes and cross-references (and plenty of ramblings from our friendly narrator Johnny, who incidentally has some interesting tales of his own). Soon, the footnotes themselves threaten to overwhelm the main copy itself, and the layouts change dramatically over the course of the book. And then, once the characters start to investigate this dark hallway, the very fabric of the book changes -
ⁿThe way I feel after reading this book is the same way I felt after I watched this. Nonetheless, I liked House of Leaves very muchly.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Salmon of Doubt
But no, I haven't just been watching TV.
I finally managed to find a copy of The Salmon of Doubt, the posthumous collection of Douglas Adams' essays and articles published after his death in 2001. I've been scouring the bookshops for a copy, and gave up, when I realised, "Duh! That's what libraries are for!"
It's not the kind of book you read all at once, but rather a "pick it up and sample it every now and then" type. And, it's frickin' brilliant. He had a great sense of humour that really comes through in his writing, and it makes me miss him even more. (Is it even possible to miss someone you've never met?)
I'm afraid I'll just have to buy a copy now, assuming I actually find one for sale. I only get to keep this book for two weeks, after all!
I finally managed to find a copy of The Salmon of Doubt, the posthumous collection of Douglas Adams' essays and articles published after his death in 2001. I've been scouring the bookshops for a copy, and gave up, when I realised, "Duh! That's what libraries are for!"
It's not the kind of book you read all at once, but rather a "pick it up and sample it every now and then" type. And, it's frickin' brilliant. He had a great sense of humour that really comes through in his writing, and it makes me miss him even more. (Is it even possible to miss someone you've never met?)
I'm afraid I'll just have to buy a copy now, assuming I actually find one for sale. I only get to keep this book for two weeks, after all!
The Man With No Name (apparently)
By the way, we've been watching the "new" episodes of Doctor Who of late, and hey, turns out I was already a fan and never even knew it!
One of those "Aha! It all makes sense now!" moments.
Seriously, though, it's about time someone started making television that was worth watching again. I was starting to lose focus now that Buffy and Angel wound themselves up.
And, what's even better, I have a lot of catching up to do...
PS. Thank you Russell!
PPS. Thank you Aron!
EDIT: I found out that David Tennant is leaving his post as The Doctor at the end of the next season (which will only be four episodes because he has other obligations during the year). Oh well...
One of those "Aha! It all makes sense now!" moments.
Seriously, though, it's about time someone started making television that was worth watching again. I was starting to lose focus now that Buffy and Angel wound themselves up.
And, what's even better, I have a lot of catching up to do...
PS. Thank you Russell!
PPS. Thank you Aron!
EDIT: I found out that David Tennant is leaving his post as The Doctor at the end of the next season (which will only be four episodes because he has other obligations during the year). Oh well...
Work...?
Uuuaahhh...
Just when I thought I was out of the frying pan...
Work has come back to annoy me again. We're really struggling with the thinly-spread staff at the moment. Long story short, I will be working a lot of hours after this Wednesday.
I hope we get some new staff soon, because I (and most of the others at work) really do NOT want to keep doing this.
Also, we have a house inspection this week. Must tidy, tidy, tidy...
It's probably way overdue. There were some pretty big dust-bunnies under my desk! Eyeww.
Just when I thought I was out of the frying pan...
Work has come back to annoy me again. We're really struggling with the thinly-spread staff at the moment. Long story short, I will be working a lot of hours after this Wednesday.
I hope we get some new staff soon, because I (and most of the others at work) really do NOT want to keep doing this.
Also, we have a house inspection this week. Must tidy, tidy, tidy...
It's probably way overdue. There were some pretty big dust-bunnies under my desk! Eyeww.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sketches, Part 1
As most of my friends know, I have a collection of sketch-book type journals - about twelve of them, at last count. They're not diaries as you would think of them, ie. written prose about daily life (like, say, a blog), but they are still an historical record of my life. They're more of a scrapbook/collage/memento collection than anything else; if I see something that I like and think is worth keeping, I stick it in one of my books for future reference.
Or, rather, I used to. Sadly, I haven't been filling them out so much these days.
It seems that the energy that I used to put into maintaining them has now been sublimated into my Paid Occupation, which depresses me. Unfortunately, I only seem to be able to focus on one major element of my life at a time, and all else gets delegated to a lower rung. [sigh]
Anyway, I recently started scanning in some of my sketches for use with one of the Antix games (yes, they're coming), and I thought that today, I would share some of them with you.
These following sketches were drawn freehand with a black fineliner. I was experimenting with line and form here, coming up with figures that are more basic and geometric, yet are still recognisable and have unique character. I tried to produce some more figures in the same style later on, but I guess they were a "one time thing".
Clicking them makes them bigger, you know.
You can also check out the rest of the images in my Picasa album if you want.
EDIT: These links now actually work! I have no idea why they didn't before...
Comments are appreciated... ;)
Or, rather, I used to. Sadly, I haven't been filling them out so much these days.
It seems that the energy that I used to put into maintaining them has now been sublimated into my Paid Occupation, which depresses me. Unfortunately, I only seem to be able to focus on one major element of my life at a time, and all else gets delegated to a lower rung. [sigh]
Anyway, I recently started scanning in some of my sketches for use with one of the Antix games (yes, they're coming), and I thought that today, I would share some of them with you.
These following sketches were drawn freehand with a black fineliner. I was experimenting with line and form here, coming up with figures that are more basic and geometric, yet are still recognisable and have unique character. I tried to produce some more figures in the same style later on, but I guess they were a "one time thing".
Clicking them makes them bigger, you know.
You can also check out the rest of the images in my Picasa album if you want.
EDIT: These links now actually work! I have no idea why they didn't before...
Comments are appreciated... ;)
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Yep, I got it.
I actually went and bought it the day after my last posting about it... :)
IMHO:
It's a good game.
It took me about a week to complete.
It's a pretty good RPG, and the world of Sonic lends itself to the genre well. Sonic and his friends each have unique abilities, like Sonic's spin dash, Tails' flight, and Knuckles' wall-climbing skill, and these lend themselves to both the adventuring aspect (navigating obstacles in the field) and the battle scenes.
The landscapes have a cute hand-drawn look, and you use the stylus to control Sonic's movement in an intuitive manner (similar to Phantom Hourglass). There are plenty of familiar STH elements in the levels, like loops, springs, and those ubiquitous Gold Rings.
The scenes are inhabited by enemies and people, both of which can be avoided or confronted at will - no sudden random battles here, thank goodness!
As for the actual battle scenes, the attacks are customised depending to your character's abilities. Knuckles' attacks involve his fists, Tails' are robot-oriented, Amy's involve the use of her disturbingly-huge hammer, and so on. But there are special POW moves that require you to trace patterns on the touch-screen with the stylus, and these have a necessary degree of awkwardness. You ever played one of those Dance-Dance games, where you have to use your feet to match the falling arrows? Well, it's a little bit like that.
(incidentally, my worst nightmares are full of sliding arrows... ever... approaching... arrows...)
It's not all happy-happy, though.
The battle scenes are well rendered, but applying the special moves is a little tricky because you have to try and remember their effects (because you don't get reminded mid-battle). Also, supplying your party members with "armour" and power-ups is a little difficult, because you can only organise a maximum of four characters at a time. Too bad if you missed a character before an important battle, hey?
There are plenty of references to the original STH titles (look carefully around the ruins of Eggman's Metropolis level!), and most of the background tunes are reworked versions from the vintage games, which I thought was a nice gesture for friends of the older games. It's a case of "Spot the Reference"!
It's a reasonably good RPG, but I don't see it becoming the essential DS title that Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was for the GBA. I'd recommend this for the hard-core Sonic fan, but the hard-core RPG fan will probably find this over way too soon.
Incidentally, this game carries a PART ONE WARNING - sequel to follow...
Find out more about the game here. You can also find some desktop wallpapers and game hints here too.
I actually went and bought it the day after my last posting about it... :)
IMHO:
It's a good game.
It took me about a week to complete.
It's a pretty good RPG, and the world of Sonic lends itself to the genre well. Sonic and his friends each have unique abilities, like Sonic's spin dash, Tails' flight, and Knuckles' wall-climbing skill, and these lend themselves to both the adventuring aspect (navigating obstacles in the field) and the battle scenes.
The landscapes have a cute hand-drawn look, and you use the stylus to control Sonic's movement in an intuitive manner (similar to Phantom Hourglass). There are plenty of familiar STH elements in the levels, like loops, springs, and those ubiquitous Gold Rings.
The scenes are inhabited by enemies and people, both of which can be avoided or confronted at will - no sudden random battles here, thank goodness!
As for the actual battle scenes, the attacks are customised depending to your character's abilities. Knuckles' attacks involve his fists, Tails' are robot-oriented, Amy's involve the use of her disturbingly-huge hammer, and so on. But there are special POW moves that require you to trace patterns on the touch-screen with the stylus, and these have a necessary degree of awkwardness. You ever played one of those Dance-Dance games, where you have to use your feet to match the falling arrows? Well, it's a little bit like that.
(incidentally, my worst nightmares are full of sliding arrows... ever... approaching... arrows...)
It's not all happy-happy, though.
The battle scenes are well rendered, but applying the special moves is a little tricky because you have to try and remember their effects (because you don't get reminded mid-battle). Also, supplying your party members with "armour" and power-ups is a little difficult, because you can only organise a maximum of four characters at a time. Too bad if you missed a character before an important battle, hey?
There are plenty of references to the original STH titles (look carefully around the ruins of Eggman's Metropolis level!), and most of the background tunes are reworked versions from the vintage games, which I thought was a nice gesture for friends of the older games. It's a case of "Spot the Reference"!
It's a reasonably good RPG, but I don't see it becoming the essential DS title that Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was for the GBA. I'd recommend this for the hard-core Sonic fan, but the hard-core RPG fan will probably find this over way too soon.
Incidentally, this game carries a PART ONE WARNING - sequel to follow...
Find out more about the game here. You can also find some desktop wallpapers and game hints here too.
Adventures in Dentistry
Well, I went for my latest dentist appointment today, and fortunately, I didn't have to have that troublesome tooth at the back removed - he just repaired the filling. Hooray!
The sad part is, I actually don't mind going to the dentist.
Not only because the people who work there are very nice, but also because I find all the procedures so damn fascinating. The injections, the needles, that strange blue laser-thingy...
Yes, I know. That is strange.
In fact, I was looking forward to my appointment today.
Not just because I had a gaping hole in my tooth, but because I didn't have to do anything but show up! It made a change from having to worry about what everyone else (eg. customers and staff) wanted from me. All I had to do was sit back and relax...
while he ripped huge holes into my mouth with a drill.
Yes, I know. Strange.
The sad part is, I actually don't mind going to the dentist.
Not only because the people who work there are very nice, but also because I find all the procedures so damn fascinating. The injections, the needles, that strange blue laser-thingy...
Yes, I know. That is strange.
In fact, I was looking forward to my appointment today.
Not just because I had a gaping hole in my tooth, but because I didn't have to do anything but show up! It made a change from having to worry about what everyone else (eg. customers and staff) wanted from me. All I had to do was sit back and relax...
while he ripped huge holes into my mouth with a drill.
Yes, I know. Strange.
...work (end)
Yay!
I'm finished with work - for the time being!
I have two days off now!!!
PHEW!
(seriously, some of my regular customers were starting to look at me funny.)
I'm finished with work - for the time being!
I have two days off now!!!
PHEW!
(seriously, some of my regular customers were starting to look at me funny.)
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