a very orange sun
a very orange sun
orange sun
Friday fun: Triangle Wizard
Take one dose rogue like, one pinch of 80’s vector graphic arcade game aesthetic, a smidgen of diablo II rpg action, mix up in Wouter van den Wollenberg’s brain, and you get Triangle Wizard, a real time arcade rogue like:
Free, a tiny download, and worth checking out if you’re a fan of any of the above genres. My only real complaint is the walking speed of your wizard is on the slow side – I wish the action was a bit faster paced. Then again, I keep getting whomped at low level so maybe it’s for the best –
Film: Shotgun Stories
Susan got a recommendation for this one from Bob Mondello on NPR and we watched it last night. Disappointing sums it up. It’s a drama about a feud between two families that becomes violent when the family patriarch dies. It’s a meditation on violence that’s not very well acted and not very well filmed, plus there’s a certain lack of….verisimilitude? Authenticity? One character walks around in the same bleached white gauze bandages all movie, another demonstrates his supposed mechanical skills by showing his younger brothers how to tighten a bolt…it just came across poorly. There were a few laughs to be had at the expense of the dim rednecks that make up one of the families, the ending is unusual for a film with this theme, and it exhibits that rare ‘show, not tell’ quality I so enjoy – these are the only positive things I can think of to say about the film.
It’s well reviewed over on IMDB so maybe it’s your cup of tea – it wasn’t mine despite generally liking dramas.
Accomplishment
Susan finished her puzzle
Posted via Pixelpipe.
Susan finished her puzzle
Book finished: Bangkok Tattoo
If you enjoyed Bangkok 8, which is the previous book by this author and features many of the same characters, or if you like well crafted detective stories steeped in local (Thai, in this case) color with generous helpings of raunchy sex and graphic violence, there’s some fun to be had with this book. Others should probably stay away, because the book is flawed. Sonchai, the main character of the first book and one of the main draws, sits on the sidelines in this book for long stretches as a flawed narrator, a beautiful young-ish Thai prostitute, relates how she became involved with the CIA agent who turns up dead in the beginning of the book. Thai prostitute adventures in the USA are fun and all, but I prefer Sonchai’s world to the one I live in seen through the eyes of another. The writing style’s the same, there are plenty of laughs, and there’s still enough Thai color to keep it interesting, but I’d probably give this one a pass if I could choose again.
Bangkok Tattoo over on amazon, if you’re still interested..
Game finished: Lego Batman
Susan and I finished up Lego Batman this week. We had previously played through Lego Star Wars together. Lego Batman is more of the same, basically, but set in the Batman universe instead of in Star Wars. It’s a bit shorter than Lego Star Wars, though both are almost endless games in that there are a ton of achievements and hidden items to collect from levels even after you’ve beaten them. We both felt Batman was a bit easier, especially in the vehicle missions, and that this was a good thing – some of the Star Wars vehicle missions were pretty annoying. The game engine still has issues with perspective and jumping – sometimes you find it really hard to move along a narrow ledge or jump from one platform to another because you can’t gauge your position on the 3d plane – the developers could do more work here. Despite this, I’d recommend the game to anyone who’s a fan of the other Lego games, or who’s looking for a coop game to play with their significant other or kids – it’s great lightweight fun, not too challenging, and often funny.
I’ll probably pick up Lego Indiana Jones next, plus there are rumors of Lego Harry Potter coming this christmas, which seems like a natural fit for the series. I’m not sure what to make of the other rumor, which is that a Lego Rock Band game is coming. Meanwhile, check out the video below if you’re not already familiar with the Lego games:
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Obamamob from space
Check out this excellent sattelite photo of the inauguration day ceremonies:
popsci.com sattelite photo of the inauguration
There’s another image plus links to larger, higher resolution photos over at the original article. Cool stuff!
Pineapple Express – don’t bother
I watched Pineapple Express over the weekend, which may surprise folks since it’s not really in tune with my tastes, but I loved the Cheech and Chong movies back in the day and enjoyed the 40 year old Virgin and Superbad, which had some of the same folks involved, so I figured why not give it a shot. I shouldn’t have bothered. It starts off ok, introducing the main character, his dope dealer, and the improbable series of events that leads to them spending the movie fleeing a gang of murderous thugs, but the whole thing feels like amateur hour with bad acting, sophmoric humor, a plot full of holes, and an unsatisfying ending. My recommendation? Stay away.
PSA – stop using Safari until Apple releases a patch
There’s a pretty nasty security vulnerability in Safari having to do with RSS feeds, the news of which is getting drowned out by all the inaugural hoopla, so I’m doing my bit to bang the drum. The details are here, but the bottom line is, if you’re on OSX 10.5, either stop using Safari or follow the step at the link, otherwise you’re risking the privacy of your data. If you don’t trust Mastenbrook’s info you can read up on the issue over on secunia as well.
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Friday Fun: A New Zero
If I told you someone’s managed to build elements of the Battlefield series of FPS along with elements of combat flight sims into a tiny ~400k executable, you wouldn’t believe me, so instead make your way over to Cryptic Sea’s page for their upcoming game A New Zero. It’s in public beta right now, is a tiny download, and has fun multiplayer in a tiny download. It’s all a bit spartan right now but they plan for much more and it’s worth checking out even if only to marvel at the achievement. This is Windows only at present, sorry mac folk. Here’s their trailer to give you a sense of the gameplay:
Dave's Place/Metamusing 