Friday Update: SW3: RotS
Good lord. I haven't been able to post much this week due to the move, and most likely won't get to post again until sometime next week, when my computer is plugged back in at the house of my Aunt and Uncle. Seeing as we don't take possession of the new house until
July 7th, we're living by the good graces of relatives until then. Ugh.
Saw
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith over the last weekend. I'm not too certain I liked it. Sure it was graphically stunning, and sucked considerably less than the last two instalments, but there was something... just off about the whole thing. Alot of the action of the movie seemed to happen... well... just to justify episodes 4, 5 and 6.
There was no reason for... say... the Emperor's face to melt, except that he's ugly in 5 and 6. There's no good reason for Anakin to fall to the Dark Side except that he's Darth Vader later on. At one point Yoda arbitrarily decides to go into exile with no good reason, simply to explain why he's on Dagobah in 5.
I'm sorry George, but "Because it has to" is not a good explination for
anything.
And don't get me started on how they ruined Natalie Portman's character. Padme goes from being Princess Leia-esque in Episode 1 - a devoted and strong leader - to being a whiney, weak, love-sick air-head in by Episode 3.
No real depth, all flashy effects, and several plot points are just forced (no pun intended).
Episode III gets a mere:
5 bombs out of 10, and that's only because the fight scenes are pretty to look at.
See you all next week.
An Existential Holocaust
So I took a second quiz at the same site, this one about what your philosophy is, and guess what it tells me?
| You scored as Existentialism. Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism: You choose the meaning and purpose of your life.
“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.”
“It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.”
--Jean-Paul Sartre
“It is man's natural sickness to believe that he possesses the Truth.”
--Blaise Pascal
More info at Arocoun's" Wikipedia User Page...
Existentialism | | 85% | Kantianism | | 65% | Hedonism | | 60% | Strong Egoism | | 45% | Justice (Fairness) | | 45% | Utilitarianism | | 40% | Nihilism | | 20% | Apathy | | 20% | Divine Command | | 15% |
What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03)
created with QuizFarm.com |
Guess this is telling me something... hmmm...
Something neat.
Y2Jago found a neat quiz which gives you an idea of your world view. I took it and here's my results.
You scored as Existentialist. Existentialism emphasizes human capability. There is no greater power interfering with life and thus it is up to us to make things happen. Sometimes considered a negative and depressing world view, your optimism towards human accomplishment is immense. Mankind is condemned to be free and must accept the responsibility.
Existentialist | | 75% | Postmodernist | | 69% | Modernist | | 63% | Romanticist | | 63% | Cultural Creative | | 63% | Idealist | | 56% | Materialist | | 31% | Fundamentalist | | 25% |
What is Your World View? (corrected...again)
created with QuizFarm.com |
Give it a try.
More 101 in 1001 updates
Yup, I've updated my
101 in 1001 page again. Two things have been taken off the list this week, so I'd say I've been productive.
Been a busy week so far, what with packing and my show. My goal is to maybe have a bigger post for the Bomb Shelter sometime this weekend, especially since I hope to see
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith sometime this weekend.
Just a shout out.
New update on my
101 in 1001 list. Mostly just posting here to say that.
I've also finally added
Order of the Stick to the links in the corner. Funny comic aimed directly at gaming geeks. Hilarious D&D humour.
Oh, I'm on stage at
Pavlov Improv again this week. 11 p.m at Jekyll & Hyde Pub (10610 - 100 Ave). For those who live in the Edmonton area, it's only $5 at the door, so come on out.
Game Night
Yesterday I went over to the Conrads' house for boardgames and dinner. After Mrs. Conrad's wonderful pasta dinner, we delved right into the joy of
Dungeon! and
Betrayal at House on the Hill.
Dungeon! is a classic
TSR boardgame. It's fairly simple; you play an adventurer who goes into a dungeon, fights monsters, and tries to accumulate a certain ammount of treasure. I found the game okay, especially with all the joking around we did, but found several problems with the game.
First of all, the game is exceptionally unbalanced. The Elf character and the Hero character are both pathetically weak, while the Superhero is... fairly average, and the Wizard is stupendously powerful. The monsters in even the lowest levels (1 or 2) of the dungeon are difficult for an Elf or Hero to overcome, and really only the Wizard has a chance of beating any of the higher difficulty enemies.
This lack of balance is made up for by the victory conditions. Wizards and Superheroes need more treasure to win. This is, however, a fairly poor way to balance the game. Four more balanced character types (and easier monsters, ye-gads!) would make for a much better gaming experience.
Also, and maybe I'm just spoiled from more modern games, but a tile based board would make the dungeon different every time, and that would have been a nice touch too.
Betrayal at House on the Hill is one of my favourite boardgames. It is a haunted house boardgame, where you play a group of trapped horror movie stereotypes who explore the house, until whatever is haunting it makes itself known.
One of the better twists in the game, as the name implies, is that one of the players will inevitably betray the others. You don't know who that will be up until the haunt is revealed, though, so the game adds a level of suspense as everyone (even the future traitor) wonders who the traitor is going to be.
The real beauty of
House, however,
is its utter replayability. Besides being tile-based, meaning the layout of the house changes from game to game, the game has
50 different haunt scenarios, based on what Omens are found in what rooms.
All in all, it was a good night full of awesome boardgames and alot of food.
Random Update, Funny Link
Not much to say today. Updated the
101 in 1001 list, played more
Dynasty Warriors 5, packed and watched
The Seven Samurai with Nita, Dev and Ninjas.
I did, however, find this interesting link which prompted me to update. Basically, it is a
list of 213 things that "Skippy" (the writer of the blog)
is no longer able to do in the U.S Army. It's a riot.
Hitchhikers and Historical Warfare
So,
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a pretty decent movie. I know I used to do full movie reviews on the blog, but I'm not really up for a lengthy schpeal right now. Suffice it to say, I liked it for it was, and fully expected a movie that was based on three sources that contradict each other (book, TV series and radio show) to be different than those sources. Go see it, but be prepared for new stuff.
Also, Sam Rockwell is a genius.
Anyway, I've been playing alot of Romance of Three Kingdoms and Dynasty Warriors lately, so I went searching and found an online copy of the book
Romance of Three Kingdoms. Um, wow, it's a really good read. Somewhat epic, but it really has a story-teller feel to it, and you get that sense of a sweeping epic from it. I'm quite enjoying it.
Be warned, though. It's long... like 120 chapters or such.
And I'm still working on
my 101 in 1001 list. Not much to update there today, but soon. I've got Ed Wood (1994) and Amadeus (1984) to watch over the next few days.
Finally, did some improv again for the first time in ages this weekend. For anyone in the Edmonton area, you should check out Pavlov Improv. Every Saturday night (for at least the next month, most of Edmonton's arts community takes a break over the summer festival season) at 11 p.m. $5 at the door.
