Saturday, January 30, 2016

Odd Late Night Thought

How do movie monsters metabolize human clothing? The ones big enough to bite you in half and/or swallow you whole?

I mean, suspend your disbelief to imagine them existing, and that human meat could actually be palatable, but we're wearing clothing. That must taste awful and wreak havoc on the digestion.

Has anyone ever brought this up before? Is there any real-life basis for animals surviving eating clothing (such as sharks and constrictor snakes)?

Discuss.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Gauging Interest

Ever hear of Let's Plays?

You know, those YouTube videos people put out where they film themselves playing video games and reacting in real time?

I've watched plenty over the last few years, and I usually think to myself: "I'd like to get into that."

However, while I have a video camera and a selection of PC games to start with, my laptop does not have the space required for additional games or the software needed to capture game footage and edit videos. And I do not have the money for said software anyway, much less a new PC, nor will I for at least a year or two.

Before I start saving, I wanted to gauge interest from some of my readers here. If I were to branch off into the YouTube business, would I have any sort of built-in interest for that from any of you?

I imagine my niche would be mostly story-driven RPGs. You know, stuff that I could do a lot of voices for and take my viewers on a journey. I'd also do occasional highlights of some of the more short-form and casual games I play, and once in a while rant vlogs as an extension of my writing here. My tentpole ongoing series would be an extensive playthrough of World of Warcraft, with an emphasis on quest lore and just having a bit of fun rather than anything cold and tutorial. I would gladly consider requests from viewers for nearly any PC game as long as it's not exclusively First Person view (first person makes me dizzy, and I'm not interested if I can't turn it off), and I put in the labels other long series I would eventually do.

Now, again, IF this happens, it won't be for a VERY long time mostly due to money. I guess what I'm asking my readers here is if that money is worth saving up? Would any of you watch something like that from me?

Friday, January 15, 2016

The Force Awakens: First Impressions

(Originally Written for Jedi News)



Well, I saw it. Sooner than I had intended, but with the world ready to spoil everything I’m glad I was still in a relative vacuum.

I had originally wanted to wait until a second viewing to put my thoughts down like this – we all know how first impressions are, and how talking about them with other people can cloud our memory. However, my financial situation won’t allow it and any of you who are regular readers are I’m sure dying to know what I thought.

I’m going to split this into bullet-pointed sections because that’s how my brain is best processing everything that I saw and everything that I feel.

First, I’m going to stress that 99.9999etc% of these are my own personal opinions, and even the rare moments where I speak on an objective technique level are open to interpretation. I have no quarrel with people who feel differently unless they are the type of hypocrite who would put me down for disagreeing, and I reserve the right to change my mind about ANY of this with time, study, and distance.

Part 1: Spoiler-Free Summary of My Feelings

·         * Loved the basic story, hated the presentation.

·         * As a film, it’s well-made and enjoyable, if a bit generic. I ultimately enjoyed myself.

·         * As a Star Wars Saga film, it’s immensely disappointing, and if it still counts it’s my current least favorite.

·         * As a Star Wars Expanded Universe Story, it’s at least above-average and I like this direction a little better than the original after-Jedi EU.

·         * Would still have preferred George’s vision by a country mile.


Warning: Spoilers from this point forward.


Bewitching the Mind and Ensnaring the Senses.

This week we lost not one, but two entertainment greats. Each are deserving of their own post, but I decided to put them together because of the shocking fact that the reports of their passing are interchangeable:

"Dead at 69, after a long battle with cancer, surrounded by family and friends."

And I had no idea either of them were even sick.

While the title of this post is a direct quote from a character played by one of these men, I felt it accurately described how people felt and reacted to both of them during their long and illustrious careers (well, one a bit longer than the other).

Today, we say goodbye to David Bowie and Alan Rickman.





Now, I'll admit I wasn't the biggest fan of Bowie's music - I didn't dislike it, in fact there were a couple of songs I really liked, but he was never one of my favorites. But I admired and respected what he brought to the music industry. Plus, it's weird how relevant he was to my recent life - first I play a video game where I hear his voice in my head instantly for the true final boss, then I lose a Halloween costume contest to a woman dressed as Jareth from Labyrinth. This was a shocking enough loss...


But then to hear of Alan's passing so suddenly, and the fact that as I said above it's almost exactly the same story made me think it was another one of those horrible pranks. Alas, we've lost a great voice (in more than one meaning) of film. I first saw Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest, and have since adored him in everything I've seen him in: Dogma, Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Love Actually, Sweeney Todd, the list goes on. It was really Alan Rickman being cast as Severus Snape in the first Harry Potter film that led me to finally checking out the books and becoming the Potter fan I am today, and it's one of his best and most fitting roles. Finally, Alan Rickman is important to me personally because of his story: He was in textiles most of his life until finally getting fed up and becoming an actor at the age of 41 - so whenever I watch people my own age or younger become superstars and start to worry about what I'm doing with my life, Alan's story reminds me it's never too late.


Goodbye, Alan and David. We'll miss you both, Always. Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing we can do.



Friday, January 8, 2016

The Tao of Binks

(Originally Written for Jedi News)



Much news has come forth since I last decided to type down my thoughts on the Star Wars Saga, and one reason I haven’t done since until now is that many of these stories have made me feel negative emotions towards the new film I haven’t even seen yet, and I already said I wasn’t doing that. “Easier and More Seductive” indeed (for the record, I will still give TFA it’s fair shake and go in with a relatively open mind, but I am purposely not going out of my way to see it the first week or so due to the mishandled marketing throwing George and his fans under the bus. Expect my first impressions sometime in January).

So I’m going to attack the silly “Darth Binks” thing that went around about a month back instead.

Update

Just letting you know, my last Jedi News article went up about a week late, so that'll be here tonight. I just sent in my first impressions of TFA, so whenever that shows up I'll post it here the day after - but it could be another week or two, so stay tuned.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Undertale Dream Cast

So apparently the adaquate term for what I have become is "Undertale Trash".

If you have not yet played the game, do NOT read the rest of this post.