Another One Bites...

Monday Lounging

2005-05-23T14:29:00.000-05:00

So today's Victoria Day and I'm stuck at work. Nobody calls, since businesses and federal agencies alike are closed (lazy bastards). So, along with half a dozen coworkers, I'm just grabbing my sexy ass with both hands here, in between sessions of nose-picking, and getting bored to death getting paid to do almost nothing.

Beats working.

Weekend Frolicking

2005-05-22T16:33:00.000-05:00

Another weekend on its final stretch. I usually hate Sunday afternoons, because they remind me of everything I "should've/would've" done during the weekend and was too lazy to get going.

This time, it was different.

I had fun, got yard work done and even got to do some "bonding" (yes, I just used that touchy-feely carebear bullshit) with a family member I don't see enough of. So for once, I feel satisfied with the way things went during the last 48 hours. That makes going back to work tommorow a lot more palatable, if not very exciting.

So we went to see Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith late friday evening, which started off the weekend on an interesting note.

The movie is a mixed bag, as I expected, but at least my worst fears have not materialized and Lucas did a decent job of wrapping up things. Seeing Anakin turn into Vader had an effect on me I hadn't expected; it really altered/enhanced my perception of the character in the original trilogy setting. Even more than before, I see him as a fallen angel, a victim and the slave more than the apprentice of Palpatine.

Coolest moment:
When R2 sprays oil all over the floor and lights up the droid troops with it. I got to get me one of these...

The good things:
- The movie wraps up the prequel trilogy well, and introduces the original trilogy appropriately. The design style of the machinery and the general visual effects have been made to look like the original trilogy, and that alone makes the transition a lot more believable.
- Better acting. Anakin is a lot more poised and beleivable than in the two others. Obi-Wan is good as usual, and less annoyingly paternalistic with Anakin. Palpatine, at least before his transformation, is awesome.
- Order 66 and the formation of the Empire. In one swift stroke, Palpatine completes what he's been preparing for decades. His "coup" is well executed, and the complacent Jedi never had a chance - Windu pays for his arrogance, among many goodies.

The bad things:
- Palpatine's transformation. The special effect on his face was overblown and obviously fake. He looked like a pumpkin or something. And his voice and rambling during that scene were terribly annoying.
- Padme's death. Why didn't they make Anakin kill her? She dies of "unknown" reasons.
- Padme's constant whining. Some of the scenes with Anakin are actually okay, and warranted, but all she does is mushy stuff and crying. She once fell off a trooper carrier only to get up and go kick some droid ass, and now she lounges around...
- Anakins fall. While Palpatine had prepared all the right conditions masterfully, the final fall is way too quick and not believable. The only way he could've killed younglings is AFTER he's led to believe he killed Padme in anger, and that she and Obi-Wan betrayed him.

The ugly:
- General Grievous. I guess we needed something to replace Jar-Jar...

I won't mention the special effects, not because they were bad or anything, but because they don't do much for me anymore. I guess it's the "seen it all" syndrome.

World Of...

2005-04-17T17:19:00.000-05:00

I reactivated my WoW subscription today. I let the last one end without renewing, and didn't play for a couple of weeks. The thing with me is, since I'm such a lazy and casual player, I don't often have the focus/energy needed to play - and with a new job taking most of my resources, that sad state of affairs is even worse than usual. So that was why I was hesitant to renew right away, in case I lost interest in the game. Well, I visited the WoW website/forums almost everyday since the end of my last subscription, and I found myself genuinely wanting to play today, even though that damn cold of mine is lingering and the job is stressing me out of my - admittedly meager - wits.

World of Warcraft is that good of a game.

So I'm in for at least another 6 months, and I'm eagerly awaiting the new features Blizzard is working on. In the meantime, I still have lots of stuff to discover and lots of variety to enjoy with my 8 characters. I tried to drag a couple of my friends into it, but no success so far. I think the monthly fees are a major obstacle for a lot of casual-minded gamers - but here's how I overcame it.

You usually pay CAN$50+ for a game that you play for less than 3 months in average. In fact, it is said that a game with 40 hours of single-player gameplay is generous. A lot of games have less than 30. With WoW, you pay that $50 up-front, and that includes one month of gameplay. If you're bored by the end of the first month, you still pretty much had your money's worth, if you compare with usual prices for standalone games. On the other hand, it costs you US$13-15 a month to keep on playing - but by then, you've most likely played 100s of hours and exceeded the normal gametime offered by standalone titles by orders of magnitude. It's a good investment for any gamer.

I'm wrong alot...

2005-04-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

Take the title of this post as a caveat emptor, a warning of sorts, or a sign of fledgling maturity - it's up to you.

I'm not sure what to expect from this endeavour into the realm of blogging; I've always resisted the trend until now, mostly because I was too lazy to write down what I had to say in the rare occurence when inspiration struck. That, plus I found that a lot of the blogs I read (mostly technology-oriented) were from pompous elitists. I have nowhere near the knowledge needed - in any field of expertise - to be an ass and confidently post my opinions as the one and only Truth.

But hey, I took a sick day today because of a silly cold, so I might as well try something new. We'll see if it lasts.

Hello!

2005-04-15T11:12:00.000-05:00

Posted using Hello

Springtime = Nature Unleashed

It Works! And About Name Thieves

2005-04-15T10:26:00.000-05:00

Good, it worked. I must say, these web tools are getting better. Not so long ago - when I was still a professional web programmer - we were striving to get stuff like this online WYSIWYG HTML editor working. Nowadays, they're everywhere. Of course, that's nothing compared to Google's Web Mojo (GWM, another acronym, oh noes!!!). Those who have a GMail account will know what I mean...

In other boring news, some chump stole my usual online/gaming username. I assure you, I'm the real Tonton Jean-Paul, and tjp and tontonjp are off-limits too. These other clowns are clearly frauds...

Testing 123456...

2005-04-15T10:16:00.000-05:00

Another One Bites My, err... I mean: Me love you long time!

* Walks away whistling...

If you can make any sense of the above, you've got a fertile imagination because this is just an initial test post!