I’ll be honest, I’m pretty much a non-traditionalist when it comes to Christmas music. I can certainly get into the spirit that drives some of the more recent renditions of the carols, like, well, everything done by Trans-Siberian Orchestra; and believe me, I also dig Bad Religion’s version of “Joy to the World”. But there’s a limit, you see. I caught the tail end of Stellar Kart’s “Punk Rock Christmas Show” this morning before I was prepared for it. And while I do like “O Come All Ye Faithful”, I’m fairly certain it has more than three chords and is slower than 180 bpm.
So, not much to mention right now; I made it to my parents’ house safe and sound, and bestowed upon them the glorious gift of Blue Glow. (Sue me– they knew they were getting it and I figured, they might as well be able to enjoy it for the whole weekend as opposed to the last two days of the stay.) Anyway, I also received a gaming-related gift; according to Xbox Live, my ‘reputation’ is now a full five stars. Much like my Slashdot Karma being ‘excellent’, this is ultimately meaningless since almost everyone’s reputation is full, but overall it’s one of those neat little nerd accomplishments.
We did go to see “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” last night, and that was well worth the trip. I know some individuals have issue with Nicolas Cage, but honestly this wasn’t really ‘his’ movie; it’s moved towards an ensemble cast, which is good– especially given the ensemble! Jon Voight and Helen Mirren perform exceptionally well, and I also continue to be impressed with Justin Bartha, who remains sadly underused (this, and the previous NT film, seem to be his only prominent roles). The film set up an obvious third movie, and I’m looking forward to that– of course, given how much I like this series, it’ll probably never happen– but it’s way open-ended. I’ll just have to keep my eyes open.
We’ll have a sappy entry at some point this week, folks. Catch you tomorrow.
Sorry, folks– I meant to have a full post together by this morning, but Things are Happening. Primarily, a very long drive. So, we’ll shoot for later tonight, and if we don’t get that one, we’ll try for tomorrow afternoon.
No, it’s not the Who song. But, it does sound like an interesting trailer. And where have I heard “The Dark is Rising” before? Incidentally, tomorrow we’ll have a regular post, I imagine.
At 7:51p, I completed Guitar Solo Tour (Medium) for Rock Band on the Xbox 360. This is the eighteenth game cleared in 2007. The next game that is closest to completion is Touch Detective 2 1/2 (DS), followed by Uno Live (Achievement Clear, 360) and Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii). All songs were completed with three or more stars. Rock Band will be eligible for a second Game Clear notice if the Drums or Vocal Solo Tours are completed on a difficulty of Medium or higher (only one notice per instrument), or if the Band World Tour mode is completed.
So maybe I lied a little when I said that I wasn’t going to type much. I’ve just been thinking a little bit about Blueberries and getting it ready for the first looks. It’s one of those strange things– I’m done with the story, yes, but there’s still a ton of work left to do with it. Even at about 114K, there’s still a few thousand words of detail that I’d want to put in– one of my original character sketches from September has the walkthrough of the house that I basically relied upon throughout the writing, but I realized last night that I sort of took it for granted that the reader would be able to visualize the house as well as I did.
It’s the strangest thing, really. The house is a composite of a number of places I’ve lived in, so I’ve never actually set foot in it. At the same time, I seem to have these strong memories of the walkthrough, and I can replay pretty much every step I’ve never taken in it. I feel like I’ve lived there for ten years. It’s quite an unusual feeling, really; I see all the details of the house– the study, the game room, the parlor and the foyer, and that’s just in the lower wing– and I realize that I will never actually see them, because they don’t exist. No other location I’ve written about has gotten into me so deeply, and it’s as awesome as it is frightening.
So now that the story’s over, it’s a little depressing to have to say goodbye to it. I really like that house. I might go back to it, might see how the characters are doing in five years or so, but really, it’s just a strange attachment. Ah well.
Speaking of the characters. I had a conversation with Rick last night about the traumas I’ve put them through. One of my big worries about the story is that I painted the events in an unrealistic light– either by having things be too rosy in the end, or by not getting into the horrible gory details of the actual troubles. I think I did a fairly good job of showing the aftermath– the main characters are really only involved on the periphery, are intervening– but I’m not entirely sure how it’s going to be received. That’s probably the crucible, in my mind– if the characters can make it through, can live through the disaster, then I’ll feel I did a good job.
Survival is not the same as living. Some characters merely survive trauma, but the most memorable ones are the ones who stay believable and don’t fall victim to becoming one-dimensional criers of woe when disaster befalls them. This does not necessarily mean they make it through the encounter with their life; some memorable characters live through their fatal encounters just by dying in a believable manner.
So what’s the next step? Obviously, I have some coding work to do that I’ve been neglecting. I intend to continue to neglect that until after Christmas. In truth, I’m probably going to hold off on the New Year’s Project until February (but will enact most of the changes on the 1st anyway). Trust me, things are gonna change around here, and hopefully for the better.
As always, new year’s resolutions are coming up, as well. I’ve already laid out a couple of them but some new ones have popped up as well, and I’m curious to see if I can accomplish one or more of them. I’ll still be keeping them mostly private, but if and when they get accomplished, you’ll know. Just as an example, Inconsequential was one of them. (It kinda still is… sort of. I figure it’s going to be like “Lifehouse”, “Duke Nukem Forever”, or “Chinese Democracy”… I keep talking about it but it never gets done.) Anyway, we shall see. It depends a lot on certain other factors, but I’ll be working towards most of these pretty hardcore throughout the year.
The only other interesting thing for the time being is my previously-stated goal of getting another Game Cleared notice up for 2007… with less than two weeks to go, the odds of that happening are increasingly small, but I could probably blast through Touch Detective 2 1/2 or maybe some other shorter DS game over the time before Christmas. We’ll see– I’m not likely to rush through a Rock Band campaign, but I do have four days alone with the 360 after I get home to hone the skillz (Guitar Solo Tour on Medium… that would count, right?). If I’m lucky– and I think I am– I might even be able to squeeze a third Clear in, bringing me to an even twenty for the year. I have no idea which one that would be, but odds are good for LocoRoco. don’t quote me on that, though.
That’s all I’ve got for this week, folks. We’ll definitely have Bailout tomorrow through until Friday, at least. Catch you folks soon.
I spent the majority of today’s gaming playing Rock Band with Pez. Prophecied Pariah will rock the faces and other body parts off of a venue near you soon. Assuming you are near me. Which you’re likely not.
And now, my hands hurt for completely unrelated reasons.
We’re going to have another week of Bailout, boys and girls.
