[As a one off or so, we played a session of Castles and Crusades, a D&D style that is supposed to be rules light. Wouldn't say that they are that lite...]
Me, Calliforth Bushfoot, and some other guys went to the town of Malforten because we had heard that there was a gnoll that was causing problems. (The other guys are a gnome wizard, a gnome ranger and a dwarf paladin. And I am a halfling druid. We are the short stuff adventurers are made of.) We arrived and found out that the gnoll sends in a group of goblins to get tribute from the town around once a month. We found out that the gang would be coming in in a week. Aha! An ambush!
At least that was the idea. Very rough one, relying on the wizard to send those goblins to sleep. Brilliant! However, they were faster than us. But eventually the wizard did his thing. Small problem, they only went to sleep for a little while [1 turn per level, and we are level one!] Oops.
Fortunately, some of them ran away. And we did manage to kill the others, although they nearly put half of our own team out of action. Still, we rallied back, and now we will be after them to find out where they are going, where the gnoll is, and then probably charge in and die.
Hooray!
[To be continued... some time...]
[End]
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Crusading Castles
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Two "classics"
You hear about them, and everyone cites then and stuff, but you never get around to seeing them... until now.
The Usual Suspects: Yes, okay, this is a great movie. Nice story build up, good action sequences, the plot actually works. And then there's the reveal... although that was slightly ruined for me, 'cos I thought the picture looked like Kobayashi. Some stunning performances, and once again Kevin Spacey once again demonstrates he is in movies that are worth watching. And remember, in the words of Dwight Schrute, Keyser Soze is the one you most medium suspect.
Reservoir Dogs: ... meh. It's a Quentin Taratino script, so lots of action and 'strong language', but... meh. It just wasn't that interesting. People yelling at each other for 90 minutes doesn't contain enough excitement. I've seen it now... but I'd rather rewatch Kaante.
[END]
Monday, 6 June 2011
DW: 6.7
Um... okay, I'm going to ask. I'm not sure if this will end up being a popular question, or just draw looks of "you aren't actually a fan are you?", but... what was the point of this episode?
Seriously, what exactly happened? There was build up, build up, build up, the Doctor then shows up... and wins, then... everyone stands around talking for a while, then it turns out he lost and the episode ends with the crappy leaked rumour being true. I hate to label this as such, but as a mid series episode, and supposed cliff hanger (at least, I am supposing this episode was supposed to make us want to see the rest of the series when it returns), this episode strikes me simply as 'filler'.
So let's talk Melody Pond/River Song. Really? That was the idea all along? Certainly there was the link with the name from the beginning of Amy's joining, but... how many of us are going to go back and watch the fifth/sixth series episodes with that relationship in mind... fine, we know they kissed, but seriously Moffat has presented a dodgy connection all around. (And at which point does a Time Lord tell someone their name?) Melody as the daughter would suggest a daddy/daughter relationship with the Doctor, but 'my love'? Um... yeah... Oh, and River ends up in Stormcage because she killed the Doctor as a child? Although, we never did see who was in the suit at that point...
As for the rest, Lorna is the only interesting character. The rest are just there for 'oh, look, a get together RTD would be proud of, with far less justification/result'. However, Lorna is who Amy could have been, the girl who waited but the Doctor didn't return for. One of the many he doesn't remember. But her character is subsumed in the wider 'going to war' story. (Not that it was much of a war.)
In all, a bit of a fizzle, really. And it's a shame that the Good Man wasn't Rory.
Next time: Bwahahahahahaha!
[END]
Sunday, 5 June 2011
The Asylum's Schlock Doh'lmes!
Just so you have some inkling of what I subjected myself to:
Now you too will be asking yourself "Did I just see that?"
With the good comes the bad. And this isn't the good. The plot derails quickly, and then quickly becomes absurd. The writer has decided to bring in Sherlock's family, but... why? In fact, you'll be asking yourself at lot that, especially nearer the end. Why? What possible reason is there for that? And it hints at a lot more history, which is really important and vital to understanding the plot, but it's never explained.
Instead, there are more interesting sequences to have. Such as five minutes of Watson climbing down a cliff then back up again, with absolutely nothing of consequence. Actually, worse that nothing, something seems to happen, but is studiously never mentioned again! And be careful on your morning constitutional not to wander into the thick lush choked jungle that is just outside 221B Baker Street. The hells? Then there are binoculars with inbuilt plot devicium that enable them to see key moments as if they were a camera positioned in the scene!
Presuming you can see anything. Often the camera has the 'brown' lens on, rendering everything in colours of rust, beige and mud. To compare to other sequences in which other colours are allowed. It's rather disconcerting.
Let's talk CGI. The fire effects are, frankly, rubbish. It's clear the effect was layered on the image afterwards. And as for the creature effects... actually, they are surprisingly good. Comparable to The Mill and the like. Fine, the sight of a dinosaur in Victorian London does take you out of the picture, but Primeval are about to do thathttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif themselves, so I can't complain about it too much. However, the interaction is more than dodgy. If you must have a room of CGI creatures, tell the actors were to look or they will think the room is full of stuff to look at rather than, as the audience sees, extremely empty.
However, this is a Sherlock Holmes movie (so it claims), so let's talk characters. Ben Syder is Holmes (in his action persona) and Gareth David-Lloyd is Watson (whom seems to be the hero of the movie at times). And... to be honest, they have some great character moments between them. Unfortunately hampered by having to deal with the plot, but they and the music are good points about this movie. William Huw as Lestrade is a complete waste of inclusion (as in Lestrade is a waste putting him in, not Huw). And as Dominic Keating as... well, if he was any more arch, he'd have fornication. Oi...
As this was Victorian horrendous (as opposed to, say, horror) I did remember War of the Worlds. And at least this isn't that.
There are some good moments in this, but few and far between.
[END]
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Aussie kicking US ass
...assets, that is! In particular, monetary assets. Just take a look at this picture:
And now I will explain this picture.
What this is, is the exchange rates of the NZ dollar versus AUS and USD (as provided by x-rates). More specifically, it's how much NZD you need to buy a single AUS or USD. For example, in the middle of March (17th), you'd need NZ$1.38 to buy a US$1, but only NZ$1.36 to buy AUS$1.
But then, at that point on... the Aussie dollar, which has been cresting the US dollar before then, takes off as the US dollar plummets. And as at now (2nd June) while you need NZ$1.31 to buy AUS$1, you only need NZ$1.23 to buy US$1... the Aussie dollar is stronger!
Which all adds up to... it's cheaper to buy from the far distant States than the local country across the ditch. (Well, I say 'cheaper', that does assume the product costs the same figure in different currencies and not really taking postal charges into account...) To be honest, I've often looked at US sources *cough*Amazon*cough* because the range is better, so not a huge change...
But now it's definitely worth the Aussies looking at importing as well. It probably won't last (or, alternatively, we're seeking the US crash), so grab while you can.
(This probably also means something for those that trade currencies, but I'm not in the financial markets, so hopefully someone else will comment on how to make a killing there...)
[END]
Friday, 3 June 2011
Portal 2-ish
So, I've actually been playing Portal 2. Racked up about 10 hours so far, played it through once, then again with the developer's commentary (which wasn't that amazing to tell the truth). Got most of the solo play achievements, some of them are right tricky to get.
However, my take on it is slightly different to most players. If you recall, I watched others play Portal 2 first. Why? I think mostly because I didn't think I would be playing it myself. I don't play a lot of games, and certainly didn't intend to play it... and yet, having watched it, I did want to play it. (Still waiting for Portal to turn up.) [This probably says something psychological about me, but I'll leave that for my therapist.]
What this does mean is that I don't get the high from finally working out a puzzle for myself, because I know what the secret is. (Well, not for all rooms, some I still had to work out because I either partially or totally forgot about it. And I get to explore the areas and alternative paths myself instead of yelling at the screen for others to do it.) Alternatively, I don't get the lows of frustration of being stuck for many hours staring at the portals wondering what to do (well, aside from those rooms I had forgotten which did stump me for a while). And those lows help make the highs higher.
That all said, I have picked up games because I have seen them in action, and so know they are something I'd like to play. And that's the main thing. There's a lot of games out there I'm not interested in, and I'm not that interested in speculating. Especially for games that aren't that cheap. (Which is why I'm willing to speculate more with games on GOG. I get those cheap!) While I might not get the same level of excitement, I do get some from doing it my own way.
So, in short, Portal 2, I liked it! Now to find someone to co-op with...
[END]
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Not-quaman
The creators of Smallville tried to off-shoot a new series based on a popular episode of that show. The result: Aquaman.
You'll be forgiven for not having heard of this before, as the series never went further than a pilot. In some ways, I am surprised. In other ways, not at all.
The set up here is that Aqua's mother was lost years ago when he was a kid, in a plane crash in the sea, so he now lives with his adoptive father. He's basically an eco-friendly young man, out to help the ocean life, and although he has abilities, he has no idea of his destiny as a member of the royalty of Atlantis. The pilot explains some of this, and has him fight a siren, but it is a decent enough set up that a series could easily have been spun off from this.
On the positive: actually has Aquaman as a rather credible person, as opposed to merely "the last guy attached to the Justice League". And a lot of mystery is set up around others having been to Atlantis, giving tantalizing hints of a greater mythology to explore.
On the negative: Aqua could easily end up being emo about the ocean, and does tread near those waters (sic). Also, if you read his powers in the wiki description, you could be thinking "hang on, that's Man From Atlantis!" And some of the characters are fairly flat, although I could see them being developed over a series.
There are worst series that could have been made (and other worse series have been made), and given the name power of the creators, it is odd that this wasn't made... on the other hand, it didn't have a chance to devolve into a Smallville clone, so close escape there.
[END]
