Weekend progress
Right, well, Friday evening was a bit of a write-off - it ended up being one of those crash-and-burn evenings where I was face down in bed by 9:30.
Saturday was far more productive. In super-organisation mode I managed to make some major progress with my Christmas shopping, and even managed to wrap my purchases. Bow before my awesomeness! Anyway, on Friday the first of my seasonal online shopping orders arrived, and bright and early on Saturday morning I hit the mall, so I managed to tick off gifts for 3 family members. Just 6 more to go...
In the process I also managed to finally find myself a new pair of takkies/sneakers. It was a purchase outside of my November budget, but after 4 years my current pair are looking very scruffy, worn down and have developed the tendency to stab me in the Achilles tendon with the exposed plastic and wire moulding inside. Of course I need to clarify that I'm not a Carrie Bradshaw with a walk-in closet of footwear - although I do of course have my consumerist urges, they're definitely not in the cliched shoes department. I tend to have 1 pair in each style (sandals, boots, strappy, sporty etc), which I wear into the ground before being forced to replace them.
Anyway, we had friends over for junk food and junk movies on Saturday evening. In the case of the latter it was Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. To be fair, I was actually impressed with the production values of this straight-to-DVD release. The fire effects were weak but the giant insects were on par with those in the original Starship Troopers.
I haven't seen the second Starship Troopers film, Hero of the Federation, but my understanding is that although Marauder feels like a Z-grade Pitch Black, it's still waaay better than No. 2. And, unlike Hero of the Federation, Marauder does at least have Casper Van Dien returning as Johnny Rico - even if Van Dien's part is smaller than the posters would let you believe. Most of the time the audience is stuck watching an silicone-lipped Angelina Jolie clone leading her born again Christian crew through the desert.
Marauder is what you'd expect of a Starship Troopers film, with over-the-top violence, explosions and plenty of nubile flesh on display for no reason. As with the first Starship Troopers, the best part of the film remains the desensitized news broadcasts. "Would you like to know more?"
South Africans may be interested to know that Starship Troopers 3 was partially filmed here. Look out for locals Cokey Falkow and Tanya van Graan in prominent roles, although van Graan should really stick to modelling. Her pseudo-Russian-Afrikaans accent is atrocious.
In terms of reading, I finished skimming the very mediocre Hannibal Rising, and completed Alan Moore's Batman: The Killing Joke graphic novel from 1988. What's most interesting about The Killing Joke, which tackles the Joker's origin story, is how it could easily integrate with both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger's interpretations of the character in the Batman film series. Clearly the film makers in both cases were influenced by this seminal Batman story.
At just 46 pages or so, The Killing Joke is very short, but it's also very dark, and quite disturbing in parts. The Joker is exceptionally cruel here, but he's not insane - his actions have a sick purpose; to prove a point. Given how accustomed audiences have become to the sight of Batman smashing heads and terrorising criminals, Alan Moore's interpretation of Batman is unexpected, in that the Dark Knight is surprisingly rational and reasonable throughout - even when faced with unimaginable degradation of his friends. Batman fans who have never read The Killing Joke owe themselves to check it out.
Anyway, gaming-wise, I made a mini return to World of WarCraft on Sunday evening, completing my usual few dailies for some easy money, and sorting out my Talent build now that the system has been drastically overhauled with new abilities. I'm very keen for the expansion now, although I imagine it's going to be a complete bum fight in the new areas once the game hits this week on Thursday (if the servers don't crash).
I'm also about 6 and a half hours into Oblivion. How people rushed the game to review it, I have no idea. I can see Oblivion being one of those titles you dip into now and then when you just want to relax by roaming around the massive game world, killing things. This said, there is a lot about the game that frustrates me - the lock picking, the silly spinning mini-game when you're trying to influence NPCs and, worse of all, weapons or attacks that fatigue you, continually causing you to fall over. I hate that most of all.
Saturday was far more productive. In super-organisation mode I managed to make some major progress with my Christmas shopping, and even managed to wrap my purchases. Bow before my awesomeness! Anyway, on Friday the first of my seasonal online shopping orders arrived, and bright and early on Saturday morning I hit the mall, so I managed to tick off gifts for 3 family members. Just 6 more to go...
In the process I also managed to finally find myself a new pair of takkies/sneakers. It was a purchase outside of my November budget, but after 4 years my current pair are looking very scruffy, worn down and have developed the tendency to stab me in the Achilles tendon with the exposed plastic and wire moulding inside. Of course I need to clarify that I'm not a Carrie Bradshaw with a walk-in closet of footwear - although I do of course have my consumerist urges, they're definitely not in the cliched shoes department. I tend to have 1 pair in each style (sandals, boots, strappy, sporty etc), which I wear into the ground before being forced to replace them.
Anyway, we had friends over for junk food and junk movies on Saturday evening. In the case of the latter it was Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. To be fair, I was actually impressed with the production values of this straight-to-DVD release. The fire effects were weak but the giant insects were on par with those in the original Starship Troopers.
I haven't seen the second Starship Troopers film, Hero of the Federation, but my understanding is that although Marauder feels like a Z-grade Pitch Black, it's still waaay better than No. 2. And, unlike Hero of the Federation, Marauder does at least have Casper Van Dien returning as Johnny Rico - even if Van Dien's part is smaller than the posters would let you believe. Most of the time the audience is stuck watching an silicone-lipped Angelina Jolie clone leading her born again Christian crew through the desert.
Marauder is what you'd expect of a Starship Troopers film, with over-the-top violence, explosions and plenty of nubile flesh on display for no reason. As with the first Starship Troopers, the best part of the film remains the desensitized news broadcasts. "Would you like to know more?"
South Africans may be interested to know that Starship Troopers 3 was partially filmed here. Look out for locals Cokey Falkow and Tanya van Graan in prominent roles, although van Graan should really stick to modelling. Her pseudo-Russian-Afrikaans accent is atrocious.
In terms of reading, I finished skimming the very mediocre Hannibal Rising, and completed Alan Moore's Batman: The Killing Joke graphic novel from 1988. What's most interesting about The Killing Joke, which tackles the Joker's origin story, is how it could easily integrate with both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger's interpretations of the character in the Batman film series. Clearly the film makers in both cases were influenced by this seminal Batman story.
At just 46 pages or so, The Killing Joke is very short, but it's also very dark, and quite disturbing in parts. The Joker is exceptionally cruel here, but he's not insane - his actions have a sick purpose; to prove a point. Given how accustomed audiences have become to the sight of Batman smashing heads and terrorising criminals, Alan Moore's interpretation of Batman is unexpected, in that the Dark Knight is surprisingly rational and reasonable throughout - even when faced with unimaginable degradation of his friends. Batman fans who have never read The Killing Joke owe themselves to check it out.
Anyway, gaming-wise, I made a mini return to World of WarCraft on Sunday evening, completing my usual few dailies for some easy money, and sorting out my Talent build now that the system has been drastically overhauled with new abilities. I'm very keen for the expansion now, although I imagine it's going to be a complete bum fight in the new areas once the game hits this week on Thursday (if the servers don't crash).
I'm also about 6 and a half hours into Oblivion. How people rushed the game to review it, I have no idea. I can see Oblivion being one of those titles you dip into now and then when you just want to relax by roaming around the massive game world, killing things. This said, there is a lot about the game that frustrates me - the lock picking, the silly spinning mini-game when you're trying to influence NPCs and, worse of all, weapons or attacks that fatigue you, continually causing you to fall over. I hate that most of all.
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