Weekend report-back
Mostly this last weekend was consumed with gaming and movies, as well as some major work on the next Girlz 'N' Games web comic, which you can probably expect to be up tomorrow.
Anyway, our return to the Battlefield 1942 mod, Desert Combat continues - with more enthusiasm than any real skill on my part. I still can't fly the planes and helicopters, preferring instead to cruise around in the American Bradley and Abrams tanks when I'm not gunning down the Iraqi bots with my beloved heavy assault rifle, the SAW (who says video games never teach you anything?).
I also got in a decent amount of World of WarCraft this weekend. I'm still not questing, fed up as I am with tedious dailies. Rather, I'm currently obsessed with leveling my secondary skills, picking up the various related achievements and just generally making gold. So my Cooking is now sitting at 409/450 and I took my Fishing from 0 to 150 (man, is it boring to level).
And by some weird economic principle one single herb needed for alchemists to make high level flasks is currently worth the same, if not more, than the flasks themselves (thanks no doubt to changes made to certain alchemy recipes in Wednesday's patch). This herb, Frost Lotus, has a lousy drop rate, but it's worth my while to cruise around gathering herbs in the hope that I find a few.
And continuing on matters of gaming, our Dungeons & Dragons session on Saturday evening was combat-free, although we're now standing in front of a dwarven army headed by a powerful priestess (with anti-Empire sentiments) who has managed to channel the power of the dwarven deity into one of the soldiers, transforming him into the Champion of Moridan. Now this used to be no problem for Herkon, my Paladin, of the Empire Faith. If you were an extra-planar being (demon or celestial), or were aligned with any of these creatures, well, you had to learn the error of your ways and accept the one true Faith. Problem now though is that since dying and being resurrected, Herkon has sworn to defend the cause of Good. This means that if extra-planar beings are Good, he can't fight them. Moridan is known as a Good deity, but something makes me think that his vertically-challenged followers won't be convinced to abandon their quest simply by talking. Hmmm... We'll see what happens on Wednesday afternoon.
As for movie and TV watching this weekend, the biggie of the weekend was the Academy Award nominated thriller Memento, from director Christopher Nolan. The film centres on a man (Guy Pearce) seeking vengeance against the criminals responsible for the rape and murder of his wife. The only problem is that in the attack, he suffered irrepairable brain damage, leaving him with no short-term memory. Using notes and tattoos to keep track of his investigation, he enters dangerous territory where it is easy for others to mislead and deceive him for their own gains. This applies equally to himself.
I'm still of the opinion that Nolan's weakest films are actually his work on the Batman franchise. The Prestige, Insomnia and Memento are such deliciously complex movies that keep the audience mentally engaged, and culminate in fantastic twists (that immediately make you want to watch the film again), that I wish the Batman series would be given the same treatment.
I also have to ask, whatever has happened to Guy Pearce? It feels like I haven't seen his ultra-defined cheekbones in anything since 2002's dire The Time Machine and the much better The Count of Monte Cristo.
Anyway, our return to the Battlefield 1942 mod, Desert Combat continues - with more enthusiasm than any real skill on my part. I still can't fly the planes and helicopters, preferring instead to cruise around in the American Bradley and Abrams tanks when I'm not gunning down the Iraqi bots with my beloved heavy assault rifle, the SAW (who says video games never teach you anything?).
I also got in a decent amount of World of WarCraft this weekend. I'm still not questing, fed up as I am with tedious dailies. Rather, I'm currently obsessed with leveling my secondary skills, picking up the various related achievements and just generally making gold. So my Cooking is now sitting at 409/450 and I took my Fishing from 0 to 150 (man, is it boring to level).
And by some weird economic principle one single herb needed for alchemists to make high level flasks is currently worth the same, if not more, than the flasks themselves (thanks no doubt to changes made to certain alchemy recipes in Wednesday's patch). This herb, Frost Lotus, has a lousy drop rate, but it's worth my while to cruise around gathering herbs in the hope that I find a few.
And continuing on matters of gaming, our Dungeons & Dragons session on Saturday evening was combat-free, although we're now standing in front of a dwarven army headed by a powerful priestess (with anti-Empire sentiments) who has managed to channel the power of the dwarven deity into one of the soldiers, transforming him into the Champion of Moridan. Now this used to be no problem for Herkon, my Paladin, of the Empire Faith. If you were an extra-planar being (demon or celestial), or were aligned with any of these creatures, well, you had to learn the error of your ways and accept the one true Faith. Problem now though is that since dying and being resurrected, Herkon has sworn to defend the cause of Good. This means that if extra-planar beings are Good, he can't fight them. Moridan is known as a Good deity, but something makes me think that his vertically-challenged followers won't be convinced to abandon their quest simply by talking. Hmmm... We'll see what happens on Wednesday afternoon.
As for movie and TV watching this weekend, the biggie of the weekend was the Academy Award nominated thriller Memento, from director Christopher Nolan. The film centres on a man (Guy Pearce) seeking vengeance against the criminals responsible for the rape and murder of his wife. The only problem is that in the attack, he suffered irrepairable brain damage, leaving him with no short-term memory. Using notes and tattoos to keep track of his investigation, he enters dangerous territory where it is easy for others to mislead and deceive him for their own gains. This applies equally to himself.
I'm still of the opinion that Nolan's weakest films are actually his work on the Batman franchise. The Prestige, Insomnia and Memento are such deliciously complex movies that keep the audience mentally engaged, and culminate in fantastic twists (that immediately make you want to watch the film again), that I wish the Batman series would be given the same treatment.
I also have to ask, whatever has happened to Guy Pearce? It feels like I haven't seen his ultra-defined cheekbones in anything since 2002's dire The Time Machine and the much better The Count of Monte Cristo.
Comments
Anyway, thinking about Nolan's Bat films you're definitely right about the little twists and deceptions being there. I'm thinking especially about the "real" Ra's al Ghul and the Commissioner Gordon assassination.