Played the viola from ages 10 to 15. Had to quit because our high school music program was terrible and sucked all the joy of playing music out of your soul. When I wasn't in an orchestra anymore, I lost the motivation to play. Ironically we had just paid off the viola so I still own it and have all my music. I'd like to get back into it, violas are lovely.
Took guitar lessons for a year, but stopped when I went to college. I was so lucky, I got to start out on my dad's '68 Martin. Was definitely easy to pick up thanks to the viola experience. I plan to start again soon since my dad just bought me an awesome new guitar for my birthday. My dad is an excellent guitar player and has bought me now two guitars on different birthdays even tho I hardly play. We got the second one because I have small hands and the neck on the first one was too big. I didn't want to get an expensive one since I didn't know how serious I would get about playing....but of course we ended up getting the most expensive one in the store. It had the best feel and sound quality, sounds almost as good as the Martin, I think he got it as much for himself as for me. This really gives me the incentive to start playing again because the guitar is so much more comfortable and sounds gorgeous.
Fatal Frame. I started playing it on a sunny Saturday afternoon, my roommate was in the apartment, and yet I still got shivers the minute I walked into that mansion and the ghosts started popping out. Some adventure games also had memorable jump-in-your-chair moments when playing at night: Scratches, exploring the Harbor Cottage at night in The Lost Crown, and The Darkness Within, a Lovecraft-inspired atmosphere, some really freaky moments. Also what little I played of Call of Cthulhu. They got those creepy townsfolk voices just right, ugh.....there is something about games where you can't fight back and just have to run. I didn't run good enough in that game. ;_; I'm a little afraid to try Silent Hill...it would be fun with someone else around but as I live alone it might be too creepy to play at night. Condemned I won't even touch for my sanity's sake.
Debating whether to go to sleep because it's 2 AM, or stay up and play Guild Wars like I meant to hours ago until I got sidetracked on damn Giantbomb. I fell asleep earlier in the evening so I'm more awake than usual now. My cat dutifully went to sleep at a reasonable hour and I can hear him making little noises because he's dreaming.
I never thought I would buy a Wii, but games like Fragile Dreams finally changed my mind. Thanks for writing your thoughts on this game, it sounds like something I would enjoy. My Wii is supposed to arrive tomorrow, unfortunately I forgot about this game and bought other ones with the purchase, will have to pick it up later. When people say combat is 'horrible,' I assume they mean the controls are bad, or that the combat is boring and unchallenging? Those are two different things, although they often come as a pair. I will say that I love a good story more than combat, and I don't mind if controls are fussy if the combat itself is easy enough that I can blast thru it. I am an adventure gamer at heart, not the best at fast-paced combat, although I am working to improve my skills. I enjoy games like Diablo where you can blast hordes of enemies with a push of a button. For some reason I find I can do action RPGs but some action games I don't enjoy... not because I don't like the combat but because I find I clench the controller too tightly and always have to stop when my hands and shoulders have seriously cramped up and it's too painful to keep playing. Sorry, God of War. :( I even played Clive Barker's Undying and Max Payne on God Mode and still enjoyed them thoroughly, but that's just me. Undying I think I played thru 3 times, the atmosphere was great.
I've had Twin Peaks sitting in my Netflix queue for a while, and after watching Deadly Premonition I had to start watching. One thing that struck me is that the voice actor who plays York has a very similiar voice to Kyle Mclachlan, and his way of speaking is a dead-on impression of Agent Cooper at some points. I thought this was really cool, you could tell the actor had really studied the part, but also managed to make it not sound like a parody. York still has his own brand of "eccentricity". The voice acting for the main characters in DP is actually really good I think.
What I like about Twin Peaks so far is that even though it is 20 years old, I can watch it and honestly say I've never seen anything like it. It still feels fresh and totally different from anything else I've seen on TV. Many films are revolutionary in their time, but then their innovations become so standard that watching them years later they look dated and like the hundred other films that emulated them. But I guess nobody can really copy David Lynch.
As a native of Washington state it's kind of fun to see a northwest setting, although if I remember correctly the town of Twin Peaks is theoretically located in eastern Washington, very close to the eastern state border. Apparently eastern WA was not eastern WAshingtonian enough??? They filmed it all on the other side of the Cascades and you can tell right away: the climate is completely different (rainier) and the Native American art in the Great Northern is coastal, not inland northwest at all.
@zlimness said:
" You have to watch Twin Peaks to get the most out of Deadly Premonition imo. Most of the game's greatness comes from the weird Japanese-filtered interpretation on Twin Peaks. It's like they tried to turn up the surrealism to 11, and it turns into a whole other experience. "
I'm convinced my parents' cat waited to die until my cat had moved out. She waited exactly a week after he left, long enough to spend five days with my dad, her favorite person, before he left on a very long trip, and then she died. She also waited until the exact moment I got the phone with my mother to come inside their house and start making strange meows. The moment she started crying out, my cat turned and stared at me. I don't know how he could have heard her over a cell phone on the other side of the room, but he knew. The moment my mother touched her and she cried out in pain he gave me the look again. It was an incredibly intelligent look, different than when he is startled by a noise.
What's funny is I thought my cat moving out would extend her life, because he really got on her nerves. However, he was devoted to her. I feel like she waited until he moved out and was secure in his new home so her death wouldn't happen right in front of him. My parents said she was noticeably more affectionate to them the week after he left. I thought this was a sign of better health on her part, but she was just saying goodbye.
Pocahontas is probably more accurate, but the movie that Avatar reminds me of is Ferngully. It's just as juvenile, as in, written for juveniles. Serious themes watered down into an overly simplistic story for children, playing dress-up in 500 million dollar clothes.
Log in to comment