Archive for January, 2008
Posted under games & rant & reviews
I had the chance yesterday to rock out with some friends with Harmonix’s latest game Rock band. If you have never heard of it, it is their newest musical simulation in which up to four players can play together as if in a band. If you have played any of the Guitar Hero games, you already have a good idea as to how the guitars and the bass is handled, but you can also use drums and sing the lyrics. Vocals is nothing new, being used in games such as Karaoke Revolution. That game was also created by Harmonix and it plays the same way in Rock Band. The only real new instrument here are the drums which resemble an electronic drumset with a drum pedal. The best part of this game is not the instruments or playing solo, but playing with your friends.
Over six hours flew by last night while we were playing the numerous songs available in the game. I spent a good majority of my time on drums, but I would switch every now and then to go on guitar/bass. I even attempted vocals, and although I do not have a singing voice, I managed to output my pitch and tonality appropriately and got myself some good scores. We had a hell of a good time playing the “Timmy & The Lords of the Underworld” song which, albeit being utter nonsense, is hilarious to hear. They even managed to include the microphone for instruments such as the ever popular cowbell in “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. Overall, the game is an amazing party game and I look forward to playing it again.
Now if it only didn’t cost about 200$…
When I was but a wee lass, I was what many would consider a bookworm. I was always reading a book, and sometimes re-reading old ones that I had enjoyed. Even as I got older, I would still have my nose in the books and my imagination in another world. Yet, in the last year or so, my interest in books diminished. As much as I wanted to read, I never had the time to settle down with one.
This all changed last year during the Fantasia Film Festival. Since I would spent hours waiting in lines to get into the cinema, I needed to find a way to pass the time. I met up with my friend André one day, and he we loitered in the local bookstore. He showed me a series of books by an author named Jasper Fforde. I had never heard of him, but André was giving him high praise as were the employees who saw me holding one of his books. I bought his first book, entitled “The Eyre Affair” and started to read it while waiting in line.
Unfortunately, at about the same time, the last Harry Potter came out and that became my reading material. After finishing that, I took a break from books, and then I started reading “The Eyre Affair” once more. Nay.. I didn`t read it.. I devoured it. After completing the book, I went and purchased the next in the series. And after the next.. and then the next… etc. He has seven books out so far, and I have read 6. I am waiting for the last book to be published in paperback format so that it will match the rest in my collection. His books are awesome. They are a fluid read and a complete change from the other books.
Five of his books deal with Thursday next, a Literary Detective. Each book in the series get better and better and plenty more creative. I am in awe of Jasper Fforde`s imagination. His other series is a spin-off from the Thursday Next novels and deals with the Nursery Crime Division. Jack Spratt has to deal with all sorts of Nursery Crimes, such as who killed Humpty Dumpty. The books are all humourous mystery crime stories. There are plenty of twists and turns, and as crazy as the stories are.. they make sense! I can`t wait to read more and I only wish he could write them faster!
If you need a good book to read, check out his series. Start with “The Eyre Affair” and go crazy from there. You will not regret it. In a rating from 0 - 10.. his books are all 11+.
Jasper Fforde, keep up the amazing work!
Posted under movies & rant & reviews
Just as Aaron was able to predict, what follows is my review and impression of the movie Cloverfield. This film was first introduced to us a while back as scant teasers and trailers. These previews gave off an impression that we were going to be in for a treat, a rich new experience in movie history… and in most parts, they were right.
Cloverfield starts off normal enough. Without spoiling anything, the movie starts with everybody happy and then the shit hits the fan… and it is a mighty big fan! The entire movie consists of hand filmed footage (a la Blair Witch, if you wanted a comparison), which makes the whole event much more believable. There are many spoilers on the net as to what the “monster” is, but as Aaron mentioned in his review, the movie is not about the “monster”. It is about survival and friendship. To this end, the movie succeeds. From the standpoint of a horror fan though, I have some qualms with the overall experience.
Since what I will mention may involve spoilers (although minor), I will only mention them after the break. If you have not seen the movie yet, come back after you have witnessed Cloverfield. Overall, I loved the experience, and as a friend best put it, it is one heck of a ride!
Posted under awesome & funny & video
Whenever I look back at my past, or discuss it among friends, the most prominent memory we have are the various cartoons we watched as kids. While the typical 80’s cartoons were my main viewing, I wanted to post a couple of clips of truly Canadian animation. The first one is called The Cat Came Back and is a staple of animation (Canadian or not). Made in 1988, it was one of those short animations in which you would still be humming the tunes years later. It is about a yellow cat which always returns to the house, no matter how hard the owner tries to get rid of it.
The next cartoon was shown when there were odd gaps between television shows. At least, that was when I would see it. It is the Log Driver’s Waltz and is based on what real people did with the lumber. although I doubt it is still done that way except in competitions. I wish I could have also found the french version that was shown in Quebec since it was that variation that I grew up with. Nonetheless, they are both the same, except with different lyrics… and awesome.
The last is the opening and closing animation shown on the CBC channel. I am not sure if they still do it, but in the past, whenever the channel would go on and off the air (late at night and again early in the morning) they would play this short animation with the Canadian Anthem as the music. The clip is a trip from one side of Canada to the other and various landmarks can be seen along the way.
You can find the videos after the beak. It should be a trip down memory lane for al those who grew up in Canada. Enjoy!
Posted under photography & rant
These last couple of days have generated some pretty crazy weather. While we have gotten used to the cold temperature and the buckets upon buckets of snow, Mother Nature decided to trick us and gave us a taste of Spring. With the mercury climbing up to and over 10 degrees celsius, we have witnessed a huge amount of snow melt and have shunned our winter apparel for our spring wear. Instead of crystalised water falling from the sky, we were treated to its liquid and gassy siblings. Indeed, it has been raining and to keep the water company, a lot of fog decided to roll into town to obscure our view.
I decided to climb Mont-Royal during my lunch break to see if I would be above the fog. While it was not the easiest climb, the results were amazing. Pictures do not give credit to the real majesty it is when you see your city engulfed by fog. I was hoping to climb back up after work and take night shots with the fog, but it had dissipated by then. Here are two pictures that I took.
In the early morning hours of January 1st, where I was surrounded by people I had mostly just met, we spoke about stuff that affected us throughout 2007. This resulted to a massive search of videos on the intertubes which led from the funny to the ridiculous to one of the most disgusting videos I have ever seen. I have decided to share some of the videos that were new to me. They may actually not be new, but if you have never seen them, prepare for the bizarre.
You can probably guess what the disgusting video was, but you have no clue.. it involved two girls and 1 drinking container.
See the videos after the break.
I’ll add more as I remember them.
Posted under photography & rant
I had been wanting to go snowshoeing since last year. We actually had a very mild winter last year, so there were no good snowshoeing opportunities that presented itself, but this year is quite different. We have had so much snow so far that it is costing the city millions to clean it up. I was motivated to go snowshoeing when Aaron told me that he went to a nearby provincial park. I was supposed to go tomorrow (and I might still go actually), but today was just perfect for snowshoes. The temperature was an average of zero degrees celsius and it was not windy.
Unfortunately, when I got to the boutique to rent out a pair of snowshoes, I was told that they had no more. In fact the guy just before me got the last pair! I could wait to see if anybody brought some back, or I could go walk in the more trampled trails which did not require snowshoes. I took a trail map and off I went. Since I would not be able to explore the 7km of trails via snowshoes, I took the longest walking trail which was measured at 4km. It felt a lot shorter than I expected, but it was a very pictorisque walk. On the way I came face to face with a doe, and I met various chickadees and a woodpecker. It was a little lacking in animals perhaps, but it was good to be taken away from the buildings and vehicles.
They are announcing 7 degrees tomorrow with the possibility of rain. It is not ideal snowshoeing temperature, but I may go back anyways. Anyways, I have all of winter to revisit the park, and it will not be the last it sees of me.
More images after the break.
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