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Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
gamera_spinning
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8:58p
"Fiasco" - think of it as the Coen Brothers cinematic RPG
"THINGS CAN GO WRONG, FAST...
...Maybe some dude from youth group talked you into boosting a case of motor oil, but now your cousin is dead in a swamp and you killed him. Maybe you and your girlfriend figured you could scare your wife into a divorce, but things went pear-shaped and now a gang of cranked-up Mexicans with latex gloves and a pit bull are looking for you.
It seemed like such a good idea at the time.
Fiasco is inspired by cinematic tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong - inspired by films like Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, and A Simple Plan. You'll play ordinary people with powerful ambition and poor impulse control. There will be big dreams and flawed execution. It won't go well for them, to put it mildly, and in the end it will probably all go south in a glorious heap of jealousy, murder, and recrimination. Lives and reputations will be lost, painful wisdom will be gained, and if you are really lucky, your guy just might end up back where he started.
Fiasco is a GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation. During a game you will engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It's like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it'd take to watch one."
Comes out 1/25/10, $25 or $20 as a preorder.
That sounds like fun, and I recognize that my definition of fun is often not the same as other peoples.
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the_lunchbox
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2:45a
And so it goes
The year survived, I look ahead to future projects and a new office in St Petersburg. It's hard to describe what we went through in 2009; the mad hours of work, friends lost, great illness fought, careers changed, loyalties extended and tested, situations constantly changeable, and yet perseverance. One can only hope for greater focus, heightened tranquility and prosperity, all without settling into complacency.
In many cases of melancholy, however, I find myself the malefactor, so I will endeavor to take to heart this quote brought to my attention by a wise person, and perhaps in 2010, I shall pay attention:
"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."
current mood: introspective
current music: And So It Goes - Billy Joel
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(3 comments | comment on this) Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
gamera_spinning
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4:17p
Trailer for "Inception", Christopher Nolan's next film
Cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Franco, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Dileep Rao, Lukas Haas, Michael Caine, and Talulah Riley.
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gamera_spinning
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2:27p
What were your favorite releases this year?
There was a lot of media that came out this year, and I'm wondering what you enjoyed the most.
Examples with my answers:
What was the best movie you saw this year?
The Brothers Broom
And the other ten behind that?
Up, Inglorious Basterds, Let the Right One In, Zombieland, Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, Trick 'R Treat, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Watchmen and Coraline.
Movies you still plan to see in the theatre?
Up in the Air, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, Nine
Movies you're looking forward to in 2010:
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Lovely Bones, Iron Man 2
What films came out that you wanted to see, but you're going to have to catch on DVD?
Departures, Moon, A Serious Man, I Sell the Dead, Unmistaken Child, The Men Who Stare At Goats, Outlander, 9, Jennifer's Body, Surrogates, Where the Wild Things Are, Pirate Radio, The Box, The Road
What was the best movie you discovered on DVD this year?
Trick 'r Treat
What was the best console game you played this year?
Batman: Arkham Asylum
What was the best computer game you played this year?
Dragon Age: Origins, hands down, is the winner. I still have quite a lot of gameplay ahead of me, but the design is exceptional, and it wasn't a game I planned on picking up at all.
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gamera_spinning
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1:50p
Last day of vacation, 2009
I spent about five hours on Sunday in an airport, and kept the crazy at bay by watching nearly a dozen episodes of the Classic Twilight Zone on my iPod. When I got onto the plane, I was seated with a clear view of only one thing - the wing, and we were informed that the window shades had to remain open for the entire flight takeoff and landing for safety.
I'm assuming there was NOT a man on the wing of the plane, but I don't know because I never looked. Instead I watched more Twilight Zone episodes to distract me. When we landed at our one stop in Milwaukee, a truck came along and de-iced both wings.
Yesterday began with me hurrying downstairs from the attic and landing on my tailbone. The spot on my lower back isn't sore today, but I managed to scrape my elbow. That's still a little tender, but otherwise no worse for wear.
Today is going to be unpacking everything from the Christmas visit, doing some laundry and general organizing, a little writing, and maybe even some computer or console gaming. Maybe catch some more of Season 4 of the West Wing with The Firm.
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gamera_spinning
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1:28p
Time to take another look at the free gym at work
So I went to my gym today and noticed a new sign informing me that the pool was closed for the day before I even arrived (even though their website still said that it was open til 1 PM) and that it would be closing permanently tomorrow.
This was a month after they upped the monthly gym fee.
Yeah.
I'm going to be taking another look at the equipment in the free gym at work because as much as I like the racquetball courts, this is bullshit.
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(4 comments | comment on this) Saturday, December 26th, 2009
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gamera_spinning
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9:59p
Sherlock Holmes is good fun
Again, I am far from unbiased and a tremendous fan of the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and their numerous cinematic and theatrical adaptations, but I really enjoyed Guy Ritchie's take on Sherlock Holmes. I am also a long confessed fan of Irene Adler, especially the novels of Carole Nelson Douglas, so I'm always tickled to see her character get screen time.
Holmes apparently fights like The Midnighter. Before a fight, he explains in slow motion narration exactly what his blows are going to be, what they will do to his opponent, and how long it will take the person to recover, and then we see them at full speed. Very Guy Ritchie.
It's a nicely paced film, too, which is always tricky when you're telling a mystery and aiming for action-adventure. I look forward to seeing it again.
People with issues about Holmes bare-knuckle boxing should re-read "The Sign of the Four" and the conversation Holmes has with McMurdo. Those with issues about his martial arts, should re-read "The Empty House", where he recounts how he used baritsu to overcome Moriaty, "and other occasions". A more detailed post on this subject can be found here.
It's not essential to see this film in the theater, it's just fun. I expect we'll see a DVD in the Spring.
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(6 comments | comment on this) Friday, December 25th, 2009
gamera_spinning
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11:17p
Trailer for The Warlords - Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro - 4/2/10
"Set in the midst of war and political upheaval during the Taiping Rebellion of the 1860s, WARLORDS stars Jet Li as General Pang, who barely survives a brutal massacre of his fellow soldiers by playing dead, and joins a band of bandits led by Er Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). After fighting back attackers from an helpless village, the three men take an oath to become "blood brothers," pledging loyalty to one another until death, but things quickly turn sour and the three men become embroiled in a web of political deceit, and a love triangle between Pang, Er Hu and a beautiful courtesan (Wu Jing-Lei)."
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(2 comments | comment on this) Thursday, December 24th, 2009
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