First Post!
by Maarten Goldstein, Jan 05, 2009 4:10am PSTWhat's up early risers. Holidays are truly over; time to get back to work, school, etc. I'm pretty sure this sucks.
Even though I'm still in the Ukraine (where its now about 12 degrees, brrr), I was able to follow the NFL Wild Card weekend thanks to NFL's online streaming. This year they started with HD-level streaming and the quality is indeed fantastic. Yay technology.
New video game releases of 2/13-2/19
Indie Jeff's Weekly Pick: Gunpoint
Daily Filter: Mass Effect 3, Alan Wake's American Nightmare
Blizzard files opposition to Valve's Dota trademark
Twisted Metal promotion blows up Sweet Tooth's truck
Ever since I first arrived there, I've been pretty fascinated with Dalaran. One of my favorite aspects of the city is all the storefronts for the various businesses. In light of this appreciation, I made a small gallery of screenshots which I call "The Shops of Dalaran"
http://www.forgoodnotevil.com/gallery/wow/northrend/dalaran/the_shops_of_dalaran/
I did my first Naxxramas run ever last night as well, which was good fun. I liked the design of the place and all the encounters are pretty cool (i went as the off-tank). I do wonder what it was like back when it was a 40man raid.
Oh! And some of the lore quests surrounding Arthas in Icecrown are awesome! Arthas vs. Illidan, for example
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I got to the river (approx 3.6k) and was dead. Painful heart racing, that horrible teeth-tingling saliva production and gulpy breaths. Fuck I'm out of shape. Incidentally, I'm not fat, I'm slim, just unfit.
I walked the distance back, breaking into jogs sporadically, but I was fucked. I felt quite physically sick on the way home.
Should I eat before jogging in the morning? Even something small like a banana.
I'm pretty sure I'll get back to fitness eventually. I used to be a long distance runner and had been doing some moderate weights over a year ago, so I've got a baseline fitness somewhere.
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I received GloriousCow's WE almost two weeks ago, but due to craziness in general I'm afraid it took a bit to post about it. But here it is! There's a shot of the WE goodies in the video, and I'll list them all in reply.
The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFP0rDawB7Q
Thanks GloriousCow !
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I created one of those lame facebook groups in order to help keep in touch, organize impromptu shackmeets, etc. in one place that also won't easily get bumped into oblivion in latest chatty. Join up if you're interested.
There's potential for a half assed meet up this weekend that you can see under the events when you join. Feel free to add me too if you want.
Yeah, yeah, facebook is lame whatever. Till ThomW creates us all something more comprehensive, social and awesome, that's the way it will work.
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Anyone wanna fight! Comon!
EmployedShacker come find me.
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Someone stop me!
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2008 Ford Edge Limited with AWD (http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/archives/07FordEdgeCUV.jpg)
vs.
2009 Volkswagen CC Sport (http://static.taume.com/image/2009-Volkswagen-Passat-CC.jpg)
Go.
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Before you all freak out, note that I said it's a good movie, entertaining, good acting from Ledger, etc. I have no problem with it.
But for me it's not a genre-changing, classic film by any stretch. (Best film of the year? I don't know--only because I didn't see many movies--but it must have been a lousy year in films.) At least, not unless standards have fallen so much that TDK now makes the cut.
Why do I say this? A number of reasons, including that the attempt to weigh in on the issues of the day (terrorism and the struggle of the "good guys" not to become like the "bad guys" in fighting it) through the various characters' pseudo-soliloquies fell flat for me. They were much too obvious about it, with everyone spelling out the positions instead of simply letting the story itself tell the viewer. So in that sense it was clumsy rather than refined. Basically, the writers don't appear to give the audience enough credit to "get it" without spelling it out for them. Maybe that's what PG-13 gets you.
Also, there wasn't much in the way of tension or the "darkness" that I had heard was supposed to make this movie stand out. Because it turned out that there was very little killing/related pathos and even by the time of the boat/hostage scene I didn't have any doubt that everyone would be spared Batman manages to take out all sorts of people with conveniently placed environmental props that prevent their death. If, for example, the director/writers had really wanted us to ponder the "horror" of conflict/terror, to be moved and affected by it, then during that scene where Batman was taking out the cops to prevent them killing the hostages, he should have had to kill the cops. Instead, that scene, like others in the movie, played out like a G.I. Joe cartoon and all potential gravitas was lost.
I suppose when you look at a superhero movie (or comic book) through adult eyes, this kind of thing can bother you and, in my opinion, is one of the reasons superhero films are never taken "seriously" by the wider culture. But that's also why I was so impressed by the original Dark Knight graphic novel mini-series that Miller did back in the '80s. That was a genuinely adult take on a "child's" medium and it was incredible. I wish they'd do the same with the movies.
Anyway, Iron Man was a slightly better movie than Dark Knight, in my opinion.
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