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1. My sister walked into her daughter's room yesterday to find that she and her little brother were wearing plastic Halloween buckets on their heads. Not too big a deal, but there were also new holes in their clothes. The reason? They were playing "leaky cauldrons" and, of course, cauldrons aren't leaky unless they have holes.
2. Today in class, my nephew was asked to write up his turkey recipe. I couldn't hear the whole thing (my niece insisted on being the one to read it, and we were talking over a cell phone), but Step One was buying a turkey from the store, and the rest involved eight hundred and something marshmallows, 506 hours (or possibly minutes?) in the microwave, and a happy dinner with the family.
3. I saw Quantum of Solace this past weekend. It was good. Wish I'd rewatched Casino Roayle first, though, because a lot of Quantum is driven by the events of Royale. Was nice to see some of the old touchstones, though. The little trail of white circles at the opening. The traditional music. The homage to Goldfinger (but with black gold). The beginning of the closing credits. The Onion told me to expect good, but not great. They've got the best, most reliable reviews I've encountered, but every once in a while we disagree. I'm not entirely sure if we do this time. I agree that it holds par with Royale rather than expanding and going above and beyond (as The Dark Knight did for Batman Begins), but really, I'm not sure what more they could have done.
I'm also not sure what I think of the action sequences. They're full of quick cuts and quicker action. Deliberately made, I believe, to be just a little too fast to really follow. In a way, I like it. In a way, I find it frustrating and a little overwhelming. (But that's the idea, so...) I do like the thing in the elevator where you basically can't see what's happening... it shows you that that's not the point. That, with Bond, you can just take for granted that he can do that. Makes things just a little larger than life, which Bond should be. But without going over the top, as they did with Brosnan. (I still laugh, remembering the "My uber car can beat your uber car!" sequence in Die Another Day. That was unintentionally hilarious.)
4. Saw "colorgenics" pop up on my flist a couple of times (most recently from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
acbshada. Thought I'd give it a shot.
I don't fully agree, but there's a lot in there that's true. Pretty impressive for clicking on a few colored cubes.
Repeating, with slightly different choices:
Which has a fair amount of truth to it, too. But also a fair amount that's flat wrong. Still, again, for quickly clicking through colored blocks, I'm impressed.
5. Went for a blood test today. Followed by a pancake breakfast at IHOP down the street from the lab. Mom laughed at me for ordering chocolate chip pancakes with diet syrup. But there aren't that many chips in them, really, and you save calories where you can, you know? Anyway, there was one more pancake on the plate than I really wanted (and I probably should have stopped earlier than that, truth to tell), so I decided to have some fun with it. I cut a triangle out of it with my fork, then cut that triangle into little pieces. Ta-da! I had Pac Man on my plate, happily eating a line of Power Pellets! Mom laughed/sighed at me, but you get your kicks when you can, you know? ;)
And then I sat there idly musing about how I could someday make a batch of pancakes, throw some food coloring into some of them, do a bit more cutting, and make not just Pac Man, but also Inky, Blinky, Pinky, [crap, I forget], and Clyde.
Hmm. But then I'd need to make a Pac-maze, too, wouldn't I? French fries? Nah. I guess it'd have to be waffle sticks. Or french toast strips.
Someday.
At least I made Green Eggs and Ham that one time. That was easy enough. A couple drops of blue food coloring (because the egg is already yellow) and some cut up hot dog pieces in place of ham (since we don't eat ham), and there you are. I'd been meaning to try hot dogs and scrambled eggs anyway, since Mom "invented" the dish in her newlywed days and it had some success with a few family members. Wasn't so thrilling for me, it turns out, but calling it Green Eggs and Ham made me happy.
6. I forget what else there was. So you'll just have to live with the suspense. MWAHAHAHAHA!
ETA: 7. Dug up this image to post in a comment. I've come up with it before. And it makes the point, but I don't like it. Those are large letters, but they don't seem especially friendly, color notwithstanding. And why does the Guide have a QWERTY keyboard? Also, why does it say "Ursa Minor"? The Guide is published on Ursa Minor Beta, but the company is called Megadodo Publications.
The Guide image created over at Vogon.com is better (even if the online version of the Guide sadly only works if you have a very old legacy browser), but even that has its problems. And their font still isn't even that friendly (though somehow the red on black comes out friendlier to my eye than the yellow of the other image).
In short... someone needs to come up with a better image of the Guide. With a properly friendly font!
I have spoken.
ETA#2: 8. I remembered what 6 was! (So much for the suspense...)
I got Lego Batman (the DS version) out of the library. The music is from the 1989 movie, which makes me happy. (Though the car is from Batman Forever, which makes me less happy. But it doesn't show up nearly as much.) And it's got all sorts of neat unlockable characters, like Batgirl, Nightwing, Alfred (his weapon is an umbrella, which he can also used to glide short distances), all the villains and their henchpeople, GCPD (patrolman, SWAT team, etc.), and a whole bunch of others. And it's fun having them all running around as living Legos. The game has some nice humor to it, too.
There are also villain levels (accessed via Arkham) to compliment the hero levels. So you go as Batman to stop them, and then switch over to set things up as the bad guys. That is, Batman will respond to a break-in, then find and capture the villain responsible. He'll arrive at the scene to find some things broken, certain switches activated, etc. And sometimes, the villain will show up to throw an obstacle in his way. And then when you play the villain level, you have to pull off the break-in (breaking stuff and activating switches along the way) and sometimes your actions result in the creation of an obstacle for the good guys. There's some neat dovetailing. The heroes and villains share some areas and have others that one or the other has to go through.
There are three chapters, with five levels each, and you can choose when to play which (do all the hero levels and then all the villain levels, change back and forth, stop to replay an old level with your choice of unlocked characters - some of whom can reach bonus items that others can't, play some minigames, visit the Trophy Room in the Batcave to see the Lego versions of things like the Red Hood, the Giant Penny, and the T-Rex, run around the dining room of Wayne Manor, etc). There's a lot to do and it's a lot of fun.
On the other hand, it can also be boring, stupid, and repetitive. Batman can use grapple points to reach certain platforms. But only after he's found the little circle he has to stand on to use the grapple point. And that circle is made up of Lego pieces that he has to assemble. Which means standing over the pile of pieces and repeatedly hitting the A Button until it's all together. And he can't find the kit with the pieces until a certain switch has been hit to release it. Which often requires sending Robin to an area that only he can access (Robin can't use grapple points, but he can use tightropes and travel chutes - which Batman can't) so he can hit that switch. Which he can only do after he's assembled the switch. Which he can only do after hitting the button to release the kit with the pieces for the switch. Which he can only do after assembling the pieces of the travel chute that brought him to that platform. And so on. That's what the entire game is. Find the kit, assemble the pieces, activate the switch to release the next thing, assemble the pieces, repeat until you've opened the door to the next room, then do it all again.
It is a lot of fun, but only in measured doses.
2. Today in class, my nephew was asked to write up his turkey recipe. I couldn't hear the whole thing (my niece insisted on being the one to read it, and we were talking over a cell phone), but Step One was buying a turkey from the store, and the rest involved eight hundred and something marshmallows, 506 hours (or possibly minutes?) in the microwave, and a happy dinner with the family.
3. I saw Quantum of Solace this past weekend. It was good. Wish I'd rewatched Casino Roayle first, though, because a lot of Quantum is driven by the events of Royale. Was nice to see some of the old touchstones, though. The little trail of white circles at the opening. The traditional music. The homage to Goldfinger (but with black gold). The beginning of the closing credits. The Onion told me to expect good, but not great. They've got the best, most reliable reviews I've encountered, but every once in a while we disagree. I'm not entirely sure if we do this time. I agree that it holds par with Royale rather than expanding and going above and beyond (as The Dark Knight did for Batman Begins), but really, I'm not sure what more they could have done.
I'm also not sure what I think of the action sequences. They're full of quick cuts and quicker action. Deliberately made, I believe, to be just a little too fast to really follow. In a way, I like it. In a way, I find it frustrating and a little overwhelming. (But that's the idea, so...) I do like the thing in the elevator where you basically can't see what's happening... it shows you that that's not the point. That, with Bond, you can just take for granted that he can do that. Makes things just a little larger than life, which Bond should be. But without going over the top, as they did with Brosnan. (I still laugh, remembering the "My uber car can beat your uber car!" sequence in Die Another Day. That was unintentionally hilarious.)
4. Saw "colorgenics" pop up on my flist a couple of times (most recently from
acbshada. Thought I'd give it a shot.You are the sort of person that needs a peaceful environment. You seek release from stress and freedom from conflicts and disagreements, of which you seem to have had more than your fair share. But you are taking pains to control the situation by proceeding cautiously and you are right in doing so as you are a very sensitive person.
You are looking for excitement and stimulation and you are ready to try anything - but be careful not to take too many risks.
You need a friend - a close friend - and you are willing to become emotionally involved with the right person, but you are very demanding and particular in your choice of partners. You are constantly looking for reassurance and it is perhaps because of this that you tend to be somewhat argumentative, but you try to hold back - careful to avoid open conflict - since this might reduce your prospects of realising your hopes of establishing a warm caring relationship.
You are an emotional, sincere and impressionable individual experiencing frustration and unnecessary stress. You vehemently resist any form of pressure from outside sources, insisting on your independence as an individual. You want to be a decision maker - to make up your own mind without interference. You wish to be able to draw your own conclusions and arrive at your own decisions. You detest uniformity and mediocrity as you want to be regarded as one who gives authoritative opinions. Your favourite expression could well be that 'I may not always be right but I am never wrong'. You're a perfectionist and even though you may feel that the other person's point of view may be right, you find it extremely difficult to admit that you could be wrong.
You would like to be respected and valued for yourself and this can only be achieved from within a close and harmonious relationship.
I don't fully agree, but there's a lot in there that's true. Pretty impressive for clicking on a few colored cubes.
Repeating, with slightly different choices:
You have always longed for tenderness, love and a sensitivity of feeling into which you would like to blend. You are a very gentle warm person and responsive to 'All things bright and beautiful'. This personifies a caring person, a person who 'needs' and indeed 'needs to be needed'.
You are a leader in every sense of the word. You know where you are going and you know what you need to do in order to get there. You exercise an inherent initiative in overcoming obstacles and difficulties. You either hold, or wish to achieve, a position of authority by means of which full control can be exerted over events.
You need a friend - a close friend - and you are willing to become emotionally involved with the right person, but you are very demanding and particular in your choice of partners. You are constantly looking for reassurance and it is perhaps because of this that you tend to be somewhat argumentative, but you try to hold back - careful to avoid open conflict - since this might reduce your prospects of realising your hopes of establishing a warm caring relationship.
Presently, you are experiencing stress because of restriction on your independence. You need and seek respect from other people and it is essential that they appreciate you for yourself and not for what they would like you to be. You have your own beliefs and convictions and you would like to be respected for them. You are anxious to avail yourself of every opportunity that may come your way but nevertheless, come what may, you have the need to control your own destiny without imposed limitations or restrictions.
You wish to be left in peace... no more conflict and no more differences of opinion. In fact you just don't want to be involved in arguments of any shape or form. All you want is for 'them' to get on with it - and to leave you alone.
Which has a fair amount of truth to it, too. But also a fair amount that's flat wrong. Still, again, for quickly clicking through colored blocks, I'm impressed.
5. Went for a blood test today. Followed by a pancake breakfast at IHOP down the street from the lab. Mom laughed at me for ordering chocolate chip pancakes with diet syrup. But there aren't that many chips in them, really, and you save calories where you can, you know? Anyway, there was one more pancake on the plate than I really wanted (and I probably should have stopped earlier than that, truth to tell), so I decided to have some fun with it. I cut a triangle out of it with my fork, then cut that triangle into little pieces. Ta-da! I had Pac Man on my plate, happily eating a line of Power Pellets! Mom laughed/sighed at me, but you get your kicks when you can, you know? ;)
And then I sat there idly musing about how I could someday make a batch of pancakes, throw some food coloring into some of them, do a bit more cutting, and make not just Pac Man, but also Inky, Blinky, Pinky, [crap, I forget], and Clyde.
Hmm. But then I'd need to make a Pac-maze, too, wouldn't I? French fries? Nah. I guess it'd have to be waffle sticks. Or french toast strips.
Someday.
At least I made Green Eggs and Ham that one time. That was easy enough. A couple drops of blue food coloring (because the egg is already yellow) and some cut up hot dog pieces in place of ham (since we don't eat ham), and there you are. I'd been meaning to try hot dogs and scrambled eggs anyway, since Mom "invented" the dish in her newlywed days and it had some success with a few family members. Wasn't so thrilling for me, it turns out, but calling it Green Eggs and Ham made me happy.
6. I forget what else there was. So you'll just have to live with the suspense. MWAHAHAHAHA!
ETA: 7. Dug up this image to post in a comment. I've come up with it before. And it makes the point, but I don't like it. Those are large letters, but they don't seem especially friendly, color notwithstanding. And why does the Guide have a QWERTY keyboard? Also, why does it say "Ursa Minor"? The Guide is published on Ursa Minor Beta, but the company is called Megadodo Publications.
The Guide image created over at Vogon.com is better (even if the online version of the Guide sadly only works if you have a very old legacy browser), but even that has its problems. And their font still isn't even that friendly (though somehow the red on black comes out friendlier to my eye than the yellow of the other image).
In short... someone needs to come up with a better image of the Guide. With a properly friendly font!
I have spoken.
ETA#2: 8. I remembered what 6 was! (So much for the suspense...)
I got Lego Batman (the DS version) out of the library. The music is from the 1989 movie, which makes me happy. (Though the car is from Batman Forever, which makes me less happy. But it doesn't show up nearly as much.) And it's got all sorts of neat unlockable characters, like Batgirl, Nightwing, Alfred (his weapon is an umbrella, which he can also used to glide short distances), all the villains and their henchpeople, GCPD (patrolman, SWAT team, etc.), and a whole bunch of others. And it's fun having them all running around as living Legos. The game has some nice humor to it, too.
There are also villain levels (accessed via Arkham) to compliment the hero levels. So you go as Batman to stop them, and then switch over to set things up as the bad guys. That is, Batman will respond to a break-in, then find and capture the villain responsible. He'll arrive at the scene to find some things broken, certain switches activated, etc. And sometimes, the villain will show up to throw an obstacle in his way. And then when you play the villain level, you have to pull off the break-in (breaking stuff and activating switches along the way) and sometimes your actions result in the creation of an obstacle for the good guys. There's some neat dovetailing. The heroes and villains share some areas and have others that one or the other has to go through.
There are three chapters, with five levels each, and you can choose when to play which (do all the hero levels and then all the villain levels, change back and forth, stop to replay an old level with your choice of unlocked characters - some of whom can reach bonus items that others can't, play some minigames, visit the Trophy Room in the Batcave to see the Lego versions of things like the Red Hood, the Giant Penny, and the T-Rex, run around the dining room of Wayne Manor, etc). There's a lot to do and it's a lot of fun.
On the other hand, it can also be boring, stupid, and repetitive. Batman can use grapple points to reach certain platforms. But only after he's found the little circle he has to stand on to use the grapple point. And that circle is made up of Lego pieces that he has to assemble. Which means standing over the pile of pieces and repeatedly hitting the A Button until it's all together. And he can't find the kit with the pieces until a certain switch has been hit to release it. Which often requires sending Robin to an area that only he can access (Robin can't use grapple points, but he can use tightropes and travel chutes - which Batman can't) so he can hit that switch. Which he can only do after he's assembled the switch. Which he can only do after hitting the button to release the kit with the pieces for the switch. Which he can only do after assembling the pieces of the travel chute that brought him to that platform. And so on. That's what the entire game is. Find the kit, assemble the pieces, activate the switch to release the next thing, assemble the pieces, repeat until you've opened the door to the next room, then do it all again.
It is a lot of fun, but only in measured doses.
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Gotta love kid logic. :D
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