“Don't ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun--and neither can stop the march of events.”
Somebody I know had the line in his MSN signature for years. Despite being a generally curious person, I have been reading this line over and over without ever wanting to know where it came from. I could have found out in a few seconds but I had always been afraid that it could have meant something totally different. Indeed, when I read the book from where this line was quoted from, it is actually a lot less powerful in context.
Anyway, I have stopped worrying about thing once I realise that it will never end.
Showing posts with label Gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaming. Show all posts
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sunday, August 8, 2010
How I learned to stop worrying and love spoilers
"I had a friend who, back on the day when Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince just came out, changed his MSN screen name to 'Dumbledore is dead',then applied a simple vbscript to log in and out every 5 seconds so every friend he had could be reminded of the cold fact that indeed, Albus Dumbledore is dead. That night he received a mild concussion and five stitches.
The same person, having read the leaked Deathly Hallows before hand, went to a major bookstore very early on the official day. He pushed for his way, rather rudely, through the excited crowd to a pile of the new HP hardcovers. He grabbed a copy, turned to the last page and immediately yelled with all force he could gather:'O-M-G SNAPE KILLED DUMBLEDORE!'
Suddenly there was silence. Mouths that belong to females began to resemble an unlikely O; the eyes of the children took a blurry red shade and several others raised their fists and/or frantically looked around for anything that they could use to build an improvised guillotine.
Nevertheless on this occasion he escaped the scene unscathed, for an white haired wise man raised his voice just in time:'Calm down, this bloody w**ker is talking BS about the last book!' "
Isn't that adorable, I wish Lauren AMTFJ Cooper is still alive for this act.
Once upon a time, I did my best to avoid spoilers. However as a career forum junkie it is nearly impossible not to see people commenting on their favorite movies/books/games/etc without considering those who have not had the chance to learn the story themselves. It was ages before spoiler tags became standard of courtesy, and people paid for TV Guide to know what will happen before they even decide whether to watch it.
However later on I realised that in the end, knowing the story does not ruin the experience, since movies are expected to be more than sitcoms or TV melodramas. We are attracted to the silver screen for the visuals, not to hear a story that might not be a good time to start with.
This also explains why some people can watch Avatar over and over, which is just a slightly more sophisticated remake of Pocahontas or Dace with the Wolves.
Examples are attached below
I had little plans to watch this one, however since the semester started, at least fifteen different people have told me that it is great and I had no option but to see it for proof.
To be honest, my first viewing (implying I have seen it twice) was not under the influence of spoilers, so my usually slow-thinking mind had some hiccups with some familiar faces.
Despite a well known ensemble, everybody seems to blend into their respective role with ease. That probably explains by inability to recognise many of them.
DiCaprio is probably on his way to become the next Sean Connery, the number of good films he has done is just amazing. Another decent surprise is Ken Watanabe. Before this his acting always appeared out of place in Hollywood, especially in Letters from Iwo Jima. His performance is more than agreeable, so is his English. (if they actually used his voice)
Another déjà vu moment can be found at the start of snowy mountain segment, which bears a striking similarity to one level of Modern Warfare 2. Considering the fact that Hans Zimmer scored for both it may be more than a coincidence.
Overall, it deserves its 9.2/10 rating on IMDB. I have since replaced my morning alarm call with this Edith Piaf song, you will find out why once you have seen the movie. If you really can't afford movies you may go on a Tuesday, it does not get cheaper than that.
Here ends another rushed post I wrote so I can put my three lab assignments out of my mind.
/Sign off
The same person, having read the leaked Deathly Hallows before hand, went to a major bookstore very early on the official day. He pushed for his way, rather rudely, through the excited crowd to a pile of the new HP hardcovers. He grabbed a copy, turned to the last page and immediately yelled with all force he could gather:'O-M-G SNAPE KILLED DUMBLEDORE!'
Suddenly there was silence. Mouths that belong to females began to resemble an unlikely O; the eyes of the children took a blurry red shade and several others raised their fists and/or frantically looked around for anything that they could use to build an improvised guillotine.
Nevertheless on this occasion he escaped the scene unscathed, for an white haired wise man raised his voice just in time:'Calm down, this bloody w**ker is talking BS about the last book!' "
- From a story told by a certain Waikato graduate
Isn't that adorable, I wish Lauren AMTFJ Cooper is still alive for this act.
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Once upon a time, I did my best to avoid spoilers. However as a career forum junkie it is nearly impossible not to see people commenting on their favorite movies/books/games/etc without considering those who have not had the chance to learn the story themselves. It was ages before spoiler tags became standard of courtesy, and people paid for TV Guide to know what will happen before they even decide whether to watch it.
However later on I realised that in the end, knowing the story does not ruin the experience, since movies are expected to be more than sitcoms or TV melodramas. We are attracted to the silver screen for the visuals, not to hear a story that might not be a good time to start with.
This also explains why some people can watch Avatar over and over, which is just a slightly more sophisticated remake of Pocahontas or Dace with the Wolves.
Examples are attached below
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was made aware of the movie from a chapter in Rights of Passage by Chris Laidlaw. I googled the movie, read the synopsis and then promptly forgot about it.
It came back to me one day when I was hiking uphill from Khyber Pass Road to the hospitals before the Grafton Bridge reopened. On one side of the road there is an abandoned service station with some odd vehicles parked in the dilapidated forecourt.One day a spotted a yellow Mini sporting registration plate "PORK PI" and went to Queen Street right after to get this movie on DVD.
The movie is set and filmed in the late 70s/early 80s, way before Rogernomics and destruction of the old Mangere bridge. The story follows three spontaneous traveller from Kaitaia to Invercargill, each with different motives and outcomes. 30-something years on, this film still has not lost its relevance.
Another interesting point is the low rating of R13(reclassified to PG recently) despite its blatant depictions of rough language (damned funny nonetheless), drug use and some nudity, a contemporary remake would score at least an M.
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Another Bill Murray film I intentionally stayed away from due to prior knowledge of the plot. I convinced myself to watch during the intersemester break and wish I had done it sooner. Comedy may be more vulnerable to spoilers since they sometimes rely on a unpredictable storyline to work best, however with s strong cast and superb cinematography, this movie is still 100% enjoyable.
It also reminds me of the old days when perms were the norm. Andie McDowell undoubtedly look best in her old hair.
Pretty good, but not as good as the perpetually gorgeous Jennifer Connelly
Okay, enough, I shall get back on topic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It came back to me one day when I was hiking uphill from Khyber Pass Road to the hospitals before the Grafton Bridge reopened. On one side of the road there is an abandoned service station with some odd vehicles parked in the dilapidated forecourt.One day a spotted a yellow Mini sporting registration plate "PORK PI" and went to Queen Street right after to get this movie on DVD.
The movie is set and filmed in the late 70s/early 80s, way before Rogernomics and destruction of the old Mangere bridge. The story follows three spontaneous traveller from Kaitaia to Invercargill, each with different motives and outcomes. 30-something years on, this film still has not lost its relevance.
Another interesting point is the low rating of R13(reclassified to PG recently) despite its blatant depictions of rough language (damned funny nonetheless), drug use and some nudity, a contemporary remake would score at least an M.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another Bill Murray film I intentionally stayed away from due to prior knowledge of the plot. I convinced myself to watch during the intersemester break and wish I had done it sooner. Comedy may be more vulnerable to spoilers since they sometimes rely on a unpredictable storyline to work best, however with s strong cast and superb cinematography, this movie is still 100% enjoyable.
It also reminds me of the old days when perms were the norm. Andie McDowell undoubtedly look best in her old hair.
Pretty good, but not as good as the perpetually gorgeous Jennifer Connelly
Okay, enough, I shall get back on topic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had little plans to watch this one, however since the semester started, at least fifteen different people have told me that it is great and I had no option but to see it for proof.
To be honest, my first viewing (implying I have seen it twice) was not under the influence of spoilers, so my usually slow-thinking mind had some hiccups with some familiar faces.
Mademoiselle, you look like Ellen Page, but you are not pregnant?!
Fridge Logic: I only realised once I walked out of the theater that it was Marion Cotillard from Public Enemies
Despite a well known ensemble, everybody seems to blend into their respective role with ease. That probably explains by inability to recognise many of them.
DiCaprio is probably on his way to become the next Sean Connery, the number of good films he has done is just amazing. Another decent surprise is Ken Watanabe. Before this his acting always appeared out of place in Hollywood, especially in Letters from Iwo Jima. His performance is more than agreeable, so is his English. (if they actually used his voice)
Another déjà vu moment can be found at the start of snowy mountain segment, which bears a striking similarity to one level of Modern Warfare 2. Considering the fact that Hans Zimmer scored for both it may be more than a coincidence.
Overall, it deserves its 9.2/10 rating on IMDB. I have since replaced my morning alarm call with this Edith Piaf song, you will find out why once you have seen the movie. If you really can't afford movies you may go on a Tuesday, it does not get cheaper than that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here ends another rushed post I wrote so I can put my three lab assignments out of my mind.
/Sign off
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Online Gaming and Me
Admittedly the only MMORPG that I have spent a fair amount of time on is Ragnarok Online, and the only reason I played is because the game was in free beta testing phase, I as bored and I happen to know a bunch of people from the forum I posted regularly. I started off as a mere swordsman, getting through the first few missions was okay; later on it became a bit more demanding, no worries, forum friends are more than happy to provide you with money and equipment so you are never left grinding for gold. Still, soon I found myself to hit a glass ceiling where my progression became painfully slow.
I asked my forum friends how they got by, and they suggested that I team up with a couple of them to rack up some exps in the Tower of Griffon. I followed them a few times, and to be honest, I cannot say that I enjoyed it, since I am too stressed that I could startle the wrong monster and bring my friends down. And indeed I was more of a hindrance since I allocated my stat points rather recklessly, I had much less VIT and STR than usual. You see, I am inclined to have everything sorted by myself in one attempt that the mere thought to start a new character and go through the initial process again, horrifies me. Public beta was about to finish, so I took the alibi, ditched my friends and left the game just before I reached level 40.
So there ended my brief foray into MMORPGs. Later in life I was introduced to other MMOs such as Rune Scape, Guild Wars, WoW, etc, and I was never really intrigued to play since I know it will just be a repeat of my experiences with RO.
Others have also attempted to pull me into other so-called social games, such as Travian, O-Game, Airline Mogul, eRepublic.......the list goes on. I'd register, play for a few minutes and totally forget about it thereafter. All of those games share one common trait of endless waiting, since the only way to advance is to allow your money/minerals/weapons/rat/cheese accumulate over time, then perform certain action to consume those and carry on waiting for more, once you have played one you know the flavor of the rest. One rare exception is Mafia Wars by Zynga. I played religiously for quite a few months before finally becoming bored with it and quit altogether.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first MMO addict that came to my attention is someone I met on the internet however unlike the usual case we ended up being good friends in real life too. Let's call him by the alias Oct (Short for Octavian Augustus) to protect the innocent. The first few years I knew him, his life was devoted to WoW. A typical Saturday would start with me visiting him at about 11am to wake him up after the raid last night, he'd rise, ablute and we will head out to find food. We talk as we eat, and as soon as the refueling was done we head back to his place so he can start playing more WoW while I go through his exceptional collection of out of print history books. He'd play a bit till it's dark outside then we head out for food again, and possibly talk a bit more than we did at lunchtime in case he need to get more game cards from the store. The process of him playing and me reading continues till I have to excuse myself, he'd wave to me , using his non-dominant hand as I exit his place without moving his eyes away from the screen.
Unlike me, he is not a loner, sure he found ample human companion in the game, even scoring him a girlfriend who crossed two entire timezones to move in with him. For obvious reason I got to visit him a lot less since then, what I am aware of were those:
1. He stopped playing WoW because he needed to work extra hours to support two of them, for her gf's equally nasty WoW addiction and lack of education making her unlikely to find a decent job.
2. In the much reduced amount of free time he played Travian with no less enthusiasm.
3. Later he dumped his WoW sweetheart (and forcibly evicted her from his house, that is after he coerced her to get an abortion in the previous year) for some other female he met while playing Travian.
I have not talked to him since that happened, guess that is what happens to pathological gamers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another WoW maniac I met happened to be my math teacher in Year 12. Unlike the aforementioned jerk, the teacher is a nice med-school dropout who gave me cans of Dr Pepper (which I am still fond of), and once opened the fire exit for me so I can evade capture by my enemies (dramatic license here, I forgot to make churros for a fundraiser event I signed up for, and my mates were waiting for me join them in the corridor). I will never know how much he'd play at home, but I am sure he was playing in front of the class while we were busy with some ridiculously hard questions he made up.
By all means he is not a lazy teacher; in fact he often goes beyond the curriculum to preach heavenly concepts like Infinity or Copula to our naive minds. The only problem is that he loved the game so much, that he left his job next year so he can play as much as he wants. Seriously?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One final example would be a friend's mom I mentioned before. I have only visited my friend's place a few times, as far as I can see she did not neglect to keep the house tidy and cook the meals, which is very good for the family. Nonetheless, my friend does occasionally complain that she spent too much time playing that he and his brother feel emotionally distant to the only parent that lives with them. Her case is probably the most straightforward: Middle-aged mother-of-two homemaker living alone, financially secure with a stable family, i.e. boring life. If she did not get into online gaming, she'd probably find similar escapism in other things such as collecting buttons, baking pies, saving the whales or campaigning against mining. BTW, the game she play is MapleStory, another MMO that I have found very childish and silly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusions....well, there isn't any. It is useful to note that addiction can occur in any socio-economic and/or demographic group, while individuals appears to have some genetic predisposition to their degree of addiction. People don't change, you can put them in rehab or force them to stop playing, yet their addiction will only show up again in a different form.
One pattern that repeats itself in my gaming experience is that I cannot stand repetition and failures. If a game requires repeated grinding to advance, I quit; if a game had a difficult stage that got me stuck for a long time, I quit; or worse, if I had accidentally overwritten a save slot, I quit because I could not bear to play the same game all over again to the point where I left it off. That explains why I enjoy emulators more than any other genre: The instant save/load is a godsend for impatient players.
Also, online gaming , no matter the exact reincarnation, is social gaming, and it is the reason why I never found their attraction. I am so busy entertaining myself that I don't need other people.
/sign off
I asked my forum friends how they got by, and they suggested that I team up with a couple of them to rack up some exps in the Tower of Griffon. I followed them a few times, and to be honest, I cannot say that I enjoyed it, since I am too stressed that I could startle the wrong monster and bring my friends down. And indeed I was more of a hindrance since I allocated my stat points rather recklessly, I had much less VIT and STR than usual. You see, I am inclined to have everything sorted by myself in one attempt that the mere thought to start a new character and go through the initial process again, horrifies me. Public beta was about to finish, so I took the alibi, ditched my friends and left the game just before I reached level 40.
So there ended my brief foray into MMORPGs. Later in life I was introduced to other MMOs such as Rune Scape, Guild Wars, WoW, etc, and I was never really intrigued to play since I know it will just be a repeat of my experiences with RO.
Others have also attempted to pull me into other so-called social games, such as Travian, O-Game, Airline Mogul, eRepublic.......the list goes on. I'd register, play for a few minutes and totally forget about it thereafter. All of those games share one common trait of endless waiting, since the only way to advance is to allow your money/minerals/weapons/rat/cheese accumulate over time, then perform certain action to consume those and carry on waiting for more, once you have played one you know the flavor of the rest. One rare exception is Mafia Wars by Zynga. I played religiously for quite a few months before finally becoming bored with it and quit altogether.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first MMO addict that came to my attention is someone I met on the internet however unlike the usual case we ended up being good friends in real life too. Let's call him by the alias Oct (Short for Octavian Augustus) to protect the innocent. The first few years I knew him, his life was devoted to WoW. A typical Saturday would start with me visiting him at about 11am to wake him up after the raid last night, he'd rise, ablute and we will head out to find food. We talk as we eat, and as soon as the refueling was done we head back to his place so he can start playing more WoW while I go through his exceptional collection of out of print history books. He'd play a bit till it's dark outside then we head out for food again, and possibly talk a bit more than we did at lunchtime in case he need to get more game cards from the store. The process of him playing and me reading continues till I have to excuse myself, he'd wave to me , using his non-dominant hand as I exit his place without moving his eyes away from the screen.
Unlike me, he is not a loner, sure he found ample human companion in the game, even scoring him a girlfriend who crossed two entire timezones to move in with him. For obvious reason I got to visit him a lot less since then, what I am aware of were those:
1. He stopped playing WoW because he needed to work extra hours to support two of them, for her gf's equally nasty WoW addiction and lack of education making her unlikely to find a decent job.
2. In the much reduced amount of free time he played Travian with no less enthusiasm.
3. Later he dumped his WoW sweetheart (and forcibly evicted her from his house, that is after he coerced her to get an abortion in the previous year) for some other female he met while playing Travian.
I have not talked to him since that happened, guess that is what happens to pathological gamers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another WoW maniac I met happened to be my math teacher in Year 12. Unlike the aforementioned jerk, the teacher is a nice med-school dropout who gave me cans of Dr Pepper (which I am still fond of), and once opened the fire exit for me so I can evade capture by my enemies (dramatic license here, I forgot to make churros for a fundraiser event I signed up for, and my mates were waiting for me join them in the corridor). I will never know how much he'd play at home, but I am sure he was playing in front of the class while we were busy with some ridiculously hard questions he made up.
By all means he is not a lazy teacher; in fact he often goes beyond the curriculum to preach heavenly concepts like Infinity or Copula to our naive minds. The only problem is that he loved the game so much, that he left his job next year so he can play as much as he wants. Seriously?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One final example would be a friend's mom I mentioned before. I have only visited my friend's place a few times, as far as I can see she did not neglect to keep the house tidy and cook the meals, which is very good for the family. Nonetheless, my friend does occasionally complain that she spent too much time playing that he and his brother feel emotionally distant to the only parent that lives with them. Her case is probably the most straightforward: Middle-aged mother-of-two homemaker living alone, financially secure with a stable family, i.e. boring life. If she did not get into online gaming, she'd probably find similar escapism in other things such as collecting buttons, baking pies, saving the whales or campaigning against mining. BTW, the game she play is MapleStory, another MMO that I have found very childish and silly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusions....well, there isn't any. It is useful to note that addiction can occur in any socio-economic and/or demographic group, while individuals appears to have some genetic predisposition to their degree of addiction. People don't change, you can put them in rehab or force them to stop playing, yet their addiction will only show up again in a different form.
One pattern that repeats itself in my gaming experience is that I cannot stand repetition and failures. If a game requires repeated grinding to advance, I quit; if a game had a difficult stage that got me stuck for a long time, I quit; or worse, if I had accidentally overwritten a save slot, I quit because I could not bear to play the same game all over again to the point where I left it off. That explains why I enjoy emulators more than any other genre: The instant save/load is a godsend for impatient players.
Also, online gaming , no matter the exact reincarnation, is social gaming, and it is the reason why I never found their attraction. I am so busy entertaining myself that I don't need other people.
/sign off
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
And you never can tell
Hurrah for real html tags, embedded videos does not get much easier.
So the throat discomfort is mostly gone, however I started to develop a really bad runny nose, so bad that I fear that may die from asphyxia every two minutes. Oh and I rammed my mom's car into a pole in the last mile home (literally). Irony has it it felt more like a closure since I knew I might as well crashed on the motorway with my mind all fuzzy. Before you start getting worried, just to let you know that I am not hurt, the car is drivable, all the damage done is the dislodged bumper and couple of lights smashed, which will be patched by tomorrow the quickest.
The morale of the story, don't drive while on a hypoxic high, especially in a car that you are not totally familiar with.
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Don't ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.
Robert Heinlein
I wish I am able to take his POV into real life, and his statement is the most correct. The grass is always greener, and you will find out that other people's shoes are a lot less comfortable when you get to wear them. At least everybody deserves 8 hours of sleep everyday.
What still bothers me? I can totally see my significant other leave me because she cannot make me happy, not going to happen.
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And the game: Synopsis, a blend of authentic 8-bit visual experience with some quirky gameplay, especially suited to Nintendo fanboys.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
30 Mar 2010
Reflections from today:
1. Test went okay, however more of it was just luck. Studying efficiency can still be improved.
2. Try not to panic and watch your time, assumed the test was one hour and had one hell'a rush when the supervisor announced "five minutes left", four MCQs where also rushed through as a result, mind yourself
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spent the last two or three hours playing AoD as Germany in a vanilla N/N game, spent 36 to mid-38 whoring IC and the rest build up on troops, the new auto production control is so much better than the original, or any other mod that I have tried.
Ended up annexing Poland in 19 days, and by the start of November I was able to release puppet Scandinavia.
Verdict: Paradox can create good concept, however they screw up everything else. Yet they did write their own game engine but it is a pile of mess, the game already slows down in 37 and as far as I can see the "Ghost Fleet" issue is probably never getting sorted since it appears to be a bug hard-wired into some lower level naval algorithm. It took 3+ years to make HOI2 a game with acceptable OOBE and 7+ years for the good old Europa engine to reach its present state. By this trend I don't see myself playing HOI3 or any Clausewitz-based game till 2015 at the speed of 10min/month.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in reality, I will have a full day studying microbiology tomorrow, test on Thursday and I planned to stay behind to finish my lab report and hand it in. Projects for the next two weeks:
1. Cleanup! This usually comes up in the end but I will move it forward for a change.
2. Install the watercooling loop, that involves grinding up a CPU WB bracket and possibly some other dangerous and exciting ops. Looking very much forward to it.
3. Sell the expendable things that has been piling up since the end of last year, why have I not done this earlier is beyond me now, at least I had some excuse.....
4. At work, still aim to have website online by mid-April, but not too much work that I ran out of time to do the stuff above.
1. Test went okay, however more of it was just luck. Studying efficiency can still be improved.
2. Try not to panic and watch your time, assumed the test was one hour and had one hell'a rush when the supervisor announced "five minutes left", four MCQs where also rushed through as a result, mind yourself
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spent the last two or three hours playing AoD as Germany in a vanilla N/N game, spent 36 to mid-38 whoring IC and the rest build up on troops, the new auto production control is so much better than the original, or any other mod that I have tried.
Ended up annexing Poland in 19 days, and by the start of November I was able to release puppet Scandinavia.
Verdict: Paradox can create good concept, however they screw up everything else. Yet they did write their own game engine but it is a pile of mess, the game already slows down in 37 and as far as I can see the "Ghost Fleet" issue is probably never getting sorted since it appears to be a bug hard-wired into some lower level naval algorithm. It took 3+ years to make HOI2 a game with acceptable OOBE and 7+ years for the good old Europa engine to reach its present state. By this trend I don't see myself playing HOI3 or any Clausewitz-based game till 2015 at the speed of 10min/month.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in reality, I will have a full day studying microbiology tomorrow, test on Thursday and I planned to stay behind to finish my lab report and hand it in. Projects for the next two weeks:
1. Cleanup! This usually comes up in the end but I will move it forward for a change.
2. Install the watercooling loop, that involves grinding up a CPU WB bracket and possibly some other dangerous and exciting ops. Looking very much forward to it.
3. Sell the expendable things that has been piling up since the end of last year, why have I not done this earlier is beyond me now, at least I had some excuse.....
4. At work, still aim to have website online by mid-April, but not too much work that I ran out of time to do the stuff above.
Friday, March 26, 2010
26 Mar 2010
Had some good sleep last night, woke up at 0615 feeling all good. The bus ride to town was exceptionally smooth that I actually arrived at 0835, settled down my usual seat and started reading last night's new posts off OCN. Lecture buddy showed up by 0855, quite late by her standards. Showed off the new server at work and got a good response.
The lecture itself was uneventful, since most content is directly carried over from MEDSCI202. (Someone stowed an apple under the lecturer's bench, hopefully not a copycat continuation of what I did yesterday) . Went to Queen street thereafter to the cinema. ow onto the movie "Alice in Wonderland"
First I have never had the chance to sit down and finish the book properly, last time I tried to read it the copy was ruined by some trisomic 21 kid (i.e. mentally retarded, literally). However I did receive enough spoilers from all kind of sources to figure out what is going on.
Plotline is predictable all along, well it is walt disney and what should you expect. Visual effect is pretty good, wish I could have watched in 3D. The main cast was disappointing, Alice is a detached feminist tomboyish late teen while Anne Hathaway's White Queen was more like a mechanical baboon coated in plaster of Paris. I was planning to finish watching the credits however thanks to the large bottle of vanilla coke I had to leave as soon as it appeared. Overall I could give it a 3.0/5.
The true highlight of the day is the arcade game at the cinema. It was mentioned in this week's Craccum and I had to give it a try. It was actually a good game. Downside: Right shoulder still hurts from the stress.
Afternoon lecture was either eventful, Peter is still doing a good job. Nonetheless the focus is the two BIOSCI tests tomorrow.
Oh and fresh figs after dinner, that does not always happen:)
Now that seemed like a lot but it was more of an exception, most days in my current life is boring, duh.
The lecture itself was uneventful, since most content is directly carried over from MEDSCI202. (Someone stowed an apple under the lecturer's bench, hopefully not a copycat continuation of what I did yesterday) . Went to Queen street thereafter to the cinema. ow onto the movie "Alice in Wonderland"
First I have never had the chance to sit down and finish the book properly, last time I tried to read it the copy was ruined by some trisomic 21 kid (i.e. mentally retarded, literally). However I did receive enough spoilers from all kind of sources to figure out what is going on.
Plotline is predictable all along, well it is walt disney and what should you expect. Visual effect is pretty good, wish I could have watched in 3D. The main cast was disappointing, Alice is a detached feminist tomboyish late teen while Anne Hathaway's White Queen was more like a mechanical baboon coated in plaster of Paris. I was planning to finish watching the credits however thanks to the large bottle of vanilla coke I had to leave as soon as it appeared. Overall I could give it a 3.0/5.
The true highlight of the day is the arcade game at the cinema. It was mentioned in this week's Craccum and I had to give it a try. It was actually a good game. Downside: Right shoulder still hurts from the stress.
Afternoon lecture was either eventful, Peter is still doing a good job. Nonetheless the focus is the two BIOSCI tests tomorrow.
Oh and fresh figs after dinner, that does not always happen:)
Now that seemed like a lot but it was more of an exception, most days in my current life is boring, duh.
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