Sunday, October 19, 2008

Not dead

Yes, I realize it's been weeks since my last blog post. No, I'm not dead. I apologize profusely for the lack up updates, but school has been keeping me extremely busy. In case you don't believe me, I'll throw some facts your way: just last week, I had three mid-terms and a paper due. This week, I have a 50-point assignment to turn in and another paper due next week. So yeah, don't expect too many blog updates for awhile, but I'll definitely be making more of an effort to blog more regularly than I have the past few weeks.

Besides school, another thing keeping me busy has been the videogame Dead Space. I went to Hollywood Video to rent it on Friday, but I didn't realize that they charged an arm and a leg for a measly rental. Faced with this travesty, I did what any money-grubbing frugal person would do: spend even MORE money and outright BUY the damn thing. So, $60 lighter, I took home my shrinkwrapped copy of the game. I normally never buy a game without trying it first, but Dead Space had been getting good/very good reviews, so I decided that my odds were fair enough. I'll write a more detailed analysis/review of the game when I finish it, but here are some general first impressions.

First off, this game just oozes with atmosphere. Dead Space sets you in the shoes of engineer Isaac Clark, sent with his team to examine the derelict mining station Ishimura. When you first approach the station, it's obvious that something has gone terribly wrong, and it's up to you to find out what happened. Everything about the game is very polished, particularly the sound design. The space station groans, creeks, and sighs like a giant industrial haunted house. Just think of a submarine in space and you'll get the general idea. It's actually reminded me a lot of BioShock's sound design. Trickling water, bangs and noises in the distance. Things like that.

Dead Space and BioShock also share a similar setting: an abandoned and mysterious colony where something horrible has happened. Along with the setting, another similarity BioShock and Dead Space share is their mode of storytelling. Instead of being told story elements by NPCs or through cutscenes, Dead Space uses text logs and voice diaries to inform the player of what happened aboard the Ishimura. Although story isn't the game's strong suit, it's interesting enough, but impatient gamers can skip as much of the story as they please. (WHAT?! I have to READ in this game? THIS IS AN INJUSTICE OF GREAT PROPORTIONS!)

As of right now, I'm in Chapter Five, so I figure I'm about halfway through the game. As I feared, the beginning of the game is scary enough, but the tension quickly fades as you become more powerful and the necromorphs become less mysterious. They're frightening enough as you catch brief glimpses of them early in the game, but once you actually see them in their glory, they become a little silly. And I can only fight the same monster so many times before I begin to grow weary. Still, it isn't stopping me from enjoying the game.

Like I said, I'll review the game once I finish it, so for now, I'll just leave it at that. I didn't mean to write so much; I just wanted to let people know that I haven't forgotten about my dear ol' brog. So forgive my spelling mistakes and occasionally bad syntax in this post, I wrote it in one go without reviewing it for mistakes.

Until next time (which will be sooner, I promise).

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Breaking News: American VP candidate has IQ of 40

Alright, listen up. I'm not a very political guy. I don't keep up with politics, I couldn't tell you the specifics of the electoral college, and I personally think that politicians are shady characters. But one thing about the upcoming election has piqued my interest (as well as everyone else's): the impossibly dumb Sarah Palin.

A few weeks ago, the Republican presidential nominee John McCain blew the collective mind of America when he announced his vice-presidential running mate: Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. You may recognize Sarah from her role on King of the Hill, in which she lent her likeness to Peggy Hill. Besides this small trivial fact, however, most Americans know Sarah from...um...nothing, really. She was the mayor of Alaska's second-largest city (almost 9,000 people!), but besides that, does anyone really know anything about her?

Well, Katie Couric decided that she wanted to know more about this woman, so she bit the bullet and interviewed Palin. And here's what happened:



Can you believe it? No, this wasn't a sketch for Saturday Night Live (SNL hasn't been this funny in years), nor was it a result of clever editing. This is Sarah Palin, the VICE PRESIDENTIAL nominee for the Republican party. If McCain is elected, this woman will be second-in-command of this country, and, if anything unfortunate happens to McCain that causes him to cede the presidency, Sarah Palin will be our new commander-in-chief. What a scary thought, yeah? I mean, she'll be in charge our nuclear codes, yet she can't even name a newspaper that she reads (for extra laughs, check out Couric's "what have I gotten myself into" face at :34. Classic).

But let's get back to the first video. Palin's words are even more absurd when written out. I mean, just re-read her response to Couric's question:
"Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country - Russia - and, on our other side, the land, uh, boundary that we have with, uh, Canada. It...it's funny that a comment like that was, uh, kind a made to , uh...charac- I dunno, y'know?"
Okay, moving on, we see that...wait, what? WHAT? What in the hell was she trying to say? Palin's response to the question was completely and utterly incoherent, a simple string of words clumisly put together and blurted out before her brain had the chance to stop her mouth from opening . I dare you to repeat this quote out loud among a group of people. If you do, watch as people's faces twist and contort into a combination of horror, pity, and ridicule. I don't think I'm being inappropriate, here, but this woman is daft.

It's looking more and more like John McCain's VP application looked like this:

1. Are you a woman?
2. What are you doing the next four years?

You know what? Screw it. Let these links speak for themselves. Thank you, Gaf.

The Unofficial List of Evidence That Sarah Palin is the Worst VP Pick Ever

She can't name any supreme court cases aside from Roe v. Wade
She reads every newspaper, but can't name any of them
Would counsel a raped 15 year old to birth the child
Does not think global warming is a manmade problem
Thinks homosexuality is a choice
Participated in a Miss Alaska competition...and didn't even win
She doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is
She...supports Hamas?
Is upset that they don't tag the oil molecules to be tracked
Is an expert on Russian foreign policy because she's closer to Russia than you are
She didn't want that Bridge to Nowhere...but she did before, but not now!
Thinks community organizers have no worthwhile responsibilities
Matt Damon is not sure if she thinks dinosaurs existed 4000 years ago
Thinks she can ban books from libraries

The Unofficial List of Evidence That Sarah Palin is the Best VP Pick Ever

She is immune to witches

No more politics on my brog from here on out. I promise (just as long as McCain loses the election, that is).