The One In Which 'My Eyes Begin To Moisten'

I haven't written in a while, but nothing much has changed. If you're wondering what the topic of the blog post refers to, don't worry - it's an insided joke that only one person woul laugh at. Apart from getting me hari done (hurrah), I've been taking pleasure in doing as little of anything as possible whilst putting in some serious Halo 3 playtime. I haven't actually progressed that much, but that's only part of the experience. I've actually met some cool people on xbox live, and my presumption that the famed online service is full of potty-mouthed jerks has been challenged. I haven't really been thinking about that future all that much, so at the very least Halo 3 is a very good distraction. I've started reading 'The Good Soldier Svejk' by Jaroslav Hasek, and it is one of the funniest books I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. It reads as a series of anecdotes, and short deviations for the plot, much in the same way that Family Guy has flashbacks which are not at all connected to the story. The chapters themselves are many and it reads quickly with illustrations about every ten pages accentuating what you see in your mind's eye. It's definetely a book which is off the beaten path in terms of what I would normally pick up, but I'm glad I gave this one a chance. I won't go into the Zimbabwean secondary run-off election because that just gets me upset. All I know is that the man's days are numbered - and the country will eventually be free of his death-grip.

Pascal x

Boogying Is Not A Crime

Fiscal problems meant that I missed the Postmortem Promises gig last night. But the day wasn't terrible. I got to play Dark Sector and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 at my friend's house. Dark Sector is a chiched story about a virus infected super agent, but with a fascinating game play mechanic. It borrows heavily from great games such as Resident Evil and Gears Of War, with the camera situated in the third person perspective, zooming in when targeting enemies. The entire feel of the game shifts drastically between the first and the second chapter, when the the main character is infected by the flesh eating virus. The character is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, who play the character of Lex Luthor in the hit TV series; Smallville. The voice acting is reasonably good, and he does an effective job of bringing the anti-hero to life. The Russian voice acting is nothing short of hilarious, the exaggerated thickness of the accents does not help the ultimately dark theme of the game. The colour scheme changes the moment your character is infected by the virus, from a gothic palate of black and dark greys, introducing a wider ranger of colours. Your arm becomes a metal one and you suddenly don a glaide to slice and dice opponents with. This does not get old, from gruesome decapitations to electrifying slicing - the boomerang-like melee weapon satisfies any virtual bloodthirsts you may have. The blood curdling screams and groans that result from using the weapon form part of the reason why this game is worth a play (or two). The bosses in the game are promisingly imaginative and a real challenge to dispose of, they include a helicopter (technically not a boss), a giant creature which baring a resemblance to the ones in the motion picture, Cloverfield, and a giant four-legged robot armed with machine guns and rockets. These provide a welcome break from the slightly repetitive collection of enemies, with varying weaponry. All in all, this is an excellent game with a weak story line but some seriously cool combat.

The other game I played was the generic update of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series. The 2008 version isn't as generic as you might think however. Already out of date, it has some sweet game mechanics which makes it more than you average game mechanics. The player creation options are very deep, with everything from nose shape and size to chin shape. The game even allows you to take a picture of yourself using the Xbox 360's official camera, and having an accurate likeness of yourself in the game (at least in facial terms). The control system is essentially love/hate, prompting the player to use the left joystick to swing the club. It can be very fiddly, and many a time you'll find the golf ball in the bunker or otherwise out of bound. When on the green however, a nice gameplay mechanism allows you to compensate to the direction the ball is expected to to roll in in relation to the hole, also taking the wind into account. This is represented by a grid of directional arrows placed atop of the ground. Putting however really is hit and miss, there seems to be no skill involved however. The arbitrary success rate is disheartening. The game is worth a look if you are interested in golf games, however it's probably more logical to wait for the latest updated incarnation of the Tiger Woods series.

Pascal x

Triumph Of The Despot

Sometimes I see little hope for the human race. After Morgan Tsvangirai announced that he would not be standing in the Zimbabwean run-off elctions, Nick Clegg responded by calling for the stop of remmitances. What he doesn't seem to realise is that people cannot afford food, and if they are not given money by over-seas relatives - they will simply starve to death. Clegg has unrealistic expectations, the Zanu PF government has already shown that it does not care for it's people, why then would such a measure make things any easier for Zimbabwe's inhabitants? No matter, it's a reaction from someone without a vested interest in the country, no personal connection. To sum up, the Liberal Democrats suck. I spent a large part of the day playing Halo 3, and I'm pleased to see that my battle rifle head-shots have improved dramatically. I might become reasonably good at this game after all. I'm not naturally good games of this type but I'll keep at it.

Pascal x

You think that everyone around you cares about what you think, no one knows your name.

I listened to A Day To Remember, for the first time in ages today. The breakdown laced hardcore sounded slightly muted because of the poor state of my earphones but the lyrics left my pondering. I've had some really weird friendships with people since I moved to the UK, then again it wasn't all that different in Zimbabwe. A Day To Remember constantly reinforce the simple idea that 'My friends come first it's the bottom line'. I don't really have any evidence to suggest that any of the people I know live by that statement. It seems to be all take take take, opportunist heaven. If I don't contact someone, they don't contact me. Chances are most of the people I consider friends are no more than vague acquintances who feign interest in me every now and then. I'm not in a great mood, some jerk on xbox live ruined my Halo 3 session. Maybe watching The OC would have cheered me up, but I reckon it's a bit late to be putting it on now. I'm yawning and everything. The arrival of summer means many things, one of them (as I realised today) is a lot of BBQs. People satisfying their carnal desires, obvlivious of any pain and suffering that takes place between the farm and the fork. Trying times.

Pascal x

She's not going to squeeze my shirt like that, is she?

The Village by M. Night Shylaman is I have to say categorically better than 'The Happening'. It's reveals something about human nature. How people will do anything to save the ones they love, and at the same time - the lengths some people will go to, to keep terrible secrets buried. They'll be no plot spoilers here. The plot is simply more believable, and film is cleverly shot. The red that is reffered to in the film as the 'bad colour' just jumps off the screen, it's so striking in amongst the dull greys and greens that it makes an for an interesting symbol. This maybe the second time I've seen this film, and I did discover a few things I had missed on the first watch. It's definetly worthy of any patient film buff's attention. On a side-note, today is the Summer Solstice, not that you'd notice with the terrible weather to look forward to this weekend.

Pascal x

This Is The Will Of The Gods, And I, Am Their Instrument

So I've settled in nicely back into the the familiar sights of Halo 3, not a moment too soon. It remains one of the best games I've ever played. My iPod is working now after being frozen for almost one full day - it was torture, seeing as I don't have nearly as much music on my computer as on my iPod, and I wasn't able to listen to my podcasts on the go. It was as if I was missing a limb (excuse the cliche). The relief of finally finishing my A-levels is overwhelming. Stretching far into the distance is just some 'me-time', a few weeks I can take to enjoy life's simple pleasures. Awesome.

The One In Which I Don't Regret Jumping The Gun

I finally got my hands on the luscious Firefox 3, and I have nothing bad to say about it - it's everything I expected and more. I didn't aid the world record attempt cos I downloaded it too early, but no matter it was worth getting it early. As I typed this the end of my definitive exam season is less than a day away. It couldn't have come sooner as far as I'mm concerned, there's nothing worse than exams where education is concerned. Hopefully I'll have done enough to secure my university place. I'll find that out in around two months time, until then I'll be chillaxing and basically getting up to nothing of consequence. God Damn, I'm lazy!

Pascal x