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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) montecook | |
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We Thought We Were So SmartWe hung Christmas lights on our back deck this year, for the first time. At one point, we really needed to get a string of lights from one side of the deck to the other without going over the top. But I really didn't want to crawl under there--it's dark and cramped and filthy. So Sue had the idea of getting Marley to help. It's about time she started pulling her weight around here, we reasoned. So we tied the string of lights to Marley's collar while she was on one end of the deck, and I called her and waved a treat while on the other end. And it worked! She dragged the string of lights right where we needed them, and got a good treat for doing so. Turns out, however, that apparently Marley's not the only little critter who goes under the deck. This morning I came outside and found that something had chewed right through the wires. Which, if you know Christmas lights, really means it chewed through three individual wires, twined together. Having been the proud owner of a pet rabbit for 13 (!) years, I'm pretty sure I know what species of backyard creature we have that enjoys nibbling on power cords. Darn it. Marley's first honest day's work in, well, ever, and some stupid rabbit undoes all of her grand accomplishments. Tags: marley, silly
Current Music: Toto/Brian Eno: Dune Soundtrack
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sarahcoldheart | |
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I realized I lost something in November. No, not that. I lost my flobberwormness! Well, actually, it's still there but my other flobberwormness of thinking my writing junk is crap. I think it was the massive exposure of she who shall not be named aka Voldemortress and the total junk of writing uh junk in Nano, yet I could still hit the target. Which DID make me wonder why did I suddenly have more stuff written online? Like, a lot more... AND THEN IT HIT ME SINCE THAT FLOBBERWORM SOMEHOW DISAPPEARED. Like, heck it. If you wanna read it, you'll read it so whatever kind of way. If in usual times, I'd just be all, "Nooo, this is crap, I shall put it away!", now I'm like "Whatever, if it's crap you can not read it, duh". Probably the combo of RANDOM people also commenting and saying that they liked what I wrote or something. So anyway, NO BIGGIE. Let's hope I won't be evil or something since I want to be an addiction. An addiction that makes people check their RSS feeds or something. Tags: seriously sarah
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sarahcoldheart | |
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Okay, every good blog needs a good title. Especially for what I hope to embark in January. I don't have a paid account so you guys will have to comment and I'll count the votes like that. Description of blog/book: The adventures to be had here in 2010, some are going to be new exciting things, some are scary, some relaxed but no matter what, it should be fun. Title suggestions(?), comment if you have other things in mind: 99 Days of Sarah Sarah the Untitled Sarah Unlimited Educating Sarah (????) Uncalculated Risks Safely Dangerous What Sarah Did The Adventures of Sarah Sarah of Singapore (geeeeeeeee) Sarah Does Singapore (from arrch. I GO OOH AT THIS.) SO! Vote on the titles above or give me a better suggestion. EDIT: 1 vote to 99 Days of Sarah via msn. AND NEW SUGGESTION from arrch.
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twoflower | |
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Hope you're prepared for a bunch of 2f Yammers On About Games posts. Anachronauts fans, more IS coming, but I'm taking a hiatus post NaNoWriMo to entertain myself a bit.
So. Borderlands!
While I'm glad I got it at a massive bargain, I gotta say, this is a pretty good game and definitely 40-50 bucks of fun. I'm still on the first chapter, though, so color these as First Impressions, as noted.
I've never played a Diablo clone before. I've played DIABLO, like, once. It was a bit too chaotic and difficult to play, with all the fog of war and different powers to use as swarms of things attack you, etc. Borderlands boils it down a bit -- shoot guns, occasionally use your class power, 'nuff said. Once you cut through all that, then the core mechanic of exploration and killin' things and gettin' stuff really shines through nicely. It hands out candy at regular intervals in the form of levelups and new gear, which keeps you going "Okay, one more quest. One more quest..." But, nothing new to Diabloalike fans, I guess.
It may eventually get damn grindy, especially if I start running into things that just outmatch my skill levels. I had that problem when I tried to take on a 'whack bandit dude' quest that was +3 levels to me; I didn't see anything more my speed available, until I realize the L10 mission "talk with TK again" was actually a prelude to a bunch of L7 missions. Weird. If I run into too many head-against-wall scenarios like that, I can see the fun level plummeting. But so far, it hasn't been too bad.
Oddly, I don't mind the lack of a story. The art style is great, the action's there, and the game is exactly what it says on the tin. It's almost a relief not to have to care anymore about narrative, kind of like the raw and simple fun of L4D2 or TF2.
Tomorrow I'll dig into Brutal Legend a bit. Oh, and I finished all the setlists in DJ Hero; satisfying, although clearly they were scraping the barrel for mixes by the end and just tossing together stuff they had rights to and hadn't already jammed against each other. Maybe DJ Hero 2 will have a broader range of tracks.
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sarahcoldheart | |
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Okay, so I actually posted what I ate in this link here. I didn't post up what the rest ate though! CAST: _kiteramizdivinesk98ijafartyladySo yesterday, we trooped off in the evening from Bugis MRT. I had the ginger ale, Ija was the one who had vanilla cream in the pics, by the way. We went to eat at Vintage Delicafe which was around Arab street around there. Summary: Food is le yummy and pretty affordable! Guy owner server guy really friendly and it was all VERY cozy. Close to You was also playing in the air so... WHY DO BIRDS SUDDENLY APPEAR, EVERY TIME, YOU ARE NEAAAAR. JUST LIKE ME, THEY LONG TO BE... CLOSE TO YOUUUUUUUUUU...Etc, etc. It's pretty vintage. Hahaha! And was fun. fartylady came by much much later because she had over time. :( SAD FACE. So yay. They gave me kino/mall vouchers/ covered the cost of my meal (!), yaaaay and mizdivine gave also this pancake cream thing that I thought was in shaped of a bikini boob or something because I was holding it the other way round until I turned it the right side. I DO NOT KNOW THE NAME OF IT. Only that it is yummy, yes. AND also lip gloss thingies and A LETTER! Fwuahahahahahaha. Oh yeah, after Vintage Delicafe, we hit the Starbucks at Suntec to meet fartylady. IT WAS A BRIEF MEETING so thus we totally need to meet each other more or something. I had a toffee nut latte and we were all kinda random at that point. Which was pretty fun actually. AND THEN THE END. So that's it for yesterday... Walking from Arab street to Suntec, in the night... Ahahahah good grief.
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) shadowrunrpg | |
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http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2009/12/seattle-2072-previews/ http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/?p=771 Seattle 2072—the full-color hardcover all about the metroplex that is central to so many Shadowrun campaigns—is in stores now, and we have a few more previews in store for you, too!
Welcome Home
It’s a screwed up city. Isolated from the rest of the UCAS, it’s haven for criminals—smugglers, syndicates, gangers. Legal criminals, too—megacorporations, governments, politicians.
As beautiful as she is dysfunctional, Seattle is urban sprawl amid rolling hills and forests nestled up to man-made wonders next door to natural and man-made disasters. Whether you’re a native or not, Seattle will draw you in like no other.
You can run for a lifetime and never leave Seattle, but some say you can’t run for a lifetime without entering.
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twoflower | |
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My apparently not a bargain copy of DJ Hero arrived today. Played it for, like, four hours. Summary review: Awesome, with caveats.
MUSIC: The mixes are 20% amazing, 50% fun, 30% weaksauce. That's enough of a win in my book. There's JUST enough Daft Punk in there; once you've heard Robot Rock mixed four times you've heard it plenty.
PRESENTATION: Other than the crappy "hero" character style which demands hideously deformed muppet people, everything around them is great and syncs well to the music in terms of camera work, lights, animations, etc.
CONTROL: Here's the trouble. The DJ turntable thing is amazing, and a great idea. But the difficulty curve is completely insane. Basic taps aren't bad, and scratching works, but the crossfader is sloppy and the game requires absolute precision going in and out of fades, even at Medium skill level. Honestly, I found Medium utterly frustrating and not fun, and that's not just curve, that's the controls not being up to the task. ...and then? I bumped it down to Easy, where it's just taps, and I had a LOT of fun. It was challenging enough for Casual Gamey Me, got me into the music, and I couldn't wait to tackle the next setlist. SO... provided you crave Nintendo Hard or enjoy Casual Easy, you're fine. Anywhere between and you may wanna look aside.
SOMETHING I JUST DON'T GET: Why did we need a turntable? X, Y, and B plus the analog stick for the fader would've done the same job and probably done it better. It wouldn't be the 'experience', but it might've moved more units off shelves if it was more akin to Frequency / Amplitude and didn't need $120 of plastic. I guess Activision just got greedy... and paid the price, much as they're bathing in blood over Tony Hawk Ride.
OH, AND I ALSO TRIED VOCALS ON THE BAND HERO AND GUITAR HERO 5 DEMOS: and found both to suck. It's just way too picky, and has a lot of trouble dealing with consonants. Songs I could full combo easily on Expert in RB2 I was maybe 90%'ing in this thing. Add the aforementioned "hero" character art style (also known as "To The Pain") and, well, guess I was right to pass up the Black Friday deal on this thing...
Once Steam finishes downloading it, I'll be giving my bargain bin copy of Mirror's Edge a try, and Borderlands arrives tomorrow along with Brutal Legend. All three were in my Sorta Want category... technical problems or gameplay style issues, but interesting enough to merit a sale-buy.
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shadowrunrpg | |
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http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2009/11/new-mission-is-out/ http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/?p=766 The latest in the SR Missions series, In and Out, is out! Here’s the summary:
A stool pigeon is ready to name names. Mr. Johnson wants to make sure they’re the right names. He needs you to break into the NYPD Inc. holding facility and deliver a message. This 25-page scenario includes a complete adventure, player handouts, and record handling sheets for participating in the Shadowrun Missions (SRM) campaign.
Shadowrun Missions is an international shared campaign. The goal is to have characters and adventures that all share the same universe, and of course have fun while doing it. Missions are played at local game stores, conventions, game days, and as home games. Players who participate in these scenarios will have a real opportunity to influence the Shadowrun game world, and play their characters in events worldwide.
Pick it up at the usual locations, namely the Battleshop or DriveThruRPG. Go buy now! Or later! But sometime!
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montecook | |
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Dungeonaday.com For the Holidays!The holidays are approaching, and I wanted to tell you about a special Christmas gift offer for dungeonaday.com Now you can give a subscription to your gaming friends. What's a better gift to a gamer than new content every weekday for a year? This would be a great idea for a game group to give their DM (you know the one, the guy or girl who works so hard to provide you with fun each session). Throughout the month of December, go to the sign-up site (if you're a member yourself, make sure you're NOT logged in to your own account), use the special code CHRISTMAS , and sign up your friend, using his or her email and a simple password you create for him or her (the friend will change it to something of their choosing once they log in). Using this code, you’ll not only get a year’s membership at a nice discount, you’ll get a few special things. No matter when you do this in December, I’ll make sure that the gift subscription lasts until Dec 25, 2010. So even if you don’t want to reveal the gift until Christmas, the recipient will get a full year. Second, if you email me at contact@dungeonaday.com and tell me that you’re giving a gift subscription, I’ll send the recipient a personalized email on Dec. 24th announcing that they’ve got a subscription, who it’s from, and wishing them a Merry Christmas. This offer is only good throughout December. (And hey Europeans, with the current exchange rates, a year's worth of Dungeonaday.com is only about 56 Euros or 51 British pounds right now, so it's a great time to give this gift or use the CHRISTMAS code to get a Dungeonaday.com membership for yourself.) Tags: dungeonaday, games, gaming
Current Music: Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports
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twoflower | |
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...or is that the right word? I'm a writer. I ought to know these things...
This morning, I woke up ten minutes late (not a huge deal), forgot to take ibuprofen for my arthritis (kind of a big deal) then got stuck in an hour-long snarl on one single road in my morning commute (pretty much a big deal) which made a one hour trip into a grueling, joint-cracking two hour commute (big deal period). Not a fun way to start the week.
I'm moving into a period of transition -- moving into my new apartment, specifically. It's all very vague and annoying however, as we've been packing and preparing for weeks, but there is no set move date. Could be this week, could be the next. There's also that constant question in the air of "Are we prepared enough?", with larger subquestions of "Exactly how independent is this independent living and do I have what I need for it?" and smaller subquestions like "When should I de-ice my fridge prior to the move?". And I'm on the edge of this, with the rest of my family doing the heavy lifting. I can't imagine how screwed up THEY feel right now.
Also had a weird weekend in terms of expenditure. I'm moving, I'm buying one or two high profile gifts for family, and every credit card bill has at least one $500+ piece of furniture on it. As a result, I feel really iffy about buying things for myself and angst considerably about each decision. For every "Hey, $50 game for $20, that's a bargain... right?" I also have "$100 for DJ hero with $40 Amazon store credit (minus $10 for shipping)? Hooray! ...wait, what do you mean I don't apply for the credit because it was through a third party seller and I basically just paid retail price for a ridiculously overpriced yuppie toy game?". End result is feeling iffy about doing things that allegedly are going to make me a happy and entertained person.
Add to that the usual holiday funk and, well, it's been a very strange and uncomfortable couple of days. Hope the rest of the week is either smooth or at least uneventful. I'll take either. I'll be happy when all this is over and I can get my life back on a predictable and simple path.
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