All entries written in February, 2009
February 20, 2009 at 9:15 am · Filed under Misc, Thoughts
It was always hard finding something on TV worth watching when I was home sick from high school. On one such day, I remember turning the set on while I flipped through the TV guide; Dora the Explorer was playing in the background, probably because my sister had left the cable box turned to Nickelodeon the night before. Dora was, I believe, fairly new at the time.
My mother was sitting at the computer in the back of the room, when the Map Song came on. I think it went something like this: “I’m the map I’m the map I’m the map I’m the map I’m the map I’m the map I’m the map….”
“All riiiiiight!” my mother screamed all of a sudden, laughing hysterically. “You’re a maaaaap! Whaddaya WANT?!!”
I think I might’ve laughed myself back to good health after that.
February 18, 2009 at 9:05 am · Filed under Reviews, Thoughts
This show is on at 10:30 tonight–watch it. If the first episode was any indication, a good percentage of the things he does on any given night will be funny. I’m not going to say all of the episode was funny (I didn’t laugh at the cop sketch at all, for example), but sometimes even what’s not explicitly funny is still fun to watch (the one-man band thing at the end was amazing just on the strength of Demetri’s coordination).
No matter who’s reading this post somewhere out there, it is doubtful that my web site is introducing you to Demetri Martin for the first time…there was a massive ad blitz leading up to the premiere of Important Things. He was on the cover of New York magazine, for God’s sake! Anyway, I know that’s how I found out about it…I never knew him on the Daily Show, which I very rarely think to watch and which I find unTivoable (because if you go back to it even one day later than it aired, as a news show, it’s already out of date).
To be honest with you, I only decided to give this show a shot on the strength of the New York Times review, and, more than anything, because Demetri Martin is really Goddamn cute. If that has to be your reason, too, then so be it.
Further coercion can be found here.
February 15, 2009 at 10:38 pm · Filed under Announcements, On SKSG, Thoughts
Hi there!
Yeah, I think it’s probably time for another update. Firstly, I am going to try to post more often than I have been lately. I’ll aim for Fridays when I can, since that’s the day new chapters post when a story is running, but of course I make no promises. For example, I have a little blurb planned for this week that has to go up on Wednesday. Anyway, I apologize if you’re a frequent visitor to this site and you saw my election night post sitting basically unmoved at the top for 3 months–if it’s any consolation, when I get really quiet on here, it usually means I’m working very hard on the next stories that will go here.
That’s my second announcement: book three of School Kids SG, which contains three all-new episodes, is now with my very talented editor, and everything appears to be going beautifully. Of course it’s difficult, if not impossible, to predict the exact path the publishing process will take, but right now, I’m shooting to pronounce this thing done by spring. And believe me, this is one book I am eager to have done.
Until Wednesday!
February 14, 2009 at 9:56 pm · Filed under Reviews, Thoughts
This is the damndest game. Every time something to say about it wells up inside me, I play five minutes longer and think of something else. I’m currently on the last of the seven continents, though, so I’m pretty sure that I’ve formed my full opinion by now.
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first: I don’t think there’s any question that the werehog levels of this game are bad. Maybe it was naive of me to go in expecting something that played like Altered Beast, where the time of day changed mid-stage and everything stayed fast, but that’s not what happens here. Normal Sonic and werehog Sonic each get their own version of all the stages, and the werehog stages are more reminiscent of Donkey Kong 64 than anything else.
On the other hand, we have the equally-obvious fact that the Sonic levels are good. Not quite Secret Rings good (that title resonated with me more than any other Sonic game since the original Sonic Adventure), but still very engaging. And challenging. I have to practice to make progress, but the various “zones” are so beautiful I really don’t mind doing it. The more I get the control scheme down, the smoother the experience is. It’s a fun, addictive experience.
But most of the game isn’t Sonic levels–the split heavily favors the werehog side of things, a fact that punched me in the stomach when I first started to figure it out.
Keep reading….
February 14, 2009 at 4:18 pm · Filed under Announcements
I just finally upgraded to a newer version of Wordpress (and cleared an apparent hack on my backend–I know how it happened, and I’m very annoyed about it). If you are a visitor and you notice any weirdness around the site, please comment on this post to let me know.
