Happy 2007 to everybody.
No, Blogging is not one of my resolutions. Don't do the buggers anyway. But I guess it is moments like these, when you are sitting around, idling, that are meant to be taken up by blogging.
I have witnessed the awesome power of Wii, well power in the sense of fun. The latest from Ninty is definitely a communal experience machine, although my sessions on Zelda are fun thus far it is through the likes of Wii Sports, Play and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz's mixed with a bunch of people that the whole Wii experience really takes off. Even those who sneered at the prospect of handling the Wii-mote and Nunchuk at the TV-screen seemed quite comfortable and cursing their body for not quite having gotten the hang of the innovative motion sensing controls. One of my friends and his brother have decided to get the console and have experienced another one of Wii's awesome powers; that of invisibility in shops. Indeed it seems like demand still outweighs offer to a certain extend although I do believe that it have become easier if you know where to go and find it. All in all I am rather satisfied with my purchase and am looking forward to the second wave of releases. Especially Super Mario Galaxies. I also can't wait to get some different coloured controllers, as it is, the all white setup is nice but I want a red and a black one. Check out Andy's blog for a review of Twilight Princess, the latest in the long lasting adventures of Link; even though he played the Gamecube version I believe his review pretty much reflects both versions.
In other news, I have not yet reflected on new TV shows I follow.
Here's the list with some short comments:
-Heroes: Awesome new show which revolves around common people discovering superpowers and having to deal with it. If you haven't seen it yet, see it!
-Lost: Same ol' story of people stranded on a mysterious Island with some odd twists and turns. Still good though.
-Battlestar Galactica: Science Fiction TV at its very best. Nuff said.
-Torchwood: Okay to good show, just wish what they advertised as more adult themes wouldn't feel like a teen chatshow subject.
-Supernatural: X-Files veterans at work. Good show that fires on all Supernatural cylinders.
-Scrubs: is back for a fifth season, still funny.
-Simpsons: More hit and miss that usual but what does one expect after 18 seasons, when funny it is very funny.
Since Kasia is watching Bones and Grey's Anatomy I have caught glimpses of those as well, but am not following them religiously.
Animewise there is Death Note, Pumpkin Scissors, Black Lagoon and Chevalier D'Eon although the later has been licensed.
Righto, laters...
Actually I wasn't exactly being fair. A small group of people, 1 or 2 did actually do a bit of work. Well one tried to do and the other did good stuff. So I am not actually surrounded by complete incompetents. The first person mentioned even though good willed was unable to take the stuff to shops on weekends. The second person and dear friend has delivered story and plotpoints with almost Pratchett-esque comedy. Good stuff.
Today, four of us got together and took time to look through the plot from beginning to end, the logistics and people required to fill the characters needed. It was refreshing to see that some people are somewhat dedicated to this project after all. I can only hope that everything will turn out okay on the permission level. fingers crossed.
Hey there blogg-anatics,
So I'm back at home now. And it is about time. The whole time I was gone %#@! all was getting done on the LARP side of things. I mean how hard can it be to take a couple of pieces of paper and give them to some shopkeepers to display. I photocopied them on the Sunday before I left and thought somebody out of the 4 people that I told the news to would be willing to take some time and get them out there.
*Fog Horn* Nope wrong answer. When I came back all I got was no reply from 3 and I can't go to these places after work. Weekend anybody? The shops are open on Saturdays.
Maybe its just me but I seem to be the only one to actually give a damn about what is going on around here. I had to get the blimmin' Flyers and Posters out myself, send out a press release, hoping that it would be able to gather up some momentum that was lost when the initial plan had been sabotaged. And presto, one article which copiy pasted my press release in Lux's biggest news paper prompted one inquiry at least. Another paper is doing an article for which I am to meet up for an interview on Monday. Fingers crossed we can get stuff rolling before the event itself happens so as to have some people participating and not all of the collective effort in vain.
Enough ranting, going for drinks.
Hello all,
Wow, it's already August. So far I feel my summer was spent doing mostly nothing.
I went home for a couple of weeks from June to July, most of that time I stayed home, lazed about and generally got the "geek-cave" organized. Yes, like the true nerd I am I now have a room filled with nerdy goodness in the basement of my parents house. Books, DVDs, Miniatures, Dragons, Games and RPGs are all neatly stacked on shelves ready to be accessed at the merest whim. Before that my rooms upstairs were cluttered with the stuff and it didn't really have the space it deserves. No I'm happy and can delight in just looking at the amount of stuff I have accumulated over the years.
I was also finally able to get a webpage for our Society online, check it out at www.sffs.lu. There isn't much on there now but I'm hoping to get a proper Forum working on there by next weekend and hopefully some reviews. Talking of which: If you feel like you have reviews on all things SF and Fantasy to share let me know and I can arrange for it to be posted there.
As part of the Societies summer activities we've planned to have another go at organizing a LARP this September. I, along with a couple of other people dedicated some time to exploring the venue, mapping it, brainstorming ideas and generally set everything up for a smooth event. I'm heading back to that next week.
From Mid July to last Tuesday Kasia and myself went to see, friends and family of hers in Vancouver, Canada. I had a blast meeting her very many lovely friends, being dragged to many different places, enjoying the food, culture and general Vancouverness. I'll have a detailed event page up sometime in September with photos etc. to have a look at.
I can only say that bar visiting Scifi show sets and seeing famous people all of my targets were accomplished.
Right now I'm chilling in Aber for a couple of days before leaving Kasia to her own devices - I know I'm a horrible boyfriend - and do stuff in the 'Bourg. Beyond the LARP I will attend an event that the British Embassador has thrown together in the name of the Chevening scholarship, of which I was yet again lucky enough to get a share of. There will also be the Butschebuerg Ren Fayre which should be fun as every year. My Cousine Stephanie has promised that she would come up with me to spend some time in Aber, see the sights and all that. We'll see about that... 
Yesterday I got my work load schedules for next term and I found myself somewhat dissappointed. I didn't get the Film Genre course that I wanted nor the Alternative cinema course. I was assigned to the first year module, which is not a bad thing as it is what I taught this year and will thus not require and awful amount of work investment. On the other hand I will be teaching and marking on the Cultural Identity module which this year is dedicated to Canadian Cinema. We'll see what that is going to be like. Additionally I will have two lectures on the Alternative Cinema module, one on The reputation of a cult film and the other on paracinema. The first is most likely going to be dedicated to the Big Lebowski, although I have yet to collect massive amounts of material to fill the 2 hour slot. The second one will include a screening of Plan 9 from Outer Space and generally be dedicated to trash, scifi and such low-ends of films history.
Enough jetlag talking for now. I'll be back shortly with more stuff to tell.
Hey there, In a quick news burst let me just bulletpoint some stuff:
- The British Council has decided to award me another year of Chevening Scholarship. This'll take care of another year of tuition fees and then some. I'm waiting for a package from my parents for some more details on that.
- My supervisor, Ernest Mathijs is leaving Aberystwyth this summer to accept a job at University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Having asked me and his other supervisee, Russ, to join him there I've spend the last two weeks thinking about stuff, talking to Kasia and generally see what can be done about it. Watch this space for announcements on that front.
- Teaching for this year is done and I've really enjoyed teaching first years in the film department. I got paid as well, which is always a bonus. Last week marked my debut as a lecturer as I was asked to present a 50 minute segment on Japanese Horror Films. After a dedicated couple of days I finally presented a good lecture that got me minor improvement comments and a thumbs up across the board.
For next year I am most likely to be teaching on the Alternative Cinema module doing both lectures and seminars.
- It is the time of year again when Gaming geeks everywhere rejoice at the tidbits of information coming to us from LA. Yes yes, E3 2006 is upon us and the big guns have announced their stuff. Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii are strong contenders for this geeks money. Both are interesting but the PS3 at 600 is quite a hammer and the Wii's new control concept sure looking like it might go somewhere. I'll be looking for a price on that one soon.
In a related item, I'm fed up!
Yes indeed fed up, with what you say? Well let's call 'em Gamer haters.
My friend Dave, has recently been trolling a friendly discussion among gamers about the news and speculations thereupon. The problem seems to be that "THE GAME" is currently being seen as something that is not worth ones time. Sounds familiar! Where have I seen/heard this before... yes right, Media/Film/Drama-Studies. AS a film student I have been exposed time and time again to the prejudices. But let me take this to rant level and go back in time....
Sometime at the end of the Nineteenth century, a number of people happily produced little thingamabobies that caputres movement unlike any other thing before, some called it recorded motion, others moving pictures which was shortened to "movies". At first shown as a novelty they also appeared in amusement "arcades" and everybody was amused. Everybody? Not quite. People like the Lumière Brothers, Geolge Mélies decided to experiment with this NEW MEDIUM and thus further it. Conventions allowed the industrials to exchange ideas, have people look at and marvel at the newest "stuff".
Other visionairies like the Eisensteins, Griffiths and others pushed it further and further. Dedicated locations sprung up to exhibit these to the peoples. Festivals gave the producers opportunities to display their latest productions. And then... came television, a new, more accessible medium brought moving images home, gave people the liberty to chose between, uhm, one channel at first, but more and more cropped up.
Why am I telling you this? Well I think there is a definite parallel to be seen with games. Games have always been played, from caves to now. Videogames are just the next step, and with the big three finally realizing that they need to talk about including a bigger demographic there is a potential for the universal acceptance of at least this part of gaming.
There are in my opinion still two major obstacles to this though:
- The fact that most of the games are based on popular "genres" that are inherently gamerish and thus, I would argue not suitable for presentation to a broader, non-gamer demographic.
- The lack of truly inventive and creative titles like the success stories of the DS Software in Japan.
As a third fact and I think Dave falls in this, the strict conservatism that is inherent to western society.
There are a number of things that I haven't covered here, but I wanna check out more E3 stuff, so if you'll excuse me...
Laters
