Legos!

That's right, for whatever reason I had the urge today to go and find my big bin of lego and play around for a while. I used basically every 2x4 block and some mountain-side pieces to build a prison which I then stored intact.

It's funny going back through all of the stuff we have stored. I found a box of some of my old schoolwork, including a booklet from the early 90s where I guess I was asked to answer questions. It had some really interesting points in there. When asked who I could meet, if anyone ever, I joked about meeting Elvis or the Aliens who captured him, and then said that I'd speak to Princess Diana to ask her about using her position of power to help the needy and earning a whole new degree of celebrity.

When asked what I thought was the biggest problem in the world, I answered, plain-faced: People.

Man, what a crazy little kid I was. I should really post all of those things up to try and get a little view into my development into the jaded and angry individual I am today.

My brother came to look too, and he really liked checking out the old mecha toys and other playthings we have stored away.

Oh! And I found a bunch of Marvel cards (Before everything had CCGs) and a bunch of my original Pog collection! My slammers are still mint!

Oh damn. I think I just spilled nerd all over my keyboard...

Anyway, it's damned hot out today, and tomorrow is worse. For whatever reason I'm blessed with a high overall body temperature, which is nice in the winter but not when it's 30 and humid.

That's all for tonight. Getting to sleep has been a trial all week with this weather.

It's Fran-ken-steen!

I'm really enjoying some of the movie networks my cable package gets lately. AMC and Turner Classic Movies play all kinds of good, older films, while Action, Diva and IFC occasionally have some rare finds on (though they always conflict with stuff I want to watch).

Tonight they aired Young Frankenstein twice, first it was merely the original version and second they played it on 'DVD-TV', which had the bottom taken out for a pop-up video type of thing that related information about the scene, cast, original script and various other elements. It was quite interesting, and I had to live with it as I didn't have the control over the TV to watch the earlier, unaltered version. Personally, I'd watch other movies with those little add-ins on AMC.

The movie is really quite funny, if mostly in the silly-spectrum. It's quite similar to other Mel Brooks films like Spaceballs (which did Sci-Fi jokes) and Blazing Saddles (which did western jokes), so I'd have to suggest it.

I dunno what's with me lately. I've really been craving the idea of sitting back and watching older films and just enjoying them. I guess it comes from not being able to see all the critically trashed sequels coming out. But I get lonely. I don't want to sit there with my brother or father, but with a close friend who I can just chat with. That's really a big part of the movie experience to me, or maybe it's just my general feeling about everything.

Anyway, I highly suggest seeing the film sometime, and you should check to see what's on TV. You never know what they might be playing when you just need something to watch.

Catgirls make everything better.

Everything.

So yeah, I've been having some trouble getting to sleep lately. Tonight, I was extremely hungry and it's kept me up until 6 AM. I'm not too proud of that, really, but that's just how it works.

I ended up spending time watching TV, and for some reason a 2 hour episode of Teen Titans was on. Teen Titans is, of course, the North American cartoon that uses a comic book team in a heavily anime influenced style of animation. The title of the extra-long episode was 'Trouble In Tokyo' and for the life of me I can't figure out why YTV would air a 'movie' episode of a fairly population cartoon series at 4AM.

The story was about how the team goes to Japan to stop the evil 'Brushogun', which I mishead about 30 times before they just spelled the damned thing out. He sends a single ninja to their tower and kicks their asses, so they decide to counterattack by heading to Tokyo to stop his creator. Ends up the Brushogun creates things from ink, yet the extreme weakness to water - explored when the first offensive villain 'disappears' - is never again explored. They fight in Tokyo, I'm pretty sure there are fire hydrants.

While Cyborg pisses off Japanese Chefs and Beastboy's karaoke attracts all the Japanese girls, the show is pretty much what was expected. The only minor shock was the use of actual Japanese, though it seemed to be basic language - I was able to understand parts, but it was also at talking-speed (After doing the whole 'fish out of water' bit at arrival, almost everyone speaks English). They get ready to start the next stage of the story, even though heavy-handed overshadowing has explained most of the plot, and start introducing a small team of evil ink opponents to fight the divided heroes. A yellow chef-bot, a small blue astroboy-thing, a 'scary' black cloak monster and...

...A magenta catgirl.

"Catgirl? Catgirl."

So yeah, maybe the show had my attention for the remainder, even if the catgirl, Nya-nya, was underused. Hell, when they were blowing up guys and beating the crap out of people, the copy-catgirls were mostly dodged rather than blasted. No one can resist catgirl charm.

There was also a good point as she was introduced. While fighting with Beastboy, she continues to talk in simple Japanese. He complained that he can't make snappy comebacks if he didn't know what she was saying. I kind of liked that line. From what I could get from it, she kept calling him cute, saying she liked him and I think called him tasty... One of her final lines, from my vague understand of Japanese, seemed to say 'This is going to hurt' before her big slash attack.

Yes, I was pleased by the stereotypical catgirl with designs drawn from what animators thing catgirls much look like. Catgirls will get me to watch almost anything. Hell, I watched the end of a Chaotic episode because they had a catgirl in it.

Anyway, that's about that. It's past 6 AM now so my brain can only recall the last couple of hours. Hopefully I'll be able to either get some sleep or eat a big sandwich today, I can live with either possibility.

Goodnight, everyone.

Sprung Spring

I'm not really one for manual labour, as much as I enjoy having a lawn out front I doubt that if I owned a home I'd be good enough to keep it very neat. My family - well, my parents - love having a lawn and garden and tend to work very hard to keep it looking great. My mother in particular looks after the gardens, with myself and my little brother there to assist.

Now, of course, this is a little different with my neighbors. Nextdoor lives a little old lady, a widow who has been a friend of the family for some time. After her husband died, my older brother - who was living with us at the time - got her permission to use her garage to park his car. In exchange he was on call for whatever she needed, and at her age that includes things like changing a lightbulb but goes all the way up to cleaning the eaves.

When my brother moved out, she continued to rely on the support of my family. We tend to do the odd things for her - I often shovel her driveway during the winter, help with taking the garbage out for pick-up, and things like that. Nowadays, her older son has returned to live with him. I've only met him on occasion outside, but he's pretty preoccupied with his recent ex-wife and his work (or search for it), so he doesn't get around to doing yard work much. For the past while, it's gotten to the point where my neighbor is more comfortable with hiring a company to mow the lawns rather than wait for her son to do anything.

Anyway, I was once again called upon to help, this time in the form of trimming hedges around the property. It's been a good growing season so a lot of them have grown too far out from where they should be. It took a few hours to get it all cut, but it was what I was doing Wednesday and Thursday. I'm bound to be compensated, my neighbor will often force money onto me for the smallest tasks, but I often try to at least get her to pay me less. Frankly, not getting paid for anything I do around the house makes yard work and the like seem like jobs not worth getting paid for. Her and my mother tend to do these transactions behind my back now. I guess I just can't accept the money for the easy work face to face anymore.

Oh, just an odd side note: You know when a bar you can fill in gives suggestions for prior searches or titles? Well for whatever reason mine is giving me a lot results I'm sure I've never typed in before.

Weird.

Well, that's all for today. I might put together another one of those anime overviews if I find some good shots.

Magical Chores

My mother is back again, which is nice, but at the same time the general carelessness of the rest of my family is kind of annoying. I don't expect a party or medal every time I do the dishes, but does that mean that not doing them shouldn't bother anyone? Or perhaps that saying 'Thanks' or something is too much?

Around my home, things aren't done - they happen. It's not "I cleaned out the dishwasher and scrubbed the pans" it's "The dishwasher is empty and the pans are clean." It isn't helped by the fact that things aren't generally done - when you see something, that doesn't mean you do it. You leave it for someone else to do it, since you're so busy.

That is pretty much what I've been trying to escape. I want to make my father aware that I know when a task must be done before it becomes a hassle to do it. I want my brother to know that he should be doing this stuff as well. When I finish dinner, I bring my plates up and put them in the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is full, I'll empty it. Then I'll tell my Dad and brother that it's cleaned - or that I cleaned it - so they know it's safe to bring their plates up without having to do the dirty task of letting them sit in the sink.

So far it just means that I clean up around the house more, nothing more. My little brother is too spoiled to think of doing any on his own, and my father doesn't really thank me for anything anymore. I guess the only upside is that without things needing to be done around the house, I get to communicate with my family as rarely as possible. Plus the independence makes me feel good for about 30 second, until I remember that the rest of my family is content to sit back and let someone else do work for them.

Anyway, I've been spending less and less time at the computer, and Disgaea is a good way to waste all of my spare time. I'm about 6 chapters in, my highest level character is 36 - she gained about 20 by accident when she got the killing blow on a high-level opponent. I love naming all of my characters, and I finally have the options to make catgirls - though I still need to reduce the cost to make them.

Well, that's all for now. Who knows, something interesting might happen tomorrow.

Laharl-sama! AH HA HA HA!

I know I had some more interesting things to discuss, but I've decided to go for a quick update on something else.

I haven't been at the computer much, with my World of Warcraft gamecard having run out and all my of RPG forums dead and likely waiting ressurection, I have little reason to wait around at the computer. Normally I'd spend a couple of hours a day just waiting for people to sign on so I could talk to them, but right now that doesn't seem like a great way to use my time.

So I went through some of my Nippon Ichi games, mostly because they are completely awesome. I thought about playing some of the other titles, ones I had left alone for too long and not completed. Yet, down at the bottom of the pile, another game called out. It was Disgaea, the first big N1 game that came out and led a line of releases that I adore.

Nippon Ichi games are all turn-based strategy games. Earlier ones like Disgaea and its precursor La Pucelle (Which came out after Disgaea - The game was so popular the unconnected original was in demand) are done on a simple grid while later ones like Phantom Brave (The second best after Disgaea - that I've played) are done on a far small grid, to the point where movement is technically free within walking range. What makes the real difference is the systems each one introduces. La Pucelle has a summoning square where character appear and path in the dungeons that can be directed and destroyed for equipment-building points as well as damage and area-range attacks. Disgaea again has the start square, but adds coloured sections of the stage that are effected and altered by special items on the stage. Phantom Brave forces the player to summon their combat characters in items on the stage such as swords, rocks and plants - each one provides certain bonuses and penalties.

The thing that they all share though is the flexible creation system - though I believe it starts more in Disgaea than anywhere. You can make a character of a certain type - say a Female Warrior - spend a certain number of mana (gotten from kills) to pick their power levels - 10 mana for 'Incompetant' is a good start, but provides only 1 point to add to them - alter their stats - like Defense or Attack - then name them - I picked 'Konata'. You've got a fresh, level 1 character ready to be equipped with a wide range of items - some which they are better at than others. Now, the real fun is where the system goes from there. Maximum level is 9999! And you can return a character back to level 1, during which they'll save their levels and turn it into more starting points. After a short while, you'll be growing exponentially with the characters you concentrate on - though you have to start them from level 1 time and time again. Even the items are levelable, you can enter dungeons inside each item or weapon to subdue creatures inside it to move to other items, raise its basic stat, or fight power 'item gods' that hold incredibly powerful items you have to steal from them.

I have a 93 hour game for Disgaea which I haven't touched in ages. The main character, Laharl, is currently level 2950 and has been reduced to level 1 quite a few times. The game really has no end. Even if you get all the way to max level, get one of the final weapons and defeat the final boss, you can still do it with any character you want.

Anyway, I logged a few hours into the game today. Playing through the story is just wonderful. It's funny, clever, and the Japanese voice actors (Yay for JPN soundtrack mode) are really skilled.

Anyway, it's getting late and I've been trying to get on a better sleep schedule, so that's all for tonight. I was able to sleep - badly - at 'appropriate' times like night and I don't feel any better for it. I'll keep you updated, as always.

This isn't Archeology!

With my mother away once again looking after my grandmother, my father has gotten into the same bored attitude he often has in the evenings. It tends to start early, as he never knows what to have for dinner and rarely suggests making anything. It's tough getting along without my mother when meal preparation time becomes either a selection of restaurants or sandwiches and snacks.

Regardless, this is really about the evening's entertainment - my father is always looking for films on TV, I assume it's often an excuse to eat popcorn, not that you need one in my family. After his constant prodding, and a long stream of suggestions he shrugged through, I ended up putting on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, my personal favorite from the Indiana Jones Trilogy.

The film really is an amazing one. When I watch most movies they have long scenes that take away from the action, try to explain things carefully and generally slow down the film. Some recent films come to mind, where you have a lot of favorite scenes and tend to forget about all the crap in-between. The Last Crusade is different. When I was watching it, every little moment was filled with enough content to keep me interested, even if it was a particularly slow moment (Like Indiana and his father taking a quiet moment on the airship) it was perfectly lengthed and set perfectly between other scenes (The 'No Ticket' scene and the airplane scene, in this case).

Now, while I can enjoy films on a number of levels, I have to wonder about why my father always wants to watch movies. Much like my mother, he has a tenancy to fall asleep during movies - tonight it was when the clock started to approach 10 PM and the incredible tank chase was starting. I realise that we're working on far different clocks (Says the jobless insomniac at 2:45 AM) but I still think that some sense of paying attention could be asked for if he wants to watch movies so badly.

If you've got a chance to see an Indiana Jones film, particularly Last Crusade, I'd suggest taking it. It isn't a deep or dramatic film, and it doesn't have the same bang or zip that newer action films have, but it's a film that has been so perfectly polished and balanced out. It's a really enjoyable experience. And hey, if you've seen it 20 times before just pay attention to what you want to. It's a fun film to watch on the side too.

I came up with a new topic to write on, chatting with old friends, but I'm going to save it for later. I'm going to assume that a little post about a movie will be more than enough for tonight.