Happy Friday, Pixbit Nation! How is everyone on this fine Friday morning? I'm looking out at the first real snowfall and feeling woefully under-prepared for my race on the 24th.
Playing: Lego Batman 3. I finished the story last night and now the real fun begins as I roam the levels and the Hub worlds in free play mode looking for all the loot. I really wish the devs would improve the flying controls for these games.
Also jumped back into Animal Crossing briefly, but I think I may have fallen out of love with it for a while longer.
Reading: Read a lot while I was down with my back injury. Seven books in ten days. I'm currently rereading a series called The Mageworlds (by Debra Doyke and James D. MacDonald). It's a great blend of science fiction and fantasy that I'm pretty sure was influenced by Star Wars. Its got a great original plot and isn't obvious in its influence. Finished the first one (The Price of the Stars) and I'm a third of the way through the second one (Starpilot's Grave).
Watching: Lots of stuff. Seasons four and five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season one of Angel, an anime series called Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Lie to Me, started another anime series called Rurouni Kenshin, Season 5 of Justified, Up, Despicable Me, Willow, and a ton of other stuff I can't remember now and I'm too lazy to go look up.
I'll be watching Labyrinth and Die Hard over the weekend, for obvious reasons.
Listening: Bowie. No particular album, just random songs off YouTube.
Random tidbits: My old blind dog loves the snow. He decided at 2 AM in the snowstorm that it was time to play and refused to come back in the house. I spent ten minutes running around the neighbor hood in my red fleece PJs, mud boots, and no socks trying to catch the brat. You'd think a blind, geriatric dog would be easy to catch. Not the case this time.
I won a couple of whisky glasses at the company-wide meeting the other night for knowing the four basic whisky classifications. Go me! I know absolutely nothing about any other type of wine or spirit, though.
And last, but not least, I got an email from a friend asking me for advice. Her 12-year-old son got a DS Lite for Christmas and she wanted to know about age-appropriate games. I gave her a couple of suggestions, recommended the GamerDad website, and then emailed Cary for more suggestions and to ask about a game L. was interested in that I knew nothing about. Cary came up with a good list of suggestions, too (knew he would!). If anyone else has any games they'd like to suggest for L., list 'em in the comments. He's picked up Star Wars The Clone Wars and Pokemon Diamond so far.
Have a great weekend! I'm off tomorrow - it's Shanty Session day in Portsmouth.
12 years old is a nice time to get into video games, though I'm not sure there's as much kid friendly stuff as when we were young. On the other hand, at 12 you can understand more adult games too -- and I don't mean bloody games, but just more sophisticated ones.
that's funny about Bandit, but I bet it wasn't funny at the time!
There's a ton of kid-friendly stuff for Nintendo systems. L. loves fantasy, so I recommended the Dragon Quest games. Cary beat me to Okamiden as a recommendation, and with a DS Lite, he can still play GBA games, so I might recommend a bunch of those, too.
Oh, Bandit! I was trying not to laugh as he kept evading me and doing that doggie play-bow thing and heading back to the front of my landlady's house. My feet were frozen, though. Mud boots are not meant to keep one's feet warm!
Did you play the secret level in LEGO Batman 3? It's really funny!
I'm thinking about watching Labrynth again, too. It's still on Netflix, right? It's been a LONG time since I've seen that movie. I remember seeing it in a theater! As a kid, I wasn't really scared of the creepy puppets, but David Bowie in that movie was scary to me when I was little!
David Bowie was made for that role! It wasn't on Netflix when I looked on Monday. I have it on DVD, it was in the $5 bin at Target several years ago and I grabbed it then.
I haven't found the secret level yet, I always look forward to finding them, though.
The Mageworlds sounds familiar. How old are they? I may have read them in school or something. Sucks about your back though.
The only things you're watching that I've heard of are Buffy and Justified. Might have to check out the anime though, since I've been out of that loop for far too long and have a crunchyroll subscription that I never use.
As for DS suggestions... man. The only DS games I play really are metroidvania's like Alien's Infestation (not age appropriate because... well Aliens), Mega Man ZX (Might be okay if they're okay with difficult-ish games), and the castlevania games, which I'd personally say are fine for a 12 year old but it's really up to the parent, since some red square pixels tend to happen.
Early to mid 90s.
You've seriously never heard of Willow? Thanks for making me feel ancient. I think you'd like the series Lie to Me. Look it up. Angel is the spin-off of Buffy. Not as good, but does have its moments. Up and Despicable Me are a couple of good animated movies.
My friend is pretty restrictive about what she's going to let him play. I don't think she was all that thrilled about letting him have the DS in the first place, but I'm glad she's getting good advice.
Oh right. I feel dumb. And tired. I've seen Angel, Lie to Me, Up, and Despicable me. Not Willow though. Although maybe. Not gonna lie, it's 5 am.
Look it up on IMDB when you're more awake, lol.
Kenshin is a great anime!
I'm loving it so far, only two episodes in.
My back has improved. I think I under ate and worked out too much. I lost 25 lbs in a month, but then caught a virus. After that I felt weak, but today I discovered Starbucks again and it made it much better. I think I was putting myself in a low glucose situation. I don't know, but a little tasty treat now and then seem to do the trick. Good luck with the race. I'm frankly scared to work out even a little bit right now after what happened.
Haha, race. Start of October and my last job I stopped moving and just sat and ate.
I wanted to watch Labyrinth and Die Hard, but neither were on Netflix. I'm going to but Blackstar by David Bowie I think. Was never a huge fan, but appreciate him and his music very much. Plus, I actually like Lazarus, which helped him beat some record held by Adele on Vevo.
If I go to the bar for the Packer game, what whisky should I get? I may or may not see this by the time I go. lol
DS Lite? Elite Beat Agents has some mild innuendo I think only due to song lyrics, but otherwise it's rated E and kids might like it. Sonic Colors is another good one I own.
I'll say it again Lego Batman 3 is my favorite out of all the Lego Franchise games (including Dimensions) You're right about the after story, because of all the crazy fun of looking for the unlockables begins! Did you ever get the Season Pass?
I miss the first season of Lie to Me. It was a really good show. I didn't care for the other seasons. I felt it changed too much from what made it interesting.