Still here, still alive…

Just in case anyone was wondering – yes, I’m still walking amongst the living.

Not much has been happening the month or so since my last update…well, not concerning programming anyway.

The big thing has been my trip to New York. It went very well. A complete success. The main reason for the trip was to see (and hear, natch) Pat Benatar in concert. I’ve been a fan of hers for about 28 years so I thought it was about time I got to see her perform live…and I did…and it was good. Getting to go sightseeing and walking for millions of miles (roughly) was just an…added bonus. Anyway, after initially being seated in a slightly-less-than-optimal spot I got up and spoke to the manager (thanks Joel) and just happened to mention “that I’d come 5000 miles for the concert” (which was true) and y’know what? – I got the BEST seat in the house. WHOAH! I even shook her hand after the concert. Ahh, bliss 🙂 (…and ‘yes’ I have washed my hands since then) Now, I hope to go back the next time she performs in NY and hopefully I can get my best friend to join me.

Speaking of my best friend – he’s drawn the main character for the game I’m doing for The RR CD50 Project. It’s really cute – it’s like a combination of an upright walking anteater and an armadillo (well, I guess you’d have to see it). Not that I’ve made any notable progress on the game itself, but I have added a few bits and bobs to it though. There’s still about 2 months to complete the project but I still I expect to make some progress in the near future…which should be possible now that I’ve completed another time consuming project I’ve been working on -playing Burnout Paradise on my Xbox 360!

Yeah, I just completed Burnout Paradise today.

ONE HUNDRED FUCKING HOURS!

70 HOURS OF FUCKING BEING ANNOYED!

Well, at least I won’t be playing that anymore. Next game up for me is Mass Effect but a friend of mine just completed it in 27 hours so I don’t really see that as a big task. 😀

…funny really – I have a rule. Well, it’s not an absolute rule and it’s not as simple as black and white, but for years, when I’ve selected which PC games to play, I’ve always checked the ‘estimated time to completion’ first. If a game would (estimated) take more than 15 hours to complete it would be in danger of not being selected to be played – if it would take more than 20 hours then it would most likely not be played at all. I just don’t have the patience for long games anymore.

…so how come I’ve been playing that damn Burnout game for a 100 hours? (and I’m not even going to tell you that it feels like 200 hours or something corny like that – it feels just like 100 hours…although mostly annoying ones). Actually, I’ve played all the Burnout games for more than 50 hours, so there’s something to think about. It must be that pick-up-and-play-in-short-bursts thing that most racing games has – I don’t really have to remember a bunch of backstory and plot. I can just sit down and play in short bursts whenever I have the time and want to, without having to remember where the fuck I’ve been and what to do next, after getting back to a game after 3 weeks.

…and that’s probably what I love retrogames so much – simple, honest, fun gaming. No pretentious, badly written, uninterresting storylines….just pick up and play and have fun!

Just to pad this post even further I’ll tell you what DVD’s I’ve bought over the last week or so;

Wonderfalls, season 1 (…unfortunately that’s all there is)
L.A.Story
Down with Love
Houseboat (Cary Grant & Sophia Loren) (1958)
Monkey Business (Cary Grant & Marilyn Monroe) (1952)
Arsenic and old Lace (Cary Grant) (1944)
Ben Hur (1959)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Spartacus (1960)
Cleopatra (1963)
The Third Man (1949)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Tick, season 2 (Spoon!)
Dark Angel – seasons 1 & 2
The Hunt for Red October 

This is not a normal week for me though – there’s more “old stuff” than normal, but no-ones gonna tell me that I’m only into new flashy action movies. 😉

It’s late and I’m tired. Thanks for reading. I’ve you’ve got any comments, please let me know.

PS. also, there might me a website redesign coming soon.

See you soon!

About Sokurah