Star Wars, a good chunk of us love. And even those of you that don't have to admit you would love to have a lightsaber, assuming you don't cut off your own in limbs in the first 5 minutes of owning it. Well the folks at Google know that. And a as a result have created a new(ish) Chrome Experiment called "Lightsaber Escape".
Read MoreMany weeks, I sit down to write this article feeling that I have precious little to talk about with you. I've had to stay long at work, or been busy with garden chores, or run into another of the myriad distractions that can suck away my fun times. But, in spite of some cat issues, I had a whole lot of fun this past week. Read on to see what's been happening in my life.
Reading: I'm currently in the taper prior to my half-marathon run (which is on Sunday, but since I'm composing this on Friday, I won't be able to tell you about my results. Spoilers, yo!) But, with less time required for running, I've had more time to read. I've nearly finished another volume of Pretty Guardian: Sailor Moon. But, I've left off in the middle of the climatic battle with Nehelenia, Queen of the Dark Moon. Soon, I'll be into the ultimate story arc, and then finished. And, my local library has Lumberjanes available for digital loan. Which led me to reading two more issues last night when I should have been going to bed.
Playing: My gaming this week was again limited to a few minutes of Guild Wars 2, but that's probably not really worth reporting on.
Watching: First, lets discuss the TV that I've been watching. I decided to start watching through Doctor Who from the beginning.
No, not that beginning. This beginning:
Original Doctor Who is somewhat of a mixed bag. The writing is reflective of its time (i.e. strong white man is basically the hero, while the women are basically left to scream about things). Sometimes the plots are a bit clunky , and could have been better paced. However, there is some gold in there. As silly as they are, the Daleks are still frightening enemies. And the Doctor is still a mad man with a box. So far I've watched the first two serials "The Unearthly Child" and "The Daleks", and much prefer these two to "The Aztecs", which I watched last year when it was released on Netflix. I do wish that the writers had written Susan and Barbara as a bit more clever and brave, but that, maybe, is simply my expectation as a modern viewer looking back on an older work. I'm going to keep working my way through as many episodes as I can, and we'll discuss them here.
Lastly, I had an opportunity on Wednesday to attend a lecture by Neil deGrasse Tyson. His talk was entitled "Cosmic Bizarre" and focused on all the weird things that existing in our galaxy, from tardigrades to black holes to dark energy/matter.
That's all I've got for this week. I hope you all have some geeky fun. Have a great week and game on!
Hello, fellow geeks and other interested parties. I've finally got that tough project done and am enjoying my reduced workload. I may still be using most of my lunch time for running (and hence not getting in my usual reading time) but I'm still having a lot of fun with my other activities. Read on to see what I've been doing.
Playing: I haven't had a huge amount of free time for video games this week, but I did spend some time playing Guild Wars 2 after I'd had enough with work last weekend. Sometimes, I feel like GW2 is the methadone to the heroin that is World of Warcraft. At least I'm avoiding an expensive habit.
Watching: I've nearly finished watching the Good Eats episodes that are available on Netflix. All that remains is Pumpkin Pie! But, I also found out that the latest Doctor Who Christmas special is now available, so I will be watching that very soon. And, I watched the latest episode of Steven Universe: "Catch and Release". I have a lot of feeling about this episode. I feel like this is our first chance to see Peridot as more than a threat/annoyance; and that's a really good thing. I'm also glad that Steven's constant kindness to her seems to have paid off in some degree of trust. Also, sounds like there is some spooky stuff going on with Earth, and some sort of experimental gem thing may blow the whole planet up. We can only hope that the Crystal Gems will be able to avert disaster.
That's all I have for this week. Come back next week, and I should have a bit more for you to read. If you haven't already, have a listen to our conversation with Laurissa and Crystal about their experience at Nan Desu Kan 2015. Have a great week, and game on!
This has certainly been a good week for geeking. I managed to watch some fun shows with friends, read a little bit of a good book, and play some video games. If, like me, you have a limited amount of time to spend on your hobbies, you are likely to look for ways to maximize your enjoyment in the time that you have. And that's what I'm here to do. Tell you about my week so that maybe you can find something great to do in your own week.
Reading: During my short camping trip last weekend, I read some more of Pretty Guardian: Sailor Moon. At this point I am well into the "Dead Moon" arc (Super S for fans of the anime), So far, I think I'm enjoying this arc the most. I love how each of the Sailor Guardians gets a story confronting their own dreams and doubts. Although there is some character development earlier in the series, I feel that know is the first time that I am really getting to know all of the Guaradians as people rather than characters.
Also, some of you may have been following the results of the Hugo Awards. Wired Magazine seems to have a good piece summing up all of what happened with Sad Puppy et al. I haven't finished reading the entire column myself yet (because when I read about people behaving in overtly sexist/racist/homophobic ways, my blood boils).
Playing: My game playing for the week is either sparse, or intense depending on your opinions about certain types of gaming. True, I spent a little more than an hour piloting my Space Van™. It's a fun way to pass time and earn money in Elite: Dangerous, but since I've ditched the shield generator (that's valuable cargo space friend), I've been terrified of any pirate entanglements. At this point, I've had enough space station entanglements to last a lifetime, and had to pay about 200 credits repair my hull from various bumps and scrapes.
Beyond that, I may have made the mistake of installing Fallout Shelter on my phone. I tend to view games like this as time wasters. I could just as easily spend the same amount of time browsing through Twitter or Tumblr, looking at cat pictures, and rage reading about the latest environmental catastrophe or human rights abuse. But when it comes down to it, Fallout Shelter is fun. I enjoy finding the sweet spot in expansion rate so that people aren't starving or without electricity or eaten by molerats.
Watching: Two of my friends passed a very important milestone this week when they watched the Steven Universe episode "Jailbreak". For me, this episode marks a strong change in the tone of the series. At the end of "Jailbreak", we are no longer in quite the same magical, but largely harmless world. The Crystal Gems are no longer battling against savage, but not necessarily malefic gem monsters. They have a nemesis, with the ability to plan and strategize. Also, "Jailbreak" has the best song in the series.
In my own viewing, I've finished Series 8 of the new Doctor Who. Since this is a recent release to the world of streaming, I'm going to put up the SPOILERS warning here. If you haven't seen the entire series, and want to be more surprised at the reveals in the finale, steer clear.
Now then, there is no doubt in my mind that the last few episodes of this series have been much better than the earlier episodes. There seemed to be marked improvement in the quality of the writing with "Mummy on the Orient Express" that continued through to the end of the series (yes even with Moffat's work on the two part finale). "Flatline" was my favorite and felt the most like Doctor Who to me. I love when the Doctor is confronted with something new, when we as the audience get to experience the joy and terror of a new discovery alongside the Doctor and his companion. Now, on to the finale. Please note that my opinions are based primarily on "new" Who and that I am going to use female pronouns when referring to the Master, for simplicity. I am not really a fan of The Master as a villain, because she tends to fall into the evil because I hate everyone trope. The Master never seems to be fundamentally convinced of her "rightness". The most compelling villains believe that they are behaving in the only correct way given the situation they find themselves in. However, I do think that the Doctor's ace in this case was much better than his last major confrontation with the Master at the end of Series 3. I feel that "love is more than an emotion" is a better theme than "wishing the Doctor back". I wish that the show would have explored more about why there are all sorts of robots searching for the "Promised Land" and I find that idea that the Master was responsible for getting the Doctor and Clara together to be silly. We are allowed to have things just be coincidence from time to time. Perhaps Clara just got what ought to have been a wrong number for her technical support and ended up talking with the Doctor. I could go on, but I'll stop myself here. On balance, I think that Series 8 was better than 7, but it is likely still at the lower end in my rankings so far.
I hope everyone is ready for another week at work (at least for those of us who have landed on the Monday through Friday schedule). I know that I am. The weekend was spent backpacking with my buddy. But, you all came here to read about geeky activities, not about walking around under the Yellow Face. Read on to find out how I spent my time this week.
Reading: Again, reading has generally taken a backseat to most other activities this week. While I am away in the woods, I'm planning to read at least another volume of Pretty Guardian: Sailor Moon, but I will leave that discussion until next week.
Playing: I've split my gaming time this week between playing Hyrule Warriors with Crystal and Elite: Dangerous on my own. In Elite, I just purchased a new ship. I opted for the Hauler, which many fan have dubbed the space van. It may not be exciting to fly, but I'm hoping it can make me some cash via trading.
Watching: Doctor Who continues to be the viewing choice at my house. I recently watch "Mummy on the Orient Express", and I have to say that it is my favorite episode so far this season. Although the Doctor is still acting like a blowhard, we at least see some reason for it in this episode. And maybe we understand a bit better why Clara is willing to endure his barbs so that she can participate in the adventures. The pacing of this episode was also better than the last few have been. I hope this episode marks a turning point for the season, and that we get some more great episodes out of it.
Farewell for another week. Keep up with you geekiness, and I will do the same. Have a great week, and Game On!
After an unexpected absence we have returned. And this week we talk of games, conventions, and old TV shows.
