I can't sleep, or don't want to sleep, so I ended up here. I don't know what it is or why, but I'm really restless. I think it's just bad luck in the past little while with my computer breaking and needing a reinstall, no one wanting to hire me no matter where I apply (tried again today *fingers crossed*), not doing as well in my endeavours as I hoped, forgetting to back up files or do work/readings, oversleeping, my hormone levels (or SOMETHING) going all nuts, poor eating habits/not being hungry, saying a few things I regret, my YouTube video uploads that keep exploding and tonight family members locking me out of the house (whether meaning it or not I'm not sure yet). I have no idea what's going on, I'm just on edge and have this feeling that something horrible is about to happen. Too much can go wrong right now I have grandparents that are getting old and ill, especially my grandmother with cancer. I have an old dog who has failed considerably this year in her health...though she looks fine to me now. I have some friends that have been making a few bad choices drinking, overworking themselves, ending relationships or have been feeling super ill. I personally feel fairly healthy aside from the decreased appetite, edginess and the occasional stomach ache, so I'm just worried about everyone else. I want people's company until I'm with people, then I want to be alone. It's so strange. I hope this goes away soon and without misfortune. I'll take a spaced-out, unfocused, daze any day over this.
I don't know why, but I can never spell "occasional" without the aid of spell check. I keep putting a t where the s should be. It's like my mispronunciation of "satisfaction". I always have to think before I say it or it comes out "satisfication". My brain is weird.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sonic 2006
I recently got Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 for my birthday and man do I have mixed feelings about it. I was so hyped about this game four years ago, back when I was obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog games. I still have fun with them, but lately they've frustrated me way more than I've had fun with them. Sonic Unleashed was kind of the limit for me. Honestly, a "werehog"? So he's a man hog? That wasn't even my biggest issue. All of the night levels drove me absolutely insane. I don't think I've ever been so angry at a video game in my whole life. The day levels were quite good though. I had a lot of fun with those. At any rate, this is about Sonic 2006...
If I had a PS3 4 years ago, I would have bought this game when it came out. I watched all the trailer videos and gameplay demos, downloaded the music and lurked on all my favourite Sonic forums for news. One aspect I do have to commend the game for is its fantastic music and beautiful graphics. They aren't the graphic we see in 2010, but it was good for 2006, like many other games. I am going to focus on all of the good parts of this game first, because we all focus on the bad way too much.
So, the graphics and music are excellent as I already mentioned. Tons of interactive environments that are quite large. You have the option of exploring, doing quests for the people of Soleanna or just sticking to the story. I normally just stick to the story, for reasons I'll touch on later, but the choice is there for the player to make. The gameplay is creative allowing you to play as three characters: Sonic, Shadow and Silver (I like to call them Paedohog, Angsthog and Geekhog). Sonic's missions are the usual running levels with parts of super speed, attacking with the homing attack and jumping puzzles. Shadow's story involves alternating between driving vehicles and running. Silver, a new character to the franchise, uses his mind to throw objects, manipulate structures and float. Silver is by far the most fun to play because of this. Though, ramming cars that have mounted guns into towers and watching them explode adds a little fun to Shadow's missions (even if it is a little too much like the Shadow the Hedgehog game).
This brings me to the overall story being told through the three characters. I, personally love it. It is hilarious. In almost every cutscene I have had a "wtf moment" that keeps me wondering what the writers and developers were on when they created this beast. The lameness is epic, and I love it. I know story is a big deal for some people, but honestly, I'd rather have good gameplay. The story in this game lightens the mood and makes me laugh. I like that. It's a little too complex for a Sonic game in my opinion. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on and I could pick out WAY too many plot holes. For the most part, good times.
All right, now I get to complain and I'm making a bee-line straight for the controls. Two words: THEY SUCK. The controls are so touchy, that one wrong move and I'm flinging myself, head over heels into a bottomless pit, or the water or a wall, or an enemy. The vehicles are difficult to drive and keep balanced. If you so much sneeze the wrong way, your vehicle rolls over or explodes. Sometimes I'll be running along a straight path and then Sonic will randomly veer off to the right and fall off a cliff. Then with Silver I try to shoot a box or pick up an item. The key word here is try. The objects can be difficult to aim and Silver sometimes won't even pick up what you want him to. I remember trying to do a mission where you had to hit targets and you had to have the right objects shot at the right angle at the right distance or you'd miss. The cameras don't help with any of this either. Half the time the camera freaks out and suddenly you're staring at a wall or the floor. Sometimes the camera would lock, making you a target for the robots just off screen that you can't see no matter which way you try to turn the view. It's ridiculous.
The gameplay in general is annoying. The worst part is the load screens. OH GOD THE LOAD SCREENS. I avoid the missions or "side-quests" because of these (and of course you HAVE to do some of them to advance through the story). You get a load screen after you agree to the mission, then you wait about a minute. Then you hear the person who gave you the mission explain what you have to do (and usually this is a useless one-liner) and go through ANOTHER minute load screen before you can play. Not so bad...if you beat the mission. If you fail, you can't just restart, you have to sit through another lengthy load screen, listen to another lame-ass one liner about how you fail before a load screen is yet again shoved in your face. Then you have to talk to the person again and go through the entire process. I'd honestly rather be drilling holes into my head. Load screens aside, the story missions themselves could get annoying. In the middle of these levels you switch between characters that may be traveling with the main character. This is a cool idea and fun at times, but sometimes they switch in at awkward times. One of shadows missions included a part where started the level flying and about 20 seconds later you enter a segment controlling Rouge (split off by a load screen). I just ask what the point of the first part even was. The planning for the transitions were just sloppy in many cases.
Now, I haven't played the entire game yet, but I've watched all the cutscenes. All two hours of them. I really don't think that much exposition is needed for a Sonic game. I'm not saying it wasn't entertaining. In fact some of my favourite YouTube poops are based off these cutscenes, but the original games had about 20 seconds worth of what you can call "cutscenes", maybe even less. Not only that they have this creepy little plot where a princess falls in love with a hedgehog, which is wrong on so many levels. One of my biggest issues was that they had the nerve to kill Sonic the Hedgehog and then bring him back to life. THEN THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE THEY WENT THROUGH WAS WORTH NOTHING. They don't remember ANYTHING of what happened. This was akin to "and then he woke up; it was all a dream". MY GOD.
I am glad to have gotten this game, it is a challenge, keeps me on the edge of my seat and gave me a lot of good laughs. My point is, they could have done so much better. It's better than Sonic Heroes, but Sonic has a long way to go in terms of redeeming himself in my eyes (I'd say Sonic Rush and Sonic Chronicles were a step in the right direction). At any rate, I will watch and wait. I still have hope for the platformers.
Also...why does every Sonic game after maybe Sonic Adventure Battle 2 treat Knuckles like a hot-headed dumbass? Yeah he's got a short temper, but he's the freaking guardian of Angel Island, the last Echidna etc. Sonic Chronicles DID do him good (I really love that game aside from the cliffhanger). GIVE KNUCKLES A LITTLE DIGNITY!
And now for some poop (by toadomos):
Rouge Loves her Precious
Eggman
Elise is a Loser
If I had a PS3 4 years ago, I would have bought this game when it came out. I watched all the trailer videos and gameplay demos, downloaded the music and lurked on all my favourite Sonic forums for news. One aspect I do have to commend the game for is its fantastic music and beautiful graphics. They aren't the graphic we see in 2010, but it was good for 2006, like many other games. I am going to focus on all of the good parts of this game first, because we all focus on the bad way too much.
So, the graphics and music are excellent as I already mentioned. Tons of interactive environments that are quite large. You have the option of exploring, doing quests for the people of Soleanna or just sticking to the story. I normally just stick to the story, for reasons I'll touch on later, but the choice is there for the player to make. The gameplay is creative allowing you to play as three characters: Sonic, Shadow and Silver (I like to call them Paedohog, Angsthog and Geekhog). Sonic's missions are the usual running levels with parts of super speed, attacking with the homing attack and jumping puzzles. Shadow's story involves alternating between driving vehicles and running. Silver, a new character to the franchise, uses his mind to throw objects, manipulate structures and float. Silver is by far the most fun to play because of this. Though, ramming cars that have mounted guns into towers and watching them explode adds a little fun to Shadow's missions (even if it is a little too much like the Shadow the Hedgehog game).
This brings me to the overall story being told through the three characters. I, personally love it. It is hilarious. In almost every cutscene I have had a "wtf moment" that keeps me wondering what the writers and developers were on when they created this beast. The lameness is epic, and I love it. I know story is a big deal for some people, but honestly, I'd rather have good gameplay. The story in this game lightens the mood and makes me laugh. I like that. It's a little too complex for a Sonic game in my opinion. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on and I could pick out WAY too many plot holes. For the most part, good times.
All right, now I get to complain and I'm making a bee-line straight for the controls. Two words: THEY SUCK. The controls are so touchy, that one wrong move and I'm flinging myself, head over heels into a bottomless pit, or the water or a wall, or an enemy. The vehicles are difficult to drive and keep balanced. If you so much sneeze the wrong way, your vehicle rolls over or explodes. Sometimes I'll be running along a straight path and then Sonic will randomly veer off to the right and fall off a cliff. Then with Silver I try to shoot a box or pick up an item. The key word here is try. The objects can be difficult to aim and Silver sometimes won't even pick up what you want him to. I remember trying to do a mission where you had to hit targets and you had to have the right objects shot at the right angle at the right distance or you'd miss. The cameras don't help with any of this either. Half the time the camera freaks out and suddenly you're staring at a wall or the floor. Sometimes the camera would lock, making you a target for the robots just off screen that you can't see no matter which way you try to turn the view. It's ridiculous.
The gameplay in general is annoying. The worst part is the load screens. OH GOD THE LOAD SCREENS. I avoid the missions or "side-quests" because of these (and of course you HAVE to do some of them to advance through the story). You get a load screen after you agree to the mission, then you wait about a minute. Then you hear the person who gave you the mission explain what you have to do (and usually this is a useless one-liner) and go through ANOTHER minute load screen before you can play. Not so bad...if you beat the mission. If you fail, you can't just restart, you have to sit through another lengthy load screen, listen to another lame-ass one liner about how you fail before a load screen is yet again shoved in your face. Then you have to talk to the person again and go through the entire process. I'd honestly rather be drilling holes into my head. Load screens aside, the story missions themselves could get annoying. In the middle of these levels you switch between characters that may be traveling with the main character. This is a cool idea and fun at times, but sometimes they switch in at awkward times. One of shadows missions included a part where started the level flying and about 20 seconds later you enter a segment controlling Rouge (split off by a load screen). I just ask what the point of the first part even was. The planning for the transitions were just sloppy in many cases.
Now, I haven't played the entire game yet, but I've watched all the cutscenes. All two hours of them. I really don't think that much exposition is needed for a Sonic game. I'm not saying it wasn't entertaining. In fact some of my favourite YouTube poops are based off these cutscenes, but the original games had about 20 seconds worth of what you can call "cutscenes", maybe even less. Not only that they have this creepy little plot where a princess falls in love with a hedgehog, which is wrong on so many levels. One of my biggest issues was that they had the nerve to kill Sonic the Hedgehog and then bring him back to life. THEN THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE THEY WENT THROUGH WAS WORTH NOTHING. They don't remember ANYTHING of what happened. This was akin to "and then he woke up; it was all a dream". MY GOD.
I am glad to have gotten this game, it is a challenge, keeps me on the edge of my seat and gave me a lot of good laughs. My point is, they could have done so much better. It's better than Sonic Heroes, but Sonic has a long way to go in terms of redeeming himself in my eyes (I'd say Sonic Rush and Sonic Chronicles were a step in the right direction). At any rate, I will watch and wait. I still have hope for the platformers.
Also...why does every Sonic game after maybe Sonic Adventure Battle 2 treat Knuckles like a hot-headed dumbass? Yeah he's got a short temper, but he's the freaking guardian of Angel Island, the last Echidna etc. Sonic Chronicles DID do him good (I really love that game aside from the cliffhanger). GIVE KNUCKLES A LITTLE DIGNITY!
And now for some poop (by toadomos):
Rouge Loves her Precious
Eggman
Elise is a Loser
Monday, June 7, 2010
Showing a Little Restraint
Came here to rant because I don't think my friend deserves to be ranted at when she's only trying to help her friend. At any rate, a friend of mine is at University down in Southern California and a friend of hers was asking for a little fashion advice. This is all fine and dandy, but I have a little bit of an issue with the phrase "teaching a girl to wear proper girl's clothes". What does that even mean? Sounds like something out of the 1800's or 1900's where the old ladies would stuff young girls into fluffy, uncomfortable dresses and corsets to be "proper young ladies". Yes, something out of the time where showing a little ankle skin was a sin against the natural world.
Now I'm just calling up that unsolvable issue of gender and gender roles. What I NEVER could understand was why a girl or a boy couldn't wear certain things or play certain games just because of a few physical differences in the unspeakable areas. Of course there is some practical aspects of clothing or toys designed for one gender or another, but why can't I, as a girl, not wear baggy t-shirts or be good at video games or play with Transformers or like Martial Arts movies? Why is it taboo for a young boy to play with something like dolls? It baffles me. Everyone's a victim to this. I'm still struggling with my video editing and posting, especially when most of them think I'm a guy.
Okay so fashion to make a girl look more "girly" I suppose isn't such a big deal. What REALLY got me was the second nuclear strike of a statement: "She wants to look hot to get her boyfriend back." Here's where the rage and restraint comes in, because when I see this I want to beat some sense into the girl with a giant book called "What the hell are you thinking?"
A) If looks are what your relationship is based on, GOD it's not going to last long.
B) A boyfriend that needs to be won back with sex appeal has to be a selfish, shallow, pig-headed dumbass, so why would you WANT to be back with him? (Seriously I'm thinking of some douchebag with a popped collar and slick, greasy hair...look at me profile...)
C) This woman obviously can't do anything for herself to be that DESPERATE to want to be back with such a person.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe this was worded poorly on my friend's part, or maybe I'm missing a bit of the story, but judging on what people are generally like, I'm going to guess that this is pretty accurate. GOD WOMAN HAVE A LITTLE DIGNITY. I don't care what kind of issues you have, getting back together with a guy who treats you nothing more than a plaything is not going to help you. Jesus Christ almighty on a mountain with a goat eating a scoop of ice cream during a hail storm.
My friend is doing a good deed and trying to help the girl with what she wants, but really, is this ACTUALLY going to help? It's no wonder our world is so messed up. I'm lucky I don't have to deal with that kind of bull crap often. I have people who accept me for who I am.
When did I turn into such a big feminist?
Now I'm just calling up that unsolvable issue of gender and gender roles. What I NEVER could understand was why a girl or a boy couldn't wear certain things or play certain games just because of a few physical differences in the unspeakable areas. Of course there is some practical aspects of clothing or toys designed for one gender or another, but why can't I, as a girl, not wear baggy t-shirts or be good at video games or play with Transformers or like Martial Arts movies? Why is it taboo for a young boy to play with something like dolls? It baffles me. Everyone's a victim to this. I'm still struggling with my video editing and posting, especially when most of them think I'm a guy.
Okay so fashion to make a girl look more "girly" I suppose isn't such a big deal. What REALLY got me was the second nuclear strike of a statement: "She wants to look hot to get her boyfriend back." Here's where the rage and restraint comes in, because when I see this I want to beat some sense into the girl with a giant book called "What the hell are you thinking?"
A) If looks are what your relationship is based on, GOD it's not going to last long.
B) A boyfriend that needs to be won back with sex appeal has to be a selfish, shallow, pig-headed dumbass, so why would you WANT to be back with him? (Seriously I'm thinking of some douchebag with a popped collar and slick, greasy hair...look at me profile...)
C) This woman obviously can't do anything for herself to be that DESPERATE to want to be back with such a person.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe this was worded poorly on my friend's part, or maybe I'm missing a bit of the story, but judging on what people are generally like, I'm going to guess that this is pretty accurate. GOD WOMAN HAVE A LITTLE DIGNITY. I don't care what kind of issues you have, getting back together with a guy who treats you nothing more than a plaything is not going to help you. Jesus Christ almighty on a mountain with a goat eating a scoop of ice cream during a hail storm.
My friend is doing a good deed and trying to help the girl with what she wants, but really, is this ACTUALLY going to help? It's no wonder our world is so messed up. I'm lucky I don't have to deal with that kind of bull crap often. I have people who accept me for who I am.
When did I turn into such a big feminist?
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Fail End Drive
Turns out that being the little fish in a big pond is not that fun. Maybe I'm just bitter because I spent the last two days trying to beat the original Dungeon Keeper into submission, but it's true. I just take pride in the fact that I was the first one on YouTube to post all 20 levels of Dungeon Keeper 2. Pathetic eh? Especially since about a month later a bigger and more successful guy posted all the videos himself and got about 20000 views on each. Now a bunch of other people are posting Dungeon Keeper 2 videos. I might be a little jealous.
So as I said, I'm working on trying to get Dungeon Keeper 1 to record with SOMETHING. I've tried three video recording software, two operating systems, a ton of different modes and a lot of screaming. Looks like my final option is to figure out how to get it to work in DOSbox, which will be another raging tantrum on my part. I think it would work though. I'm determined, even though the videos are going to be more or less ignored by the world. I like giving everything my all and have it amount to nearly nothing in the end. Yay!
In the meantime I'm recording my pathetic attempts at playing the first Half Life because I'm bored out of my mind. I need to find a job (yes I'm still having issues with that) and I need to find it fast. I think I might be desperate enough to return to Staples. I have a year's experience there and I pretty much remember all that the job requires so...
I've come to the conclusion that I'm a jack of trades. I've never really been good at anything. As I said before writing is what I'm best at, and even then I wind up at an epic fail dead end. Thankfully I've made some progress this year. I think I just need to stop caring. I'd be happier that way. If I do end up posting the Half Life videos, I am going to emphasize that I'm not recording and playing them to show off or impress...just to have fun. What's the point in doing stuff if you can't have a little fun along the way?
So as I said, I'm working on trying to get Dungeon Keeper 1 to record with SOMETHING. I've tried three video recording software, two operating systems, a ton of different modes and a lot of screaming. Looks like my final option is to figure out how to get it to work in DOSbox, which will be another raging tantrum on my part. I think it would work though. I'm determined, even though the videos are going to be more or less ignored by the world. I like giving everything my all and have it amount to nearly nothing in the end. Yay!
In the meantime I'm recording my pathetic attempts at playing the first Half Life because I'm bored out of my mind. I need to find a job (yes I'm still having issues with that) and I need to find it fast. I think I might be desperate enough to return to Staples. I have a year's experience there and I pretty much remember all that the job requires so...
I've come to the conclusion that I'm a jack of trades. I've never really been good at anything. As I said before writing is what I'm best at, and even then I wind up at an epic fail dead end. Thankfully I've made some progress this year. I think I just need to stop caring. I'd be happier that way. If I do end up posting the Half Life videos, I am going to emphasize that I'm not recording and playing them to show off or impress...just to have fun. What's the point in doing stuff if you can't have a little fun along the way?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Pro Tips:
Roundhouse kicking a automatic door button while holding a large, thirty pound aquarium is not a good idea. Your hips will not be pleased.
Fish will not be happy if you buy them, move them, place them in a dirty reptile tank, take them out, move them, put them back in with water that is dirtier because of excessive sloshing, take multiple pictures with flash enabled, remove them, carry them down a few flights of stairs, roundhouse kick a door button while holding their home and expose them to cold weather.
Don't drink hot ginseng drinks unless you like the taste of wooden stir stick.
Leaving research essays (or essays in general) to the last night is unwise. This is of course unless you want to run into walls, fall down stairs and read hilarious typos the next day.
Editing other people's essays before writing your own is good for seeing other people's style of writing. They also result in the beginning of your own essay at 1am.
Using the English department's paper cutter is akin to standing in the middle of a highway at night wearing black. (STOP STIFFING THE FINE ARTS ON THE DEPARTMENT BUDGET BILL ENGINEERING/BUSINESS)
Get the printing service you used to print your documents to cut the pages for you. This will reduce headaches, back pain, the need to use shitty cutters, the butchering of document pages and the urge to use the cutter to inflict bodily injury.
Stress and caffeine do not go well together. More specifically, stress, caffeine, access to the internet and working on projects do not go well together.
A room full of 15+ drunk people is hilarious (and somewhat frightening) when you are the sober one.
Writing "Chuck Norris" for one of your answers on a test doesn't boost your grade.
Milk, bananas and caffeine apparently reduce clarity when speaking.
Do not form all female group projects in school. All you will gain are arguments about font, font sizes and how many sea shells to glue to your project. The hormones will smite thee.
Always know what's in your shady, Chinese green tea.
...it's been a long week. Mercy killings will be accepted in the next 24 hours.
This was also posted on my DeviantArt if anyone was wondering).
Fish will not be happy if you buy them, move them, place them in a dirty reptile tank, take them out, move them, put them back in with water that is dirtier because of excessive sloshing, take multiple pictures with flash enabled, remove them, carry them down a few flights of stairs, roundhouse kick a door button while holding their home and expose them to cold weather.
Don't drink hot ginseng drinks unless you like the taste of wooden stir stick.
Leaving research essays (or essays in general) to the last night is unwise. This is of course unless you want to run into walls, fall down stairs and read hilarious typos the next day.
Editing other people's essays before writing your own is good for seeing other people's style of writing. They also result in the beginning of your own essay at 1am.
Using the English department's paper cutter is akin to standing in the middle of a highway at night wearing black. (STOP STIFFING THE FINE ARTS ON THE DEPARTMENT BUDGET BILL ENGINEERING/BUSINESS)
Get the printing service you used to print your documents to cut the pages for you. This will reduce headaches, back pain, the need to use shitty cutters, the butchering of document pages and the urge to use the cutter to inflict bodily injury.
Stress and caffeine do not go well together. More specifically, stress, caffeine, access to the internet and working on projects do not go well together.
A room full of 15+ drunk people is hilarious (and somewhat frightening) when you are the sober one.
Writing "Chuck Norris" for one of your answers on a test doesn't boost your grade.
Milk, bananas and caffeine apparently reduce clarity when speaking.
Do not form all female group projects in school. All you will gain are arguments about font, font sizes and how many sea shells to glue to your project. The hormones will smite thee.
Always know what's in your shady, Chinese green tea.
...it's been a long week. Mercy killings will be accepted in the next 24 hours.
This was also posted on my DeviantArt if anyone was wondering).
Friday, February 12, 2010
Story Time
This night was ridiculous. I think I had more ups and downs in one night than I've had in the past few years. Tonight I went to an Epica concert (opened by Daath and Blackguard) in Calgary. This is my tale of one hell of a night.
So yesterday I learned the venue changed from The Warehouse to Republik and I was freaking out for hours because half of my sources told me one and half told me the other. In the end I concluded that the venue was changed and slept on it. The next evening my boyfriend picks me up a little late. It wasn't a big deal since the concert didn't start until about 9 (the doors opened at 8). So we get to Republik, and it doesn't look too promising. No lights, door locked, boxes piled up in the building. We did a lap around the building and decided to check out Warehouse to see if ticketmaster just made a mistake with the venue information.
We arrive at the Warehouse with similar results, only about eight people were waiting outside, just as confused as us. So we waited, and waited, called both clubs with no answer, called ticketmaster (which was the equivalent of calling a rock in terms of helpfulness) and the waited more. Finally my boyfriend and I decided to check out Republik again, convinced we missed something. I took the number of one of the guys waiting at Warehouse in case we found the right place and we were off again (but not before having to pay for a parking ticket we only used for 30 minutes).
Arriving back at Republik we notice about five people wandering around. We ask if they were going to the concert and they said they couldn't find it either. So I decide to walk into a shady, underground gay bar on the other side of the building to ask about the club. I walk inside with the others and there's two guys inside standing around and they gave me the dirtiest looks ever. I waited to see if anyone was there to help. Finally I got fed up and just asked one of the dudes standing there if Republik still existed. They said no, it was gone for good.
Great. So we leave the creepy bar (just to be clear, it wasn't creepy because it was a gay bar, it was creepy because it was a shady little establishment in an otherwise abandoned building with scary people inside). When we get outside a guy going to the bar said that Republik moved down the street. We walked around the building and looked, and the freaking bar was across the street with a giant sign that said EPICA on it. My boyfriend and I both facepalmed and got back into his car. I called the guy from Warehouse and told him where it was, then we were off to look for a parking space.
Oh god the downtown parking. So we drive around a few blocks and see nothing, but private lots, reserved parking, 1 hour zones and taken parking spaces. After doing another loop around, we pass two guys beating up a third guys against a chain-link fence. Happy. So FINALLY we find a parking space (the guy was okay by the way, we saw all three walking away from it) and my boyfriend goes to pay. We leave and make our merry way to the club...FINALLY. On the way I pulled out the tickets and my id after helping another lost concert goer and we entered the club.
As I get my ticket ripped and a stamp on my wrist (of a Russian nesting doll of all pictures...) I realize I am missing $50 cash from my pocket. I figured it fell out of my pocket when I pulled my id out, so I ran back outside and all the way down the street looking for it. No such luck. Either it fell out before, someone picked it up or I didn't spot it. Someone's going to have a happy find at any rate.
So I lost my money I was going to use to buy a t-shirt. Thankfully my boyfriend had enough and was nice enough to donate to the t-shirt for Schwa fund. After a long and frustrating search I was ready to have my ears destroyed by a symphony of metal. The good news is we weren't technically late. The concert started about twenty minutes after we arrived.
The first band to go on, Deathguard, was pretty good. Good music, an appropriately growly voice and an awesome attitude. Their hair also looked like cotton candy when they headbanged in unison (the lighting in the club was blue and a pinkish red and they all had super long curly hair). Second band, Daath, had an obsession with spitting and spraying water from their mouths into the air...randomly. This bald guy standing next to us kept shaking his head and screaming WHY. It was during this portion of the show where the people up front got super hyper and were pushing and flailing everywhere.
Then it was Epica's turn, and this truly made my night if nothing else did. The band was fantastic, played old songs as well as new ones (including 3 of my favourites). I was impressed with Simone, who was all over the place on stage and still made all her cues and sounded fantastic. I think at one point she was having issues with a contact lens and she ran over to the side to get it fixed. As she was talking with the guy there she still hit all her cues between the sentences. Amusing and impressive.
After the concert my ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, both my legs were stiff as hell and I had a sharp pain in my lower back, but it was definitely worth the hurt. We grabbed our jackets and hobbled out of the club back to the car. Halfway home we notice a ticket on the windshield. Apparently we parked in a handicap zone even though there were NO SIGNS, NO MARKINGS and in a three hour pay parking zone. If any markings were there, they had to have been under the snow, because there was nothing. The officer that gave it drew this strange little picture that made absolutely no sense. It looked like a house that had fallen on a road being squished by a garbage compacter. So thank you ridiculous ticket for being the icing on my chocolate turd cake of an evening.
So yesterday I learned the venue changed from The Warehouse to Republik and I was freaking out for hours because half of my sources told me one and half told me the other. In the end I concluded that the venue was changed and slept on it. The next evening my boyfriend picks me up a little late. It wasn't a big deal since the concert didn't start until about 9 (the doors opened at 8). So we get to Republik, and it doesn't look too promising. No lights, door locked, boxes piled up in the building. We did a lap around the building and decided to check out Warehouse to see if ticketmaster just made a mistake with the venue information.
We arrive at the Warehouse with similar results, only about eight people were waiting outside, just as confused as us. So we waited, and waited, called both clubs with no answer, called ticketmaster (which was the equivalent of calling a rock in terms of helpfulness) and the waited more. Finally my boyfriend and I decided to check out Republik again, convinced we missed something. I took the number of one of the guys waiting at Warehouse in case we found the right place and we were off again (but not before having to pay for a parking ticket we only used for 30 minutes).
Arriving back at Republik we notice about five people wandering around. We ask if they were going to the concert and they said they couldn't find it either. So I decide to walk into a shady, underground gay bar on the other side of the building to ask about the club. I walk inside with the others and there's two guys inside standing around and they gave me the dirtiest looks ever. I waited to see if anyone was there to help. Finally I got fed up and just asked one of the dudes standing there if Republik still existed. They said no, it was gone for good.
Great. So we leave the creepy bar (just to be clear, it wasn't creepy because it was a gay bar, it was creepy because it was a shady little establishment in an otherwise abandoned building with scary people inside). When we get outside a guy going to the bar said that Republik moved down the street. We walked around the building and looked, and the freaking bar was across the street with a giant sign that said EPICA on it. My boyfriend and I both facepalmed and got back into his car. I called the guy from Warehouse and told him where it was, then we were off to look for a parking space.
Oh god the downtown parking. So we drive around a few blocks and see nothing, but private lots, reserved parking, 1 hour zones and taken parking spaces. After doing another loop around, we pass two guys beating up a third guys against a chain-link fence. Happy. So FINALLY we find a parking space (the guy was okay by the way, we saw all three walking away from it) and my boyfriend goes to pay. We leave and make our merry way to the club...FINALLY. On the way I pulled out the tickets and my id after helping another lost concert goer and we entered the club.
As I get my ticket ripped and a stamp on my wrist (of a Russian nesting doll of all pictures...) I realize I am missing $50 cash from my pocket. I figured it fell out of my pocket when I pulled my id out, so I ran back outside and all the way down the street looking for it. No such luck. Either it fell out before, someone picked it up or I didn't spot it. Someone's going to have a happy find at any rate.
So I lost my money I was going to use to buy a t-shirt. Thankfully my boyfriend had enough and was nice enough to donate to the t-shirt for Schwa fund. After a long and frustrating search I was ready to have my ears destroyed by a symphony of metal. The good news is we weren't technically late. The concert started about twenty minutes after we arrived.
The first band to go on, Deathguard, was pretty good. Good music, an appropriately growly voice and an awesome attitude. Their hair also looked like cotton candy when they headbanged in unison (the lighting in the club was blue and a pinkish red and they all had super long curly hair). Second band, Daath, had an obsession with spitting and spraying water from their mouths into the air...randomly. This bald guy standing next to us kept shaking his head and screaming WHY. It was during this portion of the show where the people up front got super hyper and were pushing and flailing everywhere.
Then it was Epica's turn, and this truly made my night if nothing else did. The band was fantastic, played old songs as well as new ones (including 3 of my favourites). I was impressed with Simone, who was all over the place on stage and still made all her cues and sounded fantastic. I think at one point she was having issues with a contact lens and she ran over to the side to get it fixed. As she was talking with the guy there she still hit all her cues between the sentences. Amusing and impressive.
After the concert my ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, both my legs were stiff as hell and I had a sharp pain in my lower back, but it was definitely worth the hurt. We grabbed our jackets and hobbled out of the club back to the car. Halfway home we notice a ticket on the windshield. Apparently we parked in a handicap zone even though there were NO SIGNS, NO MARKINGS and in a three hour pay parking zone. If any markings were there, they had to have been under the snow, because there was nothing. The officer that gave it drew this strange little picture that made absolutely no sense. It looked like a house that had fallen on a road being squished by a garbage compacter. So thank you ridiculous ticket for being the icing on my chocolate turd cake of an evening.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Strange 24 Hours...
No idea if some planetary alignment or something is going on, but I've had an interesting 24 hours. Started around this time last night when we went out to dinner at Palomino's in Calgary. I heard about the place from a girl in my fiction writing class. Something about a performer that goes there a lot to do a trick where she takes special shots and breathes fire. That and the walls of the girls washroom is covered in graffiti...but it's cool because at least fifty different people have gone in there and written and replied to messages on the wall. Despite being in one of the shadiest parts of Calgary, the Palomino has awesome food and a cool atmosphere. I am definately going back.
Afterwards our little group went to go see the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra perform many of the tracks from the Star Trek movies and TV series. The show was amazing even though I don't know much about Star Trek at all. I knew enough to be interested of course, but overall I just enjoyed the music. The guys who play the holographic doctor and Q were hosting. During the intermission I randomly decided to sign up as a volunteer for the Calgary Comic Con. I hardly ever sign up for volunteers stuff. I usually just join in on other people's volunteer work. Then during the final piece of the night (the theme from Star Trek 2009) I came up with the an answer to 1 of about 15 questions that I have about my book and the plot. This was the first of many "epiphanies" I have had over the past day.
On the way home we saw something...strange. In two different rooms there was a series of flashing lights. They weren't in any sort of pattern, just random flashing over and over, pausing at different times and speeding up at others. The strange part was the rooms were in two separate buildings, and they were completely synchronized. They were both office buildings, both rooms had the lights off, and it was 10 in the evening. We guessed it might be two televisions on set to the same channels, but that didn't make any sense; no one would be up that late watching the same television show at the same time in two dark offices. Another suggestion was that it could be a screen saver, but the two computers would have to have the exact same flashy design. The computers also would have needed to go into screen saver mode at the EXACT same time. We ruled out electrical problems because they were in separate buildings. We finally decided that they were an elaborate string of flashing signals sent between buildings a pair of techno ninja assassins could communicate with each other.
Then the train was all weird today. In the morning my bus pass was checked three times. In Calgary we don't have ticket machines like in New York or London where you can't get onto the platform unless you run your ticket through it. Here the officers make random checks on the trains, so half the time you don't even need a ticket. It's still safe to have one, however, since the checks they make are REALLY random. If you want to get away with having no ticket you go at rush hour, and I personally think it's not worth it. Especially when random dudes start talking to you.
Which brings me to the random two old dudes that started talking to me on the train today. I was on the train working on some notes for my book while listening to music when this old guy sits beside me and starts talking to me. I can't remember what he asked me to start the conversation, but somehow we ended up talking about his book and how he was going to make a movie out of it. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but it figures that one time I'm actually busy on the train I get bothered. The moment that old dude leaves ANOTHER old guy comes and takes his place. I went back to work, and after a few minutes he starts complaining about the doors and how the train driver should be able to figure out which one is closing etc etc. He then talks to me about how boring Saskatoon is and when he moved to Calgary and his business and the weather in Calgary and mosquitoes in Manitoba. Then he left and I was finally able to figure out the rest of my stuff for WMRR.
The WMRR questions I have are all coming to me all of a sudden. Like a series of epiphanies. I don't know what it is, but questions I haven't been able to answer for five years are all being answered in the span of 24 hours. It's a little scary.
Afterwards our little group went to go see the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra perform many of the tracks from the Star Trek movies and TV series. The show was amazing even though I don't know much about Star Trek at all. I knew enough to be interested of course, but overall I just enjoyed the music. The guys who play the holographic doctor and Q were hosting. During the intermission I randomly decided to sign up as a volunteer for the Calgary Comic Con. I hardly ever sign up for volunteers stuff. I usually just join in on other people's volunteer work. Then during the final piece of the night (the theme from Star Trek 2009) I came up with the an answer to 1 of about 15 questions that I have about my book and the plot. This was the first of many "epiphanies" I have had over the past day.
On the way home we saw something...strange. In two different rooms there was a series of flashing lights. They weren't in any sort of pattern, just random flashing over and over, pausing at different times and speeding up at others. The strange part was the rooms were in two separate buildings, and they were completely synchronized. They were both office buildings, both rooms had the lights off, and it was 10 in the evening. We guessed it might be two televisions on set to the same channels, but that didn't make any sense; no one would be up that late watching the same television show at the same time in two dark offices. Another suggestion was that it could be a screen saver, but the two computers would have to have the exact same flashy design. The computers also would have needed to go into screen saver mode at the EXACT same time. We ruled out electrical problems because they were in separate buildings. We finally decided that they were an elaborate string of flashing signals sent between buildings a pair of techno ninja assassins could communicate with each other.
Then the train was all weird today. In the morning my bus pass was checked three times. In Calgary we don't have ticket machines like in New York or London where you can't get onto the platform unless you run your ticket through it. Here the officers make random checks on the trains, so half the time you don't even need a ticket. It's still safe to have one, however, since the checks they make are REALLY random. If you want to get away with having no ticket you go at rush hour, and I personally think it's not worth it. Especially when random dudes start talking to you.
Which brings me to the random two old dudes that started talking to me on the train today. I was on the train working on some notes for my book while listening to music when this old guy sits beside me and starts talking to me. I can't remember what he asked me to start the conversation, but somehow we ended up talking about his book and how he was going to make a movie out of it. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but it figures that one time I'm actually busy on the train I get bothered. The moment that old dude leaves ANOTHER old guy comes and takes his place. I went back to work, and after a few minutes he starts complaining about the doors and how the train driver should be able to figure out which one is closing etc etc. He then talks to me about how boring Saskatoon is and when he moved to Calgary and his business and the weather in Calgary and mosquitoes in Manitoba. Then he left and I was finally able to figure out the rest of my stuff for WMRR.
The WMRR questions I have are all coming to me all of a sudden. Like a series of epiphanies. I don't know what it is, but questions I haven't been able to answer for five years are all being answered in the span of 24 hours. It's a little scary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)