Dear Mr. Sony Dream Machine,
Hello. We've been together for a few years now, and so far we've had a pretty decent relationship. We've learned each other's boundaries, and really had our ups and downs. I have tried to stop hitting you with such force, and blaming you for things that aren't your fault. I know you don't control the earth's rotation. You just display it in a quantifiable way for me. I get that! And you've done your job over and over and over again. I thank you for that.
But hey, now. This is the weekend where I lose an hour of my precious sleep. This is the weekend we set the clocks forward in an age old marketing ploy. This is the weekend I don't work on Sunday and was planning on skipping all the confusion and grogginess regarding the change. The first one of those weekends in a long while.
You know what you did. I've never particularly liked your auto-set time function, and you know that. The first day I took you out of your box I spent a while trying to set the the time manually. But you just wanted me to push the region button and let your automatic preferences take effect. Then you worked. And along came a DST situation, and remarkably you worked again. Two times a year like clockwork. Funny, because you are a clock, Mr. Sony Dream Machine.
Like clockwork until today. Like clockwork until Saturday, March 12, 2011. Now, Mr. Sony Dream Machine, I have work today. It starts at 8 a.m. I usually get up at 6:45, get ready and get out the door by 7:50. It's a game we've played for over a year now. We've taken a few Saturdays off here and there, but there's no real big surprise. But that wasn't good enough for you, was it? No, of course not.
You're Mr. Sony Dream Machine! Now I really know why your initials are Mr. SDM! First you make me feel bad for hitting your snooze button so hard, but then I find out you like it. Now you play tricks on me! Now you decide that you will set my clock ahead one hour a day early! So now I've been robbed of an hour of sleep when I've got such a big day ahead of me.
You sir, are an ass. And I am sending you this letter to let you know that you are indeed an ass. Pray that I don't decide to unplug you and give you to the Goodwill. You jerk.
Grumpily,
Mike
PS You really should have come with an antenna. Your radio function is scratchy at best. Yeah, that's right. I went there.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
New Job
So I got a new job yesterday. I'm now a writer for http://robotgeek.co.uk
Basically the job will entail me writing a couple of reviews per week of games that I get *for free* from companies before their release. (15-year-old me is salivating)
Currently, that'll be the only form of payment since this site is just being launched, but hey, that's good enough for me. Plus it'll give me a chance to work on my writing style.
My application consisted of me sending the editor a link to my gaming blog and saying, if you want some of this, eh? Apparently he did.
In my excitement I must give a big kudos to the esteemed Joshua Hill for giving me the lead.
Boosh.
Basically the job will entail me writing a couple of reviews per week of games that I get *for free* from companies before their release. (15-year-old me is salivating)
Currently, that'll be the only form of payment since this site is just being launched, but hey, that's good enough for me. Plus it'll give me a chance to work on my writing style.
My application consisted of me sending the editor a link to my gaming blog and saying, if you want some of this, eh? Apparently he did.
In my excitement I must give a big kudos to the esteemed Joshua Hill for giving me the lead.
Boosh.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Sequels
(Warning, very slight Dark Tower spoilers ahead and if you haven't read/seen LOTR or HP 7 definite spoilers ahead)
If you've read the Lord of the Rings you know that things happen just a bit differently in the books than they do in the movies. First off, Boromir is killed by the Uruk-Hai at the beginning of The Two Towers, and not at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. When Tolkien wrote his masterpiece, it was meant to be one volume, so the drop off between the end of the Book II and the beginning of Book III is not that much. By making it into two books, it's a little more shocking when you pick up the second book and boom! Boromir dies. But, Frodo and Sam had already left. That was the major event to end the book. Frodo broke the fellowship and left. Boromir dying, though sad, wasn't the big dramatic finish. Peter Jackson had the sense to bring Boromir's death into the first film for obvious reasons. Tied things up nicely.
Now, imagine if you will that the Fellowship of the Ring (movie or book) ended with Frodo escaping from Boromir and going off to be alone. Then imagine that The Two Towers began with Frodo breaking the fellowship and leaving. And then as an added kick while you're down, Boromir died. All within the first five pages of the story. (Now, I don't know who I'm kidding, Tolkien would have taken 20 pages to accomplish this). All these game changers to start the book. Oh what's that nice world you're in, lemme go ahead and just see that... Yeah...
What's the relevance of this, you might ask?
The book I'm reading just did that. I just finished The Gunslinger by Stephen King. It's the first book in his seven part The Dark Tower series, the work King considers to be his magnum opus. The Gunslinger ended in a good way, looking off into the distance. Typical epic ending. The Drawing of the Three, the sequel, started off with a bang. Actually more like a few clicks... And had some huge game changers right at the beginning. And when I mean beginning, I mean, in the prologue. Within the first five pages, the shit hit the fan. I've never had a sequel be so cavalier. Especially when the prologue is supposed to just kind of bring me lightly back into the world.
Let's just say I got so mad I put the book down, mouth agape. My comfort level was completely breached. The prologue should be almost optional in a novel. If one were to skip it, he shouldn't miss all that much. But apparently this story is above that. I haven't had a book wow me in a while. Some twists in Harry Potter came close, like George losing his ear, and Fred dying. But I mean, I was at least prepared for some gnarly stuff to happen. This took me completely by surprise.
Kudos to you, Stephen King. You have both infuriated and thoroughly intrigued me. I know that this book will not disappoint, but damn you for arrogance, you brilliant man. When I am no longer angry, I will pick the book back up and be in for a good read, I am sure. Until then, that book is going to sit on my desk. It knows what it did...
If you've read the Lord of the Rings you know that things happen just a bit differently in the books than they do in the movies. First off, Boromir is killed by the Uruk-Hai at the beginning of The Two Towers, and not at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. When Tolkien wrote his masterpiece, it was meant to be one volume, so the drop off between the end of the Book II and the beginning of Book III is not that much. By making it into two books, it's a little more shocking when you pick up the second book and boom! Boromir dies. But, Frodo and Sam had already left. That was the major event to end the book. Frodo broke the fellowship and left. Boromir dying, though sad, wasn't the big dramatic finish. Peter Jackson had the sense to bring Boromir's death into the first film for obvious reasons. Tied things up nicely.
Now, imagine if you will that the Fellowship of the Ring (movie or book) ended with Frodo escaping from Boromir and going off to be alone. Then imagine that The Two Towers began with Frodo breaking the fellowship and leaving. And then as an added kick while you're down, Boromir died. All within the first five pages of the story. (Now, I don't know who I'm kidding, Tolkien would have taken 20 pages to accomplish this). All these game changers to start the book. Oh what's that nice world you're in, lemme go ahead and just see that... Yeah...
What's the relevance of this, you might ask?
The book I'm reading just did that. I just finished The Gunslinger by Stephen King. It's the first book in his seven part The Dark Tower series, the work King considers to be his magnum opus. The Gunslinger ended in a good way, looking off into the distance. Typical epic ending. The Drawing of the Three, the sequel, started off with a bang. Actually more like a few clicks... And had some huge game changers right at the beginning. And when I mean beginning, I mean, in the prologue. Within the first five pages, the shit hit the fan. I've never had a sequel be so cavalier. Especially when the prologue is supposed to just kind of bring me lightly back into the world.
Let's just say I got so mad I put the book down, mouth agape. My comfort level was completely breached. The prologue should be almost optional in a novel. If one were to skip it, he shouldn't miss all that much. But apparently this story is above that. I haven't had a book wow me in a while. Some twists in Harry Potter came close, like George losing his ear, and Fred dying. But I mean, I was at least prepared for some gnarly stuff to happen. This took me completely by surprise.
Kudos to you, Stephen King. You have both infuriated and thoroughly intrigued me. I know that this book will not disappoint, but damn you for arrogance, you brilliant man. When I am no longer angry, I will pick the book back up and be in for a good read, I am sure. Until then, that book is going to sit on my desk. It knows what it did...
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