Inactivity begets more inactivity

It seems that whenever I have a lot of time to sit down and attend to a project, I never actually do. It’s been a while since I last posted something and bar one or two aborted attempts I haven’t come close to adding some new content in several weeks. I’ve found that an abundance of time completely robs me of my ability to sit down and get something done.

There is nothing physically stopping me, nor a shortage of thoughts, ideas or events to comment on. I made attempts to get something down earlier but beyond an unsatisfactory paragraph or two the words didn’t come. Inspiration would strike when I was far removed from my laptop or some paper and by the time I got to them, the initial spark had faded.

So many posts have come and gone in my mind, scrapped by idleness and a complete lack of motivation, but I will persevere with these few paragraphs. I could have filled this post with any number of topics related to the New Year. I could have written about my choices for game of the year (Arkham Asylum) and movie of the year (Avatar, I think, though didn’t see that many films to be fair).

There will be more content, more interesting content, to come. I’m just attempting to break an unproductive streak with this post.

I’m like a fish out of water … when I’m in water

Yesterday at the gym I concluded my workout with a swim for a change and I struggled to complete 20 lengths. As I powered through the last length I felt my knee tweak and emerged from the water breathing heavily. It felt strange to be so fatigued from a modest exercise and to feel that way while still feeling cool and not sweating.

I’ve never been especially proficient in the pool.
Like quite a few of my lesser skills my swimming is entirely self-taught. I learned as a five year old when someone kept pushing me into the deep end of a pool in South Carolina. My minute frame was easily shoved back into the deep waters by a mystery assailant and in terror I managed to manipulate my limbs in such a way that I didn’t drown. I thrashed and flapped and made my way back to the safe shallow end, fear propelling my stringy arms and stick legs into something that resembled swimming. I was pushed back again and again, I think it was at a barbeque or something and one of the adults must have thought drowning a five year old was a bit of a larf.

I suppose I could sympathise with that.

101 movies rated in a few words

I’m not sure exactly how many films I’ve seen in my lifetime.

It is probably over a thousand, the list below barely scratches the surface of all the films I’ve seen and it was surprisingly easy to come up with. Rather than systematically list films by era or genre I got my brother’s girlfriend Dawn to call out any films she could think of.

I thought of this idea about five minutes before I began typing and Dawn rattled off films as they came to her while I typed out brief verdicts for each one. I initially intended to create a system for rating but found it too restrictive so I just wrote a brief instinctual verdict for each one.

I have included a link to Rotten Tomatoes and the score of each film, I haven’t seen some of these movies in a very long time…

Overrated!

 

Star Wars Trilogy

A (fairly) long time ago in a studio (somewhat) far away the most overrated film in history hit our screens. I’ve decided to start what I intend to be the first of series of posts about overrated games and films with one of the most iconic franchises of all time. My reasons for not liking Star Wars are:

• An unlikable lead character
• The simplicity of the story
• Darth Vader’s redemption
• Ewoks
• The Force
• Lightsabers

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be…

As a young scamp my formative gaming years were spent on the NES and Megadrive. In the age of ROMs it’s quite easy to access and play all those games from my youth so I decided to have a look back at five of my old favourites and see how they held up by my standards now. I chose:

• Mario 3
• Streets of Rage
• The Legend of Zelda
• Golden Axe
• Doom

Niko Bellic Killed the Sandbox Game

Image by Photobucket user avs111

In 1979 The Buggles released the song detailing the career of a singer that was cut short by television, Video killed the radio star.  As well as being the first music video played by MTV way back in 1981 it also featured in the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in 2003.

Rockstar North didn’t create the idea of the open-world sandbox game but few would argue that the 2001 monster hit, Grand Theft Auto III didn’t galvanise this genre.  I’d been aware of and indeed had played the previous two but it wasn’t until the advent of a huge, 3-D environment that the series really took off.