Living Arrangements

Well it seems I've got me a new room mate (Technically my FIRST room mate...) and already things have gotten quite interesting. We had to move his stuff from his old place to the new one. And I do believe we broke several trespassing laws in doing so. Quite fun indeed.

Still waiting on an actual bed for him to use so it's a mattress on the floor for now. He's not complaining, but it does make getting ready for work in the mornings around his sleeping corpse an interesting trek.

Oh and did I mention my roomie is Yoshi? That's right sports fans. 2 of the comic's creators under the same roof. It's scary to think that there might actually be... Progress... *Shudders*

Suprisingly little else to say on the subject. Except...

CYOTFS
- Mav

Nintendo Almost Makes A Wrong Turn

That's right sports fans... Nintendo almost made one HELL of a fatal mistake. In an attempt to bring about a more mature gaming audience, they created this original Alpha version of Super Smash Brothers Brawl in which the characters became big time wrestler and battled it out in the WWF arena. Luckily for all of us though, they asked Masahiro Sakurai (The mastermind behind Kirby, the original 2 SSB games and the more recent DS game Meteos) to return to HAL in order to work on this new title, to which he was happy to return, if only to smack the HAL executives upside their heads for allowing this travesty to come to pass.

Thanks to him, we can now look forward to a Real Super Smash Brothers Brawl experience, rather than this pathetic excuse for a sequel. All hail Masahiro Sakurai!

CYOTFS
- Mav

Like Root Canal Without Pain Killers

But less fun... Allow me to explain...

Myself and my Co-Worker have officially run out of work to do for now. And so, my boss asked me to join her in filing documents in alphabetical order. This is kind of redundant in itself in that I am the last person to ask for such things as in order for me to do anything alphabetically, I have to actually go through the entire alphabet in my head to find where the letter I'm holding fits in the sequence. Just the way my mind works I guess.

So for the last 2 hours, I've been standing outside my office in front of the filing cabinets, going over the alphabet so many times that it almost sickness me to have to see so many letters here as I type this. My entire body aches as I'm definitely not built for standing bent over or crouching on one knee for prolonged periods... And I'm not even likely to be paid extra for any of this shit!

I never thought I'd say this but... I NEED MORE WORK!

CYOTFS
- Mav

An Old Proverb

A while ago I was contemplating quitting this job I'm in. Because aside from the obvious loss of monitaty gain (something I've become rather fond of...), I just couldn't justify it... But then I was struck with an old proverb... "Cheaters never prosper, and quitters never win". It was at that point I thought to myself... "What the HELL am I saying?" Quitters never win? Just what exactly do I 'win' by staying here? A job that is boring, repetitive, annoying and above all else, extremely irritating? Bah. But unfortunately, I've become somewhat addicted to this whole 'having money' deal. And so I guess I'm stuck here for the time being... I just wonder what I'll do when I lose this income in favor of going to TAFE... A scary thought indeed...

And who says cheaters never prosper... Really... The guy who made that quote needs to learn something about how the world works... Moron...

CYOTFS
- Mav

By The Gaming Gods!

Are my skills in gaming truly as pitiful as they appear? My god I can't even get past world 1-2 of Super Mario now... I swear now an oath before the gods who created our world. Shigeru Miyamoto... Hideo Kojima... And John Romero (Hey... Doom WAS good). I shall regain my lost powers. I shall take back what is legitimately my birthright as a gamer.

I know the issue is something so simple, that I've overlooked it every step of the way... Something so obvious that no one has ever thought to point it out... But just recently, I think Yoshi inadvertently gave me exactly what I was missing. Strategy. I had never noticed it before... But I don't ever really think while I'm playing a game. I kind of just let it flow and play on reflex. It was not until Yoshi told me just how mentally exhausting his matches with Napz are in SSBM. How they both have to think so hard to get one up on each other. And that's when it hit me. I don't think while I play SSBM. My fingers and my eyes do all the leg work, and that's that. But it's time I fixed that... I need to lock myself in a room for a few weeks and just drill this concept into myself... Think every step of the way in every game... Hopefully we shall see results.

Oh and in case you were wondering... My inaptitude with Mario is simply a misconception. I guess I just forgot to take the game seriously and ran head on blindly into a steam train. These things happen I guess...

CYOTFS
- Mav

The N.J Way

I apologize for my most recent post. It would seem that in my weakened state, I allowed a more metaphysical form of my mucus to be spewed forth upon that which I have held to be so sacred. It was a moment in which I felt the need to do something, nay, anything to keep myself from feeling the adverse effects of the viral disease that had staken it's claim upon my body.

In light of the wonderful world of self pity, I wish to now indulge you in a philosophy myself and Yoshi have created. As a way of apology for my recent misconduct. I'm sure you will all become more enlightened for this experience.

I have lovingly dubbed our philosophy 'The N.J Way' for reasons only those of you who know us will be able to decipher... And the basis of this, is that we will cruise through life, doing as little as physically possible. This can be distinguished from a bludger by the fact that rather than being totally lazy and refusing to learn to do anything, we are constantly learning and improving. We gain all the skills of a successful individual, and are quite capable of using them. We just chose not too.

This is all quite simply for the reason that we do not work at life to try and find those 'little nuggets' of happiness. We sit back, and let happiness flow to us. It is a simplistic philosophy, and yet one that has carried us successfully throughout highschool. It all falls around one statement... "The Good Lord Shall Provide". This can range from Buddha, to the Christian god. I like to believe in my personal goddess lady luck, as she has been good to me all these years.

So there you have it. A short concise explanation of the N.J way. May you all benefit from it's wisdom (Oh how very Zen of me...)

CYOTFS
- Mav

Weekends Are Dangerous Things

That was one hell of a weekend, let me tell you. Alcohol, Scrubs Season 2, Robin Williams, some 4 bottles of coke and sleep deprivation. Indeed it was an interesting sight to see...

Needless to say, I have become beyond tired because of it. Something of a Zombie who is sick of walking around moaning, but has forgotten how to sleep. Or as some may say "Death on Toast". This is not something I'm unaccustomed to mind you... But the perpetual taste of vomit that has been prominent in the back of my throat since Saturday is somewhat irritating...

Just a small update today. I'll have more for you when my head clears out a bit more...

CYOTFS
- Mav

X-Men 3 Was Great

Indeed a more blunt title I could not concoct. But what is this? Could it be true that for once in the pathetic existence of this blog, I, Maverik am staying true to my word? Audible gasp! Egads! And other such exclamations. I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum... But if you have yet to see the movie, I suggest you commit seppuku for good measure.

X-Men: The Movie. A boyhood dream of mine come true indeed. And not only has the rugged claw wielding bad ass and his troupe of talented pals come to a live action format. But it has done so 3 fold now! And as much as you will hear many a dedicated fan cry out in horror at some of the miscrepancy's of the new movie, I choose to take a more contemporary view of the whole affair.

You see, when X-Men 2 finished, they gave way to the character Pheonix. A gallant tale of death and rebirth would usually follow in the wake of this appearance if the cartoon was anything to go by. But such was not the case in this movie. Indeed, Jean Grey did not die at all. The whole 'encased in a physique barrier' thing was troubling to say the least. But to hear that Pheonix was NOT a reborn warrior of destiny, but rather the dark subconscious of an extremely powerful (and invariably bitchy) woman. This I have to say, was one of my few gripes with the movie.

What I will say, is that where there are differences, rather than hate them for not showing the story as it was originally meant to be... I commend them for successfully taking the franchise in a new and equally interesting direction. I also understand that a lot of the plot ideas from the comics and cartoon are just too complex to transfer into a movie format.

There is a rather heavy focus on Wolverine, and although I'll be the first to admit that I don't mind, as he IS pretty bad ass... But I must also acknowledge what they were trying to do. And that is center the story around him. Something that just isn't supposed to happen. I can be forgiving of them, but I do hope they don't end up botching their otherwise sweet deal with the what looks to be a quadrilogy.

Anyway. That's all I got for now.

CYOTFS
- Mav

Survey Says...

So my trigger finger may have been itchy, and I may have jumped the gun so to speak with my previous assumptions of my new colleague Hannah. She's actually quite cool, all admiration for horses aside. I'm still deciding whether or not to regret giving her the link to this. As I seem to have lost the power to bitch if she rises my irk. But we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

Meanwhile, I figure it's time to let a whole gush of geek just flood it's juices all over this thing, and start-a-pluggin. You all know I'm shameless like that.

Firstly, I'd like to speak about Gun. It's a free roaming western that tries its hand at the whole GTA style sandbox thing from Neversoft Entertainment. You may have heard of it a while back when it first came out. In all actuality, it's not a half bad game, giving the well received 'Red Dead Revolver' a run for it's money both story and gameplay wise. But unfortunately, that's where it ends. A fun cowboy game, that's missing the very sandbox ideals it was created to portray.

Allow me if you will, to explain. In GTA, you can follow the story at your whim, spending your time between missions exploring the vast city, and generally causing a whole mess of trouble for the local law enforcement. As you progressed through the series, this became more and more vast in span. A similar approach was taken in Spiderman 2, where you could explore at your whim. But it introduced the new idea of helping people in distress, allowing you to continue the never-ending fight against petty crimes. Once more, True Crime followed a healthy mix of the attributes of both Spiderman’s 'help society', and GTA's 'create a mass genocide'.

Gun on the other hand, does none of these things. Once you have completed the story side of things, you can then go on to complete whatever side quests may be left unfinished, and perhaps tackle a bandit or two. But that's where the fun ends. Once you've done everything there is to do. You've quite literally done everything there is to do.

Even going on a gun totting rampage in town feels tacked on and unrewarding, as the NPC's will simply flee in terror, while one or two may shoot back. And if you kill enough innocents, you will enter a 'showdown'. Now that sounds unbearably cool. But it's not what you might think. No pistols at dawn. No 10 paces then shoot. You quite simply take on a barrage of up to about 20 guys with guns. Guy's who are easily dispatched with a few shots from the contents of your Zelda like inventory. And for what? Nothing. There is no civil unrest. You do not become feared. There are literally NO consequences or rewards for doing this. Just a small pat on the back telling you that you finished the showdown by killing everyone or escaping.

Sadly unimpressive. Perhaps if they make a Gun 2, they will fix this fundamental flaw in their games design...

Stay tuned for my next blog, where I will talk about the much more pleasing topic of Xmen 3: The Last Stand.

CYOTFS
- Mav

Good vs Bad?

Well it appears that I have a co-worker. Well... Not that I didn't always have co-workers at the office. But more in the sense that, there is now someone else who does the same job as me in the building.

It's not the first time that someone else has had this job. But it IS the first time anyone's actually been doing it, and I must say, I'm intimidated... I mean, I'm a laid back guy at heart. And I had found an interesting medium between getting work done, and having leisure time. But now that there is someone else there, I can't help but feel that she will not also find this leisure time. And it will no doubt start to look quite embarrassing if the work starts getting done, and all under her name, while I still mill along at a slow but bearable pace.

'Work' as I know it, it seems, will become more like work, and less like... Whatever it is I've been doing all this time, very fast, very soon. And it's a concept I'm not comfortable with. Not in the least.

On the upside, I DO finally have someone I can throw bills to, lessening my perpetually growing work pile. So maybe it's time I actually buckle down and earn my paycheck? It's a concept I've yet to truly explore. Something that both pique's my curiosity, and fills me with fear at the same time. Much like I assume the Pandora's box might if it were ever to fall into my possession.

You know what they say. Curiosity killed the entire human race. Or something like that...

CYOTFS
- Mav

On Japanese Teenagers

I'll give them one thing... They are incredibly persistent... I had someone of Japanese decent add me to their MSN, and I attempted to engage in some form of dialogue with him. This unfortunately proved harder than first expected, as the extent of his knowledge of the English language seemed to end at these three words "Hello", "Camera" and "Yes". He seemed quite intent on conveying some form of invitation to share webcam feeds by mashing these 3 words together in every conceivable order possible.

Oh how I tried in vain to query him of where he obtained my email. I managed to dig up a dictionary, and attempted to ask him in Japanese if he was a friend of Napz. To which he replied "Hello. Yes. Camera" And offered a webcam feed again. I eventually gave up on this tangent, and tried to convey that the "Camera cannot function. Internet slow" all in Japanese. I'm assuming you've guessed his response. "Yes. Camera. Hello" And away he offered that damnable connection once more...

It has come to my attention that conversing with Japanese people may prove difficult. For you see. It appears they speak a different language. And if this kid was any thing to go by... It's not their language. That only seems to make them insist on babbling further.

I believe I shall need Napz for backup on this one. Maybe he will try and actually engage his brain when he see's someone he knows and will actually allow me to put my little dictionary to good use... But until that time...

CYOTFS
- Mav

Expectations

Good gravy was that expo pointless. There were a total of 3 stalls actualy selling tangable merchandice, and one of those was selling pins... The anime theater was tiny, and I could barely read the subtitles... Talk about raising one's expectations... I did manage to pick up Chrono Crusade and DVD 6 of Gantz. That and a cool buildable moddle of a Gundam.

There were other reasons that made the day a WHOLE lot better... But I beleive those are still of a personal nature, and not for the prying eyes of the general public. Yes. That's right. I just broke Blogging rule no. 1, and refused to log something by aknowleging that this is public access. Fight the power people!

Significantly shorter than I expected... But that's what SHE said!

Yeah... Those jokes are lame. But I couldn't resist. In any case, that's really all I have to say here. I'll see what I can't do about having some crasy hyjinx during the week to write about. But untill then... As I always say.

CYOTFS
- Mav

Keeping Up With The Times

So I see that my pal Yoshi has learned how to harness the strength of HTML within his blog posts. Let us hope this power does not go to his head shall we?

In more relevant news, I am headed out to another Anime convention on Saturday. This time my accomplice shall be the ever lovely Rhiannon, a girl I have recently come to befriend (Trust me. This story goes FAR deeper than I'm letting on. But such is a tale for later days). But you know the funny thing? It was this very fact that made me turn to myself and say "What the fuck? You haven't even posted your Supanova exploits yet!" (Indeed. I DO talk to myself) And so, I decided to give a brief overview of my experience that was...

Supanova Pop Culture Expo

Day 1:

How shall I start... Well. I guess I shall kick it all off with the point at which I exited the train. I have learned an interesting fact of Supanova. The journey to the exhibition is almost as interesting as the show itself. I exited the train, and found myself following what could only be described as a Shogonate Samurai. This is usually how I find my way to the hall. I pick the nearest Anime character and follow them. They usually tend to know where they're going...

So after an awkward few kilometres (Yea, I looked like some weird stalker... Oh well. Live and learn I guess), I finally reached my destination. Now... The funny thing about this, was that I was overjoyed to see no line down the street as previous years had yielded. I then foolishly concluded that there must be none by now, and that getting in would be a breeze.

Heh... Wishful thinking at it's finest folks. I found a line, and began to follow it back. All the way back... Through a twisting car park. Hell, I don't think I actually lined up the right way. I just got in the first one (there were several) that seemed to connect to the hall itself. And proceeded to wait... And wait...

About an hour or so later, I find myself in the bowels of a void of people, threatening to envelope me into it's warm waiting womb, from which I would never escape. Needless to say, I kinda wished I was back outside in the line. Because at least out there I had room to breath... But none the less, I pushed forward in the hopes of finding that golden glimmer of hope. The madman Anime table. But even navigating my way into a position to see what was on sale was a battle I prefer not to recall.

Finally breaking through the barrier, I purchased Apple Seed, Serial Experiments Lain Box Set, and the ever controversial Gantz box set (Well... What was available of it). Though not all was purchased at that time, I wish only to give an overlay, as the events are not quite as fresh in my mind as I would have liked them as I wrote this.

Eventually, after much stealth and espionage on my part, I managed to band together my band of miscreants, and we set off to find SOMETHING worth doing. Because you see... As luck would have it, with so much to do, there was so little to actually do. If you can decipher my insanity, a gold star.

We did run into an old friend of mine from primary school, whom I had not seen in such a long time, and who happened to be volunteering at the time. A sort of uncomfortable setting settled upon this positioning, as I was at the time trying to 'steal' a media CD, which was something everyone decided to question whether or not those were actually meant for taking. But regardless, I DID get one. Whatever it is.

There wasn't much else worth noting on that day, and so we all retired to my place to watch Anime and laugh at the Pac-man hat Yoshi picked up. It did indeed scream "I got drunk at an Anime convention". It's really too bad he didn't though...

Day 2:

This day was far more interesting. Well... Not in a whole sense... But more in the... We bought ass rapingly good lightsabers, and spent the day swinging them at anything and everything that moved. You simply would not believe the number of times I was asked where to buy one.

We met with James briefly for lunch, who had some cool nick knacks. It was here that Yoshi and I got into a number of badly choreographed light saber battles, all of which were accompanied with signature sequences from the movies. Yes. We are indeed geek's when we want to be.

What was the absolute highlight of the entire event however, was when both Yoshi and I had a run in with one Darth Vader and his escort. Not a word was spoken, as we all ignited our lightsabers and leapt into combat. Needless to say, the two of us beat him back, and the fight was over. I must say. These things are quite durable for something that looks like it's made out of a fluorescent tube.



And that dear readers, was my quaint little experience, condensed into a 'slightly less frightening than originally planned' format. I hope you enjoyed my ramblings... Well... Actually... I don't really care. The important thing is that you read them. And that's what it truly means to be a blogger. Ponder this, for I now leave to obtain sleep. And possibly pudding...

CYOTFS
- Mav

And Lo

I know I promised photos... And I may even post them someday. But not now... Such things will be seen too at a later date. For now, I feel the very simple need to shamelessly plug another blog... Indeed it is a bizarre thing for someone to direct attention to a blog other than his own. But I feel that Yoshi's unstoppable vortex of text requires the attention it deserves. And so, I do tell you all to go forth and gaze thin eyes upon the "Super Happy Yoshi Blog of Shameful Dishonour"!

It is indeed a strange and disturbing world we live in... And as I am at work, I shall cut this short right here.

CYOTFS
- Mav

Supanova: Preparations

It's that time of year folks. The ONE convention I'm able to attend. Yoshi shall be joining me for at least Saturday and Sunday, but I can't guarantee tonight. Yes, you read right, I'm going to be going into the special preview night, and I'm quite excited to see what's going to be on offer.

For the first time, I'll be returning home during the event, rather than staying somewhere else. So I shall be typing up daily reports on the goings on for you readers. Indeed, it shall be an interesting weekend to say the least...

In any case, I've little else to say at the current time, other than perhaps subtly plugging my new copy of God Of War.

CYOTFS
- Mav

And So Did It Take Shape

Greetings one and all. I bring you both grave and fantastic news! First the bad news. Napz will be going over to Japan for 2 weeks come Friday. So we shan't have alota contact with him for the duration... But on the plus side, we can milk him for shit when he gets back.

The GOOD news, is that he left us a gift of sorts... And now, without further adieu, I give you, the first official glimpse of our yet to be named comic!

Now don't fret. We don't intend to make this some kind of Furry loving sexual adventure. This is just some bizarre holiday thing Napz cooked up. But that aside, it's a great chance to see how the art development is traveling. If you'll just guide your attention to Napz's arm, you will notice that there is indeed recognizable shading! And thus the heavens cracked open, and a chorus of 12 angels sang out in praise.

Needless to say, other than my insatiable urge to plug a game or two, I've got little else that can be mentioned at the current time. So I'll just leave you in the knowledge that the ancient sleeping Cthulhu will one day reawaken the elder gods and crush all humanity... But until then...

CYOTFS
- Mav

Developments

I've about 10 minutes to just pop in and say 'Hi' from work (Yes work!). Situation hasn't really improved a whole lot unfortunately, and I'm currently staying with my dad who on top of not having an internet connection (Or any form of land line for that matter), has decided to enjoy having his personal live in house keeper while I'm there... Yeah, I'll bet HE sweeps the floor and shakes out the rugs every second day...

On a lighter note, I've been training on this job here, where I analyze phone bills and see if our database can't find the clients a better deal (with one of our affiliates of course). It's no where near as easy as it seems at first glance, but hey, money's money right?

Anywho, I'll probably have to get back to it soon, so I'll finish off here before I have the Don breathing down my neck for neglecting work on the first day (Well... He has 'The Don' on his door so I assume he's the bosses boss round here. Though I think Sharon might be my actual boss... I really should check up on that...)

CYOTFS
- Mav

Just Perfect...

"Kids can't chose the adults in there life". I've only recently come to grasp the full meaning and context of this... It was probably the inexplicable vomiting of bile that gave me the reality check I've been needing. The term "Sick and tired" takes on a new meaning, and it's far too literal for my liking.

I'm getting really sick of moving about, and having my life uprooted constantly. I've dealt with it so long that even the palm reader guy told me the reason my hands have a billion lines instead of like 12, is cus I'm constantly stressing. And now outa the blue, I'm hit with this? Lemmi tell ya, it's not a fun time I'm having at the home end of the spectrum.

As much as I can't really whine about my life, it could stand to be a lot better. I just wanna live in the same house for a few years. Not move, live in the same area, have the same conveniences and nearby friends... Is that asking all that much?

I dunno... I've gotta get out of this destructive vortex while I still can... It's like being swept over a waterfall with a rope to safety only JUST out of reach.

CYOTFS
- Mav

A Prayer

No jokes today. I just want to put it out there that my hopes are with Sjoerd's grandmother as she goes into opperation... I'm hopin ya pull through Corry. And if you are taken from this world, rest in peace, knowing that your memory will live on in your grandson's, and in my memorys. Best of luck.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Aeon Flux Review

There's not a whole lot more to say here. I would talk of a very interesting Virtual Reality game I saw, but I'll wait till I can get a hand at the thing before I go shooting off at the mouth.

Aeon Flux Review

This movie was not relay what I had been expecting... I guess for a moment there, I let my cinema caution guard down, and just went by a simple viewing of a trailer. Bad move on my part... This movie wants so badly to be a traditional action movie with a twisting plot. What it became, was a cheap imitation.

Aeon Flux is based loosely around a cartoon series from the 1990's. However, if this is the reason for seeing the film, it's better to avoid it, as you will draw few strings between the two. The movie does however, feature a plot that is far easier to follow than it's animated counterpart.

The movie's story is weakened by it's predictability, as things such as her assassination attempt of Goodchild happening so early in the movie make it obvious that things are going to change, and quick. This leaves the movie to fall back on it's action sequences, which in themselves are less than stellar.

The fight scenes are well choreographed, and the actors play their part in the awfully one sided battles well. It's just unfortunate that most of the time, the movie suffers from the AvP syndrome. A horrible camera. It just does not let you see half the action that's going on.

With these issues aside, it's an ok movie if you're into the sexy gals clad in tight costumes kicking some ass, but otherwise, there isn't a whole lot else to get excited about. It really is a mediocre action flick.

Rent it when it comes out, but don't waste your money on a movie ticket...

---

So there you have it. Aeon Flux. Join me next week when I hunt down and sodemise small animals with a large stick! (Yes that was a very bad joke)

CYOTFS
- Mav