Well, I was holding out on any more posts until I got a fourth installment of The Tower of Books put together, but, and this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, I am a lazy bastard. So amazingly interesting and well-written reviews for The Walking Dead, Runners, and Ode to Kirihito will have to wait to be posted until I develop an ability to motivate myself, which is not viewable in the foreseeable future. I’m sorry. I know there were hundreds of people waiting impatiently for them. It’s all this pressure, man. I JUST CAN’T PLEASE EVERYONE.
Well, November was an eventful month. The Wii (teehee Wii) and the PS3 hit stores and a Majora--excuse me -- majority of gamers decided not to be shot for waiting in line to spend $600 and just to play the new Zelda game instead. Not me of course. Unfortunately, my Wiimote-swingin’ will have to wait until I come back from my January trip to Japan. It’s the first time I’ve been since I was 12, and this time I have a vague understanding of the language, so hopefully I’ll be able to develop that understanding to the point where I might be able to speak somewhat fluently and actually communicate efficiently with half of my family.
But that is the future! This post is about the past. November also saw the delaying of the supposedly revolutionary Sonic the Hedgehog for the PS3. However, the 360 version WAS released, and, according to 1 out of 27 votes, it sucks -- that one vote belonging to someone at Play Magazine who gave the game a frikkin’ 9.5! Nearly everyone else, however, has given it a score below 50% and general consensus from regular players is that it sucks. Pretty hard. Like, it’s embarrassing to call yourself a Sonic fan anymore hard.
There is a glimmer of mediocre hope on the horizon, in the form of the 2007 Wii game, Sonic and the Secret Rings. Most accounts of the game have been positive, but I don’t think it’s going to be something that can save the franchise. It does look cool though, throwing Sonic into a Middle Eastern setting, having something to do with the 1001 Arabian Nights.
But that is the future! This post is about the past. November also saw a couple of great ska shows with my attendance. The first was a festival, you might say, of five smaller bands playing at a local venue -- The Sad Café in Plaistow -- which, I must say, rocked and rocked hard. I skanked. I’ve never skanked in public before. The bands were great. Lemon-Lime Tennis Shoes was probably the best, but it’s hard to say. The Not So Specials delivered a great bout of horns. Honeycreeper’s hardcore saxophone is still stuck in my head. Eggplant Danceoff offered some great skanking tunes and they knew it. And In The Face just plainly and simply rocked. The next Sad Café skafest is the 23rd and I’m gonna be there. Will YOU?
But that is the future! The second show was that of the kings of the third wave of ska, and my second favorite band, Reel Big Fish. And they were awesome. I mean, come on, it’s Reel Big Fish. They even had a gimmick for the show: they played the entire Turn the Radio Off album front to back, including the secret song. Then they left the stage. Then they came back on and played a shitload more songs. It was great. And this time (as opposed to the UNH show they played) I was familiar with Cheer Up and We’re Not Happy ‘Til You’re Not Happy, and, of course, Our Live Album is Better Than Your Live Album, so I knew when to sing along and when to thrust my fist, and all that. It was a great time.
What else happened during November? Casino Royale came out and was awesome. First 007 film that I’ve enjoyed from end to end. Action sequences were fantastic. I am now gay for Bruce Willis and Daniel Craig. But not really.
The Spider-Man 3 trailer was released on the net. Pure, unfiltered awesome. Mr. Tsui, whose blog sometimes provides hugely interesting tidbits, has an animated GIF of something that was cut out of the trailer, too. I have little doubt that this movie will be awesome, but that little doubt persists in pointing out that three villains -- Sandman, Green Goblin, and the symbiote/Venom -- is too many for one movie.
Oh, and another thing about November: I GOT A CABLE MODEM. AND CABLE TV. I am no longer living in what the melodramatic would call the dark ages. But that wasn’t the best part of November. The best part was the new, modern, fast, and above all CAPABLE (opposed to the buggy, outdated POS that our old one is) computer that my family bought. It’s awesome. I bought Morrowind months ago, with the soon-to-be-dashed hope that it’d run on our old computer, but NOW with a CAPABLE computer, I’m completely immersed in the world that the island of Vvardenfell resides on. My uncle is supposed to be sending me a copy of World of Warcraft, too, so when I get back from Japan, perhaps I’ll be rubbing shoulders with the Horde. Or the Alliance. I haven’t decided yet.
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