Roderick

We can try to mime the voices, so it's like we're the ones with the great gaming insights and fantastic rapport.

Osmosisch, we can totally make this happen one day. Meeting halfway somewhere in Utrecht perhaps? ElMuerte always seemed like a mysterious figure to me because of his avatar, so it'd be fun to meet him in real life. If things get really awkward, we can just put on an episode of Idle Thumbs over the ol' boombox and share it in silence. I have to say, this thread it surprising. I've never had much difficulty meeting online people for reals. It's not terribly different from meeting people for the first time: basic social skills and kindness will see you through. Also, shouting BABOO and surreptitious kisses on Jake's nape.

Yes, Wotan's coat is supreme. I'd like to recreate it and wear it at conventions. If you'd like to try opera, there's a host of options. One thing I discovered is that if you get a proper introduction (in the lobby beforehand there was a short briefing on what to expect), Der Ring des Nibelungen is actually really accessible. I had this idea that it would be very hard to get into, but the opposite is true. Yes, the story is complex and the characters deep, but it's also incredibly human. Coupled with the music, nothing could be easier than to be transported and forget yourself while watching this. If money allows, just try at some point. Nowadays, most opera's offer live subtitles. This is amazing, as you can just follow accurately what's happening. At this point, it goes from indecipherable theatrics to a totally accessible story. Any classic opera will do just fine, whether it's Don Carlo or The Barber of Seville. Here's a snippet of the production I saw:

Really? I have never, ever heard anything about this, nor even encountered it in any of the thousands of (American) films and books I saw and read.

The Wolfman commercial was excellent, though I STILL don't know what or where The Third Place is. What an utterly bizarre thing to say. Everything else, even crying babies and ranch-hotels blowing up, at least made some mondicum of sense.

I think I'd actually prefer it if this was live action. You know, this movie is unfathomable. Let's make a movie and try to rake in tons of moneys off this popular franchise... by making it nothing like the actual show it's based on. Baffle me this, Batman.

That looks genuinely not OK! What were they thinking?

Yesterday I fulfilled a dream that I had for a long time: I went to see (part of) Der Ring des Nibelungen. The performance of Die Walküre was in the Amsterdam Music Theatre and it was indescribable. I went with my dad; the two of us are the only lovers of opera in the family. It's funny, even after being quite intimately familiar with Wagner, I didn't expect this to be fun. I expected it to be impressive, memorable, affecting my appreciation, etc, but also somewhat of an ordeal to sit through. Imagine my surprise as the hours (5 including breaks) swished away, transported on the sights and sounds of pure spectacle. It's a done deal at this point: I HAVE to see the full cycle one day. Sign me up for Bayreuth, I'll gladly wait six years for it. The Valkyries wore silver wings and their choreography made them look machinelike and exalted, just like they should be. Their helmets were shaped as skulls. Wotan is the center of the piece. I never realised until now what a complex character he is; torn between his meaner side, a profound sense of responsibility, the love for his family and the frustration of being chained by the treaties that are the base of his power: "Der durch Verträge ich Herr, den Verträgen bin ich nun Knecht." To see him constantly battling his true desires, making enemies out of every last friend and ally, is devastating.

It's the ASCII Last Year at Marienbad of video games.

I saw a clip of the new Scooby Doo, where Scooby went into the Twin Peaks red room and the dwarf was there. Luckily, no screaming women.

I too just finished Miracle Mask, and it hit me with some stuff I was unaware of. Miracle Mask is the second game in the 'prequel trilogy' (Layton has gone Star Wars), so I'm guessing you have to play Specter's Flute (which I haven't yet) to know who some of the characters are. Unwound Future doesn't require a ton of background as it is pretty much self-contained as a story, whereas Miracle Mask has some very big story threads overlapping the games. What I loved about Miracle Mask were the beautiful, Curse of Monkey Island-esque background and how you examined them. That was such a great effect. What I didn't like was the puzzles. It felt that after five games, they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for interesting things. I remember how in the first game the puzzles felt so ingenious and fun. This time around it rarely enticed me. So imagine my surprise when the free downloadable puzzles (one each day for a year, so that's a lot) turned out to be GREAT! They're all little minigames, full of creativity and have exactly that sense of enjoyment that I was looking for. Stupidly, easily the best part of the game.

What's this... a center for ants?!

Those are all pretty cool new Pokemon! Why couldn't any of them be the starters? I like the goat, ia, ia Shub-Niggurath!

From Dusk Till Doug

No love forrrrr uncle?

I'm sorry, I just can't. This is the same as Bayonetta for me. No matter how good the game is, the designs are just too heinous to want to have anything to do with it.

No tricks, just some tactics. Strategy in the spoiler:

Haha, these here forums messed it up. You saw my super secret save for a moment there.

I have discovered this. Also, then I RUINED it for myself by starting to cheat for infinite candies and lollipops. This both took all of the fun out of the game, but also circumvented my having to wait pretty much WEEKS to get enough health and sword upgrades.

Welcome to a life of visiting conventions to mooch off your five seconds of fame!

Better make it classy, Luke!

The thought of polyamory is a little vexing to me. I wouldn't know how to divide my already scarce time over multiple people, let alone that I think I'd feel like I was still somehow betraying my 'primary love', which is in itself one helluva bizarre term. I think you need to have a specific set of skills to deal with that situation. Interested how it'll pan out for you, Patrick.

When I checked, an entity named Blixa was topping the charts with a rather hefty sum. The similarities between names raised a question. The call was not answered, though as in many cases is the case, the lack of an answer is the answer.

Toblix are you Blixa?