Roderick

That would really scare me and lead me to think the HKU is the center of the universe, where all existence passes through at one point.

It's the same-old same-old with me. I'm rooting for Kerry, but thinking Bush will make it. Because, as they said in some programs here, he's 'more eager to get it'. He stole the elections once, he'll do it again (courtesy of the Fox network again no doubt ). Last night, the 'anarchist' public network VPRO broadcasted a 5 hour show around the elections, covering not just the politics, but all things about America. It really gave a broad perspective on things, even though not every article was equally interesting and there was a HUGE bias towards Kerry (not that I mind from a personal standpoint ). Of particular interest was an interview made by a Netherlandic guy I didn't know before and an American singer. He said some things that should really be described as food for thought. About how Bush was essentially the same as the people who couldn't accept or believe back then that the earth was round. In the same way, Bush still thinks in archaic notions of good and evil countries, and the justification of the only True Religion And God. He's an archaic man that is totally unfit to rule the modern world.

It depends of course. If this were to be a sudden fight, and thus one of pure strength, I'd say the bear. But I voted for the Gorilla, because I'm assuming this battle is also one of wits. And seeing as how the Gorilla is closest to man, evolutionary speaking, he'd find a way to get a weapon or outsmart his opponent.

Online? If so, and if it was interesting, I'd like to read it. The disclaimer is that I really don't give a rat's ass about fashion or haute coiture, but something in the collection Karl made voor H&M just jumped at my throat and sucked me in. It's supposed to be mildly affordable, so maybe you'll see a mini-Karl walking around in utrecht soon! (fat chance, but you know what I mean, the man has STYLE)

Introducing Karl Lagerfeld, certified Classy Stylish Man.

O.K. I didn't know the Redorans were xenophobes though. Although I guess that all Dunmer are distrustful of outlanders...

It's called oedipus.

I'd like to have dreams about trains. It seems like such a wonderfully symbolic thing to constantly dream about. But it's all gibberish here in my head.

By Rosomethingorather your probably mean Redoran. But it is they that live in Ald-Ruhn under Skar. The xenophobe dunmer, called Hlaalu (and the House of choice because they're so sneaky and political) have their base set in Balmora. You can flay me now for nitpicking.

You know, after some soulsearching, I suddenly realised that if I were to get a second console (next to my trusted Gamecube), it would be an Xbox. It kind of stumped me. A year or so ago I hated the machine. But now that I've experienced it a lot up close, I can't help to love it. Yes, even more so than the PS2. Strange how things change in your head over time, don't you think? (not that I'm getting a second console, because I can't afford it)

I can barely withhold myself from showing my absolute nerdism and correct some of the errors you made there, Kingz

LeChimp, I once actually played Bayou Billy. how scary is that? All I remember it was like the first 8-bit game to feature a spoken soundfile. When starting the game you'd hear "CRACKLEthe adventures of CRACKLE Bayou Billy" in a monotonous way.

Don't treat death so lightly, Johanna. It reduces your karma.

So far I've been spared the humiliation of dreaming of Ide T because one hasn't a social life

I watched a friend playing Fable for a few hours yesterday, and I have to admit the game made quite a favourable impression on me. I had expected otherwise, but whatever gameplay-wise flaws it has, I was absolutely anchanted by the wonderful design of the environments. Truly, when my friend ran around a graveyard for a questm, it was as if I was remembering a lively dream where I found myself in the greatest swampy graveyard setting ever. The game had captured that atmosphere so well! I was also amused by the demon doors, which was only damaged a little when I found out this wasn't a singular mysterious puzzle, but 'only' a returning recycled element. And I actually liked how the game has only linear paths. At first I thought it would be too restrictive, but this is completely blown away by how beautiful it all is. Everything in Fable is hills and sloped grounds; you're always running up and down, in a twisting and spiralling landscape. This makes it so fairy-esque, so quaint and dreamy... If only this sort of terrain would have been in Morrowind, whose terrain I'd desribe as 'dreary' (not because it's all grey, but it feels so flat, even though there are plenty of mountains). The last thing I'd like to point out was the symbolic quality of some of the characters I saw in the great cutscenes. That blind sister with the blindfold on speaking in riddles, wow. Now that's a character that becomes more than just an NPC. It's like she becomes this iconic symbol, an archetype for classic stories. I don't know, hard to describe. Anyway, favourable it is

Invader Zim? What's that? Never seen it.

The correct answer is who gives a *****? Dogs are stupid, cats are far more interesting. And cuter. And superior, in every single way.

Something bothers me about Shaun of the Dead. So I'd like to discuss it with you folks, since we're all Shaun fans here. If you've seen the movie, you know how everything in the movie fits. There are no scenes that are there just for yucks, everything comes back in one way or another, proving to be an asset to the plot, stearing it forward, rather than just adding erratic entertainment value. This goes very far in Shaun, providing for a very tight experience. Whole camera-movements become semiotic recurring plotdevices, such as the elaborate one where Shaun goes out of the house, walks accross the street, goes into the store to buy his breakfast, etc. So what I'm saying is: everything in the movie is there for a reason. Which makes the thing I want to bring forward all the more troubling. Because there's one scene that just doesn't fit. It's there, well obviously for a purpose, but it doesn't aid the plot, it doesn't return to explain itself, and more disturbingly, it promises something and doesn't deliver. I'm talking about the scene where Shaun and Ed are sitting in the Winchester after Shaun has been dumped by Liz. Shaun is down in the dumps and Ed tries to cheer him up. He then turns to descibe all the wonderful, off-beat characters sitting in the pub. involving suspenseful cameramovements and well-chosen desciptions, the movie seems to be introducing those people. At this point the movie tells you that these people will later on come back to form a group of zombie-hunters together with Shaun. Why else would there be such elaborate introductions, in a movie where every scene and minute tidbit has a purpose? Alas, as it turns out later, the movie seems to forget about this whole scene, and we never see those people again. This can be expected from a movie like Austin Powers, which doesn't mind using stuff like this for pure comedic value. But in Shaun, it's just wrong. I would have liked seeing the old drunk lady and the stark pale hunter again. It made for the only (small) disappointment of the movie, a fault generated completely by itself. So it really puts you on the wrong foot, all the more nagging because everything else is so carefully designed. What did you think? Did you notice this at all?

Read the bit in the other topic. Royalclown thought it'd be better if emomagnet first pulled the site out of his magic behind before gratuitously spamming it around here. And I kinda agree.

Good point. I think I mean if the game has any dramatic narrative in-game. Pulling out overused example #57 out of my hat: BG&E was a game that oozed with cinematic quality. Just think about the infiltration sections in Section Alpha in the main city. In-game gameplay turning into dramatic action sequences. But I don't think this should be in every game. I used it for Evil Twin because it's obvious that the game desperately tries to be highly cinematic, but fails to achieve any emotional impact because at least the cutscenes are so very, very sloppy.

I always meow when I encounter a cat on the streets. Usually it responds by walking a bit towards me or following me around a bit. I love cats as well :")

omg, Delicious Pork Strip is teh Win.

It depends on the game of course and on who's playing it. For me, cinematic directions is very important. But in this case, I did mean the quite horribly narrated intro. The version I played had the laughable english voices by the way.

No I just thought the cinematic direction was crap

Wow, I need only read "Dark Forces" to hear the tune again you hear in the first mission. Intruiging. That was a nice game.