Thyroid

Hey miffy, kind of late here but congratulations! Boy must you feel...relaxed.

Do they? I've always found them to be a little harsh and opinionated. They've given out only 4 or 5 full scores in their entire run.

So I've been looking out for movies with great dialogue. The Coens (The Big Lebowski especially) come to mind, as do Casablanca and The Big Sleep. I got Sweet Smell of Success to watch a few days ago, as someone mentioned the dialogue was good. Charlie Kaufman writes good dialogue. Anything I'm missing? Surely films have had great dialogue writers over the years? The sharper and wittier the writing, the better. Thanks in advance for any help.

"THE PSYCHOPATH IS AMAZING." - IGN.com I think I'm laughing a bit harder at this joke than its worth.

This is what made the episode for me. Well, that and . The whole episode is constantly inventive with its gags, situations, and, to a lesser degree, its puzzles, and the designers are always several steps ahead of the player. It's also what made "The Penal Zone" so great. "What's New Beelzebub?" did it several times too (though the best gag in that episode was ). I think players love being fairly duped. It makes finishing puzzles so much more satisfying.

I still say that Charles Willeford's Miami Blues is one of the best things ever. It's probably as good as The Big Sleep, though maybe not as funny. I should get the sequels. Someone once told me that book is a total mindfuck. I don't know. I remember reading A Wild Sheep Chase a few years ago, being confused like an illiterate tourist in Manhattan but still liking it enough to buy another book or two of his (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and South of the Border, West of the Sun, I think). I haven't had time to read anything yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Anyone see Treme yet? It's David Simon's new show.

Add me to the "I think this is awesome!" list. Buy it. It's superb.

For what it's worth, I thought Season Two was one of the top games of that year - a year which included, I think, The Orange Box and Braid. It starts out only OK, but then suddenly takes a small leap in quality on Episode 3, and then hits it out of the ballpark on Episode 4. From what little I've played of Season Three, you don't need to play it, but it's worth picking up at some point.

I hate exams. Even if I know the subject, I fidget under any unnecessary restrictions, like being not allowed to write out math equations on the back of a paper before inking them in the solution box, and it's affected me badly. I'm usually cool under pressure, but exams just scare me.

Apparently, Phil LaMarr will be playing Captain Dread in the remake. I really like that one.

"This game is the hottest thing since Britney Spears' Yeti - Hot Pursuit. And you'll want to pursue after it because this baby's on fire! Huh! Huh!" Ign.com

I ate goat testicles. Cooked. My granddad forced me to try them. They're not as bad as they sound. They're actually worse. Much, much worse.

Aww Anyways, looking forward to the game! Also, Jake, since you're not doing web stuff anymore, what *are* you doing? I know you co-directed "Lair of the Leviathan" and "Rise of the Pirate God"...are you essentially directing stuff now/handling interface and menus or what? (Just curious, I suppose.)

Here's some I consider to be "essential": Monkey Island (series; yeah, even the 'bad' one) Grim Fandango Portal Day of the Tentacle Sam and Max Season Two (aka Beyond Time and Space) Age of Empires II Half-Life Half-Life 2 & Episodes Doom Pfft...There's more, I'm sure. This is probably more up Remo's alley.

I'm watching Freaks and Geeks. It is extremely uncomfortable to watch, but I like it. I also got into Doctor Who. Seen two episodes. "Blink" is great all around and, one or two moments aside, succeeds at everything it tries. "The Eleventh Hour" (Series 5, Episode One) is great too, but not on the same level. It's a little cheesy. Still, I liked it and I think I might continue watching the series as long as Steve Moffat's in charge.

Youuu...just made everything darker. Are you trying to add stronger colors instead? That's the only thing I miss.

I'd be very, very surprised if anyone can outdo Peter Chan and Steve Purcell, especially in a Monkey Island game. But they did a very good job, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. I think the swamp, especially because of the water, will look great in their painterly style.

The developer commentary with Gilbert, Schafer and I think Grossman isn't exciting? Nor the art viewer?

Here are some new high-res screenies from the SE. http://www.lucasforums.com/showpost.php?p=2717590&postcount=206 I'm very happy with how it's turned out.

Nah. I never bothered with GTA IV. Maybe I should. Thanks for trying, though!

Does anyone here know any books, er, the Coen brothers like? It's lame, but I'm in a Coen mood right now and, uh, yeah. I just bought the book their new movie is being based on, True Grit, and I know they like Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and Dashiell Hammett, but if there's anything else, I'd like to know. Or maybe a book like the game Full Throttle? I'm re-playing it, alongside Grim Fandango. I am in such a biker gang/tough guy mood right now. Which is to say that my brain is switching between The Gone Jackals song "Legacy" ( song in Full Throttle) and various pieces of music from Coen brothers movies.

Just wanted to say congrats on releasing it. I haven't tried it myself - crappy PC - but one of my friends bought it and he says it's insane amounts of fun. I'll get it soonish. I hope.

From the LA Times: Later: "This is an important change as it will allow me, with Thomas, to become more deeply involved in areas of the business where I believe we can capture great potential and opportunity," Kotick said in the employee memo. This doesn't affect me directly, as I've been boycotting Activision for a while, now. Still, it's interesting and probably shitty. I don't want Activision and their sales affecting the industry as a whole. Edit: Fixed title. Sorry for mix-up.

I read part of it in a bookstore. It's hilarious, written by the guy who wrote the Splinter Cell novel - which was also hilarious (in a really bad way).