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It is good to be the weasel

This morning I got a brand shiny new Photoshop CS-to-CS3 upgrade — installed, registered, activated and working great — for a bit over £100 from a reputable retailer. So I’m cool until CS6 (right? It’s three hops now, isn’t it?).

And Dead Space 2 was released today, so Steam is offering the original Dead Space download for the outrageously reasonable sum of £5. (Can something be outrageously reasonable? Yes! It can!).

Engineer sent to repair giant mining ship encounters ship full of mutant alien zombies cobbled together out of bits of the old crew. So, the usual. But gorgeous to look at. Oh, and head-shots don’t work — you have to hack off at least two necromorph limbs using power tools. w00t!

I’ve already had a dream about it, so there’s that.

And thank ke-rist the State of the Union starts at 2am my time, so I don’t even have to pretend to watch. The SOTU is the most degrading spectacle in modern politics. I don’t care who’s in office.

Guys from the president’s party hopping up every ten seconds, waving and high-fiving and giving him the standing-o. Guys from the other party sitting and sulking. Cripples, dudes in uniforms and designated nobodies in the gallery for Hisself to point to (Ronnie started this one). It’s like freaking Queen for a Day.

Oh, and then comes the shopping list of boring, expensive programs that probably won’t even get started, let alone finished. (Clinton’s last one was an hour and a half recitation of stupid shit that could never, ever come true because he only had a year to go).

I’d give a thousand quatloos to a president of either party who stood up and said, “no theatrics. These are serious times and we have serious things to discuss.”

Not going to happen.

Comments


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: January 25, 2011, 6:53 pm

Queen for a Day is way, way back in my dimmest memory, but this quote from the Wikipedia article sums it up nicely:

Mark Evanier, veteran television writer, has dubbed it “one of the most ghastly shows ever produced” and further stated it was “tasteless, demeaning to women, demeaning to anyone who watched it, cheap, insulting and utterly degrading to the human spirit.”

Also some neat SOTU stats: length in words, length in time, acknowledged guests in the gallery, opposition responses.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: January 25, 2011, 7:03 pm

Electronic Arts did a very clever thing. They’re marketing Dead Space 2 through a site called Your Mom Hates This. They recruited actual moms, showed them scenes from the game and recorded their reactions. They really, really hated it, of course.

Turning a liability into a marketing technique.

Watch some of the videos. They’re hilarious.


Comment from David Gillies
Time: January 25, 2011, 7:56 pm

So it’s not just me. When Diablo II came out I played it so obsessively that I had dreams about it. I can’t wait for Diablo III. It looks so gorgeous I will probably have to drop $2500 on a new Mac just so I can play it.

Worst of the SOTU thingy is the GOP field is so lacklustre Bambi will probably get back in by default, so you’ve got a few more coming, you lucky, lucky bastards.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: January 25, 2011, 8:26 pm

Worst things about Dead Space: you can only save the games at ‘stations’ scattered around the ship, and when you die, the reload takes a LONG, LONG time.

I die a lot with a new game. It takes me quite a while to get the hang of new commands and weapons and I have a really awful tendency to freeze under pressure.


Comment from Scubafreak
Time: January 25, 2011, 8:28 pm

I have high hopes that the sensible members of the Supreme Court won’t show up to give Obama credibility that he doesn’t deserve. That SOB needs to publicly appologise to the Court for his completely out of line attack on them last year for his own self-agrandizsement.

I’d comment on Dead Space, but I’ve never been much of a gamer (outside of Redneck Rampage Rides Again, that is), so I really don’t have much cred in that area.

(Still, ya gotta admit that, as a Game to Hollywierd conversion, Redneck Rampage has ALOT of comedy potential……)


Comment from Ric Locke
Time: January 25, 2011, 11:03 pm

Well, Scubafreak, you will definitely get your wish, since part of the definition of “sensible member[s] of the Supreme Court” is that such people don’t show up for the State of the Union speech.

I was less offended by Obama’s criticism of the Supreme Court at last year’s National Dog&Pony Show than many, because so far as I’m concerned the only reason for a Supreme Court Justice to show up would be to get teevee time.

Regards,
Ric


Comment from Gromulin
Time: January 25, 2011, 11:23 pm

There was a second Redneck Rampage??
Dammit. No one tells me these things.

I fell out of touch somewhere between DOOM and DESCENT. God..I loved DESCENT on my first Pentium.


Comment from Scubafreak
Time: January 25, 2011, 11:36 pm

Grom – Several, actually.

Redneck Rampage
Redneck Rampage Rides Again
Redneck Rampage – Suckin grits on route 66
Redneck Deer hunting

Do a google search. Apparently, you can download the entire bundle for around $6 dollars online.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: January 25, 2011, 11:38 pm

Descent kicked my ass. I can’t think in 360º.

In other paleogaming news, did you hear the big sequel to Duke Nukem is finally coming out this year? May second.

That’s been a running internet joke for almost twenty years.


Comment from Pablo
Time: January 26, 2011, 12:09 am

I like the way they release the SOTU speech before he even makes it. That way, it’s extra pointless and there’s absolutely nothing to see that we didn’t already know except for when which seals are going to sit up and bark and whether the Veep or the Speaker is going to win the blinking contest.

God Bless America.


Comment from Steve Skubinna
Time: January 26, 2011, 12:17 am

Dunno… might be worth it, just so as to not see the vile Pelosi lurking behind Bambi, every ten seconds cackling evilly and pounding her dead hands together as her necrotic face threatens to split from her skull.

On the other hand, I can not see that by simply not watching at all. And I’ve been avoiding watching The Won speak lately. Can’t abide that mushmouthed buffoon. Whenever Bush stumbled I still got he impression he was sincere, but nothing this clown says or does is sincere. Other than, of course “Look at me! LOOKIT! Watch this! Look!”

This might be the evening for me to finally put my hand to Gratuitous Space Battles (my taste runs more to strategy games).


Comment from Can’t hark my cry
Time: January 26, 2011, 12:35 am

I may be about to make myself persona non grata on Mrs. Peel’s Words of Wisdom but, Stoaty. . .Mrs. Peel has some excellent news to share!


Comment from Elphaba
Time: January 26, 2011, 1:27 am

I don’t have to watch the SOTU to know the answer: we’re all f*****.

Happy Photoshopping! =D


Comment from Scubafreak
Time: January 26, 2011, 1:41 am

Yep, Chuck-U Schuemer is already going around screaming “I’LL FUCKING MURDER ANYONE WHO TOUCHES MY GOODIES!!!!!!”, and making Paul Ryan out as a kook because he actually wants to balance the budget……


Comment from Nina from GCP
Time: January 26, 2011, 1:46 am

I have NO interest in watching it, but might blog it a couple of places instead.


Comment from Can’t hark my cry
Time: January 26, 2011, 1:55 am

One of the great joys of being a confirmed non-watcher of television. Never have seen it, never will see it. . .and I tend to skim the articles about it in the newspapers. I understand ceremony and its value, but I am impatient with speeches as a marker for anything except rhetorical competene–which I can’t see as particularly important one way or the other in the first place.


Comment from Scubafreak
Time: January 26, 2011, 2:26 am

Gawd. I just had to put up with 5 minutes of that Political masturbation-fest so that I could heat up my dinner here at work. I swear, the only thing missing right now is Mike Nelson, Crow t. Robot and Tom Servo at the bottom of the screen cracking one-liners about how bad the show is….


Comment from Steve Skubinna
Time: January 26, 2011, 3:36 am

Damn it, Scuba, you just hit on the one treatment that would entice me to tune in!


Comment from EW1(SG)
Time: January 26, 2011, 4:01 am

I’d give a thousand quatloos to a president of either party who stood up and said, “no theatrics. These are serious times and we have serious things to discuss.”

Hell, I’d settle for one that said, “All right, it’s Tuesday evening. It’s a school night. We haven’t added anymore states this week, but we haven’t lost any either. See some of you at the office tomorrow, good night.”


Comment from Rich Rostrom
Time: January 26, 2011, 5:04 am

Interesting website, that, Ms. Weasel. I find at last something to admire about Woodrow Wilson: he cut back the SotU from over 25,000 words (Taft) to 3,600. Taft averaged 22,614; Roosevelt had averaged 19,656. Wilson averaged just 4,545.


Comment from Can’t hark my cry
Time: January 26, 2011, 5:10 am

*Applauds wildly while laughing helplessly at EW1(SG)’s draft speech*


Comment from Randy Rager
Time: January 26, 2011, 5:13 am

Rich, that’s the first thing I’ve ever seen that makes me admire (ever so very very slightly) Woodrow Wilson.


Comment from David Gillies
Time: January 26, 2011, 5:22 am

I thought DN Forever had finally been deep-sixed a year or so ago. Geez, I played DN3D like a loon back in ’96 (which was when rumours of DN Forever first emerged.) I doubt my reaction times and fast-twitch muscles would make it worth my while now I’m in my fifth decade rather than my third.


Comment from Andrea Harris
Time: January 26, 2011, 7:05 am

“I’d give a thousand quatloos to a president of either party who stood up and said, ‘no theatrics. These are serious times and we have serious things to discuss.'”

I’d give a trillion quatloos for a president who didn’t give it in person at all, but instead sent it out to be read by the Secretary of State, who I think was the person who used to do it back in the olden days. You know, because the president had more important things to do than give a speech about a bunch of stuff everyone knew already, and chanting lists of budget allocations is something for an underling to do.


Comment from Mike C.
Time: January 26, 2011, 9:20 am

Well, I see Andrea beat me to it. There’s no requirement for a dog and pony show, and a written report has historically fufilled the requiremnt for the annual report. Going back to that would be a giant step foreward, IMHO.


Comment from Scott Jacobs
Time: January 26, 2011, 9:35 am

Weasel… Drop the difficulty, and take it easy. Go slow, bit by bit, and it ain’t bad…

Very much NOT your average run-and-gun. I wish I weren’t so poor that I am unable to afford an Xbox 360 copy of DeadSpace 2…


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: January 26, 2011, 12:38 pm

Aw, Mrs P is gonna have a geeklette. Wander over and wish her well in her babymaking endeavors.

Don’t you have to play through the game at least at medium difficulty to unlock stuff the second time through, Scott? I wouldn’t mind the learning curve so much if it didn’t take so darned long to load. Also, it lingers a bit long and lovingly on my gruesome death. Deaths. Exceedingly plural.


Comment from Mono The Elder
Time: January 26, 2011, 1:47 pm

hey you guys seen this yet? http://datarealms.com/ all the gore of your new fangled games without any of the insane system reqs (although deadspace is awesome. I have to agree with the general sentiment around here.) on SOTU thing, I really don’t know anyone who bothered to watch it. I was busy rebuilding windows. Thats my excuse.


Comment from Mrs. Peel
Time: January 26, 2011, 3:42 pm

Thanks, sweas 🙂

I’m bad at video games. I’m playing FFX finally, and I REALLY miss the 2D interface of FFI-VI. The 3D is hard for me to use – I can’t get Tidus to run in the right direction or interact with objects. (Also, Tidus is a major league whiner, but that’s a complaint for another time.)

I don’t have TV because when I save money, I do it by cutting my budget rather than by spending more. There are some presidents and congressmen who could learn from that.


Comment from Scott Jacobs
Time: January 26, 2011, 3:52 pm

Already putting up nude pics of your kid on the internet, eh Mrs Peel?

You sort of people disgust me…

:p


Comment from Scott Jacobs
Time: January 26, 2011, 3:55 pm

@SWeasel

Nope. If you want ACHIEVEMENTS you need to play on at least medium (except for the “finish the game using only the cutter” one). To get the neat bonus stuff the next play through, you just need to PLAY. So Easy makes it WAY…

Ummm…

Easier.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: January 26, 2011, 4:38 pm

I figure computer games are a pretty good entertainment value. They take ten to twenty hours to play through, rough average, and if you like a game, you’ll play it through several times. At least.

Considering I’ve just dropped a fiver on my last game purchase, that’s not bad…


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: January 26, 2011, 8:34 pm

Been some flap on the geekosphere about a Bollywood movie called Robot. They’ve now released about ten minutes of it. I reckon it’s about equal parts dumb and awesome.

Via Great White Snark.


Comment from Scubafreak
Time: January 27, 2011, 12:26 am

I saw tha the other day. Bollywood’s production values and special effects may be improving, but their story lines still remind me of what I always thought a bad acid trip would be like……


Comment from Dick Bacon
Time: January 27, 2011, 3:22 pm

Loved Dead Space. Picked up Dead Space 2. Haven’t popped it in yet, but I’m looking forward to it… just have to make sure my schedule is open for about a week

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