I know I'm behind

So even though I have yet to complete this weeks submission, I have found two of my colleagues who have stayed on top of the work.

Realism is Real's post on clouds is very good in my opinion, "Let’s say Johnny is grounded. No video games, no TV, no nothing. Johnny walks outside on a cloudy day, and he realizes that he’s looking at the very face of a white knight on a white horse, lancing a white alligator." Anecdotes like this make it a feel well written.




Books and Stuff's post referring to asylum pictures caught my attention and was rather worth the time to read and view the linked pictures. the quote "we see grand, impressive exteriors and crumbling interior" sums up what I saw in the pictures rather well.

reading is new

I stopped the Deaths head and just finished the 300 page novel "Outbreak" by Robin Cook. It was about a doctor tracing several outbreaks of Ebola. The course of the book goes over the entirety of the nation, from San Deigo to New York City. I found that it held my attention that it seemed to be completed soon after the start, but it lasted several days of my reading time. It takes place sometime in the 1980's, but the exact date is never truly set, merely that it is post 1976 and during Ronald Regan's presidency. The tension the story builds and drama by switching between the main character and her pursuers. The ending plot twist caught me by surprise and  it ends on a good note.

Reading is hard

I have yet to break the 400 page mark on Death's head, and its getting tedious. It has barely gotten to the actions the SS took during the war. It has been very in depth and insightful, but I'm coming close to giving up on it. Normally, when I fall asleep while reading, its time for a new book, and that happened over this week. I probably going to skip lunch and find a new book in the library.

short list earthquake

The earthquake drill is useless, but why is it useless?

I watch quite a bit of TV, examining a favorite episode of mine would work.

Favorite quest in one of the Elder Scrolls game

Halo 3 analyze

Have you ever spent 36 hours of your life sitting in a chair talking with four people, two of which were in a different country, playing a single video game level just because it is challenging you to beat it, and by god, you were going to keep at it until the bitter end? Most people that would be asked that question would respond one of two ways, either they would agree and laugh, or stare uncertainly at you much like one would a mental patient who has yet to be told they are out of the asylum. The culture of video gamers is a diverse and confusing one, but looking into it, it is hard not to be entertained. The group of people who still play the game Halo 3 are among the strangest that the gaming world can offer. The game itself spans nine levels and involves plot twists more akin to a sci-fi thriller than a video game. Which level is the most fun?

Many of the avid fans would agree that among the best levels of the entire franchise is the Covenant, which is the seventh level of the game. The diverse environments, encounters, and enemies on this level give it a truly epic feeling of leading a charge against the series antagonist. The level starts with a short cut-scene, in which the other group attacking with you getting blown out of the sky, instilling a you-versus-the world feeling. The overpowered one hit kill weapon you start with adds to this, unkillable persona allowing you to destroy the superior force of aliens, even on the higher difficulties, in which all of the AI units helping you will inevitably die. After exploding the armored anti air tank, AAA Wraith, the commander drops off light vehicles which allow you to continue the fight toward your objective, one of three towers supporting a shield protecting the villain of the game, known as the Prophet of Truth, which lays inland. After a quick sprint to the building, the battle resumes. The gray monochromes of the interior of the tower exude a bland, futuristic dead society, offset by the bright strange skins and armor of the enemies.

After overcoming the first tower’s denizens, heading back to the coast, the radio crackles and reveals that the attack on the third tower failed, and you must escort an aerial assault on it. The combat switches from first open field combat on foot, to interior fighting, and now aerial fighting. This is the second stage of the level. After the flying circus antics, the assault on the third tower begins in earnest. In a plot twist worthy of Shyamalan, an intergalactic parasite hell bent on destroying life attacks both you and the aliens you are fighting after clearing the tower and exposing the Prophet. This leads to the third stage of the level, a vehicular crusade in jeeps, atvs, and tanks. The culmination is the epic fight between you and two 60 feet tall nigh indestructible tanks known as Scarabs, and you have to pick your poison: kill them tanks, aircraft, or fire? The entire force of humans and your current alien allies, led by you, battling for the fate of the Galaxy from the prophet, trying to activate an ancient super weapon instills a remarkable feeling of heroism in anyone playing the level. Enter the sanctum of the antagonist, the parasite then approaches you with a truce, because the prophet succeeded in gaining the super weapon. The level ends with two gauntlets, one with the aid of the all-consuming parasite, one fighting for your life against it after the prophet had been killed in a cutscene. The use cinematic like images invokes a truly amazing scale and sense.