Days have passed, months have passed, and this blog has fallen into abandonment and obscurity, just like The One Ring did in the days of middle earth. Another thing that has kind of fallen by the wayside is my Mancave, codenamed: Watchtower.
If you recall, just as Sauron put his own self into his ring of power, so I have poured my own labor, blood, and essence of manly nerdiness into my Mancave. Click on these links if you want to read about my past Mancave Beutification Projects: Tetris Bookshelves, The Greatest American Clock, and Pac Man Mood Lighting. After all that work, I got tired, ran out of inspiration (and budget), and the Mancave's decor fell off my radar. There are still parts of me that I would like to see shown in the decor somewhere. I've got to get something Harry-Potter-ish in here, then maybe something Mario Bros. themed too, and at some point (when budget allows) I've got to get those wires under the TV hidden in the wall. All of that will wait, however, until there is sufficient budget, or inspiration.
A couple of nights ago, I sat here in my cave pondering what else I could add. I was feeling crafty, and had a sudden urge to smell sawdust, which always leads to something awesome. So I thought, "what this room needs is a weapon, mounted somewhere on the wall," but what weapon could I choose? I wasn't just going to go out and get a replica of Gandalf's staff from Lord of The Rings, the portal gun from Portal, or The Sword of Griffindor from Harry Potter. Those things are expensive, and as much as I love Harry Potter, the Sword of Griffindor isn't the part that would match my personality. Then, just like a confundus charm was removed from me, inspiration hit, and I had already had everything I needed to bring my vision to fruition. Those weapons have no super personal tie to me. Why not use something that does? Why not get the very first sword I ever picked up and wielded myself? The first sword I ever used to battle the forces of evil? Granted this sword, and these battles all existed only digitally in the 8-bit world that was Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda. Yep, I decided to make my first weapon in that game, and mount it on my wall: The 8-bit Wood Sword, that is given to Link by an old man in a cave.
Here's a close-up of the Wood Sword:
And I think I'll put it...
And so the project begins...
And so another 8-hour day of myself poured into an awesome nerd-project. Here is the finished plaque for mounting:
And here are some shots of the finished sword, in its 8-bit glory:
Finally here are some shots of the finished product, on the wall:
Just like the original from the game, this sword is made of wood and it is a scale model, modeled so that the grip would fit in my hand's grip with each pixel equaling 3/4 inch. While it looks awesome, there is one more thing that will be added, but is coming in the mail. I ordered a small sound box that I will mount inside the back of the plaque, so that if someone takes the sword off the mount, the plaque will play the sound that is played when link picks up the sword in the cave. Here is a video of someone playing the game, but don't worry about watching it, it is just so you can hear the sound, when Link picks up the sword. the video is a lot longer than that, but I didn't know how to cut it down.
Since my mind is in a constant state of thought, or imagining, or day-dreaming, I thought that I would share some of these thoughts with you. Here are some things I've thought of over the past few days, in no certain order:
-There has never been a better time on our planet to be a nerd. We control everything, and a grand majority of entertainment, media, marketing, and culture are now aimed at us. Finally, we can see good comic book movies on the big screen, and they are hugely successful. 10 years ago, no one would have invested the money in a movie about the X-Men (except a few made-for-TV movies that were based on the comics, but with new characters, these movies were stupid). Comics had their place on TV then, but now, they are EVERYWHERE. And I love it. Now we have big movie stars playing the actual characters from the comic books. It's awesome!
-On a related note: Hugh Jackman is a dork. He bugs me in everything he does, except X-Men. It's like he's trying too hard to be sexy. I loved the movie The Prestige, he did well there, but he still bugged me. He was made to play Wolverine and nothing else. Summary: Hugh Jackman as [insert anything except Wolverine] = stupid; Hugh Jackman as Wolverine = Totally awesome.
-Finally more and more TV shows seem to be appealing to my sense of humor. Usually I am the only person that can make myself laugh. I don't know why, but that's just the way it is. Seriously, if I type LOL on your Facebook post, it really means CSTM (chuckled softly to myself). Sorry, it takes something special to make me laugh. I've never really gotten into sitcoms, because they really just weren't that funny to me before. But now the nerds have risen up, and are situated amongst every class of people, including TV writers. Now there are a bunch of shows that make me laugh. What's funny though is that it is the little parts of these shows that might go unnoticed that tickle my fancy (I keep my fancy well protected, so tickling it is quite a feet). Recently I made a new addition to my list of favorite cartoons of all time. The list is now 3 long. They are Invader Zim
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
And the most recent, Adventure Time.
Invader Zim remains my all time favorite (I have every episode ever on my phone so I can rewatch it whenever I want), but Adventure time is a close second.
-Like I said, I'm not much of a comic collector, but the new Scott Pilgrim movie makes me want to go out and buy every Scott Pilgrim comic there is, right now. That or get the new iPhone app, but I would still have to buy them all through the iPhone app, either way, it's money that I don't have thanks to sinking $600 into my vehicles over the past couple of months. That hurt bad. Anyway, the fact that that movie exists, and has some huge-budget, awesome effects, is proof that this is the time to live if you're a nerd.
-That's about it for today, now here are some videos that make me CSTM.
This month has been awesome if you're a gamer/Apple nerd. First, we got to see the awesomeness that is the iPhone 4, then there was E3, which is a huge conference where the video game industry unveils their newest games and technology to the world, to market their consoles, and get people pumped to go buy them.
First things first, iPhone 4:
I've been waiting for this phone for a long time, ever since the 3GS was released just a few short months after I bought the 3G. I thought about upgrading, but listened to some rumors of a major overhaul, and decided to wait. I'm glad I did. I was planning on going and camping out on launch day (because I'm a nerd, and we do stuff like that), but I am scheduled to work that day, so I thought I'd preorder the phone instead. That was a mess. I was trying for 1 hour before I finally got confirmation that my order went through (5-6 am PST). It is supposed to come on launch day, but AT&T sold out of preorder phones by 4:30 EST on day 1 of preordering, so we'll see if I'm lucky. Today I have been sitting and waiting for my old and crusty 3G to update to iOS4 all day, so I thought I'd blog.
Now on to E3 2010:
I like video games, a lot. Mostly I like the ones that challenge my brain more than my thumbs. I also like a game to have a great story, or back story, and humor always helps too. Granted, I do like regular beat-em-ups, RPGs, and shooters too (sometimes mind-numbing destruction is a great way to unwind at the end of the day), but these usually have to have some special edge (like Marvel vs Capcom 2, Elder Scrolls, or Team Fortress 2). As much as I like games, I don't purchase games too frequently, because I'll only buy a game if I know I'm really going to enjoy it. I get more use out of my PS3 as a bluray player, or for streaming netflix, than I do for gaming. So usually when E3 comes around, I am more excited about the hardware than the software. This year, however, the hardware was... meh. I'm not all that excited about the Playstation Move, or the Microsoft Kinect (formerly Project Natal). Don't get me wrong, they will be fun, but they are nothing new. The only new thing about them is that now we have release dates. I was really hoping for a newer, more awesome version of the PSP, but nada there. I was on the verge of feeling a little let down by this years E3, then they wrapped up the hardware talk, and got into the software, which was AWESOME. So here are some of the titles I'm excited about:
And
So those are ok. The one I really can't wait for though is Portal 2. The original Portal remains one of my favorite games ever, it is an original puzzle game with a hilarious story. Here is the trailer for the original:
Basically you wake up as a test subject for the Aperture science Portal device, and have to perform many death defying tests under the guidance of a female, robotic voice, which promises you cake and grief counselling when you are finished. Eventually, you find out that the computerized voice that has guided you through the whole thing is trying to kill you and you need to escape. You then find out that the whole facility has been abandoned for some time (or maybe the robot killed them all), as you come upon messages written on walls in hidden areas that read things like "The Cake is a Lie." Eventually you face the robot, tear it apart and get sucked outside in a huge facility meltdown. Once the game is finished, you are treated to this song as GLaDOS (the AI robot controlling everything) assures you that the test was a success, and she is still alive.
At the end, while you are lying outside the facility unable to move, a robot shows up and thanks you for "assuming the party escort position," and drags you back inside. If you know me, you can see why I love this game. It is an intellectual puzzle with a hilarious and mysterious story. The game came bundled with Valve's Orange Box, with Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2, because it was a short game with a new theme, and the company saw it as a bit of a gamble, so it was released as part of a package with other "hit" games. I bought the package, just for Portal, and it remains the one game that I will play over and over. So, if nothing else at E3 excited me, the following trailer would have been enough:
Before you read any part of this post, know that there is an abundance of spoilers here, so if you haven't watched Lost, and are planning to, don't read this post, instead, go watch Lost.
Last night brought an end to one of my favorite TV series ever. When it began, I hated the first episode and dismissed it as "Castaway, with Jack Shepard taking Tom Hanks' role, and John Locke as Wilson the Volleyball" and I never watched another episode again. Until a couple of months ago that is. I heard the series was ending, and decided to give it another chance. Turns out episode 2 sucked me in.
Now it is over, and I have had a night to think about what was answered, and what was not, and this is what I've come up with (I'm going to try to stick to the stuff that was answered recently, or not answered, I won't go into any details on stuff that was answered a long time ago, like what is in that hatch):
Q: Whoah man, what is up with this sideways universe where the island is on the bottom of the sea, and flight 815 never crashed?
A: It is not really a sideways universe, or reality, it is the same one, just happening later, after everyone has died. Everyone is given a chance to live their lives slightly differently and see what kind of people they would have been if they never went to the island. It was a kind of limbo, where they all waited for each other, and to remember their past lives before they could move on.
Q: Ok, if it is the after life, why could the island Desmond see it?
A: Try to remember what happened the first time Desmond was exposed to electromagnetic radiation (when he turned the key in the hatch). The exposure gave him the ability to see flashes into the future. The reason Desmond could see the sideways story was because Whitmore exposed him to electromagnetic radiation again, which made him see a super glimpse way into the future, after they were all dead. He just didn't know what he was seeing.
Q: what was the light, and where did it come from?
A: Not really addressed. Here's as much as it is:
It is the same light that is in every man. That brings up an interesting point. At the beginning of the sideways storyline, The island was at the bottom of the ocean. Since this is the future, after everyone is dead, that could mean that someone eventually succeeded in sinking the island.
Q: What happened to Michael?
A: this one was actually answered a while ago. He died on the boat, and was doomed to walk the island as one of the whispering spirits.
Q: What was all that whispering in earlier seasons?
A: Doomed spirits, trapped on the island after they die. They sometimes serve as a warning.
Q: What was up with the Dharma Initiative?
A: They were a group of scientists who found the island, and set up shop to study its unique properties.
Q: Why did Jacob even bring people to the island if it could mean his death?
A: To prove his brother wrong about all other people being evil.
Q: Who were the Others, and how did they get to the island? How did the people in the temple get to the island?
A: Not really addressed, presumably they are people that Jacob had brought to the island in the past.
Q: Where did those polar bears come from!?
A: This was semi addressed a couple of times, but without a final, conclusive answer. At first the cause seemed to be Walt, and his "special" talents, which we will cover in the next question. The other explanation is that they were the bears in the cages on Hydra Island, though there is no explanation as to how or why they came to the main island, perhaps they swam?
Q: Why and how is Walt so special!?
A: This, to me, is the biggest non-addressed issue of the series. Everything else was kind of answered, but not this. From a writer's perspective, Walt got off the island because he was growing up fast, and didn't fit the role anymore. He was a 12 year old playing the role of an 8 year old, and it couldn't last long enough to explain his specialness. Here's what we do know: there are "special" people on this show. Hurley was special, he could see and talk to dead people. Miles was special, he could also communicate with the dead in a different way. Walt was special, because the show said he was. Here's my theory: In flashbacks to Walt's life before the island, we saw a stepfather who didn't want him anymore after his mother died, and even feared him because of his specialness. During one scene in Walt's stepfather's home. Walt summons a bird, which crashed into a window and died, or was knocked out. We are led to believe that Walt summoned the bird, because he was reading a book about the same bird. This brings us to the first semi-explanation offered for the existence of the polar bears on the island. We found that each time they showed up, Walt was reading his Spanish comic book, that he found on the island. After the second polar bear attack, we get to see a page from that comic book:
So the first hint at Walt's specialness, and the polar bears being on the island is that Walt has the ability to summon that which he reads about, or concentrates on. Later, after Walt grew up and couldn't be on the show any more, the writers offered the second explanation for the polar bears, which was the zoo on Hydra Island. The actor grew up, so he was allowed to leave the island. The show hinted that his specialness was even too much for the others, and that's why they let him leave, because they were a little scared too. Walt also seemed to have the ability to project himself to other places, like when he was in the others' custody, but conveniently showed up dripping wet, just in time to get Shannon killed, or after he was off the island, and showed up to see John Locke, after Ben shot John and left him in a hole. None of this had any definitive closure or explanation though, so we'll all just have to sit around and theorize until Walt magically shows up in our living room with a bird on his shoulder, riding on a polar bear.
Q: How did Jacob get off the island?
A: Not addressed. If he leaves, can't the man in black leave? I have no idea.
Well, that's about all the questions I can think of now. Let me know what you got, or what you think of my theories, or what your theories are. In the mean time, I leave you with this touching recap of the series:
