Sea of Love (1989) dir Harold Becker

This was one of those movies that I remember knowing about as a kid (I was twelve when it came out) because it was one of those "grown up" movies from the late 80s.  It may sound crazy now but there seemed that during the 80s and early/mid 90s the American erotic thriller was a box office draw.  Sexy violence and violent sex, it was a modern interpretation of the classic American noir only with more T&A.   Body Heat (1981), The Big Easy (1986), Legal Eagles (1986), Angel Heart (1987), No Way Out (1987), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Fatal Attraction (1987), Stormy Monday (1988), Frantic (1988), Basic Instinct (1992) are some of the best examples.  These weren't straight-to-video Skinemax movies either.  These were big-budget (mostly) A-list actors movies and top-notch sultry screen vixens & femme fatales.  Frankly, these were movies that made me realize that naked chicks are pretty cool.  What?  Have you seen movies from when Melanie Griffith couldn't keep her clothes on?  

I hadn't seen Sea of Love since I saw it on VHS in the very early 90s.  It's on netflix streaming and I saw it on the roster and figured, "Yeah, what the fuck, Ellen Barkin's in it."  I'm not a fan of Pacino's caricature work since Scent of a Woman (1992) - though I love his work in the 70s - and I figured it would be campy and I might see Ellen Barkin naked (again).

Turns out, Sea of Love is actually a pretty solid movie from start to finish that isn't really that "steamy".  The story isn't that earth-shattering - kind of standard noir if you are familiar with the genre.  However, the script and the acting are fucking awesome.  Pacino's haggard Detective Frank Keller of the NYPD is a very flawed yet natural character.  The aging cop thing is a trope I know but he makes it work.  John Goodman delivers an excellent performance as Detective Sherman, Keller's friend and cohort.  Pacino and Goodman - and their fellows - have a great on-screen rapport.  Their dialogue is natural, the jibes are easy and realistically filthy (and hilarious).  It's not forced and just from the comfort the actors seem to have with one another, well it creates an empathy with the viewer.

Pacino and Barkin's onscreen chemistry is, I'm not sure how explain it.  It made me uncomfortable.  They're both broken people.  They've been ridden hard emotionally and put away wet.  But they have an onscreen connection that reminded me of Rourke and Dunaway in Barfly (1987) - though not quite as boozeaholly destrucovision.  It's like the sum of broken parts equal a whole.  

The film ends on an up-note but Tom Wait's cover of "Sea of Love" during the closing credits really struck home my previous point (I was stunned to find a Tom Waits song I hadn't heard before from this era and was equally surprised that no one had told me he had done this version).  Sea of Love isn't as salacious or sensational as its peers but comes across less as a noir than a character study.  It certainly was a far superior character study than Drive.  Sea of Love is a movie you have to be in the mood for and I'm not sure if it'll translate for a younger audience (I don't mean this is a negative way but I feel a lot more connection with the characters now than I did when I first saw it) used to a slicker/more modern style of film.  That being said, it's definitely worth watching - if only for the Pacino/Goodman scenes.

   

Multiple movie reviews in one post! OH YEAH!

I watched three movies yesterday, two worth reviewing and one not really worth reviewing but I figured I'd might as well so down to brass tacks:

The Hunger Games (2012) dir. Gary Ross

This is one of those movie/book phenomenons I end up seeing as a rental just to see what the hype was about (hell I watched the first Twilight for this reason as well as other hyped movies).  Additionally I was interested in seeing how the protagonist was portrayed.  I had only seen one trailer before the movie came out and based on that alone I had a pretty good idea of what the movie was about.  I wasn't expecting much since I had written it off as an American girl power Battle Royale-lite.  I wasn't that far off in my expectations but what surprised me is that while The Hunger Games is a girl power BR-lite on the surface, there were some elements to the film that surprised me.  It also surprised me that I actually began to care about some of the characters (to the point where I'm actually curious to read the book) and things that were alluded to the film that obviously played a more important role in the book.   What surprised me the most was, in retrospect, it is not simply a "girl power" movie, though it could be viewed as such, superficially.  Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) strikes me as less of female character and more of an everyman (with superior survival skills) and for me this was an interesting, and refreshing, approach.  I found myself liking her character more because she was just herself and the filmmakers didn't use her as a soapbox or a social ills hammer to bludgeon you with.  The same can be said for the side characters (some of which are minimally developed but still made for engaging players).  I also enjoyed how the characters were shown to rely on their natural strengths (mentally and physically) during the short training sequences and in the ensuing combat.  The characters in the movie sold me more than did the story itself.

As a fan of dystopian literature and films, I found the story to be predictable (a more accurate description would be telegraphed), lacking tension, with some interesting but under-developed themes.  This came of a knowledge of the genre and having seen the trailer.  The world in which they live was interesting but the film failed to really cement that part of the story (which I'm sure the book does a better job of).  Something something totalitarian regime something something screw the poor people something something wait, where's the "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" moment?  Not that the movie necessarily required such exposition but as a dystopian junkie I'm a huge nerd for the twisted reality created (e.g. 1984, Logan's Run, Battle Royale, We, etc.).  I got what they were going for but I wasn't particularly sold.  I found the lack of tension to be disappointing.  As much as I like Katniss and her peers, I never felt she was ever in danger (I knew there were several more books and the movie in the first in a series).  I knew which characters were going to get snuffed and how quickly by their amount of (or lack of) screen time.  In pursuit/survival films (the good ones) the tension needs to be turned up to 11 and remain there even during requisite moments of rest and/or humor.  I don't feel that the lack of tension is because of my age or movie-going experience.  There are a number of PG/PG-13 movies I saw when I was younger that when I rewatch I still get a, "INDY, LOOK OUT!" feeling no matter how many times I see it.  While I was engaged while viewing The Hunger Games, it failed to suspend my disbelief and really get into the movie.  At one point, I realized this and it created a sense of disappointment I couldn't shake.

From a technical standpoint the movie was solid, the effects were well done, the violence and action were clinical (not necessarily a bad thing for a movie that was marketed to a younger audience), and costuming and color palettes were standard but aesthetically engaging (washed out blues and earth tones for poor schlubs and garish, nearly cartoonish colors for the wealthy and indolent). A major flaw though was the painful camera handling, especially during the first half of the film.  During action sequences the shaky cam wasn't terribly apparent but for a good number of static shots the camera jiggled (e.g. a shot of a man sitting, a domestic scene, a number of non-FPS crowd shots).  I realize this is a very common complaint in my reviews but damn it, just put the damn camera on a tripod or a pile of phone books.

In the end I enjoyed The Hunger Games enough to want to pick up the book and look forward to the next movie installment.  This time though I'll avoid trailers, teasers, spoilers, and have a (relatively) unbiased watching experience.

Despicable Me (2010) dir Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud

I had avoided this movie because I frankly am not a fan of Steve Carrell.  I just don't find his brand of humor humorous (at least how it's portrayed in the scant number of movies I've seen him in and no, I don't like The Office).  I prefer absurdist over his brand of awkward, uncomfortable humor (though I find deadpan comedians brilliant).  I was in the mood for an animated feature though and Despicable Me was one of the few I hadn't seen.  As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of animated features.  They bring out the little kid in me and in all honesty, the treacly sentimentality of a majority of them make me cry (Oh, that's funny?  When's the last time you didn't cry while watching Up or a Pixar movie?  I bet I make you get all misty just by saying Toy Story 3).

Despicable Me is a well done, predictable, yet an entertaining and well crafted movie.  Carell and cast's voice work were excellent (once I stopped thinking, "Wow, Carell is doing a really good job.").  The tried and true (well-worn) story of a grumpy bastard who learns to love is one of my favorites.  Shut up.  What I really enjoyed about Despicable were the animation and the humor.  The animation because it had a very European touch and the humor for the same reason.  This is one of the few animated features I've seen in quite sometime where the jokes actually made me laugh hearty peals of laughter (there were one or two I had to rewind).  The "Ah!  Curse you tiny toilet!" made me laugh so hard I nearly peed and made Moxie look at me like I had gone batty.

Yeah, it was fun and cute and I had a good time.  If you haven't seen it then I suggest it wholeheartedly.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010) dir Zack Snyder

I saw a trailer for this before the abysmal Airbender movie and was momentarily interested until I found out it was a 3D movie (3D delenda est).  I had completely forgotten about this movie until I was poking around for another animated movie to watch after Despicable Me.  I figured, what the hell, and rented it.  Now, I'm not a Zach Snyder fan.  I thought 300 was poop infused with crap and Sucker Punch was entertaining as a piece of cosplay wank/watch after smoking a bunch of reefer clunker.  Watchmen was just awful.  His Dawn of the Dead was pretty good and though I'm all out of patience for zombie flicks, I'd rewatch it.

Ga'Hoole is an excellent kids' fantasy movie.  Predictable (making it a Monday night predictability triple feature) but actually kind of awesome.  Based on Kathryn Lasky's book(s?) this movie falls solidly into my "Was that so hard?" category.  It's a strange category I have for movies that are genre pieces that hit all the right notes and are just well-crafted works.  I may know exactly what's going on and be able to tell you the plot devices and character archetypes before I even see the movie but when I watch it, all that goes out the window and I just enjoy myself.  Few movies are in this category but the ones that are I will actually watch again and again (Antoine Fuqua's Shooter is a prime example - it's a good movie and yes I love Marky Mark as much as I love kittens and Skittles).

I enjoyed myself from start to finish.  The animation is amazing, even by today's standards.  The voice acting is superb, genuinely great (and I had to laugh at one point because it reminded me of late 20th Century fantasy where everyone was British/Aussie/Kiwi because nothing says high fantasy like a non-American accent).  

It's not without it's faults - the songs are puke inducing and James Newton Howard's score is lacklustre at best (though, I'm not a fan of his compositions).  There were several times I noticed where the movie was supposed to be 3D and some overlong visual sequences that, while very pretty, made me look at my watch.  Apparently the movie distills three books into one feature and there were points where I could see that.  Some characters were briefly on screen and just stepping stones in story progression.

All in all I'd put it on regularly if I owned it, as a cleaning day movie.  Plus Hugo Weaving has such a sexy voice.    

The Essential Tony Scott

In the wake of Tony Scott's tragic suicide on Sunday afternoon, websites and news outlets have been flooding the internet and airwaves with their pre-planned obits that reference Scott's most mainstream recognizable films; such as "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder". While these films deserve their place in the pantheon of great movies, the obits that reference them seem to be missing the subversive and radical genius of Tony Scott's filmography.

Scott was a master of on-screen violence, stylistic action, and radical techniques in lighting, editing, and sound. Heralding only "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder" fails to pay tribute to what an unmitigated bad-ass Tony Scott really was behind the camera. His best works present a sarcastic, outsider attitude in reaction to a world that is as frequently violent and chaotic as it is rule-constricted and oppressive.

In honor of the passing of this true master film-maker, I present this alternative list of the essential works of Tony Scott.

5. Domino (2005) - A violent orgy of attitude and style-overload. Many critics consider this to be the one where Tony Scott went too far, but I think it was the ultimate expression of his audio/visual inner-self. I'm glad the old dog got it out of his system before it was too late.


4. Man on Fire (2004) - In the end, this might be considered Tony Scott's best film. It contained an emotional center that many of his other films are often accused of lacking; while also managing to contain a level of intense violence that made his previous decade's worth of on-screen viscera (almost) pale in comparison.


3. Crimson Tide (1995) - Along with the rest of the world, I thought that after "The Hunt For Red October" there simply could not be another high caliber submarine movie. Not only did Tony Scott prove us all wrong with this one, he also established his long collaborative relationship with Denzel Washington, and brilliantly translated the oft-independent-film "men trapped in a tense situation" genre to big budget film-making.


2. True Romance (1993) - There are not enough adjectives or hyperbolic phrases in my vocabulary to do this masterpiece justice. The fact that this movie exists outside of my wildest imagination and actually inhabits cherished shelf space in the collection of every movie geek worth their salt is the ultimate testament to Tony Scott's brilliance as a film-maker. This is a must see, must own movie and deserves to be counted among the very best films of the 1990's.


1. The Last Boy Scout (1991) - The last great 80's action movie (even though it was made in the 90's); this is by far my favorite Tony Scott film. Its sublime dialogue, ridiculous plot, unearthly lighting, and masterful direction make it pound-for-pound one of the most entertaining movies ever made. The way Tony Scott filmed and edited the action/dialogue interplay in this movie should be studied. The BMW/Limo, "Bom means fuck you in Polish" sequence alone is worth the price of admission and watching it should earn you at least 3 credits in film school. (Unfortunately, that scene is not on Youtube, so you'll have to settle for this ingenius intro to our anti-hero.)

Batman: Arkham City

Back in '09 I wrote a review for Batman: Arkham Asylum, which except for a few flaws, was an excellent game.  I had been putting off Arkham City (2011) for the simple reason I couldn't justify spending sixty bucks on a new game when I knew the GOTY edition would come out in a year.

I was expecting more of the same, which wouldn't be a bad thing considering the high quality of Asylum, but while it's the same it's also better.  Primarily because Arkham City is so damn big and impressive and fucking awesome looking.  The footprint might not seem as big as Asylum's but there are so many nooks and crannies and layers to explore that the place is massive.  There's a startling level of intricacy in the design and the graphics engine keeps up nicely (though it'd probably perform better on a PC with a GTX 580).  There have been times where I've found something new, even in an area I've traveled across numerous times (which you will do quite a bit during missions and tracking down hidden items).

The story is solid so far, kind of standard Batman-y stuff, with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill returning to their voice roles.  My main thrill though are all the side missions which show a remarkable amount of creativity and variation.  Side missions are one of my favorite things about games and I like how Asylum spreads them out.  Several of them are spaced out as the main story progresses so you can't just tear through the sides and be done with them.  One was set up over a number of areas I couldn't access early in the game for one reason or another.  I like this approach since in other games it's remarkably easy to buff your character early on just by devouring sides and then moonstomping the main story (a problem I've encountered with most recent popular RPGs).  It's an intelligent piece of game design that I hope is picked up by others.

I also dig the Catwoman side story and the way  it's woven into the main.  Yeah, I know, Catwoman blah blah blah, exploitation,  blah blah blah but you know what?  She's hot and I like her attitude.  Her personality isn't Michelle Pfeiffer looney-toons, more like a punk rock sex kitten.  Her gameplay style is a nice change of pace from Batman's burly brawly and tracking down her specific hidden items definitely has stretched out game time.  She wouldn't make for a full game on her own, though it's possible with more stealth and a focus on the top level cat burglar missions.

The Riddler hidden items, puzzles, and riddles kind of make the game for me (and besides side missions have been what I've been spending most of my time doing).  Some of the puzzles are based on gear (can't be completed until you have x), some are timed (annoying at best), and some make me want to punch kittens.  There's a few which I won't be able to complete until I am having an "A game" kind of day.  One cool design thing they added is being able to track down Riddler goons which show up at random as you cross the city.  If you successfully interrogate the goon it shows the rough location of hidden items on the map.  You can also scan hidden objects to return to at a later date.  Good idea Rocksteady!  High five!  Actually, wicked awesome idea!

I'm only about halfway through the game and  have put in roughly 20+ hours and expect to put in another twenty.  Final review pending.  Now, I'm gonna go batwhomp some goons.

Trust in your armor but remember...

"But when a stronger man than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." - Luke 11:22 King James Bible

Since I've been on vacation I've been putting an absurd amount of time in EVE - even by my standards - but most of my efforts have been leaning towards perfecting drone and armor skills.  Gameplay has consisted of transport runs, spending a large amount of time docked, trading and making "Rules of Acquisition" jokes in my head, and carebearing the living shit out of L4 missions.

When on combat missions I try to adhere to a checklist that I've developed over the last few months.  Simple stuff really:

• always have an escape plan, preferably more than one 
• align, align, align
• only commit to combat when I have tactical advantage
• I tend to rely on range and speed.  With my current skills and gear I have an effective combat range of over 120km (which puts me well out of range of 75% of the NPCs I come across) and can juice my Ishtar up to 599m/s
• I only "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" aka launch attack drones when I have tanked the aggro.  No sense in letting my expensive drones get whomped on for no reason.
• I still strongly adhere to my own rule of "cap stability above all else".  This is part of the reason I lean towards a passive armor tank.  If I can run all the equipment I have without having to run out of juice or keeping an eye on cap during combat.
• Minimize risk, maximize reward.  Rule of Acquisition #125 "You can't make a deal if you're dead."  Screw that "Fortune favors the bold" malarkey.
• Never go AFK when you're undocked.  Okay, I'll take a pee or grab a beer while in warp.  Sometimes.
• "The problem isn't that you're paranoid.  It's that you're not paranoid enough."
• Never rely on gear when skills would suit you better.

This last maxim has been on my mind lately since I nearly lost an Ishtar during a mission.  As an armor tanker (can't always rely on speed and range when a half dozen battleships spawn within twenty-five klicks) I often say a well-worn Warhammer 40K line, "Look to your battlegear and it will protect you, as your armour guards your life."  If you think that's dorky you should hear me recite the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear when I'm running cargo through lowsec or in a situation like this:

"I will not fear.  Fear is the mind-killer."

Granted, that engagement wasn't that bad since I had tactical control of the situation but the unknown can always happen (a la "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.")  The engagement I almost lost my favorite ship in involved a large number of frigates and sentry towers that spawned less than five klicks from my position.  I was careless and on the back-foot and for a split second of blind panic I saw my armor melt under withering fire and get into deep structure before my warp drive engaged, whisking me to the closest station.  Now before you EVE players take me to task for not consulting eve-survival.org first, I prefer not to use that site because I feel it takes a large element of risk out of missions.  I enjoy not exactly knowing what I'm heading into (caveat: I usually decline Amarr missions simply because the risk is too high for my tastes) and relying on myself to keep my ship in one piece.  Hell, sometimes I'll scout a site with a shuttle first (especially if I can't come in at range).  It's part of the fun for me.

So why my new concern about battlegear and having to rework some of  my approaches to combat?  Primarily because of my near loss but secondly because I recently broke down and purchased a Dominix.  She's actually not as ugly as I thought she was gonna be but she handles like a box of turds with four broken shopping cart wheels.  If I had been in the Domi when I got short-range jumped I would have lost an expensive ship.  She just doesn't handle well and her speed is garbage.  However, she's a monster tank.  I've read some shop talk about how tough she is and can weather a huge amount of punishment.  That being said, I don't trust her as my battlegear.  Then again, I've been truckin around in a HAC for at least six months and feel really comfortable in cruisers and maybe it's time to shake myself up and try something new.

Another downside to the Domi, and a core issue that's keeping me from moving to the BS, is the painful (nearly pathetic) target lock time she has - against all ships.  It must be similar to the differences between the Enterprise and the Defiant.  Frankly, the Ishtar is a far superior drone boat, considering bonuses, speed, smaller signature, base resistances suck, etc. etc. etc.  However, I like taking the Domi out for a spin because she's such a big moosey and she can really be a jack of all trades.  She can effectively tank while drones dish out the DPS and run salvage in combat.  Not the capabilities of a Marauder but still...

I'm continuing work on my Domi and if I get her to where I feel I trust her I'll post a fit here.  Hope all of you are well.  Fly safe.  o7

Purple Passion Potatoes from Tasteful Selections - product test

I was at the grocery store with my dear friend amazonbutterfly yesterday just kind of boppin around and hanging out and trying to figure out what to make for dinner.  I had remembered that I had seen some small bags of "fancy" potatoes the day before two-for-five.  We figured, "Why not?" it can't be worse than that one time we made the food that shall not be spoken of (not everything is a winner).  I bought one bag of "Purple Passion Potatoes" and one of a "Summer Medley".  We went back to the Haven and I took my spot in the kitchen and got to work.

The purple potatoes were small - roughly 1" diameter - but I decided to cut them half while I put a pot of water on the boil.  I have to say I was very pleasing and surprised by these potatoes.  The interior was a deep indigo color with a firm (but not mealy) texture.  We were kind of startled by the color, actually - in a good way.  When the water got to a boil I threw in all the potatoes and set the timer for ten minutes.  Then I drained them, then browned them up in about a quarter stick of good Vermont butter and a solid amount of garlic and sea salt.  I'm not sure how I would describe the flavor (the bag says "slightly sweet, yet nutty") but I know I liked it.  I eat a fair amount of potatoes - mainly reds - and these purples were just different enough to make me go, "Huh, that's tasty."  The two main draws for me were the quality and visual aspects/potential of them.  Normally I grump a little at pre-cleaned, neatly packaged potatoes but these were pretty uniformly sized and didn't require the schlep to Mordor that accompanies cleaning and poking with a paring knife most potatoes do.  Plus, including prep (cutting them in half), it only took about fifteen, twenty minutes.  I'd love to do these mashed - I think the color and texture would make for a serious wow factor.

The company that harvests and distributes them - Tasteful Selections - is an agribusiness I hadn't heard of before but after sampling their potatoes and their website, I kind of really dig them.  I hope my Kroger's keeps carrying them.

I plan to roast the "Summer Medley" and will post about the results when there are results to post.

In The Electric Mist (2009) dir Bertrand Tavernier

I ended up watching this movie on a fluke, mostly because it had Tommy Lee Jones and John Goodman on the cover.  I'm glad I did.

Turns out, though this was a straight to DVD, that it was an adaptation of James Lee Burke novel and had an excellent cast, a brilliant score by Marco Beltrami (whose work I had been doubting since he got big), and very solid camera work.

It makes sense that In The Electric Mist wasn't a theater film.  Frankly, it almost wouldn't work in the theater - at least in the way theater films are now.  It really is, as Burke's novels are; a sultry, filthy, coon ass noir film.  And it ain't The Big Easy (1986) - though that is an excellent example of American 80s erotic thriller.

Jone's Dave Robicheaux does service to the books.  Then again, it's hard not link Mr. Jones with tired vigilance and justice these days.  However, he surprised me with his level of honest violence (even after The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - which is one of the best fuckin movies I have ever seen).  Honest violence may sound trite, what with me bein' a pacifist and all, but sometimes people need to have an ass-kicking.  There's probably something smarter I could say here...

I don't feel that it is John Goodman's best role (I reserve that for Barton Fink), in fact he could have played more the villain, but then again, the story wasn't about that.

Well worth watching, if you have the patience.

Holy batshit Fatman! A post!

Hey kids, yeah it's been a bit since the  last post but the last few weeks have been slow and mainly I've simply been getting drunk whilst playing EVE and then watching DS9.

HOWEVER - HYR now has a new writer, a friend of mine who is a very nice lady person (and her husband who is a very nice man person might post here, hopefully, he's kind of fucking hilarious).  She's been writing reviews on her facebook and since I don't see new movies in the theater and she's a good writer and knows a solid deal about the cinema, I figured I'd offer her a spot here.  Plus, it would give you folks something to read and a break of my usual shenanigans.

Welcome aboard.  Now grab a shovel and get to work.

VIDEO ESSAY: BEAVER'S LODGE: EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE | Press Play

VIDEO ESSAY: BEAVER'S LODGE: EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE | Press Play

Saturday shenanigans (now with 10% more tomfoolery)

This whole "no news is good news" (which I've always been vaguely confused by - is it implying that any sort of news is bad news or that having nothing to report is a good thing a la the curse, "May your life be eventful"/"May you live in interesting times" - I've always gone for the latter) might make for peaceful Hobbit living but fuck me running it makes for boring blogging. 

I haven't been console gaming that much lately, in part because I haven't been inspired to play anything.  Dawnguard was diverting for a bit, I never finished Witcher 2, and haven't had the extra dough to check out the arcade games.  Frankly, my XBOX is turning into something I just watch movies on which I could do with my computer any way and the XBOX Arcade games I would play end up on Steam or in the Humble bundle for next to nothing.  If it weren't for my crappy video card (GTX 460) which works just fine for most games but not for new releases I would probably cancel XBOX Live and sell my XBOX.

Been spending most nights boppin around EVE highsec, fine tuning my Ishtar, and generally staying out of trouble.  Lately I've been reading more EVE blogs and socializing with Aliastra corpmates and noticed something Mabrick (of Mabrick's Mumblings) brought up on his blog today about the "more risk more ISK" saying I've seen bandied about in chat along with decreases in profitability in highsec industrialism/manufacturing (causing a ding in his profit margins).  I've never mucked about with manufacturing so I'm not particularly concerned.  What I am interested in is the "more risk more ISK" mentality and the avarice behind it.  I've heard some players crow about their billions and pissing contest each other at how much they can make per diem and yip yip yip about nullsec and pvp.  I've also met a number of people who, like me, are pefectly content making a decent in-game living as carebears (miners, traders, missioners).  I was joking around with someone that I didn't understand what the Scrooge McDucks were doing with all their ISK.  There's a finite amount of things to buy in game and isk can be traded for PLEX which can be traded to game time so one could never have to pay for game time, okay I get that.  You can only fly one ship at a time and in theory one should "never fly more than you're willing to lose" and if you're not getting blasted every time you undock so as an individual you don't need more than a dozen ships spread across your regular business routes (though I'm gonna start leaving a Noctis in each of the primary systems I work in, but that's out of laziness).  What it comes down to is simple - I don't play EVE with the same mentality as a lot of other players (and vice versa).  For all practical purposes I am a hell of a lot nicer, friendlier, and more altruistic in EVE than I am in real life (I'm also staggeringly paranoid).  Somehow I've ended up with a decent selection of boats and gear and a bucket of ISK (since I never buy anything anymore and I just stockpile trade goods and sell when the market is good).  It's bizarre but I think my EVE experience is that of a mildly successful boring middle class capsuleer (who shoots the fuck out of NPCs with ball smashing drones of fury). 

In other news:
I've set up a facebook for hooliganyouth on the facebookery (if you're into the whole social media thing).

I want a brisket sandwich - stat.

Spicy shredded pork and stuffing is good.  Especially if you add sauteed onions and serranos to the stuffing.

Here's a picture of The Punisher at the beach.  Because I love you.

Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard

The first DLC for Skyrim!  EEEEE...yeah...it's more Skyrim.

A majority of the reviews have been summing up Dawnguard simply as more Skyrim.  Which isn't a particularly bad thing considering how much fun I had until I discovered everything and couldn't restat my character and generally fell into boredom.  I started a new character, Crucifracture, who has turned out to be a fine character considering I know what skills I want and where to put points (I've actually been trying to save as many as possible) and what I can skimp on (and just get juiced on gear and performance enhancing drugs - e.g. Lockpicking).  I'm playing her as a summoner/destruction magic in one hand and shield in the other/heavy armor character which has been entertaining and frankly using magic in combat is a lot more natural than the suck ass melee system.

Dawnguard is centered around an infestation of vampires.  Do you join them or do you destroy them?  Does it even matter?  Fortunately there's not a lot of game breaking gear if you start a new character and begin the Dawnguard story arc.  The crossbows are pretty sweet.  You can use bows on horseback (which sounds awesome but is actually kind of lame and clunky).  There's some cool looking armor and some other gear you'll never see because you're always in first-person.  You can transform into a Vampire Lord (if you team up with the vampires) which is kind of cool and summon a gargoyle and you can force choke, sorry, use blood magic to choke enemies.  There are new enemies - I particularly like the Death Hounds.  Dawnguard is as much as an expansion as it is a new story arc.  In fact, Dawnguard might be one of my favorite Bethesda DLC (except for the fact I have problems with the whole DLC price gouging yadda yadda yadda). 

The reason why it might be my favorite is because the story is kind of awesome and there were a couple of set pieces that genuinely kicked ass.  It's much more a dark "gothic" fantasy - think Ravenloft (man, a Ravenloft game could potentially be a really good game) - and there were a number of areas that were a welcome change of pace from the now sadly over-familiar areas of Skyrim.  I finished one of the story arcs with Crucifracture.  I plan on going back and playing for the Dawnguard vampire hunters with Scoville. 

Worth $20?  Yes and no, considering the 8 to 10 hours it'll take you to get through the story (unless you're like me and have to explore everything and pick up every side quest - which put me at about twenty) and that's better than your average game length these days.  Then again for twenty bucks you could buy a whole shit ton of games during the Steam Summer Sale.  Plus, if you haven't picked up Skyrim, you can just wait until the GOTY edition comes out and save a bundle of cash. 

Assorted news and things und schtufz

Finally getting around to recovering from working the TIK TOK Productions event for which I made over two hundred shredded pork tacos.  It was a challenge and a learning experience but rewarding and I met some awesome people and they liked the tacos and no one got food poisoning.  There were a couple of problems I hadn't foreseen but no plan survives combat. 

I'm seriously considering this whole selling food to people or catering thing as something I could do (since I've done it a couple of times) and maybe make some money.  I like money because it lets me buy things (and I need new pants).  I also like feeding people.  We'll see.

In other news:

Uh...

Well...

I started watching Deep Space 9.  It gives me something to look at while I'm on the floor eating gummi bears.

Sherlock Holmes and the Game of Shadows was pretty forgettable, not bad just absolutely devoid of memorable qualities.  I liked the first Downey/Law outing but this one was just meh.  The cinematic equivalent of a white bread sandwich with baloney and yellow mustard.  It does what it is supposed to do but it's not really thrilling.

21 Jump Street did not deserve to be as funny as it was.  I laughed heartily at one or two parts and am turning into a Channing Tatum fan, though I'm still not a huge Jonah Hill fan.  Worth watching if you just want a comedy that actually doesn't suck or star Adam Sandler (or both).

Not much else to report.  It's summer in Texas.  Decided not to take summer classes so I'm working and putzing around the house.  Yup.

Hope you guys are doing well and not sweltering too bad.

Two homemade sauces for tomorrow.

Captain Riley's Verde ready for action (roasted tomatillos and citrus with a zesty  tang and tons of Vitamin C)

Moxie's Secret Sauce almost done (medium heat with lots of om nom nom)

Preview of the porkening mayhem

EVE Causality in Japanese

Because everything sounds cooler in Japanese.

The Secret World (2012) Funcom

I didn't know if I could write about my experience with the beta until the game came out or not since I agreed to a non-disclosure agreement.  Truth be told this was my first beta, which was kind of neat.  I had been following the press and videos for The Secret World and played the facebook game and was generally excited to play the game.

As we all know I am a pretty serious horror/dark fantasy/ghouls and ghosts kind of guy as well as generally am exhausted of damn near most "high fantasy" (elves and magic and assorted fantasy crap).  It also turns out I'm not really a fan of most Japanese or Korean MMOs or standard RPGs.  This leaves me in a strange kind of limbo where I just kind of play EVE (sometimes I think because I don't have anything else to play - which isn't true).  The Secret World is a horror game in a modern setting across the globe.  Boo-yah!  I was really happy when I got the chance to play the beta a couple of weeks ago for about a week and a half.

My happiness dissolved pretty quickly for an interesting reason: the game cannot match it's atmosphere, story (or at least elements), and quests.  It's an awesome game that handles like a box of turds on mismatched wheels.  I keep coming back to the term "counter-intuitive" when thinking or talking about The Secret World's mechanics (along with cumbersome, frustrating, and profanity-inducing).  It has one of the most crafting systems (apparently the crafting is "Minecraft"-esque) I've come across - there are no instructions on how to use crafting in-game and the forums were tits-on-a-bull useless.  You collect assembly parts and blueprints (okay) and then put them in the shape of the...item...on...a grid.  But you can't look at the blueprint/kit to see what the layout is for the item and (I think) the shape of the item changes with the type of parts you're using?  Whaaa?  I craft in games, I like crafting and collecting junk, and an extra step of think-y would have been a welcome change to the regular spam crafting of many games.  However, when combined with the mewling botched abortion of an inventory system I actually ended up yelling profanities at the computer and just threw all my supplies on the ground (after a few hours of failed crafting).  Inventory control is terrible for reasons that there are no excuse for: no auto-stack, no auto-sort, no way to change the icons or have text next to the items, and there's no way to hot-key items.  This last factor was the last straw for my playing experience.  It's a dynamic combat game (which is kind of cool) and you can't just stand and whack at stuff and spam a la most other RPGs.  Right on, however combat also requires a lot of movement (seemed like I was doing a lot of strafing and running backwards) and enemies are kind of brutal (awesome).  But when you need a health pack on the fly, you have to go into the busted ass inventory and get the right...oh fuck, you died.  This didn't happen once or twice because I'm a total cock-eyed n00b, I even tried to keep the inventory window open with the items I needed at the ready but in the time it would take to use one healy-bob I'd get my face holes gang-banged by gribblies.  I died again and again and again in some areas (and not because I was under-powered because my gear was shitty because I couldn't craft anything better...oh wait...).

Another big fuck-up is the counter-intuitive and clunky chat system.  Chat should be clean, simple, easy to use for general chat and group - right?  Maybe I was taking stupid pills for my time in The Secret World 
but I could not figure out how to chat easily to other players in my vincinity.  I kept ending up with random chat windows for areas I wasn't in and the few times I grouped I couldn't figure out how to isolate group chat in a new window whilst attempting to juggle dickhead inventory and combat.

I think a great deal of my frustration comes from the immense potential The Secret World has and the amount of love put into the game.  This was made by proper horror fans and not just Saw wanks.  The three areas I wandered around made me really happy: New England, Egypt, and Transylvania.  I spent most of my time in New England since I was too underpowered for the other areas.  One section is very Castle Rock-y with brilliant references to classic horror writers and their works.  Another is Miskatonic University and another a mining area.  The creature designs (and I didn't tangle with the big boys) are really creepy and have their own spin on themes (I particularly liked the autopsied cadavers/medical dummies).  There's a night and day cycle in game (fucking awesome). 

One thing I was overjoyed by was the game's puzzles.  Yes, a MMO with puzzles.  Proper puzzles for certain quests and a bunch of different styles.  There's no hand holding either.  You're given clues and then it's up to you to solve the puzzle (one of which I admit I felt like a fucking genius when I figured it out).  I wonder how many people are gonna just skip the puzzle quests.

After thinking about the game and writing this I realized I would pee my pants for it - if it was a single player or small group (a la Borderlands) game (or there are faction only areas).  Actually I wonder if the game wouldn't have been a much better game if it had been single player.  On the server I was on there was a great deal of bass-ackward playing, missions could be completed because players were lumped up in one area trying to complete a goal (I think a rotating group of about a dozen were swarming over this one area that was a story quest completion point for the last two days I played) and thus the goal couldn't be completed.  It's a shame really, I would have been willing to over look some of the technical flaws (e.g. toons are kind of weird looking), but as it is I ain't gonna pay for the game and then a monthly on top.  Made that mistake with WoW and SWTOR.  Check out The Secret World when it's free-to-play in a year.  

Blast from the past video game: Shadowgate (1989)

Many moons ago, when I was a hardcore Nintendo kid, Shadowgate was one of my favorites.  A point & click adventure that I seemed to be more suited to play than the rage inducing platformers and brawlers many of my peers seemed to excel at.  This was an era of what I affectionately call, "games that hated you".  Horrific, brutal, and genuinely malevolent games that beat you like a red-headed stepchild.  The sad thing is you always went back for more (even when your controller was held together with tape because you rage-spiked it into the 12" CRT during some bullshit Ninja Gaiden - p.s. fuck Ninja Gaiden).  I was also a big fan of fantasy and horror Choose Your Own Adventures when I was a kid so when I got my nerdly mitts on Shadowgate I nearly wet myself.

I loved Shadowgate (not as much as I love Shadowrun for the SNES) and whilst looking around youtube:

This game was madness and I blame it for several of my current RPG techniques. Torches would fizzle out and were a precious commodity. Any mistakes caused death after death after death. The thing was there was no gamefaqs.com, no IGN help guides to this bastard. Trial and error and intuition were all you had to rely on. Truth be told I don't know if I ever got to the end of the game even though I felt like I played it for a very long time and often (for some reason I have the memory of starting a new game every time I played).  I no longer own a NES but I might poke around the internet and see if I can find a ROM.  I kind of hope I can, just so I can do a review of it.

Another easy dish from the Haven

Spent my 4th at the Haven chillin' out and generally attempting to stay out of the sun - though I wandered with the group down to the Freedom Festival and got some pretty awesome homemade barbacoa tacos.  However, it being any month except November - March in Texas the weather was complete garbage and I was a sad panda because of the heat.

 

After the Freedom Festival some folk went on a grocery store run and brought back a metric shit-ton of gulf shrimp and the fixing for spring rolls and vermicelli bowls.  Everything was awesome except for peeling and deveining several lbs of shrimp.  If you have to wrangle with that much prepwork get an extra hand or two.  Just sayin'.

Amazonbutterfly made the spring rolls and did the veggie prep and I did the shrimp.  I think it was the first time I had homemade spring rolls and I think that they would a super easy thing to do when/if all the prep was done ahead of time (like sitting in containers in the fridge).  The shrimp while a bitch and a half to prep were simple to cook and I did a very straight forward garlic & ginger puree*/fish sauce stir fry with lime juice as a finish.  They turned out pretty good and kept their sweet shrimp taste with out turning into erasers.

 

I ended up eating most of mine for lunch today - cold - and it was an awesome thing to sit down to when the weather is so nasty out.

Here's the gist of the shrimp:

• 1.5 shrimp per spring roll so think 18 per dozen spring rolls.  That is two per person.  Actually this is kind of awesome because you can go for bigger shrimp but not have to buy a lot.
• For a vermicelli bowl, depending on how big of a bowl you wanna have I would say, maybe a half-dozen decent sized shrimp per bowl.
• For a small # of shrimp, peeling and deveining isn't a terrible chore, especially if you get them fresh from the market.
• Peel and devein the shrimp.
• Heat oil in a pan (doesn't matter what kind, and you don't need to over oil the pan - you're not deep frying the shrimp.  A good way to test whether the oil is hot enough put a quick splash of liquid in the pan.  If it sizzles and dances the oil is hot enough.  Just don't overheat your oil to the smoking point.  That's bad.
• Once the oil is ready, throw in a teaspoon or so of equal amounts of ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and then salt and pepper to taste.  Once you start smelling the ingredients, add your shrimp.  Don't overcrowd the pan - you'll drop the overall temperature of the pan - and keep the shrimp moving.  I add lime juice as a liquid while I'm cooking shrimp. 
• Shrimp cook pretty quickly, almost surprisingly so, don't walk away from the pan.  Should take, roughly five minutes-ish.
• Remove the shrimp from heat.  There you go, all done.  If you want to use them for spring rolls you might want to throw them in the fridge to cool them down before you cut them in half.
• Try not to overcook the shrimp.  Doing so gives them a gum eraser texture.

That's it.  Shrimp are one of the easiest things to cook.

 

Hope all of you are well and had a safe 4th of July.  "Party on and be excellent to one anothers."

  

*We used a tube of garlic puree and one for ginger.  I also mashed up some fresh ginger for the juice.  I know some folks might poo-poo a tube of garlic but sometimes you just don't want to fuck around with peeling and all that jive.  Next time I think I would use my roasted garlic paste.

A recipe that sounds fancier than it is:

Country Sausage with red onions, chiles, and sun-dried tomatoes on couscous with minced basil and lemon juice.

Ooo-la-la, Mr. Fancy Pantsy

Seriously folks, the hardest part of this is having the patience to brown up the sausage.  Also if you've never heard of or experimented with couscous before it's a grain primarily used in dishes from around the Mediterranean.  It's easier and faster to make than rice and in some ways I prefer it because I get bored with all the damn rice I eat.  Here's the directions for couscous -  1cup water.  boil.  add 1 cup couscous, stir, cover, remove from heat, check in five minutes.  Hell, I was lazy and just nuked a mug of water and added couscous and covered and it worked.

Saucisse avec des oignons, de piments, et tomates séchées au soleil:  (ain't everything fancier in French?)

1/2 lb Country Sausage - browned and drained
1/2 red onion - chopped

2 tablespoons minced sun-dried tomatoes

2 tablespoons dried chile flakes (or less if you are scared)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 small can chopped mushrooms (optional) - reserve juice for couscous

1cup couscous - plain

The juice from the canned mushrooms and add water to make a cup

1 lemon 

1 teaspoon of basil (I used dried)

1.  Cook sausage till it's done.  How do you know it's done?  If someone gave it to you, would you eat it?  No?  It ain't done.  Break it up as you stir, to normal human bite size-ish pieces.
2.  Put cooked sausage on some paper towels on a plate, get rid of excess fat and grease.

3.  Return pan to heat, saute the onion, chile flakes, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes.

4.  After a few minutes, return the drained sausage (tee hee hee) to the pan.  Cook for a couple of minutes.

5.  Boil water for couscous.  Add couscous to boiling water.  Remove from heat and cover.  Wait five minutes.

6.  Fluff couscous with fork, add basil and juice from a lemon.

Cook and prep time is roughly 30 minutes.

Hope all of you are well and not sweating to death.

Actual news

Right out of the gate, thanks to the efforts of a dear friend the new url is: www.hooliganyouth.com

Yes, gone are the days of oppressive typing and excessive remembering of the old url.  Additionally it'll look cooler when printed on hooliganyouth related schtuff.