Author: skoce

NFL Picks Week 11

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I’m sick and for behind on NaNoWriMo. So again just lazy picks. Though I do want to note that I am loving Tim Tebow. I won’t try to convince anyone that I picked the Broncos Thurs, I didn’t, but I love what he’s doing. Sure, he’s getting a lot of help from a suddenly competent Defense, but he makes plays in the clutch an doesn’t turn the ball over. I would absolutely love it if they made the playoffs. I want to hear more analysts cry over how “bad” he is. It fills me with joy.

Jets at Broncos: Jets
Jaguars at Browns: Jaguars
Panthers at Lions: Lions
Buccaneers at Packers: Packers
Bills at Dolphins: Bills
Raiders at Vikings: Raiders
Cowboys at Redskins: Cowboys
Bengals at Ravens: Ravens
Seahawks at Rams: Seahawks
Cardinals at 49ers: 49ers
Titans at Falcons: Falcons
Chargers at Bears: Bears
Eagles at Giants: Giants
Chiefs at Patriots: Patriots

Last Week: 7-9
Season: 97-47

NFL Picks Week 10

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I went 9-5 last week.  That’s solid.  Still no time for half-baked analysis, just picks.

Will everyone believe that I picked the Raiders on Thursday?  I forgot there was Thursday game, but I totally picked the Raiders over the Chargers.

Raiders at Chargers: Raiders

Saints at Falcons: Falcons
Steelers at Bengals: Steelers
Browns at Rams: Browns
Bills at Cowboys: Bills
Jaguars at Colts: Colts
Broncos at Chiefs: Broncos
Redskins at Dolphins: Dolphins
Cardinals at Eagles: Eagles
Texans at Buccaneers: Texans
Titans at Panthers: Panthers
Ravens at Seahawks: Ravens
Lions at Chicago: Bears
Giants at 49ers: Giants
Patriots at Jets: Jets
Vikings at Packers: Packers

Last Week:  9-5

Season:  90-40

What I Read in October

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October was not a good month of reading for me. I was stuck on a book that I’m not sure I like, though I’m not far enough in to make a judgement. (Acacia by David Anthony Durham) I did read three books on my phone, though. Sorry for how quick these reviews are, I’m writing this while taking a short break from NaNoWriMo to do this.

The Beasts of Tarzan.
Edgar Rice Burroughs.

This book is one long chase scene, with Tarzan trying to rescue Jane and their child from some angry Russians. It doesn’t have the same pop of the some of Burroughs best work. It feels contrived and ridiculous. The only interesting part is the introduction of Tarzan’s pet leopard, Sheeta. I have largely been a fan of the Burroughs books that I’ve read, but this is easily the weakest of his I’ve read.

The Prisoner of Zenda
Anthony Hope.

This is a damn fine adventure novel. Rudolf Rassendyll visit’s a country ruled by his supposed cousins (due to illegitimacy long ago.), only to get involved in a conspiracy dealing with that ruling family. Since Rudolf looks exactly like he cousin Rudolf, he impersonates him to try to foil the evil Black Michael’s plot to steal the throne.

Rudolf, along with some of his cousin’s closest friends, manage to fool the people and fight Black Michael at every turn. Along the way, he falls in love with Flavia, the King’s fiance.

The Prisoner of Zenda is a short, brisk read. The action never lets up and while it occasionally melodramatic, it constantly entertaining.

Rupert of Hentzau
Anthony Hope

This is the sequel to Zenda, and Rudolf returns to Ruritania to defend his love against the villainous Rupert of Hentzau and the jealousy of the King.

It ends up with all the old faces playing the old games. Rudolf loves the Queen, but even after (spoilers!) the King dies he can’t bring himself to take his place, even though everyone wants him to.

It is as fine a sequel as possible, and they are both short enough to read together. I’ve seen these two books referred to as minor classics, and I think that is a good way to refer to them. Zenda and Hentzau are fine romantic adventures, but they definitely tend toward melodrama.

You’re Not the Boss of Me Now!

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And you’re not so big!

Is there a show with a better theme song than Malcolm in the Middle?  That repeated refrain perfectly encapsulates what the show is about.  It is about never accepting authority, no matter who wields it.  About no letting anybody tell you who you are.

You’re not the boss of me now!

Any character in the show could be intoning that phrase. It could be Malcolm or one of the other kids fighting against the unfair strictures of Lois (and Hal).  It could be Dewey raging against his sadistic elder brothers.  Or Francis thumbing his nose at Commandant Spangler at the military academy.  It could be Lois herself refusing to back down from the realities of the world.

You’re not the boss of me now!

I’ve been watching Malcolm on netflix since I finished Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  I watched it for years in syndication, but I haven’t seen it much over the last couple of years.  In that time I had forgotten just how good it was.  It is a continual struggle between Lois and her children.  But the majority of the problems she has with them are of her own creation.  Her and Hal constantly reinforce in their children the value of standing up for yourself and doing what they believe is right, no matter the cause.  She seems to never realize that they will turn those lessons back at her.  It makes for a very entertaining show.

You’re not the boss of me now!

I’ve only made it through the first 2 seasons, but already the show has shifted from focusing on Malcolm and more on the family as a whole.  A family, nameless as far as I know but netflix calls them the Wilkersons, that is more relatable than any one TV.  They fight constantly among themselves, but as soon as an outside threat presents itself, the band together.  Fighting with family is tolerated, fighting for family is a sacred duty.   Of course, they do not always live up to this ideal, but more often than not it holds true.

And you’re not so big!

Malcolm is a show smart enough to shake it up before the status quo grows too stale, but not to change the heart of the shows relationships. Especially Francis.   Francis stays at the military academy until they run out of stories to tell there.  So they find a new place for him to go.  He goes to Alaska, but that only lasts one season.  There wasn’t much there, so they dropped it, and he left.  But his relationship with Piama was good, so it stayed.  He stopped obsessing over his mother so much.  He didn’t stop, but early on that was the sole focus of his character.  By the end of season 2 it is just a part of it.  It is actual, genuine character growth in a sitcom.  Amazing, I know.  I am excited to watch the rest of the series and see if it all holds up.

Life is unfair.

NFL Picks Week 9

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Sorry for the lack of commentary, I’m doing NaNoWriMo and I have little time for blogging. Also, this will be a slow month on the blog in general. Picks:

Jets at Bills: Jets
Chiefs at Dolphins: Chiefs (I so want to pick Dolphins)
Seahawks at Cowboys: Cowboys
Falcons at Colts: Falcons
Buccanneers at Saints: Saints
49ers at Redskins: 49ers
Browns at Texans: Texans
Bengals at Titans: Bengals
Broncos at Raiders: Raiders
Giants at Patriots: Patriots
Rams at Cardinals: Rams
Packers at Chargers: Packers
Ravens at Steelers: Steelers
Bears at Eagles: Eagles

Last Week: 10-3
Season: 81-35

Video Game Archaeology 6: Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures

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It is time for more Video Game Archaeology! Video Game Archaeology is my monthly exploration of an artifact video game found during my excavations of various bargain bins and yard sales; an examination of a game cast off and long forgotten. This month’s Video Game Archaeology entry is significantly less obscure than any of the previous ones. Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures is not exactly an unknown SNES game, though it is definitely not one of the systems most famous games. Still, it is a game based on one of the most popular film franchises ever. I, however, was wholly unaware of the game until it was released for Virtual Console a couple of years ago. I wasn’t shocked to discover that there had been an Indiana Jones SNES game, but it did stun me that I had managed to remain unfamiliar with it for all that time. At first this lead me to conclude that the game simply wasn’t very good. If was worth playing I would have heard about it. That changed when I noticed that nearly everyone who played had only good things to say about it. When I started doing my Indiana Jones movie reviews earlier this month, I finally decided to drop the 8 space dollars needed to download this and see for myself how good it was.

Boxart for Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures

Image via Wikipedia

Like Big Sky Trooper last month, Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures was from LucasArts and published, at least on the SNES, but JVC Musical Industries in 1994, though this was developed by Factor 5. Factor 5 is famous for the Star Wars Rogue Squadron games, though at the time they may have been famous for the Turrican series. Factor 5 and LucasArts had a long successful relationship, but Factor 5 disappeared a few years ago after the failure of Lair for the PS3.

Indy is a standard SNES action game, much like LucasArts’ Super Star Wars series, also for the SNES or Super Castlevania IV. The Castlevania comparison is an easy one, but they are not particularly similar. At least not more than any two SNES action games. They use the standard level progression and utilize passwords instead of saves, both those are just conventions of the genre. They do both share a primary weapon, the whip. In Castlevania it is a vital, versatile tool. In Indy the whip is much more limited. Especially when it comes to using the whip to swing around the stage. It is more fluid and more precise in Castlevania, while in Indy it feels sloppy and somewhat tacked on. Which is strange, because for the most part Indy controls much more fluidly than the arthritic Belmont.

Graphically, Indy is a nice looking game. Not mind-blowing, but a solid, competent SNES game. Apparently in a nice nod to the fact that Harrison Ford played both, Indy’s sprite is largely identical to the Hon Solo sprite from Super Return of the Jedi, though I haven’t played so I cannot confirm this. The music is a bit iffy. Sometimes it is spot on renditions of classic Indy music, sometimes it is kind of crappy renditions of classic Indy music.

As the name suggests, Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures provides playable versions of famous scenes from all three original Indy movies. Starting with the temple and boulder chase from Raiders of the Lost Arc. Each game has about 10 levels, give or take a few for a total of 28. I managed to play most of them thanks to my looking the passwords up online manly perseverance. It is about as accurate as a 2D action game version of a movie could hope to be. Sure there are some strange changes, like Walter Donovan’s skeleton after he chooses poorly being the final boss, but most of the stages are somewhat close to how you remember the scenes from the movies. There are a few Mode 7 stages, but I was not impressed.

Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures is a very good game, but it is hardly essential. The fact that so few good games have been made based on these film is baffling, since they are perfect for it. This SNES one is a game worth playing. Maybe not worth tracking down 20 years later, but since it is readily available on Virtual Console I recommend Indy fans give it a whirl, as well as those who appreciate a quality 2D action game.

NFL Picks Week 8

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My picks were awful last week, with me going 7-6. Some were obviously bad, like Titans over Texans, but some were complete surprises, like Jags over Ravens. Hopefully this is a blip on my otherwise solid prediction season.

This week is cowards week for me. I want to pick several upsets, but since I kind of want to pick so many, I am going to pick none. I want to pick the Colts over the Titans. Yeah, the Colt were Godawful last week, but they will win a game or two. I want to pick the Vikings over the Panthers, but despite some baffling hype Ponder was worse that McNabb has been all season. I want to ride the Tebow train over the Lions, but I think the Lions are legitimately too good. And I want to pick the Chiefs over the Chargers, but both of these teams are frauds. The Chiefs only beat the Raiders because they had the worst QB play I’ve seen in years and didn‘t have McFadden for most of the game. Palmer had a very good excuse, not knowing the playbook because he had been there all of 4 days; Boller was just sad. I think he played himself out of any sort of permanent roster spot. The Chargers are just as bad as the Chiefs. I still think the Raiders win that division, but he Chargers win this game.

Colts at Titans: Titans
Saints at Rams: Saints
Dolphins at Giants: Giants
Vikings at Panthers: Panthers
Cardinals at Ravens: Ravens
Jaguars at Texans: Texans
Redskins at Bills: Bills
Lions at Broncos: Lions
Patriots at Steelers: Steelers
Browns at 49ers: 49ers
Bengals at Seahawks: Bengals
Cowboys at Eagles: Eagles
Chargers at Chiefs: Chargers

Last Week: 7-6

Season: 71-32

The Big Year Review

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Ads for The Big Year seemed to position it as a comedy, which I guess isn’t strictly wrong, but anyone expecting raucous laughs will be disappointed. It is funny; Steve Martin never fails to amuse, Jack Black has a few masterful pratfalls and Owen Wilson is as glib as ever. However, The Big Year is not a film reliant on jokes, it is character driven. And bird driven. It repeatedly starts obvious comic set ups only to quickly deflate them. The Big Year purposefully avoids it comic potential to tell a more sedate, thoughtful story.

The Big Year is about three bird watchers, or birders as they apparently like to be called. Steve Martin plays Stu Preissler , a successful businessman who is eager to retire and enjoy his hobby full-time. Jack Black is a down on his luck middle class guy who wants to do something special. And Owen Wilson is the champion birder who is planning to start a family with his wife. All three end up doing a big year, which is a birder’s attempt to see as many birds as possible in a single year. As much as this movie is about these three characters, it is also about the birds. I am going to assume that the bird information is accurate, though I know little about it myself, but the film revels in the scenery and wildlife of North America. They travel to the four corners of the continent in attempts to see the most rare of birds. Each of the main characters face personal challenges to complete the big year. Real life is always trying to draw them out of their birding obsession, from business, to family to simple survival.

The competition between the trio is mostly downplayed. Black’s and Martin’s characters immediately become friends and their one spat is quickly resolved because both characters are adults. Which is why the laughs are a bit lacking in this supposed comedy. Situations arise that would normally be the fodder for jokes, but characters in The Big Year act like adults for the most part, hurting the comedy potential. Owen Wilson is sneaky, but never truly underhanded. In all it is remarkable how nice and likeable all the characters are. Wilson’s constant absence from his wife opens up the possibility of her cheating on him, but even though he is playing the villain here, he is not a bad enough guy that viewers would relish his comeuppance.

In the end, The Big Year is almost more of a tragedy than a comedy. Each character faces important decisions over the course of the year and must live with the results of those decisions. The results are not unexpected, but in at least one case it is quite sad. AS a comedy, this film lacks humor; as a drama it lacks focus.  It is a likable but forgettable movie that entertains but never truly engrosses the viewer.   The Big Year is about three men choosing what is most important to them and having to face the consequences.

Laaayyytooonnn!!!

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Professor Layton has ruined me for adventure games. I know that Layton’s games aren’t quite classic adventure games, but the differences are why I love Layton and why I am indifferent to most of the genre.

In most adventure games, the developers have to go to extreme lengths to incorporate the puzzles into the game world. The games are intricately designed to give the player the tools needed to solve their problems and to make sure that each of those tools has a believable reason to be there. In the end, I find that it generally hamstrings both the puzzles and the stories the puzzles are propping up. The story is forced into situations that allow the player to solve puzzles and the puzzles are forced to fit into the general milieu. No puzzles involving ray guns, because ray guns don’t make sense. The story needs you to go in this storage closet because you have to have a screwdriver later. It may only be a problem to me, but the delicate blending of story and puzzle usually leaves both unsatisfying.

The Professor Layton series gets around this problem by flatly ignoring it. You solve puzzles because that is what the game is about. Brainteasers and the like. The story of is there because it is the most entertaining method of delivering those puzzles. The good Professor’s cases are always charming, at least somewhat due to his world’s fascination with puzzles. Instead of building the puzzles into the story, though the fourth game has done this a couple of times by the halfway point, Layton merely has characters offer them to the player as challenges. Sure, this crazy old bat has the information you need, but she’ll only give it to you if you solve her puzzle. What the puzzle is doesn’t matter at all to the story. The stories in Layton games are always charming pieces of fluff. They occasionally hit a strong, moving character moment, but rarely is there anything exceptional.

But the puzzles are invariably better than those I’ve encountered in actual adventure games. Solving a Layton puzzle is so satisfying. The game presented you with a challenge and you overcame it. In regular adventure games, when I finally stumble upon the solution, my reaction is usually vague anger. It is either so ridiculously circuitous a solution that I hate the game for thinking it up or stupidly easy, but frustratingly obtuse. Either way it is no fun.

I’ve played enough Layton games now that I know I can never go back to the old games. I’m sure I’ll try them out occasionally, because I can never leave well enough alone. I’m sure adventure game purists will scoff at my missing the point for hating adventure games for what makes them great. The only thing I’m not sure of is my continued access to future Layton games. I can only hope that unlike every other game I like, Professor Layton has been financially successful here in the states and they keep being made. But that is just me being grouchy and pessimistic. At least the Layton movie is being released here next month. I’ll have to buy that.

NFL Picks Week 7

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I’m tired and busy, so no commentary this week, just picks:

Seahawks at Browns: Browns
Falcons at Lions: Lions
Texans at Titans: Titans
Broncos at Dolphins: Broncos
Chargers at Jets: Jets
Bears at Buccaneers: Buccaneers
Redskins at Panthers: Redskins
Chiefs at Raiders: Raiders
Steelers at Cardinals: Steelers
Rams at Cowboys: Cowboys
Packers at Vikings: Packers
Colts at Saints: Saints
Ravens at Jaguars: Ravens

Last Week: 11-2

Total 64-26