I'm leaving this morning for Las Vegas for a few days. I'll be back on Sunday night. I am meeting up with some ex-SJCers there. A contingent of current SJC residents is already there and Newmark hails from Vegas, so he's back for the holidays.

I'll be meeting up with Tyson, Adam, and Phil. I haven't seen Tyson since November of last year. I haven't seen Adam since the Canada Day Classic of 2006. It's been over two years since I've seen Phil.

It should be a good time. We haven't planned much but I figure if we even just have a few beers together, it will have been worth the trip. Actually, I was thinking if I had more time, I would have arranged to have two hockey nets placed on top of a parking garage somewhere and we'd play a round of ball hockey, just like old times. That would have been awesome.

I don't expect to be posting on the road, so I'll be back on Sunday with a report.

1 Comments

I'm looking forward to the holidays. Among the many reasons, one of them is that I'll have more time to write some quality posts. For both you, the readers, and me, that's a good thing. In the meantime, here's a quick peek at what I have in store. If posts were movies, these would be trailers and from the looks of it, there seem to be some sequels.

In a recent post, I wrote about how I've noticed that the general gaming public loves to hate my employer, Electronic Arts. In fact, it almost seems like the default cool thing to write "EA games suck" or "EA developers are lazy" on message boards. Beyond what I wrote in my original post, I have some more thoughts on this subject. Do you think I'll agree with those statements above? You'll find out soon enough.

During grad school, I wrote a post about the hypothetical situation in which, somehow, I became the last person on the planet. In my theoretical predicament, every other person had disappeared. I detailed how I might find shelter, food, and amusement. It was an interesting exercise. In light of seeing the new movie I Am Legend, I'd like to revisit this post and add on the details of survivors. I am no longer alone. Civilization is gone but I now also have to deal with light-fearing, violent former human beings. How do I survive now in the Greater Vancouver area?

I'd like to write a post about my left knee. That's all I want to say about that for now.

I've recently discovered some old high school acquaintances on Facebook. From looking at their pictures, a large majority of them have now started families. I also met up with some of my old undergrad friends last week. Three out of the four couples there had at least one baby. The entire evening was almost exclusively baby talk. When I write that, I mean they were discussing babies, not speaking like a baby would. Anyways, being still single, I have some thoughts on seeing all that.

Last but not least, I'd like to discuss some orzo recipes that I have tried in the past.

0 Comments

I've watched the first hour or so of Will Smith's movie, I Am Legend. Not only is it a pirated copy, it's a streaming copy too. How easy is it to partake in piracy these days? Back when I was a kid, you had to find a torrent and then spend hours, even days waiting for peers and seeds before you start watching a movie.

Anyways, while it's streaming, the quality, both in video and audio is complete crap but you get the idea of what's going on. If you know me, there was no way I wouldn't see at least a bit of this movie in some way. It's got all the elements that fascinate me when it comes to fiction: human survival in a post-apocalyptic world brought about by a pathogen that turns humans into dangerous, violent creatures.

I Am Legend started out as a book written by the talented Richard Matheson. It was written in the 1950s and has been made into film form twice, once with Vincent Price and the other with Charlton Heston. I rented the Heston version once. It was nearly unwatchable, in fact I remember forcing myself to watch the end even though I just wanted to return the tape half way through. The Vincent Price version is better, though I haven't finished watching it. That version is now public domain, so you can watch it for free (legally) now. Try this link if you're interested.

I must have read the book about seven or eight years ago. The thing that I still remember now about the book is a section where Matheson describes how Neville, the protagonist, makes dinner alone in his home. We are shown how Neville gathers vegetables from his pantry, he taking note how much he has left, especially the garlic. We privy to the clatter of a frozen steak against a black, cast-iron frying pan. In short, it's a few paragraphs describing a man making a simple dinner with ordinary items that anyone can identify with.

What no one could identify with, is the reality of the world Neville is doing this in. The context of which is what makes the ordinary, the making of dinner, stand out so much. Early in the day, he had gone out, in sunlight, to hunt infected human beings, rousing them from their dark hiding places and staking them through the heart. The fact that there are no grocery stores anymore makes it that much more compelling that he's even able to make an ordinary dinner. His steak was frozen. Where can you get beef in such a world? How do you even get electricity to run a freezer? When does it become normal to go home and fry up a steak after killing infected people?

In stories like this, we can all agree that the zombies and the vampires are indeed interesting but let us not gloss over the human survival aspect of it. How could a person survive? Where would they get food? What would cities look like? Where would you live? How would you arm yourself? Would you go insane?

It's telling that in many reviews of Smith's new movie, the critics say their favourite parts of the movie are early on, when Neville is shown alone in the city with only his dog to keep in company. He's just going about his daily routine in a strangely deserted New York City. These same critics feel the action-parts, later on, where the infected humans starting showing up, are the weakest parts of the film.

This won't be the last movie of its type and when the next one comes along, I'll be asking, "what would I do in that world?"

3 Comments

I knew I should written a post before taking a sleeping pill. Now, I've waited too long and I can barely keep my eyes open. It's a shame since I was going to write about what I had for lunch today. I'll try to make up for it tomorrow.

0 Comments