All settled in
Sorry about the delay, I was waiting until I got my first paycheck to post anything. I figured I’d be settled in enough to set aside time exclusively to write a decent article. I’ve crammed a lot of stuff into this one to make up for the big delay. We’ve got two CD reviews, an anime review, and, for the first time in a while, a game review.
So, here I am, three weeks into my new job at Cessna and things are going pretty well so far. I haven’t done much of what you might call actual engineering. In fact, most of the work I’ve done has almost not been clerical. But, I understand it is necessary at this point while I try to get a handle on how things operate here. I also feel like I’m having to learn a new language. People are using acronyms left and right and I recognize them merely in that they are letters of the alphabet. For a while I was happy I understood at least that. While some of the lingo has started to make sense, an unusual predicament has risen because of it. At first I was troubled by not knowing what was going on, but now I think I’m more troubled because I does make sense. It’s like “Oh I get it…oh dear God save me.” It’s coming to the realization that Dilbert may very well be the 8th Pillar of Wisdom because it’s all true. Terms like synergy, multi-tasking, empowerment, and database management begin to make sense. I’m overexaggerrating of course, but sometimes the terms get thrown around a lot and it disturbs me a little that I actually know what they mean.
I like the folks I work with so far. Though I am surprised a little about how disgruntled some people can get. Well, maybe surprised isn’t the right word because that would imply ignorance of disgruntled people. A better word would probably be reminded. In any case, the point is that some folks seem rather ungrateful that they were hired and are paid by this company. I don’t quite understand, but whatever floats their boat. I’m also picking up on all the little nuances of office life such as scavenging for office supplies, talking to the tech support department that needs more help than we do, co-workers who truly love telling you about their hobbies for a couple of hours longer than necessary, and the prairie dog-like qualities of the cubicle farm (it’s hilarious to watch all the heads pop up when something unexpected happens). My personal favorite is when you walk down a long hallway and someone else appears on the other end. Their eyes will meet yours for one microsecond, then spend the rest of the long walk covering every square inch of the hallway (sometimes twice) that is not physically occupied by your body. I take the “stare straight forward tactic” which works until someone walks right down your lane.
All in all things are going well here in Wichita. The cats seem happy here. They enjoy knocking as many of my things over as they can as many times as they can. Vitaro is growing and he is a very affectionate and loving cat. Blitz is still, well, fat. But, I enjoy his company and I think Vitaro would be lonely if he wasn’t here.
Music: Toby Mac – Welcome to Diverse City
Since dc Talk went on it’s “hiatus,” the three members have been busy with their own solo projects. Kevin Max makes weird Sting-esque music, Michael Tait sticks closer to the likes of Third Eye Blind and Matchbox Twenty, and Toby Mac’s music…is just about everywhere else (except country, thank goodness). While his first album stuck mostly with rock and rap with a lil’ bit o’ soul thrown in, Welcome to Diverse City goes all over the musical map. The opening track is a little reminiscent of old dc Talk tunes and is mostly a “Hey there, I’m back” sort of song. But then the CD literally takes off with tracks two and three. Track two, “Catchafire (Whoopsie-Daisy)” is a hard rock/rap song that combines musical elements from across the ocean. It’s followed up by “The Slam” which could quite frankly be used as a modern anthem for Christians. As I listen to it, I get excited about what Jesus did for us and what exactly that means for us today. From there the album musically moves on into melodic acoustic (“Atmosphere”), upbeat rock (“Gone”), rap/funk (the title track), and to parts beyond. There’s even a song where his son (who has to be like, 8 or 9 at the oldest) sings and raps. It’s a fun little track and the dialogue between Toby and his son at the end is hilarious. From beginning to end, Diverse City is an album that takes you by surprise and is thoroughly enjoyable. And I’m telling you this as someone who really isn’t much of a rap music fan. As an extra treat, Toby is joined on the last track by Tait, K-Max, and the rest of the old dc Talk band, an excellent remix of “Atmosphere.” It almost makes you want to hold up a lighter in the middle of the song.
Music: Shawn McDonald – Ripen
As everyone knows, I love coffee shops. I love the warm drinks (even if it is a candy-bar-in-a-cup), the long conversations with friends and family, and the mellow music that set the nice, laid-back atmosphere of a good coffee house. It’s this sort of warm and friendly atmosphere that develops in my mind every time I pop a Shawn McDonald CD into the player. He is relatively new to the music scene. His fantastic debut album Simply Nothing was surprisingly basic, both musically and lyrically. He rarely uses anything more than his voice, acoustic guitar and a few background sounds from the keyboard. And his lyrics are very straightforward and there’s no question about a song’s subject matter (unlike some bands) which, by the way, deals with our relationship with God and many of the songs can be seen as simple prayers of faith. However, do not see the basic nature of his music as a weak point. The direct approach Shawn took in his first album made for an excellent and refreshing listen. On his second album, Ripen, Shawn stretches his creative abilities and puts together one amazing musical experience. His lyrics are still direct-which in a time of weird emo and goth bands is actually a Godsend-yet he has expanded his musical influences. Some tracks still keep that simplicity from his first album, but others, such as “I Am Nothing,” “Take Hold,” and “Imago” show the growth he has made from his first album. The whole album is wonderful, but the songs that truly stand out are “I Am Nothing,” “Free,” and “Confess,” a love song he wrote to his wife. It’s very encouraging for me to see artists bringing originality back into the Christian music scene and I very highly recommend picking up Shawn’s music. He also has a live album that I understand has a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I’d go out and get it, but Ripen is still securely fastened to my CD player.
Anime: Infinite Ryvius
I like stories that delve into the subject of human nature. Books like Lord of the Flies, The Pearl, and Flowers for Algernon are among my all-time favorites. So when I saw a trailer for Infinite Ryvius, I was naturally interested. The story is set in the not-too-distant future. Earth has developed the ability to travel throughout space, but not Star Trek light-speed style. We’re still talking about shuttles and space stations that don’t have gravity. It centers around a group of teenagers sent to a training station above Earth for space flight training. However, in a mysterious act of sabotage, all the adult instructors and crew members are killed and the children evacuate onto a large ship hidden within the station known as the Ryvius. They are left to piece together what happened, how to maintain order on the ship and, ultimately, how to get home. So it presents itself with an interesting setting for human interactions, both good and bad. Ideal for great story-telling. So, does it live up to my expectations? Mostly. The English translation script could’ve done with a few more revisions, but the voice acting overall isn’t bad. Ryvius has a large cast with a few standout characters (kind of like Lost though not quite as detailed), namely two brothers, Koji and Yuki who, for reasons that are slowly revealing themselves, have hated each other since before the beginning of the series. Love triangles, military conspiracies, and a strange girl with an equally weird reddish pink outfit who appears randomly, a strange ship all come into play (all par for the course as far as an anime is concerned I’d say) for a story that is all in all pretty fun to watch.
Game: The Godfather
There are very few movies have the esteemed Legendary status. Movies that will be remembered for ages to come like Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, King Kong, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to mention some. The Godfather series of films are also among that list so when I saw that Electronic Arts made mention of plans to create a game based on this classic series, my curiosity was naturally piqued. Would they do the series justice? What style of game will it be? Who on earth are you playing as? All these were questions that were not only on my mind, but many other people’s as well. The game released this last Tuesday and, needless to say, I was a little hesitant to pick it up. Now, the question every game must answer is this: Is it worth it? Answer: Yes…sort of. It will depend a lot on what someone looks for in a game. This game doesn’t have the mass appeal to it that games like the Halo and Half-Life series have, but it does have it’s own little niche. The story is set in The Godfather‘s world and storyline, but you play as an obscure background character in the story (whose name and personage you create yourself), but you apparently have the potential to rise to the level of Mafia Don so at some point the game’s storyline leaves the movie’s. I haven’t gotten there yet so I’m not sure how they handle it.
Okay, on to the review. Firstly, playing style. The gameplay is action-oriented from a third-person perspective, much like Grand Theft Auto III and Gun. The controls can be tricky to learn however. Fist-fights can be tricky ordeals, especially if you have a lot of people to take down. This is probably the second weakest point of the game (I’ll get to the weakest in a minute). Once you get the hang of it, it’s quite fun and some of the gun battles get pretty exciting. And there is a lot of stuff to do! You can work to take over businesses for the family, pick up hit contracts, protection duties, or you can follow the game’s main storyline. This is where I think they dropped the ball. One of the biggest selling points in my mind is a game’s ability to tell a story (a brilliant example of game story-telling is Indigo Prophecy). While The Godfather game’s storyline is good (it is after all, following the original closely) it seems much too short. I think I’ve accomplished 30% of the story missions already and I’ve barely played more than a few hours. Now, this may change as the game gets progressively harder, but I haven’t seen that change yet. The graphics are actually quite good. I’ve noticed a few bugs with it, but overall very top notch and nothing that can’t be fixed in a game patch. The characters from the movie look strikingly
similar to the originals and the facial expressions are amazing (the photos are posted above for comparison, top left is the film, bottom right is the game). The only one that seemed off to me is Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). But, like I said, my grievances with the graphics are very minor. A nice little touch they added is the ability to unlock clips from the original movies some of which they re-create in-game. Overall, a player’s ability to enjoy this game will come down to their patience with the controls at first and a love for the setting. I have both so I enjoy the game, despite its shortcomings.
I apologize if that was a little drawn out, but I love the Godfather series and was very anxious about what the game had in store for it. I’ll try not to be so wordy about the next one.
Comic Update
I’ve actually been keeping up with the weekly comic posting schedule fairly well. Right now, I’m up to comic number 6. I feel a little clumsy right trying to get the humor right. For those who know me well, and/or have some knowledge of the things I joke about, it’s fairly enjoyable. But, I can see the humor being lost of some people who have neither (or even just one) of those things. I’m trying to aim for a sort of “accessibility” that’ll entertain the average Joe, but those who are in-the-know will get an extra treat out of it. I’m taking the shotgun approach: point and shoot, see what I hit, what I missed, reload and shoot again. Hey it worked for Ulysses S. Grant in the Civil War, why not me and my web comic.
Parting Words
One last little bit of fun-ness. Robby, who continues to introduce me to things that are far more addicting than they really should be, has introduced me to MySpace, an online community where you set up your own customized page with pics, music, videos, whatever and meet a lot of other people. So, if the urge should take you, head over to my MySpace page here. Ok everyone, enjoy the new Spring season (if it actually exists where you live). The pics below are from DeviantArt yet again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go synergize my databases in a multi-tasking, hostile take over of several managerial processes (actually, I’m just gonna go play some more Godfather).
