DarthTofu

Looks like an interesting one, there. I do feel compelled to mention that I've seen that island before somewhere. It looks almost like the isle of Myst, just undeveloped. Though not quite, obviously.... hmm. I know I've seen that pic in a different context somewhere before....

Battlefront is a great game... on a console. On the PC, I didn't really think it was anything special. I dropped in, blasted my way through the campaign for a while, and fell asleep. I thought it was pretty lame, but that could just be because I never went online to play. My friend gave me the PS2 version of it for Christmas, though, and it was a blast. Somehow the PS2 controller makes the game feel smoother and better, and you really get the feeling that you're fighting hard for each inch of the battlefront. Battlefront 2 was, as you might imagine, even better. I'm borrowing that one- and have been for the past few months. Fortunately my friend has told me that he doesn't want it back any time soon, because it's addicting as hell. Bad news on the code front: My friend thinks he gave me the manual, and I have no clue where I would have put said manual. Thus I'm still short a code. Think I should call up Lucasarts to try to prove to them that I did, in fact, buy the BoPC pack, but that I lost my code?

It certainly looks pretty, at any rate. I don't know if the plot will be decent or not, but I hope it is. It looks like they tried to use the highly stylized art from the Clone Wars cartoon series. That was probably a good move; if it was made to look like real people would pride themselves in seeing that it was fake, or call it a knock-off of something else. I'm a bit nervous about Anakin's little apprentice girl. "You have that look that says 'we're in trouble.'" "There's a look?" "You can't miss it." She just seems a tad... forced.

Highlighty:What if Two Face becomes an unknowable entity? Okay, that came out kinda wrong. What if his character is ambiguous? He believes in chaos, right? And chaos means having a strong enough good guy force as well as a strong enough bad guy force. So Harvey spends part of the movie trying to help, making cops act straight, cleaning up the streets, killing criminals as he goes- and another part of it helping the crime syndicate, making them more powerful so that there's more justice. That old fifty-fifty chance; right now the two sides aren't equal, but he has the potential to make them equal, and he chooses to. Then again, that might be a bit too campy, I guess. I do most certainly like the look of Bane, though. I tried to find him and couldn't; Derek Powers/Blight is a cool character, but he's probably too unbelievable for the series... unfortunately. Edit: If you want a little visual spoiler of what happens to... umm, one of the characters, click this link. It's a pic of one of the most stunning visual feats in the whole movie. Clickity

More discussion- read at your own risk. Gordon fakes his death for the safety of his family, not so that Joker wouldn't suspect him. Joker had so many pawns in so many places that anyone who stood up against him was at serious risk. This way Gordon could put Joker away with less fear of being caught. And I heard that it was deffinately called the Batpod. Ah, well. It certainly looked cool coming out, but my inner nerd will forever scream, "No, that's not allowed!" at it. I suppose Harvey might be alive- did anyone actually pronounce him dead, or might he just be passed out from pain and shock? I was actually surprised by the flame transition. I probably shouldn't have been, but I thought I remembered him getting his face mutated by chemicals or something like that. I was trying to figure out what this stuff that looked just like gasoline was... and then I found out when his face lit up and felt like an idiot. If he does get his own movie, I think it can certainly work. He gets the idea that Gordon and the Batman both have to die, to make things fair. The only problem is that he doesn't know Batman's secret identity, and Gordon, now the commissioner in the most dangerous city ever, is way too well protected for Harvey to even think about taking him out and still go for Batman. Knowing that he can't kill Gordon before he kills Batman, he seeks to make Batman come to him- copy the Joker a bit, by performing similar acts, killing civilians until Batman comes to him for that final revenge. Gordon, obviously, gets wrapped up in it as well, but is put into an odd situation- Two Face knows how important he was as Harvey, and is threatening to undo all of that by revealing that he's still around and what he's done, forcing Gordon's hand. It could be very good. God, but that makeup/CGI was the best I've ever seen! Now then, other villains we could tap: I have nothing. Mr. Freeze and Penguin are probably eternally ruined by poor Batman movies of yesteryear (thank you for that, Arnold, I appreciate it). Poison Ivy, maybe, but not likely. I vote Riddler as well, but he's still a tad campy. They could always go for the set of villains from Batman Beyond- I'd not mind that. Heck, they could make a few of their own villains and I wouldn't mind that too much. In fact, I wonder why that cartoon series didn't last longer than it did. It was good stuff.

Dinoriders is post toast (repost, for those of you who don't speak Internet) as well. As is "SWEET! Futurama's on!", as is "Find X," as is "Teamwork," as is "Powerleveling," as is... okay, I'm out of easily accessible materiel to check on in the little "past posts" section, but there's still a lot that's been reposts of late. Not that I really mind too much. They're still funny the second time around, and at this point it's a bit ridiculous to ask folks to keep track of 'em. Though I do feel obligated to point out that Krytos's "This Guy Looks Legit" candy van one was posted twice by the same person- Krytos.

Finally saw it. Highlight for spoilery goodness. Where to begin- well, probably the beginning. I got confused as hell by the fake Scarecrow. Was that a toss-back to Begins? I didn't quite get it. In fact, I thought it was the same actor at first. I liked the fake Batmen, though. The tech in this one ticked me off. In Begins it was a bit out there, but by and large it was believable. With this new one... not so much. But the Batpod.... sorry, while everyone else drooled, I gagged. It comes out of the freaking tank car? What? That makes absolutely no sense. And there wasn't even a reference to having Fox do some work on it or something- just that it existed. The new suit was kinda cool, though- I liked that. The sonar-style vision thing annoyed me, though. He has nothing over his eyes, yet he can see the sonar style of the rooms? What? And it comes in in such clarity- didn't make sense. Luscius's cell phone in China- how did it take out the power, again? An electromagnet that powerful just wouldn't work. Plus the Chinese guys would probably have turned off the power, though I'll cede that it might be activated remotely. All the same, no way it would have the power to totally wipe out the building's power. Actual plot: I liked that very much. Ledger did an amazing job, and scared the piss out of me several times. I damn near wet myself when he had his knife in the crime lord's mouth. "Why so serious?" Best performance ever, there. I especially loved the psychology of him- no purpose besides destruction. The thing with the ferries was great, especially when the one inmate tossed the detonator out the window. I was sort of expecting it, but the performance made me believe in the tension of it. I wasn't expecting Rachel's death at all. That was a huge shock, and was almost as good as the destruction of the Batmobile. Unexpected, fresh, wonderful. Gordon's death on the other hand... he wasn't commissioner yet. I knew he'd live. Two Face: He got shafted a bit, here. Not to the degree that Venom did in Spiderman 3, but he did get shafted. He should have gotten to live beyond the end of this movie, or he should have gotten his own film. The makeup, performance, and lines were all perfect- don't get me wrong there. I loved how Dent and Wayne both saw one another as the one man who could save the city; I just wanted a bit more of Two Face. All in all, 8.5 out of 10 stars. It was a great movie, but it could have been just a bit better. Tech was a bit too out there (assembling a fingerprint off of a shattered bullet, and digitally to boot?), and Gordon's death was too cheesy, but other than that, it was all splendid.

For lack of anything better to do with my time today (I'm not allowed to because of the bloody stitches) I watched Donnie Darko, and rather enjoyed it. The movie simultaneously makes absolutely no sense and is the most profound thing i've seen in quite a while. I seriously don't know how to describe it. After watching it I somehow knew that it was good, but didn't fully understand why it was good. Reading the Wikipedia article on it helped me to figure it out- that movie was overall very good. I got a bit of a shock when I found out it was made in 2001, though. I kept assuming that it was made in 1988, seeing as most movies like that are set in "modern day" of the time.

Lesbionic Woman

*Salutes* All the best to you, Paul. May you be one with the Force.

*Blows off dust* Read, people! Okay, so this is coming from a guy who just reread the Wraith Squadron trilogy for, I dunno, the sixth time, but still... Based upon SOCL's recommendation some time back, I picked up World War Z from the library. Actually, it was only partially because SOCL recommended it- it was mostly because I found it hilarious that the library I was in was the one library stupid enough to file World War Z under the nonfiction section. Way to go, guys! Anyway, I've started it and I must say that I like it. It isn't exactly an action book, though by the same token there is some action- there's the pure terror of seeing these zombies coming around, and the terror of how human nature only lets it spread. Our compassion, our love- these are the things that lead to our downfall. I'm not too far into it yet (The zombies have only just reached America), but it's good and getting better. I should really be reading The Things They Carried instead of World War Z, seeing as the former is one of two books required for a class for next year, but oh well- this book is better than that book.

JKII: Jedi Outcast. KOTOR is also a great one, but I like killing people with JKII better, just because of the cheats. While playing Jedi Knight II press shift and the "~" key at the same time. This will bring up a menu. Enter "helpusobi 1" and hit enter. This will enable cheats. Enter "god" to turn on god mode. Enter "g_saberrealisticcombat 20" to have a ton of fun with your lightsaber. Thank me later.

I've heard good things about the game- plus I actually have it, so I see no real reason not to play something that is essentially free to play. My only issue is my lack of booklet. Now that I think about it, I do remember it being on the back of that booklet. Ironically enough, I loaned the booklet to my friend, who is out of town, along with the disk for Republic Commando a while ago. I got the disk back, but not the booklet. Really should have gotten the booklet back from him.

Okay, so here's what this all boils down to: I bought the Best of PC pack for Star Wars games back in, like, 2006, 2007, and I love some of the games that came on there. Actually, that's a lie- the only one I still play off of there is Jedi Outcast, and that's only because I enjoy lobbing off stormies' heads. Anyway, I never tried out Republic Commando, and now I want to. The only issue is that I can't find the freaking CD key. It says that it's on the box when I try to install, but it isn't. Or, at least, I can't find it on the box. Anybody else have BoPC and know where I should search for my CD key?

I want to see Dark Knight, but odds are better that I'll see Wall-E tonight. Apparently I'm in danger of getting too excited, clenching my teeth, raising my blood pressure, gasping, etc. and popping a stitch or three if I see Dark Knight. Admittedly, I'm really looking forward to this. It looks really funny. Edit: Oh, yeah, that and Tropic Thunder. These both look like they'll be some of the dumbest movies of 2008, but also some of the funniest. Robert Downey Jr. makes a surprisingly convincing black man- I didn't recognize him until somebody pointed it out to me.

"Low firepower" with two ISD IIs and an SSD, loaded to the gills with fighters and troops? What do you consider "high firepower" Tofu? By the time my R&D has the ISD Mk-II and the SSD researched, I already have 90-95 percent, if not all of the galaxy already explored. Exploring is a job for Probe Droids and transports (the majority of the time) I sent one of those fleets out and ran into the Rebel base with it- the fleet was completely destroyed after killing just one Rebel ship. I usually don't send out probes- I just send in fleets to colonize/conquer.

"Mr. Reth?" He didn't look up. He remained seated, remained glued to his holodrama. It was an old one- the technology of it wasn't quite up to modern day specifications; it was too grainy for that, and the color wasn't quite right. And there was something undeniably fake about the special effects that had evaporated in holodramas a few years back. It didn't really bother Reth. So far as he was concerned, this was the pinnacle of holo technology. It was the greatest thing ever produced, full of wonderful, advanced techniques. It had been released over a decade ago, but his shattered mind no longer saw time appropriately- it had chosen to blot out as much of the last decade as it could, and Reth lived in the wrong year. "Mr. Reth?" The voice was more insistent this time. Without looking up, Reth answered. "What is it?" "Mr. Reth, we're concerned." Reth didn't answer. That was a statement, not a question. He only had to answer questions. "Mr. Reth, that's a very old holo. You've watched it over thirty times since you came here, Mr. Reth." Still not a question. "Why do you like it so much, Mr. Reth?" "Because it's new." "But it isn't new, Mr. Reth. It's very old." Not a question. "Mr. Reth, how many years ago was the battle of Yavin?" "I wasn't alive at the battle of Yavin." "How old are you, Mr. Reth?" "Thirty-three." "It says here that you're forty-three." Not a question. Tetran Cowell was jumping away from an explosion, his face cut and bloody after his long struggle with a corrupt guard. Tetran Cowell could break his way out of anything. "Mr. Reth, you're forty-three." Not a question. "Mr. Reth, why won't you answer me?" "I only answer questions. You aren't asking questions." Reth reached for a bowl of soup he'd been drinking, found it, and took a long pull from the nerf broth. "Mr. Reth, would you like to watch something else?" "I've never seen this holodrama before. Wait for it to end." "Mr. Reth, you've watched it over thirty times. You know how this ends. Tetran Cowell kills the man who killed his family with his brother's lightsaber, and the Jedi marries Cowell's sister." "You're ruining my holo." There was no menace in Reth's voice, just a matter-of-fact statement. He realized, belatedly, that he'd answer a statement, not a question, and was silent. A warm body sat down next to Reth's. He didn't glance at it. "Mr. Reth, we want you to get better, but right now you won't acknowledge that you're sick. What do you want more than anything else in the world, Mr. Reth?" "More than anything else?" Reth considered. "I want to go for a walk outside." The body shifted sightly, as though a head he wasn't paying any attention to was nodding. "That can be arranged very easily, Mr. Reth. But first you have to do something for me. Something very simple. You just have to watch a different holodrama with me." Reth nodded. "When this one is over, I'll watch yours." "Watch it with me now, Mr. Reth." He shrugged. "Alright. I'll watch it with you now."

Happy birthday, Kryt! We'll bake you a nice, big, spherical orange cake to celebrate!

X-wings and A-wings in the game aren't canonical; the proton torps you're going for with X-wings aren't there in the game- it still judges A-wings as being better than of X-wings in all ways. Neither really does too much against a capital ship- that's just Y-wings, Defenders, Bombers, and B-wings. Speaking of those four types of craft- they suck against other fighters. Only use them on capital ships. Disregard the fact that Defenders are the ultimate kick-A fighter out there. They still are used for bombing runs so far as Rebellion is concerned.

... But it's never a good idea to drink enough beer that all of the women are beautiful. Ever. *Glances about shiftily* Welcome back, Scath! We'll do our best to keep our spelling and grammar accurate for you!

*Grumbles* I can't wait, either. But I have to, because it comes out tomorrow- and I get my wisdom teeth out tomorrow. All freaking four of 'em. Still, it'll be over in about a week- just in time for me to leave the state again on another college visit.

so I checked out Georgia Tech, and I equal parts loved and hated it. There seems to be almost no support for students, but at the se time it has tons internship opportunities, which is cool. I'm cheap, and I found that I'm too suburban to like the city, but Atlanta is full of job opportunities. It's very conflicting. I'll say more when I have a legitimate keyboard to type on.

Okay, yes, my Italian was pure crap- does everybody but me know Italian?! Ye gods!

When Han and/or Leia is finally killed, I've got five bucks that says the Falcon is blown up with him. If it gets passed along to Jaina and eventually shows up in Legacy the comic series, I'll be annoyed. I mean, the thing was built over a century ago- it's high time something was acknowledged as being faster than it, or else it's high time that the thing get an extreme retrofitting.

No, I'm not allowed to gamble, either- it's okay, Eagle. See, Vegas is about 9,000 degrees Celsius in the Summer Time (Give or take about 8,950 degrees), so it's really not prudent to leave a ten-year-old out in the street while his parents are checking out the casino. There's no rule forbidding a youngster from entering, just from actually sitting down anywhere that's used for gambling. They didn't want us taking up chairs that could have been used by a forty-something fellow who was down on his luck with a bottle of booze in one hand and a bucket full of quarters in the other. *Shrug* Hate traveling, eh? Traveling is one of my favorite things. Not the "get-up-at-four-in-the-morning-to-catch-your-flight" part of traveling, but the "I'm-in-a-totally-different-place-this-is-awesome" part of it.