Wasted Time

Being Human Is The Hardest Thing To Do

I think I've added another TV series to start watching.  Being Human is based on the BBC series of the same name in which an old Vampire, a young Werewolf and a new Ghost start living together. Hey, everybody's got problems.  Give it a try.  I've just finished watching the first two episodes and I'm liking it.

• Sam Witwer as Aidan – a vampire. Aidan became a vampire during the Revolutionary War; present day, he works as a nurse at a Boston hospital.
  • Aidan doesn't really like the killing and the Vampire politics that go along with it.
• Sam Huntington as Josh – a werewolf, who works as an orderly at the same hospital. 
  • Josh's transformations are similar to An American Werewolf In London.
• Meaghan Rath as Sally – a ghost who haunts the house Aidan and Josh rent. She was engaged to their landlord, and had planned to live in the house with him before her untimely death. 
  • No matter how much she wants to, Sally can't leave the house she died in.
• Mark Pellegrino as Bishop – James Bishop, is the vampire who turned Aidan. Present day, he is a member of the Boston Police Department. 
  • Mark Pellegrino was last seen playing Jacob on Lost. Bishop is basically the Anti-Jacob.

Being Human: Amazon VOD | Hulu | IMDB | iTunes | Official Site | Wikipedia

 

To Live and Die in Mass Effect 2

I just completed Mass Effect 2 for the PS3. I need to let out a Charlie Brown yell. The Collectors suicide mission was exciting, intense, fun, ugly, heart breaking and all together epic. Here's a list of who I lost, in order.

• Kelly Chambers burned up while trapped in the pod - Did I really take up too much time to get to the crew.
• Zaeed Massani gave his life escorting the Normandy crew - I needed warrior to get those people to safety.
• Grunt was too far from the doors; the Seeker swarms got him - I was shocked and pissed while screaming my head off.
• Tali'Zorah vas Normandy  laid dead on the ground from supporting team 2  - I figured she didn't have much to live for after the public disgrace of her father.

Loosing a secondary crew member (Zaeed) from a DLC is sort of understandable, but to loose two major story characters is a bit much. I am considering a redo of the suicide mission. Hell I'm considering a full replay. I am currently looking through a couple of helpful online guides.

In the Giantbomb.com forums there is:  Guide: How to survive the suicide mission & save everyone?

The Mass Effect Wiki has a break down on what to put in place for the suicide mission.

Update: 28 Jan. - Suicide Mission redo.

Twenty four hours later and a little bit of strategy guide reading (see above)...all team members survived. Flawless victory. I admit, it was nowhere near as exciting playing through the first time. Below is a breakdown of what I did. For a reference check out this Game Informer: Hold The Line flow chart.

• The Approach
  • All of the Normandy's systems were upgraded
• The Vents
  • Kasumi (in my mind she is a techno-thief)
  • My team - Miranda and Grunt
  • 2nd fireteam leader - Jacob
• The Crew
  • Kelly Chambers and half the crew died (I took too long doing side missions)
• The Escort 
  • Mordin (everything I read says he's the ideal choice)
• The Long Walk
  • My team - Tali'Zorah and Legion (their combat drones can travel outside the shield)
    • Bioptic specialist - Jack (the girl kicks ass, including my Shepard's...)
  • 2d fireteam leader - Jacob (I always felt he was my second in command)
• The Final Fight
  • My team - Jack, Kasumi (this left all of the heavy hitters for the other team)
  • Hold The Line team - everybody else
  • My Shepard - survives
• Special Note
  • Miranda, Tali'Zorah and Zaeed were not loyal (but they survived)

As it stands now, I have two save game files awaiting Mass Effect 3.

• One
  • Three dead team members
  • Half of the Normandy's crew dead
  • A bittersweet victory
• Two
  • All team members survive
  • Half of the Normandy's crew dead
  • Victory but not as emotional as the first time

 

Signed By The Man

Signed By The Man, originally uploaded by Freddie Avalos.

Q:  What is this?

A:  A Danny Elfman signed CD from the 'Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box' - burtonelfman.com

It's "sold out". Thankfully I've got mine pre-ordered. Unfortunately a couple weeks ago Warner Bros. Records sent word the boxset was to be delayed. What I didn't expect was a 17th bonus disc which just arrived. Something to tide us over until the box begins shipping.

One Dead. 41 To Go.

The Spines, originally uploaded by Freddie Avalos.

It's finally here in my cold dead hands. It's the sold out limited edition Battle Royale 3 Disc Blu-ray Box Set from Arrow Video.

 

Book: Imperial Bedrooms

I recently discovered author Bret Easton Ellis wrote a sequel his 1985 novel Less Than Zero.  Imperial Bedrooms takes place some twenty five years later featuring the same main characters.  Interestingly the audio book version is narrated by actor Andrew McCarthy. Why?  McCarthy played the main character in the 1987 film adaptation of Less Than Zero.  Which basicaly brings it around full circle as Ellis is hoping to have Imperial Bedrooms developed into a film starring the same main actors.

Imperial Bedrooms:  Audible.com (hear sample)| Official Site
Less Than Zero:  Film | Novel

 

Rockin' Good News

The main characters from the David Lynch film Wild at Heart are actually from a series of novels. Said film was based on the first novel by Barry Gifford. I managed to purchase a copy of Sailor & Lula: The Complete Novels at a local store. Shocking I say because it seems to be out-of-stock everywhere, but you can also find it online. The energy, the mystery, the passion, and the trouble which finds them makes the time spent with Sailor & Lula an absolute joy. I'll have the chance to watch Sailor & Lula up on the big screen next month at a special screening of Wild at Heart with Barry Gifford in attendance at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema [Ritz]. Cannot wait!

On the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Barry Gifford's international bestseller, Wild at Heart, and as well as the anniversary of the Palme d'Or–winning  film adaptation by director David Lynch, Sailor & Lula: The Complete Novels presents all of the novels and novellas that comprise the saga of Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune, "the Romeo and Juliet of the South": Wild at Heart, Perdita Durango (also made into a feature film), Sailor’s Holiday, Sultans of Africa, Consuelo’s Kiss, Bad Day for the Leopard Man, and The Imagination of the Heart.

via sevenstories.com

 

I Demand A Recount

Surely these numbers are skewed.

Me: Last.fm

Music: Pong

Dark, bleak and wonderfully unnerving analogue synth swells and reverb-swathed, percussive decay from Jens Massel aka Senking. Sub level bass frequencies will test the most resilient speaker cones; mirroring that weighty angst-ridden dub of Loefah or Vex'd against the technical studio-savvy and quality that you are guaranteed from artists recording on this label.

via bleep.com

Being a fan of electronic music in various flavors I do believe it's safe to say I'll be purchasing this one.

Senking: Beatport | iTunes | Last.fm | Official Label

 

Breakfast 20090129

Jason's Deli: Club Royal and a cup of chili. - Brightkite post

Breakfast 20090129

Lunch 20090126

Chick-fil-A: Chick-n-strips, waffle potato fries and lemonade. Also, I recently started using Brighkite on my iPhone.
What's Brightkite?

Brightkite is a location-based social network. In real time you can see where your friends are and what they're up to. Depending on your privacy settings you can also meet others nearby.

You can also use Brightkite to add a note (sort of like Twitter) and a photo. The photo below was taken using within the Brightkite app and I also added a note. Here's what it looks like via Brightkite.

Lunch 20090126