On MASS Effect 1 – Retrospective
Posted on February 6, 2010
 In the run-up to MASS Effect 2 I’ve reacquainted myself with MASS Effect 1, the 2007 game by BioWare. So, three years late, here’s my 10-penny science fiction fan analysis of the game: MASS Effect 1, a game not without flaws, is nonetheless my favorite current generation videogame. An RPG in the currently resurgent Western* style, it had a decidedly 80’s Sci-Fi epic look, feel and sound to it. Lots of gleaming, reflective surfaces surrounded you and your ears were treated to many Vangelis-styled electronic soundscapes. The plot, while nothing completely amazing to a dedicated science fiction reader, was really quite good for a video game; it involved the impending return of an inscrutible and unstoppable enemy called “the Reapers,” which apparently destroyed the galaxy-spanning precursor race called “the Protheans” many thousands of years ago. The universe of MASS Effect is like a clearinghouse of all the best Science Fiction ideas of the last thirty or forty years. Please, read on… |
Chase Auto Finance, Holy Crap
Posted on January 15, 2010
 On the way to work I missed a phone call, from a faraway areacode and a number I don’t know.
A stoplight provides opportunity, I dial back and an automatic attendant tells me that I’ve the unique pleasure of talking to the one-and-only Chase Auto Finance corporation. I wracked my brains but remembered no delinquency. The robots requested I tap in my account number or, barring that, my social security number. |
Restaurant Tour
Posted on December 31, 2009
cartoons, family, food, holidays
| Vicky, as prone to car-sickness as any other Starcevic descendant, assumed Gerald’s privileged front seat position and left her husband to sort through the crumbs and Archie comic books littering the rear seat of my Mazda. He made appreciative noises for the latter half of the twenty minute car ride which leads me to believe he may have consumed the crumbs without condiment. |
Lego Thimgs
Posted on December 8, 2009
On Saturday we visited the Henry Ford Museum and the touring Lego exhibit.
 Once the wall segments are prepared, the handlers place them upon the castle. Here you see Samantha creating her first piece of fortress wall. |
 There were helpful templates strewn about the supplied tables. Most of which were within child-arm’s reach of plastic bins of multicolored brick. Here you see Sam’s second fortress segment nearing completion. I enjoy the color pattern nearly as much as she did..Each assembled segment is added to the diaphenous fortress by the Lego handlers. |
 At 3:00PM (20:00gmt) the children contributors, surrounding the structure, were invited to strike it down and place the component bricks into the selfsame bins from which they came. The tear-down took no more than two seconds. Sam’s traveling companion, a fellow ADHD girl named Cayla, ran from the aggressive crowd which was. Sam fit in well with that sort and she emerged minutes later flush and happy with the destruction she’d been a part of. |
Vampires: The New Sexy
Posted on December 5, 2009
Twilight is pretty much the hottest thing out, right now. The first two films in the series have been breaking box office records, and your esteemed blogger Arthbard has just been given a special sneak preview of the third movie.
I know! I was as surprised as anyone!
Anyway, in this film Bella has a brand new vampire love interest who I predict is going to be even more popular than the Edward Cullen character of the previous films.
The movie is still several months away from release, but I’m pleased to be able to show you this trailer, which is presented in comic format for some reason.
Just go with it!
