How much do I love Guild Wars right now...
there's a quest called "More Cowbell". A guy has dropped his blessed Cowbell into a bed of Blue Oysters, and you have to retrieve it for him.
Some of you may know my obsession with the "I gotta have more Cowbell, baby" skit on Saturday Night Live starring Christopher Walken and Will Farrel, where Will Farrel plays the cowbell to the Blue Oyster Cult song Don't Fear the Reaper. This game just made me smile!!!
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
More Zombie pics!!!
More pics of us looking gross!!!
Can't wait for Zombie Walk 2007. Check out Zombie Charlotte and Zombie Kyle..."Just Burried"
Can't wait for Zombie Walk 2007. Check out Zombie Charlotte and Zombie Kyle..."Just Burried"
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Zombie Walk 2006 - Vancouver
So...we participated in Zombie Walk 2006 today, and what craziness it was.
We started off at the art gallery, and got lots of funny looks on our way down there. It seemed not everyone in the city knew about this event. One woman looked very dissaproving at us, but everyone else was pretty cool. Those who were very intrigued asked us what the deal was so we told them...
When we got there, we joined the gaggle of Zombies. We took a few pics then headed out on the journey. We stuck to the sidewalk for the first couple blocks on Robson St. There was even a plainclothes police officer directing traffic when we came to the first set of lights.
As we got further down Robson however the zombies started to spill out onto the street, but just into the lane on our side; not into the oncoming traffic. I wasn't sure if we should be on the street or not so I stuck to the sidewalk. I'm pretty glad I did, because I heard a loud smash behind me a few blocks further. I turned around and about 12 feet behind me, someone had been hit by a car coming from behind. The front windshield was smashed, and by the time I turned to look, the guy who had been hit was already on the ground. He looked pretty hurt, but I don't think it was life threatening. But he still didn't look too Ok.
I don't know what had transpired between the zombies and that car because my back was to them, but I don't think running down a slow walking person was the smartest decision that driver could have made. But it sure pissed off the zombies. Pretty soon there were zombies going at the car. The car was in the process of trying to get away, and he managed to, but not before it took a bit more damage.
I heard later that the side mirrors had been kicked off, but man...that really shook a lot of us up.
If anyone knows the guy who was hit, and you manage to find this blog, could you please post a message if he's ok?
But the zombies kept on trucking. Nothing was gonna stop us, not even some dink in a car with a road rage problem. We're going to post the rest of our photos on our flickr site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designerwhite/
crazy crazy day!
When we got there, we joined the gaggle of Zombies. We took a few pics then headed out on the journey. We stuck to the sidewalk for the first couple blocks on Robson St. There was even a plainclothes police officer directing traffic when we came to the first set of lights.
As we got further down Robson however the zombies started to spill out onto the street, but just into the lane on our side; not into the oncoming traffic. I wasn't sure if we should be on the street or not so I stuck to the sidewalk. I'm pretty glad I did, because I heard a loud smash behind me a few blocks further. I turned around and about 12 feet behind me, someone had been hit by a car coming from behind. The front windshield was smashed, and by the time I turned to look, the guy who had been hit was already on the ground. He looked pretty hurt, but I don't think it was life threatening. But he still didn't look too Ok.
I don't know what had transpired between the zombies and that car because my back was to them, but I don't think running down a slow walking person was the smartest decision that driver could have made. But it sure pissed off the zombies. Pretty soon there were zombies going at the car. The car was in the process of trying to get away, and he managed to, but not before it took a bit more damage.
I heard later that the side mirrors had been kicked off, but man...that really shook a lot of us up.
If anyone knows the guy who was hit, and you manage to find this blog, could you please post a message if he's ok?
But the zombies kept on trucking. Nothing was gonna stop us, not even some dink in a car with a road rage problem. We're going to post the rest of our photos on our flickr site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designerwhite/
crazy crazy day!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron "Forever Free"
So I picked up another horse adventure game a few weeks ago. You might have heard of the movie, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
The first time I saw the movie was when me and a bunch of animation students were trying to finish our walk/run cycles in 2nd year in the animation room, and we put it on as background entertainment.
The animation was pretty great, but I was having trouble sitting through the Bryan Adams songs every 10 minutes. I don't really have anything against him; I like a few songs here and there, but not a song every 10 minutes. And they all sound like the same song. But whatever....I still liked the film, so when I saw the game for 10 bucks at the same Toys R Us I picked up the gem, Champion Dreams, I couldn't refuse buying it.
The cashier asked me if I needed a gift receipt (I assume she thought I was buying the game for someone else. Perhaps someone a lot younger). So I said no, but I didn't elaborate and say it was for me.
I started it when I got home on my laptop...I think Aaon has had enough horse games on his computer, and I wanted to see if the ol' lappy 3000 was buff enough to handle this game.
The Game:
You play as Spirit, and you and your horse friends have been captured by various people and are put to work. So, when you start you are in a pen with another horse who wants to escape as well, but he's too old to jump the fence. The fence is pretty annoying too, cause you have to be lined up exactly, and be clicking on the left mouse button to make sure you're going fast enough to get over it.
So once you get out of there (you can come back to help the other horse later) you go around to the different areas freeing your horse friends AND taking care of your girlfriend horse Rain. You have to collect some arrowheads and trade them to the trader to get a water pouch, so everytime she's all like "Yo, I need some water." you have to dunk it in the stream and take it to her. Sometimes she needs food too, so you can find random apples on the ground, or buy them from that trader dude.
In order to get faster you have to chase this rabbit around. Once you catch him, he gives you a carrot. The more carrots you get the faster you go, but it wears off after a bit...so you're constantly clicking the mouse to keep running.
And when you get enough carrots to run somewhat fast, you can race the eagle. I can't remember what you get for beating him, it's probably not worth remembering.
I'm sure there's lots of kids that will like this game, but since I'm 25 now, it was pretty easy. I finished the whole game in 3 days...but it shouldn't have taken that long.
The first time I had to stop playing after a couple hours because my computer froze up. The next day I didn't play because I was busy doing other things, and then the third day I finished it.
That being said...it's not quite as involving as Champion Dreams!!! but, it's probably something easy enough for kids to pick up and have fun with. It was only 10 bucks. I do like the fact you can kick things too (like barrels. They usually have bunch of arrowheads hiding inside)
So yeah, I'm probably not going to play it again, but maybe I'll save it for my future kid(s).
The first time I saw the movie was when me and a bunch of animation students were trying to finish our walk/run cycles in 2nd year in the animation room, and we put it on as background entertainment.
The animation was pretty great, but I was having trouble sitting through the Bryan Adams songs every 10 minutes. I don't really have anything against him; I like a few songs here and there, but not a song every 10 minutes. And they all sound like the same song. But whatever....I still liked the film, so when I saw the game for 10 bucks at the same Toys R Us I picked up the gem, Champion Dreams, I couldn't refuse buying it.
The cashier asked me if I needed a gift receipt (I assume she thought I was buying the game for someone else. Perhaps someone a lot younger). So I said no, but I didn't elaborate and say it was for me.
I started it when I got home on my laptop...I think Aaon has had enough horse games on his computer, and I wanted to see if the ol' lappy 3000 was buff enough to handle this game.
The Game:
You play as Spirit, and you and your horse friends have been captured by various people and are put to work. So, when you start you are in a pen with another horse who wants to escape as well, but he's too old to jump the fence. The fence is pretty annoying too, cause you have to be lined up exactly, and be clicking on the left mouse button to make sure you're going fast enough to get over it.
So once you get out of there (you can come back to help the other horse later) you go around to the different areas freeing your horse friends AND taking care of your girlfriend horse Rain. You have to collect some arrowheads and trade them to the trader to get a water pouch, so everytime she's all like "Yo, I need some water." you have to dunk it in the stream and take it to her. Sometimes she needs food too, so you can find random apples on the ground, or buy them from that trader dude.
In order to get faster you have to chase this rabbit around. Once you catch him, he gives you a carrot. The more carrots you get the faster you go, but it wears off after a bit...so you're constantly clicking the mouse to keep running.
And when you get enough carrots to run somewhat fast, you can race the eagle. I can't remember what you get for beating him, it's probably not worth remembering.
I'm sure there's lots of kids that will like this game, but since I'm 25 now, it was pretty easy. I finished the whole game in 3 days...but it shouldn't have taken that long.
The first time I had to stop playing after a couple hours because my computer froze up. The next day I didn't play because I was busy doing other things, and then the third day I finished it.
That being said...it's not quite as involving as Champion Dreams!!! but, it's probably something easy enough for kids to pick up and have fun with. It was only 10 bucks. I do like the fact you can kick things too (like barrels. They usually have bunch of arrowheads hiding inside)
So yeah, I'm probably not going to play it again, but maybe I'll save it for my future kid(s).
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Fun Summer
Woo!!! The summer of fun. An update of things from the past little while.
We got 6 Rosenpigs in the store "Occupied" here in Vancouver:
Got a great job offer but had to turn it down unfortunately because I'm going back to school in September for my final year. Can't wait to finish my film next year.
Just got back from a wedding yesterday in London Ontario which was super awesome. I love weddings, and this one was superb.
Working more on the music video, getting that done for the end of August. I can't wait to see it on TV.
I think I need more horse games to critique though.
We got 6 Rosenpigs in the store "Occupied" here in Vancouver:
Got a great job offer but had to turn it down unfortunately because I'm going back to school in September for my final year. Can't wait to finish my film next year.
Just got back from a wedding yesterday in London Ontario which was super awesome. I love weddings, and this one was superb.
Working more on the music video, getting that done for the end of August. I can't wait to see it on TV.
I think I need more horse games to critique though.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Awesome pics!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Champion Dreams : First to Ride
This is the name of a PC video game I picked up for 20 bucks at Toys R Us. It's a game aimed at 8 year old girls I think, with the promise of Horsies and all the fun that goes along with them. This game (as cheesy as it is) is AMAZING.
I don't know what it is I like about it, but I do. There's plenty of things not to like about the game too, but I can't stop playing it.
You can compete in Dressage, Show Jumping, and Cross Country events as well as be responsible for the general upkeep of your horse (cleaning it's hooves, brushing, spraying with a hose, picking up poop) AND gain popularity points with your fellow students by buying riding outfits, horse equipment, hair dye and clothes. YAY SHOPPING!!!!! hahahha......but seriously. The game was made in France and published by Ubisoft, so it has some backing by them, but I love the fact it was made in France and I'll tell you why:
Although it's dubbed in English, there are still English subtitles, and they generally don't correspond very well, which makes for much hilarity!!! Like when the one character Spike calls me Princess in the dub, but the subtitles say Wombat. Or when they accidentally forget to dub a sentence here and there and the school administrator screams something at you in French. Good times!
Obviously a game like this wouldn't get the same funding as a game like Halo or Prince of Persia, so I can overlook it's flaws. Except the few times I actually started swearing because of some little glitches or a puzzle I had a hard time figuring out.
Puzzles you say? Oh yes, this game has a storyline. You're the star student at the school and someone is out to get you...get you in trouble that is!!!
Here's a little summary of how things go down, but I won't spoil it and tell you who the bad guy/girl is:
So you start off in what seems like a Harry Potter movie...you're on a train making it's way through tree covered mountains to a castle-ish school in Scotland. When you get to the school, the surly groundskeeper dude lets you in when suddenly a flash of lightning lights the barn on fire. You rush in, grab a key and unlock a horse box letting out a spirited horse.
For your bravery, this horse becomes YOURS WOOOOO!!!!!! Excitement ensues. Then you meet the other student : Esteban - a sexy Spanish dude, Ginger - the all American girl who likes to rock out with her boombox and slide-y foot dancing due to not great animation, Spike - a blond British punk guy (much like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Kiew - a sassy competative Asian girl who wonn't stop until she's the best.
To sum up the rest of the story without spoiling too much (because I know everyone will go out and buy this game after reading this...ha ha..cough) you have certain categories you have to do each week to make sure you have enough popularity, horse level, dressage, show jumping and cross country points, and then do a competition at the end of each week.
But watch out, someone is trying to get you in trouble at every step of the way. From dirtying your horsebox right after you cleaned it, to letting your horse out loose right before an inspection, to finally poisoning your horse before a competition so he tests positive for drugs. CraaAaAAaazy stuff huh?
One glitch I got really angry at is when you have to give Harry a sandwich...and for the love of God it wouldn't let me give him the sandwich. The reason was, the game should've popped up the Inventory icon (so you can give him the sandwich) but it put up a speech bubble with an x through it, meaning you can't talk to him. I was so mad...
I kept screaming, "Why won't they let me talk to him and give him this damn sandwich"
but then we figured out that while that speech bubble is up, you have to hit I for inventory.....so aggravating though. Stupid sandwich
But the actual horse jumping, dressage and cross country stuff is pretty good. Good 3D model for the horse and movement. The cut scenes are animated pretty badly though. Dressage was annoying me for awhile though cause it said for Half Pass to hold down the A button but it would never work. Then I found out the controls had it set up for Q, so once that was fixed it was all good.
I think I might be the only person who has ever played this game too, because I couldn't find anything about it on the web. Like when that whole sandwich fiasco had me angry, there was no online help. So if this blog post could help even one little girl out there with this game it'll be worth it.
The art on the box doesn't reflect the game either. The picture is of a girl with long blonde hair wearing a pink riding jacket. The main character in the game has short red hair, and there is no pink jacket to buy I'm afraid. The box also boasts you can choose from 14 different breeds of horses.....but I haven't come across the Andalusian yet. (Although I have only been brave enough to play on easy mode thus far ahhah) Maybe it's something to be unlocked. Although they only have one horse model just painted different colours and called different breeds, so what would be the point of unlocking it anyway.
I still like this game though...it can actually be a lot of fun. They give you lots of praise as you do well which is an ego boost ahha. But anyway this is a really long post for a silly game, but it is cute!
I don't know what it is I like about it, but I do. There's plenty of things not to like about the game too, but I can't stop playing it.
You can compete in Dressage, Show Jumping, and Cross Country events as well as be responsible for the general upkeep of your horse (cleaning it's hooves, brushing, spraying with a hose, picking up poop) AND gain popularity points with your fellow students by buying riding outfits, horse equipment, hair dye and clothes. YAY SHOPPING!!!!! hahahha......but seriously. The game was made in France and published by Ubisoft, so it has some backing by them, but I love the fact it was made in France and I'll tell you why:
Although it's dubbed in English, there are still English subtitles, and they generally don't correspond very well, which makes for much hilarity!!! Like when the one character Spike calls me Princess in the dub, but the subtitles say Wombat. Or when they accidentally forget to dub a sentence here and there and the school administrator screams something at you in French. Good times!
Obviously a game like this wouldn't get the same funding as a game like Halo or Prince of Persia, so I can overlook it's flaws. Except the few times I actually started swearing because of some little glitches or a puzzle I had a hard time figuring out.
Puzzles you say? Oh yes, this game has a storyline. You're the star student at the school and someone is out to get you...get you in trouble that is!!!
Here's a little summary of how things go down, but I won't spoil it and tell you who the bad guy/girl is:
So you start off in what seems like a Harry Potter movie...you're on a train making it's way through tree covered mountains to a castle-ish school in Scotland. When you get to the school, the surly groundskeeper dude lets you in when suddenly a flash of lightning lights the barn on fire. You rush in, grab a key and unlock a horse box letting out a spirited horse.
For your bravery, this horse becomes YOURS WOOOOO!!!!!! Excitement ensues. Then you meet the other student : Esteban - a sexy Spanish dude, Ginger - the all American girl who likes to rock out with her boombox and slide-y foot dancing due to not great animation, Spike - a blond British punk guy (much like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Kiew - a sassy competative Asian girl who wonn't stop until she's the best.
To sum up the rest of the story without spoiling too much (because I know everyone will go out and buy this game after reading this...ha ha..cough) you have certain categories you have to do each week to make sure you have enough popularity, horse level, dressage, show jumping and cross country points, and then do a competition at the end of each week.
But watch out, someone is trying to get you in trouble at every step of the way. From dirtying your horsebox right after you cleaned it, to letting your horse out loose right before an inspection, to finally poisoning your horse before a competition so he tests positive for drugs. CraaAaAAaazy stuff huh?
One glitch I got really angry at is when you have to give Harry a sandwich...and for the love of God it wouldn't let me give him the sandwich. The reason was, the game should've popped up the Inventory icon (so you can give him the sandwich) but it put up a speech bubble with an x through it, meaning you can't talk to him. I was so mad...
I kept screaming, "Why won't they let me talk to him and give him this damn sandwich"
but then we figured out that while that speech bubble is up, you have to hit I for inventory.....so aggravating though. Stupid sandwich
But the actual horse jumping, dressage and cross country stuff is pretty good. Good 3D model for the horse and movement. The cut scenes are animated pretty badly though. Dressage was annoying me for awhile though cause it said for Half Pass to hold down the A button but it would never work. Then I found out the controls had it set up for Q, so once that was fixed it was all good.
I think I might be the only person who has ever played this game too, because I couldn't find anything about it on the web. Like when that whole sandwich fiasco had me angry, there was no online help. So if this blog post could help even one little girl out there with this game it'll be worth it.
The art on the box doesn't reflect the game either. The picture is of a girl with long blonde hair wearing a pink riding jacket. The main character in the game has short red hair, and there is no pink jacket to buy I'm afraid. The box also boasts you can choose from 14 different breeds of horses.....but I haven't come across the Andalusian yet. (Although I have only been brave enough to play on easy mode thus far ahhah) Maybe it's something to be unlocked. Although they only have one horse model just painted different colours and called different breeds, so what would be the point of unlocking it anyway.
I still like this game though...it can actually be a lot of fun. They give you lots of praise as you do well which is an ego boost ahha. But anyway this is a really long post for a silly game, but it is cute!
New Blog
Woo, I have a blog now too. I actually only signed up for it so I could post on the blog for the music video for Elliott Brood Aaron and I are working on (and since we have our web pages already too for our artwork) BUT I think it's a good opportunity to ramble some words to anyone who wants to read them.
On that note.....more to come in the following days.
P.S - I love Pomeranians
On that note.....more to come in the following days.
P.S - I love Pomeranians
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