Monument Valley is well known, yeah. I thought it was fun but short. I forget if I ever got the follow-up levels. I think I did?
Yes: Monument Valley
Yes: Well known
Yes: Fun
Yes: Short
This thread is really supposed to be about Greece, right. I think the moral of the story is to default sooner rather than later.
I dunno, I'm just tuning in to real life again after ten long tiring days. This was all I'd managed to accumulate as a queue. I think there were some Supreme Court decisions?
Solo hiking has been good for the 99% of me that isn't my right ankle.
Instead of a vacation, I'll just suffer while Jammies goes out of town for another work trip week.
Maybe an au pair from Greece would help?
Anyway, my mom had four kids with about the same spacing as yours. Even though the oldest of those kids was absolutely perfect, she always had either part-time help or her mother living two blocks away.
Of course, that was before the rise of capital cut the purchasing power of middle class families.
I mean, I do have daycare, which is huge. The vacation was super tiring though, mostly because Jammies flew home for four days to go to work.
That's probably also at least partially because of late capitalism.
How did your mother like her birthday in beautiful non-hot Orlando? Will you tell the story SOMEWHERE of when people behaved badly?
Speaking of the crisis of capitalism, I think the solution for Greece is to elect a fascist leader who starts a huge war. That's how Germany got debt relief.
Are we sure we're in late capitalism not just later -than-it-used-to-be capitalism?
We won't really know until the revolution comes.
Basically, my mom wanted a family photo. This is a well-known trigger for East Coast SIL, so it set in motion a bunch of ostensibly bizarre but well-trod territory about whether or not this would happen. (Things like: whose camera will be used? who will have access to the digital photo? Who gets to control the hard copies? These details sound semi-reasonable in 2015, but they were much stranger in 1995. Answers: ECSib's shitty underwater camera. No one. ECS will mail out hard copies as they see fit.)
ECS were asked to pick the time for the photo. They picked "before dinnertime". Around 4:30 pm text messages went around that it was time to do so. Everyone put on real clothes. Then we got no information from ECSib until about 7:30, when they did actually show up and the photo actually happened.
WCSib only behaved badly if they use this, in the future, as ammunition to label the weekend as a disaster. On the playground while we were waiting, they were sufficiently furious that I'm worried about that as a possibility, but if they were just venting, then no problem.
Thank you for sating my curiosity!
Monument Valley is very well known, yes. Not only for being a great, beautiful game, but there was also an internet kerfuffle when they charged for the add-on levels (the cheek!).
My mom did not behave badly, I found her request very reasonable. It was just 3 very, very tense hours when no one was sure whether or not all hell was breaking loose off-camera, or whether the evening would somehow pull itself back together, which it did.
Wait. The picture was taken underwater?
Also, how is 7:30 "before dinnertime" in a group where many have small children?
23: Yes, and the entire family was holding their breath for 3 hours waiting!
Why don't pictures get taken with everyone's cameras?
Some combination of vanity, insecurity, and need for control.
but there was also an internet kerfuffle when they charged for the add-on levels (the cheek!).
I think there was less of an actual kerfuffle than a successful milking of the backlash toward a perceived kerfuffle.
27 - Enough about Greece, let's talk about family photos.
I think before we do more photos in my family, I have to switch my hair style to account for the receding hairline. Or get a piece.
Perhaps you could simply re-frame the issue. "Receding hairline? Oh, you must mean my proceeding forehead. Progress: always on the march!"
See how rosy and upbeat that sounds?
Still, I think I need to cut my hair a bit shorter.
33: It may finally be time to ditch the ponytail.
You know who else didn't have a ponytail?
27: Moby is all of ours Uncle Cletus.
Since we're still on the video games topic, I will link to this short NYer piece discussing video game music. Somewhere in the archives I had ventured a thought on the genre but had no real words or ideas, so am outsourcing to a guy named Andrew Schartmann with whom I agee (the linked piece is a basically a review of a 33⅓ book he wrote on the subject).
I've been thinking about buying a Logitech G27 to help me play Euro Truck Simulator 2, but I've come to the sad conclusion that, unfortunately, $239 is too much to pay for a video game controller.
monument valley is THE BEST but I just need them to make 50 more sets. lyne is nice, too.
I do love me some Monument Valley. My kid likes it too.
In fact, I've said as much on this very blog!
I've been thinking about buying a Logitech G27 to help me play Euro Truck Simulator 2, but I've come to the sad conclusion that, unfortunately, $239 is too much to pay for a video game controller.
It plays fine with an Xbox controller and keyboard, once you fiddle with the settings a bit. If you're going to spend silly money on something to enhance ETS 2, get an Oculus Rift.
I loved Monument Valley as well.
I have been enjoying Alcazar a lot for solitaire puzzles on ios.
I deeply enjoyed Half-Life 2 about a year ago-- postsoviet apocalyptic immersive platform game, in some places a driving game in others a shooting game. A friend got it for me as a retro slightly ironic gift.
Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4, Kerbal Space Program, Cities: Skylines, some Euro Truck Simulator. Skyrim, although not so much recently. I used to play narrative Japanese games almost exclusively; now it's almost all European or otherwise Western non-American sandboxy games. Dunno what changed.
37: As a cultural phenomenon, I most appreciate it raising the prominence of incidental music. Often it's great music to work to. Still a big fan of Mitsuda, Uematsu, and Sakamoto.
I deeply enjoyed Half-Life 2 about a year ago-- postsoviet apocalyptic immersive platform game, in some places a driving game in others a shooting game. A friend got it for me as a retro slightly ironic gift.
If you didn't already, play the Episodes. They're even better than the base game (Episode 2 especially). Also try Stalker if you want a retro post-Soviet genre bending FPS.
46.2; the music from Braid, for me. And its ensemble have also worked as lawn buskers - at Ashland, so rarefied, but live and every day and competing for the attention of the audience. Vivid like the big band radio bands are, or good regular bar bands.
Stalker if you want a retro post-Soviet genre bending FPS.
After Tarkovsky?
Ooh, 46 and 47 look like good info for later, thanks.
Fortunately, I am not in Greece, because no itunes or Paypal there any more.
http://bigbrowser.blog.lemonde.fr/2015/07/07/la-grece-sort-de-la-zone-apple/
If you're going to spend silly money on something to enhance ETS 2, get an Oculus Rift.
I have already begun plotting this, but I need to start with a bunch of upgrades to my computer. I just shelled out for the stupid-powerful graphics card. The Core i7 chip and new motherboard will have to wait for the fall. And then the Rift a few months later (or, alternately, whatever VR platform Valve comes out with in the meantime.)
Games I have completed, because they're great and I could not stop playing:
- Grim Fandango (I see you can get this on iOS now!)
- Half Life 2, plus episodes (although I disagree with 47)
- Plants vs Zombies (multiple times)
- Portal 1&2
- Hotline Miami (extremely violent, extremely great soundtrack - I have the sequel now but haven't had time to play it)
- Monument Valley, plus exorbitant extra levels
There are also other games that I've completed that aren't necessarily great (e.g. Half Life 1), and other games that are great that I haven't completed for various reasons (too long, too hard, or too scary, in the cases of Skyrim, Super Hexagon and Amnesia the Dark Descent, respectively).
Games are a bit like US TV shows for me, in that I'm extremely picky, so not likely to get addicted to something, even when other people think it's great. But occasionally... Something like Hotline Miami happens and I'll start playing something and not stop until nine hours later, eyes bloodshot and watering.
Is it even possible to complete Super Hexagon? Does it have a kill screen or something?