Category: Media

This is a container category for media reviews and related drivel.

Captain Marika on deck

Thanks to some shenanigans with online wishlists, I was spoiled about one of my holiday presents so the gifting individual decided to just give it to me early. So, hey, let’s do a quick onboxing!

The box is a bit dinged up, but the Nendoroid inside is intact and ready for assembly.

I adore the Mouretsu Pirates anime, as I have made clear during the weekly writing project. Once I found that they were making a Nendoroid figure for Kato Marika in her piracy outfit I knew that I was doomed to wind up entering the realm of anime-related figure ownership. I’d avoided this fate up until now (barring a couple of Funko Pops, but they don’t count). Welp. Here we are, now.

The Nendoroid comes with options. Which expression should Marika wear? What weapon should she wield, if any? I had decisions to make.

Admittedly, this is just a wee bit creepy.

I ended up going with the gun arm combo and leaving the hat on, and since she’s armed I gave her the “action” face as well. (There’s a bit of extra hair you can stick on her head if you eschew the hat, but if she’s packing heat then she should have her head covered.) Turns out that the back of her head has a lump of metal for the magnet on the base stand to click onto to keep her upright. It’s a neat little system, actually.

Let’s do some piracy!

The final result? I love it. It’s adorable and awesome. Thank you, Kyla!

11 December, 2017
Red Sky In Morning, Shutterbugs Delight

The past few days have been terrible in many ways. Too hot, too much ash in the air, too much forest fire destruction. I took advantage of one fringe benefit of this late-summer situation, however: I took pictures.

Tuesday morning, getting off the MAX at the Hillsboro Airport stop, I was greeted with this view of the Sun trying to shine through layers of cloud and smoky haze:

And Wednesday morning gave me cause to quip to my coworkers later, “I didn’t know that ‘Portland’ was an anagram for ‘Mordor’, but Sauron’s Eye was quite prominent out toward the East.”

I’ll be glad when we return to fully breathable air, though.

7 September, 2017
How I Spent My Summer (2017) Vacation

I didn’t think much of it at the time. “Hey, the Pacific Science Center has an exhibit about the Terracotta Warriors.” “Oh, that sounds neat.”

Some days later: “You need to put in for three days off in early August.” “Why’s that?” “Remember that exhibit I told you about?” “Ah. Neat!”

So last Wednesday morning, we departed by train for Seattle.

Looking north from the railroad bridge over the Willamette toward the lovely St Johns Bridge

(more…)

16 August, 2017
Would Ya Lookit That

In preparation for a particular event coming next month, a bit of shopping was in order. My old camera, the one which served the Quacked Panes effort so well, has gotten too cantankerous and difficult to deal with. (Mapping & blacking out the increasing number of “hot pixels” is a serious chore.) So… we went out and picked up a modest but nifty little point-and-shoot camera. It isn’t as professional and fancy as the old Pentax but it does a decent job. I mean, look at this:

Handheld, no digital zoom, taken while standing just outside the office building.

I’ve never taken that good a shot of the Moon before today. And I haven’t even dialed in the feature settings, that’s just on full “auto.” Hey, how about a nice early morning shot of some public transit hardware?

Yep, I was just another camera geek standing on a MAX platform.

Yeah. This’ll do nicely.

18 April, 2017
Better Living Through Video Games

It’s been a long couple of months. Bad weather, bad news, grim mood, no enthusiasm for much of anything.

So, I’ve been playing a lot of games lately. Here’s what’s keeping me occupied:

Stardew Valley – I never played Harvest Moon or its ilk but for some reason I decided to jump on the hype train when this came out, and I have not been disappointed. You play as a farmer, struggling to get your inherited run-down farm up and running. You plant crops, you raise animals, you sell the vegetables and eggs and milk and crafted products for money, you collect things to restore the dilapidated town center, you delve into the mines (too deeply, perhaps) for more raw materials and artifacts, you earn friendship with your new neighbors (and perhaps marry one of them)… there’s a lot going on, is what I’m saying. It’s a very casual game in most ways but you have to pay attention to really prosper.

Guild Wars 2 – It’s an MMO. It’s published by the bastards who shut down City of Heroes, so yes, I have moral qualms about giving them my money. But it’s as good of an MMO as I can find at the moment. I’m not really into it as much anymore but it scratches that particular itch.

Diablo III – Until they release a proper HD patch for Diablo II, this is where I’m getting my isometric-perspective monster-smashing fix. It’s repetitive, sure, but sometimes it’s not about the novelty or the challenge, it’s just about making horrific demonspawn go “sputch” in satisfying ways.

Catan Universe – This is the second computerized rendition of the Settlers of Catan board game that I’ve tried. The first one is… buggy, to put it mildly. This one is very German and very very pre-release quality, but hey, you can play with/against friends and/or against the AI, and it’s a solidly playable experience. If you can’t get friends to your house to play around a table, it’s the next best thing.

Overwatch – I haven’t really played many “shooters” this past few years. Sometimes I’ll sign into one of the first two Borderlands games for a bit but I think I’m just out of touch with that playstyle. I know I started out playing Doom & Doom 2 quite well but it’s a whole different world now. And while Overwatch tries to match people up “by skill level,” I’m almost always the least-skilled person in any given match. I don’t regret the purchase but I’m not compelled to play, either. I probably need to find a group to play with; that was always most of the fun in the old Doom/Quake/UnrealTournament days, after all. Hmm.

…yeah, that’s pretty much what I’ve been playing the last few months.

18 December, 2016
Something Resembling Halloween Content

I’ve had this idea knocking around in my mind for a couple months, and today I found myself with the means, motive, and opportunity. Without further ado, I present a partial reading of that grim classic of poetry, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.”

(Look, I could only keep at it for so long. You should be grateful I stopped where I did. Probably.)

31 October, 2016