Mind Piracy

Yay! On Thursday I bought the only CD that's release I've been excited about in recent times. Yeah, I paid money for it, and I physically bought it from an actual store (I use iTunes but don't buy iThings yet), because I'm not a pirate! It felt like the right thing to do since I was given this band's two previous CDs for free from my friends, and listened to each of them on high rotation. I'm listening it in right now. I had such high expectations that I think I was bound to be a little disappointed initially. Hoping it'll be a grower.

I was going to tell you the name but I suddenly feel playful and don't think I will just yet. Perhaps I'll hide some clues in here... No doubt I'll probably just reveal it in the comments because my clues are always way too subtle. Life Is Not A Waiting Room, you know? And Senses Fail sometimes... :)

Luke showed me a doco called Jesus Camp last night. And it's just too difficult not to blog about it. I'm not sure if you have secret blog-inspiring motives Luke, but I always seem to watch something interesting at your place that makes me feel like writing... Anyway, I'm not going to speak ill of religion because that's not my place. I will say that Jesus Camp, about evangelical Christians in the US imposing their beliefs onto their children, made me feel very thankful for the childhood I had. For having the opportunity to form my own opinions about the world and what I would stand for as being moral or right.

These kids were preached to over and over about giving their lives to Jesus Christ and creating an America that was consistent with their faith. It looked a lot like brainwashing, or mind piracy. From their speech patterns it was clear that they were just regurgitating what their heads had been filled with. Childhood should be carefree. Not filled with attending masses where without fail they'd cry for the sins of the world.

Perhaps the most scary thing that I learned from Jesus Camp was that some evangelical Christians' beliefs clash with democracy.

Driving home last night, listening to my new CD and contemplating freedom, I enjoyed thinking for myself. I don't know what I believe in really, when it comes to religion. I've always had a thing about re-incarnation, but that's another story. I guess I believe in free will and living in a way that you can be proud of yourself. And if you choose to believe in Big Foot, aliens, ghosts or... Peter Pan (shhh!) that's totally fine with me. :)

Dale.

They giveth and they taketh away...

I feel a little lost some days. My world has been changed, my routines interrupted. So far I am surviving, but it’s only day three. The unthinkable has happened: I am without Foxtel.

This means that I’m also without...

• Kyle XY and the incredibly ignorant Treger family
• “Dinosaur George” Blasing and the other imaginative palaeontologists of Jurassic Fight Club
• The pretty and scandalous youths of Gossip Girl
• Heidi Klum and the interesting fashion designers battling it out on Project Runway
• The deliciously competitive chefs of Top Chef
• The occasionally interest-piquing documentaries of the channels starting with 6
• A few other programs which I’m too ashamed to admit watching!

My parents decided to suspend our subscription for two months. So we still have the box and the remote, but it doesn’t work. Even if you try tricking it into working... The timing of their decision was interesting; my final university commitment for the year had been handed in just two days prior. I’m yet to ascertain whether this is a blessing in disguise, but I have a hunch that it may be.

So far the short-term side effects include an increase in aimless confused wandering about the house, increased internet use, increased novel reading, and increased addiction to Warhammer. Hopefully the long-term side effects will include less aimless confused wandering and more activation of my imagination. A chance to do some serious reading, write that spec script or pilot, or continue Mehico. Not to mention increased exercising and socialising!

So goodbye, Foxtel. Please stop beckoning to me alluringly from beneath the TV...

Dale.

A woman has won my heart

She is blonde.
She is lithe.
And she is Elvish...

She is Valeina, my character on Warhammer Online.
Ain't she just the prettiest?


Lara Croft can go polish her lame guns somewhere else as far as I'm concerned!

You should totally check out the cinematic trailer for the game to see the character Valeina's based on. She has the most awesomest fight scene I reckon. This sentence will take you there.

The trailer explains it, but basically there are three races and each are in the midst of war. The good guys from each race have united under Order, and the baddies under Destruction. The races are men, dwarves and elves.

Valeina is a Shadow Warrior (and of course fighting for Order). She'll shoot you with her arrows from afar or slash you with her sword up close. So don't mess with her!

The game really feels more like a very long interactive movie.

The only computer game I've ever really come close to being nerdily obsessed over before is The Sims (1 and 2), so this has taken me by surprise. Warhammer is an MMO - see, I'm already talking the lingo - but it is much more than that too. A lot of the time you're completing missions by yourself in more traditonal RPG style. The aim is to go around each of the maps, or tiers, completing missions to advance the hopes of Order, while gaining all the experience you can. Because with experience comes new abilities and tactics. Each ability is really, really cool and not just a simple "Pikachu - Thunderbolt!" kind of effect. There are abilities that damage over time, restrict movement, decrease stats, regenerate action points, etc etc. I think the main thing is that they look really cool when you do them. :)

The multiplayer side of the game comes into play primarily for RvR (Realm vs Realm) scenarios. You fight alongside people playing as elves, dwarves and humans, against other people the dark elves, greenskins and chaos marauders. A lot of the time it's a "capture the flag" kind of deal. But each of the scenarios are really well-crafted. They're just cool!
Public Quests are also multiplayer situations. You work together with a Party of other players to acheive feats that are way too hard to do by yourself. For these you gain influence points... and I've just realised how boring this might be sounding to the "unobsessed". Sorry, I'll stop!

I just thought that since I hadn't blogged for a while, partly due to playing/watching Warhammer at Brenton's, it would be a good way to get started again. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, and for this!

I'm happy to be back though.

Dale.