Friday, December 31, 2010

Once Upon A Time

An old man lived on the edge of the forest.

(C) 2010

All rights reserved

Copyright by author

Copyrighted and copywrited.

No one may read this without the written permission of their parents, living or dead.

Golden Sun

http://goldensun.nintendo.com/

New RPG for DS.

Looks interesting.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Cash for Rock Band 3

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/114/1142245p1.html

Mark your calendar.

Jan. 4 brings Johnny Cash songs to Rock Band 3.

Also 9 free songs from previous games.

Monday, December 13, 2010

True Grit

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/movies/12grit.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a28

Positive review of the remake of the John Wayne classic.

I want to see it more than once.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Dawn Treader

http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/movies/10chronicles.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a210

Not a very positive review.

"Largely dreary" and "maximum blandness" do not recommend it.

The Tourist

http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/movies/10tourist.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a210&pagewanted=1

Comparing this movie to "To Catch a Thief" with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly means comparing it to one of the greatest movies of all time.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Cowboys and Aliens in Arizona

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/409098/Cowboys-Aliens/trailers?ref=movies

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg.

How can this one miss?

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Tangled

We saw the Disney movie 'Tangled' last night.

I really liked it.

This is the kind of story that Walt loved to tell.

The villain was one of the best Disney villains ever.

Worth seeing more than once.

Majora's Mask for Wii

http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/rl33Ipv_7uHSJNVTxxe8YIHqtZHdgkxp

I am going to have to ask one of the young people to explain this to me.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

Fireflies

http://www.amazon.com/Fireflies-Faith-Hill/dp/B0009X7768

Mostly forgettable weepy dreary ballads, classic crying in your beer music.

Luckily, I listened to the library copy rather than buying it.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Mario vs. Donkey Kong

http://mariovsdk.nintendo.com/

Mario vs. Donkey Kong for the DS.

Over 200 mind-bending puzzles.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Friday, November 12, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

Kongregate

http://www.kongregate.com/

Free online games.

Part of the GameStop network.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Star Trek Infinite Space

http://startrek-is.com/

Free to play browser game in 2011.

Interesting cinematic trailer.

Cabela's Games

http://www.numberonehuntinggames.com/

Very cool gun controller for the Dangerous Hunts 2011 game.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wii Party

http://wiiparty.nintendo.com/

The people in the trailer look like they are having fun.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Free Realms

http://www.freerealms.com/

Although described as a browser game, it actually requires a Windows download to play (unlike Runescape, for example).

It is possible to use Boot Camp to run Windows on a Mac, but I am not willing to do that.

So no Free Realms for me at this time.

Mac MMORPGs

http://mmohut.com/editorials/mac-mmorpgs

A small subset of the total MMORPG universe.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Dofus

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/209/view/reviews/load/99/page/1

Overwhelmingly positive review of the game Dofus.

Major upgrade 2.0 due out in December.

Earth Eternal

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/329/view/reviews/load/107/Earth-Eternal-Earth-Eternal-Review.html

Gushy review of Earth Eternal.

Long load times, repetitive quests, and the derivative nature of the game did not diminish the reviewer's enthusiasm.

Free Realms

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/376/view/reviews/load/84/page/1

Entertaining review of Free Realms.

I am not a Bejeweled fan, so it does not sound like my kind of game, but it might be worth trying anyway.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Friday, October 1, 2010

Guns of Redemption

http://guns-of-redemption.browsergamez.com/

Adventure in the Old Wild West.

Game Ogre

http://www.gameogre.com/

Tons of information on online games.

Funeral Quest

http://www.rtsoft.com/fq/

You would have faced some mighty stiff competition if the game had not died.

Online Games

http://play-free-online-games.com/

I am amazed bordering upon stupification by how many games there are.

Wolf Quest

http://www.wolfquest.org/

The Minnesota Zoo is a partner in this game about playing a wolf in Yellowstone.

Floppers

http://mmohut.com/editorials/the-biggest-mmorpg-flops

Developers will always find new and creative ways to waste money.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Doug Elfman, The Game Dork

http://blog.nola.com/dougelfman/index.html

This is a sequel to a couple of other discontinued game blogs.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Pirate Galaxy

http://us.pirategalaxy.com/

The Facebook connection will introduce many new people to MMOs.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Game on Mac

http://www.gameonmac.com/

Lots of game-related news for the various Apple platforms.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tron

Thanks to Nancy for calling my attention to this story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/business/media/26tron.html?emc=eta1

Unprecedented hype surrounding the upcoming Tron sequel.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Runescape

http://www.runescape.com/

Browser-based and free-to-play.

Features some interesting non-combat activities such as mining, fishing, cooking, smithing, leatherworking, and many others.

Tends to be more than a little grindy.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Return of the Son of Pinball, Part II

http://www.denverpost.com/frontpage/ci_15186413?source=rss

I would love to have a pinball machine but it is the maintenance that is the killer.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Twang

http://www.acountry.com/music/george_strait_twang/

Mostly forgettable modern country music.

The best three songs are:

Twang
Same Kind of Crazy
Hot Grease and Zydeco

I listened to the library copy, and I consider it not worth buying.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

iMMO

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/423/feature/4158/page/1

Pocket Legends = iMMO for iPhone and iPad.

Sounds like fun.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Seven Keys to Slaughter Peak

http://www.milwaukeerep.com/tickets/calendar/view.asp?id=9339

Today we attended the Milwaukee Rep's production of "Seven Keys to Slaughter Peak" at the Quadracci Powerhouse theater.

A romantic murder comedy with numerous twists & turns.

Extremely talented cast featuring many of my favorites.

Well worth seeing.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Top Five Free-to-Play MMOs

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/4129/page/1

Interesting list.

I played Anarchy Online at launch, widely regarded as one of the worst launches in MMO history, maybe the only worse one was WWII Online.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Dragon Keeper

http://www.lvrj.com/blogs/booknook/Dragon_Keeper_a_fantasy_adventure.html

Sounds preachy and shamelessly manipulative but maybe I should try it anyway.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Alice

Today, we saw the movie "Alice in Wonderland" (2D) at the Ridge.

Tim Burton has outdone himself, which is no mean feat.

Anne Hathaway was very good as a somewhat Goth White Queen.

Johnny Depp was outstanding as the Mad Hatter.

Christopher Lee (I thought he was dead) was the voice of the Jabberwocky.

Mia Wasikowska was a truly excellent Alice.

I did not think that any remake would ever exceed the 1951 animated Disney classic, but this is my new favorite Alice.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Crazy Heart

Today, we saw the movie "Crazy Heart" at the Ridge.

Awesome soundtrack.

Jeff Bridges (one of my favorites) did a great job.

But the movie was formulaic and shamelessly manipulative.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Battlestar Galactica MMO game

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-battlestar9-2010mar09,0,4547475.story

This is going to be an interesting experiment.

Free-to-play and web-browser based.

Guide to Exposed Reliquaries

http://gaarawarrgabs.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/guide-to-the-exposed-reliquaries/

A guide to the exposed reliquaries found in Warhammer Online.

So far, I have found 3, and none contained the fabulous loot, only 2 silver scarabs and a useless trophy.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

The Seafarer

http://www.milwaukeerep.com/season/performancedetails.php?ID=151

This afternoon, we attended the Milwaukee Rep's performance of "The Seafarer" at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater.

Powerful story with an awesome cast. Lee Ernst is one of my favorites and he delivered as usual.

I have seen Jonathan Smoots many times, and I think this was his best so far.

Well worth seeing more than once.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Alice

http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/movies/05alice.html?th&emc=th

A lukewarm preview of the new Alice movie.

The 1951 Disney version is still one of my all-time favorites, so I was surprised to read that Walt did not like it.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Walter Mosley

http://www.lvrj.com/blogs/booknook/Reading_Mosley_mysteries_always_a_pleasure.html

Review of the first in a new series of novels by Walter Mosley.

Like the reviewer, I miss the Easy Rawlins series.

If this new series is going to be as good as the Easy Rawlins series, then it is going to be very good.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Macrotransactions

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/4043/page/1

Very interesting article on item shops in online games.

$7,000 for high-end gear?

Makes $15/month seem cheap by comparison.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

ERB Mars movie

http://www.denverpost.com/frontpage/ci_14361900?source=rss

A movie based on the John Carter character of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I hope it is faithful to the novels.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Yankee Tavern

http://www.milwaukeerep.com/season/performancedetails.php?ID=150

Today, we attended The Milwaukee Rep's performance of "Yankee Tavern" at the Quadracci Powerhouse theater.

An X-Files story if ever there was one.

Talented cast.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

MMO Failures

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/3961/page/1

Humorous summary of MMO failures.

It is only fitting that SWG is designated the greatest MMO failure of all time.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

No D&D in prison

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weird-news/story/1445581.html

Documents how inmates are not allowed to play Dungeons & Dragons at the prison in Waupun, Wisconsin.

The Adventures of Jeannie

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/3957/page/1

Excellent article about a person trying an MMO for the first time.

Well worth reading, and should be required reading for MMO developers.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Princess and The Frog

Yesterday, we saw the Disney movie "The Princess and the Frog."

Interesting twist on the old fable "The Frog Prince" but preachy and shamelessly manipulative.

Featured some very good music.

Keith David was outstanding as the villain.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Fantasy Earth Zero

http://www.mmorpg.com/showVideo.cfm/videoId/1601

Interesting trailer, but maybe a little too anime for my taste.

Pearl Bailey

Saturday, we attended the Milwaukee Rep's performance of "Pearl Bailey...By Request" at the Stackner Cabaret.

http://www.milwaukeerep.com/season/performancedetails.php?ID=159

Interesting story, talented cast, some humorous moments.

Featured some good music but not enough Fats Waller.

Excellent Sprecher Black Bavarian on tap.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Up in the Air

We saw the movie "Up in the Air" yesterday.

I thought the very talented cast did a marvelous job with the script they were given.

The story itself I considered marginal.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Mark Corkins

Apparently, one of my favorite actors has returned to his roots in Delaware.

http://www.udel.edu/theatre/players.html

It is interesting that in his list of favorite roles, the first one listed in True West, one of my favorites also.

I wish I had seen him more when he was in Milwaukee.

And maybe he will return.

Sunday, January 10, 2010