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So I've been following this thread and answering some of the q's as they've come. I can get something up by the end of the week... just don't expect anything nearly as good as nabe's
just a heads up to say i'll have this finished tonight (or tomorrow night depending on if I finish it tonight). I won't pull a Nabe and keep you waiting several months
It's because Swiss is always scum. It's never a case of "innocent until proven guilty" with him. He is always guilty!
But seriously, the answer to this question goes a little deeper. It all started when I was an IC in Newbie 6, which was his first game. As a mason recruiter, I could recruit town-aligned players. I would die if I attempted to recruit any mafiosis, except the godfather. You can see where this story is going...
I recruited Swiss on N1 so I could teach him the game. From that point on I assumed on a whim he was Town based on the likelihood of hitting the godfather on Night 1 (it was a 1/11 chance as a mafiosi was lynched on Day 1, which worked out to around 9%). To me that likelihood is close to nothing, but it cost me the game. HE was the godfather!
At the end when all was revealed, that became a very embarrassing mafia moment. Xiivii was trying to chat to me about it on AIM but I wasn't having any of it. After that, I vowed to kill Swiss at any moment he slipped up in a game I happened to be playing with him.
Anyway he was never difficult to read, just VERY painful to lynch. Vanz will keep you entertained for hours as to how pain-inducing it was dealing with someone who plays as obnoxious as that. There have been times when I've read him incorrectly (Resi 4 comes to mind) and I don't know if I'd have him down as well now as I did back in the day because from reading recent games, he's changed a lot. We'll see when I get back into a mafia groove.
The mechanics all tie in with their respective flavours. Oddworld was a great, obscure little flavour. I had to do it justice by incorporating some of the quirks into the setup. Possessing someone worked well because it allowed the preservation of power roles, but is the player possessing good or bad? There is a dynamic here that commands attention, and suddenly the Night becomes more interesting...
Bingo just worked in all the right places. Everyone looked curious as to how the bingo board would work in to the game. When the first death was announced, it dawned on everyone that the board was none other than a metaphor for scum's success, which made townies realise the embarrassment of mislynches only to fight back stronger than ever (2 scum lynches on Days 2 & 3! Amazing!) It's great to read, especially Glyph's dramatic comeback at the end.
Tekken was great but I generally don't get excited by large setups often. The hammering mechanic was like winning a set in any fighting game - you go to the next round uninterrupted (i.e. Night Kill Immunity). It's a useful tool if you took time to read into it as it's a doctor/investigative hybrid - you can observe who is willing to hammer and who isn't, alongside the Night kills, which is good information to work with. That's why I restricted information roles. Outside of that I think I got too flavour-heavy with this game. Definitely one to learn from as a mod.
Do you remember that one time we were going to hydra, but it fell through? I'm still up for that hydra. I'll let you pick the name, just make sure that it's something groovy.
One of the most useful things any newbie can do is read the archives. They have as to close to every archetype of mafia that exists.
As for Town I'd say read up on successful scumhunts and see how others have caught scum before. For scummies, just look at the history of the playerlist and mould into a triangle or something. I find scum to be the most receptive of all the factions.
You seem to have some of the better reads on Dgames. What do you think sets you apart from everyone else? If you feel that several different things set you apart, then please go into as many as possible.
Also, don't cop out on this! I'm expecting that you might say some modest thing like "Oh well I'm not really THAT different from everyone else". I want at least one thing that you think sets you apart Kat!
Well I'm a firm believer that players are completely controlled by their roles, be it scum, vanilla, PRs or whatever. I get a real kick out of understanding where a player's posts come from and what drives any player to say what they say, right down to the words they use. We all know on a basic level that scum see red / talk to each other / make plans / night kill / have temptations to win (etc.), which are traits unique to their roles as scum. There are times when you can see cracks in a player's language where they regress into the role that's controlling them (this is almost inevitable) - that's when I start looking at a player more closely to figure out what they can and can't be.
I find that I myself can come up with good reads, but I'm a bit slow about it. Like, I have to read extensively through a game, taking a bunch of notes, to get the reads that I get. You seem to be much more quick to make the connections in your head. What advice would you give me to speed up this process?
Just ask the hardest questions and make clever little situations that force everyone's hand to play to some extent. Then it's just a case of where's wally - you can spot an uncomfortable player a mile away and question them from there.
You have to remind yourself that meta only goes so far as to explain what someone can do, not what they are actually doing in the game. What if a player is behaving differently because they're trying out new approaches? Really, meta gets stronger the longer someone consistently does something related only to their alignment, like Swiss getting arrested as scum
I like straight-cut vanilla/scum setups, but I've also read players generally find these types of games boring. I think vanilla setups can be made exciting by being flavourful and having a skilful roster.
Looking into intentions and the Why factor behind everything to find scum are unreliable only because it's evil's irony to deceive by appearance, so of course they're going to have good intentions. It's why scummies are seen as such good townies on the surface in a lot of games. That's the point
Another is probably following another player's lead blindly based solely on reputation in past games, which seems to happen all too often. Really, if a player isn't producing results in the game they're playing, then they're not producing results in the game they're playing... Everyone should be scrutinised for that!
It's actually a very loose translation in Arabic meaning "On my shoulders". I quite liked this expression. Some may joke it's also a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern delicacy, which it is. (I also thought it sounded quite Japanese at the time so I'd fit right in on Smashboards).
It's strangely customisable too - I was DJ Katastrophe in Epic Rap Battles, and you can normally catch me under names like Kataclysm / Katapocalyse / Kataracts etc... or Katamari if ever I need to be Japanese.
Who was playing more in Persona mafia, you or Vanz? Or was it an even mix?
You (or at least, Chuckie did) caught like, three scummers on Day 2 in Persona. OS, Circus, and PJB. I noted that you accused PJB of being scummy for being worried about how people perceive his slot. You were right, but I kinda dismissed this, thinking that newbie town would also appear to be worried about their own survival. So what do you think? Is it really telling for someone (especially a newbie) to be obviously worried about their own survival, or is it just a null tell?
I was initially on to OS/Circus and Vanz honed in on PJB. At the very end, those names were strong on our scumdars. Vanz also suspected Kary and J as early as D2, and I suspected Ryker the moment he said nothing important about Sneaky's wagon. Let us all encourage these pesky mods to make a global rule that gives Chuckie an in-game bazooka
You'd have to ask Vanz about how he caught PJB at the time he did, but generally you can look into how desperate someone is to survive as a potential tell as scum can't afford to die as many times as the town. Maybe it's good to look at player numbers - if there's lots of Townies and just one scum left, the scum will likely be desperate to survive, right? It's always good doing your rounds and pressuring everyone to see how people respond in these situations.
- I can play a few instruments. I play the ukelele and also play piano and keyboard. I was forced to learn a baritone at junior school (it was about twice the size of me at the time). Right now, someone's kindly teaching me to use a Xone DB4, which is a beast.
- I wouldn't class English as a 1st language of mine, as I learned Greek first. But actually (if I'm honest) they're interchangeable now. I fly to Cyprus a lot and every time I come back, I notice my accent shifts away from my local one to a something more Mediterranean.
- I really like gambling (mostly in equal chance games). I won't go into too much detail but I get a rush out of working out the odds and being good competition. You can probably guess that I'm a massive poker fan.
- I take GREAT PLEASURE in defacing people in photoshop or paint. There is nothing more pleasurable to me than a good bit o' digital plastic surgery
I can't think of anything else. One good story I could tell is how I embarrassed I became at our Halloween work party. I was dressed in my favourite red morphsuit and we all ended up going to some bar with a huge dancefloor. Anyway they had a series of acts performing that night and for some obscure reason the managers approached me and then ushered me backstage. I kept quiet because I thought it was kinda funny at the time, that is until I saw other people in red morphsuits seriously juggling knives and **** like that. Then I clocked that the managers thought I'd be joining them in whatever sadomasochistic stuff was planned... One morphsuit guy even approached me saying "You ready for this?" and I'm like "**** YOU AND UR KNIVES" whilst shooting through the nearest exit! That was when the managers gave chase and I eventually came clean as to who I was. All was well after that. Would I still be around now if I went through with it all? Gd taims gd taims
It's because we don't mess about. Chuckie may be prepubescent but it's serious business. We treat it as 1 slot with twice the scumhunt. We don't wait for each other's confirmation to do something and we're both tactful in the ways we go about getting our information. Also, we don't get lazy and have probably the best time coverage of any hydra.
I especially like Vanz because his scumhunt seems firmly rooted in common sense and he's 100% resistant to going crazy in a thread, which is why we identified with each other almost straight away from newbie 6/pikmin.
That's a tricky question. Town might lose because of laziness in the roster or reliability is left in the hands of a single player who might make mistakes.
I think a good town is one where there are no keyboard warriors and crazy gambits that serve to confuse players further and everyone is being smart and thinking rationally - I also find (with gambits particularly) that they are more welcoming for scum in that they can create instant townies out of players easily and even go as far as to allow a scum to coast further in the game if they script their reactions to the gambit well.
BIM:Redux had a stacked Town and it all started very well until everyone wanted to be a hero. From the 1st shot, it went downhill from there, and you could really feel the cracks in the Town dynamic. That game had a very sexy scum team
If you mean in terms of ranking, this is more a question for other people to answer. In any game, expect me to be a good sport and make good shots. Generally I don't rely on anyone to figure things out unless some player has produced great results in a game.
Though weirdly I've been going a bit Russell Brand in a few recent games... like I'll start off as a perfectly normal person and then evolve (or degrade) into some loudmouthed thespian as the game goes on, which I imagine is quite distracting for other players. I need to tone that down.
That is hard. I was going to make a joke comment and say Boogerman. But I'm a bigger fan of the detective-types like Batman, Daredevil, The Shadow, Moon Knight etc.
Do you mean an alcoholic drink? I'm a fan of amaretto or some whiskey mixed with something like jamesons with coke. It just depends on the mood and crowd.
Otherwise the best drink is iced tea. I can make a beastly iced tea with about 50 spoons of sugar, enough to keep anyone buzzing all day.
That is really hard. I don't keep tabs on top 10s but Terminator (or Arnold Schwarzenegger) was one of my idols as a kid. I thought he was the coolest character, especially in T2.
I also like some of the James Bond villains like Scaramanga and Red Grant. Jaws and Xenia Onatopp are probably my favourite henchmen out of the whole series. It's difficult picking out of a good bunch. I'd add Austin Powers and Dr. Evil in there too for being great parodies.
Anything based on mythology would get added on my list too. Off the top of my head I'm a big fan of Hercules, Perseus, Medusa (especially as she was visualised in Clash of the Titans, but only in the original where she was too creepy).
Honourable mentions go to Holmes, Batman & other cool characters. My mind is drawing a blank but I like quite a few characters out there.
I'm a big gameshow and documentary fan. I like The Apprentice, anything by attenborough, I also really like Man vs Food. Lost is up there along with Boardwalk Empire and also Twin Peaks back in the day. Recently I've been watching something called Bob's Burgers, which is great!
My favourite games would be the old DOS Sierra games. Special mentions to Quest for Glory, King's Quest 3 and Space Quest 3. That was my childhood growing up.
The Oddworld games / Ridge Racer Type 4 / Tomb Raider 4 also stick me with me as great games I remember well, all of them being ridiculously hard.
The original Clocktower game on SNES scared me silly and have I recovered? Nuuu! You could say I'm a big fan of the horrors - ResiEvil (before the 4th game), Silent Hill and games like Amnesia.
I also like simple point-and-click games because they're so relaxing. A recent one I loved was Machinarium - such a sweet game. I'd put the Broken Sword series here too.
I'd meet Vanz - we always have a laugh in any game we play together. I'd meet Nabe for his wonderfully bizarre ways, and Soup seems like the type of guy I'd make music with. I'd wanna show Marshy my running man, or the funky chicken. And I wouldn't mind meeting Kary because is he Mariah in disguise? I will never know...
I'd also like to meet my #1 fans out there Zen & J so I can sign autographs
I'd definitely wish for my own island, maybe with a massive theme park thrown in. I envision beach parties, barbeques and good times
Next would be a Lotus Series 2 Exige S.
Lastly I'd wish for world peace. Some people out there in our nation don’t have maps, and I believe that our education (like such as in South Africa and the Iraq, or everywhere like such as), and I believe they should help the U.S. or South Africa, and should help the Iraq and Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future.
Do you mean in real life? Probably someone like Ellie Goulding... OMG I take that back *god forgive me* but in all seriousness I appreciate her, I'm just really not a fan. She has a voice similar to that of an exploding seagull, so we don't get on.
In a mafia game I'd kill any vocal player with a history of flop reads. They are too hazardous.
DESTINED FOR SUCCESS! I've been collaborating with Ghostface on our next EP "The Crayola Scissors Sessions". I was gonna send a postcard your way but here's a pic instead.
Meet me in my boudoir for, say, 11.15 tonight. WARNING: REALLY NOT SAFE FOR WORK! I imagine it would turn out something like this. I can't quite piece together who would be who though...
Generally the really cute ones like weezing/jigglypuff/arbok etc. I was a big fan of weezing until someone explained to me here his name came from (it never clicked). Then I felt sorry for him.
Arbok was awesome in one episode I watched right at the start where Misty was underwater doing her thang, and then Arbok just waltzes in, killing everything.
And then that big fat jigglypuff was amazing as well in one episode where it sang with an extremely low voice.
What happened to all the newer ones?! They look so deformed. What is this? I understand there was a radiation crisis in Japan but I didn't realise pokemon would be so affected...
But seriously, it was awful. I love Tanny-anny, but the setup was awful. Maybe it was the adopted lovechild of Dexter and Oddworld, born with a vengeance.
Though that game simmered away, towards the end it was the most adrenaline-fueled game I ever played - I was at work when you/Glyph came out as the PRs I predicted, and no one counterclaimed and everything actually seriously ridiculously lined up. Safe to say I did no work that day.
Penny Widmore was entirely bull**** and I made an endgame post in preparation of everything going **** up. The whole point was to test out a theory I had in mind having accepted death with Ryker, and I wasn't expecting such results. But it was like hitting the jackpot at Vegas whether I died after or not (though there were strong trails to suggest why both were what they were). I still laugh at the reactions in the QT though.
It has to be Deal or No Deal. It's a guilty pleasure nonetheless but I swear there is no banker on the other end of that phone line, the phone cable itself is a rope, and the contestants are all actors. Do you have Deal or No Deal in the states? You probably have no idea what I'm banging on about.
The next would have to be The Only Way Is Essex. Now I know for sure that this isn't in the states because it's a real life drama soap (similar to The Hills) that's set quite literally in my hometown and the surrounding areas... It is car crash TV at its finest and has given the area a bad name (or good name whichever way you look at).
I would pick The King's Speech. It dawned on me halfway through that this is actually about a man with a stutter, and from that point I couldn't get into it at all.
I'd say Deep Blue Sea, for very personal reasons. I remember the gasps in the cinema when Samuel L Jackson died (probably because they were coming from me...)
Ryker makes me think of Captain Riker in Star Trek. Swiss always make me think of gingers. Oh, and prison I don't know what Raziek means - I think of Poland, maybe some kind of Polish wrestler. J always makes me think of Dahlia Hawthorne in Ace Attorney.
Do you mean other rappers? I listen to some rap but I'm not into it hardcore or anything. Kanye/Jay Z mainly. I went to their Watch the throne gig at the O2 and it was crazy good!
I'm pretty easy when it comes to music. I quite like chilled out house or anything with a nice late night/early morning vibe to it. I've just listed some relaxing tunes I have in my car at the moment:
I'm secretly a huge Prince fan and wanted to be like him or Michael Jackson in my former years. I've attempted the Computer Blue guitar solo many times and it's too much for me to handle.
i remember anime mafia awhile back. i believe it was your first game. it was hosted in the lod a room i dont remember you posting much in. so what interested you in joining and what kept ya going?
My first game was Grammys back in the LOD. I wasn't interested in playing funnily enough. When Grammys needed a replacement, Kaylo got in touch. At first I said no, but she was persistent and made me play. I was a mafiosi and had Kev/Air to do all the dirty work for me. If you read Grammys, I think you'll laugh at how naive and disinterested I sounded throughout the game. I had no idea what I was doing.
Phoenix is what kept me going. I replaced in thinking it would be a nice, slow game. How wrong was I? I replaced straight into a dead man's slot and was mauled to DEATH by that Town. I'm not used to such a fast pace, and normally I'm quite together, but holy gorf that game burned me something fierce. Did you enjoy the ending?
I don't know what my first memories were, but I remember being that kid back in the day who'd open all your presents at Christmas/birthdays, or blow out your candles.
I don't anymore but I used to. Basically at uni we all played Halo/Soul Calibur/Mario Kart etc. Then someone brings in Melee and my brand new jigglypuff got DESTROYED.... I hated the game and refused to play it at this point.
Then I saw someone use Peach and she seemed to be exposing her undergarments whilst flying everywhere, so I gave it another shot and BAM! I was a beast! I could do these funky 0-80% combos with Peach with a single button press and no one could handle it!
Then brawl came out and I tried Dedede first because I was entertained by the idea of a fat penguin using a hammer. He just wasn't me in the end so I dropped him. I went round the roster and started using Peach/Olimar/Lucario/Ganondorf/Zelda. Then I settled for Zelda and what a classy ***** she turned out to be. I had (or maybe still have) a pretty sexy Zelda.
Couples as in romantic couples? Lessssssavalook shall we:
- Nabe would be polygamous. I predict 2 open relationships between yourself and maybe Vanz, and a hidden one with Swiss, his true love. He'd have someone innocent locked up in a dungeon as well. Maybe someone like Ran but July will uncover the truth.
- Zen/J. They'd last up to 6 months before pursuing other romances. I think Zen is more experimental and open to cheating. I imagine him with a pink mohawk whereas J would rock a side fringe.
I can't think of others. Based on similar online personalities or just good fits I reckon:
i think wed be a ballin hydra. i think we both have that "iight **** all this discussion and *****es ****ing off into their own little worlds lets hardbody this ***** right the **** outta hear and be done with this gorfdamn day" aspect to our playstyle. im not actually interested in playing anytime soon but hey its a fun thought huh?
Some would consider the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to be accurate representations of the four temperaments, creating an easy to understand template for the four basic food groups of human personality. Plug yourself and three other Dgamers into this template. (Yes, I liked jerkus question so much when he posed it to Soup that I've decided to pose it to you as well.)
This is hard. I see parts of myself in different categories. I mostly lean sanguine with a hint of choleric, summer berries, lemonade and a good shake (never a stir).
I'll pick my hydra half, Vanz, as someone who's similar, but maybe more relaxed with that Australian heat, so add a bit of Phlegmatic to that mix.
Next I'll pick my favourite wizard, Nabe, who likes it melancholic with a few sanguine spices thrown in to satisfy that libido.
Lastly I'll pick you, Freud, who I imagine would drink sanguine straight up.
As a mod I've definitely learned there are 2 basic types of setups. You've got your surprising ones, with big production values, mass amounts of interesting PRs, and plot twists that go BANG and simmer down after. Then you've got your suspenseful setups, which are left to simmer - the threats are underlying, more mysterious and those vanillas are not quite sure how evil their enemies truly are. It's Die Hard vs any Hitchcock film, PR-driven setups vs straight-cut vanillas... or (simply put) roles vs players. I try to design for the latter now after Oddworld!
As for playing, I've learned that no matter how concrete a Town is, cracks will always surface, and that the longer players are left to discuss things, the more doubtful they'll become (naturally). Epic Rap Battles is a testament to that. Keeping the Town light, fun and simple (a la Discworld) is the way to go. Smiles all around
In Lost/BIM:Redux/Resi 4 and actually every single game I've been in, I've learned that players focus on issues that most concern them regarding role responsibilities (like moths to a flame). Glyph coming alive to EE's vig gambit on D1, Chibo heavily interested in cop discussion etc...
Well I quite like mafia straight up with a twist. Plain vanilla vs scummies but with a universal twist to the core gameplay that opens up new ways to read the game and its players, or creates tense situations that players have to suss out. Right now I'm very intrigued by X1's Dining Philosophers.
Also roles that are proper ambiguous in the information they give. I prefer info that has many interpretations and this when you can see setup speculation at its finest (as scum at least have tools to twist the speculation in their favour as opposed to being under the mercy of strong results).
*Sweeping statement alert* It's true. Kary and I would probably drink Swiss under the table. There's a reason he got arrested and we're still out and about damaging public property
You are being chased in the woods by a werewolf, the werewolf catches up to you and says something to you. You beg it to eat you but it refuses. What did the werewolf say?
Epic rap battles. All 3 of us made big calls left and right (the QT is an intense read). I remember Circus and that cop claim, Dietz managing to survive nearly 4 Days of not getting lynched despite being MOBBED by that Town, me randomly coming out with weird ass **** like "oh sorry guys, I was busy doing zumba" (for the record, I don't do zumba). Then I remember No Lynch spiraling into uncontrollable states of insanity while Marshy came out with this serious gambit where he "revived" JayK from the grave, slowly exposing the scum team. So many shenanigans!
There was also an inception moment where Marshy/myself played mafia inside mafia (we know each other well through past games). It was around Day 3 and he spoke to me like he knew I was mafia, but never outright stated it, and I knew he knew I knew he knew I was mafia... so we killed him off!
Special mentions to DBZ as the androids. Funny that I ended up with Cello. We had a mutual distaste for each other based on past games and were forced to cooperate. But what we had planned went into very dark territory - we both had an eye on a particular player and planned to bully them on a somewhat personal level. We had to cool off for a bit there and eventually agreed it was in bad jest to do something like this just to win a game. I also had a fight with him on AIM as he became increasingly paranoid that I was hit by the Yakuza. 80% of DBZ (from the androids' perspective) was played outside the game.
Definitely Discworld. That game is comedy gold! This was a strong town - Delvro/Mayling/Mcfox/Myself were on point; there were no keyboard heroes and no one attempted to take thread control in a way that didn't produce results.
The only costly mistake was lynching Zac on D3 for inventing the most absurd post restriction ever. Can someone back me up on this? He literally wanted to become a slave to someone else and manipulated his behaviour as such. Then out of nowhere Gheb had a role akin to that of a jester, which threw everyone off! THAT got me real good.
It has to be my secret onesie. I normally wait until everyone has gone to bed while dressed up in my secret onesie and then jam to michael jackson downstairs. Sometimes I'll go for a drive and see who's around. I like driving around when it's the early hours of the morning as well just listening to some music.
We all queue up everywhere in a formerly way. (true)
We all drink tea and live in big castles. (very true)
One I see everywhere but is totally false is the "British Accent". There's no such thing. I have what they call an Essex accent which I've learnt to disguise now whenever I'm on a business call or something at work (otherwise people will not stop going on about it). Swiss has quite a good speaking voice considering he's from Saaaaffff Laaaandaaannnn (South London). Kary I bet you're quite well spoken. You're from Reading, right?
If we're going strictly by online personality, I imagine Holmes to end up being someone like Zen in a few more years. Watson would be Ranmauru. Moriarty would be someone like Ryker or Swiss. Lestrade is hard... I can't think of anyone that would fit this character. I was going to say Marshy but Marshy's too kickass for Lestrade. I'll have to come back to this one.
I would suggest you as Irene Adler, though maybe you'd be a crossover character (Miss Marple!) Mrs Hudson would be Kary. I'd be Austin Powers and Vanz would be Thomas Magnum
Words cannot describe. To make sense of my experience, I wrote an erotic song that challenges the viewer to explore the rules encoded in the subconscious that shape our aesthetics and to consider why we find beauty in the juxtaposition of chaos and order:
Hey Diddle, Diddle, Swissy played the fiddle, Beside the bedside clock. The little kat was like "oh hell naaaawwww!" Then died of electric shock.
Does this completed interview have strong production values? Was it you, a third-party, or did you crowdsource it? Do we live in a consumer's culture of spectacle? Is that too cut-and-dry?
Yes I tried strong production values actually. I tried making a video of this interview and was in desperate need of outside assistance. I had a bit of trouble, as you can see
Give me your fav A's. Favourite author, favourite actor (stage or screen), favourite aristocrat, favourite artist, favourite animal, favourite ale. Add more at your leisure.
Authors: I tend to like heavy crime thrillers and whodunits. Q.Patrick would be one as I'm a big fan of Death for Dear Clara for the abundance of suspects and of course Inspector Trant, who is great. A lot of their writing is well described but they have a myriad of different aliases so it's difficult to track their stuff.
Agatha Christie is a standard. I remember Crooked House being one that stuck with me because I found the twist at the end unexpected (it didn't sit well with me and I had to think about it long after I finished reading). That was one of the first books I read properly hence the impact it had.
Needful Things by Stephan King was grim and interesting. That and Christine, only because the concept of a killer car madly in love with its owner is sooo my kind of thing. King is a favourite of mine too. Pennywise the Clown is an idol of mine...
No other books are jumping out at me right now as I type this, though I do like a lot of stuff. How can I forget 50 Shades of Grey? My favourite book of all time.
Actors: Right now it's Jennifer Lawrence (lol), especially after she fell flat at the Oscars. Jack Nicholson/Anthony Hopkins/Arnold Schwarzenegger are actors I tend to get excited about when they release new stuff.
Aristocrat: myself
Artists: I'm a big fan of Banksy and Damien Hirst right now. Also I'm normally impressed by anything that isn't 'modern art' (I'm talking a single dot on a plain white canvas kinda stuff...). I'm what an artiste would call a "simpleton", but still it's not hard to roll your eyes at a really lazy piece of art. I even remember getting chased out of the Tate Modern by an assistant on an electric chair because I was using flash photography on Mark Rothko's Black on Maroon. That's when it hit me how cultist the modern art societies are...
Animals: DEFINITELY SHARKS! I find them very misunderstood. Spiders would be a close second as they're fascinating.
Ales: I don't like ales - too sickly for me. I like stout. Guinness is my go-to drink of choice because there are too many local names to remember and it all tastes the same to me!
Are you going to come to Canada if Vand does? Couchsurf? Will you walk around with your left leg tied to his right for my amusement? Will we go to a bingo hall for a night of fun, or a curling club? Will now be the winter of our dis-discontent, made glorious false-summer by these microbrewed beverages of Canada?
When I come to Canada, Nabus, can we please PLEASE build the biggest snowman? I've heard the current record is 122ft tall and was actually of the female specimen, which gives us a fighting chance. This has always been a dream. Long story but I was one of the few people who saw a giant inflatable duck on the Thames. Ever since then it has inspired me to research everything about our macrocosmic surroundings and the true beings we are. Maybe this is a plot twist, but this same duck also migrated to Sydney Harbour, which loosely connects Vans with myself. I see a Zero Escape 3 in the making here... It's fate that we'll both be visiting you at the same time.
Anyway, yes to bingo - we can dress you in drag - you'll be part of the knitting nanas crew in no time. Yes to a curling club, though I'm not very good. I can, however, put on a very elite posh accent and twiddle a fake moustache if you like. We'd fit right in. And the last question went right over my head, mon amie. I'd say yes!
Cor blimey... You must love me. This is your 3rd round of questioning! I'm not hardcore but I play racket sports a lot like tennis, badminton and squash. I used to be on the cross country team at school but those days are long gone. I'm a fat ******* now.
Well it all starts when someone approaches me asking to hydra. I make them go through grueling challenges akin to the mating rituals of the birds of paradise in New Guinea. Safe to say not everyone passes the test but those that do are then blessed with a character I think of at the back of my mind. Katalingo is one I'd like to bring back in memory of Mayling the Great.
Chuckie is the most potent. I look at this character as a Venom of Dgames. I got into this flavour so much that I couldn't drop it easily even when I played solo, which is dangerous territory to be in because it truly overtook me. Suddenly my own posts had gimmicks to them that were only appropriate as Chuckie. I'm slowly cooling off from this.
There's actually not much I could spend it on over here. I'd give it to a hobo nearby or if there's a Maccy D's even closer, I'd go there and get a big mac
I'd photobomb everything! Even serious government photos. I imagine Obama shaking hands with world leaders with me pulling a Wally somewhere and peeking out inconspicuously.
Oh yea, I didn't think the King's speech was bad per say, it was just completely standard formulaic oscar bait. I still have a massive grudge against the academy for letting such a blatent oscar grab beat out the interesting and challenging social network and the incredibly interesting and expiriemental inception.
Kata I really enjoyed reading this, thank you for taking the time to make it. I lol'd several times, particularly 'saaaffff laaaandaaannnnn'. Really feel like I should've asked you a couple more questions now. But hell, yes. a good read.
Oh yea, I didn't think the King's speech was bad per say, it was just completely standard formulaic oscar bait. I still have a massive grudge against the academy for letting such a blatent oscar grab beat out the interesting and challenging social network and the incredibly interesting and expiriemental inception.
I do think it's harsh of me calling it the WORST movie, but what you said is exactly how I feel. I can't think of a standout scene, or anything that sets it apart from other british period dramas that didn't receive as much recognition in comparison.
Funnily enough I'm not a fan of Inception either (check me out slowly becoming a salty film critic). I didn't think it was as hard to follow as some made out.
If I'm honest, I thought Black Swan had it in the bag with The Social Network a close second.
I do think it's harsh of me calling it the WORST movie, but what you said is exactly how I feel. I can't think of a standout scene, or anything that sets it apart from other british period dramas that didn't receive as much recognition in comparison.
Funnily enough I'm not a fan of Inception either (check me out slowly becoming a salty film critic). I didn't think it was as hard to follow as some made out.
If I'm honest, I thought Black Swan had it in the bag with The Social Network a close second.
I knew the king's speech was gonna win because I was aware of it's status as absolute oscar bait, it was good, but like any well executed but utterly samey piece, it was good.
It's less how difficult it was to follow, and more overall artistic merit and originality, in addittion to extremely strong execution and tight acting. It hit all the good points of being an art movie without being purposefully obtuse and accessible enough for a general audience at least on the surface, while still being very open to analysis and interpretation because it had a lot of depth.
Haven't seen black swan unfortunately, I really need to.
I found The Social Network underwhelming. I enjoyed it, but after the extensive hype I felt let down. I felt that Sorkin's wit was carrying a film centered on a douchebag protagonist that just... didn't have a whole lot going on, in any sense. There were a few scenes that hit a strong note for me, but on the whole it just wasn't anywhere near as engaging as I was expecting after everyone fellated the film. I dunno.
I still unabashedly love Inception but I don't know if I could call it a superior film to Black Swan. They are radically different films though and that's pretty much the inherent problem with the concept of the Academy Awards in the first place. The other is that the Academy has no expertise on film whatsoever, and that it's driven by politics and the same old bull**** every single year. Just look at Crash, how the **** did that get nominated for any awards much less win some? Talk about stilted contrived BS. The Hurt Locker was pretty good but certainly not the best film of the year; frankly I think the film's Best Picture win had more to do with the fact that it was an Iraq War film directed by a woman than the film's quality. Bruce Greenwood was allegedly shot down in consideration for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of JFK in Thirteen Days because he's a Canadian, and Jurgen Prochnow was criminally overlooked for so much as a nomination of Best Actor in Das Boot. 'murrca
**** the Oscars tho seriously. Don't even know how the 2012 ones turned out and I'm pretty okay with that. Wish people would stop paying them so much attention, including me, cuz you know lolhypocrisy.
it's sort of difficult to not be let down given the amount of hype surrounding the social network, but it was still an excellent movie, and almost worthy of the hype in my opinion.
Having not seen black swan I can't argue that either inception or the social network is better, but I certainly will argue that they were both better then oscar bait by the numbers, even if it was well executed.
As far as taking the academy awards seriously, I disagree. The academy awards offer a signifigant incentive to aim for at least a few great movies instead of simply aiming for good. This is part of the reason film has auteurs, because they have a universally accepted set of awards which are known to the public, which in turn means it's actually financially viable. The problem is that the academy needs to be change the voters because they are immensly predictable.
lol! Why haven't I seen this before? This guy has it down to a T!
The difference between Inception and Black Swan, for me at least, was that Black Swan made me go emo. I went in thinking it was going to be some artsy fartsy nonsense and came out a legit emo with black hair and slit wrists. No one recognised me. Some of the scenes descended into trippy, gory territory and everything was unexpected. I never thought I'd ever say that about a ballet film. I do recommend watching it but it's not everyone's cuppa tea...
The Social Network hit a soft spot because it was the catalyst for every tech student and their own business plan. I'd just finished uni at the time and everyone in my year wanted to see how some student took an idea and made billions. I know I felt really motivated at the end (that soon died down quickly >_>...) I need to watch it again with a fresh pair of eyes.
Well enjoy, moviebob has some very good insight and is worth checking out, minus his bias against the fps genre that prevents him from judging it fairly and his often repeated belief that if you weren't bullied in HS you were a bully (fun fact, actually it's the opposite, if you were a bully you probably were bullied in turn). Unfortunately, even though he rails against being exclusionary in geek culture, that's one area where he certainly is.
The difference between Inception and Black Swan, for me at least, was that Black Swan made me go emo. I went in thinking it was going to be some artsy fartsy nonsense and came out a legit emo with black hair and slit wrists. No one recognised me. Some of the scenes descended into trippy, gory territory and everything was unexpected. I never thought I'd ever say that about a ballet film. I do recommend watching it but it's not everyone's cuppa tea...
The Social Network hit a soft spot because it was the catalyst for every tech student and their own business plan. I'd just finished uni at the time and everyone in my year wanted to see how some student took an idea and made billions. I know I felt really motivated at the end (that soon died down quickly >_>...) I need to watch it again with a fresh pair of eyes.
I do think it's harsh of me calling it the WORST movie, but what you said is exactly how I feel. I can't think of a standout scene, or anything that sets it apart from other british period dramas that didn't receive as much recognition in comparison.
Funnily enough I'm not a fan of Inception either (check me out slowly becoming a salty film critic). I didn't think it was as hard to follow as some made out.
If I'm honest, I thought Black Swan had it in the bag with The Social Network a close second.
Lol it is very groovy. You should check out Spotify - you can set up your own radio station based on a single track. It's similar to the genius thing in itunes.
@He-man: I pick Handorin, Sworddancer & Kary. That's a good mix of old/mid/new right there.
