Home again

This visit to Spokane was...weird. It was the first time in 15 years where I felt as though I really didn't like that city anymore. 

It was grim and decrepit; neglected might be the best word for the state of so much of the city. What wasn't neglected was cookie-cutter new, houses all built from the same mold, making them extra creepy in that 'One of Us' way. 

There was also the presence of a whole lot more Jesus on display and, because of the election, a fuckton of Republican signage. 

It made me feel a bit sad. I knew Spokane wasn't the most progressive of cities but I never felt depressed about that state until I went back this year. 

I think I'd be a lot angrier and listen to a whole lot more heavy metal, should I have never moved away. I don't know what I make of that but...I don't see it as a positive.

Dream

I dreamt I was lost. Then I remembered that it was a dream and dream me has a GPS.

That was pretty rad.

I know it's weird

But I feel sorry for Paul Ryan, just a bit.

He had this opportunity to talk to Americans who weren't like him. Very few people are as candid as the poor. I can only imagine what they talked about but maybe he got a little picture into that life, something that might spark some compassion in him.

And who knows exactly how this little stop at a soup kitchen was supposed to go or could have gone. Maybe somewhere in the back of his mind as he's scrubbing a pot that was, reportedly, already clean he's thinking: what's gone wrong with things? I'm a decent person and I want to help people. Why does everyone seem to be so riled against me?

Or maybe not. Maybe he's just thinking: I need to make sure I look good for the cameras. 

Hard to say. Certainly, he's using this moment to forward his political career and if he fucks up the non-profit status of that kitchen then I hope he does all he can to amend that. 

But I just have to wonder.

Max Payne 3

It's good. It's also the second strongest case of cognitive dissonance I've dealt with in videogames this year.

Essentially, Max Payne says: Do you like noir? Drunks? Gallows humor? Dead women? THEN HAVE WE GOT SOMETHING FOR YOU!

The whole game is played through this visual patina of alcohol haze and I like that but it's not reflected anywhere else. You still shoot grenades out of the air, shootdodge (bullet time) through environments killing 4+ dudes at a time, etc. The superhero elements are not really diminished.

It's weird, having every other scene with Max essentially tell you what a fuckup he is but by god he can kill every last motherfucker in the room. Despite being hammered.

The only real complaint I have about MP3 is the complaint I have with any game of this type: Let's build an incredibly tense shooter on rails! Then, let's force players to get off the rails to find clues and special weapon drops, breaking the tension and any sort of immersion, because they need to find these other cool things.

Why do that? There must be a better way, mechanically, to integrate the elements of uncovering the conspiracy and getting better weapons than having the player stop everything they were doing that was fun, in order to run around and look for shiny gold pieces or scraps of paper. 

Oysters, bitch.

What I learned on the internet today (#1): An adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day. That's pretty impressive right? Not to mention functional and pragmatic.

“[The oyster] accepts algae and detritus in one end — and through this beautiful, glamorous set of stomach organs, out the other end comes cleaner water.”