Petty things, S.A.C. 2nd Gig, laughing, and a bit of traffic
So the Budget went as planned, and yes the top rate vehicle tax band increased from £210 to £300 to be followed by another increase to £400 in 2008. Big woop.
Little things that annoy, I pop on to Gamespot every so often just to see what's new. Today's front page was surprisingly free of PS3 hype seeing as it comes out to tomorrow (I can hardly wait, oh wait yes I can), but what caught my eye was at the bottom "God of War II Game Guide". Okay a game guide; for those having trouble with a particular area or for those who just can't find that last piece of whatever got smashed into exactly 99 pieces they're great. God of War II gets released in Europe on 13th April. So presumably this guide is for people playing import copies as it got released on 13th March in the good old US of A. Of course that doesn't explain why the US release of the official guide was on 7th March. It seems this always happens the guide to the game is released a week or two before the actual game, why would anyone buy it?
Manga and animé time, I've got Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell: Man/Machine Interface, I've got the two films Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I've got all 7 volumes of GitS: Stand Alone Complex, so I'm a fan, but I've only just picked up the first S.A.C. 2nd Gig. The reason for that is mostly down to price, four 25 minutes episodes at £20 when I can pick up eleven 45min episodes of CSI for £35. Okay it does come with a second duplicate disc with a better soundtrack, but that's still 10p per minute compared to 7p and that for what is essentially the same episodes. However now the 7-disc box-set has been released the original 2-disc'ers have dropped in price so I picked up the first at Fopp in Kiddy for a tenner.
One of the problems I had with GitS: S.A.C.: 1 was the opening theme tune "Inner Universe"; it was nice the first time, okay the second, and just got annoying after that. Coupled with the poor track breaking meant you couldn't just skip over it to get to the story. So I approached GitS:2nd Gig with some small trepidation. Ah different theme tune "Rise", okay that's better, much better. Four episodes and I listened to it all the way through with no desire to skip it. As for the series itself - darker then series 1 so far, yet still totally strange at times.
Oh just as minor trivia the English actress who does the voice for Major Kusanagi in GitS (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) sang the lyrics for the excellent "You're Not Here" for the video game Silent Hill 3 as also featured in the movie.
I needed a laugh so I put on "Jack-Jack Attack" a five minute short that came as an extra on the 2-disc edition of "The Incredibles".
"Is this the Parr Residence?"Okay I'm trying not to laugh as I type. Looking at the quote it's not funny, put the visuals to it and... gods I've got a tears in my eyes.
"Yes! I'm Kari - the babysitter!"
"Triangle"Oh I've got to stop there before my sides split.
"bah"
"Good. House"
"bah"
"Good. Campfire"
Dies Irae
Traffic was getting bad this morning. Work on the bridge still continues, amusingly (or not) in exactly the same place as where they started last October, the pavement work in Lion Hill seems to have finished, and now instead they're doing something on Vale Road. As a result lanes 2 and 3 are closed morning until evening. This means that anyone coming from Mitton Street is now forced into lane 1 rather then picking from 2 or 3; and, joy of joys, traffic from Lickhill Road (High Street) have right of way over the entire lot. In theory this means the traffic in town should be clearer as they're no longer waiting to cross lane 2 to get to lane 3; in theory. In practice cars are still waiting as they're unsure of what's going on, cars from Mitton Street, so used to having their own way, are continuing at stupid speeds up to Vale Road and feedback from Gilgal is still blocking one lane, but this time it's the only lane available. It's all good fun.
It would also be helpful if, as promised, there were frequent patrols to stop all the illegal parking, Oh and can we have a lane-divider in York Street please, pretty please with sugar on top; someone seems to have had a spree with yellow paint can you give them a can of white too.
2 comments:
Ah yes, I didn't really like GitS on account of the plot, such as it is, being decidedly old hat in sf terms. I went to see Innocence in Cambridge Arts Picturehouse on release, and let's just say I was so excited by the amazingly pretty visuals that I had to change my pants afterwards.
Actually, perhaps that's not the best choice of cliche. The DVD of GitS has a review quotation at the top that reads "... AND LUSH VISUAL SFX", which my brothers misread as "lush visual sex", leading them to conclude that the movie was of a different genre.
Anyway, Innocence is really worthwhile, even though it doesn't come out as well on the small screen. Is the SAC any good? If it is as dull as GitS, I would be disinclined to watch it, but if it is as pretty as Innocence I would be more partial.
Also, I remember reading about the you-have-to-be-standing-in-the-right-place poster a few posts back: looks like the Red Cross had the same idea. See http://geekologie.com/2007/03/red_cross_tries_creative_adver.php
Yes Innocence was very pretty, the elephant still blows me away. What's less mentioned is the music which fitted in perfectly with the visuals.
Although stylistically different I also enjoyed Blood: The Last Vampire, stupidly an early scene with someone reaching for a telephone is my strongest visual memory; but that film was too too short.
SAC is... different, some of the same heavy-handed philosophy of the films; we're in the middle of a fire-fight now is not the time for a discussion on the nature of being, but each episode being only 25 minutes long breaks things up in a way that GitS doesn't.
I wouldn't rate the visuals as high as Innocence, GitS perhaps.
SAC:2's the same style, visually and story-wise, though perhaps a touch darker so far. The Tachikomas still grate though, and my preferred episodes are those where they keep their speakers shut. Nice too that no real previous knowledge of SAC:1 is needed to watch it.
All-in-all it's down to taste, like Shadowburst. Renting one's the best bet. If you can't find one I could loan you my copy of the first four episodes, but the nasty blurb at the start warns me about unauthorised lending backed by threats of a fine and/or imprisonment :-P Saying that you've got my email address.
One hopes that the Red Cross weren't doing their advertising in New York, that latter photo might not have gone down too well.
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