Yesterday was the last day of the sparring seminar. I had a bad feeling going into it, feeling a touch of illness, but it was the last day so I went into it. We were doing two rounds of two minutes each. I got really, really tired near the end of the first round, and was really having trouble breathing second round -- and then at the last second was dropped by a good kick to the midsection (toes in solar plexus, rest of foot into liver). That wasn't so bad, I from that quickly enough, but the hard breathing from the match did me in. My chest constricted a bit, and I imagine asthma feels a bit like this, and it's been that way since the match. So I guess I really was getting a bit sick... so much for the bit part now. Cough cough!
The WoW beta servers came down last thursday, and sure enough, they unleased an appocalypse on the world (each server, really, some shots viewable here, images 1177 to 1200). Since I was in class, teaching, I missed it all. Booo! Ah well, game goes live Tuesday. Joy of joys, they've decided to create some RP servers! Ever since my amazing RP encounter, I'd been hoping they'd create a server to cater to the RP crowd. While the ruleset really hasn't changed much (all it really does is postulate more GM oversight), hopefully the name "RP" will gather the RP-crowd together, making experiences like the one I had more prevalant. That, and hopefully scare the 1337s elsewhere. Wile a few tweaks could've helped, it's really the people that can make the RP more immersive, and that I really look forward to.
Of course, I also fear the assholes, jerks and twinkers who will join the RP server, be assholes, jerks and twinkers, and when called on it will simply state "Oh, hey man, I'm just RPing a jerk!" Riiiiiggghhht. Well, in RP, then I say "@#$#@$! off"
After all of yesterday's 'festivities', a bunch of us gathered last night to watch the entirety of Macross Zero... (spoilers ahead, perhaps)
For some it was new (new to Macross in general, even), for others they'd seen some but not all of the Macross Zero episodes. I had not seen the last episode yet, so it was a new conclusion to all of us. And... what a conclusion. It really makes me wonder if Macross Zero is really supposed to be a prequel to the TV series, or the Movie. While the events between the two (TV, Movie) are ostensibly similar, the latter is actually a 'dramatization' made within the TV continuity. So it's not 100% cannon -- but at the same time, the director had a chance to add and elaborate on some themes not covered in the TV show. So to watch MZ, and especially the... strangeness that occurs at the end and the heavy ties into proto-culture, mythology, and spiritual transormation seems a bit more tied to the Movie than the TV series. Especially the latter, with people turning into bird-humans and streaks of light. I'll admit I'm a bit undecided on the ending. It was odd, and even odder in a Macross continuity, but somehow fit nonetheless. Though I'll agree that the tinkerbell appearance of Mao on Shin's shoulders was the writers getting themselves into a tight spot and going "crap, how do we get out of this? he needs to learn some information!"
What's not in doubt are the battles, which were crazy-amazing, with good CG/Classic Animation combo to boot. They got a bit long in the tooth at times, and perhaps a bit too MTV-hyperkinetic, but wild rides, no pun intended. Worth watching the seires for that alone, if you're a mecha fan. (Which, no doubt, I am) That, and there's a hauntingly beautiful choral song that appears many times (and even changes lyrics-wise at the end, if you notice). Mmmmm.
Definitively, if you are a Macross fan this is well worth seeing.
Posted by kannik at November 21, 2004 11:34 AM in Arts&Media, Daily, Kung Fu