Monthly Archives: July 2010

six fun in four days is too little fun

Posted in everyday kimli by

The July long weekend is an unusually quiet time around these parts – while it seems as though we should have days full of non-stop fun and illegal activities, it’s almost always a pretty chill affair with no real sense of urgency. While this isn’t the way I normally spend my days – I tend to thrive on the thrill a minute – it’s been a pleasant change of pace.

Except now I’m done relaxing and am totally ready to get back to my usual programing.

This is the last day of my 4-day weekend, and I’ve spent much of it snoozing. That’s not to say I haven’t done anything at all – I’ve had little pockets of fun that definitely brightened up my cloudy days off, saving me from the dreaded cabin fever and from feeling like I wasted this precious time away from the office. Canada Day was spent lounging around the house in true Canadian fashion – naked – before heading over to Railtown for a group-effort pasta dinner and fireworks at Darren‘s place (he of the view overlooking the Five Sails). Friday was more of the same, until I demanded food on a stick – Ed and I went for an evening scooter ride out to Richmond where we spent an exhausting two hours wandering the Summer Night Market (I bought socks, kettle corn, cushion covers for the couch, and a tiny hat) before getting caught in a surprise downpour on the way home. We watched Hot Tub Time Machine while I hunted dungeons on my iPad, then turned in for the night. In contrast, Saturday was a buzz of activity – it was Heather’s birthday, and we met her at the Lonsdale Quay for an afternoon of bubble tea and enabling which resulted in her buying a Mac Mini later that night. From North Van, it was off to Burnaby for Derek’s birthday party which was fantastic – Derek is known and loved by all, and his party was a veritable who’s who of awesome Vancouver people. There were many hugs and excellent conversations and the most adorable dog ever, and delicious cake(s) – it was a beautiful night to be surrounded by great people, and I enjoyed myself a lot.

The night was still young and Barry and Yunn wanted some lovin’, so we met them at Original Joe’s for food and beer. The place was unusually packed, which was apparently because of the PPV UFC fight being broadcast. As we are not neanderthals OR douchebags, we had no idea this was going on – but luckily, the sweaty mostly-naked men were just about done hugging one another and the bar quickly cleared out once there was no more homoerotic action on the big screen. We ate some delicious food, laughed at many things, and went our separate ways for the night. Good times all over the place, even if most weren’t planned in advance.

Other weekend happenings that do not warrant a paragraph:

  • I went slightly mad and reviewed 6 iPhone games for Gamers With Casts, the first of which can be seen here
  • I made a goddamn wizard!
  • I was apparently very cute yesterday afternoon; an old man stared at me while smiling creepily (scary) and a young guy stared at me with surprise and what I hope was open admiration (I’m oblivious to these things; he may have had gas)
  • It is Ali’s birthday and I love her and hope her day is awesome
  • I “gifted” Heather with the Twilight books with the instructions that she is to spread the pain when she is done reading them (Donna, I think you’re next)
  • Ed has two more days off and therefore he sucks
  • Voltage on Main FINALLY reopened after being closed for the entire month of June and I celebrated by buying many small vinyl toys. I got a Morbo AND a Zoidberg!
  • I am not ready for the upcoming heatwave
  • Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?
  • Getting blog compliments from someone I admire a lot makes me giggle and blush and generally come off like a fool
  • C’mon, buy my Macbook already

keep it wholesome

Posted in nerd by

A Petition to Nintendo:

The Animal Crossing franchise and series, created and produced by Nintendo Entertainment (hereafter referred to as Nintendo), is marketed as family-friendly and child-safe. We believe that the new installment of this series for the new Nintendo 3DS handheld console, hereafter referred to as “Animal Crossing 3DS”, should maintain this tradition.

In particular, we believe that romance and dating have no place in this game. The purpose of this petition is to voice our concerns as loyal customers, good parents, and/or concerned consumers that Animal Crossing 3DS should stick to its family-friendly roots. We implore Nintendo to remove the ability for the player’s in-game character to date and romance fellow villagers, who take the form of walking, talking animals. This can be construed as a sign of support for bestiality, and while we are not making the claim that this is Nintendo’s purpose, we certainly do not wish to see anything even remotely related to this sentiment present in the final product.

In one conference demonstration, the player was shown kissing a porcupine. This is not only completely unacceptable for its context, it also could have more immediate health concerns should any young and impressionable players attempt to emulate what they see.

In short, this is a game marketed toward family audiences and young children, and we find the introduction of romance, dating, and anything of its kind to be wholly inappropriate content given this consideration. Doubly so, because of the animal-like nature of the possible targets of that romance. We ask that Nintendo remove this content for the North American release of Animal Crossing 3DS.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Oh. My. God.

I .. I don’t have any other words.

So I’m going to go make out with a porcupine.

nerdgasm

Posted in nerd by

I spent a very long time answering repetitive Nintendo game surveys last month, all to bring my Club Nintendo status up to “Elite”. This is the second year Club Nintendo has been around in North America, and as I qualified for Elite Status last year, I knew it’d be worth my time. Thing is, I didn’t even have to think about my points last year – I had purchased SO MANY DS games in 2008 that when it came time for the points to count (it’s not how many points you have but how many you rack up during a year – important, because I redeem my points for free shit all the time) I was so far past the required amount for Elite Status I was given a princess to stuff into any castle I pleased.

This year, it was much more difficult – Nintendo’s banner year wasa 2008, and my game buying has dropped off to a sad, almost non-existent level. The announcement came out in late May saying we had until June 30th to get enough points to qualify for Elite. I had SOME points, but I was still a long way off; over 500 short if I remember correctly. I wasn’t about to go out and buy games I had no interest in just to collect the Club Nintendo points, but I had to find a way – last year’s Platinum Elite reward was a goddamn Mario Hat which was the basis of my entire October. I knew the reward would be something good, so I had a lot of work to do.

I did over 50 post-game surveys at 10 points each to bring my total up. With aching fingers, I slogged my way to Platinum Elite status – Gold Elite is for the weak – and waited for Nintendo to tell me what would be coming my way. The email arrived this morning:

Gold Elite Status Reward: a 2011 calendar featuring your favourite Nintendo characters!

well that is pretty neat!

Platinum Elite Status Reward: A motherfucking NINTENDO STATUE:

holy crap awesome awesome awesome

Sweet jebus, now I have something worthy of being an HEIRLOOM to pass down to my grandkids! I knew the reward would likely be cool and appeal to the Rare Game Swag Whore in me, but this is kind of INCREDIBLY AWESOME. YAY! CLUB NINTENDO IS THE BEST!

This will be especially sweet; knowing that I didn’t go completely broke buying a thousand games to get the points necessary – I EARNED it. For reals! My mom would be so proud.