Here's the last video I did, a look at why I think Avatar is NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm really happy with this video, it was fun to shoot and looks great!
I may yet get the new post up tonight! Until then, enjoy the video!
*EDIT*- Huzzah, a new background! I like this one a lot. Simpler and very much awesome.
Also, new post is finally live! See below for my look at the world of music (or the journalism therein)! Tomorrow I will try and get up a PMS Cooks! and a quick makeup spot of yesterday's look. Stay tuned!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Music and "Relevance"
Okay, so I've been trying to hammer this post out for a while now, so here goes.
I have noticed something when it comes to talking about music. Especially people who write articles about music for various publications. It is the word relevance.
Relevance: having significant and demonstrable bearing on facts or issues. Synonyms: applicable, germane, apposite, appropriate, suitable, fitting (from dictionary.com, as my physical dictionary is currently AWOL).
I keep seeing this word pop up in musical articles and I have always wondered about this particular choice of wording. For some reason the phrasing of such statements always put me off, and not just because it usually implied that the newest flash in the pan was more "relevant" than older, well-established acts, or not in a comparison but still implying that said older, well-established acts were not "relevant". Up until now I've just sort of taken this position on the whole thing.
Then I read this article talking about the Superbowl Halftime show from this year, where the Black Eyed Peas were the headlining act. This was the line that started this whole thing:
"Sure, the band's music is aimed at "mindless partying," and Fergie's glittery top was "absurd and somewhat laughable," but the Peas had more relevance than previous baby boomer acts..."
My reaction to this was as follows:
What? The show put on by the Black Eyed Peas was panned almost across the board as underwhelming, stale, inane, and just more of the same with nothing new and interesting added to the act (TRON costumes notwithstanding) to their regular show repertoire.
Why? Why are the Black Eyed Peas more "relevant" than past performers? Let's look at the halftime shows for the five years previous to this one.
And, how do you qualify this? What really bothers me about these statements about how "relevant" a band/artist is is that there is never any kind of qualifier for this. These statements are made without ANY context at all. What is the criteria for determining the "relevance" of a musical act? The number of hit songs? If so, according to what charts; Top 40? I-Tunes? Billboard? Something else? Does relevance have to do with how popular an act is at that specific moment in time? And again, how is that measured? Is it how fast a concert sells out? Because in the past two years or so both Metallica and AC/DC stopped in our area and the tickets sold out in 10 and 30 minutes respectively. Did I mention that the 30 minutes to sell out AC/DC was because the played the football stadium instead of the arena, and so had almost three times as many seats?
Anyways, what it really comes down to is this; what is the basis for the statement of one artist/band being more "relevant" than another? Can you back this up somehow? As someone who's chosen field of study deals a lot with context and where citing and having sources for one's information is very important, I cannot stand having someone throw out something like this with nothing behind it. So please, tell me why The Black Eyed Peas, or Ke$ha, or Justin Bieber are more relevant than bands like The Beatles, Judas Priest, or Black Sabbath. Tell me why you refer to an act with a career longer than the lives of these "relevant" acts, in this way? Explain your reasoning behind the idea that a band or artist who has been an inspiration to countless others is not relevant. Is Judas Priest less relevant because they were one of Pantera's influences? Or Metallica because of bands like Trivium? On the pop side, Lady Gaga lifts tons of stuff from Queen, Madonna, and David Bowie. I argue that they will ALWAYS be relevant for the two reasons I have stated; for the accomplishments of their own careers, and for the inspiration they provide to younger acts. They are well within the definition of relevance; as having significant and demonstrable bearing on facts or issues. The acts of today would not be what they are without those that came before them. Therefore you cannot classify an a band or an artist as nonrelevant*, except in the context of specific genres or in talking about a specific artist (Beyonce was probably not influenced by Ozzy Osbourne, for instance). But that is the key, there MUST be context.
I apologize that this has become a big wall o' text post, but I have found myself greatly irritated by this, and not just because they are usually referring to bands I like compared to ones I don't. No, I don't like the Black Eyed Peas, or Ke$ha, or Taylor Swift, or Justin Bieber. But other people do, and that's awesome that they found artists that they like. Just like not everyone is going to like Def Leppard, Disturbed, Judas Priest, and Rammstein because I like them. That is totally cool, it's individual taste. What does irritate me is when artists are labeled as nonrelevant by journalists simply because they aren't on the Top 40, or the latest tween/teen craze. Just because an artist doesn't factor into your little bubble of oh-so-knowledgable pop-scene journalistic sense, doesn't mean they aren't relevant to someone else, or to a whole other genre you haven't considered. I say pop-scene because this is where I most frequently see this type of thing. Then again, these are the people that at one time, Vanilla Ice was relevant, and Rick Astley (twice!).
I must now bring this rant to a close, or I'll lose my cool it will be a big, never-ending mess. If you've made it all the way through, then congratulations and thank you for slogging through with me. I hope that I've made myself clear in my argument, but feel free to leave a comment here if I haven't, or if you have thoughts on the subject. I will leave you all with a song about the awesomeness of music (despite how crappy the rest of the world might be) from an awesome artist. Yes, it's a pop song (shock! I know!), from the one pop artist I love. Enjoy all and we'll see you next time!
*I know I should use "irrelevant", but it doesn't fit as well. Sue me.
Regarding the date on this post, the date reflects when I started writing this. It was actually posted March 6th at 1:47 am.
I have noticed something when it comes to talking about music. Especially people who write articles about music for various publications. It is the word relevance.
Relevance: having significant and demonstrable bearing on facts or issues. Synonyms: applicable, germane, apposite, appropriate, suitable, fitting (from dictionary.com, as my physical dictionary is currently AWOL).
I keep seeing this word pop up in musical articles and I have always wondered about this particular choice of wording. For some reason the phrasing of such statements always put me off, and not just because it usually implied that the newest flash in the pan was more "relevant" than older, well-established acts, or not in a comparison but still implying that said older, well-established acts were not "relevant". Up until now I've just sort of taken this position on the whole thing.
Then I read this article talking about the Superbowl Halftime show from this year, where the Black Eyed Peas were the headlining act. This was the line that started this whole thing:
"Sure, the band's music is aimed at "mindless partying," and Fergie's glittery top was "absurd and somewhat laughable," but the Peas had more relevance than previous baby boomer acts..."
My reaction to this was as follows:
What? The show put on by the Black Eyed Peas was panned almost across the board as underwhelming, stale, inane, and just more of the same with nothing new and interesting added to the act (TRON costumes notwithstanding) to their regular show repertoire.
Why? Why are the Black Eyed Peas more "relevant" than past performers? Let's look at the halftime shows for the five years previous to this one.
2010: The Who
2009: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
2008: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2007: Prince, Florida A&M Marching Band
2006: The Rolling Stones
2005: Paul McCartney
2007: Prince, Florida A&M Marching Band
2006: The Rolling Stones
2005: Paul McCartney
2004 was of course the famous "Nipplegate" show with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Now then, all of these previous five shows were performed by famous and well-established acts, and that's putting it mildly (I mean really, The Who, The Stones, and a Beatle?). These are big names, that have not only had hugely successful careers of their own, but have influenced countless acts that have followed. And it isn't as if the songs by these artists aren't well known. Anyone who watches CSI knows at least as many songs by the Who as incarnations of the show that they watch, for example. Either way, these are some of rock's biggest acts. Ever. That is not an exaggeration.
And, how do you qualify this? What really bothers me about these statements about how "relevant" a band/artist is is that there is never any kind of qualifier for this. These statements are made without ANY context at all. What is the criteria for determining the "relevance" of a musical act? The number of hit songs? If so, according to what charts; Top 40? I-Tunes? Billboard? Something else? Does relevance have to do with how popular an act is at that specific moment in time? And again, how is that measured? Is it how fast a concert sells out? Because in the past two years or so both Metallica and AC/DC stopped in our area and the tickets sold out in 10 and 30 minutes respectively. Did I mention that the 30 minutes to sell out AC/DC was because the played the football stadium instead of the arena, and so had almost three times as many seats?
Anyways, what it really comes down to is this; what is the basis for the statement of one artist/band being more "relevant" than another? Can you back this up somehow? As someone who's chosen field of study deals a lot with context and where citing and having sources for one's information is very important, I cannot stand having someone throw out something like this with nothing behind it. So please, tell me why The Black Eyed Peas, or Ke$ha, or Justin Bieber are more relevant than bands like The Beatles, Judas Priest, or Black Sabbath. Tell me why you refer to an act with a career longer than the lives of these "relevant" acts, in this way? Explain your reasoning behind the idea that a band or artist who has been an inspiration to countless others is not relevant. Is Judas Priest less relevant because they were one of Pantera's influences? Or Metallica because of bands like Trivium? On the pop side, Lady Gaga lifts tons of stuff from Queen, Madonna, and David Bowie. I argue that they will ALWAYS be relevant for the two reasons I have stated; for the accomplishments of their own careers, and for the inspiration they provide to younger acts. They are well within the definition of relevance; as having significant and demonstrable bearing on facts or issues. The acts of today would not be what they are without those that came before them. Therefore you cannot classify an a band or an artist as nonrelevant*, except in the context of specific genres or in talking about a specific artist (Beyonce was probably not influenced by Ozzy Osbourne, for instance). But that is the key, there MUST be context.
I apologize that this has become a big wall o' text post, but I have found myself greatly irritated by this, and not just because they are usually referring to bands I like compared to ones I don't. No, I don't like the Black Eyed Peas, or Ke$ha, or Taylor Swift, or Justin Bieber. But other people do, and that's awesome that they found artists that they like. Just like not everyone is going to like Def Leppard, Disturbed, Judas Priest, and Rammstein because I like them. That is totally cool, it's individual taste. What does irritate me is when artists are labeled as nonrelevant by journalists simply because they aren't on the Top 40, or the latest tween/teen craze. Just because an artist doesn't factor into your little bubble of oh-so-knowledgable pop-scene journalistic sense, doesn't mean they aren't relevant to someone else, or to a whole other genre you haven't considered. I say pop-scene because this is where I most frequently see this type of thing. Then again, these are the people that at one time, Vanilla Ice was relevant, and Rick Astley (twice!).
I must now bring this rant to a close, or I'll lose my cool it will be a big, never-ending mess. If you've made it all the way through, then congratulations and thank you for slogging through with me. I hope that I've made myself clear in my argument, but feel free to leave a comment here if I haven't, or if you have thoughts on the subject. I will leave you all with a song about the awesomeness of music (despite how crappy the rest of the world might be) from an awesome artist. Yes, it's a pop song (shock! I know!), from the one pop artist I love. Enjoy all and we'll see you next time!
*I know I should use "irrelevant", but it doesn't fit as well. Sue me.
Regarding the date on this post, the date reflects when I started writing this. It was actually posted March 6th at 1:47 am.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Demo Reviews: Dragon Age II
After an extra week of waiting I finally got to dig into this demo on Tuesday. Since then, I have played it twice and the Cynic has played it once. Now that it's had time to sink in, let's have a look. As usual, spoilers ahead.
Dragon Age II takes place during and after the events of the first game. You play as Hawke, either male or female, on your quest to become the Champion of Kirkwall, and whatever that entails. As with the first game, you have a slew of companions, some of them romance options, that accompany you on your travels. The difference here is that one of these companions, depending on your class, will be a sibling. You will either have a Carver, a warrior, or Bethany, a mage.
Family!You are introduced to three other possible companions at this time. First you will meet Varric, a dwarf who also serves as the narrator. He's a rogue that carries a crossbow.
And chesthair.Next is Aveline, a sword-and-shield tank warrior, who already has a reserve spot in my party, especially after the demo.
Lady Tank FTW!And finally, some of you might remember Isabela from the first game. Yes, the one with whom you can have a three-or-foursome with that will teach you the Duelist spec. Well, she's back with a spankin' new revamped look for Dragon Age II.
Holy massive boobage, Batman!I won't get into too many spoilers here, but there are two other returning characters that I'm really excited about. The first is Flemeth, once again magnificently voiced by Kate Mulgrew. She also has a vastly new look from the eccentric old-Wilds woman bit she pulled on our Wardens.
New Flemeth look, but still the same awesome character.The other is everyone's favorite mage from Awakening (and I'm certainly not talking about Velanna): Anders! I won't get spoilery, but suffice to say, Anders has changed. And I'm so psyched for his story.
Oh, and ladies, this time he's romancable!
Oh, and ladies, this time he's romancable! Anyways, onto the game itself. I played through twice, as a warrior and a mage (both female). The Cynic played through as a male rogue.
Although why you would when default Lady Hawke is this pretty is beyond me.The rogue class doesn't really appeal to me, but the Cynic was having fun with it. It's a very acrobatic class, but at least on the demo, the DPS is quite low overall. This is for a very low-level dual wield build, however, and later talents may boost that. My first choice was warrior class, as that is my preference. It's about the same as Origins, only minus the dual-wield talent. The faster and more reactive combat definitely gives this class more flair, and I had a lot of fun with it. Mage is very fun. The same talents are available, now divided into talent trees, but the mage seems more melee now than before. You can actually hit enemies with your staff when they get too close. It's nice to actually have that recourse. The casting of the regular staff bolts is much faster as well, as is casting and cool-down times of other spells. The mage is definitely formidable, and I can't wait to see some of the high-level talents like Blizzard and Chain Lightning out to try. I did get a chance to use Crushing Prison during the demo, and it was gleeful.
As everyone knows, the graphics have been updated for this installment as well. Personally, I like the look. It still looks like Dragon Age, but nicer, if not... pointier. Things are spikier, especially armor. Although some familiar things will be there, although updated; such as the Templar Armor, which seems a little more toned-down this time around. The regular mage robes look nicer, and default Hawke (who you can see in the top pic) is actually wearing mage armor. How is that not exciting? The demo ran smoothly for us, both cinematics and in-game without a problem, and the facial renders during conversations looked very nice.
Onto the gameplay. A lot of things were locked in the demo, like the inventory, the character creator, and such, but it was nice to see that those things were still there. The radial menu was more or less the same, but the map has been separated from the rest of the menu. Not a huge deal, but something to be aware of. The dialogue wheel, which I was against at first after having some surprising responses in Mass Effect, is very well executed. The icons that accompany the responses make things much easier (although it seems to follow the Mass Effect pattern of: Top answer-nice/Paragon, center-sarcastic/ME-neutral, bottom-dickbag/Renegade). But there were no other options such as flirt, so we will have to see when all of that is available as well.
The combat. This was a big thing, the change to the combat. And you know what? I like it. No more shuffling around enemies and allies to get to your target. No more waiting for the character to get in position to use a talent. It's faster, it's fluid, it feels better. You can still play tactics and give orders if you want, or you can hack-n-slash. You can also still switch between party members the same way. There will also be the option for auto-attack in the full game, for anyone who wants it. I greatly enjoyed it, and I'm happy that this was implemented.
The voice acting. Now, this is BioWare, so of course it's going to be good. Your character is now voiced, and I like both the male and female Hawke voices. However, if you wanted a Commander Shepard-type voice for your Lady Hawke, I'm afraid you might be disappointed. Lady Hawke's voice is much more feminine, and it's a nice change, as you wouldn't want your characters to sound too similar to one another (despite the fact I adore FemShep's voice <3). From what I can see, you shouldn't be disappointed by the voice acting.
Did I have any complaints. Maybe just one. The text. I know that console games (yessir, I'm one of those evil, mouth-breathing cretins known as a console player lol) are taking into account the widescreen and high-definition and all that stuff that comes with today's TVs. It just sucks that it results in text been very small on my giant, old tube TV (how archaic!). Although it's not too bad for the most part, and not as bad as Two Worlds II, where part of my screen was actually cut off (thankfully it could be adjusted) because of the aspect ratio setting.
Final thoughts? Well, I only have to make it to next Tuesday before I get my grubby little meathooks on the full game. Until then, PLAY THIS DEMO. I definitely recommend it, and not just because I'm a fangirl. It really is a lot of fun. The world created in these games is an amazing one, and you would not do wrong to give it a try. I give it 4 1/2 hurlocks out of 5.
As everyone knows, the graphics have been updated for this installment as well. Personally, I like the look. It still looks like Dragon Age, but nicer, if not... pointier. Things are spikier, especially armor. Although some familiar things will be there, although updated; such as the Templar Armor, which seems a little more toned-down this time around. The regular mage robes look nicer, and default Hawke (who you can see in the top pic) is actually wearing mage armor. How is that not exciting? The demo ran smoothly for us, both cinematics and in-game without a problem, and the facial renders during conversations looked very nice.
Onto the gameplay. A lot of things were locked in the demo, like the inventory, the character creator, and such, but it was nice to see that those things were still there. The radial menu was more or less the same, but the map has been separated from the rest of the menu. Not a huge deal, but something to be aware of. The dialogue wheel, which I was against at first after having some surprising responses in Mass Effect, is very well executed. The icons that accompany the responses make things much easier (although it seems to follow the Mass Effect pattern of: Top answer-nice/Paragon, center-sarcastic/ME-neutral, bottom-dickbag/Renegade). But there were no other options such as flirt, so we will have to see when all of that is available as well.
The combat. This was a big thing, the change to the combat. And you know what? I like it. No more shuffling around enemies and allies to get to your target. No more waiting for the character to get in position to use a talent. It's faster, it's fluid, it feels better. You can still play tactics and give orders if you want, or you can hack-n-slash. You can also still switch between party members the same way. There will also be the option for auto-attack in the full game, for anyone who wants it. I greatly enjoyed it, and I'm happy that this was implemented.
The voice acting. Now, this is BioWare, so of course it's going to be good. Your character is now voiced, and I like both the male and female Hawke voices. However, if you wanted a Commander Shepard-type voice for your Lady Hawke, I'm afraid you might be disappointed. Lady Hawke's voice is much more feminine, and it's a nice change, as you wouldn't want your characters to sound too similar to one another (despite the fact I adore FemShep's voice <3). From what I can see, you shouldn't be disappointed by the voice acting.
Did I have any complaints. Maybe just one. The text. I know that console games (yessir, I'm one of those evil, mouth-breathing cretins known as a console player lol) are taking into account the widescreen and high-definition and all that stuff that comes with today's TVs. It just sucks that it results in text been very small on my giant, old tube TV (how archaic!). Although it's not too bad for the most part, and not as bad as Two Worlds II, where part of my screen was actually cut off (thankfully it could be adjusted) because of the aspect ratio setting.
Final thoughts? Well, I only have to make it to next Tuesday before I get my grubby little meathooks on the full game. Until then, PLAY THIS DEMO. I definitely recommend it, and not just because I'm a fangirl. It really is a lot of fun. The world created in these games is an amazing one, and you would not do wrong to give it a try. I give it 4 1/2 hurlocks out of 5.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
P.M.S Cooks! Ribs and Potatoes
Hey all, instead of bringing you a Demo Review of Dragon Age II since I can't play it until next week (damn Gold-only for a week :P), let's have another cooking post!
So tonight I wanted to make a really nice supper for us. So slow-cooked ribs and pan-fried potatoes seemed to be just the thing!
Ribs:
-cook time: approx 8 hours (in slow cooker/crock pot)
-rib sauce included: hickory bbq sauce (just enough to cover the other spices, as the flavor is really bold); Montreal steak spice- again just a little; dried chives, rosemary, sage and parsley; garlic- 4-5 cloves put through a press; pinch of sea salt and quite a bit of pepper. I wish I could be more specific but I don't measure these things. I just put in as much as seemed necessary for the amount of meat that was there. Oh, and the ribs were beef.
-mix all the spices with the bbq sauce. I just did this all in the slow cooker pot. Then add ribs and stir until coated. Cover and cook.
Steamy, meaty goodness. :D
Potatoes:
-Cook time: 15-ish minutes on medium (until potatoes soft and getting brown and crispy edges)
-Ingredients: potatoes (I had several very small white ones left over from stew); leek- I only used 1; butter/margarine; garlic- 2-3 cloves, depending on size; dried parsley, chives, and dill.
-Cut potatoes into thin slices, so the same with the leek. Melt butter in pan with garlic and fry garlic a little with the chives. Add potatoes, parsley and dill (I eyeballed how much parsley and dill). Let cook a little- maybe 5 mins, then add leek. Cook until potatoes are soft, or if you're like me, until they get brown, crispy edges.
Still in the pan.
And voila! Add a veggie side, some tea and hot chocolate, and you have a spectaculous dinner for your sweetie!
Don't mind the messy table :P
On to other business, the Demo Review will be out next week, probably Wednesday (or Tuesday maybe, we'll see). I will likely also have a review up for the game itself sometime in March, although I'm not sure when. I also got my brother to try Origins, and so the Dalish Elf ChrisPBacon was born! More info as his adventures continue! lol.
Not much new on the makeup front. Attempted a smoky eye that made me look like a bad mall goth and so was brightened up severely with much white sparkly goodness and the outer wings removed entirely. It was bad. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of when it looked all "mall goff", but here was the final result:
On the bright side, by the time I was done it was super sparkly.
Thanks again for tuning in and keep an eye for some new and exciting things coming up. :D
So tonight I wanted to make a really nice supper for us. So slow-cooked ribs and pan-fried potatoes seemed to be just the thing!
Ribs:
-cook time: approx 8 hours (in slow cooker/crock pot)
-rib sauce included: hickory bbq sauce (just enough to cover the other spices, as the flavor is really bold); Montreal steak spice- again just a little; dried chives, rosemary, sage and parsley; garlic- 4-5 cloves put through a press; pinch of sea salt and quite a bit of pepper. I wish I could be more specific but I don't measure these things. I just put in as much as seemed necessary for the amount of meat that was there. Oh, and the ribs were beef.
-mix all the spices with the bbq sauce. I just did this all in the slow cooker pot. Then add ribs and stir until coated. Cover and cook.
Steamy, meaty goodness. :D
Potatoes:
-Cook time: 15-ish minutes on medium (until potatoes soft and getting brown and crispy edges)
-Ingredients: potatoes (I had several very small white ones left over from stew); leek- I only used 1; butter/margarine; garlic- 2-3 cloves, depending on size; dried parsley, chives, and dill.
-Cut potatoes into thin slices, so the same with the leek. Melt butter in pan with garlic and fry garlic a little with the chives. Add potatoes, parsley and dill (I eyeballed how much parsley and dill). Let cook a little- maybe 5 mins, then add leek. Cook until potatoes are soft, or if you're like me, until they get brown, crispy edges.
Still in the pan.
And voila! Add a veggie side, some tea and hot chocolate, and you have a spectaculous dinner for your sweetie!
Don't mind the messy table :P
On to other business, the Demo Review will be out next week, probably Wednesday (or Tuesday maybe, we'll see). I will likely also have a review up for the game itself sometime in March, although I'm not sure when. I also got my brother to try Origins, and so the Dalish Elf ChrisPBacon was born! More info as his adventures continue! lol.
Not much new on the makeup front. Attempted a smoky eye that made me look like a bad mall goth and so was brightened up severely with much white sparkly goodness and the outer wings removed entirely. It was bad. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of when it looked all "mall goff", but here was the final result:
On the bright side, by the time I was done it was super sparkly.
Thanks again for tuning in and keep an eye for some new and exciting things coming up. :D
Sunday, February 20, 2011
e.l.f in Blue!
So now that I've got this new make up that I love, I tend to wear some whenever we go out for anything. Groceries? Paying bills? Helping younger brother move? You bet! Anyways, where I'm going with this is that we went to the Cynic's parent's house for supper tonight. So, I whipped this up, and I'm pretty happy with it.
I must also learn to take better pictures lol. Actually I have a better picture, but I'm also looking at Bubs so one of my eyes looks really goofy.
Anyways, from inner corner to outer: sparkly white-> blue/white-> blue/gold sparkle-> light gray sparkle-> dark gray sparkle. It blended quite a lot.
It was brighter in person :P
And, thanks to the fact that I've sort of figured out how to put makeup on properly, it lasted all day, just as bright and fun. A bit of cream shadow to prime and a matte white underneath really do the trick.
This is how it looked several hours, an almost-nap, and fighting with Bubs later. Still really bright with very little creasing. Hooray for not being such a n00b at this!
Oh, and this is what I actually did when helping my brother move :D
This was quite bold: pale gold sparkly-> copper-> med. brown-> dark brown. I even got the wing-tip look to work, which was cool.
So that's been my makeup adventures lately.
Also in the news of the P.M.S:
-Bubs took his first step towards toilet training- a poop in the toilet instead of the tub! Hooray!
-Dragon Age II Demo drops Tuesday. If it's not gold-only for the first week, expect a Demo Review within a couple of days of it's release. Either way, I recommend downloading the demo, if nothing else, but to get it to 1 million downloads
-There's a rant about music I want to do. It will be long, and so it hasn't gotten done yet.
-Hoping for a new vid. in March, provided I find some inspiration. My last video (which you can see here) was so awesome, and fun to do, that I would like to keep that level of quality.
-There will be more P.M.S Cooks! as soon as I cook something interesting enough to post lol.
Have a video suggestion? Feel free to leave it in the comments!
~the P.M.S
I must also learn to take better pictures lol. Actually I have a better picture, but I'm also looking at Bubs so one of my eyes looks really goofy.Anyways, from inner corner to outer: sparkly white-> blue/white-> blue/gold sparkle-> light gray sparkle-> dark gray sparkle. It blended quite a lot.
It was brighter in person :P
And, thanks to the fact that I've sort of figured out how to put makeup on properly, it lasted all day, just as bright and fun. A bit of cream shadow to prime and a matte white underneath really do the trick.
This is how it looked several hours, an almost-nap, and fighting with Bubs later. Still really bright with very little creasing. Hooray for not being such a n00b at this!
Oh, and this is what I actually did when helping my brother move :D
This was quite bold: pale gold sparkly-> copper-> med. brown-> dark brown. I even got the wing-tip look to work, which was cool.
So that's been my makeup adventures lately.
Also in the news of the P.M.S:
-Bubs took his first step towards toilet training- a poop in the toilet instead of the tub! Hooray!
-Dragon Age II Demo drops Tuesday. If it's not gold-only for the first week, expect a Demo Review within a couple of days of it's release. Either way, I recommend downloading the demo, if nothing else, but to get it to 1 million downloads
-There's a rant about music I want to do. It will be long, and so it hasn't gotten done yet.
-Hoping for a new vid. in March, provided I find some inspiration. My last video (which you can see here) was so awesome, and fun to do, that I would like to keep that level of quality.
-There will be more P.M.S Cooks! as soon as I cook something interesting enough to post lol.
Have a video suggestion? Feel free to leave it in the comments!
~the P.M.S
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Demo Reviews: Bulletstorm
First off, sorry this has taken so long. Things got really busy after putting up my last video. So, let's jump right into Bulletstorm.
Now we actually downloaded this demo a couple of weeks ago now, so it's had plenty of time to sink in and for me to play through a few times (and for the Cynic to as well, of course). So what did I think of it? Two words: RIDICULOUS FUN.
Now Bulletstorm would just be an average, run-of-the-mill, and likely forgettable sci-fi FPS, if not for the implementation of skillshots. This basically rewards you with tons of extra points for being creative with your kills (not to mention personal satisfaction and amusement!) , with tongue-in cheek-names such as voodoo doll, shocker, flyswatter, one hit wonder, and many more. These skillshots utilize not only your weapons, which all but the energy leash have various secondary fire modes, but also the environment of the planet Stygia. The demo itself takes place
in a toppled skyscraper hotel that is crawling with mutants and marauders alike. It's not an overly long demo, in fact, it's quite short (especially if you want the time bonuses), but it emphasizes replay to discover more creative kills and thus more points.
What else did I like about this? The cast, from what we saw of it at least. The moment the player character, voiced by Steve Blum, starts narrating the first part of the demo, I realized this was going to be a hell of a lot of fun. He voices your character (a pirate named Grayson Hunt) almost as a cross between Wolverine and Oghren from Dragon Age. And you can just tell he is having a lot of fun with it, which is really cool.
Sounds like a good combo to me :D
Joining Grayson is a cyborg named Ishi Sato, who gets about one line, so I can't tell you much about him. Last, but certainly not least is Trishka Novak, voiced by Jennifer Hale, who, from what we hear, sounds something like this:
FemShep + Ophelia = Win in my books (interestingly enough, my first Shep looked almost exactly like this one :D).
Of course, as with many games, certain types of people are getting their panties in a twist about the violent nature of the game, especially the names of some of the skillshots. I'm not going to get into that here or this will turn into a massive rant against certain types of people, for which this review is not the place. I'll just direct you to this video, courtesy of Blistered Thumbs and The Game Heroes, as they sum it up quite nicely. *Goes off to grumble about people bitching about my M-rated games*
So what are my final thoughts? Download this bad boy and try it! Now! It is a ridiculous amount of fun, if not a little short. You will want to replay it just to see what new combos and kills you can come up with. It is well worth your time. The game itself comes out next Tuesday (Feb. 22), and I will most likely at least give this one a rent. Maybe I can squeeze it in between the Dragon Age 2 Demo and release. Anyhow, definitely give this one a look if you are looking for a great way to have some fun and discover some really sweet and creative methods of dispatching your enemies.
Final score: 4.5 headshots out of 5
Now we actually downloaded this demo a couple of weeks ago now, so it's had plenty of time to sink in and for me to play through a few times (and for the Cynic to as well, of course). So what did I think of it? Two words: RIDICULOUS FUN.
Now Bulletstorm would just be an average, run-of-the-mill, and likely forgettable sci-fi FPS, if not for the implementation of skillshots. This basically rewards you with tons of extra points for being creative with your kills (not to mention personal satisfaction and amusement!) , with tongue-in cheek-names such as voodoo doll, shocker, flyswatter, one hit wonder, and many more. These skillshots utilize not only your weapons, which all but the energy leash have various secondary fire modes, but also the environment of the planet Stygia. The demo itself takes place
in a toppled skyscraper hotel that is crawling with mutants and marauders alike. It's not an overly long demo, in fact, it's quite short (especially if you want the time bonuses), but it emphasizes replay to discover more creative kills and thus more points.
What else did I like about this? The cast, from what we saw of it at least. The moment the player character, voiced by Steve Blum, starts narrating the first part of the demo, I realized this was going to be a hell of a lot of fun. He voices your character (a pirate named Grayson Hunt) almost as a cross between Wolverine and Oghren from Dragon Age. And you can just tell he is having a lot of fun with it, which is really cool.
Sounds like a good combo to me :DJoining Grayson is a cyborg named Ishi Sato, who gets about one line, so I can't tell you much about him. Last, but certainly not least is Trishka Novak, voiced by Jennifer Hale, who, from what we hear, sounds something like this:
FemShep + Ophelia = Win in my books (interestingly enough, my first Shep looked almost exactly like this one :D).Of course, as with many games, certain types of people are getting their panties in a twist about the violent nature of the game, especially the names of some of the skillshots. I'm not going to get into that here or this will turn into a massive rant against certain types of people, for which this review is not the place. I'll just direct you to this video, courtesy of Blistered Thumbs and The Game Heroes, as they sum it up quite nicely. *Goes off to grumble about people bitching about my M-rated games*
So what are my final thoughts? Download this bad boy and try it! Now! It is a ridiculous amount of fun, if not a little short. You will want to replay it just to see what new combos and kills you can come up with. It is well worth your time. The game itself comes out next Tuesday (Feb. 22), and I will most likely at least give this one a rent. Maybe I can squeeze it in between the Dragon Age 2 Demo and release. Anyhow, definitely give this one a look if you are looking for a great way to have some fun and discover some really sweet and creative methods of dispatching your enemies.
Final score: 4.5 headshots out of 5
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Welcome to the new blog!
Hey everyone, and welcome to the new P.M.S blog! Now I am still going to post on Coffee With the Cynic's blog, don't worry. This is just a place for me to post things non-CWTC related. This will be the future home of P.M.S Cooks!, as well as for make-up, mom things, and general geekery. I will cross post any CWTC posts I write here and vice-versa when it applies.
So to break in the new blog, how about I tell you about the new make-up I just received in the mail?
Three Beauty Encyclopedias and an Eye-Brightening set from e.l.f Cosmetics! They are gorgeous! Here is a look inside one of those bad boys:
I tried it out yesterday for shiggles, and they are pretty awesome! I'm kind of a noob, so I think next time I will try using one of the cream shadows as a base to give it more kick and such. But I gave it a go with the Sparkle Eye Encyclopedia:
I used the white in the top left corner for highlight, and the blue with gold (second row, third from the left) with the brown with gold in the top right corner. The shadows were looser than I anticipated, but sparkly and looked great. This was the final look:
I will try and cook up an improved look for Valentine's Day (but I will try these colors again, as they looked great together). Also, you know what takes off makeup really easily? Baby wipes. Actually, they take off all makeup. It's quite the thing.
Anyways, welcome to the new blog, and you will hopefully see something new from me on this and CWTC soon, as I have had a good rant brewing now for a couple of days for you.
As always, don't forget to find us on Facebook and YouTube! Also the CWTC blog!
~the P.M.S :D
So to break in the new blog, how about I tell you about the new make-up I just received in the mail?
Three Beauty Encyclopedias and an Eye-Brightening set from e.l.f Cosmetics! They are gorgeous! Here is a look inside one of those bad boys:
I tried it out yesterday for shiggles, and they are pretty awesome! I'm kind of a noob, so I think next time I will try using one of the cream shadows as a base to give it more kick and such. But I gave it a go with the Sparkle Eye Encyclopedia:
I used the white in the top left corner for highlight, and the blue with gold (second row, third from the left) with the brown with gold in the top right corner. The shadows were looser than I anticipated, but sparkly and looked great. This was the final look:
I will try and cook up an improved look for Valentine's Day (but I will try these colors again, as they looked great together). Also, you know what takes off makeup really easily? Baby wipes. Actually, they take off all makeup. It's quite the thing.
Anyways, welcome to the new blog, and you will hopefully see something new from me on this and CWTC soon, as I have had a good rant brewing now for a couple of days for you.
As always, don't forget to find us on Facebook and YouTube! Also the CWTC blog!
~the P.M.S :D
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