Tea Leaves

First, I would like to take credit for peterb’s little epiphany about digital distribution in our last episode. I found the Blizzard download store while poking around for Diablo 2. Generally I try to avoid Blizzard because they make The Game I am Not Allowed to Play(tm). After watching the completely incredible demo video for Diablo 3, I was intrigued by the idea of a polished dungeon crawler. But one thing still stood in the way: I generally don’t like to play games on my computer. It’s not worth the hassle.

Different people do different things with their vacations. Some people ski. Some people windsurf. Me? I catch up on all the videogames I’ve been meaning to play.

One of the networks that my “Comcastic” cable system picks up is a repository of HD content called “Mojo”. I don’t know what this network exists to do, but I perked up because it’s only two clicks away from ESPN (NBA playoffs, don’t ya know) and it broadcasts a food show called “After Hours with Daniel” where noted New York chef Daniel Boulud gathers a bunch of food people at various places around the country for “parties” that are then filmed for the television audience. While the setting is a bit contrived, the show plays to every foodie’s fantasy, which is that we have it within ourselves to get closer to the “inside” of these kitchens and really understand what goes on in them.

Don’t be fooled. I think restaurant kitchens are something that even the avid home cook simply cannot visualize or understand. It reminds me of playing volleyball in High School gym, and then watching Olympic level volleyball on television. The court was the same. The ball was the same. The net was the same. But it was an entirely different game.

Allow me to take a moment to pimp this eBay auction wherein I am selling an Amiga 500, various accessories, and pieces of software. Help get this stuff out of my basement by getting it into yours.

Most importantly I should note that among the items I’m including in the package is an original cloth map from Ultima V. I suspect that to some people, that cloth map is worth more than the Amiga.

This week I finally managed to finish a Metal Gear game on the first try. I tried and failed to play Metal Gear Solid 2. I also failed on my first try with Metal Gear Solid 3, although the second try was successful. If it had not been for my second playthrough of Subsistence I probably would not have even tried Metal Gear Solid 4. But I did, and for the most part I am happy that I did. Be warned though. All of my comments about the game assume that you are willing, for the most part, to take the MGS genre on its own terms. Except for some marginal gameplay improvements, this game is all MGS all the time. I think that as long as you are prepared for that, you can let go and enjoy the ride.

In my review of Guitar Hero, back in January of 2006, I wrote what can only be considered to be a prophetic sentence:

Well, I now own Rock Band for the Xbox 360, and I can pay to download songs on Xbox Live. And so I am broke.

If there are two strong memories from my high school years watching the Bird-era Boston Celtics, the first is the series in 1981 when the C’s came back from 3-1 down to beat Andrew Toney and the hated 76ers. The other was the very next year when it was clear that the hated 76ers were going to beat us to go to the Finals against the hated Lakers. The crowd at the Garden broke into a spontaneous chant of “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!”, because they all knew that local skirmishes were one thing, but beating the Lakers was everything.

This year the Celtics have treated their fans to an unlikely turnaround of enormous proportions, climbing up from a 24 win season a year ago to 66 wins and a championship. But what makes it especially sweet for me is that they not only beat the Lakers, they obliterated them.

Blessings and salutations on the head of Nat, who returned from San Francisco with a bottle of Rothman and Winter Crème de Violette for me. May his head always be the unit by which the size of libations are measured.

I spent last week in San Francisco and the Bay area, which is why updates have been infrequent. Allow me, however, to share one of the niftier things I saw while there: a busker playing the cymbalom, a Hungarian dulcimer, using tools of his own design:

The performer is named Michael Masley, and his web site is here. When I first saw him, I momentarily thought that he had grown his fingernails out to a ridiculous length. On closer inspection, the extensions on his hand are a tool he has created. The cymbalom is normally played with two hammers, one in each hand. Masley’s “bowhammers” allow him to strike, bow, or pluck the strings with all of his fingers.

Against my better judgement, but driven by Pete’s positive impressions, I used some game trade money to get a used copy of GTA IV last weekend. By the convention of the Ebay Rating System the game is a high 3 or barely a 4. I have already listed the game on Ebay to raise funds to maybe continue my self-hating suffering with the next Metal Gear game. Since it is pointless to write a direct critique of this title, I will complain about the game indirectly. Here are some reasons why MLB08: The Show is better than GTA IV.