Another One? Holy Crap!

In the Abel World we are working outside often.  The front yard is in need of repair, as are the garden beds there.  The back garden bed is getting a fence to keep out the canines, lest the trample.  They’ve already succeeded in ruining and attempt to aerate the soil.  Pack pack pack they go.

The front is getting water and grass seed.  I’ve done intensive raking.  Were the house under our ownership, I would probably nix such attempts and create a waterless landscape about the trees, involving rocks and cacti/shrubs.  It would be very nice.  The front is sporting some beautiful tulips at present, and will soon contain tomato, cucumber, and pepper plants.

The back is the main garden area.  Garden stuff.  We’ll be throwing down some rye grass seed and watering periodically, but not often.  Mowing is about it for intensive work.  I can’t wait until we’re back in Michigan.  The grass grows a bit easier there.

Mediawise, I have been playing Super Mario Galaxy.  Meh.  It’s okay.  There’s a few challenges best described as minigames that are a bit fun, but overall I’m not that excited.  It’s a good story for a Mario game, and it’s nice to see Luigi get some face time, but I’m fairly underwhelmed by the Wii.  Perhaps if we ever get WiiFit as we’ve promised things will change.

Tomorrow is my first WGU test in Health and Fitness, which I will probably rock hard.  I scored quite well on the preassessment.  That was without reading any of the class materials.  Now that I’ve browsed them somewhat, I think I’ll do quite well.  I am still at a loss as to why such a class is necessary, but whatever.  I suppose I could have checked into some sort of appealling, but after my financial aid debacle, I didn’t have the energy.

Don’t know that I’ve mentioned it, but I’m getting an Alphasmart Neo.  All you can do on it is write.  Which I like.  I’ll write more about it another time.

Saw “Monsters Vs. Aliens” last night.  I kept thinking about this image. Which is a little off base, as Dreamworks does make some nice flicks.  I will agree Pixar has the better batting average.  MVA was pretty funny, but not overwhelming.  I think it could have been a lot better, but can’t think of how.

Rogue has been “fixed.”  Not that she was broken.  It requires the dreaded cone, and I’ll take pictures later on.

Just had to let her out.  Dead grass from spray.  I hate spraying and still don’t know why I did it.  I was remined of the Lorax, as I often am when I am outside.  The very ending when the Onceler says something like “And all that was left beneath the sour smelling sky, was my thneed factory, the Lorax, and I.”  It’s pretty much one of the greatest things I’ve ever written and I should probably look it up.  Ah-Ha!:

Now all that was left ‘neath the bad smelling-sky
was my big empty factory…
the Lorax…
and I.

And that’s one of the most beautifully written passages ever.  About the end of oxygen, no less.

 

Wii

Sam and I have borrowed her nephew, Tyler’s, Wii. Budgetary constraints prevent a purchase of the device, so we were excited to borrow it from him. It has three remotes, one nunchuck, and a couple of games. He had a hard time finding the components – apparently his room is akin to a jungle.

Wii’ve (you see what I did there?) had it for about a week and I’ve played a few games. Mario Kart has been rented and we are enjoying it a bit, even though we aren’t using any sort of “wheel” control right now. The joystick is much easier, we’ve discovered.

As far as “gaming” goes, I’m a little underwhelmed. What excites me is Wii Fit which we will purchase when we save our allowances to the proper amount. It sounds like a great bit of fun and exercise for us. It’s very challenging to do any sort of workout without guidance for me – even if I know what I’m doing. And it also means we can keep an eye on the baby while working out.

The online play is pretty tight with Mario Kart – we love that we don’t have to pay extra for some sort of Wii Live service. I enjoy the browser and various channels. I find it ironic that Nintendo made a fuss when the system came out that it was built for gaming and nothing but, as it’s become more of a fitness device for a lot of people. I do think it will be quite fun to multiplay with a large group.

The control scheme is okay. I’ve played the new Zelda on GameCube and on Wii now, and I found it a bit more accessible on GameCube. I’ve yet to really get far in it – no bow and arrow yet – but I’m a little disappointed. We are hoping to get the new Mario, though, which I think will be quite fun.

Mario Kart Wii is fun, I’ll say that. I think the “wheel” concept is okay, but since the wheel offers no resistance when you use it, it’s not as dexterous as I’d like. I also think the “BS” factor is a little high when you’re winning the race. I haven’t had anything as frustrating as the N64 – when I’d be ahead by a substantial margin and still get caught up to by slowpokes. But the lack of customization for the races is annoying. By that I mean deciding items that you can and can’t use. I don’t think Nintendo really stretched themselves on this outing. Which isn’t that big of a deal since people are going to play it anyway.

I’m still a bit more excited to get xBox Live so I can finally play Left 4 Dead with Christofski online.

 

Rock Band

While gone over Spring Break I got a chance to play Harmonix’s Rock Band for the first time.  We have the actually game disc, but – long story – we have none of the instruments.  Christofsk purchased it for his new pre-owned 360 and invited us over to play it.  we had a good time.

Rock Band, if you don’t know, is similar to Guitar Hero.  Which is similar to Dance Dance.  You watch the screen.  You press the button.  That’s what it all boils down to.  With Rock band, you have the added fun of a drum kit and microphone.

I’m not the biggest fan of Guitar Hero.  It’s a ton of fun, which I like in a game, but I spend so much time when I play it trying to do so well when I could just be playing my real guitar.  It does help out with rythym and strumming patterns, but it is far from a real guitar.  Christofski’s dad, who is awesome at real guitar, is not solid at GH because of a lack of hand/eye coordination.  To be really sweet at guitar, it’s all hand.

With Rock Band, it’s a little more complicated.  The guitar is a bit more like a real guitar part, even though it still only has a few buttons.  You can have another guitar playing the bass line, which is also like GH.

What’s really bitchin’ is the microphone and drums.

You need skill to play GH and the guitar for Rock Band, but that isn’t necessarily going to transfer into real world skill.  The microphone can do such a thing.  You don’t have to hit all the notes perfectly, but it gives you a better sense of actual pitches while you are singing.  It also means that you have to get over any fear of public speaking you may have, because the game is all about multiplayer.

Same with the drums.  You have to get a lead on the kick-pedal and drums at the same time or you won’t succeed.  An actual drum kit is much more complex, but it still would help serve as a learning tool for a drum newbie.

I don’t think it would be much fun to sit around playing this game all on your own, but the multiplayer function is pretty damn kickass.  This would be an awesome game for a family to buy.  Everyone can play together.

Because talking to each other would be too hard