The world outside

I saw a couple of noteworthy things recently. One was last "night," actually about 2am, I was coming back home from the laundromat, and the route takes me past a local school. There, out in the yard, was a group of guys hanging out playing cricket! It was so...well, surprising. I definitely don't see or hear about a lot of cricket around these parts. And to wander past a game in progress in the schoolyard at 2am on a Wednesday, well...I dunno man. That's dedication right there.

The other thing was, I was out and about during the day a couple days ago, and I saw a cop writing a guy a ticket for panhandling. Really? I kinda breezed by the scene, so I don't know the whole story, but the ticketee was clearly upset about the whole thing. He kept arguing with the cop. As I walked by, the cop said this: "As long as you keep hanging out there, asking people for money, you're going to keep getting tickets." The guy was protesting, "I wasn't asking anyone for money..." and the conversation faded out of my hearing. So, seriously, this is how we're trying to squeeze blood from a stone now? We're fining beggars? I mean...how does that even work? Can you just roll up to the courthouse and hand the clerk a cup full of dirty nickels? I guess if you rack up enough unpaid tickets you can go to jail, right? But how do you track who has accumulated tickets, I mean if someone is homeless or has no ID. I mean...just what is the rationale for this? Is this really how publicly funded law enforcement operates? I mean...really?

I dunno, man. It's a crazy ol' world sometimes.

House of the Dead double feature

Okay, so...while I'm sitting here in front of the computer and apparently on a roll, let's see if I can knock out a Video Game Movie Project writeup or so. When last we left this saga of entertainment, I had interrupted the previously planned sequence with a viewing of Max Payne. That done, I switched back to the regularly schedule lineup, House of the Dead and House of the Dead 2. These movies were based on a light gun game, notable mostly (at least in my own mind) for having you gun down swarms of mutant frogs that jump out of a fountain. I found the game more or less enjoyable; I kinda dig the light gun game genre as one of the (very) few things that motivates me to play coin-op games any more. One thing that set it apart from others of its ilk (again, in my mind) was that it took multiple shots to bring down even mooks in the game. As such, you get treated to a lot of flesh and body parts falling off as you gun your opponents down. You know...good, clean fun. There's a storyline, of sorts, but...come on, it's a gun game. You're a dude with a gun, and you shoot things. There's not much else to the game.

Anyway, the movies.

( House of the Dead )

( House of the Dead 2 )

In summary, I'd say House of the Dead surprised and somewhat pleased me by not being a complete piece of crap, and it lent what could be construed as a foundational backstory for a relatively plot-light video game, so I give it credit for that, for cool camera effects, and a bitchin' soundtrack. House of the Dead 2 surprised and disappointed me by being worse than the first movie, for screwing up the holsters-with-thigh-straps look, and for...well, look. I know you're part of a franchise and all, and you're just following previously laid footsteps, but come on. You're called House of the Dead -- wouldn't it be nice for your movie to involve...you know...A HOUSE?! And while the movie clearly started off poorly, I will admit that things did pick up after a bit, and there was a nice, semi-enjoyable stretch along the middle. By the end, though, we've basically just dissolved into total incomprehensibility, and it's hard to walk away feeling good after an experience like that. The first movie, while I'm definitely not placing it on any "must-watch" list, can, in my opinion, be easily tolerated. The second one may as well just be skipped.

And that's it for this installment, everybody. This would have been the end of the project, were it not for the late addition of a surprisingly pleasing underdog, Postal. Until then, everybody. Ciao!

More outside stuff

I went out on a little stroll today to run some errands. (Actually I just wanted to mail something, but then I ended up buying a bunch of cooking equipment. But that's neither here nor there.) I saw something funny, and then I got to thinking, on the heels of metalepticfit's "one happy thing every day" idea, maybe I should start posting "something neat I come across that's outside my house" every day. At least it would...you know...get me out of the house. :)

Anyway, today I saw a Chevy pickup truck with the license plate "HOWUDON." I of course hear the Joey from Friends voice going "How YOU doin'?" which I think was the intention there. It made me chuckle inside. Especially...you now...it's a pickup truck! Ha ha! Okay.

Anyway, yeah...that's all I got. Peace!