The other day I saw Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, a simply fantastic Korean film. It turned up in a local film festival and it was a real thrill compared to some of the poop that’s on everywhere else right now. At its heart, the movie is a stylish revenge story, and one that encourages the viewer to relish the revenge as much or even more than the protagonist does!

After mulling over the film a little, I am reminded of how much I love a good revenge story, yet it’s one that’s seldom touched on in Hollywood (or elsewhere?). Some examples come to mind, with Taxi Driver and Leon/The Professional as particular favourites, but perhaps the dubious morality of a good revenge story is a bit much for most people. (more…)

Not sure I have many active readers since I no longer post much about Second Life, but regardless, as you will see, I’ve updated hte blog somewhat and reinstated comments (with new spam-protection features!). Enjoy, I should be posting more often now.

It’s about time I blog some more. And update my flickr pictures too for that matter. Anyway, I think I’ll keep this baby updated a bit more, however I won’t be covering Second Life much. There’s one reason why, and that is that I just don’t play much any more! I find I tend to be a bit obsessive with SL, and that obsession manifests as a desire to be a fantastic coder, artist and builder in game, something I can’t hope to achieve. The result is my crappy builds and art tend to annoy me more than excite, especially when I know there are other fantastic. I end up hounding other people to do ‘my’ work and that is no good for anyone!

I plan on dropping in regularly, but for the good of everyone, I should keep my fingers out of that particular pie. So what will I blog about now? Mostly games I’m playing now, tech ideas and other bits and pieces I feel like discussing. Lets hope it’s interesting.

In a fit of madness I have joined the New Zealand Territorial Force, our army reserve! Today I passed my fitness test and two hours later I was swearing alleigance to the Queen and being congratulated. Oh dear, what have I got myself into? I blame it on a touch of brain cramp. Should be interesting I figure.

I’ve been working on getting fit recently. Partly because I plan to join the NZ Army reserves (called the Territorial Force here), and partly for good health. I’m pleased to say that I’ve had a new best run time today! I do a 5km series on Tuesday nights and today my split time (2.4km/1.5m actually) was 10:38. My full time was 24:38. In all I cut 55 seconds off my run time two weeks ago so I’m pretty pleased! Running is kinda fun when you get in to it, and while you’re not doing it, and not just before of course. Other than that, it’s a right laugh!

Been feeling the gamer itch recently. I’ve enjoyed The Movies, but needing to coerce friends into doing voices for one’s movies (you really want to make the effort and do a voiced film I think) is tricky! Worse, there are now so many many movies being posted to their community site it’s highly likely one’s brilliant effort will sink without a trace.

Meanwhile, I’m playing Morrowind, a $10 purchase, which is a nice game, especially with Desslock’s lovely walkthrough from GameSpot. Couldn’t live without the tips he provides!

However, I’ve still got the itch. Which is why I went and purchased the Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition Rulebook. I’m keen to organise some games, but where to find some players!

My new current obsession is The Movies, an interesting game out from Lionhead. Half the game a tycoon-style studio management thing, the other half is making machinima using the tools they give you. There are some pretty fun films out already and I’m sure we’ll see many more!