LadyCrimson

I have to drive for at least 4 hours before I even have a chance of seeing snow. But there was an earthquake tremor last night which shook the house for a bit more than a few seconds as I lay in bed blinking (hubby was snoring, he didn't notice). Probably the strongest one I've felt in a long while - which is still very small potatoes/no danger, mind. Just a reminder to restock any emergency supplies. :D ...I wish we had snow a bit closer sometimes, but I'm glad I don't have to deal with it as a daily-life type of thing.

Full and prolonged immersion in water isn't exactly our natural environment. I love water but usually only in contained spaces. Like a hot-tub. I have the same mild fear of wild water that I can't see the bottom of (as well as not liking sand/dirt in my pants...). It's not a serious phobia but it will make me hesitate and I generally won't want to go more than wading. Also, undertows. I've been pulled around/under by them when swimming not very far out on some of the rocky west coasts, and that put me quite off.

May not be that related, but things like this are why I've never been very happy with the world going more and more completely computer/electronic-storage dependent. Wouldn't take much for all that info to be lost. Backup and backup and physical hardcopy as much as possible, man. Also, it's why I don't use the "cloud," at least in terms of modern usage of the term. More and more I want to retreat from it but it's such a part of the world now it's impossible to do so completely unless you want to go mountain-man. I didn't see it linked to, so I'll just add this general-report forbes article to it. Probably has nothing too different, but never hurts to read more perspectives, especially for non-techie people. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2018/01/03/intel-meltdown-spectre-vulnerabilities-leave-millions-open-to-cyber-attack/#5f0170bd3932 ...at any rate, a small drop in gaming performance isn't something I'm likely to notice on a personal level, if I must endure it at some point. It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out in the long run. And kinda makes me glad I (still) haven't built a new PC yet so I can wait and see before doing so.

So I'm sure I've asked before, but since time has passed, and I rarely keep up with gaming news anymore, I'll ask again - are there any new-ish single-player 3D open world RPG's (emphasis on exploration vs. politics, perhaps) that have a full party (at least four)? Even FO:NV I needed a mod to make that happen. Even if I had liked FO4 more, the lack of full party in most modern games of this type keeps me non-enthused. I really like party interactions/combat but I also like modern day open world. One of the big reasons I keep sticking to FFXV. One main character and sometimes a follower or guest follower doesn't do it for me.

RIP to my footwarmer cat. Hubby has wanted to go on a "real" vacation for a while but sick kitty made it hard for me to travel far. I guess we can go now. But I told him he better do it within 6 months or sooner, because no matter how often I say "I'm done with owning/taking care of cats/pets" I find I'm awfully prone to suddenly showing up at our door one day with a new cat...

Oh, look at the peaceful giant water grazer thingie! Let's take a picture. Then kill it.

The two who voted for Dungeon Keeper 1 get +10 in my book. ...placement is about right for my tastes, too. I mean I personally love that game to death but it shouldn't be anywhere near the top of a 100.

I'm liking that GoG is getting more and more indie/new release and other "not old or at least not super old" titles - even if my current self isn't much of a gamer anymore. Maybe in another 10 years I won't care about Steam at all.

I've been slowly watching the K-Drama Secret Forest (or Stranger if on Netflix/Wikipedia, or Forest of Secrets elsewhere, these name changes get annoying). Probably one of my fave non-romantic serial-murder/legal crime kdramas so far. The lead actor is fantastic (as a prosecutor who had surgery to quell childhood seizures and thus has little to no empathy/emotion) and the lead actress matches up to and counterpoints him very nicely as well. Quite compelling.

^ there were many games where I think I spent more time standing around in the inventory screens than actually "playing." Although most of that was because of my personal habits, of course, vs. actually having to.

Dungeon Siege 2 was a lot of fun I agree. Had a lot of improvements and is generally a better arpg overall than DS1, although I'm very fond of the 1st one as well. And loved that main theme (DS2 used a similar but slightly altered version I think?)

Could still get lucky with a temp. bounce-back recovery, but I may need a new cat soon, my current one seems to have finally "broken" to his long-term disease, pretty badly this week. :/ Whatever the case, at least he got 2-3 extra years with the treatments etc. He is going on 12 now so it's not like he's super young. Still ... even when it's 18+ years, it's never long enough. And I only had Mr. Black since he was around 6 (Humane Society adoptee). Other than, a lazy relaxing holiday week.

2018? I'm still partying like it's 1999. ...hope the year goes well for all.

Didn't want to interrupt the TV thread w/my nonsense so: I can totally see such a show being wonderfully ludicrous and hilarious. I might have to check it out. Edit why does YT embedding sometimes not work...

Swerving away from SW, I saw this trailer last night and it cracked me up something fierce. Which doesn't mean I'd advocate to see it - I wouldn't pay to see it in other words - but the trailer. lol. Jason Bateman's delivery kills me at times.

I remember seeing Return in the theater with my cousin and when the landspeeder motorcycle thingies showed up and speeding through the forests, we were all "wheeee! awesome!" because on the big screen, that was awesome at the time ... that was about the extent of our enthusiasm. Although admittedly the Emperor confrontation was pretty cool. I should say that I don't hate the current SW. I just don't care. I don't find them enjoyable/fun even in a child-like fantasy or light-action fare way so it's all just "meh" and I'm not going to follow it any more than I'd follow yet more Rocky or Terminator movies. Hollywood/business really can't leave things alone sometimes.

Still running around with the chocobro's now and then (in a new playthrough). It's nice when a game is the type for you where you can take a long break from it and when you come back, it's fun again. Versus some games where no matter how much you loved it while playing, you can't make yourself replay it again for some reason. I'll never figure out exactly why that is. Although, tbh, even with FFXV it's mostly the first half I replay. The linear sections towards the end don't interest me nearly as much. Just so relaxing riding those cute chocobo's around the open world section listening to tunes.

It's funny because I had this issue with Raiders of the Lost Ark a few years or so ago when I tried to rewatch it. My memory did not recall the horrible editing I kept noticing and I found myself wondering if I had a bad copy. Ever since I can't make myself watch it anymore, and I absolutely adored that movie. Editing is done so differently these days, one forgets the way they often did it back then. I don't mean technical improvements ... just stylistically. As to Star Wars, the first one (still not New Hope, to me, ever) is really the only one that stood up for me over the years. And even then I acknowledge it's because I was 9 when I saw it (it has some of the editing issues of that era as well, on hindsight). Prequels had some fun action but was otherwise a big joke as far as I was concerned. Was not overly impressed with the first one in the new trilogy, probably won't even watch the 2nd when it comes to HBO or whatever. Just like Star Trek, SW is dead to me now.

I'm not a big war film fan per se. There's just certain themes or historical events that interest me so I'll check one out, or if they're just well crafted suspense/drama type films that happen to be set during a wartime. As to what changed ... I just chalk it up to "time". Time changes us all in so many little and often unpredictable ways even as our basic core may largely remain the same.

To be honest, sometimes I feel kinda bad that I don't seem to enjoy a lot of (US) movies these days. Feels like I would've liked some of them 20 years ago. Ever since CGI became the dominant factor however, most (blockbuster) US movies have slowly become items that make me feel nothing and if I feel nothing, I'm bored. They're mostly just sound and fury or visual assaults and/or "isn't this cool." Which was definitely fun at first but... I need to rent/watch Dunkirk soon. I have high hopes I'll like that one.

Ok, I watched Alien Nation: LotR Edition er I mean, Bright. The first hour was just slightly interesting enough to keep my attention but it quickly bored me after that and I started fast forwarding in small increments until the end. Couldn't get Alien Nation (1988 film, not the TV series) out of my head even if it's fantasy races and a Wand instead of a single alien race and Drugs. Same done to death cop buddy concept, same tolerance messages, same dark/gritty atmosphere and two good actors who try their best with what amounts to a potentially interesting idea but with mediocre/half-baked material. It's not that it's bad, it just bored me, despite all its attempts to convince me it was something fresh. Smith and Edgerton didn't have much chemistry imo, and although there was one pretty effective scene in that first hour, most of it falls flat, with a lot of actors/chrs. wasted with little to do but make faces at the camera lens. I can see it being a sort of cult film in the long run tho, had that sort of appeal. Of all the reviews I read, only one mentioned Alien Nation, which made me feel old. I guess Suicide Squad and LotR jokes are more relatable now. Haha, that made me laugh.

I didn't spend anything this Xmas .... since I spent too much before Xmas. Woke up late, showered, puttered around outside, ate lunch. Me: Going to game. Hubby: I could bring in a bunch of blankets into your cold room and come watch. (eg, he's bored) Me: Just try not to snore too loudly.

Why are chocobo's so darn cute?!

I actually didn't shut that movie off. Although I probably should have. Later I found hubby watching it (HBO, as usual) and I warned him, but he didn't listen. He did however come to me later and tell me I was right.

Don't feel like playing games, nothing on TV, hubby's going to be gone until late-night, and I guess I've lost too much weight (padding) because I'm constantly cold even tho this is Calif. Which makes the old cat happy because the wall heater is always jacked up to 74F and he's curled against it all day. Maybe I'll take his cue and go back to bed. @Keyrock - can I come to FL with you? It sounds warm.