Phosphor

That's part of the subterfuge and deception, designed to lull you into a false sense of security. When ninjas proclaim to be able to hide in plain sight, this is precisely what they mean. You see them, but don't truly see them.

As clearly evidenced by that website.

I've been a fan of SP for ages; I've got nearly everything they've put out (I'm sure I'm missing some esoterica somewhere) and have seen them live twice, as well as going to one of Download's first shows. So, I'm certainly a fan. I really liked The Process, and ever since I heard the song Ode To Groovy I'd been wanting Ogre to do unprocessed vocals. I'll have to pick up the new one and check on on the myriad other side projects, see what's going on there (I had heard rumblings of a new Tear Garden album). Is there also a new Back & Forth? I remember reading quite a while ago that another installment (#6 I believe) was coming out.

I haven't listened to them in years. I'd imagine the album follows in the footsteps of The Process?

Skinny Puppy have a new album?!

Oh, and to Trulez, it's don't or do not.

The Fallout 2 wedding was inconsequential and utterly inobstrusive to the game. As soon as you reach VC, if your spouse lived that long, you can sell them off. Over. Certainly you could chose to keep the NPC, but s/he is useless to you and will only get killed soon enough. It's not like the KOTOR or BG2 romances that kept interrupting you at every inopportune moment. Nothing like gearing up to slay a dragon and in the midst of buffing spells being cast, Jaheira needs to talk.

Never heard of them. I don't know if I have an absolute favourite concert, I've seen a lot of excellent shows. The most spectacular show though I think I'd give to Tom Waits on the Mule Variations tour. I remember it like a "too-good-to-be-true" dream. Other major notables would be The Residents, Public Image Ltd, The Sugarcubes, KMFDM (on the Nihil tour), Jesus Jones/Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Pop Will Eat Itself. In the realm of "lesser knowns", a Paris To Kyiv show in a church, and Teresa Tova would be mandatory inclusions. Oh, and Jane Siberry with The Rheostatics as her band playing under the open sky on a clear summer night was really something.

Leisure Suit Larry jumps to mind. But I would't claim it was the "originator". For current trends, I'd pin the blame on Bioware for BG2, and the rabid modding community always making romance NPCs.

Now Tony Blair is going on about how he's sure that Iraq has WMDs and they just haven't been found. So does that mean Iraq will have to be invaded again?

Yeah, it should. But then if it was I wouldn't have been able to rant since I don't really read the KOTOR forums

*whew* Crisis averted.

Sorry, I was trying to be optimistic and not think that such inanity as the romances is a mass-appeal feature. *sigh*

Romances are lame, I have no idea why they are included in these games. A romance should only be implemented if it has drastic effects on the campaign and forces the player's hand in making choices s/he might not otherwise make, and have to compromise and negotiate, just like a real romance. The romances in games like KOTOR and BG2 are pathetic schoolboy fantasies and nothing more.

The music of our youth is always the "real" music, isn't it?

What makes up the vast majority of my listening these days is CBC Radio Two, which plays classical music mainly. There are very few modern artists I'll run out and buy anything from these days, and even some of the ones I've liked in the past are turning out crap (Nick Cave jumps to mind). I used to be heavily into industrial/EBM/IDM whatever, and still have a ton of CDs that I never listen to but can't quite bear to get rid of. When I pretty much got out of that area it was becoming nauseatingly stagnant and dull, and no better than mainstream crap in terms of creativity and innovation that it was 10-15 years ago.

The best part of Metallica's career were the Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets albums, as well as And Justice For All to an extent, though they were kind of slipping then. Lightning and Puppets were intelligent and innovative at the time. Justice took some of that, but also had a more "general" sound (of course it could be that by then every metal band on the planet was imitating Metallica).

I've only read Ender's Game, which was excellent. I have a copy of Speaker For The Dead" but have yet to read it. Ender's Game was definately a powerful book, and I suspect that it's ending may be one reason why I so loathe manipulation and really see it as betrayal.

Jennifer Saunders did a brilliant job! "Why do you need to know?!"

Thanks for the info. It's been years since I read Spider-Man, and my memory on the characters convoluted.

Harry becomes the Hobgoblin, doesn't he?

Those last two qualities are likely applicable to 99% of all actors.

Brando's portrayal of Marc Antony in Joseph Mankiewicz's film of Julius Caesar was phenomenal. He really brought something edgier to the role, and it worked wonderfully.

Yep. Looks like the Godfather indeed made Brando the ultimate offer he couldn't refuse. I hope the author whom has a book coming out chronicling Brando's downfall feels pretty lousy right now.

IWD2's strength was in it's gameplay and character creation. The story was weak and full of holes.