I know. We haven't posted a thing in ages. I'd say that we've been "really busy" but, let's face it, you can make time. So let's just say we've been lazy, we're sorry and move on. Ok? sweet.
So last month Connor turned 1. I honestly can't believe it's been a year. Every parent says it, but it's so true, he's just grown so quickly, and the time has flown by.
This post is just going to document some of his milestones and include a few snaps from his birthday. Probably more for us than for our audience, but since the blog name is "Two geeks and a baby" we should include the baby in some posts, yeah?
Typically what I hear from friends and family is that we should've had a massive celebration for Connor's birthday, but that requires a lot of planning and a lot of people coming to visit us. We didn't have the patience or want for either of those, so we just had a small family celebration: Mat, me, Connor and the dogs. Now some might find that strange, but we live a good 4 hour drive from any of our family, so that's part of the situation there.
It was so good though that it wasn't a stressful weekend. It was just us, watching tv, playing with toys, reading new books. Perfect.
Apparently, cardboard boxes are fun to play with. He made his own little fort out of one of them. He did love his toys though. Wiggles guitar, lots of trucks and cars and a TONNE of books. This kid loves to flick the pages of books and loves us reading to him. Definitely going to encourage that!
Mat made a cake for Connor that was just so cute. Admittedly, Connor did get upset that he wasn't allowed to touch the candle, but you get that.
I love this little munchkin more than I've loved anything. Ever. But that's the way it's supposed to be.
Just a quick post, started watching Rick and Morty yesterday because I wanted to see what the fuss is all about, I liked it, the simplest way I could put it is - it is to Bob's Burgers what futurama was to the Simpsons, similar animation styles, and the same sarcastic style comedy like Bob's burgers with a Sci-Fi twist. A fun ride.
Fullmetal Alchemist brotherhood, it's the reason we haven't written any posts lately, after I'd binged Black Lagoon recently I ended up looking up lists of other good or under rated anime and this came up a few times. Seeing as I was on a day off I decided to watch an episode or 2, if it was good I'd watch with Jamie and if it was just ok I'd watch in my own free time.
The first episode was fun and kind of good but didn't wow me, but the second episode cemented with me that this show is an experience to share, so every free moment we've had together(while bubs sleeping/napping) was spent watching and I cannot emphasize enough how much we enjoyed it.
I'm sure at some point Jamie will probably want to talk about it, maybe do a review (or I might talk more) but for now I just wanted to put it out there that this is an amazing show, with great characters, themes and stories set in a fun world. Yeah sure it has some of those kooky anime gags which I usually aren't a fan of but they provide some much needed levity considering how dark some of the stories become, and I mean DARK.
Special mention has to go out to the Armstrong's, they may not have been the main characters but we always loved seeing them on screen.
If I go on much more I could risk spoiling the show for anyone who hasn't seen it. We loved it and would recommend it to anyone looking for another good anime.
Ok, I'm late putting this one out. August was really busy for me getting ready to go back to work after a year on leave. I've been thinking a bit about this and by far the site of the month for me is:
Mat and I are Star Wars fans, I mean clearly.
In the last few years, we stumbled across people with the most amazingly realistic sabers when we were at Cons, so Mat looked into it and found this little gem of a business. They started out on Etsy (in fact the store still exists on Etsy if you want to check that out too), but the website I've linked allows you to essentially customise a saber of your own.
Mat ordered one last year and when we got it, I mean wow. The thing is just so damn amazing. We got a green coloured blade and a soundboard. When the saber is on, the soundboard emits the standard lightsaber hum we all know, BUT, when you "battle" with it (swing it around, strike it against something) it is so responsive and the sounds emitted are just spot on movie accurate. There is also an added sound if you press the on button while the blade is on, which sounds like when a saber deflects a blaster shot. AMAZING!!!
Connor was super impressed with it too.
The site had a special on a few months ago, so I scored myself a saber. It hasn't arrived yet but I'm super excited. I got two light options for mine though: plain white (like Ahsoka) and then a multi colour one that will allow me to switch between colours.
The hilts are exceptionally well made, and as heavy as you would expect a lightsaber to be. Since Mat's one had the exposed crystal though, we must warn you, while it looks awesome, the crystal can get quite hot and it is a bit cumbersome to hold and swing the saber with the crystal chamber in the way. Still #noregrets
They are on instagram and YouTube as well if you want to check out some of the designs, but the website is very comprehensive.
But Jamie, I hear you say, I don't have a lot of cash to burn on this and they are so expensive!
Look, I know. It's a LOT for what some people would see as a toy. All I can say is that these are handmade excellence. They are customisable, and there's a lifetime guarantee on the blade component (within reason, pretty sure if you took a belt sander to it, they wouldn't replace it). This is an investment, but we have been really happy with what we've seen from them. Plus you don't have to buy the absolute top-of-the-line one.
I just want to note as well that this is in no way a paid endorsement. I have no affiliation with the brand at all, I just like their stuff.
ok, now that disclaimer is over, I'll attach a few pics of some of the sabers.
As always, if you like our blog, please subscribe via the little email box on the top right of the page, or leave us a comment letting us know you exist. we'd love to hear from you.
Every now and then you come across a show or fandom by accident, you hadn't heard much or anything about it but after starting to watch you're hooked. With Stranger Things having come out on Netflix to this kind of response by most (including us) I thought I'd talk about a little Anime which took me by surprise a few years ago and this week I rewatched (binged) it all over again.
Black Lagoon, I cannot express how much I love this show enough, on the surface it's an ultra-violent show about a small crew working out of the city of Roanapur in South East Asia, but if you scratch the surface there's so much more there, I won't spoil the experience for anyone. I'd prefer you all go watch it.
The show overall is about the Lagoon company, a transport/acquisition/mercenary crew based in the city of Roanapur, the city itself is run by several different mafia/organised crime groups yet our crew keep pretty neutral throughout the show.
We are introduced to this world through Roc, we follow him from Japanese business man to becoming part of this 'world of shadows'
Roc's journey is a great story but for me it's the supporting cast who really make this world amazing, the leaders of the gangs (if you could call them gangs) and the other people they meet along their missions. Also almost every woman in these seasons are terrifying, powerful women who take no shit from anyone.
The action in the show is amazing, I'd almost watch it for that alone but the moments of levity and the scripting is just so good as well though, keeping me enthralled even when the shooting stops.
Some of the characters worth a mention - Well there's the Lagoon crew. From left to right - Benny (tech guy), Roc, Revy (hired gun) and Dutch (it's his boat and his company).
Then there's the heads of the organised criminal groups of Roanapur, most notably Balalaika, she's the head of Hotel Moscow, an ex-soviet military unit turned mafia.
It's a great show that I'd love more of if they ever decide to create more, as it is, there are 3 seasons:
Black Lagoon - the first season introduces you to the world and the main players through the jobs taken by the crew.
Second Barrage - the second season focuses more on Roc and Revy, Roc trying to make a difference in the world of shadows he has become a part of, we get a fair bit of growth and character development on their parts. It is a slower season (less missions/ jobs, more just one or two long jobs).
Roberta's blood trail - the third season is shorter than the others but without a doubt amazing. The crew become tangled up in a mess involving a maid, Colombian cartels, the American military, and a high born Venezuelan family and Roc starts coming into his own playing the situation like a game with the people involved being his chess pieces.
Watch and enjoy the show, yeah it is pretty violent but there's a whole lot more as well.
Would love to hear what you all think about it. Comment and let us know!
Hi Everyone, prepare yourselves for a long-ass post!
Recently we watched The Killing Joke Bluray. We'd been looking forward to this ever since I (Jamie) squealed when they announced it in Ballroom 20 of SDCC last year.
We've got a fair bit to say about this so let's get down to business.
The DC fan base is so dedicated that no movie, live action or otherwise, will ever live up to expectations. DC is doomed to never please everyone, despite how they try to cater to all markets.
That is clearly the case with The Killing Joke.
MAT here I stole the post while she's feeding bub, firstly, we really enjoyed the movie, we wouldn't rate it as the best DC animated movie but it was still a good ride. Since seeing it we've seen a lot of reviews which have had a whole lot of hate for this movie, especially the first section (an add on story about batgirl) some hate it for not being part of the original comic, others for the relationship between Batgirl and Batman, some just feel it isn't the same tone of the rest of the movie.
Personally I'm pretty sure I know what they were going for, DC animated have been creating a universe for years, it roughly follows the current comic continuity but never exactly to the comics themselves, for example Flashpoint Paradox, Justice league War and Throne of Atlantis all directly follow stories leading up to and continuing into the new 52 run of comics but change small things about them to make the movies more accessible to the average viewer (no pre reading homework needed).
This story was written well before the New 52 so it would be out of the order, but due to fan requests and the fact that Mark Hamill stated he'd never play joker again unless it was this story, the decision was made to make it. and I think they did a good job of fitting it in their animated universe.
Jamie's back! Hi guys.
Ok. Time to get into spoiler territory so I can say what we liked/didn't like. So this is your official spoiler warning!
Right, so we have read the original graphic novel, we own it in hardback, we all know it is a classic. What was good?
After Act 1 (the Barbara backstory), this movie is pretty much an exact, word for word of the comic. It's fantastic that so much effort was made to stay true to the original script. With a story this good, you don't need to modify it.
The voice actors. Kevin Conroy as Batman (let's face it. He IS Batman), Mark Hamill as Joker (he is truly the Joker), Tara Strong as Batgirl, pretty sure we heard some sneaky John DiMaggio in there too. I'm sure most of you know Conroy and Hamill voiced these characters in Batman: The Animated Series. It is such a treat to have them back, even though this version of Batman and Joker are very different to the characters they played in BTAS.
Pacing: Some people will say "but the first act makes it drag out in runtime", yeah, true, but once the action starts, you're off to the races and we really didn't notice the runtime.
This one is a bit of a love/hate. Animation. When we saw the trailer for this and saw the animation wasn't the same style as previous films (see my personal fave Flashpoint Paradox), we were a little worried that it would take us out of the story. It didn't really. I understand the animators were attempting to emulate the art style of the comic artists and they came pretty close. When Joker has his flashback of his origin story, the scene where he has just been affected by the chemicals and starts laughing at the end of his "one bad day" is pretty close to the original (and so SO classic) Brian Bolland art. I love this art so much I have a jacket with it on the back. It's seriously fantastic.
What was bad?
Yeah, sometimes the animation didn't seem as polished as it could be, but adapting such a unique style to animation must be incredibly difficult.
We honestly don't think Act 1 was bad. Was the sex scene necessary? well, that can be argued, but I think it was put in there so people new to the Batman universe could see that there was something at stake for Batman as well, not just "helping the Commissioner and his daughter" as it COULD have come across without the prologue. Think about it. If you had no idea about Batman, and you just started watching from the Killing Joke section of the film, would the stakes be high enough for Batman to kill the Joker? A man who he wouldn't even kill when Jason Todd was killed? (if you don't know what I'm talking about, watch Under The Red Hood, you won't be disappointed). And yes, I know the "killing" of the Joker is left as a bit of a "did he or didn't he" Schrodinger-type thing, but I like to think Batman finally killed that piece of garbage. So dark.
Maybe not the best story to adapt to film. We love the story, but as a film, we enjoy previous DC animations so much more. We don't think it's the fault of the animation team or that there's something wrong with the story itself, just that this isn't the best medium to convey this tale.
Right, back to Mat...sorry we're chopping and changing here!
A lot of the reviews complain about the art style, I do realize Jamie just mentioned it but they were trying to combine 2 art styles into one movie, the DC animated style and the original comic style, instead of pissing off one group completely they tried to meet everyone half way but that seems to have just angered the masses.
OK now I need to mention the sex scene, personally it's not my favorite version of the Batman/Batgirl relationship (I've seen a lot of the later cartoons where he's more of a mentor /father figure than a partner) but that's my preference I honestly cannot deny that they ever had that kind of relationship, I've been told it was in the early comics and the Batman beyond cartoon cemented it as canon.
I know it's getting a bit long winded at this point, but the other night we were watching reviews to see if anyone liked the movie the same way as we did or to see how other people interpreted the same movie. I think Variant comics were closest in opinion to us overall.
There was one review which actually almost angered me personally I think she missed the point, normally I love Steph Cozza at Aggressive Comics but her review of this movie seemed to turn into a bit of contradictory ramblings which I think most of her thoughts may need rebuttal.
So rebuttal -
Well ....
I've became distracted I started watching her review again so I could list things she said and then put down my comments / thoughts (she does contradict herself a bit) but she's just taken the fun out of everything.
She made a statement that she loves Alan Moore's work, but her evangelical devotion to The Killing Joke Graphic novel is at odds with his own views on it, I'd read interviews previously where he hates what that book has done to Batman, this was meant to be his darkest moment, not an average day at the office like later writers have continued, I tried to find the original article I read (so I could quote)
I could go on but it would sound like a hate rant on Steph and normally I really enjoy her reviews, I do recommend reading the article from inverse.com.
Loving Alan Moore's work but not acknowledging his feelings about it is equivalent to those people a few years ago wearing all the Von Dutch merchandise. Von Dutch was the least commercial man on earth and his heirs selling his name as a brand was despicable.
But I've gotten off topic. It's a good movie, not great but not deserving of the hate, I suggest you go watch it, make up your own mind. The more support the DC animated movies get, the more they'll make, and the animated movies are the ones DC and Warner Bros have been getting right.
So we just saw Suicide Squad. Now I don't know what the hell movie 99% of reviewers saw, but we LOVED what we watched! I was honestly prepared for another BvS, but was thankfully surprised.
Now I might cop some hate for this (meh, so be it) but I'm a big fan of the Amanda Conner, New 52 Harley Quinn comics. It's my guilty little pleasure comic that never fails to make me giggle. That said, I also enjoy the classic Harley comics and of course her representation in Batman The Animated Series. I am also a reader of Suicide Squad and New Suicide Squad and I love the path she's taken throughout the series. I think she's cheeky, brash, rough around the edges, but also loving and fiercely loyal. I think that really was captured well by the writers, director and of course Margot Robbie.
There were always going to be people who hated it because it's not a cinematic masterpiece. But no shit, what did you expect here? It's the f-ing Suicide Squad! If you've ever read a Suicide Squad comic, it IS chaotic and disjointed. That's the whole point. So whether it was deliberately put together that way by David Ayer, or it's just a happy coincidence, we thought that was perfect Comic to Screen.
Ok, now into actual spoiler territory. So if you haven't seen the movie and don't want it spoiled. blah blah blah, you know the rest. THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING:
So many little fan service or comic references in this film that made us smile. I was so happy with Harley. A lot of people aren't but I'm just so pleased. People are also ripping on Leto's Joker, but really, the only thing I can fault is that I'm still not a fan of the grill. I can look past the tattoos, but those teeth. Blergh! I thought the relationship was great between Harley and Mr. J and that the flashbacks and origin story were so well done. The Harley/Batman kiss made me smile in particular. But oh wow! Did anyone else see in the flashback the blatant reference to the Alex Ross cover of Harley Quinn? You know the one... Yeah, this one. If I wasn't in a cinema with other people I think I would've let out a little squee. Whoever thought of putting in that little few seconds of footage of Leto and Robbie dressed EXACTLY as this cover, bravo, standing ovation, two thumbs up....yeah you get what I'm saying.
Now I need a moment to talk about Boomer. He's been well represented (Assault on Arkham) and poorly represented (Arrow. Seriously WTF with that interpretation. No! Bad Berlanti-verse!) and this was thankfully in the well done category. Jai Courtenay did an awesome job playing Captain Boomerang. I just wish he had more screen time. I really like the variety of boomerangs he had. It wasn't just the boring old sharpened boomerangs.
Ok, this is getting to be a super long post so I'll just quickly go over the rest of my points.
Croc was awesome, got heaps to do in the film, but more dialogue would have been nice. And yes, Croc, you are beautiful! I thought Katana was wonderful and we wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't get a standalone movie out of this. Rick Flag ultimately gaining unspoken respect for Deadshot was well executed on screen. Enchantress was alright, but her brother wasn't totally necessary for the plot except to supply her with energy and well, to be a way for El Diablo to bite the dust/be redeemed in some way. That bar scene...seeing the characters react the way they did to Diablo's failings was very interesting and great viewing. I loved Boomer's saddened/disgusted, Deadshot not knowing what to say, and Harley's outrage. It really showed a lot about the true values for them. Oh, which reminds me... CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME!!!
I found an article/review online that also supported this theory of mine, so... in the "joker lying on the ground surrounded by guns" scene, there's baby clothes in that flat lay. It looks odd yes? like, odd even for the Joker, odd. Harley was also MEGA pissed at Diablo for even thinking he could have a normal life and have kids without them being hurt/killed. THEN in her "fantasy sequence" we see her and Mr J all happy families with twin babies. SO.........was Harley pregnant at some stage and lost her babies? Is this something we'll see fleshed out in future movies? Any Harley fan will tell you that in the Injustice universe, Harley has a daughter called Lucy that the Joker doesn't know about so maybe the writers used that as a jumping off point? Clearly all speculation.
can't half tell that I'm super pumped after seeing this movie... sorry for all the ramblings.
I'll finish this on one last notable mention.
Amanda Fucking Waller.
Viola Davis IS Amanda Waller. No shit. She is amazing and just so perfectly written it was like the comic came to life. She's ruthless and brutal and strong and takes no shit from anyone. So perfect. I need a sequel just for more Waller. And that after credits scene was perfectly ripped from the final scenes in Assault on Arkham and I couldn't be happier. She's such a badass.
So, I'm all done now. What did you all think about it? Comment, Subscribe, let us know you're out there.
Until next time...
I know, I know, I said I'd post something about Comic Con sooner than this. Since anyone that really cares has probably seen all the trailers already there's not really any point to me reposting my favourites is there?
I was pretty happy with the trailers and news that came out of Comic Con. DC (finally) stepped up their game and were a highlight to many reviewers. Especially for the Wonder Woman trailer. Of course I'm still going to be nervous of Justice League and Wonder Woman not being true to the source material. That said, I will go into each of those movies expecting the best.
I have to be honest with you all here for a minute. I was one of those people who was completely against the recasting of Flash in the movie universe. I love Grant Gustin's Barry Allen so much. I think it's so true to the personality conveyed in the literature (you know, except for him being brunette). BUT...I didn't hate Ezra Miller's Barry Allen in the trailer for JL. In fact, I chuckled a little at his awkwardness. While I still don't understand DC/WBs move of not combining the TV and Cinematic universes (really, why confuse both the fan base AND the general public? Bring in that tv show crowd!) I was pretty happy with what I saw. Oh an Jason Mamoa......holy sweet Poseidon
Ahem. So you're probably wondering (if you actually regularly read this blog), where our Suicide Squad review is. Well, with a baby, and Mat's busy work schedule, we haven't been able to see it yet. This week we are hoping to while bub is at school. I know there's been a lot of negativity, but I don't care.
Other Comic Con highlights for me. Hmm. Oh, John Barrowman's cosplay. Outrageous as always, he did one of the best Zapp Brannigan cosplays I've seen. So impressed. Also did a squirrel girl cosplay and a classic Harley Quinn cosplay. So brilliant. Anyone up for a good laugh should check out his panel from SDCC this year (or any other year really). I'll link it here.
Since we didn't go this year, there's not really that much else to discuss. I didn't really look at any merch as I honestly didn't want to upset myself knowing that I wouldn't be able to purchase it! I know, I'm weird.
I'll be going back to work in a few weeks but hopefully between now and then I write a few more blogs. I've been a bit lazy so again, sorry about that.
Have a great week and remember, You're not weird, you're limited edition.
As some people may know(at least those people following the current DC run of comics) Rebirth is in full swing, and I've decided to give the first 3 or so issues of all the titles a read and re establish my regular reads.
I'd always enjoyed Wonder Woman in the Justice League comics but I'd never had the urge to read her solo stories before, until now. I'm currently up to issue 4 of her rebirth run and I'm completely sold, amazing art and a story with just the right amount of mystery to make me look forward to continuing.
I'll definitely be reading her future stories for the foreseeable future.
I know, I know Comicon was this week I should be talking about all the goodies shared there but no, I'm in the mood to reminisce about the little dog who's always trying to have adventures.
Mischief, always up to mischief, she has been with us since she was a puppy (I'm pretty sure Jamie has already done a post about her joining our little family). We thought she was so shy, that was only until we got to know her.
Being that we lived in a small town at the time it was really easy to walk everywhere we needed to go, the only problem was that Bella was very unhappy whenever we walked away from the house without her. She'd bark, howl and generally kick up a fuss.
Then she learned how to escape, the first time wasn't too bad. We'd decided to walk down to the local Coal and Country fair, much to the dismay of the little Bella dog, it was a fun time just like any small town fete, as we were leaving though across the road wandering through the crowd was our little dog, she'd escaped the yard and decided to come find us. From that day onward we realized we couldn't walk away from the house, even if we were going down the street we'd take the car so she wasn't encouraged to escape and follow us.
As she got older and more of our friends got dogs she had friends now that she wanted to go visit, it started innocently enough, she only used to escape if a dog she knew had gotten out of their yard and come to visit her, one time she came home stinking of chlorine, I think her and her sisters had gone swimming at the local pool.
oops
But her most memorable escapes were after a few party/BBQ nights we'd had over at our place with all of our friends and dogs, she seemed to not have any trouble escaping anymore (usually the top of the fence was bent where she escaped and I'd just brace it there to make her try somewhere else).
One morning a friend of ours down the road rang us to tell him he now had 2 dogs in his yard, she'd broken out to go visit her 'boyfriend' as we liked to call him. Floyd the half German Shepard, half husky.
We were determined after that to find out how she was getting out and put a stop to it. We tied a bucket to the end of a long rope off her collar (long enough that if she jumped the fence she wouldn't be hung), the idea was she'd jump the fence but not be able to pull the bucket over too leaving her stuck, tie to the fence. The aftermath was adorable.
She wasn't jumping the fence at all, she had dug a tunnel under the cement at the front of the house, the bucket got stuck in the tunnel and this was where she was stuck in the morning when we woke up.
Not a small tunnel either, about a metre long (3-3/8 feet) and wide enough for a medium sized dog to crawl through.
She was not impressed with being stuck there whilst we took our photos and laughed at how ingenious she was, to fix the tunnel we ended up cementing the bucket where it was stuck and filling in the outside of the hole.
She does look a little guilty, but it didn't last.
She never really escaped again whilst we lived in Moura but a year after we moved to NSW she did take up the habit again, but that's a whole other story.
MAT
ps. I know Comicon wasn't this week, I'd started writing this post back then but my parents came to visit which always throws a spanner in the works giving us no free time.
Just a quick post to let you know we haven't forgotten about the blog, we've just been crazy busy the last week and a bit.
We traveled to Brisbane to visit our friends and go house shopping. We drove up to Brisbane, so that was an ordeal with the little man in the car. Next time, we fly there!
We had an awesome time seeing all our friends, who we dub our "Brisbane Family". A lot hadn't met Connor yet so it was great to finally introduce him.
So, over the last week San Diego Comic Con was on. I'm both absolutely ecstatic about that (because wow, ALL the trailers and sneak peeks!) and absolutely saddened (first year we haven't been in quite a few years). Mostly, ecstatic though.
I'll post a summary of our thoughts on the Comic Con trailers in a few days (hopefully), but until then...
At the moment, somewhere in the world Star Wars celebration is going on and I am loving all of the extra footage, Trailers and stories coming out of it.
There seems to be more info and announcements coming out of the Star Wars celebration than the last couple years of San Diego Comicon, we're especially excited for the season 3 of Star Wars Rebels.
A continuation of all the greatness that has come before, We've been fans of Rebels since day one and it looks like we'll be getting even more of what we love.
The Rogue One celebration reel shows us it'll be a different kind of Star Wars film than we're used to, but that isn't a bad thing, it looks good to me.
An unexpected treasure we loved hearing was the Ahsoka's untold tales panel, which gave us more of the girl we enjoyed so much in Star Wars the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. We got to hear about the stories they wanted to tell but never got the chance to for some reason or another.
There's soo much content from the Star Wars celebration I couldn't possibly include it all, these were just some highlights of ours. If you want to check out all that was on offer be sure to visit the Star Wars Youtube account to get all the gossip.
What if it's all a conspiracy. Pokemon Go, the game that encourages people to go outside exploring, then flattens the battery on the phone leaving you stranded far from home without the ability to use your phone.
Oh you have a way around that do you, a portable battery pack - okay we'll do something better. Server crashes, and to top it all off game crashes just after you find something rare but before it's secured as one of yours.
Yeah yeah sounds like I'm being petty here but it is what seems to be happening, the game gets you out and about and fails in so many ways on so many levels. Like Jamie keeps saying "it feels like a BETA version" but what if that's the plan to change society and get people out experiencing the world. Once everyone's routines are molded to being outside more the app will be shut down for good. It would be the biggest prank in modern history, or a marketing stunt for another pokemon game or movie reboot (but something good) of the original game with the original 151.
Anyway, we have been posting too much about Pokemon Go, this will probably be our last post about it because frankly I've become bored with it, and also I've restarted Starcraft 2 from the start so it's fresh when I play the Legacy Of The Void.
I've been wanting to replay it ever since Jamie recently started playing, and just hearing the animatics has me longing to play it all again, such a good game and surprisingly an amazing story for a strategy game.
So we've had the game for what, 3 days now? So I thought I'd add my pros and cons of the game.
Pros:
Like Mat said, loving the fact that's it's only the original 151. We both walked away from the franchise after that era so it's nice to see those pokemon are the focus.
It gets people outside (can also be a con). Especially good for kids.
Now...the cons. Grab a cup of tea people, this is gonna sound like a rant (probably is), but I'm going to be brutally honest.
This thing just screams Beta version. Ok, it was free so I really shouldn't complain too much, but if it's a beta, call it a damn beta.
Server issues. Damn. Just jump on twitter and look at the #pokemonGO hashtag. As soon as it was released in North America, the servers just crashed. Since this game had a testing phase (a true Beta? I guess?) you'd think this would've been sorted. Looking at all the memes and comments about the servers has been entertaining though....
Eevee Evolution. Its random what you get. So you could save up those 50 eevee candies and hit that evolve button and get the same damn evolution (or eeveelution...ok I'll stop) every. Freakin. Time!!! That's annoying.
The con of going outside. Ok, I know that sounded like I'm a couch potato, but there's already been accidents because of this game. Yes, that's the "idiots" but you have to cater to idiots. So for a game designed for children, I can see a lot of issues with kids not watching where they are going and getting injured or worse. For example, one of the Pokestops in our town, is on a freakin median strip in the middle of a 4 lane highway. Yeah. Great work team. Great work. Dodge traffic, get some free Pokeballs!
Evolution in general. For the common stuff, that's not so bad, there's plenty of Pidgeys around to transfer to the Professor in exchange for those precious candies, but what about the less common stuff? Do I have to wait forever to get my damn Charizard? COME OOOOOOON! There's gotta be a better way than the GRIND of finding the odd 75 Charmanders just to get my Charizard action on.
Some twitter gold
So, will we keep going with the game. Maybe for a while longer. But it's not really worth the hype it's been getting in MY opinion. It's just too damn frustrating that I can't enjoy it while sitting on the couch. If I could battle the neighbours or Mat? That would be awesome. If we were travelling, this would be SUPER fun. But for those of us working or staying home (for now) looking after the kids...not so ideal. I can see a lot of parents being nagged by their kids, just so they can aimlessly roam the streets for that damn cubone or pikachu.
I may have made a boo boo today, little Connor is new to eating real food rather than baby food. But today was the first day he was left to feed himself his little toast strips for breakfast, and he did that amazingly by the way.
But I made the mistake of leaving him for 'literally a second' with a plate in front of him whilst pouring some tea.
And when he ran out of toast to eat he ever so defiantly dropped the plate on the ground looking me in the eye and smiling as I was running to try and prevent the carnage.
I would be mad but, how could anyone stay mad at that face
We downloaded Pokemon Go at it's release this week and overall I'm a little disappointed. I was so looking forward to it, come on a new format for a game that's been around for years, and this time it'll only be the original 151. I personally grew away from Pokemon after the first additional Pokemon were added.
Okay I'm just going to do a bit of a pro's and con's list because I haven't been able to experience all the game has to offer, and there are some pro's.
Pro's - The original Pokemon are back and this time are the only focus
- It does encourage people to get out and about around your town or city (this could be a Con though because it is a game aimed at children)
- Ummmmm, the augmented reality is kind of ........ cool?
Now the Con's - There isn't a Gym in my town, it's a population centre of 22,000 people and no place to experience the rest of the game.
- There is no interaction between players, you can't share or swap Pokemon between people, or even battle between players.
- And talking about battling from what I've read (no gym to try for myself) you don't control your Pokemon when battling at a gym beyond a dodge function (by swiping left or right)
- Your Pokemon aren't used to help catch other Pokemon, there's no fighting to weaken a Pokemon before catching, it's just a mini game of throwing a Pokeball like a paper toss game.
- There's no strategy in the game any more, it's all justa random probability engine combined with pretty pictures of things we're all nostalgic for.
- The Pokemon evolve from candy instead of through hard work experience and training (as far as I know, no gym remember)
- Currency. You are provided with ZERO coins to buy things. As far as we can tell, you can only get these coins buy shelling out REAL currency. I mean at least flick us a few coins as we achieve things in the game. Come on.
I'm persevering with the game for now but I'm pretty sure I'll be bored with it and stop playing as soon as I have the Pokemon I am looking forward too because there doesn't seem to be any goal.
Damn Thieves !!! I was robbed, yeah it happened a couple weeks ago but I needed time to vent before I wrote anything about it on here (otherwise it'd be just a long list of swears).
We were told when we moved to this town that it had a bad reputation, but I grew up in a town with a similar reputation so meh can't be that bad. Yeah there is a bad part of town but we don't live anywhere near that place (little Beirut as we like to call it) so it should have been okay. Look, it's not perfect, we did once have a guy break into our yard one night, and it was hilarious letting the dogs out the back to chase him over the fence, but that was years ago.
Back to the main reason I'm writing, some drop kick of a person broke into my work ute (pick up truck for those not up with Aussie lingo) and stole my tools, I work as a mechanical trades person and my tools are my livelihood. I cannot do my jobs without tooling, and work doesn't supply tooling, so it was all out of pocket expenses.
One morning I received a phone call from one of the guys I work with asking if I'd been using tools out of my work ute that day because the toolbox on the ute was wide open out the front of the house, F!@#ing losers had cut the locks off my tool box, gone through my tools, but only stolen very specific items. Things that your average tool shop doesn't have in stock or your average person wouldn't use at home, like large spanners (up to 48mm and 2"), large Allen keys and in-hex sockets (up to 22mm).
Over the next 2 nights, 2 other vehicles from my company had been broken into the same way. We've been furious since and have come up with a couple solutions which would stop this reoccurring, -
1. House power - we run an extension cord from the house to the body of the ute charging the ute with 240 volts of electricity, the only downfall would be having to clean up the corpses lying around the car every morning,
2. Shotgun - hook up a gun 'Home Alone style' to shoot anyone opening the toolbox, the biggest downfall of this one would be with the gun restrictions in Australia making this very illegal,
3. Gas - This was a favorite amongst the guys: leave a leaking gas bottle in the toolbox at night and mount a striker/sparker on the door to create a spark on opening. Again this one would have a downfall - there wouldn't be much of a toolbox left. (this is what happened to a ute which had a leaking gas bottle in it when the owner opened it while smoking, ps. driver suffered only minor burns)
All this is just spit balling, we'd never do anything this extreme, it's just frustrating having to replace thousands of dollars worth of tools because people suck.
This post is just going to document some of his milestones and include a few snaps from his birthday. Probably more for us than for our audience, but since the blog name is "Two geeks and a baby" we should include the baby in some posts, yeah?
