überEllis.com

Two hours and R 700 later, I resemble something of a cross between Frank Zappa and J.D. (That's "Dr. John Dorian", and not "Just Dog").

I was the embodiment of confidence more or less up to 30 minutes before the appointment. One's mind wanders as it would during the inevitable (first of many...not quite sure what's up with that) hair wash, and panic and doubt changed to a deep sadness...I am unsure of the exact reasons. Probably an end of an era? Who knows..

I'm happy to announce, the choice of Salon was indeed perfect. My hairdresser resembled a beer-swilling rugby fanatic. Large and hairy. Not exactly what one expects, I know, but he set my mind at ease in mere minutes. He was confident and clearly on top of his game. He listened to what I had in mind, and gave honest, professional feedback. I wish I could've sneaked a photograph of the burly man concentrating intently on my hairdo. A true Kodak moment.

Family was mostly unimpressed at first glance..Everyone expected a very dramatic change, and I still resemble me, I guess. I feel confident and comfortable. There's a lot of attention, while most seem like they intentionally try not to discuss my hair. The next few days will have the first impressions of some friends...some who has only known me with long hair. So a better overall impression will probably reveal itself soon. Stay tuned ;)

Congratulations to Flash and Lindie who got engaged last night! :D

May your life together be prosperous, and my all your kids by gamer-geeks.

Thanks :-)
Submitted by flash on Tue, 2005/01/18 - 3:07pm.
Thanks man, only saw this now *blush*

Frag ya later ;-)

I sit at work staring at my monitor in disbelief of what I'm suddenly faced with. A taste of my own medicine I guess - hard-headed ignorance is leading to the detrement of something conceived out of passion and undoubtedly beautiful.

I've never expected true conviction could be misconstrued as a personal attack, while I myself have felt insulted and belittled, beit unintentional or not.

I fear the worst. My days at Obsidian might be numbered, for reasons I'm not at liberty to divulge here, and due to people who I am not willing to mention.

I also fear that I will not be willing to be shakeable in my convictions. If the worst does come to pass, then so be it...perhaps it's the sign I need to move on to somewhere I'm understood and respected in a way I deserve.

The point, I guess, is that I'm worried and maybe not as strong as I thought...it's going to be a long month.

Sometimes I wonder about my circle of friends and what makes us hang out together. Such a diverse group with a plethora of varying interests and hobbies.

Essentially, it's the overlapping of what makes us unwind, that makes us unwind together, beit playing some games, having a braai, talking about taxes and insurance or synchronised umbrella opening near a fountain..

This guy makes learning fun and entertaining. What a great way to hang out with friends. A definite ÜberEllis recommended read.

I purchased a copy of Beyond Good and Evil after yet another visit to my notoriously bad influence, Vertice and his evil evil (so thumbs up! *g*) Sony Playstation..

Running on the same (I'm told) engine as smash-hit Prince of Persia, Beyond Good and Evil shows huge potential with a few novel approaches to adventure gaming.

It has never even crossed my mind to base a game on photography and the challenges and (in this case) the dangers of the trade. Despite the somewhat misleading title, nothing describes a force bigger than good and evil than the truth. There's no black and white here, only full colour images captured in precarious places (I'm secretly hoping the game gives you an album of all the shots you've taken afterwards - what could be more memorable than your very own album of photos?)

Third-person action/adventure games need a first person view in some cases, to help you decide on your plan of action...Jade comes equipped with a zoom lens! Inspired!

A female character in the lead? It's been done over and over...or has it? Unlike heroes like Lara Croft or an amazon lass from any RPG, Jade is not very strong and has to outwit some of her bigger foes or rely on help from her somewhat unorthodox friends (used without permission from Vertice - well put dude!), in a world slightly more magical than even Persia (I didn't think it was possible either).

Beyond Good and Evil further outranks Prince of Persia by diversifying into a more classic "Go there, get that" approach, instead of a PoP's somewhat rigid storyline, making it more challenging and fun, especially for die-hard-find-everything players like me.

So what went wrong? Why is the game not selling as well as one would expect? Here's what I think:

The Prince of Persia gamepad edition was a brilliant move, creating a fanbase that could not be beat. So why oh why does it not support gamepad play? Controlling the camera with the mouse feels clumsy and is often frustrating, especially after the groundbreaking camera work in Prince.

The PC version seems a bit buggy too - I struggled to get it installed and to run (but that might be due to the budget edition of the game *hangs head in shame* it's been a long month and \\Cl4uss didn't help), plus the camera has some issues on higher resolutions when driving the hovercraft.

(Truth be told, I have not yet installed the patch (v1.01) yet, which might fix some of the camera issues).
*Update* - The patch fixes a lot of the hovercraft rendering issues, but still no gamepad :\

Despite these little things (and the huge gamepad thing *grumble*), I still look forward to Beyond Good and Evil after work, so All Evil recommends at least giving it a shot (a little photographer humour there..)!!

PS: Bad influences are necessary evils in everyone's lives...I myself am a very good bad influence on several people. Get yourself a bad influence today or miss out on a lot of fun ;)