View allAll Photos Tagged HEAVENORLASVEGAS
Vincent is expected to medal in:
Spellcrafting
Levitation
Telekinesis
Golem construction
Psychic labyrinth
Electronic warfare
Handwriting analysis
Bowling
In a soft, breathlessly, excited announcer's voice:
Right now Vincent is going to attempt a 360 degree levitation spin
while releasing Gabriel fire onto 16 rotating targets placed around the football field.
6 of the targets will be hidden.
This exercise has a Level 42 Difficulty.
Vincent is sponsored by:
Arkansas Sports Association
ALDI
Aeon Flux Fan Club
Austin Merrick Fan Club
Martin Valko Fan Club
Lance Alexander Fan Club
Vic Hall Fan Club
Jarrod Scott Fan Club
Joakim Noah Fan Club
Jarvis Chandler Fan Club
Ty Roderick Fan Club
Tony Ward Fan Club
Ricky Sinz Fan Club
Drake Jaden Fan Club
Paul Carrigan Fan Club
Andres Risso Ran Club
Chubby Honeybear Club
Cocteau Twins Fan Club
Kirlian Camera Fan Club
Grace Jones Fan Club
Iain M. Banks Fan Club
Issabelle Huppert Fan Club
In Aisce Atelier
Sally's Beauty Supply
Skyscraper Page Forum
Black Men Can Do A Lot More Than Play Basketball Thank You Very Much Association
Blue Collar Men Association
Sexy Sicilian Men Association
Workin' Men
Chaos Men
Gemini Men
Gay Geeks Association
Avant Garde Aliens Association
Space Music Composers
Force Five Anime Productions
Fatal Frame Fotos
The Vampire Vittorio
Vampire Hunter D
Xavier Institute
University of Illinois Alumni
Unpublished Poets
Adult Literacy Program
Battle Royale Program
Black Cats Everywhere
Frou Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires
Minotauro
Ivo
Donimo
Neo
Nigrum Solis Ordo
Namsiel
Illuminati
Operati
Otterley
Oomingmak Orbital
Vavatch Orbital
Chiark Orbital
The Mistake Not...
The Darkness
The Dreaming
The Dome Room
The Black Lodge
Polity War Drones
Project Pitchfork
Sony Playstation
Dieux De Stade
Delmonico's Gourmet Buffet
Crumb's Coffee Toffee Cupcake
Miss Que's Cross Country Club
Chicago Public Transit Authority
Cirque de la Lune Noire
Clan Ventrue
Cowboy Bebop
Afro Samurai
Assassin Zer0
Antelope
Abandoned Amusement Park Aficionados
Alcoholic's Anonymous
Low Self Esteem Equestrian Club
Rainbow Attack!
Gaiking had some kind of rainbow-chain plasma weapon
that emitted from the dragon eyes on his chest.
It was often used to finish off some vile enemy.
----------
Force Seven!
We lived in Germany from 1982 to 1985.
And during that time, my brother and I were faithful viewers of the Force Five anime productions which included Gaiking, Grendizer, Danguard Ace, Starvengers, and Spacekateers.
I believe they were made/aired in the mid to late seventies(maybe very early 80s)
but the Armed Forces Television Network was way behind in everything.
I suppose we should have counted ourselves lucky.
Not really complaining though--to this day I love those Super Shogun Robots.
(I tracked them down and bought some of them on dvd a few years ago.
I always loved the Gaiking intro theme)
When we moved back to the states,
my new classmates always assumed I meant Voltron
or some kind of Transformer.
And I was like, who the hell is Voltron??
And what are these Transformers you speak of? Transformers can't fly!
(In Germany, tranformers were these deadly, heavy, steel outlet boxes
that we used to convert our American electronics for German electricity).
No one knew who Gaiking or Grendizer were.
And my brother were always made to seem like idiots because of this.
I wished Gaiking would swoop down from the sky,
land in the middle of the playground
and destroy all the non-believers.
Would serve them right--and left.
On a similar note, my most favorite Shogun Super Robot was actually Raideen.
For Christmas, when I was like six or seven or eight maybe,
my parents got me the 16/20 inch plastic toy version of Raideen
(and the smaller diecast metal one)--
this was before we had moved to Germany.
I would have flipped out to see a Raideen anime.
But back then, I never knew he was the predecessor to Gaiking and the rest--
that they were in the same Shogun family.
That revelation came later.
In the meantime, Raideen was just the most awesome toy ever to me.
He didn't look like any robot I'd ever seen before.
I loved his horned helmet with Egyptian false beard--the sleek, serious, handsome face.
And he had a shield/spear combo on one wrist
and punch release fist on the other.
AND you could turn him on his back, close his helm, and lift his legs
so that he became a giant bird spaceship!
**The little boy faints he's so beside himself with glee**
Hints of Horus.
Remnants of Ra.
An Egyptian god resurrected in a Japanese battle robot--
that is my fantasy anyway.
I had to be dragged away from Raideen to do anything else.
As me and my brother slept in our Star Trek themed beds
(Star Trek sheets, pillows and curtains),
there were probably mutterings and grumblings
and a little bit of attitude under the Chistmas tree on that Christmas Eve.
Little Wooden Fisher Price Schoolboy to six inch Godzilla: "Look him at him over there.
Thinks he so cool.
I should climb his ass and spit in his eye."
Godzilla: "He's not so tough. Plastic melts."
Little Wooden Fisher Price Schoolboy: "You're plastic."
Godzilla: "I'm hard plastic."
Stretch Armstrong: "I'm made of dubious plasticene material but my elasticity is without equal.
I'd like to see him escape my super squeeze."
Boba Fett Action Figure: "Well, I got me a laser gun and I ain't scared of nobody."
Little Wooden Fisher Price Schoolboy: Are those bell bottoms?
What kind of robot wears bell bottoms?!"
GI Joe: "He's under a Chistmas Tree but thinks he's at a disco!"
--snickering--
--giggling--
--chortling--
--guffawing--
Raideen: "Uh. Are you guys talking about me?"
--silence--
Raideen: "That's what I thought. Listen up little girls.
I'm not worried about none of you weak ass motherfuckers.
I'm about to be the king toy up in the this piece.
So I suggest we all get some shut eye--
unless one of you really wants to battle me now.
It's no thang for me to come up out this gift wrapped box
and put the beat down on you babies.
Bionic Man? You got something to say?"
Bionic Man: "No."
Raideen: "Plush Lion?"
Plush Lion: "No sir."
Raideen: "That's what I thought.
You little girls keep messing with Little Wooden Schoolboy if you want to.
He's going to get you all fucked up.
Horikawa Japan TV Robot I know you thought you secretly recorded all this."
Horikawa Japan TV Robot: "......soft slightly guilty beep......"
Raideen: " I don't even care. Go ahead and show the tape to Superman. He ain't shit either."
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a busy morning."
--
Anyway, I am almost 42 years old now
and I still have my Raideen robot toy.
Don't judge me.
Vincent
www.wildtoys.com/shogun/ShogJumbo/raideen_jumbo.jpg
www.collectiondx.com/gallery/v/Toys/Bandai/SOC/GX-41/P609...
--
When I first saw these sunglasses, I immediately thought of Gaiking
and so this whole crazy outfit is my tribute piece.
Thanks Mayhem!
voltech1980.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/gaiking01.jpg
www.grendizer.co.uk/goldrake/immagini/series/Grendizer.jpg
-----
And I REALLY want these (new) Black versions
(though I don't like the gold trim--plain black would be better:
www.collectiondx.com/files/SUPERROBOT_CHOUGOUKIN_BLACK_RA...
biginjap.com/img/p/2983-7747-thickbox.jpg
www.collectiondx.com/gallery2/gallery/d/541286-1/br+voice...
www.gunjap.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2194.jpg
www.gunjap.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/868.jpg
(I'm going to have to work on a Raideen image soon.
This is when I wish I knew how to make my own stuff.
Will need to find a really cool head piece somewhere.
sigh.
Let the exasperating hunt begin.)
My secret garden's not so secret anymore
Run from the house holding my head in my hands
Feeling dejected, feeling like a child might feel
It all seems so absurd
That this should have occurred
My very only secret
And I had to go and leak it!
My secret garden's not so secret anymore!
No, my secret garden's not so secret anymore!
Run through the fields, down to the edge of the water
Can't stay long, here comes the reason why -
She'll catch me if she can,
Take me by the hand
I'll have to keep on running
And I just can't see the fun in
My secret garden not being secret anymore!
Play the fool
Act so cruel
I loved it!
It all seems so absurd
That this should have occurred
My very only secret
And I had to go and leak it!
My secret garden's not so secret anymore!
My Secret Garden
---Depeche Mode
Grandma, my sleep is narrow
Could you bring me some strong drink
Strain out the pulps and set them close outside
For when my belly
For when my little belly speaks
Grandma, there's air beneath my bed
And it whispers
And it whispers when I rest
With hemmed skirts
And salt and vinegar, vinegar
And hover closely
Oh, hover closely underhead
Grandma, the water is rising
By now this hair has gotten green
I'll be your swimming forest island
When you walk safely, safely
Over me
Grandma, my hands have wondered
And my legs
My little legs are getting weak
Bed, lend me your wispy frame
And guard my powers
Guard my precious powers in it's cage
Grandma, I've been unruly
In my dreams
And with my speech
Drill little holes into my eyelids
That I might see you
That I might see you when I sleep
Grandmother, the water is rising
By now this hair has gotten green
I'll be your swimming forest island
And you walk safely, safely
Over me
I'll be your swimming forest island
Belispeak
---Purity Ring
I'd like to film my own music video for this song--which I have been in love with the last few months.
In my head I picture tall, vicious, upright werewolves in a foggy forest
versus a little Linda** character---and her grandma.
I envision Grandma has a 6ft hulking old woman who is part Golem--she wears leather armor and a metal mask.
And she's armed with laser carbines, incendiary firing shotguns,
and a big ass silver axe.
This will be my next short story I think.
Anyway grandma and a skipping little Linda--
in a little red riding hood outfit--
work their way through the werewolf infested woods.
Magick, mayhem and moontowers abound.
Vincent
p.s.
I've never seen an actual music video for this song--if there even is one.
I'm sure my version is/would be better anyway. :)
**This image I've created and the Belispeak song also remind me
of one of the coolest video games I have ever played: Stretch Panic.
You play as a little girl named Linda who, with her special scarf, seeks out her sisters
who all have been abducted, possessed and transformed into various monsters.
In the museum/lobby, you jump into these paintings depicting your mutated sisters
and then fall into these surreal levels to find/fight them.
As you battle, using your scarf--which is your only weapon--
you stretch and snap the holy hell out of the enemy til they like explode and die.
Oh-and the other weird thing: to level up points to access the paintings of your sisters
you have to snap the bra straps of these big breasted
bikini clad bimbos wandering around in these other interim paintings/levels.
It really is one of the weirdest and coolest games ever--
and the music is great.
I've never met anyone else who has even heard of it let alone played it.
Anyway--I will never get rid of my PS2
simply so I can re/play it again and again.
They should re-release it or make so you can download it from PSN and play it on a PS3.
My first or second year in college I had a Humanities class.
We went to a museum one afternoon and I zeroed in on a huge framed collage of the tarot card The Hanged Man. The artist had blended all sorts of wild images (including lots of homoerotic/pornographic ones) around the actual Hanged Man image--which I think he had painted maybe. Needless to say I don't think I looked much at any other artwork in the museum that day.
The whole titanic image was so dark, surreal and immersive--right up my alley.
And now I always keep a Hanged Man folder on my hard drive where I collect various images of the card--same with The Hermit.
However, to this day, I always find any image of someone hung upside down to be disturbing (whether it's bondage porn or gore porn) I guess everyone does--including someone hanging the other way of course--but upside down is just all kinds of wrong.
Anyway I got an A on the paper--which surprised me a bit.
I really got into it but God knows what I wrote.
I'll try to dig that paper out sometime and see what blood was rushing to my head back then.
---
XII:
Patience
Contemplation
Sacrifice
Surrender
Waiting
Letting go
Non-action
New point of view (which I find funny)
Inner harmony (not so much)
I tend to identify with this card actually.
The Hanged Man
and The Hermit.
----
I may repost this without the wings. I added them on a whim at the last second.
Maybe I should add some hair too? I kind of think it looks cool without though.
I have just recently started playing Bloodborne.
And thus far it has been sheer and total Hell.
We won't even talk about
how it took ten million deaths before
I even got past that first wicked werewolf
at the clinic library lounge.
We also won't talk about how
I had to fight the damn beast with my bare hands
because I could not, for the bleeding life of me, figure out how to equip my weapons.
I have never played a game where the supposed simple act
of enabling your gear was not intuitive.
Forget about just clicking them in the top most visible menu.
No. That'd be too easy.
So--after totally winging it and finally beating the werewolf from hell
and Still not having any weapons in my hands,
I broke down and went online to investigate--
only to discover that I have to go down into a fucking sub-menu,
add the chosen weapons to the 1st and 3rd boxes,
and then activate my saw-cleaver and pistol from there?
Seriously???
No wonder I was just using my bare hands.
Anyway--after I got past that fucking werewolf,
I strolled into Yharnam proper
and proceeded to die a billion more deaths.
I could Not even get down the first part of that street
without being chopped to pieces over and over
and over and over and over and over.
I am enjoying it though.
It's scary, dark and mysterious.
Also, the architecture is pleasing and the enemies are intelligent.
Still, after being destroyed at every turn,
I am learning how to navigate and fight better. And run.
I have learned how to run away really fast.
We'll see how it goes.
Again, this is all just the very beginning of the damn game.
I know it's going to get much worse.
Last night, I finally made it to the first boss---
The Cleric Beast.
And Jesus--it's a living screaming nightmare.
I probably won't get past it's abominable ass until January.
p.s.
I wonder if the guy at that first Pink Lamp is interested in maybe being my Romantic interest.
He seems to have a really bad cough but his voice is soothing and sexy as hell.
(I made him give me directions multiple times just so I could listen to him talk).
I mean, I might be an Outsider,
but I am cleaning up his city
by ridding the streets and sewers
of hideously transformed citizens
and monstrous black magick beasts.
The least he could do is let me in
and let me have my way with him.
I've got a couple of things
to help---clear up his cough.
I'm jumping ahead with the outfits
as I have not actually faced Semyaza yet
(though I have a feeling I may not at all--
he's talked a little shit since I got to his part of the Tower
but he hasn't actually shown himself).
I just wanted to go ahead and post my version of him.
So anyway--on Semyaza's first (only?) floor, I have been ambushed, yet again, by Azazel.
And for the the last week or so
I have been unsuccessful in slaying his infernal fucking ass.
It's making me think that he is the final boss.
That--or I just suck Supremely--
which looks to be the case.
I cannot believe--for over a week--at two-three hours a pop--I still cannot beat him.
I don't think it's ever taken me this long on a boss battle.
(Actually, the final colossus in Shadow of the Colossus was a nightmare--
so was that damn Green Eye on Lost Planet).
Anyway--the Veil is supposed to be the strongest weapon
but I seem to wear him down quicker with the Arch.
I love how the Gale looks and operates but it's not effective enough in this fight.
And Uriel doesn't step in enough.
"Allow me to help."
Ok--but only if you can help a little more often--thanks.
This has got be one of the hardest bosses I have ever fought.
We're not even on your floor anymore Azazel. What the fuck?!
Maybe once I finally get past Azazel's invincible ass, Semyaza will just surrender
and we can all go home.
Humanity can only hope.
Vincent
Update:
I can't believe it--I was totally right.
Azazel was the final boss.
Actually, what I can't believe is that I finally beat Azazel--the fucking fucker.
Talk about a torturous Hell. I almost smashed my controller several times.
So---wait---right after Azazel is "finally beaten"--
when I thought I could take a breath at long last---
he starts to power himself up YET AGAIN!
(which-if I would have had to go into a fourth round with him-
it would have made me utterly surrender and move on to a new game--seriously)
However, in a sort of surprise follow up, Armaros returns--as Dark Armaros.
Sort of a shame really. Armaros seemed kind of cool-with his Michael Jackson dance moves.
But Michael--the Archangel-said he's beyond help now--so I had to kill him this time.
Anyway--Dark Armaros--he was, technically, the final boss
but that part wasn't too hard once you figured out the rotation.
And compared to that beast Nether Azazel it was almost nothing.
So I consider Nether Azazel as the real final boss.
As for Semyaza:
nothing--nowhere--gone--vanished.
I kind of figured.
Like Arakiel, he must have faded out, dissolved, or died during the Descent.
Maybe all his essence/power went into maintaining the Tower
leaving Ezeqiel and Azazel as the main opponents, guardians and zealots.
Anyway--after the final credits, they give you new costumes for Enoch-but they were kind of weak.
I just stuck with his modern white armor and blue jeans-believe it or not--
since there was no black outfit.
And then I went back and replayed Sariel's three floors.
I really like the music for his floors/levels and the Nephilim are super-duper cute.
Hmm. Should have done a Sariel outfit before I did one for Semyayza.
Soon.
Or next Sunday.
V.
p.s.
I played on Normal-
as I do every game I play.
I simply cannot imagine
fighting Azazel on Hard or Extra
without throwing myself out the window, down to the street,
into a car filled with ghetto thugs or oblivious entitled trixies who are all smoking weed
and listening to country, pop-lite, adult contemporary, or today's Top 40 music
in their tricked out hoopty.
God.
Either scenario would make my head Ex-Fucking-Plode.
Master of the Abyss:
for Dr. Joseph E. Stack
R.I.P.
I miss you so much.
I needed you so much this past month.
I cannot stop being a fucking fool.
V.
I have just recently started playing Bloodborne.
And thus far it has been sheer and total Hell.
We won't even talk about
how it took ten million deaths before
I even got past that first wicked werewolf
at the clinic library lounge.
We also won't talk about how
I had to fight the damn beast with my bare hands
because I could not, for the bleeding life of me, figure out how to equip my weapons.
I have never played a game where the supposed simple act
of enabling your gear was not intuitive.
Forget about just clicking them in the top most visible menu.
No. That'd be too easy.
So--after totally winging it and finally beating the werewolf from hell
and Still not having any weapons in my hands,
I broke down and went online to investigate--
only to discover that I have to go down into a fucking sub-menu,
add the chosen weapons to the 1st and 3rd boxes,
and then activate my saw-cleaver and pistol from there?
Seriously???
No wonder I was just using my bare hands.
Anyway--after I got past that fucking werewolf,
I strolled into Yharnam proper
and proceeded to die a billion more deaths.
I could Not even get down the first part of that street
without being chopped to pieces over and over
and over and over and over and over.
I am enjoying it though.
It's scary, dark and mysterious.
Also, the architecture is pleasing and the enemies are intelligent.
Still, after being destroyed at every turn,
I am learning how to navigate and fight better. And run.
I have learned how to run away really fast.
We'll see how it goes.
Again, this is all just the very beginning of the damn game.
I know it's going to get much worse.
Last night, I finally made it to the first boss---
The Cleric Beast.
And Jesus--it's a living screaming nightmare.
I probably won't get past it's abominable ass until January.
p.s.
I wonder if the guy at that first Pink Lamp is interested in maybe being my Romantic interest.
He seems to have a really bad cough but his voice is soothing and sexy as hell.
(I made him give me directions multiple times just so I could listen to him talk).
I mean, I might be an Outsider,
but I am cleaning up his city
by ridding the streets and sewers
of hideously transformed citizens
and monstrous black magick beasts.
The least he could do is let me in
and let me have my way with him.
I've got a couple of things
to help---clear up his cough.
Man with no face
Man with no name
To suck your brains out
Yeah, suck your brains out
Man with no hearts
Man with no souls
They suck your brains out
Beat me in the face
Start beating on my face
Plague
---The Klinik
Vincent is expected to medal in:
Spellcrafting
Levitation
Telekinesis
Golem construction
Psychic labyrinth
Electronic warfare
Handwriting analysis
Bowling
In a soft, breathlessly, excited announcer's voice:
Right now Vincent is going to attempt a 360 degree levitation spin
while releasing Gabriel fire onto 16 rotating targets placed around the football field.
6 of the targets will be hidden.
This exercise has a Level 42 Difficulty.
Vincent is sponsored by:
Arkansas Sports Association
ALDI
Aeon Flux Fan Club
Austin Merrick Fan Club
Martin Valko Fan Club
Lance Alexander Fan Club
Vic Hall Fan Club
Jarrod Scott Fan Club
Joakim Noah Fan Club
Jarvis Chandler Fan Club
Ty Roderick Fan Club
Tony Ward Fan Club
Ricky Sinz Fan Club
Drake Jaden Fan Club
Paul Carrigan Fan Club
Andres Risso Ran Club
Chubby Honeybear Club
Cocteau Twins Fan Club
Kirlian Camera Fan Club
Grace Jones Fan Club
Iain M. Banks Fan Club
Issabelle Huppert Fan Club
In Aisce Atelier
Sally's Beauty Supply
Skyscraper Page Forum
Black Men Can Do A Lot More Than Play Basketball Thank You Very Much Association
Blue Collar Men Association
Sexy Sicilian Men Association
Workin' Men
Chaos Men
Gemini Men
Gay Geeks Association
Avant Garde Aliens Association
Space Music Composers
Force Five Anime Productions
Fatal Frame Fotos
The Vampire Vittorio
Vampire Hunter D
Xavier Institute
University of Illinois Alumni
Unpublished Poets
Adult Literacy Program
Battle Royale Program
Black Cats Everywhere
Frou Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires
Minotauro
Ivo
Donimo
Neo
Nigrum Solis Ordo
Namsiel
Illuminati
Operati
Otterley
Oomingmak Orbital
Vavatch Orbital
Chiark Orbital
The Mistake Not...
The Darkness
The Dreaming
The Dome Room
The Black Lodge
Polity War Drones
Project Pitchfork
Sony Playstation
Dieux De Stade
Delmonico's Gourmet Buffet
Crumb's Coffee Toffee Cupcake
Miss Que's Cross Country Club
Chicago Public Transit Authority
Cirque de la Lune Noire
Clan Ventrue
Cowboy Bebop
Afro Samurai
Assassin Zer0
Antelope
Abandoned Amusement Park Aficionados
Alcoholic's Anonymous
Low Self Esteem Equestrian Club
WARNING: Layers of wandering and fulgurating thoughts ahead.
I've been playing Firewatch the last few days.
What's Firewatch?
A game--a mystery interactive puzzle like game? Maybe?
(It just came out a few days ago
but I've been reading about it since early last year
and knew I wanted to check it out.)
You play as some guy named Henry who,
after some troubling times in his personal life,
takes a remote job as a fire lookout at a national park in Wyoming.
The year is 1989.
Your only source of communication is a walkie-talkie.
And the only person you talk to is this girl Delilah.
Well, she's not a girl. She's a woman--
and I think she might be like my boss.
Anyway-she's the occupant in the closest fire lookout tower to me--
which, I think is like 6.3 miles away.
Through binoculars, I can see her tower in the far distance--on top of some rocky crag.
But you never see her though.
You just talk.
And this talking--the random conversations--are what build (some of) the story.
I imagine many of you have quit reading by now--or stopped when you saw the word game.
But for the two of you that might still be reading this--
imagine me or yourself finding some long ago written note
in a lockbox
deep in the wild woods of Wyoming.
Imagine what you might imagine reading a strangers words.
Words that hint at something. Words don't quite make sense.
Would you hold or fold?
And that is just one of the aspects
that has pulled me into this game and it's story.
I'll give a few others real quick that could become posts of their owm:
1. The ambient, slightly country-esque, instrumental music.
2. The vast, gorgeous, empty landscapes.
3. The sky.
4. The wind.
So-I wont go into the slow building story--
the mysteries and suspense that unfold.
I haven't even finished the game yet.
But I knew yesterday while I was exploring the abandoned Arapahoe Camp
that I wanted to write something about what I was feeling--
how this game was more like life to me.
What might that be?
Here's one: Communication.
"But you're a Hermit Vincent," you say.
You don't like people and prefer solitary pursuits.
All true. I will agree.
But for the random stranger I might have to engage in the laundry room at midnight
pre-soaking his blood drenched bed sheets--
I'll need to know how to speak--up or out.
And speaking of speaking--
how you talk to Delilah affects the game.
You can lie, you can tell the truth,
you can be bitchy or funny.
You can sulk.
You can not say anything at all.
But I quickly noticed you have to pay attention to what she says too.
And you aren't given much time to reply to her.
Which makes me think how in real life I blurt out things I shouldn't say.
Or how I respond too quickly with anger and ruin a moment
--and possibly every moment after that.
So anyway--I have some suspicions about Ms. Delilah.
But I'll keep them to myself in case someone reading this might play the game.
I don't want my theories to cloud what dialogue you might choose.
But it's interesting how you have to work together with someone who you cannot see.
Whose only source of personality
is the words they feed you through a walkie-talkie.
I want to say a little more about this
but I'll just steer us into another set of layers:
Human Behavior and Mental Health.
The game subtly beats you over the head with both of these.
While consulting my map or compass (which I suck at by the way)
or while rappeling down a scree laden decline,
climbing rock faces with my bare hands,
stumbling through caves and canyons
or staring out from my tower across the smokey world,
I would think, could I really do this?
It's curious.
In real life, here in Chicago, I'm about to be inbetween jobs very soon.
Could I pick up sticks and go back to Wyoming to sit in a tower
cut off from civilization and diligently watch for fires??
The Hermit in me screams, "Hell freaking yeah boy!!
Stop playing and go get your lazy ass
to the nearest National Park Service and A-PPLY!!!"
But the Gatekeeper of Order in me says,
"Hell no. Most of those fires will probably be set
by some severely inebriated fool
puking up his stomach, terrorizing the giraffes and the deer,
and leaving his stupid garbage and cigarette butts everywhere.
I'd probably immediately lose all four millimeters of my temper
and drown his ass in the nearest body of water.
And actually this is something I--I mean Henry-
actually has to deal with in the game.
And I--I mean Henry--said some things
that actually bit me/him on the ass later.
Plus I absolutely despise hot weather
and this job would be during the damn summer.
So no--I suppose The Tower of Semi-Solitude
with Smokey the Bear as my imaginary bunkmate
is probably a no go.
"Only you can prevent forest fires."
And only you can prevent yourself from going stone crazy.
I might be better off being a lookout in Antarctica--
making sure polar bears and penguins don't get into any fights,
making sure all dog sled teams that pass through have the proper paperwork
and making sure the ice stays frozen.
But could my mind stand up to such a task?
Mental health sent Henry out to Wyoming
and mental health was stalking him in Wyoming.
And I don't think he realized it until he started seriously questioning
who was who
and what was going on around him.
"What the fuck is going on?!!,"
he and Delilah scream at each other--more than twice.
I scream those same words at myself almost every day.
Because--there is no fire.
(You know. It's an illusion!)
I'd say 97 percent of my SL images are variations of Vincent--of me--
what I wish I could look like or wear.
This particular image is not.
It's an homage to this sexy black guy I sometimes see on the Red Line after work.
He gets on at Lake and then gets off at Belmont.
The outfit in the picture is sort of what he had on the other day--
his face was scruffy too--which I always find sexy on guys.
But the hair here on his head isn't quite what his is like in person.
Actually, his hair is sort of like mine--curly and ringlet-like
except his is shorter and a dark golden brown color.
His probably doesn't get super tangled like mine though.
Anyway--I had the the pleasure
of having him slightly cramped against me on the train the other day.
He was faced away from me trying to hold on to the ceiling
so I was able to gaze at him unobstructed
through the glass of the door.
I don't know what color his eyes are--he had on tinted glasses or something.
But who cares about his eyes when he's got nice hair,
nice golden skin
and a nice smell to him. I can still smell him.
And his ass. He's got a nice ass.
Nice--really nice
(round, plump, firm and full) asses are a must.
I am a total ass man.
Such a dirty old man am I.
I wish I could actually photograph him.
But I never have the nerve to ask.
V.
He didn't have a compass around his neck either.
But if he's ever lost, he can come here and stay with me.
I'll take good care of him.
Show me that you understand me
You just see what you want to see
I don't think I can help you out
You don't know what it's all about.
The Girl and The Robot
---Röyksopp
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY
For me, I see this as way more than a denouncement of bullying.
So many other things are said here that really speak to me---of me.
The music's nice
but I need a better mirror.
V.
I have been playing The Witness.
And, while enjoying the scenery and wandering around a bit,
have mostly been banging my dumb head
against the aggravating puzzles.
While I am glad someone finally made a great (console)(spiritual) successor to Myst and Obsidian,
I am not pleased to discover I that I am not very bright.
I'm not even that far into the game
and there have already been two locations where I could not even begin the section
because I couldn't even figure out the first damn puzzle.
And since the puzzles
(at least the ones I've come across so far)
are mostly sequential, you have to figure out the
key/pattern that will help you progress
and unlock the cable to the next puzzle.
Sounds simple doesn't it?
Well, it's anything but that.
What, for the love of God,
do the squares inside the squares mean??
I can't figure that one out and it's shown up again
when I peeked into another area.
So far I've completed the entry garden,
the little bunker outside the garden,
that symmetry/boat house area,
the desert ruins area
(except for puzzle that opens the bunker door by the sea)
the pink orchard,
and the two puzzle installations before the pink orchard.
Now that I'm writing this I think I've only activated two lasers.
Oh--I did get the windmill going--
which I noticed has a puzzle on it's face
and which I'm sure will haunt me later-
but that area underneath with the video--is bizarre.
I wasn't able to solve any of those puzzles.
I did solve two puzzles in--shit-
I don't where or what the area is called
but--whatever--I've stopped playing for now.
I would sit there after work staring at the screen so long
trying to figure out a pattern/path
and would eventually feel what energy I had left
just fade right out of me.
I kept nodding out.
So I bought Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
I'll be battling rouge operatives
and storming enemy camps in Singapore at night.
And during the day (on the weekends)
I'll wrestle with The Witness--
on the island of mind bending puzzles--
since I'll be armed with fresh coffee
and a clear head from a full night's sleep.
Level 41 Soldier.
---
So six months later I have finished Borderlands1--for a second time.
I had no intention of replaying it again--
See crazed rants here: www.flickr.com/photos/vadrian7/8052818950/
And here: www.flickr.com/photos/vadrian7/8123731018/
But I decided to give it all a go again for the hell of it.
Well--not really for the hell of it.
I am sort of a completionist.
And ever since last October, it has been nagging me in the back of my head
that I never finished the Underdome and the two DLCs after that.
Actually, the nagging really picked up after I finished Borderlands 2 a couple of times.
So anyway, this past Saturday, I freaking finally beat that beastial Hell-Burbia arena!
It was an all day affair
but the insane triple overtime win by The Bulls gave me sustenance.
And I had a nail-biter of my own.
The last three waves of the 5th round that bitch Moxxie made it so I had NO SHIELD!!
I can handle zero/reduced gravity, or faster frenzied enemy hordes with stronger shields
or a Badass wave full of Bruisers using ridiculously accurate rocket launchers.
But THREE waves in a row where the additional "random" effect is No Shield??!!
I'm calling bullshit on that one.
To add insult to injury I had Baron Flynt and his Boom Stick as the final boss.
And that son-of-a-bitch aggressively hunts you too.
And when you have NO SHIELD--for the third exhausting time in a row--
it really is NO FUN.
Terrifying is more like it actually.
I thought I was going to have a baby that day.
I must have screamed, thrashed and fell over the couch into a near faint a thousand times.
But--Bulls be praised--I finally prevailed.
I started the Angel Ruins arena afterward--but really??
It's the same mind-numbing format as Hell-Burbia.
And these are only the small rounds.
Once you get through the initial five rounds each in Hell Burbia, Angel Ruins and The Gully
you re-do them all again but with TWENTY rounds each instead!
Hell to the fucking NOOOOO!!!
So with all that in mind, I feel quite justified in just moving on
to The Secret Armory of General Knox---at least it's an actual mission/story.
And my main goal in replaying Borderlands 1 all over again (including Jakobs Cove again)
was to redeem myself for corrupting my first game
and finally getting through the first Underdome arena--
which caused all of this chaos to begin with.
You may go in peace now.
And may the peace of God be with you.
Amen.
Vincent
p.s.
When I finish these next two Boderlands 1 dlcs,
I will go back to Borderlands 2 and begin Mr Torgue's Campaign of Carnage
and then move on to Sir Hammerlocks Big Game Hunt.
Pray for me.
I have just recently started playing Bloodborne.
And thus far it has been sheer and total Hell.
We won't even talk about
how it took ten million deaths before
I even got past that first wicked werewolf
at the clinic library lounge.
We also won't talk about how
I had to fight the damn beast with my bare hands
because I could not, for the bleeding life of me, figure out how to equip my weapons.
I have never played a game where the supposed simple act
of enabling your gear was not intuitive.
Forget about just clicking them in the top most visible menu.
No. That'd be too easy.
So--after totally winging it and finally beating the werewolf from hell
and Still not having any weapons in my hands,
I broke down and went online to investigate--
only to discover that I have to go down into a fucking sub-menu,
add the chosen weapons to the 1st and 3rd boxes,
and then activate my saw-cleaver and pistol from there?
Seriously???
No wonder I was just using my bare hands.
Anyway--after I got past that fucking werewolf,
I strolled into Yharnam proper
and proceeded to die a billion more deaths.
I could Not even get down the first part of that street
without being chopped to pieces over and over
and over and over and over and over.
I am enjoying it though.
It's scary, dark and mysterious.
Also, the architecture is pleasing and the enemies are intelligent.
Still, after being destroyed at every turn,
I am learning how to navigate and fight better. And run.
I have learned how to run away really fast.
We'll see how it goes.
Again, this is all just the very beginning of the damn game.
I know it's going to get much worse.
Last night, I finally made it to the first boss---
The Cleric Beast.
And Jesus--it's a living screaming nightmare.
I probably won't get past it's abominable ass until January.
p.s.
I wonder if the guy at that first Pink Lamp is interested in maybe being my Romantic interest.
He seems to have a really bad cough but his voice is soothing and sexy as hell.
(I made him give me directions multiple times just so I could listen to him talk).
I mean, I might be an Outsider,
but I am cleaning up his city
by ridding the streets and sewers
of hideously transformed citizens
and monstrous black magick beasts.
The least he could do is let me in
and let me have my way with him.
I've got a couple of things
to help---clear up his cough.
Something sinister to it
Pendulum swinging slow, a degenerate moving
Through the city with criminals, stealth, welcome to enemy turf
Harder than immigrants work, "Golf" is stitched into my shirt
Get up off the pavement
Brush the dirt up off my psyche
Psyche, psyche
Too black for the white kids, and too white for the blacks
From honor roll to cracking locks up off them bicycle racks
I'm indecisive, I'm scatterbrained, and I'm frightened, it's evident
And them eyes where he hiding all them icicles at.
Chum
---Earl Sweatshirt