Weekend Goodness

Well my wife has been a bit down on herself lately, and it's been a very tough couple of weeks. This week was a difficult one as well.

So, my mom came down to go to tea with us and to a Sky Sox baseball game, but my mom was concerned about the weather (with the HUGE gray clouds rolling in) and didn't want to go see the ball game. Little did I know that THAT hit Jen really hard... but she, being the sweetie she is, didn't tell me so that we could have a good day.

When my mom left at 5:20pm (the game started at 5:05pm) she really got sad. I finally got her to tell me what was wrong (like pulling teeth, I tell you), and she said how sad she was to not see the game. So, letting her know that we didn't miss much and trying to boost her up, I got her in the car and we took off for Sky Sox stadium to see the game ourselves.

We had (as per usual) a great time. We only missed the first three innings and still had plenty of game to enjoy. It didn't rain, and was quite fun (Sox won 7-1).

Sunday we went out to get my hair cut and she wanted a change herself. So, she got a perm. I haven't seen her so happy for (literally) MONTHS! What a change it did for her own happiness. And here I thought that she couldn't possibly look any more beautiful... but here she is! MAN! She looks like she's from Italy or Greece. Gorgeous!

On a personal note (not that my wife isn't the most personal person in my life) I finally got the USB/NES and USB/SNES adapters I ordered from RetroZone... and they look and work like a charm. Well worth the wait. With these two beauties and my new camcorder... that project shall be getting off the ground shortly.

Then, even better, I got this email from Cliff Johnson:

Justin,
Next year, I'll finally be able to do another April Fool's day contest — congratulations again on your 4th place win.

And... I truly appreciate your show of support in pre-ordering this game — thank you!

A quick recap, I’ve tracked down the Macromedia Director/Flash memory bug and I am in the process of re-wiring/re-working the couple dozen Flash programs. Then, a final beta test. And then DONE!

This April, or thereabouts,
I shall ship your copy of The Fool and his Money.

Your name shall be immortalized in the Compendium of True Believers inside the game as:

Justin Carmical — see a preview of your name.

This weekend Jen and I have been going over his game "Three in 3" again (since I didn't finish it the first time). She seems to be enjoying the puzzles and (most of the time) is faster on the draw to figure them out than I am.

I love her so much... and I'm SO glad she's happy again.

Majora's Mask: 26 Hours

Finally, I am at the last temple: the Stone Temple.

I face the entrance and feel a lot of pride for having gotten so far on my own. I know this is only a video game, but I think about the amount of flack that video games have gotten over the past several years (especially in the shadow of the recent shootings)... and here I am having just reached this area... and I don't feel any need to shoot-up a school, night club...

I just feel pride for having gotten this far and being so close to saving the world. ;)

Who's the more foolish: The fool, or the fool who follows him?

So I just made a BIG decision today: I will wait on a bigger TV.

Why? Well, one Jen and I really need to save for our trip to England next year. A big TV would be fun... but I can't afford it. So I'll save... but it'll still be a while.

And two................ um... I bought a game. Not a Wii, DS, PS2, or any console game... but a Mac game. A Fool And His Money.



Lemme explain my reasoning behind this almost $50 purchase.

So I love puzzle/logic/cryptogram games almost more than anything else. Really. I love them. I started when I got my first issue of Games Magazine, and I never looked back. Hell, I even made my own Meta-puzzle game for here in Colorado (which nobody has won yet). I was the first person to crack the language of the little alien Prospero in the comic PS-238 and one of only 14 people to decrypt the Legend of the 5 Rings RPG Hare Clan adventure's puzzle.

I discovered "A Fool's Errand" when I was living with Collin (along with the great title "Heaven & Earth"). I didn't play it until I moved in with Jen in 2002/2003. WOW! What a great game! I immediately jumped into his other classic game "3 in Three" and STILL haven't finished it. Man, that one's tough.

So for years, now, I have been waiting for Cliff Johnson's sequel to The Fool's Errand... and waiting and waiting and waiting (for 3 years... as it is pushed further and further back). I have refused to pre-order because I always expected it to be a hoax (hence the name)... but deep in my heart I knew it was "real".

So, with that game in mind, I went to the site and just decided to go through with it. Hopefully it ships this month. If it's HALF as good as Fool's Errand was, or even three-quarters as intense as his 2005 April Fool's Day Challenge was (in which Jen and I placed Fourth Place by a mere 5 hours... there's a GREAT story to go with that as well) I'll be satisfied with this purchase.

You can download "Fool's Errand" and "3 In Three" for free from his website HERE. Please play them. They're MARVELOUS games and WELL worth the play.

My interview with GameJew

YAY! The interview is up (Son Of Cheese Podcast #45), and it's not as bad as I thought. It was my first interview and I was VERY nervous... but it came out pretty well (great googally moogally was I giggly). Thanks again to Derek for allowing me the chance to interview GameJew on his show.

SO ENJOY!

Song Link:
Snow Fort

Majora's Mask: 23 Hours

Well, after being FOCED to use the new Google Blogger (grumble grumble) I post this weekend's Majora's Mask update.

So I didn't get much done since I have been working on a new project for the Gamer's Haven Anachronism Card Game crowd... but I got quite a ways for the few hours I played.

Perhaps I'm just getting better at figuring out things, or this part is simpler... or it may even be the ninjas giving you hints (which I especially like), but this part of the game seems to be swimming by quicker than I thought it would. I am eager for it to end (as I really want to give that mask-kid his come-uppance).

Camcorder, Interview, Majora's Mask

Well, the interview with GameJew (Jonathan Mann) went along really well. He's sincerely one of the nicest guys I have ever talked to, and it was a pleasure to have my first interview be with him. Great guy. I'll let you all know when the interview is to be posted on Derek's site. It will be either this Wednesday or the next, I think.

Ordering the camcorder from online tonight. Very excited.

Now, onto Majora's Mask info: Majora's Mask: 21 Hours 15 minutes

So finding Epona was a chore and a half. I am quickly realizing that the Zelda games are meant to be enjoyed and not zoomed through (as I have mentioned before) bit I really am enjoying all this running around although these hint-less Zelda games are getting a bit tiresome. Very soon I can just sit down and enjoy Twilight Princess... but for now, Majora's Mask calls.

I hope to have this game finished by the end of the week so I can delve to the GameBoy Color for the next games... and one-step closer to Twilight Princess.

GameJew Sketch

GameJew has been growing his beard out recently and wants to get it very big and thick to make the GameJew persona have something more than just the hat, overalls, and no-shirt.

Then, recently, he has teased about shaving off all his head hair. Bald.

Wow.

So what would GameJew look like bald? Well, I'm not very good at sketching/caricatures... but here's what I sketched quickly this afternoon.



Ok... I couldn't do it. I took one look at the sketch with him bald and I thought: Jewish Redneck! I just HAD to put on a hat. I really did. If I didn't, all matter in the universe would have imploded should GameJew have seen it.

Ok... if you clicky the image, you can see he 'bald' version.

I'll try to do a better sketch of him this weekend. I can do better... ;)

GameJew and Majora's Mask update

Well, GameJew has a STELLAR new song on his (now pseudo-daily) blog/videocast site. Give it a listen because it's typical GameJew tunes. Great stuff. He also talks about shaving his head. I can't wait to see what comes from that.

Another weird thing is that GameJew's birthday is on Monday the 9th. Mine is on Wednesday the 11th. Very groovy.

Now, to the Majora's Mask update: 14 Hours 56 Minutes.

The game is quickly outracing to become a better game (in my own humble opinion) than Ocarina of Time. I just really enjoy the three days thing... and (so far) NOT having that darn side-quest that's imperative to winning the game. You can play the main game and win just fine or you can search for everything. Love it love it love it!

Now to find Epona...