Pad-bound

After approximately 18 hours of working on a Photoshop project that I'd really been excited about, I've run out of time and have had to go with a far inferior design, just to meet the time constraints (in other words, I started too late).

The project was to create a two-page highlight spread (as for a magazine) for an annual event. Less out of my interest in tabletop gaming than for a chance to try a design that had been nagging me for some time, I chose to create a design that would incorporate the four elements on the four sides/corners, the four para-elements inside the design, and a Law-Chaos/Good-Evil axis in the exact center. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to the Earth part, I'd run out of ideas for how to make it actually look good. Thus, the project will probably remain unfinished, at about a 1/3 completed point. I am pretty proud of some details I made, however. See below.



Speaking of launch pads, apparently the chief technology and environment correspondent for CNN is named "Miles O'Brien." That's just funny.

Ember and Payne

The general consensus is that City of Ember was a fairly poor film, scoring only 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. Of course, then again, Quarantine did far better, and, from what I hear, that's been rather overrated (according to The Spoony One's opinion, which I respect).



Personally, I thought that City of Ember was very good. The complaints are that it goes too slowly, there isn't enough action/adventure, etc., but it introduces the characters and opens the story in about the same way as the book, and, through it all, stays pretty close to the source material. If anything, it adds action/adventure that's not in the book to begin with. I'm a big fan of trying to keep movies as close to their sources as is possible, particularly avoiding reinterpretations of the source material. As someone said, "if you know you can't make it better, don't try."

On the other side of the coin, I'm planning to go see Max Payne tonight. It's been a long time since I played the game, but I recall very good things. The game was action-packed, had an interesting story, and did some fun and fascinating mindplay with psychological scenes like running down a hallway that stretches out longer and longer before you. From what I hear, the movie doesn't stick to the game at all, and that's an easy way to earn my criticism, but let's see how it actually turns out.

If you don't mind spoilers, go ahead and watch the game. It's pretty entertaining, and I love the comic book style of the cutscenes.