Song & Dance

Alright, I'll get to what I promised in a sec but first a rant (you knew that was coming).

Steam: ever since Capa sung the praises, the Steam online games store has been insinuating itself into my gaming habits. With the good stuff coming at half-price if you wait long enough and some decent casual games coming in at under twenty bucks, I've found there's no need for me to go to the video game store. It wasn't a great need in recent times as the number of PC titles on the shelves there have dwindled to a mere handful but none the less.

However I recently picked up Puzzle Quest: Galactrix which is of course the sequel to Puzzle Quest. Now, after I got the original title I ranted that it cheated. And it does. But once you get past that (which took me a while) it's not a bad game.

Galactrix on the other hand possesses a new, enhanced version of the cheat engine which makes it such a frustration to play it's aggravated my Turrette's Syndrome to "driving on the Deerfoot in rush hour" levels. So it got uninstalled. Without going into any detail, let's just say that if a game developer has to resort to the kind of bald-face, obvious, cheating-like-a-bitch cop-outs to make a game seem challenging, I hope they all get laid off and have to go dumpster diving for hospital trash for a living.

Ahem.

So, last week. I finally managed to get the weekend scuba boot camp done sans dreaded-disease. It was good. Not great but good. I do want to actually try out the whole schtick underwater because a ten-foot vat of chlorine may not give the same experience as a coral reef. With that in mind, I'm attempting to snag a last minute deal to go somewhere tropical the following week but things look iffy. Not that there aren't places to go, but the phrase "cost based on double occupancy" is damaging my calm. I could get the services of a high-end escort and fly both of us to a five star resort for a week at the same cost of me going by myself. Seriously. I know that a hotel room is the same cost if it's one person or two but the savings of a flight and a bit of the food etc should shave off a bit. The fact that in some cases it was actually less money if I booked for two people rather than just myself really steams me.

Sorry, that was another rant.

On the bright side, David Byrne was amazing. Four encores. An amazing performer without a doubt and always money well spent. I also was dragged out by Kiki to a local band performing at a wonderful little dive. Their repertoire is pretty much classics from the sixties to the eighties but that ain't a bad thing if you're looking for music your familiar with. That's the whole appeal I think: the crowd there was composed of folks who heard it all when it was fresh and new (and I'm starting to trundle int that bracket) but they seemed like they were having a blast, which is what it's all about really.

I was the designated driver (and Kiki owes me for that) but it actually fit my mood quite well and I had a good time. Of course I always wonder at Kiki's motivations: she has all these single girlfriends and tends to make a point of "he's not with me". Which I pretty much translate as "look ladies, fresh meat". Not exactly a bad thing but I still ain't looking, so I hate to get their hopes up. And yes I need to get over myself.