Together at Last

I'm drinking this at the moment.

You gotta love Japan.

January

Where has the last month gone?

Before I forget. Jimbo, I'm winstoninabox01 (winstoninabox zero one) on the PS3. Add me to your friends and send me mail. We've gotta play something together or I've got a headphone for it so we can chat sometime.

Back to my rhetorical question. That's an easy one. 100+ hours in one month on Midnight Club: Los Angeles will eat up the free time. Especially when Monday and Wednesday nights are Japanese class, and we also squeezed 2 one-day ski trips in there. I'm done with Midnight Club for the time being... that's so I can move onto LitteBigPlanet.

The bonus of LittleBigPlanet is that Mari is crazy about it, too. The other night she played it by herself until 2:30 in the morning. I'd never have believed that a video game would hold her attention for more than 5 minutes, but LBP has sucked her in. It is an addictive game. And the huge range of levels available on the Internet mean that there is always a new one to try. I've got a feeling that that is the time sucker for now.

The skiing trips were beyond amazing. Not just for the quality of the snow, which was fresh and constantly being replenished all day, but also for the rate at which that was being done. The first trip I was at the top of the mountain looking across valleys as far as the horizon being absolutely blown away by the view. I watched a dark cloud rapidly rising up the mountain and thought, "Wow, that large dark cloud is closing fast". Then I was surrounded by snow and couldn't see a thing and thought, "Wow, I can't see a thing. Well, at least I don't have to worried about being skittled by an 8-year-old cannonball". It wasn't so bad because I could hear David Bowie's "Let's Dance" (followed by no less than five 70's and 80's Oz classics) booming up from the restaurant that was futher down the valley, so I thought that if worse came to worst I could always just follow the sound. But it was one of those surreal happenings that come along. But it did turn out to be just training for the next trip.

We decided to return to the same place 2 weeks later, only to be met by more snow than I'd thought possible. Most of the huge mountain area was closed due to the huge snowfall and strong winds. We made our way up as far as we could go on the 2 gondalas and 1 chairlift that were working and stepped out into white. Trying to ski was a joke, and we'd barely got anywhere before Mari had gone over in a wave of nausea. I was having the same feeling. We couldn't see anything and the winds were pushing our bodies around so that we had a weird feeling of motion via involuntary movement. We stumbled down to the first cafe stop and sat there drinking coffee and eating chips until the snow subsided enough (but not the winds) that we could at least see where we were going. It did however mean that the snow was great.

What else? Ah, yes. Quantum of Solace finally made it to Japan. Loved it and have seen it twice. Probably a third time is on the cards. The complainers seem to think that it's not Casino Royale, moves too fast, and has vicious editing. I must have watched a different picture. Yes, it's not the same film as its predecessor, and I think that that is a good thing. I liked Casino Royale, but I don't want to watch a clone of it. QoS does move fast, but it's all there if you keep up. The editing is brutal, but again I think that that is a great stylistic choice for the story. The pre-title car chase seems to be a popular target for hatred. Loved it! For once (well Casino Royale did it as well) the rest of the movie isn't overshadowed by the pre-title action. It may even be the shortest pre-title sequence ever. Anyways, I great film.

Until next time.