Nostalgia

As a complement to the previous post, I've started playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 again, this time the PC version. Finally made the PS3 controller, DualShock 3, work as a gamepad for my XP. This game is still absolutely excellent and I intend to get 100% of everything, with time, once more.

The Legend

I have a Wii. And a Playstation 3. In this day and age, with the latest technology available and with a console more powerful than gods, what have I been playing? The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, in the Nintendo 64.

A little background: when it first came out I rented it, played it thoroughly, got everything and returned it to never touch it again. I didn't really like the game. It wasn't "an Ocarina of Time", and having to go back in time every couple of hours annoyed me deeply. So I never played it twice, and the memories of it faded away with the years.

For whatever reason, two weeks ago I started playing it again. And I'm really into the game this time. It's very fun to play, and the way they arranged the game is nothing but brilliant, now that I'm seeing it with better eyes. There's so much going on in the 3 days that the game has, and everything is happening at the same time. It's a sense of real time that you usually don't have in a videogame. The people and places are much more plausible than what we're used to, and it deserves much praise for trying to be different.

I'm currently heading for the third temple, in the ocean. I'm using my free time to play it, instead of not having free time and studying more, and I'm definitely enjoying it a lot. It's still not an OoT, but it has its own (great) merits.

After I finish this, I'm going to start Wind Waker all over again. Can't wait for the time to come. I loved sailing those pretty waters.

Season finales

So every series I'm watching have ended their seasons.

- House was very cool and surprising, but nothing GREAT. Ending of S4 was infinite times better.

- 24 was, uh, weird? It didn't really end, it just "cut" at some point.

- Lost was the best of the three, with something major happening at the last seconds. Now we're left to wonder how the hell can they explain what happened.

Eurovision from hell

Eurovision already has some pretty screwed-up performers, but THIS:

I'm speechless. He/she reminded instantly of Desire from Sandman:

Freaky.

Star Trek

So I watched the new movie last Sunday. I'm not a fan of the series, have watched very few episodes from the classic ones and two movies of the new generation. I went to the theatre expecting a cool Sci-Fi movie. But I didn't get that.

I got an absolutely awesome movie that's so exciting that I almost went to see it again right after it finished. The plot is great, the characters are very well represented, from Kirk through Spock to McCoy, and especially Scotty, played by the best comedy actor in my opinion, Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame. The visuals are nothing but stunning, the sound design is excellent (hint: vacuum) and at one point in the movie it plays Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.

What more could I ask for? J. J. Abrams is really in fine touch with what audiences want, and the movie being a huge success among everyone is the proof of that.

THE REAL SHAQ

http://twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ

THE_REAL_SHAQ: Just got dat underwater ipod adaption device jammy so I can hear music unda water, I b aqua jammin, Waaaa Waaa Shaq-mu The quilla ...

He's too cool to be true...

And yes, that's his REAL profile, he posts pics of him all the time.

The Sandman

Have you ever cried after waking from a dream?

Or have you ever waken up crying?

I most certainly have, particularly when I was a child. There are a few reasons for that to happen: you could have been in a nightmare and you just wanted to get out of there; you didn't know it was a dream and you just wanted to get back to a familiar place; or you realized you were in a very good dream, and you didn't want to wake up from it...

My time with Sandman has been one of the most well spent of my life. I began reading it when the brazilian hardcover edition was released by Conrad in 2005, if I recall correctly. I hadn't even heard of the series by that time, and bought the first volume after a very intense recommendation from my friend Jefferson. I enjoyed Preludes and Nocturnes, but didn't become a fan. After a while, I bought The Doll's House and Dream Country in a bargain, but for some reason never read them. Until February, 2009.

-- Notice: there might be a little spoiler or two of the stories ahead. Nothing major is said, but some things might lead to some conclusions. Read at your own risk. --

In February I read P&N again and liked it even more, noticing some subtleties and beginning to see how marvelous this universe created by Neil Gaiman was. I then read Doll's House, which was brilliant, and Dream Country, which wasn't as good as the previous but still excellent. At that point I was becoming a fan, and bought the next four volumes all at once.

Volume 4, Season of Mists, was the turning point that made me admit I was in love with this series. The story, scenario and characters of this arch are just beyond words. I couldn't believe someone had created such a rich mythology by bringing together several others from all different cultures, from the Japanese deities to the Norse gods. They were all there, together, and it felt so real, so amazing, that it really must have been a vivid dream, in which I was so lucky to be.

After Season of Mists, I was just addicted to this story. I dreamt of it. And even though the next four volumes, A Game of You, Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives and Worlds' End weren't as epic as Season of Mists, they each still managed to have their particular characteristics that never stopped entertaining me for a second.

Volume 9, The Kindly Ones, begins and ends with similar scenes. The journey through the book is one of suffering, yet of redemption. You know what's going to happen, and you can't do anything about it. It really saddened me, but as I kept reading I came to see that what would happen was not only necessary, but innevitable. All our actions have consequences, and even when we know what they are, sometimes we just can't turn our backs and walk away.

The Kindly Ones is the longest arch in The Sandman series and in it, Gaiman managed to bring all the loose ends from the previous archs into a knot, a perfect knot that ties the whole series for its wonderful end, that begins in this volume and ends in the next one, The Wake.

The Wake was so wonderful and so magnificent, and so very sad, that it made me cry. It was a perfect conclusion to a perfect series, and I don't see how different it could have been. This was the end of the dream, the end of a Dream, and I didn't want it to end. I wanted to get back to it, and have it with me forever. But that would not be possible. And that made me shed a few tears.

The story in Sandman could only be so good with great characters. Gaiman created one of the best comic characters of all time, starting of course with the superb Morpheus, the anthropomorphic representation of Dream. He starts the series with an arrogant persona, but throughout the series he grows to be a more caring and likeable character. At some points he even shows compassion, affection and friendship towards others.

His kingdom, The Dreaming, is where everyone goes when they're dreaming. It's a place that reflects one aspect of Morpheus, and therefore changes with him. The castle in the "heart" of The Dreaming is where his throne is, and where we can find some other excellent characters, like Lucien the librarian, who catalogs all the books ever dreamt of, Mervyn the pumpkin, an employee who's the greatest comic relief of the series, and Matthew, a raven who's usually by Morpheus side and is the closest thing to a friend Dream ever had.

Dream is one of the Seven Endless, brothers and sisters who are older than men and gods. His two older brothers are Destiny, the eldest, and Death, the best of the Endless. After Dream came Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delight, who became Delirium.

Death is by far the best of the Endless. She's always beautiful and always cheerful, providing aid to her brother Dream whenever she can. She's probably my favourite character of the series, and it was wonderful every time she showed up. Death is said to be present twice in one's lifetime: when one is born, and when one passes away. This also happens in the story archs, for she is there in Preludes and Nocturnes, helping Morpheus when he is "reborn" and at The Wake, when it is time for things to move on.

Of the others, Delirium is the one I enjoyed the most following, She's so naïve and lost in her own thoughts, and it's a delight to see her talking to others or doing what she likes best, turning things into cute little flying fish that she can admire. She has a main role in Brief Lives and Gaiman lets us bond with her, even for a short while, and it's a great experience.

There is so much more I could say about Sandman and how it has become my favourite comic series of all times, surpassing Watchmen, but I'll keep it at this for now. It's such a rich world, with so much to explore and show. Gaiman is a true master of storytelling, and justice was made every time he received a literary award, especially those that didn't involve only comics. Sandman is a novel, a book told not only with words, but with beautiful images, and it deserves every praise ever said about it.