PixlBit

Once you don't commit to certain things for a long period of time, such as keeping lines of communication open, it can be a hard habit to break. So that explains why I haven't posted since my one BaD entry last month. I suppose I need to try blogging more often just to get back in the swing of things. 

The custodial job is going well but I fall back into the pattern of working and then going home to watch films/Youtube videos or gaming, falling asleep and having only time enough for a meal, washing up and going back to work. It could be a lot worse. Of course, I've got nothing to explain while I waste such precious time on the weekend. This past weekend was devoted more to sleep than anything else. Well, sleep and Assassin's Creed Origins. As far as sleep goes, I don't know what happened. I tend to average 7-8 hours throughout the week but I felt so exhausted come late Friday that when i eventually went to sleep around 4 a.m. (there's the wind-down period to take into consideration), I slept until 11:30 a.m., was awake for an hour or two and felt the need to return to bed, slept until 6 p.m. and then felt truly rested. I wasn't feeling sick either. I guess I'm so used to the habit of "working later, winding down into the early hours of the morning and then sleeping until noon" that its hard to break come the weekend. 

As for AC Origins, it's been a blast to go through that behemoth of a open world game. Last month, I took advantage of the Ubisoft sale on Xbox Live and picked up the Gold editions of AC Origins and Odyssey. As soon as I finished Shadow of the Tomb Raider, those were next on the list. The crazy thing is that I've spent around 20 hours and I'm sure I'm far from the finish line. There'll be the DLC to consider after all. That world map is so massive. But I love the combat system, the level design and the story of Bayek is very captivating so far. Can't wait to unlock the perk when I can tame wild animals. 

As for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it was a fun experience but story-wise its the least of the reboot trilogy. Now I hope SquareEnix and Crystal Dynamics can set about making a standalone TR game. So what are the pros? The exploration and level design was stellar. The tombs were well-designed. The combat is okay but nothing spectacular. Great post-credit scene, too. 

As far as recent films, the last two were Lego Movie 2 and Captain Marvel. Lego Movie 2 was clever and had some decent jokes but I smiled more than laughed. The satire and subversive nature of the first film wasn't as strong this time around so that probably hurt it. It's well designed and the voice-acting is stellar as usual.

I really enjoyed Captain Marvel. I'm really sick of the main-hero-with-amnesia plot trope at this point and at times it felt just adequately executed. Good thing that that film gives you plenty of strengths to outweigh the weaknesses: Samuel L. Jackson (and his rapport with Brie Larson), Ben Mendelsohn as the lead Skrull, Goose the Cat/Flerkin and the relationship between Danvers and Rambeau (and the later's adorable daughter). I felt Annette Bening didn't get much to do (and POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING: the character Danvers befriended didn't get fleshed out as much as the Supreme Intelligence persona). The film's strongest suit overall is the story of a woman who overcomes her mostly male superiors who tell her to control her powers (and in effect control her) or belittle her by unleashing her abilities and putting them into good heroic use, becoming the hero that fans/readers are familiar with. The twist surrounding Jude Law's character is very effective once he is revealed to be (as one critic put it) Debate Me Man. And Larson is a fantastic choice as Danvers. Thanos is doomed.

Other than listening to podcasts, working and sleeping, that's the highlights of the past month or so. The big personal news is that my brother and sister-in-law finally acquired their adopted baby and he's a healthy boy named Patrick, so I'm an uncle now. They got to take Patrick home from the hospital earlier this week so I plan to see him this weekend. 

I'll cut it off here for now. If anything comes to mind, I'll post again. Take care, Pixlbit community!