The Week: Reading, Chappie and Mii Plaza

On 03/08/2015 at 10:39 PM by KnightDriver

Starting something a little bit new here. On Sundays I'm going to write up what I did all week, my work week being Tuesday to Saturday, and then on Monday nights do my weekend, Sunday/Monday.

I read more of the graphic novel From Hell, a story about Jack the Ripper by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, which reveals a big conspiracy theory behing the crimes. It's a very well told story, but I have to keep hidding some of the pages from public eyes as the imagery is brutally honest and unflinching.

Finished War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Prince Andre's story was the most interesting to me. I started watching the 1972 BBC TV series staring Anthony Hopkins as Pierre on youtube. I guess the script writer thought he was the central character. He certainly was in the later parts of the book, but I was most interested in Prince Andre.

I returned to Ulysses by James Joyce. In the middle of the book there's quite a lot of randy talk - Bloom's a saucy one.

I saw the film Chappie on IMAX. It's about a programmer who makes the first sentient artificial intelligence within the body of a police force robot. Hugh Jackman plays a rival programmer with a more powerful, but human controlled robot. Things get messy when the sentient robot gets into the hands of gangsters and Hugh's character starts trying to sabotage the first programmer's work. What's most interesting, of course, is the intelligence growth of the new A.I. and how he reacts to everything going on around him. The technology in this film is not so far fetched. I've heard Michio Kaku say some of this is not too far off in the future. There is one video game reference in the movie, but it'd be a spoiler to mention it. It's pretty funny though. Go see it. Oh yeah, and the rap music, by the two main gangster characters, is pretty interesting to me. I want the soundtrack.

I double dosed on Miis this week. I maxed out to ten Miis on Friday and then again on Saturday. Friday's Miis were from the week and the Hilton Hotel I went to that night. Saturday I got all 10 from going to the movie theater, Barnes & Noble, and from my usual night of driving. I finished the main part of Flower Town. You can still breed new plants, so I'll keep playing it. Darn! I really want to go work in a Nursery now.

I've finally cleared enough time in my day to start working out. I've pushed my reading and writing to just an hour from 4 to 5 so that most of the afternoon is free for me to build some kind of exercise habit. The important part was freeing up that time, now I can start doing things.

That's it. Remember pixlbits, always the hard way.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

03/08/2015 at 10:45 PM

damn dude, you read good shit. I really need to be more dilligent about reading.

I need to read From Hell again. I love Alan Moore. I don't know if you'll like it or not, but I really enjoyed his Promethea comic. it's pretty out there though.

KnightDriver

03/08/2015 at 11:44 PM

I am reading from the top of a few lists I saw online to fill in some gaps in my reading. It's actually surprising to me how much these "greatest books" are impacting me. They all tackle the big questions in a lot of depth and that gets a person thinking a lot.

I haven't read Promethea yet, but it sounds dreamy.

Joaquim Mira Media Manager

03/08/2015 at 11:22 PM

Die Antwoord are awesome. I'm just going to wait for Chappie's bluray release.

03/08/2015 at 11:57 PM

Ah, that's the group's name. Those two played a pretty big role in the movie as actors as well, and they were good at it!

There was no need for me to see it on the IMAX screen. It's not that kind of movie, but it was at the time I needed, so what the heck.

03/09/2015 at 12:17 AM

https://www.youtube.com/user/ZEFRECORDZ/videos

They have more music videos, but for whatever reason they're not associated with their channel. Check their favorites playlist for those.

03/09/2015 at 12:58 AM

I watched Ugly Boy. I liked it. Was that Flea in there, and Udo?

03/09/2015 at 01:55 AM

Flea is in the list of cameos, but I have no clue who Udo is.

List:

JACK BLACK
MARILYN MANSON
FLEA
CARA DELEVINGNE
DITA VON TEESE
ATL TWINS
CHARLOTTE FREE
ESTEVAN ORIOL
DJ MUGGS
TOKKIE
SUNNY BALZARY
SIXTEEN JONES
TRIGZ

03/10/2015 at 02:59 AM

Oh, ok. That was Jack Black. I was thinking he looked like this lead singer to metal band Accept.

udo

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/09/2015 at 01:54 AM

I'd love to read From Hell.

03/10/2015 at 02:48 AM

Well, it's not pleasant stuff. I don't usually read horror, or crime fiction or anything like this, but it was on a list of greatest graphic novels, so I gave it a shot. It's really well told and there's lots of interesting ideas in it. It's a pretty big book too; not a short story at all.

Alex-C25

03/09/2015 at 02:29 AM

Chappie looks very interesting and i'm interested in watching it despite being thrashed by critics as of this moment. But I think I may hold for a video or Netflix release as I haven't seen Neil's previous effort, Elysium.

03/10/2015 at 03:01 AM

I thought Elysium was good too.

avidacridjam

03/09/2015 at 12:44 PM

From Hell is awesome. I can still remember so much of the gnarly imagery. The art can be crude at times but its very reflective of the down-and-dirty setting that its based in. I haven't read it since college.

Chappie is taking a beating critically and I suspect its doomed to be a punching bag like Jupiter Ascending. I haven't seen it yet but I still want to.

03/10/2015 at 03:26 AM

I heard Jupiter Ascending was bad, but then I heard about it being intentionally like a campy scifi flick similar to old Buck Rogers. Now I'm interested again.

03/10/2015 at 10:40 AM

It's definitely strange but I wouldn't consider it campy. It tries to cram so much story and world-building in a 2 hr. 7m. running time when it should be a three-hour. I think the Wachowskis did as good a job they could to keep the story coherent. Its definitely worth a watch.

A friend of mine (who also loved JA) saw Chappie Sunday night. He felt it was messy plot wise but a lot of fun.

03/11/2015 at 02:08 AM

I almost went to the theater to see JA, but I didn't so now I probably won't see it.

Chappie's not perfect for sure, but, yeah, it was fun.

goaztecs

03/10/2015 at 02:08 PM

I can't get passed that I find the name Chappie doesn't fit with the movie (it probably does but it in the previews it bugs me.) I'll check it out when it comes to HBO.

Congrats on reading through War and Peace. I always joked about how that book would take me years to read because its so long. Before my Android tablet decided to become a paper weight, I did have the digital copy on there and thought about checking it out a couple of times.

03/11/2015 at 02:30 AM

When you see it, it'll make sense.

It was the longest audio book I've heard. It was 48 CDs and took me 7 weeks. Even Ulysses, which I'm listening to now, is only 40 CDs. It reminds me of a long RPG where you're living with the characters for 50 hours or more. It makes for a really intense involvement in the story.

03/11/2015 at 10:57 AM

HOLY COW, 48 CDs?!!!! Props to you my friend. I start to go a little crazy when audio books hit 7-10 discs (except for Jarhead, I really liked that one.) I should try War & Peace on audiobook especially since my Baseball game is coming out at the end of the month.

03/13/2015 at 02:55 AM

In my car, it's like TV time every day, except it's audio books. W&P was like a 48 episode show. What's that, like 4 seasons?

PixlBit

The Week: Reading, Chappie and Mii Plaza

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