the sun is hot

FYI: the sun is hot. I went for a run today at 3:30. Bad idea. I wasn't very hydrated when I started; when I finished I was substantially less so. All the water in my body was escaping in rivulets of sweat down my face and chest. Isn't that a pretty picture?

Just finishing up a good, though rather low-key, weekend. I rewatched LOST season 1 over the past week, and it was interesting to look at foreshadowing and clues and see if I could isolate some big hints that haven't played out completely yet. Nothing earthshattering, though something is up with Charlie not being a swimmer at all at first and an excellent swimmer in "Through the Looking Glass." Desmond's work, somehow? I saw a clip where it sounded like Desmond may have been present in the background when Charlie's dad got him to dive into the pool in "Greatest Hits." Man, I miss Charlie. I had forgotten that the 1st episode was a Jack/Kate/Charlie flashback. Boone's demise was even more heartbreaking watching it again. Interesting that in the flashback Christian talks to Jack about how he can't let go of things. Didn't make a lot of sense for that specific flashback - what does not letting go of things have to do with writing his vows, as opposed to wanting to marry Sarah? It makes a lot more sense as "I'm marrying this woman because I can't give up on the relationship, even though it isn't working anymore." I don't really know why it would frustrate his vow writing and not the relationship. The implication in the episode is maybe that he cares too much to take a step back and just write simple vows, rather than something elaborate. Anyway Jack not wanting to give up certainly comes up a LOT in the later seasons.


I should get back to "No More Heroes," but the hour or two I played didn't do much for me. I bought the Penny Arcade game, which seems okay so far. Coincidentally its battle system is kinda similar to one I've long envisioned where it is real time and you use the different buttons for different attacks. I'm not too keen (or clear) on all aspects of the battle engine, but I take it to be relatively lightweight as RPG battle engines go. So far it seems like mainly a way to provide tension and a tangible threat; it doesn't feel like the meat of the game is there. Baten Kaitos, now there's an RPG where the meat is the battle engine, not the (mostly forgettable, where it isn't downright painful) story. Whereas lots of Squeenix RPGs fall on the side of mindless repetitive battles that you just click "A" through, occasionally healing outside of battle. That's fine with me, though, at least if the occasional battle is more interesting. It forms a nice rhythm. More annoying is when the battles are mindless EXCEPT for the one random tedious task the game expects of you. Final Fantasy VIII, I'm looking at you. Stealing spells was kind of neat, but what a repetitive waste of game time. If I have to do something over and over again, I want it to be steam rolling over enemies, so I can feel like a badass. I do not want to sit there politely taking finger poking and tickling from them until I drain all their spells, then end up mindlessly steam rolling over them anyway.