Civilization V, pt2

            There are things missing from the game that I don't really lament, but find odd.  For instance when you build the legendary wonder of the world "The Great Library (of Alexandria)" you get a free Library in the city as one of the benefits, cause that is common sense.  So when "The Louvre" one of the largest museums in the world becomes a buildable Wonder of the World later in the game you would think that as part of building it a free Museum would be one of the benefits, that is not the case.  On the topic of Museums, there is only one type, it grants a bonus to Culture (a resource used to buy policies in the game like Liberty or Patriarchy), that makes some sense, museums should provide a cultural benefit, but what about Science museums?  Why can't there be 2 types of museum, one that gives a big Culture benefit, and another that gives a smaller culture boost, but also gives a small science boost, and maybe a boost to your national happiness (another resource that builds up to a "Golden Age") if you are a country that is really focused on science?  Likewise, Libraries don't grant a bonus to culture (which, really the word "culture" is a stand in for philosophy in the early parts of the game, and Media in the late parts).

The Great Library.

            There are other things that could be added too.  Like for instance, there are 4 big buildings that grant happiness, Coliseums, Circuses (if you have horses or elephants), Theaters (which give no bonus to culture), and Stadiums.  Where are the amusement parks?  I know it is a little thing, but it would be a cool addition when you research railroads you get roller coaster parks that cities can build to increase Happiness.  For that matter, why are there no Zoos, Casinos or Breweries?  Currently the technology you start off with in the game is Agriculture, it costs nothing and allows you to build farms, but you can't build Granaries until you research Pottery, why not have Granaries come with agriculture and get Breweries when you research Pottery, the Brewery adds to Food production and some Happiness?  And Casinos could happen when you Research Electricity in the late game, have them give happiness and money.  Zoos would come with Biology, giving more of a happiness bonus.  Just make each structure cheaper to maintain, and have a lower overall bonus to happiness so you are not generating too much happiness and in doing so making it a nonfactor in the game play.

            I also think that researching Skyscrapers should be a technology that grants access to Apartment Complexes, which should give a bonus to city growth like the Aqueduct or Hospital.  Later they could have you research Mass Market, which would grant access to Grocery stores and allow Luxury items like gems and dyes to grant bigger bonuses to happiness (because it is making these items more available to you citizens.  They could also use Airports, which would allow you to fly a unit in a city to another city with an airport, and give a bonus to production.

            There is also the lack of alternative power, currently you can only get a Solar Power Plant for structures in the desert, and Hydro Electric Dams next to rivers, why not Wind Turbines as an upgrade to Windmills?  They could come along with the Solar Plants when researching Ecology in the late game.

This is the symbol for Ecology, a guy diving.  What do you get for researching Ecology?  Solar Plants, cause that is what you do to build Solar Plants in the desert, you go diving.

            So I guess there are a few things I would like them to add in the expansion, Amusement Parks, Breweries, Casinos, and different types of Museum.  What are some other things?  Well, since they are adding Religion as a new resource and mechanic then that means some culture buildings, Temples and Monasteries are going to have to change function.  So I guess new culture building will have to exist, maybe add Artist Communes (which existed in numerous ancient cultures) and maybe Academies (like the one Plato started in Greece), both of these could generate culture.

Civilization V, pt1

            Probably my favorite video game ever is "Civilization V".  At time of writing I have logged 1211 hours according to the online track keeping on the part of the Steam network.  I actually avoided buying the thing for a very long time because I knew, both from the advertising (which flat out stated that it would be the most addictive game ever made) and my own knowledge of my likes.  ("Age of Empires" anyone?)

Kind of a bland logo really.

            The game is turn based strategy, which means you get to move and use all of the pieces you control on a board at any given time then the other 'players' act one after another.  You are a historical ruler of a living or dead civilization, be it George Washington, Napoleon, or Otto Von Bismarck.  Over the course of a game you go from the dawn of civilization in which your whole world is a city and some club wielding warriors.  Eventually constructing fantastic monuments from through history, Big Ben, the Colossus of Rhodes, or the Great Wall.  You research bronze working, theology, and eventually space travel.  You can go to war.  Or you can become a mercantile leader of lesser nations.  You can win the game in a half dozen ways, most often for me this involves colonizing other planets.

            Soon an expansion to this game will hit the market and I will be buying it day of release because it will change the game in significant ways, it will increase the number of different world leaders by a third, will add in new systems for spying, make Naval units relevant (which might be the biggest problem mechanically with the unaltered original), and will most importantly allow the player to create religion as part of the game mechanics instead of religion just being something that gets researched as if it were a new type of mill or factory.

            I already know that they are changing combat significantly, like the previous mentioned Navies becoming relevant they are making it so all units have 100 Hit Points.  Currently each unit has 10 HP, and any attack action takes a minimum of one HP to do.  So you will sometimes be in a situation where an archer from the stone age is dealing damage to an Giant Death Robot from the year 2040.  With 100HP, the archers will still be able to deal 1 HP of damage but it won't be 10% of the robot's whole life.  In this regard I really don't have anything to complain about, this adds a lot of flexibility to how units work and I am really glad they added it.

Kind of an Ed-209 type thing, but with Uranium.

             If I were to add something to the combat units it would be to change some advancement.  Currently there is a unit called a Scout, it doesn't advance like other units it just looks around.  So in the late game you might have a half dozen scouts, who wouldn't put up much of a fight against Spearmen, but you are currently fighting Riflemen.  Why not have the Scout upgrade to an Archer?  This problem happens again later.  Archers turn into Crossbowmen, and they are both ranged units, able to fire over a space and not get hurt, but then they upgrade again into a melee unit, so they can't shoot over spaces again.  Why?  Why not have them turn into a new unit: Snipers?  They still shoot over spaces and continue to serve the same strategic function they always have.  Then in the even later game they could turn into Commandos which do the same but are Stealthy (a new ability that means a unit can't be seen until an enemy unit moves onto its space).  It is a hole in how things are that I think needs fixing.

One of the new societies.

This Past Week

            Things from my week.  I have discovered that the "Italian Style Favorite" DiGiorno pizza, Meatball Marinara and Chicken Parmesan are quite delicious.  But then so is a toasted whole wheat bagel with cream cheese, garlic salt, and a slice of tomato.  I started taking French, which when compared to Chinese is a chocolate cake walk.  I have managed to go to the gym 5 times, each day after class and have drastically changed the way I was going about getting fit.

            Really my whole routine has changed in that I have one, French is always the same time for the same period of time, it happens late enough in the morning that I have time to wake up, have breakfast, and do my homework before it begins which puts me in a state of mind to do French.  Afterword I read some, head to the gym, head home, and do more homework and read until bed.  It is relaxing to know what I am doing and to be able to do it without grinding my teeth.  But at the same time I feel busy and I do not think of myself as having a lot of flex time, I am in class effectively 10 hours each week not counting additional homework and studying, that is the equivalent to a full schedule, even if the work is a step down in difficulty and I think I could handle another course that was safely in my wheelhouse, like my terrorism or International trade course from this spring.

            As for working out changes I have decided to start grading myself each week to see if I have any improvement, a few small exercises that I can use to measure progress.  Along with my weight, blood pressure (averaged off of three measurements all taken in the same 5 minutes), and the amount of time I can hold my breath (again averaged off of three measurements all taken in the same 5 minutes).  Mostly the shift is to cardio, and I think that will be a good change of pace to help me lose weight, as I have hit a plateau with my current weight lifting efforts.

Blood Pressure: 137/81

Chin-ups: 4

Leg Extensions (70lbs): 26

Bench (95lbs): 16

Leg Lifts: 20

1.5 miles: 19minutes 29seconds (this needs a lot of work)

Curls (25lbs): 20

Fly Extensions (10lbs): 25

Hold Breath: 51 seconds

Weight: 216.25lbs

"Avengers" Review, No Spoilers

            I saw "The Avengers" a few days ago, and I loved it, what is more I still love it, I am looking back on it remembering scenes that were awesome, funny, exhilarating, or pathos inducing and wishing I were watching it again.  I have watched a good 8 episodes of the cartoon series (which is spectacular, go watch it on Netflix, I would say it is in many ways better than the "Justice League" cartoon from 10 years ago if for no other reason than the Avengers don't form for 7 episodes and an over arching plot is established in the first episode, basically it just has a more epic structure).  What I'm saying here is, I find myself saying over and over again, "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE" and picturing myself in the action alongside these characters helping to save the world.

This has so much fun in it.

             I am a huge comic book, and more specifically superhero fan.  My uncle John introduced them to me when I was a kid and grew up with the 90's X-Men and Spiderman cartoons alongside Batman and Superman, but the first comic book I ever bought was an issue of Thor, and I had a subscription to Captain America (comics I read so many times that they literally fell apart, something I really regret because I had the first appearance of the super villain, Superia who has become really important in the Avengers recently and the comic probably would have been valuable).  There is an underlying nostalgia in this movie that, to a degree colors my ability to evaluate it, but even when I turn that part of my brain off, I still love the movie.

            It might seem insane to say this, but the greatest strength of "The Avengers" is the structure.  It should go without saying that movies should have foreshadowing, effective pacing, character interactions, action beats, and awareness of plot elements, but many movies don't have those basic elements, and few movies can claim to do it as well as "The Avengers" do it here.  There is punctuation to scenes, small jokes, visuals, little elements that makes everything transition on a high note.  Like a comedian telling an effective joke, each seen has set up, the meat of why the scene exists, and then a mini pay off which makes an impression on you so that when they reference the scene later you can easily remember it.  This ties things together better.

            There is even good camera work.  There is a shot in which two characters, Bruce Banner (the Hulk) and Tony Stark (Iron Man) are talking as Bruce and Tony, and they are each explaining how neither of them asked to be a hero.  Bruce getting his powers through a lab accident while trying to recreate the Captain America program, and Tony having to build a mechanical heart for himself because terrorists used his conventional weapons against him.  Bruce and Tony's development mirror each other as Tony stops manufacturing weapons for use by anyone other than himself as Iron Man, and Bruce literally has to run from the military to keep them from using the Hulk as a weapon.  This conversation happens on either side of a clear glass screen, so that Tony's reflection on the glass overlays Bruce, and in the reverse shot Bruce's reflection overlay's Tony, the glass screen serves as a literal frame around each of them.

Seriously, these two have great chemistry on screen and do a lot to sell the movie.

            And what is the screen between Tony and Bruce?  It is a stylish computer monitor that is busy processing two different functions.  They are looking for the bad guy, Loki and they are hacking into SHIELD computers because they don't entirely trust who they are working for.  In others words, they are both weapon makers, hunting down a guy who would use weapons to inflict evil on the world, and while doing that they are making sure they are not going to just turn this weapon in to a group who would use it for evil, and they are doing this because both characters have been burned in the past.  This is a flawless visual metaphor.  It is a perfect scene in a movie, and in addition to all it tells you about the characters through their great dialogue, it also tells you huge amounts with just the visuals about how these two see each other.  And the movie is loaded with that type of scene.  Beautiful.

            For the sake of criticism here is my biggest complaint: Captain America's mask was not quite as cool as it was in his own movie "Captain America: The First Avenger".  That is it, and that is me at my most nit-picky.

Then again, he doesn't really wear it that much, and he doesn't need to.

            If you have not seen "The Avengers", go watch it.  The previous films are not required viewing to enjoy it, but it will add to your appreciation.  And if you have already seen it and liked it, I hope my analysis of that one particular scene between Tony and Bruce helped you to appreciate the movie on another level.

            I think I will end up seeing it again at a matinee.

Poem, "Tiny Dreams"

            I unbuttoned the top of my head the other day, like a cloth bag my scalp was flopped open and my thoughts and dreams were left to float around the room, or walk, slither, or even scurry as they saw fit.  The first that really pulled my eye were the moths made out of prism glass and crystal, rather than casting shadows of themselves in the light of the talking candle sticks, they instead cast rainbows.

            There were spiders, their bodies were old rotary phone cradles and they dragged the receiver behind them like a tail, the stretchy cord getting pulled long then the receiver jumping up and hitting the spider in the butt, spitting out the same message, "Your call could not be completed as dialed."

            There is a monkey, there always seems to be.  This one is purple, but since I don't like defining people by their race I have decided that this is a monkey who happens to be purple, rather than a purple monkey.  then again I don't know any stereotypes assigned to either monkeys or the color purple, so I don't think either thing was hurt by the association.

            A lizard playing chess with a ball of light while a ware-wolf, that is to say a wolf that stores and sells various wares, sits and watches while eating canned tuna.  It is the only board game I see and that disappoints me, I find chess boring.

            There is a palm reader, who has a book made our of skin taken from the palms of dead people.  Not very useful for telling the future of those who died, maybe the answers are written in the back of the book so she can evaluate and then check her work.  Maybe it is a menu.

            Soon my head is empty and I have shrunk down so that I am now the size of a doll, the dreams I have let loose to wander and explore like a village of building blocks, toys, and sadly only that one board game, maybe the chess board flips over and there is Chinese checkers underneath, at least then someone else could play.  Since I shrank I have to find new cloths, and maybe a hat to hide the fact that the top of my head is gone.

            I find a mish mash of wardrobe, I manage to buy on credit most of what I need from a man made out of gold and am walking around dressed in a manner reserved for magicians who perform exclusively in space stations.  To put it another way, a lot of silver.  Makes me think that the gold man might have stolen the cloths.

            So for a while I wandered my dreams as they made themselves at home in my living room, climbing the couch and watching television, strangely not noticing that watching TV made them melt, probably some subconscious social commentary in there.  You might wonder how I wrote this shrunk, or how I managed to get back to my normal size, I didn't, I just found a tiny computer that hook into my wi-fi, though the tiny computer appeared to be made out of melon skin.  So here I am, tiny and living with my dreams.

Leach Center Spa FSU

            The Leach Center is one of a half dozen places I bother to be on campus.  Bellamy and HCB teach me things, the Student Union allows me to get food (when I'm desperate enough to buy a $4 slice of Papa John's rather than just eating one of the various squirrels that race around the campus), the SLC is where I watch movies (in a room filled with shit heads who ruin the mood), the Library is where I all-night at the last minute an assignment that decides my GPA to a startling level.  But Leach is where I go to exercise, hoping to get fit, maybe inspire lustful glances from beautiful women.

What? I like women who prioritize a good health regimen.

            Here is my random complaint: the spa needs work.

            There are two hot tubs, two steam rooms, and one sauna, all of them have problems, not the least of which being I think they pose the threat of giving me meningitis some day when they have not been cleaned properly enough.

They got rid of a lot of equipment and put in a lot of stuff that sucks to use, so now all the good stuff is constantly taken.  Good luck.

            Sauna, honestly this is the least problematic of the three, sure the wooden frame used screws rather than wooden pegs because the carpentry going into this was by lowest bidder and was not up to the standards of common sense.  See, metal... in a room that is 180 degrees... GETS FUCKING HOT!  You will be laying down, or leaning back and be suddenly scaled by the head of a screw.  What is more, metal expands when hot, wood expands too, but slower, which causes the screws to stretch the holes they were drilled into, making the whole thing rickety as the screws loosen the frame's hold on them, and the boards that make it up.  So, rickety, pinchy, and occasionally branding.

            Now the Steam Rooms.  Or, at present, Steam Room, as one of them has not been in service for a couple weeks.  Which one is out of service?  The good one.  What makes it good?  The door shuts on its own.  Yes the one that is currently in operation has a door that doesn't close until the fourth or fifth try, because they don't put a handle on the inside so you just pull it shut behind you.  this means you are walking into a Steam Room that slowly turns into "Room", a wet room mind you, but devoid of steam.  The place is also filthy from the constant use, people wear shoes in there in spite of the rules and track in dirt, which turns to mud.  Mud you can see, because all the steam has left the room.

            Now the cesspools-- Hot Tubs.  Let me say this, if you turn on the bubbles, and the surface gets covered not only in bubbles, but bubbles that have a rainbow-on-an-oil-slick color to them, and have density enough to hold small coins out of the water... THEN YOU NEED TO CLEAN THE WATER!  More chlorine is not enough, it's not just germs in there, it is enough dead skin and skin oil to make a slick.  That is disgusting.  And why, did the life guard just turn on the bubbles?  There are two tubs, I chose to sit in the one that had no bubbles going, and they turn on the jets without being asked; if I wanted jets I would have sat in the other one with the insanely old Asian guy.  Here is an idea, why not just put a timer next to each tub that controls the jets, or a switch; like every other gym in the universe so the life guards, who should be guarding lives (lives of college students who chose to swim recreationally and need a life guard like I need a sippy lid for my Sprite, but whatever).

They don't even have Tiki bar.  I need something brightly colored and full of alcohol.  Also, the phrase "Filthy Hot Tub" in Google Image gives back a lot of pornography.  Like, a lot.

             Then there is also the company, for every gorgeous woman doing yoga stretches in a bikini or shorts so short that they would allow a Med student a quick review for a gynecological exam, there are 200 frat guys who mostly just want to say the word "Bro" or "Braa" every second they are there while inferring to incidents of date rape; not to say all the women are great, if I hear one more hollow headed "Like" or "You Know" escape the lips of a sorority girl I think I will have to beat their head to a steaming splatter of gore on the hot coal machine in the sauna.

MORE LIKE THESE, PLEASE.  So long as they have something to talk about.

My 5 Favorite Books

            As a random little thought I figured I would do a top 5 list because lists are mentally very easy to digest and a recent movie release, along with anticipation for a movie coming out later this year has me thinking.  What are my top 5 favorite books?

            Number 5, and the spurring to write this, "The Hunger Games".  Since the movie is a very accurate and faithful adaptation, and it has made half a billion dollars already I feel redundant explaining the premise of young woman chosen to participate in a gladiatorial combat with other children.  The book is violent, and does an excellent job satirizing modern television, the disparities that exist between the rich and poor, all while framing through a single character that is ostensibly unlikable, having grown very bitter because of the absolute boiling crock-pot of shit her life has been.  It also has some good lines in it, strangely, my favorite line did not make it into the movie, even though the scene it is in did.  Whatever.

Have not read the other two... And I don't know if I ever will.

             Number 4, the movie adaptation of this, or at least part 1, will be out later this year, "The Hobbit".  As a kid the animated adaptation of this book was frequently, if not constantly checked out from the library, and while I read huge numbers of books (mostly Goosebumps, Animorphs, Spooksville, and other kids series) I actually didn't know that "The Hobbit" was a book for a long time, and only got around to reading it in high school, and I have since re-read it.  It is a lot of fun and the definitive classic in its genre, it is tightly written, and that works to its advantage, something its sequel does not have working for it.  This may make me a freak by nerd standards, but I find "The Lord of the Rings" over written and poorly paced.  Currently my epic fantasy thirst is being quenched by the "Game of Thrones" series (which I did a blog of) and I refuse to call it the "Song of... Whatever" because that is a stupid title for series of books, again something that might make me a freak among nerds.

This was a big part of me starting into fantasy.

             Number 3, this is actually my favorite part of a series of books that are all pretty good, though I think the last 2 are the weakest ending on downer notes rather than the jokes and good fun of the other 3, this is "Life, the Universe,and Everything".  It is the third book in the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy in five parts.  It takes place as a group of renegade killer robots dressed as Cricket players set out to find and activate a weapon that will destroy all of creation.  The origins, the machinations, and the way all of the heroes of the series are drawn together to help solve the problem are bizarre and fun.  Sadly, since they tried to turn this book series into a movie franchise, and got someone infinitely unqualified to write and direct it doubtless this movie will have to wait another decade or two before it gets its turn at bat, hopefully with Edgar Wright or Steven Moffat at the helm.  Or both if there really is a Santa Claus in the hearts of children everywhere.

This really doesn't come up in this installment.

             Number 2, this one makes me think back to how my brother told me, "you (Josh) always identify with assholes in control of things," a fact I can't deny, this book is "Ender's Game".  Written by an author who has in recent times gone Christ-crazy and rages against the liberals of the world, the book explores how the smartest boy in the world is shaped by a militant world alliance to save humanity from the Alien bug menace which has twice invaded our space to horrifying result.  Ender, so nicknamed by his sister who could not pronounce Andrew, is a misanthropic child murderer who grows more and more distant as he figures out how to outsmart everyone.  Actually this book is considered the holy script of nerds everywhere because it isn't about a meat-head who gets handed power by a wise old wizard, but instead gets put through hell by his mentor figure, you know, like every father who has ever told their child, "You can be anything you want to be... So long as you are some kind of Doctor."

The timeline of this series gets a bit complex.

             My favorite book, much like the others follows a rather misanthropic person... Huh, just realized that... Huh, that probably means I am less than stellar person... Moving on, it is about the nature of religion in American society, it's "American Gods".  The man called Shadow is released from prison and encounters a con man called Wednesday who takes him down numerous rabbit holes to meet the living ideas of various traditions and superstitions that came over from the old world, and they are dying off in favor of modern ideas made of silicon and celebrity.  The author, Neil Gaiman, said he started off writing it in the first person but found he had to switch off because the main character was so listless and detached, rather a fish out of water story in which the fish was happy to suffocate without flopping.  It also does the original Heroes Journey to great impact.

I'm 70% sure this man is not a wizard.