Well, by this time, Trouble is now somewhere over the Pacific, winging her way to her teaching assignment in China. I'm really going to miss her. It's like I just got back from Japan yesterday and we were just getting to know each other again and now...she's gone. She says that she'll only be gone for six months. Weren't those Diane's final words on Cheers? Oh, well. I hope she gets settled soon and finds out what her mailing address is so I can flood her with Alberta postcards, like she did to me.
And in other news, Kill Bill: Volume I comes out today, and boy, does it look like a cool movie! But, I'm starting to have second thoughts about going to see it. Now that I'm doing some more reading about it, I find that a great deal of it actually takes place in Japan and there's this huge anime flashback in the middle. Now, I don't know how to describe this. Ever since I got back from Japan, I've noticed the little bits of Japanese culture that have permeated North American culture, and it gives me a strange, queezy feeling. Maybe it's because, nine times out of ten, I kind of notice that it's not really Japanese, but more a North American perception of what Japan is. And it makes me long for the real thing. That's probably the primary reason why I haven't bought Spirited Away on DVD yet. That's why, at the movies, I kind of wince when I see the trailer for Tom Cruise's next film, The Last Samurai. I think I also fear that a day will come when my memories of Japan have all been tainted by this North American rendition of Japan. Maybe it's already begun. Maybe that's what the queezy feeling is: a defense mechanism.
But let's look at happier things! Last night, after I finished my homework, I sat down and finally finished Lego Racers. The last thing I had to do was complete the time trials, and then I won Veronica Voltage's block set. I won by the skin of my Lego teeth. So now, I've unlocked every block set and track, so I think that's what "finishing" a racing game is. I mentioned in a previous entry that each brick set is representative of a different Lego subset. Veronica Voltage's block set was that "Time Twisters" time travel Lego from a few years back. I see that Lego Racers 2 is in discount bins, now, so maybe I'll pick it up.
Actually, why doesn't Lego accept this as a brilliant idea for Lego Racers 3? As we all know, Lego has gotten in on the licensing game. That's how we got the Star Wars Lego, the Harry Potter Lego, the Spider-Man Lego, and currently, the NHL and NBA Lego. So, if they ever make Lego Racers 3, could they somehow work all these licensed properties into the game? You know, have the Tatooine Pod Race be a track, Anakin's Podracer as a car, and the prize being the Star Wars Lego set. Create some kind of Hogwarts track, give Harry Potter some kind of mystical go-kart, and the prize is the Harry Potter brick set.
But how about all the other Lego subsets that were around briefly? Incorporate them into the game! I seem to remember Ninja Lego and Wild West Lego from just 4 or 5 years ago. Surely some crazy cars and tracks can be made from that. Or go back even farther! I remember reading how, in the early 90s, Lego experimented with "Lego for girls," which was Lego molded in pastel colours and designed for building Lego-style Barbie dream houses. Get the girly Lego in there! C'mon! Lego Racers 3. There's money to be made!
Next Issue...I Have...A STICK!
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