neurological dryer lint

renee and i just got back from a day/night in indianapolis, the city of a billion cops, and most of them were out barricading streets for who knows why, in the middle of the afternoon. her birthday present was tix to norah jones, and while it's not quite the preferred genre of my demographic (the ratio of women/old people to everyone else was about 10 to 1), i really enjoyed the show. after a glass of wine at dinner i thought i was going to fall into a piano-induced coma, but it was less whiny-chick-folk than i expected, a lot more jazz-and-electric-guitar-flavored.

been playing thru some classics... spent a few minutes with the original castlevania, which hit the wii virtual console recently. it's so pure, with none of the complications of the modern-day 'metroidvania' releases (like portrait of ruin). you move right, you jump, you whip, you throw axes and boomerangs and holy water, you get hit in midair by a medusa head and fall into a pit and throw your controller across the room. simple.

i've been more heavily focused on metroid prime. despite its critical standing as third best game of all time (according to gamerankings you don't often hear it namedropped as a legend in the FPS space like you do doom or half-life or marathon.

it definitely deserves it - i'm playing through for i think the third time, and i've never had surround sound in the equation before, which adds to the more complete experience. i've never seen the mood of this game duplicated... unlike other titles where you spend most of your time exploring, it never feels like you're being led around on a leash... the aesthetic of the open world, on which you are almost totally alone, discovering new items and sections of the map, it's done perfectly.

and it's memorable. there are scenes stuck in my mind from the first time i played through it five years ago - the first time you kick on the holographic map room and discover what planet you're on and how you got there; the enormous statue that uses you as a bowling ball to unlock a puzzle; the room where you pick up the thermal visor, and the terrifying experience of having the lights go out and a pack of metroids attack you for the first time.

the background music is non-invasive and very complementary to the vibe of the game's action. there's a remix of the ice area's background music at ocremix that i'm pretty fond of.