Win A Mac

So I was fussing around in the pink room, browsing our geeky selection of books and games, when I noticed that we had Spore. When did we get Spore? Ah, whatever, I've been meaning to give the game a go, and now I have a computer that will run it. It started out fun enough. I was actually kinda excited to watch my LeamJag grow up on the planet Leamony. The first part of the game didn't last very long. I kinda wished that it would last a little bit longer, because I wanted to add another set of mouths. Then I evolved, and my game crashed. Ho hum. I had to start over completely, but at least the game registered that I had made it to creature mode. I re-made my creature similar to what I had originally, and let loose!

God, what a boring game. Is that all there is to it? Fighting things and making allies with things? I chose to make allies with most things, because it didn't run the risk of dying. As much. Sometimes they'd ambush me in the middle of a song. After running around making allies with everything that didn't try to kill me for a couple hours, I've given up the game for good. I'd like to get to the next stage, but it's way too boring. No wonder it got bad reviews, it's a chore to play, and really repetitive.

It took them how long to make this game? And they forgot to add in the fun factor?

Mum is in the mood to get me ready for college, so today we went shopping for the sheets for my college bed. I wanted kid sheets with some cartoon character on them. I was thinking it was totally time for some Batman sheets, but the Batman sheets were really ugly and stupid. Instead I picked out bedding that had airplanes all over them. They're quaint, and they're made by Disney, so they still have a little-kid feel. This brochure the college sent me suggested that I bring my own plates and silverware, so I wanted little kid plates and things. But all the store had was Hanna Montana or some really ugly Transforers, so I gave up on that idea. I'll just pack a few mugs with me and maybe take along a few bowls from the camper's set of plates. I just want to eat cereal and drink tea, so I don't need a lot.

I always get a little sad looking at the sheet music I've printed out over the years. I had such high hopes when I printed them, but most of them I attempted, failed, and hid away. Or left on the piano to fade and bend. Even the songs I loved and practiced a lot would get warped. So today I put some time into putting all the pages into sheet protectors, front to back. I then clipped them all into this half-inch binder I've never really used. It looks like a proper music book, now. I can flip through it and see all my music arranged in a pleasing manner. The binder is absolutely full, though, so if I print anything else out I should probably move all my music into a one-inch binder.

I finally had the chance to practice that Ico sheet music today. The melody is so simple, but so pleasing. I felt accomplished just to play through it. Then I tried to play through the song, just as I should. I noticed a problem right away with the music. I had to hold down a note with my right hand, but partway through I needed to hit that exact note with my left hand. My solution to this was just to life up with my right hand right before I needed to hit it again. But as I kept going, I noticed a lot of problems like that. Twice on the first page I needed to hit the same note with two different hands, and twice the melody becomes indiscernable from the left hand because the notes are too close together. In all fairness, the beginning I am just playing a scale that moves through both hands, but there are times when the two sounds need to be seperate.

I gave up when the real melody was supposed to start. The scales that I was playing with two hands at the start of the song I need to play with just my left hand during the melody. I don't have the skills to move my left hand that fast and far and still maintain a fluid sound. So I gave up. But I blame the sheet music on this one, because it made some ridiculous mistakes. I youtubed the song, hoping to find some more links to other Ico sheet musics. All I could find were a lot of people playing Xald Balghostriped's arrangement, which is the one I hate with a passion. I was actually interested to see how they managed to fix his mistakes, but they all angled their cameras so that I could hardly see their hands. Man I just... I really hate the way Xald puts a beat between "You were" and "There." It ruins the grace of the entire song.

There is supposed to be another version of the music out there. I've found a few other people playing different versions on Youtube, but none of them have posted any sheet music.