Na na... na na NA na na na na... Katamari Damacy
Yes, I'm hooked. A game that is splendid. It's unique in a very superlative sense. It is... Katamari Damacy. (There are a few other reviews, too.) I was hooked from the moment it loaded. The opening sequence is awesome. The gameplay is addictive, the music is better than most music albums out, and it's only $20. I think this is one of those games that is released in limited supply, not many people purchase, and then disappears. After which people realize how good it is, and too bad! It's already gone. It comes with my recommendation. What is it, exactly? Rather hard to explain. To really give a full impression, I can't do it justice in words - you'd have to play - but I can give a basic rundown. Remember making snowmen when you were a kid? Or maybe last winter? You start, make a snowball, and roll it around, gathering more and more snow. It ends up getting really big. Maybe HUGE. And there's something satisfying about it. Well, imagine rolling a ball up like that, only not of snow. But of ANYTHING. And you have Katamari Damacy. The graphics aren't great, but the music is, as well as the sense of joy in just having a singular mission. Very basic, very easy to do, and extremely satisfying. You should try it out.

Anyway. Yeah, so I've had the theme song stuck in my head for a few days now. I got it on Friday. I must say, though - Thursday was my birthday, and both Thursday and Friday were excellent days. Friday turned out pretty fun! For all the people who didn't manage to come to my gathering, it was rather enjoyable. A fairly large gathering of people showed, and we had people meeting, talking, an excellent bit of red velvet cake (thanks again, guys!), and a bit of party games. Karaoke was involved. A certain person named Fred gave his shot at karaoke, and somehow broke into laughter in the middle of it. I think everyone that was there will now remember Fred, without a doubt. Karaoke was fun (Karaoke Revolution 2!), and then more musical efforts were poured into Donkey Konga. With four sets of bongos! There's nothing like watching four people all pounding on bongos to make a song. It was pretty funny, and I have to say quite entertaining. We all traded around the bongos, and it turned out pretty good. And as the night came to a close, it ended with a bit of DDRMAX2. With TWO dance pads. (Thanks, Marni!) So there was quite a bit of two player versus sorts of things going on, as well as a few tries at single player two-pad dancing. I gave it a shot, it's pretty cool. Trying to cross back and forth in rhythm. Kung fu helps.

So yeah, the party turned out nicely, it was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came! You made my day. The rest of the weekend was spent a bit leisurely, except for a bit of manual labor I put in to help my mom doing some soil turnover (don't know what the technical garden terminology is) in the backyard so she could plant some grass seed. It was hard work! I did that, and Sandra was in town, so we got to hang a bit and get some Golden Gate, as well as going to church on Sunday. Speaking of which, the choir director had a little gathering at her place for the choir for food, and that was pretty good stuff. Lots of food, and a lot of people. Fun times. And Sunday I actually took a break from choir for the first time in several years. It was kind of weird being on the other side. And it sounded different without any guitars, although I don't really know what it sounds like WITH guitars from the other side, so I can't qualify that remark completely.

Now it's back to the grind, working (or trying to), hoping I don't get too sleepy. I was really sleepy this morning, I think it was partly the big weekend, partly the manual labor thing. Maybe naptime later today. I think for kung fu we have pictures tonight. I need to decide whether or not to shave. Maybe not - I shouldn't be TOO pretty if I'm trying to look tough. At any rate, I think I just have to look a little pretty, then I can come back and go to bed early. Which would be a good thing. Yes.

Time for random link! This may pre-date some of you, but I seem to remember a cartoon based on a toy, in which there were epic battles between American soliders and some bad guys. Did you ever wonder what the life of some of those bad guys was like? Well, wonder no more.

- posted by Pootenheimer @ 2:54 PM | 2 comments