Heya!
The following things are great. Though they hardly represent a complete listing I want to share them with you, anyway.
Favourite Games, Past and Present
Battletoads (NES), Dragon Warrior (NES), Mega Man II and III (NES), Metal Marines (SNES), EVO: Search for Eden (SNES), Metal Warriors (SNES), Chrono Trigger (SNES), FFVI (III here), Actraiser (SNES), Ogre Battle (SNES and PS), Super Metroid (SNES), Mass Effect Franchise (360), Bioshock franchise (Multi), Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS), Starcraft franchise (PC), Half-Life Franchise (Multi), Settlers of Catan (Board), Chess (Board), Arkham Horror (Board), Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Ed., Pathfinder (Tabletop Roleplaying, or Pen-and-Paper)
Favourite Stuff on TV, Past and Present
Avatar: The Last Airbender (cartoon) - A pseudo-anime that is at times a little childish, but always clever and fun to watch. The characters are multi-dimensional and always growing, and the themes are mature. Well-animated, well-paced, and well-written.
Carnivale - A shame that this gritty, intense, and just deeply interesting HBO series only got two seasons.
Six Feet Under - The series is imaginative, dark, real, and very well-written. The finale will stick with me forever.
The Office (US) - Painful at first watch, but brilliant from then on. Andy (Ed Helms) is my fave character.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Joss Whedon knows how to plan a series, and good Buffy represents some of the best TV I've seen.
Whose Line is it Anyway (US) - The great cast of Whose Line guarantees me a lighter mood. Love these guys. Three-headed Broadway Star and Sound Effects (by Ryan and Colin) are my faves.
Favourite Movies, Past and Present
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - My first "real" kung fu flick. I went from hating it to loving it, and still feel it has some of the best fight scenes anywhere.
The Usual Suspects - A great cast, well-paced, with a classic twist ending.
Unbreakable - I love this modern-day, realistic superhero tale as much as I love how much potential I think it has to be explored past this origin story.
Crash - Just powerful scenes and realism and truth. We all prejudge. Crash doesn't flinch away from that truth for one second.
A History of Violence - Just well done in all respects, with an ending that couldn't have been any better.
Little Shop of Horrors - I love many musicals, and this one's at the top of my list.
Favourite Things Online, Past and Present
Extra Credits. These guys get some flack for "white-knighting" the games industry. They do, but I would hardly call aspiring to better things something to belittle. I love what James Portnow, Daniel Floyd, and Allison Theus (or guest artists) are doing. They inspire me to learn more and be excellent in my chosen field. I hope to meet them as peers and maybe friends some day.
OnSpec Magazine. I am proud to have been proofing for OnSpec for about six years now, which is only a small fraction of the many years OnSpec has been serving up excellent speculative fiction. As a quarterly magazine, OnSpec impresses me every three months with the talent and imagination it attracts. Please do check it out! If you contact them they'll probably send you a free back-issue to whet your appetite.
Dot Dot Dot. Just BE-ah-COO-azz it's funny. Take a minute to chuckle.
www.homestarrunner.com. These guys haven't added to the site for some time, but there are hours of absurd, imaginative, and funny flash videos here. "Ooh Ahh Email..."
Game Rant. Game Rant is made up of talented and passionate writers, editors, and journalists covering game industry news and reviews with a focus on in-depth articles. I write for them when I can, too, and they have been ridiculously patient with my stubborn refusal to grok their formatting. Sorry, guys!
www.penny-arcade.com. You know these guys. Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins—vastly imperfect and really just normal nerds—inspire me for building something that has such a massive amount of influence. I hope to one day command a fraction of their influence and to do a fraction of their good. Mike's comic and Jerry's writing are acquired tastes (though most "gamers" acquired those tastes the first time they picked up a controller). PA TV is consistently a lot of fun, and is currently the home of Extra Credits, above.
Team Four Star. These guys make ridiculously funny Dragonball Z parody videos, and I've never even seen Dragonball Z. Fun fact: Akira Toriyama of DBZ designed the characters for Chrono Trigger!
Husky Starcraft. Husky (Mike) casts professional and amateur Starcraft II games, and his goofy banter and good casting voice have earned him over five hundred thousand youtube followers!
Friends
www.handsomefatman.com. My buddy Carlos is an aspiring screenwriter with strong opinions and several years of part-time experience writing and pitching scripts. Check out his site if you want to discuss storytelling in film, pitching script ideas, or movies in general.
Sushi Papercraft. My schoolmate (from last time) Jenna builds books with her BARE HANDS! They make great notebooks and sketchbooks, and each is unique.
In Edmonton
I lived in Edmonton, Alberta, for almost ten years. Other than being downright proud that it is the birthplace of BioWare, I highly recommend the many branches of the Edmonton Public Library, Famoso (Neapolitan pizza), and The Tea Place (order a cold Hong King with extra tapioca, and say hi to Ken, Martin, and Zoltana for me). Tell them Isaac sent you.
In New West
I've been in New Westminster, BC, for about two weeks now, but I can already say that the Royal Tandoori restaurant makes some of the best Indian food I've ever had, and the Tea Team has a dizzying array of bubble tea options. Check 'em out!
