Corpse Party (PSP)

Sorry for the terrible picture. I'm in Florida and this is being done on my phone. Can't be professional when I have limited resources, you know?

Corpse Party was released on the PSN this week. It's a PSP game.

I haven't played through enough of it to give an actual opinion, but people have said it's like a visual novel, though the developers swear it's an adventure game with a lot of story.

Either way, from what I HAVE "played," it's creepy. The background music is very effective. The story is interesting. The voice acting...I have no idea. I don't speak Japanese, but it sounds good to me. The text is all in English, by the way. So you don't need to understand Japanese to play it.

There are over twenty endings, if I recall. Almost all of them are bad. You're meant to die.

Corpse Party is only $19.99. If it does end up being more of an adventure game, it's probably worth the price. If it's more of a visual novel...There are J-horror films I could buy for less money. But who knows. The story might actually be worth the price.

Anything Goes was incredible, but it left me feeling unsatisfied

Let me explain.

About six or seven years ago, I went to see Anything Goes at Rocky Point High School because my cousin was in it. I'd never heard of it prior to that, but I absolutely loved it. Those kids did such an incredible job. I'm definitely not a snob about venues. Whether you're on Broadway or you're in your high school's musical, if you're talented and you put a lot of work into it, and you're enjoying it...It shows.

When I heard Anything Goes was coming to Broadway, I was really excited. I definitely wanted to see it at some point.

In August, I knew I was going to see something on Broadway in October. I narrowed it down to Anything Goes, Catch Me If You Can and Phantom of the Opera. I'd already seen Phantom of the Opera, but I am such a huge fan of Hugh Panaro, I really wanted to go see him in it again. And I'm also a huge fan of Kerry Butler, so I wanted to see Catch Me If You Can...Even though I really had no interest in it. All I knew was that Leonardo DiCaprio was in the movie, and that didn't do much to pique my interest.

I ended up deciding on Catch Me If You Can and ordered tickets for October 15th. A few days later, they announced it would be closing in September. "Will I EVER get to see Kerry Butler in ANYTHING?" I had since looked up the rest of the cast (I had no idea at that point that Aaron Tveit was in it) and listened to the soundtrack, so I was incredibly disappointed, because it seemed SO GOOD. Then I found out that Tom Hanks starred in the film and Steven Spielberg directed it. You can't go wrong with them. I watched it. Loved it. Decided to read the book. This all just added to my overall disappointment in the show closing.

After that, I got a refund and bought tickets for Anything Goes instead. And I was happy with that decision. I had wanted to see that on Broadway to begin with. Colin Donnell was in it. I already knew it had a great soundtrack. When the day finally came to go see it, it was perfect. Talented cast, amazing songs, beautiful costumes, extraordinary choreography...Everything that makes for a perfect Broadway experience.

And I was happy with it. Really.

But since then, I've just felt...Like even though it was perfect, it still wasn't enough. I had seen it before, albeit not on Broadway. And part of me still would have preferred to see Catch Me If You Can. I wanted to see THAT soundtrack and story brought to life on stage. And as grateful as I am to have had the chance to see Anything Goes, I feel like I would have enjoyed Catch Me If You Can more.

It probably doesn't help that all I can compare it to is Phantom of the Opera, and nothing will ever live up to how amazing that was.

Oh. Cats.

I don't think I've discussed these books before

I've had this book for a couple years and the pictures in it are amazing. It's worth buying just for those.

I love the past, so as soon as I heard about Vintage L.A., I knew I had to own it. But this wasn't just some random find.

Jennifer Brandt wrote another book I loved. I think I bought it when I was sixteen...That WAS a random find. I was at some book store, and the pink, yellow and blue pages of Life Is a Movie Starring You jumped off the shelf and caught my attention. I didn't even look to see what it was about, I just knew I had to buy it.

As it turns out, this book was pretty life changing. My love of the past grew more because of Jennifer's enthusiasm for it.

It almost reads like an etiquette book, but it's not one. All she is trying to do is tell you how to be the best version of yourself while still BEING yourself, and giving advice for younger girls and how to live through high school.

I loved the way she wrote and the words she used. And I still do. Even though I'm older now, this is still one of my favorite books and I will never, ever part with it.

I need to go through it and type of some of things she discusses in it because this really is a brilliant book.

What a nice surprise

Just opened Life Is a Movie Starring You for the first time in years and this was inside. Don't ask why.

Demon's Souls outline

So. I don’t normally plan out an entire game playthrough BEFORE I play it. I usually just go along with things and figure out what to do when the time comes.

However, when I went to record Demon’s Souls, I actually planned the entire game out. Start to finish. And I found my outline last week. It’s a REALLY basic outline, just the order in which I wanted to complete the levels and some notes here and there about things I would need. But it’s seriously the easiest way to complete that game. I only died twice (and that was due to my own stupidity, both deaths could have been avoided).

1-1

2-1
Get bow from 1-2 first (bring Shard of Archstone to leave 1-2)
Bring piercing weapon, +200 arrows
Have 18 strength

1-2
Bring 350 arrows for dragon and Tower Knight (350 is probably excessive)
Go back and get items from 1-1 by dragon

5-1
Learn Flame Toss before entering
Bring Fresh Spice and arrows

3-1
Use Soul Arrow on cthulhus

4-1
Bring arrows to kill tutorial boss
Have 18 strength, 13 dexterity for Uchigatana

2-2
Take shortcut
Learn Water Veil before entering
Learn Soul Ray before entering
Bring Purple Flame Shield

2-3
Bring Steel Shield
Unequip everything except shield

1-3
Save Biorr and Yuria
Bring Soul Ray

5-2
Bring arrows

5-3
Have 18 intelligence
Learn Warding before entering

4-2
Learn Firestorm before entering
Bring 200 arrows

4-3
Bring Warding
Equip Thief’s Ring

3-2
Equip any bow EXCEPT Lava Bow
Bring 200 arrows

3-3
Bring Firestorm
Equip Large Sword of Searching

1-4
Bring 600 arrows (600? Seriously?)
Have 30 Intelligence
Bring Firestorm, Warding

End
Kill Maiden in Black

Well when you put it THAT way...

Of course it sounds like a disease. But Phase Three and Phase Four are such extreme cases that it seems silly to even include them. Then again, some diseases do have extreme cases, so…

(I’m reading this from Delirium, mind you. Not writing this up on my own.)

Phase One:
*preoccupation, difficulty focusing
*dry mouth
*perspiration, sweaty palms
*fits of dizziness and disorientation
*reduced mental awareness; racing thoughts, impaired reasoning skills

Phase Two:
*periods of euphoria; hysterical laughter and heightened energy
*periods of despair, lethargy
*changes in appetite; rapid weight loss or weight gain
*fixation; loss of other interests
*compromised reasoning skills; distortion of reality
*disruption of sleep patterns; insomnia or constant fatigue
*obsessive thoughts and actions
*paranoia; insecurity

Phase Three (Critical):
*difficulty breathing
*pain in the chest, throat, or stomach
*difficulty swallowing; refusal to eat
*complete breakdown of rational faculties; erratic behavior; violent thoughts and *fantasies; hallucinations and delusions

Phase Four (Fatal):
*emotional or physical paralysis (partial or not)
*death