"Fuck this, Dude. Let's go bowling."
- (the great) Walter Sobchak
Been playing a whole lot of Sims 2 lately. Say hello to The Dude. ("that or uh, His Dudeness, or uh Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing") He's quite a lazy slob, shy and playful, but easily the coolest and nicest fella in the neighbourhood, umm in Pleasantville. The Dude had held several slacker jobs from a golf caddy to general store's clerk, radio DJ and projectionist. He is currently a video editor and works 4-days-week. Recently gained a windfall for suggesting to a group of producers to add some Raging Rabbits into a film, which made it a hit. One of the producers transferred his estate of $80k to The Dude. The Dude currently has no idea what to do with all that money. His best friend, Walter, may have some suggestions.
Here, the Duder's trying to paint a portrait of a lady. Had one of those inspired moments, I guess.
The Dude chilling out on the front porch of The Dude's Palace.
Just another day for the Dude. Ever popular with the ladies.
Dude taking a snooze on the couch.
Samurai X
Just watched two excellent episodes of the anime, Samurai X. They were the episodes featuring a confrontation between Kenshee and Saito, and where Suijiro (the boy villian) made his first appearance. So what makes Samurai X so great an anime? It is everything- a brilliant narrative, the composition of shots, excellent haunting background music, and even the opening themes by the jap band, Judy and Mary. We followed faithfully- Kenshee's struggle to leave behind his past, to redeem himself from this past, his stand against the authority and ultimately, his search for his true self. Although Samurai X boasts plenty of sword fights and violence, it does not glorify violence. Kenshee fights because he has to. As his friend, Sanosuke, firmly puts it, "He (Kenshee) will not kill for any authority." Also in this episode, Kenshee pondered while he stood on a bridge over a river, whether he should become involved in an uprising, where he will have his hands stained with blood again. A narrative (of his thoughts) ran in the background, "In order to understand my true self, I will have to recognize the presence of my Battousai's (Slasher/violent) past and give it a chance." This seemed like the echo of the voices of many Japanese. In order to move on, there has to be recognization of this past and a reconciliation of the past and the present. These enduring characters and everything else fit together nicely to make Samurai X one of the better animes around. /plug
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