Lego Train Track

I have a LEGO Train, no power functions yet, and no track yet. I would like to get all of that, to have a decent layout. But …

Lego don’t have any good track in their shop at home store, there is some on eBay for WAY TOO MUCH MONEY! It was $15.99 at one time in the store, now it’s not there, and on eBay it’s way above, from $50 on up, mostly, auctions sometimes a little lower, or a lot more, and buy-it-now up and up and up. It’s way too steep for me, and LEGO really should put that package back into the store.

I do not want to, nor will I do so, make a track with “flexible track” only. That’s my option right now. Thus I have none and see no time in the future that I can get any.

It’s frustrating. LEGO 10194 Emerald Night is a great looking train, and I want to run it around a track, but there is no reason to even get power functions for it when there is no good track to be had. I suppose I should get them anyhow, just in case they stop stocking the power functions I need.

Starhawk Public Beta & PS3

I was invited to the Starhawk Private Beta in 2011, thus automatically included in the Starhawk Public Beta right away, though I’d have been anyhow since I’m PS Plus. One of my children had gotten an invite to Starhawk Private Beta also, so he’s in with the Public Beta too.

No other family members have been able to play it yet. Still another month before it’s truly open to the public without invite. FWIW that’s fine with me ;)

There are troubles in our house about where the PS3′s are and who can play what, or when. There are obliging rules that just are common sense, ask or tell intentions, or ask or something else. Like, I have the 2nd PS3 in my craftroom/office with my Playstation Monitor. Makes sense, but it doesn’t make sense for someone to go in there and play Warhawk, go in there and shut the door, and not tell anyone that they are there. Then I go there to either play Starhawk, clean up, organize, or craft, and when I open the door expecting a dark room with no one in it, I get the shock of my life (every time it happens!)

It’s a small room, quite small. Not a room for someone to stand there playing a game and someone else doing crafting or organizing, I’ve tried it before, it’s just not something that works. It’s a one-person space, the way the electricity and internet are in the room it’s the only place to put the Monitor, my desk, ps3 is right there in the corner at the front where the door is. There’s a big table behind with a lot of my craft stuff on it, and then a big cabinet full of my other craft stuff, a file cabinet with the printer on top. That’s it, just crammed full. With me in it, it is comfortable. Some other people are way bigger.

All I ask is let intentions be known, ask for my preference. I’d say, please take the PS3 upstairs for awhile. Just turn it off, unplug it and move it up, then move it back. Please.

Or … kick them off the big TV in the living room.

So it goes, I didn’t get to play much Starhawk in December 2011. It just didn’t work out. I prefer playing with someone in my house, either Starhawk or Warhawk. So I just can’t play with my son if the PS3 is being used by someone else in my office. Or if it was out of my office.

I’ve told my son that I’d prefer they only play with the livingroom PS3 would be when their Dad isn’t home, or in the afternoons when he’s working IF they get the school work done. Otherwise they can use their handhelds if they must game. Leave the livingroom for their Dad.

I want to play Starhawk more. I’ve actually considered getting the PS3 #2 and the monitor into the livingroom so we can all play together, then putting it back down again. A pain, but not such a pain as having to yell up and down to each other. Also, it’s just part and parcel with my other idea, get the PS3 out of my office and bring it to my bedroom if you must play Warhawk on one of the smaller screens.

Why do I want the PS3 in my office? I have a place for it, it goes nicely with the PS Monitor, I can watch 3D movies there, invite my children to view one of the movies when I want to. I only have 1 pr. of 3D glasses. With how often I can use the 3D features, or 2D gaming, it makes sense to have it in my room. But it makes sense then to move it temporarily upstairs when Daddy doesn’t want to game in the livingroom.

OK, thanks. Anyhow, I like Starhawk, but would like to play it more, I have yet to even ever get into a Hawk. I never was comfortable in Warhawk flying, and still am not. I like ground combat just fine, and have much room for improvement. I only get better with more practice. Plus now my daughter picked out Tron Evolution as a game for me today when they were at GameStop looking for a DS and PSP game, and got 1 free if they bought 2. That’s a 3D game, so I’d like to be able to use that, watch the movie again, play the 3D game that came with the monitor(Motorstorm …), play Resistance 3 … lots and lots of gaming I could do there, plus Bejeweled 3 which I got for Christmas and haven’t played yet. And, there are other games and movies. I have a traveling salesguy husband. So my office is a haven for crafting, movies, and gaming.

The PS3 is a slim one and is easily moved to another location for sometimes if wanted. My position is viewed as selfish. Well, it might just be that, but it’s the only place that is mine, and I’d be fine sharing the PS3 the way I note above, I am jealous for my space, that’s a given that no one can understand if they don’t get it. I mean getting it would be understanding and understanding only comes when … ah, well, not worth saying anymore.

I just want to play and get leveled up and watch and do some more. I’ve given up having the PS3 in the bedroom until we get a 3rd. That means no discs to watch at night in bed. That’s OK. I’d bring up the PS3 if I want it, but I hate gaming in there. Have always hated it. It’s not my thing. He’s loved it. So it’s a compromise, he can use it there in the bedroom, I’d prefer it’s home base to be in my office. If it’s that big of a deal, then don’t use it. Or ask ME to move it for the time and move it back again. You don’t have to move it, just ask me to do it.

Starhawk is cool anyhow. It’s gonna be way better when it comes out as a full game. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get it right away, or how many copies we’ll be able to get. We need a 3rd PS3, it’s not just a game thing, it’s a wonderful Blu-ray player. So it’s not my place to make a decision, I don’t make any money. I’m a nobody. FWIW

Wikipedia is blacked out for 24 hours today

I support their move. It’s hard on us though. Just bit me. I knew about it ahead too. But it’s a truth universally acknowledged, show people how bad something could be, and they will finally believe it.

I do applaud their blackout on January 18, 2012.

Every Category in this blog system is applied to this post, therefore, and every TAG … it’s just not reasonable to list every tag, so I’ve used ‘Everything’ and ‘Nothing’ as my TAGS.

Movie Weekend

Thursday night was the Grand Opening for our local theatre. It’s something I’ve wished for, a long time, and that wish was granted rather close to home. Just a few miles away, there’s a brand new Carmike theatre, and it’s really nice.

We usually drive over 20 miles to get to a shopping area that has theatre and such. Carmike is cheaper and being so close now, wow, so much “cheaper” to see movies on the big screen.

Opening night they had a slew of “old” movies to choose from for $1 each. We saw The Three Musketeers (2011) and it was really good! The sound was good and the picture good, screen quite large (compared to most theatres around, regular screens, that is) and it was all better than good, it was as good as it can get.

The movie itself we really enjoyed, the voices, sounds, music all came through awesomely, gorgeous music, and the entire film was engaging and quite fun. It’s something the “critics” don’t like. Well, it was good, the twist was fine, it wasn’t something to complain about.

I look forward to owning it on Blu-ray.

Friday (yesterday) my hubby & I did some errands, and saw another movie. I wanted to see Mission Impossible in IMAX, so we did that at our “other” movie place. It was really awesome! Glad we got to see it in IMAX.

Our local theatre went to “regular programming” on Friday. We are going to see Sherlock Holmes later today (Saturday) — something we almost were going to see on Christmas Day, but with everything the way it went, we didn’t. Local theatre was gonna open in the Fall of 2011, but it didn’t until just the other day. We had started a tradition (most years) of going to an afternoon movie on Christmas Day. Spending too much on presents, we decided not to do it this year, plus the allure of the local theatre, 5 minutes away, not being there but which was going to be (so we thought all year [2011] long.)

There are a lot of movies coming out that we’d like to see. Having a theatre close is good. Not such a bad thing for us, close to home, no long drive to and from. Though next week Underworld comes out, and IMAX is the place for it. It’s just the way it is.

I love that IMAX screen, and I do like a theatre that has regular large screens, and good sound, loud but not distorted, well placed, well done. Carmike has done that nearby, haven’t seen BigD yet, but we will. So, then I can compare that to the IMAX theatre I know.

Time Stretch

This week has gone slower than the week before and the week before and the week before and the week before. It’s just perspective, but even so, it’s as real and anything can get.

A new year dawned 6 days ago. Christmas even longer ago. Getting to each event was fast. Now with this one new week, they seem so distant, removed and far away. At some point in the last two weeks in our house we were talking about the PS Vita “that it’s only … away!” when we’d get ours. Now it feels stretched out of reach, just over the horizon, something that was right in view all the time, anxious for the day to arrive, now it seems further away than ever.

It’s only perspective. It’s been one of those weeks, this and that, news of internet stuff, be it threats of one group or another, to make things unpleasant for many, many folks. These times are insane, it doth seem.