Hiatus
It was in 2001, on our trip to London, when David and I realized how American television has it all wrong. As you all know, they don’t do TV seasons over there. They do series. And every series is more or less independent in terms of its production schedule. If a show is popular, they’ll make another series. When they get around to it.
It’s pretty much the same system that HBO and the cable networks have adopted... with great success.
See, my theory, which you can see from my post about The Simpsons. Is that people get tired of things. And sometimes you need a break, even from things you love, before you ready for more.
A hiatus, if you will.
But what this is really about, is a hiatus of seven years and four years respectively. The Smashing Pumpkins released their last commercial album on February 29, 2000. The last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired May 20, 2003.
And in both cases, I’m glad it’s over. Mostly.
The new Smashing Pumpkins album came out a few weeks ago, and mostly I’m pleased. It has a few great songs on it. Great enough to make me okay with the rapid flaws on the album and in the “reunion” concept of this new Billy Corgan solo album. (As many die-hard Corgan fans might argue, the Pumpkins were always mostly just Billy and not James Iha or D’arcy.) After all, Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain are the other original members to return. Which definitely leaves some holes in the album.
As a whole, I would agree––as one critic put it––that the album has the feel of “well, how does Billy Corgan feel about the social and political issues or our day.”
It does, though, occasionally rock.
On the hand hand, there is Buffy Season Eight, which kicked off on in March... as a serialized comic book. And since then has completed the first story arc (the four-part The Long Way Home) and a somewhat-interesting one off (The Chain). And it’s really, really good.
It’s not surprising Joss Whedon has written most of the issues so far. And he outlined the entire story. So the feel of the characters the stories is spot on.
Now I just need to figure out what else I miss. Hmm. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve played a good 2D Metroid. Or a good 3D Mario. But I don’t miss Halo yet.
It’s pretty much the same system that HBO and the cable networks have adopted... with great success.
See, my theory, which you can see from my post about The Simpsons. Is that people get tired of things. And sometimes you need a break, even from things you love, before you ready for more.
A hiatus, if you will.
But what this is really about, is a hiatus of seven years and four years respectively. The Smashing Pumpkins released their last commercial album on February 29, 2000. The last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired May 20, 2003.
And in both cases, I’m glad it’s over. Mostly.
The new Smashing Pumpkins album came out a few weeks ago, and mostly I’m pleased. It has a few great songs on it. Great enough to make me okay with the rapid flaws on the album and in the “reunion” concept of this new Billy Corgan solo album. (As many die-hard Corgan fans might argue, the Pumpkins were always mostly just Billy and not James Iha or D’arcy.) After all, Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain are the other original members to return. Which definitely leaves some holes in the album.
As a whole, I would agree––as one critic put it––that the album has the feel of “well, how does Billy Corgan feel about the social and political issues or our day.”
It does, though, occasionally rock.
On the hand hand, there is Buffy Season Eight, which kicked off on in March... as a serialized comic book. And since then has completed the first story arc (the four-part The Long Way Home) and a somewhat-interesting one off (The Chain). And it’s really, really good.
It’s not surprising Joss Whedon has written most of the issues so far. And he outlined the entire story. So the feel of the characters the stories is spot on.
Now I just need to figure out what else I miss. Hmm. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve played a good 2D Metroid. Or a good 3D Mario. But I don’t miss Halo yet.
posted by M S Martinez at 8/21/2007 09:56:00 AM
2 Comments:
I hear you. BioShock came at the perfect time for me. A week ago, my desire to play video games was reawakened by a small bout of Perfect Dark challanges. Plus, it has been about a year since I have devoted any serious time to a game.
BioShock is pretty sweet. The Game Design is fabulous. The Art Deco and retro-future asethetic provides a wealth of fresh visual images to a rather genre. Still not entirely used to Dual Analog controls however.
Have you got a chance to pick up Brain Age 2 or Picross yet?
Brain Age 2 is pretty much the same as the original although I have curiously found it to be more "difficult" -- if that makes any sense. And Picross is basically a glorified Sudoku. But it is really hard to complain about either game at such cheap prices.
And while I really liked Puzzle Quest, I got nowhere near finishing it. A bit to monotonous after awhile.
Haven't touched Brain Age 2 or Picross. Rachel and I are doing some major budgeting now, so my video game expenditures have gone way done recently. And now I'm contemplating saving up my funds to buy an Xbox 360 or PS3 instead. (Mario Wii and Zelda DS are the only games I feel absolutely compelled to buy this year.)
Also, I never finished Puzzle Quest either. For the same reason.
So does Ben have the 360? And how is Bioshock?
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