The Fireside

I finally got around to getting my N3DSXL. First game I got for it is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time . One of the reasons, is that I had always intended to get it pretty much straight away, but also because it seems that the game is hard to come by. I am not sure if the game is being phased out or dis-continued, or merely hard to find, due to Majora’s Mask being out, and another ‘ Zelda fever’ resulting .  I have others on my ‘list’ I plan to get. But what would I like to see arrive on it?? I already discussed how I would like to see The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess released for it. I did a post (“Improving the Twilight”), but wanted to add onto that that Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is similar, graphically, to its wii counter-part. Just saying. And, that would be the next time Nintendo remasters/re-releases/remakes an existing Zelda title. Perhaps make it an exclusive to the N3DS, as opposed to the 3DS as ‘incentive’.  Earthbo...

The day is finally here - Game of Thrones: Season 4 is now out on blu-ray! Most of the fans have most likely seen these episodes when they aired on HBO, or through other means, but now you can officially own all the episodes of season 4, plus lost of  extra goodies. So for those that buy the show on blu-ray, your pre-orders should be coming in anytime. You can buy the set pretty much anywhere that sells blu-rays. I also suspect that the season is on itunes by now, too. Makes waiting for season 5 a bit better (if you will be watching it 'this year'. If not, the blu-ray should be out around this time next year), and for the book readers, it will kill a little bit of time until Book Six. 

On the Love of Reading Foundation website, you are able to vote for which children's book you'd like to see find its way into kids' hands. Harry Potter. Narnia . Anne of Green Gables. The Hobbit. The Secret Garden. His Dark Materials. And many more. Or, you can 'nominate' a book. Either way, the charity is letting voters decide what books they will donate. In the number one spot with a lot of votes (over 5000 more than second place) is the Harry Potter box set. I myself voted for The Hobbit, in hopes of raising its position, and being included in the donation. Also, it's quite a nice edition, and is usually the one I gift (or would intend to gift)  You can take part here: https://www.lor10.ca/en/books And should you wish to nominate a school, head to : https://www.lor10.ca/en/schools/new

This may be impossibly optimistic, but I have a great idea on what Nintendo could do on the N3DS, which is coming out this Friday: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  I know, there are few muttering, shaking their heads, etc, wondering how a wii / gamecube game could make it onto the N3DS. With Wind Waker , Nintendo remastered the game in HD for the wii u. With Ocarina of Time and Majaora's Mask Nintendo also upped the graphical ante, and of course, made the games in 3D. But for Twilight Princess , suppose the game CAN'T look any better than in its current state. So therefore, we 'remake' it, as opposed to 'remastering' it. With Ocarina and Majora , (as well as Wind Waker ) Nintendo also 'tweaked' the games here and there, fixing (or improving) anything that they thought would better the game. Since 3DS games have a certain graphical limit in order for the system to run them, as gorgeous as they are, they are not graphically amazing by today...

I am going to attempt to dissaude you from seeing the film version of 50 Shades of Grey. Why? Because it's terrible. Both the books (and so far, the first film) have been getting really bad reviews. BUT. not to do with 'subject manner' but rather the quality of the writing of the book, and the film. Same thing happened with Twilight . I was not against YA books, or romance, or even YA romance books, but against crappy ones. Instead, let me direct you to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander . There is a series airing on Starz (new episodes begin airing in April), and it is based on a series of books (8 so far, with more to come). The books in order are: Outlander ( Cross Stitch to my friends across the pond) Dragonfly in Amber Voyager Drums of Autumn The Fiery Cross A Breath of snow and Ashes An Echo in the Bone Written in My Own Heart's Blood The novels are 'multi genre', but primarily fantasy (time travel) and romance (...romance...) Diana is a great writer, and ...

Or, you know, you could tell us what he makes.... Anybody notice how lately facebook is looking more and more 'scammier'? I'm not talking about ads or anything, but the whole 'if I get 1000 shares, my dad will buy me _". Facebook has been steadily filled with junk. That's to be expected as something grows in popularity, and more and more people use it. One thing I've found lately to be annoying are the titles of videos or articles that try to 'entice' you to keep reading. The photo at the very top of my post is great proof of that. We don't know what he's going to make, but apparantly it's going to be good. A more practical thing would be to just put the name of the recipe in the video: "man Makes Best Waffles Ever!" or something to that affect. Also, I noticed that a bunch of pictures and videos are being shared that show up in my news feed that have nothing to do with me. For instace, I may see a picture or video shar...

There is a current KickStarter campaign to bring a board game into fruition :  Cones of Dunshire . This game is, at the moment, fictional, existing on the show Parks and Recreation . Mayfair Games, the makers of Settlers of Catan , helped 'create' the game on the show, and now they have a KickStarter to help raise funds to produce a deluxe version of the game, as well as potentially a 'normal' one. From the wiki pages of Parks : GAMEPLAY: The game is for 8-12 Players. Playable characters include: 2 Wizards 1 Maverick 1 Arbiter 2 Warriors (the game CAN be played with only one warrior, but it's not as good) 1 Corporal 1 Ledgerman (Basically the scorekeeper, gets to wear a hat) Other characters include Shamans, Farmers, Alchemists, Abbotts, Brinksmen, etc. The game is a combination of luck and strategy. The object is to accumulate cones. 4 cones wins. In order to get a cone, players must build a civilization. To read more, and make a pledge, head to: https...

What with the news coming around lately of people not vaccinated etc, I thought this was worth sharing.... Dr. Gregory House : [examining a baby whose mother isn't vaccinating him because she feels it's a scam; House takes the child's stuffed frog] All natural, no dyes. That's a good business - all-natural children's toys. Those toy companies, they don't arbitrarily mark up their frogs. They don't lie about how much they spend on research and development. And the worst that a toy company can be accused of is making a really boring frog. Gribbit, gribbit, gribbit. You know another really good business? Teeny tiny baby coffins. You can get them in frog green, fire engine red. Really. The antibodies in yummy mummy only protect the kid for six months, which is why these companies think they can gouge you. They think that you'll spend whatever they ask to keep your kid alive. Want to change things? Prove them wrong. A few hundred parents like you decide the...

Judging from the preview for Game of Thrones: Season 5 , it looks this will be the final season of the show that is based on books that are already published. Which, basically means that the show 'will pass the books'. The book series, called A Song of Ice and Fire , began in 1996 with A Game of Thrones . A Clash of Kings  followed in 199, then A Storm of Swords  in 2000, followed by A Feast For Crows  in 2005, and most recently with A Dance With Dragons  in 2011. The books are quire large. 3 and 5 are the largest to date, with signs of the final two (at this moment, The Winds of Winter  and A Dream of Spring) being as large . They are so large, inf act that some of the bigger ones are about equal to two or three of another author's book. Plus, they are detailed. Lots going on. Anyway, the author is currently working on The Winds of Winter . He is, thanks mostly to the show, a celebrity author. So he's busy with that kind of thing. He's a person, too, that...