blog

i haven't been posting much lately, and the one that i did post about collecting, i changed back to draft since i wanted to add a little more to it...however, the walking dead is back on tv, so i can at least post about that...also, i forgot about all the starred articles that i had saved in google reader, so you'll see some posts about those...back to the season premiere of the walking dead...

overall, i liked it...more happened in that one episode than most of last season...now they are used to killing zombies and not as easily frightened...carl is trusted enough to be allowed to clear out rooms by himself...t-dog is still just used as labor and not much else...why does he still only have a fireplace poker as a weapon...he should be using something like this...under 30 bucks on amazon...everyone seemed to have a decent weapon except him, which makes me think that he will get killed off...SPOILER...maybe merle will get his revenge...

cold steel battle club

i was interested in seeing how they would make it through winter, but i guess that would have been too difficult to shoot...something must have happened since rick can't stand being with lori...now that shane is gone, daryl is rick's right hand man...it'll be interesting when merle shows up to see how that affects daryl...it was pretty predictable that the zombie was still "alive" because of the way it was shot...in the comic, it's dale who is bit in the prison instead of hershel and has to have his leg amputated...i guess hershel is going to play that role now...michonne and andrea are friends, which is different from the comic, and they survived winter together...michonne has her two chained zombies but didn't explain why yet...a pretty good start to the season...it did seem like they increased the gore level...i understand that there is a horror element to it, but too much gore makes it look cheesy in my opinion...you also lose some of the suspense since they are now more apt to fight than hide...last season was a bit of a let down after a pretty good first episode, so i hope they find a good balance between action, moving the story along, developing the characters, and not losing the human aspect of the show this season

walking dead season finale

i liked it...a few things that bugged me...everyone now can make head shots of moving targets from a moving vehicle...when did everyone get so good?

carl dropping the lighter was kinda wasteful and risky...what if it didn't light...it's a barn with a bunch of flammable stuff around...light something else on fire and drop that instead and keep the lighter...

no way you can run as much as andrea did with a heavy, single-shoulder-strap bag of guns and ammo...unless andrea trained 3-4 hours a day like this prepper...i pictured her running instead of andrea in that scene for some reason...have to add my own humor to balance the intense nature of the show...there was another unintended funny scene, but i don't remember it

speed, endurance, and stealth personified

i still don't see the point of t-dog's character...he serves no purpose except manual labor...carol is annoying, but at least she knows she's a burden...i didn't understand lori's reaction...rick had no choice but to kill shane...unless she is mad that carl shot zombie shane...in the comic, carl is smarter and less annoying...he shoots a human shane before he tries to shoot rick...i think it might have been better if they kept it that way on the show...

rick's character is changing...like in the comic...he's becoming more hardened...it'll be interesting to see how much they follow the comic from now on, but rick will face a lot more problems if they do follow it...


spoiler warning...





season 3 is going to be about the prison...and we see michonne...casting wasn't done at the time, so it wasn't her in the episode but the role has been filled...danai gurira...haven't seen her in anything, but hope she does a good job...

i think they can make the sword play realistic...in the comic, she's supposed to have fencing training, so she has experience with swords...plus it makes sense...guns make a lot of noise and ammo will be harder to find...guns will serve as better protection against other people rather than zombies...

the key thing to take away from rick's dialogue about hunkering down...prisons keep people in, but they also keep people out...problem is can you trust the criminals already living in the prison?...or have a bunch of zombie prisoners

it might have been better if they kept sophia alive like the comic...carl might be less annoying with her around since he'll have another kid to interact with...also, in the comic, he is more resourceful and usually protects her...

spoiler end...


gonna be another long wait before season 3...next up though is game of thrones...winter is coming..i gotta get back to reading a feast for crows

walking dead

my prediction was wrong, but it was still pretty interesting to see how they did shane's death...i was wondering when that was going to happen...i think the comic is a little more dramatic since carl shoots a human shane right before he's about to shoot rick instead of shooting undead shane...now they'll have to burn all the dead...and based on the last bit with the all the walkers in the forest...slight spoiler time....

it's THE HORDE...

the walking dead (pseudo spoilery)

they killed off dale...in a way, it's a good thing, because he was getting a little annoying...however, carl is the one being annoying now, and what's the deal with t-dog?...he didn't have a single line in this episode...i really thought he was going to die in the season premiere...

dale's death symbolizes the death of civilization..."the walking dead" refers to the humans who have lost their humanity and not the zombies

i have an idea of what will happen...it's not really based on the comic, but i have an idea now of how they will tie the two story lines...don't read if you don't want to know, but it's only speculation and not a real spoiler


the kid they were going to execute escapes and goes back to his group, and his group is led by the governor...that's my guess...seeing how closely they follow the comic will be very interesting since so much happens in the governor story arc in the comic

walking dead trickery

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2012/02/there_are_a_lot_less_zombies_on_walking_dead_than.php

blood splatter and things like that are easy to spot as cg, but there is a lot that looks pretty real

walking dead game

http://www.shacknews.com/article/72478/the-walking-dead-rising-in-spring-talk-show-begins

looks like they're making an episodic game based on the comic...the video in the link has spoilers if you haven't read the comic and only watched the show...might be worth checking

another apocalypse type game that is coming out this year is "i am alive"...this game is different from other apocalypse type games like fallout in that it is about actually trying to survive...in games like fallout, you have tons of guns, ammo, armor, etc that make you pretty much invincible after you level up a bit, and the point of the game isn't really about survival but doing quests...this game takes a more realistic approach to survival...seems like it'll be one of those really exhausting, intense, and frustrating type games, which would make sense if you're trying to mimic an apocalyptic setting

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/121/1218107p1.html

tv

had some time to think about the season premiere of the walking dead, and here are some of my thoughts...don't read if you don't want to see spoilers...

1. the beginning where rick is talking on the walkie talkie...i thought it was a nice intro other than the fact that you wouldn't talk forever on a walkie talkie if the point is to try to get someone to respond to you...if you take the stance that he just wanted to vent, then that makes more sense...i would lean towards the latter since he's a cop and knows that he shouldn't hold down the talk button forever if he's trying to get a response

2.  the highway scene...that was probably one of the most intense scenes on tv i have seen in a long time...the frustrating part is how come dale (the guy on top of the rv with binoculars) didn't notice a massive "herd" making their way down the highway...even if they came out from the bushes from the side at an angle, he should have spotted them way sooner...i'm guessing that the motorcycle that daryl (crossbow guy) was riding attracted them...a super loud motorcycle seemed like a poor choice...you would think that they could make a stop at a car dealer or rental place and get better cars...how many times are they going to have the rv breakdown?

3. i thought t-dog was a dead man...it looked like he cut an artery and was going to die even before the walkers got to him...the blood was really gushing, but soon after the walkers pass, he's all bandaged up and good to go...i think they just wanted to add a little more gore for no real good reason there...i like the quick thinking where daryl covers himself and t-dog with dead bodies/zombies...some people are saying that the zombies should have been able to smell them, but i don't think their senses are that great...i just think that they can differentiate whether flesh is rotten or alive but not necessarily track with their noses...hearing seems to be what they rely on the most

4. they're learning to rely more on quieter melee style weapons than guns (they all need to carry the annihilator)...the scene where andrea tried to put the glock together was stupid...you just knew she was going to drop something and draw attention to herself...then the whole thing about her getting jealous because she couldn't get a gun was too petty...the fact that dale took the gun from her when it was hers was dumb too...the whole exchange with dale expecting gratitude from andrea was out of character...the show hasn't been following the comic that much, but with andrea focusing on guns, it may follow the comic for her...in the comic, she becomes very good with guns, especially rifles, and becomes the group's sniper

5. sophia getting lost was expected, but i didn't mind that...what i didn't like was carol (the mom) blaming rick and complaining instead of trying to look for her herself or even helping out while the others were out looking...she just stared out to the bushes doing nothing...she didn't even chase after her daughter when she ran off

6. carl (rick's son) is trying to help out more, which is like the comic...however, he comes off a little annoying...just poor acting, but he's a kid...in the comic, he's even given a gun early on and knows how to use it

7. daryl has become a team player, and even saved t-dog...he seems to be the most useful of the group, and it'll be interesting to see what happens when/if his brother returns...i also want to take up archery now

8. the scenes in the church where they prayed for help seemed forced...some random church out in the middle of nowhere with a repeating bell recording?...i won't even go into the idiocy of praying to a god that would have been responsible for the messed up situation that they are in

9. writing is on the wall for shane and looks like it might follow the comic...i won't reveal anyone else who dies in the comic

10. the preview of next week's episode looks like they'll be staying with the greene family on their farm...since carl's injury is serious and probably will not heal anytime soon (unless he has t-dog's healing power), the season might have most of them staying put on the farm...i do think that the group will split up

that's all for this episode...there are some annoying things about the show (poor acting by some hurts the show the most i think), but it's still one of the few good shows on tv...along with game of thrones

i also like bones, but it hasn't started yet...i also think this might be the last season

i have been trying to watch terra nova, but i keep forgetting about it...i missed the first hour of the series premiere and missed this week's episode...i like the concept, but i hate how they have to have a teenage storyline with some annoying emo kid...this was why i had trouble watching v and sarah connor chronicles, and it is starting to be the reason why i might stop watching terra nova

the walking dead

looks like a good start to the second season...the scene on the highway was pretty intense...the walkers seem to be able to walk faster in this episode...doesn't bode well if that is the case

webisodes

six webisodes on amc...the acting and writing stinks, but it's still suspenseful...only a little over a week until season 2

http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead

walking dead trailer

too bad i couldn't see this at comic con...the fan reaction must have been crazy afterwards...super intense trailer and looks like it'll be a good season...http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/the-walking-dead-season-2-trailer-from-comic-con or on youtube...the amc version is larger and better quality