Escaping Through Entertainment

[Koroviev]

The title makes it sound serious, but really this discussion is just for fun. The basic question is, where are you at, intellectually speaking?

What book(s) are you reading?
Which anime(s)/show(s) are you watching?
What music are you listening to?
What game(s) are you playing?

I'll take the plunge first:

Reading: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
...Much slower than Kafka on the Shore and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it's still Murakami, and it's still awesome.
Watching: Monster
...First anime I've watched in a while. It's subtle, serious, and I think it's going to go interesting places.
Listening to: Tron: Legacy Soundtrack/ Max Richter
...Not much to say. Go listen to it?
Playing: Persona 3 Portable (still)
...It's getting a little repetitive, but then, I'm still playing, so that's saying something. Game would be better with a more varied soundtrack (i.e. each area in the tower has its own music). Also, the characters are a little bland, in my opinion. Nevertheless, I am by all means looking forward to the next installment int he Persona series.

Brief descriptions are nice, as are critical remarks, but it's up to you.

 

[Palademon]

I'm intellectual, but books fial to keep my attention. First book i ever bought and read fully by choice was the 180 page prequel to Death Note, and I did it in less than a day, rather leisurely.

I recently watched both Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and am in my usual place of not knowing what to watch next.

I was jsut lsitening to some songs featured in Sonic games. I also like Rise Against and others.

Not playing a game, really. Today I was bored enough to attempt continuing Banjo Tooie, after I had finished my scecnd file on Banjo Kazooie recently.

 

[Talal Provides]

I'm reading Cars of the Soviet Union by Andy Thompson, listening to The Stooges and I have a pretty depressing Civilization V habit. Don't watch anime, so can't answer that one.

 

[Koroviev]

I'm intellectual, but books fial to keep my attention. First book i ever bought and read fully by choice was the 180 page prequel to Death Note, and I did it in less than a day, rather leisurely.

I recently watched both Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and am in my usual place of not knowing what to watch next.

I was jsut lsitening to some songs featured in Sonic games. I also like Rise Against and others.

Not playing a game, really. Today I was bored enough to attempt continuing Banjo Tooie, after I had finished my scecnd file on Banjo Kazooie recently.

Books are really a matter of taste. Furthermore, a lot of people have been trained to feel guilty if they don't like a particular book that is supposedly good, even more so if they fail to finish it. My advice to you, if you would like to get into reading, is that you pick a book based on the first few pages and overall subject matter. If it fails to captivate you, pass on it. Best way to do this is to browse books on Amazon, if the book offers a preview. It's how I discovered Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and I've been reading Murakami's work since.

 

[Agayek]

The title makes it sound serious, but really this discussion is just for fun. The basic question is, where are you at, intellectually speaking?

What book(s) are you reading?
Which anime(s) are you watching?
What music are you listening to?
What game(s) are you playing?

Books:

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks - Essentially the story about a "god-emperor" in a pseudo-religious magical system and the consequences of his twin brother going crazy.

The Necronomicon by HP Lovecraft - Shouldn't need a summary here.

Changes by Jim Butcher - Latest in the Dresden Files series of books. The series thus far have basically been noir PI stories where the main character is Gandalf. This one takes a turn away from the previous books in that there's really no mystery involved here, just a problem to be solved and the amazingness that happens in its resolution. It's even better than Dead Beat, which is the book in the series where the main character used Necromancy to reanimate a T-Rex and rode it into a group of evil Necromancers trying to wipe out Chicago.

Anime:

None at the moment. I just haven't had the desire to watch it.

TV:
Bones
Castle

Music:
Iron Maiden
Sabaton
Nightwish

Games:
Tron Evolution
Epic Mickey
Donkey Kong Country Returns

 

[Koroviev]

I'm reading Cars of the Soviet Union by Andy Thompson, listening to The Stooges and I have a pretty depressing Civilization V habit. Don't watch anime, so can't answer that one.

I'll edit it to be shows/anime. I just put anime because it seems fairly popular on the Escapist XD

 

[Talal Provides]

I'm reading Cars of the Soviet Union by Andy Thompson, listening to The Stooges and I have a pretty depressing Civilization V habit. Don't watch anime, so can't answer that one.

I'll edit it to be shows/anime. I just put anime because it seems fairly popular on the Escapist XD

For shows, then, it's my Mad Men Blurays (obviously) and I'm going through those horrible withdrawals that come every December when House goes on its first break.

 

[Koroviev]

The title makes it sound serious, but really this discussion is just for fun. The basic question is, where are you at, intellectually speaking?

What book(s) are you reading?
Which anime(s) are you watching?
What music are you listening to?
What game(s) are you playing?

Books:

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks - Essentially the story about a "god-emperor" in a pseudo-religious magical system and the consequences of his twin brother going crazy.

The Necronomicon by HP Lovecraft - Shouldn't need a summary here.

Changes by Jim Butcher - Latest in the Dresden Files series of books. The series thus far have basically been noir PI stories where the main character is Gandalf. This one takes a turn away from the previous books in that there's really no mystery involved here, just a problem to be solved and the amazingness that happens in its resolution. It's even better than Dead Beat, which is the book in the series where the main character used Necromancy to reanimate a T-Rex and rode it into a group of evil Necromancers trying to wipe out Chicago.

Anime:

None at the moment. I just haven't had the desire to watch it.

TV:
Bones
Castle

Music:
Iron Maiden
Sabaton
Nightwish

Games:
Tron Evolution
Epic Mickey
Donkey Kong Country Returns

I've tried reading multiple books at once, but it usually turns out that I favor one and fail to finish the others. I'll become more efficient eventually <__<

 

[Koroviev]

I'm reading Cars of the Soviet Union by Andy Thompson, listening to The Stooges and I have a pretty depressing Civilization V habit. Don't watch anime, so can't answer that one.

I'll edit it to be shows/anime. I just put anime because it seems fairly popular on the Escapist XD

For shows, then, it's my Mad Men Blurays (obviously) and I'm going through those horrible withdrawals that come every December when House goes on its first break.

That's why I like hopping on the bandwagon after the fact. Then I don't have to wait impatiently for the next episode XD

 

[Agayek]

I've tried reading multiple books at once, but it usually turns out that I favor one and fail to finish the others. I'll become more efficient eventually <__<

Yea, depends on the books themselves. The only reason that combo is really working is that I've already read Changes and Lovecraft's stuff is all rather short. I can take like a 20 minute break from work and read through one of his stories, so it makes getting through that relatively easy.

 

[Koroviev]

I've tried reading multiple books at once, but it usually turns out that I favor one and fail to finish the others. I'll become more efficient eventually <__<

Yea, depends on the books themselves. The only reason that combo is really working is that I've already read Changes and Lovecraft's stuff is all rather short. I can take like a 20 minute break from work and read through one of his stories, so it makes getting through that relatively easy.

I have a hard time finishing Lovecraft's stories. I understand that he had a big thing for toying with the English language, but the purple prose can be a little frustrating.

 

[Talal Provides]

I'm reading Cars of the Soviet Union by Andy Thompson, listening to The Stooges and I have a pretty depressing Civilization V habit. Don't watch anime, so can't answer that one.

I'll edit it to be shows/anime. I just put anime because it seems fairly popular on the Escapist XD

For shows, then, it's my Mad Men Blurays (obviously) and I'm going through those horrible withdrawals that come every December when House goes on its first break.

That's why I like hopping on the bandwagon after the fact. Then I don't have to wait impatiently for the next episode XD

I wish I could keep away from House but OH GOD HOUSE AND CUDDY ARE A THING NOW AND THE CRACKS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP ARE STARTING TO SHOW GODDAMN IT WHY AREN'T YOU BACK ON UNTIL JANUARY 17TH I NEED MY HOUSE.

 

[Chaosweaver]

What book(s) are you reading?

Hunters of Dune - Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson. Been steadily working my way through all of the Dune books for about 3 years now.

Got a stack of books I haven't started yet by Terry Pratchett, Matt Reilly, Stan Nicholls as well as some more Dune books.

Which anime(s)/show(s) are you watching?

Don't watch anime, never saw the attraction.
DVDs - Battlestar Galactica (the new one) season 4, South Park season 1 (so much quotable shit) and Matrioshki (a Belgian series about the white sex slave trade in Eastern Europe).

What music are you listening to?

Lots of stuff, this week it's been - Iced Earth, Madder Mortem, Nevermore, Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Dark Tranquillity, Something for Kate, Arch Enemy, Ayreon, God Forbid, In Mourning, Sonata Arctica, Fear Factory, Apocalyptica, Bloodbath, Katatonia, Draconian and Dreadnaught (pulled from my last.fm stats for this week).

What game(s) are you playing?

Just finished Mass Effect 2 (again), recently put 152 hours into Fallout: New Vegas (will come back to it when DLC comes out for PC) and started Oblivion again after I saw the announcement about Skyrim.

 

[Koroviev]

I'm reading Cars of the Soviet Union by Andy Thompson, listening to The Stooges and I have a pretty depressing Civilization V habit. Don't watch anime, so can't answer that one.

I'll edit it to be shows/anime. I just put anime because it seems fairly popular on the Escapist XD

For shows, then, it's my Mad Men Blurays (obviously) and I'm going through those horrible withdrawals that come every December when House goes on its first break.

That's why I like hopping on the bandwagon after the fact. Then I don't have to wait impatiently for the next episode XD

I wish I could keep away from House but OH GOD HOUSE AND CUDDY ARE A THING NOW AND THE CRACKS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP ARE STARTING TO SHOW GODDAMN IT WHY AREN'T YOU BACK ON UNTIL JANUARY 17TH I NEED MY HOUSE.

Hmm, maybe I should start watching it...for Olivia Wilde ;D

 

[Koroviev]

What book(s) are you reading?

Hunters of Dune - Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson. Been steadily working my way through all of the Dune books for about 3 years now.

Got a stack of books I haven't started yet by Terry Pratchett, Matt Reilly, Stan Nicholls as well as some more Dune books.

Which anime(s)/show(s) are you watching?

Don't watch anime, never saw the attraction.
DVDs - Battlestar Galactica (the new one) season 4, South Park season 1 (so much quotable shit) and Matrioshki (a Belgian series about the white sex slave trade in Eastern Europe).

What music are you listening to?

Lots of stuff, this week it's been - Iced Earth, Madder Mortem, Nevermore, Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Dark Tranquillity, Something for Kate, Arch Enemy, Ayreon, God Forbid, In Mourning, Sonata Arctica, Fear Factory, Apocalyptica, Bloodbath, Katatonia, Draconian and Dreadnaught (pulled from my last.fm stats for this week).

What game(s) are you playing?

Just finished Mass Effect 2 (again), recently put 152 hours into Fallout: New Vegas (will come back to it when DLC comes out for PC) and started Oblivion again after I saw the announcement about Skyrim.

I have a GOTY edition of Oblivion that I've barely touched. Hopefully I can try to remedy that during the holiday break XD

 

[Torrasque]

Brief descriptions are nice, as are critical remarks, but it's up to you.

Oh wow, this is actually pretty long, so I'll put some time into my response.

Where am I at intellectually speaking? Well I can think of 3 different ways to answer that, but they all require alot of explanation I don't feel like getting into (mostly because they are TL;DR and boring) so I'll just say: relieved. Finals are over after I finish my last one in 2 hours, and I can enjoy christmas as much as I want for the next three weeks! YAY!

Books: I recently finished a really good trilogy and am reading the manga series Genshiken that my friend wanted me to read. They are amazingly short compared to the kind of stuff I am used to reading, so I'll probably be finished them in about 3 hours of reading, after that I will read *looks at book* The Black Prism by Brent Weeks. I have read his other books The Night Angel Trilogy and I could not put the books down... so hopefully this book will be the same kind of good-ness. Hope that answer satisfies.
Anime: Last anime I finished was Sekirei seasons 1 & 2 last weekend, and I have other stuff to do currently, so I have no animes to watch right now, but I might watch Ghost in the Shell (all of them) sometime in the near future.
Music: I found this one guy on youtube that metal-ifies alot of old-school songs and sound fucking awesome. Here is his youtube chan if you wanna check him out: http://www.youtube.com/user/331Erock I am currently listening to his Mortal Kombat remake
Games: Playing WoW and Borderlands currently. I throw in some Brawl whenever my friends come over, and its been a few days since I played Reach, so not sure if that falls into this category.

Critical analysis? I can analyze my own stuff if thats what you mean.

You might not be into manga, so I won't suggest Genshiken. Its pretty funny, and I enjoy it.
Read Brent Weeks if you like fantasy. Out of all the fantasy books I have read, most of them have been hard to put down when reaching the end. From start to finish, all of his books are almost impossible to put down... Very well written, I suggest his Night Angel series to everyone I meet, definitely one of the best series I have ever read and I read alot.

Sekirei... lol... If you like boobs and silly-ness in your anime, check out Sekirei. It was made by the same guys that made Ikki Tousen, and is very much the same.
If you have not watched Ghost in the Shell at all, go watch it right now. I don't mean "when you get a chance", I mean stop reading this right now, and go watch it right now. Then watch Birdy: The Mighty. The two best anime I have ever watched, and I watch alot of anime... Ghost in the Shell is a little difficult to find online, but Birdy (the first season anyways) is on Funimation's youtube chan in english and sub to watch for free. Go check it out now... go ahead, this post will be here when you come back.

If you like metal, amazing guitar, or Never Gonna Give You Up done in metal form, go check out that guy's youtube page. His songs are available for free download in the description, and they are all very well done. I won't suggest any other music I listen to because that list is very long indeed.

Lawl, chances are you already have opinions on WoW. Beh, Cataclysm is what Wrath of the Lich King was +1. Borderlands is fun, and I haven't had a chance to play multiplayer yet, but I've heard that is extremely fun so I'll have to try it sometime soon. Single player is still very fun. Brawl is still fun even after all this time, and we play old school Super Smash Bros every once in a while. Like WoW, you probably have opinions on Reach. I enjoy it as my casual FPS since I hate Black Ops with a fiery passion.

*phew*

I'll come back to this thread after studying and writing my final (which is in an hour and a half now).

 

[Talal Provides]

I'm reading Cars of the Soviet Union by Andy Thompson, listening to The Stooges and I have a pretty depressing Civilization V habit. Don't watch anime, so can't answer that one.

I'll edit it to be shows/anime. I just put anime because it seems fairly popular on the Escapist XD

For shows, then, it's my Mad Men Blurays (obviously) and I'm going through those horrible withdrawals that come every December when House goes on its first break.

That's why I like hopping on the bandwagon after the fact. Then I don't have to wait impatiently for the next episode XD

I wish I could keep away from House but OH GOD HOUSE AND CUDDY ARE A THING NOW AND THE CRACKS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP ARE STARTING TO SHOW GODDAMN IT WHY AREN'T YOU BACK ON UNTIL JANUARY 17TH I NEED MY HOUSE.

Hmm, maybe I should start watching it...for Olivia Wilde ;D

Olivia Wilde has only been in a couple episodes this season. Her character has been temporarily written out so she could be in Tron. Doesn't matter, though, since Lisa Edelstein is the real hotness in that show, anyway.

 

[Koroviev]

Olivia Wilde has only been in a couple episodes this season. Her character has been temporarily written out so she could be in Tron. Doesn't matter, though, since Lisa Edelstein is the real hotness in that show, anyway.

*Googles Lisa Edelstein*

...

...She's all right, but she doesn't really do it for me. Olivia Wilde is part of the reason I want to see Tron in spite of the negative critical reviews it has been receiving XD

 

[The Wykydtron]

Going through ME2 on Insanity and going for the no squad deaths cheevo'

Also thinking about borrowing my friends PS2 and buying Persona 4 do I need to play Persona 3 first?

Several animes are on my to watch list

Finish Lucky Star, finish CLANNAD After Story (the foreshadowing of Nagisa's death is so freaking obvious! If she lives i'll eat my laptop)

No music ATM here's some for lols
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIlP488n14


Thanks for not making this thread as deep as the title makes it sound OP, i've been through enough of them today plus i would have had to use a quote from my Avatar and DEFEND IT TO THE DEATH!

 

[Koroviev]

Going through ME2 on Insanity and going for the no squad deaths cheevo'

Also thinking about borrowing my friends PS2 and buying Persona 4 do I need to play Persona 3 first?

Several animes are on my to watch list

Finish Lucky Star, finish CLANNAD After Story (the foreshadowing of Nagisa's death is so freaking obvious! If she lives i'll eat my laptop)

No music ATM here's some for lols
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdIlP488n14


Thanks for not making this thread as deep as the title makes it sound OP, i've been through enough of them today plus i would have had to use a quote from my Avatar and DEFEND IT TO THE DEATH!

I'm not sure about that. It's probably a good idea, but I wouldn't go with the original Persona 3. If you can, go with Persona 3 Portable, as it has the improved mechanics of 4 (being able to control all of your team members in battle, for example), but maintains the story for which it has received praise. Not much to say about Persona 4. I've heard it's wonderful, even that it's the Swan Song of the PS2, so I'd waste no time in checking it out, especially as it becomes more scarce (Atlus, why you gotta be so obscure!?! D.