Category Archives: Freya

A Trip Back In Time

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Today we went to a special kind of shop that, despite my belief that it had become extinct many years ago, still exists. If you are willing to look hard and long enough.

In this shop you can find modern and old films in the form of DVD’s. If you find one that appeals, the owner of the shop will lend it to you for a sum of money (usually disclosed on a sign somewhere within the establishment). The recipient of the (hopefully entertaining) film then has twenty-four hours in which to watch the film, before returning it to the pleasant person behind the counter of the shop from which the DVD came. If the person whom is to recieve the DVD has not yet risen to open the shop then a handy deposit box is usually available to accept and secure the film on the tardy shop owner’s behalf.

It is both quaint and reassuring that such shops operate in the age of downloading and streaming, and, in our case, we were gladdened to peruse and gain access to a DVD that we wanted to watch: UP.

It does not happen very often that we as a family sit down in front of the TV to watch a film together. The coming autumn weather will probably kindle the urge to view more films, and we hope to catch up on the many motion pictures that have passed us by the last few years.

Good film, by the way.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, it’s always something-to-do o’clock

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As I have surely mentioned before, I have had a problem with stress. It started around about the time I became a parent, and has haunted me on and off ever since. Now, I am not saying in any way that I regret having children – it has been the best thing I have done in my life.

The last few weeks have been quite good. Even with my daughters going back to nursery school after a long summer holiday, they have made the transition to normal routines very easily. This has helped me enormously in the mornings, where all goes smoothly without tears or frustration (on their and my part respectively). A large part of that is due, no doubt, to us all getting a good night sleep.

I still have a few problems with the evening routines. Having things done by a certain time (snack, getting ready for bed, reading a book, getting them to sleep) still gnaws away at my patience, and I hope that a bit of hard work to break down these regimented times will reap rewards.

Red, White and Blues

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The world cup is well under way, and England are playing appallingly. Their first match against USA ended in a draw, their second group match also left the team with a draw against Algeria. In both matches England could not get it together and left many fans angry. I understand the feelings of those fans – we looked promising in the games running up to the competition – but this should be a time when the fans rally in support of the frustrated players who, despite the comments of some, probably do want to win.

England are not the only top team to feel the pressure: France, Germany and Spain all lost their second matches. Nearly all the groups have just one decent team, so everyone else is vying for a second place, which guarantees a place in the playoffs. It would therefore be quite natural for those teams to try and come away with a point from the matches where they play the more favoured sides. A more defensive strategy may be the reason why England (and others) are finding it difficult to score goals.

Freya and Zelda have been around for the England games. I’d like to say they were watching and supporting, though I think they enjoyed the experience more because of the popcorn and juice they got. They have donned their England shirts and kept them on for most of the games. And for the first match they had their faces painted with the English flag.

We have one more match, which we must win, on Wednesday. I remain confident that England can sort out the problems they have had. Otherwise it will be a serious let down.

Being Nintendoed

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Freya, after twenty-two hours of gameplay your interest in Paper Mario has yet to wane. As a family we are currently well over half way through the adventure. You suggest logical and smart solutions to any problems we encounter; your gaming experience bleeds over into real life, as you readily identify objects around us that resemble the Mario world. And you are able to paraphrase happenings and recall some names of the multitude of different strange characters we meet.

You have also commenced Mario Kart on the Wii. Within a week your ability to steer using the not-so-friendly steering wheel has improved greatly. So much so that the other day you won your first cup. Even though it is far from uncommon for children to show this type of ability, Mum and I are impressed. Oh, and proud.

We have been playing so often that Zelda, now just starting to show her first language development spurt, often says Mario, though she pronounces it” Mao”. Personally I see more resemblence to Stalin, but she is only eighteen months old.

Family Fun

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Freya was in the mood to play video games this weekend. It started off with a bit of bowling, tennis and Mario Kart on the Wii. She soon got tired of playing them, and asked if I had anything else. I didn’t think I did have much that was suitable for a five year old, but I found the classic hack and slash (and one of my favourite childhood games). Gauntlet. lurking in a pile of Playstation 2 games. She loved it, and we played for an hour or so, working our way through the never-ending hordes of ghosts, grunts, demons and the like.

After a few sessions of Gauntlet, Freya decided she wanted to try out something else. Jo and I had been talking about introducing her to the world of Mario, so we bought out Paper Mario on the Wii. Not only is Paper Mario typical of the Mario series, with secret areas abound and devilishly wonderful level design, but Mario can flip from a 2D to 3D. Sadly my writing skills are not finely honed enough to comprehensively explain what this does to the game, but it brings a fantastic dimension to the game play, and is a far cry from Gauntlet or Dora that Freya has been playing of late.

Jo, Freya and I played Paper Mario all Sunday afternoon, taking it in turns and helping each other get through the levels. Freya sometimes lacked the self confidence to attempt a few parts of the levels, but generally she picked up the idea and method of control very well. She even managed to keep up her interest through the (way too long) conversations that drove the game forward. And she gave the big boss on the first level the coup de grâce.

Going back to Gauntlet, I used to write a gaming blog. I found this entry about the very version that Freya and I have enjoyed playing:

Sunday, January 16. 2005

Re-living Gauntlet

Gauntlet has been in my top-ten arcade games for as long as I remember. It was with a great deal of pleasure and
anticipation, then, that I went out and bought Midway Arcade Treasures on the PS2. Having played it for 2 evenings
solid, two-player mode, I now realise that Gauntlet is less a game, and more a form of entertainment.

There is, like many other games of its time, no real objective, and no end. The difference with this and its peers is that
there is unlimited life, as long as you had the money to buy extra health. Nearly all the other classics had a “10p for
three lives” premise, which meant that you had to be good to progress and get the high-score. It was not important to be
good at Gauntlet : being rich was good enough.

The console incarnation allows you to add extra health by a simple click of a button, which, for most people, is far too
tempting to ignore.

And so, because of the relative simplicity of the game, after the initial retro-rush, I was left suitably unimpressed. There
was not enough development in the game to warrant my interest. 100 levels was more than enough (and I only played
this much because I was unaware there was no end).

I still have a fondness for Gauntlet, and will still feature high on my list as an arcade-game. I don’t think I’ll be playing the
console version again (until I get Gauntlet 2 on Midway Arcade Treasures vol.2).