Game Review: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Game Review

Zelda has been in my life for a REALLY long time. I've played most every Zelda game out there growing up(excepting the abominable Phillips CD-i renditions). I remember playing through Ocarina of Time for the first time. It was wonderful. It flowed. It was funny and had heart. It felt like how Zelda should be in a 3D world. It was a masterpiece. It was a world with characters that I cared about and could explore. Majora's Mask continued that but was haunting, dark, and moody. I loved it. I've never played a game quite like it.

The originals on the NES were brutal hard and epic. I remember calling the Nintendo Power 1-900 tip line cause I couldn't figure out how to get to the final town in Zelda II (ProTip: You can chop down the forests on the overworld map).

I remember playing A Link to the Past so many times I knew that game backward and forward. I remember envying that kid who won the Nintendo Power contest and was put into the game as a secret easter egg.

Wind Waker didn't do it for me that much except that I liked the art style and finding Hyrule under the ocean was the coolest thing ever. Maybe I just got bored sailing...

Twilight Princess felt like a rehash of Ocarina of Time to me. The wolf thing wasn't that interesting, there wasn't anything very new. I kinda got bored with it. That being said, it was still vastly superior to many other games out there, but with the Zelda pedigree, I want more. The art style felt cool, but ultimately won't hold up in years to come.

So now I embark on a new adventure... and I hadn't been nearly excited for it as I had been for Wind Waker and Twilight. Maybe because I didn't enjoy Twilight as much as I had hoped.  But as I picked up my Wii remote, wary of the glowing reviews, I set out on a nearly perfect Zelda experience.

Cello Wars

Gotta love it.

Why I've Lost Faith in the Political System

I've been thinking a lot about our current political situation. You see, I kinda saw this "Debt Crisis" as kind of a final exam for the people in Washington. "Okay, you've gotten bad grades in the past. You probably shoulda looked into this debt thing months or even years ago... but now it is crunch time, let's see you guys make it happen." And they failed. The let down America. They let me down. So I've been thinking about it all. Not just the "Debt Crisis" or whatever the most current problem happens to be, but the whole kit'n'kaboodle. The point is, there is no feeling of leadership to make things run smoothly. Not in Obama. Not in the Tea Party. Not in Boehner. Not in Mitt Romney, any other realistic Presidential Candidate (there are some that I'd think would do well, but I have severe doubts about how they will fair). Of course, unless you buy into all that crap, you aren't going to get the money to get elected in the first place.

You see, our political system is broken. Now let me be clear... Our Government Isn't Broken, just the people who run it have turned it into something horrible. The Constitution is one of the most amazing documents ever written and is vital to the success of our country. People sometimes interpret it differently from each other, and that is okay.It is still amazing. Our system of Checks and Balances and 3 segments of Government create an environment that makes it very difficult for corruption to set in and fester.

What doesn't work, however, is the bloodlust party system blanket that has been layed over the top of the Constitution rendering it inert. Every political outing is an out-and-out brawl. It is the Montagues and Capulets. A war this will continue endlessly for no reason other than Democrats and Republicans are enemies. 3rd parties aren't the answer either because they don't hold any useful sway in the modern rhetoric.

Moments That Matter Most

Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts

I really like this song. Especially this live piano version.

World's Biggest Water Balloon Fight

I thought this was kind of fun. It was filmed at the world record breaking of the largest water balloon fight at BYU in 2010.

Wheel of Time #wotrr - Winter's Heart - Prologue

Welcome to my Wheel of Time re-read! This will be the 1st post of many posts to come. Now you may be wondering, "Wait a second Krit, if this is a re-read, why in the world are you starting at Book 9?" Well I'm glad you asked, my good friends!

You see, everyone out there is doing a re-read out there right now. Check out Dragonmount.com for a list of some other re-reads that are going on. Well, I'm tired of starting at TEotW. Everyone does that. Recently, I think it was Terez (a notable WoT fan, especially via Twitter/Theoryland.com) that said we've all read TEotW n times, TGH n-1 times, TDR n-2 times, etc. Well. I'm starting most of the way through at Winter's Heart for that reason. So, in the interest of keeping things fresh for myself and my readers, this is what I've decided to do.

Perrin and his merry men

To begin, I like talk about the covers. I think they are interesting in how they represent a book. When I think
of Winter's Heart, the colors Blue and Purple come to mind every time. A cover is the 1st impression of a book. So seriously, WTF.

WoT Entries starting next week

Starting next week, I'll finally be starting my re-read posts for the Wheel of Time that I promised I'd do months ago. I haven't fully decided on the format yet, but look to my initial post http://www.kritpetty.com/2010/11/wheel-of-time-me-and-my-obsession.html as a starting place.

Look forward to seeing you all here!

The First Great Awakening - American Christianity Writings

*This is the first of a series of writings related to my American Christian history class that I will be writing this semester.

The First Great Awakening

George Whitefield spontaneously preaches to the masses, no meeting house necessary.

Every once in a while, you will be walking down the street and you’ll see some crazy homeless who starts yelling randomly “I’m Jesus God! I’m gonna’ save us all!” He will invariably yell some other crazy sounding blather your way and you will try to ignore him and go on your way.

Soon thereafter though, a smarter, not so crazy looking guy will show up on the news claiming that is indeed “The spirit that is in me is the same spirit that was in Jesus of Nazareth.” He is energetic about his opinion and seems to make a good case for his teachings. Everywhere this man travels and speaks, thousands rally to him to listen to what he has to say. He teaches that Sin no longer exists as it was taken away in Christ. People can do whatever they want and still be saved. There is a liberating feeling of Grace from their normal oppressive clergy, who insist that we must have faith, be Christ-like, or any other number of things that make their lives difficult.

This makes me happy

Jake Shimabukuro plays "Bohemian Rhapsody" | Video on TED.com

Chinese Wheel of Time - Coolest Gift Ever!

In case you don't know, I speak Mandarin Chinese somewhat fluently. Used to be better, but I don't use it as often as I should. My wife is also from China... anyway... that's important to understand this post.

So this year at Christmas, my dearest wife got me one of the neatest gifts of all time. She got me a Simplified Chinese translation of The Eye of the World, the 1st book in the Wheel of Time. Now, thumbing through it, I know that it is WAY past my current comprehension level of reading Chinese. However, my wife being a native Chinese person has no problem.

The Eye of the World - Book 1 of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

This is where it gets fun. My wife, while she has wonderful English, is understandably reluctant to read heavy or long materials in English. This is why we also own the entire Harry Potter series in Chinese as well. Well, last night we read Dragonmount together. She asked if the entire book is this detailed and slow... I laughed, and said, "That's what makes the world so real! The detail!" 

Thanks, Babe, for one of the best presents ever!

Family History

This may interest many in my family, and others as well... but this is a picture of everyone in my Family History spanning back 11 generations (not including myself). There are more people that have been researched, I plan on continuing to expand this tree... but it takes forever and the web browser responds super slowly.

Neat Photo

A week or two ago, the Provo tabernacle (one of the oldest buildings around these parts) burned down. Here is an interesting photo from the cleanup.

Lucas and Mommy dancing the night away

This is a fun video of Lucas and Cecilia dancing. Anytime she starts singing, he starts dancing.