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Okay. So Wednesday was a quiet day; Caro and I ventured out of the house only to go to a convenience store (where I found a miniature version of our gallon jugs filled with chocolate milk; Carolyn didn't believe me when I tried to explain why it was so cute), and later rent videos. We got Sleepy Hollow, 'cos I'd never seen it, and Labyrinth, 'cos Caro couldn't remember having seen it. Sleepy Hollow was okay, and Carolyn and I were highly amused by the fact that one of the Horseman's victims is played by Richard Griffiths, aka Vernon Dursley.
Yesterday we went to see PotC. Usually by the fifth time I'm seeing a movie, I'm starting to get bored, but not so with Pirates. I had a blast. We're idly considering seeing it again today, possibly twice.
Then I sat down to try out Carolyn's copy of American McGee's Alice. The basic premise is that it's a sequel of sorts to the Lewis Carroll Alice stories; Alice's family was killed years ago in a fire that she managed to escape from, and she's been in an asylum ever since, catatonic. One day she's called back to Wonderland because it needs her help. The Red Queen has taken over in her absence and Wonderland has become a terrifying place to be, dark and twisted and shadowy. To give you an idea: Alice walks around with bloodstains on her dress and the first weapon she finds is a butcher's knife. I wanted to play it because I bought it a few years ago and have yet to live in a house with a computer that can actually support it. Frustrating waste of forty bucks. It's a fantastic game, in a couple senses of the word. I love it so much that even though I'm a Mac snob, I'm considering having my first computer be a PC just so I can play my copy. And this from someone who sucks at computer games that involve any sense of logic or stategy at all. The most complicated I can usually get is The Sims, but the easy version of Alice is helping me learn how to think like a computer game, or at least an RPG one.
(Carolyn, on the other hand, was sure she'd have nightmares just from watching me play. I'll have to ask her if she did when she gets up. Had I been alone, I'm not so sure I would have been especially keen to play it myself after it got dark out.)
So, yes. That's my rave review. Now for a couple of cultural differences I've noticed.
* In Canada, public bathrooms are called washrooms. This makes so much sense I can't even stand it - after all, there is no bath. As for restrooms, where does the resting happen exactly? I mean, I suppose if you're really exhausted anything that involves sitting is a rest, but still.
* The McDonalds have double Big Macs and the meat patties are peppered. Sizes, shock of shock, are smaller than in gluttonous America - I got a medium-sized value meal, and the fries and drink were just a little bigger than our smalls. For that matter, I'm fairly certan that the "double" Big Mac wasn't that much bigger than our regular ones. Amazingly, I found it just as satisfying as an American Super Sized one.
* Canada carries Cadbury products year round, not just in the spring. Cadbury makes regular candy bars along with the cream eggs.
* Canada has French all over everything; road signs, product labels, everything. I know people know this, but there's a big dfference between knowing it and seeing it EVERYWHERE. I find it vaguely annoying and cannot explain why. I have no problem with the French (freedom fries my ASS) and, now that I am done taking the class, I rather like the language. So, I have no idea what's going on in my head.
The end.
Yesterday we went to see PotC. Usually by the fifth time I'm seeing a movie, I'm starting to get bored, but not so with Pirates. I had a blast. We're idly considering seeing it again today, possibly twice.
Then I sat down to try out Carolyn's copy of American McGee's Alice. The basic premise is that it's a sequel of sorts to the Lewis Carroll Alice stories; Alice's family was killed years ago in a fire that she managed to escape from, and she's been in an asylum ever since, catatonic. One day she's called back to Wonderland because it needs her help. The Red Queen has taken over in her absence and Wonderland has become a terrifying place to be, dark and twisted and shadowy. To give you an idea: Alice walks around with bloodstains on her dress and the first weapon she finds is a butcher's knife. I wanted to play it because I bought it a few years ago and have yet to live in a house with a computer that can actually support it. Frustrating waste of forty bucks. It's a fantastic game, in a couple senses of the word. I love it so much that even though I'm a Mac snob, I'm considering having my first computer be a PC just so I can play my copy. And this from someone who sucks at computer games that involve any sense of logic or stategy at all. The most complicated I can usually get is The Sims, but the easy version of Alice is helping me learn how to think like a computer game, or at least an RPG one.
(Carolyn, on the other hand, was sure she'd have nightmares just from watching me play. I'll have to ask her if she did when she gets up. Had I been alone, I'm not so sure I would have been especially keen to play it myself after it got dark out.)
So, yes. That's my rave review. Now for a couple of cultural differences I've noticed.
* In Canada, public bathrooms are called washrooms. This makes so much sense I can't even stand it - after all, there is no bath. As for restrooms, where does the resting happen exactly? I mean, I suppose if you're really exhausted anything that involves sitting is a rest, but still.
* The McDonalds have double Big Macs and the meat patties are peppered. Sizes, shock of shock, are smaller than in gluttonous America - I got a medium-sized value meal, and the fries and drink were just a little bigger than our smalls. For that matter, I'm fairly certan that the "double" Big Mac wasn't that much bigger than our regular ones. Amazingly, I found it just as satisfying as an American Super Sized one.
* Canada carries Cadbury products year round, not just in the spring. Cadbury makes regular candy bars along with the cream eggs.
* Canada has French all over everything; road signs, product labels, everything. I know people know this, but there's a big dfference between knowing it and seeing it EVERYWHERE. I find it vaguely annoying and cannot explain why. I have no problem with the French (freedom fries my ASS) and, now that I am done taking the class, I rather like the language. So, I have no idea what's going on in my head.
The end.
From: (Anonymous)
American McGee's Alice
~Ragna
From:
Re: American McGee's Alice
It has occurred to me, by the way, that (as far as I know) I can call you without destroying my mom's phone bill thanks to our flat rate program. So, when I get home, I will. =)