TV Review: Chuck Season 2

I can't believe I actually forgot to talk about Chuck. Last season, I fell in love with the show. It's witty, it's funny, it's nerdy and there's even some drama tossed in. No, it's not completely realistic but do we really need all of our television shows to be based in reality? The second season started a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't disappointed me in the least. We're only two shows into the season so I have a lot of hope for the rest. Chuck Forever!

Sporty Things

Now that it is October, I'm starting to get notices from my daughter's school about the various types of sports she can sign up for. The most recent one was about Cheerleading (for the girls) or Football (for the boys). I don't live in a progressive enough area for girls to be on the football team. Not that it really matters, my daughter is into dancing more than sports right now. But this form did make me think about what she might want to do in the future. I was never a big sports person myself. I did play Girls' Football (we called it Powder Puff) when I was in high school but that was a huge one-time event. It wasn't anything we did for an entire season. So what if my daughter decides that she doesn't want to dance anymore? Granted, I'll support her no matter what she decides to do but I have to admit that I do love the fact that she enjoys dancing. I like dancing myself. I guess we'll see what happens when she gets older. Maybe she'll dislikes sports as much as her mom.

Game review: Mystery Chronicles: Murder Among Friends

On a whim last night, I downloaded Mystery Chronicles: Murder Among Friends. I found myself growing tired of time management games. Perhaps a hidden object game was what I needed to get me out of my funk. The game takes place in 1899. While on your way to visit your cousin, you find out that he and his wife have been killed. Police currently believe that she shot him then killed herself but you don't believe that. Not to mention that the children are missing! You decide to do a little searching on your own to try to track down the killer and find the children.

I am so amazed by how much I like this game. Everything in each location has a place in the scene so there isn't anything "odd" like a duck in the kitchen or anything. Some of the objects you need to find are difficult but they aren't so difficult that you find yourself getting frustrated. There are also mini-games that you need to solve to do things like opening safes or reading a ripped up letter. Even these mini-games are fun! I think this was just what I needed to take my mind off crappy time management games.

Utada Hikaru - Colors

I have been debating how to handle the music reviews for the site. On one hand, the previous format was handy and had some pretty good information. On the other hand, it was tedious and boring. So, for now, I'm just going to write about songs. They may contain a lot of hard information or they may contain nothing but my personal feelings. You'll still learn about songs you may have never heard before, which is the whole point of talking about them.

First up is Utada Hikaru's "Colors." This was her only single released in 2003. The B-side of the single, "Simple and Clean," may have been more famous than the A-side since it was the theme song for a couple of the Kingdom Hearts video games. "Colors" wasn't put on an album until the 2006 release of Ultra Blue.

The song itself starts out fairly laid-back. In the beginning, the lyrics flow like a lazy river. They pick up a little at the chorus, which is the best part of the song. The background instruments are unusual enough to catch your ear but not too strange that they turn you off. As a whole, it sounds a lot like "Simple and Clean" with a few slight differences. It's not surprising that the single was so popular.

Game review: Wild West Quest

Wile West Quest is a western-themed hidden object game. Besides the normal hidden object objectives, there are other mini-games to play as well. Of course, those are western-themed too. Sometimes you'll have a shoot-out in the center of town; sometimes you'll need to wrangle some horses; sometimes you'll need to ID brands on cattle. None of the mini-games are particularly difficult but they do change things up just enough to keep the game from getting boring. Overall, the game isn't all that bad. The hidden object parts are fairly typical but the game shines a bit more in the mini-game areas. Since either the camera or the objects you are dealing with are moving in those games, you need a little more skill to get through them. Not that this makes those pieces of the game difficult, just interesting.

Game review: Jewelleria

In the Jewelleria time management game, you are the owner of a jewelry store. You need to sell your jewelry in order to advance the family business. The game takes us back to very standard time management game play. Each customer tells you exactly what they want. You pick the pieces from the cases and customize them as necessary. Unfortunately, instead of making the game interesting, it feels stale and boring. This is the exact template for Cake Mania and Ice Cream Dee Lites, just to name two of the many games that play this way. I found myself stopping the game frequently because I found the game dull. Perhaps next time, there will be a little more oomph.