Should be a two-parter, seriously.
So it looks like I’ve been faithful about updating my exercise blog but totally forgot about this one. There’s something amusing there, but I don’t know what.
It seems that the Internet is down here at work again today and it’s really quiet, so I’m taking some time to write up a massive, massive update. I’ve got something for a couple different tags, so
Anyway, I’ve been out at the gym for a couple weeks now and I have to say that I’m both pretty happy with where I am and disappointed that I’m not seeing any more changes. I think I’ll be changing up my routine to see what happens. Of course, this is not the most important thing that’s happened in the last couple weeks, so I’ll be restricting other exercise info to my other blog. And I can do that because I’m the one that runs it around here so nyah.
I guess there are a couple reasons for this particular update, but let’s start with books. After starting to settle into this new routine with work, I got two books recommended to me by friends. Actually, they said I had to read the books or they would have to kill me. Upon reflection, I realized a) I really need to get less violent friends and b) I should probably let my literary instincts guide me a bit even when a book is recommended by a friend.
First is a sci-fi novel called The Real Story: The Gap Into Conflict by Stephen R. Donaldson. I’m not certain of the year this book earned its space pilot wings 64, but it’s certainly showing some age. The book was recommended to me after I gushed about House of Leaves, noting the odd storytelling style of editor’s notes about an academic paper about a movie about an event, and there’s kind of a similar… concept going on here. The Real Story is told in layers: first you get the Cliff’s Notes version, then you read how a couple people who are in the know viewed the book’s events, and then you get to read the events from the characters’ points of view. Interesting idea, if they were drastically different. Think of Hero without a story that’s compelling in any way. Unfortunately, the Cliff’s Notes version sums up the whole book rather nicely. When I was done with that one, I knew just about everything I needed to know. When I move onto the next “real story,” you just add one more level of detail, but any experienced reader knows that the only reason to spend so much time on repetitive buildup is to send it all crashing down with a plot twist in the final one. So, hey. I just took all the characters and inverted their relationships, their motives and their ethical alignments. Ta-da! I predicted the rest of the book in its entirety. Beyond that, they use every single sci-fi one-line-fix known to the genre. I am so sick of medical bays that fix everything, of “air scrubbers,” of laser/matter cannons, of deep-space sickness, of jump drives/engines that have no reason to exist (but always have complicated piloting maneuvers that only one person can pull off), of mind-control devices, of ambiguously evil police empires that like muscle versus rebel pirates, of “computer line taps” and programming that makes no logical sense… I can’t go on about this. Suffice to say that all of it stop-gaps something in the story, and every bit of it requires at least two pages of explanation each. This is why I don’t read/watch/enjoy much sci-fi anything.
Except StarFox. The most technical thing in that entire universe is a device that allows you to basically take a jet into space. And they don’t even bother explaining that. And Cowboy Bebop. Because so little of it actually had to do with being set in space.
By the by, the book is supposedly based on a story in Norse mythology, which the author puts in the appendix, along with thinly-veiled references to his own story so you can see how they line up. You know what’s bad? The myth is tons more interesting.
Second is a book that I had every reason to like but ended up hating. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde is a book about the untimely death of one Mr. Dumpty, who had a great ffall - you know what, you know the story. Anyway, Detective Jack Spratt is assigned to the case when it’s discovered that Humpty did not just fall, but was somehow pushed. The book is British (!), a comedy (!) and a mystery (!) involving a wacky conglomeration of well-known ffictional characters (…eh, why not?!). All of those are reasons that I should love the book. But except for a ffew (sorry, I'll stop that) choice areas, the whole thing is just… stupid. I mean, I love puns and I appreciate small jokes that take 10 pages to set up, but I just could not get past the whole concept of nursery rhyme characters living in our world. I mean, fine. If you want anthropomorphic pigs to be charged with the boiling death of the big bad wolf, knock yourself out. But why do we care about the pigs? They’re a nursery rhyme, sure, but if they’re nursery rhymes, then the big bad wolf is already dead, because that’s how the story goes. By extension, Humpty is obviously aware of his nursery rhyme fame (he teaches courses in children’s literature, for crying out loud) but if there’s a rhyme, then… he’s already fallen to his death. In fact, Spratt congratulates the medical examiner for being able to put his body together again, something that the king’s men couldn’t do. How does he even know that?! Especially since the story takes place in modern day, and there isn’t a king?! Some of the characters are completely aware of their fame, while others, though everyone knows who they are and what they’re famous for in the nursery rhyme realm, are oblivious and haven’t even… done what it is they’re famous for yet? How does that work?
By the way, either Spratt is an absolute moron as far as crime-solving goes or the mystery is very shallow. Halfway through the book, all the clues had been given and I had solved for X, which left me just kind of… sitting around waiting for the characters in the story to catch up. And don’t even get me started on the mixing of Greek mythological figures (Prometheus is a political exile after stealing fire from the gods, of course) and a couple copyrighted characters: Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple make misspelled-name cameos in a detective’s club started by Sherlock Holmes - who hates people and considers everyone beneath his ability, but apparently likes them enough to start a League of Extraordinary Detectives. Here’s a tip: it’s a really bad idea to remind your viewers of other really good work in the middle of your really average work. It’s like, I don’t know, putting clips from Casablanca in the middle of a sci-fi flick starring Raul Julia.
Honestly, I think the book’s problem is that it left me wondering just what part was supposed to entertain me. If I want nursery rhymes, I’ll re-read them. Awesome. If I want a Britcom, I’ll learn about the Sock Gap, please. If I want a mystery, hey, I have a whole volume of Holmes stories that are both mysteries and British! All of these things are way above average on their own. Why the heck are they mixed like this?
There were sections of the book that I really enjoyed. They were the parts where the characters stopped making references to themselves as nursery rhyme characters and were just regular, original people. When Spratt wasn’t being a detecting moron or talking about accidentally killing giants (yes, he’s that Jack too), he’s actually a really likeable character. In fact, almost all of the characters are, when they aren’t being, you know, other characters. Oh, and as a parting shot, I absolutely hated the way both journalism and journalists were portrayed when they showed up. The newspapers and crime-story writers of Reading can bite me.
In terms of other media, I actually bought a couple games for my Wii. No, seriously. Yes, I know that Smash Bros. isn’t due out until February of next year. ~shakes tiny fist~
On a whim and an intense desire to own a game actually designed for play on the Wii, I picked up a used copy of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Now, as a rule, Metroid isn't my series -- in fact, I generally suck at the games since I like to be generally guided where to go next rather than just aimlessly wander around until I find a place that doesn't cause me to die because I don't have the correct parts. I had some fun with the first Metroid Prime, but gave up pretty early on a) because I kept getting frustratingly lost and b) Samus could not both move and shoot. Since this is something that I consider pretty important for, oh, I don't know, a high-end bounty hunter to be able to do, Samus and I have been at odds. With the huge play that this game is getting and the possibilities of being able to actually aim in an FPS because of the Wiimote, I had to give this one a shot.
People are right. It's a blast. Until you have to, you know, fight anything. The storyline is ridiculously stupid but eh, and the locales are designed to not tax the Wii but leave you wondering just how far into the distance you can visor scan. Little things and details are solid, even if they aren't the most beautiful graphics ever. Who cares? The game seriously tries to be immersive with Nunchuk controls, but so many of them are clunky and don't really respond all that well that you can't do them effortlessly, the way they would need to be done so that you're pulled into the game. Speaking of clunky, Samus still has real issues with locking on to a target and being able to effectively move around it. As a nice/cruel touch, you can move the arm cannon independently of the lock-on visor, I guess in case you potentially don't actually want to attack whatever it is onto which you have locked on. I understand why they did that -- being able to choose where you shoot is kind of the idea of a manually-aimed arm cannon -- but why on earth would I not want to shoot what I'm aiming at with my eyes?! Moreover, why does my gun have to precede my vision everywhere, and there's absolutely no place to set look sensitivity or have a quick turn? This might be important in the case that I'm set upon by space pirates that might walk behind me. Also, since I actually have to physically scan almost everything before I can use it (every single computer console operates like this), why can't I keep the scan visor up all the time, or not cancel it out by wanting to actually fire my cannon? There's a distinct possibility that I'll want to scan, I don't know, an unknown enemy but still be firing at it until I find out what exactly it is. And I'm really not going to talk about the stupid light/shadow story gimmick with which Nintendo has fallen in love.
But yeah, other than all that, it's a lot of fun.
On a much better note, and one you might have read about in
spotruns, I rented Mario and Sonic at the Olympics largely due to the production value of the teaser trailer (no, seriously) and the fact that the Wii has some incredible potential to make sports games fun again with motion controls. I was a little worried at first, but the game caught me completely off-guard by being fun in the way that MarioKart and Mario Tennis are fun for me. But this is the Olympics. And really active. And, most surprising, made by Sega! Just about every sport is done according to the motion controls that you'd... kind of correspond to that event. Running, for instance, is done by flailing your arms back and forth as if you're in a full-out sprint. For swimming, you actually have to swim in different styles depending on your character. You lasso the Wiimote in a circle for the Hammer Throw and lift it in the air for the Long Jump. The difficulty is amped up by the number of events played in a single circuit, MarioKart-style. After a rental, I had to buy the game before the holidays came around -- and I still haven't had the energy to sit down and unlock the last couple events. Some of those circuits can be really grueling, especially once the computer skill starts rising.
Of course, there are some serious problems with motion control recognition, as a couple of my friends have complained (with events like Table Tennis and Fencing, for example). However, the more I play the games, the more I'm becoming convinced that they're purposefully made to be a little obtuse. I mean, these are Olympic sports. You're not supposed to be great or even good at them the first time you play them. For instance, my friends and I sucked at Table Tennis the first night we played it; at Thanksgiving, we had some absolutely epic volleys of almost nothing but smash shots running. On the other hand, I've still never placed above 5th place in the Long Jump simply because the recognition window for a decently competitive jump of any kind is so darn small. Characters are fun and voices are funny, as they should be for a game like this. Really, however, I'm kind of confused about the target audience for this game. Sonic and Mario are a bid to older players as well as younger ones, but most of us older players want, you know, an actual full game rather than a bunch of minigames overall -- not to mention the highly kid-friendly presentation (considering just how friendly and sportsman-like every character is during the awards). On the other hand, I don't think many younger kids are going to have the patience to really learn how to play most of the events decently. It's just a weird thing. Also, I have a gripe about save files: the game doesn't allow you to transfer any save files from one Wii to another. I hear it's because there are online records, and transferring files would give some people the opportunity to cheat, but come on! If I've taken the hours (and upper arm strength) to open up all the events, I'm really not going to want to do it again if I decide to take the game to a friend's house. Especially if that person owns a Wii as well. Someone wasn't thinking straight there. I know it's kind of a minor thing, but I just hope that it's not a sign of system file information to come. This isn't a game that I'm going to be able to play to relax, but there should be a lot of fun nights of Smash bookended by this game, or the other way around. Honestly, games like the Table Tennis and Fencing were worth the price of admission for me.
And the final thing to add into today's monolith of a post is last night's dream. Another RE dream, this one started out in the suburbs of Raccoon City, I'd guess. Either way, a mother and father were going out for dinner and leaving their two little girls home. One of the girls was old enough to take care of her younger sister, though she was barely in her teens. The father and mother head out, and the two girls start playing for the evening, which is uneventful. They order pizza, play, etc. A little later in the evening, the teen notices that the pizza guy's car is wrecked up the road though they didn't react to a crash or anything. She sees the guy coming back up the road, bloody and limping. She asks what's wrong and he grapples her and tries to take a bite out of her. She screams and gets away unscathed, locking her and her sister in the house. While the pizza guy is beating on the door, she calls the police with her younger sister crying in the background and is assured that officers are in the neighborhood. On cue, one of them appears at the window, already bloody and missing an arm. She turns off all the lights in a panic and hides under the couch with her sister, trying to call her parents on her cell phone. Her mother says that something's going on but they're trying to get home, stay safe. Pizza guy finally breaks down the door and zombies start filing in, looking for the two girls. The teen scoops up her sister and makes a dash for the garage, locking themselves into the car and trying to figure out how it works. She opens the garage door, turns the key and manages to get the car out of the garage before starting to speed down the road, passing hordes of undead and huge fires where once there were houses. There's a gap in the dream here and they're in the city after she's finally wrecked the car. She tries to pull her sister out of the crumpled metal frame and sees the restaurant that her parents were at. In the crowd of zombies, she recognizes her mother's dress and her father's tie. And the dream ends there.
This post seriously took the majority of today, off and on. Yeesh.
It seems that the Internet is down here at work again today and it’s really quiet, so I’m taking some time to write up a massive, massive update. I’ve got something for a couple different tags, so
Anyway, I’ve been out at the gym for a couple weeks now and I have to say that I’m both pretty happy with where I am and disappointed that I’m not seeing any more changes. I think I’ll be changing up my routine to see what happens. Of course, this is not the most important thing that’s happened in the last couple weeks, so I’ll be restricting other exercise info to my other blog. And I can do that because I’m the one that runs it around here so nyah.
I guess there are a couple reasons for this particular update, but let’s start with books. After starting to settle into this new routine with work, I got two books recommended to me by friends. Actually, they said I had to read the books or they would have to kill me. Upon reflection, I realized a) I really need to get less violent friends and b) I should probably let my literary instincts guide me a bit even when a book is recommended by a friend.
First is a sci-fi novel called The Real Story: The Gap Into Conflict by Stephen R. Donaldson. I’m not certain of the year this book earned its space pilot wings 64, but it’s certainly showing some age. The book was recommended to me after I gushed about House of Leaves, noting the odd storytelling style of editor’s notes about an academic paper about a movie about an event, and there’s kind of a similar… concept going on here. The Real Story is told in layers: first you get the Cliff’s Notes version, then you read how a couple people who are in the know viewed the book’s events, and then you get to read the events from the characters’ points of view. Interesting idea, if they were drastically different. Think of Hero without a story that’s compelling in any way. Unfortunately, the Cliff’s Notes version sums up the whole book rather nicely. When I was done with that one, I knew just about everything I needed to know. When I move onto the next “real story,” you just add one more level of detail, but any experienced reader knows that the only reason to spend so much time on repetitive buildup is to send it all crashing down with a plot twist in the final one. So, hey. I just took all the characters and inverted their relationships, their motives and their ethical alignments. Ta-da! I predicted the rest of the book in its entirety. Beyond that, they use every single sci-fi one-line-fix known to the genre. I am so sick of medical bays that fix everything, of “air scrubbers,” of laser/matter cannons, of deep-space sickness, of jump drives/engines that have no reason to exist (but always have complicated piloting maneuvers that only one person can pull off), of mind-control devices, of ambiguously evil police empires that like muscle versus rebel pirates, of “computer line taps” and programming that makes no logical sense… I can’t go on about this. Suffice to say that all of it stop-gaps something in the story, and every bit of it requires at least two pages of explanation each. This is why I don’t read/watch/enjoy much sci-fi anything.
Except StarFox. The most technical thing in that entire universe is a device that allows you to basically take a jet into space. And they don’t even bother explaining that. And Cowboy Bebop. Because so little of it actually had to do with being set in space.
By the by, the book is supposedly based on a story in Norse mythology, which the author puts in the appendix, along with thinly-veiled references to his own story so you can see how they line up. You know what’s bad? The myth is tons more interesting.
Second is a book that I had every reason to like but ended up hating. The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde is a book about the untimely death of one Mr. Dumpty, who had a great ffall - you know what, you know the story. Anyway, Detective Jack Spratt is assigned to the case when it’s discovered that Humpty did not just fall, but was somehow pushed. The book is British (!), a comedy (!) and a mystery (!) involving a wacky conglomeration of well-known ffictional characters (…eh, why not?!). All of those are reasons that I should love the book. But except for a ffew (sorry, I'll stop that) choice areas, the whole thing is just… stupid. I mean, I love puns and I appreciate small jokes that take 10 pages to set up, but I just could not get past the whole concept of nursery rhyme characters living in our world. I mean, fine. If you want anthropomorphic pigs to be charged with the boiling death of the big bad wolf, knock yourself out. But why do we care about the pigs? They’re a nursery rhyme, sure, but if they’re nursery rhymes, then the big bad wolf is already dead, because that’s how the story goes. By extension, Humpty is obviously aware of his nursery rhyme fame (he teaches courses in children’s literature, for crying out loud) but if there’s a rhyme, then… he’s already fallen to his death. In fact, Spratt congratulates the medical examiner for being able to put his body together again, something that the king’s men couldn’t do. How does he even know that?! Especially since the story takes place in modern day, and there isn’t a king?! Some of the characters are completely aware of their fame, while others, though everyone knows who they are and what they’re famous for in the nursery rhyme realm, are oblivious and haven’t even… done what it is they’re famous for yet? How does that work?
By the way, either Spratt is an absolute moron as far as crime-solving goes or the mystery is very shallow. Halfway through the book, all the clues had been given and I had solved for X, which left me just kind of… sitting around waiting for the characters in the story to catch up. And don’t even get me started on the mixing of Greek mythological figures (Prometheus is a political exile after stealing fire from the gods, of course) and a couple copyrighted characters: Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple make misspelled-name cameos in a detective’s club started by Sherlock Holmes - who hates people and considers everyone beneath his ability, but apparently likes them enough to start a League of Extraordinary Detectives. Here’s a tip: it’s a really bad idea to remind your viewers of other really good work in the middle of your really average work. It’s like, I don’t know, putting clips from Casablanca in the middle of a sci-fi flick starring Raul Julia.
Honestly, I think the book’s problem is that it left me wondering just what part was supposed to entertain me. If I want nursery rhymes, I’ll re-read them. Awesome. If I want a Britcom, I’ll learn about the Sock Gap, please. If I want a mystery, hey, I have a whole volume of Holmes stories that are both mysteries and British! All of these things are way above average on their own. Why the heck are they mixed like this?
There were sections of the book that I really enjoyed. They were the parts where the characters stopped making references to themselves as nursery rhyme characters and were just regular, original people. When Spratt wasn’t being a detecting moron or talking about accidentally killing giants (yes, he’s that Jack too), he’s actually a really likeable character. In fact, almost all of the characters are, when they aren’t being, you know, other characters. Oh, and as a parting shot, I absolutely hated the way both journalism and journalists were portrayed when they showed up. The newspapers and crime-story writers of Reading can bite me.
In terms of other media, I actually bought a couple games for my Wii. No, seriously. Yes, I know that Smash Bros. isn’t due out until February of next year. ~shakes tiny fist~
On a whim and an intense desire to own a game actually designed for play on the Wii, I picked up a used copy of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Now, as a rule, Metroid isn't my series -- in fact, I generally suck at the games since I like to be generally guided where to go next rather than just aimlessly wander around until I find a place that doesn't cause me to die because I don't have the correct parts. I had some fun with the first Metroid Prime, but gave up pretty early on a) because I kept getting frustratingly lost and b) Samus could not both move and shoot. Since this is something that I consider pretty important for, oh, I don't know, a high-end bounty hunter to be able to do, Samus and I have been at odds. With the huge play that this game is getting and the possibilities of being able to actually aim in an FPS because of the Wiimote, I had to give this one a shot.
People are right. It's a blast. Until you have to, you know, fight anything. The storyline is ridiculously stupid but eh, and the locales are designed to not tax the Wii but leave you wondering just how far into the distance you can visor scan. Little things and details are solid, even if they aren't the most beautiful graphics ever. Who cares? The game seriously tries to be immersive with Nunchuk controls, but so many of them are clunky and don't really respond all that well that you can't do them effortlessly, the way they would need to be done so that you're pulled into the game. Speaking of clunky, Samus still has real issues with locking on to a target and being able to effectively move around it. As a nice/cruel touch, you can move the arm cannon independently of the lock-on visor, I guess in case you potentially don't actually want to attack whatever it is onto which you have locked on. I understand why they did that -- being able to choose where you shoot is kind of the idea of a manually-aimed arm cannon -- but why on earth would I not want to shoot what I'm aiming at with my eyes?! Moreover, why does my gun have to precede my vision everywhere, and there's absolutely no place to set look sensitivity or have a quick turn? This might be important in the case that I'm set upon by space pirates that might walk behind me. Also, since I actually have to physically scan almost everything before I can use it (every single computer console operates like this), why can't I keep the scan visor up all the time, or not cancel it out by wanting to actually fire my cannon? There's a distinct possibility that I'll want to scan, I don't know, an unknown enemy but still be firing at it until I find out what exactly it is. And I'm really not going to talk about the stupid light/shadow story gimmick with which Nintendo has fallen in love.
But yeah, other than all that, it's a lot of fun.
On a much better note, and one you might have read about in
spotruns, I rented Mario and Sonic at the Olympics largely due to the production value of the teaser trailer (no, seriously) and the fact that the Wii has some incredible potential to make sports games fun again with motion controls. I was a little worried at first, but the game caught me completely off-guard by being fun in the way that MarioKart and Mario Tennis are fun for me. But this is the Olympics. And really active. And, most surprising, made by Sega! Just about every sport is done according to the motion controls that you'd... kind of correspond to that event. Running, for instance, is done by flailing your arms back and forth as if you're in a full-out sprint. For swimming, you actually have to swim in different styles depending on your character. You lasso the Wiimote in a circle for the Hammer Throw and lift it in the air for the Long Jump. The difficulty is amped up by the number of events played in a single circuit, MarioKart-style. After a rental, I had to buy the game before the holidays came around -- and I still haven't had the energy to sit down and unlock the last couple events. Some of those circuits can be really grueling, especially once the computer skill starts rising.
Of course, there are some serious problems with motion control recognition, as a couple of my friends have complained (with events like Table Tennis and Fencing, for example). However, the more I play the games, the more I'm becoming convinced that they're purposefully made to be a little obtuse. I mean, these are Olympic sports. You're not supposed to be great or even good at them the first time you play them. For instance, my friends and I sucked at Table Tennis the first night we played it; at Thanksgiving, we had some absolutely epic volleys of almost nothing but smash shots running. On the other hand, I've still never placed above 5th place in the Long Jump simply because the recognition window for a decently competitive jump of any kind is so darn small. Characters are fun and voices are funny, as they should be for a game like this. Really, however, I'm kind of confused about the target audience for this game. Sonic and Mario are a bid to older players as well as younger ones, but most of us older players want, you know, an actual full game rather than a bunch of minigames overall -- not to mention the highly kid-friendly presentation (considering just how friendly and sportsman-like every character is during the awards). On the other hand, I don't think many younger kids are going to have the patience to really learn how to play most of the events decently. It's just a weird thing. Also, I have a gripe about save files: the game doesn't allow you to transfer any save files from one Wii to another. I hear it's because there are online records, and transferring files would give some people the opportunity to cheat, but come on! If I've taken the hours (and upper arm strength) to open up all the events, I'm really not going to want to do it again if I decide to take the game to a friend's house. Especially if that person owns a Wii as well. Someone wasn't thinking straight there. I know it's kind of a minor thing, but I just hope that it's not a sign of system file information to come. This isn't a game that I'm going to be able to play to relax, but there should be a lot of fun nights of Smash bookended by this game, or the other way around. Honestly, games like the Table Tennis and Fencing were worth the price of admission for me.
And the final thing to add into today's monolith of a post is last night's dream. Another RE dream, this one started out in the suburbs of Raccoon City, I'd guess. Either way, a mother and father were going out for dinner and leaving their two little girls home. One of the girls was old enough to take care of her younger sister, though she was barely in her teens. The father and mother head out, and the two girls start playing for the evening, which is uneventful. They order pizza, play, etc. A little later in the evening, the teen notices that the pizza guy's car is wrecked up the road though they didn't react to a crash or anything. She sees the guy coming back up the road, bloody and limping. She asks what's wrong and he grapples her and tries to take a bite out of her. She screams and gets away unscathed, locking her and her sister in the house. While the pizza guy is beating on the door, she calls the police with her younger sister crying in the background and is assured that officers are in the neighborhood. On cue, one of them appears at the window, already bloody and missing an arm. She turns off all the lights in a panic and hides under the couch with her sister, trying to call her parents on her cell phone. Her mother says that something's going on but they're trying to get home, stay safe. Pizza guy finally breaks down the door and zombies start filing in, looking for the two girls. The teen scoops up her sister and makes a dash for the garage, locking themselves into the car and trying to figure out how it works. She opens the garage door, turns the key and manages to get the car out of the garage before starting to speed down the road, passing hordes of undead and huge fires where once there were houses. There's a gap in the dream here and they're in the city after she's finally wrecked the car. She tries to pull her sister out of the crumpled metal frame and sees the restaurant that her parents were at. In the crowd of zombies, she recognizes her mother's dress and her father's tie. And the dream ends there.
This post seriously took the majority of today, off and on. Yeesh.