I finished playing Portal 2 this afternoon. On the one hand, it’s sort of great to finally be finished, but, on the other hand…dear lord, was that ridiculously entertaining. I think you need to play the first game to really appreciate the second, not just for the massive amount of story it throws at you, but simply because the first one basically teaches you the mechanics of the game. I am highly disappointed to realize I live in a world in which there is not yet (or perhaps ever?) a Portal 3.
I spent the rest of the day doing Saturday-like things. At one point, a very strong wind flung a plastic garbage can lid straight into my back. That thankfully doesn’t happen every day.
Also working on finishing the layout for Kaleidotrope #13, the last print issue, so I can then figure out the actual printing. It’s going to be a small print run, mostly just for subscribers and contributors, but there are twenty stories in this one, so it’s going to be several dozen pages no matter what I do. I think I’ve managed to bring it down to 93 pages, which is still absolutely ridiculous, but hopefully in a not entirely ridiculous sort of way.
This evening, I watched The King’s Speech. It’s quite good, and I think Colin Firth in particular probably deserved his Oscar win last year, but the best picture (and best screenplay) nods do seem a bit much. At times, it seems like a whole lot of effort — of acting, writing, direction, design, etc. — for something that’s…I hesitate to call it inconsequential. Because George VI was an important historical figure, and he came to the crown in tumultuous times. And my hat’s off to anyone who overcomes the very real difficulty of stuttering. But at the same time…the movie’s quite entertaining and well done, but it’s far from brilliant, and this was far from the most important moment in history, or even perhaps the most important aspect of this particular moment.