Thrill Of It All

Funny thing, just zapped through the channels until I saw a football game between Sweden and Denmark. I know one was supposed to be played to day so I was kinda happy to see 3-1 to Sweden so I zapped on. You who know me, knows that I'm not that into sport. Zapped back and it is 3-3. Decided to watch the thrill in the last minute, then suddenly a Danish supporter runs out on the field and hits the judge. An exact copy of 2007 years game between Sweden and Denmark. I'm shocked, not again. So raging about the idiocy of some supporters I begin to see what thy say afterwards. Apparently it was a rerun from 2007 years game. Shows how much I care about the game when I don't even know what time it is supposed to be. Oh well.

Today is Sweden's national day in memory of the crowning of Gustav Vasa and the 1809 years constitution that abolished the absolute monarchy. Not many knows that it these things that is behind this day. Then again, 25% of the people don't know it is election to the European Parliament tomorrow. I wonder how you can miss that when you:
1) Get a voting card sent home to you before the election starts.
2) All Swedish based TV- and Radio-channels have commercials about it and the same goes for the political parties.
3) Every newspaper reports about it in the paper edition and the internet together with the news on the TV-channels.
4) Thousands of bloggs are discussing it.
Then again, the question in particular has been criticized for being vague in what election they discuss about. Apparently it went as "when is the next European Parliament election in Sweden?". It means the one tomorrow but it could likewise be the one in 2014, but you should never say never.

I'm now going to be a bit geeky about yesterdays news but it has been a long wait for it. I just began high school when the last part came out in 2003 and the first part came in early 2001. To ad a little mysticism over it, it was a blizzard hitting us the night before and continued onward to the morning. Everyone was told to stay at home, and when Swedish news says the blizzard could be dangerous, then it most likely is, not some 5 cm snow on the road that stopped a town in England my friend told me of. Of course, I forced my parents out and away to the closest game store, 15 km away from home with me sitting in the car. On our way back home we bought some pizza. I sat in the car with the game in my hands. Mostly green cover with explosions of colors with four heroic characters watching me together with some dangerous looking creatures.

Back home I quickly ate my pizza, ran into my room and began playing. The emotional story, the beautiful music and the colors trapped me in a dreamworld I didn't want to leave, then the storm started and cut the power in the middle of trying to save the ancient fairy tree Tret and the citizens of Kolima from the greed of one woman. This was to the early game boy advance without proper light so I couldn't see what I was doing...if I could play at all as I didn't use batteries but an adapter (much cheaper as mom and dad payed the bill). That was one hours rest before the lights was back on. Still, those things just strengthened the game as it revolved around the four elements and alchemy as well as the game started on a dark and stormy night (like that never happened before). This was a Friday in February, Sunday I reached the end of the game. Then another week to level grind so I could beat the final boss. The twist of the story is that it ends in the middle. Suddenly, at level 40 something after beating the main antagonist but there is still one left the credits begin to roll. Talk about disappointment. Apparently the creators tried to make just one game of the two, but it turned out too big for one cartridge so they decided on two. It was a long wait until 2003 when this appeared:

I got that clip on a dvd from a video game paper so I watched it over and over again (I think it was longer at the dvd). I'm sorry if you think this input is a bit long, but I need to lighten my chest of this joy I feel. Any when it came, I played and it didn't feel the same. It was bigger yes, it was longer yes, the story evolved and had the same class yes, but something missed. Mostly the fact that their never was any fast course on where to go. In the first game you only had one free choice to go at one direction (you still had to go to both, but you could choose which one without problems). That was if to clear Kolima forest first or go to Imil. If you went this line you couldn't go further until you been in Imil cause the curse was still in effect and blocked you from crossing a river. In the second one, when you got a ship of transportation across the ocean, you were on your own, stuck with some riddles on where to go. Then I lose some interest, someone need to tell me where to go, almost, sometimes it's fun to search. Maybe I'm to socialized living in Sweden or it's because I found out those nice guides on the net that tell yo where you should go. It's not cheating, it's just a bit of help.