Children Shows Part One

I'm going to do a couple of little reviews of children television shows. Basically, I'd decided to get my criticisms of the shows my kids are watching off my chest. Join me as I bitch, moan, and complain about the "quality" children's programming of today!

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated


I remember the original Scooby-Doo fondly. Sure, I was watching re-runs, but hey, I loved 'em. "Sooby-Doo", "What's New Scooby-Doo", "Scooby-Doo and the Thirteen Ghosts"... Hannah Barbara had my complete loyalty on Saturday mornings growing up. Even ABC's A Pup Named Scooby-Doo got me to watch. The more recent string of direct-to-DVD movies ranged from entertaining to "ow, ow, my my eyes and brains are melting!" (Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King, I'm looking at YOU). I haven't yet been able to force myself to watch the live action offerings, but my kids said they liked them. Bottom line, the old stuff was great when I was a kid, and my kids love the new stuff, so any new show featuring the talking dog and his meddling kids has a good chance of being pure gold.

Right?

"Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" is Cartoon Network's latest offering to the franchise. While it continues the classic "monster of the week" feel that the old shows had, it also adds in a continuing plot to the series. Each episode is listed as a "chapter" in the story, and a larger mystery lurks behind the scenes, slowly revealing itself to  the characters and viewers as the hidden figure of "Mister E" (honestly, wasn't that joke used enough in the third Batman movie?) provides hints and clues Scooby and the gang.

The show is set in the town of Crystal Cove, supposedly the most haunted place on Earth. The whole gang are a group of teens (their age hasn't been announced, but they're old enough to have toured a college campus) that have formed a tight friendship due to their love of solving mysteries. Here's a quick description of the characters in their latest incarnations:

• Fred Jones is the son of Crystal Cove's Mayor, and it is safe to say that he's a mix of idiot and genius. This incarnation of Fred is obsessed with traps to the exclusion of all else. He builds traps in front of his house to catch the mail man, goes to trap exhibits, critiques any traps the police try to set, and even keeps a scrapbook of the various traps the gang have used over the years. Part and parcel with his obsession, Fred shows an amazing mastery of physics (as they pertain to traps, of course), but is clueless when it comes to everything else, including girls. He has recently come to realize that he is romantically interested in Daphne, having repressed his feelings over the years because he doesn't think boys are supposed to have feelings.
• Daphne Blake is one of several daughters to the extremely wealthy Blake family. While the rest of her sisters have progressed through school at an astonishing rate (her mother claims they had all graduated from the same school early) and gone on to careers in the military, science, and medical fields, Daphne wants nothing to do with it. All she wants is to date Fred, though she's trying to keep everyone else from knowing her feelings, probably because Fred's oblivious nature frustrates her so much. Daphne has an "odd" view about some things do her family's wealth; at one point she makes a comment that locking people up when they go crazy is normal because her family has to do that with her mother periodically. Daphne is also an excellent singer, singing with the Hex Girls at one point in the show. Of all the characters, Daphne is probably the most aware of what's going on with the rest of the gang. She's the first to figure out that Velma and Shaggy are in a relationship, and she often tries to comfort Velma.
• Velma Dinkley isn't the shy nerd that everyone remembers. She's still a genius/nerd, but she's also VERY aggressive and outspoken, at one point ordering Fred to "man up" in the first episode. She likes Shaggy and is trying to date him, but she also insists on changing him. She demands that he eat better, stop using the word "like", dress nicer... It's actually hard to understand how she likes him since she wants to change EVERYTHING about him. Velma's parents run a tour of Crystal Cove's haunted attractions, often having Velma give the tours. Velma hates being a tour guide, especially since all of the ghosts of Crystal Cove have been proven to be fakes. Frankly, Velma's a bitch in this new series, but at least she doesn't lose her glasses EVERY episode.
• Shaggy Rogers is the ever-hungry son of another of Crystal Cove's wealthy families. His parents seem completely disappointed in him, wanting almost nothing to do with Shaggy. They're upset with his lack of ambition, slovenly attitude, and the friends he keep. They seem to feel everything he does is an embaressment to them, at one point asking him not to tell anyone his last name. Shaggy is best friends with Scooby-Doo, but is conflicted because he also likes (and wants to date) Velma. Velma's possessive and controlling nature grates on Shaggy, and he feels caught between hanging out with his best pal and his girlfriend. The fact that Scooby and Velma are unwilling to share Shaggy doesn't make things easier on him, and Shaggy is constantly trying to get out of needing to choose between the two, creating huge amounts of tension among the gang.
• Scooby-Doo is still a talking dog, who is capable of eating one out of house and home. He is best friends with Shaggy, but their friendship has become strained due to Shaggy's relationship with Velma. Scooby-Doo seems to think that Shaggy is "cheating" on him. Scooby-Doo retains the magical ability to manipulate things as if he had opposable thumbs, such as tying complicated knots.Frankly, if you leave out the jealous nature, this is the same Scooby-Doo that we've always known and loved.

The show has been tuned up for the modern age despite the anachronisms (people still wear ascots). The local radio station host (a friend of the gang; they often hang out at the station with her) actually thinks its funny that the gang doesn't know what an 8-track tape is. Most of the monsters make use of fantastic technology to deceive the people of Crystal Cove. One monster, a mass of Cicada insects, is using military-grade sonic technology to coordinate and control the insects. Another uses advanced robotics to create a killer robot hound. Another use of sonic technology allows a monster who can knock over CARS with its sonic scream. Frankly, the rare appearance of a dude wearing a mask and using a projector is welcome in this series, because the villains are usually making use of such fantastic and unbelievable technology that it seems implausible that this gang of kids could catch them.

The show has been written for parents as well as kids. Many jokes are hidden within the episodes, and most of them will only be picked up by parents. At one point Fred's father says "By Grabthar's Hammer!", a reference to a line in the movie "Galaxy Quest". An entire episode is dedicated to writers like H.P. Lovecraft (called "Hatecraft" in the show), Harlan Ellison, and Howard E Roberts. It's actually great fun to pick the jokes out, and provide a nice distraction from the silly plots. There is also, disturbingly, a "Silence of the Lambs" reference in the show, though it is a talking bird (parrot maybe?) playing the role of Hannibal Lector.

Kids are going to like this show, because it's Scooby-Doo, and that's a tried and true formula. Older kids might even enjoy it because of the romance elements in the show (that's the only reason I can think of to include them). Adults should enjoy the hidden jokes. The show has its flaws, but there are far worse things out there. I'm happy might kids like to watch this show, and I'll keep showing it to them in the future.

End of Demented Rambling.

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Tuesday Lisa and I went to see Resident Evil: Afterlife on IMAX 3-D. After taking a few days to digest the movie, I'm ready to share my thoughts.

Let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of the Resident Evil game franchise. Though late to the party, I have eagerly collected every title I could find (though I'm still lacking the PS2 titles). Like many fans I eagerly awaited RE4 and the change in game play. I was reluctant about the change in focus from zombies to the plagas, but after playing RE4 I became fully supportive of the change. I loved that the plagas returned in RE5, and I really enjoyed that game.

But we're talking about the movies here... still, now you know my bias.

I enjoyed the first and second Resident Evil movies, but hated Extinction with a passion. So when I heard about Afterlife, my first thought was "I'm going to hate this movie". Then I heard it was being filmed in 3D, and I said "So the movie industry is exploiting this gimmick AGAIN. Great. This is REALLY going to suck." Needless to say, I was going into this movie hostile.

I came out of the theater happy. I enjoyed Afterlife. Not that it doesn't have problems, because it does. Lots of them. Still, it was a fun movie. I'll try to explain my positives and negatives for Afterlife below.

Resident Evil: Afterlife takes two of my biggest problems with the movie franchise (Alice is a superhuman and Alice has an army of clones of herself) and rids itself of them VERY quickly. Alice goes back to being a normal human being (kind of; see my problems with the movie below), and the clones go out with a bang. A big bang. Visually, director and writer Paul W.S. Anderson has chosen to move the films in line with the games, giving the current zombies a look that resembles the Majini from RE5. It's a great visual, and a nice attempt to tell game fans "I haven't departed COMPLETELY from the games".

Claire Redfield is back (yay for characters from the games!) and this time Chris Redfield is introduced as well. Unfortunately, they both play second-fiddle to Alice. Viewers willing to sit through some credits also get a brief look at Jill Valentine, appearing like she does in RE5.

Returning to its game roots is all well and good, but it does lead to one of my problems with the movie. At this point the Resident Evil movies have diverged SIGNIFICANTLY from the games, mainly because of the events in Extinction. Anderson has written an alternate setting where most of the world's population has become the walking dead, leaving only a scattered group of survivors looking for places of refuge, or Umbrella bases trying to find a way to return humanity to the surface of the planet.

While Anderson has visually brought in the creatures from the later games, he has failed to explain HOW they've come to be. Here's an example. The zombies that now look like the Majini from the games. In the games, the Majini are a result of exposure to plagas parasites that have taken over and mutated their hosts. The plagas, in turn, were discovered by European miners. They have NO connection to Umbrella before RE5 in the games. In the movies zombies have taken on Majini traits because... well, who knows. No reference is made to the plagas, the zombies are called "zombies" and the characters in the film don't seem surprised by this change... so the viewer is left wondering what happened.

Plot holes like these are riddled throughout the movie. Claire Redfield loses her memory because of a device implanted on her chest by Umbrella. In the games this device is implanted on Jill Valentine's chest to pump a performance enhancing chemical into her that also keeps Jill subservient to Wesker. The device in the movie... well, apparently it makes Claire forget her whole life, and ONLY Claire, because another character freed from the same device exhibits no evidence of memory loss whatsoever. Chris has to tell Claire that he is her brother... but we never get any memory flashbacks  to actually show us that this is true, or the nature of their relationship in the movies (after all, we can't assume it is the same as the games when Anderson has changed so much). The biggest plot hole is Wesker claiming that the Redfield siblings have become a thorn in his side... when he has only met them five minutes prior to making the statement, and neither has been shown to have had any past history with Umbrella. Perhaps there's a deleted scene to explain it, but the finished product in theaters doesn't.

Afterlife also has problems with its use of 3D. Frankly, the 3D is boring and adds almost NOTHING to the viewing experience. At no time did any 3D effect shock or wow me. There were some great opportunities for the 3D effects to make some "jump" moments... but Anderson fails to exploit them.

Still, the movie is fun. Don't over-analyze it, because it can't stand up to it. Fans of the movies who don't know much about the games will be lost (it borrows too much from RE5 without explanation), but if you aren't trying to match up the games and the movies you'll probably just say "wow, that looks cool!" Either way, sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the ride.

End of Demented Ramblings.

A Great Book To Recommend

Are you a fan of memoirs?

Do you recognize the cultural commentary in George Romero's zombie movies?

Have you read the Zombie Survival Guide back to back, and written criticisms in the margins?

If so, have I got the book for you...

Brains: A Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker.

Don't really click to look inside; I took the image from Amazon.

Brains is narrated by English-professor-turned-zombie, Jack. As a zombie virus is unleashed on the world, Jack finds himself transformed into one of the walking dead. Unlike the shambling masses around him, Jack has retained his intelligence and has the amazing ability to communicate through writing. Sadly, Jack's abilities with speech are... less than successful.

Filled with an overwhelming desire for brains, and the need to create a zombie society, Jack sets off in search of other intelligent zombie and the creator of the zombie virus. He meets a large cast of zombies who are capable of fighting off their need to feed, and creates a small "family" with them. There's Joan, the former nurse who retains her ability to patch up her dead brethren. Guts, a small child who is quite empathic with other zombies and can move as if he were still alive. Ros, the soldier-turned-zombie who can actually SPEAK. Annie, the teenage zombie who has amazing sharpshooting skills. The group also keeps a couple of non-intelligent zombies around, including Eve, a woman Jack turned into a zombie to be his "wife".

The book takes the reader through the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of Jack's band of shambling misfits. From being captured by the military, hunting a Wal-Mart for brains, capturing a living person to act as a driver, and finally wintering at the bottom of Lake Michigan to hide from human hunting parties, the zombies provide a delightful, if sometimes disturbing, tale. Becker has laced Jack's narrative with sarcastic references to pop culture that left me laughing out loud. I rooted for the zombies the whole time, even when they were at their most despicable.

Obviously, I liked the book, and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys zombies or dark comedies. I found the book in the Horror section at my local Borders bookstore, but I wouldn't really classify it as such. There was nothing to invoke horror in the reader, really, but I'm not sure where else they COULD classify it. If my description sounds interesting, but your not a "reader", fear not! Brains comes in at only 182 pages; I finished it in less than a day, and the chapter lengths were short enough that there plenty of good places to set the book down if life prevents you from reading large chunks at a time (like having three kids).

End of Demented Rambling

Because I Didn't Get To Do This Yesterday...

Too busy running around yesterday to get this done when I should have.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEX!!!!!!!


I love you son.


End of Demented Rambling.

Quick Post

So I was going to write a review for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Wii.

I can't. I don't want to review a product without having completed at least 80% of it.

I'm going to sum this up quick:

The creators of this product don't "get" what made Silent Hill good, nor how to "reboot" a series, because I don't WANT anything that follows this game. I loved some of the ideas in theory. Normal guy can't fight off the strange monsters, but instead has to run away while they chase them? Nice concept, but turns into crap game play that is more frustrating than suspenseful. The game psychologically profiles me to help make it scarier? Cool... except that I wasn't find that to be the case.

I'll be blunt; I was playing the other night, got through a nightmare sequence, completed several puzzles, and then entered a new nightmare sequence. I saved and told Lisa "Yeah, I'm just not in the mood for another chase tonight." and then each time I thought about starting the game up I thought "Yeah, but I'll have to do a nightmare sequence right away... and that just sucks." So here's the point: If there is an element to your game that makes me not want to pick back up the Wii remote... YOU FAILED. If I would rather go back to a game from my ORIGINAL XBOX and play that, YOU FAILED. Games are for entertainment.

Me no entertained, YOU FAIL!!! Small words make sense?

Not to be entirely negative, I've recently remembered how much Deus Ex from Eidos (yeah, they do more than Tomb Raider!) and the sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War ROCKS (though Deus Ex was better than the sequel, but what can you do?). I can't wait for Deus Ex: Human Resistance. Something about these games just work for me.

Oh, and there's a new Spider-Man game coming out that apparently features Spider-Man 2099. This makes me happy. Very happy. Here's a link: http://spidermandimensions.marvel.com/ I may be in a minority for people who really enjoyed the 2099 lines, but I don't care. They were fun (favorite: Ghost Rider 2099).

End of Demented Rambling.

Rambling Review: Food Network Cook or Be Cooked for the Wii

Summery: This sounds like a cool idea; a game that teaches you how to cook mixed with the Wii's motion controls! Sadly, it comes out a little under-cooked, bland, and too far from actual cooking to be from a network dedicated to the art of creating food dishes.

There's a few of these cooking games out on the market now. America's Test Kitchen has one for the Nintendo DS, and Personal Trainer: Cooking, plus more (really, the DS is apparently THE PLATFORM to use video games to teach cooking techniques). Apparently these video games are becoming a bit of a trend, like fitness video games. Still, I hadn't played any of them prior to discovering Food Network's Cook or Be Cooked game. My first thoughts were "Damn, that sounds like fun; an actual game with motion controls that let me really chop the ingredients, stir the pots, and all the other items, plus it includes recipes!" We put it into our Game Queue at GameFly and recently had it delivered to our door.

The Story Behind the Game: Food Network personalities magically come through your TV and then WON'T GO AWAY.

Of course, these aren't the Food Network personalities we might WANT to see. I can think of a variety of personalities that I'd love to have magically walk through my TV and help me cook. Bobby Flay, Alton Brown, Guy Fieri, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler Florence... I'd love one on one lessons from any of them! And for the fun of a video game, who could top Alton Brown, the guy who figured out how to make an instructional cooking show into something like Bill Nye The Science Guy?

Instead, we get Susie Fogelson and Mory Thomas. Wondering who they are? Well, why wouldn't you? Susie Fogelson is basically in charge of product marketing for the Food Network (I'm sure its more complicated than that, and I know her position is VERY important for the Network). Basically, she helps those Food Network Stars get their cookbooks, knife sets, special pots and pans, etc out on the market. She's also part of the selection committee from The Next Food Network Star show; so if you're not a fan of that, you've never heard of her. Mory Thomas? He's a chef in the Food Network Kitchens... and I only know this because of the product description! In other words, he's not a name I recognize or care about.

Now, I understand Ms.. Fogelson being in the game, at least kind of. Food Network-philes were probably considered the target audience for the game, and such people have probably watched AT LEAST one season of The Next Food Network Star, and her role in that show does give her experience judging food... but frankly, she's a corporate suit (as far as I know), so hearing her comment over how fast I chopped the garlic is meaningless to me. And Mory Thomas... I can only assume that the big names (and little) for the network assumed the game would bomb and didn't want their names associated with it, so they stuck, essentially, a nobody in the role. The only problem is, THE NOBODY IS THE ONE GIVING ME MY RECIPES FOR THE GAME.

Gameplay: You chop, you peel, you stir, you preheat... all with the Wii remote!

The game does what it sets out to do. You're given a number of meals to prepare for Susie and Mory to taste and judge. You are scored based on how fast you accomplish your goals, how warm the dishes are when they're served, etc. Various mini-games walk you through the steps of preparing whatever dish you're  working on, and an on-screen display shows the motion you're supposed to use with the Wii remote to accomplish all this. For example, you use a chopping motion with the remote to make the on-screen knife chop the ingredient, stir with the remote, and make flipping motions to use tongs or spatulas. That part's not bad.

The game ALSO requires you to have the nunchuk plugged in. Why? Well, to be honest, BECAUSE THEY DAMN WELL WANTED IT TO. Seriously. There is no function they used the nunchuk for that could not have been used with just the Wii remote. You wave the nunchuk frequently to pull an ingredient out... but they could have just had you wave the Wii remote (or nothing at all, since the FREQUENTLY DON'T REQUIRE YOU TO WAVE ANYTHING). You can press the Z-button to speed up time, but there are plenty of buttons not used on the Wii Remote that could have served this purpose (like the 1 or 2 button). And then at some points the randomly switch into a rhythm-based mini-game where you wave the Wii remote or nunchuk as a topping falls from the top of the screen into a box... which feels more like it belongs on one of the Wii Fit's mini-games!

Scoring is... strange as well. The game won't teach you proper technique for cutting or, well, much of anything. If you didn't know how to smash garlic before you might pick up that trick, or maybe a fast way to dice onions, but Food Network-philes have seen these tricks hundreds of times before. Oddly enough, the game NEVER wants you to de-seed a jalapeno; but magically, only the "pepper" portion of the jalapeno ends up in the bowl. So despite the fact that you aren't learning proper technique you ARE scored based on how fast you chop, whether you hit a target area for pouring or shaking a salt shaker, etc. It's nit-picking, and not helpful to the game's premise of helping teach you the recipes (I don't HAVE to chop that fast to make my food taste good, dammit!). After an element of your dish is finished a meter appears to let you know how warm it is; the longer you take to finish the other parts, the colder that element will be. Hot elements get you a lot of points, warm will get you some points, and cold elements deduct points.

Once you've gotten scored the virtual Susie and Mory will "taste" your food and then comment on it. And frankly, the comments are annoying. They'll award you a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal (or announce that you've been cooked). You can scroll through the dishes to see what your scores were in each section, but would have been nice was advice to help make the dish better next time (for example, "You need to start your cous cous a little later so it will be warm when you serve the plate", or something like that). And some of the comments are bizarre. If you earn a Bronze, Mory will often say "It's a good thing I'm hungry," a comment that I take to mean that the meal is not good at all, but apparently I still earned enough to get a damn medal!

You can also review individual recipes. This sounds like a great idea "hey, that tuna dish sounded good, how do I make that in real life?" Only there's a problem. Like not including the quantities of ANY ingredient in the recipe kind of problem. Seriously, how can you claim to provide me with recipes if you don't include any quantities?

Combat: If only!

I mean, I have knives, skillets, there are annoying people I want to hit... motion-sensitive controllers.... wait, am I going too far here?

Conclusion: Food Network Cooked or Be Cooked is cold... and I want to warm it back up by putting the disc in my microwave.

Honestly, as my first exposure to cooking games... I hope this isn't the norm. It's a neat idea, at first. It sounds cool, we've got the controllers to let me feel like I'm chopping... but after a few dishes the shine has worn off, and I'm wanting to take a skillet to the virtual "personalities" (who I don't care about) who dare to criticize my "cooking". If Food Network wanted to try another cooking game I'd be open to trying it... but only if I actually had REAL Food Network personalities involved, and if the mini-games were toned down. I'm going to give this one a 2/5 score... and the only reason it isn't a 1 out of 5 is because I think they could build from this and make a good Food Network Cook or Be Cooked 2.

End of Demented Rambling.

Dear Bioware, My Wishlist For Dragon Age 2...

I've been playing through Dragon Age Origins with all the downloaded content and Awakenings recently. This new session of playing a game that I really should be tired of (but somehow I'm not) has affirmed a few of my beliefs regarding what I would (and would not) want to see in Dragon Age 2. I'd write Bioware a letter, but since it's possible we're getting the game in February, I kind of doubt that there's much point. Still, here's what I'd ask for:

Please Keep:

• Conversations among the party members; many of these were hilarious.
• Customizable tactics for my characters so I can just play my character if I want.
• Rich and detailed origins stories for the main character. In fact, give me more of these!
• Specializations to let my characters of the same class feel different from one another.
• The inventory system (but you can do away with the "junk" category; it's purpose could be accomplished with a simple "Do you really want to destroy this item?" confirmation box).
• The HUGE number of Codex entries.
• Stamina droughts. WHY WEREN'T THOSE IN THE MAIN GAME?!?!?!?

Please Add:

• The ability for me to sort the order of my Codex entries (make newest entries on top, all unread entries on top, whatever) OR make it so I need to "mark" an entry as read by pressing a button or something, rather than marking it read as soon as I scroll over it. I like the Codex, and I'd like to be able to find my new entries.
• Different skill lists for each class. Make the lists bigger, let classes have unique skills to help make this part of the game feel like more than an afterthought. Rogues can keep things like Stealing, Poison Making, and Trap Making (oh, and change the lockpicking and stealth Talents into skills). Warriors could have skills that help them aggro their foes (move those Taunt abilities to skills, rather than Talents), and maybe armor or weapon crafting skills. Mages can have Herbalism, Rune-Making and the like. You can keep some skills generic (survival & coercion for instance). Just do SOMETHING so I feel like I have a place to put skill points for my warriors once I've maxed out combat training!
• More enemy types, either enemies who look different (all shades are exactly the same), or just a greater variety of creatures so I don't run the risk of feeling like I'm fighting the same Qunari Mercenary over and over again.
• More download content that provides either new characters or greater background on existing characters. Alternatively, new Specializations from DLC. 
• More consistency between the storyline elements and the codex (why is the Sloth Demon ruling over two Desire Demons, when the Desire Demons are considered higher ranked?).
• Download content that actually works with your goddamn expansion pack!!!! Seriously, if it came out ON RELEASE, then there is NO REASON that my items should vanish when I import my character to your next expansion. Telling me that the items were only intended for Origins is bullshit.

Please Get Rid Of:

• Not being able to access my companion's crafting skills while I'm camping. I don't like needing to leave camp to make a Health Poultice or Vigil Keep just to work on making that Paragon Flame Rune. Sure, you could say "but if the main character has those crafting skills you're set!" However, if I want to maintain consistency with your background for the world, only a dwarf should be able to take Rune Crafting... and maybe I don't think Herbalism fits with my warrior. It's an RPG, don't make me take skills for a character that I don't feel fit just to make crafting them convenient!
• Stamina/Mana and Health increases as skills. Just... no. This was silly. Could you seriously not come up with better skills?
• Buying additional Tactic Slots with my skill points. Sure, I needed somewhere to dump all those skill points, but if you'd actually concentrated on your skill system to begin with I would have HAD somewhere. If you think I'll want more slots, just increase how many I get from leveling up!
• Specializations from an expansion not updating the original game to let me use them all the time. This last play through had me not leveling my main character after a certain point because I wanted to save my Talent slots for either Awakening Specialization Talents, the new weapon skill path, or the extra class paths... If I could have used the new specializations earlier, I could have saved myself the hassle.
• Everything coming from the Fade. Look, if the Fade is so bad, why wouldn't the Chantry just wipe out the mages? They become Abominations, possibly created the Darkspawn, and help thin the veil so all these damn spirits can escape into our world (and apparently it happens ALL THE TIME in Ferelden).

Does anyone agree with me?

End of Demented Rambling.