judyonthenet

Last Saturday, Ravi and Jessica held their Crazy Hat Potluck Party at Ravi’s apartment. In summary: There was great food, great people, silly hats, and Rock Band, resulting in a super-fun party.

After Kelvin rushed to get his dog-gnawing-head hat finished, we dropped by Chevy’s to pick up chips, salsa, and guacamole for the party. I love their chips, salsa, and guac, and I can’t cook worth anything, so good opportunity to get some. Chris brought a tiramisu cake which seemed familiar to me. Despite ~being 20 minutes late, we were still the first ones there. Well, Wonsop was already there, but he doesn’t count since he lives in the same apartment complex.

We munched on the chips and Wonsop’s stuffed mushrooms (*sigh* mushrooms) until more people arrived. The guys tried out Rock Band as I chatted with Jessica about our knitting/sewing experiences. Calvin arrived with pies, while Anna and Norm seemed like they’d be there later, so we started eating. Jessica made a giant casserole dish of mac & cheese, which somehow managed to be tasty without being salty. Ravi made a jambalaya dish that had a lot of flavor (including yummy sausage) but wasn’t overwhelming. Man, I need to learn to cook. Anna and Norm arrived while we were eating, and she brought a giant pot of green curry. I never got to try it, as I ate too many chips and filled up on mac&cheese and jambalaya.

Crazy hat-wise, the ratio was decent. From the ten people that came, I think only Calvin, Norm, and Gordon were the only ones without hats. Calvin contemplated buying one, Norm forgot his Goofy hat rushing to get to the party, and Gordon decided to drop by at the last minute so he was unaware of the “crazy hat” part of the party, so forgivable offenses. Wonsop wore a hat, but I don’t think it was crazy. Ravi wore the Where’s Waldo hat that Jessica knitted for him for Halloween, and Jessica wore another knitted hat that she made in a day. Chris wore a giant rainbow stovetop hat he found in storage at work that still had the tag on it (and he purposely left on). I had my Batman chef hat, and Kelvin had his dog-gnawing-head hat (craziest hat at the party, IMHO). Anna’s hat was pretty crazy, too: an unfinished knit wig. While I’m sure it will be awesomely cute when its done, it was funny as is. She had her knitting needles stuck in the sides, and the knitting loop thingies were still on the edges. And she was walking around holding a skein of yarn.

The rest of the night, we played Rock Band. Now, I’m not a fan of Guitar Hero: I find the songs too long and the gameplay and animations not that interesting to watch. However, Rock Band is way, way more fun of a party game than Guitar Hero, despite still having long songs and same basic gameplay. The added microphone and drum kit elements make SO MUCH of a difference for group interaction. First of all, I greatly enjoy Karaoke Revolution. I don’t like karaoke, but I like karaoke in a game, where you check songs off and unlock stuff (surprise!). So clearly, I liked the lead singer portion of Rock Band, which is almost identical to Karaoke Revolution. It required little hand-eye coordination, and the portions where you had to clap the mic to make tambourine or cowbell noises were easy. Plus with the mic, more people can play along and sing with the lead singer, allowing greater group participation.

The drum kit is a whole different level of gameplay than the guitars, it seems. I didn’t try it, as it seemed way too intimidating to me. The drum section was not a straightforward venture for anybody, except for maybe Wonsop. (I don’t get Wonsop. I don’t think he owns any console games himself, yet he masters everything so quickly.) Man, Wonsop killed at the drums, but there were still songs (at that time at least) that Wonsop hadn’t practiced and still found very challenging. Regardless, watching anybody (particularly somebody who actually kinda knows what they’re doing) play the drums is itself an entertaining activity. You can tell very easily if they’re good or sucking, as the tapping of the drum controllers is audible and the movements are obvious, unlike the subtleness of the guitar controllers. Add this with the great band animation on the screen, the game becomes actually fun to watch.

The two guitar portions seem similar to Guitar Hero, and I didn’t play them so I can’t compare. While they’re not as entertaining to watch, I’m sure the two people playing the guitar/bass sections are thoroughly entertained. The songs are still long… really long. Particularly painful is the 8 and 1/2 minute song “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who. (I had no idea what that song was until I heard that distinctive “Yeaaah!”.) I think anyone playing an instrument on that song had some majorly cramped-up hands.

I had told Ravi and Wonsop to, instead of playing the same 12 songs they’ve already unlocked, to do the campaign mode so we could unlock things as we play. The songs would be random, but at least we’d make some progress, unlock things, and not have to play the same songs over and over again. I wish I knew more of the songs, but luckily Anna (who knew a lot of the 90s and later stuff) and Gordon (who knew a lot of the 90s and earlier stuff) were there, so I think they got a unlocked a bunch of stuff that night. (I know Jessica is probably reading this and laughing at my continual obsession to unlock things. Hey, it’s what gets me through games!) I wonder how fun this game is without the party setting.

I did have a really stupid moment tho. While singing “Highway Star” by Deep Purple (an older song I didn’t even know I knew how to sing… apparently it was in Elite Beat Agents, so I knew how it went), I clapped the mic against my thumb too hard. It took me a few seconds to realize my thumb was in total pain and had swollen to the point I couldn’t bend it. Dude, I didn’t even drink! I have no idea how I did that and not notice it! I had to put my thumb on ice all evening, and I couldn’t bend it in any degree until middle of Sunday. Man, that sucked.

Outside of that, I greatly enjoyed the game, and I greatly enjoyed the party. Thanks again Ravi & Jessica for having us over!

New thing I learned today: The Who are from England. (Seriously, I know nothing about classic rock.)