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I didn’t really have to think it twice. When Jon asked me today “are you sure you want to delete Sims 2 from your computer?” I said YES straight away. To be honest, I haven’t played for months. I used to love it, but after having played thousands of times and made quite a few videos, I kind of got bored of it. I seemed to spend all my spare time downloading more skins, more clothes, more applications, for what? To end up having Gbs and Gbs of crap in my computer? Yes.
I made a Sim of myself and I used to play that Jon and I had an amazing family, an amazing house, amazing jobs, etc. At the end of the day that’s what Sims were for, weren’t they? To let you create a better you (okay, other people used the game to kill sims or make them miserable). But then, when everything was amazing, and there weren’t many more thing that I could turn into amazing, I decided to switch into Music Videos. I managed to finish three (you can watch them in my youtube account: www.youtube.com/marialachica) but I started another 4 or 5 that I never finished. I had lots of ideas, I just didn’t have the right skills to put them into videos.
And after that, coinciding with my discovery of ANTM, I became almost obsessed with Sim-modelling. I made the catwalk, I created the judges, the poses (well, the poses weren’t mine of course), the dresses (the dresses either), etc. I started “Sim City Next Top Model”. With lots of snapshots I made little videos and then the judges would eliminate one. It was a brilliant idea, and I was really into it when disaster happened: I installed a new extension pack and god-knows-how I lost all my saved games. That meant I lost all my sims. I had to start all over again. But then the game was never the same. I lost interest as well as the games.
And that was it. Months later I have decided to give up Sims 2. Only because I know that something bigger and better is coming in 2009: SIMS3!
I can’t wait.
After reading lots and lots of wedding websites, I’ve come across this concept of “Save the date” invitations that apparently is huge in the States but not so common in the UK (and of course, completely inexistent in Spain). It is actually a good idea, because you’re not meant to send the proper wedding invitations until at least 4 months before the wedding (some people send them a bit earlier, but not MUCH earlier) but you still have to let people know about the date when everything is going to take place, so they can actually “save” that day for you.
I saw a very good example on an American website (http://www.magnetstreet.com/store/details/market/517/productId/12990) and I contacted them because I wanted something very similar for us, but they told me that they didn’t deliver to the UK. But then, the idea was there and I started researching how to do something similar myself.
And it turned out not to be that complicated anyway. I found several websites in the UK that sell blank fridge magnets for reasonable prices, and then we only had to design and print our own inserts. It was something really fun to do, or at least I enjoyed doing it! I suppose you always appreciate things more when you’ve done them yourself and they are a part of you. So much better than a generic and impersonal piece of card that doesn’t say much about you and your partner!
For the inserts we decided to go for baby pictures of ourselves. I thought it would be a very cute idea, and people would definitely not mind having such cute pictures on their fridges for such a long time! As background, we also used the three white roses picture that I took a couple of months back (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marialachica/2542022761/) and that we will probably use for the rest of our stationery. But that is something that still has to be decided. Oh!, so much to plan and decide… So much fun still to come!
I was thinking today about BNTM (yes, I know the show has finished, but I read something somewhere that made me think of it again). I was wondering why I can see such a big difference between the contestants of ANTM and the British ones. I couldn’t figure out why, when there are so many apparent differences (American contestants look professional from start, seem more determined, more “model-oriented” attitude, they even look older for their age, etc)
And then the penny dropped. I think I know why. The contestants for the British version of Next Top Model don’t really want to be models. They want to be celebrities. They are a product of today’s television and media. I bet that they were in school a couple of years ago, a teacher asked “what do you want to be when you grow up” and all of them replied the same: I want to be a celebrity.
When I was little and the teacher asked that question the normal answers were: doctor, policeman, nurse, teacher, etc. Today, teenagers want to become singers, actors, models, tv presenters… Which isn’t anything bad, don’t take me wrong, the problem arrives when it becomes very obvious that none of them have any TALENT to be any of the sort and still apply to every single programme on telly that encourages people to demonstrate how inept they are. I don’t blame the poor brainless talentless teenagers, who could, it’s not their fault. At the end of the day, it’s me and you, the viewers of such programmes who are responsible for their success and keep encouraging them to try and become a celebrity.
Poor sods.
It looks like 2008 is going to be the great year for Spanish sports. After years and years of disappointment and disillusionment this year our guys are doing great!
First of all the Euro 2008. Watching the final agaist Germany was nerve-wrecking. At the end, I was almost kneeling in front of the telly praying to some unknown god of sports that the Germans wouldn’t score in the last minute. Because yes, things like that happen to the Spanish football team quite often (or should I say “USED to happen”). I still have memories of the USA 94 quarter finals, Spain v Italy. We were robbed. The Italians played dirty, so dirty that they managed to break Luis Enrique’s nose and get away with it, without even a yellow card! Yes, historically the Spanish football team has been quite unlucky. And I mean UNLUCKY. When you’re playing good football and the gods conspire against you, that’s unlucky. But still, just after can’t-remember-how-many years of bad luck, finally Spain showed the rest of Europe that our football is and has always been great!
Then Wimbledon. I felt sorry for Federer, honestly. I bet he really wanted to win the 6th Wimbledon in a row, and beat a record that has been untouched for hundred odd years. I could feel his desire, his power, his determination… Had he been playing against anyone else, I would have cheered for him. BUT. Rafael Nadal. Ese Rafa! At the still tender age of 22 he’s managed to be the world’s number two for about three years running. And who knows, maybe if he gets to win a few more Grand Slams he will become the number one! But going back to the Wimbledon final, I thought I was going to lose my voice from screaming. He was about to win the match in the thrid set. But that wouldn’t have been exciting. Fighting for 5 hours, playing against the weather (so windy!), and facing your rival of so many years… THAT was exciting… Come on! He showed such a maturity, strenght and determination! He was the best player and he deserved to win.
But now the question lays on the Olympics. What are the Spanish chances of winning any medals? Handball, the sport in which Spain has always excelled, seems to be a bit out of our hand, as our team really suffered to get qualified. We’ve always been good at Gymnastics (Gervasio!!) and Cycling, but what else? Hopefully, 2008 will be the year of Spanish Sports and we will have something to remember and tell our granchildren one day…
I am so disappointed with this season of Britain’s Next Top Model. I am even happy that it is finished. The quality of the programme has been so low, the “models” were mere selfish bimbos, the judges were appaling, some of the photographers were pure amateurs… The rant could go on forever. But what annoys me the most is that one of my original 5 favourites has won! And it annoys me because she has proven herself to be a horrible person throughout the series. I’m still laughing inside at the hypocresy of the judges and programme in general. The edit of the episodes showed Alex (the winner, yes) as a selfish, immature, quite bitchy and arrogant person. Okay, maybe she had the looks and walk to become a top model, but what about the “image” that she portrays? Aren’t the producers of the programme worried that she may become a bad role model for other teenagers? I still can’t believe that Lisa favoured her so much (because you could tell from programme 7 that Lisa favoured her). The judjes shouldn’t be biased!
I still think Rachael and Charlotte were the best. They made a very bad decision by getting rid of Charlotte so soon. Oh god, I could be going on forever. I just wonder if I’ll bother watching the next series next year. If it’s anything like this one, then it’s a no no.
So this is it: Alex, the winner.
