starwatcher | Network

Posted by Mark Warren

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/earth-must-die-publishers-say-an-alien-orgy-depicted-as-a-gyrating-lump-on-the-floor-left-the-games-steam-launch-unclear

What Steam operators Valve are and aren't prepared to allow onto their storefront has been a major talking point for the past year or so, especially when it comes to mature or sexually-themed content. Our Edwin's done some fine reporting on the topic and how it relates to payment processors, as well as delving into individual cases like Santa Ragione's Horses.

Now, the developers of point-and-click comedy Earth Must Die say things looked "unclear" for a bit in terms of whether they'd be able to launch on Steam, with the platform then offering a thumbs up after reviewing footage of an "alien orgy".

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/earth-must-die-publishers-say-an-alien-orgy-depicted-as-a-gyrating-lump-on-the-floor-left-the-games-steam-launch-unclear

bill_schubert

Helped bring this dog down to be on the air.

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/kingsbury-thompson-flag-bearers-canada-milano-cortina-olympics-9.7063893?cmp=rss

Composite photo of moguls skier Mikaël Kingsbury and ski cross racer Marielle Thompson, both from Canada.

Olympic stars Mikaël Kingsbury and Marielle Thompson, set to compete in their fourth Winter Games, will be Canada’s flag-bearers for the Feb. 6 opening ceremony in Italy, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced on Wednesday.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/kingsbury-thompson-flag-bearers-canada-milano-cortina-olympics-9.7063893?cmp=rss

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/former-french-senator-guilty-drugging-9.7064550?cmp=rss

A former French senator was found guilty by a Paris court late on Tuesday of having spiked a lawmaker's drink with ecstasy with the intention of sexually assaulting her.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/former-french-senator-guilty-drugging-9.7064550?cmp=rss

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-of-canada-january-28-meeting-9.7064560?cmp=rss

The Bank of Canada name seen on a stone brick.

The Bank of Canada is holding its key interest rate at 2.25 per cent for a second consecutive meeting, a move that was widely expected by analysts.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-of-canada-january-28-meeting-9.7064560?cmp=rss

cbc_topnews_feed

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-dead-estimates-9.7064462?cmp=rss

Several men in winter clothing carry a flag-draped coffin.

The Kremlin is denying a report that Russia suffered the largest number of troop deaths recorded for any major power in any conflict since the Second World War.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-dead-estimates-9.7064462?cmp=rss

osprey_archer

What I Just Finished Reading

Kate Seredy’s The Open Gate. Driving toward their destination for summer vacation, a New York City family pauses at a farm auction. No one is bidding on the farmland itself, so Granny cunningly suggests to Dad, “Why don’t you bid? Just to get things started?”

“DON’T YOU DO IT, BOY!” I shouted, but as so often happens, the characters ignored my wise advice.

Of course Dad wins the farm. Of course, the family has to stay the night, and having stayed one night, they have to keep on staying. And then Granny goes to another farm auction, promising piously not to open her mouth to bid–

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH TO BID AT AN AUCTION!” I shouted at Dad, who once again foolishly failed to listen to me. He accepted Granny’s promise, and Granny promptly rules-lawyered the farm into two cows (both pregnant) and two horses (also both pregnant) by bidding with a twitch of the hand.

I am all for people going back to the land if they want to, but I prefer stories about it to feature people who actually want to, rather than people who get bamboozled into it by Granny.

Multiple people have recommended Uketsu’s Strange Houses (translated by Jim Rion), and it did NOT disappoint. The book is a mystery based around floor plans, and I am happy to report that there are indeed MANY floor plans (I love a floor plan), which makes the book an even zippier read than you might guess from its size.

Now, do I think the mystery is “plausible” or “makes psychological sense”? Well, no, not really, and if it took longer to read that might have bothered me. But the floor plans and the pacing make the book fly by, and I enjoyed it for what it was, which is an amusingly bizarre puzzle box mystery with, let me repeat, enough floor plans to satisfy even my floor-plan-mad self.

What I’m Reading Now

After years of procrastination, I’ve begun Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. Happy to report that this ALSO features a floorplan in the endpapers. All the rooms are lettered, but curiously the key only includes some of the letters, so we are left guessing just which room Q might be.

What I Plan to Read Next

Obviously I need to read Uketsu’s Strange Pictures, too.

Things to see, things to do, things to talk about!

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