Thursday, October 28, 2004, 4:03pm
Thursday, October 28, 2004, 4:03pm
Aboard one of the “blue seat” cars I’m seated on a maroon colored Naugahyde bench of the type found in the newer carriages. Perhaps the seats have been replaced recently, but after careful inspection I see how they show clear signs of prolonged use.
This single-decker train will soon become the 4:10pm Worcester Express, first conveying me to an empty house (Sue at work and Chris at his C++ class). From there I’ll head to Arthur’s Thursday evening group, and then drive home again to a house more abuzz.
Underway now I hear the echoing drone from a blaring track announcement blurred beyond recognition by the physical contours of the overhanging bus station and the shell of this railroad car. The voice is human – with the cadence and intonation of a bored track announcer trying to sound officially informative. But none of the words survive the acoustic transformation.
Beyond South Station an electrical box sports the usual “GO SOX” spray paint plus a score for each World Series game. There will be no more baseball until pitchers and catchers report to spring training in February, and now that the season is over I wonder what new pastimes will serve as my winter distraction. Football is more of a weekend affair. Hockey seems too relentlessly chaotic and may not be played at all this season due to an owner’s lockout. And the Celtics of this generation are playing the game of basketball like so many other also-rans.
That leaves finishing my Thief series and perhaps playing other fan-made designs from the emerging masters of DromEd. I’ve already begun to edit voice work from Scott in Delaware (a.k.a., SlyFoxx) – “broadcast speech” for one of the main characters who may be found wandering around that world. My goal is to hear him mumbling routine drivel when standing within earshot and howling invectives when in combat. I have lots of good audio to process and a bit of programming to set this up. Then I’ll run some tests inside a demo mission to see if he’s likely to make much sense inside the actual game.
For the moment there is still daylight, though fading fast as the train rolls above Route 128. The scenes change one after the other and a moment later we are running through thinning woods where freshly fallen leaves carpet a woodland floor.
