Six Flags

My wife's birthday is this Sunday, so as her present I decided we would go to Six Flags this week. We have been talking about it for a while since they had the kids pricing going on, so it was a good idea.

We got there around 10:30 a.m. when they opened. We left at 9:00 p.m. Yea, we were tired. :-)

It was really great because we didn't have to wait in line for long to ride any of the rides. The longest wait we had was to get on Tony Hawk's Big Spin. We were able to just walk onto the Texas Giant (and get our picture taken).

I got a bunch of great pictures that I put up on my Flickr. It was funny, because I wanted to get my picture with the Joker and Riddler, but they left before we could get it the first time. So, when we saw them towards the end of the day, I jumped at the chance. I did feel like a big dork, but that's nothing new for me. Hehe.

MSN Auto Design Challenge...Thingy

Thanks to Deaconblade360, I've been trying to get some free MS points by entering this MSN design contest. They basically give you a Dodge Charger and some color options and decals and let you go to town. It's a little deeper than that, but I'm not so deluded that I think anything I design will win, so it's really just about making the gayest car I can.

Flickrdown

Yesterday, I posed the question on Twitter whether there was an app that would allow you to download all of your Flickr photos to your desktop. I was quickly answered by Jay900, who pointed me to Flickrdown. I used it last night, and it is awesome!

The only thing that I can see that this app needs is some RSS support. My idea is something like an RSS reader, but it automatically downloads any new photos directly to your machine. No need to go in and select the new ones. I'm sure this is possible, and if I had any idea how to implement this, I would.

You could even go as far as having a separate folder for photos that you tag. The app would recognize the tag (for example, the tag "print"), and then you could know that you want to print that photo. Then uploading it to a store like Walgreens would be a snap.

Basically, I take a lot of photos with my phone and send them to Flickr, so those pics rarely actually get saved on my hard drive.

Anyway, it's a great program and I recommend it if you use Flickr with your phone.

Fireworks And A Three Day Weekend

fireworks
Originally uploaded by Gemini Ace

It was nice to have a three day weekend. I was scheduled to work at Kohl's on Saturday night, but I called in sick. We had both asked for it off, but they scheduled me anyway. Not cool.

We went to Alana's and hung out for a while. They had fireworks out there, which was cool. I tried to take pictures with my phone with varying results.

We're going to get new phones come October when our T-Mobile plan runs out. We're thinking about going with Verizon and getting the Glyde or something else like it. I don't really want the iPhone because I don't want to be tied down to Apple and iTunes.

Anyway, it was a good weekend. Played a bunch of UT3 on my PS3. I might be almost done with the campaign. I've been seeing people that are playing it on the 360. I'm hoping Epic adds trophies to it since they had to give it cheevos on the 360.

Free HD-DVD's = Happiness

free hd-dvds!
Originally uploaded by Gemini Ace

I finally got my free movies for buying the HD-DVD add on for the 360 back in March. Can you really beat a $50 player and 5 free movies? I think not!

Funny thing is, I only got one movie that was listed on the original form. The others were all substitutes, and definite upgrades to what was originally offered. I mean, Transformers in HD? Yes, please!

The Force Unleashed

While it's still 2 months away, I can't help but start to get excited for the new Star Wars game, The Force Unleashed. It's one of the few games I'm planning on actually buying on release this year. The question I have is whether I'm buying the Xbox 360 version or the Wii version. I guess I will have to wait for some reviews, although the 360 and PS3 versions were developed by LucasArts, while the Wii version was handled by a 3rd party. I'm not sure if some exclusive content (and multiplayer) will be enough to outweigh the cheevos. Of course, if the motion control works well and you can realistically use the lightsaber and force powers, then I'm totally there.

Hazy Haze

I borrowed Haze from my friend at work last week. We each bought PS3's from Wal-Mart. I used my free $100 gift card on groceries, and he used his on Haze. Not the best decision he's ever made, but I got to play it for free, so I'm not complaining. Hehe.

Overall, I thought the gameplay was decent. It wasn't groundbreaking, but it didn't feel as floaty as the TimeSplitters games always felt to me. There were a lot of good ideas in there that really just didn't get executed as well as they could have. Shouldn't I have been a little more addicted to Nectar? I mean, give me some withdrawal symptoms in-game.

What really stuck out to me was the language. They slung fuck and motherfucker around quite a bit. I know it's a M rated game and all, but I guess I'm just not used to the NPC's calling me a motherfucker. It just felt like they were just saying it to say it. There wasn't a lot of context aside from the fact that they were all juiced up on Nectar.

By the way, if you're going to go ahead and let the motherfucker's fly, then why not give your soldiers a better battlecry than "boosh!"

I think I was almost through the campaign when I started hitting some bugs. I was driving a vehicle and crashed head first into an enemy vehicle, which caused all sorts of craziness. When I loaded the checkpoint, there were no textures loaded and no vehicle. Just me driving around, leaving tire tracks on nothing. So, I re-loaded and it worked for a few minutes until it finally froze. It's at that point that I decided I was done with it.

I did get Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3 and it is gorgeous. Glad I got it for the PS3 instead of waiting for the 360 version.

The Incredible Hulk

We went to see The Incredible Hulk this weekend. I really enjoyed the movie. It's not as good as Iron Man, but it's up there.

The best thing about the Iron Man and Hulk movies is the fact that they are taking obvious steps towards an Avengers movie. Nick Fury comes to Iron Man and, in turn, Tony Stark comes to General Ross in the Hulk. They're putting together a team. The Avengers initiative. Oh, it's gonna be awesome!

My theory on the movie is this. It will star Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Ant Man, and possibly the Wasp. I would also really like to see Hawkeye and the Vision to make an appearance. The Vision would be pretty easy to pull off special effects wise, and he would fit into the plot I have in mind.

I don't really have a point by point plot mapped out, just some broad strokes. I think the Avengers are being brought together to battle a single adversary, Ultron. At some point I think it would be cool if they capture the Vision or he infiltrates them somehow. Then, he turns against them (big battle ensues), and then he redeems himself at the end and joins the team. Ultron will be pretty easy to do the CGI on since we've seen it already in Iron Man. At some point Ant Man will have to get huge, Banner will have to Hulk out, and Cap will throw his shield. Oh, and Thor will have to sling his hammer through a bunch of robots!

Spore Creature - Balsac

Digg it!

My Spore Creations

So Much Music!

I've been downloading a bunch of new music lately, all of which has been pretty excellent. I highly recommend all of these albums, whether you download them legally or not. :-)

It's Been A While

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. I haven't been that busy, so it just doesn't make sense. Actually, each time I've thought of posting I just didn't have anything I was itching to say. Now, the itch in my crotch is a different story. Hehe.

Anyway, we didn't get any hours at Kohl's this week, so it's been kind of a vacation. We've watched some Netflix movies (Semi-Pro, Juno, and Batman), and cleaned house. Our anniversary is coming up on the 19th. 3 years! Feels like 30. lol!

Alana and I recorded episode 53 of ACFriends. We might be recording episode 54 this weekend if everything works out. The forums have been busy thanks to Hacker and his trivia. We've been doing the show for over 2 years now. It's amazing to me that we've amassed a fan base and so much history. Now if I could just remember Alana's town name!

It looks like my old buddy GLewis is posting news on the GameTalk site. I'll have to add it to the sites I visit regularly. Africansk8er also redesigned the ACFriends site. It looks flippin' sweet! Speaking of sites, I've been cruising PS3 Fanboy a lot lately. Wonder why? Cuz I got a PS3 last week. Wal-Mart had a deal where you got $100 gift card when you bought one. I had some birthday money left over, plus some stimulus money equals 40 gig PS3. Woot!

I have to say I'm really impressed with it so far. I got my HDMI cable this week. 1080p is fucking awesome. I have my 360 running at 720p through component. I really can't tell the difference, but the demos I've played on the PS3 so far have been gorgeous.

Wii Fit Day 3

So, I lost another 17 pounds yesterday. I know! I'm hoping to be -180 by Christmas!

I'm not sure what the deal is, but I went ahead and added the extra foot extensions to the balance board to see if that fixes the weight issue. I don't have thick shag carpet or anything and I'm using the yoga mat, so I wouldn't think this would be an issue. I will try it again today and see what it tells me.

The game was kind of worried that I lost so much so fast. Not so worried that it didn't want me to create a new goal for myself, though.

I Heart YouTube

These two videos are why I love YouTube.

Wii Fit Day 2

I did my second day of Wii Fit yesterday when I got home. I did a little strength training, hoola hoop, and ran in place. It was pretty fun and I actually felt like I had done a work out.

The funny thing is, the game said I lost 13 pounds since Saturday. I'm not one to argue with science, but that seems kind of impossible. Of course, the first day I was holding a double cheeseburger in one hand and a milkshake in the other, but that's besides the point!

Wii Fit

I finally unboxed my Wii Fit and booted it up. It's no big shock that it told me I'm obese. Hehe. I am excited about the possibilities. I set up a goal for myself. Losing 3.4 pounds every 2 weeks seems doable.

On The Rain-Slick Slope

Two recent events have caused me to be very concerned about the prices we'll be paying for Xbox Live Arcade games in the near future.

First, Microsoft announced that they will be restructuring the XBLA. Basically, this means they will be de-listing titles that don't perform well or get low scores on Metacritic. You know this will include mostly retro titles that debuted at 400 points. I don't know why they don't just discount them and try to boost sales. The whole point of having digital distribution is to save money on packaging and shelf space. Arcade titles don't require any of that, so why take them off the service?

Second, the Penny Arcade game sold over 16k copies so far according to X3F. This means that, even with it's hefty $20 price tag, it still sold extremely well. Now, there's nothing wrong with a game selling well. The problem is the message that is sent by those numbers. Pricing the game at $20 was a risk, but it was also a way to test the waters to see if the world is ready for a 1600 point arcade game. Well, according to over 16,000 of you, we are. Thanks for fucking the rest of us!

Now, everyone makes the argument that the game is 7-8 hours, which is more than some retail games. And they say that those of us that speak out against the prices are just too poor to buy them. I call bullshit on both those arguments and I'll tell you why.

First off, 7-8 hours of gameplay is fine, but that's all you get. There's no multiplayer. There's no real replay value unless you want to play the same story multiple times. Also, if it were a retail game you would have the option to trade it in for credit or sell it on eBay. With the digital distribution, the game will just sit on your hard drive forever.

Finally, just because I don't want to drop $20 on a 8 hour game does not mean I'm poor. It means I'm not willing to support higher prices for the sake of higher prices. I'm all for the advancement of the industry, but this just smacks of the fleecing of the 360 install base.

Some people who are big PA fans may think the game is reasonably priced, but I say it's just one more step in the direction of higher prices and less value for the consumer.

I Am Legend Is The Saddest Movie Ever

We watched I Am Legend this last weekend and it's now the saddest movie ever to me.

I had heard some warnings about the movie when it came out. About how the part with the dog is pretty rough. I had no idea that it was so bad!

One of my deep dark secrets has always been that the end of the movie Armageddon where Bruce Willis says goodbye to Liv Tyler always turns on the waterworks in me. I don't know what it is, but that scene just gets me every time. Maybe it's because I love Bruce Willis so much. Maybe it's because Liv Tyler can't act. Whatever it is, it makes me all soft and moist...around my eye sockets. Basically, it's my Beaches.

Until I Am Legend.

Seriously, if you have a dog you probably shouldn't watch this movie. I sat there enjoying the story and Will Smith's ripped physique...I mean acting chops. Then, out of no where a mannequin pops up in the street and Mr. Smiff was hanging upside down. I have no idea where the mannequin came from or who set the trap, but the end result was that his dog was infected with the disease.

If you haven't seen the movie, (by the way, spoiler alert) here's some background on the dog. It was his daughter's dog. His daughter and wife were killed in the helicopter he put them on to get them out of the city. That's all he has left is the dog. Plus, he's all alone except for the dog, which to him obviously represents his family, his friends, and pretty much the entire human race.

So, there I am, bawling like a baby while he snuffs the life out of his best friend. Rhea actually woke up to see what was wrong, but I couldn't pull it together to even tell her.

Yes, I'm a big pussy. Whatever!

Busy Busy Busy

Man, I've been busy. Between my birthday, working my 2 jobs, and everything else I haven't had time to blog at all. Not that I'm complaining. I've been doing some cool shit.

I got my little Phillips mp3 player in the mail on Friday. I've been using it's built in microphone to record some segments for the new podcast I've been thinking about. I'm not sure when it will come out or if it will come out. I've got some ideas that have been percolating in my brain for a while. Making them a reality is another thing altogether.

We worked overnight on Saturday, then I went with my parents and Alana to Winstar in Oklahoma. It was a ton of fun. I didn't win anything. We did get our lunch comped by the casino. Good times!

My parents gave me some shirts and cash for my birthday. My mom made an awesome cake. My sister got me 1600 Microsoft points, a blue Xbox 360 controller (FTW!), and a sweet shirt. I upgraded to a Flickr pro account. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, so I'm pretty happy about that. We went to Target last night and I found a rechargeable battery pack for my new controller. I couldn't believe it was on clearance for like nine bucks!

I also downloaded a bunch of new music this weekend. New stuff from The Last Shadow Puppets, Filter, Death Cab for Cutie, 3 Doors Down, and 10 Years. All good stuff and all thanks to ThePirateBay.org.

The Big Three Three

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm 33. Not much of a milestone, but it's all good. Here's a photo tour of the fun. :-)

After we got home from work, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for some delicious $.50 boneless wings and even more delicious Michelob Ultra.


We had a great time. I really do love that place. I love my wife even more!


When we got home, she put the candles on my Iron Man cake and lit them up. I have more pictures of me blowing them out. Those will be up later.


Rhea bought me a really cool Jalapeno Pepper Roaster from Williams Sonoma. I can't wait to stuff some jalapenos and grill them up in it. Gonna be delicious...although my ass may not agree.


Buffy, Buttercup, and Baylee pooled their money and bought me Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii. I was so impressed. I didn't even know they had money!

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Got started on the new Advance Wars game last week once it finally arrived from Amazon, no thanks to the idiot post office.

Anyway, so far it's a pretty fun game. It's standard Advance Wars gameplay, but the new setting and units are really cool. The only irritation comes from all the damn text you have to read between missions. I understand there's a plot, but do I have to read all the "witty" banter? Pass!

Days of Ruin is definitely worth buying. It's the best franchise on the DS in my opinion.

Red Alert 3

Holy shit, EA is making a sequel to one of my favorite games of all time. I loved Red Alert 2. I played it daily for probably almost 2 years. I will probably have to upgrade my pc to play it, but that's ok. I don't want to play it on the console because I didn't think the other Command and Conquer was very good on the 360.

Comic Book Movies

We went to see Iron Man tonight. 5 o'clock twilight show only cost $4.50 a person. Gotta love a deal!

I really have to say that Iron Man is up there with the all time greats as far as comic book movies go. It stands toe to toe with the first Spider-Man, X-Men, and Batman. Marvel continues to successfully move their characters from the page to the screen with so much attention to detail and love. Of course, there have been a few hiccups along the way (I'm looking at you, Hulk), but overall if you're a fan of Marvel Comics this is a great time to be going to the movies.

I keep a mental list of the best comic movies in my head. I'm going to put it right here so it's official. Here we go!

• X-Men 2 - Yea, I know. The sequel was better than the original. A rarity for sure, but it gave us everything we wanted in the first one and more. It's the pinnacle to which all other comic book movies aspire.
• Spider-Man - The definitive origin story coupled with the greatest hero/villain combo the world has ever known.
  
• Batman - This is hard. I love Batman Begins, but you have to give it up to Keaton and Burton for making Batman a bankable franchise in the first place. The sequels do not count. Returns was ruined by Devito. Forever was ruined by Kilmer. There's not enough room to explain what went wrong with Batman and Robin. Bat-nipples.
  
• X-Men - The move that made Hugh Jackman a star. He is Wolverine. Seeing him pop his claws for the first time was bliss.
  
• Iron Man - The perfect plot, great acting, and incredibly believable special effects. And we saw Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury. Nerdgasm!
• Blade - It's been pushed down the list lately, but it still holds a warm spot in my heart. We wouldn't have any of these mighty Marvel movies if it weren't for this guy.
• Superman Returns - The thing that keeps this movie out of the top 5? Kate Bosworth. Lois Lane is not a ultra-skinny 20-something. She's a tough as nails reporter in the big city of Metropolis. The only mistake Brian Singer ever made besides leaving X-Men 3.
• Batman Begins - Anything would be better than Batman and Robin. Thankfully we got this masterpiece. And whoever decided to use the same Batmobile in the sequel deserves a big raise.
• Hellboy - Who doesn't love Big Red? And who knew Selma Blair was so hot?
  
• Blade 2 - Goes hand in hand with Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro did Blade as a precursor to Hellboy. And the world is a better place for it.

Those are the best. Here's the rest.

• X-Men 3 - What the fuck? Everyone involved in this abortion should resign from the industry immediately. Bret Ratner not only made the Juggernaut a mutant (he's not), but he decided that mutants can have more than one power. The worst comic movie ever made.
  
• Dardevil - I didn't hate this movie, but I can see why it's not loved by the majority of the geeks. You have to give it up to the director for killing Elektra the exact same way as in the comic book. I remember my jaw hitting the floor when I first saw it. That being said, Bullseye was the worst translation of a villain ever.
  
• Elektra - All I can say is, "huh"? I've seen it, but I couldn't tell you what it was about. Not a good sign.
• The Hulk - Can we please pretend like this one never happened? Thanks!
• Superman IV - Seriously? Anything after the 2nd one shouldn't exist.
• Spider-Man 3 - Two words - Emo Peter Parker. And did anybody think to explain where the Venom symbiote came from? Nope! Let's just say it came from space. Who needs details?!
  

I didn't mention the Fastastic Four movies. Those are pretty good so I put them in the first list. Same with Ghost Rider. They're good, but the lack of a big budget holds them back from cracking the top 10.

Wearing Pants Is Overrated

I've been super busy this week so I haven't had time to post anything. Here's a quick update on where I am, what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it. (It may not be that detailed, but damn that sounded good.)

I got my package from Amazon earlier this week. The post office didn't screw me on this one. Shocker! They still haven't called me about anything, but what do you expect? I did e-mail Woot.com and ask them about it. They actually refunded my money! I was amazed and happy. Now that's customer service!

Speaking of Woot, they had a woot off today. It wasn't that great. I didn't buy anything. They did have a USB missile launcher, but I missed that one. Dammit!

I started my overnight job at Kohl's this week. It's not too bad, although working overnight then going to your regular day job does wear a brotha out. It's a decent job and a good way to get some money into savings, so I'm all for it. Rhea works there, too.

We took Baylee and Buttercup to the vet this evening for shots. Baylee threw up on me on the way home. Poor baby. I'm not very happy with her because she's decided that chewing on electronic cords is a fun thing to do. She chewed my play and charge cable to my 360, the power cord to my router, and one of my CAT-5 cables. WTF? Buffy and Butter never did that. I sprayed all the cords with some stuff that's supposed to taste really bad. Hopefully that will deter her.

It's time for Lost, so I'm gonna end it here.

Peace out!

I Hate The Post Office

I'm not exaggerating when I make the above statement. It's a point of fact that has been cemented into my brain. It's an interesting thing, too, because my wife and sister both work for the post office. But here I am, wishing I could declare a jihad on the whole damn organization. I'm like one of those senators that speaks out against gay marriage, meanwhile I'm banging dudes in an airport bathroom.

As some of my twitter buddies know, I was working for the post office earlier this year and eventually quit. I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty details about what happened in this post, but suffice to say that I was bent over a mail cart and corn holed by those bastards. I've talked to everyone I can get to answer a phone, including the union, and I got no help whatsoever.

There are so many things wrong with the post office. First off is the union. They make it so it's impossible to get rid of people that don't do their jobs. The post office is powerless to take any action against an employee for fear of the union. This does nothing but create an environment where the employees think they are bulletproof. Therefore they do the least work possible. Meanwhile, hard working people like me that do a good job get the shaft because the lazy regular carrier doesn't train worth a shit.

The second thing is the fact that the postal service, whether they would admit it or not, is a monopoly. There's no such thing as quitting the mail or going to a different service provider. If you want your bills, letters, and junk mail, you have to use the post office. They use UPS and FedEx as justification for being a monopoly, but the reality is that nobody in their right mind would send a letter using UPS and no company is going to send out their billing statements using FedEx. As soon as I can change my service provider like I can change my cell phone provider, then we will have progress.

What put me over the edge about the post office is not what happened to me while I was employed, but what has happened recently to me as a postal customer.

Recently my wife ordered a new pair of eye glasses off the internet. We tracked the package and it showed delivered. We did not have the glasses. We ventured down to the mail boxes at our apartments and found the package in an unlocked parcel locker. It was unlocked because the lock was broken. The carrier just left it in there with no notice in our regular box. This is the issue that prompted us to buy a P.O. box and put in a forward for our mail.

A few weeks ago I ordered a couple MP3 players from woot.com. They were only $10 each. Not a big ticket item, but it's still something I would like to receive. The package was lost due to the incompetent carrier forwarding the parcel. It's currently languishing in Dallas, probably being used as a doorstop or booger receptacle.

The final straw was yesterday when I tracked my Amazon package. I ordered Advance Wars: Days of Ruin from Amazon for cheap the other day and I've been excited ever since. The tracking showed it as delivered on the 28th. WTF?

I called 1-800-ASK-USPS and finally got a woman on the phone. I told her my story and she transferred me to someone else for no other reason than she didn't want to deal with me. I was livid and let loose on the new guy. Shockingly, he was very helpful.

Now, I sit here and wait for the post office to call me and bless me with information on my two parcels. Meanwhile, they are in no rush to provide any useful information because they have a monopoly on the industry and employ lazy, union protected jackasses who would rather complain about how many breaks they get instead of deliver me my fucking package!

Of course, when I refer to all postal employees as lazy, union protected jackasses, I don't mean my wife or my sister. They are the few that actually try to make a difference. My only wish is that someone would walk into that organization and fire 90% of the people and start over with people who actually want to work. Who actually have a vested interest in making sure you get your mail, as opposed to just being interested in getting done as fast as possible no matter how many mistakes they make and how many parcels get lost.

...and I'm spent.

Mario Kart Wii

I traded in a few games at Gamestop on Sunday in order to get my hands on Mario Kart Wii. I know, Gamestop is the devil, but the games didn't sell on eBay and I wasn't willing to wait to start racing. They did give me $15 for the games, which is more than I expected. It doesn't matter, because in the end it's all about Mario!

I didn't play Mario Kart DS much online. I played the Wii version online last night and pretty much got my ass handed to me in every race. I came in 2nd once, but that's the best I could do. Not that I'm complaining. It was a ton of fun. I did get a little frustrated at times, but it wasn't because of the game or controls. Just my unfamiliarity with the new courses.

Rhea and I played on Sunday night in some VS. races. I love playing with her because she cusses like a sailor when she's playing. It's probably a good thing there isn't voice chat in the game because both of us get pretty raunchy. There's a lot of "fucking Baby Mario!" and "Shit!" and "Oh, that's nice, I fell off!". The last one isn't that bad, but it's always punctuated by "fuck!".

The cool thing is when you're first connecting. I always chose regional races, so it showed a big map of the U.S. and it would pop up people's Mii's on the map where they are located. It was a cool feature I wouldn't mind seeing on Xbox LIVE. Maybe Nintendo has some online game after all.

The friend code thing is another story altogether. I got messages from some of my buddies, but it was just a note with their friend code in it. I couldn't say accept or anything to automatically add them. I had to write the number down, boot up the game, then add them. Pain in the ass!

Overall I'm super happy with the game. I'm especially happy that I threw some money at Nintendo instead of at Rockstar for GTAIV. Vote with your wallet, I say.

Hornet Takedown

I continue to love jumpcut.com.

My Mongoose Mowdown

Iron Man Demo Gameplay Video

Circuit City Legendary Map Pack A-Go-Go

Last Tuesday, X3F broke the news that, if you pre-order Ninja Gaiden 2 from Circuit City, you get the new Legendary Map pack for Halo 3 for free. Now, I'm always up for getting something free, especially if it means screwing "the man". So, on Tuesday evening, Rhea and I headed up to our local Circuit City.

We got there and looked around a few minutes before we headed up to the registers to take care of business. We walked up to the faux hawked gay guy at the register and asked about the game. First he wanted to know how to spell Ninja. I spelled it. I also went ahead and spelled Gaiden. He couldn't find it, so Rhea and I looked at the screen to see he had spelled Nina Guyden. Ooooookay...

I corrected him and he finally found the pre-order. He told me to swipe my card, so I asked him about the map pack. He found on the site where it told about the free deal. Then he told me that it was only available online. It's at this point I decided to take myself up to the customer service desk for some real help. I don't trust guys with faux hawks. Especially when it comes to my games. And especially if you can't spell ninja. Everyone should know how to spell ninja.

The customer service chick told me the same thing. It's only available online. I was noticeably irritated and used phrases like "this is ridiculous" and "glad we drove all the way up here". We went home and I got online.

I started to do the pre-order, but it looked like the site was going to charge me full price for the game instead of the $5. I called their handy dandy 1-800 number and talked to a lady. It turns out that you don't get charged until the game ships. Sweet!

I did the pre-order and the wait began. Then, to my delight, the code for the map pack was delivered to my e-mail address as promised! My next step is to cancel the pre-order. I'm going to wait a couple weeks so as not to arouse their suspicions. I'll call and use some line like "I decided I wanted to get something else" or "my family was killed by ninjas so I'm going to go in a different direction".

The Hammer

Why I'm Not Buying GTAIV

With the release date of Grand Theft Auto IV quickly approaching, the internet is filled with information, speculation, and hype. Avoiding it is like trying to avoid the Halo 3 hype last year. Not possible.

A little background on my experience with the GTA series. I bought the double-pack of GTA3 and Vice City back when it came out on the original Xbox. I played a bunch of GTA3, although I only did probably 2 missions. I only played Vice City once.

I mainly played GTA3 with cheat codes. I would give myself a tank and go on a rampage. Rinse. Repeat. Yawn.

When the whole hot coffee thing happened, I realized how Rockstar does business. They use the controversy to sell their games. Not that this was a big revelation to anyone else, but it just brought it into sharp focus for me. It doesn't matter how much damage they do to the industry, as long as they sell games.

Anytime the industry is attacked by outsiders such as congressman or lawyers, GTA is always the title that's brought up. Not once have I ever heard them decry a Mario Bros game or hurl insults at the latest Madden.

Now, I'm not speaking out against violence in video games or anything like that. I love my Halo, Crackdown, and Gears of War. But the hype that surrounds these games is not because they're "destroying our youth", but because they're monuments in the industry. They have merits that elevate them above just being about mindless violence.

The bottom line is this. I'm not buying GTAIV because it supports a developer that creates games that are detrimental to the industry at large. They bring unnecessary attention to our favorite pastime if for nothing more than to make a buck. I'm not going to give my money to a company like that.

If I buy a game on April 29th, it'll be Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Guitar Hero 3 And Stuff

I played a bunch of Guitar Hero 3 tonight. I made it all the way to Knights of Cydonia before failing a song. Well, that's not entirely true. I had to play the Slash boss battle like 8 times, but that doesn't count, right?

I really don't like the guitar battles in the game. I had to make him fail before the end of the song, and I would always be higher on the rock meter than he was. Then my notes would end and he would just rock out and drain my meter. Talk about frustrating!

I also heard that Flickr is starting to let you upload videos. People are complaining that they don't want videos on their picture site, and I would tend to agree. Not because I don't like videos, but more because there's already a site that lets you upload videos called YouTube. Maybe you've heard of it.

It also doesn't make sense to me that Yahoo apparently owns JumpCut.com, which is all about videos. So why integrate it into Flickr? I don't get it.

That brings up another question. Why aren't more people using JumpCut? I've been making videos and it's pretty fun and addicting. I've searched for more Halo 3 videos and found very little. And nothing recent except my stuff. It's really wierd.

Anyway, I just want to say that Baylee is cute!

Surprise, You're Dead!

Grifball FTW!

We played a shit-ton of Grifball last night thanks to the double XP weekend that Bungie put on. The game is a lot of fun and the medals flow like cold beer from the tap. I actually got my first killtacular playing Grifball. I also got an extermination medal, but I can't find that film. I really wish they would add some more information to each saved film. The date and time is fine, but that really tells me nothing when it comes to medals or even number of kills. When you play 50+ games in one sitting, they tend to all look alike in the Theater.

Our New Pup!

In Bed
Originally uploaded by Gemini Ace

Rhea brought home a new addition to our household yesterday. Her name is Baylee and she's a Chihuahua. She's 7 weeks old and adorable!

Winner (in my pants)!

I listened to The10k.com Zunecast yesterday after a twitter buddy named Assassinated gave me a heads up. They relaunched the site a little while back and held a contest to celebrate. I entered it (as I do with all contests), and I won! Runner up, baby!

The prizes include:

• Xbox 360 Games: (1) PopCap Arcade Vol.1
• PC Games: (1) BookWorm: Adventures
• Shwag: (1) Signed Call of Duty 4 Poster (signed by entire Infinity Ward Staff), (1) Frontlines: Fuel of War T-shirt

This is pretty cool considering I've entered contests on X3F and countless other sites and never won anything.

Thanks, Rodsmack and everyone at The10k.com. You rock!

Pearl Jam in Rock Band

Of all the bands I want in Rock Band, I want Pearl Jam the most. Here's the short list of songs that would be awesome.

• Evenflow
• Alive
• Jeremy
• Do the Evolution
• Animal
• Rearviewmirror
• Corduroy
• Yellow Ledbetter
  

A Question of Community

Today was a pretty interesting day. I had a very good discussion on Twitter about the gaming community. I think it was well received. I try to make good points without sounding like an idiot. Today was one day that I was successful.

The gist is this. DirtyDiva asked the question "Do you feel like you're well represented within large companies' walls?". Personally, I don't think that I am well represented inside Microsoft. I do believe that my habits, usage, and general stats are kept somewhere in a giant database. Is that a proper representation of me? Kinda, but not really.

As I'm sure anyone would attest, I'm a little more complicated than my gamer data would let on. I'm a complex human being with complex thoughts. Well, sometimes my thoughts aren't that complex, but still! :-p

I honestly believe that the community focus Microsoft has is purely for marketing. It's great for everyone that's involved, don't get me wrong. But at the end of the day, people like Major Nelson and Trixie aren't getting a paycheck because Microsoft loves us that much. They get a paycheck because somebody at Microsoft realized the power of word of mouth. They realized that a bunch of guys running a website can be a very valuable tool. And they are.

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular. I'm merely stating that the perks you get as a community leader or MVP aren't simply due to MS loving you and wanting to be your BFF. It's a marketing scheme, pure and simple.

It certainly benefits those of us that are in the community. Who doesn't want free games? And honestly, I have no problem with it. Microsoft should be pouring money and resources into this community because we have a lot of influence on people. It's a good thing.

I just don't want people to be so naive as to think that Microsoft really wants to be your friend. They have another agenda, and that is to come out on top in the console war. If, for one second, you think that the community is any less of a pawn than HD-DVD or Xbox LIVE, then you need to wake up and smell the RROD.

We are just another chess piece to move around the board. How we take advantage of that fact will determine who really comes out on top.

Dick Day Every Day

I've been pretty busy lately, but what's new? There's been a lot of stuff going on, both in my life and in the gaming community.

I've been formulating a blog post about how much I can't stand the 70's music that's in Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Some of it is ok, like The Who, but other stuff like David Bowie and Boston just sucks. I know most people disagree with me, and that's fine.

I really just prefer stuff that came out in the 90's and up. I understand that the music in the 70's paved the way for a lot of what we hear today, but that doesn't mean we have to keep reliving it. Live in the now!

I downloaded the free Heroic Map Pack for Halo 3 last night. The new maps are pretty sweet, but I'm really looking forward to the new "re imagining" of Lockout and Sidewinder. I haven't decided if I'm going to drop 800 points on the pack yet.

Microsoft did a couple things this week. One good and one bad. First, they set all the gamerscore cheaters back to zero. I think this is fair. If you cheat, you should be punished. I pay $50 a year in order to use a system with a high degree of integrity. The only thing that concerns me is why they let some gamers amass over 200,000 points before they dropped the hammer.

Second, they are forcing a gamer who was in Trixie's spotlight to change his gamertag. I feel bad for Cow Moolester. If it were me, I would definitely fight Microsoft on this one. Not that he'll win, but you gotta put up a fight. Otherwise they'll think it's ok to do it to anyone.

I understand that it's their system, but if it wasn't caught on the initial signup, then I think Moolester gets a pass. He made it passed the man! You can't let someone walk around with his dick hanging out for a couple years, then one day decide he can't do it anymore. You gotta say something immediately, or he's home free and it's dick day every day.

Triple Kill Video

I recorded the video of my triple kill in SWAT yesterday. One of the kills is Phoenix8424. Haha!

Games For Sale

I have a few games I want to sell, and instead of going to Gamestop and getting pennies on the dollar or Ebay where I will have to wait a week, I thought I might just post them here and see what happens. Send me an e-mail or leave a comment if you're interested in any of these 360 games.

NHL 2K6 - $8.00
Major League Baseball 2K6 - $10.00
Ridge Racer 6 - $10.00
PGR3 - $15.00
Splinter Cell Double Agent - $20.00

I also have Madden '06, but my sister is borrowing it to boost her gamerscore. ;-)

Triple Kill

Triple Kill
Originally uploaded by Gemini Ace

I love this shot!

Really Big Show!

We saw Blue October last night at the Ridglea Theater last night. It was a "special" show. We didn't know what that meant until we got inside. Turns out it was a show sponsored by Camel cigarettes. Some people were getting in for free. We only paid $20 each for our tickets, which isn't much so it's no biggie.

The Ridglea used to be a movie theater, so there was some limited seating. We were fortunate enough to get a couple seats. The opening act was Pretty Baby, a 3 piece band. They were decent. We got free download codes for a couple of their songs, so I'll be checking that out.

Camel was actually giving out a bunch of free stuff. We got a couple free packs of cigs, a free beer ticket, and a 64 mb flash drive. You could go get your picture taken and put on the drive, but we didn't do that because of the line. All I wanted was the delicious cigarettes anyway!

I snuck in our camera to the show, as you can see above. Digital cameras are just not meant for concert photography. I think the effect is kinda cool, tho. I was shooting the video below when one of the venue guys told me to put it away. Apparently the guys in the band don't want us taking pictures. I don't get that, but whatever Blue October!

My only complaint has to be with the song list they chose. Justin let us know that they had filled the set list with all of their most rocking songs. I just knew that would include the song Somebody, which is my favorite it BO song, but they never played it! It hurts! It hurts on the inside where my soul should be!

30 Days of Dancing with the Stars

We went to Hooters last night for some green beer. It wasn't very busy, which was a surprise to me. Our service was quite lackluster. I suppose you don't go to a place like Hooters for the service. Our waitress wasn't exactly packing in the boob department, so it makes me wonder about the state of affairs over there. Who cares if it's discrimination, let's get some jugs in there!

I watched part of Dancing with the Stars last night. I'm a big fan of Adam Carolla, so I wanted so see his performance. It was...underwhelming. I didn't think he would set the dance floor on fire, but still! I hope he doesn't get kicked off too soon.

I also ended up watching 30 Days of Night. Rhea fell asleep, but that's probably for the best. It wasn't her type of movie. I, on the other hand, thought it was awesome! Josh Hartnett has officially redeemed himself in my eyes. Redeemed from what, you say? Wicker Park. That movie is still on my Worst Movies of All Time list, but I won't avoid Josh like the steaming pile of poo that was Wicker Park anymore. (That sentence is questionable, but I stand by it.)

We are going to see Blue October tonight. I should post some pictures tomorrow.

The Iron Man Game

Can't wait for the movie, can't wait for the game!

JumpCut.com

I like this site! I like it a lot!

Halo 3

25605347-Full
Originally uploaded by Gemini Ace

I've been playing some Halo 3 lately. Feels like spending time with an old friend.

I would have played some Team Fortress 2 last night, but there were no games available. Friggin' awesome!

Speaking of The Orange Box, I tried to hop into some Portal action after TF2 was a bust. None of my save information showed up! Same with Half-Life 2. I looked on my HDD and the files are there. What gives? The Orange Box is near worthless to me now.

Why I Hate Burnout Paradise

I got Burnout Paradise from Gamefly. I finally got around to popping it in tonight. I really hoped it would be better than the demo. Much to my dismay, it was not. Here are my top 10 reasons I hate Burnout Paradise.

1. No crash mode
2. No crash breakers
3. No aftertouch
4. Open world
5. Can't jump to events via the map
6. Can't check traffic
7. Stunt runs
8. Learner's permit
9. Crappy starter car
10. Guns 'N Roses

The franchise is dead to me. Thanks, Criterion!

Sword Spree

Video of my sword spree.

Bottled Up

Today at the P.O. went a lot better. Somehow I was able to get out on the street by 12:30, which is at least an hour earlier than before. The street only took me 4 hours. Needless to say, I'm the greatest postal worker to ever live! At least until I get shot.

I did have a couple funny things happen to me today on my route. First, the ice cream man was out today driving around the same roads as me. That wasn't annoying at all. The best part was when I saw the ice cream truck roll by. It was followed by a chubby little mexican kid running, trying desperately to catch up to the 2mph rocket that is the ice cream man.

The second thing that happened wasn't funny at the time, but in retrospect it's kinda hilarious. I realized after about 30 minutes on the street that I had to piss like a racehorse after a keg of beer. Normally I just ignore it, but this was some serious pain.

Now, my route has over 500 stops and none of them are conveniently located near a bathroom. As I drove, I started working through different scenarios in my head. No where was sheltered enough or inconspicuous enough. And my luck, a customer would walk up and ask what I was doing.

I finally hatched a plan in my head that was feasible. I had a Propel water bottle with me. I had only drank a third of it by then. I decided that my best bet would be to stop in the new residential area that had just opened. I had 2 houses to deliver in that area, and nobody would be around. So, I pulled up to the first house, dumped out my bottle, and proceeded to the back of my LLV to relieve myself. Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

Believe me when I tell you that there is no better feeling than taking a piss after holding it for almost 2 hours.

Anyway, I downloaded the new picture pack created by 360style.net's own Avid X. I like the pics, but Joystiq doesn't agree with me. The posted a very shitty article about them, stating that a picture of your crotch would be better. Well, I have one thing to say about that. Fuck Joystiq. They obviously have no clue about the gaming community.

I think I'm pretty much done with the corporate sites after this. X3F has been slipping lately, and 1UP is apparently filing bankruptcy. Well, not them, but their parent company. Anyway, community sites are where it's at, folks. Screw the corporate suits!

Triple Kill!

Triple Kill!
Originally uploaded by Gemini Ace

Got a few more kills after this before I finally got sliced.

Rock Band T-Shirt

rock band tee
Originally uploaded by Gemini Ace

Got this t-shirt at Kohl's tonight. It's the shit!

Twitter

I listened to This Week In Tech today. I almost turned it off about half way through because it was so boring, but I'm glad I powered through. The conversation turned to Pownce, and eventually Twitter. The question was raised at the purpose of Twitter and why people use it when it doesn't work as well as Pownce.

The short answer is that people user Twitter because their friends are using Twitter. And if you're using something else, you're still using it on the side. Most of the people that are my followers on Pownce were my followers first on Twitter.

I'll be honest. When I first heard about Twitter (on TWIT), I thought it was a ridiculous idea. 140 characters? Microblogging? This is madness!

This is Twitter!!!

Now I'm completely hooked. It's the first site I open. The one I refresh at least a hundred times a day (wonder why it's down so much). And the one I obsessively send text messages to. It has literally become the one site that I cannot imagine not having.

There are so many uses for Twitter. I see news pop up faster on Twitter than anywhere else. Someone dies and it's instantly on Twitter. Game news spreads like wildfire in the group that I follow. People hook up for gaming sessions, podcasts, and just bullshit sessions on the site every night.

It is also a way to promote yourself. It's easy to post a link to your latest blog post or podcast url. And, if someone becomes too much of a nuisance with all their tweets, just stop following them.

Basically, I use the site to communicate, to complain, to promote, and to exclaim. When I say something funny, I can instantly type it in and hit send. Now everybody sees it. It's awesome!

Podcastination

Another week in the can. I think I did better on my route today. I could have been done earlier if mail count wasn't going on. Oh well.

I actually had time to guest on this week's Post Game Report with my old buddy JVB and his co-host Finster. Peterocc from GTR was also a guest. It turned out really well, thanks in part to JVB's sweet hosting skills. They go with his nunchuck sills very nicely. I had several funny lines, which is what I always shoot for.

I had the idea at work today to put together a promo for ACFriends. On the last show, we did an impromptu parody of the Portal song. Not like everything we do isn't impromptu, but still!

Iron Man

How good is this movie going to be!?

Sexy Man Pants!

I finally got my HD-DVD player tonight from Best Buy. For $50, how can you go wrong? Even though they won't be making HD-DVD movies after May, that still doesn't mean the existing movies won't look awesome!

It came with King Kong, but that movie sucks. No amount of hi-def will fix a shitty plot and craptastic action. Hehe.

I'm sure you're wondering about the title of this post. Well, here goes!

We went to Kohl's this weekend and did some shopping. I ended up with some nice new work shirts and a pair of Xbox 360 shorts. They are pajama's, but not as long as pants. Rhea calls them capri pants for boys. I call them Sexy Man Pants.

I did not let Rhea's teasing bring me down. I am committed to the Sexy Man Pants. In fact, I've decided that every man worth his testosterone should have a pair. And I have the marketing plan to do it!

Picture the commercial opens with a guy sitting in front of the tv. He's watching sports or possibly playing Madden. Pan down and you see his pants. They're short, but not too short. Pan back up to his face, where you see a huge smile. He's happy. Very happy. Queue the music...

Sexy Man Pants
Not too long
Not too short

Sexy Man Pants
Wear them to bed
Wear them to court

Sexy Man Pants
Show off your shoes
Feel the cool breeze

Sexy Man Pants
Have a big cock
Eat some more cheese

As you can see, this is targeted to the 18-35 demographic.

Crappy Movie Weekend!

We got Shoot 'Em Up and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 from Netflix. My sister had let me know previously that Shoot 'Em Up is awesome. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The plot and dialog were absolutely atrocious. The action was decent, but I think I've gotten too old to enjoy action for the sake of action. It may sound stupid, but I expect a hint of plausibility in my action sequences. When I see a guy sever an umbilical cord by shooting it or get t-boned in a BMW, flip multiple times, then keep going, I really begin to question what the writer/director was thinking. And I question why the hell I'm watching in the first place.

On the other hand I knew Pirates was going to suck. The second one was one of the biggest cinematic disappointments I've ever seen. The plot was so convoluted and nonsensical, my wife and I felt lost the whole time. I mainly wanted to see it just to see if they pulled it out of the shitter in the end. They didn't.

Why Johnny Depp, why?

Going Postal

Ok, so I worked at the Post Office again today. My regular Saturday thing. The difference today was that it's mail count. That means they have to count every piece of mail before they give it to you to case. And they have to time you when you do certain things, like load your truck. To top it off, I couldn't get there as early as I wanted because of this. It was nice to sleep in a little, but still!

I finally got on the street around 2 p.m., which is pretty shitty. There was only one other person behind me. She started at the same time, so it's ok. By way of comparison, my regular carrier usually leaves for the street at 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. Needless to say, I'm slow.

Once you're out on the street, you're at the mercy of the general public. No, it's not as fun as it sounds. My first bit of excitement happened and I almost missed it. I was cruising along making my deliveries, when a guy came walking up to my LLV. He handed me some mail, which I assumed was outgoing. Then he pops off with "I'm going to call your boss and tell him you still don't know how to deliver mail." I responded with, "Thanks. Appreciate it." Then I processed it and realized what the fucker said. Then I was mad.

A little background. This guy has called before when I was there. The thing is, it's my regular that keeps fucking up this guy's mail, not me. I'm there one day a week. But apparently this douche bag thinks I'm the regular, so he smarts off to me. It is true that I gave him mail that wasn't for the 2 names he gave, but still! There's no need to be a dick about it. That's why we all have trashcans, right?

The next fun part was when I had to dismount for a couple boxes because people can't park correctly. I reach for the box and it just falls off the post. So, I drop the mail in it, set it on the ground and walk away. It's really fucking amazing how bad these mailboxes are. There are doors held on with twist ties, no doors, and even a box that is perpetually on the ground. It's awesome!

Finally, I had a couple kids come toward me on their bikes, and after attending the Postal orientation, I know to be scared shitless of them. One wrong move and I got dead kid all over my windshield, and I don't know if the wipers will get that off. Anyway, as they get closer one asks if I have any rubber bands and the other asks if I have any candy. Now, obviously I had rubber bands. They were wrapped around my right hand. But candy?! Why in the fuck would I have candy?! I don't want you idiot kids running at my LLV so I can run you down and get fired. And where are your parents?!

Honestly I'm convinced that Mike Judge was right when he made Idiocracy. Society is getting stupider and stupider.

By the way, I have two tech things that are getting on my nerves, and one that's awesome! First, the awesome. I ordered a HDD enclosure from NewEgg.com the other day and got it on Thursday. I put my 75gb hard drive in it that has all my mp3's. I connected it and imported all my songs into the Zune library. My collection is now complete again! Woot!

Speaking of Zune, the site still won't update with the songs I've played on my Zune. I connect it and nothing! I'm considering calling support and asking what the fuck is up. Maybe tomorrow.

My Dash is also being a bitch lately. It's very strange, too. When I'm at the P.O. or on my route, it decides to randomly lock up on me. I have no idea why. I have to pop out the battery and turn it back on every time. It's really getting old. I think I might call T-Mobile tomorrow and check into my options for a new phone. I really don't want to give up the qwerty keyboard on my Dash, but it's pretty useless when the phone is locking up constantly. I would love to get a Wing, but those are too expensive right now. Maybe a Shadow. Stay tuned!

By the way, I'm too tired to add links. Sorry.

Gears of War 2

The teaser trailer for Gears 2 is out and it's bad ass!

Bands

I've noticed that the DLC for Rock Band has varied between the really bad, to the really good. This is all subjective, of course, since I think the Ramones suck but somebody else may love them. This week has some great 90's stuff coming from Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer, and Garbage. This got me to thinking about other bands that I want to see as DLC. Some are from the 90's, others aren't. All of them RAWK!

1. Pearl Jam
2. Audioslave
3. Blue October
4. Chevelle
5. Alice In Chains
6. Limp Bizkit
7. Interpol
8. Green Day
9. Bloodhound Gang
10. 311

Music. Mayhem. Wolverine!

The Zune social has been pissing me off lately. It's a crap shoot every time I plug it in and update it as to whether it's going to update my information on the site. I want it to show what I listened to on my Zune, but apparently Microsoft feels differently. It's really irritating considering how instant Last.FM is. Dammit I miss that software.

Speaking of music, I downloaded some new stuff the other day. The new Hurt, Operator, Paramore, and Five Finger Death Punch. I've listened to the Hurt, Operator, and Paramore. All are really good. Thank you, BearShare!

Also, the first picture was released on Marvel.com from the new Wolverine solo movie. May 1st, 2009 I know where I'm gonna be!

It makes an awesome wallpaper, btw.

Comedy Gold!

Ok, so sometimes I come up with stand up comedy-type jokes in my head. And sometimes I tell people. And sometimes they laugh. Sometimes...

Anyway, I saw some stupid commercial where they guy claims he has "steakdar". Like he can cook a steak perfectly. That got me to thinking. When people have a sense about something, they always call it something-dar. Like gaydar or fake tits-dar. (I made that last one up.)

Anyway, the joke goes something like this...

I can always tell when there's a guy named Ray around. It's like a sixth sense, really. Like some people have gaydar, I have radar.

Thanks, I'm here all week!

Indiana Jones

The new Indy movie comes out on my birthday. I need to buy the other 3 and watch them again. It's been a long time.

Three Years of Bliss!

I proposed to my wife 3 years ago today.

Assassin's Creed

For a game that's called Assassin's Creed, it sure takes a while before you get to the assassinatin'.

I've put in a few hours, and so far I'm not hating the game. I'm intrigued by the story, even with the future stuff thrown in. Scaling the walls feels like Crackdown to me, which is not a bad thing at all, and the leap of faith is fun. I like that I have my little hidden blade, but I can also whip out a sword and do some real fighting, too.

I will have to wait until I do a couple stealth kills before I have a verdict on this one. Right now I feel like it's a gorgeous game with an interesting idea. We'll see how they did on the execution.

Snail Mail

Has it really been six days since my last blog post? Damn. I wanted to post something at least every other day, but I guess that didn't happen. I will try to do better.

I have been really busy with both my jobs this last week or so. Yesterday was probably the worst day at the post office for me so far. Hopefully that will be as bad as it gets. I'm still learning the route and trying to get faster at casing, and I don't think I'm doing bad. Of course, compared to my regular I'm a snail (mail?). I can take some solace in the fact that the other two new hires are having just as much trouble as I am. Silver lining FTW.

I've carved out a little time to play some games this week, fortunately. I got Assassin's Creed in the mail from my Canadian twitter buddy DjDatz. I've only played it for maybe 2 hours, so I'll save my first impressions. I haven't even assassinated anyone yet, if that gives any indication as to my progress.

I did finish the easy guitar tour on Rock Band. They really chose some great songs for the game. I'm loving all the 90's stuff like Black Hole Sun and Creep. I'm not so thrilled about the inclusion of some older stuff like Don't Fear the Reaper and Suffragette City. I know why they put Blue Oyster Cult in there. More cowbell. However I don't know how David Bowie is any good. I've never met anyone who is a fan.

Oh, and how atrocious is that Fall Out Boy song? Could they not have licensed something off of Infinity On High? I mean, where did they find that piece of shit, their demo tape?

Swear Jar

Best Super Bowl commercial that didn't air.
Bud Light Swear Jar

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