The Very Late VGA Trailer Breakdown

From time to time, I very much enjoy nerding out. Unlike the Hulk I don't have to get angry, but instead my interest must be piqued. So from time to time when this happens, I'm going to bring the nerd. Enjoy.

Couple weeks back, The Video Game Awards on Spike occurred, for lack of a better word, and though the show has been ripped on in the past, the trailers that emerged this year have brought much joy to gamers throughout the world. Or America. Anyway here are a couple of thoughts on some of the trailers.

Halo: Reach. Being a HUGE Halo fan - I've got the games, and the books. Yeah I'm hardcore. - The Reach trailer was much anticipated. It did not disappoint. The score, highlighted on Bungie.net, was excellent, and that little taste the in-game cinema gave left me wanting, neigh, needing more. Since I purchased Halo 3: ODST, I have my key to the Reach beta all ready and waiting when it drops this spring, but even the small glimpses of these new characters has whetted my appetite enough to know that whenever this game comes out, I will be getting it.

Batman: Arkham Asylum 2. Now, anyone that knows me, knows I love comic books, and those who know me well know I prefer DC over Marvel. So when Arkham Asylum 1 came out this fall, and it didn't suck like every game prior, I purchased it and I was not disappointed. The first game was stunning with the free flow combat, and excellent storyline and use of Batman's Rogues' Gallery. This new look at a post-first game Joker, and the Asylum in the heart of the City of Gotham, filled with mayhem and the possibility of sandbox-esque game play has left me with another 60 dollars owed to the proprietor of a video game dispensing outlet.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. I borrowed and played the first game almost a year ago, and being a huge Star Wars geek, was certainly satisfied with the game. The DLC that has come out since has almost convinced me into buying the Ultimate Sith edition, with all of it being included. It had new characters that captured my imagination, and reeled me into a new realm of the Star Wars Universe. That being said, with the end of the last game I thought my ride was over. With this trailer emerging, I am right back on board. How they'll link it to the last game? I don't know. But I'm sure the people working for George Lucas will figure it out. With no gameplay to faun over, I can only say that the idea of another Force Unleashed game has certainly sparked my imagination on where they will go, when it will happen and all sorts of other possibilities. Buy this, I will.

Tron: Evolution. Oh, Tron. Your 80's awesomeness still affects me to this day. With your new movie coming out I am certainly interested in this new story you're pursuing, but nonetheless I know how your games have done in the past (e.g. epic failure). So, yes, while your trailer is shiny and clean, I'll wait till I hear some more about the story and gameplay till I say yay or ney on this purchase.

Mass Effect 2. Another game I borrowed and played the original, but this trailer clearly has a little more of its story fleshed out. The cinematic trailer in full (as opposed to the first 3/4 shown at the VGA's) is a beautiful creation, and if I could buy tickets, and watch a movie filled with that kind of cinematic brilliance, I would have already pre-ordered them on Fandango. This game is clearly going to be epic storywise, and with the addition of new characters and worlds, and bringing in the decisions made from the first game (if you played it) this is definitely a must buy.

The few other trailers there were, were not enough to merit any paragraph writing, either because I haven't played the games prior, and thus feel unqualified to write upon them, or because they sucked. I'll bet you can figure it out if you take a look. This link here has most of the trailers mentioned above, with the others not mentioned above, but a simple Google search should be enough to find them on your own.

So thanks for indulging me nerding out for a bit, I'll be back to nonsensical amusement next time, I assure you! Bye!

End of Semester Wrap Up: Numero Uno

Now, I have no idea if there will indeed be a sequel to this post come spring, but I figure, Why not? Anywho, The Fall Semester at the Good Ole University of Massachusetts has come to an end. And what a semester it was. Filled with break ups, new relationships, new friends and new classes. Nice and corny right? Well with that out of the way, let me just say this; It was bitchin'.

One of the things I am most proud of is the success of my master plan to get through this semester without books. (Read here.) I haven't gotten all my grades yet, but for the most part I'm thinking I did pretty well. I'll update with that later. Breakdown!

• Food Science: Plan of just getting info from the slides in class worked pretty well. Anything I didn't learn in there was covered in my discussion section. Nothing in the packet would have helped that much, plus not having the packet was a great way to make sure I went to class, which was definitely a bonus. Besides being a bit dull, and sometimes a little gross at times, not too bad of a class.
  
• Greek Myth: That class was awesome. Hands down, best class I've ever taken. Dr. Tuck was a boss, and knew everything I could ever think to ask. I don't know what else to say, I mean I wanted to go to that class every day, and when I couldn't I made sure that I got notes, or worked hard to catch up. Didn't need the book once. I love Greek Mythology, I loved that class, and after I finished the final, I shook Doc Tuck's hand and said a hearty Thank You. Guy said thanks for taking the class, and I took off into the sunset. Okay, not really, but still. Fairytale ending.
• Anthro: Class still straight up sucked. Ended up getting an 86 on the final though which, I can assure you, nearly made me fall off of my chair. The lecture was hardly worth going to, seeing as most of the time I read a book, or did a crossword puzzle in the newspaper, and all the slides containing the minimal information presented ended up online. Only way I ended up doing well was going through the study guide (which was almost as long as the notes I had for the test) and filling in all the information from my words, and from the 20 some odd pages I photocopied out of the book. Seeing as I only needed the words out of the end of the chapters, I copied all of those, along with the review of the chapters, then copied the glossary out of the back of the book. Problem solved. 75 dollar book, meet 3 dollars worth of photocopies. Take that.
• Legal Studies + Honors Seminar: The rules ended up being: Honors Students take 1 of the 2 tests, write 1 of the 2 essays regular length, the other 2 pages longer, skip the final test all together and add 2 pages to the final essay as well. Got a 96 on the 1 test, wrote 1 3 page paper, 2 5 page papers, and showed up. That's it. As class was right before the seminar, I could just pay attention on what I was supposed to read that class, and talk about what we talked about in class after. Easy enough. Don't get me wrong, really interesting class with some cool insights on the Law, but for the most part, the readings were pretty long, we talked about it in class anyway, he gives you the questions for the quizes before the actual quizes, and I didn't want to buy the book. Whenever I needed the book for an essay, I just borrowed it from a friend, or if I had to, the library. (I didn't have to.)
• Astronomy: Not much to say. We just kinda sat there all semester. He talked. Other older kids asked really stupid questions, and every once and a while we went outside. Then we had a quiz on the entire semester at the end which acted as a final. It was 5 fill in the blanks, 8 multiple choice, 2 label the pictures, and 5 short answer.... Yeah. Not bad, but arguably not worth the effort to walk across campus every Tuesday night.

So that's the breakdown. 5 classes, 0 books. Go me right? I'll update this later with grades and stuff so you can weigh how I really did, but for the most part, I'm chalking this one up as a win here team. I urge you to follow in my footsteps, put the money you would spend on textbooks for something more useful, like food and video games. Send schools a message to lower their prices. Study hard, Party harder. Wait. Scratch that, reverse it. Thank you.

I'll update one of these days with my thoughts on some of those sweet, sweet trailers that came out at the VGA's right before finals kicked off, but until then, Merry Christmahanakwanzika and to all a good night.

Update: Got my grades (well most of them) so here's the breakdown for you to decide whether buying books or not is worth it.

Food Science: A-
Legal Studies + Honors Seminar: A
Greek Mythology: A
Anthro: B-
Astronomy: Still Unknown

Looks pretty damn good to me, but hey, you be the judge.

No-Shave November

Yeah, I took a month off, you wanna fight about it? But fo rizzle, my bad. I'm sure you guys were really upset. I could tell by the huge pile of reader mail I got regarding my absence (read: non-existent.)

So what have I done in this past month? Well I did that whole radio training deal. Kevin and myself turned in our program application for next semester, and if everything goes well you'll be hearing our show entitled, Our Sincerest Apologies come the end of January. Did some overnights, some sit ins, and now we play the waiting game.

Also did some classes unfortunately. Food Science is still touch and go, Anthro sucks, and Greek Myth is still bossome. By the way, Boss + Awesome = Bossome. Did that, picked my classes for next semester (going to be awesome), went home for thanksgiving, worked a little bit, and now I'm back for the last two weeks of the semester.

You might notice that nowhere in the above paragraphs did I say "I shaved." Most of the time you could chalk this down to me glossing over the unimportant details. But for the month of November, it's because I didn't shave. No-Shave November has become a tradition among my friends and myself, and we often find that we feel more and more manly as the month goes on.

"But Jim! Your rugged, manly beard must be out of control!"

No need for concern, my rugged, manly beard is fully under control. But I must warn you, some (I) have feared that it is too awesome. I love having a beard. My beard doesn't come in the best, but it is most certainly a beard, it is mine, and I love it. I don't know why, but beards have always just been one of those things that I've aspired to have. That, a hoverboard, a fedora and bullwhip, and the black suit, hat and Ray-Ban combo. Name those three movies and win a prize! (Not really.)

Back to my point. Beards are sweet. In my mind, the only people who don't like beards are guys who can't grow them, chicks, and the New York Yankees. (The hate is implied on that last one.) I mean really, growing a beard is pretty much the most masculine thing a guy can do. Girls can have six pack abs and ripped pecks, but let's face it, that's kind of gross. Barring the occasional bearded lady, you're not going to find a girl out there that can have a sweet beard.

Examples of great dudes in history with beards:

• Abe Lincoln - He had a top hat too, so x2 multiplier on the awesome.
• Heracles - Beard. Club. Lionskin. Three of his most identifiable features. Boom.
  
• Indiana Jones - He was always at his best when he sported the 5 o'clock shadow. Always.
• Confucius - Pretty much the greatest wisdom beard ever.
• Peter Griffin - He housed a family of birds in his beard.
  
• Merlin - I mean really. He's a WIZARD.
• Albus Dumbledore - See above.
  
• Jesus - 'Nuff said.
• Chuck Norris - 'Nuff said.
• Mr. T - I pity the fool who tries to start something with Mr. T. (Sorry, had to do it.)
  

The list goes on. Beards are great, and anyone who says otherwise is straight up lying to your face. So whether you choose to celebrate Octobeard, No-Shave November, Decembeard, Manuary, or some other twist on a month without shaving, go and be proud of yourself. You can grow a beard; You are a Man. And anyone who tells you, "Your beard looks gross!" or "You've got a little food hanging right off the side of your mouth there..." is just jealous, of your manliness.

My Thoughts: Halloween

When it comes to Holidays, everyone usually touts their birthday and Christmahanukwanzaka as their favorites. But lets not forget good ole Halloween. For everyone between the ages of 3 and 30, it's pretty much the best night of the entire fall.

On Halloween you get what you want pretty much. When you're a kid, you want to just binge out on candy, BOOM Halloween. When you're a teenager, you want to hang out with your friends, play some pranks, and have some candy on the side, SNAP Halloween. Then when you're a young adult, all you want to do is get drunk and mack on some chicks (or dudes if you're in to that,) BAM Halloween. As most holiday's are, Halloween is a great excuse to buck shackles normally forced upon you by convention and The Man, and go out and just have some fun.

For some reason, some guy, some where, decided that Halloween costumes should attempt to be less realistic, and more slutty. He was definitely a bro. I believe I speak for most men when I say, Thank You. Halloween has become one of the most fun weekends on campus at college in part for this reason. I, for one, never knew that the dress codes for sailor women, army women, firewomen, and particularly nurses was so... how do you say.... form-fitting. And while I think everyone enjoys this variety of delicious eye candy, it's also just a great way to meet new people.

On Friday night, I dressed up as Jimmy Neutron. I know, I know. Awesome. Equally awesome though, was the calls of "Hey! Jimmy!" when I was walking through the dining hall, and later walking around. Being able to walk up to somebody and strike up a conversation with a "Hey, what're you dressed up as?" or a "DUDE! SWEET COSTUME!" makes going out on Halloween one of my favorite nights of the year. I walked up to one kid who was wearing a Purple Parrots shirt, and argued why Purple Parrots sucked and why Green Monkeys dominated, tried to convince a sailor girl that Zeus was in fact not Pikachu in vain, quacked with the Mighty Ducks, high-fived a pedophile for being awesome at flip cup, and made friends with Sloth, Envy, and Greed. I mean seriously, can you say you did that any other night of the year? No, and that is what makes Halloween one of the best, and most underrated holidays of the year.

I am personally of the opinion that there should be more Holidays like Halloween. There's Christmas in July. Why not Halloween in April?

Video did not kill the Radio Star, I'm still here

Oh me, so modest right? Well that's neither here nor there. Well in the recent weeks myself and my good amigo Kevin have been going to the UMass radio station WMUA 91.1 Amherst, and have been going through DJ training. I decided I wanted to do this over the summer, when the only reprieve I had through the monotony that was working at the Marblehead Garden Center was listening to podcasts, specifically The Adam Carolla Podcast, and The Sandbox podcast.

Now the Sandbox podcast is a shortened down version of the radio show The Sandbox on WFNX 101.7 Lynn/Boston. Listening to this show every day (for the most part) got me to thinking. What do I do for the most part? Talk. What do these guys do all morning? Talk. The gears were turning. So I figured, hey why not give it a shot right? So I looked up the info, shot off an email, and forgot about it. A couple weeks went by, and I got a response. All the info about training, when they would be having meetings etc. So I my mind was set.

A month or so later, school started, and the time came for the first meeting. I was pretty much on my way out the door when I saw Kevin. In what I could only assume was out of suspicion of some murderous plot against him, Kevin asked me what I was doing. As I told him, he nodded and said "OK, I'll go with you." I was awestruck. Someone else wants to do the radio? How did I not pick this up all last year? But as I soon learned Kevin was no novice when it came to radio.

Kevin's small town, where we just recently learned they do indeed have cable TV, (A shocker, I know,) also had it's own little radio station run by the high school. Kevin was a DJ there and pretty much had free reign. Their version of giveaways was giving away the class books that were property of the school. That right there's sticking it to the man. But eventually after getting a new antenna the FCC, who had previously ignored their small 1 mile radius station, started taking notice, and made them actually start doing things the "right" way. Lame.

So then Kevin went to college and forgot about it. But then I rekindled it! Whooo! So now we're training and having fun and all that good stuff. We've got our test to see if we get to be DJ's in two weeks I believe. You can wish us luck. If all goes we'll get a show next semester. We don't have a format, and we don't have any idea what genre we want to play, but we figure we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

In the meantime however, we've got access to the production studio and we got a chance to get in there two weeks ago and take it for a test run. So if you feel like wasting an hour and would like to hear me talk about nothing, instead of just reading me write about nothing, give it a download. And if you do please, please, please let me know what you think. Okay? Thanks.

Wow that was a pretty long post for me just to ask you to oblige me. Oh well. :D

Boss of the Week: Dr. Tuck

So the other day in my Greek Mythology class, we were talking about Dionysus, drinking, alcohol, and how in the ancient world it was seen as some sort of divine force, and allowed one to transform into someone else. It was interesting, but then my teacher busted out this story:

Back in the 80's, he was out on a date with some girl (who in retrospect wasn't all that hot) and due to the fact he didn't have a car, he ended up being out on the date with this girl and his three friends. He talked about how they loved tequila, got drunk then went to Burger King, (some of you may know it as the B.K. Lounge,) and were standing in line when these three HUGE guys walked in. Not only were they ripped but they also were wearing Gold's Gym wife beaters to prove it. He then told us about his friend Guido, a small guy, with a big personality. Standing at the back of the line, our teacher and this girl were right in front of the three amigos, so Guido goes up to him and whispers loudly enough so that everyone can hear, "Hey, Tony, don't steroids make your nuts shrink?" Immediately our teacher tried to brush it off as he looked around nervously, but it was too late; One of the big boys had overheard.

He looked down at Guido, "Excuse me? What did you just say?"
Guido coyly responded, "I was just wondering if Steroids made your nuts shrink."
With a look of sheer anger, the Big guy asked if Guido would like to take this outside.
Guido obviously said yes, but then to take things further he said, "Tony, back me up."

Now with this on him, he looked at Guido, and then to the girl who obviously said, "Well, what're you going to do?" with that look that said you better get your ass out there. Begrudgingly he went out to the parking lot.

Shortly after, as he was laying on the sidewalk bleeding and bruised, he saw the girl get into the car with the three muscleheads and drive off.

Moral of the story: My Greek Mythology teacher is a Boss. As if being a walking encyclopedia on Greek Mythology, and sharing my views of making fun of those Jesus Lovers who walk around and hand out pamphlets all around campus wasn't enough, he's got hilarious stories like this one. I've probably learned the most in his class so far this year. Plus, it's one of those things where I actually like going to class. And so to you, Dr. Tuck, I award my first Boss of the Week award. Here's to you.

Multi-Tasking: Friend or Foe?

I embark on this post, with neither a direction, nor a purpose. Except maybe to alleviate my boredom. As I sit here in class, my professor talking about something regarding Japanese internment camps, and constitutional law, I can not help but turn my attention away. Not because I don't feel as if this topic deserves my full attention, is unimportant, or the professor is unintelligent, but instead because that is what I do.

Now I wouldn't say I have ADD. In fact if I really get into the zone with something it is hard to pull me away. *coughvideogamesandcomicbookscough* I think instead what it is, is that I've almost become dependent on multi-tasking. A self-proclaimed multi-tasking master, more than once this summer, I sat in my room reading a book, watching SportsCenter, and talking to people online. Good times right? But now when I'm stuck in class, listening to my professor talk, I just can't do it. I have to do something else. More often than not I don't have my computer, so I just end up doodling all over my notebook. But with a computer in my hands, I've bounced back and forth between my Facebook, Twitter, and iGoogle about a million times, looking for something to keep me distracted. The only reason I've settled on writing a post is because from my teacher's perspective it probably looks like I'm taking notes very, very adamantly. The fact that I can look up and pretend to nod in agreement while I type does well to enhance this illusion.

But now, I ask for your feedback. As I would very much like some input on this topic. Is it a bad thing that I can't put my full attention on my teacher? Don't get me wrong, I'm still learning, hearing, thinking, but at the same time I've also got a part of my brain working on writing down this entire situation that I'm in. Is it bad that I can't feel my right foot, as it fell asleep a long time ago, and I felt like letting it take a nap? Do you do this same thing? What classes does this happen to you most in? Or can you just walk in to class and enter in to a trance-like state when the professor begins talking, and become some sort of note-taking machine? I'm bored, and I'd be eager to hear your thoughts on this matter of utmost importance.

Starting.....Now!

Psych! Now!

Food Toxicology: Everything you eat will kill you. Sorry.

So as I mentioned in my last post, one of the classes I am taking this semester is Food Science. Now this class is unique in that it is split up into three separate sections. I am not going to bother looking up the other two, but the first section is Food Toxicology.

Now, first things first, this professor literally looks like he's going to keel over at any second, if not that he should already have keeled over. While pacing and postulating back and forth across the lecture hall, pausing at points to change the transparency on the projector ( I don't think he knows what a computer is, but I do believe he fears it is but one of many signs of the upcoming apocalypse,) I consistently believe that there is no possible way he will be able to turn around an make it back to the projector before he falls to the ground dead. Yes he is that old. So as he tries to "teach" the class, I am constantly distracted by the thought that if he doesn't die of old age, he will die of some form of cancer, or one of the many "carcinogens" he is teaching us about.

That being said, from what I can grasp from this class so far, absolutely every food you've ever eaten, yes, even that super healthy protein shake you just had as part of that new diet you're trying, contains "carcinogens", or toxins that will give you cancer and you will die. Or at least that's what the Professor keeps saying. It's only under questioning, or as a brief side-statement, will he drop the fact that in fact these "carcinogens" are pretty much omnipresent in everything, but in fact require huge, almost nonsensical amounts, in order to actually give you the cancer he describes.

He also has talked previously about food adulteration, and how every food you've ever been eaten was most likely at one point in time tampered with by the company that produced it, in order to aid their money making agenda. He then mentioned briefly that this was mainly in the early 1900's and our food now is watched to make sure that it isn't tampered with. For the most part.

This man clearly strikes me as a cynic, and I believe it is this quality that has kept him out of the grave for so long. He has perhaps sworn off all food, and merely now drinks the blood of the purest unicorns in order to keep his flesh alive. But that is neither here nor there. The reason I am writing this post in particular is due to the grim scenario he displayed in class today.

Today's topic for the most part was teratogenesis, or birth defects. After showing a few slides, with some studies that I couldn't really copy down in detail (which I brought upon myself, due to not buying the course packet. Fight the power,) he then proceeded to show about 20 different pictures of rats and monkeys with birth defects. Really.... just..... great stuff.... I really, and I mean, really appreciated teratogenesis after I saw that one deformed rat fetus, that looked more like a chicken nugget, and reminded me of one of those chicken tenders I had for lunch today. Really, an eye opener.

It's probably just me, but I like to look at the upside of things. I am an optimist, and prefer to live in blissful ignorance or at least blissful ignoring things that I know I don't have any control of. So when this professor comes up and starts talking about carcinogens and teratogenesis and about how some carcinogens aren't actually carcinogens, but the second you have something else along with that carcinogen, you're basically going to be a walking tumor, I can't help but get annoyed. I don't want to hear about this. I just want to go grab a cheeseburger, maybe a double cheeseburger, no, probably a double cheeseburger, and go about my business. It's classes like this, and movies like Super Size Me that just annoy me. I mean, don't get me wrong, knowledge is power and all that, but I also believe that there are somethings that the general public is just better off not knowing.

For example, what happens to cows in processing factories is enough to turn any red blooded American steak eating male into a vegetarian. Best thing to do is to just turn a blind eye in my opinion. I mean sure, if someone really wants to know what exactly is in their Happy Meal, let 'em have it. They're asking. But for me? Just put it in the wrapper, put the wrapper in the bag, give me the bag, and let me eat it. I think now-a-days people put too much stock in knowing everything, and being healthy. Being fortunate by having good genes and a quick metabolism, I can pretty much eat whatever I want and be fine. I'm often referred to as the "skinny fat kid" by at least one of my friends. Bully for me, but I also believe in balance. You've got to work out, or at least go for a run if you're gonna eat fast food. It's that simple. And it really grinds my gears when someone comes along with yet another 400 page study detailing the horrific side effects that will come to dominate your daily life, by driving to your nearest burger joint and picking up some food on the go.

WE GET IT. FAST FOOD = BAD.

Everywhere I go someone is telling me, or has posted a nifty sign, about what constitutes a "good" diet. Bite me. If I want a burger, I'm gonna eat a god damn burger. And if I don't go for a run to make up for it, I'll accept the consequences. NOW SHUT UP. I can go on and on. But I fear I've already rambled too far from my original point, being that gross pictures of fetuses and telling you everything you eat is going to give you cancer, is a pretty dumb way to teach a class. Maybe soon I'll give you a rather long rant about how they don't give us full sized cheeseburgers at the Dining Commons anymore, and instead force little Sliders upon us. If you're lucky right?

Jim. Out.

Don't Worry, I'm Still Here or Jim's Master Plan to try and get through this semester without buying a single book.

WHOOOOOOOOO BABY. Sorry bout the delay there folks, but I kinda sorta got swept up in that whole "Hey I'm back at college where I don't have to wake up till 11 every day and can eat and do pretty much whatever I want whenever I want," thing. My bad. But what's important is that I'm still here. For people who care you can find what classes I'm taking right here! Pretty chill right? Anyway, class is awesome for the most part. My Greek Myth teacher has said penis 3 classes running, I get candy for answering questions then stand in a field for an hour in Astro, I don't have to take tests because I'm in the Honors section for my Legal class, I could probably nap through Food Science and Ace it, and Anthro straight up sucks. Other than that everything's good in the hood.

"Now Jim, whats that second title for your blog today all about?" Well, I'm glad you asked. Cause you definitely did. Anywho, so one of the main lessons I've learned from my first year of college was that you don't really need to buy the books that the Professor says that you need. Some classes will put the readings online anyway, others will just review the material in class. There are the occasional few classes where you actually need the book. I might be in two of those classes this semester, but I am gonna do everything I can to get out of that. A few classes last year, I thought I was gonna need the book so I bit the bullet and bought 'em, only to find out that after the first test, where I didn't use the book to study, I could easily not have the book and've been just fine. So I'm going to do everything I can to get out of buying a single book this semester.

Aside from the main, and most pertinent reason, that textbooks are way too overpriced and after you've shelled out your 150 bucks for your one book for one semester, you can return it at the end of the semester for a solid 15 bucks, if that, I've also decided to do this in an attempt to test my theory that you don't actually need a book to do well. That and too see how resourceful I can be. See, I'm pretty sure that they have copies of all the books at the library. The only classes that I think I'm gonna need it for are Anthro and Legal.

• Food Science's book is a packet containing all the slides, I can subvert that by going to class.
• Astronomy, our quiz is on the constellations. And we get candy. Nuff said.
• Greek Myth, I think that I know enough already, and if I take notes and do the readings online I think I'll be fine.

The problem is Anthro. Mainly. Anthro I've got to do a Word list from the end of every chapter due Monday of every week. They're not online, and for the first two weeks, when they were because the professor wanted to be sure everyone got the book, I looked up the words online, and ended up guessing for a solid 25% of 'em. But I'll check the Library and if they've got it in there I'll see if I can't check it out, do all the word lists, or at least a solid few for a while. Besides that, there's Legal. I think I can get away with not getting the book, as most of the questions he asks us are more on our thoughts on the subject than the details of the subject itself. The Honors section is going to be hard though. I think most of those readings are going to be online, and the few that aren't I think I can borrow a friends book. (I've got 3 friends in another section of the class.) So. I think I can do it. I know that Zero of you few out there care, but this is a pertinent subject in my life right now so I thought I'd share. Anyway it was a good way for me to break back into this whole blogging thing. Ight. I'll hit you guys all up on the flipside.
Later hombres!

Dear Blog 3: Blog Harder

Dear Blog,

Not 15 minutes ago I started writing a blog post about how I shouldn't need to wear a shirt, because it's summer. I started it on a whim after looking at myself in the mirror. But then I got to writing it and realized that while I would love to live in a society while I don't have to wear a shirt if it's hot and sunny out, I would hate to live in a society where fat sweaty old guys don't have to wear a shirt. Thus the blog post was deleted. First time too! All part of the creative process I suppose. Could it possibly be that I am learning to keep my nonsense to myself? The thought boggles the mind.

Anyway, thought I'd let you know that there's a chance that I am learning something from this whacked out internet process called blogging. Cool beans.

Later!
Jim

Dear Reader(s),

Dear Reader(s),

To the small number of ye who do pay attention to yonder blog every so often, first I would like to say thank you. Mainly for indulging my oddities, but also because I like the small feeling of assuredness that at least someone or ones, likes or at least doesn't completely dislike my writing. So Thanks for that. But now, like your coked out druggie ex-friend, I have a favor to ask you. No, no, it's not for 50 bucks that I promise to have back to you tomorrow but you'll never see again; Instead I was just wondering if you guy(s) and/or gal(s) would do me a solid, and leave me some feedback. I mean, I know a few of you guys have said to me that you've read good ole Nerdventures, and thought it was good, but good is kinda vague. It's like saying the ocean is big. So next time you're reading a blog post, or if you're perusing the archives for kicks, after you've finished reading, just drop a comment. If you read via my Facebook notes, it's easy, and if you do it on the blog, that's really helpful cause I can keep better track of it. Just make up a name, doesn't have to be your real one, and let me know what you thought. Your feedback will hopefully make my writing a little more entertaining. You help me, I help you. Kinda. But not really. No you cannot have 50 bucks!

Thanks,

Jim

Hitchhiking circa 2009

So last night I get a text to head over to a friend's house. I'm like, okay whatever. Grab the keys, say bye to Mom, hop in the car and I'm off.

Now before I go any further, when I drive, from the beginning of April till the end of October, I drive with my windows down, and my music bumping. Even if it's a little Bubbly. I'm not ashamed. So I'm driving, windows down, listening to some CD my sister had on, (Milkman? Apparently he's "the next Girl Talk." I don't know about that but I like what I heard,) and I'm not even to the end of my street when I see these girls walking in the middle of the road. I get a little closer, they part, and as I stop for the stop sign one girl yells out, "Hey! Wanna give us a ride?" I have never met these girls before in my life. They asked a random stranger to give them a ride somewhere. A moment's hesitation.

"Where're ya heading?"
"Over by the old high school."
"Sure, hop in."

Next thing I know, I've got 4 girls in my car, and I'm off again. They asked me my name, for safety reasons, to which I replied, "I'm Jim." To which they all replied in unison, "I'm ------." I didn't catch one of their names, as they all said them at the same time. So making conversation, I ask if they're at the high school, they said yes. I told them I'm at UMass Amherst to which one happily replied "Ooh! I'm applying there!" I do not envy her. I got in right before everyone else decided to go. They liked the music, so they couldn't have been that bad. But the funniest part, in my opinion, was when the girl riding shotgun asked, "Do you smoke?" "No, no I don't." "Oh, okay." Then not 30 seconds later the girl riding right behind me said, "Oh! Do you smoke?" "Nope. Sorry." "Oh , okay, cause we were gonna give you weed."

I laughed. By then, we had just gotten to the place they wanted to get dropped off. I pulled up, stopped the car, and they just hopped out chattering a chorus of "Thanks!" and "Bye!" Then I put on my blinker and off I went.

Hitchhiking is awesome. I've heard stories of guys who whenever they needed to get anywhere they'd just hitchhike. People'd see the thumb, pull over, and take 'em as far as was convenient. But in today's day and age, people get scared because of "the law" and because movies about hitchhiking axe murderers. But you know what? I think we should bring hitchhiking back. Axe murders won't pick up on people hitchhiking again for a little bit. Plus, people normally driving solo can pick someone up and hop in the carpool lane. I mean, it's definitely under the subject of "Going Green," right? Let's do it. Power to the People.

Tweetcast : Being an Extra

I know about zero of you guys out there follow my Twitter. But from time to time, I do tend to tweet whilst I am out on my various escapades. So I decided that instead of writing a huge blog post detailing every experience, I'll just use my tweets as jumping points and go from there. And even though these didn't actually show up on Twitter cause Twitters still broken from the other day, it still counts. Enjoy.

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5:48 - Just got to Essex with Beckett, who by the way is the worst Navigator ever. Getting shuttled over to the set now. Whooo!
So I asked Beckett to map out where we were going and print it out so I could find my way there. He looked at a map, but decided not to print it out. He's a dumbass. I got lost a few times, but eventually found the right way under my own power. They don't call me Prince Jim the Navigator for nothing. :D

7:21 - Just got a maroon collared shirt from wardrobe. Still haven't gotten anywhere near set. Whatevs I'm getting paid.
Upon arriving and checking in, we filled out a form, checked in with hair and makeup (who said we didn't need anything, because we were beautiful the way we looked (no they didn't)) and then went over to Wardrobe. Apparently my white shirt with a logo on it was a double no-no. Like a no-no Squared. So they gave me a shirt, and then I went back to my table with Beckett and we hung out.

8:06 - Drinking some jungle juice with strangers. Awesome.
While we were out checking in and stuff, some people had moved onto the other side of our table. Turned out they were like professional Extras, and one of 'em was an up an coming rapper named Kahdiak, and we talked for a bit, he showed us his music video on Youtube, and after he offered us some jungle juice. It was awesome.

9:15 - Been talking about movies and being an extra for the last hour. I am confident I could be a union extra in a high budget movie. Sweet.
After talking with him, we talked to his mom who was like a super extra. She'd been a cop, a criminal justice teacher, and now a professional extra. She told us all about how she got into being an extra, projects she's worked on, all sorts of cool shit. It was probably the most interesting point of the night.

10:01 - Finally going up to set.
After being there for almost 5 hours, they decided to let us move up to the beach where they were going to shoot the scene. It was a cool place, nice scenery, but by the time we got up there it was night, so the nice view over the lake was more, darkness lit up by giant ass spotlights. So Beckett, this kid we met Doug, and I picked a spot a bit back behind the camera and just chilled out for the night. They shot off some fireworks to entertain us, and filmed the cast watching it.


10:56 - David Spade, Colin Quinn, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider, Adam Sandler, Norm MacDonald, Maya Rudolph, Selma Hayek and Jim Redding. Awesome.
Yeah. It is an all-star cast. The director of the movie is the guy who played the head of the PGA in Happy Gilmore if you can remember back. Anywho, he was really funny and kept us entertained. Norm MacDonald took tons of pictures with people. Adam Sandler stood up and thanked us all for having us there at Essex (it was the last day of their shooting there), Rob Schneider and David Spade cracked some jokes, and Chris Rock kept running back and forth to watch the Red Sox - Yankee's game. They filmed us behind the cast cheering for the fireworks, now being represented by the director raising a flag on a pole, with flashing lights behind it. Then after that they had us pantomime cheering for fireworks while Adam and Selma Hayek recorded some dialog. All this lasted around two hours, and got really, really tiring after a while. We did get to sneak away a couple of times for free burgers though. That was awesome.

1:24 - Finally done shooting. Waiting in a nice long line then a nice trip home. Is Dunks open at 2AM?
Around 1 AM, they wrapped, and we all peaced back to the tent to check out. I had to turn in my maroon shirt before I could go though, so after waiting in that line, I had to wait in the other line. Bundles of fun. And we were just about asleep at that point, so we were weighing the possibility of there being an open Dunkin' Donuts. We couldn't find one, but we made it back from Essex to Marblehead in a mere 27 minutes. I went the Speed Limit the whole way. Promise.

Conclusion: I had a good time. I got paid 88 bucks, and I might be in the back of a scene in a movie. I was really tired by the end of it all, but I'd say it was definitely worth it. Next time I think I'll bring a book and my iPod though.

My Thoughts: Alcohol

First things first, I will not be talking about alcohol and myself, or anything related to that. Perhaps I'll cover that someday down the road.

Moving on, what I want to talk about is the Drinking Age. You hear it everywhere. "21 means 21." Well over in most parts of Europe "21 means you've been drinking for a while now." I personally believe that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Or if I'm really hoping on hopes, lower.

Reason 1: You can vote, why can't you drink? Would somebody be able to guide me through the logic that an 18 Year Old has enough sense, reason, and maturity to be able to vote for the President of the United States along with other elected officials, as well as serve in the Armed Services, but isn't smart or reasonable enough to handle and willingly imbibe alcohol? I would have to say that's kind of messed up, wouldn't you?

Reason 2: College. Most people either went to college, visited a friend at college, heard about college from a friend, or just sat down and watched Animal House. The point being that everyone, and I mean everyone, knows what goes down at colleges in terms of parties and the like. Kids go off to college, and they become immersed in this subculture of a drinking hierarchy. Everyone goes to school during the week, then Friday night comes along, and everyone goes out to party. (Okay, not everybody, but enough that I make a valid point.) I know at UMass there's some crap statistic floating around on different posters around Campus saying "3 out of 4 UMass Students know how to have fun without Alcohol. Do you?" First of all; Yeah I do. Second, I also know that all four of those students probably know how to have fun with Alcohol too. Plus, that they get this statistics from mandatory classes that have to be taken after students get busted for Alcohol tends to make these statistics invalid or at the very least heavily skewed.

Back to my point though, Parents send their kids off to College knowing that they're going to be all around drinking, and that they're not going to be there to watch over their shoulder. So it's best to let them just drop into this new setting, not knowing how to drink, and let those Frat Boys show them how to do a keg stand, right? Were the drinking age to be dropped to 18, most students tend to turn 18 their senior year of High School, when they still live under their parents Sauron-like gaze, which would allow parents to set a good example. That couple of months should be long enough for parents to give their kids some idea of how to drink responsibly. And if you don't think so, what's wrong with you that you can't sit down for maybe 1 night and tell your kid that drinking too much alcohol is bad for them? All I'm saying is that kids are going to school and most likely will be drinking before the age of 21. If you'd like them to learn how to drink from Frat Boys and other excess drinkers and party goers, keep 21 21. But I think it'd be a lot more reasonable to have kids learn how to drink under their parents than under Brother Buster at Beta Tau Omega.

Reason 3: Not every kid is as dumb as you give them credit for. Lots of people tend to have a big argument about lowering the age as 18 year olds simply aren't smart enough to handle this huge responsibility. Well maybe if you treated it more like a responsibility and less like a privilege, less people would take it for granted. I'll put it like this. Hypothetically, if the age were lowered, maybe even lower than 18, and younger kids were taught that alcohol wasn't to be abused, but used in moderation, and were allowed to experience this in little steps as they got older, they wouldn't just have this idea of alcohol as the forbidden fruit that the American School and Police system make it out to be. I remember back in the day sitting in my 5th grade classroom with the D.A.R.E. officer coming in to tell us all about how drugs and alcohol are bad. He was basically like, "Well Alcohol is horrible and you should never use it ever, but when adults drink it, because we're old and mature and can handle it, it allows us to relax, and have a better time hanging out with friends." Or at least that's what I remember. Given that description, kids would be dumb to not try it to prove how mature they were. If you were to ease kids into it instead of making it out as this Golden Apple, I am positive that it would definitely lose most of the allure that young kids see in it nowadays. It's only a big deal because some jackhole decided to make it a big deal. If you treat your kid like he or she is adult enough to handle it, they'll do everything they can to prove to you that they are in my opinion.

I could go on, but I know that some people have their minds all made up, and will disagree with what I said, as I am set in my way about this. So if anyone cares to write back and explain how flawed I am in my thinking, I would thoroughly enjoy getting into a heated debate about it, but otherwise I've said my thoughts. Jim out.

Dear Blog 2: The Rebloggening

Dear Blog,

I love you. I just thought I'd let you know. You let me just pour out the random crap that fills my head into your nice wordy self, and make me seem more cognizant then I am. I think it's pretty awesome. I've got a billion ideas buzzing around in my head, so expect more soon, but though I could be writing more about my kid, my thoughts, or some random story, I thought I'd just take some time out and let you know how much I love you.

Much love,

J-Red

P.S. I hope no one reads this because this is just between you and me.

My Thoughts: Reality TV

First, as my Discussion and Debate teacher Mrs. Clough taught me, let's define our terms shall we?

• Reality TV, (re-al-it-ee tee-vee), A Television program that is based around real people, not acting, participating in some sort of series of events.
• Series of Events, (cee-ree-zuh ov ee-ven-tuh-zz), Situations set in to place solely to cause drama among participants.

So I think that just about covers it. Unless you want me to define Drama for you, but I think you can grasp that. I'm not trying to bore you all to death...or am I?

So. Blunt and simple, Reality TV SUCKS. It started with Survivor. At least that's when I picked up on it. And I've watched my few shows from here to there. I even liked Celebrity Mole. But at a certain point, I saw Reality TV for what it was, and is. Cheap money.

Flashback to the late 1990's....

Bill: "John we're running out of cash, and we need a new idea for a TV show."
John: "I know Bill but we don't have the money to hire anyone! No screenwriters, and certainly not a cast of characters!"
Bill: "I know! I know, but damnit we have to try! What about picking somebody up off the streets? See if they can act?"
John: "No no no, that won't work...but you might be on to something.... What if we just went around and picked some people up off the streets, and threw them into some situation just to see how they'd act?"
Bill: "I see where you're going...but where could we put them?"
John: "Someplace....desolate....Iowa?"
Bill: "Too boring...What about... an Island?"
John: "Brilliant! We'll throw some random people on an island.... but what will we do there?"
Bill: "I don't know...Survive?"
John: "Yeah...or maybe do an obstacle course or something?"
Bill: "Yeah! We'll throw 'em on an island, put them through an obstacle course or something, put a cash prize at the end, and all they've got to do is survive it all and they win! But what to call it?"
John: "I don't know....Survive? Survivor?"
Bill: "Survivor! That's it! If we do weekly eliminations I'm sure we can get a whole season's worth of drama out of this crap!"
John: "We'll have them talk trash about the others to the camera and just fill up half the episode with it! Cuts down on production time, and money! I think we've just saved our jobs!"
Bill: "No John, I think we've just started... a revolution..."

Or at least that's how I think it went. Anyway. Those guys should die. Because eventually after people got bored of filming real people in obviously fake situations for money or fame or love (e.g. Survivor, American Idol, The Bachelor,) they started trying to film people in obviously fake situations for absolutely no reason, and passing it off as Reality TV. I'm talking about crap, B.S. show's that have descriptions like "Follow Jill as she goes through the rigors of marriage, but watch out cause she's really feisty!" or "Watch as little Annie Sue struggles through her pregnancy...as a 16 year old!" JESUS CHRIST. WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY WATCH THIS SHIT? I'm sorry but your "Watching their lives fall apart makes me feel better about my life," Excuse isn't going to fly with me. You want to feel better about your life? Take a f*cking walk through Boston, and look at all the homeless people. Oh but that would involve you getting up and moving wouldn't it? And we don't want to do that now do we?

The crap they put on the air is mind-numbing, if not mind-draining in its stupidity. Here's how they come up with their shows:

• They say they're making a show about brides getting ready for their weddings.
  
• They find ones who have a tendency to freak out when something goes wrong.
• They tell them they've been selected.
  
• They put a camera crew out there. Throw in a few bucks so it's a good deal.
• THEY MAKE SHIT GO WRONG.
  
• Then they sit back and tape the fireworks.
• A little editing and post-production, they have a show.

I'm sorry, but if you're going to watch these shows, you should have to pay money, and give it to some sort of charity. Maybe a school or something so people will be smart enough to not watch these shows some day.

Now, to take a breather, I am not hating on all Reality TV. Some shows actually do good and help people. Extreme Home Makeover (even though I've heard it's a ripoff) they still give families a nice home. Pimp My Ride, they give some kid a really nice car, that they'll probably end up selling, so they'll at least get some cash. And some shows like Man vs. Wild, I wouldn't even classify as Reality TV in the sense I've previously defined, as it offers something that all these other shows do not. Knowledge. Which is goning to serve you better than that warm feeling you get after you watch Brian finally propose to Sue, because you know in your heart of hearts, that by the time that episode aired, they've already broken up, and she's in talks working on the deal to be the next Bachelorette.

So do yourself a favor. Next time you sit down to watch another pregnant 16 year old from a white trash family whose Dad was an abusive alcoholic and left the family, which resulted in the psychological problems that caused her to have unprotected sex at 16, hit the "Guide" button on your remote, and see if you can't find something with some sort of social relevance, or at least something that isn't as petty enough as to profit off of a 16 year old's bad decisions. If everybody just says No, maybe we can put a stop-gap in the fall of our society into chair-ridden fat asses.

For worst case, and most probable scenario at this point, watch Idiocracy.
For a better case, and still pretty probable scenario, see WALL-E. PEACE. I'M OUT.

My Thoughts: Clothes

Alright now before I go anywhere the following post doesn't give you "23 New Fashion Tips!" or "100 Ways to Please Your Man," (sorry ladies) but merely contains my thoughts when it comes to clothing.

So. As I was getting ready for my big night out tonight, (sitting in my friends' den watching the Sox game,) I had an epiphany. Well, more like I remembered why I love my jeans so goddamn much. I've got three pairs of Vans Jeans. They are the same exact jeans, except that I have them numbered 1, 2, and 3. I can tell which is which by the wear and tear and a little help from the tags. Pair one has some cuts on the front from a little spill I took one night at school (no, not my birthday.) Pair two has a red dot on the tag, and the bottoms of the legs aren't nearly as worn out as the other two (they're my dress pair.) Finally Pair three has a little flip on the tag, and doesn't have the cuts on the front.

"Jim, I don't give a flying f*ck about your jeans."

Ok, fair enough, but the point is that I do. These 3 pairs of jeans, used in a rotation, got me through my winter at school. I love these jeans. Being Summer, and Summer being hot (except for this June, where it rained 28 out of 30 days...which I'm still pissed about) I do not get to wear my jeans nearly as much as I like. So getting the opportunity tonight, as it was overcast and 60's going into the evening, I jumped at the chance. Changing out my work jeans for my Vans jeans (pair one) was like changing out a wool sweater for a silk shirt. I kid you not. Throwing these jeans on was like popping on my P.J.'s. You gotta love your clothes because as the saying goes, "Clothes make the man."

In my mind, all clothes should be like this. I realize that with girls, there's some sort of fashion aspect, but to me it's one of those things where if you're comfortable in your clothes, you shouldn't have to worry about all that high fashion crap. I'm not saying I want everyone to throw on sweatpants and sweatshirts and just walk around like slobs; but if you can find a nice comfy pair of jeans, and a cool broken in t-shirt, throw your high heels to the wind. There are times to dress up, and times to just chill. In my opinion, people all too often confuse the two. I'm looking at you girls. Especially you girls who wear heels and dresses to parties at dilapidated frat houses. You know who you are.

Dressing casual is vastly underrated. I'm gonna go talk to that girl who's wearing the jeans, sandals, and sweet Sox Tee, before I head over to talk to the girl who's all glammed up, and blinds me every time the light catches her earrings and/or dress. (Which is every 4 and a half seconds.) So next time you're getting ready to go out, skip your heels, grab your high-tops, and chill for a bit.

My Kid's Life: As A Wizard

He'll be born. Being a muggle myself (thanks Mom and Dad...), my son will inherit his wizarding prowess from his magical mother. This kid is going to be a boss. He'll be raised well enough, and when he's young I'll be studying my ass off to learn about the magical world. Of course my wife'll be magical and being an adult, will be able to use magic at will to do stuff around the house. I kindof imagine it being somewhat similar to the scene in the Sword in the Stone, where all the dishes clean themselves. A mix between that and Matilda. Sweet.

Knowing that he's to be a wizard he'll be brought up knowing that he'll be attending school. Having moved to The United Kingdom (as they obviously have the best school system) he will be shipped off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as this is as close to a public school of witchcraft and wizardry that there is. He'll get a bitchin' wand from Ollivanders, which of course is going to be really BA. Probably one made of Alder...maybe Dragon heartstring core. We'll see. After a quick stop at the Leaky Cauldron for some grub, we'll buy him some robes, get him an owl, and buy him some books at Flourish and Blotts. Pretty normal stuff.

Then after wishing this kid a good semester at Hogwarts from Platform 9 3/4 (he'll come back over winter holidays) he'll be off into the wizarding world. He'll excel at wizarding, cause let's face it; this kid is going to be the man. Need I even say what house he'll be in? (Hint: Rhymes with Schmyffindor.) Everyone knows how good Hermione Granger was back in the day. Well my kid's gonna be just as good (but might not use the Time-Turner). Snape can make a spell? My kids gonna make two. And they're gonna be awesome ones. And guess what. QUIDDITCH BABY. He's gonna be a wiz (no pun intended) when it comes to brooms. Now I'm not gonna say that he'll make the team during his first year, but boy, after puberty hits, he'll be an ace Chaser. He'll be scoring left and right, and soon enough people are gonna be like "Who needs a Snitch!" and then after he passes his O.W.L.S. and his N.E.W.T.S. he'll dabble in pro Quidditch, maybe win the World Cup for the Americans, depends on if the timing is right.

After that he'll travel the world. Doing wizarding things, finding wizard stuff, just establishing his name you know? People'll eventually start being like, "Oh hey have you heard of all the good work that _____ has been doing?" or "I hear some guy named _____ has been cleaning up those dark wizards!" or "Boy that _____ sure has made some intriguing discoveries about wizarding history." Seriously this kid is gonna be hounded by the Daily Prophet, because he's going to be the next big thing since Harry Potter. Yeah. I said it. From there my kid is gonna settle down, maybe be an Auror or some other sweet wizarding job. He'll be rather humble, even though at this point he'll have acquired quite the mountain of treasure from all his prior adventures. He'll settle down, and from there the Redding line will become one of those famous lines, similar to the Black and Peverell families.

Sure enough, somewhere down the line Dark Sorcerers shall try and tip the balance between good and evil, and I have no doubt in my mind that my lineage will be there to halt their sordid trespass into the light. Till next time, Nox!

P.S. I thoroughly apologize for any alienation that could have occurred during this post. Please tune in next time for something more macho and manly.

My Thoughts: Private School

Alright, so for those outside of the loop, I went to public elementary school, then for 5th and 6th grades I went to a Charter school, and for 7th and 8th I went to another private school in town, all before returning to the local public high school, and then attending the lovely University of Massachusetts. Now that that's out of the way, let me say this. Private schools are dumb.

I don't know who decided that rich parents should put rich kids into a different school with other rich kids, but that guy should be shot. The entire premise of private schools is that they are some sort of nurturing environment for these children to learn, and to come to their full potential. B.S. Seriously. Having experienced both systems, I can honestly say that there's no big difference scholastically. I could have easily learned the three or four things I remember from 7th and 8th grade at a public school. So now that we can say that the education is the same, some people would still argue that this small nurturing environment protects their kids from the social deviants one might run into at a public school.

This is one subject that I'm very heated about. The idea that going to this small private school will somehow nurture and protect their child from the outside troubles of the world is ridiculous and frankly naive. Every single person that I know who went to private school either had an older sibling or was friends with someone who had an older sibling, and when rich kids get older, they have more access to more stuff, like alcohol, and when the younger kid sees the older kid drinking, they get into it earlier than their sibling did. And boarding school? I'll hit that in a bit because that is a WHOLE different can of worms. So when these parents are sending their kids to private school to protect their children, they're actually screwing their kids over.

See, in public schools, yes, as the grade ladder is climbed by kids, drinking eventually becomes a factor. Some kids do, some kids don't. Some kids friends try it, and then go hang out with a different crowd, other kids decide not to try it and go find other friends to hang out with. It's a big deal at some point. But by sending your kid to your small nurturing school, where you can almost count the number of kids in your grade on your fingers, these kids are trapped. The following ensues:

• Bobby sees their older sibling, Charlie drinking a beer!
• Bobby trys it, or sneaks one, or is given one by Charlie.
• Of course Bobby now thinks drinking is mature, and the coolest thing to do.
• Bobby gets his close friend Frank to drink too!
• Bobby and Frank now spread this "cool drinking" fad around the grade.
• Eventually little Sammy is hanging out with Bobby, Frank and the other 5 guys that consist of the grades male population.
• They offer him a beer.

And then Sammy either has to choose social exile or drinking. What would you choose? Private school kids are rather unkind. If Sammy had attended public school, he could had chosen to go hang out with some other cool kids who don't drink. I mean, this scenario eventually happens to everyone, but normally it happens a little later. All I'm saying is, private school causes kids to choose between conforming, or being social outcasts. And often times shoots would be good kids down a nice path of drugs and alcohol nice and early in life.

Boarding school. Boarding school takes this scenario and kicks it up a notch. By removing the parents from the equation, Bobby up there is gonna be boozing it up after lights out whenever he wants cause Tom, from the grade above, sold him a bottle of cheap watered down vodka. I'm sure parents thought to themselves, "Oh yeah. Sending Sammy off to boarding school will be great for him. Knowing I'm not there to help guide his moral compass at an important time in his life is gonna be great for him!" Seriously. That and "I know I can't get Sammy to do his homework now, when I'm around, but I'm sure if he's off at school living with a bunch of other kids, who probably don't do their homework either, they'll live together and I'm sure they'll do all their work before they go off to play!" College is fine though, because after high school, any moral compass guiding you attempt to do with your son and/or daughter will be met with laughter or awkward faces and yelling to "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!"

Sending your kid to private school and then telling them their special and get preferential treatment like you do growing up going to public school just teaches your kid to believe that he's better than those kids over at John Woods High School. Some kids get out of private schools relatively unscathed, and have been tempered by the fires of private society. They lead productive, happy lives, and are not snobbish high brow pricks. They are in the minority. So just do your kids a favor folks, instead of sending them off to Oceanside Academy for Prestigious Students, drive 'em down to your local public school 5 days a week, and let them navigate the wilds of public school. You raised 'em right, they'll be fine. And if you see 'em taking a sharp left instead of a right, just give 'em a swift kick in the right direction. Till next time.

My Thoughts: Wikipedia

Anyone who knows me knows I love Wikipedia. To me it's like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but real. (And yeah, I know there's H2G2, but I like Wikipedia better.) Anywho, whenever someone new discovers I use Wikipedia, and I love it, they have one of two reactions for the most part.

1. They completely agree, and think Wikipedia is the shit.
2. They completely disagree, and think Wikipedia is bull shit.

I think Wikipedia is the shit. However I sympathize with those who disagree. The trick is with Wikipedia, you have to take everything with a grain of salt. You can't go on Wikipedia, and expect everything written on it to be stone cold fact. That is dumb. But I for one, would rather go on Wikipedia, look up a topic I know nothing about, and then be able to know something about it. Then later, if I'm talking to someone about it and I say something I learned, and they know for a fact it is wrong, they can call me on it, and I'll willingly, nay, eagerly let them correct me. Wikipedia just gives me a good head start, but it doesn't fill in all the gaps along the way.

When it comes to papers however, even some people who love Wikipedia will turn their back on their old friend. I laugh at these people. Teachers have told us since we were old enough to look up computer sources; we need to cite our work. They also told us Wikipedia was not a viable source, and we can't cite it. Naturally most people hear this and don't bother looking at Wikipedia. That's their mistake. Wikipedia articles, when it comes to scientific fact, or most facts in general, have citations and links to credible websites following the articles themselves. By going on Wikipedia and looking up their topic, students can gain an overall understanding of their topic, and then can venture into other websites knowing what they need to look for. I know when I had an extra credit paper due last semester on Osteoporosis I needed to have 3 citations from PubMed, a scientific article database. First thing I did was go look up Osteoporosis on Wikipedia. While reading the article, I opened the citations in new tabs (Firefox of course,) and after I was done reading I looked at what the citations linked to. Interestingly enough, they linked to PubMed articles! I then looked through those articles, found the information I needed, and finished the paper in no time. It was that simple. And it's not cheating. If anyone would like to argue that using facts from a certainly credible scientific article is not valid due to being linked there from another website, please, do so. Just because it was linked from Wikipedia doesn't make it any less credible.

So please, next time your friend is yelling at you and saying you can never take anything you read on Wikipedia as fact, and nod and pat them on the back, but tell them that they're still wrong, because the scientific article they took the information from had more credentials than their dad.

One Paragraph of Game Review, and a few more of Hilarious Late-Night Adventuring

So, a week or two ago, I borrowed Mass Effect from my friend Beckett, and let me tell you, it opens a world of possibilities. While the trailers make it look like you can choose to destroy worlds, and ignore plight on a galactic scale, it is not quite as free as that. However in this game, for every action there is an equal and awesome reaction. So when I go up to somebody in the game's central hub, and they offer me a task to do, I can graciously accept, do the job, and be on my way. However I can also extort them and get bank and end up doing next to nothing. I often prefer the former, but when the situation calls for the latter, I prefer to let my assault rifle do the talking. I have saved whole races from extinction, and left a soldier to die. And it was BOSS. I would highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys really fleshing out their own world in their own way, and making the galaxy as they see fit. And just do yourself a favor and play a few worlds in, because I was not sold until I had really delved deep into the story and saved a race of aliens from a cruel death. Oh, and the fact that all my decisions will carry weight and change the world in the upcoming sequel Mass Effect 2, is effing AWESOME. So definitely rent it, borrow it, or even just buy it for 20 or 30 bucks used at the local game store.

MOVING ON.... So yesterday, after a long day of playing the game mentioned prior, I was alerted to head over to my friend Andy's house, already occupied by John and himself. Upon arrival, it was time to enter the arena. The only arena that three 19 year old boys, who are bored to death in the middle of the summer know.... Monopoly. Yes, picking up my trusty game piece (the thimble, as the hat had failed me the night before) we began this game of strategy and wits. It was a vicious battle back and forth, with John and my efforts keenly focused on denying Andy the orange spaces, and Andy focused on accumulating the weapons of our destruction. Eventually in a daring trade I swapped the third and final orange to Andy for my third and final Red. The corner around Free Parking was soon to be a death trap. All the meanwhile John had been silently accumulating the Greens. The game soon escalated in to multiple hundreds of dollars being thrown from player to player, with Andy eventually going out first, after circling the drain for a couple rounds. Then after landing on my Hotel on Illinois Avenue twice, John was down for the count and my Thimble now stood victorious. I am sure a third round will be soon to come.

It was at this point however that we discovered we were starving. Looking up from the game board for the first time, and away from the television, we soon discovered that it was also about 11 o'clock on a Wednesday night. That left us 1 option. Wendy's. A late night favorite among our group, it was quickly determined that this was our only and best course of action. So, hopping in my gasoline powered chariot, Andy, John and I were off to feast. Rendezvousing with our boy, Brian, we met up and all piled in to my car, because we had to hop in the drive through. We ordered $21.69 of food. Mostly off the dollar menu. Fast food is the best. Well... Best for late night eats. So then I did part two of this eloquent little fast food dance, and I pulled up to the window. Actually I pulled up 2 feet away from the window. Completely bush league. Completely Rook status. It was 11 on a Wednesday and I couldn't successfully pull up to a drive through window. People inside, and behind me, looked at me and in their eyes I could see their cold looks of judgment. Due to our outlandish amount of food that we had ordered we were asked to just pull up and our food would be brought to us eventually. 10 minutes, some fat jokes, some hilarious contemplation on the inability to get to the drive through window, and some Jim Gaffigan quotes later, we were all on edge. And that's when these two blonde girls drove by in the back of a truck. Being four guys at a fast food joint late at night, we threw inhibition to the wind, and started crawling out our windows to wave and yell "HI!" at the top of our lungs. They drove off, us never to know who they were, and as we were all sitting and enjoying the moment, John just threw in a little. "They were waving at me." He might as well have slapped everyone else in the face. "No way. They were waving at me!" then "That's BULL! They were staring at me before they started waving!" An argument broke out then, and my car was nearly the next octagon. Fists were about to fly when Brian shouted " WOAH WOAH WOAH!! Guys! Woah! I think at least we can all agree on one thing." We paused, waiting for his logic. "They weren't waving at me." We all burst out laughing, and then surrounded by a glow of late night delight, a random guy walked out with our two bags of food, and they were about to EXPLODE with greasy goodness.

All in all, we got back to Andy's, ate our food, and drank some soda before the night came to a close. T'was a good night, and I thought I'd share about my mundane adventures. Wendy's forgot my small fry, but was delicious none the less.

Of Relationships and Airplanes

Often the term "Crashed and Burned" is used when it comes to relationships gone south. And recently I was informed that "relationships, much like planes, are hard to land without a few bumps." Then it all clicked for me.

I can say with a straight face, that not a single relationship of mine can be described as having ended well. As a flyer, my planes have been stocked with no breaks, no wheels, and extra gas. I also have had a unfortunate tendency to aim at the ground. The ensuing explosions have been different, much like snowflakes, but explosions none the less. All that being said, it is not to say that I now dislike on flying planes.

Flying, on occasion, is fun. I think we can all agree to that. If you haven't been up for a plane ride in a while. A nice flight with a good in-flight movie can hit the spot. It can be just the trip to get away from it all. But sometimes what starts off as a nice flight can quickly become a never ending trip from hell. That fat guy right behind you keeps kicking your seat, the baby 13 rows down's shrieking still reaches back to rattle your ear drums, and that weird old lady who is bundled up just a little too much in your periph's is just acting strangely enough to irk the shit out of you.

This flight has been in the air just a little too long. You can't parachute out (this is a commercial airliner for god's sake, you can't just leave all your personal emotional baggage on the plane) and the bad weather over your destination isn't helping your trip. The plane can land with a few bumps, or it can crash and burn, but either way, after you get off the tarmac you're gonna wish the beginning of the flight had lasted forever. But alas, it was not to be.

We all know not all flights are like this. I've had shitty hour long flights, and excellent 6 hour flights, but we all know when that flight from hell comes along it's best to just get down as fast and as smooth as possible. Sometimes it's just easier to go hang gliding for a bit. Maybe even just hopping on a fast ski lift will fill your thrill of exhilaration. But even the worst flights aren't gonna keep some people from hanging around the terminal waiting to hop the next plane. Anybody know if this one's got a good in-flight movie?

My Kid's Life: As I've Planned It

He'll be born. Then the training will begin. He'll become enrolled in a school of espionage, where he'll learn to trust no one. Then he'll work his way through the ranks of spy-hood until eventually I intervene and bring him back into the normal world. I'll either do that, or I'll plant subliminal knowledge of how to be a spy during his dreams. We'll see where my finances are at that point in my life.

Either way, from there on in, my kid will be the kid that you want to be your best friend. Break your arm skateboarding? He knows how to set a quick cast. In trouble with the Mob? He'll fix it. Need a quick getaway? He'll be the Wheelman. This kid is going to be F%$KING Awesome. With a capital A. Seriously. I'm designing this kid to be The Man. Your Bro. Your BFF. Your Best Man. I mean, can any self-respecting dude out there say to anyone, "No, I wouldn't want someone who could save my ass in any situation to be my best friend." Correct answer: No. And if you said otherwise, your Man Card has been revoked, and should be sent in to your nearest Man Center of Manliness.

This notion has come upon me from my years of adolescences wasted thinking to myself: "Man, I wish I could just ninja over there and up that wall." Or: "I gotta get out of here now! If only I could blend into the shadows and disappear into the night." See that's why I might be leaning towards the subliminal spy thing. That way my kid'll grow up thinking all that, then one birthday I'll be like, "Hey son, Happy Birthday. Super Molasses Laffy Taffy Ping Pong SKIDOOSH!" Of course he'll just think to himself, "Oh Shit. It happened. Dad finally flipped. Where's my bat? Do I even have a bat?" And I'll see that look on his face and chuckle, and so will he... UNTIL HE SEES A THROWING STAR FLYING TOWARDS HIM!! He'll do a Morgan (for reference, watch Chuck) and then when he looks up to see what happened to the throwing star, he'll see that he holds it precisely in between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. He'll be astonished. More so after he hears how he is secretly a spy, and how I have activated his secret spy powers with my lengthy key phrase. (Fear not. I shall use a far more intricate phrase that shall be coded for my voice and his ears that will only work on the right occasion.) But then if I have crafted his character correctly, HE WILL FLIP OUT WITH AWESOMENESS. He might actually do a flip with his newfound ninja/spy training. I'll leave that up to chance.

From there on out, that kid is going to be a boss. Using his newfound powers for awesomeness and baddassity. And who knows, maybe he'll save the world or something. That'd be the cherry on top. He'll go on to do very prestigious acts, save important people, and all around just being a huge producer of good karma in the world. (I'll get a little credit, as he's on my tab.) But I will also get mad props for being maniacal enough to teach him how to be so Boss. I can only imagine that my wife'll have some doing in raising him, thusly absorbing some of the good karma, and credit. But I'll come to that when I come to it.

I am trying to describe to you what this kid will be like, but in truth, words will not be able to describe him. Unless they find a new word for him. And just like that it comes to me. I'll create a name for him and that name will become the only word that can describe him. People will be like "There goes _____ he is so _____." I can only imagine that after his popularity sky rockets due to his ever-lengthening list of good-deed-ery, the amount of parents that will name their children after him will number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

Now, you will notice that I have left his name blank. That is because not only have I not decided on his name yet, but should I have already decided on his name, and told you all now, his name would be stolen, not un-similar to that of Seven Costanza. The history books will hold our name in High Esteem. Until the Cyborgs enslave Humanity in the late 21st Century. Then our bloodline shall go underground, forming the First Human Resistance. I would go on, but I fear of becoming too Nostradamus-like in my predictions.

Well, at least that's what I have planned out. We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow. Because tomorrow could change everything.

P.S. References in Tonight's Blog were sponsored by: Kung Fu Panda, Chuck, Seinfeld, and Futurama.

Dear Blog,

Oh bloggity blog blog. How I missed thee. But alas I have nothing to fill you with. WOE IS ME! My adventures as of late have, I regret to inform you been too awesome. Oh, it is possible, and I have achieved it. So I can only tell you that as of late I have been doing a lot of room cleaning, book reading, and a sprinkling of ball playing. Fear not! Soon I will be able to fill you with tales of adventure, filled with pirating, ninjaing, and all sorts of other adventuring. Wait patiently my blog. And you shall be rewarded.

Yours truly,

Sir James Isaac Redding III

P.S. That's not really my name. <3

Yet Another Brief Interlude

I've come to a crossroads.

On the one hand, I went to E3, it was an amazing experience, and I feel as if I should bequeath my knowledge of the event onto thee, the masses.

On the other hand, I made this blog so I could just blog about funny stories, life and dumb stuff to keep me entertained.

Right now, I can't do both. I'm trying to get E3 out of the way, while maintaining some sort of quality, but resisting the urge to just wordvomit onto the page in my sort of manor that hopefully the two of you who read this have come to know and love. So I'm writing this in an effort to overcome the writers block that is the monumental affair that was E3. So I'll write more. Just later. kthnxbye

Teh Haloz

Alright. Business time. At last we left off our valiant hero was just finishing the second hour of E3. It was at this point that I got my ass over to the Microsoft Theatre as it was called, for a special presentation on Halo 3: ODST. Now for those of you that aren't exactly "in the loop" Halo 3 is huge, just hitting 1 billion games of multiplayer in March 2009. And it came out in September 2007. People still play it. Just getting my own 360 in the Fall, I went out and bought it for something around 50 bucks. Almost full retail price a year after it's release? That's when you know you've got a winner.

Anywho, Halo 3: ODST is a prequel of sorts to Halo 3. In it you take the roll of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) and after a botched drop, your character has to go seek out the fates of his Squad Mates. During the presentation, we saw the opening movie featuring the likeness and voice of actor Nathan Fillion, who I love because of his roles in the TV show Firefly and the movie based on it Serenity. It was an awesome set up, which led us into a small preview of the games opening minutes. There were noticible changes, like the HUD (Heads Up Display) set up, and the way you see the world, as you can now change into night-vision, which allows you to scope out Friends and Foes from far away. We were told about the new Health system, which involves Stamina and Health itself. When taking damage, it initially hurts your Stamina, and after that's depleted, it moves on to your health. If you stop getting hurt, your Stamina will replenish, however your Health will not. The only way to do that is with health terminals located throughout the city of New Mombasa, the setting of the game.

After a short walk through, elaborating on the differences between playing as an ODST as opposed to the Spartan Master Chief, we switched over to the new multiplayer mode Firefight. If you've ever played Gears of War 2, it's pretty much Halo meets Horde. For the Gears impaired, your group of ODSTs will be squaring off against wave after wave of Covenant enemies. There are key differences however. In Firefight your squad uses a pool of lives, and for each new set of enemies another of Halo's infamous skulls will be turned on, like the Tough Luck skull that allows your enemies to dodge grenades and other attacks better, or the Catch skull which makes them throw more grenades. The presentation ended shortly after this.

At this point I'm skipping the rest of the convention (don't worry, I'll go back to it) and going to skip to my playthough of Firefight. That's right. At the very end of the convention I hopped in line to play and was one of the last groups to get to play. The three older guys and myself sat down in some nice comfy chairs, and got ready for battle. Bysides a few stylistic changes, it was clear the same Halo 3 engine was underneath the matchmaking system. Then we got right into the action. It was the same Halo feel, but the new silenced SMG felt a lot different than the SMG that Halo players are used to. The Pistol is more like the one that players remember from Halo: CE where it had a lot more kick to it than in Halo 2 and 3. Play was a lot different, as when you used to practically be able to walk up to grunts and melee them in the face, you had to pick 'em off from afar as you're not the tank you used to be. One thing did remain unchanged though: The sheer fun of Halo. Picking off Grunts and sticking a Brute with a plasma grenade were just as fun, if not more so in this new style of play. We made it through the first set, and were cut off shortly after the second set began, but let me tell you; I really miss being able to walk up and jack a Covenant Wraith. Those things SUCK when you're only packing a needler and an SMG and are taking pot shots at you from the distance. None the less, playing the game was incredibly fun, and I can only imagine it getting even more fun when I'm playing with three of my friends when it comes out this Septemeber.

Next time, MORE SHANANAGINS AT E3! HOORAY!!!

DETOUR: THIS WAY

Okay, so I know I’m supposed to be giving you the 411 on what happened with Halo. But I’m not. Cause I have forever and ever to tell you and dwell on all that. But this story is only going to be so amusing to me for tonight so I’m going to tell you now.

I finished with E3, made my way back to the hotel, got my bag, watched the end of the Red Sox game, and then hopped in my shuttle when it got there. It took about an hour to get to the Airport, including picking up everyone. In this case, everyone included: Our Mexican driver, a Chinese teen riding shotgun, two Japanese girls in the first row, an African-American twenty-something behind them, a blonde girl who was chattering away on her phone in some sort of Slavic language I wanna say, and myself, the Caucasian teen. Boy I bet we were a sight. Anyway, I was the last drop off, and I checked in, yada yada. Annoying as usual. (Taking off and putting on Converse All-Stars is a bitch.)

First thing I did when I got in the terminal was to go look for food. I saw a news stand with snacks (too hungry), a Cinnabon (just no.), an old school diner set up (maybe) and then finally a sports bar (bingo). Just to make sure I doubled back so I didn’t miss anything. On my way back to the sports bar, I checked the price for a cheese burger at the diner out of curiosity. $8.69. Wowzers. I got back to the bar, and I asked if they had food. They did. I looked at the menu, and a burger was $10.49. This better be a good fricken burger. I sat down and ordered, because I figured sitting alone watching TV at the sports bar was better than sitting alone staring at an empty seat at the diner. That extra cash’d hopefully get me a better burger. Got my drink, watched the end of the USA vs. Costa Rica World Cup Qualifying match (we lost 3-1) and eagerly awaited this delicious burger. So I did what any hungry person’d do and scoped out the door where my burger would be coming from. And then I kept on scoping. And then suddenly my burger appeared behind me. My waitress had walked over to the diner, and then gotten my burger there and brought it back to me. Now bear in mind, this diner was not more than a 30 second walk from the bar. Almost 2 extra dollars for my burger, just because I was 50 feet further, and I didn’t order the burger myself. If I’d have known I was just going to get food from the diner, I would have, let’s say it together now…that’s right, “gotten food from the diner”. It was dumb, and a rip off. But I’ve made my peace with it, but I thought that I might pass this knowledge onto ye, as ye might be in a similar situation, getting food at a sports bar next to a diner at a plane terminal at 9PM at LAX. Well, maybe not so similar. But just in case, yaknow?

Next time. E3. Promise.

P.S. Anybody else ever notice those weird old asian ladies who wear scarfs and gloves and bring boxes of tissues on to planes? I just thought about it and they're always somewhere....

Wowzers!

Well, I was as giddy as a school girl when I got there, and I left as happy as a clam. How one transfigures from school girl to clam is beyond me but lo and behold; it happened. So before I get into the grimy deets, I’m just going to toss out a list of all the Swag I got.

• A bag with some Japanese key chains, and two DS lite/ DSi covers
• A Frisbee from Wii Sports Resort
• A DJ Hero T-Shirt
• A Tetris 25 Years Baby-doll T-Shirt (haha I know right)
• A sweet flashlight pen
• A little game controller key chain
• Two iPod covers
• And A lot of magazines and flyers and stuff.

Good times right? Ok so I’ll give you the play by play that you’ve been so eagerly awaiting.

We ended up getting to the convention center about 10:30, giving my Dad and myself an hour and a half till show time. We got our badges, or rather our badge holders, and then proceeded to amble about for a while. Outside was a huge pile of junk promoting Rabbids Go Home. It was…. Interesting. Looking back inside there were huge posters EVERYWHERE. It was awesome. Then with an hour and change left, my Dad and I went in search of food. We ended up walking out to LA Live, and looking for restaurants there. We walked by the Staples Center, and then just around. Without finding anything good to do, we went back to E3, but this time we went in the West Entrance. But on our way in was The Stay Puft Marshmellow Man, and the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters. So cool. Then we got some food at the mad expensive café inside, and then we made our way back to the South Hall. At this point there was about half an hour left till show time. My Dad went off to grab his Laptop and work, and I eagerly awaited my entrance into the South Hall.

BOOM SHOWTIME. Everyone BUSTED down the doors, and straight ahead was the EA booth. It had PS3 and 360 copies of all its games. I played a little Madden 10, and then watched a little bit of Brutal Legend. Both looked amazing. From there I popped out and was right in the Microsoft section. There was a theater for presentations (tell you about those later) and a section cordoned off for exclusive hands-on Halo ODST Firefight game play. I wanted to get in there so bad, but I figured I’d go look at everything and come back if I had time. Unfortunately I didn’t L.

From there I played Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Then I sat and watched all of Square Enix’s trailers on their HUGE screen, and oogled their pricy collection of collectables. After that I shot over to Warner Bros. Interactive, and stared at their Batmobile for a little bit. MMmmmm…Yeah. I got a look at some people playing Lego Rock Band, and my first look at Batman: Arkham Asylam. Lego Rock Band looked well… Like Rock Band, with Lego Characters. Not much to elaborate on there. Batman looked like what I’d seen before in trailers and game play videos but once again I felt like I had to see everything before I stopped to smell the flowers.

After that we went over to look at the Alienware booth. It was almost 1PM now, and when we were out and about earlier a strange lady in a black suit had informed us “Alienware Booth. 1PM.” With this deluge of information, of course we figured that would be the place to be. We got there and it was a lot smaller than the other exhibits we’d been to so far. Pretty much just a small tent, with an area in the back with some desktops set up. My Dad asked what the upcoming announcement was going to be about. Something about a brand spankin’ new desktop they were coming out with. I knew I wouldn’t get all the tech specs then, so we decided to read the Reader’s Digest version when we got back. Turns out it’s a wicked tricked out computer (duh) that costs about $5600. Don’t get me wrong, I love computers. But I really don’t game on computers much, sooo…. That’s really my opinion on that.

From there we browsed around some more. Picked up some swag at the Gelaskins booth, saw some Ninja Turtles, and a giant robot from Alien(?). But then my first big surprise came. While meandering around the outer rim of the Microsoft exhibit, I found some hidden demos of Batman, Brutal Legend, and then…What?...No…It couldn’t possibly… LEFT 4 DEAD 2. Valve just came out with L4D this past year, and now I’m seeing a sequel? I didn’t even know one was in the works! Anyway, I went over and took a look at it, and ended up getting to take ‘er for a spin. It played almost exactly like the original, but with a few additions. I’m not positive, but it felt like the pistol was a little stronger, and the graphics definitely got an upgrade. I also noticed the addition of a few new Special Zombies, one called the “Charger” which I didn’t quite get a good look at, and the addition of Melee weapons. Stacking on top of my primary weapon (meaning if you shoot you lose the melee weapon) I picked up a fireman’s axe as I played. It was good for hitting the occasional zombie, but wasn’t as efficient as a nice spray from the shotty. A Valve representative ended up sitting on my shoulder and we talked as I played. He told me the Melee weapons were more for Special Zombies, as they did a lot of damage. Sadly though, I finished and got the boot. (I’m gonna go back tomorrow! :D) However I did manage to glean a Nov. 19^th release date. BOO YAH.

I think I’ll leave it there for this blog post. It’s already as mammoth as I can make it right now. At that was only noon to 2. At 2PM I opened a whole ‘nother can of worms. Stay tuned.

Now Leaving: Disneyland

(I wrote this this morning. Just never got a chance to put it up. Enjoy!)

I’m going to keep this one nice and short as to conserve batter power for E3 later. (tee-hee! I’m so excited! Hahah) Disneyland was fan-fricken-tastic. As I mentioned last time my Dad and I used RideMax to give us a head start on everybody, and I’ll tell you how it worked. Or how it kindof worked.

As it didn’t account for us going to both Disneyland and California Adventure, we scheduled Disneyland from 8-10, California Adventure from 10-3, and then Disneyland again from 3-11. We followed the RideMax as much as we could, and we were on schedule for about the first half of the first leg of our trip. But we finished half an hour early, which was good because it gave us time to poke around before California Adventure opened, and to get Splash Mountain in there. (It was a splashing good time! :D) So then we popped over to California Adventure, followed the RideMax there for the first few, before we noticed it was having us head over to the other side of the park to get FastPass tickets. Just being my Dad and I, this is where we bucked the system. We just worked our way across the park, attraction by attraction, doing what we wanted, and only referring to the RideMax in order to remember what rides we said we wanted to do the night before. By the time we got back to Disney, we’d done way more than expected. We had about 7 hours to waste, and only 5 or 6 rides to do. I’m not complaining though, because it was good to have a lot of time to choose what to do.

All in all, RideMax was helpful at the beginning of our day, and the tips that it gave us on certain attractions, like the Haunted Mansion, where when you enter a certain room at the beginning you should look for where the secret door is in the wall, so after the presentation, you’re right there and can just bolt to the front of the line. Oh and taking the single riders line for the Toy Story Mania ride at California Adventure. That got my Dad and I into the ride in under 10 minutes when the line length was 40 minutes. Clutch.

It’s not all RideMax’s fault that we got so far ahead of it though. Yesterday was an overcast day, at about 62 degrees, so a lot of the people who’d have gotten out of bed and gotten to the park nice and early with the sun happened to stay in bed. My Dad and I didn’t even wait in line for more than 10 minutes till about… 4PM? Yeah. That’s when the sun came out.

Overall, I’d say give it a shot. It’s 15 bucks for a 90 day subscription to RideMax, which unfortunately is the lowest you can get it for. But that being said if you go on a day where it actually will be crowded, it’s probably gonna cut your wait time in half. And when a slice of pizza and a medium orange Fanta costs $9.50, spending that extra $5.50 so you could get out in time for a cheap dinner outside the park might just be worth it. And it’s got a money back guarantee so if you decide it’s not to your liking just refund it.

So much for the short post right? Catch you tonight with my Day 1 E3 Wrap-Up. Follow my tweets for all my in show updates! Catch you later brohas!