A collection of rambling posts about gaming, running, and politics. (and, in 2009, photography.)

Sunday, March 26, 2006

games!

Oh… I am not interested in buying an xbox 360. I do not see paying $500 (or close to that) for a console. We have an xbox that Krissi’s brother was kind enough to give to us for Christmas some time ago, and I’ve played it a goodly bit: Halo, Halo 2, Dead or Alive 3, Burnout 3, GTA: San Andreas, Prince of Persia, etc. So we’ve certainly gotten some good play out of it, but I’m really a PC gamer. Well.. I say that.. I play the shit out of Hearts of Iron 2 and such like that, less so with Doom 3 and stuff. Still I’d consider myself primarily a PC gamer.

All of that was lead up to this: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion looks absolutely fantastic. I’ve had my eye on it for some time, and was a big fan of both Daggerfall and Morrowind. I know its out on PC, but I my PC hardware is starting to lag, and I am hesitant to grab it and play it with terrible frame-rate and resolution and so forth. Also, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter for the 360 looks bad ass. Again, I’ve been a big fan of the tactical first person shooter for a long time… Rogue Spear, Ghost Recon, etc. This looks fricking awesome on the 360.

So I’m not rushing out to buy a 360. Not today. But uh, I’ll gladly take on off of your hands… Maybe I’ll get us one later this year…. Mmmmmm games……

lazy and stuff

Ok so I've admittedly been a bit lazy about getting on here and updated, but I've also had quite a bit going on. Which I suppose should be less of an excuse for why I haven’t updated and more of a shame that I haven’t updated.

I have a new job which I will start on April 3. Its with a lumber company here in Horn Lake. I’m excited about it. Its going to be doing IT stuff, same as I have been, but it’ll be different, and hopefully better environment. Its also a significant pay raise.

I went and did a 5k run today, which is excellent, because I again have been super lazy about actually trying to exercise. We took Yazhi out there with us, and it was excellent. She had a great time wandering around the park.

Its our anniversary the end of this month, woo!

I was certain that there was more I had to talk about, but now its not coming to me. Working on a big phone install this weekend that I’ve put quite a few hours into. Its been fun though, and I’ll miss these phone installs.

That’s it for now!

Monday, March 20, 2006

V for Vatic!

So this weekend I've been fighting a minor headcold. Taking a bit of medicine to fend off the symptoms and trying to get some sleep.

So on Friday I accepted a job with a small company in Horn Lake, right around the corner from my house! Huzzah! I also put in my two-weeks notice at my current job, which went quite well. I'd been worried about how my resignation would go.

A small crowd of us went out and saw V for Vendetta on Saturday, and MAN! it was awesome. I've seen some of the debate about terrorism and so on and so forth. Let me address this in a brief and rambling fashion.

Its a movie inspired by a comic book done in the early 80's. I think that if your stance is that it glorifies terrorism, then you're way too uptight about your entertainment (yeah, that coming from me). 12 Monkeys didn't glorify terrorism, did it? Now, I also enjoyed how neatly I could fit it into current times and politics. Again, the comic is it pretty closely based on was done in the 80's, but it still seems a pretty neat fit.

Enough about the bits and pieces of the movie. I liked it alot, and will absolutely purchase it on DVD, and watch it frequently.

We saw the Sopranos last night. No spoilers, but boy was it a dull episode.

Hrm.. what else.. Letseeee I've been playing Silent Hunter III and Democracy, and even attempted to crank up some old gems like Tropico, Fallout 2, and Hearts of Iron 2... Speaking of which I'm looking forward to the Doomsday expansion for HoI2!

That's about it. Rainy weekend. Need to get out and run.... Oh! Maddie got a laptop that makes mine envious!

Monday, March 13, 2006

movies!

So this weekend we did quite a bit of movie watching. Maddie and John were in Atlanta for a wedding party, and Jason, Krissi and I held the fort down.

We saw Red Dragon, which was quite good. Ralph Fiennes is an amazing actor. We saw Hustle and Flow which was.. okay. I was a tad bit disappointed, not because it wasnt an enjoyable movie, but I guess it just wasn't what I thought it was. We saw Run Lola Run, which was very excellent. And we saw Ice Harvest, which was excellent Film Noir, and a damn fine movie.

We also caught the season premier of the Sopranos which was quite good.

Did I mention that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a masterful game?

Saturday, March 4, 2006

ohyeah

I forgot some stuff.

We watched Walk the Line on Friday evening. It was good, but somehow not as good as I'd expected it to be. At the same time though, I've really been dragging my feet about seeing it. I heard rave reviews and rave reviews, and managed to not go see it in the theater, despite my crew frequently trying to organize such an expedition. I just was not excited about it. I suppose though, it's that I'm not a Johnny Cash fan. Not that I dont like his music, it seems fine I suppose, but I havent really been exposed to it or formed an opinion of it. It was good though.

And Jason brought his Xbox 360 over Friday and we played it some. He brought Dead or Alive 4, Madden Football '06, Gun, and Call of Duty 2. And a racing game of some sort that was not anywhere near as cool as Burnout 3. Anyway. Gun seemed cool. Dead or Alive 4 was fun and pretty, but I own and enjoy DoA3. Call of Duty 2 seemed really cool. I'd decided awhile back that I wanted to own it, until I realized that it doesnt exist on regular old Xbox. And funny enough, I really enjoy Madden Football. I've long enjoyed Football console games, despite that I'm not a fan of *real* football. Its fun.

I'm light years away from rushing out to spend money that I dont even have on a 360, but it is pretty cool.

cars and movies

So lately the theme has been "Sick Cars".

Recently the Berreta broke down, and soon after the Saturn broke down, leaving us for a moment without a single working vehicle. Doesn't make one feel very suburban middle class.

Well we shelled out the $350 to get the Saturn fixed last week, so we were back to our semi-normal one working car really. I decided that we needed to get the Berreta out of the street this weekend so we pushed it to a garage. They checked it out and called me back. $500. Yup, five hundred clams to get it running again. Bear in mind that this is a '89 Berreta. So its got a goodly number of years on it.. Still, its a car that works.. well.. anyway.

With my income from work being so.. unpredictable, cash has been a scarce commodity around here lately. And so getting hit with TWO car repair bills, plus my glasses which need replacing has left us in more than a tight spot.

I usually refrain from griping about these kind of matters, which are, to me, kinda personal. But this seems like as good a place as any to kinda vent. And hey- its what's going on.

I got a really nice nibble on a job Friday, after having freshly polished up my resume (thanks John).

We went today and saw Ultraviolet. Now, before I contiune, let me lapse into my thing about movies. I'm kinda funny about movies. I am certainly not the most particular person that I know when it comes to movies, and I watch a fair share of movies, though most I catch on DVD. I tend though to like movies that are dark or twisted. Seven, Usual Suspects, 12 Monkeys, American Beauty, Falling Down, Full Metal Jacket, Way of the Gun, Kill Bill, Fight Club, the Big Hit... These are just some of my favorite movies. There is some variety there, but I like to think that I want a movie that evokes at least a little thought, or that is at least witty and clever. I cant get near movies like White Chicks, Doom, Suspect Zero, MindHunters, the Fast and the Furious, Mission Impossible 2, Blade, etc. So I've gotten involved in mildly cutting discussions with friends regarding recent movies like Underworld 2 and Doom and such.

So.. we went and saw Ultraviolet. I like Milla Jovovich, and this movie looked cool, so I suppose I went into it wanting to like it. I was not disappointed. I loved it. It was fun and pretty and spectacular and awesome. Tremendous.

Apparently I was in the minority though. The group of friends that I went with, the same people who enjoyed Doom and Underworld 2, apparently ranged from entertained but unfulfilled to downright disappointed. I was suprised by this. Certainly liking a movie is subjective, but I figured this one would be a pleaser for them as well. Furthermore, after I professed my enjoyment of this one, I was told how insane I am for enjoying this, but not liking Underworld 2, Doom, Blade, etc. And I dunno, maybe its simply a matter of predispositions and personal taste. *shrug*