I'm sure not a single person reading this cares, but damn it I do! Anyone who has known me longer than a month knows I hate the Redwings with a passion. Going into tonight's game I predicted a 5-1 Stars loss. I was thankfully proven wrong. It's been a shitty season to say the least mostly due to injuries to top Stars players. Tonight an overconfident and cocky Redwings team got beat by a hard working Stars team who probably had no business winning. It's quite impressive when you can beat the Redwings with a team with 1/3 of your players belonging in the minors. Turco played exceptional tonight. This is something that he pretty much never does against the Redwings. The final score was 3-1 and I couldn't be happier. EAT IT REDWINGS FANS!
First I'd like to give a huge kiss my ass to the holidays. I really hate this time of year. A long time ago when I was a kid I loved it. Of course I did. I got tons of upon tons of presents from Santa and my parents. These days I couldn't care less if I got a single present from anyone. My wife will be irritated if she reads that sentence or any of this part of the blog. She loves Christmas. The holidays were fun when my daughter was younger. She's 14 now. She opens her gifts and disappears into her room. At least I think that's what she did last year. Who could blame her? I'd like to disappear on that day as well. Now where was I? Oh yeah my hatred of the holidays. It's basically one huge cash grab for big business. I hate how the holidays try and make people feel obligated to buy a bunch of people a gift. Of course I don't feel obligated because well...I just don't. I hate the ordeal of shopping for people too. I never have a clue what to buy anyone. I never know what to buy my wife. When asked what I want for Christmas I usually say that I don't want anything. When I want something I go to a store and buy it myself. I honestly think my dislike for the holidays goes much deeper than gift giving though. That's a place I'm not willing to go right now though.
As much as I hate new years resolutions I plan on having one, though I would never call it a new years resolution. I'm going to start saving a shit ton of money next year for a down payment on a new Ford Mustang. Maybe it's midlife crisis time? No, of course not. I just like the look of later Ford Mustangs, and I want one. I want one bad. Real bad. For the past year I've been driving people crazy talking about it. I obsess over it actually. Mark my words I will have one. I'm paying my truck off in 2009, so I figure either late 2009 or early 2010 I will be the owner of a Ford Mustang.
To save money means to stop buying games and start renting them. That's where Gamefly comes in. I really have no idea why in the hell I've never signed up for Gamefly. Actually I still haven't, but I will very soon. I'm beyond tired of paying 60 bucks a pop for new games. I'm sure I'll buy a few games, but I'll make sure I get a deal on the games I buy.
After finishing Fallout 3 my gaming life feels empty. I still have a bunch of games I need to finish, but I know that none of them will be quite as good as Fallout 3. It looks like I'll be finishing my NHL 09 season as well as killing a bunch of zombies in Left 4 Dead.
Remember how I talked about how much I hate the Holidays? Well, there are a bunch of Christmas songs that I like. That's kinda odd isn't it? I love all of those cheezy Christmas songs that normal people hate with every fiber of their being. Here are just a few examples GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER by Elmo & Patsy, WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME from Paul McCartney, CHRISTMAS IN HOLLIS by RUN DMC, BLUE CHRISTMAS by "Porky Pig" Bob Rivers, CHRISTMAS IS A TIME TO SAY I LOVE YOU by Billy Squire, and JINGLE BELL ROCK by Hall & Oates just to name a few. I really am one screwed up individual.
Last night...no early yesterday morning I finished Fallout 3. This was the most addicted I've probably ever been to a video game. Well, it ranks high on the list anyway. It may not be as massive as Oblivion, but it sure felt like it. I haven't played every newly released game this year, but I feel safe saying that this is definitely my game of the year as well as my favorite game ever. It ranks up there with other favorites of mine such as Super Mario Bros 3, Resident Evil 4, Shadow Of The Colossus, Manhunt, Super Punch Out, and Crackdown just to name a few. As far as RPG's go I've never played a better one. I can't even imagine the man hours Bethesda put into creating this game. They did everything right with this game. I honestly don't have a single complaint EXCEPT for maybe the way the game ends, but as good as this game is I can overlook the ending. I found the exploration to be incredbly fun. The lock pick mini games were fun and addictive. The computer hacking mini games were a bit strange, but even that got addictive. The creatures and enemies were great. Bethesda could have thrown in a few more different enemies, but that's a minor complaint. The dialogue between your character and others was really good, and funny a lot of the time. I really enjoyed most of the side quests. I even had fun with the collection side quests. Collecting all 20 bobbleheads was a challenge, but felt rewarding after I got that last one. I definitely didn't mind finding all of that Nuka Cola Quantum for that hot little blonde chick with the nice little ass.
I thought about reviewing this game properly, but I just have so many things to say, and not enough time, so my above comments will have to do. Fallout 3 is a perfect 10 out of 10. It was well worth the 60 bucks I paid for it and then some. If you own a 360, PS3, or a decent PC you really need to play this game.
Just about anyone who has ever owned an Xbox 360 and played it for a long enough period of time knows that the console is far from perfect. Last year the dvd drive in my first Xbox 360 died. Instead of jumping on the phone and dealing with Max I decided to just use the online support by telling Microsoft what the problem was by typing instead of talking. They sent me a "coffin" for my Xbox straight away. I think it was gone for a couple of weeks. Then they sent it right back to me with a free month of Xbox Live as well. The day I sent out my first 360 I went out and bought a backup 360. Well, a few weeks ago I was having issues with that 360, so I sent that one in. I was getting dirty disc errors and freezes. It was even giving me dirty disc errors when I was trying to install games to my HDD. On top of that my 360 was also having a tough time interacting with my controller on start ups. I went the same route this time as well as far as the way I dealt with customer service. Again it was smooth sailing, but this time Microsoft replaced this console with a new one. Of course they also gave me another free month of Xbox Live.
I've heard horror stories about having to wait on the phone and having some dumbell run you through all of the steps to figure out what's wrong with your 360. I refuse to go through a trouble shooting rundown with someone from India who barely speaks english. No offense to anyone from India, but damn at least learn how to speak english before you decide to be a customer service rep.
Again, it's not the 360 console that's incredible because it's far from it. It is honestly the worst piece of electronic hardware I've ever owned. It's the great games and superior Xbox Live online service as well as customer service that keeps me using this piece of junk that Microsoft has named Xbox 360. Here's hoping that the Xbox 720 doesn't have any of these issues!
Let me just start by saying that for some reason depression and the blahs always hit me this time of year. I have no idea why, but it happens every time this year. I generally just try to keep my mind off of the holidays by playing video games, watching movies, or whatever. Fallout 3 is doing a decent job at keeping me busy. I am now 96+ hours into it. I figure I have about 5-10 hours left to play. Not really sure. I'm glad to report that Sac (net friend and blog reader) also seems to be addicted to Fallout 3. I check out his progress on my friends list often. The last time I checked he was a level 10.
I think as soon as I finish Fallout 3 I'm going to sign up for Gamefly. There are a ton of games I want to play that just aren't worth buying for 60 bones. Truthfully I should have signed up a long time ago. Going to my local Hollywood Video to rent a game for 8 bucks for 5 days is just a ripoff.
Now for some food discussion. Food is basically my favorite part of the holidays. There are two things I plan on checking out. The first thing I want to try is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake Bread from The Great Harvest Bread Co. Sounds delicious! I also need to try Bubblicious Candy Canes. There's real gum in the center of the candy cane!
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm happy to say that I'm on vacation the week of X-mas. Maybe I'll get to try some of those candy canes that week.
There is this small list of movies that for some reason or another I should have seen by now, but haven't. I'm not talking about recent movies. I'm talking about older classics...or at least movies that everyone has seen a million times. A few of these will probably shock you.
Ghost Busters. Yeah, That's right Ghost Busters. I've seen bits and pieces, but have never sat and watched it from beginning to end. With that being said I've never watched Ghost Busters 2 either. This really makes no sense to me either. I'm a big Bill Murray fan. I've seen pretty much everything he's ever done. It also makes no sense because 1984 was a big go to the movies year for me, but for some strange reason I never went to see it in the theatre that year. I vow to watch this movie soon via Netflix.
A Fish Called Wanda. This movie gets glowing reviews yet I've probably only ever watched about 15 minutes of it. No idea why. I just haven't seen it. This is also getting added to my Netflix queue.
Blazing Saddles. It's probably a crime that I've never watched it. I haven't even watched bits and pieces of this one. You can add YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1 to this list.
There are also a couple of Monty Python movies that I haven't seen like LIFE OF BRIAN,and THE MEANING OF LIFE.
Robocop. I wouldn't call it a classic, but again it's a movie that I've only seen bits and pieces of.
I realize that most of these are probably movies that I should have seen already. I plan on watching them all before I kick the bucket, but you never know. Oh, and I just remembered that I do have a dvd-r copy of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.
Ghost Busters Video In All OF It's Cheezy 80's Glory
I just watched IGN's video review for the new PRINCE OF PERSIA game. One word that comes to mind is WOW! This game looks amazing. I love the art style they chose. It's a beautiful looking game. For a game that wasn't even on my radar this looks like it's worth a buy. It's getting some really good reviews too. As soon as I can tear myself away from FALLOUT 3 I'll probably pick it up.
Speaking of FALLOUT 3 it's been a while since I've enjoyed a game this much. I'm 75+ hours into it and I'm still left wanting more every day. At this point I gotta say it may be my favorite video game ever. I've played a lot of games, so that's gotta tell you something.
Well, the New Xbox Experience is now the old Xbox experience. I'm finding that I'd rather just hit the guide button to do everything versus looking through all of the panels or whatever the hell they are called. It's a bit of a pain to cycle through all of your friends with the panels as well. Let's not even talk about avatars. I don't hate em, but I don't love em either. For me the best features of NXE are installing games on my HDD and Netflix.
I've watched a few movies through Netflix on my Xbox 360 now. I haven't had a single problem with streaming. It's been flawless. So far I've watched Dan In Real Life, Cool Hand Luke, One Crazy Summer, Cashback, Comedians of Comedy: Live at the El Rey, and the first episode of The Office. If you like movies with quite a bit of hot naked women you should probably go watch Cashback. One of the most beautiful women I've ever seen is in this movie. Just watch the for the scene with the Swedish exchange student who walks up the stairs after getting out of the shower. That's all I'm gonna say.
My Thanksgiving holiday was enjoyable for the most part. I got a lot of gaming in. I finished Gears Of War 2 with my nephew. See Phil, I do finish games. :)GOW2 is one of the best looking games I've ever seen graphically. It was a lot of fun as well. Horde mode is also a blast, but with only two people it's a bitch. Me and my nephew couldn't get past wave 18. If we had a couple more people playing I'm pretty sure we would have gotten much farther.
My Dallas Stars are having a crap season mostly due to injuries to top players. I'm talking top line players here. Injuries suck. What the hell can you do though? It looks like they may be turning things around though because they've won their last two games.
I'm 38. I'm addicted to Xbox 360 gaming and Dallas Stars hockey. I make a decent living at a boring job where I run two autoclaves and do various other tasks. My escape from this boring as hell life is video games, hockey, and music. I generally listen to Metal music, but I also love 80's tunes as well as 70's tunes. I have an unusual love for the band Overkill. They do it for me for some reason. Blitz is GOD!
