Brawl!

>SSBB FOREVER
---

Super Smash Brothers Brawl has completely taken over my life. I should be studying a million things right now. I should be sleeping. I could take the dog for a walk, or better yet, work out. There are books to be read, rooms to be cleaned, showers to be taken, and meals to be consumed, but KO-ing my way to victory seems to be of utmost importance at the moment.

I beat the story mode on hard mode without any help, cleared all 41 single player events, and all the multi ones with my brother. I got all the characters today and have classic beat with 6 of them. Now I just need boss rush mode done, the rest of classic, all star mode, finishing the trophy collection, sticker collection, getting that last 8% completion in the SSE, 100 man brawl, and shaping up my game for kicking other peoples asses.

There's a tournament next week at school with actual prizes and such, so I'm really psyched for that. I really want to see how I stack up to other players since no one that lived around me was very good at Melee. I think it helps that I never got too good at advanced techniques such as SHFFL and wave-dashing so the gameplay changes to Brawl don't mess with my play style as much as it will with others. Now, to go practice a bit more with good old Wario.

Deadly Nuerotoxin

>keep 'em guessing
>i loved you more, than the week i did before i discovered alcohol.
---
So, like I said, I beat Portal.

It was awesome. Really awesome.

I don't get hyped for very many games very easily, and it's really rare for me to love anything I play, but this exceeded expectations by a long shot. I had been following it for a while and had watched my brothers play through the game a number of times, but always said I'd wait for my own copy to play it so that I wouldn't spoil the fun, and it was totally worth it.

Everything about it is done so fantastic and fits so well that you can't complain about anything. Tight control, wonderful music (especially "Still Alive"), GLaDOS - the best character ever, ingenious level design, and a great length to the story. Although I knew the game was short, I couldn't believe it was literally "beat it in one sitting" short, well, until I beat it in one sitting. Really though, it helped the game sort of "contain" itself by keeping it close to its central theme instead of branching off in all sorts of ways. I liked that, just like Cloverfield.

I don't think I need to go into all the stuff about the portal gun and the weighted companion cube and all, but one thing that a lot of people fail to mention is how awesome the developer commentary is. Really. Maybe all the people that wrote about the game a few months ago when it came out knew everything there is to know about the way Portal was engineered and designed (yeah right...), but I for one didn't, and the sheer amount of complexity and precision this game was pulled off with is staggering. I have an even greater respect for game designers now, especially the minds behind Portal. I'm applauding you right now.

If the pictures still not clear or you want the "tl;dr" version, Portal is one of the most original, ass kicking, hilarious, ingenious, brilliant, clever, smart, and interesting games you'll ever play. And to top it all off, you'll be begging for more afterwards. Instant classic in my book.

Sounds Like Work

>sleep-o-tron
>fuck
>PANIK
---
Regina Spektor played over the radio at work today. Needless to say, I was oddly overjoyed to hear it whilst in the dismal clutches of my job.

I noticed that they play a lot of Fall Out Boy too. A lot. Like, as in I'll hear at least 3 different songs on any given shift. I like them, but it's just kind of odd how much I hear them.

Besides them, the only other thing you'll hear when working is A) me singing "The Black Parade" aloud, B) me repeatedly singing the line "Born to be wi-ild", C) constant screaming of "YOUUUUU!" from that fucking Soulja Boy song (we all hate it, but it helps the time pass to piss everyone else off), or D) some other random ass song that I feel needs to be a part of the communal work time experience. For example, today me and Terry did a performance of "Regulators" by Warren G and Nate Dogg. Truly awesome indeed.

I beat both Portal and Bioshock, so now I'm off to conquer the looming beast that is Half Life 2. I'll get back to you on my thoughts on all three.

Down!

AFK TO THE MAX!!
---

Yeah, my internet died for about 4 or 5 days last week, so it was actually really rough for me not being able to do email and such for a while.

Looking back at the last month, it's ridiculous at how much I've started gaming again. I always thought of myself as a "gamer", and I like keeping up on all the industry news and new releases and games, but I never really play all too many, and I complete even less. This last month however, I really started playing seriously again. I sat down and played like 7 hours of Bioshock, did some single player and LAN on Diablo 2, started loading up The Orange Box, and did some Smash Brothers. Needless to say, it was fantastic. Once I complete Bioshock in another day or two, I'm thinking about jumping on into Super Mario Galaxy.

Now, I like Nintendo, but I don't really like any of their games, or the main ones at least. About the only games by them that I've actually sat down and played seriously are Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Wii Sports, Pokemon, and Smash Brothers. I'm not too big of a Mario fan, never got into Metroid, and I can't play more than 30 minutes of a Zelda game for whatever reason. Super Mario Galaxy however, is a completely different story. The first time I saw it in action at home, I was completely blown away. Everything about it is beautiful, unique, and fun looking. The music is spectacular, and everything else just ties it together into one awesome looking spacey-platforming adventure.

Now more TF2!

Awesome New Stuff!

dR. dRE PRESENtS dETOX
---

So, the past few days were filled with some unexpected surprises that really made me happy.

First and foremost was a trailer for a Speed Racer movie made by the Wachowski brothers. It's at speedracerthemovie.com . To be honest, I'm not expecting a hell of a lot from this movie, but I'm still excited for the whole idea.

Second, Dr. Dre apparently set his final album Detox to be released this June. I'm fucking elated. I've been waiting years for this album. As far as I'm concerned, he's the best goddamn rapper/producer out there by a long shot. And I mean a really long shot, especially with the crap that's been passing for music lately. I'll be there at midnight if at all possible to pick it up and rock out for the rest of the eternity.

Other than those, I've only got class up to this Friday and I'm off the hook for break. I beat Quake4 earlier today, so that just leaves me with completing Bioshock before Xmas if at all possible since when I get the Orange Box I'll be pretty occupied. Combine that with reading Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, plus whatever else comes my way along with stuff like Super Mario Galaxy, it should be a fun time.

Pretty!

school
trying to do a goddamn paper
---

So I woke up at 5:50am today to register for classes. Apparently, tomorrow is the registration date, so I get to repeat the misery all over again! I was so tired this morning that I just slept through my class from 10:20-11:10. I know it's bad, but I would have literally just slept the whole time due to exhaustion. So I woke up around 11:30, took care of stuff, and then drove to school for my art history class. It was canceled. Damn it. I forgot to check my e-mail this one time, and I go to school for nothing.

So I got to come home and type a final paper/presentation for my psychology class. It's not long, and it was a really easy paper, but of course I procrastinated until now to do it. I started typing a 3 paged, double spaced paper at around 2pm. I finished around 7:45. Needless to say I have severe ADD and a horrible StumbleUpon addiction. Some good did come from this however, which was my discovery of the Unreal Tournament 3 demo.

This game looks so pretty, it's awesome. I can max it no problem, and everything is so fast and fluid. Being a big Quake fan, I like the game play a helluva lot too. The weapons are interesting, the alternate firing modes are cool, the physics are nice, feigning death is a nice move, and some of the vehicles (like the War of the Worlds -esque one) are kickass. I'm extremely tempted to buy the full copy soon if I come across some extra money since I'm that impressed.

Advent Children

school then work
---

So, on my quest to watch some more movies I ended up borrowing my friend's copy of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I wasn't too sure what to expect from it. I heard mixed reviews of it, but I love cool looking CGI stuff, and although the only Final Fantasy I've fully played and beaten was Tactics for the GBA, I've always been intrigued by the whole universe and setup of the characters, especially VII because of its ridiculous popularity.

So all in all, the movie was okay. The cool visual were a definite plus, but I wasn't too enthralled by the storyline and the characters. I'm sure that playing and fully understanding the source material would have enhanced the whole experience ten fold, but still, whether I know the whole story or not, I should be able to get into what's going on.

I'm not stupid, and I did pay attention to the movie. I even know a bit about Final Fantasy VII, but the story didn't suck me in at all. There was something about it that just didn't click for me, something missing. I'm not sure what, maybe it was just development of the story, or maybe I do need to know all the events prior to the movie.

However, like I said, the CGI looked pretty, and the fight scenes were awesome when they worked right. The battle with Tifa in the church was probably the most memorable for me, just because of how fast and thrilling it was to watch. Sadly, some of the fights have a bit too much camera movement and quick shots of other stuff going on to really get me pumped up for whats going on. See, I really like it when the camera stays on the fight for a long period of time and I get action nonstop and uninterrupted. I don't care what the other people are doing, if it's that important to have them in the shot then just move them into it, but don't keep jumping from one person to another. That's just annoying.

Almost There

schoolin'
---
Well, the end of the semester is almost here, and I couldn't be happier. Yeah, it really is still a couple weeks until it actually ends, but for the most part its all downhill and I couldn't be happier. I'm still looking at classes and credit hours and that sort of thing, but it's not nearly as bad as I had assumed. Plus, my grades aren't seeming too bad at this point, so maybe that time spent in Ann Arbor isn't as far off as it seemed.

Speaking of which, I'm psyched to head up there this weekend for the OSU game. I don't have tickets of course, but I like going for the "atmosphere". Naturally, that's just what I tell everyone as a sort of euphemism for getting ham dammered. Saturday will definitely be a good day, and if we win, it's definitely going to be one hell of a night as well.

Other than that, there's a new episode of "Pure Pwnage" out, and since I kind of owe it to them for helping me get excited about gaming again, I'm about to go watch it. It's a great show to begin with anyway, so I guess it's not only because of its influence on me.

Let's just pass the time away...

Not doing my papers/studying
---

friend: so i took mushrooms

tomkamrad: aaaaand?

friend: and we listened to rainforest music and looked at monkeys
---

So, I'm a pretty decent Starcraft/Brood War player. Or I used to be.

See, today I decided to do a LAN with my brother Adam in Brood War just to waste some time and get back into the game. I've always been okay at the game, and he's not too spectacular at all, so I figured it'd be a couple quick rounds. Maybe a few big battles if I moved slow, but nothing too exciting.

Wrong.

He beat me with the Zerg on a money map where I played Protoss. And he beat me pretty good too. I got kinda pissed, so I wanted a re-match with me being Terran and him being whoever.

Now, I usually just build a big lot of barracks, stock up on minerals, and make masses of fast cheap marines and rush the base in the first 4 minutes of the match- but today, Adam learned how to do the same thing, and he got Siege Tanks out a lot faster than me which sealed my fate early on. Not to count me building Firebats while he's sending cloaked Wraiths at me like its nothing.

So I lost again, and now I want revenge. I WILL BEAT HIM. Mostly cause I feel stupid since the student completely owned the teacher.

I Love Apple

[yesterday - 10:00pm]
kind of writing a paper
---

So I originally began to write this post on an iPod touch that I was trying out. I don't know why I didn't finish it, might have been because of class, or because of the campus' pretty shitty wifi (or at least it was for me.)

Anyway, for years now, I've been wanting an iPod, not any other brand of music player, just iPod. Of course, I've always put it off for some reason or another - Theres going to be a new one announced in a few months, I don't have the money, Its summer and I'll only use it during school so I'll wait, I have the money -but do I really want to spend it? - Yeah, stuff like that. So, around mid September, I said "Hey, I'm in school, I have a lot of free time between classes, I have money, and my birthday is coming up, I should get one. Not surprisingly, as soon as I start to look up some stuff, the new iPod line is announced. I loved the iPhone and its interface, so naturally, the iPod touch looked amazing to me. Sadly, my old job at Moe's had just ended, so I really was out of money, and I kinda put it off in my head again.

So, last week, at my Father's office, they got a whole load of different players for the new line of Ford vehicles that are fully integrated with mp3 players. I convinced him to let me "test it" for the weekend. I tried setting it up at his office, but I really couldn't since all my stuff is at home on this computer, and for some reason the area hes in doesn't have wifi, only the "presentation suites" upstairs. Why the work area doesn't have wireless internet, I don't know.

The thing handles like a dream. It's light, the screen is beautifully clear, at home the internet was fast, youtube worked awesome, and the songs/album/artist lists are just fun to use because you can throw the stuff around with your finger. The one thing I was always worried about was how the fingerprint smudges would look on the screen after more than 25 seconds of use. With the backlight on you don't even notice a thing (unless for some reason you release an abnormally high amount of oils from your skin, or just ate some sort of pizza). I read probably 5 or 6 of Tucker Max's stories and went on Facebook, and the screen stayed clear as always and I completely forgot about the smudges existing since they're invisible from that view perspective.

All in all, I'm buying one, plain and simple. 16gb though, because even though I only used about 5gb of space on that one, and i don't even listen to 70% of that music since it's not mine, most of my CDs aren't on this hard drive and I plan on having at least a movie or two on it, plus room for extra stuff and photos.

One last note, at the moment, I have in my hands a 30gb Zune. I'll be done with "testing it" tomorrow around 5pm, so I'll give some feedback on how it stacks up to the competition.

Awesome, AWESOME, shitty...

1:11am
my computer will kick your ass
4:23pm
rockrock
8:50pm
time to get to work. ive got a lot of stuff to catch up on...

---
So last night I get my computer all set up and such and it rocks. The surround sound makes everything infinitely better, and the new keyboard/mouse combo makes everything so smooth and fast. I had a few hiccups while running Quake4 which kind of scared me, but I passed it off for some stupid reason(even though theres little I could have done to fix it.).

School was nothing special, except that it was another day where I didn't eat for some stupid reason. I probably need to wake up earlier. Anyway, I hung out in the library for 2 hours with some friends and narrated the other peoples lives that were sitting around us. It was cruel and funny, so basically we all thourougly enjoyed ourselves. At about 1 though I started getting tired, and I kept getting heavy headed in my seminar.

Once I finally got home, I wanted to show my new computer off, even though its sitting in the living room on a coffee table. I turn it on. It gets stuck at the BIOS. It shows post code 75, a.k.a. problems with the OS. Just fuckin' dandy! I tool around with things, but nothing works, and the hard drives are making evil noises at me too. I'm pissed.

Other than my computer suddenly not working, I've also got 2 papers due next week, a lot of studying on my hands, and I'm still dead tired. Plus my birthday is on the 23rd, so I want to go out and party, which translates to having to do everything before Friday night. Whatever, I'll find a way to work some magic.

Just Monday

1:11am
slumber
8:40am
rockrock
3:27pm
building a machine. lets see if we can get this beast running!

---
Last night was surprisingly fun with my trip to Starbucks and Taco Bell, but today was awesome (in a way). It definatly started off shitty with me forgetting to eat breakfast, then forgetting a lunch for my break. By 2:20, I was starving. Once I got home though I decided to give my friend Dave a call to see about finishing up the computer I'm building since he has WindowsXP and Norton and a bunch of other stuff.
So I get all my shit together and go over his house, except that we cannot get the damn thing to work. We plug and unplug everything in the case multiple times only to get nothing. Finally, we kind of admit defeat and go the "tech support" route. After writing an email to see if we get answered in the FAQs and waiting about an hour for a response I kind of gave up hope for the night and started getting ready to go. As I put everything back together, I pulled out the USB connectors so that I could plug my RAM back into the motherboard without the cables getting in the way. The second the USB wires were disconnected the LEDs lit up all over the place and we were in buisness.
So yeah, its almost midnight again, and I just ate my first meal of the day since I was completely starving. Macaroni and Cheese with Cherry Kool-Aid. I guess I'm going to go back to playing Quake4 on the new computer since I haven't every really done the single player.