Goals

I've never been very good at sticking to a goal. I have a lot of interests and many of them are fleeting. Take a look at this blog for example. What I do have is a lot of energy, a lot of drive, and a lot of focus (even if that focus comes in small bursts). I burn through pop culture and different life events sometimes faster than I can really digest them. I think this might make me diverse, but it also makes me fickle. I can tire of one thing quickly. I need variety. Or do I need to dig deeper into the material that I've been given? Does the material that I consume deserve that?

Certainly a good thing about blogging is running through some stream of consciousness bullshit. There are thoughts I don't always get the chance to think.

Good stuff so far. Apparently I have some kind of goal based ADD. Maybe some kind of intense fleeting interest issue. I think a part of it is that I don't always know what I want.

So then the question becomes: how do I determine which goal that I set for myself is the right goal? Do I set them all and then decide of the ones I set which are worthy? That's not the worst idea. Ladies love lists.

I know that I like to write.
I know that I love to work out. On that note I know that I can't tell whether or not physique matters to me. I do know that I think I'll be a better athlete at a lighter weight, so let's shoot for that. I'm not sure if a utilitarian decision is what I'm looking for, I'm not sure if that's going to excite me. Maybe I shouldn't need to be excited, maybe some goals are going to be strictly for a different purpose. Logic.
Work is obviously a priority. There are many goals that I can put under that banner. I'm not going to clog my pseudo entertainment blog with work stuff though.
I also love video games.
I love comic books.

Clearly these are personal goals.

College Hockey at Fenway!

This Saturday I atteneded a very, very ridiculous and cold event: College Hockey at Fenway Park. It was a cool idea, so I thought it would be fun to go. Gosh, I can't even being to tell you how chillingly correct I was.

(My buddy Ray poured beer on a BC kid, more on that later.)

The event: Northeastern University, my alma mater, in an outdoor hockey game in the middle of winter, playing against Boston College. Northeastern has long had a rivalry with every other Boston school with a hockey team, so I was pretty thrilled to take part in what would surely be a loss on our part. Go team! There was alos the novelty factor, how many times is a guy going to be able to see a Hockey game played in the middle of a Baseball field? Not many, and frankly, after having attended, never again.

It was cold. Did you read my puns up top? Pay some fucking attention! It was really, really cold. Like, c'mon, there's really no reason to subject yourself to a mediocre display of athletics in the freezing goddamn cold. Sure, maybe if it was an entirely awesome thing (I'm not sure what that thing could possibly be, but bear with) that was worthwhile in the slightest, but this totally wasn't it.

And, I'm pretty sure the game was rigged. There was a point where NU scored a goal and it was scored for BC. If I was adding pictures into this, and I might, at a later date, if and when I remember and think it's a good idea, I'd add the picture of Jackie Chan looking all confused with the caption about Jackie's mind being blown. Then there was the NU breakaway, with a blatant BC trip... and no penalty shot. There was the egregious check, the multiple goals that had to be put under review, and the lack of importance placed on NU's dominating victory in the ice cream challenge.

I'm just making myself angry here, as a completely unbiased participant in a college sporting event, I am outraged. Still.

I really like my new Logitech Keyboard that I use for my iPad! (Product placement)

I'm still writing about Christmas, this is wild!

I finally got a keyboard for this bastard iPad thing so I no longer have to use the awful, or at least not easy to use, touch keyboard. It's like I have the easiest to use computer ever, kind of, not really. It makes for a pretty fantastic word processor though. I can now type with the iPad on my lap, comfortably, without my hands being jammed all together. I can also access numbers and punctuation like a normal person.

The logitech bluetooth keyboard syncs easily to the iPad. It's comfortable and lightweight. It even comes with a carrying case that easily snaps into a stand for the main device that actually works while I have the case for the iPad on it.

Now I really don't need to carry around pen and paper. Which is all the better, as I really am not a fan of writing by hand. Typing has always been much more my bag. I really want to go on a complete tangent as to why that might be, but after staring at the mist that the humidifier is shooting up, I really can't think of a reason. We'll accept that this tangent will suffice for my favorite literary device.

I'm using a really great program to write in as well. I forget the name of it. One second. It's called PlainText. Great software. I've read for some time that writing inside of a program that blanks out the rest of the screen makes the focus on filling white space. It really does! It's much easier to concentrate and think like this, without the normal distractions that my laptop normally leaves. You know, that whole taskbar of options that will deliver me to a wild amount of different worlds. This, I actually have to reach forward and press a button or the screen to get out of. I'm practically trapped here! TRAPPED!

That's not true. Not really any way. But it kind of sort of not really at all feels that way in a manner of speaking. Who really knows what's going on inside of my head that's triggering this sharp focus to go from brain to screen at light speeds. LIGHT SPEEDS. I almost miss being able to italicize that I think the impression would be more what I'm going for. Which leads me elequently to my next point.

This thing syncs up to DropBox. So, if I ever type up something where I want to get real creative and add pictures, I can totally use my laptop as an editing tool and write all of the text on here. It's like nearly instant, practically.

I wonder if having the keyboard detached from the main device adds anything to the experience? Kind of. It's freedom. I used to have a whole wireless setup for my computer, back when I had a tower. A tower, can you believe that people had those things? People still have those things. I hope mostly for cheap alternatives to laptops or for gaming rigs. Heck, most games can be played on a decent laptop these days anyway.

Skyrim is fighting with Gears of War 3 for my love

A little bit before Christmas I beat Gears of War 3. I loved the single player campaign and thought it an incredibly fitting end to what is probably the best pure action game series created thus far. Then I started playing Horde mode, which is like the infinite replaysbility version of the game, and was very satisfied to enjoy that as much as possible.

Christmas came and I got Skyrim. I put down the game I was playing at the time (Red Dead Redemption) and started my journey into this amazing new world. Skyrim might be the largest and most amazing single player sandbox game out there. There is such an incredible amount to do. Since Christmas I don't even want to know how many hours I've logged into my Orc warrior Chaos. (side note: the iPad auto corrects orc into Orc which just blew my mind.)

I've found myself jonesing for Gears of War again. Just Horde mode, mind you. I want to dive back into that world where combat means just about everything. No quests, nobody to talk to, just violence for the sake of getting to the next wave, and the next wave, and the next wave. On top of that there's some great new DLC available: RAAM's Shadow; which serves as a prequel to the entire series and gives you the first opportunity to play as the much revered Locust leader and final boss from the first Gears of War game. You might know how awesome I think RAAM is if you've ever played Heroclix with me.

So it's like a war going on in my brain. A war that Skyrim is winning, for now, but I'll be interested to see how long it's going to be able to hold out. I can't really compare the games, they're both the best of their breeds, but I know that they're fighting for a place in my XBox.

Which kind of leads me to wonder what might happen if Marcus Fenix picked a fight with my Orc warrior. Which is kind of making me want to play WH40K: Space Marine...

Skyrim: The Further Adventures of Rune and Chaos

I was lucky enough to get Skyrim for Christmas. It's only the biggest game of the year, and it's probably Bethesda's best work. I'm a pretty big fan of their Fallout series, and this being my first venture into the world of the Elder Scrolls I've got to say I'm very impressed.

You have the choice to be an orc, which is probably the most badass choice, so I chose that first. Continuing in that line of thought, I decided my badass orc would use nothing but two handed axes. A brilliant and inspired choice I think. I might have gone with a war hammer instead of the axe, to celebrate Robert Baratheon, but I had to go with my heart, especially when I decided who my character was going to be.

I decided my character was going to be Chaos, a character that I created as a child for a freestyle fantasy story that I wrote with my best friend Patrick: The Adventures of Rune and Chaos. Chaos was my character, a brazen, run into the thick of things warrior. Rune was his character, a thoughtful mage who, generally, used his power to get the two out of the trouble Chaos had put them in.

Pretty awesome right? I hadn't thought of Run and Chaos in years. It's pretty awesome to have the two of them back in my life.

Wrestling in MMA

Just a thought:

Tried and true wrestlers have a really interesting advantage in MMA that I'd never really thought about before this fight. When a wrestler gets rocked by a strike, their first instinct is to go for a takedown of some sort. Assuming they aren't fighting another, equally skilled wrestler, they will at the very least get some sort of positional advantage that keeps them out of danger, allowing them to recover from the strike that initially damaged them.

Nifty.

Get Angry!

Get Angry!

Do I have anything to say about Gears of War 3?

It’s fucking awesome, that’s for sure.

It delivers on everything that I wanted it too: non-stop action led by giant action hero caricatures who get angry instead of feeling real emotion.

Hell, I even got to experience pain and loss, which isn’t exactly something you expect to feel from a mess of bullets and blood in an action/entertainment setting. Dammit I was moved. It was cheap emotion too, but damn was it well done. Does that mean it’s still cheap? Maybe not. I think that term, cheap, is meant to describe something without subtlety, when, well, what the fuck is subtlety worth? I’m not playing Gears of War for subtlety. I’m not living my life to be subtle! I’m living my life to be all up in everywhere! I want to make impacts like nuclear bombs, lasting. I want to get real real with everything, stand up and take all kinds of stands.

Fuck yea! Stand up, get angry, get in the moment!

Boo Adventures

Some gym musings

What exactly am I trying to accomplish in the gym? Good question. I’m not entirely sure.

I want to be stronger. I want to be smaller. I want to have some bigger guns. I want to be able to sprint for distance. I want to be able to jump higher.

There are several sports that I admire greatly, which have helped fueled this desire. Combat sports, be they BJJ, wrestling, muay thai, boxing, or MMA; I’d like to have the physical capacity to perform in this area. More recently I’ve been interested in parkour, freerunning, and Ninja Warrior.

Shit, when you lay it out on paper like that, it looks like I’m really going to have to rock a lot of cardio and endurance based activities. Obviously I’ll have to keep up with my general strength training, but I’ll have to find some time to build up that endurance.

I’m curious as to whether or not I should add pure cardio days. I seem to be pretty worn out from either squatting or deadlifting, and that ends up with me doing some pretty shitty cardio, and that’s no good.

Woo!

Now that was fucking inspiring!

I’m playing Gears of War 2 right now. It’s a video game where I run around as a hulking badass action film caricature in a war town mid-apocalyptic future-esque landscape fighting off humanoid monsters that come from below. Yea, it’s pretty much exactly what you would want if you enjoy ridiculous displays of gratuitous machismo wrapped up in a science fiction package. The game, I’ve found after beating Gears of War and playing through the bit of Gears of War 2 that I have, is my favorite display of war in a video game. I’m a big fan. It really gets the blood pumping and the adrenaline rushing.

So the little bastards from underneath have somehow managed to sink human cities under the ground. It seems an efficient way of crippling the opposition, so you can’t really blame them. The wonderful part is the scene that comes immediately after you witness HOW that’s done first hand, as the pale fuckers drop a city in front of you, and you have the amazing task of running into the once-a-city and rescuing anyone you can find.
The enemy is out in full force. Your three person team moves from position to position fighting off wave after wave of the enemy. Massive buildings fall from hundreds of feet in the air and destruction surrounds you. It’s one of the most intense ten to fifteen minutes of game play I’ve had the joy of experiencing. The shit doesn’t let up. You kill ten monsters, gain a few yards, and kill ten more. They come at you from the air, they come at you from underneath the ground, everywhere you look, you can expect to see the enemy waiting to murder you.

Finally, you find yourself trapped in a burnt out husk of a building in the middle of what might have been the first floor. The enemy is on the second floor. You’re surrounded. They have the elevation, they have the numbers, and no matter where you go you’re receiving fire. Your character screams may day, demands assistance. Right when it looks like you won’t receive any quarter and will be indeed making your final stand, at the last, breathtaking moment, you’re saved, in a gratuitous action scene by this guy:

People watching at the mall

I like to make fun of people that I see in the mall. Would it be horrible to take pictures and post them here? I kind of think so.

But holy hell do some people deserve it!

I'm a CONSUMER!!!

My apologies to my brain, I've been a consumer first, a producer second as of late.

It's a real shame, because I have things that I want to write, I have things that I want to create, I WANT to give back to the world that is giving me so many wonderful things. I just don't have the time. I'm busy consuming. I'm a big fat, gluttonous entertainment junkie.

Did I write about how awesome I think the comic book Lucifer is? No.

Did I write about how entertaining and fucking manly Gears of War is? No.

Have I written about MMA lately? No.

What about my adventures making chili!

A shame. I'm sure the world is missing out on so much.

I suppose I did produce a little bit today. I thought of a post-modern proletariat superhero team whose sole existence is to combat the spiritual evil of giant soulless companies. That's something to toss in the win column!

I'm reading X-Statix right now. I can see where this little bit of brain explosion came from. Will I write about that?

Tropes and Gods

Steam punk Jesus can power his own personal rotocopter through his powers of science magic. Steam punk Jesus has all of the coolest energy weapons: the concentrated lightning blasts he fires have less initial energy discharge than other peoples blaster guns.

Deep future Buddha is fat and mostly naked. His science fiction underpants can change the electrical pulses in your brain: he will literally force nirvana upon you. In the far future that Deep future Buddha is from all food is in pill form and is engineered to give you everything you need and nothing more. Deep future Buddha eats people to maintain his girth.

Chibi Cthulhu forces everyone who gazes upon him to be filled with the love and joy of an over excited tweenage fangirl. He does not understand the concept of sadness, because he literally cannot feel it and nobody in his presence can feel it. Chink Cthulhu has never used a cellular phone because he doesn't have ears, he listens to noises by converting sound waves into ambient energy that only his brain can process.

I have an iPad

I have an iPad.

Yes, I still think that’s a stupid name. I hate the “i” bit. Seems a smidgen selfish, ya know? Why can’t there be an usPad that everyone can love? Why the focus on the individual, like we’re all unique snowflakes or something. I’m not saying I dislike individuality, but let’s be real here, we’re talking about a netbook, most people are going to want and enjoy a netbook.

This is the first time in a while that I’ve sat down and typed up something on the old laptop. No touch screen here, just keys in a fairly ergonomic space. I don’t need to cramp my hands together in order to write, and I barely have enough time to let my brain process what my figures are ripping out. That’s the way I like it. I might not write as well, but I certainly write how I think, which feels better to me. Which is all that matters, really, as writing is a very, very selfish thing for me. It helps to clear my soul a little bit, and we know that thing can always use a bit of spring cleaning.

The problem with my laptop is that it’s not as convenient as my iPad. My laptop is, relatively speaking, quite large. It takes up at least three times the space of that my new toy does. But, I think I like writing on it more. A lot more, actually. There’s no word document on the iPad, none that I’ve found (not that I’ve been searching, mind), and even if there is it won’t have the same feel. Even opening up notepad feels like I’m opening up a new place in my mind. I think it’s because of the window, the appearance of a blank page. Not that the toy doesn’t have a blank page, it just doesn’t feel as inviting. It doesn’t give me a distraction to look at while I type.

I do like to read comic books on the thing though. Wow, are comic books on the iPad amazing to read.

I’m going to go search for some kind of word app.

Cotto vs. Mayorga

Cotto vs. Mayorga

I'm a relative new comer to boxing, so when I saw that I'm excited for this fight, I saw it because it's been hyped well.

I think, typing this during round two of the fight, that the hype is warranted! It's been a solid firefight thus far. Both fighters are going at it, not terribly technical, but it's certainly entertaining.

Ha, Mayorga just talked smack to Cotto. Man might not be as good of a boxer, if I'm to believe the announce team, but he knows how to put on a show. Right now I've got to say I'm favoring Mayorga right now, he seems to be really going for it.

Start of round three the announce crew says Cotto is taking it. I'll believe them. They know more than I do.

Wow, Mayorga is trying to get Cotto to brawl. Like, legit just standing in the corner and shouting at the guy. I think he's frustrated, Cotto is pretty clearly more skilled. Mayorga is making a good show of the fight, but I think he's been getting beaten to the punch more often than not. Cotto had a lovely combo in there.

Round four. A lot of dancing so far. Cotto is evading most attacks and really picking his shots. I don't want to say Cotto is putting on a clinic, but... He did just slam Mayorga with a nice hook. Mayorga just went for a wild flurry, but, Cotto just smiled at it, and for good reason I think. Mayorga needs to pick his wild flurries better I think.

Round five. Mayorga with more corner showmanship, but Cotto just lit him up with an uppercut or two. I can't say I get the showmanship if you aren't going to do anything with it. Cotto is coming out real aggressive here, and I think it's working. I think Cotto is winning the fight Mayorga wants now. Conditioning issue? He doesn't look tired, but, he isn't going for it like he was in the first two rounds. Maybe he's just tired of getting punched?

Round six. Slow start, Mayorga just threw some wild shots at the air. Cotto has some solid dancing skills! He just slipped a lot of power shots while throwing some stingers back.

Mike Tyson is commenting! He just called both fighters past their prime. Brutal comments.

Round seven. Mayorga is sticking to his wild shots, I think I few found their mark! Now Cotto is missing, bit of a Bizzaro round here. Cotto spent most of that round running. So it certainly isn't a card issue for Mayorga.

Round eight. The announcers really know how to hype the fight as it goes on. Good for them, I like it. Cotto is making the fight his again, careful game. Mayorga feels slow again this round. Coming out strong for the last ten, but it doesn't seem like he had the juice. Maybe he is picking his flurry?

Round nine. Looks like the start of another Cotto round. Mayorga with some brutality! Dance, flurry, dance Mayorga! The one thing that's really confusing me is the weird hammer fists that Mayorga is throwing. I think Mayorga just took this one, he looks like he's in round one again.

Round ten. Slow start, it's like they're starting the feeling out process. Cotto seems to be on defense this round. Neither fighter seems to be landing much, but... did Mayorga do more? I don't know.

Round eleven. Cotto is excellent defensively. Mayorga still showboating comes off a bit desperate. Cotto's round for sure.

Round twelve. Mayorga's corner knows what's up. I like the good advice. Holy shit! Mayorga came out wild and was caught hard! Fight is still on! Cotto rallies again, Mayorga calls the fight off! Speculation that Mayorga broke his hand, wow!

Fun fight!

A little bit about 100 Bullets, with iPad typos!

Everyone dies in the end. This is my favorite rule in crime fiction. When done properly, it's always shocking even if I know that the rule exists and that it will very likely come into play, I still find myself caring about these brilliant doomed sons of bitches.

That was the lead, do you feel complied to read further?

I just finished reading 100 bullets by Brian Azzralleo and Eduardo Rizzo, which is still blowing me away. I read the entirety of it in a little over a week, which, in my mind is the perfect way to read a book like that. I can't imagine what the monthly crawl was like for people. Though, I suppose I must apologize to Mrs. Azzarello and Rizzo for not supporting them in a monthly format, but, I knew I wouldn't be able to do that to myself.

I'm not ready to go into the details of the story right now, I'm pretty sure I need to reread all 100 issues first to fully absorb the work, I feel like I owe it that. I just want to comment on how beautiful the plot is, and how wonderfully developed the characters are, and how I love how some of the most important parts of the story happen between the panels. This book won't work for you if you're not paying attention. But don't worry, it demands that you respect and admire it.

There aren't, to my knowledge, any lazy issues. There is one that I don't believe is fully plot related, but I could be wrong about that. There's also a plot point that I'm not entirely sure I understand, but I'm confident that if I was paying better attention to a particular scene I would get it (note: I do know what scene that I think I need to go back to).

This book is rich and enriching. It's about betrayal and secrecy. Their are wheels within wheels and I'm confident that getting to know these characters again and revisiting their world will be a terrifying delight.

Partial on Dead Space 2

I haven't been doing much blogging lately. There are some things I would have liked to review, a few 360 demos, maybe a movie or two, but I've only been thinking about one thing: Dead Space 2. I'm a big fan, so it's kind of been consuming me. Not even in a healthy way.

I purchased the Collector's Edition of Dead Space 2 when it was released last Tuesday. I played around with my replica Plasma Cutter (it now serves as a chair for my Isaac Clarke action figure [the old one, I don't have the new one, yet]), and checked out the contents; soundtrack, DLC, advertising material, instruction booklet.

Then I sat down to play the game. By Friday morning I had finished my first play through on Normal.

Thursday was the most intense bit of my play through. I had a full day to myself. I spent 8 hours, pretty much straight, playing Dead Space 2.

This is a horror game. It will make you jump, it will make you paranoid, and it will set off a massive adrenaline dump in when the action kicks in.

By Friday afternoon I was exhausted. I really, legitimately was exhausted, and it was all from putting myself in Dead Space 2. A fantastic experience, that the game was engaging enough to wear on me a person both physically and emotionally makes me very appreciative of the work that the design team put into it.

I might actually review the game at some point.

Bones 1/27/2011

I'm a big fan of the show Bones. It has great characters and good enough writers to consistently put them into interesting situations.

Tonight's episode of Bones was masterful. I'm nearly at a loss for words. I'm searching for an adequate way to try and describe how moved I was, both by the mastery of the plot and it's impact on the characters.

What did we have tonight? We had my favorite character going through something of an uncharacteristic crisis of self, we had others discussing tricky morality questions, we had an exploding head (which was awesome), and we had the first glimpse of what will likely be a recurring villain.

And I'm missing things, of course. Tonight was crammed with good. So much so that I might actually watch this episode again, which is something I've never really done with television outside of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes.

Kudos to the whole team on Bones.

Why I Love Dead Space

WHY I LOVE DEAD SPACE

I love everything Dead Space. I love the comic books, I love the movie, I even love the averagely written but wonderfully plotted book. Most of all, and really, c’mon, you knew this was coming; I love the two video games the series has produced.

Dead Space, the video game, is remarkable in every way. It tells an engaging story using the video game medium in a way that I find revolutionary and it creates a universe that is fairly fleshed out and incredibly interesting. We get to deal with all of the great horror tropes: slashers, zombies, psychology and freaky religion.

The slashers and zombies are mashed into one excellent creature: the necromorph. Created from the dead, these bastards transform into living weapons. Instead of arms, the base necromorph have limbs that transform into bone scythes. Instead of a headshot taking care of business, you have tear the limbs off of them; increasing the gore and brutality level than what a mere decapitation can deliver. It also takes a few shots to get rid of: taking off its head just means that the creature will charge at you blindly, take off an arm it has another, take off a leg and it will crawl at you. Fantastic. And that’s just the base type of Necromorph, there are a handful more, including little monster babies! Who doesn’t love a little monster baby?

In each Dead Space tale you’re guaranteed to see someone go insane, in many instance, you’ll get to see several people go insane. In some very special parts of the games, you get to be the one going insane. Most noticeably, in an early part of Dead Space you find yourself walking around the space ship that the game spends most of its in time. As you walk you start to hear a thud repeating itself over and over again like one of those annoying tocking clocks. Then you find the source of the noise, it’s a person bashing their head into the wall. You don’t get a chance to save the person; they end up dying in a splatter of brain and blood. It’s creepy every time. There’s also a noticeable point in Dead Space: Extraction when you play as an insane person hallucinating. That was one of the few moments I’ve really gone from tense to terrified since I watched the Alien trilogy as a child.

I’m not going to talk about the religion. Not because I’m lazy, but because I think it might deserve its own space. I think there’s a lot I want to say when it comes to religion as it relates to insanity, paranoia and fear in fiction.

Sounds like fun!