Tag: heck

Time Keeps on Slipping Into the Future

Random Thoughts

It is October 17th. It has been 7 days since my last post. And prior to that my posting has been spotty, at best.

So, what the heck is up with that?

I’ll tell ya… I bought a house a couple months ago, and slowly we’d been fixing up some stuff. Painting rooms, shopping for furnature, and all that stuff. It was, as I indicated, going slow. So, we decided to offer to host a Couple’s Shower for my brother and his future bride, and to throw a Halloween party (hopefully the first of many). With the prospect of having people actually be in our house, we got our butts in gear, painted more rooms, had the yard fenced, cleaned up the yard, built some benches, hung the hammock, re-dug the firepit, bought a kitchen table, cleaned the carpets, organized all our stuff, built shelves… it has been fairly exhausting. But we are down to just three (two and a half really) boxes left to unpack, and those are only remaining because we ran out of time to finish the second set of DVD shelves. On top of that, I’ve been working a bunch lately, and the wife got promoted to Assistant Manager (meaning she’s been working lots as well). And of course we still go out to trivia once or twice a week, every other Saturday table top gaming with the gang, and Sunday dinners with the family.

There just hasn’t been much time for writing. However, by October’s end, much of all that will be out, except for the hanging with friends… but I’ve already planned to abolish all my free time in November with the NaNoWriMo. Hopefully, though, I’ll still find time to write the blog. I have a few interesting thoughts on my “town-centric” game idea that I believe will work out very nicely. Now, I just need to win the lottery and I’m set!

1st to Die

Reviews

At the urging of my wife, I read 1st to Die by James Patterson. I’d heard alot about Mr. Patterson over the years, and I’d really enjoyed ‘Kiss the Girls’ and ‘Along Came a Spider’ as movies, so I figured what the heck…

Its not a bad book. Quite good in fact, however, for me I was left feeling a little… underwhelmed. There didn’t seem to be a twist in the book that really caught me by surprise. If, by chance, something did come up a little unexpected, that item would telegraph the next few items.

I also found the four women main characters to be a bit… touchy feely. Maybe lots of women are like that, but not very many I have known.

Anyway, I do recommend it. Its a very interesting plot, and if you aren’t as much of a detective as I, it might catch you unawares.

Veronica Mars

Reviews

Every time I watch this show I ask myself, “What the heck is it doing on UPN?” Back when the UPN network started up, they put on some of my favorite shows… ‘Nowhere Man’ is one of those shows that I will definately buy if they ever put it out on DVD, and ‘Marker’ was like an updated Magnum P.I. But as time went on, they cancelled those shows and went with lots of 30 minute sitcoms, most of which were crap.

‘Veronica Mars’ is about a girl, Veronica, who is the daughter of a private investigator. Her dad used to be the sheriff, but got drummed out of the job after he accused the richest man in town of murdering his own daughter, who was Veronica’s best friend. Veronica is on the outside now, all her friends from the rich side of town have turned on her and what she wants most in the world is to know who killed her friend. The show has high school, mystery, and smarts. Its well written and well acted.

I just finished watching the finale for season one that aired last night, and it was awesome. I definately recommend this show to anyone, and I can’t wait until next season.

Get Carter

Reviews

You know… I’m not exactly sure what the heck I was expecting. I mean, first off let me make clear, I’m not talking about the original, I’m talking the Sylvester Stallone remake. The story is pretty good… a guy finds out his brother has been killed, so he comes home for the first time in a long time to find out who did it. Mickey Rourke is pretty good as one of the bad guys, and Michael Caine makes an appearance (he was the star of the original). It even had one of my favorite B-listers John C. McGinley, and Rachael Leigh Cook… but it was just… ehh. Sly is a pretty good action star, but he just doesn’t have the facial expressions to be able to pull off anything dramatic (except in ‘Copland’, somehow Stallone managed to summon every ounce of acting ability he possessed and pulled off a monster performance in that one). In fact, he looked quite horrible in this… like he’d just had some bad plastic surgery or something, either they intended him to have sacks under his eyes and look both tanned and pasty all at once, or the make-up artist on that flick needs a new career.

In the end, it was moderately entertaining, but if you have a choice, spend the time doing something else…

Goals

Gaming

Sometimes one of the best things to do in online games in to set goals for yourself. And I don’t mean strictly the ones the designers lay out for you. Levels, items, zones, quests… they’re all decent goals, but often times they wind up being diminished by the fact that so many other people have done them.

So, with that in mind, in every game I play I always find little things to task myself with. The most recent one is in City of Heroes. I’m not playing CoH as much as I used to… heck, I’m not playing any game as much as I used to, but my time is currently divided between World of Warcraft and City of Heroes… WoW when Jodi is around, and CoH when its just me. Anyway, in CoH I’m playing Ishiro Takagi, a scrapper, martial arts and regeneration. Given enemies his own level, he’s fairly unbeatable. It takes guys 2 or 3 levels higher or groups of 6 or more to put him in the dirt. Ishiro is level 26, and currently prowling the streets and rooftops of Striga Isle, Talos Island, Dark Astoria and Independance Port… I go into Terra Volta every now and then, and when I’m sent to the hospital I remember why I don’t go in there alone, heh.

In Independance Port there is a bridge. Its long and covered in bad guys. I start at the north end and begin wading through. I haven’t made it yet… either I run into a boss who cleans my clock, or an afore mentioned group of 6 or more who I just can’t thin out before they get the upper hands. As I level it will get easier, and that’s sorta the point. My goal isn’t levelling, its something else, which if I keep doing it will lead to levelling, but in and of itself is far more satisfying than watching the experience bar fill up… instead I watch my progress across the bridge.

I’m halfway there.

Soon.