Sunday, August 28, 2011

MTV VMAs, What a Joke.

I remember MTV when it was still new and shiny, and played, oh, I don't know, MUSIC VIDEOS. MTV is no longer about the music, it's about television ratings. MTV stopped airing videos, and so they created M2, which was cool for awhile, but then they did the SAME THING.

For the past many years, I haven't watched the MTV video music awards. Last time I saw the VMAs, it was all about the artists, the videos, the cinematography, the direction. That was better than 10 years ago. Now it's just about who they can showcase. I made the mistake of watching being horrified at the VMAs tonight, and... wow. WOW. Fucking ripoff. They only actually showed a few categories, and everything inbetween was performances ridiculous behaviour. There was ONE good performance tonight, and that was Adele. God she's beautiful. Anyway, all the nominee categories weren't even close to presented, and the few that were were so poorly presented and so short that I had no idea who the hell was even nominated most of the time.

MTV, I knew there was a reason I started hating you with the fiery passion of a thousand hot taco and curry eaters with severe irritable bowel syndrome.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Tattoos part 2 - Games

Yesterday (the day before?) I wrote a blog about music tattoos. Today's blog is going to be about gaming tattoos - specifically, why I have 2 already (even though one desperately needs fixed, because the guy who did it wasn't very good) and why I'm getting at least one more.

My very first tattoo, gotten 2 days after my 18th birthday, is the Vampire: The Masquerade ankh. Very small, purple (black outline), and on my left breast (BAD idea if you're still an adolescent, by the way... never get a tattoo on a fatty area before you're done developing!!!!). At the time, V:TM LARP was a VERY important part of my life - it bonded my husband and I, and introduced me to people who I could relate to at that time. I was a veritable social butterfly in the gaming world when I LARPed, and even though my first LARP was actually Werewolf: The Apocalypse, V:TM brought me an active, fun-filled, charmed and charming life, and fulfilled a sense of belonging I needed at that time, that I'll forever appreciate, even if it was considerably temporary.

My second gaming tattoo (but by no means my 2nd tattoo, I actually have 5 right now) is the Nobody symbol from the Kingdom Hearts series of video games; it's on my right leg just above my ankle, and is the one I need fixed. For those unfamiliar, Kingdom Hearts is a Disney and Square Enix collaborative effort begun in 2002, and revolves around a boy who has to save his friends, and all the worlds (including Disney worlds), from an organization of beings called Nobodies. There is, of course a LOT more to it than that, and the series of games spans many years and many lives, but the gist is the same nonetheless. The Kingdom Hearts story is one of the most involved I've ever seen in a videogame (or anywhere really, there are very few storylines as epic as the one presented with KH, even in book series), and a good many of the characters are ones you can relate to. The character development and growth is stunningly presented. The reason I have a Nobody symbol (as opposed to other symbols of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, such as the heart, crown, or heartless symbol) is because once you look past the surface of Organization XIII's motives (OrgXIII are the main antagonists in the primary KH story), they only want what everyone wants. To be whole. To feel complete, instead of the empty shells they are. (Not to mention, two of my favourite fictional characters ever are both Nobodies, and the progression of one of them from Nobody to Somebody was astounding.)

Now, for the last one, the one I don't have but I want very badly. Yes, this labels me as a huge dork or geek or possibly nerd in the eyes of some, but I don't care. I want the Horde symbol from World of Warcraft tattooed on my back. I played World of Warcraft for a few years, and even though it's been awhile since I've been able to play due to lack of funds, I still have an active interest in it. One of the few things I'm actively interested in these days, actually. But as a member of the Horde faction, I joined a guild, the same one James was in when he convinced me to start playing, and in that guild I found a level of camaraderie and cooperation that I've never seen in my adult life before or since. I fully believe that were it not for WoW I wouldn't have become as close with Magus as I am, and that Gary and I wouldn't have become actual friends (as opposed to acquaintances), and I wouldn't have made several other friends that I have today. Being a member of the Horde, and of the guild, brought the same sense of belonging as an adult that I felt I needed as a teenager, and for that I will be forever grateful.

I'm sure in the future there will be others, something geeky or music related, something non-spiritual (the other tattoos I want are primarily spiritual symbols), but for now I'm content to make myself a walking advertisement for the things I love and have a deep appreciation for.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Music+Tattoos

I fucking love music. No, really, it's second only to my family in my life. I love listening to it, and I love singing. During those times when I lose my voice due to some illness or another, I'm absolutely miserable. I try to sing, and sound like a dying llama. But at least my ears still work. If/when my hearing finally goes completely, the only thing I'll have left is Dubstep (haha).

When this season's tax return comes in (6 months, boohoo) I'm keeping money back for tattoos. Band tattoos, specifically. Oh, there are plenty more besides bands that I want, but I'm getting my 3 most influential bands' logos permanently marked on my body to remind me of what music has helped me get through. (That'd be a LOT, if you hadn't guessed already). It's my fucking lifeline.

First and foremost is 30 Seconds to Mars. I've been a fan since the beginning (hell, I was a fan of Jared and Shannon Leto before they released any music), and the music has only gotten deeper and more soulful with every new album (of which there have been 3). Their profundity has forced me, on more than one occasion, to sit back and think.

Secondly is Coheed & Cambria. Not only have I been a fan since close to the beginning of their careers, but I love the fact that their albums are all stories that correspond with their comics/graphic novels. I loved The Amory Wars, and the music is so utterly meaningful. It helps that Claudio Sanchez has one of the most unique voices I've ever heard sing.

Last but certainly not least is Breaking Benjamin. I've loved them for years, and although their music changed to suit the current trends, they never lost who they were. Their music has gotten me through some pretty rough times in my life. I know most of it's not terribly deep or profound (some is, so shush), but the sound of Benjamin Burnley's voice lulls me to calm.

There's one band I've left off of my list of favourites that I just adore, but they uh, they don't have a logo I can get tattooed yet. Haha, I know that's ridiculous, but I don't plan on having many words tattooed on me, and the only thing available from them is words. Marianas Trench; they're a Canadian pop-punk band with a truly unique sound (think Beach Boys meets Queen meets FallOut Boy minus the emo). They're fairly new on the music scene; I can't wait to find out what more is in store from these guys.

In closing, let me just say that music is the 2nd best thing to ever happen to me, and the first thing I ever discovered that made my life worth living for. Oh sure, I loved Guns 'n' Roses, Faith no More, Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura, Ozzy Ozbourne, etc, and they all helped me get through my adolescence (and god, yes, even New Kids on the Block, they were big when I was pubescent), but the bands above helped me get through my adult years, when troubles were a little clearer, a little deeper and a little more profound than they were when I was a kid.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

I'm so bored, looking at the wall....

Before I start this post, let me just get something off my chest -- being a woman having a uterus SUCKS. I'm done having kids, I want this thing yanked.

Okay, I feel better. On to the real post.

I'm so tired of seeing the same shows on Sprout replayed over and over and over. By the time Joseph can talk, he'll be able to recite all 3 episodes of Calliou he's ever seen by heart. FUCK OLD MCDONALD, I'LL EAT HIS PIGS FOR BREAKFAST AND HIS COWS FOR DINNER!

Gary picked up El Shaddai when it was released, and offered to bring it over on uhh... Monday or Tuesday, I can't remember, to watch him play. It's one of the new games I REALLY want, so I was tempted to say yes, but I was in so much pain I had to decline. Hopefully it's not too late, or maybe I could beg him to let me borrow it for awhile when he's done playing. I don't think it's terribly long and involved, just really artsy with an interesting story (and damn good gameplay - the realtime battle system is fucking awesome, and the puzzles are intriguing without being impossible). Gawd I can't wait to get a copy for myself.

I've actually started doing something in Minecraft. I know, Le gasp. So long as it doesn't make me dizzy, I'll keep working on my structure of awesome, and pretty soon I'll probably be helping Magus level an entire area and laying a flat surface. Across a 240+ square block area. OH GOD, THE HORROR. That's ok, at least it'll give me something to do where I won't have to think much. Thinking hasn't really been one of my strong points lately.

Speaking of thinking, my thought processes have been getting slower and slower. It's been increasingly difficult to come up with words, whole sentences even, to describe what I'm thinking. My brain and mouth just aren't making much of a connection anymore. It's a little annoying and a lot disconcerting. It's not terribly easy to blog, either. The ability to communicate in general is deteriorating. Can't wait for insurance, woo.

Sarah's having a great time in school. As it turns out, her fears were for nothing; she's already making new friends, and I don't think she shares any classes at all with the bullies from her elementary school. She sees one of them in the hallways between classes, but that's the most of the interaction. She's already learned the layout of the school and where all her classes are, and she's having less trouble with her locker than she did the first couple of days. Yay for Sarah. I knew she'd be fine, despite all her hesitation.

I ACCIDENTALLY THE WHOLE THING.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Prototypes, The Ramones, and OMG BANANAS!

This morning Sprout (the preschool TV network) has Sean, the only male host, on the "Sunny Side Up Show", the network's weekday morning show. Well, Sean was playing a "lullaby" for a baby chick, turned on the radio, and THE RAMONES starts blasting from the radio. Blitzkrieg Bop, to be precise. Total holy shit moment here, folks. The motherfucking Ramones were on SPROUT. AHAHAHAHAHA. It only lasted for about 5 or 10 seconds, but that was enough to make me love this channel forever. That's better than when Kelly (another host) got stuck in Chica's (squeaky bird puppet) nest. Muahahahahaha.

Joseph followed me into the kitchen while I got my 2nd cup of coffee, and demanded a banana. He brought me the entire bunch, and yelled NUMMY NUMMY at me. So I give him a banana, peel it, and he starts breaking off the peel as he's eating it, so the living room becomes full of banana peel bits that I have to get Joseph to bring to me so the dogs don't decide peel = tasty. Hahaha. (Now, I'm not entirely sure why I felt Joseph asking for bananas was noteworthy enough to blog about.... I just did.)

Sarah's first day of school was yesterday (second being, uh, today, duh) and she's very excited about her schedule. She's got creative writing, performance, and communications as her electives and couldn't be happier. Combine that with Advanced English and she's about as happy as a mouse in a cheese factory. I'm really excited for her. Looks like the year's not going to be as bad as she thought. Hehe.

I've started working on my building on Magus' sister's Minecraft server. I made a prototype on our home server (which I'm not done with yet), but making it on the big server's going to take about 4x as long, since there's no flying there, but our home server allows flying. Gonna have to be extra, extra careful, and /superjump is going to be my best friend for awhile. Magus is making MUCH more progress with his Nobody castle; good god it's like half done already. It's both impressive and terrifying. In comparison, my 'house' is more like a hovel, and my epic structure is going to be sort of... lame. Toothpicks next to the Eiffel Tower. Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Still trying to find time and energy to play a plethora of other games (mostly console) I want to play. and I'm seriously considering picking WoW back up for at least a month, to check out all the new content. There's quite a bit of it, from what I understand. Still up for debate, though, as I don't know if I'll want it for longer than a month, and I don't know if we'd be able to even afford it for longer if I decide I want to keep playing. So we'll see, I suppose.

Again, boring blog is boring.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Everybody Wiggle!

Joseph is sitting calmly on the floor watching The Wiggles. Shocking - he hasn't been calm for two days. He usually has to be in motion... constant, neverending, annoyingly hyper motion. It's nice to have a little bit of a break while he's still awake.

Sarah's in her room doing... I don't even know what. Probably sleeping, she had a long night and morning. Won't go into it here, but suffice it to say, she got into some pretty big trouble and is lucky the neighbours didn't call the cops. O_O Oh, and tomorrow is the first day of school. Exciting!

Life here has been pretty sedate other than that. Absolutely nothing of note has been happening. Dogs are dogs, kids are kids, people are people. God it's boring here. Thank heaven. Boring is good.

I haven't been gaming at ALL lately. Joseph and Sarah leave me exhausted by the end of the day, and I usually don't feel like putting forth the mental effort to game at that point. I think I'm finally going to start working on my Minecraft build tonight, though. I'm going to start plotting some things on graph paper and working on it in the game. I still have to finish my 'zomg it's gigantic' wall around the base of the cliff face my house is perched on. I think I'm going to start building houses dwellings in all the cliffs around the lagoon (epic lagoon is epic). And the walkways, OH the walkways, there will be MANY of them, and they will all be GLASS!

Uh... I might also play some SB3 tonight. I really miss that game. It's more fun to play it with other people, but I still enjoy being the crap out of 'the enemy' by myself. Haah.

Boring post is boring.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Pajamas!

So yesterday was my birthday, and now I'm 32. Not a big deal, 32's not exactly a far cry from 31. It was a mostly good day - A round of "happy birthday" from people. James let me sleep in for... as long as I wanted, actually. I didn't get up until I had to pee. Sarah came home, and I was very excited to see her (and she even brought me some very comfy pjs for my birthday, woohoo). Joseph was really well behaved. Lori cooked a most excellent dinner. James... well, James decided he had to rearrange the living room, right now. It was odd, sitting here on the couch while he's doing a bunch of work, cleaning stuff, moving stuff, etc, so he could get his desk where he wanted it. I thought he was going to die. Haha. (More is going to be rearranged this evening, as it's not done yet. Whee.) There were a couple of snags in the evening unfortunately, but nothing I didn't get over pretty quick. In this house, you kind of have to be resilient in order to survive.

I did, however, miss out on gaming yet again. This is getting irritating. I really need to get my shit together. Tonight it's not going to happen due to more rearranging, plus I need to start plotting my Minecraft build on graph paper after Joseph goes to bed. I haven't even been on the server in days. It's a little depressing, actually. BUT, on the bright(?) side, James no longer needs the PS2 slim (it has a monitor even, woohoo), so I can keep it on the table next to me and use it for KH and DMC and maybe some FF while the TV is occupied with other things. (Assuming I can read the screen, anyway, as it's really tiny.) I'd even be able to play while Joseph is awake, since I'd be able to pause and put it down pretty much whenever. 'Course, I wouldn't actually get much done that way, but at least it would be entertainment other than gouging my eyeballs out with a spork Sprout TV.

Sorry, I'm boring today.

EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot to mention - it's fucking 75 degrees today. Tomorrow it's going to be 85, yesterday it was 85, but today it's holy shit windows are open and no air conditioner I think I'm going to die in the fresh air day. Awesome.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Fuggit... away with ye, anonymity!

Hey look, another rhyme in my title.

Since I've published this blog on Facebook, I've decided to do away with the 'initials and non-specific indicators' thing I had going on. You all already know it's me, and you already know how much I talk about my family, so... Hell with it.

In other news, I'm very excited to play D2 tonight. Didn't play last night because of early bed, for something that ended up not even happening thanks to... unfortunate circumstances. I feel bad, though, because I'm sure Gary and Magus probably view me to be as unreliable as I view the people the circumstances are based around. What? Gaming? YES! ... Wait, no, sorry. *sadface* But tonight... Aah tonight, yes, I will be gaming, and I will be having fun, and damnit I will be staying up late and sleeping in tomorrow. James can take care of Joseph. Moooooohahahaha. (Hey look, I'm a cow.)

Sarah's staying with her granny for a little while longer. I thought she was coming back today, but it turns out only her friend is coming back, and she's staying for a few more days. As long as she's back by... Oh, I don't know, by Friday, it should be fine. I still need to get her school ID picture and her gym uniform and planner. Oh the joys of middle school.

I... I actually don't really have anything more to say here that wouldn't be flat-out venting and bitching, so I'll let this go at short and simple.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Robots In Disguise!

My son has a little Transformers backpack, toddler-sized, that he just LOVES. The picture on the front is holographic, so it looks pretty awesome when he's wearing it and running around. At first he was scared of it, because, y'know... toddler... never worn a backpack. But once he got used to it he LOVED it. He's sitting on the floor playing with the zipper, getting used to having a bag of his own to carry around toys and diapers and a snack in.

My daughter has an oldschool metal Transformers lunchbox that she's using as a keepsake box. We found it at one of those restaurants-that-sells-everything, and for $10 I couldn't say no. She used it for school a couple of times and gasp got made fun of for it, and for the life of me I can't figure out why. TRANSFORMERS. IS. AWESOME.

My hubby is jealous - his 2 year old and 13 year old have more awesome stuff than he does. Hahaha. He tried to get adolescent girl to give up her lunchbox so he could use it, but she adamantly refused. Not that I blame her at all. I haven't been able to find another like it since. If I manage to find another, hubby will probably be positively ecstatic and jump for joy and shit.

So, Diablo II fell through last night. Yesterday was a pretty stressful day (toddler was acting up all evening), and by the time I was done de-stressing I fell asleep. I felt bad, cause G and M had the host up and were waiting for me, and I totally flaked. Today, I think, is going to be better - toddler's not throwing fits so far today - and hopefully DII won't be a problem tonight. Seeing as how it's the only multiplayer/co-op/mmo I can play right now. I really miss gaming. (Though, speaking of which, now that L has found her graph paper I need to start graphing my design for Minecraft; doing it cold is just tooooooooo hard.)

CHEESE POPCORN FTW!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

The AMAZING Buttfloss!!

Why? Why the hell were thong underwear ever invented? Whoever decided we needed something embedded in our asshole for an entire day was a true sadist and needs to be hung. A lot.

Anyway - Smoking in the house has become irregular at worst and nonexistent at best. I'm trying to quit, my lungs just can't handle any more harsh chemical inhalants, so I've been asking hubby to not bring smokes into the house anymore. Sometimes he forgets and brings them home, at which point I will smoke them because I have no willpower, but in all he's usually pretty good about leaving them at work, where he's allowed to have all the cigarettes he wants... on break. :D There was one point not too awful long ago where there was an entire month with no cigarettes except the occasional clove, and I felt really great. My lung capacity was improving again, I wasn't coughing every day, and my singing voice was finally improving. Then, shitstorm things got kind of hectic for awhile and hubby brought cigarettes home. Well, things are finally calming down again, so smoking is becoming less prevalent here again. Whee.

My son has been a total butt lately. He's entering his "I Hate Everything!!!" phase, so multiple times a day there are fits for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Oh, you can't get to a toy in your toybox? Fit. Your blocks didn't stack right? Fit. Want to do something you're not supposed to do? Double Fit. Good grief, it's like God took every toddler attitude problem ever and put them into my son. All at once. The only time he's ever calm is when he's in his highchair having just been served food throwing his food on the floor. It's times like this I'm glad we have dogs, otherwise things would get nasty QUICK. Food squashed in carpet is disgusting.

I really miss my daughter, and hope she's doing ok. Before she left she was having some extreme jaw pain due to teeth (12 year molars? Wisdom teeth? I'm not entirely sure...) erupting, and was able to eat pretty much nothing. I think chocolate milk was her best friend for awhile, actually. But now she's with granny, and I haven't heard from her since she left on Thursday morning, so I assume she's not dead. Update: I just called, and she's fine. Woot.

I played some D2 last night, with M and G. We were on vent (having finally gotten my stupid computer to cooperate, after being remotely accessed and fixed by M, who was at work), and hilariously M and I went AFK mostly at the same time, only I announced I was back and he never did... so I'm alt-tabbed out of D2, fucking around online, and all of a sudden I hear G say, "S, are you still awake?" ... Yes G, I'm just waiting for M to get back. "He's been back for awhile. We've blah blah blah." Nobody said anything! Augh! Anyway, we get going, and after some minor glitches we get some quests done before I pass out. Unfortunately, this is just another instance where I'm following people around who know what they're doing. I'm sure I could figure it out on my own (after all, I am a WoW player), but since I'm playing with people who've already been there done that, I'm wandering around behind them and picking at leftovers, it seems like. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be playing with friends, it just seems like it's going to get frustrating never having any idea what's going on until there's a town portal and the quest is over. (Speaking of town portals, I need to get myself a new wand, now that I've got more than a couple hundred gold, and I also need to get that scepter I found to G, who could definitely use it.) I think I may play on my own for awhile, get used to questing and figuring out where stuff is; then maybe I'll take the lead and be like, "Hey M, G! Over heeeeeeeeeere, ya slowpoke losers!" Haha, okay not really, I wouldn't call them slowpokes, they both really like to run. *snicker* (Love ya, guys, haha.)

TEETH!

That is all.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Human Revolution

After enjoying watching, but not playing, Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible Wars, I'm very much looking forward to actually playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Human Revolution has been in development since 2006 (announced in May 2007), and is finally, FINALLY being released by Square Enix in August.


The graphics are absolutely fucking incredible, in my opinion, but I'm not fond of the art style. It's got a terrific cyberpunk feel to it, with hints of steampunk here and there. The only thing I could wish would be the use of less sepia and more.... not sepia. I think the art director for this game went a little crazy on the "historical picture" aspect. The gameplay looks outstanding, with transitioning between the 4 different pillars exceptional. Also... being a prequel means I won't have missed out by not having played the other 2 games. I also am ecstatic that they're using a regenerative health model, rather than forcing you to halt all activity until you manage to scrounge together enough food or medpacks. Your health won't regenerate quickly enough that there's no challenge, however, so getting through the game isn't going to be a breeze. Thankfully.

Oh, let's not forget the music. The Music, man. The music is fucking outstanding. Reminiscent of Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy soundtrack, the music is one of the things I'm looking forward to most about the game.

Unfortunately, because it's a prequel, the weapons system isn't quite the same. Deus Ex and Invisible Wars both used a single depleting ammo source, whereas Human Revolution will have different types of ammo/weapons, to be upgraded as necessary. Having ammo that could potentially run out during boss fights is going to be annoying, but it will be pretty realistic... for as far as the Deus Ex games are realistic, anyway.

Okay... I had more I was going to say, but it's taken me 3 hours to write this much. I give. There may be more later.

Angel Tears (or not)

RAIN. SWEET, SWEET BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL WET COOL REFRESHING RAIN, OH HOW I'VE MISSED THEE IN THIS HEAT.

Oh, so... it's finally raining here. Temp cooled down a bit, heat wave broke, and there are storms rolling through. I'm so thankful, it's been nearly too hot to function, and so dry that everything died. It's very sad. But with the rain, my rose of sharon are coming back to life, and maybe the grass will turn green again for a minute.

I fucking hate Barney. I really really REALLY hate Barney. And you know, with all the people I've seen that claim to hate it, I have to wonder why the hell it's still on the air after all this time.

I got expensive chinese food last night, and just ate the eggdrop soup that my hubby didn't eat because it wasn't very "flavourful". I thought it was delicious. A little thick for my tastes (gelatinous, even), but the flavour made up for it.

I'm feeling very ADD right now. Can't really concentrate on any one thing, and if I do manage to focus, it's not for very long. I've been getting distracted by the TV, internet, hubby, baby, dogs, etc. I mean... AUGH WHY CAN'T I THINK????

It really sucks being broke. I really wanted to go get some candy last night (was craving something ultra-sweet) but it was a no-go because I spent my birthday money on chinese food and beer (hahahahahah) and didn't have any leftover for sweets. I ended up having some birthday cake ice cream, which was too cold.

My oldest isn't here, she's with her granny a couple hours away. I miss her already, but hope she's having fun out there.

I know someone on the TOR Beta, and all I have to say is this - An Englishman should not have a FuManChu mustache. Not ever.

I have no idea what the hell I'm doing right now. I think this is a sort of stream of consciousness experiment, but gone horribly awry, as my consciousness never streams anything long enough for me to get it down on paper (uh.... monitor?). Most things that go through my head are extremely fleeting.

I think I want to play KH or DMC, but it would probably make my son cry because I'd change the channel while he's sitting in his high chair (if he wasn't in his high chair, I wouldn't care). I really don't feel like upsetting him right now, he was a royal pain in the ass last night and I do not want a repeat performance.

I've run out of boring things to say.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Movie movie movie niiiiiiight!

Not too awful long ago, M and I decided we would start having a movie night at the house. Movie night is where he, the kiddo and I, and sometimes L, will sit around and eat take out and fruit and watch some epic movie or another. It all started with Lord of the Rings. We tried to watch it for WEEKS, but I kept falling asleep because we'd start so late. Solution? Start earlier. Yes. Well, that worked.

It began with a simple desire to watch LotR, and morphed into a weekly ritual of decision making, gluttony, and next-day exhaustion. We've been doing this for weeks now. Hmm.... This would be the 9th week. Going through movies, series, deciding which would be best for movie nights, most exciting, most likely to keep S (me) from falling asleep. This is our progression --

LotR1
LotR2
LotR3
Pirates1
Pirates2
Pirates3
Batman Begins (Pirates 4 isn't out in DVD yet)
Dark Knight
X-Men
(TBC)

The way it used to be was we would get everything we'd need on Tuesday and start the movie laaaaate. Then it became, get everything we'd need on Tuesday except the takeout, hang out on Tuesday, and get takeout and watch the movie Wednesday evening after the little one went to bed. Now it's changed again... Tuesday M hangs out with G, so we do things independently on Tuesday and then Wednesday we do take out and movie. It's, uh.... It's weird, not having Tuesdays as well - to sit and fuck around, or hang out with G here, game, whatever. Odd.

Oh, and hubby's schedule changed too, so he'll now be off on Monday and Tuesday, which is another odd thing about Tuesday. O_O Maybe I can get him to game with me. That'd be kind of awesome. But he's.... quiet. He's a quiet gamer. I don't like quiet during games that should be fun. Le sigh.

SO...... Tuesday night gaming, anyone?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

New Versus Old (ish)

A friend of mine posted a blog today about the Sony Vita versus the Wii U.

For those who are unfamiliar, the Sony Vita is Sony's new handheld console that, much like the PSP, can connect/interact with the PS3. In the case of the Vita, as opposed to the PSP, it can send information not only to but also receive from the PS3, can be used in place of a television (good for those single-television homes) when playing on the PS3, is a stand-alone handheld console, has a touch screen, motion sensors, and WiFi/G3 access for on-the-go gaming.

The Wii U is Nintendo's newest handheld console that connects directly to the Wii, can be used in place of a television, has motion censors, a touch screen, and you can play Wii games on directly (the thing is huge). It is not an independent handheld console; it's more like a portable Wii than anything else.

Sony is attempting to dominate the console market, which is fine, I mean, that's the purpose of industry competition, right? But there are some cons along with the pros for the Vita, just like there are some cons for the U.

The biggest con I can see for the Sony Vita is the price tag. Current set price is $250-$300, which may not seem overly expensive for a console, even a handheld, but when you consider the speed at which the gaming industry is developing new platforms, the fact that it's so similar to the PSP is working against it. While it's true that the PSP isn't "backward compatable" (i.e. you can only play PSP games on it, and sync them with the PS3 so they're visible on the television as opposed to the handheld screen) and the Vita is (you can run games on the PS3 and connect to play on the Vita), I can see fewer instances where it would be necessary to play a PS3 game on the Vita. Also, the WiFi/G3 feature will be all but pointless so long as there are no other Vita owners to connect to. The most you're going to get out of it is downloading games, and to store them, the Vita has no internal memory. Yep, you have to buy a flash card for it, which only adds to the cost (because let's face it, are you really going to want a tiny, cheap flash card to store your games *and* saves, or are you going to go for a higher capacity, better constructed, and more expensive card?). All in all, I think the Vita will be a great handheld for those who can afford it and are interested in the potential titles associated with it, but maybe not for the average gamer who finds the PSP and PS3 combo sufficient.

The Wii U is... HUGE. It makes for an awkward controller at best, and based on the way Wii games are designed, with the motion sensor in mind, a hair pulling trial of patience at worst. In order to prevent the motion sensor from going crazy you have to hold it at a specific angle (which is more or less directly in front of your face, parallel to the wall), and it involves full body motion to direct. Nope, no flick of the wrist control as with the basic Wii controllers, if you want to keep control of your game your entire body gets a workout, thanks to the large and unwieldy design. This one's price tag is also brought into question - it's been stated it will likely be more expensive than the Wii, which was $250 at launch. That means the U will be at least $300, if not more, considering it's more or less a high definition motion censored tablet. With the U you'd be able to play Wii on the go (it does come with accessory ports, so no worries there), but I'm not sure it gets any more exciting than that.

And, after the baby demanding I feed him RIGHT NOW, I've lost my train of thought for the rest of this entry. How very uninformative of me.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Router, YOU FAIL

My router is going out. In a BAAAAAAD way. The guys here connected directly by cat5 don't have it nearly as badly as those of us who are wireless. It's a fucking shocker I can ever get anything done online with as often as the router simply refuses to transmit. At first I thought it was my NIC, on my old laptop, but when other people began expressing they were having the same problem, I came to understand swiftly that my NIC was just fiiiiiiiine. Then we thought it was the modem, since my hubby was "directly connected to the modem" (which I believed, and went with), but the cable company said they'd been monitoring the connection for awhile solid and there were no problems. Then the tech told me the modem only has a single ethernet port, so I went to check... lo' and behold, the cat5 from my hubby's computer went where? Directly to ----- THE ROUTER! Yes, his "direct connection" was to the failing router, NOT the modem! So I've been watching the modem for awhile, and sure, it's still sending and receiving like a boss. It's all the router.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GAME ONLINE WITH AN INTERMITTENT CONNECTION??!! DO YOU???? We had a problem with our connection with Time Warner, because of the lines to the house. Made playing WoW a real bitch and a half. Groups are not supposed to have to stop every room to wait for a member, especially an important one (DoTs ftw!), while in a dungeon. So, we switched companies. The new company is pretty good; no real problems except the occasional download flag. Ugh, but what can you do, worth it for an underground fiberoptic connection. Things have been great until the router started going out. Now I simply can't do ANYTHING. Connection lost. Connection lost. CONNECTION LOST. Connection. Lost. Connection timed out. Retry. Those words make every fibre of my being vibrate with frustration.

Know what's worst? It'll be at least a month before we can get a new damn router. That pretty much eliminates anything important or entertaining I want to do online. It's a heap of bullshit until then. Google. Webcomics. Fucking Facebook.

Shoot me now.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Nerdgasm

I love Jimmy Kimmel. And Harrison Ford.

Jimmy Kimmel Star Wars skit

(scroll to the end of the article for the actual video)

Caffeine and the art of insomnia

I slept mostly well last night, for once. It helped, I think, that I had the whole bed to throw myself across. It did not help, however, that my iPod and glasses were on the pillow next to me and kept falling off. I don't know why I never bothered to move them. But last night was probably the best night's sleep I've had in awhile, despite the constant waking up.

I never did play DII last night. Because... I fell asleep. Hah. But I think I got enough sleep that I can pull a late-nighter tonight, because I'm really looking forward to it. I feel really bad for M though, because I keep saying 'Yeah, I'll play, I'll play,' then it just doesn't happen. He's probably getting frustrated with me. SORRY, M!!!!! *HUG*

Thanks to being sick I've discovered that a whole lot of the games I play make me sick to my stomach. It's mostly the swift, dizzying camera angle changes. Makes me very sad, because I'm really beginning to miss playing. I hate how being sick affects my head. Le sigh.

The adolescent is leaving today, for a whole week. It... actually, it won't be much different than with her here, because she spends so much time either in her room or hanging out with M. I hardly ever see her anymore. I kinda miss her. I'll REALLY miss her while she's gone. I usually do. For the first couple days I'm grateful I don't have to listen to the whining or arguing, but after that I'm like, "WAAAHHHH I WANT MY BABY GIRL BAAAACK!!!" So I love my kids, sue me. Haha.

The baby has been obnoxious today. Took him to the store without a cart, and he decides to grab as much as he can (thank heavens he didn't break anything), and run to the automatic doors to open them while I'm trying to pay. Unfortunately it's going to keep happening for awhile because he's going to have to learn to stay with me while we're out, and the only way to do that is to let him walk on his own. It's going to be a bitch.

I hate getting distracted by the internet when I'm trying to blog. Bye.