Jimmy's Random Rants

2008-02-15T01:23:00.001-06:00

Shark Laugh

2008-01-28T13:32:00.001-06:00

The Dark Knight Trailer

2007-12-17T17:44:00.000-06:00

New Dark Knight Viral Sites

2007-11-26T17:02:00.000-06:00

RorysDeathKiss.com
TheGothamTimes.com
TheHaHaTimes.com
RememberingGina.org
GothamNationalBank.com
WeAretheAnswer.org
GothamPolice.com
GothamCityRail.com
WhySoSerious.com/PersonalityProfile
Gotham Cab Company
Acme Security Systems
Gotham Victims Advocate Foundation
Gotham Unified School District
whysoserious Crack A Safe
Rent-A-Clown

Field Experience

2007-11-19T10:39:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm done with my field experience for this semester. It was really good, but I am glad to be done. Going to bed around 10:30 and waking up at 6:30 was getting difficult. I know I will have to get used to it next year but I think it's the fact that it's still dark out and I know I'm surrounded by people who are still asleep that makes me dread waking up. I can do it when I go home with ease probably because my parents wake up psycho early so I know I'm not waking anyone.

I did the experience at Norfolk which meant driving for an additional 30 minutes. That just reassured me that I don't want to live far away from my job as I do now. The teachers were very good and reassuring. I had some doubts going in about teaching (what a time to get them) based on my Ed Psych and Methods classes but seeing the teachers honestly care less about what those ridiculous classes say was very reassuring. They know what makes students learn more than a textbook and its high and mighty views.

Norfolk is a place that I could work at. Unfortunately, it's a bit low on my list of places I would live in. I love Omaha. You can find anything if you're willing to drive anywhere. Sioux City is high up there as well since most of the town is quite concentrated. Well, now I have to worry about my experience for next semester. That's a little more hours but my schedule is even more accommodating.

Third-Party Wii Games

2007-11-03T00:36:00.003-06:00

I rented Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground for this weekend for the Wii. It's been a while since I played the Wii and since Live has been laggy, it's nice to try something else. Spider-Man is fun, it's like a cross between LEGO Star Wars and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. It's fun, simple, but far too easy. It's a game that's impossible to get mad at and a good rent because it's so short.

Tony Hawk is a different game. It's crossplatform so it's on other systems as well as Friend or Foe. However, the Wii controls for it are a bit freaky. Unlike every other game, you don't want to hold the control stick in an upward position. If you do, you'll manual when you go down and that's frustrating when all you want to do is slow down. The motions can be a bit non responsive, like aggro kick. To do that, you must move the remote down. Sometimes he kicks, sometimes he keeps skating along. I haven't figured that out.

So I've figured out something, something I'm surprised game publishers haven't quite grasped on to. Wii motion controls are fun but some games (I'm talking to you, Spider-Man 3) have horrid motion controls. Mortal Kombat seems to be one of the few to get what I'm trying to say. Along with tacking on motion controls, add classic controller connectivity. That way if you're controls suck, you can still play the game normally like on any other system. The controller has two analog sticks, 4 buttons in a diamond pattern, directional pad, two triggers and nearby buttons. It's a regular controller. That way, I could play Tony Hawk like it was on the PS2 if I'm not getting the hang of the motions.

Pikachu's Vagina Brings Happiness to Children

2007-10-24T09:48:00.001-06:00

digg this

PictoChat is a Level on Smash Bros!

2007-10-22T15:45:00.001-06:00

Let the good times roll

2007-10-22T09:44:00.000-06:00

I'm ready for November. Haunted House is coming up and it's a ton of fun, but it is time-consuming. With field experiencing in the mornings and Haunted House at night, I'll be running low on time to do homework. I'm actually going to have to focus and do homework on the weekends during the day. I don't have much to do, It just needs to be done. I had two tests last Friday. Spanish wasn't hard and Medieval Europe just made my hand hurt. I also need to do my Burgundian paper for Medieval Europe for Friday. Start my Seminar paper for next Tuesday. They're both not long, but I want to do them right. Oh well, I could always reduce my Halo time. No, that's just silly.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

2007-10-11T12:15:00.000-06:00

I've got good news and very bad news... Good news first, Sonic the Hedgehog will be included among the fighters. Woo hoo! He is going to zip across the maps like crazy. Also in the good news is the announcement that there will be online cooperative play. Very nice! Now hopefully it won't have a unique friend code like other Wi-Fi games from Nintendo. That's not likely, though.

Alright, the bad news. Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be delayed for release in North America until Ferbuary 10, 2008 from December 3, 2007. This is basically leaving me a lot of time to play Halo 3. And it leaves Halo 3 basically the only holiday game and it was released in September. Video game delays are becoming routine.

Michael Moore being annoying for a purpose

2007-10-08T13:24:00.000-06:00

Intolerance at its Extreme

2007-09-27T10:46:00.001-06:00

Halo 3

2007-09-26T00:27:00.001-06:00

It's not a surprise that I like this game. I love the return of the assault rifle and the controls I still need to get used to, but it is so fun. I find myself pressing X to reload, and instead deploy a bubble shield or a gravity lift. But one thing is fun: playing with gravity and speed settings. That's more like jousting. I also love the built-in zombies. That's very nice. One thing I do miss is the ability to change settings and whatnot in multiplayer without your menu taking up the whole screen. I miss it only because I'm legacy and that confuses people. It's only because I was trained on GoldenEye and Agent Under Fire too well.

I've been toying with the notion of getting an Xbox 360. I think about it and usually back down. As I was playing today I thought it would be so fun to melee people with a motion action thanks to the Wii. Logically, if a game were to come out cross-platform, I'd be more likely to get it for Wii because I'd take unique controls, even tacked-on, over superb graphics. Also, because I have a 13 inch TV, graphics don't do much for me. But since my parents got their 52 inch HDTV with several HDMI ports, it has tempted further. I'm currently on no only because I like being with people as I play. It's boring to play alone. Plus, I don't have to spend $460+ for all I need. And since I'm likely to get mainly Wii games, that's $460 for Halo alone. I love Halo. In an ideal world, Microsoft should allow Halo on the Wii just to give a royal screw-you to Sony, but that will never, ever happen. And that's OK. I may still get one, but It would take a large increase in my income to justify it and currently, I have a lot of outcome.

Anywho, I appreciate my neighbors who love to let people play so I get the chance. Will we see the return of Jimmy? I'm not sure. I may try to be more inventive.

Through good times and bad...

2007-09-22T22:57:00.001-06:00

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Wii

2007-09-19T00:39:00.000-06:00

Between Wii game posts and YouTube videos, I don't post. Seriously, not much is going on at the moment bear with me. Well here's a bit of both.

Anywho, it seems that The Force Unleashed will be coming to the Wii after all. It seemed like they were avoiding it and how cruel to do so. Deny Wii gamers a chance to have a lightsaber other than LEGO Star Wars? Vicious. Well, not to worry, a lot of nerd fantasies will be "unleashed" in the spring. Woo hoo! This campaign is quite the event, tied in with a graphic novel and even a Miniatures set. Interesting.

Read the news here.

Brian and Stewie at the Emmys

2007-09-17T21:46:00.000-06:00

でんのうせんしポリゴン

2007-09-10T22:26:00.000-06:00

WARNING: This video, Dennō Senshi Porigon, has been known to cause seizures on standard TVs.

So why do I upload? To show the power of video, and to prove that Pokémon really can attack the trainer. Plus it's a fun dare to see if you'll watch it. Don't say I didn't warn you. I admit, it is difficult to watch. Illuminate your room and don't, for the love of God, focus on the video completely like those crazy Japanese children glued to the TV. Treat it like a freakin' solar eclipse.

Guitar Hero III

2007-09-10T22:06:00.001-06:00

Guitar Hero for the Wii. It just sounds fun. So what are you getting in this version? IGN got their hands on the game and gives the goods. The Wiimote plugs into the back and shows through the front and because it's wireless in the first place, there will never be a wired controller. So nice. Because the Wiimote itself is a motion sensor, jerking the controller up activates Star Power. The Wii guitar will also have an analog stick because you can't point at the screen anymore. Even neater, the rumble feature will be used since it's already in the Wiimote and even neaterer is the fact that it will use the Wiimote's speaker for the squelch sound on that specific guitar. You will now for sure now that you are the one who can't play Mississippi Queen. And I think I've heard that it will be priced with the PS2's tag so it should be about $10 cheaper. Very nice indeed.

Read the full article here.

Not quite like Greece

2007-09-02T20:30:00.000-06:00

I'm still not sure why this is funny.

Nostalgia for Nostalgia's Sake

2007-08-23T22:45:00.000-06:00

You know what's weird? It is almost 3 years since I started this exercise in wasting time. It makes me reflect on what can happen in 3 years. 3 years ago I was still in Morey, but on 3rd floor. Most of my friends from the past 3 years have actually graduated in 4 years and are no longer around. What's that like? It's weird because when I started blogging, a bunch of my friends were doing it also. Now, I seem to be all that's left from 3 years ago. I'm still here! Although some are not as close as they used to be, my visitors haven't really decreased, they just come from farther. 3 years ago I was still getting hit in my car. Yeah, I got hit again last Thursday. Totaled my car. Fun. I'm a bit hesitant to comment in length publicly, or Internet-ily, until insurance matters and whatnot have been taken care of. Just don't want to muck up the process. These two semesters are very simplistic. We're inching along in Spanish and Tennis should be fun. 3 years ago I was a computer science major. 3 years ago I was a nothing in the club, now I'm its president, again.

But as much as this nostalgia is fun, my optimism is hard to shake. It's hard to imagine what the next 3 years may bring. Hopefully, a career. I'm excited to be where I am, yet anxious to actually start life. I want to be in Omaha with a good teaching job that pays squat. How nice. I want to see more of the world. Dr. Bertolas is even tempting me with a trip to France. I just went to Greece, leave my money alone! No, that should be fun, If I decide to go. I want to reconnect with those in Omaha I left behind at graduation. Summers are not enough. I'm excited to hang out with the alumni without living 30 minutes away, although I don't want to deny my current friends. I'll also like to be driving a car without a giant bullseye on it, but I'm not expecting that to take 3 years. If nothing else, I'll still be here, wasting your time for another 3 years or more.

One of my favorite scenes from the summer movies

2007-08-20T00:21:00.001-06:00

Dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight

2007-07-27T20:27:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Comic-Con, we now have a clear image of The Joker:

There are some things to note from this photo. First, the white is painted on. I doubt this is a makeup error. When I first heard he would have the "smile" carved into him, I was wondering whether or not he would be the lunatic we know and love. He has no reason to be loopy if his visage would not alter his psyche. I wonder now if what we are seeing may be a a pre-chemical bath Joker that's waiting for Batman to take the plunge. After all, he was already theatrical at the end of Batman Begins and they might want to do an origin. It would make some sense if his "character" would fall into the chemicals as we see him, and his appearance merges in permanently. It might help explain why he's "dead" but will return in December. Plus, the dead body doesn't really look like him.

Or we could see something completely different from the common continuity. I like different. It keeps things new and not repeated. I'm excited to see where this goes. I highly doubt that they'll stretch his story into the next film, as they want to stretch Harvey Dent's character into the next thanks to the actions of the Joker. We shall wait and see.

By the way, the voice and laugh in the teaser trailer are awesome. Hearing his quote "Starting tonight, people will die" reminds me of The Man Who Laughs, featuring the Joker's first appearance as himself. In it he appears on TV telling Gotham he will kill a high society bigwig at midnight. As the police scramble to protect the guy, who is poisoned already, the Joker barges into Arkham and releases weapons on the inmates and opens the door. In the pandemonium, he steals a news van so he can broadcast anytime, building to his grand scheme.

More info:
TheDarkKnight.com
IBelieveinHarveyDent.com
IBelieveinHarveyDenttoo.com (Select All, copy to Word, remove all the "H"s, "A"s, and spaces)
WhySoSerious.com (find the shiny dot)

What the French Toast?

2007-07-21T20:17:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite commercials right now:

E3 Announcements

2007-07-11T14:48:00.001-06:00

I'll try to update this as new information becomes available.

No Xbox 360 price change
Sony royally screwed those who bought a PSP at a reduced price because a redesign will be out in September.
There will be a Star Wars-themed PSP
Mario Kart Wii will include a Wii Steering Wheel
Wii Zapper revealed for $20
Wii Fit will include a step mat.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be out on December 3rd.
Wii Guitar Hero III controller has the Wiimote embedded into it.

Weekend Mania

2007-07-11T14:37:00.000-06:00

There is so much going on this weekend, it's almost unreal.

Daniele's Party: She's celebrating her return from Canada nad her graduation. It should be fun and I will be going, I just don't know when.
John C. Fremont Days: Fremont's annual celebration never really tempts me but I would like to check out the living history encampments for a few minutes. But when I'm in Fremont, I'm still in work clothes and I hate having to go home to change then return for just a few minutes. But it's running on Friday and Sunday as well so I could check it out on those days.
Luis Palau Heartland Festival: A lot of people are going to the Qwest Center for this and it should be fun. I just hope I can get out of there. I'd like to go on Sunday but the artists I know are on Saturday. I just want to check it out though.
Nebraska Comic Book Convention: Not a big hullabaloo as any other convention but it is nice to see what I could get for cheap from the vendors. I'm likely to go there first, then to Valparaiso for the party.
Blue October concert: They're going to be at Harrah's and I'm not going. I just wanted to add it to the list.

Additionally, my parents will be gone all next week so I will have free time for the things I wanted to do this weekend, so things like to work out.

Wii-licious

2007-07-09T20:50:00.000-06:00

That title makes no sense. I have the Internet on my Wii, again. Now our wireless network not only works for my laptop, it works for the Wii, DS, and any other computer here independent of the main computer. Huzzah! So now, Laura and I have been messaging each other via Wii. It's so neat to see that cool blue pulsating light! I've also played Battle Revolution over Wi-Fi Connection and that is very smooth. By the way, if you don't have Diamond or Pearl with DS, don't bother with this game, it basically acts as a DS server and storage device and you will be bored stiff with the game without one. I've also been a-renting some games. I rented Big Brain Academy and it's fine, albeit short and repetitive. It's probably better for a group but no matter how it tries to cheer you up you still feel like it's insulting you. I've also played The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, which is basically Grand Theft Auto except with a point. In GTA, you deal with these people who claim their turf. I ask why it is theirs. Here, you must extort the local businesses to generate money, thus making it your turf. I am buying this game next. I shouldn't have enjoyed it as much, but I did. Plus, I'm so close to completing it. I rented this week Resident Evil 4, which is very fun. I'll buy that one after Godfather because I wish to destroy the chainsaw wielding-brainwashed who keep slicing off my head. I've also been playing Legend of Zelda, finally. It's fun yet it enrages me. I must conquer it.

Now I await E3. Hopefully we'll have some announcements on Super Smash Brothers, Animal Crossing, and DDR Hottest Party. I see they've already revealed the Guitar Hero III controller. Not sure if I want to own that yet. Plus Beautiful Katamari ditched the PS3 and is going to 360 and Wii. It's nice to own a Wii.

Completion Achieved!

2007-06-25T10:41:00.000-06:00

I've got my Greece journals up! You can read them all here. Be patient, they're long. I've also got my paper done! I have time now! I can play Zelda now. I've got a nice list of games to rent as well. Now begins the fun task of printing off 718 photos and scrapbooking them all. I know I should pick and choose but I was thorough so I can have a teaching aid for my classes. Hooray for future concerts as well. It seems those who got postcards got postcards now. Most of my family got some along with Dr. B., the bank, and Jodie only because I had her business card in my wallet. My parents didn't get their second one until Friday. Last Friday. Whatever.

It is to laugh

2007-06-15T18:58:00.001-06:00

My Ελλινικά Review of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

2007-06-13T20:05:00.000-06:00

Now, I'm a pretty big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean so when I saw that it was playing in Kamari, I tried my best to hook myself up. No surprises here, Jack survives the second movie. Just look to the left. So basically Barbossa, Elizabeth, Will, and the gang are trying to bring Jack back from Davy Jones' Locker. Barbossa needs Jack's piece of eight to free Calypso, Elizabeth's motives are unclear, Will is still trying to save his father and going after Jack somehow falls into that plan, that along with double-crossing everyone in his path including his fiancée.

I really don't like what they've done with Will's character. He was so virtuous and honest in the first movie and now he's an ambiguous, whiny piece of crap. Will works with Sao Feng to give Jack up for the Black Pearl, but then Feng has a deal with Beckett already. Are you following this? And now that the awesome Davy Jones has become the ultimate tool of a villain to Beckett, the pirates must unite to stop them. They go as far to even elect a...excuse me...it's hard to type...a Pirate King. I never knew pirates were so organized. "Hang the rules and hang the code" and whatnot. And of course, this royalty goes to...um...Captain Elizabeth Swann. Bottom line, the movie is too silly for its own good.

The first one is phenomenal. The second one is fun, but leads into this one. It's not bad, but it's not good. It's like a Fantastic Four to me. It's fun to watch, but unlike the others you can't take it too seriously. One thing I miss from the first one is how pirates were the only people who believed in anything supernatural. Even the Black Pearl itself was a myth to the majority of the British. In the second movie they made Beckett know a lot of the stuff he shouldn't believe. OK, so he's been around to know better. Now, for whatever reason, Governor Swann is the one to find out the new information concerning Davy Jones. Along those lines, what is Davy Jones' motivation other than not to die. He becomes a subordinate because he doesn't want to stop. Plus I love the inferred reason to remove the Kraken as a threat for this movie.

On the plus side, this movie has the best soundtrack of the three which is nice. But as I said, don't take it seriously and just enjoy the film or else you will hate the movie. Oh, and please don't make more. You're just cheapening the franchise.

My rating: 8 out of 10
DVD-worthy: I'll get it, but I won't drive at midnight for it by any means.

If only work was like this...

2007-06-12T17:26:00.000-06:00

Days 10 & 11 – Ferry to Athens, Athens, Transatlantic Flight

2007-06-02T10:37:00.000-06:00

We gathered our stuff to leave for the mainland at around noon. One of the girls, Krystle, had met a guy named Tolis and wanted to hook up before leaving. Luckily, she made it back in time. We dropped our stuff off at the port and I went with Lance, Jared, Chari, and Sarah into town to get some eats. Yes, I had another gyro. We went back to the group when Chari realized she forgot her camera and ran back to get it. We got on our ferry, the Ithaki, which was like the Diagoras but much less fancy. We were looking at a 6 hour ferry ride. Zaira and I had reserved seats but not with the group but since we were not expecting the ferry to be packed, John suggested we just sit with the group in open seats. I must’ve sat near the end of the seats because the stewards kept bugging me about my seat. I moved up by Dan and Holly and noticed Dan had a Nintendo DS. He had New Super Mario Bros. until his battery died because he’s been unable to charge it. He just got it for the trip and it was nice for him to see how the wireless functions worked. There was a kid on the Diagoras who had a DS and I was too shy to ask what he had. I’m glad I didn’t let this time pass. I just with the browser was out in time because there were Wi-Fi spots everywhere. Anyways, I went to get some fast food from the Goody’s on board. They use fry forks! Europeans must not like to touch their fries. When we arrived in Athens we got to our hotel at about 8:00 pm. We decided to eat at the hotel because it was free but I wasn’t that hungry. Our Wayne group headed out on the metro, back to Syntagma, back to the plaka for last minute shopping. It is so different at night. I wish we weren’t leaving so soon because I could spend so much time in Athens and the mainland but all good things must come to an end. We went back to the hotel before the metro stopped at midnight and we decided that since we leave at 3:00 am that we should stay up. We had some drinks on the roof and enjoyed each other’s company before leaving. During this time I charged Dan’s DS because they still had Italy and flights to get through and I didn’t want him to suffer. After a while I got tired and I didn’t want to be in the same situation as on the way over so I left a bit early to get a couple hours of sleep. I didn’t pass out but it was nice to relax with my eyes closed and stress in peace in our tiny room again. When I “woke up”, I was stressed. I wish I wasn’t but anxiety always takes hold. We got on a bus with most of the group as we headed to the airport. We said our goodbyes and had our hugs before leaving the group and John. Dan and Holly were down the way along with Megan from Tennessee. The Kansas people were going to Munich to Chicago as we went from Frankfurt to Chicago. I was able to get some sleep on the short flight to Frankfurt which was nice. Frankfurt was very hectic. There was a lot of security because of the G-8 in northern Germany and we had a limited window to leave and we were unable to say goodbye to Sarah from Louisiana. We had a nice double-decker Airbus back to America. I know I got some sleep on that plane because I don’t remember how Wild Hogs ended. That’s my new suggestion: Don’t get a full night’s sleep before flying as I did on the way there. It helps to be dead tired before flying so you get your second wind when you land. I did watch Music & Lyrics all the way through though. Halfway through the flight we had to fill out DHS and Immigration forms for entry into the US. When we landed we had to go through customs. Basically you get in line, they ask you a few questions, you pick up your luggage from the carousel, they may or may not check it, and then you put it back on the carousel for connecting flights. It is amazing how European Union customs is so much simpler. It’s basically a stamp and you’re done. It took me no time to clear American customs and I waited for about 10 minutes for the other Wayne people but after a While I got impatient and started heading to our concourse and terminal. Chicago O’Hare is very efficient for being so busy. It reminded me of the efficiency of Munich that was missing at Frankfurt. When I got to our gate, not too far away were Lance, Jared, Sarah, and Chari waiting for their flight to Kansas City. It was nice to see them again at the tail end of the trip. I really enjoy their company. They left and a few minutes later we were boarding. Steph was upset there was a flight to Lincoln flowing the Omaha flight she could’ve taken. Our plane was a 13-row plane. So we went from the largest to the smallest plane. The flight to Omaha was very quick and it was nice to be back but I miss Greece a lot. I will miss the people I met on the trip along with the amazing sights.

Day 9 – Delos, Mykonos

2007-05-31T10:33:00.000-06:00

Today a group of us headed to Chora to go to the island of Delos. I am so exicted to see the island after learning about the Delian League in Dr. Taber’s Ancient World. The entire island is an archaeological site with only 10% fully excavated. It is fascinating. We paid for a guide that showed us the ruins and what we were looking at. We saw the theatre, the house of Cleopatra (not the Egyptian princess), and the maison of Dionysus. We also saw the colonnade built by Philip V of Macedon. You can still read the inscription if you can read Ελλινικά (Greek). I’m totally getting a hang of this language, especially the script. We saw the Colossus of Naxos site and the remnants of it after pirates attempted to steal it. The guide was very knowledgeable and well worth it. He told us of the birth of Artemis and Apollo on Delos and of the purifications that no one may be born or die on the island. We saw the Lions of the Naxians and the Temple of Dionysus. I went up the hill of Synthos with the Kansas people to see the Temple of Zeus. We then headed back to the boats and to Mykonos. I found a stain on my new shirt that seems to be some sort of lichen so Delos has left its mark on me. I wanted something sweet to eat so I ordered a nutella, chocolate, banana, and walnut crepe. I also tried the hummus which was good even with the seafood in it. The San Francisco girls started shopping and the stores began to close for siesta at around 3. We took a taxi back to the hotel until we went down for cocktails served by the ugliest bartender ever. It was fun, though. Later I separated to find a gyro stand and found the others anyway. I hung out with Jared who needed a pain killer for his sunburn and I wanted something for my many mosquito bites I got on Ios. We wandered back to taxi square where I bought some sour cherry juice. When we got back there was a group outside of our rooms having a good time. It was nice to see some of them come and go and chat to them. I talked for a long time with Megan from Tennessee who was really nice.

Day 8 – Ios, Ferry to Mykonos, Mykonos

2007-05-30T10:29:00.000-06:00

On Ios we headed down to the port and had some time so I went with the Kansas people to check out the nearby port church. It was gated closed but we snuck around the fence to get some photos. We only needed to waste a few minutes so we didn’t trespass long. We got on the Flying Cat 4 again to go to Mykonos. On the ferry there was half of an engaged French couple in my seat and they asked me to take one of their seats and, of course, I did. They must’ve got off at Paros because a woman said she had my seat after stopping and my seat was free again. We arrived on Mykonos and it was hot. We got to the Hotel Petinaros and got another very nice room with a second bedroom, a bar, a stove, and a full fridge. We then headed down to a restaurant where I had another gyro and a frappe. It was good but very, very strong. I love gyros. It’s all the tzatziki sauce! Later we headed into Chora to check out the town. They city is a maze designed to confuse raiding pirates. The city is so cosmopolitan. We checked out where the ship to Delos leave and saw the famous five windmills. John suggested that we get some lightweight long-sleeved white shirts if we were going out to Delos as there is no shade. So when we separated I went with the San Francisco girls to find these shirts. We found a shop owned by a nice Greek lady. She was very helpful in finding a nice Greek style for me. We then took a taxi back to the hotel.

Day 7 – Ios

2007-05-29T10:26:00.000-06:00

Today we planned on taking a boat trip to reach some of the beaches that were inaccessible by road. However, the captain told our director that he was apprehensive about the weather and urged us to cancel. So instead we went by bus to Mylopotas beach just south of Chora. I didn’t think I’d like sitting on a beach relaxing and doing nothing but it was just what I needed. I’ve had a lot of stress at times and this is awesome to just not have a care in the world. I chilled on the beautiful beach listening to my iPod. I even played some sand volleyball which was fun. We played with a Greek basketball player who would sometime kick the ball like a football (soccer) player. I then shared a lunch with Shana and Tamara. I then relaxed with them on the beach. After a while we took a bus back to the hotel. I met up with Lance and Jared who were heading with Sarah and Chari to see Homer’s Grave. The taxi would be expensive so we looked into renting a car or an ATV. But they weren’t too excited about have as much of us in one car or renting multiple vehicles so we called the cabs. It cost €50 to get there and unfortunately most of the group did not have the money for the second cab so I went with Lance and the girls. The ride was long and well worth the €50. The views are amazing from the roads and the site is amazing coming from a social science major. On the way back, the taxi driver lets us stop for photos of the cities of the island from the distant road. We stopped off in Chora and found an Italian pizza place which was delicious and different, obviously, from the Hut. I think I got some sand in my feet from the beach because it is hurting and irritated so I headed toward the hotel. I stopped by a boutique on the way and found a neat Greek t-shirt. The owner was British and very helpful and friendly. I was wearing a Hollister tee and she had not heard of the brand and complemented me on my shirt. That made me happy, especially when I was playfully teased the other day for mixing styles while wearing another Hollister shirt with a “punk” bag. I found the San Francisco girls again and talked for a while before heading back down the mountain.

Day 6 – Ferry to Ios, Ios

2007-05-28T10:24:00.000-06:00

I was afraid of waking people up coming in late but it seems those who stayed in Fira came back at about 5:00am. I mailed some more postcards after breakfast before we left for port. We took a quicker ferry, the Flying Cat 4, to a shorter destination so the trip was under an hour long. It was raining when we arrived on Ios so that sucked. However, our room is awesome. It’s the four of us and we have two rooms and a large veranda. We went down to port to eat where I had a couple chicken gyros. They are so amazing. We chilled at the hotel until about 8 when we went into town. Some wanted a group dinner but I wasn’t that hungry. The island is relatively calm because it is Holy Spirit Day, a government holiday. A guy I was walking with, Kyle, was trying to find gyros and asked some children where he could find some. He offered some of his beer and they declined. That is so different than America. I’m guessing it’s because there is no drinking age and the kids are around it all the time. There’s no forbidden vibe to it so they have little interest in it. We found the gyros and explored the town with Shana and Tamara, the girls from San Francisco. It is such a neat town. We headed back down to the hotel and the girls booked a massage for €70. I then chilled in the hotel watching a movie on the English-language movie channel that looks similar to NBC until me roommates returned.

Day 5 – Santorini

2007-05-27T10:20:00.000-06:00

After I woke up I had a small breakfast of bread, jelly, and juice with Dan and Holly. After that I headed down to the beachfront to see it by day. I bought a souvenir ouzo bottle and filled it with black sand. While we waited we watched Greek morning TV which our tour guide described as a cleavage festival. Then we headed to Fira, the main city situated on the edge of the massive volcanic caldera for our walking tour. The caldera is amazing! After touring the city Steph, Lucy, Zaira, and I visited the museums. Then I found Heather and had a lamb gyro. I picked up some postcards and we visited some shops. I then visited the main church in town which is so fantastic inside. Heather visited the main museum as I filled out postcards. I mailed them and stopped at an Internet café to check in on the world. We then took a taxi back to Kamari with Shea and two girls from San Francisco. I went off to find a theatre because I saw one was playing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End but I couldn’t find the one mentioned in the poster before we left on our bus tour. We traveled to the southern tip of the caldera for some photos. Then we went to Santo Wines for a tasting. I hate alcohol so I just hung on to the glass smelling the horrid beverage. John showed us where the cruise ship Sea Diamond sunk in April that he was on. He believes it was purposely sunk rather than salvaged so the company could collect €50,000,000 in insurance. Then we went to Oia at the other tip of the island for the famous sunset. It was phenomenal but we were rushed to return to the bus to leave before everyone else crowed the only road out of town. I went back to Kamari rather than remain at Fira and roamed the beachfront looking for the theatre again. As I was walking back I found the bus stop where we left this morning which I was trying to locate and not too far from there I found the theatre. By then it was 10:15 and the showing was at 10:30 so I opted not to return to hotel to see if anyone else wanted to go. The theatre was small, yet very neat. The film was in the English language, but had Greek subtitles. There was a girl sitting next to me who was text messaging through most of the movie which was very annoying, but ignorable. Halfway through and rather unexpectedly, there was an intermission. It was odd and it confused some Americans sitting in front of me. But I guess it was a long movie and a good way to sell more concessions. I was a little surprised to see them bring wine glasses into the showing. The movie got out at 1:30 and I walked back to the hotel. I know going to a movie is something that I could do in America but the differences in how they are shown are very intriguing to me.

Day 4 – Ferry to Santorini

2007-05-26T10:18:00.000-06:00

Today the day was spent mostly on the ferry/cruise to Santorini. Because we booked somewhat late, Zaira and I had to take a later ferry apart from the group. Everyone else woke up at 5 and after they had gone, I could not get back to sleep because of anxiety. So I mailed my postcards at Larissa Station and watched th e Greek music channel, MAD. Their music is a combination of hits from around the world. I never expected to hear some of our current hits in Greece. The taxi to Pireaus, the port city, took us by 2 modern stadiums built for the 2004 Olympics. Our ferry, the Diagoras, is huge. Our ship did not seem as packed as the others said there’s would be. It was a nine-hour trip but at least we could move around, unlike the flights. I am amazed by how close the Greek Isles are to each other. There was never a clear horizon on that cruise. Our ferry stopped by Paros and Naxos before Santorini. By the time we got in it was 11:00 pm and we were somewhat tired. We found our taxi and headed up the winding roads of the port to get to Kamari. When we arrived, we headed back with John to the group down at the black sand beachfront. I expected them to have done the walking tour already but they were going to wait for us. That was nice. I didn’t stay too long and headed back to the hotel to get more sleep. Our shower had no curtain because of drunk tourists continually ripping them down so that was a little odd but I managed.

Day 3 – Athens

2007-05-25T10:12:00.000-06:00

Breakfast wasn’t very good in my opinion. We had bread, cereal, and eggs and the eggs didn’t seem completely cooked. Plus, I am on a weird hungry-but-can’t-eat feeling right now. We took a bus to tour the city. We passed a neat statue of Icarus in one of the many squares of Athens. Greek script is getting easier to understand and interpret. Once you get around the few altered glyphs it’s very easy to pronounce. The Acropolis is amazing! I was so exicted to see the Parthenon after writing a 20-page paper on Pericles, the leader of Athens during its construction for Dr. Taber’s Ancient World class. I took so many pictures of it and the other buildings of the Acropolis. It is so neat to see all of Athens from atop the fortress. Then, the group went to a nearby gift shop that we suspect our Athens guide has some sort of agreement with. We then got back on the bus and toured the city again. The Greeks have erected a statue of Harry S. Truman for the Marshall Plan that protected Greece following World War II. I don’t thing we even have a statue of Truman in our national capital. It was very neat for me to see the first modern Olympic stadium. I am a big fan of the Olympics and the Olympic spirit so that was a nice stop to take. We drove by the ex-royal presidential palace and ended back at Syntagma. We then broke off into groups and the Wayne people basically stayed together. We explored the ATMs and Hellenic Post before trying to find some gyros. We looked around as best as we could but we couldn’t find any so we had sandwiches. We tried to get into the National Historical Museum but it was closed when we got there. So we walked down to Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Steph and I were able to figure out the Roman baths before we found the sign. We rock. There’s not much of the temple but it is still fascinating. We then tried to find the Acropolis museum but basically wasted time. We explored the plaka more before heading toward the National Archaeological Museum which was also closed, so we walked back to the hotel. At night, I wanted to head back into the city but I wasn’t sure where to go so I just chilled on the hotel roof. I am excited to return to Athens after the islands.

Days 1 & 2 – Transatlantic Flight, Athens

2007-05-24T10:06:00.000-06:00

Transatlantic flights can be very confusing and disorienting. Zaira and I left Denver at around 2:00 pm and arrive in Munich at 8:00 am. There was an 8 hour time difference so I basically lost a night of sleep. It is very hard for me to sleep on moving vehicles so I really lost that night. And because of the ear-popping fun I was pseudo-deaf upon landing in Europe. I usually enjoy flying but after hours of it, I am sick of it. Athens is very nice and surprising. There were no customs for us, unlike in Munich, and they use Mercedes as taxis. It’s quite strange because when you think about coming to Europe, you fear that you will get lost in a language but in reality, Europe is very multilingual in most aspects. Everything pertinent is written first in the native language followed by English. Primarily everything in Greece is Greek, naturally, but English is well known here. It makes me wonder about those English-only programs in the United States. It seems so backwards as Europe deals with multilinguism on a constant basis. When we arrived we checked into the hotel and I met my roommates. I am with Shea from WSC and Lance and Jared from Kansas. As a group we took the metro to Syntagma Square where we saw the shops of the plaka. The metro is very nice because of the Olympics in 2004. The tour director, John, told us about the evil eye charm that keeps away evil spirits and worry bead that Greek men use to pass boredom. We then checked out the Roman Forum before splitting for free time. I picked up some postcards but mainly window shopped. Greeks are very friendly. We had a three-course Greek meal as a group which was very good. I am surprised by the number of stray dogs throughout the city. It’s also strange to see the streets paved in marble. The footsteps continually polish the stone and it is so common. It is so expensive to have a marble bathroom in the states but here, it is pavement. Our weather was unusual in the fact that it was raining which is very uncommon but welcome in Greece. After the introductory tour we returned to hotel allowing me to catch up on 32 hours of lost sleep.

Finally, Some Progression

2007-05-17T19:04:00.001-06:00

Are we gearing up for hopefully a final season? It looks that way on Smallville. Note: If you haven't seen the finale don't yell at me if I spoil things. Big News! They killed Lana! 6 years in the making. We knew Lois was the one to hook up with Superman and for the show to stagnate this relationship with Lana for so long was an exercise of futility. There's a nice bit of nihilism when Lana finds out everything and actually shows integrity for once, just to die. This may make Clark even more cautious about his secret now. Also, Chloe's power seems to be the ability to transfer life essence via tears?! How strangely odd and specific is that? That's almost as bad as the ability to see through glass. But it possibly gets rid of continuity-wrecking Chloe from the story. Who knows though because I like her character. Lionel finally stopped being a Snape and picked a side. Or at least, his side became apparent. Lex is finally in trouble with the law for once. And Bizarro makes an interesting appearance. I also explains why the Kryptonite didn't work on him. So are they going to invent Blue Kryptonite now? I love this show's finales. They make up for all the angst and crap throughout the year.

Now, let's get Clark in some glasses so that people won't put two and two together and get him on track toward his destiny. "No flights, no tights" may be the rule but it's time to move on before it becomes ridiculous and monotonous. I know it's supposed to be it's own continuity with its own outcomes but if they don't move toward Superman, it almost seems pointless.

Omaha and Rain

2007-05-07T20:25:00.000-06:00

On Saturday it was Free Comic Book Day. After I got done with work I went into Krypton Comics. The stormtroopers, Spider-Man, and Venom were gone but Margot Kidder was still there. I got an autographed picture and a photo of her. She's looking really good. She was very friendly and I'm glad I went in. While waiting in line, Matt, Jen, and Will were there and we chatted. They invited me to see Spider-Man 3 again and I was hesitant as I had already seen it but I went along as I had nothing else to do. I grabbed a nice stack of Free Comics and went over to PhantaC and McDonald's before going to Matt and Jen's. We watched Venture Bros. until Will arrived. That wasn't too bad. We then watched Night of the Museum which was OK, but I'm not if I'd want to see it again. After that was over Mandy and Cory stopped by and Jodie came and we went to get our tickets. We met up with some of their Kung Fu friends at Barnes and Noble as I read up on the latest Diamond and Spider-Man 3 game guides.

The movie the second time was great. I noticed more things the second time. I didn't see Willem Dafoe in the audience at the Jazz Club. Go now, look for him! And if it isn't him it sure does really look like him. After we got out there is a downpour. Now, on Thursday night I went into Omaha without a coat and it rained on me then. It was hot all day Saturday and now there's a thunderstorm. I got home and then went to church in Omaha the next day. We got to Westroads to eat and left our coats in the car because it was hot and as we left, downpour! We went to my brother's house last night for dinner and as we left, downpour! What is up with Nebraska? Oh well, love life because it doesn't last long.

Midnight Review of "Spider-Man 3"

2007-05-07T20:07:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, I went into Omaha for the midnight show of the next installment of the Spider-Man films. This one had a lot more to go in on. Spider-Man 2 had to perform as Spider-Man did and it did wonderfully. This one had to preform as Spider-Man 2 did and I believe it is on par with the other two. Instead of doing one villain at a time, this film tried 3 enemies: New Goblin, Sandman, and Venom. OK, enough of the intro on to the movie. I'll try not to spoil too much so If you want full surprise, just stop it.

The first thing I was looking for was a consistent intro. The second one basically copied the style of the first and created a precedent. The third follows suit. Whew. I love consistency. I knew Danny Elfman would not be directly involved with the score but it seems they got everything he had done prior to the film. The new music for the most part, takes some getting used to. The "symbiote theme" at first listen sucks balls but it does grow on you like the X-Men: The Last Stand soundtrack. As much as you want to hate it, you realize it is good, and grow to like it, but not at first.

Three villains does affect the pacing, but not enough for me to realize that it was crowded. They did do something with MJ's character that made me mad, and if you've seen the movie, it's not quite what you think. When she gets canned (no spoiler here, it's at the very beginning), she never, ever tells Peter. She tells Harry for once, considering the theme of the first movie was "Don't tell Harry." It makes me have less sympathy for her if she's not being honest. It gives me creepy Lana Lang vibes I don't like. Also, symbiote-influenced Peter Parker looks a lot like Conor Oberst. Jodie agrees.

Venom was very well done. Sandman's CG was exquisite. New Goblin did at the end exactly what I hoped he would do since the second film was finished. There's also some poetic justice with the first film. The ending is very poignant and lost some consistency with no Spidey-swinging-happy scene to close, but I love the ending. It leaves room open for a potential, yet not-required sequel. If they do start talking about it, watch for news from Tobey Maguire. He's only doing it if the story is good and Kirsten Dunst and Sam Raimi are back. It's kinda the same way for the other two. My favorite scene has to be when Sandman first awakens after his transformation. The music is perfect and the scene itself is also very poignant. Cameos are fun, too. Stan Lee's is silly but so him. Bruce Campbell's steals the show.

My review: 9 out of 10, I still love Spider-Man 2, especially Doc Ock but it is totally on par with the other two.
DVD-worthy: Midnight run to pick it up.

Intolerance at its Extreme

2007-05-01T10:18:00.000-06:00

These people are truly insane. The Westboro "Baptist" Church believe that everyone outside of their organization is doomed to hell. Their primary target is homosexuals. They are the people who picket funerals of fallen soldiers with signs that say "God Hates Fags." Why? Because those troops fought for America, a country of people who accept homosexuals and doomed to destruction, and the soldier's death is a celebration of God's judgement on this country. That makes total sense, doesn't it? Umm...no. I've never seen people so violently and idiotically intolerant of a certain group of people. It is funny when Shirley, the daughter of Fred Phelps, the near-corpse who leads the diatribes, goes on TV to "explain" her viewpoint. About a minute in, she stops answering questions and just spouts out her beliefs. The interviewers bring up new points against their church, she answers the same way every time. It's funny because she makes Fox News seem liberal. They don't want to convert you, they just want you to be aware that you're going to hell if you don't listen.

The six-part documentary has Louis Theroux, a BBC journalist spend three weeks with the insanity. We only see Fred twice during the whole film. The first time, Louis asks one question before Fred refused to answer any more. The question? "How many children do you have?" Fred says he's wasting oxygen and he missed his chance to ask a religious question. Louis just wanted to know what Fred considered to be his children. That was too risky. The second time he is allowed five minutes to ask religious questions based on his sermon. Fred answers with his hate speech and then Louis asks another. Fred answers "Asked and answered, next question," to every following question. He doesn't want to answer questions, he just wants a platform to rant his derogatory ideals.

These people are the epitome of illogic and failure to understand. Arguing with them is like arguing with a brick wall, no matter what you say, you just get slammed by a brick wall. The KKK believes that Westboro is a sick, ignorant group. How screwed up do you have to be to have the KKK believe you are depraved. To think that they believe in Christianity is a mockery to Christ. God doesn't hate anyone. God loves the world. They're very quick to ignore the parts of the Bible that contradict themselves. They love Lev. 19:17 where they shouldn't hate in secret but to tell others how they feel. They ignore Lev. 19:18 that says to love your neighbor as God does.

Videos:
Shirley on Fox News
Shirley on Fox News, again
Shirley and daughters on Tyra
Fred Phelps rants about Stewart/Colbert
Charles Firth talks, and flirts, with Phelps, Jr.
The Most Hated Family in America (1)
The Most Hated Family in America (2)
The Most Hated Family in America (3)
The Most Hated Family in America (4)
The Most Hated Family in America (5)
The Most Hated Family in America (6)

New Surfer Trailer!

2007-04-30T21:10:00.000-06:00

A new trailer for the Fantastic Four sequel has been released. It's looking good and it appears to have some teaser shots of Doom. Check it out now!

Plus:
Spider-Man 3 Crane Disaster
Behind the Scenes of Spider-Man 3

Wrath of Con

2007-04-24T23:48:00.000-06:00

I'm looking ahead at what to waste my money on for the next few months. It seems a good group of us are willing to go to ValleyCon in Fargo this fall. They're trying to get R.A. Salvatore which is cool but no media guests have been confirmed yet. Either way I'm going because it is loads of fun. I'm half tempted to leave a day early, head up to Bloomington, and check out the Mall of America for a day, then drive up to Fargo, which is about another 3 hours. I doubt I'd get anyone on board for that considering that's more money but the thought is nice. MarsCon is kinda a hit-and-miss up in Bloomington. It's next February/March and they've got the guy who plays Chandra Suresh in Heroes among many other roles. If they get one more media guest I've heard of, I will totally be considering going. This Sunday is MicroCon for one day up in St. Paul. If I didn't have the Blue October concert here, I would totally drive the 6 hours and check it out. There's a crap load of guests. It is so rare we get a good act here amongst the country crap. I really hope there's another FallCon in St. Paul. From the looks of last year, it seems that there were tone of people again, including Krypton Comics! There's no information but if there is no conflicts I will totally check that out. And, of course, there's WillyCon X. We're going to provide all of our previous guests free lodging and hopefully we can get most of them to return. All would be sweet! We're going into fundraising overdrive to secure our more popular guests just in case. I'm pumped. If anyone else knows of any conventions in the Midwest area that I'm unaware of, let me know.

Well, I should return to Pokémon Diamond. My Monferno needs leveling up.

2007-04-18T21:43:00.001-06:00

You Are a Believer

You definitely believe in God - and you're very unwavering in your religious beliefs.
In fact, religion and spirituality are definitely big parts of your life.
Religion shapes how you view right and wrong, as well as the decisions you make.
It's hard for you to imagine how your life would be without your beliefs.

Are You an Atheist, Agnostic or a Believer?

Spider-Man 2.1

2007-04-16T21:54:00.000-06:00

When I saw the press information for Spider-Man 2.1 I figured it was a gimmick. I'm probably right as they're only adding 8 minutes to the film. But after searching YouTube and finding what very well could be from the extended film, it is somewhat tempting. They sure knew where to add in 8 minutes, mainly fighting and funny. I may have to pick it up. I know it's not beyond me as I repurchased the Star Wars Limited Editions, it would just be nice if the movie industry would just make the definitive versions early. Because people out there are buying DVDs all the time as it is an dnot downloading them anyway, now they have to find ways to make us angry when we've bought a DVD and they release a better one. Torrents seem nicer. Oh well, I am a sucker.

Clips:
J.J.J. as Spider-Man
Bank Robbery
Train Fight

WillyCon IX: Sunday

2007-04-16T19:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a typical end-of-con day. I picked up my art and a Taki Soma print and bought some crap of Jodie's. I then went to a couple panels. At then end of the day there's always this feeling of accomplishment but sadness that it is over. I am really excited for ValleyCon in Fargo and WillyCon X, though. I would say that last year we had more attendence, but this year was more fun for me. I got to hang out with a lot of people. I also got to hang out with the artists and that was a riot. I wish I got to talk to James Alan Gardner longer because was very friendly. Plus, I got to play 4-player Mario Kart DS with Greg, Laura, and Terry. Everyone did a really great job at the con and I am so glad to be a part of this club.

WillyCon IX: Saturday

2007-04-15T22:35:00.000-06:00

Saturday was fun. I picked up Zach Miller's Joe and Monkey books and they are hilarious. He also signed and sketched the insides as well which was awesome. The Superhero Movie panel went very well. Heath showed an Underdog trailer which I did not know existed and I was stopped in speech. Additionally, I was able to prescreen the room to make sure the technology was working this time, plus with two hours we got to cover everything. He also brought up a video of Kevin Smith's experience with the Superman movie so it was fun to play that as well. Once we were done, I gave the remaining Spider-Man 3 posters to the rest of the Con for freebies. The large ones were gone at the end of the day. The art auction went well and the trivia contest was very fun, although I think we went way too hard on the questions. The categories were a little screwed up too but we got it figured out. I hope we do it again next year. After that was done I was talking to Steph and Zach Miller stops by to chat. Eventually we ended up going with him and Taki Soma to Subway for about 5 minutes and then we talked in the Con Suite. Jodie brought up a Jar Jar mask and so we put that on people and beat them up. It was funny. A group of us talked until about 3 am and then I retired. It was a good day.

WillyCon IX: Friday

2007-04-14T09:34:00.000-06:00

I am worried about the amount of money I may spend at the Con. I've minimum bidded on some artwork I like and the artists GoH stuff is really neat and inexpensive. ACME brought up The Watchmen and V for Vendetta, both I want along with Munchkin which I have been putting off. So I'm not sure what I will indulge on yet but I'll try to be good.

Yesterday was very interesting for the Con. I was basically signing up for the Halo tournament all day and kept getting people telling me how bad it is and how the rules suck. I came up with a pseudo-system for this. It was chaotic but it had few complainers. Basically the rules could be modified by concensus, a sort of Wikiality. If people didn't like the map we picked, that's fine, just get others on board with the changes. It prevented people from claiming they were losing only because of our stupid rules. I know some didn't like that, but it didn't bother me much because I try to be easy going at WillyCon. I got back to the room at about 2 last night so I did get a godd night's sleep. Yay for day two!

DS Adventures

2007-03-30T00:08:00.000-06:00

OK, So I'm about halfway through Pokémon FireRed's story. Then I've got to breed and evolve to catch them all. Then I need to find out what still remains and link up to a LeafGreen. Fun. I was price checking Emerald and found out that it is around $30 used! I could buy a DS game for that. It's crazy to image the lengths I'll go to in order to have most of the Pokémon in Diamond. It's a good thing it comes out on April 22 so I have time to catch them. Yes, I do realize this is pathetic but at least there isn't a marketing explosion to capitalize on them. It's all about the game.

It's nice having a DS on me at most times. It makes lunch and dinner the most exciting times of the day. It's sad when we can spend time in PictoChat which is not a game in any way and we can see each other. I am glad I bought the thing, though. It's true, I have neglected my Nintendog for my Pokémon. But don't worry, (he isn't real).

I am looking forward to Pokémon Battle Revolution for the Wii. I'll preorder that one sometime. It's in June and uses Diamond and Pearl connectivity with the DS. It's also online so it will be interesting to see Wii on Nintendo Wi-Fi. As long as it's better than Sony's service. Yuck.

Hey, does anyone watch Ghost in the Shell? I know it as the show that's on after Robot Chicken most nights and when I just leave the TV on for no particular reason. I'm wondering if it's good. All I know is it has a neat opening theme before I turn on my iPod and roam Wikipedia. I am so random. One of the hard things about having free time is the lack of anything interesting to contribute.

Call of Irony

2007-03-24T22:55:00.000-06:00

I took my PPST this morning after months of putting it off. I also had to handle my passport items as well to get that done. So in my crusing through Omaha I head over to Toys 'R Us because I forgot to go there last week. I walk in and there's a nice large Spider-Man 3 display. I check out the figures and realize my tax refund did get in so I went shopping. I picked up a Sandman, Symbiote Spider-Man, and New Goblin along with a Spider-Spud and Marvel Guess Who? As I was looking around my phone rang. Oh by the way, I guess I lost my service this past week. Thanks Cingular for the notification. So my phone rang and I answer and it's a recording from "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" telling me to head to my nearest store because the toys are in today. What timing!

I also headed over to my favorite GameStop and picked up Pokémon FireRed and preordered Diamond. I went over to the Apple Store to see if I could get my earbuds replaced. The right one is making a static-y noise and it's quite annoying. They asked where the iPod was and I said it was in the car and they needed to see that to make sure it's not the iPod making the noise. Do they honestly think I would check that? Do they think that I have no other headphones besides the Apple ones? I love the Apple ones because they sound the best but seriously, I'm not one to deal with silly, condescending customer service...today. Thank you Cingular and MicroLnk. I might go back next week, though. I also visited Wal-Mart to get Venom. There's no Spider-Man 3 Sorry but there is a really stupid door alarm thing that is not the New Goblin, I don't care what it says. He shouldnot be that happy.

I bug Book Lady to play the items and get giddy. I did notice that the new action figures are not to scale with the 1 and 2 figures and are actually more to scale with the Batman and Superman figures. I'm not sure itf they're trying to standardize or what and Doc Ock towers over Venom somewhat. That's OK. I wonder if the rereleases are to scale...

Oh, hey: Katamari for Wii, 360, PS3 coming soon!
Also: Guitar Hero for Wii

7th Generation Insights

2007-03-22T22:02:00.000-06:00

If a game for the Wii doesn't use motion sensing, the game will be criticized because it doesn't use the Wii's primary feature.

If a game has added motion sensing, the game will be criticized for adding a gimmicky feature that doesn't really enhance the game.

EA Sports games will rock on the Wii and will be exempt from determining whether or not the motion sensing enhances the game.

Nintendo recognizes that you have a DVD player and a CD player so why would they charge you extra for it if you don't need it?

Nintendo wants you to figure out whether or not you want HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and doesn't make the decision for you.

Nintendo needs to make DS Download Play for the Wii very soon, but probably won't happen until June when Pokémon Battle Revolution is released.

Nintendo should not have reduced its support of the GameCube as people like me who never had a GameCube can finally play these games on the Wii.

Buying a GameCube, considered to be a failure amongst its generation, to play its games is preferable to buying a Wii and playing GameCube games that you didn't want to own prior.

Considering this criticism, the Wii is only GameCube 1.5 anyway, so why is it wrong to play previous-generation games on it?

Nintendo needs to make Wii Shop Channel like Xbox Live Marketplace. Will we get the Battlefront additional characters? Will we get the Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Heroes and Villians expansion pack? C'mon Nintendo, support those third-parties!

Wii60: You buy a Wii and a Core Xbox 360 for less than a single PS3.

Xbox Live is awesome, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is decent, PlayStation Online is lagging currently.

The PS3 looks no better than an Xbox 360 when not on an HDTV screen.

Why didn't Sony learn from the failure of the PSX, a PS2 with a DVR available in Japan only, which flopped based on poor sales? Adding many, many features doesn't make people want it more.

The PS3 is improperly marketed as a gaming system. Its primary draw is its ability to function as a gaming system, supercomputer, and entertainment system; however, it is the most expensive item in the gaming system aisle and that turns people off.

The PS3 needs to be marketed as a Blu-Ray player primarily until a killer game is developed. It is the cheapest item among the Blu-Ray players and it also happens to play games. Oh, they kinda did...

As neat as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are, they're fighting over 1% of the market.

Sony wants your money. They have developed a credit card reader for the PS3 and I have heard that they may charge you for virtual furniture in PlayStation Home.

Sony is willing to give away HDTV's in Europe in order to sell the PlayStation 3.

Sony should recognize the popularity of the PS2 and the unpopularity of the PS3. I am no technical developer, but it would be neat to see Sony expand on the PS2's expansion bay. They should make an attachment that goes into the back containing a 360-comparable processor, hard drive, networking and yet still look decent while attached and cost between $100-150. They should market new games as PS2+ or something similar as some form of intermediary step between PS2 and PS3. Unfortunately, the time it would take to develop is insufficient to make a profit and the slim PS2 will be out of the picture.

Board Games

2007-03-17T01:44:00.000-06:00

The other day I was at Wal-Mart and I saw something interesting that immediately took my attention. It was a Spider-Man Origins Operation game. Apparently, based off the box art, you are Doctor Octopus and you must remove Spider-Man's problems so you can fight later, I guess. Don't touch the sides! If you know me, I like revamped versions of board games. I have Pirates of the Caribbean Battleship, Star Wars Game of Life, Batman Monopoly, Lord of the Rings Risk, Star Wars Clone Wars Risk, Batman Begins UNO, Superman Returns UNO, and The Batman UNO. The Pirates of the Caribbean Life and Star Wars Original Trilogy Risk escape me for the moment. Luckily, I found out that I will have to add at least one more game to my list. Looking at images from the Hasbro Toy Fair, it seems there will be a Spider-Man 3 Sorry. Whoops, sorry Venom! What I'd like to see is a mixed up version of Clue that isn't The Simpsons or the Haunted Mansion. I'm just not sure of what except for that DnD Clue, that's just cool.

Additionally, there seems to be some sort of Spider-Man Mr. Potato Head a la Darth Tater, Spudtrooper, and Artoo-Potatoo but I can't make out what it says...

Spring/Winter Break

2007-03-04T00:58:00.000-06:00

Friday, there was a wonderful blizzard keeping people from traveling. Spring Break was to start then and the dorms were to be closed at 5:00 pm. Classes were not cancelled, but the college was willing to let people stay until Saturday at 5:00 pm. Morey was an exception. They put up a big sign that said that we were welcome to stay as long as needed to get home. I really appreciate that. Later Jodene put up a sign that said we could stay as long as necessary until we could get home for free. She rocks! Faye braved the weather on Friday, which, in my opinion was stupid because there was so little visibility. Steph and Daniele headed out this morning but Steph got stuck so the roads were crap. So basically it was down to me, Heidi, Sarah, and Jared (among others) remaining with nothing but time. I had the shortest drive, but Highway 77, which I live on, was closed today until 4:30 pm. We didn't get cabin fever, just a severe case of boredom.

It's no different than any other weekend when people go home. The difference is you're really not supposed to be there. There's a skeleton crew in the dorm and there's no food service. There's no rules so escorting, checking in, quiet hours are all gone. A nice concession if you can't go anywhere. There is Campus Security if you get stuck on campus, which is nice. I drove to McDonald's and the in-town roads were nice especially the highways. The out-of-town was supposed to be nasty. After more time passing we went to Pamida by foot. I wanted to pick up a Nintendo DS lite this weekend but since I wasn't near Omaha, I decided to buy yet another gaming system at Pamida in Wayne. They had the model I liked, luckily, buy games were sparing. I didn't want a piece of crap and I don't want too many games since I don't intend on playing it nearly as much as a Wii. I was able to find New Super Mario Bros. which was on my list of 4 games to get so I was happy. We also went to Quality Foods to get some, well, foods. We then went to Movie Gallery to look for games and possibly a movie to rent. While we are out and about on the roads of Wayne by foot, we notice the relatively nice weather and roads here. It's very much a negative reinforcement to see this, yet know you cannot leave this town.

I like my DS. It's pretty. The game is fun too, but there's still a lot I need to learn. The other games I want are Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, and Brain Age. For now, that is all. This wasn't just a random purchase. I've been contemplating either an Advance SP or a DS for some time now. But when I got my refund check, that pretty much settled the argument. We still got bored so eventually Heidi and I got around to playing Wii Sports and Mario Kart 64. I also hopped into Animal Crossing to get a song from Totakeke [I bought that highly-addicting yet utterly pointless game last week, I just realized I never blogged about that, more to come on that escapade later.] because he only appears on Saturday nights. Sarah then joined us for some Super Smash Bros Melee. Then Heidi and I, still bored by the way, watched Fantastic Four and then got tired.

So now, I wait to see if conditions improve. My mom was stranded in Fremont last night and stayed at my uncle's house. She got home tonight but advised to wait another day. I want to get home but I don't want to be trapped there. Irony of course is that if I had skipped class on Friday as I wanted to and went home on Thursday, I would be home, but trapped with a closed highway running low on food like my dad was. I'm not sure yet if that would be an improvement.At least my laundry would be done. It should be obvious by now how bored I am due to the rambling about very, very inconsequential information but when nothing else happens, you have rights to blather. I really hope the weather improves at home so I can accomplish the things I wanted to do. I want to get the ISP out to our house to rework the connections because they're 6 years old and horrible to network. Only my laptop receives the Internet wirelessly. No Wii, and probably no DS. Not even other laptops. I wanted that fixed while I was home but now I'm not sure if it's cruel to ask them to come. I also wanted to go to Lincoln but who knows if that's going to happen! Oh well, I'm sure to find ways to enjoy my Spring/Winter Break.

2007-02-28T00:58:00.001-06:00

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed.
Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

George Takei responds to Tim Hardaway

2007-02-21T10:43:00.001-06:00

Funny video featuring the Star Trek actor here.

Fall Out!

2007-02-16T00:18:00.000-06:00

I rented Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz this week because I have fond memories of Super Monkey Ball 2 on Nord's GameCube. I heard reviews that the learning curve was difficult but was better to use the Wii Remote than an analog stick. The reviewers were right on the learning curve. The first world is cake, the second mixes it up, the third starts getting difficult. By the end, it is exceedingly difficult. I don't care for it, but Book Lady seems to be having a blast. I take it she likes the puzzle challenge games. I like knowing a game has the hope of being beaten, and this one has a faint glimmer. The minigames are depressing as well. Most are hit and miss, especially the ones based on real games. The fun ones are the ones they made up. But it's not enough for me to buy it at this time. It is a good rent, though. It gives you something to work on for a week and then get sick of falling into ravines or lava. I plan on picking up Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That is an example of a fun single player with outrageous multiplayer. Super Monkey Ball is good, don't get me wrong. You just have to be determined to enjoy it.

On another note, I borrowed Animal Crossing from Heidi. That's very interesting. It's a good boredom game, but it's not much to watch. It makes people watching it to start playing the Sims 2. I know it's coming out for Wii, it's just a matter of when and what it will do. I would love it if it expanded on your GameCube save game that you may or may not have made. I am afraid that I will rent it and keep getting messages from animals on my Message Board.

STOP Class

2007-02-10T13:36:00.000-06:00

Today I had my STOP class to get rid of my citation. It started at 8 and I had a minimal breakfast of juice and water before going in and I felt fine. About an hour in, the instructor starts talking about an accident involving this woman who totaled her car into a house. She got out of the car but didn't really know that she had about a minute to live because she separated her aorta. I'm not a big fan of large quantities of blood as that is one of the things that keeps me from watching horror movies, although Carrie doesn't creep me out because it's so fake. But when I hear extended blood talk that I am unable to ignore, I feel like I become aware of my own blood which is unsettling. The way he's describing it, particularly how after the blood circulates and without an aorta, how the blood "empties into her belly" it makes me a little queasy. Even after he moved on, the images were still in my brain and it made me very woozy and I felt like I overheated and blacked out.

When my vision and hearing returns I am on the ground with very blurred vision and people asking "Are you alright?" I answer I'm fine and realize that I am in fact on the ground. At first I think it's my mind daydreaming playing a trick on me but soon that wears off. They give me my glasses which are very bent and have a drop of blood on them. They ask if I'm epileptic and I say no. I get back on my chair and check my forehead which is bleeding a little bit. I go to the bathroom to clean up and wash myself and I sit down for a few moments. I return and the instructor asks me if I'm fine or if I want to take the class at another time. I say no and I'll manage. It was just very strange to have that happen.

Apparently I looked as though I feel asleep, then fell on the floor. My eyes rolled into my head and the instructor thought I may have been having an epileptic seizure. They rolled me on my back and I came out of it. The last time I blacked out completely was around 8 years ago in church when I overheated. I also lost my vision on Christmas when I ate a really hot piece of food and it lodged itself. All the same I will probably look into it just to make sure I'm OK but I'm hoping it was just a fluke.I did get to joke about it though when he asked when the last time anyone had experienced tunnel vision and I said "About an hour ago." On a positive note, I did pass the test with a happy face and a "Good Job" meaning I missed no questions.

Doom, New Goblin, and Venom

2007-02-09T13:53:00.000-06:00

I found a link off digg that has production art of the villans from the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Spider-Man 3. Doom looks interesting and New Goblin and Venom seem to be on track with everything else we've seen.

Check it out here.

**Updated: Thank God the Doom artwork has been confirmed to be fake. The action figure basically looks the same as well so there may or may not be a redesign of the character's appearance.**

Lectures vs. Discussion

2007-02-06T22:48:00.000-06:00

I'm taking the History of World Religions. I went in thinking it would be fun to learn about more than I know. But recently, I find it so dull. I think I've narrowed it down. He wants us to read the book and then discuss it. While that's nice and all, it's disappointing because I don't learn that way. When I read a required text, I have to try to figure out what is essential and what's going to be asked. I hate that. There's no narrative to follow or anything so I find myself bored. I prefer lectures. I know many would shoot me for that comment but I am much more attentive plus it gives me something to do in class, take notes. I learn better when I'm taught. I am still the student here. If I wanted a book to teach me, I would've paid for it alone and not pay for the class with attached instructor. I was hoping the person in there would teach me something I didn't know. I don't want to discover the text together. When I took Hickey's Military History class we had to read and discuss. I sucked at that class so bad. But now I'm in his Early National America and it's lecture based and I am enthralled with the topic. It's not that Military History is boring by any means. I just hate reading a text instead of being lectured at. I'm hoping it gets better when we get to the more mainstream religions and I know more. I would drop the class and take up something else later but I already had to choose between this and Renaissance/Reformation and I may be regretting it. Although Renaissance/Reformation has a complete ton of reading. Oh well, it all makes me excited for Greece.

DDR: Hottest Party for Wii

2007-02-02T22:50:00.000-06:00

Some information has been released on the new DDR game for the Wii. It looks really interesting. It seems you use the GameCube pads combined with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. The pads record the arrows and there will be symbols for when to shake either the nunchuk or remote. This reminds me of the Rayman "dance" modes and is reminiscent of what they wanted you to do with the EyeToy camera with Extreme on for PS2. I hope this doesn't get too confusing but I'm excited. Plus, you can have up to 4 players at once. Something the Xbox version had on the PS2. It's going to be weird to buy DDR pads again. I haven't done that since 2003. One thing is for sure, you are going to need one large room to fit 4 pads comfortably but it's still freakin' sweet.

For more information on Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party, go here or here.

What Have Wii Been Doing?

2007-01-29T23:10:00.000-06:00

I picked up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance last weekend. I've been playing that for most of last week. It's, not surprisingly, very similar to X-Men Legends, but still very fun. The Wii controls seem to accent the game rather than drive it. I periodically did a motion to attack but mainly stick to pressing A all the time. The cinematics are breathtaking though. I've unlocked all the characters without cheating so that makes me smile. Now I want to play it on Hard.

I rented Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That game is so sick, twisted, and fun. Basically an army of bunnies puts Rayman through a series of minigame tasks that use the Wiimote to its potential in order to be set free. People who watch us must think we're screwed up in the head to be attacking bunnies but they are not friendly once you get into the game. I likened it to the Internet Insanity Test in the weird noises you hear as you play the game. It's very good and I will probably get it soon.

I also rented Superman Returns for the PS2. I have to say, I was quite disappointed in it. I was expecting something like Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man with the free-roam city and, although you have that, the game for me gets bogged down with strange controls and weird missions. It also suffers from Episode III-itis. In that game, although fun, there are many enemies with the ability to block lightsabers. It's a lightsaber! In Superman Returns, Superman's powers seem quite useless against villains. I really have to bring myself to want to play it again. There was so much potential, but it seems wasted.

I read a thing online about Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii. There's a video floating around that shows how moved will work. For example to use Scorpion's spear, you swing the remote and there it goes. Many people have complained that this takes the fun out of the game I disagree. I think it makes the game accessible to anyone. The button-mashers out there liked having the exclusivity of having to memorize a combination to make a powerful move work. Now the layman can do it. I see this a lot recently. When we play Bond on PS2, I have to step back when the others play so they have a chance because I'm too familiar on it. On the System Link for Halo, Mark and Brenner say that people don't like it when they play because they're so good, and they are. With simplified controls, the playing ground is even.

Also, Mario Kart 64 came out on Virtual Console this morning and oh, how I've missed it. I never had a Nintendo 64 because that came out during the time when my parents wouldn't pay for video games themselves. So I missed out on a lot but thanks to Virtual Console, those games are back. The game plays so wonderfully and seems to be graphically smoother than my emulated version, but that could be the emulator. I really wish they could get the license to GoldenEye 007 for the Virtual Console. The company who made it is now owned by Microsoft, plus they need the Bond license but that game would sell so well.

Silver Surfer's Packing

2007-01-24T10:46:00.000-06:00

Apparently, I'm not sure who found this out but, in the HD version of the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer trailer, which is a neat trailer by the way, the Surfer for a few frames appears to be anatomically correct. Throughout the trailer, he's a Ken doll but somewhere after the 1:00 mark the Surfer flies by and I guess the animators wanted to have a little fun. I highly doubt that we will see this in the final film, it isn't Hollow Man. I'm just wondering when the trailer will be replaced. And please, no "rise" of the Silver Surfer jokes.

You can see the nads here.

Wii First-Person Shooters

2007-01-20T23:57:00.000-06:00

I found another article off digg I want to talk about. This one talks about how the first person shooters on the Wii are difficult to control and suggest ways for the developers to fix this before they lose sales. I have Call of Duty 3 and I admit, it was not fun to play at first. I aimed the Wiimote at the screen directly and noticed how if you look in any direction that wasn't the center, the camera would zoom off in that direction. It wasn't fun holding the controller at the screen in an unnatural position for so long. Try holding a remote control at a TV for 30-60 minutes. I played a couple of missions and my hand cramped up and hurt the next day. Even though it was difficult to control, I surprisingly enjoyed it.

The solution on the player side is to take the Wiimote and brace it against yourself. Have it rest on your leg or something. It's much more natural and you have greater stability over where that cross hair goes. I find myself enjoying the game so much more now that it doesn't cause me pain and anguish. I even got Steph to play it and she did the same and she enjoyed it even though it made her nervous. Whenever the Wii Zapper comes out, it might improve the stability of the unbraced hand. Holding a gun at something for an extended period is creepily more natural that doing the same action with a remote. Unfortunately, the prototype displayed found at Wikipedia doesn't seem to leave much actions for the Nunchuck, but in Call of Duty 3, most of those actions have a button duplicate. Although, it would be really cool to have four of these for some kind of future multiplayer Bond game.

On the developer side, I think they should add in a little auto-aiming. I know people don't like that because they think the computers doing all the work or something, but it would help the player control the game slightly better. It's not the same as using an analog stick to aim, you physically have to point at it. Also, it would be nice to modify the look sensitivity of the Wiimote, somewhat like you can in Halo.

I don't think that first person shooters on the Wii are doomed. Gamers are just going to have to adjust better. I had to adjust to using one analog stick to move/strafe and another to look. That seemed counter-productive to me, but I see the merits of adjusting to it.

What the Wiki?

2007-01-19T12:09:00.000-06:00

Apparently it seems that Wikipedia is too smart for us. An article found on digg says that the content of Wikipedia is becoming too unreadable, not by idiots adding whatever comments Stephen Colbert tells them to put on the elephant page, but by the language and vocabulary used on the site. The writer of the article says that the George Washington page's introduction qualifies as post-graduate level writing. See, I don't get this. I can understand it, not trying to sound like I'm a post-graduate or anything, but I would guess it's because Wikipedia is trying to be more of a source in its academic affairs. Although, if you were to start a question in Dr. Hickey's class with, "According to Wikipedia..." you wouldn't get very far in the credibility scales. That fact that anyone can edit it is unique, but it is truth by consensus. The people on digg also pointed out a Simple English Wikipedia that dumbs it down even further into short sentences and words. Seriously, on the front page it says "Agriculture (growing crops)" in reference to the entire "field" of agriculture. Obviously! Nice for the 4th grader, but what is happening to our society? Reading used to be a privilege reserved for the elite and now it seems that books are greatly ignored or dumbed down. I mean, honestly, one of the the top selling books for children and adults is Harry Potter, a book written for children! I'm not saying it's bad but our adults are reading youth novels. Of course, I read comic books so I'm really no better, but the fact remains, if people don't have to read, they won't. And when they do read something, like Wikipedia, it's too complex for some to understand. I'm glad I'm not going into English Education because they have a lot of work ahead of them to turn future adults into active readers.

2007-01-17T12:13:00.001-06:00

You Passed High School with an A+

You have the brains of a high school graduate... at least!

Could You Pass High School?

Of all places, Pamida

2007-01-15T17:22:00.000-06:00

I went over to Pamida today to pick up tissues and Tylenol and I walked over to the electronics, just to check, and they had a Wii! I picked that thing up and got my stuff and checked out. I was floored. I brought it back to Morey and showed people what I got at Pamida. I put it together and now the fun happens.

It was very disturbing going into Fremont, Omaha, Lincoln, Norfolk, and Sioux City and finding PlayStation 3's sitting on the shelves and no Wiis. Only recently I've been finding the price marking for the Wii at stores. I go everywhere and it's sitting in Wayne at Pamida. It wasn't even marked up like usual. They said they got 6 in on Friday and that was the last one that was not reserved. I'm so happy Christmas came in January.

A minor scare

2007-01-13T01:00:00.000-06:00

I was just going through the planner the college gave us to plan on when our Sci-Fi meetings would occur and I crossed off Easter Sunday, of course, and I noticed the date. It said April 15. I get a little freaked out, not because of tax day, don't be silly, but that's the last day of WillyCon. I think to myself, "No, there's no way we would've scheduled that during Easter. That's not possible. It's gotta be wrong." So I check Wikipedia, the best source in a rush, and it says that 2007 Easter is April 8. I am so relieved. But I want it to be known that the WSC planner has Easter on the 15th, not the 8th. That's the last time I trust the college to plan my events.

New Pirates of the Caribbean Pictures

2007-01-11T11:38:00.000-06:00

Apple TV and iPhone

2007-01-10T01:39:00.000-06:00

Apple TV is a box that you can sync with iTunes to play music, movies, TV shows, trailers, and podcasts wirelessly from the iTunes Store. This is very interesting. I've wondered why you would buy Pirates 2 for $9.99 on iTunes just so you could watch it on a computer or the small screen on iPod. Buy the DVD. But now, you can stream it to a TV making your digital media on demand. You don't need to find the disc, it's already on your TV. It's interesting, but not portable. You can take the disc with you if you need to. You won't want to drag the box. But it does validate purchasing videos, especially movies, on the iTunes Store if you now have a way of playing it in a neat fashion. Or you could buy the iPod Universal dock kit for $99, connect it to a TV, and watch it that way but that's no fun. Price: $299

iPhone is stylistically a very neat product. The whole thing is one big touch screen. It has a very clean and spiffy interface and has a 4GB to 8GB iPod built in. Apple's site has videos that show how well the interface works. It's got full Internet browsing as well as several neat phone features. It arranges texts well and will show you your voicemail. It can play videos like iPod and will rotate on its side for widesceen ones. But at 4GB and 8GB, how many videos will it hold? Not many. You won't be watching Pirates 2 on this bad boy unless you don't want much else on there. The price is staggering at $499 and $599, making it effectively like a PlayStation 3, but it is state-of-the-art. It's also exclusively under Cingular which is good for me if I wanted it, but I wonder how long it will remain exclusive (like how the RAZR was). This is a neat product and neat to look forward to.

Keep in mind I have never seen these devices, nor actually handled them, I am only responding to the information that has been presented so far so don't go thinking I'm an expert, people. I just thought they were cool announcements and wanted to share my two cents on them.

2007-01-08T10:37:00.000-06:00

Your results:
You are The Joker

The Joker		48%
Lex Luthor		44%
Venom		43%
Magneto		42%
Dr. Doom		31%
Apocalypse		30%
Poison Ivy		29%
Mr. Freeze		29%
Green Goblin		29%
Kingpin		27%
Mystique		25%
Riddler		22%
Two-Face		21%
Catwoman		17%
Dark Phoenix		15%
Juggernaut		9%

The Clown Prince of Crime. You are a brilliant mastermind but are criminally insane. You love to joke around while accomplishing the task at hand.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

Making Up 2 Weeks in 2 Days

2007-01-07T16:40:00.000-06:00

On Friday I went into Omaha to get some stuff taken care of before returning to Wayne. I went into Wal-Mart and picked up some medication. I went over to PhantaC and picked up some comics. I called Daniele because she wanted to get together sometime. I told her I was going to Krypton next and she was about to get in her car and drive over. So much ADD. I went over the Dragon's Lair and then Hobby Lobby to get supplies. I went to Best Buy and picked up War of the Worlds and Superman: the Movie. I then went to the other Dragon's Lair to see what they got. I then went to Walgreens to get more medication. I got a pretty good haul of stuff to read.

Yesterday after work, I headed out to Daniele's. We eventually went over to Jodie's and it was good to see her. We went to Trade-A-Tape and I picked up Superman: Secret Identity. We then went to Comic World and I picked up some trading cards. We went to Best Buy and I was really tempted to get Star Trek IV and Insurrection but I just didn't care. We then tried to eat at Lazlo's over by the Batman Bank, then at Ruby Tuesday's, then Olive Garden, then the food court, and ended up at Fazoli's. We then went to Barnes and Noble. I picked up Casino Royale because I want to read the Bond novels in order. Then we went down to the Haymarket and had I had some Earl Grey at the Mill. Then we went to Wal-Mart. I picked up some yarn so Jodie can crochet me a scarf for my new coat. They had 2 PS3s and no Wiis. It was very depressing. At Walgreens I got a nasal inhaler for my congestion that works well. We then waited for Book Lady to arrive at the train station. She got in at about 1:45 AM so we dropped off Jodie and they took me to my car. All in all it was fun if not late.

2007-01-05T09:27:00.000-06:00

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman		80%
Green Lantern		70%
Hulk		60%
Robin		57%
Spider-Man		55%
Catwoman		55%
The Flash		55%
Supergirl		54%
Iron Man		50%
Batman		45%
Wonder Woman		39%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

This is getting annoying

2007-01-03T11:44:00.000-06:00

Well, my bronchitis is gone and I'm done with my medicines. So I went back to work yesterday and my nose was just relentless. It kept running and running. My cough also picked up a bit. The doctor said that it is the remnants of the disease and now that it's over, my body needs to get rid of the mucus. He gave me a new syrup that stopped the runny nose, but not the congestion. So I basically destroyed my nose trying to get rid of the snot that won't leave. So I'm not taking that again. I got very little sleep last night and now I have a mild headache combined with my congestion, cough, and runny nose. I am so sick...of being sick. I need a gallon of orange juice or something because my immune system must no longer care. I really want to go do stuff with people but I'm just taking it one day at a time.

Also, I am now aware that I used the wrong tense in my Spanish in the previous illness post. I apologize to any Hispanics I may have offended with my linguistic incompetence!

What I'm looking forward to in 2007

2007-01-01T14:31:00.000-06:00

Spider-Man 3 - How good will it be? It's got Venom, Gwen Stacy, and Sandman added to the cast. It will be interesting to see if after this movie if there is any life left in the franchise, or if it allow itself to end.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - How is Barbossa back? What exactly is Keith Richards' cameo going to be like? The summer has answers for us.
Other movies - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, maybe Ghost Rider. I also hope we'll get to see what Heath Ledger looks like as the Joker in The Dark Knight
Ultimate Spider-Man sans-Mark Bagley - The long-running comic loses its artist after shattering a Marvel record. We'll see how it goes from there.
Friday's off - I have no Friday classes next semester and that's something to be excited about.
Greece - I have the chance to go to Greece for a class at the end of May and I am so taking it.
WillyCon IX - We have so many guests of honor lined up. Im also exctied to see what develops at this year's con.
Nintendo Wii - I'll get my Wii sometime in 2007. I really want to play with my Wii.
Halo 3 - When is that dang thing going to be released?
PPST - I really, really need to take that stupid thing. Why am I so lazy?
Practicums - when I take that stupid PPST, I'll have loads of practicums!
No more history classes - They will end after this semester. I will miss them as I'm bored to stupidity with education classes.
30th Anniversary of Star Wars - What do they have planned?
Tellering - Once I'm back from Greece, I'll get to work again! Yay!
Summer trips - I'll probably head back up to Wayne and Norfolk and Sioux City in the summer again. It's so fun seeing people outside of stress.
The unexpected - You never know what's out there...

Judgment

2006-12-29T11:05:00.000-06:00

Now, typically I don't get religious in my posts because I don't feel it is necessary to advertise my beliefs. I believe in tolerance. I let you believe what you will and try to respect you for that. In turn I hope to learn more about what you believe so I may confirm or add to my own beliefs. I don't want to be shut out to ideas because I may have been told to. On that note, it happened again. It happened at Thanksgiving and one holiday later it happened one more time. On Christmas, I'm not sure how, but my family went off on homosexuals again. It's very disconcerting to hear their hateful and un-Christian remarks. It drives me nuts when people claim Christianity but listen to very little of it. I must admit, I said nothing to them, partially because of my voice, but mainly because I didn't want to make an issue. My mom, though, seems to share my mentality which helped restore my views of the obedient Christian.

First of all, we are to reserve our judgment. Matthew 7:1-2 NIV says: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." I love the Message Remix which translates the Scripture into contemporary English. Matthew 7:1-5 in it says: "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticise their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing the holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor."

They would argue how they must be sinners. I would counter that all of us are no different. Romans 3:23 NIV says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." More importantly, I was always taught to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 18:19, Mark 12:31). How is loving your neighbor the same as condemning them for something they have no control over and how God made them? In fact, we, as Christians, are not to lash out, but to turn the other cheek when we are attacked (Matthew 5:39 NIV) or as the Message Remix puts it: "'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it." Ah, the fundamentals of tolerance. Similar to love the sinner, hate the sin. You don't have to like what other people do but that shouldn't stop you from loving and supporting them in whatever they choose to do. I just hope my family realizes this before their private opinions may turn into public, and life-damaging remarks.

Do I hate them for this? No, As much as it disturbs me, I must try to help them see the truth. No matter how I feel, one strong Christian value is that of forgiveness. We are to "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32 NIV). Sorry to get all spiritual on everyone, but, as I said, it bothers me when Christians, the people who should be the most loving people you will meet, can act with such hatred.

Holiday Awards

2006-12-28T12:51:00.000-06:00

OK, I'm going to go over the presents in a fun way.

Most surprised reaction: Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows for PS2. I got this from my mom's side aunt and I was totally not expecting this. They have never picked up PS2 games before and it is very appreciated.

Least surprised reaction: a brown light-weight coat. I opened this and I was taken back. I already have my brown corduroy coat which I like and this just seemed so similar. I'm sure I find a good use for it though.

Most consistent: iTunes gift cards. I love these things and I got two of them.

Most practical: I got a bunch of long-sleeved shirts and nifty ties with black pants for when I can go back to work.

Least practical: Call of Duty 3 for Wii. I love it and I can't wait, but I don't have the system yet.

Neatest gift: a long black wool coat with scarf and leather gloves. So cool.

Belated gift: Nintendo Wii, when I get one, it counts as a Christmas gift.

Funniest gift: a pillow that says "Be Nice or Go Away."

Unfortunate gift: Call of Duty 3 for PS2. I just got the Wii one earlier in the day and my aunt picked it up. I felt bad but I know I could exchange it for Zelda or something.

Gift you wouldn't expect me to love: CD-Rs. I have none of these at all which is surprising.

Gift I wish I got: an electric razor. Mine has its sideburn razor broken so they get long until I go home and nix it.

Still Wii-less

2006-12-28T12:37:00.000-06:00

This is a late post but I find myself with time now. On December 17, I heard that there would be another shipment of Wiis in. Toys R Us would get 7, Target would get a bunch, Best Buy would get some, and Wal-Mart would get some. So I woke up at 4:00 am to get to Wal-Mart in case they sold them at 5 instead of 8 like they did in Norfolk. When I arrived in Fremont, they said weren't getting any in so, not to waste time, I went to Omaha's Wal-Mart and they didn't have any. I was wondering if they were lying in order to prevent a line, but wondering wasn't going to get me one. It was about 5 and I went to Target to see if there was a line. There was, and there were tents. They opened at 8 and I was #37. It was very cold (possibly explaining my sickness) and I had some conversations with the people there. After 45 minutes the Target people came out and said there were only 15 Wiis and 8 PS3s. So I was out of there and went back to Wal-Mart. More people were there expecting Wii and they said they didn't have anybody. They sent someone back to make sure and they said they had none. So I went home to sleep.

I was working in the lobby with a teller that was hired when I left for college, Laura. She's fun. She likes sci-fi stuff so I had stuff to talk to her about. She saw Eragon and said they left a bunch of stuff out of the book. She and her husband were also looking for a Wii. She said he was 4th in line at Gamestop for 5 Wiis and had to leave to go to work. He was offered $100 for his spot. During the week, my brother said that my sister-in-law, Jordan, was at Wal-Mart and they announced over the speakers that there were 3 Wiis that just came in. My brother was so mad she didn't stop and pick one up. I didn't mind. The next day Laura said her friend was at another Wal-Mart with the same announcement and picked one up right away. So she got to play one. I was at Best Buy and there was a bunch of PS3s just sitting there with a worker watching them. He said the Wii was all sold out. I did get Call of Duty 3 for Wii so no I have a game and a controller with nunchuk, but no Wii. Hopefully once the holiday hype dies down, I'll be able to pick one up conveniently.

Es muy inferma

2006-12-28T12:26:00.000-06:00

I was coughing lightly throughout last week, but on Saturday it began to escalate. We went to see Casino Royale and I was coughing fairly regularly. We got ice cream afterwards and the cod didn't help. My voice lost itself on Christmas Eve and I blacked out on Christmas Day. My voice was gone the following day. Every time I talked, it triggered a coughing outbreak. So I took work off. It didn't get better so I went to the doctor yesterday. I hadn't been there since 1991 when I got my stitches out. The worst thing is both of my parents don't remember me having stitches. That's very depressing. It's weird though, because there's very few headaches, no body pains, minor nasal problems, no stomach problems other than my coughs periodically triggering my gag reflex. It's all throat and chest. So the doctor said I have a form of bronchitis and gave me a prescription for a couple of syrups. One tastes fine but the other has a nice kick. My voice sounds horrible and I try to shut up for most of the day to relax my vocal cords. I hope I get better by the weekend because my cousin's wedding is on the 30th and Daniele is having a New Year's party and I want to go. Until then I'm very contagious and catching up on my relaxation.

The Silver Surfer

2006-12-21T21:45:00.001-06:00

Almost There...

2006-12-13T20:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm so close to being done I could taste it, if it was possible to taste the future. My Ethics and Values final went well. I got the poster project done and the self-assessment done for my education classes. I took the Ancient World test and made history of it. I've got my 15-20 page paper almost done. I just need to proofread for grammatical errors. Then it's under Dr. Taber's door following my Anthropology final at 10:30 and I'm outta here.

I've got a list of games to rent for PS2 and I hope to find the Wii over break. I've also got American Gods to read for Sci-Fi Club. I'm not working too much so I hope to have time for stuff.

I found about a class I want to take. It's the History and Geography of Greece, in Greece. It's from May 21-June 5 and it costs $2500. I'll see what I can scrounge.

2006-12-13T17:51:00.001-06:00

Your 1996 Theme Song Is: 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

Shakedown 1979
Cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet

What's Your 1996 Theme Song?

Boggle Challenge: 11 words

2006-12-11T01:47:00.000-06:00

At the bottom of the window it says there are only 11 words possible in this Boggle grid. My question is: Can you find them? I only found 6 in the three minutes but I'll give you a few days. Good luck:

If you don't know how to play you basically form words that touch horizontally, vertically, or diagonally without reusing letters.

Wii-less

2006-12-06T09:19:00.000-06:00

I heard that Wal-Mart would be selling Wiis at 8:00am today so I called them up on Monday to confirm. I asked if they would be available at midnight and they said 8:00am. Someone on Amazon claimed that there is a lock on the Wii so they cannot be sold until 8:00am. So I slept early and woke up to get there at about 7:15. There was no line. I thought it was weird so I got my stuff and listened around. They said that people were waiting at 5 and the Wiis were all claimed. I was thinking it was a ruse to prevent a rush on the systems so I paid for my stuff and waited around the electronics. They kept saying the same thing so I gave up.

That bugged me a bit because they never told me to get there earlier and I was under the impression that they couldn't be sold until 8. I think what happened was somebody got impatient and tried ringing them up to prove a point on the electronics registers. The Amazon guy said that the electronics and jewelry departments don't have the lock for some reason. They saw they would work and sold what they had. So when I hear about the next shipment, I'll just be more vigilant.

Review of "Casino Royale"

2006-11-19T01:40:00.000-06:00

It seems like forever since Die Another Day where Pierce Brosnan was able to somehow manage to escape from a burning-but-not-yet-exploded airplane in a helicopter with Halle Berry in tow. Well, we have a new Bond and you don't piss him off. Focusing on the 00 agent's early years, Casino Royale is a very welcome return to what seems to be classic James Bond. When the movie started I almost freaked out because there was no gun barrel intro, but rest assured, it's only delayed. The opening credits are fantastic by the way. And Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" is way too catchy. It's a shame the only way to obtain it is through semi-legal means.

The plot is solid with very few unbelievabilities. There is little focus on gadgets as evidenced by the lack of Q and no watch lasers. At one point he even, God forbid, drives a Ford. The film was co-produced by Columbia thus connecting it to Sony explaining the multitude of Sony-branded products throughout the movie. I almost expected him to whip out a PS3 in his off time. But, no this is a darker movie. The villain, Le Chiffre, is very cool, very calm and sophisticated...in the first part of the movie. I feel the casino scenes show some 21st Century influence with the use of Texas Hold 'Em Poker as the game of choice but it helps you connect more. M is also much more determined in this movie, for lack of a better word. Bottom line: If you're a Bond fan, and action fan, or just like great movies, go see this film. This or Happy Feet...whatever.

My rating: 009.5 out of 10
DVD-worthy: I will most likely own this as soon as possible, if I can wait until March 27th.

Where Have I Been?

2006-11-16T17:15:00.000-06:00

OK, recap. This could get as long as a Jodie post but I feel the need to catch up on what's been going on.

Game Day and V for Vendetta
On November 4 the Sci-Fi Club had our Game Day. It was a lot of fun. I rented LEGO Star Wars II and DDR Extreme 2. I also played some Risk and we watched a bunch of movies. We had a good turnout but they kicked us out at 9. We're going to do it again for our Christmas Party and we'll ask to stay longer like at WillyCon. The next day we played V for Vendetta for the campus in Ramsey. There was some confusion about whether or not it was public and if it was illegal. We decided it is illegal but no one cares. We had a decent turnout but it gave us ideas for other movies. I then played LEGO Star Wars II and beat the first one.

My Brother's Wedding
Last weekend my brother got married. I guess they both got really sick with the flu before the wedding. I got down to Beatrice in record time and we went to the rehearsal. It went well and then we had the prenup at Valentino's. My cousin brought up Guitar Hero and I watched him play it. I went over to Wal-Mart at about 11:00pm and was really tempted to get it.

The next day I helped set up the video for the reception. We wanted to get it connected to the overhead speakers without putting a microphone next to the speaker. I went over to RadioShack and picked up a microphone extension cord and a minijack adapter. It worked well. The Holiday Inn lady didn't even know that was possible. The tuxedos were nice but very restricting. I drove over to the church outside of Plymouth for the pictures. They had good weather so some were taken outside. The wedding went well. They had trouble getting a CD to play so me and her brother Caleb went over to look at it when they fixed it. So we had to run back downstairs to get back in our cubby at the front. It was a really neat wedding. The flowers had some sort of fruit in them and a feather. They also threw lavender at the couple as left left the church. Her family is so crafty. After the ceremony I was to take my cousins, the guest book attendants to the reception. I went to my car and found out I locked myself out. Stupid Wayne habits! My spare was also inside because I didn't want bulky pockets during the wedding. My uncle, my dad, and I worked on getting in but those Pontiacs are built air tight. So we left it and went to the reception. The food was fantastic and the video worked well. I basically winged my speech off the top of my head. But people liked it. That made me fell good considering this senior in college can be a total idiot at times. My uncle manages Sid Dillon in Fremont and he had them make up a key. We had another spare at home so we decided that I would ride back with my uncle to Fremont, stay the night, and drive back with him to unlock the car.

We got the car open and drove back to the hotel to load up my stuff. I felt so bad and my confidence was shot so that was fun. I helped my parents load up and they gave me gasoline and I began my 3 hour drive to Wayne. I stopped at home to get some things and let the animals in. I got back here at a reasonable time but I enjoyed the wedding for the most part. I'm so excited now.

Last Night
Yesterday Rachel, Steph, Faye, Daniele and I went into Norfolk for stuff and things. I guess the comic book store is gone now so we went to Target. I picked up The DaVinci Code on DVD along with Batman Begins UNO. We then went to Sonic to confuse the carhop. After the food we went to Hastings where I got a used copy of V for Vendetta. We then went to Wal-Mart and I picked up an external hard drive. My current one had only 2 GB out of 120 GB. So now this gynormous one is for videos only. I like it.

Haunted House

2006-10-29T23:33:00.000-06:00

I am so loving the haunted house. We had basically no paying customers for scout night on Thursday but we totally made up for it on Friday. They were lined up and groups were being sent in constantly. I felt bad for the workers who never got their break so we took five minutes and I ran in pizzas for the workers and got whatever they wanted. I felt like a waiter. It was vigorous for all but it was so worth it in the long run. We also had a huge turnout for workers which really helped out. We had a decent night last night. People had time to come out to eat and scared a good number of people. Today was awesome. We didn't have as good of a turnout but everyone had a great time socializing. We were about to close up but another group came with 10 minutes to spare. I don't know why but we had so much fun with them. We scared the crap out of them and everyone was just spinning. I envy those who couldn't make it because it was a blast. Luckily, we still have tomorrow and Halloween!

Neologisms in Papers

2006-10-10T21:57:00.000-06:00

I'm writing my Anthropology paper and I keep making up words that Microsoft Word doesn't recognize. They include:

gravitic: relating to gravity. "This causes a gravitic problem."
civilizational: of a civilization. "a civilizational breakdown" (recognized by Webster)
naturality: relating to nature. "realize the naturality of the situation" (recognized by Webster)

I don't know where "gravitic" came from, most likely Star Trek.

Finally, Some Good Customer Service

2006-10-10T10:59:00.000-06:00

My iPod has been goofy for quite a while. I just never cared. In about February or March it started doing this thing where after a while, the volume would no longer respond. The bar would move but there was no change. I had to reset the thing to get volume control. I tried searching Apple for the reason but all I got was angry Europeans whining about how they can't make the volume louder because of restrictions there. I hoped a future update would correct this. Nope. In fact the 1.2 update made it slightly worse. The volume thing was gone, but now it would freeze if it stayed idle most of the time. It would also play like 20 seconds of a video. So I deal with that for a while but it frustrated me on the Duluth trip because it would freeze and drain the battery. Sometimes it would shut down properly, otherwise it was a guess. It would even freeze in the dock.

I noticed the Apple Store opened in Village Pointe in Omaha a few weeks ago so I thought that perhaps they can service it without having to send it in to Apple. I brought it in and the took a look at it. They listened to it and tweaked it a little. Luckily it was frozen when I brought it in so they knew what I was talking about. I'm glad I remembered to bring the Best Buy receipt because that helped immensely. After a while they went into the back and gave me a new iPod of the same model! I was thrilled. The new iPods scratch like a son of a gun so I am going to be smart about this one. I used the first one as a testing ground so now I have a case to care for the iPod. I'm just so happy to have great customer service after the Cingular debacles.

2006-10-05T12:53:00.000-06:00

Duluth and North Shore

2006-10-02T22:22:00.000-06:00

On Friday I had to wake up and go on the Explorer's Club trip to Duluth. I brought a nice supply of reading material for the trip plus the great and powerful iPod to solve boredom problems. We went to Interstate State Park in Wisconsin after heading through Minneapolis to see the St. Croix River that serves as a border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. I'm so glad we went in autumn because it was beautiful. We lost a couple of guys but huzzah, they were found. We also formed a grudge against Wisconsin due to the lack of open visitors centers. We headed up to Duluth and ate a Fitger's Brewhouse but first we wandered through stores. There was a Benneton. Eww...Benneton! Tee food was good and I tried new things. I didn't know what alfalfa sprouts were (sadly) but they had no taste and they were good. I also figured out what chutney was. The other table gave us their excess appetizers so Rhea began to break the two pieces of pita bread so that everyone could have some. She was almost like Jesus! We then went to our Motel 6 which was interestingly dumpy. I got basically no sleep the first night because I'm weird but it didn't matter.

The next day we went to the Aerial Lift Bridge and saw Lake Superior meet the St. Louis River. We then went up to Two Harbors and ate brunch. Then we went to Gooseberry Falls State Park. That was really neat. It reminded me of Sioux Falls as there were really no rules about where you could wander. Steph, Heidi, and I went down to the Lake Superior shore which was neat and hurried back so Dr. Bertolas wouldn't leave us. I also squished a couple of pennies and got a patch. Neat! We then drove up to Split Rock Lighthouse. We watched a film on the lighthouse and watched them really accentuate the need for the lighthouse.The lighthouse was nifty and the view was spectacular. I squished another penny and then we went up to Palisade cliff edge which scared Dr. Bertolas into believed everyone would die. After that it was a trip up to Tettagouche State Park to see Shovel Point and more of Lake Superior. I have to say, that although breathtaking, you get really tired of seeing trees and water out of one side of the car. It was a really peaceful day but you just wish the Great Lake would do something great. Anyways, we went over to Northern Lights Roadhouse to eat. I tried Walleye, Elk, and Caribou. Not to shabby. We then stopped for pie on the way back. When we got back to Duluth, we went aimlessly up to Enger Tower to get a view of the whole city. I finally got a shot of the Aerial Lift Bridge at night after several attempts with my camera.

At the motel, two of my roommates never came back and I wish I used the other bed because no one else was. We checked out of the motel one hour early and drove down to the Twin Cities. We stopped at Tobie's to get the world's best frickin' donuts ever! We then went to the Mall of America. Ahh, memories. I'd hoped we'd get to wander for another hour because we were kicking time's butt on the way there but no such luck. I was pissed because when we got there at 10, none of the stores were open! Aah! But we were lucky: Spider-Man was making a stop at the time we were there on the day we were there. We saw him run, run, run over to his podium which was hilarious. We wasted an hour with very little to do except smash pennies and then we went to Barnes and Noble when it opened. They no longer sell the Onion in print there. What a bummer! Then we high-tailed it to the game store where I bought some miniatures and over to the LEGO store where I picked up some LEGO Batman magnets. We then had to get food because it was our lunch stop so we went to McDonald's without a dollar menu and walked back. I had hoped we'd gain an hour for when it was not open, but with everyone back already Dr. B was not about to let us go back in. Such a shame because I wanted to go back. On the way back I discovered exactly how magnetic the LEGOs were. Let's just say they don't clump together in a nice way. We got back super early on a good note and I'd love to go back sometime.

The St. Croix River on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin

The Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota

Gooseberry Falls State Park

Lake Superior from Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse

Tettagouche State Park

Aerial Lift Bridge with a barge on Lake Superior at night from Enger Tower

Spider-Man running through the Mall of America

2006-09-28T22:07:00.000-06:00

How White and Nerdy Are You?

Constitutional Conundrum

2006-09-26T22:38:00.000-06:00

In Sci-Fi club, we have several amendments to our constitution based on simple clean up and making sure we cover our bases. One of the amendments has a provision that basically would allow the President to "appoint, remove, or replace a committee chair upon the advice of the committee, executive board, or club." The current constitution just says the President simply appoints. The Executive board then logically inferred that the power to replace and remove is also the President's handled in the same matter. So, if the President can pick someone on a whim, the President can remove someone on a whim. That's just irresponisble, hence the amendment making advice necessary before taking any action. The President needs the whole story. This is a way of protecting committee chairs from a President removing someone that the officer doesn't like.

At the meeting, we had a guest speaker from MENC to talk about joining Haunted House and if I had known, I would've had him go first instead of amendment talk. It was brought up first that the word "advice" should be changed to "approval." I stated that it is inefficient to have to vote on every committee chair's appointment and that it should be a quick executive action. We are not a communist society and that's why we have elected officials. They are the ones to do the jobs that don't require full democratic action. The other officers all have jobs that require no club approval to do, removing any power from an officer weakens the club as a whole. Then we discussed changing "or" to "and" but that would mean I would have to involve the entire club each time on what may be a private matter that affect a person's duties. Also, the power to appoint/remove/replace should be uniform in action so whatever steps it takes to remove need to be the same steps to appoint, which is an incredibly simple matter. Basically after all of this certain members probably scared off the MENC guy basically telling that club that we are too complicated an hung up on the difference between "and" and "or". That irritated Ron because MENC is actually willing to help this year and we may have shooed them off or made them hate us again.

Eventually they voted on an amendment proposal that reads: "To appoint, remove, or replace a committee chair upon the examination of the parties involved in the situation in the presence of the advisor if the advisor is available." First of all, that is not constitutionally appropriate language so I have to correct that. The constitution must have appropriate, logical language to prevent potential ambiguity. It would be irresponsible of me to submit an amendment that would flaw the constitution grammatically. The clause "in the situation" was removed by me because it is redundant. Who else would be in the situation? Then the phrase "in the presence of the advisor if the advisor is available" is contradictory because it basically means the advisor is not required granting executive discretion on whether or not an advisor should be present. We can't remove "if the advisor is available" because it was agreed that this should be a speedy decision. So, therefore, if the advisor is not required, it doesn't need enumeration. Then the question was: What is the difference between "the parties involved" and the groups previously listed? Who else would be in the involved parties that wasn't listed? I know they said that this should be a club decision, but when it involves the "parties involved," how does the club get involved? Now I have to figure out what the difference between "advice" and "examination" is. Am I supposed to give tests? What else do I get from an examination other than the advice I need to carry out the decision? I am going to add "concurring advice" to show that the advice I receive must agree with the decision but other than that the amendment will read the same way. I need to talk to Ron about how to accomplish this but honestly, I don't see the difference between the amendments.

Giggle Fit

2006-09-17T13:03:00.000-06:00

Last night, it was way too late and we were way too caffeinated. I was playing LEGO Star Wars and Steph and Book Lady are in my room watching and of course, everything is hilarious on that game. We discovered that you can push the second player off an edge and that's funny. Then I noticed that never finished my grape Crush. So I drank it and it's warm and I said it tasted like Dimetapp. We we start laughing and my curious nature in me goes to Google to search for Dimetapp. The website makes me laugh, Steph makes me laugh, and Book Lady's passed out. I tried to stop laughing but "the Steph" finds that funny and laughs harder making me laugh again. I feel like I had Joker gas or something. So finally I sit on my stomach on my futon because it hurts less that way and laughingly tell her we need to get you back to your room so we can both stop laughing. So we giggle all the way down the hall as everything is hilarious. Soon after the tremors stop. Moral of the story: Always find time for a good laugh once in a while!

The Son becomes the Father, and the Father becomes the Son

2006-09-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

It's becoming rarer and rarer to have a day go by without seeing the Superman shield. When walking to class you see the thing on at least one person's shirt. Even I have a shirt and a Christopher Reeve dog tag sporting the shield on my bag. Steph and I both came up with a Morey Hall shirt with the shield at the same time (creepy). I saw one over the summer that was on pink with the word "bitch" on it. I'm still not sure what that has to do with the character. It's so neat to see such an iconic character permeate into mainstream culture so easily.

Now I'm not necessarily the biggest Superman fan. Personally, he's kind of a prude. He seems so one-dimensional at times. He's not like the Marvel heroes with their problems or even Batman with his tormented past. He's got it easy. He has almost every neat power that you could think of. You can't kill him by sheer force. His greatest nemesis is a regular human holding a rock. I guess it's just the ideals that he stands for that makes him great. He is a representation of what it means to live life t the fullest, untouchable and without a worry in the world. It's also the thought of knowing that no matter how crappy the situation can get, Superman will pull through every time.

In Superman: Birthright, now the official origin story of Superman, the S-Shield is symbolic of Krypton and means "hope." It's on about everything and is almost like a family crest of the House of El as seem in the movies. That must be what people want: hope. That, or air which is what the modified symbol means in Smallville. Either way, it's a neat symbol that needs no explanation that anyone, whether a fan or a person who's never touched a comic can wear. Swell.

Norfolk vs. Sioux City

2006-09-03T00:26:00.000-06:00

I love Sioux City. I used to go to Norfolk for everything until Sioux City came into view. Recently though, I've been finding out that Norfolk just disappoints me often. All it has going for it is Hastings, Sonic, and a closer Wal-Mart. Hastings is a big guess as to whether they have anything. If they do have it, it will cost you at least a testicle to purchase it. We midnight run to that Wal-Mart because it is closer but other than that, I find myself rarely in Norfolk.

Sioux City has ACME, which is awesome, and Rainbow which has the things ACME might not have. They also have the Dowry which is so unique for the area. They have a good mall with a Hot Topic, Spencers, and Barnes and Noble. They have Chick-fil-A! And recently, they have Best Buy and Old Navy. It's only tacking on another 10 minutes to get there and the road does get curvy, but I end up there more than Norfolk. And now that South Sioux has a super Wal-Mart on the way to ACME, I'm more appreciative. And most of this is in Iowa, too, which is amazing that I like going there for some reason.

And at times, Sioux City even makes Omaha cry all the way home to its mother. This weekend, I wanted to pick up Superman: Birthright while I was in Omaha. I went to PhantaC just to hope they had it. I went to Dragon's Lair with no luck, and also Barnes and Noble. Nothing! I was too lazy/tired/weak/stubborn to go into Krypton which probably had it but it was on the wrong side of town. I figured at least one of these places would have it since both ACME and Barnes and Noble in Sioux City had it. Of course, Norfolk's selection is pitiful, unless you want just Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 11 or Ultimate X-Men Vol. 8 with nothing else. Sioux City is also the place where you could go just to see on the small chance they may have a Smallville Clark "super-angst" Kent action figure and be able to find one at both ACME and Rainbow for cheaper than online. What a world!

Terminator TV

2006-08-29T11:19:00.000-06:00

ComingSoon! reports that "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" has been given the go-ahead to make a pilot. The show will tell the story of Sarah and her son John after Terminator 2 while they are on the run. On the run from what? In the crappy Terminator 3, John just lives "off the grid" and wasn't expecting anything else from the future until it arrived. They must be running from the law for blowing up Cyberdyne or something. Oh well, it seems interesting so we'll just see how it turns out.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, You are from Krypton

2006-08-24T22:00:00.000-06:00

We've been watching way too much Smallville. I am so surprised by Faye's reaction to it all. She really gets into it. She talks to them and then flips them off when they don't cooperate. It's fun watching the first season again because it's been under a month. We've also adapted lines from "The Juggernaut Bitch" towards Clark. "Are you shooting bullets at me? You must not know who I am. I'm Superman, bitch! You're weapons don't affect me." They also want some red K even though they've never actually seen the effects yet, they know what it does. Luckily you can Lana's kryptonite necklaces at www.replicaprops.com. We've also adopted a new axiom: Whatever doesn't kill you gives you superpowers. Oh well, I'm excited for Season 5 on DVD in a couple of weeks along with the new season after that!

2006-08-23T08:52:00.000-06:00

Your Taste in Music:

90's Rock: Highest Influence
90's Alternative: High Influence
Adult Alternative: High Influence
Alternative Rock: High Influence
80's Alternative: Medium Influence

How's Your Taste in Music?