Docta Jones! No time for love!

So, this is the week before finals, so pardon me if I'm a bit brief for the next 10-11 days. In addition, I have my wife's and hetero life mate's birthdays this week, as they were rude enough to be born in the same week.

Thank the maker that my wife and I got married, though, so we could quit celebrating our fucking dating anniversary, which fell exactly a week after my wife's birthday. May is an incredibly expensive month for me.

I keep getting interrupted by panicked phone calls @ work. Like right now. FUCK!

Anyway, I'm gonna make this brief, since everyone else's sky is crashing down around me.

The Weekend
We watched Havoc last night and it was almost as heavy-handed and "the audience is stupid so we must put them in a headlock and beat them over the head with totally un-subtle plot devices)" insulting as Crash, but it had lots of nudity, so it was a better movie. Both are still bad movies, and steer wide of them if you haven't already.

I wish there were more films made for people that aren't afraid to be challenged and provoked, more films that made people think, and they're getting fewer and far between each year. It seems like for every the Reader and Watchmen, you have a million fucking Spidermans and Crashes and...argh. I don't need every film I see to be a monumental mind-fuck exploration of what it means to be human, but don't treat me like a "Dancing With the Stars"-watching, mouth-breathing retard, either.

The weekend was okay, if a bit rainy. Tony acquired several new Wii games, which we tried out. I should add that this is a totally alien experience for him and me, since, while we both know he has a Wii, we tend to snicker at it as we walk by. However, I can safely say that House of the Dead: Overkill, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and Madworld were all fun little games.

We closed out the evening with some Guitar Hero: World Tour, which Tony purchased after we canceled the podcast. Former listeners will remember him dragging Guitar Hero's battered and broken corpse behind his verbal pickup truck, but then...he flip-flopped. Yup.

It is not even close when it comes to how much better Rock Band 2 plays. I'm decent, at least, on guitar, in these games, and the note-detection is utter shit in Guitar Hero, when compared to Rock Band 2. I guess they're basically the same game, but I was a little annoyed at how ridiculously precise I had to be in GH. I've played actual guitar for over 20 years now, and I can tell you my timing would've been good enough to actually play these songs, but...ah, forget it. It's an okay game, but Rock Band 2 just seems like a more laid-back, fun time.

Crunch Time
This is the last week before finals. Anyone who's ever opted for higher education knows that, in some ways, this week is actually a bit more stressful than finals week.

I've got things to wrap up for Microeconomics, Statistics, Java Programming, and my computer hardware class. I'm also thinking about formally joining the grad school this summer, but we'll see.

After 5/13, the class side goes away, and I'm left with just the work side. I work for my school, as well, and lemme tell ya, if it weren't for the fact that my coworkers are awesome, I might lose my mind at work during this point in the semester.

That last sentence was, until recently, followed by a description of exactly why my job becomes difficult at times, but I thought better of it. Just know that people all come together to shit on the IT guys when times get tough.

So, yeah, the next week and a half, I'll be kinda underground. I won't be going out (save for the Lady's and John's birthdays), I may or may not be on Steam/Live/PSN, and I'm gonna try and post at least a little each weekday, but we'll see.

I dunno why, but the last 2 semesters have each been a total bitch-kitty, and I'm looking forward to recharging this summer. I'm still taking classes this semester, but it'll be tremendously streamlined, relative to what I usually put up with.

To any and all faculty and students ready to pull their hair out from finals right now: PLEASE be kind to your IT folks. They want you to have a smooth, painless experience, as that makes their lives smooth and painless. Some are more competent than others, I agree, but being nice to them just makes it easier for everybody.

Man, it's weird being 30 and back in school.

Does anyone out there have a crazy finals story? Or a good story from this past weekend? Any cool TV/movies/gaming stuff they wanna share? Hit me up with a comment! Ya don't even have to register!

-Blaine

PS - Dollhouse was awesome this past Friday. Check it out.