Still Standing

Yesterday concluded the toughest school year of my life. It's interesting being 30 and challenged academically, even if the challenge lies in my awful study habits.

As I've said ad nauseum here, I'm just relieved to finally have a few weeks in which to breathe, get my brain reorganized, and rejoin the fight in the middle of June.

It'd also be nice if it stopped fucking storming some time soon.

First, in order to understand, you must be brought low:



I don't really know what to say about that, so let us move on.

New Stuff
I picked up the new Star Trek 1-6 Blu-Ray set yesterday, to celebrate the conclusion of my finals. I am like a little kid when it comes to buying prettied-up Star Trek episodes and movies I already own, bouncing around joyously while Archer/Kirk/Picard/Sisko/Janeway yells 'FIRE!' as my wife shakes her head at the thousands of dollars I've spent over the last 15 years to make sure I own the 'definitive' version of each episode/movie.

I am a Star Trek junkie.

Both of the Blu-Ray sets that are out (Star Trek season 1 and Star Trek 1-6) are great in terms of visuals and sound, but a little perplexing when it comes to actual content. The season 1 set, like its DVD predecessor, is missing the Cage, the original pilot submitted to and rejected by NBC, which featured an entirely different cast, except for Spock. This ended up w/ season 3 on DVD, which made sense in terms of broadcast order, but was still annoying, since it clearly takes place before the events of season 1.

Additionally, the movie set doesn't feature any of the director's cuts from the DVD set, which means they'll be trotting out the final versions around the time of the sequel to this year's Star Trek.

Speaking of the movie...hmm...I'll talk about it more in depth next week, but here's the basic feelings I have now:

- I was really worried about how I was gonna react to the 'alternate universe' gimmick they used to give themselves carte blanche with the storytelling possibilities, and they handled it well

- this film has the best opening of any Star Trek film or episode up to this point

- the casting was brilliant

- the film was paced beautifully

- Nero is the lamest villain in Star Trek history; we know next to nothing about him, don't really care about whatever it is he's feeling, and never spend enough time with him to feel very strongly one way or the other about him

- I don't know how I feel about the film being absent of the core Star Trek values; I'm not saying I needed a preachy scene, but one of the things that defines Star Trek is a moment in which a character has the principles of the Federation challenged, and they make a choice, one way or the other; I enjoyed it, but it seemed to lack the intellect of all non-Voyager Star Trek stories; I could have sworn that Brannon Braga was a secret consultant

- as I said, I liked it, but I was left wondering if it was a Star Trek action film, or an action film dressed up as Star Trek

- you will perceive this as being 'nerdy,' but I assure you that I must do it in order to make sense of this strange universe: 'Star Trek' is the fourth best Star Trek film behind 'the Wrath of Khan,' 'the Undiscovered Country,' and 'First Contact.'

- this film is definitely geared more toward generic humans rather than Star Trek fans, though both will enjoy it

As I said, I'll write more about it later, after I've seen it again, and had some time to actually think about it and discuss it (I've been up to my eyeballs in fucking academics since I saw it.)


Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

The Future
I downloaded the new Fable II DLC, 'See the Future,' though I've not had a chance to even touch it yet, due to the aforementioned Finals, and a family emergency that came up last night. I should be giving it a shot tonight.

I've estimated that I've spent, roughly, the GDP of a small European country on Disgaea 3 DLC, and I've hardly touched any of it. It's a situation akin to addiction, wherein my brain says, 'that right there is something branded with "Disgaea," which means you must have it.' One day...one day...

I'm really looking forward to Terminator: Salvation and Drag Me to Hell, as well as True Blood on Blu-Ray.

Well, I was gonna embed trailers but embedding is disabled by Warner, so I guess they don't want fans to help them promote, so I won't link to the films, either.

The Past
I was driving to the hospital last night, to see my mother (don't wanna get into the details, but she's going to be fine), when I saw that one of my old restaurants had been closed.

It was the restaurant in which I'd been hired as a dishwasher at 18 years old, and then I was running when I was 26. I knew they were struggling, and I suspected, for a number of reasons, that they were gonna shut down, but to actually see that a place that had housed so many memories, spread out over so many years, shuttered and ripped up like that was a little disturbing. I was sad, to tell ya the truth.

It was a place where I had memories acting like a dumb, jack-ass kid, throwing knives around, making out with female coworkers, napping in the walk-in cooler, and all kindsa idiotic, fun stuff.

On the other end, I remember being the leader that cracked down on shit like that, and matter of fact, my history was one of the reasons they installed me there when I came back to the region, since I knew most of the crap that the kids would try to pull.

In many ways, that store helped define me in ways that are almost silly. I mean, come on, a crappy job teaching a boy what it means to be a man? Pfft!

Really, though, I did learn a tremendous amount from some great people while I was there, and was rewarded with some great leadership positions, and it's sad to see the place go.

Wrapping Up
So, I'll be back tomorrow, and I'm resuming my M-F blogging schedule, so you can count on regular spewings from me each afternoon. I'm still working out my summer schedule w/ my day-job employer, but it's looking like I'm gonna have a nice, chill schedule, and I'm gonna have time to work on some personal projects.

First up, I'll be doing some editing of some very old writing of mine and I'll be making my first Team Fortress 2 map as an excercise. From there...well, we'll see. I'd still really like to do a NWN/NWN2 mod.

So, anyone seen Star Trek? What'd you think? Have you tried the new Fable II DLC? Have you tried any of the Disgaea 3 DLC? What'd you think of either?

Lemme know!

-Blaine

Stopping to breathe.

We're a little poor at the moment, since that phat podcast money isn't coming in anymore (pfft), so I had to get creative today in the kitchen. I took pepperoni, folded it a couple times, inserting provolone in each of the folds, then smothered hot dog buns in pizza sauce, then slid the pepperoni/provolone into the buns. I then microwaved them for one minute, and BAM! The best lunch I've had in weeks.

Adversity forces creative thinking, which is something I like to be reminded of every so often.

Education
Finals start tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to getting them over with. It's been a bitch of a school year, and I'm looking forward to sinking my dagger into its breast, then getting my mind fixed for a few weeks.

I got Microeconomics tomorrow, a class I've thoroughly enjoyed, and I feel okay about that one. Then, Tuesday...wait, no one gives a shit. I hate reading these types of posts, what the fuck am I doing?

Anyway, I'm all done Wednesday, which I'm very much looking forward to. The See the Future DLC comes out for Fable II on Tuesday, so resuming my endless Fable II playthrough Wednesday night will be a nice reward.

Of course, I put myself back on my 8-4 work schedule the very next day, so no real partying 'til the following weekend. Then, we get to start being social again.

This and That
I'm not sure if everyone is wise to this fact, but bitmob.com has gone alpha and is up for your viewing pleasure. Even the alpha version of their site has me excited, as does their philosophy. If you were ever a fan of EGM or 1UP, go check out this site. For me, it fits very neatly with the other gaming sites I frequent (1UP & giantbomb & gamasutra & the escapist)

I really wanna now call out all you irresponsible fucks that give sites like IGN and Gamespot traffic, and thus clicks, and thus dollars, and ask you why you support paid-for reviews and shit like that, but I won't. I don't have the energy to lock horns with those that frequent the 'Wal-Mart' of gaming sites. Of course, without those people, who would I laugh at when I read comment sections for game reviews?

I'll post my thoughts on Star Trek at the end of the week. I'm the biggest Trekkie I know, and I want to see it again before I solidify these opinions. I know it's a fun 'popcorn movie' (all you motherfuckers who use that term should be set on fire while you're sent back and time and aborted with a shotgun blast) for most of you...non-Trekkies, but seeing my most beloved franchise 'rebooted,' so to speak, was exciting and traumatic, at the same time. I know I'm a huge nerd for being passionate about Star Trek, but it's a series that's always spoken to me, and I consider myself lucky to have something that means so much to me be so large and deep (ooh, that's what she said). I feel sorry for any of you people that ever feel ashamed for being passionate about something.

Phew. Moving on...

We started watching episodes of Party Down this weekend, when I was taking breaks from studying, and it's great! It follows a group of caterers who are stuck with their shit jobs, while each has a different dream they're chasing. It is hilarious, it is touching, it'll make ya squirm, but it'll also make you laugh your ass off! Watch it now!




Anyone out there got any good finals-related stories? I love hearing that kinda shit.

Also, I don't know if I'll be posting again before Thursday. If I have time, I would love to, but no promises. As I said, I'll be studying and testing my ass off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Okay, just wanted to drop you all a line to let you know that I hadn't, in fact, abandoned this blog. I've just been busy as hell. Back to studying.

-Blaine

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.