Ugh, yet Yay!

First off - ugh... I'm sick, and I'm not feeling great. Was up all night with a sore throat, coughing and sneezing, and I feel like crap.

But also - YAY! I'll have my car on Monday - Insured and registered. it'll be so nice to get back on the road again.

VACATION! Hoody-Hoo!

Yep, another fantastic week of vacation, with a couple of cool things happening.

First - I finally got my license back. After getting the runaround from DMV for the last 2 weeks, I finally got the money to renew my license. Now, all I have to do is get insured and registered, and I'm back on the road.... Just in time for winter.... grr....

And in my never-ending quest for Trivial Pursuit games, I struck card-reading gold out in Oxford - I got the Silver Screen and Young Player's Editions today.

Life is good...

Talk about quick!

My glasses broke during "Lost" on Wednesday. I was cleaning them, and the frame snapped. So I'm freaking out - I don't get paid until this Friday, and I need my glasses to do anything.

So I call VIP eyes, and they said a replacement pair will cost abvout 140 bucks... but I'm leary of purchasing glasses through them again - considering the frames only lasted a little over a year. So I call my friend Mike at Pro-Vision in the mall, and he says he can get me a pair of glasses for $130-$150. I'm thinking "That's great, but I can't pay for them until next Saturday". He says it's ok, and will just set the lenses aside, and he'll take care of them for a week.

So then I get a call from my friend Chuck - and he tells me that he can set aside $160 for me so I can get my glasses. At this point I'm nearly in tears - Not many friends will just say "Here's 160.. pay us back when you can."

So I call Mike up again and tell him I have the money.. and he tells me he'll order the lenses, and they'll be in next week.

Flash forward to Saturday. I ws over at my friend's house, and when I get home, my message-flashy-thingy is blinking. Turns out my Mike got my lenses in lens that 2 1/2 days! I call a cab, and rush over to the mall... 45 minutes and $140 later, I'm in new glasses.

Talk about fast - and I wouldn't have happened without my friends.

And I thought I'd have to buy a new drive...

Tried burning some episodes of 24 to a DVD today. So I crack open some Imation DVD-R disks, and start to burn. Or rather NOT burn. I figured it must be a bum disc, so I popped another one in. Again, it wouldn't burn. Now I start to get worried. Well to make a long story short - I flashed my BIOS with an update, and also flashed the DVD drive with a Firmware update, and I've decided - Imation makes crap discs. My other discs work like a charm. Oh well. Live and learn :)

Who'd a thunk it?

A commercial put out by McDonald's THANKING the crews and managers that work there.

I have three words to say:

About Frickin' Time

Just when I thought TV was getting dull...

This season has some winners.

First up, LOST - my favorite show on TV. We finally get some answers, and a lot of new questions.

And tonight, I caught the first ep. of Criminal Minds on CBS. First off, I love Mandy "Inigo Montoya" Patikin, and the true profiler spin on investigation is a fresh spin on cap shows (unlike NBC's old show "Profiler" was a psychic detective. The downside? It's normal time slot is opposite Lost! Thank god for BitTorrent - I'll be downloading both shows as soon as they hit the net.

Threshold's premiere last Friday was fantastic! It's nice to see Brent Spiner acting again, and it took me 45 mintues to realize it was him!

NCIS season opener was fantastic, and CSI's premiere was excellent as well.

Lots of good TV this year - it seems that the networks finally listened to what people want - intellegent drama - not schlock..

May I Always Roll Natural Twenties...

Most people don't understand D&D. "It's Evil!" they yell. Or "It's a tool of the Devil and all his incarnations!". I've been gaming for 15 years (+/- 1d6 years). Most of the time I've been a player. Until tonight.

Tonight I DM'ed my first game session with my two best friends, Chuck and Heather. And I really wish I had been Dm'ing a lot sooner than this. I was nervous, I felt unprepared, but you know what? I had a blast.

I'm trying to stay organized (calenders, Keeping track of NPC's, magic items, places they've been too), but you can NEVER anticipate every situation. For instance, my group was in the local inn, and Matilda (the rogue) pipes up "What's for lunch?" I sat there with a blank look on my face. I didn't even consider the fact that they would ask a mundane question like that. I wormed my way out of it (quite easily though) and continued the game.

I've been DM'ing for while - and I have to admit - It's a helluva lot harder than it looks. Especially, when you have characters that tend to be led around. I'm trying to make the game open-ended (meaning I'll have to figure out what I'm doing as they are), but I'm still trying to have an overall story arc to work with. For instance, I try to ask what the characters are planning for the next game session, and they said "We'll surprise you". Ok then, they should expect to be delayed while I think of stuff off the top of my head. So I really need to prepare more off-the cuff things ahead of time.

Right now, I have the characters signing up for the Spring Festival activities (i.e. Jousting, Archery Contests, Storytelling contests, Obstacle Courses, etc.) This'll buy me about 1-2 sessions worth of gaming, so inbetween the sessions, I can have the next part of the story arc laid out.

I keep this up to date as I go - for now, I have to work on more random encounters.

It's Time To Play The Music!

It' s time to finally watch the first season of the Muppet Show on DVD! Many many thanks to my best friend Chuck for getting it for me for a late birthday present.

And I'll finally be able to start to compile a "Best of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem" :)

Peter Jennings (1938-2005)

3 days ago, ABC News anchor Peter Jennings died of lung cancer.

To those that know me, they know that I don't watch the news. I'll occasionally read articles on the net, or read the daily paper, but I don't watch local news.

But if I ever did watch the evening news, I watched ABC. Peter Jennings reported every major world event, and also stories that no one else would touch. I felt that he lent a air of confidence and calmness during the news. I remember watching the aftermath of the Challenger explosion at night after going home. To a kid whose interests were computers, math, and the space program, he was an emotional center that a 13 yr old needs.

I just finished watching "Peter Jennings: Reporter" on ABC. It's not often that any program will captivate me to to point where I won't eat anything, drink something, or have something turn my attention away from what I'm watching. But for ABC to air a 2-hour, no commerical retrospective, was a fitting way to remeber a great anchor and a great reporter.

It's about bleedin' time...

For two things actually. First - I'm finally on vacation. I'm about 5 days in (I have Friday and the weekend before I go back), so I'm really enjoying my time off. And second.....

I'd like to thank Bioware and Lucasarts for finally patching the first Knight of the Old Republic RPG for the PC so I can finally run it decently. There was a nasty bug when it used onboard video (I know, I need a DECENT video card), and I finally got to play past the Undercity on Taris - I'm now a Jedi Padawan on Dantooine, and I'm loving every minute of it....

Whew...

My god is it frickin' hot out! We're supposed to hit99 degrees. 99 DEGREES?!?!? That's August weather for pities sake! All I have to say is thank god for Air Conditioning, or I'd be a puddle of goo right now....

TV

America has no taste - instead of voting for the better performer, they voted for the cutest. It only goes to show that Americans in general don't care whether or not a person has any talent - as long as they look pretty. I do know one thing, I won't be watching Idol next year, but I'll definitely be picking up Bo Bice's first album.

As for the other Season Finale's - Lost was the best. Talk about unbelieveable. And a great cliffhanger for next season as well... I can't wait 4 months for the next season to start.

Another week down...

And 9 weeks before vacation. I can't wait. It'll be nice to take a week off in July - and enjoy the sun and rest for a while. I hope to catch up on my reading, and hopefully relax outside for a while.

Bought National Treasure on DVD.. I love the movie, and it'll be nice to see it again.

Quick Post...

Before I go to work. I love watching some types of TV. I don't do well with reality shows (with the BIG exception of "The Mole"), but for some inexplicable reason, I got into this past season of "The Amazing Race"

I was hoping that Rob and Amber wouldn't win. Yeah, I know they are from New England, and I should have rooted for them, but Rob is an ass. I can't stand him.

And now I can't stand all the stupid publicity they are getting becuase they are getting married.

I have 2 words for them....

WHO CARES?

Cool Cameos!

I like to watch TV - granted I only get 7 channels, but I like a few shows on broadcast. But watching TV tonight (I HAD to watch LOST), I saw 3 really cool cameos.

UPN's "Kevin Hill" is starting to grow on me. It's a pretty neat show. I watching the episode, and one of the guest stars is playing a priest. After watching for about 10 minutes, I realize it's Wayne Brady. CSI: NY was a great episode, especially with Michael Clarke Duncan on it, and then on Will and Grace I saw Gregory Hines... Pretty cool...

Ch-ch-changes...

Well, I'm taking another step - I'm cutting soda out of my diet. Not completely, but I won't be buying 2 liters of Caffeine Free Pepsi every week. I'm 8 months with no caffeine, and my health is better for it. But now, I'm going to start cutting out unneccesary sugars - And Soda is a big one. I need to drink more water (especially with Summer around the corner), and I might possibly switch to Gatorade. I drink Wal-Mart Brand Orange Drink mix (100% Vitamin C, which is good), so I might stick with that for a while.

And I think that the next one will be (shudder) my mints. I LOVE Brach's Peppermints. But either I need to cut them out of my daily intake (I do eat a lot of them), or switch to a Sugar-Free brand of peppermints.

Wasn't feeling well today, so I called in sick. Started taking to my supervisor, I said I wasn't feeling very well, andthen proceeded to rattle off my symptoms to me. Seems it's been going around the office, taking out 1 person at a time.

Also, I might be getting a new mountain bike within the next week. My supervisor's Boyfriend is selling a $400 mountain bike for $150. I'm hoping I can bring it down to $100, and I can get it off him on Friday. If I get the bike, I'll be plotting a daily bike ride down Lincoln Street before work each day. Hopefully I can start to shed these pounds soon....

New HHGTTG on BBC Radio 4!

Well 8 weeks of Hitchhiking Bliss on BBC Radio 4 with the final 8 episodes of HHGTTG. The Quadnary Phase aired Tuesday (Listened to it last night though), and it'll air through till the End of June. It'll be nice to hear the rest of Adam's tale in it's original format too.

OK So It's not like the book! Big Deal!

I saw the opening of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on opening night this past Friday. Chuck and I got to the theatre (with our towels of course.. yes we ACTUALLY brought towels with us), and sat down to watch a movie we've been waiting nearly 20 years for.

It's not an exact duplicate of the book or Radio Series. As much as I would have LOVED to seen a exact duplicate up on the big screen, I knew that wasn't going to happen (unlike the multitudes of HHGTTG fans that seem to think that they can have a tremendous influence over a series by bitching about it incessantly). What they did do is compress the basic plot of the first book into a nice 1 hour and 45+ min package. Considering that Douglas Adams had written 90% of the movie, I think a lot of fans are pissing on it for the wrong reason. They cry "The director hacked at the book and made it a piece of garbage!" Well I hate to break it to you, but Adams himself wrote the garbage. So if you don't like it, don't watch it again.

I found it hilarious. I was laughing so hard I honestly felt the blood rush from my head and I started to feel faint. The Guide sequences were spot on, and I feel they did a tremendous job with the Heart of Gold seqeunces, and Marvin. The only thing I found off was Zaphod - not that he wasn't cast right (Sam Rockwell is a funny actor), but it was the second head. I would have preferred to see the second head next to the first (like in the TV Series).

All in all HHGTTG was a great movie. I'm hoping that it'll make enough so we can see "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" in a year or two.

And to all that couldn't stand it - I understand. Really I do. We've all been cutting and directing the film version in our heads for years now. We knew what Zaphod would look like and what the Heart of Gold would look like.

Lighten up people - it's just a movie.

Ahhh... Sweet restful sleep..

I finally got a decent bed! Renting it from Rent-A-Center, and it's fantastic. Granted it'll cost me 90 a month, but my health is worth it. And it's HUGE! If I sit on the edge of the bed, my feet don't touch the ground for cryin' out loud. I woke up refreshed and rested, which is something I haven't done in months. I was awake and coherent at 7:15. 7:15! I'm never up that early. But it feels great. And getting a decent nights sleep is so worth the cost.

Also picked up a USB 10-key pad. I've been seeing ads in the gaming magazine for specialized keypads for gaming (like the Zboard). The can cost upwards of 40 bucks for a keyboard! All they do is replace the WASD setup with better buttons, add some fancy graphics, and voila! A new keyboard. Or go down to OfficeMax/Staples and pick up and Targus 10-key pad. It's USB1.1 compliant and it's separate from the keyboard. Boot up your game, use the keypad to assign your movement and weapons, and you have an instant ZBoard for about half the price. Granted it's not as fancy, but it will give you an edge in FPS's.

Mitch Hedburg 1968-2005

Wow. One of my favorite comedian died of heart failure on March 30th.

Mitch Hedburg was one of the funniest guys I've EVER heard. Like Steven Wright, but he's laughs a lot more.

He'll be missed. But his comedy lives on.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGH!

I can't believe it...

IT'S SNOWING!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGH!!!!

Ahhh... the power of BT

I love the internet.

Between Movies, Music, Games, and the wealth of information out there, you really can't get bored.

And especially with BitTorrent, I can't get bored - there are way to many TV shows to download and burn to CD.

Now I'm a HUGE fan of ABC's "LOST", but I missed 3 episodes because I was really really sick with an upper respitory cold. So instead of waiting to see if the come out on re-runs - enter BitTorrent. I've got the first 4 episodes now along with the one about the Cursed Numbers. I'm hoping to have the entire season soon, and also get some Law and Order for Ben & Cassonsdra.

Awesome stuff this internet thing....

That was great :)

I must admit that was a very pleasant first date - We went out to Wendy's and then ended up at her apartment - and we watched "50 First Dates". Which was an appropriate First date movie :)

She said she had a good time, and I'm hoping we can get together again soon. I'd really like to start a relationship with her.

Woot! A Date and a New Computer!

And yes, I put the date down first. I'm having my first date with a girl I work with at the bank tonight. Her name's Jennifer, and she's really really nice. I'm hoping everything goes well, and we hit it off. We're going out to dinner and a movie, and I'm nervous as hell, but I can't wait either.

And I've also got a new computer. Thanks to Ken and Lorraine for taking me down to Best Buy to pick up my new Sony VAIO 3ghz system. 200GB Serial ATA Hard drive, 512MB ram, and a great all around computer to boot.

So life is grand - And I'm enjoying every minute of it :)

I got some money back, money back, money back....

Woohoo! $1054 back from IRS :)

I see a new latop in my future... :)

Is it legal to be this cold?

Damn it's cold out there today - I literally can't see out the winows of my apartment.

This type of weather should be illegal. The National Weather Service should be fined just for REPORTING this tpe of weather.

I know one thing - I'm not going anywhere tonight.

Oh Boy - I've been bitten by the Bug...

The MMORPG bug that is. Thanks to the great and talented folks at FunCom, Massively-Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games are now FREE. Anarchy Online is completely 100% free. No Purchase, No Credit Card, No Monthly Subscription.

The basic game is totally free (although an 830+ MB download), and I've been playing for about 3 hours now, and I must say it's pretty damn cool.

And it's free until At LEAST January of 2006. 1 Year of free playing? That's the one thing that stopped me from going out and buying a MMORPG. I could never justify the cost of the game ($35-$50), and then having a monthly subscription fee ($10-$20) on top of that. AO is taking a huge step in the right direction by offering it for free (although if you want to play with any of the 3 expansion packs, you must pay a monthly fee). And who knows? If I really get into AO, I just might subscribe.

The game was really easy to get into, and runs pretty decently on my computer. I figured out how to do a lot just by fooling around with the interface (which is pretty slick, I might add), and using the mouse. I even managed to team up with a couple of people to take down a Big-Ass slimy snake/lizard thing on the East side of the crash site. Not bad for 3 hours play time, and I plan on playing every night for at least an hour or two.

Anarchy Online - There isn't a better time to try a MMORPG.