But, I've also felt guilty neglecting this place. I've got a lot I want to talk about. But, much like what's going on at work, so much to blog about that I can't figure out the best place to start so nothing gets blogged about.
Let's see if I can remember what's been going on since I last posted anything...
We joined Lifetime Fitness in July. I've been going mainly to improve my cardio-vascular fitness. But, I've also been using it to do a little bit of weight training and working to strengthen my core to help with my golf game. It's only been a couple months. In order to receive a membership credit through our HMO, I've had to go a minimum of 12 times per month. When we signed up, the ramifications of this hadn't dawned on me. If I want that credit, I have to go three times a week! It actually hasn't been that difficult to do that so far. I can't say for sure if it's been helping or not. But, I will say that I feel "weird" if I miss one of my "scheduled" trips to the gym.
My beginner's golf "league" has ended for the summer. Which is sad. I will miss having a regularly scheduled golf outing every week. My friend and I were going to go this past Friday. He called me in the morning to say he couldn't make it (kid was sick). So, I went by myself (no way I'm going to let a round of golf go to waste). The forecast was for rain and I was praying that it would hold off (or at worse drizzle) during my round. With the impending bad weather, there were few people on the course. In fact, I was able to go out and play by myself! Unfortunately, about 2/3rds of the way through the first hole, it started to rain. No problem, I brought a jacket with me. Then it rained harder for about 10 minutes. Then it let up to a moderate drizzle. Then it rained hard again. Repeat over and over again. I was finishing the 10th hole when I decided I was too distracted by my pants being completely soaked to continue. Luckily, I had thought ahead and brought a change of clothes. I ordered a pair of Adidas rain pants on Friday afternoon. I don't mind golfing in the rain. I just don't like being completely soaked. I'll be ready for the next time because my friends and I seem to have a knack for choosing the days when it's going to rain (or snow) when we golf.
My birthday came and went. Also, in another sign that I am old now, it is my 15 year college reunion this weekend. I won't be attending any of the festivities. Most of the alums that I'm interested in seeing I already see on a regular basis. But, it is weird to think that it's been 15 years since I left college. It also means that my 20th high school reunion is around the corner, too. Yikes!
But, I do what I can to stay young. My interests and hobbies seem to bear that out. My wife was kind enough to allow me to purchase "The Beatles: Rock Band" for my birthday. Since I hadn't bought either Rock Band or Guitar Hero: World Tour yet and had no instruments other than my GH2 Gibson X-plorer, I bought the version of TB:RB that included the drums, Hofner bass replica and microphone (wired).
The drums
I think I'm finally getting down the drums. I'm at least scoring four stars regularly on easy. I'll move on to the next difficulty level soon enough. I definitely prefer the scale of the guitar/bass that came with this game versus the scale of the GH2 X-plorer. The guitar/bass is closer in size to a real guitar so I find it more comfortable to play. I can only assume the rest of the RB2 instruments are of this scale. Not sure I want to pay the price premium for either the replica Rickenbacker or Gretsch though I am sorely tempted. The Gretsch replica would be sweet. I had hoped these would work with GH2 and GH3. But they don't. So, I guess if I want to keep GH2 and GH3, I'll have to keep the X-plorer around. The X-plorer does work with TB:RB.
OK. This post is getting a tad lengthy, I've got more to talk about but I think I'll save it for a post talking about the music I've been listening to lately instead.
Soon! I promise!
For the video game nerds in the house.
And, if you know me, you know that GTA4 is most likely NOT the only game I'm playing right now...
If you've looked at my Flickr recently, you probably saw this
So, there's an answer to what else I'm currently playing. Though, I must admit that I haven't devoted as much time to it as I'd hoped. But, considering how sedentary my life has become, this is better than nothing when it comes to any sort of physical activity outside of walking around the office, walking around the house, or mowing the lawn.
What else? Well, there's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One (AKA, the Penny Arcade game). It's available for Xbox 360 (through Xbox Live Arcade), Windows, Mac, and Linux. I'm playing it on the 360. If you purchase the non-Xbox 360 version, your license key works for the game on all three OSes! Pretty nice consideration. It's a fun JRPG (Japanese RPG)-style game. The writing is very entertaining. It's a definite buy if you're a fan of the PA guys and/or their writing and senses of humor. Otherwise, unless you're interested in RPGs, you may not see the game as entertaining.
And, finally, there's The World Ends With You (Square Enix, Nintendo DS). I haven't spent too much time with this one because I've been busy with GTA4.
That's about what I've been doing away from work (at least after the girls go to bed). I'll have another post with what I've been watching lately. Soon. Maybe. OK, eventually.
- Music:Shackleton "Majestic Visions"
The other thing I did was ogle the new Verizon XV6900 (aka the HTC "Touch"). I think I'm in love. I wonder if I could convince the boss to let me get one (and an associated data plan) on the company's penny.
- Music:Prince Fatty "Big Man Cry"
Wow. I guess I'll be picking up GTA IV sooner rather than later.
And just in time, too. I had received No More Heroes from an Amazon affiliate shop last week. I think I paid $34 shipped. A pretty good deal.
You can find a description of the game here. And here's a trailer for the game (approx. 3 mins.):
I have also pre-ordered Wii Fit which is scheduled for release in the US on May 19.
You can find a trailer for it here.
The image is corrupted when the Wii is connected to my HDTV with component cables. Before I opened a repair issue with Nintendo, I made sure that the problem wasn't the specific set of component inputs on the TV (it has two sets), the multi-system switch that the Wii was connected to, or the particular component cables I bought for the Wii (from monoprice.com).
Oh well, so it goes. At least it's still under warranty. I wasn't using it much yet, either. Really waiting for Wii Fit to come out.
- Mood:
annoyed
But, enough of that junk.
Spent a bit of time last night watching Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot on Yahoo! Live. He was talking up some of the stuff that GR has going on now, upcoming shows, etc. I was on for about 30 minutes or so (I couldn't resist the call of "GH3"). And, I didn't have a web cam set up on me. Maybe for his next live chat, I'll get it set up on my home PC. It was nice to "see" Eric again. I haven't seen him since his visit to Mpls. awhile back. Timing didn't work out when we were in LA last May for my cousin's wedding either. I think the best thing he showed last night was a calendar called "Dogs with Abs" by, I think, Andrew Jeffrey Wright. Awesome calendar.
I upgraded my Xbox Live account, from a Silver (Free) to Gold ($$). You can't register your Guitar Hero 3 stats on GuitarHero.com with a Silver membership. So, I picked up a 3-month Gold one. It will give me enough time to find a deal on a 12-month membership. But, now that I've done that, I am officially on GH.com.
Alongside GH3, I recently started playing Dead Rising. Yes, it's old. But, let's remember I'm very late to the Xbox 360 party. One of the nice things about buying a console later is that there are a lot of games worth playing that are now available at lower prices (used or "Greatest Hits").
I also recently downloaded the demo for Audiosurf (PC). Audiosurf is a mix of gaming styles. At its core is a music-based puzzle game. One of its best features, though, is that you can use your own non-DRM protected audio files with the game. I tried it out with M.I.A.'s "Mango Pickle Down River" and The Bug's "Poison Dart (f/ Warrior Queen)". Beautiful to look at and fun to play. It's a shame that it's not available on Mac.
Here's a video clip of it being played using Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames" (a song also available in GH3):
Plus, I'm still playing through "Professor Layton and the Curious Village"...
You know how some people have a stack of books and/or magazines that they're reading at once? I do that with games. I think I'm in the middle of playing 4 or 5 games right now. And, that doesn't count the many games that I lost interest in temporarily. I always return to games that I haven't finished. Even if I don't touch them for years.
I started playing "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" (DS) on Monday night. For the uninitiated, "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" (Wikipedia) is an adventure game where the gameplay mechanic to move the story along is to solve puzzles (brain teasers, really). It's very entertaining and the puzzles definitely keep your brain engaged. The story is entertaining enough.
You're summoned to the village of St. Mystere to help find a lost inheritance. In addition to the main task, you're also give additional subtasks/quests to complete as well (e.g., solving a murder, finding a runaway cat, ...). The story is told through bits of animated cutscenes (which run very smoothly on the DS) or through the characters talking (with English dubbing and text bubbles). The soundtrack is also very good. Not sure what the specific name for the music is. But, it's the kind of music you'd expect to hear while sitting at a Paris sidewalk cafe.
So, it was fitting that the below Penny Arcade comic showed up today.
It was definitely spot-on.
For those of you with Nintendo DSes, I'd definitely recommend this one. If you're curious about the title, go to the first link in this post (the main site for the game) and you can try out a demo puzzle.
Apparently, my timeframe for "delayed gratification" is measured in weeks. Three weeks in this case from the time I decided that I did in fact want a Wii to the time I got one. Though, it was no easy feat (as anyone else who's tried to find one has found out).
Learned early last week that Toys R Us (TRU) would be getting consoles in to go on sale yesterday. So, I planned on getting out to the store early enough to get in line. The problem was, I didn't know how early I should get out there. Also, it was going to be, like, -20F in the morning.
In the end, I bundled up (thermal underwear and all) and headed out to a nearby TRU. I got out there at 6am. Didn't see anyone else waiting in a car and decided that I was way early. The only cars out there were for the overnight TRU staff. I wasn't sure how much gas I'd burn either, the gauge was showing near empty, so I ended up getting gas at that ungodly hour, too.
I spent the next couple hours parked in the lot and debated whether I should just go back home and return later in the morning or wait it out (in an idling car). In the end, I waited in the car. A little before 8am, I saw others pulling up. I then saw a couple people head for the front door. They went inside. I waited a few minutes and saw a few more people head in. At this point, I decided that they probably weren't TRU employees and made my way inside. The staff were nice enough to let us wait in the foyer of the store (where the shopping carts are kept). It wasn't as warm as in the store, but it was definitely way better than outside.
At some point, someone asked an employee how many Wiis were in and when they would start handing out vouchers. We were told 24 consoles and that vouchers would be handed out when the store opened. Around 9:30, a manager stuck her head out the door and gave us more details on how this was going to work. By this time, more people had shown up. I was probably the 6th in line. Once the store opened, I went through, got my console, picked up "Wii Play" (for the second controller), picked up a second Nunchuk (for the second Wii remote), and headed home.
All in all, not as bone-chillingly painful as when I got my 360. Though, I sure did feel guilty about sitting in an idling car for two hours.
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