Soggy review.

So I mentioned that I rented “Wet”. Yeah, the demo may have reeled me in, but the over all game was not quite as reeling as I expected. The “bullet time” (ala Max Payne) or “tequila time” (John Woo’s Stranglehold), or whatever you want to call it, is pretty frikin’ (hah hah… my spell check suggests firkin’) awesome; but… It gets really old, really fast. I like the game. I just wouldn’t put it at the top of my “loved it” list. The graphics were very well done, and I’m extremely impressed with the soundtrack. To be honest, if there were actually a CD Soundtrack for the game, I’d buy it. The thing I was most impressed with is that the game plays out like an actual movie. This is a concept I haven’t seen much of in quite a while. My best example is “7th Guest” era and that one that came out for the Playstation (that’s PSOne, for you younglings) in its early days (“D” or something like that). I’m not talking a movie adaption game here, either. This is a story exclusive to the game… I could even see this becoming a movie someday (hell, Max Payne did it). Well, so long as Ewe Boll doesn’t direct it. To be honest, he’s not a bad B-Movie director, but that’s for a-whole-nother rant (and I do mean rant). The characters are well developed. Even Eliza Dushku voices the main character, Rubi. Eliza made her breakout in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” as well as rolls in miscellaneous movies along with more recent TV series like “Tru Calling” and, the currently running, ”Dollhouse”. She seems to work with Joss Whedon a lot. ;) Whoa… according to IMDB, her starlet debut was a voiceover part in 2 episodes of the the “Jem” cartoon series in 1986. Now that takes me back. :p~

So overall? Not a bad renter for solo players, like myself. The gameplay gets monotonous pretty fast, but if you can keep interested with the storyline, you’re good till the end. Unfortunately, I lost interest after two levels. Probably because I had just finished Batman before this (it is now on my “to buy” list). I rated “Wet” 6 out of 10 at Gamefly. It has an average rating of 6.5.

“Borderlands” is next on the list, but the availability is low so we’ll see what comes next. I still haven’t picked up “Halo: ODST”, yet. What is wrong with me?!? I’m not that broke.

 

l8rz.

A thankful day, and a reminder…

Yes. Like most everyone else, I’m going to post my Thankful Day givings and what I’m reminded of this one day out of the year. I find it completely tacky that it takes a simple holiday celebrating the founding of my Country to remind me of all the things I’m grateful for. This is something we should all do on a daily basis; however, we get so wrapped up in our societal misgivings and day to day transgressions. This wholeheartedly sucks, but it’s better than not remembering at all…

I can never make myself fully appreciate the love of my immediate family. They have supported, assisted and encouraged my trip through life in more ways than I can ever repay. Along with the creation of a family of my own, I have recently been adopted by a new “family” that has also accepted me (thanks to the love of my life) as a new member over the last year. You have all shown the unconditional respect and caring that I can only hope to return at some point in my life (if I haven’t already tried).

Even as I grow more irritated with the political stupidity of the masses that I must coexist around, I can still never fully express the respect I have for our militia and public service (law enforcement, fire department, emergency medical technicians, etc): the young and old of our men and women that give or have given their lives to unconditionally serving country and community (whether I fully agree with the reasoning or not). Your service has provided me with the ability to sit here and rant, celebrate, and/or complain about whatever I want without restriction. THANK YOU for doing what I’m not sure I could nor would do!

Last, I am thankful for video games. Without you I would be a completely unmanageable ball of stress that my love would never be able to handle. You provide me with a virtual release to mutilate enemies, rescue those in distress (mostly, damsels), and explore worlds I can only barely imagine. I am also thankful for computers. Without you, I would not have a career, a form of income for which to afford my video game addictions, nor this blog. ;)

 

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

l8rz.

Time for a little catch up.

After a loooong day of fixing computer issues, I’ve plopped me arse in a stool at Taco Mac. Nothing beats TM for their beer selections and TMI wings. The ultimate “come down” after a hard day at the office. I don’t know how long my battery will last, so let’s go with it.

Yeah, considering this is the “Ramblings of an IT” yadda, yadda, I’ve never actually posted anything relating to computers. Mostly gaming stuff. I spent an exuberant amount of time today trying to find a way to parse through a txt file, remove all the “newline” (EOL, CRLF, \n, etc) entries, and replace them with a space to put all the text on one line. I thought this would have been an easy task with sed or awk (I’ve been scripting in UNIX waaay too much lately), but it didn’t turn out as simple as I thought. If anyone has any insight on this, please fill me in. Also, I’m psyching myself up for learning PowerShell, WinRM, and WMI scripting for remote management of Server 2008 Core systems. Unfortunately, the other rigormaroo of day to day tasks just keeps getting in the way. As I find simpler ways to script things, I’m might be so inclined to start posting them here… if the answer isn’t already all over the interweb via Google. I will fill you in on a little secret. My newest Windows command line tool friend is ‘dsquery’. You can pull all kinds of info out of AD (that’s Microsoft Active Directory, for the computer illiterate) with this thing. And fast, too. Must faster than using the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC (dsa.msc) plug-in.

Ok, ‘nuff ‘puter talk. On to games (as usual). I’ve been moving through my Gamefly queue a little more now that life has settled down (sic stat: the new house is in a livable state). Don’t kill me on this one, but I actually rented Onechanbara. Yes. It was completely horrible; hence, the reason I added it to my rent queue instead of buying it. Graphics, soundtrack, cut scenes: it all sucked. The only plus? Gore. Tons and tons of bloody zombie splatter. I like to call it “stress relief”. Next! “Batman Arkham Asylum”. Now this one does not sux0rz. I’ll admit the Riddler challenges are annoying, but once you get used to how they are presented, they get pretty predictable and easy. If there weren’t so many, it’d be a Joke. Ha! Get it? Joke? … Nevermind. Just play the game. The voice actors do an astounding job (including Steven Blum, aka, Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Beebop). The graphics are schweet. Play control is… eh… But over all? R0x0rz! Oh, and Harley… H O T!! I have “Wet” as well, but it’s been sitting on the TV until I finish the Batman story mode. The demo was awesome. It was a little to reminiscent of Max Payne, but I’ll give more detail after I’ve played the full game.

Oh, and Gordon Biersch Marzen for the win! w00+!!

 

l8rz.

Site layout addition.

So I decided to add something new to the blogsite >>>>>>>>>>

(*** EDIT: I'm an idiot who doesn't even know my own page. ;) Link fixed below ***)
(oh, for those reading this through feeds, links, etc, go to http://foundprophet.blogspot.com/ to see what I'm talking about)

Well, it's not a dancing hamster, but at least you have something to do while you're rambling through the old posts. Heather Luttrell. My bartender, my GF's good friend, and one hell of a "Soul Honkey" (as she so entertainingly put it). Next time you're trolling the Atlanta area for some blues and jam, you can catch her at Blind Willies on N Highland about one Tuesday a month, regularly at Vinocity on Fri or Sat, or in her home bar at the East Point Corner Tavern.

Wow. That was a completely shameless plug, but... she's awesome, dude!



l8rz!

Coming around...

Two months of finally settling down, and who knows how many since the last time I was here...

Yeah, so the wiles of buying a house will send you down a new path of confusion and excitement all at the same time. And exhaustion... tons of exhaustion. So I find myself sitting in my bar in the corner for the first time in a while. It's interesting watching everyone I know carry on in their usual wild (translated: loud) manner and listening in on conversations I really don't need to be hearing. But this is who I am. The fly in the corner. ;) It's actually relaxing compared to the usual hustle and bustle; not to mention, the crazyiness I've been involved in for the last two months. So in my moment of "zen" and separation, I think it's time for a game review. Too, this is to get myself back into the gaming world. I've only been able to play once since the middle of July between moving and loosing the bulb to my projector.

Fear 2: Project Origin
Yeah, this one's been out for a while, but It's my latest on the Gamefly list. And, I was in the middle of playing it before the move. I really like the Fear series. I purchased the first one (later, used, on discount, of course) with the anticipation of the shock factor the commercials advertised. Project Origin continues the story as a prequel to the first game. The storyline keeps you wrapped in, but like the first game, there's a good deal of "run and gun" you have to go through to actually make it to cut scene. This is my one disappointment with the series. It's literally just a "shoot 'em up" designed primarily for the multi-player action. They spend too much time in between AMV sequences, where I get bored and just turn the game off. I'm one of those weirdos that love TPS (third person shooters, for the uneducated) purely for the one player action. I don't get involved in Xbox Live! that often, so my primary concern with a game is not the multiplayer capabilities. The upside is I can't make myself send the game back, yet. There's just enough of the infrequent, make you crap your pants because of something jumping out of nowhere moments that I just have to keep playing. It's a sick obsession, I know. ;) But, if you get a chance, give the game a go. The graphics and audio tracks are astounding. Not to mention, the gameplay is extremely fluid. I'm completely enthralled with the exploding enemies at close range with the shotgun. :p Would you expect any less from a Halo and Gears enthusiast?

So that's it from the bartop for tonight. Hopefully, in the next month, I'll be ranting from the "Batcave".


l8rz!

Support law enforcement families this Sat!

Afternoon all! Just a quick note then back to my weekend… errr, I mean… work. ;)

MJ’s supporting a blogathon this weekend for Police Wives Online:

Note to Self: Note to Readers: HELP!

Her fiancé, and my GF's brother is a patrolman. From the blog site: "Donations will benefit the many programs at Police Wives Online including the H.U.G.S. (Helping Uplift Grieving Survivors) program and a newly created scholarship fund for law enforcement families." Stop on by and show 'em how much you appreciate your officers, and their wives (no, not in that manner, you sicko!). The goal for this year is $1k.

Meanwhile, my 360 came back Wed, so I'm a little preoccupied at the moment. Get back to you. ;)

l8rz!

Nerdiness

I don’t really care much for Ubuntu, but they have made huge strides in introducing Linux to the not-so-technical home users. Countdown to the new version:

 

l8rz.

So much for weekly…

But, I’m still getting back into this, at least. ;)

Newayz. The weather as of late in the ATL (and most of the South, for that matter) has been cool and damp. I know, you’re thinking, “Yeah. So?” This is fairly unnatural for the Southern region of the States this time of year. Or, so it seems unnatural from the weather patterns that we’re used to experiencing when it’s not an el Niño or la Niña season. (From the little bit of “Es-pan-yol” that I remember, I really don’t get using son and daughter to define a season, but that’s for another rant. Regressing….) This cool dampness is non-so helping towards my aged ailments of sinuses and joints. Also, with the teasing weekends of warm sunshiney (did I just type, “sunshiney”?) days, I’m ready to get out of the house and enjoy the comforts of nature’s warmth (i.e., I’m ready to lay out in the sun).

On another note, last Fri, I finally set my poor 360 on its trip to Seattle for repair. I’m hoping it won’t take any more than 2 weeks. I’m jonesing to play my GameFly rentals, X Blades and Golden Axe: Beast Rider. I’ve already had them 3 weeks and not been able to play.

Oh. I need to clarify this, as I’ve made some changes. For those of your Facebook’ers and Multiply’ers, the origination of Beware the Tourists is at Blogger. For the lazy (like me), there are RSS  (definition here if you have no idea what RSS is) links off to the top right. I finally upgraded to the newer templates not long ago; hence, the layout has changed ever so slightly.

 

l8rz.

Continuation from this AM

Caffeine assimilated. Insanity adverted.

So the main problem is the fact that once again, I am shipping my 360 back to Microsoft for repair. For those of you that don’t remember, the DVD drive died a while back. Luckily, I’m still under that 3 year window for the flashing red lights problem. I’m going to give props to Xbox Support today. As mentioned above, I came home to the “3 Light Red Ring of Death” last night on my 360. Once the grouch beast was tamed this morning, I attempted to submit my repair online. This became difficult as I’ve changed email addresses on my Live! account since I last registered the system. Long story short (and a 20 minute phone call to Xbox Support, mostly spent because of me trying to track down my old mailing address), the girl very easily transitioned my registered email address. That was pretty frikin’ cool. I figured I would be on the phone for hours trying to track down the right person who would know how to do that. As if you can’t tell, I prefer talking to computers instead of people for support. So, now I wait for the shipping box to show up and Microsoft to ship me out a new system, just like last time. Whoopee. The rest of my “numbered list” was just annoyances of little things you hate having to wake up to. My Comcast internet connection has always been flakey, at best. Sometimes I wonder, with all the environmental factors that set it off, would I have been better off with satellite? ;)

So, yup. I’m back in the fold. My goal at this point is to post something weekly. Now, I could sit her like other bloggers and rant about the economy, or the government, or what some other blogger has posted. But, I tend to avoid all that here. I’ll give my opinion, and occasionally a link, but don’t expect anything too personal. Also, being that I have the potential for a whole new class of readers, I’ll try to keep it much tamer this go round.

BTW, I now respond to "Bubbles”, and I’m pretty good at juggling chainsaws… naked. ThX, MJ! ;)

 

l8rz!

Wonderful morning…

This has turned out to be a pretty crappy morning so far… Because I’ve barely had enough coffee to even start going, I’m borrowing a friend’s “bulleted list” idea and will give more on these topics later:

1. I come home last night to find my 360 has the dreaded “red ring of death”.
2. It’s been raining consistently here for 2 days.
3. The toilet decides to stop up because of all the rain.
4. The cable internet fritzes out because of all the rain (that or the recent work siding being done on the house).

As I said, not enough coffee, and I’m still grouchy at the world; more later.

Oh, yeah. Welcome back to “Beware the Tourists”. :)

 

l8rz.

Test Post

Lookie! I’m updating. ;) This is just a test to see how the API integrates with other apps/sites. I’m getting back around to this, so stay tuned (same bat channel, same… oh you get the idea).

l8rz.

Gathering of thoughts...

This blog has been long neglected and in much need of return. However, due to a rather random chain of events this afternoon, my mind is still a muddled mess of thought and contemplation. This means that I am delaying the inevitable yet one more evening. Luckily, tomorrow is a Friday; and, for once in quite a while, I'm actually free of any social obligations leaving me open to utilize the blog client on my newly re-installed laptop (I'll have more on that, tomorrow, too). For now, I should get some sleep.

 

l8rz.

wah hoo...

Wah hoo biotches... I'm going to keep this short as even tho I'm in the mood to rant, but I've nigh the coordination skills at the moment. All I'm going to say is, "I loves me some sake." Besides, I'm in jabber mode and last thing I need to do is start drunk txt'ing my friends. :D

OK, so I'm not dead, nor have I given up on ranting. There has been much in the personal (mostly work) life that has kept me from here. Promotions abound and friendships rekindled have pre-occupied me since pre-Thanksgiving. I know everyone has done their whole New Year's resolutions, and I was going to do mine; but, screw it. I have the tasks I intend to complete before the end of the year written down on a piece of paper and magneted to the fridge.

Game-wise, not many changes. Honestly, up until last night, I haven't been on the gaming front much. Too many nights of getting plastered, or staying out late. One thing I must note is that I'm getting too damn old to "go out" on a "school night". With the work promotions, I'm hell bound and determined to start showing up during "normal hours", so I've been crashing well before my usual all-nighters and even midnight. Scary, I know. Maybe I'm finally growing up... Ha! Yeah, right. That be the case, I wouldn't have downed all that sake tonight. ;) Also, since I've canceled cable (haven't hardly watched TV since I moved back in August), I'm out of the Anime loop. Blockbuster Online is starting to irritate me, so I'll probably be changing or getting rid of that soon, too. I will admit, barring the cold, I've been very impressed with myself as far as getting out of the house. Normally, this time of year, it takes near an act of divinity to get me out into this 30 or less degree weather. The Atl saw it's first snow flurries in several years this past week, so maybe that has some motivation to it.

...Damn, the thought train just ran off the tracks. Ok, guess that means it's time to call it a night (all 9p and all). Oh, one last gripe. Dammit, Farve! ...Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that little Manning can rub it in big bro's face, but I wanted Green Bay in the Super Bowl!



l8rz, g8rz!!



Post addition:

I just found out that Heath Ledger passed yesterday. Dude, he was an awesome actor! I've been nothing but impressed with any role he's fulfilled. I can only say, with great sadness, that Hollywood has lost a magnificent talent. "Batman: The Dark Night" will definately be viewed opening night in his honor once it's released.

Yes. I am still alive...

... just been lazy. It's not that I haven't had a desire to post. Ok, well, maybe I haven't really been in the mood to post anything, but there has been plenty of little quips that have come to mind worth sharing. Firing up the laptop when I get home just hasn't been worth it. That, and I've been playing video games a bit much. :D Between the release of Halo 3, Guitar Hero III, and Bioshock, I've been preoccupied, so to speak. Sad thing is, I can say I'm getting pretty good at Guitar Hero. I've 5 starred the Easy and Medium settings in both II and III (well, all except one song in II), and I'm on to Hard. I was joking with my dad on the phone the other day. I can start telling people, "Yeah. I rock at Guitar Hero. What? No I'm not a musician. I just have no life." ;) I've started holing myself up in the house, again (the cold weather isn't helping), playing games all the time. I'm determined not to return to that form of hermit-ism. Oh, I'm not giving up gaming. I just need to put the guitar down for a while. Rock Band is on my list of to get games, but I'm going to hold off for a while on that one. These things are just a bit too addictive. ;)

I keep looking at my GamerCard and laughing:
 
It's hard to believe, that in a little over a year, I've managed to acquire almost 5000 points. That's just insane (well, for me, anyway). So, time to put the controller down (for a couple of days, at least). Besides, I now have a PS3 on my desk at work (for research, of course) that needs some "hacking" done to it. That, and I'm determined not to stay indoors all winter. Did I mention I hate cold weather?

How much longer till Spring? ;)



l8rz!

Visual DNA.

Courtesy of Imagini™:

Read my VisualDNA™     Get your own VisualDNA™

l8rs.

Rush gone Emo.

I was listening to Rush's latest album, "Snakes and Arrows" again for the first time in a while. I was noticing that minus the first few songs, the album doesn't really rock like their older stuff. The songs are mopey or bluesy. WTF?! I've always loved Rush's stuff. All the way up to their "Counterparts" album was good. "Vapor Trails" was OK, but this last one is just... blah. It's like they've all become tired old farts that aren't putting any more enthusiasm into their music. It's still beautifully composed, but, just so... blah. Guess this one will go back on the shelf and I'll listen to their old stuff instead. "Power Windows" r0x0rZ!!!1!1!



l8rZ.

Bored.

I'm so frikin bored right now. I've been pretty lazy all day. I didn't go out any other than just to run a few errands. The good news is, I can now watch TV and get on the internet at the same time, now. ;) That's about the only productive thing I've done all day. Tomorrow is laundry, cut the grass, weed, and drop off the recyclables. It's actually been kinda nice not having to rush to go anywhere or do anything. I've been wrapped in a mixture of relaxation and exhaustion, today. The sad part is, I haven't done anything, so I shouldn't be tired. I fell asleep in the papasan for an hour and a half earlier this evening.  

An assumed change of events with a friend is leaving me to believe that my life is about to take an interesting turn in the near future. Since it's only my assumption, I'm not jumping the gun nor do I plan on rushing any decisions. Needless to say, my social calendar my be getting a few more additions to it here soon. What can I say? I'm a ladies man (*cough*... yeah, right). ;)



l8rs.

Decisions. Decisions.

W00+! Man, there is so much going on! I just can't decide where to go or what to do next. LOL! My social calendar has not only exploded, it's imploding and becoming a siphoning black hole. There has to be some sort of cosmic disturbance somewhere else, al la chaos theory. I can't seem to get a break. And, there are some friends I've been needing to hang out with for the better part of the last month. I mean, don't get me wrong, this totally beats sitting in front of the Xbox playing Halo all weekend. Of course, I've still been getting my game time in. I can't totally give that up.

Now what's the irony behind this? I've finally gotten all the issues worked out with Comcast, but I'm sitting here watching a DiVX anime on my desktop. Geeze. I should probably think about canceling or cutting back the cable. I haven't watched TV in over a month. Sad thing is, I don't feel like I'm even missing anything.

OK, I'm going to finish this up and start getting settled for bed. I've got an early meeting in the morning since I skipped out on one this afternoon.



l8rs.

Frikin' hell. It's Fall, again.

I am NOT a fan of cold weather. Atlanta's well known for its drastic differences in temperature between day and night during the Fall. I always hat the first cold night of the season where the temperature drops about 30 degrees from what I'm used to. I end up cuddled up in front of a space heater for about 45 minutes trying to get rid of a bone rattling chill that won't go away. I HATE being cold. Give me the blistering hot sun of a sultry Summer afternoon any day. If I'm going to be suffering from constant episodes of chills, I better be standing in at least ankle deep powder with skis or a snowboard strapped to my feet. Of course, I refuse to admit it's fall. My Jeep top is still down (but I do have the doors on). I also won't turn the heater on until November. I'm just stubborn like that. I'll just stick to my sweatshirt and space heater, for now. And to think I was running the fans at full speed the other night trying to keep cool. Cold weather sux0rz...

So where have I been for the last 2 1/2 weeks? Heh. Well, if I'd quit going out so much, I wouldn't be so broke, right now. My social calendar has exploded. Seems like I'm out doing something or other at least 4 nights a week. Also, temporarily, due to some personal issues I've had to deal with, I've found another outlet through that old fashioned method of putting pen to paper. Yes, ink and a legal pad. I know. Who physically "writes" anymore? ;) Now, I've dealt with those issues, I've vented, and I'm back to spouting BS here, again. **Aren't you so happy?** (note sense of sarcasm in that last statement...)

So what have I missed? Or, the bigger question, I guess, is, "What have *you* missed?"


Gamer News:

• Halo 3 - I've finished it twice already and haven't played it much since then. No, I haven't lost interest. I just have a new game to play that came out at the same time. :)
• .hack//G.U. Vol. 3 - 'Nuff said. Hasao and the other Avatar users (G.U.) are back in the third and final installment of the latest .hack game. This one seems to be longer than the other two. I've already put in about 24 hrs of game time and don't feel like I'm even half-way thru, yet. It's time to crack open that can of "Ren Geki", again! LOL.

TV Shows for the new Fall Season:

• Don't ask me. I've been fighting Comcast since I moved (yes, a whole month!) to get my service reconnected. I finally got a tech today that showed up and called everyone at the call center a bunch of idiots. LOL. He made a couple of phone calls; 30 minutes later, voila! I have TV! Go figure.... Guess that means I can start catching up on Heroes, now.

Anime:

• Like I said, no TV; and, I've been holding on to my Blockbuster DVDs since I moved. Just finally mailed them back. So haven't gotten anything new in a while. My Newtype USA subscription lapsed just before I moved, also. I haven't renewed it yet. Don't know that I will, either.
• Oh, Dawn, go read this post. It should answer that question you asked me about a month back.

Anything else? No, that should be it.


In preparation for some changes at work, I've re-installed my laptop, again. I've gone back to XP (screw Vista). I may be going back to doing more Active Directory support in the future. I can't exactly do that very efficiently from Red Hat; hence, the re-install. In that process, I'm back to using the Windows Live Writer to compose my blog. I've normally just written out the code, then just previewed it in previous versions. With this latest revision, I'm beginning to like the WYSIWYG interface. It kinda reminds me of WordPress. I just might keep using it.

I've got some other things I can comment on, but they can wait till a later post. I've got cleaning to do. The 'rents, my sister, and her new boyfriend are crashing for the weekend. This place looks like I haven't cleaned since I moved in. Well... actually... I haven't.... Like I said, I've been busy. :D



l8rs.

Halo 3. 'Nuff said.

So I never reserved my copy. I went with a friend and her husband last night at midnight to pick up his copy. I figured if the store had any extras, maybe I could get one. Well, an hour after the doors were opened, I walked out with my own copy. Schweet. I am now doped up on a full pot of coffee and dozing off at my desk because I just had to pull an all nighter to see how far I could get. ;) After about 5 hours of gameplay on my own (plus 2 or so in co-op), I think I'm down to the last level in the storyline. I had to play it on the Easy setting. I want to know how the fight ends. If I can managed to stay awake long enough to get through Trivia Nite, I'm going back home to finish tonight.

Bungie has really stepped up on the engine. I am impressed! The in-game movies are astounding; the fully-functional environments are beautiful (you can smack the plants now, and they move!); and, the soundtrack is impressively complementary, as always. The gameplay on the new controller took some getting used to (I keep throwing out the "items" because I'm still used to reloading with that button), but the controller is well mapped and basically the same. It's customizable, of course, in case you don't like the new layout. I will definately be playing this one over, and over, and over.... and over, and over, and over... LOL. Now I just need to set up a way to do the whole trilogy one right after the other (it still takes me almost a whole weekend to get through just one game on the Easy setting).

K. Need the rest of my lunch break to eat somthing... I'm jittery. :)



l8rs.