For The Win

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
I beat Final Fantasy XIII mere moments ago, and it was epic. Not QUITE as epic as X, but a glorious addition to the franchise as a whole. Also, thank you Square, for letting me suffer through several long stretches of potential death without giving me the chance to save.

*breathes*

So there's that. Now I'm off to play it again. :)

A Taste All It's Own

Monday, March 29, 2010
It's a sad world that we live in when news of Ricky Martin announcing that he's gay (there's surprise all over my face, really) bumped news of the Moscow bombings off of Yahoo's front page. I've never really understood the media's fixation with the personal lives of celebrities, but that's really a bit of a low, isn't it?

Oh, hello Blogposphere.

My OCD's been in full swing over the last couple of days, which has lead to the genesis of about fifteen different projects. As of this moment, all of two are completed, and I'm pondering several more. Most of them involve the frantic rearranging of Stuff, and none include the doing of my taxes. Thankfully, I've managed to avoid the wretched pull of the light switches so far. Seriously, if you've never had an obsessive tick, you cannot possibly understand the Abyss of Wasted Time that such a seemingly benign little object can be.

Anyway.......before this post goes too far off the deep end of pointless ranting, we'll move right into this week's top five list. This week it's my Top Five Soda's of All Time:

1.) Classic Coke: I live in a family that pretty much worships Coca-Cola. A slightly disturbing fact from my youth: the She-Beast would drink NOTHING but Classic Coke for years. This includes non-carbonated beverages and the like. Really, it's the best beverage ever, for so many reasons. This hallowed beverage goes with anything, but it's best on it's own, poured in a glass with a heaping of ice.

2.) Cherry Coke Zero: It's the first (and only) zero calorie drink-aside from water-that I've found to my liking. It tastes....close to the real thing, but strangely better. This is a beverage best consumed on it's own, without the interruption of food.

3.) Mountain Dew: It's a pity this is a Pepsi product, but as far as citrusy-green beverages go, this is the reigning champ. It's also perfect for long gaming marathons and the having of most any munchie.

4.) Dr. Pepper: Makes the world taste better? I think so. Best had with beef sticks or chicken tenders.

5.) Mellow Yellow: Originally a something of a prototype for Surge (a nostalgic runner-up for this list), this was Coke's answer to Mountain Dew until the creation of Full Throttle years later. Though not available nationwide anymore, it's a gem that I can (thankfully) still get ahold of here in the midwest. It's best consumed with a Hershey's Almond bar.

I was going to end this post with a Youtube clip of a Coke commercial, but there are simply too may to choose from. Ah well.

The Modern Stone Age

Sunday, March 28, 2010
Recently, I've realized that The Future and all it's wondrously digital miracles are not as glossy as they seem. Of particular guilt, is that of digital music downloads.

I've a pretty vast CD collection (the physical, disc-based kind, not the term for music albums), and I had all but reconciled myself to their eventual demise. Surely, with all these newfangled online services like Amazon, iTunes and BitTorrent, physical media must be on it's way to fossilization?

Nay.

I confess that I lack the technical prowess to delve into a detailed and credible rant, but I have found that the physical CD just sounds better. With that thought in mind, I researched a bit (some of this I knew already): iTunes MP3s are, by default, sold at the quality of 128 kbps, the premium iTunes Plus service will bump that up and match Amazon.com's default of 256 kbps. However, neither of these compare to the "lossless" format found on a physical CD. Digital solutions exist, but not in a mass-appeal fashion.

I've also realized that iTunes dumbed down my ripped CDs to the lower 128 kbps format, so if I've a mind to achieve even a remotely superior sound.....I'm going to have to rip them all again.

What does this mean to you, non existent readers?

Firstly, if you're a music lover, pay attention to what you're buying (some of us still do that.....right? Heh.) and from where. Also, the next time you come across some quaint device or relic of the Analog Age, don't be so quick to slap on that expression of Superiority. The proverbial cave man can still brawl with the best of em'.

Bland Musings

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Another workweek is creeping out of the shadows, ready to steal my existence for the next four days. Woo. Hoo.

/enthusiasm

I'm thinking it's time to head back to California for awhile again. If there is anything that this dark clad antisocialite needs more than anything, it's an earnest vacation. Or a billion dollars. Whatever The Universe has to spare.

And randomly, this is good for a modest laugh. You're welcome.

Shrooms n' Corn Pops

Monday, March 22, 2010
Determined to break the long spell of solitude that's consumed my free time, I ventured out into the world this after noon to see Alice in Wonderland. I really can't overstate how much it blew my expectations out of the water. It was just.....perfect. It was worth it just to hear the phrase, "I need a pig here!" uttered.

Ironically, it was not the movie itself that stole the show, but rather a trailer that aired beforehand:



I was still cackling a solid forty minutes later. :)

And lookie, it's Monday. I'm cheating a bit with my top five list, because I'm a lazy bastard today. So here's the first five songs that came up on my iDoom when put on shuffle:

1.) "Power Rangers Techno Theme" (Bwahahhaaha!)

2.) "Etude No. 2 (Superveille)" Philip Glass (I don't know where this came from, and wow......strange. In a Chocobo-theme-gone-wrong sort of way.)

3.) "Saturnine" The Gathering (Cool band, cool song)

4.) "Fresh Air" David Lyndon Huff (Some freebie from an Amazon.com sampler. A mellow piano piece that actually sounds pretty good.)

5.) "El Callejón Del Infierno" Mago De Oz (A Mexican metal symphonic metal band. Weird, but awesome.)

I was sorely tempted to post the five that came after that; they were much cooler. *smirk*

Now I'm off to (hopefully) complete the last of Final Fantasy XIII. Who knows, maybe then I'll actually get around to posting more than once a week.

Maybe.

DON'T PANIC.

Monday, March 15, 2010
It looks like we might potentially have a serious offer forthcoming on The Compound (excuse me for a moment, I'm chucking a bucket of salt over my shoulder). This has caused a mild panic amongst The Parental Units, for it seems that after three years of having the house on the market, the idea of actually moving is a horrifying and daunting task that we are entirely unprepared for. Where to, how far, and how much are circling through the brain, and made even more complicated by the presence of two unruly dogs, and five precocious felines.

Worse, the awkward moment of, "You know I'm getting my own place after this, right?" just came to pass.

Heh.

For the time being, I'm pretending the last ten minutes didn't happen, and instead am occupying myself with the online sale of a vast treasure trove of geekdom from my dungeon. I also took the liberty of burning several years worth of pre-blog diaries that have been lurking ominously in the closet, waiting for some blackmailer to get their vile claws on. It felt good to watch so many bad memories go up in smoke in such a literal way. One by one, I cut the ties that bind me to the sinking ship. Here's hoping that if I manage to get free, I don't go and drown. Cause' that just wouldn't be clever.

Before this post gets too long (and it's already straying into the realms of soapbox melodrama), it's Monday. Thus, I get to provide the hollow Internet with yet another top five list. Things have been a little too geeky around here lately, so this week we depart from the norm with:

The Top Five Places I Want To Visit (the I'm-Not-Thinking-About-Moving-In-Five Ways Edition)

1.) New York City, Broadway: Though I've seen Wicked in San Francisco, I REALLY want to see the way it's meant to be seen. It seems to surprise people, but I really dig musicals, and there is hardly a better place on Earth than NYC.

2.) The Cairo Museum, Egypt: I love Egyptian mythology, and this is the place to see it (other than the Smithsonian, admittedly). Lots of incredible things to see here, though I'll probably never get to it, what with all that Middle Eastern warring going on. Yikes.

3.) Disney World, Florida: Don't judge me. It's a completely dark and gothic thing to do. Hrmph.

4.) Tokyo, Japan: Mostly I've this inane curiosity to see what the future looks like through the eyes of truly crazy people. Don't believe me, just look at their glam-metal. O_o

5.) Comic Con, San Diego: Okay, I know I said I was venturing away from geeky things, but this is the holy grail of pretty much all that I hold dear. That, and E3, but you know, good luck getting into that.

Previously on this list was Los Angeles, California, but congratulations to me for getting there last year.

I feel like I'm missing some sort of summarizing wit to close out this post with. To hell with it then....../end

Peanuts Presents....

Sunday, March 14, 2010
I think my attempt at a clever title epic failed. Hmmm.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to the She-Beast, (or, what I like to call the Half-Century Special). In lieu of the presents I can't afford at the moment, I decided to do the uncomfortably girly thing, and bake. This happened:




I must admit, I had some maniacal visions of morbid-looking pastries and lethal looking eatables, but that required far, far too much effort. And hey, not too bad for having been five in the morning, eh?

Eh.

Drunk n' Fog

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
While I wait for my PS3 controller to finish charging (again), I thought I'd take the opportunity to inform you all (because you care, don't you?) that Final Fantasy XIII is very close to kicking X out of it's "Favorite Final Fantasy of All Time" spot. It's incredible. Of course, it had better be. I endured a forty-five minute drive in dense fog, and a group of drunken perverts to get my nerdy claws on a copy.

And boy, what a tale that is.

But I'll get to that some other day. For now, it's back to gaming with the sincere hope that my PS3 doesn't melt from the twenty hours that I've had it on today......

Someday the Dream Will End...

Monday, March 08, 2010
We have arrived at the eve of Final Fantasy XIII.

Are you ready?!?!?

This is a momentous occasion, and I have been looking forward to it since I heard the first whisperings of it back when X-2 was released. Yes, I remember seeing a very early screenshot of Lightening in an issue of Gamepro magazine, and hardly imagining how they could be working so far ahead. I probably still have that somewhere, actually.......

So, because it's both a Monday and the eve of either the best or worst Final Fantasy game ever, I've dedicated this week's top five list to my favorite things about Final Fantasy:

1.) The Music: Originally, this list was going to be about my favorite songs in the series, but they were almost all from Final Fantasy X. Often, I've listened to it and mourned the fact that most people will never appreciate it because of the "game" music aspect. Simply put, Final Fantasy music is beautiful, and always a great compliment to Square's storytelling. Bonus factioid: "To Zanarkand" is my favorite song in the entire series.

2.) Dramatic stories: This is perhaps a point of contention for some gamers. Personally, I *like* that Final Fantasy games lay on the melodrama and story with little abandon. I like to think of each game like a sweeping symphony. The only thing I would like to see eventually, is perhaps a little more mature content. I'm not asking for Mass Effect sex scenes, thank you, but characters could, you know....bleed?

3.) Chocobos: Having been raised on a chicken farm, it's kind of obligatory. Don't ask me why.

4.) Intertwining threads: You can be pretty much assured that Final Fantasy games will encompass -in some fashion or another- airships, Chocobos, Moogles, Cid, Ethers/Guardians, and an Ultima boss. This is what makes Final Fantasy a series, and is what didn't make "The Spirits Within" a Final Fantasy movie. Incidentaly, I've never beaten an Ultima boss. <=Life goal.

5.) Bahamut: He's just badass.

That's a somewhat generalized list, though if I don't paint in broad strokes, I end up in fits of maniacal obsession (I could have gone on for pages, if I'd gone for the "favorite songs" list). Agree? Disagree? Debate amongst yourselves, nonexistent readers. I'll just be off rewatching old cutscenes while I wait for midnight.

Epic Fail

Monday, March 01, 2010
A worldwide PS3 error bricked my system yesterday. So, as of right now, I'm two consoles in the hole (at least until Sony gets a fix out).

Photobucket

While I'm mulling over that with generous amounts of bitter disdain, I've another top 5 list. Because that's just how cool I am.

Top 5 Games of All Time (the Annoyed At Sony Edition)

1.) Borderlands: This is the first FPS that I've not just thoroughly enjoyed, but I'm good at it. The story is a little on the sketchy side, but gameplay is fun, and Claptraps make me think of Wall-E as a teenager. (I want one!)

2.) Mass Effect 2: It's predecessor would have been on this list until the release of this here gem. The game is a spectacular improvement in every way, and it looks unbelievable in 1080p.

3.) Final Fantasy X: Sprinkled with liberal amounts of nostalgia, I'll admit, this game has an incredible story. It was the first Final Fantasy game I'd ever played, and it's what I bought my PS2 for after I'd given it a go at my cousin's house. CGI scenes still stand up, but in game graphics are a little painful to look at now. I also loved this game despite the wretched Cloister of Trials. Mention of the crazy awesome soundtrack is also obligatory.

4.) Xenosaga III: For so many reasons, I love this game. It's the best in the trilogy, though if you can't stomach the first two games....don't bother here. You will not understand a thing. The ridiculously convoluted story and hours worth of cutscenes are the icing on the cake for me, but not so much with 99% of the rest of the gaming population.

5.) Ceasar's Palace: It's an old school Super Nintendo casino game. Er, it's mostly just a nostalgic OCD thing on my part.

It's getting harder and harder to narrow down gaming favorites, what with all the incredible games that have been coming out. Also, because I have to end this on an equally bitter note as what I started it with, this PS3 error is killing developer consoles too.

Game over?