Closing up shop...

Over the past month I have been in pain. My hip, knee and lower back have been mildly soar to will bendingly painful at times. I think it is a product of poor lower back genes coupled with some strenuous lifting in the gym. In any case I haven't really felt like blogging here and haven't had much to blog about. Today I laid on the coach in pain...the end. If you get my drift. Oh I really miss my bike too!

I have been managing two blogs for a while now and have a total of 100 plus entries between the two of them. I still like my gaming (mostly WoW) blog and plan to concentrate solely on it going forward. That means that this blog gets to hibernate. Maybe I will wake it in the spring when the air is warm and my body is 100%. Only time will tell.

Of Note...

- I plan to write three times a week on my gaming blog and expand the content covered.
- I went to the Pittsburgh game this weekend and it was the coldest I have ever been.
- I start the biggest loser contest again this January, hopefully I can reach my goal like last year (30lbs).
- I'm reading blink and it is very good.

Child's Play 2007

For going on four years now Crystal and I have been donating to Child's Play. I have never been much for charities, call it lack of interest, selfishness or a lack of income in grade school and then college. When I first read about Child's Play though I was intrigued on a number of levels. Firstly it is run by the guys who create Penny Arcade, my favorite web comic to date. Second the charity takes no administrative fees off the top. Every single dollar, toy, book and game goes directly to the children's hospital of your choice. Finally it is easy to do, it is an Amazon wish list that is a point and click transaction, maybe 1-2 minutes out of your day tops.

It is also an opportunity to give gamers and geeks a good name. Video games and the people who play them are so often portrayed in the media as violence minded drones. The reality is that gamers are people too, we have families, friends and heart that pumps blood just like yours. Child's Play is an opportunity for us to show off how caring we can be. It gets some media coverage, but for an organization that has raise over 2 million dollars for children's hospitals around the world from individual donations, it should get a lot more.

Even if you are not a gamer, which I think most of the people who read this aren't (hey family and friends), you can donate. The wish list make it easy to donate toys, books and games that hospitals are requesting. That or you can simply make a cash donation.

My friend Pete makes games

Being a hardcore video game fan since I was a wee lad it is always a treat when I get to know someone who creates the medium that I love. Enter Pete, wicked Day of Defeat sniper and video game industry extraordinar. I have known Pete for going on 6 years now through the above mentioned DoD and he is a stand up guy that I consider a good friend. He currently works for Ubisoft in Canada and has previously worked for other Canadian game companies. His list of titles include a number of license based games for the GBA and his most recent work My Word Coach for the DS and Wii.

My Word Coach is the kind of game that should give Nintendo's Brain Age a run for it's money. It is edutainment, but not the kind of edutainment game I grew up with. This one actually looks fun and the multiplayer mini games look like they could get intense. As I said Pete is a good friend and he is passionate about video games so if you looking to expand your mind and have some fun My Word Coach comes out November 6th. I'll be picking up a copy sometime in the near future and I'll let you know how it pans out.

Walkthroughs and Previews @ Gametrailers
Preview @ Nintendojo

Halloween in the office

While I love dressing up for Halloween no one we hang out with does the costume party thing. Maybe we need cooler friends or maybe we can put off rearranging our friendships for costumed personal gain since I get my fix at the office. Every year my company holds a costume contest for individuals, groups and combined group and department decoration. They also have a Halloween breakfast for all the employees. In years past we have done Austin Powers, Harry Potter, Thriller, Titanic and the circus just to name a few. This year was no different, after much email tag back and forth we decided to do a time machine into our companies past.

We decorated our department entrance to look like a time machine with one of our salesman playing the role of Doc Brown style mad scientist, who would lead the judges back through time. We did a homage to different time periods, product lines and departments in each cubical. I played the geeky IT guy complete with open computers and bundles of wires. My outfit wasn't as outlandish as others and my cubical wasn't the most decorated, but I spent most of my time on the time machine entrance and other decorations.

Our department ended up winning best overall and tickets for everyone to the movies. Below are some of the pictures from the days events. We had a great time!

Our Time Machine

Our Mad Scientist

Martial Arts Insurance

Outdoor InsuranceMotorcycle InsuranceUmbrella Insurance

Go West, Young Man!

I have traveled up and down the east coast my whole life. There is a lot to see for a history geek like myself, the revolutionary and civil war alone could easily fill up a lifetime of vacations. What about the rest of this fine country though? The farthest west I had ever been before last year was Kentucky. Last year I went to Texas on a business trip and my eyes were opened, my interest was peeked and my appetite was wet. I want to go west!

Not move to or take an extended vacation to, but at least see the other side of this here America. My ideal trip would be a four week drive across the country and back with a lay over in California, Oregon or Washington. The reality is that we would probably fly and skip the headache of driving for weeks on end. Using all my vacation time for the year to see what many have termed "fly over country" doesn't sound that appealing either. It would have to be in the summer as that is when teachers run wild, but two other opportunities make the summer perfect too, PAX and Comic-Con.

While I don't think Crystal would be super motivated to go all the way to the west coast to spend 3-5 days in geek heaven. I do think that I could swing at least a day or two at one or the other while keeping her happy with less geek oriented activities the rest of the week.

Update: Now if we could cross the US in less than 32 hours that would be a different story.

Shedding my desktop husk

I have been planning a computer upgrade or rebuild since the last computer I built almost two years ago. I love following tech gear news and building my own rigs to suit my personal needs. It tends to be cheaper than going with a prebuilt and the power per dollar ratio just can't be matched. There is great satisfaction in building and tweaking your own machine and the pitfalls of being your own IT guy can teach you volumes of useful knowledge.

I have always focused on desktop computing though. Laptops never seemed to have enough power to make them practical and their price put them just out of reach. In recent years though laptops have gone down in price and gone up in computing power. I have also increased my net worth to the point where raman noodles just down seem like a necessity any more. So now my interest is peeked, but I still don't see any reason to leave the desktop. Until we got a laptop in the house.

Crystal, as a teacher in Henrico county is issued a laptop, just like the students. Ninety nine percent of the time she uses it to make lesson plans and other do other teachery things. Once in a while I will get a hold of it and check my email, write a blog post or watch the newest episode of Diggnation. This got me thinking about not being in one fixed location for all the other computer stuff I do. Gaming, web design, video editing, etc. Why be stuck in a dark room upstairs when I could be outside on the patio or sitting at the coffee table.

So now I want a laptop that can fill all my computing needs, but there is a twist. What if it were a Mac? My fingers burned just typing that. Crystal's laptop is a Mac though so I have grown to love the OS. But what about gaming? Boot camp seals the deal, I can have my cake and eat it too with gaming on Windows and everything else on the Mac. Wednesday night we went to the local apple store and I fell in love with the Macbook Pro. I feel dirty, but I think I can accept feeling dirty as long as my needs are filled. Kind of like a sailor on shore leave.

On Reading

My "reading" section on the right hand side of this site sat dormant for a very long time. This wasn't because of a lackadaisical effort on my part to update, there was just nothing to update. I hadn't been reading. Well that has changed now that I read three books in the last three weeks, well listened to actually. That is neither here nor there though, literature has penetrated my brain in one form of media or another in the past three weeks and I think I should share.

The Tipping Point
This is the kind of book I want to read to people or at least give them as a present so they feel obligated to read it. Rarely do I find nonfiction reading so fascinating, but the tipping point holds up on all ends. The basic concept looks at the three types of catalyst that are present in every epidemic. Epidemic can of course mean disease, but it also encompasses everything from fashion trends reaching critical mass to crime rate reversal. It is not very long, but it left me thinking and talking about its premise and concepts weeks after I completed it.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
I started this book in the middle of the summer and fell behind in completing it as other books peaked my interest. This should not be a commentary on this books pacing however, I am just a huge WoW lore geek and I stop everything when a new book comes out. Back to Confessions of an E.H.M. though.

The book puts a grim twist on the United States in the 70's and 80's that I want to take with a grain of salt, but even recent events make me think are valid. The view from thirty thousand feet has private engineering and economic firms working as consultants in third world countries in unison with the world bank and American contractors. The private firms convince the third world countries that they are on the edge of an economic boom and they will will need the systems to support said boom in place before it occurs. The countries borrow from the world bank to pay the American contractors to build their new systems. The boom never comes and the country is now indebted to the World Bank (which is essentially the United States) so they now can be manipulated (UN votes and the like). If the country won't play ball the US government sends in the CIA or goes to war. Great reading even if it makes me a little scared. If only half of the stories are true it still makes me question United States foreign policy.

If any family or friend reading would like either of these on CD please let me know. If I don't know you and you are reading this I would suggest you drop a few dollars at Audible.com or grab them off Amazon.

Thirty days of night

Horror films are not usually my thing, but I do like a good vampire flick. "Interview with a Vampire" comes to mind, "Lost Boys" anyone and I even got some cheap fun from "Underworld". So the preview for 30 Days of Night caught my attention on genre alone, well that and a little cinematography. Convincing Crystal was another matter though. She does not share my vampire fascination and she is completely against horror films (they keep her up at night). So Friday night after dinner at Panera, I won an epic game of rock, paper, scissors to secure my movie pick.

Not knowing about the films comic book origins until afterward, I was not tied to any expectation. So I was pleasantly surprised when the film turned out to be more than just a cheap thrills horror film or an action packed vampire movie. Oh it had elements of both, but the film took itself very seriously and had some great drama too. There were plenty of opportunities for the film to trip over itself and disappoint, but it always held true to the themes established early on.

Most action based movies that I have seen in recent years suffer from the same common issue. I love special effects as much as the next guy, but if I don't care what happens to the characters it is all for nothing. Thirty days did not have this problem, Josh Hartnett and Melissa George put on great performances that are down to earth in such a fantasy based setting. The violence in this film was very similar, while it was ever present, but it did not exist for its own sake.

It looks like this film will create a lot of backwards sales for the graphic novel it was based on and I can assure you I will be one of them.

Our neighors to the norph (part 3)

After the hurried pace and numerous activities of day one, we slept a little past our alarm for the start of day two. By ten we were dressed, lightly feed (an apple each) and outside in our parkas waiting for the shuttle though. The light rain necessitated the parkas, but our spirits where still high as the rain would get us just as wet as the mist. The shuttle dropped us off at the old casino and we sloshed through what was now heavy rain over to the Maid of the Mist.

The kind folks at the Servante de la brume had longer parkas for us (ours didn't cover our shins), so we shed the old for the new and ventured on to the boat. I did not grasp the falls true scale until we were at their base. They are a massive testament to the sheer power and force of water. We learned from the prerecorded guided tour that a seven year old boy went over the falls and lived back in the 70's. One of the Maid's boats witnessed his fall and picked him up no worse for wear as he floated down river. When we returned to the dock the rain was starting to let up so we ditched our parkas and walked the main drag for a bite. After just a single apple for breakfast we were starving.

The restaurant we picked was right across the street from the falls and offered a gorgeous view with our meal. We had to wait a bit at the bar for our table though, so we threw back some beers and planned the rest of our day. The food came quickly once we sat down and we snapped pictures of falls and local wide life between bites. Stomachs full, we paid our tab and made our way to the exit. Crystal was leading us out when she slipped and fell on the wet marble stairs that ended at the street. An elderly Japanese man ahead of us turned around and started laughing and clapping with glee at Crystal's misfortune. I don't know if it was his lack of a shared language or a cultural difference, but Crystal was offended and I was amused by his amusement.

Our next stop was the journey behind the falls. As the name suggest, there are a set of tunnels dug out behind the falls that open to sheets of water poring past you. It is a sight for sure. Another tunnel opens to a large roofed site seeing deck that puts you not 20 feet from the base. It wasn't quite worth the money, but for something we may only see once in our life times we were ready and willing.

Soaked and tired we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready for our night out at the casino. We stopped at a gift shop and watched glass blowing on the way back to our hotel, in case you saw the pictures and were confused. Dressed to semi impress we went back outside to wait for the shuttle again. The restaurant we picked for dinner was cafe across from the casino, the food was disappointing, but there was a live band and it served its romantic purpose. Before we went to the casino we wanted to go up the Skylon Tower. The view was breath taking from so high up and being able to see the falls lit from such heights made us appreciate it even more.

As expected the casino was a little over whelming. There are so many flashing lights and sounds that it felt a bit like Japanese seizure robots (I won't link to that site, don't worry). We finally got to an ATM and took out only $100. We both played $20 in slots combined and Crystal won $28 so we came out $8 ahead. While walking around looking for a slot table we spotted the only empty black jack table in the whole floor. We sat down ready to pretend like we knew what were doing when the dealer pointed to the $75 minimum a hand sign and we promptly got up.

We roamed around looking for a place to give the casino our money when we finally realized that it was 10pm and we needed to get back to the hotel. We cashed out our $108 in US and went to wait for the shuttle. We packed our bags and went to sleep knowing that we had to be up at 6am to drive home.

The border crossing at dawn on Sunday was uneventful and the ride home had Crystal sleeping and me listening to more podcast. Our trip up north was quick, but fun and memorable. I don't think we will go back until we have children, but we will be looking forward to it until then.

Our neighors to the norph (part 2)

Tired from the ride up, but made new by a shower and a change of clothes, we left our hotel to visit the falls and grab a bite. Crystal took time to dry and straighten her hair before we went out. So she was, lets say more than frustrated, when we got to the falls and the mist attacked her. Lessoned learned, she put her hair up and off we went strolling down the main drag. The main drag consist of beautiful views of the falls, public gardens and tributary streets that lead to more "cheesy" attractions.

When I say "cheesy" I should clarify. If you get tired of marveling in natures creative beauty you can walk about 3 blocks up from the falls and marvel at a wax figure of Ronnie James Dio. We avoided the wax museums, haunted houses (we counted 5) and other waste of time and made our way to a semi outdoor cafe for dinner. The food was decent enough and the 18 year old Canadian drinking age was rather apparent in the loud, but not disorderly guest around us.

Our plan for Saturday was to do "falls things" during the day and hit the casinos at night. So Friday night after we finished dinner we went to scope out the two casinos. Neither of us had ever been to a casino, so we figured some night before the test cramming couldn't hurt. The first casino (Casino Niagara) we went to was like an old folks home with slot machines. Not our scene. We hiked about six blocks over to what the locals called the "new" casino (Fallsview Casino). The Fallsview did a better job of mirroring what I imagined a casino to look like or at least what television has prompted me to expect. We took a few laps around the floor and decided that the young well dressed crowd better suited our style.

Casino preparations completed, we went back down the the main drag to wait on the fireworks that were scheduled for 10pm. The falls were lit by giant spot lights from the Canadian side that constantly changed colors in three minute intervals. I don't know if I was really thirsty, really tired or a combo of the two, but every time they were lit in all red I had a fantasy of a massive Kool-Aid waterfall. The fireworks soon shook me from my sugar water dream world and I snapped as many photos as I could. After the grand finale we found our car and went to the hotel for much needed slumber.

I will wrap up our trip to Canada in my next post and then it is on to new topics.

Pictures are up: here

Our neighors to the norph (part 1)

Canada, land of varied syrups, ice related sports and Alces alces. Crystal had never been to America's great white top hat (I just made that up), so we planned our trip about a month ago. Friday morning we rose from the dead of sleep at a coffee dependent 4:30am. All our things were packed the night before and Macy was staying at la maison de Hattan for the weekend. The above mentioned coffee came with some breakfast biscuits from the WaWa down the road. By the time we made our way to ninety five it was 5:30am and the highways were just waking up.

Around Fredericksburg, VA (6:30am) we started to see the morning commuters in full force. Thankfully our destination was off the well worn path of the cap city commuters. We exited 95 bound for Winchester, VA care of 17 north. The hilly country that is the home to the seventeen is a pleasant contrast to the toothpick pines and lifeless barriers of the modern highway. It ultimate finds its end in Winchester, a big town with small town undertones. We always stop at the apple farm market to grab some cider and a fresh baked muffin before transitioning to 522 north and such was the case on Friday. Berkeley Springs, WV is the only other town worth mentioning on the trip. It has the kind of small town charms that I can appreciate, but would not be sustained by. The rest of the trip after 522 is dead highways bordered by walls of trees, nothing but the same thing repeated into infinity.

So what does one do for ten hours in a car? In order to keep my mind for the ten hour trek, I accumulated a weeks worth of podcast that I would normally listen too at work. I could list some, but most are listed in the "fun links" section to the right. We also picked up America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction and The Tipping Point on CD (ultimately making their way to my iPod). America was some high quality humor that in some cases required a love of all things American history (me), but could still be appreciated by the history haters (Crystal). We never got around to The Tipping Point, but it is on my book to do list.

When we finally arrived at the border there was a line of cars waiting to cross. It took about a half hour in line before we it was our turn to have a chat with the border guard. Crystal had prepared stacks of identification leading up to our trip, in fear of being turned away at some strange Canadian whim. When the big moment came at the guard booth he simply waived us through, no ID required. Our hotel was only a mile from the border crossing so we went there first to unpack our bags and get a quick shower.

Nice and clean, with a fresh pair of clothes, we got in the car to start our evening at the falls.

I'll continue our tale of the north in the next post. Sorry about the lack of post last week, just got busy, but I should be back on a three post a week schedule this week. Pictures from Canada coming soon, most likely tonightish. The picture on this post is just a place holder.

Update for Pics: here

Apple of my eye (part 2)

So we have a metric ton of apples care of my Birthday weekend and no apple related recipes under our collective belt. What is a couple to do? Get on the internetz and learn something new of course. One oh one's recipe wasn't quite what I was looking for and looked a little confusing, so I went Google hunting. There was a lot of crap, but I finally came across the perfect apple pie recipe at Elise.com. Elise seems very similar to One o' one, she has a select amount of recipes, but they are all home tested and have a good story to accompany them.

We decided we would split the recipe between two days and make the dough on Monday night. Lacking a food processor and almond floor as an alternative, we chopped our almonds in the blender as finely as possible. The rest of the recipe called for a food processor too, but after reading 101 she mentioned that you could do it by hand too, so off my bear claws went. The dough seemed like it went well and we packed it in plastic, stuck it in the fridge and called it a night.

Day two, also known as Tuesday, saw Crystal getting home before me to find rocks in the fridge. The dough had been chilled for close to 20 hours so we couldn't get started as soon as we had wanted. A little television and Crystal's famous chili and we were back in the kitchen. I showed Crystal how to cut up apples quick and she mixed the filling. The dough must have gotten too warm or we screwed up the recipe, but the lower crust was sticking to the counter no matter how much flower we threw at it. Once we got it spread out to near twelve inches it was falling apart all over the place. We finally got the lower crust in the pan and I stuck the upper crust back in the fridge to try and fix the problem we had just dealt with. We cleaned up a bit and then tackled the upper crust. This time it went much better, chilling it made it much more elastic and it went one top with out headache.

There was a bit of dough left and a handful of filling, so I threw it in a tart dish and baked it right next to the pie. Both creations came out great, we let them sit for an hour and had some of the best pie I have ever tasted. Well not the best, but making it myself did make it a lot tastier. We will be back into the realm of apple in the future and this time we will have a food processor!

Apple of my eye

What better way to kick off a birthday weekend than to throw a none birthday related party. How should one follow up on a successful party? Apple picking of course! Saturday Crystal and I packed up the car (we got in it) and went west to Carter's Mountain. We went apple picking for the first time last year at the very same Colle di Carter and had a splendid time. This year proved to be even better as the weather was cooler and the trees weren't picked over.

The drive west is pleasant, the flats of Richmond turning into the rolling hills of Charlottesville is a sight. From there it is a half mile from the 121 exit and you turn left to climb. There are very few instances in which my SUV feels rugged and manly, the trip to the grocery store is a bit, um, lacking. The road up to Carter's is a steep grade and eventually turns rocky, testosterone laden if you will. By the time we reached the mountain top we had dust in our smiles and we were raring to pick.

Golden delicious and granny smith were the only two apples that were ripe to pick and opted for the golden. Most of the good apples were really high up and I can't see all that well so Crystal spotted them and I snipped them with my pro apple stick skills. The first one we got we shared on the spot, but the rest went in the bag for later. We ended up with two stuffed bags and headed out of the orchard for hamburgers and apple pie. Bellies and apple bags full we went to the man mobile for the ride home.

When we got back to Richmond we picked up Halo 3 from Costco, Macy from the house of Hattan and went home. At 6:30pm we meet up with Kat and Gabriel for dinner at Kabutos. I filled up on steak, chicken and tasty Sapporo. It must have been slow because we had our own chef, but he still performed like he had a full table, a true professional. We end up going to the mall for a quick walk and to get a Cinnabon before heading home to turn in.

I spent Sunday, my actual birthday, sleeping in and playing Halo. It was a great way to whined down a very busy weekend and it feels great to be 26. By the way, we have plans for all our apples, but more on that in the next post.

Party just to party

Whoever said “He who fails to plan, plans to fail” must not have had many impromptu parties. Tuesday night we decided we should have a party on Friday night and invite a few of the teachers Crystal works with. Wednesday morning she sent out and email to get the ball rolling. Thursday we stopped by Costco for food and drinks and did a quick clean and vacuum job at the house. Not a ton of preparation, no invitations months in advance and no extensive menu to plan. We have a house, music and beer, so come party with us.

We ended up with around 12 people at our house on Friday night and we all crammed into our kitchen and living room for a good time. Lots of "teacher talk", but that was to be expected when 8 of your 12 guest live and breath it. We had beer pong and guitar hero set up, but we never played either in favor of conversation. We did end up playing a variation on "the game" near the end of the party that was a lot of fun, but not as fun as the original.

What is "the game" you say? "The game with no name" or more commonly referred to as simply "the game" is a mix of Pyramid, Password and Charades with user created content. You start by splitting into two teams, the size of the teams does not matter, play 2v2 or 10v10 it is up to you. Everyone then comes up with nouns and proper nouns and writes them on a pieces of paper, the more people you have the less each player comes up with. The nouns go into a hat and the two teams Bato Bato Pick to see who goes first. The first round is done Pyramid style with one player feeding to their teammates for a minute and then the other team getting a minute, rinse and repeat until you are out of words. The nouns go back in the hat and you use the same words for the password round. Normally quadratic equation might be a hard concept to convey via password, but this the memory portion of the game, the same words were just used in the pyramid round. Again rinse and repeat till the hat is empty. The final round is charades, have fun acting out quadratic equation if you team doesn't remember it. Add up the points and the team with the most wins.

Wow, I didn't expect this post to be a Milton Bradley throw back (and I don't mean the baseball player's jersey), but there you have it. Friday night someone suggested that we play "the celebrity game", it is "the game", but you only use celebrity names, not anything you come up with (ex: lime green banana hammock). Not as fun as the original, but the party as a whole was fun times and great way to start off my birthday weekend.

The "Amen Break"

While this six second drum loops gross over use and reliance makes it important, I'm a little disappointed in drum n' bass now. Well thats not true, I have always been disappointed in what drum n' bass had to offer, but I guess I always imagined it was more complex and diverse. On the back end of the video the narrator pines for the days of loose copyright laws that first allowed for use of samples in hip hop and "electronica". He then laments the strict copyright laws that won't allow for sampling of todays music in the future. While I can see his point, I won't be loosing sleep if the next "drum n' bass" that could have been, never was. I like original music just fine, grab an instrument and make something your own.

101 Cooking Again

Monday night I decided to go hunting on 101 Cookbooks again. Since I'm fasting I wanted something that was a quick prepare and could meet my deadline of sundown. So I went straight to the "quick recipes" portion and browsed for a main course and side that looked like they would complement each other. I first came across the "black pepper and lime oven fries" and was immediately drawn to the picture. Crystal makes really simple, but super tasty oven fry, but these had a little more color and after reading, a little bit of kick too.

Side decided, I moved on to my main course. Egg salad sandwiches wasn't really what I was looking for, but when you haven't eaten since 11pm the night before you can be tempted very easily. Again the picture got me. I liked the idea of making a chunkier egg salad, the celery did just that. Learning a new way to boil eggs was nice addition and a skill I will carry forward this Easter. Using less mayo is always welcome, especially when I can't really go to the gym or ride a bike for a month (see fasting above).

It was fantastic meal and has been added to my list of keeper recipes. One of my goals in life is to have a stable of quick meals that I can impress people with should the opportunity arise. Oh, its ten at night and you haven't had dinner yet, lets skip Taco Hell and I'll whip up some 5 minute tomato sauce over some pasta for you. Not too wild an ambition I know, but practical as hell in a pinch.

Documentary Weekend

While I'm fasting I like to slack off on the weekends, sleeping in late, skipping the gym and generally being a bum. A by product of my lazy Ramadan weekends is a lot of TV, movies and video games to pass the time. Boredom equals hunger. This weekend was no different, Friday night we went out to dinner and came home to watch Inside Deep Throat. Saturday afternoon I sat down to watch BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge. Two wildly different documentaries, polar opposites in fact.

BattleGround is a film that follows a former Shiite guerrilla (Frank al-Bayati), that escaped Iraq in 1991, and came back to his home country in 2004. The reunions with family members thought lost are emotional and almost feel too personal. I wanted to give him his space, but those moments work well to blunt pictures of the destruction Iraq has faced. The two sides of the movie put together a good mix of what is going wrong with the US invasion and what still could be in a war torn country. Children playing by tank carcasses riddled with uranium tipped ammunition, followed by scenes of Frank's nephews and nieces meeting him for the first time. Frank's optimism for what he considers a liberated Iraq, shadowed by images of US troops who just don't seem to mesh with the locals is fascinating stuff. The film is an emotional roller coaster that I really enjoyed.

Deep Throat is arguably the most profitable film ever made, not porn film, but film period. I say arguably because the box office gross has been estimated from $100 million all the way to $600 million. Inside Deep Throat is the documentary film that tells the story of said infamous porn film. I find it odd that I have never even heard of the film, it changed the way American's look and porn and jump started the whole industry. I always thought it was the VHS, but that was the technology not the profit model. Deep Throat showed people that porn could make money and lots of it.

The film was financed by the mafia, who ended up taking over it's box office sales once they understood its acclaim. The religious right and republican pursuit to ban the film only add coal to fires of its popularity. Ultimately the actress who stars in the film repents for her sins with the feminist movement, claims she was a victim who was hypnotized and finally tries to cash in by going back into porn. The actor who only got paid $250 to appear in the film was the first artist to ever be tried and convicted for his "art". He end up a homeless drunk, found Jesus and now makes a good life for himself in real estate. Once Nixon left the white house the government's witch hunt ended and none of the people who had anything to do with the film ever made money from it.

A warning, the documentary has nudity, not a ton of it, but they do show one scene that made Deep Throat such a hot topic and it is graphic. If your not to prudish and can stomach a three second fellatio scene the film is a real treat. That last sentence just seems wrong, but I like it. I won't go into my arguement against some of the people in the movie who claim that porn was art back in the 70's , but I will admit that it was not the ultra reality that porn is today.

Ten years in the making

Lets see ten years ago I was still in high school deep in the grips of Mr.Bond, I was also skateboarding every day and worrying about what homework was due. I certainly wasn't looking forward to Team Fortress 2, as I had never even heard of it at the time. Valve put the announced sequel to the original on the back burner opting to rerelease the first game (originally released in 1996 for the Quake engine) as Team Fortress Classic in 1999. That same year they also announced TF2 would be coming soon and was in development again.

Jump forward to the beginning of this week. TF2 is finally making its debut as a playable public beta (provided you preorder) and should be released in October. The game has undergone a drastic engine and graphics change and looks nothing like what was originally previewed for release in 2000. The look as gone from as realistic as they could manage in 1999 to a cartoonish hyper realism that smacks of the Incredibles. I know some folks are a bit put off by the games art direction, but the style is right up my alley.

I can't speak to how accurately the game play holds to the original because I only played it once or twice. TF2 is amazing though, I have not been excited about a first person shooter in ages, well at least a multiplayer one. The game modes keep each round fresh and the different classes mean that if one tactic isn't working you have eight other options (there are 9 total) to try before throwing in the towel. If it takes 10 years to produce a product that is this unique, artistic and just plan good then I hope other companies take notice. Don't rush your product and don't go for the easy buck. Aspire to be like Valve and Blizzard, who always say it will be finished when it is finished and then release super polished games that sell millions.

A few youtube trailers for the game coming soon...

We throw down three legged style!

Beer, children's games and capitalism, whats not to love? When you can do all three for a worthy charity (Special Olympics Virginia) I'd say nothing at all. This years Corporate Games were the second that Crystal and I have attended and this year Crystal was an official participant, as opposed to last year when she was a substitute in jeans.

We were both signed up for the obstacle challenge and being the pro adult sized tricycle ridding vet that I am (I rode the tricycle last year) I came out of the gate with the holeshot. The rest of the team followed suit and we ended up taking 3rd on the obstacle challenge. Up next was the jump rope jive, two people spin a long rope and eight people jump in unison to their spin. Our struggle with this event would serve to foreshadow our progress for the rest of the day. Markel team one (Crystal and my team) only got 15 jumps in and Markel team two didn't fair much better with a total of 30. Other teams looked like they had been practicing on their lunch breaks for weeks chain ganged at the leg. They put up numbers upwards of 70 and 80 with no breaks from start to finish. We were crushed.

All beats were off once we lost the jump rope jive, we set up one of our assigned tables behind our tent(s) as a permanent beer pong (Beirut if you like) for the day. Slightly inebriated we did better in the 500 meter relay. Then it was lunch time and out came the "bolo", I don't know if that is how it is spelled or even pronounced, but apparently I'm not a sweet tea drinking southerner if I don't play bolo (ladder golf) . I don't like Nascar either so I guess I'm kind of like the David Carradine of the south. After lunch it was on to the pitch, pass, toss event, we faired well enough, but soon realized that the events were getting in the way of beirut and bolo.

The zany relay was an event that Crystal and knew we could dominate. It starts with a dizzy bat spin, then crab walk, a fireman carry, an overalls exchange, a potato sack race and finally a three legged race. We are three legged race prodigies, raised side by side in an old nuclear fallout shelter attached at the leg at all times and in all things. We were breed for this moment, our minds perfectly synced, our legs as one. Last year we practiced for a solid half hour before the event, only to have our overalls team member get locked in a denim knot of death. By the time we were up our three legged skill showcase was a solo affair. Time heals all wounds though, in the year leading up to this years games we participated in a non sanctioned race at a friends cook out and left only a trail of tears.

At the games this weekend we were matched against six other legger teams (I just made that up) in our heat. Our team fresh off multiple rounds of beirut was struggling mightily, by the time we were up. We only had three opponents left to race. One team had a commanding lead on us with more than half the field covered already, the other team was a good 20 yards ahead when we finally got the go from our potato sack jumper. We were off, quickly passing the 20 yard team before the half way mark and well on our way to eclipsing the team that was near finishing when we started. Just after the half way point everything came undone, the sliver of cut up t-shirt that was holding our ankles together could not contain our power any longer and imploded. Crystal lost here balance and tumbled to the ground. I helped her up and it was clear that there was no salvaging the t-shirt. At this point she was giggling like crazy and there was no way to even pretend our legs were attached. We crossed the finish line only to see the judge holding up our ankle tie. We walked off the field at that point taking the DNF. Another sad day in our three legged racing career.

The wacky egg toss and tug o' war were all that that remained for the day. We had 2 minutes and 3 eggs, which ever came first, to toss at various distances with out dropping them. Before the first minute was up we were out of eggs. We faired no better in the tug of war, both teams were out in the first round and Crystal and I bailed early as she had an evening obligation.

We will be back next year, will bring our own ankle tie and all of central Virginia's corporate community will bare witness to our three legged racing prowess!

None shall pass

Two weekends ago I got a call from my friend Brian to see the None Shall Pass tour in DC. When I got off the phone I was hyped. I have been listening to Aesop Rock for going on four years now and have never seen him live. Partly because he never really ventured near Richmond in a time frame that matched my own and because up until recently none of my friends shared my enthusiasm for his work. Not only would I get to see Aesop for the first time, but Blockhead was on the tour as well. I was admittedly introduced to Blockhead's music through Aesop's album "Float", but have grown to appreciate his work at the same level of Aesop's.

Monday evening I took off work early to meet Brian at my house for the trip to DC. We got on 95 and threw on Aesop's new album "None Shall Pass", I know surprising that the tour promoting the new album would have the same name. We hit zero traffic and were in DC an hour before the doors opened (7:30pm). Thankfully Brian had directions because my memories of my last trip to the 9:30 club are seven years old and counting (I saw Talib Kweli open for Dilated Peoples my freshman year of college). We grabbed a parking spot right in front of the club and ventured into the city on foot to find some food.

The place we found was a pleasant surprise, there is an Irish pub about two blocks west of the club that serves a mean ruben and tots with every dish. We put back a few beers, talked a little football and women, and made our way back to the club at 7:45pm. I've never been patted down to see a show before, so it was a weird experience walking into the show and hoping the bouncer didn't get to friendly. We went to the top floor, opened a tab and then went to the balcony to wait for the show.

Blockhead was on first and we made our way from the balcony to the floor. Something that struck me as odd was his use of a mac laptop to spin on stage. He had no turn tables to speak of and at first I was a bit put off by it. Once he started spinning (hard drives spin too I guess) my hesitation soon faded. His live music is a lot more up tempo in comparison to his more mellow album work. Much more dance friendly which makes since considering you have a crowd of people ready to move. He mixed small pieces of techno with surprising samples of Phil Collin's "In The Air Tonight " and many other artist that would normally seem out of place in hip hop. It worked though and it was distinctly hip hop at its core.

The group that came on next was called Yak Balls, they did two songs and then opened for Cage half way through their third. I had never heard of Yak Balls and had only knew Cage by name not his music. Yak Balls was not bad, but they seemed very raw. Cage's style was much tighter, but his music was still kind of loud and angsty. By the end of their set I was ready for Aesop. I'd still like to listen to some of Cage's albums as their could be some good music there, unfortunately my first impression from his live set was a bit negative.

Aesop , Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz came out to wild cheers from the audience. Aesop's set was a high energy mix from his new album and his older tracks. They also performed a few songs from Rob's new album and let Big Wiz take the spotlight near the end to showcase his scratching. Aesop's live music was great and Rob Sonic an artist I had only heard for the first time on "None Shall Pass" was very impressive. The show ended with an encore of "Daylight", the song that everyone must have been turned on to Aesop Rock by, because everyone knew the lyrics and sang along.

The crowed slowly shuffled to the door, Brian went to pay his tab and I made my way to the merch table. I picked up Blockhead's and Rob Sonic's new albums and meet Brian at the car. We got lost for 45 minutes in what we soon determined was the DC ghetto (two check cashing stores, a fried chicken restaurant and a liquor store all on the same block). We got to the highway around 12:45am and back into Richmond at 2:30am.

I took off Tuesday to recover which end up being a great idea. The one thing I noticed most at the show was my bad back flaring up. It made me feel old standing for the entire show and it was nice to take it easy the next day.

Reflection, joy and disappointment: UFC 75

First let me say that watching MMA fights with my wife is super cool. She was completely disgusted with the sport the first time she saw a fighter turn into a bloody old faithful about a year ago. She still doesn't like to see a fighter broken, bloodied and bruised, but she seems to take a lot more fun from a solid technical fight these days. I'm sure she would much prefer a girlie show about interior design, but she still sits down with me every time there is a big fight.

We both sat down to watch Saturday's fights with much anticipation for the final bout. The under cards were host to some pretty amazing fights and one mind boggling decision by the judges.

The first fight was between two fighters I had honestly never heard of, but Houston Alexander certainly did impress with his super fast first round knock out. It makes me wonder why Keith Jardine is getting a big fight against Chuck Liddell, when he lost to Houston back in May. Why not give an up and coming fighter like Houston a shot? I guess you have to make a name for your self first or the UFC wants an easy fight to put a big ticket fighter like Liddell back in title contention. The second fight was by far the most thrilling of the night Paul Taylor was striking his way to what I thought would be first round knock out when with only 45 seconds in the round he was countered into a beautiful arm bar submission by Marcus Davis.

Matt Hamill was robbed! Crystal and I both had him winning when the third round ended in his fight against local (UK) legend Michael Bisping. He was very strong for the first two rounds and was clearly gassed by the third. His open mouth and wild hay makers in the third does not a memory wiping first and second round make however. The fight was a clear 29-28 victory for Hamill and some how the judges scored it 29-28 Bisping, 29-28 Bisping and 30-27 Hamill. While it sucks to lose by decision I won't say that Hamill gave a definitive performance. If you leave it up to the judges and you will always face a possible lose from the cards. Finish it on your own terms and there is never a question in the outcome.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic is my boy, one of my favorite fighters by far, but he is on a downward slide. I had hoped his trouncing from Gonzaga in April was a fluke. This Saturday's loss to Cheick Kongo makes me think that he may be on his way out, not back. He was bullied from the start of the fight to its boring conclusion. I was screaming at the television for him to just do something. Apparently I wasn't loud enough or Cro Cop was content with playing the counter defense game to a three round decision loss.

The big match of the night ended in the way that any fight between two powerhouses in a sport usually ends, going to the cards. Rampage was hands down the winner, he controlled Henderson on the ground and traded with him blow for blow in the stand up. Henderson seemed out matched and out sized for most of the match and the cards showed it. First it sucks for any match that involves a title to go to the judges, but its expected. Second, while I like Jackson a lot, his post bout interview where he claimed that his hands hurt from hitting Henderson's rock hard face smacked of corny WWE trash talking, instead of the "actual" sport post fight I'd like to see.

Shower shoes if you like

It has been more than a month since I put foot to pedal and this Saturday not only saw that long hiatus removed, but saw it done in shower shoed style.

Grant has been putting out the call for Saturday morning rides for going on three weeks. I have always responded with confirmation that I would attend only to see my hopes dashed by weather or last minute obligations. When the invitation to ride came again this weekend I was determined to actually see myself on a saddle. 7:30am came far too soon though and by the time I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and having a bowl of cereal it was already 8:30 (the original start time). I got Grant on the phone and we decided on a new start and general location for the ride.

Grant was on the ball arriving not twenty minutes past our phone call. We chit chatted while packing up the gear and went inside to pick a route for our short adventure. The classic, but brief ABC 20 mile (warning PDF file) would be our chosen weapon. We recorded the cue sheet on a fashionable piece Mary Kay stationary and hit the car for our trip to the not so fashionable LPSC. Unless your into pay day loans, dollar stores and cheap dry cleaning, the LPSC parking lot is not for the feint of heart.

Some where in my rush to prepare my gear and pack it into Grant's car I missed one of the most essential pieces. Or rather a pair of the most essential pieces, my shoes. Not the end of the world if I rode on flat pedals, but I ride clipless and without the shoes to match them they can be a huge pain to deal with. I rung Crystal with the hope that she would meet me half way with my shoes and a kiss. No luck, she was just getting out of the shower and would be at least thirty minutes. I decided it wouldn't kill me to ride twenty miles in my flip flops (I call them flops, Grant calls them shower shoes).

Off we went through a sketchy back alley that I would have never found if Grant didn't already know the way. The neighborhood that the ride started in was an super pleasant gradual downhill, the wind was flowing through my toes and the day had not begun to simmer yet. Our route soon turned into to more country roads and the traffic was low. The ABC route is well worn by our two wheeled brohams, I counted at least 30 other riders coming from the opposite direction (I guess most riders get up earlier than us). The cue sheet was a wash, some streets where completely left off and road name changes where missing in action. We had a spot of luck at one confusing intersection when we ran into Champ (Raba member, introducer of the ABC route to Grant and all around good guy). He showed us hot pink arrows that Raba had spray painted on the road a few weeks ago. We ditched the cue sheet, said our good byes to Champ and were on our way.

We end up getting lost two more times (due to conversation and lack of attention, not the arrows) before making our way to the half way point for drinks and a snack. The second leg of the ride was mostly uneventful as the day started to heat up. We rolled back through the neighborhood we started in noting that it was not as pleasant on the way back, now that it was a gradual up hill in the heat. We pulled back into the LPSC parking lot at around 22 miles, counting the two times we got lost. We packed the car and went our separate way, promising to do it all over again as soon as possible.

It felt good to ride again and helped me figure out what I want for my birthday this year. Bike money! My bike needs love and I have been neglecting it for far to long. This 26th year of my life I will be taking care of my two wheeled friend.

Pictures coming soon...

For the love of cookbooks

I know that I have mentioned 101cookbooks.com before, its a great read on the exploration and experimentation that ultimate leads to an amazing recipe. I had never actually made any of the dishes from the blog though. For shame I know. The photography and write ups keep me extremely entertained on there own, so recommending the site without actually cooking didn't seem to devious.

So, last night I manned up and picked Heidi's "Five Minute Tomato Sauce Recipe" to make for Crystal. There was near zero time or monetary commitment for this meal, I had most of the ingredients already and as the recipe says "five minute". I put it over Penne and served it with cold water (exciting I know, I couldn't find Orangina at the store I went to). It was a hit, very light and simple given the hot summer weather. The next time I make it I will most likely cut back on the crushed red pepper flakes a bit (1 tsp vs 1 1/2 tsp) as they are intended to add kick to the meal, not dominate it.

I have always wanted to know how to make a quick and tasty tomato sauce from scratch. Canned sauces always feel like they are only going half way between bland and uninspired so I swore them off years ago. Crystal makes a killer meaty pasta sauce, that will warm you to the core in the winter months, but can make you feel like your 3 hours into to a Thanksgiving day nap in the summer. This recipe is just the ticket for last minute guest and great after a long day at work that would feel even longer should you spend more than 10 minutes in the kitchen.

I will be trying more of the dishes from 101cookbooks.com in the coming weeks and will come here to share my successes and failures rest assured.

MMA's Stars Collide

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (current UFC champ) and Dan "Hollywood" Henderson (current Pride champ) will be fighting each other in this weekends UFC light heavyweight championship.

This weekends bout is the stuff of MMA fantasy, UFC's best vs Pride's best, there has been more debates than you could count on which organization retains the strongest fighters. When Pride went belly up this spring and UFC bought them out we were promised these kinds of fights. There have been a number of Pride fighters who have made the jump, but without Fedor coming stateside to fight Couture nothing has been as big as the fight this weekend. That and its not even on pay per view, its free on Spike TV (9pm EST), so if you are a cheap MMA fan or never really got into the sport this is an opportunity to see the best light heavyweight fighters in the world throw down.

As a side note my friend Kevin (GetSomeMore) is a trainer/instructor at the MMA Institute here in Richmond, VA. If you are interested in training or at least just seeing what MMA is all about give them a ring (or email I guess).

Loose Ends

There a few unfinished entries on the site as of late, so why not use a Thursday morning to take care of them.

BioShock Wrap (link)
I wrapped up BioShock over the weekend at around 10 hours of playtime. This is game of the year material and has been reviewed as such. I am eager to share my experience with others and will be swapping Dirt for some shock to Heavy Mehtul at lunch next week. If you have a 360 this game is a must, if you have a PC with the chops to run it then I'd suggest picking it up as well.

Chronicles of Conan Continued (link)
I couldn't contain myself after finishing volume two, I went out Tuesday night to the local comic shop and picked up volume three. I haven't opened it up yet, but rest assured that I will be near done with it before the weekend is up.

Tattoo Photos (link)

Crystal and Elizabeth's Twin Sparrows

Crystal's Lilys

More Ink

Saturday night we went out with Crystal's sister (Elizabeth) and her boyfriend to grab a bite to eat and get some new ink. Crystal and Elizabeth decided at the beach this summer that they would get matching tattoos on their feet. It would be Elizabeth's first and Crystal's fourth. They took some time to find what they wanted and eventually settled on the classic sparrow seen here.

You would think there was a national shortage on ink the way Elizabeth hounded Crystal for a firm date on when they would get their new foot art. Friday night wouldn't work because we were munching on tasty Vietnamese cuisine and catching a picture with Grant and Erin. Saturday afternoon didn't work either because we were helping some friends move. Saturday night worked out though so we set up a 7pm appointment and ventured into the city.

Elizabeth was up first, so there would be no way for her to back out. She had planned to only get the outline at first, but after toughing that out she was peer pressured into to getting the full color done as well. Crystal went second and much to Elizabeth's disappointment she was not cringing in pain the way Elizabeth had. After two hours on the ribs for her (still unfinished) last piece, a tattoo on the foot was child's play.

The two of them hobbled out River City at 10pmish and we went for what has now become a post tattoo tradition, ice cream. Stomachs full of reese's pieces sundays we went to Kroger to pick up tattoo care supplies for Elizabeth. Then it was back to our house to show her how to implement said care. The two of them still have swollen feet and complaints about wearing shoes, but their new tattoos look great and they may be closer for it.

After Crystal leap frogged me to get this newest ink, it has me planning my next one with quickness. I have been thinking about a quarter sleeve that would integrate my right arm and the tattoo I already have there. I am struggling for ideas though, I want to get a lily on the back of my arm and smoke to blend everything together, but I can't think of what else to use. More on this later I guess, as I really have no clue what else to include.

Oh and I'll include pictures of both of their tattoos as soon as I take them. So soonish I guess.

The Governator is a Hypocranator Part 2

Man I love this movie...


...what happened Arnold?

Falling for comics...again

I just finished reading the second volume of Chronicles of Conan and came to the realization that I'm in to comics again. The last time I fell for comic books was in 10th grade with number of different top cow offerings (Darkness, Witchblade and others), before that it was middle school and spiderman and before that superman in elementary school. I have been dabbling in independent comic books for two to three years now, most notably Becky Cloonan's work. Nothing that stuck to the ribs like a good barbarian in Hyborian Age story though.

I always loved watching Ah Ah Ah Arnold as Conan when I was growing up and whenever I catch one of the three movies on a lazy Sunday I will still sit transfixed with glee. I never knew how much much history the character and story had though. Robert E. Howard was a bad ass! His stories were ahead of his time, he palled around with H.P. Lovecraft and he influenced multiple generations of storytellers beyond his own life.

Chronicles of Conan is not Robert's writing however, though it is obviously his character and influence that drive the series. The comics collected in CoC were originally created in the 1970's by Marvel written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith). The writing is hands down some of the best work I have ever seen in a comic. The art is better than most older comics I have seen and sometimes down right breath taking.

So where to go from here? I have a lot of Chronicles to read still and after that I am hoping to explore what is current on the comic scene, although I won't discount older comics any longer after the joy that Conan has brought me.

BioShock or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying...

...and love the console.

I've been puffing my chest for PC gaming advocacy for years now. With only occasional dips in the console creek. I purchased an Xbox 360 for my birthday last September in what I would consider a weaker moment. The system usually collected dust outside of Gears of War and Crackdown. I beat and sold both within 3-4 weeks of purchase, they both had good single player elements, but nothing that truly grabbed me. They really shinned at cooperative play (co-op) and would have gone back to the store a lot sooner without it. Live has its merits, but only talking to one person at a time, outside of the game I'm playing, seems like a step backwards when compared to VoIP applications on the PC.

My slow slide towards the console starts with high quality single player games in high definition. This past Wednesday was the first time I purchased a first person shooter for a console since GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 (ten years ago). BioShock is the game that broke my video game console's back I'm afraid.

This game would look jaw dropping on a 15 inch CRT, let alone 50 inches in high def widescreen. Of course it is a raw numbers game, there are a lot of pixels and polys on the screen working over time, but art direction really ties it all together. The game play is engaging, there is a real survivor element to managing ammo and powers. There is five different ways to approach every fight and none of the them is necessarily the right one. Catch an enemy on fire and they will make for the closest water source (if one is available), when they dive in to put out the flames electrify the water to finish them (wow that sounds violent when I write it).

Ultimately the story is what really sinks in the hook. It is told through found recordings of small cast of characters and direct contact via in game radio. There is a slow progression to insanity that really heightens the experience. When you eventually get to fight against or interact with one of the characters it seems like you already know them or at the very least know their motivation. When I do actively think about what is going on in the game, it seems odd that everyone in this underwater paradise would record audio journals and leave them strewn about the world. It is a product of the game play though, the story is slowly trickled out to the player, keeping them transfixed.

To sum up, this is the first game that truly feels "next gen" in its approach to game play, graphics and story telling. This game is art, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Roger Ebert can bend over and kiss his hind parts as far as I'm concerned.

Ugh, I know another post about video games (doesn't he have another blog about games), two in fact. I promise no more after this one, well not directly, but man oh man this game is gripping.

The Governator is a Hypocranator

In the words of one of my bestest internet friends Christopher Ng (The Chort) "You change!". In this case it would be "You change Arnold Schwarchenegger! You change!".

Arnold is the star of many a classic action film that I grew up watching. His million bad guy killing sprees and cheesy one liners are ingrained in my youth.

"Let off some steam, Bennett."

Arnold just killed a chain mail vested, out of shape, kidnapper/old army buddy gone bad with a pipe through the torso and steam came pouring out of the pipe! How bad ass is that? Really freaking bad ass, that's how bad ass! Forty minutes ago my best friend in 5th grade was pausing the VHS and kissing the screen during the one obligatory 80's nude scene. Fifteen years ago that was my favorite movie and Arnold could do no wrong. I grew up watching Terminator, Predator and the above mentioned Commando. To a lesser extent Arnold's early and late 90's work was worth watching too. Terminator 2 being the exception of course, as it is still one of my favorite movies of all time and one of the only sequels that was better than its original.

So what happened? The action hero of the 80's and 90's, who made his career on killing bad dudes, got elected as governor of California. Great people in California are kind of crazy and who doesn't love an immigrant living the American dream story. If Predator is any litmus test, anyone from a great 80's action movies can be a governor. Start putting together campaign contributions Carl Weathers! All fine and good, well not really, but hell what do I care California is really far away.

One topic that does hit home however is violent video game laws. The governator has plans to appeal a court decision that would allow minors to purchase violent and graphic games. Apparently Arnold has acute amnesia. The man built his career and ultimate election on a hill of violent movies and even violent movie video game tie ins. Regardless of the 1st Amendment implications, the governator is trying to slap the hand of the video game industry with his right, while holding the hand of Hollywood with his left. This is not an article about violence in video games, how parents should raise their kids or even censorship and its merits or lack there of. It is about the double standard. Hollywood's fascination with torture porn flicks (Saw and others) goes unnoticed while California and other states ratchet up the pressure on the video game industry and retailers.

Violent video games are a scape goat and politicians who try to string them up are just catering to the media and a media perceived sense of the greater good. Parent's don't let your children view any media (books, games, tv, etc) that you deem inappropriate, its your job not the governments. At the end of the day I enjoy a good violent movie or video game and I will still scream out "get to da choppa" on bike rides, but the Governator has lost the little respect I never even had for him. I know this isn't as dire a topic as Mehtul's and ultimately Kent's most recent writings, but its another topic that is on my radar and I thought I should share.