I'm not inside my own mind today... VIDEO GAMES!
Yeaaah, I've been playing my fair share of Xbox games lately. Certain individuals in my life would even claim that I was "xbox hogging" whatever this audacious term means, I'm not privy to it and I do not respond to it Yes, there have been a lot of new games that have come out, and I've been playing them! So I'll touch base on the games I've been playing and my thoughts on each game.
First and foremost; BATMAN ARKHAM CITY
OH MY GOD!
My inner 5 year old explodes when I even THINK about this game.
It's a masterpiece, and I'm not exaggerating. This is one of the best video games I've ever played and it's earned a spot in my all-time favorites hall of fame. It's probably hands-down, the best superhero video game ever made and it's story mode alone runs at the 10-15 hour mark which is easily two times larger than most video games that are released today. With the side-quests that bumps it up to over 40 hours. There's so much to do and if you cant' do it all?
Once you beat the game, you unlock the "plus" mode. You can play it again, keep your upgrades and the game is more difficult, but all the side-quests and riddler challenges you've completed to this point carry over so you can continue with your plus play through. When I beat the game the first time, I was just over 40% complete, and then my save file corrupted so I had to start over. It's okay with me, I'm taking the time to try and do more extras so that when I have beaten the game maybe I'm over half-complete.
The ironic thing, to me, is that Arkham City isn't just a great Batman game, it's also a great Spider-Man game.
What?
Yeah that's right, I said Spider-Man game. The Catwoman missions are a great vacation, (so to speak) from the Batman portions. Catwoman has her own distinct play style and she has "theif vision" which is similar to the detective vision that Batman has but its not nearly as comprehensive. Her combat is very acrobatic and she can climb up walls, and use her whip to jump from building to building. She's a spidey-sense, and web shooters shy of being BETTER at being Spider-Man, than Spider-Man!
Activision should take note! Pumping out a new, mediocre game every 12-15 months isn't going to help your cause, take the time to build a PROPER Spider-Man game, the one fans have wanted since the Spider-Man 3 debacle and then you will see them come.
That's what Rocksteady has done with Arkham City. They took the time to build a proper sequel, rather than pumping one out ASAP to cash in on the success of Arkham Asylum, they decided to improve upon Arkham Asylum in virtually every single way. The ways of which Asylum outshines its successor City are minimal, and you have to comb the game to find them.
Overall, Arkham City is a triumph, any Batman fan would lose their shit playing this game and for casual gamers who aren't hooked on pointy eared superheroes, this game is too fun to not enjoy it. Worth your time to check it out, TRUST me.
Then we've also got MADDEN NFL 12
I wrote about the Madden Conundrum a few months ago. However, Madden 12 is the real deal. They've overhauled the game in aspects of the game that haven't so much as been looked at by developers in FIVE YEARS like parts of the Franchise mode, such as post-season activities.
Gameplay itself has been overhauled, Madden 12 plays a lot smoother than Madden 11 and the hits are that much more dynamic. You will find yourself wincing at some of the on field contact, that's a service not only to the great details made on the animation but also the audio as well does a great job of capturing that dynamic aspect of Football.
As you would come to expect from any EA Sports title, presentation is top notch. A step up from Madden 11, the team specific introductions are a great touch that seems much more monumental in a game like Madden where there are only 32 teams than compared to the NCAA Football game that has over double that. Prestentation and gameplay aren't the only aspects Madden has improved though.
The game is much more complete than games past, almost every single game mode has received some due attention. Online Play is much more convenient now with the way they've set up their LIVE mode. The Ultimate Team mode is improved, though it's still as erroneous a game mode as it ever was. Be A Superstar mode has been upgraded as well though the bulk of my time is spent playing the Franchise mode there are a lot of other avenues for Madden to take up your time.
Madden 12 is THE most complete Madden that's been produced to date, current generation, or even last gen as well. As we draw closer to the next stage of gaming (the next-next gen) I expect EA Sports to stifle the progression of their titles and take their time (3-4 years) figuring out how to get the most out of the next generation. For now, Madden 12 is a success and although the Curse has hit Peyton Hillis and the Browns hard this year, I won't hold it against the video game!
Part 3 is going to be a movies post but that may have to wait until a later time. We'll see!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
New! Part One: Bye Bye to The Verge...
I'm not inside my own mind today... It's been a while so lets get caught up! PLENTY To talk about ... I'll probably span this into a couple of entries. We'll see. ANYWAY:
Where to begin, let's start off with I GOT A NEW JOB!!!
Yes, I got my get out of jail free card.
There was a new pizza place that opened up over a month ago now. On a whim, I figured I would try it because I love pizza more than anything. I ask the woman, (who coincidentally also used to work at The Verge (( I will call it "the verge" to avoid drawing attention to what it IS)) as well!) if they're hiring full time. She says yes, boom! I dropped off my resume the next day, and was hired the day after that.
Previous instances where I had tried to find another job were not very fruitful. When I applied for a job at Jungle Jim's to work at their resturant, it took them THREE WEEKS to get back to me and by that time I had already resigned my fate to being an employee of the verge for a while longer (This was about a year ago now.)
So yes, I'm a proud employee of Sam's Original Recipe: Take Out. It's such a welcome change of responsibility. Even though I was sick of pizza places and wanted a change. I was at the point where I'll take anything that isn't a call center. There's this voice in the back of your mind that says you need a change when you're going in to work and you feel like any given day you could snap at any time.
The boss is very easy going and he's great to work for, he's by far my favorite business owner that I've encountered. The Pictou County area is very frustrating to job hunt and this is especially so because of business owners. This is a separate rant in of itself but I'm thankful that I managed to get a job where I don't have to worry about my superiors. All I have to worry about is the job I am doing and that I'm doing it right.
I miss the people, I had made a lot of great friends at The Verge and I miss everyone. There was great fodder in discussion because everyone was so desperate to get their mind off of that place for 15 minutes of their day. I see people on occasion and I still talk to some of my old co-workers from over there so that's good. I miss the people, I don't miss the duties or the bullshit at all.
The Verge had to be the only job I've ever had where you could do your job AS GOOD AS YOU CAN DO IT, and yet, it's not good enough. All you were ever reminded of was, what needed to be done better, what you couldn't do, what you couldn't say, everything was negative reinforcement. There is next to no attempt to boost morale the easiest way they can... WITH A POSITIVE ENVIROMENT!
Now this is virtually impossible to achieve with the structure they have in the project. The standards are the priority, if the site doesn't meet the standards, everyone hears about it. Everyone gets pretty sick of hearing about it because it's just one more thread of bullshit on the bullshit sweater. When you've got over 200 people feeling the same way, it's virtually impossible to keep your head above water in that place. That's why I needed a way out.
So, it's a pay cut, and a loss of hours but for some peace of mind, I'll sling pizza's again :)
Where to begin, let's start off with I GOT A NEW JOB!!!
Yes, I got my get out of jail free card.
There was a new pizza place that opened up over a month ago now. On a whim, I figured I would try it because I love pizza more than anything. I ask the woman, (who coincidentally also used to work at The Verge (( I will call it "the verge" to avoid drawing attention to what it IS)) as well!) if they're hiring full time. She says yes, boom! I dropped off my resume the next day, and was hired the day after that.
Previous instances where I had tried to find another job were not very fruitful. When I applied for a job at Jungle Jim's to work at their resturant, it took them THREE WEEKS to get back to me and by that time I had already resigned my fate to being an employee of the verge for a while longer (This was about a year ago now.)
So yes, I'm a proud employee of Sam's Original Recipe: Take Out. It's such a welcome change of responsibility. Even though I was sick of pizza places and wanted a change. I was at the point where I'll take anything that isn't a call center. There's this voice in the back of your mind that says you need a change when you're going in to work and you feel like any given day you could snap at any time.
The boss is very easy going and he's great to work for, he's by far my favorite business owner that I've encountered. The Pictou County area is very frustrating to job hunt and this is especially so because of business owners. This is a separate rant in of itself but I'm thankful that I managed to get a job where I don't have to worry about my superiors. All I have to worry about is the job I am doing and that I'm doing it right.
I miss the people, I had made a lot of great friends at The Verge and I miss everyone. There was great fodder in discussion because everyone was so desperate to get their mind off of that place for 15 minutes of their day. I see people on occasion and I still talk to some of my old co-workers from over there so that's good. I miss the people, I don't miss the duties or the bullshit at all.
The Verge had to be the only job I've ever had where you could do your job AS GOOD AS YOU CAN DO IT, and yet, it's not good enough. All you were ever reminded of was, what needed to be done better, what you couldn't do, what you couldn't say, everything was negative reinforcement. There is next to no attempt to boost morale the easiest way they can... WITH A POSITIVE ENVIROMENT!
Now this is virtually impossible to achieve with the structure they have in the project. The standards are the priority, if the site doesn't meet the standards, everyone hears about it. Everyone gets pretty sick of hearing about it because it's just one more thread of bullshit on the bullshit sweater. When you've got over 200 people feeling the same way, it's virtually impossible to keep your head above water in that place. That's why I needed a way out.
So, it's a pay cut, and a loss of hours but for some peace of mind, I'll sling pizza's again :)
Monday, August 22, 2011
Jack Layton (July 18, 1950 - August 22, 2011)
I'm not inside my own mind today... and my hopes for Canada have sputtered with the passing of a passionate Canadian today.
It's not that I'm so cynical to believe there is not another individual fit to run this country. I just don't believe that individual, whoever he or she may be, is active in politics at the national scale at this time. I thought Jack Layton was the real deal, and with his passing now I am not sure what the future holds for Canada.
I wasn't always a Jack Layton supporter. With first impressions, I found him boring and uninspiring. I compared him to the old man that goes to church every Sunday. Before the 2011 election. Jack Layton was just another part of the broken system that I have come to despise and with his passing I feel virtually doomed for Canadian politics. How could one man turn it all around with one election? I don't know... maybe I was so desperate to feel hope for a better Canada and I, and many other Canadians, put that hope on Jack Layton's shoulders.
He lost his battle to cancer today. I send my condolences out to his family and loved ones. I'm sure this news was unexpected, but maybe those closest to him had braced themselves for the worst. I knew he was having health troubles in the last election and his cancer came back but you would never have known it.
For a man who was battling as hard as he was to show as much passion and fire for Canada during the last election it was frankly refreshing to see a politician that believed what he was saying in his heard as opposed to every single speech Stephen Harper has given in the past 6+ years where every word he says has been meticulously selected for the desired effect. That effect destroyed by his robotic mannerisms BUT I digress... I will not turn this into a Stephen Harper shit show...
For a man battling that hard to come out and give it his 110%. To come so close to that goal and then succumb to this. It's awful. Jack Layton was inspiring during the last election and I'm sure the opposition would call it what they would 'strategic voting'. It's bullshit. Canadian's rallied behind a man they believed in and that man was Jack Layton... Canadian's also rallied behind our favorite robot, Harper... ether way it was Canada's choice.
I will remember Jack Layton for that passion he brought to the last election. If he had shown it the election previous, I would have stopped throwing my vote at the Green Party so that I could take solace in the fact that I voted at all. It was that passion for Canada that attracted Canadians. Crazy how that works isn't it? Voting for a man who projects genuine interest in the country I live in and the people who populate it? That's fucked up...
He leaves the NDP party in the best shape it's ever been in. I don't know but I just get the feeling by the next election that the NDP will have lost that. Whoever they pick to succeed Jack Layton will need to have that same fire. The attitude and dare I say swagger that they want what's best for Canadians, not for Canada or "their" Canada. Jack Layton will leave behind the legacy that he did what he had to in an impromptu election and it got the NDP the most seats in the house they've ever had. THAT is Jack Layton's work right there. Nobody else in the NDP has created that kind of movement because they didn't try to speak to Canadians the way Jack Layton did. They didn't try to resonate with Canadian's the way Jack Layton did.
Layton showed me that a politician just needs to try to reach the hearts of his voting base. That's basically what Obama did. If the Conservatives didn't put their entire strategy into the "bashing the liberals" basket, and it having worked so well. Maybe Layton would be the prime minister as more Canadians would have been able to see what Layton was all about rather than Canadians making assumptions based on the ads that Conservatives spammed over TV for months... anyway I digress again.
Rest in Peace, Jack Layton. You will be missed.
It's not that I'm so cynical to believe there is not another individual fit to run this country. I just don't believe that individual, whoever he or she may be, is active in politics at the national scale at this time. I thought Jack Layton was the real deal, and with his passing now I am not sure what the future holds for Canada.
I wasn't always a Jack Layton supporter. With first impressions, I found him boring and uninspiring. I compared him to the old man that goes to church every Sunday. Before the 2011 election. Jack Layton was just another part of the broken system that I have come to despise and with his passing I feel virtually doomed for Canadian politics. How could one man turn it all around with one election? I don't know... maybe I was so desperate to feel hope for a better Canada and I, and many other Canadians, put that hope on Jack Layton's shoulders.
He lost his battle to cancer today. I send my condolences out to his family and loved ones. I'm sure this news was unexpected, but maybe those closest to him had braced themselves for the worst. I knew he was having health troubles in the last election and his cancer came back but you would never have known it.
For a man who was battling as hard as he was to show as much passion and fire for Canada during the last election it was frankly refreshing to see a politician that believed what he was saying in his heard as opposed to every single speech Stephen Harper has given in the past 6+ years where every word he says has been meticulously selected for the desired effect. That effect destroyed by his robotic mannerisms BUT I digress... I will not turn this into a Stephen Harper shit show...
For a man battling that hard to come out and give it his 110%. To come so close to that goal and then succumb to this. It's awful. Jack Layton was inspiring during the last election and I'm sure the opposition would call it what they would 'strategic voting'. It's bullshit. Canadian's rallied behind a man they believed in and that man was Jack Layton... Canadian's also rallied behind our favorite robot, Harper... ether way it was Canada's choice.
I will remember Jack Layton for that passion he brought to the last election. If he had shown it the election previous, I would have stopped throwing my vote at the Green Party so that I could take solace in the fact that I voted at all. It was that passion for Canada that attracted Canadians. Crazy how that works isn't it? Voting for a man who projects genuine interest in the country I live in and the people who populate it? That's fucked up...
He leaves the NDP party in the best shape it's ever been in. I don't know but I just get the feeling by the next election that the NDP will have lost that. Whoever they pick to succeed Jack Layton will need to have that same fire. The attitude and dare I say swagger that they want what's best for Canadians, not for Canada or "their" Canada. Jack Layton will leave behind the legacy that he did what he had to in an impromptu election and it got the NDP the most seats in the house they've ever had. THAT is Jack Layton's work right there. Nobody else in the NDP has created that kind of movement because they didn't try to speak to Canadians the way Jack Layton did. They didn't try to resonate with Canadian's the way Jack Layton did.
Layton showed me that a politician just needs to try to reach the hearts of his voting base. That's basically what Obama did. If the Conservatives didn't put their entire strategy into the "bashing the liberals" basket, and it having worked so well. Maybe Layton would be the prime minister as more Canadians would have been able to see what Layton was all about rather than Canadians making assumptions based on the ads that Conservatives spammed over TV for months... anyway I digress again.
Rest in Peace, Jack Layton. You will be missed.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Bill Hicks vs Denis Leary
I'm not inside my own mind today... It's like a hero of mine has been broken down.
Now I have a lot of heroes, it's kind of like a recurring joke of sorts but Denis Leary was literally one of them. I'll never forget the first time I heard "No Cure For Cancer" ... I was 12 or 13 tops and I was hanging out with my buddy Bill and my Dad and I talked my dad into letting me listen to it. I knew it was going to be good when my father started with "Well... I probably shouldn't but okay..." and it was hilarious. It was truly where my love for stand up comedy began.
Now I have read about how Denis stole from Bill Hicks but I suppose I chose to be blissfully ignorant about it. Denis' comedy flourished after Bill Hicks death. How much could he have truly stole?
Now my first exposure to Bill Hicks wasn't through his comedy. Searching his comedy one day lead me to this video on Yahoo! Videos where he wasn't doing comedy. No Bill Hicks was on some Podunk public access tv show talking about the Waco travesty and how military personnel allowed a tank to shoot fire into the complex and burn those people alive. It was mind blowing. This man was a comic but the way he handled himself and the way he spoke. He showed intelligence and composure that I have seen out of very few comics. George Carlin was who came to mind for me.
I just recently watched "American: The Bill Hicks Story" and it forced me to see where Denis Leary had certainly... enhanced his own comedy by borrowing mannerisms and style from Bill Hicks. There's no way you can't watch Denis Leary's No Cure For Cancer and then see ANY Bill Hicks stand-up and not draw the same conclusions. Comb the internet for specifics because I am not going to dive into that but what I am going to dive into is a bit of comparison and contrast of sorts. I just wrote about this on Tumblr and Twitter and it motivated me to dive a little deeper.
Denis by no means pulled a Carlos Mencia but what he did was certainly inexcusable. In Denis' second special "Lock and Load" the influence from Bill Hicks is still there but that special is unfiltered and unrestrained Denis. Would Denis have ever been the kind of comedian he became without Bill Hicks' influence? Hell no. Denis' rants about his kids and about Marv Albert on Lock and Load still kill me but it will be No Cure For Cancer that I look at in a different light, and Denis as a whole overall as well. It's a shame that I have lost the respect I had for him but the parallels are there and cannot be ignored.
Bill Hicks' comedy was very progressive especially for when he was bursting on to the scene. He reminds me of George Carlin as I mentioned before but it's because the subject matter and the overall idealism and the engaging of the audience and the requirement of the audience to be proactive thinkers to truly enjoy the material. Bill Hicks was much more direct than George Carlin was though. George took ideas and he made them funny for everyone to enjoy. Bill Hicks took ideas and forced you to stare reality in the face for what it was and the way that he did it was funny...
Comparing Hicks' comedy to Leary's is like night and day. Denis Leary's comedy kind of makes me think of Will Ferrell in a way, he's so loud but he's still funny you can't help but laugh at this outrageous man who is making ridiculous jokes. I think his style was more exaggarated that Bill Hicks. He took Hicks' tendencies to exaggerate to sell a joke and he pretty much made that his entire style. Denis is way more intense than Bill Hicks. I wonder if he wouldn't had stolen Hicks' jokes about smoking and drinking and drugs what direction he would have taken? There would be many parts of No Cure For Cancer which would be nothing if he didn't lift material from Bill Hicks. I'm not advocating it, I'm just pointing out flaws. That's why I prefer Lock and Load because it's a much more complete act in my opinion...
In the end. Denis Leary isn't even a shell of the comedian that Bill Hicks was. And it's a shame that he was never embraced by the mainstream audiences like he should have been. Bill Hicks was a very funny man and his comedy was ahead of his time. I think a modern audience really would have embraced Bill and I bet you he would have this mystique about him. He said things that a lot of us were thinking and he asked questions that we would never ask. He patronized ignorance and he hated it. I think that's why I really like Bill Hicks and everything he represented. If you have never listened to Bill Hicks' stand up comedy, I will sit here and beg you... no I will spam your Twitter or Tumblr or Facebook with links because I think he is somebody that everyone needs to experience.
Why am I so behind on this? PEACE!
Now I have a lot of heroes, it's kind of like a recurring joke of sorts but Denis Leary was literally one of them. I'll never forget the first time I heard "No Cure For Cancer" ... I was 12 or 13 tops and I was hanging out with my buddy Bill and my Dad and I talked my dad into letting me listen to it. I knew it was going to be good when my father started with "Well... I probably shouldn't but okay..." and it was hilarious. It was truly where my love for stand up comedy began.
Now I have read about how Denis stole from Bill Hicks but I suppose I chose to be blissfully ignorant about it. Denis' comedy flourished after Bill Hicks death. How much could he have truly stole?
Now my first exposure to Bill Hicks wasn't through his comedy. Searching his comedy one day lead me to this video on Yahoo! Videos where he wasn't doing comedy. No Bill Hicks was on some Podunk public access tv show talking about the Waco travesty and how military personnel allowed a tank to shoot fire into the complex and burn those people alive. It was mind blowing. This man was a comic but the way he handled himself and the way he spoke. He showed intelligence and composure that I have seen out of very few comics. George Carlin was who came to mind for me.
I just recently watched "American: The Bill Hicks Story" and it forced me to see where Denis Leary had certainly... enhanced his own comedy by borrowing mannerisms and style from Bill Hicks. There's no way you can't watch Denis Leary's No Cure For Cancer and then see ANY Bill Hicks stand-up and not draw the same conclusions. Comb the internet for specifics because I am not going to dive into that but what I am going to dive into is a bit of comparison and contrast of sorts. I just wrote about this on Tumblr and Twitter and it motivated me to dive a little deeper.
Denis by no means pulled a Carlos Mencia but what he did was certainly inexcusable. In Denis' second special "Lock and Load" the influence from Bill Hicks is still there but that special is unfiltered and unrestrained Denis. Would Denis have ever been the kind of comedian he became without Bill Hicks' influence? Hell no. Denis' rants about his kids and about Marv Albert on Lock and Load still kill me but it will be No Cure For Cancer that I look at in a different light, and Denis as a whole overall as well. It's a shame that I have lost the respect I had for him but the parallels are there and cannot be ignored.
Bill Hicks' comedy was very progressive especially for when he was bursting on to the scene. He reminds me of George Carlin as I mentioned before but it's because the subject matter and the overall idealism and the engaging of the audience and the requirement of the audience to be proactive thinkers to truly enjoy the material. Bill Hicks was much more direct than George Carlin was though. George took ideas and he made them funny for everyone to enjoy. Bill Hicks took ideas and forced you to stare reality in the face for what it was and the way that he did it was funny...
Comparing Hicks' comedy to Leary's is like night and day. Denis Leary's comedy kind of makes me think of Will Ferrell in a way, he's so loud but he's still funny you can't help but laugh at this outrageous man who is making ridiculous jokes. I think his style was more exaggarated that Bill Hicks. He took Hicks' tendencies to exaggerate to sell a joke and he pretty much made that his entire style. Denis is way more intense than Bill Hicks. I wonder if he wouldn't had stolen Hicks' jokes about smoking and drinking and drugs what direction he would have taken? There would be many parts of No Cure For Cancer which would be nothing if he didn't lift material from Bill Hicks. I'm not advocating it, I'm just pointing out flaws. That's why I prefer Lock and Load because it's a much more complete act in my opinion...
In the end. Denis Leary isn't even a shell of the comedian that Bill Hicks was. And it's a shame that he was never embraced by the mainstream audiences like he should have been. Bill Hicks was a very funny man and his comedy was ahead of his time. I think a modern audience really would have embraced Bill and I bet you he would have this mystique about him. He said things that a lot of us were thinking and he asked questions that we would never ask. He patronized ignorance and he hated it. I think that's why I really like Bill Hicks and everything he represented. If you have never listened to Bill Hicks' stand up comedy, I will sit here and beg you... no I will spam your Twitter or Tumblr or Facebook with links because I think he is somebody that everyone needs to experience.
Why am I so behind on this? PEACE!
The Madden Paradox
I'm not inside my own mind today... and I have a fucking video game to thank for it!
Ever since I got my first Nintendo 64, with Madden NFL 2000, I officially became a Madden addict. I had played the 2K sports "Gameday" football for Playstation 2 and thought that was okay but I never really got into it like I did with Madden... this was something else.
My madden obsession lasted most of that decade, I bought the game pretty consistently up to Madden 09, maybe buying it every other year. I bought Madden 10 and traded it in after a few weeks. I was sick and tired of the same bullshit. It FINALLY hit me that I had been buying the same game for years and with the Xbox 360 generation this repetition seemed just that much more blatant.
There are little things you notice as a sports games that begin to grate you. Madden 11's franchise mode, for the most part is exactly the same as Madden 07's for my Xbox and the 07 one is BETTER... how the fuck does that work? Anyway nitpicky things aside. I had to take a hiatus from buying Madden. For the benefit of my soul...
I tried other football games. I think I even blogged about how much I was looking forward to Backbreaker, hoping it would be of all things a Madden Breaker...
Well let's just say not even close.
With the addition of Cleveland Brown Peyton Hillis as the Madden 12 cover athlete thanks to rabid Browns fans voting. (I myself didn't vote until the final because I am still paranoid about the CURSE and Hillis is probably our best football player...)
I was still rather ho-hum about Madden this year until E3. That's when EA Sports brought out the big guns and gave me some hope, legitimate hope that they would be overhauling this game in the aspects that I treasure most, franchise mode.
Now I can't predict if or not these upgrades are monumental or just face value hooks for gamers like myself who have abandoned the game in recent years but from what I've seen of gameplay videos and reviews it seems pretty much like the real deal to me. I will spare you all the details of what they will be improving but for once they're actually focusing on GAMEPLAY rather than just glorifying the PRESENTATION and they have worked that up too by introducing team-specific introductions (to mirror the NCAA Game) and also tweaking the player tackling physics to create less pre-canned tackling animations. JUST to name a few...
The thing about Madden, this is the paradox, is that once I get excited for Madden. I NEED Madden... I don't feel like playing any other sports games. I know Madden is raising the bar, my inner-fan has seen this in action to a degree and now no other sports games are going to suffice until I can whet my appetite with the new MADDEN. I needs it. So... I've been playing Mass Effect 2 AGAIN... because I have to wait until the end of august to get my Madden fix (assuming I'll have the money to afford it) I will need to tie my attention to other games to fill the void. :)
Until next time ... PEACE
Ever since I got my first Nintendo 64, with Madden NFL 2000, I officially became a Madden addict. I had played the 2K sports "Gameday" football for Playstation 2 and thought that was okay but I never really got into it like I did with Madden... this was something else.
My madden obsession lasted most of that decade, I bought the game pretty consistently up to Madden 09, maybe buying it every other year. I bought Madden 10 and traded it in after a few weeks. I was sick and tired of the same bullshit. It FINALLY hit me that I had been buying the same game for years and with the Xbox 360 generation this repetition seemed just that much more blatant.
There are little things you notice as a sports games that begin to grate you. Madden 11's franchise mode, for the most part is exactly the same as Madden 07's for my Xbox and the 07 one is BETTER... how the fuck does that work? Anyway nitpicky things aside. I had to take a hiatus from buying Madden. For the benefit of my soul...
I tried other football games. I think I even blogged about how much I was looking forward to Backbreaker, hoping it would be of all things a Madden Breaker...
Well let's just say not even close.
With the addition of Cleveland Brown Peyton Hillis as the Madden 12 cover athlete thanks to rabid Browns fans voting. (I myself didn't vote until the final because I am still paranoid about the CURSE and Hillis is probably our best football player...)
I was still rather ho-hum about Madden this year until E3. That's when EA Sports brought out the big guns and gave me some hope, legitimate hope that they would be overhauling this game in the aspects that I treasure most, franchise mode.
Now I can't predict if or not these upgrades are monumental or just face value hooks for gamers like myself who have abandoned the game in recent years but from what I've seen of gameplay videos and reviews it seems pretty much like the real deal to me. I will spare you all the details of what they will be improving but for once they're actually focusing on GAMEPLAY rather than just glorifying the PRESENTATION and they have worked that up too by introducing team-specific introductions (to mirror the NCAA Game) and also tweaking the player tackling physics to create less pre-canned tackling animations. JUST to name a few...
The thing about Madden, this is the paradox, is that once I get excited for Madden. I NEED Madden... I don't feel like playing any other sports games. I know Madden is raising the bar, my inner-fan has seen this in action to a degree and now no other sports games are going to suffice until I can whet my appetite with the new MADDEN. I needs it. So... I've been playing Mass Effect 2 AGAIN... because I have to wait until the end of august to get my Madden fix (assuming I'll have the money to afford it) I will need to tie my attention to other games to fill the void. :)
Until next time ... PEACE
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Scurrilous
I'm not inside my own mind today... and I have Protest The Hero to thank.
When Protest burst onto the scene with their debut album Kezia I was surprised to be honest. I've always enjoyed metal and heavy rock music but I find there's always something that holds me back. The first Protest song I ever heard was Heritics and Killers and I loved the intro to that song. The way it starts out you just know that song is going to rock the shit out of some shit, and it does.
Protest's follow-up album Fortress was a force of musical nature. The band elevated their sound to a level that I don't think anyone expected and with that album there was some excellent, excellent music that began to help establish the lore for one of the up-and-coming bands of Metal.
With the newest Protest The Hero album, Scurrilous you have to wonder first, what does that even mean?
When Protest burst onto the scene with their debut album Kezia I was surprised to be honest. I've always enjoyed metal and heavy rock music but I find there's always something that holds me back. The first Protest song I ever heard was Heritics and Killers and I loved the intro to that song. The way it starts out you just know that song is going to rock the shit out of some shit, and it does.
Protest's follow-up album Fortress was a force of musical nature. The band elevated their sound to a level that I don't think anyone expected and with that album there was some excellent, excellent music that began to help establish the lore for one of the up-and-coming bands of Metal.
With the newest Protest The Hero album, Scurrilous you have to wonder first, what does that even mean?
scur·ril·ous/ˈskərələs/Adjective
1. Making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation: "a scurrilous attack".
2. Humorously insulting.
I think that name defines the album perfectly, Protest really hits a new level.
First and foremost, I am sick of reading that people think this album sounds like Fortress... could that for any reason be because it's by THE SAME FREAKING BAND?! Nobody harps on shitty bands like Nickelback or Seether for every one of their albums sounding the same. Protest The Hero has made their reputation from being a progressive metal band that pushes the fabric of what we know is Metal with each release, heaven forbid they keep their sound connected to the three that their sound has grown from, so to speak. It's lunacy to me. Anyone that has given the album an earnest listen should be able to conclude on their own.
This is Protest The Hero taking their music to the next level.
Right from the opening track C'est La Vie, PTH gives you an ample dosage of what you can expect from this album. Now, like Fortress' opening track BloodMeat, this song underwhelmed me. It's not a bad song by any means. It stands along any of the strongest tracks from this album and kicks ass but for some reason the open tracks of Protest's albums are rarely ever my favorite track.
Next on the album is the song Hair-Trigger, a song about tobbaco additction. As someone who's battled the addiction myself. I love this song because he sings the truth. Lyrics like "I wrote a love song to think of everything I hate" defines a smokers relationship pretty well, at least one I can relate to. The song has some killer guitar and an appearance from a familiar voice that people may remember from Protest's first album as well.
The third song, Tandem is one of my favorite on the album. A song about, who I presume, is one of Rody's friends with Cancer. The song takes a look at what it's like to know somebody with cancer and also a telling tale of just how intense Cancer treatment, and all that comes with it, can be. It's a little over five minutes which makes it one of, if not the, longest song Protest has ever made (a quick check confirms only 3 protest songs are longer, two are from their first album...) I think this song just kicks ass as a whole. It's great to listen to.
Next up is Moonlight. Personally, this is my least favorite song on the album. It's a good song in its own right but near the end the repeat lyric section where he sings "Like moonlight in the darkest, darkest night..." just kills me, and not in a good way. It's a song I usually skip. An okay song about doing the band thing and 'living life on the road' so to speak.
Tapestry really starts to set the tone for the rest of the album. There's a section about a minute into the song where you get a bit of a sneak peak as to what you can expect on the next track and I really love how this song closes out with guitar riff and drum patterns. I'm not musically inclined so I won't pretend to be but the closing minute of this song, I love it. It's one of those points where you just want to pump your fist and thrash your head, or rip on the air guitar. Whatever your preference may be.
Continuing strong with the next track, and my personal favorite, Dunsel which is a telling tale of their experience with the music industry. I would post the entire lyrics of this song because it's got a lot of great picks but my favorite is probably near the end where they proclaim "Shitty music just ain't worth making! / Smiles and thank-you's just ain't worth faking / Some assholes hands just ain't worth shaking / And if it's not broken WE NEED TO BREAK IT" which kick starts the most bad ass portion of music you will hear ANYWHERE. I fucking love this song. This is Protest at its absolute BEST.
Next up is another great song, Their Reign Of Unending Terror which is a song about a band who has motivated them. There's a lyric where Rody sings about hoping their 20 year reign never comes to an end. I have yet to figure out who exactly the band their referencing is. This is another great track with uncompromising guitar and Rody sings the shit out of this song. I love it!
The song Termites continues the perennial badassery that's brought forth on this album. I really like this track because again, Rody sings the shit out of the lyrics! When he belts out "In the mountains, in the seas, in the air waits the disease!" I am right there singing the shit out of it with him. Seriously, his vocals are spectacular on this album. It just gets better on the next track too...
With Tongue-splitter we have the second hyphonated track title on the album... just something worth noting I guess. The guitars are howling right off of the start and as Rody beins singing the song you know this is going to be one of those relentless tracks and the Guitar is going 110% for the majority of the song. It's a great showcase when you remember that these are two guys who play in unison for the most part. They're just dropping bombs apologetically on this track!
Closing the album is the song Sex Tapes which really doesn't need much explanation. The song is about the medias fascination with celebrity sex tapes and how ridiculous it is. It's got another guest vocal appearance from Chris Hannah of the band Propagandhi who is a decent band in their own right. Protest keeps the tradition of ending their albums on a high note and I think they really closed the album strong from Tapestry on, closing with this track. The piano makes an appearance on this track with the lyrics "Be careful what you're looking at because it might be looking back!" for added effect.
Overall, Scurrilous offers a layered metal that will give you more and more with subsequent listens. I have ingested this album uninterrupted for pretty much the last month and there are no regrets. Rody's vocals are as good as they have ever been. He's grown so much as a singer from the first album. A good friend of mine commented there's less screaming/roaring on this album. I prefer it that way because he showcases just how good his voice is. The guitarist's Luke and Tim really up the ante on their end with this album. There's some really crazy guitar and I still believe they're two of the best, or at least, two of the most underrated guitarists in metal. Moe Carlton's drums continue to improve and I think it's got to the point where he's really coming into his own as a drummer as well. The band will continue to grow and I think this album will be the launch pad for their albums to come. Three or four albums down the line, we will look back to Scurrilous as the album where Protest The Hero really launched themselves to the next level.
I think that name defines the album perfectly, Protest really hits a new level.
First and foremost, I am sick of reading that people think this album sounds like Fortress... could that for any reason be because it's by THE SAME FREAKING BAND?! Nobody harps on shitty bands like Nickelback or Seether for every one of their albums sounding the same. Protest The Hero has made their reputation from being a progressive metal band that pushes the fabric of what we know is Metal with each release, heaven forbid they keep their sound connected to the three that their sound has grown from, so to speak. It's lunacy to me. Anyone that has given the album an earnest listen should be able to conclude on their own.
This is Protest The Hero taking their music to the next level.
Right from the opening track C'est La Vie, PTH gives you an ample dosage of what you can expect from this album. Now, like Fortress' opening track BloodMeat, this song underwhelmed me. It's not a bad song by any means. It stands along any of the strongest tracks from this album and kicks ass but for some reason the open tracks of Protest's albums are rarely ever my favorite track.
Next on the album is the song Hair-Trigger, a song about tobbaco additction. As someone who's battled the addiction myself. I love this song because he sings the truth. Lyrics like "I wrote a love song to think of everything I hate" defines a smokers relationship pretty well, at least one I can relate to. The song has some killer guitar and an appearance from a familiar voice that people may remember from Protest's first album as well.
The third song, Tandem is one of my favorite on the album. A song about, who I presume, is one of Rody's friends with Cancer. The song takes a look at what it's like to know somebody with cancer and also a telling tale of just how intense Cancer treatment, and all that comes with it, can be. It's a little over five minutes which makes it one of, if not the, longest song Protest has ever made (a quick check confirms only 3 protest songs are longer, two are from their first album...) I think this song just kicks ass as a whole. It's great to listen to.
Next up is Moonlight. Personally, this is my least favorite song on the album. It's a good song in its own right but near the end the repeat lyric section where he sings "Like moonlight in the darkest, darkest night..." just kills me, and not in a good way. It's a song I usually skip. An okay song about doing the band thing and 'living life on the road' so to speak.
Tapestry really starts to set the tone for the rest of the album. There's a section about a minute into the song where you get a bit of a sneak peak as to what you can expect on the next track and I really love how this song closes out with guitar riff and drum patterns. I'm not musically inclined so I won't pretend to be but the closing minute of this song, I love it. It's one of those points where you just want to pump your fist and thrash your head, or rip on the air guitar. Whatever your preference may be.
Continuing strong with the next track, and my personal favorite, Dunsel which is a telling tale of their experience with the music industry. I would post the entire lyrics of this song because it's got a lot of great picks but my favorite is probably near the end where they proclaim "Shitty music just ain't worth making! / Smiles and thank-you's just ain't worth faking / Some assholes hands just ain't worth shaking / And if it's not broken WE NEED TO BREAK IT" which kick starts the most bad ass portion of music you will hear ANYWHERE. I fucking love this song. This is Protest at its absolute BEST.
Next up is another great song, Their Reign Of Unending Terror which is a song about a band who has motivated them. There's a lyric where Rody sings about hoping their 20 year reign never comes to an end. I have yet to figure out who exactly the band their referencing is. This is another great track with uncompromising guitar and Rody sings the shit out of this song. I love it!
The song Termites continues the perennial badassery that's brought forth on this album. I really like this track because again, Rody sings the shit out of the lyrics! When he belts out "In the mountains, in the seas, in the air waits the disease!" I am right there singing the shit out of it with him. Seriously, his vocals are spectacular on this album. It just gets better on the next track too...
With Tongue-splitter we have the second hyphonated track title on the album... just something worth noting I guess. The guitars are howling right off of the start and as Rody beins singing the song you know this is going to be one of those relentless tracks and the Guitar is going 110% for the majority of the song. It's a great showcase when you remember that these are two guys who play in unison for the most part. They're just dropping bombs apologetically on this track!
Closing the album is the song Sex Tapes which really doesn't need much explanation. The song is about the medias fascination with celebrity sex tapes and how ridiculous it is. It's got another guest vocal appearance from Chris Hannah of the band Propagandhi who is a decent band in their own right. Protest keeps the tradition of ending their albums on a high note and I think they really closed the album strong from Tapestry on, closing with this track. The piano makes an appearance on this track with the lyrics "Be careful what you're looking at because it might be looking back!" for added effect.
Overall, Scurrilous offers a layered metal that will give you more and more with subsequent listens. I have ingested this album uninterrupted for pretty much the last month and there are no regrets. Rody's vocals are as good as they have ever been. He's grown so much as a singer from the first album. A good friend of mine commented there's less screaming/roaring on this album. I prefer it that way because he showcases just how good his voice is. The guitarist's Luke and Tim really up the ante on their end with this album. There's some really crazy guitar and I still believe they're two of the best, or at least, two of the most underrated guitarists in metal. Moe Carlton's drums continue to improve and I think it's got to the point where he's really coming into his own as a drummer as well. The band will continue to grow and I think this album will be the launch pad for their albums to come. Three or four albums down the line, we will look back to Scurrilous as the album where Protest The Hero really launched themselves to the next level.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Recent Popular Culture Intake...
I'm not inside my own mind today... I've been playing some movies, listening to some music, all that jazz, and I've got some thoughts to share.
I'm not even sure where to start, let's start with MORTAL KOMBAT!
This is a great game. Period. End of story. If you disagree, that's your opinion. I won't tell you fuck you but I will be disappointed in you... and maybe I'll tell you fuck you.
L.A. Noire is by far, the most progressive game that Rockstar has ever made and I am hoping this motivates other game developers to take some chances and think outside the box with a video game.
L.A. Noire puts you behind the point of view of Cole Phelps, world war two veteran and newb to the LAPD. Cole rises up the ranks and you're eventually promoted from a street cop to a detective. The game's still got the flavor that Rockstar games are known for but it's a more focused and deliberate venture than Red Dead Redemption was, for example.
You can still free-roam, and Rockstar has gone to great lengths, re-creating 1940's Los Angeles and even re-creating the downtown section of LA building for building. There isn't that essence of complete freedom like with the GTA games or with RDR. In this, you can go from mission to mission, each 'case' leads you from major clues to persons of interest. You can free roam between major objectives but the only thing you can really do is take peoples cars (there are 95 cars re-created from the 40's and you get an achievement after finding 40 of them. I have found ... 40-something).
The game is rather linear as a whole, you arrive at the crime scene, you scope it for clues. Question any scene witnesses, and move from there. Investigating the case up to the point where you interrogate the prime suspect and toss him in the slammer.
I really like this game because of the atmosphere it creates. I like searching for clues. I love interrogating people and I like the dynamic. The game is focused and the tone of the game is pretty much perfect, it's hard not to load it up and get sucked into the game for an hour or two and then realize, what the hell did I just spend my day doing?
If you're on the fence with L.A. Noire, and you are interested in playing it. Just do yourself a favor and buy it. You won't regret it. It's a game with replay value and once they get some DLC it'll be interesting to see what kind of bonus cases they throw into the game. Big props to Rockstar for making such a progressive and intriguing game. This is the kind of video game that we will look back at in a decade or more and realize how ahead of its time that it was.
I was also going to blog about the new Protest The Hero album, Scurrilous but I don't have time. I'll save that for another entry but what I WILL say is that it's a spectacular album that grows on you with subsequent listens. It kind of comes across like Fortress but overall, I think it's got its own distinction to it and the band continues to show growth with the new record. Anyone who enjoyed their first two albums should check this one out. Test drive tracks like Full-Throttle and Dunsel. The first track, C'est la Vie also is a superior opening track to Fortress' Bloodmeat, IMO.
Until next time...
PEACE!
I'm not even sure where to start, let's start with MORTAL KOMBAT!
With WB's recent acquisition of the rights to Mortal Kombat, I was unsure of the future of my most beloved fighting game. What we first saw from their output was the game Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe which was... well, lets just say I wish they had made it AFTER Mortal Kombat but I am happy they made it before because it made them realize something...
They needed to get back to basics. So that's exactly what they did with the new MK game.
The best thing about the new MK game is the story mode, it's something that should hook new gamers and something that old-school fans of the franchise should be drawn to. Without being too spoilerific. The game starts with everybody dead... it looks like the aftermath of a desperate battle. There's one part in the opening cinematic where vultures are munching on Sonya Blade's dead corpse. The scene eventually leads to Raiden fighting Shao Kahn who has recently won Mortal Kombat, before Kahn can deliver the killing blow to Raiden, Raiden sends himself a message from the future to prevent this from happening. REDUX!
Ah don't you love video games?
Well, I won't go any further into the story from there but I like how it hooks you. Anyone familiar with Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe will not be surprised by the chapter progression of the story mode. I'm currently on Chapter 6, Liu Kang's chaper. I am stuck on a fight where I must fight Scorpion and Quan Chi at the same fucking time! Liu Kang's move set isn't my favorite but he's got an awesome fatality so I'll take what I can get. I have gotten distracted by other games, but if you haven't I highly recommend you check out Mortal Kombat.
As I mentioned I've been distracted, by games like L.A. NOIRE...
As I mentioned I've been distracted, by games like L.A. NOIRE...
This is a great game. Period. End of story. If you disagree, that's your opinion. I won't tell you fuck you but I will be disappointed in you... and maybe I'll tell you fuck you.
L.A. Noire is by far, the most progressive game that Rockstar has ever made and I am hoping this motivates other game developers to take some chances and think outside the box with a video game.
L.A. Noire puts you behind the point of view of Cole Phelps, world war two veteran and newb to the LAPD. Cole rises up the ranks and you're eventually promoted from a street cop to a detective. The game's still got the flavor that Rockstar games are known for but it's a more focused and deliberate venture than Red Dead Redemption was, for example.
You can still free-roam, and Rockstar has gone to great lengths, re-creating 1940's Los Angeles and even re-creating the downtown section of LA building for building. There isn't that essence of complete freedom like with the GTA games or with RDR. In this, you can go from mission to mission, each 'case' leads you from major clues to persons of interest. You can free roam between major objectives but the only thing you can really do is take peoples cars (there are 95 cars re-created from the 40's and you get an achievement after finding 40 of them. I have found ... 40-something).
The game is rather linear as a whole, you arrive at the crime scene, you scope it for clues. Question any scene witnesses, and move from there. Investigating the case up to the point where you interrogate the prime suspect and toss him in the slammer.
I really like this game because of the atmosphere it creates. I like searching for clues. I love interrogating people and I like the dynamic. The game is focused and the tone of the game is pretty much perfect, it's hard not to load it up and get sucked into the game for an hour or two and then realize, what the hell did I just spend my day doing?
If you're on the fence with L.A. Noire, and you are interested in playing it. Just do yourself a favor and buy it. You won't regret it. It's a game with replay value and once they get some DLC it'll be interesting to see what kind of bonus cases they throw into the game. Big props to Rockstar for making such a progressive and intriguing game. This is the kind of video game that we will look back at in a decade or more and realize how ahead of its time that it was.
I was also going to blog about the new Protest The Hero album, Scurrilous but I don't have time. I'll save that for another entry but what I WILL say is that it's a spectacular album that grows on you with subsequent listens. It kind of comes across like Fortress but overall, I think it's got its own distinction to it and the band continues to show growth with the new record. Anyone who enjoyed their first two albums should check this one out. Test drive tracks like Full-Throttle and Dunsel. The first track, C'est la Vie also is a superior opening track to Fortress' Bloodmeat, IMO.
PEACE!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
That's what I call getting into a sticky situation guys...
I'm not inside my own mind today... Did the Canadians just elect a majority Conservative government after they BARELY managed a minorty government in the last 2 elections?
Yes... yes we did.
Why?
The system is broken. Simply put, 40% of the peoples vote, made a majority Torrie government. Does that sound right to you? 60% of Canadian voters DID NOT VOTE FOR STEPHEN HARPER OR THE CONSERVATIVES and yet, they now have a majority government. How does that work, how does that make sense. If you have 40 percent of something that's less than half right? Yet that 40% vote gave the conservatives 167 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons. A majority government. Does this seem right to you?
I really have one person to thank for this. That's Michael Ignatieff, the leader (...at least he was) of the Liberal party. From day ONE. Hell, even before day 1, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives made this man their prime target. Why? Because he was really, the biggest threat to them. Attack ads, attack ads, attack ads. They slammed Ignatief so hard that the Liberals have their lowest representation in government EVER (34 seats, the next lowest was when they had 40 in 1984, the year Lying Brian Mulroney was elected.). They can thank the Torrie's aggressive slam campaign for that and really the loss of liberal seats that were swooped up by the aggressive Torries and the aggressive NDP's is probably the one of the only reasons the Conservatives have a majority government today. It was the result of this aggressive smear based campaign that DIDN'T EVEN FOCUS ON THE CONSERVATIVES GOALS... virtually EVERY ad they put on TV slammed Ignatieff in one way or another, and had nothing to do with them. THAT was their agenda, DESTROY Michael Ignatieff... and it worked.
Jack Layton is the big surprise. Never in a million years would I have expected him to lead the NDP part to the point that they became official opposition. When I voted in 2008, Jack Layton was about the most boring, unassuming party leader of the bunch. You had Harper who... I learned my lesson when I voted conservative (WHY?!) in 2006. I switched my vote to Green Party after that, but back to the point. Jack Layton was like... this kind old dude you would've ran into church every sunday. He just didn't seem to have any of the fire I wanted in a world leader. Jack may have read my mind because he showed fire in this past election. In the televised debate, he kicked ass and I think that opened a lot of eyes to his cause. Being caught in the middle of a rub-and-tug sting operation maybe helped his chances too... Who am I to judge?
The frustrating thing about this is that, once again, there was a dangerously low voter turn out. Barely over half of Canadians bothered to get out to vote and that irritates the fuck out of me. A large portion of this, I think, is that American Politics dominate the televisions. Canadians probably don't even feel like our countries leader even matters. When we turn on the news it's all America this and Obama that (even when they AREN'T killing Osama Bin Laden) and as a Canadian it's hard not to see that and think "Where are the Canadian leaders and our imput? Why should I care about Canadian politics?"
I don't know. It's hard as a young person who has got out and voted EVERY opportunity that I have had to since I became legal voting age. The fact that there are people I know who I am friends with who are as passionate about Canadian politics excites me but for every one of us, there's two or three people who frankly don't give a shit. That's frustrating to me. I look at my country, a country that I love and I see a mass of apathetic people who don't care and that infuriates me. To everyone that did not go out and vote yesterday, fuck you. That's all I have to say. Period.
Now that I have 4-5 years I wonder what we are looking at here from a Majority Conservative Government. Health Care is at risk, Women's rights to pro-choice are at risk, Hell, the Canadian debt is at risk considering the Conservative government wracked up a defecit of over 50 billion dollars, I expect that to climb exponentially but oh wait we're in a recession right? You gotta spend money to make money? That old adage? Well we don't fucking need SHORT RANGE fucking fighter jets, I'll tell you that much. They will pretend to engage 'active economy' but he will give corporate tax cuts and make the tax impact on the people that much greater. The money's got to come from SOMEONE right? Yet the fact that a major anchor of his tax campaign was "The NDP will raise your taxes, the Liberals will raise your taxes" People... Harper will raise your taxes. Don't kid yourselves. Now Harper said he will balance the budget by 2014, so I will hold him to that.
Of the 58% of Canadians that voted, 40% of those wanted Conservative government so... Where's the math in that. Who's majority is this really? Well. Those figures aren't important to The Harper Government. With a majority government now they're really in a position where they can accomplish the Harper Agenda. This will lead to further 'Americanization' of Canada, mark my words. The air of hope that I had, that Canada may change, that Canada would move forward in the modern world. That hope is gone for at least a half a decade...
As I age into my mid and late twenties I will look back at this day as a a day Canada failed to rise up. The NDP rise in power is a key note that ideology in Canada IS changing and I can anticipate the day where there is an NDP government (or another party...) running Canada. It probably won't be Jack Layton running that party (he would be around the age of 64-65 in the next election so it's not out of the woods, depending on his own aspirations) but whoever it is will be in a position to change Canada, and maybe for the better, as long as the Torrie government, sorry The Harper Government, doesn't run us through the mud first.
Yes... yes we did.
Why?
The system is broken. Simply put, 40% of the peoples vote, made a majority Torrie government. Does that sound right to you? 60% of Canadian voters DID NOT VOTE FOR STEPHEN HARPER OR THE CONSERVATIVES and yet, they now have a majority government. How does that work, how does that make sense. If you have 40 percent of something that's less than half right? Yet that 40% vote gave the conservatives 167 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons. A majority government. Does this seem right to you?
I really have one person to thank for this. That's Michael Ignatieff, the leader (...at least he was) of the Liberal party. From day ONE. Hell, even before day 1, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives made this man their prime target. Why? Because he was really, the biggest threat to them. Attack ads, attack ads, attack ads. They slammed Ignatief so hard that the Liberals have their lowest representation in government EVER (34 seats, the next lowest was when they had 40 in 1984, the year Lying Brian Mulroney was elected.). They can thank the Torrie's aggressive slam campaign for that and really the loss of liberal seats that were swooped up by the aggressive Torries and the aggressive NDP's is probably the one of the only reasons the Conservatives have a majority government today. It was the result of this aggressive smear based campaign that DIDN'T EVEN FOCUS ON THE CONSERVATIVES GOALS... virtually EVERY ad they put on TV slammed Ignatieff in one way or another, and had nothing to do with them. THAT was their agenda, DESTROY Michael Ignatieff... and it worked.
Jack Layton is the big surprise. Never in a million years would I have expected him to lead the NDP part to the point that they became official opposition. When I voted in 2008, Jack Layton was about the most boring, unassuming party leader of the bunch. You had Harper who... I learned my lesson when I voted conservative (WHY?!) in 2006. I switched my vote to Green Party after that, but back to the point. Jack Layton was like... this kind old dude you would've ran into church every sunday. He just didn't seem to have any of the fire I wanted in a world leader. Jack may have read my mind because he showed fire in this past election. In the televised debate, he kicked ass and I think that opened a lot of eyes to his cause. Being caught in the middle of a rub-and-tug sting operation maybe helped his chances too... Who am I to judge?
The frustrating thing about this is that, once again, there was a dangerously low voter turn out. Barely over half of Canadians bothered to get out to vote and that irritates the fuck out of me. A large portion of this, I think, is that American Politics dominate the televisions. Canadians probably don't even feel like our countries leader even matters. When we turn on the news it's all America this and Obama that (even when they AREN'T killing Osama Bin Laden) and as a Canadian it's hard not to see that and think "Where are the Canadian leaders and our imput? Why should I care about Canadian politics?"
I don't know. It's hard as a young person who has got out and voted EVERY opportunity that I have had to since I became legal voting age. The fact that there are people I know who I am friends with who are as passionate about Canadian politics excites me but for every one of us, there's two or three people who frankly don't give a shit. That's frustrating to me. I look at my country, a country that I love and I see a mass of apathetic people who don't care and that infuriates me. To everyone that did not go out and vote yesterday, fuck you. That's all I have to say. Period.
Now that I have 4-5 years I wonder what we are looking at here from a Majority Conservative Government. Health Care is at risk, Women's rights to pro-choice are at risk, Hell, the Canadian debt is at risk considering the Conservative government wracked up a defecit of over 50 billion dollars, I expect that to climb exponentially but oh wait we're in a recession right? You gotta spend money to make money? That old adage? Well we don't fucking need SHORT RANGE fucking fighter jets, I'll tell you that much. They will pretend to engage 'active economy' but he will give corporate tax cuts and make the tax impact on the people that much greater. The money's got to come from SOMEONE right? Yet the fact that a major anchor of his tax campaign was "The NDP will raise your taxes, the Liberals will raise your taxes" People... Harper will raise your taxes. Don't kid yourselves. Now Harper said he will balance the budget by 2014, so I will hold him to that.
Of the 58% of Canadians that voted, 40% of those wanted Conservative government so... Where's the math in that. Who's majority is this really? Well. Those figures aren't important to The Harper Government. With a majority government now they're really in a position where they can accomplish the Harper Agenda. This will lead to further 'Americanization' of Canada, mark my words. The air of hope that I had, that Canada may change, that Canada would move forward in the modern world. That hope is gone for at least a half a decade...
As I age into my mid and late twenties I will look back at this day as a a day Canada failed to rise up. The NDP rise in power is a key note that ideology in Canada IS changing and I can anticipate the day where there is an NDP government (or another party...) running Canada. It probably won't be Jack Layton running that party (he would be around the age of 64-65 in the next election so it's not out of the woods, depending on his own aspirations) but whoever it is will be in a position to change Canada, and maybe for the better, as long as the Torrie government, sorry The Harper Government, doesn't run us through the mud first.
Friday, April 29, 2011
TURBULENCE! ... Just some random musings
I'm not inside my own mind today... Why is the whole world captivated by a wedding?
That's all I'm going to say about that, really.
I woke up this morning, almost with a hangover though it feels more like sleep deprivation more than anything else. A cup of coffee into me and I can now at least put two thoughts together without feeling like I'm handicapped...
The NFL Draft started yesterday, and Cleveland traded down their 6th overall pick for some insurance, trading with Atlanta who had the 27th pick, we swapped first rounders and also got Atlanta's 2nd and 4th round picks for this years draft AND next year's 1st round and 4th round picks. I was on Barking Hard which is a Browns fan forum I admin on and I was surprised at the mixed reaction to the trade, a lot of people saw the reason behind it. We're a team that's rebuilding (for like... over a decade) and we are not one player away from the superbowl... we're about 5 or 6 at least. We than traded our 3rd round pick and swapped with the chiefs (who were at 21) and drafted a defensive tackle from Baylor named Phil Taylor.
Now I'm no pro scout but I watched some his tapes this morning and I liked what I saw. He's got a lot of power and good technique. Phil has this weird bone disease where his bones grow together in his feet. It cannot be corrected with surgery, it's mostly a pain tolerance issue. The guy's pushing like 340 pounds so you gotta wonder if it will be an issue in the future. The way I see it, he's played through High School and the college level to get to this point, if the injury hampered his dreams that much he would have quit already.
I have a three day weekend, thank fuck. My job can be very stressful but it's got so many variables. It's not like a typical job where you might have one or two major vectors that cause stress. My job is kind of like an automobile. All these working parts coming together and one little thing goes wrong it fucks it all up. I took a sanity day on Monday and I don't work today so... to pardon the awful pun, I really phoned it in this week at work.
I listened to the Vancouver Canucks game on the Team 1040 website yesterday. It was cool because I can't watch the Canucks games (I don't get CBC... I'll get to that ) so when I learned about that I took advantage of it. The Team 1040 radio station broadcasts its radio broadcast of the Canucks games over the internet. I felt like I was simultaneously divulging in some vintage act of defiance while also enabling the technological prowess of today's society. Almost like I was enacting some crazy paradigm shift by what I was chosing to do.
The game was a good game, the Canucks won 1-0, I think that there won't be any meltdowns like there were aganst Chicago because Nashville is not that kind of team. This series is going to be rough and gritty and if the Canucks win they're going to need to re-focus quickly to face a more explosive team like San Jose or Detroit, neither of those teams are teams I WANT to encounter in the playoffs but I did predict a Sharks/Canucks Western Conference Final this year... we'll see if that comes true.
Back to the whole radio thing. I thought it was really cool listening to the game on the radio. Natasha told me she found it hard to follow but It's got tot to be tough when you don't know the names of the players or anything like that. I thought it was exciting, and it still allowed me to follow the action very well. The guys they had calling the game for The Team were really good at what they do. It reminds me that I would love to be a sports broadcaster and announce sports games.
How fucking cool would that be? I think it would be awesome. I would love to call all manner of sports. At least the "big 4" Football, Hockey, Baseball and Basketball. Maybe some Lacrosse or some Curling even. Who knows I'm just a sports junkie.
I had a thought today... I shouldn't say I just had it today. I have it often. I am very... I don't know, really "hateful" without even really being hateful. I say "I hate -this-" like here's a verbatim quote from yesterday when I was ranting about the Royal Wedding (and I said I was done...)
"I am so sick and tired of hearing about the Royal Wedding. I'm done with it, I'm done! I don't want to hear about it anymore!" Now this digressed into a discussion about bombing the wedding with bees. That would have been hilarious. I need to re-calibrate my attitudes. I shouldn't be so aggressively negative toward things that I don't like to the point that it completely overshadows things that I do like. I don't even know how the fuck to go about that but I am sure it involves me actively changing how I look at the world. That won't happen today I will tell you that much.
Here's something I have liked... NETFLIX Ahh yes! I love it. There's a lot of really cool movies and TV shows on netflix and I love that I get a free month to test drive it. There's a few shows and movies and doccumentaries I really want to see but I gotta wait until I have some solo-time where I don't feel like playing Xbox. Show's like Mad Men I really want to check out. It's 8 bucks a month and there's a lot of content. There's something for everyone and they have a great assortment of content for all the genres that they provide. Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy, Drama, Documentary, Cartoons/Anime, Childrens Stuff, etc. They have a well rounded selection. It's worth checking out if you have an Xbox/PS3 or Wii or use your PC to watch TV shows to begin with.
There's also the new Mortal Kombat but that deserves it's own blog entry so I'll definitely give that to you guys soon.
I'm out of things to say, until next time...
PEACE!
That's all I'm going to say about that, really.
I woke up this morning, almost with a hangover though it feels more like sleep deprivation more than anything else. A cup of coffee into me and I can now at least put two thoughts together without feeling like I'm handicapped...
The NFL Draft started yesterday, and Cleveland traded down their 6th overall pick for some insurance, trading with Atlanta who had the 27th pick, we swapped first rounders and also got Atlanta's 2nd and 4th round picks for this years draft AND next year's 1st round and 4th round picks. I was on Barking Hard which is a Browns fan forum I admin on and I was surprised at the mixed reaction to the trade, a lot of people saw the reason behind it. We're a team that's rebuilding (for like... over a decade) and we are not one player away from the superbowl... we're about 5 or 6 at least. We than traded our 3rd round pick and swapped with the chiefs (who were at 21) and drafted a defensive tackle from Baylor named Phil Taylor.
Now I'm no pro scout but I watched some his tapes this morning and I liked what I saw. He's got a lot of power and good technique. Phil has this weird bone disease where his bones grow together in his feet. It cannot be corrected with surgery, it's mostly a pain tolerance issue. The guy's pushing like 340 pounds so you gotta wonder if it will be an issue in the future. The way I see it, he's played through High School and the college level to get to this point, if the injury hampered his dreams that much he would have quit already.
I have a three day weekend, thank fuck. My job can be very stressful but it's got so many variables. It's not like a typical job where you might have one or two major vectors that cause stress. My job is kind of like an automobile. All these working parts coming together and one little thing goes wrong it fucks it all up. I took a sanity day on Monday and I don't work today so... to pardon the awful pun, I really phoned it in this week at work.
I listened to the Vancouver Canucks game on the Team 1040 website yesterday. It was cool because I can't watch the Canucks games (I don't get CBC... I'll get to that ) so when I learned about that I took advantage of it. The Team 1040 radio station broadcasts its radio broadcast of the Canucks games over the internet. I felt like I was simultaneously divulging in some vintage act of defiance while also enabling the technological prowess of today's society. Almost like I was enacting some crazy paradigm shift by what I was chosing to do.
The game was a good game, the Canucks won 1-0, I think that there won't be any meltdowns like there were aganst Chicago because Nashville is not that kind of team. This series is going to be rough and gritty and if the Canucks win they're going to need to re-focus quickly to face a more explosive team like San Jose or Detroit, neither of those teams are teams I WANT to encounter in the playoffs but I did predict a Sharks/Canucks Western Conference Final this year... we'll see if that comes true.
Back to the whole radio thing. I thought it was really cool listening to the game on the radio. Natasha told me she found it hard to follow but It's got tot to be tough when you don't know the names of the players or anything like that. I thought it was exciting, and it still allowed me to follow the action very well. The guys they had calling the game for The Team were really good at what they do. It reminds me that I would love to be a sports broadcaster and announce sports games.
How fucking cool would that be? I think it would be awesome. I would love to call all manner of sports. At least the "big 4" Football, Hockey, Baseball and Basketball. Maybe some Lacrosse or some Curling even. Who knows I'm just a sports junkie.
I had a thought today... I shouldn't say I just had it today. I have it often. I am very... I don't know, really "hateful" without even really being hateful. I say "I hate -this-" like here's a verbatim quote from yesterday when I was ranting about the Royal Wedding (and I said I was done...)
"I am so sick and tired of hearing about the Royal Wedding. I'm done with it, I'm done! I don't want to hear about it anymore!" Now this digressed into a discussion about bombing the wedding with bees. That would have been hilarious. I need to re-calibrate my attitudes. I shouldn't be so aggressively negative toward things that I don't like to the point that it completely overshadows things that I do like. I don't even know how the fuck to go about that but I am sure it involves me actively changing how I look at the world. That won't happen today I will tell you that much.
Here's something I have liked... NETFLIX Ahh yes! I love it. There's a lot of really cool movies and TV shows on netflix and I love that I get a free month to test drive it. There's a few shows and movies and doccumentaries I really want to see but I gotta wait until I have some solo-time where I don't feel like playing Xbox. Show's like Mad Men I really want to check out. It's 8 bucks a month and there's a lot of content. There's something for everyone and they have a great assortment of content for all the genres that they provide. Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy, Drama, Documentary, Cartoons/Anime, Childrens Stuff, etc. They have a well rounded selection. It's worth checking out if you have an Xbox/PS3 or Wii or use your PC to watch TV shows to begin with.
There's also the new Mortal Kombat but that deserves it's own blog entry so I'll definitely give that to you guys soon.
I'm out of things to say, until next time...
PEACE!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
How Hard Is It To Do Your Fucking Job?
(I originally wrote this on 03/31/11 during the Tumblr experiment, I will post about the Tumblr experiment and my thoughts, probably today or tomorrow.)
I'm not inside my own mind today... and I'm going to try and write this without using the "C" word (and no, the C word isn't cunt).
My job can be very stressful. I'm dealing with frustrated doctors and hospitals who just want their money. Claims worth tens of thousands of dollars, and usually people want shit taken care of right fucking now.
I work with lots of people from all over the world, I get to deal with Indians, Philippinos and even Texans. The most frustrating thing in the world is when somebody doesn't do something that they are SUPPOSED to...
ONE little thing can set the process back, literally months. Let's take appeals for example. The standard time-frame to process a claim appeal is 45 days. When the appeal isn't addressed, we have to send it down. There is a template we must fill out with the appeal that really isn't that difficult to fill out, it takes at most a couple of minutes. When you send a task down, it takes fifteen business days, reset the 45 day process. You can see where this might get a little frustrating if SOMEBODY DOESN'T DO THE JOB THEY ARE FUCKING PAID TO DO!
It is difficult to tell a provider, who is already pissed off at you because you're not telling them "Oh your claim is paid!", that you must take the time to fill out a template to send their appeal, because the previous representative they spoke with did not do this and that they must allow another 45 days, plus 15 business days, when they submitted their appeal to us back in December... three months ago.
How hard is it to just fucking do what you are TRAINED to do?
It's just bullshit because the call center I work at is under enough fucking pressure as it is. Every TINY aspect of my job is scrutinized. Call handle times are scrutinized, after call is scrutinized (after-call is the button you can hit if you do not want another call to come in RIGHT after you've completed a call), call quality is scrutinized. You can literally fail a call because you document a telephone number wrong. A fucking slip of the finger can cost you. Because my job is outsourced, my standards aren't even dictated by the company that I represent, they are dictated by the company that I work for. It's ridiculous... that's a different rant for a time where I have, perhaps, different employment.
All this added up, and some fucking asshole doesn't take ONE FUCKING MINUTE to do his job properly two months ago when the ball was in his (or her) court to TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS then, and now I've got to talk down someone and do the job RIGHT and then ask them to allow a few more weeks for shit to get taken care of.
One of my favorite phrases at work is "I'm just a middle man" and it's the truth. I just handle claims and benefits. That's it. I don't even deal with the common folk, just health care providers and sometimes it's a blessing, other times not so much. It's tough to tell someone who want's shit dealt with right fucking now that they need to allow another three weeks for their claim to process that's from 2009...
My one wish is that people would just fucking do what they NEED to do. I can't say what's happening. I could blame management because the call center agents are not purely to blame. I could blame ineptitude, I could blame language barriers, I could blame this and that but really it's just so fucking infuriating that I see repetitive issues coming to fruition over and over again and these are things that are ENTIRELY preventable and yet, here I am, cleaning up the fucking mess while I've got managers in my ear about this bullshit and that fucking statistic.
It's like Office Space, without Lumberg... Fuck sakes. I can't continue this, it's lost steam but you get my point. My job is bullshit, blah blah blah, suck it up princess? right?
Right.
I'm not inside my own mind today... and I'm going to try and write this without using the "C" word (and no, the C word isn't cunt).
My job can be very stressful. I'm dealing with frustrated doctors and hospitals who just want their money. Claims worth tens of thousands of dollars, and usually people want shit taken care of right fucking now.
I work with lots of people from all over the world, I get to deal with Indians, Philippinos and even Texans. The most frustrating thing in the world is when somebody doesn't do something that they are SUPPOSED to...
ONE little thing can set the process back, literally months. Let's take appeals for example. The standard time-frame to process a claim appeal is 45 days. When the appeal isn't addressed, we have to send it down. There is a template we must fill out with the appeal that really isn't that difficult to fill out, it takes at most a couple of minutes. When you send a task down, it takes fifteen business days, reset the 45 day process. You can see where this might get a little frustrating if SOMEBODY DOESN'T DO THE JOB THEY ARE FUCKING PAID TO DO!
It is difficult to tell a provider, who is already pissed off at you because you're not telling them "Oh your claim is paid!", that you must take the time to fill out a template to send their appeal, because the previous representative they spoke with did not do this and that they must allow another 45 days, plus 15 business days, when they submitted their appeal to us back in December... three months ago.
How hard is it to just fucking do what you are TRAINED to do?
It's just bullshit because the call center I work at is under enough fucking pressure as it is. Every TINY aspect of my job is scrutinized. Call handle times are scrutinized, after call is scrutinized (after-call is the button you can hit if you do not want another call to come in RIGHT after you've completed a call), call quality is scrutinized. You can literally fail a call because you document a telephone number wrong. A fucking slip of the finger can cost you. Because my job is outsourced, my standards aren't even dictated by the company that I represent, they are dictated by the company that I work for. It's ridiculous... that's a different rant for a time where I have, perhaps, different employment.
All this added up, and some fucking asshole doesn't take ONE FUCKING MINUTE to do his job properly two months ago when the ball was in his (or her) court to TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS then, and now I've got to talk down someone and do the job RIGHT and then ask them to allow a few more weeks for shit to get taken care of.
One of my favorite phrases at work is "I'm just a middle man" and it's the truth. I just handle claims and benefits. That's it. I don't even deal with the common folk, just health care providers and sometimes it's a blessing, other times not so much. It's tough to tell someone who want's shit dealt with right fucking now that they need to allow another three weeks for their claim to process that's from 2009...
My one wish is that people would just fucking do what they NEED to do. I can't say what's happening. I could blame management because the call center agents are not purely to blame. I could blame ineptitude, I could blame language barriers, I could blame this and that but really it's just so fucking infuriating that I see repetitive issues coming to fruition over and over again and these are things that are ENTIRELY preventable and yet, here I am, cleaning up the fucking mess while I've got managers in my ear about this bullshit and that fucking statistic.
It's like Office Space, without Lumberg... Fuck sakes. I can't continue this, it's lost steam but you get my point. My job is bullshit, blah blah blah, suck it up princess? right?
Right.
Just Blink, Another Goddamn Federal Election
(I originally wrote this during my tumblr experiment on 03/30/11)
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Another federal election? Really Canada?
Did you fuckheads in the house spend the last, what... TWO years bickering over the merits of a coalition government to finally push the non-confidence notion on the Conservatives... for what? The opportunity to push ANOTHER minority government into control of this country, AGAIN?
Let's face the facts here. There have been FOUR elections in the last SEVEN years... In a sane country, four elections would happen over the course of SIXTEEN years... over TWICE that amount of time!
There are basically two sides to this battle, with a third wheel attached crudely fighting for respect.
You've got the Conservatives on one hand, led by Stephen Harper, by far my FAVORITE politician maybe EVER.. *SARCASM ALERT* With his robotic nature and his unimaginable inability to emote like a normal human being, he has thrust himself as the face of the PC's and the "Harper Government" and arguably the face of Canada for the past 5 years which is a scary ass thought in of itself.
On the other hand, you have Michael Ignatieff. The leader of the Liberal party. The guy who had to clean up the scraps after Stephane Dion was removed from his post as leader of the Liberal party, a party that really has had absolutely no standing since Jean Cretien retired from politics. Ignatieff is painted as a false Canadian with far too many American sensibilities. I'm sure those who are goaded by the attack advertisements are already put off the idea of voting for him.
Then you have Jack Layton, NDP Leader. He looks like someone you'd run into at Church every Sunday. He, frankly, embarrasses me and he should embarrass anyone that even gives a damn about Canadian politics. Jack Layton has been the head of the NDP party since 2003... He's lead that party for the past 3 elections and social stigma for the NDP party aside, the party has gained ZERO ground under his influenced...
The often ignored fourth wheel in this political circus would be Elizabeth May, the leader of The Green Party. She has been shut out of the upcoming political debates to much controversy, I don't expect this to stand. The funny thing to me is that she's American born, she's such a small fish in a large pond, so to speak the Conservatives wouldn't waste their money or energy attacking her in their ad's. I like Elizabeth May, but the Green Party is too small to make a splash.
Now, really, I think this election will go to whoever is most aggressive, which is why favor is in the end of the Conservatives, they've been aggressive with their pricey (publicly funded) advertising campaigns. They have probably given themselves the early advantage.
The one thing Ignatieff is doing is reaching out a large variety of people, winning over as many demographics as he can is probably his best strategy right now. I think that may help him but will it win him the election? I think he will have to pull a rabbit out of his hat, so to speak, to take this.
Layton's NDP election is centered around Canadian Health Care. For a country with free health care, you would think, why is health care such a big deal? Truth is, it's not "free" we get taxed out the ass for it and a lot of times, you get what you pay for. I've seen the Health Care both sides of the country has to offer and it's bleak on both ends. If Layton can grasp the people and convince them that the NDP Health Care platform is something to believe in, he might snag some votes.
The Green Party's approach is a bit more down to earth, their initiative revolves around a 'common ground' campaign (their words) that wants to cut down on political trash talking and try to engage voters... their words again. To quote an exerpt I found on the Green Party website:
To be honest I wish the other parties took note but I'm not convinced this will be a big enough impact overall to really make a difference in the election or in voters minds but who knows.
I will be voting Green Party because they represent what I want. They represent something different. I've seen what the Liberals, the NDP and The Conservatives have had to offer Canada and to be honest, I think a change of guard is necessary. With Voter interest at an "all time low" and voter turnout mirroring that sentiment, time will tell if yet another election will warrant any change. I'm not convinced that it will.
I am just so sick of the bullshit. I am so sick of Canadian politics. This revolving door of elections to lead to more Stephen Harper/Conservative political games at the expense of Canadian Tax Payer's dollars, it's got to stop. It won't stop unless someone like Ignatieff, Layton or May step up and kick Harper in the balls, so to speak and show that they have the passion and the vision to take Canada back.
Edit: In the weeks since I've written this, my bitterness toward the election has grown tenfold. My worries of another (possibly majority) Harper Government have me absolutely THRILLED to think about Canada's future and really, as he put it in the debates this past week, we're probably just going to have another election in a couple of years anyway so who gives a shit right? He didn't say the 'who gives a shit' part... I did.
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Another federal election? Really Canada?
Did you fuckheads in the house spend the last, what... TWO years bickering over the merits of a coalition government to finally push the non-confidence notion on the Conservatives... for what? The opportunity to push ANOTHER minority government into control of this country, AGAIN?
Let's face the facts here. There have been FOUR elections in the last SEVEN years... In a sane country, four elections would happen over the course of SIXTEEN years... over TWICE that amount of time!
There are basically two sides to this battle, with a third wheel attached crudely fighting for respect.
You've got the Conservatives on one hand, led by Stephen Harper, by far my FAVORITE politician maybe EVER.. *SARCASM ALERT* With his robotic nature and his unimaginable inability to emote like a normal human being, he has thrust himself as the face of the PC's and the "Harper Government" and arguably the face of Canada for the past 5 years which is a scary ass thought in of itself.
On the other hand, you have Michael Ignatieff. The leader of the Liberal party. The guy who had to clean up the scraps after Stephane Dion was removed from his post as leader of the Liberal party, a party that really has had absolutely no standing since Jean Cretien retired from politics. Ignatieff is painted as a false Canadian with far too many American sensibilities. I'm sure those who are goaded by the attack advertisements are already put off the idea of voting for him.
Then you have Jack Layton, NDP Leader. He looks like someone you'd run into at Church every Sunday. He, frankly, embarrasses me and he should embarrass anyone that even gives a damn about Canadian politics. Jack Layton has been the head of the NDP party since 2003... He's lead that party for the past 3 elections and social stigma for the NDP party aside, the party has gained ZERO ground under his influenced...
The often ignored fourth wheel in this political circus would be Elizabeth May, the leader of The Green Party. She has been shut out of the upcoming political debates to much controversy, I don't expect this to stand. The funny thing to me is that she's American born, she's such a small fish in a large pond, so to speak the Conservatives wouldn't waste their money or energy attacking her in their ad's. I like Elizabeth May, but the Green Party is too small to make a splash.
Now, really, I think this election will go to whoever is most aggressive, which is why favor is in the end of the Conservatives, they've been aggressive with their pricey (publicly funded) advertising campaigns. They have probably given themselves the early advantage.
The one thing Ignatieff is doing is reaching out a large variety of people, winning over as many demographics as he can is probably his best strategy right now. I think that may help him but will it win him the election? I think he will have to pull a rabbit out of his hat, so to speak, to take this.
Layton's NDP election is centered around Canadian Health Care. For a country with free health care, you would think, why is health care such a big deal? Truth is, it's not "free" we get taxed out the ass for it and a lot of times, you get what you pay for. I've seen the Health Care both sides of the country has to offer and it's bleak on both ends. If Layton can grasp the people and convince them that the NDP Health Care platform is something to believe in, he might snag some votes.
The Green Party's approach is a bit more down to earth, their initiative revolves around a 'common ground' campaign (their words) that wants to cut down on political trash talking and try to engage voters... their words again. To quote an exerpt I found on the Green Party website:
The Green Party of Canada launched its "common ground" campaign in Sidney, B.C., on Monday, urging federal parties to create a "better atmosphere" for Canadians by stopping the political mudslinging and focusing instead on issues all parties can agree on in the lead-up to the May 2 election.
"For the fourth time in seven years, Canada finds itself in a federal election. I know that Canadians feel this is an unnecessary use of taxpayers' money and they are sick of the mudslinging and the personal attacks," said leader Elizabeth May. "We are saying, let's try to engage the voters. Let's try to show them that, once in a while, we can agree on important policy issues."
To be honest I wish the other parties took note but I'm not convinced this will be a big enough impact overall to really make a difference in the election or in voters minds but who knows.
I will be voting Green Party because they represent what I want. They represent something different. I've seen what the Liberals, the NDP and The Conservatives have had to offer Canada and to be honest, I think a change of guard is necessary. With Voter interest at an "all time low" and voter turnout mirroring that sentiment, time will tell if yet another election will warrant any change. I'm not convinced that it will.
I am just so sick of the bullshit. I am so sick of Canadian politics. This revolving door of elections to lead to more Stephen Harper/Conservative political games at the expense of Canadian Tax Payer's dollars, it's got to stop. It won't stop unless someone like Ignatieff, Layton or May step up and kick Harper in the balls, so to speak and show that they have the passion and the vision to take Canada back.
Edit: In the weeks since I've written this, my bitterness toward the election has grown tenfold. My worries of another (possibly majority) Harper Government have me absolutely THRILLED to think about Canada's future and really, as he put it in the debates this past week, we're probably just going to have another election in a couple of years anyway so who gives a shit right? He didn't say the 'who gives a shit' part... I did.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Japan
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... We have seen some fucked up shit in the last decade.
Hurricane Katrina, Haiti, and now this Japan cluster fuck. With these disasters it's only natural that people will make jokes about it because that's what people do. I've done it, I'm guilty of making jokes to natural disasters but not to Japan, nothing like this...
I'm not trying to say 'who's got it worse' or what has been more disgusting or anything like that but what has transpired in Japan is a tragedy. Period. People fleeing to rooftops to avoid the tsunami flooding. A nuclear reactor damaged that will possibly melt down (pardon me being a day or so behind the ball, I just watched what CNN is fucking spamming during my work break) the people who are stranded creating huge "SOS" alerts on land that can be viewed by overhead aircraft (of course, it's news aircraft and not somebody trying to fucking HELP).
I'm trying not to go on two different tangents here but that's what's going to fucking happen. You have the people that don't take this shit seriously. People on Facebook who cast off sympathizing or throw their guilt in the garbage because of PEARL HARBOR. Really? Pearl fucking Harbor? Something that happened over 60 years ago during a GODDAMN WORLD WAR? THAT is your justification for not giving a fuck about the devastated Japanese people? Fuck you you piece of garbage.
How can anyone not feel compelled. This must have been how Kanye West felt after Katrina when he told national TV that George Bush doesn't care about black people. I had the same disgusting pit in my stomach in the aftermath of Katrina too.
Honestly though, I think Japan is on a whole other level. To be hit by a 8.9 Earthquake AND a Tsunami? There's just no comparison to me. Katrina was devastating, and the people suffered greatly and in some respects many are STILL affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Haiti, that was disgusting too, the reason that was so horrifying is because that's a nation that couldn't even really afford to help itself. Does that make Japan a different story? Does that make laughing at Japan okay? Not to say everyone's laughing but I want to punch everyone who is right in the dick.
So you've got tsunami's you've got earthquakes, you've got nuclear reactors possibly melting down, you've got oil refineries exploding. People are stranded, confined, lost, thousands are dead, probably way more than they are estimating.
Fucking Wolf Blitzer called Japan "Haiti" on live news yesterday. Now it's time for the CNN digression. Fuck you Wolf Blitzer.
Fucking CNN gets their huge fucking news boner and pretty much just spams the tragedy with their fucking analysts and 'experts' picking apart every fucking little detail. With all the time and money they are putting into sharing this tragedy and destruction with the world don't you think they could fucking HELP OUT WITH THE SITUATION? Oh there's no money and no ratings in helping the tragedy toward conclusion.
I've made my opinion about CNN pretty fucking clear in the past. Where does the line between informing and exploitation come? Probably when I go for a break, go back to work and have my lunch nearly 3 hours later and they are reporting THE SAME FUCKING THING!
Okay back on topic. Fuck you CNN, Fuck you fucks who think this isn't serious because of Pearl fucking Harbor that Americans shouldn't give a hand to Japan.
This is arguably one of the most disgusting situation's I've ever seen in my whole life time. The fact that people are making light of it, I mean, people do. I understand why, especially on Twitter. Everyone's a comedian on Twitter so it makes sense. But, people who just laugh at the misfortune of Japan and make Godzilla jokes and try to fucking displace any guilt they have by bringing up something that is completely unrelated that happened over half a goddamn century ago.
I just wish some people would use their fucking brains, open their hearts and their eyes and SEE what's fucking happening. If you watch five full minutes of the carnage that's occurred over there. I guarantee you will not be making any fucking jokes about it.
Peace out.
Hurricane Katrina, Haiti, and now this Japan cluster fuck. With these disasters it's only natural that people will make jokes about it because that's what people do. I've done it, I'm guilty of making jokes to natural disasters but not to Japan, nothing like this...
I'm not trying to say 'who's got it worse' or what has been more disgusting or anything like that but what has transpired in Japan is a tragedy. Period. People fleeing to rooftops to avoid the tsunami flooding. A nuclear reactor damaged that will possibly melt down (pardon me being a day or so behind the ball, I just watched what CNN is fucking spamming during my work break) the people who are stranded creating huge "SOS" alerts on land that can be viewed by overhead aircraft (of course, it's news aircraft and not somebody trying to fucking HELP).
I'm trying not to go on two different tangents here but that's what's going to fucking happen. You have the people that don't take this shit seriously. People on Facebook who cast off sympathizing or throw their guilt in the garbage because of PEARL HARBOR. Really? Pearl fucking Harbor? Something that happened over 60 years ago during a GODDAMN WORLD WAR? THAT is your justification for not giving a fuck about the devastated Japanese people? Fuck you you piece of garbage.
How can anyone not feel compelled. This must have been how Kanye West felt after Katrina when he told national TV that George Bush doesn't care about black people. I had the same disgusting pit in my stomach in the aftermath of Katrina too.
Honestly though, I think Japan is on a whole other level. To be hit by a 8.9 Earthquake AND a Tsunami? There's just no comparison to me. Katrina was devastating, and the people suffered greatly and in some respects many are STILL affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Haiti, that was disgusting too, the reason that was so horrifying is because that's a nation that couldn't even really afford to help itself. Does that make Japan a different story? Does that make laughing at Japan okay? Not to say everyone's laughing but I want to punch everyone who is right in the dick.
So you've got tsunami's you've got earthquakes, you've got nuclear reactors possibly melting down, you've got oil refineries exploding. People are stranded, confined, lost, thousands are dead, probably way more than they are estimating.
Fucking Wolf Blitzer called Japan "Haiti" on live news yesterday. Now it's time for the CNN digression. Fuck you Wolf Blitzer.
Fucking CNN gets their huge fucking news boner and pretty much just spams the tragedy with their fucking analysts and 'experts' picking apart every fucking little detail. With all the time and money they are putting into sharing this tragedy and destruction with the world don't you think they could fucking HELP OUT WITH THE SITUATION? Oh there's no money and no ratings in helping the tragedy toward conclusion.
I've made my opinion about CNN pretty fucking clear in the past. Where does the line between informing and exploitation come? Probably when I go for a break, go back to work and have my lunch nearly 3 hours later and they are reporting THE SAME FUCKING THING!
Okay back on topic. Fuck you CNN, Fuck you fucks who think this isn't serious because of Pearl fucking Harbor that Americans shouldn't give a hand to Japan.
This is arguably one of the most disgusting situation's I've ever seen in my whole life time. The fact that people are making light of it, I mean, people do. I understand why, especially on Twitter. Everyone's a comedian on Twitter so it makes sense. But, people who just laugh at the misfortune of Japan and make Godzilla jokes and try to fucking displace any guilt they have by bringing up something that is completely unrelated that happened over half a goddamn century ago.
I just wish some people would use their fucking brains, open their hearts and their eyes and SEE what's fucking happening. If you watch five full minutes of the carnage that's occurred over there. I guarantee you will not be making any fucking jokes about it.
Peace out.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Playing HALO With Your Special Lady Friend
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... and it's not because I punched my girlfriend in the head at least four or five times in the head yesterday...
IN HALO
Come on people!
Yes, I got Halo: Reach over Christmas time and my girlfriend has become absolutely addicted to the game. I bought it because I have many friends from out west who play the game and I thought it would be a great way to keep in touch with them. I enjoy Halo: Reach and I think it's made many improvements to the Halo franchise that had bothered me about Halo 2 and Halo 3 but this blog isn't about that. This is about the experience that playing Halo on X-Box live with your Girlfriend.
I'm sure there are many of you who have played online games with your girlfriends. Many of you red blooded full y testosterone infused males know the... aggression that comes from playing a first person shooter. To digress for a moment, Kobe Bryant was on Conan the other night and he talked about how when he plays basketball he enters his alter ego "The Black Mamba" The fact that that is Vivica A. Fox in Kill Bill aside. When I play Halo, I enter my Black Mamba...
My... Enigmatic Evil if you will.
I get aggressive, I get worked up. I love to talk trash, I absolutely LOVE it. I will curse to the extent that a sailor would most likely blush. I enter this zone that is really unlike anything else I experience in day-to-day life and when I am playing with my girlfriend it's... different.
Not different in the sense that I play in a different way but it's different because she's there. Now she is not like me, mostly because she's a woman obviously. She will get worked up and she will talk trash but she rarely does this on the microphone like I do. She will often do this with the microphone on mute and she rarely says things on the mic to the other players.
Here's an example of an awful thing that I would say to a player online: "Fuck you! I hope you inherit a sexually transmitted disease!!!"
Here is an example of an awful thing that she would say to a player online: "You are an awful person!"
Quite frequently she is sitting beside me while I am 'in the zone' and she will be trying to talk me down because, I'm not going to lie, I get nasty. I will be sitting there, telling a guy about how he bites cocks and here she is sitting beside me rolling her eyes and asking me not to be so rude. It's funny to me because when I play Halo it's like I have Tourette's, there is no filter, no control. I want to slay and if that means slaying verbally then so be it!
Here is a common exchange between the GF and I while we're playing halo.
Me: FUCK FUCK FUCK
Her: What?
Me: I just died
Her: Oh I thought you were saying that to me?
Me: No... if I start swearing profusely, assume that I just died
Me Later: SHIT!!!!
Her: Huh?
Me: Died again
Her: Oh... good.
I mean there's no sympathy especially if she gets a kill on me, and usually when she does there's a well timed "Suck it!" thrown at me from her direction. She gets FURIOUS when I kill her, not as mad as when I die, especially by her hand or gun but still. Usually this is because I will stalk her. Make a condescending remark before my fist smacks the back of her helmet and puts her down, usually followed by a nefarious cackle because it's amusing!
There's certain social guidelines when playing Halo that throw all the camaraderie of relationships out the door. It's kill or be killed, every man, woman or child for themselves. And there's a lot of children on Halo.
To digress from the lady friend for a moment. Trash talking children is hilarious. They're kids, usually 13-ish and their trash talk is usually awful, consisting of "Fuck you!" or "you suck!" So to throw big words at them is awesome because they really have NO idea how to respond. It's like "You suck, noob!" "Yeah... well, come talk to me when your balls drop, infantile!" "Uhh.... you suck! Pwned!" There's just no intelligence there. I mean, when I was a teenager, I was still a top notch trash talker. It's in my blood.
Back to topic, playing Halo with my special lady friend is an awesome experience overall. I don't think she's always ready for when I'm embracing my inner enigmatic evil and this is mostly because she's not always ready for how worked up that Halo makes her, or makes me. The trash talk, the aggression, Halo is a full contact sport where the only contact is button mashing. It's a lot of fun playing with her and a lot of that fun is entirely based on the kinds of conversations we will have. In the future, we will play more Halo and we will punch, shoot, and swear at each other but it's all in good fun!
Until next time guys, PEACE!
IN HALO
Come on people!
Yes, I got Halo: Reach over Christmas time and my girlfriend has become absolutely addicted to the game. I bought it because I have many friends from out west who play the game and I thought it would be a great way to keep in touch with them. I enjoy Halo: Reach and I think it's made many improvements to the Halo franchise that had bothered me about Halo 2 and Halo 3 but this blog isn't about that. This is about the experience that playing Halo on X-Box live with your Girlfriend.
I'm sure there are many of you who have played online games with your girlfriends. Many of you red blooded full y testosterone infused males know the... aggression that comes from playing a first person shooter. To digress for a moment, Kobe Bryant was on Conan the other night and he talked about how when he plays basketball he enters his alter ego "The Black Mamba" The fact that that is Vivica A. Fox in Kill Bill aside. When I play Halo, I enter my Black Mamba...
My... Enigmatic Evil if you will.
I get aggressive, I get worked up. I love to talk trash, I absolutely LOVE it. I will curse to the extent that a sailor would most likely blush. I enter this zone that is really unlike anything else I experience in day-to-day life and when I am playing with my girlfriend it's... different.
Not different in the sense that I play in a different way but it's different because she's there. Now she is not like me, mostly because she's a woman obviously. She will get worked up and she will talk trash but she rarely does this on the microphone like I do. She will often do this with the microphone on mute and she rarely says things on the mic to the other players.
Here's an example of an awful thing that I would say to a player online: "Fuck you! I hope you inherit a sexually transmitted disease!!!"
Here is an example of an awful thing that she would say to a player online: "You are an awful person!"
Quite frequently she is sitting beside me while I am 'in the zone' and she will be trying to talk me down because, I'm not going to lie, I get nasty. I will be sitting there, telling a guy about how he bites cocks and here she is sitting beside me rolling her eyes and asking me not to be so rude. It's funny to me because when I play Halo it's like I have Tourette's, there is no filter, no control. I want to slay and if that means slaying verbally then so be it!
Here is a common exchange between the GF and I while we're playing halo.
Me: FUCK FUCK FUCK
Her: What?
Me: I just died
Her: Oh I thought you were saying that to me?
Me: No... if I start swearing profusely, assume that I just died
Me Later: SHIT!!!!
Her: Huh?
Me: Died again
Her: Oh... good.
I mean there's no sympathy especially if she gets a kill on me, and usually when she does there's a well timed "Suck it!" thrown at me from her direction. She gets FURIOUS when I kill her, not as mad as when I die, especially by her hand or gun but still. Usually this is because I will stalk her. Make a condescending remark before my fist smacks the back of her helmet and puts her down, usually followed by a nefarious cackle because it's amusing!
There's certain social guidelines when playing Halo that throw all the camaraderie of relationships out the door. It's kill or be killed, every man, woman or child for themselves. And there's a lot of children on Halo.
To digress from the lady friend for a moment. Trash talking children is hilarious. They're kids, usually 13-ish and their trash talk is usually awful, consisting of "Fuck you!" or "you suck!" So to throw big words at them is awesome because they really have NO idea how to respond. It's like "You suck, noob!" "Yeah... well, come talk to me when your balls drop, infantile!" "Uhh.... you suck! Pwned!" There's just no intelligence there. I mean, when I was a teenager, I was still a top notch trash talker. It's in my blood.
Back to topic, playing Halo with my special lady friend is an awesome experience overall. I don't think she's always ready for when I'm embracing my inner enigmatic evil and this is mostly because she's not always ready for how worked up that Halo makes her, or makes me. The trash talk, the aggression, Halo is a full contact sport where the only contact is button mashing. It's a lot of fun playing with her and a lot of that fun is entirely based on the kinds of conversations we will have. In the future, we will play more Halo and we will punch, shoot, and swear at each other but it's all in good fun!
Until next time guys, PEACE!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
ABERRANT: For Dummies
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Now, I don't want to alarm you but I'm a bit of a geek. I'm an avid gamer. Xbox? Check. I love that shit. Board Games? Not that I own any but hell yes! Though, not Monopoly. Mom ALWAYS wins at Monopoly and I end up bankrupt. Fuck that game.
Now this isn't about Xbox or Board Games. I'm going to discuss Pen and Paper, or "Tabletop" games as they're sometimes called. Games like Dungeons And Dragons...
You know... SATAN'S GAME!
Anyway, speciffically I'm going to talk about a game called Aberrant by White Wolf. Aberrant is a Superhero game in a contemporary setting where people who "errupt" transcend the pathetic restrictions of humanity and become "Novas". Novas are super-powered beings who are considered 'god-like'. Now, since the term "Mutant" is copy-written by Marvel Comics, they had to come up with something else. Could they have done better? That's debatable but none the less that's not the point.
Now, Aberrant is played much like D&D. You have a "Game Master" or "Storyteller" who runs the game. This person is like the writer, narrator, God and Jesus all wrapped up into one. They present the story to the gamers, lead them to make choices which affect the outcomes of situations they are put into and also, at least when I am running a game, are trying to kill the gamers at every turn.
Players are given points to give your characters abilities and skills. With these abilities you're given dice which ultimately decide the success of the various tasks you attempt when you don't just try to role play through it. In Aberrant, you're also able to give your character virtually any super power you can imagine! Flight, Wolverine claws, laser eyes? The thing I love about most games like Aberrant is that you're only limited by your imaginaton.
Want to be a character that blows up on a whim without actually dying? SELF-DESTRUCTOR! Yeah... you can do that too.
The gamers play the superhero 'team' or even super-villains if you're feeling evil.
Now for an example of the plot of the last game I ran, just for reference:
After he players erupted, they were united by a NPC (Non-Player Character) named "The Captain" who wanted their aid to save a hero named Ultima, who is kind of like the Superman of this particular story. Captain believed Ultima was abducted by a villanous society named "The Circle" and their purpose for abducting Ultima was unknown.
The team learned that The Circle was lead by three villains named The Baron, Lady Venom and Max Kenneth III.
The team infiltrated various Circle hideouts to try and find information on Ultimas whereabouts, ultimately they were lead to believe that Ultima was sent into outer space. The team was going to have to take a space ship and go into Space themselves to save Ultima.
The game never got that far. I decided I was stick of being the game master, I wanted to actually PLAY the game. I've been GMing for... too long.
I ran a pretty lengthy villains story where one of the players was turned into a child eating cannibal, another player became a drug kingpin based out of Taiwan and other characters divulged in random acts of evil, greed, gluttony and depravity the likes of which only a true super-villain could desire, MUAHAHAHAHA!
In the first game session of this particular story, All the players were broke out of prison by the aforementioned Max Kenneth. Some chose to join him, some chose to give him the middle finger and do their own thing but that didn't stop him from trying to play them all against each other and sabotage them without their knowledge of it. I killed two players in the very first night! It all came to a vicious implosion a few months down the line when every player tried to kill each other and I had to time-warp the game to evade a untimely demise. The game, needless to say, never really recovered after that anyway.
Now I've got a good group of co-workers we've had an Aberrant game going for a few months now and I am burntout, like I said, I want to PLAY, I don't want to be the creator, I want to be the guy that mucks the GM's perfect plans up in MY quest for all that is ... whatever I may be feeling that particular evening.
I've been creating a character for the game and I've decided he will be based off of Christopher Walken
( "Babies... when I'm done with you, you'll all be wearing gold plated diapers!" )
Now since I know my friends, I know the kind of characters they will play.
Two will likely make combat oriented characters because they play D&D all the time and are very difficult to try and wrangle into playing an actual "character"
The other will likely play a loner type who will play nice with the other characters but will mostly divulge his own devices.
This leaves ME to make the character that will likely lead the group: Make the decisions and do the talking and you better believe I'm going to mess with the other players as well as the GM. That's why I chose to make a character that's based off of Christopher Walken, he oozes charisma, he can play any kind of role he needs to play and well he's super cool.
It's going to be fun because it will also be a cheap excuse for me to use my Christopher Walken impression en masse without having to bring it up in a discussion in order to be asked to show it.
I'm not sure what Christopher will be getting in to but it will be fun. I look forward to demanding more cowbell at inappropriate moments and maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get the chance to push a villainous she-bitch out of a window. A little russian roulette? Who knows! That's what makes Aberrant great. Anything can happen.
All that I'm really left wondering...
What superpowers do you give Christopher Walken?
Now this isn't about Xbox or Board Games. I'm going to discuss Pen and Paper, or "Tabletop" games as they're sometimes called. Games like Dungeons And Dragons...
You know... SATAN'S GAME!
Anyway, speciffically I'm going to talk about a game called Aberrant by White Wolf. Aberrant is a Superhero game in a contemporary setting where people who "errupt" transcend the pathetic restrictions of humanity and become "Novas". Novas are super-powered beings who are considered 'god-like'. Now, since the term "Mutant" is copy-written by Marvel Comics, they had to come up with something else. Could they have done better? That's debatable but none the less that's not the point.
Now, Aberrant is played much like D&D. You have a "Game Master" or "Storyteller" who runs the game. This person is like the writer, narrator, God and Jesus all wrapped up into one. They present the story to the gamers, lead them to make choices which affect the outcomes of situations they are put into and also, at least when I am running a game, are trying to kill the gamers at every turn.
Players are given points to give your characters abilities and skills. With these abilities you're given dice which ultimately decide the success of the various tasks you attempt when you don't just try to role play through it. In Aberrant, you're also able to give your character virtually any super power you can imagine! Flight, Wolverine claws, laser eyes? The thing I love about most games like Aberrant is that you're only limited by your imaginaton.
Want to be a character that blows up on a whim without actually dying? SELF-DESTRUCTOR! Yeah... you can do that too.
The gamers play the superhero 'team' or even super-villains if you're feeling evil.
Now for an example of the plot of the last game I ran, just for reference:
After he players erupted, they were united by a NPC (Non-Player Character) named "The Captain" who wanted their aid to save a hero named Ultima, who is kind of like the Superman of this particular story. Captain believed Ultima was abducted by a villanous society named "The Circle" and their purpose for abducting Ultima was unknown.
The team learned that The Circle was lead by three villains named The Baron, Lady Venom and Max Kenneth III.
The team infiltrated various Circle hideouts to try and find information on Ultimas whereabouts, ultimately they were lead to believe that Ultima was sent into outer space. The team was going to have to take a space ship and go into Space themselves to save Ultima.
The game never got that far. I decided I was stick of being the game master, I wanted to actually PLAY the game. I've been GMing for... too long.
I ran a pretty lengthy villains story where one of the players was turned into a child eating cannibal, another player became a drug kingpin based out of Taiwan and other characters divulged in random acts of evil, greed, gluttony and depravity the likes of which only a true super-villain could desire, MUAHAHAHAHA!
In the first game session of this particular story, All the players were broke out of prison by the aforementioned Max Kenneth. Some chose to join him, some chose to give him the middle finger and do their own thing but that didn't stop him from trying to play them all against each other and sabotage them without their knowledge of it. I killed two players in the very first night! It all came to a vicious implosion a few months down the line when every player tried to kill each other and I had to time-warp the game to evade a untimely demise. The game, needless to say, never really recovered after that anyway.
Now I've got a good group of co-workers we've had an Aberrant game going for a few months now and I am burntout, like I said, I want to PLAY, I don't want to be the creator, I want to be the guy that mucks the GM's perfect plans up in MY quest for all that is ... whatever I may be feeling that particular evening.
I've been creating a character for the game and I've decided he will be based off of Christopher Walken
( "Babies... when I'm done with you, you'll all be wearing gold plated diapers!" )
Now since I know my friends, I know the kind of characters they will play.
Two will likely make combat oriented characters because they play D&D all the time and are very difficult to try and wrangle into playing an actual "character"
The other will likely play a loner type who will play nice with the other characters but will mostly divulge his own devices.
This leaves ME to make the character that will likely lead the group: Make the decisions and do the talking and you better believe I'm going to mess with the other players as well as the GM. That's why I chose to make a character that's based off of Christopher Walken, he oozes charisma, he can play any kind of role he needs to play and well he's super cool.
It's going to be fun because it will also be a cheap excuse for me to use my Christopher Walken impression en masse without having to bring it up in a discussion in order to be asked to show it.
I'm not sure what Christopher will be getting in to but it will be fun. I look forward to demanding more cowbell at inappropriate moments and maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get the chance to push a villainous she-bitch out of a window. A little russian roulette? Who knows! That's what makes Aberrant great. Anything can happen.
All that I'm really left wondering...
What superpowers do you give Christopher Walken?
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