This actually doesn't fit into my blog. But it's SportsNation, come on. Hello my Giant Bomb friends, this is a update (as the title clearly states). Its been awhile since I have done a true update so I thought why not. I really haven't done much really, well since school started anyway. Sadly school has eaten up most of my time. As a matter of fact I'm writing this blog in the middle of doing some homework. First off I guess I'll start off with some school info. I'm a senior this year (class of 2010 represent!) and this year seems much more calm then the last three, I can't really explain it. Teachers seem to be nicer and more easy to work with. Also it helps that most of my friends are in most of my classes so that's a plus. Government is tough Rocket Boys though. My teacher for that class is, to be nice, strict. He expects you to be on it with reading and notes. Which the only bad thing about it is, I don't absorb info just by reading it. I need to be taught it and have it explained well to me. That's why I really like having the teacher taking notes and talking about the subject. But life isn't like that so I need to adjust. Algebra II at the moment is ok. My teacher is very good, I've had him before but he tries so hard to make sure you get the material and does a great job with notes (which I like). Current Issues is good. We basically just talk the whole period without much notes or homework. We do have to read Rocket Boys for the class. We were originally only supposed to read it in our homeroom, but the teacher thinks it's great to read for the class. And I'm pretty surprised by it. It's a very entertaining and well written book. And for the best class of the day I get cadet teaching 4th period. I just got my teacher today and I work with one of my favorite teachers. So I'm hoping to enjoy it. That's it really for school right now. I'm hoping I don't totally freak and get nervous as I usually do.
Now onto some games I have been playing. I get Gamefly, since I don't make much money in the summer I thought it would be good to get that so that I could still play some games. I have played a lot this summer. Just on Gamefly alone I have played:
All I want is to play this game. I believe that is it. I might be missing a few. Though I didn't enjoy or finish all of them, I enjoyed that I could at least try them. Which is my favorite thing about Gamefly. I don't know what I am getting next. I have had Uncharted at the top of my list for about a month now and haven't gotten it yet. I'm really hoping to get Rogue Galaxy next. That game looks great and I'm shamed that I missed it when it came out. I'm really trying to widen my gaming genres. I used to just play platformers and the occasional AHHHHHHH! shooter. I really want to get into RPGs or JRPGs. I like them, but never put the time into them that I should. Sadly I also played my first Online game. I have never played a game online with others before. For one reason, I never had wireless connection or anything like that. I finally got it and my first game was Fat Princess. I really like that game, I was first introduced to it through a Giant Bomb QL. I've gotten into some heated battles and some crappy ones that never ended. I've also played well watched some Linger in Shadows. I liked it and reviewed it. It was a good game for $3. As for games that weren't downloadable I played some Mirror's Edge and GRID. I have to say Mirror's Edge was weird for me. I like platformers, but there was something about the running and moves that wasn't good for me. I played a lot of it but couldn't get fully into it. The voice acting seemed uninspired and lazy, but the art work was the highlight of the game to me. And the only thing I'm saying about GRID is that it continued to so me that I am racing game challenged and should never play them (cries softly).
This summer I got heavily into Wiki editing. Probably at the beginning of the summer I think I had about 200 wiki points. I'm close to 9,500 now. I really enjoy it. I have taken it upon myself to try to so the best with the bowling wikis as possible. My pride and joy is the bowling page. I spent many hours on that. But most recently I have worked on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time wiki page. I made the equipment section awhile ago. But I recently added some pictures to it. I worked on the GRIN page some more and did most of the work that is up on it today. Which I'm still terribly upset they closed.
Yay, Twitter. If you've seen my page, I'm way to into twitter for some reason. I love that damn thing. The only thing that annoys the hell out of me is the fact that you get spammers following you a lot. Which is dumb. If you'd like to follow my here is a link to my twitter. Just click follow and I'll do the same.
Well there's a update. Nothing special. But I'm off to finish my homework. As my Government teacher says, I have to "Get in my Jeep and ride up the mountain of knowledge". Fucked up I know
So I start my senior year this Thursday. I'm pretty excited. I'm looking forward to getting this year over with and go to college. I have a less then hectic schedule this year. My school goes by block format, which is 4 periods a day which are 1hr and 30mins long. Here are my classes this year.
First Semester
U.S Government
Algebra 2
Current Issues (a history class)
Cadet Teaching (for a computer class I believe)
Second Half of First Semester
Economics
Algebra 2
The 1960's (history class)
Cadet Teaching
Second Semester
English 12
Chemistry
Foods Class
Photography (I took it last year and got a A+ in it. I am taking it again to fill a class)
I do have a question for my Giant Bomb friends. What exactly is cadet teaching? I thought it was where I help the teacher with getting papers and help grading. But my sister told me that I would have to teach. I just wanted to know. I emailed my school counselor (who is also my cousin) with that question.
I have skill. But I'm excited for this year. I get my last year of bowling which I am super excited about. I'm hoping we as a team have a good year. I'm Last years team. That's me in the top middle. It's a terrible terrible picture of all of us. annoyed with finishing 3rd to last every year. I've been practicing with my coach and his son all summer so I'm liking where I'm at right now. I completely changed my game. I am now a power player now but can also play straight.
What I've been up to lately.
I've been wiki editing my ass off. I've jumped about 6,000 points in about a month. I'm really proud of the bowling page that I worked my ass off doing. I'm very proud of it. Also I'm happy about the Walter Ray Williams Jr page. On the gaming side, I have played some Fat Princess and loved it very much. I'm not terrible at it! I've gotten into some insane battles which is great. I've played some Metal Slug on the PSP. That's really it.
So yeah. I'm excited for this year, I enjoy school, though I'm not smart at all. So to all the people on my friends list (I'm not going to put this in the forums) best of luck to all that are starting high school, middle school, or college. Have a great year.
Alright here we go. I'm going to try to make this my longest blog yet. I made it my goal to get 1000 post by the end of the summer, and I'm two weeks ahead of schedule. On May 27th (the day I got out of school) I had around 500 post. It has taken me two months to get 500, said I know. Things to follow are what I have been up to lately.
Music
I'm a fan of music. Not a fan of the "rock" stuff like AC/DC, Hinder, Slipknot etc. You know things that you'd find on your local rock radio station. Here are some of my favorite bands.
Favorite bands
Coldplay
TV on the Radio
Ludo
Alexisonfire
Jet
Forgive Durden
You, Me, and Everyone We Know
Cage the Elephant
White Rabbits
The Faint
The Temptations
That's to name a few. I do listen to music, but I tend to stick to the ones I listed above. Some songs I have been listening to lately. Jet has been releasing some new stuff and it is sounding really good. Which is to be expected. Here is some of my favorite songs at the moment, the link is to a youtube video.
That's the basics on what I have been up to in music. If you have any bands you think I should check out please feel free to post it. Now on to movies.
Movies
I'm a huge huge fan of movies. Though I don't get to see as much in theaters as I would like. I prefer action comedies. Though I do enjoy the thrillers and movies that really make you think. My favorite actor has to be Paul Rudd. He is a fantastic actor. I think it is odd that he does movies about dick jokes and etc when he went to Oxford University to study acting. Here is a list of my favorite movies.
In Bruges- I love this movie. I watched when I was sick with kidney stones so I was really jacked on pain killers. I was in and out of it. But I have watched it a number of times since. Colin Ferrell gets to play his Irish self, which I think leads to his openness in the movie. He seems comfortable and most importantly having fun. The story is a fairly dark comedy, and the story itself is pretty depressing once you get near the end. But over all it's my all time favorite.
Gone Baby Gone- Gone Baby Gone is based on a book of the same name. I'm really not a fan of Ben Affleck but if he does more movies behind the camera I'll be fine. He does a great job in his first movie as a director. Casey Affleck, one of my favorite actors, is great also. He plays Patrick with great force and power. The story is about sticking to what you believe is right no matter what. And that causes conflict between Patrick and the rest of the characters.
3:10 to Yuma- I hate westerns. There are a select few that I do like and 3:10 to Yuma is one of them. Christian Bale does probably his finest performance. He plays a very flawed hero, which is something he doesn't always do. He always plays the bad ass hero who saves the day. It's a nice change of character. Russell Crowe also does a great job as the villain Ben Wade. Who proves not all bad guys are bad on the inside.
Those are just a few of my favorite movies. But those are my top 3 favorite movies. Others include Observe and Report, Hot Fuzz to name a few. I've also been a big fan of Seth Rogen also. He has to be one of the best up and coming actors right now. Him and Danny McBride are starting to make a great comedies. But yes they are in comedies, but watch them, they act so well. Which is something that doesn't always happen in comedies. I'm also going to go see The Collector Friday. Expect a review then.
TV Shows
Now I watch to much damn TV, like most Americans. I tend to stay with the same stuff though. Mostly ESPN, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, History Channel. Here is some of the TV shows I watch.
Hung (HBO)- It's a good show. Thomas Jane is great. It really does a great job showing how the economy is hitting people hard and what people will do for a quick buck.
Scrubs (ABC)- I love Scrubs, though I haven't watched it much at all lately. The comedy in the show got weird, but I still love it.
Supernatural (CW)- A fantastic under the rader show. You'd think a show about demon hunters would suck, but the story is great, acting is fantastic and special effects are actually good.
Sportsnation (ESPN 2)- It's a fantastic show on ESPN 2. It's user generated. You submit your tweets and answer questions and hey talk about. Also Michelle Beadle is easy on the eyes ;)
Baseball Tonight (ESPN and ESPN 2)- Baseball is my second favorite sport behind bowling. So hell yeah I like the show!
That covers TV. On the Giant Bomb and video game related stuff.
Video Games
Hey I like video games! I just got into gaming. I never did before '07. Before '07 I just played Madden and that kid of games. I thank EGM for getting me into gaming. I read a issue once, just to see what was up and I feel in love with Video Games and EGM. EGM may be gone now, but my love for games has grown. Personally I like adventure games over shooters. Give me a good Prince of Persia game and I'll play it more then Killzone 2. I recently got rid of my Xbox due to performance issues. I have since got a PS3. I've been playing some games for it. inFAMOUS has been the best so far story telling wise. The best game I have played has been Valkyria Chronicles. That game is fantastic. Great story, great design. I'm trying to get a DSi now. The PSP isn't cutting it for me. The load times are sooo damn long it's sad. My favorite game of all time is the new Prince of Persia game. I know that is probably dumb for most of you. But I have never enjoyed a game as much as that one. Borderlands at the moment is the game I want the most. That game looks stunning.
Giant Bomb
Ok, I never go to video game websites. Magazines were always good enough. Then once EGM closed, I only had Game Informer to read. But two months before EGM closed I heard a man named Brad Shoemaker on the 1UP Yours Game of the Year podcast, I think Jeff to. So I checked out the site in January. At first I hated the site, I thought the design was odd. But get this. I was playing some Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and went to Metacritic to see what it got review wise. And the first one was a review by Giant Bomb. I went to it and watched this video. That's right folks, Brad got me to come to the site. My first ever video review of a game was done by him over at Gamespot. It was a Shadow of the Colossus review video. Weird I think. So that's how I came to this site. Not that great of a story I know. But since then (this was in March by the way) this site has become my favorite website on the net.
To those who read this
Thank you. I know this blog hasn't had much in it other then me listing what I like the most. But I would really like to thank the Giant Bomb community, and the few friends I have on my friends list. I'm not the most outspoken guy and I like to stay quiet. But you all have made me feel very welcome here on the best website on the web. The point of this blog was to hopefully get you guys to know me a bit more. Like with what I like and such. I will definitely try to get another 1000 post. And I'm getting up there in wiki points also (almost 4,000 points). Thank you all!
I think it is safe to assume that most you guys like comedy movies. I do, but I really don't like dumb comedies like Step Brothers and Anchorman etc. But I found a movie called The Foot Fist Way and love it. I haven't watched it fully but from what I have seen it is up there on funniest movies I have seen. Danny McBride is slowly becoming one of my favorite actors.But he is easily one of the funniest guys in the business right now. Here's the trailer for it. It's directed by the guy who directed Observe and Report.
I was going to show another longer video of it but it has something that might not be great for the site (it has a brief nude scene). I wanted to see this movie after I read a article of it in my GQ magazine. Has anyone seen it fully? If so how it is? And what is the funniest movie in your opinion? 9 Comments
The Temptations TV show came out in 1998 and had two episodes, each running about two hours. It chroniclas Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, and Paul Williams rise to fame as the group The Temptations.
The actors that played the "Classic Five" in the movie.I personally really like The Temptations, always have. But movies like these always depress me because when you listen to a band, see them on TV you think "wow they are great I wanna be like them". But when you see movies or read about the tragedies of the music industry and how drugs tear people apart in bands it really makes you feel bad. That's what The Temptations went through. The movie is about Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, and Paul Williams as they become one of the best bands of their time. But they do go through a lot. At first they couldn't get a hit at all. It wasn't until they gained David Ruffin that they started to crank out hits like My Girl and Ain't to Proud to Beg. Though drugs and arrogance caused Otis and the gang to kick David out of the band. Really that's the story also of Paul Williams, he begins to drink and have personal problems which leads to him being kicked out of the band also and him committing suicide. Upon that happening Eddie left the band and started touring with David. At this point the movie really makes David and Eddie to be big villains. The movie is based on Otis's book "Temptations", in the book he also makes them seem like villains. The Temptations and David and Eddie kind of become rivals, trying to create more hits then one another. The movie jumps a lot, from era to era. It ends with the death of Melvin Franklin. Otis is the only original member of The Temptations still alive today, and even at 67 he still is touring with the "new" Temptations.
The movie was very enjoyable even though the running time is 4hours. It keeps things fresh with great songs and great performances. It's a great movie for the nostalgic. At times this movie is very powerful, especially when they are singing "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and while they are singing it is showing Paul's struggles with alcohol and personal problems, and the song ends with the gun shot that kills Paul (shown below).
This is a great movie for any fan of The Temptations or anyone that loves a very well done biopic. Here are also some facts about The Temptations:
They were the first Motown band to win a Grammy
Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, and Paul Williams have all been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Three of their songs were voted into the 500 Songs that Changed Rock. Those were, "My Girl", "Ain't to Proud to Beg" and "Papa was a Rollin' Stone"
Overall this is a great movie, with some fantastic acting. I think D.B Woodside does the best job as Melvin Franklin. This movie is shown often on VH1 and you should watch it. It's a deeply felt look into the lives of one of the greatest bands of all time.
I really haven't done much since my last update. Just been practicing some, mainly between 10-14 games a week. My practice has increased this summer because my boss asked me to work this summer, so I come in before I work and bowl a few game. In my last blog I said I was going to get a Fast by Storm. Eh I have since changed my mind. I want to get a Burn Raw Hammer by Hammer. Now they both will do the some thing I hope. They both are mid ranged balls, but it's been three years since I have bought a new hammer ball so I hope it's the same. I would have liked to get a Jigsaw by Hammer, but I have three great hooking balls and don't know if I need another (see videos below). I have had some serious arm pain lately. I guess that's the price you got to pain in order to be better I guess.
Burn
Jigsaw
Look for a new update sometime soon. I have a league starting with some of my friends sometime in August. Me and my friend won it last year, we're looking to repeat. I also have high school bowling starting in October so expect tryout results at that time.
So far my list of the best games I have played this year has been, Fallout 3, inFAMOUS, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and Bionic Commando. This installment of This is 2009 will feature Suda51's No More Heroes for the Wii, and DICE's Battlefield: Bad Company for the 360. Enjoy.
No More Heroes (Wii)
The time I had with my Wii was short lived. I got it around March, but never played it. I sold it to my grandma in June, so she could give it to my cousins. The reason for me selling it was, there just wasn't a lot of game that interested me. But No More Heroes definitely hit the spot. M rated games on the Wii don't far to well. If I'm not mistaken, I think this game actually sold well though. The thing that really sold the game for me was it's complete over the topness of it. Ok the main characters name is Travis Touchdown... Travis Touchdown. It sounds like a cheesy sports anchor on your local new channel. He is probably the nastiest most awesome character in a game. The story is a tad simple at times. It doesn't take it self seriously. Even in the end when they try to through a twist at you, they recognize how dumb it is. It's great. Well the story basically is about Travis wanting to be the #1 assassin. That's really all there is. You do side missions to gain money to enter each new level. Side missions work well for the most part. Some of them are dumb as hell. Like mowing a lawn. Picking up coconuts, which leads to probably the best line in the game "Coconuts are worth more then a human life". Combat works well. Though I think they missed a chance with swinging your katana. You just hit the A button. But some more powerful moves are done by swinging the Wii Remote. You move Travis by using the Nunchuk.
Now back to complete over the topness I talked about. How much blood is in the human body? From what I found there are about 6 quarts of blood. In No More Heroes, something like 5 gallons of blood come out of each guy. No More Heroes is not shy on cussing either. People yell fuck you when you cut them in half. Travis has a very non polite mouth as well. You charge your katana by doing a jerking motion with the Wii Remote and Travis does the same. And in the save menu, Travis goes to the bathroom. Yeah and I thought the Wii was a family system. Anyway, now on to the art style. The game definitely has a unique one. Very vibrant colors and very early game pixel style (sorry I couldn't think on how to say that). The game has a open world feel to it. You can go places on your sweet motorcycle. Though the world doesn't interact with you. You can run into people, but they will just dodge it. The city is just there to help you get missions and get to where you need to go. The name of the town is Santa Destroy by the way. Why is this game one of the best game I have played this year? Because it showed me a whole new style of game. A raunchy over the top game, that remains fun and has a well told story.
Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360)
I'll come out and say it. I am not a fan of FPS or most kinds of shooters. I have been called "not a gamer" for feeling that way. It sucks. I am into adventure games like Prince of Persia etc way more then shooters. So I was a little turned off when I made the purchase. But one thing that caught my attention of the game wasn't it's ability to blow things up. It was the humor. Humor in a game is rare, if there is humor it usually does not do the job. DICE did a good job with it and didn't make it the center piece of the game, which was a good thing. Instead it focused on the Frostbite Engine. Now this engine, as most of you know, is quiet impressive. You can almost blow up a whole house, tanks, boats, people etc. The story starts off simple enough. You're with a screw up group called Bad Company, or B Company for short. Everyone in there has done something bad. Marlowe took a helicopter for a joy ride. Sweetwater uploaded a virus on a military secured network. Haggard for blowing up an ammo dump. Redford is just there to get to retire earlier. While it sounds simple enough, the game turns into a kind of a revenge story. The government screws over the gang which causes the group to try to gain some gold, with the help of Mike One Juliet.
The game has a open world feel to it. Though it isn't completely open world, there are red boundaries that you can't stay more then a few seconds in. But you can go into a mission in many different ways, which is where the open worldness of the game is at. The game also looks and feels great. DICE didn't spare any details. Explosions have a nice BOOM, guns have a nice BLAT. The character animations look great. One thing I wish the game didn't do was make the squads comments so repetitive. Sweetwater is always saying "I see some Russians" or "Didn't we just shoot these guys". The game is also very forgiving. If you die, all you do is go to the last check point. All of the guys you have killed are still dead. Why is this one of they best games I have played this year? Because DICE made me think differently about FPS. It's a great looking game, with great characters and a hell of a lot of fun to play.
In part 4 I will talk about a few Ratchet and Clank games. Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters for the PSP, and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for the PS3. That's right. These guys get a full part.
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