Don't see Transporter 3

I hope I made myself clear. It is a horrendous film. I love Jason Statham and although I thoroughly enjoyed the first two, the third installment was painful to watch. Luckily, I only paid $6 to see Transporter 3, but I still feel like I was taken advantage of.

Holiday shopping

It's Thanksgiving and instead of being able to relax, eat, and watch some football, I have to start worrying about holiday shopping. It makes me want to kill small animals.

D-bags at the gym

I'm sure everyone is aware that there are a lot of tools at the gym. You can spot them easily by the tribal tattoos and bandannas. If you can learn to laugh at these people, the gym can be a wonderful place, but there is one thing I still don't understand.

The way the water fountains are set up are similar to the ones pictured here. Two of them together, with a slightly lower one to the right of it. For some inexplicable reason, people will wait to use the taller one. I've literally seen lines of 3 people to use the taller fountain, meanwhile I just walk by all of them, using the lower one with equally satisfying water and moving on with my workout. I don't get if it's an ego thing or they're afraid of leaning over the extra inch and a half, but people are willing to wait for me to refill my water bottle (a good 20 seconds) just to use the taller fountain. When someone was trailing me to use it and saw me begin refilling my bottle, he actually walked across the gym to another one. What the fuck is that about?

Left 4 Dead

I just finished playing through the Left 4 Dead demo with 2 friends and immediately afterward, pre-purchased it for $45 through Steam. I also finally got Audiosurf for $2.49. It was just an amazingly fun experience. The number of times either "OH SHIT" or "OH FUCK" was screamed was ridiculous. Killing zombies was very much satisfying, but the only problem is that when playing without 3 other people, the remaining characters will be AI controlled. There's nothing else to indicate that this game will be anything less than awesome, so definitely check out the demo, also available on the 360, if you haven't already.

Voting

I don't buy into all the shit about people saying that you have to go out and vote. I don't want idiots that don't have any idea about any candidates voting and I'm tired of people trying to make me feel guilty. I think it's just as American to decide not to vote. Sure, I did vote, but it's because I am informed and certainly, if I didn't get around to it, I don't feel like that makes me a worse person. I do feel like it makes you a worse person if you vote and have no idea why, who, or what you're voting for.

As a friend of mine suggested, perhaps there should be some sort of simple test required in order to vote. He didn't intend on making it very difficult, but gave the sample question of "If Kim is on the chair and the chair is in the kitchen, where is Kim?" If you answer "wherever god wants her to be at the time," you will, thankfully, have no influence on the upcoming election.

Atheism

When discussing potential topics for a researched argument paper, I brought up the negative perception of mixed martial arts as well as the negative perception of atheism. My professor responded with interest saying "Yes, this seems to be a popular area of discussion. Can an atheist be a moral person?" she asked rhetorically.

If that seems like a legitimate question to you, you're a fucking idiot. Seriously, all kinds of retarded. That's like saying no one truly ethical exists. That's like saying if people didn't fear a god or gods or whatever the fuck, they would have no reason to act morally.

I'm an atheist. I have no problem admitting it. I know that I'm a good person. I was raised and influenced by good people. And it seems much more ignoble to act out of fear than kindness, doesn't it?

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

I'll start off by saying that I'm a huge Kevin Smith fan. I have seen everything he's done and I've loved just about all of it. I even thought Jersey Girl was okay, but for some reason, I wasn't too pumped for Zack and Miri. I didn't even feel the trailers were that great. Maybe it was the lack of Silent Bob or the presence of Seth Rogen leading me to believe this was going to be another Judd Apatow flick.

Either way, as soon as the movie started and that bitchin' soundtrack kicked in, I knew this was a Kevin Smith movie and I never lost that feeling. Zack and Miri is fucking hilarious. In all seriousness, this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I wouldn't say it reaches Clerks or Mallrats in greatness, (well, practically nothing does) but this is a must see for anyone who's enjoyed anything from Kevin Smith. Even if it's just those guest spots on the Tonight Show. Seth Rogen brings his usual charm to Smith's amazing writing and Craig Robinson is awesome. Basically, you should see this movie immediately.

Metal mood

I've been getting back into my heavy metal ways lately. I've been listening to more Lamb of God, In Flames, and Pantera. I just checked out Trivium's new album Shogun. This follows up the tremendously disappointing The Crusade, and while makes improvements, didn't feature many tracks I felt blew me away. On the other hand, All That Remains is following up The Fall of Ideals, one of my personal favorite heavy metal albums, with Overcome. I'm almost done with it and so far, it's fantastic. God damn, All That Remains is fucking good.

The way to get me to stop playing Fable

It's very simple really, and my 360 seems to have figured out how to do it often. Disc read errors! Yeah!

I've been playing Fallout 3 as well, which I'm enjoying quite a bit. I still feel like I suck when it comes to combat, but it could just be that my character hasn't yet figured out how to properly aim.

Fallout 3 is currently downloading

I just picked up Fallout 3 off of Steam and I'm pretty pumped to finally get my hands on it. I have a day off tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll be spending plenty of time with it.

On the other hand, Fable 2 is still kicking lots of ass, so that'll definitely be hard to get away from. I've got so much god damn money. I don't even know what to do with it at this point. I just go around buying shops and houses. I'm such a pimp.

Fable 2

I picked up Fable 2 as soon as it launched and so far, I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm married, but I've picked up plenty of condoms as to avoid the children. I got lots o' cash and I've purchased a few shops and houses to rent out. I've spent my time just fucking around with people and getting cash, so I haven't done much in terms of the actual story. Either way, I'm digging the combat and am having no regrets about the spontaneous purchase.

I'll probably also pick up Fallout 3 as well. The real decision is whether to go PC or 360, but I think there is something slightly disturbing about a Fallout game not being played on PC, so I guess my choice is made. Now, off to play some more Fable.

Frank Shamrock vs. Ken Shamrock

Reported today by MMAWeekly, the long anticipated fight is finally taking place -- and about ten years later than it should have. Frank will be 36 and Ken will be 45 in March or April 2009, when the fight has been reported to be taking place.

Sadly enough, if this isn't picked up by a major promotion, I don't feel like many people are going to care. Frank has dropped 2 of his last 3 bouts, while Ken is an impressive 1-7 since 2002.

Mitch's last album

Do You Believe in Gosh? was just recently released about 2 and a half years after Mitch Hedberg's death. Check it out, dawg!

The Moose hits 20

Mike Mussina got his 20th win today, making him the oldest player ever to do so for the first time. He's now 270-153 in his hall of fame career. What a pimp.

On a more depressing note, the New York Mets managed to blow the last game of the season and miss the playoffs, yet again. What a way to celebrate the closing of Shea.

Update from the iPhone

I wanted to try and see how posting from an iPhone was, so I'm doing it. It sucks. I can only type if I go to the "edit HTML" tab which is just so convenient. I also wanted to let everyone know that Spore is one of the worst, most painful games I've played in a long time. Do not pay for it. It hurts my soul that it exists. Go play more TF2 instead.

Arlovski added to upcoming EliteXC card

October 4th's EliteXC card, available on CBS, is shaping up to be pretty great. The main card is as follows:

-Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock
-Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley (for EliteXC welterweight title)
-Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson
-Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald
-Murilo Rua vs. Benji Radach

This is definitely one of the better non-UFC events I've seen, especially for free, so check it out.

A new podcast

Now that Jeff Green and Shawn Elliott have both left 1Up, 97.5 The Brodeo, also known as GFW Radio, is done with. I've decided I'm going to give the 1Up Yours podcast a shot to get me through my commute. Garnett Lee seems like a cool enough guy, so hopefully the transition isn't too difficult.

New York Jankees beisbol

It's official. The Yankees will not be making the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons; a streak that included 10 division titles and 4 World Series Championships. It's a pretty shitty way to close out 85 years at Yankee Stadium, but at least Mike Mussina picked up his 19th win today and will be going for 20 for the first time in his career this Sunday against Tim Wakefield and the Red Sox.

Netflix issues

Thus far, my experience with Netflix has been pretty good. They seem to have learned what kind of movies I enjoy and have made some great suggestions. However, most of my issues stem from the instant viewing stuff.

1. The quality isn't anything great, even though it says I'm on the highest resolution because of my good internet connection, and there isn't any HD content.

2. The selection is pretty terrible. Of the 45 DVDs currently in my queue, none of them are available to watch instantly.

3. The player is browser based, but it only works with Internet Explorer. Yes, you read that right. No support for Firefox. I downloaded IE View to deal with the problem, but it's the principle of the matter!

This isn't a huge problem as of now, but once content is available to stream over the 360, I want HD content out the ass.

Skitchin'! BWAW!

With a giant HDTV, a PC, and an Xbox 360 controller, my brother and I have been revisiting some old console games. Skitchin' is probably one of the greatest Sega Genesis games ever made, plus it has one of the most bitchin' soundtracks ever, so we've been doing that up lately.

Anyone who has used an emulator before should have no trouble doing this themselves. A DVI or VGA cable allows you to use most HDTVs as a monitor, and with the use of Xpadder, you should have no problem controlling it all with your Xbox 360 controller. I use a wired one because it simply plugs in via USB, but a wireless gaming reciever is also an option. I find it much easier than crawling into my attic to find my Genesis and then gentley blowing into the cartridge until it feels as though I've given it enough attention to work.

I finally signed up for Netflix

After years of being on the fence about it, I finally decided that it was worth $9 a month to try Netflix out. There are all these obscure movies that I've been wanting to check out, mostly so I can tell everyone how much better of a person I am. Plus the whole Xbox 360 thing doesn't hurt and when I eventually do get a Blu-ray player, I don't feel like having to sell my car to afford movies.

Listen to Cursive

The one good part of my maddeningly long commute is the time I get to listen to music. I figured I'd update every so often with what I've been listening to, and lately it's been Cursive. If you haven't heard them before, check out The Ugly Organ and Happy Hallow. It's some amazing stuff.

Giants make it to 2-0, Yankees satisfied with mediocrity

With their 41-13 shellacking of the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants improve to 2-0 and have won an astounding 11 straight games on the road.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are having a great time in 4th place in their final season at Yankee Stadium. The only thing I would like to see this year is the Moose get his 20th win, which may not even be possible at this point.

Lastly, this Wednesday, starting at 8 PM and available on Spike HD will be UFC Fight Night, followed by the premiere of season 8 of the Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.

Man, Spore sucks

Alright, maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but this game has not been fun thus far. Even the highly touted creature creation felt clunky and unsatisfying. From what I've heard, the later stages are more enjoyable, but I'm disliking this tedious evolution bullshit so much, I don't know if I can continue. And after reading this, I don't know if I really care about finding out.

Burn After Reading

Please, do me a personal favor and see this movie. I'll forgive you if you have no taste in film and didn't like No Country for Old Men. What? You didn't like Fargo either? Get the fuck out of here. Well, I'll totally forget about that and so will you after you see Burn After Reading.

The Coen brothers and John Malkovich all deserve Oscar nominations for this.