I'm Baaack!

Alright, so its been a long while since I've shared my musings and insight into all things geek. The biggest reason for the huge gap between posts is simply put due to my joining the US Army reserves. I spent nearly six months in training at Ft. Jackson, SC and Ft. Bragg, NC.

Never fear, faithful readers. Army life hasn't tamed the geek within. Without further adieu, I give you a brand new entry in Things I Think I Think.

- UFC 118, James Toney's only chance is to catch Couture quickly with a big shot. If the fight lasts longer than a couple minutes Couture will be the easy winner.

- After all the hype about Starcraft 2 finally getting released it sure did vanish off the radar with barely a peep didn't it?

- I was going through a magazine the other day and there was a picture of Tina Fey with a caption that indicated she was in the class of the "hot nerd". Am I the only one who's irritated that some people honestly think if someone wears glasses and writes for a living they're automatically a part of the great fraternity that is nerd or geekdom? Get some pics of her throwing down some 20's as a DM for D&D or staying up for 10 hours straight on WoW, then you can call her a geek or nerd. Until then shes just a chick in glasses.

- I was gone for nearly half a year so I'm late getting into Modern Warfare 2 but Damn, that's a fun game. Can't wait to get my grubby mitts on Black Ops, the next CoD game.

- If you like movies about stuff that blows up, you'd do well to see The Expendables. Solid action flick that makes no excuses for what it is: an almost non-stop, over the top series of action sequences.

- Although he was hardly Oscar worthy, Couture's turn as a former high school wrestler turned mercenary wasn't too shabby. He may have a future in action movies.

- Despite the myriad of great PC games that have been coming out of the last couple years I want to replace my aging, problem ridden computer so I can play Neverwinter Nights again.

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Left 4 Dead 2 demo Thoughts, a String of Great New(er) Movies and One Crappy One.

I logged into XBox Live just a few days ago and found a pleasant surprise. The demo for Left 4 Dead 2 was available. Of course I instantly queued it up. After what seemed like hours of agonizing torture waiting for the little status bar tracking the progress of the download to creep along (although, in reality, it was just a few short minutes) I was finally ready to get my first taste of the wholesale changes Valve claimed to have made to the zombie killing formula.

Needless to say, I am very impressed. The major changes are evident from the moment you start The Parish level. All the weapons have gotten a makeover both cosmetically and functionally, you now have multiple types of shotguns, sub-machine guns and assault rifles to choose from, each with their own feel, rate of fire, damage, etc. It's a major upgrade from the "Tier 2" weapons from the first L4D.

The melee weapons are as fun as advertised. There's just something satisfying about smacking a zombie upside the head with a frying pan or watching the blood and chunks of ichor accumulate on the guitar you've been swinging. Getting up close and personal isn't all fun and games though, since the melee weapons take the place of your trusty, limitless ammo pistol a whole new dynamic occurs. Do you sacrifice long range capability for the power of the machete or police baton? Adding to the conundrum is the addition of at least one different pistol: The magnum handgun. Less ammo than the standard pistol but it packs a helluva wallop.

Once you get into the demo it won't take long for you to happen upon one of the new infected. I'm sure anyone who's looking to get this game is well aware of the additions to the zombie side of things so I won't go into details about each one. What I will say is just playing a 2 chapter demo has me itching to get my hands on the game so I can play versus mode with the new antagonists. The spitter, jockey and charger are all interesting to play against, I can only imagine what they'll be like to play as.

Of course, I could go on and on about the big, well advertised changes and additions to the game but I'll give the lesser known alterations some time as well. It seemed in my opinion that the game (or at least the demo) played a little looser and quicker than the original. Graphically the standard infected were more varied in appearance and it seemed like there was a mass of them waiting around every corner. I noticed the zombies that are just standing around seem to respond to the survivors a lot faster than the first game, something that should push the pace of the game and make it more difficult to "run and gun" without finding yourself surrounded by a horde of pissed off zombies.

All in all, the demo is just as exciting as the original. I've been playing it almost nonstop since downloading it and if anyone hasn't, I highly recommend getting it yourself or just holding out for the actual game. Remember, it releases on November 17th.

Just last night I had a string of really good movies come to an end. Ever have one of those streaks where it seems like every new movie you've watched over the span of a few weeks was actually pretty good? I had me just such a run of good luck. It didn't seem to matter whether it was a movie I'd never heard of or if it came recommended by a friend or if I had been itching to see it the moment I caught wind of the plot synopsis I just went through what seemed like a dozen movies with nary a stinker among them.

That was, of course, until I finally put in Year One with Jack Black and Micheal Cera. Laugh-worthy moments were few and far between in this jumbled mess of a film. The journey of the two main characters was so erratic and all over the place it left me confused and just not so sure what was happening or why. Along the way there are poor attempts at humorous takes on the stories of Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah. It doesn't seem to me that the Bible is exactly the best place to pull comedic inspiration from. Not that I believe the aforementioned scenes to be offensive, they're just horribly not funny.

Oh well, they can't all be great movies, can they?

... And Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Program...

Alright, so after my little advertisement I thought I probably should actually get a real post up here. A lot's been going on in pop-culture/geek land so I'll weigh in with another edition of Things I Think I Think...

- Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, Ed McMahon and a slew of other celebrities; damn, my Celebrity Death Beeper has been going off the hook lately. Handy little website, a bit demented maybe, but very handy... Try setting up an account to send notices directly to your cell phone, it's rather interesting.

- Donte Stallworth, the NFL receiver who struck and killed a pedestrian on March 14th of this year was just handed down an indefinite suspension by NFL head honcho Roger Goodell on top of being slapped with a lifetime suspension of his driver's license, hours of community service and 30 days in jail. I don't know what the hell it is about the punishment that just rubs me the wrong way. As dispicable and loathesome the acts that Michael Vick committed they were against animals and I do not in any way feel he didn't deserve what he got. My gripe here is that Mr. Stallworth was over the legal alchohol limit at 7 o'clock in the damn morning struck and killed 59 year old construction worker Mario Reyes and he gets 30 days in jail. Thirty days for taking the life of another human being through reckless behavior, and here I thought things were starting to change for celebrity criminals when Vick got the book thrown at him. Damn if I was wrong.

- The buzz around Starcraft 2 is starting to heat up. I sat and listened to a friend of mine go on and on about the videos and screenshots for the better part of an hour just a few days ago. I kinda liked the first one but I generally stay away from RTS games. I have to admit, though, I'm curious to see if Blizzard can live up to the monumental hype and make a game worthy of the insane wait.

- My Indiana Pacers drafted Tyler Hansborough and the fallout has been amazing. For a guy with such a storied and record breaking college career, his selection at number 13 is generating a lot of negative press for my favorite NBA franchise.

- At least everyone loved the San Francisco 49ers selection of Michael Crabtree in the first round of this year's NFL draft.

My Own Shout Out

So as I'm here, doing my thing I thought it best to toss out a shameless plug of my own in response to one I got just recently. My brother, Slaynn has his own corner of the 'net and I'd like anyone who didn't find my blog through his to check his out. It's called the Lazy NPC and he does his best to bring you an inside scoop on the ever changing world of MMORPG's. He's also a pretty cool dude so give him lots of love!

Better the Second Time Around?

Recently it seems the trends for RPG's is stuffing so much unlockable content and freedom into them you have to play through more than once to fully experience it all. Recent examples include Resident Evil 4&5, Mass Effect and Fallout 3. While I do enjoy the sandbox style when applied to video RPG's as they make the games feel a bit more like "traditional" role-playing games, having to sit through the typical boring opening scenes negate any enjoyment I may get. I've played through both Mass Effect and Fallout 3 on the 360 and at the end of each I was ready to start over with a different character, wanting to go through the trials and tribulations of the respective stories with a new set of morals and abilities. After whipping up a new character I got started, excited and eager only to quickly become bored with having to go through the tedious prologues. Once I've gotten through to the meat of a game I have a hard time starting over.

There needs to be an option to start a second rub at around level 5-10, just far enough along to begin taking advantage of different abilities and branching out with decisions without having to go through all the parts I just mentioned. I don't know, maybe it's just the fact that I've got the attention span of a fruit fly but I just can't get into games after I start the second run.

It Ain't Easy Being Geek

But it sure is a helluva lot of fun!

From MMORPG's and first-person shooters for you PC and console gamers, to box sets of classic TV shows and a still thriving dice and paper role playing game market for you old school geeks there seems to be something for everyone of any age nowadays. Of course, for the most part, there has always been a niche for us to scratch that geek itch and I'm not implying the quality of movies, TV and comic books is superior than it was in decades past there's just a lot more of it. Yes, thanks to the Internet even the most socially inept nerd can still have a voice. It's thanks in part to forums and message boards that media companies determine which long cancelled TV shows will be released on special edition DVD, new movies now have full scale viral ad campaigns in hopes of snagging a key demographic, the hardcore 'net users. In my humble opinion we are living in the golden age of geekdom and I, for one, am enjoying every moment. In this, my little corner of the web, I'll discuss music, movies, RPG's, video games, sports and any other pop-culture topic that catches my fancy.

Without further delay, I give you the first, quick strike edition of Things I Think I Think...

- We're in a dead spot for sports. NFL's dead, nothing going on in the NBA and even hockey's over. Hard to get excited over game 20 out of 162 in baseball...

- Between still playing Mass Effect and Fallout 3, I've barely got time to spend on Resident Evil 5 or Left 4 Dead...

- Speaking of L4D, I don't know whether to shriek in glee or rage that the sequel is being released a year and a day from the launch of the original.

- Even though I tried to resist, I think Spike TV's "Deadliest Warrior" is one of the most interesting and unique shows I've seen in a while, even if the ninja did get a raw deal.

- Not sure if I'd consider the astounding similarities between The Offspring's single "Rise and Fall" and Green Day's "American Idiot" to be a blatant rip-off, or simple coincidence.