Sorry for the absences. Been busy after the holidays. Had a family trip to Virginia for a baby shower for a cousin. Yet was not at the shower as out with my dad and uncle at a civil war museum. Not much in Richmond to really do and parking is not a strong side for the city. Still it was nice to see them all. My mom could hooked to Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks. So ya that happened. Before that my girlfriend and I spent the start of the new year together.

With a trip to Longwood Gardens for most of the day. If you ever visit south eastern Pennsylvania, make it a place on your list. Then it was waste some time till dinner reservations at a restaurant a few towns away. So we made a stop at a Barnes and Noble that was closing at 6 pm. Then a quick stop at Target. Where we picked up 2 books to read to each other. Just finished the one book and I enjoyed it a lot. Not sure when we'll start the other book. The books are One for the Money and the other is A Discovery of Witches. She picked up Cars 2 for me and I got her Adele 21 cd. She also got my a game. Most of you are playing it right now or have finished the story line so far.

I am now the proud owner of a copy of Skyrim. I started it up later that night and was amazed. I could not keep my eyes on one spot for a long time. I was looking around taking it all in. So my character finally got of the cart and now was the creation part of the game. So I made a Nord, yea not a big change as I don't really get into the animal character models that much. So I have my nord and he is after the surprising opening is a member of the Stormcloaks. I did have a little moral dilemma in Whiterun. I had to say that I was a Battle-born just to gain access to a house without the guards coming for him. Then I turned a women over to some people that told me she was a traitor. I was able to get pass this feeling by saying that facing a court of law could send her free.

Still in awe with the game and need to slow down on the story line quests. Should go discover a cave or two and clear them out.

Hope your holidays are amazing and safe. Also enjoy some NFL and the start of the short NBA season here in the US. Yea that's right the NBA starts on Christmas Day. I for one will not be watching that instead I will partake of some great Christmas films or a marathon of something from the Discovery or Science channels.

5) Skyfall: First real sign of Moneypennyother then a line always good. The casting of Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem most likely as the villains great. The addition of Q is hopefully better then I think it will be. The only downside is the name. Why Skyfell? Is chicken little going to run on screen claiming the sky is falling? Still I hope they make it better the Quantum of Soloace.

4) The Hunger Games: Never read the books, but my girlfriend as and she loved them. The trailers look great and the cast seems to work great for their roles. Woody Harrelson is getting better roles since Zombieland was a hit. The pilot sounds like a great set up for the film and the 2 sequels that will happen if the film makes the money it is hoping to make.

3) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Loved the book. Could not wait for this film. The cast is looking great. Martin Freeman is a great actor that I can't wait to see portray a younger Bilbo. What I can't wait for more is the second film to see the 5 Army War near the end of the book. I expect this to do as well as Lord of the Rings if not better.

2) Brave: Way to go Pixar. A new original idea that is not based on anything you have done before. I love the story and the fact that it is a female in the lead is great for them. It doesn't hurt that the girl has red hair. Also the three little bears in the trailer are so adorable that I want one. Go see this film when it hit theaters.

1) The Dark Knight Rises: This is the last one for Nolan and Bale. Not going to be the last Batman film ever, just the last great film for awhile. The addition of Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle look to impress everyone. The teaser trailer did just that with the shot of Gordon in a hospital bed and that strange chanting. The second trailer showed more of the film and the first time Selina and Bane talk. And I must say Bane looks badass so far. This film may just be better the The Dark Knight.

Honorable Mention: Lock-Out: Stars Guy Pearce as a Snake Pliskin-esq character. Sent on a mission to rescue the presidents daughter from a prison in space being overrun by the prisoners. THe trailer looks great, but that is just the trailer.

Also MIB3. The cast is looking good with Brolin and a younger Agent K and the addition of Emma Thompson and Bill Hader. The trailer is kind of messy and unclear as to the plot of the film, but I think Agent J as to go back in time to find out what happen to young Agent K(Brolin) and what older Agent K(Jones) did and is not telling him. Hope it is better then the second film and more like the first.

If this films are released in 2012 I'm not 100% sure. With that said here is the list.

10) Total Recall: A film that had some cheesy lines and the former Govnator doing what he did best. Now this film stars Colin Farrell as Quiad/Hauser going on a trip to Mars. It also has Bryan Cranson, Bill Nighy, Kate Beckinsale, and Ethan Hawke in the cast. Which looks good on paper so far.

9) Dark Shadows: Never watched the show, cuz I wasn't born yet, but I know of the show and its premise. Upside its from Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Also Johnny Depp and Tim Burton together went after the rights for this film. Downside is its a film of a wacky day-time soap.

8) This Means War: Enjoyed the trailer. A film about two spy's that are partners falling for the same girl. Sounds lame I know, but when you have Chirs Pine and Tom Hardy giving two performances that involving pulling of stunts to make the other guy look bad it should work. Too bad the girl is Reese Witherspoon, I would have picked someone else. She's funny but I keep seeing her as her role from Four Christmases and not from Walk the Line. Though this film could change my mind.

7) The Avengers: Jose Whedon is great, the cast is looking great, and the story is still up in the clouds. Hopefully this little dance of making all of the films before with the small tie-ins works for Marvels sake anyway. If this bombs(I hope not) then how will The Justice League do if that gets made?

6) American Reunion: Most of the original cast is back. This will hopefully remove all of the made for dvd films feel like a bad memory for anyone that watched any of them. The story works for the time. A high school reunion set 10 years and they all get back together for the event. Sadly no ones real reunions will be anything like this.

#5) Bunky balls. I found this on ThinkGeek.com. Got my hands on a friend's cube and was amazed by it. The possibilities that you could make is endless.

#4) A typography shirt from Fab.com or Typographyshop.com. They have some creative sayings on shirts and other items. Check them both out.

#3) A Tablet. If you have never used on to create anything on a computer, but you enjoy sketching and want to get more hands on then a mouse buy on. They are pretty inexpensive and then work with both PC and Mac.

#2) A shirt from WeLoveFine.com. Yea a weird name for a company but they have some pretty awesome shirts. Most are comic or geek related, but the way it is presented is what makes it for a creative person. I have a pixelated Star Wars shirt I got from NYCC.

#1) If your into music and your parents have old vinyl records that you use to listen to when you were young then go for the record player transfer system. It will play a record of either a 45 or 33, but it can also put the song or songs on a sd card or thumb drive or some other storage device. Yes I know what your thinking, 'Who still listens to records?' unless your way to young to remember what a record is then your asking about that. But if your like me and have been around at a time when records where going out of style and cassette tapes were hot till CDs then you know what I am talking about. I have a few songs from old records on my mac. I still have to get the Bioshock 1 soundtrack off the record and on the computer. If nothing else then to have a way to listen to great songs that may never get made into a cd pick this up. Try Brookstone.com for the idea.

Have you ever played a game and enjoyed it, but never cared for the playable character(s)? From time to time I believe a gamer, for the use of this blog, will go through many different phases. I have and know that I will in the future. So what is a gamer going to do? Well we should not force the change into the new phase, or speed through it, or even let in linger on too long, What we should do is let it come in time and let it move at its own pace. I know that sound weird to give a non-physical entity an form or what could be a physical form. So what are some indicators of this trend.

Lack of connection with playable character(s). Some game will lack that personal connection, as most games are a third-person view and that does make it harder to have a personal steak in the outcome of the character. Still if you feel a lack of connection, try to turn you views to that of the character. For example I will use John Marston. He is a newly reformed gunslinger, being forced by the government to be a bounty hunter. He is a believer in the live style of the west and not of the east. He wants nothing more then to live his life with his wife and son in peace. If you take on his view of the world then you may enjoy the game and have more steak in what happens. The views I went with was the destruction of the wild west and the handling of native Americans. If that is not a way for you to get through the change in phase.

Then try a move to multi-player or if your in multi-player a change to the signle-player. Getting away from the first form of game play you started with may change your excitement level. I start playing most FPS games by the single campaign. I go through the single campaign to get use to the controls and look of the game. I know that this will not make me any better at multi-player, but if I started right in on a online game I would feel uneasy. This may help keep you interested in a game longer and not trading it in right away.

If that does not feel like your cup of tea, then try a new genera. A new genera will give you a new experience. If your into FPS a good RGP in Skyrim may be a good call. It still gives you FPS look but it gives you more opinions then a gun. Or if your into an Action/Adventure you may want to try an MMO. It gives you action and is always an adventure. If you have a need to change for any style to horror then be warned that if you are not a horror film fan, this may be a weary and long road for you.

The last thing you could do is a walk away for the game(s). Not stop playing altogether, just pick up a different game from your collection that you haven't played in a long time and start a new game. Then when you have the urge to play the first game you will enjoy it. You'll find new things that you didn't see before or experience something a totally new way or even for the first time, depenting on the game your playing. But a walk away is tough to do. You may love the game, and think that if you walk away from it for awhile that you'll forget about it. You may for a short time, but that urge will come back.

I have the urge to play games at different times. I get into a FPS mood around veterens/memorial day, in a way of honor for my grandfather. One memorial day I got into a mood that made me buy Band of Brothers. Anyway, I have mood changes for different games all the time. I may sit a game down for 6 months but I know I'll pick it up again. As for the horror games, I for one am easeing my way into the genera. I started with Resident Evil 2 and 4. Then moved to 5 which is not that scary so you may want to start with that one, but 4 is the better of the two. Now I am on Dead Space. Boy did that game get to me. So if you have ever felt like this its normal. Hopefully this helped, I have no real experience in knowing what really happens in a human mind, I just know what I think and feel while I play games.

This was a film that I was excited for when it was called "Green with Envy". Now I know that some people are up in arms that it is not from the mind of Jim Henson. To me that is not a bad, evil thing. Why? Because the mind that it is from is Jason Segel and he has a beautiful idea, plan, and honors Jim Henson and the Muppets. Even thou there are some characters like Robin, Rizo(he's not in it much) and some other creations of Jim Henson's not in the film, I enjoyed the film. This is a Muppet film and being a Muppet film it needed to cover them and not necessarily Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. The humor was spot on with the characters, no jokes make direct fun of anyone, no dirty jokes that children can't hear and no joke goes over the head of anyone that knows of The Muppets before this film. Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller honor the older films with some hidden and not so hidden references. Like how Gray and Walter are brothers and no one says anything of how one is a human and the other is a muppet(reference to The Great Muppet Caper where Fozzie and Kermit are identical twins). Or the reference to driving to get the old gang together. Then there was the music. Each new song as amazing, but nothing will beat the moment "The Rainbow Connection" starts. That is a moment everyone should experience. Also Camilla and the Chickens singing Ce-low Green- Forget You was hilarious. If you are a fan of Jim Henson and the The Muppets from the beginning or are a new viewer, you will enjoy this film and all that it has to offer. Also I met Eric Jacobson who was the voice and controlls(I believe) for Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle, and Melvin Suggs.

Next up is Call of Duty: MW3

Yea I picked it up. No I didn't even give Battlefield 3 a look. Not because I don't like BF3, I have only played Bad Company and that was it for that series. I really enjoy the story of the MW series. Yes I do watch the cut scenes, just once, to get the story and the experience. I enjoyed the different missions and locals. The destrucion of New York to the events in Berlin ever location was beautiful. The final mission was emotional, intense, and holy unbelievible. So natureally I liked it. Thou I did like the Mile High mission and the end of COD:MW a little more, this one was longer and you had more invested. Now I have yet to crack open that which is multi-player and get my butt handed to me till I find my ninch. So to prolong that from happening I hit Spec-Ops missions and a few rounds of survivor. Getting better at the Spec-Op missions. Napped 3 stars on the Charges Set course first run through. Survivor is intense after a certine wave number. Will be better with a second person in the map. Overall if you enjoy the COD series pick it up, if not then pick up what game you like. I have nothing against Battlefield 3, just never played that series other then Bad Company.

So I have been reading some fellow gamespot blogger's blogs on the review score and other issues. Most of the points they make are well thought out. I just need to first understand what is it about a score that turns gamers off of a game. It's not like one score for a game web site can change the amount of units sold. If it could then there wouldn't be games that were terrible. I have some pretty terrible games. Be that the story, the gameplay, or the overall package. Having the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game and that is a hard game that I still have not been able to get passed the water stage more then the 2 times that I can think of. If there is a game that gets a score that you think it should have been either higher or lower then that is your opinion. The person how wrote the review is giving their opinion, and only their opinion. They are not saying that the game is for no one, their just showing that the game will appeal to a certain gamer and not another.

So if you only read a review from one website and not anyother sources then your not getting all of the different reactions to a game. One reviewer may not be head over heels for a game and another could be doing backflips down a hallway. Open your mind to as many different sources as you can. I try to read or view a few reviews and if I am able to, talk it over with a friend(s) that either owns the game or is looking into the game. If I listened to only one person's opinion on a game, I would not own half the games I enjoy and everyone would have the same game(s) as everyone else. What a boring world that would be.

If you get upset about a review, step back and breath. The world is not ending if a game you enjoy or anticipate gets a 8 or a 7.5. There may be a review out there that gave the same game a 9. A reviewer is just trying to be honest and unbias. If you can't handle it then you will just have a collection of a few great games that you'll be bored with sooner or later. At which point you'll trade them in and pick up the next game that got a high score, just because of the score. The best thing about a website like this is the vast amounts of different views and opinions of games. Everyone is different and everyone's taste is different. You just need to pick a about 5 to read and let the other ones go.

This is just my two cents on the topic. I enjoy gamespot and all that they do for the gamer community.

Tomorrow is the release of the first GTA 5 trailer. I am excited to see where Rockstar will be taking the game series this time. Hopefully not to LA again, but a different city. I'm going to go out on a limb here and bet it is Baltimore. If it is Washington D.C. that would be fine with me. I just want to see a different location that is not LA or NY.

Anyway with the 10 anniversary of GTA 3 having either passed or closing in I just started to think of all the fun moments I have enjoyed from playing the series. One of the first moments was in GTA or GTA 2 where I found the button that let teh player fart on command. While no useful in any means, it was pretty funny to just press the button at random moments while walking around the city. Then there was GTA 3. From the opening scene to the closing scene I was hooked to the story of the nameless criminal that was looking to get revenge on those who wronged him.

I was not even aware till right after the first few cut scenes that the protagonist had yet to say a word. Then when you finish the game you realize that he still hasn't said anything yet, it brings up images of silence parts in films where the face and body express the emotion. Then there was the Banshee car that I just loved to find and store and then find a second one to drive around and pull off some terrible driving stunts that I would not pull in my own car. I even had fun filling the 50 car list for the 2 storage centers. It was very Gone in 60 seconds. Yes that film was out and was referenced in the game. Not by name just spirit. I also got into listening to Lazlow on the radio. Very funny in my book.

Then came Vice City. Ray Liotta was incredible as Tommy. It was like his character from Goodfellas or one of the many mob films he was in. The cast was full of some big names like Tom Sizemore, the late Dennis Hopper, Danny Trejo, William Fichtner, Gary Busey, and Lee Majors. It also had one of the best soundtracks in a game that I enjoyed listening to. While the game was set in a decade that I was only alive for 4 years I still enjoyed the look, the feel, and the sound of Vice City. I even liked the whole buying of companies, which was worked into the story very well.

Next up was the biggest world in GTA so far. San Andreas, which was a combination of 3 cities. LA, San Fran, and Vegas, plus the back country. Which was incredible to get lost in and just run around committing chaos. Kind of felt like a serial killer out in the woods. A great soundtrack that included some of the best songs of the early 90's. Plus you got to pull your own Ocean's Eleven heist. Not my favorite game, but not the worst in the series. Just a little too big of a world for me.

Now there is GTA 4. A return to the city that started the new feel of the series. Niko was a great protagonist in a city that breed the world underbelly so far. The story was amazing in the beginning, slow in the middle, and then picked up at the end. Once you get to the mission that gives a nod to the film Heat that will stick with you. Then there is the conclusion of Niko's main story that really makes you think of what you would do. Brucie was just the best supporting character that just made you laugh. I also enjoyed Packie as well. He just acted more like a criminal then most of the others.

Now we wait to see what is next for the series. Just hope they make is as amazing as the others, with some new features and fix some of the bugs and other weak parts.

So with all of the stuff that have been keeping me busy I haven't had as much time for gaming in general let alone for the games that I have started and not finished. So I picked up in Dead Space at the start of Chapter 5(I believe it is the start). So I start moving to the area to pick up the cylinder that I need to survive the diseased air. At this point I start feeling way to comfortable with the whole situation. Not a great feeling for playing a horror survival game. Bad move on there. So then there comes this doctor character. Who I realize is 1) insane, 2)very comfortable walking around the diseased ship, and 3)He is going to try to kill me, I know it without him saying it. Well I knew he had something planned for me, but what happened next scared and ticked me off. How in the world do you kill something that regenerates, let alone runaway for it? It scared me half to death once it regenerated the second time. The first time I was like "Okay so it takes more damage to kill the thing". Oh yea just great I get the really cool message system pop-up and the female character(who's name eludes me right now) and she tells me not to bother shooting it, just runfor it. Thanks Dead Space who just made me scared out of my mind and ticked me off with a creature that beats out that creature from Resident Evil 4 with the super stretch arms and spikes. Still I will beat it and conquer that crazy doctor, just not tonight.

So now for the Halloween portion of the entry. Since I have fallen behind on the movie list here is a quick list of the films that I would have done.

Silence of the Lambs: A classic psychological thriller. Some great lines from both Dr. Lecter and Buffalo Bill. An amazing break out scene that will leave you shocked. Great date film too.

Alien: Its Jaws, just in space. If you can get passed the chest scene then you should be fine for the whole film. Watch that cat!

Shaun of the Dead: What a film that came out and surprised me. I fell for the film from the tag-line 'A Romantic Comedy with Zombies'. One big scare moment, but if you can get half of the British comedy then the film wins. A film for all of you that are like me and don't want to throw-up from vast amounts of non-needed gore.

Black Sheep: Not the Chirs Farley film. This is about a science experiment gone wrong and a duo of friends and a few other people get together to fight off the killer sheep problem. If you watch it you may find one scene disturbing. You should laugh at it more then being scared. Not a great film by any means, but not terrible.

Ghostbusters 1&2: Can't have ghost with out the men who hunt them. Classic comedy films that I was scared of the dogs in the first film. The second film has some moments too, but those dogs were it. Now I can watch it and not freak out like my younger counterpart.

Halloween(either version): They both in my opinion work. The classic is more for those that want to be scared by the build up in suspense, where the newer one is for those that want more violent death. I enjoyed both, but I give the edge to the classic. More impact on me then the newer version.

Dawn of the Dead(New): Have not seen the Romaro film. Did not totally like this film, but that may be that I was looking forward to seeing the Romaro film first then maybe seeing this one. Still that little girl in the beginning was scary and a great tie-in to the Dead Island trailer.

28 Days Later: What The Walking Dead is immitating to a t. Just with more people and a long time frame. Still 28 Days Later is a great turn of the zombie apoclypse that is not really people turning into zombies.