Y hallo thar

Basically I'm abandoning ship and going on a three-week trip in the wild
woooooooooooooo

This consists of kayaking and hiking and all that jazz. It's for an outdoor ed credit and I'm doing it with a friend, so it should be pretty damn fun. I hope. We're not even a camping family so I hope I manage to survive the wild. I don't look forward to hanging out with a group of guys who haven't had showers in weeks, but it should be fun nonetheless. :P

I'll be active again in like three weeks, not that I've been doing much of anything on GameSpot these days. Too much summer fun to be had. I'm sure winter will rejuvinate the ol' gamer in me.

God, my blog posts aredull.

I'm really tired and packing for tomorrow morning, hence how incomprehensible this is. But if I managed to spell incomprehensible right (maybe I didn't) then I can't be too bad, no?

So, buh-bye. :)

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi. I haven't been overly active on here for the past few months, simply because I just haven't been gaming. I haven't quit at all (details further on) but this past while has been busy and stressful and I just moved on to other hobbies for a period.

Nothing life-changing has happened to me, but I'm somehow always doing something. I've been babysitting a lot to make tons of money, been hanging out with friends a lot and having a good time, working out and playinglots of sports, playing tons of piano, and I've got a girlfriend now which definitely eats up time. And I was shocked to find out that she's a gamer! Her and her friends all love playing Mario Tennis, Katamari and the like, even though they're the complete anti-nerds who a guy would never pin as a video game player. So, excited about that. :D (About the girlfriend, not the gamingness. I'm not that nerdy.)

Plus, as some of you know, my Xbox 360 died. Not in the usual over-heating, red lights of death sort of way. Basically, my dog had to go to the bathroom and we weren't around to let him outside. Fill in the blanks from there.:? But I sent it in after de-smellifying it and they didn't seem to notice that it was dog piss that killed the console, so they sent me a new one with full apologies. Some may say that it was bad of me for tricking Microsoft into giving me a new one, but:

a) I'd bought the console less than two months prior and I was not going to pay another 600 for a new one. I'm a high school student, I'm not made of money! And
b) They're a pretty huge, multi-billion dollar corporation. They can take the blow.

As for what I've been up to in life, music has been a huge hobby of mine lately. I've been collecting and downloading tons of new music and I've gone from about 800 to 2500 songs on my iTunes in school year of 2006/2007. I've been listening to lots of rock, alternative, electronic, ambient, post-rock and some jazz.

Seeing as I have summer now and don't intend to get a job until fall, I'll probably be around here more often to rant in the forums and discuss games. Which brings me to my next point, I am actually gaming again. I didn't touch a console for months this spring, but I've played about six or seven hours of Call of Duty 3 in the last two days and I'll be picking up Gears of War and another controller ASAP. And if I ever get around to hooking up on Xbox Live, I'll make it public for anyone interested. :)

So how's everyone been? I hope I wasn't missed too much. :P

So, I finally beat Resident Evil 4.  Man, what a freaking amazing game.  Seriously, it's just all that I'm thinking about.  :P  If you haven't played it, and I imagine you all have, then go and buy it immediately.  There's just... it's just so amazing.  My review is here.

So, yeah, this is pretty much a shameless self-plug for a review, but it's a big day!  I haven't written a review I think in a little over a year so I'm probably rusty.  Tell me what you think! :)

...Right over the forums.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

I'm a little suspicious I have to say.  8.8 just seems low.  But I can judge for myself hopefully within a week.

I'm going on vacation again!  This time to a much less exciting place, but a great place nonetheless:  Maine!  Every year we visit our family friends' cottage which is on a nice quiet beach in Maine.  It's a great time to read on the beach  (I'll be reading parts II-V in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which I seem to recall GGG is a big fan of.  :) ) and just relax. 

Out of curiosity do any of you live in Maine?  For some reason I want to say Robbie does (who's not even on my friend's list I just realized :(  I wonder if he remembers me :P) but I'm not sure.

Aaanyways, I'll be leaving early tomorrow so we can finish the drive, so you'll be Freude-less for another week and a half to two weeks, depending.  Don't miss me too much.  :P

Continue to have a great summer everyone.  :)

Oh yeah, and y'know how I promised you Europe pictures?  Well I don't know where the camera is so I promise I'll do that when I get back from Maine.  And if I don't it means I forgot, so somebody remind me please!

Random fact:  Maine is closer to Bermuda than Florida is!  :o

Well I just got back from Europe and I'm majorly jet lagged.  25 sleepless hours on planes with loud little children, an enormously long lay-over in Vienna and getting stressed because I almost lost my birth certificate... but that's not to say it wasn't the BEST TRIP EVER!!! :D

Let's start with each place I went to, shall we?

Munich

I had a lay over in Germany so we took the train into town and it was beautiful!  It was all old-meets-new, like Rome fused with Toronto or something.  I really want to go back to Germany to get more of a taste.  And, also, not to sound like some sort of chauvinistic pig or nuthin', but Germany has the most attractive women in existence... except for our female GameSpot forumers of course  :P.  At least every other woman in her twenties in Germany is a jaw-dropper.  :D   My brother had a blast!  :lol:

Rome

Unfortunately because of the lay-over and delays we only got two nights here but it was probably more walking combined than the rest of the trip.  Aside from being a little dirty, Rome is amazing and beautiful.  And seeing things like the Pantheon, Colosseum, etc. are actually all really amazing in person.  I highly recommend this one. :)

Pisa

We then took a train up to Pisa and it was lots of fun.  If you want to see a real Italian town, just wander through the streets away from the tower and it's really neat.  We stopped at a fruit market and grabbed some little paninis at a local store.  It was really neat.  Plus we got the necessary leaning up against the tower photos.  :P

Florence

Beautiful.  The best place in Europe that I saw to shop and eat.  And everything is stunningly beautiful.  PLUS I was there when Italy won the World Cup  (what are the odds, eh?) and EVERYONE was screaming and cheering and drinking.  Even the cops were honking their horns around in excitement!  Seriously, not a person in the city was silent and it went on for hours!  But it was fantastic.  I have a video of it that I'll post later if I find out how.

Ama (Winery)

Next we stayed at a nice little winery.  It was right in the heart of Tuscany, and me and my family stayed in a sixteenth century village of about twenty people that sat atop a hill surrounded by grape vines.  That is Tuscany at its most beautiful.  Just sitting on the porch with my parents drinking a glass of wine (which was apparently quite good since it was one of the winery's best... but then again I still can't seem to enjoy the taste of wine :P ) seeing the sun go down was amazing.

And I did I mention that it's hot in Tuscany.  It got up to forty-one celcius one day!

Montpellier

Then we drove all the way to the other side of France.  It was beautiful contryside.  And there's only one thing I will say about France.  The people were easily the nicest and friendliest.  I was shocked!  :P  I've heard never-ending stories about their smugness and hatred towards Americans (which they, for the most part, assumed we were).  But they were amazing!  And I think part of this is because me and my family tried to communicate in French.  Since you have to take French in Canada up 'till grade nine my whole family has some ability, and they really appreciate when you try and speak their language.  They laugh and help you along, and all of a sudden they're a million times nicer to you.  It was great!  :D

Barcelona

Barcelona is amazing.  It's also probably the most crowded city I've ever been to.  Holy smokes, a Japanese tour bus let off every two or three square feet!  :o :P

But things like the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi Park are truly spectacular.  Go now!

Nice

Finally, our bittersweet last stop where everyone in my family decided 'Screw culture, let's tan!'  :lol:  So we lay on the rooftop deck and pool and picked up some nice rays for our return home.  ;)

It really was the trip of a lifetime and I won't hesitate for a second to go back.  I really recommend that any of you who haven't seen Europe should try and go.  Whether it be with family, friends, just as long as you're with good people and you're seeing and doing awesome things.  :D

And finally I'd like to thank everyone for their posts in the last entry, but especially GGG.  This is where the I Heart GGG Edition part comes in.  ;)

Your advice was awesome!  We basically only stood up to get gelato and often our breakfasts and stuff were just picking up a few croissants at a bakery.  I also persuaded my parents to let us go to Gaudi Park, and everyone loved it.  It was beautiful!  :D

Except I couldn't get to Assissi or the Barcelona Hard Rock Café in the end, but thank you so much anyways!  You made my trip several notches better.  :)

P.S.  If I missed any big gaming news (I'm all caught up on international news though.  Very sad about Lebanon and more earthquakes and tsunamis.  :( ) could you please inform me in your comments.  :)  Thanks a lot!

First off I want to thank everyone who posted in my last blog entry.  It's always nice when you get lots of comments.  ;)

Well I leave for the airport in four hours, and I'm basically having a seizure of excitement.  I'm just finishing up packing now (and charging my DS for the plane ride ;) ) and I seriously don't think I've been this excited for anything in a looooong time.  I've heard from so many people that Europe is just amazing.

And over the past couple of days I've earned C$240 which is awesome since prior to that I had almost no money to spend while there.  Now I can get souveniers and buy excessive amounts of gelato! :D

Right, if you're interested, we're flying into Rome, staying there for a few days, then taking a train through Pisa to Florence where we sleep for three days.  Then we rent a car and drive down to Sienna region and stay in a real winery for a few days (which should be awesome, my dad's a wine fanatic so he's never going to leave!).  Then we spend one day in some random town en route to France!  There we're staying in Nice for a while, then I believe we head straight to Montpellier where we're staying for four or five days.  After this we're driving through the Pyrenees to Barcelona!  I've heard so many good things about Barcelona and I really can't wait.  So that's pretty much the trip.

Three weeks of awesomeness!

GGG, you were just in Europe right?  Did you like it? 

Well, au revoir tout le monde.  Je pense que vous verrai en le 25 de juilliet!

If anyone else here speaks French, yeah that's probably riddled with mistakes but whatever!  :)

Bye!  Have a good summer!

I saw a post in The Virtual Underground tonight and it got me thinking.  What are your favourite albums?  I compiled a list of mine, though I may have forgotten one or two that deserve at least a mention.  So here's the list.  Tell me what you think, and what are yours?  I always find it very interesting to find out what people's music tastes are... to me it speaks miles about them.

The Moon and Antarctica - Modest Mouse
Best Song:  Gravity Rides Everything

This album is easily Modest Mouse's smoothest and most consistent, even if many fans would argue that their roughness is one of their best attributes.  Nevertheless the songcraft is fantastic, the vocals are mostly awesome and the lyrics are simply amazing, as always coming from Isaac Brock.  Modest Mouse's best, though Good News is great too.

After The Goldrush - Neil Young
Best Song:  Only Love Can Break Your Heart

An awesome follow-up to his debut, this is easily Neil Young's best album.  The songcraft is amazing as it often is, but this isn't too over- or under-produced (which I find often happens with Young's albums) and his vocals are probably at their most bearable.

Revolver - The Beatles
Best Song:  Eleanor Rigby

The Beatles' breakthrough album for sure.  This is one of their most consistent works and is perhaps one of their best because it manages to show of the various talents of each member  (Ringo has a shining moment with Yellow Submarine, George has three fantastic tracks and Lennon/McCartney go back and forth with memorable tune (Eleanor Rigby) after memorable tune (I'm Only Sleeping) after memorable tune (Good Day Sunshine) after... well you get the picture.

Definitely Maybe - Oasis
Best Song:  Live Forever

The fantastic Oasis debut is absolutely amazing and easily one of the best albums since the collapse of classic rock (which for me occured right around Lennon's murder).  The riffs are awesome, and I can't get over Liam Gallagher's amazing, snarly vocals.  Sure there's plagiarism galore, but if they manage to take so many classics and put a new spin on them with such detail and amazing results, then go ahead;  do Wish You Where Here next.

Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Best Song:  The Great Gig In The Sky

No need to really list the reasons.  While it's not my favourite Pink Floyd album (see below), it's amazing with so many exellent climaxes, mellow psychedelic effects and flat-out awesome riffs.  But there's no need to explain this album to anyone, since if you haven't heard it then you probably haven't heard any of the albums on this list and have probably skipped right over it.  Congratulations if so. ;)

Abbey Road - The Beatles
Best Song:  Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End medley

This song nicely balances undying classics like Come Together and Here Comes The Sun with thorougly amazing, beautiful short tracks that tie together amazingly on Side II of the album.  If the Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End medley was one song, it would easily be my favourite ever.

OK Computer - Radiohead
Best Song:  Climbing Up The Walls

Amazingly innovative, interesting and hauntingly beautiful, this is Radiohead's best work and simply a masterpiece.  The song's never grow tiring and with each listen an interesting new element can be found.  Radiohead never sells out with a couple of singles, instead making a fantastic album which wonderfully depicts paranoia, fear and so many human conditions which we try to pretend don't exist. 

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Best Song:  Wish You Were Here

This is Pink Floyd at their finest.  They're weird but not over the top.  Their lyrics are out there but personal.  Their instrumentation ranges from guitar to a hodgepodge of electronic noises, blips and bleeps.  This is where Pink Floyd reached their peak of song writing in my opinion, and where they can make an album with only five songs a long, twisting, interesting journey.

The Beatles [The White Album] - The Beatles
Best Song:  Blackbird

Through the faults of The White Album it shines.  What do I mean by that?  The White Album is a crazy album.  In between some of the best songs ever created, such as Blackbird, While My Guitar Gently Weeps or Revolution 1, there are many unsubstantial tracks that, if released as a single or heard on their own, would be disappointments (at least compared to The Beatles' many prior innovative, amazingly successful singles).  But when the album is played as a whole, the smorgasbord of different songs and styles comes together to create one of the most chaotic, but easily one of the greatest albums ever made.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon
Best Song:  God

Quite simply the most raw, honest, beautiful album ever created.  I would daresay that this album is as close to perfect as any album ever will be.  And the funny thing is, as perfect as I consider it, it's full of small timing errors, a missed bar by an instrument or two or a slightly off chord.  But I've never been more entranced by an artist's vocals, musicianship, lyrics, and to that end honesty.  This is music right here.  It may not be for the faint of heart at first (don't worry this isn't scream-o Yoko music like many think) but it's easily the most complete, cohesive album I've ever heard.  By a large margin.

Runners-Up:

The Bends - Radiohead;  All Things Must Pass - George Harrison;  Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan;  Hotel California - The Eagles;  Demon Days - Gorillaz;  Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin;  Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin;  (What's The Story) Morning Glory - Oasis

And now my eye's are really stinging since I was swimming in a chlorine-filled pool right before writing this so my eye's are stingy as hell.  Toodles.

I meant to include Sgt.  Pepper somewhere in that top ten but left it out until I could decide where I wanted it.  It seems I forgot to put it in.  Oh well, just know that it's somewhere in there.  So really my list is Top 11. 

I got lit on fire today.  =/

No really, on fire.

Ya see, my friend isn't the brightest guy around.  He pulled out his bottle of axe body spray and decides to pull out his lighter to show us how awesome it is when you spray fire with axe!  ZOMG the flame.  I was turned around at the time, and he calls my name to show me.  Unfortunately it didn't strike him that when I turned towards him my face might get in the way.  And he blew it right at me.  Oh.  My.  Freaking.  Gawd.  Did that ever hurt.

He got the side of my head.  I'm missing half an eyebrow, eyelashes, and my hair was completely uneven and screwed up.  And best of all, it WREAKED.  Everywhere I went for the rest of the day I carried around a horrible scent, but fortunately it was last period and I was just in gym class so nobody really noticed - we were outside.  Now I have a burn on my neck... but really, I'm lucky my other friends are as quick as they are.  One of them was holding a sweater and he threw it on me after I caught.  So it's no biggy.

And in the wake of all these events I finally decided it was time to get a haircut.  Ya know, fried, completely uneven hair was a bit of a motivator.  And luckily all turned out well. :)

I think I'm gonna wear a tuque tomorrow and freak him out, telling him I had to shave my head.  :twisted:  That'll teach him.

Wow, that's gonna be a funny story to bring up in a few years.  :P

Well first I'll apoligize.  I've completely neglected everyone here lately and I'm sorry - mainly those who I talk to through journals like UnlivedPhalanx and homegirl.  My most sincere apologies, but believe me I've been busy as hell.  For starters, I've been sick on three occasios in January.  That was fun.  First I got a horrible fever, almost flu thing.  Then I got a horrible, horrible phlegmy cough.  Then I simply got a bad cold so I'm sneezing all over the place.  So it's been a pretty miserable month - horrible weather too.  Up around Toronto it's been kind of cold (like 5 degrees)

Since we're at GameSpot... I've almost beaten Baten Kaitos.  Yay!  Fun game but it is dragging out a little with all these little quests.  I've also been playing through Prime 2, and once Baten Kaitos is finished I plan on playing Guild Wars.  If anyone here plays, contact me.  I still want to get Wild World but I just don't know if I can afford it right now - my dad's and good friend's birthdays just finished so I bought some pricy gifts.

Alright, so I've come to the point of the entry.  I'm in a play!  And I'm the bad guy too.  Unfortunately I have 17 days until we present.  :S  Man am I nervous.  I don't know who I've told or if I even mentioned it in a past journal entry, but I'm in a play based in World War II (I never said I liked being a Nazi, but it's fun on stage let me tell ya :P ) and it was double casted.  I was originally told I was in Cast 2, meaning I would present in April, so I casually decided to be lazy with the lines.  But it turns out the decision was never made and the other person who plays my part is incompetent so I have to go in 17 days.  AHHH!!!  I have after school practises every day from now on, and morning to night practises on weekends.  Ergo, no time for gaming or GameSpot.  Plus in my spare time I'll have to be learning my lines if anything.

So, sorry, but more neglect is inevitably on its way.  I'm just going to be ridiculously busy.  But at least when it's done I can breathe a sigh of relief... So, well I understand I've been ranting and speaking/typing kind of incoherently because I'm really stressed, but c'est la vie.  Okee dokee, thanks for reading.  :)

-Dave

(P.S.:  I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  To all who haven't, read it now!  It's freaking hilarious!!!  I love that book now with a firey passion, and it's a really easy read (I read it in one day and that's saying something :P))

(Post Post Script:  I originally had Nazis where it says play in the title of this entry but it was censored out.  :|  Alrighty GameSpot, you do that.)