Man, Metal Slime... oh boy. It takes me forever to get through regular levels, I can't imagine how long this will take me.

How do you get experience to get through levels faster?
Posting? Blogs? Tags? Reviews?

I've noticed that GTA III, GTA VC, and GTA SA have all scored 9.6+... while True Crime LA and NY (justifiably so) scored ~6 or under. Saints Row, possibly the best Free Roamer since Vice City only got an 8.3, and now Scarface, the movie that basically birthed the entire GTA III soundtrack and the whole Vice City game has a game, and Gamespot gave it a 6.4 to 6.6 depending on what system it is on.

What I am saying here is that Gamespot shows fanboyism to Grand Theft Auto, and lets face it, San Andreas didn't add much to the gameplay besides lifting weights while making the game so large it was impossible to get anywhere. Yea, it was ok, but it certainly wasn't as revolutionary as the previous two, and the graphics were atrocious, absolutely no improvement. Sure, I'm not a graphics freak, but it gets annoying looking at the same cartoony graphics each progressive game, but with no improvement. I understand if a game doesnt improve upon the formula in any way, but Saints Row has, and from my first impressions, Scarface takes the formula a step further yet again.

Gamespot holds certain games as the gold standard which everyone has to perform at, namely Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy, and even if the game isn't very good they still give it a high score, but if another game comes along that is in the same category, they just dismiss it as a clone, although the game is superior.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate Grand Theft Auto or Gamespot, but Rockstar has lost its credibility and clout, yet Gamespot reviewers buy into it still and any game that doesn't have the multi picture box art on it along with the words "Grand Theft Auto" won't get a reasonable score.

I don't know how or why, but I was actually to the point of tears from laughter because of this commercial last night. It was the latest Burger King commercial, where this guy left his Triple Whopper at his desk, and this other guy slithered across the ground. At first I was like this is so stupid, then I started chuckling. Then the guy rose up like a Cobra ready to strike, but instead he opened his mouth to the music. It sounded like Snake Eater sort of from Metal Gear Solid 3.

Anyways, he unhinged his mouth and it started opening up like a python and he just swallowed it whole. All sorts of bad humor was running through my mind at that time, which I won't go into but I just broke out laughing so hard because it just was so stupid that I couldn't help but laugh. Then I tried to put it out of my mind, but it kept in there and basically my laugher was infectious to the point my younger brother and friend started laughing as well.

So yea, too bad all commercials weren't that hilarious. It didn't do much to increase my spending at Burger King, being that I eat there often, at least as far as fast foods go.

Still, I found it to be the best commercial I have ever seen.

Ever have any experience with state employees? You know, government hired people? For instance, police, doctors, town clerks and such (who are actually generally quite nice and productive), but then there are people out there who are just the lazy stereotypical secretaries who are underpaid and since they have a "State Job" don't care.

Well here at UMass we have some of the finest state employees Massachusetts has to offer. My professor, who happens to be the head of my department signed off on my new Research Assistant contract sometime in July and the department secretary sent it over to the administration offices to process. Guess what... when I was literally down to 8.16$ to my name, expecting my first new paycheck on this new payroll system (I used to get money from a grant, a huge lump sum), I got nothing in my mail. I called over and asked what was wrong...

"We did not recieve your paperwork until yesterday, therefore we could not print out a check for you, you will have to wait until next payment cycle in two weeks".

BULL@#$%ING@#$%. I was furious in the extreme. I tried to get help from the administration, but my advisor (the departmen head) was in meetings the entire day with other commitments, and the secretary was out so she couldn't help. Basically, I had to borrow money from friends for the time being.

Now that I actually am told I can recieve 70% of my paycheck on an emergency check, I was overjoyed... except for the fact that when I went to go get my damn check, they said, we don't have it. They gave me the runaround and double speak all after waiting 15 minutes while 3 secretaries were literally playing solitaire. You look at a dilbert comic and that's exactly what I saw, a waste of money to have lazy people sit around all day.

Ok, I stormed out of there after telling the people to their face "This is bull@#$%". Next morning (today) I went to the place they instructed me, and some uneducated twit waited on me, and she was literally filing her nails when I came up to the counter...

I came for my check. "We don't do dat here sir, you need to go up stairs and talk to de Human Resources". I told them they sent me down to see you guys. Then her boss got up from, yep you guessed it, playing Solitaire to tell me we cant give a check out without the proper paperwork.

So I storm upstairs and they give me the paperwork after trying to give me a half @$$ excuse about trying to give it to me last night... please, you were screwing with me and you know it. So then I took that paperwork downstairs and got it filed... taking me a total of 30 extra minutes.

I was so furious at those mother @#$#$&s... UGH.

If back at Deerfield Academy or Amherst College this ever happened, the people who treated me like that would have been fired on the spot. That's what the United States tax dollars are working towards right there...

A gamespot friend of mine asked me to be a charter member of a union that simply thinks about new games we could make. This includes the full story, controls, character, etc, everything.

I've been working hard on one for the longest time and still have a way to go, but check out what I have done at least thus far:

Yarikata no Bushi

Last night I was level 16 with literally 4% into my level, this morning I wake up at level 17 with 4% into the level? A whole level that quick?

Not that this is bad but wow...

I chosen as the new Teaching Assistant for the spectroscopy section of my department's Polymer Characterization lab class, even though I am only a 2nd year. I did pass 4 out of 4 of my cumulative exams so I am qualified. I just hope I do well in teaching my students when the time comes.

Anyone out there good with Infrared or Raman spectroscopy?
Well, I do understand it pretty well, I just need more experience with teaching and using the instruments (One of them is 250,000$).
Oh yea, I get 2000$ more for this term in addition to my yearly stipend.

That's a plug for any of you out there in science, you could go to graduate school, earn a PhD AND get paid 20,000+ a year while getting free tuition to do it... and perhaps patent something in the process. Yep, pretty cool.

Also I'm getting my own lab area too, a private place with a nice new hood and vacuum line and oven.

A month ago, I completed the Main Storyline of Elder Scrolls 4, along with becoming the Arch Mage, Grand Champion of the Arena and Master of the Fighters Guild.

I recently decided to complete the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild quests to get all of the 50 achievements of Oblivion. I just have to say that The Dark Brotherhood is so cool, and I love becoming a vampire, it really adds to the atmosphere and ambiance of the whole silent killer thing. The funny thing is, no matter how depraved the Dark Brotherhood is, they have rules and some semblance of honor. Still, it's kind of fun to be the bad guy after saving Cyrodiil. In fact I got caught murdering someone, but the Imperial Legion guy who saw me do it just said "You're in a lot of trouble, but since we are friends, I will take care of this". Basically, I can actually murder a lot of people and because of my fame they forgive me.

Oblivion is a really great game, I just wish there were a lot more mods available for the 360 version (which is worth getting, the PC version costs as much as an Xbox 360 if you have to buy a new video card... or new computer entirely, lord forbid).

I'm finished, I did it, passed my cumulative exams, four out of four. My advisor, who happens to be the department head told me this morning, while I just got the official letter. Two of my classmates who study with me did as well. Unfortunately, my best friend from the department failed his first 3 and didn't take the 4th. We are having a going away party tomorrow for him.

Anyways, now that is done... only an independent proposal and verbal defense, followed by 4 years of research, numerous papers, and something like a 200 or so page thesis... aw yea.

Anyways, I plan to get real drunk this weekend, play a lot of video games and stuff.

I'm still going to review Rising Dead, but I am also working on my Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence review (it has to be the best review ever, for this is the best game ever) followed by Dead Rising.

Stay tuned.

This game...

BUY IT

Aside from some cheesy graphics on certain characters... like the dog that causes the zombies to get into the mall in the first place... oops...

This game has it all, think... Dawn of the Dead + Fighting Force + Resident Evil + State of Emergency (the non sucky aspects of it, which there aren't that many).

So far I am only 2 hours into it, needed to study for my Cumulative exam this Saturday, but I will have a review soon.

So, in all, I would give it at least an 8.9 or higher, a must buy in my opinion at first go through.