Over there below my badges. It's my user image. I scrounged it up from an old (neglected) MySpace account and decided to put it here. It probably won't stay.
This place is filled with mostly dudes, so I don't expect anyone will have much to say, except maybe, "yup, there ya are, dude."
Yup, there I be.
Only one more achievement left and I'll have gotten all 1,000 points on Gears of War. Yep, only about 6,000 more kills in ranked matches and I'll be there.
Okay, get ready: math time.
Let's see: I've had the game since November 8, and currently have just under 4,000 kills to my credit. That's roughly *counts fingers over and over and over* 2,000 kills per month. At this rate, it should only take me about *begins counting toes* three more months to get the remaining *counts your fingers* 6,000.
Yeah. . . just three months. I'm holding out 'till around the April/May timeframe. Heh. Too easy. Too. . . easy.
:(
Glad the game's good. Hopefully my math is too.
ABCDelicious - This isn't exactly creative, but it's just fruity enough that I figured nobody would actually have used it. Leave it to XBOX Live and the world of online gaming to prove me wrong, eh? Yeah, the next obvious thing to try is ABCDemonic, but come on. . . why bother?
Slick Bone - I didn't mean it to sound. . . you know. . . like it does. I really just wanted to use the word slick. I just needed something to go with it. How's about a skeleton? Skeletons are edgy and foreboding, yeah? With that in mind, I combined this skeletal word with the first and formed this new tag. Upon discovering it was taken, I asked myself, "who would want to use this name? What kind of connotations could "Slick Bone" have anyw. . . Oooohhh. EW!" NEXT!
Frisky da Homan - Like the famous Christmas character with the carrot nose and a mean backhand. Of all the XBL gamertags that I've tried, this is the only one that I was genuinely annoyed to discover was taken. Frisky da Homan--five-stars of coolness if you ask me.
OICU812 - I haven't actually gotten around to trying this one yet, so if anyone wants to do the honors, be my guest.
CtrlAltDel33t - Actually, I didn't come up with this at all, but I ran into the dude who uses this name playing Gears. I'm usually not all that moved by gamertags, but you can't deny how cool this one is. I'm disappointed in myself for not thinking of it first.
XsA AxxesS - My new XBL gamertag. Why? Well, I guess all the time I've put into Gears of War has paid off, because for about a month this clan has asked me to join their ranks. I didn't want to, since I have such a longrunning connection with the ShenlongBo monicker, but they're cool guys and I caved in. As a bonus, after I get done beasting through people in an online ranked match, I can say "all AxxesS, baby!" What?
ReviewSpotting is now "this many" - Anyone who knows me doesn't need to hear what ReviewSpotting and the Community Contributions have meant to me, so there's little need to embellish. The only important things to say here are that I'm proud of the CCU members, contributors, and staff who've made it a success, and all I'd ask is not to be forgotten. Gee guys, it was one thing to pull my staff position, but am I really not even in the honored ranks anymore? The holiday issue actually points out that I was the first honored member of the union. Not only that, but it was because of my accomplishments that the whole honored status came about to begin with. Wow. Uh. . . you're welcome. For everything. Anyway, here's to another great year.
Achievement points - There are two kinds. One of them you know all about, the other probably not so much. It's time for me to start studying to make my next rank. Ugh. . . it's going to be long, and it's going to be boring (just how many inches may the end of my belt protrude the buckle? And to which side?), but mostly, it's going to be worth it. So wish me luck. And if you see me on XBL grinding the Gears far too often, don't hesitate to come in and chastise me.
Very merry, indeed - Or maybe not. Holidays can be emotionally tricky. So, even though I feel pretty good right now, there's no telling how the next few days will pan out. Wish I could say more, but this isn't the time or place. Austin, you know what's up. Have a good one, buddy (and that goes for the rest of you as well), and hopefully I'll do the same. I'll tell you in a few days when I come back.
...thinks he's so popular with his victory.
Here's to my exemplary humility. I pride myself on being humble.
I didn't want to make my GameSpot handle double as my gamertag, but I should just be glad it wasn't already taken. I was just goofin' around trying to think up names, and I was surprised at those which were already claimed. In no particular order, here are but a few that were taken:
namsdrawkcaB - What? I thought it was creative. So did another guy. A backwards guy.
Hung Lo - 8)
Sum Yung Ho - . . .couldn't help m'self.
HipHopHippo - the H, I, P, and O keys are right next to each other, forming a tight little square on the XBL keyboard, so my futuristic brain powers automatically played Boggle with them and came up with this monicker. I was just being silly, but that didn't stop me from being a little surprised that this name was taken.
apocalipstick - Yeah, because online, you just have to have a really awesome, dooming sound to your name. But if you're me, you have to make fun of people named "DragonVenom123" and "Dark[anything]" because they deserve it. They're not as rad as they think they are, and a name like "apocalipstick" should be the perfect way to poke fun at their nerdy ways! Right? Right?
spatula - I'm not gonna lie to you. I was feeling a little desperate after many failed attempts at getting a cool, original gamertag. So, figuring I'd just outsmart the system and not try to be cool OR hilarious, I tried random. So I find it a little funny that another dude probably felt the same way I did at one point, only sooner.
Shabazz Jenkins - Oh give me a damn break! Someone thought of this before I did? I mean? SHABAZZ?! JENKINS?!
Made in Mexico is a band that makes crap music, and they do it with pride. It's their specialty.
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who wants to make esoteric, gaudy, obscure "music" whose guitar "riffs" sound like they're being plucked on a cheap plastic ukelele is entitled to do so. As such, I wouldn't mind the nails-on-a-chalkboard sounds of Made in Mexico if I didn't have to actually hear them. But wouldn't you know it, someone decided to put one of their god-awful tracks (tauntingly called "Farewell Myth", as though jabbing you with the fact that the song just won't go away) on the first Guitar Hero game. And they made it just hard enough to five star that you'll have to endure it repeatedly if you're going for Guitar God status. To me, if you can even listen to the song without throwing a brick through your TV, PS2, or face, you should get the five-star rank and a basket of flowers with a get well soon card. Damn song. . .
To make matters worse, Made in Mexico strikes again in Guitar Hero II with a new track called "Yes I Can". Like before, the name of the song jeers. Imagine for a second that RedOctane sent the band an email saying, ""Alright look, if you want to be featured in the second Guitar Hero, you can't pluck inanely on one string of a Guitar and call it a riff. You can't intentionally avoid rhythm, melody, or any of the other things that make music enjoyable, and call it a song. And if you do, for the love of all that is good and right in this world, you can't let it mingle with cool songs in a public space where innocent people might be subjected to it." "Yes I Can", resonds Made in Mexico, like they know the song sucks and they think it's funny. Yeah, you might be able to, Made in Mexico, but you shouldn't.
Of course, the world needs free thinkers, rebels, and innovators, but being creative, rebellious, and innovative doesn't make you good. Or in the case of Made in Mexico's pretentious, senseless, "cool 'cuz I'm different (ironic, since everyone's going for that)" music, even decent. Or palatable.
With music this bad, Made in Mexico could be a band name, or it might be a disclaimer. So here's a tip: consider it the latter and proceed with caution. Go the extra mile for safety and consider playing these songs with your TV completely muted. In the cases of "Farewell Myth" and "Yes I Can", sound is neither a benefit or an advantage.
Two days ago, I took the plunge and bought an XBOX 360, a third-party intercooler, one wireless controller to match the one bundled in with my premium console, a pack of four grippy thingies for said controllers, and the Special Limited Edition of Gears of War. I'll be getting my XBL subscription and wireless router in the coming days, so look for me online soon. I'll probably go by "ShlingBo" or "ShlingBad" or something idiotic like that since I can't seem to come up with anything cooler.
Anyway, back to "Hardcore". My pal Nick and I just plowed through Gears' campaign on the hardest default setting, appropriately named "Hardcore". Was it easy? Well, not always. There were lots of restarts and plenty of "come revive me, dumb****!!", but we saw it through. Our estimate is that it took--ball park--eight hours to kill General RAAM and claim our pwnage. But then, there was some thoroughly light, semi-excessive drinking goin' on, so I could be wrong by a half-hour or so. I can't remember when he showed up. Or when I showed up. Where am I?
Eight-ish hours doesn't seem very long for a campaign, and that's because, you know. . . it isn't, but with Gears, it's different. The way the game flows makes it perfect for a dedicated playthrough. In fact, I almost wouldn't want to play the campaign without going wire-to-wire on it. The game rocks in ways that few games do. Think: the atmosphere and mystique of Metroid Prime meets the carnal, tense action of Resident Evil 4, only it's all hopped up on Agent Orange. You duck behind stuff, do combat rolls, splinter skulls shottie-style, and hack through the armor and flesh of big, ugly-ass monsters with a chainsaw. A CHAAAIN-SAAAWWW. Why hasn't this been thought of before?
Hey wait just a second here. The purpose of this blog was supposed to be to remind everyone of the hardness of my core, not the radness of my Gears. There'll be time for raining praises in the full review. So for now, try not to think of how kickass Epic's new game is. Instead think to yourself, "I've been noticing that Shen has a pretty hard core. It's like iron, that thing. I might need to get some core hardness training just to keep up wi. . .."
. . .guys? Anyone? Aw. . .
I walked once because I didn't have a car. I walked in my dress shoes over sixteen miles, and before I was even halfway to my destination, my feet ached, my legs burned, and I thirsted. It hurt. But I didn't wish for a car to drive, nor even a ride from a stranger. A bike. I wished I could pedal a regular bicycle to ease my travels. And it struck me: a bike wasn't the best thing I could have asked for. A car would have been much better, but I only wanted the next best thing I could think of. That's when another thought hit me: If I'd had a bike, I'd have asked for a car. Given a car, I'd have wanted a better car. We're humans. This is what we do.
At this point, I became content with my discomfort. I was grateful to have feet.
Seventeen days. Is that enough time to remember what matters and what doesn't? It is time enough for re-sorting priorities and achieving balance? Can a person get so far in so little time? Given the right circumstances (or wrong ones, depending), your priorities will re-sort themselves. Instantly. Ever seen the Saw movies?
Seventeen days is more than enough time to remember what matters and what doesn't. It's more than any of us needs. Regret can be a powerful thing. Pay attention to your attitude about following the rules the next time you get pulled over for speeding if you think anything different.
You never know what you have until it's gone, do you? This is a human thing. Once we have what we want, we stop pursuing it. When that happens, we slowly stop appreciating it (i.e. we want most only what we don't have). We might say we are grateful for what we have, but at some point we forget to stop and breathe; to slow down and absorb; to bask in the glow of having what we we've strived to obtain for so long.
The not-so funny thing is, this is something I've realized for a very long time not just about humans, but about myself. This would imply that I might have an edge over the next guy (the guy who doesn't know how to appreciate the little things), but somehow, the natural inclination to not be satisfied blinded me. I'm re-learning something I've known for a long time: to appreciate and to cherish. And, as usual, it's taken a severe, heavy blow to see the light again. Figures.
My current situation demands that I pick up what remains of my life and move forward; to not dwell on what it is too late to change. So there it is. Am I back? A little. I'll get back on this business of moderating the forums again. My leave of absence cost me my officer position in the CCU, but if it's that easy to let me go, it's probably for the best. And the DSU? I'll get back into that sooner or later, but "later" is the safest bet.
Thanks to everyone for your support after reading my last blog entry seventeen days ago. If you want to know what, exactly, is going on, um. . . too bad. If I haven't told you anything specific, I'm probably not going to. So don't ask. However, I've posted a whole two blog entries on MySpace, so perhaps you can pick up tidbits over there. For now, don't expect much out of me. I'm still not going to be posting often, and I won't be participating in much of anything outside of moderating the boards from time to time--at least for a little while. I imagine I'll eventually want to get knee-deep in things again like before, but not now. One step at a time, you know?
Gotta keep that focus and all.
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