Here and gone, way too fast. A good holiday it was though. As you can tell, I haven't posted a journal entry in a long time. This is because for the past year, I have been addicted to crack (by crack I mean, World of Warcraft). Anyways, as the game gets older, it begins to lose it's appeal to me. After being level 60 and hitting all of the endgame dungeons, the only thing left to do is wait for the weekends when my guild does the Molten Core dungeon (40 person end-game raid instance). This is the only thing left for my Paladin to do since I have virtually completed all of the worthy quests in the game, gotten my reputation up with the big factions, got my epic mount, etc. Now for the epic lewtz! Anyways, not to deter from my original topic, Christmas was great. I got some killer new(old) games. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (PC), Revenge of the Sith (GBA), New Droid Army (GBA), and Resident Evil 4 (GC). I also got a new Gameboy Advance SP, some clothes (Cannibal Corpse shirt from my mother \m/ ) and other stuff. With the WoW craze waiting on some rejuvination from Blizzard, expect to see a more active me in the weeks to come.

...And for a good reason. Ever since Christmas morning, when I opened a box with a pack of boxers cleverly hiding a very special game, I have been vigorously grinding away my time in World of Warcraft. This game is the best MMORPG I have ever played. It is so hard to play my other games like Painkiller, NFS:U2, and Resident Evil 4 (borrowing from a friend). Needless to say, every one I know who doesn't play it hates it. Especially my girlfriend. She is afraid to play because she knows she will get hooked, just like I got her hooked on Diablo 2, Grand Theft Auto (all of them), Doom 3, and Painkiller. Any way, she doesn't mind that I play it so much now that we are both back in college for another semester. She is 3 hours away from Winchester and has no fear of me coming on to other girls because I play this game so damn much (the only thing I have to worry about is what I'm missing because she goes to an all girl college). I don't have much time to talk about how much this game rules. If you want a 100% honest review of this game, check out my review. Gotta get back to playing.

I know that right now, it is technically not Christmas anymore... but I've been far too busy the past to days to make this entry. This is why: on Christmas Eve (after I left work extremely furious because I had to be there on the 24th) I went to visit my dad. He was having a Hell of a Christmas party. He gave $250 for Christmas and I was all like, Holy Crap!... any way, after 2 shooters, a Jaeger Bomb, and a couple of cold beers I left (actually my brother was with me... he had to drive me home). Anyway, after I got home, my girlfriend came over and we exchanged our gifts. She got me a lot of kick-ass stuff: Painkiller, Ghost in the Shell (Movie, not the game), SuperJoint Ritual: A Lethal Dose of American Hatred, and two really cool T-shirts (one Slayer and one Pantera). That kept me busy all night until this morning... Christmas morning. My mom got me a lot of cool stuff like: World of Warcraft (the reason I have been so busy), The Return of the King: Special Extended Edition DVD, a killer weight bench (note the irony... video games and things that require physical activity), and a bunch of other cool small things. All in all, I have had a very merry Christmas indeed. I hope every one else can say the same.

I am at a loss of words for this tragedy that took place last night in Ohio. On December 8, 2004, Metal God Dimebag Darrell (Pantera, Damageplan) was pronounced dead on the scene after being shot during his performance with Damageplan. Darrell was killed along with 2 others and a few more injured. Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Abbott) will surely be missed by friends, family, and everyone in the metal community. This is a truly sad day. Words cannot express the pain I feel for Darrell and his brother Vinnie Paul (who survived uninjured only to watch his own brother die) as well as the rest of the Abbott family. There is no release for the hatred I feel towards Nathan Gale (Dimebag's murderer). One thing I know is for sure... PANTERA being one of my favorite bands and biggest inspirations of all time will always be a part of me. My next bottle of Jaegermeister is for the memory of Dimebag F*cking Darrell, one of the best guitar players in the world and METAL GOD for all eternity.


Rest In Peace brother.

Yesterday I posted an entry about how I got Half-Life 2 for free. Well last night, the freebies kept rolling in. My buddy has been having problems with his Playstation 2 lately. It wouldn't read discs and stuff like that. He just got Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater the other day and hasn;t been able to play it. He took the PS2 apart (forgetting that it would totally void the warranty) and tried to clean the laser lens. This didn't work. He got fed up and went all over town looking for one of those new smaller PS2s. When he finally got one he came to my house with his old PS2 and said that if I could fix it, I could have it for free. Needless to say, I took it apart and cleaned the entire thing out real good and used rubbing alcohol on the lens and it worked. In about 15 minutes, I was playing his MGS3:SE. He was shocked and somewhat upset that he just plopped down $150 on a new PS2 when his old one was just dirty. After seeing and holding the new PS2 though, I feel that I am getting ripped off. That thing is soooooo tiny and cool to hold and look at. Anyway, the point is, regardless of how my new PS2 looks or how un-convenient it is, it was FREE! (with the exception of a memory card and any games). All I need is a memory card ($20), games ($5-$50), and maybe another controller ($25), but the $150 that could have been spent on the system is still in my hands because it was free.......

Ok. My past couple of entries explain how it will suck to wait until Christmas to get Half-Life 2. It turns out that I have had a free copy of Half-Life 2 since the game came out via Steam thanks to ATI and the AIW Radeon 9600 Pro video card I bought a while back. Inside was a registration card that garaunteed a free copy of Half-Life 2 upon it's release. The other day I was cleaning my room and found a print out of my registration confirmation... with the Half-Life 2 CD key!!! This was about a couple of days after it's release. I was kicking myself for forgetting that I had that. Any way, needless to say, I have been enjoying Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source for the past couple of days. These games are the best that I have played all year (next to Doom 3 of course). Something about downloading games off the internet bugs me though. Maybe it's because I am a pack-rat and I have every box to every PC game I own on my bookshelf. Not seeing the Half-Life box makes me think that I don't have it. Oh well... I can by the retail version when the price come down. Oh, and one more thing.... ATI Rulez!

Two months until I can play Half-Life two. Christmas is going to be one hell of a day. I'm gonna get a new free-weight bench and video games (good combination, huh?). Any way, since I am extremely poor at the moment, I will have to hope for the best on Christmas morning and hope that I get all of the games I wan't: Half-Life 2, Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth, Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, and Need for Speed: Underground 2. I wan't a lot of other cheap-o games that have been out for a while, but the games I listed are the ones I want the most. Sucks I'm poor and have to wait... Ah well...

On a lighter note, My band started professionally recording a three song sampler to support our full length album when we get the money. The sound quality rules. Note that this is not a demo, but a three song sampler. We'll be playing a hell of a lot of shows to support this, but it's free. Drum tracks are done, just need to lay down my bass tracks, and do the guitar and vocals, master it and make copies. It should be finished by the end of the week or so. Hell, if anyone reading this wants a copy, just post your mailing address and I'll send you one.

I just found out today that id Software and Activision are working on an expansion pack for Doom 3 called Resurrection of Evil. This is the best news that I have heard since I found out that Half-Life 2 went gold. I am so psyched about this game. The preview says that much will be added in addition to new levels. New levels would have been fine with me. Anything for more Doom 3. Anyway, there will be new locations, monsters, and weapons (including the double-barrel shotgun). It is a good thing that I will have Half-Life 2 on christmas to hold me over (not that I won't be playing this for years to come just like the original). Great classic just keeps getting greater...

As we all know by now, Half-Life 2 is gold and will be shipped on November 16th. The bad part is that I will not be purchasing the game on that day. I am going to wait until Christmas, because my girlfriend is going to buy it for me (Silver Edition with HL: Source, CS: Source, and DoD: Source). I can only hope that a demo will be released soon to hold me over. I think that I will have an easier time quitting smoking than waiting for this game.
On the plus side today, I got a couple of reviews done, including an in-depth review for Doom 3. I may do some more later... after band practice...

Ahhh Monday... how I loathe you. The weekend is over. On the plus side I started writing some reviews in light of reaching lvl 6 on Saturday. Got 3 reviews. Diablo, Goldeneye, and C&C Renegade. I thought I'd start out with some older games, because my mad reviewing skillz will get madder as I go on to review bigger games. I plan to review every game I own. 3 down and 71 more to go... Well... I'll at least try to review most of them.