If anybody wonders (i doubt that) where i am...I'm not dead, I just bought a PS3.

For the first time since I built it my PC was unable to run a game that got recently released (R6: Vegas) due to my video card...Kindove a kick in the arse since I need a X1300 and up to play it because of shaders 3.0 even though my card is clocked at higher speeds and has faster ram than a X1300 or 1600 (I have an X800XL) so it's the first time it doesnt run what i want it to. And thus came to the realization that I will need to upgrade soon...($ i dont have...)

I ended up not buying a WII for christmas....I bought a Nintendo DS Lite (onyx) instead. 

Along with the New Super Mario Bros and Final Fantasy III...So far it's meeting and surpassing my expectations. I have only played with it for about a day so far but i love the feel of an old-school style platformer like the new SMB.

Not dead but not far...haven't been spending much time online for the past couple of months because of university and other activities. For what it is worth, I have passed all my classes this semester. I'm really getting into programming and i'm starting to actually do some on my free time (I have a TONS of game programming books now)...I kept myself busy building levels for Half-Life 2's source engine over the past couple of days. I am now at my parent's house for a few weeks (not because only for the holidays but to save money...let's just say students don't have much spending money...).

I guess i should get you updated on the past few months (I'm just gonna assume people care...lol). Well, I met a girl, liked her for a little while and then she tried to put a limit on my games (FFXII specifically) so I told her to hit the road (there's plenty more women out there but only ONE FFXII).

I have also had horrible luck throughout with my contact lenses...(I lost 3 pairs of permanent contacts in 2 months...)Other than that it was only the usual routine: Class -> Homework -> Programming -> Relaxing (THC)...

As I mentioned earlier, I have kept an active gaming schedule throughout the semester. I mostly have been playing FFXII (not done getting all the espers yet...), Guitar Hero 2 and Counterstrike Source. I am expecting to receive a WII for christmas

 (if my parents can locate one...even in the middle of butt-**** nowhere here in NB those things are selling like hotcakes (the PS3 is too but to a lesser extent) if not they will give me the money and i will probably end up buying a DS and the New Mario Bros. and spend the rest on my bills (all over due at the moment...as well as my credit card (thus my GS account got downgraded) ).

Well this is pretty much all I can say without rambling on... So farewell and Merry Christmas.

No I am not dead...just very very busy with school, gaming and the ever-lasting struggle to liberate myself from bad habits and influences.

I haven't been on the PC nearly as much now that school started and this has caused me to neglect this blog and pretty much all of gamespot lately....

As for school, it's tough...REAL tough. The fact that I had been out of college for four years is really hurting me right now. I need to relearn most of my math and physics in a hurry to catch up with my classes. I think I should be able to manage it if I keep at it and don't get lazy.

On the gaming front, I recently bought Xenosaga Episodes 2 and 3. I am currently playing through the first episode and intend on working my way through all three. The story is great if you don't mind putting down the controller for 20 minutes at a time during cutscenes.

As for the CDs I mentioned in my last blog (I know it a effin long time ago...), Crisis by Alexisonfire is great and one of their best while Sacrament by Lamb of God seems uninspired save for a few songs.

I somehow managed to miss two of my favorite bands' new CDs. Guess that's what I get for not watching MTV or MM...

Apparently Alexisonfire released their new CD called "Crisis" and have a single out called "This could be anywhere in the world" and I have to say I like it a lot. I will probably get it later on tonight (the album that is).  Here is a link to the video on YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60mkNo1Ap5Q

The single that really surprised me though was "Redneck" by Lamb of God of their new CD "Sacrament". The video has them being the entertainment for a 4 year old girl's birthday party (you have to see it...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lmZyoklKnk&mode=related&search=)

As for Christ Illusion, Slayer's new CD, it lacks originality. There are definitely some solid rifts in there and the songs are unmistakably in Slayer's palette but it doesn't really feel special either. I'll let you know more on these two new CDs as I listen to them.

I did it! I managed to stay quietly at home for the whole weekend...It fully replenished my energy (I can actually get off the couch again...) and made me realize I needed a break a lot more than I had thought.

As far as gaming goes, I was able to finish Zelda: The Ocarina of Time over the weekend by beating this fella:

I also received in the mail yesterday my copies of Alien Hominid, Zelda: The Wind Waker and SaGa Frontier 2. Yet, after receiving all these games I decided that my next goal should be to beat Maximo:Ghosts to Glory.

This game is HARD for a 3D platformer. It' rare that you see (nowadays) a platformer where you have a number of lives and continues (instead of being able to restart from the last checkpoint an infinite number of times). But the greater the challenge, the greater is the rewarding feeling after it's successful completion. (unlike the pushover final boss from Zelda pictured above...I think the entire game was quite easy actually...)

I watched an old movie over the weekend as well. It's a Stanley Kubrick classic that I had never seen who was nominated for something like 6 oscars. The movie's name is "Dr.Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb" (phew quite a title eh?) It's and old cold-war era depiction of a rogue man setting off nuclear apocalypse due to insufficient controls on the nuclear arsenal and a strange set of coincidences. It's all done as a black comedy/satire. It thought it was pretty good and made for some interesting thoughts about the state of mind and priorities of the governments of the world during the cold war (General: "We'll loose 20 milion people tops!"). Even if you've never heard of the film or it's director (almost impossible) you have seen this famous image from the movie (or in the simpsons or re-enacted in other shows/movies) :

PS - I have been very busy with work and trying to find a new apartment and trying to get myself ready for university so I haven't been able to post and comment on your blogs as much as I would like to.

It official! I start university in September. I just enrolled for all my classes online yesterday and applied for student loan (hopefully I get enough to get by without needing my parent's help). I just need to find a cheaper place to stay and work a deal with my landlord to break my lease. I think there's already a place close to the university where I'd be welcome AND I'd be living with three (good-looking) girls. It's not what you think...They have been my friends for 2 or 3 years now and they have an available room in their house. There wouldn't be anything going on between them and me but on the plus side, it would be much cleaner than my bachelor appartment.

On the gaming front, I went to EB games yesterday and traded in Capcom Fighting Crapolution and got a whopping 4$ for it. (what a bunch of thieves....especially when they sell it new for 34 and used for 30...) And got myself a greatest hits edition of God of War (30$ new 27$ used...wow....tcheu calisse de gagne de crosseurs...pardon my fench but it's the best way to put it.). I had already finished it as a rental but it was so good I just HAD to own it.

As for my progression through the Ocarina of Time, I am now about 3/4 done with the dreaded water temple. I just beat the dark link and I'm trying to find the keys to the boss. (took an extra hour yesterday because some f***ing blob ate my blue suit and I couldn't breathe underwater anymore. So I had to run out of the temple and run around to amass 300 rupees to buy another one. But you what?...I actually liked the amount of extra challenge this provided.) So if I can have ONE night to sit down and play the game undisturbed I'll probably finish it.

UPDATE 1

Just remembered that tonight is the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 4 on Spike. This is the only "reality show" I can watch since there's no voting and only their fighting abilites determines who stays and who goes.This season should be great since instead of newcomers the contestants are all guys who have had a big loss in the UFC from which the haven't fully recovered (rankings wise) and instead of giving out a UFC contract to the winners...they give em title shots! And I also just found out that Math Hughes and Georges St-Pierre are gonna square off again in September...I can't wait! Here's the cast from TUF4:

Well the weekend is over and I wasn't able to do as much gaming as I wanted to. As expected I got convinced into going out friday night (to good results) but slept all day saturday to recover (got up at 3PM and went to bed at 10PM).

Didn't have time to play any Zelda. I did manage to finish Metal Slug X and Prey over the weekend though.

Prey was good but the review on GS is right. The gravity manipulations and portals feel more like a gimmick or an effect than a gameplay mechanic. Also I found all the spirit walk puzzles to be way to simple. Most of them are just go into spirit mode, walk through the forcefield and press the switch thats right on the other side to turn off the forcefield and llow your physical form through. Also some enemies were only used in the very last portion of the game and were too easy to defeat. The AI wasn't all that great either. Anyhow I'll probably put up a review sometime soon. An multiprey as they call it just doesn't compare with UT2K4 and CSS.

Metal Slug X was pretty hardcore but it was too easy because you have an infinite number of continues (and you continue exactly from where you died just like an arcade). So even though the game is insanely hard you can get through it in an hour or so.

I also watched a few movies this weekend. The first was Grandma's boy which was foul, offensive and mindless nerd bashing. That is probably why I liked it so much. I thought the pacing in the movie was incredible...there really was no boring part to the movie and it made me laugh from begining to end (a lot of cheap laughs... but hey they got me laughing and thats the goal right?). Most of the characters are just stereotypes most people have about the gaming industry but they are still caricatured in such a way that reminds you of some people while still being totally retarded (think a bit like the first American Pie but with no Pie f***ing).

The other movie was Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I know I'm a bit late to that party but it was on my digital box' on-demand options last night so I ordered it. It was somehat convoluted (most of the movie is in chronological order except for a few parts which makes it that much more confusing). Loved the crook humor they had in there but I couldn't help myself thinking this movie was trying to be what Snatch was. (I thought Snatch was much better myself) But to Guy Ritchie's credit it was his first movie and the guy is half retarded (he MARIED Madonna... he bought the cow when all of town could get the whole damn barn for free...).

Other than that not much news from the weekend. I am still trying to borrow myself a camera for a VBlog and trying to find Expect no Mercy but I think it's at my parent's house. I'll have to get my sister to share it so I can VPN in and get it.

I posted some guitar solo videos las night (before taking a nap and waking up the minute On the Spot was over just to remind me I missed it) and I'll post an insane drum solo video tonight (this one is professional).

Also I found this song on video google about System Administrators and I thought it was pretty funny (I know you'll like it mr.jedi you being a system admin too...)...It's funnier to net admins obviously but here it is:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7193470719293309352&q=sys+admin+song

I want to start video blogging and as soon as I resolve the hardware side of things I will do so. I'd also like to upload some game related videos since this is a game site to begin with. Problem is I have no games with footage worth showing (I'm not a speed runner...too demanding on patience). Everyone has seen gameplay from all my games hundreds of times without me adding a useless video of me playing showing regular skills. And unlike jimb0, I don't have any crazy japanese imports to show you.

There is one game I will try to upload video for and that is Expect no Mercy if only for the fact that it is the worst game I've ever played and it sucks to the point of hilarity.

If anyone wants to look at my collection and give me any suggestions as to what game they'd like to see I'd be happy to oblige them.

As for Symphony of the Night, I cried last night (not really) because I got refunded my money for it (at least) but now I know for sure I'm gonna need to find another copy. Maybe this time I'll try to find a used copy instead of paying 80$ + for a new copy of an 8 year old game.  Also I bought Xenosaga Episode 2 last night and a USB adapter that lets me connect my PS2 controller to my PC.

I am a zombie....Sleeep....Sleeep. OK. That didn't make any sense but before you think that I'm a brain dead idiot I'd like to mention that I only had about 3 hours of sleep last night and besides, I had to start with something and stupidity always attracts attention (if you don't believe me take a look at some of the threads in the forums). I guess it's my own fault but one of my friends who had moved to the land of complainers, Quebec (nothing personal against you neojedi...I just like taking a stab at the only other french population...namely the quebequers - is that how it's said in english btw?), in february came for a little trip in Moncton last night and of course I was convinced into having a few (i use few loosely here...) drinks. I almost look like this guy right now:

I then ended up watching V for Vendetta again and still loved it (this is a true test for me since I usually can't sit through a movie twice) so it's a keeper.

I'm so tired the day seems never-ending.

As for gaming I cracked and bought MORE games on EBay. I bought Ico, Alien Hominid, SaGa Frontier 2 and Zelda: the Wind Waker (I was just too lazy to go to the store for that one) and got all this for about 60-75$ (haven't calulated all the shipping costs yet.) I have still not received my Symphony of the Night and now I'm pissed. I logged a complaint with paypal in hopes the seller will respond to me (I sent him 3 messages and he only replied to the first one with a template that didn't address my query about whether it was shipped or not).

And while I'm sitting here writing this blog instead of working, my boss just confirmed a feeling I had about my employement. They want me back as student next April! (I'm hired on as a casual right now - higher pay then student but not permanent employement.) So it's great to know I won't have to loo for a job once my first year of University is over.

Oh and I'll be uploading a few more guitar videos from my cousin...He was flattered by me uploading them here and the positive comments the videos got so he sent me a few more that I'll uppload tonight.

Again sorry if this wasn't very coherent but I need some sleep and with that I bid you all farewell (not leaving just going for a very long sleep 8) ...